a world out of time essays

a world out of time essays A vermin is a terrible thing to think of yourself. A bug is a slimy, stinky, and disgusting creature that eeks its way through life. In the novel, the Metamorphosis, the main character Gregor finds himself changed into a vermin one ungrateful morning. I find this irrational occurrence hard to believe. Gregor never changed into a bug physically but mentally is another story. Lets say that a person was to wake up one morning changed into a bug. Would that make any sense in our society? The logical way to look at it is to say he was changed mentally into a bug. For example, Gregor states in the book, Dont stay in bed being useless and I hope I dont miss the train to work. Would a human being transformed into a bug be worried about his job? Boil it down to the facts, and you can logically see that Gregor couldnt have changed into a bug, but he most certainly could have felt like a bug. The author of the book, Franz Kafka, had his share of problems with his father; the issues seem to match identically with Gregors problems in the Metamorphosis. It is an odd coincidence that drills the question; does the author project himself through the book? The answer to that question is yes. Once again, look at this issue logically; it would make perfectly good sense to write out your problems in a story to tell the world without really saying so. Why didnt Kafka just flat out say it was himself who was insane and suffering from a deep-seated destructive urge against the mother image (pg.157 of Franz Kafkas Metamorphosis as Death and Resurrection Fantasy by Peter Dow Webster)? All the problems he was feeling brought such insecurity that Gregor transformed into a bug; a mask that he wears in order to cover the true meaning. To understand the whole cover-up with the bug is to have common sense. Logic is what all human being have with...

Tourette Syndrome essays

Tourette Syndrome essays How would you feel if you were diagnosed with a disease that has baffled scientists for centuries? If your entire social life was destroyed due to this disease which may worsen as time goes by. But worst of all about being diagnosed with this disease is the fact that there is no cure. My guess is you wouldnt be too happy. You would probably become very depressed, violent, and cut yourself out from any social activities. If you felt this way, you would now be able to understand the lives and feelings of those diagnosed with Tourette syndrome (TS). Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder; therefore it affects the nervous system. The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, nerve cells, and fibers that extend throughout the body. When healthy, the nervous system reacts and responds to nerve impulses that allows us to maintain homeostasis. The nervous system can be broken down further into its three basic functions: sensory functions, integrative functions, and motor functions. In sensory functions, your bodys sensory receptors detect many different stimuli in and outside of your body. For example, your sensory receptors may detect a change in your blood temperature, or a change outside of your body such as a touch on the arm. Your body then goes through a process know as its integrative function. This is when your nervous system processes information sent via your sensory neurons and in a way makes decisions regarding appropriate responses. When all is said and done during this process a decision is made and sent through interneurons that act as a postman and deliver the decision to the motor function part of your nervous system. The motor function involves responding to the decision delivered by the interneurons by using efferent neurons that obtain the decision and send it to the effector to finally carry out the response. An effector can be anything in your body such a muscle fi...

The Founding Docs of the U.S Government Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Founding Docs of the U.S Government - Article Example It was also precursor to the social justice that was intrinsically linked to declaration of independence. It emphasized equity and freedom for people from all walks of life cutting across race, culture and color. The representative republic governance was considered as American experiment mainly because it laid the foundation of democracy that worked for people and was formed by the people through elected representatives (Stedman & Lewis, 1987). They received the right to power from the constitution to safeguard the interests of the people. The new democratic framework tested the enduring ideas of founders and proved that experiment of representative government can succeed. The Bill of Rights fulfills the ideas of American enlightenment as well resolves the differences between the federalists and non federalists. Through ten amendments, it comprehensively promotes equality and freedom of speech. The various clauses within the constitutional amendments ensure the federal and state rights work towards the wider welfare of the people and safeguard their interests through legal provisions. National interests are taken care by the federal government which enjoys huge power but the limitations imp osed by the constitution ensure responsibility and accountability in their actions thus, satisfying both the federalists and non federalists. (words:

JAPANESE CIVILIZATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

JAPANESE CIVILIZATION - Essay Example The sense of commitment to never be defeated in anything, even at the point of death is a guarantee to obtain success and wealth. In the words of the writer, â€Å"if one is aroused, heaven and earth will move in response,† (Hagakure, 476). This is a justification enough to put everyone in total focus of their goals, without any thought of failure, which ensures that they can achieve anything. The obligation of daimyo to the land (bakufu) is to constantly fight for it, staying in the state of preparedness at all times to engage in a fight to protect the land, even to the point of death. â€Å"I have found that the way of samurai is death. This means that when you have to choose between life and death, you have to quickly choose death,† (Hagakure, 479). This obligation influences samurai’s life and that of his family to total devotion towards the protection of their role in leadership model. The expectation of the people, regardless of their categories, whether as merchant, commoner, artisans or samurai is that bravely and victory should be exuded at all times. This serves to give daimyo the confidence to handle all challenges and triumph at all

Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporation - Essay Example From the aspect of business, we are the revenue for the firms. â€Å"We† are also considered as a potential source for new orders and new customers. Therefore each and every firm tries hard to retain their existing customer base because it is believed that a satisfied customer is equal to an advertisement for the company and retaining the existing customer is more profitable than replacing them with the new ones. (Hawkins 2010 p.22). However in the process of competition among the firms, the aspects that suffer the most are the social factors, humanitarian grounds and public interest. The Corporation â€Å"The Corporation† is a work by Joel Bakan which deals with the history of corporations and the key features it exhibit today. In the book the author has discussed about the procedure of business conducted by the firms of the recent era and the impacts it has on the general people. The topic of corporate social responsibility has also been covered in the book and the wo rk has been primarily addressed to the public at large making them aware of the malpractices of the corporations as well as the provoking attitude of the firms (Bakan 2005). Bakan in his book states the account of the organizations belonging to the 18th century and draws a comparison with the current corporate practices. During the past, the corporate structure was fairly exceptional and facilitated exclusively the methods for carrying out specific big projects for the interest of the public. Today the firms tend to govern our societies and economies. Greater emphasis can be found on the main attributes of management control and restricted liability, and on the reasonably modern notion that the organizations have a separate legal entity (Davies 2010 p.55), who might even have the benefit of several human rights. The writer puts further stress on the fact that financial controversies related to firms are not a new thing. Such scandals have always formed the part and parcel of the org anizational framework of conducting business. The transformation in the early parts of 20th century, gave rise to the concept of corporate social responsibility, which is showcased as a response by the business organizations to the general public’s common threat about the power and size that corporations started to build up, and to the associated requirement of a stricter administrative regulation on them. The concept of the fiscal idea of externalities has been also mentioned in the book which argues that the organization’s propensity to outsource costs is at the source of most of the world’s environmental and social issues. Interesting instances has been presented in the text regarding the cost-benefit study within the car business where the passengers’ protection is considered to be the main concern. Unlawfulness in the business activity is universal, and it takes place from the- unethical character of the corporation And from the breakdown of the regu latory structure, due to laidback regulations and futile enforcement. The corporations today focus mainly on their own interest neglecting the harmful and long-lasting effect on the society at large. There were many commercials that were created for the promotion of a product but ended up in causing injury to the humanitarian interests. The complaints lodged regarding the commercials amounted to a total number of 25,214 complaints in 2010 among which 96% were lodged by the associates of the public forum and 4% belonged to the

The Importance of Commodity Derivatives

The Importance of Commodity Derivatives Equity Commodity Investment â€Å"A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN EQUITY COMMODITY INVESTMENT OPTION† ABSTRACT India, a commodity based economy where two-third of the one billion population depends on agricultural commodities, surprisingly has an under developed commodity market. Unlike the physical market, futures markets trades in commodity are largely used as risk management (hedging) mechanism on either physical commodity itself or open positions in commodity stock. For instance, a jeweller can hedge his inventory against perceived short-term downturn in gold prices by going short in the future markets. The study aims to know how of the commodities market and how the commodities traded on the exchange. The idea is to understand the importance of commodity derivatives and learn about the market from Indian point of view. In fact it was one of the most vibrant markets till early 70s. Its development and growth was shunted due to numerous restrictions earlier. Now, with most of these restrictions being removed, there is tremendous potential for growth of this market in the country. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SYNOPSIS FOR THESIS DESIRED AREA Investments Commodity Market in India TITLE OF THE THESIS Comparative Study between Equity Commodity Investment Options† PROBLEM DEFINITION / HYPOTHESIS / RESEARCH OBJECTIVE To have a comparative study between two major Investments options Equity Commodity on the basis of their returns. To study simple properties of commodity futures as an asset class and analyze the hedging properties To understand the possible returns by investing in Commodity Futures when the Commodity Spot Prices are falling and comparing them with those in Stocks and Bonds. INTRODUCTION / LITERATURE TO THE AREA OF RESEARCH In the Capital Markets of the world, preferably in India, Stock is considered as the first option of investment. But, as we all know that there are many other options available with the people to invest / park their hard earned in some of these options are Derivative Market, Mutual Funds, NSC, KVPS, Insurance, FD, Savings A/c’s obviously less considered is the Commodity Market. In the above mentioned options there are some options that do not have the risk factor in it thus they give less return, while others having risk gives more return to the investor. One does not know that the Investments in Commodities will also yield almost the same returns as compared with the Stock, having the same amount of risk involved. SCOPE This research would throw light on the mentioned objectives make people aware of Commodity Futures as an Investment option – which is at its growing stage. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Primary Data Collection Guidance from the External Guide. Guidance from the Internal Guide. Help from Faculties. Commodities Dealers. Commodities Players (Investors). Secondary Data Collection Web sites Journals Magazines (Financial) Newspapers Research Papers on the same topic Reports of Experts â€Å"Investment is a term with different closely-related meanings in business, finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. An asset is usually purchased, or in a similar way a deposit is made in a bank, in hopes of getting a future return or interest from the same. Literally, investment means the action of putting something somewhere else In finance, investment can be referred to as buying securities or other monetary assets in the money markets or capital markets, or in fairly liquid real assets, such as gold, real estate etc. Valuation is the method for finding the true value of an asset. Different financial investments include shares, bonds and other equity investments. These financial assets are then expected to provide income/ positive future cash streams, and may increase or decrease in its value giving the investor capital gains or losses. Trading in contingent claims or derivative securities do not necessarily have future positive cash flows, and so are not considered assets, or securities or investments. Nevertheless, since their cash flows are closely related to or it is derived from cash flow of specific securities, they are often treated as investments. Banks, mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, collective investment schemes, and investment clubs can be used to make investments indirectly. An intermediary generally makes an investment using money from many individuals, each of whom receives a claim on the intermediary, though their legal and procedural details differ. LITERATURE REVIEW The capital market (securities markets) is the market for securities, where the companies and the government can raise funds for long term. Stock market and the bond market form part of capital market. Financial regulators, such as the RBI and SEBI, keep a watch on the capital markets in their respective countries to ensure that investors are protected against any fraud. The capital markets consist of the primary market, where the company floats new securities to investors, and the secondary market, where existing securities are traded. STRUCTURE OF CAPITAL MARKET Primary Market Secondary Market Derivative Market Commodity Market International Market IPO Public Issue) Right Issue Private Placement Sale purchase of existing share debenture Mutual fund Option Future Call Option Put Option Gold Silver Material Etc. NYSE Composite NASDAQ Composite Dow Jones I.A. S4P 500 NIKKEI – 225 NSE BSE Dealing in MCX dealing in STRUCTURE OF SECURITY MARKET Primary Market Secondary Market Derivative Market Commodity Market International Market IPO Public Issue) Right Issue Private Placement Sale purchase of existing share debenture Mutual fund Option Future Call Option Put Option Gold Silver Material Etc. NYSE Composite NASDAQ Composite Dow Jones I.A. S4P 500 NIKKEI – 225 NSE BSE Dealing in MCX dealing in A) Primary Market: It is that part of the capital markets that deals with the issuance of new securities. Companies, governments or public sector institutions can obtain funds through the issue of a new stock or bond which is called initial public offering (IPO). This is typically done through a syndication of securities dealers which in return earn a commission that is built into the price of the security offering. B) Secondary Market: The secondary market is the market for trading of securities that have already been issued in the market. Aftermarket is known as the market that exists in a new security just after the new issue. Investors and speculators can easily trade on the exchange once a newly issued stock is listed on a stock exchange, as market makers make bids and offers in the new stock. C) Derivative Market: Derivative Market Future Market Option Market Future Contract Say – One month – Two month – Three month Call Option Put Option Premium will change at the time of buying No Risk Premium will change at the time of sells No Risk Future Contracts: The future contracts are the future contracts or bids for some specific period like one month, two months and three months, accepted from investor in capital market which is put. Option Market :- The option market is the place where trading is for call and put or buy and sell and only the premium is charged for all call and put trading. D) Commodity Market: Commodity trading might sound like a strange term, but simply put, commodities are items like, wheat, corn, gold and silver, and Cattle and Pork Bellies, and Crude Oil and it has emerged as an important player in the way that people invest in and speculate. INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES INVESTMENT Financial Assets Real Estate Marketable Financial Assets. Non-marketable Financial Assets Treasury Bills C.D. C.P. Repo Govt. Fixed Insurance bond Govt. Securities Debenture Shares Mutual Fund Equity Pref NSS Bank Deposit Post Office KVP NSC Company Deposit EPF/PPF LIC Gold Silver Previous objects Painting /Art Land / Building Machinery/Equipment etc MARKETABLE FINANCIAL ASSETS Equity or Preference shares Govt/PSU/Pvt/other bonds Mutual Funds Shares (Equity and Preference Share): If you have equity shares of a company, you have an ownership stake in that company. This essentially means that you have a residual interest in income and wealth of the company. Equity shares are classified into the following broad categories Blue chip shares Growth shares Income shares Cyclical shares Speculative shares Bonds: Bonds or debentures represent long-term debt instruments where issuer of a bond promises to pay a stipulated stream of cash flow. Bonds may be classified into the following categories Government securities. Savings bonds Government agency securities. PSU bonds Debentures of private sector companies Preference shares Money Market Instruments:- Money market instruments are debt instruments which have a maturity of less than one year at the time of issue. The important money market instruments are: Treasury bills Commercial paper Certificates of deposit Mutual Funds: A Mutual Fund is a trust that collects the savings of a number of investors, and invest in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities who share a common financial goal. Unit holders share the income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Mutual Fund offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost and thus is the most suitable investment for the common man. NON-MARKETABLE FINANCIAL ASSETS: A good portion of financial assets is represented by non-marketable financial assets. These can be classified into the following broad categories. Bank deposits Post office deposits Company deposits Provident fund deposits/EPF LIC NSC NSS KVP Life Insurance: Life insurance can also be considered as an investment as insurance premiums represent the sacrifice, and the assured sum represents the benefit. The important types of insurance policies in India are : Endowment assurance policy Money back policy Whole life policy Term assurance policy REAL ESTATES AND OTHERS Real Estate: Residential house is the most important asset in the portfolio for the bulk of the investors. More affluent investors are likely to be interested in the following types of real estate, in addition to a residential house Agricultural land Semi – urban land Commercial property Precious Object: Precious objects are items that are highly valuable in monetary terms. Some important precious objects are ; Gold and silver Precious stones Art objects Financial Derivatives: A financial derivative is an instrument whose value is derived, from the value of an underlying asset be it a real asset, such as gold wheat or oil, or a financial asset, such as a stock, stock index, bond or foreign currency. Forwards Contracts A forward contract, as it occurs in both forward and futures markets, always involves a contract initiated at one time; Performance in accordance with the terms of the contract occurs at one time; Performance in accordance with the terms of the contract occurs at a subsequent time. Further, the type of forward contracting to be considered here always involves an exchange of one asset for another and the price at which the exchange occurs is set at the time of the preliminary contracting. Actual payment and delivery of the good occur afterwards. Futures Contracts A futures contract is highly standardized forward contract with closely specified contract terms and it calls for the exchange of some good at a future date for cash, with the payment for the good to occur at that future date like all forward contracts. The buyer of a futures contract undertakes to receive delivery of the good and pay for it while the seller of a futures promises to deliver the good and take delivery of payment. The price of the good is determined at the initial time of contracting. Option Option contracts grant the right but not the compulsion to buy in the case of a call or sell, in the case of a put a specified quantity of an asset at a predetermined price on or before a specified future date option contract would expire if it is not in the best interest of the option owner to exercise. Swaps Swaps normally trade in the OTC market but there is monitoring of this market segment. Swaps are agreement between two parties to exchange cash flows in the future according to a approved formula and In case of popular interest rate swap, one party agrees to pay a series of set cash flows in exchange for a sequence of variable cost. When compared to global derivatives markets Indian derivative markets are still in the emerging stage. Indian derivatives markets share in the world derivatives market’s value and volumes are very small. But with the starting of trading in different financial and commodities segment, Indian markets are growing very fast. Indian markets are operating with high efficiency and on parity with international standards. The major exchanges and the derivative products traded in India: 1. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 2. National Stock Exchange OF India Ltd (NSE) 3. National Commodity Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) 4. Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) 5. National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE) INVESTMENT ATTRIBUTES For evaluating an investment values, the following attributes are relevant. Rate of return Risk Safety Profitability Purchasing power risk Maturity Marketability Tax shelter Convenience Rate of Return: The rate of return on an investment for a period (which is usually a period of one year) is defined as follows: Rate of return = Annual income + (Ending price – Beginning price) Beginning price To illustrate, consider the following information about a certain equity share. Price at the beginning of the year: Rs. 80.00 Dividend paid in the year: Rs. 4.00 Price at the end of the year: Rs. 87.00 The rate of return of this share is calculated as follows: 4.00 + (87.0-80.00) = 13.75 percent 80.00 Yield In general, yield is  the yearly rate of return  for any investment and is expressed as a percentage, With stocks, yield can refer to the rate of income generated from  a stock in the form of regular dividends and is often represented in percentage form, calculated as the annual dividend payments divided by the stocks current share price. Investors can use yield to measure the performance of their investments and  compare it to the yield on other investments or securities. Generally, higher risk securities offer higher expected yields as compensation for the additional risk incurred through ownership of the security. Investors looking to make income or cash flow streams from equity investments commonly look for stocks  that shell out high dividend yields, in other words, stocks that give a relatively large amount of annual cash dividends for a relatively low share price. Annual income (interest or dividends) divided by the current price of the security. This measure looks at the current price of  a bond instead of its face value and represents the return an investor would expect if  he/ she  purchased the bond and held it for a year. This measure is not an accurate reflection of the actual return that  an investor  will receive in all cases  because bond and stock  prices are continuously changing due to market factors. Capital Appreciation: It’s the rise in the market price of an asset. Capital appreciation is one of two major ways for investors to profit from an investment in a company. The other is through dividend income. Risk The risk of investment may be classified in following ways Type of Risk Internal Rate of Return Risk Market risk Inflation Risk Default Risk Business Risk Financial Risk Management Risk Liquidity Risk The rate of return from investments like equity shares, real estate, and gold can vary rather widely. The risk of investment refers to the variability of its rate of return: How much do individual outcomes deviate form the expected value? A simple measure of dispersion is the range of values, which is simply the difference between the highest and the lowest values. Other measures commonly used in finance are as follows: Variance :This is the mean of the squares of deviations of individual returns around their average values Standard deviation:This is the square root of variance Beta :This reflects how volatile the return from an investment is, in response to market swings. Risk = Actual Return – Expected Returns Condition: If, Actual Return = Expected Return = Risk Free Investment If, Actual Return > or Low Variance (Low Risk) High Variance (High Risk) Expected Return Marketability: An investment is highly marketable or liquid if: (a) it can be transacted quickly: (b) the transaction cost is low; and (c) the price change between two successive transactions is negligible. The liquidity of a market may be judged in terms of its depth, breadth, and resilience. Depth refers to the existence of buy as well as sell orders around the current market price. Breadth implies the presence of such orders in substantial volume. Resilience means that new orders emerge in response to price changes. Generally, equity shares of large, well – established companies enjoy high marketability and equity shares of small companies in their formative years have low marketability. High marketability is a desirable characteristic and low marketability is an undesirable one. How does one evaluate the marketability of an investment like a provident fund deposit which is non-marketable by its very nature? In such a case, the relevant questions of ask is: can withdrawals be made or loans be taken against the deposit? Such as investment may be regarded as highly marketable if any of the following conditions are satisfied: A substantial portion of the accumulated balance can be withdrawn without significant penalty; A loan (representing a significant portion of the accumulated balance) can be raised at a rate of interest that is only slightly higher than the rate of interest earned on the investment itself. Tax Shelter: Some investments provide tax benefits; others do not. Tax benefits are of the following three kinds. Initial Tax Benefit; An initial tax benefit refers to the tax relief enjoyed at the time of making the investment. For example, when you make a deposit in a Public Provident Fund Account, you get a tax benefit under Section 80 C of the Income Tax Act. Continuing Tax Benefit: A continuing tax benefits represent the tax shield associated with the periodic returns form the investment. For example, dividend income and income from certain other sources are tax – exempts, upto a certain limit, in the hands of the recipient. Terminal Tax Benefits; A terminal tax benefit refers to relief from taxation when an investment is realized or liquidated. For example, a withdrawal from a Public Provident Fund Account is not subject to tax. Convenience: Convenience broadly refers to the ease with which the investment can be made and looked after. Put differently, the questions that we ask to judge convenience are: Can the investment be made readily? Can the investment be looked after easily? The degree of convenience associated with investments varies widely. At one end of the spectrum is the deposit in a savings bank account that can be made readily and that does not require any maintenance effort. At the other end of the spectrum is the purchase of a property that may involved a lot of procedural and legal hassles at the time of acquisitions and a great deal of maintenance effort subsequently. A COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF VARIOUS INVESTMENTS ALTERNATIVES A summary evaluation of these investment avenues in terms of key investment attributes is given in Exhibit below. It must be emphasized that within each investment category individual assets display some variations. Exhibit: Summary Evaluation of Various Investment Avenues Return Current yield Capital appreciation Risk Marketability / Liquidity Tax shelter Convenience Equity Shares Low High High Fairly high High High Non – convertible Debentures High Negligible Low Average Nil High Equity Schemes Low High High High High Very high Debt Schemes Moderate Low Low High No tax on dividends Very high Bank deposits Moderate Nil Negligible High Nil Very high Public provident fund Nil Moderate Nil Average Section 80 C benefit Very high Residential Moderate Moderate Negligible Low High Fair Gold and Silver Nil Moderate Average Average Nil Average INVESTMENT VERSUS SPECULATION While it is difficult to draw the line of distinction between investment and speculation, it is possible to broadly distinguish the characteristics of an investor from those of a speculator as follows. Investor Speculator Planning horizon An investor has a relatively longer planning horizon. His holding period is usually at least one year. A speculator has a very short planning horizon. His holding may be a few days to a few months. Risk disposition An investor is normally not willing to assume more than moderate risk. Rarely does he knowingly assume high risk. A speculator is ordinarily willing to assume high risk. Return expectation

Research Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Research Psychology    I believe I have many characteristics and interests that would make me a good candidate for graduate school. I am a very introspective person; I put a lot of thought into what I do and why I do it. I constantly evaluate myself and my progress in making and reaching goals. One goal I have had for many years is to go on to graduate school. I know I have enough will and interest to make my goal a reality.    I have always enjoyed school and learning. My love of learning has been a key to my academic success and involvement. I am a Social an Behavioral Sciences Scholar, a National Merit Scholar, and a member of two honor societies, Phi Eta Sigma and Psi Chi. I also find I learn a lot by interacting with others. I participate in several clubs on campus. I was a member of the Student Environment Action Coalition (SEAC), and I helped to organize a benefit concert to raise money to save rain forests. I am currently involved in Anthropology Club, and Psychology Club. For Psychology Club, I am Vice President of Special Events; I help come up with topics for meetings, and I was in charge of publicity for our annual Volunteer Open House.    I enjoy being challenged, so I take heavy course loads and variety of classes. I will graduate with two Bachelor's degrees, in psychology and anthropology, after only three years and one summer of undergraduate study. I have been on the Dean's List every semester and have maintained a 4.0 GPA in psychology. I feel the courses I have taken have helped focus my interests and have prepared me for graduate work. Anthropology has given me a broader perspective on human attitudes, feelings, and behaviors than psychology alone. However, psychology as remained my favorite subject. I was a teaching assistant for Research Methods in psychology. This allowed me to work with others on all aspects of research from developing ideas to revising papers. I also had the opportunity to be a research assistant. I helped with data collection and putting it into a computer program. Next semester, I will be taking an honors course called Youth an Children: Issues and Controversies. As part of this class I will be volunteering with the Young Parents Together program and the Family and Children Council.

Han China and Classical Athens Dbq

Peter C. DBQ Essay 09/12/12 3rd block For many reasons, Han Empire and Classical Athens have many differences. As Rudyard Kipling once wrote, Oh, East is east, West is west, And never the twain shall meet Kipling stated the obvious, the Han Empire and Classical Athens are completely different (Introduction). However, is it true? Of course these two civilizations have many differences, one is located in the west and the other is located in the east.The two civilizations are different not just for their locations but also population distribution, government, society treatments, and culture. The main difference between the Han Empire and Classical Athens is their population distribution. While Classical Athens population was total with Environs equal to be 315,000, the Han Empire consisted of 65,000,000 total (documents B & C). The population classification is also different, one is more specific and the other is more general.For instance, the population of Athens were divided into four sections: free male citizens, free male non-citizens, free females, and slaves, while the Han’s classes are more specific: emperor & appointed officials, educated mandarin bureaucrats, land aristocracy, peasants farmers & skilled urban workers, merchants, and â€Å"mean people† (documents B & C). As you see from the list above, Han classified their classes specifically. Even though the two are very different, they also have some similarities like the peasants and the slaves are both the highest percentage in the population for both Han China and Classical Athens.A third of the Classical Athens’ populations were slaves and 90% of the Han China’s populations were peasants (document C). Han China and Classical Athens’ governments were completely different. The state of Athens had a form of government where the citizens’ votes will decide on the political choices called democracy (document D). The democracy government of Athens was the first de mocracy state formed in the world at the time. The assembly was open to all free males of adult age (18 and older) (document D & E). The officials composed of five hundreds men, fifty from each of the ten Attic tribes (states).On the other hand, the Han Empire had a monarch ruled over them (Online). The first emperor of the Empire was Liu Bang. The monarchy system works through descendants of the emperor, if the current emperor passed away, his son will take over the throne, and then the son of his son will be throne as emperor and so on (Online). On the forms of governments for the two empires and state there is not any similarity in them. The third most important difference is their way of treatments to the society especially to children and women.In both Han Empire and Classical Athens society, women and children were treated poorly. For example, in Athens women were not allowed to be in the council, instead they had to serve their husbands as their master (document Q). As for th e Han’s empire, the women were to be at service to the men with a straight manner, no humors, jokes, or anything (document R). Children were treated even worse; they weren’t being considered as children or a living creature, maybe more like products that can be kept or disposed at will.In Athens, if the child makes it through the first night, he or she is to be kept from being abandon (document N). But for the next ten days will be tough, because the father of the child will be inspecting him or her for any deformation, if it is confirmed that the child is deformed in anyway, he or she will get abandon, no matter what can happen to his or her life (document N). The Han Empire isn’t any better. A mother may give up a child at will due to the fact that she doesn’t know how long she can live to take of the child (document O).The Han China and Classical Athens’ culture also had a huge different to how the arts were created. The arts of the Athenians we re more focus on themselves, the human body. For example, on the front cover page, there is a drawing or statue of a Greek man, the Greek man is standing in a weird position with his arms pointing down, there are a few lines emphasizing his muscles, torso, biceps, etc. (Front Cover). While the art of the Han China were more focus on the landscapes and scenes surround them, along with the serenity and balance of the world drawn on to canvases in great details (document L).In most paintings, the five Chinese elements called Wu Xing will most likely be included in the paintings; the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Looking at Ch’iu Ying’s painting, you can clearly see the how Wu Xing is being presented in the painting, how the trees and mountains were presented in the background (document L). However, as you can see in the painting, there are only two men in the painting, this could mean that humans were inconsiderable in their arts (document L).As a conclusion, the two artistic styles were complete different from each other, the Han’s arts were more focus on nature in great details, while the Athenians’ art were more focus on the human body. As for conclusion on this essay, despite the fact that the two civilizations are different because of their locations, there was also much information given above as to how the two differ from each other. They both discovered many remarkable findings, developed many new creations, and have defeated many great wars. Although they both have many differences, the two were still significant in their own points of view.

Biography of Harriet Tubman

Biography of Harriet Tubman Free Online Research Papers Harriet Tubman was a runaway slave who was known as the â€Å"Moses of her people.† Over the course of ten years at her own risk, she led many slaves to freedom using the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a secret network of safe houses where runaway slaves could stay on their journey north to freedom. Later in her life she became a leader in the abolitionist movement and a spy for the federal forces in South Carolina. Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was born into slavery and was beaten as a child by her various owners. One of her owners hit her in the head with a heavy metal weight intended to hit another slave. She suffered a traumatic head injury which caused disabling headaches, seizures, powerful visionary and dream activity, and spells of hypersonic which occurred throughout her life. In 1849 she escaped to Philadelphia and went back and took her family with her including her 70 year old parents. She traveled in the night with extreme secrecy and never lost a fugitive. The fugitive slave law was passed in 1950 made it harder for slaves to escape. After that law was passed she started leading fugitives further north into Canada. If any of her fugitives she was helping tried to go back she would take out a gun and threaten to kill then because that would all of them in risk of being caught. She made 19 trips to Maryland which were all dangerous trips. When the Civil War began Harriet Tubman worked for the Union Army. She worked as a cook and a nurse then as an armed scout and spy. She was the first women to lead an armed expedition which freed more than seven hundred slaves. After the war she went to a family home in Auburn, New York to take care of her aging parents and other people in need. She also worked in her later years to promote the cause of woman’s suffrage, she worked with many woman including Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland. In 1911 Harriet became very frail and was admitted into a rest home named in her honor. On March 13, 1913 she died of pneumonia. Harriet Tubman will be remembered as someone who helped many people throughout her life. Research Papers on Biography of Harriet Tubman19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XQuebec and CanadaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHip-Hop is ArtAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Mind TravelWhere Wild and West MeetTrailblazing by Eric Anderson

Netflixs Software Business Services

Netflixs Software Business Services Background Netflix is an online company with corporate headquarters in Los Gatos, California. Netflix was founded by Hastings who is also the CEO of the company. Netflix’s key business is online rental services in the software industry. Netflix’s software business services span various software products and services.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Netflix’s Software Business Services specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Among these are DVD movies and several other software products. Despite disappointing results on its performance at the beginning, the innovative entrepreneur continued to tailor the company while identifying and exploiting new opportunities that presented themselves. That was when the company designed and developed a website that saw it host millions of subscribers making it rake in huge profits. That was in 2006. Netflix was founded at a time when the video industry was largel y populated by small retail outlets which were characterized by long product delivery time. The market was dominated by the then giant Blockbuster Inc. Blockbuster had no real marketing strategy and customer royalty was based on impulsive buying. It enjoyed booming sales with almost 100 percent success when Netflix joined the market. Upon its entry into the market in 1997, Netflix realized that the market that was dominated by the brick and motor marketing methods. The launch of this company was at the time of the beginning of internet retailing. Online selling was gaining an upper hand to brick and motor methods. This compelled Netflix’s to launch its own website in 1998 that specialized in the use of cross platform technologies in service delivery. At this time, different pricing models were tested to increase sales volume. Netflix was also adept at countering new entrants and developments in the market. One of this was the development of a video provision services on line. Porter’s Generic Strategy According to Porter (1974), successful business organizations incorporate one or more of the generic strategy options to propel it to success. Among these strategies are cost leadership, focus, and group differentiation. A critical analysis and evaluation of the cases study reveals that Netflix had to various extents incorporated these strategies in its business pursuits with each generic strategy contributing to the success or failure of the company in its pursuits. Netflix emphasized on the focus strategy with the other strategies playing a minor role in the firms’ pursuits.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The differentiation strategy is where a company concentrates its efforts in developing a single product then invests in identifying and incorporating unique attributes that meet customer needs (Porter, 1974). Porter (1975) asserts that by adding value to a product and creating uniqueness in product to attract customers, customers are likely to purchase the product at a higher price. That was the case with Netflix. Netflix original move into the market targeted the renting of videos in the movie industry. That strategy could be achieved by the use of recently developed and upcoming internet marketing technology which other companies had not incorporated in their business pursuits. The case study reveals that Netflix’s newly launched website integrated a search engine that enabled each customer to search and access products of one’s choice. Netflix’s management showed such talent and ingenuity in marketing their products by employing already available and established supply chain infrastructure and technology. One of the infrastructure tools included the US’s postal services. The firm incurred slight expenses in delivering the DVD’s to the customers as they wer e light in weight. In creating value and uniqueness to its products using the group differentiation strategy, Netflix endeavored to characterize its products with value, user friendliness and convenience, and unique selections. That was evident when Hastings coined a term for their customers that Amazon used to refer to its customers, eBay. According to Porter (1975), a company that invests in this approach should be led by a well skilled and dedicated team. That was the case with Netflix. Netflix’s management was led by Hastings, an entrepreneur at heart. In addition to that, Porter affirms that a company organized around pursuing excellence and aiming at gaining a greater advantage in the market should have a good reputation should revolve around high product quality and innovation. The case with Netflix is outstanding here. Netflix did not only focus on DVD sales, they had other serious considerations in product innovation. Among these were a focus on video-on-demand and a lternatives to VOD. Porter (1974) argues that a company may not necessarily integrate all the generic characteristics depending on the nature of its business. An analysis of the case study indicates that Netflix did not pay much attention to cost leadership. Some of the pricing models did not work for Netflix.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Netflix’s Software Business Services specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One such model involved a situation where the firm spent several thousands of dollars in adverts only to gain a paltry income from such an endeavor. Netflix at times charged high rental fees for their online videos which at times drove its customers away. However, technology seems to have paced Netflix at an upper hand compared to other companies involved I the same business pursuits. However to a large extent, Netflix incorporated the generic aspect of focus strategy. The focus strategy is where a firm concentrates on one firm and later on attempts to manipulate product prices to achieve an advantage over competitors (Porter, 1975). Netflix did not succeed with this strategy to a desirable extent but seems to have lost some customers due to that. Porter’s Five Forces Netflix entered a market that Porter (1974) affirms is driven by five forces. These include the bargaining power of customers, threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products, and rivalry among competing firms. At Netflix, the bargaining buyer of customers was realized when despite intensive marketing activities, the firm earned paltry sums far below their target. Instead of earning the company more customers, thus increasing the revenue, the company was facing a loss. Customers had driven sense into the company’s executives that they could determine a company’s profitability and the model they use in pricing their products. This pricing element was evident when some customers felt dissatisfied by the pricing system compelling Netflix to rethink and introduce a new pricing mechanism. Netflix could counter new entrants by its relentless pursuits to adopt new technologies and integrate them to the service sit was offering. That was the case when it entered the field of video-on-demand. Despite the huge investments it had made, Netflix did not realize quick returns as there were no technologies in the form of hardware platforms to support such services. Netflix is noted to have lost a chunk of revenue in advertising these service customers were not willing to pay for. The case study however reveals that later innovations saw Netflix succeed in this field. One other case was the entry of VOD services and the fierce completion Netflix had to fight off before they could get a foothold in this widely dominated market by Netflix. Netflix swung into action by exploiting new technology platforms that were not characterized by her competitors in gaining a firm foothold. Another force experience in this industry was the bargaining power of buyers. As discussed above, Netflix had to succumb to buyer’s buying behavior as in some instances; new innovations could not be priced as per Netflix’s dreams. That was the case with investments and intense marketing campaigns conducted by Netflix for the newly launched services, VOD.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Porter (1975) asserts that companies can endeavor to enter a market by offering substitute products that may serve the needs of current products offered in the market. The case with Netflix is a striking one. The case study reveals that substitute products were too below bar in competing with those offered by Netflix and the company was now enjoying an undisrupted share of the market. Netflix carefully blended these generic forces to its advantage. Rivalry among competing firms saw Netflix to be a runaway case. Arguments demonstrate how competitors went to the extent of accusing Netflix of infringing upon copy right laws in offering these videos online. This line of attack was shaken off by Netflix’s executives who argued that Netflix was offering these services just like any retail outlet could buy and sell a product, except Netflix was using the new internet technology that these other firms had not put to full use. Value Chain Netflix’s management was keen at exploi ting information technology in incorporating value chain activities in its service. A striking example was when the company’s turnaround time for product deliveries was drastically enhanced by the use of appropriate technology. Each customer who opted to stay or leave the company could be requested to leave an answered questionnaire about their decisions. These could be used to identify the weaknesses inherent in the system and determine new methods of fulfilling customer needs and wants. One such revelation was identified with the company’s ever changing rental fees. Other value chain addition activities spanned the infrastructure the company was using and its implementation of new technologies to enhance value for its customers. Netflix’s system product acquisition was also automated, with automated searches using an integrated search engine. Implementation of Information Technology in Netflix To stay afloat in the already large market and maintain the custome r base, Netflix will have to implement an IT infrastructure that could offer reliable support for its business transactions (Smith, Short, 2001). One of these could be a data mining application. The data mining application could be integrated in the organizations’ information system to assists in decision making. Netflix is a highly customer focused organization. Data mining could help enhance communication, help the company compare its prices with other companies evaluate customer satisfaction, evaluate supplier relationships, enhance staff skills, and provide an overview of company progress and performance. On the other hand decision support system could be incorporated into the company to help improve decision making from the company’s data warehouse, provide real time sales compressions, and model decision making context (Shermis, Stemmer, Berger, Anderson, 1991). The outputs from this system could significantly depend on the inputs from the company’s data warehouse and the decisions made could reflect the actual potion of the company. In addition to that, a customer relationships management should be incorporated as it helps the management to sustain its old and new customers, meet customer needs, and establish a good working relationship with other companies and customers. According to Silverman (1993), a supply chain management system if well incorporated into this company could help create competitive advantage for the firm by enabling it to optimize all factors relevant to customer satisfaction and company benefits. This system could help the company identify key factors central to its success and enable management optimize all aspects of controls in its marketing strategies and supply and acquisition logistics (Smith, Short, 2001). Recommendations Based on the above discussion, Netflix should continuously adapt to changing technological dynamism and new market opportunities in reaching various markets. Netflix’s managem ent should hire experts on cross culture management to ensure a cross culture component is incorporated in its pursuits. This could be the case since newer opportunities lie outside Netflix’s current market that is characterized by a fairly uniform culture. In addition to that, the firm should incorporate user friendly software products that are cross platform and compatible with other software products to enhance usability. To maintain a large market share, the company should always incorporate faire business practices in its pursuits. In addition to that, Netflix should endeavor to develop software that can bar piracies on its products in addition to patenting its products. The company should invest in software technologies that bar any could be illegal downloading of files or unauthorized access or copying of its products. That could bar illegal usage of its video products since it denies the company legitimate profits that could accrue from those sales. The company should continuously evaluate the role played by information technology in propelling it to its position, the ever changing trends in the industry I terms of provision of services and other related services. It should continuously revise its plans to make them current and relevant to the identified changes and endeavor to incorporate new technologies in its pursuits. References Porter,M.E.(1973).Consumer Behavior, Retailer Power, and Manufacturer Strategy in  Consumer Goods Industries. Harvard, Cambridge MA. Porte, M. E. (1974). Consumer Behavior, Retailer Power and Market Performance in Consumer Goods Industries. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 56(4), 419†436. Shermis, M. D., Stemmer, P. M., Berger, C. F., Anderson, G. E. (1991). Using microcomputers in social science research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Silverman, D. (1993). Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for analyzing talk, text, and  interaction. London: Sage Publications. Smith, C., Short P. M. (2001). Integr ating technology to improve the efficiency of qualitative data analysis- A note on methods. Qualitative Sociology, 24, 401-407.

Multinational Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multinational Management - Essay Example is a market system, which greatly affects the operation of multinational companies, as they have to devolve more resources to the grass root level to satisfy the local consumption (Sage Publications, 2011). Market economic system on the other hand gets characterized by completion as each person does the best to suit the customers. Cumulative change in decisions by individuals seriously affects the operation of multinational companies as this affects the supply and demand of different commodities. In addition, the market economic system is influenced by tastes as preferences of customers, which vary with changing factors. This greatly affects operations of multinational companies. Various religious ethics affects the environment. To start with is the dominion of religions a factor, which guides where to sell a good and what type of good to sell. For instance, the Christian believers use the bible as their references book, which teaches them to be having dominance over the earth. According to western religions, the natural world exists for the benefit of human (Fernando, 2010). This calls for the existence of intrinsic values that affects the business environment. Apart from dominion stewardship, also exist as a dominant business philosophy. Religious people are regulated by their trust which item to buy and where to use it this greatly affect the business environment. The effects of education on multinational strategies are very diverse. To start with is the increased economic cost in implementation of extra education activities. An organization for instance can engage in education systems to create awareness among the employees on the use of computers. This will increase efficiency however the cost of education in such a scenario will be expensive thereby affecting international businesses. In addition, technological business advancements has been a leading factor that is affected greatly many business organizations. For instance, the introduction of e- commerce

Dq-4-Terence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dq-4-Terence - Essay Example n of Research Objectives; this is the second step that should be undertaken when implementing the research design, specifically, it entails the formulation of clear objectives, which are achievable and realistic. Objectives are usually applied to facilitate or guide the study for instance in this study, the objectives could be (Bryman & Cramer, 2011): To assess the psychological effects of the 2010 murder on Northern Illinois University Faculty, students and Parents; to explore how affected persons manage psychological stress concerning the murder and; to investigate actions taken by the faculty to prevent such incidences. 3. Determination of Types and Sources of Data needed; there are different dimensions of data; however, the researcher should identify and determine the types of data needed to for the research (Yin, 2011). This information should be clearly stated in the research. In the case provided, sources of data that could be used include; secondary data, which basically involve documented or already researched information as well as primary sources of data, which involves first hand information collected from the research field collected through interviews, questionnaires et cetera. 4. Data Collection Techniques; in this case, the researcher will identify reliable, appropriate and realistic methods of data collection. This information should be state clearly within the research. In the Illinois Case Study, the research would use primary data collection techniques such as; questionnaires focus groups, observation as well a action research. Additionally, a research secondary data sources can also be undertaken through critical research techniques as well as analysis (Salkind, 2011). 5. Scope of the Study; in this step, the researcher should clearly identify and state the scope of the study, basically indicating the specific sample size and geographical coverage of the study for example: The study of effects of 2010 murder on faculty members, parents and