The Promise Plot Essays - The Promise, Reuben, American Literature

The Promise: Plot Title of Book: The Promise Author of Book: Chaim Potok 1.In 10-12 sentences, write a brief outline of the plot of the novel. Be sure to make clear the major conflict of the story. 1.In the beginning of the novel, the main character, Reuben, is spending some time with his father at their cottage. His friend, Rachel is also vacationing nearby. Reuben finds out that Rachel's 14 year old cousin, Michael, is mentally ill, and Reuben seems to be the only person Michael will talk to. Near the end of the summer, Reuben's best friend Danny comes to visit Reuben and the Gordons (Rachel's family) invite Danny over to discuss Michael because Danny is a genius, and he is studying psychology. At the summer's end, Michael is put into the treatment centre at which Danny is working. Reuben becomes friends with Michael's father, Abraham Gordon, a very respected scholar. Unfortunately, his ideas are not approved by Reuben's professor, Rav Kalman. Rav Kalman tells Reuben that if he continues to see Abraham and Michael Gordon, he will not be given his smicha, the degree which he has been working to get for so long. Also, Michael does not respond well to the treatment centre, and bec omes violent. Danny decides to use an experimental treatment on Michael, which involves not letting him talk to anyone or interact with anything except his therapist. The major conflict is when Michael becomes catatonic, and it seems as if Reuben will not get his smicha and Michael will never be cured. Danny decides to have a long conversation with Rav Kalman, and convinces him to at least give Reuben the smicha examination. During the examination, Reuben uses a method called test emendation, which is strictly forbidden by his school. Reuben backs up his arguments so well, that Rav Kalman does give him smicha, and when Reuben tells this to Michael (although Michael is in a comatose state) Michael awakes and tells Reuben, Danny and his parents that he hates his father because when his father writes a book, all the people who disagree with his ideas write hateful articles, and excommunicate the Gordon family. 2.What is the setting of the novel? 2.The novel is set in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, in the 1950's. 3.In one sentence, state the climax of the novel. Explain how it solves the conflict. 3.The climax of this novel is when Reuben receives his smicha because it solves the problem of Reuben not getting his smicha, and when Reuben tells Michael that he received smicha, Michael wakes up and tells Reuben and Danny everything. 4.Name 2 important character traits of a major character in the novel. Then give 2 examples from the story demonstrating each trait. 4.The character I am examining is Danny Saunders. The first character trait is that Danny was very trustworthy. Example 1: " `I trust him....I needed someone I could trust....someone I could trust absolutely and without the slightest reservation. I trust Daniel Saunders.' " pg. 244 Example 2: My second example is that Dr. Altman, Danny's supervisor at the treatment centre, trusted Danny enough to let him go ahead with the experiment on Michael. The second character trait is intensity. Example 1: " He was unshaven and his eyes blinked repeatedly and he looked as though he had not slept in a long time...`Went back?' I stared at him. `You weren't home for Shabbat?'...`I've been at the treatment centre since three in the morning.'" pg.256 Example 2: " Danny was playing volleyball the way he had once played baseball, with an intense, hungry eagerness to win." pg.380 5.Circle one of the following categories below to describe how you would rate the book. Making reference to the novel's subject matter, language, character development and other elements, explain why you rated the book as you did. 5.I would rate the book as very interesting. I would rate it in this way becuase, first, I could indentify with the subject. I knew most of the Hebrew or Yiddish terms before the author translated them, and although it did not apply directly to me, I could see paralels between the novel and my own life. The language in the novel was well choosen, at an in-between level, not too hard to understand, but very well written. Some of the metaphores used in the book were so brilliant, I would have rather done a full novel study of this book, because I know I must have missed so much of the depth of the novel.

African Nobel Prize Winners

African Nobel Prize Winners 25 Nobel Laureates have been born in Africa. Of those, 10 have been from South Africa, and another six were born in Egypt. The other countries to have produced a Nobel Laureate are (French) Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco, and Nigeria. Scroll down for a full list of winners. The Early Winners The first person from Africa to win a Nobel Prize was Max Theiler, a South African man who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951. Six years later, the famed absurdist philosopher and author Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Camus was French, and so many people assume he was born in France, but he was in fact born, raised, and educated in French Algeria. Both Theiler and Camus had emigrated out of Africa at the time of their awards, however, making Albert Lutuli the first person to be awarded a Nobel Prize for work completed in Africa. At the time, Lutuli (who was born in Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe) was the President of the African National Congress in South Africa and was awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize for his role leading the non-violent campaign against apartheid. Africas Brain Drain Like Theiler and Camus, many African Nobel Laureates have emigrated from their countries of birth and spent most of their working careers in Europe or the United States.   As of 2014, not one African Nobel Laureate has been affiliated with an African research institution at the time of their award as determined by the Nobel Prize foundation. (Those winning awards in Peace and Literature are not typically affiliated with such institutions. Many winners in those fields were residing and working in Africa at the time of their award.)  Ã‚   These men and women provide a clear example of the much-discussed brain drain from Africa. Intellectuals with promising research careers frequently end up living and working at better-funded research institutions beyond Africa’s shores. This is largely a question of economics and the power of institutions’ reputations. Unfortunately, it is hard to compete with names like Harvard or Cambridge, or the facilities and intellectual stimulation that institutions like these can offer. Female Laureates Including the 2014 awardees, there have been 889 total Nobel Laureates, meaning that individuals from Africa make up only about 3% of Nobel Prize winners. Of the 46 women to ever win a Nobel Prize, however, five have been from Africa, making 11% of female awardees African. Three of those awards were Peace Prizes, while one was in Literature and one in Chemistry. African Noble Prize Winners 1951   Max Theiler, Physiology or Medicine1957   Albert Camus, Literature1960   Albert Lutuli, Peace1964   Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Chemistry1978   Anwar El Sadat, Peace1979   Allan M. Cormack, Physiology or Medicine1984   Desmond Tutu, Peace1985   Claude Simon, Literature1986   Wole Soyinka, Literature1988   Naguib Mahfouz, Literature1991   Nadine Gordimer, Literature1993   F.W. de Klerk, Peace1993   Nelson Mandela, Peace1994   Yassir Arafat, Peace1997   Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Physics1999   Ahmed Zewail, Chemistry2001   Kofi Annan, Peace2002   Sydney Brenner, Physiology or Medicine2003   J. M. Coetzee, Literature2004   Wangari Maathai, Peace2005   Mohamed El Baradei, Peace2011   Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Peace2011   Leymah Gbowee, Peace2012   Serge Haroche, Physics2013   Michael Levitt, Chemistry Sources Used in this Article   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nobel Prizes and Laureates†, â€Å"Nobel Laureates and Research Affiliations†, and â€Å"Nobel Laureates and ​Country of Birth†all from Nobelprize.org, Nobel Media AB, 2014.

Turn Your Blogs Passive Readers Into Brand Advocates

Turn Your Blogs Passive Readers Into Brand Advocates I started blogging in 1999 before the word blog existed. Back then it was more like an online journal. I was a pimply high school student at the time and would write a few paragraphs about random geeky topics every day. But I gave up after a few months when nobody seemed to care. A few weeks later, some friends asked me why I hadnt posted in a while. My chin fell to the floor. It wasnt that they didnt care. They just were passive readers. They enjoyed what I wrote, but they just didnt do anything to show it. How To Easily Turn Passive Readers Into Genuine Brand Advocates via @ckeckYou might remember the 80/20 rule (80% of revenue comes from 20% of customers, etc.), so you might think that 80% of word-of-mouth for your blog comes from 20% of your readers. But that is not true when you are starting out. If you have 20% of your readers as active promoters- brand advocates, if you will- you are doing an amazing job. When you start blogging, you will likely only have 2 brand advocates... your mom and best friend.  Plus a few close customers, if you’re lucky. This can be incredibly frustrating because you spend countless hours writing endless blog posts. You know that content marketing is supposed to: Drive sales Generate leads Encourage conversions But instead, it feels like all it does is waste your time. If you're not getting the results you want from your blog readers, it might not be apathy that you are fighting. You might just need to engage with your audience in a slightly different way. There are some activities that popular bloggers all seem to do that are generally written off by beginner bloggers because they don't understand why they do them. I call these activities "The 5 Laws For Turning Passive Readers Into Brand Advocates", and here's how you can  make these work for your blog: Law #1: Use Surveys To Find Your Readers' Deepest Desires There are 5 major reasons people will share your content on social networks: entertainment, defining themselves, relationships, self-fulfillment,  and  supporting a cause. So how do you write content that helps people achieve their goals and define themselves to others? Many bloggers write from their gut instincts, this is a big rookie mistake. It is much more effective to just ask your readers about their own desires, hopes, and dreams. The biggest bloggers like Tim Ferriss do this on a regular basis. If you have a small mailing list and are just getting started, you might not get a lot of feedback if you ask people directly to tell you their hopes and dreams. In fact, asking people up front like that is generally ineffective (unless you have a big following) because people don’t often reply honestly with personal details like that to mass emails. But there’s a trick you can use to get high quality, actionable feedback even from a small mailing list: use the Net Promoter System. It’s a highly effective way to get 8–10 times more actionable data than traditional surveying methods. Asking about hopes and dreams can be effective in engaging your audience. You simply ask: How likely is it that you would recommend my brand/product/service to a friend or colleague? (Answers are based on a 0–10 scale). That's it. Because it is so quick, easy and painless to respond to such a simple survey, you will find much higher response rates. After they give you their number, you ask an open-ended question: What's the most important reason for your score? Although you will get interesting answers here, the single biggest trick for turning passive readers into active promoters and brand advocates is in responding personally to every survey whether they give you positive or negative feedback. If they give you a 9 or a 10 (very likely to promote), it’s the best case scenario. All you need to do is follow-up with a personalized email with a suggestion for how they could promote you to their friends (leave a review, tweet a message, etc.). Often people are willing to promote, but just need a nudge in the right direction for how to promote you. If they give you a 1 or a 2 (very unlikely to promote), don’t fret. This is a great opportunity to learn more. Follow-up with a personal email thanking them for their time and asking what their biggest problem is so you can write more about it in the future. That way you get ideas for new things you can write about that you had not considered yet. Action Items: Start a mailing list for your blog at MailChimp or something similar. Send an NPS survey with a system like Promoter.io or something similar. Follow-up with all survey responders using the NPS Follow-Up Cheat Sheet templates. Law #2: Create Conflict And Drama A fair amount  of  blog posts are dry and boring. The most common advice to spice things up is by adding facts and data, but sometimes that will just make a post more boring. The trick to draw people in is to create conflict and add drama by telling stories. For example, popular blogger Neil Patel tells the story of how he learned new marketing ideas from scantily clad women: 10 Marketing Techniques That I Learned From Instagram Models. People share controversial, provocative, and dramatic opinions like wildfire. Give them  something to talk about. Controversial opinions are shared like wildfire. Give people something to talk about.You don’t need to be as provocative as Neil to achieve a similar result. One simple and reliable formula you can use to draw in your own readers is to open every blog post with a personal story about a problem you faced and how you overcame it or what it taught you. For an example, take a look at the beginning of this post. Action Items: Make a list of at least 20 hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations of your readers collected from the action item in Law #1. Think of 20 personal anecdotes or stories where you or a friend had similar dreams or frustrations for each one, and how you achieved the goal or overcame the frustration. Review previous blog posts to see if you can optimize them  with stories. Law #3: Train Your Readers To Be More Active Did you know subliminal messages are a myth? There is no scientific evidence that they work. That’s why the pre-show movie overtly shows you pictures of popcorn and coke. Because explicit messaging does work. So if you want people to share your content, you must ask them to. If you want people to join your mailing list, you must ask them explicitly. Ask: It's how to turn passive readers into subscribers.One of the most effective ways to engage your audience is by giving them an incentive to promote you. Virtual or physical giveaways  are always a great way to make this happen. A pro tip is that it’s usually better to give away 10 items one at a time than one giveaway with 10 items. For example, you will usually get the same number of people to enter the contest every time (and thus promote the contest). 10 times the prizes will not get you 10 times as many contestants. Action Items: Make a list of 20 things you could give away: paper books, e-books, audiobooks, interviews, checklists, cheat sheets. Make sure they are hyper-relevant to your audience’s hopes and desires. Use LeadPages or similar software to have the giveaways lead directly to new email list subscribers. Get the KingSumo Giveaways WordPress plugin to run your own contests quickly and easily. Tweets and Facebook messages give people better chances to win. Personality quizzes are a great way to activate your passive readers. WordPress plugins like WordPress Viral Quiz make them easily to build. Add them to your blog and watch them convert like crazy. Law #4: Create More Personal Relationships You are more likely to actively engage with friends than acquaintances, so how do you make your audience feel like they are your friend? One way to create personal relationships is by telling personal stories (from Law #2), but there are more techniques for creating intimacy with your reader. For example, if I am talking to you as friends would, I would never say: â€Å"People should share the content if they like it† if what I really meant to say was â€Å"You should share my post if you like it.† It goes against what you learned in high school, but when blogging, use personal pronouns (like â€Å"I† and â€Å"You†) instead of impersonal pronouns (like â€Å"people should do this and that†). Get personal with your #blog to build relationships with your readers.Another great method is to combine this with Laws #1 and #2. Engage with people through your surveys to find out their personal stories (like â€Å"please tell me your story†, not â€Å"send me stories†), and then ask permission to share their stories on your blog. Most people will gladly say yes, and then you can share your own point of view through your customers' stories (and even in their own words). Personal pronouns combined with great storytelling bonds people together and creates relationships. This should be a top goal for your blog if you want to create active subscribers and brand advocates. Action Items: Review your 3 most popular blog posts for impersonal pronouns (he, she, they, people, them, one) and see if you can replace them with more personal ones (I, you). This will give you a sense for how vigilant you will need to be in the future. Call or email your 5 best customers, and tell them you just wanted to make sure they were happy. Then ask them to tell you about the last big challenge they had and how they overcame it. LISTEN. Don’t interrupt. Write notes. Carefully read some of the popular blogs in your space and see what they do to draw people in. Do they use personal pronouns? Use QuickSprout to research their most popular posts and figure out how  you can replicate that success. Recommended Reading: 25 Growth Hacks Your Content Marketing Desperatly Need Law #5: Tell Your Audience What To Do The end of your posts will make or break how active your readers are. If you end with something typical like: â€Å"In conclusion, do X to get Y,† then your reader will happily close their tab and move on. But if you end with a call to action, then if they liked the post, they will know exactly what to do next. A simple and effective way to do this is with a postscript. Postscripts tend to catch people’s eye and are very hard to ignore. If you want people to share a post, you could write a post-script as simple as this one: P.S. If you know someone who makes this mistake, I'd love it if you shared  this post with them. Thank you! It’s a non-invasive way to increase the virality of your posts. You can even auto-include it on all your WordPress posts if you use a plugin like Bottom of Every Post. If you use the SumoMe WordPress plugin, you can keep track for free of what percent of readers get to the end of your posts. On average, we find that half of our readers will read the whole post. By the time they get there, they will be ready to take an action. You just need to point them in the right direction. Action Items: Think of 1 thing that has inspired you recently that wasn’t related to work, but tied into work (like Neil Patel’s 10 Marketing Techniques That I Learned From Instagram Models) and make it into a new blog post full of story and personal pronouns. End it with a P.S. that asks readers to share the post and see what happens. Combine postscripts with the giveaways created in Law #3 to make irresistible actions for your readers to take. Think of ways to make more content out of your most popular posts. For example, you could create slides and post them to SlideShare or record yourself dictating the post and make a podcast out of it. Then the action your readers can take is directly related to the content they just read. Turning passive readers into active promoters and brand advocates  isn’t hard, sometimes it just takes a few tweaks to make a big difference. Try some of these techniques and see what works for you. If you discover other techniques, please come back to this post and leave a comment to help others just like you.

WSJ and NPR Miss the Mark on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

WSJ and NPR Miss the Mark on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Resume Oblivion has been a hot topic in the news. The Wall Street Journal published an article, Your Resume vs. Oblivion, reporting that the percentage of large companies using computerized Applicant Tracking Systems to screen candidates is in the high 90%; almost all Fortune 500 companies rely on these programs. The article points out that the systems, which can cost from $5,000 to millions of dollars, are efficient, but not foolproof.   Specifically, Tracking software    may miss the most-qualified applicant if that person doesnt game the system by larding [sic I think they mean loading] his or her rà ©sumà © with keywords from the job description. The article offers advice, which I recommend reading, on How to Beat the Black Hole.' However, the advice is not comprehensive.   The first item, for instance, instructs job seekers to mimic the keywords in the job description as closely as possible. If youre applying to be a sales manager, make sure your rà ©sumà © includes the words sales and manage (assuming youve done both!). Pardon me for saying so, but the above advice is 1) rudimentary, 2) a no-brainer and 3) limited in its value. The problem is that 99% of the people applying for a sales manager job are going to have the words sales and manage   in their resumes! Therefore, you will not get higher on any list by including these keywords. The same goes for most of the keywords in the job description, since many job seekers are getting savvy about matching their resumes to the posting. The Wall Street Journal is not the only major news provider who delivered misleading or incomplete information on this topic. Take NPRs 16-minute segment entitled Keeping Your Resume Out of Online Oblivion, where callers related stories of how they got interviews despite the reign of Applicant Tracking Systems.   View it here: You will hear some creative solutions in this spot on how to make it past the computers. You will also hear something misleading:   that hiring managers (i.e., human beings) program the ATS software to screen for certain terms. Do you really think that a company like Google or Starbucks is going to have a human being sit there and punch keywords into a computer for each of the thousands of jobs they post every day? Think again. No, human beings do not program these systems the systems program themselves! The keywords the computers are looking for are determined by the computers. And this is why qualified candidates are so often overlooked.

Immigration consequences of criminal activity Research Paper

Immigration consequences of criminal activity - Research Paper Example Annually, the INS accounts for thousands of criminal investigations. Between the period of 1997 and 2005 approximately 1.5 million people were deported by INS.1 Most are illegal aliens, half of them convicted of drug dealing and drug trafficking. In addition, it was also determined that at least 6 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were in the United States illegally, their visas having previously expired.2 Ultimately, these statistics suggest that illegal immigration has profound effects on the criminal justice system of the United States. History of Immigration and Crime in the United States As a "nation of immigrants," the United States of America and its people have witnessed the issue of immigration transform over time, from general concerns about cheap labor pushing "real Americans" out of jobs to a substantially broader policy concern with much more far-reaching economic and potentially criminal concerns. Although the events of September 11, 2001, have thrust immigration to the fore, official concern about immigration dates back to the mid-19th century. At the close of America's revolutionary period, the nation began to expand westward rapidly. The United States beckoned many settlers with its vast amount of land, temperate climate, and abundance of natural resources. The country had no restrictions on the number and type of people admitted for permanent residence. Agri ­cultural production and farm employment dominated the labor market, and most jobs required little, if any, specialized skills. Evidence suggests that newcomers entered the United States at a status equal to that of the older residents and maintained that status as time passed.3 However, in the late 19th century, United States immigration policy changed as the nation, recovering from its Civil War, began to fear the surge of foreigners pouring in. Several immigration laws passed between 1882 and 1887, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banned certain nationalities from maintaini ng residence in the United States, reflecting some of the early concerns about conflicts over cheap labor. According to proponents of the law, White wage earners could not compete with Chinese, who were willing to live in squalor.4 The act prohibited immigration of persons considered to be "idiots, lunatics, convicts and persons likely to become a public charge"5. Although this statement does not report any specific criminal statistical information, it does suggest the beginning of Americans' concern about the issues of immigration and crime.6 American political policy quickly shifted during the advent of the American industrialization process. It was at this time that increased immigration became of critical importance to the assembly of an urban labor force.7 Newly introduced mechanization procedures required mainly unskilled workers to fill the nation's rapidly expanding urban labor markets. The jobs created during this era typically required little in the way of skill, education , literacy, numeracy, or even fluency in English. The immigrant laborers filling these positions generally lacked these attributes. In fact, a 42-volume U.S. government study issued in 1911 reported that the "new immigrants" (referring to those of the industrial revolution) were less educated, less skilled, and generally less desirable than the "old

The Apple Watch Biblography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Apple Watch Biblography - Assignment Example The authors of this article elaborate the efficiency and effectiveness of the production of goods and services. They also give the means and ways to which effectiveness and efficiency could be established. Much of the article lays emphasis on the equipment of production as a means to promote effectiveness and efficiency. This article gives a new method that will ensure accurate estimation and prediction of effectiveness and efficiency in companies. The new method uses loss analysis (relative), state analysis, unit loss analysis and unit product analysis. This paper can be used to elaborate the means that the Apple watch can be produced in a more efficient and effective manner. This will ensure that the Apple company eliminate or reduce losses that might be brought by inefficiency or ineffectiveness. Lynn, M. (2011). Segmenting and Targeting Your Market: Strategies and Limitations. In M. C. Sturman, J. B. Corgel, & R. Verma (Eds.), The Cornell School of Hotel Administration on hospitality, 1, 353- 369. Lynn reveals the STP (segmentation, targeting and positioning) strategy as the key to market strategy. This is the common approach that is used among most markets. The STP strategy is the most written strategy of all times as shown in this article. This STP approach views the market in terms of distinct homogenous groups. These groups are characterized with different desires and needs, thus have different tastes. The STP based marketer’s role is for identification of the market segments and their features that make them distinct. They also help in the identification of segments that they believe their products can do better compared to their competitors. This ensures that the company lays focus in leading the market in terms of the products that they produce. This article will help in the identification of the target market for Apple watch. It will also

2004 Starbucks Comprehensive Valuation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

2004 Starbucks Comprehensive Valuation - Essay Example A strategic analysis will review how Starbucks is moving towards achieving the company's mission and vision.The company's objective in the 2004 report of making Starbucks "the most recognized and respected brand in the world, to continue rapid expansion of retail operations and selectively pursue opportunities to leverage the brand through new products andnew channels of distribution" (SCC 13) is almost the same as the 1997 vision and mission, and show that Starbucks remains strategically focused and have clear, measurable targets.One target Starbucks finds achievable (SCC 17) is "to operate 15,000 retail locations in the United States and at least 15,000 stores in International markets." The company had 8,569 stores by October 3, 2004, up by 18.6% from 7,225 in 2003 (SCC 12-13). This is 25.8% of the target and if they continue growing 18.6% a year, they will reach 30,000 by 2012.In 2004, Starbucks tapped high traffic areas by opening drive-thru stores and specialty coffee shops (SCC 13), increased store licensing activities (SCC 14) in the U.S. and abroad, and ventured with Kraft, Jim Beam, Visa, and XM Satellite Radio to leverage brand strength, invent new products, tap new distribution channels, and sell other products like music CDs and specialty teas (SCC 15). Strategically, Starbucks is on the right path as it makes the right moves on the way to achieving its mission and vision. Financial analysis will focus on sales and profit growth and managing financial risks to see if its strategy of increasing stores leads to higher sales and profits. After all, part of their strategy is to leverage their competitive advantage: the unique Starbucks brand of coffee experience that can be enjoyed only in their stores (Schultz 249-254). Financial data (SCC 19-23) showed that as the number of stores grew 18.9%, so did Starbucks's sales (up 29.9%), operating income (up 43.8%), earnings before income tax (up 43.1%), and net earnings after tax (up 46.2%), which proves that increasing the number of stores increased Starbucks's sales and profits. The first part of our financial analysis proves that Starbucks's strategy is sound and consistent: sales and profit growth will generate the capital needed to put up new stores and create the momentum for ever higher sales and profits. There are two reasons for analyzing how Starbucks manages financial risks. Starbucks is a global corporation, doing business outside the U.S. (buying raw materials from and having stores in other countries), so it has to manage risks that can affect sales and profits. Second, its vision is to have the same number of stores in and outside the U.S. Although U.S. stores currently outnumber international stores by 2.5 to 1 (SCC 16) and U.S. revenues account for 85% of net revenues (SCC 20), as the company grows to 30,000 stores, their revenues outside the U.S. will grow and make risk management important. The report (SCC 24-25 and 34-35) shows that Starbucks is managing its foreign currency (exchange rate fluctuations), equity security price (investments in mutual funds, though minimal), and interest rate (investment-grade fixed income instruments, also minimal) risks with the right financial instruments. It also manages other risks like cost of raw materials, product warranties (espresso machines), and off-balance sheet transactions (SCC 24).

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder - Essay Example No one can deny that people’s standard for being beautiful is first the value of one’s facial and body form. If one is shown a photograph of Jocelyn Wildenstein’s multi-million dollar face, he would not definitely approve of her to hit even the last number in the 50 million most beautiful women list. That may be rude but sometimes we just have to face the truth of how people evaluate beauty. Of course, one would wonder why Mr. Wildenstein’s paid enormous amounts for his wife’s surgeries. That face called by many as ugly might just be the prettiest in his eyes. In this case, the saying that goes, â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder† holds true. On a general note, people value the appearance of one’s face but sometimes, the value of a person’ overall appearance can change that. The Eye of the Beholder depicts how a woman came to realize what she values more in her personal view of beautiful. The storyteller who looked at he rself as ugly sought for professional help to become beautiful. However, when the artist thought she made a very good job, the main character realized that the value of beauty to her was being herself and having an identity. Perhaps the make-up artist beamed with pride with the change that she made in the physical appearance of her customer however, she was shocked with the reaction of the customer. She said, â€Å"I look terrible† (Suh, 189). ... With this, the protagonist says she feels negated. Furthermore, she says, â€Å"I have been blotted out and another face drawn in my place† (198). For the woman, she realized that being beautiful is not being like the other women. She valued her identity and that is what is beautiful in her eyes. â€Å"Hideous† was another word the main character used to describe herself when she looked at her new appearance. â€Å"I don’t even look human†, she continued, â€Å"Look at my eyes. You can’t even see me†. Maybe the protagonist was not really being unappreciative of the work of her make-up artist. She was acting so rudely because she felt she was turned into another human being. Or perhaps she might have been talking about her inner appearance. In the first place, she was the one who went to the shop to ask for help and the help was given to her. However, she might have felt that she betrayed her self and this made her feel terrible. She did not r ecognize her self anymore. â€Å"Hideous† might have been a word she used to describe her looks but it might have also been her description of her self because of the betrayal she committed. Coming from the shop, the main character went to wash her face and when she looked once again at her reflection, she thought, â€Å"I wasn’t pretty. But I was familiar and comforting. I was myself† (190). One could understand that another thing that the character values, is being one’s self. When she was observing herself in the shop, she said, â€Å"My face had a strange plastic sheen, like a mannequin’s.† She was disgusted at her reflection and she wondered if what she did was right. She questioned her appearance and considered it being fake. She was not her self therefore

Economics Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics Assignment 2 - Essay Example One cannot ignore the importance of alleviation of income inequality to achieve long term economic growth. The standard of living of a country is often measured by the per capita GDP. It will not be wise to think GDP per capita to be the measure of personal income. If the economic theories are taken into account, then per capita GDP will be same as per capita GDI (Gross Domestic Income). The goods as well as the services produced in a certain country and brought to the market have some price. Some experts regard GDP as the price of the total output. The GDP can be calculated in the following ways. Cumulative figure of all income within an economy or the total spending made by all the participating agents within the same economy is referred to as GDP. Both the spending and the income will roughly be the same. It should be kept in king that Gross Domestic product and Gross National product is not the same thing. The market value of the goods as well as services produced within a partic ular time period by the residents of a particular country is regarded as the GNP. It allocates the production based on the ownership. Three approaches can be used in order to determine the GDP. They are- the income approach, the product approach and the expenditure approach. The product also called as the output approach sums the total produced within the economy in order to attain the value of GDP. The expenditure approach assumes that the products produced must be bought by someone and so the total value of the product must be matched by the total expenditure of the people in purchasing things (Wesselink, Bakkes, Best, Hinterberger, and Brink, 2007). The last approach takes into consideration that the value of the products must be equal to the incomes of the factors of production. It determines the value of GDP by calculating the sum of the income of the producers. Inflation rate: Inflation is defined as the continuous or sustained rise in the general level of price. It can also b e defined as continuous reduction in the value of money. The movement in the general price level is referred to as inflation. The rise in the price level must continue over longer period than a day, week or a month (Makinen, 2003, p. 2). Some of the factors that lead to inflation are rise in the costs of imported materials, the costs of labour to rise and the high rate of indirect tax from the part of the government. In cases where the rise in the general price level is caused by increase in the level of wages as well as raw materials are regarded as cost push inflation. With rises in the costs of production the firms tend to raise the prices of the products so that they can gain the same amount of profits. This is a situation of cost push inflation. The cost push inflation is frequent when the level of employment is on the downward sloping curve. If left uncontrolled inflation will move from the initial stage towards the stage that can be harmful. Therefore it is necessary to contr ol inflation before it gains strength. An inflation of stronger intensity is much difficult to control than the mild one. It should be kept in mind that that it is not possible to control hyperinflation. The changes in the price level of goods and services purchased by the households are measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI can be calculated as the ratio of updated cost and price of the base period multiplied by 100. Unemployment rate: Unemployment takes place when people are short of jobs but are actively looking for

Air Asia vs. Qantas Essay Example for Free

Air Asia vs. Qantas Essay 1. Overview 1.1 Qantas-Main business and strategies The main business of Qantas airways limited is the transportation of passengers. Their core strategy of Qantas is profitably grows and the longer-term strategy of Qantas is to reorganize its business structure in order to eliminate mounting losses. The strategy that implement by company is to reduce the capital intensity of the business by forging partnerships with carriers in certain sectors that are uneconomical. (Qantas, 2012) Such as cooperate with British Airways. Qantas use two complementary airline brands; these two brands are used to touch different customers. Two brands operating together has occupied 65% market share in Australia, (Qantas, 2012) because, two brands provide flexibility in varying market conditions. Qantas, (2011 pp. 4) On the other hand, these two brands practice some sub-strategies to support its main strategy. These appropriate sub-strategies are the key success for point that lead to Qantas continually expansion in the world. | Qantas| Jetstar| Sub-Strategy| * Premium full service * Maximized profitability| * Cost leadership * Low fare airline| Operational improvement| * Enhanced customer service focus| * Expand locally and into international leisure markets | In statistics of 2012, Qantas has full-employees for 33,584. Flights over 550 airports and passengers carried are 44,456,000, which increase the 5.06% base on the year 2011. (Qantas, 2012) 1.2 Air Asia-Main business and strategies Air Asia is the largest low-cost flyer carrier in the world. It is establishing with the dream of making flying possible for everyone. On the other hand, it is not only focusing on the cost factor, but also safety first. The Air Asia has operated around 11 years, but it’s still keep high grow rate. The Air Asia is the regional carrier with the largest destination network, highest flight frequencies and high aircraft utilization.( Air Asia, 2012) Air Asia was named the 2012 World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for three consecutive years. There are some actions that support its main strategy in order to make it success. Such as the lost cost model is based on: (Hill, C. W. 1988). * Single passenger class * Flying to cheaper, less congested secondary airports * A single type of airplane in order to reducing training and servicing cost * Point to point flights with no transfers In statistics, Air Asia has full –employees for 4346. Passengers carried are around 22,474,620 in 2012, which increase more than 10% base on the year 2011. Services network over 216 routes covering destinations in and around world. The below picture has shown that air Asia are trying to get more market share in the southwest of Asia, there are more than 143 routes in southwest of Asia out of 216. This is the developing direction of the Air Asia in recent years. (Air Asia, 2012) 2. Industry analysis 2.1 Overview Goble airlines markets PESTLE mode analysis The Lift side is show that, the air travel remains a growth market. This forecast mentions that air traffic will double in the next 15 years, which means, the external environment still keep optimistic. Both of Qantas and Air Asia have same opportunity. (Airbus, 2012) The PESTLE model lists the factors or driver for growth, external environment can be reasonably expected as optimistic. but this chart showed that real GDP 2011-2031 by region, the economic growth is a key driver for air traffic growth, increasing urbanization will also drive economic growth and the propensity to fly. (Airbus, 2012) PESTLE model PESTLE model| Political * Stable political environment * Deregulation| Economic * Global financial crisis * Rising currency * Rising fuel cost| Social * Changing consumer demographics * Increasing travel lifestyle * Changing consumer preferences| Technology * Internet * Surface transport investments * Efficient aircrafts| Legal * Legislation compliance requirements * Allegations of misleading advertising| Environmental * Greenhouse and carbon emissions * Tourism saturation * Shortage of infrastructure capacity| 2.2 Overview Australia airline markets Qantas is the biggest airline operator in Australia, which represent as 75.6% for domestic market, but Qantas still has some competitors in Australia, such as Virgin blue (14.4%), Skywest (1.3%), Tiger (1.0%) and others (6.3%). We should understand it operate environment before we going to depth analysis, because the every company is restricted by external environment. PESTLE model clearly show Qantas operating external environment According to this chart, we can conclude that the overall environment is good and stable, but overall industry still facing some problem, the biggest issues has shown at lift picture, which is purchases, purchases of fuel. (Australia government 2013) 2.3 Qantas SWOT analysis Strength: 1. As one of the biggest Airline in the world, QAN has large quantity of flight customers and business relationships. Large scale could bring more benefits. 2. Qantas operates in a sea of business activities in different sectors. But all of them the support activities of the aviation industry, such as catering, engineering and baggage handling. Thus operation contributes to helping control supplier and aircraft maintenance costs. 3. Qantas Airways, Canada airlines, United Kingdom airline, United States airlines and Cathay Pacific founded a management company called One world Alliance. This centrally is to help each other in non-core business activities, such as marketing and online ticketing, in purpose of reducing costs and thereby cutting ticket prices. Members of the Union may also transfer passengers for connecting flights. 4. As monopolizing in Australian Market, Qantas has a home advantage. Thus its subsidies could provide better resources for its business. Weakness: Without the authorization of the trade union officials, workers in Qantas took an action called Wild Cat Strikes. Qantas was damaged by that action in delaying flights, exploring its issues between employees and the company. Besides, QAN Company is too concentrated on Australia side. Opportunities: As publishing of Open sky police, such as Pricing determined by market forces, Fair and equal opportunity to complete, Cooperative marketing arrangements, QAN could be beneficial from international aviation liberalization and downsizing in government intervention. In addition, more international destinations especially in Asia are developing. Due to Australia Market is less tapped so far, QAN could get a better chance to gain a major market shares than other airline companies. Moreover, QAN found a new opportunity of new market and created Jetstar witch is a low budget airline to attract potential large quantities of customers. Threat: With the result of merging between n United Airlines and Continental, Qantas is under threat because United Airlines- Continental is planning to penetrate into Australian market. One of Qantas most important international routine, between Australia and USA, will be affected. Unfortunately, large fluctuation in oil prices, together with global financial crisis, big airline companies was affected seriously due to rising operation and labor costs. Increasing Australia Airline market completion also will be a threat for QAN developing. 2.4 Overview Southwest of Asia markets The main competitors of Air Asia are Thai airways, Nok air, One Two GO Airline, and Singapore airlines, among of them SIG is the main competitor with Air Aira, in order to compete with Air Asia, SIG introduced 2 budget airlines; Valu Air and Tiger Airways, both of them are practice as the low-cost position. AIRASIA SWOT Analysis: Strength: AIRASIA has a well-known name and it is famous for its low cost operation. in accordance with the 2011-2012 year financial report, the companys non-fuel costs fell 3%, suggesting that companies continue to implement cost control; in 2011-2012, the company plans to non-fuel unit costs to fall by 5%. While ancillary revenue rose 23%, which helps companies to achieve annual revenue growth targets Moreover, it has the first-mover advantage of first low cost airline company in Asia. After that, AirAisa has strong promotional strategies for general promotion and media advertising. In addition, they companying with other service providers, such as hotel) and credit cards create a unique image among customers. Because of its punctual performance, AirAsia was offered honor of five-star service and flashes. AIRASIA has developed a well-established distribution channel in its products and services. Moreover, it is always using single type of airplane, thus minimizing maintenance fees. Weaknesses Due to the report, Aircraft leasing costs increased by 8% since the number of aircraft increased by 8 per cent while leasing costs and depreciation of the dollar, allowing the company to save rental costs. Airport and operating costs increased by 12%, reached 444.34 million dollars. Other expenses have increased by 14%. As the economic condition recovery, how to control the rising costs becomes o one of the most serious challenges faced by AIRASIA. Because of the lower cost, AIRASIA has limited service resources. Thus also is related to being lack of ability of handling irregular situation. Government interference regulates airports. In addition, AIRASIA receives a lot of complaints from customers such flight delays and not able to change flight. When competition is getting intense, good customer service and management is especially important. Opportunity With having first-move advantages, AIRASIA could be more possible to survive and win under the big intense environment such as rising oil price and government regulation. There is another opportunity for AIRASIA is cooperating with other low cost airlines such as Jetstar. The significant action could help tap into their strength and resources. Besides, larger population of customers is willing to choose cheaper flight. Threat In nowadays, lots of low cost airline companies are appeared such as Jetstar, Virgin, and Southwest. These companies improve that AIRASIA’s low cost strategy could not be a strong competitive advantage in the industry. It could be copied easily. Many kinds of expenses such as security fees and landing fees are out of control. Moreover, unstable economic conditions in the world have impacted on airline industry. Thus treat is same with questions facing by Qantas. 3. Accounting policies analysis 3.1 Basis of preparation of the financial statements The accounting policies are the procedures that used by a company to prepare its financial statements. Qantas’ reports basically are prepared in accordance with AASBs, but also following the IFRS (Qantas, 2012 pp.78). Air Asia prepared their reports following the MASBs and also in conformity with IFRS. IFRS is the general guide for these two companies when they prepared their report. It means not only significantly enhance comparability of financial reporting between these two companies, but also decrease our uncertainty, increase the reliability and accurately of analysis. (Burgstahler, D. C., Hail, L., Leuz, C. 2006) These two companies are running same business industry and prepare report in accordance with IFRS, so there are some accounting policies are similar, the following lists show the similarities of accounting policies practiced as these two companies 3.2 Similarities of accounting policies (Qantas, 2012 pp.80, Air Asia, 2012 pp.73) * Reports on the basis of historical costs except in accordance with relevant accounting policies where assets and liabilities are stated at their fair values * Main revenue recognition-The value of seats sold for which services have not been rendered is included in current liabilities as sales in advance * Other revenue-such as fuel surcharge, insurance surcharge, administrative fees, excess baggage and baggage handling fees, are recognized upon the completion of services rendered. * Residual value-the changing estimates are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances * PPE-Depreciation is used the straight-line method * Inventory-The values of inventories are reported as weight average cost. * Repair and maintenance expenditure, repair treat as cost, deduct in the same period. Maintenance, if it changes in the using life of equipment, it will be treat as capitalization. Even these policies are similar, but they still have some flexibility, such as the report can be influenced by changing accounting estimates. The following table has been showed that there are totally different use for life and residual values between these two companies’ assets. These two factors are depended on the judgment and estimate of management. Matsumoto, D. A. (2002) mentions that management’s estimates and judgments involved in the accounting policies which have significant potential impact on their financial statements, because these matters are really uncertainty. Finally, this uncertainty will reflect on the ROA, ROE, even if these two ratios increase or decrease, it does not necessarily because of changing in the company’s profitability. (Lev, B., Li, S., Sougiannis, T. 2010). | Qantas| As Asia| | Use for life(Years)| Residual values| Use for life (Years)| Residual values| Buildings| 10-40| 0%| 28.75-50| 0%| Passenger aircraft and engines| 2.5-20| Up limited 10%| 7-25| Adjusting according to a prospective basis (note1)| Air spare parts| 15-20| Up limited 20%| 10| Adjusting according to a prospective basis (note1)| Note1ï ¼Å¡Estimates and judgments are continually evaluated by the Directors and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. (Air Asia, 2012 pp. 77) 3.3 Main different accounting policies 3.3.1 Receivable Qantas and Air Asia receivables contain of trade debtors, other debtors and loans owing from related parties. Normally, the net receivable is recognized as its original amount less a provision for uncollectible debts. Qantas make an estimate for doubtful debts when collection of the full amount is no longer probable. The estimation of provision of doubtful debt relative to receivable is regularly reviewed. Bad debts are written off as incurred (Qantas, 2012 pp.101). As result, it is a risky way for the company not to assign provision of bad debts according to the percentage of credit sales. In Air Asia, they assign provision of bad debts according to the percentage of credit sale, (Air Asia, 2012 pp. 98) company will operate more stable, less risk then Qantas, but allowance will decrease its operating asset, reflect on the ATO, as result influence ROE. (Davidson Thompson 1962) 3.3.2 Discount Rate Discount rate is the interest rate that used in discounted cash flow analysis to determine the present value of future cash flows. (Qantas, 2012 pp.101) Changing discount rate will influence the company’s pension plan. Normally, pension is company’s liability; it is measured by three factors, PBO, ABO and VBO. Either PBO, ABO, should be discounted before reported. Due to particular category of pension plan, company just reports the different between the pension benefits and pension obligation on the financial report, if the benefits are greater than obligations it will be reported on the assets side, on the opposite, it will be reported on the liabilities side. (Wiener 1995) So the effect will directly reflect on its ROA and ROE. Discount rate of Qantas is based on the risk-free rate for the ten-year Australian Government Bonds adjusted for a risk premium that represented as 10.5% percent per annum (Qantas, 2012 pp.103). Air Asia use weight average effective interest ra te that represent as 10% per annum. The changes in discount rates of Qantas in 2011 to 2012 that lead to decrease in the Workers ’ Compensation provision of $15 million and an increase in the long service leave provision of $45 million. The net effect of these changes was a $30 million increase in provisions as at 30 June 2012. (Qantas, 2012 pp.103) as results, the changing of provision will reflect on the ROE of Qantas, because provision is comprised of liability. Finally, the ratio analysis will lack of comparability. 4. Ratio analysis: 4.1 Return on equity analysis: The ROE changing line of Qantas Airline limited (QAN) has a sharp fluctuation during year 2009, which has reached the top point of almost 60%. Then ROE index declined until 16.89% after the top and maintained about the level figure of 20% from year 2010. Compared with QAN, Aireys Berhad (AIRASIA) has a relative complicated ROE line. AIRASIA started from -50% from end of year 2008, afterwards got to the first top of 35.37% in 2010. After that the concave curve reached the bottom of 14.28%, and was back to the top at point of 37.39%. As personal opinion, AIRASIA has a brighter future than QAN on ROE side due to its growing trend ROE ratio from year 2011 though it had a negative number from the beginning point. In addition, with the research of 5 year average ROE rate, the total airline industry index is 26.9%, which is higher than QAN and lower than AIRAISA (StockCentral, 2013). AIRAISA is doing a better job in using investors’ money and attracting more investing capital. 4.2 Leverage affect From above two graphs, different index reflect different relationships. On QAN side, ROE rates changing are mainly due to changing in return of asset rate. It is indicating that QAN achieved a better effect of asset utilization by increasing revenue and saving asset funds to raise ROE ratio up. Different with QAN, AIRAISA’s ROE rate is primarily rely on financial leverage, which is equal to net financial liabilities / equity. Overwhelming other related facts, higher financial leverage rates mean stronger power of using liabilities to create profit. From this aspect, it is not hard to disclose different profit channels between two companies. 4.3 Borrowing cost driversï ¼Å¡ Downsizing of borrowing cost rate gives opportunities to raise ROE ratio. In QAN, from year 2011 the borrowing rates have been continuously declining which gave contributions to profit gaining. From AIRASIA side, borrowing cost rate kept on level of 3%-4% in recent two years, which may weaken ROE performance competing with QAN. 4.4 Operating profit drivers Return on asset ratio, which could be divided in asset turnover and profit margin directly, affects the performance of ROE. Compared with two companies, ATO ratio gave more impacts on ROA in past five years in QAN. Relatively much higher ATO ratio of QAN reflects that business higher speed of asset utilization from input to output for the period, better enterprises assets management quality and efficiency. Downsizing in ATO rate will directly influence ROA rate, obviously between year 2008 and 2009. In AIRASIA side, ROA ratio variation mainly affect by PM ration. On whole, PM ratio curve indicates increasing trend in the 5-year period, though a slight drop in year 2011. Higher PM ratio compared with QAN could give evidences that AIRASIA has better ability to recover kinds of expenditures and cost of goods sold, benefiting from the low cost strategy. Low costs give contributions to gaining higher ROA ratio of AIRASIA than QAN in recent year. 4.5 Cost structure These two graphs are drawn on the base of revenue as 100%. According to two graphics, we can easily see that After deduct COGS, Air Asia reported Gross profit around 50% over 5 years, but Qantas just has less than 20% for Gross profit, Air Asia practices cost-lead ship strategy, so COGS and its selling administration expense is significantly lower than Qantas. So the Air Asia control its COGS are better than Qantas. But however, the selling administration expense of Qantas (around 11% of 100% revenue) less then Air Asia (around 26% of 100% revenue), which mean Qantas, is good at management. Thus trend indicates that low-costs of airline industry would be bafflement for increasing profit. Compared with two companies’ gross profit and gross margin ratio curve, Qantas has been suffered drop trend in five-year gross profit due to its downsizing revenue and high cost of goods sold. AIRASIA has optimistic trends both in gross profit and gross margin. The company was engaged in exp anding sales and revenue, improving cost management level and seeking appreciate company strategy at the same time. Higher gross profit and gross margin indicate company could have higher possibilities to gain profit. 4.6 Average industry analysis The first graph shows the ROE of Air Asia in the Malaysia airline industry, after 2009, the ROE of Air Asia is significantly higher than average. The second procure compare the Qantas with Australia airline industry, if we calculate the average ROE of Qantas, the result is a little bit lower than average. The last graph we put two-airline companies in the Asia- pacific region, the graph has shown that Qantas’ operating is lower than the average, after 2009, Air Asia is keeping upward. 5. Conclusion After our analysis, due to applying different policies and strategies, two airline companies did different performance in gaining profits. we think that even though Air Asia just set up around 11years, and its size of the company is quite less than Qantas. But they have been adapted to the turbulent global environment. Its strategy has fitted with external environment, the advantage of small company is easy to change its management control system to response with the turbulent environment and better to keep consistent with its strategy. Finally, the whole company will be easier to achieve the goal. As result, AIRASIA seems to be better in raise ROE ratios, benefiting from its increasing sales and costs controlling. So we can concluded that AIRASIA’s performance is better than Qantas. Reference: Qantas, (2012) â€Å"Qantas Annual Report 2012† Qantas Airways Limited www.qantas.com Qantas, (2011) â€Å"Qantas Group presentation December 2011† Qantas Group www.qantas.com. Air Asia, (2012) â€Å"Air Asia Annual Report 2012† Air Asia Airways Limited www.airaisa.com Airbus, (2012) â€Å"Navigating the future† Global Market Forecast 2012-2031 www.airbus.com â€Å"Domestic airline activity, Department of Infrastructure and Transport†, Australia government, update 19 August, 2013 www.bitre.gov.au Qantas Customers 2012, by Segment 2012, Statistic, viewed 8 May 2012, Qantas’ Situation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 2011, The Age, viewed 8 May 2013, Stockcentral (2013), industry averages. Available from: http://www.stockcentral.com/?utm_source=iclubindustryaveragesutm_mdium=link [Accessed: August 17, 2013]. Burgstahler, D. C., Hail, L., Leuz, C. (2006). The importance of reporting incentives: earnings management in European private and public firms. The accounting review, 81(5), 983-1016. Lev, B., Li, S., Sougiannis, T. (2010). The usefulness of accounting estimates for predicting cash flows and earnings. Review of Accounting Studies, 15(4), 779-807. Kotlikoff, L. J., Wise, D. A. (1989). Employee retirement and a firms pension plan. Hill, C. W. (1988). Differentiation versus low cost or differentiation and low cost: a contingency framework. Academy of Management Review, 13(3), 401-412. Matsumoto, D. A. (2002). Managements incentives to avoid negative earnings surprises. The Accounting Review, 77(3), 483-514. Cyert, R. M., Davidson, H. J., Thompson, G. L. (1962). Estimation of the allowance for doubtful accounts by Markov chains. Management Science, 8(3), 287-303. Scott, T. W. (1994). Incentives and disincentives for financial disclosure: Voluntary disclosure of defined benefit pension plan information by Canadian firms. Accounting Review, 26-43. Wiener, H. J.(1995), †Pension Plan Strategy† A Comprehensive Guide to Retirement Planning for physicians and Other Professionals 7(2), 101-212. Appendix Air Asia ANALYSIS| 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| REFORMULATED BALANCE SHEET| | 12/31/2012 USD| 12/31/2011 USD| 12/31/2010 USD| 12/31/2009 USD| 12/31/2008 USD| Operating Assets| | | | | | | Net Receivables| | 315,898,627| 176,713,880| 158,421,275| 170,371,203| 262,514,740| Total Inventories| | 7,758,339| 6,223,975| 5,692,557| 6,093,458| 5,978,035| Prepaid Expenses| | 240,199,477| 149,035,647| 105,739,906| 73,305,199| 32,597,110| Other Current Assets| | 0| 198,398,423| 174,299,659| 180,913,551| 212,788,150| Net Property, Plant Equip.| | 3,200,140,615| 2,744,062,776| 3,021,904,005| 2,319,564,252| 1,905,866,763| Other Assets| | 863,519,621| 282,959,621| 106,643,425| 141,351,051| 40,122,254| | | 4,627,516,678| 3,557,394,322| 3,572,700,827| 2,891,598,715| 2,459,867,052| Operating Liabilities| | | | | | | Accounts Payable| | 21,299,542| 25,636,593| 17,245,987| 26,411,507| 31,597,399| Accrued Payroll| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Income Taxes Payable| | 1,674,951| 0| 529,269| 2,869,159| 0| Dividends Payable| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Other Current Liabilities| | 606,007,521| 479,045,110| 400,453,705| 312,255,549| 322,342,775| Provisions for Risks Charges| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Deferred Income| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Deferred Taxes| | -118,180,510| -162,807,571| -233,260,905| -219,414,136| -247,430,347| Other Liabilities| | 166,843,689| 154,044,479| 146,867,196| 0| 0| | | 677,645,193| 495,918,612| 331,835,252| 122,122,079| 106,509,827| Net Operating Assets| | 3,949,871,485| 3,061,475,710| 3,240,865,575| 2,769,476,636| 2,353,357,225| | | | | | | | Financial Assets| | | | | | | Cash Short Term Inv.| | 730,127,861| 666,457,098| 487,957,516| 217,964,953| 44,439,884| | | 730,127,861| 666,457,098| 487,957,516| 217,964,953| 44,439,884| Financial Liabilities| | | | | | | Short Term Debt and Current LTD| | 368,264,879| 187,454,574| 179,660,126| 157,788,551| 157,243,353| Long Term Debt| | 2,381,682,472| 2,267,166,877| 2,368,374,899| 2,064,168,224| 1,776,526,012| | | 2,749,947,351| 2,454,621,451| 2,548,035,025| 2,221,956,776| 1,933,769,364| Net Financial Liabilities (Assets)| | 2,019,819,490| 1,788,164,353| 2,060,077,509| 2,003,991,822| 1,889,329,480| Shareholders Equity| | 1,930,051,995| 1,273,311,356| 1,180,788,066| 765,484,813| 464,027,746| check| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| REFORMULATED INCOME STATEMENT| | | | | | | Sales| | 1,617,426,750| 1,418,025,552| 1,280,394,033| 914,982,769| 761,470,520| Total Costs| | 864,089,928| 1,074,545,110| 934,371,331| 648,407,418| 932,758,092| Earnings before Interest and Taxation (EBIT)| 753,336,821| 343,480,442| 346,022,701| 266,575,350| -171,287,572| Tax| | 56,556,246| 69,934,700| 12,143,668| 33,884,638| -107,697,977| Income after Taxation| | 696,780,576| 273,545,741| 333,879,034| 232,690,713| -63,589,595| Net Interest| | 97,912,688| 98,364,669| -10,343,765| 84,832,360| 79,925,723| Net Income (before Pref Dividends Minority Interests)| 598,867,888| 175,181,073| 344,222,799| 147,858,353| -143,515,318| TAX-SHIELD| | | | | | | Effective Tax Rate| | 7.5%| 20.4%| 3.5%| 12.7%| 62.9%| Net Interest| | 97,912,688| 98,364,669| -10,343,765| 84,832,360| 79,925,723| Tax Shield| | 7,350,728| 20,027,643| -363,014| 10,783,119| 50,253,725| TAX-ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME| | | | | | | Operating Income (with tax shield)| | 689,429,848| 253,518,098| 334,242,048| 221,907,593| -113,843,321| Net Financing Costs| | 90,561,960| 78,337,026| -9,980,751| 74,049,241| 29,671,997| Net Income| | 598,867,888| 175,181,073| 344,222,799| 147,858,353| -143,515,318| AVERAGED BALANCE SHEEETS| | | | | | | Operating Assets| OA| 4,092,455,500| 3,565,047,574| 3,232,149,771| 2,675,732,883| 1,298,921,526| Operating Liabilities| OL| 586,781,902| 413,876,932| 226,978,666| 114,315,953| 65,446,413| Net Operating Assets| NOA| 3,505,673,597| 3,151,170,642| 3,005,171,105| 2,561,416,930| 1,233,475,113| Financial Assets| FA| 698,292,480| 577,207,307| 352,961,235| 131,202,419| 26,432,942| Financial Liabilities| FL| 2,602,284,401| 2,501,328,238| 2,384,995,900| 2,077,863,070| 991,642,182| Net Financial Liabilities (Assets)| NFL(NFA)| 1,903,991,922| 1,924,120,931| 2,032,034,666| 1,946,660,651| 965,209,240| Shareholders Equity| SE| 1,601,681,676| 1,227,049,711| 973,136,439| 614,756,279| 268,265,873| check| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Sales| SA| 1,617,426,750| 1,418,025,552| 1,280,394,033| 914,982,769| 761,470,520| Operating Income (with tax shield)| OI| 689,429,848| 253,518,098| 334,242,048| 221,907,593| -113,843,321| Net Financing Costs| NFC| 90,561,960| 78,337,026| -9,980,751| 74,049,241| 29,671,997| Net Income| NI| 598,867,888| 175,181,073| 344,222,799| 147,858,353| -143,515,318| ROE DECOMPOSITION| | | | | | BASIC ANALYSIS| | | | | | | ATO (sales / net operating assets)| | 0.46| 0.45| 0.43| 0.36| 0.62| PM (operating income / sales)| | 42.63%| 17.88%| 26.10%| 24.25%| -14.95%| ROA (operating income / net operating assets)| 19.67%| 8.05%| 11.12%| 8.66%| -9.23%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| CLEV (net operating assets / equity)| | 2.19| 2.57| 3.09| 4.17| 4.60| ILEV (operating income / net income)| | 1.15| 1.45| 0.97| 1.50| 0.79| ROE ( net income / equity)| | 37.39%| 14.28%| 35.37%| 24.05%| -53.50%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| SPREAD ANALYSIS| | | | | | | ROA| | 19.67%| 8.05%| 11.12%| 8.66%| -9.23%| Borrowing Rate (net financing costs / net financial liabilities)| 4.76%| 4.07%| -0.49%| 3.80%| 3.07%| Spread (ROA financing costs)| | 14.91%| 3.97%| 11.61%| 4.86%| -12.30%| FLEV (net financial liabilities / equity)| | 1.19| 1.57| 2.09| 3.17| 3.60| Leveraged Spread| | 17.72%| 6.23%| 24.25%| 15.39%| -44.27%| ROE| | 37.39%| 14.28%| 35.37%| 24.05%| -53.50%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| Qantas ANALYSIS| 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| REFORMULATED BALANCE SHEET| | 06/30/2012 NZD preliminary| 06/30/2011 NZD| 06/30/2010 NZD restated| 06/30/2009 NZD| 06/30/2008 NZD| Operating Assets| | | | | | | Net Receivables| | 1,138,830,550| 1,099,506,200| 918,979,200| 914,755,950| 955,587,900| Total Inventories| | 385,418,800| 398,263,200| 269,443,350| 269,443,350| 202,112,500| Prepaid Expenses| | 410,020,000| 434,663,600| 326,034,900| 326,034,900| 0| Other Current Assets| | 89,179,350| 23,553,200| 86,154,300| 90,377,550| 287,808,200| Net Property, Plant Equip.| | 14,493,181,950| 14,615,831,200| 10,571,639,400| 10,571,639,400| 9,826,709,750| Other Assets| | 1,618,553,950| 1,675,489,000| 1,319,343,300| 1,319,343,300| 1,558,691,600| | | 18,135,184,600| 18,247,306,400| 13,491,594,450| 13,491,594,450| 12,830,909,950| Operating Liabilities| | | | | | | Accounts Payable| | 661,157,250| 639,148,200| 506,790,000| 506,790,000| 482,644,650| Accrued Payroll| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 337,932,100| Income Taxes Payable| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Dividends Payable| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 4,042,250| Other Current Liabilities| | 5,488,117,700| 5,418,306,600| 4,232,541,150| 4,241,832,300| 4,111,776,700| Provisions for Risks Charges| | 755,461,850| 692,678,200| 473,004,000| 473,004,000| 430,903,850| Deferred Income| | 1,164,456,800| 1,189,436,600| 901,241,550| 914,755,950| 1,024,306,150| Deferred Taxes| | 660,132,200| 821,150,200| 603,924,750| 603,924,750| 490,729,150| Other Liabilities| | 229,611,200| 527,805,800| 195,114,150| 195,114,150| 216,664,600| | | 8,958,937,000| 9,288,525,600| 6,912,615,600| 6,935,421,150| 7,098,999,450| Net Operating Assets| | 9,176,247,600| 8,958,780,800| 6,578,978,850| 6,556,173,300| 5,731,910,500| | | | | | | | Financial Assets| | | | | | | Cash Short Term Inv.| | 3,573,324,300| 4,083,268,400| 3,325,387,050| 3,325,387,050| 3,377,704,100| | | 3,573,324,300| 4,083,268,400| 3,325,387,050| 3,325,387,050| 3,377,704,100| Financial Liabilities| | | | | | | Short Term Debt and Current LTD| | 1,147,030,950| 617,736,200| 532,129,500| 522,838,350| 491,537,600| Long Term Debt| | 5,566,021,500| 5,839,052,400| 4,320,384,750| 4,306,870,350| 3,957,362,750| | | 6,713,052,450| 6,456,788,600| 4,852,514,250| 4,829,708,700| 4,448,900,350| Net Financial Liabilities (Assets)| | 3,139,728,150| 2,373,520,200| 1,527,127,200| 1,504,321,650| 1,071,196,250| Shareholders Equity| | 6,036,519,450| 6,585,260,600| 5,051,851,650| 5,051,851,650| 4,660,714,250| check| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| REFORMULATED INCOME STATEMENT| | | | | | | Sales| | 16,117,886,200| 15,945,516,400| 11,632,519,800| 11,632,519,800| 11,764,564,400| Total Costs| | 16,221,416,250| 15,412,357,600| 11,379,969,450| 11,379,969,450| 11,506,668,850| Earnings before Interest and Taxation (EBIT)| -103,530,050| 533,158,800| 252,550,350| 252,550,350| 257,895,550| Tax| | -107,630,250| 79,224,400| 52,368,300| 52,368,300| 46,890,100| Income after Taxation| | 4,100,200| 453,934,400| 200,182,050| 200,182,050| 211,005,450| Net Interest| | 254,212,400| 187,355,000| 102,202,650| 102,202,650| 111,566,100| Net Income (before Pref Dividends Minority Interests)| -250,112,200| 266,579,400| 97,979,400| 97,979,400| 99,439,350| TAX-SHIELD| | | | | | | Effective Tax Rate| | 104.0%| 14.9%| 20.7%| 20.7%| 18.2%| Net Interest| | 254,212,400| 187,355,000| 102,202,650| 102,202,650| 111,566,100| Tax Shield| | 264,280,218| 27,839,900| 21,192,523| 21,192,523| 20,284,745| TAX-ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME| | | | | | | Operating Income (with tax shield)| | -260,180,018| 426,094,500| 178,989,527| 178,989,527| 190,720,705| Net Financing Costs| | -10,067,818| 159,515,100| 81,010,127| 81,010,127| 91,281,355| Net Income| | -250,112,200| 266,579,400| 97,979,400| 97,979,400| 99,439,350| AVERAGED BALANCE SHEEETS| | | | | | | Operating Assets| OA| 18,191,245,500| 15,869,450,425| 13,491,594,450| 13,161,252,200| 6,415,454,975| Operating Liabilities| OL| 9,123,731,300| 8,100,570,600| 6,924,018,375| 7,017,210,300| 3,549,499,725| Net Operating Assets| NOA| 9,067,514,200| 7,768,879,825| 6,567,576,075| 6,144,041,900| 2,865,955,250| Financial Assets| FA| 3,828,296,350| 3,704,327,725| 3,325,387,050| 3,351,545,575| 1,688,852,050| Financial Liabilities| FL| 6,584,920,525| 5,654,651,425| 4,841,111,475| 4,639,304,525| 2,224,450,175| Net Financial Liabilities (Assets)| NFL(NFA)| 2,756,624,175| 1,950,323,700| 1,515,724,425| 1,287,758,950| 535,598,125| Shareholders Equity| SE| 6,310,890,025| 5,818,556,125| 5,051,851,650| 4,856,282,950| 2,330,357,125| check| | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Sales| SA| 16,117,886,200| 15,945,516,400| 11,632,519,800| 11,632,519,800| 11,764,564,400| Operating Income (with tax shield)| OI| -260,180,018| 426,094,500| 178,989,527| 178,989,527| 190,720,705| Net Financing Costs| NFC| -10,067,818| 159,515,100| 81,010,127| 81,010,127| 91,281,355| Net Income| NI| -250,112,200| 266,579,400| 97,979,400| 97,979,400| 99,439,350| ROE DECOMPOSITION| | | | | | BASIC ANALYSIS| | | | | | | ATO (sales / net operating assets)| | 1.78| 2.05| 1.77| 1.89| 4.10| PM (operating income / sales)| | -1.61%| 2.67%| 1.54%| 1.54%| 1.62%| ROA (operating income / net operating assets)| -2.87%| 5.48%| 2.73%| 2.91%| 6.65%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| CLEV (net operating assets / equity)| | 1.44| 1.34| 1.30| 1.27| 1.23| ILEV (operating income / net income)| | 1.04| 1.60| 1.83| 1.83| 1.92| ROE ( net income / equity)| | -3.96%| 4.58%| 1.94%| 2.02%| 4.27%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| SPREAD ANALYSIS| | | | | | | ROA| | -2.87%| 5.48%| 2.73%| 2.91%| 6.65%| Borrowing Rate (net financing costs / net financial liabilities)| -0.37%| 8.18%| 5.34%| 6.29%| 17.04%| Spread (ROA financing costs)| | -2.50%| -2.69%| -2.62%| -3.38%| -10.39%| FLEV (net financial liabilities / equity)| | 0.44| 0.34| 0.30| 0.27| 0.23| Leveraged Spread| | -1.09%| -0.90%| -0.79%| -0.90%| -2.39%| ROE| | -3.96%| 4.58%| 1.94%| 2.02%| 4.27%| check| | 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| 0.00| Company | Return On Equity Per Share[Y2008]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2009]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2010]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2011]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2012]| 1| 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| 2| -27.03| 25.33| 33.93| 14.46| 36.86| 3| 6.1| 20.38| 10.32| -18.51| -27.24| | 　| 　| 　| -16.22| 6.01| Malaysia industry average| -10.47%| 22.86%| 22.13%| -6.76%| 4.81%| | | | | | | 1| 17.02| 2| 1.89| 4.09| -4.07| 2| 22.45| 19.73| 18.2| 11.46| 15.25| 3| 11.61| -21.09| 2.26| -7.32| 2.36| Austrilia industry average| 17.03%| 0.21%| 7.45%| 2.74%| 4.51%| | | | | | | | 　| 　| 　| 　| 　| | Return On Equity Per Share[Y2008]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2009]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2010]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2011]| Return On Equity Per Share[Y2012]| 1| -37.81| 22.91| 39.91| 17.15| 10.29| 2| 14.73| 1.33| 5.13| 5.29| 4.46| 3| -27.03| 25.33| 33.93| 14.46| 36.86| 4| 15.02| -1.08| -13.73| 4.69| 5.27| 5| -19.27| 11.89| 29.11| 9.99| 1.62| 6| -76.38| 57.88| 57.42| 19.5| 17.28| 7| -70.4| -11.18| 23.64| -4.06| 0.1| 8| -51.42| 4.23| 34.87| 17.31| 8.15| 9| -27.96| -10.48| 33.11| 0.5| 1.31| 10| 19.69| 39.08| 9.61| 13.94| 10.66| 11| -20.6| 5.01| 30.35| 19.6| 10.79| 12| -20.47| -30.29| -21.4| -5.16| -14.43| 13| -26.05| -3.37| 14.11| -9.31| 9.83| 14| 6.1| 20.38| 10.32| -110.51| -27.24| 15| -0.11| -13.94| 9.05| 85.17| -13.52| 16| 17.02| 2| 1.89| 4.09| -4.07| 17| 22.45| 19.73| 18.2| 11.46| 15.25| 17| 16.21| 43.36| 56.31| 44.68| 25.97| 18| 13.1| 7.31| 1.58| 7.88| 2.48| 19| -37.71| 14.89| 24.31| -14.64| 9.45| 20| -14.02| 0.34| 17.5| 10.69| 1.37| 21| 11.61| -21.09| 2.26| -7.32| 2.36| Asia Pacific Region industry average| -13.33%| 8.37%| 18.98%| 6.15%| 5.19%|

The Cambodia Vietnamese War History Essay

The Cambodia Vietnamese War History Essay The Cambodia-Vietnamese War was a series of conflicts involving various nations such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Hanoi, China and the United States of America. It was a conflict that flourished from border disputes between Cambodia and Vietnam. Minute aspects that contributed to this controversy stretched as far back as the 14th Century, when the Khmer Empire declined and when Khmers and Vietnamese dealt with an uneasy integration in an atmosphere of suppressed mistrust. The formlessness of the conflicts has made it difficult to identify the time frame unerringly but has been gauged that it occurred between 1975 and 1989. However, the wars foremost conflict was the Cambodian Incursion by the Vietnamese in 1978. It is debatable to affirm if this controversy can be justified accordingly. By examining the manifold of causes and effects of the conflict with close study to the Just War Theory to substantiate my view, I will elaborate on why I think that a form of equilibrium has been establishe d of the war in terms of being unjust or otherwise. Vietnam possessed no precise or pertinent reason to invade Cambodia. Emory Swank, the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia came to a conclusion that The war is losing more and more of its point and has less and less meaning for any of the parties concerned. (Schanberg and Pran 11). This is relative to the border disputes because of the U.S. involvement in providing military assistance for General Marshal Lon Nol, who overthrew Sihanouk in 1970, in Cambodia during the war. However, the Just War theory criteria, Jus ad bellum, states that a party must possess the right intention to go to war, and in turn will be granted the right to go to war (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Cambodia and Vietnams feeble relationship fortified in 1965 when Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, despite mistrusting the Vietnamese, allowed North Vietnamese Communists to establish sanctuaries inside the borders of Cambodia (Schanberg and Pran 11). After North and South Vietnam signed an agreement in Paris on January 27th 1973, Cambodian communists were left to stand alone. This being the basis of the international relationship provoked many controversies, but never provided Vietnam with a commensurable rationale to invade Cambodia. The invasion into Cambodia by the Vietnamese was a disproportionate response to the 2-year long border dispute between the two countries. According to Jus ad bellum, the goal attained should be in proportion to the offence (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). However, over two million lives were at the expense of settling disputes between two countries. It is impossible for Vietnams eventual goal to measure up and find equilibrium with the execution of over two million inhabitants. The invasion failed to ameliorate, furthermore prevent more evil than it caused. According to statistics, a larger amount of people were directly affected by the invasion and massacre rather than the series of border conflicts. Thus, the invasion failed to prevent more human suffering than it caused. According to the theory, the means used to fight must be in proportion to the wrong to be righted. (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) However, the lives of a massive number of people were at the expense of the Vietnamese invasion, therefore, with humanity at stake, the goal cannot be compared to the evil committed in this incursion. Thirdly, the Cambodian incursion was not a last resort for the Vietnamese. According to the Just War Theory criteria, Jus ad bellum, a war is justified when only after all viable alternatives have been exhausted (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). In this case, the Vietnamese offered a diplomatic solution to the conflict, such as the establishment of a demilitarized zone along the border of the two countries, but was eventually rejected by Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge in that period. A single attempt was made by the Vietnamese, indicating the possibility that more could have been done to prevent the provocation of the war. Therefore, because other possibilities and alternatives were never explored or exhausted, the invasion into Cambodia was not a last resort for the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese made no distinction between combatants and non-combatants of the war, thus resulting in an indiscriminate attack of Cambodia. It has been proven that a massacre of about one million Cambodians took place in the Cambodian incursion. According to the Just War theory, Jus in bello, non-combatants and civilians should be spared so as to avoid terrorism of the people. Combatants would include members of military forces, guerilla forces or anyone who takes up arms but not for self-defense. Non-combatants would include civilians or neutral countries, children, the old and the sick (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The war sparked off when the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) launched a massive invasion into Cambodia in 1978. They began a massacre of over a million people, and failing to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants of the war. According to the Just War Theory, the failure to do so would indicate the lack of justification of a war du e to the unleveled playing field of the two parties, which would result in uneven an potholed consequences. The VPA possessed excessive military force when invading Cambodia, without the limitation of unnecessary death and destruction of Cambodia and its civilians. In this bloody guerilla war, the amount of Vietnamese troops was almost 8 times the amount of Cambodian troops. According to the Just War Theory, Jus in bello, the principle of minimum force in a war needs to be appropriately applied, as well as attacking needs to stem from the intention of helping in military defeat (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The Vietnamese forces fell short of this as it resulted in the deaths of over a million civilians, the destruction of border villages and the abandonment of vast tracts of agricultural land. According to Jus post bello, goals of the war cannot be reached with excessive force, which the Vietnamese were in opposition of. The stringent lack of limitation of military forces showcases the Vietnameses incorrect conduct within the war. After the invasion, both countries suffered political, social and economical deteriorations. Slaughters, assaults, bombings and mass violence demonstrations affected the Vietnamese and Cambodians in terms of living standards, conditions and circumstances. A vast amount of property was destroyed which resulted in the overflow of refugee camps and the inhabitation of refugees in Phnom Penh specifically. Due to the large number of people, diseases in the area were rife. Also, food was scarce and malnutrition was a common situation. Medical attention was unable to be provided as hospitals were overworked and under-equipped with few drugs available, thus resulting in the collapse of the medical system. Political relations within different countries were also heavily impinged on. When the Khmer Rouge lost all political and military power, they suffered disintegrations through defections of the political and military system. The dimensions of Vietnamese colonization of Cambodia were also measured (Morris 224). For example, PRK was renamed State of Cambodia (SOC) in 1989 by the Vietnamese. However, the Vietnamese communists managed to achieve their goal of overthrowing the Khmer Rouge regime. Vietnam also suffered from Chinese military pressure for over 10 years as well as receives international diplomatic isolation (Morris 222). Vietnams alienation of international support was a result of their actions of invasion precluding any prospects of imminent normalization with the U.S., as well as turned most of the Western and Third World nations against any cooperation with them (Morris 222). This also meant war of Vietnam with China. The Vietnamese invasion on Cambodia meant much economic alterations for both countries. The Vietnamese suffered from economic alienation and isolation which retarded the economic growth of the country. Cambodias traditional economy was also all but vanished. As a result, inflation was extremely rampant in both countries. According to the aftermath of the Cambodian incursion, neither of the countries seemed to have gained incentives and inducements from the war itself. In turn, both countries suffered major political, social and economical damage, causing a massive downturn in the establishment of the two countries. However, probability for success for the Vietnamese was evident. There has been evidence of certain aspects of the incursion being justifiable. The Just War Theory criteria, Jus as bellum, states that a country has the right to go to war when there is a probability for success (Just War Theory,  The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). It considers the ethics of causing suffering, pain and death to inhabitants of a country with no chance of success. In this case, the Vietnamese saw that their probability for success from the incursion would be higher than that of the Cambodians. As long as chance for success existed for either party in this war, the Vietnamese can then be granted the right to go to war in the first place. Similarly, the Vietnamese had barely any supplementary alternatives to put an end to the various 2-year long disputes. After Pol Pot rejected Vietnams diplomatic solution for the border conflict, a mutual understanding between the countries failed to exist. This made it tough for the Vietnamese to decipher a modus operandi to put a quick stop to the disputes. However, the invasion was merely not a last resort but more of an immediate solution for the Vietnamese. With harsh limitations and an inability to resist more animosity, the Vietnamese succumbed to war. In this context and within these circumstances, it is still possible for the conflict to be a just one. Apart from accentuating the traditional animosities between Vietnam and Cambodia, furthermore, the was also managed to overthrow the Khmer Rouge from power as well as end the Khmer Rouge Regime Genocide. With close relation to the Just War Theory, Jus ad bellum, Jus in bello, and Jus post bellum, I managed to differentiate the aspects into which exploit is just and what is otherwise. Moreover, though many factors proved the Vietnamese invasion to be unjust, the possibility of the incursion being a just war still subsists.

Women in The Workplace Essay -- Work Gender Females Essays

Women in The Workplace Gender plays a huge role in workplace 'success' and can be a big challenge especially if the employee is a woman in a male dominated workplace or career. No matter how 'hard-nosed,' 'ruthless,' 'workaholic' a woman may be, or how much personal success she achieves, there will always tend to be some type of obstacle to keep her from getting completely to the top of the corporate ladder. She must also still fight stereotypes that undermines her confidence or limits her potential. Since the early 20th century, women and minorities have sought equal opportunities in education and in the labor force with little success. These obstacles or barriers are all known as the glass ceiling. When speaking of the glass ceiling, a reference is being made to an invisible, artificial barrier that prevents qualified individuals from advancing within their organization and reaching full potential. The glass ceiling describes the point beyond when women managers and executives are not promoted. These barriers result from institutional and psychological practices. The glass ceiling exists and is evident in three different levels. These levels are: Apprenticeship, The Pipeline and Alice in Wonderland. Although not every organization has all three levels, one level could sometimes be more predominant in one part of an organization and not in another. Apprenticeship Women in the United States have been admitted into apprenticeship programs in large numbers, for so many years, that it is seemingly easy for young women to believe and for management to assert that discrimination is obsolete, and that the glass ceiling is either a myth or a subject that will automatical... ..., A. (1996, March). ?Glass Ceiling Red Flags.? http://www.bickerstaff.com 2. Constable, P. (1995, October). ?A Glass Ceiling of Misperceptions.? http://www.washingtonpost.com 3. Author Unknown (1997). ?The Three Levels of the Glass Ceiling: Sorcerer?s Apprentice to through the Looking Glass.? Dataline, Inc. http://cyberwerks.com 4. Author Unknown. (1997, January). ?Glass Ceiling rises, but remains intact.? Business First. http://cgi.amcity.com 5. Miller, L. (1997, June). ?Women are making it their business to get ahead.? Community Newspaper Company. www.towonline.com 6. Author Unknown. (1997, February). ?Breaking Through.? Business Week Archives. http://www.businessweek.com. 7. Author Unknown. Internet news article www.theglassceiling.com 8. Author unknown. Internet news article. www.womenswire.com

Brewing Change at Breckenridge Brewery Essay -- Case Study, Business M

Brewing Change at Breckenridge Brewery INTRODUCTION Breckenridge Brewery is a craft brewer which was established by Richard Squire. Richard turned his passion for brewing good home made beer into a lucrative business. In 1989, he started his first Breckenridge Brewery and Pub at Breckenridge which has a production capacity of 3,000 barrels per year. During his first two years in business, he sold out the brewery's annual maximum capacity. He opened a second brewery and brew pub in Denver in November 1992. By the end of 1994, even this brewery failed to satisfy the increased demand and plans were made for a new brewery which opened in May 1996 in Denver. This brewery had a maximum output of 60,000 barrels per year after expansion. In the mid 1990s, Breckenridge Brewery started expanding eastwards and their first brewpub outside Colorado opened in Buffalo, New York in December 1995. Five other brewpubs were subsequently opened in other states. However, from its opening till 1997, the brewpubs have not turned in a profit although the main brewery was making money. Richard believes that his vision for the company, a two-tiered concept with a top microbrewery producing fresh, quality beer and a chain of brewpubs, has potential. However, due to the more complex nature of running a restaurant, he believes that the company has yet to figure out how to run its restaurant business profitably. The company is now at the crossroads. Richard is in a dilemma as to whether to continue the brewpub business or to give it up and just concentrate just on brewing beer. He is also unsure about bringing in new leadership to help solve the company?s performance problems. THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT A firm?s external environment is divided into three major areas : the general, industry and competitor environments. Below is an elaboration in further detail regarding the firm?s opportunities and threats in these three environments. Opportunities in the General Environment The United States of America has a population of 260 million people. This is a big market with substantial purchasing power. As of 1997, Breckenridge Brewery has only expanded eastwards and the west side of the country is relatively untouched. According to Exhibit 2 in the case study, there were only distributors in 32 states and that leaves a potential to sell to the other 19 states as w... ... a year. To cater to increased demand, the company can consider acquiring other breweries that are going out of business and that will see substantial savings on capital investments. It will be advantageous for the company if they can project themselves as responsible corporate citizen and an environment friendly company. Social enrichment schemes, recycling schemes and educational funds can be initiated to cater to this cause and long term goal. CONCLUSION Breckenridge Brewery has a strong business in brewing beer. Due to the lack of professional management expertise and venturing into the wrong business, the company has not been able to turn in a profit. It is important that the company try to resolve these problems as soon as possible. Only then, will the company get out of the red and hopefully, move on to a higher level. Works Cited: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2005), Strategic Management : Competitiveness and Globalisation, 6th Edition, Thompson & South-Western. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thompson and Strickland (2002), Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 13th Edition, Chicago Irwin Publications. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yip, G.S (2003), Total Global Strategy, Prentice Hall.

Dover Lights

Dover Lights Introduction 1) Have you ever been sitting at home bored looking for something to do? Have you ever wanted to see some paranormal activity that is close to home? 2) Good Morning my name is Micah Thomas 3) Some of you may know the place a) Dover Lights b) I will tell you about i) The history ii) About the spot iii) Encounters 4) I have even had a couple of personal experiences Body 1.History 1) Spanish Conquistadors buried gold in the Ozarks during the war a) The story behind the lights are the Conquistadors searching for the gold and silver they lost b) Conquistadors are thought to have littered the Ozarks in search of the treasures c) Written reports in the 1800’s of settlers finding deposits of silver d) Homesteaders found large deposits of silver seam ) Dover lights are something that has been around since the early 1800’s e) There are written documents from the 1800’s from settlers f) However most locals say the first real reports were in 1930 i) The Works Projects Administration scoured the hill country for stories ii) Civilian Conservation Corps built the rock wall at the overlook where the lights are most often viewed g) In the 1990’s MysteriousReality.Com posted the first film footage ever of the lights iii) Lights moving around bluffs and above the creek h) Around 2000 a camper called in emergency crews because he thought a vehicle had driven off one of the bluffs that rim the valley i) In March 2004 Ted Phillips of the Branson, Missouri from the Center for Physical Trace Evidence photographed what he described as intense and odd-colored lights ) In April 2009, a paranormal group filmed the lights iv) At the time of the filming the water levels were at record levels ruling out and human contamination 2. About the spot 1) Located about 17 miles outside of Dover Arkansas heading north on highway 7 a) Down a lonely stretch of dirt road b) Overlooking Big Piney Creek c) CCC overlooking the valley and creek d) No ele ctricity e) No man made light f) National Forest 2) Things to do g) Camping h) Canoeing i) Hiking j) Beautiful Overlook k) Popular party/drinking spot 3.Encounters 1) ‘’Lantern floating in the air† is what most people describe the light as a) The lights are the Spaniards lanterns they are using to search for the silver and gold i) If you yell out â€Å"we have your treasure† they will sometimes come out and chase up the hill side toward you b) 3 lights all three different colors ii) Red light seen most often iii) Blue light iv) White light 2) Professional sightings c) Have been on several different TV shows v) Discovery’s ghost hunters vi) Arkansas ghost and urban legends ii) Forgotten USA d) All have reported about the same thing viii) 3 lights floating/dancing/racing across the canyon ix)Some have done day time explorations and say the valley is to dense and steep for some human to be doing it e) Some professional and scientist say that it could be gas being let off x) Used to mine sulfur out of the valley years ago xi) Some say the gas could make the glowing 3) Personal sightings f) I have been to the lights about 30 times xii) Seen them about 10 times g) Seen all three lights 5 times ) Seen just the red twice and seen just the white twice i) Been legitimately scared about 30 times Conclusion 1) You now know the a) History of the lights b) Where they are located c) And what some encounters are 2) No one has solid evidence on what this phenomenon really is d) But it is fun to go out and watch i) Weather you believe in ghost ii) Just want to go hang out and get away from town iii) Its always a fun and exciting adventure e) And if you are feeling really brave go up to the edge and yell â€Å"we have your treasure† but get ready to â€Å"run like a little girl†

Family Guy, Friend or Foe? Essay

Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious In Antonia Peacocke article â€Å"Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious,† she discuses the show created by Seth MacFarlane, stating how she loves the show and how she can even recite several episodes by heart. However, when she first started watching the show she did not care for the type of humor that was expressed. Peacocke goes onto explains that she is not the only one who has these same feelings on how the show is bigoted and crude (Peacocke). Evidence to this was when the show was cancelled not only once, but also twice, in 2000 and 2002. Soon after the show was band, complaints from so many viewers to Fox Television Network, the producers were forced to start airing the show again (Peacocke). However, as she continued to watch the television program, she noticed that there was more than just racist, sexist, and bestiality jokes to be taken from the show (Peacocke). She even goes on to state how she gave the show a second chance and realized that it actually had a purpose and portrayed the stereotypes many people use today. Family Guy is one of the most disgusting, cruel and racist shows I have ever laid my eyes on, that is what I first thought after watching the TV show, Family Guy, for the first time, now that I look back on it, it is simply not true. If you look into the show more deeply and get what Seth McFarland, creator of Family Guy, is trying to portray you realize there is a lot more to it. I took the same view of the show as Peacocke, at first I did not like it, but I was forced by my family and friends to watch it. After watching several episodes, I stepped back and took a deeper look at the racist and sexist jokes said on the show, and I realized there was mor e to learn and see then just getting a chuckle out of the cruel jokes. Family Guy can be one of the most sexist and demeaning television programs out there but if you take a step back and look at what Seth MacFarlane is trying to get at, from the women of the 1950’s to the censorships of the FCC, you can learn the true meaning of Family Guy. Anyone who has ever watched an episode of Family Guy will agree that the show is very offence and often time sexist, but most people do not really get the true meaning of the show and how it relates to the stereotypes in our day to day lives. In one occasion in Peacocke essay â€Å"Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious,† she states that in an episode â€Å"I am Peter, Here me Roar,† there is a scene of an old 1950’s work place where a business man is talking about how women are very insecure about their appearance(). He explains that men should be sure to complement women on how they look, even if they are ugly, because they will believe it (302). Then the businessman goes on to say that a firm slap on their butt will let them know what good of a job they have done (302). I take this not to be a sexist skit but how the women of the 1950’s were mocked in the work place and how normal it was for this to happen to them. This is just one of the many examples of people misunderstanding Family Guy. Peacocke also includes in her essay how celebrities influence the way we think and what we do things in our everyday lives. This is shown in one episode of Family Guy, mentioned in Peacocke’s essay, when Brian and Stewie, are talking about Stewie’s choice of reading material (304). Brian then goes on to explain to Stewie that he only picks what he is going to read based on the books presented in Oprah’s Book Club on the Oprah Winfrey show (304). However, Stewie is quick to deny any of his accusations. Soon after Stewie’s denial, Brian is able to get Stewie to admit that he really is reading the book simply because Oprah suggests it. Here they are trying to demonstrate how Americans are willing to listen to the suggestions of celebrities and do what they tell us to do, without thinking twice about it. I agree with Peacocke on this because I have first hand experiences with my family. One example of this is my dad is a huge Payton Manning fan. When he saw that Payton was endorsing the brand Buick, he just had to go run out and get one because he wanted to be just like Payton. When I asked him about it, he said that it was a nice car and had nothing to do with Payton. But in the back of my mind I knew it was because of Payton. This goes to show that people are willing to follow the instructions of celebrities but don’t really want to admit that they do (304). An episode of Family Guy, PTV, as mentioned in Peacocke’s essay, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is trying to shut down Peter’s Griffin’s own television show because it is not censored and appropriate enough to be put on television (306). Then the FCC takes it to a whole other level and tries to censor the town where they live, Quahog, later the FCC puts black bars over nude Griffin’s and uses a frog horn when they are using a swear word. The point MacFarlane is trying to depict in this episode is that no matter how much you try and censor media, you can never change the unforgiving nature of humans and therefore, in trying to do so, would be virtually impossible. Peacocke also states in the essay that it is the parent’s responsibility to watch over their children and there is more to worry about in this world then television (306). This reminds me of one of my own personal experiences with this as a child. One of my favorite shows that my dad let me watch growing up, The Three Stooges, got banned because the FCC thought that with them beating each other up and getting hurt every episode that it promoted violence, even though it was just a funny show to watch and get a laugh out of. Similarly, in Family Guy, they are not promoting hurtful racial or sexist slurs; they are showing the true stereotypes that exist in people today. At the end of the day, I have first hand experiences on both sides of the story. I have a reasonable understanding of the side, which does not care for Family Guy, and the side that knows the true meaning behind the television program. If the people who think this show is a disgrace would just take a step back, they could that Family Guy really has much more to offer then just racist, sexist and bestiality jokes. There is a distinct difference between what many people believe is sexist and what is simply just what the creator of Family Guy is trying to show us how people stereotype. I think that people are much more willing to listen to a message about discrimination and sexism if it is delivered in a funny way and they can make themselves believe it is really not them.