Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Acc 410 Week 2 Assignment Analytical Procedures - 1361 Words

ACC 410 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES To purchase this visit here: http://www.nerdypupil.com/product/acc-410-week-2-assignment-analytical-procedures/ Contact us at: nerdypupil@gmail.com ACC 410 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES Analytical Procedures. In a 2-3 page paper, complete the case below and submit to instructor. Review the income statement for Uden Supply Company and answer the following: a. Describe the purpose of analytical procedures performed in the planning stage of the audit. b. Uden Supply has projected its 2004 gross profit at 31% of sales despite expectation for some shrinkage in margins. On the basis of Uden’s operating performance in years 2001 – 2003 project your best guess for 2004. Project†¦show more content†¦ACC 410 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES To purchase this visit here: http://www.nerdypupil.com/product/acc-410-week-2-assignment-analytical-procedures/ Contact us at: nerdypupil@gmail.com ACC 410 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES Analytical Procedures. In a 2-3 page paper, complete the case below and submit to instructor. Review the income statement for Uden Supply Company and answer the following: a. Describe the purpose of analytical procedures performed in the planning stage of the audit. b. Uden Supply has projected its 2004 gross profit at 31% of sales despite expectation for some shrinkage in margins. On the basis of Uden’s operating performance in years 2001 – 2003 project your best guess for 2004. Project 2004 based on the incremental changes for each line item over theShow MoreRelatedAcc 599 Complete Course Acc599 Complete Course3028 Words   |  13 PagesACC 599 Complete Course ACC599 Complete Course Click Link for the Answer: http://workbank247.com/q/acc-599-complete-course-acc599-complete-course/25542 http://workbank247.com/q/acc-599-complete-course-acc599-complete-course/25542 ACC 599 Week 1 Discussion Investment Strategy  Ã‚  Please respond to the following: * From the e-Activity, evaluate at least two companies’ financial statements that have received a negative rating from one of the financial rating agencies. Determine which financialRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesincrease the ï ¬â€šexibility for teachers. Combined with the illustrations and the short case examples at the end of each chapter (in both versions of the book) this increases the reader’s and tutor’s choice. For example, when deciding on material for Chapter 2, the case example, Global Forces and the European Brewing Industry, tests a reader’s understanding of the main issues inï ¬â€šuencing the competitive position of a number of organisations in the same industry with a relatively short case. For a case thatRead MoreIncome Taxation Solutions Manual 1 300300 Words   |  1202 Pagesthe main issues of each segment. Where applicable, tax rates are assumed to be: Individual Corporation - dividends (eligible) - dividends (ineligible) - other income - SBD income - ABI over $500,000 - investment income 28% 33% 45% 15% 25% 44 2/3% (38 + 6 2/3) Incorporation of Proprietorship The primary benefit of incorporation is the ability to use the small business deduction on $500,000 of annual business income. Based on the existing profit the annual tax saving will be: Current taxes: .45 x

Sunday, December 22, 2019

International Trade Is A Political Source Of Contention

International trade is a political source of contention. Politicians for decades argue for â€Å"bridging back American manufacturing jobs† lost to the outsourcing in poorer countries. In The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli analyzes the creation of a simple cotton t-shirt and the effect on a global economy. In her book, Rivoli argues that while there are winners and loser in international trade, there are a wealth of benefits in innovation and international relations that globalization provides. In the history of United States foreign policy, the planet has never been more interconnected by trade. Therefore, trade is a necessity in a modern world that makes the globe wealthier and more stable. Rivoli’s book proves that a simple t-shirt purchased on a whim connects an entire global market in the process before coming to a shelf. Throughout the t-shirts journey however, it’s met with many different viewpoints on the benefits of this globalization. For example, an area of controversy the author presents the book is the theory of â€Å"racing to the bottom.† Since the mass production of cotton, there have been factories that produce large quantities of textiles. Usually these factories carry poor working conditions and environments along with them. From Britain to the United States, and now 2nd world countries throughout the world, â€Å"sweat shops† have often been synonymous with child labor, poor wages, and brutal work hours. Rivoli brings the arguments of the theShow MoreRelatedBusiness and Economy Discussion Questions1504 Words   |  6 Pagesend of the process (Kieffer, 2008). 3. The impact of current fiscal and monetary policy on the economy is a major source of contention and is not easily addressed in an issue. Current economic policy, in the United States, appears to be geared at helping pull the United States out of a recession. Whether or not this approach is successful seems to depend upon the political orientation of the people evaluating these policies. The current monetary policy is a stimulative monetary policy, as theRead MoreLeopold Von Ranke972 Words   |  4 Pagesshaped world history to the interests of their respective nations. He further emphasizes their importance by imagining how history could have developed in radically different directions without their accomplishments. Closely related is Ranke’s contention that philosophy of history, anticipating an ideal historical destiny, adopts a prophetic position rather than one that looks backwards, analyzing past events to understand them and their causes. Here though Ranke occasionally seems to slip. ForRead MoreGlobalization: Only Desperation Has Been Globalised Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pagesupon social, economic and political factors. What shall be discussed is whether globalization restricts or frees â€Å"the integration of economic, cultural, political and social systems across geographical boundaries†. (Beardsworth et al. 1997) A relevant issue to begin with is the origins of the inter-societal stratification. Bolshevik revolutionary, Lenin argues that there is a systematic progression from the beginning of capitalism to the end product of â€Å"international capitalist monopolies† (WatersRead MorePestee Korea1648 Words   |  7 PagesPESTEE Analysis Korea Political Analysis Political factors refer to political situation of the country and the extent to which it may affect and interfere with the project. Political system of South Korea has undergone a huge transformation to become a democratic country in 1987. South Korea became a stable democracy with strong political and economic support from the US The political landscape of the country include centralization of power which the implementation of economic reformsRead MoreTo most of us, globalization—as a political, economic, social, and technological force—appears all1700 Words   |  7 PagesTo most of us, globalization—as a political, economic, social, and technological force—appears all but unstoppable. The ever-faster flow of information across the globe has made people aware of the tastes, preferences, and lifestyles of citizens in other countries. Through this information flow, we are all becoming—at varying speeds and at least in economic terms—global citizens. This convergence is controversial, even offensive, to some who consider globalization a threat to their identity and wayRead MoreCauses of Parallel Economy in India1553 Words   |  7 Pagesmoney on a significant scale. Any price control without any adequate machinery of distribution and speedy arrangement for increasing supplies is potentially a source of black money generation. 4. Hawala market as the main cause of black money generation- It is very well known that the international smugglers or the traders in other illicit trade cannot complete their monetary transactions through any nationalized or other private legal banks in India. Also, the amount of money in which the drugs andRead MoreA Critical Book Report on Lawrence Wrights the Looming Tower.3012 Words   |  13 PagesA critical book report on Lawrence Wrights The Looming Tower. Introduction The September 11th terrorist hijackings and attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon caught the United States largely by surprise. Once the dust had settled, and the shock and horror of such an unprecedented event had waned, the American public began to ask questions. Names such as Osama bin Laden, countries such as Afghanistan, and organizations such as Al-Qaeda were brought into the publics consciousness forRead MoreHas Globalization Reinforced or Undermined the Legitimacy of the Nation-State?1914 Words   |  8 Pagesbeen increasingly used in the lexicon since the latter half of the 1980’s, achieving widespread and common currency amongst politicians, political analysts, academics, economists, the media, business, trade and finance. The term has become synonymous with the â€Å"global village† concept, where nations and states are drawn closer together; where economic, political and cultural spheres extend across the world’s major regions and contin ents. A world where development in one part of the globe will impactRead MoreMultinational Enterprises Conflicts with Host Nations1789 Words   |  8 Pagesmanufacturing plants such as Vauxhall. Other types of MNEs are categorised as conglomerate. These are diverse businesses that produce a wide range of different products in numerous countries. The reason for such practise is to utilise different sources of production in different areas. Companies who adopt this approach include Heinz, Organics, Calvin Klein and Birds Eye. As this type of MNE often uses the same product in different countries, research and marketing has to be particularly extensiveRead MoreDiplomatic Relations Between Russia And Russia Essay2449 Words   |  10 Pagesdiplomatic relations that the European Union has is its connection with the Russian Federation. The EU’s past, present, and future with Russia has culminated to one of the most interesting and most important diplomatic relationships within the international political system. The EU and Russia share the very important European continent. EU-Russian foreign policy is critical to the globe as these are two of the world’s more important diplomatic powers. Looking into Russia’s energy dominance and how that

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Photosynthesis Playbill Free Essays

The CREW Stage Manager Jo King Assistant Stage ManagerUriel Smart Creator/Writer NH Graphic Designer Kenny Dewitt Costume Designer Uta Mann Set and Props Crew Starr E. Sky Lighting DesignerWanda Rinn Sound Crew Dinah Might Dance Crew Jim Class Makeup Vic Toree DresserNeil B. Formi Acknowledgements The script, Life of Ps was made possible by my AP Biology teacher’s assignment. We will write a custom essay sample on Photosynthesis Playbill or any similar topic only for you Order Now If not for her, I would never have sat down and composed a four page script about Photosynthesis. I would also like to thank my supporting family for listening to my complaints and frustrations throughout this process. My gratitude goes out to the AP Bio Facebook group as well, for answering all the questions I had about Photosynthesis. Thank you all very much. The CAST In order of appearance *Narrator *Thylakoid Lila *Calvin Cycle Cal Water H-Two-Oh *Electrons *Oxygen Oxi *Photons Tony *Photosystems II and I (respectively) *Chlorophylls A (P680 and P700) *Hydrogen Ion The Hydrogen Twins *Ferredoxin *Cytochrome Complex *Plastoquinone *Carbon Dioxide *NADP+ and NADPH *NADP+ Reductase *ATP Synthase *ATP and ADP + P *Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) and RuBisCO *3-PGA *G3P *Glucose Biographies Main characters (Alphabetically) Calvin Cycle: Three phases occur here: carbon fixation, reduction, and regeneration Chlorophylls A (P680 and P700): reflects green light, and absorbs red and blue light to being the process of photosynthesis Electrons: transported through the Electron Transport Chain for the production of ATP and NADPH Glucose: ATP from the Light Reactions are used, with the addition of hydrogen ions to CO2 to make glucose. Narrator: Narrates the play Thylakoid: interconnected sacs and membranes within the chloroplast that contain enzymes involved in Light Reactions Water: is split to release electrons, hydrogen ions, and oxygen How to cite Photosynthesis Playbill, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Business Information Analysis

Phase 1: Problem of Business and Objectives of the Research Background Overview Sony VAIO is sub-brand for most of the computer products manufactured by Sony. Originally, it had been an acronym for Integrated Operation of Video and Audio (Storper and Venables 2014). However, since the year 2008, amendment was made towards Intelligence Organizer of Visual Audio for celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the brand. Creation of the brand was done by Timothy Hanley for distinguishing items that comprised of the utilization of consumer video and audio along with being conventional products of computers (Kawaguchi 2013). Even though Sony had been making computers in the years of 1980 for the market of Japan only, withdrawal was done from the business of computers by Sony taking a new turn in the decade. Sony re-entered the market of computers by the introduction of this new brand, VAIO, in the year 1996. This entry was made internationally. Broad Problem Area There has been a huge reduction in the level of sales of Sony VAIO. The problems of Sony are endemic towards the corporate structure and pattern. It has also been following the larger changes that affect the market of PC. This has not only affected other competitive organizations, but has also affected the marketing condition of Sony VAIO as well. The company of Japan is a Medusa. This refers to having a number of heads having connections to the similar body that are often independent and end up being in conflicts (Nonaka and Takeuchi 2010). The commands are given by the brand of Sony, but issues rise when the supporting products do not always work along together. They also end up straying from the adopted standards of industry towards user interfaces and proprietary formats. List of Information Following is the list of information that the Sony Vaio needs to know: a. Sales figure of Sony Vaio from 2010 to 2013 b. Competitors strategies and position c. Changing consumer behaviour and attitudes d. Technological trends e. Most profitable segment of customers and market place f. Current economic situation of market place g. Polices and regulations outlined by local government regarding the associated industry h. Past strategies adopted by company for product development i. Top ten laptop sales in the year of 2013 Research Objectives a. Discussing the functions and relevance of the organizational goals and objectives, in relation with decisions and the wide range of information categories important for a number of stakeholders b. Explaining how the research skills are important for collection, analyzing and presenting data c. Using the basic quantitative techniques that include statistical and probability inference d. Explaining the utilization of information technology and communications in the process to acquire, analyse and communicate information e. Describing the main tools and systems of information technology utilized within service industries to manage information f. Recognizing and analyzing the key reasons behind the decreasing sales of company through assessing the listed external and internal environment of Sony Vaio g. Developing efficient and effective actions and strategies to mitigate the challenges faced by company through researching the trends in consumers buying behaviour and attitudes Phase 2: Literature Review Sales Figures of Sony Vaio between 2010 and 2014 Following is the sales figures for Sony Vaio solf in between the years of 2010 and 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013 8.7 Million 10.6 Million 7.5 Million 6.1 Million Units Units Units Units (Source: Sony, 2013) Competitive Analysis Sony has been operating within a number of industries. Therefore, the company is known for facing several challenges along with high intensity of competition within all sectors. The main market segments of Sony involve Joint Ventures, Financial Services, Pictures, Games and Electronics. It is also known that there is no other business within the global market dealing with all of these five segments. This makes LG electronics, Microsoft, Canon, Samsung and Apple the main competitors of Sony and the sub-brand, Sony VAIO. Amongst major competitors of Sony, American organizations, Microsoft and Apple have resulted in demonstrating stronger financial results since the past five years.Within the segment of electronics, Sony has lost a lot of market share within the division of audio. Along with this loss, there has been a huge expansion and growth within the global market of laptops. This has resulted in keeping Sony VAIO laptops more exposed towards risk as there has been an increase in t he intensity of risk. However, the products being provided by Sony VAIO are with high level of technology that becomes a strong point for the competition of Sony. Even though consistent performance is being initiated by Sony in development of new and different innovative products, the performance has still been lagging behind from other competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Acer C7 Chromebook Acer is one of the most reputed and loved brand globally. With strong battery backups and affordable prices, Acer has emerged as one of the key competitors for Sony Vaio. Considering the C7 Chromebook of Acer, it seems to be much more user friendly and cheap in comparison to Sony Vaio. This product comes with a standard resolution of 1366 X 768 and the display is quite sharp (Arimura 2009). The product also has a touch screen, which again adds to its merits. However, Sony Vaio is considered as a premium product and the business professionals would prefer Vaio over Ultrabook. But the Ultrabook seems to have a competitive advantage over Vaio, in the context of student segment of customers. Apple Macbook Apple Inc. has been dominating the global software and hardware market from so many years and thus, is a key competitor of Sony Vaio in the laptop section as well. The very known and highly reputed Macbook of Apple stands much taller than the concerned product Vaio. Macbook comes with full HD resolution and thus is highly appreciated by the people belonging to different professions, especially the people from video editing, graphic designing, and photo editing field. The laptops fan does not make any sound like Vaios and the flash storage of the laptop makes it the fastest machine. However, the only aspect where Sony Vaio seems to have an advantage over Apple Macbook is price. Fujitsu Life book U772 Fujitsu is not much known at a global level, but when it comes to affordability, Sony Vaio seems to have another competitor. The features of Sony Vaio are much attractive than the Fujitsus Life Book but similar to the Acer laptops, Fujitsu is string enough to attract the student and young people towards itself. Asus S56 Asus is another reputed laptop brand is very much preferred by the business professionals because of its fast boot times and slim design. Sony Vaio consumes 25W of power whereas S56 of Asus consumes just 17W of power. However, the graphics and display quality of Vaio is much better than the Asus S56s.It is evident from the above made arguments that the Sony Vaio is facing a lot of competition from different brands and need to develop a unique or diverse product line. No aspect or feature is left without competition and the Sony Vaio must heavily invest in the R D. This high level of competition has been the key reason behind the decreasing sales of Sony Vaio. Trends in technology and Consumer Behaviour With so many alternative options available to the people, it is essential that the Sony VAIO keep track of the ever changing consumer behaviour, while incorporating the advanced and modern technology within all its products. It is a well known fact that the customers feel more attractive towards the companies that offer the mist unique and advanced gadgets (Aoki and Dore 2014). Thus, through monitoring the technological trends, and utilizing the same within production processes, Sony VAIO can eventually increase its sales. Today, most of the people prefer i7 or iOS as the operating system of computer systems, thus the company needs to manufacture the products that are compatible and work smoothly with the i7 OS as iOS is under the copyright of Apple. Profitable Customer Segment The analysis of Sony VAIOs key features demonstrates that it is capable of meeting the needs of two different customer segments. First segment is that of students or young persons, whereas the second one is that of business professionals. However, the product also lack in certain aspects. One of those aspects is high resolution graphics, which is preferred by the students (Aoki 2010). Thus, the left customer segment of business professionals seems to be the most profitable one for Sony VAIO. But still, the company needs to develop and refine the products storage and processor, so that the business professionals can work on VAIO for long hours. Government Policies and Regulations Government has been monitoring and assessing the activities of each companies belonging to PC and laptop industry to ensure ethicality in business. In consideration with the governmental policies and regulations, the company has been trying to develop those products that are in the best interests of government (Fruin 2012). The company tries to comply with both legal and ethical obligation so that there is no scope of conflict or criticism. Sony tries to provide adequate information to its customers regarding the product specifications and price of the products, so that the customers feel satisfied and each sale is made with complete customer satisfaction. Similarly, in case of stakeholders, Sony provides required information adequately regarding the profit earned by them and share of all shareholders. Further, in case of government, Sony reaches the respective governmental agencies with its annual reports and financial statements along with receipt of payment of tax (Morgan 2010). T he company is also well aware of its obligations towards employees, thus Sony provides detailed information to the employees regarding their salary, monetary as well as non-monetary benefits.Thus, it is evident that the company has been complying with each of the governmental and legal provisions and policies, so that the company can reflect an image of ethical company and develop a stronger base of customers at a global level. However, there are certain areas and policies that are not being complies with, especially by the customer end employees (Markusen 2014). So, it is essential that the company provides each of its employees with adequate training and coaching, so that each of them contributes maximally to the achievement of companys overall objectives which is to gain maximal profits with increase in sales. Past Strategies Sony had been focusing on selling off its lacklustre division of PC and focused to spin off the business of TV within the standalone enterprise. Plans had been made by the Industrial partners of Japan for purchasing the sub-brand of Sony, which is VAIO. The deal that had been evaluated was accounted as 490 million dollars. The deal had been finalized in the end of March in the year 2014 (Storper 2010). It was stated that Sony will be cutting off 5000 posts of job within the company across the globe. However, the new partners have been planning for hiring almost 250 to 500 employees of Sony and continued for filling warranties of aftercare (Antonelli 2009). Sony will be initially investing 5 per cent of the new capital of the company for supporting this particular launch. However, for several researchers, VAIO being sold has not been a major surprise. This is because the PC business of Sony has been underperforming in several other divisions since a long duration of time. As per certa in researchers along with the CEO of Sony, future of Sony relies upon other segments, that are mobile, gaming and imaging (Feldman and Florida 2014). Even though consistent performance is being initiated by Sony in development of new and different innovative products, the performance has still been lagging behind from other competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Functions and relevance of organizational objectives and goals Sony Corporation is the unit of electronic business and the main parent organization of the Sony VAIO. It has been engaging itself in the business by eight segments of operations. These segments are networked products and services, financial services, pictures, disk manufacturing, music, consumer products and services and Sony Ericsson. Irrespective of the fact that Sony has been achieving success since a long duration of time, it is important to reconsider the goals and objectives set on timely basis. If you are not aware of the final destination you are supposed to reach, any road will lead you there (Fransman 2009). This phrase states the relevance of having organizational objectives and goals. Sony VAIO has been considering this phrase and moving ahead by setting its goals and objectives. The main goal should not be focused on just staying within the business.Setting the goals has been identified the most important, basic and prominent tool used by Sony VAIO for obtaining assista nce to set their directions and accomplishing these in an appropriate and effective manner. The goals set by Sony are both, long term as well as short term. The goals are not only in relation with the sales, products and development of services but also to bring improvements in the quality, focusing more on customers, initiating reduction of errors, and building improved public as well as internal relationships.The goals of Sony are set on the basis of mission, objectives, strategies, goals and action plans. The mission of the organization helps in establishing an understanding regarding the facts as to what has to be done and what has to be produced. The objectives have been set on the basis of the mission. Objectives lay emphasis on the main mission set by Sony. The goals of Sony define the entire process of success, from starting to end.Sony has always been focusing on striving for creation of value within the society and this particular idea has been serving as a main foundation and base for the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the organization (Howells 2012). Other goals and objectives of Sony involve creation of new businesses and acceleration of innovation within the production. This goal will basically help Sony in globalizing itself within the international market. However, all of the goals of Sony focus on emphasising achievement of success and going global (Goda 2009). This will result in improving the values of business within the global market. This will also result in bringing changes within the fundamental base of the organization. Phase 3: Primary Research Proposal Revised Research Objectives The main objective of research proposal is to gather facts and information regarding the marketing issues being faced by the sub-brand of Sony, Sony VAIO. Further objectives involve discussing the functions and relevance of the organizational goals and objectives, in relation with decisions and the wide range of information categories important for a number of stakeholders. There are several other minor objectives as well. Approach made towards the Problem The research will be conducted with the help of a descriptive method. This method has been considered suitable for gathering facts and describing information regarding issues that the marketing environment of Sony VAIO has been facing along with an appropriate solution for the problem. The descriptive method being utilized particularly within this specific proposal involves survey and observation. This method will help in gathering all the relevant facts and information. Research MethodologySpecific Technique of Research The particular techniques utilized within this research are survey and observation. Survey has been identified to be extremely useful for finding out the main reasons behind the issue that has taken place within the market of Sony VAIO. On the other hand, observation has been considered extremely useful as a direct analysis will be initiated by the observer for considering the factors that have contributed in affecting the issue and that can have an influence on these issues. These will involve explaining how the research skills are important for collection, analyzing and presenting data; using the basic quantitative techniques that include statistical and probability inference; explaining the utilization of information technology and communications in the process to acquire, analyse and communicate information; and describing the main tools and systems of information technology utilized within service industries to manage information. Sample and Population The population that has been targeted for serving the purpose of this survey will be the employees as well as customers of Sony VAIO that are spread across the globe. The Sony companies located in India, China and the United States has been chosen for this purpose. The employees will be chosen on random basis and 50 employees will be chosen from each company. The frame for the sample will basically be the database provided by higher departments of the organizations being chosen. This will result in involving 1500 employees apart from the higher authority departments of the companies. For drawing out the sample, the research will be using systematic method of sampling by making random selection of every 15th officer from higher authority department from the database of the survey collected. Plan for Implementation The observation will be done by going to all of the companies and approaching the officers of higher authority. The point of view regarding the marketing of the company will be obtained on the basis of a questionnaire. The questionnaire will be distributed through emails and answers will also be obtained by the same mode. The information shall be kept confidential and further analysis will be done on the basis of answers obtained. Suggested Topics or Questions Following is the draft of survey questions: Behaviour in Purchasing Laptops or Tablets Survey Name: Gender: Income: Employee Number: 1. What do you consider while buying a laptop 2. What is an ideal laptop /. Tablet in your perception? 3. Which laptop or tablet brand will you consider the best? Why? 4. What features do you prefer the most in laptops or tablets? Please choose only one and give the reasons behind it. a. Price b. Connections c. Storage d. Processor, Graphics, and Memory e. Weight 5. How much will you pay for a laptop? 6. What is your perception in between the local and foreign brands of laptops? 7. What are the benefits associated with the purchasing of local brand laptops? 8. In our perception, to what extent does the local laptop industry contribute to national economy? 9. What are the benefits associated with the purchasing of foreign brand laptops? 10. What are your thoughts regarding Sony VAIO? 11. Is there any suggestion or recommendation for Sony VAIO in improving the product?

Friday, November 29, 2019

Wellness plan Essay Example For Students

Wellness plan Essay Quiz 2 I would recommend a lot of changes for this patient, including exercise, change of diet, and cessation of his smoking habit, to name a few. This patient should use a lumbar support pillow in his chair at work, as well as a foot support, to alleviate strain on his lower back form sitting all day. I would recommend that he quit smoking and change his diet to one containing less fatty foods, and much less cholesterol. The pain he feels in his neck could be partially attributed to high cholesterol. A baseline cholesterol reading should be taken and a diet recommended according to how high the level is, and how quickly it should be reduced. We will write a custom essay on Wellness plan specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The cholesterol reading can be taken at the same time he is administered a full physical. The patient should then be instructed to have a full physical done yearly, or at least every other year, since problems can and will develop faster the more he ages. Cessation of smoking will also help to lower the patients LDL reading. A reduced calorie and reduced fat diet should help to burn off some of the extra pounds that the patient is carrying around. It might also be recommended that he cut out the nightly beer in order to reduce those added empty calories from his diet as well. Drinking does not have to be completely cut out of his diet, however, since there have been studies showing drinking in moderation can be good for your health. He should change the beer to wine, which typically tends to be healthier, and people are more apt to sip wine, as they are to guzzle beer, so less will probably be drank with that subtle change. The whiskey should probably be cut out all together, and the total reduction in alcohol consumption will help to reduce alcohol related heart and liver trouble, as well as calorie intake. It may be suggested that the patient not necessarily cut out the TV watching, but rather tow an exercise machine of some sort in front of the TV and fulfill his exercise quota in the time that he would normally be idle on the couch. This would make good use of his idle time, also cutting out the possibility of the patient using lack of time to exercise for an excuse. If the patients cholesterol was found to be high in the baseline draw of blood. It would be wise to take a LDL level every month, until the level begins to fall and then every several months until it is within normal range. It would then be advisable to take a LDL level with each physical. Further suggestions for change of lifestyle, and/or diet should be made if the LDL level is not falling at the rate you expect, or not falling at all. Bibliography: n/a .

Monday, November 25, 2019

Time Warner Merger Essays

AOL/Time Warner Merger Essays AOL/Time Warner Merger Essay AOL/Time Warner Merger Essay The merger of AOL and Time Warner was announced in January 2000 against the backdrop of a seeming technology revolution but prior to the bursting of the stock market bubble. Prior to Mid-March 2000, some of the bluest of blue chip companies feared marginalization by an upstart dot.com army. Today, however, every decision made in that era has been subject to the punitive scrutiny of hindsight. The AOL-Time Warner merger made a great deal of sense in the context of emerging competitive realities at the time and may prove to be a compelling combination as the Company moves forward and competes head-on with the likes of Microsoft. Both companies addressed perceived threats from externalities and bargaining problems. Nonetheless, it is clear that AOL gleaned the greatest lasting advantage from its choice of corporate strategies. The Time Warner Imperative At the time of the merger, Time Warner was the largest media firm in the world, having assembled an unparalleled portfolio of related assets, spanning both content and distribution. This was driven largely by two fundamental factors; first, the economics of the media industry dictate extracting multiple sources of rents from any given production, and second, media industry consolidation throughout the 1990s which saw large media firms largely internalize their distribution. However, with the rise of the Internet revolution, Time Warner was feeling pressure on a number of fronts: * A stagnating stock price as markets rewarded nimble, net-centric businesses, no matter how unproven; * Fragmentation of its audience, particularly to Internet media outlets, which it feared would sap it of the scale that provided leverage with advertisers; * Failure in a number of its own Internet ventures, feeding the fear that old economy companies truly were ill-equipped to succeed in the emerging e-conomy; * Rising costs of talent fueled by the exodus of executives seeking Internet riches. Against this backdrop, Time Warners agreement to link up with AOL seemed like a solid defensive move, guarding against the potential obsolescence of its resources by giving itself a stake in the Internet Revolution. It also held out tremendous offensive potential by giving the Company a new avenue to leverage its portfolio of competencies, namely the effective creation and distribution of content across multiple distribution channels; in this case AOLs 33 million subscribers. In the words of one analyst, Time Warner managed to acquire the Internet brand it had yet to build, thus enabling it to successfully overcome a major externality that was threatening its continued success. The AOL Imperative Throughout its history, AOL had leveraged joint ventures and partnerships as a means to grow and thrive. But competitive pressures were growing, and AOL, through its acquisition of Netscape and Compuserve, had begun to come more directly into competition with Microsoft, without the proprietary resources to win a fair fight. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, despite AOLs dominant position as the number one Internet service provider, it only provided dial-up service, the growth of which was coming to a halt. Future subscriber growth required being able to provide broadband access, which provided much greater speed of connection and data transfer, enabling significantly richer functionality and significantly more profitable subscribers. AOL had succeeded on the basis of providing easy access to the Internet and simple, convenient, features such as email and instant messaging, that won early loyalty. However, the Internet was moving beyond its early beginnings, broadband was the key to the Internets future and AOL didnt possess sufficient unique content to compete as a dial-up provider. AOL also feared that it would be vulnerable to hold-up, or frozen out altogether, by those companies that had broadband capabilities. The merger with Time Warner allowed AOL to address its potential bargaining problems in two ways. First, it acquired a wealth of unique content that should give it significantly greater leverage vis-à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½-vis firms like Microsoft that was extracting a heavy toll for access to the desktop. Second, by acquiring the number two cable provider, it instantly guaranteed itself a future in broadband and immediate access to millions of potential subscribers, mitigating the hold-up problem. Cross-Pollination Hailed as one of the two world powers of interconnectivity, a major rationale behind the merger was to win control over the home network which Gerald Levin described as the final battlefield. The vision was to create a seamless platform that would give AOL TW scale and scope beyond any other media company in the world and allow it to promote [their] products and brands across all of its media properties. This would require the successful transfer of skills between the two companies. The companies would have to effectively share their combined knowledge of cross-selling, Time Warners skill in media creation, their respective distribution competencies (AOL online and Time Warner in broader media outlets), and finally lever AOLs success in establishing meaningful joint venture relations. Enter Microsoft From the first time that AOL had to negotiate with Microsoft for access to the desktop, it was inevitable that the two would eventually come to compete. What was probably much more difficult to envision was the breadth of different businesses in which Microsoft would become a competitor. Microsoft has an entrenched presence on what, until recently, was the only vehicle for accessing the Internet; the computer. But recognizing, as AOL does, the convergence of technologies in media and communication and the likely zero sum game for the home network, Microsofts key corporate strategy has been its ability to achieve coordination by creating or venturing with firms that provide complementary products or services. Despite being late to the Internet game, Microsoft has effectively leveraged its ubiquity in computing and its vast financial resources to build or invest in businesses that go head to head with AOL in almost every facet of its operations. Microsoft has established links with complementary companies that will enable it to remain the de facto operating standard even when computing and Internet functionality leave the desktop and migrate to such vehicles as the television or the phone. It has also increased its content and functionality in areas such as messaging, gaming, transaction facilitation, online music and video, ensuring that there is no substantial area of interest in which consumers can not find a Microsoft or Microsoft-enabled solution. The result of these activities is that Microsoft and AOL will continue to go toe-to-toe for control of the digital consumer until a winner emerges. AOL/Time Warner: Who won? Determining who won and who lost in the AOL-Time Warner merger is complicated by the choice of criteria used to determine victory. If a more formidable and sustainable competitor was created, did both Companies win? But ask any Time Warner shareholder who won and youll get an unambiguous answer; AOL. By most standards, its acquisition was a coup. Its true that the merger makes great strategic sense for the businesses in which both companies compete. But the fact that AOL acquired Time Warner with vastly inflated stock means that AOL shareholders partook in one of the great robberies of the Internet bubble. While the value of most Internet companies plummeted over the past three years, AOL shareholders had managed to acquire some of the most valuable old economy assets. Time Warner, on the other hand, has seen the value of its consideration decline substantially, at a time when its stable mix of businesses should have held up much better. Had Time Warner acquired AOL for 20-30% of AOLs market value in January 2000, it might have been viewed as one of the shrewdest mergers in recent memory. The circumstances of the two companies coming together, however, will leave a cloud over the Company until it begins to realize its great potential that was envisioned at the outset.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Depressive Disorders in Children and Adolescents Research Paper

Depressive Disorders in Children and Adolescents - Research Paper Example Son & Kirchner (2000) have conducted their research on the same topic and have pointed out the causes and consequences of depression upon children, according to which the family background as well as domestic environment certainly invite sadness among the young innocent individuals at large. The authors are of the view that depression is affecting 2 percent of pre-pubertal children and 5 to 8 percent of adolescents in the United States. While discussing the main reasons for increase in the depression level among the individuals belonging to early years, the authors also blame poor performance at school as one of the most prominent causes behind such gloomy mood of children. The authors have also mentioned the symptoms of depressive attitude, which include lack of mixing in family, disinterest in studies, recreational activities, including both indoor and outdoor, and reluctance to join the peers in sports and games. Greenberg (2009) has also conducted his study while focusing upon th e symptoms of depressive attitude in children and adolescence. The researcher submits to state that it was misconception that only the adults may experience depression; however the same disorder is frequently observed by the young ones.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Marketing a Blackberry Phone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing a Blackberry Phone - Essay Example The researcher states that Blackberry is one of the most reliable cell phone manufacturing companies. It provides innovative, stylish, and reliable mobile phones to the customers. The paper tells that some of the biggest attractions of Blackberry mobile phones include enhanced connectivity, excellent camera results, and a long battery time. The present research has identified that the target audience for the new Blackberry mobile phone will be the middle-class people, college students, money spenders, young children. This paper illustrates that the phone includes all such features that a high priced mobile phone includes. According to the study conducted, the only difference is the price of the phone. This essay discusses that the price has been kept low in order to make it affordable for the people who do not enough money to buy a reliable phone. The target group is not just local customers from the United States; rather the product will be made available to international customers through online services. The author has rightly presented that the new Blackberry phone, which we are going to advertise, has a number of attractive features and qualities, which make this product different from many of its competitors. Although such features can be found in some of the latest mobile phones manufactured by other companies but they cannot meet the level of quality and reliability provided by the Blackberry 9380 GSM Cellular Phone.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Sassoon siegfried Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sassoon siegfried - Essay Example Ths history books r concrnd with th Grt Wr nd how popl djustd to diffrnt circumstncs during tht priod. D Brnirs nd Sssoon hv diffrnt viwpoints nd thir writings diffr from ch othr. DBrnirs' dscriptions of wr is xcruciting, ll too rl, s th uthor tks th rdr to th y of th cyclon to xplin how good mn bcom trnsformd into morl nimls nd t th sm tim los thir souls. This is th rl horror to wr, th dstruction of th dignity tht humns r trying to striv for. nd thus th book is cvt to ll ldrs to think mor dply bout th full rmifictions of rushing off to wr. Th min chrctr of th book is Cptin Corlli who is th snior Itlin officr in villg on n occupid Grk Islnd. His humnity rchs byond indignous hostility. Th Itlin rmy occupis th islnd first, nd th Itlins hv rltivly sy-going rltionship with th islndrs. cntrl chrctr is n Itlin cptin, ntonio Corlli, who plys th mndolin. Th othr min chrctrs r young womn, Plgi, hr fthr, Dr. Inns, locl doctor who is tching his dughtr ll bout hrbl mdicins, nd Plgi's boyfrind, Mndrs, Grk prtisn fighting th Grmns. In his book Louis D Brnirs dscribs Dr Inns s vry ddictd to his job "Dr Innis hd njoyd stisfctory dy in which non of his ptints hd did or got ny wors..."( Louis D Brnirs ). Whn th cptin is injurd nd is trtd by th doctor h mts Plgi, nd thy fll for ch othr. This mks for complictd sitution, sinc th two r on opposit sids in th wr nd sinc Plgi is nggd to th prtisn, Mndrs. Things gt vn mor complictd whn th Grmns rriv nd put n nd to th sy-going rltionship btwn th islndrs nd th occupirs. s wll s bing profound story bout humn rltionships, this is lso wr story, nd th uthor shows us how popl r trnsformd by wr. Through th cptin nd his Grk finc, it is finly xprssd ffirmtion of th humn spirit. Th moving runion in old g is crtinly for th lchrymos. Yt, in ssnc, Cptin Corlli mbodis blk honsty which is th vry ntithsis of sntimntlity, nd which mks d Brnirs' ultimt ffirmtion of humnity ll th mor powrful for bing so vidntly hrd-won. Oddly nough, his rdrs sm to rcogniz this mor clrly thn h dos himslf: if thr's on thing tht nnoys vryon bout th book, it's th nding - by dlying th ultimt runion of Plgi nd th cptin for 50 yrs, d Brnirs sms to btry n uncrtinty s to whthr his rsolution hs bn truly dsrvd. Still, it coms in th nd. Indd, it is strng to rd novl so full of pin, which nvrthlss lvs on with such strong sns of joy. Myb its succss, for tht vry rson, should itslf b considrd lif ffirming on. D Brnirs smlssly mixs brod comdy with grphic dscriptions of suffring or violnc, tndr pisods nd visionry flights of fncy. His book is lso highly sxd, bwdy nd stiricl. Cptin Corlli's spcil kind of historicl romnc ws, howvr, somthing of dprtur from his rlir novls' full us of 'mgic rlism'. Sigfrid Sssoon rmins mong th bst known soldir pots of th Grt Wr of 1914-18. Mmoirs of n Infntry Officr, th bst known of his wr mmoirs, ws first publishd in 1930. Mmoirs of n Infntry Officr is th scond volum of Sigfrid Sssoon's fictionlizd utobiogrphy. Th first nd third volums r Mmoirs of Fox-Hunting Mn, nd Shrston's Progrss, rspctivly. Whn this book ws first publishd in 1930, th vrg rdr my not hv rcognizd Shrston s n unrlibl nrrtor, but upon scond rding, much of wht th nrrtor tlls us grows in irony. Ths lins from 'Convlscnc' r typicl of th gm h plys with th rdr: "Bsid th bd thr ws bowl of whit lilc nd Bibl. Opning it t rndom to try my luck, I put my fingr on th following vrs from th Pslms: 'Th words of his

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Challenges And Prospects For The Asean Economic Community Economics Essay

Challenges And Prospects For The Asean Economic Community Economics Essay Free trade is a significant stimulus to regional production, linkages and competitiveness.   ASEAN has made significant progress in that regard since the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) from 1993.   The AFTA initiative has been particularly successful in reducing tariffs in the trade in goods. Currently, some 99.8 per cent of the products in the Inclusion Lists of ASEAN-6 (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) have been brought down to the tariff range of 0-5 per cent, with about 65 per cent of those products having zero import tariffs.   Meanwhile, 91 per cent of the products traded by the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam) under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff package have been moved into their respective Inclusion Lists.   About 77 percent of those products are already within the 0-5 per cent tariff band. However, regional free trade alone is not sufficient to release the full energies and the inherent potential of ASEAN.   All of us now have to take a further step forward.   Deeper economic integration is necessary for ASEAN to cope effectively with the unprecedented opportunities as well as the unprecedented challenges, on both scale and depth, unleashed by globalisation. China and India have altered the global economic landscape through huge market openings and greater competition, too.   Meanwhile, interlinked supply networks have proliferated all over the world, among many other innovative and more efficient ways in value creation and industrial organization.   Last but not least, there are the freer and often instant movements of new ideas, people and resources across national boundaries. The ASEAN Economic Community.   In the midst of two giant economies, ASEAN Leaders made a historic resolution in December 1997 to leverage the regions potential by building an economic community (ASEAN Vision 2020).   Henceforth, ASEAN is to be transformed into a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region with equitable economic development, and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities.   Notably, that resolution took place in the midst of a severe financial and economic crisis in ASEAN.   This underscored once again ASEANs common perception of the critical importance of greater regional cohesion and complementation in coping with good as well as bad times.   Subsequently at the Bali Summit in November 2003, ASEAN Leaders declared that the AEC would be the end-goal of regional economic integration (Bali Concord II).   This Community shall weld together 10 separate entities as a single market and production base by 2020.   The ASEAN Economic Ministers have recently recommended that the target year be sped up to 2015. Put it simply, there will be a free flow of goods, services, investment and a freer flow of capital in the AEC.   This is to be complemented by freer movements of skilled human resources including regional business persons, professionals, and cultural and artistic talents.   The consequent gains from deeper and broader integration are substantial in ASEAN.   They are estimated by McKinsey and Co to cut as much as one-fifth of production costs of consumer goods in the region.   As such, the AEC building process will empower ASEAN to remain a dynamic and competitive player in the regional and global supply chains.   But the same process is also predicated on wide-ranging adjustments and reforms to be carried out by Governments and the business sector, among other stakeholders in the region.   The commitments so far made include, to name just a few, the ASEAN Free Trade Area of 1992; the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services of 1995; the ASEAN Agreement on Customs and the ASEAN Customs Vision 2020 of 1997; the Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area and the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Mutual Recognition Agreements, both of 1998; the Initiative for ASEAN Integration of 2000; the ASEAN Framework Agreement for the Integration of Priority Sectors of 2004; and the ASEAN Policy on Standards and Conformance of 2005. ASEAN has three key strengths in the economic arena.   We have abundant natural resources in our region.   We have large supplies of professionals and talented people.   And, we have the capability to adopt, adapt and advance technology.   By leveraging on these strengths the AEC is likely to be realised sooner than later. ASEAN Charter.   A key development complementing the AEC work is the process to establish the ASEAN Charter.   A Charter is certainly not a panacea. But at a minimum, it is going to facilitate the transformation of ASEAN into a rules-based regional organization with a legal personality.   Provisions in the Charter to establish robust mechanisms for monitoring implementation and ensuring compliance would contribute greatly to ASEANs effectiveness. Through the Charter, ASEAN will be able to enshrine the values and principles that shaped by our history and experiences in the last 39 years.   It will virtually become our new and official birth certificate in the sense that we are re-born as the ASEAN Community. Such a Charter would also serve to make ASEAN a more responsive, dynamic and integrated regional organisation. In short, the Charter will define ASEANs future. The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group (EPG) has been working on its recommendation for the drafting of the Charter.   In a few days, the EPGs report will be considered by the ASEAN Leaders during the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, from 11-12 December 2006.   In that report, the EPG will recommend what should go into an ASEAN Charter. And at the upcoming Summit, a High-Level Task Force is expected to be mandated by the ASEAN Leaders to start drafting an ASEAN Charter, taking into account recommendations of the EPG, among other things. This achievement would not only become a benchmark for the region to further enhance its cohesiveness and coherence, but also would venture forth a new cooperative spirit for the community building in the region.  Ã‚   To be sure, there is a lot more work to do, especially in converging the different levels of ambition.   Yet, I am optimistic ASEAN is on the threshold of a quantum leap in collective development and growth. ASEAN-EU economic interaction. Against that backdrop of dynamic changes and developments within ASEAN, the EU has remained, among other roles, an important partner in trade and investment and a major source of technical assistance to ASEAN. The EUs valued roles will continue to be very helpful to AEC building efforts in the coming decade. As a market, for example, the EU-15 economies took in some US$ 78 billion worth of ASEAN exports in 2005, a steady growth of 5 per cent a year since 2000.   The EU was the third largest trading partner, with an average share of 12 per cent of ASEAN trade in the last two years (or just about one percentage point behind Japan and the U.S.A. during 2004-2005).   Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France are the most important EU traders with ASEAN. Likewise, the EU-15s foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEAN has been significant, with the largest share of 57 per cent of the FDI hosted by our region in 2000 (totalling US$ 23.5 billion).   However, this share fell to 19 per cent of the FDI flows to ASEAN (US$ 38.1 billion) in 2005.   Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam and Thailand were the main destinations of FDI from the EU. http://www.aseansec.org/19001.htm 30 MAC 2011

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Deforestation Resulting from European Shipbuilding :: Environment Environmental Pollution Preservation

Deforestation Resulting from European Shipbuilding Historical texts have documented the countless technologies, ideas, diseases, plants and animals the European ships delivered around the world during the Age of Exploration. However, these texts fail to include one key cargo item: deforestation. European shipbuilding triggered an epidemic of forest depletion that gradually spread to the lands they encountered. Beginning in the early fourteenth century, wood fueled the increased production of exploratory sea vessels. The loss of trees coincided with the rapid rate of shipbuilding. Eventually, Europeans exploited their timber reserves to such an extreme that they began looking elsewhere for wood, including colonies in North America and Southeast Asia. With newfound resources, the European shipbuilding machine churned on, yet before long deforestation also became an issue in the colonial areas. Although shipbuilding played an integral role in a period of European advancement, it devastated not only the European environment but the fores ts of other continents as well. Prior to the Age of Exploration, hardwood trees blanketed all of Europe to form a forest giOB47;comparable in size to the Amazon Basin† (David Morse). Forest density was intense, such that â€Å"scattered clearings must have appeared like islets in an ocean of green† (Morse). Nevertheless, as humans discovered the value of wood as fuel for warmth, deforestation followed close behind. The progression of human technologies presented more uses for timber. Eventually, wood became a staple in a wide range of manufacturing processes, among them shipbuilding. The production of sea vessels put extreme pressure on the oldest and largest trees in European forests; the massive tree trunks that were years in the making were also the best suited for the immense hulls of open sea ships. For every ship built, the environment lost some of its oldest flora members, who were unfortunately also the hardest to replace. Shipbuilding was also closely intertwined with another forest consuming industry: metallurgy, especially iron production. Iron comprised the weaponry and structural support aboard many sea vessels. Because the production of iron required high temperatures, the demand for firewood grew to almost insatiable proportions. Thus, the amount of timber invested in shipbuilding included more than just the lumber for the hulls. As David Morse points out, the trend in metallurgy history dictated that â€Å"wherever ironmaking took over . . . it did away with the forest† (Morse). In effect, shipbuilding and its association with iron production impacted the forest landscape two-fold.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Jade Goody’s life – creative writing

As I turned on the TV to catch the first episode of Big Brother 3, I watched eagerly as each housemate entered the famous ‘Big Brother House'. One by one the participants passed over the threshold like lambs being lead to the slaughter. They wore nervous smiles of anticipation. The third housemate caught my eye; she was a twenty year old dental nurse who spent her early years in Bermondsey. Jade soon earned her place in the house, as the majority of housemates were picked decisively to keep the audience amused. Jade was known for causing trouble throughout her time in the BB house, ending up drunk and she was also criticized for backstabbing. From then on she was known as a loud mouthed rebel, who had a poor standard of knowledge, but she withstood numerous amounts of evictions and her popularity grew. Her time in the BB house soon came to an end and overall she came fourth in the competition. Jade's life in the public eye did not end there and then; she had a few years of publicity ahead of her†¦ Also read The Story of an Eyewitness Essay Analysis Determined and strong, Jade carried on in the spotlight and appeared in numerous gossip oriented women's magazines such as Heat and OK! She was one of the most talked about celebrities for weeks after the BB house. I admired her courage and willpower to stay popular, and in 2006 I was pleased to hear that she put herself forward to take part in the London marathon. I was proud of her because she was doing it for charity; there was a lot of negative publicity about this as people did not think that she would be able to finish the race. Anyone who is willing to participate in any form of marathon must have fortitude to do so as twenty six miles is an extensive distance. But as her drive took her to a dedicated twenty one miles her body gave in. It shows how much Jade wanted to finish the race as she did not stop until she was at the state of collapse. I think this reflects me as I usually don't give up until I am injured, or there is something permanently blocking my path! This is one of the reasons why I look up to Jade, although she had her defaults she aspired to grow in knowledge and acquire respect from the public. Very rarely did Jade seem despondent about the harsh press, and that's what I think kept her going. She even published her own autobiography: Jade: My Autobiography. Many people had no clue as to how Jade was brought up, and when this book was released in May 2006 numerous people were intrigued to find out how tough her upbringing was. Her father who was of mixed race was a drug addict who a frequent visitor in her majesties service. Jade's mother, Jackiey Budden separated from Jade's father and was left to bring her up single handedly. This was demanding for Jade's mother, but I can relate to Jade as I no longer live with my dad. After appearing on Big Brother three, Jade decided she would accept the invitation to enter Celebrity Big Brother five, as she was now a public figure. At this point in her courier Jade had earned between two million and eight million pounds. I think most people do not aspire to become famous through reality TV, as it doesn't require talent. Jades second appearance on BB included her Mother and Boyfriend entering the Big Brother house. This was when the whole racial feud between Jade and the Bollywood star Shilper Shetty took place. I felt that Jade made a fool of herself on national TV and my respect for her took a step back. As I watched the headlines I questioned whether Jade should be the only one to blame. As Jade began to redeem herself I valued her strength of mind to get her life back on track. In late 2008 Jade appeared in India's version of BB, ‘Big Boss'. I didn't think it would do anything for Jade as Shilper Shetty was going to appear on ‘Big Boss' alongside her. I was worried for Jade after the ordeal she went through previously. But nothing was said and two days into the show something awful had been uncovered. Something that made me shudder at the thought because she was a young mum with all of her life ahead of her. Something finally that could be terminal. She had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. It was all over the headlines, and when I heard I felt disbelief. The first thing that came to mind was her two sons. How is it going to affect their lives? How are they going to cope? Jade was immediately flown back to England for further testing. From that day on Jade suffered. She was strong willed and kept her battle up for a year. Her story really touched me, and this is why I have chosen to write about her because I think she is an inspiration to many women out there. It has been made apparent that because Jade made her battle with cancer so publicized more women will be aware of cervical cancer and a lot more will be saved. I think that by saving just one life, Jade's short life will not have been in vein. Jade had her ups and downs, but at the end of the day if she has prompted women to get checked out then she is, in my eye a hero.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Emotional Impact of the Civil War essays

The Emotional Impact of the Civil War essays The Civil War began July1861 when Union troops set out for Richmond, Virginia. They met Confederate forces soon after the left at a small stream in Virginia called Bull Run. The carnage that followed showed the nation that the war was anything but civil. In this war fathers fought sons, brothers fought brothers, and families fought themselves. This no doubt left emotional scars for everyone involved. An example of the emotional impact that the war had left on the soldiers, the families, and the nation is "The Slopes of War" by N.A Perez. This book is about the Summerhill family, which is going through the Civil War. Rebekah Summerhill has three family members who are fighting in the war. Buck Summerhill, Rebekah's brother, is accompanied by his friend Tully Willard. They are both privates in the Union Army. Custis and Mason Walker, Rebekah's cousins, are privates in the Confederate Army. During their childhood Rebekah, Buck, Custis, and Mason were close since the both grew up in the same area. Because of this Buck and Rebekah has the emotional dispute of fighting their own blood in a war. The purpose of this thesis is to show the emotional impact the Civil War had on the people involved. And how " The Slopes of War" portrayed it. I will show examples of this in a letter by Jno. D. Dameron, another letter by JN Bennet, and a song called, "The Prisoner's Hope" by George F. Root. The letter by Jno. D. Dameron is to his father. In it he writes about his father not writing to him, 'I had concluded that I could not write to any more until I had received a letter from home." (Dameron, letter by author, December 1862) This shows how homesick Dameron was. This is exactly how Buck felt during the first parts of the book, "We're getting close to home" (The Slopes of War, N.A. Perez, PG 3) The quote came from when Buck's squadron is heading towards Gettysburg, Buck's hometown. This I think shows that most of the soldiers, Union and Confed...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Shareholder Activism Essay The WritePass Journal

Shareholder Activism Essay Introduction Shareholder Activism Essay Can shareholder activism actually deliver the desired change?IntroductionShareholder activism – the Theoretical PerspectiveLegal BasisExamples of Shareholder ActivismAnalysis and ConclusionsReferencesRelated Can shareholder activism actually deliver the desired change? Introduction The increasing awareness of shareholders and their level of importance to the modern organisation have raised multiple questions as to the potential role which shareholders can play in influencing the decision making of the management team and their willingness to engage with a broad range of stakeholders. Where shareholders have an impact to any degree, this is referred to as shareholder activism and is largely described as being the role that shareholders play in dominating the decisions made by management teams (Bainbridge, 1995). Whilst it is readily accepted that shareholders own the company, whereas directors manage the company, there has historically been a misapprehension that shareholders are simply interested in the financial profits that the company produces. It is argued in this paper that this is not the case and shareholders are becoming much more involved in ensuring a balanced approach and that organisations have a wider awareness of issues such as corporate social re sponsibility (Schacht, 1995). The purpose of this paper is to consider whether or not this type of shareholder activism can actually be seen to be delivering a positive change, specifically in the area of corporate social responsibility. In order to look at this issue and the development of CSR, shareholder activism in its entirety needs to be looked at, before then considering the legal regime which encourages such activism and any specific cases that are relevant, before drawing conclusions on the key question. Shareholder activism – the Theoretical Perspective The management of an organisation has, for a long time, accepted that the performance of a business is down to them and that, if the shareholders are unhappy about the performance or the returns of the business they may potentially walk away from the organisation or the position of the manager may be in jeopardy. Where shareholders take this type of action on board, it can be suggested that shareholder activism is in operation. Broadly speaking, there are several key reasons why which investors may pursue the shareholder activist approach. Firstly, shareholder activism occurs in order to procure a better return on shareholder investment; secondly, to ensure that the company pursues a different corporate strategy that will ultimately improve performance and profitability, a key example of this being the suggestion that the company should demerge; thirdly, to make changes in the management team; fourthly in order to pursue some form of special interest, such as a social and ethical agenda (it is this agenda which will be looked at in more detail in the paper below). Finally, shareholder activism is undertaken to influence the outcome of some form of corporate agenda that has already been pursued (Tarrow, 1994). Shareholders have always had the option of essentially voting with their feet, when they disapprove of the decisions of the management team. For example, they can simply sell their shares, where traditionally the criticisms of management decisions would take place in private, with shareholders simply moving away when they were displeased. Although the concept of shareholder activism is not necessarily new, in recent years, it has certainly increased in its operation and become much more prevalent. Examples of recent shareholder activism include action by an institutional investor, Knight Vinke Asset Management which lobbied for changes in the HSBC strategy, or in Tesco where shareholders became involved in demanding changes in working conditions relating to clothes’ suppliers in Asia. Interestingly, shareholder activism does not depend on the size of the market, with shareholder activism being a tool that can be used in any type of organisation. Those holding shares are also potentially able to act in this way and therefore this lends a considerably more diverse meaning to the notion of shareholder activism, which can be derived from a much broader range of sources (Roe, 2003). With this potential diversity in mind, the next step is to look at the tools that are available for the activist shareholder and to identify the statutory basis upon which such action can take place. Legal Basis One of the key statutory powers which are available in order to support shareholder activism is that of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act). This Act lays down the legal framework which enables a shareholder to exercise any of their legal rights when they are pursuing an activist agenda. The precise options available to the shareholder will depend on the type of company in which they hold shares; for example, there are different rights attached to public companies. For the purpose of this analysis, all potential legal rights will be looked at and it should be borne in mind that these may not always be available, particularly to shareholders of private companies (Wrneryd, 2005). In accordance with sections 303 to 305 of the Act, shareholders are able to call a general meeting. This is a strong element of the shareholder activism as it provides members with a platform in which they can make their requirements known. In the aftermath of the Shareholder Rights Directive 2009, members and groups of shareholders representing a minimum of 5% of the public companies voting rights are able to demand that the directors call a general meeting of the company. Similarly, where the directors choose to convene a general meeting there are rules associated with giving notice to the individual shareholders. This allows shareholders the opportunity to bring a platform upon which to discuss their own issues. Secondly, in accordance with sections 314 317, members with a shareholding of at least 5% or shareholders or that have at least 100 shares with an average of at least  £100 per member are entitled to demand that the company circulates a statement to shareholders of up to 1,000 words regarding a proposed resolution or any other business that is going to take place at the meeting. This again provides the shareholders with the information that they need in order to be potentially active. It is also noted that beneficial owners of shares can count towards the threshold in order to meet the 5% trigger (Belloc and Pagano, 2009). As well as the ability to gain access to the meeting and information in relation to the meeting, shareholders are also entitled to be active within the meeting itself. In accordance with section 338, shareholders holding a total of 5% shares can propose a resolution, a strategy that was used by the investor efficient capital structures but they required a resolution as part of the 2007 AGM of Vodafone plc to pursue a specific strategy. Furthermore, section 168 provides shareholders with the ability to propose the removal of the directors. Arguably, this is one of the greater sanctions available to shareholders, from the perspective of the individual directors. Where this process is being initiated, special notice of 28 days must be given of the intention to propose this resolution and to reasonably work in line with the articles of association of the company (Filatotchev, et al 2006). Importantly, section 116 of the Act allows any shareholders to gain access to the shareholder register which then may offer them the opportunity for the shareholders to join forces in order to deal with a particular agenda, making the ability to reach the 5% thresholds somewhat easier. There are, however, requirements for shareholders to ensure that when they are canvassing support they are doing so for the proper purpose. There are certain thresholds which allow shareholders to have rights, with 5% offering the opportunity to propose a resolution, to require an independent report in the case of quoted companies, the power to require companies to publish audit concerns, again in quoted companies, and also the power to include a matter that should be considered at AGM. When the required percent of the shareholders join forces, the power becomes much more threatening to the management team, as this is the requisite amount required a specific resolution. For example, at 75%, the shareholders can require a special resolution to be passed. The regime associated with proxies can play a very important role when it comes to shareholder activism with the 2006 Act making changes as to the way in which proxies can operate, allowing the property to be much more effective. For example, members have an absolute right to appoint a proxy who can attend a meeting and vote on their behalf. Another key area of shareholder activism emerged from the ability to use corporate representation, rather than using a proxy, as this allows shareholders a much greater degree of practical flexibility when they are unable to comply with proxy deadlines, or some other form of formality. Corporate shareholders are also able to appoint representatives by virtue of their own board resolution. Finally, it is worth noting that shareholders’ rights can be utilised by indirect investors. For example, under the 2006 Act, it is possible for the beneficial shareholders holding shares to enjoy information rights, i.e. to obtain information in relation to the company and in many cases the beneficial shareholders can count towards reaching the 5% thresholds. Although this goes beyond the scope of the discussion here, it is worth noting that these beneficial shareholders can have a direct impact on any agenda for shareholder activism. Examples of Shareholder Activism In order to gain an understanding of just how effective these legal provisions can be, the situation in Tesco can be looked at. In 2007, the poverty charity â€Å"War on Want† used the fact that it held a 5% shareholding in order to present a resolution at the 2007 AGM, with a view to ensuring a better deal for suppliers, in particular across Asia. The matter did not rest there and in June 2008 Tesco was targeted once again by a group of shareholders who were headed by an individual high- profile shareholder, to look at the living conditions of chickens, prior to their purchase by Tesco for sale. The shareholders in both these cases used section 338 of the Companies Act 2006, in order to demand resolutions relating to their individual issues. Once this resolution had been demanded, the company was required to circulate information relating to the resolution, as well as any supporting statements (Aguilera, 2005). This type of shareholder activism was seen to be successful in these individual cases and provided a real forum for the shareholders with a relatively minimal percentage to change the strategy and activities of the organisation itself. Tesco is not alone in facing these types of issues and many other large companies have also faced action from minimal shareholders, relating to specific issues such as wages for staff or supplier issues. This shows a clear indication of the willingness of shareholders to become much more active in putting their points forward and being willing to take on corporations by forcing resolutions to be placed and information to be provided to the broader shareholding (Hendry et al 2007). Analysis and Conclusions The question presented here is to consider whether or not shareholder activism can truly have an impact on organisations, when it comes to encouraging changes and improving corporate social responsibility within the organisation. By looking at the history of shareholder activism and the way in which shareholders are becoming much more willing to engage in the operation of the company, as well as examining the provisions of the 2006 Act which provide shareholders with the ability to undertake these activities, it is argued here that shareholder activism is a growing and real threat to management teams of all sizes. In particular, the 2006 Act offers a considerable opportunity for shareholders to demand information and to have certain items discussed at the AGM. By merely providing this platform for discussion, shareholders can become more active in order to ensure their ultimate agenda is not pursued. By looking at this and using a company such as Tesco as an example, it can be seen that groups of shareholders are gaining real attention and are able to have a direct and dramatic impact on the decisions made by the management teams, particularly when faced with the ultimate sanction that shareholders can request the removal of those directors who fails to comply (Gillan and Starks, 2000). It is concluded here, therefore, that shareholder activism is a real and direct method whereby shareholder groups can encourage changes in the strategy of the organisation relating to both corporate, social responsibility and any other relevant issues. References Aguilera, R.V. (2005) ‘Corporate governance and director accountability: An institutional comparative perspective’ British Journal of Management, 16: S39–S53. Bainbridge, S. M. (1995) The politics of corporate governance, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 18 (3), pp. 671-735. Belloc, M. and Pagano, U. (2009) Co-evolution of politics and corporate governance, International Review of Law and Economics, Vol. 29 (2), pp. 106-114. Filatotchev, I., Jackson, G., Gospel, H., and Allcock, D. (2006) Key Drivers of ‘Good’ Corporate Governance and the Appropriateness of UK Policy Responses The Department of Trade and Industry and King’s College London. Gillan, S.L. and Starks, L.T (2000) ‘Corporate governance proposals and shareholder activism: The role of institutional investors’ Journal of Financial Economics, 57 (2): 275- 305. Hendry, J., Sanderson, P., Barker, R. and Roberts, J. (2007) ‘Responsible ownership, shareholder value and the new shareholder activism’ Competition Change,11 (3): 223-240. Roe, M.J. (2003) Political Determinants of Corporate Governance: Political Context, Corporate Impact Oxford University Press. Schacht, K.N. (1995) ‘Institutional investors and shareholder activism: Dealing with demanding shareholders’ Directorship, 21 (5): 8-12. Tarrow, S. (1994) Power in Movement: Collective Action, Social Movements, and Politics in Marens, R. (2002) ‘Inventing corporate governance: The mid-century emergence of shareholder activism’ Journal of Business Management, 8 (4): 365. Wrneryd, K. (2005) Special issue on the politics of corporate governance: Introduction, Economics of Governance, Vol. 6 (2), pp. 91-92.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Transgenic Plants and Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transgenic Plants and Animals - Essay Example Transgenic plants can help in the area of food sufficiency, through production of high yielding crop varieties; improving plant tolerance against extreme conditions such as drought or floods; increasing resistance to pests; and increasing resistance to herbicides. These improvements would reduce production cost, reduce wastage, increase yield per hectare and thereby increase food availability. Today, varieties of peanuts and corn resistant to pests are already grown throughout the world. In health, genetic modifications can aid in making life saving drugs in large amounts. Transgenic livestock that produce recombinant proteins in their milk can provide an economic and safe system for production of valuable proteins, such as pharmaceutical proteins for treatment or prevention of human disease or biomaterials for medical use (Keefer, 2004). As an example insulin and the clotting factors are made by human systems. If we insert the gene that is capable of producing insulin from humans into cows in the right way, then we can get the cows to produce the insulin or clotting factors in their milk. Then we have a potential mass producer of insular greater than human is capable of doing. In the areas of nutrition, common staple crops like rice, corn, root crops, and others can be modified to produce varieties high in necessary nutrients. In the area of environment, organisms can de modified to degrade non-biodegradable plastics and other materials and make them more useful to the environment. Major concerns on transgenic plants and animals The production of transgenic plants and animals has faced several concerns among conservatives in Europe, America, and almost every corners of the globe. Thro (2004) emphasized that there are conflicting views about the idea... The researcher states that recent development in biotechnology that gains attention in the scientific world is the alteration of genetic components of plants and animals. The process involves adding and integrating foreign genetic material into the genetic structures of the plants and animals. Transgenic technology affords methods that allow the transfer of genes between different species. The produced organism is generally called as GMO or transgenic plants or animals. A transgene is a gene with desirable characteristics that is moved from a source organism implanted into a new organism in order to improve the desired characteristics of the recipient organism. This is an improvement from the traditional process of breeding wherein a plant or animal with a desired trait is mated with an existing plant or animal of the same type, to transfer the desired trait to the offspring. The limitation of this old method is that the only genes that are involved are the genes already present in t he parental plants or animals. For example, if you bred dogs, you get dogs with genes coming from both dog parents and nothing else. In genetic modification, genes from plants can be integrated into animals or vice versa; genes from birds can be integrated with horses. Production of transgenic plants is expensive and complicated since it uses costly technology and facility. Companies producing GM seeds in countries such as the US desire to produce more revenues on them because they put a lot of resources into making them.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Personal Motto Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Motto - Essay Example Although drawing inspiration from a fantasy film may be somewhat strange, my personal motto has been heavily influenced by the film â€Å"Sucker Punch†. Although the film’s message and even plot line are somewhat substandard and not overly engaging, there was a line that was delivered within the film that has greatly influenced my personal motto and made a very large impact upon the way in which I integrate with life and view my own personal stance towards issues both great and small. As such, the line is as follows: â€Å"If you don’t stand for something – you will for anything†. Due to the relative simplicity of this quote, it cannot be fully attributed to the writers of the film and ultimately traces its origins as far back as Alexander Hamilton who said the following: â€Å"Those who do not stand for anything, fall for everything† (Wolf 155). As a function of the underlying truth that this denotes, it is not surprising that this type of t hought process has been explicated at various points throughout history. As a personal motto, this has helped me to realize the importance of choosing a firm and definitive stance on key issues as well as seeking to self-analyze with regards to many situations that I might otherwise take for granted. Although many mottos are designed as a means of cheering one up with regards to the otherwise mundane or seemingly hopeless nature of life at times, this particular motto is able to engage in me a sense of moral determinacy and ethical strength in situations that others might merely accept at face value. It is important to note within the context of this particular motto that this is not used to define and divide each and every situation that this author integrates with on a strictly black and white basis of ethics or morality; rather, it is used as a rubric for determining which instances demand a firm stance on the issues and an analysis of all of the factors involved and which do not. By seeking to differentiate key components of ideas based upon their ind ividual merit, it is possible for the individual to seek to better integrate with the underlying truth or fallacy that a given concept or approach denotes. In such a way, one can separate fact from fiction and attempt to engage an issue that is partly right or partly wrong rather than merely rejecting it out of hand or accepting it wholesale. With regards to which of the chapter of the text most definitively relate to the motto that has been chosen, it is the belief of this author that the chapters which most closely integrate with the motto include the following: self-awareness as well as goals and obstacles. By analyzing beliefs within the framework of this particular motto, it is possible for me to come away with a much clearer view of what is important and on what aspects of belief and principle it is possible to engage with. Similarly, with respect to goals and obstacles, such a motto allows for the author to view a situation from the core of its meaning and separate a situatio n based upon the obstacles to understanding, morality, ethics, and practice that it represents. As a function of such an interpretation framework, it is possible to then formulate one’s goals in a much more expeditious manner and engage life with a more complete understanding of situations than one could if they merely accepted them at face value or within the framework of how others have accepted them within the past or present. Although it is not the belief of this author that the motto which has been enumerated upon is the be all and end all of ways to interpret reality, it has been highly beneficial with regards to being able to delve deeper into key situations and observe the component parts of an argument or way of life that would otherwise not be considered. At the risk of intellectual arrogance, such an approach is also beneficial from the perspective of an individual who is natural skeptical by nature and seeks to understand the level to which information is

Thursday, October 31, 2019

International law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

International law - Essay Example 2002). Under the principle of restrictive sovereign immunity, states will only be immune from suit if it is exercising government functions but not when it is doing private acts or entering into commercial transactions (Tunks M. 2002). When the immunity of the state from suit is restricted, the immunity of its officials is also restricted. Accordingly, there are three distinct principles that involve the idea of the immunity of the head of state and other government officials who are visiting other countries like the United States. These three principles are the state sovereign immunity principle, the diplomatic immunity principle and the head of state immunity principle (Tunks 2002). The origins of the principle of head-of-state immunity derives from the idea that the state and its rulers are one and the same ( Mallory J. 1986). As the alter ego of the state, the state officials are therefore accorded with some degree of immunity which, like that of the immunity of the state itself, is subject to restrictions. Although there are some decided cases involving the immunity of state officials from prosecution for international offences, this area had remain gray for most part. If we take a closer look at the laws and treaties governing the United States and its visiting foreign state officials, there has not really been a clear cut policy of government on the extent of the immunity enjoyed by state officials form prosecution for international offences (Bederman D. 2001). We shall discuss this principle more thoroughly in the later part of the paper. On the other hand, diplomatic immunity is anchored on the principle that diplomats are representatives of their country and that without such immunity; they will not be able to carry out property their official functions. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the purpose of diplomatic immunity was clearly

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a novel that focuses on the life of Philip Pirrip and his expectations. Throughout the book these expectations change and as they do, the reader comes to realise the key theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them. This essay will examine this key theme and how it demonstrates and helps the reader understand Pips growth as a character.  Initially, Pip is a very compassionate and sensitive character. We see this right from the start as the first scene describes him at his families grave crying. The reason for this behaviour at this stage of the book is Pips sister and guardian Mrs Joe Gargery. She concluded by throwing me- I often served her as a connubial missile-  This quote shows that Pip feels in most ways inadequate to his sister and that this domination is the reason for his sensitive and compassionate appearance at this stage of the book.  However, when Pip receives his expectations from Mr Jaggers, and he moves into lodging with Herbert, this domination is no longer valid. As Pip falls deeper and deeper into debt with his flippant spending, he moves further away from Joe and his old home. This gap becomes more apparent after Mrs Joes funeral, when Pip has an awkward conversation with his used to be good friend Biddy. In this conversation Pip presents himself as much more of a selfish and uncompassionate young man: Biddy, said I in a virtuously self-asserting manner, I must request to know what you mean by this?  This quote demonstrates Pips growth as a character as it shows the speed at which he has changed into more arrogant and self-righteous Pip since his childhood. It helps the reader understand the theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them, by showing that in his new, wider-boundary environment, Pip has become somewhat dehumanised. This dehumanisation is demonstrated in this conversation, as Pips manner is made to seem selfish and arrogant to underline the gap between Pips humanised place of upbringing and his somewhat dehumanised state in London. After Mrs Joes death, Pip seems more compassionate and thoughtful. This is because his visit back to his place of birth has helped him realise the change that he has undergone while he has been away by showing him the emotional distance he has put between himself and his family, and the consequences these distances have had on his relationships with his friends and family back home. This compassionate change is reinforced when he sets up Herberts job in a bid to see his friend more financially stable. I did really cry in good earnest when I went to bed, to think that my expectations had done some good to somebody.  This quote shows that Pip has realised the main theme of how a characters environment and upbringing can dehumanise them, by acting in this compassionate and thoughtful way. Also by referring to Herbert as somebody at the end of this quote, Pip shows the reader that he does not believe that his expectations have done himself that much good. In conclusion, Pip reacted throughout the novel towards his environment and upbringing in both negative and in the end positive ways. At the beginning of the novel, he seemed a very modest and sensitive young boy. However when he receives his expectations this marks the beginning of the changes and dehumanisation that he undergoes whilst he is in London. Thankfully though, after his experience at Mrs Joes funeral Pip realises these changes that he has undergone and endeavours to be more compassionate and thoughtful. This shows the reader that Pip has almost completed a full circle of growth, in terms of his behaviour in relation to his upbringing and environment, and this was reinforced by the main theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Analysis of Dubais Economy

Analysis of Dubais Economy Dubais Financial Crisis: Dubai is usually characterized by sky piercing towers, rotating buildings, spectacular architectural designs, flow of petro-dollars which refers to the income coming from exporting oil and its products to other countries, broad and clean road networks, etc. It represents a face of modernization and advancement and has earned a place amongst one of the most technically advanced countries in the world. This rapid development of the country was a result of the focus of the government on tourism thus promoting the real estate sector with the help of revenues coming from export of oil and natural gas. With the largest real estate company of Dubai Emaar properties becoming bankrupt in the United States and vaDubai proposal to delay the repayment of all its debts for a period of 6 months on November 26, 2009 the financial crisis in Dubai was exposed in front of the world which had bad effects on countries around the world. The debts were as large as $59 billion causing a stop to the investm ent cycle of Dubai for 6 months. The Dubais real estate industry was based on huge loans which they expected to pay through the revenues they earn from them but with recession hitting the industry badly their plans failed. Thus the Dubais financial crisis to a large extent can be said to be a consequence of real estate bubble burst in Dubai. Dubais Economy: Before getting to the financial crisis it is important to know the structure of the Dubais economy which is one of the most unique and unusual in the world. It is divided into free zones setup by the government of Dubai. The zones are industry specific with Jebel Ali free zone being the fastest growing in the world. The Jebel Ali free zone offers a set of products and services such as: ready to use offices, Business centers, factories, Warehouses, infrastructure ready plots etc. Jebel Ali free zone commonly referred to as Jafza is a part of Dubai based; a state owned Economic Zones World. It is one of the worlds biggest developers of Economic Zones, Logistics and Research and development driven Industrial Parks. The main free zones of Dubai are Jebel Ali free zone, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, and Dubai Maritime City which are based on the industries they are related with. People have false misconception about Dubais economy they believe that its mainly driven by oil and gas although the oil sector comprises of less than 6% economy of Dubai that was primarily dependent on oil as a main source of revenue in the past. Dubai being a part of the United Arab Emirates is expected to be great producer of oil, petroleum and natural gas although it is a good producer but compared to other countries of the United Arab Emirates it produces relatively lesser quantities of oil. Dubai produces 240,000 barrels of oil per day and its revenues from natural gas constitute only 2% of the total revenue that United Arab Emirates gets from natural gas. Although it is true that Dubais economy was initially build on the revenues generated by its reserves of oil and natural gas but with time its oil reserves have reduced significantly as a result of a large increase in the demand for oil and oil products around the world and over the years and Dubai exporting a great amount of oil to other countries it is expected that Dubais reserves of oil will get exhausted in the next 20 years and so it has concentrated on the tourism industry to generate good revenues at that time. (Dubai hit hard) Another large contributing sector of Dubais economy is the real estate which forms 22.6% of the economy of Dubai. The great success of this industry is owed to the focus on tourism. Over the years the government of Dubai has concentrated largely on tourism they have invested large capitals in order to promote their tourism in the process they have built sky scrapers, clean and well knit network of roads. The government has focused on providing world class facilities in Dubai in the process creating architectural designs and buildings which attracts tourists from all around the world. As the real estate industry is closely related to the tourism industry it has developed as a major industry in Dubai and contributes greatly to its economy. According to a survey in 2007 the largest contributing sectors for the Dubais economy other than oil were real estate and construction, trade and financial services which contribute 22.6%, 16% and 11% respectively to the Dubais economy. From the facts mentioned above it can be ascertained that there has been a shift in Dubais economy from being solely dependent on oil to development of other sectors by using the large amounts of money coming from the oil to development of other sectors like tourism but it has been stuck badly due to fall in prices of buildings and as most of them were based on loans vaDubai formally announced that the biggest of its real estate companies would not be able to repay their debts for a period of at least six months leading to the financial crisis. The Policy of diversifying to Real Estate: The funds had always been flowing into Dubai due to its large reserves of oil that it posses and initially the whole economy of Dubai was dependent mainly on income coming from oil and natural gas but there has been a shift as the Dubai government now aims at making the tourism industry the biggest industry of Dubai and has invested a huge capital in developing this industry. In the year 2000 the establishment of Dubai Financial Market (DFM) as a secondary market for trading of trading securities and bonds both locally and globally was major step in diversifying Dubais economy. The establishment of Dubai Financial market was a part of the governments plan to diversify Dubais economy from a trade based economy to the one which is tourism and service oriented made real estate more valuable in Dubai. The inclination of the government towards tourism did turn out to be a promoter for the real estate and construction industry and the real estate industry grew at a rapid pace in Dubai becoming one of the largest industries in Dubai. As a result of the governments promotion to tourism Dubai witnessed a real estate boom which resulted in appreciation of property prices in Dubai from 2004-2006. These policies transformed Dubai into a center for large scale real estate development projects and made it a home for many large projects and tallest skyscrapers of the world which are now amongst famous buildings of the world. The results of these policies are visible through buildings like the Burj Dubai, the Palm Islands, the Emirates Towers, and the worlds most expensive hotel, the Burj Al Arab which reflect the rapid development and the great advancement of the real estate and construction industry in Dubai making it a world class tourist destination. All the results of these policies led to a great change in Dubais landscape which also led to a great amount of foreign investments in Dubai as Dubai became a great destination for investors around the world. For many years Dubai has given great returns to investors around the world with an aggregate of approximately more than 40% per annum which has attracted clients from around the world trying to get the investment ladder ready but during the last few months being hit badly by recession these profits have turned into losses with a depreciation in property prices creating a situation of financial crisis in Dubai. Although Dubai has given great returns in the past but the ugly face of the Dubai model that it was based on speculation and debt that was somewhere in the breakneck boom in Dubai and with the prices of buildings falling in the recent past this face was exposed as the largest real estate companies were not able to repay their debts that were due till December 2009 and the government asked the investment companies delay the collection of all their funds for at least a period of 6 months which hit badly the finance industry of Dubai which is one of the major industries of Dubai. The Dubai World: The Dubai world which is an investment company acts as a regulatory company in Dubai. It manages a portfolio of businesses projects for the Dubai government. It functions across a wide range of industries and projects which promote Dubai as a hub for trading and commerce. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is the chairman of the company. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates is the major stake holder of the company. The company was established by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum under a decree ratified on March 2nd 2006 with an aim to regulate and promote trade in Dubai. The stature of Dubai world is quite large in the global market and it has large investments not only within Dubai but also in countries around the world. Some of its major investments range from MGM Mirage Las Vegas Casino Company to Standard Chartered Plc a London-traded bank and luxury retailer Barneys New York through asset management firm named Istithmar PJSC. The Initial success of Dubai in the Period of global financial Crisis In the early period of global financial system Dubais financial structure, dynamic construction and tourism industries and relished tax free incentives seemed to be a great advantage for it and many people even expected it to remain free from any sort of recession. A major factor that created this illusion in the minds of people was the continuance of investment activities and construction at a feverish pace even when there was a lack of capital in all other parts of the world and no other country was even thinking of such investments Dubai announced to construct a new tallest building of the world just after Lehman Brothers collapsed in the United States. All these steps along with the booming infrastructure of Dubai attracted many investors from around the world who thought of Dubai as a good prospect for investment and expected good returns from it. Dubai has built one of the finest infrastructures of the world and it is quite natural for investors to be attracted towards such a p lace which lead to the initial success of Dubai in a period when the world was facing recession and lacking investments but its overdependence on debts caused the financial crisis. Seeds of trouble The global financial crisis during 2008-09 resulted in major downfall of Dubais real estate market. It led to slow down of the economy of Dubai. The economic revenue generated was not coming as efficient as before which greatly hindered Dubais growth and as most of its plans were based on money borrowed by investment companies and there were no plans to face any downturns in the economy it became difficult for them to repay that loan. As the main aim of Dubais economy was the tourism industry a slump in the global markets was always bound to affect the economy of Dubai. At the international press council conducted by Mohammed al Abbar, senior enough to abide Dubais Ruler and UAEs Vice President or Prime Minister. He was placed at the designation of the Director General of Dubais Department for Economic Development and also as a chairman for Emaar properties the largest real estate company in December 2008 declared the credits that Emaar enterprise had which had an adverse effect on the economy as a whole. Emaar Enterprise had credits for over 70 billion US Dollars. In addition to it they also had additional 10 billion US Dollars in Dubai with holdings estimated above 350 billion as a real estate asset. Earlier in 2009, situation was worse due to the global economic crisis, heavy tolls on employment, property values, constructions, etc. also added into it and resulted in the decrease in costs of these prices due to slow down in the world markets also hit the real estate sector of Dubai which was expecting a rapid development in order to repay all its debts in stipulated time. This not only hit the real estate industry of Dubai but also the finance industries which financed most of the projects of construction. In Feb 2009, the estimated foreign debt for Dubai was approximated at 100 billion US Dollars. It leads 250,000 United Arab Emirates national to be responsible for more than 400,000 US Dollars of foreign debts which is a very large amount although Dubai had been hit by a financial crisis in the past also. In the year 1999 Dubai was hit by a similar crisis but at that time the debts were much less than the amounts this time and at that time Abu Dhabi supported it but the amounts are very high this time as the main focus of Dubai government in the recent past has been tourism industry and the real estate is closely related to it. The assessment of Dubai market of property has shown a lot of depreciation or decrement. The property loss was more than 65% of their values since 2001 till November 2008 which has been one of the main causes of the financial crisis as the property market was expecting an increase in prices but the decrease proved to be fatal for it. The construction companies were expecting a rapid increase in the property prices and were expecting to repay their debts using the incomes created from it but that did not happen and lead to the financial crisis In addition to all these failures in key businesses, consumer satisfaction, wealth etc. is estimated to be in trillions of US Dollars. The financial commitments incurred by governments proved a fatal loss in economic activity. The Burst of Bubble Dubai which is governed by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum borrowed approx 80 billion US Dollars in a period of 4 years of construction for booming the construction market of economy of regional tourism as their main focus was on tourism as they expect that it would lead to a concrete source of income for them even when their oil reserves get exhausted. Emirates suffered a huge loss in the worlds steepest property slump as a result of global recession. The home prices dropped by 50 percent from their value in 2008 leaving Dubai in a situation where they were not able to generate adequate money in order to repay the debts that they had taken in order to promote the real estate industry. Dubai had 59 billion US Dollars of liabilities in agreement to the standstill of creditors. The debt included more than 3.5 billion dollars of bonds dated December 14. This property unit is from Nakheel PJSC a firm from Dubai. Analyst said that the prime reason for the financial crisis in Dubai was the mismanagement or the wrong decision of Sheikh Mohammed. He invested all his as well as the Dubai government wealth in the real estate market in United State and had no plans to deal with any kinds of shocks faced in their road to success such as recession. He thought that Dubai would never be stuck with any sort of recession which was a result of lack of adequate planning for bad phases during their journey. The foreign investment of Emaar claimed to be the second largest builders in United States. They ultimately went bankrupt because of the recession and/or filed for chapter 11, which allows reorganization of a company under the laws of bankruptcy for United States. United States bankruptcy code permits the reorganization of any of the company under the bankruptcy laws of United States of America. Dubai shifted to their crisis mode with their large and dangerous building boom. Their lending bonanza soon vanished due to the crisis. Government and banks took huge steps to provide some backup to the organization and to rescue the falling organization. The bankruptcy of Emaar properties was a big shock for people around the world and even bigger for the people in Dubai as it acted as a hint of the financial crisis that had begun in Dubai which was considered to be one of the flourishing economies of the world. Announcement and the impact of official moratorium: Dated: 25 November, 2009, the final announcement came in by the government of Dubai. They announced that the company intends to ask all its providers for financing to Dubai World, its subsidiary Nakheel to remain standstill and extend the maturities until at least the date 30 May 2010. This announcement meant a great decrease in the inflow of money for all the financial companies who had invested in various projects in Dubai and also sent a bad message to the world which had come to know that Dubai was in a financial crisis. Several months before the announcement Dubai world accounted for $59-billion debt which accounted for nearly three fourth of the emirates total debt of US$80-billion. These debts also included a $3.5-billion debt which the company was unable to pay by its December deadline. This announcement not only led to a degradation of Dubais goodwill among investment companies but also had a bad impact on the global markets which were recovering from the impacts of recessio n, the announcement in a way pushed the recovering markets back when they had started growing. The impact was very severe as it degraded the investment status of Dubai amongst various investment companies. The governments announcement led both Standard Poors Investors Services and Moodys who were the key investors of Dubai heavily downgraded the debt of various Dubai government-related entities with interests in commercial operations, utilities, property, and commodities trading which meant that it became harder for companies to get money for their projects. For Moody, the downgrade meant that the affected agencies would lose their investment grade status which would help Moody to make it very difficult for them to get the money required for their businesses. The effect was not only internal its impact was felt by all major markets of the world who experienced a drop in their stock indices. The main European markets shattered on November 26 followed by huge drops in Asian stocks on November 27 creating a bad impact on these markets that were recovering from the shocks of recession. Possibilities of Recovery: Although Dubai is presently suffering with a financial crisis there are still possibilities that it will recover from this crisis. Abu Dhabi the capital of the United Arab Emirates which is also the richest country of the United Arab Emirates is the brightest ray of hope for Dubai. Dubai has already asked Abu Dhabi to bail it out of the crisis. The hope even increases as Abu Dhabi has helped Dubai in the past when Dubai was in Crisis although the demand is much higher than the past. Abu Dhabi has helped Dubai with an amount of $10 billion in order to bail out the Dubai world. A recent report by HSBC which says that Abu Dhabi has the cash liquidity to support its own companies and banks is even more positive response as Dubais point of view. Thus Abu Dhabi may use some of this liquidity to bail out Dubai from this phase of crisis. With the U.A.E central bank showing positive signs by confirming that its board has discussed plans for supporting real estate business by lending Dubai as well as remaining United Arab Emirates has increased the probabilities of recovery for Dubai to a great extent. Impact on Indian Economy: Indian banks have communicated to the Reserve Bank of India that their sheets show insignificant investments in Dubai as compared to their revenues generated. The main investments are those of State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and ICICI combined together denote investments of around Rs 7000 crores with SBI having Rs 1500 crore in the combined charts. However Bank of Barodas spreadsheet has Rs 4000 crore invested in UAE with only Rs 600 crores in real estate markets and has no negative impact on the health of the bank. However the professional front may face losses as Indians constitute 40% of the population of Dubai and are all in the business or service sector and so it may affect the remittances to India could decline provided the company is able to work out a bailout from this scenario. UAE has not been a significant source of investment in the Indian portfolio however the crises as already stated will affect the remittances or permanent transference of money to the relatives of Indians settled in Dubai was an important component of Indian Economy as in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 as it formed 45% of the invisibles. But the crises have created intense pressure on employment thereby reducing the invisibles coming to the country. Dubai Worlds subsidiary DP World has investments in the Indian sea ports and planned investments of $ 500 million can hamper Indias water strength. Dubai crises and Indian exports are closely linked and reached a massive 13% in the fiscal of 2010 as is shown in the graph below. These figures give an estimate of how the exports could falter the critical situation and hamper the export market. Indian real estate developers who had ventured into Dubai like Nagarjuna Constructions, BSEL Infra, Larsen and Toubro etc References Dubai Crisis 2009. (n.d.), Retrieved on March 15, 2010 from http://www.gktoday.in/2009/11/what-is-dubai-crisis-2009.html Dubai Economic Crisis. (n.d.), Retrieved on March 15, 2010 from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/23974903/Dubai-Economic-Crisis-And-Its-Impacts-On-India Dubai hit hard. (n.d.), Retrieved on March 15, 2010 from http://www.globalcrisisnews.com/real-estate/dubai-hit-hard-by-financial-crisis/id=625/