All to be Tall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

All to be Tall - Essay Example According to the report findings it is hard to believe that a person can sacrifice such a fortune to experience the severe pain that is associated with the lengthening exercise of legs only to gain an additional three inches to his height. The author’s claim is hard to believe and this is one of the major weaknesses of his article. Under normal circumstances, people seek medication when they have different healthcare problems. It may not be feasible for a healthy person to fork out such large sums of money to undergo a surgery that is meant to lengthen his height as this may turn out to be a nightmare if there are some complications experienced when the surgery has been performed.This study stresses that one of the major strengths of the article is that it captures the widely held perception by many people that tall men in particular are more attractive than short ones especially to women. The author uses superlative words to describe tall men in the article. For instance, Kit a quotes the survey by Henry Biller which shows that tall men are â€Å"more mature, uninhibited, positive, mature, confident, masculine, secure, dominant, optimistic and outgoing.† The author also supports this claim by highlighting that the majority of women in Hollywood films admire tall men. In different societies, tall men are regarded as role models and they are also portrayed as the epitome of success. Outgoing people also believe that tall men are charming and many beautiful ladies enjoy the company of these people.

International Economic Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

International Economic Relations - Essay Example Economies of scale results from external activities undertaken by the firm. The traditional way of doing this is to assume that increasing returns are wholly external to the firm. That is, all economies of scale realized by the firm results from activities in which the firms have no control over (Murthy 25). This means that activities undertaken by the firm do not contribute to any savings on large-scale operations. External economies are too vague and unmeasurable to qualify as an explanation of patterns of trade. Given the economies of scale, each country undertakes to produce only a limited number of products in each industry that is under operation. This pattern of operation is termed as intraindustrial specialization, where each country produces what is essential for offer on other markets (Murthy 46). This makes the implications for the trade pattern straightforward, meaning that each and every nation will be a net exporter in industries in which it possesses a comparative advantage. That is, it will specialize in producing those goods that it can cheaply produce and export or sell them to countries that have limited resources to produce similar goods. This enables the country to realize gains from exporting those goods and thus increases its revenue and overall profitability. Due to intraindustry specialization, each country is capable of importing some products even in some industries in which it is a net exporter. Similarly, a country is capable of exporting some products even in some industries in which it is a net importer. This implies that there will be a presence of both intraindustry as well as interindustry trade, thus enabling the given country to reap both the benefits of comparative advantage and economies of scale (Murthy 55). This article widely explains the intra-industry theory as it allows a country to reap benefits from both exports and imports by partly engaging in

Working Capital Affect on Performance of Retail Industry

Working Capital Affect on Performance of Retail Industry 1.1 Introduction: The main aim of this dissertation is to study how working capital management affects the performance of retail industry. This dissertation concentrates on one of the important areas of finance the working capital management. Working capital management is the management of both the current assets and current liabilities. Management of working capital is considered as an important function for any kind of organization. Without proper management of working capital the company cant perform their day to day operations smoothly. So each organization in the industry performs several activities to manage their working capital as efficiently as possible in order to compete from each other. Companies in retail industry depends heavily on working capital for their daily operating activities and therefore it is essential for managing their working capital in order to gain profitability and also to avoid solvency. Improper management of working capital can also lead to bankrupt and there are also some retail companies in the past to explain this fact is true. The main problem and issue in working capital management it is to determine the optimum level to be maintained in the current assets and current liabilities and also to determine whether the firm should invest heavily in current assets or in fixed assets. These issues can seriously affect the profitability and liquidity of the organization and it should be carefully considered in order to compete in the industry. It is very necessary for the organization to know the level of funds to be invested in each component of the current assets such as cash, inventory, accounts receivable and marketable securities. Funds invested in current assets are generally turned back into cash in the end of the working capital cycle which is normally within one year. Therefore investing high or low in current assets affects the profitability and liquidity of the firm and it should be maintained in such a way which satisfies the exact needs of the business. It is also necessary to know how to investment these currents assets which are either by short term financing or by long term financing. For these decisions to be made efficient working capital management is essential. It has been discussed in many journals that working capital management has a direct relationship with the profitability and liquidity of the organization. Therefore managing the working capital components is very critical to maintain the firm profitability and liquidity. For example in the case of cash which the company holds if it holds more it is going to lose the profit which can be earned by investing the excess cash in current assets and if the company has low level of cash it is going to miss the business opportunities when they arrive. In the case of inventory investing more in inventory can reduce the profit if the company cant able to sell the goods quickly and also investing less in inventory can lead to loss of sales. Accounts receivable and account payable also has a huge impact on the profitability of the firm. The company credit policies have a great impact on the volume of good sold. If the firm grants a longer credit period for the customers it is going to encourage the sales which thereby increase the profit. On the other hand companys which delays the payments to their suppliers can use that cash for in some other asset and could earn from that investment. But delaying the payment should not exceed the granted period given by the suppliers otherwise the firm may lose the discounts provided by the supplier for early payments. The main objectives of this study is to, To measure the working capital management performed in retail companies and then analysing the performance of retail companies. To determine the working capital cycle for the retail company. To determine what kind of working capital policy is practiced in retail industry. To determine whether the working capital management practices really affects the profitability of the firm. The first chapter of this dissertation is the introduction which is a short description explaining the basic idea behind this research. It will give the problems and issues associated with the research topic and it also explains the aims and objectives accomplished by this research. The second chapter is the literature review which discussed the theoretical concepts in working capital management. This chapter explains the importance of working capital management, the working capital cycle and the different working capital approaches followed in different industries. It also explains the management of each of the working capital components such as cash, inventories, accounts receivable and marketable securities in detail and the objectives satisfied by managing these working capital components. In the end of this chapter the various sources which finance the working capital are discussed. The third chapter is the research methodology which explains the research methodology adopted for this dissertation. It explains what kind of research method followed in this dissertation and also shows the different data collection methods and tools used to complete the dissertation. The fourth chapter is the findings and analysis. In this chapter the performance of the retail industries is analysed and then the findings are discussed. The different analyses performed in this chapter are ratio analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. By ratio analysis the performance of the retail companies are analysed and then by correlation and regression analysis it is analysed to see whether the inventory holding days, accounts receivable days, accounts payable days and cash conversion cycle affects the return on capital employed. Finally the last chapter concludes and gives recommendation based on the results analysed. 1.0 Working Capital: Working capital is the capital which satisfies the short term financial requirements of any business enterprise. It is capital which is engaged in the operations of the business for not more than one year. Every organization whether it is profit oriented or not needs working capital for the day to day operations of the business. Managers when making investment decisions not only plans for the long term such as buying new building or machine but also considers the need to have additional current assets in the short term for any expansion of activity that the organization is planning to do. For example if the organization is planning to increase the level of production the organization needs to hold a greater level of raw materials similarly if the organization increases the sales there will be an increase in level of debtors. All these investment decisions can bring the organization to level of risk. So it is very necessary for an organization to manage this working capital effectivel y to avoid the company fall into risk (Mclaney 2006). 1.1 Importance of Working Capital Management: The management of working capital is very important for several reasons. According to Padachi (2006), working capital management is very important for the financial health of the business of any size. He also suggested that the funds invested in the working capital are high in proportion to the total assets employed. Therefore it should be managed in effective and efficient way. Also working capital management directly affects the liquidity and profitability of the firm. Therefore managing the working capital should be done in such a way that it should create a balance between the liquidity and profitability (Falope, I and Ajilote, T 2009). The main advantage of working capital management is the flexibility of it. That is it has the ability to change with the rise and fall in seasonal demands of the product or service, and with the rise and fall in economic and market conditions (Mathur, B 2003). Largay, A and Stickney, P (1980) studied the bankruptcy case of a large retail store in the year 1980. From their study they found that the bankruptcy should have occurred because of the poor cash flow from their operation during the last few years of their bankruptcy. So managing the working capital is very necessary for the survival of the business 1.2 Components of Working Capital: Working capital which is also called as current capital or circulating capital is the capital that the managers put it to work for the day to day operations of the organization. There are two important concepts in the working capital management that is the gross working capital and the net working capital. Gross working capital is the capital that includes only the current assets used in the day to day operations of the organization and net working capital is the capital which includes the current assets less the current liabilities. The components which comprise the current assets are the following, (Brigham, F and Houston. F 2007). Cash Marketable Securities Inventories Accounts Receivables These currents assets are financed using the following sources such as, Accruals Accounts Payable Short term bank loans Commercial paper etc. The degree to which an organization invests in current assets depends on several factors such as the type of business and products the organization do. For example retail companies mostly invest a lot of funds in their current assets such as inventory and they invest less in long term assets such as buying plant and equipment. But in the case of some manufacturing companies more is invested in long term assets such as machines and equipment as they are very necessary for the organization. The length of operating cycle also is an important factor. The longer the operating cycle the more is invested in the current assets. The level of uncertainty in the business also is one of the important factors. So depending upon the industry practices the organization invests more in current assets or in long term assets (Fabozzi, J 2003). . 2.0 Working capital cycle: Working capital cycle is the time taken for the capital invested by the organization turning back into cash. Generally the working capital cycle for a manufacturing business starts when the organization buys the raw materials on credit followed by working on these raw materials to produce the final goods, and selling of the finished goods. During this cycle the organization also needs to pay the creditors. As the organization sells the final product on credit, the debtors are increased and when the customers started to pay it will increase the amount of cash in the business (Myddelton, D 2000). Retailers Supplier Inventory Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Supplier Merchandise Customers Payment Payment Payment Payment Figure1: Working capital cycle of a Retail Business (Reynolds, Cuthbertson and Bell 2004) The above figure shows the general working capital cycle of a retail business and it explains how the operating process is performed in a retail business. The first stage in the operating process is where the suppliers provide the merchandise to the retailers. Large retail companies manufacture their own products under their brand name. After all the merchandise is received from the suppliers the retailers makes the store ready, and other arrangements for the received products to be sold. The products which are available to be sold become the inventory. In the next stage the customers buys the products which generates cash into the company (Reynolds, Cuthbertson and Bell 2004). 2.1 Cash Conversion Cycle: An important cycle which is embedded in the working capital cycle is the cash conversion cycle. When the organization buys raw materials from their suppliers they dont pay them immediately. They usually have a credit period contracted by the supplier and before that they need to pay. This is known as the creditors payment period. Also not all customers pay the cash immediately when they buy a product. Some buy them on credit and they should pay the certain amount within a particular period. This period which is granted by the business to the customer is known as the debtors payment period. The gap between these two periods is known as the cash conversion cycle. It is the cycle where the invested cash that is the cash invested in the suppliers turns back into cash when the customers pay the money during the debtors collection period (Arnold 2005). Raw Material Stock Period Work-in Progress Period Finished goods inventory period Debtor Collection Period Creditor Payment Period Stock Conversion Period Cash Conversion Cycle Figure2: Cash Conversion Cycle (Arnold 2005) The above figure shows the cash conversion cycle. The length of the cash conversion cycle depends on three factors, Stock conversion period Debtor collection period Creditor payment period Stock conversion period is the period where the raw material bought from the supplier are processed and converted into finished goods. Therefore the duration of a cash conversion cycle is found by, Cash conversion cycle = Stock Conversion period + Debtors collection period – Creditors payment period In an article Jose, Lancaster and Stevens (1996) suggest the importance of cash conversion cycle in the profitability and liquidity of the organization. They explained that for an aggressive approach to liquidity management the organization should reduce the cash conversion cycle by reducing their inventories and debtor collection period while increasing their creditors payment period. Managing the cash conversion cycle this way may involve tradeoffs between liquidity and profitability. If the business reduces the inventory and the debtors collection period they will lose the sales because of stock running out so early and also losing customers who usually buys in credit. Also if the firm increases the creditor collection period they will lose the discounts available for early payments and also the flexibility of pay debts in the future. So cash conversion holds an important role in maintaining the liquidity and profitability of the organization. 3.0 Working capital policy: Working capital policy is the policy made by the organization for making decisions on two important things, which are how much should the firm invest in each component of current assets and how these investments should be financed. Any business for managing their working capital efficiently should make decisions on what level of cash they should hold, what level of inventory they should maintain, what level of accounts receivable can be allowed and they should also decide whether to finance these current assets either with short term funds or with long term funds. These decisions made by the organization together make up the working capital policy (Correia et al. 2007). According to Vishnani and Shah (2007) working capital policies had a great impact on the firms performance. They suggest the importance of working capital policies for maintaining the firms liquidity and profitability. An unnecessary investment in current assets can reduce the rate of return thereby affecting the prof itability. Also it is very necessary for maintaining the liquidity for a normal running of the business. If the firm holds too much liquidity it explains that the firm is not using its funds efficiently and on the other hand if they have inadequate liquidity it will affect their credit worthiness. So it is very essential to determine the optimal level of working capital. 3.1 Permanent and Temporary Working Capital: A working capital policy is affected because of the firms varying requirements of current assets. The working capital requirements of a firm do not always remain stable through out the year and it varies from time to time. Because of the seasonal demands of some product the firm changes their level of production and holdings of inventories. Due to these conditions the currents assets in the firm also varies. But a certain amount of current assets is always maintained regularly in the business to meet the minimum day to day operations of the business to continue without any difficulties. This minimum requirement of current assets is known as the permanent working capital. On the other hand the amount which is invested in current assets due to the varying seasonal requirements is known as the temporary working capital (Van Horne, C and Wachowicz, M 2008). Amount of working capital Permanent working capital Temporary working capital Time Figure 3: Permanent and Temporary working capital (Source: Van Horne, C and Wachowicz, M 2008) Generally permanent working capital remains the same for whole year and the temporary working capital is the one which varies over time. But for some growing business the permanent working capital also rises steadily over time to meet the expansion activities of the business which is described by the figure above. 3.2 Approaches in Working Capital Policies: There are three different approaches in working capital policies and they are moderate, aggressive and conservative approaches. A firm which follows a moderate approach uses both long term and short term financing to finance their assets. The main aim of this moderate approach is to create a balance between the risk and the return. The firm which follows an aggressive approach tends to use a more of short term funds and less of long term funds to finance its current assets. Even though short term interest rates are lower than long term interest rates short term financing is more risky than long term financing because they should be paid off in a short time period. Therefore following an aggressive approach increases the risk of liquidity and it also increases the possibility of higher profits. The firm which follows a conservative approach uses a less of short term funds and more of long term funds. Therefore it reduces the liquidity risk and also the possibility to achieve higher pr ofits (Gallagher, J and Andrew, D 2007). Weinraub, J and Visscher (1998) examined the relative relationship between the aggressive and conservative approach by studying on ten different industry groups and found that each of these industries were following a unique and different working capital management polices. From their research they also found that the relatively aggressive working capital management appear to be balanced by the relatively conservative working capital management. 3.3 Factors Determining the Working Capital Requirements: Financial managers should manage their working capital in such a way that it should not be surplus or excessive. For this the managers the managers need to know the working capital requirements of the organization to make sure to provide the perfect financing. The working capital requirements of any business depends among several factors and generally some of the factors which should be considered while determining the working capital requirements are the following (Banerjee 2005), Nature of the business: The general nature of the business itself affects the working capital requirements of the business. In the case of manufacturing industry they will invest significantly in both fixed and working capital. But in other industries such as trading and financing firms invest a small amount fixed assets and a large in working capital. Some firms needs to have a large amount of inventory and debtor balances because of their nature of business. Growth and Expansion of Business: The level of investments in working capital depends upon the size of the business. The more the business expands its activity the more working capital requirement is needed. Production Cycle: Production cycle is the period where the raw materials are converted into their finished product. The longer the period to convert these raw materials into finished product the larger is the working capital. Business Cycle: The business cycle is an important factor in considering the working capital requirement. The business has to pass through a period of good times and bad times such as recession. During the good times where the business is growing the business needs to increase their working capital requirements because of the increased sales and during the bad times the business needs to reduce their working capital because of reduced sales. Production Policy: The demands of certain products are seasonal in nature. So during the peak season the working capital requirements are higher while during the off-season the working capital is kept lower. Therefore depending upon the seasonal demands of the product or service the working capital requirements varies. Credit Policy: Credit policy has a direct impact on the working capital requirements. When the business reduces the credit period it will reduces the volume of sales which leads to the reduction of working capital requirements. But when the business grants a longer credit period it encourages the sales and there by needing to increase the working capital requirements. Price Level Changes: The varying price level also affects the working capital requirements. When the price level increases the business also needs to increase their working capital to maintain their same volume of activity. Operating Efficiency: Operating efficiency is an important factor to be considered by the business. The business can maintain their working capital to a minimum level only when they are able to manage or control their operating costs and utilise their working capital efficiently. 4.0 MANAGEMENT OF CURRENT ASSETS: As discussed before working capital management is the management of both current assets and the current liabilities. The main objective of working capital management it is to maintain an optimum balance of each of the working capital components and to develop the optimum level between the current assets and the current liabilities. The optimum level is the level where a balance is created between risk and efficiency (Filbeck and Krueger, M 2005). In the following paragraphs the management of currents assets such as cash, marketable securities, inventories and accounts receivables are discussed. 4.1 Cash Management: Cash management is defined as the management of cash inflows and cash outflows. The cash flows out of the firm when the business buys goods and services from its suppliers and cash flows into the firm when the customer pays for the product they purchased. The term cash refers the cash like assets like currency, bank balances etc. The cash is often considered as non earning assets because they do not provide earnings but the cash provides safety from insolvency. Cash is very important for the day to day operations of the business and to meet the liabilities when they are due (Besley and Brigham 2005). There are several reasons for a business to hold cash (Besley and Brigham 2005), Transaction balance: Cash balance is very essential for the operations of the business. Cash is used for paying their employees wages, buying raw materials, fixed assets, and also to pay their taxes. Compensating balance: It is the minimum bank balance that the firm should maintain for the services provided by the bank such as check clearing and cash management advice. Precautionary balance: It is the cash kept as reserve by the firm because the company cannot predict the future cash flow. The amount which is kept as reserve depends upon the predictability of the cash flow. The less cash predicted the more cash balance is maintained. Speculative balance: These are cash maintained by the firm to take advantage of any profit opportunity when arises in the business. Ferreira, A and Vilela, S (2004) suggest that the level of cash holdings is positively affected by the investment opportunity and cash flows of the firm and it is negatively affected by the liquid assets, leverage and size of the firm. Firms with high investment opportunity needs to hold a high level a cash to take the benefits of the immediate opportunities available to them and also if the firm has a unpredictable cash flow the firm holds a high levels of cash. On the other hand firms which has high level of liquid assets holds low level of cash because the firm convert the liquid assets into cash when they are needed. Also firms with higher leverage that is the ability of the firm to raise debts will hold less level of cash. And at last the size of the firm affects the level of cash holdings. Large firms hold less level of cash than smaller firms because borrowing funds by smaller funds is expensive when compared to larger firms. So smaller tend to hold more cash to avoid borrowin g funds. The two main goals of cash management practices is (Fabozzi, J 2003) To have adequate cash in hand to meet the immediate needs of the firms and To receive the cash from those to owe it as early as possible and to pay the cash which the business owes as late as possible. To determine the level of investment in cash is a very important function. The firm cannot hold too much cash because of the holding cost associated with it. Holding cost is the cost that the business would have earned if the cash is invested in some form of asset. The level of investment in the cash depends upon the firms liquid assets, debt levels, and rate of return and economic conditions. There are two models used by the firms to determine the adequate level of cash needed to be maintained. One is the Baumol model which assumes that the cash is used uniformly through the period and based on this assumption the amount of cash to be maintained is measured. But by the second model which is called as Miller model assumes that the cash flow varies in an unpredictable manner and based on this assumption the amount of cash to be invested is measured. These two models help in satisfying the first goal of cash management (Fabozzi, J 2003). To achieve the second goal of cash management which is to reduce the period cash inflow and to increase the period of cash outflow, several ways are being followed. The following techniques help reduce the period of cash inflow (Shim, K and Siegel, G 2000). Lockbox System- In this system the customer instead of mailing the check to the firm send their checks to a nearby post office box which is controlled by the firms bank. The firms bank then collects the check from the post office and deposits the check. Due to this process the time the check spends in the mail and also since the bank itself receives the check it avoids the time the check spends when received by the firm and thus saves the processing time of the checks in the firm. Pre-Authorised Debits- In this system the cash is collected from customers by obtaining permission from customers to have pre authorised debits automatically charged to their bank accounts. Thereby it eliminates the time the check spends in the mail and the processing time of the check. Wire Transfer- In this system the cash is transferred quickly between banks and thus eliminates the transferring time of the cash. Wire transfers are done though computer terminal and telephone. So far we have discussed the ways to reduce the period of cash inflow. Now lets discuss the ways to increase the period of cash outflow. Zero-balance account- Zero balance account as the name suggest it requires no balance. It is an arrangement between the bank and the firm to achieve controlled disbursement which is to pay exactly what the company owes. When the check is offered to the bank the bank just transfers the money from the firms account. By this system the firm can pay the exact amount which covers the check. This system also increases the period of cash flowing out (Bragg, M 2007). Payable through drafts- Payables through drafts is similar to the checks. But a draft works in a different way. When a draft is offered to the bank the bank sends to the firms which issued the draft and waits for its approval. Only after receiving the approval from the firm the bank deposits funds into the receivers account. Due to complex procedure when using drafts it takes a long time for the amount to be transferred in to the receiver account (Shim, K and Siegel, G 2000). 4.2 Management of Marketable Securities: Management of marketable securities is just a continuation of cash management. We know that cash does not earn any return so instead of holding these cash firms just invest these cash in marketable securities for a short period of time. When the firms feel that they need some they just convert these marketable securities back into cash. Depending upon the yield curve the security earns the return. When the yield curve rises the firm gains a higher return. For example if the firm invest in a security for one year period of time then the return it would be getting is measured by (Puxty, G and Dodds 1988) R = P2 P1 + I P1 Where R is the return, P2 is the maturity value of the security, P1 is the purchase price and I is the interest paid. There are several factors which the firms consider when investing on securities and they are as follows (Chandra 2005), Safety – The most important factor which the firm consider when investing in any kind of security is safety. The firm before investing in any security first checks whether they will get back the amount invested. T-bills or the treasury bills are considered as the safest investment because the obligation are promised by the government. But investing in other securities depends upon the type of security and the issuer. Liquidity- The liquidity refers to the ability of the investor to convert the security back into cash without acquiring any loss. For a traded security a large and active secondary market ensures liquidity while a non traded security liquidity risk is high. Yield- The yield represents the return which the security is going to gain by way of interest, dividend and capital gain. Maturity- Maturity represents the expiry time of the security. The longer the maturity period the higher will be the yield. But securities like t-bills provide a fixed return when they are matured. Some of the marketable securities where the firms generally invest are the following, (Fabozzi, J 2003) Treasury Bills- These are securities issued by the US government and as a maturity period of one, three and six months. Investing in this type of security is risk free but it provides a lower rate of return. Certificates of deposits- These are debts issued by the bank in large amounts and have a maturity period up to one year. Investing in this type of security is highly risky because some times the issuer will not pay the interest and principal as promised. Commercial paper- These are debts issued by firms in large amounts and have a maturity period generally up to thirty days. Investing in this security is also risky but this risk is minimized by the back up lines of credit offered by commercial banks. Commercial paper is very attractive because of the higher returns it provides than when compared to the return provided by t-bills. Holding cash and marketable securities offers both advantage and disadvantage for a firm. The advantage is, it reduces the transaction cost because there is no need to issue security or borrow cash and holding cash or marketable securities provides opportunities to take advantage of immediate growth opportunities. The disadvantage of holding cash and marketable security is the after tax return of both cash and marketable security is considerably very l

Henrik Isbens A Dolls House Essay -- A Dolls House Essays

Nora is a captivating character in Ibsen's A Doll's House. She swings between extremes: she is either very happy or immensely depressed, prosperous or completely desperate, wise or naive, impotent or purposeful. You can understand this range in Nora, because she staggers between the person she pretends to be and the one she someday hopes to become. Throughout the play, Nora is portrayed as subordinate to her male counterpart, Torvald. As most other men during this time, Torvald believed that women were not capable of making difficult decisions, or thinking for themselves. As the play progresses, Nora faces a life changing decision to abandon her duty as a wife and mother to find her own individuality. Even though Torvald is responsible for partial deterioration in their marriage, it is Nora's feministic beliefs, passion for life, thoughtlessness, and spontaneity that stimulate her ultimate plan to break away and shatter all that remained pleasant in Torvald's â€Å"perfect little d ollhouse†. Nora, the protagonist, has been treated as a "play thing" by her father and then her husband, Torvald. She is thought to be fragile and incapable of resolving any serious problems. The pet names like â€Å"lark†, â€Å"squirrel†, and â€Å"songbird† (pg.27) further diminish her status. He also neglected to give significance to her job as a homemaker. Yet her compassion and intelligence must be masked by her childish and supplicating behavior due to the expectations of her society. At the beginning of the play, Nora is still a child in many ways, listening at doors and guiltily eating forbidden sweets (macaroons) behind her husband's back. She has gone straight from her father's house to her husband's, bringing along her nursemaid to emphasize the fact that she's never been on her own. She's also never gained a sense of self. She's always accepted her father's and her husband's opinions. And she's aware that Torvald would have no use for a wife who was his equal. So she would act like a child and manipulate Torvald by pouting or by performing for him. She uses her own being as a lure for the things she wants in life. Her drive to reach her goals are far more powerful than her desire to care for the family, and life, that she created. When her secret is revealed, the reality of her status in their marriage awakens her. A... ... been reversed: he is the weak one, begging for another chance, and Nora has found strength. This notion suggested that ideas of male supremacy and middle-class respectability were changing. More female were feeling liberated enough to escape their boundaries and move on to more fulfilling lives. Your greatest duty is to understand yourself. At the beginning of the play, Nora doesn't realize she has a self. She's playing a role. The purpose of her life is to please Torvald or her father, and to raise her children. But by the end of Act Three their roles have been reversed: he is the weak one, begging for another chance, and Nora has found strength. â€Å"I have it in me to become another man† (pg.70), he exclaims as he pleads for another chance. She replies with thoughtlessness to anyone's feelings but her own by telling him that neither he nor their children were allowed to write to her. By the end of the play, she discovers that her "most sacred duty"(pg.68), is to herself. She leaves to find out who she is and how she can become gratified with her life. The sound of the door shutting as Nora leaves Torvald (pg.72) exemplifies the end of her role as his beloved â€Å"doll† wife.

Southeast Asia

2. What are some of the ways in which power manifests itself in Southeast Asia? Illustrate your answer with at least 3 examples. The concept of power is one that has existed in Southeast Asia for a long period of time. Unlike that of the Western regions, where power is more of a concept and is intangible, power in Southeast Asia is more concrete and real. Power is defined as the possession of control or command over others (Dictionary. com, n. d. In the context of Southeast Asia, power is gained through control of powerful items or valuable resources, as this would usually translate to wealth, a higher position within the social hierarchy, and hence more command over other people. In Southeast Asia, the focus is on accumulating more command and control, instead of just exercising it. Due to the long history of trade and migration within Southeast Asia itself, these concepts have inevitably become a coherent and homogenous one. My essay will seek to show the various ways that power is manifested, particularly in three different levels within a nation state.Firstly, power exists on a national level via certain nation state political models. Secondly, within a nation state, power manifests in different groups of religions, as religious beliefs have influenced how they attempt to both acquire and accumulate power. Thirdly, power exists among individuals, in the idea of merit and social mobility throughout one's social hierarchy. Firstly, the most evident way that power is manifested in Southeast Asia is on a national level, through nation states' political systems. One such political system is the mandala system, where power is centralized and drawn towards the sacred core.One might imagine this visually as a series of concentric ever widening circles, with state authority fading as the circles widen. What mattered was the sacred centre, not the borders (Tambiah, 1970). This political system was typically found in Pre-colonial nation states in Southeast Asia. For e xample, in the 13th Century, King Suryavarman II spread its Mandala polity throughout the state of Angkor by building the renowned ‘Angkor Wat’ among many monasteries and temples in the centre of the state (Dellios, 2003).Thereafter, advantaged by its location on the northwest shore, Angkor relied successfully on trade of its wet-rice agriculture to produce great amounts of wealth, enough to support a population of a million people (Dellios, 2003) In this aspect, power is recognised in the form of wealth, as many people saw ‘Angkor Wat’ and its surrounding temples as the sacred centre that drew the wealth towards the core of its nation. Because Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II, many people also acknowledged him as a manifestation of god, someone with immense power.In a mandala polity where power diffuses further away from the centre, these people tried to get closer to the centre, hence giving King Suryavarman II even more command and power over them. A more recent example of a region following the mandala system can be found along the Thai-Burmese border, where the Akha, a tribal upland ethnic minority, reside (Tooker, 1996). Under Thai law, the lands which the Akha and other upland groups occupy are owned by instead owned by the state. This insinuates that power is directed towards the centre, in the lowlands where the state resides.On the other hand, the Akha, who reside by the highlands and are thus further away from the centre, have much lesser power. For instance, the Akhas suffered from occasional forced labour, extortion by government officials and forced migration (Tooker, 1996) by the state. In this context, the state has command over the Akha tribe and this allowed them to control the Arkas' resources, such as human labour, and wealth in the form of money. This is thus consistent with the mandala model, whereby the centre is most crucial and the borders are less important because power is drawn to the core.Furthe rmore, villages surrounding this state tend to be aligned such that their hierarchically highest individual, the ‘founder-chief’ is centrally located within their village (Tooker, 1996) . They believed this would usher in prosperity because it was aligned with that of the cosmos, which in this case was associated to the central core of the state itself. This reinforces another characteristic of the mandala political model, the patchwork construction; where smaller centres surrounding the core could preserve a greater deal of autonomy for acknowledging the potency of the central state.Secondly, looking within a state itself, power is also manifested among different religions in Southeast Asia, as religious beliefs have continually influenced the way southeast Asians try to both acquire and accumulate command and control. One way is through the acquisition of sacred or mythical objects, which they believed were associated with power. An example of such an object is the kr is, a unique ancestral dagger with a wavy blade, which was considered the paramount prestige weapon across many religions in pre-independence Indonesia, particularly in the Binamese culture (Hitchcock, 1987).Here, the kris was seen to contain magical and sacred powers, believed to be bestowed by the gods, making it a sacred object that is coveted because of its devine connection. Hitchcock also noted that it was crucial for the personality of the kris to mesh positively with the personality of its owner, which i feel is important because of their aim to accumulate more power from the kris. Furthermore, in the Binamese culture, where imperial status was often inherited, the royal kris was a prized heirloom that visually depicted a genetic relationship to the former ruler (Hitchcock, 1987).In this aspect, the kris can be seen as a symbol of a ruler's mandate to the rule. Hence, the kris can be considered as a powerful object because possessing it granted a ruler with overwhelming comm and and control over the people. The power of the kris is further exemplified when you consider the social status of its manufacturer, usually known as a smith, in traditional times. For instance, let us examine Java, where in the past, a smith had a very high social status, considered to be just below the government of princes and having an honoured position in court (Wrassers, 1940).Wrassers (1940) even goes a step further to examine the ancient times, where the roles of a smith and prince more or less coincided, to the point that their relationship was sometimes likened to that of brothers. Hence, we can see that a kris was considered so sacred and powerful in Java that the manufacturers association with it vaulted his social status to the very top of the hierarchy, indirectly giving him more power in the Javanese society. Another way in which religious beliefs have influenced the acquisition and accumulation of power is through certain religious practices, such as those of the M ien people of Thailand.For example, in their Mien wedding ceremonies, a medium, together with the groom and his father, are required to offer spirit-money to the ancestors by kneeling in front of a bed of corn and burning the spirit-money on it (Jonsson, 2004). These spirit-money, often made of paper, is burned and thus considered transformed into the realms of spirits. In this case, power is manifested in the form of money and wealth, as these exchanges with ancestor spirits brought honour and wealth into the spirit world and in return, urged blessings and wealth for the Mien household.The idea being that having more money and wealth would vault one higher up the social hierarchy, hence giving them more authority and control over those of a lower social status in the hierarchy. I feel that this depicts a patron-client relationship between the spiritual ancestors and the descendants of the Mien household. The spiritual ancestors, who reside in the spiritual realm, are the patrons as they possess spiritual and divine power because of their ability to bestow a household with wealth.The descendents are then the clients who benefit from this wealth bestowed upon their household, but the amount of benefits received will depend on how much resources, in this case the spirit money, they can offer these ancestors. Thirdly, power is also evident when we focus on individuals within a state itself. It exists in the idea of merit and social mobility, because merit traditionally denotes the position and degree of mobility one has within the social hierarchy (Adams & Gillogy, 2011, p. 5) One is in a disadvantageous social position if he or she lacks merit, but the more merit one accumulated, the greater ability he had to move up the social hierarchy and gain power and control over those below this social hierarchy. In Thailand, merit is directly linked to the amount of resources that one owns. Thus the two ways to move up the social hierarchy is either through accumulating more resources independently, or forming a patron-client relationship with another possessing greater resources than yourself (Adams & Gillogy, 2011, p. 2). It is a patron-client relationship because the leader has to reciprocate the benefits he accepted from the client. Forming this patron-client relationship is usually preferred as it is much easier. When many such relationships are formed with the same patron, the resources of the group increase and they grow in size and stability, hence denoting more merit and power within the social hierarchy. Adams and Gillogy (2001) also noted that the resources are first distributed to those close to the leader, and diminishes down the scale.Hence, we can see that social mobility is prevalent as individuals can ascend from the bottom of the Thai social hierarchy as long as he could find the correct patron and accumulate sufficient merit in the form of resources. This idea of merit and social mobility also exists in Laos, where merit is linke d directly to wealth, and the most effective way of obtaining merit is through doing virtuous and moral deeds. This is because Laotians believe that wealth can beget to wealth via the mechanism of merit.One example would be religious offerings, such as daily offering of food to the monks or grand donations to sponsor temple buildings (Adams & Gillogy, 2011, p. 41) . They hope that their donations will increase their merit, thus bringing them wealth and other positive outcomes, in this and the next life. This possibly explains why large donations are rarely anonymous, as the donor wants to be recognised for his contribution and eventually accumulate as much merit as possible.Hence, we can see that in this context, obtaining merit is important for Laotians because it increases their wealth and ultimately gives them an opportunity to move up the social hierarchy, thus gaining control over those now below them. This is also consistent with the idea of social mobility, in that it is not difficult to move up the social hierarchy in Laos as long as one accumulates sufficient merit. In retrospect, looking at modern Southeast Asia, while some new ideas of power have been introduced, such as those in the form of nuclear weapons and fear, some of these traditional ideas are still very relevant today.For example, elements of a sacred centre and religious beliefs exist till this day in Thailand. Sitting in the middle of the grand palace of Bangkok is the Emerald Buddha of Thailand. This key relic was captured from a Lao king by a Thai king in the 18th century and has since served as a marker of the Thai monarchy (Adams & Gillogy, 2011). It is a sacred relic with a history that both represents and embodies the king of Thailand's power because the Buddha is seen as divine and sacred in Buddhism, Thailand's main religion.In conclusion, power manifests differently across the three different levels of a nation state. Firstly through political models of a nation state itself, se condly through religious influences of a religion within the nation state, and lastly in the idea of merit and social mobility among individuals of the nation state. However, even though they manifest in different ways, ultimately the aim of accumulating more command and control is still unanimous throughout Southeast Asia. Total Word Count: 1996 Words ? Bibliography Adams, & Gillogy. (2011). Everyday life in Southeast Asia.Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Dellios, R. (2003). Mandala: From Sacred Origins to Soereign affairs in traditional Southeast Asia. Gold Coast, Australia: Bond University : School of Humanities and Social Sciences : Centre for East-West Cultural and Economic Studies. Dictionary. com. (n. d. ). Power. Retrieved Retrieved September 13 2012, from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/power Hitchcock, M. (1987). The Binamese Kris: Aesthetics and Social Value. Bijdragen tot de Taal-,Land-en Volkenkunde , 125-140. Jonsson, H. (2004).Mien Alte r-Natives in Thai Modernity. Anthropological Quaterly Vol 77, No. 4 , 673-704. Tambiah, S. (1970). Buddhism and the spirit cults in North-east Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tooker, D. E. (1996). Putting the Mandala in its Place: A Practice-based Approach to the Spatialization of Power on the Southeast Asian ‘Periphery' — The Case of Akha. The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 55, No. 2 , 328-358. Wrassers, W. H. (1940). On the Javanese Kris. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indie Deel 99, 4de Afl , 501-582.

How Plastic Surgery Affects Society Essay

Often viewed as controversial; plastic surgery has the capability to change lives of various individuals from diverse socioeconomic levels. Plastic surgery covers a broad spectrum of services which are included in reconstructive surgery, as well as, the popular aesthetic appeal of cosmetic surgery. Plastic surgery affects society both physically, psychologically, and emotionally. From Operation Smile to botox, accident victims to breast augmentation, and Little Baby Face Foundation to facelifts; plastic surgery can give hope and confidence to many people. Plastic surgery can be delineated as the branch of surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic repair or re-formation of missing, injured, or malformed tissues or parts. (â€Å"Plastic Surgery† dictionary.com) There is written medical evidence that some of the first plastic surgery procedures are dated back more than 4,000 years ago (â€Å"ASAPS†). â€Å"Physicians in ancient India were utilizing skin grafts for reconstructive work as early as 800 B.C† (â€Å"ASAPS†). In 1827, Dr. John Peter Mettauer performed the first cleft palate operation (â€Å"ASAPS†). This shows that plastic surgery has always had a very powerful impact on society. Even though plastic surgery is glamorized by the public eye there are a vast amount of instances where it is to truly help someone that needs it. Operation Smile is a prime example of how plastic surgery can improve the life of someone. They are an organization that helps children worldwide. Operation smile trea ts facial deformities such as cleft palates and cleft lips for free. â€Å"They have provided reconstructive plastic surgery to over 150,000 children and young adults in more than 60 countries† (â€Å"Plastic Surgery). Regardless of how much the media popularizes plastic surgery, you must not focus on that effect, but on the effect foundations like these have on society. If a woman were to be diagnosed with breast cancer there is a possibility that she will need surgery. At this time a mastectomy (removal of the breast) in order to keep the cancer from spreading (â€Å"Breast Cancer and Breast Reconstructive Surgery†). There are many different alterations in which there could be a portion of the breast taken away or even all of the breast ( â€Å"Breast Cancer and Breast Reconstructive Surgery†). This affects society in many different ways. This could strongly damage self-esteem as well as do much mental damage. Even though you are doing this procedure it could possibly be a life saving one. Another wonderful opportunity that plastic surgery can offer someone is repairing any damage done to a veteran while they were in active duty. Many hospitals will actually perform cosmetic surgery free of charge. Whether it was from a gunshot wound or grenade shrapnel effecting the face or body of a soldier, many â€Å"training† hospitals will pay for all the charges that would be given to the patient. There are various programs that offer free procedures that will help injured veterans attempt to continue their lives without embarrassing scars on their bodies. Plastic surgery has a very positive impact on the world. Although plastic surgery has much negative exposure, it still has a large portion of positive effects that are not often heard about. â€Å"Many of these benefits include confidence, health safety, post-accidental reconstruction and age-defiance, respectively (â€Å"What Are the Pos itive Effects of Cosmetic Surgery†). There are many different factors that contribute to a person’s happiness (â€Å"What Are the Positive Effects of Cosmetic Surgery†). If someone has something wrong with their body that they believe can be improved then he/she will be able to fix it which will in turn lead to a happier person with a better quality of life. However there are many health risks that can be fixed by plastic surgery. If someone were to be dangerously overweight then they could get liposuction or another procedure that would keep them from getting diseases such as heart disease, a higher blood pressure among other problems (â€Å"What Are the Positive Effects of Cosmetic Surgery†). There are even many instances where a tragic accident could leave a person physically deformed. In this case reconstructive surgery could be the answer and return the lives of patients to some sense of normalcy. Looking younger is now a popular trend among older and sometimes even younger people. This leads to a more positive outlook on life and is also used as a preventative precaution (â€Å"What Are the Positive Effects of Cosmetic Surgery†). Whatever the reason may be, plastic surgery has proven to be one of the most effective techniques to ensure a more positive outlook on life. There was an interview conducted by SteadyHealth.com and Dr. Howard T. Bellin last year. In this interview many different questions were asked about self esteem and the appropriate age for plastic surgery. Dr. Bellin believes that a person’s self esteem can benefit significantly from plastic surgery. One of the major surgeries that he does would be the rhinoplasty. He does this operation on teens. There is a general debate about what age is appropriate to let your child have plastic surgery. Sometimes parents believe that their child may be too young or perhaps too immature to engage in surgeries that seem to be for adults only. Plastic surgery can fix some problems but is not a â⠂¬Å"cure†. Cosmetic procedures are becoming much more common among teens now a day and are helping them through everyday life and help them fit in. There will always be a debate on this situation but it is important to look out for the best interests of the patient (â€Å"An Interview with Dr. Howard T. Bellin†). There are many different mental diseases that relate to plastic surgery. These diseases do cause there to be a negative idea about surgery. â€Å"This is sometimes true, but there are some cases that this is not always a bad thing. Body Dysmorphic Disorder or (BDD) is described by the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance†(â€Å"Body Dysmorphic Disorder†). Usually with this disease the person who has this disorder while mark the body excessively in one location which may cause it to become deformed. They will obviously want this to be fixed and will want to have surgery. If this go es untreated then the likelihood of suicide can increase so in order to prevent this surgeons will fix the problem which will hopefully keep the patient happy and able to continue on with life. Other times it is not that simple and they will need additional surgery to correct the â€Å"problem† that they believe is present. There have been studies conducted on patients post operation feelings. There are many emotional ties that go with getting surgery. â€Å"A study in 2005 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that 75 percent of the respondents indicated that they chose plastic surgery to gain an improved appearance and a more active lifestyle†(â€Å"Emotional Changes After Plastic Surgery†). â€Å"Likewise, 70 percent sighted emotional and psychological rewards after surgery, with notable happiness and renewed self-esteem and confidence† (â€Å"Emotional Changes After Plastic Surgery†). â€Å"Equally impressive, 45 percent enjoyed the daily benefit of being more attractive†(â€Å"Emotional Changes After Plastic Surgery†). So you can see that in most cases there is an unambiguous change in a person’s perso nality after surgery. There are many benefits of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. This is a tool used by a fair number of the population in the world. It helps keep the status quo intact and also lets some feel accepted. With all of the glamours that television promotes about plastic surgery it may be hard to fit in. This is a way to keep everyone on the same page so to speak. It may have some negative effects on society, but the positive aspects definitely outway them. It improves the emotional status of the patients after surgery and statistics show that there has even been a direct link with a person’s personality and surgery. Whether it is organizations trying to help children have a normal and prosperous life or a â€Å"training† hospital operating on a veteran for free, these procedures have proven to be a very positive thing and improve lives. The emotional and physical health of people throughout the world have been positively impacted by this. There are many advances that are being made everyday in the medical field. There are even instances where you can not even tell that someone has went â€Å"under the knife†. Plastic surgery will continue to give hope to people and will also give people the courage and strength to deal with everyday life. Works Cited â€Å"ASAPS.† News Releases. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Body Dysmorphic Disorder.† Body Dysmorphic Disorder. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013. â€Å"Breast Cancer and Breast Reconstructive Surgery.† WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013. â€Å"Emotional Changes After Plastic Surgery: What You Need to Know.† Emotional Changes After Plastic Surgery. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013. â€Å"An Interview with Dr. Howard T. Bellin – A Plastic Surgeon, Inventor, and Director of CosMedica.† SteadyHealth.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013. â€Å"Plastic Surgery.† Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Plastic Surgery.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. â€Å"What Are the Positive Effects of Cosmetic Surgery?† HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013.

What Really Happened to Kurt Cobain essays

What Really Happened to Kurt Cobain essays What Really Happened to Kurt Cobain? On April 8, 1994, at 8:40am in a quaint and quiet home in Madrona, Washington, Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, was found dead with a shotgun wound to his head in the greenhouse above his garage. Also present was a cigar box containing drug paraphernalia, needles, lighters, etc. A suicide note was also discovered. From this scene, it is almost too obvious what happened; at least, that was the conclusion immediately drawn, and eventually made final, by the police. Yet, not everyone was so quick to close the case. Many remained skeptical on the issue. Some pondered the idea that maybe he was murdered, while others wish to leave it as is. I join the millions of people in the world that just dont buy into the suicide theory and that are curious about the details of the case, circumstances surrounding the murder scene, and the people closest to Kurt Cobain that could have been involved in his death. The voice of a generation was dead. Thus was the world ushered into a world without Kurt Cobain. For millions, April 8, 1994 became a day as indelibly branded into their memories as November 22, 1963, August 16, 1977, and December 8, 1980-the deathdates of JFK, Elvis, and John Lennon (Halperin 3,4). Ian Halperin and Max Wallace tragically outline the day America was told another cherished icon had died. For many who did not know of Kurt Cobain, just another musician had emotionally crashed and killed himself. Some people, however, continued to explore other possibilities. Curiosity caught my attention after realizing how many others held the same speculations as I did. To learn more, I gathered several resources to assist me in my study. Although I read each, most of my information comes from four resources. The book Kurt Cobain, Beyond Nirvana: The Legacy of Kurt Cobain, by Hank Harrison (father of Courtney Love, Kurts wife), not only gives an exc...

Small businesses Essay Example

Small businesses Essay Example Small businesses Essay Small businesses Essay Small businesses can be defined as those businesses which have a small number of employees. In the United States, the legal definition of small implies less than 100 employees. The SBA (US Small Business Administration), which is an independent agency of the US government that protects the legitimate interests of small businesses, specifies size standards for a small business that pertain to its affiliation, number of employees, revenue etc. and are used to determine whether a business is small or not. 1Common examples of small businesses are restaurants, solicitors, hairdressers, accountants, tradesmen, photographers, guest houses etc. There are various forms of businesses; sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations. Therefore it is important to know why a particular business is registered as a small business or otherwise, and what are the advantages, drawbacks, and legal implications of these decisions. Scott Holmes (2001) opines that the motivations for Small Business Owners are Economic factors as well as Social/Psychological factors. He goes onto argue that small firms can maximize relative returns by minimizing key costs, especially the cost of monitoring managers, who in traditional firms, are separated from the owners. It is obvious that in order to sustain this very advantage, small firms do not grow beyond a certain size.2There are various advantages of operating a small business. The most obvious advantage is that a small business can be initiated at a low cost, and it can be managed on a part-time basis as well. Compared to large businesses, small businesses take lesser time in reacting to customer complaints, and thus the small size enables them to give better customer service. This aspect is missing in large corporations, which, due to their elaborate chain of command, take a long time in reacting to customer complaints and objections. Karen, 2000, states that large firms often don’t seem to care whether the customer does business wit h them or not. On the other hand, the small businesses can win the day because they know the customer personally and value their relationship with the customer, and show them you care by offering sincere personal attention. In addition to that, decisions in small businesses are not subservient to a lengthy chain-of-command, therefore the decision making process is much faster in a small business, making them more flexible in managing new product decisions, inventory, billing policies etc.3 Operating a small business also has a distinct advantage in that it enables the owner to take more risks, and to more quickly to satisfy a newly emerging market niche. This makes a small business particularly well suited to internet marketing.However, the advantages not-withstanding, a small business owner also has to take care not to fall into several traps; the most important of which is undercapitalization. According to a rule of thumb, the owner must have available with him funds equal to the projected revenues of the first year of business plus the expenses for that period. Not meeting this requirement might result in the owner being liable for the business debts in case of bankruptcy. According to SBA, poor management is the major reason most small businesses fail, followed by ill-advised financing. The financing should be a balanced mix of equity and debt financing, based on the ratio of equity to debt for the firm.4Sole proprietorships are a form of business where the legal existence of the business is not separate from the owner himself. According to IRS, a sole proprietor is someone who owns an unincorporated business, including an LLC, by himself. 5 Thus, the rules of limited liability do not apply, and the owner himself is liable for the companys debts. Technically speaking, there can be only one owner of a sole proprietorship. This is the type of business entity to which the least amount of government regulations apply. Over 80 of the small businesses in the US operate as sole proprietorships.6 On the other side of the bargain, the owner faces a challenge in raising finances as a sole proprietorship cannot issue shares. And as the business grows, more and more owners look to convert their businesses into other types of business entities.To understand the taxation and legal consequences of sole proprietorships, it is important to note that all the profit made by the business entity is treated as the income of the owner. Thus the form 1040 of the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is used to report the income and expenses of the business. The profit and loss information of the business is filled out in Schedule C, which is attached with form 1040. The sole proprietors are required to pay a Self-Employment tax on their profit if it exceeds $400. This tax is equivalent to 15.3% of the net profit made by the business. The form Schedule SE is required to be filed for this purpose. The Self -Employment tax is apart from the income tax which has to be paid separately on the combined income of the owner.7 Sole proprietors are required to pay quarterly tax liabilities to the state and federal government. Legitimate business expenses can be deducted from the income while calculating the taxes.8According to the definition of IRS, a Partnership is the relation between two or more persons who join to carry on a trade or a business. Although a written partnership agreement is not a legal obligation, but it is generally recommended to formalize the business relationship, specifying the profit sharing, business contribution of the partners etc. The liability issues in a partnership are similar to those of a sole proprietorship, but an added element here is that a partner is not only liable for the business debts and liabilities, but also for the business-related conduct of his other partners. Generally the profit sharing is based on the percentage of ownership of a particular partner.9The taxation issues in a partnership are also similar to that of a sole proprietorship. The income of a partner is not considered to be separate from his personal income. The income is taxable in the year its earned. The partnership is required to file annual information return to inform the IRS about its income, losses, etc. But the partnership does not pay income tax. Instead, the profits (or losses) are passed through to the partners and they include this amount on their respective tax returns. The partners submit Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) along with the Form 1065. The individual partners who are liable for income tax and self-employment tax may file Form 1040.10A Corporation is significantly different than the two types of business entities discussed earlier. It is created under state law, and is a complete business entity separate from its directors and shareholders. Thus, the corporation continues to exist even after the founders pass away, or the shareholders transfer their shares. The main benefit that the shareholders gain fro m corporations is Limited Liability, i.e. they are shielded from the business obligations to its creditors even if the business goes bankrupt. There are various types of Corporations. The type under discussion here is the C Corporation (S Corporations are discussed in the next section).11Corporations are treated as C Corporations unless they are approved as S Corporations. The C Corporation pays taxes under the Subsection C of the tax code. A C Corporation is under obligation to file an annual tax return. The taxable income consists of the Retained Earnings and the dividends paid to the shareholders. Corporations also involve more government regulations and red tape than the earlier discussed business entities. They are also required to pay franchise taxes (which S Corporations are exempted from). The bane of double taxation is also attached with corporations as Corporations pay income tax on their earnings, and furthermore the shareholders are required to pay income tax on the divi dends that they receive from the corporation.12An S Corporation is a corporation that makes a valid election to be taxed under Subchapter S of Chapter 1 of IRS (Internal Revenue Code). In other words, an S Corporation is a standard corporation that has a special tax status elected by the IRS.A short overview of how the taxing system in S Corporations works is as follows. The S Corporation doesn’t pay corporate taxes on its profits. Instead, the shareholders who hold distributive shares for the Corporation, pay the income taxes on their proportionate income. This payment must be done irrespective of whether the shareholders receive distributions from the S Corporation or not.In order to form an S Corporation, the following conditions must hold: the company must be an eligible entity (a domestic corporation, LLC or partnership), it should not have more than 75 shareholders, all the shareholders must be American citizens, it should have only one type of stock and the profits and losses to the shareholders should be proportionate to their share in the business.13If the business meets the above stated requirements, the shareholders of the business can file the form 2553 of the IRS: Election by a small Business Corporation, in order to be taxed under Subchapter S.14 This form must be signed by all the shareholders of the business. If a corporation that has been elected as an S Corporation ceases to fulfill one of the above stated conditions, i.e. its shareholders exceed 125, or it acquires a foreign shareholder, then its status as an S Corporation would be rescinded and would be treated as a regular C Corporation.Before moving on to discuss the taxation issues in detail, it would be appropriate to consider the pros and cons of having an S Corporation. The biggest and most obvious advantage of having an S Corporation is the tax advantage. The profits (and losses) of the S Corporation pass through to the owner, as is the case in sole proprietorships, partnershi ps and LLCs. Thus the S Corporation itself doesn’t pay any taxes. This means there is no double taxation. Also, when the business is sold, the taxable gain on the sale of business is less than what it would have been if the business was operating as a regular corporation. Another positive of S Corporations applies to a new business which has lots of expenses and losses. In a regular corporation, these losses get locked up within the corporation, but in an S Corporation, these losses are offset against the owners personal incomes, enabling them to write off start-up losses. Another benefit of operating an S-Corporation is that it offers limited liability protection. Although the liability protection is not as complete as that in a corporation, it is still better than that in sole proprietorships and partnerships. Other advantages include less frequent auditing for S Corporations, certain business expenses being tax-deductible, and customers perceiving an S Corporation as a mor e professional body than sole proprietorships and partnerships.But along with the above stated benefits, an S Corporation also has some drawbacks. The S Corporation is limited to issuing only one type of stock, i.e. distributive stock. Thus the business has less control over the company and the stock value is also limited.15In order to grow rapidly, a company needs to attract finances, and venture capitalists usually do not prefer to finance a company that has an unconventional tax setup, and has an upper limit of 75 on the shareholders. So if a business would need to attract venture capitalists, it would be better suited to a C Corporation. Secondly, although an S Corporation is exempted from paying corporate taxes, it still has to file annual tax returns. A liability in time also needs to be considered, as the S Corporation is still a corporation and has the requirement of conducting regular meetings and the maintenance of minutes of the meetings. An interesting downside to S Corp orations is with respect to the Tax Treatment of Benefits. If an employee is a shareholder as well, and the company provides health and accident insurance premiums, then the corporation deducts these items, but then these expenses are added to the gross income again.16As mentioned in the text earlier, S Corporations are generally exempted from paying corporate taxes, and for income tax purposes, the net earnings of the corporation are attributed to the individual shareholders, who pay the income tax in proportion to the share that they hold in the corporation. Thus when this income is distributed to the shareholders in the form of dividends, the shareholders are not required to pay income tax (the very concept of no double taxation). The interesting part here is that this arrangement gives the shareholders an incentive to enter into arrangements with the corporation to treat their incomes as dividends rather than treating them as compensation for services. This would result in the s hareholders paying lesser taxes.In this scenario, the position that the IRS holds is that if the corporation pays a shareholder in the form of dividends, for the services he performed for the corporation, these dividends would really be considered as wages paid to the employee, and not as dividends. Thus they would be taxable under FICA. This position of IRS holds weight as it has been upheld by the courts. E.g. in Joseph Radtke, S.C. v. United States, 1990, a lawyer was the only shareholder of an S Corporation, and was paid $18,225 as dividends in 1982, and no amount as wages for the services that he rendered for the organization during that period. The court ruled that the payment was in fact wages, and came under the tax bracket under FICA and FUTA.17Another case serves to highlight this issue, Spicer Accounting, Inc. v. United States. This case involves an accountant who was simultaneously the President, treasurer and Director of an S Corporation. There was no formal employment agreement between him and the corporation, and he offered his services to the organization free of cost, but at the same time, using his status as stockholder, withdrew dividends. The Court ruled in favor of IDS, and declared that the dividend earning was in fact remuneration for the services he performed for the S Corporation, and therefore subject to FICA taxes. 18There are several other such cases too, but the above two cases provide us enough proof that there exists a precedent for treating dividends paid to employees of an S Corporation in return for their services to the corporation, as wages (or compensation of services).19That brings us to the next logical question: What is the right amount of compensation for an S Corporation Employee? The US Tax Court opinion of 2001 does provide an insight into this very question, but it is not a binding precedent as it was unpublished, but tax advisors agree that it can be used as reliable guidance.20The court cites one case in particula r. The case deals with a CPA, Wiley Barron, who created an S Corporation to practice public Accounting in Arkansas. He was paid a large chunk of the profits by the firm, but only $2,000 of the amount, paid during one quarter, was treated as taxable compensation. IRS intervened, citing Internal Revenue Code Section 3121(d), which states that a corporate officer is an employee21. Thus, it came out that Mr. Barron was the only CPA at the company and was providing full-time service to the company. Compared to that, the amount of compensation that he was being paid was not appropriate. The court thus ruled in favor of IRS, declaring that Mr. Barron was using the S Corporation to avoid paying employment tax. Based on several variables, the Court decided that reasonable compensation for a CPA in Arkansas for the relevant years was in the range of $45,000 $49,000.The case of Tribune Company is also illustrative of this phenomenon. Sam Zell took advantage of a loophole in a minimum wage bil l, and thus ended up paying zero income tax, post-buyout, on Tribune. He combined the S Corporation and the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and thus turning Tribune into an S Corporation completely owned by this ESOP and paying no taxes. The rule that Zell took advantage of here, is that like pension funds, an ESOP pays no taxes on its income. This provision was part of a minimum wage increase bill that was passed by the Congress 11 years ago.22To avoid complications and to stay within the legal limits prescribed by the government and the IRS, Milani and Wittenbach, 2005, have the following suggestions to minimize the probability of an IRS objection: Develop a comprehensive wage policy and compensate all employees with respect to that policy; while setting a compensation level, consider the following factors: qualification of employee, scope and extent of work, nature of business, financial implications of the business, market rates. By documenting these wages, the company woul d have a strong defense that the payments paid to shareholders are not wages, but dividends.23In conclusion, it can be said that every business professional should make the important choice of the business format after carefully discussing the pros and cons with their lawyers and tax professionals.

Developing Teacher Portfolios

Developing Teacher Portfolios A teaching portfolio is an essential item for all educators. Every student teacher has to create one, and continually update it throughout their career. Whether you just finished college or are a seasoned veteran in the education field, learning how to perfect your teaching portfolio will help you advance in your career. What is it? A professional portfolio for educators showcases a collection of the best examples of your work, classroom experiences, skills and achievements. It’s a way to introduce yourself to your prospective employers beyond a resume. While a resume provides information about relevant work experience, a portfolio illustrates these examples of your qualifications. It is a valuable tool to bring to interviews and to track your professional growth. What to Include Creating your portfolio is an ongoing process. As you gain more experience, you add or take away items in your portfolio. Making a professional portfolio takes time and experience. Finding and identifying the perfect items to showcase your experience, skills and qualities are essential. The most effective portfolios contain the following items: Title pageTable of contentsPhilosophyResumeDegrees/Certificates/AwardsPhotosLetters of recommendationStudents’ work/AssessmentPlanningResearch papersCommunicationProfessional Development When searching for these items, collect your most recent examples. Ask yourself, â€Å"Which items really display my talent as a teacher?† Look for pieces that showcase your strong leadership skills, and that demonstrate your experience. If you add photos of students make sure you get signed permission to use them. If you are worried that you don’t have enough elements, remember that quality is more important than quantity. Sample Sections Here are some ideas of the types of artifacts you should be searching for when gathering your elements for your portfolio: Philosophy - Educational philosophy, classroom management plan, guideline of your discipline techniques.Degrees/Certificates/Awards - Copy of your degree(s), teacher license, awards of honor.Photos - Students, you with the students, classroom, bulletin boards, projects.Letters of Recommendation - Supervisor, teachers, parents, students, former employer.Students’ Work /Assessment - Worksheets, projects, assessment rubrics.Planning - Themed units, curriculum, lesson plans, field trips, activities.Research Papers - ThesisCommunication - Welcome letters, progress reports, parent conferences, notes to parents.Professional Development - Conferences, Meetings, publications, memberships. Sorting and Assembling Once you have gathered all of your artifacts, then it is time to sort through them. An easy way to do this is by arranging them into categories. Use the above bullet list as a guide to help you sort your items. This will help you filter out the old and irrelevant pieces. Depending upon the job requirements, use only the pieces that demonstrate the skills needed for the particular job you are applying for. Supplies Needed: Sheet protectorsDividersBinderCard-stock or sturdy paperColored paperResume paperGlue stick Now comes the fun part: Assembling the portfolio. Your portfolio should look clean, organized and professional. Place the contents into sheet protectors and group relevant items together using dividers. Print out your resume on resume paper and use colored paper for dividers or to place photographs on. You can even add borders to photos to make them more visually appealing. If your portfolio looks professional and doesn’t look like a scrapbook, prospective employers will see you put forth a lot of effort. Using Your Portfolio Now that you have gathered, sorted, and assembled your portfolio, it is time to use it. Use the following steps to help you utilize your portfolio while in an interview: Learn what is in it. Familiarize yourself with each page so when you are in an interview and asked a question, you can turn to a page and show them a tangible example.Know how to use it. Don’t go to your portfolio to answer every question, just use it to answer a specific question or explain an artifact.Do not force it. When the interview starts, do not hand the portfolio over to the interviewer, wait until it is a relevant time to use it.Leave artifacts out. Once you have taken items out to showcase your qualifications, leave them out. It would be very distracting to the interviewer if you are rummaging through papers. Take out each item as needed, and leave them visible until the interview is over. Perfecting a professional teaching portfolio can be an overwhelming task. It takes time and hard work, but it is an excellent resource to have. It’s a valuable tool to take to interviews and a great way to document your professional growth.

Questions for Practitioners and Researchers Research Paper

Questions for Practitioners and Researchers - Research Paper Example The last two US secretaries of state are just examples (Jarrett and Tchen, 2012). Propose some best practices that foster leadership development at earlier periods in human development. Speculate about what might be done at the grade school and high school levels to encourage leadership in young girls In order to encourage leadership in young girls, grade schools should set up model assemblies that imitate the Congress or the UN. After that schools should offer debatable topics especially those relating to policy so that they get an experience of what it means to address matters of public exams. Classes should also be allowed to elect one male and female representative so that young girls get a chance to discover their talents in public speaking, which is an essential leadership skills. Schools can also nurture leadership by also appointing many young girls into positions of responsibility to have them get used to being on the lead (Matthews, 2009). Women in the United States are ahead of other countries in education but not in holding positions in business and government as their education achievement would suggest. Speculate about the reasons for this and propose what to do about the situation While this may be true, it does not hold to a certain extent. The real situation is that this had been the trend in the past. Currently there are women holding position in the government. The last two secretaries of state have been women and they have both done a marvelous job. The president is poised to appoint another woman Mrs. Rice as the next secretary of State. As pertains to business, probably it applies with regard to top positions. Even so, there are women holding positions in businesses. Many countries, have fewer women than men in various positions. The most probable reason for this trend comes down to social organization where women have to worry about being good mothers and good leaders (Jarrett & Tchen,

Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Motivation - Essay Example This piece of research work addresses motivation as an important tool that managers take in to account to get things done successfully through others. Based on Bratton’s (2012, p. 191) view that motivation highlights the nature of employment relationship, this paper explains different ways that managers use to motivate their employees. Motivation and Management Motivation is an important management strategy with which managers can accomplish their goals and lead the organization to a high performing and out-performing organization. Robbins and Judge (2011) defined motivation as a â€Å"process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of efforts toward attaining a goal† (p. 204). They identified basic three elements in motivation- intensity, direction and persistence. With intensity, they meant the way people try to work hard. High or low intensity may not always lead to favourable outcome unless people’s effort is channeled th rough direction. They also argued that motivation has persistence dimension because it is important to see how long a person can maintain effort. Motivation is something that influences people’s behavior and attitude towards pursuing a specific outcome. As Lussier, Achua and Lussier (2009, p. 79) noted, motivation is a quest for a personal gain and therefore managers have to consider it as an opportunity to be seized to help the organization achieve its goals such as increased productivity, competitive advantage and long term profitability. Daft and Lane (2008, p. 226) argued that motivation is a force, either internal or external to people, that stimulates enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a specific action that managers or leaders want them to do. Both Robbins and Judge (2011) and Daft and Lane (2008) have considered persistence as a very important element in motivation. Managers and leaders are required to use motivation as strategic link between people and their ways t o achieve organizational goals. In making motivation such as link, it should in turn direct people’s skills, talent, knowledge and experiences towards the accomplishment of organization’s goal and managers’ vision. Management creates a specific environment internal to the organization in which individuals work in groups with a view to perform efficiently and effectively towards attainment of a group or common goal. As management is a process of creating, developing and affecting organizational objectives and available resources to realize organizational aspirations, managers’ central task is managing people and motivation is at its heart. Management is simply getting things done through others and therefore managers need to understand people in the organization and their varying requirements in order to influence them by helping them meet their needs and requirements (Msoroka, 2012, p. 2). Newstrom and Davis (2004, p. 30) found that the result of an effec tive organizational behavior is motivation and therefore when motivation is combined with employee skills and abilities, it results in the achievement of performance goals and individual satisfaction as well. Motivation thus builds two-way relationship. The two-way relationship created by motivation is mutually supportive because manager and employee are jointly influencing each other as well as jointly benefiting. It highlights the view

Yacht Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Yacht Management - Term Paper Example The management company also offers yacht laid out solutions to the owner.In this case, the yacht owner may approach another company in case the services provided do not satisfy him or her. Managing a yacht is not an easy task, the manager needs to be ready to face many challenges when managing the ship. The manager should understand that the management of a 2900 ton yacht incorporates several tasks. Yacht management is an important part of the management, in general; the yacht managers accept the commission given by the owners to engage in the overall act of managing the yacht. The yacht manager should comply with the technical management, crew management, and business management, yacht managers should understand that their jobs are based on the trust relationship. The managers of the yachts should always ensure that they satisfy the yacht owners and the customers by providing the highest quality, economic and environmental friendly management and operation and also safety. In order to ensure the best yacht management, the manager should adapt the best mechanisms of crew management for private yachts and passenger yachts and the full management. In order to ensure there is satisfaction of the consumers then the manager needs to preserve the yacht value. The manager must ensure the customers and the owners of the yacht receive services that are comprehensive, tailor-made and of the highest quality. The ship managers main tasks are to ensure there is continuous technical support from the staff, providing the best practices in terms of continuous improvement if procedures and all the activities. Interims of crew management, the manager, should ensure that the crew is the most important asset of the yacht and that they should ensure the yacht is safe, and the operations run smoothly. The main best mechanism that a manager can adapt to ensure the maintenance of

Assess the extent to which governments shape the global oil economy Essay

Assess the extent to which governments shape the global oil economy. In your analysis, consider the respective roles of nature, industrial structure and war - Essay Example y by oil prices, since it is the major economic activities in such countries factors such as political corruption, foreign debt, militarization, and power intervention are problems that this countries experience. Energy is a key driver of growth and industrialization in this century. The current global economy relies heavily on oil as a form of energy, manufacturing, transport and other key industry depend on oil either directly or indirectly. Some of the household goods as well as cooking gas is as a result of oil, hence, the global population depends heavily on oil. Due to this reasons oil prices have been reported to be very volatile, and this has affected both developed and developing nations. Fluctuations of oil prices shift political balances around the globe. When the oil prices are high the exporters tend to gain power, but face severe challenges when the prices drops (Bridge and Le billion, 2012). The need to control sources of oil has historically made many countries to go to war. For instance, the US paced an oil embargo over Japan, which obstructed 80 percent of its oil supply. This then prompted Japan to join World War II with the embargo being one of their key motivator. Oil industry is a continuous process that involves extraction of oil from the earth. There are two levels in this industry structure, upstream and downstream. Upstream comprises activities such as explorations, looking for oil bearing lands, construction of gas separators and oil well infrastructure. Downstream comprises of activities such as transportation that is sometimes done through pipelines, railroads and tankers; refining, which is the process of converting crude oil to usable products such as gasoline and fuel oil; and finally marketing that is done by setting up petrol stations. This industry is capital intensive despite using sophisticated technology in present times (Bridge and Le billion, 2012). Everything from production requires large amount of capitals and this has

Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli Research Paper

Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli - Research Paper Example â€Å"Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet is a lovely, sensitive, friendly popularization of the play—the lovers, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, as young and full of life as they ought to be, Italy of its time there intact, a lot made of the relationship between Romeo and Mercutio, beautifully played by John McEnery† (Adler). Certainly, the actors were not experienced because of a very young age, but this inexperience was their main advantage. They did not play any parts, they were natural. A wise director Franco Zeffirelli understood that nothing can express youth better than youth itself. Adult experienced actors would never manage to embody and express all the charm of the youth and the first love. Adults have already lost the capacity to feel all this thrill and delight and what is more, they will never die for love. There are people who were lucky to witness the shooting of the film. â€Å"Hussey and Whiting were so good because they didn't know any better. A nother year or two of experience, perhaps, and they would have been too intimidated to play the roles. It was my good fortune to visit the film set, in a small hill town an hour or so outside Rome, on the night when the balcony scene was filmed. I remember Hussey and Whiting upstairs in the old hillside villa, waiting for their call, unaffected, uncomplicated. And when the balcony scene was shot, I remember the heedless energy that Hussey threw into it, take after take, hurling herself almost off the balcony for hungry kisses. (Whiting, balanced in a tree, needed to watch his footing.)† (Ebert). This valuable passage written by a person who saw shooting with his own eyes testifies that actors did not play any parts, they were... The researcher of this paper presents an analysis of the great screening of the masterpiece, entitled Romeo and Juliet and presented by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968. The researcher states that this movie is the best screen version of the play. The plot of the â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† seems plain, but its salt is the great misunderstanding that caused a great tragedy. It seems that Shakespeare plays with readers in order to awake sorrow and the feeling of vexation. Romeo and Juliet are innocent creatures, who can’t be accused of what they did. The researcher also mentiones that it is necessary to analyze the music used in the movie. Music is stated to be a very important component of every movie. It is a correctly chosen music that makes a Romeo and Juliet movie successful. Certainly, the film contained the scenes, which were very difficult for young people to express and here we should admit the talented direction of Zeffirelli. He made everything perfect: every scene, ever y glance, every motion of the main heroes. The reseracher then concluds that for the poetry, and the fine archaic dignity of Romeo and Juliet, the story could be taking place next door. It is stated to be the "sweetest, the most contemporary romance on film this year†. Critics and the researcher both mentioned this movie as a great work, every detail of which was thoroughly thought out by the director and producers and had its deserved success: it certainly became the best screening of the â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† in the world.

Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Narrative - Essay Example Together with teammates, Bolt recorded the world record for the 4x100m relay. Bolt is the current Olympic champion for the three sporting events; 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. In the 2012 London Olympics, Bolt won the 100m gold medal at 9.63 seconds. He thus set a new 100m Olympic record, and also defended the gold medal that he received during the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. The 2012 Summer Olympics was an international sporting event that illustrates the Olympics Games tradition. The Olympics Games are organized and managed by International Olympics Committee (IOC). The sporting event occurred in London, the United Kingdom. The 2012 Summer Olympics were conducted between July 25, 2012 and August 12, 2012. Approximately 10,000 athletes participated in the event, from 204 National Olympic Committees. The main broadcaster for the event was the Olympics Broadcasting Services. During the event Usain Bolt proved his position as the historically greatest sprinter, because of the effective retention of the 100m gold title (Rosner & Shropshire 454). Bolt’s win in the 2012 was very memorable due to various reasons. The win occurred during the weekend that Jamaica celebrated the 50th Independence anniversary. The 9.63 gold medal win created a celebratory mood in Jamaica because it illustrated the shortest athletic competition in the history of the Olympics Games. The two main noticeable athletes in the competition were; Usain Bolt and his fellow countryman Yohan Blake. The Jamaicans are very fierce competitors in the racing track, but Bolt emerged as the best by winning gold. Bolt accomplished another feat by retaining the 100m Olympic gold title. The athletic effectiveness of Bolt was doubted by many people, because of a season that had cases of defeat and injury. During the 2012 Olympics he performed the second fastest time ever, and thus defeated Yohan Blake and Justin