Civil engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Civil engineering - Essay Example All the facilities and infrastructures that we use in our everyday activities are works of civil engineers and therefore the discipline can be regarded as one of the oldest profession (Agrawal and Dill, 76-82). The field of civil engineering has been improving over the years. The improvement has been possible first due to the development of technology and through building innovatively on the previous works. As the field develops, it has been focusing attention on solving the present challenges in the lives of men. I have chosen civil engineering because it gives me a chance to join the group of innovators and developers who design and build the best and most significant features in the world. Being an engineer has always been my dream throughout school. I always enjoyed as buildings grew from a bare ground, and roads and highways traversed a previously wild area. This always made me feel the urge to be part of the development. In high school, I was keen to notice excellence in physics and mathematics was the way to achieving my dream. The main aspect of the discipline that interests me most is the innovativeness that is encouraged in civil engineering. Different from architecture, in civil engineering there is more that drawing of designs. There is the actual touch of the work and appreciation of results. Civil engineers are capable of assessing the needs of the population better and implement solutions through designing and building of what the population needs. Besides this, civil engineering will allow me to travel to many places and meet many different kinds of people and cultures which has always been my hobby. One of the grand challenges in engineering today is the restoration and improvement of urban infrastructure. Urban transport and other fundamental life supporting systems are facing a challenge related to the increasing urban population. Moreover, the infrastructure in many cities is slowly aging and failing as a result. It is

Online Car Rental System Tourism Essay

Online Car Rental System Tourism Essay People travel from one place to another for many reasons, some due to their jobs or business and few for holidays and vacations. As a traveller they cannot own a car in every place or country they go, they always prefer other options like public transports, cabs, busses, trains and rent cars or bikes. Getting a car on rent has become very famous due to the cost as it is much cheaper than using cabs for a whole day and because it is much more secure and convenient. Keeping this in the mind Researcher has decided to develop an online car rental system, by using online car rental system a traveller can book the car. As the name of the system suggest, this system will be an online car rental system. This system will not only help the travellers to select the car of their chose but they can also compare the different models of car available and different type. They can compare prices, models and brands. They can select if they want that the car should be delivered to their door step with additional charges or they will pick up the car from the nearest store. They can select the car according to their requirement and budget. Problem statement and Literature review à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Expensive rent for travellers As stated by Flowers, J and Levere, J. (2008) due to rise in drivers fees and taxes such as state and local surcharges applied on airports, the rent of the cars can increase at an average of 25 per cent. Due to rise in Tax, the travellers have to pay up to 25% of tax when the booking or renting a car from the airports. Even if the traveller pays the higher price they have to go with the cars which are available at that point of time in the car rental office. It can be expensive cars or even luxury cars which are not in budged of every person. To overcome this problem the Online Car Rental System will help the traveller to book the car even before they have arrived. So that they do not have to pay extra airport charges and get any car which is in their budget and which suits them and their requirements. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Returning the car remotely According to Yang, Y., (2008), difficulty is in uncertainty of length time of the person who have taken the car on rent and which referred location he wants to return the car. Sometimes a person takes a car on rent, but it is not sure when will the person return the car and will the person be able to come to the same location to return the car or not, in this situation that person have to pay more if he delay to return the car on time. This online car rental system will provide an online service where the person can increase the time limits and predefined the location person will be dropping the car or he want the car to be taken from. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cannot reserve specific car model According to Korstanje, M. E., (2011), Due to limitation in operations creates problem for renter to reserve specific model. Reservations are not given on the basis of model but group. Due to operation limitation in the area like airports, this problem causes issue like in which the renters are not able to get what they actually want and they have to go for the car which is available in the store even if it is not what they are willing to have. This online system will help traveller to do online booking in which he can select which car he prefer with the facility of comparing with other car on the basis of type and price so that he can makes best decision. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ No time for customers feedback As said by Meyer, C., and Schwager, A., (2007), Due to many transactions by individual customers which are monitored by the company they does not get time to take feedback from them regarding the service provided. When a customer comes to an office for renting a car, due to having many customers the staff member of the company does not get chance to ask customers regarding their services because of which their problems are not rectified. To rectify these issues the online car rental system will have an online feedback service after each customer have done with their transaction at the time of logout. The system will ask for a feedback from the customer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time wasting As said by Ahlstrom, C., Kircher, K., et al., (2012), Due to a single mistake of the airport rental service it take hours to get cars on rent. When there is a problem in the airport rental service it can take hours to get the car on rent which is actually wasting the time of the renter. In online car rental system the reservation will be done before traveller arrived at the airport so that when the traveller arrives at the airport the car will be ready to be taken. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Change car on each route As said by Asconavieta, P.H.S. (2011) car rental companies usually work on the regional basis because of which traveller have to change car on every route. Due to shortage of area coverage as the car taken for the company should return to the same location makes the traveller to keep changing the car even if they go from one state to another. They have to come back to the same location. So when they go to different state they have to change their car. To rectify this problem the online car rental system will have an option of selecting the area the customers want to return the car. So In the country like Emirates or Maldives where the area is short, the car can be taken from one state to another state without any problems. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improper scheduling for proper car utilisation As stated by Minodora, 2009, improper scheduling in car rental companies causes the company unable to utilise their car and even increase work time for renter to get car. Due to improper scheduling in the car rental companies the car spend more time in the companys car lot or customers have to wait until the car is not returned. Using online car rental system the scheduling will be done online by the customer itself as the car which they select they have to put the time they will return. If in case they fail to return or inform the pickup point extra charges will be charged to them. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Return car on the same agency location According to Goldbarg, M., Asconavieta, P. and Goldbarg, E., (2012), car rented from a company can only be returned to the agency of the same company. If a renter take a car from a company he or she have to return it to the same agency of the same company but if the person is new in the region it will not be possible for him to do that it will be wasting of time in searching for the agency. In the online car rental system the renter can select whether he wants to retune the car or he wants the car to be taken from where he is , it can be hotel, airport, mall or any other location he can predefined the location online and the car will be picked up from him. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Insufficient revenue Lin-in, H., and Tao, Q. (2011) described that car renting companies in certain areas unable to get sufficient revenue for growth. This issue is due to concentrating on a limited region because the rate of sale increases based on the area of the company it is located in if the company is limited to its area only. In online car rental system there will be no boundaries, the company can concentrate on any location and get revenue from any part of the area or even country if the country is not in a bigger size like Emirates or Maldives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rejection due to short time frame According to Guerriero, F., Olivito, F. (2011) in order to increase the revenue, company with limited car does not rent the car for a day or few hours. Because of limited area of work company does not give their cars for short period of time to increase their revenue which make it difficult for the traveller to search car renting company after he have reached to the unknown country or location. As the online car rental system allows traveller to book the cars online. A person does not really have to go through all this type of issues as a person will be getting the car as soon as he or she arrives. Research Aims Objectives 4.1 Aims To create an online system, that will allow travellers to easily rent a car. It will also allow user to select the car according to their requirement and compare it with other options of cars. Make it easy for a traveler to return the car on remote locations. Solving the manual scheduling problem as every transaction will be done online. 4.2 Objectives Is to create a reliable web base online system on which user can access using internet from anywhere. To use software tools in implementation, this will help in implementing features for easy access. Allow system users to participate in the early stages of development so the outcome will be user oriented. Research Questions There are two categories in which the researcher has classified the questions. 5.1 Domain research Questions How the system will help in car scheduling? How the system will affect the operation of the renting company? How the proposed system is different from existing systems? How to integrate online payments by credit cards? 5.2 Technical research question Which scripting language can be used for the proposed system? Which data base system can be used for the proposed system? How the different feature can be implemented into the system? Which web authoring software can suits best of the system? Research Design 6.1 Domain Research The research in domain research will be conducted from literature source like journal, eBooks, white papers and library books. Furthermore research will be done by using online resources such as IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar and my Athens. 6.2 Technical research Mainly Web resources such as eBooks and journal will be used in conducting technical research. Research Plan Personal Reflection 7.1 Facts finding Methods The fact finding method which the researcher will use is questionnaire and interview fact find methods. Questionnaires are objective and will reach too many respondents which will provide researcher with sufficient information for accurate analysis. On the other hand the interview method will allow the researcher to get deep understanding about the topic area. 7.2 Limitations Like every system have some limitation, in order to collect data and questionnaire from traveller during the development will be difficult and their participation is not possible so this matter can be overcome by using social networks and other web application to take questionnaire before or in the early stages of the system development

Thou Shalt not Trample on the Constitution :: essays research papers fc

Thou Shalt not Trample on the Constitution. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This is the first amendment to the Constitution. In essence this states that the government will not become involved or sponsor any religion. There is a reason our founding fathers added this amendment to the Constitution. Any time a government becomes involved with religion or visa versa, Disaster happens. If you want evidence of this look at the history of Europe for the past 700 years and see what chaos has arisen when religion and the state intertwine. Yet we do not seem to be learning from the past. Congress on June 17, 1999, passed a law that slaps the First Amendment in the face. That law allowed for the states to choose to post the Ten Commandments in public schools and other government buildings. The law that was proposed by Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), Rep. Robert Alderholt (R-Al), and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL). The bill was created in response to the Columbine shootings that took place April 20, 1999. The bill was swept through the house at a time when the country was in shock over the shootings. There were several reasons why the house felt the need to pass such a bill. Rep. Alderhold believed that it is an important step to promote morality, and an end of children killing children. (Leavitt) Rep. Hyde believes that the amendment should â€Å"slow the flood of toxic waste into the minds of our children.† (Webster) Rep. Barr went as far to say that if â€Å"Columbine had the Ten Commandments posted that the massacre of April 20th would not have occurred.†(Webster) Thes e are the arguments for the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools. These are the best reasons our elected representatives could come up with to slap the First Amendment in the face. Is it really as Rep. Alderholt said â€Å"We have the freedom of religion, not freedom from religion†? (Leavitt) According to the Supreme Court The honorable Alderholt is wrong. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law, which required all classrooms to post a copy of the Decalogue, was unconstitutional. The oppositions' arguments against this law are enormous.

Financial Analysis- for Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell, Plc. (NYSE: RDS. A) Table of Contents Executive Summary3 Introduction4 Financial Ratio Analysis5 Liquidity6 Asset Management7 Debt Management8 Profitability10 Market Value12 Cash Flow and Growth Analysis14 Capital Structure Estimation16 Weighted Average Cost of Capital17 Cost of Debt17 Cost of Equity – CAPM18 Cost of Equity – DCF19 Cost of Equity – BYPRP19 WACC20 Project Cash Flow Estimation21 Capital Budgeting Analysis23 Sensitivity Analysis24 Scenario Analysis27 Conclusion28 References29 Appendix30Executive Summary This report analyzes Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDS. A on NYSE) financial status, history, market space, and growth opportunities. Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (Shell) is one of the world’s largest corporations with annual revenue of $470 billion for fiscal year 2011. When analyzing a company it is vital to ensure all aspects of the firm’s financial standing are stable, this is essential to guarantee its ability to take upon n ew major projects, such as the one being proposed at this time and evaluated in this report.This report intends to evaluate the possibility of Shell undertaking a project that requires a total initial investment of $580 million in fixed assets as wells as operation expenses of $38 million, for a total of $618 million is startup costs. This report illustrates Shell’s financial standing through, ratio analysis, cash flow analysis, and detailed capital budgeting analysis to help calculate Shell’s capacity to accept the proposed project. The life of the project will be eight years and expected to have a growth rate of 8. 5%.The Net Present Value of the project is approximately $284 million and is expected to pay for itself in approximately 4. 74 years according to discounted payback calculations (detailed in report). Introduction Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an oil, gas and energy company that explores for and extracts hydrocarbons worldwide. Royal Dutch Shell also co nverts natural gas to liquids to provide cleaner-burning fuels; markets and trades natural gas; extracts bitumen from mined oil sands and convert it to synthetic crude oil; and generates electricity from wind energy.In addition, it converts crude oil into a range of refined products, including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, lubricants, bitumen, sulphur, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); and produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use. The company holds interests in approximately 30 refineries; 1,500 storage tanks and 150 distribution facilities; and fuels retail network of approximately 43,000 service stations under the Shell brand name. Royal Dutch Shell plc also markets its products under the Shell V-Power and Shell FuelSaver brand names.In addition, the company offers lubricants for use in passenger cars, trucks, and coaches, as well as for industrial machinery in manufacturing, mining, power generation, agriculture, and construction industri es. Royal Dutch Shell plc sells fuels, specialty products, and services to commercial customers; offers fuel for approximately 7,000 aircraft every day at 800 airports in 30 countries; offers liquefied petroleum gas and related services to retail, commercial, and industrial customers for cooking, heating, lighting, and transport applications; provides transport, industrial, and heating fuels; and supplies approximately 11,000 tones of itumen products. Royal Dutch Shell plc is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and employs roughly 23,000 people worldwide. (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012). Financial Ratio Analysis The following table illustrates Royal Dutch Shell’s financial ratios analysis and will assist in the understanding of the current and (estimated) future status of the organization. The ratios will allow for a general interpretation of the firm’s strength and ability to take on outside projects. The table exemplifies the liquidity, asset management, debt managemen t, profitability, and market value standpoint of the firm.Examining Royal Dutch Shell’s financial ratios presents a positive outlook for the company, in comparison to the industry average Shell is performing exceptionally well. Royal Dutch Shell, Plc. (NYSE: RDS. A) Financial Ratios| Liquidity Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Quick Ratio| 0. 85| 0. 8| 0. 79| 0. 9| 0. 84| 0. 84| 1. 1| Healthy| Current Ratio| 1. 17| 1. 12| 1. 14| 1. 1| 1. 15| 1. 136| 1. 5| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Asset Management| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Inventory Turnover| 13. | 10. 84| 9. 77| 15. 56| 10. 84| 12. 12| 14. 9| OK| Fixed Assets Turnover| 3. 29| 2. 76| 2. 34| 4. 28| 3. 51| 3. 24| 1. 3| Healthy| Total Asset Turnover| 1. 45| 1. 23| 0. 99| 1. 66| 1. 41| 1. 35| 0. 6| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Debt Management| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Ave rage| Industry| Comments| Debt Ratio| 17. 90%| 22. 80%| 20. 20%| 15. 30%| 12. 60%| 17. 76%| 51. 98%| Healthy| Net Fixed Debt Ratio| 15. 10%| 18. 70%| 18. 30%| 9. 70%| 8. 90%| 14. 14%| 27. 38%| Healthy| Debt to Equity Ratio| 21. 70%| 29. 61%| 25. 36%| 18. 06%| 14. 37%| 21. 82%| 42. 69%| Healthy| | | | | | | | | |Profitability Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Net Profit Margin on Sales| 6. 32%| 5. 47%| 6. 88%| 3. 32%| 10. 19%| 6. 44%| 6. 50%| Healthy| Basic Earning Power | 16. 12%| 10. 96%| 7. 19%| 18. 00%| 18. 77%| 14. 21%| 6. 80%| Healthy| ROA % (Net)| 9. 26%| 6. 55%| 4. 36%| 9. 50%| 12. 41%| 8. 42%| 10. 15%| Healthy| ROE % (Net)| 19. 47%| 14. 15%| 9. 49%| 20. 86%| 27. 28%| 18. 25%| 14. 24%| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Market Value Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Price per Earning Ratio| 7. 4%| 10. 14%| 14. 24%| 6. 06%| 8. 32%| 9. 28%| 7. 86| Healthy| Divid end Yield| 4. 60%| 5. 03%| 5. 52%| 5. 89%| 3. 34%| 4. 88%| 4. 76%| Average| Book Value per Share| $ 54. 98 | $ 47. 85 | $ 45. 05 | $ 42. 02 | $ 38. 61 | $ 45. 70| $ 46. 43| Average| Earnings per Share| $ 4. 98 | $ 3. 28 | $ 2. 04 | $ 4. 27 | $ 5. 00 | $ 3. 91| $ 3. 26| Average| Table 1 – Financial Ratio Overview Liquidity Ratios Liquidity Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Quick Ratio| 0. 85| 0. 8| 0. 79| 0. 9| 0. 84| 0. 84| 1. | Healthy| Current Ratio| 1. 17| 1. 12| 1. 14| 1. 1| 1. 15| 1. 136| 1. 5| Healthy| Figure 1 –RDS. A Liquidity Ratio Trend The current ratio measures a company's ability to pay short-term debts and other current liabilities by comparing current assets to current liabilities. The ratio illustrates a company's ability to remain solvent. Shell’s five year current ratio average is 1. 13, . 37 below the industry average, and their quick ratio is . 84, . 26 below the industry average. Shells liquidity ratios are both below the industry average and illustrate their healthy status and continued strength for liquidity.Asset Management Ratios Asset Management| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Inventory Turnover| 13. 6| 10. 84| 9. 77| 15. 56| 10. 84| 12. 12| 14. 9| OK| Fixed Assets Turnover| 3. 29| 2. 76| 2. 34| 4. 28| 3. 51| 3. 24| 1. 3| Healthy| Total Asset Turnover| 1. 45| 1. 23| 0. 99| 1. 66| 1. 41| 1. 35| 0. 6| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Figure 2 –RDS. A Asset Management Ratio Trend Asset Management ratios give an indicator of efficiency (ability to move inventory and generate sales) within a company, particularly ones with tangible goods as compared to its competitors.You can see from figure 2 that in comparison to the industry average Shell is healthy and efficient in their assets and inventory turnover. Figure 2 reflects a spike in Shells inventory turnover in 2008; however this can also be attrib uted to the economic downturn in 2008. Even with the spike Shells average is still on par with the industry and exemplifies a healthy asset management turnover. Debt Management Ratios Debt Management| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Debt Ratio| 17. 90%| 22. 80%| 20. 20%| 15. 0%| 12. 60%| 17. 76%| 51. 98%| Healthy| Net Fixed Debt Ratio| 15. 10%| 18. 70%| 18. 30%| 9. 70%| 8. 90%| 14. 14%| 27. 38%| Healthy| Debt to Equity Ratio| 21. 70%| 29. 61%| 25. 36%| 18. 06%| 14. 37%| 21. 82%| 42. 69%| Healthy| Times Interest Earned| 41. 54| 36. 49| 39. 78| 33. 38| N/A| 37. 79| 25. 61| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Figure 3 –RDS. A Debt Management Ratio Trend Royal Dutch Shell’s Debt Management ratios indicate that it has been less aggressive with using debt to finance growth than the majority of its competitors in the Oil & Gas industry.Across the board Shell has a lower debt ratio than their competitors; the resultant effect on earnings would be less volatile than related companies. The debt ratio is a solvency ratio that examines how much of a company's assets are made of liabilities. A debt ratio of 20 percent means that 20 percent of the company is liabilities. A high debt ratio can be negative; this indicates the shareholder equity is low and potential solvency issues. A low debt to equity ratio indicates lower risk, because debt holders have less claims on the company's assets. Overall Royal Dutch Shell is in an excellent Debt Management position.Figure 4 –RDS. A Debt Management Ratio (TIE) Trend Times interest earned or Interest Coverage Ratio is a key metric to determine the credit worthiness of a business. Essentially, the number represents how many times in the last 12 months' EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) would have covered the past 12 months' interest expenses. Royal Dutch Shell’s times interest earned ratio has a four year average of 37. 79, which is 12. 18 points supe rior than the industry average which rests at 25. 61. This presents Shell in a healthy credit worthiness business. Profitability RatiosProfitability Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Net Profit Margin on Sales| 6. 32%| 5. 47%| 6. 88%| 3. 32%| 10. 19%| 6. 44%| 6. 50%| Healthy| Basic Earning Power Ratio| 16. 12%| 10. 96%| 7. 19%| 18. 00%| 18. 77%| 14. 21%| 6. 80%| Healthy| ROA % (Net)| 9. 26%| 6. 55%| 4. 36%| 9. 50%| 12. 41%| 8. 42%| 10. 15%| Healthy| ROE % (Net)| 19. 47%| 14. 15%| 9. 49%| 20. 86%| 27. 28%| 18. 25%| 14. 24%| Healthy| | | | | | | | | | Figure 5 –RDS. A Profitability Ratio Trend When it comes to profitability, Royal Dutch Shell is on average with its competitors.Net Profit Margin is the net earnings of a company / sales. This profitability ratio compares the percent of net earnings from a company's sales. Royal Dutch Shell’s Net Profit is on par with other companies in the Oil ; Gas industry, w hich means it has an equal ability spend assets on business operations when compared to its competitors. Basic earning power shows the raw earning power of a firm’s assets before taxes and other leverages. This will help the firm understand their return on its assets. Return on Assets or ROA, shows the rate of return (after tax) being earned on all of the firm's assets regardless of financing structure.It is a measure of how efficiently the company is using all stakeholders' assets to earn returns. Royal Dutch Shell has a five year average of 8. 42%, which is 1. 73% lower than the industry average, however still in the healthy zone. Return on equity or ROE is used to measures the rate of return on the money invested by common stock owners and retained by the company from previous profitable years and shows how well a company uses investment funds to generate growth. Royal Dutch Shell’s Return on Equity indicates that it is able to reinvest its earnings more efficiently than the majority of its competitors in the Oil ; Gas industry.Typically, companies that have higher return on equity values are more attractive to investors and can provide for better growth and profitability. Market Value Ratios Market Value Ratios| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Average| Industry| Comments| Price per Earning Ratio| 7. 64%| 10. 14%| 14. 24%| 6. 06%| 8. 32%| 9. 28%| 7. 86%| Healthy| Dividend Yield| 4. 60%| 5. 03%| 5. 52%| 5. 89%| 3. 34%| 4. 88%| 4. 76%| Average| Payout Ratio| 5. 46%| 4. 76%| 8. 41%| 3. 62%| 2. 87%| 5. 02%| 2. 67%| Healthy| Book Value per Share| $ 54. 98 | $ 47. 85 | $ 45. 5 | $ 42. 02 | $ 38. 61 | $ 45. 70| $ 46. 43| Average| Earnings per Share| $ 4. 98 | $ 3. 28 | $ 2. 04 | $ 4. 27 | $ 5. 00 | $ 3. 91| $ 3. 26| Average| Figure 6 –RDS. A Market Value Ratio Trend Earnings per share (EPS) is the amount of income that â€Å"belongs† to each share of common stock. An important tool for investors, EPS is often used in determining the value of a stock. As noted above, Royal Dutch Shell is on average with other firms in its industry. Book value per share has slowly been on a rise over the past 5 years, from $38. 61 in 2007 up to 54. 8 in 2011. Book value is a company's net asset value; a relatively high book value per share in relation to stock price often occurs when a stock is undervalued and might be an attractive buy. Figure 7 –RDS. A Market Value Ratio Trend The price per earnings ratio (PE) is the measure of the share price relative to the annual net income earned by the firm per share. PE ratio shows current investor demand for a company share. A high PE ratio generally indicates increased demand because investors anticipate earnings growth in the future. Royal Dutch Shell has a five year average of 9. 8% PE as compared to the industry average of 7. 86%; Shell is higher by 1. 42%. The dividend yield is the sum of a company's annual dividends per share, divided by the current price per share. When investing in companies an investor should look for a stable and high dividend yield; this can insure an investor a secure a relatively stable cash flow. Royal Dutch Shell's dividend yield is on par with other companies. As indicated by the payout ratio, Royal Dutch Shell’s earnings support the dividend payouts more than others in the same industry group. Cash Flow and Growth AnalysisRoyal Dutch Shell Cash Flow $ Million| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| 2007| Cash and Cash Equivalents at January 1| $ 13,444 | $ 9,719 | $ 15,188 | $ 9,656 | $ 9,002 | Net  Cash  from  Operating  Activities| $ 59,393 | $ 42,712 | $ 30,731 | $ 69,787 | $ 53,324 | Net Cash used in Investing Activities| $ (20,443)| $ (21,972)| $ (26,234)| $ (28,915)| $ (14,570)| Net Cash used in Financing Activities| $ (18,131)| $ (1,467)| $ (829)| $ (9,394)| $ (19,393)| Net (Decrease)/increase, Cash & Cash Equivalents| $ (2,152)| $ 3,725 | $ (5,469)| $ 5,532 | $ 654 | Cash & Cash Equivalents a t  December  31| $ 11,292 | $ 13,444 | $ 9,719 | $ 15,188 | $ 9,656 | Figure 8 –RDS. A Cash Flow Trend Information used and interpreted from the Royal Dutch Shell Investors Handbook illustrates that Royal Dutch Shell decreased the amount spent on operations from 2008 to 2009; this can most likely be due to the economic downturn. Conversely, from 2009 to 2011 there has been a steady increase in cash flows for operations.When evaluating charts in figure 9 and 10 you can see that along with a decrease in cash flows from 2008 – 2009 so did Shell have a decrease in revenues, net income and Earnings per share. From 2009 – 2011 all areas show a steady and healthy growth. Growth Analysis| | | | | | Report Date| 12/31/2011| 12/31/2010| 12/31/2009| 12/31/2008| 12/31/2007| Revenue| $ 470,171 | $ 368,056 | $ 278,188 | $ 458,361 | $ 355,782 | Net income for period| $ 31,185 | $ 20,474 | $ 12,718 | $ 26,476 | $ 31,926 | Net earnings per share-diluted| $ 4. 97 | $ 3. 28 | $ 2. 04 | $ 4. 26 | $ 4. 9 | Total assets| $ 345,257 | $ 322,560 | $ 292,181 | $ 282,401 | $ 269,470 | Total stockholders' equity| $ 171,003 | $ 149,780 | $ 138,135 | $ 128,866 | $ 125,968 | Net Cash ; Equivalents Flow| $ 11,300 | $ 13,400 | $ 9,700 | $ 15,200 | $ 9,560 | Figure 9 –RDS. A Growth Analysis Trend Figure 10 –RDS. A Growth Analysis Trend Capital Structure Estimation When performing the Capital Structure Estimation, the assessor can exam how the combination of equity capital and debt capital that a firm uses to finance its assets can have a positive or negative affect on the firm. The capital structure is how a firm finances its overall operations and growth by using different sources of funds. Royal Dutch Shell’s use of debt and ommon stock (Royal Dutch Shell does not issue preferred stock) impacts the open market and, as a result, the firm’s cost of capital is impacted in both constructive and/or destructive ways. RDS. A Market Value Method / Weights| Debt| $ 174,250,000,000. 00 | 27. 71%| Equity| $ 454,619,800,000. 00 | 72. 29%| | | | RDS. A Book Value Method / Weights| Debt| $ 174,250,000,000. 00 | 50. 47%| Equity| $ 171,000,000,000. 00 | 49. 53%| Figure 11 –RDS. A Capital Structure Estimation By examining the Balance Sheet and the numbers in figure 11 you can see that Royal Dutch Shell, based on market value, has a capital structure of 27. 1% debt and 72. 29% equity in the form of common stock totaling a market capitalization of $454 billion. When utilizing the book value, the weighing scale becomes 50. 47% debt and 49. 53% equity with a value of $171 billion. Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Knowing a firm’s weighted average cost of capital is crucial when considering any new projects. A firm's WACC is the overall required return on the firm as a whole and, as such, it is often used internally by company directors to determine the economic feasibility of expansionary opportunities and mergers. G enerally speaking, a company’s assets are financed by either debt or equity.WACC is the average of the costs of these sources of financing, each of which is weighted by its respective use in the given situation. The weighted average can show how much interest the company has to pay for every dollar it finances. This section of the report will determine Royal Dutch Shell’s weighted average cost of capital. In determining the firm’s factor cost of common equity, the average of three methods will be utilized; Capital Asset Pricing Modem (CAPM), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), and bond-yield-plus-risk-premium (BYPRP). Calculating the cost of debt (after tax) is figured by using the corporate tax rate and the cost of debt (Kd) which will be based on Royal Dutch Shell’s bond rating. Cost of DebtRoyal Dutch Shell’s after-tax cost of debt is calculated at 2. 30%. The calculation was determined using Shells corporate AA 10 year bond rating market value. RDS. A Cost of Debt| RDS. A 10 year Bond Rating| AA|   | Cost of Debt| 2. 43%|   | Risk Free Rate| 1. 62%|   | After Tax Cost of Debt| 2. 30%| Kd(1-T)| Corporate Tax Rate| 41. 85%|   | Figure 12 –RDS. A Cost of Debt Cost of Equity – CAPM Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship between risk and expected return and that is used in the pricing of risky securities. The general idea behind CAPM is that investors need to be compensated; this is calculated by the CAPM.The time value of money is represented by the risk-free (rf) rate in the formula and compensates the investors for placing money in investments over a period of time. The other half of the formula represents risk; this is calculated by taking a risk measure (beta) that compares the returns of the asset to the market over a period of time and to the market premium (Rm-rf) or Market risk premium (MRP). Figure 13 illustrates the outcome of the calculations and that Royal Dutch Shell’s CAPM is 10. 01%. RDS. A Cost of Equity CAPM| Formulated by: Rs = Rf + ba * MRP| |   |   | Risk Free Rate (Rf)| 1. 62%| Yahoo Finance U. S. Treasury Bond Rate| Market Risk Premium or (Rm-rf)| 6. 50%| Current Rate November, 2012| Beta (ba)| 1. 29%| E-Trade Financial| CAPM of RDS. A| 10. 01%|   | Cost of Debt (Kd)| 2. 43%|   |After Tax Cost of Debt| 2. 30%|   | Figure 13 –RDS. A Cost of Equity Cost of Equity – DCF The Discounted Cash Flow or DCF method uses future  free  cash flow projections and discounts them to arrive at a present value, which is used to evaluate the potential for investment. Figure 14 illustrates a breakdown of how the discounted cash flow is calculated. The growth rate (g) is the average of three outside estimations. After the calculation is computed, the cost of equity is equal to 11. 83%. RDS. A Cost of Equity DCF| Formulated: Rs = (D1/Po)+g so D1= Do(1+g) so (((Do(1+g)/Po)+g)|   | Rs = (((3. 42(1+6. 42%)/67. 02)+6. 42%)| | Average| E-Trade| Yahoo| Y-Charts| Growth Rate (g)| 6. 42%| 6. 80%| 6. 12%| 6. 35%| Dividend (Do)| 3. 42| Y-Charts| Stock Price (Po)| 67. 02| Current Rate November 2012| Rs = 11. 83%| Figure 14 –RDS. A Cost of Equity Cost of Equity – BYPRP Bond yield plus risk premium method is used to calculate cost of common equity for a firm. Figure 15 shows the calculation, the after tax cost of debt plus bond risk premium rate; which calculates to a cost of equity equal to 8. 80%. RDS. A Cost of Equity BYPRP| | Rs = BY + MRP| | RDS. A After Tax Cost of Debt (BY)| 2. 30%| Shell Investors Handbook| Bond Market Risk Premium (MRP)| 6. 50%| Current Rate November, 2012|   | Rs= 8. 80%|Figure 15 –RDS. A Cost of Equity Weighted Average Cost of Capital – WACC The WACC equation  is the cost of each capital component  multiplied by its proportional weight. To calculate the WACC we first take the average of the CAPM, DCF and BYPRP methods which is calculated in fig ure 16. RDS. A Average Cost of Equity| | CAPM| DCF| BYPRP| Average| Royal Dutch Shell | 10. 01%| 11. 83%| 8. 80%| 10. 21%| Figure 16 –RDS. A Average Cost of Equity Royal Dutch Shell has no preferred stock, thus weight of preferred stock (Wp) is equal to 0%. Figure 17 breaks down the full calculation of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital calculation and the defined values.Using the Weight of Equity and Weight of Debt calculated from the Capital Structure Estimation in figure 11 we can conclude that Royal Dutch Shell’s WACC is equal to 8. 28%. Royal Dutch Shell Plc WACC | WACC formulated: WACC = Ws*Rs + Wd*Rd*(1-Tax Rate) + Wp*Rp. | Ws| 72. 29%| | Weight of Equity (Common Stock)| Wd| 27. 71%| | Weight of Debt| Wp| 0. 00%| | Weight of Preferred Stock| Rd| 2. 30%| | After Tax Cost of Debt| Tax rate| 41. 85%| | Corporate Tax Rate| Rs| 10. 21%| | Cost of Equity (Average)| Rp| 6. 50%| | Market Risk Premium| WACC| 8. 28%| | Weighted Average Cost of Capital| Figure 18  œRDS. A WACC Project Cash Flow Estimation Royal Dutch Shell has been approached with a proposition for a new project. The project will have a life span of eight years.The proposed project requires initial investment of $580 million to construct building and purchase equipment, and $38 million for shipping & installation fee for a total of $618 million is start-up costs. The fixed assets fall in the 7-year MACRS class and has a salvage value of fixed assets at $17 million. It is expected that the new product will sale 2,280,000 units in the first year and has an expected annual growth rate of 8. 5%. The sales price is $275 per unit and the variable cost is $205 per unit in the first year, but they should be adjusted accordingly based on the estimated annualized inflation rate of 2. 3%. The required net operating working capital (NOWC) is 11. 5% of sales.A detailed analysis and calculations for the cash flow estimation and depreciation details must be performed to ensure that Royal Du tch Shell can undertake such a project. Initial Inputs and Parameters for the Proposed Project Start-Up Cost| | $618,000,000 | | | | | | Net Operating WC/Sales| | 11. 5%| | Market value of equipment at Year 8| $17,000,000 | First year sales (in units)| | 2,280,000 | | Tax rate| | | 41. 85%| Sales price per unit| | $275. 00| | WACC| | | 8. 28%| Variable cost per unit| | $205. 00| | Inflation| | | 2. 3%| Non-variable costs| | $0| | Growth in Sales | | | 8. 5%| Figure 19 –RDS. A Project Parameters Depreciation and Amortization Schedule Year| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total| | | | | | | | | | | | Rate| | 14. 0%| 25. 0%| 17. 0%| 13. 0%| 9. 0%| 9. 0%| 9. 0%| 4. %| 100%| Cost| | $86,520,000 | $154,500,000 | $105,060,000 | $80,340,000 | $55,620,000 | $55,620,000 | $55,620,000 | $24,720,000 | $618,000,000| Total| |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | $0 |   | Figure 20 –RDS. A Depreciation Schedule Figure 20 illustrates the depreciation schedule of eight years, outlined in the project parameters. Project Net Cash Flow Figure 21 –RDS. A Project Estimated Net Cash Flow Capital Budgeting Analysis Capital Budgeting Analysis is a process in which a business determines whether projects or investing in a long-term venture are worth pursuing. Ideally, businesses should pursue all projects and opportunities that enhance shareholder value.However, the amount of capital available at any given time for new projects is limited, capital budgeting analysis will help to determine if a project is feasible or not. Capital budgeting analysis can include net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), modified internal rate of return, profitability index (PI), payback period and discounted payback. In calculating if this project is possible or not we have determined the following budgeting analysis results in figure 22. RDS. A Budgeting Appraisal Results| Net Present Value (NPV)| $ 284,606,920. 00 | Internal Rate of Return (IRR)| 17. 0%| Modifi ed Internal Rate of Return (MIRR)| 13. 1%| Profitability Index (PI)| 1. 41 | Payback (Years)| 4. 74 | Figure 22 –RDS. A Project Analysis Results RDS. A Payback Calculation | 0| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8|Net Cash Flow| (690,105,000)| 121,087,715 | 158,870,226 | 148,538,663 | 149,691,454 | 152,108,518 | 166,274,191 | 181,997,451 | 362,518,222 | Cumulative CF | (690,105,000)| (569,017,285)| (410,147,060)| (261,608,396)| (111,916,943)| 40,191,576 | 206,465,767 | 388,463,218 | 750,981,440 | Pay Back|   | 1. 00 | 1. 00 | 1. 00 | 1. 00 | 0. 74 | 0. 00 | 0. 00 | 0. 00 | After review of the budgeting analysis results we can conclude that the project should be undertaken. The Profitability Index (PI) is 1. 41, if the PI is greater than 1 than the project should be taken, additionally the net present value is positive, another good sign for accepting the project. The projects Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 17. 0%, higher than Royal Dutch Shell’s WACC which is 8. 8%, this is an o ptimistic calculation for accepting the project. Finally, payback addresses the projects liquidity, shorter the payback the higher the liquidly and with a current estimation of 4. 74 years, the project is highly recommended. Sensitivity Analysis The Sensitivity Analysis is a modus operandi used to determine how  different values of an independent  variable will impact a particular dependent variable under a given set of assumptions. Within  specific  boundaries, the sensitivity analysis is very useful  when attempting to determine the impact  the actual  outcome of a particular variable will have  if it  differs from what was previously assumed.By creating a  given set of scenarios as, illustrated in figure 23, the analyst can determine how changes in one variable(s) will impact the  target variable. In this particular case the sensitivity analysis will determine how the net present value (NPV) of the proposed project will be affected by the modification of sev eral variables; these variables and the results can be examined in the following figures. The modified variables are sales price, variable costs, units sold, non-variable costs, weighted average cost of capital, corporate tax rate and start-up costs. For the purpose of this analysis the calculations were performed with a 10% and 20% deviation from the base in both a negative and positive trend. RDS. A Project Sensitivity Analysis Calculations Deviation| 1st YEAR UNIT SALES| | % Deviation| WACC| from| Units Sold| NPV| | from|   | NPV| Base Case| | $284,606,920| | Base Case| WACC| $284,606,920 | -20%| 1,824,000| 144,446,239 | | -20%| 6. 6%| 358,280,443 | -10%| 2,052,000| 214,526,580 | | -10%| 7. 5%| 320,454,423 | 0%| 2,280,000| 284,606,920 | | 0%| 8. 3%| 284,606,920 | 10%| 2,508,000| 354,687,261 | | 10%| 9. 1%| 250,612,056 | 20%| 2,736,000| 424,767,602 | | 20%| 9. 9%| 218,353,128 | % Deviation| VARIABLE COST| | % Deviation| SALES PRICE| from| Variable| NPV| | from| Sales| NPV| Base Case| Costs| $284,606,920| | Base Case| Price| $284,606,920| -20%| $164. 00| 723,298,488 | | -20%| $220. 0| (294,245,328)| -10%| 184. 50| 503,952,704 | | -10%| 247. 50| (4,819,204)| 0%| 205. 00| 284,606,920 | | 0%| 275. 00| 284,606,920 | 10%| 225. 50| 65,261,137 | | 10%| 302. 50| 574,033,045 | 20%| 246. 00| (154,084,647)| | 20%| 330. 00| 863,459,169 | % Deviation| NONVARIABLE COST| | % Deviation| TAX RATE| from| Fixed| NPV| | from|   | NPV| Base Case| Costs| $284,606,920| | Base Case| TAX RATE| $284,606,920 | -20%| $0| 284,606,920 | | -20%| 33. 5%| 353,919,217 | -10%| 0| 284,606,920 | | -10%| 37. 7%| 319,304,434 | 0%| 0| 284,606,920 | | 0%| 41. 8%| 284,689,652 | 10%| 0| 284,606,920 | | 10%| 46. 0%| 250,074,869 | 20%| 0| 284,606,920 | | 20%| 50. %| 215,460,087 | % Deviation| START-UP COSTS| from|   | NPV| Base Case| Start-Up Costs  | $284,606,920 | -20%| $ 494,400,000. 00 | 368,892,485 | -10%| $ 556,200,000. 00 | 326,749,703 | 0%| $ 618,000,000. 00 | 284,606,920 | 10%| $ 679,80 0,000. 00 | 242,464,138 | 20%| $ 741,600,000. 00 | 200,321,356 | Figure 23 –RDS. A Project Sensitivity Analysis Calculations Royal Dutch Shell Project Sensitivity Analysis Chart Figure 24 –RDS. A Proposed Project Sensitivity Analysis Chart Deviation| NPV at Different Deviations from Base| from| Sales| Variable|   | Non-variable|   |   |   | Base Case|Price| Cost/Unit| Units Sold| Cost| WACC| Tax Rate| Start-Up Costs| -20%| ($294,245,328)| $723,298,488 | $144,446,239 | $284,606,920 | $358,280,443 | 353,919,217 | 368,892,485 | -10%| (4,819,204)| 503,952,704 | 214,526,580 | 284,606,920 | 320,454,423 | 319,304,434 | 326,749,703 | 0%| 284,606,920 | 284,606,920 | 284,606,920 | 284,606,920 | 284,606,920 | 284,689,652 | 284,606,920 | 10%| 574,033,045 | 65,261,137 | 354,687,261 | 284,606,920 | 250,612,056 | 250,074,869 | 242,464,138 | 20%| 863,459,169 | (154,084,647)| 424,767,602 | 284,606,920 | 218,353,128 | 215,460,087 | 200,321,356 |   | | | | | | |   | Range| $1 ,157,704,497 | $877,383,134 | $280,321,363 | $0 | $139,927,315 | $138,459,130 | $168,571,129 | Figure 25 –RDS. A Proposed Project NPV and Range at Different Deviations from Base Scenario Analysis A scenario analysis is the process of estimating the expected value of a portfolio or project after a given period of time under specific changes in variables of the portfolio's securities or changes in key factors. Commonly, scenario analysis focuses on estimating what a portfolio's value would decrease to  if an unfavorable event would occur.For the proposed project the scenario analysis was conducted assuming a 25% probability for best-case conditions; each of the variables calculated in figure 25 would be 20% better than its base-case value. Conversely, there is a 25% probability of worst-case conditions, with the variables 20% worse than the base; a 50% probability was used for base-case conditions. All figures have been calculated below in figure 26. Scenario| Probability| Sa les Price| Unit Sales| Var Costs| NPV| Squared Deviation times Probability|   | | | | | |   | Best Case| 25%| $330. 00 | 2,736,000 | $164. 00| $1,726,918,338 | 422505172390830000 | Base Case| 50%| $275. 00 | 2,280,000 | $205. 00| $284,606,920 | 10125137435137500 | Worst Case | 25%| $220. 00| 1,824,000| $246. 00| ($588,490,656)| 257759816231319000 |   | | | | | |   | Expected NPV = Sum, Prob. times NPV| | | $426,910,381 |   |   | Standard Deviation | | $830,897,181 |   | | Coefficient of Variation = Std Dev / Expected NPV|   | 1. 95 |   | Figure 26 –RDS. A Proposed Project Scenario Analysis Conclusion In conclusion, after performing a complete analysis on the feasibility of the proposed project, it is determined that it would be beneficial for Royal Dutch Shell, plc to implement the project. The IRR and MIRR are greater than the WACC of 8. 28%, at 17. 0% and 13. 1% respectively. It is currently estimated that the project will pay for itself in approximately 4 . 74 years according to the discounted payback calculations.The Net present value of the project is positive and the profitability index for the project is 1. 41 (greater than 1) it is a positive sign for the project selection. Royal Dutch Shell is currently moving in a positive direction with a healthy financial base. Financial analyses have bestowed Shell with an AA bond rating, which underlines the financial strength of the organization. Based on all the information listed above, it is with my professional opinion after the evaluation within this report that Royal Dutch Shell takes on the project; with the current and estimated futures of Shell it can only add value to the corporation. References E*Trade. 2011, December 31). Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDS. A. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from E*Trade Financials: https://www. etrade. wallst. com/v1/stocks/snapshot/snapshot. asp? YYY220_/UfRI8EalsBAnXarKLCzPko3kjoyjLMbzW9xSdWWCGroVsRTAdKeDJzNAwM5xeMSzfFm9X4tAHc+eI+8pZ9rdHSsGMEaof+37qAzR A17/MKnpCPFTrRrGXhYPAZVsWXkzq5OKgjy67owAqAG5C1fyJ6IzD55l8M8TBKZkWpNM0lH4j7Jb2aXQsoxNw Morningstar, Inc. (2012). Morningstar research. Retrieved November 2012, from http://financials. morningstar. com/ratios/r. html? t=RDSA®ion=GBR& ;amp;culture=en-US Network, Y. -A. (2012). Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from Bond Center: http://finance. yahoo. om/bonds Royal Dutch Shell. (2012). Building an Energy Future: Investors' Handbook. London: Royal Dutch Shell Plc Financials. YCharts Pro Stock Report. (2012). Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA). New York: Y Charts. Appendix Royal Dutch Shell Income Statement Billions $ Royal Dutch Shell Balance Sheet Billions $ Royal Dutch Shell Statement of Cash Flow Billions $ ——————————————– [ 1 ]. (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 2 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 3 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 4 ]. [ (YChart s Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 5 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 6 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 7 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 8 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 9 ]. [ (YCharts Pro Stock Report, 2012) ] [ 10 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 11 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 12 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 13 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 14 ]. [ (Royal Dutch Shell, 2012) ] [ 15 ]. [ (Network, 2012) ] [ 16 ]. [ (E*Trade, 2011) ] [ 17 ]. [ (E*Trade, 2011) ]

Analyzing Barnes & Noble.com

The Barnes & Noble online store – www. bn. com – was launched in March 1997. Among its primary strengths is its offline component – the Barnes & Noble, Inc. which is a leading publisher and retailer involved in selling trade books, mass market paperbacks, children’s books, bargain books, magazines, music and movies. The big inventory of this online channel is largely attributed to its offline counterpart. Another strength that Barnes & Noble. com has is its purchase of SparkNotes. com.This website is considered as the world’s largest educational site which provides access to thousands of study guides on various poems, short stories, novels, and other literary pieces. When Barnes & Noble bought SparksNotes in 2001, the educational site already had six million registered users. This number is continuously increasing and this increase widens the market reach of Barnes & Noble. com. Apart from SparkNotes, Barnes & Noble. com is also affiliated with the Barnes & Noble University.The university offers free courses and its students are potential targets which can be reached through the direct introduction and promotion of the online store and its products. Another advantage of Barnes & Noble. com is its acquisition of an online electronic book retailer – Fictionwise. Fictionwise allows the online store to penetrate the e-book market and effectively compete with Amazon. com (its prime competitor) in distributing digital copies of books and other content. Before, the prime problem of the site was that it was not as user-friendly as Amazon. com.Fortunately, that has been resolved by changing the site’s management team. Now, the major weakness that Barnes & Noble. com has is the fact that it is still not as popular as Amazon. com. When it started its operation in 1997, Amazon was already two years ahead in operation and it has already built a very big market of registered users in its database. In 1999, it was noted that Ba rnes & Noble. com only had 1. 8 million names while Amazon had 8. 4 million. Another weakness is the fact that its product prices are not as competitive with Amazon especially when it comes to e-books.Amazon also has bigger storage capacities for its products and this enables them to provide services and ship their products very quickly. Fortunately, its recent affiliations with SparkNotes and Fictionwise pose many opportunities. Barnes & Noble. com management speculates that Fictionwise can help the company significantly reduce its marketing price in e-books. Moreover, the acquisition of SparkNotes increases the market database of Barnes & Noble. com by millions. The company can also utilize its nationwide stores as marketing venues which already have access to millions of Barnes & Noble customers.It can also foster affiliations with other online companies in order to expand its market reach and increase probabilities for future innovations. As for the threats, Barnes & Noble still faces challenges from Amazon. com, as well as other book sellers which adapted the Amazon concept of online retail. This includes Blackwell Synergy, Books-A-Million, and Powell’s Books. If these companies would merge to launch a new online library and book retailer, Barnes & Noble. com might have suffer from fierce competition. A leader in the industryBarnes & Noble. com is considered as a leader in the online bookselling as it offers a wide selection of in-stock inventory – three million from the company’s online catalogue and another thirty million listings from other book dealers of in-print books which may be new, rare, used, or out-of print. In addition to that, the website is also leading in the electronic books and publishing industry. The site has almost 5,000 e-book titles which can be purchased and readily downloaded from the site to any personal computer, laptop, or pocket PC.With its rapid expansion and tie-up with various online companies, Barnes & Noble predicts that it won’t be long before their site would offer digital companies of all of the company’s book titles. Barnes & Noble. com is also leading in the music commerce. Recently, Forbes. com voted the website as the No. 1 music site. The music store of Barnes & Noble. com has been credited for offering not just great music of jazz, world music or Broadway. Instead, it also achieved recognition for its extensive and interesting editorial features for people who want to know more about the music that they are buying.Barnes & Noble. com’s success is best demonstrated in its revenues. Based on the company records, the sales of this online channel have steadily increased in the past few years. In 2006, its sales reached $433 million for the full year. In 2007, the sales were up to $477 million for the full year – exhibiting about 13. 4% increase as compared to 2006. The revenue model of the E-commerce site Barnes & Noble. com is patterned after Am azon. com’s web catalog revenue model. Like other booksellers, Barnes & Noble.com get their revenues when customers choose from the on-site product catalogs and buy through the site. The orders can be placed and paid through the automated ordering forms and â€Å"shopping cart† of the website. What’s good about this model is the fact that it acts as an online extension of the company’s nationwide stores for its in-print products. Since the model is implemented at an online level, the revenue generation becomes more effective as potential customers can access the site, view their choices, and buy products anytime that they want to.Although there are other methods of earning which Barnes & Noble. com can use (i. e. advertising through editorial content and ad spaces), such must be utilized only at a minimal level in order to avoid comprising the site’s book selling and promotion process. Marketing on the web Barnes & Noble. com tries aims to appeal t o the general audience. To attract the target market and maintain a great share of loyal customers, the company employs various promotional methods – both offline and online. Offline, www. bn.com is introduced through the stores of Barnes & Noble. It is also popularized through the Barnes & Noble Membership Program which offers incentives to shoppers of the company’s products online and offline. The most beneficial incentive is the discounts which range from ten to ninety percent. The marketing campaign of Barnes & Noble. com is a lot more aggressive. Foremost of these is the promotional mailing. The online book retailer attempts to pitch various book clubs including the 5. 5 million members of the Bertlesmann.In addition to that, they have linked their physical stores to their site. Included in their previous strategy was to provide incentives for customers who give away their e-mail addresses to them. Through their university, Barnes & Noble gains access to the e-mai l addresses of students as well. The e-mails are then supplied with promotional offers, flyers, brochures, newsletters and product catalogs. In addition to this, the online book seller is promoted through advertorials and advertisements in Yahoo. In 2000, Barnes & Noble.com initiated a partnership with Yahoo. As a result, the site became the premier book seller that is featured in the Yahoo directory. The site was also the featured merchant on Yahoo Shopping. Moreover, graphic links of Barnes & Noble. com were presented in every search result page and in all the book category pages of Yahoo. Conclusion Barnes & Noble. com has achieved its position as a leading online bookseller through its successful acquisition, affiliations and merging with other online companies such as Yahoo, SparkNotes, Spinway, and FictionWise.Moreover, a great part of its success must also be attributed to the fact that it has a big inventory of books (in-print and e-books), magazines, and CDs and DVDs of var ious music and movies. The online book seller also has an efficient marketing campaign – online and offline – through Yahoo. com, Barnes & Noble physical stores, and through its aggressive promotional mailings distributed primarily via book clubs and the Barnes & Noble University. Barnes & Noble. com’s success is best demonstrated in its continuously increasing revenues for the past few years.Furthermore, this success is seen in its rapid expansion and continuously increasing inventory. To keep up with this success and the fierce competition with Amazon. com, the online company should make sure that it can keep up with the new innovations in marketing, new methods in presenting online product catalogs, and more efficient processes in shipping their products. It should also increase its inventory storage capacity through the acquisition of more warehouses. References: Barnes & Noble (2008). Barnes & Noble Press Release: Barnes & Noble Reports 2007 Year-End Sales, Released 03-03-2008.Retrieved 03-15-2009 from http://www. barnesandnobleinc. com/newsroom/press_releases_list. html Danielle Belopotosky (2009). E-Book Seller Fictionwise Bought by Barnes & Noble. Published 03-05-2009 in New York Times Online. Retrieved 03-15-2009 from http://gadgetwise. blogs. nytimes. com/2009/03/05/e-book-seller-fictionwise-bought-buy-barnes-noble/ Gale Group (2007). Barnes & Noble Reports Preliminary 2006 Results: Issues First Quarter 2007 Guidance. Published 03-22-2007 in Business Wire, The Free Library. Retrieved 03-15-2009 from http://www. thefreelibrary.com/Business+Wire/2007/March/22-p53 Larry Light (1999). Barnes & Noble's New Battle Plan for the Cyberbook War. Published 07-07-1999 in Business Week Online. Retrieved 03-15-2009 from http://www. businessweek. com/bwdaily/dnflash/july1999/nf90707a. htm Yahoo. (2000). Yahoo Press Release: Barnes & Noble Announces Availability Of Free Unlimited Internet Service CDs At Stores Nationwide, Released October 16, 20 00. Retrieved 03-15-2009 from http://yhoo. client. shareholder. com/releasedetail. cfm? sh_print=yes&releaseid=173692 Barnes & Noble Website: http://www. barnesandnobleinc. com

Roosevelts New Deal Essays

Roosevelts New Deal Essays Roosevelts New Deal Essay Roosevelts New Deal Essay In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential election with 57% of the vote. His predecessor was Herbert Hoover, a Republican who believed in the policies of rugged individualism and laissez-faire. This election took place during the Great Depression. Although Hoover during his presidential period tried to introduce policies that would improve the standard of life of those struck by unemployment and poverty as a result of the Depression, the situation barely improved. After the lame duck period from November 1932 to March 1933, President Roosevelt came into power. He intended to bring America out of Depression by restoring hope and faith into the people, and by direct aid through relief (handouts to relieve poverty and stop people from losing homes or farms), through recovery (revive the economy and help unemployment rates) and through reform (introduce aid measures such as social security and pensions for people in the USA). Roosevelt achieved the latter through a series of agencies and policies to relieve the Depression, which collectively became known as the New Deal. Some examples of these policies which related to relief were the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. These policies involved direct government aid and initiative, and therefore were seen as a change to society from Hoovers laissez-faire ideals. Recovery was initiated in acts such as the National Industry Recovery Act and the Tennessee Valley Authority. As the government had previously not been involved heavily in the business sector, this was a drastic change. With the Bank Holiday of 1933, Roosevelt closed down all banks, so that the government could reorganize them, which it did with the Emergency Banking Relief Act (authorized government to monitor the banks finances to determine its condition) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of 1933 (provided an insurance of deposits in banks to a maximum of $100,000 per depositor, which meant that if the banks crashed, the government would compensate for the individuals deposited money). This boosted the publics confidence and bank deposits, which restored the banks ability to invest in other businesses with its new monetary source. With the banks investment, many new businesses formed and developed while old ones reopened and began to recover from the Great Depression. Not only that, the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Farm Credit Administration, by providing refinancing, low interests, and mortgages, the two encouraged people to borrow money from the banks, which increased the source of income for the banks to flourish and invest in other businesses. In addition, the Securities Act of 1933, which created the Securities and Exchange Commission, ensured the soundness of stocks and bonds by forbidding the speculative business practices (for example, stock-watering) that led to the Wall Streets crash, further hindering the possibility of another crash of businesses. Finally, the National Recovery Administration guaranteed profits to businesses by setting minimum prices on certain goods. Indeed, Roosevelts first New Deal was composed of numerous legislatives that helped businesses revive. Of course, that didnt mean that the first New Deal was completely unfavorable to labor. The National Recovery Administration gave workers the rights to organize into a union and bargain as a union with its employers. Also, it established provisions for guaranteeing fair wages and hours for labor by setting standards for wages, labor hours, and expected production levels. Not only that, it provided millions with desperately needed jobs. However, despite the aid given to the laborers, the first New Deal stopped short at providing jobs and few laborer rights, while the significant right to unionize was declared unconstitutional in the case of Schecter v US. Thus, the first New Deal benefited the businesses more significantly than it did to labor. Roosevelts second New Deal, by contrast, favored labor by improving the laborers conditions with new numerous legislatives. It provided a significant number of jobs to the unemployed. For example, the Works Progressive Administration of 1935 employed 3.4 million men and women in its first year of constructing public works, and 9 million over a period of 8 years. Secondly, it provided desperately demanded reforms regarding laborers rights. For example with the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the laborers were granted the right to organize into unions and to bargain as a union with their employers, and this was not declared unconstitutional, unlike the NRA of Roosevelts first New Deal. Also, this outlawed business practices that were deemed unfair to laborers, and the National Labor Relations Board was established in order to enforce those aforementioned rights. The acts success in benefiting the cause of labor was reflected by the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizat ions, which was a significant and successful union of the unskilled laborers. In addition, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 further favored the laborers by setting the maximum limit of working hours to 40 hours per week, and established minimum wages of 40 cents per hour. Furthermore, the act prohibited the employment of those under the age of 16, which was a demand by pro-laborers in the past. Finally, the second New Deal guaranteed financial assistance to the laborers. The Social Security Act of 1935 provided federal insurance, or simply monthly federal payments, to retired laborers over the age of 65, unemployed, physically disabled, dependent children and their mothers. Also, the Resettlement Administration was established under Roosevelt with the goal of resettling landless farmers to lands of better quality, providing loans to sharecroppers, tenants, and small farmers, and establishing numerous federal camps, in which destitute migrant workers could be housed in decent conditions. Overall, it could be observed that Roosevelts second New Deal granted the laborers new rights, which further improved their conditions, thus favoring labor. It is not a surprise that Roosevelt was able to gain extreme popularity with his New Deal program because he benefited both labor and business under the common objective of relieving the nation after the Great Depression: he revived the crashed businesses and granted new rights to the laborers, which improved their conditions.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns for Beginners

Countable and Uncountable Nouns for Beginners There are many different types of nouns in English. Objects, ideas, and places can all be nouns. Every noun is either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are nouns you can count, and uncountable nouns are nouns you cant count. Countable nouns can take the singular or the plural form of a verb. Uncountable nouns always take the singular form of the verb. Study the rules and examples below. What Are Countable Nouns? Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc. which can be counted. Nouns are considered content words meaning they provide the people, things, ideas, etc. about which we speak. Nouns are one of the eight parts of speech. For example, apple, book, government, student, island. A countable noun can be both singular- a friend, a house, etc.- or plural- a few apples, lots of trees, etc. Use the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun: There is a book on the table.That student is excellent! Use the plural form of the verb with a countable noun in the plural: There are some students in the classroom.Those houses are very big, arent they? What Are Uncountable Nouns? Uncountable nouns are materials, concepts, information, etc. which are not individual objects and can not be counted. For example, information, water, understanding, wood, cheese, etc. Uncountable nouns are always singular. Use the singular form of the verb with uncountable nouns: There is some water in that pitcher.That is the equipment we use for the project. Adjectives With Countable and Uncountable Nouns. Use a/an with countable nouns preceded by an adjective(s): Tom is a very intelligent young man.I have a beautiful grey cat. Do not use a/an (indefinite articles) with uncountable nouns preceded by an adjective(s): That is very useful information.There is some cold beer in the fridge. Some uncountable nouns in English are countable in other languages. This can be confusing! Here is a list of some of the most common, easy to confuse uncountable nouns. accommodationadvicebaggagebreadequipmentfurnituregarbageinformationknowledgeluggagemoneynewspastaprogressresearchtravelwork Obviously, uncountable nouns (especially different types of food) have forms that express plural concepts. These measurements or containers are countable: water - a glass of waterequipment - a piece of equipmentcheese - a slice of cheese Here are some of the most common containers / quantity expressions for these uncountable nouns: accommodation - a place to stayadvice - a piece of advicebaggage - a piece of baggagebread - a slice of bread, a loaf of breadequipment - a piece of equipmentfurniture - a piece of furnituregarbage - a piece of garbageinformation - a piece of informationknowledge - a factluggage - a piece of luggage, a bag, a suitcasemoney - a note, a coinnews - a piece of newspasta - a plate of pasta, a serving of pastaresearch - a piece of research, a research projecttravel - a journey, a tripwork - a job, a position Here are some more common uncountable food types with their container / quantity expressions: liquids (water, beer, wine, etc.) - a glass, a bottle, a jug of water, etc.cheese - a slice, a chunk, a piece of cheesemeat - a piece, a slice, a pound of meatbutter - a bar of butterketchup, mayonnaise, mustard - a bottle of, a tube of ketchup, etc.

THREE FACES OF THE WRITER

THREE FACES OF THE WRITER I attended a conference recently where a short story instructor elaborated about the three sides of a writer. I like to call them faces. The concept he painted was not new to me, but I marveled at how it remained hidden in the back of my mind, an assumption, like it wasnt worth remembering. In reality, understanding our three faces is phenomenally important. Astounding, even. THE AUTHOR This personality is the source of all ideas. Here is where you contrive the plot and choose your characters. This side of you involves ingenuity. THE WRITER This face is the crafter. Here is the side of you that defines the words, matches nouns to verbs, carefully chooses adverbs (if any). This is the most easily taught of the three talents. You can be schooled on how to put words together correctly. THE STORYTELLER Here is the magic. This is what most people call voice. So many people can be authors and writers, but not everyone is a storyteller. This face isnt easily taught, since its almost an inherent trait. Its this side of you that can show and not tell, translating enthusiasm into words. Th storyteller isnt in all writers and authors. There may be words on paper, in order, written properly, with a beginning, middle and ending, but without the storytellers touch, the tale falls flat. How do you master all three? Read voraciously, watching for all three faces of the writer you read. Make yourself learn the writer side, grasping the word building until its second nature. Listen to storytellers. Close your eyes and hear audiobooks, movies, and plays. Absorb the wordplay, recognizing how the writer avoids telling. Then try to be uninhibited in your writing. Dont worry about what your mother will think about the sex in Chapter 14. Forget about how your cousins may misinterpret the twist in Chapter 23. Sling all the crap on the page and dare to be alive. Story creation is a careful balance of knowing the rules, thinking creativity, and then daring to explode onto the page without concern for the ramifications.

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Globalisation - Essay Example At the time, 'USA produced at least half of the world's manufactured goods and held half its reserves' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_sytem ). While the gold standard prevailed, currency exchange rates were more or less fixed, ensuring stability in world trade. Although expounding a liberal free trade and free market philosophy, the USA also is accused of being isolationist. 'America first' is a very powerful slogan. 'The historic insulation of the American economy from the global one stems from the size and physical remoteness of the U.S. market, which relies less on trade than virtually any other in the world. ' even a modest percentage of American GNP constitutes a sizable share of global economic activity. In the early 1950s ' American exports constituted more than a third of industrial exports, yet less than 5 percent of GNP' (http://www.lehigh.edu/'bm05/research/global15.htm ). This kind of hegemony of the US economy began to be eroded in the 1960s and 70s when financial capital in the form of international syndicates of the largest banks of the world undermined the stability of national currencies. There was speculation in currency trading at a time when the currencies of post-war Germany and Japan were becoming stronger vis-a-vis t he American dollar. There was also greater manufacturing successes and enhanced export potential evinced by Japan and the EEC as a trading bloc. Since then trans-national or multinational corporations have also complicated capital and currency movements across the world. A cogent reason for the U.S. planners to advance the concept of a liberal, free market international economic system was that, as the then US Secretary of State Cordell Hull (1933 - 1944) argued the perception that the main cause of two world wars of the 20th century were due to economic protectionism. Nazi Germany's exchange controls in the form of bilateral arrangements and the British Empire's Sterling Area, stood in the way of international free flow of capital and foreign investments. The U.S. indulged in the rhetoric that '' free markets (were associated) with material prosperity, stability, justice, democracy, human rights, international peace and more' (Moon, 1998). However, without government intervention vulnerable groups like unskilled labour find themselves outside the benefits accruing to countries in the wake of such liberalisation (vide The Stolper-Samuelson theory). The 'Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory' also predicts that 'inefficient sectors of the economy will suffer losses. ... As American supremacy ' eroded since the 1970s, greater vulnerabilities have produced dislocations in scattered industries, most prominently in textiles, steel and autos'(op. cit.). As a result of this ''vulnerability to trade competitors and its changing pattern of comparative advantage, American policy has become increasingly narrowly self-interested' (op. cit.). Outsourcing or offshoring are terms used to explain the migration of most of American service and technical jobs

Membership makeup of this unions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Membership makeup of this unions - Essay Example Firstly, with regards to the demographic makeup of these unions, it must be understood that the German unions are almost exclusively made up of individuals that it been within the workforce for a period of time. As such, the average age group that is demonstrated by these individuals is necessarily higher than would be for entry-level employees; represented within the German system as an average age of 43. Comparatively, did the fact that unionization is requirement within the Chinese system, the average age is much lower at 37.5 years of age. It is of course necessary to note the key differential is economies is the fact that the German unionization system is voluntary; although heavily impacted by the extent to which government oversight integrates with economic development (Fitzenberger et al 148). Moreover, with respect to the Chinese system, the Communist party insists that any and all enterprise must necessarily be overseen by and ultimately managed by the state. Although a gre at degree of liberalization is taken place in recent years, the level and extent to which unionization has dropped in China is not indicative of a fully capitalist system. Similarly, with regards to the overall level of minority composition that is represented within these two systems, Germany has a minority representation within the unions of approximately 14%. This is somewhat interesting due to the fact that the minority population Germany only registers around 8%. With respect to the Chinese system, the dynamic is considerably different. Due to the fact that minorities make up only around 8% of the Chinese population, the reality of union representation is surprising. As a result of the fact that the Western regions of China represent the lion’s share of the minorities and due to the fact that these regions are on the whole un-industrialized, the level of union participation among minorities is approximately 2% (Wang 680). Likewise, with regards to the sexes and their ove rall representation within the unions, Germany represents a gender representation of males to females that is nearly 3:1. However, as has been previously discussed, the nature of government involvement within the unions of China means that a much larger precentage of participation by females is realized. Due to this fact, the level of participation among the female population within China is much higher and represents an overall dynamic around 1.5:1. Although it may be assumed that the ratio would be closer to 1:1, the fact of the matter is that no matter how industrialized the economy or the region, there continues to be a differential with regards to the total integration of the workforce based upon males and females. Moreover, with regards to the relatively lower level of female participation within the unions of Germany, this of course can be understood as a dynamic that is the result of the overall percentages of industrial workers that make up the broad majority of union membe rs. Due to the fact that these are traditionally male dominated jobs, the level of female participation within the unions of Germany are necessarily constrained. Work Cited Fitzenberger, Bernd, Karsten Kohn, and Wang Qingwei. "The Erosion Of Union Membership

Is David Hume's argument against William Paley here a strong one Essay

Is David Hume's argument against William Paley here a strong one - Essay Example From the evidence of inventors who developed new ideas, this argument is flawed because there would be no logical design that the inventors had encountered before designing their inventions. This indicates that Hume’s argument was based on ignorance; there was no way that he would know that new designs would be invented; designs that would negate his argument. Hume’s argument is also flawed because of the apparent contradictions present in the argument itself. A summary of the argument indicates that Hume believed that an individual should only believe that an object is made from design if the individual had previously encountered similar design. Therefore, the argument by Hume seems to indicate that an individual who had not encountered design should not attribute designs to the working of a designer. This argument means that Hume preempts the human mind; the argument tries to negate the working of the human mind in deducing the result of design. The other factor that indicates that Hume’s argument was a weak argument is in the design of the universe. Contrary to the biological argument presented by Hume, the universe is an infinite product of design. This means that any human being can attribute the design of the universe to some supreme deity, a fact that Hume tries to negate in his argument. The anthology that an individual has to have experienced design in order to recognize other instances of design would serve to negate the possibility of a supreme deity who gives humans deductive ability. Therefore, the argument by Hume can be considered weak because of its structural failures and the proposition. The fact there exists unique designs in the universe is also proof that Hume’s argument was not strong. This is because design is the product of the intellect, creativity, and innovativeness. Hume’s argument seems to propose that design is born of

High rate of STI in Juveniles can patient teaching decrease Essay

High rate of STI in Juveniles can patient teaching decrease reoccurance - Essay Example e increased risks of contracting the disease from the street and the GLBT and African-American population have higher chances of getting syphilis, gonorrhea and other STIs than the rest of the US population. It has been estimated that as much as 71 percent of the black juvenile population had gonorrhea in 2008, while 21 percent of homeless youth were identified with STIs (CDC, 2009). To change the present scenario and educate these youth about the risks and prevalence of STI, it is proposed that not only should this problem be addressed in schools and town hall meetings- giving information about these diseases, risk factors and how to avoid contracting them- but also by starting free clinics where these STIs can be reported confidentially and cured through conventional means. STIs should be viewed as a social problem that affects certain populations more than others, but being aware of the risk factors and taking adequate precautions can prevent their occurrence and reoccurrence, rather than having to deal with their symptoms at a later stage. The benefits to the healthcare environment would be profound. By educating not only the youth and adolescents but also part of the adult population that consist of their family members and friends though lectures and pamphlets, we can help decrease both the prevalence and reoccurrence of STIs in the local community. Taking our clinics to the streets to help homeless and runaway juveniles will also help reduce prevalence and reoccurrence and educate them in making better life choices. It is better not to have sex than risk contracting STIs due to unprotected sex, sharing needles and so

What Makes a Good Father Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What Makes a Good Father - Essay Example According to Marcus (2014), what makes all the differences in the life of a child is having a good father - one who stands for support, strength, and discipline. In as much as he loves his children, he does not approve of wrongdoings. He disciplines with tough love, not with the fist but with the power in his words. He does not reward for things expected of the childlike house chores. Time is a key factor in fatherhood, and a good father knows the value of spending it with his children, he plays with them, takes them out on games, moves and attends their events. He also takes time to listen to them. The old adage â€Å"do as I say, not as I do† is out of place, a good father leads by example. He does not expect his children not to smoke if he does, does not say one thing and does the other. He knows he is the protector of the family, and this he is willing to do at all cost. He will put up his life at risk to protect his family from harm, instilling the importance of sacrifice in the children. Time and seasons do change, and a good father is aware of that and does not insist on doing things in an old way that will not work, but he is open-minded. The greatest quality of a good father is that his love is unconditional. Though he does not approve of his children’s wrongdoings, he still loves them. Other qualities include allowing the kids to make mistakes as a way of learning, teaches them not to take things for granted but to be grateful, he is aware that his kids are not exactly like him, but have differences and desires of their own. A good father also challenges his kids and teaches the lessons of life. Children tend to follow what they see adults do, this way, their character is shaped and behavior molded. My love for football started when I used to see my dad watching football, a passion that I end up perfecting to even playing for different teams.  Ã‚  

Purchasing and SC Management in practice Assignment

Purchasing and SC Management in practice - Assignment Example In actual practice, supply chain management ensures integration of supply as well as demand management both within and across businesses (Monczka and Trent, 2009, pg. 57). The major goal of the process is aimed at collaboration as opposed to competition in all parts involved in supply chain management but eventually leads to the creation of a competitive advantage. Through collaboration, personal and mutual satisfaction results from cost cuts as well as increased profitability. The retail businesses continuously realize the need to rely on effective supply chains or networks to ensure effective competition in the current global market comprised of the networked economy. In most scenarios, retail businesses engage in inter-organizational supply processes forming a network that is like a new form of organization. However, interactions tend to present complicated scenarios making it difficult for businesses to present the best structure that fully fits any particular market. The paper, therefore, presents a critical examination of purchasing and supply chain management practices in the retail sector while also illustrating with specific examples how the practices contribute towards creating competitive advantage in the retail market. While the issue of supply chain management (SCM) is mentioned, majority of individuals tend to relate the benefits related to the process to manufacturing and other big companies. However, with the concept of globalization and competitive markets arising in the recent past, SCM has also proved essential and to some extent beneficial in retail business, though at times attributed to side effects. In the retail business perspective, the focus is different from other market players in that it focuses on more specific factors like the retail business itself as opposed to a broader category (Weele, 2010, pg. 87). In the retailing

What Makes a Good Father Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What Makes a Good Father - Essay Example According to Marcus (2014), what makes all the differences in the life of a child is having a good father - one who stands for support, strength, and discipline. In as much as he loves his children, he does not approve of wrongdoings. He disciplines with tough love, not with the fist but with the power in his words. He does not reward for things expected of the childlike house chores. Time is a key factor in fatherhood, and a good father knows the value of spending it with his children, he plays with them, takes them out on games, moves and attends their events. He also takes time to listen to them. The old adage â€Å"do as I say, not as I do† is out of place, a good father leads by example. He does not expect his children not to smoke if he does, does not say one thing and does the other. He knows he is the protector of the family, and this he is willing to do at all cost. He will put up his life at risk to protect his family from harm, instilling the importance of sacrifice in the children. Time and seasons do change, and a good father is aware of that and does not insist on doing things in an old way that will not work, but he is open-minded. The greatest quality of a good father is that his love is unconditional. Though he does not approve of his children’s wrongdoings, he still loves them. Other qualities include allowing the kids to make mistakes as a way of learning, teaches them not to take things for granted but to be grateful, he is aware that his kids are not exactly like him, but have differences and desires of their own. A good father also challenges his kids and teaches the lessons of life. Children tend to follow what they see adults do, this way, their character is shaped and behavior molded. My love for football started when I used to see my dad watching football, a passion that I end up perfecting to even playing for different teams.  Ã‚  

Knowledge Generation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Knowledge Generation - Essay Example In addition, recommendations would be stipulated on managing benefits and minimizing hazards, as required. The Toolbox for IT defines data warehouse as â€Å"a data warehouse is a subject oriented, integrated, time variant, non-volatile collection of data in support of management decision making the process" (Toolbox for IT, 2010, par. 1). In addition, their discourse on data warehouse concepts further averred that data warehouse is â€Å"a relational database that is designed for query and analysis rather than transaction processing. A data warehouse usually contains historical data that is derived from transaction data. It separates analysis workload from transaction workload and enables a business to consolidate data from several sources† (Toolbox for IT, 2010, par. 5). As the name suggests, the data warehouse is a receptacle of information containing facts, statistics, numbers, characters, symbols or images arranged in a chronological structure which can be processed by a computer (McSweeney, 2010). Accordingly, there are three types of data warehouses, to wit: (1) Enterprise Data Warehouse (a central database), (2) Operational Data Store (updates data to real-time), and (3) Data Mart (data warehouse subsets) (Toolbox for IT, 2010, pars. 7 – 9). Implementation of data warehouses differs according to architecture (Inmon or Kimball) or model (relational or dimensional) as the organization requires. With the bulk of data stored in warehouses, there are ways to analyze them to discover patterns or relationships through data mining.  

Holistic Approach To Supporting Health Psychology Essay

Holistic Approach To Supporting Health Psychology Essay Emma and Kyle live in a home specialising in providing 24hr care for young pregnant women and their babies. Emma was looked after from being 4 yrs old when she was removed from her parents care. She was fostered for 10yrs by a caring couple until illness forced them to return her to social care services. Several placements broke down as Emma was unable to adjust to a new family and she was finally placed in a young peoples home run by social care services when she became pregnant at 15yrs old. She attended school until the birth of Kyle who was born 4 weeks premature. She moved into the mother and baby hostel when she was 6 months pregnant following referral by her social care worker. She has a good relationship with Kyle, although staff say they would be concerned if she were to leave the hostel and live independently. Kyle has recently started full time nursery which gives Emma the opportunity to attend college where she studies catering. Defining health can be a difficult task. The most famous definition is that of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which hasnt been amended since 1948. Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO 1948). There are many models of health that have been developed over the years, one being the biomedical model which focuses on physical symptoms such as pain. This concept scientifically measures a persons health to decide whether illness is present or not. Biomedical scientists claim that the body is a machine and can be fixed when a malfunction occurs. An improved model would be the Biopsychosocial theory which concentrates on whole life issues including emotional and spiritual aspects as well as social and family support. The holistic model improved further to include not only physical, psychological and social factors but also determinants such as nutrition, alcohol, nicotine, sleep, exercise and community life. The focus of this report is to examine and understand the physical, social and psychological influences upon health by using the case study and consider how things can be improved by using the holistic approach in contrast to the Biomedical and Biopsychosocial. The first thing that will be considered in this report is emotional issues during infancy. Individuals who suffer from broken or emotional relationships during infancy often develop into adults who experience problems understanding their own emotions and this may limit their ability to maintain a successful relationship in later life. In the case study of Emma, she was cared for by her parents till the age of 4years then removed and placed into a caring foster family. It is possible that the biological family suffered from dysfunctional tendencies which could mean child neglect or even child abuse within the home. An infant raised within this environment would imagine it to be normal behaviour therefore being placed in what society sees as a normal functioning family, would be difficult to adjust to. Several studies suggest that up to 80% of children in foster care have significant mental health issues due to the trauma of separation from the biological family in addition to experien ces of dysfunctional families (Smariga 2007). When a child is separated from their primary caregiver who is usually the mother, separation anxiety can occur. Infants younger than 4 years are particularly vulnerable and will experience high levels of emotional disturbances. Separation anxiety in infants can be treated with play therapy if recognised early enough. This type of therapy is a form of counselling which helps young children use alternative coping strategies to work through any existing problems and is probably the more favoured model theorised by biopsychosocial therapists. However, biomedical experts believe that an imbalance in neurotransmitters is the cause of anxiety and other psychiatric disorders such as depression and will recommend the child take a mild sedative to help reduce the trauma (Ponton 2006). The holistic model would argue that certain determinants play an important role in detecting and treating anxiety. Nutrition is vital as food influences the balance of chemicals produced and released in the brain therefore, without sufficient protein, the brain can become deficient in certain chemicals, resulting in anxiety and depression. Exercise is also very important as again this releases chemicals such as endorphins and serotonin which give a feel good effect (livestrong 2012) Depression is a very common disorder and females are twice as likely to suffer at some point in their lives as males. This is mainly due to changes in hormones in adolescence. Biomedical experts believe that these changes are obvious during puberty and pregnancy as well as after giving birth. According to the National Institute of Health, factors that increase the risk of depression in women include reproductive, genetic, or other biological factors. In addition, women who juggle work with raising a family and single parents suffer more stress that may trigger symptoms of depression (NIMH). A biomedical view would be to diagnose and treat depression by prescribing antidepressants. These types of medications increase the levels of serotonin within the body which go on to increase happiness. Recent studies suggest that side effects brought on by long term use of antidepressants can include digestive problems, sexual difficulties and even strokes and premature deaths in older people. Dr ugs that interfere with serotonin may cause developmental problems in infants, development in adults, digestive problems, diarrhoea, and indigestion and may also raise the risk of dementia (Naish 2012). There are a number of holistic methods which can help keep depression under control such as avoiding caffeine, nutrition and exercise. Caffeine reduces serotonin levels so reducing the drug will naturally increase happiness. Essential fats cannot be naturally produced in the human body therefore it is important that they are included in the diet. The richest source of omega 3 is found in oily fish and nuts. Many of the population are on low income or benefits and maybe see themselves to not be in a position financially to eat fresh food. Eating junk food will increase the levels of sugar found in the blood which will give symptoms of fatigue, irritability, dizziness, insomnia, depression and digestive problems. Since the brain depends on an even supply of glucose it is of no surprise to find that the above symptoms can appear. The best way to keep your blood sugar level even is to eat whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and regular meals (Food for the brain 2012) Some children will suffer with conduct disorders such as aggression, theft, deceitfulness or violation of rules. This can cause problems in school and in the family home which can lead to police involvement. Causes can develop from temperament, genetics (common in children of adults who had conduct problems), environmental (family problems and social pressures) or physical (problems in processing information). Anger affects your physical health and can cause hypertension, chronic lower back pain, stomach problems and heart disease. The biomedical view would be to treat each symptom individually with medication where as a more holistic method would be to practice relaxation techniques, engaging in physical exercise or by doing something that engages the mind such as drawing or painting. Another way to manage this would be counselling. Group therapy is a really good option for adolescents to learn from one another and social interaction is a vital part of the developmental process. Adolescent years can be very challenging for parents or professionals. Identities are forming, social lives are expanding and new behaviours are experimented with. This can involve alcohol, tobacco, drugs and unsafe sexual activity. A person who is intoxicated is more likely to engage in unprotected sex with a variety of sexual partners. The continued use of any substance can lead to substance abuse and addiction. Emma fell pregnant at 15yrs which could possibly be a result of excessive alcohol or drugs. A developing baby is exposed to anything that is put into the system so no safe amount of alcohol, tobacco or drugs exists during pregnancy. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor which causes the blood vessels to narrow limiting the flow of blood to the baby. Also carbon monoxide will limit the levels of oxygen available to the foetus which can result in still birth, low birth weight or sudden infant death syndrome (livestrong 2012). The National Institute of Health advises pregnant women no t to drink during the first3 month in particular as this may induce miscarriage (NHS 2012) Another form of depression is postnatal depression (PND) which is common in both men and women. PND is different to depression and the onset usually occurs after the birth of a baby but can also appear during pregnancy. Women can become more tearful and moodier than usual in this time. Some women experience thoughts of harming their baby which is quite common affecting almost half of women with the condition (Roberts 2012). PND can be undetected and left untreated which may lead to aggression and possible harm to the baby. Teenage mothers suffer from poorer mental health in the three years after their birth compared with other mothers therefore Emma needs as much support as she can possibly get during the early years of being a mother. She has no family around to support and help her. The feeling of isolation is the most stressful aspect of being a mother. Holistic therapies can be helpful to combat the stress of being not only a new mother but a teenage and single mother. Massage, r eflexology and herbal remedies may be useful to aid in relaxation. Talking therapies are also very popular and can help with identifying underlying issues that may be occurring. Any medication that may be prescribed should be taking with caution as it could interfere with breastfeeding. Teenage parents often drop out of education because of the pressures they experience, including stigmatization associated with pregnancy, isolation from peers, and lack of needed support from family, friends, schools, social service agencies, and other organizations (SEDL 2012). In 2001 the government set up a programme called Sure Start which was intended to provide holistic support to teenage mothers and fathers. The program has been very successful in providing support during emotional times, educational needs and family support to young parents. Sure Start was developed to reduce the risk of social exclusion associated with teenage pregnancy by providing support for parents and their child to help them with housing, health care, parenting skills, education and child care (Sure Start 2012) Emma has managed to obtain a place in nursery for her son while she continues to participate in education. This alone will create a more stable lifestyle for them both while building a future. The focus of this report is to discuss the different approaches to health and to reinforce that a holistic approach to illness is by far the most improved and widely used method. A more natural approach can help, prevent or improve many health issues before they occur. Many medications can help cure illness and in some cases this is the only way to treat a disease such as cancer however, a large proportion of health problems can be linked to generated issues such as asthma, and stress. Tobacco, alcohol, drugs, poverty, employment, income, education, social, environment, lifestyle choices are all determinants and wider determinants in what define the concepts of health. The body is an impressive machine and treated holistically there are no reasons why many issues should be part of life. Throughout our lifetime, stressful situations and emotional traumas are constantly presented. As we grow, our interactions with other people generate stress such as gaining approval, pressure at school, or work, forming relationships, relationship breakdowns or bereavement. It can have many detrimental effects on our health physically and emotionally.