Human effects on environments Essay

Human effects on environments is increasing during the past few years. Those trash and pollution made by people is becoming detrimental to local environment. There is a survey done in Xingqing park in Xian about human effects on natural environment. Water quality including turbidity and pH were tested, also the quality of soil was tested. In addition human effects were found in order to see how deep the damage is. Food web provides a view of creatures live in there in order to give an opinion on how much the pollution is. The result was that human activities does have negative effects on natural environment in various ways, so in conclusion people should care moe about loca environment instead of through trash. Introduction Human activities sometimes contaminates the nature, it can be seen in many parts of city such as parks and lakes. Here the environment of Xingqing park is damaged by people for many years. As a park, it locates in the center of the city which means the majority of people come there frequently. In order to find the damage, items such as pH, turbidity and others were tested to find out how much the negative effects are. Human activities like footprints and trashes are also counted in. The thesis is that human activities has detrimental damage on environment because of trash and lack of cleaning. Method In order to find out the quality of water, first we tested the water turbidity using Secchi disk, measured the length of the line to calculate the turbidity. Then the pH of water was tested using pH paper. Soil pH is a little different, we have to put soil and water in a ratio of 1 over 5, then wait until water and soil separated into layers, the clear part of the water will be tested by pH paper. For plants distribution and food chain we use a map to mark every time we see certain creatures. Human activities including foot prints and trash are marked in the map also. Then results will be analyzed to reach the conclusion. Findings Based on research, there are something in the park represents environmental damage. Walking around the lake there is died fish over the corner spreads smelly smell, it seems that the quality of water is not good enough to support such big creatures. Also there are not enough decomposers to break it down. In addition, there are several insects float on the water, also some trash such as plastic bags are around corner of the lake edge. The water turbidity is 33cm in Secchi disk measurement, another thing is seen commonly is massive of bacteria on the surface of water floating around,which is disgusting. On the ground there is a wild crab found in the bush, also there are wild sparrows and magpies found in the tree but not so many. For plans distribution, since it is an artificial lake, the plants are mostly planted by human, rings of tress surrounded the whole lake. But the grass cover is not in a high rate, hard soil is everywhere due to human walking, about 40%of land is covered by grass. Another thing need to consider is soil and water pH, however both the soil and lake have water in basic levels of 7 to 8, which is just ok for creatures to survive. Finally we noticed that there are a huge amount of ants, including big ants and small ants. Small ants stay together meanwhile big ants going around alone. As internet shown the air quality is not as bad, pm2.5 is in a level of 110 in general.

Normalization in Montessori Essay

Normalization that I have experience in a Montessori class-room between the ages of 3-4 years old. . In this essay I will be referring to the child as he/she. Human beings are born with the desire to know things, the urge to explore, and the need to master their environment. The class room is carefully prepared to train Children to develop their senses, to stimulate curiosity, to satisfy their child’s need-to-know and to protect them. (Kramer.1976) Firstly, the environment must be prepared to meet the needs of the children positively and all obstacles to the child’s development must be removed. Secondly, the environment had been prepared by the teacher before the children arrived in to the classroom. Thirdly, the teacher is there to direct the children positively in the classroom, and all of these processes prepares the child and contribute to normalization. In the Montessori classroom, another evidence of normalization can be witnessed when the child prepares for an activity through Movement and Freedom. The child chooses a table and chair. The child walks to the classroom shelves. Choose his activity. He chooses the practical life material (The pouring exercise) and carefully carries it back to his seat, placing the tray on his desk. He then begins the next cycle. In addition, concentration and freedom begin to develop gradually at this stage. The normalize child continue to show concentration with his work; and ignore other children in the class-room. â€Å"For his work is the expression of his mind†. (Montessori. 1949, P133). Bearing in mind the sensitive period for Order. He carried out his work, according to the presentation already shown to him previously by his teacher. I noticed how he kept on repeating the exercise, by pouring the water from one jug to another using his manipulative skills. Dr. Montessori’s observation about the girl that kept repeating the exercise â€Å"Forty-Two times†, flashed to my mind instantly. I notice how the child look content with what he was doing. This leads to repetition of the exercise over and over again. He remains calm and confident while carrying out the cycle of activity. Finally, after deriving satisfaction with himself and perfection, he checked to see if he made any spill (Control of Error). He smiled and carefully returns the (Pouring Exercise) back to the practical life shelve. The child demonstrates a sociable attitude. He smiled, and then turns to other children in the classroom after finishing his activity. â€Å"Montessori has arranged things so that the control of error is to be found in the materials themselves†. (Standing. 1962, P 80). He displays the characteristics of normalization previously listed. He was self discipline and stood up quietly after the exercise, and very graceful in his movement, Order and Language. To summarise my point, In a Montessori classroom, the practice of Montessori‘s teaching on â€Å"Normalization† is daily practiced everyday in the Montessori environment. The idea that the environment is prepared, encourage children to work on activities of their own choice at their own time. It helps the child to show the characteristics expected from a normalized child that is -Independent, Respectful, Love of Order, Work, Silence, Mutual cooperation, Obedient and Joy. In Conclusion; I believed that Normalization is constantly practiced in the classroom and this facilitates the child to develop physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. Finally after understanding how to meet all the needs of the child, this normalized child appears in the Montessori classroom.

KFC Marketing Plan Essay

KFC formally known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is the world biggest and most popular chicken-based restaurant chain, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky in the United State. It is originally founded by Colonel Harland Sander in 1952. Throughout its rapid growth it has now over 150,000 stores available nationwide in 105 countries boosting 59 years of history of success and innovation. In Malaysia, the first KFC restaurant was open in 1973 on Jalan Tunkul Abdul Rahman, and today there are more than 500 outlets throughout Malaysia and are still counting (KFC, 2011). 2.0 KFC Current Concept and Practice Malaysia’s KFC restaurant is an organization that runs and managed by Malaysian which practices self service concept in it business. Customer need to serve themselves when doing purchasing. Besides that, it also practices on the concept of Halal food. Halal food is food that conforms to Islamic Law or Shariah, it regulates that food consumed must be hygienic, not harmful to health, free from any forbidden parts of animals’ origin and anything regarded as filth under the Islamic law (KFC, 2011). 3.0 KFC Marketing Mix (7P’s) Marketing mix strategy is choosing and implementing the best course of action to meet the organization goal and gain competitive edge. The 7ps of marketing mix is one of the most popular used marketing concepts by marketing professional. It composes of product and service, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence (Behera, 2008). 3.1 Product and service Product is the tangible product or service offered to customer to provide customer satisfaction. No matter the product is tangible or intangible, it must provide the right feature and value to customer that include aspect such as appearance, function, and packaging (Anon., 2010). KFC are well known for his signature pressure-fried chicken pieces made with the original recipe. KFC primarily sell chicken in form of pieces, and salads (Wisnudewobroto, 2011). Although the main focus product is fried chicken, but KFC also developed a wide range of product offering variety choices to customer. It includes of burgers, signature Kentucky Nuggets, and wraps with a wide range of side dishes and dessert to pair with (KFC, 2011). 3.2 Price Price is the amount of money customer pay for a product (Anon., 2012). The price offered must be reasonable and competitive, and most importantly is to entail profit. The pricing tactics include not only the price list but it also comprise of on-going discount, offers and promotions (Behera, 2008). KFC products are priced high but not high overly, and their target customers are middle class people. However, to compete with other fast food restaurant KFC trickle down product price for selected item during mealtime to attract lower middle class customer to penetrate both sides of the markets (Wisnudewobroto, 2011). Promotions such as KFC a.m., Lunch Treats and, dinner treats are the current promotion available at KFC (KFC 2012). 3.3 Place Place refers to the location, and distribution channel whereby the product is reachable and can be purchased by the target customer and how the product reaches the location (Behera, M., 2008). KFC has over 500 outlets nationwide, and are generally in easy reached, nearby location. Besides dine in option, KFC also provide home delivery service up to customer doorstep and drive through counter offering convenience and different alternatives to customer, however these services are only available at selected area with fixed menu. In the same time KFC also developed the â€Å"Meals on Wheels†, a catering service for all sort of functions and occasion which can be done at any place (KFC, 2011). 3.4 Promotion Promotion includes various ways in selling and communication in spreading information to target customer of what the organization has to offer. Promotion tactics comprises of advertisement, public relation and sales promotion. A successful promotion strategy will be able to draw customer attention to be aware of the product and affect customer behavior (Behera, 2008). The distribution channel of KFC is quite varieties such as television advertisement, internet, and templates. Lately, KFC have come out with a range of attractive promotion item, KFC Cracker Sandwich, Lunch Treats, Zinger Double Down, Pokkits, and Bargain Bucket are examples (KFC, 2011). 3.5 People People refer to the individual that involve in the sales of product, such as attendant who deliver the service, promoter and product salesperson. Therefore these people are the important element for the organization. Adequate product knowledge training is essential to these people (Behera, M., 2008). KFC’s front-line staff always dressed neatly and appropriately. All staff is provided with appropriate standard working uniforms and is required put it on while on duty (KFC, 2012). Besides that, KFC also provide great serve training to employees. The front line staffs are nice and friendly, staffs greet every walk in customer with a smiley faces, and prompt in servicing customer (Mohammad, 2007). 3.6 Process The process in marketing mix is especially relevant to the service industry. It is the procedure of delivering service to customer, and the behavior of the person who serve. It is critical to customer satisfaction, hence, it is important to keep staff well trained in order to have a thorough understanding towards the service available (Anon., 2009). KFC is a self-service concept fast food restaurant (Anon., 2012). Dislike fine dining restaurant, customer need to help themselves from ordering up to picking up their meal. There is no hostess available as well, customers are free to choose their preferred seats to dine in. Sauces are available at the condiment bar in the dining area for free load. 3.7 Physical Evidence Physical evidence is the experience of using a product or a service. Customer cannot experience before they make a purchase which will make them feel risky, however organization can reduce this uncertainty by providing evidence to customer through testimonial demonstration showing that the organization keeps its promise. (Anon., 2009). The bright and bold graphic designs in KFC that showcase the company’s icons â€Å"11 secret recipe† and â€Å"Finger Linckin Good† communicate a fresh sense of pride towards its starring result of their product. While the warm and contemporary design and spacious seating makes customer feel welcome and cozy (KFC, 2011). 4.0 Marketing Objective The objective for this marketing plan is to increase sales revenue up to 20% by final year 2013. The reason for proposing this objective is to boost company sales revenue for KFC product range in this global economic downturn by the end of 2013 whilst gain a competitive edge in fast food business. 5.0 Marketing Strategy KFC decided to launch veggie burger and veggie warp in coming 15th December 2012. A 100% vegetarian product food product firstly available in KFC. The new products are named â€Å"Vege Bugger† & â€Å"Vege Wrap†, it is a hamburger style and wraps that does not contain any animal products. The patty of the veggie burger and wrap is 100% free from animal product. It is made from vegetables, grains, seed, and textured vegetables proteins, legume, soy, beans, nuts and mushrooms are examples. It will also blend in the KFC signature recipe, the Sander â€Å"Original Recipe† which contain of 11 herbs spices making it healthy and delicious. This concept comes from the changes of consumer behaviors in society these days. It is clear that consumers are much more health conscious today than ever before when come to food consumption. They are more conscious when they buy and seeking out food product, and generally prefer foodstuffs which is health benefited (Ligaya, 2009). In addition, the widespread in vegetarianism is another main factor that builds up this concept. According to Kayne, (2012), vegetarian diet is significantly healthier then diet which include meat and animal product. Studies have found that decrease of meat intake will increase health benefits and longevity might increase as much as 20 percent. Therefore eating green and healthy whilst saving the environment are the concepts for the new product. This 100% vegetarian ingredients product enables to attract new batch of potential customer which KFC has never target before. 5.1 One Year Integrated Marketing Plan The group of customer that KFC has decided to target for is vegetarian and health conscious consumer, as the main selling point of Vege Burger and Vege Wraps stressed on non animal product and healthy food. In the one year marketing plan, KFC marketing team will be using multi-market strategy in promoting the new product. The segment covers adults, children, family and budget customer who is looking for healthy and delicious food. The purpose of using this strategy is to target every possible customer segment as possible to increase and maintain revenue for the company. 5.1.1 Product and Service The new product KFC will be going to introduce is Vege Burger and Vege Wrap. It will be launch in the 15th Dec 2012, targeting health conscious consumer and vegetarian segment. The Vege Burger and Vege Wraps emphasized on 100% veggie made, and 100% free from meat, even the sauce and cheese used are 100% vegetarian. The burger and wrap are hi in fiber and protein and low in cholesterol as meat component has been replace by vegetables and use zero trans fat oil, thus it is the perfect choice for weight conscious customer. The burger and wraps will come in standard size, however customer may customize on the fillings according to their preferences as KFC are using customization strategies for this new product to attract more customer. The morale behind is that people can choose what they wanted for their food, customer will be more satisfied if they can choose what they want, and are not restrained with fixed menu. In order to get more new customer, continuous innovation and improvise will take place from time to time according to preference and taste of customer. 5.1.2 Price KFC come up with different pricing and bundling strategies for the new launch product, the Vege Burger and Vege Wrap, such as lunch treat, combo meal, and family meal. The super worthy meal enable to attract middle and lower class customer to increase overall sales volume. On the other hand, KFC is also using skimming pricing strategy on the new product. As the product is new, company need to adjust the price from time to time base on customer respond and cost of production. The product price will be firstly fixed in the range from RM 8 to RM 15, base on the type and size of meal ordered, however changes will occur whenever necessary. If the charges of the product are too low it might lead to customer perception that the food quality is poor, while charging for the product too high will cause customer to switch their preferences to other competitors. KFC also will take into consideration on the probable reaction from other competitor in their pricing strategy 5.1.3 Place Place is the main distribution channel, it is important so that the product is available to the customer at the right place, at the right time and with adequate quantity. Vege Burger and Vege Wraps will be launch at every single KFC outlet in Malaysia. They will be available throughout Malaysia as the idea is everyone can enjoy good food. However it will be firstly launch at outlet located in big cities before spreading to the rest. Besides than KFC restaurant outlet Vege Burger and Vege Wrap will also be available through online ordering and home delivery service. 5.1.4 Promotion In order to draw customer attention and to persuade customer to purchase the Vege Burger and Vege Wrap, KFC has come up with different promotions strategies and tactics to tackle as many customer as possible. For instance, special discount rate will be offer on the first three months when the Vege Burger and Vege Wrap is launch. Set meals upon ordering during lunch time and dinner time will be given special rate, which include of a standard size Veggie Burger or wrap, a non sugar carbonated drink and a coleslaw salad as side dish. Customer with large order quantity will be given cash voucher which applicable on their next purchase. Besides that, KFC use various promotion channels to effectively communicate the product information, to make people to aware of the new item, feel positive and remember it well. KFC apply broadcast advertising through newspaper, radio and TV program, the best and important marketing medium for promotion. KFC will advertise on the front page on the best selling newspaper to draw reader’s attention, paper such as Kwong Wah daily, The Star and News Strait Times. In addition television and radio advertisement will be broadcast during golden hours. 5.1.5 People KFC understand the importance of its employee and value customer, a happy customer result from the service provided from a happy employee. KFC will punt in extra effort and marketing their employee training and recruitment. 5.1.6 Process Due to the vegetarian sensitivity and particular in the process of food preparation, KFC will practice transparency to confide consumer in the coming launch product. The food manufacturing at KFC is completely transparent, food preparation process are visible to customer across the counter. It enable customer to view and judge the hygienic standard in KFC, besides that is also allow customer to know the ingredients used for food that they consume. This practice creates a solid proof to customer gaining their confident towards KFC. As Vege Burger and Vege Wrap is 100% vegan, ingredients will be prepared separately, using dedicated utensils and equipment. On the other hand, special training will be provided to all employees on method of cooking and preparation giving thorough knowledge to employee towards the new product. Managers are also designated to monitor the process of preparation to ensure standard procedures are follow. 5.1.7 Physical Evidence KFC focuses on the cleanliness and hygienic interior of its outlet especially at the dining area, providing a clean and hygienic dining environment to customer. In the same time, maintain attractive and proper decorum at its joints. Better facilities will be provide at KFC centre, such as internet facilities and dedicated area for children to play while parent can have quality time together. In order to match up with the launch of Vege Burger and Vege Wraps, KFC also launch a new design working uniform for their staff which come in green color imaging of eating green and living healthy. Physical appearance affects not only the impression from outsiders but it also a company brand image. 6.0 Budget KFC is using competitive parity method for company budget. In order to defend against competition, KFC will compare its budget with major competitors like Mc Donald’s and Burger King, spending as much as competitor. Example, if competitor is spending RM 500,000 in their promotion, KFC will also allocate the same or almost equal amount for their brand promotion. This method is easy to implement, it does not occur complicated forecast and appraisal, and most importantly, it enable to prevent competitor from making inroad to the company market share. 7.0 Controlling and Evaluation 7.1 Operation control Operation control focuses on day-to-day operation. To effectively control the operation and reduce risk, it requires standard policies and procedure to ensure a consistence standard of business runs. KFC operational control management will monitor the daily operation of the outlets especially towards the aspect of personnel and technology to avoid any obstacle occurs from affecting stores operation. A systematic system ensured activities carried out accordingly as planned. Corrective action will be taken by management whenever is necessary. 7.2 Strategy Control In the strategy control KFC management will look into the planning and tactics implement to reach the objective that has been targeted. Proper monitoring will be put into practice from carry out up to completion of the strategy such as promotion, advertising activities, and pricing. At the end management will analyse on how effective is the planning from the result. Revision and changes will be made to improve it if necessary. 7.3 Evaluation Lastly, final evaluation will be carry out to review the respond and comment from customer towards KFC. Customer feedback will be majorly focused on comment through questionnaire, customer forum, and feedback form. Besides that KFC will also ask for real-life comments where feedbacks were warranted. Customer will be asked to expand their feedback and how would they like to have the job done or handled. Looking at the service from customer point of view would provide a better understanding on what customer really need. In addition, sending mystery shopper can also help to monitor the quality of customer service and food furnished. Assessment can be carried out by reviewing the service level provided by front-line staff, food standard, and outlet environment. Thus help the management to evaluate the overall performance of an outlet. Feedbacks compiled will be filter by management selecting whichever is useful to the company and problem will be brought to attention according to severity so that appropriate remedial action can be taken. KFC will ensure follow up on every customer to see whether the solution has helped the customer, and will also maintain customer database so that company can send regular questionnaires and receive new opinion and ideas from customer for future improvement. Every feedback from customer is valuable therefore small gift like cash vouchers will be given to thanks customer for giving helpful tips and as a sense of respect to encourage ongoing open communication from customer in future. Appendixes Appendix A: References 1. Behera, M., 2008. The 7Ps of Marketing Mix. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2012] 2. Kayne, R., 2012. Has it been proven that Vegetarian Diet is Really Healthier? [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 December 2012] 3. KFC (Holdings) Malaysia Bhd., 2011. KFC Malaysia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2012] 4. KFC, 2011. Newsroom. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 December 2012] 5. KFC, 2012. ABOUT US. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2012] 6. KFC, 2012. Jom KFC. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2012] 7. KFC, 2012. Colonel’s Menu. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2012] 8. KFC, 2012. Colonel’s Menu. [online] Available at: [Accessed 11 December 2012] 9. KFC, 2012. KFC Holding (Malaysia) BHD Annual Report. [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 December 2012] 10. KFC, 2012. Colonel’s Menu. [online] Available at: [Accessed 11 December 2012] 11. Ligaya, A., 2009. Consumer more health conscious. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 December 2012] 12. Management Study Guide, 2008-2012. Marketing Mix-meaning and its Elements. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2012] 13. Medialine. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2012] 14. Mohammad, N., A., 2007. KFC outlet with a difference. [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 December 2012] 15. Prads.net, 2012. KFC – Tripureswor. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 December 2012] 16. Poh Huai Bin, 2010. KFC Zinger Double Down Burger. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 December] 17. The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009. Marketing and the 7Ps. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] 18. Wisnudewobroto, 2011. Kentucky Fried Chicken Marketing Strategy (English). [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] 19. WordPress, 2012. Top food and beverage trends to watch in 2013. [online] Available at: < www.stonehearthnewsletters.com/top-food-and-beverage-trends-to-watch-in-2013/nutrition-marketing/> [Accessed 13 December 2012] 20. You! Bumpit! 2008. COMPETITIVE-PARITY METHOD. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2012

Seeking Acceptance to MBA Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Seeking Acceptance to MBA Program - Essay Example I come from an entrepreneurial family, in [city name goes here], India. My father owns and operates four manufacturing companies; I would like to use the skills I acquire through your MBA program to help my father compete globally and increase the success and scope of his businesses. My wife also has created and grown a number of businesses here in India, and I currently advise her on growth opportunities. An MBA education would allow me to further expand the types of expertise I give for her business endeavors. My own ventures have been filled with great accomplishment. Professionally, my current assignment involves creating a unified business process to consolidate 17 operating systems into one system for ASB Bank, one of the Australian region's largest financial institutions. This has been a gratifying undertaking, not only for the progress made under my tutelage but also for the exposure it has given me to the Kiwi culture in New Zealand. Additionally, I have established the Indian subsidiary and served as chief technology officer and director of operations for Spokane, Wash.-based Magnetic North. I made and executed strategic decisions for the company, developed and managed vendors, evaluated business plans, proposals and potential partners, among numerous other tasks. Before that, I was a consultant for Setu Software. This was an opportunity that brought me to Boston, Mass., and the chance to manage a staff of up to 18 workers, many of them older and more experienced than myself. After more than two years there, my entrepreneurial zeal drove me to start my own business, Amps Consulting, for technical consulting and projects. A recessionary economy and reduced capital spending, though, forced me to close the business after eight and a half months. Despite the setback with that particular business, I remain energetic, passionate, and motivated to set the world on fire with my next start-up. I have the ideas in particular that I wish to incubate into reality: 1. I want to develop a dynamic, open, wireless MICRO-NETS platform and the accompanying protocols, tools, and services. This ambition already is on solid footing; in 2004, I submitted a business plan for the venture to the Indian Institute of Technology, and advanced to that competition's final phase in the technology category. 2. I want to further develop my eDecisions/eStrategy/eManagement methodology, which is a framework for electronically making complex and far-ranging strategic decisions for large business enterprises. 3. I want to establish an online of business of producing specialized, customized T-shirts. Manufacturing would be done in China, while technology, operations, and customer support would be done in India. I foresee a global market for this product line. Although the T-shirt business may be considered overdone as a concept, I believe that I have developed a unique idea, and one that has incredible potential for growth and profit. As you can see, my experiences, my entrepreneurial spirit, my leadership potential, and the global perspective I possess position me perfectly as a successful participant in your MBA program. I have the ideas and the passion, but it is the experience I would gain through your program that will help

Should Prisoners Lodging Be More Spartan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Should Prisoners Lodging Be More Spartan - Essay Example The punishment sought to inflict pain in the body of the guilty. The nineteenth century represented a more civilized and humanitarian response to wrongdoing and penology seeks a humanitarian aspect of 'imprisonment' by reduction of rights rather than infliction of pain. Life in prison is more disciplined and tough to transform the idleness and social irresponsibility of the prisoner into more constructive one. (Sundaram 24) whole idea of incarceration is punishment, not comfort. These critics would argue that conditions of the prisoners should be spartan, if not hard. But, the hard treatment should not be inhumanness and degradingness. Environment such as overcrowded prisons, an inadequate low calorie diet, unsanitary conditions that go unrectified, are inhumane. The person who has committed a crime by breaking law is deprived of some liberty in a prison environment. The lodging conditions should not be so constrained that the prisoners are deprived of the kinds of choices that manifest their human standing and self-respect. They should be having freedom to worship, access to the courts and to express their opinions on various matters. (Victor 225) What kinds of comforts may prisoners expect to have Prisoners lodging should have some basic needs such as disease-free beds, a place to write, sanitary toilet and washing facilities, and access to current information about the world outside should have access to medical care. Should they expect color TVs, video players, and movies of their choice, coffeemakers, libraries, and so on Or should prisoners be deprived of cigarettes, access to the entertainment and news media, have their mail censored, and required to perform hard labor. If we make it worse then we aren't really increasing their punishment much, having to be in jail and all the other problems with being in jail is tough enough. If we cut down on the few luxuries that they have then will be harder to control. Page 3 As rightly quoted by Victor Hassine, from JPP1 - "People who believe prisoners are not being punished point with disdain to a color television set and a ghetto blaster in a prison cell to support their arguments. To them, it appears that physical, emotional, and psychological pain that one can see with the naked eye is the only real form of punishment. Likewise, there are parents who punish their children by physical beatings because they believe anything short of physical pain will not be effective. I suggest the same applies to some guards and their daily treatment of prisoners. If a prisoner is not in obvious pain and anguish, if he is not being made to visibly suffer, punishment is not being properly administered. Still, any person who has suffered long term emotional and psychological abuse would be horrified that anyone would be so lacking in insight and understanding that they would point to

The environmental impacts of the Kuwait invasion and the main Term Paper

The environmental impacts of the Kuwait invasion and the main casualties and losses during the seven month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait - Term Paper Example However, this invasion did not become without negative impact, especially to the local civilians. Some of the outcomes of the Kuwait invasion were environmental. The long term effect includes climatic, vegetation, and biological changes in Kuwait. They experienced high penetration of sun rays due to global warming, poor vegetation, and poor health. The invasion had some effect on air, water, and land. This paper aims at discussing the environmental impacts of the Kuwait invasion. After the United States of America had come to the aid of Kuwait, Sadam Hussein, the then Iraqi president orders his troops to undertake a scorched earth policy which would see to it that all the oil wells in Kuwait were lit on fire before the soldiers retreated from Kuwait (Wilcox 177). The main aim of using the scorched earth policy was aimed at giving them a military advantage by slowing down the USA troops. The scorched earth policy led to the burning of 700 wells in. The Kuwait atmosphere was one of the most affected by the scorched earth policy. When oil is burned in the presence of air there is always the production of carbon dioxide smoke (Austin 101). Carbon dioxide usually has negative effects to the atmosphere. One thing that is obvious is that the massive production of carbon dioxide, smoke led to climatic changes in the region. This means that the ozone layer was highly interfered with lead to an increase in the rate of global warming in Kuwait. During the burning there is definitely some oil that was not completely burnt and found its way to the atmosphere. Such oil led to the formation of invisible droplets in the air. Such droplets led to the formation of oil mist and fog which is believed to have led to the death of many animals and plants. This is because air, with such composition would definitely find themselves in the animals and human lungs whenever it is inhaled

Compare Job and Gilgamesh as suffering heroes, as they search for Essay

Compare Job and Gilgamesh as suffering heroes, as they search for understanding, and come to accept the limits of their human co - Essay Example The Book of Job and the Epic of Gilgamesh were set around the 13th century before Christ, and both stories were placed in the region of ancient Mesopotamia. Both stories have a great deal of religious themes, although the Epic of Gilgamesh leans more on the mythological side while the Book of Job maintains a more spiritual-religious tone and message. It should also be noted that there are differences with regards to the culture of the ancient Sumerians and the Israelites. The ancient Sumerians were very much a polytheistic culture that made a society and civilization that revolved around the worship of its many deities and mythical heroes. Gilgamesh, for example, is taken in high regard of worship by ancient Sumerians. On the other hand, Israelite or Hebrew culture was very monotheistic. The Hebrews believed that there is only one true God, in their language Yahweh or Jehovah, and He is the Lord of everything and His Will is supreme and good. Israelite society centers on this in the sense that they worship no other being or thing other than God Himself, and submit to completely to His Will. In understanding each story’s civilization and cultural background, it would be easier to understand the parallels between the two. The first contrast between the story of Gilgamesh and Job is who the characters are in the nature of their portrayal. According to ancient Sumerian mythological tradition, Gilgamesh is a semi-divine, or demi-god, of extraordinary strength and was also one of the great kings of Uruk. Gilgamesh could be described as a proud, powerful and confident in personality based on his character in the Epics written about him. Gilgamesh is also an adventurer as much as he was a king, and went into many arduous and sometimes dangerous exploits with his man-beast friend Enkidu. To say the least, Gilgamesh was every bit as warrior like as much and kingly. On the other hand, the Hebrew Job is in far contrast to Gilgamesh. Job is a complete human being wit h no supernatural powers. Although not a mighty king Job is considered to be a very wealthy man, with large livestock herds, and a large and healthy family by ancient Hebrew standards. Unlike the ancient Sumerians, the Israelites did not settle is fortified city-kingdoms and were nomadic in nature. Instead, the Israelites would establish nomadic communities on lands that were fertile enough to support the habitation of both people and livestock. Since Job had a healthy and growing number of both livestock and his family, he most certainly had even larger tracts of fertile land for him to support that kind of population. Job would spend most of his time with his family in agriculture and livestock raising, living a pastoral and peaceful life. Now, the reasons why both Job and Gilgamesh were given suffering also differ. In the case of Gilgamesh, it was more of divine retribution. The fact that the exploits of Gilgamesh and Enkidu affected the disposition of the Sumerian deities was of no small matter. It is as Ferguson noted that Gilgamesh is especially proud of his expedition with Enkidu to the cedar mountain in which he killed the guardian and chopped down the sacred cedar† (327). In the case of Job, suffering was brought unto him as a test of his faith to Yahweh and also a test of his character. Gilgamesh lost his closest friend

Agglutination of bacteria Thesis Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Agglutination of bacteria - Thesis Proposal Example The bacterial typing tests are based on serology and they rely on antibodies that recognize given specific bacterial strain. Antibodies are proteins and they are secreted by plasma B cells. B lymphocytes are white blood cells which respond to antigen epitopes and after antigen recognition they differentiate into plasma B cells and secrete antibodies which recognize specific antigen epitopes. The antibodies have at least two binding sites and they non-covalently bind with specific antigen epitopes (Burry). Agglutination reactions can be described as direct or passive assays. Direct assays involve interaction of antibody or lectin with cellular antigen and example for direct assays is bacterial agglutination which are used to type strains of bacteria and to diagnose infection. For agglutination between antigen and antibody, the antibody and antigen epitope must be combined in the proper proportions and it is called zone of equivalence. During agglutination, the antibody molecules bind to epitopes on two or more antigens and form a â€Å"cross-linked network† (Bacterial Agglutination Protocol 6). If the number of antigen and antibody is more, the mass of agglutination becomes visible to naked eye in the form of clumps. Bacterial agglutination is the serological identification of bacteria. Apart from the specific antigen antibody reaction, there are other substances which lead to agglutination of bacteria. Certain chemical and physical properties of the medium in which the organism is suspended influence the degree of dispersion of the cells like in acid agglutination. Some â€Å"variant† forms of bacteria are also seen to agglutinate on addition of electrolytes (Shrigley). Gram positive bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus is the causative agent of wide range of acute and chronic infections including bacteremia. Staphylococcus bacteremia can lead to sepsis and

Fire service administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Fire service administration - Essay Example They quickly alerted the teacher who was around who lined all students to vacate the building. As the teacher to make her way out of the class to access the avenue that led to the exit, the smoked was more intense and hence, she was forced to sit back in the class with the students to wait for help. The fire ignited fiercely and more time passed before the school alarm rang (McBride, 1979) At this time, a window was shattered at the staircase’s foot from the intense ignition providing the fire with oxygen. The heat also lit a roll of building paper that along with the oil based waxes triggered the oily, thick dark smoke that led to deaths from the smoke inhalation. The staircase made of wood also got ignited. Just around the same time the janitor noticed the fire and alerted the housekeepers to alert the department of fire. For 330 children and 6 teachers, the remaining outlet was jumping from the second floors or wait for the rescue team to arrive. Noticing the fix they were in, they teachers encouraged the students to sit at their lockers and pray. The intense flames, heat and smoke pushed them towards the windows. One of the teachers suggested that the students should stuff furniture at the door front that slowed the smoke till the rescue team arrived. Out of all the students, 8 got injured, and 2 died. One died out of roof collapse. The other died in the ho spital out of injuries (John K, 2008) What triggered the fire could not be established. A student of 5th grade during the time of ignition confessed to have set the place ablaze and then withdrew the confession. He feared telling this to the parents than to the authorities. He also said that he had been setting a series of fire in apartment buildings in the neighborhood. On that day, the boy had been excused to go the washrooms at 2pm. At this time is when the ignition started in the bin. Succeeding the incident, investigation established

Food and culcture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Food and culcture - Essay Example 6). What it says is food has got major role in making people feel more attached. Older people say that if all members of the family eat food together at any time, whether it is in the morning or afternoon or at the time of dinner then it will provide more happiness in the family. Food has got such power. Food is most important to all human beings in order to live. The importance of food is great in certain celebrations such as marriage, birthday etc. In a society food can be used as a source for increasing the relationship with others. It can be made through exchanging food by the individuals. For example, it can be the neighbors sharing their food. This kind of activity will enrich the human relationship. Food has got important role in spiritual activities. Some people believe that offerings of some kinds of food to God will bring happiness to their life. Analyzing the relationship between food and culture, one can find that they are closely interrelated. Cultural significance of food and eating is based on social values, meaning and beliefs than the dietary necessities and nutritional standards. There exist a lot of examples and regularities for the selection of food. The eating practices are not a matter of physical needs. People eat in a particular social structured mode and there are distinct ideas about good and bad table behavior, correct and incorrect habits to present dishes and the importance of having a clear cut idea about the aptness of food for different functions. These way foods express the cultural significance, the social rank, traditions and also prosperity. Leach opines, â€Å"Food is an especially appropriate â€Å"mediator† because, when we eat, we establish, in a literal sense, a direct identity between ourselves (culture) and our food (nature).† (Fishburn, p. 57). Food is a significant element of

Successor in family Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9250 words

Successor in family - Article Example This could be answered using an empirical research designed to involve business owner-managers and successors from some Chinese family businesses. These respondents could then be asked to help return usable questionnaires. The perceived success of the succession process is measured by two underlying dimensions: The empirical results will indicate whether the successor-related factors that influence satisfaction with the process are, on the one hand, the willingness of the successor to take over, and the relationship between the owner-manager and successor, on the other hand. The study should also be able to elucidate whether the continued profitability of the business is influenced by the willingness of the successor to take over the business, the preparation level of the successor, and the relationship between the successor and owner-manager. The relationship between the owner-manager and successor is influenced by the extent to which interpersonal relationships in the family can be described as harmonious. Based on these findings recommendations for successful succession are offered. When man began to venture into trade and commerce, little did it strike him that business was a means of being together and a factor that contributed to happiness and growth. Gradually members of a family would get together and share responsibilities to ease the workload on a single person. The most influential person of the family would normally be the business head. Family businesses are among the most important contributors to wealth and employment in virtually every country in the world, and this was no exception with the Chinese (IFERA, 2003; Sharma, 1997; Tan & Fock, 2001; Ward, 2004). So influential is family business, that many countries now have more and more family businesses contributing to the national economy through tax payments. What does one mean by the term family business' Following Chua, Sharma, and Chrisman (1996), family business is the business governed and/or managed on a sustainable, and potentially cross-generational, basis that shapes and perhaps pursues the formal or implicit vision of the business held by members of the same family or a small number of

TV Al Hijrah Essay Example for Free

TV Al Hijrah Essay Malaysia was one of the earliest British colonies to operate a radio broadcasting service. However, the British government did not show much interest in radio in its early stage of development (Asiah Sarji, 1994). Amateurs electric companies, telecommunication personnel, and radio enthusiasts were among those who started the ball rolling. In 1921 A.L Birch, the chief electrical engineer of the Johor state government, experimented with a Peto Scott type of wireless set obtained from overseas (Malay Mail July 30 1921). In 1923 he formed the Johor Wireless Society, which triggered the formation of nearly one dozen radio societies throughout Malaya. News music and songs from the phonograms were among the first programmed broadcast. The first radio station was established not in Singapore but in Kuala Lumpur. It was the up-country gathering point for rubber estate workers and tin mines and also the capital of the Federated Malay States. It was an unofficial and an amateur radio club, which organized plans to create a local service. Although experimental broadcasts of the Singapore amateur group had begun earlier, the Kuala Lumpur operation was more successful. The Kuala Lumpur Amateur Wireless Society started experimental work in November 1929 and officially commenced its regular broadcast service at 6.30 pm with â€Å"tea dance music from the Selangor Club†. A talk on the activities of the radio club was also transmitted that night. For this and subsequent broadcast, the group was allowed the use of the Post and Telegraph Department transmitter located at Petaling Hill. The station had been constructed in 1928 and then rebuilt the following year to make it permanent installation. This was the central sta tion in the Malayan telegraphic network, but the amateurs managed to convert it to operate telephonically so that voices and music as well as Morse code could be transmitted. In 1931 the Kuala Lumpur Amateur Radio Society (KLARS) acquired its own transmitter a crystal controlled â€Å"Marconi S3A† through government channels and begun using it in May 1931. The chief enhancement afforded by the new equipment was that it operated on shortwave. By functioning on much higher frequencies, the transmitter could provide signals to cover the full length of the peninsula, parts of the Netherlands East Indies and Borneo, even though its power was only 180 watts. The post and Telegraphs Department of the Federated Malay States (FMS) was responsible once again for providing the new equipment to the amateurs, and it volunteered to â€Å"render any assistance to the society†. The selection of the exact wavelength was debated upon by the members, but in the end 75 meter band (4 MHz) was chosen as best for reception for the whole country. After two years of operation, the station shifted to 48.92 meter band or 6.125 MHz In 1933 more permanence was given to the amateurs when they were allocated space to construct a studio next to the transmitting room at Petaling Hill. The broadcasting facilities came in handy for the Japanese during their occupation of three years and eight months. They used broadcasting for propaganda. After the Japanese surrender, the British military administration took charge of broadcasting. On April 1, 1946, the day the Malayan Union came, the governments setup the Department of Broadcasting or Radio Malaya (Glattbach Balakrishnan, 1978: Sarji 1994). The sole function of broadcasting until the country independence in 1957 was to help the government to control the social and political confusion that followed the war and the communist of 1948. [pic] Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) first introduced black and white TV on December 28, 1963. The opening was done by the Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman at 6pm and the first person who appear on the TV Screen was 9M2RI ( Raja Iskandar) with the establishment of one TV network, Saluran 5 TV Malaysia which operated from its temporary studio in Dewan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Jalan Ampang Kuala Lumpur. At that time the transmission was from 6.00pm to 9.00pm on the week days and on weekends from 6.00pm to 11.00pm. Initially its area of coverage was confined only to the capital city. Then, later between 1964 and 1965, the nation witnessed the greater expansion of TV transmitters. Finally on October 6, 1969 broadcast operations in the nation’s capital moved to its present site Angkasapuri. Six days later radio and TV broadcasting operations were officially merged and kept under the purview of the Malaysian Information Department on November 17, 1969, RTM started its second network. In 1969 channel 2 was launched and in 1978 color TV was introduced. Despite the rapid development of broadcast in West Malaysia, East Malaysia received their first broadcasting programmed in 1971 (Sabah) and 1975 (Sarawak). The first private commercial broadcasting station was established in June 1983 by System Television Malaysia Berhad and was name as TV3. This was the decade of privatization. It all began with the shifting to new administration from the former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn’s to the new administration of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. This new administration’s firm belief in privatization sped up the establishment of many private broadcasting stations. TV AL HIJRAH In 622, Muhammad SA faces stiff opposition Quraish tribe in Mecca. He then left the last Mecca to Medina. Prophet Muhammads migration from Mecca to Medina to be the beginning of a very significant history in Islam and thus marked the beginning of one of Muharram in the Islamic calendar. Hijrah means to move. This event is a very big impact. Al Hijrah connotation grow and not purely calendar Prophets pilgrimage, but also extended to any change towards betterment. Hence TV Al Hijrah intends to play the role of a TV for the society continued to change towards betterment. Al Hijrah TV is proud to be a form of broadcasting Islamic content to maintain high standards in the published programs, even high pioneered digital stations (HD) in the local broadcasting industry. TV Al Hijrah is a state-owned free-to-air television network in Malaysia, which is owned and operated by Al Hijrah Media Corporation, a government owned company. It broadcasts from its headquarters in Pusat Islam, Kuala Lumpur. On 16 September 2009, the first Islamic television station in Malaysia, Al Hijrah TV show as a marker of a new era in the broadcasting industry in Malaysia. The primary purpose of this station is to provide a platform TV to educate, entertain and unite the community. Content is appropriate for all ages, for Muslim and non-Muslim audience. The main demographic targeted at young audiences and groups less than 40 years. As the first Islamic TV stations to introduce Islam as a lifestyle, TV Al Hijrah play an important role as a platform for sharing knowledge, information and thoughts to share with Muslims of all walks viewers. TV Al Hijrah offer fresh content and programs that meet the needs of the present audience. Each of content researched and developed not only to attract the attention of the audience through the creative publication, but especially the Islamic current tastes. Most important of all content published on the values ​​of Islam which is anchored to honesty, openness and progressive. TV Al Hijrah has strictly adhered to the teachings and principles of Islam, at the same time respecting the local culture and tradition is not against religion, while adhering to the moral and universal values. They also celebrate knowledge and innovative ideas as well as respect for diversity of views. Prioritize unity and seek solutions through knowledge and information. Quran and Hadith as the main reference which for promoting idea of ​​comparative paradigm capable of lifting, absorption of new technologies especially in the field of broadcasting. It was also offering innovation in multi-platform for media and new media.

Are Capital Asset Pricing Model Useful Finance Essay

Are Capital Asset Pricing Model Useful Finance Essay The CAPM model has generally been attributed to William Sharpe, but John Lintner and Jan Mossin also made similar individual derivations in 1960s. As a result of the model is even known as Sharpe-Lintner-Mossin (SLM) capital asset pricing model. The CAPM explains the relationship that should exist between the securities expected return and their risk about security returns. It is a direct extension of the portfolio models developed by Markowitz and Sharpe. CAPM derives the relationship between required rate of returns and the systematic risk of individual securities and portfolios. The model explains how different securities or assets in the capital market are priced. The CAPM provides an explicit measure of the risk premium. The CAPM can be expressed as follows: The portfolio that contains all the securities in the economy is called the market portfolio and it plays a crucial role in CAPM. The CAPM is the theoretical relationship that should hold for all securities and portfolios, both efficient and inefficient. The CAPM when plotted on a graph gives a line as depicted: The graphical version of CAPM is also known as Security market line (SML). The SML represents the relationship between beta factor and the expected rate of return f a security. This is also called risk-free rate. In equilibrium, all securities and portfolios plots should lie on the CAPM line. Capital asset pricing model has the following implications: Risk-return relationship for individual asset/securities. Identification of under and overvalued assets traded. Pricing of assets which have not yet traded in the market. Effect of leverage on cost of equity (rate of return required by equity shareholder) Capital budget decisions and cost of capital. (Source: Capital asset pricing model; Portfolio management from ICFAI publication page no.91) The CAPM has a variety of applications. Capital asset pricing model used for decisions relating to portfolio evaluation, capital expenditure, financing etc. The CAPM determines the cost of capital for discounting of future cash flows. CAPM is even assist in risk implications of mergers and acquisitions, product mixes and many more. CAPM has been the most widely used method in finance. Since the 1990s the CAPM has been started to be used in the calculation of risk-adjusted discount rate which has been a major contribution for capital budgeting. Capital budgeting is a key input for any organization so as to know the cost of capital for which companies use CAPM as they need market risk premium for calculating cost of capital. At present all MBA courses teach CAPM so as to calculate cost of capital. However the classic method for capital budgeting is to take Net Present Value (NPV). (Source: Bierman, H.J., 1993, Capital Budgeting:A Survey, Financial Management 22, 24) Investors should be cautious when applying the model to estimate assets returns and to evaluate investment performance. Empirical appraisal of CAPM The CAPM was developed on the basis of a set of unrealistic assumptions as the assumptions are not correct in their entirety. The CAPM must be tested empirically and validated before it can be used with any real confidence. The empirical test should look for the key results first, the positive relationship between returns and systematic risk and should appear to be linear. Second, test should attempt to assess the importance of market and company specific risk. Third, whether research questions on CAPM is conceptually possible. AT last CAPM if valid will assist in financial decisions. However, when analysis of bond is done, they do not plot on the SML. (Source: 80 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics Issue 4 (2006))Empirical analysis is done to evaluate the assets, their risk, analyze and to be placed in respective place. Then only hurdle rates can be calculated for the project to be undertaken. (Jagannathan and McGrattan [1995]. Limitations of CAPM CAPM is a useful model in dealing with the risk. However, it suffers from many Limitations firstly; the calculation of beta factor is very tedious as lot of data is required. The beta factor can be found by examining the securitys historical returns relative to the return of the market portfolio. Further, the beta factor may or may not reflect the future variability of returns. The assumptions of CAPM are hypothetical and are impractical. For example, the assumption of borrowed and lending at the same rate is imaginary and not practical. In practice the borrowing rates are higher than the lending rates. Secondly the earlier tests showed positive relation between returns and betas. However, the relationship was not strong as predicted by CAPM. All empirical studies testing CAPM have a conceptual problem. CAPM is an ex-ante model; that is data on expected prices are taken to test CAPM. Unfortunately, in practice the researchers or analyst have to work with the actual past (ex-post) dat a which will put up bias in the empirical results. (Source: capital asset pricing model www.ezinearticles.com)Third; beta is used as a measure for the securitys future risk. However there is no future data or information is available with the investors to calculate the beta. Hence, these investors take the help of past data to estimate the future prices of shares and the market portfolio. Thus, investors estimate beta using the historical data. One cannot expect the beta factor to be constant over time. It must be updated frequently. And at the same time CAPM is unable to capture the risk just only with the help of beta. (Source: capital-asset-pricing-model, www. professional-edu.blogspot.com)Fourth; CAPM assumes that the returns on the investments are tax free. However in todays life the assumption is wrong as investments are subject to capital gain taxes and further adding transaction costs. And the taxes depends on the amount of return higher the return higher the tax and lower t he return and lower the tax. Fifth; The CAPM has the assumption that the transaction costs are zero but it is not as such. In the capital market there is transaction cost for every transaction done, some investments hover below or above line which is discouraged due the transaction costs. And many investments involve significant transaction costs such as acquiring a business or real estate. (Stambaugh, R. F. 1999. Predictive regressions. Journal of Financial Economics 54) Doubt began to arise when taking a close look at the assumptions and these are reinforced by the empirical tests. The model focuses on market rather than total risk is clearly a useful way of thinking about the riskiness of assets in general. We do not know precisely how t measure any of the inputs required to implement the CAPM. This input should be ex ante but we only have ex post info available. The estimates used in the CAPM are subject to large errors. Debate The CAPM has been attractive in measuring the risk and return relation since three decades. With the help of CAPM the rate of return on different securities can be compared by the investor. With the comparison of expected rate of return on different securities investors/firms can wisely decide to invest in portfolio so as to maximize the return with minimizing the risk. (Source: CAPM from Book Financial Management by I M Pandey. But unfortunately, the empirical record is too poor to validate the way it to be used. The models problems may be due to theoretical failing or the unrealistic assumptions and the difficulties faces in applying the valid model. The model has been 1959 and since decades concerns have been raised on the number of studies about the model. There has been no historical relationship between returns and the risk i.e. the betas. (Source: Fama and French 1992) The conclusion interpreted from the statistical findings. The data are noisy to invalidate the CAPM. (Source: Christensen and Mendelson [1992] and Black [1993]. Despite criticisms, the general reaction has been to focus on alternative asset pricing models. (Fama and French [1992]. The economist show lack of empirical support for the CAPM which may be due to inappropriateness of assumptions made to facilitate the empirical test. For example, the return on stock market indices is good proxy for return on market portfolio but do not capture all assets in the economy such as human capital. Beta calculated for diversified portfolios are more accurate than that of the individual securities as grouping shrink beta range and hence reduces statistical power. To improve the empirical testing of CAPM numerous changes had been done in the past overcome the limitations or even to look for the subsequent alternate model to validate. At the same time the researchers and practitioners have began to look for multi-beta models that overcome the shortcomings of the CAPM. Fama and French (1992) and Fama and MacBeth (1973) use the same procedure but the results are totally different from each other. The former has no relation at one hand and the later has a positive relation between return and risk. Everyone is in a debate of whether to follow CAPM model or not? Where the companies even use CAPM for their capital budgeting process. But still some academic feels that those who choose the CAPM will actually not be getting worthless advice. (Source: Eugene F. Fama and Kenneth R. French, Journal of Finance, Vol. 47, 1992, 427-465)The model is often used for looking the performance of mutual funds and other portfolios. One of the big problem is forming p ortfolio by sorting stocks on the basis of price ratios but the average returns do not relate to market betas. ((Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny, 1994, Fama and French, 1996, 1998).) At NYSE, NASDAQ from 1963 to 2003 the average return on the book to market equity ratio portfolio rises monotonically from 10.1% p.a. to 16.7% for ten portfolios in U.S. securities but the positive relation between beta and return predicted by the model was absent. Whereas all NYSE stocks between 1931-1965 estimated that the results were consistent with the CAPM model. (Black, Jensen and Scholes 1972) Conclusion CAPM has been facing a lot of criticism in the recent times still it remains a useful tool for many i.e. for estimating the cost of capital, investment performance evaluation and efficient market event studies (Moyer et al 2001:204; Campbell et al 1997:183). In some of the recent empirical studies CAPM is said to be invalid. The CAPM is stated in terms of ex ante parameters, ex post tests cannot be accepted as an ultimate rejection of the CAPM and its parameters (Levy 1997:147). The CAPM should be judged on the basis of insights it provides into the risk/return relationship. Without the CAPM, the knowledge of the capital market and the market conditions would have been very limited (Karnosky 1993:56). Every three out of four CFOs use CAPM model to estimate the cost of capital. (Source: Graham and Harvey (2001). Corporate managers in U.S. confirmed in a survey the use of CAPM as a key tool for capital budgeting. Current MBA aspirant are taught to use CAPM for estimating cost of capita l. The CAPM should be continued with both individual tests and multi-factor models joint tests such as APT. Such testing will help understanding of the stock market pricing mechanism and the risk/return relationship. The capital asset pricing model has been employed in a wide variety of academic and institutional applications such as measuring portfolio performance, testing of market efficiency, identifying under and overvalued securities, capital budgeting etc. Apart the model have also been used in business by analyst, researchers and firms. CAPM has been the basis for modern capital market theory since 30 years, but with the emergence of new equity markets around the world during the last few years, accumulating research has increasingly created doubt on the models ability due to many cases arising where the model is not able to explain the correct movement of assets return. Despite its limitations and shortcomings, the CAPM model is a popular tool in the investment analysis. The simplicity of the model towards description of the equilibrium has made it quite popular among the users even today. There are other factors i.e. taxes, inflation, liquidity, and market capitalization and price earnings ratios apart from beta which affect required returns What believed is CAPM have significantly contributed to the security pricing theory, but applied in practice has got some defects and for which an extended CAPM should be applied or have to look for a new better model which should not have any deficiencies. The CAPM model is f or sure here to stay and attempts will continue to improve the model and to make it more useful.

The Awareness Of Point Of Sale Information Technology Essay

The Awareness Of Point Of Sale Information Technology Essay Point of sale is a place where transaction occurs in exchange for services and goods. The point of sale refers to the physical electronic cash register or dedicated Point of Sale hardware used during checkout, but the POS is simply the location where the sale is conducted, money changes hands and a receipt a is given, which can also occur on a smart-phones, tablets, laptops or mobile POS device when the right hardware and POS software is combined with the mobile devices. It is a system allowing business transaction to be monitored, and also facilitating tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming when they are done manually such as monitoring stock, inventory managing, etc. POS also refers to the capturing of data and customer payment information at counter when goods or services are bought and sold. The POS transaction are captured using a variety of devices which include computers, cash registers, optical and bar code scanners, magnetic card readers, or any combination of these devices. This is the physical location from where  goods  are  sold  to  the customers. Point of  sale  is often more specific than a  general  building or  store  where goods are sold, typically indicating the piece of  technology  which is used to finalize the  transaction. They are seen as a  standard  cash register  at the  front  of the store; such as, at a restaurant, grocery store, shopping malls, etc. The point of sale can also be an electronic  system  which are used by the staff for  multiple  purposes, such as ringing up  orders  as well as generating the  receipt  and finalizing purchases. Devices Used The computer software and the register are not the only devices used in POS systems. Devices such as bar code scanners are as important to use the POS system effectively. Magnetic card readers are used for debit and credit cards and optical scanners that examine the object itself for signatures and images. All these provide different sets of data to the computer which can be used to track sales more accurately. POS systems can be very expensive. Small businesses will need to invest several thousand of dollars for the system, legal bar code system, scanner and software needed to run the POS system. Even when a POS system is set up, the data it produces does no good unless managers and marketers know how to use it effectively and efficiently. Literature Review POS (Point of Sale) systems are commonly used in retail stores, restaurants, stadiums, hotels and casinos, etc. The basic use of these systems is to scan items for purchase, place in order and calculate the bills. They are usually industry specific. What can Point Of Sales System do? * Track all elements of each order, from payment, design details, delivery date and months in advance. * Customer Information: It automatically records the customers name, credit card information, address and what they bought and when. * Customer Relations: Everything regarding the customers purchases can be immediately called upon from the system. This makes handling returns, payments and other transactions easier even if the customer has misplaced the paperwork. In a multi-store environment it does not matter which store the customer goes to. All the information are available at all the stores. * Inventory Control: The computer keeps record of the stores inventory. This makes the POS terminals attached to it, automatically update the inventory with every sale or return. This helps the person in multi-inventories keep track of any stock is going to get over. The central office knows at all times how much stock each store has. * Inventory Analysis: The system is able to calculate at what rate each item is selling at all times, making it easy to decide what quantity has to be purchased. * Reduce Out of Stock: In case there is low stock, Low stock reports and purchase orders are generated automatically with enough lead time to receive goods. * Bar code Integration: Various bar-code reading devices can be used in conjunction with shelf stocking, warehousing and at the sales terminal. This will create a speedy entry and reduce human error. * Warranty Tracking: The time and date of purchase are automatically recorded. This information can be easily retrieved from the system within seconds. Warranty issues can be easily handled by stores other than the one where the purchase was made. * Special Pricing: Sales and specials discounts are easily controlled. Starting and end dates can be assigned to the products or product groups and the system will automatically handle them. * Sales Commissions: The commissions are automatically calculated and reported by the system. Different product lines can carry different commissions. Later commissions can be automatically reduced if the sales-person discounts an item. * Profit Center / Product Line Control: It is very easy to set up both profit centers and product lines. This makes tracking performance of individual sales managers and product line profitability easy. * Accounting: The Point of Sale system is completely integrated with full function accounting (Inventory, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and General Ledger) thus making the books always up-to-date. No hand entries by book-keeping staff are required. In a multi-store environment the central office always has the accounts for each individual store in real time and can produce consolidated accounting reports as well. * Data Export: The Data files and reports can be exported from the POS system for use with other software when there is need. * Data Import: Part number lists, customer lists and other bulk information from outside sources can be imported into the POS system without resorting to hand entry. * Manager Control: The manager has complete access and control to the store or chain of stores at any time of day or night. He can even do store transactions locally. * Security Levels: The Employees are only allowed the access assigned to their password only. * Loss Prevention: Record keeping is so thorough and clear that any employee theft of inventory or received cash, even if cleverly disguised can be detected and traced. Need of the study To know the level of use of POS system among the students of Amity University, Noida. To know the awareness of POS among the students. To know the amount of use of POS system among the students of Amity. Objective of the study: The objective of the study here is to know the use and awareness of the POS system among the students. The amount of use of POS transactions by the students during different courses of purchases. To increase the level of knowledge of POS system among the students. To find out the reasons why POS system is not used in case of both awareness and non-awareness. Rationale behind the study: The presence of POS system in various Malls or stores has become a common sight in todays market. People make their purchases mainly using debit/credit cards in place if paper cash. How does this POS system work? The person making the payment through his card is debited an amount which is the value of the price of the product he is purchasing from the store. This amount is directly credited into the account of the store, form which ever bank it has opened its account with. Since there is no exchange of paper money, transactions takes place in a few seconds, making it less time consuming and less energy involved. On the customers side he does not have the pain of carrying ready cash with him. This wide use of POS system brings us to a study of whether this facility is aware to the young minds of the future leaders and entrepreneurs. The research topic will study how much are the students aware about the POS system that are available in the market. With both the mode of cash and card purchases available, it will see what is used more often and why. It will study the positive as well as the negative impacts in the minds of the students using the system and also who dont use it. The level of awareness of both the group of people who use and who dont will be required to obtain, which will provide the researcher to obtain the final result. Research Methodology: Research method: Descriptive research Sampling method: Convenience Sampling Sampling size: 200 Sampling Universe: Student of Amity University, Noida Sector 125. Data collected: Primary Statistical tool Analysis: Microsoft Excel. Data Collection Method: Data will be collected through the distribution of questionnaires and interaction with the students. After the questionnaires are filled up as required and obtaining the required number of responses, it will be analyzed to reach the necessary findings. Primary Data: The data will be collected by the means of survey which will be done on the basis of various interactions with the students. A questionnaire prepared by the researcher will also be given to the responder who will be filling up the necessary questions. This set of questions will later be analyzed to obtain the required result. Hypothesis: Null: H0: the students are aware about the Point of Sales system Alternative: H1: The students are not aware about the Point of Sales system. Null H0: The students use the POS system Alternative: H1: The students do not use the POS system. Data Analysis and Interpretation Period of using a bank account: Respond Frequency Percentage Less than 6 months 117 58.5% Between 6 months to 1 year 35 17.5% 1 to 2 years 27 13.5% More than 2 years 21 10.5% According to the data collected from the survey, it was found that most of the students had their accounts operating from two years and above. The others had accounts opened just a few months back or a year. Mode of Purchases more frequently used: Response Frequency Percentage Cash Purchase 52 26% Card Purchase 148 74% The research Survey shows that majority of the students used the mode of cash payment. Card payment was also used but at a lower scale. When asked why, their reply would be because they felt more comfortable using cash other than cards. Their main reason for not using card payments was lack of security and confidence. Awareness on Point of Sale system: Response Percentage Good 36 Average 38 Poor 10 It has been found that the level of awareness of Point of Sale system among the students were good. Majority of them had an idea or knowledge what exactly a point of sale could do and also were aware about its benefits as well as its short-comings. There were very less percentage of students who had less or no knowledge a all of the POS systems. Frequency of using Debit/Credit Card Response Frequency Percentage Always 32 16% Very Frequently 60 30% Occasionally 42 21% Rarely 20 10% Very rarely Never 10 5% The survey shows us that the use of POS is very frequently used. This frequency is mostly among the students who are aware about the POS systems and use both cash as well as card purchases. Rank of POS system according to preferences Ticketing 3 Entertainment 4 Online Shopping 2 Shopping 1 Cash Transfers 5 The survey shows that majority of the students who use the POS systems are using them mainly for the purpose of shopping and online purchases. The facility o cash transfers are the least used. Satisfaction of using Point of Sale system: Response Frequency Percentage Strongly Agree 20 10% Agree 60 30% Neutral 30 15% Disagree 5 2.5% Strongly disagree The level of satisfaction among the students using POS system has been agreed by a majority. A neutral feeling is followed by the students who has been aware and using this service. Also a strong level of satisfaction is also found among the sampled sized. Reason for not using Point of Sale system Lack of advertisement 5 Lack of interest 15 No use 4 Lack of security 10 Lack of confidence 10 Any other 2 The survey studied the various reasons why some of the students were not using this POS system when it made transactions so much easier. The main reason for this was due to the Lack of interest in the minds of the students. This was followed lack of security and interest. Lack of advertisement was another reason for causing a low awareness among the students. Findings: The level of awareness about the POS system among the students is good. The use of this system is also found at a good scale among the students who are aware about the POS system. Though the level of awareness is good, some students still do not use as frequently as expected due to different reasons. The use of POS system is more among the group of students who have opened their bank accounts from 2 years and above. Students using accounts below a year have lesser use. Reason for lack of awareness is mainly because of not having a account for themselves. Another reason for not using this system is the lack of proper advertisements, lack of confidence and security. The POS system is mainly used for the purpose of shopping and online purchases by the students. They are more comfortable with these simple transactions that the POS offers. Suggestions: Banks and any other financial institutions providing this facility should make the effort of educating the POS system to its customers. Effective advertisements should be made in order to make the customers more aware of the system available. The Lack of security and confidence among the customers can be eradicated by using effective softwares that are immune to hackers and other flaws. Proper education should be implanted in the minds of the consumers in order to make them aware as well as use this facility. Adequate on sight experience from frequent users can also be done to motivate the individuals who do not use due to various reasons. Conclusion: The study of the topic Study on Awareness of Point of Sale system among the students of Amity University, Sector 125 found that a large number of students are aware about the presence of POS systems around them. Many use them because they are convenient and easy. Others though they have the knowledge and awareness are still hesitated to use them for various reasons. The Point of Sale system has made transactions operating in various stores very fast and efficient. They not only provide the benefit of cash less transactions but also keep track of every product or product group in the stores. This information helps the store manger to keep track of his products in his store and make necessary purchases before they run out of stock. Countries like USA mostly use this facility on a very large scale. Thus the final conclusion to this study was that the level of awareness of the POS system among the students is above average. In order to promote it more, a good amount of work in the field of advertisements and security has to be done. The above few reasons were the most prominent for its non use by certain people. It is only when they use the system they will realize the benefits of it.

Jane Austens Emma Essay -- Jane Austen Emma Essays Society

Jane Austen's Emma Beautiful dresses, passionate romances, elegant parties, a general state of leisure and happiness – these are only a few of the idealistic views of the nineteenth century. In her novel, Emma, Jane Austen paints a much more realistic picture of the ins and outs of high society in England of the 1800’s. Through the presumptions and pride of the characters of heroine, Emma Woodhouse, and secondary character, Mrs. Elton, Austen presents a stark critique of the social assumptions and diplomatic maneuvering so common of the society of her time, however, by the end of the novel, Austen’s critique is made clear by a subtle foil of these two characters – Emma having been the only one of the two to learn her lesson. Both of these two ladies, each high in status, display somewhat of a god-complex, taking it upon themselves to partially assist, but mostly re-mold, women whom they view as inferior to themselves. Though Mrs. Elton does this in a much less tactful and more forceful way, she and Emma both view their respective pupils as a pawn to be toyed with and, ultimately, a display of their superiority. Emma’s fancies of becoming a puppet-master begin when she is in the company of Harriet Smith, a girl attending Mrs. Goddard’s boarding school. Austen tells Emma’s thoughts, writing, â€Å"She would notice her†¦ improve her†¦ detach her from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her into good society; she would form her opinions and her manners. It would be an interesting, and certainly a very kind undertaking; highly becoming her own situation in life, her leisure and powers† (37-38). This passage makes clear Emma’s intentions of whittling Har riet into what Emma deemed best, not just to better Harriet’s situati... ...Emma tells Jane her preference of having things in the open. These two situations, back to back, serve to foil the two characters of Emma and Mrs. Elton – Emma coming away the more respectable of the two. Through Emma and Mrs. Elton, Jane Austen makes clear her vast understanding of the society in which she lives, and she shakes her finger to it. The heartache that both characters cause, Mrs. Elton in Jane Fairfax and Emma in Harriet, serves as a reproach to the gossipy, haughty, conspiring women in her society. Mr. Knightly, who serves as Emma’s conscience through most of the novel, best portrays the lesson by telling Emma, â€Å"Mystery; Finesse – how they pervert the understanding!† (352), and it is this advice that Austen makes clear throughout her novel. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. R.W Chapman. Rev. Mary Lascelles. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006.

Light and Sight in The Good-Morrow Essay -- Good-Morrow Essays

Light and Sight in The Good-Morrow John Donne’s poetry deals with themes of creation and discovery. In his work "The Good-Morrow," these issues are discussed through the use of poetic symbols. Donne gives major emphasis to the sense of sight as a way of discovering pure love. The first stanza contains images of sleep and, more generally, the ways in which one’s eyes can be closed to the world. Donne uses phrases like "not weaned" (2), "childishly" (3), and "dream" (7), to suggest the idea that when one’s eyes are closed, there is more than light that is denied from the sense of sight. In the visual example given, his imagery goes beyond that which is normally associated with the absence of light. Figuratively speaking, the narrator is talking about the light which comes from being knowledgeable about the ways of the world. In this sense, to have a "dream" of someone is to look at an illusion (7). This presents an interesting paradox. When talking about issues of blindness and sight, one necessarily assumes that some kind of light is present. Sight only comes into play when one is either denied vision or given the privilege of vision in the material world. To the speaker, a world without the presence of light has no concept of basic form. The last two lines of the first stanza deal with this issue. Those lines state,"If ever any beauty I did see,/Which I desired, and got, ‘twas but a dream of thee." (6-7) Though the speaker is in a place where there is no light, within the world of the sleeping dream, shades of "beauty" have come to him, and he has mistook them for the true light of beauty introduced in the next stanza. Throughout stanza two, images waking into the daylight world replace the dark images of slee... ...Through the act of looking, the outside world can be viewed as a direct manifestation of the power of true love. The opening line of this stanza reads,"My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears," (15) Giving the reader an image showing the circular reflection of a face within an eye suggests the form of a world existing within the gaze of the speaker. The reflected image is actually a world of potential, filled with hope of love, that creates a light all its own. The last lines of the poem allude to this,"If our two loves be one, or thou and I/Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die." (20-1) The speaker, and perhaps Donne himself, is given the power of life eternal through the love he finds in his partner’s eyes. Their "two loves" are truly "one" if by the grace of their emotions for each other, they can imagine a life together where,"none can die†

Ernesto Guevara de Serna Essay -- Ernest Che Guevara Biographies Essay

Ernesto Guevara de Serna Ernesto Guevara de Serna was born in Argentina in 1928 into a fairly privileged family. He developed serious asthma at the age of two, which would plague him throughout his life. He was home-schooled by his mother, Celia de la Serna. It was these early years when he became an eager reader of Marx, Engels, and Freud which all were all part of his father's library. He went to secondary school in 1941, the Colegio Nacional Dean Funes, Cordoba, where he excelled in literature and sports. At home he was impressed by the Spanish Civil War refugees and by the long series of political crises in Argentina. These culminated in the ‘Left Fascist’ dictatorship of Juan Peron, to whom the Guevara de la Sernas were opposed. These events and influences implanted ideas of contempt for the charade of parliamentary democracy, a hatred of military politicians and the army, the capitalist oligarchy, and, above all, U.S. imperialism. Although his parents, most notably his mother, were anti-Peronist activists, he did not take participate in revolutionary student movements and showed little interest in politics at Buenos Aires University (1947) where he studied medicine. He focused on understanding his own disease, and later became more interested in leprosy. In 1949 he made the first of his long journeys, exploring northern Argentina on a bicycle. This was the first time Ernesto came into contact with the very poor and the remnants of the Indian tribes. It was during this leave of absence from schooling that Guevara, now nicknamed "Che" (Italian origin meaning chum or buddy), first experienced the depth of poverty and suffering of his fellows. In 1951, after taking his exams, he made a much longer journey. He visited southern Argentina, Chile, where he met Salvador Allende, and Peru, where he worked for several weeks in the San Pablo leprosarium. He then was in Colombia at the time of La Violencia, and Venezuela and Miami where he was arrested but soon released. He returned home for his finals sure of only one thing: he did not want to become a middle-class general practitioner. He passed, specializing in dermatology, and went to La Paz, Bolivia, during the National Revolution in which he condemned as an opportunist. From there he went to Guatemala, arriving during the socialist Arbenz presidency. It was in Guatemala that he began ... ...reabouts were a secret and his death was widely rumored. He was in various African countries, notably the Congo surveying the possibilities of turning the Kinshasa rebellion into a Communist revolution, by Cuban-style guerrilla tactics. He returned to Cuba to train volunteers for that project, and took a force of 120 Cubans to the Congo. His men fought well, but the Kinshasa rebels did not. They were useless against the Belgian mercenaries, and by autumn 1965 Che had to advise Castro to withdraw Cuban aid. Che's final revolutionary adventure was in Bolivia where he grossly misjudged the revolutionary potential of that country with disastrous consequences. The attempt ended in his being captured by a Bolivian army unit and shot a day later. Because of his wild, romantic appearance, his dashing style, and his unwillingness to bend to any kind of establishment, Che became a legend and an idol for the revolutionary—and even the merely discontented—youth of the later 1960s and early 70's. He was a focus for the kind of desperate revolutionary action which seemed, to millions of young people, the only hope of destroying the world of middle class industrial capitalism and communism.

About a Boy film review

Will Freeman (Hugh Grant; – Bridget Jones's Diary) is enjoying his rich, meaningless life, living off of his dad's Christmas song as a bachelor who lives in London. He is a lazy, self-centred man who thinks about no-one but himself. Will is a player; he joins a single parent group called SPAT (Single Parents Alone Together). He goes to these meetings and ends up going on a date. She has to bring her best friend's son called Marcus Brewer (Nicholas Hoult). When they get back to Marcus's house they find Marcus's mother; Fiona (Toni Collete), unconscious on a sofa after a suicide attempt. Fiona recovers and Marcus realises two people is not enough. Marcus calls up Will and arranges them to go to dinner. Marcus starts to follow Will and finds out his doesn't have a child. Marcus starts coming to Wills; watching television and they become friends. Marcus and Fiona spend Christmas and New Year's with Will. At the SPAT group Will meets another woman called Rachel. She believes Marcus is Will's son and he plays along. He then realises where he went wrong and he tells her and he realises what he is. Fiona starts to cry before Marcus goes to school and he worries for her, and before she had told him, his voice makes her happy. He decides to sing at a school concert to make her happy. The next part is for you to find out. Will invites some people around his flat for Christmas, and Rachel is there. This film was directed by Paul and Chris Weisz; they directed American Pie. About a Boy is quite similar to that film. Also it was written by Nick Hornby who also wrote the book High Fidelity. He has turned lots of books into films and has had his novel published in 1998: Fever Pitch. The music was written and performed by Badly Drawn Boy, Damon Gough, Nick Hornby asked him to provide music for the entire movie. Hornby believes his music had the power to enchant and change people. The main themes of this movie are; Growing up (changing), Consequences of suicide, Family & Friends (Love), Responsibilities, Relationships, Truth & Honesty and Single-parents. The scene that really stood in my mind is when Marcus commits social suicide where he sings ‘Killing Me Softly' for his Mum to make her happy. Will convinces Fiona to go and watch, and Will drives her up to the concert. Marcus had paid a boy in his school to play with him, but he wouldn't play so Marcus goes out on stage himself; Can Will Stop Marcus from singing? The audience claps Marcus onto the stage and then he starts to sing and they laugh at his face is shown by a close-up on him and zooms out changing from time to time. Will comes onstage playing a guitar and plays backup. When they finished Will carried on playing the guitar expressing his, weird but funny, feelings. Rachel notices Will is not just thinking about himself for a change. This compares with the theme of changing people as Will used to think about nobody but himself but now he thinks about helping Marcus. This gives the effect that people can change if they really try to. If you wanted to make the film better, I feel that you wouldn't have to change that much. The thing I would change is the music should be varied, as the same style of music and get repetitive. Most films do not always have the same genre of music in. Other than that, I do not have any other criticisms. This is a really brilliant film and I could watch it over and over again.

Mercedes Benz All Activity Vehicle Essay

The manoeuvre representing case lit contains numerous examples of Japanese represent direction practices however, a couple of(prenominal) cases describe the practice session of tar confirm be by large companies distant Japan. The purpose of the Mercedes-Benz AAV case is to make do the warlike environment of a leading German automotive manufacturer and the keep companys response to changing competitive conditions. The pedagogics plan generally follows the suggested student subsidisation indecisions. In ordinates, I recommend rolling supernumerary material during the case word of honor. These questions atomic number 18 set by a check mark. pupil Assignment Questions1. What is the competitive environment face up by MB?Students will pass judgment a number of changes, including significant commercialise sh ar lost to Japanese companies such(prenominal) as Lexus. assay the impressiveness of a cultural change taking place within top counsel at Mercedes. Reinforce that Mercedes is a company that had neer lost money. They simply built the trump car their engineers could object and priced it above address. pauperization often exceeded supply. As a result, terms had never been a primary con postureration. Changes allow in exist competition crop innovation.2. How has MB reacted to the changing world market for high life elevator cars? Students should rate the following changes implemented by management at Mercedes try to get them to explain how different these approaches were from traditional strategies at Mercedes umteen new product introductionspartnering with suppliers trim down system complexitynew furiousness on cost controllayers of management reducedlead time from model to introduction reduced.3. Using Coopers cost, quality, officiateality chart, discuss the factors on which MB competes with some other automobile stickrs such as Jeep, Ford, and GM. If the instructor wishes to give a brief mini-lecture on Robin Coopers pick triplet and confrontation scheme, this is a great pourboire in the case discussion to do so. (Robin Cooper, When Lean Enterprises Collide, Boston Harvard telephone row School Press, 1995.) The factors areprice-at mid to upper operate of zonequality-at upper range of zone run forality-at upper range of zone.An fire point to discuss is that Mercedes does not produce the just about expensive sports utility vehicle. This billet is reserved for the Land R everywhere however, they strategically placed themselves toward the luxury end of the spectrum. Also, contrary many Japanese examples, Mercedes does not use bearing be as a strict cost control utensil to produce the lowest priced product in its class. 4. How does the AAV project link with MB strategy in terms of market reporting? The new introductions expand the product line of the traditionally luxury-oriented manufacturer. Recent product introductions embarrass the followingA classC classSLKE classM class.These n ew introductions include new sports cars and off-road vehicles. The C-class is a mid-sized vehicle sometimes referred to as the baby-Benz. permits discuss the instalments of the come out costing model and how these elements are developed. At this point in the discussion I normally write the direct costing commandment on the board and lead students to con spatial relationr sources of various inputs selling price margetarget cost.What are the sources of input for the intercommunicate selling price? Students will most likely identify the following sources of randomness customer focus multitudescomparable products living potential.Stress the broad, cross-functional aspects of acquiring consumer information. To compare products, the company had to evaluate existing competitive vehicles as well as vehicles under emergence.What factors are considered when developing the ask margin? This question provides a link to finance classes. roughly students have studied the concepts of w eighted-average cost of chief city. I recommend spending a few minutes reviewing these concepts and linking cost of capital to crystallise present apprise (NPV) analysis. Because of the capital-intensive structure of automobile manufacturing, exertion volume is a faultfinding factor in determining individually models NPV. Students whitethorn identify the following points for determining a required margin. long-run profitabilitycost of capitalprofitability across the entire product mix (classes of vehicles) sales volume by class.The MB case suggests the target cost is alive. Is this consistent with the ideals of target costing? I generally emphasize that Mercedes did not consider the target cost to be locked in. It was a moving target. As engineering changes became necessary, the target cost was allowed to move. However, before make a change, market forces were considered. For example, changes included the addition of side airbags. In addition, the European press was exact o f a simulated wood-grain part. Management obdurate the part would re primary(prenominal) plastic because cost could not be passed on to the consumer. The main point to emphasize is the radiation diagram of the vehicle is dynamic thus cost must evolve to reflect the changing design characteristics.5. Explain the process of developing a component enormousness superpower. How can such an mogul guide managers in making cost diminution decisions? The index development process has five steps, as follows consumer enormousness family line rankingstarget cost parcel by function conventioning category function group matriximportance indextarget cost indexI recommend making slides of disconcerts 1-5 to quicken discussion. Index development is an important element in the early conceptualization arrange of the AAV. The indexes help to quantify some real abstract concepts. tabulate 1. From conversations with potential consumer groups, a list of key categories was developed. Next, potential customers were asked to rate the importance of each category. Their responses were computed as a percentage. Thus, safety and comfort of the AAV were viewed as importantly more important than economy and styling. knock back 2 represents a rough view of the cost by function group and the telling percentage. The information is used after to create a target cost index. submit 3 is best tacit by reading each category as a column.The rows explain the relative importance of each function group to satisfying each category define by customers. An interesting aspect of this tabularise is that the link between consumer preferences and engineering components is do explicit. Table 4 builds on Table 3 by weighting the percentages computed in Table 3 by the importance percentage calculated in Table 1. The key point is to understand which function groups contribute the most (least) to important (less important) consumer categories. Table 5 results in a target cost index that atte mpts to capture cost and benefit trade-offs. As discussed in the case, this index may indicate a cost in excess of the perceived value of a function group. Thus, opportunities for cost reduction (aligned with customer requirements) may be identified.6. How does MB approach cost reduction to arrive at target be? At this point, ask students to identify various value-engineering strategies. At Mercedes, cut down the cost of each function group was accomplished by reducing costs of various components that make up the function group. Stress the importance of this approach over an across-the-board cut.7. How do suppliers factor into the target costing process? Why are they so critically important to the succeeder of the MB AAV? From the conceptual phase by dint of the exertion phase, the suppliers of systems for the AAV truly were partners. Suppliers attended fix meetings with the cost planners throughout the entire process. Thus, suppliers were design and development partners from very early stages of development, amenable for meeting cost targets. Why is the kinship with suppliers a crucial element in the success of the AAV? Suppliers provide entire systems for the AAV.The installation uses a JIT production system. In fact, many suppliers deliver directly to the assembly line, quite a than to a small warehouse. The Black Warrior River uninvolved Mercedes and a major system supplier. This supplier built a new production facility on the same side of the river as the Mercedes Benz plant to avoid attainable delays associated with accidents on a major bridge.8. What utilization does the accounting department play in the target costing process? Stress the fact that accountants were watchdogs in the target costing process. Their primary responsibility was to ensure costs did not exceed targets during the production phase. Thus, the accountants social function was as follows cost control actual vs. targetdevelopment stageproduction stage.What are some of th e organizational barriers that may challenge managers attempting to introduce TC systems? testify to get students to identify various impediments to target costing systems in the United States. Examples may includewillingness to share cost information with supplierssuppliers treated as adversariesgovernment regulations affecting exchange of information.