Poetry and Time Essay

Slessor’s compact oeuvre details his struggle with time. However, his longing to be out of time merely highlights the supremacy of time over human life and nature. Slessor utilises familiar elements in an attempt to gain a better understanding of what he cannot comprehend. Moments captured out of time are short-lived illusions, though despite their brevity Slessor believes they are beautiful. In Out of Time, the first two stanzas in the third sonnet are Slessor’s illusions of a moment captured in ‘the sweet meniscus of time’. This moment is captured as Slessor remains ‘with the golden undertow’, moving against time for a brief moment. In this moment out of time Slessor observes a scene, which defies not only time but also other conventions such as gravity as the gulls rise ‘backward’. Slessor’s language in these stanzas (‘golden’, ‘sweet’ and ‘bubbled’) are contrasted against the harsh words (‘stabbed’, ‘pale’ and ‘faceless’) through the remainder of the poem and show through contrast Slessor’s awe at the beauty of the ‘moment’s world’. However Slessor is taken back to reality at the end of the third stanza by ‘the suck of sea’. When Slessor is ‘Out of time’ his disobeying time which has power even over nature. Consequently, under the instruction of time, the sea brings Slessor back to the constraints of time and reality as it continues its relentless pursuit of fate. In Five Bells Slessor struggles to comprehend the death of his friend: Joe Lynch. At the beginning Slessor is under the illusion that he may be able to ‘hear the voice’ of the ‘dead man’ despite the impenetrable ‘pygmy strait’ that he knows exists between life and death. Slessor is frustrated that Joe is trapped in a flood of time and that he himself is taken away by time, leaving Joe ‘anchored’. Despite this knowledge Slessor employs illusions and imagery as he tries to break the constraints of time and reach his friend. The first illusion is that of Joe ‘beating at the ports of space’, ‘bawling’ and ‘crying out [his] name’. This is Slessor trying to imagine what is beyond death. The second illusion is Joe trapped at the bottom of the sea as the ‘wet presses it’s dark thumb balls in’ and the ‘sea pinks’ growing between Joe’s teeth. Despite these attempts to bring Joe back to life so Slessor can ‘hear his voice’, Slessor is unable to be out of time and reanimate his friend. Rather all he hears is ‘bells, five bells coldly ringing out’, bringing Slessor back to reality. Slessor very effectively utilises illusions and strong imagery in an attempt to break the constraints of time in order to capture a moment or remember a loved one. However, inevitably Slessor is forced back to reality by the power and necessity of time and it’s relentless nature. Time is continuous; its relentless nature causes Slessor to leave memory behind as he is swept up in the ever-continuing tide. Out fo Time is structured as a poem composed of 3 linked sonnets, the first sonnet ends with ‘the golden undertow’ and the second begins with ‘the golden undertow’. This linkage is consistent throughout the remainder of the poem, with the last line of the last sonnet linking to the ‘yachts’ in the opening line of the first sonnet. This structure very effectively portrays Slessor’s belief that time is relentless as it continues onwards. Similarly, Slessor has used Iambic pentameter throughout the poem so that it is read consistently. This creates a measured rhythm and a sense of urgency that portrays time is measured and hurried. It is for this reason Slessor is unable to remain ‘out of time’ as we must obey time and time must continue in its pursuit of fate. Though Dutton claims of Five Bells, ‘the time of this poem is quite different to the time of all the others’ Slessor still discusses the continuous nature of time in this poem. He describes time as ‘moved by little fidget wheels’ consistent with Out of Time in its suggestion that time is measured. Slessor utilises the sea to comment on times continuous nature. This is appropriate as Slessor is very familiar with the Harbour and water and using this element helps him and his readers to grasp a better understanding of the incomprehensible. Joe and those dead are described in a metaphor of weed, as Slessor suggest ‘time bends the weed’ continuing on, whilst leaving Joe and the weed in it’s wake. Similarly, he states the ‘tide is over you’ and ‘the waves go over you’, using the constancy of a waters tide to effectively portray times continuous nature. Slessor effectively conveys his longing to be ‘out of time’ through his poetry. Although in exploring this using illusion he realises the continuous nature of time means that one cannot remain out of time for long periods of time.

Evaluate the effectiveness of Internet marketing Essay

Given that the UK has fully embraced e-commerce and Internet shoppers now contribute more to the nation’s GDP than other country in the G20, it is perhaps unsurprising that it spawned one of the world’s leading online retailers – ASOS (As Seen On Screen). When launched in 2000, the website was aimed at providing consumers a tool to buy clothes and accessories that had been worn by celebrities, or otherwise items ‘As Seen on Screen’, but has since grown to a global online fashion store that has over 65,000 products that are targeted at the ‘20-somethings market’. ASOS ideal customer is a female, 20 year old, fashion-lover: an avid consumer and communicator who are inspired by celebrities and the media. ASOS aim to gain an increased understanding of their target customer so they can offer them the fashion they want, they do this by building an online relationship. ASOS ideal customer would have online, digital lives to ensure the instant access to information as ASOS is web-accessible on any device they happen to be using – mobile, tablet or laptop/PC. ASOS sells a wide range of brands to target different individuals. ASOS sell their own label and other world-renowned brands, and also give individuals and boutiques the chance to sell, new and pre-worn fashion, through their ASOS Marketplace channel. ASOS now has eight local language websites (UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, China and Russia) but also provides free shipping to 234 countries in total. Its website attracts 29.5 million unique visitors a month (excluding mobile) and has 14.8 million registered users. With the Group’s chief executive recently claiming that  £1 billion in annual sales are firmly in the company’s sights, ASOS is truly an online giant. How does ASOS use the Internet? ASOS use the Internet in a range of different ways to strive to gain the most from the company. As the company is online only, their main use of the Internet is through their own website. By using their website they can convey the company’s message, to inform existing and potential customers of the features and benefits of the company’s products and/or services. This enables the customers to browse through the products available and purchase them online at their own convenience. As customers of ASOS become part of the company by having their own personal accounts, ASOS can use direct  mailing when promoting new offers, products and services. They can also use direct mail to support customers when tracking orders placed online. ASOS can also use the Internet to promote the company through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search Engine Marketing (SEM), which is marketing a website online via search engines, either by improving the site’s ranking through search engine optimization (SEO), buying pay-per-click (PPC) ads or purchasing pay-for-inclusion (PFI) listings in website directories. By doing this, ASOS can use popular search engines such as, Google and Yahoo!, to sponsor any links of theirs, this instantly gives them a competitive advantage over competitors. ASOS can also use the Internet by advertising through banners etc. Social Media is another way ASOS can use the Internet. Social media marketing, this can involve social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. ASOS can use these sites to gain customers and also enhance the popularity of the company. The products provided by ASOS target a range of customers with a wide array of high street and designer brands. These are all promoted alongside ASOS own brand to gain an increased recognition from potential customers. What are the benefits? By using the Internet, ASOS have been able to obtain a number of key benefits. The main key benefit for ASOS is the ability the Internet brings to provide a service to a wider target audience. The convenience of the store and the 24/7 access enables ASOS to obtain an increased amount of customers. By being an online store they can also target customers worldwide, which further expands their ever-growing target audience. Another benefit of using the Internet as a business is the ability to use direct marketing, via Email, text etc. ASOS are able to contact customers directly through their account information and they do this to inform them of the latest sales/promotions. This is a huge benefit for ASOS in terms of sustaining customers and it builds a customer/company relationship and increases the loyalty of the customers. What challenges did ASOS overcome? In order to excel to become one of the world’s leading online retailers, ASOS have had to overcome a number of challenges. The most substantial challenge,  which greatly impacted ASOS financially, was in the form of a warehouse fire in 2006. The warehouse fire caused 45% of stock with an overall profit of 3.8million to be lost; this incident saw a great downfall for the company. Unfortunately, the incident fell during December, which resulted in the loss of thousands of Christmas presents that had also been paid for by customers worldwide. Not only was this a financial issue this also hindered ASOS reputation and brand image due to the lack of trust and decreased loyalty from their customers. In the wake of the 9/11 and the collapse of the dot-com boom craze, ASOS shares were falling towards one of the worst market collapses for a generation. An instant decrease in share prices similarly caused a challenge for the business. ASOS also faced challenges with the lack of support from high-end, designer brands. To build the companies reputation, attracting larger fashion labels was crucial. By 2004, ASOS was selling stock from a number of prestigious brands; this greatly increased customers and therefore increased profits and popularity of the site. The brand image including the re-brand of the company from As Seen On Screen to ASOS, which was another vital decision ASOS had to make to suit customers demands and needs. By doing this they tailored their company to fit the desired needs of their customers, which succeeded in building the relationship between the company and the customers. After the incident of the warehouse fire, ASOS faced financial struggle and faced interim payments over 12 months to strive to put the business back on track. They thrived in doing this with a growth of 116% in 12 months – and revenues o f 42.6 million. Today, ASOS still faces challenges with issues such as, technical difficulties and securing payments online. How do they meet the customer needs? As a highly successful company, ASOS meet customer needs in a number of diverse ways. The website itself aims to meet customer needs by targeting their design and layout to appease customers. The website features a navigation bar, drop down menus, a help page and contact details for customers. When featuring a product on the site, ASOS offer customers with a wide range of colour and size options, catering for customers needs. The website also makes this easy for customers to find their desired product with the use of filters when browsing products. The website is also used to  promote sales and special offers for customers all year round. Recently ASOS have expanded their services by providing, ASOS VIP Premier (for just  £9.95 a year). This allows loyal customers to become a VIP member of the site with extra services such as unlimited next-day delivery, free returns and early access to sales. This is highlighted to enhance customers desire to shop with ASOS and also provides increased benefits when becoming a VIP ASOS customer. As well as the ability to become an ASOS VIP Premier customer, customers can join the website (free of charge) with their own personal account. This includes sharing personal details when ordering and tracking products. Due to security, some customers may see this as an off-putting aspect to ordering online. However, ASOS ensure security recognition, in the form of a verified icon, focuses that ASOS is a secure site. By becoming a member, customers are automatically placed on the direct mailing list. This allows ASOS to keep customers up to date with special offers and also help to sustain customers. As well as using their own site, ASOS also uses a variety of social networking sites to help their customers feel more connected to the business. This also enables them to be informed of any updates. ASOS also use popular search engines, such as Google and Yahoo! through sponsored link; this means that when users search ASOS, the page is automatically the first link to appear on screen. By using sponsored link this enables ASOS to gain recognition of customers and also makes it more convenient and easier for customers to find the page. To meet a wider customer audience, ASOS ensure their site is accessible to all, with the option of 8 different language and currency selections to suit a specific customer. This meets customer’s needs as it enhances ASOS target audience therefore generating an increased profit for the company. How don’t they meet the customer needs? Despite having a wide range of benefits that do meet ASOS’ customer needs; there are still a number of factors that hinder success for ASOS. Primarily, with ASOS being an online only business, there is no direct service for customers. Although the website provides an email service there is no direct service available for customers, which means customers can not ring the business or speak to an employee face to face. This may be a huge disadvantage to the ASOS, as they do not provide a particular service that  customers may feel is a must. The website itself, although fresh and tidy with its black and white colour scheme, when browsing the site customers may find the design to be boring and dull in comparison to an exciting and living shopping trip experience. This may hinder customer’s use of the site and result in a loss of customers and profit. As well as the design of the website, images of products featured on ASOS, may also deter customers desire to purchase from the website. Some of the images on the ASOS website are unreliable which makes it hard for customers to gain a realistic vision of what they are potentially purchasing. This could possibly be a disadvantage for ASOS as customers may face disappointment on the arrival of their purchase, as they do not have the ability to view the product in high detail before buying. When browsing ASOS, it can be highlighted that some of the pages show a different layout than others on the website. This could be seen as inconsistency within the website and give customers an unprofessional image of ASOS. Conclusion In conclusion, ASOS is effective in meeting the desired needs of its customers. The figures in 2007 of 42.6 million in comparison to the predicted turnover of  £1 billion expected by 2015 show the growth of the company in past years. This growth is down to the overall service providing by ASOS and use of the Internet. This is shown through benefits such as; navigation of the website, popularity through other sites, including search engines; direct mail and accessibility. Despite this, there are several drawbacks to using Internet market, which may prevent ASOS to strive to reach their fullest potential. Drawbacks within; overall customer service and inconsistency throughout the site, which may be seen as a huge disadvantage when using the website and may hinder the future growth of ASOS in the aspect of gaining and sustaining current and potential customers.

Substance abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Substance abuse - Essay Example There are many ongoing debates in regards to this issue, and this is especially so in particular regards to that of the exact distinction between substance abuse and substance dependence; these are two totally separate issues however they are often confused or considered wrongly as being the same thing. In regards to be able to show a proper example of substance abuse, we will be discussing one movie in particular, 28 days. By thoroughly examining this movie and understanding about the environment, the characters, the situations take place, and all of the related issues in this regards we will be able to come to a much more critical and knowledgeable viewpoint in regards to what substance abuse actually is and what can be done about it. There are many critical issues that will be discussed using this film, and this is what will be dissertated in the following. 28 Days is a movie in which basically what happens is a big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center after stealing a limousine and crashing it into a house; the main character is Gwen Cummings who is played by Sandra Bullock, who is a Caucasian woman that ends up getting into a car crash on the day of her sister’s wedding, and she is then given a choice between either going to prison or going to a rehab center, and so she ends up choosing the rehab center. However, she is not exactly willing to admit that she has a problem with alcohol, and so at the beginning of the rehab center program she is quite negative and is extremely resistant in regards to taking part in any of the treatment programs that they have to offer. However, after a certain point she starts to realize that she does in fact have a problem, and that rather than simply using alcohol she does in fact have an addiction, and she then gradually begins to re-examine her life and she becomes willing to at least give it a try and get herself help and get better.

The role of expectation, performance, and other elements Essay

The role of expectation, performance, and other elements - Essay Example As the primary research is to be conducted in two parts, the objectives for the different parts will differ from each other. At the first stage, a preliminary research is to be conducted that will endeavor to present a list of factors that go into making of customer expectations as quoted by the surveyed marketing managers. In the second stage, the survey is undertaken to collect the data on how the different people develop their expectations, and satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has gained prominence in the marketing literature as well as in marketing practice due to its impact on customer retention and long term revenue streams. Owing to the importance of customer satisfaction, there has been considerable effort made in researching the antecedent conditions of the same. Since very early times of developing the marketing literature, customer expectations have been considered as an important aspect of customer satisfaction

Hawaii Environmental Policay and Act (HEPA) Essay

Hawaii Environmental Policay and Act (HEPA) - Essay Example Those who would want to make this type of developmental change must get the governments permission. Even proposed buildings or expansion projects of existing structures owned or controlled by the agencies of the government on public land is not exempt from getting the governments permission. You can get said permission from the Environment Department. The Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) is directly charged with issuing the permission. The OEQC's primary task is to stimulate, expand and coordinate efforts to maintain the optimum quality of the States environment. All private as well as public entities and agencies must secure the aforementioned permission. This is how strict the government is that it requires itself, the Laie Elementary School is a government controlled and operated school, to obtain permission to build from itself, the OEQC another agency of the government. This safeguard is to make sure that there will be no destruction of the environment in any way. The Laie Elementary school wants to expand its cafeteria, and so must obtain the needed permission. They understand that they have to carefully study and know the rules of the OEQC. The school is prepared to do everything that the OEQC requires. I will discuss the issues that may affect the environment upon the implementation of the schools plan for developmental change. I will also explain the rules that must be followed before any expansion of the school may be allowed in Hawaii. I- Factual Background The project is located in the central area of Laie town in Oahu Island, more specifically in the campus of the Laie Elementary School. The place is owned by the State of Hawaii and the City and the County of Honolulu. The Campus is about 7.61 acres. Its land use classification is urban and is an R-5 residential under the zoning of the land use ordinance. R-5 zoning means that only single family residential units is occupying the neighboring lands. The proposed project consists of the expansion of the existing Laie Elementary school cafeteria. It will add an approximate of 3,600 SF or over 50% to the existing cafeteria. The cafeteria is approximately 30 years old and can fit only 250 occupants. At the present time the enrollment capacity of the school is at 900 students. To accommodate all students, the cafeteria's meal services have been made to provide meals in three shifts or batches. Presently Lunch is served in three seating shifts, from 10:45 AM to 11:15 AM. With the proposed expansion, lunches will still be served in shifts but it will be decreased to two seating shifts. The proposed expansion includes a dining area; new heater and electrical room; new tray return and wash area; locker room; toilet and an office space. The existing kitchen will be made bigger to accommodate the needs of cooking for the ever increasing school population. This will also ensure that meals are kept hot, preventing any bacterial growth and health issues that may arise from such growth. This developmental change will also include a much needed wastewater facility for the cafeteria. The facility will be connected to a local sewer system. At present, the cafeteria is not connected to a local sewer system. It uses a cesspool system. That pit poses environmental, health as well as safety

An Evaluation of a Destination Website Case Study

An Evaluation of a Destination Website - Case Study Example Websites are ideal for this purpose since they can provide facts, information, visuals and communication. Visitors can browse through such sites fix a place to visit, make travel arrangements, make bookings etc all thorough a well designed destination site. "The Internet appears to have overtaken many established resources utilised in the tourism industry and is now second only to recommendations by friends or family. (Using the Internet to Promote your Product: Tourism on the Internet: Research and Planning. 2001). This paper is a review of a destination website called 'incredibleindia.com' with reference to how a well designed and effective travel destination site should be made. A personal review will be made followed by a study using participants to verify my findings. Components of a well designed destination website: There are certain characteristics that any website, including destination sites, should have. The essential elements that should be reviewed are design, content, usability, and interactivity. Design: The webpage ... But for a destination site, pictures and even moving images are essential for it to be eye catching. There should be uniformity or consistency of different pages in the web site. That is, it should look as if all the pages are from the same website. Jarring colours should not be used. With regard to the site under review, the design is simple. The page is uncluttered and colours are light. The dominant colours are light green and blue with text predominantly in blue and white. The absence of pictures are a disappointment and the only picture given appears to be someplace outside India. There is nothing outstanding about the design of the website. So, as a destination site, it is highly disappointing in terms of design. "The design and layout of your site is the next most important part of building a website. Make a bad choice here and it won't matter how great your content is or how much advertising you do. If your site looks bad no one will visit and those that do won't stay long or buy anything." (Website Design Tips - Good Website Design. 2000-2007). Content: The most used clich about this aspect is that 'content is king'. This is true for nay published material. Content is the most important aspect in any web site. However attractive a site may be to look at will be overshadowed by poor content. Users visit web pages for a particular need and the content should satisfy it. In the words of one of the most well known authorities on web design, Jakob Nielsen: "They visit sites because there's something they want to accomplish -- maybe even buy your product. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for." (Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design: Not

Child observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 1

Child observation - Essay Example Trish said â€Å"Hello!† and continued playing with blocks. Nate took some of her blocks from the tray and he also began to build something. Both children did not speak to each other and were very busy with what they were doing. I think Trish wanted to hold on longer to her mother because she is aware that they will be apart for the day. She was trying to assert her independence when she said â€Å"No!† which I believe is a powerful word for toddlers because it shows they can speak up for themselves. As her mother was walking away, I wonder what was running through Trish’s head. Is she afraid she will not see her mother anymore? Does she want to go with her mother? When the caregiver took her, it did not take long for Trish to stop crying as she was attracted to the toys on the shelf. I thought toddlers get distracted easily and they are fascinated with objects that stimulate their thinking. I think this is because they are in Piaget’s Pre-Operational Stage of Development when they begin playing with toys as symbols for something else. I believe she sees the blocks as tools to give life to her imagination. . I learned from Piaget that especially for very young children, they need concrete materials to help them learn better I think Trish felt comfortable with Nate because she did not mind him sitting beside her and taking some pieces of her blocks. Trish is still learning verbal skills and at her age, it is still very limited. I think if she had more verbal skills, she would engage in a conversation with Nate. I felt sorry for Trish when she clung to her mother. I just wanted to pick her up, comfort her and assure her that her mother will be back soon. As a mother myself, I feel her mother’s pain in leaving her at the centre but also understand that she needs to work. Trish was playing by herself at the play stove. The caregiver squatted near her and asked her what she was doing. Trish said

Prospect and Effectiveness of Web 2.0 Tools Usage Research Proposal

Prospect and Effectiveness of Web 2.0 Tools Usage - Research Proposal Example The research proposal "Prospect and Effectiveness of Web 2.0 Tools Usage" talks about the prospect and effectiveness of the use of web 2.0 tools in information literacy in education, workplace, and everyday contexts by carrying out a comparative study in Australia and other countries as digital information affects modern life aspects of people. This study is exceedingly beneficial because it will center on the effectiveness of web 2.0 tools in information literacy in education, workplace and everyday lives of the peoples in Australia and New Zealand. Digital information affects every modern life aspects of the people. This aims to develop guidelines ‘formalizing academic standard practices’ and reporting using web 2.0 forms of authoring or content creation like blogging, social bookmarking and podcasting. This study is intended to investigate the strategies and tools available to further develop the success of web 2.0 tools in the sectors of education, workforce and the society as a whole, specifically in Australia and New Zealand. Web 2.0 technologies provide teachers new ways to engage students in a meaningful way. Children raised on new media technologies are less patient with filling out work sheets and listening to lectures because they already participate on a global level through the internet. The use of web 2.0 technologies proves the fact that education is a constantly evolving process. Research methods will include literature review, experimental investigation, modeling, and data validation.

How are people presented in Vultures Essay Example for Free

How are people presented in Vultures Essay Both Vultures and Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes are presented using people. They both represent people in some way and both include the people in different forms. The poem Vultures presents the people using the vultures. These vultures represent people of a certain kind. In real life vultures are real birds of prey, but in the poem they are trying to represent the types of people. The poem, Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes, people are presented through the division in society. Vultures are shown that humans arent so different to animals; it is shown that both animals and humans are shown through their actions. It is shown that vultures are bad in real life because of what they do, but behind all the disgusting habits there is care shown. They appear to have care for each other and therefore this shows us that even though people do bad things, they still have some good factors about them. Both animals and humans are shown through their actions and imagery to show that they are caring even though they have evil within them. For example, it starts off with how the two vultures are picking the eyes of a swollen corpse and how they eat the contents of the bowel. This shows that they are grotesque and very evil. But straight after this, the vultures are shown to be nestling together affectionately and lovingly. In spite of the nasty diet, the vultures appear to care for each other. From this the author goes on to show that even the worst of human beings shoe some touches of humanity. Then he compares the vultures to a commander n Belson. He goes on to consider the love a concentration camp commander shows to his family having spent his day burning human corpses, he buys them sweets on the way home The poet remarks on the strangeness of love, existing in places people would not have thought possible. This is the same way that the vultures are presented which links it in comparison to people; the vultures are compared with the Nazi Commandant who preyed greedily and ruthlessly on people who were supposedly weaker than him, but could still show compassion towards people that he loved, such as his family. This is the same way that the vultures are presented which links it in comparison to people and the vultures are compared with the Nazi Commandant who preyed greedily on people who were supposed to be weaker than him, but could still show compassion towards people that he loved, such as his family. In Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes, people are presented from two different sides of the society. It shows two garbage men and contrasts them with an elegant, rich couple in a Mercedes. Its about two pairs of people meeting for a moment in a busy city at nine oclock in the morning. They are strangers and never speak to each other. They are only near each other because they are waiting for the traffic lights to change. The first pair of people are two dustmen. They are finishing their working day and going back to the depot. They are hanging off the back of the dustbin lorry and looking down at a couple in a Mercedes sports car. These people in the Mercedes seem the very opposite of the dustbin men. They are starting their day and seem rich, successful and fashionable. The poem makes lots of contrasts between the two pair and it seems to criticise the society which makes the differences between people so large. When the poets describing the dustbin men, it is often negative, dirty and cheap. For instance, their jackets are plastic, they are grungy, and he calls them scavengers. We usually think of scavengers as animals that live off whatever others leave behind, like vultures. And in a way thats what they are they are paid to take away what others dont want, but they do an important job and we couldnt live without them. The poet describes the couple in the Mercedes in a very positive way. He wears a suit and her hair is nicely done, and their car shows just how rich they must be, but at the same time the poet also seems to criticise this couple. He says its like watching an odourless TV advert, so they dont look like real people and they sound too good to be true. The poet then shows us how two of the men are similar. They are the same age, wear sunglasses and have long hair. And of course they live in the same city they should be equal. This idea is made very clear at the end. The four people are next to each other, but there is a gulf between them they are living in different worlds. The language in Vultures is very negative towards the people, and also has a strong influence on how the people are presented. There are a lot of pessimistic adjectives used to describe the opening lines of the poem, and also to present the vultures throughout the poem. For example in the first couple of lines in the poem greyness is used, which create the idea that it is a dull scene, but the contrast with the words sunbreak give a more positive effect. The poem uses a similar technique to present the vultures, for every positive point about them; there is a different negative point presented. The metaphor, bashed in head, a pebble on a stem rooted in a dump of gross feathers creates a negative image of the vultures. Various words are use to create disgusting images of the birds. It says they picked the eyes of a swollen corpse. This is presented as an inhumane thing to do. The vultures are picking at the body of either a dead animal. After this the poet presents the juxtaposing idea of how the birds love each other. People are presented in comparison to the vultures using the example of the brutal Nazi Commandant at the Belsen concentration camp. The poem states how the commandant goes home with the fumes of human roast clinging rebelliously to his hairy nostrils. This emphasises the more negative side. The word hairy compares the commandant to the vultures as it is a description which also applies to the vultures feathers. The poem also says how the commandant stops at the sweet shop to buy a chocolate for his child. The poet uses the phrase tender offspring to refer to the child; the word tender suggests that there is a close, caring and loving relationship between the commandant and his child. Therefore this shows the more positive side to the poem. The use of the word offspring, which usually refers to the child of an animal, links people to the vultures in the poem. So the poem presents humans negatively, with an evil side, but also shows how these kinds of people also have a more tender side to them, just like the vultures. It compares people with animals such as vultures. Overall the words used are both negative and then follow a positive point. Two Scavengers in a Truck, two Beautiful People in a Mercedes uses linguistic features to present people. In the first couple of lines, the colours yellow and red are used to describe the garbage men. These colours are bright and suggest brightness into their lives. The adjective used to describe the people in the Mercedes is elegant and this is repeated, which suggests the couple are boring as there are no other adjectives to describe them. This also emphasises on the word and shows that they are very posh and therefore quite snobby. This is ironic as you would expect the couple to have a better life whereas the garbage men are expected to have a boring and dull life. The way that the couple are dressed and appear is described using various phrase and adjective; hip, three-piece linen suit, shoulder length blond hair sunglasses, young blond woman and casually coifed. All of the previous suggest that the couple are superior to the garbage men. This is because they are modern and are living what can be described as The American Dream. The garbage men are described more negatively, the first one id referred to as having grey iron hair, hunched back and gargoyle Quasimodo. The word grey contrasts with the earlier colours but also suggests that he is quite dirty, the phrase gargoyle Quasimodo implies that he is ugly and compares him to the Hunchback of Notre Dame, who was very caring and loving despite his appearance. The second of the garbage men is described the same as the Mercedes driver, however you know that they are nothing alike from other references and also because the two men are collectively described as scavengers and grungy. The use of the word scavengers suggest the two men are poor and the fact that they are garbage men emphasises this further. Overall it is shown that the garbage men are dirtier but have a more interesting life, whereas the elegant couple are shown to have the more boring life. One of the unusual things about the poem is that it doesnt have clear sentences, full stops or commas. Even the lines dont all start in the same place some lines start on the left, some on the right and some in the middle. This is done on purpose. The four people are together for a few seconds and the poet quickly notes down some differences. It also means that when you read it, you stop at different places, and this might make you think about different ideas in the poem, and what you think of modern life. The two poems present people in different way using different adjectives and linguistic features. They also show that people are not in anyway perfect in their actions and appearances. Therefore by these two poems we are shown that people can be both evil and kind and also you cannot judge a book by its cover. The two garbage men are referred to as scavengers with a low status, whilst the young people are described as elegant. The poem is set in what can be described as a snapshot in time, which is when they are waiting at the traffic lights. Although the two groups of people are presented completely differently in terms of status they sill exist in the same place at the same time which is what brings them together.

Porter Five Force Essay Example for Free

Porter Five Force Essay Food services (high) Bargaining power of suppliers: low. Food is a low cost industry; there is only a little price difference between different suppliers. The suppliers want to sell their raw material should accept the marketing price. Bargaining power of buyers: low The buyers can decide to choose a cheaper food because there is so many food service they can choose, the industry should establish an reasonable price. Threat of new entrants: medium People like to try new food. But if the industry has their own fixed customers, and making their own cooking style, the new entrants will not have a big entrant to them. Threat of substitutes: high The food can be replaced by another better food if the people like. It is not necessities to eat only one kind of food. There must to be some same cooking style in different brand, such as McDonald’s with KFC. Industry competitors: high Food service is very popularize in our life, there is many new food entrants around us, people always like to try different food. General merchandise (low) Bargaining power of suppliers: low The general merchandise as a leading position to sell the products, as a result, suppliers power is low. Suppliers hardly affect the industry’s profit. Bargaining power of buyers: high The general merchandise becomes popular, and we have a lot of branded supermarket. Buyers can have much more choice between different supermarkets; they can compare the price to choose a cheap one. Threat of new entrants: low General merchandise cost is high so before entry this industry the entrants need lots investment. Many supermarkets already branded so the new entrants hardly to threat the old one. Threat of substitutes: low or medium There are might be many shopping way, like online shopping. However, general merchandise is the necessary part of people’s life, and also their different type of merchandise is the key factor to win. Industry competitorsï ¼Å¡high The brand is various in this industry, they need branding their own store to strengthen the impression of people.

Literature Review on Risk Management

Literature Review on Risk Management Software Project Management (CI6113) Title: Reviewing the Past Research Papers on Risk Management Abstract Risk Management is nowadays the important research topic in the many critical business areas and industrial areas. Project teams do not achieve their projects goals of reducing cost and gaining much profit without assessing risks and managing risks. This term paper analyzes research papers done by many researches in the field of the Risk Management within 2000 and 2007 and describes the results of the analysis of those research papers. Our goal of this paper is to inference and to justify the trend of the Risk management in research areas and business areas. There are many topics in the Risk Management such as Risk Analysis, Risk Assessment, Risk Control and others. This paper’s analysis path is starting from the project risk identification and end with the risk control topic. This paper provides the results what the gaps between researches are. Furthermore, this paper learns briefly what the problems and trends before year 2000 are. Introduction This paper examines the results of the past research papers published from 2000 through 2007. We focus on Risk Management and their related topics. In addition, we also examine the trends of the Risk Management within this period. We analyze which topic had been researched most in a particular year and which methods were used in that year. This paper learns publications issued by year by year and group them in each year. In addition, we analyze the topics which are relating to the specified topic. We found trends of the research in a year while we were learning them. According to the past results came from publications, we can make sense of mind for future of the Risk Management. This paper examines the situation which can become in future according to the study. Background Many project managers and strategic management are concerning about risks in long term strategic basic. So, we need to learn the risks. Risk is the uncertainty in the life cycle of the project. In 2003, Webster’s New Explorer College Dictionary defines the risk as â€Å"the possibility of danger and sufferance of harm or injury†. Risk cannot be seen without any emphasize upon it. In addition, risks can also give hopes to the successful project. So, if risks which cannot be seen before could be found and assessed then the proposed project will be successful. But risks found and assessed can never be avoided. It can be reduced by using the some techniques or adjustments. Some risks can be ignored without any executing. Risk may terrify to some persons related to the project because if it could not be uncovered, the team may incompetent in managing the project. According to the problems, risk management was critical issue of the project management. Researchers were doing researches to reduce and manage the risks which can be encountered in a project. People in the business areas were also finding the ways how to ignore the encountered risks. Some are finding how to control the risks. In addition, they were finding what risks can violate the project management unless they did not control the risks encountered. A risk which encounters in a year is not the same as the problem in another year. Because of the nature of project which depends on the World’s business. As changing the nature of the business, the nature of the risks is becoming change. Furthermore, research area is also changing according to the nature of the risk. So, the research trend for a year may not same as the trend of another year. To learn the research trend turmoil, we need to learn publications issued from 2000 through 2007. The next section will explain the importance of our paper. Situation of the paper There are many researches for the project management. Past research (Timothy Warrren, 2002) had done a research for the whole project management. It covered research published in English from 1960 through 1999. This paper covered within the period of 2000 and 2007 learned the topics of the risk management. We separated the research areas according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). These are Risk Identification and Assessment, Risk Qualification, Risk Response Development and Risk Control. Objectives of the paper The objective of this paper is to learn the trend of the Risk Management in past research publication. We restricted the period to be learned for each topic. This paper is intended to learn that how the risks emerged during the project time, is handled using which tools and methods. This paper intended to find the gaps between researches in each year and whole period of year 2000 and 2007. The paper learned only risk management out of topics of project management for the period. So, the other topics can be learned like our paper. These are Communication, Cost, Procurement, Human Resource, Outsourcing, Integration, Quality, Scope and Time Management. Literature review In this era, many companies conduct a great portion of their jobs in project form. Traditionally projects were mainly found in the construction industry and sections of the military, but the competitiveness of the markets of today with fast-changing technology encourages almost all companies to adopt project management (Burke 2003). Project management is the application of knowledge, skill, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirement. Project management is accomplished through the use of the processes such as: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing (PMBOK guide 2000). Because of global economical pressures, turbulence in the corporate environment and market forces leading to the increasing demands and tougher competition projects have to be implemented at lesser time, cost and with better functionalities. This causes growing demands on the management’s ability to forecast and react to unforeseeable events- risks. Risk is an abstract concept whose measurement is very difficult (Raftery, 1994). The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – 5th Edition defines risk as â€Å"The possibility or chance of meeting danger, suffering loss or injury†. The British Standard BS 4778 defines risk as â€Å"A combination of the probability, or frequency, of occurrence of a defined hazard and the magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence†. Risk may be expressed in a mathematical form as follows: Risk = (Probability of the occurrence of a defined event) x (Consequences of the occurrence of that event) Therefore, risk management is nowadays a critical factor to successful project management. Overview of Risk Management Project risk management is the art and science of identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk throughout the life of a project and in the best interests of meeting project objectives. (Schwalbe, 2006) Risk management has been practiced informally by everyone, with or without conscious of it, since the dawn of time. Modern risk management, which had become a widely accepted management function during the period from 1955-1964 (Snider, 1991) has its roots in insurance to which it has been closely aligned for more than three centuries (Ibid). The story of risk management has not all been positive and supports the argument that it is currently ineffective at managing surprise. In the 1960’s project management was under heavy criticism for project failures due to technical uncertainty, contact strategy, community opposition and project environmental impacts (Morris, 1997). A project manager may still today argue that the last two are external project factors and outside the immediate project environment under their control (Ibid) and it may be often assumed that these will be passed up the line to higher management levels (Chapman Ward, 1997). The main objectives of risk management include (Yee et al., 2001): To enable decision-making to be more systematic and less subjective. To provide an improved understanding of the risks facing a project by identifying risks and response scenarios. To assist in deciding which risks require urgent attention and which can be addressed later. To force management to realize that there are many possible outcomes for a project, and appropriate measures should be planned for any adverse consequences. Flanagan and Norman (1993) proposed a risk management framework as shown in Fig.3.1 which depicts the elements of the risk management system – risk identification, risk classification, risk analysis, risk attitude and risk response. Risk Identification Risk Classification Risk Analysis Risk Response Risk Attitude Figure 2.1 Risk management Framework (Source: Flanagan Norman, 1993) According to (PMBOK, PMI 2000) and (Schwalbe 2006), Project Risk Management has following processes Risk Management Planning Risk Identification Qualitative Risk Analysis Quantitative Risk Analysis Risk Response Planning Risk Monitoring and Control The following Fig.3.2 depicts how risk management processes involved in each of the project management process Initiation Planning Executing Controlling Closing Risk Identification Risk Identification Risk Response Control Risk Quantification Risk Response Development Fig 2.2 Risk Management Processes in each Project Management Process (Source: Dan Brandon, 2006) Risk management will not eradicate all the risks. It will enable decision to be made explicitly which will reduce the potential effect of certain risks. It will also assist in rational, defensible decisions regarding the allocation of risk among the parties to the project. Risk analysis is not a substitute for professional judgments and experience. On the other hand, it helps professionals to make use of the full extent of their experience and knowledge by liberating them from the necessity of making simplifying assumptions in order to produce deterministic plans and forecasts. Risk analysis is supplement to, not a substitute for professional judgments. Recent Approaches to Risk Management Project risk management is a topic of major current interest. It is being actively addressed by many government agencies and most of the professional project management associations around the world, and many relevant standards are extant or being developed. Some examples from the many approaches in use include: (Cooper D., Grey S., Raymond G., Walker P., 2005) Project Management Institute (PMI), USA (2003), Project Management Body of Knowledge, Chapter 11 on risk management; Association for Project Management, UK (1997), PRAM Guide; AS/NZS 4360 (2004), Risk Management, Standards Association of Australia; IEC 62198 (2001), Project Risk Management—Application Guidelines; Office of Government Commerce (OGC), UK (2002), Management of Risk; and Treasury Board of Canada (2001), Integrated Risk Management Framework We fill the research gap in risk management field from year 2000 to 2007. Methodology We conduct a quantitative bibliographic study on pass papers published from year 2000 to 2007. We collected papers and journals from electronic databases– ACM, IEEE and ProQuest. Our objective of this paper is to find the current research trend on Risk Management by analyzing and categorizing those research papers. Project Risk Management Research It is the process of finding what current researchers are emphasizing in. It includes defining the current works on project management, particularly on Risk Management articles and papers. Then make generalized conclusion based on collected and analyzed works. This conclusion or judgment is made based on project risk management processes– risk management planning, risk identification, qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning, risk monitoring and control (PMBOK 2000, Schwalbe 2006). Sources of data We collected articles and papers published in years 2000 to 2007 from these databases which are known to be rich information about project management. ACM Digital Library ACM digital library includes magazines, journals, transactions, publications by affiliated Organizations, SIG news letters, Conference Proceeding Series. ACM digital library provides service for individual, universities, libraries and corporations. We find that risk management is one of the research fields in many businesses and industries. ACM includes diversity of business and industrial processes which enables us to inference the future trend in different fields. IEEE Explore To support our conclusion and get strong analytical results, we also collect articles and papers from IEEE explore which has more technical articles and papers than ACM digital library. It includes 1,682,970 online documents to be referenced. ProQuest Another supporting database which we extracted articles and papers is ProQuest. That includes ABI/INFORM databases, dissertation and theses, etc. Data analysis from that database will be icy on our research cake Data selection from the databases We conduct full text search in above databases using author, title, keywords based on year. Then tasks are separated among us based on years and combined later. Papers and articles are found based on the following criteria: Keywords: Risk Management, Risk Identification, Risk Analysis, Risk Transfer, Risk Control, Risk Response Years: 2000 to 2007 Output format and research data representation Output format will be as the following: Researchers Title Database Risk Category Year Business Category Sub Category Method The papers and articles are attached in the appendix B. We classified each paper into specific risk management processes (PMBOK 2000, Schwalbe 2006). We also analyzed which business category that each paper falls into and which specific method do they use in conducting the specified risk management Process. To get the consistent taxonomy in risk management, we identified the papers and articles into the categories guided by (PMBOK 2000, Schwalbe 2006). They are: Risk Management Planning: This is how businesses and industries plan and handle for risk. Risk Identification: This is how businesses and industries emphasize on identification of risk throughout their organizational processes. Risk Analysis: This involves how organizations conduct quantitative and qualitative risk analysis based on sampling and probability/impact matrixes. Risk Response Planning: This shows how organizations develop risk response strategies like how to avoid, how to have tolerance, how to mitigate risk, how to transfer risk etc. Risk Monitoring and Control: This involves how organizations monitor the identified risks, new risks through out the execution of the projects. Business and industrial categories are identified as follow: Construction Education Finance Healthcare Insurance Information Technology Disaster E-commerce E-banking Internet Business Information Security Software development Maritime Marketing Organizational Process Pure General Research Terrorism We also found that information technology risk management plays a great role in modern businesses and industries because of wider usage of internet and web technologies. Our analyzed data will be represented in pie chart, bar chart and line chart by comparing different categories, different risk manage processes, different years etc. Data Collection and Analysis Data Collection We used digital databases web site – ACM, IEEE and ProQuest for scholar paper and articles and the existing search engines – google and yahoo. But we are not unable to get some papers from the search engines. So, we used these to get only information which papers are located in which databases. Using information returned from the search engines, we search the desired papers in the databases. The following chart, Fig 1 shows the state of the materials found in the three sources – ACM, IEEE and ProQuest. Figure 1 Distribution of papers There are 113 papers found in those databases. We summarized the papers found in the three sources. We categorized by the papers by using PMBOK guide. We provided the Risk Analysis, Risk Assessment, Risk Control, Risk Response and Risk Identification. The following diagrams show the results. We learned that ACM database has more papers related to the risk management as in Fig 2. Other two databases have papers. But some papers are general for risk management. So, we discarded the papers and then we collected the more specified papers which are related to the above titles. We prepared the results with some charts as shown in below figures. Figure 2 Research papers found in ACM database by category Figure 3 Research papers found in IEEE database by category Figure 4 Research papers found in ProQuest database by category The above figures, Fig 2, Fig 3, Fig 4 show that the papers found in the ACM, IEEE, ProQuest database are shown by categories. Risk analysis is mostly conducted by majority of researchers. It was conducted mostly in year 2005 and 2006. Risk assessment and risk response research areas are fewer than other risk management process areas. Research for risk response is very rare, not fairly distributed and found in certain year. Data Analysis The trends of the risk analysis for the year 2000-2007 are shown in graph, Fig 5. We learned that IT project management was highest in recent 7 years. Figure 5 Trends in different business and industries within year 2000-2007 Information Technology We learned that there are varieties of IT projects. We categorized it as follow. Software Development E-Banking Disaster Information Security E-Commerce Internet Business When we categorized these topics, we found that some fields are ambiguous to group them. Some fields are software performance testing and fields emerged after the development phase. We grouped these fields were in the Software Development part. We grouped Networking security and other Internet security fields into the Information Security part. We formed a group for the Internet Banking as a E-Banking. In the Disaster group, we put the some disasters in the Disaster parts. These disasters sometime can be seen when processing some tasks in IT such as software error, hardware crash, and wrong information usages. We collected the potential security risks and group them into the Information Security group. Internet Business can be confused with E-Commerce and E-Banking. We intended the Internet Business to group the fields of the some businesses which are using Internet and make transactions via internet such as Online Registration. We found that Software Development risk analysis is most famous. In 2006, Software Development trend is the more than year 2005 and 2007. But year 2007 is not ended. So we can’t make any decision for that year. Figure 6 Risk management processes in different information technology fields Internet Business is the second thing to be learned. But Information security is down in 2006. Internet Business is coming up. Construction Construction group has the fields of which are architectural fields and construction works. We learned that in 2000 and 2001, there are some interests upon that field. In 2001, the construction field can be seen as a hottest field. Education We grouped the some fields in to Education group that fields are Education fields, learning methods in Education. The research related with the Education can be seen in the year 2004 only. Finance Finance group is wide. We formed the Finance group for some fields that are Cost Estimation, Accounting, Management Accounting and Banking. The finance is most famous in 2004. In the subsequence year, trend for the finance is running down to bottom. Healthcare We collected the data for the healthcare. But it is difficult to collect for the healthcare. We learned that in 2005, healthcare was appropriate level. But later, we cannot see it until 2007. Marketing In 2002 and 2005, marketing was in regular level. In 2003 and 2006, it was high up to 2. So, we learned that marketing was the regular level. Organization In the organization group, we combine the Oil Field, NASA, and some other organization-oriented fields. There are some researches for the organization in every year. There are some researches in the organization group within 2002 and 2006. Terrorism Terrorism was the new emerging fields after 9/11 problem. But later, we were not available for that field later years. This group is an exception for the risk management. But it is one thing to be considered later. Maritime Maritime was the individual fields. We did not combine any fields to that group. This category can be seen in only 2001. Insurance Insurance is the same as the Maritime. We learned that that group is only one field. We learned that the field was in the 2004 and 2005. But Insurance can become an interesting topic in future. General In General group, we combine other fields such as some theory approves and lecture views. Before conclusion section, we intended to present the findings as summary of data collection and analysis. Risk management is the sub-set of Project management. In academic field, risk management researches are becoming increasingly. According to our analysis, risk management researches related to Information Technology are highest topic of the research filed. But one of our exceptional cases is that we need to learn many research papers from many databases. We studied only three databases and 113 research papers. If we learned more papers, we can get more perfect result. In this paper, we categorized only 11 fields. It is general for the risk management. To get the better result, we also need to categorize the exact fields out of many fields. We can also categorize the risk management fields more according to the PMBOK guide. Conclusion and recommendation Business organization and industries suffer from lost and harm because of poor handling in risk management. They have been enduring the agonizing outcomes of failure in the form of unusual delays in project completion, with cost surpassing the budgeted cost and sometimes failed to meet quality standards and functional requirements. Competition among rivals makes the companies to deliver projects in less time and cost with better functionality. Risk management is a predefined and structured approach for identifying and analyzing potential risks associated with a project so that effective risk treatment can be done at the lowest cost. It is not impossible to eliminate all risk and costly to overdo risk management, but it is also unwise to think of eliminating risk. There will be, sometimes, positive risks those will lead to profit if properly analyzed and identified. Our term paper provides an analysis on papers and articles and conduct bibliographic study by particular risk management process and business category. Risk management researches are mostly done in mission critical environments and risky projects. As internet booms, information security and e-business issues are associated with a lot of risks. We found that majority of research papers are related to information technology in last decade. Risk in credit portfolio management, supply chain, pricing and insurance fields are also researched as they are related to financial lost and harm. Though risk management can offer significant benefits to a project in order to reduce nasty surprises and identify and act upon opportunities, it is, however, not a ‘panacea’ for the problems and surprises which befall many projects and should not be seen as the ‘silver bullet of project management’ (Pavyer, 2004) as Murphy’s Law is the governing law of project management: if something can go wrong, will go wrong. As we collected from three databases, mainly from ACM, our result can be a little affected by other finding and papers. Results will be slightly different as we go though several databases. Even thought we titled to 2007, we believe that other findings and papers will come out during this year. But based on our analysis, some inferences and emerging trends can be seen. Recommendations As people and management are aware of the importance of risk management processes, it would be more affective and appropriate to put more emphasis on formal and or informal education and training to further enhance their awareness of risk management. Formal education could be graduate studies in financial project management, software project management and construction project management etc. Informal education and training could be in the form of career development programs or workshops within organization or organized by academic institutions or professional seminars. Each organization should have own risk management plan, risk response plan, and human risk factors plan. Risk management team should be formed according to project manager’s guidelines and organizational goals. Project manager must aware of current risk management trends and technological trends for long term strategic planning. Researchers on risk management should cooperate and conduct on research areas which have been done less like autonomous agent systems, spacecraft systems, information security management. Appendix A. Reference Burke, R. (2003). â€Å"Product Management.† Biddles Ltd, Guildford. Brandon, D. (2006) â€Å"Project Management for Modern Information Systems† IRM Press Cooper D., Grey S., Raymond G., Walker P., (2005) Managing Risk in Large Projects and Complex Procurements. Chapman, R. J., and Ward, S. (1997). â€Å"Project Risk Management Processes, Techniques and Insights† John Wiley Sons, Chichester, UK. Flanagan, R., and Norman, G. (1993). Risk Management and Construction, Blackwell, Oxford, UK. Pavyer, E. (2004). â€Å"Evaluating Project Risk.† Strategic Risk Management, Auguest 2004, 24-25 Project management institute (2000). â€Å"A Gide to Project Management Body of Knowledge† Project management institute, 6 Raftery, J. (1994). Risk Analysis in Project Management, E FN SPON, London, UK. Snider, H. W. (1991). â€Å"Risk Management: A Retrospective View.† Risk Management April, 47-54 Schwalbe, K. (2006). â€Å"Information Technology Project Management.† Thomson Course Technology, 425 Yee, C. W., Chan, P., and Hu, G. (2001). Construction Insurance and Risk Management- A Practical Guide for Construction Professionals, The Singapore Contractors Association Ltd., Singapore. Appendix B. List of papers Researchers Title Database Risk Category Year Business Category Sub Category Steven L. Cornford, Martin S. Feather,John C. Kelly, Timothy W. Larson, Burton Sigal,James D. Kiper Design and Development Assessment ACM Risk Assessment 2000 IT Mary Sumner Enterprise Wide Information Man

search engines :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Internet commerce is one of the fastest growing industries today. With the wide range of capabilities the web has it make it easier and cost efficient for businesses to make transactions with other businesses. One factor that allows businesses to find each other is search engines. Search engines are part of the reason the web is growing so rapidly.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Search engines have many capabilities from using key words or phrases to find what you are looking for to using general statements to browse the web. But what exactly is a search engine? Search engines are huge databases of web page files that have been assembled automatically by machine. There are two types of search engines. One type is the individual search engine. This type of search engine compiles its information on to its own database making it accessible when you use that particular engine. It does not use any other engine?s information to help with your search. Then there are the meta-searchers which do not have their own databases. They use a combination of individual search engine?s information simultaneously, from a single site and using the same interface. Meta-searchers provide a quick way of finding out which engines are retrieving the best results for you in your search. There are two ways that Meta-searchers show their results. Most use a single l ist which display multiple-engine search results in a single merged list and had removed all the duplicate entries from the list. The second way that they display their results is through multiple lists. These are separate lists in which are displayed as they are received from each engine leaving the duplicate entries on the list.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Search engines are not very complex in the way that they work. Each search engine sends out spiders to bots into web space going from link to link identifying all pages that it can. After the spiders get to a web page they generally index all the words on that page that are publicly available pages at the site. They then store this information into their databases and when you run a search it matches they key words you searched with the words on the page that the spider indexed. However when you are searching the web using a search engine, you are not searching the entire web as it is presently. You are looking at what the spiders indexed in the past.

The Life and Work of Galileo Essay -- Essays Papers

The Life and Work of Galileo Galileo Galilei is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He made life changing discoveries and mystified many with his knowledge. However, not all of his work was accepted well. Galileo challenged the church creating a controversy that will never be forgotten. Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy February 18, 1564. He was the son of Vincenzo Galilei, a member of a Nobel family, a musician and a mathematician. Galileo, at an early age, developed a great love for mathematics and mechanics. However, his parents urged him to seek medical professions which promised more fortune. Galileo’s love for mathematics turned him away from his parents wishes only to follow his natural talents. Before reaching the age of twenty, Galileo made a great observation of mechanics. He observed a swinging lamp in the cathedral of Pisa which led to his theory of the pendulum and fifty years later led to the construction of an astronomical clock. In 1588, he was given the title of the Archimedes of his time. He also received a position of lecture-ship at the University of Pisa. With this position, he began his research on free-fall and eventually proved that all objects in a vacuum would fall at the same rate of speed. This observation was contradictory to the previous beliefs that the rate of fall of an object was proportional to the object’s mass. The Aristoteleans refuted his findings, however, and remained faithful to their master’s discoveries. By the influence of his friends, he received a position as the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa. He remained there for eighteen years before returning to the original home of his family in Florence. There he was appointed math... ...mple, in the Bible it says that God created the earth. Science merely attempts to decipher how it was done. Today, the truth about Galileo’s studies has received proper recognition, and it is understood that science is a reflection of reason, and reason a reflection of science. Footnotes 1. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Online. Internet. 25 Sept 1999. 2. see Catholic Encyclopedia 3. Modern History Sourcebook: The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633. Online. Internet. 25 Sept. 1999. 4. see Catholic Encyclopedia Bibliography - Spangenburg, Ray and Diane K. Moser. The History of Science from the Ancient Greeks to the Scientific Revolution. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993 - Spangburg, Ray and Diane K. Moser. The History of Science in the Eighteenth Century. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993 The Life and Work of Galileo Essay -- Essays Papers The Life and Work of Galileo Galileo Galilei is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He made life changing discoveries and mystified many with his knowledge. However, not all of his work was accepted well. Galileo challenged the church creating a controversy that will never be forgotten. Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy February 18, 1564. He was the son of Vincenzo Galilei, a member of a Nobel family, a musician and a mathematician. Galileo, at an early age, developed a great love for mathematics and mechanics. However, his parents urged him to seek medical professions which promised more fortune. Galileo’s love for mathematics turned him away from his parents wishes only to follow his natural talents. Before reaching the age of twenty, Galileo made a great observation of mechanics. He observed a swinging lamp in the cathedral of Pisa which led to his theory of the pendulum and fifty years later led to the construction of an astronomical clock. In 1588, he was given the title of the Archimedes of his time. He also received a position of lecture-ship at the University of Pisa. With this position, he began his research on free-fall and eventually proved that all objects in a vacuum would fall at the same rate of speed. This observation was contradictory to the previous beliefs that the rate of fall of an object was proportional to the object’s mass. The Aristoteleans refuted his findings, however, and remained faithful to their master’s discoveries. By the influence of his friends, he received a position as the chair of mathematics at the University of Pisa. He remained there for eighteen years before returning to the original home of his family in Florence. There he was appointed math... ...mple, in the Bible it says that God created the earth. Science merely attempts to decipher how it was done. Today, the truth about Galileo’s studies has received proper recognition, and it is understood that science is a reflection of reason, and reason a reflection of science. Footnotes 1. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Online. Internet. 25 Sept 1999. 2. see Catholic Encyclopedia 3. Modern History Sourcebook: The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633. Online. Internet. 25 Sept. 1999. 4. see Catholic Encyclopedia Bibliography - Spangenburg, Ray and Diane K. Moser. The History of Science from the Ancient Greeks to the Scientific Revolution. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993 - Spangburg, Ray and Diane K. Moser. The History of Science in the Eighteenth Century. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993

Molecular Genetics: Catching the Criminal Using Electrophoresis

Introduction A sample of DNA found in a crime scene was provided along with five suspects. Their DNA was then processed using restriction enzymes and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis. The objective of this lab was to match a criminals DNA to a crime scene using restriction enzymes EcoRI and Pstl with Agarose gel electrophoresis. Restriction enzymes cut DNA at a specific base pair site recognized by the enzyme, which then turns one single strand of DNA into many fragmented strands of DNA.EcoRI recognizes and cuts the palindromic base pair sequence GATTC while Pstl recognizes and cuts the palindromic base pair sequence CTGCAG. Agarose gel electrophoreses separates these fragmented DNA by their size. The negatively charged DNA moves through the Agarose gel to the positively charged end of the gel. The smaller fragments move through the gel more quickly allowing a linear view of the fragmented DNA when the process is complete. Since each individuals DNA will be cut into different size fragmen ts when restriction enzymes are applied we can match one of the suspects to the crime scene DNA sample.This process enables an individual’s DNA to be matched, much like a fingerprint, to a sample of unknown DNA. Methods An enzyme mix of EcoRl and Pstl was added 10 microliters at a time to the crime scene sample and suspect samples one through five each containing 20 microliters of DNA. A new pipet was used for each transfer of the enzyme mix to ensure that there was no cross contamination of the suspects. To guarantee the enzyme reacts with the DNA the six samples mixed with enzyme were then centrifuged. You can read also King v CogdonThe samples were incubated at 37  ° C for 45 minutes, after incubation 5 microliters of dye were added to each sample. During this time an Agarose gel was cast using an 8 well comb. The Agarose gel was placed in the electrophoresis chamber with the wells at the cathode end and 275mL of electrophoresis buffer was added. In the first well 10 microliters of Hindlll DNA marker was added. This marker was provided dyed. In the following wells 20 microliters of each sample was added, Table 1 provides the lane information. The volts were set at 120 Volts and the sample was electrophoresed for 30 minutes.After the gel was electrophoresed it was transferred into a container and dyed with Fast Blast DNA stain so the DNA fragments could become visible to the eye. Results Figure 1 below shows the samples once they have been dyed. To the naked eye it would appear that the closest match to Lane 2 (the crime scene) would be Lane 4 (Suspect 2) but to verify this concl usion you need to calculate the size of the bands. To compare the samples the size of each marker band was measured from the well to the band in mm and graphed with the given size of each band as shown in Graph 1.In the first column of Table 2, Hindll size in base pairs was provided, to find the approximate size of the other samples the distance of each band was plugged in as an x-value to the y=-142x+13214 equation found using excel on the best fit line on Graph 1. Comparing the crime scene column to suspects one through five it was found that Suspect 3 was the criminal. His DNA fragments were of similar size and travelled a similar distance through the electrophoresis gel. Discussion- There is a pretty serious error with the calculations of size in base pairs as presented in Table 2.Some of the base pair lengths were found to be negative numbers which does not properly correlate to the proposed size of the bands. This error was most likely to have happened in the graphing of the m arker. In the results it was discussed that Suspect 3 is most likely to be the criminal but this result was found by disregarding the negative values. If the error was corrected and the correct size measurements were found the suspect found to be the criminal may have been different.Since the values for size had an error in them the criminal could not be positively identified. Conclusion- In this lab it was clear that pairing restriction enzymes with gel electrophoresis makes it possible to match a DNA sample to an individual. Applying the restriction enzyme cuts each DNA sequence into a unique size and amounts of fragments for each sample. This unique combination of sequences is what makes it possible to run the fragments through an electrophoresis gel that separates the fragments into a unique â€Å"fingerprint. Although a suspect was not properly identified to the crime scene sample, it is clear how it would be possible to identify a criminal. Table 1- This table lists each lane of the electrophoresis well and what sample was pipeted into it and how much of each sample in microliters. Lane one starts on the left hand of the well. Graph 1- The graph provides a scatter plot of the marker in lane 1, in a log scale, linear fit with a best fit line through it. The equation for slope found was y=-142x+13214.

Accounting Theory

Accounting Theory Construction The function to study accounting theories is to classify them according to the assumptions they rely on, how they were formulated, and their approaches to explaining and predicting actual events. There are some classification which are pragmatic, syntactic, semantic, normative, positive, and naturalistic approaches. Pragmatic approaches are based on observing the behavior of accountants or those who use the information generated by accountant. Syntactic approaches rely on logical argument, based on a set of premises. Semantic approaches concern how theories correspond to real-world events.Normative theories rely on both semantic and syntactic approaches. Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual event . Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual and the last is Naturalistic approaches consider individual cases and do not try to generalise. PRAGMATIC THEORIES Descriptive Pragmatic Approach Descriptive pragmatic approach based on continua l observation of the behavior of accountants, a theory can be developed from observations of how accountants act in certain situations. The theory can be tested by observing whether accountant do act in the way the theory suggest.This approach is probably the oldest and most universally used method of accounting theory construction. Criticisms of descriptive pragmatic approach: * does not consider the quality of an accountant’s action * does not provide for accounting practices to be challenged * focuses on accountants’ behaviour not on measuring the attributes of the firm Psychological Pragmatic Approach Differetnt with Descriptive pragmatic approach, this approach require theorist to observe users responses to the accountants output ( ex:financial report).There are also some problem with this psychological approach that are : * some users may react in an illogical manner * some users might have a preconditioned response * some users may not react when they should SYN TATIC AND SEMANTIC THEORIES Semantic inputs of the system are the transactions and exchanges recorded in the vouchers, journals, and ledgers of the business. These are then manipulated on basis of the premises and assumptions of historical cost accounting. Some accounting theorists are critical, they argue that the theory has semantic content only on the basis of its inputs.There is no independent empirical operation to verify the calculated outputs for examples, ‘profit’ or ‘total asset’. Historical cost accounting has also been criticised on the basis of its syntactic element, for example with respect to the practice of summing several different money amounts assigned to specific assets In defence of the historical cost system, accountants argue that there is no requirement that accounting outputs should have any semantic content or be subject to falsification rules.NORMATIVE THEORIES The 1950s and 1960s saw what has been described as the ‘golden ag e’ of normative accounting research. Accounting researches become more concerned with policy recommendation and with what should be done, rather than with analysing and explaining the currently accepted practice. Normative theories concentrated either on deriving the ‘true income’ for an accounting period. True income : true income theorists concentrated on deriving a single measure for assets and a unique profit figure.Decision usefulness ; the decision usefulness approach assumes that the basic objective of accounting is to aid the decision making process of certain ‘users’ of accounting reports by providing useful, or relevant, accounting data. The normative theories of the 1950s and 1960s began with a statement of the domain (scope) and objectives of accounting, the assumptions underlying the system and definitions of all the key concepts. POSITIVE THEORIES During the 1970s, accounting theory saw a move back to empirical methodology, which is oft en referred to as positive methodology.Positivism or empiricism means testing or relating accounting hypotheses or theories back to experiences or facts of the real world. The main different between normative and positive theories is that normative theories are prescriptive, whereas positive theories are descriptive, explanatory or predictive. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Focused on what may be considered to be a highly structured approach to theory formulation – the scientific approach. This approach has an inherent assumption that the world to be researched is an objectives reality capable of examination in terms of large scale or average statistics.This type of research is carried out by incremental hypotheses which are then combined to provide greater understanding, or better predictions of accounting. The implied assumption is that a good theory holds under circumstances that are constant across firms, industries and time. The criticism of the scientific method are the large-s cale statistical research tends to lump everything together and it is conducted in environments that are often remote from the world of or the concerns of accountants. SCIENTIFIC APPROACH APPLIED TO ACCOUNTINGA great deal of misunderstanding exists about the attempt to apply a scientific approach to accounting. The attempt is to make scientists out of accounting practitioners. Accountants who believe in a scientific approach want empirical evidence and logical explanation to support accounting practices so that practitioners can recommend the most appropriate methods for given situation based on this evidence. Another common misunderstanding about the application of the scientific view in accounting is that ‘absolute truth’ is desired, which of course is not possible.ISSUES FOR AUDITING THEORY CONSTRUCTION Auditing is a verification process that is applied to the accounting inputs and processes. Auditor provide an opinion on whether the financial statements are in accor dance with the applicable reporting framework, and also provide on whether the statements present fairly, in all material respects, or give a true and fair view. The normative era of accounting theory and research also coincided with a normative approach to auditing theory. The positive ere of accounting has led to a positive approach to auditing theory Accounting Theory Accounting Theory Construction The function to study accounting theories is to classify them according to the assumptions they rely on, how they were formulated, and their approaches to explaining and predicting actual events. There are some classification which are pragmatic, syntactic, semantic, normative, positive, and naturalistic approaches. Pragmatic approaches are based on observing the behavior of accountants or those who use the information generated by accountant. Syntactic approaches rely on logical argument, based on a set of premises. Semantic approaches concern how theories correspond to real-world events.Normative theories rely on both semantic and syntactic approaches. Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual event . Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual and the last is Naturalistic approaches consider individual cases and do not try to generalise. PRAGMATIC THEORIES Descriptive Pragmatic Approach Descriptive pragmatic approach based on continua l observation of the behavior of accountants, a theory can be developed from observations of how accountants act in certain situations. The theory can be tested by observing whether accountant do act in the way the theory suggest.This approach is probably the oldest and most universally used method of accounting theory construction. Criticisms of descriptive pragmatic approach: * does not consider the quality of an accountant’s action * does not provide for accounting practices to be challenged * focuses on accountants’ behaviour not on measuring the attributes of the firm Psychological Pragmatic Approach Differetnt with Descriptive pragmatic approach, this approach require theorist to observe users responses to the accountants output ( ex:financial report).There are also some problem with this psychological approach that are : * some users may react in an illogical manner * some users might have a preconditioned response * some users may not react when they should SYN TATIC AND SEMANTIC THEORIES Semantic inputs of the system are the transactions and exchanges recorded in the vouchers, journals, and ledgers of the business. These are then manipulated on basis of the premises and assumptions of historical cost accounting. Some accounting theorists are critical, they argue that the theory has semantic content only on the basis of its inputs.There is no independent empirical operation to verify the calculated outputs for examples, ‘profit’ or ‘total asset’. Historical cost accounting has also been criticised on the basis of its syntactic element, for example with respect to the practice of summing several different money amounts assigned to specific assets In defence of the historical cost system, accountants argue that there is no requirement that accounting outputs should have any semantic content or be subject to falsification rules.NORMATIVE THEORIES The 1950s and 1960s saw what has been described as the ‘golden ag e’ of normative accounting research. Accounting researches become more concerned with policy recommendation and with what should be done, rather than with analysing and explaining the currently accepted practice. Normative theories concentrated either on deriving the ‘true income’ for an accounting period. True income : true income theorists concentrated on deriving a single measure for assets and a unique profit figure.Decision usefulness ; the decision usefulness approach assumes that the basic objective of accounting is to aid the decision making process of certain ‘users’ of accounting reports by providing useful, or relevant, accounting data. The normative theories of the 1950s and 1960s began with a statement of the domain (scope) and objectives of accounting, the assumptions underlying the system and definitions of all the key concepts. POSITIVE THEORIES During the 1970s, accounting theory saw a move back to empirical methodology, which is oft en referred to as positive methodology.Positivism or empiricism means testing or relating accounting hypotheses or theories back to experiences or facts of the real world. The main different between normative and positive theories is that normative theories are prescriptive, whereas positive theories are descriptive, explanatory or predictive. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Focused on what may be considered to be a highly structured approach to theory formulation – the scientific approach. This approach has an inherent assumption that the world to be researched is an objectives reality capable of examination in terms of large scale or average statistics.This type of research is carried out by incremental hypotheses which are then combined to provide greater understanding, or better predictions of accounting. The implied assumption is that a good theory holds under circumstances that are constant across firms, industries and time. The criticism of the scientific method are the large-s cale statistical research tends to lump everything together and it is conducted in environments that are often remote from the world of or the concerns of accountants. SCIENTIFIC APPROACH APPLIED TO ACCOUNTINGA great deal of misunderstanding exists about the attempt to apply a scientific approach to accounting. The attempt is to make scientists out of accounting practitioners. Accountants who believe in a scientific approach want empirical evidence and logical explanation to support accounting practices so that practitioners can recommend the most appropriate methods for given situation based on this evidence. Another common misunderstanding about the application of the scientific view in accounting is that ‘absolute truth’ is desired, which of course is not possible.ISSUES FOR AUDITING THEORY CONSTRUCTION Auditing is a verification process that is applied to the accounting inputs and processes. Auditor provide an opinion on whether the financial statements are in accor dance with the applicable reporting framework, and also provide on whether the statements present fairly, in all material respects, or give a true and fair view. The normative era of accounting theory and research also coincided with a normative approach to auditing theory. The positive ere of accounting has led to a positive approach to auditing theory

D’Leon Inc. Case Study Essay

D’Leon Incorporated is a small food producer that specializes in high-quality pecan and other nut products sold in the snack-foods market. In 2004, D’Leon’s president, Al Watkins, decided to undertake a major expansion to become more competitive within their market. The following report describes some of the financial effects that this expansion has had on the company. D’Leon began its expansion by doubling its plant capacity, opening new sales offices, and investing in an expensive advertising campaign. Watkins felt that they had superior products to the competition and that he could charge a premium price for their products to result in increased sales, profits, and stock price. The results, however, were unsatisfactory. Sales were below and costs were above all initial projections. These results have raised questions about the expansion and also caused concern among the Board of Directors and the major shareholders about the future of the company. Part I of this report analyzes D’Leon’s financial statements from 2004 and 2005. It describes some of the effects of the expansion on the financials of the company and some of the problems that have arisen with their current financial position. Net operating profit decreased, but operating working capital and total operating capital have shown increases. Sales had a considerable increase, but net income decreased. D’Leon’s financials also indicated a decrease in cash flow due to the company spending more cash than they were taking in. These changes are subsequently resulting in decreased stock prices and a deteriorating financial position which is concerning both management and shareholders. Part II of this report discusses the ratio analysis of D’Leon’s financial statements. It begins by explaining the five major categories of financial ratios: Liquidity, Asset Management, Debt Management, Profitability, and Market Value. While most of the 2005 ratios have shown significant declines and are below industry averages, the 2006 projections look promising for the company and are showing significant increases. Part II continues with a discussion of some of the limitations of financial ratios as comparison tools and concludes with a brief discussion of D’Leon’s credit issues and a  summary of the company’s 2006 projections. It is recommended that D’Leon Inc. conduct in-depth financial research and perform an extensive ratio analysis of their financial position before deciding to undergo any further expansions. Doing this could greatly help the managers in their decision-making and aide in determining the effects of any future expansions on the financial stability of the company. Sales In addition to expanding the company, D’Leon’s president, Al Watkins, felt that the company’s products were of a higher quality than the competitions and that he could charge a premium price, resulting in greatly increased sales and profits. Following the expansion, D’Leon did see a sales increase of $2,602,000 , a 75.8% increase over the previous year. Even though the company did experience a sales increase, liabilities such as accounts and notes payable increased, resulting in decreased profits. Net Operating Profit after Taxes Net Operating Profit after Taxes (NOPAT) is a company’s after-tax operating profit for all investors, including shareholders and debt holders. NOPAT represents the company’s operating profit that would accrue to shareholders if the company had no debt. Unfortunately, due the increased debt and liabilities associated with the expansion, D’Leon’s NOPAT experienced a significant decrease of 168.8% from $114,257 to -$78,569. Net Operating Working Capita lNet Operating Working Capital (NOWC) is a financial metric representing the amount of day-by-day operating liquidity available to a business. NOWC is calculated by subtracting a company’s non-interest bearing current liabilities from their current assets. An increase in working capital indicates that the business has either increased current assets by receiving cash or other current assets, or has decreased current liabilities, by possibly paying off some short-term creditors. As a result of D’Leon’s increased sales from the expansion, the company has experienced an increase in NOWC from $842,400 to $913,042. This is an increase of about 8.4%. This increase is good because it’s a positive indicator that the firm is able to continue its operations and that it has sufficient cash flow to satisfy both maturing short-term debt and upcoming operational expenses. Total Operating Capital Total Operating Capital is simply the addition of a company’s net fixed assets to the NOWC. D’Leon’s expansion generated a significant increase in the company’s net fixed assets of almost three times the previous years. This figure added to the NOWC generated a 56.1% increase in total operating capital from $1,187,200 to $1,852,832. Net Income Net income, or profit, is the income that a firm has after subtracting costs and expenses from the total revenue. It can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as retained earnings. Once again, however, due to the significant increase in costs and expenses such as notes and accounts payable, D’Leon had a negative net income in 2005. They experienced a decrease of 282.1% from $87,960 to  -$160,176. Cash Flows Cash flow refers to the amount of cash being received and paid by a business during a defined period of time. The measurement of cash flow can be used to determine and evaluate such things as problems with liquidity and the state or performance of a business. It can also be used to generate project rate-of-returns and to examine income or growth of a business when it is believed that accrual accounting concepts do not represent economic realities. In this report, cash flows will be categorized into three components: net cash flow, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. †¢Net cash flow (NCF), the measure of a company’s financial health, equals the cash receipts minus cash payments over a given period of time. It can be considered money that is available for expansion, research and development, or retained as cash reserves. From 2004 to 2005, D’Leon’s net cash flow decreased dramatically by 140.4%. This decrease in funds needed for the expansion is causing great concern with the major shareholders of the company over the future of D’Leon Inc. †¢Operating cash flow (OCF) is the cash flow from operating activities. It refers to the amount of cash a company generates from the revenues it brings in minus the costs associated with long-term investment on capital items or investment in securities. The company experienced a 71.2% decrease in OCF from the previous year. †¢Free cash flow (FCF) is the cash flow actually available for payment to investors. The value of a company’s operations depends on its expected future free cash flows. This is another cause for concern for D’Leon’s major shareholders because, following the expansion, the FCF decreased dramatically to -$744,201. Market Value AddedMarket Value Added (MVA) is the difference between the current market value of a firm and the capital contributed by investors. If MVA is positive, the firm has added value. If it is negative, the firm has destroyed value. The expansion of D’Leon has decreased their MVA. This can  be seen in that the stock price has decreased over the past year by about 73.5%. In order for MVA to increase, the amount of value added needs to be greater than the firm’s investors could have achieved investing in the market portfolio. SECTION 2: Working CapitalA good indicator of a company’s health is its working capital. The working capital represents the amount of operating liquidity that is available to a business and is calculated as current assets minus current liabilities. A company can be endowed with assets and profitability, but short of liquidity, if these assets cannot readily be converted into cash. Section 2 of this report focuses on the three components of current assets: sales, receivables, and purchases. SalesThe objective of any business is to create or increase profits through sales. One way that D’Leon might increase sales would be to offer 60-day credit terms to their customers rather than the 30-day credit terms that they currently offer. If sales were to double as a result of the change in their credit policy, the cash account would initially decrease because they would have to build up their inventory to support the increased sales. This would result in an increase in accounts receivable. Over time, D’Leon’s cash account would eventually begin to rise as collections increased. One downfall to this option, however, would be if the competitors learned of the change and began to offer similar credit terms to their customers. If this were to happen, D’Leon’s sales would remain constant, resulting in its cash account decreasing and its accounts receivable increasing. ReceivablesDay-to-day business at D’Leon, just as in any other business, consists of them spending money. They spend money for labor, materials, and fixed assets needed to make products to sell. The sale of these products result in receivables, which are simply the billing of customers who owe money to the company for the goods that have been provided. The receivables eventually generate cash as the outstanding bills are paid by the customers. Because of this process, D’Leon’s cash account has decreased dramatically due to the company spending more cash than it is taking in. Because of this, it appears that the sales price does not exceed its costs per unit sold.  This has a negative effect on the cash balance because, as stated above, more cash is going out than is coming in. PurchasesD’Leon purchases its materials on 30-day terms, meaning that it is supposed to pay for its purchases within 30 days of receipt. Judging by D’Leon’s 2005 balance sheet , its suppliers probably do not get paid on time. This conclusion can be made from the fact that sales have only increased by about 76% over the past year while accounts payable have increased by about 260%. SECTION 3: Problems AnalysisAdditional questions and problems have raised concern among the board members and the major shareholders of D’Leon Incorporated. Section 3 of this report focuses on these issues as well as options that the company might pursue to ensure a healthy financial future. Cash ProblemsThe expansion at D’Leon weakened their financial strength. Because the company issued long-term debt rather than common stock for the funding, it appears that it has financed its expansion with external capital rather than with internally generated funds. Due to the significant increase in receivables, even if it had broke even in 2005, D’Leon would still experience a cash shortage requiring it to raise external capital to finance its increase in assets. Regarding the company’s physical stock, the question has been raised to depreciate them over 7 years rather than 10 years. Unfortunately, this change would not affect the physical stock. The balance sheet account for fixed assets, however, would decrease due to the increasing accumulated depreciation. The company’s reported net income would decrease and the decrease in tax payments would result in an increased cash position. Stock IssuesEarnings per share (EPS) are the earnings returned on the initial investment amount. It is calculated by dividing net income by shares outstanding. Dividends per share are calculated by dividing dividends by shares outstanding. Book value per share is calculated by common equity divided by shares outstanding. The market price per share of a stock does not equal the book value per share because the market value reflects future  profits, while the book value per share represents historical cost of the stock. Tax IssuesFor businesses, interest paid is tax deductible. This is because it is considered an expense and is paid out of pre-tax income. Dividends paid, however, are paid out of after-tax income. Interested earned is subject to income taxes because it is part of the company’s taxable income. Dividends received are also taxed as part of the ordinary income. For corporations, Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. D’Leon was able to use Tax Loss Carry-Back and Carry-Forward Provisions to receive a tax refund because of its net loss of -$160,178 in 2005. PART II:Financial StatementAnalysisSECTION 1: Ratio AnalysisThe primary goal of any business is to maximize its value. In order to do this, it must take advantage of its strengths and correct its weaknesses. Businesses do this by first comparing their performance to other businesses in the same industry and secondly by evaluating trends in their financial position over time. This evaluation is done through ratio analysis . Ratio Analysis is simply a tool used by individuals to conduct a quantitative analysis of information in a company’s financial statements. These ratios are calculated from current year numbers and are then compared to previous years, other companies, the industry, or even the economy to judge the performance of the company. These calculations provide assistance in decision-making, reduce reliance on guesswork and intuition, and establish a basis for sound judgment. The following section discusses the five major categories of financial ratios. LiquidityLiquidity refers to an asset’s ability to be easily converted through the act of buying or selling. A liquid asset can be bought or sold rapidly without causing a significant movement in the price and with minimum loss of value. Liquidity ratios are calculations that show the relationship of a company’s cash and other current assets to its current liabilities. These ratios include the current ratio and the quick ratio. By looking at D’Leon Inc.’s quick ratio for 2004 and 2005, it is clear that their liquidity has decreased, but it is projected to increase in 2006. Asset ManagementAsset management ratios are another group of financial calculations that measure how effectively a company is managing its assets. These ratios attempt to answer the question â€Å"Does the amount each type of asset seem reasonable, too high, or too low in view of current and projected sales?† If a business has too many assets, its cost of capital will be too high and its profits will be depressed. If assets are too low, however, profitable sales will be lost. Asset management ratios include inventory turnover, days sales outstanding (DSO), fixed assets turnover, and total assets turnover. D’Leon’s inventory turnover and total assets turnover are below the industry average, but their DSO is above the industry average. Their fixed assts turnover, however, is above the industry average. By the inventory turnover ratio being low, it appears that the firm either has excessive or obsolete inventory. If inventory were reduced, their current asset and turnover ratios would improve and the debt ratio would reduce even further, increasing D’Leon’s profitability. If D’Leon were to improve its collection procedures and lower its DSO to the 32-day average, the effects would ripple through the financial statements and free up over $250,000 in cash that would, in turn, raise their stock price. Debt ManagementDebt management is also referred to as financial leverage. Financial leverage is the using of given resources in such a way that the potential positive or negative outcome is magnified. It most generally refers to using debt, or borrowed funds, in an attempt to increase the returns to equity. Financial leverage can allow greater potential returns to the investor than would have otherwise been available. The potential for loss is also greater, however, because repayment of the loan principle and all accrued interest is still required if the investment becomes worthless. Debt management ratios include times-interest-earned (TIE) and EBITDA coverage. D’Leon’s expected TIE for 2006 is much improve over its 2004 and 2005 levels and is above the industry average. Their EBITDA has also improved, but is still below the industry average. ProfitabilityProfitability ratios reflect the combined effects of liquidity, asset management, and debt. It measures a company’s use of its assets and  control of its expenses to generate an acceptable rate of return. For most of these ratios, having a higher value relative to a competitor’s ratio or the same ratio from a previous period is indicative that the company is doing well. Profitability ratios include profit margin on sales, return on total assets (ROA), basic earning power, (BEP), and return on common equity, (ROE). D’Leon’s profit margin is above 2004 and 2005 levels and is slightly above the industry average. Their BEP, ROA, and ROE ratios have also increased from the previous year, but are all still below the industry average. Market ValueMarket Value Ratios are the calculations that relate a company’s stock price to its earnings, cash flow, and book value per share. These ratios give management an indication of what investors think of the company’s risk and future prospects. If all of the previously discussed ratios look good, and if these conditions have been stable over time, then the market value ratios will be high, the stock price will probably be high, and management has been doing a good job. Market value ratios include price/earnings (P/E), price/cash flow, and market/book (M/B) ratios. All of these ratios at D’Leon Inc. are above the previous years level, but are all below the industry average. SECTION 2: Financial Ratio LimitationsWhen evaluating a company, analysts recognize that they must consider certain qualitative factors . These factors are:†¢Are the company’s revenues tied to one key customer?†¢To what extent are the company’s revenues tied to one key product?†¢To what extent does the company rely on a single supplier?†¢What percentage of the company’s business is generated overseas?†¢Competition†¢Future prospects†¢Legal and regulatory environmentWhile these factors must be considered for all company’s alike, not all company’s can be compared equally when it comes to their financials. There are a number of limitations to using financial ratios as a tool for comparison. One such limitation is that company’s use different operating and accounting practices and procedures. This could cause distortion in comparisons. Another possible cause of distortion between ratio comparisons is seasonal factors. Industry average comparisons can be made difficult if company’s operate many different divisions. Another  major issue is that a company may not always know whether the ratios that they are comparing theirs with are good or bad because some company’s use certain techniques to make their financial statements and ratios appear better than they actual are. SECTION 3: Problems and DiscussionCredit IssuesIn 2005, D’Leon paid its suppliers much later than the due date, and it was not maintaining financial ratios at levels called for in its bank loan agreement. There was concern that this behavior would lead to the suppliers cutting the company off and refusing to renew the loan when it comes due. Even though the company’s projected ratios appear to be improving, the credit manager will most likely not be able to extend credit to it. However, the bank will mostly likely not demand repayment because this could for D’Leon into bankruptcy. Financial ProjectionsUsing the extended Du Pont equation, we find that D’Leon has an ROE of nearly 13%. Looking at the 2006 projections in Appendix F on page 16, we see that the company’s strengths include above industry average fixed assets turnover and profit margin. D’Leon also significantly reduced it debt ratio, resulting in a decreased interest expense and improved TIE ratio. Some of the company’s weaknesses include poor asset management ratios, EBITDA coverage, profitability ratios, and market value ratios. I would have recommended that the company perform an extensive ratio analysis of its current financial position before taking on any expansion plans. This could have immensely helped managers to determine the effects of the expansion on the financial stability of the company. Brigham, Eugene F., and Joel F. Houston. Fundamentals of Financial Management. â€Å"D’Leon Inc., Chapter 4 spreadsheet module†. Made available on July 1, 2008 by Dr. Richard Constand. Brigham, Eugene F., and Joel F. Houston. Fundamentals of Financial Management. Thomson: South-Western Publishers, Eleventh Ed. 2007.