Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Looking for Alabrandi and the Simple Gift Essay Example for Free

Looking for Alabrandi and the Simple Gift Essay Good morning teachers and fellow students. The idea that we continue on as we are: unchanged, unchanging is unbelievably illogical. In a time and world where things are constantly changing, it is impossible to be in existence without being affected by the process of change. Changes are inevitable, and they are happening everywhere around us. This idea is portrayed in the Prescribed film â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi† and my ORT The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick. The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is a reaction, both are transformed. This quote by Psychologist Carl Jung is clearly evident in both texts looking for Alibrandi and The Simple Gift. During the opening scene of the film looking for Alibrandi there is a Qantas plane taking off or departing likewise in the Simple Gift the symbol of Change is more dramatic with Billy illegally riding the freight train out of town; he is unsure where he will end up. This is very contrasting to the symbolism of leaving in looking for Alibrandi where Josie believes she knows exactly what she wants to do, where she wants to go and who she wants to marry. Josie Meets Jacob Coote from cook high at a public speaking event, the two have an instant reaction it could even be described by chemical. Josie and Jacob are portrayed as opposites Josie’s believes that she is better than Jacob. When the Sydney schools have the first social event of the year Josie looks to John Barton (the son of the national liberal party leader) But john never asks her it is Jacob that asks her to dance, Jacob Says â€Å"It’s a pity you’re not school captain we could have been perfect† this highlights that Jacob is aware of Josie’s views towards him. In The Simple Gift Billy’s life changes significantly, as does Old Bill’s. When readers first get to know Old Bill, the technique of recounting is used as we learn why he is a homeless man. When Billy enters Old Bill’s life, he is prompted to change the way he lives. At first, Old Bill opposes these changes, as he swears â€Å"piss off kid†. He then begins to accept the changes as we observe him getting up early, having showers and quitting drinking. Old Bill’s attitudes towards change develop through the novel and by the end, he looks forward to change as he deals with his past When Billy first becomes homeless I believe that this moment is the catalyst for change in Billy’s life. Billy meets many challenges in this new place, such as where to sleep and where to find food. He meets these challenges head up, as he is determined to enter this new world and make a new life for himself. He sleeps in an old train carriage, and most of his meals are scraps from McDonalds. His attitude towards this change is enthusiastic and he feels that this change is beneficial for him. Josie meets thernominal challenges also with the death of John Barton, Josie’s world is thrown into turmoil and Josie seeks answers as to why someone like John Barton with all the things he had going for him would commit suicide. And asks the rhetorical question â€Å"I wonder what his parents will do with the sheets, will they throw them away or will they scrub and scrub so that they can always sleep on them.† Josie is in an emotional state for quite a while. One day on the train Josie and Jacob cross paths and Josie has a break down, Jacob comforts her. I believe that this is the catalyst of change for Josie between her and Jacob. Josie’s Initial reaction to her father Michael Andretti coming back into her life was nothing short of her dismissing him as a useless selfish object. This is parallel with the reaction of Billy towards his father. This is supported by the extracts ‘soulless tyranny’ of â€Å"the old bastard’ his father. This technique of expletive language is used to depict the poor relationship he shared with his father. I believe that Josie chooses to have a positive relationship with her father when she calls him after Josie hits Carly with one of her ancient history textbook. Michael gets Josie out of trouble at school and also changes Josie’s perception about fathers Josie now believes that fathers have a use, she is also growing quite fond of her father. Josie now stays at her father apartment on Sydney harbor on most weekends and enjoys spending time with her father. In the closing scene of the film it is exactly one year later on tomato day again and the picture quality is a lot sharper this conveys that Josie is clear about her decision to be there and even invites her friends over this time. The key idea conveyed in both â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi† and â€Å"The simple Gift† is quite nicely summed up by â€Å"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is a reaction, both are transformed† this is clearly evident in both with Josie’s relationships with Jacob Coote and her father Michael Andretti and Also for Billy with his relationships with Old Bill and Caitlin.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Conservative Judaism: Inception, History and Way Of Life :: United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The term â€Å"Conservative† had been attached to the moderates by the Reformers because the moderates had branded them as radicals. This name hardly describes the movement aptly. Conservative Judaism, is the American version of the principles of positive historical Judaism. The conservatives accept the findings of modern scholarship that Judaism is the product of a long period of growth and evolution. However, this process did not result in broken or inconsistent lines of development; quite the contrary, the major currents of Judaism run consistently through the extensive literature of the Jewish people, created in successive ages.† (Rudavsky 338) Conservative Judaism is one of the largest of the various sects of Judaism. Conservative Jews make up about 40-45% of those Jews who affiliate. Conservative Judaism accepts the idea that Jewish law is binding upon Jews. Conservative Jews have an obligation to obey all the teachings and commandments of Judaism., For example, Conservative Jews emphasize the laws of keeping the Sabbath and keeping kosher. Conservative Jews believe that Jewish law is capable of evolution as humans learn more about interpreting the Torah. Therefore, Conservative Jews have changed some of the earlier interpretations. Men and women worship together in Conservative synagogues, people may ride in a car on the Sabbath to attend services, and women can be ordained as rabbis. â€Å"Issac Leeser is generally regarded as the principal forerunner of Conservative Judaism in the United States. A native of Westphalia, Lesser acquired his religious and secular education before coming to American in 1824. He settled in Richmond, Virginia, where he was employed for several years in his uncle’s business. At the same time, he assisted the hazzan in the religious school of the local Sephardic congregation. During this period, he gained prominence by publishing numerous articles in defense of Jews and Judaism in American and foreign journals.†(Dimont 231) Some Jews who affiliate with the Conservative sect claim that their main reason for belonging is the fact that they don’t want to be Orthodox nor Reformed. â€Å"While some individuals describe themselves as Conservative because of their alienation from Orthodox practices, others define themselves from the opposite direction – they point out that they are not reform.† (Sklare 206) For the most part, Conservative Jews feel that if one were to be reformed they would not really be Jewish. The Reformed sect, unlike the conservative do not obey most of the Jewish laws and traditions.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Policing Practices and Operations Essay

Policing agencies are incredibly responsible to the communities, counties, states, and nation to protect against crime and provide service to citizens. With this tremendous responsibility comes inherent scrutiny. The practices and operations of police agencies are under constant surveillance by the public as well as other policing agencies. To promote functionality police organizations are departmentalized to enhance efficiency and improve communication. Relationships within these organizational structures exist. Partnerships are developed between the community and policing agencies to increase crime reduction and improve order maintenance. The organizational structure of policing agencies will be reviewed along with communication patterns both within and outside of the agency. Current trends and issues facing policing agencies and communities will be examined and an analysis of changed that could be implemented to improve the partnerships between policing agencies and communities wi ll be determined. Relationships Between Traditional Organizational Structures of Policing Agencies Municipal Law Enforcement Municipal law enforcement is most commonly represented as the local police. These police departments provide local protection to cities and towns; departments vary in size in accordance to population. The structure of municipal law enforcement is generally broken into two divisions: investigation and patrol. Under these departments is an umbrella of subdivisions. Investigations houses units specific to vice, homicide, and juvenile relations. Additional departments exist such as â€Å"community relations, internal affairs, training, and research and planning† (Pollock, 2012, p.93). Specialized teams have also been created in some departments servicing cases such as domestic violence, responding to the mentally ill, and various other issues. Departments of a smaller capacity carry more responsibility in handling multitudes of cases due to the lack of additional resources. Municipal agencies coordinate with state and federal agencies when crimes are not within their jurisdiction (Pollock, 2012). County law enforcement County law enforcement is publicly known as the sheriff department. The structure supports the county sheriff and the sheriff deputies. Sheriffs serve protection to the local police and assist in crime investigations in counties that do not have local law enforcement. Management of the county jail is generally the county sheriffs responsibility. Some jurisdictions assign jail responsibilities to deputies, but they generally do service patrol. Civil documents, warrants, and eviction notices are also served from the sheriff’s office. The position is attained by election but deputies are employed through procedures similar to the selection process of the municipal law enforcement agencies (Pollock, 2012). State Police Highway Patrol, State Patrol, and the Department of Public Safety are State law enforcement agencies. Hawaii is the only state without a state police force. The demand for law enforcement on roads passing through townships created these agencies. State law enforcement agencies are publicly known for enforcing traffic law violations and deal exclusively with state laws. This limited jurisdiction separates them from municipal and federal agencies. Statewide criminal investigations involving auto theft or drugs are within the state polices jurisdictions. Assistance to local detection and investigations are also services provided by the state police. This limited jurisdiction separates them from municipal and federal agencies (Pollock, 2012). Federal Agencies The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are federal agencies. These agencies deal with the enforcement of federal laws implemented by Congress. Functions are primarily investigations, and a very limited amount of patrol work is implemented. The largest federal law enforcement agency is the Department of Homeland Security. The agency with the broadest jurisdiction is the FBI. An investigation of a violation of both federal and state laws is permissible by federal law enforcement agencies. The sale of controlled substances is the most common example of this (Pollock, 2012). Communication Patterns Within and Outside the Policing Agency Technology has greatly improved the efficiency of policecommunications within the agency. In-car computers and laptops allow officers to have quick access to vital information. Loc al and federal information on a suspect from data files nationwide can be retrieved within moments. Dispatch and assignments are available to officers through the in-car computer system eliminating the reliance upon two-way radios. Officers and vehicles are monitored through Global Positioning Devices (GPS) (Maguire, 2011). Police officer responsibilities also include communicating with the public. Officers are expected to be competent with problem-solving skills, mediation, and social interactions. Training and education in these areas is vital in earning the trust and confidence of the community. Functions such as community policing, which will be discussed later, rely heavily on the public as a resource for crime fighting. Positive interaction with the public is achieved by exhibiting solid problem solving skills, social adaptability, and admirable temperaments (Maguire, 2011). Current trends in the approach to the policing function Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) SARA is a problem-solving model associated with problem-oriented policing. â€Å"SARA stands for scanning, analysis, response, and assessment† (Pollock, 2012, p.102). This approach to fighting crime applies available resources such as crime reports to target crimes centralizing in specific areas. The information is analyzed in an attempt to explain the origin of the crime. Officers then respond with the proposed solution, which could mean increased patrol in specific areas, or direct enforcement. Measures are then assessed to determine success rates (Pollock, 2012). Community Policing Community policing is trending in the recent years. The idea is that the police would create a partnership with the community to aid in the reduction and prevention of crime. Community support can greatly benefit in the resolution of neighborhood problems. This style of policing is service-oriented encompassing â€Å"many different types of tactics and programs, all with the goal of officers and community members developing partnerships to solve some of the neighborhood’s problems† (Pollock, 2012, p.99). Additionally, community policing places an emphasis on the decentralizing of policing (Pollock, 2012). Order Maintenance and Zero Tolerance policing Order maintenance and zero tolerance-policing places focuses on eliminating public order crimes such as public drinking, noise violations, graffiti, public urination, and intrusive panhandling, in full force. The ideology is that the elimination of the smaller crimes will ultimately reduce the larger crimes. The targeting of minor offenses affects a broad spectrum of the community including the general law abiding citizens. The strict implementation of city ordinances violations such as property maintenance and parking violations can greatly improve the probability of accusations of biased enforcement directly affecting various cultural groups (Pollock, 2012). Existing Issues with the Partnership Between Law Enforcement and Community Law enforcement fights a constant uphill battle to achieve harmony between maintaining order in society and protecting the rights of individuals. Police must encompass the element of authority while remaining approachable and socially accessible. The mil itary structure that has developed within the police organization poses a threat to community relations and hampers efforts of community policing. Officers are trained to protect due-process constitutional rights. Aggressive officer behavior, and in some cases bearing inappropriate weaponry, creates the components of militarization. This contentious behavior fosters fear in society and serves as a daily reminder of government intervention (Maguire, 2011). Changes to Improve Partnerships Between Law Enforcement and Community Partnership between law enforcement and the community can be improved by consistently following protocol and procedures. Any time an officer fails or violates standard procedures or protocols trust within the community weakens. The machismo attitudes that can be fostered from the military style training and organizational structure can create soldiers instead of law enforcement officials. Agencies need to have harsh consequences for officers who directly violate standard procedures. The machismo attitude can cause an overlap of jurisdictional formalities. Officers cannot assume the role judge, jury, and prosecution. Partnerships are built on common interests and trust. The only practical way to eliminate bias and unnecessary infringement upon citizens from law enforcement is to create a more superior breed of officials. This can be achieved by creating enhanced psychological and practical testing methods. Agencies must strive to uphold the  service-based theme of community oriented policing. Inappropriate behavior and excessive use of force are shortcomings that should be immediately dispensed. Conclusion The organization structure of policing agencies is broad and complex. Levels of hierarchy have been established to implement a chain of command and create jurisdictional boundaries. Communication within agencies, between agencies, and the communities they serve are vital to the promotion of commonality of service and protection. Technology along with skill training aids in achieving this goal. Policing agencies have developed methods such as POP and COP to boost functionality and efficiency in crime reduction. The ever present issue facing policing agencies remains in achieving a balance between authority and service. References Maguire, M. (2011). Critical Issues in Crime and Justice: Thought, Policy, and Practice (1 ed). : Sage. Pollock, J. (2012). Crime and Justice in America An Introduction to Criminal Justice (5th ed.). : Elsevier.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Definition And Scope Essay Example Pdf - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3111 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the leading leisure travel groups in the world which offers wide variety of package to satisfy different needs generate from different market segment. Packages offered ranges from charter packages (two or more components of travel such as flights, hotels, transfers and representative services are bundled together), to independent travel management, and travel-related financial services (pre-paid foreign exchange, travel assurance and travel finances). The group manages its operations in 22 countries through six geographic operating divisions. According to the exhibit A, TCG shows a  £9.8b of revenue in FY11 where  £304m underlying the profit from operations. The main competitor for TCG is TUI Travel, which is another worlds leading leisure travel companies, with over 250 trusted brands. It competes head to head with TCG by providing similar services 2.0 Thomas Cook Financial and Non Financial Analysis 2.1 Financial Analysis 2.1.1 Analysis on Sales and Cost Graph 1 Table 1 above shows that there is a sales growth throughout the year but at the same time cost incurred has been increasing. Value for both cost and revenue from FY 2007 to FY2010 is relatively close (Graph 1). Financial situation was at the worst scenario where the total cost was even higher than the sales revenue generated. No gap between graph line for both sales revenue and cost indicating that TCG has a very minimum net profit margin. TCG failed to manage their cost effectively. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Definition And Scope Essay Example Pdf" essay for you Create order 2.1.2 Gross Profit Margin Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is a financial metric used to assess  a firms financial health by revealing the  proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold (Steve, 1995). GPM for TCG was averagely at 23% and 24% and eventually fall to 22%. As sales revenue value is increasing and therefore, it could be the increment of cost of goods sold that leads to the downfall of gross profit margin at FY 2011. 2.1.3 Operating Profit Margin Table 5 Operating Profit Margin (OPM) indicates the effectiveness of a company in cost and expenses control associated with their normal business operations (Steve, 1995). In table 4, OPM has been dropping from FY 2007 to 2009 indicating failure for TCG in handling their overhead cost. TCG has made an adjustment on the proportion on overhead cost from 21.7% to 19.2% in FY 2011 which helps the company to slightly pick up in their operating profit margin. 2.1.4 Finance Cost Analysis Table 6 Table 6 shows that the interest cost has been increasing over the year and reaches its peak at 2009 and 2010 whereby the financial cost was  £0.018 every  £1 of sales. Financial cost has then reduced slightly in year 2011. 2.1.5 Tax on Sales Table 7 In table 7, income tax burden for TCG was relatively low from the FY 2007 to FY 2010. However, it has suddenly increased dramatically in year 2011. This could be one of the reasons that cause loss for the company. 2.1.6 Net Profit Margin Table 8 Net Profit Margin (NPM) is an indication on effectiveness in cost controlling and conversion of revenue into profit (Steve, 1995). TCG manages to earn a NPM of 2.38% initially at the FY 2007 but suffered from losses of 5.31% at FY2011. 2.1.7 Total Assets Turnover Table 9 Graph 2 Total assets turnover has an upward trend since 2007 to 2011 from 1.10 to 1.47. Hence it can be noticed that the sales level of TCG have improved with the utilization of the Assets. 2.1.8 Return on Assets Table 10 Return on assets indicates the profitability of a company in relative to its total assets (Steve, 1995). Table 10 shows that ROA for TCG has been decreasing and even dropped to the negative value. This indicates that the company is investing a high amount of capital into its production but receiving little income. 2.1.9 Financial Leverage *Note: Assuming that the total equity at the end of financial year 2006 is  £3,942m Table 11 In Table 11, financial leverage has been increasing throughout the financial years and this indicates that TCG falls at the risky side as they might face bankruptcy issue if they fail to repay their debt in the near future. 2.1.10 Return on Equity Table 12 In Table 12, return on equity has been declining throughout the financial year and even dropped to negative 29.6% at the FY 2011. According to DuPont Model analysis, we could further examine which part of the financial management resulted this (Atrill McLaney, 2011). First of all, looking into the net profit margin, the high total cost has leads to a downfall of NPM and negative at the FY 2011. Secondly, looking into the Total Assets Turnover, it shows an increment where TCG has improved in managing their Assets for generating sales. Lastly, looking into the financial leverage where there is an increment from 1.5 to 3.8 at the financial year. This indicates that the company has borrowed more money for the business and debt increased. Base on the analysis carried out, the decline of ROE of TCG is caused by two main reasons which are the increment of total cost and the large amount of debt borrowed. 2.2 Non Financial Analysis TCG has been in the market for ages and has built global umbrella brand for all the well known regional brands across geographies (refer to Exhibit D). This serves as a great strength that allows them to leverage better. Besides, TCG has a strong portfolio in other service category such as airlines, financial services and hotel which allow the group to cross sell their product and generate better revenue which eventually helps to increase the overall companys financial performance. Even though TCG is serving in 22 different countries, the revenue breakdown in appendix 3 shows that 55% of its revenue come from European market. This is identified as a very risky step as being over relying on this segment, the group is sensitive to the demand of this region. In addition, sovereign debt crisis in Euro zone has greatly affect the demand of TCG product as consumers become more reluctant in spending on travelling. This critical condition is predicted to be prolonged for quite some t ime and therefore, it is foreseeable that the turnover and profitability would fall under a negative development in the near future if TCG is still being overly dependent on the European market. As for the distribution channel, it is shown that TCG has established 799 of retail premises with  £2.5m of employees (appendix 8). Even though it is shown that the actual sales per employee are  £315,429 (appendix 4), the cost per employee inclusive with the rental as well as overhead cost should not be overlooked. The incremental of net profit is foreseeable with the switch of distribution channel to online distribution, which only contributes to 24.5% of the total sales in FY2011 (appendix 9) and highlighted the opportunity to growth, that allows redundant cost reduction. In addition to the reduction in cost, the switch of distribution channel is also essential as it helps TCG in preparing a better platform in serving the UK holiday market which is expected to generate  £22.7b n of sales in the near future, in FY 2015 (appendix E). As mentioned in the chairman statement, higher input cost such as fuel cost serves as a major threat in contributing another challenging year in the near future. Fuel price has been increasing rapidly after its decline in year 2007-2009 due to the recession. It is predicted that fuel cost would still continue to increase due to the high demand from china. Lowered sales revenue due to the lower demand could hardly covered the increment of fuel cost and eventually serve as a major threat to TCG. Company would face liquidity problem and sustained a negative working capital gap. . 4.0 Budgetary Control System According to the chairman, managers have been quite dissatisfied with their current traditional budgeting system which is based on previous year data, decisions, uncertain estimates and forecast (Drury, 2009). Despite the fact that traditional budgeting system provides a direction which can be used as a framework for planning and controlling the overall activity of the business, it is criticized on its failure in identifying the waste, incoming workloads and cost drivers. Critics also found out that it is very time consuming for the benefits to be achieve. In short, traditional budgeting practice does not seem to connect connected to the overall organizational strategy. Limitations of traditional budgeting give rise to many beyond budgeting techniques for instance, zero based budgeting. Zero Based Budgeting is one of the recommended options for TCG as it always assumes that the expenditures is always based on zero, is in contrast to the traditional budgeting system which assumes that the current years expenditure level is justifiable which may not be true. Zero based budgeting provides an efficient allocation of resources. It identifies and eliminates wastage and obsolete operations, detects inflated subjects and drives managers to find out cost effective ways to improve operations. But despite of all the benefits of it, there are also criticisms and drawback against it such as it may lead to micro management, it involves a huge amount of money and it may lead to a material shift in the use of resources. Another option which could be considered by the management is to implement flexible budgeting, a technique for budgeting based on the future variability of business volumes, which allows them to adjust accordingly toward the changing environment and economic factors. Despite the fact on its difficulties in associating with marginal analysis, it is one of the best control devices available to management as it is required to measure radical changes from n ormal operating levels. In addition to that, it provides management with real-time and offers much greater cost control over a business operation and makes it more competitive. This also targets more accurately where performance levels are falling below or meeting expectations. 5.0 Recommendation To decide whether to invest in to TCG, investor needs to look into the internal and external environment. Internally, financial information provided shown an incremental revenue throughout the financial year from 2007 to 2011 but majority of the key performance indicators such as ROE, NPM, ROA and other KPI are showing a downward trend. Financial leverage for TCG has been increasing throughout the financial years and this indicates that TCG falls at the risky side as they might face bankruptcy issue if they fail to repay their debt in the near future. Externally, global economic crisis is expected to prolong for 5 more years which would have a definite impact on travel industry where people have a general tendency to spend less and weakening pound further adds fuel to this. In short, analyzing the financial health of TCG indicating a clear lack in the way operations are managed currently and highlights room for improvement., as well as the macro environment of the industry which se rves as a non controllable factor, it is not encouraging for One-World Investment Consortium to invest in it. Profit maximization could be achieved via sales increment and cost reduction. In appendix B, it is seen that there is a great opportunity for independent growth in several areas such as city break, tailor made travel, flight only and hotel room in cities that TCG can explore by leveraging through their greatest strength, TCG brand. Appendix C further suggests the opportunities of growth by the introducing differentiated concepts allied with new product pipeline. Effective marketing strategy play an important role in introducing the right product to the right target market through the right distribution channel. For instance, identify the potential market by analyzing the TCG customer database and send them a customized email to introduce the promotion available. Vouchers and discount, which is only effective within certain period, could be included in the email as it help s in triggering customer interest. This benefited both customers and TCG as customer is satisfied with the great savings they had and TCG has obtained earlier sales. Cost reduction is another critical step that should be considered the result of the financial analysis shows that the high total cost is the key factor that results in the downward trend of NPM. Therefore, it is recommended for TCG to close down the non-profitable offline distribution retail and direct the market to online mode. This helps in reducing overhead cost such as rental, salary and other operating cost. Furthermore, due to the intense competition, HRM plays an essential role in ensuring retained employees to be trained with multi skilling capability and competence enough to be a source of the competitive advantage for TCG. Relationship with employees could not be overlooked as satisfied employees would helps in driving improved customer satisfaction by creating and fostering trust and relationship with cust omers. Therefore, it is recommended that TCG must ensure that employees need is met. Other than that, it is recommended for TCG to engage in a genuine B2B relationship with their suppliers as the cost is expected to be reduced when the organization has a deepening relationship with suppliers where margin premium is expected to improve. Zero based budgeting is recommended as it requires a programmes existence to be justified in each financial year, as opposed to simply basing budgeting decisions on a previous years allocation. It provides a systematic method of planning company financial resources. It may require an extensive amount of time and paper work. A combination of zero based budgets with traditional budgeting spreads the workload involved in justifying new budgets and is one possible method by which zero-based budgeting can be incorporated into current budgeting techniques. 6.0 Long Term Investment Decision Before making any investment decision, capital budgeting, should be taken into consideration by evaluating using different techniques. An organization which makes a capital investment incurs cash outlays in the expectation of future return or cash inflows (benefits). 6.1 Payback Period The payback period is commonly used as an investment appraisal technique in measuring on the period needed in recovering the initial investment. Despite the fact that it is very simple to apply and understand, it does not take the time value of money into account neither it take account of the earnings after the initial investment is recouped. Therefore it is not recommended as these may prevent the ranking of projects. 6.2 Accounting Rate of Return Another commonly used appraisal technique used is ARR which compares the profit that can be earned by the concerned project to the amount of initial investment capital that would be required for the project and projects that can earn a higher rate of return is accepted. However, again, ARR does not take into consideration the time value of money involved. In addition, this method uses net income rather than cash flows while net income is a useful measure of profitability where the net cash flow is a better measure of an investments performance. Furthermore, the inclusion of only the book value of the invested asset ignores the fact that a project can require commitments of working capital and other outlays that are not included in the book value of the project. 6.3 Discounted Payback Period The introduction of discounted payback period is to backup the drawback of the PB by adding the net positive discounted cash flows arising from the project. This could be useful as a performance indicator to contextualise the projects anticipated performance but is not recommended to use as the sole appraisal method. 6.4 Net Present Value In the NPV method, the revenues and costs of a project are estimated and then are discounted and compared with the initial investment. Projects with positive NPV should be accepted and rejected if the NPV value is as it indicates that the present value of the stream of benefits is insufficient to recover the cost of the project. Compared to other investment appraisal techniques such as the IRR and the discounted payback period, the NPV is recognized as the most reliable technique in supporting investment appraisal decisions. However, its sensitivity in discount rate is identified as the main drawbacks. Since discount rate is always the denominator of NPV and its always critical to know the final result of the output. NPV can be positive or it can be negative depending on the discount rate which has been taken in calculations. 6.5 Internal Rate of Return IRR corresponds to the rate for which the present value of the investments money in-flows are equal to the present value of the money out-flows. It helps evaluate individual projects as investment opportunities and helps investors in determining whether the projects would help in increasing the organization value and determining the percentage of return in comparison to the initial investment. In addition, it takes into account the time value of money  and adjusts for the risk that the project will not meet the income projections. However, many firms are guilty of rejecting worthwhile investments due to the understating of NPVs and IRRs because of the incorrect treatment of inflation and the use of excessively high discount rates. 7.0 Risks on Long Term Investment Failure in identifying risk in long term investment could lead to unforeseeable consequences. Therefore, there are two main traditional investment appraisal frameworks which could be considered by managers prior in making any investment decision. One of the simplest and most effective ways to analyse risk is through simple sensitivity analysis where investor could just change certain variable involved in a potential investment to see how that change would affect the overall investment. For instance, when considering buying a company, managers may look at the production cost of an item the company makes, and the cost of the components needed to make that product and further verify several eventualities, by adjusting these prices, either lower or higher. This will help them make an educated decision about their purchase in light of better understand the change of the company value if certain variables change. Another way to evaluate the risk is by conducting scenario analysis w here multiple analyses could be performed at the same time. Investors conducting this type of analysis will look at the variables that affect a companys bottom line and use them to plan accordingly. For example, managers considering purchasing a company will want to understand the cash flow of the business. This is more than just considering revenue and expenses. Expenses can manifest themselves in a number of ways including wages, pensions, benefits, costs associated with production, and so forth. By changing a combination of these factors, investors can get a feel for a number of different scenarios. Kaplan (1986) has further criticised aspects of traditional appraisal techniques are in truth a function of the user and not the technique itself by highlighting the mistake of the NPV user who use of static discount rates. In addition, the inconsistent treatment of inflation, the overemphasis on the short-term, faulty assumptions about the status quo alternative, and the adoption of a narrow organisational perspective are again all mistakes of the user. Even the difficulty of including nonfinancial benefits is seen as a lack of financial analyst imagination rather than an inherent shortcoming of traditional evaluation approaches.

Friday, December 27, 2019

Parallelisms and DifferencesRastafarianism and Judaism...

Parallelisms and Differences:Rastafarianism and Judaism The two religions of Rastafarianism and Judaism embody many of the same characteristics, as well as their ancestry. Although the Rastafarians, at times, inaccurately explain the bible, their belief in the Old Testament is still prevalent. Many of the customs are almost identical, but the rationale behind the traditions and laws contrast greatly. In 1933, when Leonard P. Howell was arrested for usingseditious and blasphemous language,to boost the sale of pictures of Haile Selassie, he stated that Selassie was,King Ras Tafari of Abyssinia, son of king Solomon by the queen of Sheba.1 Howell knew that in later years factual information about Selassies true origin would be†¦show more content†¦The Falashas adhere to the teachings of the Torah, the five books of Moses, as well as all the other books of the Old Testament. Although, they reject any scriptures from the New Testament and the Koran, which are used by Christians and Muslims across the world. Orthodox rabbis have questioned the authenticity of their attachment to the Jewish religion because they do not follow the precepts of the Halachah, or Oral Law, which they follow. But the Talmud was not complete until about 500 AD, at a time when the Jews of Ethiopia were already cut off from their co-religionists in the rest of the world. In the Jewish religion, Judaism is not only obtained through conversion but mainly through our mothers. According to Jewish Law, a baby boy or girl is Jewish because their mothers are, not their fathers. Therefore, it could be claimed that Haile Selassie was not Jewish because the Emperor of Ethiopia, Sheba, was not. On a contrary note, Meneliks mother, Sheba, was indeed Jewish according to genealogical lists from the book of Genesis. In this book, it states

Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Violence Within Essay - 802 Words

The most popular thing in our world today is not family, schooling, religion or even the newest song by Jay Z. The thing that our world seems to be the most attracted to is violence. Throughout the years of evolution and invention violence has become the most progressive thing in our society. But through humans’ natural nature of misguidance we often use violence as the solution to many problems, and that may be the real problem. Whatever it is used for good or bad violence seems to be a part of everyday life and no matter how hard we try there is no escaping it. And that is what Gregory Djanikian puts forth in his poem â€Å"Violence†. â€Å"Violence† is basically a poem arguing the fact that violence is unavoidable, everywhere, and contagious.†¦show more content†¦Violence is a part of our DNA, and it is a key survival instinct. Another key survival instinct is to avoid violence. A glitch exists to that instinct and the problem is that you cannot achie ve avoidance of violence. Yes, you may feel safe here on campus, but are you really safe? After the story of the male who was pistol whipped on our very own campus of South Alabama the feeling of safe departed many students. One would think that they can avoid being in a situation of that manner simply by staying in one’s dorm. Even in the safety of your own dorm you are not safe. Someone can come knocking on your door and rob you in the middle of the night. That is just life and the realization that a college campus is really not a violence free place can strike fear into someone imagining the world beyond the walls of South Alabama. If one was to turn on the local, nationwide, or even global news channel most likely the top story of the day will be of a violent nature. No matter where you live or where you go violence follows you. Every city has the same stories of burglary, every state has the same stories of murder, and every country has the same stories of war. You cannot run from violence and you certainly cannot hide from it. Even in some of the safest places cases of violence has occurred. Violence is a form of nature that encompasses our world as we know it. From birth everything that is learned has to beShow MoreRelatedDomestic Violence Within Families And Relationships1515 Words   |  7 Pagesof domestic violence within families and relationships? 2.INTRODUCTION This is an investigation into the types of domestic violence that occurs in our everyday lives within families in most cases this is unreported particularly in relationships and families. Family violence is any abusive behaviour in a family or intimate relationship where one person attempts to gain and maintain control over another. 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Therefore, this learner will explain the main tenets of the perceptions of violence within a community as it relates to public safety leadership, and explain the reasons behind this learner’s perception

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Compare and Contrast Union and Confederacy in Civil War free essay sample

The challenges that the Union and the Confederacy faced during the Civil War were very different. Critical weaknesses that seemed unfit for war, plagued the opposing American forces, and would serve to be a continuous obstacle that would need to be conquered by patriotism of the people, for their opposing views. To allow for both sides to be competitive, the efforts put forth had to mold to the varied needs of the armies by both the civilian population and their militaries. To the people in the south the similarity to the colonists in the Revolutionary War, was assimilated to their separatist cause in the Civil War and would be their drive to compete with the dominating Northern states. This mindset started the Confederacy in the Civil War, despite many disadvantages, with the confidence in defeating Union forces, before becoming overwhelmed and being defeated after four well fought years. The original seceding states of the Confederacy consisted of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The people of these states saw themselves extremely different than that of the northern states both politically and culturally, and felt continuous pressure from the population dominating in the northern states to conform to northern ideals. It seemed the only and best option to keep the southern way of life was to become an independent Confederate nation. That idea to become a separate nation was not a sudden idea when Lincoln came into office; it was simply not recognized by previous presidents, which would allow for the issue to hit its climax when he was elected. By the time Lincoln came into office, talks of revolution were already at its tipping point, but as stated by Lincoln, â€Å"Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. † Feeling sympathy and the same operation as the seceding states Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined the Confederate forces demanding to be an independent nation. As soon as Lincoln was sworn in, his address to the nation was in attempt to create peace, reassuring the rebellious southern states that their way of life would not change and the president has no legal right to issue any enforcement to take away their freedoms or customs. He also gave warning in affect stating if an action was to start civil war it must be of a southern militant deed to warrant an assault from the Federal Army. The south did not adhere to Lincolns warning because southern independence was Jefferson Davis’, and his followers’ priority. The first Confederate assault came on April 13th and 14th 1861 when Jefferson Davis ordered an attack on Ft. Sumter. On April 15th Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to enlist in the armed forces for 90 days. The response from Lincoln’s call to action in the Northern public to fill the volunteer spots was overwhelming. Large numbers of young men from every northern state volunteered to keep the nation whole. Lincoln believed that with the overwhelming population difference between the north and south that the rebel army of the south would be crushed in a matter of days. The first battle of the war demonstrated just how confident the Federal Government was in their efforts to crush the Confederate army. Lincoln ordered General Irvin McDowell to lead the first attack on the Confederate army in the summer of 1861, in what has been come to be known as Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). McDowell led 35,000 new, eager Union troops against less than 20,000 Confederates. The Federal Government was so confident in their expected victory they invited the troop’s friends and families watch the Union army defeat the rebel Confederates. Soon after the Union army arrived, and opened up fire on the smaller rebel army, unexpected Confederate reinforcements came around the side of the Union’s main force. The Confederate reinforcements lead by Stone Wall Jackson did not show their flags and wore very similar uniforms as the Union army, which in turn fooled McDowell’s forces and leading them to believe that they were Union reinforcements. It was well believed until Jackson’s forces began unloading rounds on the Union army stopping McDowell’s forces from advancing, holding the line like â€Å"a stone wall. As the new Union recruits witnessed battle for the first time and felt the lack of preparation, they were quick to retreat back to Washington DC. The Southern victory and the tens of thousands of lives lost proved to the Union that this war was not going to be easily won. The southern states although far less populated and without initial means to manufacture war supplies did have the strengths to be very competitive. Strong, experienced Confederate leadership in their practiced military, and the overall will power to protect their way of life would prove to be their reatest assets. Jefferson Davis became the president of the Confederacy and was a model leader. He developed a distinguished political career with many years served in the senate, he was a West Point graduate, the former Secretary of War, and a veteran of the Mexican American War. He was the ideal candidate for a president in war times. He had the advantage of having General Robert E. Lee commanding his army after Joseph Johnston was injured in The Battle of Bull run. Robert E. Lee due to strong respect, character and performance in the Mexican American war was Lincoln’s first choice as the Union general but Lee’s patriotism to his home state of Virginia would ultimately lead him to be commander of the Confederacy. Over one third of Federal Army’s officers would join Lee in fighting with the Confederate army. The Northern states did not prove to have the same strengths in leadership. Lincoln’s political career consisted of one uneventful term in the House of Representatives. The extent of his military background was a short time spent as head of a small militia that moved Native Americans out of Illinois in 1832. He was tall, gangly, and had some feminine characteristics that did not allow for him to have the strong presence that Jefferson Davis had. A strong military general was hard for Lincoln to find that could win battles, multiple would become general to soon be replaced. The public in the North would also not have the same drive to defeat the south. For the northern population, battles would not be fought on their home land, and if the war was lost the way of life for the Union would not change. This would serve to be one of the largest challenges to overcome for the Union military. It would not be until General Grant would start proving his strong ability to win battles for Lincoln in the west and replace McClellan as commander for his army that the war would start to be in Union favor. Grant used the strengths the north had and used them to exploit the south’s weakness. The Union army was more equipped with men, weapons, and transportation via rail road. Grant was relentless on his attacks on the south and would find a knack for putting his soldiers in harm’s way to ensure victory, because he had more expendable men and he knew the south did not have that luxury. Eventually he would order raids on key southern cities, demoralizing southern civilians, and soldiers alike. The most famous of which was General Sherman’s â€Å"March to the Sea,† where he made his way through Atlanta leaving the city in ruins, and marched to Savannah to capture it and claim it for the Union. After the heart of the south was conquered by Union forces, Confederate troops felt the war hit too close to home and the young southern soldiers wanted to go home to protect their families. The troops were running out of food, supplies, and after hundreds of thousands of troops died, the war was soon coming to an end. General Lee felt the struggle to be futile and the advances of the north to have taken too many lives. He noticed the families left by the young men supporting the Confederacy were not able to support themselves and starving; hope was next to gone and defeat was very near. General Lee’s last forces were in Petersburg just a few miles outside Richmond, the capital of the Confederate Army, which was abandoned on April 2nd 1865 surrounded by General Grant’s army. On April 3rd Richmond was captured by the Union. Lee was pursued by Grant until, on April 9th 1865, Lee finally surrendered. Two weeks after Lee’s surrender the rest of the Confederate forces followed. With Lee’s surrender, he expected to be killed alongside his troops for treason, but Grant, whom had great respect for Lee, graciously accepted his surrender and told Lee and his tired troops to go home and plant crops to make it through winter. Lincoln and Grant alike, recognized that the Northern cause was simply to keep the nation whole, and that though the southern part of the country rose up and fought to separate, they were still part of the same country and did not lose track of what they were fighting for. The efforts the Confederate and the Union armies had to put forth and the tolls the nation had to pay were more costly than anyone could have predicted. Through their efforts the Confederate forces overcame lack of supplies, troops, food, and transportation for four years. The sheer will power, labors, efforts, and lives that the military and southern civilians sacrificed defeated the Union’s expectations. The Union however would overcome their weak military leadership and prove to be victorious by overwhelming the south with their much larger military, and their ability to manufacture and supply their troops with all necessary means to win a war.