Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Dave of The Dave Matthews Band :: Music Musical Matthews Essays

Dave of The Dave Matthews Band Passing and annihilation sells in this day in age. As Santana so accurately put it, â€Å"It appears that I flourish with the clouded side of things/I generally feel invigorated when the demise chime rings/presently you come and you draw out the tears in me† As a culture, Americans tend to appreciate something that gets their blood bubbling, something that makes them need to simply release everything and shout as paired to something that causes them to feel all warm and bubbly inside. There are notwithstanding, those groups out there that do figure out how to keep their fan base intrigued with affection tunes that are suggestive of the sixties â€Å"flower children.† One of the best is the Dave Matthews Band. So as to comprehend Dave and his band, one needs to comprehend Dave’s history. Dave was conceived in South Africa. All through his adolescence, he moved all through the states. Inevitably, after his farther passed on in New York in the 80’s, Dave and his family chose to move back to South Africa. This is when, because of the scorn that inundates this specific area of our â€Å"peaceful† world, his sister was killed. One can securely accept that Dave willingly volunteered to spread a caring message through his music. Love of ones neighbor is his normal subject. Two of the more remarkable melodies that show this over all picture of affection are â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† and â€Å"Jimmi Thing.† â€Å"Hey my companion, it appears your eyes are upset, care to share, your time with me?† Do you want to let me share a portion of your weights? â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† is a tune that places the audience into the shoes of one of Dave’s companions. In the tune, Dave is discovered soothing that companion through tough situations. There are numerous types of adoration in this world, one being, the affection for thy neighbor. In â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† Dave is keeping the brilliant principle, â€Å"Love thy neighbor as thyself.† Treat your companions with a similar regard that you hope to get. Its human instinct to share loads. At the point when somebody sees that their companion is in a terrible state, there is a characteristic desire for that individual to attempt to enable their companion to out.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Sexually Transmitted Infections And Disease Essays -

Explicitly Transmitted Infections And Disease Explicitly Transmitted Infections and Disease There are numerous explicitly transmitted contaminations and malady. This is likewise called STIs and STDs. Huge numbers of these contaminations and maladies are dangerous. For a model AID and HIV are explicitly transmitted ailments. HIV and AID is an infection not microbes. These ailments are dangerous and they execute off the helping T cells. White blood cells are enemies of microorganisms that fend off microbes and other unsafe cells. HIV and AID assault the resistant framework in your body. Your body gets more fragile and more vulnerable as your T cells are getting assault by the infection. Another STDs are herpes, gonorrhea, and syphilis. How this infection is transmitted is by sexual contact and by open injuries. Having sex with an accomplice is one of the methods of getting the infection. Another approach to get the infection is by oral sex. At the point when the mouth reaches the private zone the infection can be transmitted through the spit and on the off chance that the mouth has a cut or a rankle, at that point the infection enters the injury. Herpes is another kind of STD. The indications of herpes are tingling; little liquid filled rankles break to leave pitted zones encompassed by irritation, fever, and urethral release. Gonorrhea for ladies has copying pee, vaginal release, and excruciating intercourse. Gonorrhea for men likewise has copying pee and urethral release. In the two people the throat and rectal disease is normal. Syphilis has three phases of manifestations. The main stage is the essential with at least one raised, open sores at purpose of disease. The subsequent stage is the variable rash, oral and genital injuries, falling hair, and general throbbing. The third stage for syphilis is paresis. A large number of these explicitly transmitted contamination and sicknesses are perilous. Human Sexuality

Friday, August 21, 2020

Come See What Book Rioters Are Reading This Very Day

Come See What Book Rioters Are Reading This Very Day In this feature at Book Riot, we give you a glimpse of what we are reading this very moment. Here is what the Rioters are reading today (as in literally today). This is what’s on their bedside table (or the floor, work bag, desk, whatevskis). See a Rioter who is reading your favorite book? I’ve included the link that will take you to their author archives (meaning, that magical place that organizes what they’ve written for the site). Gird your loins â€" this list combined with all of those archived posts will make your TBR list EXPLODE. We’ve shown you ours, now show us yours; let us know what you’re reading (right this very moment) in the comment section below! Kate Scott   The Mothers by Brit Bennett: Trying to catch up on my October reads! (Hardcover) Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil: Another one that has been on my TBR list for a while. I’m trying to squeeze in as many of this year’s hottest books as possible before curating my best of 2016 list in December! (Hardcover) Girls Sex by Peggy Orenstein: It seems like every book blogger I know has been raving about this book for months and now it’s up for a Goodreads Choice Award, so I thought it was high time I read it. I’m only a chapter in, but it’s excellent so far. (Library Hardcover) Swing Time by Zadie Smith: This has been on my list since August. I finally spotted it on the Volumes app. (Audiobook) Liberty Hardy    The Dark Net  by Benjamin Percy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Aug. 1, 2017): A new horror novel about the seedy, dangerous side of the Internet, from the author of Red Moon, The Dead Lands and more! (If you need a Percy fix right now, be sure to check out Thrill Me, his new essay collection.) (e-galley) Marlena by Julie Buntin (Henry Holt, April 4, 2017): Editor Buntin takes a seat behind the author wheel with this debut novel about the friendship of two teen girls. It has been getting amazing reviews, and I’m so excited to finally have a copy in my hot little hands! (galley) The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (Ballantine Books, April 11, 2017): From the author of The Historian, it’s the story of a young American woman who travels to Bulgaria to help heal her grief over the death of her brother. But shortly upon her arrival, she accidentally winds up with a box of human ashes. MY BODY IS READY. (e-galley) Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami, translated by Stephen Snyder: Completely bonkers story of two orphans in Japan, found abandoned in bus station lockers, who grow up to lead bizarre lives in Toxitown. Like, COMPLETELY bananapants. (paperback) Bronwyn Averett   Life in the Court of Matane  by Eric DuPont, translated by Peter McCambridge: Wanted to try out a book from new imprint QC Fiction. A beautiful, tragicomic coming-of-age story (memoir? autofiction?) of a sensitive boy growing up in rural Quebec during the decade leading up to the 1980 referendum. This translation is knocking my socks off. (paperback) The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride: Stumbled across this book on Netgalley and had heard of the author. At this point, I am waiting for the dreamy, prose-poetry, stream-of-half-consciousness, somewhere-between-Joyce-and-Woolf style to become utterly unbearable. And yet I keep reading. So I think I must like it. (e-galley). Angel Cruz   I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maureen Goo: After the week I’ve had, I’m choosing to love myself and bump this book way up my TBR. (e-galley) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: Impulse buy at the train station on Monday, mostly because I didn’t feel like digging into my backpack for the three books I’d already bought. But I’m so glad I picked it up at Penn Station, because it’s been making me laugh and cry, reminding me of IRL people that I know. (Paperback) The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: This one is partly because of BR colleagues and partly because I just really like the title. I’ve heard great things about it, and while I’m only a few chapters in, I’m definitely enjoying the worldbuilding and characters. (Paperback) Tasha Brandstatter   The Chocolate Temptation by Laura Florand: I needed something comforting to read, so decided to do a reread of one of my favorite Florand books. (switching between paperback and ebook, since I own both) Real Food/Fake Food  by Larry Olmsted: Came across this one while doing my semi-monthly catalog search for books about cocktails at the library. (audiobook) Steph Auteri   Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen: I saw Quindlen speak at Bindercon (a conference for women and gender non-conforming writers) and immediately wanted to be her. I was horrified to realize I had never read any of her book-length work before. (Hardcover) The Feminist Utopia Project edited by Alexandra Brodsky and Rachel Kauder Nalebuff: I’m always keeping an eye out for exciting books from the Feminist Press because they were my first publishing job out of college and I was wild about the work we did there. This one’s been on my radar for awhile. (Ebook) Making Out Like a Virgin edited by Catriona McHardy and Cathy Plourde: As soon as I heard about this anthology on intimacy after sexual trauma, I had to read it. It’s a topic I regularly write about and I was excited to see a new, small press focusing on this essential subject matter. (Egalley) Jessica Yang   Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates: Ive been wanting to read the Ta-Nehisi Coates incarnation of Black Panther, so when I found it at the library, I grabbed it. (paperback) The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner: As weird as it sounds, I picked this up as comfort reading. Its cutthroat royal intrigue, but from the eyes of a bewildered, puppy dog-like guard. (paperback) Ashley Bowen-Murphy   Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien: Started reading this ahead of hearing her speak at a local bookstore last week. This novel won a ton of prizes in Canada and was short-listed for the Man Booker this year. It’s a slow burn, for sure. It took me well over 100 pages to really get into it (though, I’m willing to admit I’m still suffering from some post-election haze). Thien is chewing on lots of big questions about the nature of history, storytelling, and time. Not an easy book but one I’m really savoring. (hardcover) The Trespasser by Tana French: I’ve only tried one of her previous Dublin Murder Squad books before and didn’t love it. Still, given my near obsession with mysteries set in the UK, Ireland, and EU, it’s time to try again. When this popped up as a Book of the Month option, I decided to go for it. (hardcover) Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt: Honestly, reading about eating your own kind just makes sense right now, don’t you think? I’m fascinated by the way that Schutt weaves together hard science, myth, and popular culture. I’ve just started this, but already dig it. (e-galley) Katie McLain   Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: After suffering through a seriously disappointing audiobook, I needed something that was pretty much guaranteed to be a five star reading experience.  I’m late to the Celeste Ng game, but so far, this audiobook is exactly what I need.  Thoughtful, thought-provoking, and beautifully written. (digital audiobook) Storm Front by Jim Butcher: One of the reading selections for an ongoing professional genre study on speculative fiction.  I’ve had Jim Butcher on my list for a while now, so this was the nudge I needed to finally pick it up.  So far, pretty engaging, but I’m only 50 pages in. (library paperback) Casey Stepaniuk   We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo: I was feeling a void since I had just finished one audiobook, so I literally just looked through what was available now in Overdrive through my library, and was drawn to this brightly coloured cover. I’ve also never read a book by a Zimbabwean author, so I thought I should give this a shot! (digital audiobook) Even this Page is White by Vivek Shraya: She’s fast becoming one of my favourite (queer, Canadian) authors, so I had to pick up her first poetry collection when I saw it at my local queer bookstore. I’m trying to read it slowly so the poems have time to sink in. I’ll probably re-read it after I’m done too. (paperback) Rachel Weber   One More Thing: Stories And Other Stories by B.J. Novak I’m listening to this on audio and it’s such a treat. The stories are small but perfectly formed and there all celebrity cameos to bring the characters to life. It’s keeping me sane during lunch breaks. The Last One by Alexandra Oliva I’m a Naked Afraid junkie so this story about a woman who doesn’t realise the survival reality show she’s in has ended is giving me life. And keeping me up at night. (eBook) Foxlowe by Eleanor Wasserberg A debut novel about a hippie commune with unsettling beliefs, this crackles with tension. I’ve just started it but I can tell it’s totally in my wheelhouse. (eBook) The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher Princess Leia talking about banging Han Solo behind the scenes? WHY WOULDN’T YOU READ THIS? (eGalley) Peter Damien In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954 by Isaac Asimov the first half of Asimov’s biography. It is just the most exhaustively detailed biography I’ve ever encountered. I swear he’s recorded every train fare of his life. But it’s a great read, and I like having a hyper-detailed writer’s biography, actually. (paperback) MORT(E) by Robert Repino The world’s animals gain sentience and rise up against humans and there is an apocalyptic war and we follow all events from the point of view of a housecat, formerly named Sebastian, now named Mort(e), and tell me this premise alone isn’t enough to make you wanna read it. Seriously, it’s a blast of a book. (hardcover) Welcome to the Jungle, Revised Edition: Facing Bipolar Without Freaking Out by Hilary Smith I’m bipolar myself, but even if I weren’t, it’s a fascinating topic and I try to read a lot about it. I missed the first go-around of Welcome to the Jungle, though. I’m glad I’m getting to it here. I think this is the first bipolar book I’d hand someone who needed information. It’s smart, and it’s very funny. And it has a chapter called “Hippie Shit That Totally Works” which is enough to sell any book, really, isn’t it? (eGalley) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness I went from not knowing Patrick Ness to, in the space of two books, being a rabid and devout fan. I was sold on this book by the stunning trailer. The short book promises to devastate you more or less from page one, and it succeeds powerfully on that promise. If you buy it, buy the illustrated edition, they’re almost as important as the text. Such a novel, you guys. (paperback) Eric Smith The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: How long have I been waiting for this book? Since the announcement of its sale to the movie deal to all the buzz on Twitter, it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this to land in my to-be-read pile. And now, here it is. A YA novel that spins a story straight out of current headlines, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, I’m about a quarter into the book and taking my time. It’s a read to be savored, that is for certain, and definitely lives up to the hype surrounding it. (ARC, Out February 2017) The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: The first book in this wonderfully charming duology, The Girl From Everywhere, is easily one of my favorite reads of the year, expertly weaving together a story of family and magic. So I was really excited when the sequel popped up. I’m so ready to continue this adventure in Heilig’s world. (ARC, Out March 2017) Karina Glaser   See You in the Cosmos, Carl Sagan by Jack Cheng (Dial Books for Young Readers, February 2017): This book is about eleven-year-old Alex Petroski who wants to launch his golden iPod into space, just like his hero Carl Sagan launched his Golden Record on a spacecraft in the 1970s. If that description wasn’t enough to get me interested, the publicist sent me the book wrapped in gold paper with a note, “This book Golden Book iPod has travelled through the universe to bring you sounds of life on earth: of family, friendship, love, and a boy who loves rockets and his dog and is trying to be brave.” I am so here for this. (ARC) Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet: I love E.B. White’s books, and Melissa Sweet’s gorgeous collages and illustrations are making him all the more endearing to me. (Hardcover) The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon: This book was a National Book Award finalist, and now that I’m halfway through I know exactly why the judges chose it. Nicola Yoon is a creative, loving storyteller. (Library Hardcover) Sarah Nicolas   Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki: I’m almost done with this and it is decidedly less supernatural than the blurb made it out to be. Not bad, but just not what I was looking for at this moment in time. (audiobook) Cress by Marissa Meyer: I just gobbled up the first two books in the Lunar Chronicles series, so I don’t know why it took me so long to start this one, but I’m finally reading it and loving it. (hardcover) Saving Red by Sonya Sones: This is not one I’d ordinarily pick up, but I’m trying to read more outside of my comfort zone, and a friend recommended Sones to me. I haven’t started it yet, but am intrigued to get started. Thomas Maluck   Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson: Stevenson came through my town, and one of the outreach librarians at my workplace clued me in to the event and this book. Stevenson is a lawyer who dedicated his life’s work to defending those with the least access to justice (“capital punishment is punishment for those without capital,” he quotes early on). He played a major role in getting minors exempted from life without parole sentences, and the accomplishment followed from encountering and trying to aid one sobering case after another. (paperback) My Holiday in North Korea by Wendy E. Simmons: Following a serious read about life in the isolated nation, I couldn’t help but continue my literary stay via this more humorous examination of the massive cognitive dissonance asked of visitors and their state-mandated handlers. (ebook) Raych Krueger We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson: My entire library stack is based off of the #booksfighthate hashtag right now and I’m just reading my way from top to bottom. Henry has been given the chance to halt the destruction of the earth just by pressing a button, but his boyfriend has committed suicide, his fool-around partner is an asshole, his brother is also an asshole, his Nana has Alzheimer’s, and he’s not sure the world warrants saving. Also, there’s aliens. (Library Hardcover) Siblings Without Rivalry  by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish: I’m trying to tone down the amount of yelling that goes on in this house (it’s so, so much). This is a re-read for me, and it’s a great reminder that while your kids might not end up being friends, they can still use each other as practice for appropriate social behaviors. (paperback) Lucas Maxwell   Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali: It’s 1936 and Max hasn’t even been given his name yet. He’s a fetus inside a woman inside a Bavarian clinic set up by the Nazis. He’s part of the Fountains of Youth program, creating the perfect Aryan specimen. This is a strange and interesting read, I’m really enjoying it simply because it’s so different. The account of the breeding facility will twist your guts out. Max, even though he’s only a few months old in the part of the book I’m in, is fully convinced in that the Nazi party is the best solution to the world’s problems. I have a strong feeling that he’s going to change his mind, though. (paperback) Brian McNamara   Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Story by James Luceno: Gearing up for Rogue One by checking out this prequel/lead-in. Haven’t made much headway as of yet, but I’m expecting a good time. I really liked Luceno’s previous Tarkin, a novel set before Episode IV which also dealt with the construction of the Death Star. Main movie baddie Krennic seems cut from the same cloth as Governor Tarkin, so the book should lend itself to Luceno’s talents. (Hardcover) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell: I’ve had this copy of the book for a while now, but I’ve never really been motivated to read it. The day after the election, it was the first thing that caught my eye. This particular edition is in the style of the classic Penguin titles orange and beige with the embossed title and author censored by large black bars. It’s an amazing, subtle presentation of the book’s major themes. Perhaps one of the most evocative covers, without really showing you anything! And wouldn’t you know it, I’m not even looking for the parallels to today’s world and they’re jumping out at me. (Softcover) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang: I was in love with Arrival, the very strong and emotionally resonant science fiction film starring Amy Adams. I then found out it was based on a short story and immediately went out and bought the book. I was unfamiliar with Chiang’s writing but I’m already digging his style and think I may have found a new favorite. (Softcover) Amanda Kay Oaks   Animal, Mineral, Radical by BK Loren: This is an assignment for my Craft of Creative Nonfiction class. I hadn’t heard of it before it was assigned, so I’m eager to see what awaits me! (Paperback).     Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson: Checked this out from the library after getting to see her do Nerd Jeopardy at Book Riot Live. Not far in yet, but think I will like it a great deal. Also all the bonus points for audiobooks read by the author. (Digital Audiobook) Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick: This is lined up and ready to help me pass the drive home for thanksgiving with my family. I always like to take a good celebrity memoir in the car with me and this was an obvious choice because I love her tweets. And again, bonus points for being read by the author. (CD audiobook) Jessica Pryde   Exit West by Mohsin Hamid: Someone at Riverhead was kind enough to send me a copy and I was not throwing away my shot. I’m devouring it in 40 page clumps and then have to stop to go do life-things. (ARC, March 2017) The Truth of Right Now by Kara Lee Corthron: I was given a selection of books to choose from for participating in a readerly Big Data thingie and this one held the most promise. I’ve been slamming through it. This is the author’s first novel but she’s also a playwright and you can tell in the snappiness of the dialogue and the easy flow of the language. (eARC, January 2017) Tracks by Louise Erdrich: I have picked up and set aside so many books written in the 1980s (the decade I was born) all this year, and I’m hoping this one will stick. (Paperback) The Duchess War by Courtney Milan: I realized how many of her books I own and have yet to read, and this was a good place to start. Also, its always good to have historical romance in the rotation. (ebook) Christy Childers   Out of a Far Country by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan: Because I saw it on Jackie Hill Perry’s Instagram. (Library Paperback) Jamie Canaves   Around the Way Girl: A Memoir by Taraji P. Henson: I’ll watch anything Henson is in so I had to pick this up. She’s managed to make me laugh, then cry, then laugh hysterically again. I love her! (audiobook) Winter of the Gods (Olympus Bound #2) by Jordanna Max Brodsky: Greek Gods in modern Manhattan solving a crimeâ€"GIVE ME NOW! (ARC) Missing People by Brandon S. Graham: domestic drama/thriller peeked my curiosity. (egalley) I Hate Fairyland #7 by Skottie Young, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Nate Piekos: I love this comic and now I can totally sympathize with Gertrude’s rage.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Proper Disposal of Batteries

Today’s common household batteries—those ubiquitous AAs, AAAs, Cs, Ds, and 9-volts from Duracell, Energizer, and others manufacturers—no longer pose as great a threat to properly equipped modern landfills as they used to. Because new batteries contain much less mercury than their predecessors, most municipalities now recommend simply throwing such batteries away with your trash. Common household batteries are also called alkaline batteries; the chemical type is important in choosing proper disposal options. Battery Disposal or Recycling? Nevertheless, environmentally concerned consumers might feel better recycling such batteries anyway, as they still do contain trace amounts of mercury and other potentially toxic materials. Some municipalities will accept these batteries (as well as older, more toxic ones) at household hazardous waste facilities. From such facilities, the batteries will most likely be sent elsewhere to be processed and recycled as components in new batteries, or incinerated in a dedicated hazardous waste processing facility. How to Recycle Batteries Other options abound, such as the mail-order service, Battery Solutions, which will recycle your spent batteries at a low cost, calculated by the pound. Meanwhile, the national chain, Batteries Plus Bulbs, is happy to take back disposable batteries for recycling at any of its hundreds of retail stores coast-to-coast. Older Batteries Should Always Be Recycled Consumers should note that any old batteries they may find buried in their closets that were made before 1997—when Congress mandated a widespread mercury phase-out in batteries of all types—should most surely be recycled and not discarded with the trash. These batteries may contain as much as 10 times the mercury of newer versions. Check with your municipality; they may have a program for this type of waste, such as a yearly hazardous waste drop off day. Lithium batteries, these small, round ones used for hearing aids, watches, and car key fobs, are toxic and should not be thrown in the trash. Treat them like you would any other household hazardous waste. Car batteries are recyclable, and in fact, are quite valuable. Auto part stores will gladly take them back, and so will many residential waste transfer stations. The Problem of Rechargeable Batteries Perhaps of greater concern nowadays is what’s happening to spent rechargeable batteries from cell phones, laptops, and other portable electronic equipment. Such items contain potentially toxic heavy metals sealed up inside, and if thrown out with the regular garbage can jeopardize the environmental integrity of both landfills and incinerator emissions. Luckily, the battery industry sponsors the operations of Call2Recycle, Inc. (formerly the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation or RBRC), which facilitates the collection of used rechargeable batteries in an industry-wide â€Å"take back† program for recycling. Your big-box hardware store chain (like Home Depot and Lowes) likely has a booth where you can drop off rechargeable batteries for recycling. Additional Battery Recycling Options Consumers can help by limiting their electronics purchases to items that carry the Battery Recycling Seal on their packaging (note that this seal still has the RBRC acronym on it). Furthermore, consumers can find out where to drop off old rechargeable batteries (and even old cell phones) by checking Call2Recycle’s website. Also, many electronics stores will take back rechargeable batteries and deliver them to Call2Recycle free-of-charge.  Check with your favorite retailer. Call2Recycle then processes the batteries via a thermal recovery technology that reclaims metals such as nickel, iron, cadmium, lead, and cobalt, repurposing them for use in new batteries.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Defining Marketing - Importance of Marketing in...

Defining Marketing Michelle Watson Marketing 421 April 16, 2012 Kim Wm. Houseman Definition of Marketing Marketing is often misunderstood. Ask the average person how they would define marketing and a majority would reply with something along the lines of commercials, ads, brochures, and other items used to market a business. Marketing is complex. It is a process, a practice, and a philosophy. As a process, it moves goods and services from an idea all the way through to the customer. As a practice, it embodies the elements of product, price, place, and promotion. As a philosophy, it is the basis of how customers’ needs and satisfaction are met by the business’ product or service. According to Perreault,†¦show more content†¦Nike uses successful and famous sports figures to endorse their products. Consumers are willing to pay higher prices for items that they view to be superior in quality, reliability, and style. Brand management is one of Nike’s greatest strengths. For example, basketball-great Michael Jordan’s succes s on the basketball court led to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sales of Nike’s Air Jordan line of products. Tennis, golf, and soccer are other sports where the Nike brand has made a large impact on fashion, style, and sports equipment. McDonald’s is another company whose marketing success has made it the world’s largest food service retailer. It serves millions of customers around the world and has franchises in more than 100 countries. McDonald’s reaction to consumer trends and expectations is what has risen this empire to the top. The consistency of the restaurant’s product maintains its customer base and meeting social consumer needs by sharing nutritional information and providing healthy menu options continues to grow its customer base as well. Last but certainly not least, Apple is quite possibly the world’s best marketing company. Steve Chazin, former Apple marketing executive and consumer marketing expert curr ently maintains a blog and has published and eBook highlighting Apple’s five secrets of marketing to become the world’s most valuable company. He condensed the secrets from what he learned throughout his 10Show MoreRelatedDefining Marketing805 Words   |  4 PagesDefining Marketing Colleen P. Dalton MKT/421 November 26, 2012 Stephanie Burns Defining Marketing The purpose of this paper is to define the term â€Å"marketing†, explain the importance of marketing in organizational success, and provide examples from the business world to support the explanation of its importance. Upon completion of this paper it should be understood what Marketing means and its importance in today’s society. Marketing There are many definitions of the term â€Å"marketing†Read MoreDefining Marketing981 Words   |  4 PagesDefining Marketing What is marketing? 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Marketing is part of our everyday world, and can be perceived everywhere and every time. At any time, everyone has been exposed to different kinds of marketing orRead MoreDefine Marketing Paper1241 Words   |  5 PagesDefining Marketing Paper Introduction The Department of State and Regional Development defines marketing as finding out what customers want, then setting out to meet their needs, provided it can be done at a profit. Marketing includes market research, deciding on products and prices, advertising, promoting, distributing and selling (2006). The Center for Media Literacy defines marketing as The way in which a product or media text is sold to a target audience (2003). Marketing is a criticalRead MoreComponents Of Functional Operations Management994 Words   |  4 PagesFunctional tactics are the main, repetitive activities that must be undertaken in each functional area such as marketing, finance, production and operations management (POM), and personnel (Pearce Robinson, 2011, p. 271). Specificity, timeframe and participants are the 3 vital areas that must be addressed as these elements are what make functional tactic different from business and corporate strategy because they are actions items that will occur in the near future. The following essay will discussRead MoreTop Management For Crm And Practicing Crm Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pagesand social customs that compel behaviors. Organizational infrastructure: There are two types of organization Organic and mechanic with different value creation. Mechanic organization leads to insufficient, ineffectiveness, powerlessness and prohibiting sharing knowledge and expertise among employees and managers. Organic organization is flat and network structure has low functional barriers, foster cross communication, allows the sharing of organizational, building new knowledge and seems it can facilitateRead MoreExamining Organizational Development and Business Strategy: Case Study of Skoda1021 Words   |  4 Pagesexamining organizational development and business strategy based on a case study of Skoda Company. The article begins with an evaluation of existing definitions of organizational development and a personal definition of this concept. This is followed by an evaluation of one of the strengths of Skoda Company and how the company can benefit from this strength. The importance of organizational development in light of SWOT analysis and strategic planning is also discussed. Keywords: organizational developmentRead MoreSwot Analysis1676 Words   |  7 Pagesachieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a research project at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data Strategic Use: Orienting SWOTs to An Objective If SWOT analysis does not start with defining a desired end state or objective, it runs the risk of being useless. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. An example of a strategic planning technique that incorporates an objective-driven SWOT analysis is SCAN analysis

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Argumentative Essay Samples for Gre Cover Up

The Argumentative Essay Samples for Gre Cover Up Before concluding the essay, it is important to summarise with a strong emphasis on the subject. It is crucial to note an argumentative essay and an expository essay could possibly be similar, but they vary greatly with regard to the sum of pre-writing and research involved. Whether it's an argumentative or expository essay which you're writing, it is crucial to develop a clear thesis statement and an obvious sound reasoning. View this lesson and learn to channel persuasion to compose a very good essay. Ensure that you've a general idea of how argumentative essays are formatted. Ultimately, you will observe how important these essays are in aiding you to create superior term papers. You might also see concept essays. Write superior essays with an internet class. Child labour includes working children that are below a particular minimum age. After you select the correct undertaking or prompt, it's simple to acquire students to organize their thoughts and set them on paper. After all, the task of the student is to just explain how other positions might not be well informed or updated on the subject. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about an approaching deadline. Argumentative Essay Samples for Gre - the Conspiracy To make certain that your paper stands out you are able to also, benefit from choosing an unusual subject. Your professor or client reads lots of essays and a great majority are written by men and women who like to play it safe. Since you can imagine, acquiring a sample is something but understanding how to utilize it can be challenging. You are interested in being sure you're taking the reader by the hand. In consensus, a massive section of the stock exchange analysts and traders appear to believe that the CEO has an immediate effect on the operation of the organization. Definitions of Argumentative Essay Samples for Gre Most conclusions are just a paragraph in length as the conclusion is anticipated to be an overview of the whole essay. It is advised to keep this section in a couple of paragraphs to prevent boredom for the reader. It typically is made up of 3 paragraphs. Your introductory paragraph needs to be clear and concise just enjoy the example. The cost of an essay rides on the quantity of effort the writer has to exert. If you decide to be a self-employed essay writer, you can expect the exact same. Essay writing per se is no simple endeavor to do. Writing an argumentative essay might seem a challenging job. Ultimately, the conclusion involves a restatement of the position and a concise review of the reasons and counters. You can't earn any assumption that you desire. A comprehensive argument As mentioned before, an argument doesn't have to be formal. It is your personal response to the subject and line of reasoning based on the analysis. You'll wind up lost without having the capability to make an argument and develop it correctly. Another thing to bear in mind about assumptions is that the number of assumptions you're in a position to make depends in large part on the scope and duration of your paper. Emphasize your position is the very best by summarizing the principal points of your argument. Clearly, the expectation and the trajectory of a business largely depends on the vision of the individual in charge CEO. When picking a definition, bear in mind that there are plenty of kinds of ethical arguments and that the manner in which you argue for your specific claim depends in large part on how you define your terms. Basically however, the notion is to refrain from making assumptions that very few or no acceptable men and women would make. A mind-independent rationale is some type of reason which exists independently of human thought. For instance, you can write about something that personally affects you or somebody you know.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Effective Business Communication Help †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Effective Business Communication Help. Answer: Introduction Business communication can be defined as the process in which useful information is being shared by companies with their external and internal stakeholders(Baker Warren 2015). Effective business communication helps in the organization to achieve their financial objective and goals. In addition to this, it also plays a vital role in carrying out the smooth flow of all operations and activities. The present research highlights a scenario in which people have misunderstood and failed to act on my communication as it was directed. Furthermore, communication model and issues communication are also reflected in the present study. A situation of miscommunication Miscommunication can be termed as the failure to communicate information or message in the desired manner. Nowadays, miscommunication is a common issue at the workplace, and it directly affects the other areas of business(Chedid, Dew Veitch 2013). I was working as a store manager in one of the retail stores in Australia and have encountered with a case of miscommunication which affected the overall image of my department. One day, I instructed two of my junior assistants to remove the extra inventory from store shelves and place the same in the warehouse. That day, many customers were there in the store, and due to their noise, the message was not properly delivered to both the assistant. The result of such miscommunication was that one assistant removed all the items from shelves and he placed all of them into the warehouse. On the other hand, the second assistant who was talking care of another shelve placed all the extra items in the shelves and made the shelve overcrowded. When customer observed this, they were completely dissatisfied and frustrated as one shelve was overcrowded whereas the other one was empty. Communication Model: Circular model of communication The model can be considered as the most common communication model which is used in organizations. The model emphasizes the fact that communication is a two-way process which includes a sender and receiver(Conrad 2014). Furthermore, the sender forwards the message to the receiver who decodes the information and revert the sender by providing feedback. This model is different from other communication models as it focuses on giving back a feedback which is not common in other models. The model is also common because it results in encouraging effective two-way communication practices within organizations. Issues in communication In the modern era, there is wide range of issues and challenges which are being faced by companies in the context of communication(Mak, Brown Wadey 2014). Failure to listen can be termed as the most common issue linked with communication. At the time of receiving the message, some people do not pay close attention while some are distracted and this resulted in the failure of the entire communication process. Language barriers can be termed as another issue which acts as obstacles regarding carrying out effective communication. Lack of feedback system and inappropriate communication channels are some other common issues. Main potential barriers to communication Physical barriers can be treated as one of the most potential barriers which affect the entire process of communication in the negative sense(Zhang Venkatesh 2013). Some common physical barrier to communication includes workplace environment, technology, and noise. Climate or environment, distance and time, technical issues are considered as the common causes of physical barriers to communication(Dawson et al. 2014). For example sending messages on inappropriate time may result in affecting the overall impact of the message and it is also possible that the receiver does not respond back immediately to the same. On the other hand, climatic factors such as heavy rainfall or the wind can also create physical barriers to the entire process of communication. Psycho-social, barriers to communication include barriers because of attitude, emotions, and differences in status. Sometimes, messages are wrongly interpreted by people in situations of anger, fear or worry(Mak, Brown Wadey 2014). This resulted in making the entire process of communication ineffective. The other barriers to communication include the use of complicated jargons, lack of attention, physical disabilities and cultural differences. All the above-mentioned elements act as a hurdle in carrying out effective communication between parties or individuals. Strategy used to overcome barriers The most effective strategy to overcome communication barrier is email as through this type of strategy it is possible to undertake the entire process of communication properly. In this method written proof is present, and due to this reason, it is considered to be more reliable as compared with other methods. The time required for sharing information is very less in this type of process, and it encourages the smooth flow of communication which is beneficial for the business(Owuamalam Zagefka 2014). Another effective way to deal with the communication barrier is to use the simple language where avoiding words that create obstacles are considered to be a hurdle. It is the moral responsibility of every individual to ensure that simple language is being used. Information overload must be avoided up to the extent where data must only be shared which is most crucial for the company. Moreover, one of the best ways is to reduce the noise level as sometimes it is possible that due to the pr esence of high noise the message shared with the other parties are not understood by them properly(Nichols, Horner Fyfe 2015). Due to this reason they interpret is in the wrong manner. So, these are some of the effective strategies to deal with the communication barrier. Conclusion From the above-conducted study, it can be concluded that effective communication process is essential in the workplace. Furthermore, the Circular model is the most common communication model which is being used in the workplace. The rationale behind this is that circular model lays emphasis on encouraging feedback and thus, contributes to making the entire process successful. It can also be inferred that Psycho-social, barriers and physical barriers are the common barriers which affect the entire process of communication. The use of emails can be considered as the result oriented strategy to overcome communication barriers. References Baker, T Warren, A 2015, 'The Nine Common Barriers to Communication', In Conversations at Work, pp. 54-74. Chedid, RJ, Dew, A Veitch, C 2013, ' Barriers to the use of Information and Communication Technology by occupational therapists working in a rural area of New South Wales, Australia', Australian occupational therapy journal, , vol 60, no. 3, pp. 197-205. Conrad, D 2014, 'Workplace communication problems: Inquiries by employees and applicable solutions', Journal of business studies quarterly, vol 5, no. 4, p. 105. Dawson, M, Madera, JM, Neal, JA Chen, J 2014, 'The influence of hotel communication practices on managers communication satisfaction with limited EnglishSpeaking employees', Journal of Hospitality Tourism Research, vol 38, no. 4, pp. 546-561. Mak, A, Brown, PM Wadey, D 2014, 'Contact and attitudes toward international students in Australia: Intergroup anxiety and intercultural communication emotions as mediators.', Journal of cross-cultural psychology, , vol 45, no. 3, pp. 491-504. Nichols, P, Horner, B Fyfe, K 2015, 'Understanding and improving communication processes in an increasingly multicultural aged care workforce', Journal of aging studies, vol 32, pp. 23-31. Owuamalam, CK Zagefka, H 2014, 'On the psychological barriers to the workplace: When and why metastereotyping undermines employability beliefs of women and ethnic minorities.', Cultural diversity ethnic minority psychology, vol 20, no. 4, p. 521. Zhang, X Venkatesh, V 2013, 'Explaining employee job performance: The role of online and offline workplace communication networks', Mis Quarterly, vol 37, no. 3.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Should America have dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki free essay sample

America’s use of the atomic bomb to attack the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has long remained on of the most controversial decisions of World War II. In my opinion, I think the atomic bomb Truman dropped was immoral but necessary. Although there were other options he could’ve chosen instead of dropping the bombs, I think it was the best option and crucial to ending World War II. Truman was right to drop the bombs because it brought a speedy end to World War II, prevented further civilian casualties, and was the least bad option.The most important reason Truman was right to drop the atomic bomb is because it brought a speedy end to World War II. After the bombs were dropped, Japan surrender shortly after. They surrendered before they entered the war.Truman’s alternative was a campaign of blockade and bombardment, which would have killed millions of Japanese, mostly civilians. We will write a custom essay sample on Should America have dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another thing to bear in mind is that while just over 200,000 people were killed in total by the atomic bombs, it is estimated that 300,00-500,000 Japanese people died or disappeared in Soviet captivity. Had the war continued, that number would have been much higher. The atomic bombs were horrible but using them as the least objectionable choice. A bloody invasion and conventional bombing would have led to a far higher death toll and so the atomic weapons actually saved thousands of American and millions of Japanese lives. The bombs were the best means to bring about unconditional surrender, which is what US leaders wanted.In conclusion, while it wasn’t he most moral or conventional option, dropping the atomic bombs in Japan in World War II was completely necessary. If Truman had not dropped them the war would’ve dragged on longer and hundreds of thousands more people would have been killed. In the long run, the bombs saved more lives.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Zachary Taylor essays

Zachary Taylor essays Zachary Taylor was the twelfth President of the United States. He was a very interesting person. He was a crook, a gambler, a drunkard, and had a very short temper. One source claimed that  ¡seeing Zachary Taylor sober was something few people could claim to have done. ¡ A short time after Taylor was born in 1784, he was given the peculiar nickname  ¡muskrat head ¡. The exact story behind this nickname has since been lost. Taylor was very sensitive when it came to his nickname. The sighting of this repulsive animal, or the mentioning of the animal ¡s name, could send Taylor into a fury. When Taylor was six years old, he was being taunted by two of his classmates about his nickname. He punished them by chaining them to a windmill and feeding them large bunches of grass. On another occasion, at the age of sixteen, Taylor showed everyone that no matter who you were, he would become violent at the mere mentioning of the animal. On a family trip to the zoo, Taylor was escorting a young lady. The girl unknowingly and innocently pointed at a family of muskrats, referring to them as  ¡queer-looking beasts ¡. Zack was infuriated. He then turned monkeys, tropical birds, an alligator, and an antelope loose, and hurled a peanut vendor ¡s stand into a mud hole. Zachary Taylor was also known for his strange behavior. He liked to hide from no one in particular in a wagon of rotten vegetables and paint his beard blue. He once set a local paper mill on fire. He liked to lure unsuspecting girls into his  ¡secret clubhouse ¡, located in the sub-basement of the Taylor home. On religious holidays, he enjoyed dressing like a giant purple butterfly. When Taylor unexpectedly became President in 1849, his behavior did not improve. He was notorious for his laziness. After holding office for little over half a day, he feasted on fourteen pounds of French pastries and a jug of Indian corn whiskey. He then fell asleep in the White H...

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Adapting my cultural grammar in a new cultural context Essay

Adapting my cultural grammar in a new cultural context - Essay Example Theories of culture are also used by social groups to literally construct cultural ideological imagination for themselves and for others (Holliday 2013). Moreover, the concept of discourse is being employed widely as an instrument of analysis as far as cultural communication is concerned. Based on the cultural discourse, this is the point in which individuals are capable of negotiating, make sense of and practice culture (Holliday 2013). It is believed tat under these circumstances; issues about culture are well build, new grammar of culture practiced and understanding of cosmopolitan world achieved (Holliday 2013). I am Ukrainian, but Ive lived in England for 5 years. My own cultural development was based on three vey essential approach and practices I had to develop. The English culture I was living in was well established and dominant to other minorities like me. To begin with, I had to accept the fact that majority of the established theories of culture within the social setting I was living in was derived from western sources (Holliday 2013). This was also supplemented by the fact England is a major driving force in the current global politics, operating from a position of cultural economic and political dominance in relation to the rest of the world (Holliday 2013). For elaborate cultural development, living in England for five years was enough for me to adapt to the English culture of communication and lifestyle. Interaction with students who are England native speakers helped me adapt to English accent and mode of living. Improved grammar and pronunciation of terms are some of the key lessons I leant. The transition from Ukrainian-born to adapted English culture was not easy, but persistence and more communication interaction made it possible. By acknowledging that there is cultural diversity, it is important to note that before adapting to foreign cultural practices, one has to be

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Business Integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Integration - Essay Example Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung is a multinational corporation based in Germany that specialises in the development of business software solutions. The company name translates to Systems, functions, and commodities in Data Processing to highlight company products and services whose target is business enterprises. The products and services are geared towards the management of business operations and customer relations, which enhances productivity (Oslon and Kesharwani 2010). SAP is among the largest software companies globally known to provide products such as enterprise resource planning application (ERP), SAP business warehouse among others. A group of former IBM engineers started the company in 1972 in an effort to develop a software package that incorporated a company’s diversity with regard to supporting departments (Anderson 2011). This would see companies replace numerous business applications within the departments with a single integrated ent erprise system. The vision sought to minimise the enormous complexity and bulk associated with existing applications, and provide the businesses with real-time computing capabilities. Presently, the company continues to offer products and services beyond the initial vision owing to advances in the technology and globalisation. Moreover, SAP products have found home in millions of businesses serving thousands of customers in more than 100 countries. The proliferation in various business industries is aided through partnerships with various support partners such as Microsoft and other developers. Although SAP and its enterprise competitors are distinctly different from one another, each competitor actively participates to sustain the company. For instance, Microsoft provides the operating systems while Oracle serves as the largest database vendor. Among the benefits realised in such associations is innovation, which has seen the integration networking capabilities in SAP’s prod ucts and services. This is essential in the management of large corporations that have various departments concurrently running to fulfil company mandate. Over the years, SAP has receives awards and accolades for their contribution in business management and to the economy. The company boasts of more 60,000 employees who help generate about â‚ ¬16 billion in revenue and â‚ ¬2 billion in profits in the financial year ending 2012. As a software company, SAP commits its resources towards creative solutions for business management. Among the bestselling products is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), a system consisting of configurable packages presented as software that integrates the best practices while conducting business. The information within the software framework is custom built to meet the needs of the organisation of interest; the packages include information ranging from business practice to academic theory to facilitate the smooth flow of information between vario us departments. This is the highlight of SAP ERP systems, which aims at improving the productivity through enhancing efficiency within the organisation. Organisations seek ERP systems for various reasons and among them are the desires to adopt better business practices, globalisation, increase flexibility, and centralise information among others (Hallikainen, n.d.). The software infrastructure also presents an opportunity for the business to sustain a competitive advantage in the evolving world of information technology in business. This is achieved by ensuring cooperation and integration of various departments in an organisation and is in line with information technology, a key aspect in relation to effective management (Bernroider & Koch, 2003). There are various applications offered by ERP system depending on the needs of the organisation, which include supply-chain management, human resource management, customer relationship manager, and accounting applications. Various applicat ions

Monday, January 27, 2020

Unilever Organized Its Supply Chain Management

Unilever Organized Its Supply Chain Management Abstract According to the analysis of some cases of how Unilever organized its supply chain management, we found that Unilever organized their factories, regional supply chains, business groups and corporate center with strategic focus and in an operational environment. Plan-source-make-deliver is the way Unilever managed their supply chain. Simultaneously, we found that Unilevers supply chain management focus on the multi-local aspects of the business at a national or regional level and the multinational aspects. Introduction In todays globalised world, every company has to face strong competition. Each company has to consider many factors if they want to be successful in the market. One of important elements in this is the supply chain management, this involves the moment of materials as they flow from their source to the end customer. Unilever is a global firm and they have numerous products, as result the ways they manage the flow of their product from beginning to the consumers is vital. The question was asked: How do Unilever organize their supply chain management. Methodology The study was conducted by a group of four team members in Middlesex University on the pre-sessional program in August 2010, namely: Lam Trinh, Long Ta, Pan Zhen Zhao and Chi Doan. The instrument used in this study was secondary research. In which, individuals of the team used various resources, especially online academic directories to locate the necessary articles related to the topic supply chain management and take a specific British Group, Unilever and its organising system, as an example. After the research team had read the academic textbooks, the relevant information was analyzed and noted in order to assess the main ideas. The process took two weeks. The first week involved choosing a suitable topic and company. The choices were based on individuals possibility and interest in the field of business and management. The second week included researching resources from the schools learning resources and other reliable sources. A total of five sources were found, of which two were theory-based online journal articles and were obtained through academic directories, and three were from media articles and company-official website. There are some limitations with the study. One of them is that it is difficult for second language learners to understand complex articles and sophisticated arguments. Furthermore, it is a difficult task to identify and collect the best helpful and suitable information for the report amongst numerous of sources. Literature review Organizing supply chain management (OSCM) is one of the most important things which companies need to do to not lag behind economically in the fast-moving business world. That is why this report researches in-depth five articles: Unilevers supply chain efficiency, Unilevers supply chain vision, supply chain case study, how Unilever aligned its supply chain management, and Unilevers spotlight. According to Supply Chain Management Review (Monahan, Sean; Nardone, Robert, Nov2007, Vol. 11), it has been claimed that Unilever has to upgrade facets of its supply chain operations to stay ahead in the fast-moving consumer packaged goods industry. Furthermore, Srivni (http://www.zimbio.com/ Jun-19-07) asserted that while Unilever keeping its global branding, its strategy is to have local supply chain for local demand to minimize complexity. It seems a lucid strategy for OSCM in order to make profit and consolidate brand effectively. Findings In this section, author using SWOT analysis to analyze the internal and external environment of Unilever. Figure 1 Strengths Weaknesses Clearly supply chain management vision highly complex supply chain and production line Using information technology Local supply chain for local demand Strong network of sales and distribution Many products have low profit Opportunities Threats Increasing in environment friendly product Globalization There are many competitors Strengths Unilever is a global company so their supply chain management seems to be very well organized. The first strength is Unilever make a clear vision for their supply chain management. IEE (www.iee.org, 2004) states five strategies on Unilever supply chain management: Clearly defined global strategy and an effective and robust strategy into action processes. Focus on cost reduction, to be achieved through regular monitoring of a standard set of globally shared KPIs along with consistent data acquisition. Consistent global approach to, delivery of manufacturing excellence. Convergent organization. Clearly defined skill definitions of all supply chain roles. Established process to enable a rapid and cost effective implementation of innovation. Furthermore, Unilever implement information technology (IT) in their supply chain with the purpose to manage the flow of product better. Because Unilever have many factories in the world, they use different type of supply chain for each country so they can meet the demand of local customers. Strong network of sale and distribution is the one more strength of Unilever. Weaknesses Unilever have a huge number of product brands (over 1600 brands) but 400 brands make up over 90% of Unilevers total sales (http://www.zimbio.com, Jun-19-07)good . As a consequence, the ineffective brands make them money but not very profitable and become one of their weakness point. Opportunities Customers focus more on the products which are friendly with environment, it is an opportunity for Unilever to follow the trend and get more customers from competitors with the strategy in greening their supply chain such as cutting emissions. The second opportunity for Unilever is globalization develop. Their supply chain will find easier to approach customers because the world without barrier. Threats Unilever set up factories, branches in more than 100 countries and they have numerous competitors from other global companies like PG and Nestle and also competitors from local. Global enterprises with strong brands and experience in management while local companies understand the demand of consumers and they have support from local government lead to a threat for Unilever. Discussion and analysis IT solution According to Srivni (http://www.zimbio.com, Jun-19-07), the first solution for Unilever to organize supply chain management is the use of information technology. Firstly, Unilever use enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage activities in supply chain. ERP with huge databases can access the status of supply chain such as distribution and sales. As a result they can control the flow of products well and make sure it is not interrupted. By using IT in supply chain management, company also reduce the costs and improve efficiency in the chain and bring the company closer to their consumers. Moreover, IT helps Unilever track their products better from distribution centers to stores, they will have right strategy to reduce the length of product runs and make other refinements to react more quickly to changes in demand (http://www.zimbio.com, Jun-19-07). Finally, Unilever apply integrated supply management information system (ISIS) which help the collected information is analyzed quickly and easily by supply managers in national as well as global companies. With this system, its managers may discuss and make a decision with suppliers clearly and effectively. Therefore, both of them make benefits from this way (Sean Monahan and Robert Nardone, 2007). Path to Growth Based on the weakness point in SWOT analysis, Unilever make a plan name: Path to growth focus on reducing non production items (NPI). Before discussing the results of this plan, this report is going to analyze the reason why they have to cut NPI. In 2000, there were over 1600 brands belong to Unilever. However, the company recognized that the high profit brands were around four hundred and many other brands take a huge amount of money to organize their supply chain. Unilever decided to stop producing over five hundred and sell seven hundred brands and get over 16 billion euro. With this amount of money, they can invest more in supply chain management system. The goal of this plan is simplify the business and reducing complexity (http://www.zimbio.com, Jun-19-07). This plan brings to Unilever many advantages but there are some disadvantages when Unilever apply Path to growth. In 2004, their net profit lost by over 300 million dollars, and the company still focus significantly on local market lead to fragment in global market. Conclusion The purpose of this report is answering the question: How does Unilever organize their supply chain management? The finding is based on the SWOT analysis which shows the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and the external (opportunities and threats) environmental in supply chain of Unilever. Unilever apply IT to manage their supply chain to reduce the cost and improve the effect. They also use plan path to growth to sell and stop production over one thousand ineffective brands. These strategies help Unilever to organize their supply chain better and more effectively. Recommendations Unilever is a strong company in global market. They have many strengths point but they have some weaknesses point. After the process of findings and analysis the information of Unilever, the company should focus more on their supply chain of high profit products to maximize revenue and ensure their supply to customers is on time.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

The Bodies Are Talking: Will Society Listen? :: Essays Papers

The Bodies Are Talking: Will Society Listen? On Thanksgiving evening, November 27, 1992, Sergeant Kenneth Mathison and his wife Yvonne drive their 1988 tan Ford van along Route 131 in Hilo, Hawaii. The rain is pouring down and before he knows it, Kenneth Mathison is awaiting police assistance as he cradles his wife’s dead body in the back of their van. Mathison, a sergeant of 25 years with the Hilo Police Department was allegedly informing his wife, a maternity nursing professional at the Hilo Medical Center, that he was being investigated in his second paternity suit. According to Mathison, when Yvonne heard the news, she jumped from the passenger side of the van. While he was looking for her in the blinding rain, Mathison purportedly ran over his wife. He then carried the body into the van and secured it with yellow rope in the back before attempting to find help. Will the forensic evidence support Mathison’s account of that fateful evening? That night, many witnesses reported having seen a man changing the tire of his van and waving any possible help away angrily while others reported seeing a woman wandering around the side of the dangerous highway. More witnesses reported that Kenneth and his wife were having many violent disputes at their home that usually resulted in Kenneth pursuing an angry Yvonne around the block. The most compelling evidence against Mathison, however, is purely scientific. Detective Paul Ferreira first noticed that the extensive blood stains inside the Mathison van. After hearing Mathison’s original account, he summoned the assistance of famed forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee to analyze what he thought was inconsistent evidence. Blood stains on the paneling and the spare tire in the cargo area reveal low-velocity blood stains meaning that the blood probably dripped from Yvonne’s head onto the floor. The stains found on the roof and steering wheel were contact transfer patterns probab ly caused by Mathison’s bloody hands. Blood stains on the driver’s side of the van were contact-dripping patterns which indicate that Mathison touched the inside of the van multiple times before and after moving his wife’s body. The final groups of blood stains on the instrument panel of the van were medium-velocity stains which show investigators that Mathison probably struck his wife at least once in the front seat causing the blood to fly from her open head wound. The enormous amounts of blood inside the van lead prosecutor Kurt Spohn to investigate the Mathison case as a murder instead of a misdemeanor traffic violation. The Bodies Are Talking: Will Society Listen? :: Essays Papers The Bodies Are Talking: Will Society Listen? On Thanksgiving evening, November 27, 1992, Sergeant Kenneth Mathison and his wife Yvonne drive their 1988 tan Ford van along Route 131 in Hilo, Hawaii. The rain is pouring down and before he knows it, Kenneth Mathison is awaiting police assistance as he cradles his wife’s dead body in the back of their van. Mathison, a sergeant of 25 years with the Hilo Police Department was allegedly informing his wife, a maternity nursing professional at the Hilo Medical Center, that he was being investigated in his second paternity suit. According to Mathison, when Yvonne heard the news, she jumped from the passenger side of the van. While he was looking for her in the blinding rain, Mathison purportedly ran over his wife. He then carried the body into the van and secured it with yellow rope in the back before attempting to find help. Will the forensic evidence support Mathison’s account of that fateful evening? That night, many witnesses reported having seen a man changing the tire of his van and waving any possible help away angrily while others reported seeing a woman wandering around the side of the dangerous highway. More witnesses reported that Kenneth and his wife were having many violent disputes at their home that usually resulted in Kenneth pursuing an angry Yvonne around the block. The most compelling evidence against Mathison, however, is purely scientific. Detective Paul Ferreira first noticed that the extensive blood stains inside the Mathison van. After hearing Mathison’s original account, he summoned the assistance of famed forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee to analyze what he thought was inconsistent evidence. Blood stains on the paneling and the spare tire in the cargo area reveal low-velocity blood stains meaning that the blood probably dripped from Yvonne’s head onto the floor. The stains found on the roof and steering wheel were contact transfer patterns probab ly caused by Mathison’s bloody hands. Blood stains on the driver’s side of the van were contact-dripping patterns which indicate that Mathison touched the inside of the van multiple times before and after moving his wife’s body. The final groups of blood stains on the instrument panel of the van were medium-velocity stains which show investigators that Mathison probably struck his wife at least once in the front seat causing the blood to fly from her open head wound. The enormous amounts of blood inside the van lead prosecutor Kurt Spohn to investigate the Mathison case as a murder instead of a misdemeanor traffic violation.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Digital Comm Tutorial

The process of quantisation introduces an error or noise component into the quantised signal. Derive an equation for the mean-squared quantisation error in terms of the quantization interval ‘a’. ii) Hence show that the peak signal-to-quantisation noise ratio (SQNR) is SQNR = ( 6n + 4. 8 ) dB Where 2 n is the number of quantisation levels. b)i) Linear quantisation is used prior to binary PCM encoding of an analogue baseband signal which has a uniform probability density function. The signal-to-quantisation noise ratio must be no less than 35 dB.How many binary bits are required to code each quansation level? ii) If the bit rate is 104 bits per second, what should be the maximum bandwidth of the analogue signal prior to sampling? Q2. a)i) Explain how nonlinear quantisation can be used to reduce the number of levels required to quantise a signal. ii) Explain why logarithmic quantisation is preferred. iii) What types of signal is most suitable to be processed by non-linear quantisation? b) Sketch the A-law companding curved. Explain why companding is used in voice transmission systems. c) Show that the dynamic range of the logarithmic portion of the A-law compander is 38. dB and that the improvement in signal to quantisation noise ratio realized for small signals, compared with linear quantisation , is 24 dB.d) For an 8-bit A-law companded PCM system, calculate the SQNR obtainable and the PCM bit rate. Assume the sampling frequency is 8 KHz. Q3. a) Explain (qualitatively) how Differential Pulse Code Modulation (DPCM) can reduce the transmission bandwidth required. b) Explain what is delta modulation. Why it is particularly suited to speech signals? c) For an input sinusoid of frequency 1 kHz, estimate and compare the signal-to-error ratios of a linear PCM coder using a sampling rate of 2. kHz and 7 bits per sample quantisation with a single-integration delta modulator producing the same gross bit rate. BASEBAND REGERATOR / ERROR PROBABILITY / LINE COD E Q4. a) Digital transmission systems provide better received signal quality compare to analogue transmission systems when implementing a long distance communication link. Explain briefly why this is so. b) A PCM transmission link employed 8 bit coding and uses baseband regenerator as repeater. Determine the Signal-to-Noise ratio obtainable at the receiver assuming no bit error occurred. c) An analogue transmission system required amplifiers to be spaced every 2 km apart.Assume the Signal-to-Noise ratio of the amplifier is 65 dB, determine the maximum distance of the link before the quality of the received signal is lower than the PCM link above. d) A RF binary PSK system operates with phase states separated by 180o. The bit rate is 2. 0 Mbit/s and the noise power spectral density at the input to an ideal matched filter detector is 1. 0 pW/Hz. If the transmission loss between transmitter and detector is 40 dB, what power must be transmitted to achieve a probability of bit error of 1 ( 10-6 ? For binary PSK , Pe = ? [1- erf(Eb/No)1/2] Error function tables are provided. Q5. ) Draw a simplified block diagram of a PCM regenerative repeater. b) An ideal 18 – section, copper cable, PCM link employs unipolar , NRZ, rectangular pulses on each section and a center point detection process at each repeater. The probability of error versus SNR for this transmission and detection scheme is given by [pic] If all sections were identical, and operated with a section SNR of precisely 18 dB, what would be the overall probability of error for the entire link? Q6.(a) Sketch the typical, long term, spectrum of a speech waveform. Show on your sketch the bandwidth normally considered sufficient for telephone quality transmission. b) i) If the voice signal in part (a) is to be transmitted using 8-bit PCM and use the bandwidth upper frequency limit shown on your sketch to find the required PCM bit rate. ii) What channel bandwidth, in principle, would be required if the PCM bits were to be transmitted as perfectly rectangular pulses without distortions? iii) What is the minimum theoretical bandwidth which would allow the PCM bits to be transmitted independently (i. e. without inter-symbol interference (ISI) at the receiver sampling instants)? Explain your answer. (c) i) What is the main functions of line codes? i) The bit stream shown in Fig. Q7 is to be line-coded using the high-density substitutiontechnique HDB3. Sketch a version of the resulting coded signal.What are the features of HDB3 which makes it an attractive line code? [pic] Fig. Q6 TDM / PDH / SDH Q7. a)i) Describe, with the aid of a diagram, the way in which analogue telephone channels plus signalling and service information are combined in a plesiochronous time-division multiplexed system to form the primary multiplex group. ii) What sampling rate would be appropriate for each telephone channel and what would be the gross bit rate of the multiplex group? )i) Show how primary multiplex groups may be combined to form higher level multiplexes and to provide access for wideband signals. ii) Explain why it is necessary in a high order Plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH ) to de-multiplex down to the lowest order whenever a single channel is to be extracted or inserted.c) Calculate the number of telephone channels which can be accommodated at level 4 of a PDH. d) In the PDH, explain why the bit rate at a given level is not exactly an integer multiple of the bit rate at the level below. Q8. a) Explain why bit justification is required in a PDH network, and describe how it may be performed. ) i) Determine the minimum and maximum input channel rates accommodated by an CEPT2 multiplexer. ii) Determine the rate of CEPT1 misframes caused by erroneous interpretation of a stuffed bit. Assume channel bit error rate Pe is 10-6. CEPT2 parameters: Bit rate8. 448 Mbit/s Master frame length848 bits Message length/channel205 bits Framing bits12 bits Stuffing control bits12 bits Stuff bits 4 bits c)i) Explain what is frame slip. ii) In a PDH network, the primary multiplex clock generators have frequency stability of 1 part in 107. Calculate the average number of frames slips per hours in a connection of 5 inter-exchange links.Q9. a) Describe the essential features of the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH). b) Plesiochronous networks have a number of disadvantages by comparisons with the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy. State and explain two of them. c) Draw a block diagram illustrating the SDH. Show on your diagram the nominal STMbit rates associated with each SDH level. d)i) Describe the SDH primary-rate frame structure with particular reference to the location within the frame of the section overheads, the (administrative unit) pointers and the STM-1 payload. ii) What are the main functions of pointer? SIGNALLINGQ10. a)i) Explain the need for signaling in a telecommunication system. ii) List the minimum basic signaling requirements, and show how they may be obtain ed in the subscriber loop of a typical telephone network. b) Draw a simple block diagram illustrating the essential difference between channel-associated signaling (CAS) and common channel signaling (CCS). c) List the advantages of CCS over CAS. d) Modern digital switching systems using Stored Program Control (SPC) employ CCS. Draw a block diagram showing how CCS may be implemented. e) What is the disadvantage of CCS and how are they overcome? Q11. ) Show how the ITU-T (formerly CCITT ) signaling systems No. 7 conform to theInternational Standard Organisation, Open Systems Interconnection (ISO-OSI ) model. b) What are the three types of signal units employ by the ITU-T SS No. 7? What is the function of each? c)i) How is the channel associated signaling handled by the 30+2 PCM primary multiplex frame? ii) Calculate the bit rate of the signaling channel with one voice channel. TELETRAFFIC THEORY Q12. a) In a switching system for which blocked calls are lost, the average number of call s per hour is 200 with an average holding time of 3 minutes.Estimate the number of trunks required to achieve a grade of service of 0. 1 %. b) On the average during the busy hour, traffic generated in exchange A and exchange B is shown in table Q13. Assume no tandem traffic, estimate the number of trunk channels (two way connections) required for a grade service of 1 %: i) if the same lines are used for incoming and outgoing calls, ii) if separate lines are used for incoming and outgoing calls. Evaluate the above options and propose a cost effective solution. What is the minimum number of trunk lines required to serve the two exchanges? |Exchange A |Exchange B | |Exchange A |- |36 Erlang | |Exchange B |43 Erlang |- | Table Q13 c) Calculate the number of channels needed in a seven-cell re-use pattern cellular systems to achieve a blocking probability of 1 % if there are 2800 calls per cell per hour, each of average duration of 1. 8 minutes. (use traffic table). Q13.a) Define traffic intensity and congestion. ) Explain why it is necessary to determine the traffic variations as a function of time for a telephone exchange. c)For a telephone exchange designed based on blocked call lost assumption, the probability of there being k calls in progress with N trunks carrying traffic A Erlang is given by: [pic][pic] i) Explain what is meant by blocked call lost. Give an evaluation the effect of this assumption. ii) Derive an equation for the probability all servers are busy and the subscriber encountered call blocking. State the assumptions made for the above equation to be valid. ) A PBX with 250 internal lines has 10 trunks to the public network. i) What is the probability of call blocking if each internal line is involved in four external calls with an average duration of 2. 5 minutes per call, per eight-hour working day? ii) How many additional trunk connections would be required to improve the grade-of service to better than 0. 5 %? Q14. a) In a queueing system, the average rate of packet transmission is ( frames per second, and the average arrival rate of data is ( packets per second. The probability that therewill be n packets in the queue isPn = (1 – ( )( ( ) nwhere ( = ( / ( b) Derive an equation for the average number of packets in the queue and show how this varies with the parameter ( . c) How would you use this equation to design the node in a packet-switched system? d) If the switching node has a transmission capacity of 800 packets per second and the packet arrival rate is 500 packets per second. i) Calculate the average number of packets in the queue and hence ii) Calculate the average waiting time per packet. iii) What is the mean delay introduced by the switching node on a packet? ) A common –channel signalling system uses a 64 kbits/s data link to serve a group of 1500 speech circuits on a route between two exchanges. The busy-hour traffic is 1000 E and the average call duration is two minutes.On average each call r equires transmission of ten messages (five signals plus five responses) and the average message length is 20 octets. Calculate the percentage of messages which encounter delay and the mean delay for these messages. DATA COMMUNICATION NETWORK Q15. a)i) Describe the principle of data communication by packet switching. ii) Evaluate the advantages of this strategy by comparison with circuit switching. )Show how the format of a packet can allow inclusion of routing, error correction, synchronisation and data. c)A packet switch has a single outgoing link at 2. 048 Mbit/s. The average length of each packet is 960 bytes. If the average packet delay through the switch must be less than 20 ms, assuming an M/M/1 queue, determine the i) maximum total packet arrival rate ii) average length of the queue. Q16a) Outline the ISO-OSI data communication network model. b) i) At which layer of the ISO-OSI model does the routing information provided? ii) Name and describe briefly two common routing proto cols for the Wide Area Network (WAN).ii) Compare the relative performance of the protocols. iv) give an example of the connection standard applicable to each. c) Describe the format of a High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) packet and describe how this could be employed to implement call set-up, data transfer and call clearing in a virtual circuit. ISDN / B-ISDN Q17. a) Most national tele-traffic networks have evolved from systems using analogue telephonyand signaling and electromechanical switching. Show, using diagrams, how it has been possible to develop Integrated Digital Networks (IDN) whilst retaining much of the transmission network. ) An IDN is required to provide communication of information in addition to digital telephony signals. Describe the others signals necessary to operate an IDN and show how these can be integrated within a single network. c) Outline the potential benefits of an ISDN. d) Describe the data handling capabilities of Basic Rate Access and Primary Rate A ccess ISDN services. What are the gross bit rates in each case? Q18. a) Describe the process which takes place in a packet speech transmission system and outline the transmission delay which might be expected. ) In a packet communication network packets arrive at a switch according to a Poisson distribution with a mean arrival rate of 4 packet/s.The service time is exponentially distributed with a mean value of 100 ms. Assuming that each packet contains 70 bytes and the output transmission rate is 5. 6 kbit/s. How long, on average, does a packet have to wait in the queue? If the switch in part (c) is limited in length to 10 packets, what is the probability of losing packets? c) What extensions to these access processes will be required to handle multi-media terminals and what data transfer method will be most appropriate? ) What are the numerical values of the following: i) ATM cell size. ii) ATM information field size. iii) SDH STM-1 bit rate. iv) PCM voice channel bit rate. e) Use your answer in part (d) to find the expected total network delay (including packetisation delay) experienced by a voice signal transmitted over an ATM network connection operating at the SDH STM-1 bit rate. The connection traverse 8 switching centers, each of which introduces a mean delay equal to 98 ATM cells. The transmission path length is 350 km in total, and the specific delay of the transmission medium is 5 (s/km.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Importance Of Finance And Financial Management To Companys - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4200 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? If you plan to go big with your business, you can never neglect the importance of Financial Management. It is an essential tool that is required to move ahead with your expansion plans. Generally, this critical aspect is disregarded because the entrepreneurs are unaware of its advantages and uses. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Importance Of Finance And Financial Management To Companys" essay for you Create order Financial reports can help aid in making important future decisions. If you have a solo or micro business, then it is not imperative to make use of Financial Management. But as I mentioned earlier, if you plan to make it big in the world of business and commerce, you should make Financial Management your forte! Accounting and Financial Reports It is very important to keep track of your companys origin and its past history, particularly an account of the money that has been spent. When you analyze the financial reports, you will be aware of all the spending and expenses accurately. The earnings from specific services, product lines and sales staff all will come into clear focus once you have gone through the financial reports. This will help you to manage your expenses and marketing accordingly. Financial Ratios These ratios gives you all the information that you need to know about your business. Moreover, it is very easy to calculate. This way you can compare your companys standard with others. Financial ratios are not essential but it can point out your faults. Research A little bit of research on the expenses managed by other companies will help you manage yours better and your bottom line could increase. You might need to tweak the procedures, alter operations, streamline competencies or shake up the staff for a better performance. Analyzing the financial ratios will guide you towards the area you are most weak in so that you can develop a strategy to enhance the efficiency of your business. Financial Statements All the patterns in your expenses are exposed with the help of Financial Statements. Sales Trends comes into attention whether impacted by the season, changing consumer taste or other factors. This helps you to manage your inventories better, staff levels and sales promotions. Variable expenses and unusual or unauthorized expenses can be monitored with the help of Financial Statements. This will aid you in occasions of theft, embezzlement or other questionable activity before the stakes become too high. Economic highs and lows affect all companies and these periods of change is a test for all. Some stumble, some even fail and there are some who stand unscathed. But the economic growth of all companies is affected collectively. Sometimes the growth is totally unplanned and the expansion occurs due to some external factor which can range from landing a large account to just finding a great deal on a second location space. Always remember that without proper and concrete planning, no business can survive. Financial planning and management is not only for reviewing the financial statements but also to be aware of your expenses and then manage them in such a way that they dont go waste. You can use it to fund your future realistic projects and help your business go big. To explain why companies need to raise finance for different purposes. Finance is the money available to spend on business needs. Right from the moment someone thinks of a business idea, there needs to be cash. As the business grows there are inevitably greater calls for more money to finance expansion. The day to day running of the business also needs money. The main reasons a business needs finance are to: Start a business Depending on the type of business, it will need to finance the purchase of assets, materials and employing people. There will also need to be money to cover the running costs. It may be some time before the business generates enough cash from sales to pay for these costs. Link to cash flow forecasting. Finance expansions to production capacity As a business grows, it needs higher capacity and new technology to cut unit costs and keep up with competitors. New technology can be relatively expensive to the business and is seen as a long term investment, because the costs will outweigh the money saved or generated for a considerable period of time. And remember new technology is not just dealing with computer systems, but also new machinery and tools to perform processes quicker, more efficiently and with greater quality. To develop and market new products In fast moving markets, where competitors are constantly updating their products, a business needs to spend money on developing and marketing new products e.g. to do marketing research and test new products in pilot markets. These costs are not normally covered by sales of the products for some time (if at all), so money needs to be raised to pay for the research. To enter new markets When a business seeks to expand it may look to sell their products into new markets. These can be new geographical areas to sell to (e.g. export markets) or new types of customers. This costs money in terms of research and marketing e.g. advertising campaigns and setting up retail outlets. Take-over or acquisition When a business buys another business, it will need to find money to pay for the acquisition (acquisitions involve significant investment). This money will be used to pay owners of the business which is being bought. Moving to new premises Finance is needed to pay for simple expenses such as the cost of renting of removal vans, through to relocation packages for employees and the installation of machinery. To pay for the day to day running of business A business has many calls on its cash on a day to day basis, from paying a supplier for raw materials, paying the wages through to buying a new printer cartridge. Choosing the Right Source of Finance A business needs to assess the different types of finance based on the following criteria: Amount of money required a large amount of money is not available through some sources and the other sources of finance may not offer enough flexibility for a smaller amount. How quickly the money is needed the longer a business can spend trying to raise the money, normally the cheaper it is. However it may need the money very quickly (say if had to pay a big wage bill which if not paid would mean the factory would close down). The business would then have to accept a higher cost. The cheapest option available the cost of finance is normally measured in terms of the extra money that needs to be paid to secure the initial amount the typical cost is the interest that has to be paid on the borrowed amount. The cheapest form of money to a business comes from its trading profits. The amount of risk involved in the reason for the cash a project which has less chance of leading to a profit is deemed more risky than one that does. Potential sources of finance (especially external sources) take this into account and may not lend money to higher risk business projects, unless there is some sort of guarantee that their money will be returned. The length of time of the requirement for finance a good entrepreneur will judge whether the finance needed is for a long-term project or short term and therefore decide what type of finance they wish to use. To conduct an appraisal on different options available to a company wishing to invest specific amount of money. Introduction Investment is a key part of building your business. New assets such as machinery can boost productivity, cut costs and give you a competitive edge. Investments in product development, research and development, expertise and new markets can open up exciting growth opportunities. At the same time, you need to avoid overstretching limited financial resources or restricting your ability to pursue other options. Deciding where to focus your investment is an essential part of making the most of your potential. Even a project that is not designed to generate a profit should be subjected to investment appraisal to identify the best way to achieve its aims. This guide highlights the key financial and non-financial factors you should take into account when considering an investment. It also introduces the main financial appraisal techniques you can use. Net present value and internal rate of return Discounting cashflow allows you to put cashflows received at different times on a comparable basis. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. You can use discounting cashflow to evaluate potential investments. There are two types of discounting methods of appraisal the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). The NPV calculates the present value of all cashflow associated with an investment: the initial investment outflow and the future cashflow returns. The higher the NPV the better. Alternatively, you can work out the discount rate that would give an investment an NPV of zero. This is called the IRR. The higher the IRR the better. You can compare the IRR to your own cost of capital, or the IRR on alternative projects. The key advantage of NPV and IRR is that they take into account the time value of money the fact that money you expect sooner is worth more to you than money you expect further in the future. Disadvantages NPV and IRR are sophisticated and relatively complicated ways of evaluating a potential investment. Most spreadsheet packages include functions that can calculate these or you could ask your accountant for help. Choosing the right discount rate to use to calculate NPV is difficult. The discount rate needs to take into account the riskiness of an investment project and should at least match your cost of capital. Financial aspects of investment appraisal Different appraisal techniques let you assess the effects an investment will have on your cashflow. You can compare the expected return to your cost of funding and to the returns offered by other potential investments. Your assessment should consider all the financial consequences of an investment. For example, buying more expensive machinery might be worthwhile if it is more efficient and uses cheaper supplies. As well as the financial impact, your calculations shouldalso considerÂÂ  any indirect effects. Identifying these soft benefits is often as important as the financial evaluation and may make the difference. Soft benefits could be: greater flexibility and quality of production faster time-to-market resulting in a bigger market share improved company image, better morale and job satisfaction, leading to greater productivity quicker decisions due to better availability of information Evaluating these benefits is not easy, particularly when it comes to raising the funds. Generally speaking, benefits that contribute to higher prices or increased sales are rated better than those cutting costs. For example, a manufacturer of machine parts could take a general benefit such as quality and break it down with estimated savings: ReducedÂÂ  reworking means less disruption to the production process, less manufacturing down-time and fewer design changes, resulting in an overall saving of 25 per cent. The current warranty and service costs of 10,000 per annum are likely to be halved. Quality assurance staff will be reduced by one as needs for inspections are lower. Better quality products will increase sales by 6 per cent and will also improve the companys current position of fourth among its competitors. It is important to estimate what the investments benefits are in financial terms wherever possible. You should ignore any sunk costs (ie costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered or would be spent regardless of whether the investment goes ahead), as these are not part of the specific investment. Before committing to any investment, it is essential to ensure any financing you need is available.ÂÂ   You should also consider the potential risks of any investment. Other factors Although profitability and cashflow are important, you should take into account how an investment fits w Strategic issues for investment appraisal Effective investment appraisal does not consider an investment in isolation. Instead, you should consider how the investment could contribute to your overall strategic objectives. Some investments can offer strategic benefits for your business. For example, you might invest in extending your product range so that you can supply more of the products that your key customers want. An investment like this could help strengthen your brand and your relationship with your customers. Often, one of the key benefits of making an investment can be the skills your business learns and the future opportunities that may arise. For example, you might invest in developing and trialling a new product even if you dont expect to make any profits at that stage. If the trial is successful, you can use what you have learned to make a larger, more profitable investment in bringing the product into full-scale production. On the other hand, making an investment can limit your flexibility to respond to future changes. For example, you would not want to invest heavily in new manufacturing equipment unless you were confident of the demand for your product. See the page in this guide on investment risk and sensitivity analysis. Timescales can also be an important strategic issue. For example, investors in your business may prefer investments that are expected to produce a quick return. See the page in this guide on the payback period. A useful test for a possible investment is to think about your alternatives. For example, instead of buying new machinery you could: do nothing do the minimum necessary to maintain your existing machinery achieve a similar outcome a different way, eg by outsourcing production to a supplier invest in an alternative project instead ith your existing business. There may also be other, non-financial reasons for making an investment. For example, you may need to update your equipment to improve health and safety or to meet modern standards. Accounting rate of return The accounting rate of return (ARR) is a way of comparing the profits you expect to make from an investment to the amount you need to invest. The ARR is normally calculated as the average annual profit you expect over the life of an investment project, compared with the average amount of capital invested. For example, if a project requires an average investment of 100,000 and is expected to produce an average annual profit of 15,000, the ARR would be 15 per cent. The higher the ARR, the more attractive the investment is. You can compare the ARR to your own target rate of return, and to the ARR on other potential investments. The ARR is widely used to provide a rough guide to how attractive an investment is. The main advantage is that it is easy to understand. Disadvantages Unlike other methods of investment appraisal, the ARR is based on profits rather than cashflow. So it is affected by subjective, non-cash items such as the rate of depreciation you use to calculate profits. The ARR also fails to take into account the timing of profits. In calculating ARR, a 100,000 profit five years away is given just as much weight as a 100,000 profit next year. In reality, you would prefer to get the profit sooner rather than later. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. There are also several different formulas that can be used to calculate an ARR. If you use the ARR to compare different investments, you must be sure that you are calculating the ARR on a consistent basis. Payback period Payback period is a simple technique for assessing an investment by the length of time it would take to repay it. It is usually the default technique for smaller businesses and focuses on cashflow, not profit. For example, if a project requiring an investment of 100,000 is expected to provide annual cashflow of 25,000, the payback period would be four years. Similar calculations can be used to work out the payback period for a project with uneven annual cash flows. Payback period is a widely used method of assessing an investment. It is easy to calculate and easy to understand. By focusing on projects which offer a quick payback, it helps you avoid giving too much weight to risky, long-term projections. Disadvantages Payback period ignores the value of any cashflows once the initial investment has been repaid. For example, two projects could both have a payback period of four years, but one might be expected to produce no further return after five years, while the other might continue generating cash indefinitely. Although payback period focuses on relatively short-term cashflows, it fails to take into account the time value of money. For example, a 100,000 investment that produced no cashflow until the fourth year and then a payback of 100,000 would have the same four year payback period as an investment that produced an annual cashflow of 25,000. In reality, the first is likely to be a riskier and less attractive investment. A more complex version of payback period can be calculated using discounted cashflows. This gives more weight to cashflows you expect to receive sooner. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. Discounting future cashflow As a rule, money now is better than money in the future. There are two key reasons: Money has a time value. If you have money now, you can use it for example, by putting it on deposit. Conversely, if you want money now but will only get it in the future, you would have to pay to borrow it. The further you look ahead, the greater the risks are. If you expect an investment to return 1,000 in a years time, you may well be right. If you are looking ten years into the future, things might well have changed. Discounting cashflow takes these concerns into account. It applies a discount rate to work out the present-day equivalent of a future cashflow. For example, suppose that you expect to receive 100 in one years time, and use a discount rate of 10 per cent. If you put 90.91 on deposit at 10 per cent for one year, at the end of the year you would have 100. In other words, the present value of that 100 can be calculated as 90.91. Similar calculations can be used to work out the present value of cashflows you expect to receive further into the future. For example, suppose you expect to receive 100 in two years time and use a discount rate of 10 per cent. If you put 82.64 on deposit for two years at 10 per cent, at the end of two years you would have 100. In other words, the present value of that 100 is 82.64. You can use discounted cashflows to assess a potential investment. See the page in this guide on net present value and internal rate of return. To demonstrate the importance of reports on the sale of an organizations finances. At regular period public companies must prepare documents called financial statements. Financial statements show the financial performance of an company. They are used for both internal-, and external purposes. When they are used internally, the management and sometimes the employees use it for their own information. Managers use it to plan ahead and set goals for upcoming periods. When they use the financial statements that were published, the management can compare them with their internally used financial statements. They can also use their own and other enterprises financial statements for comparison with macroeconomical datas and forecasts, as well as to the market and industry in which they operate in. The four main types are balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, cash flow statements, and income statements. Balance Sheets Balance sheets provide the observant with a clear picture of the financial condition of the company as a whole. It lists in detail the tangible and the intangible goods that the company owns or owes. These good can be broken further down into three main categories; the assets, the liabilities and the shareholders equity. Assets Assets include anything that the company actually owns and has disposal over. Examples of the assets of a company are its cash, lands, buildings, and real estates, equipment, machinery, furniture, patents and trademarks, and money owed by certain individuals or/and other businesses to the particular company. Assets that are owed to the company are referred to as accounts-, or notes receivables. Current Assets include anything that company can quickly monetise. Such current assets include cash, government securities, marketable securities, accounts receivable, notes receivable (other than from officers or employees), inventories, prepaid expenses, and any other item that could be converted into cash within one year in the normal course of business. Fixed Assets are long-term investments of the company, such as land, plant, equipment, machinery, leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures, and any other items with an expected useful business life usually measured in a number of years or decades (as opposed to assets that wear out or are used up in less than one year. Fixed assets are usually accounted as expenses upon their purchase. They are normally not for resale and are recorded in the Balance Sheet at their net cost less (less is accounting term for minus) accumulated depreciation. Other Assets include any intangible assets, such as patents, copyrights, other intelectual property, royalties, exclusive contracts, and notes receivable from officers and employees. Liabilities Liabilities are money or goods acquired from individuals, and/or other corporate entities. Some examples of liabilities would be loans, sale of property, or services to the company on credit. Creditors (those that loan to the company) do not receive ownership in the business, only a (usually written) promise that their loans will be paid back according to te term agreed upon. Current Liabilities are accounts-, and notes-, taxes payable to financial institutions, accrued expenses (eg.: wages, salaries), current payment (due within one year) of long-term debts, and other obligations to creditors due within one year. Long-Term Liabilities are mortgages, intermediate and long-term loans, equipment loans, and other payment obligation due to a creditor of the company. Long-term liabilities are due to be payed in more than one year. Shareholders equity The shareholders equity (also called as net worth, or capital) is money or other forms of assets invested into the business by the owner, or owners, to acquire assets and to start the business. Any net profits that are not paid out in form of dividends to the owner, or owners, are also added to the shareholders equity. Losses during the operation of the business are subtracted from the shareholders equity. Assets are calculated the following way: Assets=Liabilities+Net worth Balance sheets show how the assets, liabilities, and the net worth of a business are distributed. They usually are prepared at set periods of time, for example at the end of each quarter. It is always prepared at the end of fiscal years. The periodic preparation of the balance sheets, the owner and/or the manager of the company can see historic-, and current trends andalsothe general performance of the corporation. It allows decision makers to make adjustments when needed, like the proportion of liabilities to assets. All balance sheets contain the same categories of assets, liabilities and net worth figures. Assets are arranged in decreasing order of their liquidity . Liabilities are listed in order of how soon they must be repaid, followed by retained earnings (net worth of owners equity). The categories and formats of Balance Sheets are established by a system known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The system is applied to all companies, large or small, so anyone reading the Balance Sheets can readily understand what it is saying. Profit and Loss Account Profit and loss accounts (abbreviated as PL account) summarize the incomes and expenses of a company in a given period of time. It also includes accruals too, which are incomes that will be realized only after the particular Profit and Loss Account statement was prepared. Cash-Flow Statements These statements show how money is predicted to move around (hence the phrase cash flow) at a given period of time. It is useful for planning future expenses. It shows whether or not there will be enough money to carry out the planned activities and whether or not the cash coming in are enough to cover the expenses. The cash flow statement is useful in the determination of the companys liquidity in a given period of time. Income Statements Income statements measure the companys sales and expenses over a specific period of time. They are prepared each month and fiscal year end. Income statements show the results of operating during those accounting periods. They are also prepared using the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and contain specific revenue and expense categories regardless of the nature of the company. Conclusion Financial statements are useful, because they show the financial condition of a company at a given period. There are many types of financial statements uses and purposes, measuring different financial aspects of the company. They can be used for both internal-, and external uses.