Data management on wilmington university

Student database management model provides information on student's course schedule and their basic information. Course schedule like their major and minor names, courses Ames, course id, instructor names, day, time, room number, credits per course and student details like student name, addresses, contact number, date of birth, student id. Before this data is stored is books and printed on paper. If there is a change in schedule or exam It would be difficult to reach about this to the students.Now it is easy store and change information by this we can save time and paper. After the registration the course information is directly stored in the database. Now if we want to view course schedule we can simply go to database of the university and check it out and change in schedule can directly reached to mobile by text message. This is very easy model to use and we will get current data and will be secure.Therefore my design mainly focuses on 2 different users: 1) Student 2) administrator Background: Wilmington university is a fast growing private non-profit university in u,s. For the convenience of students they added student schedule and exam details to the blackboard and when there is change in the class room, date and time it will informed through text messaging immediately when uploaded in the student database. The main aim of this is that the make a message regarding he class as possible for student convenience.Background Information: upholding an effective system can be done by using good software and hardware requirements specifications that provide the following: System Needs user – Accessible Sec re Scalability Compatible with other systems Hold large information of student data Database expansion and maintenance. Secure backup and recovery Facilitate resource sharing through the internet all over the university Business Goals: Increase the ability of storing data and make it available to users. Provides data to the user in seconds.It should be help ful to the management to get information to get data of the registered student profiles. Easy to inform the attendance of students and those who are get promoted to next semester. Easy to inform the students about the alerts of the class schedule via text message User Requirements: Data of the student should be made available and be stored within 3 seconds. The system should be accessible for 24 hours. The system should have the capacity to hold 80,000 customer records at any time. The system should have the capacity to add 1 00,000 records a year for 10 years.The system should send Text messages to all students in database. Data Model For this model I am relational database model through which entities, attributes and relations can expressed Data requirements Student Details: Student name, Student ID, USN number, Address, Phone Number, Date of Birth, Sex. Department details: Department Name, Department code, College, office Number Course Details: Course old. Course Name, Course lev el Attendance: Total classes, No. Of classes present, No Of classes absent, Student ID Exam type: Midterm exams, Final exams, Weekly Quiz, Exam IDText message: phone number, reason for delay, time of class, date of class, addresses of the class Schedule: Student ID, Course ID, Course name, class room no, Date, Time Supports Data Management for finding: Student data in each Department Internal Average Marks Scored of a student. Attendance Shortage of pupil. Text message to each student Exam Result of student. Report Requirements: 1. User feedback report. 2. Individual or Group Attendance Report. 3. Student wise Examination Report. 4. Student Detail. 5. Text message sent report 6. Examination time-table for different examinations.

Modern Age Essay

Our world is constantly changing and some say that its better, but some say that it is worse. A famous author, Lynn White Jr. is saying that since the modern age we have had an ecological crisis that is slowly worsening every year. Another author, Immanuel Wallerstein, is saying that our world economy is actually doing well since the modern age and that it is better than in the past. Janet Abu-Lughod is a famous author who disagrees with a lot of what Wallerstein says but agrees that our economy is doing better than the past. Lynda Norene Shafer is another author who tells us that the past did a lot of good for us, especially Southern India and China. All these authors have much to say but they are too focused on one part of their arguments. Immanuel Wallerstein is one author who makes a good argument and approach towards the modern age. He approaches the modern age by stating many facts and explaining as to what he believes our world system should be like. He states that since the sixteenth century, we have always had capitalist economies and world economies. Wallerstein believes that our economy has many political units inside that loosely tie together the system. He believes that we should have an economy that is bounded by one big political structure that is unitary. Wallerstein disagrees with people thinking towards what capitalism is. He says, â€Å"Capitalism is not the mere existence of persons or firms producing for sale on the market with the intention of obtaining a profit† (1-2). Wallerstein is telling us that man has been producing many things with the sole purpose of making a profit on those things. He totally disagrees with this statement as being a definition for capitalism since he believes that it is not true. Wallerstein also states the correlation between world economies and capitalist economies. He is telling us that, â€Å"Conversely, a capitalist economy cannot exist within a framework except that of a world economy† (2). What Wallerstein is saying to us is that world economies and capitalist economies go very well together. He says this because world economies are lacking a big, overall, unifying political structure that capitalism actually has. Finally, Wallerstein tells us that world systems before this modern one have always failed because of that lacking capitalistic structure. He says that, â€Å"What unifies the structure [world economy] most is the diversion of labor which is constituted within it† (1). Wallerstein says that the world systems never survived in the past, but only now because of the installment of capitalism in it. Overall, Wallerstein brings up many good points, but he is too focused on Europe and their responsibility on interconnecting world systems. Another author, Lynn White Jr. brings up many good points, but just as Wallerstein, is too Eurocentric. Lynn White Jr. is another great author who approaches the modern age. He brings up ecology and its relationship with religion in the modern age. He brings up a very strong point as to global warming and a big ecological crisis would happen if we do not change or adjust our main religion. White Jr. believes that Christianity has led to a scientific revolution. What he also states which is very important, is that it is extremely crucial for us to adjust or completely change Christianity. White Jr. believes that Christianity has led our ecology to such a crisis that it is already extremely difficult to help or even undo. Something very important that he says is, â€Å"More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present ecological crisis until we find a new religion or rethink an old one† (11). He is suggesting that Christianity has been doing what it wants for the past centuries that it made our ecology terrible enough to put it in a crisis. White Jr. also says that â€Å"For nearly two millennia Christian missionaries have been chopping down sacred groves, which are idolatrous because they assume spirit in nature† (11). This quote is very vital to interpret because it tells us all about what Lynn White Jr. is arguing about. He is saying that for the past 2,000 years, Christian persons do as they wish, but no one has even made a good attempt to stop them. He is also putting Europe responsible for the crisis that they have caused because Christianity starts in Europe. Since no one has changed the ecological crisis that we have continuously, he says, â€Å"Hence we shall continue to having a worsening ecological crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man† (11). Lynn White Jr. is telling us that since no one is succeeding to stop Christianity from further worsening our crisis, we will fail in the future. We also have two female authors, Janet Abu-Lughod, and Lynda Norene Shafer, who explain Southernization and the Rise of the West. Although many are familiar with the term Westernization, one might know that many centuries before, there has been what is called Southernization. Lynda Norene Shafer informs us of Southernization. She tells us that it basically means that there were many advances in southern parts of China and India. Southernization focused on advancements such as math and gold and most of these advancements come from India. Southernization also focused on trades when cotton was first domesticated. This allowed many trades to open up where Indians could trade cotton clothing. One said that India had â€Å"clothed the world† (13). Another author, Janet Abu-Lughod talks about world systems and a little on the rise of the west. She actually disagrees with Wallerstein. She believes that there have actually been world systems a long time before the start of the European hegemony. While Europe was as one might say, only a new start to an old life, there have been many agricultural exchanges such as crafts. Lughod believes that this was a global-made world system that took time before and during the thirteenth century. She says that world systems â€Å"Increased economic integration and cultural effervescence† (7). This disagrees with Wallerstein also because he thought the exact opposite. In conclusion, all these important authors say much but one might say not enough. Wallerstein and White Jr. are too Eurocentric. Abu-Lughod is very focused on world systems and not enough on the Rise of the West. One might say that although these authors make good points, they should also talk about how their argument affects other parts of the world or even counter their argument. // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=†Ã¢â‚¬ ,o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return "studymoose.com"},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf("http")==0){return p}for(var e=0;e

CRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CRM - Essay Example On the other hand, with the customer centric view, it is possible to develop or emphasis on the customers through better communication. Moreover, in order to be efficient, organisations are needed to improve the existing and newly emerged strategies as well as the technologies in order to satisfy customers with better quality products at affordable prices (Sumathi & Sivanandam, 2006). There are apparently ten critical success factors that can be evidently observed and can be considered as significant while initiating a CRM program which includes the establishment of measurable business goals, alignment of the operations of business and information technology. Another factor which can be identified includes receiving support from the executives along with driving the objectives of the business with support from the functional point of view. Another crucial factor is reducing the aspects of customisation by leveraging unnecessary aspects, using trained and experienced employees for CRM, ensuring active involvement in designing and receiving solution by the end users. The other crucial factor which is observed entail investment in training process for empowering employees, usage of phased rolled out schedules and measuring as well as tracking the performances of the employees while conducting a CRM program. The description of the above mentioned factors has been ela borated in the context below: The driving force of CRM can be identified as technology. If the emerging effective advancements of technology are incorporated in the business activity, the business can be operated smoothly with greater productivity along with customer satisfaction. In order to attain customer satisfaction by a considerable extent, it is the responsibility of the organisation to inject technical employees in order to effectively carry out the process of

Auto Industry in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Auto Industry in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Bristol Motors originated and is still based in the UK and Mercedes Benz is a representative of the market of the auto industry in the UK as well. The auto industry is paramount and is significant in the UK as it is to the economies all over the world. According to Auto Industry "the automotive manufacturing sector contributes around 8.4bn added value to the economy, and accounts for 1.1% of GDP, 5.8% of manufacturing value-added and 9.5% of total UK exports of goods. Some 237,000 people are employed in the design and manufacture of vehicles and components. The West Midlands remains the heart of the industry in the UK with around 30% of the industry being based in the region. The UK is home to the world's most successful motorsport industry as well as a range of smaller producers serving specialist markets such as sports and luxury cars, and London taxis. 17 of the top tier one suppliers and around 20 leading independent automotive design firms also have a base in the UK. (2005) The automotive industry is an essential element of the UK manufacturing sector. ... In addition, the automotive manufacturers that are based in the UK have a global effect. The UK has an internationally exclusive quality improvement initiative that is operated and operated by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' Industry Forum. The purpose of these types of programmes benefit the automotive manufacturers in several ways. An example of these benefits includes increasing h the competitiveness of the companies, which ultimately result in more profits for them. Auto Industry reports, "typical improvements have been in the region of 30% reduction in costs and corresponding improvements in quality and delivery." (2005) As well as the above discussed there are more than a thousand automotive component suppliers that manufacture their products in the UK. These companies include Visteon, Federal-Mogul, TRW Bosch and Delphi. d TRW. "UK-owned component manufacturers like GKN, Unipart and Pilkington are among the most renowned in the world. Top Japanese suppliers, including Ikeda, Yutaka Giken, Denso and Calsonic have been attracted to the country, mainly following in the wake of the Japanese-owned Vehicle Makers." (Auto Industry 2005) taking into consideration what has been discussed regarding the auto industry in the UK; three representative auto companies will be discussed. The companies Bristol, Ford and Mercedes Benz will be used as a discussion as representative companies of the auto industry in the UK. Bristol Cars: ' Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of luxury automobiles that is based in the UK. Bristol manufactures hand-build cards and they are based in Filton, which is near Bristol England, hence the

Salt Marshes Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Salt Marshes - Term Paper Example In the global view, salt marshes are common in all latitudes, and when they have grown for many decades, the mangrove forests replace the marshes. The mangrove takes over from the marshes because they thrive well in the salty aquatic environment (Biodiversity and Garden 351). For a marsh to form, it goes through a series of biological processes. It takes time for the angiosperms to accumulate so as to form the marshes. There are types of marshes that can cover the terrestrial habitats while others can extend and expand through trapping more sediments and colonization of the sediments (Pennings and Bertness 289). However, both habitats of salt marshes can be occupied by other organisms like birds, insects, mammals and marine living organisms. There are living organisms that survive well in salty environments while others thrive well in non-salty conditions, the freshwater aquatic animals (Charton and Facts on File 276). Salt marshes are an interesting part of the ecosystem because it involves the interaction of the physical and biological factors and how they form a natural environment that can be inhabited by other living organisms. The article on Coastal Eutrophication as a Driver of Salt Marsh loss says that the salt marshes are important in the ecosystem because they help to protect the coastal cities from storms and strong waves (Deegan, et al. 1). In the recent years, the salt marshes have been seen to be decreasing in sizes and some areas along the coastal line have no marshes.

O2 Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

O2 - Dissertation Example 59-71). The historical evidences reveal the fact that O2 is not a very old brand; rather it initiated its operations during the decade of 80s, and was a subsidiary of a joint venture of two leading organizations. However, O2 came to existence in the early years of twenty first century as an outcome of splitting of the joint venture of two organizations (European Telecom, 2003, pp. 18-20). Although a Spanish company acquired and took over O2 and expanded the operations to European telecommunication market as well, O2 retained its origins (headquarter) in UK only. O2 did not only expand its business to other parts of Europe but also focused on extending its functional units within the industry and entered into the financial service industry (Sherwood, 2011). From the analysis of the marketing tactics of O2, it has come to observation that they have changed their slogans from time to time, which they consider it as revitalizing the brand in front of their customers (Telefonica UK Limite d, 2011). On the other hand, the major competitor of O2 that is Everything Everywhere, which comes under consideration as the giant and number one telecommunication brand of UK mull over the fact that they have their marketing as their key positive aspects and the reason of their position in the UK market. Moreover, Everything Everywhere works with a vision â€Å"to give the UK the best network and best service so that our customers trust us with their digital lives† (Everything Everywhere, 2012). However, O2 believes that if they bring further enhancements and progressions in their marketing strategies, it would provide strong basis for them to fight and compete against their main competitor (Huet, Tcheng and Galliot, 2010, pp. 152-153). The sales of the products or services of a company play a major role in deciding the success or the failure of the organization, which means that the sales of the organization is dependent upon how the company market its products and service s. It has even come to notice that O2 has not come under extensive research on the perspective of marketing that can provide the company with recommendations and proposals to improve their ways of alluring the people and convincing them to switch over to O2 telecommunications. The only information about the marketing strategies available is via published news (Telefonica UK Limited, 2011). The following research report intends to have a comprehensive study and analysis about the marketing strategies that O2 is currently using for attracting the customers in general. Based on these strategies, the thesis report would incorporate a wide range of marketing plans and policies that O2 can exercise so that they can gain the maximum share of the market and become the leading company within the telecommunication industry. The recommendations would also be a guideline for other telecommunication companies whether in UK or anywhere else in the world that they can employ in order to gain compe titive edge over others present

Wave Overtopping on Coastal Structures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Wave Overtopping on Coastal Structures - Essay Example Traditionally, laboratory experiments and field observations have been used to study this turbulent oceanographic phenomenon and empirical formulae have been derived from these but severe limitations existed since parameters to which these derivations fitted were local (Shao, 2006). Thus, in recent time, universal derivations that can fit across a wide range of parametric requirements of structure geometry, water conditions and wave dynamics are considered essential and desirable. To this end, fluid dynamics proves a somewhat reliable model generator but traditional Eulerian approaches that discretise governing equations over a computational field divided into a grid system based on local parameters develop problems of numerical diffusion that transcends localised grid patterns and tend to encompass the entire grid so that the discretised development of the equation into an unified whole is seriously affected (Shao, 2006). More recently, to solve this diffusion effect for traditional dynamics, a particle method has been developed wherewith the discretised equation utlises individual particles in the flow as centres of development. The diffusion effect is effectively smoothed by a functional kernel that identifies and utilises the combined functions of the angular and linear momentums of each particle (Shao, 2006). The smoothing out of the diffusion effect generated at each particle location within the flow thus allows the fluid, in this case seawater in wave form, to be accounted for as an incompressible one (Shao, 2006). One such method that utilises this unique strategy is the moving particle semi-implicit method (MPS) applied somewhat successfully by Japanese scientists to wave flow patterns (Shao, 2006). The model that this paper will demonstrate is the smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method as developed and tested by Shao, 2006. The paper shall now study a little of how this manner of computational strategy developed. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH): The smoothed particle hydrodynamic method was one of the earliest meshfree methods applying Langrangian description of motion. It was primarily proposed by Lucy (1977) and Gingold and Monaghan (1977) (source: Zhang and Batra, 2004) for problems in astrophysics in three-dimensional space (Zhang and Batra, 2004). In the conventional smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method, for a function f at a point x within a domain , the approximate value of is given as below: = (Eqn. 2.1, p. 137, Zhang and Batra, 2004) In this equation, is the kernel or smoothing function. The approximate value of of f depends upon two parameters - the kernel W and the dilation h, the last providing support for W. It is essential that the kernel W should have the following properties - I) = 0, for , II) , III) , here is the Dirac delta function, IV) , and V) =. (Zhang and Batra, 2004) This conventional SPH method is not even zero-order consistent at the boundaries (Zhang and Batra, 2004). This forced Liu et al, 1995a,b, to introduce a corrective function that is a polynomial of the spatial coordinates, making the method order consistent (Zhang and Batra, 2004). Chen et al, (1999a,b) and Zhang and Batra, 2004, also sought to improve the conventional SPH method consistency in some manner. It is notable that the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is a macroscopic model but it can be considered both as a continuum and particle method (Meakin et al, 2007). This is in particular context to the fact that the computational efficiency of purely particle methods is low in comparison to purely continuum ones (Meakin

International Buisness Between China and USA Essay

International Buisness Between China and USA - Essay Example Trade Issues†). Traditionally, China was regarded as a closed economy and it was not contributed to the international business. However, in present days, China is considered as one of the biggest business nations internationally. China’s incorporation in the international economy and progressive capture of the market ideologies had been initiated by the US political and financial commitment. The economic development of China has helped to widen and extend the business associations between the US and China at every level for the welfare of both countries (United States Trade Representative, â€Å"U.S.-China Trade Relations: Entering a New Phase of Greater Accountability and Enforcement†). Statement of Problem The paper will describe the trends of business relationships between the two nations i.e. ... In the year 1979, the total business between the US and China was approximately US$ 2 billion and it increased to US$ 457 billion by 2010. Presently, China is regarded as the second biggest US business associates and it is the third biggest export market for the USA. The imports had developed much quicker in comparison to export business. The import deficit between these two countries had increased from US$ 10 billion in 1990 to US$ 273 billion in 2010 (Morrison, â€Å"China-U.S. Trade Issues†). The following figure will describe the international business between the US and China from 2000 to 2010: Source: (Morrison, â€Å"China-U.S. Trade Issues†). Merchandise Business between China and the USA The merchandise business between China and the USA had improved considerably with 32.1% increase in 2010, compared to 2009. With the rapid improvement in merchandise exports, China has gradually replaced Japan as one of the merchandise export markets for the US. In the year 201 0, the US export business with China represented almost 7.2% of total exports, a 5.1 percentage increase than 2000 (Morrison, â€Å"China-U.S. Trade Issues†). The following chart will describe the top export business partners of US in 2010: Source: (Morrison, â€Å"China-U.S. Trade Issues†). During recent years, China has remained as one of the fastest rising export markets for the USA. The major categories of export business between China and the USA in the year 2011 were crops, computer and electronic products, chemical products, shipping tools, raw materials and ore. The following table will describe the top most exported products between the US and China in 2010 and 2011: Source: (Turner, â€Å"US-China Trade Continues To Surge in 2011†). Several business analysts have argued that in

Knowledge management structures in NATO versus the United Nations Essay

Knowledge management structures in NATO versus the United Nations - Essay Example n and knowledge far better then it was previously possible, knowledge management in organizations has also the added dimension of interaction, knowledge sharing, communication and analysis. A lot of organizational knowledge is contained in the heads of personnel within the organizations. Because humans have a finite life – span and ambitions about better opportunities, all organizations have structures which not only create new knowledge but also transfer existing knowledge to those in need of it. The nature of the knowledge which is important to an organization is dependant on the task or mission which the organization is expected to perform and different organizations may have different requirements associated with the speed, reliability, volume of information or knowledge which has to be communicated for organizational use. The knowledge management structures which are put into place within organizations are shaped by the organizational requirements for knowledge management , which are different for various organizations. In this essay, an attempt has been made to compare the knowledge management structures within NATO with those which exist in the United Nations. NATO, which is a military alliance, has a requirement to manage large amounts of information which can quickly become obsolete and convert this information into knowledge for reliable and secure communications for the use of designated personnel. The pace at the United Nations is more leisurely. Hence, the knowledge management structures at these two organizations are slightly different. The term knowledge management refers to the management of intellectual capital which has bee described as: â€Å"Intellectual capital is intellectual material – knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience – that can be put to use to create wealth. It is the collective brainpower†. The term knowledge is subjective to the organizational and social context in which it is being thought of. Knowledge

Motivations for Expatriation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivations for Expatriation - Essay Example Thus, international strategy is the direction that companies seek to pursue, and these strategies must be geared primarily towards the achievement of the business goals. Sending home-country managers abroad or internationalization of people is one of these strategies adopted by organizations working at the international level. This strategy known as expatriation is not a new phenomenon but has only recently taken the corporate world by storm making expatriate managers the norm. Expatriate managers play an important role in managing the parent firm's foreign subsidiaries. Expatriate managers are crucial to the process of globalization as they are the parent company's or headquarters' reliable representative posted overseas to effectively implement corporate strategies. As they gain in experience, country-specific knowledge, inter-cultural skills and global perspective, they become valuable assets for the parent company becoming seasoned players on the global stage. The converse of this where by international managers from their overseas assignments are transferred to the home- market is known as inpatriation. Selmer (1995) maintains that expatriation and inpatriation are the leading strategies where personnel are appointed at international postings. Line managers and technical personnel are the most common positions as subjects of expatriation and inpatriation (p. 3). While both expatriates and inpatriates are seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum, they have some important common requirements: inter-culture skills, country-specific or local knowledge and so on. Of the two internationalizing strategies, expatriation is the older one and the prime focus of this research. Shell is one of the companies that foster a high level of expatriation (Cameron, 2002). Shell is proud of its long history of expatriate employment as well as the considerable number of its expatriate staff. Shell understandably, sees expatriate employment as fundamental to the nature of the company. Shell believes strongly that expatriate staff, at every one of its centers, contributes greatly to the growth and success of the company especially in combination with the skills and expertise of the local staff. In 2004, the company launched the New Generation Expatriation program to facilitate and accommodate the changing needs of the business, needs of staff and their families including partners' careers. The program acknowledges the high value Shell places on its expatriate staff and their families and tries to meet diverse requirements as far as possible. Having an impressive number on the expatriate rolls, Shell is in a position to move critical skills to places where they are required and develop careers which will supply Shell with globally competent leaders (Hofmeister, 2004). 2.0 Rationale It is imperative for organizations to identify and train their expatriate staff and leaders in preparation for global deployment. Especially since the ability of expatriate managers to succeed on foreign shores has a direct impact on the company's performance in the global market. While the expatriation strategy has significant advantages and the expatriate manager is a 'seasoned player' there

Juicy Couture Advertising Analysis Essay Example for Free

Juicy Couture Advertising Analysis Essay Typical high fashion advertisements consist of a beautiful female model, wearing the most expensive clothing, looking classy and elegant. Somewhere there is usually a toned gorgeous man looking at her in awe, also wearing incredibly fashionable clothing. These ads, however effective on the minds of the masses, are not the same approach the infamous Juicy Couture brand takes. Bought by all types of women, from mothers to teenage girls, everyone wants to be part of the Juicy phenomenon. Juicy Couture’s image isn’t the stereotypical wealthy, high fashion kind of depiction. They show a more mainstream glamour and luxurious wealth. Their bedazzled track suits and terrier crowned logo shows their abnormal high end fashion. However, the brand is still very fabulous and expensive being â€Å"Made in Glamorous USA† (â€Å"JuicyDeals†). The advertisements of Juicy Couture try to show this same kind of image. The usual Juicy advertisements are displays of a picturesque suspended girl universe, by reflecting a modern, girlish, avant-garde display with a whimsical kind of spirit (Brown et al). Interesting and bizarre, they never fail to catch the eyes of women and girls of every age and race. Juicy couture has a different and outrageous kind of style that never fails to tap into the needs and desires of girls all over. According to their ads, with Juicy couture women can be prominent, can dominate, and can definitely get anything they want. In 2009, Juicy ran an ad campaign titled â€Å"Do the Dont’s. † Each ad depicted models breaking the rules, being rebellious, and going against what is expected by society. One of the ads shows a women dressed in business-like attire, pale skin, and hair done up in a boy-like style. She is leaning against a man dressed in complete contrast to her. He’s tan and dressed in a more feminine fashion with long shaggy hair, a tulle skirt, and carrying a purse. He stands causally like a female with his hip cocked out to the side. In the background you see a pink mansion like house, with beautiful plants and magnificent windows. Above them it says â€Å"Do the Dont’s. † Below that in light blue, the phrase â€Å"You can always get what you want† is written in messy-like handwriting. The items being advertised is everything from clothes, purses, jewelry, and perfumes. The purse and the fur coat, the socks, and the black dress are all Juicy Couture. Below their feet is the unmistakable â€Å"Juicy Couture† logo. In big, bold, fancy lettering, outlined in white. The overall name for the campaign is a striking small simple phrase that catches the eyes and can hook audiences in. On the ad it’s in black block lettering, at the top of the picture in a small type of font. To say do what is unexpected of you is something Juicy already does however, for this campaign, they are saying if girls want to be a part of this fun, superficial, girly, unrealistic world, you have to be different. When the line first came out it was different kind of high fashion that no one had seen before. They then incorporated that into their whole theme of their ads by showing a more unrealistic view of the wealthy with a forward-thinking view of fashion The house is a girly fantasy, being that it is pink, but it also shows how the pair are probably rich, and the rest of the house is just as wonderfully exotic as the two in front of them. It’s like they are a part of this beautiful world that only a few are able to see and to be like those in the picture it is necessary to be just as unrealistic as them. â€Å"You can always get what you want† is the main concept of the advertisement. In a bright blue color and it look as if it was hastily written on top with a paint brush, it is the first thing to notice. The phrase is big, bright, and takes up most of the page making it truly stand out. The two phrases correspond with each other. If you â€Å"do the dont’s† â€Å"you can always get what you want. † Or â€Å"you can always get what you want† by doing the â€Å"dont’s. † The phrase implies that with juicy couture you can get whatever you want. The models in the background give the message even more of a meaning with how they look. They give off the air that they truly can and do have whatever they want. It is even written like the person who wrote it, didn’t care about what people think. Who wouldn’t want to have everything? Jib Fowles in an article wrote about how advertising use different types of appeals in advertising. Fowles says as a â€Å"need for dominance† and a â€Å"need for prominence† is one of the ways that advertisers pull people in. This advertisement feeds the desire for women â€Å"enjoy prestige and high social status† (65). Women aspire to control and want to be admired. These appeals are shown in just the catchphrase of the advertisement, never mind the photo behind them. Although the writing may be the first thing seen behind it is an abstract photo Juicy is famous for. The female model is in control, and strongly dominates the photo. Her direct gaze toward the camera is confrontational showing she is unafraid of power, her smirk saying she already knows she’s got it all. She stands in a firm yet casual pose showing she’s comfortable with her status, even though to some people it could be unsettling. She’s happy and at ease with her life and wouldn’t change a thing. These aspects make her more of a conformist which is opposite of what a women in fashion should look like. She causally has her arm on his shoulder further showing her dominance. He is like her pet, or maybe her play toy (Brown et al). She is prime example as to what Fowles says about prominence and dominance. This model obviously shows both with her strong contrast to her male counterpart emphasizes this fact even more. Dressed casually like a girl the male model’s chest is bare showing to the audience that he’s not trying to be a girl but he’s not afraid feminine side (Brown et al). They differences between our very strange couple also leads into the â€Å"Do the Dont’s† aspect of the campaign. A man dressing like a woman is definitely going against the grain. In most advertisements men are shown as the strong leader of the person who dominates, but here it is quite clear that he couldn’t care less about being in control or anything. He is perfectly happy with his life and how he is dresses. This isn’t what is expected of a man today, not in the least. The point of the ad is to sell the viewer not a single commodity but to convince the consumer that wearing their clothing will lead them to a new lifestyle (Fowles 62). The ads instruct them to do whatever it takes to get the glamorous life they want, doing the â€Å"dont’s† and â€Å"making a mess. † However, it also emphasizes the fact that Juicy Couture is â€Å"Doing the dont’s† with their actually clothing line. With outlandish fashion rules they are trying to get audiences to remember fashion doesn’t have rules, and Juicy took that idea to the next level with their own set of rules. Women don’t have to listen to the conventional rules about life or about what they wear. The ad plays on feminine desires to be better looking than everyone else, to be different and in control.

Advertising Influences Purchasing Decisions Of Students Marketing Essay

Advertising Influences Purchasing Decisions Of Students Marketing Essay Total 2010 UK advertising expenditure amounted to 14.5 billion. Of this, more than 80 per cent was spent on display advertising in the press, broadcast, print and outdoor media. (Source: The Advertising Association) Under the current circumstances, advertising represents one of the major sectors in the economy with millions of workers worldwide. The efficiency of functioning of the economy in general, to a considerable degree, depends on that sector. Advertising accompanies competition between companies and is an essential attribute of the market economy. 1.2 Background Companies need to understand consumer behaviour in order to find the best way on how to shift demand of products in their favour. When companies are able to discover the reasons why consumers make particular purchasing decisions, they can adapt their marketing efforts to better suit the needs of the consumers. Understanding consumer behaviour may result in increased sales and improved profit performance of the organization. Classical microeconomic theories of consumer behaviour have focused on the principles of rational consumer behaviour, which suggests that consumers choice is primarily a matter of personal preferences, whereas utility theory of consumer behaviour maintains that consumer choices reflect their attempt to secure maximum usefulness from their financial resources. Citation! While classical theories still apply in contemporary western societies, the role of mass media, internet and various aspect of modern culture may have fundamentally changed many elements in the understanding of consumer behaviour. Also marketing opportunities available in the digital information age have altered the way how consumer choice is being shaped and used for profit. Advertising is perhaps the first thing that people think about when considering marketing. Companies must do more than make good products they must inform consumers about product benefits and carefully position products in consumers minds. To do this, they must skilfully use the mass-promotion tools of advertising. Advertising strategy consists of two major elements: creating advertising messages and selecting advertising media. Media planners consider many factors when making their media choices. The media habits of target consumers will affect media choice advertisers look for media that reach target consumers effectively. Target audiences are set to focus on different groups: adults, teens, pre-schoolers and other groups. It is essential to become familiar the target market, their habits, behaviours and attitude to advertising in general. It is known that student youth is less conservative in their views and decisions, comparing to others age and social groups. 1.3 Research Aims and Rationale Based on the above information, the main aim of the research is to investigate the extent to which the purchasing decisions of students in the UK are influenced by the advertisement campaigns. During the preparation of the current research paper a questionnaire was carried out among Queen Marys students, which aimed to study their attitude to advertising. Survey sample covered opinions of 20 young people between the ages of 21-24, that is students in their last years of studies. The survey had a probing character and could not represent the aggregate of the student youth population or even more general adult audience with statistical precision. However it offers a clear representation of dominating tendencies in preferences and opinions of the chosen audience, which is the main aim of mass advertising. 1.4 Outline of the Project The second chapter of this project will review the literature, and will focus on the importance of choosing an advertising media. Chapter 3 will introduce research method and procedures. Reasons for specific questions will be considered. Chapter 4 will report and analyse the results of the conducted survey. Finally a conclusion will be made in Chapter 5. It will also include recommendations for further research. Chapter 2: Literature review Advertising is an important means by which economic enterprises communicate with both their current and potential customers. It is often said that to be effective an advertisement must be read, understood, believed, remembered and acted upon (Adcock, Halborg, Ross, 2001) There are five principal ways in which a company can communicate with its markets: Media advertising (commercial television and radio, the press, posters, cinema and direct mail/internet) Public relations activities Selling Merchandising Packaging (Chisnal, 2001) These promotional activities are at the heart of effective marketing strategies. According to Adcock, Halborg, Ross, (2001) advertising strategy consists of two major elements: creating advertising messages and selecting advertising media. The major steps in media selection are: deciding on reach, frequency and impact; choosing among major media types; selecting specific media vehicles; and deciding on media timing. Media planners consider many factors when making their media choices. The media habits of target consumers will affect media choice advertisers look for media that reach target consumers effectively (Kotler, Armstrong, 1997). For example fashions are best advertised in colour magazines while daily newspapers are a first consideration in advertising real estate. Therefore different types of messages may require different media. The major media types are newspapers, television, radio, magazines, outdoor and the Internet. It is important to list advantages and limitations of these mediums, as they will prove to be guidelines in the interpretation of the observed results. For example, newspapers appeal for their timeliness and high believability. However, its audience is relatively small. On the other hand television has good mass market coverage and combines sight, sound and motion but it is quite expensive. Magazines are known for their credibility and prestige. Advantages of outdoor advertising are high repeat exposure and low cost, while lack of creativeness is its limitation (Adcock, Halborg, Ross, 2001). Advertising on the Internet is a growing market; commercials are very flexible and can be viewed anytime. Cost is another major factor in media choice. Whereas television is very expensive, for example, newspaper advertising costs much less. Setting the advertising budget is a complex task. Some critics claim that large consumer packaged-goods firms tend to spend too much on advertising. They claim that the large consumer companies use lots of image advertising without really knowing its effects. They overspend as a form of insurance against not spending enough. (Kotler, Armstrong, 1997) For a long time, television and magazines have dominated in the media mixes of advertisers with other media being neglected (Jobber, 1995). Recently, however, the costs of these media have gone up and audiences have dropped. Advertisers are now increasingly turning to alternative media, such as outdoor advertising or the Internet. The question that concerns companies remains the same: how much effect does advertising spending really has on consumer buying and branding royalty? In order to answer it media impact must be re-examined regularly. Chapter 3: Research Method and Procedure 3.1 Introduction The current research paper is concerned with determining an appropriate media type (medium) which better suits habits and preferences of the observed population. This chapter re Therefore the aim of this chapter is to review the research methods which were used in this project. It is necessary for a researcher to choose a suitable method for the problem. To get a full picture a blend of qualitative and quantative research analysis is recommended. This research will take the following procedure: define the research objectives, develop the research approach and examine the process. 3.2 Research Objectives. This research takes into consideration three main objectives. Firstly, it seeks to determine respondents attitudes to advertising in general. Secondly, it tries to identify students preferences among different types of media. The final objective of the survey is concerned with evaluating the impacts of advertisement campaigns on the purchasing decisions of students in the UK. Research sample Since the population all International Students in London is too big, the sample, that is going to be extracted from the population, are twenty Queen Mary University students doing Pre-Masters foundation Program in 2010-11. The sample technique that is going to be used is a simple random sampling or just random sampling. This method assumes that each unit has exactly the same chance to be selected and used in order to avoid any bias 3.3 Research Approach and Instruments. There are several methods of collecting data for a research. In the current paper the primary data was collected using questionnaires. This method has proved to be efficient way in getting both quantative and qualitative data. The questionnaire (Appendix 1) incorporated both main types of questions which are commonly used in surveys: open-ended questions and closed questions. Open questions are interesting because of the spontaneity and individual flavour of the replies, but frequently it is difficult to compress free answers into a limited number of computer coding. Whereas open questions gave to the research depth and range of information, findings in closed questions provided the research with statistical evidence. 3.4 Process Interviewer was recording all answers verbatim because there is always a danger of interviewer bias through inaccurate recording. In order to make the sampling random, the survey will be conducted in place and at the time when it is highly possible to chose from relatively large number of students 3.4 Specific questions Question 1 and 2 determines Question 3 is marketing question Questions 4 and 5 attempts to Questions 6 to 8 looks at In giving an answer to the question 1: What is your attitude to advertising in general? respondents had a considerable freedom in phrasing an answer, which may be lengthy and detailed, and in his or her own words. In the question 3 respondents were able to choose from a range of possible answers. The simple follow up question invited to give a more detailed explanation on the subject. Questions 4 to 8 were closed type questions, which call strictly limited responses. The respondents were offered a choice of alternative replies from which he or she was expected to select an answer corresponding to his or her personal views on a particular subject. The research used simple binary questions requiring yes or no answer. 3.5 Summary The results of this process will appear and be analysed in the next chapter. Chapter 4: Results 4.1 Introduction This project sought to examine exposure to advertising media among students and find out to what extent advertising influences their purchasing decisions. To achieve the research projects aim and rationale, a questionnaire was utilized as stated in the previous chapter. The following section will present and analyse results (see Appendix 2) of this survey. 4.2 Findings. Part 1 As shown in Figure 1, the largest proportion of respondents prefers television, whereas magazines took the second place. The results also indicate that the Internet is the third most popular media, while newspaper and outdoor advertising share the fourth place. The percentages indicate the proportion of total votes students gave to a specific media. Respondents could make multiple choices in this question. From the qualitative data, the popularity of television was not a surprise as it combines sight, sound and motion. It was described by respondents as the most effective and the best medium for advertising. Its advantage lies in broad mass market coverage. It is believed that magazines appeal to students for their credibility and prestige; long life and good secondary readership (Adcock, Halborg and Ross, 2001). Students explained that it is good for fashion, and pictures of movie stars make it attractive. Outdoor media was described as the most creative and eye catching. It is interesting to note that on the contrary (Ibid) mentioned little creativity as a negative side of this type of media. Newspapers appeal for its timeliness and high believability (Ibid). It is noted that they are popular among respondents who spend a lot of time travelling. Internet advertising is a relatively new media type. However, the number of its admirers grows. It can be partly explained by the growing popularity of online shopping. Another advantage is that it has no time limitation and can be viewed day and night. However, respondents mentioned spam as its negative point. Radio came last, probably due to its disadvantages, being that it has fleeting exposure and encourages lack of concentration. 4.2 Finding. Part 2 The figure 2 below shows responses to questions 1-2 and 4-8. The bar chart clearly shows students opinions on specific subjects. The majority of students have a positive attitude to advertising and commonly cite its informative function. In other words it creates awareness of products. It is noted that some students see the artistic value in commercials. Advertising creates awareness, so it is no wonder that majority (65%) prefer advertised products over unadvertised (question 4). However, there is a strong opinion that quality products do not need advertising. There have been quite a few commercials that state that a product of their company is better than the competitors product. The results show that the vast majority of respondents do not believe those commercials. Therefore, might be a good idea for companies not to employ such advertising strategies. Slightly more than a half of respondent believe that commercials help them to make a better purchase. It is noted that consumers are better off when exposed to some information about the product before buying it. However 45% prefer to do their own research about the product. Answers to the question 7 clearly show the power of advertising. Eighty five per cent of students wanted to try something just because they saw it in a commercial. It is noted, that respondents were curious and wanted try a product to see whether it was as good as the commercial said it was. It is important to note that 70% of respondents sometimes sing songs from commercials. This may work as an indicator for companies that adding an appealing tune to a commercial can increase sales. 4.3 Summary The results have helped to reach the objectives of this research. This chapter has attempted to compare findings with description of Adcock, Halborg and Ross, (2001). Summary will appear in the next chapter. Chapter 5: Conclusion Introduction This chapter will summarize the findings of this research project, highlight some of the interesting results, offer practical implications, cite limitations of this project and give suggestions for further research. Summary of Findings and Interesting Findings The purpose of the current study was to identify an advertising media with the largest exposure and find out the effect it has on its target audience. Results were analysed in the previous chapter. Practical implications of this research were also considered. Identifying and understanding the target audience is important for companies who use advertising tools to promote their products. The evidence about students preferences among different media types may help companies to better allocate their advertising space. Results have shown that students have positive attitude towards advertising in general because it carries an informative function, creates awareness and helps them to make a better purchase. Some interesting results were found. For example, an advertising strategy, when a company positions their products as superior to a competitors products proved ineffective as only few students trusted such commercials. Companies may also consider adding appealing songs to their commercials. Limitations of the Research The current study was limited by the size of the sample and imbalance concerning the students country of origin. Since all of the respondents within this project were international students, the findings do not necessarily reflect the habits and opinions of all students. This is important since advertising campaigns usually target the values of the western societies and different cultures may have different attitudes towards advertising. Therefore, it would be important to conduct further research in this area of media influence and involve more respondents from western culture countries. Another limitation is that the questionnaire might have been more complete if it incorporated likelihood scales. Recommendations for further studies This research has raised many questions in need of investigation. The designed questions were not perfect so some other aspects may be needed to investigate what contributes to making a purchasing decision. Some factors examined in this research influence consumers but do not necessarily mean that they will make an actual purchase. For example, further research may investigate what advertising strategies such as verbal or visual elements appeal to consumers. Endnote This project has been concerned with advertisings influence on students purchasing decisions and the research indicates that choosing the correct advertising strategy is a crucial element in an effective marketing strategy. Bibliography Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary, Saunders John, Wong Veronica Dennis Adcock, Al Halborg, Caroline Ross Principles and practise of marketing, Fourth edition published 2001. David Jobber, Principles and practice of marketing, 1995 Peter Chisnall, Marketing research, McGraw Hill, 2001 The Advertising Association. www.adassoc.org.uk

Relationship between Assets and Liabilities on Balance Sheet

Relationship between Assets and Liabilities on Balance Sheet Cement industry indeed a very important part of industrial sector that plays a essential role in the economic development. Though the cement industry in Pakistan observed its lows and highs in recent past it improved during the last couple of years and floated once again. A basic economic decision deal with a financial intermediary is the mixture of assets to buy and liabilities to sell, a decision that reflects a complex set of economic and institutional considerations. When viewed as a decision under uncertainty, the outcomes from this decision involve interactions among the assets, among the obligations and among assets and obligations. The asset and obligation structures of cement sector of Pakistan necessarily reflect these interactions as well as many regulatory and institutional constraints unique to the cement industry. Multivariate statistical procedures such as canonical correlation analysis are being used more frequently and the methods used in thesis can be applied to other studies. The mixture of assets and liabilities chosen can be viewed as a basic portfolio theory decision. In thesis canonical correlation analysis was applied to examine the relationship between assets and liabilities made by a cross-section of 18 large cement companies of Pakistan listed in stock exchange. Canonical correlation is a multivariate statistical technique that was used to assess the nature and strength of relationship between assets and liabilities. The correlation between each set of assets and each set of liabilities indicates the relationship between assets and liabilities but all of these correlations assess the same hypothesis that assets influence liabilities. The thesis focused on firms of the Pakistans cement industry and the purposes of the thesis was to identify relationships between assets and liabilities exhibited by these corporations and to explain the nature of these relationships. The teaching of corporate finance as reflected in the major textbooks compartmental izes the decision areas of finance and within each compartment management is assumed to attempt to maximize the firms wealth, holding the other areas of the firm constant. For example, capital budgeting decisions are made given a cost of capital or required rate of return (a capital project is evaluated independent of how it is financed), or the capital structure is chosen given the character of the firms assets. Cash, receivables, and inventory balances tend to be optimized independently. There is a tradeoff between the rigor afforded by global models of the firm (such as the CAPM) versus the realism afforded by the various approaches used in the compartmented models (e.g., cash management models, equipment replacement models, leasing, etc.). Business practice has the same dilemma; complex organizations must decompose the overall wealth maximization problem into sub problems which, when solved, allow the firm to make satisfactory decisions. Business executives may be uncomfortable with an assumption of independence between investing and financing decisions for two reasons. First, even if the decisions were independent, the decisions may occur simultaneously because of the necessity of raising the funds to invest. Second and more importantly, the assumptions necessary to obtain independence may not be obtained. Several interdependencies might be anticipated between assets and liabilities: Hedging is commonplace, where firms go with maturity structure of their assets and obligations (i.e., short-term assets tend to be financed with short- term obligations and long-term assets tend to be financed with long-term obligations). Some assets are used as collateral for loans. For example, accounts receivable can be used as collateral for short-term bank loans or factor loans and real estate as collateral for mortgages. Commodity-producing firms will maintain inventories which may be financed with credit from suppliers (accounts payable) while service-providing firms may have little of either inventories or accounts payable. High risk businesses may try to manage risk by using less leverage on right hand side of balance sheet (high equity) and by maintaining larger liquidity balances on the left-hand side. This process may enable management to reduce the probability of insolvency It was the objective of the thesis to determine relationships between assets and liabilities on balance sheet exhibited by a sample cement firms of Pakistan. Canonical correlation analysis was used to identify and study the nature of relationship between the structure of the left and right hand sides of the balance sheet. Though canonical correlation analysis is very similar to discriminant and factor analysis, it has not been widely employed in finance. The variables used in this study are, Cash, Account Receivable, Inventories, Long-term Assets, Account Payable, Short-term Debt, long-term Debt and Share Holder Equity. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Stowe,John D,Watson,Collin J Robertson ,Terry D (1980) observed the relationship between assets and liabilities with the help of canonical correlation analysis. The purpose of research was to identify relations between the two sides of balance sheet (Assets and liabilities) revealed by the corporations and to explain the nature of these relationships. Data from balance sheet for a cross-section of firms was used in the study. For each firm / corporation, a general size (or percentage breakdown) balance sheet was constructed with 4 asset and 4 liability accounts. A big diversity of balance sheet structures was present between 510 firms. A number of remarkable relationships were found in the study i.e. inventories were positively correlated with accounts payable and long-term assets were correlated with long-term debt. On the other hand, stockholders equity was not highly correlated with any of the asset proportions. An independence of asset and liability composition of the firm is tilted in much modern financial theory, the independence of investing and financing decision is a prominent part of Modigliani and Millers classic capital structure research. Though the distribution of financing and investment decision is an invaluable assumption which greatly makes simpler many business financial decisions, real balance sheets of modern corporations do not exhibit independence between assets and obligations on balance sheet. The aim of the study was (1) to recognize relationships between t assets, obligations and equity on a balance sheet reveal by these firms and (2) to clarify the nature of these relationships. Independence of liability and asset composition is explicit in Modigliani and Millers capital structure proposition. In their article, they exhibited that, given a flow of risky earnings; the firms total market value and cost of capital are independent of capital structure. The education of corporate finance, as imitated in the major textbooks, compartmentalizes the decision spots of finance and, within each box, management is assumed to effort to maximize the firms wealth, holding the other spots of the firm stable. For example, capital budgeting decisions are made given a cost of capital or required rate of return (a capital project is evaluated independent of how it is financed), or the capital structure is chosen given the character of the firms assets. Cash, receivables, and inventory balances tend to be optimized independently. There is a tradeoff between the rigors afforded by global models of the firm (such as the CAPM) versus the realism afforded by the various approaches used in the compartmented models (e.g., cash management models, equipment replacement models, leasing, etc.). Business practice has the same dilemma; complex organizations must decompose the overall wealth maximization problem into sub problems which, when solved, allow the fi rm to make satisfactory decisions. Business executives may be uncomfortable with an assumption of independence between investing and financing decisions for two reasons. First, even if the decisions were independent, the decisions may occur simultaneously because of the necessity of raising the funds to invest. Second and more importantly, the assumptions necessary to obtain independence may not be obtained. Several interdependencies might be anticipated between the assets and liabilities, those are, (1) Hedging is commonplace, where firms go with maturity structure of their assets and obligations (i.e., short term assets tend to be financed with short term obligations and long-term assets tend to be financed with long-term obligations), (2) some assets are used as collateral for loans. For example, accounts receivable can be used as collateral for short-term bank loans or factor loans and real estate as collateral for mortgages, (3) commodity-producing firms will maintain inventories which may be financed with credit from suppliers (accounts payable) while service providing firms may have little of either inventories or accounts payable and (4) high risk businesses may try to manage risk by using less leverage on right hand side of balance sheet (high equity) and by maintaining larger liquidity balances on the left hand side. This process may enable management to reduce the probability of insolvency. It was the intent of the study to determine relationship between assets and lia bilities on balance sheet are exhibited by a sample of large corporations. Canonical correlation analysis was used to identify and examine the nature of relationships between the structures of the left- and right-hand sides of the balance sheet. While canonical correlation analysis is very similar to discriminate and factor analysis, it has not been widely employed in finance. There were two general conclusions of study. The first basic purpose of study was satisfied that there are basic relationships between assets and obligations on a balance sheet which were identified with canonical correlation analysis. The assumptions behind much of modern financial theory allow us to separate investing and financing decisions. Relaxation of these assumptions can admit interdependencies between assets and obligations and several interdependencies were found in our empirical study. These relationships across the balance sheet include (1) hedging, (2) the use of collateral for loans, (3) invento ries associated with accounts payable, and (4) manage risk with instantaneous use of inferior leverage and larger liquidity balances. The capital structure research since M and Ms original irrelevance argument has attempted to utilize the effect of the current value of interest tax shelter due to debt financing and the effect of expected bankruptcy costs on the firms optimal capital structure. The interdependencies between assets and liabilities found in this empirical study could be incorporated into models of capital structure. The second general conclusion was to recommend canonical correlation analysis of financial statement data for other research topics. Much of the published empirical research concerning financial statements is on topics with a single, well defined dependent variable; these topics would include predicting bankruptcy, bond ratings, or loan defaults and explaining market risk measures. Canonical analysis, where there is a set of dependent variables, would allow empirical analysis to proceed where no unique variable can be chosen as the dependent variable. Furthermore, variables which are linear combinations of financial statement proportions might be employed instead of the usual financial ratios.7 Canonical variate scores for a firm could be associated with its bond ratings, probability of default, or systematic risk. These topics usually have been investigated using financial ratios as predictor variables Stowe,John D Watson,Collin J(1985) did the multivariate analysis on balance sheet composition of life insurer. The purpose of that analysis was to study the empirical relationships between the assets and obligations structure of the life insurer. The assets and liabilities mixture that chosen by life insurer can be viewed in terms of basic portfolio theory decisions. Canonical correlation analysis was used by the researcher to study or examine the internal structure of these portfolio decisions that was made by a cross section of large life insurers. The financial intermediaries study, such as life insurers, is distinguished from that of nonfinancial businesses for several causes. First, the financial intermediaries assets consists just about entirely of financial assets as opposed to the real assets that bulk large on the balance sheets of nonfinancial businesses. As suggested by Moore B. J (1968) in his article an introduction to the theory of finance that the financial assets dif fer from tangible assets; the financial assets are intangible and they are held for the income they generate as opposed to the direct physical services they yield; financial assets are more liquid and finally financial assets can be more freely converted from one form to another while real assets are indurate. A second difference between intermediaries and nonfinancial businesses involves the nature of their obligations. Financial intermediaries accumulate loan able funds through issuing a variety of claims. For example, the commercial banks and life insurers claims are quite different from the obligations issued by nonfinancial corporations. A final significant difference between financial intermediaries and other businesses is that the intermediaries normally are more seriously regulated and sometimes are subject to separate taxation from other firms and individuals. Like other intermediaries life insurers have been the subjects of a range of empirical research projects. J. D (197 3) Cummins in his article An econometric model of the life insurance sector of the U.S economy and J. E Pesando, in his article The interest sensitivity of the Flow of funds through life insurance companies presented an econometric analysis for the comprehensive flow of funds through the life insurance sector. J.D Stowe (1978) in his article examines the investments of individual life insurers in a cross-sectional, time-series study. The basic operational hypothesis for the study on balance sheet composition of life insurer was that a number of categories of assets on the left hand side of life insurer balance sheets had more than one pattern of correlations when they are associated with several liability and surplus classes from right hand side of balance sheet. In addition to testing this hypothesis, the natures of the relationships between assets and obligations were examined and the strength of the multivariate relationship was anticipated. The structure of life insurer assets w as explained as a function of the structure of the other side of the balance sheet and of some additional firm specific variables. In this study it was necessary to predict several criterion variables simultaneously by means of a second set of predictor variables. Under these circumstances, no single regression equation can presented a fully adequate solution. Any linear combination of the criteria may be used as the dependent variable in a regression equation, and in general not one but a number of regression equations must be used to give an appropriate picture. The problem of finding linear combinations of the criterion variables that can be most accurately predicted from the predictor variables was solved by H. Hotelling in his article The most predictable criterion commonly known as canonical correlation analysis. G. Donald Simonson, D. J Stow, and J. Collin Watson (1983) analyzed a canonical correlation analysis between assets and liabilities structure of commercial banks in. They analyze the balance sheets of all 435 domestic U.S banks with assets in excess of $300 million at year end 1979. Data was taken from the December 31, 1979 Foreign and domestic Report of Condition files prepared on magnetic tape by the three federal bank supervisory agencies. They limited the analysis to large banks for two reasons. First, smaller banks do not have the talent or market position to aggressively practice liabilities management and therefore their balance sheets are not as likely to reflect differentiated policies relative to bearing interest rate risk. Second, the three federal agencies require only banks with assets over $300 million to report maturities of both de posits and selected loans, as well as a breakdown of loans in to those with predetermined versus floating interest rates. These large bank data permit us to construct several key balance sheet accounts on the basis of interest sensitivity. Six asset and six liability/capital categories were expressed a s a proportion of total assets for each of the 435 banks in the study. The purpose of a study was to identify and describe the relationship including heading behavior of a single dependent variable as a function of a set of independent variables, canonical correlation analysis relates two sets of variables. In the present case one set of variables is the composition of the left hand side of the balance sheet and the other set is the right hand side. The variables used in this study are asset and liability/ capital categories expressed as proportion of total bank assets. These portions were used in lieu of the more usual financial ratios and no information exogenous to the bank was employed. During the past two years bankers and bank analysts have been concerned about how interest rate risk is derived from cross balance sheet relationships. The mismatching of maturities or interest sensitivities whether interest sensitive assets financed with long term liabilities or long term assets financed with interest sensitive liabilities creates interest rate risk. For example high interest rates and a downward sloping yield curve, one whose short term rates exceed long term rates for borrowers of similar creditworthiness, especially expose institutions which pursue the traditional financial intermediation formula of borrow short lend long. In commercial banking, the exposure is greatest for banks which finance fixed rate term loans and long term fixed income securities with short term funds at money market rates. Banks can defend themselves against this exposure by practicing asset/liability management; by coordinating their procurement of funds and acquisition of assets. There was early theoretical appreciation of the necessity for management of the maturities of asset and liability portfolios. In a simple three variable model D.H Pyle (1971) in his article theory of financial intermediation shows that assuming banks maximize the expected utility of terminal wealth, ba nks choices of assets (liability) portfolio will be conditioned upon the parameters, including maturity, of their liability (assets) portfolios (given nonzero covariance of liability and assets yields). According to the applied asset/liability management dictum, banks with volatile short term interest sensitive source of funds should attempt to structure their asset portfolios to emphasize short term and floating rate movements and in general maturities of asset and liability portfolios should be matched. Such banks can be said to adopt defensive loan portfolios. Other banks by their nature are less dependent on short term market rate funds and are in a better position to offer fixed rate loan terms to borrowers their customers provide a relatively large core of stable savings and time deposits with average interest costs well below current market rates. As result these banks have to be free to acquire long term assets at predetermined interest rates that are they can adopt aggressi ve loan portfolios. HO, T.S.Y in his article (1980) The determinants of bank interest margin showed that balance sheet hedging is a rational response to interest margin uncertainty which results from the interplay between volatile interest rates and asset and liability structural interrelationships. Their research attempts to find evidence of such asset/ liability hedging practices among U.S banks during a period of high and volatile interest rates and a downward sloping yield curve. If banks in aggregate tend to hedge interest sensitive funds with core funds, the banking industry would appear to be coping appropriately with interest rate risk. On the other hand, if there is a systematic tendency for many banks to combine fixed rate long term assets with volatile short term funds, the industry might be excessively exposed to interest rate risk. The issue of capital adequacy also concerned with the comparative maturity structure and duration of the two sides of the balance sheet. S.T. Maisel and R. Jacobson in his article Interest rate changes and commercial banks revenues and costs they showed that over the period 1962 to 1975 for the average bank, the threat of insolvency due to the instability of economic returns stemmed primarily from the mismatch of asset and liability durations. They concluded that unheeded interest rate risk might require additional equity capital. Other sources of risk, such as default risk, would dictate a positive relationship between the amount invested in riskier loans and securities and the amount of equity capital. Research was limited because data on the market values of asset and liability items are not available. Presumably, potential changes in cross balance sheet market values are transmitted to changes in the market value of the firm. There was a considerable literature addressing asset-l iability management in banks. One of the key motivators of asset-liability management worldwide was the Basel group. The Basel group Banking Supervision (2001) formulated broad supervisory standards and guidelines and recommended statements of best practice in banking supervision. The purpose of the committee was to encourage global convergence toward common approaches and standards. In particular, the Basel II norms (2004) were proposed as an international standard for the amount of capital that banks require setting to the side to protect against the types financial and operational risks they face. Basel II proposed setting up accurate risk and capital management necessities designed to make sure that a bank holds capital reserves suitable to the risk banks picture their self to throughout its lending and investment practice. In general, these regulations mean that the larger risk to which the bank is showing, the larger the amount of capital the bank requires to hold to defend it s solvency and whole economic strength. This would ultimately help to defend the international monetary system from the kind of problems that may take place should a major bank or a sequence of banks collapse. Gardner and Mills (1991) discussed the principles of asset-liability management as a part of banks strategic planning and as a response to the changing environment in prudential direction, e-commerce and new taxation treaties. Their text provided the foundation of subsequent discussion on asset-liability management. Haslem (1999) used canonical analysis and the interpretive structure of asset/liability management to identify and interpret the foreign and domestic balance sheet approach of large U.S. banks. Their study found that the least money-making very large banks have the biggest size of foreign loans, yet they give emphasis to domestic balance sheet (asset/liability) matching strategies. on the other hand, the most money-making very large banks have the smallest size of foreign loans, but, however, they emphasize foreign balance sheet matching strategies. Vaidyanathan (1999) discussed issues in asset-liability management and elaborates on various categories of risk that require to be managed in the Indian context. In the past Indian banks were primarily concerned about adhering to statutory liquidity ratio norms but in the changed situation, namely moving away from administered interest rate structure to market determined rates, it became important for banks to equip themselves with some of these techniques, in order to immunize them selves against interest rate risk. Vaidyanathan argued that the problem gets accentuated in the context of change in the main liability structure of the banks, namely the maturity period for term deposits. For instance, in 1986, nearly 50% of term deposits had a maturity period of more than five years and only 20%, less than two years for all commercial banks, while in 1992, only 17% of term deposits were more than five years whereas 38% were less than two years Vaidyanath. It was found that several banks had inadequate and inefficient management systems. Also argued that Indian banks were more exposed to international markets, especially with respect to forex transactions, so that asset liability management was essential, as it would enable the bank to maintain its exposure to foreign currency fluctuations given the level of risk it can handle. It was also found that an increasing proportion of investments by banks were being recorded on a market to market basis, thus being exposed to market risks. Is was also suggested that, as bank profitability focus has increased over the years, there is an increasing possibility that the risk arising out of exposure to interest rate volatility would be built into the capital adequacy norms specified by the regulatory authorities, thus in turn requiring efficient asset-liability management practices. Vaidya and Shahi (2001) studied asset-liability management in Indian banks. They suggested in particular that interest rate risk and liquidity ris k are two key inputs in business planning process of banks. Using firm-level data, an extensive accounting literature focuses on the contemporaneous correlation of stock returns and earnings. Despite the statistically reliable positive association between stock returns and earnings, Ball and Brown (1968), Beaver, Clarke, and Wright (1979), Beaver, Lambert, and Morse (1980), Easton and Harris (1991), Collins, Kothari, Shanken, and Sloan (1994), and others find that the explained fraction of stock return variation was significantly less than one (typically under 10 percent). Lev (1989) and others suggest that the relatively low explanatory power stems from earnings lack of timeliness and/or value-irrelevant noise in earnings. The idea that correlation between a cash-flow proxy and stock return may be due to any of the three components was not novel. Fama (1990), Schwert (1990), Kothari and Shanken (1992), Campbell and Ammer (1993), and others recognize that when stock returns are regressed on cash flow proxies, any of the three effects may be d riving the regression coefficients. They do not, however, clearly quantify the relative importance of these three effects. Thus, in the end, it is still unclear why cash-flow proxies are or are not related to stock returns. The fundamental subject of working capital is to provide optimal balance between each element forming working capital. Most of the efforts of finance directors in a firm are the efforts they make to carry the balance between current assets not at optimal level and responsibilities to an optimal level Lamberson (1995). One reason for this was the decisive influence of current assets on others, another reasons was liabilities of completion of present responsibilities. The combination of the elements forming working capital are change over time. Need for working capital manipulate liquidity stage and profitability of a company. As a result, it affects investment and financing decisions, too. Amount of current assets to be calculated at a level where total cost is of a least degree means an optimal working capital level. The optimal working capital point is case wherein balance between risk and effectiveness is provided.. The entire current assets hold by a firm known as working capital. Net working capital is calculated when short term obligations are took out from current assets. Return of total assets of a firm as a result of an activity is closely related to level and distribution of assets of the firm and efficiency in application of these assets. In lots of firms current assets called working capital make up of a remarkable part of community assets. (Note 1) But it is clear that working capital is ignored in finance journalism compare to long term financing decision. Corporate finance studies usually concentrate on core decisions like, dividend, capital structure and capital budgeting. Though, the sum of assets group is a important part of entire asset and called working capital (inventories, quasi money and money. short term liabilities and trade receivables) is a focus matter in all main books relating to corporate finance where efficiency level of distribution and application of assets influe nce profitability and risk level of the company. The major purpose of a company is to increase the market worth. Working capital management influence profitability of the company, its risk and thus its value Smith, (1980). Further, effective management of working capital is a key component of the broad strategy aim to increase the market rate (Westhead and Howorth (2003). Since the flexibility of this group of assets is very high in terms of adapting to changing conditions and due to these uniqueness they can frequently be applied to understand the major aim of financial management through policy changes. Success of a firm mainly depends on efficient management capability of finance director to manage receivables, inventories and liabilities (Filbeck and Krueger, 2005). Firms can strengthen their funding capabilities or decrease the source cost reducing source amount they allocate to current assets. In finance literature there is a common opinion about the importance of working capi tal management. Explanations about why effective capital management is important for a company usually concentrate on the association between effectiveness in working capital management and company profitability. Effective working capital management includes controlling and planning of present assets and liabilities in such a way it avoid extreme investments in current assets and prevents from working with few currents assets insufficient to fulfill the responsibilities. In relevant studies the measure taken as an indicator of efficiency in working capital management is generally cash conversion cycle. For firm cash conversion cycle is the period during which it is transited from money to good and again to money. In the studies conducted by Shin and Soenen (1998), Deloof (2003), Raheman and Nasr (2007) and Teruel and Solano (2007) it was concluded that there is a negative relationship between profitability of a firm and cash conversion cycle. Thus, it is possible to increase firm profitability through more effective working capital management. It is necessary to realize that major basics of cash conversion cycle (short term account receivables, short term trade liabilities and inventories) should be managed in a way they maximize firm profitability. An efficient working capital management will increase free cash flows to the firm and growth opportunities and returns of stockholders. Working capital level of a firm indicates that it wants to take a risk. The more working capital amounts, the liquidity risk and profitability become lower. The working capital strategies of firms differ according to the segments and within each segment it varies over time Filbeck and Krueger (2005). Ganesan (2007), put forward that the firms in less competitive sectors focus on cash conversion minimizing receivables, while the firms in more competitive sectors have a relatively higher level of receivables. Lazaridis and Tryfonidis (2005) stated that small firms focus on inventory management, the firms with low profitability on credit management. Statements in literature of finance about the significance of working capital for companies are being once further emphasized in these unstable days of international economy. While firms make efforts to increase return on assets in a way they pay their due obligations as late as possible and keep the cash, decreases in activ

The Impact of Culture on the Function of Sound in Masala Essay

The Impact of Culture on the Function of Sound in Masala "I declare the National, uhh, sorry...the Canadian National Museum of Philately officially open." - Minister for Multi-Culturalism, Masala Although there are moments in Masala when the surface dialogue is loaded with irony and satire, the background or ambient sound of the film is also used to examine the central theme of the film, the search for personal and cultural identity. This theme of cultural representation and personal identity is additionally expressed through director Srinivas Krishna’s technical approach toward the function of sound in the film. In fact, the different approaches to life and art that distinguish one culture from another are evident in a brief comparison of the employment of sound in the Japanese films Gonza The Spearman and Fireworks and the Canadian production Masala. The influence of Western technical conventions upon Krishna’s use of sound, both through the narrative and sub-narrative (or background sound), is quite distinctive. Masala presents the viewer with an approach toward sound that is clearly influenced by the culture the film was created in, using dialogue and backgr ound sound to enhance the central theme of the search for cultural and personal identity. As a result of different cultural approaches to the art of film making, Japanese directors such as Masahiro Shinoda (Gonza) and Takeshi Kitano (Fireworks) typically employ sound in an effort to enhance the storytelling aspect of cinema. This ‘storytelling’ approach to film supports the gratuitous use of sound effects to emphasise punches, kicks, and the extreme violence and excessive amounts of blood that have come to signify fight scenes in Japan cinema (particularly to ... ..., just as the real estate agent states "Your momma gave you a bum steer when you were 4 years old. We need to clean that up right now. If we don’t clean that up right now, you will be emotionally prohibited from creating wealth." In short, the use of sound in Masala is the culmination of the life of Krishna - the character - as a minority struggling for both personal and cultural identity in an increasingly satirical world, and Krishna - the director - using film, specifically dialogue and background noise, to ask questions about social and cultural status. Krishna’s eventual death - a reaction against stereotypes - and his grandmother’s acceptance and desire for the technology (among other facets) of a foreign culture - a shattering of stereotypes - reveal that director Krishna’s intent is to raise questions, to provide a solid background for deeper discussion. The Impact of Culture on the Function of Sound in Masala Essay The Impact of Culture on the Function of Sound in Masala "I declare the National, uhh, sorry...the Canadian National Museum of Philately officially open." - Minister for Multi-Culturalism, Masala Although there are moments in Masala when the surface dialogue is loaded with irony and satire, the background or ambient sound of the film is also used to examine the central theme of the film, the search for personal and cultural identity. This theme of cultural representation and personal identity is additionally expressed through director Srinivas Krishna’s technical approach toward the function of sound in the film. In fact, the different approaches to life and art that distinguish one culture from another are evident in a brief comparison of the employment of sound in the Japanese films Gonza The Spearman and Fireworks and the Canadian production Masala. The influence of Western technical conventions upon Krishna’s use of sound, both through the narrative and sub-narrative (or background sound), is quite distinctive. Masala presents the viewer with an approach toward sound that is clearly influenced by the culture the film was created in, using dialogue and backgr ound sound to enhance the central theme of the search for cultural and personal identity. As a result of different cultural approaches to the art of film making, Japanese directors such as Masahiro Shinoda (Gonza) and Takeshi Kitano (Fireworks) typically employ sound in an effort to enhance the storytelling aspect of cinema. This ‘storytelling’ approach to film supports the gratuitous use of sound effects to emphasise punches, kicks, and the extreme violence and excessive amounts of blood that have come to signify fight scenes in Japan cinema (particularly to ... ..., just as the real estate agent states "Your momma gave you a bum steer when you were 4 years old. We need to clean that up right now. If we don’t clean that up right now, you will be emotionally prohibited from creating wealth." In short, the use of sound in Masala is the culmination of the life of Krishna - the character - as a minority struggling for both personal and cultural identity in an increasingly satirical world, and Krishna - the director - using film, specifically dialogue and background noise, to ask questions about social and cultural status. Krishna’s eventual death - a reaction against stereotypes - and his grandmother’s acceptance and desire for the technology (among other facets) of a foreign culture - a shattering of stereotypes - reveal that director Krishna’s intent is to raise questions, to provide a solid background for deeper discussion.

Anger in The Victims :: Victims

Anger in The Victims    In The Victims, by Sharon Olds, the author reveals the dark side of a society where divorce is prevalent, some family members find it hard to cope with. In the first half of â€Å"The Victims†, it sounds like a young child is telling the experience regarding her parents’ divorce. The speaker expresses anger toward the father. â€Å"When mother divorced you, we were glad.† (Line 1) The â€Å"we† is probably several children and their mother. It appears they all experienced an unpleasant life with their father. The mother â€Å"took it and took it, in silence† (Lines 1 and 2) and the children were also told to endure the abuse. What was it that the mother had to take? From the reading it appears there was some type of abuse. The abuse could have been physical but was most likely verbal and then again it could have been total silence. The father could have been a workaholic and never spent any time with them. This type of neglect really hurts as there is no togetherness or closeness. The bitterness toward the father was cold, so much so, that when he was fired, â€Å"we grinned inside.† (Lines 4 and 5) The speaker wanted some relief to the years of hurt so laughing about what happened to their father was an emotional outpouring of how the speaker wanted to get back at him. When the father was fired, the speaker compares this incidence to â€Å"when Nixon’s helicopter lifted...the last time.† During Nixon’s presidency, there was the Watergate scandal. News of this event carried around the world and most people wanted him impeached but instead he resigned. The feeling was that of remorse yet the country knew he had to leave. The same feeling is depicted in this statement. The speaker expresses happiness to the fact that those things of material value to their father were taken away. She is concerned over whether they would take away his suits. To her this is the only symbol of her father’s identity that she remembers and if they took the suits away, it would be an end to the years of silence. Maybe the speaker felt like if the suits were taken away, then maybe her father would seek another type of job and not be so distant. The mother â€Å"taught us to take it, to hate you† (Line 15) until there were no thoughts of their father around them.

Battle of Tippecanoe Essay -- Military History

The Battle of Tippecanoe Introduction The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought during the early morning hours of November 7, 1811, on a tree-covered knoll just outside of modern day Prophetstown, Indiana. American forces, under the command of William Henry Harrison, were attacked by a band of Indian tribes unified by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. A relatively minor battle, in comparison to others remembered in American History, this small battle proved to play a significant role in the shaping of the newly formed country. Debatable among historians regarding the constructive effects of the battle against its negative repercussions , its importance is unmistakable. Ultimately, the results of this day would bring to an end any prospect for a United Indian Confederation, and never again would the Native Americans be able to effectively challenge American expansion. History William Henry Harrison, later to become the ninth President of the United States, was a military officer born to a political family. Joining the military at a young age he rose in its ranks under the tutelage of General â€Å"Mad† Anthony Wayne where he served as a lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp during the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The winning of this battle paved the way for the â€Å"peace† signing of the Greenville Treaty. This single treaty ceded most of present day Ohio and pushed many Algonquians from their tribal lands. In less than 15 years time, by Harrison’s efforts, 48 million acres of Native American lands would be lost by cessation. Appointed as Superintendent of the North West Indians and Indiana Territory Governor he was undoubtedly the single most powerful white in the West. Harrison, having higher ambitions then frontier... ... forces to take advantage of situation to shape the battle in his favor. Daring and willing to take calculated risks he was able to effectively negate all of the varying tactics the Indians attempted to employ at him to achieve his victory. References Cleaves, Freeman. Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1969. Eckert, Alan W. A Sorrow in our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh. Broadway, NY: Bantam Books, 1992. Eckert, Alan W. That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley. Broadway, NY: Bantam Books, 1995. Jortner, Adam Joseph. The Gods of Prophetstown: The Battle of Tippecanoe and the Holy War for the American Frontier. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012. The Complete History of U.S. Wars: Manifest Destiny Wars, Ambrose Video 2004