Cost of Capital Essay

LEI’s expected net income this year is $34,285.72, its established dividend payout ratio is 30 percents, its federal-plus-state tax rate is 40 percent, and investors expect earnings and dividends to grow at a constant rate of 9 percent in the future. LEI paid a dividend of $3.60 per share last year, and its stock currently sells at a price of $54 per share. LEI can obtain new capital in the following ways: Preferred: New preferred stock with a dividend of $11 can be sold to the public at a price of $95 per share. Debt: Debt can be sold at an interest rate of 12 percent. a. Determine the cost of each capital structure component. b. Calculate the WACC. c. LEI has the following investment opportunities that are typical average-risk projects for the firm: Project Cost at t = 0 Which projects should LEI accept? Why? [2(382)] 2. The Heuser Company’s currently outstanding 10 percent coupon bonds have a yield to maturity of 12 percent. Heuser believes it could issue at par new bonds that would provide a similar yield to maturity. If its marginal tax rate is 35 percent, what is Heuser’s aftert-tax cost of debt? [2(383)] 3. Trivoli Industries plans to issue some $100 par preferred stock with an 11 percent dividend. The stock is selling on the market for $97.00, but Trivoli must pay flotation costs of 5 percent of the market price, so the net price that firm will receive is $92.15 per share. What is Trivoli’s cost of preferred stock with flotation considered? [2(383)] 4. Zwing-Zook Enterprises has a beta of 1.45. The risk-free rate is 6 percent and the expected return on the market portfolio is 10 percent. The company presently pays a dividend of $2 a share and investors expect it to experience a growth in dividends of 7 percent per annum for many years to come. a. What is the stock’s required rate of return according to CAPM? b. What is the stock’s present market price per share, assuming this required return? [1(77)]

A Horse and Two Goats †Summary Essay

Answer the question: Compare the relationship between Muni and his wife and the relationship between the American and his wife. Throughout the story â€Å"A Horse and Two Goats†, we can comprehend a lot of outstanding differences between the relationship of Muni to his wife and the relationship of the American to his wife. Two relationships are two details contributing to build the distinction between two cultures: India and America. Although they have many differences, there still exist some similarities between Muni’s relationship and the American’s relationship. In this essay, I will show some differences and similarities to explain for this comparison. In the relationship of Muni and his wife, at the beginning, they suffered these sneers from people surround them. Moreover, in this relationship, we can see clearly the right to keep controlling in their family. In particular, when Muni was rich and took more money, he had enough right to decide and control most of things in his family. At the same time, he also lorded it over his wife: â€Å"He had thrashed her only a few times in their career†. However, when he loses everything and becomes a poor man, he also loses his right in his family: â€Å"Later she had the upper hand†. Gradually, he has to obey what his wife orders him. This seems to be a habit so that’s why he doesn’t have any effort to resist his wife’s orders, just do it: â€Å"†Our store is empty today. Dhall, chilli, curry leaves, mustard, coriander, gingelley oil, and one large potatoe. Go out and get all this. † He repeated the list after her in order not to miss any item and walked off to the shop in the third street†. Although Muni follows his wife’s orders, somehow he still underestimates a little bit about women. Perhaps he thinks that because of the case from the postman: â€Å"We had a postman in our village who could speak to you boldly in your language, but his wife ran away with someone and he does not speak with anyone at all nowadays†. With Muni, women can have right to make all decision in their family but it does not mean they can do what they want like the wife of the postman. Thus, meanwhile his wife controls everything in his family, he still wants to manage his wife: â€Å"Who would if a wife did what she did? Women must be watched; otherwise they sell themselves and the home†. In the relationship of Muni’s family, they love together but the poverty makes them be emotionless. However, in the bottom of their heart, they still care about each other. In the relationship of the American and his wife, it seems to be better than Muni’s relationship because their financial condition is better than that of Muni. Ruth, the wife of the American, is a good wife and understands thoroughly everything. She serves her husband with all her devoted heart. With just a simple act, she can recognize and know what she has to do next. We can say that Ruth is so intelligent, this can be proven by the detail: â€Å"I told my wife, Ruth, â€Å"We will visit India this winter, it’s time to look at other civilizations. † Next day she called the travel agent first thing and told him to fix it, and so here I am. Ruth cam with me but is staying back at Srinagar, and I am the one doing the rounds and joining her later†. Maybe, a good financial condition is one of the better way to make people understand together and can sympathize with each other. In addition, Ruth is also a clever wife, she knows how to makes her husband comfortable and have more free in making most of decision. Because the American knows that his wife is reasonable, he all makes decision without her but he also prepares some good evidences for his decision to show his wife understanding. For example, â€Å"Ruth may disapprove, but I will convince her. The TV may have to be shifted, too. We can’t have everything in the living room. Ruth will probably say what about when we have a party? I’m going to keep him right in the middle of the room. I don’t see how that can interfere with the party we’ll stand around him and have our drinks†. Through the relationship of the American, we can see a free culture in America in some aspects but they still keep their happiness and their love. In particular, in this relationship, we can see how the American’s wife gives him his free hands to do anything which can be proven by the freedom in making decision of the American and vice-versa. Also, the American agrees to let his wife have freedom to do anything, such as â€Å"Ruth can go by air if she likes, but I will go with the horse and keep him in my cabin all the way if necessary†. Two above paragraphs show some differences between Muni’s relationship and the American’s relationship. On the other hand, they still have some similarities. To stand out from this is both of wives really love their husband. However, due to some cases, they have different expressing depending on each situation. With Ruth, she shows her love by letting the American have free to decide anything and take care of everything careful for her husband to make him feel comfy when he is beside her. Also, in Muni’s relationship, maybe we don’t see these sweet acts from Muni’s wife but she loves Muni and takes care of him by all her heart. In spite of colorless acts from Muni’s wife, we can still realize how caring she is! Living in a difficult condition, she is not still far away from Muni. By contrast, she cares that Muni doesn’t have anything to eat. For instance, we have some details like â€Å"you are getting no sauce today, nor anything else. I can’t find anything to give you to eat. Fast till the evening, it’ll do you good. Take the goats and be gone now† or â€Å"She was sure to go out and work grind corn in the Big House, sweep or scrub somewhere, and earn enough to buy foodstuff and keep a dinner ready for him in the evening†. At the end of the story, we can see some acts from Muni’s wife, such as â€Å"She snatched the notes from him, counted them by the glow of the fire, and cried â€Å"One hundred rupees! How did you come by it? Have you been stealing? †Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"If you have thieved, the police will come tonight and break your bones. Don’t involve me. I will go away to my parents†. From these sentences, we see that poverty takes Muni’s wife to be blind to distinguish where is the truth? She loves Muni very much so she is so painful with her own think that Muni steals this amount of money. She cries very much. Especially, we can see her extreme pain when she thinks Muni is a stealer. By analysis, somehow we see some basic differences of two cultures in married life. The main reason for these differences is the level of financial condition in each family. In Muni’s family, they are so poor so money controls their living. At first, Muni has all right to make decision and he is respected by all people around him because he is rich. However, when he becomes poorer, everyone is far away from him. Furthermore, the right to control everything in the family now belongs to his wife. By contrast, in the American’s relationship, because they have a better financial condition, that’s why they are easy to understand together. A good finance is also a factor to make them feel free in doing anything because they can feel more comfy. In addition, tradition in marriage is another factor in changing their love and their treatment in the married life. Therefore, in comparison, these differences and these similarities appear that’s because of financial condition and tradition in marriage.

Group Brand Audit Project Essay

Your group assignment is to pick a brand from the list of brands(attached) and conduct a thorough brand audit. Each group must study and analyze a different brand. Brands will be assigned on a â€Å"first come, first serve† basis. Post your group’s choice of brand and gp number on the â€Å"questions for Prof/TA† board so that everyone can see your group’s choice. This way, the other gps will know which brands are already taken on a first come first serve basis. Once your gp posts a Brand choice (that is not already taken)- it’s yours. The brand audit analysis will be based on information from public secondary sources, company web sites, as well as your own professional experiences and insights. Surveys or primary research are not required but can certainly be conducted and used as needed. The final Powerpoint report should be submitted using the assignment link on elearning. The length of the Brand Audit report should be approx. 30-40 ppt slides (not including any appendices or references). Typically a thorough audit requires 30-40 hours of work which divided among 6 or 7 gp members usually amounts to an average of about 5-6 hrs of work per student. The following format and guideline will help streamline the approach and the process. A tentative example is available for you to review on page 132 of the textbook. This Rolex example is only that†¦an example†¦just a very brief and concise example. I. Brand Inventory A current, comprehensive profile of how all products and services sold by a company are marketed and branded. Read Also: List of Exploratory Essay Topics This is mainly the supply-side view of the company and the brand. Should include (but not limited to): History of the brand Identification of all brand elements (logos, symbols, characters, packaging, slogans, trademarks). Brand architecture. Description of attributes of the product/idea/service. Profile of direct and indirect competitive brands (use points of parity and points of difference). Include market share and other relevant facts and figures. ‘Brand Architecture’ and ‘Hierarchy’ and ‘brand product matrix’ (where applicable). Pricing, profitability and market share of the brand. Distribution channels and policies. Supporting marketing communications/promotional programs. Brand personality as reflected by the brand elements and existing marketing mix. 1 II. Brand Exploratory This is usually the more challenging research and analytical component of this assignment. Actual consumer perceptions may or may not reflect those intended by the marketer. The Brand exploratory is aimed at understanding what consumers feel and think about the brand in order to identify sources of brand equity. Should include (but not limited to): Customer knowledge of the brand (include â€Å"Brand Mental Map†). Brand Associations: awareness, strength, favorability, consistency and uniqueness of brand associations. Main sources of Brand Equity (possible threats to Brand Equity) Customer-Based Brand Equity Pyramid (CBBE pyramid) Problem areas/inconsistencies of perception vs. market reality. The size, profile and buying behavior of the most important customer segments. The depth and breath of ‘Brand Awareness’. A perceptual map showing the brand and its main competitors along the most important brand attributes. III. Conclusion & Recommendations: Should include (but not limited to): SWOT analysis. A proposal for a ‘positioning’ statement. Recommendations concerning how to measure, build and manage additional Brand Equity. IV. Appendix: Supporting/additional Tables, Charts, Graphs, Figures, Photos, etc. V. References: List only the material that you actually refer to in the report. Choose from this list of Brands (most of them from Business Week’s 100 Best Global Brands) Post your gp’s choice on the â€Å"Ques for Prof/TA† board on a first come first serve basis.

Compare or contrast the way something is done in the United States and Essay

Compare or contrast the way something is done in the United States and the way it is done in another country like ( DUBAI , UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ) - Essay Example They will meet to rally their leaders in the United States and even have meals with them in restaurants when they campaign. In the United Arab Emirates these types of relationships would not happen. In the UAE, power and wealth are also important together. It is understood that there can be distance between wealthy business people and leaders. Because of this the people in the UAE would find it to be acceptable that leaders have money. In the United States, the people having a close relationship with their leaders makes them want to have wealth also. The people often ask for wealth to be handed out for different needs with much activity when it does not happen. For example, if people are having a hard time with their profit they will start to demand money to be redistributed. This is when they protest and when they become more active in getting what they want. The United States leaders have little choice but to try to meet these demands or face consequences of protesting people. In the United Arab Emirates, the people are less likely to be loud against their leaders about economy issues. It is again this power distance that is most noticeable. With high power distance, there are some common ideas. In the UAE, because people are not close to their leaders they will have quiet and private conversations about their unhappiness. They will speak with family and relatives for this or workplace partners. It is only when situations get really out of control and unfair that people in the UAE would make loud appeals to their leaders. The United States is the same way, in comparison. People often have spokespersons in the USA and let them do their protesting for them. Other discussions happen in private areas with close friends and company. This is when people in communities begin making signs and getting together to make sure change happens they way they want it. So there is a form of collectivism that happens with high power distance

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Risk Management - Essay Example However, upon the end of implementation phase, closing a project becomes a necessary point. Closing a project requires careful analysis and often misunderstood from a project management standpoint. This paper will discuss some of the project closures that are challenging for project management. Often times in a project, expectations are not met that are defined in scope and the WBS. Thus, creating contingency strategies is pivotal towards executing a successful project. One of the most pivotal contingency strategy is to have a high incremental cost of resources. Resources are often less expensive when they are bought in bulk, but expensive if they are purchased incrementally. Hence, it is critical to have software and other resources purchased in bulk to avoid paying extra money. One of the biggest concerns for closing a project is the end the finer details of the store. This becomes more problematic the project does not achieve optimal results. This is where the project may fall. For instance, The Project Manager should produce confirmation from the Senior User or User Group that the final product or outcome of the project meets the acceptance criteria.   The fourth element of risk is user testing is one element that can be problematic, especially in an Agile environment. In every given WBS, user testing is defined in iterations. However, user testing becomes problematic given a final holistic approach of the project itself. Even in beta testing becomes problematic, which is definitely an issue because it obliterates quality in a project and creates chaos. Managing change request is another huge issue that project managers have to be well-aware off. This is problematic because change requests are part of any project management. In order to manage change requests, project managers must collaborate with stake holders in order to remove any unclear understanding that dictates the goals and the objectives of the project. Controlling change

Presentation Speech or Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Speech or Presentation Example Mandatory military service is a norm in many nations across the world; it is also the norm for most men reaching 18 years of age to dread the day that they would have to wear their nation army uniform. Contemplating  over the year or three young people would dedicate to military service; I believe that it is an extraordinary honor and a great opportunity for self-development. Having a mandatory military service for everyone in the population would have a far-reaching positive impact on the nature of our Arab population; firstly, it would help in modeling character and character formation for our young people in the Arab world and eventually help in curbing social ills. This transformation will give forth-young people with sound moral values, and character traits that are admirable for cohesion in the Arab world; for instance, our Arab youths will gain a sense of duty and service to our nations; they would also learn the values of hard work, effective organization, self discipline, cooperation, good leadership and self defense. Many social ills in the Arab world such as acts of terrorism, juvenile crimes, violence, teenage pregnancies and substance abuse by the population can be directly attributed to lack of social values and morals; this can partly be blamed on upbringing and lack of good models for the young people. Mandatory military service will be efficient in instilling sound moral values in our population; young people will learn to value work as opposed to robbery and peace instead of violence. They will be sound morally upright individuals with impeccable character traits that will help in governance and leadership of our Arab worlds. Perhaps most importantly, mandatory military service would help instilling into our Arab youths a sense of nationhood and loyalty to our Arab nations- young people will be willing to sacrifice their lives for the noble course of duty and service to our great Arab nations. In addition to this, the population will be able to recognize and respect structural systems in the Arab nations, such as the courts in respect for law, order and authority. Cases of anarchy such as was witnessed in the recent past will be outdated as the Arab populations will be proud of their leadership and institutions in general. In this regard, mandatory military training will foster the development of a future generation that is not only committed to values of nationhood, but also one that can be relied upon in the event of emergencies for disaster for mitigation. Mandatory military training will be a great boost to national security especially for Arab countries in the Gulf region (Kuwait, Oman, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates) which are in constant clashes thereby making the regions politically unstable (Bahgat 79). These Arab countries are faced with two major imminent threats to their internal security, â€Å"a potentially aggressive, potentially nuclear armed Iran†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pol lack 3) that viciously seeks to overrun other regional governments that challenge its dominance in the region, and an Iraqi that â€Å"could potentially threaten to destabilize the region by either sliding back into civil war or emerging as a new dictatorship† (Pollack 3). Apart from these two threats, Arab countries in the gulf region are endowed with rich oil deposits, a treasure that is of interest to the rest of the world; therefore, heralding a

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 14

Marketing - Essay Example Coffee is its main strength and that is considered a supplement/complement to retail services. Its retail presence is strong in North America but limited to that region. China is expected to become the company’s second largest market. Euromonitor Internationl: Global Company Profile, p. 5, 2007) refers to Euromonitor International Asia-Pacific and reports that China is â€Å"expected to have one of the lowest forecast growth rates for fresh coffee, the category in which the company operates (12% over the 2005-2010 period compared to world growth of 13% over the same period) and the company is up against some strong competitors in hot drinks.† Berger, Buchman, Chase et al (n.d.) gives a PEST analysis: Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis—deals with factors that are outside of an industry but has an influence of what goes on within, or the microenvironment, that determines how firms compete. These are the forces that drive

Critically analysing the issues and effectiveness of the Code of Essay

Critically analysing the issues and effectiveness of the Code of Sustainable Homes and their contribution to helping UK Government to achieve the reductions in CO2 required - Essay Example necessitates the need to formulate strategies, framework, policies, regulations and any other method to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in to the atmosphere (Bergman et al, 2007). Presently the world is going through the global warming phase; the cause has been attributed to increasing green house gases from industrial, commercial and various other residential activities. Goodall (2007:3) mentions that fewer people know the details regarding the amount of carbon dioxide are generated in their day to day activities. It is further mentioned that only air travels, each person travelling by air is responsible for 12.5 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year in United Kingdom. It is important to mention that half of the total carbon emissions results from the way in which we live i.e. running our homes and getting from place to place in car or plane. Bergman et al (2007) states that household ownership of electronics, such as televisions, domestic IT and other gadgets has increased ra pidly and expected to continue to rise over the next years making the consumer electronics, the biggest single sector of home electricity consumption. And moreover, the number of households is increasing with the increased growth in population year by year causing an increased environmental burden and introducing social sustainability issues. It is further mentioned that the one person household in the UK has grown from 18% in 1971 to 30% in 2001 and are predicted to constitute 38% of households by 2026. In view of the involvement of residential activities in carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases, the governments from different countries evolved and formulated different strategies to cope with the increasing problem. The present paper looks into the policies adopted by United Kingdom to reduce the carbon emissions the residential sector by providing carbon free homes as stipulated in their Code for Sustainable Homes. According to the report for World Business Summit on Climate

Elvis Presley King of Rock and Roll Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Elvis Presley King of Rock and Roll - Essay Example nt, his reputation as the world’s greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll singer even after the sensational impact of ‘Beatlemania’ of 1964 had not declined even decades after his demise. Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in the humblest circumstances on January 8, 1935, in Mississippi. He graduated from Humes High School, in Tennessee where his parents migrated, in 1953. The young Elvis displayed a natural gift for singing and took up guitar at eleven that was given by his father as a birthday gift. Pop, country music, gospel music, and the black R&B of the time influenced him in molding his musical genius. He began his singing experimentation in the summer of 1953, when he decided to record songs, mainly out of curiosity to hear his own sound on record. The two songs ‘My Happiness’ and ‘That’s When Your Heartaches Begin’ recorded at Memphis Recording Service Studio caught attention of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and assistant Marion Keisker recognize his â€Å"nascent talent.† (Chuck). In 1954 Phillips asked Elvis to team up with two local musicians to try out a speeded-up version of blues singer Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup’s song ‘That is All Right,’ which was released as Elvis’ first single. In 1955 his recording career was sold to RCV Records, one of the worlds biggest record companies, on the advice of Colonel Tom Parker (Andreas van Kuijk). The RCA had the necessary influence to â€Å"expose Elvis on nationally networked television† and by 1956 he was an international sensation. (Lennon and Dylan). His popular number one hits are: Heart Break Hotel (1956), Love me Tender (1956), (Let me be your) Teddy Bear-Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock(1957), Stuck on You-Welcome Home (1960), Are You lonesome Tonight? & All shook up (1968 come back specials), Can’t help falling in love (1961), In the Ghetto (1970), The Wonder of You (1970), and Burning Love (1973). He had a short stint with U.S army and also experimented with

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Essay Example for Free

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Essay 1. Introduction Britvic Soft Drinks has a long and rich history. At first this company was then little more than a home business run from a chemists shop. Soon the company was producing all kinds of originally concocted soft drinks. It was only in 1949 that the Britvic brand was formally launched into the marketplace. Following the Second World War, Britvic went from strength to strength. In 1971, the British Vitamin Product Company formally changed its name to Britvic. Now, Britvic has two branded soft drink business which  supplies wide range of products. But Britvic has taken a hit, they improve position. Through marketing campaigns and drench brains campaign, including TV adverts and establish. It gives brand a great support and fit with the personality of the brand. Britvic increases market share and grow consumer awareness of its brands. Via fast moving and use different campaigns in various market. But Britvic also have some negative, for example the main consumer groups are young people. The old man Pay more attention to health. So Britvic need in keep original strength, for more consumer groups make action. Britvic places strong emphasis on brands and creating brand loyalty. They plan to launch a Tango, designed to attract older consumers. To expand consumption groups and have more benefits. 2.0 Key characteristics of the marketing concept 2.1 Marketing â€Å"Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers. Marketing might sometimes be interpreted as the art of selling products, but selling is only a small fraction of marketing. As the term Marketing may replace Advertising it is the overall strategy and function of promoting a product or service to the customer. † (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing) Other marketing definitions are mentioned in the book and PPT is: â€Å"Selling goods that do not come back to customers who do at a profit which satisfied shareholders using means which satisfy other stakeholders.† (Source: SQA, 2006) â€Å"Marketing is process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.†(PPT) From those three definitions I think marketing is an activity. Marketing activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer those products. Marketing is delivered to the client satisfaction profit through the conversion. 2.2 Three key characteristics of the market concept The company should identify and define customer needs and wants as well as their expectations. All goods and services produced by the firm must satisfy the customer needs. Then they will keep returning as a frequent caller and purchase more goods. All departments, functions and sections of the business  must work together to meet the main objectives of the organization. You should let your employee satisfaction of their salary, and provide good working conditions, so that they will continue to work hard. Must follow government’s laws and pay taxes to create honesty. Marketing concept assumes that profit can only be achieved when customers are satisfied. The customers are entitled to a reasonable product for a reasonable price, while the firm is also entitled to a reasonable profit for a reasonable product. And company must be enough profit made to keep the business in operation. To ensure these characters, a successful company can be formed. 3.0 Britvic’s micro and macro environment A collection of companies that carry out similar tasks or provide similar benefits is called an industry. These organizations exist within an environment, which exerts an influence on the operations of the industry and the individual organizations within it. 3.1 Micro and Macro environment â€Å"The micro environment refers to the forces that are close to the company and affect its ability to serve its customers. It includes the company itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors, and publics.† â€Å"The macro environment refers to all forces that are part of the larger society and affect the microenvironment. It includes concepts such as demography, economy, natural forces, technology, politics, and culture.† 3.2 PEST Analysis The PEST include political, economic, sociocultural, technological. Political factors are government meddling in the economy. If policy having changes, the market must make the corresponding change. Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. Economic factors can influence the enterprise operation. For example, exchange rates can influence of import and export goods. Social factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. This  factor can tell enterprise how to operate. To find a most conforms to the social needs of the operation. Technological factors include technological aspects such as RD activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. The technological factors can change cost of production, how a business will run. 3.3 These environment relate with Britvic There have new rules on television advertising of food and drink to children aged fewer than 16 has led to the use of non-television campaigns. So young consumers become reduces, Britvic’s advertising strategy failures. In 2008, soft drinks sales decline due to the economic downturn. At that time consumers seek value for money. So soft drink was proved to be elastic demand. It cannot avoid the pressures of the economic crisis. Britvic can sell cold drinks in summer and in winter sell hot drinks. It is a new opportunity to make the drink market development. Package technology is a significant development in Britvic. Use bottled instead of glass bottle, it can make transportation more convenient. And nowadays the packages of soft drink are more and more advanced. At the same time it can meet customer demand and reduce the cost. 4.0 Important of market research and important gathered 4.1 What is marketing research? â€Å"Market research consists of testing the market to determine the acceptance of a particular product or service, especially amongst different demographics. It is used to establish which portion of the population will or does purchase a product, based on age, gender, location, income level and many other variables. Market research allows companies to learn more about past, current and potential customers, including their specific likes and dislikes.† 4.2 The importance of information Companies need information about their customer needs, marketing environment and competition. Companies can follow their information to sure how their business will run. Marketing managers do not need more information, they need better information. 4.3 Types of market research The types of market research is defining the problem and research objectives; developing the research plan for collecting information; implementing the research plan collecting and analyzing the data; interpreting and reporting the finding. Market research includes exploratory research, descriptive research and causal/predictive research. There are two main sources of marketing research data: Secondary research and Primary research. Secondary, or ‘desk’ research uses existing information, collected originally for some other purpose and now being used a second time. â€Å"When research is conducted to unearth original data, it is called primary research. To do this, an original research plan must be devised which will encompass, data collection, data input and then the production and analysis of the subsequent results. Due to the sometimes lengthy duration of this research it can often be expensive to conduct. However, because the research is original, the results gather ed will be more relevant to the needs of the client.† 4.4 Type of information The gathering information includes Secondary information and Primary information. â€Å"Primary information is information that has been obtained first hand, or is original. Primary information is the exact opposite of secondary information. Primary; original, first hand, principle, first priority information; knowledge there are many forms of primary information, these include; surveys (that you have conducted), interviews, human resources and so forth.† Primary information is the original materials which have not been filtered through interpretation, it is someone want to gain some information then he through statistical get conclusion. It is even no evaluation by a second party. â€Å"It is information compiled/generated/created by computer. Secondary information can be deleted and regenerated at any time. Secondary Information is information that is derived from other information.† Secondary information may be after a second use. So it is may no use value 4.5 The research in Britvic Britvic can research its customers. To found the main consumer groups. Britvic can make a questionnaire issue to each human that purchase their products to make the product meet the customers’ need. Then they can find the main consumer groups with Britvic is teen-agers. And then Britvic plan to launch a Tango variant called Tango Clear with no added sugar, designed to attract older consumers. The move can make to improve its current market conditions and have a group of constant consumers. The company also can take some new projects to better meet the needs of customers. The primary research strengths are dealing with problems very accurate, the weakness is time consuming, Britvic can get the original information, but it will take much time and the cost is expensive. However the result of research is more in line with customer demand. Secondary research strengths are fast and easy to get, weaknesses are collected for other, Britvic can easily get a rough answer, but it is easy to get. I suggest the Britvic need a market research before developing Tango Clear in order to figure out the right marketing mix and the wants of customers. With the research, they can avoid the market failure and unnecessary loss. 5.0 Marketing research information collection technique Britvic invention a new product called Tango Clear. This product with no added sugar, designed to attract older consumers. Before this product develops Britvic can have a survey such as questionnaire. This action is Britvic go through survey on consumers tastes preference determined. From the survey, company know what flavor is older customers prefer. So they can development this new product with this survey’s information. Tango has two star flavor products. The two products have an excellent sale. This product is the first time that keep the older customer change their opinion from a product specialized aim at children. Therefore, there will take more customers to buy this product. Then a high brand loyalty has been established. Primary research include: qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative research tends to know the opinion and view of people. And the quantitative research tends to find the statistical information. If Britvic used In-depth interviews, they can gain the information clearly and particular. But this way is so expensive and waste too much time. So we do  not recommend Britvic using this method. If Britvic used postal surveys, it is very convenience to the company. But it must need much time to receive reply. Britvic can use a qualitative research techniques that focus group. Britvic need to promote the new product for older customer. So they can only take a survey from older customer. 6.0 Market segmentation and targeting 6.1 market segmentation â€Å"Market segmentation is a marketing term referring to the aggregating of prospective buyers into groups (segments) that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action. Market segmentation enables companies to target different categories of consumers who perceive the full value of certain products and services differently from one another.†   Levels of market segmentation can divide markets into smaller segments. It can be reached more efficiently and effectively with products and services that match their unique needs. Market segmentation represents an effort to increase a companys targeting precision. It include: Mass marketing, it means same product to all consumers; Segment marketing that difference products to one or more segments; Niche marketing that different products to subgroups with in segments; Micromarketing, it means products to suit the tastes of individuals and locations. And the Micromarketing included Local marketing- tailoring brand s/ promotions to local customer group; Individual marketing- Tailoring products and programs to the needs of individual customers. Standards of segmentation: Company can accord age, life, style, etc. to segmentation the market. For example Red Devin, it is a sport energy drinks, It mainly provide physical strength consumption huge young people drinking. So Red Devin’s market has according to age and life. Behavioral segmentation: It is based on variable such as customers usage rate, benefits sought, company brand loyalty, user status, occasions and readiness to buy etc. 6.2 market targeting Target market is defined as being a set of buyers who share common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. The selection of potential customers to whom a business wishes to sell products and services is targeting. Successful marketing find a target audiences. Every business set a target after their market research. The targeting involves segmentation the market choosing which segment of the market is appropriate and determining the product that will be offered in each segment. 6.3 The process of marketing segmentation and targeting The process of marketing segmentation The first step in the segmentation process is to establish the market and targeted consumers. The second step is often termed as market mapping and involves structuring the entire marketing procedures based upon the need of the said market. The third step is entirely dependent upon the consumers as the demand by consumers and their suggestions are largely viewed, surveyed, taken into consideration and in many cases implemented. In this step, the actual segment begins to take shape as like-minded consumers having same demands are placed together and are analyzed as a group. Launching of a parallel or a totally new product is viewed in this situation. The last step is catering to the needs of existing consumers and finding new markets. 6.4 benefits of market segmentation and targeting 1) Lower marketing expenses by targeting certain segment. Good for small budget companies; 2) Increase production and marketing efficiency and effectiveness; 3) Increased effectiveness in marketing campaign designed to attract that segment. 4) Improve profitability and enhance market share;  5) Tailoring product offering to a certain market segment improves customer satisfaction. Britvic following all kinds of market segmentation and they are applying market segmentation for targeting. As a result they are getting more and more benefits. They recognize that the Great Depression in UK lead to poorest customers needed an affordable source of Vitamin C and they have made a small glass bottle of juice and the idea was successful from the Geo-Demographic Segmentation. 7.0 Marketing mix in relation to Britvic 7.1 marketing mix The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing. The marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brands offering, and is often  synonymous with the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place. Product Line: A group of products have similar function, group of customers, distribution channel and price ranges. For example, Britvic have creation different kinds of drink. Product Depth: The more products in a product line are means product line is longer. For example, in one product line of Britvic have many kind of soft drink include lemonades, mineral waters, tonics. Product Length: All production the variety of goods. For example, Britvic have two main products that soft drink and Stills. Product Width: A company the number of the product line. In Britvic have two product lines. The brand of Britvic: Britvic has a constant flow of new product development. Follow different group of customers change their product. It can increase brand loyalty. The factors aff ect the successful launch of the new product in to the market. For example, the product is launched at the wrong time. If Britvic launch a new soft drink at winter, that a wrong time. Because winter is so cold, very few people to buy soft drinks. Therefore this product cannot be successful. 7.2 distribution channel Product distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user, using direct means, or using indirect means with intermediaries. The traditional distribution model is Manufacturing, Wholesaler, and Retailer. Intermediaries can save time, minimizing compliance costs, and free you up to focus on whats important building your business. The Britvic’s products present to supermarket, cinemas, Hotel, restaurant and Bar. Britvic supplies a wide range of products to approximately 200,000 outlets across the country. It is extensive sales channels. But it may be a little waste. It can decrease their distribution channel, take them dont be so dense. In a public that population is concentrated; the intermediaries can lay up some vending machines. Price is the main of marketing mix. Because it is must be right price. It is must be high enough to cover costs and make a good profit however at the same time be low price to catch the eye of customers. Pricing strategy which company’s use such as price skimming, price penetration, and competitive.  Price skimming involves setting a high price before other competitors come into the market. This is often used of a new product which is not facing little competition. Price penetration is the pricing method of setting a relatively low initial entry price, usually lower than the intended established price to attract new customers. Influence the pricing strategy’s factors. Competitive: If there is strong competition in a market then the price of product will be same for different products. Products may be good or bad. â€Å"Advertising is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage or persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action.†   Advertising was usually including the type of newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages. Even if print and cinema are very attract consumers, but those ways is so expensive.TV is a good method, because everybody can see TV at home. Most of products have life cycle. For example, in summer advertisement with soft drink can be decrease. Because summer is so hot, most of people want to drink Cool coke to relieving summer-heat. Even if no advertisement customers don’t forget this product. But government doesn’t allow large-scale advertising. So the company can change their policy, they can Show the exhibits in the magazine covers. And according radio in troduces their products. â€Å"Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits organizations to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include Cell Phone Text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, and outdoor advertising.† 8.0 Marketing mix from perspective of service Tangible goods have many accompanying services. For example delivery precision, speed, after services, health concerns, customers services hotline, etc. Those accompanying services all can help company have improving goodwill, improving customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Process is a procedure. It is a mechanism of activities which is involved in the delivery of a service. It means that how a business provides a good service to the customers and to get success. For example, Britvic juices were sold in small glass bottles which ensured easy transportation. This process can make customer feel convenience. This is good service for Britvic. People who serve the customers are the main in a service. People are considering the most important element in any kinds of service so the rule of staff is very important to influences a customer’s perception of the quality of service. Front side who are dealings with customers they must be highly trained and with good knowledge about their product. The company must train staff communication skills. For example: Ralph Chapman. He is owner of the British. Physical Environment Physical environment is very important for any kinds of business. It is an extended marketing strategy which is used to satisfy the customers by the best advertisement, with either tangible products or service. The marketing strategy should include effectively communicating their satisfaction to potential customers because of the intangibility of service. From physical environment the customers want comfort. For example, if manufacturing environment is very well. It is used to satisfy the customers by the best advertisement. On the other hand it will be not only comfortable for the customers but also for staffs. Britvic also can attempts to develop the online marketing. Online marketing is one of the population ways with shopping today. 9.0 Recommendations Britvic is distributing its products to a wide range of areas such as supermarkets, local shops, restaurant, pubs, hotels, and cinemas. If they wanted to, they can distribute their products for a more broad range. They could distribute to wholesalers and give them exclusive offers which are not available elsewhere. They also can door to door promotion for their product. Britvic is a very successful brand and company, so they could use any kinds  of promotional method. For example they have been used Wimbledon and Pantomimes which gives the brand a lot of publicity. However, it can not only make the advertisement through TV, it also can release it on the magazine, paper and subway advertising. Thus more people will know this brand. The sponsor can launch a lot of marketing activities, let more consumer understand this brand Britvic has a long and rich history, so its’ image in peoples hearts are very clear. Its’ price must be in a scope of public satisfaction. But it a lso can have a low-cost product. This action can take people use a low price to enjoy an old brand of products. So this method must be increased the products sales. 10.0 Summary and conclusion The problem of Britvic is poor summer weather has impact the sales. And the health awareness has driven demand, it also impact the sales of soft drink. Britvic can according to the seasonal introduce the corresponding new products. For example, in cold winter they can develop a hot drink. Britvic should sure their marketing objective. It is aim at the vast numbers of young meanwhile attracted older customers. Britvic can accord older costumers’ flavor to develop some new products. 11.0 Reference The websites visited included: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_environment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_environment http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-market-research.htm http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_contenttask=viewid=802 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_primary_information http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?SecondaryInformation http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketsegmentation.asp#ixzz2Cx7YQZWq http://www.buzzle.com/articles/market-segmentation-process.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_marketing

The definition of financial terminology within the market

The definition of financial terminology within the market Did you know what the financial institution is? The definition of financial institution is an organization that invests the chiefly in financial assets such as securities and loans rather than in tangible property. In the financial institutions, there have include many parts, such as banks, consumer finance companies, trust companies, savings and loans, insurance companies, credit unions, pension funds, and the mutual funds. What is the financial market? Financial markets is a market which for the exchange of the capital and credit, it including the money markets and the capital markets. In  business, government  and individuals  often  need to raise the funds. Income  individuals and  companies are  now  spending  more  than they,  so they have funds available to  invest. Individuals and organizations  gathered  to  borrow  money  and  those who have  surplus. The financial market can be divided into two groups, that is money market and capital market. Money  market is a  creation  and suppliers  of  short term funding requirements  and the financial  relationship. The maturity  is within one year. The capital  market is a  market, so that  suppliers and  demanders  to trade  long-term capital. The investors encounter high risks in those securities are including liquidity risk, default risk, maturity risk and inflation risk. These two fin ancial markets also can divide into primary market and secondary market. Next, I want to Identify and discuss the three different ways for transferring capital or fund from savers to borrowers in the financial market. The first ways is direct transfers of money and securities. This will occur when a business sells the bond and stocks directly to the savers without going to through any types of the financial institution. It is the business that delivers its securities to the savers, and who in turn give the firm the money it needs. The second ways is the investment banking house. The investment banking house is an organization that can distributes or underwrites the new investment securities and also help business obtain financing. For an example, the person name Merrill Lynch is underwrites the issue. The underwriter is serves as a middleman. It also facilitates the issuance of the securities. The company who sells the stocks or bonds to the investment bank, the major reason is they want to sells these same securities to the savers. The last ways for tran sferring capital or fund from savers to borrowers in the financial market is financial intermediaries. The financial intermediaries is the specialized financial firms that facilities the transfer of funds from the savers to demander of capital. The financial intermediary is such like a bank or mutual fund. It is simply to transfer the money and securities between the firms and the savers. They literally want to create the new financial products. Here, the intermediary obtains funds is from the savers in exchange is for its own securities. Then, the intermediary will use this money to buy and also hold the business securities. In addition, the existence of intermediaries are greatly to increases the efficiency of money and capital markets. In the financial intermediaries also have many functions. The first functions of the financial intermediaries are to reduce the transaction cost. A transaction cost is a cost that incurred in making in an economic exchange. Usually this is restated of the cost of the participating in a market. For an example, if you are a businessman, you want to open a fruits stall. Lets say you want to sell watermelon. You consider buying the watermelons from a store. To purchase the watermelons, your costs are not only paying for the price of the watermelons itself. Why? Because you need to use your energy and effort it requires to find out what types of the watermelons that you prefer, the cost of travelling from that store to your house, where can you get the stock of watermelons, can get the watermelons at what price, the effort of the paying itself and also the time when you waiting in line. These all costs are really above and beyond the cost of the watermelons are the transaction costs. The second functions of the financial intermediaries are the facilities such as saving deposits, online banking to pay the bills, online checking your saving account, money transfer and others that can be liquidity. These all are provided generally by credit unions, banks, and the finance companies. The next function of the financial intermediaries are risk sharing. While, the risk sharing is a risk management method in which the cost of the consequences of a risk is distributed among with the several of the participants in an enterprise. Next, I want to explain about the classes of intermediaries. There have seven classes of the intermediaries. The first classes are commercial banks. Commercial banks is the traditional finance  department store  into a  wide variety of  savers and borrowers. Expanding  the services provided,  including stock  brokerage services and  insurance coverage. Commercial banks are quite different from the investment banks. Commercial banks can lend money, while an investment bank is help companies to raise the capital from other parties. The second classes are savings and loan associations. This is the served individual savers and residential and commercial mortgage borrowers. It takes the fund of many small savers and then will lend this money to the home buyers and other type of borrowers. In the analysis of credit, it is setting up a loan, so that the collections of personal savings are more than expertise, so they reduce the costs and improve the availability of real esta te loans. The third classes are mutual savings banks. This is similar with SLs, operate the primarily in the northeastern states, and accept the savings primarily from individuals. It also lend the mainly on a long-term basis to the home buyers or consumers. The next classes are credit union. Credit unions are the members of the association  of their cooperation  should have a  common bond. The members savings are loaned only to other members, usually is for the home improvement loans, auto purchases etc. Its often the cheapest source of the funds available to the individual borrowers. Other classes are the pension funds. It means the retirement plans are funded by corporations or government agencies for their workers and the administered primarily by the trust departments of commercial banks or by life insurance companies. There have two plans of the pension funds, defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Another class is the life insurance companies. That is the participate in the annual  premium  in the form  of  savings, real estate, bonds, mortgage  loans, investment  in stocks,  ultimately  these funds  to the insureds  payment to the beneficiary  parties. The last classes are mutual funds. The mutual funds are the corporations that accept money from the savers and then they use these funds to buy the stocks, long-term bonds, or short-term debt instruments issued by business or government units. The pools funds and thus reduce the risks by diversification. The different funds  of different types of  savings  designed to meet  those  goals. There are literally thousands of different mutual funds with dozens of different goals and purposes. In this assignment, I had already explain the definition of financial market, the three different ways for transferring capital or fund from savers to borrowers and also the classes of intermediaries. I know that the financial institutions are very important not just for a businessman, also for everyone.

Genealogy and the Internet

Genealogy and the Internet The topic of genealogy has been thoroughly researched throughout the decades. The main problem with genealogy was the travel that traditionally accompanied any genealogist in their search for records and sources. Access to records, or the lack thereof, is the pivotal issue for genealogists. They have lobbied successfully to increase physical access to records, and they also work to increase intellectual access through mentoring and educational programs [6]. For example, genealogists in Minnesota assisted in the transcription of death records and in creating an on-line index [7]. Since the unpredictable explosion of the internet and therefore the creation of online indexes, this issue has practically been wiped out. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that use of the Internet for hobbies has grown exponentially, and 24 percent of respondents went on-line to research family history or genealogy [8]. GenWeb is an example of a loosely organized group of genealogists who independently select vital records, index them, and publish the indexes online. There is no quality control, true aggregation, or direct linking to the original. What you see is what you get: many separate online indexes, loosely organized under the USGenweb Project umbrella, available at http://www.usgenweb.org. Genealogists building family trees over the Internet through name indexing and vital records data collection projects has become a massive hobby since the introduction of these online indexes.   The Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU), as part of its effort to collect micro film (and more recently, digitized) copies of vital records, developed an Internet Indexing System to manage work flow and provide robust tools for volunteers to carry out name indexing projects from the comfort of their homes [31]. The resulting data goes not only to the GSUs cumulative database, but to each repository that owns the records for merging with its discovery system. This system varies from the work of the GenWeb in this important way. A commercial example of this is Ancestry.com [10], which digitized and thoroughly indexed some of the U.S. Federal Census returns, adding value to a public record. The records themselves (or a microfilm thereof) are available for all to see at no cost at the National Archives and at many other repositories. But Ancestry charges for access to its database and with it, its digital images taken from the microfilm. The added values, those that make this worth paying for, are 1) the aggregation, 2) the indexes, and 3) the convenience of online access. They record dates and places of births, marriages, deaths, places of residence and other information, such as occupation, military service or church affiliation. Pedigree charts are used to record familial relations, and history sheets for supplementary information such as anecdotes, newspaper accounts, or other miscellaneous historical information. Every detail needs to be referred to the original source, invariably a primary or vital record, though sometimes secondary sources such as oral history, family bibles, published genealogies, and transcribed records. 2.1.2 Genealogy in Ireland Information skills development and information exchange are key features of genealogy. When related activities such as membership in genealogical societies, family reunions, and research in libraries and archives are considered, the number of people engaged in genealogical activities is huge [11]. The Irish government has an official website, irishgenealogy.ie, ran by the Department for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The website contains a huge database of records, consisting of extremely old records such as the 1901 and 1911 Census. In September 2015, the website received a massive boost when over 2.5 million images of Irish births, deaths and marriage records from the General Register Office, making the website a goldmine for Irish genealogists [12]. Previously, in order to view these records, a person would need to put in an order and wait to hear back from the GRO. Now, all records are easily assessable for any person who wishes, at the click of a button. 2.1.3 Similar Software Already Available After a lengthy search, including contacting some international genealogy developers, I can conclude that there does not currently exist any software similar to the one I am creating. Online, there are many family tree creators, record searchers, message boards, etc. however none of these can actually give a narrative of a persons life. Thus, I think that my contribution after creating this application will be of a great benefit when released online. 2.2 Technical material 2.2.1 Sources There are two types of sources used in genealogical research: primary and secondary. In this project, I will focus on the primary sources. Primary sources can be described as documents and records that were created during the time of the event in question, such as a birth, census, death, or marriage, happened. A person who had direct and personal first-hand knowledge of the event wrote these documents and records. Many of this documents can include vital record facts, such as certificates of births, deaths, or marriages, family bibles, military records, information, naturalization records, and more. Since these documents are said to be highly accurate, primary sources are preferred when obtaining and referencing genealogical information. For example, consider a primary source for your birth date is your birth certificate. In most instances, a birth certificate is prepared either on the day or within a few days of the actual event. This certificate is then signed by one or more witnes ses to the birth making it a first-hand primary document. The quickness and inclusion of direct witness make the information within the record a reliable account of the event and therefore of more usefulness to a genealogist. There are many Irish websites that contain digitalized primary sources [13]. 2.2.2 Web Application Choice Several considerations should be taken when choosing which language to use for building the web application: Comfort: When choosing a language, a person should take into account any language that they feel more comfortable with, from using beforehand, making it easier to develop further. As a Computer Science student, I have come in contact with a number of different programming languages so my choice ranges. Performance: The performance of the language itself is the only one real concern that could cause an issue. Performance of how the language crosses with external technologies such as the file system or database is said to be extremely important and should not be looked over. Popularity: This is a very important one. You are more likely to find helpful documents online if you use a popular language. You are also more likely to find reference material and other help. 2.2.3 Mean Probability The probability associated with each source fact will be in the range of 10 100%. Using the mean will calculate the overall probability for correctness. The mean value of a set of figures is calculated by summing the figures to find the total and then dividing by the number of figures in the set.

Gun Control: American vs the NRA Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Ess

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a Friday afternoon in Charlesbay High School. Students are piling into the lunch lines awaiting hot pizza, fresh French fries and ice-cold sodas. As the students discuss what they are going to do after the football game and how their 1st hour test was, a gunshot is heard not far away. The students are ordered to stay low to the ground by school security guards. None of the students know what is happening outside the lunch lines. What is going on is a 17-year old frenetic boy who attends Charlesbay, got upset with a couple students. He was sick of hearing them call him â€Å"dumb† or â€Å"butterball† and pushing him around the hallways. Robby, we’ll call him, took matters into his own hands and decided to do something about his bullies. The way Robby obtained his gun was by a friend, an older friend. This lethal weapon caused the death of 3 students and 5 injuries. What was just explained seems to be a typical storyline heard on the news daily. The debate over firearms has been polarized for too long. Gun law is a never-ending issue because there hardly is any true debate. Americans (and even gun owners) do support the governments efforts to make sure guns are less dangerous in violent hands, but that is the main problem-the guns getting in the wrong human hands. Millions of law-abiding Americans do own and do enjoy their guns. But criminals and sometimes-disconcerted kids often use firearms to kill. The use of firearms has increased tremendously. An average day in Los Angeles is four people dying in a gun related crime and the United States faces approximately 87 deaths a day. There are more than 200 million guns in circulation in the United States and if you don’t own a firearm, chances are that your neighbor or friend does (Fineman 27). Sure, the Founding Fathers incorporated the Second Amendment as â€Å"the right to keep and bear arms,† but it did not give the distinction of using guns to kill more childr en and people than anywhere in the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I. It is happening all over the country: kids are dying from guns. (Restatement) A. According to the governments statistics, 4, 223 children were killed by firearms in 1997, while many of these deaths occurred while playing at a friends’ home or even in their own neighborhood (Bai 32). 1.It is mostly due because their parents or other gun owners ... ...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Madmen will always do mad things (Aphorism). People do kill with broomsticks and their bare hands. Yet the facts are inescapable, there are more than 200 million guns in circulation and more than 1/3 of American households owns a firearm (Fineman 32) (Restatement). Products are something we need to regulate, be they cars, lawnmowers or pharmaceuticals. It is time to apply this consumer-product safety standard to firearms. Perhaps it will take another school shooting to get the Americans and political leaders thinking. Perhaps it will take one more school shooting to move us from people who support for gun control to people who actually vote for it. Perhaps it will take one more shooting to make the Americans more powerful than the NRA. Perhaps it will take our school to be the chosen school to have a rampage, to finally open up our eyes to see how dangerous guns really is (Repetition). Works Cited Matt Bai, â€Å"Searching for Answers† Newsweek 10 May 1999 31:36 Howard Fineman, â€Å"The Gun War Comes Home† Newsweek 23 May 1999 22:32 Andrew Murr, â€Å"Follow the Firearms† Newsweek 10 May 1999 34 Anna Quindlen, â€Å"The Widows and the Wounded† Newsweek 1 Nov. 1999 98

Comparing Spiritual Growth in Gardeners Grendel and Hesses Siddhartha

Spiritual Growth in Gardener's Grendel and Hesse's Siddhartha      Ã‚   A mythical beast who finds meaning in killing and a questioning wanderer who cannot find meaning in being: both John Gardener's Grendel and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha grow and develop spiritually, yet their authors use vastly different styles to convey these changes.    John Gardner's revolutionary style is not encompassed by a single genre; instead, he mixes first-person narrative and several different literary styles to give the "Ruiner of Meadhalls" a unique voice. The use of first-person narrative is essential to convey Grendel's spiritual growth. Were it not for Grendel's often self-deprecatory tone, which varies from mocking - "big shaggy monster intense and earnest, bent like a priest at his prayers" (72) - to bitter and cynical - "I, Grendel, was the dark side. The terrible race that God cursed" (51) - Grendel would be impossible to relate to. Even Grendel's bouts of insanity - (whispering, whispering. Grendel has it occurred to you my dear that you are crazy?)" are easily understood.    Grendel varies from the simple, childish tone of "'Why can't I have someone to talk to? The Shaper has people to talk to'" (53) to the dense philosophical metaphors and complex diction of Grendel's conversation with the dragon. Gardener gives Grendel a purposefully guileless voice to illustrate both the monster's feelings of lost youth as well as his progression into a more sentient being.    "I think I was half prepared, in my dark, demented state, to see God, bearded and gray as geometry, scowling down at me, shaking his bloodless finger. (53)    The nihilistic dragon disagrees with Grendel's humanization, regarding men scornfully a... ...orld, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration, and respect.' (147)    Siddhartha progresses from an aloof and slightly arrogant youth, not unlike young Grendel, to a wise, satisfied man.    The central difference between John Gardener's Grendel and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, both stories of spiritual growth and development, is not thematic. Instead, vast differences in tone and language make the self-deprecating monster easy to empathize with and the soul-searching wanderer simple and detached. Despite their stylistic differences, both works stand alone as examples of philosophical and spiritual evolution.    Works Cited   Gardner, John. Grendel. 1971; rpt. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Dover Publications, 1998.   

Anion Root Tip

In the experiment, onion root tips are choosen to be observed under microscope. It is because the chromosomes are larger than most of the others plants. The root tips of onion are picked to observed as the root tips are the region where the cell division occurs mostly. The cells at the tips of the onion are actively dividing, therefore they are always in stages of mitosis. The tips on the slide are squashed with the aim to show a better and clearer observation of the chromosomes of individual cells. Adding Feulgen stain is to visualize the onion root tip cells.Normally the chromosomes are not visible in nondiving cells because the DNA is still uncoiled. After adding Feulgen stain, supercoiling of the chromosomes into a highly compacted form happen. The supercoiled chromosomes are formed so that the chromosomes can be visualized under microscope. Be precautious when treating with Felgen stain because it is a type of DNA specific stains and carcinogens. Gloves should be wore. Based on the results, it shows that interphase is the most abundantly stage that is found in onion root-tip cells, and is followed by prophase.The other phase: metaphase, anaphase and telophase only show lower amounts. The larger amount of interphase shows that the duration taken in interphase is longer than other phases. Interphase is a stage for the growth and also development of the cells. Majority of the cells are in interphase as replication of genetic material,DNA and organelles for production of new cells take a longer time. Prophase is the common phase after interphase. More times is needed for the process of condensing of sister chromatids into chromosomes. During prophase, mitotic spindles are developed from microtobules that produced by centrosomes too.Therefore, more times is needed for the more complicated stages, which are interphase and also prophase. Interphase is a stage when the cell is not dividing but preparing for its next stage. The nucleus have one or more dark-stained nucleoli that is filled with network of threads. The threads are actually the chromatin. During interphase, the genetic material and organelles are replicated. Interphase is divided into three phases which are G1, S and G2 phases. G1 is the longest phase as the work to resume growth following mitosis is carried out here. The preparation for replication of DNA occur S phase is the phase when the DNA synthesis.During this phase, the cell's DNA replicates. G2 is a gap between the synthesis of DNA and beginning of mitosis. It is a period of rapid cell growth and synthesis of protein. During prophase, the chromatins super coiled and become thicker and shorter. Thickening continues till they condense into chromosomes. Each chromosomes has been duplicated, consists of two sister chromatids. Soon, the spindle which is made up of microtubules start forming. The disintegration of nuclear envelope and nucleoli occur. At metaphase, the chromosomes have moved to the center of the nucleur.The ch romosomes have aligned at the metaphase plate and the centromeres of each sister chromatids, chromosomes have attached to the spindle. The nuclear membrane disintegrates totally at the same time. The centromeres are divided during anaphase. Sister chromatids are seperated and pulled to the corresponding poles by the spindle fibres. While the telophase is the last stage of mitosis division. A new nuclear envelope is formed around each group of chromosomes. The chromosomes uncoil. The nucleoli and nuclear envelope are formed and reappearred again. The cytoplasm is divided equally and two daughter cells are produced.

How policies and procedures promote health, safety and security in a health and social care setting Essay

The employer’s position is to supervise the health, security and safety of all the staff, visitors, volunteers to the grounds of the building and also its service users. Employers may assign accountability for health and safety to the employees, health and safety agents, administrators and the service users as well. But, it is still the employer’s job to have supreme accountability for health and safety . Another of the employer’s roles is to make sure that all of the staff that is working under the employer is CRB checked. For under the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s’ (ISA) Vetting and Barring Scheme all staff also including any volunteers that work with people that are vulnerable have to be CRB checked. The reason for this is to make sure that the staff or volunteers are appropriate for the part that they are applying for and have not beforehand injured a child or a vulnerable adult or put then in danger of injury. It is a criminal offence for a person that is barred by the ISA to apply to work or work, with vulnerable adults or to work with children. It is also the employer’s role to reduce the risk of abuse and the way that the employer does this is by the CRB checks because it stops or reduces the chance of the staff harming the service users. Another way that the employer could stop this is by training the staff so that they will work better and so (for instance) not to be tempted to abuse a service user because the staff member is angry. The employer should also monitor the staff so that they are not doing things that they should not be doing. The ways that the employer can monitor the staff can be by monitoring the staff’s phone calls, their computers and also their accounts to see if they are doing things that they should not be doing and which could harm the service users . It is also the employer’s role to report abuse from the employees to the police The Employers responsibilities The Employers are accountable for the health and safety of employees, any visiting workers from other institutes and also visitors when they are on the grounds of the building. There are legal and organisational requirements that they have to abide by to keep people safe. In an organisation an individual will be selected to supervise health and safety for the employer. Who to make sure that they can do this say that it is vital that the person selected to supervise health and safety has to have or is keen to start a Health and Safety at Work qualification. This will obtain for the person a detailed understanding of legislation and also how to succeed in health and safety in the place of work. This will make the individuals will have a bigger chance of being safe . Records have to be maintained of all incidents and accidents as after an occurrence, the employer has a duty to evaluate the settings policies and procedures and reflect on whether the reason the occurrence was because of a fault in the system. This will stop the same hazard from happening again and also to see who is at fault for if an employee is badly hurt, because of a fault in the system, recompense would be required to be paid to the person hurt for any charges gained or loss of salary consequently because of the damage. This is why an employer should make sure that the place of work is entirely insured. The â€Å"Employers Public Liability Insurance and Compulsory Liability Insurance† is what will have to be taken out . The employer has to foresee any hazards and put into position dealings to decrease these risks from happening. To do this they do a risk assessment. This is when they observe a service user doing something and then decide the possible dangers that there are and how to overcome these dangers. ( This job can be given to suitable employees) For example, they could observe manual handling, where the capability of a service user to move themselves, possibly from their chair to their bed, will be viewed by the employer, and the best appropriate gear recognized to reduce the danger of the service user falling or acquiring uncomfortable skin from the abrasion . The employer has to make sure that the setting has health and safety procedures and policies written specifically for it. Which the employer has to check frequently to certify that the procedures and policies are keeping staff, service users and visitors safe from coming to any harm. The employer also has to put on training sessions for staff. All the staff ought to be given health and safety training in the first week of have being employed, to make sure that they will know what to do in the case of any immediate hazards to a person’s health and safety. The employer should ensure that any staffs do not manually handle any service users minus the proper training. This will ensure that that people do not pose a risk to another person because they do not have the knowledge to deal with the problem. The employer is also accountable for making sure that hazardous waste is got rid of properly, this means that it is put into specialist containers and then be put into lockable bins outside the building where certain members of staff can put the waste when the specialist containers are filled. The local council or a specialist private company will pick up these containers. This is all done to stop the spread of infection. The employer must also provide safety equipment like throwaway protective aprons and gloves for the staff to get rid of and transport the bodily waste. It is also the employer’s duty to make sure that all the staff is appropriate or fit for the job. Under the Department of Health’s Protection of Vulnerable Adults order all staff working in care homes, adult placement and domiciliary care has to be CRB checked against the Department of Health’s Protection of Vulnerable Adults list, to check if they have before injured a vulnerable adult or placed a vulnerable adult at risk of any harm. It is furthermore the duty of the employer to foresee danger or harm to a person and to install ways to decrease a risk occurring . Employers have to make a fire evacuation plan in case of any fires to ensure that the people the setting are safe and that they know what to do. To achieve this the employer have to make sure that fire evacuation regulations are on display so that everyone can see then and will know what to do in cause of an emergency so that they can get out as quickly as possible. The employer ought to make a member of staff a fire chief who trains all new staff on the evacuation design. The employees in charge of the evacuation plan have to have a comprehensive evacuation map and have precise information on evacuation as they are probably going to be the last persons who are left in the construction. There must also be evacuation actions, fire principles and fire exits in place. There furthermore should be routine fire drills. Employers have to make available suitable accommodations to preserve personal sanitation and have the kitchens designed suitably to evade contamination from other food supplies. This will stop/hinder the spread of infection. The employer has to keep a safe atmosphere for the staff and theservices users and have to track abuse and violence against employees and other professionals. They have to certify the safety of prescription medications and other supplies. Employers return to assessments yearly and proceed to confirm control procedures are in home. Employee’s roles in a care setting Employees also have the responsibility to keep safe themselves, their co-workers, service users and visitors from injury. It is the role of the employees to keep themselves, their colleagues, visitors and service users safe from harm. There are legal and organisational requirements that they have to abide by to keep people safe. The Employees responsibilities Employees must follow organisational policies and procedures otherwise the money financed in health and safety by the employers will be irrelevant. Also Employees will not be able to claim compensation if they have an accident or incident because they were not following procedures. So an employer has to use the equipment given, be present at the training sessions, and follow all the guidance that is there for their safety. This will ensure that they are safe and the people under there care are as well. All the employees have to sign in and out of the workplace so that it is known whether or not they are in the building. Employees have to be careful that everyone who entering the building has a genuine reason for being there. Employees must always ask who the person is and why they are there and who there are to visit. An employee should know what to do if a visitor arrives who is not allowed access to a certain service user . An employee must recognize hazardous circumstances and must not ignore it. For instance, a spillage might cause a person to slip and fall, or if it is a hazardous material, it might cause an infection to spread. An employee must report the spillage and put up a sign warning people. Any Items that will obstruct fire exits or will produce a tripping risk must always be moved and put away. And any defective equipment should be reported, so that accidents may be avoided in the future and also so that maintenance can be done on the faulty equipment. As an employer you have to shut and lock any external doors that have been left open or unlocked, and then check why/what it was open for. This will stop strangers getting in and children or patients with problems (like dementia) getting out. As an employee it is vital that you use and store supplies and gear as stated by the producer’s instructions, policy, guidance and legislation. An employee has to make sure that any dangerous materials are stored away in a suitable place when people do not use them. For instance, combustible ingredients have to be kept away from a heat supply. Staff that are in charge for medication have to make sure that the cupboard where the drugs are kept is locked and that the trolley with the drugs on is locked also to the wall when not in use. Also employees have to make sure that the distributing of medication is recorded so that if someone steals any it will be found out quicker as there will be inconsistencies. And furthermore employees have to make sure the temperature where the medication is stored is reserved at the right temperature as the wrong temperature can change the nature of the medication making it poisonous to the patient. When service users do their own medication it has to be unreachable for the other residents. Some groups give the service users a key to a little drug cabinet which will be in their room. This is all done to stop others from gaining access to the person’s drugs. All medical stocks, like needles and syringes, have to be locked away. Certain substances might be required to be kept in a refrigerator, like liquid drugs. Neatness is vital when you are working in a care setting, as it will stop people tripping and falling over but also so that objects may be found rapidly in an urgent circumstance. Furthermore dry things have to be stored in a place that does not contain any moisture as this will make them unusable. It is moreover an employee’s duty to inform of every threat that they recognize. They should not leave is so that someone else can deal with it. Employees have to uphold hygiene in their work place this is very important as it is very easy to get ill and pass on infections through food so to prevent this, employees have to cook food at the right temperature to stop the food being undercooked to throw away food when it pass its use by date, to wear personal protective gear to stop infection increasing/spreading and using separate knives and cutting boards for vegetables, fish and meat. Lone workers still have to abide by rules and regulations to keep themselves safe and the people that they work for. Lone worker have to comply by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 which state that lone workers have to recognize dangers of the work that they are doing and Measure the hazards encompassed and furthermore they must put in place actions to gauge and limit these hazards . Sources: Health and Safety book 1

Leadership Experience

Leadership experience I naturaly very communicative person and can get on with people easily. This make people around me to feel comfortable and more open. As a result it gives me an opportunity to encourage and enspire them to achieve goal. I have experienced leadership position in high school by organising various event which need to operate defferent tasks and motivate my collegue to work. Afterwards, in my recent summer internship, I explored my leadership potential by being able to conrol people at my work place during compliting the task, evethough I was a new member of company.I very value fairness. In my high school teacher were putting the grades unfairly. It was depending on personal connections, whereas meant to level of knowledge and hard work done. At the end of the studying year my tutor came to a few students and asked them to buy some presents or flowers for those teachers who did put a lower grade. So I was very unhappy about this situation, some students were studyi ng harder but got lower result. If it continuous students might not have too much interest and motivation.I came to my tutor and explained that everyone aware of their way of putting grades. I made an appointment with priciple and told him about situation and asked for some actions against this. As a result he took more close surepvisory under tutors and other teachers. I am very interested on traveling. In my young age I visited various parts of the World. I have seen developing Bali/Seichells Island/Botswana/Zimbabve/Jamaica/Cuba, progressing South Africa/Mexico/Argentina/Cayman Islands, competative Brazil and other countries.It gives me an overview of differce between regions. It is not only about language it about the whole culture. It is interesting to watch how some countries developing whereas other are already developed and fight for market place I would like to apply my theoretic knowledge into the practice. Also, I am very communicative person and I find it usefull to meet with different people in order to exchange the knowledge, ideas and expereince and I believe that Royal Bank of Scotland will be able to provide it for me!

Educating Essay

â€Å"Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles but may also gain significant rewards†. â€Å"Do you agree with this perspective?† In your response, refer to your prescribed text and atleast one other related text of your own choosing. Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles but may also gain significant rewards. This is present in the text ‘Educating Rita’ written by Willy Russell and the film ‘The Help’ written by Kathryn Stockett. In this text we see a fairly un-educated woman blossom and find herself through education; the obstacles she faces on her way to knowledge are the stepping stones in finding herself and entering the new world of education. Rita is a typical uneducated woman; her life is already planned out for her consisting of children, cooking/cleaning, pub trips and the overall expectation to be content with this life and not expect any more. However throughout the text we see Rita break away from this lower class/restricting stereotype to blossoming and finding herself in the world of education. The opening scene portrays to us the two completely different worlds in which Rita and Frank live. Rita has enrolled in an Open University course as she sees education as a way of moving out of her world; she feels out of step with her working class background and wants to discover herself first before having a baby and tying herself down for life. Rita’s constant desire to ‘know everything’ makes Frank feel that he is an appalling teacher because he feels he has nothing to offer her. Frank is Rita’s course tutor; he is a very negative and dismal man who is heavily reliant on alcohol to dull his boredom and frustration. Although being a jaded alcoholic he is also a very precise, formal and educated professor who is just on a downward spiral in his life. Throughout the text we see Rita and Frank’s relationship grow as Rita makes him feel as if he has hope again, therefore his drive comes back. In scene one we observe Rita struggling to open the door into Frank’s office; this symbolises her struggle to enter that world, it’s a barrier, however she’s determined to get what she wants – in this case education – therefore almost breaks the door in order to get in. â€Å"You’re the first breath of air that’s been in this room for years† quoted by Frank symbolises the opening up of a new world for him, he’s now got someone new and different to experience. This is a good change for Frank. Scene two beings with Rita oiling Frank’s office door, then handing the oil to Frank. This is symbolic of giving him the key/tool to open up to another world. Rita still doesn’t portray herself as a ‘proper student’ and her self esteem/confidence is still very low. She doesn’t think she is capable of achieving the great essays that the other students write and doubts herself that she will even finish the course. This scene really reveals the cost that trying to change herself is likely to have on Rita. She is dissatisfied with her life and has a desire to change it, yet it would be easier in her opinion to simply stay as she is and continue her boring life of hairdressing and different flavoured beers. Frank assigns Rita 3 novels to read as her hunger for knowledge is starting to grow extremely. The slow change in Rita is starting to become evident as she can read/take on any book presented to her, â€Å"it feeds me inside†. Her hunger is growing and making her slowly discover who she is, â€Å"it makes me stronger comin’ here†. Although Rita feels as if she’s finally accepted in the university and has a place/fits in with the ‘proper students’, she still has barriers to face in her personal life that are important determining points in her progress and choices as an individual. Rita’s husband Denny isn’t accepting nor happy about her doing this ‘whole learning thing’ and forces her to choose between him and education as he doesn’t understand that this is the first time she’s happy and felt a sense of purpose in her life. Denny has made her constantly feel stupid for even considering getting an education and therefore burns all of her books. The burning of the books is symbolic of Denny trying to prevent Rita from moving away. â€Å"You’d think I was havin’ a bloody affair the way he behaves† â€Å"And aren’t you?† symbolises Rita’s affair with education. Although she may not be cheating on Denny, she still desires to educate herself more than spend time with her husband and is happy with this choice as it is her own choice and no one else’s. In scene six we start to see a notable change in the relationship between Rita and Frank. When Rita bursts into Frank’s office excited to tell him that she saw one of Shakespeare’s plays â€Å"it was bleedin’ great†, Frank thought that something serious had happened – which indicates that he is beginning to care for her. After inviting Rita to a dinner party at his house Frank feels closer to Rita – this invite symbolises the change in the basis of their relationship from teacher and student to a more personal one. Throughout the text we have seen Rita grow and shape herself as an individual, no matter what obstacles and new experiences she has encountered with on her way she has got through them with determination and strength, and as a result has been great personal gain. Towards the end of the text Frank presents Rita with a dress; this is symbolic of a dress for an educated woman, she is now one and can wear the dress with pride. Frank decides to leave the university, as he does not feel it is the right career for him anymore and would prefer to spend his time doing something else. Rita and Frank have both grown and found themselves throughout this text which is also evident in the film ‘The Help’ written by Kathryn Stockett. The Help is set in Mississippi during the 1960s, main character Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives – and the Mississippi town – upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of the richer upper class families. Davis, Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up and be interviewed – to the shock of her friends in the close black community. Despite Skeeter’s life long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Davis continue their partnership and soon more women come forward to tell their stories – and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unsuspectingly/unwillingly caught up in the changing modern times. This is relevant to the text Educating Rita as the women find the courage and self confidence to venture into new experiences to help better either themselves or their community.

Augmentative and alternative means of communication for teaching Essay - 1

Augmentative and alternative means of communication for teaching students with severe disabilities - Essay Example American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has identified that â€Å"there are over 2 million individuals in the United States who cannot reply on speech as their primary means of communication† (Vinson, 2001, p. 139). This statistics reveal the scope and importance of AAC in the United States. These learners are subjected to various types of cognitive and physical deficits which add to their speech deficits in their developmental period. It has been identified that other systems of augmentative and alternative communication, such as gestures, sign language, picture or word boards, alphabet boards, and systems with synthesized or digitized speech are better suited for such students with severe disabilities. The rights of students with severe disabilities have long been recognized. There have been a good number of legislations that sought to address the issue of teaching students with severe disability through various augmentative and alternative communication means. ... e both augmentative and alternative means of communication present, explores the various ways they are being practiced today and tries to offer suggestions with regard to the instructional strategies that are being employed as part of the AAC. It is significant to understand the meaning and depth of augmentative and alternative means of communication for students with severe disabilities. Augmentative system of communication has long been discussed and researched upon. As Browder points out, â€Å"an augmentative system of communication may be used to assist students who have either expressive or receptive communication problems† (Browder, 2001, p. 312). Augmentative systems of communication can be categorized as either aided or unaided. While the aided system makes use of such instructional devices as picture wallets, communication boards, or computer system, the unaided system resorts to natural instructional methods such as hand gestures or manual signing. However, it is si gnificant to make use of the most effective augmentative communication system in accordance with the learners’ various social contexts. Alternative means of communication generally refers to such communication devices that enable students who cannot speak to communicate using other means. For Duran â€Å"accommodations, adaptations, and assistive technology all enable children with disabilities to fully participate in typical home, school, and community activities† (Duran, 2006, p. 79-80). Participative learning can very well be employed in the case of learners with severe disabilities. For instance, a child who is unable to write the letters may be assisted by another student in a general education class with the help of a keyboard or some other assistive technology devices. It is worthwhile to