September 11, 2001 and the Global War on Terror Essay - 1

September 11, 2001 and the Global War on Terror - Essay Example Further, the products of war are significant for the organizations which benefit from it at the expense of human lives which are squandered as a result of it. The proof for this comes looking like reports, the government’s official proclamations and the chronicled record of the time which shows that Americans had been given an alternate story from what the ground real factors really were. It absolutely makes an individual marvel that despite the fact that the administration reveals to us that we are winning the war on dread and that all is well with the present reality, it may not be so in actuality. What we know to be genuine may not really be the realities of the issue and we could at present be driven adrift by what the legislature and the media would have us accept. For instance, even from the verifiable information that we have, we have consistently been informed that America represents majority rule government and that it represents the opportunity surprisingly. Be that as it may, with regards to colonialism and worldwide control using military force, the sheer number of American armed force bases far and wide paints a totally extraordinary picture. America doesn't seem to communicate similar beliefs in deed which it bolsters looking like words. Taking everything into account, it turns out to be anything but difficult to state that the American government may not be progressing in the direction of the enthusiasm of the American individuals yet in truth could be moving in the direction of keeping up the enthusiasm of the American organizations which bolster the legislature. Further, political destinations and political inspirations appear to be unquestionably progressively significant for the individuals who rule our nation as opposed to any ideological conviction for supporting majority rule government and maintaining what is correct. Nonetheless, this may not really be an awful thing since the administration and their activities from the past have just given us that they are sufficiently realistic to understand that words which sound pleasant are just useful for addresses. Activities which are equipped towards making sure about

Financial Statement Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fiscal summary Analysis - Research Paper Example It gives attention to the financial specialists in that direct them in settling on significant speculation choices. The investigation of the firm will uncover its monetary foundation, working proficiency, liquidity position, and productivity, going concern, and capital structure and equipping position. Industry investigation encourages the comprehension of the working condition, recognizable proof of outer dangers and open doors for speculation, examination of patterns inside the business and the general execution of the business. The Yum! Brands Inc. is a drive-thru eatery joined in 1927. The organization builds up, works, establishments and licenses a worldwide arrangement of cafés, which make, pack and sell a menu of estimated food products. The organization has three incredible brands, TACO Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, which has consistently continued its productivity throughout the years. Throughout the years, the organization has revealed increment in turnover, benefits and comes back to investors. The profit per portion of the organization has an upwards pattern for as far back as eight years except for 2013 when the income dropped altogether (Morningstar Inc., 2014). The company’s development is driven by its ground-breaking brands, unrivaled showcasing systems, advancement developments and contending values, and wandering into new markets (Yum! Brands Inc., 2014). The eatery business in the U.S is profoundly serious with major global organizations, for example, Yum! Brands, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Chipotle. Individual salary, socioeconomics and purchaser tastes and inclinations drive request in this industry. Singular elements in the business have changed gainfulness levels. Though the speedy assistance eateries depend on high-volume turnover and productive tasks, the full-administration cafés depend on powerful advertising and high-edge things. This industry is encountering an upward development pattern in deals, gainfulness and investors returns throughout the years

Buyer Behaviour Example

Buyer Behaviour Example Buyer Behaviour â€" Assignment Example > Buyer Behaviour in Retail ContextBuyer Behaviour in retail contextConsumer or buyer behaviour is an important area of marketing which should be given utmost importance. Marketing in all areas is done with the consumer in the mind, as he is the ultimate person going to use the products. The success of a business depends on the satisfaction of the customer. So understanding the consumer behaviour is very essential to improve and sustain the sales of any product. The field of Buyer behaviour deals with the factors influencing or associated with the decision making process of the purchase. There are two types of buyers. One is the purchase by the retail customer or end user spending his own money. He is the retail consumer. The second category is the purchase made on behalf of a business or any organization. Here the buyer does not spend his own money and only represents his business. He is the business buyer or consumer. The sales to the former are known as business to consumer and t he later as business-to-business. There are wide variations with respect to the selling concepts and the buying behaviours of both the above. For any sales person to be successful in the process of selling, either to a direct consumer or to a business, understanding his consumer is of paramount importance. He should understand the needs and requirements of the customer and be able to evaluate the major factors that would influence the customer’s choice. This broad outline is the main similarity between selling to both the groups of buyers. More than the similarities, differences are more in the buying behaviours of a retail consumer and a business consumer. The conditions affecting the buying behavior of retail consumer are more varied in nature when compared to that of the business consumer. In this report, the selling situations to both the categories are discussed through two examples and the buying criteria, buying methods, similarities and the differences between both would be analyzed. However, before that brief descriptions about the factors associated with the buying behaviours of both the groups of buyers are given. A retail consumer takes a buying decision mainly to satisfy his requirement and for his personal use. He looks out for the personal gains and satisfaction. The main factors influencing his behaviour are psychological, social and economic in nature. These in other words can be written as internal factors such as the extent of necessity of his need, level of desire (strong or weak) to buy the product, his perception and the knowledge about the product, his lifestyle, the influence exerted by his family members in choosing the product, his ability to take his own decision, and his individual personality. The social factors include the opinions of his friends, colleagues or the cultural or social group he belongs. The marketers of the products also play an important role in his decision making process. These are the way a particular bran d has been advertised, the real benefits when compared to other brands, price discounts and offers, after sales service, modes of payment and other customer experiences.

Essay on Pride and Prejudice Book Analysis - 1352 Words

In Jane Austen’s England, British heritage, it was said that â€Å"we certainly know the world of the English late 18th century and the Regency beginning the 1800s was very different from our own. Her novels of love and social manners in the Regency gentry are loved because of her brilliant use of language and her savvy insight into human motivation and relationships.† (1) The book, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† by Jane Austen takes place in England around the 1800s.The setting itself is what sets the mood, tone, and emotions in which is displayed within each character. During this historical time period, women had limited roles. Roles in terms of abilities to interact socially with others. Jane’s motive to have written these stories is to portray†¦show more content†¦Most of the characters in the story marry some point in the book. Property inheritance in the book, Pride and Prejudice, becomes a major factor between the relationships between the tw o families. Mr. Bennett failed to see and search for an intelligent wife. Mrs. Bennet had limited morals, social position, dignity, and lacked caring for her husband and kids. The main two characters, Elizabeth and Darcy, are both trying to find love. But, Elizabeth (protagonist) wants someone special. She describes it as the complete opposite of Darcy. Darcy (antagonist) isnt necessarily a bad guy, he’s just arrogant and prideful. Elizabeth is just prejudice against people like Darcy. This book was originally named, First Impressions, because of that very reason. As soon as Elizabeth officially got to know and understand Darcy her opinions towards him changed. Which later falls in love with Mr. Darcy and marries him. Darcy is a Byronic hero; he is very arrogant, intelligent, and sensitive. He also has a disfavor for social settings and struggles with integrity.They become extremely passionate with values better than others; therefore, arrogant. Mr. Darcy is a strong minded character that reveal mistakes; even though, their heavily extravagant and lavish. Byronic heroes are usually men and are considered attractive, giving them a sense of intelligence, sensitivity, moodiness, and charm. Mr. Darcy portraysShow MoreRelatedA Short Summary and Analysis About the Book ‘’ Pride and Prejudice’’1448 Words   |  6 PagesMazhenov Dauren Student ID: 20123464 Undergraduate Foundation English 5/ ENG0005 07/11/2012 A Short Summary And Analysis Of The Book ‘’ Pride and Prejudice’’ By Jane Austen BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY Jane Austen was born in 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire in southern England, where her father was a minister. She was the sixth child in a family of seven children. The family was very close, and Jane had a particular closeness to her sister Cassandra. Although she attended boardingRead MorePride Prejudice Literature Analysis1311 Words   |  6 PagesLiterature Analysis 2 The most difficult part of creating a masterpiece is the actual process of writing or composing it, one highly overlooked difficulty of the job of the creator is the development of a suitable title. In just a few words, an effective title gives the audience a basic idea of what they are about to spend their time reading about. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is an example of a novel with such a title that is very significant in the development of the story. As the readerRead MoreThe Representations of Femininity in Pride and Prejudice904 Words   |  4 Pagescenters on the values, rituals, and manners of high society in England during the Regency Era. Her most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice published in 1813 maintains the interest of its audiences as it did almost two centuries earlier as evidenced by its frequent incarnations. In 1995, the British Broadcasting Corporation produced a six episode mini-series of Pride and Prejudice in partnership with Arts Entertainment Network starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth as Elizabeth and Darcy. BBC alsoRead MoreEssay on Jane Austen Novels: Success After Death1679 Words   |  7 Pagesher masterpieces Sense and Sensibility, and it seemed to not bring in as much success as it would later on in life. But the dry spell would eventually end. Two hundred years after Jane Austens death, her books gained a lot of attention (Leddy). Although Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma were not well known in the early eighteen hundreds, Jane Austen novels grew a substantial amount of popularity after Jane Austens death. Jane Austen started the novel Sense andRead MoreCharacter Analysis of Pride and Prejudice Essay763 Words   |  4 PagesPride and Prejudice The characters and general setting in Jane Austens; Pride and Prejudice, portray life in the rural society of the day. Austen is very clear in setting up the social classes of the characters and immediately portrays why the book is titled Pride and Prejudice. Though the more specific example of Pride and Prejudice is that of Elizabeth and Darcy, and how they first view each other. There initial feelings towards one another set the plot of the novel. It is this constantRead MoreLiterary Analysis : Pride And Prejudice 1420 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis Research Paper MLA format Minimum requirements: Pages 1-5 (Include at least one parenthetical citation for each source listed on Works Cited page.) Author/biographical writing style Short summary of 10 sentences using plot diagram Setting Major characters Theme Symbols/motifs Literary prose techniques Prose analysis Page 6 Reflections – your opinion of author novel (see your reaction journal) Page 7 Works Cited (minimum of 5 reliable sources) Felicia L. Cridland ProfessorRead More Analysis of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Essay example1278 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen It centers on the elder sisters of the Bennet family, Jane and Elizabeth. Their personalities, misunderstandings and the roles of pride and prejudice play a large part in the development of their individual relationships. The spirited Elizabeth and softhearted Jane have to deal with not only their own feelings but also the status of their family, both of which affect the outcomes of their marriages. The struggle is very believable and realisticRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1434 Words   |  6 PagesJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was considered a radical novel back in 1813 when she wrote and published the piece. It is a social commentary on the treatment and societal standards of women, as well marriage expectations at the turn of the 19th century. Austen criticizes the patriarchal society, materialism, double standards of men and women by centering the book around Elizabeth Bennett, a young woman of decent means who does not understand the reason for the pressure to find a suitable husbandRead MoreWrite a Critical Analysis of Jane Austen’s Novel Pride and Prejudice, Paying Special Attention to Family Politics. Comment on the Elizabeth – Darcy Relationship. What Makes Elizabeth and Darcy Different from All Other Characters in the Novel?909 Words   |  4 PagesWrite a critical analysis of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, paying special attention to family politics. Comment on the Elizabeth – Darcy relationship. What makes Elizabeth and Darcy different from all other characters in the novel? Student: Daniela Gospodinova In the 19th century in England, when Jane Austen writes, the marriage is something that every young woman wants - to marry a single, wealthy men, showing both joy and gratitude. In the beginning of the novel, the openingRead MoreDichotomy In Jane Austens Pride And Prejudice878 Words   |  4 Pagesdichotomies in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is made evident in the title. Namely, the book and the title reflect the division between individual as a spontaneous self and individual as socially constructed part of a greater whole, and the interaction that takes place as a result of the interaction between these selves. â€Å"Pride,† while it can be informed by the presence of others, is a character trait that can exist individual qua individual. For example, compares â€Å"pride† to â€Å"vanity,† a word with

Dealing with Change in Life - 646 Words

We all have dealt with change at one point in our life. Change comes in many ways from having a new baby being born to transitioning to a new career. What I call this is forces of change. Secondly is how we process that change. It may simple and it may not be simple. Lastly once you process the change you are then able to manage change. If you manage change you will not be as stressed if you let it take over you. Change is never when you are ready. Yes you may plan to move to a new home or new state but you are still dealing with stress. The majority of us have change come to us when we are not ready. The most change that we have in our life is that of career change or work changes. We see it every day businesses may close or merge with another business. This is a big deal because people need to look for a new job or plan to retire. This change would be consider planned change. (Nelson Quick, 2013 p.668). Another change is that when managers are changed at your job. Managers come and go in a company. Many managers will move up in the company and many will pursue a different career. This is tough for employees to deal with because they get use to working in one direction until someone new comes in. This is consider to be unplanned change. (Nelson Quick, 2013 p668). Many companies do change as a globalize style. To me having a globalize style of change is planned and unplanned. I say this be cause the company knows where they are moving or when they are moving, but no oneShow MoreRelatedProblems Human Service Clients are facing1123 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Problems Human Service Clients are facing Tosha Hawes BSHS/305 Instructor: Angela Murray The Range of Problems facing Human Service Clients Clients are rarely dealing with just one issue at a time. Individuals, groups, and communities are facing a wide range of problems. These problems could range from housing needs, food, mental illness, drug abuse, or family issues, which may be difficult to deal with on just one level. Those individuals or groups and the problems they are facingRead MoreThe Necklace Short Story889 Words   |  4 Pagesthe truth and do the best they can with their situation? The quote â€Å"We dont get to choose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it.† from Kami Garcia states that when presented with a challenge or an inconvenient truth, one cannot change the circumstances given, but they do have a choice in how they react to the truth. In addition, no one way of handling truth is right or wrong and everyone will react differently to a situation. Nevertheless, there are better and worse ways of handlingRead MoreEssay Teens Emotional Reactions after Parents Separation975 Words à ‚  |  4 Pagesthat happens because going through a situation like this is not something that is easy, and many emotions become involved. Dealing with their parents can be difficult for some teens, but for many others, they feel as if a divorce will make their family happier without seeing all of the fighting. Handling divorce is so difficult when it comes to teens, and is a process of life. Not all teens have the same reactions that other teens may experience in the different living environments. Seeing that yourRead MoreEssay on The Cheese Is Moving: Help Me to Change!1414 Words   |  6 PagesThe book â€Å"Who Moved My Cheese?† (Johnson, 1998) is an allegory of how people react to change. The story is of how two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two littlepeople, Hem and Haw react to life in the â€Å"Maze† in their search for â€Å"cheese.† The â€Å"cheese† is a metaphor for the things that we want in our lives. For different people this represents different things they seek to make them satisfied. â€Å"The â€Å"Maze† in the story represents where you spend time looking for what you want† (Johnson, 1998, p.14)Read MorePrimary Aging Of Older Adults898 Words   |  4 PagesPrimary aging refers to the normal and intrinsic processes of biologic al aging (PSYC 401: Lisa Hollis-Sawyer, personal communication 10/11/11). Skin changes and hair changing to gray hair are examples of primary aging in older adults. In addition, in primary aging, the sensory senses begin to change in older adults. The aging-related changes, in the integumentary system due to aging are graying of the hair wrinkling of skin, reduced skin, dry skin, thicker nails and age spots (PSY:403 ShannonRead MoreClimate Change : A Global Threat For The Population1377 Words   |  6 PagesClimate change is viewed as new global threat for the population all around the world. Climate change can be define as â€Å"Disturbance in environment and climate patterns with respect to increased level of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen ratio†. Climate change is now tagged as critical security problem for present and upcoming generations with the passage of time. It is now predicted that these climate changes will increase the risk of violent conflict. Climate change is not only affectingRead MoreThe Effect Of Peer Pressure On Teens And Schools Essay1711 Words   |  7 Pagestheir own, so they look for peers to make their decision or for their peers opinions (Dealing with peer-pressure 1 ). If s chools would implement peer pressure programs it would benefit the decision that teenagers are making. It would also teach them how not to fall under the influence of peers. Teenagers tend to let peers influence them in a negatively way. Which cause drastic changes in their everyday life (Dealing with peer-pressure 1). 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Introduction Stress is induced by life events .Lazarus and Flokman in (Cavanaugh and Blanchard –Field (2005) point out stress is defined by the person and that no two people experiences stress the same event in exactly the same way. Each individual has a specific tolerance for stress dependingRead MoreGestalt Therapy Essay1631 Words   |  7 PagesTheory Overview Founder and developer of Gestalt Therapy, Fritz Perls MD, PhD, was born in 1893 to a Jewish family and passed away in 1970. Perls became inspired to start Gestalt therapy after his experiences with soldiers in World War I that were dealing with side effects due to being gassed. With the help of his wife, Laura Posner Perls, PhD, a strong foundation for Gestalt therapy was created. They wanted a therapy that stressed the importance of humans as a whole rather than as a sum of discretely

The Piercer Free Essays

S w 908M57 The Piercer Colleen Sharen and Nicole Nolan wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. We will write a custom essay sample on The Piercer or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University o f Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey. uwo. ca. Copyright  © 2008, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2008-08-22 â€Å"Don’t forget, your business idea pitch is due in two weeks,† said Professor Sharen at the end of class. Jessica Pierce turned to look at her project team mate, Ashley Mound. Jessica and Ashley were fourth-year management and organizational studies students at Brescia University College, taking an introduction to entrepreneurship course. Ashley and Jessica had developed an idea for the assignment: a personal safety alarm that both shrieked and flashed lights when the person carrying it set off the alarm function. Given the concern that many people had over personal safety, it seemed like a great business idea. In order to present their idea, they needed to show that there was a market for this product and that they had a way to sell it to consumers. The problem was that they did not really know how or where to start to get the information that they needed. They had a lot of work to do to be ready to present their project in the next two weeks. THE ASSIGNMENT The business pitch assignment was challenging. Sharen had asked students to develop an interesting business idea and present it to a panel of potential investors. These investors included a successful serial entrepreneur, a business consultant who practised in the area of small- and medium-size enterprises, an owner of a marketing and advertising services business and a business professor. The students were asked to present an innovative idea, show why it would be successful in the market place, demonstrate potential markets, show the business model and sell themselves to the investors as entrepreneurs. The investors were instructed to view their investments as seed money to enable the students to further develop business plans and prototypes of their ideas. The students weren’t required to complete a financial analysis for this assignment. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 2 9B08M057 The investors were asked to assess project ideas on the basis of the feasibility of the idea and whether they believed that the entrepreneurs would be able to deliver. They could consider the appeal of the idea itself, the logistics and operations required to run the business, the effectiveness of the business plan, the longterm viability of the business or the size of the market. The assignment would be graded 50 per cent based on how much money the teams received from the investors and 50 per cent on the quality of their presentation by the professor. THE IDEA The Piercer was a small device that hung on a chain worn around the neck. When activated, The Piercer emitted a piercing sound that traveled for approximately 500 meters, as well as a bright flashing light. To deactivate The Piercer, the wearer had to push two buttons simultaneously. This was to prevent an attacker from being able to deactivate the device. The piercing noise and the bright flashing light were designed to scare away attackers and attract those who might assist the person being attacked. In the situation of imminent attack, a person would not have to rely on their voice or bring a whistle to their mouth to signal for help. Ashley and Jessica had researched costs and thought that by manufacturing in China, they could make The Piercer for $2 and sell it for $7. 50 wholesale, with a retail price of $14. 95. The idea made sense to Ashley and Jessica. It fit with recent social and demographic trends as aging baby boomers began to need assistance with injuries and falls, and with increased general concerns about health, safety and violence. WHAT NEXT? Jessica and Ashley thought that they had a good idea. Now they had to prove it. What were the target markets for this product? How big were they? Which ones should they choose? How should they sell to them? What proportion of the target market should they expect to capture? Where should they look for information to help them make these decisions? A SIMPLE GUIDE TO INFORMATION RESOURCES AND EVALUATION Ashley and Jessica must do secondary research to be able to evaluate and implement their idea. They will need to consider 1) how to evaluate resources, 2) how to develop effective search strategies and 3) how to identify proprietary resources that support the case for this business. 1. How to Evaluate Resources Information is available everywhere, and for this reason, Jessica and Ashley need to be able to discriminate between good and poor quality information. Appropriate information usage for an academic project includes evaluating and assessing resources for reliability and credibility. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 3 9B08M057 Goals ? ? ? ? ? Ashley and Jessica should be able to locate and differentiate free versus proprietary web resources. They should be able to identify a quality website. They should be able to evaluate books and other print resources for quality and reliability. They should understand the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly articles and resources. They should be able to cite information properly. Free Versus Proprietary Web Resources Many students think that the World Wide Web has the answers for everything. While the web can have valuable information, students pay (through their tuition) to have access to quality proprietary information resources. Ashley and Jessica could examine some free web sites to help them. For example, associations, company information and government information can be very helpful, as long as the user knows how to determine the quality of a website. Quality Web Sites Anyone anywhere can make a website. Just because it is on the web, does not mean it is good quality or reliable. When Ashley and Jessica are evaluating websites, they need to consider: Who is providing the information? ? Is it a government institution, a university or a company? ? Does the url make sense (e. g. .org, . edu, . on. ca)? ? Does the owner of the website have anything to gain by providing the information? ? Does the owner of the website have good credentials? ? Has anyone updated the website recently? Note that Wikipedia is not necessarily a reliable resource. Anyone anywhere can modify these pages. While it might be a place to find some resources or links, students should not cite Wikipedia as a reliable resource in an academic paper. The University of Alberta put together a good web evaluation checklist: http://www. library. ualberta. ca/instruction/science/evalweb. pdf For a more comprehensive list on evaluating web resources, see the bibliography on the topic: http://www. lib. vt. edu/help/instruct/evaluate/evalbiblio. html Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 4 9B08M057 Evaluating Other Resources Ashley and Jessica need to be critical of all the resources they use, not just websites. Ideally, they should be able to discriminate between proprietary and non-proprietary websites, scholarly and non-scholarly resources and evaluate the quality of any book used. Things for Ashley and Jessica to consider include: ? Who published the book or made the information available? ? How old is the information? ? Has the information been updated recently? ? Is the information peer reviewed? Does this matter? ? Did the library buy and recommend the resource? Is the author credible? Scholarly Versus Non-Scholarly Resources An academic library will provide access to both scholarly and non-scholarly resources. Scholarly work generally refers to published work that has been through a peer review process. Especially in the field of business, there are many practitioner resources. Therefore, Jessica and Ashley need to be aware of the type of information they are gathering. For example, industry trends, say from Standard and Poors NetAdvantage, is not a scholarly resource, yet the information within them could be valuable. Alternatively, ProQuest ABI Inform Global provides access to scholarly articles. Ashley and Jessica may also consider the relative value of evidence or fact versus opinion. Students should not read things and trust that what they are reading is accurate. Students should think about the rigor with which the argument is made and the evidence presented. ? Is there evidence to back up a claim? ? Has the evidence been collected in a reliable way? ? Is the author stating an opinion without backing up his or her ideas? Citing Work It is important that Ashley and Jessica cited their work properly, to avoid accidental plagiarism. Some of the more confusing things to cite include Statistics Canada data or online information. Statistics Canada has a website that describes systematically how to cite its tables, publications or other datasets: http://www. statcan. ca/english/freepub/12-591-XIE/12-591-XIE2006001. htm In addition, most academic libraries will have information about citation procedures, or will have copies of publication manuals available for borrowing. Any librarian can be asked about citation procedures. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 5 9B08M057 2. How to Develop Search Strategies Goals ? ? ? ? Ashley and Jessica should know the difference between searching in different search fields, such as the abstract field and title field They should be able to use this technology to search the unique fields They should be able to use the â€Å"AND,† â€Å"OR,† or â€Å"NOT† features of a search engine to help narrow their search. They should understand what truncation and proximity search strategies are, and how that influences a search. Most search engines that index information have similar features. If Ashley and Jessica understand the concepts in searching, they can apply them to any search engine. Take Advantage of Search Fields For example, records in an index have many different fields such as keywords, title, author, publication title, document title, abstract, full document, date, author, etc. It is often possible to specify what part of the record to search in, which helps to be more specific with the search. Searching an entire text document may retrieve less meaningful records than a search of just abstracts. Use Boolean Search Strategies Using â€Å"AND† and â€Å"OR† can be helpful in expanding or narrowing a search. AND narrows a search and OR expands it. Using the term â€Å"NOT† can also be helpful, but should be limited. For example, searching for beer companies will retrieve companies on diamonds (DeBeers). Excluding the term â€Å"diamond† from a search on beer companies could be helpful in narrowing one’s search. Truncation and Proximity Many search engines allow for truncation and proximity searching. In ProQuest, an asterisk symbol will truncate. For example, if one types â€Å"leader*† into a search box, records with leader, leaders and leadership will be retrieved. This helps capture all variations of a word. Proximity searching refers to how close two words are together in a document. Presumably, if two words are close together in a document, they are more likely to have something to do with each other. In ProQuest, a â€Å"w/1† or â€Å"w/2† (â€Å"w/3,† etc. ) facilitates proximity searching. For example, if Ashley or Jessica typed â€Å"organizational w/3 learning† in the search box, they will retrieve documents where the word â€Å"organizational† is within three words of â€Å"learning. † Find Creative Ways In There are many different ways to find information. Knowing a company name or a competitor’s name is convenient. Taking advantage of key words (or subject terms) also is a good way to search. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 6 9B08M057 It is also a good idea to brainstorm for synonyms prior to beginning a search. Being d eliberate about a search strategy and deciding on what concepts to combine can really help make the search go easier. Searching is iterative as well. One is advised to read some articles to learn the jargon of the topic, then go back and do the search again using the subject jargon. Most librarians will help on developing a search strategy! 3. How to Identify Proprietary Resources Goals Ashley and Jessica should be able to identify library resources and understand what type of information they can find in various types of resources. The following databases are some of the library databases that Ashley and Jessica could consider. They could also go to the library (or call or e-mail) and ask for assistance. Library staff will know what resources the library has, if there are any other resources that may be of use and how to access and use the resources. Finding Background Scholarly Articles ProQuest ABI Inform Global is a database that indexes business and management journal articles. Most of the articles are available in full text, and both scholarly and non-scholarly articles are available. The search box in ProQuest has a drop-down menu on the right that allows users to search in specific fields. For example, users can search the title, abstract, author, company or publication fields. Scopus is a database that indexes articles on the social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and health sciences. For the purposes of a business or entrepreneurship project, searching only the social sciences category would be appropriate. This resource indexed scholarly articles. Google Scholar is a free resource that indexes scholarly information from the World Wide Web. There is an advanced search engine feature to help specify a search. Many academic institutions integrate access to full text articles with Google Scholar. This means that any article the student has access to via the library, is also available to them via Google Scholar. Because Google Scholar is integrated with library resources, the student will likely need to either be on campus, or logged into the off-campus proxy server to take advantage of these services. If they are off campus or not logged into the proxy server the student can still search Google Scholar, but access to full text resources may be limited. Finding News and Magazine Articles Factiva is a database that indexes newspapers and magazines. While this resource does not index scholarly articles, it is a broad resource that captures current global news and events. LexisNexis has a comprehensive database that indexes newspapers and magazines. significant Canadian content indexed there. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 There is also Page 7 9B08M057 Finding Industry Trends Several databases including Standard Poors NetAdvantage, Mintel and Marketline provide reports on industry trends. These databases provide regularly updated reports on broad industries. Each database tends to report on different industries, so students would have to do some trial and error research to find relevant reports. Students may find their topic is too narrow for these reports. The Financial Post Investor Suite is a database that provides industry information from a Canadian perspective. Finding Company Information Company information may be important for a project such as The Piercer, especially for researching competitors. MarketLine provides company information, including financial information, company descriptions and a list of competitors. Similarly, Hoovers provides comprehensive company descriptions. Not all companies are in both resources, therefore checking both resources is recommended for company research. Marketing and Advertising The World Advertising Research Center (WARC) is a resource that provides access to information about marketing and advertising, as well as to case studies of winning ad campaigns. Such a resource could be helpful in this context to see if other, similar products have been marketed, and if so, how they have been marketed. There is scholarly and non-scholarly information in this resource. Technology Information Both eMarketer and Forrester have information about technology trends. There may be information about the Internet, emerging technologies or electronic marketing. Statistics and Demographics Statistics Canada provides access to demographic data. Many secondary educational institutions participate in the Data Liberation Initiative. This means that information a member of the public would have to pay for, can be retrieved for free by a student. Students, through the academic library website, can use data for research. For more information about accessing statistics, students can talk to their subject librarian. Some resources that Statistics Canada has that might be useful to find demographics include the Market Research Handbook, Canadian Business Patterns, CANSIM data, Census data, and Canadian Social Trends, among others. There are other resources available via www. statcan. ca such as Community Profiles. Data are available down to groupings of the population of about 2,000 to 7,000 people, meaning students can find demographic data for each 2,000- to 7,000-person neighbourhood across the country. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 Page 8 9B08M057 Global Information Although global research may not be as important for a product such as The Piercer, other entrepreneurial projects may require researching the global market. Economic Intelligence Unit, Global Market Information Database and Business Monitor Online are three resources that provide global market and industry information. Other Helpful Resources Students are encouraged to use the World Wide Web to help them find good information. For example, city homepages often have information about setting up a business. Association websites also can have helpful information. Also, banks have entrepreneurial information on their websites. In addition, many books in the library explain how to develop small business plans or provide information on entrepreneurship. Purchased by Gaia Cuccarini (gaia. cuccarini@yahoo. it) on March 21, 2013 How to cite The Piercer, Papers

Rewarding performance †comparison of alternative reward systems

Introduction Reward systems are the programs that are set up by different firms to recognize and appreciate the individual’s work in the organization. The main purpose for this is motivation. The concept of reward system comes from the fact that employees need to be motivated to work and this is achieved either by intrinsic or extrinsic rewards.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rewarding performance – comparison of alternative reward systems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More All reward systems revolve around the assumptions of attracting, retaining and motivating individuals. Reward systems are not only based on the financial needs since there are other factors required to motivate employees and increase their level of performance (Ledford, 1995). Organizations have adopted alternative reward systems so as to increase both, the domestic and international competition. Normally, performance-based compen sation is considered in designing most reward systems because companies are aimed at cutting costs, restructuring and improving performance (Lawler, 1995). Therefore, in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of reward systems, it is vital to ensure that they are based on performance. Hence, management should embrace the fact that rewarding performance is a continuous process that is essential for current and future employee performance. A reward system is a major contributor to shaping employment relationships. However, there are various forces that have an impact on the pay systems. The impact of the reward system will be felt in changing the work design and organization as a whole. This is as a result of putting emphasis on the individual performance. However, all reward systems have two elements that contradict each other. These include tensions and conflict between employer and employee (Hamel and Heene, 1994). Alternative reward systems are normally linked to employe e participation programs and are embraced by employers as strategies that are necessary in the current global competitive marketplace.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This can be seen from the point of view that compensation for work done by the employees has been changing. In the past, it was referred to as payment. It was later referred to as remuneration and now, as reward. Reward systems The basic types of reward systems include direct financial compensation (salaries/wages), Indirect financial compensation – other financial rewards, other than wages and salaries (for example, medical cover, insurance cover and paid leave) and Non-financial compensation – most are intangible and they are relate to the satisfaction that an individual gets from performing his duties. They can be as a result of meaningful jobs or a good environment (Schuster, 1992). Financial rewards are based on three criteria. They include the base salary, pay incentives and employee benefits. All of these can be categorized as extrinsic rewards, which are aimed at meeting the basic needs of individual and non-financial rewards are based on two things; intrinsic rewards – revolving around individual work and recognition rewards, which are given to employee by their superiors. A reward system normally has three main objectives. The objectives include attracting new work force to the firm, showing exemplary work performance and inducing commitment to the organization (Quinn, 1987). Attracting new employees is based on the fact that reward systems are designed with packages that aim at marketing individual reputation as desirable in the job market. It also gives employers confidence that employees will perform effectively.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rewarding performance – comparison of alternative reward systems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Performance is achieved by the use of a reward system since it motivates the individual to work extra hard. This is because they are promised a bonus or pay increase. This can be channeled in three different ways. This could apply for individuals, team or the entire organization. However, the individual performance-related pay could be challenging because it is based on the assumption that the pay, by itself, motivates workers. Reward systems boost and strengthen the psychological contract. It brings out the behavior that organization values the most. Psychological contract, in a way, determines the perception of employees concerning what they believe in. This is in terms of the reward they receive for the work they do. Without the psychological contact, the management cad face problems with the employees. The remuneration system should be able to attract and retain people of the right caliber. It gives rewards that wi ll increase the workers’ motivation (Senge, 1990). Financial compensations for employees are different for different companies. They are affected be various factors. One of the factors is the type of the organization. This depends on whether the organization is a profit making or not, whether it is private or under public ownership and many more. The size of the organization, type of industry, importance of the employee’s job, level of the job, contribution to profit, span of control, the employees education and experience, competition and supply or demand also affect the type of compensation employed (Spencer and Spencer, 1995). Direct versus indirect pay Direct pay is normally what the employees of an organization will receive in the bank account. This could be in terms of basic pay, overtime, paid leave, commission, merit pay or firm profit sharing.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the other hand, indirect pay is commonly referred to as benefits, and it is the additional package that an individual gets on top of the direct pay. They include things like the health cover, insurance cover, company car, entertainment, club membership, mobile phone and retirement plans (Collins, 1994). Salaries versus Bonuses A fixed monthly payment is the main financial incentive for employees. It is usually adjusted and reviewed to reflect employee’s development. A salary is advantageous for both, the firm and the employees. For the firm, it makes it easy to administer. For the employee, it provides security. One can budget for it since he or she is sure it will be provided. However, salary is not closely related to performance and sometimes, it leads to complacency on the part of the employees. Most firms supplement a salary with a bonus. A bonus is directly related to the results achieved. It is a sum of money given, usually at the end of the year or additionally to t he salary. It is usually used by profit making firms. Bonus may be based on contribution to profit, waste reductions, sales increase and reduction in absenteeism. Profit-Sharing versus Stock ownership In profit sharing, the employees are given a certain percentage of profit. The profit sharing may be in form of cash or it may be kept in a fund and given out at a later stage. This could be at an agreed date or particular age. Profit sharing can help reduce turnover and attract better employees as well as help increase morale on the part of employees, leading to increased group co-operation. In stock ownership, some companies do sell shares to their employees. This gives employees a personal stake in the company and can make them more willing to improve the company’s performance. Pension plans The firm invests funds for its employees and this is disbursed back to them when they retire. Pension plans help employees stay longer in the firm. It helps meet the employees need for se curity and this means that it can boost their morale. The advantages of these reward systems include encouraging greater effort of employees, helping boost their morale, helping in problem solving (for example, it could help reduce waste of material, it could be of help where bonus is based on reduction of waste and encourages harmony at work, especially when employees receive group bonuses). However, this reward system can be disadvantageous in the various ways. Firstly, it is difficult to measure each individual’s contribution (in terms of sales or profits), it is expensive to administer, it takes time and makes management even more complex. When it is a group bonus, the high performers may feel discouraged when they are rewarded using the same rate as the low performers. Alternative Reward systems Alternative reward systems have two main corporate goals. Firstly, they provide a reward for the employees who are able to compete against their fellow employees in the same depa rtment. Secondly, they seek to enhance the removal of the general wage increase that is based on collective power and it replaces them with one of the payments based on individual or group performance standards. This increases the conflict between the system and the union in which some employees may be part of. Traditional wage compensations are straightforward and can easily be the measure for paying employees. The system can be useful when the employees’ wage and benefit packages are to be calculated to get the present and future values with some degree of accuracy. On the other hand, nontraditional lump sum payment can never be at par with the economic value of a general wage increase. Wage increases produce a constantly increasing income flow, which is accumulated each year (Torrington et al., 2005). Alternative reward systems can be categorized in the following payment schemes. Profit Sharing versus Gain sharing Profit sharing is normally a great disadvantage to employee s. This is because there are numerous factors that affect profitability. They are normally out of the employee’s control. Management decision making and overall economic conditions have different roles in determining the profit or loss of a company. In addition, the huge profits are not always beneficial for the employees in the present economy (Zingheim, 1995). On the other hand, gain sharing – as a reward – is not as bad as profit sharing. In many instances, it results in cutbacks in the employment levels as employees share their knowledge with their superiors so as to increase the overall productivity. Pay for Knowledge versus pay for performance This form of reward is used in most organizations. It revolves around the management’s plan to improve the employees’ work. It makes it more flexible and simplifies their job classifications. However, this system normally results in reduced employment and increased job stress. This is because the employ ees try to generalize their work and end up specializing in none (Roth, 2000). Pay for performance, also known as merit pay system, is said to cultivate favoritism since it is not entirely based on fairness. This makes the system conflict greatly with the union movement. Critiques say that, in most cases, it is purely based on the manipulation of the management. Factors Influencing Basic Reward System and Practices One factor is the demand and supply of labour and labour markets. The law of demand and supply must be considered. The higher the supply of laborers in the labour market in relation to demand, the lower the salaries and wages paid. However, when there is scarcity of labour, there will be less supply of labour in relation to demand. This means that the wages and salaries will go up. Hence, to achieve external consistency of wages and salaries, the organization’s wage and salary policies must take into account labour market conditions and prevailing wage rates. Union Pressures – Labour union pressures exert considerable influence upon the wage and salary issues. Generally, the more powerful a union is or the stronger the bargaining power (as measured by its membership and leadership strengths), the greater the possibility of higher wages and salaries. Job requirements in terms of knowledge and skills – Various jobs in an organization are graded according to the relative skills, efforts, responsibility or job conditions. The wages or salaries of the employees increase with the difficulty of the job (Ruona and Roth, 2000). The size or ability of organization to pay – larger organizations have higher chances of making good profits. Large companies or organizations tend to pay higher wages and salaries relative to smaller organizations because of their ability to pay (Scherer, 1980). Product competitiveness and prospects for higher profits – If an organization’s product (goods or services) is highly competitive an d profits are good, the wage level in the organization is likely to rise. Hence, the market leaders in terms of products or services will make more profits and pay better than their competitors pay since their quality will be higher (Scherer and Ross, 1990). Psychological and Sociological or Ethical factors – These factors exert a considerable influence on the company’s wage levels because if the employees are dissatisfied with wages and salaries paid to them, a sizeable pressure for wage or salary increase will be developed frequently. This at times may not be justified on purely economic grounds. Psychologically, individuals perceive the level of wages and salary as a measure of satisfaction, security and status in life. Wage or salary differentials serve to depict social hierarchies. This is seen in the way individuals rate themselves using their salaries. Ethically, individuals feel that wages and salaries should be commensurate with their efforts. Government polic y and action in wage determination – similar to the pressures from trade unions, the government exerts pressure on the wage and salary practices. Acting in the public interest, government may pass legislation, issue executive orders or establish commissions with a view to regulate compensation policies and practices for the purpose of attaining specific social and economic objectives such as elimination of exceptionally low wages (Shavell, 1998). Cost of living or consumer price index – This is often regarded as an automatic minimum pay criterion. Due to the high cost of living resulting from increased prices, various organizations increase their wages and salaries. This leads to an increase in Productivity (Taylor, 2005). Conclusion Alternative reward systems should aim at attracting the most qualified employees and motivate them individually and collectively. This would make them more efficient and effective. A good reward system must have the four things that follow : The organization must consider the system in its entirety. The firm should be looked at as a system that is interrelated. Besides the money, there should be good leadership, appreciation, respect and growth. Secondly, they should be related to the performance of employees so that they do not feel exploited. Good performers must be compensated well. Thirdly, the reward system must be reviewed and amended frequently. It may be adjusted to reflect changes either in the firm or on the part of the employees. Examples include increased responsibilities, rise in cost of living and development of skills. Fourthly, it must be fair, simple and objective. It should be also simple and not costly to administer (Bratton, 2007). References Bratton, J Gold, J 2007, Human resource management: Theory and practice, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK. Collins, JC Porras JI 1994, Built to Last: Succesful Habits of Visionary Companies, HarperCollins, New York. Hamel, G Heene A 1994, Competence-Base d Competition, John Wiley Sons, New York. Lawler, EE 1995, ’The New Pay: A Strategic Approach’, Compensation Benefits Review, Vol. 3, pp. 14-22. Ledford, GE 1995, ’Designing Nimble Reward Systems’, Compensation Benefits Review, Vol. 4, pp. 46-54. Ruona, WE Roth, G 2000, ‘Philosophical foundations of human resource development practice’, Advances in Developing Human Resources, Vol. 3, no. 2. Scherer, FM 1980, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Scherer, FM Ross, D 1990, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Schuster, JR Zingheim PK1992, The New Pay: Linking Employee and Organizational Performance, Lexington/Macmillan, New York. Senge, PM 1990, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Doubleday New York. Shavell, S Ypersele V 1998, Rewards versus Intellectual Property Rights, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Spencer , LM Spencer SM 1993, Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance, John Wiley Sons, New York. Torrington, D, Hall, L Taylor, S 2005, Human resource management, Prentice-Hall,Essex, U.K. Quinn, JB, Baruch JJ Pawuette P 1987, ’Technology in Services’ Scientific American, pp. 50-58. Zingheim PK Schuster JR 1995, ’Moving One Notch North: Executing the Transition to New Pay’, Compensation Benefits Review, pp. 33-39. This essay on Rewarding performance – comparison of alternative reward systems was written and submitted by user Jayla Q. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

fascism

What truths, if any, regarding man and society do you consider to be expressed in conservative doctrine? Conservatism, as an ideology is a relatively new phenomenon. It developed mainly in opposition to the French Revolution in 1789 and to the ‘enlightenment’ that preceded it. This ‘enlightenment’, which led to the revolution, was based on the perceived rationality of mankind and of mankind’s ability to reconstruct society according to abstract ideals. Conservatives fundamentally reject mankind’s rationality and tend to be guided more by the principles of tradition, hierarchy, and reform over revolution. According to O’Sullivan, in his work Conservatism, three broad schools of conservative thought are identified. This essay will concentrate primarily on the ‘French Reactionary School’, and particularly, but not exclusively on the thoughts of Joseph De Maistrà ©, Maurice Barrà ¨s, and Charles Mourras. The French Reactionary School has been chosen as it offers several differences from almost all other Schools of thought, to the extent that some have seen it as a precursor to fascism. Also, due to restrictions of this essay and the immense diversity of conservative doctrine, a worthwhile account of more than one school of thought would not be possible. This essay will evaluate and analyse the claims made by members of the French Reactionary School relating to the ‘truths’ about man and society found in their key works and thoughts. Firstly, this essay will discuss the ‘truths’ about mankind found in the writings of Joseph de Maistrà © and Charles Mourras. It will be shown how these views came about through both a historical view of the nature of man and a belief in the infallibility of God in the first case and a more sociological perspective in the other. A discussion of whether these ‘truth claims’ regarding the nature of man are true at all, looking briefly at some rival perspectives and some of the... fascism Free Essays on French Conservatism/fascism What truths, if any, regarding man and society do you consider to be expressed in conservative doctrine? Conservatism, as an ideology is a relatively new phenomenon. It developed mainly in opposition to the French Revolution in 1789 and to the ‘enlightenment’ that preceded it. This ‘enlightenment’, which led to the revolution, was based on the perceived rationality of mankind and of mankind’s ability to reconstruct society according to abstract ideals. Conservatives fundamentally reject mankind’s rationality and tend to be guided more by the principles of tradition, hierarchy, and reform over revolution. According to O’Sullivan, in his work Conservatism, three broad schools of conservative thought are identified. This essay will concentrate primarily on the ‘French Reactionary School’, and particularly, but not exclusively on the thoughts of Joseph De Maistrà ©, Maurice Barrà ¨s, and Charles Mourras. The French Reactionary School has been chosen as it offers several differences from almost all other Schools of thought, to the extent that some have seen it as a precursor to fascism. Also, due to restrictions of this essay and the immense diversity of conservative doctrine, a worthwhile account of more than one school of thought would not be possible. This essay will evaluate and analyse the claims made by members of the French Reactionary School relating to the ‘truths’ about man and society found in their key works and thoughts. Firstly, this essay will discuss the ‘truths’ about mankind found in the writings of Joseph de Maistrà © and Charles Mourras. It will be shown how these views came about through both a historical view of the nature of man and a belief in the infallibility of God in the first case and a more sociological perspective in the other. A discussion of whether these ‘truth claims’ regarding the nature of man are true at all, looking briefly at some rival perspectives and some of the...

Top 10 Confused English Words [U-Z]

Top 10 Confused English Words [U-Z] Top 10 Confused English Words [U-Z] Top 10 Confused English Words [U-Z] By Maeve Maddox Having come to the end of the alphabet with my series of â€Å"words often confused with one another,† I find myself hard-pressed to come up with a final set of ten for the remaining letters, U-Z. I can’t think of any for U or Z, but here are some for V, W, and Y. 1. vane / vain / vein All three sound alike and speakers know what they mean when they say them. The confusion arises with the spellings. INCORRECT: A cupola sat astride the angled wedge of the rooftop, sporting a beautiful gold colored  weather vain. CORRECT: A cupola sat astride the angled wedge of the rooftop, sporting a beautiful gold colored  weather vane. INCORRECT: If we cut one of our vains what chance do we have to live? CORRECT: If we cut one of our veins what chance do we have to live? vane noun: a blade that rotates vain adjective: 1. hopeless: â€Å"She continues to harbor a vain desire to write a novel that will make her rich.† 2. having an excessively high opinion of ones own appearance, attainments, qualities, or possessions: â€Å"He is especially vain about his hair.† vein noun: the tubular vessels in which the blood is conveyed through the animal body. 2. venal / venial Neither word is common in ordinary speech. Catholics are familiar with the adjective venial in reference to a lesser kind of sin than a mortal sin. In a secular context, â€Å"a venial fault† is one that does not deserve severe censure. Venial (three syllables) is usually applied to a thing. The adjective venal (two syllables) applies to people as well as to things.    â€Å"As a politician in a venal age, he preserved his independence and purity.† â€Å"The venal man raised the price from  $13.50  a pill to  $750 overnight.† venial adjective: easily forgiven. venal adjective: corruptible; likely to accept bribes. 3. vicious / viscous Although pronounced differently, viscous [VIS-kus] is often misspelled as the more familiar word vicious [VIH-shus], with comical effect. INCORRECT: Polymer solutions are very vicious so need lots of solvent. CORRECT: Polymer solutions are very viscous so need lots of solvent. vicious adjective: cruel and mean. viscous adjective: thick and sticky. 4. wave / waive Both words are pronounced the same. wave verb: move back and forth. â€Å"The sign waved in the wind. waive verb: give up; not require. â€Å"Do you waive your right to an attorney?† The usual error is to leave the i out of waive. INCORRECT: Can a 21-year-old who waved his rights to appeal without knowing the law get another trial? CORRECT: Can a 21-year-old who waived his rights to appeal without knowing the law get another trial? 5. weather / whether Both words are pronounced the same by speakers who don’t distinguish between the sounds of w and wh. weather noun: condition of the atmosphere at a given place and time. â€Å"The weather outside is frightful.† Whether is a function word used as different parts of speech. One use is as a conjunction to introduce an alternative expressing doubt or choice. The usual spelling error is to spell whether as weather. INCORRECT: I am a grown-up and can make decisions  weather to marry  or  not. CORRECT: I am a grown-up and can make decisions  whether to marry  or  not. 6. wet / whet The h in whet is often omitted, perhaps because so many speakers pronounce wh as w. wet adjective: full of moisture. â€Å"The wet dog shook vigorously.† wet verb: to make wet. â€Å"The oboe player wets his reed before playing.† whet verb: to sharpen. â€Å"Here, whet your sword on this grindstone.† whet verb: to stimulate. â€Å"The scent of baking bread always whets my appetite.† INCORRECT: One day in Quebec  will wet your appetite for  a longer visit.   CORRECT: One day in Quebec  will whet your appetite for  a longer visit.   7. wreck / wreak Although pronounced differently, the words are frequently mixed up in writing. wreck /REK/ verb: to damage severely; to destroy. wreak /REEK/ verb: to cause damage. Wreak is an old word, used chiefly in the phrase â€Å"to wreak havoc.† â€Å"Patricia is no longer a hurricane, but it’s about to wreak havoc in Texas.† INCORRECT: A  tornado wrecked havoc  in the city in 1896 killing several hundred people. CORRECT: A  tornado wreaked havoc  in the city in 1896 killing several hundred people. 8. wreath / wreathe The error with these words is failure to recognize wreathe as a verb in which the th is voiced. wreath noun: [The th is unvoiced, its sound in thin.] a ring-shaped arrangement of leaves or flowers. â€Å"She hung a Christmas wreath on the door.† wreathe verb: [The th is voiced, its sound in then.] to surround or encircle. â€Å"Inside, she wreathed the mirrors with holly branches.† INCORRECT: Martha Stewart makes small arborvitae wreathes to accent the front door of her home. CORRECT: Martha Stewart makes small arborvitae wreaths to accent the front door of her home. The plural of the noun wreath is wreaths. The third person singular of the verb wreathe is wreathes. 9. yoke / yolk Both words are pronounced the same. Yoke is usually spelled correctly in the context of a contrivance used to hook two animals together, as in â€Å"a yoke of oxen.† It’s when yoke is used in the context of sewing that it is sometimes misspelled as yolk. And on cooking sites, sometimes yolk is misspelled as yoke. yoke noun: (sewing) part of a garment, made to fit the shoulders. yolk noun: The yellow internal part of an egg. INCORRECT: The Creek Line House: How to Separate Egg Whites from the Yokes CORRECT: The Creek Line House: How to Separate Egg Whites from the Yolks INCORRECT: How To Sew A Shirt Yolk CORRECT: How To Sew A Shirt Yoke 10. your / you’re The query â€Å"difference between your and you’re† brings up 323,000,000 Google hits when typed in the search box. Clearly, a great many English speakers remain uncertain as to the difference. Your is a possessive adjective. â€Å"Is that your dog?† Your is always followed by a noun. You’re is a contraction of the words â€Å"you are.† The apostrophe in you’re indicates that something is missing. The ’re stands for the verb are. The a of are is what is missing. You’re may be followed by a noun, an adjective, or the present participle of a verb. â€Å"You’re [you are] the best friend I ever had.† (noun) â€Å"You’re [you are] wrong about this matter.† (adjective) â€Å"You’re [you are] making a big mistake.† (present participle) People who have difficulty with these words can avoid problems by spelling out â€Å"you are.† If the result sounds stuffy in an informal context, the writer can replace â€Å"you are† with you’re in revision. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before WordsBest Websites to Learn EnglishUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently

Ohio White-Tailed Deer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ohio White-Tailed Deer - Essay Example While the deer are viewed as a trophy animal, as the herd expands it exploits the agricultural areas and is often considered a nuisance as it destroys crops, gardens, and ornamental landscaping. In addition, they are seen as a road hazard on many of Ohio's rural roadways. Effective hunting management of the Ohio White-Tailed Deer population is the result of an in-depth understanding of the deer's requirements for space, food, cover, and water, as well as the impact that the deer has on the existing ecosystem. The White-Tailed Deer have populated Ohio since the Ice Age, though the herd was nearly decimated by over-hunting in the early 20th century. Today the deer population is in excess of 700,000 and is controlled through a regulated deer-hunting season (Hunt, 2008). Deer density varies around the state based on the available habitat and runs from 5 per square mile in the heavily farmed and treeless areas to 45 per square mile in the areas that are heavily wooded (Golowenski, 2007). Deer damage agriculture by eating the young soybean plants, foraging on young fruit trees, and feeding on tree farms. Agricultural damage from deer has been estimated at $25 million annually in Ohio, and a study at Cornell University places the value at $1.1 billion nationally (Ohio Department of Natural Resources, n.d.; Golowenski, 2007). However, deer hunting generates $266 million in revenue in Ohio alone. Whether the deer is considered an aesthetic and economic treasure, or a menace to civilization depend s on whom in Ohio you ask. While the agricultural losses are significant, only a small percentage of the farmers surveyed indicated that they would like to see a reduction in herd size. As with all other organisms, the White-Tailed Deer have specific requirements for food, space, cover, water, and environmental limits. Limiting any one of these factors will reduce the herd's size and quality. The deer are herbivores that usually feed nocturnally on "leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other fungi" (White-tail deer, 2009). Herd size and herd quality will be dependent on the available food, but this mechanism has little if any impact in areas that are rich with grass and grain crops. Herbaceous weeds, broadleaf flowering plants, and woody vegetation such as fruit trees, shrubs, and vines make up 95 percent of the deer's diet (The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2008). The

CWE Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CWE Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example This sets the wheel in motion for others to follow. I have no bias towards Robert F. Kennedy but the quote itself is a great one stressing on thinking differently and taking risks. It tells how once can achieve great feats by thinking out of the box. Most people tend to stick to the routine or bound by conventional thinking. They are afraid to take risks and believe in new possibilities. It is only when we move away from the laid out path that we can find new lands. So it only by thinking out of the traditional mould and embracing new thinking and possibilities that we can achieve great things. Again, you cant connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. – Steve Jobs This is one of the famous quotes from Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech. In this quote, Steve Jobs asks his audience to follow their heart and do what they enjoy the most. Most people fail to understand their true talents because they are too afraid to follow their instincts or guts. What you instincts say might not make much of logical sense at the moment but years down the line everything will seem to be perfect. It is only when you believe in your instincts that you will be able to live a life to your full

Quantization effects in digital filters

Quantization effects in digital filters ABSTRACT: Quantization effects in digital filters can be divided into four main categories: quantization of system coefficients, errors due to A-D conversion, errors due to roundoffs in the arithmetic, and a constraint on signal level due to the requirement that overflow must be prevented in the comparison. The effects of quantization on implementations of two basic algorithms of digital filtering-the first-or second-order linear recursive difference equation, and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) are studied in some detail. For these algorithms, the differing quantization effects of fixed point, floating point, and block floating point arithmetic are examined and compared. The ideas developed in the study of simple recursive filters and the FFT are applied to analyze the effects of coefficient quantization, roundoff noise, and the overflow constraint in two more complicated types of digital filters frequency sampling and FFT filters. Realizations of the same filter design, by means of the frequency sampling and FFT methods, are compared on the basis of differing quantization effects. All the noise analyses in the report are based on simple statistical models for roundoff and A-D conversion errors. Experimental noise measurements testing the predictions of these models are reported, and the empirical results are generally in good agreement with the statistical predictions INTRODUCTION: Digital filters are widely used in modern signal-transmission systems. The first-order filters are used for extracting lower-frequency or upper-frequency signals. Quantization errors due to the finite number of binary digits in the representation of numbers are typical of digital filters. Quantization is a representation of data samples with a certain number of bits per sample after rounding to a suitable level of precision. Quantization errors in a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) system can be introduced from three sources; one source is input quantization, a second is coefficient quantization and the third is the finite precision in the arithmetic operations. The quantization error in the arithmetic operations can be controlled by carefully selecting the size of buffer registers according to the input word length. Quantization errors from input and filter samples are considered in this article. The effects of quantization errors and the tradeoffs required between precision and hardware resources are discussed in relation to the implementation of the DSP in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). This article is divided into three main sections; quantization effects for upconversion, quantization noise due to rounding off arithmetic and quantization effects for digital beamforming (DBF). Fixed length samples cause reduction in the filter dynamic range and gain resolution. Quantization In digital signal processing, quantization is the process of approximating (mapping) a continuous range of values (or a very large set of possible discrete values) by a relatively small (finite) set of (values which can still take on continuous range) discrete symbols or integer values. For example, rounding a real number in the interval [0,100] to an integer 0,1,2,100. In other words, quantization can be described as a mapping that represents a finite continuous interval I = [a,b] of the range of a continuous valued signal, with a single number c, which is also on that interval. For example, rounding to the nearest integer (rounding  ½ up) replaces the interval [c .5,c + .5) with the number c, for integer c. After that quantization we produce a finite set of values which can be encoded by say binary techniques. A. QUANTIZATION EFFECTS ON UPCONVERSION: In multirate systems, upconvcersion can be achieved with oversampling and filtering techniques. For the proposed digital TIGER system, input Gaussian pulses are upsampled to produce higher order Nyquist zones. A high pass FIR filter is employed to acquire a spectral zone at the expanded band edge. In this case, higher efficiency is possible by exploiting filter symmetry. For a higher throughput rate, polyphase implementation of the FIR filters can be employed. Since signal amplification is performed in the analog domain, a high speed 14 bit DAC is used for digital to analog conversion. Finite precision causes similar effects in the input data samples and filter coefficients. Fixed word length effects on filter coefficients, filter length and dynamic range are described in the following sections. 1. Sensitivity of Filter Coefficients to Quantization Finite precision plays a significant role in the dynamic range of filter gain and DC offset. A large number of quantization levels will decrease the quantization error; on the other hand it requires larger silicon space to implement the design. The quantization affects the input Gaussian pulse and the filter coefficients. The pole and zero maps show perturbations in Figure 1 when samples are restricted to finite word length. The filter coefficients in the lower parts are constrained to 14 bit quantized samples and the length of the filter is 100 taps. This constraint arises from the fast DAC of 14 bit width used for converting a digital signal into the analog domain. Since the dynamic range of the quantizer is less than that of the filter coefficients, the quantized coefficients are disturbed from the unit circle. The gain of the quantized filter response is displayed in Figure 1 which is distinctly less than that for the infinite precision filter. For these simulations infinite prec ision representation is regarded as floating point, which provides significantly better precision than the quantization levels discussed here. The zeros around Z = -1 are responsible for passband attenuation and are less displaced. As the dynamic range of the quantizer is increased to match the filter coefficients, the signal to quantization noise ratio (SNR) improves, but at the cost of increased hardware resources. Similar results can be obtained for the input Gaussian pulse when quantized to specified fourteen bit word lengths. Finite precision is hardware efficient since the system data width is less than the infinite precision (or floating point) case. Quantization reduces a few out of 100 coefficients to zero, which will further ameliorate the memory cell and arithmetic processing requirement. Quantization also reduces the filter gain compared to infinite precision samples; however this reduction is acceptable as long as it remains within an attenuation limit. The fourteen bit quantizer provides more than 80dB attenuation which is better than the standard of 60dB used by many communication systems. 2. Quantization Effects on Filter Order For direct conversion transmission, a cascaded design performs better than a single stage. This is because quantization errors are reduced with a lower filter order. Secondly a lower order design requires less logic resources. Quantization errors vary with the length of a filter and we now study the effects of the filter order on the quantization error. A simulated result is shown in Figure 2, where quantization error is plotted against variable filter order. The quantization is performed by rounding the infinite precision samples to the closest fixed point value. The quantization error increases with increased filter order, since the highest power index in the filter polynomial is the most affected by the rounding. When the quantizer is increased with one more bit in the precision, the error is reduced by approximately 6dB as would be expected. The lower order filter provides better dynamic range than the higher order for eight and nine bit quantizers. This fact is also evident in Figure 2. At lower filter order of fifty, accumulative quantization error is around -43dB and at higher order of 200, it is -31dB. The 12dB difference is equivalent to two additional bits in quantization. Non-linear effects of the quantization can be reduced using a smaller filter order in the modulator. Since the cascaded design comprises a filter of lower order, compared with the single model, it introduces less quantization error than the single stage. 3. Quantization and Word length The dynamic range of the scaled filter depends on the number of bits assigned to the quantizer. For maximum signal power, the quantizer range should be equal to the signal magnitude. An FIR filter with filter variance 2 f s and quantization noise variance 2 n s has a signal to noise ratio of This expression can be used to estimate the appropriate word length for the FPGA implementation. A comparison of SNR versus word precision using the above expression has been calculated and is shown in Figure 3. From this graph it is evident that for each bit added to the word length, there is approximately a six decibel improvement in the SNR. For a higher precision level, a system can still be implemented, but at the cost of increased FPGA logic resources. B. QUANTIZATION NOISE DUE TO ROUNDING OF ARITHMETIC: In the poly phase filter, like in any other filter, quantization has to be performed on the result of any arithmetic operation. This is because any such operation requires more bits to represent the result than is required for each of the operands. If the Word length were always to be adjusted to store the data in full precision, this would be impractical, as there would soon be too many bits required to be stored in the available memory. Therefore, the word length of the internal data, has to be chosen, and the result of any arithmetic operation has to be constrained back to using the quantization scheme chosen from the ones shown in the previous section, as appropriate for the given application. The quantization operation may cause a disturbance to the result of the arithmetic operation. For normal filtering operations, such a quantization disturbance can usually be successfully considered as white noise and modeled as an additive noise source at the point of the arithmetic operation with the quantization step equal to the LSB of the internal data, . This certainly is not the case for zero-valued or constant input signals. However, modeling the quantization has-in most cases-the purpose of determining the maximum noise disturbance in the system. Hence, even if the additive quantization noise model gives overestimated values of the noise for very specific signals, this fact does not decrease the usefulness of the approach. After the shape of the quantization noise power spectral density (NPSD) is found, it can be used to identify regions that might cause overloading or loss of precision due to arithmetic noise shaping; also the required input signal scaling and the required internal arithmetic word length can be estimated for a given noise performance. The standard methods of estimating the maximum signal level at a given node are L1-norm (modulus of the impulse response-worst-case scenario), L2-norm (statistical mean-square), and L -norm (peak in frequency domain giving the effect of the input spectral shaping). These norms can be easily estimated for the given node from the shape of the NPSD. The quantization noise injected at each adder and multiplier, originally spectrally flat, is shaped by the noise shaping function (NSF), , calculated from the output of the filter to the input of each of the noise sources, i.e., to the output of each of the arithmetic operators. These functions were calculated for all of the all pass filter structures are shown in Fig. 2. The shapes of the nontrivial of the NFS are shown in Fig. 3. The accumulated quantization NPSD transferred to the output, , is obtained by shaping the uniform NPSD from each of the quantization noise sources by the square of the magnitude of the NFS corresponding to the given noise injection point and can be described by The results show that all structures perform in a way very distinct from the other ones. Structure (a)has the best performance at dc, half-Nyquist , and Nyquist , where the NPSD falls toward minus infinity. Its two maxima are symmetric about and independent of the coefficient value. The peaks are distant from for small coefficient values and approaches it as the coefficient increases. Structure (b) has uniform noise spectral distribution as all the arithmetic operations are either at the filter input-then noise is shaped by the allpass characteristic of the whole filter-or at its output. Structure (d) also has a minimum at v=0.25 . Its average noise power level decreases as the value of the all pass coefficient increases. Structure (c), the best from the point of view of the required guard bits, has its maximum at v=0.25 going toward infinity for coefficient values approaching one. This effect is a result of the denominator of the Nth-order all pass filter causing the poles of the filter to move toward the unit circle at normalized frequencies of v=2pik/N,k=0.N-1 for the coefficient approaching one. If there is no counter effect of the numerator, like for the case of P1(Z) for structure (c) and for structure (a), then the function goes to infinity. Even though structure (c) goes to infinity at v=0.25 for alfa=1, it has the lowest average noise power from all the structures. This structure has a big advantage in terms of the number of required guard bits and ease of cascading a number of them into higher order all pass filters. If the filter coefficients appro ach one, then the increase in quantization noise power could be countered with few additional bits. Using other structures would only replace the problem of dealing with an increase in the quantization noise with the problem of having to increase the number of guard bits required to deal with an increase of the peak gains. The NPSD of the quantization noise at the output of the poly phase structure can be calculated as the sum of the NPSD at the output of all all pass filters in the filter scaled by the 1/N factor N, being the number of paths. If the filter is cascaded with another filter, the NPSD of the first one will also be shaped by the square of the magnitude of the second filter. sources. The intention was to check the correctness of the theoretical equations by applying the white noise sources instead of quantization and by performing the quantization after addition and multiplication (rounding and truncating) to verify the shaping of the quantization noise and its level both for white input noise sources and real-life signals. The shape of the output quantization noise accumulated from all arithmetic elements for a wide-band input signal assuming, for simplicity, no correlation between the noise sources, is shown for all considered all pass structures in Fig. 4. The solid curve indicates the theoretical NSF that is very well matching the median of the quantization noise (curves lying on top of each other). The quantization noise power increase calculated for the given coefficient was 8.5 dB for structure (a), 6 dB for structure (c), 7.3 dB for structure (d), and 9 dB for structure (b). It is clear that the quantization noise differs from the assumed white n oise characteristic. However, the approximation still holds with an accuracy of around 5-10% depending on the structure of the input signal. An example of more accurate modeling of the quantization noise caused by arithmetic operations can be found in (a). The arithmetic quantization noise certainly decreases the accuracy of the filter output. The value of the arithmetic word length has to be chosen such that the quantization noise power is smaller than the stop band attenuation of the filter and the stop band ripples. In certain cases, the design requirements have to be made more stringent to allow some unavoidable distortion due to the arithmetic word length effects. For the case of decimation filters for the based A/D converters, the quantization noise adds to the one originating from the modulator. In such a case, each stage of the decimator has to be designed so that it filters out this noise as well. The verification of the peak gain analysis was performed by applying single-tone signals at the characteristic frequencies- where functions from Fig. 2 have their extremes-and by using wideband signals to make sure that the estimates are accurate. The experimental results confirmed the theoretical calculations. The results of the simulation for the white noise input signal of unity power are given in Fig. 8. The simulation was performed for a white noise input signal of unity power in order to have a uniform gain analysis across the whole range of frequencies. The theoretical shape of the gain is shown by a solid line that is very closely matching the median value of the signal at the test points. C. QUANTIZATION EFFECTS ON DIGITAL BEAMFORMING: The quantization of infinite precision samples into fixed word length degrades the phased signals. As was discussed in the previous section, the use of more levels for higher precision decreases the quantization error at the expense of larger hardware resources. For a reduced precision level, quantization error is spread to the main beams and to the grating lobes as well. In this section we present effects of quantization on beam resolution and associated grating lobes. 1. Quantization effects on Beam Pattern Phased signals have similar quantized effects on main beam resolution as the filter samples. However non-linearity arises in the sidelobes since the quantizer is not of adequate resolution to represent small changes that affect the sidelobe levels. In order to investigate the quantization effects, an example is presented with fixed word length delay samples. The coefficients of the time vector are quantized into four and ten bits; the increased number of bits will reduce the quantization effect. For an actual design the fixed bit width will depend on available hardware resources. The quantized beam in Figure 1 shows that a four bit fixed number does not adequately represent the beam pattern and thus introduces quantization noise. The ten bit numbers will also introduce quantization error, but at a lower level as shown in Figure 1(b). As can be seen from this simple example, the four bit quantization compromises the sidelobes at the 20dB level, while the ten bit quantization provides a reasonably faithful reconstruction of the theoretical sidelobes at this level. Therefore we conclude that for the 14 bit DAC of the proposed system, the sidelobe level will be essentially unaffected by the quantization at the -20dB level. 2. Sensitivity of Sidelobe Levels to Quantization Quantization causes gain errors in sidelobe levels. Higher resolution in quantization introduces lower quantization error. The graph in Figure 1 shows that the four bit samples result in a quantization error which reduces the first sidelobe gain while producing a gain error in the second sidelobe. The quantization error changes the dynamic range of the grating lobes and degrades the adjacent beam resolution for multiple beam systems. A simulated graph is displayed in Figure 2 to demonstrate non-linear behavior of the quantizer in the sidelobe resolution. For a lower order quantizer, the quantization step is not perfectly matched with the sidelobe levels. For the first sidelobe, the quantized resolution is less than the infinite precision case, although it approaches the floating point value with increasing quantized levels. Figure 2(a) shows that for a three bit quantizer, the first sidelobe resolution is at -18dB, while at ten bits it approaches the infinite precision value of -13.5dB. Unlike the first sidelobe, the second sidelobe exhibits higher resolution error at a lower precision level, since the quantizer can not represent the dynamic range adequately. Again, quantization error reduces with an increase in the number of bits. CONCLUSION: In this paper, effect of fixed word lengths on signal upconversion, quantization noise due to round of arithmetic and quantization effects on digital beam forming have been discussed. For the digital up conversion process, the quantization error can be described using pole/zero filter and frequency response plots. Filter resolution and stop band attenuation are degraded when quantization is introduced. For an increase in filter order, the quantization error increases as the highest order in filter polynomial is effected the most. To overcome this limitation, the number of precision levels of a quantizer can be increased, however this will require increased logic resources for FPGA implementation. Quantization effects in phasing are more complex than in the filter quantization since finite precision degrades the side lobe resolution. For lower precision levels, the quantization error exhibits non-linear behavior in the second side lobe. The quantization error is higher for lower precision levels. In order to overcome these non-linear effects, a precision level of more than eight bits is required. Performance of the proposed digital system will be effectively unaffected by the fixed word length limitations since a system data bus of at least 14 bits is suggested. REFERENCES: A. B. Sripad and D. L. Snyder, A Necessary and Sufficient Condition for Quantization Errors to be Uniform and White P. P. Vaidyanathan, On coefficient-quantization and computational roundoff effects in lossless multirate filter banks. 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Financial statement analysis

Most notable products from Apple include the Phone, Pod, Pad, ND Imax personal computers. Apple is also involved in computer and web based application developments, which support their essential products such as Tunes, Safari, and Cloud. Through its innovative, streamlined, user-friendly designs, Apple has achieved a meteoric rise to industry domination since 2002. This growth, however, has recently come to a relative standstill following its peak in 2012 and has investors speculating if this marks the end of Apple's bullish behavior, or just a minor setback because of the company's change of management.Apple Inc. Saw a 9% total increase in revenue this sat year from SSL 56,508 million in 2012 to $170,910 million in 201 3(Apple Inc. , 2013). This growth is in part due to the release of the Phone â€Å"As† and â€Å"c† models, the introduction of the Pad â€Å"Mini† retina display as well as the company's normal day to day sales. This 9% growth may be some cause f or concern though, as prior years increase in revenue saw a 45% average growth from year to year (44% in 2012 and 65% in 2011).Apple's annual release of new products typically yields a 30% overall growth in revenue, which potentially indicates there is stagnation of growth overall in the current racket. This stagnation may be attributed either to heavy saturation of products within the current market, leaving little opportunity for expansive growth, or that consumers are unimpressed with the current product line. Apples peer firm Microsoft (MOST) has seen a modest 5% increase in total revenue from $73,723 million to $77,849 million from 2012 to 213 respectively (Microsoft Corporation, 2013).This increase is consistent with prior 3 years which have each yielded a 4-5% increase in revenue. Compared to Apple, Microsoft has a relatively stable growth and be attributed to the elatedly consistent flow of products from year to year. The â€Å"earnings per share† ratio (PEPS) reflect s the decline in overall profitability as well, with a 10% decline in Apple's PEPS from $44. 43 to $40. 29 in 2012 and 2013 respectively (Apple Inc. , 2013).This can be attributed to two factors: a decrease in net profit margin and a paralleled decrease in gross profit margin. There was an 11% decrease in net profits because of an increase in overall inventory. Increasing inventory will also increase a company s operating expenses as they accommodate new production. Companies typically raise their inventory evils as they release new products in anticipation for projected consumer demand for these products.As is the case with Apple, this will have a negative impact on a company's net profit when there is less than anticipated demand for their new product. The depreciation of older inventories can also be responsible for an overall decrease in profitability. Microsoft has conversely seen an increase in PEPS from $2. 03 per shard to $ 2. 63 per share as a result of an increasing profit margin ratio from 23% to 28% in 201 3(Microsoft Corporation, 2013). Overall this increase can be attributed to an increase in ales over the period as new technologies are release.Overall PEPS increase as a result of Microsoft's lower CEQ duty/investment into their company where as Apple has put much more equity into the release of their new releases in 2013. The increase in cost of sales is reflected in the decline of the gross profit margin ratio which is an additional indicator for a comprehensive decrease in profitability. Apple's total gross profit fell from $44. 00 to $38. 00, in 2012 to 201 3 respectively, which is below the $42. 00 industry average as their cost of sales experienced a 22% increase from 587,846 million to 1 06,606 million dollars.The decrease in gross profit is explained by a number of factors according to Apple: â€Å"introduction of new versions of existing products with higher cost structures and flat or reduced pricing; a shift in sales mix to products w ith lower margins; introduction of pad mini with a gross margin significantly below the Company's average product margins; higher expenses associated with changes to certain Of the Company's service policies and other warranty costs; price reductions on certain products, including pad 2 and phoned; and an unfavorable impact room foreign exchange fluctuations. (Apple Inc. , 2013). An intangible effect that could positively impact Apple's gross profit in the long run is an increase in the number of product consumers as well as a potential increase in consumer loyalty. When compared to Microsoft smaller 2% decrease of gross profit margin from 76% to 74% in 2013. Microsoft decision to decrease sales price of windows 8 and decrease margins for the Oxbow One is responsible for the decrease in gross profit margin much like Apple. Tooth Apple inch's and Microsoft's overall decrease of gross profit margin can be said o increase consumer satisfaction because more advanced technologies are sol d at a lower margin thus giving a customer more value to their purchase. By lowering the price on certain high value items, such as the phone 4 and the pad 2 mentioned in Apple's statement, Apple has made these products more accessible to potential customers with lower incomes or frugal spending habits.Furthermore, if there is an increase in Apple product consumers as a result of the change in price, there will likely be an increase in customer loyalty and satisfaction with these products. The PEPS decline and he increase in cost of sales can further be explored through an analysis of the company's balance sheet. There was a significant increase in Apple's inventory from $791 million to SSL . 76 billion from 2012 to 2013 respectively. This 123% increase in inventory demonstrates a wholesale investment in anticipated consumer demand and loyalty.Apple typically announces product releases long before the actual release date in order to build market â€Å"hype† and also sets rele ase dates to coincide with times of historically greater spending in the market, such as the Christmas holiday season. This â€Å"hyping† recess, however, can go both ways in terms of sales by either positively building up consumer anticipation or by allowing time for consumers to second guess the product before it is released. There is also an inherent risk in inventory expansion based on projected sales; consumers may just not be in the market for new products.An indication that this may be the case is found by looking at the inventory turnover ratio which experienced a decrease from 11 1 times per quarter to significantly lower 83 times per quarter. Microsoft, like Apple, has seen a significant decrease of inventory turnover of 14% from 15. 2 times to 13. 13 times per quarter. This decrease in overall turnover much like, Apple is due to customer anticipation of newer release. However, these changes were significantly different for Microsoft as their offerings have less vol atility, especially in sales of operating systems, and usually see less adoption by consumers in starting stages.Apple acid test ratio, involving current assets over current liabilities, stands at 1. 64 in 2013 which is an increase of approximately 8 points from 2012. This is much higher than the industrial average of 1. 0, indicating Apple is a relatively safe investment and has enough in current assets to cover its debt Obligations. This sets Apple as one of the safer blue chip stocks that can provide consistent wealth for their share holders. Microsoft has experienced a increase acid test ratio from 2012 to 201 3 from 2. 57 to 2. 66 respectively this is significantly higher than Apple Inc. ND can be said to be a safer investment. Microsoft overall keeps their balance of ratios to asset very consistent and insures that they can meet their bottom line as well as provide security for their investors, more so than Apple In the third quarter of 201 3 Apple accrued total of 1 6,960 mil lion dollars in debt. The long term debt was used to offset the repurchase of stock of $22. 9 billion as well as dividend equivalent rights of $10. 6 million dollars. This accrued debt helps Apple Inc avoid taxes of upwards of $9. 2 billion dollars (Burrows, 2013) meanwhile Apple will only incur a $308 million interest a year.Had they used their offshore cash Apple would have had to pay a 35% tax and will save another $1 00 million as these interest payments are tax deductible (Burrows, 2013). Apple's move to take on this debt to finance $55 billion dollars in stock repurchase is an effort to increase overall earnings per share as well as increase total value to the consumer meanwhile adding to overall company value. The statement of cash flows revealed that In 201 2 Apple board of directors authorized a $10 billion stock which was later raised to a total of $60 billion in 2013.Apple repurchased/retired a total of $22,860 million dollars worth of stock in 201 3 as opposed to issuanc e of 665 million in 2012. Apple stated that this repurchase was a move to increase end value to shareholders. Shareholders that are offered buy back will in turn gain profit and will decrease the overall outstanding shares. By decreasing the total shares the company's earnings per share ratio will consequently increase, and given the current plan should increase PEPS by around $4 over the following fiscal year (Hughes, 2013) and adding to the company's overall worth.The overall decrease in outstanding shares also decreases the total amount of dividends paid to investors thus cutting expense and adding to company revenues. Apple began issuing dividends toward the end of 2012 and has since seen a significant raise in dividends issued to its stockholder. Apple has since issued $10,564 million of vividness to shareholders representing a 324% increase dividends paid for 2013 from the $2,488 of dividends paid in 2012. Quarterly dividends were raised by 15% from SO. 65 per share to $3. 05 per share in 2013.The price to earnings ratio also increased from 9% to 13 % as well as the increase in payout ratio from . 29 to. 06 reflects this change value to stockholders as a consequence of stock retirement and increased dividend payout.. A very lucrative opportunity presents itself for current stockholders as the prospective raise of PEPS due to buy back will ultimately add incredible attention value due to increased dividend yield. Microsoft's plan to buy back a total $40 billion plan began in 2008, they began this buy back to increase overall PEPS and PIE as well as increase the companies payout ratio.Buyback has thus far increase PEPS however subsequent drops in PIE ratio from 12. 36 to 10. 24 and stagnant dividend yield make investment into Microsoft a riskier endeavor than Apple as the decrease in P/E does not bode well for buyer confidence. Though the higher dividend yield is still attractive to investors and is higher than that of Apple Inc. Apples market share in sma rt phones should e of particular concern to interested investors as of recent events. Market share, especially for key products, gauges the company's current position amongst its competition and overall pull within the market.It can effectively gauge if the company is meeting the needs of its consumers and prospective growth. Within the past year the Phone only gained around a 13% overall growth in sales, however this is miniscule compared to overall Smartened market growth of 44% in 2013. Apples market share shows further struggles as overall mobile market share decrease by a full 4% from 19% market share n 2012 to a 15% in 2013. (Gardner, 2013) However, other companies like Microsoft and Samsung saw significant increases in SO use and hardware use with Samsung clearing 31% total market share from its 30% in 2012.This may be worrisome as Apple may not providing what customers want and can account for a decrease in overall prospective growth. However, this may be remedied by Apples breakthrough to markets china and Japan late in 2013. The departure of Steve Jobs and the arrival of Tim cook in august of 2011 has been a cause for a weaker overall product line. The recent introduction of ewe products have spawned a lackluster response by consumers especially in the release of the Phone 5 variants (as and c) as well as the improved retina display pad mini.These products neglected to offer anything new or revolutionary to set Apple apart, they were just mere improvements to tested product. The lack of ingenuity has potential to cause a decline Apples growth in sales and may cede market share competitors who have more to offer to the consumer. Microsoft on the other hand has remained consistent in its product offerings throughout the years. This is expected of Microsoft as hey re key product involves enterprise systems that provide basic needs for businesses. Financial Statement Analysis (2004-2008) Course Title: Managing Financial Resources Course: MSc. Finance Date: 11th January 2010. TABLE OF CONTENT Executive Summary This report shows the analysis of the financial performance of Centrica Plc, one of the top energy business providers in UK. Based on my analysis from this report I can conclusively state that: Centrica Plc has an upper hand in the energy and gas market than it s competitor; Scottish Power. Centrica Plc’s turnover was very high in 2008 which shows that it made better sales than its competitor. Although Centrica’s sales turnover was high in 2008 but the profit margin dropped drastically. In the overall financial performance Centrica Plc made a loss of ? 645million in 2008 compared to the previous year 2007 when the company had a retained profit of ? 1088million. This was considered to be an impact of the global financial crises that hit the UK and US economy causing increase in oil prices and a drastic fall again as the level of global oil demand rises and at the same time causing a tight supply position. Centrica Plc’s Total shareholders return has an upper hand when compared with other 99 members of the FTSE 100 in 2008. INTRODUCTION evaluate the impact of financial accounting concepts on corporate reporting of Centrica Plc. evaluate the limitations of ratio analysis discuss the role of management accounting in the evaluation of Centrica’s business performance. I have been motivated to choose Centrica Plc because of the type of product they deal in, which is energy. It is a product that is essential for all, not just households. And it will be good to know if this company is actually doing well in terms of profitability and customer’s satisfaction. LITERATURE REVIEW *PROFITABILITY RATIO ANALYSIS *OF CENTRICA PLC AND SCOTTISH POWER (Reference: FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS OF CENTRICA PLC AND SCOTTISH POWER (Reference: FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) GRAHPICAL PRESENTATIONS OF RATIOS {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS BASED ON THE GRAHPS According to Barry Elliot and Jamie Elliot, ratios show different items in the financial statements. A ratio is not useful in isolation and its usefulness depends on what aspects of the firm’s business affairs are being investigated. Ratios, according to them are a powerful tool in interpreting and understanding a company’s account. Therefore, the graphs above show the performance of the Centrica plc and its competitor; Scottish Power over a period of 5years and will be analyzed below. DEBTORS TURNOVER: This ratio shows how long it takes debtors of a company to pay back credit purchases. In as mush as credit facilities enhances sale turnover in a competitive market, it is very important to take adequate control of it because it is an essential part of working capital management. (Buz/ed, 2009) It is calculated as: Debtors' Turnover*= Average Debtors * ? 365days Centrica Plc has been able to achieve a positive stock turnover ratio over the years with a 55% less time between 2004 and 2008 compared to its competitor that has a longer time of 18% to sell off its products. This shows that Centrica Plc has more sales turnover than Scottish Power. The trend on the graph show that Centrica Plc has been more liquid than Scottish power because the higher the ratio, the more liquid the business is said to be. It is obvious from the graph that Centrica Plc is more liquid than Scottish Power. That is Centrica Plc has a better capacity to pay it short term debt than Scottish Power, with reference to their current ratio of 1. 12 to 0. 59 respectively in 2008. DISCUSSION IMPACT OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING CONCEPT UPON CORPORATE REPORTING OF CENTRICA PLC Going Concern: The Board of directors of Centrica Plc continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statement because they have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources needed to continue operational existence for the foreseeable future Business Entity: Centrica Plc operates as a separate business entity from its investors. Cost: Centrica Plc reports the market value of its assets. Sincerity: The financial Statement of Centrica Plc is prepared and audited by auditors from the Pricewaterhouse coopers Monetary Unit: The financial statement of Centrica Plc shows a single monetary unit dominated in GBP (? ) because the parent company is in the UK. Dual concept: Centrica presents it total assets as liabilities (debt finance) plus equity (shares). Accrual: The revenue or income of Centrica Plc are recorded when they are actually earned. (Asmii V. 2009) ROLES OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING ON THE BUSI*NESS PERFORMANCE OF CENTRICA PLC According to Institute of Management Accountants, Management accounting can be defined as â€Å"the internal business building role of accounting and finance professionals who work inside the organizations† They are concerned about the growth of the business in terms of evaluating the business prospects, budgeting and forecasting, implementing and monitoring internal controls for the purpose of achieving economic value. The Board of Directors of Centrica Plc believes that there must be high standards of corporate governance which are relevant to the overall integrity and performance of the business. The Company adopted a new set of Articles of Association which states the power of the Board of directors at the 2008 Annual General Meeting and stated below are few of the responsibilities of the Directors with respect to the managerial accounting of the company. the Group’s corporate governance and system of internal control development of strategy and major policies nterim dividend payments and recommendation of final dividends the appointment and removal of Directors and the Company Secretary the Group’s corporate responsibility arrangements including health, safety and environmental matters reviewing management performance approval of the annual operating plan, the financial statements and major acquisitions and disposals The Board gives thorough monitoring to the development of the co mpany’s strategies and also during the year 2008, the Board had a full review of the company’s overall strategy with the assistance of an independent external consultant. The Board also place value on their investors and promote communication program in order to hear their views of their shareholders as regards the key matters affecting the company. The Chief Executive and Group Finance Director held regular meetings with the Company’s major shareholders during the year and the Company’s Rights Issue which was the main topic of discussion was successfully completed during December 2008 after which an approval was given at the Company’s General Meeting held on 21 November 2008. The company’s Executive Committees also established a control infrastructure to ensure proper monitoring and management where major risks have been identified. *THE NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE* OF CENTRICA PLC The fluctuation in demand and prices of oil worldwide as well as the global financial crises in 2008 made Centrica Plc face series of challenges and the Chairman of the company (Roger Carr) tagged the year â€Å"a difficult year†. But despite the difficulty, the company still performed well because it is a company that aims at delivering stability and growth for the benefit of their customers, employees and shareholders. Centrica Plc’s non-financial performance can be outlined in terms of the following: *BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF CENTRICA* PLC LIMITATIONS OF RATIO ANALYSIS Ratios are useful methods of analyzing the performance and financial position of a business but they have their flaws which are seen as limitations and will be analyzed below. THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE FROM UK GAAP TO IFRS ON THE CORPORATE REPORTING OF CENTRICA PLC that IFRS has improved the company’s 2004 operating profit and statutory Earnings Per Share (EPS) reduction in shareholder’s fund as a result of pensions deficit Adjustment the company’s policy to link dividend to earnings thereby increasing pay out ratios. Some assets and liabilities will be treated differently which will affect timing of profit. CONCLUSION With reference to the ratios analyzed above, Centrica Plc has an upper hand in the energy and gas market than it s competitor; Scottish Power. Centrica Plc’s turnover was very high in 2008 which shows that they made better sales than its competitor. Although Centrica’s sales turnover was high was high in 2008 but the profit margin dropped drastically. In the overall financial performance Centrica Plc made a loss of ? 645million in 2008 compared to the previous year 2007 when the company had a retained profit of ? 088million. This was considered to be an impact of the global financial crises that hit the UK and US economy causing increase in oil prices and a drastic fall again as the level of global oil demand rises and at the same time causing a tight supply position. Finally, we can say that from the record of 2007, the financial performance in 2008 was good despite the economic instability. Centrica Plc made strong progress against the strategic priorities set out at the end of year 2006. The global financial crises which remain very challenging in the UK till date could pose as a problem for many of the company’s customers. But Centrica Plc promises to continue to place their customers’ needs at the forefront of their agenda, alongside the determination to deliver increasing long-term value for our shareholders FUTURE OF CENTRICA PLC According to the Chief Executive’s Review, some priorities have been set for the future growth of Centrica which would help measure performance in year 2009. Some of which are: To build on the company’s growth platform: Increasing the value of their customer base by expanding the overlap between the energy and services business. Also establishing a centralized service platform and the acquisition and construction of gas and power assets which will enable the company to compete efficiently in the energy market. To reduce risk through integration: There will be more focus on UK in the coming year 2009, due to the high demand. Therefore more production has to be made by integrating/building closer relationship with the National Oil Companies. To transform British Gas: In order for Centrica Plc to succeed, British Gas Residential which seems to be the core backbone of Centrica’s business has to deliver high level of profitability. Therefore, there will have to be an integration of the British Gas Residential, British Gas Business and British Gas Services into a single customer-focused organization. Amidst all these future plans briefly mentioned above, I can now conclusively say that the future performance of Centrica Plc is not 100% certain of profitability as they are not exempted in the effect of the global financial crises which is still hitting the UK economy. Although demand for product might rise causing increase turnover but consumers might not be able to meet up with financial obligations of paying cash. So, Centrica must be prepared for more credit sales which might decrease its debtor turnover. Also, prices of product must be put into consideration despite the goal of maximizing profit not forgetting its competitors. And finally, the leadership of Centrica Plc will be playing major role in delivering stability and growth for the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders. REFERENCES Asmii Vernekar, 2009. Available at: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/basic-accounting –concepts-and –principles. html. Assessed on 15th December, 2009 Buz/ed, 2009. Available at: http://www. bized. co. uk/compfact/ratios/sdc5. htm Assessed on 13th December, 2009. Centrica Plc, 2005. International Financial Reporting Standards. Available at: http://www. centrica. co. uk/files/results/2004_ifrs_transcript. pdf. Assessed on 15th December, 2009 FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy), 2009. Available at: http://www. fame. bvdep. com/version-20091130. Assessed on 11th December, 2009 Peter Atrill, and Eddie McLaney (2008), Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists, 6th ed. Prentice Hall, financial times. David Alexander and Christopher Nobes. (2007), Financial Accounting, An International Introduction, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, financial times. Financial statement analysis Most notable products from Apple include the Phone, Pod, Pad, ND Imax personal computers. Apple is also involved in computer and web based application developments, which support their essential products such as Tunes, Safari, and Cloud. Through its innovative, streamlined, user-friendly designs, Apple has achieved a meteoric rise to industry domination since 2002. This growth, however, has recently come to a relative standstill following its peak in 2012 and has investors speculating if this marks the end of Apple's bullish behavior, or just a minor setback because of the company's change of management.Apple Inc. Saw a 9% total increase in revenue this sat year from SSL 56,508 million in 2012 to $170,910 million in 201 3(Apple Inc. , 2013). This growth is in part due to the release of the Phone â€Å"As† and â€Å"c† models, the introduction of the Pad â€Å"Mini† retina display as well as the company's normal day to day sales. This 9% growth may be some cause f or concern though, as prior years increase in revenue saw a 45% average growth from year to year (44% in 2012 and 65% in 2011).Apple's annual release of new products typically yields a 30% overall growth in revenue, which potentially indicates there is stagnation of growth overall in the current racket. This stagnation may be attributed either to heavy saturation of products within the current market, leaving little opportunity for expansive growth, or that consumers are unimpressed with the current product line. Apples peer firm Microsoft (MOST) has seen a modest 5% increase in total revenue from $73,723 million to $77,849 million from 2012 to 213 respectively (Microsoft Corporation, 2013).This increase is consistent with prior 3 years which have each yielded a 4-5% increase in revenue. Compared to Apple, Microsoft has a relatively stable growth and be attributed to the elatedly consistent flow of products from year to year. The â€Å"earnings per share† ratio (PEPS) reflect s the decline in overall profitability as well, with a 10% decline in Apple's PEPS from $44. 43 to $40. 29 in 2012 and 2013 respectively (Apple Inc. , 2013).This can be attributed to two factors: a decrease in net profit margin and a paralleled decrease in gross profit margin. There was an 11% decrease in net profits because of an increase in overall inventory. Increasing inventory will also increase a company s operating expenses as they accommodate new production. Companies typically raise their inventory evils as they release new products in anticipation for projected consumer demand for these products.As is the case with Apple, this will have a negative impact on a company's net profit when there is less than anticipated demand for their new product. The depreciation of older inventories can also be responsible for an overall decrease in profitability. Microsoft has conversely seen an increase in PEPS from $2. 03 per shard to $ 2. 63 per share as a result of an increasing profit margin ratio from 23% to 28% in 201 3(Microsoft Corporation, 2013). Overall this increase can be attributed to an increase in ales over the period as new technologies are release.Overall PEPS increase as a result of Microsoft's lower CEQ duty/investment into their company where as Apple has put much more equity into the release of their new releases in 2013. The increase in cost of sales is reflected in the decline of the gross profit margin ratio which is an additional indicator for a comprehensive decrease in profitability. Apple's total gross profit fell from $44. 00 to $38. 00, in 2012 to 201 3 respectively, which is below the $42. 00 industry average as their cost of sales experienced a 22% increase from 587,846 million to 1 06,606 million dollars.The decrease in gross profit is explained by a number of factors according to Apple: â€Å"introduction of new versions of existing products with higher cost structures and flat or reduced pricing; a shift in sales mix to products w ith lower margins; introduction of pad mini with a gross margin significantly below the Company's average product margins; higher expenses associated with changes to certain Of the Company's service policies and other warranty costs; price reductions on certain products, including pad 2 and phoned; and an unfavorable impact room foreign exchange fluctuations. (Apple Inc. , 2013). An intangible effect that could positively impact Apple's gross profit in the long run is an increase in the number of product consumers as well as a potential increase in consumer loyalty. When compared to Microsoft smaller 2% decrease of gross profit margin from 76% to 74% in 2013. Microsoft decision to decrease sales price of windows 8 and decrease margins for the Oxbow One is responsible for the decrease in gross profit margin much like Apple. Tooth Apple inch's and Microsoft's overall decrease of gross profit margin can be said o increase consumer satisfaction because more advanced technologies are sol d at a lower margin thus giving a customer more value to their purchase. By lowering the price on certain high value items, such as the phone 4 and the pad 2 mentioned in Apple's statement, Apple has made these products more accessible to potential customers with lower incomes or frugal spending habits.Furthermore, if there is an increase in Apple product consumers as a result of the change in price, there will likely be an increase in customer loyalty and satisfaction with these products. The PEPS decline and he increase in cost of sales can further be explored through an analysis of the company's balance sheet. There was a significant increase in Apple's inventory from $791 million to SSL . 76 billion from 2012 to 2013 respectively. This 123% increase in inventory demonstrates a wholesale investment in anticipated consumer demand and loyalty.Apple typically announces product releases long before the actual release date in order to build market â€Å"hype† and also sets rele ase dates to coincide with times of historically greater spending in the market, such as the Christmas holiday season. This â€Å"hyping† recess, however, can go both ways in terms of sales by either positively building up consumer anticipation or by allowing time for consumers to second guess the product before it is released. There is also an inherent risk in inventory expansion based on projected sales; consumers may just not be in the market for new products.An indication that this may be the case is found by looking at the inventory turnover ratio which experienced a decrease from 11 1 times per quarter to significantly lower 83 times per quarter. Microsoft, like Apple, has seen a significant decrease of inventory turnover of 14% from 15. 2 times to 13. 13 times per quarter. This decrease in overall turnover much like, Apple is due to customer anticipation of newer release. However, these changes were significantly different for Microsoft as their offerings have less vol atility, especially in sales of operating systems, and usually see less adoption by consumers in starting stages.Apple acid test ratio, involving current assets over current liabilities, stands at 1. 64 in 2013 which is an increase of approximately 8 points from 2012. This is much higher than the industrial average of 1. 0, indicating Apple is a relatively safe investment and has enough in current assets to cover its debt Obligations. This sets Apple as one of the safer blue chip stocks that can provide consistent wealth for their share holders. Microsoft has experienced a increase acid test ratio from 2012 to 201 3 from 2. 57 to 2. 66 respectively this is significantly higher than Apple Inc. ND can be said to be a safer investment. Microsoft overall keeps their balance of ratios to asset very consistent and insures that they can meet their bottom line as well as provide security for their investors, more so than Apple In the third quarter of 201 3 Apple accrued total of 1 6,960 mil lion dollars in debt. The long term debt was used to offset the repurchase of stock of $22. 9 billion as well as dividend equivalent rights of $10. 6 million dollars. This accrued debt helps Apple Inc avoid taxes of upwards of $9. 2 billion dollars (Burrows, 2013) meanwhile Apple will only incur a $308 million interest a year.Had they used their offshore cash Apple would have had to pay a 35% tax and will save another $1 00 million as these interest payments are tax deductible (Burrows, 2013). Apple's move to take on this debt to finance $55 billion dollars in stock repurchase is an effort to increase overall earnings per share as well as increase total value to the consumer meanwhile adding to overall company value. The statement of cash flows revealed that In 201 2 Apple board of directors authorized a $10 billion stock which was later raised to a total of $60 billion in 2013.Apple repurchased/retired a total of $22,860 million dollars worth of stock in 201 3 as opposed to issuanc e of 665 million in 2012. Apple stated that this repurchase was a move to increase end value to shareholders. Shareholders that are offered buy back will in turn gain profit and will decrease the overall outstanding shares. By decreasing the total shares the company's earnings per share ratio will consequently increase, and given the current plan should increase PEPS by around $4 over the following fiscal year (Hughes, 2013) and adding to the company's overall worth.The overall decrease in outstanding shares also decreases the total amount of dividends paid to investors thus cutting expense and adding to company revenues. Apple began issuing dividends toward the end of 2012 and has since seen a significant raise in dividends issued to its stockholder. Apple has since issued $10,564 million of vividness to shareholders representing a 324% increase dividends paid for 2013 from the $2,488 of dividends paid in 2012. Quarterly dividends were raised by 15% from SO. 65 per share to $3. 05 per share in 2013.The price to earnings ratio also increased from 9% to 13 % as well as the increase in payout ratio from . 29 to. 06 reflects this change value to stockholders as a consequence of stock retirement and increased dividend payout.. A very lucrative opportunity presents itself for current stockholders as the prospective raise of PEPS due to buy back will ultimately add incredible attention value due to increased dividend yield. Microsoft's plan to buy back a total $40 billion plan began in 2008, they began this buy back to increase overall PEPS and PIE as well as increase the companies payout ratio.Buyback has thus far increase PEPS however subsequent drops in PIE ratio from 12. 36 to 10. 24 and stagnant dividend yield make investment into Microsoft a riskier endeavor than Apple as the decrease in P/E does not bode well for buyer confidence. Though the higher dividend yield is still attractive to investors and is higher than that of Apple Inc. Apples market share in sma rt phones should e of particular concern to interested investors as of recent events. Market share, especially for key products, gauges the company's current position amongst its competition and overall pull within the market.It can effectively gauge if the company is meeting the needs of its consumers and prospective growth. Within the past year the Phone only gained around a 13% overall growth in sales, however this is miniscule compared to overall Smartened market growth of 44% in 2013. Apples market share shows further struggles as overall mobile market share decrease by a full 4% from 19% market share n 2012 to a 15% in 2013. (Gardner, 2013) However, other companies like Microsoft and Samsung saw significant increases in SO use and hardware use with Samsung clearing 31% total market share from its 30% in 2012.This may be worrisome as Apple may not providing what customers want and can account for a decrease in overall prospective growth. However, this may be remedied by Apples breakthrough to markets china and Japan late in 2013. The departure of Steve Jobs and the arrival of Tim cook in august of 2011 has been a cause for a weaker overall product line. The recent introduction of ewe products have spawned a lackluster response by consumers especially in the release of the Phone 5 variants (as and c) as well as the improved retina display pad mini.These products neglected to offer anything new or revolutionary to set Apple apart, they were just mere improvements to tested product. The lack of ingenuity has potential to cause a decline Apples growth in sales and may cede market share competitors who have more to offer to the consumer. Microsoft on the other hand has remained consistent in its product offerings throughout the years. This is expected of Microsoft as hey re key product involves enterprise systems that provide basic needs for businesses. Financial Statement Analysis (2004-2008) Course Title: Managing Financial Resources Course: MSc. Finance Date: 11th January 2010. TABLE OF CONTENT Executive Summary This report shows the analysis of the financial performance of Centrica Plc, one of the top energy business providers in UK. Based on my analysis from this report I can conclusively state that: Centrica Plc has an upper hand in the energy and gas market than it s competitor; Scottish Power. Centrica Plc’s turnover was very high in 2008 which shows that it made better sales than its competitor. Although Centrica’s sales turnover was high in 2008 but the profit margin dropped drastically. In the overall financial performance Centrica Plc made a loss of ? 645million in 2008 compared to the previous year 2007 when the company had a retained profit of ? 1088million. This was considered to be an impact of the global financial crises that hit the UK and US economy causing increase in oil prices and a drastic fall again as the level of global oil demand rises and at the same time causing a tight supply position. Centrica Plc’s Total shareholders return has an upper hand when compared with other 99 members of the FTSE 100 in 2008. INTRODUCTION evaluate the impact of financial accounting concepts on corporate reporting of Centrica Plc. evaluate the limitations of ratio analysis discuss the role of management accounting in the evaluation of Centrica’s business performance. I have been motivated to choose Centrica Plc because of the type of product they deal in, which is energy. It is a product that is essential for all, not just households. And it will be good to know if this company is actually doing well in terms of profitability and customer’s satisfaction. LITERATURE REVIEW *PROFITABILITY RATIO ANALYSIS *OF CENTRICA PLC AND SCOTTISH POWER (Reference: FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS OF CENTRICA PLC AND SCOTTISH POWER (Reference: FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) GRAHPICAL PRESENTATIONS OF RATIOS {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS BASED ON THE GRAHPS According to Barry Elliot and Jamie Elliot, ratios show different items in the financial statements. A ratio is not useful in isolation and its usefulness depends on what aspects of the firm’s business affairs are being investigated. Ratios, according to them are a powerful tool in interpreting and understanding a company’s account. Therefore, the graphs above show the performance of the Centrica plc and its competitor; Scottish Power over a period of 5years and will be analyzed below. DEBTORS TURNOVER: This ratio shows how long it takes debtors of a company to pay back credit purchases. In as mush as credit facilities enhances sale turnover in a competitive market, it is very important to take adequate control of it because it is an essential part of working capital management. (Buz/ed, 2009) It is calculated as: Debtors' Turnover*= Average Debtors * ? 365days Centrica Plc has been able to achieve a positive stock turnover ratio over the years with a 55% less time between 2004 and 2008 compared to its competitor that has a longer time of 18% to sell off its products. This shows that Centrica Plc has more sales turnover than Scottish Power. The trend on the graph show that Centrica Plc has been more liquid than Scottish power because the higher the ratio, the more liquid the business is said to be. It is obvious from the graph that Centrica Plc is more liquid than Scottish Power. That is Centrica Plc has a better capacity to pay it short term debt than Scottish Power, with reference to their current ratio of 1. 12 to 0. 59 respectively in 2008. DISCUSSION IMPACT OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING CONCEPT UPON CORPORATE REPORTING OF CENTRICA PLC Going Concern: The Board of directors of Centrica Plc continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statement because they have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources needed to continue operational existence for the foreseeable future Business Entity: Centrica Plc operates as a separate business entity from its investors. Cost: Centrica Plc reports the market value of its assets. Sincerity: The financial Statement of Centrica Plc is prepared and audited by auditors from the Pricewaterhouse coopers Monetary Unit: The financial statement of Centrica Plc shows a single monetary unit dominated in GBP (? ) because the parent company is in the UK. Dual concept: Centrica presents it total assets as liabilities (debt finance) plus equity (shares). Accrual: The revenue or income of Centrica Plc are recorded when they are actually earned. (Asmii V. 2009) ROLES OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING ON THE BUSI*NESS PERFORMANCE OF CENTRICA PLC According to Institute of Management Accountants, Management accounting can be defined as â€Å"the internal business building role of accounting and finance professionals who work inside the organizations† They are concerned about the growth of the business in terms of evaluating the business prospects, budgeting and forecasting, implementing and monitoring internal controls for the purpose of achieving economic value. The Board of Directors of Centrica Plc believes that there must be high standards of corporate governance which are relevant to the overall integrity and performance of the business. The Company adopted a new set of Articles of Association which states the power of the Board of directors at the 2008 Annual General Meeting and stated below are few of the responsibilities of the Directors with respect to the managerial accounting of the company. the Group’s corporate governance and system of internal control development of strategy and major policies nterim dividend payments and recommendation of final dividends the appointment and removal of Directors and the Company Secretary the Group’s corporate responsibility arrangements including health, safety and environmental matters reviewing management performance approval of the annual operating plan, the financial statements and major acquisitions and disposals The Board gives thorough monitoring to the development of the co mpany’s strategies and also during the year 2008, the Board had a full review of the company’s overall strategy with the assistance of an independent external consultant. The Board also place value on their investors and promote communication program in order to hear their views of their shareholders as regards the key matters affecting the company. The Chief Executive and Group Finance Director held regular meetings with the Company’s major shareholders during the year and the Company’s Rights Issue which was the main topic of discussion was successfully completed during December 2008 after which an approval was given at the Company’s General Meeting held on 21 November 2008. The company’s Executive Committees also established a control infrastructure to ensure proper monitoring and management where major risks have been identified. *THE NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE* OF CENTRICA PLC The fluctuation in demand and prices of oil worldwide as well as the global financial crises in 2008 made Centrica Plc face series of challenges and the Chairman of the company (Roger Carr) tagged the year â€Å"a difficult year†. But despite the difficulty, the company still performed well because it is a company that aims at delivering stability and growth for the benefit of their customers, employees and shareholders. Centrica Plc’s non-financial performance can be outlined in terms of the following: *BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF CENTRICA* PLC LIMITATIONS OF RATIO ANALYSIS Ratios are useful methods of analyzing the performance and financial position of a business but they have their flaws which are seen as limitations and will be analyzed below. THE IMPACT OF THE CHANGE FROM UK GAAP TO IFRS ON THE CORPORATE REPORTING OF CENTRICA PLC that IFRS has improved the company’s 2004 operating profit and statutory Earnings Per Share (EPS) reduction in shareholder’s fund as a result of pensions deficit Adjustment the company’s policy to link dividend to earnings thereby increasing pay out ratios. Some assets and liabilities will be treated differently which will affect timing of profit. CONCLUSION With reference to the ratios analyzed above, Centrica Plc has an upper hand in the energy and gas market than it s competitor; Scottish Power. Centrica Plc’s turnover was very high in 2008 which shows that they made better sales than its competitor. Although Centrica’s sales turnover was high was high in 2008 but the profit margin dropped drastically. In the overall financial performance Centrica Plc made a loss of ? 645million in 2008 compared to the previous year 2007 when the company had a retained profit of ? 088million. This was considered to be an impact of the global financial crises that hit the UK and US economy causing increase in oil prices and a drastic fall again as the level of global oil demand rises and at the same time causing a tight supply position. Finally, we can say that from the record of 2007, the financial performance in 2008 was good despite the economic instability. Centrica Plc made strong progress against the strategic priorities set out at the end of year 2006. The global financial crises which remain very challenging in the UK till date could pose as a problem for many of the company’s customers. But Centrica Plc promises to continue to place their customers’ needs at the forefront of their agenda, alongside the determination to deliver increasing long-term value for our shareholders FUTURE OF CENTRICA PLC According to the Chief Executive’s Review, some priorities have been set for the future growth of Centrica which would help measure performance in year 2009. Some of which are: To build on the company’s growth platform: Increasing the value of their customer base by expanding the overlap between the energy and services business. Also establishing a centralized service platform and the acquisition and construction of gas and power assets which will enable the company to compete efficiently in the energy market. To reduce risk through integration: There will be more focus on UK in the coming year 2009, due to the high demand. Therefore more production has to be made by integrating/building closer relationship with the National Oil Companies. To transform British Gas: In order for Centrica Plc to succeed, British Gas Residential which seems to be the core backbone of Centrica’s business has to deliver high level of profitability. Therefore, there will have to be an integration of the British Gas Residential, British Gas Business and British Gas Services into a single customer-focused organization. Amidst all these future plans briefly mentioned above, I can now conclusively say that the future performance of Centrica Plc is not 100% certain of profitability as they are not exempted in the effect of the global financial crises which is still hitting the UK economy. Although demand for product might rise causing increase turnover but consumers might not be able to meet up with financial obligations of paying cash. So, Centrica must be prepared for more credit sales which might decrease its debtor turnover. Also, prices of product must be put into consideration despite the goal of maximizing profit not forgetting its competitors. And finally, the leadership of Centrica Plc will be playing major role in delivering stability and growth for the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders. REFERENCES Asmii Vernekar, 2009. Available at: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/basic-accounting –concepts-and –principles. html. Assessed on 15th December, 2009 Buz/ed, 2009. Available at: http://www. bized. co. uk/compfact/ratios/sdc5. htm Assessed on 13th December, 2009. Centrica Plc, 2005. International Financial Reporting Standards. Available at: http://www. centrica. co. uk/files/results/2004_ifrs_transcript. pdf. Assessed on 15th December, 2009 FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy), 2009. Available at: http://www. fame. bvdep. com/version-20091130. Assessed on 11th December, 2009 Peter Atrill, and Eddie McLaney (2008), Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists, 6th ed. Prentice Hall, financial times. David Alexander and Christopher Nobes. (2007), Financial Accounting, An International Introduction, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, financial times.