Classic Pen Company Case

A VOTRE SANTE: PRODUCT COSTING AND DECISION ANALYSIS IN THE WINE INDUSTRY Priscilla S. Wisner Department of Accounting and Information Management College of Business University of Tennessee 638 Stokely Management Center Knoxville, TN 37996 Phone: 865. 974. 1714 Email: [email  protected] edu Case: A Votre Sante Page 1 of 17 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1659912 BACKGROUND A Votre Sante (AVS) is a small, independent winery owned by Kay Aproveche. Kay has a relationship with a grower who grows two types of wine grapes, a Chardonnay and a generic white grape.AVS buys the grapes at the point that they have ripened on the vine. AVS is responsible for harvesting the grapes and all further processing of the grapes into wine. In 2010, AVS earned an operating margin of almost $100,000 on sales of $848,000, for an 11. 6% margin (see Exhibit 1). The process of winemaking is fairly simple, yet requires much attention to process details. After the grapes are harvested, they are brought to the winery for washing and crushing. The crushing process separates the juice from the pulp, skin and stems.The juice is used to make the wine; the pulp, skin and stems are recycled back onto the fields whenever possible or otherwise disposed of. The amount of wine generated from the grapes is dependent each year on a number of climatic and growing factors such as temperature, length of growing season, rootstock and fertilizers used. Once the juice is extracted, it moves into the fermenting process. The Chardonnay wine grape is fermented using oak barrels; the oak in the barrels gives flavor to the Chardonnay wine.The barrels are expensive ($500 each), but are sold after four years for $200 apiece to another smaller winery. The juice fermenting in each barrel results in the production of 40 cases of wine. The generic white grape juices are fermented in a holding tank; a full tank would result in the production of 1,500 cases of wine. The fermenting process takes place in a temperaturecontrolled environment; however, each fermenting method results in some wine loss through evaporation. Kay Aproveche estimates that theChardonnay will lose approximately 10 percent of its volume through the fermentation process, while the generic white will lose approximately 5 percent of its volume. Harvest takes place in the late summer and early fall months; typically, the time elapsed from harvest to final sale is about 11 months. Case: A Votre Sante Page 2 of 17 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstract=1659912 PRODUCT INFORMATION AVS bottles three wines: a Chardonnay-Estate, a regular Chardonnay and a Blanc de Blanc.Data related to the three wines is as follows: Chardonnay-Estate contains only Chardonnay grapes that are grown for AVS; the expected sales price is $22/bottle. The market demand for Chardonnay-Estate wine is estimated to be 24,000 bottles for 2010. Regular Chardonnay is blended by combining the Chardonnay wine left over after bo ttling the Chardonnay-Estate with the fermented generic wine; the blend mixture is two parts Chardonnay grapes and one part generic grapes. The expected sales price is $16/bottle.Blanc de Blanc wine is made from all remaining generic white grapes; the expected sales price is $11/bottle. All three wines are bottled at AVS using one bottling line. In a typical year, AVS bottles enough Chardonnay-Estate to meet the predicted market demand, then bottles the regular Chardonnay after blending all remaining Chardonnay wine with the necessary amount of generic grapes. The Blanc de Blanc is the last wine to be bottled, using all remaining generic white grapes. Kay again expects the wines from this harvest year to sell out.ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL AND COST DATA Chardonnay Grapes 2009 harvest – 100,000 pounds purchase price of $85,500 expected loss in volume through fermentation and bottling – 10% Case: A Votre Sante Page 3 of 17 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn. com/abstr act=1659912 Generic White Grapes 2009 harvest – 60,000 pounds purchase price of $38,500 expected loss in volume through fermentation and bottling – 5% Wine-making Chardonnay grapes are fermented in oak barrels; each barrel results in the production of 40 cases of wine Barrels cost $500 apiece, and can be used for our years and sold for $200 each at the end of four years; assume that you have to purchase all new barrels for the 2009 harvest Generic white grapes are fermented in the holding tank; the tank can hold up to the equivalent of 1,500 cases of wine Bottling Requires 36 pounds of grapes (post-fermenting) for one case (12 bottles) of wine In the bottling process, the wine is put into bottles, with both corks and labels added during this process. The materials cost associated with the bottles, corks and labels are estimated to be $2. 50/bottle. Direct Labor Harvest labor is paid an average of $7. 5 / hour. It is estimated that 80 pounds of grapes can be harvested e ach hour. Crush labor is paid an average of $8. 00/hour. It is estimated that it will take 300 hours to crush the grape harvest. Overhead Expenses Administrative rent and office expenses – Estimated to be $20,000 / year. Depreciation is charged based on the following equipment schedule: Case: A Votre Sante Page 4 of 17 Equipment Tractors Crushers Holding Tank Bottle Lines Cost $15,000 $6,000 $40,000 $10,000 Est. Life 10 years 10 years 20 years 10 years 5 years Other Production Equipment $15,000Indirect Materials – Part of the wine-making process involves introducing yeasts and other additives into the wine to help the fermentation process and to help balance the flavors in the wine. Indirect production materials average $1. 55 per case of wine. Lab expenses – Lab expenses of $8,000 are incurred for lab supplies and equipment. The lab is used by the production supervisor and the wine master to test the grapes and wine at various stages of production. Liquor taxes – AVS is required to pay a liquor excise tax of $3/bottle on every bottle of wine sold.Production office – AVS pays a part-time person to help administer the production function. This person orders supplies, reviews and approves production invoices, and performs other administrative functions. The production office budget is estimated to be a flat rate of $12,000. Sales and related – Kay’s sister, Bebe Cadadia, is paid $30,000/year on a contract basis to sell AVS wines. She works through distributors, who are paid $2/bottle for each bottle sold. Supervision – Kay’s brother, Kan Pai, supervises the production of wine from the harvest through the bottling processes. His salary and benefits total $55,000 annually.Case: A Votre Sante Page 5 of 17 Utilities – Utilities costs are incurred primarily to maintain a constant temperature in the fermenting process. These are expected to be $5,500. Waste treatment – After crushing, the pul p, skins and stems that are left over must be disposed of. One-half of the waste can be recycled back onto the fields as a compost material; the other one-half must be disposed of at a landfill dumping cost of $2,000. A winemaster is employed to help formulate and test the wines. This is done on a contract basis; AVS pays the winemaster $5,000 for each type of wine that is formulated.Kay’s role is to manage the AVS business. Her annual salary and benefits total $75,000. CASE QUESTIONS 1. Create a single company-wide contribution margin income statement for AVS that includes each expense category. Also calculate the average revenue and net income for one bottle of wine. (Note: Do not break out the variable or the fixed costs by type of wine. ) 2. Another grower has available 20,000 pounds of Chardonnay grapes from the 2009 harvest. AVS has the opportunity to buy the juice from these grapes (they have already been harvested and crushed).If AVS could blend these grapes with the generic white grapes (using the 2:1 blend formula) to produce a new Chardonnay wine to be priced at $14/bottle, and required a 15% return on sales for this wine, what is the maximum amount that AVS would pay for a pound of grapes? 3. Other than the cost of the grapes, what factors would you consider to support your purchase of the grapes, and what factors would cause you to reject buying the grapes? 4. Kay Aproveche recently read an article about Activity Based Costing (ABC) and is intrigued by the costing methodology.She would like to be able to better assign costs to each of AVS’s products, and has collected the following information about AVS activities. Use this Case: A Votre Sante Page 6 of 17 information, along with the information given in the case, to construct a product cost analysis using ABC. Assume that AVS did not buy the grapes referred to in Question 2. Harvesting activity – The Chardonnay grapes can be harvested at the average rate of 71. 5 pounds/hour, while the generic white grapes are harvested at the rate of 100 pounds/hour.Includes costs related to tractors and harvest labor. Crush activity – Relates to the pounds of grapes crushed. Includes costs of crusher equipment and crush labor. Fermenting Activities – Barrel costs relate to the Chardonnay wines by the percentage of wine used in each wine type. Holding tanks relate to the Blanc de Blanc and the Chardonnay regular wines by the percentage of wine used in each wine type. Lab and Supervision Activities – Kan Pai estimates that these activities are split 60% Chardonnay-Estate, 25% Chardonnay regular and 15% Blanc de Blanc.Other production activities and costs not directly associated with a specific wine – allocate according to the number of bottles produced of each wine. Administrative activities – Allocate according to sales revenues. 5. Write a brief memo to Kay Aproveche that explains what ABC is, and that discusses both the benefits and costs of doing an ABC analysis. What would you recommend to Kay Aproveche regarding the ABC analysis? Case: A Votre Sante Page 7 of 17 Exhibit 1 A Votre Sante Income Statement – 2010Sales Chardonnay – Estate Chardonnay (non-Estate) Blanc de Blanc Total Revenues Product Costs Grapes Bottle, labels, corks Harvest labor Crush Labor Indirect Materials Depreciation Lab expenses Production office Utilities Waste treatment Wine Master Supervisor Barrels Total Product Costs Gross Margin Administrative & Sales Costs Administrative rent & office Liquor taxes Sales commissions Sales manager Administrative salary Total Fixed Costs Operating Margin price $ 22 $ 16 $ 11 # bottles 24,000 $ 9,000 16,000 49,000 $ $ 528,000 144,000 176,000 848,000 124,000 122,500 14,500 2,400 6,329 8,100 8,000 12,000 5,500 2,000 15,000 55,000 4,725 380,054 467,946 $ $ 44. 8% 55. 2% $ $ $ 20,000 147,000 98,000 30,000 75,000 370,000 97,946 11. 6% Case: A Votre Sante Page 8 of 17 TEACHING NOTE: A VOTRE SA NTEThe A Votre Sante (AVS) case is multi-faceted in that it requires students to incorporate operational measures into product costing results, and also to understand cost accounting from a variety of perspectives, such as: Product versus period costs Variable versus fixed costs Activity based costing Relevant costs and opportunity costs Additionally, the case questions require both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the business issues faced by AVS. AVS has been used in a graduate-level managerial accounting class for MBAs, and would be most appropriate for an advanced undergraduate or a graduatelevel accounting or MBA course. The detail in the case is rich enough to support a variety of analyses.Alternative uses could be to have the student construct a cost of goods manufactured statement or a traditional financial statement, both of which reinforce the differences between product and period costs. Students must know the difference between product and period costs to success fully complete the ABC analysis, but they could be made more explicit by requiring the statements. Additionally, alternative decision analysis questions could be developed using the variable and fixed cost structures described in the case. Case question number two is only one example of a potential decision analysis question. The following discussion contains the answers to the questions listed in the case, and does not detail the solutions to alternative questions. Case: A Votre Sante Page 9 of 17Question 1: Contribution Margin Income Statement To develop the contribution margin income statement, you first have to calculate the number of bottles of wine produced by AVS. This number is dependent upon the yield from the grapes. The relevant calculations are as follows: Chardonnay Grapes 100,000 10,000 10% 90,000 Generic Grapes 60,000 3,000 57,000 Yield: Pounds harvested Loss in processing Yield Bottles of wine produced: 5% Chardonnay Estate Regular pounds of grapes: Chardonnay grapes Generic grapes Total pounds of grapes Bottles (3 lb. / bottle) 72,000 72,000 24,000 18,000 9,000 27,000 9,000 Blanc de Blanc 48,000 48,000 16,000 Total 90,000 57,000 49,000The contribution margin income statement (Teaching Note Exhibit 1) is fairly straightforward, with the following concepts / calculations causing the most difficulty: The inclusion of liquor taxes and sales commissions in variable costs: These are both period expenses, but are clearly based upon the number of bottles sold, and therefore are included in the variable costs. Where to include the wine master expense: Since the wine master is paid according to number of blends, not number of bottles, this expense is listed as a fixed cost. Arguably, it could be listed as a variable cost, given that the cost will be based on the number of wines produced.As part of the discussion we will examine the rationale behind listing wine master as a fixed or a variable expense. Barrel expense: The case states that the barrels pro duce the equivalent of 40 cases of wine. A case of wine is post-fermentation/bottling and therefore after the 10% loss has occurred. The Case: A Votre Sante Page 10 of 17 barrels contain the wine at the start of the process. Therefore, there have to be enough barrels to hold all the wine at the beginning of the process, not at the end. This factor results in 63 (62. 5) barrels being required for the harvest1. Question 2: Additional Purchase Opportunity, Quantitative Analysis Case Question 2 asks what is the maximum amount that AVS would pay to buy an additional pound of Chardonnay grapes.There are three parts to calculating this answer: the benefit from the additional Chardonnay wine to be sold, the relevant costs related to producing this wine and the opportunity cost of not producing as much Blanc de Blanc wine. Teaching Note Exhibit 2 displays the calculations relevant to this decision. Chardonnay regular wine requires a 2 to 1 mixture of Chardonnay and Blanc de Blanc wine. There fore, the 18,000 pounds of Chardonnay grapes will be combined with 9,000 pounds of generic grapes. The 27,000 pounds of grapes will result in an additional 9,000 bottles of Chardonnay regular wine being produced. However, it will also result in a 3,000-bottle decrease in the amount of Blanc de Blanc wine produced, since some generic grapes will now be used for the Chardonnayregular wine.Question 3: Additional Purchase Opportunity, Qualitative Analysis The following factors would support AVS’s decision to purchase the additional grapes: Potential increase in market share Diversification of suppliers Ability to leverage fixed costs over more production If quality of purchased grape is perceived to be better To block a competitor from buying the grapes 1 Each case of wine requires 36 pounds of grapes (post-fermenting). A barrel holds the equivalent of 40 cases of wine (post-fermenting), or 1,440 pounds of grapes (40 x 36). To convert the post-fermenting grapes to prefermenting g rapes, they must be divided by . 9, or 1,440 / . 9 equals 1,600 pounds of grapes. The harvest of 100,000 pounds of grapes therefore requires 62. 5 barrels for storage (100,000 / 1,600). Case: A Votre Sante Page 11 of 17Ability to focus time and effort on wine making (rather than harvesting and crushing) Creates an incentive for the current grower to control costs The following factors would support AVS’s decision to reject the grape purchase: Poor quality of the grapes An additional AVS Chardonnay wine creates confusion in the marketplace Lack of control over the harvest and crush process Lack of confidence in the additional sales forecast Inability of the current capacity (e. g. bottling line, space) to support additional production Inability to use the additional barrels purchased in future years Cannibalization of the current Chardonnay, Chardonnay-Estate or Blanc de Blanc sales Reliability concerns with the new supplier Other hidden costsQuestion 4: ABC Quantitative Analy sis Teaching Note Exhibit 3 contains the ABC product costing analysis, and shows both the per product line and per unit costs. The ABC outcome demonstrates that the Chardonnay-Estate is the most profitable wine for AVS, the Chardonnay-Regular is marginally profitable, and the Blanc de Blanc is not profitable. While Blanc de Blanc is not profitable, a product-line contribution analysis would need to be completed to determine if Blanc de Blanc has a positive contribution margin, and therefore contributes to covering fixed costs of AVS. Case: A Votre Sante Page 12 of 17 Question 5: ABC Qualitative Analysis The first part of this question asks for an explanation of ABC, and a discussion of the benefits and costs of an ABC analysis.Relevant points are that ABC is a method of assigning costs that first assigns costs to the activities identified in the business, and these costs are assigned to the cost objects (in this case, the three wines) in a manner which reflects each cost object†™s use of the activity. Using ABC to assign costs is especially beneficial where there exists either variation in processes or variations in cost object requirements. It is also useful as a tool to calculate activity or process costs, which can act as a benchmark against which to judge future improvements. A well-defined ABC cost allocation will provide more accurate costing information than a less-sophisticated cost allocation system. The costs of ABC are that it is a time-consuming process and it requires a comprehensive knowledge of the entire operation to successfully complete.For a small company such as AVS, software costs would be minimal; the ABC system could easily be constructed using a spreadsheet program. After looking at the results of the ABC analysis, it is clear that the Chardonnay-Estate wine is driving the profitability of AVS. The Blanc de Blanc is the poorest performer; recommendations to Kay Aproveche would be to explore both pricing and cost control opportunit ies for the Blanc de Blanc wine. One â€Å"rule of thumb† used in the wine industry is that the price of a bottle of wine is approximately related to the cost of a ton of grapes by a factor of 100 to 1. If you multiply the $11 price per bottle by 100, the result is $1,100.AVS pays $1,283 for a ton of generic grapes, which suggests that AVS is not receiving enough value for Blanc de Blanc wine relative to the price of the grapes. Perhaps AVS is paying too much for this grape, or they are underpricing the wine. The answer to this cannot be fathomed by data in the case, and is subject to many other variables (such as strength of the harvest and strength of the wine market); however, it is mentioned here as performance measure that is used in the industry. Although some students will suggest that AVS discontinue producing Blanc de Blanc, because it has a Case: A Votre Sante Page 13 of 17 positive contribution margin it would not be to AVS’s benefit to discontinue this wine without having a better substitue.Looking at the line item costs, students should note that the costs for bottles, labels and corks are the same for each of the wines, which may not be correct or appropriate. Students should question whether this makes sense, and note that AVS might decrease costs in the Blanc de Blanc line by buying lower-priced bottles, labels and corks. Another interesting piece of information from the cost analysis is the Wine Master cost and how large it is on a per-unit basis when the number of bottles is low. This helps demonstrate to the students how volume creates economies of scale, and often leads into a discussion about how to expand product lines without incurring additional fixed costs, especially when initial volume is expected to be low.Summary The AVS case is based upon actual wine industry data, although the data has been simplified to reinforce the teaching points and concepts. It is also true to the wine making process, with the exception of AVS ’s process of making the Chardonnay regular wine from the fermented Chardonnay and Blanc de Blanc wines. This can be done, but most commonly the juice from the wine grapes is combined at the start of the fermenting process, so that they can ferment together. Because of the different yield rates in the fermenting process, the case had the wines ferment separately and blend at the end. The case can be taught in a 75-minute class, or by omitting the decision analysis question 50 minutes would be sufficient.I have also used it to teach the differences between the financial income statement reporting (product and period costs) and the contribution margin income statement reporting (variable and fixed costs), and then assigned decision analysis and/or the ABC costing as an additional assignment. Case: A Votre Sante Page 14 of 17 Teaching Note Exhibit 1: Contribution Margin Income Statement Sales Chardonnay Chardonnay – Estate Blanc de Blanc Total Revenues Variable costs Grap es Bottle, labels, corks Harvest labor Crush Labor Indirect Materials Liquor taxes Sales Barrels Total Variable Costs Contribution Margin Fixed Costs Administrative rent & office Depreciation Lab expenses Production office Sales Supervisor Utilities Waste treatment Wine Master Administrative salary Total Fixed Costs Operating Margin price $ 22 $ 16 $ 11 # bottles 24,000 $ 9,000 16,000 49,000 $ 528,000 144,000 176,000 848,000 avg. revenue per bottle: $ 17. 1 $ 124,000 122,500 14,500 2,400 6,329 147,000 98,000 4,725 519,454 328,546 61. 3% 38. 7% $85,500 + 38,500 # bottles x $2. 50 2,000 hours x $7. 25/hour 300 hours x $8/hour # bottles x 1. 55/12 $3/bottle $2/bottle 63 barrels x $300/4 years $ $ $ 20,000 8,100 8,000 12,000 30,000 55,000 5,500 2,000 15,000 75,000 230,600 97,946 11. 6% $ 2. 00 per bottle $ $ Case: A Votre Sante Page 15 of 17 Teaching Note Exhibit 2: Decision Analysis, Additional Grape Purchase Yield Chardonnay grapes 20,000 2,000 18,000 9,000 pounds loss (10%) yield 2 p ounds of Chardonnay grapes per bottle (along with 1 pound of generic grapes) 9000 bottles @ $14 / bottle bottlesAdditional Chardonnay Product Line Revenue: $ 126,000 Costs: generic grapes $ 6,079 bottles, labels, corks 22,500 indirect material 1,163 liquor taxes 27,000 sales distribution 18,000 barrels 975 wine master 5,000 Total costs: $ 80,716 Gain from new Chardonnay $ 45,284 Lost Sales of Blanc de Blanc Wine Revenue: $ 33,000 Costs: generic grapes $ 6,079 bottles, labels, corks 7,500 indirect material 388 liquor taxes 9,000 sales distribution 6,000 Total costs: $ 28,966 Lost Contribution Margin $ 4,034 Net Impact Required Return Total Net Benefit Pounds of Grapes Maximum Price $ $ 41,250 $ 18,900 $ 22,350 20,000 1. 12 9000 pounds x. 6754 / pound $2. 50 / bottle $1. 55 / case $3 / bottle $2 / bottle 20,000 pounds / 1, 600 each blend 3000 bottles @ $11 / bottle 9000 pounds x. 6754 / pound $2. 50 / bottle $1. 55 / case $3 / bottle $2 / bottle 15% per poundCase: A Votre Sante Page 1 6 of 17 Teaching Note Exhibit 3: Activity Based Costing Income Statement C – Estate Sales Revenue Driver Grapes pounds of grapes Bottle, labels, corks # bottles Harvest labor harvest labor hours 1 Tractor Depreciation harvest labor hours 1 Crush Labor pounds of grape crushed2 Crush Equip. Depr. pounds of grape crushed2 Indirect Materials # bottles Lab and Supervision # bottles Liquor taxes # bottles Sales # bottles Wine Master # blends Barrels percentage of wine3 Holding Tank percentage of wine4 Other Production Expenses Depreciation # bottles Prod. Office # bottles Utilities # bottles Waste treatment # bottles Administrative Expenses Admin.Salary % of sales revenue Admin rent & office % of sales revenue Sales % of sales revenue # bottles rev. /bottle 24,000 22 $ 528,000 68,400 60,000 8,117 840 1,200 300 3,100 37,800 72,000 48,000 5,000 3,780 308,537 1,959 5,878 2,694 980 11,510 46,698 12,453 18,679 77,830 Total Expenses Operating Margin 397,877 $ 130,123 24. 6% $ $ product l ine data C – Reg. B de B 9,000 16 144,000 23,180 22,500 2,717 281 442 111 1,163 15,750 27,000 18,000 5,000 945 316 117,403 735 2,204 1,010 367 4,316 12,736 3,396 5,094 21,226 142,946 1,054 0. 7% $ $ 16,000 11 176,000 32,421 40,000 3,666 379 758 189 2,067 9,450 48,000 32,000 5,000 1,684 175,614 1,306 3,918 1,796 653 7,673 15,566 4,151 6,226 25,943 209,231 (33,231) -18. % $ Total 49,000 $ 848,000 124,000 122,500 14,500 1,500 2,400 600 6,329 63,000 147,000 98,000 15,000 4,725 2,000 601,554 4,000 12,000 5,500 2,000 23,500 75,000 20,000 30,000 125,000 750,054 97,946 11. 6% $ $ 22. 00 $ 16. 00 $ 11. 00 2. 85 2. 50 0. 34 0. 03 0. 05 0. 01 0. 13 1. 58 3. 00 2. 00 0. 21 0. 16 0. 00 12. 86 0. 08 0. 24 0. 11 0. 04 0. 48 1. 95 0. 52 0. 78 3. 24 16. 58 5. 42 $ 24. 6% 2. 58 2. 50 0. 30 0. 03 0. 05 0. 01 0. 13 1. 75 3. 00 2. 00 0. 56 0. 11 0. 04 13. 04 0. 08 0. 24 0. 11 0. 04 0. 48 1. 42 0. 38 0. 57 2. 36 15. 88 0. 12 $ 0. 7% 2. 03 2. 50 0. 23 0. 02 0. 05 0. 01 0. 13 0. 59 3. 00 2. 00 0. 31 0. 00 0. 11 10. 98 0. 08 0. 24 0. 11 0. 04 0. 48 0. 97 0. 26 0. 39 1. 62 13. 08 (2. 08) -18. 9% per-unit data C – Estate C – Reg. B de B Case: A Votre Sante Page 17 of 17

Epsteins Essay

We must all acknowledge and adhere to the feeling of boredom, as we have all felt its distinct dampness in some form or another. Epstein’s essay â€Å"Duh, Bor-ing† is able to capture and enforce its ideologies through direct references and quotations; with a little education and perseverance you are able to decipher and put meaning behind the unique examples he portrays in his writing. Epstein starts his essay with â€Å"Somewhere I have read that boredom is the torment of hell that Dante Forgot† (Epstein 1). In using this quote from Albert Speer we really get the feeling that boredom is unbeneficial and in fact tormenting at times. As many will agree with that statement, Epstein further goes on to say â€Å"When bored, time slows drastically, the world seems logy and without promise, and reality itself can grow shadowy and vague† (Epstein 2). There again giving you the feeling that boredom can cause you to perceive time differently and cause life to become dark and gloomy at times. He does a great job incorporating these quotes into his writing to really back the feeling that we carry towards boredom. We have all felt the negative vibes portrayed from boredom and many of us try to avoid them at all costs. Being able to form my own opinions, judgments and thoughts on the subject allows Epstein’s essay to be easily relatable and interesting to read. Epstein further allows you to connect with the text by particularizing on the different types of boredom perceived. Situational Boredom, in which he relates to a â€Å"dull sermon† (Epstein 1) and existential boredom caused by modern culture. Epstein lets us ponder the thought that maybe our own modern culture is to blame for boredom. He elaborates that boredom is often less pervasive in simpler cultures â€Å"One hears little of boredom among the pygmies or the Trobriand Islanders, whose energies are taken up with the problems of mere existence† (Epstein 2). With everything becoming increasingly more technological and people able to live easier, longer and healthier lives maybe we create our own boredom through modern society. He also refutes existential boredom in saying â€Å"Even animals know boredom, we are told, though they are deprived of the ability to complain directly about it† (Epstein 1). An animal at most represents the closest thing to be at its core un-modernized. Although deprived from the ability to complain about it, animals symbolize pure primal instinct and yet are affected by boredom just alike. Naturally boredom has a negative stigma wrapped around it but as Toohey suggests â€Å"Boredom is good for us†¦ Boredom can function as a warning sign†¦telling those who suffer unduly from it that they need to change their lives† (Epstein 5). Epstein’s allowing that negative stigma to be refuted upon and replaced with that of a greater self-perception. That maybe boredom is a self-defense mechanism or a symptom in reaction to your own life struggles and yet curable. Epstein constant analytical approach to the advantages and disadvantages of boredom helps make this essay work in building credibility to the fact that he’s not one-sided or condensed. He capitalizes on the indifferences boredom promotes and truly tries to look at the subject from all angles and sides drawing power and reason from multiple sources and references. Overall with the use of distinct wordy visuals and references Epstein able to make his writing work in that of capturing his readers and allowing them to form their own interpretation on the matter.

A character analysis of the priest (Abbe Marignan) in the short Story Essay

A character analysis of the priest (Abbe Marignan) in the short Story Clair De Lune - Essay Example The protagonist Abbe Marignan, is essentially a composure of most of the elements used to create the story. Depicted as a priest, Marignan signifies both extremes on love and hence espouses the various elements used inside the story itself. The very first line of the story perhaps best signifies the first aspect of Abbe Marignan’s personality where Maupassant exclaims Marignan as a â€Å"soldier of God†. The contention here is to depict Marignan as a righteous yet fanatical individual since a soldier is by design fanatically tied to the doctrines of a higher order. Maupassant clarifies this view through his second line where he delineates the priest’s existence as: The use of the word â€Å"fanatical† signifies that Marignan was a zealous individual in the higher order service of God. In being a servant of God, Marignan has been depicted as being righteous an uncompromising – just as any fanatic is. In his fanaticism Marignan has been depicted as a learned man who does his best to discover the Lord’s purpose for every other thing. Maupassant exclaims: In itself, this small question reveals a lot about Marignan’s basic nature which is inquisitive. However, as the story later reveals, Marignan is inquisitive as well as nosy since he goes ahead and interferes with something that does not concern him. This characteristic may be attributed to everyone who believes that he is in line with God and is in some degree God’s representative on earth. Since religious figures such as priests are entrusted with religion on a professional scale, so it might be expected that they would interfere in other people’s lives to determine their righteousness (Heap). Furthermore, Marignan has been shown as a person who inquires into things and finds divine explanations for them. Maupassant expresses this as: Being part of divinity, Marignan feels that he knows

Set Up a New Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Set Up a New Business - Essay Example The products – Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green come with a rich past, having gone through a century of successful marketing. Pepsi has a long rich past, originating from the last 100 years of success. Caleb Bradham’s analysis provides a definite concept about the sophistication within the market. He developed a strong franchise and also aided better business attributes. With an all time slogan, â€Å"Drink Pepsi Coal†, he has moved through generations, and the new product provides a mild combination of tasty Pepsi flavours, enriched by western lemon brandss. The gains of Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Greenare attributed to the empirical framework that defines and create substantial formulation of the ideal criterion to manage an orderly launching process. Firstly, the relevance of the launching implications state that the usefulness of the model is ideally fundamental to the overall strategy and this overruns Market eval uation for Pepsi is an important phenomenum needed to accomplish positive business feedbacks. The real marketing strategies for this product are hugely dependent on the existing market forces. Ideally, the trends equally explore the usefulness of the momentum generated by the launching method. ... ivered value approach creates a competitive advantage and Braithwaite and MacKay, (1991) explains that market timings are fundamentally vital for better product launches. The target market in this case being London, offers established identities and the marketing mix roles offer techniques including suggested activities within and outside London. Equally, the prescriptions aiding the market fronts are expansive and to undertake the critical plans, prescriptions for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green will involve forecast financial outcomes. The new brands establish greater positioning and particularly on the basis of dependent marketing variables. Service provision defines the London market for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green as a continuous process which offers substantial customer management concepts. These are ideally explained by the relative operational standards which are comprehensively vital for appropriate product launches. The process range involves implementing the specific marketing processes ranging from selling, pricing and product distribution. Equally, the attainment of the formal distribution mechanisms will also involve the larger market inclusions. In the views of Gray et al, (2005), the business development structures are aided by established market formations. The distinctiveness of the London market is widely explored by the emerging business platforms. The strategy is hugely dependent on a focused penetration level. The research indication for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green creates coexistence between the specific business models and the defined product factors in the target london market. The Pepsi-Cola strategy applies new market variables. Equally, market pioneering component is specifically aligned from a relatively innovative

DISSERTATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DISSERTATION - Essay Example Online shopping takes the experience of shopping to altogether a new dimension and helps in improving the necessary services given to the consumers as well as the vendors and also helps in managing all the required information of the payments of the customers, receipt of products of the new customers, their product and updating of all the necessary credentials. The primary features of the online shopping helps in providing business accuracy, flexibility of design and readiness of accessibility (Gay, Charlesworth, & Esen, 2007, p. 173). Today internet is an increasingly popular medium of shopping due to its shopping convenience. This research paper focuses on this subject because of its growing relevance among the young generation. The behavior of the consumers in shopping is highly essential for the businesses in tracking the discrete preferences and engineers their strategies for focusing on the key requirements of the consumers. Various factors stand in the way of influencing the behavior of the consumers. From the standpoint of Warner, various external influences which affect the consumer’s behavior are demographics, socio-economics, technology and public policy; culture; subculture; reference groups; and marketing. Within the domain of internal influences, attitudes, learning, perception, motivation as well as self image and semiotics are various psychological attributes affecting the consumer behavior in online shopping. From the studies of a scholar called Sheth, it can be also found that the consumers are predominated by mainly two types of motives which are basically functional as well as non functional. It is a common agenda that people in today’s world have drastically changed their shopping patterns and there has been application of various strategies by the companies towards positioning their products in systematic and successful manner. The marketing managers while strategizing optimal marketing plans and concentrating on the four

Constitutional conventions should be put on a legal footing. However, Essay

Constitutional conventions should be put on a legal footing. However, there is no clear agreement as to what amounts to a convention. DISCUSS - Essay Example 1917). It could be described also as â€Å"an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state† which (Wikipedia, 2007) Hoar (1917) in discussing a constitutional convention as a means of changing or amending written constitutions, told of its being an American origin. He noted the fact written constitutions themselves originated in the US. The idea of a constitution convention is given importance in the light of it purpose, that is making or changing the constitution. Characterizing that the idea of a constitution is â€Å"to signify something superior to legislative enactments† or â€Å"a body of fundamental principles of government which are beyond the control of the Legislature.† Hoar (1917) described a constitution as â€Å"a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.†(Mass. Const., Preamble.) He explained it is â€Å"the Anglo-Saxon theory that government is in some way based upon a contract between the people and the State† (Hoar, R. 19 17). In applying the principle of constitutionalism of the US, Hoar (1917) noted that however, Americans both the terms of the â€Å"unwritten British constitution† and by the â€Å"charters or other written instruments whereby Great Britain directed their government† which he described to be â€Å"suspended the moment the colonies declared their independence,† as â€Å"the colonies reverted to a state of nature† (Ch. II  §8 pp. 26-28) (Hoar, R. 1917, Chap 1) It is an accepted principle in democracy that power belongs to the people. When we say people we are referring to those who can actually vote on issues or elect their leaders. This right of the people to â€Å"have the right to change their form of government at will, using whatever method suits them (Ch. II  §2, p. 12)† In describing the nature of the right of the people, Hoar (1917) said

Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Earth's Magnetic Pole Reversals - Essay Example â€Å"In 2005, the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) was about 810 km (503 miles) from the Geographic North Pole. The NMP was in the  Arctic Ocean  north of Canada. The South Magnetic Pole (SMP) was about 2,826 km (1,756 miles) from the Geographic South Pole. The SMP was off the coast of  Antarctica  in the direction of Australia† (Russel). The presence of earth’s magnetic field can be explained through the dynamo effect. Deep inside the earth’s core is a solid iron ball with temperatures reaching as high as that on the sun. This inner core is surrounded by a molten mass of iron, called the outer core. The molten mass of iron circulates relative to the motion of the earth. Convection currents within this region generate our planet’s magnetism (Phillip). Over years, many scientists have proven that the earth’s magnetic field is changing. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting journey during which his ship got stuck. No one retrieved it until four years and when they did, they noticed that the pole had shifted from its original position, even though by a small amount. The next observation occurred in 1904 when Ronal Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved almost fifty kilometers since the days of Ross. This movement of the magnetic poles has hastened in the recent past. â€Å"The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating to 40 km per year (Phillip). This sparked interest of researchers to study this phenomenon in detail. It has been discovered that iron and other heavy metals, present inside molten lave, align themselves in the direction of the external magnetic field when solidifying to form hardened rock. By studying the various layers of these rocks, scientists have measured the historical directions of the Earth’s magnetic field and concluded that the Earth’s poles

Provide an analysis of 3models of health and demonstrate which is the Essay

Provide an analysis of 3models of health and demonstrate which is the most effective mpdel to use when working with young people - Essay Example For example, prostate cancer is an ailment affecting middle aged and elderly males, while breast and ovarian cancer is exclusively a disease affecting women. Similarly, diabetes, gout and obesity are diseases affecting the sedentary population. Likewise, there are also some diseases which society regards specifically as the diseases and ailments of the youth- the foremost among them being drug abuse, alcoholism and AIDS, to name a few. It is therefore imperative that the youth of a society or a country be cared for under a national initiative like health policies for the youth. This paper will explore the history and relatively recent efforts made by the Department of Health UK and other ancillary organizations in the last decade towards promoting the health, safety and security of our youth population in the UK. We will be looking at three models of youth care and intervention-the biomedical model, the political model and the quality of life model, describing each and comparing and evaluating which one is the best to use in the UK for the purpose of protecting the health and stability of our youth. Identifying Key Issues within Youth Health Care It has been estimated that as much as 20 percent of the population of the world comprises its youth. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is the name of the public health service while the Department of Health (DOH) is the Government based organization entrusted with matters regarding public health policy. It also issues warnings about disease prevention and control, makes health information commonly available and undertakes other initiatives as needed for the safety and protection of the general health of the UK population. Recently the DOH has started an initiative that makes its services more user friendly towards the youth. Specifically this covers ten different areas, namely accessibility, publicity, confidentiality and consent, environment, staff training, skills, attitudes and values, joined-up working, young people’s involvement in monitoring and evaluation of patient experience; health issues for young people; sexual and reproductive health services, and specialist and targeted child and adolescent mental health services. This initiative has started in the backdrop of the successful Getting It Right for Teenagers program run for doctors and hospitals in practice. The hospitals and health centers have been directed to undertake a self review and evaluate themselves in terms of readiness or completeness in meeting the above criteria. Importance of the Health Needs of Young People According to a report published in 2007, youth and adolescents in the UK are engaging in risky behaviour that compromises their own health and well being to a disproportionately high level when compared to youth in other countries. The incidence of UK teenagers risking their health through smoking, drug and alcohol use, unsafe sex and becoming parents in their teenage years if taken together far sur passes that of any other country in the developed world. In particular, sections of the youth under the age of 15 having been drunk or having had sexual intercourse frequently without the use of a condom are the highest in the UK. It is not surprising that children born to young women between the ages 15 and 19 happen most frequently in Britain relative to other developed nations. Although these figures only represent part of the

Case study analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis - Case Study Example In the e-learning project, strong team work made it to attain its objective making the Australian Customs Service to provide excellent services. Being a body that is responsible for provision of security and integrity of Australia borders, Australian Customs Service noted the need to develop a system that would ensure effective collaboration among the 4,900 employees (David, 2006).The e-learning project was undertaken after the Customs evaluation and came to a conclusion that it will achieve the expected outcomes. One of the notable strengths of the project is that it enjoys the support of the large number of employees. In this way, it would not face resistance during implementation. Additionally, Australian Customs Service applied new technology that is positively viewed as a major solution that faces security personnel. The project also underwent extensive analysis before being implemented, implying that minimal resources were lost resulting to a higher rate of return on investment. The strong working relationship between the project managers and the working group is another strength that made the e-learning project to achieve its objectives. Based on the need by the Customs to provide a project that is effective, the process of planning e-learning took a lot of time. The costs that the Customs underwent in terms time and financial resources could have been possible reduced by outsourcing the project. Due to the modern technology that the e-learning project is adopting, the Customs have an opportunity of conducting training programs easily. On their part, people working in Australian Customs Service will get a chance of enhancing their skills thus becoming more productive. The e-learning project can also be adopted by other security agents that work in collaboration with Australian Customs Service. In this way, the Customs work will not only

Exams Should Be Abolished Essay Example for Free

Exams Should Be Abolished Essay Exams a word that many students dread to hear, a word that many students fear of, a word that seems to have the magical power to transform a happy and cheerful person into a frustrated and nervous wreck. What are exams and should they been done away with entirely? Exams are longer and more comprehensive versions of tests held every term. Initially created to monitor and check how a student was performing academically, they now have so much more pressure on them that students are burning the midnight oil to study for an exam. This results in some students becoming ill due to stress and lack of sleep. They have become more and more stressful and, even worse, a constriction to the ideal of learning. It is a well known fact that when it comes to exams, students compete, not only with themselves, but with other students. They no longer want to see an increase in their knowledge, but want to beat other people to the top of the class. Even parents take exams as a race to see whose children are more intelligent. Read more: If There Were No Exams Students shouldnt be judged on their performance on one day when they might be ill. The exams might not be completely representative of the students skills as everyone can have a bad day. They are a poor method of assessment as they dont reflect the use of knowledge in a practical environment. They dont reflect how well youll be able to use your knowledge in real world occupations. Many successful individuals are bad at exams but can perform well under other methods of assessment such as essays and oral presentations which still prepare students in coping with pressure. Some people would argue that exams are not a fair assessment of intelligence and arent favourable to those with poor memory skills, those who suffer under pressure, and those who get so nervous in such situations that they shut down in exams. Its  very easy to know content but to completely fail an exam because you are nervous. They arent an accurate representation of a students knowledge as some people are just better at taking exams than others. If you happen to mess up in your exams due to stress or panic then your goals can disintegrate leaving you unable to reach your full potential and having to settle for second best.

Qualities Of Good Leadership Management Assignment

Qualities Of Good Leadership Management Assignment With the advent of networking, collectivization and team working, leadership has become a widely discussed topic in the world at the present time. No matter in the field of politics or economy, enterprises or small business, or south or north, leadership has already been accepted as a core quality, individually and generally. This essay is expected to analyze the qualities of good leadership, aims to identify and account for the most important two qualities of good leadership, comparing different type of leaders and illustrating some successful examples. The definition of leadership in the prior research is varied. For example, some people argue that, leadership is ‘a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal’ (Northouse, cited in Grint, 2005:21), while some recognize the leadership is a kind of personal ability. Nevertheless, the term of ‘leadership’ used in this essay will be built upon on the definition given by Hogan and Kaiser (2005:172) ‘the ability to build and maintain a group that performs well compared to its competition.’ Charismatic leadership and strategic leadership are considered to be the most important two qualities of leadership in this essay. Charismatic leadership has outstanding performance in attracting followers while the strategic leadership could guard the further development of the business and the group in the right direction. It is a tough way to become a successful leader, although, theoretically, everyone has the possibility of being a leader. According to Dick Nettell, the new executive officer of Bank of Americas Consumer Call Center in Concord, California, â€Å"everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to be successful. Everybody comes to work trying to make a difference† (cited in James and Barry, 2007:4). However, the numerous people that can be labeled as ‘leaders’, but only a few of them could become a successful leader. That is because only those minority leaders have the qualities of good leadership. Therefore, it is vital to identify and analyze what kinds of qualities of good leadership are indispensable. To some extent, these qualities can be summarized in two points. Firstly, charismatic leadership is essential for a successful leader. That means a successful leader should be charismatic. On the one hand, internally, the relationship between leaders and other team members is quite influential, though it is invisible. There is a vivid saying in ancient China, the relationship between leaders and their fellows is like a metaphor, the boat and the water, and water could support the boat, also could overturn it. In the west, it is believed that, the leaders should ‘attract and inspire his followers’ (Gill, 2006: 54-55). If there is no follower, the leader could not be called a leader. On the other hand, leadership not only have to deal with the troubles from inside, but also, have to face the pressure and difficulties from outside, especially in the network society. Leaders have to built a very good networking with their partners, investors, customers, public, and sometimes, even with their counterworkers. An interesting study of senior managers in Fortune 500 companies in the US by David Waldman et al., shows that, under some conditions, ‘charismatic leadership is associated with net profit margin’ (cited in Gill, 2006:54). Thus, to some extent, charismatic leadership can bring benefit into business, even the world. In fact, it can be seen that there were many charismatic leaders in political field, such as Chairman Mao, who was the first leader of Peoples Republic of China, successfully led the revolutions in China and established the Peoples Republic of China, and Martin Luther King, who had a famous speech I have a dream in 1963, became the president of US during the American Civil Rights Act. In sort, charismatic leadership can help to establish good relationship with both inside and outside the organization, and it can benefit the world and organization itself. However, the charismatic is not the only impact in this research, there is another aspect for a good leader, that is to say, strategic leadership. Johnson and Scholes ‘define strategic leadership as encapsulating entrepreneurial processes and strategic vision’ (cited in Gill, 2006:59). That means the leader should be the core decision maker in a group, and the main conductor in carrying out the decisions. In Johnson and Scholess words, strategic leadership is ‘concerned with strategy development and change’ (cited in Gill, 2006, p: 59). Gill states that main point of strategic leadership is to decide about ‘whether and when to act’ (2006, p: 60). Significantly, strategic leadership is closely related to the personal background of the leader himself, such as the education background and the professional experience. Compare to charismatic leadership, strategic leadership gives more attentions to the practical experience, instead of personalities. Thus, strategic leadership is much easier to be developed by the leaders who would like to be successful but lack personal qualities. Furthermore, it is also worth to be pointed out that the achievement of a group, a company or a business activity could be guaranteed or lost simply by a leaders decision. For example, Kmart, Tyco and ATT were beset by ‘acquisition lust’ and were virtually destroyed because of wrong strategy they followed by (Charan and Useem, cited in Gill, 2006:19). On the other hand, the organization is highly likely to be successful if the leader has good strategic leadership. Take Marks Spencer (Gill, 2006: 197-198) for an example. Marks Spencer suffered from decline during 1990s because of poor strategic management. However, Luc Vandevelde, the chairman and CEO of MarksSpencer in 2000, made his three famous strategies, which were ‘to focus on the heart of the business’, ‘to stop all activities which were non- core or making a lo ss’, and ‘to achieve the right capital structure to make the balance sheet more efficient and to generate greater value for shareholders’, in order to cross the crisis. Resulting from these three strategies, Vandevelde ensured the success of his business for years. In a word, strategic leadership can not only bring success to leaders themselves, but also to the organizations. Although there are many others qualities of leadership, these two qualities are considered to be the most important two for being a successful leader: charismatic leadership and strategic leadership. Charismatic leadership can attract followers and get support from both inside and outside of the organization; meanwhile, Strategic leadership can guarantee the achievement of the whole business and the whole group, and benefits the organizations. If a leader lacks these two qualities of leadership, he might not achieve success in his career life.

Differences in the Male and Female Brain Essays -- Compare Contrast Ne

Differences in the Male and Female Brain It is proven that the male and female brains differ, but can one prove that it affects the behavior? Many scientists would agree that ones behavior is determined by his/her gender. Although others are convinced that social conditioning is the cause for the differences between the male and female, it is very unlikely that biological differences play no role in behavior. The male and female brains differ not only by how they work, but also on the size. For example, Natalie Angier and Kenneth Chang, neuroscientists, have shown that the women’s brain is about 10 percent smaller than the male’s, on average, even after accounting for women’s comparatively smaller body size. Three brain differences that affect ones behavior are the limbic size, the corpus collosum size, and the amount of gray and white matter. Current research has demonstrated that females, on average, have a larger deep limbic system than males. Due to the larger limbic brain, woman are more in touch with their feelings, they are generally better to express their feelings than men (â€Å"Male-Female Brain Differences†). Women are the primary care takers for children because of their strong ability to be connected and bond well with others. Containing a larger limbic system also leaves a female more likely to become depressed. As stated in â€Å"Male-Female Difference†, women attempt suicide three times more than men, but men actually succeed three times more than women. This h...

Tradition and Customs in So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba Essay -- Paper

Tradition and Customs in So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba Tradition and customs very often hold an important position in ones life and culture. The novel So Long A Letter, by Mariama Ba, is based on the Senegalese culture and shows how important tradition is in Africa. The novel is a series of letters written by a recently widowed woman, Ramatoulaye, to her best friend Aissatou. The transition through the many grieving stages and traditional mourning events are explained, as well as a woman?s place in a Senegalese society and family. According to Muslim tradition, which was the dominant tradition in Senegal, when Ramatoulaye?s husband, Modou, passed away, she had to mourn over her loss for three months. During this time, friends and family members gathered in her house to accompany her. One of the traditions, which she wasn?t too fond of, was having to give up her possessions and belongings as gifts to her in-laws, as well as her deceased husband?s personal secrets. This whole process was a way of giving up herself as a person. ?Beyond her possessions she gives up her ...

Strategic Plan Outline

UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE MGMT 490 – BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY How to Structure The Strategic Plan Guidelines Executive Summary This is written to the scope and level of content that an â€Å"outsider† can read the summary and grasp the vision, mission of the organization, its overall goals and objectives, major strategic issues and the key strategies implemented to attain the goals. Section 1 – Current situation 1. Brief Background and History of the Company and the Industry 2. Strategic Posture: Current Mission, Current Vision Current Values Current Objectives Current Strategies Current Policies 3. Past Strategic Performance Indicators (if available): Market share Sales Growth Net Profit Margin Return on Equity Investment Other? (Depending on the type of business/industry) Section 2 – External Environment, Opportunities and Threats (EFAS) 2. 1 General Environment (PEST, Gap Analysis, etc) 2. 2 Task Environment (Porters five forces, Strategic Map) 2. 3 External Factor Analysis Summary Section 3 – Internal Environment, Strengths and Weaknesses (IFAS) 3. 1Value Chain analysis . 2Corporate Structure 3. 3Corporate Resources: Marketing Finance Human Resource Operations and Logistics Information Systems 3. 4Internal Factor Analysis Summary Section 4 – Competitive Strength Assessment based on Key Success Factors Quality/product performanceCustomer Service Capability Reputation/imageOther? Manufacturing capability Technological skills and know-how Dealer/distribution capability New product innovation capabili ty Financial resources Relative cost position Section 5 – Analysis of Major Strategic Factors SFAS . 1 Key Internal and External Factors (SWOT) 5. 2 Competitive advantages/disadvantages, Competitive position improving/slipping 5. 2 Review of Mission and Objectives Section 6 – Alternatives and Recommendations 1. Strategic Alternatives 2. Recommended Strategies Section 7 – Implementation Plan for new strategies recommended Section 8 – Evaluation and Control Plan for new strategies implemented Section 9 – Financial data and Analysis – Includes information on resources to finance the implementation of the Strategic Plan APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY THE PRESENTATION OF THE PLAN Time Allowed: 30 minutes Presentation should be as follows: a) Brief History of Company (Section 1) b) Current Situation (Section -1) c) External Environment Opportunities and Threats (Section 2) d) Internal Environment Strengths and Weaknesses (Section 3 e) Analysis of major strategic factors, strategic alternatives and recommended strategies (including financial analysis) (Sections 5, 6 & 9)- 15 minutes Question and Answer Session

Capital Justification Purchase Essay

This assignment requires justification to the vice president for approval to purchase a major piece of equipment for use in the radiology department of the hospital. My main objective is to provide valuable information to justify the cost as well as provide critical data that substantiates the ROI. Additionally, the report will have detailed information outlining the benefits that will assist in the decision making process and address all concerns and questions relating to the purchase. Lastly, the report will include how beneficial and profitable the technology will be for the hospital. The radiology department is in need of a MRI machine to better provide safer and reliable results for detecting breast cancer. I have done extensive research on the several different types of technological devices and believe that I have come up with the best model. In considering the Siemens’s MAGNETOM Espree-Pink the following six major categories to follow were taken into account to help su bstantiate the purchase:† 1) available alternative; available resources; cost data; benefit data; prior performance, and risk projection.† (Cleverely, et al, 2011, pg. 426). Based upon the research conducted, I believe that this model will improve the quality of patient care, help streamline breast exams and detect the disease with greater confidence. Research shows that MRI’s can be helpful in breast care, especially in high-risk women. The MAGNETOM Espree –Pink offers a unique design and has demonstrated that no other system comes close to offering patient comfort. This state of the art equipment will take us into the future with the latest technological advances. MAGNETOM Espree-Pink combines an open-bore design with the Sentinelle breast coil for Siemens which offers exceptional breast imagining and biopsy capabilities. And, the future is built in, for instance should our needs change over time, we have the option to upgrade the system to a MAGNETOM Espree whole-body scanner –with all the latest advanced applications and renowned technology. This will allow us the capabilities of having the ability to detect cancer in  other ar eas of the body. MAGNETOM Espree-Pink offers the following: Pink Comfort, Pink Workflow and Pink Applications. Pink Comfort can greatly reduce errors due to patient movement, resulting in better image quality. â€Å"The open-bore design offers an exclusive 70 cm inner diameter, providing exceptional comfort. It enables patients to feel more at ease, particularly claustrophobic or obese patients. Pink Workflow provides a dedicated multimodality Workplace that offers standard MRI evaluation, it enhances breast reading and reporting, and it is coupled with syngo BreVis, a computer-aided tool for real-time breast analysis. It is easy-to-use, fast, and reliable. Pink Applications allows for faster imaging, excellent clinical detail, shorter exams – all part of the dedicated solution for breast care. With its optimized applications, MAGNETOM Espree-Pink enables you to see more, by improving accuracy and showing more details. These applications enable truly comprehensive breast care, helping to improve diagnostic confidence as well as patient care.† (www.siemens.com/espree-pink) Financial Considerations In the acquiring of the MAGNETOM Espree-Pink there are some financial aspects to be considered. The manufacture’s price of the equipment is listed at $1.5 million and listed are a couple of options that could provide for this capital expenditure. We would like to look at available alternatives to acquiring this equipment: purchasing or leasing. The cost benefits of leasing include the ability to lease for a short period of time with less expense and the ability to upgrade the equipment as technology changes. For example, with a five-year lease of $150,000 per year, we will pay $750,000 over the life of lease. The immediate rate of return may be greater which may reduce the expense of the equipment. For example: The assumption is that the charge per usage is $2000 and numbers are based on number of patients seen per year.# of Patients Cost of Equipment Lease per year Operations Cost Per Incidence Total Expense Profit 750 $150,000 $500 $525,000 $975,000 1000 $150,000 $500 $650,000 $1.35 million 1250 $150,000 $500 $775,000 $1.725 million The cost benefit of purchasing the equipment is that it would be owned outright by the hospital. The ROI may be seen within the first three years. This can be done by purchasing directly or by financing the purchase. We now have to consider the fixed cost of the purchase price per year and its depreciation and interest. Our operation cost per incidence will now remain the same as leasing the equipment. Our number of patients is assumed to be the same as our option for leasing along with our procedure charge of $2000. # of Patients Cost of Equipment Purchase Operations Cost Per Incidence Total Expense Profit 750 $315,000 $500 $690,000 $810,000 1000 $315,000 $500 $815,000 $1.185 million 1250 $315,000 $500 $940,000 $1.560 million In conclusion, the technological advances of MAGNETOM Espree-Pink can provide numerous benefit to the radiology department by enhancing the speed and accuracy of diagnoses, facilitating earlier and more accurate treatment predicating breast cancer and generating additional revenue. The initial cost of purchasing or leasing will be a great expense to the hospital, but the ROI will outweigh the initial cost over a five year period. I believe that the MAGNETOM Espree-Pink will meet the critical needs of the hospital and our community in which we serve. References Cleverley, William, O., Cleverley, James, O., & Song, Paula, H. (2011). Essentials of health care finance – 7th ed. MAGNETOM Espree-Pink (http://usa.healthcare.siemens.com/magnetic-resonance-imaging/0- 35-to-1-5tmri-scanner/magnetom-espree-pink)

Frank O’Conner: My Oedipus Complex

Everyone shows traces of the little green monster, known as jealousy, but some more than others. This specific trait has had a huge effect on the world over time, sometimes destroying, sometimes rebuilding trust, friendships, and even business opportunities. Jealousy is an extremely prominent element in most of Frank O'Connor's writings and is often shown through different literary concepts such as conflict, characterization, and obsessive love.In writing â€Å"My Oedipus Complex†, O'Connor investigates the issue of jealousy through the various actions of his characters and the conflicts they get themselves tangled in, more importantly the ones involving their childlike obsessive love. To fully understand O'Connor's stories, you first have to delve deep into his background. Frank O'Connor was born in Cork, Ireland, on September 17, 1903 to Michael and Minnie O'Donovan. He was born under the name of Michael O’Donovan, but later created the pseudonym â€Å"Frank Oâ€℠¢Connor† that he would use for all of his writings (Gale).It was there in Cork that he experienced the horrors and distress of living in poverty. Even when the family had a small amount of money, O'Connor's father would regularly go out on drinking sprees and return home violent and cruel (Gale). O'Connor, being the only son, learned to help provide for his mother when his father's priorities fell short. O'Connor's education was minimal as he only attended formal school for a short period of time. Although, even after he couldn't afford it any longer, he continued to further his education by reading widely and often (Contemporary).Under the guidance and instruction of Daniel Corkey, O'Connor's biggest influence, he joined the Irish Republican Army. He fought against the British even after a treaty was signed ending the war in 1921 (Gale). O'Connor was then arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in abiding the fight (Gale). During his time in prison, O'Connor continued to educate himself until his release in 1923 and formed many of the ideas that he would use in his future short stories. After he was released from prison in 1923, O’Connor held various teaching posts at American Universities. He then went back to Ireland and worked as a librarian.Being a librarian and educator suited O'Connor well because he could never put down a book and he was eager to share his knowledge with the rest of the world, especially the day's youth. O’Connor continued to write and teach upon his return to Ireland and until his death, caused by a heart attack, on March 10, 1966 in Dublin. Although there were many worldly issues happening at the time â€Å"My Oedipus Complex† was written, O'Connor often chooses personal reminiscences over focusing on bigger, withstanding issues. â€Å"†¦ nothing that can be identified as social or political about ‘My Oedipus Complex'†¦ † (Literature Resource Center).Many of O'Connor's other stori es, however, were saturated with the conundrums of his time. In â€Å"My Oedipus Complex†, Larry is forced to face the fact that now that his father has returned from the war, Larry is no longer his mother's first priority. This goes on to include the Irish Republican Army in O'Connor's past. Also, World War I was touched on lightly. The first conflict in â€Å"My Oedipus Complex† is an extremely obvious one. The main conflict occurs between a young boy, Larry, and his father. For as long as Larry can remember, he has been living with only his mother because his father was a soldier in World War I (O'Connor 337).While Larry was living with solely his mother, he was treated almost as an adult (O'Connor 343). Mother would often have long talks with her son in the mornings about the events that would occur later that day and what was running through her young child’s head. When father returns home, it is pure chaos between him and his only son as the morning ritual is interrupted and soon becomes forgotten. It is all that Mother can do to settle the constant bickering between her only son and her husband. It is impossible for her to choose a side because they both have such significant roles in her life.Father often treats Larry as if he were merely the child that he really is, while Larry, used to being treated fairly in his own home, believes that he is much more mature than his father (O'Connor 343). Larry was fully convinced that Father didn't deserve Mother's love and affection nearly as much as him, so naturally Larry did all that he could to prevent him from getting it. Larry felt that Father was too conceited for his own good and every time he spoke, Father’s words agitated Larry beyond belief (O'Connor 346). In other words, he saw Father as a self-absorbed, immature fool (O'Connor 340).These observations made Larry realize how much he hated Father at the time, but his attitude towards his father would soon change for the bette r. For the time being, Larry, as he was only five and not getting his own way, was full of spite as soon as Father got home. He even kicked Father a couple times the next morning so that he could lie in the bed next to Mother instead of Father (O'Connor 344-345). This angered Father and flared up his reclusive anger towards his son. Father didn't want to let his son or his wife know that he was getting impatient, but Larry was starting to see that all his little annoyances were starting to add up.It was becoming more and more obvious to both Larry and his mother that Father was not at all pleased with Larry's actions. Larry would often catch Father glaring at him from the corner of his eye and referred to him as â€Å"a mountain out for murder† (O'Connor 346). All the tension within the family was starting to affect everyone in the household. â€Å"That settled it. Either Father or I would have to leave the house† (O’Connor 343). When the new baby (Sonny) is bor n, Father is thrown into the same position as Larry. Mother is suddenly ignoring not only Larry, but Father, too (O'Connor 349).Father seeks solace in Larry, climbing into bed with him and complaining about Sonny, and the two of them bond this way. Finally, an understanding is reached. Father is sympathetic towards Larry now that he knows what his son has been through because he has been going through the exact same thing ever since Sonny was born. Father even ends up buying Larry an expensive train set for Christmas because now he understands how it feels to be forgotten in the midst of other people. The unique way that O'Connor develops his characters has a prominent effect on the way he tells his story.Since Larry is the main character, he has the most divergent traits. He often expresses an astounding level of maturity, but after Father returns from the war, he often thinks about how there is a lot that he doesn't understand (O'Connor 342). Larry's lack of understanding is most noticable when he thinks about how things were when it was just him and Mother at home and compares it to how they are now that Father is back. Larry, being just a young boy, did not have very much patience or understanding for what was going on and he didn't like that Father was seemingly stealing Mother away from him (O'Connor 342).Growing up, O'Connor did not have a good relationship with his father, so he used that to supplement this story in particular. In addition to growing up without a positive father figure O'Connor had to take on a role of responsibility because of his father's alcoholism. In â€Å"My Oedipus Complex†, Larry makes it clear that he feels that he is the more mature figure in his mother's life. â€Å"I had been through it all myself, and even at that age I was magnanimous† (O'Connor 349). Because of this, Larry also thinks that he is more deserving of his mother's attention, care, and love.The young boy viewed himself as responsible for his moth er's health and did not like it when Father came home and Mother was worried and concerned all the time (O'Connor 339). Although Larry saw himself as older and wiser than he really was, he had a very rich imagination. In the mornings, before he went upstairs to his mother's room, Larry would let Mrs. Left and Mrs. Right, his feet, have various discussions regarding the day's events (O'Connor 338). When Father returned home, Mother became instantly anxious and no longer had time for their morning talks (Website).Her concern for Father was overpowering her love for her only son, which again, fits in well with O'Connor's background and childhood. Larry becomes extremely upset when he starts to think that his father has seemingly taken his place in his mother's life. When he notices that Mother is becoming overwhelmingly concerned for Father, Larry quickly realizes that he despises seeing Mother this way (Website). When Father had finally returned from the war, instead of celebrating li ke they should have, Mother became extremely worried about Father's physical health (O'Connor 339).She was also concerned about his mental health because of the trauma he had endured. Larry was upset about this for two reasons, the first being that he didn't like seeing his mother anxious and worried. When she was upset, so was he (Gale). The second reason was that Larry didn't like that thought that his father was seemingly replacing him as his mother's first priority. Because of all these tensions, Larry felt that he had to make sure that Father knew he wasn't just going to give up the fight. Larry was openly willing to fight against his father for Mother's affection (O'Connor 347).He thought that Mother was with Father only because he was forcing her to be. With this in mind, Larry knew that he had to get Mother out of Father's grasp. By doing this, Larry felt that he was â€Å"rescuing† his mother in a way (O'Connor 347). â€Å"'I'm going to marry you. ‘ I said qui etly [to Mother]† (O'Connor 347). In his many short stories, specifically My Oedipus Complex, O'Connor creates conflict, a lugubrious family, and distinct character traits to interpret the theme of jealousy into the plot of his story.He also uses those three concepts as an insight to his background and childhood. Even though O'Connor doesn't have very many cultural influences over his writings, he makes sure that there are some working forces behind them. The only thing that differentiates O'Connor's writings from any other author's writings is that instead of have cultural influences, O'Connor has personal influences. He often uses his own life as a supplement to his fictional stories. O'Connor does a wonderful job of piecing together the small parts of his mind and connecting them into his writings.

Product Life Cycle Essay

Life Cycle Hats are a product that have become deeply incorporated in the American culture and lifestyle. In the United States, hats are nearly always present in everyday life, from sports events (i. e. baseball games) to the streets of New York where one might see people wearing hats as a fashion accessory in their everyday life. Today, there are a plethora of different styles and varieties of hats. For example, one can buy university hats, sports teams hats and even superhero hats, thus causing the hat industry grow everyday. In this paper, I will analyze the hat industry life cycle, specifically focusing on the â€Å"New Era† company, one of the most popular hat companies in the United States and worldwide. The New Era Cap Co. Inc. was founded in 1920 and was first known as E. Koch Cap Co. Their headquarters is located in Buffalo, New York, and the CEO of the company is a member of the Koch family – Mr. Cristopher H. Koch. The New Era Cap Co. has expanded globally into Canada in North America, Brazil in South America, Korea and Japan in Asia, and more than 40 countries in Europe. Even though hats are New Era’s biggest product, they also sell other products such as jackets, tees, hoodies and many cleaning kits and accessories for hats. New Era provides products for men, women and kids of all ages, and among their most famous hat lines are the MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL and College lines. New Era offers different styles of hats such as the â€Å"fitteds,† which have different sizes to fit varying head sizes, and also the â€Å"snapbacks,† which you can adjust to the size of your head. Target Markets New Era targets its products towards a younger crowd, usually sports fans, ranging from kids as young as 15 years old to people around 35 years of age. The reason New Era targets a younger market is because the hats are accessories generally used by younger people, and it is hard to find peoNple older than 35 years of age wearing hats on a daily basis. In addition, there are many rappers today that wear New Era hats in their music videos and at concerts. Furthermore, various athletes can be seen representing their sports teams via New Era hats. As a result, this causes younger people who look up to these musicians and athletes to want to wear New Era hats. Overall, New Era does a great job at targeting their marketing towards younger people. Today, the United States is the country with the biggest market which New Era sells its product to. Followed by the U. S. market is the European market, which is so large that it consists of more than 40 countries. However, both locally and globally, New Era always try to target the same type of crowd. An example that supports this statement comes from Brazil. In Brazil, New Era is already beginning to produce hats representing popular Brazilian soccer teams, which is exactly what the Brazilian sports fans want. The 4 Ps While New Era’s main product is undoubtedly their headwear products, the company also manufactures apparel products such as tees, jackets, hoodies, belts and also cleaning kits for hats, which only adds value to their products. While most of their headwear products are made with sports teams logos on the front, their apparel products focuses more on the New Era Brand rather than sports teams. Many of their t-shirts present the New Era logo on the front instead of teams logos, which is similar with their hoodies and belts. The cleaning kits for hats is a superb deal for New Era because it causes customers to buy accessories that compliment their other products. The kit also keeps the customers happy because when hats get dirty, they definitely do not look nearly as attractive, so having a cleaning product at hand is very convenient. New Era’s prices range depends greatly on the hat style, as well as whether the product is a new arrival or whether it is a sales item. For new arrivals, the price generally ranges from U$25. 00 to U$50. 00. For the â€Å"snapback† styles (adjustable hats), the price can range from roughly U$20. 00 to U$40. 00. However, the fitted styles (ones that are made in different sizes) can range from U$10. 00 to U$50. 00. There is also a section of superhero hats that range from approximately U$20. 00 to U$50. 00. The hats labeled as â€Å"sales items† range from U$10. 00 to U$35. 00. In the United States, a great percentage of the New Era products are sold online on New Era’s website. The website is very easy and friendly to use, providing pictures of every single product available, making it extremely easy and convenient to purchase New Era products online. In the US, there are also specialized retail stores such as â€Å"LIDS† that strictly sell hats, with New Era being their most predominant brand. In countries like Brazil and countries in Europe, there is no specialized store like â€Å"LIDS,† but there are New Era hats being sold at stores specialized in sports. In these countries, New Era also runs their own retail stores where they have all of the same styles of hats than the ones available on the website, making them dream stores for hat lovers. Much of New Era’s promotion is done through sports events to target their main public. An example of that is the fact that New Era makes the hats of all Major League Baseball teams, while also holding over 200 licenses to make hats for other various sports teams. New Era also sponsors major events in the sports world, such as the 13th Annual Transworld Skateboarding Awards. Furthermore, in April of 2012, New Era became the official on-field hat provider for the National Football League (NFL). Ultimately, New Era focuses most of its marketing and promotion efforts towards sports events where they are most likely to reach all of their customers, as well as potential customers, at once. Product Life Cycle New Era Cap Co. Inc. has been around since the 1920s, and their product is in the maturity stage at the PLC. New Era already has an established brand worldwide and its sales and profits have reached a peak. Obviously, if New Era decides to open more global operations in South America or maybe Australia, they could make much more profits, but at the stage they are at right now, they reached maturity. The customers that purchase New Era hats today are the late majority, and even though New Era is always trying to come up with new designs and styles, the essence of the product remains the same. As it is normal in this stage, New Era spends a lot of its money and efforts towards marketing to try keeping the name of the brand growing and to attract more customers as well. As for competition, for a product that has reached its maturity as New Era hats have, there should be more competition than what they have today. New Era only faces serious competition from two companies today, as we are going to find out in the next section. Competition Although New Era is the leading hat company in the United States, there are other hat companies that compete against New Era for a bigger share in the market. The biggest competition New Era faces comes from the company Mitchell ; Ness Nostalgia Co. (known simply as Mitchell ; Ness) which is based in Philadelphia – PA. Mitchell ; Ness is actually older than New Era Cap Co. Inc. , as it was founded in 1904. However, differently than New Era, Mitchell ; Ness does not only focus its sales on hats, but also throwback jerseys, hats, tees, fleeces, and jackets. Mitchell ; Ness, however, competes head-to-head against New Era because it produces hats for NBA, NHL, NFL, and NCAA, essentially the same styles as New Era. The difference between the two is that New Era is more known for its fitted hats, while Mitchell ; Ness is more known for its snapback hats. New Era is also a much bigger company than Mitchell and Ness, with 1700 employees worldwide as compared to Mitchell ; Ness’ 200 employees in the US only. In terms of money, New Era’s revenue in 2007 was U$343. 7 million, while in 2012 Mitchell & Ness’s revenue was 30 million. The other strong competition New Era faces comes from a younger company called Zephyr Hats. Zephyr Hats was founded in 1993 and similarly to New Era, Zephyr hats only focuses on producing hats – nothing else. Zephyr, however is a much smaller company than both New Era or Mitchell ; Ness, and as of now they only produce hats for the NHL and NCAA schools. Also, Zephyr has a very strong commitment to its customers to deliver the best quality product they possibly can, and to serve the customers the best they can before anything else. It will still take a while for Zephyr Hats to expand as large as New Era or Mitchell ; Ness, but they are definitely on the right path towards achieving such a goal. New Era Cap Co. Inc. also faces competition against the black market. There are many fake New Era products being produced and sold around the world, proving to be a major challenge that the company has to face. With the ncreasing popularity of the brand, people try to take advantage of it by producing hats that bring the New Era logo, but that are not made by the real New Era Cap Co. Inc. Whereas some of these ‘fake’ hats may look very similar to the real ones, there are a couple of small defects on them that help to distinguish the fake hats from the real ones. Outside of the US, especially in developing countries like Brazil, th e black market problem is huge because people can buy â€Å"fake† hats for a lot cheaper than what they cost in the retail stores. Recommendations It is true that New Era Cap has made its name globally and seems to only be growing, despite its competition and other problems, such fake production of New Era Hats. However, there are many ways in which they can improve their brand name and keep the brand growing. New Era is very active in the sports scene (NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA, Skateboarding, etc), and one way in which they could improve themselves as a brand would be to promote tournaments and competition that bring the New Era name. These events can include skateboarding competitions, street basketball tournaments, high school football tournaments, etc. This would help the name of the brand through supporting these sports and expanding their name to different groups of fans. New Era should also think about a solution to decrease the amount of fake New Era hats in the black market. One solution could be a promotion where every time someone purchases an authentic New Era Hat, they get a coupon with a number which they can enter on New Era’s website for the chance to win a prize (ex: 5 free New Era hats). Another promotion could be – â€Å"every 3 New Era Cap purchases, get 30% off the next purchase. This would give incentive to people to buy legitimate New Era Cap products, thus increasing their revenue, improving their name brand, and stopping the circulation of fake New Era in the black market. One other recommendation for New Era would be to pursue licences and contracts to start making hats for soccer clubs worldwide. Just like the hats they make for MLB and NFL, New Era could and should open their brand to the Premier League (England) and other European soccer leagues. Soccer leagues are known to have very devoted fans that would be more than willing to purchase merchandise, such as hats, if they were available in the market.

Jake

Hasnu, the stone cutter Plot A stonecutter named Hashnu sat beside the highway cutting stone when the King’s courtiers cross the street. He then wished to be King and that wish was granted. Then he felt the sun’s heat thinking that the sun was powerful than the king so he wished to be the sun. He became the sun but then the cloud covered the sun. Thinking that the cloud was powerful than the sun, he then wishes to be the cloud. When he became the cloud, he then wished to be a rock for it didn’t move for all of his raining and blowing.Then he experienced the hardships of being a rock being sculpted by a stonecutter so he wishes to be a stonecutter again and fulfilled his duty contentedly. Conflict  · The conflict in the story is when Hashnu wants to be the most powerful. Climax  · The climax in the story is when Hashnu wants to be the king, the sun, the cloud, the rock and the stone cutter again. Denouement  · The denouement in the story is when Hashnu reali zed that the most powerful among the creations of God is still the man and he now fulfill his duty as a stonecutter contentedly. CharactersProtagonist:  · Hashnu- the stonecutter Antagonist:  · Hashnu-the stonecutter Setting Time- Time of Monarchs Location- Along the road where the King and his courtiers were crossing. Theme The theme of the story is life process because the story tells the experiences of Hashnu when he became a king, a sun, a cloud, a rock and the stonecutter again. Point of view The point of view of the story is third person because the narrator is not a participant in the story and his knowledge is limited only to the character of Hashnu. Conflict The conflict in the story is Man Vs.Society because here in the story Hashnu struggles with himself and his desire to be the most powerful. Symbol The symbol in the story is the mallet which is used by the stonecutter. Moral Lesson Be contented with who you are. The Lady or the Tiger Plot – A semibarbaric kin g discovers his daughter is having an unlawful affair with a male suitor. The male suitor is soon arrested and forced to go to trial, a trial that consists of an arena with two doors. Behind one door is a tiger, set to maul the unlucky criminal; behind the other is a beautiful bride, set to euphimistically maul the lucky criminal.The princess, who loves the young criminal, knows behind which door awaits the tiger, points to the right, indicating which door the young man should choose. Setting – The story takes place a long time ago in a kingdom far, far away. Characterization – The king is semibarbaric. The young man is handsome. They are both stereotypes. The princess, on the other hand, is developed more deeply. We know she loves the prince. We know she has inherited some of her father's semibarbaric qualities. We know she is jealous of the bride to be, if chosen.We do not, however, know which door she has chosen for her lover. Conflict – A person v. person co nflict exists between the king and his daughter and the king and the young man. An individual v. society conflict exists between the two young lovers and the rules of the kingdom. The central conflict in the story is an internal conflict within the princess as she struggles between watching her lover in the arms of another or watching her lover get devoured by a tiger. Resolution – The story has no resolution. It is up to the reader to determine whether or not the young man lives or dies.Theme – Stockton's short story comments on the confusing nature of love and the subjective notion of civilization and barbarity. There is also an element of Determinism vs. Free Will and whether or not, if left to their own desires, humans make the right decision. Suspense – Suspense is created through the use of foreshadowing, dangerous action, and pacing. Stockton foreshadows the coming unhappiness of the princess (although he doesn't provide a definitive answer to the specifi c choice that causes that unhappiness). The dangerous action is provided by the tiger.The ultimate creation of suspense is done by the story's pacing. It is so well done, in fact, I still don't know what the young man chose. Irony – The ironic structure of the story–it has no end, for example–highlights the irony present in the story: (1) the princess and not the criminal is the story's true loser; (2) the king, despite the outward appearance of sophistication is, at heart, a cruel semibarbarian; (3) the princess deliberates for days on whether or not to save her lover Point of View – Do not confuse the author with the narrator.The narrator is third person omniscient and knows the fate of the young man. The author does not. The Gift of Magi PLOT – Linear a) Introduction – The story starts with a description of the place where the major characters live, and then the major female character is introduced. Rising Action One dollar and eighty-sev en cents. And the next day would be Christmas. Climax Jim stepped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her.It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. Falling Action Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled. Denouement ;quot;Dell,;quot; said he, ;quot;let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy Your combs.And now suppose you put the chops on. " CHARACTERS: The two main characters are both protagonists (There is no antagonist): Mr. and Mrs. James and Delia Dillingham Young. – DEVELOPING/ Round Minor character: Madame Sofronie â⠂¬â€œ STATIC/ Flat SETTING a. ) Place The action takes place in New York City in a very modest apartment and in a hair shop down the street from the apartment. Although Porter does not mention New York by name, he does refer to Coney Island, the city's most famous amusement park, located in the borough of Brooklyn. ime – At Christmas Eve, a long time ago c) weather condition- winter time social conditions – The couple was financially- struggling e) mood or atmosphere – †¦ Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles†¦ POINT OF VIEW Stream of Consciousness – The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions. LITERARY DEVICES Foreshadowing Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's.The other was Della's hair. Symbol The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men-who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. THEME Love has no bounds. CONFLICT -The couple’s financial struggle Person vs. Circumstances (classical) – The couple struggles against poverty Person vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) –Delia struggles with the painful decision of letting go her only prized possession

CAPM and the use of it Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CAPM and the use of it - Essay Example Capital asset pricing model delivers a very simple and easy theory. It offers an utilizable measure to calculate risk that facilitate financier to find out that how much return they are going to get for putting their funds at risk. This model mainly targets the risk averse investors. Capital asset pricing model is the widely used and mainly preferable model for risk and return used in finance. CAPM specifies the association between the risk and expected return that an investor gets on asset. This model is basically used to determine the expected required rate of return on assets and to determine the price of risky securities in the portfolio. This is the model in which securities are priced in such a manner that investors get compensation for the risk involved in the security by offering them return. Systematic risk is the market risk and the one that cannot be diversified easily or that can totally out of range to diversify away. It includes wars, an unpredictable variation in interest rates and many other macro economic factors. Unsystematic risk on the other hand involves those which can be sort out easily because this type of risk is related by means of the individual or stock an investor has in his portfolio. This is also identified as specific risk. This risk is not exposed to in general as a whole. An investor can diversify away unsystematic risk by raising the figure of stocks in his portfolio. So in technical words it can be stated that unsystematic risk does not move with the market as a whole. According to Modern Portfolio theory, it is concluded that unsystematic risk can be diversified but systematic risk still one of the troubles for the investors which cannot be ignored. So here the capital assets pricing model fully fitted and solve the problem because it is applicable for both type of risk either systematic or specific by diversifying it. CAPM itself exposed to some factors that are prevailing within capital

Succinyl CoA Synthase and Regulation of the Enzyme Essay - 8

Succinyl CoA Synthase and Regulation of the Enzyme - Essay Example The amino acid responsible for activity is the phosphorylated histidine intermediate (HIS 246 alpha) which is the residue responsible for dephosphorylation of ATP and another site is suspected to be present in the beta subunit that ensures continued metabolism. It is also suspected that there is a nucleotide binding site at the N-terminal of beta subunit (Harel, 2014). This suggests that there are two active sites which are situated approximately 35A apart and that the HIS 246 alpha loop usually moves between them while catalysis is occurring. There is also GLU 208 alpha on the alpha subunit which interacts with the active HIS 246 residue in both the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated enzyme (Harel, 2014) As indicated above the histidine residue is the one involved in dephosphorylation or phosphorylation of ATP or ADP respectively. It has been proposed that the process involves a cooperative binding catalysis. Thus binding of ATP at one site enhances catalysis at another catalytic site (Schà ¼rmann et al, 2011). Binding of ATP occurs only in the presence of magnesium ion (Mg++) forming a complex which contains two ATP residue plus 2 phosphoric acid residues. If incubation is done this complex is converted to another one with 4 phosphoric acid residues per given protein. The complex with 4 phosphoric acid residues is the only one with the capability to react with succinate and CoA to give Succinyl CoA complex (Harel, 2014). This complex then releases phosphoric residues as many as bound succinate. The transfer of this phosphoric residue from the first active site correlates with the transfer to the second active site supporting the cooperative binding mechanism. These, therefore, mea ns that both ADP and ATP can both be activating or inhibiting depending on which stage of catalysis they bind to the enzyme(Harel, 2014). These, therefore, support the reversibility of the catalysis. After the phosphorylation of the Succinyl-CoA and  subsequent dephosphorylation, it is released and continues along the Krebs cycle as succinate.