Saturday, December 28, 2019

Capitalism And The Global North And South - 2871 Words

The interdisciplinary nature of Rethinking Capitalism has demonstrated that a seemingly simple subject, such as capitalism, is very complex due to both its ubiquitous nature and a multitude of affects that transcend multiple disciplines. On the one hand, capitalism is an economic system that is rooted in the creation and exchange of commodities. On the other hand, capitalism is also a legal system that protects commerce and enforces private property laws. Yet, capitalism can also be defined by its historical record of uneven economic development between the Global North and South. And still others may wish to view capitalism through a purely financial lens, in light of the recent Great Recession. Neither of these views are particularly right, nor are they particularly wrong, as capitalism is both all of these things and none of these things at the same. Moreover, the effects of capitalism across these different subject matters are also open to interpretation, making it even mor e difficult to assign meaning to this subject. President John F. Kennedy’s aphorism of â€Å"a rising tide lifts all boats† demonstrates that capitalism brings positive economic outcomes to everyone, while Karl Marx’s Capital painstakingly details its deleterious effects upon the laboring classes. While the nature of the debate on defining capitalism is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth mentioning, albeit briefly, in order to both clarify and properly situate its central thesis; thatShow MoreRelatedThe Implication Of Free Markets On Global Business1519 Words   |  7 PagesThe implication of free markets on global business Introduction Capitalism, socialism, and communism are the main three economic systems. â€Å"Capitalism is an economic system also known as the private enterprise or free market system based on private ownership, economic freedom, and fair competition† (Kelly and Williams pp. 26) Capitalism can be referred to as free markets where there is no government intervention or strict regulations. The principle of capitalism is that â€Å"people and business mustRead MoreImperialism And Consumerism1365 Words   |  6 Pages Imperialism as a driving force behind the structures of capitalism and consumerism has stood as an extremely powerful tool taken on by many influential economic world powers. The occidentalist concept of importing goods for consumption from less developed peripheral nations, in recent history, has become a concept with heavy influence. This idea of creating a production dichotomy has become foundational to the modern and increasingly connected world and its means of efficient production by trade;Read MoreThe Impact Of Communism And Capitalism1694 Words   |  7 Pageswithin both communism and capitalism, but sometimes one can even effect the other. This paper will explore what the possible connection is between North Korea’s communistic economy and how it may have impacted South Korea’s capitalistic economy. At the end of the World War II in 1945, two separate regimes emerged on the Korean peninsula to replace what was once the colonial government. The United States military government took over the southern half, now known as South Korea, while communist RussiaRead MoreRelationship Between Identity And Security1400 Words   |  6 Pagesworld. The U.S. saw this expansion as the main threat to the west and to global security. To understand the U.S. fears during this war, one must understand the previous conflict that occurred in Korea. The Korean War (1950 – 1953) was somewhat similar to that of the Vietnam War. The Korean War saw the attempted invasion of South Korea by the communist North Korea. This invasion saw the involvement of the U.S. who aided South Korea, and the People’s Republic of China – a newly formed communist stateRead MoreAmerican South And German Imperialism Essay1257 Words   |  6 PagesAlabama in Africa, written by Andrew Zimmerman, explains the history surrounding the relationship between slavery in the American South as well as in the African village of Togo, run by Germany. He opens with the importance of cotton in America’s social, political, and economic markets. Not only does Zimmerman explain the correlation between cotton and black labor, but he further explains black labor through Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Institute is a continual conceptRead MoreNorth-South Divide1613 Words   |  7 PagesThe  North-South Divide   (or  Rich-Poor Divide[citation needed]) is a  socio-economic  and  political  division that exists between the wealthy  developed countries, known collectively as the North, and the poorer  developing countries  (least developed countries), or the South.[1]  Although most nations comprising the North are in fact located in the  Northern Hemisphere  (with the notable exceptions of  Australia  and  New Zealand), the divide is not wholly defined by  geography. The North is home to fourRead MoreWhy Nations Fail : The Origins Of Power, Prosperity And Poverty1274 Words   |  6 PagesWhen investigating the global state of poverty and prosperity there is clear difference between the wealthy nations and impoverished nations. In the past decades there has been an increase in economic polarity between the developed and developing nations of the world. Some nations are prospering greatly while others countries are still struggling to achieve, economic, political, and social stability. The book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and JamesRead MoreWall Street : A Symbol Of Economic Oppression And Racial Inequality1123 Words   |  5 PagesAfricans inferior and white Europeans superior-an ideology that still exists†(Hudson, 2012). Slavery was said to be the driving force of the economy in the first half of the 19th century. The South, and the white man, was very economically important to the nation. It made us a big player in the global economy. Look at the cotton trade that took place. Savannah played a large part in the cotton industry/trade. Do you think slavery and cotton are discussed on the tours of Savannah that are givenRead MoreEssay The Power of Ideology1484 Words   |  6 Pagesdamage. Conflicting ideologies of Communism and Capitalism were set aside in World War II when the Russians and the Americans united as allies to face Nazi Germany as the common enemy. With the defe at of Germany, Russia and the United States emerged as the two competing superpowers. These victors had the power to decide the fate of the world. The Communist Soviet Union had a world to win while Americans opposed this horrific design and favored Capitalism. This ideological conflict developed tensionsRead MoreInequality Is The Inevitable Outcome Of Capitalism Essay970 Words   |  4 PagesInequality is the inevitable outcome of capitalism. It provides incentive for those who own the modes of production, the capitalists, to invest back into the system as well as for those who sell their labours to work productively. However, this system does many times only benefit the capitalists, while leaving a large portion of the population insecure. To attend to these insecurities and minimize the level of inequality, states implement policies and programs that provide their citizens safety nets

Friday, December 20, 2019

Marketing and Tweeter - 1390 Words

Case Analysis Tweeter etc. Company Overview Tweeter etc. was founded in 1972 by Sandy Bloomberg in Boston to sell high-end stereo components. The current portfolio of the company consists of brand stereos, television, car radios and car phones. Tweeter has recently witnessed a healthy growth in its financial performance. Sale has almost doubled in the last three years reaching $82.3 million in FY 1996. Its sales per store has increased by 50% and number of stores increased to 21 from 14 during the same period. The Making and Current Scenario During its formative years, Tweeter gained the reputation of being the retailer of high quality, high-end audio components and video equipment. They had a knowledge able sales force providing†¦show more content†¦The starting price for its products as communicated to the consumers by ads was well above the other retailers. Thus, consumers being price sensitive thought of Tweeter as the store selling high priced goods. Even though the middle and high end stuff are sold at around the same prices as in all stores. The lack of awareness along with the price advertising has made the Tweeter appear more costly and specialized for high end customers and thus driving consumers away. As can be justified Tweeter’s 70% sales was due to Quality/Service customers which look for high levels of product quality and customer service due to its image. As can be seen from the survey, the awareness level of people about APP was very low. Only 32% of the respondents could define it. Only 22.1% of the respondents knew that Tweeter offered the APP service. Concern 4: Is Tweeter targeting the right customer sector and should it continue with APP? The price bitter and the quality/service customers together account for 90% of Tweeter customers. It lacks behind in Entry level and convenience customers. This can be attributed to the various misconceptions about the store in the market such as Tweeter stocks high end goods only. This has led to Tweeter running in losses during early 1990’s. Though, it has shown some improvement after that due to the inclusion of APP. Concern 5: Is Tweeter actually price competitive among its competitors Tweeter is priceShow MoreRelatedTweeter Case Study1159 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Tweeter Case Questions 1. Objectively and subjectively, is Tweeter price competitive? Why or why not? Tweeter is an electronics store that pride itself on selling middle and high end goods. To see if they were price competitive, we would have to evaluate them with similar stores like Cambridge sounds waves as opposed to Walmart. Before APP in 1993, it would not have been possible to evaluate Tweeter’s price competitiveness since there was no systematic benchmarking present. However withRead MoreTweeter Case Study1296 Words   |  6 Pages------------------------------------------------- Purpose: Tweeter etc. founded by CEO Sandy Bloomberg in 1972, is a specialty retail store of middle and high end audio and video consumer electronics. Between the years 1991 to 1996, it expanded from a 13-store chain with $ 35 million annual sales to a 21-store chain with $ 82 million in annual sales. To sustain its market share amongst the highly price-focused competitors of New England in USA, the company had adopted 3 major promotional strategiesRead MoreCase Study : Automatic Price Protection Introduced By Tweeter1145 Words   |  5 PagesAutomatic Price Protection introduced by Tweeter will be a successful strategy to keep the electronic store able to compete in intense competition of electronic store. The trends of APP refunds are increasing every period until it reached cumulatively $783,863 in December 1995. Tweeter market share is considered very low in New England Market. Tweeter was not able to compete with market that has bigger market share and offer cheaper price. †¢ Causes that lead Tweeter to implement APP will be discussed,Read MoreNew England Consumer Electronics Market1056 Words   |  5 PagesTweeter etc. is a small, upscale New England retailer of consumer electronics that was founded by Sandy Bloomberg in 1972. During that time, there were two major retailers in Boston, Tech Hi-fi and Lechmere. To avoid direct confrontation, Bloomberg focused on the student market and emphasize a lot more on sophisticated tastes for higher quality stereo components. As time pass by, Tweeter build up their reputation and the public consider the company as a retailer of â€Å"high quality, high-end audio componentsRead MoreTweeter Case1798 Words   |  8 PagesQUESTIONS: Should Tweeter continue with its Automatic Price Protection (APP) policy along with Every-day Fair Pricing (EDFP)? Tweeter should continue with its current Marketing strategy based on APP policy and Every-day Fair pricing. Their target customer is the Quality/Service oriented and they should focus on retaining their loyalty. The shift from having continuous Sales Events to fair pricing and price protection has been proven successful as same store sales have increased, new stores haveRead MoreCustomer Service : An Important Part Of Business1124 Words   |  5 Pagesquestions from prospective customers. Social media customer service grows fasted and strongest in customer service department. The strategy is not only answer questions and complaining from customers by using social media network; such as Facebook, Tweeter, Youtube, Blog, but also to create a strong faster connection between organisation and customers. According to the recent Social Media Customer Service Report conducted by TNS, surveyed more than 1,000 UK consumers and found that 57% of consumersRead MoreTweeter Etc。5564 Words   |  23 PagesBloomberg, founder and CEO of Tweeter etc., reflected on the recent history of his small, upscale New England retailer of consumer electronics. Tweeter had grown from a 13-store chain with $35 million in annual sales in 1991 to a 21-store chain with $82 million in annual sales in 1996. Bloomberg had always attributed part of this growth to Tweeter s Automatic Price Protection policy, which had been implemented in 1993. Under Automatic Price Protection (APP), Tweeter monitored local newspaper adsRead MoreFreedom and Constraints in Social Media Essay1587 Words   |  7 Pagesis to facilitate and promote social interaction, often we see the obsession of personal image worsen and consume the user because of how many so-called â€Å"Friends† they have or how many â€Å"Likes† their status updates receives (Kramer, V3 Integrated Marketing). Both are irrelevant towards modern issues and crises. Thus Facebook hinders the user’s ability to elaborate and reason with analytical topics. Image/videos boards and blogging sites (e.g. Youtube.com, 4chan.org, Blogger.com) however allow forRead MoreSocial Media And Marketing Strategy1401 Words   |  6 Pages Social Media and Marketing Manal Musallam â€Æ' Social media and Marketing Introduction According to state of inbound marketing in the year 2012 62% of marketers said social media became more important to the marketing campaigns in the last 6 months. Apparently businesses had moved on to the next big step of marketing their products and services to consumers or other businesses. Marketing using social media as a tool to reach out to millions of consumers and businesses had enhancedRead MoreEssay on Twitter Strength of Weak Ties4871 Words   |  20 Pagestheir list of connections and those made by others within the system. Aided by the proliferation of laptops, erosion of the traditional concept of office hours and working from home, these SNS’s are having a major impact on business networking, marketing, human resources, customer relations and even employee motivation and loyalty! [ (MessageLabs, 2007) ] A review of existing academic research suggests that since the advent of SNS’s, majority of the research is focused on defining what SNS’s are

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Hku Application Essay free essay sample

In other words, I learned a lot about how to work for and with people. One achievement of my work in the program worthy of mention is this. By creating a new context, I have transformed the authentic story â€Å"The Pied Piper† into a whole new version. And it got the third place prize in a contest at my school. I am born with a venturing spirit. I like to sky the limit, crossing academic boundary. I believe that only by breaking boxes can one get something surprisingly good. I believe I am the right kind of student for HKU. Why HKU? When I was a high school student, I had attained a boy scout camp for boy scouts from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The experience of interacting with the students from Hong Kong was fascinating. They were quite passionate, open-minded and friendly. I believe that there are two reasons for that kind of personality. We will write a custom essay sample on Hku Application Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first is about location. For a very long time, Hong Kong has resided, culturally and geographically, in the intersection among Mainland China, South-Eastern Asia, and, in fact, the rest of the world. It is a truly and highly internationalized city. With the good location, come excellent people. For the matter at hand, Hong Kong has attracted many excellent teachers and students from all over the world. The rich and diversity of the learning environment, no doubt, contributes to the open-mindness of its students. For the same reasons, more and more excellent foreign students try to study in Hong Kong. As a result, more and more talented people from all over the world gather in Hong Kong, and, thereby, the richness and diversity of the learning environment of Hong Kong is nearly second to none. You may say that Asia is the heart of the future world, and Hong Kong is the heart of Asia, and HKU is the heart of Hong Kong. I find no good reason not to study in the heart of it all. My Academic Interests I am especially interested in International Business and Global Management. It is partly because of a lesson my father teaches me and partly because of my interests in marketing. My father has been running a cram school since I was a child. In my childhood, when my father brought me to his workplace, I had lots of chances watching him communicating with his employees and handling problems of operating a group. While envying Dad’s good managing ability, I also wondered how he could get along with various kinds of people. As I grow up and become mature, I get the two key points of Dad’s successful management. They are â€Å"effective communication† and â€Å"practice what you preach†. These two concepts really impact me a lot. It not only teaches me that the management should firstly be done on myself before asking someone to do better, but also inspires my passion to explore the methods of communicating and managing. Last summer, I joined a summer camp held by Department of Business Administration, NTU. During the five-day camp, I really learned a lot about the business administration, and my favorite part was â€Å"marketing†. In the camp, there was an â€Å"achievements publication† on the last day. Every team should public their marketing strategy and perform an advertising drama for a particular product. Through the teams’ displaying, I saw plenty of innovative marketing strategy and campaign, and all of these ideas let me realize that â€Å"marketing† is my interest. Because of the internationalized environment in Hong Kong and the great education offered by the HKU, I think BBA(IBGM) of HKU is a fantastic place where I can learn more in the fields of marketing and management area. That I am who I am has a lot to do with the way my parents educate me. They for sure have a high expectation on me, but they make space for me so that I myself can find out my true interests and the way to my dreams. Their liberal education makes me an innovative person. And also thanks to them, I have abundant experiences of traveling abroad and reading nice books at a merely eighteen yeas old. In addition to my home education, my experiences in HSNU, my senior high school, also have a great impact on me. HSNU is one of the best high schools on academic performance in Taiwan, and it’s also famous for the affluent club activities. Studying in such a competitive and enthusiastic school, I once tried hard to strike a balance between schoolwork and extra-curricular activities, and it was never an easy job.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Corporate governance consequences of accounting

Question: Discuss about the Corporate governance consequences of accounting. Answer: Three main items are present in the statement of financial position of the organisations, out of which equity is significant. Autosports Group Limited is not an exception from this rule. In compliance with the balance sheet statement of the organisation in 2017, three main items are listed in equity section, which include issued capital, share-based payments reserve and retained profits. Issued capital is the equity of the business organisations (Atanasov and Black 2016). The firms utilise in raising a part of capital needed for their businesses. The issued capital is calculated by multiplying the par value of the shares with the number of outstanding shares. The annual report of the organisation states that the issued capital has fallen from $478,500,000 in 2016 to $475,637,000 in 2017 (Investors.autosportsgroup.com.au 2018). The main items falling under issued capital comprise of issuance of ordinary shares, cost of issuance of shares and income tax associated with issuance of shares. The next item in the equity of Autosports Group Limited is reserves. According to the financial accounting concept, reserve is taken into account as a part of the equity of the firm. This is adjudged in the form of additional amount except for primary share capital. The recent annual report of Autosports Group Limited states that it has issued shares-based payments reserve in 2017, which is valued at $392,000; however, no such reserves are there in 2016. In addition, the latest annual report of Autosports Group Limited states that it has positive retained profits amounting to $12,198,000; however, it has experienced retained losses in 2016 amounting to ($101,000). Hence, it could be said that the organisation has made more profits than losses. The constituents involved in the retained profits of Autosports Group Limited are net income available to the shareholders, dividends paid or provided and effect of restatement (Schaltegger, Etxeberria and Ortas 2017). Thus, all the above-described constituents are the main equity items in the organisation. In the global firms, various forms of expenses could be seen and they are selling expenses, administrative expenses and other expenses. Out of these expenses, tax expense could be considered as one of them. Moreover, tax expense is taken into account in the form of main liabilities of the companies owing to the state, federal and municipal governments of the nation (Damodaran 2016). The tax expense is computed through multiplication of the suitable business tax with the income before taxes after some main items are factored such as tax assets, non-deductible items and tax liabilities. Autosports Group Limited is not exempted from this, since it incurs tax expenses as well. Based on the recent annual report of the organisation, the income tax expense has been $6,035,000 in 2017, which was $8,000,000 million in 2016. Based on the rules of the taxation law of Australia, the corporate tax rate is 30% (Gitman, Juchau and Flanagan 2015). According to this tax rate, the overall tax expenses for Autosports Group Limited would be $5,526,900 in 2017, which was $101,400,000 in 2016. This is the major tax expense of the firm for the years 2016 and 2017. It could be identified that the overall tax expenses of the organisation have fallen in 2017 due to decline in income for the organisation in that year. Based on the above discussion, it could be stated that Autosports Group Limited has recorded total tax expense of $6,035,000 in 2017, which was $8,000,000 in 2016. On the other hand, if the tax rate is followed, the overall tax expenses for Autosports Group Limited would be $5,526,900 in 2017, which was $101,400,000 in 2016. Hence, a clear variation in the tax expense of the organisation could be observed. For Autosports Group Limited, there are some particular reasons for the variations in tax expenses despite of having the identical tax rate of 30%. However, few specified items are included or not taken into account in the preliminary overall tax expenditures. The initial item is non-deductible expense in order to ascertain taxable profits (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim 2014). However, few expenses in the organisation need not be subtracted from its overall income. Due to this, $638,000 and $879,000 are included in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The next item includes the use of various tax rates for the subsidiaries of the organisation. In Australia, the rate of tax is 30%, while in case of USA and New Zealand, the tax rates are 34% and 28% respectively (Graetz and Warren Jr 2014). Because of such variation in the rate of tax, certain amount is subtracted from the actual tax expenses of the organisation. The next item includes the availability of deferred tax assets. With the help of deferred tax assets, tax advantages could be sought (Agrawal and Cooper 2017). For this reason, $3,897,000 has been deducted from the tax expense of Autosports Group Limited in 2017. Some other items need to be included as well with the tax expense of the organisation. The final item is the availability of non-assessable incomes. There are certain incomes, which do not need to be evaluated in accordance with taxation. Hence, an inclusion of $1,547,000 is made with the overall tax expenses. In the words of Richardson, Taylor and Lanis (2015), deferred tax assets and liabilities are the major concepts that are associated with the tax operation of the organizations. The situation, in which the organisations make prepaid tax on their financial assets or overpay taxes, is termed as deferred tax assets. On the contrary, deferred tax liabilities signify a situation, in which a variation could be observed in profit and the carrying amount of tax of the organisation (Taylor and Richardson 2014). For Autosports Group Limited, it could be viewed that the organisation has disclosed deferred tax assets as well as deferred tax liabilities in its balance sheet statement. The deferred tax assets of the organisation have been $3,897,000 in 2017, which were $3,900,000 in 2016. Along with this, the organisation has deferred tax liability base of $5,948,000 in 2017, which was $4,000,000 in 2016. By taking into account the accounting norms and regulations, there are few reasons to develop deferred tax assets and liabilities. For deferred tax assets, the cause might be the additional depreciation amount on the part of the organisation because of the difference in rate of taxable depreciation and depreciation. Because of the additional depreciation payment, Autosports Group Limited would not have to incur the excess tax in the upcoming year; hence, it is taken into account as asset. In case of deferred tax liabilities, the temporary variations in business profits might be the cause, which has resulted in lower tax payment of the organisation in the existing year (McClure et al. 2018). Hence, it becomes mandatory for the organisation to repay the same in the upcoming years, which is the main reason of its consideration in the form of liability. Income tax payable or current tax asset is adjudged as a significant aspect for the global organisations. According to the annual report of Autosports Group Limited, it has disclosed about its current tax asset. It has been found that the income tax payable of the organisation has been $4,980,000 in 2017; however, no income tax payable is reported in the year 2016. In organisations, it could be observed that there is a variation between income tax payable and income tax expense and there are some particular reasons that could be held for such disparity. The basic reason is the availability of deferred tax assets. There are many examples, in which the organisation incurs additional tax amounts in contrast to the tax expenses (Dyreng, Hoopes and Wilde 2016). In this condition, the additional amount of tax paid would be adjudged in the form of deferred tax assets, which would result in variation. The next reason is that the rules pertaining to financial accounting and tax accounting differ from each other. In this dimension, it is noteworthy to mention the concept of depreciation. The variation for depreciation could be observed in case of tax accounting as well as financial accounting due to the use of different depreciation methods (King 2016). Therefore, the final depreciation amount payable could rise or decline. These could be stated as the p rimary reasons behind the variations between income tax expense and income tax payable (Burkhauser, Hahn and Wilkins 2015). Based on the financial statements of Autosports Group Limited, the organisation has disclosed its tax-related expenditure in both the income statement and the cash flow statement. However, there are variations in tax expenses, which are depicted in the cash flow statement and the income statement. Under the income statement, the income tax expense has been $6,035,000 in 2017, which was $8,000,000 million in 2016. Under the cash flow statement, the income tax paid has been $6,760,000 in 2017, while in 2016; it has not recorded any income tax paid. Some particular reasons are there for this variation in both the above-depicted statements in relation to tax expense. Under the income statement, the organisation has depicted the entire taxation amount by using the tax rate of 30% on the profit before tax. However, the situation is dissimilar in case of the cash flow statement. In this regard, Murphy (2016) advocated that the tax expense falls under the operating cash flows. Moreover, in the section of the statement of cash flow, there is different for few items laid out in the income statement. This signifies that various modifications have occurred in the current asset and liability base of the organisations. In case of Autosports Group Limited, the income tax payment is taken into account in the form of current asset. Under the cash flow statement, some minimisation in the constituents of income tax has been brought signifying the usage of cash. This denotes that there is cut off of few components of tax expense, before they are considered in the cash flow statement (Dowling 2014). Because of these reasons, the variation in tax expense could be observed in both the income statement and the cash flow statement. After the tax treatment is observed for the financial reports of Autosports Group Limited, it is to be said that the organisation has presented its tax-related information in a fashion that any user would not find any confusing or surprising element within the same. The organisation has carried out all its tax treatments by adhering to the regulations and principles of the taxation law of Australia. Moreover, the organisation has laid down all the justifications and descriptions of the different influential dynamics of taxation such as rate of tax, income tax payable, deferred tax assets, deferred tax liabilities and others. However, few interesting stuffs have been found in relation to the tax treatment of the organisation. The most significant factor is the description made on the part of the organisation in relation to the difference identified in the overall tax expense. It has provided description about the five main influential dynamics accountable to create difference in tax expense. This is depicted with the help of various tables present in the annual report of the organisation. Another significant factor is the variation in tax expense, as identified from the statement of income and the statement of cash flow. All these exciting factors are highly valuable to increase the knowledge and understanding needed in business taxation. From this evaluation, an individual could obtain insight and understanding regarding the tax treatment of the Australian organizations. References: Agrawal, A. and Cooper, T., 2017. Corporate governance consequences of accounting scandals: Evidence from top management, CFO and auditor turnover.Quarterly Journal of Finance,7(01), p.1650014. Atanasov, V. and Black, B., 2016. Shock-based causal inference in corporate finance and accounting research. Burkhauser, R.V., Hahn, M.H. and Wilkins, R., 2015. Measuring top incomes using tax record data: A cautionary tale from Australia.The Journal of Economic Inequality,13(2), pp.181-205. Cheng, B., Ioannou, I. and Serafeim, G., 2014. Corporate social responsibility and access to finance.Strategic Management Journal,35(1), pp.1-23. Damodaran, A., 2016.Damodaran on valuation: security analysis for investment and corporate finance(Vol. 324). John Wiley Sons. Dowling, G.R., 2014. The curious case of corporate tax avoidance: Is it socially irresponsible?.Journal of Business Ethics,124(1), pp.173-184. Dyreng, S.D., Hoopes, J.L. and Wilde, J.H., 2016. Public pressure and corporate tax behavior.Journal of Accounting Research,54(1), pp.147-186. Gitman, L.J., Juchau, R. and Flanagan, J., 2015.Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU. Graetz, M.J. and Warren Jr, A.C., 2014. Unlocking Business Tax Reform.Tax Notes,145, pp.707-712. Investors.autosportsgroup.com.au., 2018.Investor Centre | Autosports Group. [online] Available at: https://investors.autosportsgroup.com.au/investors/?page=annual-reports [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018]. King, M., 2016. Offshore hubs: Developments in multinational corporate tax anti-avoidance.Australian Resources and Energy Law Journal,35(2), p.142. McClure, R., Lanis, R., Wells, P. and Govendir, B., 2018. The impact of dividend imputation on corporate tax avoidance: The case of shareholder value.Journal of Corporate Finance,48, pp.492-514. Murphy, C., 2016. The effects on consumer welfare of a corporate tax cut.Arndt-Corden Department of Economics Working Paper, (2016/10). Richardson, G., Taylor, G. and Lanis, R., 2015. The impact of financial distress on corporate tax avoidance spanning the global financial crisis: Evidence from Australia.Economic Modelling,44, pp.44-53. Schaltegger, S., Etxeberria, I.. and Ortas, E., 2017. Innovating Corporate Accounting and Reporting for SustainabilityAttributes and Challenges.Sustainable Development,25(2), pp.113-122. Taylor, G. and Richardson, G., 2014. Incentives for corporate tax planning and reporting: Empirical evidence from Australia.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,10(1), pp.1-15.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Starts Essays - Statistical Inference, Production Economics

Starts Business Productivity Growth Hypothesis In this assignment, we will attempt to study the effects that difference in Income Ratio (henceforth known as I.R.) between the years 1980 and 1990 have on the Productivity Growth (P.G.) during the same period of time. The Income Ratio of one specific year can be found if we take the average income of the richest faction of a country (the richest 20% of the population) and divide it by that of the poorest faction (the poorest 20%). In this assignment, the Income Ratios that were used were those of 13 different countries. The I.R.'s on both 1980 and 1990 were taken for all these countries and, to find the difference between them, the I.R. for 1990 was divided by the I.R. for 1980, for each country. These new numbers illustrate the change of I.R. between the two years so that we can compare how the P.G. changes in relation to the changes in the I.R.. On this assignment, we use inductive reasoning to examine the data and find a theory (a hypothesis) that would combine the data given in a way that would make sense, based solely on our data. How do we know if the theory that we formulate makes sense? In this case we will plot the points (derived from the column I.R. 1990/1980, going on the x-axis, and the column Productivity Growth 79-90, on the y-axis). According to how the points are on the graph in relation to the Average Point (0.94,1.45) (point that is an average of all values and which divides the graph into four Quadrants), if 80% of these points are where they would be expected to be to conform to the hypothesis, then there is no reason to reject this hypothesis. If, on the other hand, the majority of the points does not conform to our hypothesis (are not where they were predicted to be), then it is rejected. Another method of reasoning frequently used by Mainstream economists is deductive knowledge, as opposed to inductive, described above. Their theory is formulated and only then it is applied to the data. Their theory on this subject suggests that productivity within a country grows when the population has incentives to work harder (or to work more). When the gap between rich and poor increases (an increase in I.R. form 1980-90, resulting in a larger ratio on the column I.R. 1990/1980), so does the population's eagerness to work, therefore increasing the Productivity Growth. Since when one variable goes up the other also goes up, there is a positive (or direct) correlation between the two. Mainstream economists use deductive reasoning to deduce that there exists a positive correlation between the two factors. In short, their hypothesis is that when the Income Ratio increases, the Productivity Growth also increases, since people are more motivated. For this to be true, we would expect a line going up and to the right on the graph, passing by Quadrants II and IV. Most points (80% or more) would have to be on these two Quadrants. This, however, is not the case (see graph), since only about 30.77% of the points plotted satisfy these conditions. Since the original hypothesis was rejected, we might want to see if there is a negative correlation between the two variables (that is, as one goes up, the other goes down). Our new hypothesis would then be as the Income Ratio increases, the Productivity Growth decreases. Then, in the case of a high I.R., people in lower classes would rationally start to feel insecure and that their work is not being recognized by society, therefore losing motivation and producing less. In this case, since there's a negative correlation, one would expect the line on the graph to go downwards, from left to right, passing on Quadrants I and III. If this hypothesis were valid, 80%+ of the points would have to be on these Quadrants. This is also not the case, for only 69.32% of the points are on the appropriate Quadrants. Like the first, this second hypothesis also has to be rejected. After analyzing these two relationships and seeing that neither is valid, we conclude that there is no direct relationship between the two variables tested. That does

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Third Conjugation -isc Suffix Type Italian Verbs

Third Conjugation -isc Suffix Type Italian Verbs Most Italian verbs are regular verbs, meaning they are conjugated following a regular pattern. But there is a special group of third conjugation Italian verbs (verbs ending in –ire) that requires the suffix -isc- to be added to the stem of all three singular (io, tu, lei) and the third-person plural (loro) forms in the present indicative and present subjunctive tenses, as well as the second and third person singular and the third-person plural forms of the present imperative tense. One good example of such verbs is finire (to finish). Present Indicative io finiscotu finisciegli finisceessi finiscono Present Subjunctive che io finiscache tu finiscache egli finiscache essi finiscano Present Imperative finiscifiniscafiniscono Other verbs that need the -isc- suffix and are conjugated similar to finire include capire, preferire, pulire, suggerire, and tradire. Unfortunately, there is no way to know which third conjugation verbs are isc verbs. Your only option is to commit these verbs to memory. Interestingly enough, in some classic grammatical systems, -isc type verbs were considered a fourth conjugation. Optional -isc- Verbs For certain -ire verbs there is a choice as to whether -isc- is inserted or not when conjugating. The most common include: aborrire (to abhor, to loathe)- io aborro / aborriscoapplaudire (to clap, to applaud)- io applaudo / applaudiscoassorbire (to absorb)- io assorbo / assorbiscoeseguire (to carry out)- io eseguo / eseguisco(to swallow (up), gulp (down); engulf)- io inghiotto / inghiottiscolanguire (to languish)- io languo / languisco(to lie)- io mento / mentisco(to nourish, to feed)- io nutro / nutrisco Different Forms, Different Meanings Some -ire verbs not only have both forms (that is, they are conjugated both with and without the suffix -isc) but take on diverse significance. For example, the verb ripartire: io riparto (to leave again)io ripartisco (to divide)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Tourism Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Tourism Industry - Case Study Example The second chapter reviews the relationship between environment and tourism as well as its implications to TUI. The third chapter analyzes the performance of TUI and it's those features that contributed to achieve the No.1 position in tourism and shipping industry. It further explains the key unmatchable factors that have made TUI far ahead of its market competitors. In the end the current structural changes in different business fields are discussed and TUI's response to these changes with its corporate strategies and business models. In order to complete this paper, a meticulous research has been done on available information on the subject of tourism and contribution of TUI in this field. A variety of case studies and few books and online journals were reviewed. Online available resources are given special precedence than available library books because there is no specific book available about a particular tourism company. It is the biggest limitations of this research that in co mparison to available web-based resources, hard copy books are not readily available specifically about TUI. TUI is an abbreviation of Touristik Union International that was established in 1968. As Preussag AG, it remained a renowned organization in transportation and industrial sector till 2001 when it became a 100% subsidiary of Preussag AG. In next ear, Preussag AG was transformed into TUI AG. During next few year

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Ethical Hacking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Ethical Hacking - Essay Example It can be used to protect an organization against an attack because it spots out and potentially prevents intrusions that breach the system’s firewalls or those that occur behind the local area network (LAN) or the firewall (IATAC, 2009, p.3). Thus, IDS can provide organizations real-time or near-real-time monitoring of a host or a network and defend them from hacking. IDS cannot always detect footprinting stages. The wrong results in an IDS are categorized into two kinds: false positives and false negatives (IATAC, 2009, p.4). False positives happen when an IDS wrongly sees a problem with benign traffic (IATAC, 2009, p.4). False negatives take place when malicious traffic is not recognized by the IDS (IATAC, 2009, p.4). When this happens, hackers’ footprinting efforts can enter the system and evade the systematic monitors of an IDS. Also, an IDS cannot evade successful social engineering tactics. These tactics gathers useful information about the system that can be used to determine vulnerabilities and other useful information. Two scanning and enumeration tools that the organization can use are Port Scanning and Null Session tools. Port scanning can be done by Nmap- it is a program made for network mapping tool. Nmap does different network functions, such as fingerprinting a system, finding ports that are common to a specific network device, and determining the servers, such as recognizing that System B is actually a Solaris server. The Windows Server Message Block (SMB) protocol provides free information. Null Sessions are not on by default in Win XP, Server 2003, Vista, and Windows 7 but open in Win 2000 and NT. Some of the Null Session Tools are Dumpsec, Winfo, Sid2User, and NBTenun 3.3. Scanning and enumeration can be taken to the next level through using vulnerability assessment tools that respond to scanning and enumeration activities. Vulnerability

Monday, November 18, 2019

Maximisation of profit Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Maximisation of profit - Article Example When small groups of people come together and work on a project, they invariably have to analyze as to what their mission and goal are. Organizations are usually classifies into different types like public sector (Central governments, state government run offices, schools, colleges, public welfare systems), private sectors (small business partnerships, limited companies, cooperatives, multinationals etc.), Quasi-Governmental organizations, Organizations in the charitable sector and even the churches and trade unions can be referred to as organizations. (N.Kumar, 1997) Hence, every organization issues a mission statement, which includes the purpose of setting up the organization. In social sciences, organizations are perceived from different dimensions. The general study of how an organization works is termed as organizational behavior or analysis. The whole of organization's behavior revolves only around one aspect-its goal. Every organization should have, irrespective of the field i t operates in, a distinct goal. (N.Kumar, 1997) A goal, not only gives them a direction of persuasion, but also gives the much required motivation to the employees to work towards it, thereby helping them achieve their potential along with the company's growth. Likewise, a conceived state of an organization in a stipulated amount of time is referred to as 'Vision'. 'Vision' is extremely crucial for an organization as it gives a glimpse of the state of the organization after a certain period of time to the employees and stakeholders. 'Vision' can be taken as a benchmark for the company's performance in the future and can be used for comparison of various results recorded by the company. (Davenport Hines, 1990) Private-owned organizations usually have profit-maximization as their sole objective. (Susan Grant, 2000) However, many economists have different views over how an organization's objective should be formulated. Different people have come up with different theories over the issue of organizational objective. Many of them clashed, many of them overlapped and new theories were born out of the overlapping theories, but a general consensus is achieved that profit-maximization should be the sole objective organization though other objectives cannot be safely put aside. In this dissertation, I'd like to analyze the various theories put forward by economists and then draw a suitable conclusion from the same. I will also be studying a few patterns of various industries by taking certain specific examples of how a few companies overcame different situations keeping in their minds profit-maximization as their sole-objective. Literature Review As said above, it is imperative for an organization to identify its objectives before venturing and investing resources into the venture. So what is/are the goals a financial manager in a company will seek. In the first impulse, the only objective, which comes to, the mind, is profit maximization. Any business enterprise aims at earning profits; hence, it may be argued that profit maximization should be the sole objective of the organization. It is needless to say, that earning profits sustains the company's existence and can motivate the company to expand its market and

Friday, November 15, 2019

Wal-Mart China: Sustainable Operations Strategy

Wal-Mart China: Sustainable Operations Strategy 1. Explore through the literature the concept of (Business) sustainability and explain it briefly. Also using references on Operations Strategy describe what sustainability in operations strategy means. Traditional cost management models tend to only focus on production costs, whilst ignore products cost of design, development and customers using. In other words, the business concern visible costs and ignore intangible costs that means the destruction of the surrounding environment such as the cost of social responsibility during production the process. Thus, enterprises want to win the competition, they must change the traditional model of cost management and maintain the lowest cost in the life cycle of product. A broader perspective of product life cycle cost which includes social responsibility cost should be a part of business operations strategy or should be a part of business sustainability strategy. Business sustainability is a business approach have policies of environmental and human rights which means the business creates long-term shareholder value from no negative influence opportunities and managing risks on global or local society, environment, community and economy [3]. Smukowski [2] claimed that the concept of business sustainability is a prior plan of the long-term viability and optimizing resource needs, reducing environmental, energy or social impacts which will not damage the profitability of business. It can be summary from above that sustainable business means the enterprise consider not only financial factors, but also more comprehensive concern the impact of environmental and resource efficiency. 2. Discuss what Sustainability means to Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart China, and Wal-Mart Chinas current and potential customers. What would you see to be a balanced definition of sustainability for the business? Answer: (1) Wal-Mart In order to run business sustainability, Wal-mart combined value and service concepts of innovative operational strategies and set three sustainability objectives including more efficiency of vehicle fleet, reduce waste and energy saving. First of all, to combine value and service of its innovative operational strategies involve 14 SVNS made Wal-mart became the largest organic seller and the largest organic cotton purchaser. In addition, Wal-mart also through its integration of supply chain and ROHS compliance which including supplier or vendor selected and scored to achieve business sustainable aims. For instance, Wal-mart sold 110 million compact fluorescent lighting successful with its partner called GE. (2) Wal-Mart China In term of Wal-Mart China, its through 5 SVNS reach business sustainable. First of all, the strategy of sustainable store and operation can help Wal-Mart China reduce cost and decrease Wal-Mart Chinas footprint of operations. Secondly, to develop sustainable products such as food, electronic textiles and product packaging extend its business sustainability supply chain and compliance. Thirdly, to enhance efficiencies of its supply chain not only reduce cost but also footprint of whole chain. Fourthly, to make a good communication with its stakeholders is another critical issue of its business. Fifthly, Wal-Mart China also through share learned experiences with its supplier or vendor to make its sustainable supply chain more successful. Sixthly, Wal-Mart China employed T5 energy saving light bulb and double sides copy to decrease its energy waste of its business. Lastly, Wal-Mart China promotes the product which is an energy efficient bulb for its customers that is also an activity of business sustainability. (3) Wal-Mart Chinas current Wal-Mart Chinas sustainable logistics centers helped its reduce 31 tons of CO2 emission per year. For example, T5 light bulbs can save 20 to 30 percent energy per day in warehouse areas and resting places and to use solar energy and wind power generator can 7,300 kilowatt hours per year. In addition, Wal-mart encouraged its customers to use reusable shopping bags through some prizes including special express checkout line. Finally, Wal-Mart Chinas merchandizing group still continuing builds sustainability measure tools for supplier selection and some on going evaluation of purchase quantities which can enhance its suppliers efficiency of sustainability. Wal-Mart China also continuing creates innovative initiatives of sustainable and implements best practices for communicating to all of its stakeholders. (4) Potential customers If customers can choose Wal-marts sustainability products which not only improve the personal activity of environmental but also protect the Earth. Although the sustainability products price might higher than others, it still have some advantages such as reduce cost of electronic, long time for use and non pollution. According to the article, T5 energy saving light bulbs could save about 20 to 30 per cent energy which means its can also reduce the cost of electronic of 20 to 30 per cent. 3. Identify the distinguishing features of Wal-Mart Chinas distribution system and operations. Explain how it achieves relatively high availability with similar levels of stock to other companies. Answer: In order to provide high quality products for customers and the commitment of businesss operations strategy, Wal-Mart China combines their high employee productivity, latest technology, experienced co-transport sector, an efficient private truck fleet and distribution center operations which not only is an advantage of Wal-Mart Chinas inventory management but also increase efficiency of loading and delivery. According to the article, there are some advantages of Wal-Mart Chinas distribution center: (1) Sustainable logistics centers First of all, Wal-Mart Chinas distribution center uses T5 light bulbs which can save 20 to 30 percent energy per day in warehouse areas and resting places. Secondly, in order to reduce energy waste, Wal-Mart Chinas distribution center maintains control their air conditioning and heat recycling systems temperature. Thirdly, there are 25,550 kilowatt hours saving caused by ten solar energy water heaters which provide 1.7 tons hot water per day. Lastly, Wal-Mart Chinas distribution center use solar cells and wind power station to make up to 7,300 kilowatt power per year. As a result, each Wal-Mart Chinas distribution center also decreased CO2 by it. (2) Outsourced a standardizes trucking fleet Individual supplier ship was lower than expected fill rates. Wal-Mart China outsourced an efficient private trucking fleet which deliver products from DC to DC or from DC to SC. It not only helps Wal-Mart China achieves a well inventory management but also reduce out of stock rate. In addition, in order to make its trucking fleet teams more efficiency, new electronic technology is used in its logistics management [6]. First of all, Wal-Mart China through the electronic technique of satellite, GPS controls the state of transport. Secondly, Wal-Mart China also uses the electronic technique of GIS which provide digital electronic traffic map can suggest the best route of its delivery. Thus, it can be concluded from above that Wal-Mart become a world-class company is not accidental. Advanced electronic technique of Wal-Mart Chinas distribution system not only increase efficiency of its products delivery, but also decrease the situation of out of stock. (3) Centralized management of returning products Wal-Mart Chinas distribution system also has an advantage of centralized management products which has quality problems, slow sales or obsolescence. These products will also be returned to vendor by Wal-Mart Chinas distribution system. In summary, it is clear that Wal-Mart Chinas distribution system and operations can offer a stable inventory which is part of Wal-Mart Chinas safety stock. By way of replenishment products intensively from distribution center, it not only reduces time of out stock but also increase the circulating of goods. In addition, as Wal-Mart China has a very complete and standard systems or process of distribution such as outsourced a standardizes trucking fleet, new electronic technology and centralized management which also let Wal-Mart China become a highly competitive advantage of Chinas retailer industry. 4. How sustainability should be incorporated in the process of selection and evaluation of suppliers/vendors? Answer: In order to achieve business sustainability successful, both enterprise and its suppliers or vendors have responsible of their roles. First of all, enterprise should offer the requests of sustainability, and then try to find the suppliers or vendors who have production techniques of sustainability. Furthermore, to have a good communication and collaboration including share learned experiences with its suppliers or vendor is a critical part of objectives of sustainability. According to the article [4], in order to achieve ROHS compliance, Wal-Mart adopt ROHS regulation standard in some of its operations including supplier selection and product selection. For the first example, P G which is a large international supplier has a long standing working relationship with Wal-Mart in other parts of world including the U.S.A. It has a sustainability program concept called ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come throughout its worldwide operations [4]. As can be seen from it, the sustainability development program for P G not only is a slogan, but also is a commitment for its customers. For the second example, Blue moon which is a Chinese national chemical products company supply some soap and cleaner in china. Blue moon also has a sustainable program of its products called Protecting the environment is protecting all of us. Our products deliver not only cleanliness but also protection to our customers [4]. In order to achieve its object of sustainable, biodegradable materials which meet a green environmental requirements used in Blue moons products. For the third example, Wal-mart China also created a initiative sustainable objective which called P2E2 program allowed suppliers to quickly and inexpensively equip their factories with cost saving equipment [4]. In order to continuing meet sustainable objectives, Wal-mart builds a sustainability evaluation tools which used in its supplier selection and product or material purchase. For instance, Wal-mart china had implemented a packaging score to measure and calculates efficiency and objective. In the end, this program also a 13 per cent cost reduction in Wal-marts packaging. It can be summary, if the enterprise wants to achieve, to integrate whole supply chain members such as suppliers and vendors are very important. In other words, to develop sustainable supply chain strategy is the only approach to make business sustainability which not only creates a perfect brand image for customers but also protects the Earth. 5. How sustainability can be improved in Wal-Marts distribution and retail operations. Answer: According to the article, Dong [4] asserted that sustainability will be differentiating factor between a good enterprise and a great one. (1) Energy efficient lighting Wal-mart used T5 energy saving light bulbs which could save about 20 to 30 per cent energy in its warehouse or space of rest. (2) Less waste of air conditioning and heat recycling system Wal-mart maintained the temperatures of its air conditioning and heat recycling system which also is an approach of energy saving. (3) Alternative energy Wal-mart used ten solar energy water heaters which can save up to 25,550 kilowatt hours each year to produce hot water. Wal-mart also used solar cells and wind power generators which can provide 7,300 kilowatt hours per year. These alternative energy not only save Wal-mart cost of electronic but also reduce 31 tons of CO2 emissions every year. (4) Outsourced third party logistics Outsourcing a standardized trucking fleet not only improve Wal-marts effective of shipments but also reduce the risk of goods traveling. (5) Reusable shopping bags Wal-mart encouraged its customers to use reusable shopping bags through some prizes including special express checkout line. (6) Offer two energy efficient bulbs Wal-mart China offer two energy efficient bulbs for the price of one and work with local suppliers in its region. After this, Wal-mart China accepted responsibility and the associated cost of the safe disposal of fluids. (7) Batteries placed In order to solve batteries placed problems, Wal-mart provided a recycle place for customer to deal with it. (8) Packaging reduction Wal-mart china had implemented a packaging score to measure and calculates efficiency and objective in its apple suppliers. In the end, this program also a 13 per cent cost reduction in Wal-marts packaging. As can be seen above, generally speaking, business sustainability concept including logistics, marketing and supply chain has many benefit of the enterprise. Refer to the article; the authors [4] believe that more economical situation caused by more sustainable options. In other words, it not only reduce cost of operations but also make more loyal in long run of its customers.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dramatic Techniques in Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell :: Shirley Valentine Willy Russell Essays

Dramatic Techniques in Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell How do the dramatic techniques use in the play help the audience to understand the importance of Shirley’s transformation? You should refer to the significance of the play’s social and historical (settings, attitudes to women SHIRLEY VALENTINE Task: How do the dramatic techniques use in the play help the audience to understand the importance of Shirley’s transformation? You should refer to the significance of the play’s social and historical (settings, attitudes to women, attitudes to marriage, expectations of life, etc) context and the literary context (kitchen-sink drama, comedy, tragedy, drama, etc). The play ‘Shirley Valentine’ was written by Willy Russell. Russell was born in 1976, near Liverpool. He left school when he was fifteen and did a variety of jobs before becoming a writer. Originally he used to be a songwriter, performing in his late teens. By the time he was twenty he decided to become a playwright rather than his desired option of teaching. In his first eighteen months schools loved his work and he decided that he was successful enough to do it fulltime. â€Å"Shirley Valentine†, is the story of a middle age woman living in Liverpool and her change in life. Russell explores the usage of different dramatic techniques to tell a complex story. We the audience are in contact with Shirley from the beginning, because she talks to the camera. This forms a friendship between Shirley and the audience. We become her confidante. Other dramatic techniques used by the playwright are the use of Flashbacks and Voiceovers. In flashbacks Shirley would be doing something and would drift off talking about something that had happened earlier on in the day or a previous day, so we would get all the background information, on what has been going on. It also highlights the important events in her life to show us how she got to this point in her life. In Voiceovers Shirley would express her true feelings about someone whilst they would be talking about the thing that Shirley is expressing her feelings about. The opening credits depict a series of fifteen sketches that show Shirley doing her everyday routine of domestic chores, with no enthusiasm. Shirley if cleaning and cooking, this tells us what her life is like, boring. You could see that she is tired of living out her life in an ordinary marriage, with very little going on, she has all this Unfulfilled Potential which she desperately wants to overturn. The words of the soundtrack are very cleverly adapted to the sketches shown. They tell the everyday life story of a woman that has

Sunday, November 10, 2019

A Common Swot Analysis of Unilever and P & G Essay

Common Strengths The strong branding of the two companies make them one of the most successful brands in the world. Extensive experience in marketing in different market segments and is two of the best marketers in the world. Known for its diverse brand portfolio. The companies are able to customize their global products and brands according to the local preferences. Significant scales of scope and economies in their operations Access to global resources and synergy of resources and operations Common Opportunities Usage of online social networks and internet marketing techniques. Rise in purchasing power and population in developing countries (China, Indonesia, Thailand-these markets are less saturated and less competitive) Increasing need for healthy products due to better consumer awareness THREATS There is a cut throat competition in the fast moving consumer’s goods markets today The other competitors are making their product portfolios diverse day by day and using different marketing and promotional strategies to increase their market share. In the market many substitutes are available for products at cheaper prices. This is specially affecting the strategy of P & G Due to recession, the consumer spending has decreased globally. Also, the prices for raw materials are increasing so cost to the company is increasing. Government interventions in developing markets WEAKNESSES The large scale operations of the two companies make the cultures heavy and processes slow. This also leads to quality control problems. Complex organizational structures (dealerships with many associates, joint ventures and agency relationships) Lack of direct connection with ultimate consumers due to dependence on retailers and wholesalers(in Western countries retail giants such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury are very strong and have the ability to dictate big multinational companies). Inefficient management of brands (being unable differentiate between stars,cashcows and dogs according to Mandelow’ s Matrix eg-25 brands of Unilever account for 73% of global sales and about half of P&G’s sales come from its top ten brands)

Friday, November 8, 2019

Essay on Why do some men and women commit crimes and others do notEssay Writing Service

Essay on Why do some men and women commit crimes and others do notEssay Writing Service Essay on Why do some men and women commit crimes and others do not? Essay on Why do some men and women commit crimes and others do not?Biological determinism holds the premise that human behavior is the result of innate inclinations and instincts which determine the behavior of individuals. With regard to criminology, biological behaviorism implies that criminals are born rather than made. At this point, it is possible to refer to the obvious prevalence of men among offenders and commitment of crimes by both men and women, when crimes are not driven by some reasonable social or material reason, like the poverty of criminals, for example. Hence, biological determinism offers a plausible explanation to the origin and cause of crime, although the question of reason why some men and women commit crimes, while others do not needs additional, detailed research.Literature reviewBiological determinism naturally raises the main debate of criminology concerning whether criminals are born or made (Mann, 1994). Existing studies (Siegel, 2012) reveal multiple fac tors that may and do influence crimes, among which it is possible to distinguish social, environmental, psychological and other factors. However, all those factors and explanations cannot provide the plausible explanation to the question why some men and women do commit crimes, while others do not. For example, existing studies (Hayward, 2004) reveal the trend to the increasing share of women among the total prison population that means that the number of female offenders has increased substantially. Some studies (Siegel, 2012) explain this trend by the emergence of feminism, while others (Mathiesen, 1998) explain this trend by the changed role of women in society since women have started to play more important socioeconomic part and their contribution to society has increased that resulted in the change of their behavior causing crimes among women. However, these studies does not explain why some women commit crimes, while others still do not commit them in spite of profound change s that took place in society and in the position of women.Furthermore, many theorists (Siegel, 2012) attempt to explain crimes committed by men and women by their social environment and other factors, which researchers consider to be determinant but still they fail to explain those crimes, which seem to be unmotivated. In such a situation, even psychological peculiarities are not enough to explain those crimes since individuals may have similar traits of character but still some do commit crimes, while others do not. Therefore, existing studies fail t o provide the plausible explanation to the problem of crimes and their causes among some men and women, while other men and women, who are in the similar position, do not commit crimes.NatureBiological determinism offers a plausible explanation to the question why some men and women do commit crimes, while others do not. Unlike other theories, biological determinism holds the premise that criminal behavior is innate. In other words, cr iminals are born, not made. Therefore, individuals are born with criminal inclinations, while their personal development, social environment and changes in their life can trigger criminal behavior that results in crimes committed by those individuals. On the other hand, some individuals do not have criminal inclinations that are transmitted from parents to children and so on. As a result, some men and women do commit crimes because of their innate predisposition to criminal activities, while others do not have that ‘criminal gene’ and, thus, they do not commit crimes.The strength of biological determinist explanation of crimes committed by some men and women becomes particularly obvious, when unmotivated crimes are taken into consideration and when the family history of offenders is studied in details. To put it more precisely, sometimes crimes are committed without any obvious reason. Such crimes are traditionally explained by certain emotional or psychological conditi on of criminals but people can experience strong emotions, both positive and negative, and still, as a rule, people do not commit crimes. Biological behaviorism insists that it is individuals with ‘criminal gene’, who can commit crimes because of their heredity rather because of their psychological condition. In this regard, the family history can show that criminals have a long lasting criminal family history, with their parents and grandparents having the experience of committing crimes. Hence, criminal behavior can be transmitted from one generation to another via ‘criminal gene.NurtureHowever, biological determinism is severely criticized by theorists, who reject the idea of innate criminal behavior of individuals. As a rule, theorists criticizing biological determinism refer either to social or psychological factors to explain the criminal behavior of   men and women. However, social and psychological explanations cannot justify why some men and women do co mmit crimes, while others do not. For example, the impact of social environment is virtually similar on individuals. If individuals live in one and the same community, they are not necessarily all criminals but some community members, both men and women, can manifest criminal behavioral patterns. In case of such criminals, the justification of their crimes by their social environment does not work, while inherited inclination to criminal behavior can explain why some men and women commit crimes, while others do not.As for psychological factors, they are apparently important but the personality of an individual is shaped under the impact of his or her heredity and social environment. Specific psychological conditions may explain a crime but causes of such conditions may be still justified by genes or heritage of an individual. In other words, some individuals can response to certain psychological condition in a socially acceptable way, while others respond in a criminal way. For exam ple, two individuals may experience similar emotions, be in similar conditions, and have similar traits of character, but still one individual commits a crime, while another does not. In such a case, psychological explanation of the crime does not work. Instead, biological determinism gives the plausible explanation why some men and women do commit crimes, while others do not.ConclusionThus, biological determinism is a plausible theoretical approach that explains why some men and women do commit crimes, while others do not. In fact, the main reason for the difference is the different heritage of individuals since some individuals have the inherited inclination to criminal behavior patterns, while others have inclinations to the standard, socially acceptable behavior. As a result, some men and women do commit crimes because of their ‘criminal gene’ or heritage. Other theoretical explanations are irrelevant since they cannot always explain why some crimes are committed or why some individuals do commit crimes, while others do not. Instead, they just give partial explanation to either the specific type of crimes or specific individuals, who commit crimes.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Ladies Gentleman Essay Essay Example

Ladies Gentleman Essay Essay Example Ladies Gentleman Essay Essay Ladies Gentleman Essay Essay The point was about the term â€Å"ladies and gentlemen. † It would be easy to believe of upper category adult females in brassy frocks and excessive chapeaus and work forces in dress suits and top chapeaus when speaking about ladies and gentlemen. However. one of my ends when utilizing the footings is to do their definitions much more than mere visual aspect. if visual aspect at all. This modernisation of the footings helps conveying the definition into the current century and throw away the traditional and really closed-minded definition. It is for this ground that I believe being a lady or gentleman is based on personality. how a individual treats others. I speak for most people who use the term â€Å"ladies and gentlemen† in mention to a person’s behavior. non a person’s category. societal standing. race. gender. Some. when faced with the footings â€Å"ladies and gentlemen. † will instantly presume the worst by utilizing the out-of-date definitions. Some will besides delve for grounds to label those who use â€Å"ladies and gentlemen† . In labeling us this manner. these people do non ease any kind of advancement for the footings or for any kind of integrity for adult females. or work forces. ladies or gentleman. We live where we ought to non judge people by the colour of their tegument. their category. gender. or gender. with all of this. there are still groups who refuse to take off their winkers. Ladies and Gentleman. now there is a stating that has been with us for a long clip. but what does it truly intend and where did it come from? Let’s start with the ladies as we all have been known to make in the century we live in today to ever let ladies to be foremost. The term ladies could intend many different things to many different civilizations so let’s acquire the 1 that is chiefly recognized by all. There are legion definitions of a lady and I am certain that we all have varied sentiments of what a lady is. but here is a few from the lexicon. â€Å"Chiefly British A general feminine rubric of aristocracy and other rank. specifically. Used as the rubric for the married woman or widow of a knight or Bart. Used as a signifier of reference for a marchioness. countess. viscounts. baroness. or baronets’ . Used as a signifier of reference for the married woman or widow of a baron. Used as a courtesy rubric for the girl of a duke. a Marquis. or an Earl. Used as a courtesy rubric for the married woman of a younger boy of a duke or marquis† ( Ladies. n. . ) . To discourse gentleman. as in mention to ladies is an wholly different subject but closely related. However to divide them is about UN heard of in this society we live in today. The author here feels it of necessity to come up with a definition of what is a gentleman where did this term semen from. The definition of what the dictionary provinces is: . A adult male of soft or baronial birth or superior societal place: â€Å"He’s excessively much a gentleman to be a scholar† . Used as a signifier of reference for a group of work forces ( gentleman. n. . ) . Now we have a general thought of what a Ladies and a gentleman Are. let’s put them together to acquire a better apprehension of â€Å"Ladies and Gentleman† . To take a expression at them separately is one facet to see but let’s expression at what a well rounded individual is first and first prior to going a Lady or a gentleman. I’Uomo Universal Literally. â€Å"universal Man† a ego reliant. multitalented. freethinking single â€Å" ( Sayre H 2008-2012 ) . From the art work to the poesy of art and even the given doctrine that was all merely a cultural portion of turning with the ages was known to do Ladies and gentleman and chiefly a humanist in all signifiers of the century. It was certain beliefs and attitudes to assist do people what is universally known every bit good rounded. However the importance from instruction to cultural patterns from doctrine made them who they were and their pattern of going ladies and gentleman. In a study conducted I was able to canvass 10 people and from vary ages and backgrounds. Although they all had varies sentiments on what a lady and what a gentleman is. It was a small redundant on what the ladies had to state refering their definitions. and what the work forces had in their responses. The simple fact from the ladies side was largely about the frock of a lady and how they carried themselves in public. However on the men’s side of the scenario it was largely about them being of a maternal inherent aptitude. and idiosyncrasies of a lady one being polite. sincere and affably whole. However when it came to the Gentleman portion of this study it was all about holding nice employment and being a good supplier. and one time once more a good male parent figure. Funny as it seems this was from both the male and the female’s sentiment. My age bracket was from one. my boy who is 20 one. to my neighbour who is in their 1960ss. The ladies were a adult female in their mid mid-twentiess to my female parent in her late 1970ss. Their careers were that of fabrication to one of a professional adult female a instructor. However it was an interesting fact when I asked these inquiries to my miss who was brought up good as she calls it bluish blood. or if you will high society and her idea’s and experiences being brought up to be a lady. The fact that she was taught to courtesy in her early old ages and to hold proper idiosyncrasies of that type of upbringing to be able to be presented to other able blue blooded work forces at 18 for a possible mate to guarantee of proper engendering from their lineage was slightly a brainsick response to my inquiries on being a lady or a gentleman. Therefore to some things up and to propose whether or non I agree with Castiglione and his descriptions of a adult female and that of a adult male or should we state a lady and a gentleman? To be or non to be the existent inquiry. a adult female. lady or adult male or gentleman. Therefore I will portion my sentiments on the positives. I see fit and the negatives that I believe could be harmful to 1s general character. To be born out of aristocracy would be an amazing trade but when and where we were born and the freedom of pick in our upbringing is one I am a small half and half on if that makes sense. in other words I do believe it is fantastic to be born with your parents and holding them portion of your life to assist steer you. and to forestall mistakes in their civilization to assist do you a good rounded individual. However to experience that a judgement is made upon you from whose household you were born into and how you were to dress and what reactions one would hold towards you because of your aristocracy at birth and being told you believe this manner or that manner I feel is incorrect. Therefore to be judgmental of the tegument the frock and down to the linguistic communication and how it is spoken to others and to hold their worthiness by a person’s size is a small implausible but possibly in that century the judgement rang true of a person’s actions be it male or female. To be a lady who plucks eyebrows or pulverizations their face. or to be a motiveless adult females to honest work forces or I believe the proper term here is prostitute. Work force of good position and construct for contending wars or one whom is of a cowardice nature. but what of those work forces who categorically merely did non mensurate up to the criterions of a combatant for wars. In our society today we are slightly powerless of what our physical stature is to go and hence about impossible to state what we will go and certainly plays an of import function in the attitude towards that.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Exploring World Religions For Health Care Professionals Assignment - 1

Exploring World Religions For Health Care Professionals - Assignment Example This paper will begin with the statement that almost all of us are associated with some religion or the other, and as for those who aren’t, are referred to as atheists. Religion can simply be explained as a set of value, a belief and cultural system, and various views that connect spirituality and moral values to the existence of humanity. Different religions have different symbolism, teachings, traditional variations, and histories all which have the purpose of making humanity understand the reason for its existence, and why this universe came into creation into the first place. According to very rough research, there are almost four thousand two hundred different types of religion in this world. A question that many people ask is why does religion exist and what its purpose is. One needs to know that two things, belief, and faith are inherently inbuilt in human nature, and they have been so since the beginning of times. Now if we go into a little bit more detail, some of the se beliefs have been properly organized or shaped into teachings, doctrines and properly organized structures which are set up in a hierarchal manner. Like the case is with any kind of organized structure, religion seeks to exist to preserve its existence and therefore all such acts related to it are ultimately focused towards survival and expansion in an exponential manner. It is quite a question to understand why the study of religion is important for humanity. Since the beginning of times, human beings have been in need of guidance. The Muslims were guided on how to lead their lives by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him), who was the last messenger of Allah on Earth and from the Quran, the Holy Book of Muslims which contains guidance and a code of life from Allah. Similarly, the Christians received guidance from Jesus Christ and believe in the teachings of the Bible, as they believe that their God communicated to them through the words of the Bible. All religions serve to guide its people as to how their lives, what to do and what not to and so on regarding almost all major issues of life. If one doesn’t have an understanding of a religion, then he would be doomed and lack knowledge, and pretty much lost as to what to do regarding various circumstances in life (Macmillan, 2004). In simple words, one does need to study religion so he has guidance, so he can distinguish between what’s good and bad for him, and so he knows how to deal with certain things when they come up in life. When we talk of religions, there aren’t many who don’t know about organized religions. Organized religion can simply be understood as a social institution which consists of a particular set of beliefs, rituals, and cultures which are not only arranged in a systematic manner but also established in a proper manner. Organized religions can also be understood as those religions that are known the world over by their name and to which people often associate t hemselves with legally and openly. Some well-known organized religions include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Jews, and Buddhists. There are some characteristics that are common amongst all these religions. To start off, all of them talk about helping humanity, restricting people from engaging in war and harming others without any due cause. Moreover, all these religions press upon their followers to speak the truth and always take care of scarce resources as they are bound to deplete one day. Differences occur when it comes to religious practices and the hierarchy of leadership and rituals, but other than that, all religions promote peace and love amongst humanity. Most people also get confused between spirituality and religion. These are two very separate things and need to be understood very clearly.  

Friday, November 1, 2019

Reflective Dairy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reflective Dairy Paper - Essay Example There are steps designed to reduce the process waiting time. The first is analyzing g flowcharts of processes. Use of technology may be utilized to do away with unnecessary tasks that increase the time lug . An instance is the utilization of databases in place of manual and traditional filing systems for data storage in hospitals. Another step would be the use of flow cells or ordinary admission to all resources necessary for processing. I have also understood that in the ancient times, in order to produce a new product, it required company shut down and change. This set up time may be significantly lessened through preparation before the process. Over eighty percent decrease, in set up time is achievable through designing for preparations and manufacturability. Clear differences arise between traditional method of reducing downtime and JIT method. In the traditional method, there exists corrective maintenance, then experts carry out process, equipment speed is fast, and the method o nly runs one shift. On the other hand, JIT involves preventive maintenance, equipment operators carry it out, the equipment speed is slow, and the operations run for 24 hours. ... It also supports both process and product  improvement. In addition, employees are cross-trained for efficiency and flexibility. There  is also improved  communications, which enhance the dissemination of  vital  information about the process. Employees  are also empowered, and there is teamwork among employees. When it comes to suppliers, JIT partnerships occur when a  purchaser  and supplier work hand in hand to reduce costs and  remove  waste. The potential problems of using JIT are that it  is used  in continuous processes and  repetitive  operations. JIT also requires a high level of  discipline  for its effective implementation. The concept  is also based  on trust and cooperation. In addition, it requires a philosophy change. Lastly, JIT is not  highly  conducive to a scenario where the  true  market  position  entails unique products. In this scenario, MRP system is  more  applicable. Week 9- Transformation Systems Design an d Layout Analysis In week nine, I learnt that transformation Systems Design and Layout Analysis consider alternative forms of transformation and choose the best one based on the desired results. Layout analysis aims at maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Flow shop is related to continuous process apart from distinct product produced. Other features are heavily computerised special purpose apparatus. Both products and services can utilize the flow shop mode of processing. The flow shop method has advantages such as low unit cost caused by focused equipment of high volume, reduced labour rates, bulk purchasing, low cost inventories conducted within the company, and easy managerial control. Disadvantages of flow shop are numerous. Some outputs have a high level of obtaining complexity.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Rousseau Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Rousseau - Essay Example Rousseau was among those social philosophers who explored the paradox that radical political theorists, remain unable to raise to democratic politics, a duality of social interests and diverse conceptions for a modern man in the form of ‘democracy’ and ‘totalitarian’ context. He was such a versatile in his opinion that on one hand he held the opinion to experience democracy, while on the other he felt the urge to be totalitarian. No doubt Rousseau’s ideal of a self-sovereign people along with the conception of democratic control over social life, informed the moral and political vision of nineteenth and twentieth century democratic mass movements, as well as non-democratic variants thereof.Although Rousseau have been the first political theorist to outline the form of a democratic social contract, his obsession with social solidarity precluded his conceptualizing the content of modern democratic political life . What he believed was a modern democrati c policy within which general will involved the establishment of a democratic consensus, among divergent social interests and distinct moral conceptions of the good, on those shared constitutional practices and public goods that reach beyond one’s identity with a particular sub community.Rousseau was among the very few political philosophers and theorists who gave a touch of taste of totalitarian to a full democratic region. He comprehend that if democracy were to be a stable and viable order, a commitment to its political practices and public goods would have to be an integral part of the will of each of its citizens, regardless of their propertied status. Although Rousseau acknowledged that in a free society the existence of such a shared "general will" should not obliterate individual wills, his attitude toward the role of associational life in a democratic order was profoundly ambivalent. Perhaps because he never witnessed a functioning pluralist democracy and vigorously opposed the status and economic inequalities of a commercial, monarchical society, Rousseau could not envision a democracy in which the political interactions of divergent interests forged a commitment to a common political life 3. In his day, status-based interests were a profound barrier to the creation of an egalitarian, democratic order; thus Rousseau never witnessed free associations playing a central role in the life of a demo cratic polity. Although Rousseau is theoretically committed to the sovereign authority of the people, he could be thought of as such a political symbol that severely curtailed the arena for democratic politics by denying any role for particular interests groups or sub communities in political deliberation. He believed a democratic society to be partly constituted through popular participation in the election of government and in popular deliberation about the constitutional structure of society, the nature of the basic laws. But it is also shaped by particular interests defending their concerns in both civil society and the political arena. In a vigorous and egalitarian democratic order, a complex dialectic would persist between the activities of secondary associations and their regulation by broader democratic cultural norms and legislative practices. Although the citizens of a democracy must at times achieve a measure of reflective distance from their particular attachments in order to reason ab out shared institutions and practices, a complete distancing from particular identities will never be fully achieved 4. This mediation between particular and collective identities, and between partial interests and the common good, can only occur politically. There is no Archimedean resolution to this inherent democratic dilemma. For Rousseau the essence of both "natural freedom" and "civil freedom" was the absence of personal dependence on others. In a society characterized by a healthy civic culture, all

Monday, October 28, 2019

Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy Essay Example for Free

Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy Essay â€Å"Balanced Scorecard† is the tool for motivating and measuring business unit performance with four perspectives financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. These days, it becomes so complicated and complex to navigate competitive environment, thus some people figured out that balanced scorecard could be used as the tool for linking multiple strategies. It contains both financial and non-financial measures. It was revealed that the measure should include both outcome measures and the performance drivers of those outcomes. It turns out that there are strategic measures for the four perspectives each. First of all, Financial performance measures define the long-run objectives of the business unit. Business units can be categorized into three different stages simply rapid growth, sustain, and harvest. During rapid growth stage, businesses make rational amount of investments to develop and enhance new products and services. During sustain stage, they still attract investment and reinvestment, furthermore they are demanded to earn magnificent returns on their invested capital. During harvest stage, they only focus on maximizing cash flow back to the corporation rather than investment. Moreover, there are financial themes that can be linked to the strategies – revenue growth and mix, cost reduction/productivity improvement, and asset utilization/investment strategy. Secondly, in the Customer perspective, managers identify the customer and market segments. It includes customer satisfaction, customer retention, new customer acquisition, customer profitability, and market and account share in targeted segments. Customer retention defines that retaining existing customers in the segment is the way for maintaining or increasing market share in targeted segments. Customer acquisition identifies acquiring new customers as the way. Customer satisfaction is the matter of meeting customers’ needs and it is the measurement of the feedback. Customer profitability means that businesses want to measure not only the satisfaction of the customer, but also the profitability that customers can evoke. Thirdly, in Internal Business Process perspective, executives identify the critical internal processes in which the organization must excel. It enables business unit to deliver on the value propositions of customers in targeted market segments, and to satisfy shareholder expectations of excellent financial returns. On the other hand, it means there are the process that customer need turned into customer need satisfaction through innovation cycle, operations cycle, and post-sale service cycle. Fourthly, in Learning Growth perspective, it identifies the infra-structure that the organization has to build to create long-term growth and improvement. It comes from three sources that people, systems, and organizational procedures. As I mentioned above, it has been the trend to link and mix multiple scorecard measures into a single strategy. The multiple measures on a properly constructed balanced scorecard should consist of a linked series of objectives and measures that are both consistent and mutually reinforcing. The scorecard should incorporate the complex set of cause-and-effect relationships, outcomes performance drivers and linked to financial. Cause and effect relationships can be expressed by a sequence of if-then statements and pervade all four perspectives of balanced scoreboard. It can be described as the process â€Å"employee skills(learning growth)→process quality/process cycle time(internal) →on-time delivery→customer loyalty(customer) →ROCE(financial)†. Outcomes and performance drivers reflect the common goals of many strategies, as well as similar structures across industries and companies. Therefore, a good balanced scoreboard should have a mix of core outcome measures and performance drivers, that’s why businesses care both outcomes and performance drivers. Even though the strategy should have to emphasize both financial and non-financial measures, in the sense of improving business unit performance, we have to consider financial measures little bit more. Ultimately, causal paths from all the measures on a scorecard should be linked to financial objectives. In conclusion, the balanced scorecard is more than a collection of financial and non-financial measurements. It is the translation of the business unit’s strategy into a linked set of measures that identify both the long-term strategic objectives, as well as the mechanisms for achieving and obtaining feedback on those objectives. This thesis could be applied on the Metro Bank case and National Insurance Company case.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Presidency Essay -- President Franklin D

Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Presidency Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Despite an attack of poliomyelitis, which paralyzed his legs in 1921, he was a charismatic optimist whose confidence helped sustain the American people during the strains of economic crisis and world war. "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," said Franklin Roosevelt. With that he was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms. By March there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first "hundred days," he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The most important reform was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), instituted in 1933. This public corporation built multipurpose dams to control floods and generate cheap hydroelectric power. It manufactured fertilizer, fostered soil conservation, and cooperated with local agencies in social experiments. The TVA reflected Roosevelt's commitment to resource development and his longstanding mistrust of private utilities. At first, his legislative requests were conservative. He began by securing passage of an emergency banking bill. Instead of nationalizing the banks--as a few reformers wished--it offered aid to private bankers. A few days later the president forced through an Economy Act that cut $400 million from government payments to veterans and $100 million from the salaries of federal employees. This deflationary measure hurt purchasing power. FDR concluded his early program by securing legalization of beer of 3.2% alcoholic content by weight. By the end of 1933, ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U. S. Constitution had ended prohibition altogether. A series of measures took the nation off the gold standard, thereby offering some assistance to debtors and exporters. He also got Congress to appropriate $500 million in federal relief grants to states and local... ...ing the war he relied too heavily on his charm and personality in the conduct of diplomacy. Still, Roosevelt's historical reputation is deservedly high. In attacking the Great Depression he did much to develop a partial welfare state in the United States and to make the federal government an agent of social and economic reform. His administration indirectly encouraged the rise of organized labor and greatly invigorated the Democratic party. His foreign policies, while occasionally devious, were shrewd enough to sustain domestic unity and the allied coalition in World War II. Roosevelt was a president of stature. These early measures displayed Roosevelt's strengths and weaknesses as an economic thinker. On the one hand, he showed that he was flexible, that he would act, and that he would use all his executive powers to secure congressional cooperation. Frequent press conferences, speeches, and fireside chats--and the extraordinary charisma that he displayed on all occasions--instilled a measure of confidence in the people and halted the terrifying slide of 1932 and 1933. These were important achievements that brought him and his party the gratitude of millions of Americans.