Evaluate the application of revenue management practice in the hotel Essay

Evaluate the application of revenue management practice in the hotel industry and discuss its impact on customers in the hotel industry; - Essay Example dification in the general handling of revenue management, inventory allocation, pricing strategy, use of information and channel management as concerns to revenue management tend to redefine the field. Similarly to how detailed past analysis might have a representation of the best pricing practice during the 1990s, apparently, the stock market-impacted algorithms exist in the cutting edge of modern pricing thought. Comparably, the highlighting on occupancy or average day to day rate, which might have dominion over revenue managers’ outlook over two decades ago has led to the dominance of revenue per available room i.e. RevPAR. Instances like this abound hence this article will endeavor to share all of the revenue management expertise with readers, in a series examining the modern revenue management’s best practices (Kimberley, Trevor & Juston 2008, p.12). Pricing tends to a feature of revenue management, which features a number of intriguing, as well as innovative developments recently. Whereas pricing has continues to be a significant driver having an effect on both occupancy, along with RevPAR, in the present environment surrounded by exceptional price transparency, rates have taken an even bigger role. Ascertaining the optimal rate to give to a potential customer tends to be one of the most significant concepts of revenue management. The basic fact that the appropriate rate- one that achieves the balance between replicating enough demand in maximizing occupancy, while at the same time, not deserting money on the table within the form of low down ADR turns out to be the key to a profitable revenue management strategy causing pricing perhaps the most significant concept of revenue management. Then how is a hotel capable of determining what the best rate has to be any time? In the past, this would center on historical analysis, while , at the same time, computed by the application of a discount to a fixed rack rate. In this case, there is no achievement of

Costs and benefits of the EMU

Costs and benefits of the EMU Abstract: This paper contributes to the ongoing debate over European Monetary Union (EMU) including the costs and benefits of joining it. Advocators of EMU stressed that it is essential to create a stronger European Union with greater economic, political and social cohesion, whereas the opponents did not support this stage of the European Unions construction such as the United-Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden, reviewing the merits of a single currency (OCA) and the requirements for a stable currency (Convergence Criteria). (Bernhard Winkler, 1996) Identify and discuss the costs and benefits of joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Introduction According to Franà §ois Mitterrand, â€Å"EMU is seen as a mean to recover some influence over European monetary affairs.† (Franà §ois Mitterrand, 1992)The French left wings president at time wanted the emergence of the European Union against the US dollar which has been widely used as the yardstick measurement for all currencies. In Europe, the existence of different national currencies was considered as the remaining barriers for a barrier-free single market and the influence of the dollar pressed the European Union (EU) to form an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The genesis of the EMU with the initial impulse given by the Werner Report in 1970, then failed in 1973 with the oil crisis and finally relaunched with the Delors Plan in 1989 and the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, was noteffortlessly. The EMU is a type of trade block involving a single market and a common currency. At the European scale, it involves a single European market within its borders and the adoption of the Euro. Economists usually refer to the EMU as an economic trade off between perceived benefits and cost of joining the area (Thomas D. Willett, 2002). There are diverging views on the extent of these costs and benefits, and therefore, especially on the question whether to join the EMU or not. The aim of this paper is to analyse the key issues surrounding the entry in the EMU, and balance positive and negative aspects. The pros and cons regarding the EMU require a careful analysis of the economic benefits and drawbacks at both national and company level. Debate surrounding the EMU There are many benefits that a country will have by entering EMU. Recently, the euro has gained a lot of influence since many European nations have adopted it. Indeed, the benefits of EMU increase and costs decrease as the level of integration intensifies. (Krugman, 1990)The growing importance of the euro in international trades and the increasing trade activities which result from adopting the currency clearly shows that benefits will outweigh costs. For a country international trades are fundamental in order to have a stronger economy. Therefore, the â€Å"antis-EMU† advocate that the process will submerge the individuality of the European nations in an â€Å"unwieldy federation, hobbled by bureaucracy, commanding little popular support and imposing a crippling burden of regulatory and other costs on Europes economies† (David Currie, 1997, pp.14) They believe that an organized Europe will have a negative impact for most member states as it will also â€Å"reduce the volume of trade and would certainly increase the level of unemployment† (Martin Feldstein, February 20, 2008). In order to join the EMU, a country must correspond to the Maastricht Convergence Criteria: price stability, sustainable public finances, exchange rate stability and durable convergence. The term â€Å"convergence† refers to the process of unifying technological and non-rival domains, preparing late countries in terms of structure and institutions to match with those at the forefront. One of the first obvious benefits is that the implementation of those criteria represents a factor of macroeconomic stabilisation and sustainable economic growth for both EMU countries and future members. However, the convergence requirements are also a clear example of conflict because they are considered as lacking economic rationale and imposing unnecessary pain. Many economists have attacked the convergence criteria, responsible of provoking instability and serving no other purpose except to delay. (De Grauwe, 1993) The convergence criteria and EMU itself seek to guard against â€Å"unsustai nable budgetary policies in a member state† because these are seen to lead to either â€Å"default or debt monetisation† which would â€Å"be a major threat to the overall monetary stability† (European Economy, 1990:100) Furthermore, the convergence criteria make clear that fiscal discipline is defined as the avoidance of an unsustainable build-up of public debt (Emerson, 1992, pp.107) and the transition to EMU for a country will amplify the domestic effectiveness of national fiscal policy for stabilisation purposes. (Emerson, 1992, pp.115) Benefits and costs of joining the EMU Our aim is to understand the incentives of the players in the EMU, and a natural starting point is to assess economic costs and benefits of a single currency for a country like France as an example. More or less, there are microeconomic benefits versus macroeconomic costs. a) Transaction costs and stable environment One of the most obvious benefits is the resulting ease of transactions across the European Union. Countries are using one currency and as a matter of fact, the elimination of exchange rate fluctuation helped to eliminate transaction costs in intra-EU trade. Firms and business are both saving time and money. For example, an estimated $30 billion[1] a year is spent on foreign exchange transactions. The transactions involve the change from one currency to another but also from accounting systems. Additionally, joining the EMU eliminates the possibility of exchange-rate variation with the EMU zone. If exchange rates move irregularly and unsystematically in response to arbitrary speculation, exchange volatility imposes a macroeconomic cost (David Currie, 1997). Thus, its elimination represents a real advantage as it provides a more stable environment for trade within the euro zone by lowering risks and uncertainties as the economy is more flexible and resources more mobile. b) Monetary policy and the European Central Bank Despite affecting a fundamental aspect of a countrys sovereignty, member-states must abandon monetary policy. Additionally, members are deprived from revenue of seigniorage which is the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency. This loss mainly affects high-inflation rate countries such as Greece or Spain for example. Monetary policy is not anymore at the national level but depends on a supranational authority, the European Central Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Established in 1998, the ECB is responsible for monetary policy covering the sixteen member States of the Euro zone. Granting monetary control to the ECB means that National governments are giving monetary policy instrument such as regulating exchange rate and interest rate, and this is likely to involve a cost. This cost will occur during recession or inflationary boom, when a country will be unable to raise or lower interest rates independently of other countries within the EMU. c) Fiscal power of member-states Joining EMU severely limits the fiscal power of member-states. While they maintain formal responsibility for fiscal policy, member-states will have to show fiscal rectitude to avoid penalty. Convergence criteria require countries to reduce their debt which produced a ‘squeeze effect (Gà ¤rtner, 1997) for countries with loose fiscal policy. Indeed, fiscal policy remains the only macro-economic tool that is available to governments. At the same time, the union has the power of coordination and surveillance, and the ability to recommend modifications of fiscal policy and to apply sanctions against governments that have no taken the recommended steps. d) A single currency and its effect on public support As we already mentioned earlier, a member-state joining the EMU will have to adopt a common currency: the euro. Despite the fact that the adoption of the euro will clearly affect the countrys sovereignty, some people ‘feel closer to other countries (European Commission, 2002) which can bring Europeans together and build a notion of European identity. Therefore, the adoption of a common currency can result in undermining a nations identity. Currencies such as the â€Å"Francs† or the â€Å"Deutsch Mark† have symbolized economic prosperity, especially due to the fact that people trusted them. Moreover, the â€Å"Franc† was the French national currency since 1795 and has remained for two hundred and four years. The Deutsch Mark had the reputation as one of the worlds most stable currencies. For a country like France or Germany, the change of their currencies was a memorable step. Moreover, an obvious economic consequence is the impact on the purchasing power. For example, in France the switch from â€Å"Francs† to the â€Å"Euros† had a major effect on the French purchasing power. Twenty euro is the equivalent of approximately a 120Francs and this was perceived as a large amount of money in terms of purchasing power before the introduction of the new currency. While the adoption of the euro was meant to bring stability over the long-term, a study has been conducted showing that price rises were evident in the service sector such as restaurants, cafà ©s, hairdressers and recreational and sporting services. (Eurostat, 2003) Nevertheless, French consumers have noticed a change in the cost of living. Additionally, adopting a new currency is not always the easiest thing to do. e) Effects on firms and businesses Another benefit is the increase in attractive opportunities for foreign investors and these effects are unevenly spread across firms and businesses. Thus, larger firms will benefit more from EMU. For example, strong domestic enterprises will benefit from a greater degree of internationalisation of their markets. It will be especially helpful to small and medium sized enterprises which may not be able to reap sizeable economies of scale. Nevertheless, firms and businesses will be the first to experience the negative effects from joining the EMU. For example, travel agents and banks that are losing commission on currency exchanges and European currency traders will no longer be able to exert this business. Moreover, the single currency may lead to the â€Å"Europeanising† (Brown, B.2004, pp. 57-60.) of labour markets within the EMU zone. Consequently, it would be much easier to compare wages across the zone, especially in sectors where trade unions wield bargaining power. This w ill lead to an increase of wages and could engender major problem to companies outsourcing in low wages countries such as in Eastern Europe. The single currency will remove just the elements of labour-market flexibility. f) Price transparency and price convergence Nevertheless, joining the EMU will foster competition as there is greater price transparency across countries. Indeed, a single currency makes easier to show how prices differ between countries. It has been found that â€Å"the prices of goods differ considerably in different countries and continents due to the differences in currency.† (McCallum, 1995, pp24-25) As an example, before EMU, a customer living in France was able to buy a high value-added car cheaper when going in Germany. Hence, this leads to lower prices in the short to medium run because consumers can buy from the cheapest source and thus, drive prices down as companies are running under pressure. Indeed, â€Å"The formation of the euro zone and the SM of almost 300 million consumers will inevitably sharpen competitive pressures throughout Europe†. (Spanos et Al., Greek, pp.638) The subsequent enhancement of competition will increase economic efficiency and should cause price convergence. (Spanos et Al., Greek, pp.639) Consequently, the EMU provides information to its members and thus, enables them to make wiser decisions. g) â€Å"One fit all† policy problem: Moreover, other problems of joining the European Economic and Monetary Union will occur in the medium to long term. Indeed, the concern is that whether the states are sufficiently similar for them to co-exist with a common currency. For example, not all states are at the same stage of the trade cycle which represents a periodic fluctuation in the rate of economic activity as measured by levels of prices, production and employment. As an example, the UK is the worlds fourth largest economy and the second largest in the EU. The City of London represents Europes major European financial centre. The case of the UK has specific arguments: the UK has a lower level of intra-EU trade, one of the highest percentages of home owners and is affected differently by oil price movements due to different arrangements. It is then weaker and more vulnerable to external shocks which are unexpected shocks that do not affect every nation equally. (D. Johnson, C. Turner, 2nd edition, p180-183) Hence, if t he UK joins the euro, they will have to increase their exchange risks because the euro is turning around the dollar. The pound for example is neutral compared to the dollar and the euro. Consequently, the inappropriateness of one monetary policy for so many states is a major cost of joining the EMU. The case against the UKs entry in EMU depends also on other factors such as the recession the country is undergoing and the influence of the United-States. Benefits outweigh the costs? The case of Greece is a good example to show how benefits can outweigh the costs. Indeed, Greece has recently entered the EMU and thus, represents a good example for a number of candidates. Hence, it is an example of an economy in transition that has made a lot of progress in order to fulfil the macroeconomic convergence. A study of Greek firms has been conducted by Spanos (Business strategy analyst at Athens University) which helps to understand how firms react when entering the EMU and found that leading Greek firms â€Å"appear fully aware of the dramatic changes they will have to address in the near futureIn line with recent empirical evidence, the findings presented here are encouraging in that they suggest a strong learning effect that has presumably led Greek management towards convergence.† (Spanos et Al, pp.646) We understand that both EU membership and the panorama of competing in the EMU have acted as major catalysts. In short, the EMU has contributed toward the dev elopment of western-type of management style. Additionally, Greek firms have new challenges to overcome and this requires new competitive strategies, organizational structures, and management processes. Consequently, Greek firms strategy has shifted toward offer better quality products and services, and a tighter cost control. Trade theories are examples of why benefits outweigh costs. (Aiginger, K. et al, 1999, pp.3) The traditional theory was described by Ricardo in 1817; a country can achieve a â€Å"comparative advantage† resulting from differences in productivity or endowments between countries and regions. Consequently, trade liberalization and economic integration will result in production re-location and increasing specialization according to comparative advantages. Additionally, Mundell (1961) McKinnon (1963) and Kenen (1969) identified the reasons why a country should or should not enter a monetary union. If for every member-state benefits outweigh costs then the currency area is optimal. An â€Å"optimum currency area† (OCA) considers the premise that â€Å"when an external shock hits the economy, it is easier to adjust the exchange rate rather than domestic prices or wages.† (A. Belke and D. Gros, (1997). pp. 3/50) Indeed, this approach assesses what a country loses by giving up the exchange rate as an adjustment instrument. Conclusions To conclude, according to Martin Feldstein, EMU is seen by France as an opportunity to be a â€Å"co-manager† of Europe as an equal of Germany. Furthermore, it has been assumed that economic integration among the European countries will lead to convergence while reducing asymmetric shocks. However, classical theories assess that integration results in more specialization due to comparative advantage. Hence, core economies (France and Germany) may benefit at the expense of less efficient economies such as Eastern member-states. Furthermore, with a Single Market, firms will have to expand in size in order to compete. Such large firms are mostly located in core economies of the EU. However, Greece case study showed that EMU has contributed to the development of firms by offering higher quality products and services. We can then conclude that if a country joins EMU, benefits will clearly outweigh costs. References: Aiginger, K. et al. ‘Specialisation and (geographic) concentration of European Manufacturing, Enterprise DG Working Paper No 1, Background Paper for the ‘The Competitiveness of European industry: 1999 Report, Brussels. Ardy, B., Begg, I., Hodson, D., Mahe, I. and Mayes, D. (Eds) (2005) Adjustment to EMU: One Europe or Several? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Backà ©, P., Thimann, C., Arratibel, O., Calvo-Gonzalez, O., Mehl A. and Nehrlich, C. (2004) ‘The Acceding Countries Strategies towards ERM II and the Adoption of the Euro: An Analytical Review, ECB Occasional Paper Series, n °10. Frankfurt: European Central Bankn http://www.ecb.int/pub/ Brown, B. (2004) ‘Existing EMU, the International Economy, 18 (2), pp. 57-60. C. Allsopp M. Artis, â€Å"The Assessment: EMU, Four Years On,† Oxford Review of Economic Policy 19 Cambridge University Press, Bernhard Winkler. â€Å"Towards a Strategic View on EMU: A Critical Survey.† Towards a Strategic View on EMU: A Critical Survey Jan.-Apr 16.1 (1996): 1-26. Print. Commission of the European Communities (2004) ‘EMU after Five Years, European Economy, Special Report, and Number 1/2004, http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2004/eesp104en.pdf Chang, M. 2009. Monetary integration in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. David Currie, The Pros and Cons of EMU by, the economist intelligence Unit, January 20, 1997 De Grauwe, P. (2002) ‘Challenges for Monetary Policy in Euroland, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40 (4), pp. 693-718 Dinan, D. 2005. Ever closer union: an introduction to European integration (3rd ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Chapter 15 European Central Bank (2008) Statistical data Warehouse, http://www.ecb.int/stats/prices/hicp/html Gà ¤rtner, M. (1997) ‘Who wants the euro-and why? Economic explanations of public attitudes towards a single European currency, Public Choice 93 (3-4): 487-510 Greek Firms and EMU: Contrasting SMEs and Large-Sized Enterprises, Spanos et al. 2001, European Management Journal, Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 638-648. (Available electronically) Johnson and Turner, 2006, Economic and Monetary Union Chapter 15 Dinan, 2005, Economic and Monetary Union Dr Rachel Doern, Royal Holloway University of London, Lecture n °5: Economic and Monetary Union, 2009 Panos.C. Afxientiou (1998), Convergence, the Maastricht Criteria, and Their Benefits, Philip R.Lane. â€Å"The Real Effects of European Monetary Union.† The Real Effects of European Monetary Union 20.4 (fall, 2006): 47-66. Print. Susan A. Banducci, Jeffrey A.Karp and Peter H.Loedel. â€Å"Journal of European Public Policy.† Economic interests and public support for the euro(June 2009): 564-81. Print. Thomas D. Willett.Some Political Economy Aspects of EMU. Elsevier Science Inc, 2000. Print. Kathryn M.E. Dominguez, The Journal of Economic Perspectives â€Å"The European Central Bank, the Euro, and Global Financial Markets.† The European Central Bank, the Euro, and Global Financial Markets Fall 20.4 (2006): 67-88. Print. Werner Bonefeld, Economic and Political Weekly. â€Å"Politics of European Monetary Union: Class, Ideology and Critique.† Politics of European Monetary Union: Class, Ideology and Critique 33.35 (1998): 55-69. Print. http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/eu/Pages/emu8.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmpubacc/541/54107.htm

Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - Marriage in The Wife of Baths Pro

Marriage in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale The disparity in the outcomes of the hag's marriage and Alison's marriages in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" depends in part on the women's differing expectations of their husbands. The hag's modus agendi depends on a knight's obligation to honour his pledge, whereas Alison's modus operandi depends on her husbands' conduct after marriage, i.e. on her circumstances. Having saved the knight's life, the hag asks the knight to permit her to be his wife. Moreover, she wants to be his love. The knight must marry, since marrying the hag lies within his might. Since the hag's definition of being his wife includes her loving him, he is duty-bound to tolerate the hag's love. Her love for him requires he show compassion to her. Perforce of her line of reasoning of the advantages of being married to her, he accepts her sovereignty to have her will. The chains of her enchantment broken, the hag turns beautiful in the knight's eyes. He falls in love with her, and she rea lizes the right to rule in he...

Personal Philosophy of Teaching Essay

â€Å"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.† – Chinese Proverb I came across this quote back in secondary school when I was bringing the books to my Chinese teacher’s desk. Never would I have thought it would relate to me so closely. As an early childhood educator, our aim is to provide quality education and care to the preschoolers in our care. Children are the future of our country, therefore comes the importance of education. I believe that children are born a â€Å"blank slate† (Locke, 1704) , and they behave like sponges, therefore they will retain and retrieve as much information that are passed to them. There is a pre set standard that is set for each educator for each level, but beyond that , my main goal as an educator is to provide an environment for constant learning and discovery for both the children and myself. Through instilling a love of learning in every student, i hope to ignite their love for learning both in and beyond the classrooms. Building relationships is the first step to everything. Not only can I gain the trust of the children, but the parents as well. When I gain the trust of the child and the parents, not only will it allows me insights of their family environment and beliefs, it also opens a window of conversation with the child. I can get to know more about the child’s hobbies, likes and dislikes and learning styles. This would allow me to approach the child in a more appropriate manner or revise the curriculum to cater to his/her needs. When a child is comfortable in the classroom because they know that they are in safe hands, they would in turn open up more and share more ideas. This also makes the child feel respected. Parental involvement is an important aspect building relationships. Having an idea of what are the parents expectations and addressing a clear stand of my expectations of the children, yet being open to their thoughts and feedbacks would be crucial especially to a new teacher like me. Also, updates, newsletters and calls help the parents to have an idea of the child’s performance in school, and these are usually doubles as record of  the development of the child. Literacy and language are skills that I feel are essential to everyone. The ability to achieve the different levels of reading and writing not only helps indicates the child’s developmental milestone, but also contributes to the child’s social skill. Social skills are life skills that the children take with them out of the classrooms and into society. Experimental learning is another vital life skills that I believe all children should possess. Therefore I strive to make all the learning in my classrooms as relatable to real life as possible. The authentic learning allows the children to have hands on experience with the subjects as they grow and learn to engage themselves in the real world. Being able to make connections by linking the things they learn in the class to the society is important, but making the classroom a conducive place for their classmates is too. Such social and emotional skills are difficult to impart as they are rarely textbook based but rather being felt, therefore cooperative play is highly encouraged in the classroom as well. Meaningful learning experiences cannot happen without a properly equipped classroom. Excellent classroom managements like the inclusion of routines, procedures and also the use of positive reinforcements not only help to maintain order in the classrooms but allow children to feel safe and valued. Indeed, teaching a man to fish an last him for a life time. Likewise, instilling the love of learning within the children will inspire them to continue the lifelong pursuit of wisdom and knowledge even after the educational process has been completed. Though these beliefs are the essence of my philosophy as an early childhood educator, but to cater to the constant change and ever-evolving of the needs of society, the philosophies are reviewed from time to time to help better evaluate personal progress and achieve goals. References Mouner. M (2013) http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2279.html Burns,M.S, Johnson R,T & Assaf M,M (2011) Preschool education in today’s world: teaching children with diverse backgrounds and abilities(USA, Baltimore) Meggitt, C (2012) Teach Yourself , Understanding Child Development (London) Feeney, S, Christensen,D & Moravcik, E (2006) 7th Edition – Who am I in the lives of children: An introduction to early childhood education.(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey) Pearson Education Inc. Ministry of Education (2012) Nurturing early learners, A curriculum framework for kindergartens in Singapore.(Singapore, Singpore) Asian International College (2011) Principles and practices in early childhood care and education : ECE 101 The Gale Groups (2008) Encyclopaedia of children and childhood in history and society: John Locke ( http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ke-Me/Locke-John-1632-1704.html)

Psychology and Yellow Bile Essay

1.Jack is a second-grade student. He seems to have no interest in learning, often daydreaming in class and frequently disrupting the class by throwing objects at other students. Describe how a biopsychosocial approach might provide both an integrated explanation of Jack’s classroom behavior and practical suggestions for helping Jack to cope more effectively with the challenges he faces. Jack is in second grade and is having a hard time behaving in school. Such as not paying attention and disrupting the class. Those two factors seem to play into integrated biopsychosocial. Biopsychosocial has three different elements to it: biological, psychological, and social-cultural. These three things can provide three different ways and reasons of why Jack is acting the way he is in class. An example of biological would be ADHD or ADD, which could be helped by a doctor prescribing him a medication. Psychological could have a lot to do with his acting out in class. He probably has the feeling he needs to fit in and find his group of friends. Psychological problems could be helped in many ways, but one that would really help Jack is possibly seeing a school Counselor. Last but not least, that deals with Jacks behavior is the social culture. This could also have something to do with his friends. His friends could be giving the impression they like him more or will be his friend if they act out. Once the staff and parents look into these three different elements and make changes, Jack will be on the right track again. 2.List and define the principal ways psychologists observe and describe behavior. When psychologists observe and describe behavior, they do it in a systematically, or showing many different methods. A few different methods are case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation. Case studies are the oldest research method and studies one person in hoping to find the truth of ones problems. A survey though looks in a different angle than the case study. A survey asks many questions which go into detail about one’s behavior. The survey will also hopefully let them figure something out about themselves. The last method of how psychologists observe and describe behavior is naturalistic observations. Psychologists use this in natural environments and can provide research and answer questions. Naturalistic observations do not explain behavior but describes it, according to our book. 3.The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates believed that four basic body fluids (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm) influenced human behavior, emotions, and personality. Use your understanding of the body’s rapid and slow chemical communication systems to support or refute the general logic of Hippocrates’ theory. The ancient Green physician Hippocartes believed blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm, played a major role in human behavior, emotions, and personality. I don’t think blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm, have to do with anything controlling your human behavior, emotions, and personality. I believe your mood and what you are exactly going through that day make up why your human behavior, emotions, and personality are the way they are. Another reason why I don’t fully believe Hippocartes beliefs are because he had no actual proof of his reasoning. 4.Describe how an understanding of both a normally functioning brain and a split brain enables us to better appreciate the fact that most information processing takes place outside of conscious awareness. To fully understand the functioning of the brain and a split brain, we must first realize that most of our information we take in and store in our brain does take place without us realizing it. The split brain shows that both sides of the brain do not work together which gets in the way of putting information together. The normal brain does work together and does put information together. Whether it’s a normal brain or split brain, we are able to see the amazing things the brain does and how it works.

Legal Action Essay

Legal Action Essay Legal Action Essay Full Question: After importing some USB devices from China for a client I found the items were not working and not the memory capacity they claimed they were. In other words, my client is upset and wants their money back and I would like to know if there is some organization or establishment in Canada or China that can assist me in retrieving my money? Answer: Your problem rests in the cost of taking this matter to a local jurisdictional court and then collecting on any judgment you could earn and it would cost an arm and a leg to enforce this. I will not provide any legal advice but will try and give you some insight – Say so long to your money – which you should simply assume. You should Immediately contact the commercial section at the Chinese consulate located nearest you and bombard them endlessly with letters and emails every couple of weeks. Stay on top of them and make sure they realize you have lost profit, your costs and integrity. Now come up with an amount. [you are permitted to file a claim for profit loss and as well as potential profits]. You should ask for this number. State in no uncertain terms that you are going to be black listing this exporter globally inside of twenty one days. [black listed by FTN exporting and bigger corporations functioning internationally – we are quite visible in China also] Your assistance can be found though the consulate and the consumer affairs office in the nation where it originated that should take charge of

Free Essays on Mapp Vs. Ohio

MAPP vs. OHIO Dollree Mapp was convicted of having had in her possession, books, pictures, and photographs of pornographic material in violation of 2905.34 of Ohio’s Revised Code. The conviction was valid though, â€Å"based primarily upon the introduction in evidence of lewd and lascivious books and pictures unlawfully seized during an unlawful search of defendants home.† (caselaw) â€Å"On May 23, 1957, three police officers arrived at Miss Mapp’s residence in that city pursuant to information that a person was hiding out in the home, who was wanted for questioning in connection with a recent bombing, and that there was a large amount of policy paraphernalia being hidden in the home.† (caselaw) The officers arrived at the home and demanded entrance, but Miss Mapp refused to let them in without a search warrant. The officers then took surveillance of the house until four more officers arrived at the scene four hours later. The officers then entered threw at least one of the many doors to the house forcibly. Miss Mapp had been on her way to the door when they busted threw and she then asked to see the search warrant. One of the officers showed Miss Mapp a piece of paper that was claimed to be a warrant. Miss Mapp then grabbed the piece of paper and stuffed it down her shirt. One of the officers then grabbed her arm forcibly and retrieved the paper and placed Miss Mapp under arrest while the officers search through all of her belongings. â€Å"At trial no search warrant was produced by the prosecution, nor was the failure to produce one explained or accounted for.† (caselaw) The Ohio Supreme Court believed a â€Å"reasonable argument† could be made based on the methods of employment to obtain the evidence was justified and wasn’t unconstitutional, but the Courts explained. â€Å"The Fourth Amendment†¦put the courts of the United States and Federal officials, in the exercise of their power and authority, under limitations and res... Free Essays on Mapp Vs. Ohio Free Essays on Mapp Vs. Ohio MAPP vs. OHIO Dollree Mapp was convicted of having had in her possession, books, pictures, and photographs of pornographic material in violation of 2905.34 of Ohio’s Revised Code. The conviction was valid though, â€Å"based primarily upon the introduction in evidence of lewd and lascivious books and pictures unlawfully seized during an unlawful search of defendants home.† (caselaw) â€Å"On May 23, 1957, three police officers arrived at Miss Mapp’s residence in that city pursuant to information that a person was hiding out in the home, who was wanted for questioning in connection with a recent bombing, and that there was a large amount of policy paraphernalia being hidden in the home.† (caselaw) The officers arrived at the home and demanded entrance, but Miss Mapp refused to let them in without a search warrant. The officers then took surveillance of the house until four more officers arrived at the scene four hours later. The officers then entered threw at least one of the many doors to the house forcibly. Miss Mapp had been on her way to the door when they busted threw and she then asked to see the search warrant. One of the officers showed Miss Mapp a piece of paper that was claimed to be a warrant. Miss Mapp then grabbed the piece of paper and stuffed it down her shirt. One of the officers then grabbed her arm forcibly and retrieved the paper and placed Miss Mapp under arrest while the officers search through all of her belongings. â€Å"At trial no search warrant was produced by the prosecution, nor was the failure to produce one explained or accounted for.† (caselaw) The Ohio Supreme Court believed a â€Å"reasonable argument† could be made based on the methods of employment to obtain the evidence was justified and wasn’t unconstitutional, but the Courts explained. â€Å"The Fourth Amendment†¦put the courts of the United States and Federal officials, in the exercise of their power and authority, under limitations and res...

7 Essential Excel Tricks Everyone Needs to Know [Infographic]

7 Essential Excel Tricks Everyone Needs to Know [Infographic] Excel is an incredibly valuable tool. If used properly, excel can make you incredibly productive. Here are 7 excel tricks that you can use in order to be more productive in your every day life. Source: [CreativeCommons]

Harold Rosenberg Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Harold Rosenberg - Essay Example The paper "Harold Rosenberg" discovers the works and art of Harold Rosenberg. He saw art as a laboratory where experiments were carried out on trial and error basis. He saw expressionism as a major rupture within the history of modern art, describing what was to go on the canvas as an event rather than a picture, and captured a moment or rather stayed on as a record of the moment. Even though he claimed that the New York school Paris had taken over art, his writing was still influenced by the existentialist philosophy. Clement Greenberg’s views closely shaped the works of many artists in his time. He focused his attention to the formal properties of art such as color, line and space having a rigorous approach to criticism. He introduced many ideas into the discussion in the 20th century, explaining notions such as ‘kitsch’ and pictorial ‘flatness’ and inventing concepts such as the optical space. He believed in the necessity in abstract art as a means in resisting the intrusion of politics and commerce into art. Even though he championed what had most often been regarded as avant-garde art, he saw modern art as an unfolding tradition and thereby ended up attacking many others against those values that he held dear, including Rosenberg. Greenberg, believed that adopting to modern art, is like adapting to any other change, and those who do not change, they end up being misplaced in the society because people have to move with the current trends in the world as noted by Kocur and Simon.

Chinese foot bingdings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chinese foot bingdings - Essay Example The Manchu Sovereign Kangxi attempted to boycott foot binding in 1664 however failed. In the 1800s (nineteenth century), Chinese reformers tested the practice yet it was not until the early twentieth century that foot is tying started to vanish, somewhat from changing social conditions and mostly as a consequence of against foot tying campaigns. Foot-tying brought about long lasting incapacities for the greater part of its subjects, and some elderly Chinese ladies still survive today with handicaps identified with their bound feet. The mincing steps. The affecting hips. The little nubbins at the closures of ladies legs painstakingly tucked into smaller than normal, fancy shoes. For 1,000 years, minor, bended feet were viewed as a definitive standard of ladylike magnificence in China, heading about 3 billion Chinese ladies to tie their feet throughout this time, regardless of the way that foot tying was a long, greatly frightful process that brought about seriously disfigured feet forever (Ross 2013). A few stories exist regarding how the practice began, however, the most prominent and sound says it started with Ruler Li Yu, who ruled throughout the Southern Tang administration (937-975 A.D.). In 970, the sovereign allegedly saw his most loved associate moving on a brilliant lotus platform and was spellbound by her feet, which she had wrapped in pieces of material - much like those of a dance artist moving on Pointe - so her moving showed up more lovely. Seeing the heads pleasure, other court ladies correspondingly wrapped their feet. Before, long privileged ladies received the design, and in the end it spread to all ladies, regardless of their societal position. Just a couple of locales opposed, in the same way as the Manchu and the individuals who hailed from Guangdong in southern China (Holman, Ross 2013). Shockingly, as the custom took hold it

Generic relating to the issue of risk and social work Essay

Generic relating to the issue of risk and social work - Essay Example Risk in the current setting, according to Culpitt is no longer a random matter but is much wider, and it covers matters like terrorism, global warming, and pollution among other national issues. This article will be seeking to look at how risk and social work interact for social workers working with older people. Many-a-times, the old members of the society are neglected by their family as well as the society in general. Due to the fact that they are not highly productive, most family members out of lack of financial capacity will tend to abandon their older family members. At the same time, some of these people may have outlived all their family members and are, therefore, alone in every sense of the world. As a result, some of them end up suffering due to the fact that they cannot take care of themselves and, therefore, death is not uncommon for most of them. When working with older people, the social worker has to surmount a number of challenges that come along their way. They have to; for example, look at the health insurance of the person to know what the person can afford in terms of health coverage. According to Mythen and Walklate (2006), the society has moved from the early modernity where the industrial process shaped lifestyles of people. This has moved on to a modernity in which dangers and hazards have permeated into the society due to the effects of urbanization, globalization and industrialization. This means that the older generations have had to be left behind by their family members because of the lean times that have come to characterise the world. At the same time, other effects like those of the coming up of urban centres has meant that the people who are old are left in the rural areas where they are alone. This is because people who have the capacity to look after them are in the urban centres looking for work. According to Beck and

An American Drama Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An American Drama - Movie Review Example This paper declares that  the movie starts immediately after a car accident had taken place. Detective Waters, a man of African American descent, had been in the area to inspect a crime scene in the same location of the accident he had just been involved in. When Waters goes to look at the crime scene, what he sees is not seen by the audience.  This study outlines that when Ryan and his partner, Hansen, leave the diner to begin their shift, they pull over a vehicle because they believed that the couple inside were engaged in sexual activities while driving. The black couple in the car, Cameron and Christine, obey the orders of the officers and leave the vehicle to be questioned. Christine, who had been drinking, is frisked by Ryan, though he involves himself more than he needed to, sexually molesting her. After his finishes with his groping, he lets the couple leave.  Another montage begins again, focusing on Christine’s anger at Cameron for not helping her when the poli ce officer was touching her. Daniel is shown putting his daughter to bed after she became scared when she heard a gun shot. Anthony and Peter, in the car they had stolen, accidentally runs over one of the Asian men from the diner, who they drop off at a hospital. Hansen, fed up with Ryan’s racism and behavior, tries to get a new partner. After this montage, others scenes are shown that display each character going through more problems involving racism, with the characters going against each other simply because of the color of their skin.

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or Annotated Bibliography

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or not - Annotated Bibliography Example The system of mechanization is in fact changing the tectonic sects of education particularly in college and also bringing various changes in thinking and interpretation of issues, which is completely different than the previous times. Clare, S. (2013) University Libraries are Shaping the Future of Learning and Research, The Guardian,retrieved on January 23, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/aug/06/university-libraries-learning-shapes-design In this piece of writing, Clare has hinted at the moribund state of libraries in various universities. According to Diane Job, the Director of Library Services, a library is one of the most important places of growth and progress as far as an educational institution is concerned. As a matter of fact, it is a place of discussion and exchange of culture and religion and a hub in which some of the most significant ideas come up for the first time that goes on to become history later. Thus, it can be said that a college is not only a place for attaining higher education, but an institution that shapes the future life of an individual to a great extent. However, such ideals are on the verge of death and the feeling of being together in an educational institution has become nonexistent. Nevertheless, the hope for better never dies and the old tradition certainly prepare the students for a better life. The authors Clawson and Page certify that higher education is important for individual achievements and also to ensure economic development of a nation. However higher education in USA is undergoing a period of crisis while public funding is falling freely, tuition fees have increased drastically and hence colleges and universities are less inaccessible. The book anlayzes the crisis in higher education and describes the manner in which a strong neo-liberal

Cultural Competence in Social Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Cultural Competence in Social Work - Essay Example It is apparent that acquiring cultural competence causes the ability to communicate, understand, and interact effectively with individuals across cultures. Furthermore, a culturally competent person must value prevalent diversity in culture, and portray actions or attitudes that accept as well as promote different cultures. The individual should respond effectively and respectively to people of all races, sexual orientations, cultures, ethnic background, religions or faiths, and classes. Health and human services profession requires a practitioner to recognize, value, and affirm the worth of tribes, individuals, families as well as community. The practitioner also has a responsibility to preserve and protect the dignity of all people in the community. Standards for cultural competence Health and human services work has several cultural competence standards that govern the practice. The National Association of Social Worker (NASW) has stipulated several standards or norms for cultural competence. One of the standards is ethics and values that states that social work professionals should function in conformity to profession’s standards, ethics, and values. In addition, they must recognize ways in which professional and personal values may accommodate or conflict with requirements of diverse clients. Health and human services work has several cultural competence standards that govern the practice. The National Association of Social Worker (NASW) has stipulated several standards or norms for cultural competence.  ... cerning traditions, history, artistic expressions, family systems, and values of individuals that they serve (National Association of Social Workers, 2001). Acquirement of cultural competence skills Cultural competency in health and human services necessitates the acquirement of cross-cultural skills. In this sense, social work professionals should be equipped with suitable approaches, techniques as well as skills that reflect an understanding of importance and influence of culture in the provision of health and human services. In service delivery, social workers should not only be skillful in and well informed about various available services, but should also be in a position to make suitable referrals for their clientele. They should identify and avoid discrimination of clients from service opportunities because of their diversity. Social work professionals should endeavor to provide services that aptly match clients’ culturally unique needs. Besides, they should promote pro cedures and policies that guarantee access to care or services, which incorporates different cultural beliefs and practices (Doman, 2010). Social workers must acquire various critical elements that enhance their ability to be more culturally competent. These elements include  valuing diversity;  being cognizant of various dynamics associated with interaction of cultures;  having the capability to undertake cultural self-assessment;  attaining profound cultural knowledge; and  developing versions of service delivery revealing awareness as well as compliance with cultural diversity.  Social work practitioners should be proficient in these elements and manifested them in their professional as well as social interaction. Furthermore, these elements ought to be incorporated in policies, attitudes, as

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or Annotated Bibliography

Discipline-- whether college education is important for future life or not - Annotated Bibliography Example The system of mechanization is in fact changing the tectonic sects of education particularly in college and also bringing various changes in thinking and interpretation of issues, which is completely different than the previous times. Clare, S. (2013) University Libraries are Shaping the Future of Learning and Research, The Guardian,retrieved on January 23, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/aug/06/university-libraries-learning-shapes-design In this piece of writing, Clare has hinted at the moribund state of libraries in various universities. According to Diane Job, the Director of Library Services, a library is one of the most important places of growth and progress as far as an educational institution is concerned. As a matter of fact, it is a place of discussion and exchange of culture and religion and a hub in which some of the most significant ideas come up for the first time that goes on to become history later. Thus, it can be said that a college is not only a place for attaining higher education, but an institution that shapes the future life of an individual to a great extent. However, such ideals are on the verge of death and the feeling of being together in an educational institution has become nonexistent. Nevertheless, the hope for better never dies and the old tradition certainly prepare the students for a better life. The authors Clawson and Page certify that higher education is important for individual achievements and also to ensure economic development of a nation. However higher education in USA is undergoing a period of crisis while public funding is falling freely, tuition fees have increased drastically and hence colleges and universities are less inaccessible. The book anlayzes the crisis in higher education and describes the manner in which a strong neo-liberal

Globalization Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Globalization - Term Paper Example assumption that globalization entails economic integration, exchange of knowledge, as well as interdependence of political and legislative decisions of world countries. Among the latest definitions of globalization is that of Al-Rodhan, who concludes that â€Å"globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities† (Al-Rodhan 5). Therefore, it can be said that globalization is the process which makes integration and communication between countries, nations, businesses and individuals easier and less dependent on political or territorial constraints. This means that state boundaries or long distances play a less important role in communication and cooperation of nations. As countries become more integrated, they become more interconnected and interdependent in many aspects of their operations. Technological developments in transportation and communication have made it pos sible for world countries and people to become closer. The Internet, in its turn, has sped up and intensified the process. Availability and relative cheapness of Internet access around the world has diluted the states’ boundaries having allowed more people and businesses to work internationally. This has made different types of globalizations become more distinct and powerful. Among the major types of globalization are economic (financial), socio-cultural, and political (Dreher, Gaston, and Martens 2). Economic and financial types of globalization are among the most discussed ones because they are related to interdependence of world economies, increased flows of international capital and cross-border trade of goods and services (Shangquan 1). Technological advancements in transportation and... The intention of this study is globalization as a very complex process that touches all the spheres of people’s lives. Consequently, just like the majority of internal processes of each country, globalization evokes both positive and negative consequences. On a positive side are, definitely, the spread of technologies, free trade, and an increase in exchange of commodities between the countries. Globalization brings economic and financial development to less developed countries, and new business opportunities to the whole world society. Still, it cannot be said that globalization can be made to work for all, because advantages in some aspects bring disadvantages in others. For example, the spread of communication and Internet technologies has allowed businesses to outsource jobs from poorer countries to take advantage of the lower wage rates. As a result, home country professionals either lose their jobs or have to work for lower salaries. Similarly, outsourcing of business pr ocesses, while is a great driver for India’s economy, has lead to displacement of some service-sector jobs in developed countries. Globalization diminishes the importance of borders and, supported by the Internet, allows for free movement of information. As a result, it is becoming more and more difficult for governments to control and suppress information they prefer to restrict. The Internet even provides large companies with opportunities to show self-governing behavior.

Imc plan for water

Imc plan for water INDUSTRY PROFILE Bottled waterisdrinking waterpackaged inplasticbottle. The dominant form in which water is packaged is newPolyethylene terephthalatebottlesand sold retail. Another method of packaging is in largerhigh-density polyethyleneplastic bottles, or polycarbonate plastic bottles, often used withwater coolers. Since 2000, sales have increased by 60% and the industry is now worth in excess of  £2bn a year. Drinks consultants are predicting that global consumption of bottled water will soon overtake carbonated beverages and one analyst has taken to calling the sector ‘blue gold. Global sales The global bottled water market valuation grew by 7% in 2006 to reach a value of $60,938.1 million. The volume of bottled water grew by 8.1% in 2006 to 115,393.5 million liters. In 2011, the market is forecast to have a value of $86,421.2 million, an increase of 41.8% since 2006. In 2011, the market is forecast to have a volume of 174,286.6 million liters, an increase of 51% since 2006. The global rate of consumption more than doubled between 1997 and 2005.Purified water is currently the leading global seller, with U.S. companies dominating the field, and natural spring water, purified water and flavored water being the fastest-growing market segments Bottled water in the marketplace The Beverage Marketing Corporation defines the bottled water market segment as â€Å"retail PET, retail bulk, home and office delivery, vending, domestic sparkling and imports† but excluding â€Å"flavored and enhanced water.† Bottled water vs. carbonated beverages Bottled water competes in the marketplace with carbonated beverages sold in individual plastic bottles,and is often considered a healthier substitute. According to the Donkey Recycling Institute, sales of flavored, noncarbonated drinks are expected to surpass soda sales by 2010.In response, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have introduced new carbonated drinks that are fortified with vitamins and minerals, Diet Coke Plus and Tava, marketed as â€Å"sparkling beverages.† Bottled water vs. tap water An officewater coolerwith a reusable 5-gallon bottle In india, bottled water costs between Rs 10 to Rs15 per bottle while tap water costs less negligible..In 1999, according to a NRDC study, U.S. consumers paid between 240 and 10,000 times more per unit volume for bottled water than for tap water. According to Bottledwaterblues.com, about 90% of manufacturers costs is from making the bottle, label, and cap. TheShowtimeseriesPenn Teller: Bullshit!demonstrated, in a 2007 episode, that in a controlled setting, diners could not discern between bottled water and water from a garden hose behind the restaurant. The United Church of Christ, United Church of Canada, National Council of Churches, National Coalition of American Nuns and Presbyterians for Restoring Creation are among some of the religious organizations that have raised questions about whether or not the â€Å"privatization† of water is ethical. They regard the industrial purchase and repackaging at a much higher resale price of a basic resource as an unethical trend. InFinland, the newspaperHelsingin Sanomatonce ran ablind tastingtest containing various brands of bottled water, both Finnish and international, and regular tap water from Helsinki. The majority of the tasters preferred the tap water. Bottled water service It is common for business or individuals person to subscribe to a bottled water service. Instead of selling drinking water in small individual-use bottles, the service supplies it in large, reusable (in the USA, typically 5 US gallons) containers. The containers are installed on a dispenser (or â€Å"cooler†) which chills or heats the water and generally has valves on the front for dispensing. This practice stop the issue of disposing of packaging for individual serves while still providing the same product. Purified water vending machines Without bottles drinking water of brand companies. A number of companies worldwide, among which are a number of North American supermarket chains, havevending machinesthat dispense purified water into customers own containers. This again obviates the costs and environmental issues involved in manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of plastic bottles. Executive Summary Although common objective of all IMC program is increase brand awareness, sale and design a unique image of the product in customers mind. To communicate among public and customers, we will advertise our product campaign on TV, magazine, online. Through the advertisement we want to design the brand image of our product into the customer mind. Besides advertisement, we will also carry out promotional activity such as public relation, direct marketing etc. Various water company also organizes various events in order to communicate properly with customers. The Main purpose of this event was to increase the sale of water. Before designing IMC program the Company carried out market research in order to judge customers behaviors toward their mineral water packaged using. So that appropriate primary data can be collected for designing IMC strategy for â€Å"The boond hub†. Before designing integrated marketing communication program it is necessary to judge consumers behavior toward t he product. It is necessary to known customers liking and disliking, these data provide various support during designing of IMC program. Although there are various media available for communicating but Printads news paper and banner is seen most effective medium in the case of mineral water planning strategy. After Research survey done by various mineral water company, it has been founded that female respondents were more brand conscious than male. There is no particular brand trend in among male, but females are more conscious towards their healths. â€Å"dirty water and fast food culture† are the major attributes considered by customer while buying water.Our water Company Boond which makes flavored mineral water has come up with a new IMC plan for the new flavored mineral water product for the new region. South India and metro where the target market in the segment delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, rest of south. In this report, we will further introduce ourselves and how we got star ted, internal and external situational analysis of our company, and why a new IMC plan is needed. Bisleri is a strong competitor in the water industry and it is focusing on increasing the brand equity and profitability of companies focused on increasing their share in the packaged water market. Our mission is to make sure that our clients have the tools and information that they need to become successful in the footwear market. We have looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the Bisleri Company as well as the opportunities and threats and have included them in this IMC plan. HUNKY Company will use all IMC tools which will be best suited for flowing the message among the targeted people. We feel that Bisleri would profit from making an innovative and customer oriented product that will use by mostly all level of people. Company profile Product name-Boond tm Tag line -â€Å"har boond mein biswas†. MISSION Build branded packaged water business to improve health of life by offering tasty, Affordable and highly mineral rich water to our consumer. While maximizing Stakeholders value. Vision:- To become leading brand in packaged water industry after 10 years from today. Situation analysis:- From being confined to the uppermost echelons of society, packaged water has now become a commonplace commodity and almost a necessity in metros. After witnessing historic growth in recent years, it has become a Rs 3,000-crore industry, one that is slated to only post healthy growth rates to become a Rs 10,000-crore business in just three years, says Mr Sushil Kumar, Marketing Director of Shivsu Canadian Clear Waters Technology Pvt Ltd, a company that has executed more than 3,000 packaged water projects worldwide and over 2,000 in India. Speaking toBusiness Lineon the water industry and the road ahead, he said that the industrys phenomenal growth in recent years can be attributed to rising incidence of water-borne diseases, improper municipal supplies, evol ved health consciousness of people as well as globalisation, which has brought in tremendous tourist inflow. â€Å"The bulk water industry, or water in 12-, 20- and 25-litre packages, has also witnessed a parallel growth of Rs 700-1,000 crore,† he informed. â€Å"Basically, the market can be divided into two segments the retail consumer market where the pack sizes are 500 ml, one litre, 1.2/1.5/2-litre and five-litre, and the household and institutional market, where the pack size is usually are 20- or 25-litre.† He added: â€Å"The total Indian market for small segments, such as 0.5-2 litre stands at 12-15 million cases a year. Bulk water sale of 25-litre bubbletops stands at 16.8 million bottles a month.† Though the industry growth rate is 40-50 per cent a year, India is still behind countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where the industry is already worth Rs 15,000-20,000 crore. â€Å"These countries have much smaller population but similar climatic conditions.† Government data also attributed the growth to the entry of large liquor companies such as the UB Group, which has set up more than 29 plants all over the country for rolling out the Kingfisher brand of packaged water, and around 20 plants for McDowell No 1 brand. Similarly, SAB Miller has come out with Royal Challenge and Haywards 5,000 brands of packaged water, for which purpose it has set up more than 40 plants all over India. The company has also introduced a new concept of sparkling water, â€Å"which is low-carbonated water for a niche market, basically foreigners.† Mr Kumar said that though the Indian market currently has more than 2,000 players, the main brands controlling the market are Pepsis Aquafina, Cokes Kinley, Kingfisher, SAB Millers Royal Challenge, Parle Agros Bisleri, besides local players such as Sabol. He also informed that with better knowledge of packaged drinking water, brands such as Evian of France, Himalayan of North India and Blu Mont from the South are trying to create a niche in the premium water segment of â€Å"mountain spring water,† which comes under the natural mineral water specifications of BIS. â€Å"These products are mainly sold in ‘A class outlets such as five-star hotels, resorts, lifestyle stores, high-end beauty parlours and elite clubs. The industry has also paved the way for new product segments such as flavoured, vitaminised and herbal waters.† With the entry of big players such as the Tatas (who recently bought stake in Mount Everest brand of packaged drinking water), the water industry is poised for a phenomenal surge, â€Å"What we see is just the tip of the iceberg.† SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis will help me to identify our company strength, weaknesses, opportunity and threats internally and externally both. Through this, we can easily identified our competitors in the market and once we know the company weakness and what kind of oppournity we have for the present and future prospect then we can easily make cost effective IMC plan and strategic IMC plan for the company. In SWOT analysis of the company, we have find the following that will help to make more strategical and cost effective IMC plan: STRENGTHS: Easy availability of low cost for all level of people. Massive institutional support for technical services, designing, manpower development and marketing. Exporter-friendly government policies for shoes industry. Well-established linkages with buyers in all parts of India. WEAKNESSES: Lack of modern finishing facilities for packing. Difficulties in accessing to testing, designing and technical services. Environmental problems. Non availability of quality components in the market. Lack of fresh investment in the sector. Uneconomical size of manufacturing units. OPPORTUNITIES: The Indian packaged water market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 10% for the period spanning from 2008 to 2011. Presently, the Indian packaged water market is dominated by health conscious person that accounts for nearly 70% of the total Indian packaged water market. Abundant scope to supply packaged water to companies setting up branch in India. Growing health consciousness globally. Use of information technology and decision support software to help eliminate the length of the production cycle for different products Product diversification There is lot of scope for diversification into other flavour water etc. Growing international and domestic markets. Retain customers through quality supplies and timely deliveries Aim to present the customer with new designs, infrastructure, and country company profiles. Use of modern technology THREATS: Entry of multinationals in domestic market. Stiff competition from other company. Non- tariff barriers Developing countries are resorting to more and more non tariff barriers indirectly. Fast changing fashion trends are difficult to adapt for every time for our company. Competitive analysis The major competitors in packaged water in Indian context of the Boond Company are bisleri, kingfisher, pepsi, aquiafina, kinley, railneel, and oxygen. They are the giant brand in the packaged water segment and they are the well established brand. So to take a challenge in this segment from these all we will create our company brand value in the market through strong positioning message and with differentiate a unique sell property that is water for all level of people and this core value of the BOOND Company will be shown throughout in IMC plan. Pricing factor will be also a major factor to differentiate to all competitors from our company BOOND. Apart from this some local seller of packaged water in todays scenario giving more competition because they are not branded packaged water and they are providing low price packaged water. So, to face giant challenges from all we are creating our core value of the company that is the packaged water for all level of people that most of the ma jor competitors do not have. They mostly targeted the younger generation but BOOND Company will target all level of people in the health concious segment with affordable price. Marketing Mix Strategies:- Product:-The Main aim of the BOOND Company is to produce high quality packaged water in various flavour for all level of people. It is only possible to capture the attention of the target market. The name of our product is boond. The company is providing 2 years free health tips for the customer. Price: The price range of the product range will be from Rs. 12 to 50. The price will be depended upon the flavour and quantity of the product. The company will also provide discount offer and allowance for the channel members. Place: Thedistributionchannels for Boond Company are as follows:- MANUFACTURER (COMPANY) WHOLESELLER PACKAGED TO RETAILER CUSTOMER Promotion:-In a promotion part of the product we are going to launch IMC plan for the target market. Evaluate Performance The Goal of our marketing plan is to achieve market objective that are established before implementation of marketing plan. We evaluate and control our strategic tactics by comparing our result with standard established before setting of plan, by measuring customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. If result is less than our standard than it means there is any default in implementation and monitoring in the program. The people who are responsible for the monitoring and control of the marketing plan will be the Marketing Executives, Sales Managers, Media Managers, Market Research Departments, and the Production Managers.Some activities will be carried out for evaluating the overall performance that will be precisely and closely evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics for example the gathering and structuring of data regarding market, product, consumers and the pricing trends, then the generation of daily sales report should be maintained and then in the end continuous reconfirming of the marketing budget and activities by the managers of different divisions. IMC objective and strategy Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept includes online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, RSS, pod cast, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and television. Boond Company is developing its integrated marketing communication programmes using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion So Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost. Promotio nal activities include Advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing, sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations and integration of all these promotional tools along with other components of marketing mix to gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing Communication. Communication objective:- The main objective of my communication is that people recognise my product as brand. They prefer my product as mineral water. Health conscious person prefer my brand. They feel that proper hygiene is maintained at all the places from where it pass while manufacturing or storing. They think that this company also care for nature. Increase market share up to 20%. Increase sale by 50% in 6 month from thelaunch of public campaign. Create awareness among target audience. Use excessive advertising especially using media preferred by the target market. Create product belonging and position among buyers mind Communication budget:- Total budget is 5 crore. TV advertisement:- (fund allotment 2 crore) Paper advertisement :- (Fund allotted 50 lakhs) Radio advertisement:- (fund allotted-10 lakh) Magazine advertisement:- (fund allotted-10 lakh) Bluetooth advertisement:- (fund allotted-20 lakh) Banners advertisement:- (fund allotted- 30 lakh) Hoardings advertisement:- (fund allotted-90 lakh) Direct selling:- (fund allotted- 1lakh) Door delivery:- fund allotment- 19 lakh) For promotion in event:- (fund allotment-10 lakh) Internet marketing:- (fund allotment-10 lakh) Retailer :- (Fund allotted-30 lakh) Customer sale promotion (Fund allotted-10 lakh) Trade sale promotion (fund allotted-10 lakh) IMC plan TV advertisement:-(fund allotment 2 crore) I will spend around 2 crore on tele-vision advertisement because it reaches to large population. In today scenario TV play very important role in making brand image. I will mainly focus tourist or health oriented channels, try to bring my advertisement those time when there is program related health or tourist place is coming so that I can reach to maximum number of target customers. Because when we go for health we never compromise and same with when we are in tour out of many brands we choose only those brand from which we are familiar or seen their ad in tv. So If we see per person expenditure then it will be less. Paper advertisement :-(fund allotment 50 lakhs) I will spend around 50 lakhs on paper advertisement because it again reaches to large population. I will prefer my advertisement in local as well as national newspaper also. Because my maximum number of customers who are health conscious or who travels frequently prefer national paper and maximum in English language. So my first choice will be that only. Radio advertisement:- (fund allotted-10 lakh) Today again radio trend is coming back due to improved quality of service because of entering of private players. And also today maximum mobile users buy mobile with inbuilt FM radio service. This service is mostly used by youngsters and mid age person, who are my potential customers. So advertisement on radio will also be in priority list. Magazine advertisement:- (fund allotted-10 lakh) Nowadays magazine has reached to mass population. Now magazines are coming according to person interest. For example person who are interested in sports for them sports magazine comes like â€Å"auto†, for business interest business today, business economy, 4p. I will prefer health magazines, tour oriented magazines, sports magazine. Bluetooth advertisement:- (fund allotted-20 lakh) I will also prefer Bluetooth marketing because it reaches only to interested customers so the chance of effectiveness is much more than any other media. Only disadvantage is that it can be done where Bluetooth server is established but this also benefit us because its effectiveness increase. In this customer get all the benefit in the form of video or picture so the effectiveness also increases. Banners advertisement:- (fund allotted- 30 lakh) I will also do banners advertisement because it influence consumer at the time of purchase. When customers go to buy product by seeing advertisement of my brand he will think that this is brand he will prefer, which is normal in our daily life. Hoardings advertisement:- (fund allotment-90 lakh) I will also go for hoardings near market, parks, tourist place, bus stand, railway station all the places where my potential customers go so that consumer recall my brand name all the times. And think that it is good brand. Direct selling:- (fund allotment- 1lakh) I will also prefer direct selling through vendors in trains and bus. Because that is place where consumer need this product most and he will buy it. Also this is place where all the local brand take advantage of it and consumer buy it without will. If I am able to capture this it may be proved very beneficial. Only the commission to the vendor should be kept very high. Door delivery:- fund allotment- 19 lakh) When consumer will buy the product for daily use he will prefer to get the product at home. Also it will be inconvenience to customer the pack of 20 liter with him. So the best option is to deliver the product when he need or call you. This type of practise is already done by many competitors in metro city. For promotion in event:- (fund allotment-20 lakh) I will also prefer promotion of any event which is related to health or tourist. So that I can reached to my maximum customers and they recall me as good brand. Internet marketing:- (fund allotment-10 lakh) I will also do my advertisement on net because today maximum elite customers, business travellers, students and even tourist (tourist take all the information from internet) they all use the internet frequently. So it will very easy to reach them and get their feedback easily. Discount store:- (fund allotment-30 lakh) Today the discount store play very important role in selling this type of product so I will also go for discount store to sell my brand product. Discount stores like easy day, reliance fresh, vishal mart, big bazaar, bargin bazaar all they sell this type product. So I have to give them some special offer so that they prefer my brand. Consumer sale promotion tool:- We will apply following promotional tools increase sale. Price deal: -Price deal is temporary reduction in price of product. We will provide two type of price deal: cents-off deals and price-pack deals. Price deal will be is given at various times to stimulate purchase of Shoes. Coupon: A coupon is typically a printed certificate giving the bearer a stated price reduction or special value on a specific product, generally for a specific period. In this we will provide various kinds of coupon that contain various discount price So that customer get the advantage of this discount and purchase flavour packaged water at low price. Offer: In this we offer that those Customers who buy flavour water will receive a free plain packaged water of 500ml. The offer will be depending upon season to season. The campaign will be marketed with print and TV ads, and will feature TV commercials with musicians singing covers of their favorite song. The company will be offering those collected covers in a CD at retail locations for customers who make a more than 10 flavour packaged water. Premium:We will provide offer of some gift or at bargain price to encourage customer buying. Advertising Specialties: -Advertising specialties also call a promotional product. It will be mostly given to our loyal customers. It includes various cards like birthday card, New Year card. It will be done mostly done to retain old customer. Trade sale promotion tool:- Objectives of Trade Sales Promotion of the Boond packaged water company will be:- Gain/maintain distribution Influence resellers to promote product Influence resellers to offer price discount Increase reseller inventory Defend against competitors Avoid reduction of normal prices There are various sale promotion tools which apply by the Boond packaged warter that stimulate trade to promote company product. Trade Allowances:- In this we will provide short-term special allowances, discounts, or deals granted to resellers to stimulate reseller to rapid purchase of their product. Point-of-Purchase Display:- In this we are generally used at the retail level to call customer attention to a featured product. In this company employees observe every retail shop and that display more company product will be winner of special gift or prize. Implementation Tactics Launch a blind ad campaign on billboards and magazines in all A class areas of major cities and magazine with respect to target market. Heavy advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines Set displays of malls and retail in showrooms and major dealer outlets in all cities. Continue Advertising. Evaluation of IMC planning process Evaluation of IMC planning of Boond packaged water is necessary because:- The cost of advertising and communication spiraling day by day so it is necessary to find out if the investment in IMC plan of the Boond packaged water is generating any return or just going down the drain. As a IMC planner we can easily evaluate various communication alternatives such as alternative message, IMC tools, media and vehicle and choose the most effective ones. It will provide complete feedback regarding the performance of various strategic alternatives and provide a basis for future planning. Evaluation will increase the effectiveness of marketing communication by eliminating unproductive alternatives and adding productive alternatives. Evaluation will provide me the complete figure regarding our total IMC budget expense that the budget is expense in the right way or not. It helps to judge the behavioral result of the target market. It will help to judge the communication oriented result of the target market. It will help to allocate as a guider about the new target market for further new implementation of IMC plan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally at last we will add few words with it that this IMC plan for boond water company is for the financial year 2009-10 is prepared by me by taking the new existing company of my own and not copied from any other sources. Prepared by (randhir pratap). Thank you all for co-operation in presenting my IMC plan in front of my respected mam Ms. Malika thakral and makes the session successful. Bibliography:- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/07/27/stories/2007072750190900.htm

Sickle Cell Anaemia :: Free Essays

Sickle Cell Anaemia The disorder affects the red blood cells, which contain a special protein called haemoglobin . The function of haemoglobin is to carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. People with Sickle Cell Anaemia have Sickle haemoglobin which is different from the normal haemoglobin. When sickle haemoglobin gives up its oxygen to the tissues, it sticks together to form long rods inside the red blood cells making these cells rigid and sickle-shaped. Normal red blood cells can bend and flex easily.Blocked blood vessels Because of their shape, sickled red blood cells can't squeeze through small blood vessels as easily as the almost donut-shaped normal cells. This can lead to these small blood vessels getting blocked that then stops the oxygen from getting through to where it is needed. This in turn can lead to severe pain and damage to organs. Everyone has two copies of the gene for haemoglobin; one from their mother and one from their father. If one of these genes carries the instructions to make sickle haemoglobin (HbS) and the other carries the instructions to make normal haemoglobin (HbA) then the person has Sickle Cell Trait and is a carrier of the sickle haemoglobin gene. This means that this person has enough normal haemoglobin in their red blood cells to keep the cells flexible and they don't have the symptoms of the sickle cell disorders. They do however have to be careful when doing things where there is less oxygen than normal such as scuba diving, activities at high altitude and under general anaesthetics. If both copies of the haemoglobin gene carry instructions to make sickle haemoglobin then this will be the only type of haemoglobin they can make and sickled cells can occur. These people have Sickle Cell Anaemia and can suffer from anaemia and severe pain. These severe attacks are known as Crises. Over time Sickle Cell sufferers can experience damage to organs such as liver, kidney, lungs, heart and spleen. Death can be a result.

Ray Harryhausen :: essays research papers

Ray Harryhausen is the greatest artist in stop-motion animation. With a career that spans 40 years of cinema, he became a by-word for innovation, excitement and entertainment in the world of special effects and film fantasy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born 1920 in Los Angelas, Harryhausen from an early age was facinated with stop-motion animation due to seeing King Komg at the agee of thirteen. Ray Harryhausen was given an opertunity to persue a dream and learn from the greatest of animators, Willis O’Brien. American Film magazine, (June 1981 p 49) â€Å"I had a magnicficent two year period while working on Mighty Joe Young with Obie†, â€Å"covering the long perproduction and photography. He was so involved in production problems that I ended up animating about eighty-five percent og the picture†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After ganing vital experience with Willis o’Brien and having completed studies at the University of Southern California in painting, drama, sculpting, anatomy and photography. Ray Harryhausen produced a series of short films called Mother Goose Fairy Tales. Coming to the final phase of the series, Ray Harryhausen was approached by a young producer, Charles Schneer,and formed a productive patnership which lasted over thrity years. Ray Harryhausen and Charles Schneer went to work and produced a whole series during the science fiction boom of the 1950’s. Titles included It Came from Beneath the Sea, Earth versus the Flying Saucers and in 1957, Twenty Million Miles to Earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was also in this period that Ray Harryhausen pioneered his new form of stop-motion animation – Dynamation – which then became a key feature consistant through out all of his work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Breaking away from the 1950’s had Ray Harryhausen and Charles Schneer leaving science fiction behind and venture into the world of fantasy, fairy tale amd mythology.. in the decaide of 1950 to 1960, they both produced the highly acclaimed Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. This was also they’re first opportunity to use colour film.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1963, Ray Harryhausen produced his most famous and successful film Jason and the Argonants. Quoted by Adrian Wootton interviewing Ray Harryhausen, (1)â€Å"Jason and the Argonants is also regarded by Ray Harryhausen himself, as his most complete film, incorporating as it does much of his seamless and yet outstanding stop-motion animation in many memorable sequences†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ray Harryhausen finally brought the curtain down on his film career in 1982 with his and Charles Schneer greek mythological epic, Clash of the Titans. In 1991, at the sixty-fourth Academy awards, Ray Harryhausen received belatent recognition for his abilities and received the Gordon E.

Capital Structure Essay

Capital structure is how a company finances its overall operations and growth by using funds from equity or debt (Investopedia, 2012). Of course, every company must determine its preference on its debt-to-equity ratio and determine which capital structure works best for them. Some approaches to analyzing capital structure are: 1.EBIT – EPS: This analyzes the impact of debt on earnings per share (EPS). Optimizing shareholder’s wealth is the optimum goal and therefore, this approach analyzes the high EPS based on an expected range of earnings before income taxes (EBIT). 2.Valuation: Determines impact of debt use on shareholder’s value by determining the level of debt at which the benefits of increased debt no longer outweigh the increased risks and expenses associated with financing (Wenk, 2012) 3.Cash Flow: Analyzes a firm’s debt capacity by using the weighted average of cost of capital (WACC). The WACC is a calculation of a firm’s cost of capital in which each capital source (bonds, stock and other long-term debt) are proportionally weighted to determine how much interest the company has to pay for every dollar it finances (Investopedia, 2012). Look more:  capital budgeting examples essay Part of Competition Bikes’ (CB) main consideration in the decision to merge or acquire Canadian Biking is working capital. Lets use the EBIT – EPS approach to determine how to maximize shareholder return while minimizing the cost of capital. We currently know Canadian Biking’s moderate sales forecast of EBIT figures for the next 5 years (Year 9 – 13), therefore we can apply the EBIT – EPS approach to choose an optimal capital structure. The total of capital sources in each of the 5 years is $600,000. We will use EBIT – EPS to determine which assortment of bonds*, preferred stock, and common stock is the best option to increase Canadian Biking’s EPS. The five alternative capital structures include: Option 1: 100% Bonds (fully financed) Option 2: 50% Preferred Stock & 50% Common Stock (no bonds) Option 3: 20% Bonds & 80% Common Stock Option 4: 40% Bonds & 60% Common Stock Option 5: 60% Bonds & 40% Common Stock *Annual bond interest rate is 9% After using the EBIT – EPS approach using the forecasted EBIT amounts for Years 9 through 13, we can average the EPS for each of the 5 years to determine which capital structure produced the highest EPS. The EPS averages computed for the capital structure options are: Option 1: Average EPS = .0452 Option 2: Average EPS = .0542 Option 3: Average EPS = .0526 Option 4: Average EPS = .051 Option 5: Average EPS = .0494 Based on the EBIT – EPS approach, the recommended capital structure is option 2, â€Å"50% preferred stock & 50% common stock†. This is the best capital structure mainly because there are two things to consider: 1) long-term debt and associated interest expense and, 2) equity and # of common shares. Option 2 is the best capital structure because there are no bonds and therefore, no interest expense. For example, if we look at option 1 in Year 9, and the bond interest is 9%, then the bond interest expense is $54,000 (.09*600,00). This lowers the income before taxes by $54,000. Although companies can finance debt and use the interest expense deduction to lower their taxable income, it doesn’t make sense for Canadian Bikes to fully finance their capital, because the interest expense costs outweigh the benefit of the tax deduction, resulting in a significant decrease in total income available for common stock. Additionally, because the capital structure consists of 300,000 shares of preferred stock, the company must pay dividends of 5%, reducing the company’s total income available for common stock by $15,000 (.05 * 300,000). Although this reduces the total income available for common stock, the company will maximize its EPS by only having 50% capital in common stock. This reduces the total number of common shares outstanding, which means less shares to divide the total income among. Therefore, Option 2 is the most optimal capital structure that considers minimizing long-term  debt expenses and the optimal number of common shares in order to maximize shareholder return. CAPITAL BUDGETING: Competition Bikes’ is considering building a manufacturing facility in a new Canadian location. The total investment for this project would be $600,000 USD. This consists of $400,000 to build the facility and an additional $200,000 in working capital to support operational costs. The company has projected cash flows over the next five years; therefore we can use cash flow budgeting methods such as net present value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) that consider time value of money for long-term investments (Pearson Education, Inc., 2008). Net present value analyzes the profitability of a project by determining the difference between the present value of the project’s cash inflows and outflows followed by subtracting the initial investment. (Investopedia, 2012). The decision rule applied to NPV is fairly simple, if the NPV is positive, invest; if the difference is negative, do not invest. Competition Bikes applies NPV to forecasted low and moderate sales for the next 5 years. After using the forecasted sales for low demand, the total present value (after subtracting cash outflows from inflows) is $560,719. If we subtract the initial investment of $600,000 from this amount, the NPV is -$39,281. This is a significant warning that the company should not proceed in building a manufacturing facility. On the other hand, if we use the forecasted sales for moderate demand, the total present value is $608,447. If we subtract the initial investment of $600,000, the NPV is $8,447. Therefore a positive NPV indicates the company should proceed with building the manufacturing facility. The biggest concern is determining which NPV to lean towards based on low or moderate sales. Unfortunately, the risk of having low sales outweighs the profitability benefit of having moderate sales. It is too risky for CB to move forward with the investment based on the NPV of low sales (-$39,281). In order for the company to profit from this investment, CB would need to have a moderate sales demand at minimum! The present value in NPV is calculated using an interest rate, also known as the required rate of return. CB’s required rate of return is 10%. When this interest rate is altered or calculated to make the total present value equal to the initial investment, the NPV becomes equal to zero; this is called the internal rate of return (IRR) (Pearson Education, Inc., 2008). The IRR is what a company can expect to earn from investing in the project and the higher the IRR, the more desirable the investment. The calculated IRR for low demand cash flows is 8.2% and the IRR for moderate demand cash flows is 10.4%. Based on these IRR figures, the company should not pursue the capital investment because the average IRR between both low and moderate sales is 9.3%. This is below the company’s required return on capital (hurdle rate) of 10% to pursue a capital investment. Again, the company would need to have a moderate sales demand, at minimum for this capital investment to be profitable and should therefore not pursue building a new manufacturing facility. WORKING CAPITAL: CB must effectively obtain and manage working capital for the expansion of the operation. CB must first look at their operating cycle, cash conversion cycle and free cash flow factors in order to improve production and management of working capital. Let’s discuss the company’s current status of each of the working capital and cash flow factors and determine how the company can improve in these areas. First, the operating cycle involves CB sending the distributor a monthly invoice for all raw materials ordered with terms of net/30 days. This can be improved by renegotiating the payment terms will distributors to net/15 days. This would increase cash flows by improving payment turn around time and accounts receivable collections. Additionally, the company can improve its relations with its distributers to increase effectiveness of its collection process. Another operating cycle factor is ordering and paying for inventory. Currently, the company pays for inventory in the month following production and all inventory ordered for the month is used leaving inventory levels (at the end of each month) at consistent levels. In order  to improve working capital the company should utilize and lower its year ending inventory balance. For example, at the end of Year 8, the company had $91,573 worth of inventory left over. The company should utilize the current inventory on hand before ordering similar raw material items. This will decease cash flows and leave fewer inventories on hand at the end of the year. Currently the average time in inventory is 25 days. This is a substantial turnaround time currently, however in the future, the company can consider replacing labor workers with fixed asset items to improve production time. This will satisfy customer demand by decreasing delivery time and improve cash flows by invoicing customers more frequently than 25 days after production. CB’s cash conversion cycle factors also impact working capital. Currently, the CB’s suppliers invoice at the end of the month for orders that month with terms of net/15. CB does an excellent job of preserving its cash flows by paying the invoices on the 15th of the month following the order.. CB can improve its working capital by negotiating for longer payment terms, i.e. net/30 days, allowing for more time for the company to earn money to pay their invoices. If this is not possible, the company can improve its forecasting measurements for ordering supplies and order the majority of the supplies needed for the month at the beginning of the month. This would increase the amount of time the company has sufficient supplies on hand without having to pay more money, (because the suppliers will still invoice for the orders at the end of the month, regardless of how early in the month the supplies were ordered). This can increase working capital because it acts as a contingency plan, to reduce the likelihood of running out of supplies, avoiding delays, or ordering supplies in excess. Free cash flow factors also affect CB’s working capital. Currently, the company recognizes depreciation in both manufacturing overhead and as depreciation expenses depending on the fixed asset. The company can use their depreciation data to increase management of cash flows by predicting when the company will have to spend a significant amount of money to replace an asset when its useful life expires. This will prepare CB for those unwanted – although necessary – fixed asset costs. Currently the  corporation’s marginal tax rate is 25%. The company can consider obtaining working capital by financing debt. This will leave the company with an interest expense at the end of the year, which is deductible from gross earnings and results in paying lower taxes. After CB improves its working capital, let’s discuss how CB can use its working capital for the lease vs. buy option for a factory building in Canada. CB can use its working capital to cover the $50,000 down payment (or buy out option if they decide to lease) and $200,000 for operational costs of the new factory. According to the data provided for the lease vs. buy option, the lease option will preserve cash outflows of $12,339, (purchase cash outflows are $333,999 and lease cash outflows are $321,660). Therefore, the company should lease the manufacturing facility to preserve cash outflows. Leasing the facility will also allow CB to deduct annual interest payments (6% interest) from the gross earnings to lower their tax payments. This will increase the company’s net earnings at the end of the year, also resulting in higher retained earnings and increased shareholder value. MERGER OR ACQUISITION: CB should consider many factors when deciding to merge or acquire Canadian Biking. Let’s analyze the pros and cons between a merge vs. acquisition and determine what the best move would be for CB. First off, if the company were to merge with Canadian Biking, the potential EPS would increase by approximately .021. This shows potential for increased ownership earnings, but is it significant enough? At the same token, the price/earnings ratio for Canadian Bikes at the end of Year 8 was 9 and CB’s was 70. This shows that CB’s current investors are expecting greater earnings in Year 9 and are willing to pay $70 for $1 of current earnings. This is not the case with Canadian Biking’s investors. Unfortunately a low P/E ratio of 9 indicates that investors are not expecting a significant growth in company earnings. This raises a concern if the merge will result in a potential increase of .021 in EPS. On the other hand, a merge would result in lower costs because CB would not be purchasing Canadian Biking outright. Canadian Biking also has a lower cost competition bike that can decrease production costs and complement CB’s current bike model being offered. This will result in  greater net earnings and cash flows. If the company were to acquire Canadian Bikes, CB can expect a gradual increase in cash inflows over the next 5 years. However, the current offered sales price for Canadian Biking is $286,000; this is 30% more than what the company was valued at, at the end of Year 8. Although CB has enough working capital to make the purchase, it would take 5 years of gradually increasing cash inflows to recoup the price tag of $286,000. This means it could take approximately 5 years, before shareholders saw a significant increase in earnings per share. Based on the pro and cons, CB should merge with Canadian Bikes to lower their production and delivery costs, increase net income, EPS and cash flows, and preserve working capital. The price to acquire Canadian Biking is simply unreasonable based on predicted cash inflows over the next 5 years. The merger will enhance CB’s market position in Canada by having a local distributer to handle all customer orders and provide cost effective and great customer service to the growing Canadian market. References Investopedia. (2012). Capital Structure. Retrieved from http://www.kotzinvaluation.com/articles/capital-structure.htm Investopedia. (2012). Weighted Average Cost of Capital. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wacc.asp#axzz2Azkq4E2V Investopedia. (2012). Net Present Value. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/npv.asp#axzz2Azkq4E2 Pearson Education, Inc.. (2008). Horngren Accounting. Retrieved from http://wpscms.pearsoncmg.com/wps/media/objects/6716/6877765/hha08_flash_main.html?chapter=null&page=1042&anchory=null&pstart=null&pend=null Wenk, D. (2012). Using an optimal capital structure in business valuation. Retrieved from http://www.kotzinvaluation.com/articles/capital-structure.htm