Racism in Toni Morrisons Song of Solmon Essay - 1222 Words

Racism in Toni Morrisons Song of Solmon Milkman is born on the day that Mr. Smith kills himself trying to fly; Milkman as a child wanted to fly until he found out that people could not. When he found, that only birds and airplanes could flyemdash;he lost all interest in himself (9). The novel Song of Solomon is about an African American man nicknamed Milkman. This novel, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison was first published in 1977, shows a great deal of the African American culture, and the discrimination within their culture at the time Song of Solomon takes place. In part one, the setting is in a North Carolina town in the 30s and 40s. Part one introduces readers to not only Milkman, but also to his family and friends.†¦show more content†¦She shows racism within the characters of her novel. With this, she gives readers a truer understanding of how life was for African Americans even after slavery was over. There are four kinds of racism in the novel Song of Solomon: African Americans against whites, White ag ainst black, Black against black and Native American against African American. Morrison uses the conversation of her characters, the actions of her characters, and the emotions of her characters to show racism. When Milkman visits the woman who delivered both his father and aunt he is shocked when she tells him, Splendid. I dont like those Negroes in town (246). Circe, the old woman, did not appreciate the African Americans in town because Everybody does what he likes nowadays (242). Macon Dead Sr., is a racist man. His daughter tries to explain to a man from the Southside of town, He never wanted us to mix with†¦people (195). Macon himself explains when his son is taken to jail the reason was, you was with that Southside nigger. Thats what did it (203). Macon is prejudice towards African Americans who dont try to be white, and towards anybody who is poorer that he is. He does things that show others this feeling. Guitars opinion of Macon is that he behaves like a white man, th inks like a white man (223). This viewpoint seems to be adamant in Song of Solomon, because Porter comments that, you [Macon] need killin, you really need killin, (26). Macon shows others his

Cultural Progression through Beowulf Essay examples

Beowulf is an Old English poem. It was written sometime between 700 and 1,000 A.D. Over the years it has been edited and rewritten countless times. Some of the more recent versions do their best to stay as close to the original story as possible while others make rather large changes to make it more engaging for today’s audiences Seamus Heaney translated a version of Beowulf in 2001. He tried hard to translate the story in a way that best represents the original. Heaney’s version is bilingual with Anglo Saxon on the left and an English translation on the right. He does make a few changes from the original story. Gor example Beowulf and his company were pagans but Heaney Christianized them in his version. Most of the changes that Heaney†¦show more content†¦She tells Beowulf that if he will do this he will become a king and he will have great rule until the gold horn that was awarded to him for defeating Grendel was returned to him. Assuming that Heaney’s version of Beowulf holds true to the original it is easy to compare it to a current version of Beowulf, like Zemeckis’. When this is done it becomes simple to examine the cultural progression of our society. There are many different aspects of different versions of Beowulf that may show change in culture but Grendel’s mother is the most obvious. There are several possible interpretation that can be taken from how sexualized Grendel’s mother was in Zemeckis’. Simply, it shows how focused our culture has become on sex. Zemeckis likely believed that if there was that sexual aspect in the film it would make for a more interesting story. Was he correct? According to IMDB the movie made a gross $82,161,969 in the first year, so yes. Even more important is the development of Beowulf’s character and how viewers see him after it. Beowulf is no longer seen as a pure and valiant but rather as deceitful, and selfish. So then Zemeckis’ way of telling th e story showed us the ugly truth of Beowulf. Although Zemeckis’s may not be as pretty, it is deeper. This could be used to show how our culture has put an increasing amount of value on knowledge. Ignorance may be bliss but knowledge isShow MoreRelatedEssay A Jungian Reading of Beowulf1622 Words   |  7 PagesA Jungian Reading of Beowulf       This essay will propose an alternative means by which to examine the distinctive fusion of historical, mythological, and poetic elements that make up the whole of Beowulf.   Jeffrey Helterman, in a 1968 essay, â€Å"Beowulf: The Archetype Enters History,† first recognized Grendel as a representation of the Shadow archetype and identified Grendel’s mother as an archetypal Anima image; I wish to extend the scope of the reading by suggesting that the dragon, too, representsRead MoreThe Metrics Of English Literature4721 Words   |  19 Pageslanguage is based on entertainment and that the enjoyment of the text lies in bringing out the beauty of the language and the craftsmanship of the author. And, as for Joseph Johnson, his insight and deconstruction of text and the English language through linguistics is able to magnify the origins of the text and how its historical context would have affected the language and style of writing. With this analysis, text and language bec omes a historical timeline that contains the foundations of Modern

Management Styles in the Workplace Free Essays

Title: Management Styles in the Workplace Purpose Statement: My purpose today is to inform you on four different management styles in the workplace. Thesis Statement: It is important for managers to understand their management style when certain situations arise in the work place, by knowing your management style you will become a better leader. Introduction: Have you ever been told, â€Å"Do it this way or don’t do it at all? † if so do you know what type of leadership or management style this. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Styles in the Workplace or any similar topic only for you Order Now Well today, I’m going to inform you about four different type of management styles; democratic, autocratic, paternalistic, and laissez-faire. Also, I am going to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each management style. Main Point 1: Democratic Management Style A. What is it? a. According to Building a Management Style, Democratic management builds commitment among employees in order to generate new ideas. It is one that seeks input from all employees and allows the staff to use their own work methods, to get the task done in a timely matter. The Democratic Management Style is similar to the participatory leadership style because it produces moderate task efficiency but high satisfaction, according to the textbook. These two types of management style result in a transformational leadership approach according to the publication by Larry Thompson. This approach results in staff empowerment by making the staff or team feel that they are part of the decision making process, which will motivate your team and generate new ideas. B. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages a. Advantages: i. It is people centered ii. Encourages others to share ideas iii. Tolerating alternative views (understanding at there is more than one way of accomplishing the goal) b. Disadvantages: i. The manager could be taken advantage of due to employees not working to their full potential. ii. Moderate task efficiency iii. Slow down decision making process Main Point 2: Autocratic Management Style A. What is it? a. According to Building a Management Style autocratic managers do a complete 180 has far as treating his/Her staff. The book states this type of manager is single-minded about getting long-term results, and help from others. b. Autocratic management style is very similar to high directive leadership style studied in the textbook, such as; productivity is high, with little concern for people and their satisfaction level. The autocratic management style only offers one-way communication, and that is through the leader. This type of management style falls into the transactional theory according to the publication by Larry Thompson. B. What are the Advantages and the Disadvantages? a. Advantages: i. Although this type of management style seems pretty forceful there are many advantages. According to Managementstyle. org a few of the advantages are: 1. Instructions are forceful, 2. can make fast decisions, 3. less unexpected side track situations due to lack of communication. b. Disadvantages: i. With such a Hitler style management approach there will disadvantages to using the autocratic management style, according to Managementstyle. org, such as: 1. The staff may feel useless as they are not consulted 2. Input from the staff is not allowed 3. Staff waiting on instructions (will cause delays) Main Point 3: Paternalistic Management Style A. What is it? a. According to learningmanagement2. com the paternalistic management style is combination of both democratic and autocratic management styles. Paternalistic managers will ask for the staff views and opinions, which allows them to feel involved, but in the end the manager will make the finial decision. b. According to Dr. Daniel Theyagu, who is a corporate trainer and seminar leader, suggest that by using the paternalistic management style approach, the leader will learn to move away from delegation to empowerment. i. Dr. Daniel Theyagu suggests leaders should stay involved with the development of their staff, so that the manager can be aware of his/her staff’s needs. ii. It is important for constant communication, to clear up any uncertainty among the staff and make sure everyone is on the same level for common values and goal of the project or task. iii. Dr. Daniel Theyagu also believes that when people feel involved they are more likely to ‘â€Å"buy in’ the visions and values of the leader. † Main Point 4: Laissez Faire Management Style: A. What is it? a. Laissez Faire Management style is also known as negligent leadership style in the textbook. According to the business dictionary website, laissez-faire management styles is a non-authoritarian approach to management. This type of manager feels that or â€Å"believes that people will excel when they are left alone to respond to their responsibilities and obligations in their own ways. B. What are the advantages and disadvantages? a. Advantages: According to about. com this type of management can be very effect if: i. When leaders are still there for consultation and feedback ii. Members are able to work alone and still be motivated iii. If Members are highly skilled, they do not need to wait on management to tell them how to complete the task. b. Disadvantages: In most cases the disadvantages out way the advantages because i. The lack of guidance may leave the staff feeling neglected. ii. According to the textbook, leader take no part in the decision-making process and offers little advice or direction. Conclusion: We are all managers of your own lives, but one day we will be leaders of others. Democratic management style allows others to take part in the decision-making process. Autocratic management style leaders make decisions without regards to others. Paternalistic allows for others input, but the decision is still up to the leader. Laissez-faire management style is a more hands off approach, and this type of leader style is not recommended for most situations. Knowing what the different types of management styles are, and what they mean, this can be an informative advantage to maybe using certain management styles in certain citations. References Autocratic,Paternalistic, Democratic, Laissez faire and Unorthodox management styles Laissez faire management style  » Tag Archive  » Business tips – BSMR. COM . (2011, October 8). Business tips – BSMR. COM  » Tips and advice about business . Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www. smr. com/tag/laissez-faire-management-style/ Matlwa,  M.. (2009,  May). Building a management style. Accountancy SA,18-19. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from Accounting Tax Periodicals. (Document ID:  1748263211). Management Styles. (n. d. ). Welcome to Learn Management 2. com. Learn about management here. Free management lessons and revision notes.. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www. learnmanagement2. com/leadership%20styles. htm Autocratic Management Style. (n. d. ). Management Style. Retrieved February 24, 2012, from http://managementstyle. org/autocratic-management-style. hp/ Dodd, C. H. (2012). Managing business and professional communication (3rd ed. ). Boston: Allyn Bacon. The Democratic Leadership Style. (n. d. ). Leadership Toolbox: Your Source for Leadership Development Resources. Retrieved February 24, 2012, from http://www. leadership-toolbox. com/democratic-leadership-style. html Theyagu, D. (n. d. ). Autocratic vs Consultative Leadership. EzineArticles Submission – Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://ezinearticles. com/? Autocratic-vs-Consultative-Leadershipid=1054914 Thompson,  L.. A study of the relationships between leadership style and employee and customer satisfaction in a wireless telecommunications company. Ph. D. dissertation, Our Lady of the Lake University, United States — Texas. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Publication No. AAT 3354209). What is laissez-faire leadership? definition and meaning. (n. d. ). BusinessDictionary. com – Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/laissez-faire-leadership. html How to cite Management Styles in the Workplace, Essay examples

American Beauty vs. The Sound And The Fury Essay Example For Students

American Beauty vs. The Sound And The Fury Essay In todays world, lots of families look like they are happy on the outside, but in reality, on the inside, they are very far from being happy. This occurrence of false impression is not only going on in todays world, but it has been going on for years in the American society and in many other societies. Many families believe that you need to portray an image to the outside world that you are very successful, and deal with your personal problems in the inside of your home. In the novel, The Sound and the Fury this family perfectly portrays an image of happiness, when on the inside, their house is falling apart one day at a time. In addition, in the movie American Beauty, a family tries to have this false image of happiness and perfection so that their neighbors can think high of them and believe that they are successful. Under it all, this family has many issues that are tearing them apart. In American Beauty they try to portray this image of happiness when in reality, they where really falling apart inside. American Beauty is a film about an American family that tries to follow the American dream. The American dream usually can be described as having a family that is living in a good neighborhood, having a successful career, and in general your life is making you happy. In this dream everything is supposed to be perfect you should not have any real worries that will tear you apart. Everything should be easy to get to and every one should be happy. The Burnham family tries to show that they are a happy family by living in a beautiful home, having a teenage daughter, and careers of their own that they are very successful in. The family is actually living in a hell that they have created over the years. In the movie, written by Alan Pall, the father, Lester Burnham Kevin Spacey shows the world that he is a very successful man. He works for a big company and his family seems to love him when they are out in public or if friends and neighbors are present. In reality, the father was a very confused man. He did not know what to do with his life. Over the years, he tried to plant in his head that he had a successful marriage, where in reality it was falling apart. His daughter at her teenage years did not have any type of relationship with her father.

Perodua - Csr free essay sample

Periods Advertising with social dimension Executive Summary Periods was set up as a national car project in the year 1993. In the initial years of its inception the company operated in a protected environment marked by both tariff and non-tariff barriers. By the year 1998 leveraging on its high local sourcing strategy the company, along with Proton, managed to capture up to 90% market share. In 2001 the company set up a Joint venture with Dadaists Motor Co. And Mitosis Co. , the Japanese partners being responsible for manufacturing and engineering operations. Operating in an open economy post AFT in year 2006, Periods has found its niche in the small car segment and completely dominates the sub-1000 c motor vehicle segment. Periods has been extensively using cause related marketing approach treating Government, suppliers and dealers, employees and customers as stakeholders in its business. It also has 2 different kinds of ad programs, product ads promote individual brands, whereas corporate ads carry social message and promote the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Perodua Csr or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 2 different departments handle the designing and positioning of these different ad types. There are obvious benefits to using corporate ads with emotional appeal; studies eave established that companies tend to realize enhanced relationship with their agencies. However on the flipped designing these ad campaigns is very complicated as sensibilities of all sections of the society have to be taken into consideration. A major downside to Personas corporate ad campaign is that no evaluation model has been adopted to measure the effect of such advertising on companys short term goal I. E sales or long term goal of being a responsible corporate citizen. The company should immediately adopt both qualitative and quantitative measures to understand the benefit of its campaign. Depending on results obtained Periods can decide on how to continue with its corporate ad campaign. Industry Overview The ass and the ass were the decades of Industrial Nationalism in Malaysia and the Government set up the national automotive programmer. Prior to 1985 Malaysia was an importer of automobiles and the aim of the programmer was to build a nationally owned and controlled automotive industry. Proton was the first of the 2 national cars and was established in 1985. It was a Joint Perusal Automobile Asked Sad Bad (Periods) was established in 1993 and was the 2nd National car project. The Government also established a heavy vehicle company Malaysian Bus and Truck (MAT) in 1994, a motorcycle manufacturer MODERNS in 1995 and a light commercial vehicle manufacturer MIGNON in 1997. In order to protect the domestic industry the Malaysian Government imposed substantial import duty on all completely built-up imported cars or completely knocked down vehicles. Apart from the import duties, non-tariff barriers such as licensing and import quotas were also enforced. The 1980 Mandatory Deletion Programmer (MAD) made local sourcing of components, between 45-60%, compulsory pending on the cubic capacity of the car. In 2005-06 under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (KEPT) scheme Malaysia was required to dismantle both tariff and non-tariff barriers. The applicable KEPT rate depending on the country of origination is shown below: The most obvious consequence of implementing the KEPT for Malaysias car producer is the minimization of protective automotive policy and disappearance of price advantage. This will open up the market for greater competition from companies from other SEAN countries like Japan and South Korea which are major automobile producers in the region. See Exhibit 1 for breakup of vehicles produced and assembled in Malaysia) Periods A background Perusal Automobile Asked Sad Bad (Periods) was established in 1993, this was the second national car project of Malaysia after Proton was set up in 1985. Periods was a Joint venture between Dadaists, Missus, and other Government controlled companies with Malaysian equity amounting to 68%. See exhibit 2 for Personas shareholding structure in 1993). Operating in a protected environment Periods was able to leverage on the MAD programmer and made use of up to 75-90% local content in its cars. This gave the company a significant price advantage over its competitors. Both national cars exploited the pricing advantage and accounted for 90% of vehicles sold in 1998. In 2001, Periods set up a Joint venture, with Dadaists Motor C o Ltd. And Mitosis Co. Ltd. , called the Periods Auto Corporation Sad Bad (BPCS). As per the Joint venture agreement, the Japanese partners would control the manufacturing and engineering operations whereas the Malaysian partner would have the largest stake. Personas strength is in the small car segment and the company aims to serve the coal and overseas markets demand for compact, affordable and reliable vehicles with excellent standards and quality. As of June 2009, the company employed about In order to enhance efficiency and cost competitiveness the company has introduced Toyota Production System (TIPS). TIPS is driven by the concept of Good Thinking Meaner Good Product and comprises of 2 main systems Just in Time and Kodak. The TIPS aimed to eliminate excessive lead-time, lower inventory levels and reduce costs. Personas Joint venture with Dadaists gave Periods an opportunity to get in shape or liberalizing of auto industry post-AFT. In 2006 the company overtook Proton to become the biggest car seller in the Malaysia. The liberalizing campaign has presented Periods with a mixed big. Personas expertise in manufacturing small cars has opened up new export markets for the company. At the same time big players with sophisticated technology and competitive production techniques now have access to Malaysian car market, thereby increasing competition for Periods in its own backyard. Marketing communication and advertising process Cause related marketing approach A marketing communication program can be successful only when all the departments of the company are actively involved in the marketing plan. All company departments and personnel should communicate the same message to the target audience. Periods places Corporate Social Responsibility (CARS) at the heart of all its business activities. So naturally the companys CARS activities form the central theme of its cause related marketing. As part of the strategy, Periods follows a 4 pronged approach where the Government, suppliers and dealers, employees and consumers re all treated as stakeholders in the business. (see exhibit 3 for Personas stakeholder structure). Some of the activities undertaken by the company to engage stakeholders are: * Government Periods engages with the Government by contributing to local man power training. In-spite of having the option of importing foreign workers, the company spends substantial amounts on training locals and employing them at its plants. The company also helped develop the local auto component and parts industry. * Suppliers and dealers Periods has developed a quality audit system to optimism local vendors performance ND to assure the quality of components supplied to the company. During the Asian financial crisis the company allowed vendors to increase prices to ensure they had sufficient working capital. Credit terms were reduced from 30 to 60 days. Employees Periods believes in an inclusive work environment and allows employees to grow invests in its work force through training, counseling and providing healthy and conducive work environment as well as employment benefits. * Consumer public Personas strength lies in the small car segment. It intends to provide more affordable vehicles for lower income level and rural people. In addition to providing quality produc ts at affordable prices, the company through its corporate ads also works to increase social awareness about safe driving practices and other positive social values. The company has also designed and implemented a training programmer for youth living in the locations that Periods operates in. It also supports various causes, financially as well as in kind, responding to the needs of less audits to ensure Advertising process privileged. The company conducts stringent environmental environmentally safe practices have been adopted. Periods has 2 kinds of ads: * Product ads These are designed with the objective of communicating the product range, features of the product etc. To the end user. Such ads are handled by the marketing section of the company. * Corporate ads With the express desire of becoming a socially responsible corporate citizen these ads with social dimension have been launched. The public affairs section is responsible for these ads. Marketing, sales and manufacturing department departments are involved in the design of these ads. See exhibit 4 for advertising matrix) Periods operates in a multi-cultural society and the main objective of the corporate ad is to transcend the racial boundary and get close to the target buyer. The company understands its consumers are realists who do not relate to superficial messages; they consider things in real terms and are practical in life. In order to connect to these real people, the ads always portray Periods as part of the society and the ad message always reflects existing social phenomenon. The main objective of these corporate ads is to create awareness amongst the general public about oral values the company believes in. Some of the social messages or issues that the company has worked with, is based on elements like driving etiquette, nationalism, inter-racial harmony and family reunion. One unique aspect about Personas ads has been its use of the individual as focus to bring out the social message; both negative and positive emotional appeals are used in the ads. The company has used both television and print media to carry its corporate ads. Newspapers are used as supplementary coverage medium to reach specific ethnic groups. Strengths of Personas advertising campaign: The company has been associating itself with elements like driving etiquette, family harmony, nationalism, racial harmony etc. These are emotions that middle class and rural people of Malaysia immediately connect with. Constant exposure to such ads will lead consumers to perceive the company as being good. * Medium of advertising The company uses television as the primary medium of advertisement. Images work quicker and convey meaning at once. Weakness of Personas advertising campaign: * Sensibilities in multi-cultural society The company operates in a multi-cultural society; perceptions and attitudes of people from different ethnic back ground towards all aspects of life might be very different. For example black in Chinese culture has neutral meaning, whereas Hindus usually consider black as a negative color. So when designing ads the company will have to be careful to ensure sensibilities of particular ethnic groups are not offended. * Enforcing/reinforcing racial stereotypes Racial stereotyping is a bane of multicultural societies. Any ad that might inadvertently reinforce such stereotype will definitely create backlash and lead to active publicity, which Periods can do without. Uncertain impact No actual evaluation has been conducted to measure the effect of the companys corporate advertising program. Effect of such ad on company sales or perception of general public about Periods is unknown. Exhibit 1: Breakup of vehicles produced and assembled in Malaysia Exhibit 2: Personas shareholding structure in 1993 Exhibit 3: Personas marketing communications stakeholders Exhibit 4: Advertising matrix of Periods [ 1 ]. Periods corporate website http://www. Periods. Com. My/corp orate/company

8 Special Little Words in English Grammar

8 Special Little Words in English Grammar To be accurate, its not the words themselves that are special; its how theyre sometimes used in sentences. Linguists have assigned names to these distinctive (and sometimes controversial) ways of using eight very common words in English: it, there, should, anymore, be, we, they, and eh. For additional examples and more detailed discussions of the terms, follow the links in bold. Dummy ItUnlike an ordinary pronoun, dummy it refers to nothing at all. In sentences about time and weather (e.g., Its six oclock, Its snowing) and in certain idioms (Its obvious youre having a tough time), it serves as a dummy subject. (For a related use of this personal pronoun, see Anticipatory It.)Existential ThereAnother familiar type of dummy subject is the existential there. In contrast to the deictic there, which refers to a place (e.g., Lets sit over there), the nonreferential there simply points out the existence of something (There is a problem with the network).Putative ShouldUnlike the mandative should, which expresses a command or recommendation (e.g., You should stop complaining), the putative should emphasizes an emotional response to a presumed fact (Its sad you should feel that way). Putative should is heard more often in British English than in American English.Positive AnymoreIn Standard English, the adverb anymore is usually limited to negative or interrogative co nstructions (e.g., She doesnt sing anymore). But in some American, Canadian, and Irish dialects, anymore is also used in positive constructions to mean now or at this time (They go to Maryland on their holidays anymore). Invariant BeA feature of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), invariant be is often misinterpreted as an all-purpose substitute for am, is and are. In fact, because invariant be (as in She be busy all the time) has the special function of marking habitual or repeated activities, AAVE makes a distinction that Standard English cant make by verb tense alone. (See No Time Like the Present Tense.)Inclusive WeIn contrast to the exclusive we, which deliberately leaves out the person whos being addressed (e.g., Dont call us; well call you), inclusive we uses a first-person plural pronoun to evoke a sense of commonality and rapport between a speaker (or writer) and his or her audience (We shall never surrender).Singular TheyMost handbooks still decry the use of they, them, or their to refer to a singular noun or an indefinite pronoun (e.g., Somebody lost their keys). But this is probably a losing battle: singular they has been in widespread use since the 14th century. Narrative EhThough strongly associated with speakers of Canadian English, narrative eh isnt exclusively Canadian. This little discourse marker or tag (described by one linguist as virtually meaningless) most often shows up at the end of a sentencelike this, eh?

Reflective Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reflective Journal - Essay Example The primary audiences for this journal are the different marketers and the organizations who are rowed in a competition for their success in a market. This journal helps them to gain insight on the various marketing trends. On the other hand, the journal provides secondary information to students and researchers to study and analyze the emerging marketing strategies and how companies are adopting new modes to compete with each other. Marketers and different organizations are the primary audience for this journal because these two groups remain in constant struggle to adopt different marketing strategies to compete with other marketers and organizations in marketing their products. This helps them to constantly monitor and analyze the various emerging trends. This research will help the primary audience to gain insight to the various strategies adopted by the different key players and how these marketers would consider marketing their product according to the new demands. For a marketer, it is important to know about the targeted customer and a particular segment but this study would have made them think that segmentation and knowing your customer is not important anymore to compete in a dynamic world of today but the main focus should be emphasized on what these marketers and organizations are offering to the customers which is more important in today’s market. Bailey, C., Baines, R. P., Wilson, H. and Clark, M. (2009). Segmentation and Customer Insight in Contemporary Services Marketing Practice: Why Grouping Customers Is No Longer Enough. Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 25, Issue 3 & 4 April 2009, Pages

Organizational structure and leaderships Term Paper

Organizational structure and leaderships - Term Paper Example Many companies have adapted a bureaucratic form of management whereby there are exaggerated numbers of management levels. Such forms of management are regarded as too bossy. A flat organizational structure in my organization therefore has fewer managers hence decisions are made in a promptly (Huffmire, 2006). In addition, employees are able to make autonomous pronouncement. According to DuBrin (2011), "A flat organizational structure acts less bureaucratically for two reasons. First, fewer available managers review the decisions of other workers. Second, a shorter chain of command means that managers and workers at lower levels can make decisions more independently" (p. 274). Decision making within my organization is decentralized as in any other institution with a flat organizational structure. Subsequently, decision making at the departmental level is also decentralized. A good example is at the Human Resource department. This means that employees at this department are able to make their own work related decisions without necessarily seeking authorization from the human resource manager as long as the decision lies within organizational objectives and plans of action. There are very few individuals with decision-making or administrative roles at the top level of hierarchy in a flat structure, and this helps improve efficiency in the decision making process as the employees do not have to seek authorization to make minor pronouncements from the top level managers. Due to the chain of command in a centralized system of leadership, making resolution may take a long time to accomplish (Huffmire, 2006). According to DuBrin (2011), a formal type of leadership is characterized by a centralized form of management. In other words, the manager or the individual with all the powers in decision making in an organization is at the top level in the hierarchy. In an informal leadership, on the other hand, the decision maker

Culture and health promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culture and health promotion - Essay Example By adapting a cultural stance, it becomes quite easy to work on a strategy that will boost the health of these individuals. Worrying and anxiety have been noted amongst the Koreans, and the use of new adaptations to deal with the issues will be an ideal means of generating the required health outcomes. The first generation is at risk as they risk their all for the sake of their children, and do not have a chance to take care of themselves, and these disadvantages them a great deal (Min, Lee & Lee, 2013). In the modern medical outlook, the health practitioners are working towards making their interactions ideal for the sake of working on their provisions. In this case, the use of the cognitive-behavioral approach is suitable in working with such norms and cultural attributes. It is imperative for people to accept change and assistance when they desire it the most (Min, Lee & Lee, 2013). It is always critical to generate the right atmosphere for the realization of these beliefs while at the same time assisting the Koreans in adapting to their new environment without neglecting their ideals (Forsman, Nordmyr & Wahlbeck, 2011). Forsman, A. K, Nordmyr, J., & Wahlbeck, K. (2011). Psychosocial interventions for the promotion of mental health and the prevention of depression among older adults. Health Promot Int. 26 (Suppl 1), i85–i107. Thunà ©-Boyle, I. C., Iliffe, S., Cerga-Pashoja, A., Lowery, D., & Warner, J. (2012). The effect of exercise on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: towards a research agenda. Int Psychogeriatr. 24,

Customer Relationship Management Techniques

Customer Relationship Management Techniques Competition between enterprises is becoming more intense in the 21st century. Economy is depressed, the industrial structure is changing, and unemployment is at a record rate in India. Under these competitive pressures, it is important to impress and improve the relationship with the customer. Because of the power of information and telecommunications technologies, business can track their customers and determine what they really want and how they actually use the product. Analyzing the information returned from customers and products, business can provide active and accurate service to the right customer through the right channel at the right time and increase customer satisfaction. This paper refers the Customer Service in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology (IT) concepts to analyze and understand the customers needs and realize the competencies of support groups within the enterprise. The customers can therefore be better served and the efficiency and effectiveness of internal company support groups can be improved. The knowledge and experience not accumulated can be solved and the cost of manpower and services reduced. A growing number of organizations have implemented or are considering implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies for the purpose of becoming more customers focused. Despite this trend, there remains a relative dearth of academic literature relating to examining the realities of achieving such organizational objectives. CRM systems can be viewed as strategic and operational information systems aimed at enabling organizations to realize a customer focus (Bull 2003). A significant number of organizations operating in diverse business environments have or are considering adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems (Fjermestad and Romano Jr 2003). Despite this phenomenal growth the organizational record of the successful development and utilizing of such systems is mixed. Some studies of CRM systems projects conclude that organizations are struggling to achieve improvements in customer performance (Giga 2001). However, others highlight a more positive scena rio (Davenport, Harris et al. 2001). As the organizational adoption and utilization of CRM systems evolves, a clearer appreciation and understanding of how CRM systems can affect customer performance should emerge. This study focuses on an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) structure to understand the implications and application of business alternatives using a questionnaire with CRM integration on the Textile industry in India. We will study business CRM implementation using Marketing Strategy Management, Customer Value Analysis, Customer Relationship Management, and Information Technology Application. This studys goals are: (1) Analyzes the key factors of CRM success from scholars and the positive CRM implementation effects to construct a CRM model; (2) Compares the differences between business scale and CRM implementation; (3) Compares the differences between business location and CRM implementation; (4) Determines key CRM success factors and related principles to provide a reference for the Textile industry with a defined CRM model. 2. Literature review 2.1 A brief history of Customer Relationship Management Beginning in the early 1980s, in the United States Customer Relationship Management was called Contact Management. Information was collected from customers and companies. In the early 1990s, call centers were generated and the customer service information analysis function was performed through data warehouse, data mining, and others technologies. Now, Web-enabled Call Centers are used to enlarge the market and determine customer initiated value-added services [1]. 2.2 The various aspects of Customer Relationship Management Kalakota and Robinson [9] considered that the appropriate CRM structure could be realized through three aspects: taking customers from other firms, enhancing customer from other firms, and maintaining the current customer base. Different management functions are needed to achieve the integrated CRM structure. By developing relationships between the business and customers, CRM could be separated into taking customers, serving customers, and customer analysis. Business could use customer profiles effectively to provide real-time, excellent customer service. This is a beginning in developing the next customer through analyzing the customers needs. To realize the four core relations at the center, CRM makes cycling the customer relation process through customer development and data feedback. It is the final target to make customer satisfied and creating profits in different functional collocation of customer relation. However, we can establish an integrated CRM structure involving three topics: Core Relations, Customer Relations, and Information Technology, by centralizing customer analysis [13]. 2.3 The theory of relationship marketing As the time trend evolving and consumer conscious raising, the traditional marketing theory will develop. Kotler [11] considered that the theory of marketing management is generated by five different operating principles (1) production concept; (2) product concept; (3) sales concept; (4) marketing concept, and (5) social market concept. He also considered that the different levels of customer relationship will separate relationship marketing into (1) basic marketing, (2) reactive marketing, (3) accountable marketing, (4) proactive marketing, and (5) partnership marketing. However, under marketing theory development, the traditional sales principles were not suited to the market of today. In business, the important task is how to use relationship marketing with integrated marketing effectively to strive for customer loyalty. Integrated marketing has progressively formed this concept. Kotler [11] considered integrated marketing as all of the divisions in the business that provide servi ces that make satisfied customers. Executing this involves two levels: (1) sales strength, (2) the collaboration of advertisement and product marketing management. At the same time, all related marketing activities must collaborate with all other divisions. To promote collaboration between all divisions, a business had to execute the external marketing and internal marketing. The external marketing is business adopted marketing activities to the external customer. The internal marketing is how to select, train, and motivate employees to provide the best service to the customer. 2.4 Value Compass Perspectives The value compass determines the value of four customer relationship perspectives was brought out by Wayland [5]. It is the strategy the best value of collaboration between business and business through correct connection. We will introduce the four perspectives that the value compass decides the value of customer relationship as follows. 2.4.1 Customer Portfolio Management Customer portfolio management means that how to choice the valuable customer relationship and management principles. It can be separated into three items: (1) Market level. Business makes the portfolio target as all customers in the wide market. The best purchasing-power customer is the best valuable customer. (2) Group level. The object is certainty distinguish or different type group customers. They could give the supplier rich feedback. Managers provide service, which satisfies customers special needs. (3) Individual level. Business has to know deeper customer knowledge and adopt individual management when the needs are very different in relation value, preference, and individual needs. 2.4.2 The setup of value position The value position is meaning that the value exchange degree between buyer and seller. Business will provide much service in the value chain or total experience for the customer to increase the value of the customer relationship. This can be separated into three items: (1) Core product. It can be defined clearly as the special part of customer value chain. Supplier can improve core product or service to reduce the cost of customer. (2) Extended service. Increase more related buyers value chain or total experience. This means that sellers could provide much service for customer to achieve the customers needs. (3) Total resolution alternative. It is wider value position that sellers will intervene in buyers who satisfied or achieved targets to adopt activities including the interrelation and communication channel between them. 2.4.3 Value-added role Value-added role is how business seeks out obtaining the best profit feedback position between customer and suppliers in related value chain. It can be separated into three roles: (1) Product manager. This is a series of interrelated activities and business behaviors that provide a product to buyers; (2) Process manager. It is a multi-perspective connected model between a customer and supplier. The process manager customer relationship involves all position in value position, but it refers to the wider value exchange; (3) Network manager. It involves multi-perspective between buyers and sellers and the connection of related groups. 2.4.4 Reward and Risk sharing The interactive between customers and suppliers is basic on value creating and value sharing. There are three different represented positions as follows: (1) Market-base sharing. It is the basic model of the reward and risk sharing. This was decided by the market and possessed neutral characteristic. (2) Expression-base sharing. In the future, it will hold and operate the price of some products that are risk-taking and uncertainty. They usually determine the risk by negotiation to develop the extend relationship. Quality assurance and after-selling service is common model of risk-taking. (3) Result-base sharing. It is partnering all most people mean joint risk-taking. However, the sharing reward is based on the degree of plan success. Customer portfolio management Added-value role Reward and risk sharing The setup of value position Individual Group Product manager Market Process manager Network manager Result-base Expression-base Market-base Core product Extend service Total resolution alternative Figure 1: Value compass 2.5 Customer Service Management There are three customer service parts including construct service system, after-sales service, and satisfaction investigation. The services provided involve before sales, sale, and after-sale. As business can provide perfect selling process in spot, they can keep the customer to increase opportunity of profit. However, all kinds of follow-up service, it can not only strive customer loyalty and compensate for customer dissatisfied but also stop negative product information from spreading. At the same time, as better understanding of what satisfies the customer, the business learns to provide improved products and services. 2.5.1 Service System Construction Rohit [12] considers that when a business builds a service system, a service design and service delivery process are involved. (1) Service design. Considers the product characteristics suitable for different services. (2) Service delivery. Considers the environment in which the service is provided, and a whole set of alternatives to ensure that service quality is achieved between the salesman and customer. Until now, most business has established a specific customer service department to handle customer related services. The administration in charge of design and controlling customer service, planning and executing all kinds of sales services occur on the spot. It, the call center or service center, will help the business deliver customer service. 2.5.2 After-sales service Management After-sales service is all kinds of services asked for after the sale is completed. This is separated into extended service satisfaction, confirmation management and after-sales service. (1) Satisfaction confirmation management. Business takes the initiative for completed consumer to confirm the product use condition and satisfaction. In the execution of after-sales services, how much resources the business inputs is divided into four items: (a) product questionnaire feedback, (b) acknowledgement letter delivery, (c) telephone interviewing, (d) sales interview. (2) The management of customers complain. An example of the general customer call process, business should obey the following principles to increase customer satisfaction: (a) Calm down the customers feelings, (b) List the emergency, (c) Express concern, (d) Afford redress, (e) Conduct a follow-up investigation. 2.5.3 Customer Satisfaction Investigation A complete customer satisfaction investigation should have overall planning to raise the validity and reliability in investigation result. The identification and supporting of senior manager will affect the result. Only senior manager support should set the investigated target to achieve customer satisfaction through developing research, analysis, and result application. We can separate the complete customer satisfaction investigation process into eight items as follows: (1) senior manager support; (2) investigation target identification; (3) investigation plan; (4) questionnaire list; (5) questionnaire execution; (6) questionnaire result analysis; (7) information sharing; (8) investigation review. 2.6 Information Technology Construction Information technology infrastructure and construction could provide the needed competitive information technology resources. They are also the key factors of forming basic strength difference. Davidoow et al. [7] considered that when information technology infrastructure and construction could allow new business strategies to appear and provide integrated connectivity mechanisms. [4]. Applegate et al. [2] considered a broad definition of information technology that included information technology infrastructure and information technology related operation and opportunity. However, Ken [10] considered that information technology construction could provide an overview of business owned information technology, possible technology, and implies business operation. This connects organization structure and business strategy. Information technology infrastructure is an information technology capability to help business information integration and sharing. Weill [14] considered that the info rmation technology capacity of technology infrastructure possesses not only information technology, but also technology perspectives that provide basic operation levels, communication, software equipment, network systems and management perspectives. Furthermore, Broadbent et al. [4] consider that information technology capacity should also involve the scope of reach and range in business; the scope of reach is connection level of information technology capacity and the range of reach is provided service of information technology capacity. 3. Methodology 3.1 The structure of Customer Relationship Management This study focuses on the cognition and application of CRM in the Textile industry in India. We analyzed the difference between Marketing Strategy Management (MSM), Customer Value Analysis (CVA), Customer Service Management (CSM), and Information Technology Application (ITA) with different characteristics (see Figure 2). Different location H1 Different scale H2 Different employees characteristics H3 Marketing Strategy Management Customer Value Analysis Customer Service Management Information Technology Application Apply CRM structure Figure 2: Research structure 3.2 Hypotheses The hypotheses developed in this work are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Hypotheses Hypotheses H1 The difference in different location to MSM, CVA, CSM, and ITA. H1a There is no significant difference in location to Marketing Strategy Management (MSM). H1b There is no significant difference in location to Customer Value Analysis (CVA). H1c There is no significant difference in location to Customer Service Management (CSM). H1d There is no significant difference in location to Information Technology Application (ITA). H2 The difference in different scale to MSM, CVA, CSM, and ITA. H2a There is no significant difference in scale to Marketing Strategy Management (MSM). H2b There is no significant difference in scale to Customer Value Analysis (CVA). H2c There is no significant difference in scale to Customer Service Management (CSM). H2d There is no significant difference in scale to Information Technology Application (ITA). H3 The difference in employee characteristics to MSM, CVA, CSM, and ITA. H3a There is no significant difference in employee characteristics to Marketing Strategy Management (MSM). H3b There is no significant difference in employee characteristics to Customer Value Analysis (CVA). H3c There is no significant difference in employee characteristics to Customer Service Management (CSM). H3d There is no significant difference in employee characteristics to Information Technology Application (ITA). 3.3 Variable description The structure is combined with Marketing Strategy Management, Customer Value Analysis, Customer Service Management, and Information Technology Application in Customer Relationship Management. The variables are described in Table 2. Table 2: The variables in CRM structure Variables Item Marketing Strategy Management 1. Business make customers become partner to participate the value interchange. 2. Carry out marketing strategy with 4P principles. 3. Each department should pursue for improving service process continuously. 4. Business should set the marketing performance assessment principles to be total marketing. 5. Take customer profile to design sales activities. 6. Take automatic technology assistant tools to design sales activities. Customer Value Analysis 1. Lead in data warehousing to setup and analyze customer profile. 2. Adopt data mining to analyze consumer behavior. 3. Establish specific department to analyze customer profile. 4. Adopt customer value analysis to identify target customers. Customer Service Management 1. It is urgent task to make quick service system as well. 2. Improve quality initiatively to satisfy customer as well. 3. Analyze customer respond question as well to improve service quality. 4. After owning perfect internal customer, business will have satisfied external customer. 5. Business should make investigation of customer satisfaction and apply it. 6. There is a rise trend of customer satisfaction by implementing CRM. Information Technology Application 1. Business and customer interchange continuously by operating information. 2. The database is the CRM base. 3. Make the best profit by applying customer database to provide marketing service. 4. As customer profiles do not be integrated, the utilization ratio of them falls. 5. Lead in the supporting technology which CRM need. 6. Adopt Internet and others related tools to provide convenient customer service. We adopted descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, t-test, One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) by SPSS for Windows 10.0 to analyze the Textile industry in India. 4. Analysis and result 4.1 The questionnaire sample structural analysis We emitted 640 questionnaires and recovered 194 in 2008. The total recovery ratio was 30.31%. Sixty-eight of the 194 returned questionnaires were invalid, making the valid recovery ratio 19.69%. This study was directed at business proprietors and unit leaders. The proprietors occupied 29.37%, senior managers occupied 48.41%, and the middle managers occupied 22.22%. The sample showed that the average business experience was 11-15 years occupied 53.18%, above 16 years occupied 26.98%. The education levels for this sample were above college occupied 93.65%. In sum, the sample had be representative to realize the questionnaire meaning when they answered. The reliability was tested by the Cronbachs ÃŽÂ ± value to each perspective (See Table 3). All perspectives reliability represent high reliable with total questionnaire Cronbachs ÃŽÂ ± value is 0.8446 (above 0.7). The Customer Value Analysis perspective (Cronbachs ÃŽÂ ± = 0.7989) and Customer Service Management perspective (Cron bachs ÃŽÂ ± = 0.7908). Table 3: Reliability analysis Perspectives # of questions Cronbachs a CRM overview 8 0.7285 Marketing Strategy Management 6 0.7998 Customer Value Analysis 4 0.7989 Customer Service Management 6 0.7908 Information Technology Application 6 0.7277 Total 30 0.8446 4.2 The analysis of difference in different location to CRM overview This paper studied the different location relation to CRM first. There was a more positive view in We will have clear CRM direction and target in the future and We should established specific department to maintain and improve customer relation with Central India area businesses than Northern and Southern area businesses. There was more positive view in There is a rise-trend of total satisfaction with customer with the central area businesses than northern and southern area businesses. For this reason, lots of resources are available in Central India. This fuels Textile industry development in the central area. 4.3 The analysis of difference in different location to MSM, CVA, CSM, and ITA. This study used One-way ANOVA to test the significant difference in different location to MSM, CVA, CSM, and ITA (See Table 4). We find that there is not any F-value significant in different location to MSM and CVA perspectives and the entire Mean is above 4. The opinions of sample in MSM and CVA perspectives are the same. We support the H1a and H1b. In the CSM perspective, there is not also any F-value significant in different location to this one, but only on After owning perfect internal customer, business will have satisfied external customer and Business should investigate customer satisfaction and apply it the mean between 3.3 to 4.0, the others are above 4. The opinions of sample in CSM perspective are the same. We support the H1c. Finally in the ITA perspective, there is only Adopt Internet and others related tools to provide convenient customer service the F-value shows significant (P= 0.005) in different location to this one. The others are not significant and the entire Me an is above 4. Most sample opinions in this perspective were the same. We support the H1d. Table 4: Statistic Analysis Items Mean Standard error F Significant Marketing Strategy Management Carry out marketing strategy with 4P principles. 4.51 0.54 0.51 0.951 Each department should pursue for improving service process continuously 4.04 0.70 0.523 0.594 Business should set the marketing performance assessment principles to be total marketing. 4.17 0.64 0.133 0.875 Business make customers become partner to participate the value interchange. 4.13 0.85 1.070 0.346 Take automatic technology assistant tools to design sales activities. 4.16 0.63 0.295 0.745 Take customer profile to design sales activities. 4.27 0.55 0.008 0.992 Customer Value Analysis Adopt data mining to analyze consumer behavior. 4.43 0.53 0.290 0.749 Lead in data warehousing to setup and analyze customer profile. 4.12 0.69 0.716 0.491 Establish specific department to analyze customer profile. 4.26 0.67 0.979 0.379 Adopt customer value analysis to identify target customers. 4.31 0.58 1.256 0.289 Customer Service Management It is urgent task to make quick service system as well. 4.30 0.58 0.038 0.963 Improve quality initiatively to satisfy customers. 4.33 0.80 0.743 0.478 After owning perfect internal customer, business will have satisfied external customer. 3.34 0.91 1.167 0.315 Business should make investigation of customer satisfaction and apply it. 3.93 0.64 0.472 0.625 There is a rise trend of customer satisfaction by implementing CRM. 4.27 0.64 0.244 0.784 Analyze customer respond question as well to improve service quality. 4.30 0.55 0.043 0.958 Information Technology Management Database is the base of building CRM. 4.41 0.53 0.408 0.666 Business and customer interchange continuously by operating information. 4.42 0.51 0.878 0.419 As customer profiles do not be integrated, the utilization ratio of them falls. 4.41 0.56 0.757 0.471 Adopt Internet and others related tools to provide convenient customer service. 4.51 0.52 5.505 0.005** Lead in the supporting technology which CRM need. 4.31 0.74 0.914 0.404 Make the best profit by applying customer database to provide marketing service. 4.06 0.42 0.939 0.394 Note: *p

Comparison & Contrast of Windows & Windows ME Essay -- essays research

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Comparison and Contrast Windows & Windows Me Pamela R Kerr NTC / 410 Richard Bohn June 22, 2005 Comparison and Contrast Windows & Windows Me   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper will identify comparison and contrast of Windows and Windows Me, which will include the program description, planning the scope and plan objectives, vocabulary definitions, project control, schedule of deliverables and resource requirements. When Windows first hit the market in 1985, it failed miserably. The over-priced, under-powered computers of the day busted a bearing over Windows ¡Ã‚ ¦ attempts at fancy graphics. Back then, Windows was not only slow. But, it also looked dorky and awkward with ugly colors. Windows has turned into a trendy best-seller installed on nearly every new computer. What are Windows and Windows Me? Windows is just another piece of software, like the zillions of others lining the store shelves. I feel Windows is not a program in the normal sense, but it is something that lets you write letters or lets your coworkers play Bozark the Destroyer over the office network after everybody else goes home. Rather, Windows controls the way you work with your computer. For years, computers have clung to a typewriter-style of work. Just as on a typewriter, people type letters and numbers into the computer. I have learned over the years that the computer listens and then places letters and numbers onto the screen and this time tested system works well. But, I also feel it takes a long time to learn and it is as boring as reading the ingredients on a jar of reduced fat peanut butter. The method is boring because computer engineers designed computers for other engineers many moons ago. They thought that computers would be forever isolated in narrow hallways where somber youngsters with crew-cuts, clipboards and white lab coats jotted down notes while the big reels whirled. Nobody expected normal people to use computers especially not in their offices, their dens, or even in their kitchens. „h Windows software dumps the typewriter analogy and updates the look of comput... ...rds, and game controllers, Microsoft now offers a small but, very focused line of routers and network adapters designed specifically for home networks. What ¡Ã‚ ¦s on the Web Site: Microsoft ¡Ã‚ ¦s massive online knowledge base contains answers to nearly every PC technical problem ever recorded. You ¡Ã‚ ¦ll also find a wealth of product information, software updates, downloadable manuals, and a few nice tutorials on Windows networking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  References Class notes and memorization from Database Management, NTC/360, NTC/410 & POS/420 (2004 & 2005). Rathbone, A. (2000). Microsoft Windows Me, Millennium Edition www.dummies.com. Safari Tech Books Online, (2005), search.safaribooksonline.com. Windows & .NET Magazine (March, 1999). On-line Sites: www.microsoft.com

Finding Forrester Essay

Finding Forrester was directed by Gus Van Sant and released in 2000. The film was interesting. It showed you that anything is possible; you just need to put in hard work and effort. Gus Van Sant shows us that it does not matter where you are from, anything is possible. Jamal Wallace is an African-American boy from the Bronx who is secretly highly intelligent but he does not want anybody knowing because it will ruin his reputation at school, an example of this is when Jamal’s teacher asks him to recite a famous poem that he knows, Jamal lies and says he does not know it. William Forrester is an old, Caucasian man who is an alcoholic and has written a famous book. Forrester spends his days in his apartment because he is scared of the public and society. The film focuses on the theme of stereotyping. A stereotype is â€Å"a widely held but fixed and over simplified image or idea of a particular type of person/thing. † –Oxford Dictionary. Stereotyping is shown throughout the film, some examples of stereotyping in the film are when Jamal is at his new school and writes an amazing paper. His teacher, Crawford, does not believe Jamal wrote the paper because he is a black boy from the Bronx who is a fantastic basketball player. There is a stereotype about African Americans being good at sports (especially basketball), but here the black character is also very smart and interested in things besides sports. In fact, Jamal throws a basketball game so no one thinks he is just another black boy only good for basketball. Another example of stereotyping in Finding Forrester is Claire. Claire is Jamal’s first friend at his new school and we see right away that she does not discriminate but is a victim of stereotyping herself. Claire’s father is the man responsible for making the school for boys and girls so students see her as spoiled and think the only reason she got accepted to school is because of her father but she is actually a very bright girl. Basketball is an important symbol in the film, which symbolizes that even though Jamal is a great basketball player, it does not mean he is not smart. This is shown in the film when Jamal gets a chance to play basketball at his new school. Basketball represents the real world; it’s struggles, relationships, and competition. There are also some more very important symbols in Finding Forrester. The books in William Forrester’s apartment represent escapism, insulation from the real world, and the world of intellect. And the window which William Forrester watches Jamal and his friends play basketball is literally a window into the real world. Forrester watches the world pass by him though that window. The characters Jamal Wallace (Robert Brown) and William Forester (Sean Connery) form a friendship through their mutual interest in writing. This all started when Jamal and his friends notice an old man, William Forrester, watching them play basketball through his window. They notice that this old man has never left his house and actually gets grocery, mail, and clothes delivered to him. One day Jamal’s friends dared him to go into Forrester’s apartment and to take something from the apartment to prove he was actually in there. While in the apartment, Jamal gets frightened by Forrester and runs out but little did Jamal know that as he was leaving he left his backpack full of all his secret journals. After Jamal talks to his friends about his experience they go out to play basketball and Forrester drops Jamal’s backpack out the window. When Jamal opens it up he finds that Forrester has gone through and corrected and critiqued every page of every journal. Furious, Jamal takes his journals back to Forrester to ask why he would do this. After days of trying to talk to Forrester, Jamal and Forrester come to an agreement that Forrester will help Jamal with his writing. They teach each other about life. Jamal helps Forrester get back into society without being scared. Forrester teaches Jamal that is does not matter where you come from, if you are intelligent, take advantage of that and embrace your great talent. The movie Finding Forrester was a good, quality movie with a great theme and moral. In this movie Jamal, an African American basketball player and student proves that it does not matter where you come from, or what color your skin is, if you are intelligent to need to let that talent shine. And William Forrester, an old, washed up writer gets a new look on life because a brilliant boy has faith in him. Together, William and Jamal fight through racism and stereotyping. â€Å"Dear Jamal, Someone I once knew wrote that we walk away from our dreams afraid that we may fail or worse yet, afraid we may succeed. You need to know that while I knew so very early that you would realize your dreams, I never imagined I would once again realize my own. Seasons change young man, and while I may have waited until the winter of my life, to see the things I’ve seen this past year, there is no doubt I would have waited too long, had it not been for you. † –William Forrester; Forrester’s letter to Jamal.

Government Intervention with Economy Essays

Government Intervention with Economy Essays Government Intervention with Economy Paper Government Intervention with Economy Paper The three most important ways the government should intervene with the economy is through social programs, health and safety controls and environment protection. Government funded social programs are essential for an economy and a country as a whole to prosper. Some of the social-insurance programs in place are welfare, pension and disability. Some citizens are unable to work because of old age, a disability or unemployment. There has to be government support to help people get through hard times, or retirement. Health care that is available to everyone, no matter who you are, is also important. In the United States some people can’t receive proper treatment due to the extreme costs. This produces huge amounts of money for the capitalists in health care, however it is an un-fair system of health care. The Canadian health care system, even though it doesn’t produce the profit, as does the United States health care system, keeps its citizens healthy due to the â€Å"free† health care. Environment protection is also another key factor a government must take into consideration. : In many capitalists pursuit for profit corners are cut on the environment. The Canadian government has many good laws for environmental protection such as tree re-planting. Without this our forests would be completely depleted. The three least important ways the government should intervene with the economy is through the private sector, innovation and makes production more efficient. The private sector has to be government free, except for some regulations such as minimum wage and fair-ness laws (prevent false advertising and un-fair hiring). For an economy to prosper to its maximum potential it must have as little government intervention so it can play itself out. This is usually always a good thing because it gives consumer choice, dollar voting and competition. However, these positives virtues may also turn bad, such as competition. If competition becomes so intense that one company owns all of the means of production for that product then that company can control the market. By controlling the market they are free to charge whatever they want for their product, this is known as a monopoly. With private ownership comes efficiency because producers want to maximize their profit by keeping their overhead costs low. The government must also intervene as little as possible with the innovation industry, except to place safety laws such as testing on animals. If a person is going to create a new product there can’t be so many laws that the person is narrowed down to one or two products. The choice has to be unlimited so the innovator can create whatever the consumers are demanding.

Challenges of Divorce essays

Challenges of Divorce essays Throughout my life I have been confronted with many challenges. Although some are greater than others, I believe that divorce is the greatest of all in my life. My parents divorce has definitely added character to my life. Within all the negative aspects of the divorce there is also a bright side to all the hard times and pain. I believe divorce comes with consequences, because I have experienced them first hand. One downfall to a divorce is the traveling involved. Some children are lucky to have their parents still live in the general vicinity of each other but for me that is not the truth. My father lives over one hundred miles away and my brother and I must travel the two and a half hour trip every other weekend in order to see our dad. A troubling aspect is figuring out what weekends we are available to take part in this trip. Scheduling time to be with my dad seems more difficult as the years progress. It is hard to find time when I am not occupied with school activities or sports. Being unorganized can get extremely hectic, especially when my brother and I have not visited my dad in several weeks. This eventually means that I will miss spending time with my friends during special events which usually occur during the time I am with my father. This being my last year in high school, I want to have as much time with my friends as possible. Although the negative aspects are great there are even greater positive effects to divorce. One rewarding part of having divorced parents is the larger family. Being able to spend time with even more relatives is a reward in itself. I receive tremendous amounts of love and care from each and every one of my relatives. The most exciting part is visiting all my relatives for the holidays. Besides the fact that there are countless people enjoying each others company, during the holidays I receive more presents than I would if my parents were still together. It is grea...

Creative Accounting and Corporate Governance Essay

Creative Accounting and Corporate Governance - Essay Example at its shares acquire premium value and (c) payment of high dividends through representing profits in an inflated manner by an over-valuation of assets. Griffiths identifies several such instances where there may be deceptive financial misreporting. Some of these include the practice by so called entrepreneurial Companies to â€Å"include capital profits from the sale of properties or shares†¦.as operating profits† although these had not actually been realized and were subject to speculation; booking â€Å"unrealized capital gains as operating profit† despite the fact that some of these so called profits were generated in transactions with business associates or within the same firm. (Griffits 1990:122). In such cases, there would often be secret arrangements in place whereby the so called â€Å"buyer† in the transaction could later transfer the assets back to the seller, just after the period when the balance sheet had to be generated. Other similar means employed were the reporting of the net profits of associated Companies as a part of their own profits, and keeping an ownership level of the Company at 4 9 percent, such that group accounts did not have to be consolidated and debts could remain unreported, thereby giving rise to a deceptive perception about its capital structure (Griffiths, 1992: 123). Creative Accounting is therefore a deceptive accounting practice that leaves room for unethical financial practices. In the case of Maxwell Communications Corporations, the Company produced a set of accounts that looked very healthy, yet a few months subsequently, the Company experienced a financial collapse. Pension funds available in the Company were being diverted to purchase companies which the Chairman Maxwell was interested in. Some of the means that were utilized by Maxwell to hide this diversion of funds included inconsistencies in the reporting of extraordinary expenses and exceptional items. Additionally, debt was disguised as equity and this executed

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 11

Personal Statement Example I have therefore over time learnt to be hardworking and always desire environments that stimulate my intellectual abilities and this I hope to enjoy at California University. As a result of the cultivated culture of handwork and desire for all round development I attained very good grades in subjects such as mathematics and English as well as sports subjects like Soccer and physical education classes. I also have a strong desire of learning in environments with people from different parts of the world since I believe there is strength in diversity. I therefore am applying for the University of California’s transfer program not only to benefit from the challenges of being in new environment but also to benefit from learning in a diverse environment that will enhance cultural exchange. I believe therefore the educational experience at the University of California will be enriching and fulfilling in terms of meeting my professional goals. I am a strong disciple of knowledge and quality education hence would always strive to get just that and apply the same to the betterment of humanity. I believe the very diverse learning environment that is the University of California will give me an opportunity to independently learn, interact with people from all over the world and stimulate my critical thought. I will make use of all opportunities to gain knowledge which I should apply in offering solutions to our world’s many problems on graduating an Actuarial Scientist from the University of California. By applying my knowledge and offering solutions to issues facing the world I believe will be able to touch, transform lives of people and contribute significantly towards society’s health. I am also an avid sports person; I highly appreciate the value of sports in enhancing the health and stability of society. I studied and attained straight A grades in soccer and physical education while at college. I participated as a soccer player in the

Who is really in charge of Platos Republic Essay

Who is really in charge of Platos Republic - Essay Example entitled ‘The Philosopher Ruler’: â€Å" The society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of the day and there will be no end to the troubles of states,†¦ of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Plato, p no. 263). Thus, Plato is convinced that the solution to the problems of the state is possible only when philosophers become rulers or rulers, philosophers. It is necessary to consider why Plato opts philosophers to be the right candidates to entrust Governmental affairs of the State. According to him, competence and good character should be the criteria for this selection. He believed that it is incorrect to select rulers either by their wealth or aristocracy; instead he emphasized on an aristocracy of talent. So he holds the view that philosophers who are of highest talent and are given the highest training should take up the responsibility of handling the affairs of the state. Thus, Plato sees all the qualities required of a good ruler in philosophers. One may wonder about the practicability of Plato’s ideal Republic and his solution to the problem- of entrusting philosophers with the task of governmental affairs. But one can never negate the goodwill, discretion and motivation behin d this

Cost Theory Essay Example for Free

Cost Theory Essay Once a plant owner spends money to manufacture goods, that money is no longer available for something else. Production facilities, machinery used in the production process and plant workers are all examples of costs. Cost theory offers an approach to understanding the costs of production that allows firms to determine the level of output that reaps the greatest level of profit at the least cost. 2. Features * Cost theory contains various measures of costs. These include a firms fixed costs and variable costs. The former do not vary with the quantity of goods produced. Rent on a facility is an example of a fixed cost. Variable costs change with the quantity produced. If increased production requires more workers, for example, those workers wages are variable costs. The sum of fixed and variable costs is a firms total costs. * Additional Measures * Cost theory derives two additional cost measures. Average total cost is the total cost divided by the number of goods produced. Marginal cost is the increase in total cost that results from increasing production by one unit of output. Marginalsincluding marginal costs and marginal revenueare key concepts in mainstream economic thought. Falling and Rising Costs * Economists often use graphs, similar to supply-and-demand charts, to illustrate cost theory and firms decisions about production. An average total cost curve is a U-shaped curve on an economic diagram. This shape illustrates how average total costs decline as output rises and then rise as marginal costs increase. Average total costs decline at first because as production rises, average costs are distributed over a larger number of units of output. Eventually, marginal costs of increasing output rise, which increases average total costs. Maximizing Profits * Economic theory holds that the goal of a firm is to maximize profit, which equals total revenue minus total cost. Determining a level of production that generates the greatest level of profit is an important consideration, one that means paying attention to marginal costs, as well as marginal revenue (the increase in revenue arising from an increase in output). Under cost theory, as long as marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, increasing production will raise profit. Types of Cost Economics Economists factor costs in many different ways. Though you may read the cost of a soup can at $1 as it’s listed on the grocery store shelf, economists view the cost of the soup can in very different ways. For example, an economist asks what you are giving up to buy that can of soup over another item. They measure the firm’s cost of producing that soup can as it relates to their output and factors of production. Thus, the different types of economic costs are varied. 1. Sunk Cost * A sunk cost is an expense that cannot be recouped. Mark Hirschy, author of the book, â€Å"Fundamentals of Managerial Economics,† explains that sunk costs should not factor into a decision when deciding between alternatives. For example, say a person spent $50,000 on a degree in education and earns $60,000 as a teacher. She is later offered a job in marketing that pays her $80,000. Though she may be tempted to factor in her education degree as reason to stay in her current teaching job, her $50,000 degree is regarded as a sunk cost. She already spent this money, and it cannot be recouped. In this case, she should only compare the respective salaries of the positions. If all else is held equal, she should pursue the marketing job. Opportunity Cost * An opportunity cost is the value of an alternative choice. Though the word â€Å"cost† usually equates to a numerical value, like a dollar figure, this is not always the case. William Baumol and Alan Blinder, authors of the book, Economics: Principles and Policy, state that an opportunity cost calculates intangible things like time, location and job satisfaction. They explain opportunity costs are what you give up to follow one course of action. For example, a college graduate is deciding between a job as a tech consultant in Seattle or an investment broker in New York City. If the grad pursues the investment broker position, the opportunity costs of foregoing the job in Seattle could be a slower pace of life, $10,000 higher salary and lower costs of living like rent and food. * Marginal Cost * A marginal cost is the amount it takes to produce one more item. Under this view of costs, they vary along the production line and in most cases the cost to produce a good reduces over time. Intuitively, this makes sense: the more proficient you become at producing a good, the faster you can do it and less waste is produced. The savings in labor and material as you achieve â€Å"economies of scale† means the cost of production usually decreases. The way economists find the marginal cost is by taking the derivative of the total costs as it relates to the total output. How to Find Marginal Cost in Economics Deciding whether to produce more units is often based on marginal cost. The economic concept of marginal cost is the cost associated with producing one additional unit. This information is important to businesses because it allows the company to decide if the additional unit is worth producing from a financial standpoint. When a company produces a small amount of product, the cost of additional units often decrease. However, marginal costs increase when additional units are added once the production level reaches a minimum. This is based on the law of diminishing marginal returns. Instructions 1. * 1 Calculate the change in total variable cost. This is the amount that the costs increased by after additional units are produced. For example, if youd like to produce more T-shirts and the increase in output would change the costs by $100, then the total variable cost is $100. * 2 Find the change in quantity produced. This represents how many additional units you would like to produce in the given scenario. For example, the change in quantity would be 50 if youd like to produce 300 T-shirts instead of 250. * 3 Divide the change in total variable costs from Step 1 by the change in quantity from Step 2. This will give you the marginal cost (marginal cost = the change in total variable cost/the change in quantity). For this example, $100 (the change in total variable cost) / 50 (the change in quantity) = $2 in marginal costs, which is the cost of producing each additional T-shirt. What Is the Relationship Between Production ;amp; Cost? Production costs are linked to t he cost of materials and labor. The relationship between production and cost in any manufacturing process varies based on volume produced and whether any part of the manufacturing process is outsourced or performed by subcontractors. Additionally, production and cost ratios vary based on the amount of automation involved in production and the amount of human oversight and involvement required. 1. Factors of Production * The main factors of production are labor, capital and supply costs. Capital is defined as equipment, cash reserves, and physical location or production facility. Labor is defined as the amount of and cost of manpower required to bring a product to market. This includes not only the physical labor and oversight related to product production, but also the associated costs of salaries of positions such as managers, delivery drivers, warehouse supervisors, marketing directors and even administrative assistance. Supply costs are any fee associated with securing necessary materials for production. Subcontractor or outsourced work is considered a supply cost as well, as the manufacturer is essentially purchasing a product or service for use in the production process. In this example, work such as offsite creation of product packaging or assembly of minor components of a finished product are considered supply costs in the same way the purchase of raw materials are considered supply costs. Volume of Production * Volume of production figures signify the amount of products being produced. Typically, the greater the volume the lower the cost per unit as raw material suppliers often offer discounts on mass or bulk orders. Volume of production is based on a company’s anticipated product needs, past sales records and placed orders. * Volume of Business * The relationship between production and cost is frequently determined by the volume of business a company is doing. An example that illustrates this point is a multinational vitamin supplement company that produces vitamins in bulk compared to a small health food chain that produces its own vitamin line in small quantities. The cost of the product produced by the small company will typically be greater than the cost of the product offered by the bulk manufacturer because the smaller company produces its product in smaller volumes. Price Points The more it costs a company to produce a product, the greater price the company will have to charge consumers. A company’s production costs include the price of materials, the cost of manpower, the production and packaging process, advertising, and distribution. Mass producers may be able to offer more competitive pricing to end users because they have the luxury of working on a thin margin due to the large volume of production. In microeconomics, the long run is the conceptual time period in which there are no fixed factors of production as to changing the output level by changing the capital stock or by entering or leaving an industry. The long run contrasts with the short run, in which some factors are variable and others are fixed, constraining entry or exit from an industry. In macroeconomics, the long run is the period when the general price level, contractual wage rates, and expectations adjust fully to the state of the economy, in contrast to the short run when these variables may not fully adjust. [1] In the long run, firms change production levels in response to (expected) economic profits or losses, and the land, labor, capital goods and entrepreneurship vary to reach associated long-run average cost. In the simplified case of plant capacity as the only fixed factor, a generic firm can make these changes in the long run: * enter an industry in response to (expected) profits * leave an industry in response to losses * increase its plant in response to profits * decrease its plant in response to losses. Long-run average-cost curve with economies of scale to Q2 and diseconomies of scale thereafter. The long run is associated with the long-run average cost (LRAC) curve in microeconomic models along which a firm would minimize its average cost (cost per unit) for each respective long-run quantity of output. Long-run marginal cost (LRMC) is the added cost of providing an additional unit of service or commodity from changing capacity level to reach the lowest cost associated with that extra output. LRMC equalling price is efficient as to resource allocation in the long run. The concept of long-run cost is also used in determining whether the long-run expected to induce the firm to remain in the industry or shut down production there. In long-run equilibrium of an industry in which perfect competition prevails, the LRMC = Long run average LRAC at the minimum LRAC and associated output. The shape of the long-run marginal and average costs curves is determined by economies of scale. The long run is a planning and implementation stage. [2][3] Here a firm may decide that it needs to produce on a larger scale by building a new plant or adding a production line. The firm may decide that new technology should be incorporated into its production process. The firm thus considers all its long-run production options and selects the optimal combination of inputs and technology for its long-run urposes. [4] The optimal combination of inputs is the least-cost combination of inputs for desired level of output when all inputs are variable. [3] Once the decisions are made and implemented and production begins, the firm is operating in the short run with fixed and variable inputs. [3][5] Short run All production in real time occurs in the short run. The short run is the conceptual time period in which at least one factor of production is fixed in amount and others are variable in am ount. Costs that are fixed, say from existing plant size, have no impact on a firms short-run decisions, since only variable costs and revenues affect short-run profits. Such fixed costs raise the associated short-run average cost of an output long-run average cost if the amount of the fixed factor is better suited for a different output level. In the short run, a firm can raise output by increasing the amount of the variable factor(s), say labor through overtime. A generic firm already producing in an industry can make three changes in the short run as a response to reach a posited equilibrium: * increase production decrease production * shut down. In the short run, a profit-maximizing firm will: * increase production if marginal cost is less than marginal revenue (added revenue per additional unit of output); * decrease production if marginal cost is greater than marginal revenue; * continue producing if average variable cost is less than price per unit, even if average total cost is gre ater than price; * shut down if average variable cost is greater than price at each level of output. Transition from short run to long run The transition from the short run to the long run may be done by considering some short-run equilibrium that is also a long-run equilibrium as to supply and demand, then comparing that state against a new short-run and long-run equilibrium state from a change that disturbs equilibrium, say in the sales-tax rate, tracing out the short-run adjustment first, then the long-run adjustment. Each is an example of comparative statics. Alfred Marshall (1890) pioneered in comparative-static period analysis. [6] He istinguished between the temporary or market period (with output fixed), the short period, and the long period. Classic contemporary graphical and formal treatments include those of Jacob Viner (1931),[7] John Hicks (1939),[8] and Paul Samuelson (1947). [9] The law of diminishing marginal returns The law of diminishing marginal returns to a variable factor applies to the short run. [10] It posits an effect of decreased added or marginal product of from variable factors, which increas es the supply price of added output. [11] The law is related to a positive slope of the short-run marginal-cost curve. 12] Macroeconomic usages The usage of long run and short run in macroeconomics differs somewhat from the above microeconomic usage. J. M. Keynes (1936) emphasized fundamental factors of a market economy that might result in prolonged periods away from full-employment. [13] In later macro usage, the long run is the period in which the price level for the economy is completely flexible as to shifts in aggregate demand and aggregate supply. In addition there is full mobility of labor and capital between sectors of the economy and full capital mobility between nations. In the short run none of these conditions need fully hold. The price is sticky or fixed as to changes in aggregate demand or supply, capital is not fully mobile between sectors, and capital is not fully mobile to interest rate differences among countries amp; fixed exchange rates. [14] A famous critique of neglecting short-run analysis was by John Maynard Keynes, who wrote that In the long run, we are all dead, referring to the long-run proposition of the quantity theory of, for example, a doubling of the money supply doubling the price level. 15] Marginal  Analysis Thinking at the  Margin From Mike Moffatt, former About. com Guide From an economists perspective, making choices involves making decisions at the margin that is, making decisions based on small changes in resources: * How should I spend the next hour? * How should I spend the next dollar? On the surface, this seems like a strange way of considering the choices made by people and firms. It is rare that someone would consciously ask themselves How will I spend dollar number 24,387? , How will I spend dollar number 24,388? . Treating the problem in this matter does have some distinct advantages: * Doing so leads to the optimal decisions being made, subject to preferences, resources and informational constraints. * It makes the problem less messy from an analytic point of view, as we are not trying to analyze a million decisions at once. * While this does not exactly mimic conscious decision making processes, it does provide results similar to the decisions people actually make. That is, people may not think using this method, but the decisions they make are as if they do. Marginal Analysis An Example Consider the decision on how many hours to work, as given by the following chart: Hour Hourly Wage Value of Time Hour 1 $10 $2 Hour 2 $10 $2 Hour 3 $10 $3 Hour 4 $10 $3 Hour 5 $10 $4 Hour 6 $10 $5 Hour 7 $10 $6 Hour 8 $10 $8 Hour 9 $15 $9 Hour 10 $15 $12 Hour 11 $15 $18 Hour 12 $15 $20 The hourly wage represents what I earn for working an extra hour it is the marginal gain or the marginal benefit. The value of time is essentially an opportunity cost it is how much I value having that hour off. In this example it represents a marginal cost what it costs me by working an additional hour. The increase in marginal costs is a common phenomenon; I do not mind working a few hours since there are 24 hours in a day. I still have plenty of time to do other things. However, as I start to work more hours it reduces the number of hours I have for other activities. I have to start giving up more and more valuable opportunities to work those extra hours. It is clear that I should work the first hour, as I gain $10 in marginal benefits and lose only $2 in marginal costs, for a net gain of $8. By the same logic I should work the second and third hours as well. I will want to work until which time the marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit. I will want to work the 10th hour as I receive a net benefit of #3 (marginal benefit of $15, marginal cost of $12). However, I will not want to work the 11th hour, as the marginal cost ($18) exceeds the marginal benefit ($15) by three dollars. Thus marginal analysis suggests that rational maximizing behavior is to work for 10 hours. Next Lesson: Market Distortions: Altering the Supply and Demand Equilibrium. Marginal Analysis * Marginal Revenue Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Revenue * Marginal Significance Value Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Si * Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost Practice Question Related Articles * Running a Private Practice Working with Animals * Work Stress Long Work Hours Are Not the Culprit * Open for Business: Scheduling Your Week Being a Personal Trainer * Three Union Work Rules That Increase the Cost of Operating Transit * Hold On to Your Sanity Start Your Own Business AN INTRODUCTION TO COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS| * Background * Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) estimates and totals up the equivalent money value of the benefits and costs to the community of projects to establish whether they are worthwhile. These projects may be dams and highways or can be training programs and health care systems. * The idea of this economic accounting originated with Jules Dupuit, a French engineer whose 1848 article is still worth reading. The British economist, Alfred Marshall, formulated some of the formal concepts that are at the foundation of CBA. But the practical development of CBA came as a result of the impetus provided by the Federal Navigation Act of 1936. This act required that the U. S. Corps of Engineers carry out projects for the improvement of the waterway system when the total benefits of a project to whomsoever they accrue exceed the costs of that project. Thus, the Corps of Engineers had created systematic methods for measuring such benefits and costs. The engineers of the Corps did this without much, if any, assistance from the economics profession. It wasnt until about twenty years later in the 1950s that economists tried to provide a rigorous, consistent set of methods for measuring benefits and costs and deciding whether a project is worthwhile. Some technical issues of CBA have not been wholly resolved even now but the fundamental presented in the following are well established. * Principles of Cost Benefit Analysis * One of the problems of CBA is that the computation of many components of benefits and costs is intuitively obvious but that there are others for which intuition fails to suggest methods of measurement. Therefore some basic principles are needed as a guide. There Must Be a Common Unit of Measurement * In order to reach a conclusion as to the desirability of a project all aspects of the project, positive and negative, must be expressed in terms of a common unit; i. e. , there must be a bottom line. The most convenient common unit is money. This means that all benefits and costs of a project should be measured in terms of their equivalent money value. A program may provide benefits which are not directly expressed in terms of dollars but there is some amount of money the recipients of the benefits would consider just as good as the projects benefits. For example, a project may provide for the elderly in an area a free monthly visit to a doctor. The value of that benefit to an elderly recipient is the minimum amount of money that that recipient would take instead of the medical care. This could be less than the market value of the medical care provided. It is assumed that more esoteric benefits such as from preserving open space or historic sites have a finite equivalent money value to the public. * Not only do the benefits and costs of a project have to be expressed in terms of equivalent money value, but they have to be expressed in terms of dollars of a particular time. This is not just due to the differences in the value of dollars at different times because of inflation. A dollar available five years from now is not as good as a dollar available now. This is because a dollar available now can be invested and earn interest for five years and would be worth more than a dollar in five years. If the interest rate is r then a dollar invested for t years will grow to be (1+r)t. Therefore the amount of money that would have to be deposited now so that it would grow to be one dollar t years in the future is (1+r)-t. This called the discounted value or present value of a dollar available t years in the future. * When the dollar value of benefits at some time in the future is multiplied by the discounted value of one dollar at that time in the future the result is discounted present value of that benefit of the project. The same thing applies to costs. The net benefit of the projects is just the sum of the present value of the benefits less the present value of the costs. * The choice of the appropriate interest rate to use for the discounting is a separate issue that will be treated later in this paper. CBA Valuations Should Represent Consumers or Producers Valuations As Revealed by Their Actual Behavior * The valuation of benefits and costs should reflect preferences revealed by choices which have been made. For example, improvements in transportation frequently involve saving time. The question is how to measure the money value of that time saved. The value should not be merely what transportat ion planners think time should be worth or even what people say their time is worth. The value of time should be that which the public reveals their time is worth through choices involving tradeoffs between time and money. If people have a choice of parking close to their destination for a fee of 50 cents or parking farther away and spending 5 minutes more walking and they always choose to spend the money and save the time and effort then they have revealed that their time is more valuable to them than 10 cents per minute. If they were indifferent between the two choices they would have revealed that the value of their time to them was exactly 10 cents per minute. * The most challenging part of CBA is finding past choices which reveal the tradeoffs and equivalencies in preferences. For example, the valuation of the benefit of cleaner air could be established by finding how much less people paid for housing in more polluted areas which otherwise was identical in characteristics and location to housing in less polluted areas. Generally the value of cleaner air to people as revealed by the hard market choices seems to be less than their rhetorical valuation of clean air. * Benefits Are Usually Measured by Market Choices * When consumers make purchases at market prices they reveal that the things they buy are at least as beneficial to them as the money they relinquish. Consumers will increase their consumption of any commodity up to the point where the benefit of an additional unit (marginal benefit) is equal to the marginal cost to them of that unit, the market price. Therefore for any consumer buying some of a commodity, the marginal benefit is equal to the market price. The marginal benefit will decline with the amount consumed just as the market price has to decline to get consumers to consume a greater quantity of the commodity. The relationship between the market price and the quantity consumed is called the demand schedule. Thus the demand schedule provides the information about marginal benefit that is needed to place a money value on an increase in consumption. * Gross Benefits of an Increase in Consumption is an Area Under the Demand Curve * The increase in benefits resulting from an increase in consumption is the sum of the marginal benefit times each incremental increase in consumption. As the incremental increases considered are taken as smaller and smaller the sum goes to the area under the marginal benefit curve. But the marginal benefit curve is the same as the demand curve so the increase in benefits is the area under the demand curve. As shown in Figure 1 the area is over the range from the lower limit of consumption before the increase to consumption after the increase. * Figure 1 * When the increase in consumption is small compared to the total consumption the gross benefit is adequately approximated, as is shown in a welfare analysis, by the market value of the increased consumption; i. e. , market price times the increase in consumption. * Some Measurements of Benefits Require the Valuation of Human Life * It is sometimes necessary in CBA to evaluate the benefit of saving human lives. There is considerable antipathy in the general public to the idea of placing a dollar value on human life. Economists recognize that it is impossible to fund every project which promises to save a human life and that some rational basis is needed to select which projects are approved and which are turned down. The controversy is defused when it is recognized that the benefit of such projects is in reducing the risk of death. There are many cases in which people voluntarily accept increased risks in return for higher pay, such as in the oil fields or mining, or for time savings in higher speed in automobile travel. These choices can be used to estimate the personal cost people place on increased risk and thus the value to them of reduced risk. This computation is equivalent to placing an economic value on the expected number of lives saved. * The Analysis of a Project Should Involve a With Versus Without Comparison * The impact of a project is the difference between what the situation in the study area would be with and without the project. This that when a project is being evaluated the analysis must estimate not only what the situation would be with the project but also what it would be without the project. For example, in determining the impact of a fixed guideway rapid transit system such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area the number of rides that would have been taken on an expansion of the bus system should be deducted from the rides provided by BART and likewise the additional costs of such an expanded bus system would be deducted from the costs of BART. In other words, the alternative to the project must be explicitly specified and considered in the evaluation of the project. Note that the with-and-without comparison is not the same as a before-and-after comparison. Another example shows the importance of considering the impacts of a project and a with-and-without comparison. Suppose an irrigation project proposes to increase cotton production in Arizona. If the United States Department of Agriculture limits the cotton production in the U. S. by a system of quotas then expanded cotton production in Arizona might be offset by a reduction in the cotto n production quota for Mississippi. Thus the impact of the project on cotton production in the U. S. might be zero rather than being the amount of cotton produced by the project. * Cost Benefit Analysis Involves a Particular Study Area The impacts of a project are defined for a particular study area, be it a city, region, state, nation or the world. In the above example concerning cotton the impact of the project might be zero for the nation but still be a positive amount for Arizona. * The nature of the study area is usually specified by the organization sponsoring the analysis. Many effects of a project may net out over one study area but not over a smaller one. The specification of the study area may be arbitrary but it may significantly affect the conclusions of the analysis. * Double Counting of Benefits or Costs Must be Avoided Sometimes an impact of a project can be measured in two or more ways. For example, when an improved highway reduces travel time and the risk of injury the value of property in areas served by the highway will be enhanced. The increase in property values due to the project is a very good way, at least in principle, to measure the benefits of a project. But if the increased property values are included then it is unnecessary to include the value of the time and lives saved by the improvement in the highway. The property value went up because of the benefits of the time saving and the reduced risks. To include both the increase in property values and the time saving and risk reduction would involve double counting. * Decision Criteria for Projects * If the discounted present value of the benefits exceeds the discounted present value of the costs then the project is worthwhile. This is equivalent to the condition that the net benefit must be positive. Another equivalent condition is that the ratio of the present value of the benefits to the present value of the costs must be greater than one. * If there are more than one mutually exclusive project that have positive net present value then there has to be further analysis. From the set of mutually exclusive projects the one that should be selected is the one with the highest net present value. * If the funds required for carrying out all of the projects with positive net present value are less than the funds available this means the discount rate used in computing the present values is too low and does not reflect the true cost of capital. The present values must be recomputed using a higher discount rate. It may take some trial and error to find a discount rate such that the funds required for the projects with a positive net present value is no more than the funds available. Sometimes as an alternative to this procedure people try to select the best projects on the basis of some measure of goodness such as the internal rate of return or the benefit/cost ratio. This is not valid for several reasons. * The magnitude of the ratio of benefits to costs is to a degree arbitrary because some costs such as operating costs may be deducted from benefits and thus not be included in the cost figure. This is called netting out of operating costs. This netting out may be done for some projects and not for others. This manipulation of the benefits and costs will not affect the net benefits but it may change the benefit/cost ratio. However it will not raise the benefit cost ratio which is less than one to above one. For more on this topic see Benefit/ cost Ratio Magnitude. * An Example * To illustrate how CBA might be applied to a project, let us consider a highway improvement such as the extension of Highway 101 into San Jose. The local four-lane highway which carried the freeway and commuter traffic into San Jose did not have a median divider and its inordinate number of fatal head-on collisions led to the name Blood Alley. The improvement of the highway would lead to more capacity which produces time saving and lowers the risk. But inevitably there will be more traffic than was carried by the old highway. * The following is a highly abbreviated analysis using hypothetical data. TRIP DATA| No Extension, Blood Alley Only| 101 Extension and Blood Alley| Rush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips ( per hour)| 3,000| 4,000| Trip Time (minutes)| 50| 30| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 10| $0. 10| Nonrush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips (per hour)| 500| 555. 55| Trip Time (minutes)| 35| 25| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 08| $0. 08| Traffic Fatalities per year)| 12| 6| * The data indicates that for rush-hour trips the time cost of a trip is $5 without the project and $3 with it. It is assumed that the operating cost for a vehicle is unaffected by the project and is $4. * The project lowers the cost of a trip and the public responds by increasing the number of trips taken. There is an increase in consumer surplus both for the trips which would have been taken without the project and for the trips which are stimulated by the project. * For trips which would have been taken anyway the benefit of the project equals the value of the time saved times the number of trips. For the rush-hour trip the project saves $2 and for the nonrush-hour trip it saves $0. 80. For the trips generated by the project the benefit is equal to one half of the value of the time saved times the increase in the number of trips. * The benefits per hour are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| 6,000. 00| 1,000. 00| 7,000. 00| Nonrush Hour| 400. 00| 22. 22| 422. 22| * To convert the benefits to an annual basis one multiplies the hourly benefits of each type of trip times the number of hours per year for that type of trip. There are 260 week days per year and at six rush hours per weekday there are 1560 rush hours per year. This leaves 7200 nonrush hours per year. With these figures the annual benefits are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| $9,360,000| $1,560,000| $10,020,000| Nonrush Hour| $2,880,000| $160,000| $3,040,000| Total| $12,240,000| $1,720,000| $13,960,000| * The value of the reduced fatalities may be computed in terms of the equivalent economic value people place upon their lives when making choices concerning risk and money. If the labor market has wages for occupations of different risks such that people accept an increase in the risk of death of 1/1,000 per year in return for an increase in income of $400 per year then a project that reduces the risk of death in a year by 1/1000 gives a benefit to each person affected by it of $400 per year. The implicit valuation of a life in this case is $400,000. Thus benefit of the reduced risk project is the expected number of lives saved times the implicit value of a life. For the highway project this is 6x$400,000= $2,400,000 annually. * The annual benefits of the project are thus: TYPE OF BENEFIT| VALUE OF BENEFITS PER YEAR| Time Saving| $13,960,000| Reduced Risk| $2,400,000| * Let us assume that this level of benefits continues at a constant rate over a thirty-year lifetime of the project. * The cost of the highway consists of the costs for its right-of-way, its construction and its maintenance. The cost of the right-of-way is the cost of the land and any structures upon it which must be purchased before the construction of the highway can begin. For purposes of this example the cost of right-of-way is taken to be $100 million and it must be paid before any construction can begin. At least part of the right-of- way cost for a highway can be recovered at the end of the lifetime of the highway if it is not rebuilt. For the example it is assumed that all of the right-of-way cost is recoverable at the end of the thirty-year lifetime of the project. The construction cost is $200 million spread evenly over a four-year period. Maintenance cost is $1 million per year once the highway is completed. * The schedule of benefits and costs for the project are as follows: TIME (year)| BENEFITS ($millions)| RIGHT-OF -WAY ($millions)| CONSTRUCTION COSTS $millions)| MAINTENANCE ($millions)| 0| 0| 100| 0| 0| 1-4| 0| 0| 50| 0| 5-29| 16. 36| 0| 0| 1| 30| 16. 36| -100| 0| 1| * The benefits and costs are in constant value dollars; i. e. , there was no price increase included in the analysis. Therefore the discount rate used must be the real interest rate. If the interest rate on long term bonds is 8 percent and the rate of inflation is 6 percent then the real rate of interest is 2 p ercent. Present value of the streams of benefits and costs discounted at a 2 percent back to time zero are as follows:   | PRESENT VALUE $ millions)| Benefits| 304. 11| Costs|   | Right-of-Way| 44. 79| Construction| 190. 39| Maintenance| 18. 59| Total Costs| 253. 77| |   | | Net Benefits| 50. 35| | *independent rounding| * The positive net present value of $50. 35 million and benefit/cost ratio of 1. 2 indicate that the project is worthwhile if the cost of capital is 2 percent. When a discount rate of 3 percent is the benefit/cost ratio is slightly under 1. 0. This means that the internal rate of return is just under 3 percent. When the cost of capital is 3 percent the project is not worthwhile. It should be noted that the market value of the right-of-way understates the opportunity cost of having the land devoted to the highway. The land has a value of $100 million because of its income after property taxes. The economy is paying more for its alternate use but some of the pay ment is diverted for taxes. The discounted presented value of the payments for the alternate use might be more like $150 million instead of $100 million. Another way of making this point is that one of the costs of the highway is that the local governments lose the property tax on the land used. * Summary By reducing the positive and negative impacts of a project to their equivalent money value Cost-Benefit Analysis determines whether on balance the project is worthwhile. The equivalent money value are based upon information derived from consumer and producer market choices; i. e. , the demand and supply schedules for the goods and services affected by the project. Care must be taken to properly allow for such things as inflation. When all this has been considered a worthwhile project is one for which the discounted value of the benefits exceeds the discounted value of the costs; i. . , the net benefits are positive. This is equivalent to the benefit/cost ratio being greater than on e and the internal rate of return being greater than the cost of capital. * History of Cost-Benefit Analysis * CBA has its origins in the water development projects of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers had its origins in the French engineers hired by George Washington in the American Revolution. For years the only school of engineering in the United States was the Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1879, Congress created the Mississippi River Commission to prevent destructive floods. The Commission included civilians but the president had to be an Army engineer and the Corps of Engineers always had veto power over any decision by the Commission. * In 1936 Congress passed the Flood Control Act which contained the wording, the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs. The phrase if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs established cost-benefit analysis. Initially the Corps of Engineers developed ad hoc methods for estimating benefits and costs. It wasnt until the 1950s that academic economists discovered that the Corps had developed a system for the economic analysis of public investments. Economists have influenced and improved the Corps methods since then and cost-benefit analysis has been adapted to most areas of public decision-making.