Different causes for leg pain in children

There are many different causes and diagnoses for leg pain in children.   Developmental stage or age groups   many of these causes.   Some, however, can occur at any age.4The numerous causes of leg pain in children include Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, sports injuries, toddler’s fractures, Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis(here forward referred to in the medical jargon of SCFE), and leg length differences. 4 Related article: Identify Circumstances When Children and Young People Might Require Urgent Medical AttentionLegg-Calve-Perthes is also referred to as Legg-Perthes, here forward to be referred to as LCP.   LCP is rare, and in the United States only occurs at the ratio of 1:1200 children under the age of 15.  Ã‚   The developmental stage when LCP becomes clinically evident is between the ages of 3-12 years of age, with 7 yrs being the median age.1   However, other sources site the specified age range as between 4-8 years, which actually is a representation of the median 7 years stated earlier. 3LCP is characterized not just by developmental age, but by sex, familial, and racial factors as well.   Most LCP patients are Caucasian; in addition, most have a parent or close relative who suffered from the disease as well.1   Males are affected 4-5 times more frequently than females, but this is not a sex-linked trait.   A genetic factor is implied, but with no identifiable gene as of yet.1LCP is defined â€Å"as the idiopathic avascular osteonecrosis of the capital femoral epiphysis of the femoral head.† 1What happens in the case of LCP is this:   due to unknown etiology, the head of the femur, which contains the epiphysis and epiphysial plate, becomes necrotic.   Necrosis, meaning dead or dying tissue, in this case means that no further bone growth can occur, owing to the fact that blood supply has been cut off. 3,4Since new bone cells are produced primarily at the epiphysial plate, no bone growth in the affected leg means that, until treated, it will become shorter than the unaffected leg.  Ã‚   Soon afterward, a noticeable limp occurs due to pain and compensation for the self same pain.   Children suffering from LCP may also have pain in the groin, knee, and thigh as well. 1,2,4Necrosis in the femoral head leads to inflammation, thus being the initial cause of pain.   Activity, especially excessive hip-leg activity such as running or ju mping, will irritate the femoral head and increase the pain level.   The pain can be relieved or lessened by rest. 4X-ray films arrive at definitive diagnosis, but doctors suspecting the problem will look for clinical signs that LCP is present.   These clinical signs include difficulty rotating the knee.   If LCP has existed for some time and gone undiagnosed, other clinical signs will be indicative of its presence, such as atrophy of the buttocks, calf, or thigh muscle.1, 2Those afflicted with LCP receive a myriad of treatments. The treatment plan is most likely individualized for each child depending on the severity of pain, atrophy, and gait difficulties.The treatments used most commonly are â€Å"leg exercises, crutches, casts, bracing, and occasionally traction and surgery.   With proper treatment, the bone will grow back and the child will be able to walk normally without pain.† 4Toddler’s fractures can occur quite easily with a simple fall.   Signs to look for are irritability of the child, persistent complaints of pain, and refusal to walk. These should be relied on heavily as a parent’s diagnosis of a problem, for inflammation and redness are minor at the site above the break. 4The bone fractured in these cases is typically the tibia.   The above-mentioned symptoms warrant immediate medical attention and typically reflect that a fracture has occurred if the child is between 2-4 years old. 4Sports injuries can occur at any age of the active child.   When a sports injury has occurred, pain and limping may result due to , i.e., ankle and knee sprains, or muscle strains.   However, if limping persists after a few days of rest, or if the child refuses to bear weight on the leg,   immediate medical attention is warranted. 4Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis, with the medical acronym of SCFE, â€Å"is a common hip disorder in overweight adolescents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚   4  The symptoms resulting from the slipped epiphysis are severe pain occurring in the hip and knee.   This, in turn, results in limited movment of the affected hip, and limping.   Diagnosis is by x-ray. 4Treatments would include pain relief as prescribed by the doctor; a usual program of alternating Tylenol and Ibuprophen might be prescribed.   Included in the treatment plan would be immediate counseling of the family and adolescent on proper diet, and allowable exercise considering the ailment.Sickle Cell Disease(SCD) is the severest form of the sickling syndromes; this is because it is homozygous recessive.   In other words, the child carries both recessive alleles on the chromosome.   In all sickling syndromes, the problem results from the genetic error of the red blood cell design.   In the United States, it is estimated that 1:12 Blacks   are carriers of the sickle cell trait, and 1:65 develop sickle cell anemia.   Though predominantly affecting Blacks in the U.S., other   races are susceptible as well:   peo ple from the Mediterranean, India, Asia-Minor, and the Caribbean.Rather than the normal shape of RBC’s, the genetic disorder causes sickle-shaped cells that do not allow oxygen to attach to the protein heme in an effective manner.   This reduces oxygen available in the blood.5The prognosis for children with SCD is poor, in that death occurs during the middle-aged years.   â€Å"Anemia usually is severe, chronic and hemolytic.† 5  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both acute and chronic exacerbations will occur, the frequency of which is most likely tied to emotional and environmental factors.   These environmental factors include emotional upset, situations that lead to dehydration, change of oxygen tension in the body(by infection, which is common, i.e.,), and weather changes – in particular cold.   Environmental factors that can be eliminated altogether to help reduce the recurrence or severity of attacks are alcohol and tobacco. 5The worst-case scenario, which does occur wi th these patients, is vaso-occlusive episodes. In these episodes, circulation is greatly hampered, resulting in pain concentrated in areas of localized necrotizing bone marrow, i.e., the sternum, ribs, long-bones, spine and pelvis.   The occlusion is from clumped, sickle cells that cannot flow out of the area. 5No specific therapy exists for SCD.   However, depending on the type of crisis, be it the need to lower Hb S during an infarction, too little oxygen and RBC’s, severe dehydration, etc., transfusion is a frequent treatment – usually packed red blood cells are the blood component used. 5â€Å"Transial Synovitis of the hip is a cause of hip pain in children.† 7   Ã‚  The adjective ‘transial’ is used because the condition does not last long – approximately a week.   Symptoms of pain occur in one hip, but pain may also be felt in the medial aspect of the knee and thigh.   The pain occurs in the tissue surrounding the hip, not in t he bones themselves.   7The pain increases with different rates in children; some are in the doctor’s office within 1-3 days of onset, some a few days later as the pain peaks.   The child may have a limp, or have trouble standing and walking by the time he’s seen.   Once again, boys are affected more than girls.   The age range affected is from 3-10 years of age. 7Treatment is bed rest for 3-4 days and use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for pain relief, reduction of inflammation and swelling.   The child returns to normal after this time period.   If a temperature is present, the doctor may order x-rays and blood tests to rule out other hip conditions.7Leg Length Differences.   The name is self-explanatory.   â€Å"Some children are either born with or develop a difference in the length of the bones in their legs.† 4     Ã‚  No etiology is given for either scenario, and both situations receive the same set of treatment choices.   Diff erences in leg length between 0-2cm require no treatment most of the time, but shoe lifts may be used.   If the length difference is between 5-15cm, surgery to lengthen one leg or to shorten the other is necessary, unless a prosthesis is chosen for the shorter limb. 4In summary, there are many conditions and diseases that add to the suffering and cause of leg pain in children.   The hip disorders and diseases discussed that are accompanied by knee and/or thigh pain, can be misdiagnosed as injuries originating in the knee, other than compensational pain as the symptoms really are.   Though many affect children at different stages of life and bear different severity of diagnosis and prognosis, all are significant.BIBLIOGRAPHYwww.mrsci.com/Orthopedics/Perthes_disease.php, 10/26-27/06www.hopkinsmedicine.org/orthopedicsurgery/perthes.html, 10/26-27/06Hall & Brody:   Therapeutic Exercise:   Moving Toward Function, 2nd Editionc 2005, Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins.www.keepkids healthy.com/symptoms/legpainlimping.html, 10/26-27/06Phipps, Cassmeyer, Sands, Lehman, Medical-Surgical Nursing,Concepts and Clinical Practice, c 2005, Mosby.Shiel, Jr., William C., MD,www.medicinenet.com/ankylosing_spondylitis/article.html, 10/26-27/06www.familydoctor.org/181.xml, 10/26/06DIFFERENT CAUSES FOR LEG PAIN  IN CHILDREN2006

Impact Of Technology Medical Field Health And Social Care Essay

Medical engineering in a wide manner has frequently been used to mention to the equipments, processs, and procedures by which medical services are delivered. This encompasses disease diagnosing, monitoring of disease conditions and intervention, with an purpose of bettering the quality of health care delivered and patient results, by timely diagnosing, efficient intervention and usage of less invasive sawboness. Healthcare expenditures remain an of import portion of national merchandises of developed states. Medical practicians are faced with high outlooks on healthcare public presentation among citizens due to additions awareness on wellness related jobs, high life anticipation and emphases put on care of high quality of medical services. The high incidences of disease complications and chronic conditions due to the alterations of life styles have fueled the medical field the recent health care inventions. These outlooks propel the field to computing machine applications. Technologi cal progresss have intensified since the 1980s. This has revolutionized the medical field. The rate of alteration is that the medical professionals are holding a job get bying with the alteration. This alteration has come in signifier of practical physicians, computing machine aided operations, usage of root cells, testing engineerings, Computerized Tomography scanner, Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique, usage of Ultra sound, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, usage of Capsule Endoscopy, Robotic Surgical System, Circulatory aid devices and biomedical technology. With the increased cyberspace use, the medical professionals are set uping what can be referred to as practical infirmaries. These are cyberspace based infirmaries where patient ‘s demands are attended to online. The patient or the individual taking attention of the patient electronic mail the physician via cyberspace and the physician, after reexamining the instance advises the patient consequently. This engineering has produced a new harvest of physicians referred to as cyberspace physicians. An illustration of such is the World Clinic at Lahey Clinic Center near Boston started by Dr. Daniel Carlin. The Clinic serves clients from around the Earth among them crewmans, concern executives and tourers. The clinic has been able to use nine physicians within a period of three old ages of being, a testimony to the popularity of the thought ( Gorman 2001 ) . Promotion of engineering has besides brought about Intensification of engineering convergence which involves sharing of medical information, between medical practicians, medical devices and information webs has been the modern tendency impacting health care ( ZieliA„ski 2005 ) . Usually engineering convergence includes the sharing of patients present and past medical information, critical marks, clinical research lab consequences, patient dismaies, prescribed and implemented interventions, and perchance the patient organic structure response. This is adopted by medical professionals to entree information about the patient. The systems can be used in hospital charge sections, researches, and for measuring the clinical effectivity of recommended interventions. The possible benefits are workflow cyclosis, seamless recording and sharing of information, and an overall patient attention betterment. A uniformly presented patient informations have resulted to better clinical determinat ion devising and designation of clinical complaints while they are still manageable. Use of tissue root cells is another technological discovery that has had a enormous consequence on the medical field. Tissue root cells besides known as grownup root cells are regenerative cells of the human organic structure that possess the ability to specialise and develop into other tissues of the organic structure. Get downing in an unspecialised and undeveloped province, these cells can be coaxed to go bosom tissue, tegument cells and many other tissues ( Shi & A ; Singh 2008 ) . The cells are found in human organic structure variety meats and tissues such fat, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, placenta, neural beginnings and olfactive tissues. Stem cell engineering has made a great alteration in the medical field in that diseased or damaged tissues can now go healthy and robust through the extract of such cells. Doctors have utilized root cells in intervention of autoimmune diseases such as multiple induration, arthritic arthritis and Crohn ‘s disease ( Shi & A ; Singh 2008 ) . Technology has besides brought alterations in surgery in signifier of the less invasive surgery which is now preferred as the surgical attack for many diseases, including malignant neoplastic disease and bosom disease. It is chiefly done on outpatients and merely on an nightlong stay in infirmary ( Scuderi 2009 ) . Less invasive processs are performed through one or more short scratchs unlike unfastened surgery that requires long scratchs. The procedure is less painful with less postoperative hurting on the patient. Through the less invasive surgery there is an overall better result with faster recovery and a shorter infirmary stay. Even though laparoscopic techniques vary, sawboness insert long thin tubing with a lighted camera at its tip, through the scratch. Two dimension images are sent from the camera at the surgical site, to a high definition proctor throughout the operation, and are watched by the sawbones. Screening is the probe of symptomless persons to observe those with a high chance of developing or holding a given complication. Diseases that present a important wellness job are identified by testing and countervail the cost of incommodiousness and farther complications every bit good as possible injuries. The purpose of showing is to extinguish or detain decease from diseases. With prevalence of chest malignant neoplastic disease staying high it is estimated that mortality from chest malignant neoplastic disease in United States is 40 000 adult females. Breast malignant neoplastic disease testing utilizing screen-film mammography is used ( Bassett 2005 ) . The mammography testing involves exposure to radiations. Its value is in assisting salvage lives by early sensing. Diagnostic free adult females are exposed to x-ray. In such operations high proficient quality images are produced and competent image readings is done for successful results. Computerized Tomography scanner uses X raies and a computing machine to do images of variety meats inside the organic structure. It takes images of cross subdivision of the organic structure organs. At times the patient is asked to imbibe a particular liquid or injected with a particular x-ray dye. A CT scanner has a unit of ammunition Centre gap and a level bed to lie on. While lying on the bed, it easy moves to the gap where images are taken under the CT staff control. The benefits are that inside informations of parts inside the organic structure such as lungs and blood vass are obtained without utilizing surgery. The CT scans uses radiations that are accurate, fast, and painless and leave no radiations after the scan is finished. Positron Emission Tomography a organic structure scanning method that detects radioactive substances injected into the organic structure. It is used to supply information on map and assist distinguish normal tissue from malignant neoplastic disease, instead that information on construction. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique has been used chiefly to bring forth high quality images of the inside human organic structure constructions in medical scenes. It produces elaborate images of variety meats and tissues throughout the organic structure without the demand of X raies. Images of ocular equivalent of an anatomy piece utilizing wireless frequences, a computing machine and a big magnet that surrounds the patient. An MRI is painless and the magnetic Fieldss produce no known sorts of tissue harm Nuclear medical specialty diagnosis technique is a technique that uses minimum sums of radioactive stuffs that are introduced into the organic structure. When these arterials are introduced into the organic structure hey are taken up by specific variety meats, tissues or castanetss, the emanations generated provide important information on a peculiar disease of malignant neoplastic disease. Since the information given describes organ map and non merely construction many diseases including malignant neoplastic disease are detected early. The other medical technique is the usage of Ultra sound. This incorporates the usage of high -frequency sound moving ridges and their reverberations. The technique has a close comparing with the echo sounding used by giants, mahimahi and chiropterans. These machines are portable and they display the strengths and distances of the reverberations produced on the screen, organizing a two dimension image. Some images can even be formed without utilizing radiations particularly in OBs and gynaecology besides in cardiology and urogenital medicine. The technological invention of an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator is an astonishing experience that literally brings patients back from the threshold of decease. It ‘s a device that is of the size of a beeper that monitors the bosom rate ( Liem 2001 ) . It utilizes batteries to direct electric signals to a bosom that ‘s crushing excessively slow or reconstruct unnatural pulse to a bosom that is crushing much to fast or chaotically. The cardiac defibrillation is a preventative intervention in selected patients at high cardiac decease hazard caused by Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmias. Basically, for people with a bad bosom beat job, a defibrillator is implanted near the neckband bone, under the tegument at the thorax and wires run to the bosom. When the bosom rate is non normal, it tries to return the pulse back to normal. Abnormality occurs either when the pulse is excessively slow, and it works as a pacesetter and sends bantam electrical signals to the bosom, or w hen the pulse is helter-skelter or excessively fast, it generates defibrillation dazes to collar the unnatural beat. In the twelvemonth 2000 physicians from England reported the usage of Capsule Endoscopy to find the causes of little intestine hemorrhage ( Classen 2010 ) . The capsule has a battery with 6 hr lifetime, a strong visible radiation beginning, a camera and a sender. After get downing of the capsule, it transmits images of the interior of the gorge, tummy and little bowel to a receiving system worn as a belt by the patient. The receiving system is returned to the physician after 6 hours, who loads the information into computing machine and reexamine it, to observe GI abnormalcies. The capsule is passed out through the colon and eliminated in the stool. However if the capsule acquire stuck in the little bowel, surgical remotion is undertaken ( Collins 2008 ) . So far the capsule is considered safe and easy to take since merely rare instances of side effects have been reported. The promotion has been used to research the tight twisted countries of the little bowel, which traditional invasi ve tube-and-lens endoscopes can non make. While congestive bosom failure remains a taking cause of cardiac disablement and decease, promotion of pharmacologic therapies is guaranting that patients are populating longer and more productive lives. Circulatory assist devices have been used for the direction of patients with bosom complaints where the intercessions have failed. In 1982 an unreal bosom was implanted into Barney Clark ( Bankston 2002 ) . Although he merely survived for 112days, subsequently a figure of experimental devices were implanted throughout the universe. It has led to intervention solutions for terminal bosom diseases ; heart specialists have overcome organ rejections and enhanced drawn-out endurance rates of transplant patients. The unreal bosom consists of a hydraulic pump, an internal battery, an external battery and an internal accountant unit. In the military medical aid, the Robotic Surgical System has been used to handle a hurt soldier in the battleground utilizing advanced diagnostic and operated machines from distant location. The automaton carries out bids of a sawbones that controls the procedures ; otherwise the automaton can non execute the surgery by itself. The physician receives a picture eating from the automaton and utilizes a system of surgical operators to execute the operations. His actions and voice bids are communicated wirelessly to the machine-controlled system as he moves his custodies in operators ; the automaton so replicates his actions. Besides due to parade in battlegrounds that loose their custodies and weaponries there is a plan that is underway to revolutionise upper organic structure prosthetics. This is being researched on to develop improved unreal weaponries that would execute like existent weaponries controlled by the cardinal nervous system. On the converse what was ab initio an art of lovingness and compassion, has clearly become a scientific discipline of medical specialty and positions disease as licking. More involvement is made on the technological promotion and disease but non the single being treated.The life prolonging machines has lead to the modern phenomenon of deceasing when machines are shut off. Dehumanization by engineering is good exhibited during the decease of a patient ; he is surrounded by machines and impersonal systems in intensive attention units instead than their families at place. Professionalism in the medical attention has been characterized by a turning withdrawal from the alone concerns of single patients and a loss personal relationship to the patients. Health workers no longer associate to the full to patients as other persons but as representatives of professions and healthcare organisations. The trefoils have become more bureaucratic and impersonal. As a consequence of this there has ari sen the inequality between those in demand of medical aid and those with the capableness of reacting to the demand. Although great progresss in the medical field have added value to the human life, this impersonal quality of attention coupled with the inequality has led to turning misgiving and a feeling of dehumanisation by the patients. The electronics industry has incorporated the biomedical technology in research development of instruments ; design and alteration of contraptions to relieve hurting extend life and reconstruct wellness. Biomedical applied scientists spend tonss of clip planing electrical circuits and computing machine package for medical instruments Progresss in medical engineering have big benefits in health care. These technological progresss besides raise healthcare outgo significantly ( Moody 2006 ) . To run the machines, great professionalism and old ages of expertness is required doing the cost of such services rise by a great border. The research and experimentation before the engineering is authenticated, requires pecuniary investing that finally must be recovered and the much required work force compensated. Particularly for the inventions that their use does non distribute to the full population, in the long tally services become about beyond range. Globally the cost of intervention has risen with technological development. The benefits gained have outweighed the extra cost of health care services. The desire to happen better ways to handle patients as they compete with other suppliers have motivated the involvement to make new merchandises and for a clearer apprehension of human organic structure anatomy and physiolog y. The handiness of high engineering diagnosing and engineering has led to a better quality of life. In the medical field there has been a more elaborate apprehension of disease pathogenesis and organic structure physiology. By such acquisition, diseases that antecedently were termed as untreatable and accounted for high mortalities in human populations, have been favourably been combated. Ailments that are symptomless can be detected early plenty before the down the organic structure functionality, and its defence mechanisms. Although the cost of intervention gave gone up, more resources are saved due to cut downing the devastation on organic structure variety meats and tissues, and besides human resources lost while patient are in weak conditions for a long clip. Many patients view new medical innovations as the replies to their health care jobs. There is ever room for medical innovations, as every twenty-four hours dawns diseases and particularly malignant neoplastic disease cells re quire more understanding and more effectual interventions. There are much more medical technological promotion that have been made including, birth controls, birthrate aid utilizing trial tubing babes, that have relieved twosomes of their psychological and physiological emphasiss. The measure that remains is to give more attempt to doing the current engineering accessible.

Anatole Broyard

Despite the fact that Anatole Broyard never did write that novel he was paid for, his life is that of a man of literature, and not only because he was a critic. Lucky are those who know for a fact that one's position in life is static and unchangeable, that they have a place in the scheme of life. As Broyard's life shows, those who deal every day with the construction of reality know very well the nature of this: it is an illusion. A mere construct, which depends mostly upon our own actions and words.But Broyard recognizes the awesome power of these constructs, and the fact that by the choice of construct is equivalent to the choice of destiny. Broyard's story is precisely the story of such a choice. His father first gave him the idea that social identity is only a matter of words, and the son picked up on this and made his own life into a work of fiction. It had been a long and tedious job, more so than writing any novel – but he succeeded with great effect.It seems to me tha t this happened in a large part because Broyard understood that if he did not want to live this lie, he would have to live a socially reinforced lie. He didn't want to be Black (and possibly Proud of It), but rather he just wanted to live. It is a very understandable desire: to be judged by the measure of one's skills and not by the topics one raises. The only other way to avoid this would be to find a different job, where one is judged not so much by the words one speaks but by one's actions – and yet this was not an option, as Broyard loved writing.In the case of a public person, of one who speaks for a living, to construct a different social identity was the only way out for someone who did not want to deal with the issue of minorities for the rest of his life. Naturally, it is the most ironic thing that when faced with a real topic to write, Broyard was unable to do it, because it would mean undoing the legend he had been writing all of his life.This is the point where he went from using his own construct to being trapped by it. A predictable fate, but not necessarily a bad one. The question, in the end, is one of priority. Broyard lived a life that was mostly free from outside stereotyping, much more so than if he had admitted his heritage. However, this cost him a great amount of psychological strain. It is difficult to call him a happy man – but possibly happier than if he chose any other road.

Management Focus Toward Enhancing Employee Job Satisfaction Essay

Management Focus Toward Enhancing Employee Job Satisfaction - Essay Example From a perspective of securing the needs of the business, in relation to productivity and profitability, it is often recognized that a happy and stable workforce contributes greatly to increased momentum within the company. Hence, an organization which is experiencing diminished staff morale and dissatisfaction (due to any number of internal reasons) forces managers to alter the characteristics of the employees’ specific job functions or enhance the organizational culture of the firm to better suit the diverse and psychological needs of their subordinates. For instance, if conflicts occur within the business, in relation to the quality of coworker relationships, management must take an active and visible role in promoting teamwork so as to alleviate non-productive animosities against other employees. In most instances, such conflict resolution involves addressing the concerns of both parties involved, calling a formal meeting (if necessary) to discuss to the problem in an open forum environment, and reinforcing that each employee maintains a responsibility to securing the needs of the business as a primary objective. Such actions reinforce that management is concerned and interested in the needs of his or her employees, which appeals to their psychological need for support and resolution of difficult coworker relationships. The end result of managerial intervention when social dysfunction occurs is a more stable organizational culture where employees’ needs are recognized and they perceive ample cooperation from their leadership

Harry Potter And Fandom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Harry Potter And Fandom - Essay Example In addition, this section will also showcase how the complexity of Harry Potter’s themes plays a key role in the reception and interpretation of the films. In the second section, the essay introduces the critics of the Harry Potter works and showcase how such criticism shapes the reception and interoperation of such movies.   In addition, the second section will be key in demonstrating how film critics may distort the messages that the initial author intended to convey and therefore the need for the authors to remain steadfast in explaining to their fans the themes in order to counteract the critics.   The section will also show how film critics are beneficial to the particular authors of the stories as the critics when positively taken help adjust and tailor such works to meet the readers and audience needs. The section uses the film's critics to uncover how the reception and interpretation are embedded on them.   The essay gives a small history of Harry Potter seven wo rks in order to give the insights into how they have been interpreted and subsequently understood by the audience and readers.  In the third section, the paper focuses on the interpretation of Harry Potter and Fandom.   Here, the interpretations of themes, styles are analyzed based on the outcomes from the proposed research.  The recommendation is made based on these results to either invalidate or validate the hypothesis earlier outlined in the proposal section.

Logistics as a Customer-Focused Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Logistics as a Customer-Focused Strategy - Essay Example As the world of business and trade continue to expand globally, surviving in such a competitive market is no longer enough to buy the right goods at the right cost - business must also get them to the right place at the right time, and with the right operational costs. Doing this well requires the best possible logistics, combining the information that establish buying decisions with how the product arrives to customers at the most cost-effective way. In view of this, the vice president for logistics and electronic commerce for Asia-Pacific at FedEx, William Conley stressed that one of the four areas represented the future of the logistics industry is time compression, along with globalisation, electronic commerce and supply chain management. He said companies needed to understand essentially what logistics was and how it could benefit customers (Panozzo, 1999, p. 6).In further elaboration, logistics is centred on creating value, not just for customers and suppliers of the firm, but also value for the firm's stakeholders. Value in logistics is primarily expressed in terms of time and place. Products and services have no value unless they are in the possession of the customers when (time) and where (place) they wish to consume them (Ballou 2004, p. 6). However, value is added when customers are willing to pay more for a product or service than the cost to place it in their hands. To many firms throughout the world, logistics has become an increasingly important value-adding process for a numerous reasons. Looking at logistics through the perspective of the total supply chain, the ultimate Bowersox, Closs & Cooper (2002) emphasized that the customer is the end user of the product or service whose needs or requirements must be accommodated. It has historically been useful to distinguish between two types of end users. According to them, the first is a consumer, an individual or a household who purchases products and services to satisfy personal needs. When a family purchases an automobile to be used for personal transportation, that family is the consumer of the supply chain. The second type is an organizational end user, whose purchases are made by organizations or institutions to allow an end user to perform a task or job in the organization. When a company buys an automobile for a sales person or buys tools to be used by an assembly worker in a manufacturing plant, the company is considered to be a customer and the salesperson or assembly worker is the end user of the supply chain's products. A supply chain management perspective demands that all firms in the supply chain focus on meeting the needs and requirements of end users, whether they are consumers or organizational end users (p. 66). Moreover, Bowersox, Closs & Cooper (2002) insisted that the customer being serviced should be the first priority and the driving force in establishing logistical performance requirements, regardless

JCB in India Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Learning through work ( part of managing people practice ) Assignment

Learning through work ( part of managing people practice ) - Assignment Example Besides that, during my placement at Chisou Nights Bridge I also worked at the bar when the bartender was off; the restaurant was short of bar staff. I was able to observe and perform various things that were happening at the restaurant giving me practical experience. Chisou Nights Bridge offers authentic Japanese cuisine. Some of the foods served at the restaurant include Ankimo Ponzu, avocado and sashimi salad, seafood marinated in traditional Japanese vinaigrette, chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki, blue fin fatty tuna, age gyoza, ebi tempura, egg custard, spicy miso and topped with a raw quails, flying fish roe, butter fish, braised eel, blue fin fattest tuna, and cold fresh tofu served with ginger, among others (Chisou, 2015). Eraut (2006, p.54) affirms that work placements offer contexts that are different for learning than those provided within colleges and universities. People learn in various ways. At the workplaces learning is informal and occurs as a by-product of engaging in work processes as well as activities. Proceeding further, Eraut et al. (2010, p.45) assert that work experience assists you to clarify  the type of work that best suits you, provide you with new knowledge and skills, boost your resume, enhance your confidence, provide you with experience which you can refer to in a job interview, increase the number of people who can assist you secure a bob in the future, and may also lead to an employment offer at the end of the work experience placement. One fine afternoon while doing my duty as the head waitress, I headed to the kitchen so as to manage the food orders since lunch time was rush hour. Four gentlemen and one lady all of Japanese origin entered the hotel and ordered their foods. Since it was lunch time, I figured out that all of them would order for sushi. One of them ordered for boiled spinach rolls that were seasoned with light soy sauce sprinkled with bonito flakes. The other two gentlemen

Independence vs. Commintment (Men and Women) Essay

Independence vs. Commintment (Men and Women) - Essay Example There are a number of researches showing that this is not really the case. In fact, these researches show that there is no difference between the predisposition of men and women to be committed. Most men just like the most ordinary women, desire to be in a healthy, happy relationship. However, the difference is in the fact that men face various societal and legal barriers, and/or penalties that women do not. These barriers are the key reasons why most men tend avoid commitments first (Rudov, 2004). They are still fixing up these barriers so that when they feel ready to commit themselves, possible problems are already eliminated. Rudov (2004) has categorized the evolution of man's readiness to commit in a relationship. The picture below shows the factors men take into consideration prior to entering into a higher level of relationship. In the picture above, it can be seen that the "bachelors" doesn't get involved with women to avoid dealing with different sets of friends, extended families and other community members who are the usual members of the women's circle. Meanwhile, men in the committed/unmarried category experiences all levels of the stack. He is either seeing his woman all of the time from a separate residence or is already living with her. This level of relationship contract is a continuously evolving.

Carbon in the form of a pencil Essay Example for Free

Carbon in the form of a pencil Essay Although with this line I could not prove that width and resistance of a carbon track have an inversely proportional relationship, this means that as one increases the other decreases in proportion. Although to show that this relationship applies in this case I have to plot in a graph resistance against the reciprocal of the width (which is 1 divided by the width). When I did this the graph produced a set of results which when a line of best fit was drawn it produced a straight line which passed through zero. This means that my prediction that width and resistance would be inversely proportional was true. The shape of the initial graph of width against resistance also shows simply that as the width increases the resistance decreases. The resistance also decreases far quicker for the smaller widths and as the width gets to about 5cm although it is still decreasing it is much more gradual. Evaluation: I believe that using my results I can draw useful and correct observations this is because I repeated every reading I took three times and then averaged them. I then plotted the graphs with the averaged results meaning that they are fairly reliable. Although, there are some results I feel especially on the width and resistance graphs that appear anomalous and I would have liked to repeat these readings again but due to time restraints I couldnt. In particular the resistances of the widths above 4cm appear incongruent. This may be because on the larger widths the contact did not span the entire width of the carbon track (as shown in the diagram below) although on the smaller widths, which produced the results, I had expected it did span the entire width. The results may have also been affected by the fact that the contacts remained in the same place for every reading, meaning that towards the end as the contact had a fairly sharp edge the carbon where the readings were being taken may have been rubbed off. This would mean that the resistance would be greater than expected which is the case in the later results. Therefore if was to do the experiment again and had unlimited time I would have redrawn the width line every time so that the effect of the contacts rubbing off carbon would not have an effect. This is because the contact would not have been removed from the track and so no carbon could be removed from the track. Another improvement to the experiment I would make would be improving the accuracy of the carbon track. This would mean that the carbon would be uniformly thick throughout the line and would go exactly up to the line and not pass it. This is so that we could know that the resistance was of exactly 5cm was not the resistance of between 4. 5cm and 5. 5cm. To do this I would make a template for the carbon track, which, could be coloured in ensuring that the carbon would no go past where it is, desired which happens no matter how hard you try to stay within the lines. An example of this is in the carbon track I drew, which appears to be quite good in that no carbon went over the lines but on closer inspection it in place is over a millimetre past the line. My carbon line in normal view: As you can see the line appears perfect. Magnified view of Carbon track: This closer view shows that the carbon track is by no means perfect and this degree inaccuracy means that the results may not be what they should. The patterns in my graphs were fairly obvious to find and I believe that when I did use a straight fit best line instead of a curve it was acceptable because it was more fitting for the readings. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section. Download this essay Print Save Not the one? Search for

Functions of Strategic Management and Theories of Management

Functions of Strategic Management and Theories of Management Introduction Strategic management is one of the most key human activities. From the time human beings began forming social organizations to accomplish aims and objectives they could not achieve as persons, managing has been necessary to ensure the ordination of individual efforts. As society constantly relied on group effort, and as any organized groups have become large, the task of managers has been increasing in importance and complexity. Henceforth, managerial theory has become crucial in the way managers manage composite organizations. The middle theory of this paper is that although some managers in different parts of the world could have achieved managerial success without having basic theoretical knowledge in management, it has to be clearly emphasized that those managers who have mixed management theory in their day-to-day practice, have had better chances of managing their organizations more professionally and effectively to achieve both individual and organizational objectives. Therefore, managers of modern organizations ought to appreciate the important role they play in their respective organizations if they are to achieve set goals. Secondly, there is need to promote excellence among all persons in organizations, especially among managers themselves. Definition of strategic Management Management is the art, or science, of achieving goals through people. Since managers also manage, management can be interpret to mean accurately making sure people do hat they are supposed to do. Managers are therefore, expected to ensure greater productivity or, using the current terms, continuous improvement more broadly, management is the process of designing and maintain an environment in which persons, working together in groups, efficiently achieve selected aims . In its expanded form, this basic definition means several things. First, as managers, people carry out the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Second, management applies to any kind of organization. Third, management applies to managers at all organizational levels. Fourth, the aim of all managers is the same to create extra. Finally, managing is concerned with output this implies efficiency and efficiency.      Strategic Management Objectives, Functions, Goals, and Essentiality Management Objectives There are fundamentally three management objectives. One objective is ensuring Organizational goals and targets are met with least cost and smallest amount waste. The second objective is looking after health and welfare, and safety of staff. The third purpose is caring the mechanism and resources of the organization, including the human resources. Strategic Management Functions To understand management, it is imperative that we break it down into five managerial functions, namely, planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning: Planning involves selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve them. It requires managerial, choosing future courses of act from among alternatives. Plans range from overall purposes and objectives to the most detailed actions to be taken. No real plan exists until a decision a obligation of human and material resources has been made. In other words, before a decision is made, all that exists is planning study, analysis, or a suggestion; there is no real plan. People working together in groups to achieve some goal must have roles to play. Generally, these roles have to be defined and structured by someone who wants to make sure that people put in in a specific way to group effort. Organizing: It is that part of management that involves establishing an intentional arrangement of roles for people to fill in an organization. Intentional in that all tasks essential to accomplish goals are assign and assigned to people who can do those best. Indeed, the purpose of an organizational structure is to help in creating an environment for human act. However, designing an organizational structure is not an easy managerial task because many problems are encountered in making structures fit situations, including both refining the kind of jobs that must be done and finding the people to do them. Staffing involves filling, and keeping filled, the positions in the organization structure. Leading: Leading is the influencing of people so that they will give to organization and group goals; it has to do mostly with the interpersonal aspect of managing. Most important problems to managers arise from people their needs and attitudes, their behavior as individuals and in groups. Hence, effective managers need to be effective leaders. Leading involve motivation, Controlling: Controlling, for example, budget for expense, is the measure and correct of behavior of subordinates to ensure that events conform to plans. It measures performance against goals and plans, shows where negative deviations exist, and, by putting in motion actions to correct deviation, helps ensure achievement of plans. Even though planning must precede controlling, plans are not self-achieving. Plans guide managers in the use of resources to accomplish specific goals, then activities are checked to determine whether hey conform to the plans. Compelling events to conform to plans means locating the persons who are liable for results that differ from planned action and then taking the required steps to improve performance. Thus, controlling what people do controls organizational outcomes. Coordinating: Finally, coordination is the essence of manager-ship for achieving synchronization among individual efforts toward the accomplishment of group goals. Each of the managerial functions discussed earlier on is an exercise causative to coordination. Because individuals often interpret similar interests in different ways, and their efforts in the direction of mutual goals do not automatically network with the efforts of others, it, thus, becomes the central task of the manager to reconcile differences in approach, timing, effort, or interest, and to go with individual goals to add to organizational goals. Although these management functions concern the internal environment for performance within an organization, managers must operate in the external environment of an organization as well. Clearly, managers cannot perform their tasks well unless they have an understanding of, and are responsive to, the many elements of the external environment economic, technological, social, political, and ethical factors that affect their areas of operation. Goals of All Managers First and prime, the logical and publicly enviable aim of all managers in all kinds of organizations, whether business or non-business, should be a spare. Thus, managers must set up an environment in which people can accomplish group goals with the least amount of time, money, resources, and personal discontent or in which they can achieve as much as possible of a desired goal with existing resources. In a non-business venture such as units of a business, such as an accounting department that are not responsible for total business profits, managers still have goals and should strive to achieve them with the minimum of resources or to accomplish as much as possible with available resources. A manager who achieves such an aim is said to be a strategic manager. The second goal or aim of all managers is that they must be creative. The: Essentiality of Management in Any Organization Managers are charged with the duty of taking actions that will make it possible for individuals to make their best help to group objectives. Thus, management applies to small and large organizations, to profit and not for-profit enterprises, to industrialized as well as service industries. However, a given situation may differ considerably among various levels in an organization or various types of enterprises. The scope of right held may vary and the types of problems dealt with may be significantly different. All managers obtain results by establishing an environment for effective group endeavor. In addition, all managers carry out managerial functions. However, the time spent for each function may differ. Thus, top-level managers spend more time on planning and organizing than do lower-level managers. Leading, on the other hand, takes a great deal of time for first-line supervisors. The distinction in the amount of time spent on controlling varies only slightly for managers at various levels. The manager is, therefore, the dynamic, life-giving element in every business. Without the leadership of the manager, resources of production remain mere resources and never become production. In a aggressive economy, the quality and performance of the managers determine the success of a business, indeed, they establish its survival. Managerial Skills and the Organizational Hierarchy Mangers require four main kinds of skills, namely: technical, human, and theoretical and design. What does each of these skills mean? Technical skill is knowledge of and skill in activities involving methods, processes, and procedures. Thus, it involves working with tools and specific techniques. Human skill is the ability to work with people; it is cooperative effort, is cooperation, it is the creation of an environment in which people feel secure and free to convey their opinions. For purposes of explanation, technical skills are of greatest importance at the supervisory level and less at the middle-management level, human skills in the frequent interactions with subordinates at all levels, theoretical skills not critical for lower-level supervisors but gain in importance at the middle-management level. At the top management level, conceptual and design abilities and human skills are especially valuable, but there is relatively little need for technical abilities. The assumption, especially in large companies, those chief executives can utilize the technical abilities of their subordinates. In smaller firms, however, technical experience may still be quite important. Why Study Management Theory? Theories are perspectives with which people make sagacity of their world experiences. Theory is a methodical grouping of interdependent concepts mental images of anything formed by simplification from particular and principles are generalizations or hypotheses that are tested for accuracy and appear to be true to reflect or explain real it that give a structure to, or tie together, a significant area of knowledge. Increase data are not in sequence unless the observer has knowledge of the theory that will explain relationships. However, the variety of approaches to management study, the welter of research, and the number of opposing views have resulted in much confusion as to what management is, what management theory and science is, and how managerial events should be analyzed. Principles in management are fundamental truths, explaining affairs between two or more sets of variables, usually an independent variable and a dependent variable. Principles may be descriptive or predictive, and not narrow. That is, they describe how one variable relates to another what will happen when these variables oblige. Managers who apply theory to managing must usually blend values with realities. Once managers know about theory, they will have the capacity to forestall future problems that may occur in the enterprise. At this point it is worth distinctive management theory from management techniques. Contrary to the theory we have discussed above, techniques are essentially ways of doing things; methods of accomplishing a given result. In all fields of practice, including management, they are important. Management Theories Modern theories of management tend to account for and help construe the rapidly changing nature of todays organizational environments. This document will deal with several important management theories which are broadly classified as follows: The Scientific Management School comprising the mechanism of Frederick W. Taylor and Jillian Gilbreths motion study, between others, the Classical Organizational Theory School comprising the works of Henri Fayols views on administration, and Max Webers dealized administration, among others, Behavioral School comprising the work of Elton Mayo and his associates, the Management Science School which I discuss at the end of his section, and Recent Developments in Management Theory comprising works such as Systems. Scientific Management School The first management theory is what is generally referred to as Frederick Taylors Scientific Management. Frederick Taylor started the time of modern management. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he was decrying the awkward, ineffective, or ill-directed movements of men as national loss. Taylor consistently sought to depose management by rule of thumb and replace it with actual timed explanation leading practice. He also advocated the systematic training of workers in the one best practice other than allowing them personal discretion in their tasks. He further believed that the workload would be evenly shared between the workers and Classical Organizational Theory School In this category of management theory are the works of Max Webers practical theory and Henri Fayols managerial theory. Weber postulated that western civilization was shifting from thinking, moving action act derived from emotions, and traditional action action derived from past precedent to thinking. He believed that society was changing to seek technically optimal results at the expense of emotional or humanistic content. Weber then developed a set of principles for an ideal bureaucracy as follows: Fixed and official jurisdictional areas, a firmly prepared hierarchy of fantastic and subordination, management based on written records, thorough and expert training, official activity taking priority over other actions and that management of a given association follows stable, knowable rules. The establishment was envisioned as a large machine for attaining its goals in the most efficient manner possible. However, Weber was cautious of bureaucracy when he observed that the more fully realize, the more bureaucracy depersonalizes itself, the more completely it succeeds in achieving the exclusion of love, hatred, and every purely personal, especially irrational and limitless, feeling from execution of official tasks. Hence, Weber predicted a completely impersonal organization with little human level interaction between its members. Behavioral School The key scholar under this class is Elton Mayo. The origin of behavioral is the human relations movement that was a result of the Hawthorne Works Experiment carried out at the Western Electric Company, in the United States of America that started in the early 1920s. Elton Mayo and his associates experiments disproved Taylors beliefs that science dictate that the highest productivity was found in the one best way and that way could be obtained by controlled test. The Hawthorne studies attempted to determine the effects of lighting on worker productivity. When this experiment showed no clear link between light level and productivity the experiments then started looking at other factors. These factors that were considered when Mayo was working with a group of women incorporated rest breaks, no rest breaks, no free meals, more hours in the work-day/work-week or fewer hours in the workday/ work-week. With each of these changes, productivity went up. When the women were put back to their o riginal hours and conditions, they set a efficiency record. These experiments proved five things. Recent Developments in Management Theory Under this category of theory are the system Approach, Situational or possibility theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building theory. The systems theory has had a significant effect on management science and considerate organizations. A system is a collection f part unified to accomplish an overall goal. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is changed as well. A system can be looked at as have inputs. system share advice among each of these four aspects of the system. Management as Practice Managing, like all other practice whether medication, music work of art, engineering, accountancy, or even baseball is an art, it is know-how. It is doing things in the light of the reality of a position. Yet managers can work better by using the organized information about management. It is this knowledge that constitutes science. However, the science underlying managing is fairly crude and inexact. This is true because the many variables with which managers deal are really complex. Yet, such management knowledge can certainly improve managerial practice. Managers who attempt to manage without management science must put their trust to luck, intuition, or what they did in the past. In managing, as in any other field, unless practitioners are to learn by trial and error, there is no place they can turn for meaningful guidance other than the accumulated knowledge underlying their practice, this accumulated knowledge is theory. For practical purposes, all managers must develop three s ets of skills, namely, conceptual, technical, and human. Conclusion In end, it has to be restated that management is the procedure of designing and maintain an environment for the reason of efficiently accomplish preferred aims. Managers carry out the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Managing is a necessary activity at all executive level. However, the managerial skills necessary vary with organizational levels. The progress of management theory involves the growth of concepts, philosophy, and techniques. There are many theories about management, and each contributes something to our knowledge of what managers do. Each approach or theory has its own chacteristics and recompense as well as limitations. The prepared, or management procedure, pproach draws on each and methodically integrates them. Finally, the organization is an open system that operates in and interacts with the environment. The systems advance to management includes inputs from the outer environment and from claimants, the alteration process, the communication system, external factors, outputs, and a way to recuperate the system. No doubt, a manager who makes serious attempts to translate theory into reality is bound to increase productivity more than a manager who chooses to use the error approach. BIBLIOGRAPHY Homans G. C. (1958) The Human Group (New York: Harcout, Brace and World). Fleet David D. Van and Peterson Tim O. (1994) Contemporary Management (Houghton Mifflin Company), Third Edition. Koontz Harold (1961) The Management Theory Jungle, in Journal of the Academy of Management, December. Koontz Harold (1962) Making Sense of Management Theory, in Harvard Business Review, July-August. Koontz Harold (1980) The Management Theory Revisited, in Academy of Management Review, April. Koontz Harold and Weihrich Heinz (1990) Essentials of Management, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill. Stoner James A. F., Freeman R. Edward, and Gilbert, Jr. Daniel R. (2003) Management (New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India), Sixth Edition.

Secularism in India | Evaluation

Secularism in India | Evaluation The term secularism has its origin in Europe. This term was first used during the end of the Thirty years war (Europe) in the year 1648.During that period secularism merely meant transfer of church properties to the king or the state. Secularism played a major role in the French revolution and later this term formulated by George Holyoake from England to refer to the various rationalist movements under him in the year1851. Through this term he analysed his views of promoting social order without the domination of any culture or religious beliefs. Hence secularism can be defined as process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols.  [1]  In west, secularism is referred to as separation of church from the state. Many religious leaders, journalists, politicians firmly believe that west is secular but however minorities are dominated by religion. The secularization thesis clearly states that in the west Christianity is declining, the number of people going to church have reduced considerably .At the same time secularism is also prevalent in the public forum like schools, universities, different institutions and also work place. The discussions are completely based on secular basis. Secularism in the west is a complete exception to the global trend. But however this too is subjected to a few exceptions like Africa, Latin America and also in the south East, Christianity is a dominated religion and culture. In few regions of Africa, middle east and Asia, Islam is taking a powerful shape. In the west secular policy was very strong among the Jews. The founder of Zionism , Theodor Herzl and other founders of political Zionism were strong secularists. The most important principle stated by George Holyoake is: Secularism is a name given to a series of principles of positivism intended for the guidance of those who find theology indefinite or inadequate or deem it unreliable.  [2]  This clearly states that there is a wide path between secular principles and theology. In the 19th century the concept of secularism gave rise to a number of other different ideas like nationalism, feminism, socialism etc. Nationalism was a very strong secular force implying that in many nations religion played a subordinate role. However in India, secularism is a different concept as compared to the west. The framers of the Indian Constitution did not follow the western principles. In India the features of a secular state are: All people have the equal freedom of conscience and religion. There is no discrimination on the grounds of religion. There are no communal electorates The state has the power to regulate any activity (economic, social) that is concerned with religion. Untouchability has been declared illegal by article 17. Every religious denomination has the right to establish institutions for promoting religious knowledge and charity. No citizen will be discriminated on grounds of religion in employment matters under state and admission in educational institutions. State revenue cannot be used to promote any kind of religious activity. Hence secularism was added to the Indian constitution by the 42nd amendment of 1976 to preserve the rich heritage culture of India. The preamble clearly states that We the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Secular Democratic Republic  [3]  . The purpose of adding the word secular to our constitution was established in the case M.P Gopalakrishna nair vs state of kerela  [4]  . This was done to promote national unity and universal brotherhood. Secularism according to the court was prevention of establishing a state religion or formation of a atheist society. The Hindi word of secularism is dharmanirapekshata which means indifference towards all religion. However the state is against the religious social evils like sati, female infanticide, polygamy, child marriage etc. HISTORY OF SECULARISM In India secularism was founded in 5th century B.C, when the Jains,Buddhists and charavakas rejected the power and authority of the Vedas and idols and considered it as a false belief. Religion has always been an important aspect of peoples life because India is not a monoreligious country. India s old hindu scriptures like the Upanishads also emphasise on secular principles. According to the people it was impossible to separate religion from their social life. This mindset began to change when the East India Company established their power and control in India. The British instituted different laws for Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christians and Sikhs. This laid foundation for the divide and rule policy. Different religious sects began to establish religious institutions and places of worship giving priority to a particular religion. Previously rulers like satavahnas, guptas, moghuls and kushanas paid equal respect to all religion. In the pre independence and post independence era there had been a consistent increase in the concept of secularism. Leaders like mahatma Gandhi who practiced religion in politics found it necessary to separate the two to prevent inequality between the mass. Jawaharlal Nehru also supported secularism ,he failed to establish the uniform civil code due to religious and political pressure. B.P Jeevan Reddy in S.R Bommai viewed secularism as a positive concept as it treats all religion equally and it is strongly connected to liberty and social justice.  [5]  According to justice P.B sawant secularism is a creed of universal brotherhood and humanism  [6]  . J.S verma observed through the case M. Ismail faruqui the concept of secularism is one facet of the right of equality woven as the central golden thread in the fabric depicting the pattern of the scheme in our constitution  [7]  . DIFFERENT SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENTS ON SECULARISM Supreme courts first recognition of secularism was in case sardar taheruddin seydna sahib v state of Bombay  [8]  . This case broadly explained the articles 25 and 26 of the Indian constitution and also specified that the secular nature of the India is the strong base of the constitution. Also in keshavnanda bharti v state of kerela  [9]  the 13 judge bench decided that secularism was the basic law of the land and it is unamendable. A land mark judgement in secularism is in the case of S.R Bommai v Union Of India  [10]  .It had important implications on the cente-state relations.The nine judge bench decided that secularism in India is based on religious tolerance.It also stated that any state government which adopted any unsecular means would be subjected to dismissal.The court dismissed BJP led state governments of Himachal Pradesh , Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh , rajasthan and uttar Pradesh. IS INDIA ACTUALLY SECULAR? Although the constitution of India clearly states that India is a secular state it is becoming increasingly difficult to follow and maintain the principles of secularism. Hence this research article will analyse the various sectors where India has failed to uphold its secular structure. The most important challenge of Indian secularism is the growing power of the Hindus. Earlier also the country had strong ties with Hinduism which lead to the suppression of other religions. India is thus represented as a Hindu state . The discrimination can be analysed on various grounds like constitutional, religious,legislative and employment oppurtunities. To begin with article 290 A  [11]  of the Indian constitution clearly states that a sum of forty six lakhs and fifty thousand rupees and a sum of thirteen lakhs and fifty thousand rupees respectively, are paid every year out of the kerela and tamil nadu consolidated fund to the Dewaswom funds for the maintenance of hindu shrines. This is a clear discrimination of the of the constitutional provision which states that state revenue cannot be used to maintain religious institutions. Secondly the Indian government pays a sum of 413 crores a year for the haj journeys of muslims to Saudi Arabia. Andhra Pradesh pays a sum of rs 2 crore for the journey of Christians to Bethlehem. Secondly article 25  [12]  states that freedom of religion to all but article 25(2) states that social welfare and reform throwing open of Hindu religious institution of public character to all classes and sections of hindus. The constitution does not define a hindu but it clearly states a hindu is a follow er of buddhism, Jainism and and Sikhism. This classification is done for the purpose of temple entry. Hence this is clearly against the principles of secularism. Thirdly the Hindu marriage act of 1955 was a clear attempt to bring the Sikhs , jains and Buddhists under the fold of Hinduism and it clearly states that a hindu is a person who is not a sikh , muslim or parsi. Every year a population cencus is conducted in the tribal areas to determine the majority of the hindu population. Even in the legislative sphere there has been outright discrimination of secularism. In the year 1982 when a large number of dalits had converted to islam due to the oppression of the upper caste hindus, Indira Gandhi found this situation as the threat to national security. In article 25 (1)  [13]  of the Indian constitution it is clearly stated that all people will be allowed to practice and profess any religion of their choice. But in the year 1954, the congress government in Madhya Pradesh along w ith seven other states legislatures of anrunachal Pradesh , gujrat , himachal Pradesh,orrissa, rajasthan and Tripura passed laws restricting conversions from Hinduism to any other religion while allowing all conversions to Hinduism. This was done to increase and maintain the domination of hindus in the country. Even in the babri masjid demolition case which was initiated by the congress government and hindu activists to build a ram temple by destroying the masjid led to communal violence and riots between thousands of Hindus and Muslims. But Muslim victims had outnumbered the Hindu victims. The police failed to protect the Muslims and were very harsh and violent in dispersing them. The violent Hindu movement spread turmoil throughout the country putting an official end to secularism and declaring India as a Hindu state. During this period the governments of Maharashtra and uttar Pradesh sent funds to rebuild somnath temple which was officially inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Also in the education sphere there has been outright and violent discrimination. Article 16 (2) states that there will be no discrimination on the basis of religion for granting employment opportunities to the people. However the presidential orders of 1950 and 1956 provides benefit only to the schedule caste and tribes belonging to Hinduism , Jainism or Sikhism but not to muslim and Christians. If any person changed their religion after obtaining the job , then he / she also had to forfeit the job and other benefits that were given in course of employment. After the year 1947 the hindu army was adopted as the Indian army leaving 20000 muslims jobless. While a sikh has all the right to become an army general and occupy any post ,muslims are not given any such preferences. They are generally given the lower post . A hindu temple before the army cantonment clearly provides a picture that non hindus are not a part of our defence. The other instances proving India is a unsecular country are the ban on cow slaughter that left thousands of butchers jobless and poor people deprived of their basic nutrition. Cows are considered religious by the hindu upper caste society but not by the muslims or Christians. Most of the government ceremonies begin with hindu rituals like lighting the lamp etc. All functions of the central and state ministry begin with saraswati vardana. The inauguration of all government buildings throughout the nation and in other nations begin with a hindu puja clearly stating that india is a hindu state. N.T Ramarao the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh did not object to spend government funds for maintaining the images of venkateshwara even though it is clearly stated in our constitution that funds of the government cannot be used for maintaining any religious institution or idol. School children of various states like Maharashtra and Gujrat are forced to perform surya namaskar. Most of the text books emphasise on Hinduism. The large stone image o f Vishnu in front of the IGP headquarters in Bangalore clearly moves against the policy of a secular state. Till 1980 all india radio programmes began with hindu lyrics like vande ma taram , vandana etc. Aligarh university , one of the oldest university in India have an annual budget of rs 245 crore that is granted by the government. Only hahal meat is served in the campus and there is no place for hindu religious ceremonies. A muslim man is allowed to practice polygamy while a hindu man is not until he converts to islam. Other instances of discrimination : In west Bengal a man named shaik azizur rehman runs a shop with the name of Rajib Mallick because reavling his original identity would lead to alot of discrimination on the basis of religion. Before going for fishing hasina khatoon takes off her arm band embossed with allah and puts vermillion to maintain a hindu appearance among the customers.  [14]  Hence all these illustrations clearly state that India is not a secular country and it is slowly becoming mono religious. Should Homosexuals Be Allowed to Legally Marry? Debate Should Homosexuals Be Allowed to Legally Marry? Debate Introduction The debate on the legality of homosexual marriages has been considered both as an unwarranted feat and as belated act of liberty worth celebrating yet this status ruins the institution of marriage. This paper is written in a thesis-antithesis-synthesis pattern, addressing the issues raised by opponents of homosexual unions as well as the reasoning of its advocates. Finally, it is gives the writers opinion a synthesis of the two opposing arguments – guided by reasoned insights. Part I: The Legal Marriage of Homosexuals is not warranted Many criticisms have been piled on the prospects of homosexuals lawful sanctification of their union. Somehow the basis of these anti-homosexuals legal marriage is not far-fetched. Here are some reasons that have been used to buttress the attitude. The legalization of same-sex unions grossly undermines the institution of marriage. A marriage that comprises of persons of the same gender is in itself a self-contradiction. When these unions are legally allowed to thrive, the institution will suffer irreparable damage. The reason being, marriage is perceived as sacred especially from the religious quarters, an institution sanctified by God between a man and a woman for mutual companionship. Children are the fruits of such holy matrimonies (Maccio, 2010). Homosexuals contradict it, allowing their passions to override the holy decree. Furthermore, same-sex unions are always considered open relationships meaning that partners involved do not necessarily have to be committed to each other sexually, psychologically, emotionally and socially. This translates into a blow to the monogamous unions and by extension holy matrimony. Same-sex unions are conventionally considered unnatural and it does not take an apt mind a second to think otherwise. So, how can an unnatural union be naturally unionable? Heterosexual relationships are the norm, both in society and in nature. Why has man, as rational as he is, been passionately driven by sexual pleasure to the heights of finding it from the same gender? Brutes in their irrationality do not indulge in this! The greatest favor that should be done them is tolerance, nothing more. They should not be validated by the state nor recognized as a form of marriage because of their abnormality and unnaturality. The legal status of this union encourages many of the same and therefore the human species is destined to extinction. It is a self evident fact that the sexual intercourse between homosexuals of whatever ilk does not procreate life. Lesbians and gays, alike have sex primarily for pleasure and therefore no human conception can arise. If say three-quarters of the human population goes homosexual, there will not be any human being left walking on the surface of this planet with at least a couple of centuries (Hollowell, 2010). Homosexuals themselves, together with their sympathizers argue that they can become good parents. To whom can they parent? Adopted children, they say. Granted, they can be even excellent parents as they claim, but the psychological development of the child or children that they are parenting is at stake. Naturally, human beings have the orientation towards the two sexes and that is precisely the reason that a female parent is referred by the child as mother, and the male parent father. So in a legal family that comprises of two fathers gays; or two mothers lesbians; how does the child under their custody expected to grow normally? Are they not putting the welfare of the child at the expense of their pleasurable adventures? Is the legal body that authorizes this abnormal family doing any justice to the child? Besides, this is a horribly repugnant precedence that the homocouples are setting to the children under their parentage. Most likely, when such children come of age, they will copy the lifestyle of their parents and there by continue perpetuating the ignoble idiosyncrasy to subsequent generations (Kuyper, 1993). Marriage is a symbol that represents cultural ideals about sex, sexuality, and human relationships. These ideals define an individuals self identity and therefore, when the traditional nature of marriage is interfered with by sneaking in homosexual tendencies, peoples basic identities are challenged (Dankmeijer, 1993). Part II: Legalization of Same-sex Unions is long overdue Quite a number of homosexuals and their supporters have been waiting with abated breath for the landmark ruling that accord same-sex unions a legal marriage status. It has been hailed as a gesture that reinstates sexual liberty to individuals who hitherto had suffered silently when this right was trampled upon. The anti-homosexuals argue that legal marriage is strictly between a man and a woman. Defining marriage on the basis of sex does beg the question of how sexes are defined. Though the traditional categories of male and female appear separate, there are indeterminate cases in reality which do not match these categories. Therefore the assumption made here is that the clarity of biological concepts corresponds to social concepts. Take for example, Daniel was born female but changed his sex and became male; and now he wants to marry his partner Chloe. By accepting the above reason, Daniel can only marry a male even though by outward appearance he is male. Put differently, if a woman changes her sex and acquires physical traits of a man, would not it be legal for this person to marry a woman? (Maccio, 2010) The consideration of marriages as a religious rite is missing the mark since exclusive religious tenets are used to define it. Consequently, legalizing homosexual marriages is a mortal sin that beckons the wrath of God to a state. It is an indubitable fact that the nature of marriage has varied in every era and from every society. Therefore, it has been difficult to find a conventional definition of marriage. Marriage has never been a creation of religion, if anything the state has always treated it as a private contract with public implications. Thus the basis of marriage was on the wishes of free, consenting adults (Cott, 2002). The claim that homosexual marriage is not a home for protection and procreation of children; hence a threat to human extinction is refutable. This claim is anchored in the assumption that sex as the natural end of marriage is for procreation. It can be argued that, following this premise, a couple whose sexual intercourse cannot bring forth a child should not be allowed to marry, all the more homosexuals. The implications of this reason would mean that heterosexual marriages with infertile couple due to various reasons are outlawed as well. Similarly, couples who voluntarily resolved to be childless should not be allowed to marry legally. The impulsion for marriage is love not children (Senreich, 2010). Opponents of homosexual marriages argue that such relationships are unnatural and abnormal and therefore should only be tolerated not legalized. Here, heterosexual relationship is taken as natural because that is what is found in nature. Since nature does not provide for homosexual relationship it is unnatural and ought to be abhorred by the society (Senreich, 2010). Well, are not human a part of nature? If yes, then homosexual relationships are also a part of this nature. Brutes which are part of this nature do not engage in legal marital contracts, does it as consequence mean that the legal marriage as an institution is unnatural and should be outlawed? The argument that legalizing homosexual marriage undermines the institution of marriage does not hold water. It baffles the minds of proponents how a legal marriage between homosexuals damage the heterosexual marriage. Consideration should be made here that the opponents use religion to smoothen their disapproval. Marriage is governed by the civil/secular law. Period (Geest, 1993). Part III: Homosexual Marriages do not merit Legal Status Having painstakingly considered the arguments from both sides of the debate on the legalization of same-sex marriages, the writer hereof opposes according legal status to such unions. To begin with, marriage as an institution derives its sanctity from interplay between instinct and reason. Considering that the sexual instinct is primarily for procreation, man ought to use his rationality to direct this force appropriately. The pleasurable part of the act is secondary and therefore should not be allowed to define a person. The reason is, if man becomes myopic with the secondary end of sexual instinct; and remains consistently so, then human species destiny is at stake. It may sound religious but thoughtful reflection reveals so. Marriage is therefore an institution where under natural circumstances male and female partners are freely allowed to procreate (Geest, 1993). However, if the primary end cannot be realized due to illnesses or old age, the intent warrants its sanctity. The proponents of homosexual marriages are largely silent on the parentage of children of homosexuals, adopted or otherwise. They secretly recognize the psychological as well as sociological damage that they wrought to the development of these children (Paul, 1993). Its not disputable that they can have the custody of children either through adoption, surrogate motherhood, artificial insemination, or previous heterosexual relationships. What is paramount here is the welfare of these little children in regard to their development into adults of sound minds. In this consideration homosexual parentage of children is looked at vis-à  -vis heterosexual. If for instance, Kathleen is being raised by two mothers, she is being deprived of the experience of being with a father. Recent research as well as the common experience suggests that a father and a mother together provide by far the best surrounding in which a child may be raised. The reason being men and women contribute different gend er-connected strengths and attributes to their childrens development. Erik Erikson differentiates the kinds of love to children: fathers love more dangerously because their love is more expectant and instrumental than that of mothers (Wardle n.d. p. 846). Children from homosexual families will are likely to exhibit the homosexual tendencies of the parents and become one of such in adulthood (Kuyper, 1993). The homosexual marriage remains unnatural not because it cannot be found existing among natural brutes which constitute nature, but because the act itself is solely for pleasure. If anything there are creatures which show tendencies akin to homosexuals. Man is endowed with incredible intellect and he should use it to discern what underlies some of his cravings before allowing himself to be held hostage by them. Conclusion To surmise, the debate on the legality of homosexual marriages has been considered both as an unwarranted feat and as belated act of liberty worth celebrating yet this status ruins the institution of marriage. As it can be seen from the text, the arguments of pro-homosexual marriages are aimed at winning rather than analyzing the facts that belie the orientation. References Cott, N. (2002). Public Vow: A History of Marriage and the Nation. New York, NY: Harvard University Press Dankmeijer, P. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: The Construction of Identities as a Means of Survival. 24(3), pp. 95-105. Geest, H. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: Homosexuality and Marriage. 24(3), pp.115-123. Hollowell, K. (2010). World Net Daily: Homosexuality: Evolution of the human race. Retrieved on March 24th, 2010, from: http://www.wnd.com/index.php/index.php?pageId=23492> Kuyper, E. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: The Freudian Construction of Sexuality. 24(4), pp 137-144. Maccio, E. (2010). Journal of Homosexual: Influence of Family, Religion, and Social Conformity on Client Participation in Sexual Reorientation Therapy. 57(3), pp. 441-458. Paul, J. (1993). Journal of Homosexuality: Childhood Cross-Gender Behavior and Adulthood Homosexuality. 24(3), pp. 41-54. Senreich, E. (2010). Journal of Homosexuality: The Effects of Honesty and Openness About Sexual Orientation on Gay and Bisexual Clients in Substance Abuse Programs.57(3), pp 364-383. Wardle, L. (n.d.) Website of Family Action: The Potential Impact of Homosexual Parenting on Children. Retrieved on March 24th, 2010, from: http://www.familyaction.org/PDFs/h-parenting.pdf>

Essay --

1. The SEC issued SAB No. 101, which provides guidance on recognizing, presenting and disclosing revenue in financial statements. SAB No. 101 is based on the principle that in companies’ financial reporting, revenue should not be recognized until it is realized or realizable and earned. Before revenue is recognized, the following criteria and conditions must be satisfied: notes that GAAP requires the following conditions to be satisfied: 1) Persuasive evidence of an arrangement must exist; 2) Delivery must have occurred or services been rendered; 3) The seller’s price to the buyer must be fixed or determinable; 4) The collectability should be reasonably assured. 2. Longeta recorded $5.8 million in revenue for the year ended September 30, 2009 out of the actual shipment of software product. The shipment of the software product to Magicon was made prior to the year-end, so Longeta treated the revenue associated with the sale of software as a current sale on the income statement. On the other hand, Longeta recorded the remaining $1.2 million as deferred revenue given that Longeta was liable to provide software support services in the future periods. Since the delivery of support services had not occurred, Longeta recorded the portion of the contract related to support services as deferred revenues. For the support services to be provided over the next 12 months, Longeta would record the present deferred revenue as a current liability on the balance sheet. If there were a commitment to provide services after 12 months, Longeta would record deferred revenues as a long-term liability on the balance sheet. 3. The separate letter issued by the vice president of sales exhibited that neither Longeta nor Magicon had agreed to the term... ... transaction with Magicon has violated GAAP related to revenue recognition. The reasons are listed as below: 1) There was no evidence showing that an arrangement existed. Neither Longeta nor Magicon had reached agreement on the terms and conditions of the sale. 2) There was no indication that the earnings process was complete or nearly complete. The separate agreement gave Magicon the right to cancel the order and relevant obligations. It could be inferred that no exchange of assets has taken place, since Magicon did not make any commitment to provide Longeta with anything. 3) Magicon was given the right to cancel its payments to Longta if no terms could be reached, which meant that no collection would be generated. In sum, neither the recording of the $5.8 million in revenue nor the $1.2 million in deferred revenue was in accordance with the principles of GAAP.

Automobile :: essays research papers

History After the steam engine was invented in the early 17th century, various attempts were made to apply this source of power to self-propelled road vehicles. Early efforts were unsuccessful, except for those that produced interesting toys such as the machine developed about 1680 by the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton, wich was propelled by the back pressure of a jet of steam directed to the rear. The first successful self-propelled road vehicle was a steam automobile invented in 1770 by the French engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was designed to transport artillery, and it ran on three wheels. The British inventor William Symington in 1786 built a working model of a so-called steam carriage. The 19th century The first automobile to carry passengers was built by the British inventor Richard Trevitchick in 1801. In December of that year, Trevitchick conducted a successful road test of his vehicle, wich carry several passengers, on an open road near his native town, Illogan. His success was due to the greater efficiency and smaller size of his power unit, wich was the first to have the piston moved by steam at high pressure. In the United States, the inventor Oliver Evans obtained the first patent on a steam carriage in 1789. In 1803, he built a self-propelled steam dredge, wich is regarded as the first self-propelled vehicle to operate over American roads. In France and Germany, meanwhile, attention turned to the development of the internal-combustion engine. By 1980, more than 300 million cars and 85 million trucks and buses were operating throughout the world, forming an indispensable transportation network. Germany’s Volkswagen sent its first shipments of autos, popularly known as Beetles, to the Unites States in the early 1950s and eventually became a major force in the U.S. auto industry. The first Japanese imports to the United States was 16 compact pickups arrived in 1956. Ten years later, Japanese vehicle imports reached 65000 units. By 1980, the Japanese claimed 2.

Fnce451 Midterm

Midterm Exam – October 17, 2012 SOLUTIONS Instructions: 1. Read the questions carefully. 2. Answer all questions on the following pages. 3. A financial calculator and a regular calculator are permitted. 4. A one-sided 8. 5† x 11† formula sheet is permitted with formulas only. 5. The midterm has 11 pages, including 2 blank pages. 6. For Part 2, show all your work. 7. Midterm duration: 75 minutes. 8. Mark allocation: Shown on exam. Print your name: _________________________________________ Sign your name: __________________________________________ Student Number: __________________________________________Good Luck!!! Part 1: Multiple Choice Part 2: Short Answer and Problems Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Total /20 /4 /5 /10 /16 /55 1 Part 1 [2 points each = 20 points]: Multiple Choice. Circle the BEST answer. 1. The Double Dip Co. is expecting its ice cream sales to decline due to the increased interest in healthy eating. Thus, the company has announced that it will be reducing its annual dividend by 5% a year for the next two years. After that, it will maintain a constant dividend of $1 a share. Two weeks ago, the company paid a dividend of $1. 0 per share. What is this stock worth if you require a 9% rate of return? A. $10. 86 B. $11. 11 C. $11. 64 D. $12. 98 E. $14. 23 2. The value of common stock today depends on: A. The expected future holding period and the discount rate. B. The expected future dividends and the capital gains. C. The expected future dividends, capital gains and the discount rate. D. The expected future holding period and capital gains. E. None of the above. 3. The tax shield on CCA is calculated by: A. The quantity (1-Tc) multiplied by CCA. B. Revenues less expenses less CCA. C.The quantity (Revenues-Expenses) multiplied by CCA. D. Revenues less expenses less taxes. E. None of the above. 4. If the project beta-IRR co-ordinates plot above the SML, the project should be: A. Accepted because it is overvalued. B. Accepted because it is undervalued. C. Rejected because it is overvalued. D. Rejected because it is undervalued. E. None of the above. 5. The opportunity set of portfolios is: A. All possible return combinations of those securities. B. All possible risk combinations of those securities. C. All possible risk-return combinations of those securities.D. The best or highest risk-return combination. E. The lowest risk-return combination. 2 6. The combination of the efficient set of portfolios with a riskless lending and borrowing rate results in: A. The capital market line which shows that all investors will only invest in the riskless asset. B. The capital market line which shows that all investors will invest in a combination of the riskless asset and the tangency portfolio. C. The security market line which shows that all investors will invest in the riskless asset only. D.The security market line which shows that all investors will invest in a combination of the riskless asset and th e tangency portfolio. E. None of the above. 7. Stock A has an expected return of 20%, and stock B has an expected return of 4%. However, the risk of stock A as measured by its variance is 3 times that of stock B. If the two stocks are combined equally in a portfolio, what would be the portfolio's expected return? A. 20. 0%. B. 4. 0%. . C. 12. 0%. D. Greater than 20%. E. Need more information to answer. 8. Two mutually exclusive investment opportunities require an initial investment of $8 million.Investment A then generates $1 million per year in perpetuity, while investment B pays $500,000 in the first year, with cash flows increasing by 5% per year thereafter. Determine the NPV for which an investor would regard both opportunities as being equivalent. A. ?$1 million B. $0 C. $1 million D. $2 million E. $8 million 9. When comparing two projects with different lives, why do you compute an annuity with an equivalent present value (PV) to the net present value (NPV)? A. So that you can see which project has the greatest net present value (NPV). B.So that the projects can be compared on their cost or value created per year. C. To reduce the danger that changes in the estimate of the discount rate will lead to choosing the project with a shorter time frame. D. To ensure that cash flows from the project with a longer life that occur after the project with the shorter life has ended are considered. E. To avoid complications arising from alternating cash inflows and outflows. 3 10. A firm is considering changing their credit terms. It is estimated that this change would result in sales increasing by $1,000,000.This in turn would cause inventory to increase by $150,000, accounts receivable to increase by $100,000, and accounts payable to increase by $75,000. What is the firm's expected change in net working capital? A. $1,175,000 B. $325,000 C. $250,000 D. $175,000 E. $150,000 4 Part 2 [35 points]: Short Answer and Problems. Please show all your work. Question 1 [4 poi nts]: When two stocks have a correlation of ? 1, is it always possible to construct a portfolio with 0 standard deviation? If so, what is the weight (denoted as ? ) that always ensures that the portfolio has 0 standard deviation? Answer: Yes. 1 point) We can show this by substituting correlation of ? 1 in the portfolio variance formula: ? p2 = ? 2? 12 + (1 ? ?)2? 22 + 2? (1 ? ?)? 1,2? 1? 2 which gives, ? p2 = ? 2? 12 + (1 ? ?)2? 22 + 2? (1 ? ?)(? 1)? 1? 2 = [ 1 ? (1 ? ?)? 2]2 (1 point for setting up the problem with the variance formula) We are interested in the standard deviation, which is the square root of the above variance. By choosing ? so that [ 1 ? (1 ? ?)? 2] = 0 we get ? = ? 2/(? 1 + ? 2) and thus we can always ensure the portfolio has 0 standard deviation. (2 points: 1 point for setting the standard deviation equal to zero to solve for ? and 1 point for final answer) 5 Question 2 [5 points]: Storico Co. just paid a dividend of $3. 50 per share. The company will increase i ts dividend by 20 percent next year and will then reduce its dividend growth rate by 5 percentage points per year until it reaches the industry average of 5 percent dividend growth, after which the company will keep a constant growth rate, forever. If the required return on Storico stock is 13 percent, what will a share of stock sell for today? Answer: Here we have a stock with differential growth, where the dividend growth changes every year for the first four years.We can find the price of the stock in Year 3 since the dividend growth rate is constant after the third dividend. The price of the stock in Year 3 will be the dividend in Year 4, divided by the required return minus the constant dividend growth rate. So, the price in Year 3 will be: P3 = $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)(1. 10)(1. 05) / (. 13 – . 05) = $69. 73 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for answer) The price of the stock today will be the PV of the first three dividends, plus the PV of the stock price in Year 3 , so: P0 = $3. 50(1. 20)/(1. 13) + $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)/1. 132 + $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)(1. 0)/1. 133 + $69. 73/1. 133 (2 points for set up) P0 = $59. 51 (1 point) 6 Question 3 [10 points]: The expected return of the S&P 500, which you can assume is the market portfolio, is 16% and has a standard deviation of 25% per year. The expected return of Microsoft is unknown, but it has a standard deviation of 20% per year and a covariance with the S&P 500 of 0. 10. The risk-free rate is 6 percent per year. a. [2 points] Compute Microsoft’s beta. Answer: ? Microsoft = Cov(RMicrosoft, RM) / var(RM) ? Microsoft = 0. 10 / (0. 25)2 = 1. 60 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) . [2 points] What is Microsoft’s expected return given the beta computed in part (a)? We know from the CAPM: E(R) = Rf + ? (E(RM) – Rf) Therefore, E(RMicrosoft) = 0. 06 + (1. 60)(0. 16? 0. 06) = 0. 220 or 22. 0% (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) c. [2 points ] If Intel has half the expected return of Microsoft, then what is Intel’s beta? From the CAPM, we can solve for ? : E(R) = Rf + ? (E(RM) – Rf) 0. 11 = 0. 06 + ? Intel(0. 16 – 0. 06) ? Intel = 0. 50 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) 7 d. [2 points] What is the beta of the following portfolio? . 25 weight in Microsoft; 0. 10 weight in Intel; 0. 75 weight in the S&P 500; ? 0. 20 weight in GM (where ? GM = 0. 80); 0. 10 weight in the risk-free asset. Answer: The beta of the portfolio is the weighted average of the betas of the assets that comprise the portfolio: ? P = (0. 25)(1. 60) + (0. 10)(0. 50) + (0. 75)(1. 0) + (? 0. 20)(0. 80) + (0. 10)(0) = 1. 04 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) e. [2 points] What is the expected return of the portfolio in part (d)? Answer: From the CAPM, we can solve for E(RP) E(RP) = Rf + ? E(RM) – Rf) = 0. 06 + (1. 04)(0. 16 – 0. 06) = 0. 164 or 16. 4% (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) 8 Question 4 [16 points]: Better Mousetraps has developed a new trap. It can go into production for an initial investment in equipment of $6 million. Ignore the CCA system and assume that the equipment will be depreciated straight-line over 5 years to a value of zero, but in fact it can be sold after 5 years for $500,000. The firm believes that working capital at each date must be maintained at a level of 10 percent of next year’s (i. e. he following year’s) forecast sales. The firm estimates production costs equal to $1. 50 per trap and believes that the traps can be sold for $4 each. Sales forecasts are given in the following table below. The project will come to an end in five years, when the trap becomes technologically obsolete. The firm’s tax bracket is 35 percent, and the required rate of return on the project is 12 percent. What is project NPV? Year Sales (millions of traps) 0 0 1 0. 5 2 0. 6 3 1. 0 4 1. 0 5 0. 6 Thereafter 0 Answer: YEAR: Sales (traps) Revenue ($4. 00 ? Sales) Expense ($1. 50 ?Sales) Working capital Change in Wk Cap CF from Operations: Revenue Expense Depreciation Pretax profit Tax After-tax profit CF from operations Cash Flow CF: capital investments CF from working capital CF from operations Total CF PV @ 12% Net present value 0 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 20 0. 20 1 0. 50 2. 00 0. 75 0. 24 0. 04 2 0. 60 2. 40 0. 90 0. 40 0. 16 3 1. 00 4. 00 1. 50 0. 40 0. 00 4 1. 00 4. 00 1. 50 0. 24 –0. 16 5 0. 60 2. 40 0. 90 0. 00 –0. 24 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 2. 0000 0. 7500 1. 2000 0. 0500 0. 0175 0. 0325 1. 2325 2. 400 0. 900 1. 200 0. 300 0. 05 0. 195 1. 3950 4. 000 1. 500 1. 200 1. 300 0. 455 0. 845 2. 0450 4. 000 1. 500 1. 200 1. 300 0. 455 0. 845 2. 0450 2. 400 0. 900 1. 200 0. 300 0. 105 0. 195 1. 3950 (5 points) –6. 00 –0. 20 0. 00 –6. 20 –6. 20 –0. 1817 0. 0000 –0. 0400 1. 2325 1. 1925 1. 0647 0. 0000 – 0. 1600 1. 3950 1. 2350 0. 9845 0. 0000 0. 0000 2. 0450 2. 0450 1. 4556 0. 0000 0. 1600 2. 0450 2. 2050 1. 4013 0. 3250 0. 2400 1. 3950 1. 9600 1. 1122 (2 points) (6 points) (3 points) 9 This page is left blank on purpose. Use it if you need it. 10 This page is left blank on purpose. Use it if you need it. 11