Assess The Functionalism

Functionalism is a predominant perspective in which to analyse the British educational system. The functionalist sees education as a miniature society, where the individual develops a sense of commitment to the social group; it is a place to learn rules where the individual learns to conform to societies cultural norms and values. The functionalist perspectives of Emile Durkheim are particularly relevant to the British educational system. He believed that the major function of education was the transmission of societies norms and values. This would allow an advanced division of labour, thus contributing to economy. He believed in the process known as socialisation, where cultural norms transpose a conditioned individual, allowing entry to modern society. The economy greatly relies on educational conditioning, and it is essential that educational achievement is well balanced in the meritoractic society, for role allocation to occur. The individual must be suitably-fitted for his or her post. From a functionalist perspective schools sieve individuals in accordance to their ability for example by tiered examinations. This process in which educational failure is seen positively, aids role allocation. Parsons backed Durkheim s theory. He believed that education fulfils the function of secondary socialisation, thus allowing role allocation to occur. He firmly believed that role allocation was necessary for the functioning of society and the economy. His perspectives encouraged meritocracy, where the individual is rewarded on the basis of merit or ability. There are various conflict theories, which give different view regarding the role of education on modern Britain. For example the Marxist perspectives of education argue that the education system imposes values of a higher class origin. In addition, achievement is based merely on social background and therefore makes failure inevitable. Bowles and Gintis believed that the hidden curriculum benefits only the employer in a capitalist society, whereas a functionalist perspective would argue that without socialisation in education, the individual would not recognise the norms and values of modern society. They believed that there is a strong relationship between capitalism and the educational system. The correspondence theory of Bowles and Gents illustrates school as entry into a world of exploitive work, where the individual learns to believe in meritocracy. In contrast to a functionalist perspective, Giroux believed that the educational system is a site of ideological struggle, where the enforcement of class differences by aiding the middle class and neglecting the working class from achieving are obvious. Marxists believed that functionalism was to blame for the failure of the educational system, and because individuals are made to conform, they mostly oppose values espoused by schools. The enforcement of complacency therefore encouraged a counter school culture, the consequence of unappealing and monotonous tasks. Illch supported this view and felt that education should be an enjoyable and inspiriting institution where group work is encouraged to prevent bad behaviour and rebellion to authority. A functionalist would argue that bad behaviour, is exactly why individuals need to reform to the cultural norms of a modern day society if they are to succeed at all. Marxist and Functionalist perspectives of the role of education in modern Britain are evidently very different. Functionalism seems to be the main consensus perspective. Analysis of Functionalist views conveys the positive contribution made by education to the social system. Whereas the Marxist theories argue that the education system imposes dominant values of the middle class and neglects the working class. Marxists perspectives also believe that a disproportional amount of lower class individuals will continue to higher education as a result of ideological factors such as class and race (suggested by literature in sociology in focus ). Marxists believed that the myth of meritocracy ( Haralambos ) made the individual feel responsible for his or her own failure in education as opposed to the functionalist factors such as role allocation and the hidden curriculum which are clearly to blame for the inevitable failure of the individual. A Marxists perspective is probably more relevant to my own experience. I have experienced pressure from pier groups from higher social backgrounds of my own, and feel that without dress sense, posture, accent and money we are all able to achieve to similar standards, despite allowances sometimes made for richer more fortunate individuals. Assess The Functionalism Functionalism is a predominant perspective in which to analyse the British educational system. The functionalist sees education as a miniature society, where the individual develops a sense of commitment to the social group; it is a place to learn rules where the individual learns to conform to societies cultural norms and values. The functionalist perspectives of Emile Durkheim are particularly relevant to the British educational system. He believed that the major function of education was the transmission of societies norms and values. This would allow an advanced division of labour, thus contributing to economy. He believed in the process known as socialisation, where cultural norms transpose a conditioned individual, allowing entry to modern society. The economy greatly relies on educational conditioning, and it is essential that educational achievement is well balanced in the meritoractic society, for role allocation to occur. The individual must be suitably-fitted for his or her post. From a functionalist perspective schools sieve individuals in accordance to their ability for example by tiered examinations. This process in which educational failure is seen positively, aids role allocation. Parsons backed Durkheim s theory. He believed that education fulfils the function of secondary socialisation, thus allowing role allocation to occur. He firmly believed that role allocation was necessary for the functioning of society and the economy. His perspectives encouraged meritocracy, where the individual is rewarded on the basis of merit or ability. There are various conflict theories, which give different view regarding the role of education on modern Britain. For example the Marxist perspectives of education argue that the education system imposes values of a higher class origin. In addition, achievement is based merely on social background and therefore makes failure inevitable. Bowles and Gintis believed that the hidden curriculum benefits only the employer in a capitalist society, whereas a functionalist perspective would argue that without socialisation in education, the individual would not recognise the norms and values of modern society. They believed that there is a strong relationship between capitalism and the educational system. The correspondence theory of Bowles and Gents illustrates school as entry into a world of exploitive work, where the individual learns to believe in meritocracy. In contrast to a functionalist perspective, Giroux believed that the educational system is a site of ideological struggle, where the enforcement of class differences by aiding the middle class and neglecting the working class from achieving are obvious. Marxists believed that functionalism was to blame for the failure of the educational system, and because individuals are made to conform, they mostly oppose values espoused by schools. The enforcement of complacency therefore encouraged a counter school culture, the consequence of unappealing and monotonous tasks. Illch supported this view and felt that education should be an enjoyable and inspiriting institution where group work is encouraged to prevent bad behaviour and rebellion to authority. A functionalist would argue that bad behaviour, is exactly why individuals need to reform to the cultural norms of a modern day society if they are to succeed at all. Marxist and Functionalist perspectives of the role of education in modern Britain are evidently very different. Functionalism seems to be the main consensus perspective. Analysis of Functionalist views conveys the positive contribution made by education to the social system. Whereas the Marxist theories argue that the education system imposes dominant values of the middle class and neglects the working class. Marxists perspectives also believe that a disproportional amount of lower class individuals will continue to higher education as a result of ideological factors such as class and race (suggested by literature in sociology in focus ). Marxists believed that the myth of meritocracy ( Haralambos ) made the individual feel responsible for his or her own failure in education as opposed to the functionalist factors such as role allocation and the hidden curriculum which are clearly to blame for the inevitable failure of the individual. A Marxists perspective is probably more relevant to my own experience. I have experienced pressure from pier groups from higher social backgrounds of my own, and feel that without dress sense, posture, accent and money we are all able to achieve to similar standards, despite allowances sometimes made for richer more fortunate individuals.

Contingency Theory of Accommodation and Advocacy

â€Å"Contingency Theory of Accommodation and Advocacy† Contingency theory of accommodation/advocacy is a more realistic depiction of public relation strategies or models based on a continuum. The contingency theory represents the organizations possible stance on a wider range of publics than an individual one fostering rigid and exclusive categorization mostly found in a limited set communication models. Basically what the theory is getting at is opening the spectrum of the public to come to a more rounded synopsis of the issue or product. Amanda Cancel, Michael Mitrook, and Glen Cameron conceptualized the theory to offer a better understanding how the public relations field manages conflict and reaches out to the public in external communication. A study was done by 18 practitioners to see if the contingency theory made any sense to them. The theory itself offers 86 possible factors in the continuum at any given time to any given public. This allows the continuum offered to depict how an organizations stance toward one given public and not the outcome of the interaction with that public. The theory focuses then on what decisions led the organization to their stance in concern with greater or lesser accommodation to that public. One of the many factors suggests that more accommodation or more advocacy will be effective in gaining departmental and organizational objectives in the short and long term. The contingency theory further goes on to say that an accommodative stance, questionably a part of a two-way symmetrical communication may not be completely ethical, in fact it could be contrary and unethical to morally repugnant publics, for those who hold some positions to be morally absolute. A position of a moral magnitude holds more so than that of any belief in the dialogic process. This also bring into view ethical charges of paternalism and the convictions of an organization that advocacy is morally superior to two–way symmetrical communication. Communication processes such as dialogue, compromise, collaboration and cooperation denote agreement, but engaging in these degrees are not always on the highest moral position. In certain cases taking a moral stance means putting the ethical principle above two-way symmetrical communication. The contingency theory attempts to structure a better understanding to dynamics of accommodation and advocacy while institute the ethical aspects of accommodation to the efficacy in public relations. This is one sample method that was used in the study of contingency. The sample test consisted of eighteen different public relation managers, ranging from middle to upper class. There are varieties of large corporations and of the practitioners represents one from around the country. The practitioners selected all represent corporations that are equally or more exposed than other organizations to positive and negative contact with the general public. This is the first reason for their selection and the second reason is related to their overall knowledge of their corporation†s history and associated culture, in comparison to a part-time practitioner†s knowledge. The research was done in three logical divisions. The first section asked the interviewee about the valid continuum between advocacy and accommodation. The second section analytically covers possible variables that could affect the corporations† stances along the continuum and conveys associated models in conflict management. The third section summarizes the study into three groups: strongly supported variables, unsupported variables and new variables. Strengths for this study are insurmountable where in the entire variable range has such a broad spectrum that all aspects are covered. The variables of the business exposure and corporate culture are the two most allied aspects to the validity of the study itself. This offers the interviewer to collectively find out what is to be done and how it to be done in public relations to further a better advocacy of knowledge to public. The weaknesses that are also relative to the variables and the amount of time it takes to expend all the collected information of the interviewees. The study seems too extensive to possess any beneficial quality for the interviewer and interviewee and the information collected will not serve any purpose to the interviewee because they already are aware of what they know. An example of contingency of accommodation was where a Florida newspaper wanted to see how the public receiving their circulation felt towards it and what should be implemented in changing any problems the public saw as a hindrance. The contingency theory is, by any means, a good way of practicing public relations. One good test would be to see how accommodating one public stance and the corporation. For example, there is a property management company that owns a larger portion of the buildings in the city. A Planned Parenthood clinic wants to renew its lease but the company faces their other buildings being boycotted by anti-abortion groups. The property company hires you to try to advocate and accommodate the issues that are of major concern of this group. Is it possible to find a balance? What type of answers does the boycott want to here and what are possible changes for this altercation? The contingency theory possesses many positive attributes on focus toward accommodation of the publics† expressed feelings. The key asset of the construction is the emphasis of mutual communication and prescriptive input towards the public. In that, keeping a wide range of possibility and precedent for organization of apparent issues. The major weakness is extreme accommodation towards one public in turn causing total disregard of issues and disproportionate conflict to another. The motive is then fixed to two-way symmetrical communication and improved stance of the model.

Auditing - Assurance - and Compliance Services

The present study sheds light on the relevant accounting theory and the auditing and assurance services. This particular study is based on a case study that illustrates the operations of the BSF Ltd., an Australian bioresearch organization that is listed in the Australian stock exchange. This particular organization carries out research for the purpose of utilization of the bacteria for the manufacture of fish. However, the corporation BSF Ltd also undertakes diverse research operations that orients around bioresearch for discovery of the sustainable aqua cultural feeds. The study also reflects the challenges faced by the research organization that encompasses the failure of research on the plant-based feed that could solve the concerns of the fish based feed along with the cost borne by the organization due to the unsuccessful projects. The unsuccessful research also drew criticisms from the environmentalists and faced the allegation of diversion of the high worth food crops into lu xurious fish. This led to the new research on the bacteria based research for the generation of the feeds that ultimately met with success. The current study therefore deals with the steps that need to be taken into consideration before the auditing and application of the same into the operations of the BSF Ltd. Thereafter, the present report deals with the evaluation of the risk of the audit, process of application of different functions. Furthermore, the current study discusses the entire audit program for the company and discusses the accounting treatment of the research as well as development transactions. Besides this, the present study also discusses the accounting treatment of the government grant received by the corporation from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Federal Government of Australia). Consequently, the study deals with the evaluation of the research as being socially as well as environmentally friendly. Finally, the present assignment carries out analysis of the reasonableness of the assertion regarding the patent value as the exclusive control over the advanced technolo gy used by the research organization. The audit process necessarily needs to adhere to the auditing standards stipulated under the section 336 of the Corporations Act 2001. The process of conduction of the auditing needs to comply to the auditing standards namely, the â€Å"ASA 100 (Preamble to AUASB Standards)†, â€Å"ASA 101 (Preamble To Australian Auditing Standards)†, â€Å"ASA 102 (Compliance with Ethical Requirements when Performing Audits, Reviews and Other Assurance Engagements)† among many others (Christensen et al., 2012). The process of the evaluation of the audit comprises of the inspection of the prospective clients of the accounting firm, allied activities of the business together with the owners. The sequential process of the audit also comprises of evaluation of diverse objectionable risk associated to the client that includes enquiry of the overall reliability of the corporation (Duncan & Whittington, 2014). However, as a result the procedure of the audit follow the due diligence p rocedure and verify the overall ethical threats associated to the confidentiality or else the contradictory advantages. In addition to this, the BSF Ltd also needs to have the adequate competence for executing the business activity, as this organization is mainly a bioresearch organization. However, diverse circumstances for the purpose of the performance of the audit embrace the process of determination of different suitable framework for the financial as well as account of the corporation (Homb et al., 2014). Furthermore, the process of audit also includes the examination of the legitimacy of the presented information concerning the client along with the conformation with the diverse accounting standards. Besides this, the auditor also needs to examine the overall ethical requirements and maintain the overall quality of the activity (Ahmed Haji & Anifowose, 2016). Over and above this, the management of the corporation also needs to be in agreement with the one another as regards t he preparation of the financial statement. Therefore, the evaluators need to ensure that the financial statements of the company are also free from the material error that might be owing to fraudulent activities if not unintentional mistakes. As rightly indicated by Shah & Nair (2013), the assessor can disallow the overall engagement with the client firm if the management implements constraints on diverse activities of the audit. In addition to this, the assessors can in turn refuse certain suggestions of audit when the financial records are not prepared according to the acceptable regulations. Nevertheless, the assessors assume confirmation from the preceding auditor as regards the execution of the legal and at the same time the process of implementation (Simpson et al., 2016). In addition to this, the assessors also need to make it certain that the choice of the proposed assessor according to different statutory obligations. Ultimately, the auditor has the need to submit the requi site letter of engagement with the client.   The process of evaluation of the audit risk needs to adhere to the Australian Auditing Standards that institutes different requirements and at the same time offer the process of implementation of the standards. The assessor can abide by the rules such as the AUASB ED 7/08 ( the â€Å"Proposed Auditing Standard ASA 315†) that helps in the process of identification as well as assessment of the risk of materiality. In addition to this, many other standards are laid down as a guideline for carrying out the entire audit. The primary intention of the assessor is to identify and at the same time reduce the overall risk to a significantly low level (Hegazy & Farghaly, 2016). The analysis of the present case study reveals the fact that the inherent risk of BSF Ltd is 90% and on the other hand the control risk stands at 5%. In addition to this, the risk of detection is recorded to be 80%. The audit risk in the present case can be evaluated by utilization of the Audit Risk   Model in which the assessor can take into consideration both the control as well as inherent risk (Chambers & Odar, 2015). Therefore, the audit risk can therefore be calculated by implementation of the formula that states that the risk of the audit is necessarily the multiplication of all the registered inherent risk, detection risk as well as the control risk. Therefore, the formula for the calculation of the audit risk can be put across as â€Å"(Audit Risk = Inherent Risk*Detection Risk*Control Risk)†. As mentioned in the case study, the audit risk is therefore equivalent to 0.36 â€Å"(0.36=0.8*0.9*0.05)†. Thus, the audit risk is registered to be 36%. However, the audit risk in this case is under 10% that is regarded as the standard for the audit risk, therefore, there is a need to have audit risk within the limit of 10%. This reflects the fact that the assessors can execute the role of audit for the client company BSF Limited. As rightly indicated by Pitt. (2014), the auditors have the need to devise and at the same time create audit program in a bid to make it certain that the business functions as well as control of the organization can be evaluated for the purpose of rectification. In addition to this, the assessors can also get hold of adequate information as well as requisite substantiation by conduction of diverse audit programs that includes list of different functions that are essentially involved in the process of assessment and audit process. Again, the suitable individual audit procedure are primarily designed with the intention of the development of accounting methods and at the same time accounting strategies (Graham, 2015). Nevertheless, the audit process also takes in different substantiated tests as well as other methods of control. For the purpose of the substantiation of the audit opinion, the assessors need to comply with diverse performance requirements according to the specific require ments of the audit regulations (Australian Auditing Standards) for the particular audit program and thereby build up the important working papers of the assessors (Lowell, 2016). Again, the assessor also needs to record different features that in turn can aid the entire procedure of the validation of the audit (Auasb.gov.au., 2016). The important factors of the audit program also need to integrate the process of the preparation of the working papers that can essentially facilitate the overall process of retention of the union with the presentation of the audit. In addition to this, the auditors also need to arrange the working papers and keep account of the business functionalities in both the current as well as the permanent audit directory. As rightly indicated by Chambers & Odar (2015), the permanent audit paper therefore includes diverse substances that can persistently exert impact on the entire performance that comprises of the â€Å"Document of the Copy of Memorandum of Asso ciation† of the company BSF Ltd. In addition to this, the permanent audit paper also comprises of extracts of different important legal documents significant minutes in addition to the documents of agreements of the organization BSF Ltd. In addition to this, the documents of the audit also need to include important information concerning the internal control and at the same time the process of the accounting that the management of the organization BSF follows (Christensen et al., 2014). In addition to this, the audit documents also comprises of the structure of the company, information offered by the legal advisors as well as the bankers of the particular business entity along with the letter of the engagement. The document also replicates the evaluation of diverse accounts of balance of the corporation BSF Ltd, illustration of the process of evaluation of the financial statements at the time of audit by other auditors along with the perspectives of the assessor. The auditor presents the points of view regarding the overall internal control procedure, procedure for accounting, adherence to different ethical requirements along with the quality of the financial declarations (Chychyla et al., 2015). In addition to this, the important performance indicators together with the important ratio can assist in the process of detection of the specific trends of the business as well as the evaluation of the process of assessment. Moreover, the working paper of the audit also comprises of the constitutional documents of the BSF Ltd that replicates the entire business structure. The Journal entries for the research and development expenditures are as follows The journal entries for the Year 2013 Cr. Unearned grant revenue $400,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2014 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 100,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 100,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2015 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 100,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 100,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2016 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 60,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 60,000,000† In keeping with the accounting directions established under the standard â€Å"AASB 120† that yet again congregates with the conditions stipulated under the â€Å"IAS 20†, the dealings of accounting for ascertainment of the government grants can be carried out properly (Aasb.gov.au. 2016). Again, as mentioned in the accounting stipulations, the set of laws established under relevant principles of accounting, the government grants can be registered as profit or else loss and in a systematic way during the course in which the business entity identifies the expenses as the connected costs (Cohen et al., 2013). In addition to this, the process of recognition in addition to documentation of varied government grants similar to profit if not loss is not according to the specific assumption of accrual accounting as revealed under the standard â€Å"AASB 101 Presentation of Financial Statements† (Aasb.gov.au. 2016). Nevertheless, the method by which the government grant c an be recorded does not convince the complete technique of book-keeping that can essentially be executed on the subject of the grant. Nonetheless, the government grant can be regarded as a receivable and can be treated as a reimbursement for offering the instant financial preservation to the entire business unit with no probable allied costs that can be documented in profit if not loss throughout the particular time (Cohen et al., 2013).   As rightly put forward by Shah & Nair (2013), the research process carried out by the BSF Ltd also have the need to be socially responsible and at the same time environmental friendly. As mentioned in the case, the research work conducted by the company BSF Limited on the plant based feed faced criticisms from the environmentalists that alleged that the process of diversion of the human quality food crops into the lavish fish is almost identical to the process of diversion of the low valued fish into the course of production. Therefore, this business practice can also affect the poor people and in turn escalate the risk associated to malnutrition. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the development of a socially responsible and at the same time environment friendly research activity. This practice also reflects the fact that the business units have the need to adhere to different set of rules as well as regulations that are essentially stipulated under both the social as well as environmental evaluations in the process of carrying out daily business operations (Christensen et al., 2012). Again, there is also an obligation on the part of the corporation regarding the implementation of the regular tracking of diverse environmental issues in the entire business unit. In addition to this, the brand also has the need to abide by various severe regulation regarding the operational policies that can assist the process of deliverance of the operation (Ahmed Haji & Anifowose, 2016). Again, the human resource segment of the company also need to hold fair as well as transparent view that in turn can avoid the partialities to a particular party in a bid to maintain social accountability (Chambers & Odar, 2015). Again, the research process also need to abide by the rules of the administration of the company BSF Limited. As rightly indicated by Chambers & Odar (2015), the process of functioning of control over basically an intangible asset can direct and help in the commencement of forthcoming economic growth (Lowell, 2016). Nonetheless, the capability of a particular corporation to deal with the impending economic refund from a specific intangible asset can occur out of various legal associations that efficiently can be considered as obligatory under necessities of pertinent law. On the other hand, the special control of the company over certain intangible assets that in turn can support the entire course of improvement in common technical aspects. This can facilitate the process of acquirement advantages in the forthcoming phase (Cohen et al., 2013). According to Cohen et al. (2013), the â€Å"AASB138 paragraph 13 -16†, the association   BSF Ltd also have the need to be accustomed to the level of expertise as well as potential of the members of the staff that sequentially can generate the step up of economic rewards in the forthcoming time (Aasb.gov.au. 2016).  Ã‚   Yet, owing to lack of various lawful manipulations, the corporation BSF Limited can defend the future rewards through substitute actions or trials. Christensen, B.E., Glover, S.M. and Wood, D.A., 2012. Extreme estimation uncertainty in fair value estimates: Implications for audit assurance.Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  31(1), pp.127-146. Homb, N. M., Sheybani, S., Derby, D., & Wood, K. (2014). Audit and feedback intervention: An examination of differences in chiropractic record-keeping compliance.  The Journal of chiropractic education,  28(2), 123. Ahmed Haji, A., & Anifowose, M. (2016). Audit Committee and Integrated Reporting Practice: Does Internal Assurance Matter?.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  31(8/9). Shah, M., & Nair, C. S. (Eds.). (2013).  External Quality Audit: Has it Improved Quality Assurance in Universities?. Elsevier. Simpson, S. N. Y., Aboagye-Otchere, F., & Lovi, R. (2016). Internal auditing and assurance of corporate social responsibility reports and disclosures: perspectives of some internal auditors in Ghana.  Social Responsibility Journal,  12(4). Chambers, A. D., & Odar, M. (2015). A new vision for internal audit.Managerial Auditing Journal,  30(1), 34-55. Pitt, S. A. (2014).  Internal Audit Quality: Developing a Quality Assurance and Improvement Program. John Wiley & Sons. Graham, L. (2015).  Internal Control Audit and Compliance: Documentation and Testing Under the New COSO Framework. John Wiley & Sons. Lowell, R. (2016). COMPLIANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT.  Managing the Long-Term Care Facility: Practical Approaches to Providing Quality Care, 199. Chambers, A. D., & Odar, M. (2015). A new vision for internal audit.Managerial Auditing Journal,  30(1), 34-55. Christensen, T.E., Baker, R.E. & Cottrell, D.M., (2014). Advanced Financial Accounting. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Chychyla, R., Leone, A.J. & Minutti-Meza, M., (2015). Financial Reporting Complexity and Accounting Expertise. Cohen, J.R., Krishnamoorthy, G., Peytcheva, M. & Wright, A.M., (2013). How does the strength of the financial regulatory regime influence auditors' judgments to constrain aggressive reporting in a principles-based versus rules-based accounting environment?. Accounting Horizons, 27(3), pp.579-601. Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) - Home. (2016).  Aasb.gov.au. Retrieved 14 September 2016, from https://www.aasb.gov.au Auasb.gov.au. (2016).  Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) - Home. [online] Available at: https://www.auasb.gov.au [Accessed 22 Sep. 2016]. Duncan, B., & Whittington, M. (2014, September). Compliance with standards, assurance and audit: does this equal security?. In  Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Security of Information and Networks  (p. 77). ACM.   Hegazy, M. A., & Farghaly, M. (2016, August). Internal audit practices and standards: external and internal auditors' perceptions on Compliance in an Emerging Economy. In  American Accounting Association Annual Meeting.

New Top-Level Domains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

New Top-Level Domains - Essay Example The new domain system is therefore seen by Crossman as a means for the banking industry to take advantage of its new edge to also dominate the internet. Steve (2011) on the other hand sees the need to educate the ordinary user of the internet on the new domain system. Though Steve did not make specific mention of the banking industry, his advocacy on misconceptions associated with the new domain system would clear doubts among the players in the banking industry who may want to take advantage of the new system. The modern organization discussed in the articles is the banking institution. The first importance of the new domain system as discussed by Crossman (2011) is that there would be the room for personalization and customization. Such personalization and customization according to Crossman goes a long way to enhance company branding. He states that â€Å"this potentially opens up an opportunity for banks to market and brand themselves differently through their internet addresses (Crossman, 2011). With the current economic climate where the world is now recovering gradually from the global economic crunch that hit it, any form of publicity that brings customers closer to be business is very important in ensuring growth. If the new domain would, therefore, give banks the opportunity to identify themselves with customers, then this is good news for the industry. The second importance outlined is the fact that the new domain system will check online fraud and make online banking more secur e. Crossman (2011) quotes Javed who posits a rhetorical statement saying â€Å"no squatter in their right mind would go spend six months and half a million dollars so they could mess around with Bank of America's name, then get sued the following week and get a cease and desist order.  

Discuss the balance between ludological (gameplay) elements and Essay

Discuss the balance between ludological (gameplay) elements and narratological (story) elements in games. Is one more important - Essay Example The ultimate goal of such analysis is to move from a taxonomy of elements to an understanding of how these elements are arranged in actual narratives, fictional and nonfictional.† [Pradl 1984] A typical application of narratological methodologies would include sociolinguistic studies of storytelling and in conversation analysis or discourse analysis that deal with narratives arising in the course of spontaneous verbal interaction. The study of narrative is particularly important since our ordering of time and space in narrative forms constitutes one of the primary ways we construct meaning in general. The narratological approach is characterised by its overriding concern with narrative structure, and the close attention it pays to the effects that this structure has on the shaping and unfolding of narratives. Literary theory and narratology have also been very helpful to understand cybertexts and videogames. Narratology theories are used to bring the aspect of storytelling, a s cenario, a scene, characters and a plot of which the user plays through and experiences and takes part in the story that unfolds. Rhetorically Narratological elements in games, especially in videogames, are somewhat makes them more stunning to public and to players. They somewhat brings the beauty inside the game. The players, sometimes, tend to spend more attention to the story of the game than to the gameplay or the environment of the game. Take along this RPG’s (role-playing games) for example, Star Wars the game, players tend to stay focused and tuned-in on the story than being focused on the interactivity of the game. In other words, they are having the willingness to complete the game mainly because they want to know what happens next in the story. They become eager to advance the game from one level to another for the next plot. Apparently, game designers tend to have their work based on books, epics, legends, myths, heroes, or even on films. By this, they attract play ers more. As far as Narratology is concerned and used in videogames and in cybertexts, here comes ludology - â€Å"the academic study of videogames† [Keats 2006]. Using narratological elements as framework in designing a game is indeed very useful, yet it cannot be the only framework to be applied. Ludology from the words ludus means game and logus study. It speaks of the gameplay of a game. It scrutinizes the interactivity of the game. The acts you will make in order to move inside the game, the graphics, the setting, colours, sizes and shapes, etc. It talks about how the game will appear on screen. Ludology is obviously widely used in games. It is where critiques site their comment. They would not say â€Å"This game sucks. It has a vague story.† The ludology perspective is useful and can stand alone than narratology is. It directly applies to some games. For example players do not play tetris for a story. They would not bother asking â€Å"Where is entertainment he re? Where is the story?† Also in popular games like Mario by Nintendo are better suited as a game and criticised on its gameplay and graphics rather than on the story. Most players tend to play a Mario game not to see if Mario meets Princess Peach but for each level’s design and other gameplay elements that make the game more exciting. Narratology and ludology are being opposed by most. However, these two adjacent and independent perspectives must be clearly understood to arrive on to a bigger

Ozone depletion causes global warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ozone depletion causes global warming - Essay Example In line with that, it would help in the discussion if the ozone layer and global warming are both defined. Ozone is made up of three atoms of oxygen which is poisonous when people inhale it especially at high concentration. It is unlike the air human beings need which is made up of two atoms of oxygen. People may get sick especially the disease called asthma when ozone is formed near the surface of the earth. It is very useful once it is formed in the atmosphere because it serves as a blanket of protection from solar radiation. Ozone layer is considered as a sub-layer in the atmosphere which has an altitude of 10 to 35 kilometers. The mechanism on how the ozone is formed is by the exposure of oxygen in the atmosphere to the ultraviolet rays from the sun and as ozone is formed, the harmful UV radiation is absorbed. High concentration of ozone in the atmosphere is very much needed by the earth because the higher the concentration of zone, the less UV radiation can reach the surface of the earth. Once ozone is not able to do its job, people are then exposed to higher concentration of UV radiation that may cause sunburn, skin cancers and eye cataracts as more UV rays can penetrate the atmosphere (Shanklin 84). It is noteworthy to remember that ozone layer is a very important component of the atmosphere and the big protector of people and other organisms against the direct exposure to the harmful radiation from the sun. A more detailed explanation regarding the ozone layer would be better in explaining the importance of its existence. Further discussion is about the exact location of ozone layer and the problems it faces as it is being depleted. Ozone layer is a sub-layer of the stratosphere and located at about 15 kilometres above sea level. Even though the ozone present in the atmosphere is not as abundant as oxygen and nitrogen, it is still very important due to its ability to absorb the radiation. A study was made by Crutzen in 1970 about the nitrogen oxides pro duced from the decay of nitrous oxide through the soil microbial activities. The study showed how nitrogen oxides react quickly with ozone that allowed the concentration reduction of available ozone. The study opened the grounds on  further research regarding "global biogeo-chemical cycles" and the nitrogen oxides coming from the airplanes as they travel on the stratosphere (Lipkin 262). Harmful radiation increases as ozone layer is being reduced. The depletion may have both advantages and disadvantages to living things especially to human beings. In the past 60 years, awareness became more prevalent towards the consequences of exposure to radiation. Recent studies proved that the eye and the skin are the two of the body organs that are most prawn to damages and diseases due to UV radiation. Cataract is the usual effect of UV radiation to the eyes while skin cancer is the common result on skin (Norval et. al. 199). The other concept that must be talked about is global warming. The increase in the average surface temperature of the earth is said to be global warming. It happens because of the greenhouse effect that increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and other gases like water vapor, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere that cover the surface of the earth and prevents the UV radiation to escape to the outer space. The radiation increases the heat on the surface of the earth that leads to the global increase in temperature. Human activities contribute to the

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 24

Assignment Example Without reducing aggression and violence, it is impossible to create peace, harmony law & order across Africa, which are the prerequisites for development (Brito, 2010). It should be pointed out that Rwanda ethnic violence was started in April 1994 during which more than 0.8 million civilians and politicians (mostly Tutsis), police officers and military soldiers lost their lives. It was one of the worst genocides in the history which was triggered after the assassination of Rwandan President named Juvenal Habyarimana, a representative from majority Hutu group. Unequivocally, the Tutsis were alleged for targeting the plane of President by rockets in an attempt to debilitate Hutus across Rwanda. However, it should not be forgotten that tensions between Hutus and Tutsis already existed; therefore, the President’s assassination should be considered as the only motive that sparked this brutal massacre. It is worthwhile to mention that Paul Kagame was among the founder leaders of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which was actually a rebel group working under explicit and implicit support of Tutsi refugees in Rwanda followed by assistance by ‘mo derate Hutus’. Indeed, the actual cause of this ethnic turmoil was the unilateral and open support to Hutu civilians by Rwandan military, political groups, police and entrepreneurs that were strictly against the presence of Tutsis across Rwanda. Also, they organized a rebel group named ‘Interahamwe’ to carry out this genocide (BBC Report, 2008). It is worthwhile to point out that African continent has remained the centre of civil disobedience movements, internal conflicts, ethnic turmoil, rebellions, militancy, religious intolerance, war among nations, bad governance and political unrest because of weaknesses in systems and political institutions. Indeed, some major countries where the aforementioned factors have been observed

Essay on the move The Hut Locker Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

On the move The Hut Locker - Essay Example Discussion Throughout the movie, there are signs that James does not look upon his job as something that he has to do, or something that he does not enjoy doing. It does not even imply that his job is something that he takes seriously.. Therefore, this points to the job being an addiction – James does it because he gets a thrill out of it. Moreover, he takes chances that he shouldn't be taking, just like an addict would take too many drugs, or gamble too much, or engage in other kinds of behavior that is unreasonably hazardous to one's well-being. When we first meet James, there is already an inkling that is a guy who enjoys taking chances – he asks Sanborn to help him move a wood that is by the window, even though Sanborn states that the wood is there to keep out snipers. They move the wood, anyhow, because Sanborn wants to see outside. This small move is a sign of things to come, as James takes increasingly risky chances with his life and the lives of his men. In the very next scene, James shows, once again, that he is more reckless than he should be. He goes to investigate an IED, instead of having a robot go and investigate it. Sanborn is dismayed by this, reasoning that the robot is halfway there, and that James shouldn't go down there until the robot has a chance to find out about the suspicious device. Sanborn decides right then that James is reckless, stating that James is reckless, when Owen calls James â€Å"rowdy.† Then, James, as he approaches the IED does not respond to Sanborn's entreaties to keep him, Sanborn, posted on what he, James, is doing. His actions end up endangering the men, as a suspicious taxi driver causes a commotion that makes everybody on edge. As James approaches the IED, it is obvious that he does not feel the danger in what he is doing – he is way too casual about it, and ends up making jokes that Sanborn and others do not find funny. The inescapable conclusion is that he feels the need to investigag e the IED because this is something that gives him a type of high - he wants to do it, and the danger of the situation is something that he looks forward to. This is obvious by the way that he approaches the situation not with trepidation, but with zeal. Sanborn immediately figures that there is something not quite right with James. After James acted recklessly the day before, Sanborn states that he, Sanborn, was in intelligence and that he could read James and James' motivation. He immediately senses that James is the type of person that will get him killed, as well as get himself killed. Again, the inescapable conclusion is that James is enjoying himself. Even when Sanborn calls him on his reckless nature, James doesn't seem to care. Sanborn clearly has the demeanor of somebody who is in the job not because he loves it or is addicted to it, but because it is a job and he no doubt believes in the job. As such, he recognizes the danger in situation, and he reacts with alarm to dange rous situations. He believes in taking every precaution. James, however, is clearly not only enjoying himself, but seems to take a thrill out of danger. The next scene where this is shown is where James is disarming a vehicle. He took his helmet off, even though this act of taking off his helmet was met with alarm by Owen. James reasons that if he is going to die, he is going to die comfortable. Therefore, this is yet another instance where

Gender Inequality at work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Inequality at work place - Essay Example In the society there is need to create definite balance in making analysis about gender inequality, men should as well be considered as the impact of the inequality against women at work place affects them either directly or indirectly. In some cases, they are the victims too. All over the world men and women have naturally done different kinds of work. Men have characteristically done jobs that are much physical in nature and require more efforts whereas women tended to do less physical duties, mostly service-oriented kind of jobs. The three factors that are often used to describe inequality at workplace include cultural factors, discriminatory factors. Cultural values where women in certain countries are not allowed to do some jobs due to state laws, religion, and public view with historical connotations. Race can also be used to hinder one not necessarily women from being given certain jobs basing on cultural beliefs, the discriminatory aspect of it ranges from various instance su ch as sex, age, color of the skin, level of education among others. Race can be a determinant in the segregation of awarding of jobs Devey reiterates that some jobs are kept for white basing on the quality. Social perspectives where by some jobs are predominantly done by certain gender for example mechanical works, engineering among others.Federal state anti-discriminatory laws have been passed and put onto action in several states in the U.S. with effect it has improved availabilities of several opportunities for women at work place.

The Islamic Conquests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Islamic Conquests - Essay Example In Empire to Commonwealth (12-19), historian Garth Fowden has delineated three separate geographical, cultural, and political spheres in Eurasia: China, India, and the Near East (the Fertile Crescent and the adjacent Mediterranean coast). These areas were all ancient centers of civilization and because of the distances and geographical barriers involved, had little interaction with each other. This is why China, India, and the Near East/Mediterranean can be thought of as continuous discrete civilizations even though throughout much of their history they lacked the political unity to provide full national identity. Although Islam eventually spread to all three areas, it origin and center lay in the Near East and it was only there that it became fully dominant. The Near East is unique among the three in having close interaction with a wide variety of surrounding areas. The Fertile Crescent is "a vortex that pulls inward and fuses what lies around it. So not only can the Fertile Crescent never enjoy long-term autonomy, but its unity can only be realized on a secure bases as part of a wider unification of the Iranian Plateau with the Mediterranean" (Fowden, 18). This unity was only achieved twice, in the first instance by the Achaemenid Empire (Alexander's fleeting unification of an even larger territory was based on Achaemenid Iran) in the sixth to fourth centuries BC, and in the seventh century by the Umayyad Caliphate. The initial Arab conquests unified the entire Fertile Crescent region with Iran for the first time in centuries, providing a secure economic, political, and geographical base fo r further conquests, for instance by allowing the Islamic state to compete on an even footing with the Byzantine navy (Fowden, 140). It may well be that the impetus to sustain large scale conquests into the eighth century came from the Islamic practice of providing for the army from the income of conquered lands collectively, rather than distributing the lands. This tended to keep the army in being (Karsh, 24). How did the initial Arab conquest succeed so well The Arabs' opponents in the area, the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires, were exhausted after a generation of fruitless war with each other over the Fertile Crescent and were in internal states of near collapse. In Iran, ultimately the loosing party in this conflict, on which the pressure was increased by Turkish invasions from the north (Christian, 260-285), the aftermath of defeat had led to assassination, civil war, and by 633 a state of anarchy in the empire (Nafziger and Walton, 18). Rome was also riven with internal dissensions (see below). So, to a large degree from a military perspective, the rapid Arab conquest of the Iranian state and of nearly half the territory of the Byzantine state, is to be attributed to the internal weakness of the defeated Empires rather to any special qualities of Islam. Other possible purely military factors to explain the Islamic conquests have been proposed, though with less plausibility. In Islam at War, Nafziger and Walton suggest a 'great man' solution to the problem of the Arab conquest, arguing that Khalid ibn al Waleed was "one of the great [sic] natural military leaders in all of human history" (16-17). But this hardly seems plausible. However remarkable Khalid's successes were on an operation level, and as astounding as his victories were, the were (as above) due more to the

Fashion Opinion Leadership Essay Example for Free

Fashion Opinion Leadership Essay 1. Introduction Consumers influence each other in several ways: they exchange information through communication, seek or give opinions and copy each other’s behaviour. Researchers recognise the giving and seeking of opinions as one of the most important word-of-mouth influences on brand and product choice (Bristor, 1990 and Weimann, 1994). Especially in fashion, social groups and opinion leaders influence product and brand evaluations (Amaldoss and Jain 2008). Fashion consumers often refer to fashion opinion leaders who they desire to be alike. The Internet and social media speeded up the way of communication within reference groups and made it possible to share interests without physical interaction. The following essay will outline an overview of fashion opinion leaders and reference groups before giving a better understanding of how fashion retailers make use of fashion opinion leaders in order to influence customers. 2. Reference groups and reference group influences Consumers use several sources when they seek information or opinions on decisions; informal and social (Goldsmith and Clark 2008). This aspect of consumer behaviour is described as opinion-leadership-opinion-seeking, word-of-mouth, buzz or social communication (Goldsmith and Clark 2008). This means that consumers refer to something or someone when they seek information and clears the way for the term referential or reference group. Solomon and Rabolt (2009) define Humans as social animals that try to fit into certain groups, please others and take â€Å"cues about how to behave by observing the actions of those around† (p. 422) them. A group can simply be defined as two or more people sharing common goals and interests. All members of a group interact by certain patterns, frameworks and networks. A group member must therefore be perceptible to belonging to this group. Groups can be primary (family), secondary (professions), formal (churches), or informal (certain group of frie nds). Belonging to a herd or group, makes consumers want to identify themselves psychologically and physically with desirable individuals of this group. Thus, an individual or group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s sociological attributes, such as evaluations, characteristics, aspirations, or behaviour is defined as reference group (Park et al, 1977). As stated by Holton (2004), Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. Hence, the group becomes the individuals frame of reference and influences his ideas and decisions. Reference group influence can occur in different ways. According to Solomon and Rabolt (2009), group members of reference groups can be influenced informational, utilitarian or value-expressive. Furthermore, individuals are also mostly influenced by normative referents of the group, such as parents, teachers, or peers (Childers and Rao, 1992). There are also so called aspirational groups of which individuals aspire to be a member of. This phenomenon can be considered as comparative referents, such as public opinion leaders or celebrities. Belonging to a group, aspirational or not, can influence the buying behaviour of individuals, and decisions are often based on what the group members please in order to be accepted (Joel et al 1972). According to the above, a reference group is as an individual or group that significantly influences an individual’s behaviour (Bearden and Etzel 1982). 2.1 Online referential groups and virtual consumption communities Literature mostly concentrates on face-to-face interaction within reference groups on a regular basis or on aspirational groups without direct interaction (Pentina et al, 2008). However, Sheth and Parvatiyar (1995) stated that it is not directly necessary to have physical contact and interactions with members of a group in order to refer to it. More common forms of reference groups are online reference groups, which only exist in the World Wide Web. Within the age of the Internet, arising social media networks and communities it is possible to share interests with people who the individual never met personally (Solomon and Rabolt, 2009). A virtual community of consumption is defined as â€Å"a collection of people whose online interactions are based on shared enthusiasm for and knowledge of a specific consumption activity† (Solomon and Rabolt, 2009, p 426), such as fashion for instance. In the concept of virtual communities any group of people can share common bonds, without being dependent on physical interaction and common graphic location (McDonough, 1992). But the issue of relationships between each other still lies at the heart of virtual communities (Farquhar and Rowley, 2006). Although online sharing of interests takes place on blog websites, social media platforms, like facebook or twitter or sharing services like as Pinterest, members build up relationships when sharing. On facebook, for instance, members liking other people’s post in certain theme groups and commenting on those can explain a relationship. Solomon and Rabolt (2009) state that the impact of virtual communities on individual’s product preferences and decisions are huge. Because of that, an online referential group can be considered as consumers who write about their opinions towards certain topics, seek information, publish recommendations, and post products or services. 2.1.1 Online referential groups in fashion and fashion bloggers Fashion and apparel shopping are seen as the most popular discussion topic among social networks (Thomas et al, 2007). In fashion, online communities are seen mostly through social media emergence such as blogs or facebook groups. Fashion blogs are mostly run by one person who writes or â€Å"blogs† about different products, occasions or events within the fashion industry. The community is then formed by readers of the blog, so called â€Å"followers†, that read the stories or comment on it. With gaining popularity bloggers are also able to gain money by advertising on their blog websites. According to the Telegraph, the most popular bloggers make up to  £10,000 a month in advertising (Telegraph, 28/10/2012). Meanwhile, also fashion retailers look into the blogging business. For retailers the building up of social media groups could help them to gain direct feedback from consumers while monitoring discussions in referential groups online. Burberry for example not only has its own group on facebook, but also launched a blog, showing images of people wearing their trench coats (The Art of Trench, 28/10/2012). 3. Fashion opinion leadership Referring to an opinion leader is one of the social or informal sources of decision and opinions seeking, named by Goldsmith and Clark (2008) in reference group behaviour. A person who has knowledge about a certain product and whose advice is seriously taken by others explains opinion leadership. An opinion leader or influential is a person, who is frequently able to influence attitudes and behaviour of others (Solomon and Rabolt 2009) Further, it can be explicated by the desire of leaders to distinguish themselves from followers, while followers pursue the countervailing desire to assimilate with leaders (Amaldoss and Jain 2008). Feick and Price (1987, p. 95) state that opinion leaders are more likely in product categories in which association with the product provides a form of self-expression. Fashionable clothing embodies information about the personality and status of its wearer to other people (Dodd et al, 2000). However, Amaldoss and Jain (2008) argue that in fashion, this occurrence is mostly seen within the purchasing of luxury clothing and accessories. There are several types of opinion leaders that can be observed in fashion. Firstly, some heavy consumers of fashion clothing who become extremely interested and preoccupied with it, so that their interest, knowledge and experience qualifies them to become fashion opinion leaders for others (Goldsmith, 2000). Today, these types of fashion opinion leaders occur mostly online, such as fashion bloggers. Secondly there are people who are in the public spotlight, such as celebrities. Celebrities mostly look adorable and therefore individuals follow their look because they desire to assimilate with this leader (Amaldoss and Jain 2008). But sometimes celebrities are being dressed up by personal outfitters in order to create, perform and accomplish a certain image without actually having the interest or knowledge in the area. This shows that also the perception that individuals have about a person can make the person an opinion leader. Of course, there are also people whose profession is related to fashion that can be an opinion leader for individuals, such as designers, fashion photographers, models or fashion magazines. A recent study on Mintel shows that fashion content in celebrity, lifestyle or fashion magazines, newspaper supplements and makeover shows has a direct influence on the shopping behaviour of 2 3.5 million people. Especially women are most likely influenced by such coverage (Mintel, Fashion Online, 29/10/12). As the fashion magazine example illustrates, an opinion leader does not have to be only one person, it can also be a company or an organisation. 3.1 Fashion opinion seeking â€Å"Opinion seeking is the behavioural counterpart to opinion leadership† (Goldsmith and Clark, 2008, p 309) and is important to the diffusion of new fashion products because it can spread word-of-mouth about the advice gotten from opinion leaders. Unlike opinion leaders, opinion seekers do not have the same knowledge of and interest in a product category than opinion leaders in this segment do (Goldsmith, 2000). Opinion leaders do also absorb risk (Solomon and Rabolt, 2009) for opinion seekers when buying a new product. Therefore, Opinion seekers consider opinion leaders as appropriate sources for information and advice (Bertrandias and Goldsmith, 2006). Nevertheless, opinion seekers are very important to opinion leaders because they act on the information they got from the opinion leader. The fashion industry is one of the industries that show the most frequent changes in trends and styles. When consumers determine on buying a new product they might ask or even search for information about the desired fashionable product. Because of that they often make use of informal or social sources when seeking information (Goldsmith and Clark 2008) or opinions on decisions from fashion opinion leaders in any form. Consumers can seek for an opinion through various types of social communication, word-of-moth recommendations, observing opinion leaders, researching a subject or buzz (Goldsmith and Clark 2008). In an online perspective, consumers can use social network communities as sources for apparel shopping. 3.1.1 The process within referential groups in fashion: coherence of opinion leaders and opinion seekers The basis of forming referential groups in virtual communities is the process combining interpersonal connectivity, social enhancement and sharing of information. Dholakia and Bagozzi (2004) state that interpersonal connectivity between members is important to retain social benefits of participating online. In fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seeking, the process is based on the social need of each other, shown in figure 3. Figure 1: The process of fashion influence between fashion opinion leaders and fashion opinion seekers in referential groups, adapted from Goldsmith and Clark, 2008 This process can especially be observed in online communities where opinion leaders post pictures of themselves wearing a new product. Several opinion seekers may like the product and give a positive feedback to the opinion leader or even share it with others, which shows symbolic validation to the opinion leader and creates a loop. 3.1.2 Victoria Beckham as fashion opinion leader for the Birkin Bag A good example for an opinion leader in fashion is Victoria Beckham. The ex-singer, designer and wife of English football star David Beckham is referred to being an A-list celebrity in the public spotlight. She is not only famous for designing fashion and wearing high-heels, but also for her collection of the Hermes Birkin Bag. The Birkin Bag is a hand-made handbag designed by the luxury fashion brand Hermà ¨s and is estimated to start at $6,000 (Branch, 2004). The bag is often seen adorning the arm of celebrities and has become a cult fashion phenomenon (Tonello, 2009) and is an example of a fashion product that gained high popularity. Its brand, Hermà ©s limited its production, to limit its accessibility. Victoria Beckham is presumed of possessing the largest collection of Birkins (Fashionthroughtravel, 26/10/12). The following figure shows an example of her and her Birkin Bag collection. It can be the fact that Victoria Beckham is popular and has a lot of people referring to her what made the bag so famous and desirable. Followers or referents to her then adopted the product, Birkin Bag. The more leaders adopt a product, the higher value is crated among its followers. â€Å"Thus, followers are buying the product for its reference group effect† (Almadoss and Jain, 2008, p 935). Therefore individuals that look up to their opinion leader may want to follow his choices (Amaldoss and Jain, 2008). As being outlined before, fashion clothing transmits a certain personality and status of its wearer to other people (Dodd et al, 2000) and is also a form of self-expression. Wearing certain trends or accessories like a Birkin Bag show commitment to a certain image of being wealthy, belonging to a higher class or having a sure feeling of trends and fashion. 4. Why and how marketers make use fashion opinion leaders The innovator theory by Rogers (1962) shows that consumer attitudes towards purchasing products can be classified into five categories. The following figure shows Rogers’s adoption of innovations curve. Depending on how quick consumers are to purchase they are either: 1. Innovators or Designers (2.5%), 2. Fashion opinion leaders or early adapters (13.5%), 3. Early majority (34%), 4. Late majority (34%), 5. Laggards or late adapters (16%) Directly after innovators or designers of the product, opinion leaders come second in purchasing or adapting this trend. According to the theory, opinion leaders are the key to product diffusion (Mituse, 05/11/12). Although innovators and opinion leaders combined account for no more than 16% of the overall market, a company can try to target opinion leaders already in early product stages and see if product diffusion will spread to the early and late majorities (Mituse, 05/11/12). Following Rogers’s theory and transferring it to the fashion industry, it can be argued that it is from extreme importance for fashion retailers to get opinion leaders on board in order to establish their designs and products within the market. Thus, the reasons why fashion opinion leaders influence others by sharing information are extremely important for companies (Bertandias and Goldsmith, 2006). Fashion retailers make use of â€Å"key opinion leaders† to influence the purchasing behaviour of consumers through their perceived position of authority. Therefore employing opinion leaders as advertising mascots or models in commercials or adverts, as seen in the figure below, is common in fashion retail. Figure 4: Fashion opinion leaders advertising for retailer Furthermore, collaborations with opinion leaders that are famous for their profession are common in fashion retail. This can be underlined by collaborations between mass retailer hm and designers like Donatella Versace (2012) and Jimmy Choo (2009) or online premium retailer NET-A-PORTER and Karl Lagerfeld, as figure 5 illustrates below. Figure 5: Collaborations of retailers and designers as fashion opinion leaders Nevertheless, marketing products or brands effectively today requires tools that reach beyond normal advertising methods: by prior targeting fashion opinion leaders, marketers are able to engage positive word-of-mouth behaviours (Bertrandias and Goldsmith, 2006) about their products. According to Chaney (2001), opinion leaders act as human information processors and are an attractive marketing tool as part of the overall communication strategy. Influences by fashion opinion leaders are not only verbal, but also visual (Bertrandias and Goldsmith, 2006). In fashion, a product has to be desirable to a consumer. If no one is seen with a certain product, most consumers don’t see a reason in buying it. If someone famous is seen with the product, the probability of referential groups buying or wanting the product as well increases. When word-of-mouth networks are generated around opinion leaders, it can pave the way for spreading news or opinions about certain fashion products. Thus, it is beneficial to address fashion-marketing communications directly to opinion leaders of this segment in order to speed up advertising messages. Therefore, advertisers may address womenswear or accessories fashion campaigns directly to opinion leaders like celebrities or high-fashion magazines. Because of the important role they may have in influencing markets, advertisers may also hand out free fashion product samples to opinion leaders (Yahoo, 29/10/12). Handing out such testimonials, which often embody free designer clothes, handbags or shoes, retailers encourage opinion leaders to wear the brand in order to influence reference groups around the opinion leader visually. Outfitting celebrities that have public appearance for free, mostly sees this occurrence, exemplarily stated in the below figure. Figure 6: Celebrities on the red carpet, adapted from ELLE By doing so, the marketer uses the position of the opinion leader to carry and break down its message to influence its relevant target group. Well-established magazines such as Vogue, Elle or Glamour can also be expected to have high influences on fashion decisions of opinion seekers. A fashion magazine even has the ability to cluster a whole group of fashion opinion leaders together: celebrities, photographers, editors, industry experts and fashion journalists. This might be a reason why opinion seekers use those magazines as information source when seeking for an opinion. Thus, advertising in fashion magazines, outfitting celebrities, or using fashion opinion leaders in adverts can influence target groups in their purchasing behaviour. 5. Conclusion ‘Reference groups in fashion’ are defined as fashion consumers who are heavy fashion users and highly involved in seeking or reflecting opinions about fashion brands and products with others who share the same interests. Further, it is differentiated between fashion opinion leaders and fashion opinion seekers. As being part of a referential group, opinion leaders and opinion seekers are positively related to each other, as the one can’t exist without the other. Today, fashion opinion leaders are often classified as celebrities, people standing in the public spotlight, magazines, or bloggers, surrounded by networks of reference groups that admire to be like them. Especially in the age of social media it has become more important to marketers to understand the process of providing, sharing and seeking of information between fashion opinion leaders and opinion seekers. Therefore opinion leaders are seen to be an important marketing tool in fashion as they are able to influence reference groups in their product or brand purchasing decisions. List of references: Amaldoss, W. Jain, S. (2008), Trading Up: A Strategic Analysis of Reference Group Effects, Marketing Science, pp. 932-942 Bearden, W. Etzel, M. (1982), Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions, Journal of Consumer Research, pp. 183-194 Bertrandias, L. Goldsmith, R. (2006), Some psychological motivations for fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seeking, Jornal of Fashion Marketing an Management, Vol 10, Issue 1, pp. 25-40 Branch, S. (2004), ‘Hermà ¨s’s jelly ache’, Wall Street Journal Bristor, J.M. (1990), ‘Enhanced explanations of word of mouth communications: the power of relationships’, in Hirschman, E.C. (Ed.), Research in Consumer Behavior, 4th ed., JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 51-83. Chaney, I. (2001), Opinion leaders as a segment for marketing communications, Marketing Intelligence Planning, p. 302 Childers, T. Rao, A. (1992), The Influence of Familial and peer-based Reference Groups on Consumer Decisions, Journal of Consumer Research, pp. 198-211 Dholakia, U. Bagozzi, R. (2004), A socialinfluence model of consumer participation in network- and small-group-based virtual communities , International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 21, Issue3, pp. 241-263 Dodd, C., Clarke, I., Baron, S. Houston, V. (2000), ‘Looking the part: identity, meaning and culture in clothing purchasing – theoretical considerations’, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 41-48 Farquhar, J. Rowley, J. (2006), Relationships and online consumer communities, Business Process Management Journal, pp. 162- 175 Feick, L. Price, L. (1987), `The market maven: a diffuser of marketplace information, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, p. 95. Goldsmith, R. Clark, R. (2008), An analysis of factors affecting fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seeking, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, pp. 308-322 Goldsmith, R. (2000), ‘Characteristics of the heavy user of fashionable clothing’, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practise, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 1-9 Holton, G. (2004), „Robert K Merton – Biographical Memoriesâ€Å", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 148 (4) p 506–517 Jetsetsocialità © , Jetsetjunior, Accessed: 26th October 2012, Source: from: http://www.jetsetsocialite.com/2008/10/19/the-hermes-birkin-bag-buying-guide/ McDonough M. (1997), â€Å"Frequently asked questions: virtual communities†, internal paper prepared for virtual community hosts at the Thomson Viral Community laboratory Mintel Oxygen, Fashion Online UK March 2012, Report Brochure, Accessed: 29th October 2012, Source: from: http://ezproxy1.hw.ac.uk:2840/display/590053/?highlight=true Mituse, Accessed: 06/11/12, Source: from: http://www.mitsue.co.jp/english/case/concept/02.html?lang=en_usoutput=json session-id=fae8bc3e4d3cd76794dcbdbd8fbff715 Park, H. Cho, H. (2012), Social network online communities: information sources for apparel shopping, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29, p. 400 Parvatiyar, A. Sheth J., (1995), ‘Relationship Marketing in Consumer Markets: Antecedents and Consequences’, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, vol.23, No.4, pp. 255-271 Pentina, I., Prybutok, V., Zhang, X., (2008), THE ROLE OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES AS SHOPPING REFERENCE GROUPS, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, pp. 114-136 Pierce, S. Yahoo, Clothing, Accessed 29th October 2012, Source: from http://news.yahoo.com/why-celebs-free-designer-clothing-221500536.html Rogers, E. Mituse, Accessed 28th October 2012, Source: from http://www.mitsue.co.jp/english/case/concept/02.html Rogers, E. (1962), Communication of Innovations, 2nd ed., The Free Press, New York Solomon, M. Rabolt, N. (2009), Consumer Behaviour in Fashion, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall Salter, J. (2012), The Telegraph, Fashion, Accessed 28th October 2012, Source: from http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG7037668/Britains-best-fashion-bloggers.html

Factors to consider when designing a web site Essay Example for Free

Factors to consider when designing a web site Essay Due to the high rate of competition and technology advance, any website creating company aims at giving its costumers a product they will enjoy using. Lafleur trading company a website developing company is not left behind i doing so. In their quest to satisfy their customers they needed to upgrade their way of developing website. To enable them do this lafleur reflected on factors to consider when designing a website. To start with, the company realised they need to find out if they are designing a particular website who was their immediate users, what they would expect to find in that particular web site and the easiness of getting what they want. This will be determined by the interphase of the website that is what colours to use, how easy is it to navigate between lafleur website and any related website that might contain contact information about a product advertised in their website (Vu Proctor, 2011). Designing a unique product is an important point to consider. In order to get attention of many audience give them a different product than what they are used to but one that serves the purpose better than the previous one. This can be achieved by use of different colours but attractive ones ( a page should not contain more than three colours) use of graphics and relevant pictures of what you are advertising also will make the web site more user friendly The most important point to put inconsideration is to test your website for errors. Website should be consistent to use and error prone. Contact information pertaining the website should provided so that customers are able to access online information when they so require. Lastly feedback methods to get customers views should be put in place to get customers potion about websites designed by Lafleur Company. Reference Vu, K.-P. L., Proctor, R. W. (2011). Handbook of human factors in Web design. Boca Raton: CRC Press Source document

Working Environment of Lloyds TSB

Working Environment of Lloyds TSB Introduction: Lloyds TSB group is the UK‘s biggest organisation. More than 66000 are working for this organisation in UK and in 27 countries around the globe. The business serves around 16 million customers operating in a range of financial markets, including personal and private banking, corporate banking, insurance and mortgages. Lloyds TSB is working globally and competes within rapidly changing markets for the delivery of financial services to personal and business customers. Customers expect a high range of services to be available 24 hours a day and delivered with first class customers service. In order t remain top in this demanding market, Lloyds TSB has acquired the services of innovative human resource management policies to ensure Lloyds TSB is a great place to work and that its staff are happy, motivated and committed to give highest levels of performance to the organisation and its customers. In 1998, the Group conducted reseach with employees, which showed that one of their main concerns was being able to balance a demanding job with outside commitments, such as family life, hobbies and leisure activities. This led to the Group designing and introducing a unique flexible working policy, called Work Options one year later. This gave a chance to workers to structure their working arrangements in a way that helps them to achieve a better Work Life Balance. According to this policy all staff has got the right to request a different working pattern form standard 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lloyds TSB is widely recognised as one of the best employers for providing flexibility for its staff. Because of this positive and flexible approach, Lloyds TSB is able to attract, appoint, motivate and retain the best staff available, which in turn keeps customers happy and keeps the organisation at top of the financial services field. The Changing Work Environment Lloyds TSB has always given importance to change in work environment and this proves the key to drive the bank out from the crises Lloyds TSB has rejected the traditional. Work routine of the 20th century. Lloyds TSB has offered flexible work options to all of its staff and put into place it own procedures to allow every member of staff, not just with young children, the right to request to work flexibly. This Lloyds TSB stands out from other employers. By 2010, it is estimated that 85% of the growth in the UK workforce will be women. 62% of the Lloyds TSB workforce is female and around 2,000 staff takes maternity leave each year. Of these, around 87% return to work for the company after their leave. This is an important statistic. In a tightening labour market, business must attract high calibre staff and then retain their services. Lloyds TSBs reputation on flexible working is a very important factor in achieving this. The Business case for Flexibility Flexible working is not merely of benefit to staff but it makes excellent business environment too. Lloyds TSB believes its ability to deal efficiently and effectively with the need for flexibility strengthens its position as an employer of choice and enables the group to deliver levels of service that differentiate Lloyds TSB from its competitors. Customers take advantage by getting to deal with professional, friendly enthusiastic and well knowledgeable persons. In an increasingly competitive market place where retailers, supermarkets and other companies can also offer financial services. Lloyds TSB needs customer service excellence around the clock to stay in competition. Lloyds TSB developed its own flexible approach in 1999 to help attract and retain the best staff. The Group‘s own leaver surveys (questionnaires completed by people leaving the business) showed that flexibility was the main reason for them joining them initially. This is also supported by a national survey which showed that flexible working was a more important factor that pays for graduates in choosing an employer. Employees need motivation and commitment. Research shows that people are more productive and experience less stress when they have control over the hours they work. So flexible working helps Lloyds TSB to gain the long term commitment and motivation of well qualified and experienced staff. It is far more expensive to recruit and train new staff than to retain existing ones. Flexible working generates cost savings too. Traditional work patterns usually involved fixed hours between 9.00 am to 5pm. Work beyond these hours was paid by employers overtime rates like time and half or more driving up staff costs. With the introduction of flexibility, Lloyds TSB has been able to extend staff cover at no added cost. In todays world, people with lifestyles require financial services at any time. Peak customer demand does not follow a traditional 9.00 am to 5pm working day either. For Lloyds TSB flexible arrangements allow employees personal benefits to suit their own lives and deliver a more complete service to customers. So from the above it is clear Lloyds TSB was ahead of the game when it came to introducing flexible working patterns. The Group was aware that economic and social changes meant that people often live complex lives in and out side of work. Far sighted management at Lloyds TSB saw the benefits to the business of recruiting and keeping excellent people, who would be willing to build a career in the Group. The impact of credit crunch on Lloyds TSB The phase means a severe shortage of money or credit and this comes about when banks and other lenders lose confidence and are no longer wiling to lend to each other or to other borrowers. According to report published at Yorkshire Post dated 06 May 2008, Lloyds TSB revealed a further  £387 million hit from the credit crunch but signalled there would be no need for a cash call to investors. In a another report published in Herald Scotland dated 30 July 2008, writes that credit crunch hammers Lloyds TSB as bank profits drop 70 % But Lloyds TSB has worked according to a certain plan faced the situation well. Continuous Improvement and Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB believes in excellent customers service and smooth and transparent banking. Lloyds TSB has introduced online banking, provided numerous ATM machines to their customers and made the banking relatively easy and convenient. Lloyds TSB and IT transformation Realizing that the effort to improve its IT capabilities would require faster, deeper change than it could manage in-house, Lloyds TSB partnered with Accenture to create an IT competency that aligns IT delivery with the banks strategic priorities. Processes, tools and methodologies were brought closer to best practise, and the skills and experience of IT staff were improved. Lloyds TSB is making significant progress towards creating a high performance IT environment that aligns IT delivery with the banks strategic priorities. The Accenture/ Group IT team is confident that the improving IT initiative will help Lloyds TSB create a high performance business propelled by consistent increase in customer satisfaction and competitive differentiation.

Of Nightingales That Weep by Katherine Paterson Essay -- Of Nightingal

Of Nightingales That Weep Chapter 1 This chapter is about Takiko and her first family home. It tells a lot about her family. They talk about the war In this chapter also. Takiko’s mother decides that she will remarry after her father dies. Takiko’s finds out that her father is died. Chapter 2 This chapter the book tells about Goro who is Takiko’s stepfather. Takiko finds out that Goro is a injured man. She thinks it will be very hard to live with Goro because of his problem. Chapter 3 This chapter tells about Takiko living with Goro for a few months now. It tells how the family has a party for the new year, and they hope that the family will work out. Chapter 4 This chapter is about the child that Takiko’s mother has. She has the baby with Goro. This is when Takiko thinks about her future and she wants to leave the farm and go on into the city and start a new life there. Chapter 5 This chapter is about when Takiko starts her new free life in the capital. She finds a job with the Emperor and makes money to survive on. The job is that she is a servant for the Emperor. She also plays as a musician playing her Kyoto. Chapter 6 In this chapter Takiko plays the Kyoto in from of a large audience that gathered just to here her play on it. This is a trial or a test to see if she belongs at the capital. Chapter 7 In this chapter a war becomes abrupt into the capital, and it forces everyone to leave. Takiko’s mother hears about it and tells her husband t...

Modern Japanese Painting :: essays papers

Modern Japanese Painting Among my peers, art is often overlooked and is seldomly appreciated. Perhaps, with the subsequent information your interest will grow as mine did. During the end of the nineteenth century, also during the time of modern development in painting techniques, Japan entered the international world. Their culture made slight changes due to opposing virtues and renovating ideals pertaining to painting. Europe possessed many of the modernistic, innovative principles and inspired the Japanese tremendously. With the overwhelming influence of the European painting techniques, the Japanese style remained almost unaltered, yet accompanied with modernized standards. The European style migrated to Japan and imposed on the traditional and ancient methods. As a result, the patrons of the ancient style denied the effectual, European ways of artistic expression. Thus, the Japanese culture divided into two worlds: Traditional and Modern Western. The European form was not completely contradictory to the Japanese. However, the color hues, organization of motifs, and personal expression used showed great contrast. These elements were absent in Japanese paintings. The Japanese were considered archaic and anile according to the Europeans (Baker 199). Their artistic expression and reasons for the subject matter usage were constantly changing and refitting the most recent alterations in society (Gregg 757). They strive to find new ways of "representing the intrinsic beauty of nature as a higher synthesis of modern realism and characterism" (Microsoft). Symbolism and realism, "classical restraint and romantic passion" were elements attempting to apply itself to the primitive style and were used to reveal significant affinities (Microsoft). Japanese painting, concerning artistic expression, was the preferred art form and was used to deal with mental tensions and inner thoughts. They were taught the "various rules of objective realism such as linear and aerial perspective, and shading" ("Japan" 959). Their themes encompassed life, mother nature (like the Europeans, but passà ©), movement and character. The inevitable outcome was displayed by the traditional Japanese by objecting and attempting to overcome the conflict between the dual civilizations ("Japan" 958). The concurrent practices took place in a time of complex life situations, and agonies became too acute to be dealt with a traditional art form (Baker 201). In fact, the Western style actually allowed the Japanese to escape the restricted attributes such painting with definition and without perspective or visible space. It gave them more opportunities to show elaborate, uncapped emotion without the risk of condemnation by ancestral painters (Baker 193). In other words, the new method was their scapegoat or moat away from the mainland, as if it was an excuse to

stem cell :: essays research papers

Stem Cell Research One of the most popular clinical studies being researched these days is stem cell transplantation. Until recently, moral issues of states and countries haven't allowed research to expound deeply into the unknowns. Within the last ten years though, scientists have made leaps and bounds in finding out concrete facts that this stem cell research has supplied. Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of Health Services states, "I believe it will open up a world of opportunity for scientists, not only at the NIH, but elsewhere, because it demonstrates a cooperative atmosphere among academia, the private sector, and government that will allow us to move ahead" ("sign stem"1). New ways of conducting stem cell research have made the healing and repairing treatment for many diverse applications. To prove their point, scientists have broken down the basic facts of their studies throughout the last ten years. Embryonic stem cell transplantation is a related course of cells that are in charge of certain functions and systems of the body. The cells used in the transplantation process are contrived from "cryopreserved suspensions" from the fetal liver, thymus, bone marrow, spleen, brain, and the pancreas. Introducing these cells to the body can be approached in different ways. The first step taken is engrafting or multiplying cells in the affected area. These cells will then supplement missing or declining cells and replace/repair missing functions of the body. Production then commences with considerable amounts of biologically active substances such as nerve growth factor, tumor necrosis factor and interleukins etc. When these cells have been transplanted, they are capable of migrating, establishing intercellular links and responding to various effects. However, becaus e of their immature transplantation to the human body, these cells cause a weaker immune response than mature cells. Alexander Smikodub, a doctor of Medical Science at the National Medical University states, "cells that we use are not considered by the immune system of the recipient as foreign, therefore, they can survive, multiply, and develop full function in the body of a new host" Smikodub). These cells can then survive and multiply, capable of lasting for months and years in the body of the recipient. In the areas where tissue or organs have been damaged or lost, they substitute the lack of functional activities. These cells can also produce new generations of cells that are needed by the patient. When strategically placed, they can support, restore and replace the functions of their specialization in the body.

Mr Makedama

Macadam case analysis by UCT group of MBA students Company overview: Macadams Bakery Supplies Holdings (Macadams) is a manufacturer of oven and other appliances for the baking industry. Their financial statements for 1996 highlight a very strong year. Turnover grew by 59% to R125. 3m and profit increased by 81%. An acquisition of Livanos Brothers (February 1996) took place in response to the increased demand in the local market as well as an expansion of market base in foreign markets. Depreciation of the Rand against other major currencies also supported export sales.The company has entered a phase of rapid expansion, expanding its main factory in Cape Town by 50%. As well as opening new sales and distribution centers in Durban and Bloemfontein in the current year, with further plans to expand in to Zimbabwe in the following year. An analysis of the company’s financial statements will determine whether the company is in a position to leverage its expansion, or whether it is p erhaps growing too rapidly. Detailed Financial Analysis Profitability: Macadams experienced a healthy turnover, which increased by 58. 5% between 1995 and 1996.This â€Å"abnormally† high growth in turnover was due to a surging demand for their products, favorable exchange rates and acquisitions of business’s, which complimented their current product portfolio. They further expanded the operational network to service the growing market they were operating in. It should however be noted that a growth rate of 58. 5% per annum is not sustainable or realistic, and although Macadams has extended their products and services to global markets through joint ventures and M&A’s, there would be a point where there growth would become organic, or at least in line with industry standards..Although operating and net margins have improved since 1995, the net margin remains low at 8. 5%. This indicates that despite dramatic increases in revenue, Macadams have only marginally im proved the ability to generate profits. Liquidity: The income statement displays a healthy growth by Macadams; however the cash flow statement shows a contradictory picture. Macadams have a serious liquidity problem. Cash generated from operations is significantly down by 87% in comparison to the prior financial year.The operation did not generate sufficient cash to fund its interest, taxation or dividends payments for the year. As a result these payments were made through borrowed funds. Working capital movements in 1996 adversely impacted cash generated by operating activities, with a noticeable increase in working capital of 595% from R2. 7million to R19million. This is due to an increase in inventory of 66%, to meet perceived consumer demand, which was funded by cash resources. There has also been an increase in debtors of 129%, due to increased credit sales.Furthermore, creditors increased by 87%, which only partially offset the increase in current assets. This is a scenario of a business expanding too rapidly. There are high levels of sales and gross profits, but a serious cash flow problem created by inventory build-up, and high level of receivables. Cash is now tied up in stock and debtors. The lack of available cash in the business could impact Masadams’s ability to service their short-term liabilities. Efficiency: Macadams have become less efficient in 1996. The accounts receivables increased by 129% in 1996.Reviewing the debtor’s collection period we can clearly see the longer collection period (53 days in ’95 to 77 days in ’96) could be indicative of more relaxed credit terms, which could be MBS’s strategy to attract more sales and increase turnover. This strategy does however create a risk of bad debt and creates a problem for operational cash flow, as it currently is experiencing. It is also noted on the financial statements that Debtors have been used by ceded to the banks as security for facilities granted. Ce ssion of debt means that the banks do not have faith in Macadam’s ability to repay its debt.Leverage The debt ratio has increased by 9%; this was for the funding of the expansion. The additional funding taken out, mortgage loan is secured by land and buildings, and the movable assets secure the installment sale agreement. This is risky as it means should Macadams fail to make payment on either of these loans, they would lose R4. 3 million of its movable and immovable assets. Incurring debt to expand their operations and grow the business is not a bad thing, and is necessary. Despite the massive increase in debt, the interest cover ratio is still healthy.This however, is not a cash based ratio and gives us no indication as to whether the company is able to make its cash payments to service the increased quantities of debt. For this reason the concern would be raised with respect to Macadams ability to service their debt. This concern is specific to their lack of liquid funds a vailable in the business. DuPont analysis: With the aid of the DuPont model of analysis the following observations were made: Macadams ROE, of 30. 63%, has decreased by 1. 4% during the financial year under review.However it could be seen as a good return on equity, as it is 10% higher than the prime interest rates at the time (20. 25% Nov 1996). Macadams have become less efficient in using its assets to generate profits. Its’ efficiency ratios demonstrate a drop from 2. 37 to 1. 90; however this could be explained by the timing of the acquisition of assets. Vacant land was acquired in September 1996, just three months before the December year-end, and new premises opened in Bloemfontein in November 1996. These assets would not yet have had the opportunity to generate the profits that may be expected in future.Macadams profitability has increased marginally since the previous year; however their net margin is still a low 8. 50%. Macadams are not using its revenue to generate sufficient profits. In terms of leverage, the ratio has increased marginally from the 1995 financial year, to 1. 89, in line with increasing debt in terms of both long-term and short-term borrowing. Conclusion: Macadams are a promising business which is currently generating high sales volumes and generous profits. The problem with the business is the following: †¢Their inability to translate their sales into cash. The drive and efforts to grow the business at a rate which is not practical to their available resources and balance sheet; this results in the following: oAccrual of high volumes of long-term and short-term debt. oHigh inventory levels as a result of their steep growth plan which they have implemented (cash on the shelves/in the store room) oIncreased overheads to operate newly established network offices to service the market. If Macadams operates their business as they are, they will eventually grow their business into bankruptcy.As a â€Å"turn around† stra tegy, I would implement the following initiatives to maximize the output of the business and create a more sustainable business model. †¢Slow-down the growth rate which Macadams is currently experiencing. †¢Limit its debt, i. e. not take out any further debt. †¢Analyze the current business operations to improve operational efficiency, thus decreasing COS of sale per unit sold, and inevitably increasing gross, net and operating profit margins. †¢Improve sales efforts to reduce inventory levels, and simultaneously increasing overall sales. Macadams should also review their current costs and look for cost saving initiatives. This will ensure that the revenue increase is matched with a similar increase in profits. †¢Ensure the business is more liquid by having more operational cash and cash in the business; this can be achieved by decreasing the debtor’s collection period from 77 days to 30 days, and increasing their creditor’s period to 45 days. I f I had shares in Macadams I would hold on to them if the above initiatives were implemented, as this would ultimately result in an increased EPS.