A Case Study Analysis on the Strategic Alliances of Audio

A Case Study Analysis on the Strategic Alliances of Audio Duplication Services, Inc. (ADS) Abstract Logistic strategy is vital part of company’s goal to reduce cost, gain more profit and improve supplier-customer relationship. This paper studied the logistic process of Vanity Products to have a grasp of how logistic works and affects the flow of supply chain. Guide questions are answered to have a better understanding on the logistic and warehousing; and how these decisions must be well thought.Evaluation, conclusions and recommendation are done to know the best alternative for Vanity Products. Introduction Background and Significance of the Study The strategic decision with regards to alliances is an option for firms to improve and strengthen their respective firms. Strategic alliances is said to be a multi-faceted, goal oriented partnerships of companies in which each shares resources and rewards but the risks involved is also shared.In deciding whether such alliances will h elp your firm, several factors should be considered. These factors are, if this would add value to the products, if this would improve the firm market access, if this would strengthen the operation, if this would enhance strategic growth and organizational skills, and if this would build the firm’s financial strength. The decision if one firm should make an alliance to another company is something that is thought thoroughly.This strategic alliance is a very big step for any firm and the firm should be very critical in making such decisions because the benefits are high and so the risks in this kind of arrangement. Objective of the Study This study aims to: 1. Study and analyze the strategic alliances of Audio Duplication Services, Inc. (ADS) 2. Evaluate the alternative of ADS on its logistics management 3. Study and analyze the benefits of Vendor-managed inventory(VMI) Key Terms to Remember * Shipping Cost – Third Party Logistics- the use of outside company to provide for a particular services to perform all or part of the firm’s material management and product distribution functions * Strategic Alliances – agreement among firms in which each commits resources to achieve a common set of objectives * Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI)- a family of business models in which the buyer of a product provides certain information to a vendor Results and Discussions Case Questions 1. Why are ADS’s customers’ customers moving towards VMI arrangements? ADS’s customers’ customers (i. e. etailers) are moving towards the VMI arrangement so that the likelihood of being out of stock is reduced and the inventory level in the supply chain is also reduced. This will be achieved because through VMI the retailers could provide a continuously updated point-of-sale (POS) to the record companies. By then, the decisions that will be made by the record companies like how much of each album, CD, and cassette title is delivered and when each delivery is made will be more accurate because the records company’s data is updated. 2. How will this impact ADS’s business? How can ADS management take advantage of this situation?This decision on VMI arrangement will have a big impact on ADS. The ADS management should take advantage in the new arrangement because through this they could maintain a more accurate inventory level. Because in this kind of arrangement, the ADS takes full responsibility on the inventory level and through VMI they could have a more accurate inventory level and also ADS could deliver the product on time. 3. How should ADS manage logistics? The ADS should manage logistics by hiring a third party logistics to manage the logistics in their supply chain. This decision is based on several reasons.One of these is that managing logistics is not one of the expertises of ADS Company and by hiring a third party logistics the ADS Company could now focus on their competency of cassette duplicatio n. Also, the new arrangement of direct shipping to the stores would incur higher shipping cost for ADS because of a more complicated route that unlike before there is a distribution center where the products are shipped; in this situation it is very logical for them to hire a third party logistics so that the path networks of these stores would be manage efficiently by third party logistics who are experts in this things.Another reason why ADS Company should not opt to buy a fleet of trucks is that this alternative would require a very high capital investment. Thus, ADS should hire a third party logistics to manage their logistics. 4. Why are the large national retailers moving toward a direct shipment model? So that the product would get into the specific stores where it is needed on time and with the right quantity. Also, direct shipment model is important in a business to reduce the lead time especially for a company whose nature is already changing due to the changing technology .Conclusions, Recommendations, References, and Other Details Conclusions Ultimately, a business organization’s goal is to make profit. But one cannot forsake the quality of the product as well as the satisfaction of customers. In this case, the customers of Vanity Products made changes in terms of ordering the products they need. It was very challenging for VP to adapt to the changes made by the customers since significant changes have to be implemented to address the demands of customers.VP encountered problems regarding cost as well as logistic service. With this, Tom White recommended a solution where different warehouses will be established near the customers. In the long-term, it is beneficial to the company because it decreases the cost in terms of transportation. Recommendations From the main discussion, Tom’s proposal is the best course for Vanity Products. The requirement of the customers that the products be delivered within five days will be met.At the same time, the cost of VP will be lower compared to that of delivering less than truckload quantities to a specific store or using a peddle run method to deliver a full truckload quantities to a set of stores or customers. Thus, the best alternative or solution to the problem is to implement Tom’s proposal. References (1)J. Heizer and B. Render. (2010). Operations Management. Tenth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (2) Munley. com. Truck Accidents Glossary. Retrieved February 4, 2013 at http://www. unley. com/truck_glossary/legal_glossary_p. html (3) Businessdictionary. com. Freight Costs. (2012) Retrieved February 4, 2013 at http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/freight-cost. html Other Details â€Å"A Case Study Analysis on the Strategic Alliances of Audio Duplication Services, Inc. (ADS)† IE 191 Section: V Date of Submission: March 21, 2013 Contributors Signature Members: Josol, Patricia Beatriz| ___________| Palomar, Romelyn Mae| ___________| Tena, Mara Alyssa| ___________|

The Long Telegrams Impact on the Truman Doctrine

pThe long Telegram and It’s impact on the Truman Doctrine George Kennan’s long telegram had many impacts on the American foreign policy. Its influence can be seen directly through the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The Long Telegram influenced Truman’s doctrine of containment, and it opened the eyes of many Washington officials as to how dangerous the Soviets and more specifically communism was. George Kennan’s Long Telegram was a reply as to why the Soviets weren’t supporting the World Bank and the International Money Fund.At the time, the  American view of the  Soviet was friendly, yet cautious because the  Soviets had been  allied with the US in  WWII. The long telegram, which wasreleased to the public in 1947, basically created the foundation on which the Cold War stood from the US’ point of view. By claiming that the Soviets were completely against capitalism, would side with Marxists, and separated from reality, Kennan set up a stan dard system of beliefs  that the US would follow throughout the Cold War, and even gave ideas as to how to combat the Soviets if need be.The Long Telegram gave the US clear reason to consider war with Russia inevitable. It fostered further fear in America of the Soviets by talking  about how  Russia couldn’t be trusted and great lengths should be taken to ensure the absence of Soviets and their influence  in America. The Truman Doctrine was a contribution made to foreign policy by Harry Truman in 1947, after the Long Telegram had come into being. Truman declared, kind of like Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy, that it was the US’ duty to spread democracy and battle communism.Truman asked Congress to send aid to Greece and Turkey. After being ravaged by Germany in WWII,  Greece had been about to lose aid from Great Britain; Turkey had also depended greatly on the help of the US and Britain. The US would  have been  in danger of losing power over the Soviets and in Europe and Asia had Russia gained the two countries. This proves that what George Kennan wrote helped Truman realize that he needed to help other nations and create the foreign policy.Kennans telegram greatly impacted many other aspects of the Truman doctrine, for example the truman Doctrine all but promised that the United States would resist any Soviet expansion. This refects Kennan’s advise that the United States must carefully choose its points of resistance. Kennan's notion of containment which was expressed in the Long Telegram was also illustrartes in the Truman Doctrine. George Kennans writings inspired America and thanks to the Long Telegram and the Truman Doctrine, America opened their eyes and did what was necessary to not allow themselves to be over ruled by the soviets.

Zen and the Way of the Sword: Arming the Samurai Psyche

Winston L. King is a known Buddhist writer who has mainly presented the different issues of Buddhism in a well versed manner that it could be assessed as a major practice of discipline that could be applied to different activities in the society today. In this particular reading, Buddhism has been noted to assist in the process of using meditation as a matter of increasing concentration among samurai practitioners to make their activity a more efficient and applicable practice of defense and art. About the Book As mentioned earlier, the book further discusses the major issues that relate Zen meditation to the practices of Samurai. More than just the relation of Zen to Samurai practice, the book further notes the needed thought that provokes the possibilities of making the Zen meditation as a major source of discipline among different practices of martial arts and self defense among several enthusiasts of the said practice. Content and Summary Zen is a sect of Buddhism that emphasizes religious meditation. It was a belief introduced in China in 520 by Bodhidharma. It has mainly two branches both concentrating on meditation practices on different aspects. One is the za-zen which is plain meditation while the koan is a meditation problem with no logical solution. Other forms of meditation, which were not discussed in this part of the discussion, could well be described as simple forms of medical advancement to deal with stress. But still, many others rooted out from religious beliefs and practices such as the Yoga and the Zen practice. Still regarding meditation, a Neurologist, James H. Austin M. D. talks about the Zen meditation and its relation to the brain. For him it is more than just a religious practice. Zen, according to him has a reasonable biological explanation behind all the practices it promotes. As he has written in his book, he shows that chemical messengers (hormones) are affected by the sensory input, also he points out how the brain is wired and how are its parts like the Thalamus acts as a sensory gate. It also includes the fact that the olfactory system bypasses the thalamus and acts directly on the mid-brain and affects the chemical signals. With regards to these details, Austin makes it clear how the Zen meditation practice works for a person as it directly involves how the brain along with its parts and functions help in making the Zen practice a successful one. Reaction and Critique It is through this reading that the Zen practice is noted as a major source of discipline for individuals practicing the art of self defense. Although it cold be noted that the author prepared a much effective way in presenting the said meditation in more positive view, he at least forgot, or might as well said overlooked the fact that there are certain spiritual elements of the people practicing the said meditation that might be affected by the belief that Zen practice itself suggests. Moreover, being a Buddhist himself, King may have better presented his claims and explanations about the Zen practice in a more general perspective that could assist in making the procedures of discipline much applicable for all other groups of people. Considerably, the manner by which samurai practitioners apply Zen in their way of living could also be used by other non=samurai individuals who are simply wanting to have an idea of how the meditation actually works. This way, the book would not only be able to cater to samurai enthusiasts but also to other people who are simply wanting to know something about the Zen meditation. Undeniably though, the book of King could be considered a fine read for those who are wanting to appreciate the benefits of personal discipline through the different approaches of meditation.

Wind power for water desalination including a comparison with solar Dissertation

Wind power for water desalination including a comparison with solar power desalination - Dissertation Example Sew water desalination through the renewable energy resources can solve the problem. Wind energy has the most potential in the coastal regions of the world due to high availability of wind. Wind desalination utilized the RO, MVC and ED techniques to desalinate the sea water. RO method of desalination is considered the most efficient method of desalination. Wind desalination has many advantages over solar desalination, particularly at coastal regions. The advanced wind turbines have more efficiencies than that of the previous designs. On the other hand the desalination methods involving coupling of solar and wind energy are much efficient. TVC desalination method can couple solar and wind energy. Greece is facing the water scarcity and desalination is the most effective and efficient method to provide fresh water for the economic and social growth of the country. Some Greece islands are facing droughts and desalination is the economic solution. Greece islands have major coastal region s, which can be considered suitable to harness the wind energy for the desalination. However, solar and wind energy both can be coupled to enhance the gain and efficiency of the desalination plants. RO desalination technique is considered best to be coupled with the wind energy. Some disadvantages of the wind desalination are the noise, disposal of concentrated brine and disposal of chemicals. However, the advantages are more than disadvantages and thus wind desalination has a promising future. Wind power for water desalination including a comparison with solar power desalination Chapter 1- Literature Review Among the many problems, the human race is facing, the two major problems are the worst of all. The two problems are the environmental pollution and climate change and the second is the water scarcity. As the population is increasing the problems of fresh water scarcity and climate change is increasing are becoming more severe. In fact, the fresh water resources in the world rem ained lesser than what is demanded by the population, thus billions of people will have to suffer and have to drink contaminated or low quality water (Sen, 2008). There is a need to establish such systems that equally encounter the climate change as well as water scarcity. The system, thus, have to utilize the alternate resources of energy like the solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, etc (Kalogirou, 2005). Earth has plenty of saline water; in fact, the major portion of the earth is covered with saline water in form of oceans and seas. In order to encounter the water scarcity, there is a need to treat the saline water to make it in the purely drinkable. On the major process is the water distillation that converts the dirty or saline water into steam by utilizing the heat from different sources and the then converting it back into the liquid state. All the impurities remain at the bottom of the container in which the water is heated. The other methods are the uti lizing the different layers of filters to file the impurities and adding chemical additives. The major process that has the potential of providing the necessary amount of water without worrying about heating the water is the RO process, in which dirty water or saline water is forcefully passed through different layers of filters. The layers provides a passage for the only water molecules, as the width of the pores in the filter is about in the range of nanometres allowing only the water molecules to pass through the filter. In nature such type of layers can in found in eggs and layer of ash. However, the process of RO consumes much energy having a purification plant of a grand scale, thus a large amount of energy is required

Wine studies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wine studies - Research Paper Example Aromas are imparted through transferring wines into oak barrels for maturing process. Australia ranks among the top ten wine exporting and producing countries globally. The Hunter Valley remains one of the globally recognised wine producing regions in Australia. The Hunter Valley Semillon remains the globally recognised iconic wine from the region. The Hunter Valley region remains extensively covered by vineyards for producing wine grapes utilised in processing of wine. The region is naturally flat and irrigated by the Hunter River and its tributaries, which flow through the region. The Hunter Valley wine industry is significantly boosted by the proximity to Sydney, which provides market form the produced wines (Schamel & Anderson, 2003). Trading links between the valley and the city have existed since the nineteenth century. The streaming number of individuals from the city into the valley continues to drive the Hunter Valley economy through the wine and tourism industries. The Hunter Valley has been the largest wine producing region in the entire Australia. The region has utilised this global recognition in marketing itself as tourist destination to many tourists visiting the country. The proximity to the city of Sydney further provides essential support to the tourism and wine industry within the valley. The region consists of beautiful scenery, adorned by hectares of large vineyards producing wine grapes. The globally acclaimed wineries and vineyards within the valley remain the fundamental features, which tourists anticipate to see. The Hunter Valley continues to gain international acclamation with increased growth in the wine production industry. The region has been extensively marketed as a perfect destination for an extremely unique tourism element – wine tourism. Wine tourism involves the process where individuals

History questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History questions - Assignment Example In response to aggressiveness, British soldiers opened fire upon civilians in order to maintain order. This slaughtering of civilians enraged the colonists. Lastly, the Quartering Act was an order in which the colonists were required to take in soldiers and provide for them. This angered the colonists as this served as a drain on already scarce and expensive resources. The English thought that it was necessary due to the fact that it was a reimbursement for having soldiers to protect the colonists from Indians, other countries. Etc. The Boston Massacre is considered by many to be one of the primary starting points to the start of the Revolutionary War. Evidence and speculation from the time leads many questions to be asked as to far who was the sole instigator in the act. Boston was already in turmoil as tensions were rising between the British and the colonists. Often, the colonists would taunt the soldiers. On this particular incident, it was reported that the taunting had reached an elevated level. In order to disperse the crowd, shots were fired into the air. This translated into turmoil in which the soldiers opened fired on the civilians until both parties retreated. Regardless of the facts, it is the colonists who instigated the attacks. The soldiers were just doing their duty and enforcing the laws. If this were to happen today with a riot facing the police, even if the policies were unfair, the blame would fall on the crowd. The purpose of the preamble of the Declaration of Independence was written in response as to the way the crown was treating the colonists. In essence, it was a dictatorship. As a result, the preamble states that the power, which is wielded by the government, is derived directly from the power, which is given by the people. The understanding that â€Å"all men are created equal† meant only white males in the colonies. At this time, women’s rights were unheard of and blacks were regarded as slaves meaning they were in es sence treated as property. The Declaration of Independence was a justification for why the colonies needed to break away from the corrupt form of government in England. The Virginia and New Jersey plans were created in order to help set up the new form of government, which would govern over the new independent colonies. The Virginia plan was based on the power in the government being based on population. Thus larger states would have more representative power in the government. The smaller states felt that this was not fair; therefore they constructed a system based on equality, one vote per state. The Connecticut Compromise set up a bicameral legislature, using the New Jersey Plan as a template. The Senate would have equal representation given by each state and population would base the House of Representatives. Samuel Slater is known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution. His idea of interchangeable parts allowed industry and the creation of machines to be accelerate d due to the fact that these parts could now be easily replaced and changed in mechanical components. One of the main areas in which Slater had an impact was on the textile industry, in particular the Lowell mills. It combined the textile and weaving process all in the same building, which maximized production and efficiency. Calhoun’s theory of nullification stated that in some instances, a state has the right to refuse to recognize a federal law within its

Semiconductor manufacturing research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Semiconductor manufacturing - Research Paper Example These, however, largely depends on the source of the plasma. The available electric fields for this process is often externally applied though can also be internally generated as a result of the buildup of charge in the growing film surface or in the film itself. The electric fields (EF) are key to the process being that the transport of the charged particle, that is electrons and ions, between the plasma and oxide surface plus the oxide layer is largely dependent on their resulting effect. Fig 4 a) from [22] Shows an example of a relation of Si-O bond. It exactly shows FWHM, ?, of the Si–O bond stretching mode as a function of annealing temperature for SiOx (x ? 0.15) and (Si, C)Ox (x ? 0.15 and C ? 10 at.%) thin films. The oxidation rate in plasma anodization and oxidation is controlled by the oxidant transport through the growing-oxide layer. Usually, the externally applied electric fields often rise to over 1MV/cm. The oxidant transport and the strong electric fields come together to result into a plasma-assisted oxidation rates at significantly low temperatures and pressures with each being below 600oC and 1 Torr respectively. At atmospheric temperatures, more than 900oC, and pressure, dry oxygen usually have similar rates as those achieved in the process. Oxidation flux of silicon-silicon diode interface can be altered by varying the plasma parameters which includes power, frequency and pressure, and also changing the design of the reactor. This is so because these alter the anodization current and the electron concentration. Fig 4 b) from [22] Shows the log-log plots of the oxide thickness against oxidation time for O2 Remote Plasma Assisted Oxidation of Flat and vicinal Silicon. Advantages Remote-plasma assisted oxidation help in minimizing the duration and number of steps of high temperature processes to allow for the reduction of thermal budget involved with the fabrication of the present and future Integrated Circuits (ICs). It is also a low t emperature alternative that can be considered instead of the high-temperature processes. Concurrently, the fabrication of various thin-film transistors (TFTs) which are largely used in many flat panel displays requires the availability of low temperatures. This is because of the glass substrates that the displays use and therefore the need to perform a remote-plasma assisted oxidation of silicon. 2. SMIF boxes (pods) and Front Opening Unified Pods (FOUP) used to transport wafers during semiconductor device manufacturing. Standard Mechanical InterFace is a standard that has been adopted for the facilitation of transport of wafer. It is a technology dated back in 1980 and used in cleanroom environments as well as in the fabrication of semiconductor wafers. The SMIF boxes were originally designed in Hewlett-Packard by a group of engineers called ‘micronauts’. It is used to transport wafers during the manufacture of semiconductor device. It functions to isolate wafers from getting contaminated through provision of a mini environment with controlled parameters which include pressure, airflow and particle density. It is a completely sealed SMIF box and is therefore essential in moving wafers between different tools or minienvironments. Moreover, unlike the ‘ballroom’ concept by which an extremely clean environment, ultra-clean, is generally created in the whole room. The SMIF pods are kept

Philadelphia Primate Head Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philadelphia Primate Head Study - Essay Example Some decades ago, the federal government had to suspend the funding of the University’s Head Injury Clinical Research Laboratory. The reigning president back then, Sheldon Hackney, further issued a directive to stop the institution’s use of animal experiments aimed at discovering the best treatment for victims of trauma-related brain damage. The directive served as a timely response to a preliminary report by the National Institute of Health (NIH) aimed at halting a particular baboon research project (Meyer 1). In my honest opinion, the use of primates in studies should be abolished because it is disrespectful to anatomy, unjust and goes against the ethics of beneficence and non-maleficence. In May 1984, Animal Liberation Front (ALF) activists intruded the deserted Philadelphia campus of The University of Pennsylvania and took several videos of animals suffering during various head tests (Orlans 71). The videos captured more than 60 hours of enforced baboon-suffering through bombarding of the primates’ heads using pistons in order to induce brain injuries. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made claims that the videotapes showed actions of repeated violations of federal policies that govern the humane use of animals in research laboratories (Orlans 71). In the experiments, scientists disregarded the use of surgical asepsis and employed a very insignificant amount of anesthesia to the primates’ bodies. Beneficence refers to an action done for the benefit of others through prevention/removal of harm ("Beneficence vs. Nonmaleficence" par.1). The principle demands that all physicians should refrain from harming their patients. The researchers i n Philadelphia, therefore, through causing the baboons tremendous levels of pain, disregarded the need to observe the principle of beneficence. The painful act also illustrates a significant deal of injustice to the animal. I am of the opinion that, even if an animal has to die,

Citi Bank Launching The Credit Card In Asia Pacific Essay

Citi Bank Launching The Credit Card In Asia Pacific - Essay Example The feasibility of launching the product in Singapore would become clear in the light of the following analysis: Income and Standard of Living: Singapore is a country of rich and affluent people with an average per capita income of $8,817 that is continuously growing at a higher rate than other countries in the region and a standard of living much better as compared to most of its neighbouring countries. Most of the population can conveniently afford a credit card therefore this country offers great opportunity to the Citi corp. in launching its product for the first time in the whole region. Therefore, the land of Singapore offers more opportunities than risk for the Citi Bank credit card launch. Although risks are there, but the country having 100% urban population, higher per capita income and much better standard of living offer less country risks to the launch of a product like credit card. Although the country profile of Singapore offers has great attractiveness for the launch of Citi Bank credit card, yet the market ... Although the country profile of Singapore offers has great attractiveness for the launch of Citi Bank credit card, yet the market profile suggests a great number of risks associated with it. The credit card market has been already captured by major international players such as American Express Bank, Hong Kong Bank, Chase, Standard Chartered and local banks such as UOB, DBS, OUB, and OCBC, which make it very difficult for a bank to successfully enter the market and remain profitably in business for long. In order to enter the Singapore market and successfully launch the product, Citi Bank could either purchase an existing already established business, or launch a rigorous marketing campaign to attract a great number of customers or can even both the options simultaneously as suggested by the case given. However it is recommendable for the Citi Bank to go for the development of its product's own market. The bank should adopt a number of possible marketing strategies that could help it achieve the objective of customer awareness and customer acceptance. Initially, the customers should be made acquainted to the product and then the product must be positioned in a way to win the customer acceptance. Competitive Advantage Singapore is a market where people enjoy a high standard of living and therefore, enjoy the products that are associated with image, status and recognition. Citi Bank can take advantage of this attitude by positioning the credit card and associate its image with high status, prestige, affluence and style. The bank should use its "international identity" and offer its product to the people with maximum international usage and recognition. This can be the most visible competitive advantage readily available to be

The Film Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Film Industry - Essay Example Films have a very major core purpose that they all presume and that is creating entertainment (Aldikno, 1998). One of the major works in the film industry came in the early 1970s where a film known as Don't Look Now, directed by Nicholas Roeg was produced. The turn of events in the movie can be said to have led to the new generation of films. As such, it introduced the theme of murder as well as deaths. The last part of the film can be said to be sublime moving and further, a meditation on grief, which is frightening as well as relationships and beyond. For instance, Laura Baxter and John, who is her husband goes to enjoy their time together at Venice as a way of forgetting their daughter’s death (Rick 2001). The couple had indeed killed the daughter by drowning her. Two sisters, one of whom is blind and has capabilities of a psychic informs the couple that the little girl is still with them and this is manifested by the girl appearing in a red coat while wandering through the streets. With the reference to this episode of the film, the following discussion will aim at examining the earliest responses in regard to the film as a new medium and to pinpoint the potentials that would have been lost due to the responses. Moreover, the paper will aim at examining a film text that realizes the ideas that were set out from those criticism responses. When the theme of murder and deaths was introduced in the early films, many mixed responses concerning the theme arose. As such, the theme was not only a new concept but was also a new viewpoint and as such, it impacted mixed feelings among the audience. First, it tended to conflict the conceptions of the custom as well as some specific representations that were considered dynamic. In regard to this, the introduction of this new theme indeed was seen as changing the traditional view of the films (Catherine, 1992). These responses were therefore negative and many are the people who saw this notion of murder as going a gainst the set customs. In the early times, murder was a serious issue and by incorporating such scenes in a movie, some people, who followed the customary laws to the letter, felt that the films were disrespectful and going against the desired will of the society. They argued that people were likely to adopt such behaviors and as such, the society would develop a sense of insecurity. According to their perceived feelings, such movies did not portray the best of the pictures and hence had to be abominated (Catherine, 1992). On the other hand, some people received the theme of death and murder in films cordially as they saw it as an opportunity to take the film industry to a higher notch. When a film entails differentiated themes in its context, it assumes the shape of an abstract and as such, they provoke a certain organized association. In a film, a theme can be used but not at all times make a film successful. This is usually dependent on the feelings of the people towards it. How ever, if the theme is materialized, then the impression of the employed theme tends to be associative and as such, it becomes accepted by the audience. It is essential that the films, while incorporating the murder theme, to ensure that the plot of the film is designed in such a way that it have the capabilities of inferring something to the audience. In the same line of thinking, such an effort would indeed give rise to the most interesting and acceptable feelings in regard to the

Natural disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Natural disaster - Essay Example The disastrous effect of the earthquake in Haiti needs quick management and attention from the rest of the world and proper utilization of all the methods accessible for restoration of the country are important to save people in this part of the world. An article in the New York Times was published in January 2010 bearing the title â€Å"Thinking about a New Haiti†. This article provides an insight into the destruction that struck Haiti as a result of the earthquake. It explains the fact that many people lost their lives in this disaster and the infrastructure in the country became destroyed and people became stranded. It puts forward the fact that counties of the world including United States and Canada have started negotiating for aid and help to redevelop this country into a New Haiti. The author has also presented suggestions for quick recovery which include the utilization of the sources which the country has efficiently, spreading the people around the country to small towns and villages for the promotion of jobs and better living as well as the development of the roads and other structural requirements of the country. Foreign help and assistance from Haitians who are settled in different countries has also been put f orward in the article. â€Å"Thinking about a new Haiti† by the author is a subject that needs to be brought up and has been explained by the author perfectly. He has used language to create a proper connection between the Old Haiti and provided an insight into the development of the New Haiti. The author explains the poor condition of the people in a clear manner with these words, â€Å"In old Haiti there is still mostly horror. It is a nation of the homeless and maimed. Despite a stunning global surge of aid, many survivors still lack water, food and tents. â€Å"With this explanation he puts forward the importance of the aid that the Haitians require. The author coordinates his article in a manner to explain to

Summer Project Essay Example for Free

Summer Project Essay This is to certify that Mr. Chandan Kumar (Reg. No. 11382017) a student of MBA – International Business, 2011 – 2013 batch has successfully completed his internship training at Lumbini Beverages Pvt Ltd. , HAJIPUR(BIHAR). His period of training was MARCH-APRIL. He has prepared the internship report titled â€Å"A Study on Sales Promotion at PepsiCo† for the requirement of the concern and for Master of Business Administration in International Business program in the Department of International Business, School of Management, Pondicherry University, Puducherry – 605 014. Dr. Bushan D. Sudhakar Reader, Dept. of Int’l Business, School of Management, Pondicherry University, Puducherry – 605 014. Dr. P. Sridharan Head of the Department, Dept. of Int’l Business, School of Management, Pondicherry University, Puducherry – 605 014 2|Page CERTIFICATE FROM THE GUIDE This is to certify that the Project Work entitled â€Å" A Study on Sales Promotion at PepsiCo† is a bonafide work of Mr. Chandan Kumar carried out in partial fulfilment for the award of degree of MBA (International Business) of Pondicherry University under my guidance. This project work is original and not submitted earlier for the award of any degree / diploma of any other University / Institution. Signature of the Guide (Name and Official address of the Guide) Place:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3|Page STUDENT’S DECLARTION I, Mr. Chandan Kumar hereby declare that the Project Work entitled â€Å"A Study on Sales Promotion at PepsiCo† is the original work done by me and submitted to the Pondicherry university in partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of Master of Business Administration in International Business is a record of original work done by me under the supervision of Dr. Bushan D. Sudhakar, Reader, Department of International Business, School of Management. Signature of Student Date:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4|Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is well established fact that behind every achievement lays on unfathomable sea of gratitude to those who have extended their support without whom the project would never have come into existence. I now take the opportunity to thank Mr. N. K. Prasad, HR Manager, Lumbini Beverages Pvt Ltd. , who granted me the permission to undergo training in this prestigious organization. I would extend special thanks to Mr. Anish Kumar, Sales Executive, under whose guidance and support I was able to complete this project. During the entire period of my training, I received endless held, support and cooperation from all the employees of the organization. I think my report would be incomplete if I do not convey my grateful thanks to them. I express my sincere thanks to Dr. Prahakar Raya, DEAN, School Of Management and along with him I express my humble and sincere thanks to our Department Head, Dr. P. SRIDHARAN, Department of International Business, School Of Management for their guidance and support throughout this project. With deep sense of gratitude, I acknowledge my sincere thanks to Dr. Bushan D. Sudhakar who has always been a source of inspiration to me and constantly implanted his useful guidelines, experience and provided his valuable time in the completion of this project. Although it is difficult to say that I have achieved what I wanted to present, but within the circumstances and various limiting factors, I have tried to give my best. 5|Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PepsiCo is a world leader in a convenient food and beverages with revenues of more than $45 billion and more than 1, 60, 000 employees. The company consists of Frito-lay North America, PepsiCo Beverages North America, PepsiCo International and Quaker Foods North America. PepsiCo brands are available in nearly 200 countries and territories and generate sells and the retail level of about $85 billion. PepsiCo is the world’s premier Consumer Products Company focused on convenient foods and beverages. This project work entitled â€Å"A study on sales promotion of PepsiCo†, was done to become familiar with the working of PepsiCo (LUMBINI BEVERAGES PVT LTD) and to know the strategies used by PepsiCo in the sales promotion. The important objectives of the project were to find out: what are the various types of promotional strategies used in marketing, in which way the strategies are implemented, what is the market share of the company, which promotional strategy is used most, what is the impact of sales promotion during off season, how retailers react to new sales promotions, what are the various tools that the company uses during sales promotion, and which type of promotional offers retailers prefer etc. The project is entirely based on my observations made during the two months spent at lumbini beverages pvt ltd and visits to various markets of Hajipur. Based on my learning and experience, I have made some suggestions to improve the sales promotion activity and services. 6|Page INDEX Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Introduction 1. 2 Statement of problem 1. 3 Objectives of the study 1. 4 Scope of the study 1. 5 Need of the study 1. 6 Research methodology 1. 7 Limitation of study Chapter – 2. 1 . COMPANY AND INDUSTRY PROFILE 9-10 10 11 11 12 12-14 15 16-40 41-49 51-66 68 69-70 71 72 73-75 2. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Chapter-III. ANALYSIS INTERPRETAION Chapter-IV. 4. 1. FINDINS 4. 2. B. SUGGESTIONS 4. 3CONCLUSION 4. 4 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX:QUESTIONAIRE 7|Page CHAPTER- 1 1. 1 Introduction 1. 2 Statement of problem 1. 3 Objectives of the study 1. 4 Scope of the study 1. 5 Need of the study 1. 6 Research methodology 1. 7 Limitation of study 8|Page 1. 1 Introduction: In the present day world, either there is mass production or ill anticipation of demand, there is always a pressing need for intermediaries of one type or the other, for enabling the goods to reach the ultimate consumer. The purpose is to sell everything that is produced. However, it is really difficult for the producer to undertake the sales or distribution of goods directly to the consumers all by themselves. There for, the responsibility or distribution is undertaken by a number of intermediaries who are often termed as channel or distribution. Sales transfer for ownership from the company within the customers, exchange of goods and services. Sales and distribution is a part of marketing and product design according to the need of customers. Sales and distribution is a primary involvement of transfer of goods and services from the company to the customers. Selling emphasizes in selling the securable surplus available with company i. e. selling quantity convert Product into Cost using trend and techniques of shifting customer to part with the cost. Thus, a salesman introduces the goods to the customer, Interest and persuades them to purchase the goods and finalize the deals of the product. So, the primary objective of sales and distribution is to assist the producer in marketing the goods and services one hand and to satisfy the demand of the consumers on the others. Channel of distribution helps the consumer in providing good of right quantity at the right time, right place and at the right price. 9|Page SourcesThe main sources of the Sales and Distribution is to reach through the channel. Every channel contains one or more transfer point where there is either an institution or a final buyer. In other words, legal ownership of the product changes hands at least once or the producer sales directly to the final buyer and there is no intervening of middlemen Selecting a channel for sales and distribution for their product is one of the important problems faced by manufacturers of PEPSICO It is quite difficult to identity a specific channel which can be considered as the best. There for, each producer most carefully select a channel which will suit his requirement and bring the best result to the firm. The channel of distribution can broadly be divided into two categories i. e. Direct and Indirect. Under direct channel of sales and distribution, manufacturer sells directly to the consumers, without any middlemen, whereas under indirect channel of sales and distribution, producer sells through various middlemen like wholesalers, agents, retailers, etc. This is the shortest channel a producer can adopt for sales and distribution of goods and services. In this system, goods move directly from the producer to the consumers without any middlemen or a merchant. 1. 2 Statement of Problem: The first and foremost step in the problem identification in Sales Promotion. research process consists of Here statement of problem is to know the Sales Promotion activities towards brands. 10 | P a g e 1. 3 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY This study was conducted on â€Å"A study of â€Å"Sales Promotion’ activities of PEPSICO for different retail outlets of Hajipur†. The specific objectives of the study are1. To find out the promotional activities of PEPSICO. 2. To know the distribution channel of PEPSICO. 3. To find out the market share of PEPSICO. against its competitor. 4. To find out the influence of medium of advertisements of PEPSICO. on different age group 1. 4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study was done in Hajipur at LUMBINI BEVERAGES PVT LTD. The geographical scope of my survey was limited to Hajipur only. Study aims at relationship between Company Executives and retailers and why any retailer sold particular brand only. The survey covers a wide range of activities and factors, which influence the retailers to sell PEPSICO. Products. The sample of 80 respondents is taken to represent total retails of Hajipur Zone. The validity of the findings of this survey is limited to the period during which the field survey was conducted i. e. eight weeks. 11 | P a g e 1. 5 NEED OF STUDY The eight weeks Summer Training is very important for a student of MBA. This type of study gives some practical knowledge to MBA students and practical knowledge is more useful than theoretical knowledge for any one.

Evaluation of Individual Stock and Sector Level

Evaluation of Individual Stock and Sector Level Is there any method of asset allocation within a stock portfolio that can repeatedly and over time outperform a passive index (buy and hold strategy)? The objective of this study is to compare strategies that have been used over the last decades by academics and professionals alike, and to expand on that study to create a real-time portfolio at the end of year t, to observe the portfolios behaviour during the next year (t + 1). This portfolio, unlike those created in previous studies, is not limited to the study of individual stocks, but instead gives importance to sector allocation. In addition, this study also focuses on implementing a long-short strategy in those assets: with the same overall exposure to the market, will a long-short strategy that depends on financial metrics exhibit a better risk-adjusted return than a 100% long strategy? In other words, are financial metrics capable of not only detecting undervalued stocks, but also of detecting those overpriced? Sector allocation is an especially important factor, with previous studies failing to consider sector allocations before moving to find the best classified assets within each sector; rather, they have jumped directly to stock selection. One of the most common strategies for stock picking in the asset management industry today relies on initially choosing sectors that, from a macro perspective, are expected to outperform the market. From this stance, analysts proceed to evaluate specific stocks to choose potential winners. Despite this being the industry standard, only a scarce number of studies exist that use common ratios between sectors to analyse and devise allocation strategies that are first sector-based and then based on individual stock. The objective of this project, therefore, is to focus on a set of financial metrics, both at individual stock level and at sector level, to examine if there is a positive relationship between these ratios and alpha creation. In order to achieve this, a portfolio will be constructed and rebalanced yearly, according to previous end-of-year data. Several traditionally-appraised financial measures, such as P/E ratio, free cash flow to enterprise value ratio and book-to-market value ratio will be employed, as will certain profitability ratios that include data from the income statement, such as gross profit, operating profit and EBITDA. The reasoning behind using measures higher up within the income statement is due to solely to accounting choices in comparison to net income these are less affected by an individual companys accounting process. In fact, revenue and other described measures of profit, are more consistent year to year than net income. Subsequently, this provides the rationa le that these measures are better able to predict future cash flows and, consequently, next years performance. Forward-looking measures such as analysts consensus recommendations and forward EPS will also be utilised and tested. Departing from the hypothesis that these individuals conduct an exhaustive analysis of the financial data at year end t to predict the performance during year t+1, the accuracy of the forecasts will be tested against those same financial measures and valuation metrics existing at year end t. Data will be extracted from a set of databases comprised of Compustat, CRSP and I/B/E/S. Fundamental data will be extracted from end-of-fiscal-year filing, to allow a time lag for the data release of a quarter period (3 months), before a portfolio is rebalanced. Hence, with a fiscal year ending in December of year t, a lag in the release of data will always exist and portfolios will be rebalanced at the end of the first quarter of year t+1. Monthly returns for every stock will be compounded throughout that year over 12 months. Each years universe of stocks will then be ranked by the different valuation metrics to construct a portfolio at year end t in order to assess the portfolios performance during t + 1. Three different sets of portfolios will be constructed for each financial metric each year and, within each set, two strategies will be implemented. For a stocks-only portfolio, only those stocks ranking in the upper quintile (top 20%) will be used each year. For the sector-only portfolio, a market capitalisation average of each sector will be calculated, and the portfolio will be formed by the top 20% sectors ranked in any given year. For the sector and stocks portfolio, an implementation of both criteria will be evaluated. That being said, the portfolio is formed from the top quintile stocks within the top quintile sectors each year. As a whole, this assumes a long strategy, buying in on those stocks on a value-weighted basis each year to constitute a portfolio. In the long-short strategy, the bottom quintile of each respective category will be shorted, and the proceeds used to buy an extra 30% of the top quintile of stocks. Using a long-short strategy will help the researcher examine the feasibility of using these ratios in recognising overvalued stocks as well as undervalued companies, and use this information to construct a more profitable portfolio. A 130/30 long short strategy is used, where a 150/50 long short strategy or other proportions could have also been tested. However, the 130/30 strategy is chosen following the creation and later popularisation of 130/30 mutual funds and investment vehicles. This choice stems from an initial study suggesting that 130/30 was the optimal proportion of long-short positions in a portfolio, even though no empirical data has been found that a 130/30 strategy later maximises alpha. Despite this, given its popularisation and position as an industry standard, our analysis proceeds with this strategy. Ultimately, performance attribution and portfolio statistics will be calculated, such as average return, total payoff, standard deviation, Sharpe ratio and alpha according to the Fama French 3 factor model, correcting for small minus big and high minus low book market value (Fama and French, 1992). This will help in our analysis of the results, to provide a clear and concise indication of which ratios perform best under each strategy and under each level (sector and stock). Literature Review Re-emphasising the importance of sector level asset allocation strategies, particularly at a time in the financial industry when performance attribution analysis stresses return on the relative weighting of sectors in portfolios, it is surprising that existing studies underscore the importance of certain ratios or fundamental data for stocks while lacking the ability to employ a method to identify undervalued sectors. Previous studies from Shiller and Bunn (2014) construct a 140-year regression series based on the relationship between the earnings of different sectors and their yields, creating a CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted Price Earnings) index that identifies sectors with upside potential. Their research indicates that market sectors show price mismatches that can be exploited. According to them, the CAPE index is capable of outperforming the market by an average of 4%. Therefore, the objective of this project is to expand on their results by examining a number of other ratios and fi nancial fundamentals, particularly those related to profitability measures, and to investigate whether these, both at individual and sector level, are capable of forming a portfolio that outperforms the broader index and a buy and hold investment strategy. Gray and Vogel (2012) try to depict not only the ratio that is able to predict higher performing stocks, but also those in the lower ranges; this implies being able to detect not only what are known in the financial investment world as value stocks, but also overvalued growth stocks. According to their research, some measures are more efficient than others in providing insight into which stocks are overpriced. Gray and Vogel (2012) therefore conclude that EBITDA/EV and GP/EV are the metrics that are best able to identify the overvalued stocks. The results in this dissertation agree that the GP/EV ratio is useful to identify overvalued stocks and is hence a good metric to build long/short strategies, but the results also consider free cash flow/EV as a favourite on a risk-adjusted basis for implementing a long-short strategy at stock level. The results of the following study show that stocks exhibiting a low FCF/EV experience low returns, demonstrating an ability to identify overvalue d stocks. Such a contradiction might be explained by the difference in the universe of stocks used or, more specifically, by the use of lag for data release, which corrects the assumption that results are available to the public at the end of fiscal year t. This lag is introduced by Hughen and Strauss (2015) in their comparable study of profitability ratios in portfolio allocation. The analysis in this project goes beyond what the Gray and Vogel (2012) study implies and develops a portfolio strategy to buy stocks that exhibit higher ratios, but also a complementing 130/30 strategy, which short sells stocks exhibiting poor ratios, and proportionally buys in excess those that exhibit a healthy ratio. As Miller (2001) shows in his work, overvaluation of stocks is far more common and of greater absolute value than undervaluation. This supports a rationale for this work. However, care should be taken when dealing with long-short strategies. As suggested by Michaud (1993), costs stemming from short sales in a portfolio could prove quite significant. However, Jacobs and Levy (1995) argue that these costs are not much higher than a long-only portfolio, and are well under those charged by active management. Professionals and practitioners alike have historically depended on several fundamental and financial measures to assist them in the portfolio selection process. Perhaps the most famous is the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) along with the ratio between earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and total enterprise value. Fama and French (1992) argue that book to market ratio perhaps most accurately explains the cross section return of stock, which they later include in their three-factor model. In our approach, we include these traditional metrics, while also relying on profitability measures, such as gross profit/EV, introduced by Novy-Marx (2010), and operating profit divided by market value, as presented in Fama and Frenchs (2015) 5-factor model. Ball et al. (2015) proves that the suggestions shown in Novy-Marxs (2010) paper, in which he proposes the existence of a very strong cross relation between gross profit and future returns, regardless of the financial leverage or structure of the firm, are true by constructing portfolios based on highly profitable firms as represented by gross profit/enterprise value. Novy-Marx (2010) concluded that because gross profit is the measure of profit less affected by accounting choices in the income statement, it results in a clear and normalised comparison between different companies. However, Ball et al. (2015) argue that gross profit is not significantly superior to net income (earnings) when analysing an extended time period. After analysing other measures of financial data, they conclude that operating profit, as a percentage of market value, does offer a significantly higher alpha. Therefore, this project continues with the aforementioned financial metrics, and focuses on sector and stock selection to create an annually-rebalanced real-time portfolio. Hughen and Strauss (2015) attempt to use different financial measures to construct portfolios at sector, stock and combined stock and sector levels. The following study complements and verifies the conclusions of Hughen and Strauss (2015) regarding the superior indicators of profitability measures versus traditional measures of valuation such as P/E and book to market in all three levels, and extends their research by looking at forward looking measures and a value weighted approach to the sector allocation, rather than the equal weight approach used in their research. The limitations of assuming sectors to be equally weighted across the portfolio, and not a function of the market value of the components of those sectors, contradict the notion of constructing a value-weighted portfolio. Their construction of portfolios at stock level is value-weighted, whilst at sector levels they equally weight each sector within their top quintile. This is a counterintuitive approach and this paper tackles that limitation by weighting the sectors accordingly respective to their components market capitalization, making periodical rebalances within the year unnecessary and increasing operational efficiencies in a real-life practical situation. It should be mentioned that the universe of stocks used in this study pertains to the SP500, which by definition is a market-weighted index. The project finds some discrepancies with respect to Hughen and Strauss paper, in particular surrounding the performance of the free cash flow ratio. A possible explanation for this is that this study states free cash flow as a percentage of total enterprise value, whilst Hughen and Strauss (2015) compute it as a percentage of market value. The approach taken within the subsequent study results in a much higher risk-adjusted return for the ratio, as measured by the Sharpe ratio, both for long strategies and to identify overvalued stocks. In their research of different financial ratios, Loughran and Wellman (2011) found that EBITDA over enterprise value offers superior performance to a predefined buy and hold benchmark. Their analysis, which comprehends data starting from 1963 to 2009, holds that EBITDA/EV possess a very significant regressive coefficient with future performance. Gray and Vogel (2012) confirm this hypothesis, analysing a time period of 30 years starting in 1980, in their research of different financial metrics. This paper confirms that, at a stocks-only level, EBITDA along with gross profit, both measured as a percentage of enterprise value, offer the highest risk-adjusted returns. For the analysis at both sector and stock level, EBITDA fails to show the same accuracy as the stock-only analysis. Therefore, the following study builds on the findings of previous studies by providing a more thorough examination at sector level. Gray and Vogel (2012) extended their research further by considering periods of economic crisis, in order to identify which financial ratio is most appropriate during high volatility economic downturns. However, they were unable to conclude which ratio is able to identify winners or losers during periods of financial distress, because none behaves in the same systematic manner during selected periods of extreme economic contraction. In their study of different economic coefficients and measures, Welch and Goyal (2007) conclude that the relationship between sector level performance and macroeconomic industrial data is unstable and at most, follows a random relationship. With that in mind, the focus of this paper is instead on building sector data as a market weighted average of the individual microeconomic company ratios and forecasts. Each individual constituent fundamental metric at year end will be used to position the allocation of each asset for the next year based on a ranked system. This construes that this analysis will be based on each stocks financial information at year end t to later construct sector level ratios and metrics, and is not based on macroeconomic or sector level data that, according to Welch and Goyal (2007), do not provide any significant cross-relation with future performance. Theory Development Although the focus of previous literature is in the attribution of portfolio performance to the different ratios and metrics used, the objective of this paper is to examine whether these same metrics, mainly traditional measures, forward looking estimates and profitability ratios, are able to exploit sector and stock level mispricing and generate real-time winner portfolios. Given the availability of forward estimates in the I/B/E/S database, a period from 1990 to 2016 will be examined in this paper. The choice of time period is not a random one; rather, to have consistency in data across the analysis and throughout all the variables used, this period is chosen from the start. To see the limitations of an extended data period, Gray and Vogels (2012) work show an exemplary illustration of such restrictions. They use a period of 30 years, starting in 1980, evaluating which financial metric can predict future performance. They complement their analysis on fundamental metrics by looking at analysts estimates and consensus forecasts, succeeding to recognise the lack of certain information in the beginning years of their timeframe, therefore failing to Nos interesa saber, al igual que el trabajo de Graham y Dodd (1934), cà ³mo el uso de normalizacià ³n de los diferentes ratios y fundamentos es capaz de cambiar nuestros resultados. Segà ºn sus estudios, la normalizacià ³n o media sobre cierto tiempo de estas mà ©tricas financieras, es capaz de mejorar la prediccià ³n de los resultados comparado con una estimacià ³n anual. Segà ºn su anà ¡lisis, la normalizacià ³n deberà ­a ser entre 7 y 10 aà ±os. Anderson y Brooks (2006) recientemente confirmaron esto, llevando a cabo un estudio de la mà ©trica P/E, la cual tambià ©n utilizamos en nuestro anà ¡lisis, pero a la inversa (Earnings/ Market Value). Segà ºn su estudio, basado sobre el mercado en U.K., usando el promedio de este ratio de 8 aà ±os en lugar de usar las mà ©tricas del aà ±o anterior, resulta en un crecimiento de las ganancias de un 6%, ya que es capaz de filtrar el ruido de earnings. Siguiendo estos anà ¡lisis, nuestro estudio abarcarà ¡ tambià ©n ratio s normalizados durante una serie de aà ±os, concentrà ¡ndonos en el universo de acciones del SP500, para confirmar que esta hipà ³tesis es apta en nuestro anà ¡lisis. Sin embargo, Data V.I Evaluation Metrics This paper will focus on three different categories of data inputs. There is an abundant choice of methods and variables in the accounting and financial research world, there is a large set of variables and measures to assess a firms valuation. In order to establish the model, an initial differentiation between these variables should be made. Traditional Metrics To start with, we look at the long standing traditional metrics that long have been appraised by the professionals in the financial industry. This involves the inverse of the P/E ratio, given as Earnings over Market Value of the firm, Book to Market value and Free Cash Flow to Enterprise Value. These ratios, introduced decades back in the origins of value investing by Graham and Dodd (1934), show mixed results according to existing literature. Including this long favourite measures in this research will prove useful when comparing to the other measures. Earnings/Market Value Earnings will be computed following Fama and Frenchs (2001) approach: Earnings = Earnings Before Extraordinary Items Preferred Dividends + Income Statement Deferred Taxes Book value/Market Value Book Value will again be calculated as Fama and French (2001) propose. Following on its definition, Book Value = Stockholders Equity Preferred Stock Free Cash Flow/Enterprise Value Analogous to Novy-Marxs (2010) work, we compute free cash flow as FCF = Net Income + Depreciation Amortisation Working Capital Change Capital Expenditures Enterprise Value will also need to be calculated. Following Loughran and Wellman (2011), we compute it as EV = Market Value + Short-term Debt + Long-term Debt + Preferred Stock Value Cash and Short-term Investments The enterprise value variable will be used again in multiple valuation measures. Profitability Metrics Profitability measures as reported in the income statement will also be used as valuation methods. The focus will be Gross Profit, EBITDA and Operating Profit. EBITDA and Gross Profit will be computed as a percentage of Total Enterprise value, as suggested by the work of Gray and Vogel (2012), whilst Operating Profit will be looked at as a percentage of Market Value. From here on, well expand on this and compute an average of this three profitability measures, in order to analyse if a composite metric is able to detect the cross relation between fundamentals and future returns. The reasoning behind using an average of these three different measures stems from the work of Hughen and Strauss (2015), as they find that the composite measure are less sensitive to changes in the firms structure across different sectors and within sectors, as well as providing more information than just a single variable. This implies that the average measure is less affected by differences in financial leverage across sectors, which results in a more standardised comparison between firms in different sectors. Gross Profit/Enterprise Value Once again following Novy-Marx (2010), we compute every years gross profit as Gross Profit = Revenue Cost of Goods Sold Operating Profit/Market Value Operating Profit, as define in the income statement will be used for this metric. EBITDA/Enterprise Value EBITDA, defined as Earnings Before Interest, Tax and Depreciation Amortisation is calculated by the simple sum of operating and non-operating income; EBITDA = Operating Income before Depreciation + Non-Operating Income Profitability Average Equally weighted average of the three profitability ratios. The reason for selecting profitability measures higher up the income statement, and not focusing solely on the inverse P/E ratio, Earnings/MV or expectations of forward earnings, is because the higher up the income statement we go, the more consistent data proves to be year on year: that is, figures are more normalized and suffer fewer variations, which could explain why they result in being better predictive models, filtering out excessive noise. According to Dichev et al. (2013), profitability metrics are more persistent than earnings and forecast future performance more accurately than net income. Earnings data is affected by accounting choices, whereas gross profit and operating income suffer fewer distortions from this. Forward Estimates Analysing a set of fundamental past data wont be the only proxy used to rebalance our portfolio: analysts stock recommendations will also be evaluated. Two different sets of forward data will be used. In the first place, an average of the consensus forecast of next fiscal years EPS divided by the current market value of each firm will be used. This forecast will be an average of the estimates of each analyst throughout the fourth quarter of year t for year t+1. The consensus mean recommendations from analysts from the fourth quarter of the year t for year t+1 will also be employed. These recommendations are a ranking from 1 to 5, with 1 signalling a strong buy and 5 a strong sell. This is the mean of the different analysts recommendation existing at that time for each individual stock. V.II Data Criteria and Universe To ensure a minimum amount of liquidity in our analysis, we pick the historical constituents of the SP500 Index as our universe of stocks. This results in our analysis not being driven by the performance of smaller capitalisation firms, for which data might not be readily available. As our analysis involves implementing a long/short strategy, the ability to do so with large capitalisation stocks in practice results much easier. Therefore, every year, the appropriate constituents in our portfolio are updated, reflecting the changes in the overall index. This implies that our universe of stocks closely replicate the SP 500 Index on a yearly basis. The constituents as of 1990 will first be extracted, and updated every year thereafter. The analysis is then limited to those companies with a positive market capitalization as of December of year t, as well as to those companies with at least 2 years of data, in order to perform all the analysis in a consistent universe of stocks. In order to conduct the analysis across sectors in a more uniform manner, certain companies were removed from the universe of stocks. This includes REITs, utility and financial firms, as denominated by CRSP. From this, a benchmark is constructed with our new universe of stocks; that is, all those fulfilling the above criteria. This benchmark is a value weighted portfolio of all the stocks for a given year, rebalanced yearly at the end of each previous year (December 31st). Therefore, being a market value weighted portfolio comprising most SP500 stocks, it should closely resemble the SP500 Index. Comparing the quarterly performance of both our benchmark and the index for the period to analyse between 1990 and 2015, and running a corresponding regression, it is found that they correlate with a coefficient of 99.17%. As seen by this observation, our universe of stocks bears similarities with the index, although the payoff at the end of the period differs. The benchmark provides a payoff of $11.13 for a $1 investment (or a 1113%) at the start of the period, in 1990. The SP500 index returns a payoff of $8.86 (886%) at the end of the period. This figures assume complete reinvestment of capital and a compounded growth rate. V.V Model We represent year t+1 to be the year for which the portfolios performance will be monitored, and year t to be the year in which the fundamental data which will estimate performance will be extracted. As most US companies have a fiscal year corresponding to the calendar year, our model will retrieve end of year fundamental data for these companies, corresponding to December year t, allow for a data release lag, and compute the portfolio. The lag in data release is introduced as companies dont disclose their annual financial statements until the quarter after their fiscal year end. This usually happens within two months, as observed from historical data. Taking this factor into account, the model will allow for a lag of one quarter, therefore allowing for information to be readily available to the public at each point in time. Denoting t.(x) as the xth quarter of year t, and t+1.(x) as the xth quarter of year t+1, the above implies extracting fundamental data as of t.(4), allowing for a lag in data release during t+1.(1) in order to construct the portfolio at t+1.(2). The performance will then be measured during one year from then. This model so far deals only with the companies which disclose their end of year information by the end of the calendar year, so a provision must be made for the proportionally low, but still significant, number of companies whose annual results are released at a different date. Hughen and Strauss (2015) tackled this issue by rebalancing quarterly their portfolio, but they recognized the limitations of using quarterly results rather than normalizing their ratios and profitability measures by using annual ones. Gray and Vogels (2012) work consists of an annually rebalanced portfolio as of June 30 every year. Their approach is to use, for firms with fiscal year ending within the last quarter of the previous year, or the first quarter of the year, those fundamentals. For companies with fiscal years ending after March 30, previous years fundamentals will be used. This implies that, no matter when the end of fiscal year is, the latest annual filling will always be employed to construct th eir portfolio, even when this filling is from the second quarter of the previous year. In the following model, the approach will be somewhat different, Therefore, first, a differentiation between the two strategies implemented should be made. Value weighted These buy-and-hold portfolios are attractive not only because they minimize trading costs, but because they are simple to implement from an operational perspective. Mention sector allocation using SICS merge Compustat and CRSP databases. Delisting returns. References Ball, R., Gerakos, J., Linnainmaa, J. and Nikolaev, V. (2015). Deflating profitability. Journal of Financial Economics, 117(2), pp.225-248. Bunn, O. and Shiller, R. (2014). Changing times, changing values. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass. Dichev, I., Graham, J., Harvey, C. and Rajgopal, S. (n.d.). Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field. SSRN Electronic Journal. Fama, E. and French, K. (1992). The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns. The Journal of Finance, 47(2), p.427. Fama, E. and French, K. (2006). Disappearing dividends: changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay?. 1st ed. Fama, E. and French, K. (2015). A five-factor asset pricing model. Journal of Financial Economics, 116(1), pp.1-22. Gray, W. and Vogel, J. (2012). Analyzing Valuation Measures: A Performance Horse-Race Over the Past 40 Years. SSRN Electronic Journal. Hughen, J. and Strauss, J. (2015). Portfolio Allocations Using Fundamental Ratios: Are Profitability Measures Effective in Selecting Firms and Sectors?. SSRN Electronic Journal. Jacobs, B. and Levy, K. (1993). Long/Short Equity Investing. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 20(1), pp.52-63. Loughran, T. and Wellman, J. (2011). New Evidence on the Relation between the Enterprise Multiple and Average Stock Returns. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 46(06), pp.1629-1650. Michaud, R. (1993). Are Long-Short Equity Strategies Superior?. Financial Analysts Journal, 49(6), pp.44-49. Miller, E. (2001). Why the Low Returns to Beta and Other Forms of Risk. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 27(2), pp.40-55. Novy-Marx, R. (2010). The other side of value. 1st ed. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Welch, I. and Goyal, A. (2007). A Comprehensive Look at The Empirical Performance of Equity Premium Prediction. Review of Financial Studies, 21(4), pp.1455-1508.

US Role in Middle East Democracy

US Role in Middle East Democracy Democracy is described as a system of government whereby the power is vested in the people by electing representatives who rule them. It is also described as a government of the people by the people. Democracy was started in the ancient Greece and in England after the Magna Carta treaty of 1215. Greece citizens were allowed to speak and vote in the assembly. The Magna Carta treaty, on the hand, delegated some of the king’s powers to the people. The American Revolution is also credited with making a landmark in democracy by the creation of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Democratic principles require the equal treatment of all people and running an institution in a manner that is deemed impartial and fair. Other principles of democracy include respect to the rule of law and protection of the rights of the minorities (Diamond, Plattner, Brumberg). Democracies have been for and granted as a result of wars, revolutions, and economic circumstances. Tod ay the Middle East and in the greater Arab states’ democracy has been plagued by conflicts and authoritarian regimes exercising total control over the people. In the early 1990’s the United States began emphasizing on the development of civil societies in the Middle East through democratic aid pacts. By the 2009 fiscal year, the US annual assistance in the region surpassed the total amount of democratic aid pacts spent between 1991 and 2001. Though the pacts were categorized as democratic aids, it was not necessarily meant to promote the Middle East democracy rather than stability. Most of the Ngo’s who received US assistance avoided doing any act that could be construed as supporting a regime change (Diamond, Plattner, Brumberg). The US is more concerned about maintaining stability rather than the tenets of democracy. Democracy entails the alternation of power from the state to the people. America’s diplomacy in the Middle East is based on maintaining t he status quo and endorsing sheer stability, rather than upholding the ideals and principles of democracy. Tamara Wittes on Americas role in building Arab democracy In the recent years, the promotion of democracy has been a pillar of the US foreign policy not only in the Middle East, but across the globe. However, the true tenets and principles of democracy have always been evaded and questionable in the US foreign policy in the US. The US has supported authoritarian regimes and dictators to ensure stability and US interest and in return turned a blind eye to regime’s usurping of democracy. The US supported Saddam Hussein in Iran-Iraq war but later turned against him when he was perceived as weak after invading Kuwait, a longtime US ally in the Middle East. The Middle East is known to harbor over 60 percent of the world’s global oil reserves, and thus the US is more inclined to maintain stability in the region by overlooking implementation of democracy by the ruling regimes (Wittes,2008). Democracy is an evolutionary aspect rather than revolutionary. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country held its first general election in 2005 to mark a transition from an authoritarian regime to democracy. However, to date, America still maintains a military presence in Iraq not to further the course of democracy but to maintain stability and security crucial to US foreign policy interests. Schools of thought in the US foreign policy international relations in the Middle East believe the country pursues stability at the expense of democracy in the region. When the Bush administration failed to prove Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction after 9/11, the administration used the notion of democracy to invade Iraq to stamp out Al-Qaeda. The use of democracy as an affront to war was based on the notion that, the overthrow of Saddam’s rule would bring a democratic domino effect across the entire Middle East region. The invasion of Iraq was not entirely based on ensuring democracy, but a US policy of maintaining security and stability in the region. The then, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice on her nomination hearing before the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee in January 2005, announced that one of the administration’s diplomacy priorities is to strengthen the community democracies to fight and alleviate common security threats and ensure stability (Wittes,2008). The US ‘soft democracy promotion’ in the Middle East can be explained in two ways. The US fears it may bring about unfavorable results that may not be in tandem with Washington’s interests. This can be attributed to the election of Islamic factions in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq who oppose America’s liberal democracy in the region. In Palestinian, the US pushed for elections in return for a guaranteed US support for a future Palestinian state. The elections culminated in the election of Hamas, an Islamic group classified as a terrorist organization by the US and EU. Hamas refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and it later led to the refusal of the UN, EU, US and Russia to recognize Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. (Wittes,2008). Witte also articulates that, the US fears a conflict of interest situation with its allies which may hinder co-operation on strategic issues in the region. For example, to openly deman d for the promotion of democracy in Saudi Arabia may constrain its relationship with the US and push towards China or Russia or run the risk of Islamic radicals taking over the country. Principal determinants of the US Policy in the Middle East Since the Second World War, the Middle East has been of essential interest to the United States. Today, the Middle East has evolved to become a permanent US geopolitical interest. The US policy in the region has long been based on economic factors and regional stability. These determinants have been essential to US that they have overridden democracy and the principles of democracy in the region (Dodge, 2008). Middle East’s presence of oil reserves is a key determinant of the US policy and elations in the Middle East. A 1945 US State Department memorandum described Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves as a stupendous source of strategic and one of the world’s greatest material prizes in history. In 2006, 27 percent of the world’s oil came from the Middle East with the US buying over half of it. President G. W. Bush acknowledged this by stating that, ‘America is addicted to oil’ (Dodge, 2008). US’s dependence on the Middle East oil illustrates that the US will always be cautious about taking any aggressive stance that might be upset or strain its Middle East allies. Nonetheless, as the world’s most powerful nation and the biggest economy, the US has a responsibility to protect this vital interest. In return, the US gets favorable oil prices and strategic partners in the region. The vital oil interest in the Middle East makes the US overlook the exercise of democracy in the region, keep supporting the ruling regimes to ensure there is stability in the region. Today, in Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to vote or lead certain key institutions and the US is its biggest oil importer (Dodge, 2008). The US turns a blind eye on this key violation of democracy for fear that democracy may lead to instability in the region. The US instead keeps a diplomatic policy that maintains the status quo in the region to maintain stability and protect this key economic interest . US democracy effects of in respective Middle East states The US and Israel-and the Palestinians The Jewish state is a key US ally in the Middle East since the recognition of the state by President Harry Truman in 1948. Since then Israel has continued to enjoy US support over time. Israel’s support has remained to be a pillar of US foreign policy in the Middle East as the one of the few democratic states in the region. The US policy of the state is based on several factors in that, to ensure stability in the region and a stable ally. However, Israel’s unwavering US support however, pitted it against its neighbour states who viewed it as a threat to Palestine (Dodge, 2008). Israel has over time been accused of violating known international human rights, and the tenets of democracy but the US has however supported the state for the maintenance of stability in the region. The US backed Israel in its military strikes against the Palestinian authority and militants in the Gaza strip and the occupied territories of the west bank during the rule of Ariel Sharon. Subsequently, the US push for democracy in the Palestinian territories led to the election of a religious extremist group with terrorist affiliations. The US preconditioned the Palestinian territories to allow room for democracy and in return the US would support the formation of a future Palestinian state (Dodge, 2008). The elections culminated in the election of Hamas, an Islamic group classified as a terrorist organization by the US and EU. Hamas refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and it later led to the refusal of the UN, EU, US and Russia to recognize Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The preset preconditions were that the Palestine territories would accept Israel’s right to existence, abandon violence and acknowledge previous Palestine-Israel agreements. In 2007, following a forcible capture of Gaza by Hamas the US responded by imposing economic sanctions on the Palestinian enclave. The US at the same time rapidly increased funding of the West-Bank under the control of Fatah. Fatah was headed by Mahmoud Abbas had received US support in his candidacy for prime minister and president in 2003 and 2005 respectively. The US’s intention of the increased Fatah’s funding was to undermine the Hamas movement and strengthen the Fatah party. This scenario indicates that the US promoted Fatah because there was a viable condition for having a democracy and ensuring in the region (Dodge, 2008). Bahrain In the Middle East Bahrain is an key US ally primarily due to the location of US Navy Fifth Fleet command headquarters situated in the country’s capital and due to Bahrain’s importance to Saudi Arabia as a check to Iran. Bahrain’s ruling government is comprised of the Sunni minority whereas the Shia Muslims, who are the country’s majority are minimally represented in government. The principles of democracy articulate that, in any democratic setting the ruling government must respect and teat the minority in equal measure as the majority. However, the US tends to overlook this aspect for the maintenance of stability in the region. Military aid in the country increased in 2001 from 235,000 dollars to 90.4 million in 2004 (Carothers Ottaway,2010). This was largely attributed to the US’s policy of key Bahrain as an ally and maintaining stability in the region by allowing the continued stay of US troops in the region. Iraq The Iraq invasion of 2003 was based on based on the notion that there was a need to counter US threats and bring stability and the only way viable way to do so was by introducing democracy in Iraq. Saddam’s twenty four year rule was overthrown amid an effort to bring democracy to the country and the entire Middle East region. The introduction of democracy in Iraq was seen as the cornerstone of democracy in the entire region. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice termed the transformation of Iraq as a key element of a very distinct Middle East (Dalacoura,2005). The fall of Saddam’s Baath party led to a collapse of public order which was highly unanticipated by the US. The collapse gave birth to the formation of Islamic insurgent groups that engaged the US in a war to push them out of Iraq. An extreme shortage in basic necessities such as food and water swept across the country. Insecurity became rampant and majority of the people were displaced, and a new conflict was fo rmed. A conflict between the US military and Iraq insurgents. The collapse of public order threatened stability in the region and led engagement of the longest US war in history. In Saddam’s twenty-four year rule, Iraq largely experienced stability and public order which was constrained by US’s introduction of democracy in the country. After the formation of an elected government, the country privatized all state -owned companies in all sectors except oil and minerals. This was viewed an economic reform of the country. New bilateral agreements were signed to ensure stability in the region (Dalacoura,2005). Jordan Due to its constitutional monarch, Jordan has for a long time been regarded as one of the most stable states in the Middle East. During the Bush administration, Jordan and the US only engage on an ‘as needed’ basis only. However, after the Iraq invasion in 2003, this need be basis changed. The US reviewed its relations with the Jordan and democratic reforms. However, the renewed interest of democracy in US was based on ensuring stability in the region and the significance of maintenance of peace with Israel. An agreement with the US was signed that allowed Jordan to consolidate its debt with the US. In return, Jordan agreed to train Iraq police on its soil to help combat the growing insurgency in Iraq. State interactions between the two countries increased (Carothers Ottaway,2010). Lebanon Renewed calls for democracy in Lebanon led to the country’s first free and fair general elections in 2005. The election resulted in the election of Hezbollah, a terrorist group in government. Election of the group to government led to widespread negative press against the US, but the US still kept maintaining diplomatic relations with the country for the sake of stability. The introduction of democracy in the country by US was perceived as a way maintaining stability by giving people a chance to elect leaders of their choice (Carothers Ottaway,2010). However, the election of Hezbollah faced the US with a dilemma of how to maintain diplomatic relations with the country with a government that representatives with known terrorist affiliations Syria Due to Syria’s classification as a state sponsor of terrorism the US only exercises minimal direct interactions with the state. Syria has been ruled by the Assad dynasty for decades. The Assads practice total authoritarian rule over their subjects. Under the Obama administration, the US threatened to invade Syria to impose democracy and rule of law in the country. The invasion was vetoed by Russia in the UN Security Council meeting. After the veto of military intervention, the US sponsored a revolution to topple that Assad government by supplying weapons to the revolutionary groups Documents on Democracy. (2014). A general election was held in 2014, and Bashar al-Assad won by a landslide victory. 88.7 percent of the electorates elected him even after been opposed by the US. Though the US did not explicitly acknowledge Assad’s election it recommended the people for participating in the election. References Carothers, T., Ottaway, M. (Eds.). (2010). Uncharted journey: promoting democracy in the Middle East. Carnegie Endowment Dalacoura, K. (2005). US democracy promotion in the Arab Middle East since 11 September 2001: a critique. International affairs, 81(5), 963-979. Dodge, T. (2008). US foreign policy in the Middle East (pp. 214-235). Oxford University Press. Documents on Democracy. (2014). Journal Of Democracy, 25(4), 180-185. doi:10.1353/jod.2014.0078 Diamond, L. J., Plattner, M. F., Brumberg, D. (Eds.). (2003). Islam and democracy in the Middle East. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press. Wittes, Tamara Cofman (2008). Freedom’s unsteady march: Americas role in building Arab democracy. The Brookings Institution

Encomium of Jimmy Carter :: essays research papers

There is an old Latin saying that reads, â€Å"Dimidum facti qui coepit habet sapere aude† (He who has begun has half done. Have the courage to be wise.). For proof of this, you need look no further than to our thirty-ninth president James Earl Carter Jr., more fondly known as Jimmy Carter. During his presidency, Pres. Carter showed himself prudent and often made the wise decision over the popular vote. Jimmy Carter aspired to make government competent and compassionate and his achievements were notable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pres. Carter was probably instilled with the gift of prudence because of his upbringing. Born on October 1, 1924, right in the middle of the depression, Pres. Carter had to help his family with the peanut farming. However, he knew that peanut farming was the not the right career choice for him. Talk of politics and devotion to the Baptist faith were also mainstays of his upbringing. Starting out slowly, Pres. Carter entered politics in 1962 and eight years later ran for the Governor of Georgia and was elected. President Carter began his two-year campaign for President in December 1974. Campaigning hard against President Gerald R. Ford, he debated him three times. Jimmy Carter won the election by 297 electoral votes to 241 for Ford.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, we could point out a number of prudent decisions Jimmy Carter made for our country. He dealt with the energy shortage, he prompted Government efficiency through civil service reform, he sought to improve the environment, and created the Department of Education. The biggest challenge Pres. Carter faced during his time in office, and the one where his virtue of prudence shined, was with Iran. On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately fifty-two Americans captive. The terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter and the American people that lasted 444 days. President Carter committed himself to the safe return of the hostages while protecting America’s interests and prestige. He pursued a policy of restraint that put a higher value on the lives of the hostages over protecting his own political future. Ultimately, his cho ice to bring them home, ended in his defeat.

Percy B. Shelley :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4, 1792 to the extremely conventional Sir Timothy, who, being a man of influence, no doubt wanted his first born son to follow in his footsteps (Richards 671). Shelley, however, had much less conformist views, and was even â€Å"ragged† at Eton for expressing such (Matthews 196). He did not care to learn what his â€Å"tyrants† taught, but was interested rather, in science (which was outlawed from Eton at the time), Godwin, and the French skeptics. The rebellious nature persisted as he grew older and he developed a â€Å"delight† for controversy (Matthews 195). This â€Å"delight† ultimately lead to his expulsion from Oxford because of his writing â€Å"The Necessity of Atheism.† His patience for authority continued to diminish, until he eventually developed a passion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shelley wanted to fight tyranny, as well as slavery. His ultimate goal was to lead men to a â€Å"life of freedom, love, and apprehension of the beautiful† (Richards 672). Shelley felt that repression exist because mankind instituted and tolerated it (Matthews 200). He believed that â€Å"Mankind only had to will that there should be no evil, and there would be none† (Ford 161). This idealistic view of the world is evident in the majority of Shelley’s literary works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1819, Shelley wrote â€Å"Song to the Men of England† (Editors 610). This poem was written for the same purpose as many of his others: to urge the working class of Great Britain to rebel. The imagery of a bee hive is evident throughout this piece. In stanza II, for instance, the â€Å"tyrants† are referred to as â€Å"Those ungrateful drones who would / Drain [the] sweat - nay, drink [the] blood.† In stanza III, a reference is made to the working class as the â€Å"Base of England.† The metaphor is picked up again in stanza VII, when Shelley orders the â€Å"Men of England† to â€Å"shrink to [their]...cells† (Editors 611).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most rebellion-inspiring lines are found in stanza VI:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sow seed - but let no tyrant reap;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Find wealth, - let no impostor heap;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Weave robes, - let not the idle wear;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Forge arms, - in your defense to bear. (21-24) This is the second time, in this poem alone, that Shelley refers to the aristocrats and rulers of England as tyrants. This is evidence of his strong desire for political reform. He sincerely felt that the only way to gain freedom was by overthrowing â€Å"entrenched order† (Matthews 199).

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Theory of Knowledge Divided line (Republic Book VI) What are the 2 worlds? What are the 4 divisions? The Greek terms The specific examples Allegory of the cave (Republic Book W) What is the story? Plato's method Socratic dialogue/method Socratic irony Why does Socrates never give the answer? 2 reasons: what are they? Socratic dialogue + Socratic irony = TRUTH Plato's trilogy of works on the end of Socrates' life Apology: Socrates' defense 2 charges against him: what are they? Crito: Socrates in Jail, discussing JusticePhaedo: the death of Socrates Philosophers Unpaid speakers Quest for knowledge Never claim they have knowledge Have a duty to enlighten other people even if the other people don't want it Believe in guiding others to the answer, not giving it directly Always searching for the TRUTH Socrates, Plato, Aristotle Sophists Paid speakers Taught nobility, honor, and excellence Uses rhetoric (eloquent, fancy language) to manipulate and deceive other people into thinking like the y do, into accepting their values They pretend to have the answers to ll questions, but they don't They teach in order to gain wealth and power Do not seek the truth Will spoon-feed the answer to their teachers Politicians, businessmen, etc.Gorgias, Meno, Protagoras Horse and gadfly example Socrates is the fly, Athens is the horse The horse is fat and lazy, and the fly is trying to annoy the horse to get it to move Athens is ignorant and lazy, and Socrates is trying to push the people to learn It is not easy, because one man's power is not enough to move the entire nation; all Socrates can do is keep trying Plato's Meno The question: what is virtue? The examples Socrates and Meno use to try and answer the question: Bee Shape Color Health & strength What is the problem with Meno's answers? Opinion vs. Knowledge (doxa vs. episteme) July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd notes What are the similarities?