Fi515 Chapter 1 Mini Case

MINI CASE a. Why is corporate finance important to all managers? Corporate finance is important to all managers because it provides managers the skills needed to identify and select the corporate strategies and individual projects that add value to their firm and forecast the funding requirements of their company and devise strategies for acquiring those funds. b. Describe the organizational forms a company might have as it evolves from a start-up to a major corporation. List the advantages and disadvantages of each form. The organizational forms a company might have as it evolves from a start-up to a major corporation are proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. The advantages of a proprietorship are: †¢Easy and inexpensive to form, †¢Subject to few government regulations, and †¢Income not subject to corporate taxation. The disadvantages of a proprietorship are: †¢May be difficult to obtain the capital needed for growth, †¢Unlimited personal liability for the businesses’ debts, and †¢Limited to the life of its founder. The advantages of a partnership are: †¢Relatively easy to establish, †¢Increased ability to raise funds, Prospective employees become attracted to the business if given the incentive to become a partner, †¢May benefit from the combination of complementary skills of two or more people, †¢Can be cost effective, and †¢Provide moral support and will allow for more creative brainstorming. The disadvantages of a partnership ar e: †¢Partners are jointly and individually liable for the actions of the other partners, †¢Profits must be shared, †¢Disagreements can occur, †¢May have limited life, †¢Has limitations that keeps it from becoming a large business, †¢Partners have to consult with each other before making decisions, and †¢Unlimited liability. The advantages of a corporation are: †¢Unlimited life, †¢Easy transferability of ownership interest, and †¢Limited liability. The disadvantages of a corporation are: †¢Earnings may be subject to double taxation, and †¢Complex and time-consuming set up. c. How do corporations go public and continue to grow? What are agency problems? What is corporate governance? Corporations go public and continue to grow by selling stock to outsiders or venture capitalists, attracting lending from banks or raising additional funds through an initial public offering (IPO) by selling stock to the public at large. Agency problems are conflicts of interest arising between creditors, shareholders and managers because of differing goals. Corporate governance is the relationship between all the stakeholders in the company. d. What should be the primary objective of managers? The primary objective of managers is stockholder wealth maximization, which means to maximize the fundamental price of the firm’s common stock and not just the current market price. 1)Do firms have any responsibilities to society at large? Yes, firms have responsibilities to society at large. Corporate social responsibility is operating a business in a manner that accounts for the social and environmental impact created by the business. This means a commitment to developing policies that integrate responsible practices into daily business operations and to reporting on progress made toward implementing these practices. 2)Is stock price maximization good or bad for society? Stock price maximization is good for society. Shareholders are members of society. Consumers benefit when companies develop products and services that consumers want and need, which leads to new technology and new products. Employees benefit generally when companies successfully increase stock prices, it opens up growth and addition for more employees. 3)Should firms behave ethically? Yes, firms should behave ethically. There is no room for unethical behavior in the business world. Most executives believe that there is a positive correlation between ethics and long-run profitability. Conflicts often arise between profits and ethics. Companies must deal with these conflicts on a regular basis. Failure to handle these situations properly can lead to huge product liability suits and even bankruptcy. e. What three aspects of cash flows affect the value of any investment? The three aspects of cash flows the affect the value of any investment are the amount of expected cash flows, the timing of the cash flow stream, and the risk of the cash flows. f. What are free cash flows? Free cash flows are the monies available for distribution to all investors after paying current expenses, taxes, and making the investments necessary for growth. g. What is the weighted average cost of capital? The weighted average cost of capital is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. . How do free cash flows and the weighted average cost of capital interact to determine a firm’s value? Free Cash Flow = Sales Revenues – Operating Costs and Taxes – Required Investments in Operating Capital. Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is affected by market interest rates, market risk aversion, cost of debt, cost of equity, firmâ €™s debt/equity mix, and firm’s business risk. Therefore, free cash flows and the weighted average cost of capital interact to determine a firm’s value by the following equation: Value=FCF1+FCF2+ †¦ +FCF00 (1 + WACC)1(1 + WACC)2(1 + WACC)00 i. Who are the providers (savers) and users (borrowers) of capital? How is capital transferred between savers and borrowers? Households and some foreign governments are the providers (savers) of capital. Non-financial corporation’s net users and U. S. governments are users (borrowers) of capital. Financial corporations are slight users (borrowers), but almost breakeven. Capital is transferred between savers and borrowers by direct transfer, through an investment banking house, or through a financial intermediary. j. What do we call the price that a borrower must pay for debt capital? What is the price of equity capital? What are the four most fundamental factors that affect the cost of money, or the general level of interest rates, in the economy? The price that a borrower must pay for debt capital is called the interest rate. The price of equity capital is the cost of equity equals required return equals dividend yield plus capital gains. The four most fundamental factors that affect the cost of money, or the general level of interest rates, in the economy are production opportunities, time preferences for consumption, risk, and expected inflation. k. What are some economic conditions (including international aspects) that affect the cost of money? Some economic conditions (including international aspects) that affect the cost of money are country risk and exchange rate risk. Country risk depends on the country’s economic, political, and social environment. Exchange rate risk is dependent on the non-dollar denominated investment’s value. l. What are financial securities? Describe some financial instruments. Financial securities are pieces of paper with contractual provisions that entitle their owners to specific rights and claims on specific cash flows or values. Some financial instruments are: †¢U. S. Treasury Bills  ­Sold by U. S. Treasury  ­Default-free risk  ­91 days to one year – original maturity †¢Money Market Mutual Funds  ­Invest in short-term debt; held by businesses and individuals  ­Low degree of risk  ­No specific maturity (instant liquidity) †¢Consumer Credit Loans  ­Loans by banks/credit unions/finance companies  ­Risk is variable  ­Original maturity is variable †¢U. S. Treasury Notes and Bonds  ­Issued by U,S, government  ­No default risk, but price falls if interest rate rises  ­2-30 years – original maturity †¢Municipal Bonds  ­Issued by state and local government to individuals and institutions  ­Riskier than U. S. overnment guides, but exempt from most taxes  ­Up to 30 years – original maturity m. List some financial institutions. Some financial institutions are commercial banks, investment banks, savings and loan, mutual savings bands, credit unions, life insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds, and hedge funds and private equity funds. n. What are some different types of markets? Some different types of markets are physical asset markets, financial asset markets, spot markets, future markets, money markets, capital markets, mortgage markets, consumer credit markets, and world, national, regional and local markets. . How are secondary markets organized? Secondary markets are organized by location and the way that orders from buyers and sellers are matched. 1)List some physical location markets and some computer/telephone networks. Some physical locations markets are New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Some computer/telephone networks are NASDAQ, government bond markets, and foreign exchange markets. 2)Explain the differences between open outcry auctions, dealer markets, and electronic communications networks (ECNs). Auction markets are markets where participants have a seat on the exchange, meet face-to-face, and place orders for themselves or for their clients. The two largest auction markets for stocks are the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange. The New York Stock Exchange is a modified auction with a â€Å"specialist. † Dealer markets are markets where â€Å"dealers† keep an inventory of the stock (or other financial assets) and place bids and ask â€Å"advertisements†, which are prices at which they are willing to buy and sell. There are often many dealers for each stock. A computerized quotation system keeps track of bid and ask prices, but does not automatically match buyers and sellers. Examples of dealer markets are the NASDAQ National Market, NASDAQ Small Cap Market, London SEAQ, and German Neuer Market. Electronic communication networks (ECNs) are computerized systems that match orders from buyers and sellers and automatically execute the transaction. It is a low cost to transact. Examples of ECNs are Instinet (U. S. stocks owned by NASDAQ), Archipelago (U. S. stocks owned by NYSE), Eurex (Swiss-German futures contracts), and SETS (London stocks). p. Briefly explain mortgage securitization and how it contributed to the global economic crisis. Mortgage securitization is the pooling of various mortgage loans and their usage as collateral to issue securities. This process allows the originator of the mortgage loans to restructure its balance sheet by reducing the receivables and using the funds received from the sale of securities to invest elsewhere. Mortgage securitization allows the originators of the loans to diversify their risk besides enabling them to secure immediate liquidity for assets which would otherwise have face some difficulty in trading. http://www. economywatch. com/finance/high-finance/mortgage-securitization. html) Mortgage securitization contributed to the global economic crisis in many ways. †¢Homeowners wanted better homes than they could afford. †¢Mortgage brokers encourage homeowners to take mortgages even though they would reset the payments to amounts that the borrowers might not have been able t o afford because the brokers got a commission for closing the deal. †¢Appraisers were over-appraising house values and getting paid at the time of the appraisal. †¢Originating institutions (e. . , Countrywide) were quickly selling the mortgages to investment banks and other institutions. †¢Investment banks created CDOs and got rating agencies to help design and then rate the new CDOs with rating agencies making big profits despite the conflicts of interest. †¢Financial engineers used unrealistic inputs to generate high values for the CDOs. †¢Investment banks sold the CDOs to investors and made big profits. †¢Investors bought the CDOs but either didn’t understand or didn’t care about the risk. †¢Some investors bought â€Å"insurance† via credit default swap. When the mortgages were reset and the borrowers defaulted on them, the values of the CDOs plummeted. †¢Many of the credit default swaps failed to provide insurance beca use the counterparty failed. †¢Many originators and securitizers still owned sub-prime securities, which led to many bankruptcies, government takeovers, and fire sales including New Century, Countrywide, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and many more. PROBLEMS (2-6)In its most recent financial statements, Newhouse, Inc. reported $50 million of net income and $810 million of retained earnings. The previous retained earnings were $780 million. How much in dividends was paid to shareholders during the year? Dividends Paid= (Previous Retained Earnings + Net Income) – Recent Retained Earnings = ($780 million + $50 million) – $810 million = $830 million – $810 million = $20 million (2-7)The Talley Corporation had a taxable income of $365,000 from operations after all operating costs but before (1) interest charges of $50,000, (2) dividends received of $15,000, (3) dividends paid of $25,000, and (4) income taxes. What are the firm’s income tax liability and its after-tax income? What are the company’s marginal and average tax rates on taxable income? Taxable Income$365,000 Less: Interest Charges(50,000) Plus: Dividends Received4,500? $15,000(1 – 0. 70) = $4,500 Total Taxable Income$319,500 Tax Liability= $22,250 + ($319,500 – $100,000)(0. 39) = $22,250 + ($219,500)(0. 39) = $22,250 + $85,605 = $107,855 After-Tax Income: Total Taxable Income$319,500 Less: Tax Liability(107,855) Plus: Non-taxable Dividends Received10,500? 15,000(0. 70) = $10,500 Net Income$222,145 Marginal Tax Rate = 39% Average Tax Rate= Tax Interest Income/Taxable Operating Income = $107,855/$319,500 = 0. 33757 or 33. 76% (2-9)The Shrieves Corporation has $10,000 that it plans to invest in marketable securities. It is choosing among AT&T bonds, which yield 7. 5%, state of Florida muni bonds, which yield 5% (but are not taxable), and AT&T preferred stock, with a dividend yield of 6%. Shrieve’ s corporate tax rate is 35%, and 70% of the dividends received are tax exempt. Find the after-tax rates of return on all three securities. AT&T Bonds – $10,000 x 7. 5% = $750 Taxes = $750 x 35% = $262. 50 $750 – $262. 50 = $487. 50 AT&T Bond Yield = $487. 50/$10,000 = 0. 04875 or 4. 875% AT&T Preferred Stock – $10,000 x 6% = $600 Tax Exemption = $600 x 70% = $420 Taxable Income = $600 – $420 = $180 Taxes = $180 x 35% = $63 $600 – $63 = $537 AT&T Preferred Stock Yield = $537/$10,000 = 0. 0537 or 5. 37% Florida Muni Bonds – $10,000 x 5% = $500 Not taxable, so no tax deductions Florida Muni Bonds Yield = $500/$10,000 = 0. 05 or 5%

And The Band Played On Essay

And The Band Played On, is a movie which tells the story of the beginning of AIDS (HIV disease). In the movie we are able to see first-hand the scientific and political aspect of the disease, as well as a few stories of those who died from the disease. Right from the beginning of the movie, it can be inferred that Don Francis is a passionate man, and was greatly changed by his visit to Africa. Therefore, the passion with which he works to figure out how AIDS (HIV disease) works, is nothing unexpected. And the ways in which he spreads his passion, for example when his outburst in the meeting with the blood bank industry leaders, shows again how much he truly cares. My personal opinion about his outburst is that he was right to speak up, to speak the truth, to speak exactly what needed to be said. While it was not very diplomatic of him to shout at them, Don is just such a passionate person that he could not contain himself. After the outbreak, Jim told him that his little outburst had cost the CDC credibility and made them seem childish, which I can understand where he is coming from, as Jim was in charge of the political aspect of everything that came from the CDC. For Jim this probably caused him many problems, but regardless of a ny consequences, what Don said was true. The blood banks were too focused on making money and not about the care for their patients, they wanted to play the numbers game, claiming that the cost was too high and would only save a small number of people. Don realized what was happening and called them out on it, to the point of humiliation almost. The American governments stand on the issue of HIV/AIDS was honestly stupid as can be. While the disease was strictly in gay men, they felt no need to be involved. And when it did begin to spread to hemophiliacs, iv drug users, and anyone who received a blood transfusion with infected blood, they still sat on their butts and refused to move. They acted out of fear, making HIV/AIDS out to be something you could contract just by being near someone who had it. Furthermore, the government and many others including some churches, viewed this as simply a moral issue. There were people claiming that this was God’s  way of punishing these people for their inappropriate lifestyle. Because of this, the fact that disease began in only gay men, and the media termed it gay related immune deficiency, government simply felt no push to do anything. The only way for things to change was for other people besides gay men to get infected, or for straight people to speak up. Well of course people other than gay men began to become infected so they had to do something. I firmly believe that had this disease either begun in heterosexuals or affected heterosexuals and homosexuals at the same rate, that the strides made to learn about the disease would have been doubled, even tripled. Government would have poured money into research on the disease, without even thinking about it because they would have been afraid of becoming infected themselves. When it first began, America thought it to be a gay only disease, that no one else could get it. But anyone can become infected. My favorite character in the movie was without a doubt Don Francis. Just the way we see him evolve and change, from Africa to the CDC, and the fact that it seems the audience is the only one who knows exactly what Don saw in Africa and how much it haunts him. I think that is why he works so hard, he doesn’t want to be too late, like he was in Africa. His passion for his work encourages me and I hope to have the same passion for my work one day. A character that I did not like so much was Robert Gallo. As an actor I believe Alan Alda was excellent, but the character he portrays makes my blood run cold from the moment he was introduced. Had it not been for him, HIV/AIDS research would have been so much faster, but because Gallo was more concerned about the profits and credit from the discovery of the virus, things were not as quick. Perhaps the reason Gallo cared more for money and was not as passionate about saving these people is because he, unlike Don Francis, did not have a life-changing moment in the story. Don saw the damage done by the ebola virus and therefore more than anything did not want to see the AIDS virus (HIV disease) become the same thing. References: Schulman, A. S. (Writer) (1993). And the band played on [DVD].

Organizational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Organizational Behaviour - Essay Example However, in face of rapidly changing business requirements and market trends organizations are now implementing fresh strategies that improve the work environment and organizational culture to promote higher level of motivation and employee productivity. Employee motivation and satisfaction is one of the core elements that have a direct impact on the overall productivity and performance of the organizations. Employee satisfaction levels are to a large extent driven by organizational policies, managerial attitude, organizational culture, existing work environment, and communication policies practiced and adopted by companies. Organizations contribute to the social and economic development of the country and hence it needs to be regulated by a framework of principles and ideals that support organizational goals and objectives. The organizational behaviour framework is significant in identifying the core values and practices of the company. It helps its customers, suppliers and stakeholders to perceive the company values. The paper provides an insight into organizational behaviour and practices in the present operating environment. In order to gain an improved understanding of the issues and challenges facing managers today the analysis provides a practical insight into organizational change management and human resource management practices. The practical applications of these strategies are explained through its implementation practices in organizations like IBM and HSBC. This helps in providing a better understanding of the ways organizations are adapting and strengthening their market position in respo nse to the evolving business climate. Change management is one of the challenges that managers’ today face on a regular basis and successful implementation of any proposed changes highlights the ability of the organization to increase market

Can Boeing strategy help in increase the number of upcoming orders Case Study

Can Boeing strategy help in increase the number of upcoming orders - Case Study Example The company has a global customer base in around 90 companies. Talking in regards to the number of manpower and human resource engaged with Boeing, it can be said that the company employs more than 150,000 employees all over the world. The company also has a large network of suppliers, who are located in various corners of the world. It is very important to say that these suppliers plays a crucial role in the entire manufacturing process of the company, by providing various critical and key components that are required for smooth conduction of various production related operations in the global aerospace company (Annual report 2). It is important to mention that after the disastrous attacks on the World Trade Centre in the year 2001, by multiple foreign based Islamic terrorists, it can be said that the airline sector all over the world has undergone a huge change. Various key factors as well as the economics related to supply and demand of passenger traffic and other businesses have started to evolve over the last couple of years. This has resulted in the process of undergoing of significant change in the overall aviation sector. It is utterly relevant to state that major airline manufacturing companies like Boeing and Airbus have as a result designed various strategies to help them retain their competitive edge while maintaining profitability in the changing aviation business environment. This particular commentary will focus on analyzing the issues of strategic plan designed by Boeing to retain competitiveness in the market. For this purpose, the commentary will be done on the basis of data taken from various reliable secondary data sources. Findings It will be relevant to discuss the fact that in the scenario of a dynamically changing business environment, the firms and companies engaged and associated directly or indirectly with that particular sector have to ideate and formulate different strategies so as to cater to the changing and evolving needs of the sector. Talking on this note, it can be said that the airline manufacture of global repute has formulated and designed a new strategy that will help to adapt the company with the changing demands of the airline sector. Change of Capacity Plans A vital part of the new strategic plan of Boeing comprises of the company’s consideration of the need of the passengers travelling long distances all over the world. The airline has realized that passengers prefer to travel in direct flights connecting various long distances rather than travelling through compulsive breaks while switching multiple airlines. This has resulted in the company opting to back down from manufacturing airliners with larger capacities as compared to the already existing ones (Wyans, â€Å"Boeing and Airbus: Strategic Management in the Air Travel Industry†). Global Outsourcing strategy As a part of strategic plan over the long term, the global airline manufacturing company has decided to focus on the proc ess of restructuring its production operations by outsourcing them to various countries and emerging markets around the world (Raghu, â€Å"Boeing to buy products worth $600 mn from seven Indian companies†). It is important to note that by focusing on outsourcing the production of various key components, the airline company has attempted to lower the cost of productions, which will help the company to

My personal philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

My personal philosophy - Essay Example This is why my biggest motivation and mission is to proudly offer nonjudgmental and unbiased care particularly to those in need regardless of their class in life, race, lifestyle choices, spirituality, disability and financial status. My philosophy therefore makes me understand that as a nurse I have a responsibility to my patients and must offer them with holistic, safe, patient-centered, round the clock care. In addition, it makes me bear in mind that patients under my care are not mere statistics, medical conditions or just room numbers but individuals that need and deserve personalized care and attention. Professionally, nurses are supposed to use clinical judgment so as to assist the requirements of their patients. Being an advocate, I am obligated to empower my patients by encouraging them to engage in active partnership as far as their individual care is concerned and participate in mutual setting of goals between patient and care providers. As a nurse I should maintain and uphold patient confidentiality with the exception of when the law mandates us to report as a duty. My philosophy also reminds me that I must constantly educate not only my patients but their families as well especially on treatments, healthy behaviors and diseases so as to enhance their outcomes. Lastly I am also obligated to strive to positively model healthy behaviours in my own life in the belief that I will offer better care to patients if I care for myself first. In conclusion, my philosophy enables me to be committed to keeping myself with the up to date skills and knowledge together with seeking self-enhancement via perpetual learning. This ensures that I do not remain in my belief but instead progress professionally via evidence-based technological and practice advances. My philosophy ensures that I will always keep on learning, not only from journals and textbooks but also from various interactions with my colleagues and involvement

Health information system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health information system - Essay Example Furthermore, distribution and access to to healthcare is determined by income and standards of living. These features form a social pattern in health that tends to shape health dynamics with respect to certain social requirements. It is important to note with complete patient data, avoidable hospital visits are reduced. Some hospitals use other forms of communication such as email and telephone to reach and support patients from home by checking their health records. For instance, physicians use EHR to determine a patients' health concern. An integrated and comprehensive health record transfers the trend of health care to an efficient approach while maintaining the quality of health care. This results in minimal wastage on financial implications to the hospital, patient and government. Importance of aligned financial incentives. Health outcomes for the population are seen as being influenced by the operation of the capitalist economic system at two levels. Within the capitalist socie ties, health matters have progressed with refined technology in drug production. Poor societies are more likely to fall ill compared to richer societies. Poor disease prevention measures, minimal awareness initiatives by stakeholders, poorly funded research and costly treatment procedures are likely to affect access to health by poor clusters of people. These are some of results of inadequate health data (Gruber, Cummings, LeBlanc, & Smith, 2009). For instance, patients in the least developed areas have been subjected to low quality medication and clinical care. As a result, many people die out of preventable diseases due to early detection or lack of treatment fees. With health records on such scenarios, it would be easy for health providers make adequate arrangements for such people. Meadows Ginny (2002) asserts that, â€Å"Utilizing clinical information systems, an informatics nurse can help other nurses explore and understand the informational and cognitive foundations of their profession. The ability to electronically record, integrate, and analyze data and information enables nurses to quickly move to the synthesis of nursing knowledge and the development of nursing wisdom, which they can then apply to affect patient care.† (Meadows, 2002). It is important to note that the rich controls the health organizations, health research institutions and drug distribution, thus making it difficult for the poor people to make any significant decision or policy on health matters. This has been achieved in some areas through creating enforcement departments within institutions to monitor progress and recommend necessary changes. EHS is important in generating information on how to tackle socioeconomic differences in health care and health policies in any nation are important for equal access to health facilities (Kaufman, Roberts, Merrill, Lai, & Bakken, 2006). This should address areas such as health information technology to shape a coordinated and focused n ational policy in support of patient care. A socially supportive atmosphere prompts the adoption of healthy behaviors. This can be realized when all people have equal and unlimited access to health facilities irrespective of class. Electronic health record (EHS) helps in adopting a patient-centerdness approach that involves shared decisions, outcome

Human Resource strategy in Recession Term Paper

Human Resource strategy in Recession - Term Paper Example wever, the recent global meltdown or in other words the recession has abruptly changed the employee as well as employer outlook particularly in the aspect of Human resource planning or HRM. So, this paper will analyze how the current economic downturn had a major impact on HRP giving more power to the HR managers when they negotiate with their employees. In this globalised world, an economic problem in one country will not get restricted to that country, but gets spread to other countries. The economies of most of the countries in the world are directly and indirectly dependent on the U.S.’s economy and with liberalization happening everywhere, the negative effects in USA will be felt everywhere, with businesses worldwide facing the negative impact on its HRP. Many companies are suffering losses and as a result of it several companies are opting for retrenchment strategy. Cost cutting would have to eventually result in job cutting. British Airways (BA) has said that it plans to cut a further 1,200 jobs after reporting a huge loss of  £292 million in the six months up to the end of September. (Hinton 2009). Fewer job requirements and constant lay offs irrespective of the sector made employers to be choosy about the kind of employees they want and more dominant in deciding the compensation package for them. Many reputed organ izations have quietly cut the salaries and other fringe benefits to their employees. BBC plans to cut the amount it spends on the salaries of its top bosses by about 25 percent, The BBC currently spends about $129.4 million on pay for its 634 senior managers and nine most senior executives. (Bryan-Low 2009). Managers have upper hand these days and really have become dominant, slightly skewing HRP. Instead of thinking about how to optimize productivity and thereby effectively overcome financial problems, managers look at the easy way out. When negotiating with their employees there are some critical issues that concern both like salary,

Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Terrorism - Essay Example Fifth, the group may also be in pursuit of boosting itself. For ensuing struggle, the group may stage attacks to motivate itself. Sixth, they may be attempting to counter a government’s military power. This exposes the weaknesses of the government. Lastly, they may be attempting to take advantage of a unique historical opportunity. Such opportunities determine the existence of the group in future. According to O’Ballance, there are six characteristics of a successful terrorist. Firstly, they are dedicated to a belief of cause and follow the uncompromising demands of terrorism unconditionally. Secondly, they are always willing to sacrifice themselves since terrorism is dangerous and the individual can be killed at any instance (O’Ballance, 1979). Thirdly, they have an ability to repress emotions because they are usually required to commit heinous crimes such as killing innocent people. Fourthly, they have high intelligence because planning of attacks requires intelligence and cannot be conducted by anyone. Fifthly, education is critical because their missions demand unsuspicious travelling to foreign countries. Lastly, they have access to required resources that include money to use in travelling. Groupthink is a form of collective thinking that provides the terrorists with an opportunity to acquire the mindset of the organization. The main symptoms involved include invulnerability feeling, certainty of organization’s morality, intolerance with regard to internal dissent, and viewing the enemy as simply evil (Holmes & McConville,

Legal Environment of Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Environment of Business - Research Paper Example European Union employment law protects all employees in the European Economic Area. However, each country has its own employment regulations. The employment laws cover issues to do with working conditions, wages and immigrant workers. In both Europe and the U.S, it is the obligation of workers to perform their duties with respects and veneration to their employees (Wanda, 2010). This relationship is founded on shared understanding and trust. The employees should work towards meeting international standards. Loyalty amongst employees and the employer is also critical, and it is, therefore, illegal when employees perform actions jeopardizing their employer's interests. The relationships between employers and employees in Europe and the U.S are an equivalence of a master-servant relationship. The employer, therefore, possesses absolute power over the employee. Despite this, labor laws have been enacted in both Europe and the United States setting minimum wage limits. This protects the employer from exploitation. Among the basic rights the employee enjoys include, a right to be provided with a healthy and safe environment. Amongst the countries that have been in the forefront of shaping labor laws and guidelines in the world are European countries and the United States. Despite Europe and United States cooperation in the development of what can be termed as labor standards that are acceptable globally, there exists various significant differences on how the two authorities conduct employment related issues.

Our Moral Responsibility to Provide Monetary Aid to Pakistani Villagers Essay Example for Free

Our Moral Responsibility to Provide Monetary Aid to Pakistani Villagers Essay In this essay, I will argue that the theory of Utilitarianism presents resilient, compelling arguments that exemplifies why we have a moral obligation to donate money to help the Pakistani villagers affected by recent floods. Though the argument put forth by Ethical Egoists in favor of donating money to the Pakistanis is convincing, it lacks the quantitative validation that Utilitarianism provides. The Perspective of an Ethical Egoist Ethical Egoism is a consequentialist moral theory that says each person ought to pursue his or her own self-interest exclusively (EMP 69). A person’s only moral duty is to do what is best for him or herself, and he or she helps others only if the act [of helping] benefits the individual in some way (EMP 63). On the surface, it appears that it is not in a person’s best self-interests to donate money to help villagers in Pakistan. The giver experiences monetary loss and the diminution of personal financial wealth, and expends time, energy, and effort in the donation-transaction process. He or she receives neither public acknowledgement nor donor recognition. There are, however, intangible benefits that the giver may reap as a result of his or her deed, such as the satisfaction that he or she receives from giving monetary aid to the Pakistanis or the happiness that he or she experiences for acting in accordance with his or her values. It is in the giver’s self-interest and, therefore, his or her moral duty to give monetary aid to those plagued by the Pakistan floods. The facts that an Ethical Egoist would consider to be important are the consequences to him or herself because Ethical Egoism is a consequentialist moral theory that revolves around the self. Consequentialism contends that the right thing to do is determined by the consequences brought about from it (Class Notes, 10/05/2010). In this case, the morally relevant facts that the Ethical Egoist is primarily concerned with are the intangible benefits and advantages that he or she would receive from giving. The Ethical Egoist would also consider the actual and implicit costs of giving aid, as they are consequences brought about from helping the Pakistani villagers. The argument put forth by Ethical Egoism is good because it is compatible with commonsense morality. To reiterate, Ethical Egoism says that â€Å"all duties are ultimately derived from the one fundamental principle of self-interest† (EMP 73). According to Hobbes, this theory leads to the Golden Rule, which states that â€Å"we should ‘do unto others’ because if we do, others will be more likely to ‘do unto us’† (EMP 74). In this case, if we do not give to others, other people will not give to us. Thus, it is to our advantage to give to others. The Utilitarian Argument Classical, or Act, Utilitarianism maintains that the morally right act is the one that yields maximum happiness for all sentient beings impartially. Utilitarianism requires us to consider the general welfare of society and the interests of other people. Giving money to help the villagers in Pakistan generates positive consequences and diminishes the negative effects of the floods. Specifically, donations for disaster relief results in the availability of medicines to treat sicknesses, the provision and distribution of cooked meals, hygiene kits, and clothing, and the reconstruction and restoration of homes and schools. In short, giving money relieves great suffering of the flood-affected Pakistanis, enhances the balance of happiness over misery, and endorses the maximum and greater good of society. Therefore, the morally right thing to do is to donate money to help the Pakistani villagers. Similar to Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory, though this theory is concerned with the greater good of society. Therefore, the morally relevant facts for a Utilitarian are the consequences to all people impartially. In this case, they include the circulation of food, clothing, medicines, and the restoration of villages. Providing monetary aid ultimately produces the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness for society. The Utilitarian argument for donating money is good because it provides calculable validation. In other words, the utility of the receivers is quantifiable and tangible (number of meals, hygiene kits, water tanks provided, number of homes rebuilt, etc. ). This tangibility clearly illustrates that the utility of the receiver exceeds the marginal cost to the giver and produces the greatest amount of happiness over unhappiness. Why the Utilitarian Argument is Stronger There is an epistemic problem that weakens the argument given by the Ethical Egoist. We do not know precisely what the consequences will be. We expect that the intangible benefits include self-satisfaction, enjoyment of giving, and happiness from providing financial aid, and we estimate that the costs consist of the actual donation payment and all related opportunity costs; however, we do not know exactly what the consequences will be and the extent of the results. It is, thus, difficult to gauge whether donating to charity is actually in the giver’s best self-interest exclusively because the associated costs may be very great (the giver may end up poorer or the donation-transaction process may be stressful; both situations would not be to his or her advantage). The immeasurability and intangibility of the benefits also weakens the argument. Ayn Rand, an Ethical Egoist, responds to this objection and asserts that it is completely moral and permissible to offer aid to others even when one does not anticipate any tangible return; â€Å"personal reasons for offering aid—reasons consistent with one’s values and one’s pursuit of one’s own life—are sufficient to justify the act† (Gordon Shannon, 10/16/2010). Rand says that personal reasons, such as values and pursuit of a flourishing life, are adequate to justify the act. We run, however, into a problem: just because we have a moral justification to give aid, does it mean we are morally required to give aid? Rand provides a moral justification, but not a moral mandate; this makes the argument put forth by Ethical Egoism weak. While Ethical Egoism provides a convincing argument and response to the objection, the Utilitarian argument is stronger because it buffers against the epistemic problem and provides quantitative, calculable validation. The problem of epistemology does not apply to or weaken the Utilitarian argument because we know what the consequences will be, based on present initiatives. Plan UK has provided cooked meals to over 250,000 people, shelter for 230,000, water tanks, hygiene kits, and medicines for thousands of families (Plan UK). We know how the money will benefit the Pakistani villagers and we can quantify the amount of happiness and good that entails the act of giving aid to others. To summarize: Ethical Egoism says that we ought to pursue our own self-interests exclusively. The morally right act is the one that benefits the self. There is, however, an epistemic problem. We do not know what the consequences will be or the extent of these outcomes. Donating to charity may not benefit the self. Utilitarianism, however, avoids the problem of epistemology and immeasurability. Therefore, Utilitarianism is the stronger argument. Conclusion In this paper, I have presented the theories of Ethical Egoism and Utilitarianism, delved into the morally relevant facts, and reflected on why each argument is good. I illustrated why Utilitarianism is stronger by appealing to a weakness of Ethical Egoism. Thus, the Utilitarian perspective that we have a moral duty to donate money to help Pakistani villagers is a better argument.

Strategic Plan For The Chronicle Gazette

Strategic Plan For The Chronicle Gazette The goal of the consultant report is to indicating the problem of steady decline in subscriptions to the paid newspaper not only in metropolitan area and affecting the whole industry. Advertising revenue has also dropped due to advertiser had diverse their ads in different way such as TV broadcast, CNN, CCTV, Internet etc. This report is to offer the management of The Chronicle Gazette a strategic vision of where the newspaper publishing industry stands today and where it is headed over the next decade also propose strategies the newspaper can investigate to survive in the new business environment. State of the newspaper The Chronicle Gazette subscription had been fallen by 35% and also advertising revenues also dropped by 28% in past eight years. Refer to Newspaper Association of Americas, newspaper circulation had start declining from year 1993 and keep go on comparing with the index of 2008, there have around 22 % of circulation was gone. [Total Paid Circulation: Source: Editor and Publisher International Yearbook: http://www.naa.org/TrendsandNumbers/Total-Paid-Circulation.aspx, accessed on 1st Feb, 2010] For the advertising revenue have starting to share progressively with internet publishing during year 1997 and the proportion of the total advertising volume had kept increasing comparing with 1997 and 2005 data, there have around 13 times increase of Internet advertisement in volume. Also from the chart we can see the newspaper advertising revenue keep decreasing and Internet advertising revenue keep increasing simultaneity hence that Internet had absorb part of the lose in newspaper ads. [Advertising Expenditures: http://www.naa.org/TrendsandNumbers/Advertising-Expenditures.aspx, accessed on 1st Feb, 2010] [Online advertisement revenue:- http://www.brianmcdaniel.org/2009/04/06/will-online-ad-revenue-beat-newspapers-in-2011/, accessed on 1st Feb, 2010] According to The New York Times Company reports 2009 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results, although the groups revenues had increased from 21.8% to US$36.3M from US$29.8M but look into the details on the advertising revenues had dropped around 25.3% to 30.2% compare with year 2008. The group major revenues income healthy gains in both Internet cost-per-click and display advertising and also in other form of digital advertising to offset the other lose. [New York Times Press Release: http://www.nytco.com/pdf/4Q_2009_Earnings.pdf, accessed on 13th Feb, 2010] Referring to the Newscorp 2009 annual report, we can indicate that all the media revenue and the operating income had dropped which may lead by Global economic recession reason. The data also showing that the newspaper industry had affected obviously including The Wall Street Journal the worlds leading business publication. The Wall Street Journal had diverse their business in different area such as enhancing their publishing and advertisement in digital ways and providing different type of subscription to attract more reader and also providing specific personalize information for particular group. Improving the quality of contents and report in more in-depth to build up reader loyalty and convenience. [http://www.newscorp.com/Report2009/media/Newscorp_2009_annual_report.pdf, accessed on 15th Feb,2010] Company objective 3.1 External assessment Economic downturn forced newspaper to cut costs due to massive revenues decline as a result of global economic downturn. In October 2008, advertising revenues from New York Times Media Group had dropped 15.3% as compare to the same period in 2007. Social and cultural have no much change recently as people are still willing to pay for newspaper and having circulations. According to the Newspaper Demographic Analysis, the daily and the Sunday readership allocation pattern are mainly focus on Adults over 55 since they can have more leisure time and get used to read newspaper every day. Demographics of American Newspapers pattern can classifieds as below:- The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but dont really understand The New York Times. [http://bitsandpieces.us/2008/07/13/demographics-of-american-newspapers/, accessed on 2nd Feb, 2010] [http://sify.com/finance/economic-downturn-forces-us-newspapers-to-cut-costs-news-default-jeguQJbdihc.html , accessed on 2nd Feb, 2010] [http://www.nnnlp.com/newspaper-demographics/, accessed on 2nd Feb, 2010] Political arena is a large influence upon the regulation of newspaper press freedom of those reported content and the business trading agreements of the region or national or in the state and also for EU, NAFTA, and ASEAN if the newspaper will press outside the state. Economic factors such as the demand and supply or the newspaper industry in both short and long terms, market positioning and the pricing also need to be considered. Social and cultural influence the perception of the newspaper contents and acceptance and what can attract reader to increase the circulation, consider the time will the reader spend on reading that and the layout arrangement of those content and the ordering. Identify the role of men and women within the society and get used to concentrate the aim of selling those people. The main factor affecting newspaper industry is Technological force Internet and other digital media. Being with the digital age, most of the information had been merge or migrate into the virtual world Internet. People can easily found the information they required for simple a click; some of the information can be accessed by free. One of the major revenue incomes for newspaper industry is advertisement which currently affected by the new challenge of Internet advertisement. Advertiser had starting to switch their advertisement from the traditional print out on newspaper to other media like TV, Fall ads, Road show on the public transportation and the Internet web-site. Recently, the pop-up advertisements from the Internet web-site are quite popular and some of the major search engine and newspaper web-site had enrolled as well. At the mean time, that advertisement income revenue had keep increasing rapidly and become the major parts of earning for those companies. The major advantages of the online advertisement is the advertiser can sell their services or product in text mode, colorful graphic mode, animated flash graphic or even can record a short video clips with sound for attracting audiences and enhance their perception and image. Referring to the New York Times president and CEO Janet Robinson said their coming business strategy is to enhance their digital platform and planning to introducing a paid model for NYTimes.com in 2011 to create additional revenue stream. Hence that other competitor in newspaper industry is exploring other publishing media to maintain their robust advertising business and attracting other new business partners. Competitive Force Porter five force analysis:- [Source from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Porters_five_forces.PNG/800px-Porters_five_forces.PNG] Porters Five-Force model can be use to analysis the newspaper industrial competitive environment. Threat of new entrants of newspaper publishing can be define as low to medium since the scale economies in the production and sales of newspaper had took advantage by the major newspaper distributor. Some famous brand of advertisement will only post on the popular newspaper and never shown in others. Product differentiation cannot take part in it newspaper industry since the product itself is indifferent and non-standard one. The major entry barriers in newspaper industry is the entry capital is relative high although government have no or less barrier to such industry but the equipments such as camera, printing machines, video recorder are expensive. Also the benefits of associated in newspaper industry is low and also the current distribution channel is almost occupied by other major newspaper. The amount of daily copies is high so the cost per copy of the major newspaper is low and its hard to compete with them. Small entrepreneurs have difficulty obtaining supermarket shelf space for their publishing because large retailers charge for space on their shelve and gave priority to the established publishers that can pay for the advertising needed to generate high customer demand. Switching cost is low since the readers had build up loyalty with the current subscribed newspaper and take comfortable of their printing layout and its hard for them to switch to read another newspaper easily. Bargaining power of customer is relative high since there have many other sources to get information from others like Internet, free newspaper which distribute on the street or cafà © and also from train station. Also its un-different and non-standard product which reader can easily found another similar product in the market like NY Times, WSJ, etc. Customer affect an industry through their ability to force down prices and inter-related because they purchases a large proportion of the newspaper and they have potential to integrate backward of the newspaper contents. Alternative vendors of newspaper are plentiful because newspaper is standard or undifferentiated, customer can choose among many newspaper providers and switching to read other newspaper cost is very little or zero. Once the paid newspaper is unimportant to the final quality and customer can be easily substituted it with free newspaper distribute among on the street daily so it make The Chronicle Gazette revenue keep de clining. Bargaining power of suppliers can be classified as medium to high since the important input for issuing newspaper like paper and ink supplier is dominated by a few companies only buy they sells to many. Meanwhile paper, ink and printing factory are unique which had built up a strong relation in between thus switching costs existed. Supplier are able to integrate forward or backward compete directly with their present customers like newspaper company can forward to investee in newspaper or other publishing firm or vise verse. Threat of substitute product can classify as high since we may notice that the up-trend of online publishing a rapidly increase and the cost-performance ratio comparing with traditional print out newspaper are relatively low and also the content update are most in time and interact. According to Michael Porter, Substitute limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices firms in the industry can profitably charge. Extent that switching cost is low so substitutes may have strong effect on industry. Customer are switching they platform to read the news from traditional paper printed newspaper to the online version or other free distribute newspaper and sharing the profit in the industry. Rivalry among industry is high since we may note that the newspaper industry wide revenue trend is down and not only in The Chronicle Gazette, it also affects New York Times, WSJ as mentioned. Referring to the New York Times Company 2009 Full-year report, their total revenues were down 11.5% which show that the top U.S. newspaper is also affected by economic recession and also the new internet revolution. Some type of competition such as price cut is typically highly destabilizing are likely to erode the average level of profitability in newspaper industry like Apply Daily firstly launch in HK and just sell at $2 when other traditional selling at $5 which erode the whole industry profitability. [Internet user trend :-http://www.c-i-a.com/internetusersexec.htm, accessed on 15th Feb,2010] 4. Internal assessment 4.1. Organizational processes and structure 4.2. HR capabilities Publisher The publisher is responsible for all of the operations procedure of the newspaper in both editorial team and business team. The main duties and aim of the publisher is to monitor that the newspaper run financially healthy and smoothly. Editor The editor is responsible for all the content of the editorial newspaper and monitoring the budgets and cash spent by the editorial and other supplementary of the newspaper. The publisher and editor usually is the same person. Editorial page editor The editorial page editor is responsible for the editorial page, supplementary page and also the op-ed page for the newspaper. Those pages are the letter printed on the editorial pages like letters to the editor, columns by syndicated columnists and guest columns by local people or oversea senders. Managing editor The managing editor is the person who handle and monitor the day-to-day newspaper production and also for the online version as well. City Editor The city editor also called the metro editor whom is in charge of the news coverage of the metro-area in which the newspaper is located or distributed. This position is the most important staff for collecting and analysis the news happened in that area. The city editor usually got the largest portion of staff and assigns most of the local news reporters within a organization. Chief copy editor The chief copy editor is in charge of the newspapers copydesk. The people on the copydesk read news stories and sometimes stories from other sections like through internet to make sure they are written according to the newspapers industry standards legally. The chief copy editor can make the final decisions about the copy contents and who is in charge of the staffing of the desk. Copy editor The copy editor especially well trained to read the stories that other have written and make sure they conform to the rules of grammar and style. A copy editor also performs headlines writing and performs other duties that help produce the newspaper every day. Photo editor The photo editor is not a photographer although he/she is often the case that the photo editor is a promoted from photographer previsely. Photo editor assign photographers and helps select the most outstanding photos that the newspaper will prints. Photographer The photographer takes pictures of local or oversea news events for the newspaper. Photographer have a variety of assignments each day. Larger newspapers have sports photographers focusing on those event. But in order to cut cost, most newspapers photographer will assigned to shoot not only sports stories and sometime will assign for special event shooting.. Graphics editor The graphics editors is the head of the graphics department sometimes also the art department. This editor is in charge of all of the graphics and illustrations produced for the newspaper and online version. Graphic reporter The graphic reporter perform researches and designs informational graphics that support news stories for the newspaper. A graphic reporter is an expertise in graphic forms as well as 3D flash animated graphic and must be able to associate the information that can be used to build graphics. Reporters Reporters are assigned to all the sections of the newspaper to gather news from anywhere. They gather information about events and subject that the newspaper editors had choose to cover. Reporters must know how to find the useful information, skill for interview people, professional sight for observe events and write the information they gather in a way suitable to the paper. 4.3. Financial position Revenues are down across the board caused by information is now freely available to the public through the internet. Traditionally news and advertisement are mainly publish in newspaper since newspaper is the major source for getting news around the state or worldwide and also including the advertisement. But nowadays, those information can be freely access through internet and to be more up-to-date information can be reach easily in many other interacted presentation like real time camera of the news location, promoting product with movie clip and sound demonstration and also for example mobile phone, manufacturer starting to use Flash 3D to model the real phone with all feature for reader to try out the new feature and functions of the phone in order make purchasing interest. Advertising market had being share with Internet and other media like television pay TV etc 4.4. Marketing/sales capabilities The recent marketing trend switching to publish news and other advertisement through Internet and other interactive media. Sales revenue source had switch from newspaper copy to internet base in recent few years. Referring to the New York Times 2009 annual report, newspaper advertising revenues had dropped dramatically and lucky they had develop an online version and trying to adopt the loses from newspaper advertisement and luckily they had get successful reflected by their annual report. The Chronicle Gazette already had a sales team for handling customer advisement and we only have to restructure those them and make necessary investment on those equipments required for digitalize publishing through Internet or television. Sales capabilities are possible as Chronicle Gazette got strong customer base and both parties had need to keep abreast of the latest technology and also can adopt another segment of customer in order to widen the vision and services base. Also its the only way can make survival in this industry as its the trend of the coming future. 4.5. Operational capabilities Operational capabilities can be viewed by value-chain analysis to determine the competitive advantage of Chronicle Gazette, since Chronicle Gazette is a leading newspaper in a major metropolitan area and reaching paid circulation of 225,000 customers and ranked as first-rate newspaper over the years which mean they had built up a strong loyalty with reader. Considering the outbound logistics which approach the newspaper can be distribute on time to the retailer and also can deliver the internet version simiutainstly for subscriber. Inbound logistics like material- paper and ink can deliver to printing factory on time to reach Just-In-Time production is the aim. Operation can be make more efficient like utilize the use of Internet and E-mail to deliver the reports and photos to central office for press release in order the shorten the time and cost. Quality of the reported contents and advertisement must be reviewed by chief editor before press release, organize a clear workflow for e ach department to avoid any job duplicate and make it work with procedure smoothly. Currently Chronicle Gazette have no online version, IT capability require to implement and fund may require for investage in IT equipments like servers, internet access, web-site designer and cam-recorder etc., security issues may also need to consider since some confidential and privacy content may easily expose through internet and somehow each subscriber got different limits of access authority which related to their payment level or country. 4.6. Strengths and weaknesses Here is the SWOT analysis listed the evaluation of those opportunities and threats in the business environment. Strengths Opportunities Stay at the leading newspaper in major metropolitan area. High circulation rate and won awards for their hard work over the years. Loyalty built up with readers. Traditionally style enjoyed with readers. Setup online version to compete with other newspaper. Providing discount subscription fee for online user to attract customer. Weaknesses Threats No online version of newspaper. No animated graphic and video clip features. Release time restriction due to its printed material. Insufficient on online publishing experience. Online page layout may not be accepted by old customer. High investment for IT equipments. 5.) Marketing Strategy Recently Chronicle Gazette only sold at retail stores, counter and shop which covered in major metropolitan area and being a leading first-rated newspaper in those area. Providing web based newspaper for online subscription with discounted price. Providing some free news headline to attract customer and web-surfer to read in-depth and make them hungry for details thereby to become a subscriber. Also offering classified subscription for subscriber to select what they want to see and removing other unwanted news materials by their account. Setting up a loyalty program for contact base subscription such as subscribe for 2 years will have 20% discount and 1 year with 10% discount offer from Chronicle Gazette. The 24 hours online version of Chronicle Gazette can be update periodically like 2 to 3 hours for the latest news which can have additional photos and video clips for more details. In order to take care of the blind people, vocal news report can be also available in the online version. Customize page layout can be personalize to display what they want in the main page and also welcome for subscriber to provide suggestion and new for the editor. Student subscription in very attractive price and arrange delivery service to their school after the peak hour so that we can utilize the uses of our transportation team and also can maintaining worker have available job to draw the social responsibility out. Additional student supplement post can be attached which those report can be directly related to student or submit by school tutor and student. Q A forum and some education quiz can be containing in the supplement for enhancing the knowledge of student. Meanwhile we can provide the market requirement for specialist and business trend analysis for student to plan their future job direction. Those attractive package offered to student can build up loyalty and attract them for subscription after graduated. Strengthen with the connection with Newspaper Association of America for those domestic and oversea newspapers, commercial radio and television broadcasts which have a great opportunity for corporation. Those representative can share the hardship in their group and other organization may providing suggestion and experience to get survival. All sales strategies through this multi-channel/direction approach with different price strategies can utilize our current asset and production capacity and showing that we have care in all level of people. 6. Steps for The Chronicle Gazette to deal with challenges The step for The Chronicle Gazette might take in order to deal with the challenges can have the following:- Short-term plan which react within one year: Implement the online version of chronicle Gazette and consult with I.T. specialist for setting up the first release. Investigate on those equipments and make necessary funding and financial plan. Strengthen the current Sales Marketing team to adopt the new challenges and providing I.T. training and explanation for all staffs. Reduce the redundant staffs and suggesting early retirement for elderly staff with attractive scheme. Promoting saving of office electricity, paper and other equipments and cut some un-necessary expense from staff which will not affect their normal report activities and operation. Promoting direct sales of the newspaper with delivery service together with the discount price. Attracting more customers for pre-payment to increase the company cash flow for further implementation. Introducing the coming online version and interactive advertisement for old and current advertiser and show them the coming trend and advantage for those advertising media and plan for coming development. Launching a free copy version to increase the customer base and coordinate with advertiser to providing their product discount coupons to achieve win-win situation. Increasing the content of the newspaper such as putting additional recruitment ads, Buy sell, student special column etc to widen the reader base. Distributing the newspaper oversea with localize news and report which seek for a way to develop oversea market. Contact those colleges and university to promoting student version newspaper with supreme discount price with delivery service to increase the reader base and build up the future loyalty. Long-term plan which react for two to five years: Review all the department staff job nature and review their education background and working experience to evaluate their job performance and provide necessary opportunity to increase his/her productivities. Aim to cut down the operating expense by 10% to 30% gradually. Re-structure the organization and management team to work more efficiency and know how to work smart in all level of staff. Increase more customer base through different media like the online version and distribute version. Also trying to sell the newspaper for oversea customer. Special free newspaper distribute in crowd business area like Metro, Headline to attract customer/readers. Advertisement revenue may increase in such distributing channel. Enhancing the online version of Chronicle Gazette with fully graphic base and containing real time video news report. Online translated version can be enjoyed by different country people. Vocal version can be implementing for blind people and showing how we approach to take the social responsibility. Attracting different advertising agent and provide them for continuously advertisement placement with discounted price. New report topic and keep expanding into state-wide and foresee the trend to entry to worldwide market instead of regional newspaper. Employing some young people for form a young group for innovation, brave topic publishing. Closely work with the young people trend in order to think and make creation for sharing with readers. Both short term and long term strategies need to implement together which can help Chronicle Gazette to gain back to lose portion of revenues and develop many other income source. I.T. affect not only in the newspaper industries and it affect the entire world already. Currently we stay with information age which most information can be found easily through internet so we must provide reader a correct way and attitude to analysis that information and to recognize the validity. 7. Conclusion Chronicle Gazette revenue downturn due to the losses of the advertising income. Advertiser switching their advertise media from the traditional newspaper to other broadcasting and Internet. In order to capture the lose market share, Information technology required to implement for online version of newspaper and capture back the advertiser to use or service and wide distribution channel. Both short term and long term strategies plan are helpful to make Chronicle Gazette survive and even getting better than before. Keep an eye for the market trend and innovation is the key point to make the business success. To broaden sources of income and reduce expenditure are already true to make the business more successful.

New American Mindset :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Long-term social, economic, and political policies fostered by Britain before 1750 thoroughly impacted the developing American mindset. These fundamentals, such as legislative assemblies, commerce laws, and religious events, provided the basis for what was to become an independent American nation. This sovereign and unique culture, which developed slowly inside the thirteen colonies, can be greatly attributed to the continuous policy, protection, and influence that Britain provided.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The lack of unity inside the thirteen colonies led to a little political basis for a national consciousness of any sort. But, the three thousand miles that separated England, also created a huge lapse of royal governmental influence. Therefore, for the most part, the colonies were independent from one another and loosely affiliated with their mother country. Although each colony had a governor (who was appointed by the king,) the legislative houses ran by the colonists possessed the most significant amounts of power. Not much could be done about this abundance of American freedom however. As John Garraty states, it was nearly impossible for British representatives to have any sort of influence because they were â€Å"prisoners of their own surroundings.† Even the Privy Council, (which was set up to advise the king about colonial matters,) could not formulate a policy for the colonists as a whole. Therefore, as the American society progressed and developed, these well-functioning representative institutions played an important role. Dating as far back as the Plymouth settlers, the colonies generally conducted themselves; without much outside interference. In this way, they developed individually, and established the right of self-government. These fundamentals, which were created due to the absence of a British governmental policy, changed the path of the American colonial society, and still lie at the center of the democratic framework that exists today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prerequisite to the formation of the American colonies was the recognition that their sole purpose was to satisfy the needs of their mother country: Britain. This idea of mercantilism had a profound effect on the economic growth of the thirteen colonies. The colonies were generally â€Å"dumping grounds† for surpluses, as well as a place to find raw materials, which would ultimately lead to an income of gold. In order to achieve these goals, Britain passed a series of Navigation Acts, beginning in 1650. They called for British ships to control all trade, and for goods going to the colonies to stop in London first.

the old man and the sea Essay -- essays research papers

The Old Man and the Sea   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the timeless novel The Old Man and the Sea, the hero is undoubtedly the old man, Santiago, whom us as readers become very acquainted with. Santiago is a hard-worker and perseveres through every problem nature brings to him. He is in the midst of a horrendous fishing drought, during which the townspeople laugh and ridicule him. Santiago just lets the criticism pass him by because he is confident that the fish of his lifetime is coming soon. In a sense, Santiago represents the ideas of honor and pride. He is also a hero to a young boy named Manolin who conveys the image that the old man is whom he would rather live and spend time with rather than his biological father.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Santiago has many noteworthy character traits. He possesses a very strong sense of pride that will not allow him to give up on fishing even after eighty-four days without a single fish. He is also virtuous in that no matter what happens to him, he will not make up excuses or false accounts in an attempt to cover up his bad luck. He is also very unselfish for the reason that he never looks down on the boy or treats him unfairly. Everything they accomplish together, Manolin is given credit for, which I found unusual because more often than not, old men will try to hoard their achievements to try and hold on to their glory days. Instead, Santiago is trying to...

freeaw A Womans Fight for Independence in Kate Chopins The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

A Woman's Fight for Independence in The Awakening Right from the beginning the plot is almost conveniently evident. You find a woman, Edna Pontellier, tired of living her life as a pampered and "owned" wife and mother. She is searching for much more in her life, some sort of meaning for her whole existence. She searches for a long time but in the end, the inevitability of her life's pattern and direction wraps around her, suffocating her. She is overcome with wonder, confusion, and guilt for what she believes and what she does to express her beliefs. She finally finds a way to beat the "proper" 1890's lifestyle by committing suicide. During this story Edna struggles with three main opposing powers. First, there is the society's opinion of what a woman's "roles" in life was and how they should act, look, and feel. Second, is her independent nature. The last opposing power she comes across is her undying love for the charming Robert Lebrun. It is the unwritten rule that a woman should marry, have children, and be happy and content with that as their life. Society portrays this to be a woman's rightful job and duty. A woman should act and look "proper" at all times. This is what Edna is fighting against in this novel. She feels that, though many women agree with this "known" rule, it isn't fair. For six years Edna conforms to these ideas by being a "proper" wife and mother, holding Tuesday socials and going to operas, following the same enduring schedule. It is only after her summer spent at Grand Isle that her "mechanical" lifestyle becomes apparent to her. She sees how much she is unhappy with the expectations, held by society, of her life and she wishes to erase them and live her life as she wants. Edna has an independent, almost self centered, nature about her. Her need for an uncontrolled lifestyle is what leaves her feeling "owned" and wanting to break that label; she fights to do as she wishes. Little by little she breaks free of society's' image, letting her independence shine through. She cancels her Tuesday socials and helps out around the house doing little chores. The biggest step she made was her decision to move away from her mansion and into the "pigeon house", a little cottage around corner.

Examining Exclusivity in Mass Marketing

Explain why Sears or Wal-Mart cannot effectively create a trendy counterculture image. High volume and mass appeal are at the core of one-stop-shop retailers like Sears and Wal-Mart. These stores are the culture others are trying to counter. Wal-Mart relies on mass production of the products they sell to keep manufacturing and shipping costs down. This allows them to maximize profitability. Profitability is not at the core of counterculture; unique style and individualism are. Counterculture is the alternate of culture, even a subculture. For an active member of the counterculture to shop at a store that sells toilet paper a few isles down from their jeans defies the very image they are set to create or maintain. This is the same reason Urban Outfitters cannot sell Craftsman power tools. This would counter the counterculture image Urban Outfitters is built upon. Could the big box stores sell merchandise identical to Urban Outfitters? Explain your answer. Big box stores can sell merchandise identical to niche stores like Urban Outfitters to keep up with trends. Stores like Costco can produce, ship and stock merchandise on a large scale in hopes of increasing profitability. Seemingly exclusive products appeal to the masses that do not normally shop at, or cannot afford to shop at more exclusive retailers like Urban Outfitters. This in itself is a trend because once the product is no longer exclusive, it will eventually no longer sell as it did previously. Also if the once exclusive product sells at all is a gamble in marketing and sales. Matching the appeal of the original product, timing of launch so as to miss out on the value while it exists and availability to the masses can impact how well a trendy product will sell at a big box store. If it does, what is the effect on the exclusivity once offered by Urban Outfitters? Identify at least three reasons why exclusivity is valuable.

Prewar Marxism in Japan Essay

Marxism was coined after its proponent, Karl Marx who believed that the abuses of capitalism would eventually lead to uprisings of the masses particularly of the working class. According to him, the aggrieved plight of the working class will become the key in unleashing the inevitable clashes between the classes. In his argument, Capitalism will be replaced by Communism, in which in his view, this set-up of free economy opens a gate to many inequalities in the society, making the weak and poor more vulnerable to the flaws of the system. As Uno Kozo observed in his work, The Essence of Capital, â€Å"The commodification of the labor force remains the crux of Capitalism† (SJT, pp.243). To Marx belief, Communism is the â€Å"common ownership of the means of production†. There would be public ownership of farms, factories, raw materials, and the like. To him, all means of production will be owned by the workers and all workers would eventually become workers.             In Japan, Marxism was first introduced in the late 1890’s but it was in the 1920’s that it started to catch attention and support from the people especially from the intellectuals (SJT, pp 239; Beckmann, pp. 139). The early Marxists belonged to two different groups, the reformers and the revolutionary. The reformers followed Tolstoian humanitarianism, advocated universal suffrage, and pursued reforms through parliamentary action. While the revolutionaries believed in the Materialist ideas from the German and French Marxist. They adhered to the idea of class struggle and direct revolutionary action by class-conscious workers. The revolutionaries were also attracted to the tactics of the anarcho-syndicalism (Beckmann pp. 140).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The various differences of principles of the Early Marxists in Japan had initially   signaled that a strong unified group would be quite a challenge to create a remarkable impact. In fact, at its onset Marxism was already noted with three general flaws such as its systematic character that degenerates into dogmatism; putative universality that recalls its foreign origin; and its critical modus operandi that provokes infighting and organizational fragmentation (SJT, pp241 ). But all these are generalized observations sums up probable enlightenment on why it seemed to appear that prewar Marxism was never a political success. However, it is pertinent to note that these observations envelopes one or more historical accounts and empirical evidences of the progresses and demise of prewar Marxism in Japan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The idea of Marxism had its strong appeal in the university circle composed mainly of the professors and students. In fact, one of its early and notable supporters was Kawakami Hajime of the Kyoto Imperial University. He wrote may treatises on Marxism and provided valuable assistance to other advocates in the persons of Sakai Toshihiko, Arahata Kanson among others (Beckmann pp. 145). At that time, the battleground was published material like newspaper wherein people can be informed and get influenced at the same time. At some point, it created impact and stirred the discontentment of the people resulting to the clamor for reforms in Japanese society. This clamor was highlighted more by the onset of the Japan Modernization process in which new demands for the fundamental changes in the society is created (Beckamm pp146). To quote Beckamm, â€Å"Marxism was attractive to them because it provided the fullest explanation of the idea of progress that they had yet encountered. They were easily seduced by the Marxist proposition that through the dialectic progress was inevitable.   Dialectical materialism gave them (supporters) a scientific methodology for analyzing Japanese society, as well as general principles of strategy for effecting change†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But no matter how ardent the campaign was and how dynamic the intellectual debates were, history underscores that prewar Marxism fell short in achieving its much desired political change. The variables affecting this result are attributed to both external and internal difficulties encountered by the group. It is believed that too much emphasis on theoretical conceptualization has left the advocates confused on what is real and what is not. And what is real during that time, is the dominance of the conservative elite who managed to uphold Japanese value system. All important institutions of Japanese society inculcated obedience, loyalty, and status over freedom, individual rights, and equality. All these summed up to hostilities of the society to individuals who think otherwise. Thus, it resulted to numerable defection from Communism and Socialism parties. It may also be relevant to note that conservative value system of Japanese society and the so called patterns of behavior during the modernization period contributed to the prevention of basic antagonism from being open clashes. Many intellectuals may be vocal in their convictions but a greater number of them seemed anxious to join the mass â€Å"hurly burly maybe because of the behavioral patterns pervading in the society and of the enveloping obligation not to disgrace the family through deviation from the generally accepted behavior. Another pitfall of the prewar Marxism is the very nature that the ideology was alien and much worse, dependent on the support of a foreign state which is labeled as enemy and competitor of their own country. It could not simply break the much preferred paradigm of Japanese Nationalism and Confucianism. Furthermore, the movement cannot fight equally with the raw power of the state especially of its police and military predisposition. This is for the obvious reason that communists had no civil liberties to protect them. As a matter of fact, party organizations were dismantled through various man-arrest in 1923, 1928, 1929, and much frequently in the 1930s. These arrests made it difficult for the advocates to maintain a substantial number that could function effectively for its cause (Beckamm, pp 148-150)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Much had been said by the writings and works of the early believers but less had been done. In the labor movement itself, the support and participation was only a small percent of the whole sector. Many who joined the cause were in the small and medium enterprises and almost none from the large industries. A few participation reflected that many have gone disillusioned or remained uninspired by the movement due to many failures of negotiations and strikes. The same also goes for the peasants, the Japanese agricultural communities and families were unreceptive and to some measure were hostile to Communism and Socialism. This maybe because the peasant movement lacks single central leadership that could have had become an effective channel of influence (Beckamm, pp150).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Commintern Policy also posted a challenge to the thriving ideology of Marxism. It added certain degree of divisiveness among the people in the movement. Also, it provided a very good issue that kept the proponents busy in arguing as to which would be the good and effective direction to heed towards the desired impact on Japanese society. Is it the bourgeois-democratic or the proletarian revolution? Again, it brood disunity, conflict, and frustration among themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The defection of Etsuzo, Sano, and Nabeyama also influenced fellow believers to defect and to condemn all together the principles and actions of the group they once pledge allegiance and commitment (Beckmann, pp160; 166).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In totality, prewar Marxism in Japan made numerous progresses and successes in bringing out brilliance among Japanese intellectuals. However, it was never translated into a political action that would have given life to the very essence of the teachings of Karl Marx. Though numerous reasons tried to explain this result, but maybe the only reason true enough to describe its failure is the one said by George Beckmann, â€Å"†¦the very nature of Japanese society made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a Communist movement to exist, let alone operate with any degree of effectiveness†¦to Marxist-Leninist terms, the objective conditions were not at all favorable. (Beckmann pp. 152)†

Story of Akbar and Birbal

Revenue: The amount of money that a company actually receives during a specific period, including discounts and deductions for returned merchandise. It is the â€Å"top line† or â€Å"gross income† figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Revenue is calculated by multiplying the price at which goods or services are sold by the number of units or amount sold. EBITDA is essentially net income with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization added back to it, and can be used to analyze and compare profitability between companies and industries because it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting decisions. *amortization basically means reducing the value of something to zero Debt –equity ratio: A measure of a company's financial leverage. Debt/equity ratio is equal to long-term debt divided by common shareholders' equity. Typically the data from the prior fiscal year is used in the calculation. Investing in a company with a higher debt/equity ratio may be riskier, especially in times of rising interest rates, due to the additional interest that has to be paid out for the debt. For example, if a company has long-term debt of $3,000 and shareholder's equity of $12,000, then the debt/equity ratio would be 3000 divided by 12000 = 0. 25. It is important to realize that if the ratio is greater than 1, the majority of assets are financed through debt. If it is smaller than 1, assets are primarily financed through equity. Return-on-assets: An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. Sometimes this is referred to as â€Å"return on investment†. The formula for return on assets is: Note: Some investors add interest expense back into net income when performing this calculation because they'd like to use operating returns before cost of borrowing.

Civil engineering design Construction and Maintance Essay

The work of civil engineers is visible across the environment we live in. The main purpose of this essay is to assist students have a better understanding of the civil engineering as a scientific field. In this essay I will make an analysis of civil engineering meaning and the specifics of civil engineering in all aspects. I will specifically examine civil engineering at Michigan State University and the courses required in this major. I will also make an analysis of how writing is important in the civil engineering field. The contribution of civil engineers to the society will also be included. The different career paths a student can pursue when majoring in civil engineering and the salary of civil engineers will be reviewed last. But before going into that, I am going to give you background information of what made me interested in majoring in civil engineering. Background Information, Why I Chose Civil Engineering as my Major? I believe that the best way every student should consider while choosing their major is making a choice of what they love. This is what I exactly did. When I was young, I marveled at how the buildings stood majestically. The thought of buildings designs and the dynamics involved in the construction really fascinated me. While I grew up I realized all this was a civil engineers’ work. Since middle school the idea of studying civil engineering in college stuck in my mind. The more literature I reviewed about civil engineering, the more I loved it. The thought of planning and designing on paper and then seeing the results is very rewarding to me. The History of Civil Engineering Engineering is one of life’s aspects that have existed since the origin of humans. Thousands of years ago, humans hunted and gathered for food. There was no urgency to build shelter as they were always on the move. Later on, people began to get acquainted new ways of getting food. They learned how to plant fruits and vegetables and how to domesticate animals. As a result, they did not need to move all the time and they needed homes. They started by building tents but gradually they learned how to use the available natural resources like stone, wood, and vegetable fiber to build stronger and more convenient homesCITATION Fon01 p 21 l 1033 (Font, Criswell and Grigg 21). They also began to build roads and bridges to make it easy to move from place to place. In modern day, houses, buildings, bridges and other structures construction occurs from the skills passed by our ancestors where they constructed stable buildings (Salvadori 11). Theses skills that are needed to build safe str uctures are the skills of civil engineers. What Does Civil Engineering Mean? The word Engineering by itself means the art of putting the scientific knowledge in practice and using it in practical life. The engineer thus uses his scientific knowledge to design, build, and maintain engines, machines or public works. While the word Civil is relates to ordinary citizens and their concerns. Civil engineering therefore refers to the science that applies scientific knowledge to serve the civic life in the daily functions through infrastructure. The Civil Engineering is the art and science of designing the infrastructure of the modern civil societies, the process of planning and design in addition to the establishment of various facilities and facilities that serve people is a civil engineering generally. These facilities include highways that connect cities to each other, and airports, and sewage treatment that protects our environmentCITATION Kos94 p 21 l 1033 ( Kostival and Mason 21). Civil Engineering Requirement at MSU There are 128 credits that a student needs to complete to receive a degree of Bachelor in Civil engineering at MSU. Students majoring in civil engineering must first complete the university requirement courses. After completing the university requirement there are six courses that a student must complete to apply to the college of engineering. These six core courses are EGR102, EGR100, MTH132, MTH133, CEM141, and PHY183. Completing these courses is not the only requirement to make application to the college of engineering; a student must also obtain a minimum required GPA of 3.2 and above. After that comes the major requirement, and there are 66 credits that will be obtained from these courses. After completing all of the major requirements, a student must complete 18 credits of the major tracks. There are seven tracks of civil engineering at MSU which are as follows; environmental track, geotechnical track, pavements track, structures track, transportation track, water resources track, and general track. For each track there are different required courses. Students must earn 18 credits from these tracks, 9 credits must be obtained from one track and the additional 9 credits must include courses from three different tracks (â€Å"Undergraduate degree – Civil Engineering†). The Importance of Writing in Civil Engineering I believe that writing is the basis for every course, and it’s important throughout college life. It helps in communicating our best knowledge in the respective fields we choose. Writing is quite a challenging task especially for international student; this is reason why it is important to enroll in prewriting classes as it improves writing skills. In the pursuit of our majors writing of research papers and case studies is mandatory. In addition to this, some exams sat in college entail questions that we must answer by writing short paragraphs. Writing classes is thus build the foundation of writing strategies that will help in the course of our majors. Why Civil Engineering is Important in our Lives? Civil engineering is an important part of our life, and the work of civil engineers is present in almost all aspects of our life. The electricity that we use everyday is provided by the constructions of the dams and power stations that require civil engineers. The clean water that we drink everyday is provided by the water and sewage treatment plants, which again require civil engineers. The roads that we drive everyday are also civil engineers’ work (â€Å"What is Civil Engineering†). The buildings that we live or work in are civil engineers’ work. Civil engineering helps improve the lives of millions of people everyday. Moreover, civil engineering gives shape and recognition to each society. For example, Many people when they hear of India, the picture that pops up in their heads is the picture of Taj Mahal, when they hear of Paris, they imagine the Eiffel Tower, and when they hear of London, they immediately think of Big Ben. The same happens when they hear of any other country or city; people tend to imagine the picture of the best-known landmarks or attractions in there. All these landmarks were built and designed by the help of civil engineers The importance of specialization of civil engineering can be realized through its definition. It’s a one the engineering disciplines that humans cannot live without it. The human need for homes to live in and be safe and protected from the summer heat and the winter cold. Humans need safety and the means of transportation to move between cities without noticing the long distance. Dams are a one of the examples that show us the importance of civil engineering of human beings. The importance of water resources and quality of human beings is the factor shows us how important is civil engineering for the community. Whenever the number of people in the community increases and there was a problem of limited spaces, this problem will not be solved without the presence of civil engineers. The civil engineer is the person who designs the foundations of safe buildings, builds the safe and economical towers; he is the one who ensures the presence of clean water and high quality of cities . The Different Career Paths of Civil Engineering There are a number of sub-disciplines of civil engineering. As I mentioned above there are six sub-disciplines of civil engineering at Michigan State University. There are many different branches from Engineering major. First, Environmental engineering, which interests on dealing with every aspect on the environment.   For example, environmental engineers work on constructing the water supplies that would protect the environment from water pollution and the consequences related to that such as where the waste of water would go as well as the solid waste and so on. Another branch is Geotechnical engineering. This deals with building the roads, tunnels, dams, and slopes using the rocks and the soil as the raw materials. Also, there is Structural Engineering, which is more in structuring buildings and bridges using other materials such as concrete and steel as the raw materials. Pavement Engineering is another one that is for the design and analysis of the asphalt and concrete pavemen ts. Also, Transportation Engineering, and this deals with the transit systems, designing highways, and constructing airports (â€Å"The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Degree†). When a student enters the workplace as civil engineer, he must go on to become certified as a professional Engineer (PE). â€Å"A civil engineer without this certification is limited in their authority. The PE license allows them the authority to sign off on all projects within their professional specialty† (â€Å"Becoming a Civil Engineer†). Salary of civil engineers The starting salary of civil engineering is relatively less than the other engineering disciplines such as computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and so on. However, the chances of getting a job is higher because civil engineers are always in demand as civil engineer’s job is important for the function of a society. Even with bad economy the society does not stop functioning, for example having bad economy does not mean that you drink poisoned water. Another reason that makes civil engineers always in demand is that the job of civil engineers cannot be outsourced, for example, you can’t build a bridge in china and ship it to the U.S. In comparison, other engineering disciplines’ job can be outsourced, for example, you can build a car or a computer in china and ship it to the U.S. (Buch). Conclusion Civil engineering is a worthwhile major and it places the individual on a career path that is definitely worth pursuing. It’s a major that give satisfaction to a person because he knows that he is helping the society and the people. Our modern life nowadays depends upon civil engineering. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Kostival, L M and John Michael Mason. Civil Engineering Careers: A User’s Guide for Awareness, Retention, and Curriculum Programs, Issue 347, Part 2. Transportation Research Board, 1994. Font, Darrell G, Marvin E Criswell and Neil S Grigg. Civil Engineering Practice in the Twenty-First Century: Knowledge and Skills for Design and Management. ASCE Publications, 2001. â€Å"Becoming a Civil Engineer.† Civil Engineering Careers. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . Buch, Neeraj. â€Å"Civil Engineering.† Personal interview. 3 Nov. 2014. â€Å"Civil Engineering.† Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"History of Engineering.† Civil Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . Salvadori, Mario. The Art of Construction Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers & Architects. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2000. Print. â€Å"The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Degree.† Michigan State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"Undergraduate Degree – Civil Engineering.† Michigan State University, Office of the Registrar. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å"What is Civil Engineering.† Civil Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. . â€Å" Source document