U decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U decide - Essay Example He insisted that if the research is basically aimed at bringing a cure to the existing diseases, this will not remedy the future health needs because the same diseases will keep recurring in the future (Bostrom and Roache 3). However, Gregory states that, â€Å"the desire to triumph over our own mortality is an ancient dream though it never stands alone† (Stock 9). This means that by focusing on creation of a stronger and healthier human species will require the effort of the researchers and the entire population to focus on applying the appropriate technology to ensure that there is attainment of gains in the life expectancy of human beings and to ensure that it slows down the rate of human aging. He notes that aging is the main cause of death of human beings in many nations and the researchers will efficiently deal with this if they focus on improving the human species in a way that they become old without aging and ensuring that they are able to live longer. Human beings will therefore remain fit and healthy indefinitely. Stock also supports his stand by explaining that if researchers focus on improving the health status of the human species, it will result to improvement of health capabilities ensuring that the physical capabilities of the human species are improved. This will involve improving the bodily capacities including dexterity, strength, coordination and conditioning. He also argues that the improvements in the human species will come along with attributes of personality improvement and though these conditions are not classified as diseases, they will be part of the positive results obtained from the process. An example of this will be that people who are compulsi ve will become more relaxed and those that have a low self-esteem will become more confident. Another positive result that Stock argued would result from the improvement of the human species would be the cognitive capacities. The resulting

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG Case study

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG - Case Study Example The company had its base in the town near Salzburg since long and never felt the need to spread out far from there. The company was content with its operations and business till the year 1978 when the zeal to spread out internationally was initiated in Lenzing. The initiation or the possibility was triggered by a phone call which was made by an entrepreneur of Indian origin named Ashok Birla. The Indian entrepreneur came up with an idea of structuring a manufacturing unit in Indonesia. Initially, this proposal was turned down by the management of Lenzing owing to their lack of experience in foreign joint ventures as well as investments. However, with time Lenzing was able to identify the immense potential of the enormous and unexploited market of textile in Indonesia which made the Chairman ultimately initiate a joint venture with Birla. The outcome of the venture was a new firm named South Pacific Viscose (SPV) which was also the first foreign associate of Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2 008). Problem Statement or Issues The joint venture resulted to be quite successful and in a short period of time the firm SPV started earning huge profits by being a contributor of rayon fiber to the flourishing textile trade of Indonesia. It was found that there was a huge demand of the rayon fiber in the country and the firm efficiently exploited this opportunity which resulted in the augmentation of their profits by around 15 percent every year. In the year 1988, another production plant was set up by Lenzing due to the impressive profits. The second plant was established so as to enhance its production ability from 32,000 to 73000 tons each year. With the taste of success in Indonesia, Lenzing started spreading even out of Europe by way of initiating quite some fresh projects. The experience achieved with the help of its joint venture, SPV assisted Lenzing to expand. In the year 1992, a third plant for the purpose of rayon production was acquired by the company at Tennessee. It also started its manufacturing operations in China in 1994 by way of entering into a contract with the government of China to build a manufacturing plant of rayon around Beijing. These various investments and expansions helped Lenzing acquire the reputation of the sole rayon company across the world which boasted of a factual global presence (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). The company’s joint venture with Birla in Indonesia was functioning quite productively and profitably by the year 1994. This made the company Lenzing think yet once again of expanding more with the help of starting a third manufacturing plant of SPV which would facilitate to enhance up the production to 109,000 tons. It was also planned by the company that the third plant would focus on manufacturing rayon fibers of the most exceptional quality. The company was aware of the fact that with the addition of the third manufacturing plant, the firm SPV would be placed amongst the biggest facilities in rayon manufacturi ng and would be ranked in the second position after the Austrian plant owned by Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). Along with the profitability factor, there were other important factors too which were considered to be significant as they would majorly contribute towards the expansion. The other aspects that were measured to facilitate the expansion were the strong recognized associations with the firm’s downstream customers and also the admirable working association with the Indonesian local partner. The location of the firm in Indonesia was considered to be the major inducement behind the expansion owing to the country’s potential of turning into a motivating force for the international textile industry. Apart from the advantages that triggered the

Impact Of Globalisation On Developing Countries Economics Essay

Impact Of Globalisation On Developing Countries Economics Essay The negative impact is in the world economy due to globalisation especially to the developing countries can be easily described in ten points. According to the current financial crisis mainly developing countrys trade will suffer and the World Bank is predicting that trade will fall by 2.5% in 2009-2010, which would be the first decline in global trade flows since 1982. Many investors are frustrated that it is so difficult to establish different production and manufacturing industries in those developing countries due to having many obstacles and slowdown factors even before the crisis began. Some economists argue that the situation is currently declining and the downturn in trade has aspects which are particularly worrying for developing and emerging economies. There are some factors which are relatively important and can be describes as slowdown factors for the developing countries or poor nations. The factors are describes below. Instability Globalisation faces enormous resistance especially in the third world. The defender of globalisation argues that globalisation could not solve the entire problem. It has been accompanied by increasing instability in hundreds of countries during the last three decades. So poor nations become poorer and rich countries become richer in the world. The poor countries follow the rules and regulations of international agreements to open their market. But they fail to gain the success for lack of knowledge and information and large risks associated with this policy. Then they lose their money, wealth and sometimes resources. Most developing countries are weak and are deprived of a social safety net. Economic crisis Most growing economies in South East Asia and South Korea have suffered major economic crises in their currency and markets and in employment. The crisis is due to sudden withdrawal of short-term funds by western investors and large scale short-selling on foreign exchange and equity markets by speculators. The example can be the Asian crisis that began in the 1990s with financial meltdown in Russia in August 1998 and severe turbulence in Latin American markets particularly in Brazil and Argentina. Poverty There were 864 million people in poverty in the world due to globalisation and this is another factor. Although most poverty is predominant in countries like Africa and South East Asia, even people in China and India ,due to globalisation, are living on less than $1 per day. Whereas in developed nations the minimum wage is $7 per hour and people have a more comfortable life. Having political issues and a lack of skilled workers, degraded environment, and destroyed original culture and the pressure from IMF, USA, WTO, developing nations economies are deteriorating, Many countries have suffered increasing poverty. In East Asia and the Pacific, the rate rose from 2.1 in 1970 to 5.4 in 2009 and in South Asia rose from 3.1 to 6.0. Terrorism According to Financial Times editor Lionel Barber (2008) The economic crisis was far from over when another assault took place, this time in Mumbai. Terrorists, laden with plastic explosives, grenades and assault rifles, killed at least 192 civilians across Indias financial capital and laid waste to the luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel. By singling out symbols of Indian opulence and power, the perpetrators consciously copied the September 11 terrorists who targeted the Twin Towers in New York. So we can see that the problems of globalization are not only with third world countries but also in developed countries that are facing the serious threat of terrorism. Globalisation was doomed in the aftermath of the outrage of September 11, 2001 in USA. The terrorists killed many people and destroyed the World Trade Centre. They also attacked in the Thailand holiday resort of Bali. The onward march of global economics has faced financial crisis, the stock market collapse in the world. (Financia l Times, Dec 22, 2008.). Globalization has another negative impact of using nuclear power. The nuclear stockpile is increasing in the world due to globalisation and this should be a warning to the world. Child Labour Discrimination: Child labour is increasing in the world. You can also find child labour in the USA which is the richest country in the world. In developing countries they sell flowers, cold drinks, and magazines on the street. They live in the unhygienic places which are bad for health and have been affected by different diseases. The international labour organisation and international agency raised the world labour issue and according to their report that 100 to 200 million children under fifteen are at work and 95% are from poor countries and half of them are from Asian countries. About 100 million children have often gone to primary school in those countries. The children sometimes smuggled into different countries in the world. This problem is longstanding and historically inherited. Political Barrier There were still political barriers in eastern European countries in which communism prevailed in the 20th century. Adapting to the global market, citizens of those countries took part in revolutions, thousands of people died and governments were formed to establish capitalism. Today their door is open for global business and they joined the European Union and get many subsidies from rich European countries and their economic condition is going to stabilise their position with low inflation Global warming and diseases The world has been suffering from different diseases and the cost of drugs is expensive. The average dollar income per head means those people are not able to afford to buy such drugs. AIDS afflicts many in Africa and South Asian such as India and Thailand can hardly afford drugs. Some developing lands have been accused for using greenhouse gas for pollution but the United States of America is biggest source of the greenhouse gas in the world. Infrastructure Problem Barrier There are still infrastructure problems in developing countries such as India, China, and Malaysia, Bangladesh etc. They dont have a strong telecommunication network for contact with another country or in different areas of their country. Still the same problem exists in Africa where the people live without electricity, pure water supply system, road, technology and telecommunication as well. That is why they are not able to cope with globalisation . Holders of Power:- Some economic scholars believe that business people sometimes take control of the country from sovereign governments by forcing illegal pressure. They lack interest in the long term benefits to the country and only look to their own interests to cope with global business in the global market. Brazils former president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso stated that he didnt rule Brazil because globalisation is swallowing national state and is inevitable as are its consequences, its disasters, exclusion and social regression. So this is a threat for the country and national sovereignty. Overcoming these barriers. There are several trade theories like Dunning OLI, Porters Diamond theory, Heckscher -Ohlin model, Global shift theory along with different core ideas can help in the expansion of organizations across national or international boundaries to cope with globalisation and reduce the barriers or problems in the global financial market. I have also tried to highlight its importance for economic growth in developing countries. Daniel (2007) writes in his International business book Think globally, but act locally which means the country should do what is best for its own people rather than what is best for the world. They try to influence and understand how their people can be benefited with the help of globalisation and improve the global economic condition and return to confidence and overcome the global slowdown and improve individual opportunity. 2.11.1 Dunning OLI Theory:- Dunning (1995) OLI wrote a paradigm that is very helpful for multinational enterprise and global trade to other countries. By following this theory we can benefit and can reduce the problem of globalisation in the world. O- Ownership Specific advantage:- Corri and Farquharson stated that ownership specific advantage refers to the type of knowledge and privileges where an organisation can make goods which are not available to its own competitors. The foreign direct investor not only depends on cost but also places emphasis on ownership factors such as skilled workers, network, and ease of access to capital and use of technology. Japans joint venture with Rover and producing Honda car in the UK is an example. They believe and have invested in the UK for having skilled workers, high technology and can produce good quality product with best performance. So globalization makes it possible. The Japanese Company can say it is a UK car. The world is becoming more competitive and it can be very difficult to survive in a global competitive market. So the multinational companies are aware of the ownership factor. Their emphasis on skilled workers at low cost brings great advantage. The multinational companies are now recruiting workers from Chi na and India at a low cost. They are looking for talented people anywhere in the world and it has not ended. PepsiCo recruited 300 extra people in their snack unit through a talent assessment program in 2006. EMC started a global innovation network for research and development workers in the world. So all multinational companies are devising new strategies on a global scale to survive market conditions. L-Location Specific advantage:- For meeting the global market demands, research and development is also needed. The location is another factor of Dunning theory where MNEs can gain access to complimentary assets based on the nations competitive advantages originated in the partners home countries due to globalisation. Management skill is an important factor and India have trained many people who have moved abroad and moved back to their own country to set up new businesses in the Software industry and garments factory. Market size and growth potential are the most important location factors according to Meyer (1998) and Floyd (2002). China, India, and Russia are good locations and those countries have low cost bases now. The market of China has grown GDP10% now. Indian software industry becomes more important in the world. One specific location in India is Bangalore where infrastructure is good now. The location is more attractive to USA and UK firms which show prominence in the software industry (Heek, 1999). The global software industry is estimated to be worth around $1,300 billion now. Indias software export was worth $12 billion in 2003 and has grown 26% over the fiscal year which is a good for a developing country. They export to the USA who is dominating the market, the US buys $6 billion software products (McManus, 2004). India exports 3% software products now in the world. There are still some infrastructure problems like cultural difference, language capability and software engineering ca pacity. If they can produce three million computer scientists they can fill their export target about $ 50 billion in 2008(IT trends2004). FDI is more attractive in China which employs a low cost strategy. China now takes up 4.4% of this industry sales in the world. The production has grown about 12% for the last ten years. And the value of production output to reach US$96 billion by 2010(Wang, 1999). China has also strong domestic software industries which hold 33% of the market. The official policy is to increase this to 60% by 2012 (Gartner, 2002). I Internalisation Specific advantage:- Internalisation is a specific advantage which occurs when international markets face increased costs, because of transaction costs that global activity faces currently. In some respects that cost represents a natural barrier. Another factor is labour cost which is very high in developed countries. The theory of international division can help by their domestic market that can reduce the production cost with the help of low labour cost (Frobel, 1980). He also argues that the global profit can increase when production costs are low. This is possible in low-cost areas such as Eastern Europe and the third world countries such as India, China and Bangladesh. There needs to have been research development, good transport and communication technology (Corri, Farquharson). McManus and Floyd (2004) both stated that today India has benefited from having technological innovation. They improve the research centre and Google the worlds largest search engine is all set to open a development centre in Bangalore in India. Another leading web company, Yahoo carries out development work in Bangalore. IBM has also set up a laboratory in Delhi and 70 researchers in India. Mobile phone giants Virgin media and Vodafone have run their businesses in India recently. India now becomes a 1500 million people market now. The giant mobile handset company Nokia is to set up a research and development hub in India. Intel conducts 15-25% of its research and development outside the US and 900 in Bangalore and expects to add 1,100 employees in that company. India produces around 100 thousand computer science graduates a year. The Chinese government has prioritised boosting the information technology industry and it has become a national guiding principle in economic construction . China has an ambitious plan to turn the software industry into a new pillar industry in the 21stCentury. Chinese government has also initiated the e- government project. The success and demand on Internet protocol (IP) and Broadband subscribe line, latest net enabled devices; personal computer and semiconductors are the most popular sector in the global IT world. Personal computer users in The Middle East and Africa will increase to 17% from 7.2% in 2008(because of lower taxes, concern government effort to get PCs into school). And in Asia (excl Japan) it will be more moderate 11%. Asia is becoming the largest mobile phone market in terms of subscribers. However, the market of China has appreciated at almost 10% GDP of late in terms of growth. Now half of the world population has a mobile phone, and growth rate is nearly double. It is not used just for talking; it has now high speed Internet that people can download music, video, data etc 2.13 Heckscher -ohline Theory:- Heckscher -ohline theory is also very helpful. With the help of globalisation it is possible to remove the poverty and improve the global world. The concept of this theory is that the country has more capital but not enough labour. In this way a nation can invest its money in any poor or developing country to their mutual benefit. Sweden, Netherlands and Finland are among those countries whose capital outweighs their labour. They can invest in any Sub- Saharan African or developing country such as China or India. These countries have large labour forces or they can produce large labour intensive goods. Globalisation makes free movement of labour across borders and raises the income of labour. We have also gained knowledge from Heckscher-Ohlin theory extends the concept of comparative advantage by explaining the observed trade structure according to comparative advantages from the country-specific abundance of production along with some countries with relatively large capital but less labour focus in capital-intensive goods and high-tech products. This is seen in Japanese firms where they make substantial use of robots to assemble vehicles whereas Spanish firms, who have access to the same technology, do not because labour is relatively expensive compared to capital in Japan (Tayeb, 2000). 2.14 Global Shift Theory:- Todays global economy is genuinely borderless. Information, capital and innovation flow all over the world at top speed, enabled by technology and fuelled by consumers desires for access to the best and least expensive products (Ohmae, 1995, inside front cover). Dickens (1992) suggest in his global shift theory that the world become more internationalised and more globalised due to capital which was organised by multinational companies. The theory includes three important factors such as high technology for quality production, the relation between government and foreign organisation where any large organisation can do international business overseas with the help of politics and economics. From the business point of view, this global shift theory helps to build organizations assets, shareholders, personnel, value of chain, with which they exercise power on a global scale and growing. For example in 1960 the US was one of the biggest exporters of automobiles in the world however they had an enormous trade deficit in 2003 of $112 billion. While Japan has a comparable trade surplus of $92 billion because of their production locations abroad and they build more cars in exporting countries then other competitors like (USA). By using these theories not only the developed country can globalise their business in the world but also the developing can receive help for improving their own countrys GDP growth or financial position. Good financial health also helps to improve the populations life expectancy, and removing all barriers in the market and playing a significant role in the global economy and participating and contributing in overcoming economic crises. FDI its role in Global economy with the help of globalisation Foreign direct investment has swung back towards the developing parts of the world. Vast areas that had been shut from trade, investment and market forces have sought to join the capitalist club, opening their borders, reforming their economies and welcoming multi-national investment (The Economist, 1993). The participating players in Asian markets are Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. While China stands as the largest foreign direct investment recipient among these countries, discounting for its huge market size, fast economic growth, low labour costs, relatively well educated human resources, economic and geographical characteristics. Chinas relative performance in attracting foreign direct investment inflows is only at a level moderately above average among the developing countries. Some people have argued that globalisation is not to blame for increasing poverty and ineq uality. The current distribution of economic and political power in the world is fair. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is playing an increasing role in the world economy. Global FDI inflows were 29% higher in 2004 a total of $916 billion. Flows to developing countries in 2005 rose by 22% to reach a record high of $334 billion. Developed countries also saw increased flows; they saw a rise of 37% to $542 billion. It provides for equal opportunities for poor and in global affairs, relatively powerless. At the world level poverty is declining. FDI is one of the key factors in globalisation. It maintains some basic rules to invest. To be a success in the global economy nations have to follow the FDI laws and regulations.

Significance of the Women in Oedipus Rex Essay -- Oedipus the King Oed

Significance of the Women in Oedipus Rex  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚         Michael J. O’Brien in the Introduction to Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, maintains that there is â€Å"a good deal of evidence to support this view† that the fifth century playwright was the â€Å"educator of his people† and a â€Å"teacher†. Sophocles in his tragedy, Oedipus Rex, teaches about â€Å"morally desirable attitudes and behavior,† (4) and uses three women to help convey these principles of living. This essay will explore the role of women in the drama, the attitude toward women therein, the involvement of women in plot development, and other aspects of women in Oedipus Rex.    At the outset of Oedipus Rex no female characters are present; the reader sees a king who comes to the door full of curiosity: â€Å"Explain your mood and purport. Is it dread /Of ill that moves you or a boon ye crave?† When the priest has responded that the people are despairing from the effects of the plague, the king shows sympathy for his subjects: â€Å"Ye sicken all, well wot I, yet my pain, /How great soever yours, outtops it all.† Thomas Van Nortwick in Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life : â€Å"We see already the supreme self-confidence and ease of command in Oedipus. . . . exudes a godlike mastery in the eyes of his subjects. . . .†(21-22); such â€Å"godlike mastery† will be his undoing. The critic Ehrenberg warns that it â€Å"may lead to ‘hubris’† (74-75). Throughout the drama Sophocles draws out an ongoing contrast between the â€Å"godlike mastery† of the king and the softer, more balanced and selfless charac teristics of Jocasta, his wife. She is a foil to Oedipus. Shortly thereafter Creon, Jocasta’s brother, is returning from the Delphic oracle with the fateful words of the god’s command: â€Å"... ...ichael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.    Segal, Charles Paul. â€Å"Sophocles’ Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone.† In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi    â€Å"Sophocles† In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.    Van Nortwick, Thomas.   Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.    Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974. Significance of the Women in Oedipus Rex Essay -- Oedipus the King Oed Significance of the Women in Oedipus Rex  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚         Michael J. O’Brien in the Introduction to Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, maintains that there is â€Å"a good deal of evidence to support this view† that the fifth century playwright was the â€Å"educator of his people† and a â€Å"teacher†. Sophocles in his tragedy, Oedipus Rex, teaches about â€Å"morally desirable attitudes and behavior,† (4) and uses three women to help convey these principles of living. This essay will explore the role of women in the drama, the attitude toward women therein, the involvement of women in plot development, and other aspects of women in Oedipus Rex.    At the outset of Oedipus Rex no female characters are present; the reader sees a king who comes to the door full of curiosity: â€Å"Explain your mood and purport. Is it dread /Of ill that moves you or a boon ye crave?† When the priest has responded that the people are despairing from the effects of the plague, the king shows sympathy for his subjects: â€Å"Ye sicken all, well wot I, yet my pain, /How great soever yours, outtops it all.† Thomas Van Nortwick in Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life : â€Å"We see already the supreme self-confidence and ease of command in Oedipus. . . . exudes a godlike mastery in the eyes of his subjects. . . .†(21-22); such â€Å"godlike mastery† will be his undoing. The critic Ehrenberg warns that it â€Å"may lead to ‘hubris’† (74-75). Throughout the drama Sophocles draws out an ongoing contrast between the â€Å"godlike mastery† of the king and the softer, more balanced and selfless charac teristics of Jocasta, his wife. She is a foil to Oedipus. Shortly thereafter Creon, Jocasta’s brother, is returning from the Delphic oracle with the fateful words of the god’s command: â€Å"... ...ichael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.    Segal, Charles Paul. â€Å"Sophocles’ Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone.† In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi    â€Å"Sophocles† In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.    Van Nortwick, Thomas.   Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.    Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.

New Industries and Administration

The Meiji government during the 1880's created both an institutional and constitution structure that allowed Japan in the coming decades to be a stabile and industrializing country. Two major policies and strategies that reinforced stability and economic modernization in Japan were the creation of a national public education system and the ratification of the Meiji constitution. Both these aided in stability and thus economic growth. The creation of a national education system aided in creating stability because it indoctrinated youth in the ideas of loyalty, atriotism, and obedience. Japan's education system at first stressed free thought and the ideas of individual's exploration of knowledge but by 1890 the education system of Japan became a tool for indoctrination into what Peter Duus calls â€Å"a kind of civil religion† with the Imperial Rescript on Education. This Rescript stressed two things. First, it stressed loyalty to the emperor and to a lesser extant to the state. In every classroom a picture of the emperor was placed. Second, the education system stressed self sacrifice to the tate and family. Filial piety was taught in schools and applied not only to the family but also to the national family which included father, teacher, official and employer. The Japanese education system also created a system of technical schools and universities both public and private that educated a growing class of Japanese on how to use new western machinery, administrate government and run private industries. The Japanese education system following the Rescript on Education served primarily to teach people what to think nd not how to think; and as Edwin Reischauer stated, â€Å"Japan pioneered in the modern totalitarian technique of using the educational system for indoctrination and was in fact decades ahead of countries like Germany in perfecting these techniques. Japan's education system was a tool in creating for Japan a reliable citizenry who respected the government and had the knowledge to act as â€Å"technically efficient clogs† in the new industries and administration that an The ratification of the Meiji constitution drafted in the ummer of 1887 and signed into law in 1889 helped create a stable constitutional order in Japan. The constitution was a gift of the emperor to the people and was made up of a complicated set of checks and balances between the emperor, his cabinet, and the Diet. The constitution although it granted voting rights to only one percent of the population in Japan was well received by the people and played a critical role in lending legitimacy to the oligarchy (Genro) who ran the government. Before the constitution the Genro had little basis in heory for their continued rule other then they spoke for the emperor. But the constitution with its elections and bicameral diet lender legitimacy to the rule of the oligarchy. The constitution also brought Japan at least in the minds of the oligarchy to parity with western political institutions. Indeed, the ruling group in Japan passed the constitution through not because of popular pressure but because they thought a constitution and parliamentary government was a necessary part of the political machinery that helped make western powers trong. In the long term the parliamentary government of Japan and its constitution provided a stable government with its mix of oligarchy, monarchy, and a little democracy for the wealthy. It ensured investors and the Zaibutsu a say in government and promoted growth by creating a stabile government that was critical to ensuring investors will put capital in businesses. Both the new education and governmental structure of Japan passed in the 1880's and 1890's was essential to Japanese stability and economic and industrial growth.

Losing Weight Expository Essay

Losing Weight COM/150 Effective Essay Writing (AXIA) Struggling with the issues of weight loss and living a healthier lifestyle. Losing weight could be a short term goal, but the main idea is to eat and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Many Americans struggle with difficulties of weight loss, not only losing the weight but keeping it off. Different methods are used for losing weight, such as, exercise, various types of dieting and some medically needed procedures. Even though weight loss is vital to many people’s careers and futures, it doesn’t mean that it’s easier for these people than it is for you and me. The difference is that most people have a state of mind that they can’t afford to fail. So they are willing to pay thousands of dollars for personal coaching and expensive surgical procedures to lose the weight and keep it off. On a long-term basis, there is only one safe, effective, foolproof way to get down to a lower weight and keep off the extra pounds. That is eating a healthier reduced-calorie diet and getting enough exercise on a daily basis. Many have come to think that eating fewer calories means eating less food. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to walk around in a state of deprivation. A feeling of deprivation is the surest way to make your weight-loss plan fail. Most people find themselves eating more food when they deprive themselves. Most first-time dieters don’t enjoy counting calories because they quickly discover that it is time consuming and can become a complicated chore. Calorie counting goes hand in hand with feeling deprived that sometimes causes a person to back away from their diet. Struggling with weight-loss can be a very serious issue. The quality of your life and how long you live is to a great extent in your own hands. For what you choose to eat largely determines whether your body wards off or becomes vulnerable to a host of life-shortening diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, stroke, hypertension, and heart disease. But changing to healthy eating habits, especially if you have not previously followed the guidelines recommended by nutritionists, can be a challenge. One could have a normal number of calories but have them all from fat, and cause other problems that can lead to heart disease or stroke. Having a similarly unbalanced diet with all the calories coming from carbohydrates can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes, plus it's a really easy way to gain weight as you get older. It also promotes dental problems, especially if it's foods that tend to get caught in your mouth or on your teeth. The easiest way to do that is to avoid or at least severely limit intake of fast foods, candies, snack foods, and sweet desserts. There are all kinds of health issues related to over consumption of sugar. Diabetes would be the number one health concern. But, diabetes is not the only ill effect from over consumption of sugar. Obesity, thyroid dysfunction, kidney malfunction, and intestinal problems can all be directly associated with too much sugar consumption. Once your body has reached the point of unhealthy functioning, or you have placed such a strain on your body from over consumption that one of the related diseases has taken hold, it's almost impossible to correct one problem without creating another. Once you have become a diabetic, there are so many complications; simply choosing dieting and exercise is no longer an option. The health concerns you now have far outweigh the easy solution of diet and exercise. However, high blood pressure is also a known risk factor, for those that are over weight and have lack of physical activity and does not maintain healthy eating habits. The more you weigh the more blood your body needs to supply oxygen and nutrients. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your arteries. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight with stress that can lead to temporary high blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more you may only increase the risk of having hypertension. How to be successful with weight loss for a healthier lifestyle most people start by eating the right foods that can help us avoid certain diseases or recover faster when illnesses occur. These and other important functions are fueled by chemical substances in our food called nutrients. Nutrients are classified as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Although humans need food to survive, many people eat too much, or choose the wrong foods to eat, which leads to the body putting on weight. When you eat more calories than your daily energy requirements the extra calories are stockpiled as body-fat. Slowly these fat cells keep building up and settle on the hips, waist, thighs, upper arms and back, as well as around the heart, kidneys, liver and other organs. Fortunately body-fat can easily convert into energy; however, you must reduce your fat intake and exercise regularly. If you only reduce your fat and don't exercise, your body will also break down muscle tissue and use them for fuel. Many people struggle to lose weight that is put on and that's where weight loss companies come to the rescue. There are many different ways for weight to be lost, as there are many different sorts of weight loss companies. Firstly there is exercise centers such as gyms and recreation centers which focus on fitness as the key to lose weight, Many varieties of pills, tablets and vitamin supplements are available that claim to make you lose weight. Meal replacement programs are available where the consumer has a liquid drink instead of a meal and this provides them with necessary nutrients. Diet plans are commonly found in magazines as well as the more common weight loss centers which some supply you with foods to eat and others inform you and assist you in making wise food choices. In conclusion, I found in order to be successful with losing weight for a healthier lifestyle you can follow techniques such as, eating more vegetables during meals as water-rich foods like zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers reduce your overall calorie consumption. Some other water-rich foods include soups and salads; they are good source of nutrition, take most of the calories before noon because studies tell that the more you eat in the morning, the less you'll eat in the evening. Moreover, you will get more chances to burn off those early-day calories than late-night calories, make water your favorite drink. A person must have a minimum of 8 glasses of water in a day. Avoid taking soft drinks or carbonated beverages; moreover replace them with water. Water helps in reducing weight in the most effective manner. Avoid taking white foods as they contain large amounts of carbohydrates, which may further lead to weight gain. Replace white sugar, white rice, and white flour with whole grain breads and brown rice. Eat fruit rather than drinking fruit juice. Eating whole foods will keep you satisfied for longer period of time than juice. Moreover, fruit juices are very high in calories. Use skimmed milk as it is high in calcium and low in calories. For coffee, use nonfat powdered milk. Don't stuff yourself with food in a single sitting; instead have 5 to 6 small meals or snacks in a day. Eating several small meals helps the body to release less insulin, which keeps blood sugar steady and helps to control hunger. More and more methods develop each day but studies show the most effective method is changing your diet mentally and physically challenging yourself. Picture this: The weight is over. Of course, this essay is not promising you that you will add years to your life, or that a funny and fabulous new personality will emerge. Also, it is not promising that you will become thinner than you’ve ever been when changing your eating habits. What it is promising is that a changed relationship with your eating habits will add benefits to your life even as it subtracts pounds and takes away your fear of regaining weight. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, and the knowledge you gain from this essay can give you the power you need to change the most constant, necessary, and ongoing relationship that you have, your relationship with food. The knowledge you take from this essay should give you a realistic sense of just what is an appropriate goal for you. Genetic predisposition and even psychological factors can affect your weight. Therefore, for the person you are, there’s an appropriate weight at which you’ll look and feel your best. That’s the goal you want to aim for and maintain. References {text:bibliography-mark} (http://exercise. about. com/cs/weightloss/a/howtoloseweight) (http://acefitness. org/blog/494/how-can-i-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off)

Whats Actually Tested on the ACT Math Section Concepts, Subjects, and Skills

What's Actually Tested on the ACT Math Section Concepts, Subjects, and Skills SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you preparing for the ACT? You’re probably wondering what you need to know to be ready for the math section. For many students, the math section can be the most stressful part of the ACT because of its breadth and time difficulty. In this post, we'll break down exactly what will appear on the ACT math test, with sample questions. We'll also give you the resources you need to start studying so you can get the best score possible. What's the Format of the ACT Math Section? The ACT math section is 60 minutes long, with 60 questions total – so you’ll have just one minute to complete each question. You’ll definitely have to work quickly if you want to answer each one! Every question is multiple choice, and there is no penalty for guessing. Pacing and problem solving are the big challenges on the ACT math section. Pacing is tricky because you have to answer questions as quickly as possible without losing accuracy. In addition, you have to be able to quickly identify ways to solve problems. This is why studying specifically for ACT math is so important, since it requires you to work faster and more strategically than you have to in math class. You need to be able to problem solve, or use what the ACT calls using reasoning abilities. In addition, the math questions are not ordered by topic, so you need to be prepared to quickly switch between topics like statistics, algebra, and geometry. Test Content and Requirements The ACT tests math skills that most students know by the beginning of grade 12 – which in practice means nothing beyond Algebra II. If you’re an advanced student, ACT math content will be very straightforward. The content breakdown for ACT math is: Pre-Algebra (20-25%) Elementary Algebra (15-20%) Intermediate Algebra (15-20%) Coordinate Geometry (15-20%) Plane Geometry (20-25%) Trigonometry (5-10%) We’ll explore those sections in-depth with example problems and explain how you get scores for each section. You can use a calculator – but it has to be a permitted one. However, you’re not required to use a calculator, meaning all problems on the ACT can be solved without one. Be careful not to rely too much on your calculator if you use one, as it can actually slow you down. (For an expert discussion on the best calculators for standardized tests, see our post.) Unlike the SAT, you’re not given a reference sheet, so you have to know basic math formulas (y = mx + b, the area formula, the quadratic formula, etc) but nothing too complex. What Are ACT Math Section Subscores? Your score is based on how many total points out of 60 possible you earn. That raw score is converted to a section score between 1 and 36 (for more on that process, see our ACT scoring guide). You also receive three subscores based on the six content areas: pre-algebra and elementary algebra, intermediate algebra and coordinate geometry, and plane geometry and trigonometry. The subscores basically give more detailed information about your performance, but are generally not looked at too closely by colleges (your overall math section score and ACT composite are most important). However, you can use the subscore areas to focus your studying by math topic. We will explore the three math subsections and show some example questions for each. You might find that you are more than prepared for one area but need to focus your practice on one topic, like trigonometry or coordinate geometry. While we will give a detailed overview of what you can expect to see on the math section, we also recommend doing full practice tests so you can really get a sense of what the ACT math section is really like. #1: Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra Pre-Algebra (20-25%) Basic operations using whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and integers Place value Square roots and approximations The concept of exponents Scientific notation Factors Ratio, proportion, and percent Linear equations in one variable Absolute value and ordering numbers by value Elementary counting techniques and simple probability Data collection, representation, and interpretation Understanding simple descriptive statistics A basic operations problem. A probability problem based on a real-world situation. Elementary Algebra (15-20%) Properties of exponents and square roots Evaluation of algebraic expressions through substitution Using variables to express functional relationships Understanding algebraic operations The solution of quadratic equations by factoring Two elementary algebra problems. The first uses variables to express a real-world relationship. The second tests evaluation of algebraic expressions through substitution. #2: Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry Intermediate Algebra (15-20%) The quadratic formula Rational and radical expressions Absolute value equations and inequalities Sequences and patterns Systems of equations Quadratic inequalities Functions and modeling Matrices Roots of polynomials Complex numbers Coordinate Geometry (15-20%) Graphing and the relations between equations and graphs, including points, lines, polynomials, circles, and other curves Graphing inequalities Slope Parallel and perpendicular lines Distance Midpoints Conics #3: Plane Geometry/Trigonometry Plane Geometry (20-25%) Properties and relations of plane figures, including angles and relations among perpendicular and parallel lines Properties of circles, triangles, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids Transformations The concept of proof and proof techniques Volume Applications of geometry to three dimensions Trigonometry (5-10%) Trigonometric relations in right triangles Values and properties of trigonometric functions Graphing trigonometric functions Modeling using trigonometric functions Use of trigonometric identities Solving trigonometric equations Example questions via Preparing for the ACT. Where Can You Find ACT Math Practice Materials? Now that you know what's on ACT Math, your next step is to start practicing! The most important way to prepare for the ACT is to take practice tests. We havelinks to free, official online practice teststo get you started. If you need to especially practice math, you can just take the Math sections, but for everyone we recommend you take at least a few full-length practice ACTs so you can get an idea of how well you'd do on the entire exam and get experience taking such a long test. A prep book can also be a major help while you're studying ACT Math, especially if there are some concepts you're still struggling to understand. However, it's important to get a high-quality prep book.See our guide tothe best ACT prep books on the market. What’s Next? Not sure what your target ACT score should be? Learn what a good, bad, or excellent score looks like, and the type of score you should aim for based on your dream colleges. Want some help studying? Consider using our PrepScholar program. We take the hard part out of studying so you can focus on practicing for the test, using high-quality practice questions, and improving your weak areas. Are you not a big fan of geometry? See if it’s possible to take the ACT without geometry. Looking for a perfect ACT math score? Get tips from our 36 full-scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

6 Things to Consider when Applying to Study in the U.S.

6 Things to Consider when Applying to Study in the U.S. 6 Things to Consider when Applying to Study in the U.S. The U.S. is the most popular destination for international students in the entire world. And why not? As well as a great higher education system, the U.S. is the home of freedom, equality and competitive eating (and we’re proud of all of them, for better or worse). God bless America! [Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives/wikimedia] But competition to study in the U.S. is high, so if you’re planning to apply, there are some things you’ll need to know about first. 1. Setting a Schedule Applying to study in the U.S. can be a lengthy process, so it’s vital to set aside time accordingly. It can help to create a timeline for each step in the application process, from initial research into courses right through to making travel arrangements for when you start your studies. 2. Admission Tests Most U.S. colleges use standardized admission tests, so you’ll need to check which tests are favored by the institution at which you’re planning to study. Common tests required for undergraduate students include the SAT, the TOEFL English proficiency test, and the American College Test (ACT). Make sure to prepare for the exam properly, too! 3. Soft Factors As well as test scores and academic qualifications, most American colleges look at â€Å"soft factors† when assessing an application. These include extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, application essays and other relevant experience you might have. 4. The Common Application The Common Application (or Common App for short) is a standardized, online application used by more than 600 colleges. Using this can make the application process much simpler. 5. Finance Many U.S. colleges operate on a â€Å"need-aware† basis for international students. This is unlike the â€Å"need-blind† approach used for U.S. citizens (wherein a college will not consider ability to pay as part of an application and may offer financial aid to successful applicants). As an international student, you’ll need to check whether your college uses a â€Å"need-aware† or â€Å"need-blind† approach for applications. You may find the application process is quicker if you’re able to pay tuition fees yourself, without needing financial aid. Its funny how piles of cash can make things simpler. 6. Get In Touch! When picking a college, it’s a good idea to get in touch with their international student advisor to ask about the application process (every college is a little different). They should also be able to answer any questions you have about the institution at which they work.

Resumes and LinkedIn for Relaunchers The Essay Expert Interviewed on BlogTalkRadio

Resumes and LinkedIn for Relaunchers The Essay Expert Interviewed on BlogTalkRadio I was interviewed about resumes and LinkedIn topics on March 22, 2011 by LeeAnn Dance. Her project, Back In Force Productions, is a blog and radio show for stay-at-home parents reentering the workforce. For your listening pleasure! The interview is full of great tips not just for relaunchers but also for any job seeker. Find out about how long your resume should be; whether to include dates; and what the current trends are for the Objective statement (or not). And learn some absolute musts for your LinkedIn profile. This is my first experience embedding a BTR player into a blog post. Check it out! Listen to internet radio with Back in Force on Blog Talk Radio

Internationalization Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Internationalization Theories - Essay Example Due to the generality of the OLI, the theory has been limited to the task of explaining particular types of foreign behaviors or production of specific enterprises, unless there is an application of the framework to a specific predefined context. As opposed to other theories, OLI is specific to particular contexts of application, especially in its configuration that is likely to differ in different regions, firms, countries, industries, or in the value-added practices. On the other hand, the OLI application is most likely to rely on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) motivators (Demos, Fragkiskos and Marina, 2004). The primary assumption of the OLI is that the FDI returns, and thus the entirety of FDI, may be explained using three factors. They include: the firm’s ownership advantage ‘O’, which indicates who produces abroad, as well as other types of international activities; internationalization advantage ‘I’; and the location advantage (L), which gives reasons for   firms   to take part in FDI as opposed to licensing the foreign companies to make use of their proprietary assets (Adner and Kapoor, 2010).For the firm to effectively compete within a foreign location, it must have particular ownership advantages, which are also referred to as monopolistic or competitive advantages, which compensate for the extra costs incurred during the setting up of its operations in the foreign country, which are not faced by the producers from within the country (Desbordes, 2007).

Women's Role In Christianity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women's Role In Christianity - Research Paper Example In the early Christianity, there was no separation in the description of roles of men and women. But as the time passed by and the rights of religion started changing, there started arising negative aspects of Christianity, which said men and women are not equal and that women are inferior to men (Witherington & Witherington, pp.19-22). In the ancient Greece and Rome in Christian societies, men considered women as inferior to them and they treated them as some property possessed by them. In those days, women teachers used to preach about the second coming of Christ and that this world will end very soon. At that time, Christian churches started enjoying the cuff, which lead to patriarchal thought in Christianity emphasizing on unequal treatment of men and women. This cuff remained for next two thousand years and proved to be very brutal for women. People slaughtered women pitilessly giving them the names of witches. This atrocity continued until twentieth century, only after that the re was a change in this activity (Laporte, pp.15-16). This change was only possible because of initial protest of women for women rights in 1960s. This movement brought an intense change in the role of women in Christianity and women’s rights highlighted (Kung, pp.12-13). A feminist theology emerged containing prose on women’s role in Christianity and expressed God through a feminine image. Women started experiencing social, political, and cultural freedom and equality after 1960s but the patriarchal thought did not disappear completely. Its shadows still prevailed in the form of sexual dualism. This idea suggested that men and women are not only biologically different but men are more religious and stronger than women are. Whereas women were more poignant and instructive than men were. This concept was prevailing since the Greek times and only first women protest of 1960 had courage to challenge these thoughts. There aroused another concept called Marian Devotion rega rding women and it proved to be controversial because Catholics appreciated this phenomenon where as protestants were in strong opposition. Many people assumed that this was strengthening the feminine view of God while others said that it was in fact damaging the feminine movement because it was destructing womanhood of women. The sexual and civilizing rebellion of the 1970s and 80s specifically desired to get rid of elevated pedestals of probity emotionally involved in womanhood (Kung, pp. 16-20). There appeared two parallel movements one as a religious and other as societal. These two movements were modern and conventional in nature. The goddess reverence, â€Å"Jesus’ movement, and Marian devotion influenced the liberal feminist theological movement† (Kung, pp. 16-20). Whereas the religious rights in Christianity works on the key of sexual dualism. The religious right strives to discover morals only within customary tradition and they refuse to accept the amendment of any kind to a customary manner. The religious right resists the liberal reproductive rights of women particularly the right of abortion and homosexuality. It also does not accept the cloning technology look for reinstatement of traditional family principles standing on the patriarchal system. In the beginning, the religious rights were only supporting the faith but then they augmented their presence in important matters of the society, such as culture and politics so they that they affect the society with their opinions. It is very likely that religious rights have abhorrence for women because they doubt that women will

The Housewife who got off the Couch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Housewife who got off the Couch - Essay Example In an article entitled â€Å"The Housewife Who Got Up Off the Couch,† the story is told of Eleanor Josaitis. Josaitis is a Detroit woman who, as a housewife and mother of five, decided one day that she was going to make a difference in her backyard. Working with other community leaders, Josaitis has been successful in founding a non-profit organization in the heart of Detroit that provides job training and support for low-income families designed to get them off of the poverty rolls. Analyzing the article for evidence of enlightened self-interest provides clues to Josaitis’ goals and ethical principles as well as provides tools for assessing the role of ethics within the business organization. Enlightened self-interest is a basic concept stating that the best way one can help oneself is to help others. The article refers to this type of interest when it illustrates the reasons why Josaitis began getting involved in her community. â€Å"In 1962, as she sat watching a television program about the Nuremberg trials, Josaitis – then a housewife with five children – asked herself what she would have done if atrocities were taking place in her own backyard† (147-148). Discovering that atrocities were taking place in her backyard in the form of the Civil Rights Movement in the South followed by race riots in Detroit, she co-founded the Focus: HOPE organization. Thus, Josaitis was motivated to help others because they were suffering near her own home. Her participation in protest movements in support of the black people’s bid for equal rights is an example of indirect enlightened self-interest in that Josaitis knew something had to change for black peop le but did not see the immediate connection to her personal living situation. This became direct enlightened self-interest when she watched her city burn during race riots, literally

Managerial Applications of Technology (Business Intelligence and Assignment - 1

Managerial Applications of Technology (Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management) 2 - Assignment Example The computational power increase enables more data handling, and faster response and resolution of the problems and queries. The two are mere advancements of the field of technology made possible through the business intelligence support system. The impact of these two functions is rapid delivery rates and increased participation of the employees in the working procedures. These three variables work in a complementing manner towards one another. The possible costs of this massive expansion could be the need for establishing maintenance costs. Training the employees to work on the state of the art technology based networks is another constraint. Possible appearance of bug in the network may be another cost and constraint (Levinson, Bell, & Liu, 2011, p. 194). More data nearly always means better decision making. Since it allows clear litmus like test of the performance, achievements and the dates and objectives missed in the quantitative terms. Hence it can be easily advocated for that the data expansion and using business intelligence systems always pays dividends in the form of improved performance, self assessment and better employees understanding (Quintero et.al, 2010). Donovan, F. (2013, Feb 20). Gartner: Microsoft, Oracle, IBM lead BI and analytics market. Retrieved from fierceenterprisecommunications: http://www.fierceenterprisecommunications.com/story/gartner-microsoft-oracle-ibm-lead-bi-and-analytics-market/2013-02-20 Levinson, D., Bell, M., & Liu, H. X. (2011). Network Reliability in Practice: Selected Papers from the Fourth International Symposium on Transportation Network Reliability. Springer Science & Business

Rhetorically (Crazy Stupid Love) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rhetorically (Crazy Stupid Love) - Essay Example One would notice in the movie how infidelity affects one’s way of life and leads characters into discovering its drastic effects and the host of alternatives people do to cope with the situation. In this regard, the objective of the essay is to present a rhetorical analysis of the movie by expounding on the message of the movie and its effectiveness in establishing audience appeal through logos, pathos and ethos. The conflict in the movie stemmed from Emily’s acknowledgement of cheating on Cal, devastating his perfect perception of his life and facing him in an ambivalent situation. While Cal and Emily had a romantic dinner she asked Cal for a divorce; stunning him and leading him into a situation where ethos is applied. He tried to convince Emily to think of their family and their love. On the other hand, Emily was actually also applying the ethical appeal to present to Cal that her infidelity justifies the divorce and therefore, despite her uncertainty for her true fe elings for the man she slept with, she was convinced that there was no other option but to part ways. In her argumentation, Emily actually used logos by rationalizing and justifying that by committing an unfaithful act through sleeping with a man, other than her husband, the most logical and rational recourse is to file the divorce. The audience’s emotions could actually side on Cal or Emily, depending on the personal perspectives, value system and cultural orientation. For people from the eastern culture who still do not accept divorce as acceptable in their society, the argument of Emily is unacceptable and therefore do not appeal to their emotions (pathos). On the other hand, for people from the western culture, who have learned to accept divorce as a way of life, like the office mates of Cal who even made fun of him when he cried his heart out, the contention that divorce is the only option available after an unfair relationship, is indeed the most appealing recommendatio n (pathos). Another situation worth examining is why, despite Jacob Palmer’s advice to Cal to get over Emily, to move on and start living his life, still is convinced that Emily is the only person for him. It was actually an understandable action at the onset that Cal would listen to Jacob by succumbing to his suggestions of changing his lifestyle by making him look younger, donning new and attractive clothes, and start dating other women to seek fulfilling relationships that would help him forget about Emily. Through the use of logos, Jacob, was actually successful in convincing Cal that if Emily could find somebody to replace him; then by all means, he should likewise find ways and means to forget and replace her. The audience could actually empathize with Cal at this point and through Jacob’s innuendos, he was also effective in manifesting the presence of using pathos to appeal to the emotions of the viewers and share in the journey of transformation for Cal’ s new life. Further, the move was likewise effective as Jacob was able to manifest ethos, or an ethical appeal as he convinced even Emily that she actually made a mistake of suggesting the divorce. By showing personality and traits that exemplify expertise in treating women and being highly competent in dealing with relationships, Jacob assumed a

Democracy in the Third World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Democracy in the Third World - Essay Example (Tilly, 2007) There are various questions that need to be raised in this context which are as follows: Nationalism is that phenomenon which stems from complete loyalty and love for one's nation. Under the influence of nationalism, a citizen forms his personal sense of identity in context of the broad characterization of the nation. This consequently leads to mass identity along the same lines when like minded persons get together - a phenomenon better described as national identity. Reversibly, the identity of a nation is formed by the sentiments, attitudes and broad cultural assimilation under which its people function. The theories of nationalism and national identity are complementary to each other, and these inspire entire generations. (Tilly, 2007) Two strong factor that influences nationalism is a legacy of colonisation along with the ethnic groups. These factors, when combined provide a series of influences on the culture, historical experience and other such aspects of a nation or a state. This is due to the fact that the effect of colonisation is most seen on the evolution of ethnic groups. This is of special importance when studying a state in a third world country, where ethnic groups and tribes are of paramount importance in the basic structure of the demographics. Third world countries have seen the ravages of colonisation and are still attached to strong ethnic sentiments, in most cases. This makes for a strong context for nationalism. Yet, the character of nationalism and national identity is not enough for the survival of democracy. Democracy requires the strong footing of policy in order to support development so as to maintain a focus on nationalism and not just fighting poverty and hunger. Participants in Public Policy Public policy may be defined as that state of things or action where the public authorities exercise their freedom of choice in order to deal with certain issues. The tools or mechanisms used to deal with these issues are known as public policy. Public policy may also be defined as a set of decisions that are interrelated to one another. These decisions in turn, are taken by political parties, or other individuals involved in social service, with the broad aim of selection of certain goals that will fit into the situation at hand. Public policy may be implements to various aspects of one's public and domestic life, including welfare, health, justice, feminist policies, and interest group conflict, among various others. (Dye, 2001, p. 4 to 7)2 In this context, the participants in the public policy process may be segregated into two categories. The first are the official participants comprising of

Rhetorically (Crazy Stupid Love) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rhetorically (Crazy Stupid Love) - Essay Example One would notice in the movie how infidelity affects one’s way of life and leads characters into discovering its drastic effects and the host of alternatives people do to cope with the situation. In this regard, the objective of the essay is to present a rhetorical analysis of the movie by expounding on the message of the movie and its effectiveness in establishing audience appeal through logos, pathos and ethos. The conflict in the movie stemmed from Emily’s acknowledgement of cheating on Cal, devastating his perfect perception of his life and facing him in an ambivalent situation. While Cal and Emily had a romantic dinner she asked Cal for a divorce; stunning him and leading him into a situation where ethos is applied. He tried to convince Emily to think of their family and their love. On the other hand, Emily was actually also applying the ethical appeal to present to Cal that her infidelity justifies the divorce and therefore, despite her uncertainty for her true fe elings for the man she slept with, she was convinced that there was no other option but to part ways. In her argumentation, Emily actually used logos by rationalizing and justifying that by committing an unfaithful act through sleeping with a man, other than her husband, the most logical and rational recourse is to file the divorce. The audience’s emotions could actually side on Cal or Emily, depending on the personal perspectives, value system and cultural orientation. For people from the eastern culture who still do not accept divorce as acceptable in their society, the argument of Emily is unacceptable and therefore do not appeal to their emotions (pathos). On the other hand, for people from the western culture, who have learned to accept divorce as a way of life, like the office mates of Cal who even made fun of him when he cried his heart out, the contention that divorce is the only option available after an unfair relationship, is indeed the most appealing recommendatio n (pathos). Another situation worth examining is why, despite Jacob Palmer’s advice to Cal to get over Emily, to move on and start living his life, still is convinced that Emily is the only person for him. It was actually an understandable action at the onset that Cal would listen to Jacob by succumbing to his suggestions of changing his lifestyle by making him look younger, donning new and attractive clothes, and start dating other women to seek fulfilling relationships that would help him forget about Emily. Through the use of logos, Jacob, was actually successful in convincing Cal that if Emily could find somebody to replace him; then by all means, he should likewise find ways and means to forget and replace her. The audience could actually empathize with Cal at this point and through Jacob’s innuendos, he was also effective in manifesting the presence of using pathos to appeal to the emotions of the viewers and share in the journey of transformation for Cal’ s new life. Further, the move was likewise effective as Jacob was able to manifest ethos, or an ethical appeal as he convinced even Emily that she actually made a mistake of suggesting the divorce. By showing personality and traits that exemplify expertise in treating women and being highly competent in dealing with relationships, Jacob assumed a

Applications of Data Mining in the areas of Marketing Communications Essay Example for Free

Applications of Data Mining in the areas of Marketing Communications Essay Introduction In the information age, technological advancements have facilitated the collection of large amounts of information on various fields to include military intelligence, scientific and business data amongst several others. Computers are able to sort out this data with the aid of database management systems. Data can be classified according to predefined criteria. Data mining involves the extraction of implicit and useful information from databases. Use of relational databases is more helpful in the sense that it allows linkage with the structured query language (SQL) that allows for predicting, comparison and the determination of variations (Che, Han Yu, 1996). In websites, this technology is used by businesses in crawling through web pages and collect information that enables the organization to enhance business, analyze the market trends and utilize the information obtained to their best interest (Web Data Mining, 2013). Applications of Data Mining In the Areas of Marketing Communications, Public Relations and Corporate Communications With the development of business intelligence, corporate management through the use of data marts and reporting software can obtain data from any region or field of interest in computer readable form in a relatively short time. It uses this data to forecast on future market expectation and consumer trends. Through its models and tools, managers are able to predict future events (Web Data Mining, 2013). It allows the analysis of past records and marketing to tailor and narrow target audience. It also helps in the determination of marketing methods; in the end, it increases revenue on sales with fewer campaigns. Data mining can predict consumer behavior, the psychology of the consumer, behavior while shopping, influence of business environment on consumers and consumer motivation depending on the importance of the product.   The products sold to consumers provide data on items how they are positioned. Data mining analyzes consumption patterns, for instance, during festive seasons to find out which products sell more and the association between one product and another. It is common to associate the purchase of bread with butter (Raorane Kulkarni, 2011).Association is utilized in making decisions in cross marketing. Through web crawling information on consumer preferences are collected, their purchase records are used in making inventory decisions and analysis of fraudulent payments (Web Data Mining, 2013). Data mining can be categorized according to the data that is collected, in businesses the identification of high profit and low risk customers is an important task for business owners, customers can be segmented with associated characteristics as loyalty and other traits. This is useful in marketing and customer relationship management (Rajagopal, 2011). Accuracy is how often models get their predictions right while reliability is a measure of consistency of the model. Validation is done to determine how models perform against real data; quality and characteristics of a data mining model must be evaluated before deployment. However, data mining models are considered reliable if they generate the same type of predictions and return the same pattern of findings regardless of the test data. Reliability in data mining is also dependent on the skill, knowledge and the ingenuity of the analyst. Meaningful relations between variables can be extracted from databases in complex formats that are unachievable through manual systems. However, reliability is no longer assured in data mining due to its complex heterogeneous and dynamic nature. It is necessary to incorporate preventive measures to safeguard data validity and integrity (Kavulya, Gandhi, Narasimhan, 2008). Conclusion Data mining is an effective tool in fields as medicine, marketing and crime prevention amongst many others. The use of computers has seen this lessen the time required for researches. The tools and models it utilizes are very helpful in business in determining and predicting consumer trends and consumption patterns that were unknown in the past. This seeks to promote revenues with little campaigns. Additionally, the use of web data mining allows businessmen to monitor consumer patterns, clusters and associations for inventory purposes. However, this technique may not be completely reliable, this depends on the skills of the user and preventive measures installed checking on reliability. Through legislation and technological interventions these issues can be alleviated. References Kavulya, S., Gandhi, R. Narasimhan, P. (2008). Gumshoe: Perspective. IEEE Trans. Knowledge and Data Engineering, 8 (1), pp. 866-883. Rajagopal, S. (2011). Customer data clustering using data mining technique. International journal of Database Management Systems, 3(4), pp. 1-9. Raorane, A Kulkarni, R.V. (2001). Data mining techniques: a source for consumer behavior analysis. Retrieved November 13, 2014 from: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.1202.pdf Web data mining. (2013). Predictive analytics and data mining. Retrieved November 13, 2014 from: http://www.web-datamining.net/analytics/

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010 How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010