Thursday, October 31, 2019
Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 47
Assignment Example The advantages of becoming a motocycle repair â€Å"engineer†include low training costs and ease of starting a business as no formal certificates are required. The possible disadvantage of such a career is that it may be low paying and subject to high competition as many entrants are expected in the market. There are no documented records of innovations by motorbike repaire experts. Aeronautical or aerospace engineering is broadly concerned with how airplanes and spaceships work. More specifically, the discipline is concerned with the design and manufacture of aircraft, communication systems, flight simulators, and air propulsion and control systems among other structures relevant to aviation (degreedirectory.org par 2). Typically, aeronautical engineers involve in the creation of models and prototypes for new airplanes, perform tests on prototypes and make necessary changes on them, and design procedures for performing aviation related tests (degreedirectory.org par 2). Aeronautical engineers in the U.S. earn a starting median salary of 60,000USD per annum (cms.montgomerycollege.edu. par 1). Professionals in the middle of their careers earn a median yearly wage of $120,000. Statistics from the US Bureau of Labor statistics reveal that as of 2008, the country had 71,600 aeronautical engineers. The engineers work with airlines, aviation authorities, airplane and manufacturers with job prospects high depending on level of training and experience. Advantages of taking aeronautical engineering as a career choice include higher pay compared to most other professions and high prestige going by statistics (bls.gov par 1). Disadvantages associated with aeronautical engineering as a career choice include high risks associated with working on flight and relatively few vacancies with slower than average (5%) growth according to (bls.gov par 1). One of the
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Are the Peasants Revelting Occupy Wall Street Takes on the World Essay
Are the Peasants Revelting Occupy Wall Street Takes on the World - Essay Example Of course the nature of peasantry has altered. To judge by the Twitter feeds, Facebookpostings, blog entries, YouTube uploads, and the nearly interminable scroll of theOccupyWallStreet website, modern hewers of wood and drawers of water can be fairly said to"serf the Internet." Yet the underlying causes of revolt haven't changed since Sparta's fifth century BC helottroubles or the Roman Republic's First Servile War of 135-132 BC. The few have a lot. Themany have little. Click reset. ... There isn't much good to be said about the origins or the outcomes of peasant revolts, butthere are good reasons they keep happening. Economic distress equals political unrest, on theperfectly reasonable assumption that politics and economics are joined at the hip. No matter ifthe wrong Siamese twin often takes the beating--any political unrest will have some influenceon foreign policy. As political unrest goes, the Occupy movement would seem insignificant. There's somethingtoo smug, ironic, and self-admiring in the way it quotes the styles of protests with moresubstance, protests against racial discrimination, war, and dictatorship. A November 17th blogpost at OccupyWallStreet.org claimed, " This is the climax of a decades-long battle for the soulof humanity itself." But, according to the New York Daily News, when Joan Baez sang atZuccotti Park many of the sleep-in's youngsters didn't know who she was. (And Occupy hasmore bongo drums than even an old beatnik like Joannie could tolerate.) But we live in a virtual world. Action increasingly takes place in our imaginations. And OccupyWall Street has tweaked the imagination of America even if most Americans can't quiteimagine sitting under tarps in front of the local T. Rowe Price office, talking about it all night.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Capital budgeting techniques: Sensitivity and Scenario analysis
Capital budgeting techniques: Sensitivity and Scenario analysis Graphically show and explain the following terms, how you could link them to capital budgeting techniques in your decision making (1000 words) Sensitivity analysis Scenario analysis Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity analysis is a ‘what if’ tool that examines the effect of increase or decrease in a company’s net profit. Sensitivity analysis can help in answering question like ‘What would be the forecasted net income if sales are increased or decreased by 30%, 20% or 10%. Sensitivity analysis is frequently used in capital budgeting for determining how sensitive an NPV analysis is to changes in variable assumptions. While conducting analysis, each variable is fixed except one and by changing this one variable, the effect on NPV or IRR can be viewed. The first step in performing a sensitivity analysis is building a base case scenario. This is typically the NPV using assumptions which are believed to be accurate. From this point various assumptions can be changed which had initially been based on potential assumptions. NPV is then recalculated and the sensitivity of NPV based on the change in assumptions is determined. Scenario Analysis Scenario analysis is a process of analysing decisions by considering alternative possible outcomes. Scenario analysis is designed to see the consequences of an action under different set of factors. Scenario analysis takes sensitivity analysis a step further. Rather than just looking at the sensitivity of the NPV analysis to changes in the variable assumptions, scenario analysis also looks at the probability distribution of the variables. Like sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis starts with the construction of a base case scenario. From there other scenarios are considered known as the ‘best case’ and ‘worst case’ scenario. Probabilities are assigned to the scenarios and computed to arrive at an expected value. Capital Budgeting and Use of Sensitivity and Scenario Analysis Capital budgeting is the process of analysing a company’s investment decisions such as investing in new equipment, machineries, plants, projects and products. This process involves the estimation of the expected cash flows, the calculation of the Net Present Value (NPV) and the calculation of the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the investment. NPV is defined as the present value of all cash inflows minus the present value of all cash outflows. If NPV is positive, the investment is making money and is thus viable. IRR is defined as the discount rate that makes the NPV zero. If IRR is greater than the opportunity cost of capital then the investment is feasible. There are two obstacles involved in the capital budgeting process. One involves the correct estimation of expected cash flow. The other is the use of correct discount rate also known as the project cost of capital. Capital budgeting is by definition, forward looking. When dealing with expected resources and demands, uncertainty is a major factor. Sensitivity analysis is a statistical tool that determines how consequential deviations from the expected value occur. Capital Budgeting example XYZ Water Filtration Plant needs to construct a new water filtration plant to filter 20 million litre water and deliver to consumers. An assessment should be carried out to evaluate the economics of the project and determine which parameter is sensitive to investment value, also to establish a sales price. Market price of water is $4 $5 per litre therefore, four different water price scenarios would need to be analysed to reach the best economic parameter, they are: $4, $4.25, $4.5 and $4.75. The selection criteria would be based on: NPV Cost of Capital 15% IRR Analysis and Comparison of Alternatives Preliminary data and estimation Table 1: Project Information Table 2: Baseline Cash flow calculation Baseline cash flow and NPV are calculated as follows: Table 3: Sensitivity Analysis Calculation In sensitivity analysis, each variable is changed one at a time to analyse its impact on the end result. In this case the impact of 10% increase or decrease in revenue, capital investment and operational cost is considered on the NPV. From table 3, a sensitivity graph can be plotted as follows: Based on above sensitivity analysis, it is evident that the revenue by terms of price is the main variable that is affecting NPV. Hence the economic optimization and evaluation will be based on parameter water price. Using formula in the spreadsheet, following can be obtained: Table 4: Water Sales Price Scenario Selection of preferred alternative From table 4, we can conclude that best scenario is at water price $4.74 per litre, refer to criteria NPV, IRR and Payout Time. Then the project is worth doing, with the water price $4.75 per litre resulting NPV>0, IRR>MARR and payout time less than five years. Benefits of using Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity and scenario analysis in useful in capital budgeting techniques for a number of reasons, including: It supports decision making or the development of recommendations for decision makers such as testing the robustness of a result. Financial model makers can effectively communicate with the decision makers for example, by making recommendations more credible, understandable and compelling. Increases understanding of relationships between input and output variables. It helps the investor to maintain their risk comfort level. Once projections are made concerning a specific investment, it can be decided whether risk should be taken for the worst case scenario. SOURCE http://businessplanhut.com/what-sensitivity-analysis-example-and-components-involved Source: Boundless. â€Å"Scenario Analysis.†Boundless Finance. Boundless, 03 Jul. 2014. Retrieved 27 Apr. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/finance/textbooks/boundless-finance-textbook/the-role-of-risk-in-capital-budgeting-12/scenario-and-simulation-assessments-99/scenario-analysis-427-7232/ http://www.assakkaf.com/courses/ence 627/lectures/chapter5.pdf http://www.spreadsheetml.com/finance/capitalbudgeting.shtml http://www.slideshare.net/ranasingh0820/sensitivity-amp-scenario-analysis https://kristal2011aace.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/w2_adi_the-gas-plant/#comments
Friday, October 25, 2019
An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - Social Codes in Beowulf Essay e
Social Codes in Beowulf                                                             In reading Beowulf, one cannot help noticing the abundance of references to weapons and armor throughout the text. Many passages involving weapons and armor contain important messages that the author is trying to convey. These passages involve the choice to use or refrain from using arms, the practice of disarming oneself upon entering another's home, and the idea of a man's worth being measured by his weapons.  First, the theme of choosing to use, or not to use, weapons against an adversary seems to be a major issue in the work. On three different occasions, when Beowulf fights Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, the choice of whether or not to use weapons against a foe is brought to the reader's attention. In the events leading up to the fight with Grendel, Beowulf says:  The monster in his recklessness cares not for weapons. Therefore, so that my liege lord Hygelac may be glad of me in his heart, I scorn to bear sword but with my grasp I shall grapple with the enemy ... foe against foe. I claim myself no poorer in war-strength ... than Grendel claims himself. Therefore I will not put him to sleep with a sword . . . though surely I might. (32, 35)  Beowulf knows he is evenly matched with Grendel, and that using a sword would make it an unfair contest because he would surely defeat Grendel. By making the fight fair, Beowulf maintains his honor, which is the main idea of each of the other confrontations as well.  In Beowulf's fight with Grendel's mother, he engages her with Hrunting, Unferth's sword, since she attacks him with a knife. When Beowulf decides to fight the dragon, he comments: "I... ...est represented by the passage in which Wiglaf, thane of Beowulf, makes the bold statement: "It does not seem right to me for us to bear our shields home again unless we can first fell the foe, defend the life of the prince of the Weather-Geats" (61).  All three of the ideas involving arms are recurring images throughout Beowulf: the choice to use or refrain from using arms, disarming oneself upon entering another's home, and the worth of a man being measured by his weapons,. They all deal with various layers of respect, obviously a very important issue to the person of the early Middle Ages and afford the reader an opportunity to understand an aspect of the medieval mind.  Works Cited Beowulf. Trans. E. T. Donaldson, 1966. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed.         M.H. Abrams. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1993. 2768.  An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - Social Codes in Beowulf Essay e Social Codes in Beowulf                                                             In reading Beowulf, one cannot help noticing the abundance of references to weapons and armor throughout the text. Many passages involving weapons and armor contain important messages that the author is trying to convey. These passages involve the choice to use or refrain from using arms, the practice of disarming oneself upon entering another's home, and the idea of a man's worth being measured by his weapons.  First, the theme of choosing to use, or not to use, weapons against an adversary seems to be a major issue in the work. On three different occasions, when Beowulf fights Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, the choice of whether or not to use weapons against a foe is brought to the reader's attention. In the events leading up to the fight with Grendel, Beowulf says:  The monster in his recklessness cares not for weapons. Therefore, so that my liege lord Hygelac may be glad of me in his heart, I scorn to bear sword but with my grasp I shall grapple with the enemy ... foe against foe. I claim myself no poorer in war-strength ... than Grendel claims himself. Therefore I will not put him to sleep with a sword . . . though surely I might. (32, 35)  Beowulf knows he is evenly matched with Grendel, and that using a sword would make it an unfair contest because he would surely defeat Grendel. By making the fight fair, Beowulf maintains his honor, which is the main idea of each of the other confrontations as well.  In Beowulf's fight with Grendel's mother, he engages her with Hrunting, Unferth's sword, since she attacks him with a knife. When Beowulf decides to fight the dragon, he comments: "I... ...est represented by the passage in which Wiglaf, thane of Beowulf, makes the bold statement: "It does not seem right to me for us to bear our shields home again unless we can first fell the foe, defend the life of the prince of the Weather-Geats" (61).  All three of the ideas involving arms are recurring images throughout Beowulf: the choice to use or refrain from using arms, disarming oneself upon entering another's home, and the worth of a man being measured by his weapons,. They all deal with various layers of respect, obviously a very important issue to the person of the early Middle Ages and afford the reader an opportunity to understand an aspect of the medieval mind.  Works Cited Beowulf. Trans. E. T. Donaldson, 1966. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed.         M.H. Abrams. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1993. 2768. Â
Thursday, October 24, 2019
The Spanish-American War and Imperialism
Q5-How did the Spanish-American War turn into a war of imperial expansion? Shawn Lannin 2/26/2013 The Spanish-American War originally started off as The United States protecting Cuba from its Spanish rulers essentially, but quickly evolved into colonial expansion. The war became a war of imperial expansion in the late 1800’s due to America’s new â€Å"outward†focuses on global markets and growing concerns of economic competition/expansion from other world powers. America, once a colony itself was now looking to expand its influence into other parts of the globe as its European cousins had been doing for quite some time.Before, during, and after the war Americans had growing concerns about the Pacific and East Asia. These foreign markets possessed vast amounts of natural resources and fertile lands for the taking; many expansionists had differing reasons for imperialistic expansion. Some argued religious purposes, some the spread of the White-Anglo-Saxon race, (W hite Mans Burden) while others stressed economic and military reasons to expand abroad. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a naval strategist, believed in a strong navy and that America should turn its focus outward and expand its influences into the world.Mahan also urged the acquisition of Pacific islands for military and naval superiority. Islands such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, The Philippines, and Guam soon became targets of America’s imperialistic aim. These islands could be used strategically to protect merchant fleets in route from Asia and also for military and economic purposes, for example the natural harbor found in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor served as a great naval base and served as a stepping-stone to Asia, while the fertile volcanic soils were perfect for sugar plantations.Expansionists also sought to protect their trade rights and foreign policies such as The Open Door Policy, which gave free trade rights in East Asian markets. China was in turmoil at the time and o ther world powers were exhibiting land grabs while trying to carve out â€Å"spheres of influence†to control trade in Chinese markets. Expansion in the Pacific would not only secure our rights to trade but would protect our interests over seas as well.Nations across the world were colonizing weaker countries through the concept of Social Darwinism and America didn’t want to fall by the way side so to speak. We had to keep up with the world powers and protect our best interest. It was a time of empires and after decades of isolationism, America decided it was time to show the world our power. By 1898 America had defeated Spain and with its defeat came the annexation of several island nations that we used to our benefit for years to come.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
How Is Evil Portrayed In Macbeth
In this essay I shall be looking at the way evil is portrayed in Shakespeares play, Macbeth. I will be concentrating on the characters in the play that contribute to the evil themes of the play. It is clear from the start of the play that the witches are the main source of evil. The witches have an enormous effect on the play, not only are they evil, but this is emphasised by the strong feelings against witches and witchcraft in Elizabethan times. Convicted witches were regularly tortured and even executed. Most people believed in witches and there was little opposition against this persecution. This was not helped by the fact hat the king, James 1 was also interested in this superstition, often, he interrogated the accused himself. It is clear from the start of the play that the witches play a key role. The first scene is the witches planning to meet Macbeth. The setting of this scene is very important; they meet on a moor in thunder and lightning. These surroundings portray an evil image; the moor is a very lonely, barren and bleak place, while thunder and lightning associate with evil. So even at the beginning of the play one of the themes is known. The witches language includes rhyming couplets that contradict each other and are very powerful. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air This quote tells us about the witches hatred for all things good, and their love for things that are evil. Shakespeare adds rhyme and rhythm to the witches language to emphasise their evilness. The second part of this quote adds to their image of being witches and would have created tension among Elizabethan audiences. The image of old women with cats and the ability to fly would have shocked an audience. The first meeting between Macbeth and the witches is significant as they make two predictions to Macbeth, Hail to thee hane of Cawdor and perhaps more significantly, That shalt be king hereafter. These proclamations astound Macbeth due to their sudden nature. The witches lure Macbeth into a false sense of security. The witches manipulate Macbeth and when he tells Lady Macbeth of the predictions, an evil plan is conceived. Ive done the deed. This deed is the worst possible crime, kingship; Macbeth has murdered king Duncan in cold blood. Macbeth, the brave warrior at the beginning of the play has been driven by his ambition to be king. However, the source of this evil deed may not have come from Macbeth himself. Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent undert. Lady Macbeth plants the seed of murdering king Duncan in Macbeths mind. The language Shakespeare uses here is significant, the flower is associated with beauty and goodness while the snake is associated with evil. The association with a snake would have been especially strong because in the bible the serpent is seen as an evil being. These comparisons to bible characters would also have shocked Elizabethan audiences, as they believed in heaven and hell. Perhaps the most famous scene in Macbeth concerns the witches and especially their language. Liver of blaspheming Jew, Finger of birth-strangled babe. These disgusting images are the ingredients of the witches spell. The language used shows the exploitation of innocence and vulnerability by the witches and this links in with the theme of the desire to bring all good things to evil. The imagery conjured up in the casts is one of pure evil. In the same scene the witches manipulate Macbeth by using three apparitions. The second of these apparitions lulls Macbeth into a false sense of security. Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee. The apparition, which is a bloody child, tells Macbeth of his fortune, For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. Shakespeare uses Dramatic Irony as these words confuse Macbeth. It is apparent from these words that Macbeth would feel invincible and that no man could harm him. However, Macbeth fails to see the contradiction between this and the first apparition. This is because Macbeth is unaware of Macduffs birth; he was born after his mother had died. It is only at the end of the play that Macbeth finally discovers his fate. After being told that Macduff had been, Untimely ripped from his mothers womb, describes the witches as Juggling Fiends. Macbeth is accusing the witches of deliberately juggling their words so that he could not understand them. This is a brilliant quote as Macbeth has just realised his life is in ruins, but the audience knew this earlier. The witches have changed Macbeth from a brave warrior to an evil, murderous, traitor. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. This quote is significant as it illustrates the change in Macbeth throughout the play, now even the witches consider Macbeth to be evil. However, when looking at the path of destruction that Macbeth has left ehind him it isnt very surprising. Just one man driven by his ambition to be king has led to a chain reaction of murders Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and desires! From this quote we can see Macbeths true feelings towards king Duncan. It tells us that no one will see the murder due to the darkness and lack of light. His dark intentions have imagery due the blackness of the night and evil desires and intentions of Macbeth. The murder of his once best friend, Banquo leads to Lady Macbeth going mad. The brains behind the relationship who conceived the plan of murdering ing Duncan which started the chaos of the whole play eventually commits suicide as she couldnt handle the guilt. Heres the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. This is a significant quote as although Lady Macbeth did not kill king Duncan it was her idea, and it could be argued that Macbeth wouldnt have murdered king Duncan without the influence of Lady Macbeth. The fear of the Scottish people is shown in a conversation between Donalbain and Malcolm. Theres daggers in mens smiles. This metaphor describes how Donalbain feels he can rust nobody and that everyone is putting on disguises; underneath the smiling faces is hatred and evil. The imagery conjures up pictures of the innocent and pleasant man on the outside but on the inside he is a traitor and a murderer. The quote portrays the scenes of anarchy and chaos in Scotland. In conclusion I think it is clear the witches mostly portray evil in Macbeth. Not only are the witches evil themselves but their evilness spreads to other characters throughout the play. I think there is little doubt that without the influence of the witches, Macbeth wouldnt have murdered king Duncan.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Fossil Fuels Essays - Energy Development, Fossil Fuel, Fuel
Fossil Fuels Essays - Energy Development, Fossil Fuel, Fuel Fossil Fuels FOSSIL FUELS. Contents Outline 3 I. Introduction (Fossil Fuel Energy) 4 II. Types of Fossil Fuels 6 Coal 6 Oil 7 Natural Gas 8 III. Conclusion 9 Bibliography energy.ca.gov/education/story/story-html/chapter05.html http://webhome.idirect.com/bobita/Cretaceous/Uses_Of_Fossils/index.htm http://science.cc.uwf.edu/SH/Curr/fossil.fuel.htm education.leeds.ac.uk/edu/technology/ebp97/leec/coal.htm education.leeds.ac.uk/edu/technology/ebp97/leec/gas.htm Other References Underwood, Shelly and Gary Energy - How Australia Works Published in Victoria, 1995, by Cardigan Street Publishers. Twist, Clint Facts on Fossil Fuels Published in Great Britain, 1990, by Gloucester Press. Healey, Kaye Energy
Monday, October 21, 2019
Free Essays on After Life
The afterlife, in many cases, sounds more magnificent than life as we know it. Beliefs about an afterlife are, in fact, beliefs and not perfectly accurate information. Having specific beliefs about a person’s destiny after death is a way for many people to cope with death and have a sense of closure. Ideas about the afterlife may vary greatly, but one thing all religions and cultures have in common is that they trust that their own specific beliefs are the only way. There is, and always will be, a broad range of views on the ideas of afterlife, from traditions as diverse as apocalyptic Judaism to Hellenistic religious culture. For more than 3,000 years Egyptians have supported their initial, original ideas of the afterlife. The Egyptian afterlife is very detailed and is described thoroughly in the Book of the Dead. Once an Egyptian passes away they transform into two parts, the Ba and the Ka. The Ba is described as being the breath or soul and looks like a human-headed bird while the Ka is a carbon copy of the deceased and is the guardian spirit or life force (Lewis 123). Both parts travel in a boat to the underworld and once they reach their destination they proceed through seven different gates. At each gate they have to give certain names and formulas to be able to pass. Once they make it through the gates, the Ka’s continue to the Hall of Justice. Similar to most courtrooms, there is a judge, a prosecutor, and jury members. Thoth, the god of wisdom, is the prosecutor, while forty-two divine figures make up the jury, but the final decision is based on Osiris, the judge (Lewis 125). The deceased a re to give a detailed account of their lives. After they have completed the account, their heart is placed on a scale opposite either a feather or an image of Maat. Maat is the goddess of truth and to Egyptians, a feather is symbolic of the same. If the heart outweighs the symbol of truth, it is a clear sign that the person has been sin... Free Essays on After Life Free Essays on After Life The afterlife, in many cases, sounds more magnificent than life as we know it. Beliefs about an afterlife are, in fact, beliefs and not perfectly accurate information. Having specific beliefs about a person’s destiny after death is a way for many people to cope with death and have a sense of closure. Ideas about the afterlife may vary greatly, but one thing all religions and cultures have in common is that they trust that their own specific beliefs are the only way. There is, and always will be, a broad range of views on the ideas of afterlife, from traditions as diverse as apocalyptic Judaism to Hellenistic religious culture. For more than 3,000 years Egyptians have supported their initial, original ideas of the afterlife. The Egyptian afterlife is very detailed and is described thoroughly in the Book of the Dead. Once an Egyptian passes away they transform into two parts, the Ba and the Ka. The Ba is described as being the breath or soul and looks like a human-headed bird while the Ka is a carbon copy of the deceased and is the guardian spirit or life force (Lewis 123). Both parts travel in a boat to the underworld and once they reach their destination they proceed through seven different gates. At each gate they have to give certain names and formulas to be able to pass. Once they make it through the gates, the Ka’s continue to the Hall of Justice. Similar to most courtrooms, there is a judge, a prosecutor, and jury members. Thoth, the god of wisdom, is the prosecutor, while forty-two divine figures make up the jury, but the final decision is based on Osiris, the judge (Lewis 125). The deceased a re to give a detailed account of their lives. After they have completed the account, their heart is placed on a scale opposite either a feather or an image of Maat. Maat is the goddess of truth and to Egyptians, a feather is symbolic of the same. If the heart outweighs the symbol of truth, it is a clear sign that the person has been sin...
Sunday, October 20, 2019
How to Deliver Bad News in Business Writing
How to Deliver Bad News in Business Writing Inevitably, we all have to deliver bad news in business writing. A large global heathcare company CEO sent a memo to his U.S. employees, announcing an imminent layoff. However, instead of being truthful, he dodged the issue by using at least 12 different euphemisms for the company's recent planned job cuts and layoffs. He never actually used the words "jobs" or "layoffs." This was a mistake. When delivering bad news, there are a number of techniques one can use, but they all contain two key elements to succeed: truth and sincerity. When we dodge the truth, and obfuscate meaning, our readers become more alienated and angry. They feel dismissed, unheard, unvalued. They will mistrust the entire message, and the writer. The CEO should not be apologetic for reducing the workforce. We should never apologize for a good business decision. However, he hid behind jargon cliches instead of buffering appropriately, engaging his audience, and providing complete content. At one point he describes layoffs as an "opportunity": "... the opportunity for employees in the aforementioned select areas to proactively "hand raise" and be considered for separation." Other poorly dodged phrases included: "reducing our expense base" "manage our expense base" "vacancy management" "restructure" "removing more open positions" "necessary actions" "we cannot promise the avoidance of such activities" "restructuring exercise" "affected employees" "the people who are directly affected" "the need for us to change our underlying operations" (You can read the full memo here.) How to Deliver Bad News in Business Writing If your news will cause your reader to emotionally disconnect from your message, before he or she reads fully, you should buffer your message. If the news is not significant, you can use a direct approach: To help readers accept your decision when using the direct plan, present a brief rationale along with the bad news in the first paragraph:NOT:The annual company Holiday Party originally scheduled for December 20 at the Boston Aquarium has been canceled.BUT:Because the current renovations at the Boston Aquarium may present safety hazards to our employees and their families, the Holiday Party scheduled for December 20 has been canceled. If leading with the negative news might be too harsh and emphatic, and your decision might sound unreasonable until the reader has heard the rationale, buffer the bad news indirectly by beginning with a neutral and relevant statement. Scenario: an important customer has asked your company to provide an in-house demonstration of your product, but this is against your policy. Agreement: We both recognize the promotional possibilities that often accompany a big anniversary sale such as yours. Appreciation: Thanks for letting us know of your success in selling ABC appliances. (Stop here - don't thank them for asking you to do something you're going to refuse or you'll sound insincere) Compliment: Congratulations on the growth of your stores and for your leadership in the Boston market for ten years. When you need to deliver bad news in business writing, use statements that are truthful and sincere.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Article analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Article analysis - Term Paper Example Health care in America faces relevant pressing issues that need immediate attention. Statistics provided by the AFL-CIO (â€Å"What’s Wrong With America, par. 2) reveal that 47 million Americans are without health insurance. Hacker (â€Å"Health Care for America†, par. 2) averred that â€Å"health insecurity is not confined to one part of the population. It is experienced by all Americans: those without insurance as well as those who risk losing coverage; those who are impoverished as well as those with higher incomes who experience catastrophic costs; those who are sick or injured as well as those who are just one sickness or injury away from financial calamity†. The Obama administration planned to reinforce the universal health care system for (almost) all Americans regardless of age, income, policyholder, gender or race. Incorporated in this universal health care plan is a National Health Insurance Exchange which would oversee current private insurance policyholders. Issues emerged on concerns that covering the uninsured entails paying higher taxes to subsidize this cost. In line of the economic crisis, these reforms are evaluated in the light of current budget constraints, specifically on education and Medicare programs. Further, the Miller averred that congressional leaders continue to divulge opposing views regarding the changes that were to be implemented and how to implement them. The cause of the disagreement was basically on public option, â€Å"a government-run insurance scheme, and how to pay for the remainder of reform†(BBC News, 2010, par. 19) The Republicans consistently opposed Obama’s healthcare reform indicating that healthcare would be "more bureaucratic and expensive" (BBC News, 2010, par. 25). They â€Å"focused on reducing the cost of health care and included only modest increases in insurance coverage†(Miller, 2010, 1103). The Democrats, on the other hand, supported Obama’s bill requiring â€Å"most Americans to
Friday, October 18, 2019
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems Essay
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems - Essay Example The nerve fibers of the parasympathetic nervous system are the cranial nerves, primarily the vagus nerve, and the lumbar spinal nerves. When stimulated, these nerves increase digestive secretions and reduce the heartbeat. The sympathetic nervous system activates what is often termed the fight or flight response. Like other parts of the nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system operates through a series of interconnected neurons. Sympathetic neurons are frequently considered part of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), although there are many that lie within the central nervous system (CNS). Sympathetic neurons of the spinal cord (which is part of the CNS) communicate with peripheral sympathetic neurons via a series of sympathetic ganglia. Within the ganglia, spinal cord sympathetic neurons join peripheral sympathetic neurons through chemical synapses. Spinal cord sympathetic neurons are therefore called presynaptic (or preganglionic) neurons, while peripheral sympathetic neurons are called postsynaptic (or postganglionic) neurons. At synapses within the sympathetic ganglia, preganglionic sympathetic neurons release acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that binds and activates nicotinic acetylchol ine receptors on postganglionic neurons. In response to this stimulus, postganglionic neurons principally release noradrenalin (norepinephrine). Prolonged activation can elicit the release of adrenaline from the adrenal medulla. Once released, noradrenalin and adrenaline bind adrenergic receptors on peripheral tissues. Binding to adrenergic receptors causes the effects seen during the fight-or-flight response. These include pupil dilation, increased sweating, increased heart rate, and increased blood pressure. Sympathetic nerves originate inside the vertebral column, toward the middle of the spinal cord in the
Maths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Maths - Essay Example 1. A hydroelectric project is expected to create a large lake into which some fish are to be placed. A biologist estimates that if 10,000 fish were introduced into the lake, the population of fish would increase by 50% in the first year, but the long-term sustainable limit would be about 60,000. Form the information above, write two ordered pairs in the form where . Hence, determine the slope and equation of the linear growth factor in terms of . It is also given that the long-term sustainable limit of population of fish is 60,000. This will be case when there is no increase in fish for next year, therefore, the growth factor (r) for this case will be equal to 1. Since, a logistic population growth model takes a similar form as the geometric population growth model. However, in this case, the growth factor depends on the size of the population and is variable. In previous section 1, the equation of growth factor (r) is determined, which is: 4. The biologist speculates that the initial growth rate may vary considerably. Following the process above, fine new logistic function models for using initial growth rates 2, 2.3, and 2.5. Describe any new developments. From table 2 data, it can be seen that for higher values of initial growth rate r (2, 2.3, 2.5 and 2.9), the logistic model does not correctly determine the population of the fish over the 20 years period. For example, for initial growth rate of 2, the fish population exceeds stable population (60,000) three times; for initial growth rate of 2.3, the fish population exceeds stable population (60,000) eight times; and for initial growth rate of 2.5, the fish population exceeds stable population (60,000) nine times. For initial growth rate of 2.9, the fish population exceeds stable population (60,000) ten times and sometimes it touches the population value of approximately 70,000. For initial growth rate of 2.9, the fish population exceeds stable population (60,000) ten times
Violence in Movies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Violence in Movies - Research Paper Example One of the most viewed and produced genres include violent and action packed movies which are purely entertaining in nature. However, the first years of violent movies were tightly regulated by the Production Code and therefore between the years 1939-1959, the genre of violent movies was in its lag phase; however produces recognized the potential of violence movies in the market and post 1960 production of such movies started though the concept of bloodshed was uncommon. It was only much later in the 1980’s that blood, guns and true violence was visible onscreen i.e. the depiction of violence changed drastically and till date the trend continues in American cinema. It needs to be admitted that though today violent activities are shown more in number, the actual visibility of blood was much raw in the older movies while today blood shedding is represented in a more sophisticated manner because the subject itself has become really common and the audience today have evolved too. It was in the 1980’s that the transition of movies into violence movies actually started since this was a drastic transitional period for the Hollywood film industry itself. One of the quintessential violent movies was the pure action movies whose basic structure and plot forms the basis of action movies that are made today. One of the first violent movies to be censored during this period was Conan, the Barbarian (1982) which was an action packed, adventurous and thriller. The concept of man-alien conflict also started in this period with the making of the Predator in 1985 where â€Å"the entire film literally boils down to a mano-a-mano standoff between Major Dutch Schaeffer, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the alien predator who has hunted and killed his platoon soldiers one by one†(Kendrick,2009,p96). However, Cannibal Holocaust (1980) which is predominantly the most violent documentary movie that has
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21
Summary - Essay Example As ethics cannot be defined on the basis of feelings, science, cultural norms and laws it is difficult to identify the ethical standards. Experts have recommended five sources that are likely to help in developing the ethical standards. The first one is the Utilitarian approach in which ethical action is expected to produce ‘the least harm’ or ‘the most good’. In the second approach which is ‘the rights approach’, an action that respects and best protects the moral rights of all those who are involved, is the ethical. In the justice approach, all individuals are treated equally by an ethical action. The common good approach says that the ethical reasoning is based on the interlocking relationships that exist in the society. The fifth approach i.e. the virtue approach suggests that ethical actions should be consistent with specific ideal virtues which help the process of development of humanity. One may find it difficult to identify the ethical s tandards even after using all these approaches together (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University). Ethical decision making requires enough sensitivity to various ethical issues as well as a method that is already practiced for exploring different ethical aspects. A framework is developed for making ethical decisions. According to this framework, ethical decision can be made by following few steps. The first of these is to identify the ethical issue which is followed by the collection of facts regarding the issue. Once this is done, alternative actions are needed to be evaluated by asking few questions that would be based on the five approaches that are already discussed. Finally a decision can be made and tested. Based on its outcome, further modifications can be made to make it more ethical (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara
Leadership & HR (Succession) (mod 3) case Essay
Leadership & HR (Succession) (mod 3) case - Essay Example The selection of the new CEO may be from the options available to the Board of Directors which is either internal or external to the organization. However, the success of the succession to the position of CEO is influenced by several social and psychological factors. These concepts of CEO succession and leadership are also applicable for Apple Inc when the CEO succession to Steve Jobs occurred with the appointment of Tim Cook as the new CEO of Apple Inc. Tim Cook is a US business executive who has been appointed as the CEO of Apple Inc. Tim Cook spent his childhood in Robertsdale in Alabama. His father was a worker in the US shipyard while his mother used to work at a pharmacy. After graduating from Robertsdale High School, Cook went on to complete B.S in Industrial Engineering and then post-graduated as Master of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Management in 1988. Before joining Apple in 1998, Tim Cook worked in the business of personal computers of IBM where he also served as the Chief Operating Officer of the reseller department of Intelligent Electronics in the later stages. He also worked in Compaq for a short stint of six months. Since 1998, Tim Cook held important positions in the post of senior vice-president for worldwide operations. In his path of advancement to the post of CEO, Tim Cook has worked as Executive Vice President in the department of worldwide sales of the company. Tim Cook was then appointed as the Chief Operating Officer before he was finally appointed as the CEO of the company in the year of 2011. Tim Cook joined Apple Inc. in 1998 when the company started to transform itself into an electronics and software giant under the inspirational leadership and passion of Steve Jobs. Time Cook who already had a long stint with IBM in the personal computers section had rich experience of running the worldwide operations of a
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21
Summary - Essay Example As ethics cannot be defined on the basis of feelings, science, cultural norms and laws it is difficult to identify the ethical standards. Experts have recommended five sources that are likely to help in developing the ethical standards. The first one is the Utilitarian approach in which ethical action is expected to produce ‘the least harm’ or ‘the most good’. In the second approach which is ‘the rights approach’, an action that respects and best protects the moral rights of all those who are involved, is the ethical. In the justice approach, all individuals are treated equally by an ethical action. The common good approach says that the ethical reasoning is based on the interlocking relationships that exist in the society. The fifth approach i.e. the virtue approach suggests that ethical actions should be consistent with specific ideal virtues which help the process of development of humanity. One may find it difficult to identify the ethical s tandards even after using all these approaches together (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University). Ethical decision making requires enough sensitivity to various ethical issues as well as a method that is already practiced for exploring different ethical aspects. A framework is developed for making ethical decisions. According to this framework, ethical decision can be made by following few steps. The first of these is to identify the ethical issue which is followed by the collection of facts regarding the issue. Once this is done, alternative actions are needed to be evaluated by asking few questions that would be based on the five approaches that are already discussed. Finally a decision can be made and tested. Based on its outcome, further modifications can be made to make it more ethical (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Civil Rights in the 1960s Essay Example for Free
Civil Rights in the 1960s Essay Have you ever sat down and wondered to yourself, what it would be like if schools, restrooms, restaurants, and even public transportation were still segregated today? The majority of people who were born after the 1970’s take for granted how lucky we are as a country and nation to have overcome slavery and the steps against racism we have battled are way through. Slavery was ended when Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and was later ratified in December of 1865. Though this law ordered the end to slavery it did very little if nothing to stop the racism that was given towards blacks or any other minority. Until the late 1950’s not many presidents or Congressman had tried to legislate civil rights laws. The Civil Rights struggle that heated up to its climax in the 1960’s was neither a simple nor wanted task by any means. Many Presidents tried taking on the civil rights movement starting with Harry S. Truman. Truman was not for racial equality among blacks and often said so, but he wanted fairness and equality before the law (Patterson 378-382). Once Truman got the ball rolling for the first time since Abraham Lincoln, Truman pushed for a Civil Rights bill and the movement quickly started to escalate and it became one of the main issues of American politics. The next man to take office was John F Kennedy; Kennedy acted as though he had plans to address civil rights issues and is known for saying â€Å"Ask not what your country can do for you†¦ask what you can do for your country†in his inaugural address( ). Kennedy’s plans were never met in his short time as president due to assignation in 1963. Kennedy dying meant Lyndon Johnson was the next president to take president and her went on to make the next big civil rights legislation when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was established. It took the support of millions and the lives of thousands for our country to realize that people should not be segregated because of their ethnicity or color of their skin. One of the first and largest groups of civil rights movement supporters was young people and in particular college students. A college student in 1963 saw a very different daily landscape than a current college student sees today. Today kids grow up side by side with minority kids throughout their daily lives; back then they might have been the lucky few and grown up looking at blacks as equals, but more than likely they viewed them as inferiors, or even just plain animals. Then these young racists knew know better and went away to College and found themselves in one of the first places you could find support of the civil rights movement. There are many reasons to why the ball picked up speed so fast at universities. The first reason being the young people of the 60’s had not lived alongside slaves or indentured servants nor did they see the great depression or WW2 as had many of their parents and politicians of the times, so they had a different view on racism. The young people of the 60’s were viewed by the older generations specially those of the south, as being soft for not having to deal with the hardships they had to such as the great depression and the World Wars ( ). Instead of going to work before graduating high school like people in the1920’s and 1930’s people were graduating high school and even getting jobs. This caused for a more educated and affluent generation which usually runs along with having certain moral standings such as treating people of a different race equally to people of your own. With a generation bigger than ever before and more people going to college than ever before it caused for a huge explosion of self-freedom. There was many different ways students would show there want of freedom (Patterson 407-408). A very common practice in the 1960’s was for blacks and fellow college students to have sit-in’s at all white diners or transportation places. These sit-ins consisted of a group or single African American going in and taking a seat where only whites are allowed to sit and refuse to leave. Hundreds of sit-ins occurred around the nation and many taking place on university campuses run by students themselves. Several of these sit-ins are famed for the effectiveness they afterwards achieved and others for the violence that was caused upon the protestors (Patterson 382-386).The most famous case is the story of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was on a public bus in the racist Montgomery, Alabama when the bus driver asked her to give her colored seat to a white man, because the white section was full. Rosa refused to get out of her seat and it resulted in her getting arrested. Rosa was not the first African American to refuse leaving her seat for a white person but she was viewed by th e NAACP as the best case to fight in court.( ) In the famous words of Jesse Jackson, â€Å"In many ways, history is marked as before and after Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation began to come down( ).The support of white students to follow fellow African American students to sit-ins was not always there. Local and national news stations started to air live footage of what was happening on the streets to protestors of segregation. The emotion put on a young college student when they see one of their peers that attend college to get an education just like them gets blasted with a fire hose from ten feet away or gets viciously attacked by police dogs. This picture caused thousands of other students to want to fight for change as well. Along with the new access to live feed news there were people such as Martin Luther King Jr. who were doing all they could to paint the realistic picture of the life of an American black man during segregation. Luther got his point across in multiple ways including his famous memoir, â€Å"Why We Can’t Wait†, in this memoir he explains how horrible the everyday life of an African American in America can be and how politicians for years have just looked over the horrific treatment of blacks and that it has been too long and the time is now(King Jr 11-13). Besides the sit-ins occurring across the nation African Americans and whites were also organizing marches to protest segregation as well. Along with the marches inspiring speeches such as Martin Luther King’s famous â€Å"I Have a Dream†speech were given. King’s 17 minute speech that was given in front of over 250,000 Americans on the steps of Lincoln Memorial, is one of the most well-known and moving speeches in American history(Patterson385-386). A large number of the people in the crowd were college students, due to the appeal Martin Luther King drew from young people. He gained this appeal by talking of equality of races and the chance for any man or woman to become whatever they pleased and not be held back due to race, religion or any other difference a person may have. While students saw the abuse blacks were taking simply for the color of their skin they started to join together on marches and attending civil rights rallies. The more the King, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and many others protested and spread the word of unfair treatment the more support of younger generation people began to support the civil rights movement. Another reason for the large involvement of college students within the civil rights movement of the 1960’s was due to the dramatically growing amount of student organized groups that were fighting for true democracy and equality to all. One of these organizations was the Students for Democratic Society (SDS). SDS was founded in 1960 but had roots dating to the early 1900’s; the goal of SDS was to mainly protest and voice the message that equality to all and peaceful means makes a successful country ( ). SDS was not the only organization that was taking big steps to get the civil rights movement moving, there were hundreds if not thousands of organizations that were meeting about and protesting the civil rights movement. These groups were known for telling young people what they wanted to hear and some even became militant groups. Membership in these organizations grew drastically once Lyndon Johnson started sending more and more troops into Vietnam. The Vietnam War itself had little impact on the civil rights movement of the United States, but it did however portray the world image that America was not going to let communistic governments take control of countries and deny their own people of civil rights. Many Americans did not agree with the war and saw it was neither the time nor the place to go and fight a war on foreign soil when the devastating effects of WW2 were still in the back of people’s minds. The largest critic of the war was overwhelming young people, they saw themselves as the ones being sent to die for a reason that was not worthy of American lives. Though segregation and a war in Asia seem to have little in common on the surface, during the reform of the 1960’s they found each other going hand in hand. Many African Americans of the United States believed that if we were fighting in a foreign country to reserve their people’s civil rights, then they would soon get their civil rights protected as well. They were mistaken and by this and the huge support of the anti-war movement and the animosity growing against the current segregation laws molded into one giant movement. This movement being carried by young people, who saw the possibility of change, carried throughout the nation and became the biggest civil rights movement in American history since abolishing slavery (Patterson 413-422). Now that we have an idea of what growing up with segregation looks like and how it can split a nation in two, I think I can say that joining the activist movement when it began in the 1960’s was almost a no brainer to many young people of that generation. They had a tremendous amount of pressure from their fellow black peers to be viewed as equals, they had an unwanted war fueling a large part of the country, and they were also a generation that believed in change and ending the horrible acts that were committed under segregation. With all the pressures from outside sources and the generation as a whole going through a freedom crisis, college students came together and became the perfect torch barrier’s for the civil rights movement.
Monday, October 14, 2019
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.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Interview with the Luddite :: Lunsford Interveiw Luditte Essays
Interview with the Luddite In Andrea Lunsford's introduction she gives a brief background on both Kelly and his interviewee, Kirkpatrick Sale. From her descriptions it is very clear on how different the beliefs of these two men are from each other. Lunsford seems to be fascinated by how the interviews in Wired magazine, which she sort of reluctantly subscribes to, have all ended up in a debate or argument. And the one "which you are about to read,["Interview with the Luddite"] is no exception," she says(243). In this paper I will discuss the different claims of each of the two men and weigh them against each other for validity and persuasiveness. While reading "Interview with the Luddite" by Kevin Kelly I immediately sensed a feeling of sarcasm on Kelly's part. From the title alone I could tell that Kelly was either not looking forward to the interview, or he just could not wait until he could sit down with this guy and pick him apart. He uses the term "the Luddite" in such a generalized sense that it almost makes the interviewee sound so unimportant as a person. Since there is more than one Luddite on the planet he could have used the word "a" instead of "the" when referring to this person he was about to interview. The very first question Kelly asks Sale is an accusation and comes across very harshly to the reader. He asks, "Other than arson and a lot of vandalism, what did the Luddites accomplish in the long run?"(243). After reading this first question, I felt a little sorry for Sale, and I was mad at Kelly for asking such an abrupt question. But my sympathy soon ended when Kelly continued on in the interview. Sale proudly explains and defends the beliefs of his group, the Luddites. But it is clear that Kelly has a strong opposing opinion. He immediately wants to weaken the character of Sale so that the reader is liable to side more with Kelly, himself. This is a very effective strategy on Kelly's part because I found myself agreeing with him more than I did with Sale. When Kelly asked if Sale considered himself a modern-day Luddite, Sale said yes. Sale argues that this is so in the sense that the Luddites of today had not resorted to destroying property, but used books and voices to help raise the consciousness that technology is bad.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Finance: Stocks Vs Treasury Bonds :: essays research papers
Historically speaking, stocks have been found to be no more risky than Treasury bonds. Over the past twenty years vast research has been done on this subject. Jeremy Siegel of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School stated that, â€Å"The safest long-term investment for the preservation of purchasing power has clearly been stocks, not bonds.†Since the mid nineteen twenties, company stocks have average annual returns close to 11%, while on the other hand, Treasury Bonds only return with a little over 5%.      Currently stocks are on the rise. Since 1982 the reason for this is the declining risk premium. The return, or â€Å"risk premium,†that is required is much less. This is for several reasons. Investors have realized not to be so fearful of the great unpredictability of stocks. Instead of dropping stocks in the short run, investors are learning to hold out for the long run to see huge benefits. Secondly, Americans are now keeping stocks in accounts that require long-term holding, such as retirement accounts. Also, businesses are becoming much more efficient and the chance of undergoing devastating turn-arounds in a recession are much less. The tax environment is more generous, foreign threats have ceased dramatically, and the government management has vastly improved. The bottom line is that the risk of investing stocks is much less than it ever has been before. The level of the risk premium is heading towards zero, while currently holding at 3%. That 3% is much better than the historical average of 7%. James K. Glassman and Kevin A Hassett, authors of the book, â€Å"Dow 36,000,†claim that the prediction of the Dow reaching 36,000 is not out of the realm of possibilities. If the earnings grow in the long term at the same rate as the GDP and treasury bonds are below 6%, then it is very possible for the Dow to hit a level of 36,000. One critic of â€Å"Dow 36,000,†Burton G. Malkiel, stated that the rise in stocks that has been occurring is the beginning to an adjustment that â€Å"will only be complete when stocks and bonds are priced to offer equivalent returns, and that implies a level of 36,000 for the Dow today with a price earnings multiple of 100.†So the question remains at whether the authors of â€Å"Dow 36,000†are correct or incorrect about the arguments and predictions that they make in their book. They are correct in what they predict in their book, but they need to make sure to not lead some not-so-experienced investors down the wrong road of deception.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Move N Store Inc.:”Pack and exhale”
Mission Statement: â€Å"Pack and exhale†– Offer peace of mind to customers by providing most efficient and reliable moving and storage services available. We strive to exceed customer’s expectations by building relationships between you and our team to consistently meet your needs. By utilizing the highest standards of design, development and management, we will provide facilities that consistently deliver satisfaction, value and peace of mind for our customers. Company Description: Establish a self-storage business in the US and India that offers portable moving solutions, packing services and off-site storage solutions for residential and commercial customers. Move N Store Inc. offers long and short term storage in a warehouse type of facility with climate controlled and non –climate controlled floors. Some of the key features at each facility are: * On-site managers who reside at the facility and operate from the office from 9AM – 5PM. * Automated / Controlled gate access to the facility so the facility is accessible 24/7. Loading bay with large garage doors accessing the loading dock, so that vehicles can be parked directly outside the elevator lobby for ease of loading and unloading. * Surveillance cameras on each floor in several areas for customer safety. * Individual door alarm for each unit. * Well lit aisles and lobby areas. * Completely fenced facility. * Boat, RV or Car parking in some facilities based on geographic al location and customer. A good marketing plan should focus on three objectives: increasing occupancy, increasing tenant value to the facility, and improving marketing efficiency. It should also be based on results and flexible. It will clearly outline specific activities to accomplish those three objectives, with deadlines. The marketing plan will provide strict guidelines for logo usage, copy creation and offers so that the plan has a consistent and recognizable look and feel. The plan will also discuss how the marketing is going to be tracked for effectiveness and what constitutes â€Å"effective†so that quick, smart decisions can be made throughout the year. The marketing plan will be comprehensive and focused on the target markets that produce the best results. It will be a combination of building relationships in the community, customer referral, key influencer referrals, search-engine marketing, social networking, Yellow Pages ads, and niche marketing specific to the local community. The marketing plan will be implemented on a consistent basis with tracking and measuring to make ongoing improvements. Online marketing will become an important part of the marketing plan as it attracts new customers and allows existing customers to maintain their accounts. As stated in an article by Carr, June 8, 2010: When was the last time you opened a phone book? Do you remember what ad was on the last billboard you saw? You have probably thrown away or recycled all of the bulk mail unopened that you’ve received in at least the last year. I think there’s an important reason for all of this. All of these forms of advertising are relatively invasive and, at the moment the potential customer is receiving the message, they’re not actively in need of or searching out your product or service. On the other hand, internet marketing – more specifically, search engine marketing – is a different story. The potential customer is actively seeking out a solution to their problem. They’re hoping that they will find your product or service to solve one of their problems. This means, as a business owner, it is critically important to the sustained growth of your business that you pay close attention to your online presence and aggressively try to improve it. Start a social media campaign, set up an email auto-responder, and, most importantly, discover which keywords you should be targeting and go after them with whatever resources you have. The top three tactics that will be used are: Internet marketing, database marketing, and community-network creation and maintenance. The plan will include having an effective search-engine marketing program. Second, there will be a comprehensive program to target key influencers in the area surrounding the facility; these key influencers can be real estate agents, chambers of commerce, business-networking organizations, apartment communities, housing communities, etc. Lastly, will be a program to reach out to the community and become a credible organization that helps others. Through helping others the business will become known throughout the community which can help improve business. A brief outline of the marketing plan is as follows – On a Daily basis, do the following: * Track all incoming calls to determine their sources. Keep track of the total number of calls, sources of the calls and the percentage of calls that turned into visits. * Speak with the store manager once a day to see if he needs any help. Supporting the manager keeps him/her motivated. Make at least five to 10 outbound calls each day to drum up business from commercial accounts. All managers should have a quota of outbound calls to make. * Send out postcards to those people who called during off hours. Use a caller ID device to record the phone numbers of people who call when the office is closed. Use an online reverse directory to get their addresses. Then mail them a postcard with a time-sensitive offer. On a weekly basis, the marketing plan is: * Call all the â€Å"centers of influence†in town to remind them of the facility’s presence (i. e. call the real estate offices, truck-rental places and all of the other businesses who have the potential to send you business. * Play ’Mystery Shopper†by getting the District Manager’s to call the facility and disguise their voice to hear how your employees really handle themselves when they talk with customers. * Look for opportunities to get coverage by the local media. There are countless opportunities to piggy-back storage onto a current-events news story. Find one angle each week and send out a press release. * Consider running specials to rent slow-moving units. Look at the units that aren't moving and make weekly adjustments if necessary. Waiting until the end of the month may not give the management enough time to properly react to competition or the changing market in the local area. On a monthly basis the facility shall perform the following activities: * Call and/or visit competition to see what they're up to. This is an activity that needs to be done at least once a month. * Conduct regular training sessions with managers to keep them up-to-date. Conducting monthly meetings for managers and other employees makes a lot of sense. Read industry trade magazines to keep abreast of current issues. Owners and managers must be committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry information. * Schedule a monthly coaching session by phone with an outside self-storage expert, employees and managers like to listen to experts above owners. Using an outside expert to give basic feedback is a great idea. * Go to monthly networking events, such as at the chamber of commerce. Managers and owners should make an effort to get out into the community to network. Review occupancy rates by unit size to make necessary price adjustments. * Hold a contest for store managers, and vary them from month to month. Give them some realistic goals to shoot for and then reward them for meeting those goals. This strategy is inexpensive and effective. On a quarterly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include: * Hold unannounced, random events for customers to thank them for their business. For example, wash the car of each one of your tenants who comes into the facility on a given day. * Create seasonal fliers. Fliers are inexpensive and effective and can be created for any or all services at the facility. In addition to handing those out off-site, fliers can be designed to be placed under people's unit doors to announce various promotions. * Direct mail can be tested on a targeted group within five miles of the facility. Direct mail and Value-Pak mailers can be effective. * Find an additional item to sell at the office based on customer feedback. * Play â€Å"Undercover Boss†by working at the facility one day each quarter to find out how things really work. Owners sometimes never even see their storage facilities. Working at the facility is the single most-effective means for owners to understand what really goes on in their businesses. On a yearly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include * Attending the annual self-storage conference and expo in Las Vegas and taking store managers along. * Having a qualified consultant do an external marketing audit of the facility. * Review financial numbers with a qualified expert to see what areas of business can be improved. Some ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising are : Using website stats – using a website counter to figure out how many visitors have viewed the website. As stated in an article by Kathleen, â€Å"At the very least you should be aware of what keywords are bringing traffic to your site, how many are coming directly by typing in your domain name, and other referring pages. More detailed info such as bounce rates, visitor paths, landing and exit pages will all give you additional information to assess what marketing value your website is providing. Use Direct Mailed Surveys – Mail surveys to current customers and customers who have made enquiries to figure out which areas need to be improved and work on those areas. Ask people how they found about the business – If a cold call is placed and if it is not known where the person came from, it is good to figure to where the person came from. Was it the sign in the yard? An ad that was placed in the paper? Crai gslist? Check the response on ads – When ads are run continuously, stop the ads to figure out if it has made a change in revenue. If there are no changes, then there is no point in spending dollars on the ad campaign and it would be better to divert the funds to other options. Call reporting – this is a methodology to ensure if incoming calls were being handled appropriately and in the most effective manner to hook more tenants. This system tracks how many calls were received from print and internet advertising, a report usually provides details such as time of day you receive the most calls, where the calls originate and the length of the call. It can also be helpful in measuring how many after-hours calls are being missed. Call-tracking and recording programs – These programs help management play back calls whenever they choose to without the employees’ knowledge. If all call recordings are reviewed for the exact nature of conversations and how they are being handled, the management can begin working on refining the sales process. Other strategies that can be used in addition to advertising are: * Participating with the local community in hosting events such as food drives, charity auctions, provide storage for boy/girl scouts, provide assistance during natural epidemics such as storage for people who have lost homes during a storm or flood. Sponsor cookouts for a local fire or police station. * Partner with local baseball or football teams and provide tickets to customers based on a raffle each month. * Advertise on Valpak, Craigslist, GroupOn (for coupon discounts) and other local magazines. * Use social media network such as Facebook or Twitter for promotion. * Build LEED or environmen t friendly facilities to show responsibility towards the community and world as a whole. * Provide an online payment system for customers to pay their monthly rental fees. Some ways to measure customer satisfaction are as follows: 1. Survey Customers This is probably the only way to get customer feedback, surveys can be provided in several ways (through mail, email, or over the phone). In order to get the best information, customers should be allowed to answer questions on a weighted scale (as in â€Å"Rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 indicating complete dissatisfaction and 5 indicating complete satisfaction†). Repeat customers may have to survey again to see how their experience changes over time. . Understand Expectations The business must make an effort to discover the expectations of customers in terms of both service and products in order to ensure that their needs are met. 3. Find Out Where You’re Failing If customer requirements are not being met, the management needs to find out where the failure is occurring. Are the products less than what is advertised? Are employees making promises that cannot be met? Are custo mer service representatives dropping the ball on dispelling customer concerns and managing their complaints? Whatever the case, it is important to know where the lines of communication are breaking down so that relationships with customers can be mended. 4. Pinpoint Specifics Whether a customer is satisfied or not, the data collected will need to accurately assess what is working and what isn’t. So inquiries into level of satisfaction should include more than just the overall experience. The business needs to determine the products or services they purchased, what they liked or disliked about their sales interaction, how the actual purchase compared to their expectations, and any suggestions they have for mprovement. 5. Assess the Competition As part of the survey process, the business may want to consider inviting customers to compare and contrast similar products or companies to find out what they are offering. This helps in understanding what is lacking in the business. As stated in an article by Kevin Cacioppo, â€Å"Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceeded over the lifetime of the product or service. The achievement of customer satisfaction leads to company loyalty and product repurchase. †He also states that: In addition to a clear statement defining customer satisfaction, any successful surveying program must have a clear set of objectives that, once met, will lead to improved performance. The most basic objectives that should be met by any surveying program include the following: * Understanding the expectations and requirements of all your customers. Determining how well your company and its competitors are satisfying these expectations and requirements. * Developing service and/or product standards based on your findings. * Examining trends over time in order to take action on a timely basis. * Establishing priorities and standards to judge how well you've met these goals. Gap Analysis is a popular assessment tool to find out the ‘gap' between what exists verses what is needed or desired. The steps involved in this are – * Identification of customer expectations, Identification of customer experiences, * Identification of management perceptions, * Evaluation of service standards, * Evaluation of customers’ communications. Gap analysis generally refers to the activity of studying the differences between standards and the delivery of those standards. For example, it would be useful for a firm to document differences between customer expectation and actual customer experiences in the delivery of medical care. The differences could be used to explain satisfaction and to document areas in need of improvement. Other tools to bridge gap in customer expectations and experiences could be by sending mail-in surveys to customer to get feedback on the service received, going out of the way to make sure a customer’s needs are addressed, providing top notch customer service are also ways to bridge gaps. Bottom line for any small business such as Self Storage is getting to know customers, listening to their concerns, making customers feel appreciated and personal touches such a learning their names might be important in retaining business and building relationships.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
The Strategic Plan for Ninestiles School
Development planning is the mechanism for a school to specify its strategic and operational betterment activities. Strategy, as a long-run purpose, sets the way for school and the nucleus moral intent. However a good scheme is non sufficient by itself but requires a sound short-run operational program. Davies, B. J, & A ; Ellison, L. ( 2005 ) emphasise that the strategic â€Å" program provides a consistent manner of interpreting the nucleus moral intent of the school and its values into action, influenced by a hereafters position and vision. †With the coming of local direction of schools, parental pick, and the publication of school scrutiny conference tabular arraies, it is apparent that a school needs to advance and market itself to avoid a autumn in axial rotations. One of the challenges which the school sets itself, hence, is to develop a system which recognizes and wagess pupil accomplishment in order to better the school. This model scheme is produced for Ninestiles as a school betterment program. In this program I will roll up and analyze the information and information from Ofsted, public presentation tabular arraies, and the school web site and school profile to sketch the strategic program. In add-on, I will urge operational actions and planning procedures. More significantly, through doing the appropriate links between the literature reappraisal and the instance survey of school effectivity and betterment, I will bring forth an appropriate program to back up and advance whole-school and student success for farther instruction and life outside of school. Literature reappraisal Schools, as educational Centres, ne'er fail to pull attending from people, society and authoritiess since the eighteenth century. Consequently, every school has to alter to face challenges. However, school effectivity and school betterment have become the focal point of instruction systems in the modern universe. With development of economic system and society, schools can non shut their Gatess and leave the issues of outside universe in order to last and turn in turn toing the complicated alteration challenges in to the twenty-first century, which makes establishments more porous and permeable ( Elkind, 1993 ) . Schools hence need to do witting to face with alterations come from inside and outside of school. Fullan, Cuttress, and Kilcher ( 2005 ) outlined eight key alterations forces that all leaders would hold to understand, overcome and undertake in schools. They are: â€Å" ( 1 ) prosecuting peoples moral intents, ( 2 ) edifice capacity, ( 3 ) understanding the alteration procedure, ( 4 ) development civilizations for acquisition, ( 5 ) developing civilizations of rating, ( 6 ) concentrating on leading for alteration, ( 7 ) furthering coherency devising, and ( 8 ) cultivating tri-level development. †The eight alterations forces are non isolated and incorporate on an purpose of instruction in school. As an purpose of instruction, the moral intent is the greatest driver of alteration. â€Å" moral intent in educational alteration is an orientation of school ‘s spirit, that means to better society through to develop educational systems and so to raise quality of all citizen. Fullan ( 2005 ) stated that concentrating on leading is the most powerful lesson of alteration. It is non controversial, Collins ( 2001 ) and Mintzberg ( 2004 ) agreed with Fullan ( 2005 ) and pointed out that successful school need a effectual leading. â€Å" Secondary scheme for school betterment †( The pilot school and pilot local governments, Defs and primary and secondary scheme, 2006 ) provides an overview of the indispensable elements of the secondary intensifying support programme, it as a counsel, makes sense for schools development. The cardinal subjects: Constructing leading capacity Bettering the conditions for larning Bettering the quality of instruction and acquisition Using informations intelligently Supplying an engaging and appropriate course of study Establishing a acquisition community ( The pilot school and pilot local governments, Defs and primary and secondary scheme, 2006, p? ) However, if Ninestiles School will turn to each of the subjects, the primary status is that there must be an equal leading and direction and acquisition conditions within the school. A good suggestion made by â€Å" Secondary scheme for school betterment 2006 †that is that a successful leaders should cognize as followed: how to get the better of opposition to anything new, grab chances and avoid jeopardy That large springs are associated with large wagess and that incrental chage will take them nowhere That the cardinal challenge is to alter people ‘s behaviors and that they can merely make that by act uponing their feeling every bit good as their thought How to take alteration every bit good as manage it Leadership in school should â€Å" turn to the position quo through set uping a sense of urgency, making a guiding group, developing a vision and scheme and pass oning both of them efficaciously †. In short, leading should be able to happen out new ways and attacks of working through warrant of short-run wins and consolidating advancement in order to ease more alteration. Rationale is that leading must guarantee that the nucleus activities of instruction and acquisition are cardinal to duty and answerability of the school ( The pilot school and pilot local governments, Defs and primary and secondary scheme, 2006 ) As a general driver, developing civilization of larning supply a set of schemes for people larning from each other. Change cognition requires furthering coherency devising in order to increase peoples corporate power to drive the system running frontward swimmingly. Dufour, Eaker, and Dufour ( 2005 ) stressed the necessity and power of professional acquisition communities while Fullan ( 2005 ) identified beyond one school and Pfeffer and Sutton ( 2000 ) commend that turning information in to actionable cognition is a societal procedure Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, and Wiliam 2003 and Fullam ( 2005 ) emphasised one of the highest-yield schemes for educational alteration late developed is assessment for larning. Fullan ( 2005 ) claim that schools need to alter persons, every bit good as demand to alter contexts, cultivating tri-level development provide more learning in context ( at school degree, territory degree and province level,2006 ) . Barber ( 2005 ) provinces same point of view that eight drivers are keys to make effectual and permanent alteration. These drivers are widely accepted and have become theoretic counsel for school ‘s scheme. The first serious treatments and analyses of School effectivity emerged in the 1960s out of concern for equality of educational chance. In the beginning, surveies stressed societal background and heredity as the strongest influences. However, Wrigley ( 2004 ) and MacGilchrist et Al ( 2005 ) have listed failings of the school effectiveness tradition: â€Å" ( 1 ) excessively narrow a position of accomplishment ; ( 2 ) over trust on quantifiable results ; ( 3 ) force per unit area of answerability through testing, conference tabular arraies and review and can falsify the course of study, instruction and acquisition ; ( 4 ) identified characteristics of effectual schools may non be easy movable. In fact, these issues are non particular phenomenon, how to avoid these disadvantages has become more and more educationalists ‘ consideration. In contrast to school effectivity, during the past 30 old ages at that place has been a parallel thrust for school betterment used to accomplish organizational alteration through ab initio unsystematic attempts. Hopkins and Reynolds ( 2001 ) suggested that three elements should be taken into history when sing the development of school betterment: a ‘bottom-up ‘ attack to self-evaluation and betterment planning with teacher ownership ; greater focal point on student results through links with school effectivity community and going progressively ‘top-down ‘ through strategic authorities intercession. In short, betterment demands change. Expediently, bottom-up self-evaluation is a fast and direct feedback for monitoring and following up betterment program, top-down authorities intercession is a drive force to oversee and press that schools must concentrate on instruction and acquisition. Hargreaves and Shirley ( 2009.p5 ) analysed that three ways of alteration have gone earlier as followed: First manner of province support and professional freedom, of invention but besides incompatibility. Second manner of market competition and educational standardization in which professional liberty is lost. Third manner that tries to voyage between and beyond the market and the province and balance professional liberty with answerability. Entering the fast, flexible and vulnerable new universe of the twenty-first century, we have to face dramatically new jobs and challenges. It is realized that the old three ways of educational alteration have non matched the new alterations and development, A â€Å" 4th manner †of educational alteration has been identified, based on the best of the old ways of the yesteryear without withdrawing to or reinventing the worst of them ( Hargreaves and Shirley,2009 ) . They asserted that â€Å" it is non a manner to retain bossy control over narrowly defined ends and marks. The 4th manner, instead, is a democratic and professional way to betterment that builds from the underside, tips from the top and provides support and force per unit area from the sides. †Sing context of Ninestiles School, the 4th manner provide some inspiration: Leadership is the cardinal function for development of a school Every instructor should set duty before answerability. Michael Fullan ( 2009 ) points out that school alteration depends on what instructors do and believe. As a moral intent, instructors should set duty before answerability – it is every bit simple and every bit complex as this. Parents should be more to the full engaged. Students as active spouses in their ain development are most of import. Back land Ninestiles school is a 6th foundation school and it is a larger than most secondary schools in Birmingham. It serves 1471 pupils ( 11-18 old ages old ) in the Acocks Green country of Birmingham but besides attracts pupils from other countries of the metropolis. Just over a half pupils are White British ; somewhat over 10 % are from Asiatic Pakistani backgrounds and similar proportions are of Asiatic Indian heritage. A particular unit attached to the school has 45 pupils with address and linguistic communication of community troubles. ( Ninestiles website 2011 ) Ninestiles has been a specialist school for engineering for 15 old ages and has had applied larning position since 2007. Ninelstiles school is committed to a course of study which aims to supply a acquisition environment in which all pupils irrespective of gender, ability, societal or cultural background, are encouraged to accomplish to their full potency, all the pupils have been exposed to a assortment if instruction and learning manners experience of cardinal accomplishments. School ‘s mission is to fix all-around citizens who are able to play a full portion in the life in the community. By prosecuting aims with vision, Ninestiles seeks to prosecute the head, elevate the spirit, and excite the best attempt of all who are associated with the school. What does Ofsted state? Ninestiles School was to the full praised by Ofsted in 2009 and was judged as outstanding overall. Inspectors reported that Ninestiles â€Å" has made many alterations in order to to the full run into the demands of all pupils and get the better of any barriers to larning †( Ofsted 2009 p.4 ) . Outstanding facets of the school include: Students ‘ accomplishment, as the school is extremely effectual at actuating pupils who have made limited advancement in the yesteryear. It is barely surprising that the huge bulk of parents are satisfied to the school. Teaching and acquisition, because of consistent manner in which instructors plan lessons in the visible radiation of pupil ‘s mark. Leadership and direction, as the cardinal precedences are to the point and based on the sound rating and school has been originative in developing high quality leaders at all degrees in the school. Student ‘s personal development and wellbeing as they appreciate in mature manner about their school and class as brilliant function theoretical accounts for younger pupils. Other effectual facets of the school were noted by Ofsted as follows: The course of study is effectual in run intoing the demands of all pupils. The course of study is a major factor in guaranting first-class behavior and high degrees of motive amongst all groups of pupils. Work-based accomplishments, including teamwork and endeavor, work-related acquisition chances prepare pupils outstandingly good for employment or the following phase in the instruction. In add-on, pupils have chances to try a broad scope of classs. These classs is strong work-related dimension. Consequently, the Information and communicating engineering is used really good and extensively. The attention, support, aid and counsel are highly effectual to lend to the pupils ‘ outstanding personal development. Students are safe in the school and parents and pupils value a really good relationship with grownups. The rapid passage to an all-age tutorial system was handled really good. Governors are really effectual because they play a cardinal function in guaranting that many new developments are carefully considered prior to execution. Governors insist that best value rules are applied to all that the school does. Ninestiles in the Performance tabular arraies? Harmonizing the Ofsted study in the last four old ages, there has been a fluctuation in GCSE consequences. Fortunately, there was a important rise in 2010 from 51 % to 64 % 5+A*-C including English and Maths. However, the public presentation of pupils at GCSE needs to be kept stable and if possible farther improved. More significantly ; from the tabular array as follows, it can be seen that compared with national and metropolis figures its GCSE public presentation is now higher. Here we should pay attending to CVA, in 2009, CVA suggested advancement in line with outlook at 997.1, but in 2010, the CVA raised dramatically to 1031. This suggests that in 2010 students made advancement well beyond outlook. Comparison with national and metropolis figures Year school National criterion Birmingham norm Ninestiles school 2009 50 % GCSE 1000CVA 48 % GCSE 1000CVA 51 % GCSE 997.1CVA 2010 53 % GCSE 1000CVA 55 % GCSE 1000CVA 64 % GCSE 1031CVA Beginning informations: DfE School and college public presentation tabular arraies. Ninestiles ‘ ain position of its effectivity Ninestiles is efficaciously structured to react to the demands of twenty-first Century instruction. The school twenty-four hours has been carefully designed with modern larning demands in head. The wide and balanced course of study is antiphonal to single demands and the altering national context. All squads have a structured remit and an consciousness of the portion they play in making the vision. About Curriculum statement Ninestiles School is committed to supplying a learning environment in which all pupils are encouraged to accomplish to their full potency. Students are assessed on twenty-first century accomplishments like teamwork and communicating. The pupils, their parents and instructor are all involved to take the degree or class in which pupils would wish to take. Ninestiles takes great pride in supplying chances for their pupils either at the academic or vocational development as it is believed that doing the appropriate links to the existent universe will non merely enrich their apprehension of the curriculum country but will besides get down to fix them for farther instruction and life outside of school. The school twenty-four hours has been carefully designed with modern larning demands in head. Reality Baste Leaning ( RBL ) is mandatory for all pupils. This type of larning focal points on existent universe scenarios and pupils learn by replying jobs About work-related acquisition Ninestiles school has taking border position of work-related acquisition. It has been a specialist school for engineering for 13 old ages and has had applied larning position since 2007. Work-related acquisition is defined by school as any planned activity that uses work as a context for larning ( OFSTED 2009 ) . By supplying pupils with the chances and context in order to develop their work-related accomplishments, cognition and understanding. Such construct is based on logic of specialisation and it involves work-related acquisition within the classs for all students at cardinal phase 4. It occurs across the course of study when different topics and classs are offered to pupils. ninestile ‘s mission is to fix all-around citizens who are able to play a full portion in the life in the community. As a typical engineering school school ‘s schemes reflect our aspirations and we seek an appreciate the counsel and encouragement in transporting out these aspirations aims. Every pupil in the school has been exposed to a assortment of learning and larning manners, experience and work out existent universe jobs and leaves school with extended experience of cardinal accomplishments. Our aspirations are targeted non towards rankings but instead towards accomplishing a topographic point where take great pride in supplying chances for their pupils either at the academic or vocational development as it is believed that doing the appropriate links to the existent universe will non merely enrich their apprehension of the curriculum country but will besides get down to fix them for farther instruction and life outside of school. Key precedences for betterment Fortunately, Ninestiles School has made many alterations positively, but we can non shy away from confronting its failings. Harmonizing to the review judgement reported by Ofsted in 2009, there are six facets that should be improved and strengthened: For the group ( 16-19 ) whose public presentation reached comparatively lower class than others group, most facets review concerned with were at grade 2 or 3. The in-between director working in ( 16-19 ) group should be adjusted and consolidated to to better tutoring and mentoring systems and heighten top-down bureaucratism, prescription and counsel. Finical support. Headteacher, with regulating organic structure and all staffs, analyses budget to guarantee school development program precedences with appropriate budget allotment. The school budget needs to be flexibly used to back up a push for betterment. ( Fullan, M. , Barber, ( 2009 ) Use the award system. The award strategy provide encouragement and acknowledgment for attempt and accomplishment. A survey conducted by Harris.L ( 1996 ) showed that the better the kids performed in all these old countries ( classwork, prep, attending, promptness, behaviour ) the more successful would both learning and larning become. Another must be emphasized is in footings of personal development and wellbeing for school overall, pupils had truly bad attending ( at class 3 ) and healthy life style ( at class 2 ) . Comparison with other similar school ( table 2 ) School Attendance Ninestiles In 2009 Ninestiles In 2010 Birmingham In 2010 England In 2010 % of half yearss missed 8.2 % 8.5 % 6.8 % 6.9 % Unauthorised absence 2.3 % 1.6 % 1.4 % Persistent absence 9.1 % 8.5 % 4.4 % 4.6 % Figure from OFSTED From table 2, it can be shown that pressing job of Ninestiles school is hapless attending, there are two steps that should be suggested, one is parent meeting and calling.The 4th manner recommend parents should be more to the full engaged. The school should present first twenty-four hours of absence naming place for all absentees and consult students and parents over wagess and countenance. Parents meetings should be held with all parents monthly and there should be hebdomadal updates by phone. In this instance, each pupils received monthly advancement cheque. Others is to set up award system. The 4th manner stressed the pupil as active spouse in their ain development is of all time the most of import. Award system efficaciously build pupils assurance for their farther survey. It is traditional and really effectual for pupil public presentation including category work, prep, attending, promptness, behavior and public presentation at GCSE. The 3rd facet should be highlighted is for leading, review pointed the school ‘s self-evaluation and community coherence did non exercise every bit good as outlook â€Å" leading should acquire the vision right to increase urgency and construct the guiding squad. The schools white paper ( 2010 ) emphasized school should better top-down bureaucratism and â€Å" bottom-up †support. It is good circle for self-evaluation †. The policy has non been to the full updated to run into all current demands. The school policy and patterns should be shared and public in the school web site. There is a statement in the school prospectus which linked to development program marks. Policy and pattern are reviewed and updated every term in visible radiation of altering profile. This is besides a good manner for all ( pupils, instructors, parents and society ) to measure our school. The monitoring and rating of instruction and acquisition has non ever identified rapidly enough the advancement made by different groups of pupils All the grounds from different instruction system around the universe shows that the most of import factor in finding how good kids do is the quality of instructor and instruction. High quality instructor is cardinal fact of successful school. The school alteration depends on what instructors do and believe ( Fullan ( 2000 ) . As a moral intent, instructors should set the duty before answerability. Raising entry demands and more preparation in or out-school is suggested by white paper. The school should guarantee all staffs must be in topographic point in order to better pupils ‘ public presentation. Specifically, the school needs to set up a particular group for the monitoring and rating of instruction and acquisition in order to react quickly to any fluctuations in advancement and proctor more efficaciously the advancement that different groups of pupils make in lessons. This group is to supervise more efficaciously the advancement that different groups of pupils make in lessons, peculiarly in Years 7 and 8 ( Ofsted 2009 ) . pupils public presentation at GCSE need to maintain stable and promote and school ‘s CVA should be Consolidated. Teachers are clear about their instruction ends that attempt on the school ‘s highest-priority ends in ways most likely to better pupils ‘ public presentation of academic. In the instance, instructors create a strategic program for bettering the quality of instruction and do adept usage of bing learning stuffs in order to give more clip to patterns that enrich and clear up the content. To develop instructors harmonizing to program and do certain their cognition and learning stills maintaining updated to fit the demands of societal and single ‘s development. Precisely, School betterment group need run intoing with instructors to place and research the issue that are involved in placing students in old ages 9 and 10. this conference should be based on informations gathered earlier in the school from logbooks and treatment with pupil deputies. Furthermore, there should be voluntary after-school or lunchtime lesson provided by staff and an excess session, affecting strong links with external bureaus is based on test techniques, is organized What issues/weaknesses have been identified? Precedences for Improvement Proposed Actions Success Criteria For the age group ( 16-19 ) whose public presentation reached comparatively lower Ofsted class than other groups in this school. For this group, most appraisals reached merely grades 2 or 3 Improve quality of instruction and acquisition Adjust in-between leading working in this group. Raise pupil aspirations through links with concern and higher instruction For this group, mark of most appraisals should make above classs 2 Students had truly hapless attending ( at class 3 with 8.5 % absence ) , Improve attainment Work with parents to advance good attending, recognizing links to attainment the attending to make 95 % relentless absence to be reduced to 5 % at grade 2. The school ‘s self-evaluation and community coherence were non effectual every bit good as outlook. the policy has non been to the full updated to run into all current demands. Monitoring and rating of instruction and larning have non been ever identified rapidly plenty Strengthen leading Build betterment group Monitor and track advancement more strictly school betterment groups become progressively influential in driving up criterion Student ‘s public presentation at GCSE needs to be kept stable and promoted. Provide encouragement and acknowledgment for attempt and accomplishment. Establish â€Å" good acquisition â€Å" civilization in school. It will be anticipate to 70 % 5+A*- including English and Mathematicss by 2012DecisionIn recent old ages criterions have risen steadily in our school, the most of import thing is that a school is able to prolong this advancement or non when it confront with disputing circumstance sometime. It is shown above that Ninestiles School has won a well-deserved repute for its current effectivity and betterment from society and Ofsted while Ninestiles school has taking border position of work-related acquisition. the school assets, direction and societal supports all have been ready for Ninestiles to take obstructions for acquisition and made many alterations In order to run into all pupils ‘ demands. However, there are still many challenges that school has to face with. Ninestiles school can provides thoughtful and far-sighted strategic leading that create the environments that makes good learning pay off and larning efficaciously to back up and track our all aim. There has been an highly clear vision that reaches into every corner of this school. However, the most common position of scheme is to put the way of school ( Davies, B. Davies, J. & A ; Ellison, L. 2005 ) . It consists of some short-time purpose, that is: First, school should beef up leading that should acquire the vision right to increase urgency and construct the guiding squad. Second, The school should set up evidence-based attack to bettering instruction and acquisition and better consistence in feedback and marker. Third, school should set in topographic point enhanced tutoring and mentoring systems to guarantee that all pupils are supported harmonizing to their demands. Finally, the school demands to put our appraisal system to guarantee that our enterprise on path and supervise our school as a whole is accomplishing the short term ends and long term aspirations. Pursuit of excellence, as counsel, sets an ambitious docket of aspirations by specific schemes and programs, which call for us to settle down to work in much land for one ‘s ain responsibility and concentrate on coordination, steadiness, clearcutness, pertinence and existent consequence. Our school needs to guarantee that all pupils and instructors can be to the full equipped to do a difference in the planning period. In another words, the school should be already to be after the following stage of its development because of â€Å" no best, but better â€Å"
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