Leverage and leveraged finance

Leveraged finance usually means funding a company with more debt than it is worth. Leveraged finance is used to gain specific, short term objectives like acquiring a company through buy outs or buy-ins, or parking funds in assets which generate fast and excessive returns over the cost of funding. The Sub – Prime crisis of recent times makes it important to keep the above definition in mind. Implicit in all finance deals is the ‘down-side ‘or risk that a lot of value (money in plain terms) would simply disappear if the wrong calculations are made. In finance a lot of calculated instinct is based around the capacity of an entity to service or repay its loans. This also raises the question of faith – on the organization’s capacity to perform and therefore repay its debts along with associated costs, chiefly interest related, and returns. Putting a lever to something means firmly positioning it to perform a task. In the language of finance, leveraging would mean to strengthen the power of a company’s funds to attract more returns by borrowing yet more funds – usually short term.   Leveraged financing is the issue of high yielding bonds or funds borrowed from banks to fund the takeover of companies or buy outs by existing members (buy in) or an outside stakeholder (takeover). The ratio of the company’s debts (borrowings) and the company’s return on equity (money borrowed and invested elsewhere) decides the risk rating of a borrowing entity. Simply put, the company has to earn enough to repay the cost of its borrowings and make an extremely high profit for its stakeholders. If the cash flow from the operation is negatively affected by the high cost of debt servicing or interest for borrowed funds – the position of the lender is riskier. Therefore the interest or the ‘risk cost’ will be higher. (Fletcher, 288-92) The principle is utilized in investing in stocks. The price of a stock is a reflection of its debt to equity ratio at its market or book value.   Financial leveraging calculates the varying effects of one or the other in arriving at a ratio. It allows higher return to the investor. The loss may be higher too, for the company has to pay servicing costs for borrowings even if its stock is completely eroded. There are levels of leverage financing – either secured bank loans or bonds or comparatively ‘less senior’ subordinated bonds or loans. A leverage financier has to calculate how the finance is to be raised. If he overestimates a company’s capacity pay back the loan, he might lend too much at very low margins. The outcome of this would be that the financier will be unable to sell these loans or bonds. Then again, if a company’s value is underestimated, then the transaction results in a huge loss. The objective of leveraged buy outs is to acquire assets without utilizing its own capital. The following case studies illustrate the impact at different periods in recent times. The Sub Prime Crisis Sub Prime borrowers are those whose debt rating is ‘high risk’ – their ability to pay back their loans is considered weak by banks or financial companies. As compared to ‘prime’ borrowers like companies who are financed with ease, a sub prime or non prime borrower’s credentials are considered poor. This is because they are likely not to repay due to insufficiency of funds. They are then financed at sub prime or higher rates of interest than normal. This makes it profitable for lending institutions. In the USA, the bulk of sub prime borrowers are people who seek to buy houses. The majority has no stable income or is in employment which does not earn enough. Only some months back, in the USA debt was freely available to those who asked – in fact, banks fought among themselves to offer loans to leveraged takeovers and hired the services of agents to ferret out possible borrowers. But now, the markets are talking of credit squeeze. Banks are scrambling to tone up their balance sheets. What led to this problem? It is good to remember that householders, commercial banks, brokers and companies all use leverage differently. Homeowners are said to be ‘anti cyclical’ in their leverage. When assets (in this case, property values) appreciate faster, leverage – a factor of debt to equity, decreases. When asset values shrink, leverage rises. This is because householders keep paying mortgages regardless of cycles of increase or decrease in property values or share prices. When a householder takes, say, $300,000 on a $400,000 house, he has equity of $100,000 or a leverage ratio of 3. Supposing the house price was to increases to $500,000, his equity doubles to $200,000 toning down the leverage ratio to 1:5 (Kar, 165-71) Banks and companies are neither strongly anti nor pro cyclical, choosing fixed leverage ratios whatever happens to the market. Investment banks and broking houses are extremely pro cyclical, ramping up their leverage as asset prices move upward. Brokers employ specialized risk based accounting which allows increased borrowing while prices are rising. Conversely, they have to borrow less as prices fall. While adjusting to risk is natural, these brokers acted against what would be prudent judgment. To explain this – an amateur might think that high priced portfolios run a higher risk. On the other hand, a ‘calm’ market would make him cautious in anticipation of a storm. The finance professionals turn this judgment on its head through an instrument which they have devised called ‘Value at Risk’ (VAR) which considers current market values, no matter how unpredictable the market is. For example, in the valuation of complex portfolios, brokers tended to assume only recent history. A short calm period is taken to project future ‘tranquility’ for more years. So, when a real market risk is present, the ratio of VAR to valuation of assets is low. Companies would consequently be compelled to leverage more when, in fact, they should not have. Till 2007, brokers kept increasing their portfolios of householder finance, apparently because there was apparently less risk. Just as the signal would have been to buy when prices were high, the now confusing indications, based on wrong models, led to prospects of selling when   the housing markets was turbulent. As result, brokers are left with assets of almost $300 billion of hung deals- householders had simply walked away. (King, 68-71) The Long Term Credit Management Crisis of 1998 Another example of the failure of valuation models and the intervention of leveraged funds this crisis had a major impact on global markets. Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), founded in 1994 by John Meriwether, decided to deal in US and other government bonds. The idea was that over time government bonds would be identical in value if released within short gaps of each other. The rate at which these bonds appreciated would be different as in the case of US government bonds which would rise in value faster. The profit would be taken from selling costlier bonds and buying cheaper bonds. The profits did come to such an extent that LTCM had to look around for areas to invest its capital .It went into risk arbitraging -this was outside their expertise. They had to resort to highly leveraged finance to sustain return on equity. Their equity was almost 5 billion dollars against borrowings of $125 million. The proceeds were also used in investing in equity derivatives. By end August 1997, the company had lost most of its capital due to some downtrends which its managers could not read earlier –specially the Great Asian Meltdown of 1997 – and still had to pay the huge borrowing costs. Leverage had doomed the company. The Dot Com Bubble Through the early 90’s and till the first years of 2000, information technology was surging forward on extremely encouraging forecasts about its future in the world. Entrepreneurs were able to float technology companies, financed by venture capital which was riding on the prospects of fantastic returns. No one realized that these companies had nothing up front to offer which could be valued in rational terms. Huge leverage was sought in order to follow this boom around the world. The bubble was pricked as fast as it had been blown up – and companies and capital vanished. (Lamb, 434-38) Works cited: Fletcher, Robert. Art of Financial Economics: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing. Christchurch: Howard & Price. 2006 Kar, Pranab. History of Modern American Finance. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee 2005 King, Herbert. Fiscal Fitness Today Vol. IV Plymouth: HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2005 Lamb, Davis. Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata. Wellington: National Book Tru

Immanuel Kant Essay

A 19 year old college student and addicted gambler was pulled over for erratic driving on the Long Island Expressway. He pulled out a toy pistol and pointed it at the officer, he was then shot and killed. Another incident involving a 45 year old cancer patient had the same ending in new Jersey. He walked into a Pizza Shop and pointed a gun at the officers inside eating. Experts believe that they force the cops to kill them as a form of suicide. Suicide is difficult to commit and forcing an officer to kill you takes away the pressure of completing the task. Some insurance companies don’t cover suicide and religions forbid it so it is away of taking the guilt and shame away from common suicide. 10% of fatal police shootings are brought on by people seeking to die. -Evaluate the moral permissibility of â€Å"suicide by cop† -To what extent is a police officer morally obligated to assess whether a person he or she shoots actually wants to be killed? Virtue Ethics Aristotle’s theory of moral virtue categorizes the pursuit of happiness as a process that is achieved by pursuing real goods in a morally correct way. It is a mean between two vices (excess & defect). Our actions are voluntary and the product of choice. In these cases they seem to have self delusion defects. They are rationalizing conduct (suicide) and making excuses in an effort to justify their morally impermissible actions(carried out by cops vs. self). A person is giving up on their pursuit of happiness and there for, from the victims standpoint nothing is morally permissible about their actions. The officer doesn’t have time to assess the motives of suspects that pull firearms on them. They have to make a quick decision at the drop of a hat. Kill or be killed. Their own pursuit of happiness and life is protected. Formalizism Emmanuel Kant developed formalizes theory. It focuses on carrying out your duties without thinking about the consequences. Categorical and Practical imperative are the two main components. Categorical imperative is the idea that the moral obligation is valid only if it applies universally to everything. Practical imperative states that a person should treat humanity as an end and not as a mean. When you apply this to suicide by cop it is never right to go point a gun at someone in order for them to kill you. The officer does apply those situations universally to everyone though. You are met with the same type of force that you bring. Their first priority is protecting themselves. Utilitarianism John Mill’s theory of utility expanded from the viewpoint of motivations of pleasure and pain. The goodness of an act is determined by the consequences of the act and how much happiness is promoted. Using this theory the victim is still not morally correct with their choice of suicide by cop though the pleasure of death may outweigh the pain of life. They don’t promote any happiness by getting themselves killed. Their loved ones all get hurt. From the officers eyes they have an armed person pointing a gun at them and they don’t have the time to weigh the pros and cons they can only react. They aren’t going to be happy about killing someone they still wouldn’t be happy if they did stop and think and ended up shot themselves. Suicide is a selfish act and even more selfish when you force someone else to do your dirty work. No one wants to take a life but most people don’t want to lose theirs either. I do not believe that officers should be morally obligated to assess weather a person is violate or just wants to die. It is too dangerous to try and play psychologist is what could possibly mean a life or death situation for a police officer. My step dad has a grading company and hit a man on a motorcycle that was dying of cancer. He left the house that day and told his family he was going to kill himself I guess his dump truck looked like the best option in completing his mission and he drove head on right into him. Even though the man wanted to die my step dad never wanted to kill someone and it is a pretty emotional topic. The selfishness that it takes to take your life at someone else’s expense is beyond me and something I really don’t understand.

Personal Ethics Essay

â€Å"Sound personal ethics are typically those that positively impact the experience of others when used to govern an individual’s social or business related behavior, and at the very least, such ethics should not have a negative impact on others† (BusinessDictionary, 2014). In this paper I will discuss how my personal ethical system and ground rules were developed. What my influences were in shaping my values and the principles I live by. I will also discuss how the importance of ethics in business. EARLY ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT To understand how my ethics developed I think it would be best if I provided a quick background of my childhood. My parents were divorce by the time I was two. My mom moved to Montana while my dad, brother, and I stayed in Colorado. My mom remarried when I was five to a great man. My dad moved us to Tennessee around when I was seven. My father began dating a woman with two children shortly after and a year or two later they married.   A couple years after my father remarried, the atmosphere in my home was very stressful. My step mom was very southern, with a strict upbringing. Her philosophy was â€Å"This was how I was raised, so this is how I am going to raise you.† There was no thought put into her actions, they were only reactions. Although I get along with her fine now she still has to justify her behavior from the past. At the age of eight I was doing my own laundry, cooking meals for the entire family twice a week, and extreme cleaning every weekend; not much time to be a kid. On my 12th birthday I was grounded for not dusting behind a picture in the corner of my desk. I have many stories like this, but the greatest thing about these experiences is that I learned from them. These memories are what motivated me to be different when it comes to parenting and how I treat people. My step father was the opposite.  He was the strong, silent type. When he spoke every one listened. He and my mom had a very large impact on my life. They owned a restaurant/bar and a log home building company for over 25 years, in Montana. In the summers I would work for them. They taught me strong work ethic and what it meant to earn a dollar. During my teen years I was not sure who I was and desperately trying to figure it out. At the time, I thought I had it all figured out, but looking back I was clueless. I used derogatory remarks towards different ethnic groups not realizing how wrong it was and I was very homophobic. I knew it was wrong and no one else in my family acted lik e that. This type of behavior is still very common in the south, but I was determined to change my life. REVISED ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT Because I joined the Navy straight out of high school, I was given the opportunity to learn the true meaning of diversity and how important it is to our society. The stereotypes I was surrounded by growing up were cruel, unfair, and untrue. My time in the Navy taught me that everyone is different and that everyone’s culture is what makes them who they are. I love learning about different cultures and what makes each person diverse. Another event that shaped my principles and values is when my step father passed in 2006. This changed mine and my family’s life forever. It motivated me to love and be the best person I can be. At the time I was in a bad marriage and had to make the decision that my happiness and my children’s future depended on our surroundings. I do not have time for resentment, anger, hatred, and negative behavior. We only live this life once and I want my legacy to live on after I’m gone. I had to make the toughest decision of my life and t his was the beginning of the new me. PRINCIPLES AND VALUES My ethical system comes from every experience and interaction I have ever had. Whether I remember them all, it still branded an emotion at the time and I learned from it. My ethical system is filled with the idea to always have respect, strength, integrity, honor, courage, and will power to do what is right even if it is the harder decision. Respect is a very strong fiber of my being. My childhood made me realize that treating people the way you would like to be treated is not just something we heard in school, it should be lived by. Everyone starts off with the same level of respect from me. It does not matter one’s title, sex, race, religion, or sexual preference. If you are a living, breathing, human being I will treat you as I would like to be treated. Everyone starts off  with 100% respect and then how much respect I give you in the future depends on your actions. ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE My upbringing and personal experiences are what shaped my character of who I am today. I cannot compare the inequality I faced to others, but it was enough for me to realize that fair treatment and respect is very important to who I am and my character. When I see others being mistreated I have a deep seated urge to stand beside them and show them they are not alone. It does not matter to me if I am the only one that feels this way; I will stand up for what I believe in. I was the only straight male that joined the Pride Affinity Group where I work. This group was started at the beginning of the equal rights movement for the LGBT community a couple years ago. I was accused of being gay and I was asked why I was part of the group if I was not gay. This only motivated me more to show others that equal rights are not a privilege. I gave 9 years of my life to defending this country’s freedoms. I did not fight for one group’s freedoms, but all, foreign and domestic. Although I am no longer in the military I still live by this code of ethics and moral standard; in my personal and professional life. IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN BUSINESS Businesses were around before ethics and will continue to be around, but it is how we choose to evolve as human beings. Society could have remained racist and sexist. This was not what was best for business or society though. We as people and businesses need to evolve, to grow, and to learn to be better. Ethical standards in the workplace ensures all feel comfortable coming to work and can do their job without feeling threatened. This provides businesses the opportunity to get the best out of all employees with a safe work environment. CONCLUSION I think it is safe to say I am the opposite of everything I disliked about my childhood. My personal values are who I am regardless of whether I am in a personal or professional setting. My decisions are based on what I have learned through life experiences and how I perceive the most appropriate way to handle each situation. References Business Dictionary (2014). Personal Ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personal-ethics.html

Bibliography Annotated Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Annotated Bibliography Example He agrees with Cohrs that fear can impact the acceptance of anti-terrorism actions and laws. The main phrase here is â€Å"civil disobedience.† For Allen, civil disobedience does not always relate to coercion and intimidation, though demonstrators also aim to generate public dialogue and use moral appeals to justice. The approach of the author is to use social and political theory to explain terrorism reactions from the public. This is different from other sources and it so it will be useful in understanding terrorism from the perspective of deliberative democracy. This article is important in emphasizing how deliberative democracy can promote peaceful means of civil disobedience. This is an interesting point on how people can avoid being terrorists themselves by resorting to violence and propaganda. This article will be useful in expanding the debate to consider how democracies are defined and how their definitions can impact the framework of and discourse on terrorism and civil liberties. This reference approaches the subject of terrorism in a critical manner by citing the views of three speakers, Malcolm Wallop, David Kopel, and Nadine Strossen. These speakers agree that the government tends to pursue anti-terrorism policies that hurt civil liberties. They define their approaches against anti-terrorism legislation and their effects on civil liberties. The image that they are forming is that anti-terrorism laws are also anti-civil liberties. Another image is the Big Brother symbol for an authoritarian government that uses terrorism to enhance its powers, while reducing individual rights to their civil liberties. Big Brother, for them, appears paternal, but can be easily exploited by the government for their self-interests, such as reducing freedom of speech and association and privacy rights. Wallop argues that citizens should also be against anti-terrorism legislation that hamper them from

Film and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film and Religion - Essay Example The theological perspective effectively captured the narrative of mans interaction with his surroundings, the errors that could inevitably came with it, and his struggle to determine what is real and true and what he is going to do about it. A more contemporary text informed us with the same insights, The Truman Show. It is a film about a man who lived in a make believe world where everyone was acting and everything is contrived. Again, knowledge and ignorance became the center of the struggle to find truth and resolve the dilemma of free will. The Truman Show is actually closer in form with another religious/philosophical text, which is Platos Allegory of the Cave. Here, fictitious prisoners were forced to live in a cavern and watch shadows of objects and people, which became reality for them. The Truman Show and the Allegory of the Cave both demonstrated mans capacity to perceive reality, to determine truth as well as in coping with each. In the end, they were able to depict an ability and persistence in human nature to seek truth and be free and they served as the ultimate purpose, not unlike the religious salvation

'There is no ... way of distinguishing the 'popular' from the 'high' Assignment

'There is no ... way of distinguishing the 'popular' from the 'high'. ... Nor is making such a distinction of importance' (Watso - Assignment Example This change in the social hierarchy of literature has led to the categorical division of literature on the basis of the thematic concerns of a literary piece i.e. poplar literature and high literature. 1.1. High Literature High or elite literature is a term used for the classic pieces of literature that followed the trends and customs of eighteenth century literary style and pattern. Johnson categorizes the works of Jane Eyre, lyric poetry and Puig’s works as high literature (9). 1.2. Popular Literature Newcomb states, ‘popular literature is by definition a product of literate practices, no matter how socially diverse, remote from elite norms or collective they may be’ (12). Hence popular literature is an anti thesis of high or elite literature. However popular literature is derived from high literature i.e. high literature formed the foundation that led to the production of popular literature. As a result it is impossible to distinguish one from the other and hen ce in every piece of popular literature there are strains of high or elite literature. ... 2.1. First Person Narration The novel is depicted in first person narration which provides the readers with a first hand account of all the action taking place in the novel. The narration technique used in this novel is similar to Jane Austen’s depiction of Pride and prejudice. Yet at the same time the author of Rebecca does not divulge the identity of her narrator which is an idea explored in popular literature. 2.2. Marriage Marriage is another idea that the two novels Pride and Prejudice and Rebecca explore. In the former the narrator Elizabeth as well the Jane Austen are observed to be stressing on importance of marriage and security in a woman’s life. On the other hand in Rebecca marriage is not symbolic of security and a necessity for women in fact du Maurier projects women as free and liberated as also observed from the narrator’s reaction to the marriage proposal where she says, ‘Oh but you don't understand! It's just that I, well I’m, not th e person men marry’ (32). 2.3. Liberated Woman The manners in which the characters of Rebecca and the narrator are portrayed are in itself a reflection of high and popular culture. Rebecca’s character is portrayed as a woman who is not only married in money but is also sexually liberated as stated in the novel, ‘Giles went out sailing with Rebecca†¦she had started on him as she had done on Frank†¦she might get hold of one of the workmen on the estate, someone from Kerrith, anyone†¦ she used to have this fellow Favell down to the cottage†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (174-175). this again is an idea that was explored in popular literature i.e. women having the freedom to do anything they want to. This also illustrates and supports feminism. Yet on the other hand the narrator’s shyness and

Facebook Phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Facebook Phenomenon - Essay Example These sites are defined as web-based services that permit people to create a semi-public or public profile in a bounded system; convey a list of other people who they share a connection with; and examine and navigate their record of connections and those of other users inside the system. Today, social network sites with varied technological affordances thereby sustaining a broad range of practices as well as interests exist in hundreds. Whilst the key technological features of these social network sites are consistent, the cultures emerging around them are different. Although most sites encourage pre-existing social networks’ maintenance, others assist strangers to hook up founded on shared interests, activities or political views. Moreover, while some sites take care of different audiences, others draw users based on nationality, common language or shared religious, racial, or sexual identities. This paper delves into Facebook, a popular social network that has taken the 19th century generation by storm. Introduction Facebook refers to a very popular internet phenomenon, primarily a site for social networking that allows individuals worldwide to communicate, share videos and photos as well as play such games as Oregon Trail, Scrabble and Chess. Facebook profiles are made up of a collection of small, java-based programs that one can add, and just like Mac, some of them link seamlessly to iPhoto, iTunes, and iCal. Unlike Mac, Facebook is free of charge (Mac Life, 2008). According to reports form Facebook users, on average, most people use between 10-30 minutes daily in Facebook and have between 150-200 friends on their profile (Ellison, et al., 2007). Gallaugher (2009) explains that Mark Zuckerberg, a student from Harvard, created Facebook in the year 2004 February and that Facebook was resulted from Zuckerberg’s drunken tryouts in his dorm room, with one of his experiments comparing his colleagues to farm animals, which almost led to his expulsion from the school. He was a sophomore in Harvard and in the weeks that he spent working on Facebook, he did not even have time to study for ‘Art in the Time of Augustus,’ a course that he was taking. He instead spent time creating a Website that contained every artwork in class and pinging his fellow students to put in to a common study guide. In a very short time, the acumen of crowds generated a sort of traditional Cliffs Notes for the module and following the appraisal of the Web-based crib pane, he championed the test. Later that year, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard. At first, the network was restricted for Harvard scholars. Phillips Exeter Academy, Zuckerberg’s high school, came up with the initial idea for the expression Facebook. The school passed the Face Book around to all students as a means of helping students to be acquainted with their classmates for the next year. During that time, it was an actual paper book and many colleges essentially gave stu dents printed facebooks, which included the students’ biographical information, study areas, interest areas among others. Zuckerberg introduced it to the internet and it was a great success. Within a fortnight, half of Boston’s colleges and universities and finally major corporations began requesting for the Facebook network. In four months’ time, Facebook included thirty new school networks. To assist in building Facebook, Zuckerberg recruited his friends Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz immediately (Treadaway & Smith, 2010). By the time Zuckerberg was twenty-three years old, he had won the favor of Newsweek – he was appearing on their cover and they were profiling him on sixty minutes. Moreover, the tech world

Nonverbal Communication Communication-Impacts on Small Business Research Paper

Nonverbal Communication Communication-Impacts on Small Business - Research Paper Example Words can have no or insignificant effect if they are not supported by nonverbal communication. By learning how to interpret the nonverbal communication and practicing the tactics, the business would not only create good communicators but also be having good businesspersons, which is essential for a business to reach its goals. People in organizations typically spend over 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation; thus it is no surprise to find that at the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor communications. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal, intergroup, intragroup, organizational, or external levels. Non-verbal communication consists of all the messages other than words that are used in communication. In oral communication, these symbolic messages are transferred by means of intonation, the tone of voice, vocally produced noises, body posture, body gestures, facial expressions or pauses. Small business owners should possess the ability to read the many nonverbal cues employees, customers, and suppliers may communicate. If you observe gestures, facial expressions, tone variation, etc., the probability of effective communications is significantly increased. This breakdown indicates that effective nonverbal communication skills are essential. ... There is nothing worse than delivering a speech about how well your organization is doing while at the same time, shrugging, frowning and turning away from the audience. You would be sending mixed messages and based on the above scale no one in the audience will believe that the company is actually performing well. Effective communication is the combined harmony of verbal and nonverbal actions. Nonverbal communication consists of body movement, facial expressions, and eye movement. Body Movement indicates attitude, conveys feelings serves as illustrators and regulators. Illustrators are nonverbal movements that accompany and illustrate verbal communication. Regulators are nonverbal cues that monitor or control the speaking of another individual. While listening to a person you nod your head to indicate that you understand and are in agreement with the speaker. You look away or yawn to indicate that you are bored or would like for the speaker to stop talking. You frown or raise your eyebrows to indicate to the speaker that you either don't believe they are that you don't understand. Non-verbal behavior predates verbal communication because of individuals, since birth, rely first on non-verbal means to express themselves. This innate character of non-verbal behavior is important in communication. Even before a sentence is uttered, the hearer observes the body gestures and facial expressions of the speaker, trying to make sense of these symbolic messages. They seem to be trustable because they are mostly unconscious and part of every-day behavior. People assume that non-verbal actions do not lie and therefore they tend to believe the non-verbal message when a verbal message contradicts it. Â  

Tesla (electric car company) Marketing Analysis Essay

Tesla (electric car company) Marketing Analysis - Essay Example The company has its headquarters based in California, U.S.A, and it has principles aimed at facilitating development of Models in order to attain its objective of first customer delivery (Tesla Motors, 2010, p. 4). This will facilitate the efforts of pursuing new electric power train opportunities and automobile manufactures. In fact, the paper will focus on conducting SWOT, PESTEL, porter’s five forces, marketing mix and marketing action plan analysis on Tesla Company. SWOT ANALYSIS Strength Tesla signed a licensing deal with lotus cars in order to convert one of their sport models in to an electric car, which was lightweight, small car with all the external body panels made of plastic. On the other hand, the Tesla Roadster has become the first mainstream electric vehicle enquired by celebrities, thus bringing a more desirable model S to the market. The company has managed to develop their first electric sport car â€Å"The Roadster†, and supplied to other manufactures like Toyota with more technological expertise in the field of electric transmission and train drive (GlobalData, 2012, p. 1). The company has also developed a vehicle, which is entirely in house, whereby sub-assemblies are required. The platform developed for Model S has facilitates the application of the crossover model and any other model. In fact, Tesla was the first company to produce electric vehicle and they have stood by the business model to collaborate zero emissions with quality performance design. Weakness The development of the vehicles and sub-assemblies has resulted to an increment of production cost, hence they do not achieve economic of scale. Products have a higher price than their competitors who sell combustion engine powered vehicles. The Roadster has phased out and the sales have reduced, and this is an indication that revenues will come from the Model S. The models have low brand recognition; hence, there will be difficulties in convincing the customers concer ning the superiority of their preferred options of the brand. The other weakness of Model S is that it may not be available until 2012, hence giving a chance to competitors to produce and market their electric vehicles before the release of Model S by Tesla, thus they will take up the market share (Binkiewicz, Chen & Czubakowski, 2008, p. 5). Opportunity The company has been benefiting from support by the government across the globe, since their products are environmentally friendly, thus they have been exempted from duties. The company has also been offered support by the Mercedes Smart car, which has results to leaning the way they can launch in near future. Tesla has a chance to improve the quality control process in order to reduce their cost, hence increasing enthusiasm. The other opportunity relates to the rise of gas prices, whereby people are seeking alternative ways of travelling. In this case, the company acquires a prime opportunity to depict the benefits associated to th eir products and the cost friendliness to customers. Threats There are difficulties involved in production, distribution and selling of the

Volatile Organic Compounds in School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Volatile Organic Compounds in School - Essay Example VOCs, as the name suggests are carbon compounds that lend themselves to becoming gases or vapors with relative ease. As such they are emitted in the surrounding environment. VOCs contain not just carbon, but a host of other common elements present in such compounds, including the following: sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen, bromine, nitrogen, fluorine (US National Library of Medicine). The relative ease with which they are released into the atmosphere is attributed to the low boiling points of VOCs, pegged at below 100 degrees Celsius, lending them to be easily released into the atmosphere as gases. Many of the VOCs in the environment are said to be manufactured by man, as chemicals that are in use in manufacturing. Paints, refrigerants, pharmaceutical chemicals, adhesives, products derived from petroleum, and several other products require VOCs for their manufacture. Most often they are located in urban areas, making up the constituents of agents for dry cleaning, thinners for paint, solven ts, and different kinds of fuels (US Geological Survey) The literature further notes that in urban places, VOCs are of greater concentration, and within that urban setting, VOC concentrations are almost always of greater magnitude in enclosed indoor environments as compared to outside environments, where VOCs tend to disperse into the greater atmosphere (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Meanwhile, the adverse health effects of short-run and long-run exposure to VOCs are well documented in the literature. They include asthma symptoms being aggravated, dizziness, skin, nose, eyes and throat irritation, vomiting, cancer, impairment of the nervous system, and damage to internal organs, notably the liver and the kidney. Differing VOC types also have other specific adverse effects on human health. Benzene, a common VOC, is of special focus among health experts, for their prevalence, and for their known highly carcinogenic properties (Minnesota Department of Health; US Natio nal Library of Medicine). II. Volatile Organic Compounds - Prevalence VOCs are more prevalent than is sometimes acknowledged, owing to their presence in a wide variety of manufactured products, and the wide use of such manufactured products in urban environments. This puts an increased risk of toxic harm to human beings living in urban areas. The list in the Introduction is non-exhaustive, and to it can be added a large number of products that people may or may not already associate with VOCs: furnishings for buildings, materials for buildings, printers and copiers present in the office, copy paper not containing carbon, correction fluid, adhesives, glues, markers, solutions used in photography, pesticides, materials used for cleaning, strippers of paint, lacquers and other paints (United States Environmental Protection Agency). In the home, meanwhile, it is hard to avoid VOCs as well, largely because they are incorporated into many of the products that are vital to the maintenance of households. As already mentioned above, materials that are used to make houses contain VOCs, which later escape into the air, both indoors and into the greater outside environment. Cosmetic products of all kinds, materials used by hobbyists of all kinds, waxes, paints, and the varnishings commonly applied to home furniture all contain volatile organic compounds. Of course all sorts of fuels vital to maintaining homes all contain volat

Decisions in USA Super Cars Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Decisions in USA Super Cars - Assignment Example If the company decides to take loan, it would be better for USASuperCars to accept a sure sum from HSBC in 3 months instead of 12 months. Although, the bank could face risks, it can get profits. To expand their operations and get newer opportunities, organizations would enter foreign markets. When organizations expand, they might need extra financial resources. To get that resource, they might approach number of options including banks for loans. This is relevant to USASuperCars as well. USASuperCars is a company which sells luxury sports cars in its home base of the United States, and also other countries. It has signed a contract to sell their super cars to customers in 5 countries. So, as it is expanding their operations, it might need financial resources. It has an option to get loan from the HSBC bank, but there are some risks associated with it. That is, as the selling prices are fixed and are dealt in local currencies at the exchange rates prevailing at the time of delivery, uncertainties can arise leading to problems for USASuperCars. At the same time, the financial status of USASuperCars is good. So, this report focusing on the standard deviation and mean in exchan ge rates, HSBC’s loan offer, and the outcomes will help USASuperCars and its management to take a correct decision based on statistical analysis. Organizations functioning in any sector would always find both internal and external opportunities to grow. That is, apart from finding opportunities in its home operations, an organization can also find prospects in foreign countries as well (Mellahi, Finlay and Frynas, 2005). However, operating in home operations as well as foreign operations can bring different set of challenges to the organization. When the currency of the home country of the organization and currency of the entering country fluctuates due to various political and economic factors, it can affect organizations

High School vs College Essay Example for Free

High School vs College Essay College and high school share the same common goal, which is teaching students to learn; however, in reality there are many differences between college and high school. In fact college and high school are two different experiences in the life of students. For example many students at colleges and University’s live on that campus or establishment, for as people in high school do not. Most students who graduate high school and go off to college choose to be there, students who are enrolled in high school have to be there, if the students in high school didn’t attend they more than likely won’t be attending college. Attendance is one of the biggest changes from making the change from high school to college, in high school kids were penalized for missing/skipping class. However in college the professor wouldn’t care if you came or not. That is a big part in the transition from grade school to the collegiate level. Most teachers in high school assign busy work that doesn’t count on your final grade. For as college you get assignments that really count towards your grade. You will very seldom get assignments that do not count like reading some pages in a text book etc. t is nice and saves a lot of time for your social life. There is also a lot of relearning in college classes, and classes can be much larger than those of high school. High school you will probably get fifteen to twenty students in each of your classes, but far as college it varies in numerous numbers you can get to fifty students in one classroom. Many people may not believe me when I tell them college students are muc h more mature than those of the high school level. People of high school always have a principle, teacher, or substitute in their ear telling them what to do, and what not to do most of the time. College is more of yourself doing what you need to do to succeed that’s why college students are more mature and organized. Not saying that every high school student’s not, but for the majority college students over rule in that area. In college you can make out your own schedule instead of waking up early every morning at 8: am or whatever time your high school classes started. It’s a big difference between high school and college. In high school you are expected to read short assignments that are then discussed, and often re-taught, in class. Far as college you are assigned substantial amounts of reading and writing which may not be directly addressed in a college class. You may study outside class as little as 0 to 2 hours a week in a high school class, and this may be mostly last-minute test preparation. College courses you need to study at least 2 to 3 hours outside of class for each hour in class to be prepared for test quizzes and exams. The transition in high school teachers and professors are also a big difference. Teachers of the high school level present material to help you understand the material in the textbook, Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give illustrations, provide background information, or discuss research about the topic you are studying. Or they may expect you to relate the classes to the textbook readings. The changes from high school to college vary in many ways some good, and some bad depending on the student.

History of the European Identity

History of the European Identity Introduction: Although the concept of collective identity is a post-colonial phenomenon, a few nations would describe themselves under a collective identity before the modern times of the 19th Century. In fact, Europe is historically unique in terms that it has been the people living in the continent of Europe who have persistently described themselves as Europeans since the 17th Century (Pagden, 2002). Indeed, European Union emerged as the most important attempt for creating a supranational entity in the Continent and the best example of a Pan-European common identity as even the words Europe and the European Union are being used as synonyms by millions of people every day. Nevertheless, an uncertainty of a common identity has always been the case for Europeans throughout history and the physical as well as social borders of Europe has never been distinctly known for centuries which are full of wars, tensions, competition and blood. Today, the same problem continues to exist and many believe that it is the major factor blocking the efforts for achieving a fully integrated Europe, as the definition and frontiers of a common European identity is still unknown. Indeed, one of the most important issues of the European integration from a socio-political perspective is the vague concept of a common European identity including prospects of European Union Citizenship. Although a common European identity had been long around for centuries, these are fairly new issues in relevance to the half a century long history of todays European Union. However, I believe how the common European identity is defined is very important for the future steps of the integration process, as nowadays the EU is undergoing transformation towards a political union with an aim to become a global actor in the international political arena. What shall be the elements of a common European identity, how shall it be formulized if it is to become a suc cessful construct which would define Europe correctly to end the efforts that lasted for such a long time? I believe a triumphant common European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities and it must be rooted to the diversity of cultures which had been created by the long history of Europe (DAppollonia, 2002). Otherwise, if it remains as a form of thin identity suggested by Habermas (2006), the problems and uncertainties of European identity as well as the poorly functioning European Union citizenship is most likely to exist in the Unions foreseeable future. In fact, a common European identity can only be successfully constructed by taking into account all the ambiguities, contradictions and developments in form of a unity in diversity principle which can be applied to the reality of Europe rather than building a shallow and artificial construct as it seems to be today. Theoretically, a united Europe in political terms is made possible if a united Europe in cultural terms is established through formulating a collective common identity which may only be conceived as a coll ection of multiple and complex values created by complicated dynamics of Europes long history. Nevertheless, a united Europe in cultural terms shall not mean a homogenous and strictly ordered European society; rather the European identity shall celebrate Europes long tradition of diversity. Another important question is how should European Union citizenship be defined and what should be the frontiers of cultural implications of such a political formulation. Considering the wide cultural diversity and long history that the individual members of the European Union had share in the European continent, a collective identity may prove to be far too complex to construct, so one may argue that a common European identity is still an illusion. Although Europeans have a successfully formed a common economic and increasingly political union, they are still far away from the desired level of cultural unity and a common identity which seems to be an alarming factor for the next stages of the European integration. Nonetheless, European Union citizenship is an area open to developments and it might be used as a critically important tool by the European Union leaders to accumulate a common European identity, only if it is formulized correctly. The critical point on the debate of Europe an Union citizenship is that the dominant Classical Model of Citizenship is based on the structures of nation-state and that is why this model cannot be applied to the European Union, as it is a whole different level of organization. On the other hand, Post-National citizenship is a modern approach to the issue of European identity and it is suitable to Europe in order to reach its goals of unification and deepening through building a stronger common identity in the 21st Century. This paper is organized in several sections. European identity from a historical perspective is analyzed in the first part; the current status of European identity and the issue of national identities in contrast to the common European identity is discussed in the following part; a new European identity and suggestions for a new formulation is given in the third part; a brief history of European Union efforts and progress on building a common identity is examined in the fourth part; and finally the aspects of European Union Citizenship is discussed in the fifth part of this paper. After all, this paper argues that a common identity in form of a collective European identity is clearly necessary for the Union at this stage of integration, and it is a crucial element for the future of the European integration project especially as our world is getting smaller as well as more fragmented simultaneously due to the complex dynamics of international relations every day at the age of globalization. European Citizenship is very much connected to the issue of European identity and it is the key to achieving such a strong common European identity when it is formulized as a Post-National phenomenon. The Europeans must derive their power from the diversity of their cultures by building a thick identity for Europe rather than a thin identity which consists of merely political rights; yet the Europeans shall not overlook the uniqueness of the Continent and the similarities they share in comparison to the rest of the world emphasized by the Unity in Diversity principle. Today, it is time for the Europeans to unite under one roof in socio-political terms, complete the long standing task of defining the boundaries of the European civilization by establishing a common and collective European identity in order to carry on the progress of the European integration project in a globalized world. Nonetheless, the question of possibilities of the Europeans to achieve such a high level of cultural as well as political unity remains a question and it is subject to a whole different level of research. However, often seen as a regional product of globalization itself, I believe the European integration project cannot progress any further without achieving a common European identity which is more critical than ever today in order to overcome the challenges of globalization in the 21st Century. Identity has always been a problematic concept because it is uncertain, fluid and highly flexible. Identity is the way to define ones self and to differentiate from the others. If taken literally, identity means equal, identical. Identity is not static but dynamic, and it can be defined in different ways in different circumstances. Identity is construct, which cannot be constructed immediately but only in time. It is not a fixed, constant and pre-given entity; while identity formation is heavily dependent on how one is perceived by the others. Identification implies belonging or membership, in turn which implies the exclusion of non-members (Bretherton Vogler,1999: 236).In other words, the sole purpose of identity is to separate self from the others in a sense. Moreover, identities are multiple in nature, or even kaleidoscopic. A person may have a single identity, but it will be made up of many levels of loyalty and identification (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 18). Meanwhile , identities change, because they are based on perceptions, which themselves change over time and environment; as it is possible to identify ones self with more than one thing at a time such as class and gender, or religion and age. Therefore there are various elements of ones identity and these various elements in an identity may well be contradictory (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 12). On the other hand, a collective identity means the attitudes, which all members of that group have in common in their thoughts and behavior; which differentiates them from the other (Munch, 2001: 137). Collective identities can provide existential meaning for people, thus they are primary means of unity in a society which give additional stability especially during periods of upheaval. Collective identities can generate a degree of continuity between individuals and their social environment, and can confer social recognition and approval (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 24). Therefore, collective identities are defined mainly by culture from a historical point of view rather than biological genes, ethnicity, nationalism or simple political rights. Finally, It they are used to construct community and feelings of cohesion and holism, a concept to give the impression that all individuals are equal in the imagined community (Strath, 2002: 387). From the perspective of political scie nce; there are two types of political identities: a civic identity and a cultural identity. The cultural definition of political identity entails a sense of belonging of an individual towards a particular group which can mostly defined by its uniform cultural or ethnic values. On the other hand, the civic definition of political identity involves with the identification of an individual mostly in form of citizenry with a political structure, which includes political institutions, rights, duties and rules (Bruter, 2004: 26). Therefore, a cultural European identity implies a reference to Europe as a continent, a civilization and a cultural entity whereas a civic European identity implies a reference to the political and institutional aspects of European Union identity largely in the form of EU citizenship. Europe has always been more of a mental construct than a geographical or social entity (Lowenthal, 2000: 314). Europe has no natural frontiers both in geographic and sociological terms. Therefore it had never been easy to acquire a singular definition of European identity because the borders of Europe had always been dynamic, and no one knew where Europe started and Europe ended (Pagden, 2002). A European identity is an abstraction and a fiction without essential proportions (Strath, 2002: 387). The concept of a European identity is an idea expressing artificial notions of unity rather than an identity of equality. In this sense, the concept of European identity is inscribed in a long history of political reflection on the concept of Europe. From the perspective of history, Europe has been united as a singular entity in various settings for a number of times in its past such as the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Empire, and arguably the Nazi Third Reich. Identity was only conceptualized as a macro-level collective phenomenon by the intellectual elites of Europe; on the other hand, for the rural masses of Europe, identity was a local term associated with the micro-level, rarely the nation and never an incident as large as the continent of Europe (Pagden, 2002). In different period of history, a common European identity had been defined on different basis. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was the main defining characteristic of European identity, whereas in modern times, the emergence of the nation state, periods of nationalism and afterwards democracy and secularism has been the common characteristic of the Europeans. Meanwhile, Christianity lost its dominance yet it arguably remained as one of the important components of European identity. Today, the European Union similar to the continent of Europe can be characterized by overlapping and unclear boundaries. From a geographical perspective, the EU has fuzzy boundaries due to the ongoing enlargement processes since the 1970s (Risse, 2003: 490). Although the geographical borders of Europe are not objectively defined particularly in the east, a state without a geographical relevance to the European continent cannot become a part of the European Union, even if it shares the EUs collective values and norms. Moreover what adds to the uncertainty of Europes borders is that boundaries of the EU may change according to different policy fields such as the Schengen includes the non EU member Norway but at the same time it does not include the EU member state the United Kingdom. Therefore, first of all the lack of solid geographical boundaries weakens efforts of the EU to be seen as a singular entity by its own people (Castano, 2004). On the contrary, diversity shall be the main c haracteristic of European identity from a cultural point of view. Religious and cultural heritages including Roman law, political democracy, parliamentary institutions, Renaissance humanism, rationalism, romanticism characterize the common identity of the Europeans (Smith, 1992). On the other hand, there are undeniable socioeconomic, cultural, national and ethnic differences among the member states of the European Union. Nevertheless, this reality is reflected in the motto of the Union which is unity in diversity from a positive point of view. A collective political culture is an important feature of the common European identity. The Greeks gave Europe the science and philosophy and the Romans gave it the idea of single continent and unity which created Europes strong cultural and political origins. The diverse and multiple cultures of the ancient Europe shared a single identity as they were brought together under a common system of Roman law. The people of Europe also shared a common language, Latin, and after Europe slowly converted to Christianity they acquired a common religion. Christianity has been a crucial part of the European identity and it played a key role to create its internal cohesion and to designate its relationship with the rest of the world. Further references are made to Europes identity besides its heritage of classical Graeco-Roman civilization and Christianity; such as the ideas of the Enlightenment, Science, Reason, Progress, Industrialization, Democracy and Individualization as the core elements of this claimed European legacy (Wintle, 1996: 13-16). Hellenism, Romanticism, welfare society and cross-fertilization of diversity can be added to this list (Garcias, 1993: 7-9), while one may argue that Europes core values include its commitments to an undivided continent, to individual freedom, and to the universalism of humanity (Havel, 1996). However, this unity never reached to the point of sharing a common European culture. A single body of citizenry or a common cultural identity could not be reached even in the peak of Europes history of unity. When the differences within Europe are emphasized, they are often in the form of unity in diversity; religious differences such as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christianity, and linguistic differences including Romance, Germanic and Slavic languages are obvious; yet they are seen as correlated, Catholic–Romance, Protestant–Germanic, Orthodox–Slavic, and essentially are underlying the major ethnic cleavages and conflicts in the history of Europe. Anthony Smith is among the scholars who are skeptical of the possibility of a common European identity because they could not find a common culture across the European continent, and even more critically they claim that Europe lacks of a shared set of myths, experience and symbols; these elements which they find crucial to create post-national identity (Smith, 1992: 72-73). Furthermore, Europe lacks of a shared historical and cultural content as which is the largest source of division among Europeans. Other obstacles to a common European identity include linguistic diversity and its tripartite religious division. In fact, a major difference among EU countries is the persistence of linguistic diversity, even though in practical level English has become the dominant language in Europe. Language does not only have an instrumental but also an emotional dimension and peoples sense of nationality is often tied up with their mother tongue (Guibernau, 2001: 192). On the other side of the debate, scholars such as Michael Wintle are more optimistic on the possibility of creating a European identity. Indeed, the existence of the EU identity in the form of converging education standards, educational exchanges, and the organization of a European civil society is already established in most parts of Europe. Wintle argues that a European identity was previously already created during the high Middle Age (Wintle, 1996: 19-22), and it can be easily established today considering the forces of globalization. For now, the major success of the EU in fostering its identity has been limited with the increasing free movement of people across European borders, which has accelerated since the 1985 and formalized in 1990 Schengen accords parallelly correlated with the rising impact of globalization. Increased interaction among peoples of Europe would also encourage cultural exchanges and this could foster a stronger sense of a shared community. Education and hi gh culture shall play a key role in European Unions cultural policy, because these two factors have an important effect on the creation of the EU identity. Education is obviously one of the crucial dimensions in any attempt to develop the future identity of the EU or at least more understanding and convergence among Europeans; high culture unites Europeans against the low culture which separates them. After all, the development of the EU identity will be the outcome of a long process in which bottom-up as well as top-down initiatives are likely to be employed (Guibernau, 2001: 183-184). The idea of Europe as well as the identity of Europeans are constructed over time with processes of contention and bargaining. Gerard Delanty argues that a European Culture is not an entity with cohesion and fixed boundaries, but a floppy concept, with no clear borders and with internal opposition and contradictions, discursively shaped in contentious social bargaining processes (Delanty, 1995; 1999). In other words, the images of Europe do not exist as a natural phenomenon but are discursively shaped by internal as well as external forces (Strath, 2002). A basic step in the process of creating a collective identity is to defining itself in relation to the other. Central to ones identifications are images of others. Likewise any identity, European identity necessarily contains a demarcation from the non-European. This is natural to all distinctions, and they are both inclusive and exclusive. The boundaries of Europe can only be drawn and the identity of Europe can only be realized in the mirror of others. Indeed, Europe does not exist without non-Europe and that non-Europe does not exist without Europe. Many centuries ago, the Europeans defined people living in the north as uncivilized and people living in the south as oriental (Pagden, 2002). Furthermore, the Greeks labeled the non-Greek speaking people as barbarians, even if that word would surely have a different meaning by that time. In nearer times, although the Russians shared many features with a European society including the same religion, it could not reach the formal limits of a Romanized civilization thus perceived as a barbaric empire or the orient, depending on the time. Moreover, European belief of its superiority relied on the common features of European societies such as science and liberal arts. Thus the rest of the world could only be portrayed as actors in relation to Europe, in other words always remained as the other. According to Delanty, Europe has been always invented and reinvented on the basis of division and strategy for the construction of difference from the other starting from Christian identity against Islam in the Middle-Ages, after that in the colonial politics to the New World, and to the ethnic minorities in the contemporary European Union (Delanty, 1995). Therefore, historical experience suggests that the new European identity may be constructed on the other which may be the United States, the East, Islam or the European past itself. Samuel Huntington has argued that religion provides the best common means of historically distinguishing between Europeans and the other, especially in terms of the confrontation between the Judeo-Christian tradition and Islam (Huntington, 1996). However, at the same time, the separation between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western variations of Christianity has, for a long time, been crucial in establishing a division between Western and Eastern E urope; partially reinforced in the Cold War, divisions between Catholicism and Protestantism and separation between North and South (Guibernau, 2001). Today, the European Union is frequently argued to be a fortress for the other and the EU is often referred to as a Christian Club, because historically all states on the continent of Europe had Christian societies. The Ottoman Empire was the greatest enemy of European states as well as Christianity in the Middle Ages; which made Islam the primary charactersitic of the other for Europeans from the perspective of history. Today, the accession dialogues of Turkey into the European Union raise wide public opposition in Europe while the European Union officials make constant efforts to prove their allegiance to non-religious, non-ethnic but solely liberal and non discriminatory Copenhagen Criteria independent from historical aspects of the other which has actually been extensively used to define the European identity. Finally, Europe is unique because it has possessed an identity as a cultural space which gave birth to political unions throughout its history. However, it has never succeed ed to constitute a single nation-state or a unified ethnic group. Although the European Union with its single currency and supranational political and legal institutions changed these historical facts to an extent, it is only possible with the means of a common European identity which will carry Europe to the next stage of integration which it always aimed but failed to achieve during its long history. Nevertheless, history has already proved that it will surely be hard to overcome uncertainties of a common European identity at the level of the masses. Over the past millennium, the advancements of European civilization gave rise to the elites living on the continent of Europe who feel increasingly attached to Europe as a whole and shared dreams of a united continent. However, Europe as a realm sharing a common history as well as a common destiny has been largely abandoned by fixed prejudices on often nationalistic and ethnic grounds. National interests and biases at local, national, and global levels have prevented the masses of European people from viewing themselves collectively (Lowenthal, 2000: 315). However, today, forces of globalization, advancements in communications technologies and media transmission of everyday popular culture now promotes the sense of being European among larger segments of society other than the European elites. Although a truly trans-European society is still in its infancy, many of its essential elements are already in place this time largely due to the forces of globalization. Most European states a re increasingly democratic in reality; their economies are for the most part market driven; their popular culture grows more homogeneous as communication technologies expand under the forces of globalization in the 21st Century (Waterman, 1999: 23). Therefore, Europe is at the stage of defining its identity today; however which criteria are being deployed to define Europe, Europeans, Europeanness and their respective boundaries is critically important. A common European identity must be constructed by defining and understanding the historical roots of outstanding features of the European society in relation to the notion of citizenship, which will be discussed in depth in the following parts; developed in the past over the land of Europe. For sure, Europe is being redefined as a result of a complex set of processes, but an important question is what sort of Europe is emerging from them? There is certainly a structured symmetry in the perception of the European Union as the coincidence of a homogenized socio-political space, a unified regulatory space of an EU super-state, a singular European civil society surpassing existing national and regional differences in culture and identity (Hudson, 2000). In some respects there has been progress towards such an ideal of European civil society. For example, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights have had an important role in defining acceptable standards across Europe. The issue of European identity and the criteria used to denote Europeans is clearly a critical one for the political and social integrity for the European Union. Europe will exist as an unquestionable political community only when European identity permeates peoples lives and daily existence (Demos 1998). Identity is a key issue which is continuously changing and thats the reason why it is so hard to define especially in a world of f ast changes in the 21st Centurys globalization. The member states of todays enlarged EU have become multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies with various structural phenomenon ranging from the immigrant community of France to Post-Communist yet ethnic communities of the Central and Eastern European states. As the EU expanded eastwards in the last two rounds of enlargements, the issue of defining a European identity became even more critical for sake of integrity and stability of the Union. One conception of a singular European identity would see it constructed through a process similar to that involved in the creation of national identities in the 19th and the 20th Centuries. Ironically, while the aim was to create those national identities in the past, the challenge that Europeans face today would be to transcend them for the creation of Europeannes. However, the current trends at local European level are quite different from the interests of Europeanists at the supranational level. There are pressures from nation states and their citizens to resist any further transfer of national sovereignty as well as erosion of national identity (Hudson, 2000). In fact, the success of extreme right wing political parties in important European countries such as Austria and France may be seen as a sign of the reappearance of dangerous nationalist and racist ambitions which the peoples of Europe have most probably experienced more than any other continent in the world history. Eric Hobsbawm has proclaimed that nationalism is dead (Hobsbawm, 1990). On the contrary, Llobera argues that national identities are certainly not eternal, but the time of their demise has not yet arrived (Llobera, 2003). In fact, national identities are still dominant in Europe. Recent surveys show that, people in Europe prefer maintaining their national identity and sovereignty, but increasing number of people have accepted European identity in addition to their national identities. Therefore, European nationalism is another important component of a common European identity and it has been a major ideological tool for unifying nation states as well as the Europeans as a whole throughout Europes history. To start with, the European Union, with its both intergovernmental and supranational characteristics represents a far different type of state-organization than a classical nation state. The main distinguishing characteristics of the EU from the nation-state are the absence of a shar ed language, a uniform media, common education system and a central state structure (Shore, 2000: 64). Furthermore, the powers of the EU rely on the sharing of sovereignty of its member states. European unification is a progressive method of limiting individual nation states to practice any kind of harmful nationalism and this is makes up an important part of the European identity. At this point, nationalist Euroskeptics may argue that building a common Europe and an identity for it means destroying nations. However, a general feeling of Europeanness and loyalty to Europe in a cultural sense, does not need to conflict with national identities (Andreani, 1999). A successful construct of European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities created within time. The European states have not always been nationalist through Europes long history. The definition of nationalism counts on the idea of nation and territory; while the definition of a European nationalism depends on the historical and ideological evolution of the European nation states and aspirations for a post-national Europe. In fact, the aspirations that underlie in the roots of the foundation of the European Union are parallel to European cosmopolitanism in the 18th and the 19th centuries. From the Enlightenment to the beginning of the ECSC after the Second World War; European nationalism found two separate meanings: one as an antinational Pan-European idea of a new united Europe that limits the sovereignty of the nation states, and the other as a pro-national ideology to create or legitimate new nation states (DAppollonia, 2002). Historically, cosmopolitanism reflected intentions for a European unity, and gave rise to anti-national European nationalism. European nationalism was characterized by the will to protect the European interests and its supremacy from non-Europeans as well as protecting Europe from itself by creating a federation. It can be argued that economic development, commercial prosperity, intellectual-supremacy and military power were the factors making Europe homogeneous and created a united European identity beyond national borders to an extent. Some intellectuals as well as economists believe that the nation state is an outdated political and economic entity, and nationalism is merely an expression of old prejudiced and narrow-minded ideas. European nationalism defined itself similar to the nation state through common identity and culture, territory, historical memory building, and economic and political objectives to defend self-interests. The defensive conception of European nationalism o n the other hand had always been a driving factor, yet the pro-nationalist ideologies had been the major cause underlying the wars of modern times. As Europe was divided into aggressive nation states, the idea of Europe had increasingly converged. Although the wars were dividing factors themselves, their interpretations by the Europeanists became powerful unifying factors for Europe. The irony of European nationalism is that it depends on the memory of events that divided rather than united the continent (DAppollonia, 2002). Although it used the same definitions of nation and Europe with the anti-national European nationalism from time to time, it remained limited to the strict logic of the national framework. Transnational solidarities were necessity to establish European unity under either a supranational or an intergovernmental structure. For some intellectuals, European nationalism was the only way to protect the autonomy of nations and the liberty of the individuals. Conceptualizing of the European Union citizenship and creation of the Committee of the Regions in the EU were seen as efforts of the Pro-national European nationalists. These forms of European nationalism rejected the form of narrow nationalism while it showed ambitions to reinforce the intermediary actions between state and individual, between the individual, the market the centralizati

Pythagoras Approach To Dualism

Pythagoras Approach To Dualism Dualism was early approached by Pythagoras in 6th Century B.C.E. Pythagoras believe on transmigration of soul-means that when a person died, the soul is immortal and bound to divide soul. However, Pythagorass theory is not likely famous during that time. Later, Plato shows the disjunctive between mind and body. Plato thinks that body is like a prison used to trap mind/soul. After death, the body decomposes because it was made of material while soul/mind is immortal. This shows that body and mind is two separated things. Dualism that famously used nowadays came from the famous philosopher and mathematician, Rene Descartes. It is also known as the beginning of modern philosophy. Rene introduced two main subjects for dualism which are substance and property. In order to understand dualism, several argument were rised.One particular argument is dualistic interactionism which known as common sense. Descartes stated the point of interaction is something connected mind/soul to body is at pineal gland of brain.However,the soul is not likely trap at pineal gland, it only act as point of interaction. Mind is real but it is different from brain. The brain is the major locus for the mind or consciousness of the soul, yet mind or consciousness is distributed throughout the whole body. But the function of pineal gland as point of interaction has been proved as wrong by scientifically method. Pineal gland function to secrete serotonin derivative melatonin(hormone use to modulate sleep and wake patterns and seasonal function).There are no evidence to associate mind/soul to body by using pineal gland. This is making interactionism as a weak argument to defend dualism. Another argument is mind is the immortal soul. Many religions like Islam and Christian teach that soul is different from our body. When we died ,the soul is immortal and will go to heaven or hell. This argument is similar to Platos approach. Thats why platonic dualism is well accepted in Christian .The third argument is ,if dualism is false, we can reduce mind/mental states to physical matter or vice versa, or to neutral third substance.However,it was impossible to change your mental states to matter. For example if we feel anger towards someone, can you made your feeling into concrete object? Of course not. Thats why this argument is commonly used to convince people about dualism.However,this argument can be critics for the lackness of imagination. In imagination we think about something then we made it into some physical things. The last argument is mental states(mind) and physical(body)have different and irreconcilable properties. First point for this judgment is mental states cannot be publically observable. For example ,I fall from stairs and hurt my head. We can see the effect of fall because the bump in my head but you cannot feel the pain I suffered. Thats why mental states are private unlike physical things such as fireworks and cannot be publically observable. Next is mental states is not spatially located .Many experiment been conducted but scientist still cannot proved where mind located ,either inside or outside of the brain. Pretending that you are feeling happy. Does you feel happy in your head or the happiness is spread throughout your body?so,where exactly your mind? Third point is mental states does not have properties as physical. As example our body has mass and can do physical motion. We cannot weigh a thought and we cannot measure how far our feeling can go. Some people stated that they h ave depthless of feeling but, how can they measure the depthness?Fourth,mental states have subjective properties(Qualia)that physical do not have. Qualia is raw feels .It is a subjective or qualitative properties of our experience. It is like how to know what is red color and what is red colour . We also need this Qualia to differentiate musical notes heard from piano or violin .Therefore, is impossible to reduced Qualia into physical properties.So there are at least four major differences between the mental and the physical, and the reason why we cannot reduce the mental to the physical. This is a good argument to show dualism as evidence of mind/body problem. In this philosophy of mind, dualism is different kinds of mental events and physical events in a set of beginning of belief in which they were claimed. Instead of that, the dualist in the philosophy of mind had identified the big difference between mind and matter. They all disagree that the mind and brain are same. While others deny that the mind is the only one product of the brain. The concept of this dualism is that our mind is more than our brain. It can contain everything in our surrounding. This concept tells us that our mind has a non-material which is spiritual dimension that includes consciousness and possibly motivated to explore surrounding. In order to understand this concept, we have to consider ourselves first as a container which is including our physical body and physical brain together with a separate non-physical mind, spirit, soul, motivation and so on. The mind, spirit, or soul is considered the conscious part that manifests itself through the brain. In a similar way where the picture and sound waves manifest themselves through a television set. These waves of picture and sound are also known as no -material just like the mind, spirit, or soul. There are many types of dualism that are compared based on the way mind and matters are thought to each other together with its own functionality. Thus, this dualism can be divided into two which is substance and property dualist. Substance dualists typically argue that there are difference matters in our mind and body where the mind is a thinking thing is less exposed to the physical of an object. The physical objects are including size, shape, location, volume, speed and direction in movement and so on. However, substance dualists fall into several groups depending on how they think the connection of mind and body are related. For instances, interactionists believe that minds and bodies can affect to each other. Occasionalists and parallelists, generally motivated by a curiosity concern of physical science. But this is denied because all apparent interaction to God is ultimately attributing.Epiphenomenalists offer a compromise theory, asserting that bodily events can have mental events as effects at the same time denying that the reverse is true. This can be done by our thought experience without following the science law. The occasionalism and parallelism are another two types of substance dualist. These th eories are largely preserved or are taken from the original of history. The occasionalist mentioned that there are no interaction between mind and body mind. For example, we put our hand above the hot kettle then the hot and uncomfortable sensation occurs. Malebranche, an occassionalists assert that the sensation is caused by God where God create appropriate experiences and feeling by using the occasion of environmental happenings. Furthermore, according to the parallelist, our mental and physical histories are coordinated so that mental events appear to cause physical events (and vice versa) by feature of their temporal joining, but there are no interaction between mind and body than two clocks that are synchronized so that the one chimes when hands of the other point out the new hour. Since this series of harmonies impossible is due to mere accident, so it is advanced in explanation of religion. In creation God does not appeared continuously, just like the occasionalist had mentioned, but it create a pre-established harmony which is we programmed ourselves that maximally removes the need for future impact. Next, another dualism is property dualism which is that mental states are misshape attributes of brain states and it holds that non-physical properties of physical substances are mental phenomena. Consciousness is the most widely known as a sample of a physical substance which is non-physical. However, other dualists hold that mental states, characteristic and episodes are brain states, even the states cannot be conceptualized in exactly the same way without loss of meaning. According to epiphenomenalism, mental events can build bodily events or processes, but bodily events or processes cannot caused by mental phenomena (McLaughlin, p. 277) whether an epiphenomenalist thinks these mental epiphenomena are the body properties or properties of a non-physical mental storage determines whether property or substance dualist is the epiphenomenalist. They are many psychology principles that had been discuss today. For example, functionalism, dualism, mongolism. All this principle had their own explanations and their own believe about the life and the things that related to life. But, for my group opinion, the most suitable and the nearest principle that can get along with life. Human body actually had two things, which is body and mind. These two things react with each other simultaneously to create the most complicated and perfect things, that is life to run smoothly. Dualism can be prove to be nearly correct because it has implications that related to life after death issues. This is because, after we die, we will going to had our life after death, and many religions in this world was practicing the same things. After we die, our soul will separated from our body, and will live the life after the death. So, the life after death is based on judgment on how we operate or run our life before. Besides that, nobody in this world can retain or can resist death. Everybody will die, and nobody had the immortal. So, this prove that dualism concept was the most or nearly precise principle that can be related to life. Apart from that, human rationality in the terms of thinking was also an implication that can be used to prove that dualism principle was true. Physical forces was something that play an importance role in peoples thought judgment. If there is no soul, instead, there is only had body, they will be no believe or not believe for something that is not real-abstract. For example, the galaxy had seven layers, and god is actually exist . On the other hand, if our body had only self-refuting left, there will be no room for rational beliefs. British study had published that there is evidence that consciousness continues after a persons brain stopped. The most shocking prove was that actually death support the dualism . The brain still run the function of lucid thought with formation and reasoning of memory. Besides, there are also patience that admit that they had gain information that they had never knew it before. Brain was also being proved that had no place where electric stimulation can cause a person to believe or decide. This was proved by doing interviewed to sixty three heart attack victims who were declared death. Roger Sperry and his team had studied difference between right and left hemisphere of the brain, and they had found that mind had causal power independent of the brain activities. This is why, materialism was concluded to be false by Sperry. Actually, thought had two components, which is mind and brain. This can be said to be true because thoughts can be true or false, however, brain states itself cannot be true or false. So, how on earth can we think in our everyday life about right or wrong? This can be the obvious prove to prove that dualism was the most precise principle exist-yet. Besides that, by measuring brain waves, nobody can tell we what we are thinking. Instead, we must been ask about what had been thinking first, then everybody will knows. That is why the dualism principle was chosen to be most or nearest precise principle that can be adapt to our life as it had two component that work and react simultaneously to complete the cycle that we called life and it was also true to be said that life or mind body actually had two component, that is body and soul.

Let Us Grieve for the Women of Salem Essay -- Arthur Millers The Cruci

Featured in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a powerful dynamic between the levels of a maintained social hierarchy. There are shifts in the social hierarchy in the town of Salem even though the social hierarchy has been maintained and has existed for a long length of time. The attempts on this maintained structure are met with powerful retaliations that draw in all the members of the town of Salem, resulting in the deaths of many woman and men in the town. The Crucible reflects on the historical context of this struggle and shows what would happen if the status quo were changed. The play presents what people would do in order to hold on to the power that they are slowly losing through false pretense. The Salem witch trails were a society’s way of attempting to maintain a structure they are used to, using hysteria to help them grasp onto a dying conscience they once had and to explain what could not be explained. Today, the issues that are presented in this play, the so cial hierarchy and what is done to maintain it, still exist. The University of Toronto – Scarborough Campus’s theatre company performed The Crucible. The production followed Arthur Miller’s play showing the audience the fear and hysteria that ran through Salem during the witch trails. The importance of religion was evident just as the play opens up to hearing a prayer being spoken. Themes of paranoia, religion, and McCarthyism were present throughout the presentation. The overall acting and set provided the audience with a more intimate viewing of what happened throughout the Salem witch trails. The Crucible follows the events that occurred before and during the Salem Witch Trials. John Proctor, the protagonist of the play has to fight the hysteria that has t... ...Social welfare policy from colonial times to the present. South End Press, 1996. Web. 3. Apr. 2014. Jenrette, Jerra, et al. "Teaching the Salem witch trials through place and time." Historical Journal of Massachusetts 40.1-2 (2012): 212+. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. Kocić, Ana. "Salem Witch Craft Trials: The Perception of Women in History, Literature and Culture." Facta Universitatis 3.1 (2010): 17. Print. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. N.p., 1953. Print. Miller, Arthur. "Why I Wrote The Crucible: An Artist's Answer to Politics." The New Yorker27 Oct. 1996: n. pag. Print. The Crucible. By Miller. Dir. Paula Sperdakos. Leigha Lee Browne Theatre, UTSC. Friday, March 21, 2014. Performance. Schissel, Wendy. "Re(dis)covering the Witches in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible: A Feminist Reading." Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations (2008): 55-67. Print.

Ealry Film :: essays papers

Ealry Film Being able to capture motion has occupied the human psyche sine primitive times. This is evident through the Lascaux cave paintings which depict buffalo with multiple legs in a attempt to represent the animal running. Other simple innovations also led to the motion picture, these ‘optical toys’ demonstrated the eye’s persistence of vision. These ‘toys’ grew more advanced, but lifelike motion could not be achieved until the photographic process was nearly perfected. In the 1870’s Eadweard Muybridge was successful in capturing the complete motion of a horse galloping. This was the first step in bringing pictures to life. The next invention came from a Rev. Hannibal Goodwin, who devised a thin, flexible, plastic base he called celluloid, on which could be put photosensitive material. George Eastman was the first to market this celluloid film, and in 1890 Thomas Edison and William Dicksom successfully tested the Kinescope. The first motion picture captured and copyrighted on this Kinescope was titled â€Å"The Sneeze†, which is simply a man sneezing. Edison continued to make short films in his studio, nicknamed the Black Maria. His shorts usually were comprised of people performing vaudeville acts as a form of sideshow attraction. These films would be viewed in Kinescope parlors, from large wooden boxes with a eyepiece on top. On the other side of the Atlantic, in France, the Lumieres brothers improve on Edisons Kinescope, and create the Cinematograph, a smaller more portable camera, that can film and view motion pictures. With this new Cinematograph, the Lumieres brothers were able to film and then project the product for an audience. They filmed what was around them, daily life for upper-middle class Europeans, their first was a whole group of people leaving a factory at the end of a work day. Simple, but for its time it was amazing, seeing live people walking around and moving just as they normally would, but on a big screen! These types of films became the Lumieres trademark, slice of life documentary work that would be shown in front of audiences. One of the Lumieres films: Arrival of a Train in the Cioat Station, was a train coming straight for the camera on an angle, that terrified the viewers. Edison continued to make films, under his own, controlled conditions. Although both Edison and the Lumieres, saw the motion picture as nothing more than a sideshow act and both filmed very documentary-esque work, each had their own criteria for filming.

Sutra for Long Life Essay -- Sutra, Mahayana, Religion

After closer study of the Sutra for Long Life and the World Universe as a Sutra it seems evident that, although Mahayana Buddhism is based on the teachings of the traditional Pali Canon, it places a larger emphasizes on philosophical inquires; while still managing to create a more accessible Buddhism for all. In their own way both Sutras highlight the fact that Mahayana Buddhism is more lay people friendly than the traditional Pali Canon, while still maintaining an important role for monks and nuns. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is presented in the â€Å"Whole Universe Sutra†. According to the Sutra, all beings possess the knowledge and enlightenment of Buddhahood within themselves. This pure core is simply buried beneath or wrapped in the deluded minds of the imperfect being (107-World). In other words, every being is capable of reaching Buddhahood as the truth resides within each individual, however, it can only be reached when â€Å"they abandon their deluded, contrary views†. It is only then that the â€Å"unimpeded knowledge† will arise within them (107,108-World). The sutras also make clear the idea of the Bodhisattva, those who have reached awakening and refrain from entering Nirvana in order to help others along the path. For example, the TathÄ gata is described as a person with â€Å"penetrating wisdom, and was endowed with a perfectly pure divine eye† (109). The TathÄ gata has already found the knowledge and truth within him and is also able to see that the same wisdom is present within every being. He finds it strange that every being cannot see the truth within, and therefore, takes it upon himself to â€Å"teach these beings so that they may fully awaken within the Noble path† (109-world). This is known as the â€Å"tenth intuition o... ...tiness, the Mahayana tradition as a whole is more philosophical than the Pali canons. The Mahayana introduces the idea of celestial Bodhisattvas, who are able to do extraordinary things. In the Sutra for Long Life, Buddhas become a teacher of â€Å"gods and humans† while living in a realm in between nirvana and samsara: the Buddha-fields (424-425-long life). Mahayana Buddhism stretches the notion of traditionally accepted reality. It is for this reason that the â€Å"Whole Universe Sutra† presents the knowledge of Buddhahood as the core within a deluded being (109-world). In other instances it is compared to as a womb wrapped inside defilements that must be ripped open. The Pali Canons may be a fundamental part of Mahayana Buddhism, but Mahayana sutras go a step further in asking philosophical questions and re-interpreting teachings and ideas present within the tradition.

Acc 490 Week 4 Individual Assignment

The trends show a significant increase in the inventory turn days, an increase in the gross margin for the best result for the four year period, and an improved collection time. c. 7. 84 days Tolerable misstatement ? cogs x 365 = 45 ? 1859 x 365 = 7. 84 d. 20Ãâ€"5 has significant changes with the combined decrease to purchases with an increase in the gross margin which increased by 52. 4%. Inventory turn days increased to 199 days from 183 days. When you combine this result with the expectation range of 7. 4 days, the result is significant and shows what could be a potential overstatement of inventory from a possible error in calculations or fraudulent financial reporting. 10-32 a. a. Control Environment. b. Control activities: Controls over management discretion in financial reporting. c. Control activities: Information processing controls: Computer general controls. d. Monitoring. e. Risk Assessment. f. Control Environment. g. Control activities: Information processing controls: C omputer general controls. h. Control activities: Information processing controls: Computer application controls. i. Control activities: Performance reviews. j. Control activities: Information processing controls: Computer application controls. k. Monitoring. l. Information and communication. m. Risk assessment. n. Control activities: Information processing controls: Controls over the financial reporting process. b. a. Common impact. b. Valuation or Allocation c. All assertions d. Completeness, Existence or occurrence. e. Common impact f. All assertions g. All any assertion . Completeness i. Valuation or Allocation, Completeness, Existence or occurrence j. Existence or occurrence k. Existence or occurrence l. All assertions m. All assertions n. All assertions 11-21 a. The reasons an auditor may assess control risk at the maximum level for one or more assertions embodied in an account balance include controls that are unlikely to relate to an assertion, controls are unlikely to be effective, and it would not be ef ficient for the auditor to evaluate the effectiveness of the controls of the entity. b. In order for an auditor to support assessing control risk at less than the maximum level when the auditor has determined that the controls have been placed into operation include a few issues. One is that the auditor needs to identify the specific controls that will affect specific financial statement assertions. Another involves the auditor performing tests of controls in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan and operation of said controls that prevent or detect any misstatements of material of financial statement assertions. The final issue is that the auditor needs to determine the assessed level of control risk. c. There are things that an auditor needs to consider when seeking a further reduction in the planned assessed level of control risk including if additional tests of controls will give additional needed evidence, and if it will be effective to the additional tests of controls. d. The auditor’s documentation requirements concerning an entity’s system of internal controls along with assessing the level of control risk include having the auditor document the basic requirements involving the systems of internal controls of the entity and assessing their levels of control risks. An auditor also needs to document the basic understanding of the risk assessment along with the control environment, monitoring, and information and communication. An auditor is also required to document the assessment of the level of control risk for all significant financial statement assertions along with the control risk that is assessed at the maximum level. Documentation of the workplace needs to include a description of the tests of controls that the auditor has completed, the results obtained from those findings with the deficiencies noted, the evaluation of the auditor as to the effectiveness of the controls, and the effect on the timing, nature, and extent of the substantive audit procedures.