Essay on the the Secret Book Essay

According to recent studies, self-help books – non-fiction books that offer advice for behavior modification and make explicit promises for positive change – have doubled as a percentage of all book titles since the 1970s. The increasing popularity of self-help books is an indicator of the modern society’s quest to maximize personal happiness through a process of self-discovery. Self-help books are a response to a real and genuine hunger for psychological understanding and self-improvement and are part of the larger market of advice media. Readers buy self-help books seeking self-control – both as a good-faith attempt to increase their self-control and to elicit a temporary sensation that, in fact, the first step toward self-control has already been taken. And of recent years, one of the increasing self-help or spirituality books involve the teachings of New Age-ism. The New Age is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks â€Å"Universal Truth† and the attainment of the highest individual human potential. It includes aspects of Occultism, astrology, esotericism, metaphysics, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature. New Age spirituality is characterized by an individual approach to spiritual practices and philosophies, and the rejection of religious doctrine and dogma. New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism; with particularly strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism, and Western esotericism. New Age spirituality has led to a wide array of literature on the subject and an active niche market: books, music, crafts, and services in alternative medicine are available at New Age stores, fairs, and festivals. And one of the most phenomenal publishing successes in the self-help/New Age teachings is a book called The Secret. ABOUT THE SECRET Product Details The English-language 6. 9 x 5. 7 x 0. 9 inches hardcover book is fairly lightweight at 198 pages. It was first published in November 28, 2006 by Atria Books in Australia. In the United States of America, the book is published by Beyond Words and in United Kingdom by Simon & Schuster UK. Product Description Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life — money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers — men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible. Content of The Secret 1. Foreword 2. Acknowledgements 3. The Secret Revealed 4. The Secret Made Simple 5. How to Use The Secret 6. Powerful Processes 7. The Secret to Money 8. The Secret to Relationships 9. The Secret to Health 10. The Secret to the World 11. The Secret to You 12. The Secret to Life 13. Biographies The Secret Revealed The first thing you need to know is that The Secret isn’t really a secret. The secret is actually â€Å"The Law of Attraction† that asserts what you think creates what you feel, and these feelings flow from your body as magnetic energy waves over vast distances, which then cause the universe around you to vibrate at the same energy level as your feelings. The idea dates back nearly 3,000 years to early Hindu teachings that â€Å"like attracts like. † The law of attraction, which the author Rhonda Byrne says is the most powerful law in the universe, states that people experience the logical manifestations of their predominant thoughts, feelings, and words. This gives people direct control over their lives. A person’s thoughts (whether conscious or unconscious) and feelings bring about corresponding positive or negative manifestations. Positive thoughts bring about positive manifestations while negative thoughts bring about negative manifestations. The theory is very simple. Because it is an absolute law, the law of attraction will always respond to your thoughts no matter what they are. Thus your thoughts become things. You are the most powerful power in the universe simply because whatever you think about will come to be. You shape the world that exists around you. You shape your own life and destiny through the power of your mind. To quote some of the teachings in this book are â€Å"Thoughts are sending out that magnetic signal that is drawing the parallel back to you. †Thus there is no such thing as accident or coincidence; it is you, the individual, who brings misery on yourself because of your toxic thinking. But the good news, if you can alter your thoughts, and therefore your feelings, you can actually cause the universe around you to vibrate at a positive energy level and the desires of your heart will come to be realized! All you have to do is Ask — Believe — Receive. You just have to visualize what you want, feel good about it, and then ask the universe — and whatever you can imagine can be yours. It is like having the universe as your catalogue and you flip through it and go, ‘Well I’d like to have this experience and I’d like to have that product and I’d like to have a person like that’ †¦ It is you just placing your order with the universe. The law of attraction was the power, the author argues, behind geniuses such as Plato, Newton, Beethoven and Einstein. In this book too, she has also gotten quotes, experiences and support from the who’s who of the self-help industry, including John Gray, author of â€Å"Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,† and Jack Canfield, who wrote â€Å"Chicken Soup for the Soul. â€Å"Jack Canfield, provides an excellent example of the ask-believe-receive system where he tells us that he visualized earning $100,000 (even writing the desired amount on a bill worth far less and tacking it to the ceiling above his bed) and focused his mental energy only on the goal of attaining the money. He tells us that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to get the money — he simply focused on believing that he would get the money, somehow. But how? For four weeks he had no breakthrough ideas but then, one day in the shower, he remembered that he had written a book and, if it was published (particularly if he sold 400,000 copies and he made a quarter on each) he just might achieve his financial goals. Of course the book was published, and the results were only a few thousand dollars shy of 100,000 dollars. And this is just one of the many testimonials in this book called The Secret. The Story Behind The Secret It is not a secret now that The Secret is a publishing phenomenon of recent years especially for in the non-fiction & self-help category. This small book, with a parchment-brown cover engraved with the image of a red wax seal, debuted in 2006 and since then it has sold over four million copies worldwide and has been translated to 38 different languages. The Secret began as a DVD which came out end of 2004. Rhonda Byrne was a television producer in Australia in 2004 when the death of her father led her to discover ‘the secret’, which is her term for what is commonly known as the law of attraction. Her discovery was mainly caused by the 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. Wattles’s book struck such a chord with Byrne that she plunged into a crash course in Western, Eastern, ancient and modern thought, devouring hundreds of books and articles in just two and a half weeks. Inspired, she flew to the States in July 2005 and began lining up people to interview; the film was finished six months later and she began trying to find an Australian network to air it. The top-rated Nine Network was intrigued by her proposal, but the finished film struck Len Downs, the program manager, as just â€Å"a whole range of talking heads giving their basis of the secret of life. † It eventually ran in Australia just a few weeks ago, and, says Downs, it didn’t do all that well. But armed with the law of attraction, Byrne was confident things would work out. A Web company situated just blocks away from her office in Melbourne had a technology for distributing streaming video over the Internet. In March 2006, her site (http://thesecret. tv) began selling downloads and DVDs, one of which found its way to Cynthia Black, president of the New Age-oriented publishing house Beyond Words saw its potential and by late November the book was in the stores and the rest as they say, is history. PURCHASING THE SECRET The Secret books are available at all major bookstores, online bookstore and through its official website. It is usually placed in the Health, Mind & Body -> Self Help category or Religion & Spirituality -> New Age category. At most of these major bookstores, The Secret books are placed most prominently on the shelves. Due to it being constantly on worldwide bestseller lists for non-fiction books thus the title is prominently displayed in the bookstores should the bookstore have a bestsellers display section. Its average retails price for cash & carry stores are $23. 95 in the United States; ? 12. 00 in United Kingdom; and MYR79. 90 in Malaysia. While its average retail price for online purchases are $14. 00 and ? 12. 00 in United States and United Kingdom respectively. PROMOTING THE SECRET After the phenomenal success of the The Secret DVD, it made sense for it to be turned into a book and what better way for the marketers to embark on promoting the book than playing up the hype of the movie and using the popular internet marketing tool such as the viral video site YouTube. The book was marketed with an online viral video campaign focusing on wealth enhancement. The short video clips showed testimonials from readers of the book and practitioners of â€Å"the secret† claiming that the technique brought them wealth, cured sickness, and brought about a general life-change. The video clips do not disclose what â€Å"the secret† is, where it originated from or how it can be practiced, but rather pointed viewers to the website for both the book and film. Thus hooking the viewers and made them all the more intrigue by the claims made by the author in the book. As for packaging and promotional material, the book also played into the consumers’ senses by trying to showcase that â€Å"the secret† originates from the cosmos. The cover prominently displayed a parchment-brown cover engraved with the image of a red wax seal (see Appendix 1) to indicate it is somewhat a book from the olden days and in the inside pages, the background design are a field of stars, and various shots of the universe thus adding mystique to the claims and the practice. However, the most savvy and most probably the ultimate gambit of the book is to call it ‘The Secret. To quote Mr Donavin Bennes, a buyer who specializes in metaphysics for Borders Books, â€Å"We all want to be in on a secret. But to present it as the secret, that was brilliant. † Thus the name evoke a sense of intrigue to readers who are looking for something magical or perhaps easier tool for them to understand and to fully live their lives. Another smart marketing move made by the publisher was to have it endorsed by well-known and highly popular worldwide celebrities. The book got its first break in the US when Ellen DeGeneres featured it on her show. And when Oprah Winfrey decided to run a show on it, although it was already a big success, the sales ballooned up much more. Oprah Winfrey first featured it on Feb. 8 2007 and according to Nielsen BookScan, the book had sold 18,000 copies the week before. During the week of the show, sales rocketed to 101,000 and when the show did a follow-up on Feb. 16 2007, the sales that week reached 190,000. With the success of the book, the publishers decided to create more spin-off titles, which they call The Secret tools. There are now The Secret to Teen Power (see Appendix 2), The Secret Daily Teachings (see Appendix 3) and The Secret Gratitude Book (see Appendix 4). Not only that, at its official website there are also ‘gifts’ for the readers such as visualization tools, The Secret memory game, wallpapers, ebook and blank checks (see Appendix 5) which goes hand-in-hand with the teachings of the book. THE SECRET S. W. O. T ANALYSIS Strengths 1. The intriguing title. As elaborated above, the title play a major role in inciting readers’ interest in the book. 2. The cover design. Alongside its intriguing title, the odd-shaped book with its olden-days personification invoke a sense of mystery that is definitely eye-catching and surely pique a person’s interest while browsing the shelves at a bookstore. 3. The content is an easy read with its simple language and peppered with inspiring testimonials from many men & women who has experienced the use of the secret plus personal experience & quotations from the the who’s who of the self-help industry. 4. The savvy marketing ideas of the publishers that has created the hype that constantly raise awareness of the book. 5. Endorsement by high-profile & influential personalities that are recognized world-wide certainly helped boosted its sale internationally. 6. Constant high-placing in best-selling charts, most probably due to the savvy marketing ideas of the publisher and as the  long-term effect of the celebrity associated to the book especially Oprah Winfrey. Weaknesses 1. The selling price in Malaysia of RM79. 90 is definitely a setback to potential buyers as the price is rather steep for many people especially for books in the self-help category. 2. The book is not available in paperback form thus some book buyers are not keen on buying hardback cover books due to its steeper price or its slightly heavy weight. 3. The content is not something that is unique and there are many similar teachings that one can get in many other books thus it does lack a little originality. 4. As typical with many New Age teachings, the content of the book has garnered much criticism which try to debunked the book’s teaching as merely hype, mumbo-jumbo or just plain illogical. 5. The book has to complete with many other form of self-help books available that are cheaper, more accessible and from much more renowned authors (Paulo Coelho, Eckhart Tolle, Anthony Robbins) Opportunities 1. Publishers could promote to younger readers especially The Secret for Teens book first and therefore will garner their interest in the main book The Secret. 2. Use the The Secret movie to lure potential readers as there are those who would like to have to book in hand as a way to look back or do revision which is harder to do with the dvd. 3. Offer a cheaper paperback form, thus the book is able to be sold at a cheaper price and therefore garner many more readers. Threats 1. With the easy access to internet, potential readers might decide to check out what the book is about online and thus stumbling on the many critics that the book has garnered. This in turn can make them believe the critics before actually reading the book, thus will result in loss of sales. 2. Like many other things in life, people are apt to stumble upon a new idea for a book or a belief that could help the world, thus there will be brand new books in the future that will probably come with a much more savvy marketing approach and thus will affect the interest of the people about The Secret! THE SECRET CONCLUSION The Secret is a phenomenon and it is likely to become one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. Venture into your local bookstore or look around you while waiting at an airport, and you’re bound to see people reading it and absorbing it. They will not just be people who consult astrologers and who listen to Tony Robbins tapes, but normal, average people like the ones who live next door to you. There are almost 1400 reviews of the book printed at Amazon with an average rating of 3. 5 out of 5. The breakdown of those scores is interesting: fifty-two percent of them are 5-star, thirteen percent are 4-star and twenty-one percent are 1-star. This means that the majority of people, the great majority even, believe in at least some aspects of the book’s premise and teaching. They believe in the law of attraction. The one problem that The Secret poses is that it simplifies and speculates way too much and there are a quite a significant level of moral defects, the lack of scientific backing, and the various philosophical shortcomings, how is it that a significant number of people still believe there’s something to The Law of Attraction? Part of the reason must certainly be the powerful testimonials coming from celebrity figures such as Oprah Winfrey, a woman who attributes her success to her mighty powers of attraction. Of course, that’s a long way from the simple model of Ask-Believe-Receive. In most people’s lives, positive thought leads to success only through the transforming medium of action. But as the author Rhonda said in an interview, she just wants to bring happiness to everybody. That’s the reason it all began. And to her credit, she does bring happiness to many people worldwide and surely there is nothing, in principle, wrong with thinking about what makes you happy.

Let There Be Light

Electric Compass' were used 3. At is a good conductor of electricity electron 4. Not until after Mechanics 5. Magnetic compass 6. (Tape notes in notebook) Some things attract, others repel. All objects fall and move with respect to gravity. 7. Benjamin Franklin 8. A fundamental element Of mass 9. Like repel, different attract 10. Far apart- hard to tell they are attracting, close together-easy to notice. 11. They both have like currents and likes repel, opposites attract but magnets eave poles not charges.They are still positive and negative. 12. In one direction there I am electric field and in another magnetic, they work together 13. Friction at a distance 14. Attraction would change instantaneously Nothing can travel faster than light 15. 16. The field of force 17. It is the field that tells two objects how to interact 18. The earth's mass is so big that it barely moves 19. Action at a distance is every part of the earth pulling at an object. Whereas a field of force is better bec ause it creates a field for a disturbance to travel wrought. 0. They are centered around something and the farther away from it the weaker the field. 21 . Everything is pulled to the center. The farther from the center the weaker the force. 22. Electric charges in the center 23. In my notebook 24. Because this is our earth, it surrounds us completely 25. Electric generator, electromagnet, electric motor 26. A generator uses motion to make electricity. A motor uses electricity to make motion. 27. Moving it, moving a coil, turning an electromagnet on and off 28. Energy, mass, weather, volts, compounds 9.Credit card, electricity 30. He thought that it was this way and used common sense to then propose this idea. 31 . Electricity make magnetism and magnetism makes electricity 32. The second synthesis is putting magnetism and electricity together as described in Maxwell equations. 33. Because electromagnetism is one of them 34. 35. We are causing a disturbance in the air; predicted waves , speed of waves 36. Because visible light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that travels through a field. Light travels in fields.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Irrational Nature of Love

â€Å"Love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit,this quote from the Merchant of Venice describes the four lovers' dilemmas in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nevertheless, in A Midsummer Night's Dream this statement not only applies to the true love between original couples Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, but also the æ  »alse love between Titania and Bottom and Lysander and Helena. As the story progresses in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream, it becomes increasingly obvious that not only is love irrational, it is a catalyst for disorder, and in the end, love may turn out to be only a fanciful illusion.There is a fine line between love and mania. Though many of the characters' actions indicate that they lean toward mania, the play ultimately ends with a happy ending for the characters, as well as a presumably happy marriage. Nevertheless, if what those characters felt was love, then love is an unhealthy obsession. Helena's obsession with Demetrius might be the most obvious example. In Act II scene i lines 203-10 Helena reveals her feelings towards Demetrius with this soliloquy: I am your spaniel; and DemetriusThe more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love, — And yet a place of high respect with me, — Than to be used as you use your dog?(2.1.203-10)Rather than a confession of love, this speech seems more like the pleading from a frequent victim of domestic abuse who is begging her partner to come back to her. Demoting oneself to a dog, welcoming abuse and neglect and enjoying every moment of this treatment is definitely not what is considered to be the norm, even when it's love.After Helena's madness there is Titania, the Fairy Queen, who falls in love with a commoner named Nick Bottom who has the head of an ass. Forgetting her social status, reput ation and pride, Titania becomes completely smitten with Bottom and orders her servants to attend on him. However Bottom, though he does enjoy the various benefits that comes with being the lover of the Fairy Queen, never has any choice in the matter.After Titania first met Bottom she says: ?ut of this wood do not desire to go: Thou shalt remain here whether thou wilt or no. 3. 1. 152-53) In most cases, when attempting to win the affections of another person, one would usually refrain from abusing one's position of power and force the other person into staying with them for presumably the rest of their lives. However, Titania is so in love with Bottom that she cannot be concerned with sentiments of common sense and her partner's wellbeing, which inadvertently makes her love irrational.Finally there is Demetrius whose obsession with Hermia caused him to abandon his current relationship, which caused his former lover, Helena, to become an emotional wreck, and subsequently sour the rel ationship between Hermia and Lysander. One can notice from the examples from above that of all the crazy self-destructive and/or selfish acts committed in the name of love, non of them have started with the purpose of making either recipient or benefactor of that act happy.Instead it was only done for love and that alone is its purpose and cause. As love is the motivation behind most, if not all, of the characters' actions it is more than likely that love is the direct or indirect cause of all of the chaos and bedlam in the play. First there is Demetrius who broke off a presumably happy and stable relationship with Helena to pursue Hermia, as proven by the quote spoken by Helena: or ere Demetrius look'd upon Hermia's eyne, he hail'd down oaths that he was only mine1. 1.242-43)Not only did Demetrius ruin his own relationship with Helena, he also used his connection with Egeus, Hermia's father, to separate Lysander and Hermia, putting their love in danger of falling apart as well. In an attempt to preserve their love, Lysander and Hermia decide to elope and escape ?he peril of the Athenian law4. 1. 153) Before leaving, they reveal their plans to the lonely and unloved Helena, who desperately craves Demetrius' love and approval and betrays her friends' trust and tells Demetrius of the lovers flight.In order to be with or to pursue their beloveds all four lovers left behind the order of Athens and escaped into the magical forest. After falling prey to Puck's antics the lover's relationships with each other are tore apart. Though it was ?rue lovethat had caused the lover's to go against order it was also the only thing that is keeping the lovers' from descending into chaos and disorder themselves. However, when that ?rue loveis replaced with the ?alse loveproduced by magical flower, whatever fragile bond that is holding the lovers together falls apart immediately.Ironically it is love that has ruined the four lovers' relationships with each other. Though there is a happy ending for the four lovers' in A Midsummer Night's Dream, there is a possibility that the love between the lovers is not real and their marriages would end horribly. Though Demetrius did have a past fling with Helena, what caused him to desire Helena's hand in marriage near the end of the play may not necessarily be the rekindling of that old flame, but rather the effect of the magical flower.It is also important to remember that a few scenes ago Helena had also rejected Demetrius proclamations of love despite of what she said at the beginning of the play. This further proves that Helena's love for Demetrius is merely obsession. Helena pursues Demetrius due to her memories of their past relationship, however as those memories age, Helena subconsciously begins to distort them. In order to justify her relentless and most likely futile attempts to win Demetrius' love, Helena's memories take on a more rose-coloured hue.It is very likely that Demetrius' biggest selling point was t hat he was ?ard to get However, when Demetrius begins to reciprocate he lost his only asset, and Helena is both shocked and repulsed. Managing to convince herself that it was all a joke played to mock her, Helena is able to continue her elaborate fantasy. But, when it turns out that Demetrius was actually in love with Helena and wishes to marry her, Helena, due her previous actions, is forced to accept his proposal, lest she desires to appear fickle and shallow.Lysander and Hermia would be considered to be the most traditional pair of lovers in the entire play. However, that all changed when Lysander betrays Hermia and falls in love with Helena. Forgetting his vows and the reason he even came into the forest in the first place, Lysander, along with Demetrius, becomes blind with passion and lust towards Helena and aggression towards each other. Finally there is Titania and Bottom whose love is only possible with the power of the magical flower, as shown by Titania's line: ?ow came th ese things to pass? O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now! (4. 1.78-79)Without the aid of the fairies it would've been very likely that the four lover's would stay in the forest lost and loveless forever. With every example of love in the play being a form of ?alse love A Midsummer Night's Dream could not be considered as a romantic-comedy but rather social commentary on the irrational and self-destructive nature of love. With their inane deeds done in the name of love the four lovers doomed themselves to an unhappy marriage. Much like Theseus and Hippolyta union for the peace and prosperity of their respective nations, the lovers' marriage ends up being done out necessity rather than love.

Affect of Exercise and Diet on Youth Fiitness Research Paper

Affect of Exercise and Diet on Youth Fiitness - Research Paper Example ducators, scholars, trainers and health care professionals emphasize the importance of physical activity and appropriate diet for progressively achieving optimal physical development, health and fitness outcomes particularly for growing children aged 5 to 17 years. Children and adolescents need to develop different basic skills to become good athletes, before training in a particular sport. This is known as multilateral development, â€Å"and it is one of the most important training principles for children and youth† (Bompa, 2000, p.3). Basic physical skills include running, jumping, throwing, catching, tumbling and balancing, and these contribute to children achieving physical coordination. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this research paper is to investigate youth fitness and physical development based on diet and physical activity. The promotion of multilateral physical development of children enhancing biomotor abilities such as strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, coordination and agility will be examined. Nutrition is defined as as â€Å"the total of the processes of ingestion, digestion, absorption, and metabolism of food and the subsequent assimilation of nutrient materials into the tissues† (Jeukendrup & Gleeson, 2010, p.2). To ensure that children and young people have optimal reserves of energy, a balanced diet that provides nutrients from all the food groups is essential. â€Å"Food provides nutrients that have one or more physiological or biochemical functions in the body† (Jeukendrup & Gleeson, 2010, p. 2). The six different categories of nutrients are: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water. Among these, the macronutrients are: carbohydrate, fat, protein and water, present in comparatively large amounts of more than a few grams in the human diet; while the micronutrients are: minerals and trace elements, of which 1 gram or less is required per day. The three main functions of nutrients can be classified as: the

Take home exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Take home exam - Essay Example The rules of the present international economic order have been primarily designed and enforced by the developed nations to serve their own selfish interest for this reason undermining the ability of these concepts of business to in spur development, as they so desire. In as long as the developed nations interfere and manipulate the international trade rules to safeguard their wealth, resources as well as other self-interests and gains, the other countries of the world will remain to languish in abject poverty regardless of the economic globalization. This in turn has led to the increased incidence of inequality among and within states involved. According to Stiglitz, developed countries continue to manipulate the international trade rules with the knowledge of the third-world countries that remain to be the greatest causalities of these amendments (63-64). The countries aim at protecting their factories and farmers from the more proficient producers in the developing countries. The international financial system that is led by the I.M.F has been known to reward the extravagant leaders and penalize the wretched debtors. Such moves are aimed to cover up for the many malicious practices on the international platform that leaves the rich states richer while the poor states more impoverished. As globalization continues to take center stage and implementation of free trade unions, the disparities and economic inequality continues to proceed further unchecked evoking the concept of negative externalities as construed by market analysts and researchers. Interest groups among the developed nations benefit from favorable treatment by their government but these favors do not apply for people from developing countries as they are victimized for becoming a ‘threat’. The same applies on the aspect of free trade that over time undermine

Comparitive Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparitive Politics - Essay Example This is presumed to be the fairest political system. This system of governance entails two aspects; political participation and contestation (the former is through voting while the latter is through vying for a political seat). There is better attitudes and intentions of freedom of speech and press (Samuels, 2012). The democratic system of governance is a system which has given people the freedom of meeting and freely expresses their political views without fear or intimidation. There are two types of democracies commonly practiced in the world. Direct democracy is a form of government where leadership is vested in the hands of individuals. It’s also known as a government not only by the people themselves but also for the people. Every individual is given the chance to directly influence the policy making process. The second type of democracy is representative democracy. This is a political system where there is an intermediary political actor between the individual and policy outputs of the society. This is done through electoral process where one person or a group is elected, with the task of representing the voters. Democracy has made it possible for voters to participate in policy making process. Citizens are able to choose the right person to lead unlike other forms of governance where leaders are appointed. Through democracy form of leadership interest of those represented are safeguarded because the real power of leadership lies in the hands of the voters. Equity is the main principle where individuals are entitled to equal rights. The freedom of speech makes people air out their grievances without fear, and this enhances good governance. Due to the way democracy is organized, individuals who to lead this system enjoy a lot of stability and efficiency in administration. Democracy has promoted peaceful politics in different areas; this is due to the fact that there is freedom and rights to be enjoyed by all

Costs and Benefits Associated with ERP Systems - Advanced Accounting Essay

Costs and Benefits Associated with ERP Systems - Advanced Accounting Information systems - Essay Example P.Regardless of the reason that has contributed to need of searching a new ERP, the fundamental question to be kept in mind is how the ERP will cost (Busco et al., 2007). The cost of an ERP varies depending on different factors. These factors include the size of the company; type of solution needed for instance the more specialized the solution is the pricier the ERP will be. The needed resources also contributes to the decision to be made regarding the ERP.The more external resources are the more costlier the ERP is.The level of customization is also an a factor determining the cost of an ERP (Nixon, 2012). There is the purchase cost and the licensing cost. When an ERP is purchased, licenses for the Database Management System need to be bought separately. Often, the licenses are excluded in purchase price of the software since it is distinct product developed by a different company. There are two types of users’ license in the ERP; the named user and parallel operator. Respective worker has to require an authorization to be able to use the software in the named user licensing. In a parallel user licensing, there has to be a password available to each connected user (Li, 2011). There are also infrastructure related costs. The infrastructure cost incorporates all the required hardware to ride the ERP. However, this will fluctuate for each company, but the following should be included irrespective of the company. Firstly, there is server infrastructure cost, the cost of storage, the cost of backups and new desktop computers, or the computers that require upgrading. The infrastructure costs are responsible for about ten to twenty of an ERP implementation project (Li, 2011). There are also human resources. Human resources accounts for the greatest ERP implementation budget. Consultant costs and the employees’ wages consume more than fifty percent of the total ERP cost. Internal resources cost is also a cost related to ERP. The wages of employees should cater

How do breakfast show presenters create a lively and engaging Coursework

How do breakfast show presenters create a lively and engaging atmosphere on their radio shows - Coursework Example Steve Price Breakfast Show on the subject of carbon tax legislation illustrates the key features of spoken language that distinguishes it from written language. The topic of the subject focused on the divisions within the ranks of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), environmental activists, and the public. The breakfast show presenter was Luke Grant. The guest of the breakfast show was Greg Hunt, who plays the role of shadow spokesperson on the matter of climate change. The unique features of spoken language that make it possible for the discussants to explore the different perspectives of the subject matter enhance the discussion between the two. The show is interactional in nature and addresses itself to the subject of environmental conservation policies in Australia. Naturally, the primary target audience is the Australian public. This show captures their interest because of the growing concern on matters of environmental conservation. The different policies taken by the government and other interested parties have both long-term and short-term effects on the general population. The secondary audience includes the political class, the business community, and the wider global citizenry because the subject matter is both global and local in nature. The interactional language employed in the show engages the mind of the audience in the sense that they are able to apply their analytical skills in real-time as the show progresses. They are also able to discern the merits of the arguments by pointing out the logical and illogical parts within the debate. At the beginning of the show, the presenter introduces the subject matter through questions: â€Å"Where are we in terms of this debate? It does look a little like game over, doesn’t it?† (Latest News, 2011). These two questions have the effect of attracting the keen interest and concern of the audience. The questions, in their spoken context, imply the possibility of some form of a crisis. Although wr itten language also employs the use of questions, their import, when assessed in the context of spoken language produces a more dramatic effect. This is because questions are rendered in a regulated volume, pitch, and tone. These qualities are very significant in enhancing the meaning-making process. The questions also prepare the audience for the debate since the rest of the debate becomes an effort to resolve the two questions at the beginning. A second sentence by the presenter is equally significant in the context of the spoken language. Grant interrupts the guest with the sentence, â€Å"Glad to hear that, by the way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Latest News, 2011). The value of this sentence could be seen both in terms of its interruptive nature and in terms of its ungrammatical form. The sentence interrupts the initial statement made by Hunt. Interruptions are common features in spoken language in the sense that they enable the clarification of matters or change of focus towards the matter s pertinent to the discussion. It is possible to perceive the value of interruptions as a strategic tool for enhancing the rules of logic as understood within the framework of the discussion. The same sentence is grammatically incorrect. In both form and structure, spoken language tends to assume different aspects from written language. This is because

Discuss the major changes in maternal physiology that are essential to Essay

Discuss the major changes in maternal physiology that are essential to a healthy pregnancy outcome and give examples of how placenta may adversely affect pregnancy outcome - Essay Example The changes, mostly those relating to early stages of pregnancy, are partially attributable to â€Å"the metabolic demands brought on by the foetus, placenta and the uterus† (Ciliberto & Marx 1998, para. 1). Besides, the increase in the levels of hormones during pregnancy, especially those related to progesterone and oestrogen are also responsible for inducing the changes. However, most of the changes that occur in the later stages of the pregnancy pertain to the woman’s anatomy, as a result of â€Å"mechanical pressure from the expanding uterus† (Ciliberto & Marx 1998, para. 1). The physiological changes that occur in a woman during pregnancy are intended to â€Å"facilitate the adaptation of the cardio-vascular system to the increased metabolic needs of the mother, thus enabling adequate delivery of oxygenated blood to peripheral tissues and the foetus† (Silversides & Colman n.d., p. 1). The physiological and anatomical changes that a woman undergoes dur ing pregnancy have high significance on pregnancy outcomes and appropriate physiological transformation is a crucial element in achieving healthy pregnancy outcomes. There are several changes that occur in pregnant woman during the gestation period, which can be anatomical or physiological, such as: gestational weight gain, cardio-vascular changes, hormonal changes, changes in respiratory system, changes in the immunity system etc. This study will contain an analysis of three of the major changes in maternal physiology, such as Gestational Weight Gain, Hormonal Changes and Changes in the Cardio-Vascular System, as endorsed below: - This is one of the major changes that occur in a pregnant female during gestation period. One significant development during pregnancy is that a woman’s uterus undergoes enlargement and, as a consequence, abdominal viscera gets displaced. This, in turn, causes elevation of the diaphragm as a result of which the heart is moved â€Å"upwards to the left and assumes a

The problem of minority prisoners Essay Example for Free

The problem of minority prisoners Essay The problem of minority prisoners has been high on agenda for several decades already. In this paper I will focus my attention on possible measures and remedies aimed at establishing bridges of understanding between minority prisoners and corrections. I have critically examined a significant number of authoritative sources regarding the issue and I’m going to evaluate the problems that exist in current situation with minority representatives in prison and advocate for the necessary policy change. I shall note with regret that escalating tension between minority prisoners and the personnel is jeopardizing the rehabilitation of the convicts. This problem is often but inadequately addressed by prison authorities. Let me bring some examples. In Pakistan, according to Shehar Bano Khan’s article entitled â€Å"’Ordeal’ of Minority Prisoners†, Christian prisoners suffered from the â€Å"bitter ordeal of discrimination†, and the â€Å"prison authorities unbridled highhandedness and discriminatory behaviour has become a major personal safety concern†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (www.dawn.com/2004/08/29/nat16.htm) I want to start enlisting methods of building bridges of understanding between minority prisoners and corrections by quoting the message of the Scottish Prison Service: â€Å"The Prison Service is absolutely committed to ensuring race equality and delivery of good race relations in all aspects of our work. We will ensure that race issues are addressed in all parts of our business – and promote race equality as a core standard and essential ingredient for running a successful prison.† (www.sps.gov.uk/home/reqs.pdf) All Party Parliamentary Group for Further Education and Lifelong Learning in the report on prison education came to the following conclusion: â€Å"Black and ethnic minority prisoners may have different learning needs and some requirement for different sites and modes of learning. For example there is a need for more culturally sensitive programmes for such prisoners prisoners whose first language is not English will need different learning programmes.† (http://www.natfhe.org.uk/says/pubsfued.html) This should be a very serious concern in the prisons worldwide; this principle should be applied to any interaction between the staff and minority prisoners, let alone the educational process. The staff of the prison should always keep in mind that prisoners from different racial and ethnic background may require using different interaction models. All the minority prisoners must have access to quality interpretation services; this is the first step to build the bridges of understanding in a literal sense. This may sound unrealistic for the moment but prison personnel should work towards the completion of this important goal. Keeping in mind, that minority prisoners may be vulnerable and sensitive about some issues, it would be of great use organizing a special training session for prison staff concerning cultural and religious practices of minority prisoners serving their sentence in a specific institution. The report entitled Implementing Race Equality in Prisons advices â€Å"to ensure effective training incorporating race equality issues†¦is developed and delivered to employees and contracted staff on the basis of learning need.† (www.cre.gov.uk/pdfs/PrisonsFI_action.pdf) Basically, the question of religion is a separate topic. The prison personnel should be very attentive to this issue since religious disrespect may cause tension and confrontation. For centuries prisoners have been deprived of their right to religious practices because it was perceived as an effective way to demoralize them. Let’s remember the controversy over the religious discrimination of the prisoners in Guantanamo. Shehar Bano Khan’s article also informs that in Pakistan, â€Å"discriminatory treatment of Christians and other minorities has become a regular feature†¦Ã¢â‚¬  with â€Å"janitorial work†¦assigned to the Christians only† and with â€Å"no preacher for them.† (www.dawn.com/2004/08/29/nat16.htm) The prison personnel should ensure that every minority prisoners has an opportunity and facilities to practice his/her religion; spiritual literature should be supplied if necessary. The guard shouldn’t subject the convicts to discrimination due to their religious beliefs. The Race Equality Scheme being implemented by Scottish Prison Service states the same: â€Å"Members of all religious groups have the same right to practice their faith. Arrangements should be made to give each group the same opportunities to do so.† (www.sps.gov.uk/home/reqs.pdf) There’s much debate over the question of the religious practices in prisons. It’s widely recognized that â€Å"although prisoners retain the right to free exercise of religion, incarceration places some practical limits on this right,† as Mara Schneider informs in the article entitled â€Å"Splitting Hairs: Why Courts Uphold Prison Grooming Policies and Why They Should Not.† (Michigan Journal of Race Law 2004)   Therefore, the prison personnel should ensure religious freedom unless it’s incompatible with safety concerns. The article by Jennifer Vogel entitled â€Å" White Guard, Black Guard: Racism in Washington Continues† informs that â€Å"more than one third of the more than 14,000 state prison prisoners are of minority descent.† In the article the issue of violence against minority workers and prisoners is scrutinize. The author proposes a highly efficient measure to establish fair treatment of minority prisoners. She especially stresses the fact that â€Å"while 23 percent of prisoners are black, only 6 percent of DOC employees are black.† (www.prisonlegalnews.org/ban.htm) Employing guards from minority background will provide a positive model of non-discrimination. Still, careful workplace control should be initiated. The offences of minority guards are reported and such practices lead to violence towards minority prisoners. This caused, according to Vogel’s article, â€Å"a frightening atmosphere where white guards refer to blacks as â€Å"coons† and worse; where minority prisoners are targeted for beatings; where black guards receive threats†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (www.prisonlegalnews.org/ban.htm) We live in multiethnic societies. Until there is no equality and fair representation of minorities in staff we can’t speak of establishing efficient communication between the prisoners and the guards. The report entitled Implementing Race Equality advices â€Å"to increase the proportion of staff from minority ethnic groups to achieve a representative workforce†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (www.cre.gov.uk/pdfs/PrisonsFI_action.pdf) The statistical report entitled Ethnic Minorities: Crime and Criminal Justice states the following: â€Å"Ethnic minorities are under-represented in the police, prison service, lay magistracy and at senior levels in all criminal justice agencies.† (http://www.rouncefield.homestead.com/files/a_soc_dev_35.htm) The guards should never deprive prisoners of the use of any prison facilities. The Scottish Prison Service recommends the following: â€Å"The range of facilities provided and opportunities offered to staff and prisoners, including jobs, should be responsive to the needs of ethnic and racial groups. All staff and prisoners should have equal access to those facilities and opportunities.† (www.sps.gov.uk/home/reqs.pdf) The report entitled Implementing Race Equality in Prisons also supports this view by stating that the following should be proposed to all the prisoners on the equal basis: â€Å"Facility licences enable eligible prisoners the chance to participate in; training, employment, educational and community service or for official purposes such as attending civil court proceedings.† (www.cre.gov.uk/pdfs/PrisonsFI_action.pdf) We must admit that the most efficient way of protecting minority prisoners’ right is launching a formal complaint. Numerous court cases were initiated on this issue. Therefore I would suggest informing both the prisoners and the guards about non-discrimination legal acts and policies as well as practical methods of protecting their rights. All the necessary support should be provided to the prisoners who want to defend their right. Kimmett Edgar and Carol Martin interviewed the ethic minority representatives in the local prisons. Here’re their findings: â€Å"32% said they had not experienced anything that warranted a complaint†¦36% of those who had experienced discrimination said that they had complained.† The reasons for not complaining included that the prisoners â€Å"were frightened of reprisals from staff if they did complain,† or â€Å"believed it would be futile to complain,† or â€Å"they did not know how to complain.† (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr1104.pdf) Ensuring transparency and efficiency of the complaint system should be the primary concern of the prison personnel. An article reviewing The Black and Asian Prisoner s Guidebook and the Law attracts our attention to the fact that the basic rights of every person should be always respected: â€Å"The Civil and Human Rights of ethnic minority prisoners systematically apply by colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion and religious beliefs.† (http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=1095grp=16) Legal Assistance Available to Minority Prisoners in Delaware, the most comprehensive study of possible models of legal assistance, points out a series of problems preventing the prisoners from minority background from receiving qualified legal protection. This list includes poor interpretation services, shortage of paralegal help, shortage of the advocates speaking the languages of ethnic minorities as well as shortage of public defenders and judges. The prison personnel should help the prisoners to overcome all this barriers and to obtained necessary legal help. The report entitled Implementing Race Equality in Prisons stresses the importance of proper monitoring and surveying. This should include 1. Prisoner Ethnic Monitoring data outcomes, 2. Race Relations Management Audit score, 3. Substantiated/unsubstantiated racial incidents (prisoners/visitors), 4. Prisoner survey outcomes,5. Visitor survey outcomes. The report also proposes â€Å"to develop effective systems at national and establishment level to monitor progress on race equality ensuring compliance with†¦[the legislation]†¦and taking remedial action to address difficulties.† (www.cre.gov.uk/pdfs/PrisonsFI_action.pdf) Laura May in her article entitled Action Needed over Race Relations at Jail, Report Finds states the following:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Black and ethnic minority inmates in a prison believe they have been marginalised but inspectors could find no evidence of direct discrimination†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1979788) Proper monitoring should be in place to prevent such common situations. Scottish Prison Service in the annual 2004 report indicated several important initiatives aimed at building bridges between minority prisoners and guards and establishing racial equality. From my point of view, the most interesting of them were â€Å"development of closer links with a number of external organisations in the promotion and development of race equality within our Service,† â€Å"the introduction of a foreign language book rental scheme for prisoners,† â€Å"the continued development of our Race Relations Complaints system and monitoring from our national Race Relations Liaison Monitoring Group,† as well as â€Å"the development of Dietary Guidance in relation to ethnic minority catering throughout the estate.† (http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/race_equality_reports/default.asp) To sum up my paper, I would like to stress once more the importance of building bridges of understanding between the minority prisoners and corrections. The rights of the prisoners and non-discrimination should be the key principles in providing proper treatment of minority representatives. There is a variety of measures aimed at ensuring equality in prisons ranging from staff training to monitoring. But I would like to stress that all these measures would work only if applied consistently and simultaneously. References    NATFHE Prison Education Submission to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Further Education and Lifelong Learning,   June 2004 Available: http://www.natfhe.org.uk/says/pubsfued.html Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Shehar Bano Khan, â€Å"Ordeal of Minority Prisoners†, DAWN, 29 August, 2004 Available: www.dawn.com/2004/08/29/nat16.htm Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Jennifer Vogel, White Guard, Black Guard: Racism in Washington Continues, May, 1999 Available: www.prisonlegalnews.org/ban.htm Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Mara R. Schneider, Splitting Hairs: Why Courts Uphold Prison Grooming Policies and Why They Should Not, Michigan Journal of Race Law, Volume 9, Issue 2, Spring 2004 Scottish Prison Service, Race Equality Scheme, 2000 Available: www.sps.gov.uk/home/reqs.pdf Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Kimmett Edgar, Carol Martin, Perceptions of race and conflict: perspectives of minority ethnic prisoners and of prison officers, University of Oxford Centre for Criminological Research, Home Office Online Report 11/04, 2004 Available: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr1104.pdf Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Legal Assistance Available to Minority Prisoners in Delaware, 1989 Available: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/edocs/usccr/pdf%20files/Preservation%20Resources%20PDF/cr12as7z.pdf Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Commission for Race Equality, HM Prison Service, Implementing Race Equality in Prisons, December 2003 Available: www.cre.gov.uk/pdfs/PrisonsFI_action.pdf Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Scottish Prison Service, Race Equality Annual Report, 2004 Available: http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/race_equality_reports/default.asp Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 The Ethnic Minority Press, The Black and Asian Prisoner s Guidebook and the Law, A review, 19 August 2002 Available: http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=1095grp=16 Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Ethnic Minorities: Crime and Criminal Justice Available: http://www.rouncefield.homestead.com/files/a_soc_dev_35.htm Last Accessed: 3 November 2004 Laura May, Scottman.com, Action Needed over Race Relations at Jail, Report Finds, 25 September 2003 Available: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1979788 Last Accessed: 3 November 2004

Capital Structure Effect on Performance in Renewable Energy

Capital Structure Effect on Performance in Renewable Energy Sarah Sophia Hamdi â€Å"Capital Structure Effects on Firm Performance in the Renewable Energy Sector: Evidence from Germany† 1. Explanation of your dissertation topic (about 800 words) Overall motivation and objectives: The Kyoto Protocol induced a growing number of countries to establish targets for renewable energy supplies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to increase energy security. These targets are either expressed in terms of installed capacity or as a percentage of energy consumption. These targets have served as important catalysts for increasing the share of renewable energy throughout the world. As a result of the growing share of energy generated from renewable sources such as wind, water and biomass Germany’s energy supply is becoming â€Å"greener† from year to year. As shown in graph 1 in 2014 renewables already accounted for 25.8 per cent of the gross power production in Germany. On 1 April 2000 the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) went into force and lead to a massive increase of the renewable energy production in the electricity sector, from under 40 to over 140 billion of kilowatt per hours (see graph 2). Graph 1: Gross power production in Germany in 2014 Source: AG Energiebilanzen, as of: December 2014 Graph 2: Gross electricity generation in billions of kilowatt-hours Source: BMWi based on Working Group on Renewable Energies Statistics (AGEE-Stat, August 2014; Preliminary figures) The German government wants to further expand this share by the year 2025, the aim is to produce 40 to 45 per cent of electricity from renewable sources and 55 to 60 per cent by the year 2035. These numbers indicate that renewable energy companies increasingly need to compete efficiently against existing companies generating energy through other power sources such as oil, nuclear and hard coal energy etc. As investments in renewable energy plants grow, so do the risks inherent in owning, building and operating such plants. Excluding debt, business risk is the basic risk of firms operations and one of the factors that influence a companys capital-structure decision making. The level of business risk is shaped not only by the companies’ decisions but by whats happening to the industry and the economy. The renewable energy industry is effected by numerous sector specific risks such as building and testing risk, business, environmental, financial, market, operational, political/regulatory and weather related volume risk. In such a risky industry, what otherwise would be an appropriate and safe amount of debt becomes more dangerous and unstable, so that normally equity financing is safer than through debt. However firms that are in the growth stage of their cycle typically finance that process through debt and borrow money to enable their growth. The conflict that arises with this m ethod is that the revenues of growth firms are typically unstable and unproven. Meaning that a high debt load is usually not appropriate due to the danger of financial embarrassments. Hence as companies expand their investments in renewable energy projects, funding is a particular challenge and questions about firms’ capital structure decisions are not easily answered. Theoretical background: Over the last few decades much research has been done on whether a relationship between capital structure and a firms financial performance exists. At this point I would like to include a detailed literature review. Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller formed with their theorem the foundation for modern thinking on capital structure. They developed the Capital Structure Irrelevance Proposition where they hypothesized that in perfect markets the capital structure of a firm does not influence its performance. Nevertheless the theorem is generally viewed as a highly theoretical hypothesis, since it disregards important factors such as transaction costs and uncertainty, it was often used as the basis for further research in the last decades. The pecking-order theory, the agency theory and the trade-off theory are the three main theories discussing the optimal capital structure of a firm. All of them follow different approaches which I will summarise and contrast with each other. The different theories and findings raise key questions such as whether it is possible to identify an optimal capital structure for firms operating in the important and future-oriented industry of renewable energies. Research analysis and methodology: Following to the introduction of the key theories and the literature review on this topic I would like to carry out my own quantitative study and run a regression analysis with financial data of 20 companies operating in the renewable energy sector, including wind, solar, bio and water energy in Germany. Due to the fact that non-listed firms are not required to disclose their financial accounts my data will be gained from listed companies that are obligated to share the relevant information. I would like to examine whether there exists a relationship between the implemented capital structure and the firms performance measured in return on equity and share price. Equations: (1) (2) Where: return on equity for firm i in year t. : price of a share for firm i at year t. : financial leverage for firm i at year t .: tangible assets for firm i at year t. : size of the firm i at year t. : growth of the firm i at year t. Tangible assets, size and growth serve as control variables whereas financial leverage of the firm is considered as the main variable to express the capital structure. My aim is to be able to match one of the three theories and to identify an optimal capital structure for renewable energy firms. In order to interpret the findings of the quantitative analysis I would also like to include a complementary qualitative research analysis for example through directors’ statements on their financing decisions. 2. List of References (no minimum number required, but as acceptable by your supervisor) Agnihotri, A. (2014): Impact of Strategy Capital Structure on Firms overall Financial Performance, Strategic Change, Vol. 23, No. 1-2, pp. 15-20. Ben Ayed, W. H., and Zouari, S. G. (2014): Capital Structure and Financing of SMEs: The Tunisian Case. International Journal of Economics and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 96-111. Bouraoui, T., and Li, T. (2014): The Impact of Adjustment in Capital Structure in Mergers Acquisitions on us Acquirers’ Business Performance. The Journal of Applied Business Research, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 27-41. Economist Intelligence Unit (2011): Managing the risk in renewable energy. A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit Sponsored by Swiss Re. file:///C:/Users/Sarah/Downloads/Managing-The-Risk-In-Renewable-Energy.pdf Gill, A. and Biger, N. and Mathur, N. (2011): The Effect of Capital Structure on Profitability: Evidence from the United States. International Journal of Management, Vol. 28, No.4, pp. 3-. Green, J. (2010): Renewable energy projects: Risk and insurance elements. Technical feature – Construction Engineering, www.meinsurancereview.com, pp. 41-42. Hatfield, G. B. and Louis, T. W. and Davidson, W. N. (1994): The determination of optimal capital structure: The effect of firm and industry debt ratios on market value. Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 1-14. Holz, C. A. (2002): The Impact of the Liability-Asset Ratio on Profitability in Chinas Industrial State-Owned Enterprises. China Economic Review, Vol. 13, pp. 1-26. Majumdar, S. K. and Chhibber, P. (1999): Capital Structure and Performance: Evidence from a Transition Economy on an Aspect of Corporate Governance. Public Choice, Vol. 98, pp. 287-305. Margaritis, D., and Psillaki, M. (2007): Capital structure and firm efficiency, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Vol. 34, No. 9, pp. 1447-1469. Modigliani, F. and Miller, M. (1958): The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and The Theory of Investment, The American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 261-97. Modigliani, F. and Miller, M. (1963): Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: a Correction. The American Economic Review, Vol. 53, pp. 443-53. Myers, S. (1984): Capital structure puzzle, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, Issue 3, pp. 574–592. Omondi, M. M., and Muturi, W. (2013): Factors Affecting the Financial Performance of Listed Companies at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 4, No. 15, pp. 99-105. Onaolapo, A. and Kajola,O. (2010): Capital Structure and Firm Performance: Evidence from Nigeria. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, Vol. 25, pp. 70-82. Pathirawasam, C. (2013): Internal Factors which Determine Financial Performance of firms: With Special Reference to Ownership Concentration. pp. 62-72. Rajan, R. G., and Zingales, L. (1995): What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data. The Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5, pp. 1421–1460. Shyam-Sunder, L. and Myers, C. (1999): Testing static trade off against pecking order models of capital structure. Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 219–244. Soumadi, M. and Hayajneh, O. (2012): Capital structure and corporate performance, Empirical study on the public Jordanian shareholding firms listed in the Amman stock market. European Scientific Journal, Vol. 8, No. 22, pp. 173-189. Stiglitz, J. E. (1969): A Re-Examination of the Modigliani-Miller Theorem. American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 784-794. Tailab, M. M. K. (2014): The Effect of Capital Structure on Profitability of Energy American Firms. Journal of Business and Management Invention, Vol. 3, No. 12, pp. 54-61. Titman, S. (1988): The Determinants of Capital Structure Choice. The Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 1-19. Umer, U. M. (2014): Determinants of Capital Structure: Empirical Evidence from Large Taxpayer Share Companies in Ethiopia. International Journal of Economics and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 53-65. Wippern, R. (1966): Financial Structure and the Value of the Firm. The Journal of Finance, Vol. 21; No. 4, pp. 615-633. Links: Bundesministerium fà ¼r Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi): http://www.bmwi.de/EN/Topics/Energy/Renewable-Energy/renewable-energy-at-a-glance.html

GM Holden Ltd Analysis

GM Holden Ltd Analysis Introduction GM Holden Ltd, commonly designated Holden, is an Australian automaker that operates in Australasia and is headquartered in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddler manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931. After becoming a subsidiary of GM, the company was named General Motors-Holdens Ltd, becoming Holden Ltd in 1998—the current name was adopted in 2005. There is a high demand for Holden in New Zealand market. Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub set of a market made up of people or organization with characteristics that cause them to demand similar products based on qualities of those products or as price. True market segmentation meets all of the following criteria: it is distinct from other segments (different segments have different needs), it is homogeneous within the segment (exhibits and comm on needs); it responds similarly to a market stimulus, and it can be reached by a market intervention. The term is also used when consumers with identical product needs are divided into groups so they can be charged different amounts. In this assignment the New Zealand market for Holden products is segmented to understand the customer needs and provide them with different kinds of Model and developing a marketing mix that will sustain the target market. In this study segmentation is analysed in four stages: Assess the potential for market segmentation. Apply market segmentation process. Determine positioning strategies for chosen segments. Relate market segmentation to the marketing mix. Question 1: Assess the potential for market segmentation. Examine the implication of market segmentation to determine precise targeting of marketing in terms of the needs, wants and behaviours of markets. Ans. Reference to use of resources: The resources in the business can be people, money, place etc. The main resource to run the business is people and money. There is a need of investment to start and run the business in a profitable way. People are also very important in the business without people we can’t start our business. Holden establish its business at that places from where they can get raw material very easily and reduce transport expenses. Understanding and meeting customer’s needs: It is very important to find out what the customers want. Firstly Holden identify the needs of the customers and then according to the need of the customers they made different models. Identification of competitor’s activities: To gain the competitive advantages, Holden collect information about the competitor’s activity, what they are doing in the market to do more sales like as Toyota, Hyundai, Mazda and many more. Evaluation of market performance by segments: Market performance is the amount of sale in a business. There are different groups in a business which gives different turnover in the market. So it is necessary to find the most suitable group providing the expected market performance. Identification of significant cultural influence: New Zealand is a multicultural country. The customer’s priorities are affected by his/her ethnic background. So it could not satisfy all the needs of the market of cultural groups at the same time. Therefore, Holden make necessary efforts in the market to attract different cultural groups. Question 2: Apply market segmentation processes. Identify segmentation bases for markets and include geographic, demographic, psychographics and behaviouristic usage. Ans: Holden No. Name of product Income segment Product usage and potential Segment size and growth Segment attractiveness Objectives and resources Competition 1 Commodore Above $35,000 Low 10 % Average Average Low 2 Captiva $20,000-$25,000 Medium 30% Very good Sufficient Medium 3 Cruze Below $20,000 High 60 % excellent Plenty High Commodore: People buy this model that have above $30,000 income. The competition of this model in the market is low as the price is very high. Due to high price the usage of this car is also very low. Segment size and growth is also very less. Captiva: The usage of this car is medium in the market as the price is affordable to middle class family. Income group between $20,000-$25,000 buy this car. The competition of this this car in the market is medium. Segment attractiveness is also good. Cruze: Most of the people prefer to buy this car. Below $20,000 income group buy this model. The usage of this car is very high in the market. The competition of this car is very high because the price is affordable. Objectives and resources of this car are plenty. Segment attractiveness is excellent. Question 3: Determine positioning strategies for chosen segments. 3.1 Select target market segments and apply segmentation strategies. Ans: Positioning: A marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to competing brands, in the mind of the customer. Companies apply this strategy either by emphasizing the distinguishing features of their brand (what it is, what it does and how, etc.) or they may try to create a suitable image (inexpensive or premium, utilitarian or luxurious, entry-level or high-end, etc.) through advertising. Once a brand is positioned, it is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility. Undifferentiated Market: Sales-growth strategy that ignores market segment differences and attempts to appeal to all prospective customers with a single, basic product line through mass advertising and distribution. Differentiated Marketing: A sales growth strategy in which several market niches or population segments are targeted with different products for each niche or segment. Concentrated marketing: Growth strategy in which resources of a firm are focused on a well-defined market niche or population segment. Individualised Marketing: Any kind of communication to individuals by the companies or retailers can be termed as individual marketing. Individual marketing is often customized as per the individual customers. The demand can be directly communicated to the suppliers or manufacturers and they can be provided with customized products as per their demand. 3.2 Establish positioning variables for each target market segment and determine positioning strategies. Ans: Product Attributes: The HOLDEN produces all kind of vehicles, such as sports cars, luxury cars, sports utility vehicles and fuel efficient cars as well. These all are the product attribute. This provides a wide selection range to the buyers. That’s why, HOLDEN manufactures vehicles of all classes according to the demands of the people and their choice, in this way, the business can increase more value in the New Zealand market. Usage and Users: Usage is defined as the way that something is being used, or to the proper way to make use of something. In a market, it is very necessary to look into the usage of the products and the users. The use of the vehicles may vary according to the age group of users. The Holden made its product according to the different type of users. Such as luxury cars for elite class, sports racing cars for youngsters and fuel efficient cars for middle class. Product Class: Product class means that the group or range of products according to the class of people. For example, HOLDEN makes their cars to target the every class of society. They make cars from 1500-2000cc up to 7000cc sports cars. They are classified into different people according to their income, and class. Customer Needs and Benefits: It is very important in the automobile industry that the cars which are available for users are satisfying their needs and providing the benefits to them. That means the car which is purchased by customer is fulfilling his requirements and putting no additional pressure of maintenance cost on buyer. Competition: Holden have a lot of competitors in NZ automobile market. Everyone introduce cars with better features and affordable prices. So, it is necessary for HOLDEN to build such type of cars which are able to compete with the rival companies. It’s also very important to keep the price of newly built cars in the reach of customers. Cultural Factors: Culture is the most basic reason is that effects person’s choice while buying a vehicle in New Zealand. New Zealand is a multicultural country, so they need to make the cars for satisfying needs of all ethnic groups. Like, the people from Asian countries are always show interest to buy cars from Asian manufacturers because they are less costly as compared to other brands. This factor also effects the sale of Holden’s vehicles. Question 4: Relate market segmentation to the marketing mix. 4.1 Assess the implications of market positioning strategies for marketing mix decisions in terms of organisational marketing objectives. Ans: Marketing Mix: The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The marketing mix is a planned mix of the controllable elements of a product’s marketing plan commonly terms such as, Price, Product, Place and Promotion. Product: In every business, quality product is the main factor for running a business. So if the products are not qualitative enough, then there is more probability of losing the customer but if we have qualitative product, then more customer’s gets attracted and there will be more sale. Hence, qualitative product for the customers helps to make more profit in a business. As our Company is Holden, our products must meet that standard. All the customers must feel they are getting more than they paying. Price: If the price of the Holden cars are affordable and economic, and if there are more models and offers then it’s obvious the sales will increase. If the price doesn’t worth then people buy other brands of car because the competition is more in the NZ market so it will effect on the business. Promotion: To run the business, it is very necessary to do the promotion of the newly cars. There are various ways to promote the business such as give advertisements of the different models of cars. In this ways, we can create good picture of our product in different style into people’s mind. Place: In the car business, it is essential to choose the right place for the business to run successful. If the place is not suitable then no one will go there and buy. We should establish our car business in the city where people can see upcoming models. And can buy and fulfil their needs. 4.2 Recommend monitoring mechanisms for market positioning strategies according to strategic marketing plans. Ans. Plan Control: The Plans are done by the top and middle management to get the annual report of the results whether the results are achieved or not. With the help of plan control, one can compare the actual plans with the standard plans to get the variance between them and also it provides the sales and market share analysis. Feedback: we need to get feedback from our customers whether the like our new models or not. If not which feature they don’t like or what feature should include according to them. From the feedback we can know the need of the customers. Survey: in this survey there are questions and you needed to tick or give yes or no according to the customers need. From the question given in the survey we can find out the actual needs of the customers like any new features etc.

Red-Eared Sliders Essay --

Introduction: Invasive species are crawling to places they shouldn’t be, making the world react in a dramatic way. It can be passed throughout a number of ways: by All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), canals and changes to waterways, gardening and landscaping, transportation of animal carcasses and raw wood, along with other items. The Red-Eared Slider travels by another unique way to become an invasive species: being dumped by pet owners. Since this happens so frequently, the Red-Eared Slider is on the 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Species List. Place of Origin (How it arrived): The Red-eared slider is an invasive turtle species with a large pet fanbase. It’s originating from the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, and the southeastern corner of the United States . This popularity of this animal, which are usually brought overseas, and placed in pet stores have its consequences. This invasive species is usually dumped by pet owners who are misinformed on the Red-eared slider and dislikes the attributes that it has (That it can grow to the size of a dinner plate and they bite). Areas Found: The red-eared slider has been dumped and stranded throughout the world. Just a few of the places where the invasive species is found is Australia, Europe, Israel, South Africa, Guam, Canada and the Carribean. The Red-eared Slider inhabit areas with still, warm water, like ponds, lakes, swaps, creeks, streams, and slow-flowing rivers. The invasive species is throughout the world, which makes it highly dangerous with fighting native turtles for the perfect area and habitat for them. Description of Species: The Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is a semi-aquatic turtle belonging the the Emydidae family. They are titled the Re... ...turtles, such as Little RES Q. People dump their Red-Eared Sliders daily, and makes the Red-Eared Sliders go up more and more on the 100 Worst Invasive Species List. Works Cited http://alienspecies.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/eng/species/red-eared-slider-turtle http://www.ontariostreams.on.ca/keep_care.htm http://www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/turtles.asp?tr=10 http://www.climateontario.ca/doc/factsheets/TERRESTRIAL_INVASIVE_FACTSHEET-Final.pdf http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Red-eared%20Slider%20Turtle.html http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/pw/vp/toad/red-earedslideralert.pdf http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Biodiversity/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_068682.html http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Biodiversity/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_068685.html

Viewer Response - The Graduate Essay -- essays research papers

In The Graduate, the director, Mike Nichols’, emphasizes the mysterious tone of the film with his overuse of lighting, camera angles, and shadows. The uncertainty Benjamin Braddock feels can be seen right from the start as he stands on the moving sidewalk at the airport. He is positioned at the right hand side of the screen moving forward. You can see a large area to the left where the credits appear. I think the director chose this technique for the opening credits to symbolize how this graduate is arriving at a new destination & has much uncertainty in front of him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dark rooms with shadows are used heavily in this film. The director shows Benjamin’s room as dark and shadowy to parallel his personality. This is also seen in the Robinson house. Shad...

Monopoly, Perfect Competition, Imperfect Competition

NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT Economics Microeconomics The Theories of the Firm [ADVANCED HIGHER] Acknowledgements This document is produced by Learning and Teaching Scotland as part of the National Qualifications support programme for Economics. First published 2002 Electronic version 2002  © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2002 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage. ISBN 1 85955 929 8 contents Introduction1Section 1:The theory of perfect competition3 Section 2:The theory of monopoly9 Section 3:The theory of monopolistic competition and oligopoly13 Section 4:Resource allocation/externalities19 Section 5:Suggested solutions23 INTRODUCTION There are basically two types of market situation: (a)Perfect competition – in this market, firms have no influence; they are price takers. (b)Imperfect competition – this market includes monop oly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition; firms are price makers and can influence the market place. Every firm must obey three rules in order to survive: To maximise profits, firms will produce at that output where MC=MR and at the same time MC must be rising. †¢A firm will continue to produce in the short run as long as it can cover its variable costs. †¢In the long run a firm must cover its total costs. SECTION 1 In order to build a model against which we can compare other market situations, certain characteristics have to be assumed: †¢There are a large number of buyers and sellers in the market. †¢Buyers and sellers have perfect knowledge of goods and prices in the market. †¢All firms produce a homogeneous product. Products are identical. †¢There is freedom of exit and entry to the industry. There is perfect mobility of the factors of production. In the real world it is almost impossible for all of these conditions to exist at the same time. For eign exchange and agriculture are markets that have some of the above characteristics: currency is a homogeneous product and in agriculture there are a large number of farmers supplying the market without influencing the price. Can you identify other types of markets that are almost perfectly competitive? The demand curve No one firm can alter output enough to influence price. Therefore each firm faces a perfectly elastic demand curve.Each firm sells at a given market price and this price coincides with the firm’s AR and MR. The firm can sell as much as it wants at this price, however if it charged above this price, demand would fall to zero. [pic] The supply curve The short run supply curve of the firm in perfect competition will be that part of its marginal cost curve that lies above its average variable cost curve. MC is the lowest price at which a firm would sell an extra unit, and when we remember the second rule above that the firm must obey to maximise profit, we have correctly identified the firm’s short run supply curve. pic] The equilibrium of the firm The firm is in equilibrium when MR=MC. This is where profits are maximised or losses minimised. For the perfectly competitive firm the only decision to be made is how much to produce to maximise profits. Firms cannot influence price because their output is a very small part of market output. Equilibrium of the Firm – Perfect Competition [pic] Short run In the short run, firms earning supernormal profits will attract other firms into the market looking for higher than normal rewards. Remember that normal profit is just enough to keep the entrepreneur in business.Perfect Competition – Short Run [pic] Long run In the long run, as new firms enter the industry, established firms will expand their output to get more of the supernormal profits. Eventually, all firms earn normal profits as the supernormal profits are competed away. Long run equilibrium of the firm We saw how superno rmal profits attracted new firms into the industry. After a time, the existence of subnormal profits would cause firms to leave the industry. Supply would fall and prices rise. Hence long run equilibrium is one of normal profits only. Perfect Competition – Long Run pic] Advantages of perfect competition †¢Because firms produce where MC=MR=Price, allocative efficiency is achieved. †¢Productive efficiency is also achieved because the firm produces at the lowest point of the AC curve. †¢Prices are lower because of increased competition. †¢Because of perfect knowledge firms must keep up to date and innovate or they will be forced to leave the industry. †¢In the long run all firms will earn normal profits. †¢Cartels and other restrictive agreements cannot emerge to exploit consumers. †¢Perfect competition can be used as a model in economic analysis.Disadvantages of perfect competition †¢Firms have little time to benefit from inventions becau se they quickly enter the public domain. †¢Since firms make only normal profits they might not have the funds to undertake expensive research that often yields the most outstanding discoveries. †¢Firms might not benefit from economies of large-scale production. †¢In order to prevent abuse of the consumer, some industries are best run by the state as natural monopolies and so perfect competition would be inappropriate. †¢Perfect competition is a goal that cannot be reached in the real world.Student exercises/activities 1. To what extent does agriculture approximate to being a perfect market? (10 marks) 2. Study the diagram below and answer the following questions: [pic] (a)Why does the short run supply curve of the firm begin at S1? (2 marks) (b)At S2 the firm breaks even. Explain what this means. (2 marks) (c)At S2 the firm also earns normal profits. Explain why they are sometimes called the entrepreneur’s transfer earnings or the opportunity cost of capit al. (2 marks) (d)Is normal profit the same for each entrepreneur?Justify your answer. (2 marks) (e)Economic profits and losses are signals to owners of factors of production. Explain why this statement holds true only in the short run in a perfectly competitive market. (4 marks) (f)If the long run supply curve of a perfectly competitive firm is a horizontal line, what assumption can we make about the firm’s costs? 3. Read through the notes on perfect competition and write down each new economic term you have encountered (perhaps terms such as normal profits, economic profits, transfer earnings).Then make precise definitions of these terms from an economics dictionary or textbook. Section 2 A monopoly market structure is assumed to have the following characteristics: †¢In theory the monopolist is the only firm in the industry. However, under UK law any firm controlling more than a 25% share of the market is liable for investigation as a monopoly. †¢The monopolist is a price maker. †¢The monopolist is shielded from competition because barriers to entry prevent new firms from entering the market. Barriers to entry To exist, monopolies must have high barriers to entry. The main barriers are: government restrictions like a licence, permit or certificate to enter an industry †¢patents that make it illegal for others to use an inventor’s ideas for a number of years †¢ownership of factors of production that do not have close substitutes †¢difficulty in raising the necessary capital †¢economies of scale particularly in the case of a natural monopoly. Monopoly equilibrium The monopolist can stop new firms entering the industry through technical or statutory barriers. If the monopolist is making supernormal profits in the short run, they are likely to continue into the long run.Note that the monopolist will not always make supernormal profits, as they will depend on the relationship between consumer demand and production c osts. Monopolistic Competition – Short Run [pic] Pay particular attention to the following points illustrated above: †¢There is no supply curve in monopoly. Supply and demand are dependent on one another. †¢There is no distinction between short run and long run because of the barriers to entry. †¢Profit maximising output is OQ where MC=MR. †¢The price charged in the market is OP and is determined by the demand curve. †¢Supernormal profits are shown by the rectangle PXYZ enclosed by AR and AC.Price is OP and cost is OZ. †¢MR falls at twice the rate of AR and becomes zero when total revenue is maximised. Advantages †¢An industry with a flat-bottomed average cost curve benefits from economies of scale. This type of industry requires a large amount of capital equipment. Examples include the car and chemical industries. Hence the public benefits if the LRAC remains constant as output expands because more cars or chemicals are produced at cheap pr ices. †¢If a monopolist invests in research and development the public can benefit from product development. Disadvantages Monopoly can lead to greater inequality in the distribution of income because the monopolist charges a price higher than MC. †¢Again because the monopolist charges above MC it is allocatively inefficient. Underproduction of the product occurs and not enough of the nation’s resources are allocated to its production. Price discrimination The monopolist can discriminate in two different ways: †¢It can discriminate between units sold to the same buyer as in the case of gas or electricity. †¢It can discriminate between different buyers, for example when it charges children and OAPs rates different to that for adults.The monopolist charges consumers different prices in separate markets and, because the costs of production are the same in each market, it is able to increase its profits. [pic] Profit is maximised where MR=MC. In Market A, the demand is less elastic compared to Market B that has a more elastic demand. When the monopolist splits the market and charges a different price in each, it will earn more profits than if it charged one uniform price to all. The monopolist can discriminate in a number of ways: †¢It can charge a different price at different times of the day (like a gas company) or at different times of the week (like a rail company). It can charge different rates to different income groups. Students, the unemployed and OAPs can often get into a football match or a race meeting at a reduced rate. †¢It can charge different prices in different parts of the country. The same house built by a national builder will cost more in the south-east of England than it will in the north-east of England. What enables a monopolist to discriminate effectively? †¢Different buyers in the market must have different elasticities of demand. †¢The market must be able to be sub-divided into separate divis ions according to time, place or income. The monopolist must be able to keep markets separate without great difficulty. Points to note about monopoly: †¢A monopolist will only produce where the demand curve is elastic. MR has to be positive for MC and MR to be equal. †¢The only distinction between short run and long run is in the changes in cost structure of the industry. Barriers to entry prevent us from making the kind of distinctions we can make between short and long run equilibrium in perfect competition. †¢There is no supply curve in monopoly because there is no linear relationship between demand and supply.Student exercises/activities 1. Explain why, for the monopolist, price is always greater than MR. (2 marks) 2. What does the price elasticity of demand facing the monopolist depend upon? (3 marks) 3. Are monopolies always profitable? Justify your answer. (3 marks) 4. State the three conditions that must exist for a monopolist to be able to price discriminate. (3 marks) 5. Draw two diagrams, side by side, to show long run equilibrium under perfect competition and under monopoly equilibrium. Study the diagrams and answer the questions that follow: (a)Prove that the monopolist wastes resources. 2 marks) (b)State why the perfectly competitive firm is allocatively efficient. (2 marks) (c)Explain why the perfectly competitive firm is productively efficient. (d)Describe how profit is shown in the monopolist’s diagram and explain what kind of profit it is. (4 marks) (e)The perfectly competitive firm appears to be making no profit. Is this true? Explain your answer. (3 marks) (f)At what output do both maximise their profits? (1 mark) (g)Identify the supply curve for the perfectly competitive firm and explain why there is no supply curve for the monopolist. 4 marks) (h)Explain how government decides whether or not a monopoly should be allowed to continue. (2 marks) (i)Suggest an action government can take to regulate a monopoly and explain how it might be expected to work. (3 marks) 6. Make definitions of the new terms you have encountered. SECTION 3 Perfect competition and monopoly are two extreme theories of the firm. Remember that earlier we classified all theories other than perfect competition as imperfect. Hence monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition can be described as imperfect competition.Some textbooks describe all theories that exist between the two extremes as imperfect. This classification is also accepted by examiners. What distinguishes oligopoly from monopolistic competition is the number of firms in the industry. An oligopoly has few sellers, whereas in monopolistic competition there are a large number of sellers. Monopolistic competition The theory of monopolistic competition assumes the following characteristics: †¢There is free entry and exit in the industry. †¢The industry is made up of a large number of buyers and sellers. †¢Firms produce differentiated goods. Each firm faces a downward-sloping demand curve because products are not homogeneous. †¢Firms maximise profits in the short run. †¢There is perfect knowledge in the market. Because firms produce slightly different products under different brand names, each firm has a certain amount of market power. Hence a price rise will not result in it losing all its customers. However, because there are a large number of firms producing acceptable substitutes, market power is weak. The more differentiated the product, the greater the market power and so the less elastic the demand curve will be.Equilibrium for a monopolistically competitive firm Short RunLong Run Monopolistic Competition – Short RunMonopolistic Competition – Long Run [pic] In the short run monopolistic competitors earn supernormal profits and will attract new firms into the industry. As in perfect competition these profits will be competed away until in the long run all firms are earning normal profits. The rectang le PXYZ will gradually disappear as each firm’s share of demand falls and its demand curve moves to the left. In the long run the demand curve is a tangent to AC but, unlike perfect competition, it is at a point where AC is falling.How much supernormal profit a firm earns in the short run will depend on its ability to differentiate products by using brand names and advertising. Look how important to consumers designer labels and certain brand names are today! Note that in both diagrams price is greater than MC and so the firm is allocatively inefficient. Again the firm in each diagram does not produce at the lowest point on the AC curve making it productively inefficient. The firm has excess capacity. In the long run two rules hold: †¢AC=AR because freedom of entry ensures that a firm cannot earn supernormal profit; †¢MC=MR because the firm wants to maximise profit.Oligopoly Oligopoly is often described as competition among the few. A few interdependent suppliers co ntrol most industries in our country and so these industries are imperfectly competitive and oligopolistic. What causes an industry that started as competitive to develop in this way? The main reason is to take advantage of economies of scale and in industries like the car industry this has been made possible through technical progress. Barriers to entry and mergers have also played their part in the formation of oligopolies. Oligopoly is difficult to analyse because one firm’s behaviour can cause retaliation from another.Firms continually have to devise strategies to keep them ahead of their competitors. Oligopoly has the following assumed characteristics: †¢A small number of suppliers control most of the market. †¢Barriers to entry are likely to exist, although in some industries they can be low. †¢Firms are interdependent, unlike in perfect competition where firms ignore changes in the behaviour of their competitors. †¢Prices are controlled by the suppl ier not the consumer. †¢A kinked demand curve for the firm is likely to exist, although the demand curve for the industry is normal. The majority of oligopolistic markets tend to have: collusion in some form, although restrictive trade practices have been illegal since 1956; †¢non-price competition in the form of branding, advertising, free offers and after sales services; †¢price rigidity – prices often remain fairly constant despite changes in costs of production, unlike in perfect competition where prices continually fluctuate to monitor such changes; †¢average cost curves tend to be flat-bottomed allowing the firm to take advantage of economies of scale. Oligopoly: the kinked demand curve [pic] The kinked demand curve helps to explain price rigidity that tends to occur under oligopoly.The rival firms tend to agree a market price at X. Demand is elastic above this point and so any rise in price will cause a fall in revenue as consumers buy rival product s. Below X demand is inelastic and a fall in price will cause a fall in revenue and a price war would break out. Hence firms will use non-price competition to maintain or increase their market share. Examples of this include free gifts or coupons when petrol is purchased. This model of oligopoly has its critics. It implies knowledge of MC and MR that firms just do not have. The model does not explain how price was determined or what happens when price is eventually changed.Other firms could react in a number of ways to a change in the price of a competitor’s product not just in the one way that this model assumes. However, it does help to explain why price rigidity occurs and why firms use non-price strategies to maintain market share. Collusion The kinked demand curve model assumes that competitors would react in a particular way. But they could, of course, react in other ways. This uncertainty is a characteristic of oligopoly and it arises because firms in the industry are interdependent. Interdependence means that the oligopolists are always unsure how competitors will react to any action they take.One firm’s actions have consequences for all. Consequently entrepreneurs try to reduce risks by colluding. Collusion takes place in a cartel – for example, OPEC can fix the price or quantity of oil to be offered for sale. Remember such actions are illegal in the UK. The purpose of the cartel is to earn supernormal profits. Price leadership Often in an oligopolistic market one firm will make the first move to change price, usually because costs have risen and profits are falling. Competitors may be in the same position and so are willing to accept the change.This price leader is often the largest firm in the industry and so smaller firms do not challenge its actions. This almost simultaneous change in price is called parallel pricing and of course it makes the kinked demand curve irrelevant. Student exercises/activities 1. Construct a table to compare the four market structures we have studied using the following headings: Market structure, Number of sellers, Restricted entry and exit, Long run supernormal profits and product differentiation. Place these headings horizontally and the four market structures vertically. 2.Suggest reasons why some firms tend towards oligopoly while others tend towards monopolistic competition. (4 marks) 3. Explain why some firms use different methods of non-price competition to increase their market share. (3 marks) 4. Profit maximisation always occurs where marginal revenue is equal to marginal cost. Why is this so? (2 marks) 5. Behaviour in three of the markets we have studied is predictable. Explain why this is so. (4 marks) 6. Using diagrams contrast price and output determination in perfect competition and monopolistic competition in both the short run and the long run. 7.Is price leadership a form of collusion? Discuss. (4 marks) 8. Make definitions of new economic terms. SECTION 4 We have seen how resources are allocated by prices determined by the forces of demand and supply in the market place. We have also seen that some market structures are more efficient than others when it comes to resource allocation. Allocative efficiency is present if the marginal cost of production equals price in all industries. If Price=MC in all industries in an economy, it would be impossible to make any one better off without making another worse off. This allocation of resources is said to be Pareto efficient.Again allocative efficiency exists when an economy uses its resources to produce the goods and services consumers want. Hence one of the main macroeconomic aims of government is to achieve the optimal allocation of resources and that is when resources are efficiently used in such a way as to maximise the welfare of consumers. We saw earlier that only the perfectly competitive market is both productively and allocatively efficient. No real economy is like this. Imperfection s exist in all real economies and they prevent the efficient allocation of resources through the market mechanism.Instead an under-or over-allocation of resources to a certain economic activity takes place. Market failure results. There are four main types of market failure: 1. Externalities. They exist when the action of producers and consumers, other than through the normal workings of the price mechanism, affect not only themselves but also third parties. They can be negative like pollution and congestion. Each is a cost to society. Externalities can be positive, like the benefits society gains from better education and improved medical practice.Negative externalities result in over-production; positive externalities result in under-production. Sometimes prices and profits are not good indicators of the real cost to society of an economic activity and so externalities emerge. Hence alternative systems of allocation need to be considered to obtain a more desired allocation of reso urces. 2. Imperfect competition. In imperfect markets consumers are often at the mercy of oligopolies and monopolies. Governments and trade unions can also influence demand and supply in a market and this leads to inefficiency.It also leads to an unequal distribution of income and wealth. Imperfect markets fail to be efficient and equitable. 3. Market forces cannot provide public goods and often do not do a good job of providing certain merit goods. Again the market has failed to produce what every society needs. 4. Market economies tend to experience sudden business fluctuations. The UK went into recession in 1990–2. Japan has still not recovered from a current recession. Governments are trying to devise tighter monetary policies to avoid the worst extremes of trade cycles.Whenever market failure occurs there has been a re-allocation of resources to some less desired point on the Production Possibility Curve. Consequently government steps in to try to redress the balance. Mo nopoly and government intervention A government can control a monopoly by using price controls. Look at Figure 1. A price control lowers the price to the consumer from P1 to P2 and at the same time increases output from OQ1 to OQ2. Society now benefits from an improvement in allocative efficiency. Figure 1 [pic] A government can impose fines or regulations to correct externality situations.However, a major difficulty that immediately arises before this can be done is to calculate or estimate the value of externalities such as pollution and congestion. Look at Figure 2. If the polluter ignores the pollution then he will produce at Q2 where demand equals supply. However, if the government insists that certain regulations must be complied with, such as installing filters, the supply curve will move to the left because costs have risen. The quantity being produced will now contract to Q1. Consumers are now paying a price that reflects the spill-over cost and over-production has been cor rected.There has been an improvement in resource allocation because the government has taken action against market failure. Figure 2 [pic] Markets can sometimes under-produce as in the case of medical or educational provision. Look at Figure 3. Without grants and subsidies Q1 places would be provided. With grants to students and subsidies to universities and colleges more places can be offered, and many students who have the necessary qualifications can now afford to take up a place. Q2 places are now available and society will eventually benefit from the increased number of educated people.Again government has taken action to correct market failure. Thus we have seen that externalities can be positive or negative and they accrue to a third party. We saw in the case of the chemical firm that negative externalities arose because the firm was concerned only with marginal private costs and ignored marginal social costs. Hence they could produce at a higher output and so create more pol lution and possibly congestion. Market failure occurred and the government intervened to force the firm to address the social cost it caused. In our example the government legally restricted the activity.It could have forced the firm to internalise the spillover or it could have taken over the firm. Again firms consider only marginal private benefit, the benefit that the firm receives. They ignore the spillover benefit that society gains from consuming this good or service, the marginal social benefit. It gave grants and subsidies. It could have given tax incentives or even taken over the service and provided it free. Consequently government steps in to increase this under-production and remove the welfare loss that results from free market equilibrium. See Figure 3. Figure 3 [pic]Student exercises/activities 1. Explain how the actions of large corporations and trade unions can influence demand and lead to non-optimal allocation of resources. (3 marks) 2. Examine the case for provid ing a) public goods, and b) merit goods free to the consumer. (6 marks) 3. Why might some economists argue against providing products free to the consumer? (3 marks) 4. Why does free market equilibrium not always represent the true cost of production? (3  marks) 5. At what point is the optimum level of production of a public good reached? (2 marks) 6. Make definitions of new economic terms.SECTION 5 Guideline answers (Perfect competition) 1. There are four basic assumptions underpinning the theory of perfect competition. Do they hold for the agriculture industry? In the UK there are a large number of farmers supplying the market. No farm is large enough to influence price, so this characteristic holds. Farms are relatively easy to buy, especially today because of falling profit margins. Hence exit and entry in the industry are unrestricted. Knowledge of prices and market conditions are good because of constant updating by the farming press using modern technology.Hence knowledge i s as perfect as it can be. Products are fairly homogeneous. Bramley apples from one orchard are almost identical to Bramley apples from another, although you could argue that quality/grade of products does vary. Hence there is a fairly strong case to support the statement. 2. (a)Because only above S1 is revenue greater than AVC and only then will the firm be able to make some contribution to fixed costs. (b)At this price the firm makes zero short run economic profit. At this point MR=MC=ATC. The break-even price is the one that yields zero short run profit or loss. c)The opportunity cost of keeping capital in the firm is moving it to the next best earning alternative. Normal profits are just enough to make it worthwhile to keep the capital in the firm. Consequently it is the amount an entrepreneur would earn in an alternative occupation and so is transfer earnings. (d)No. The amount necessary to keep capital in a firm in one area is not the amount necessary to keep capital in a simi lar industry in another area. Costs could be different. (e)Economic profits or losses are signals to owners of capital elsewhere in the economy that they too should enter the industry.If some firms are making losses, this is a signal to entrepreneurs to stay out of the industry. It also signals to existing firms to be cautious about re-investing. However, in the long run in a perfectly competitive market only normal profits can be earned and so no such signals are given. (f)They must be constant. Guideline answers (Monopoly) 1. Profit maximisation takes place where MC=MR but not where they intersect. The price is fixed on the demand curve and so price must be greater than MR. 2. It depends on the number and closeness of the substitutes.The more numerous and closer the substitutes, the greater the price elasticity of demand and vice versa. 3. No. In the UK, the former British Rail turned in poor figures for many years. If the ATC curve is everywhere above the demand curve, losses wil l result and so it will not be profitable to produce. 4. Firms must have some market power – it is a price maker. Firms must keep markets separate. The buyers in each market must have different elasticities of demand. 5. (a)The monopolist does not need to minimise costs to stay in business. Consequently it is productively inefficient and so wastes resources. b)It produces at a point where Price=MC. (c)A perfectly competitive firm produces at the lowest point of the AC curve and so is efficient. (d)Profit is shown by the rectangle sitting above the AC curve bounded by price and output. It is supernormal or economic profit. (e)No. It makes normal profit that is included in ATC. (f)Where MC=MR. (g)In the short run the supply curve of the firm is the MC curve above the point where Price=AVC. In monopoly there is no supply curve that is independent of demand. (h)The Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigates potential monopoly situations.It could force a monopoly to disband if they considered it to be against the public interest. The criterion is rather vague. (i)It could control prices or force it to work under a licence. Controlled prices would curb monopoly power of fixing too high a price and a limited quantity of production that would both exploit consumers. Again the government would not renew the licence unless the monopoly had performed within the given controls. Guideline answers (Imperfect competition) 1. Construct table from textbook. 2. It depends on the number of firms in the industry and on the strength of market power. 3.A price war can be very damaging for firms in an oligopolistic market. Instead they tend to restrict competition rather than attempt to drive main competitors out of the industry by reducing price. Advertising and branding is used to restrict competition. 4. At that output there is the greatest difference between total revenue and total cost and so profit is maximised. 5. Markets of perfect competition, monopoly and monopo listic competition are predictable because in them firms act independently. However, this is not so in an oligopolistic market. Firms are independent – one firm’s actions affect competitors.This leads to uncertainty. 6. Draw diagram, then list main differences: Perfect competitionMonopolistic competition Short runShort run Supernormal profits and lossesSupernormal profits and losses Demand curve slopingDemand curve horizontal Long runLong run Normal profitsNormal profits Produces at the lowest point Does not produce at the lowest of the AC curvepoint of the AC curve Price=MCPrice does not equal MC 7. Price leadership occurs often in an oligopolistic market. It could appear to be collusive because, after a dominant firm raises price, others soon follow. However it is not planned.The dominant firm is acting as a barometer for the rest of the industry that is experiencing the same pressures that caused the leader to alter price in the first place. The firms have not collu ded. Guideline answers (Resource allocation) 1. Large corporations can manipulate by spending large sums on advertising and that allows them to sell what they produce rather than what consumers want to buy. Strong trade unions, through industrial action and lobbying, can often get restrictions on imports and subsidies for industries such as coal mining and agriculture. Demand is influenced and so resources are not allocated in the best way. 2.Public goods like defence and law and order are demanded collectively and not individually because they are non-excludable. Hence most people think that they should be paid for out of public taxation and be free to the consumer. However, merit goods like health and education are private goods that can be bought and sold in the market place. They are usually under-consumed when externalities are taken into account and so the argument is that the government should intervene because of the external benefits more consumption would bring to society. Hence the case for providing merit goods is not as strong as the case for providing public goods. . They would argue that it would lead to the misallocation of resources. If the good were free to consumers, they would consume up to the point where marginal utility is zero. Here the marginal cost of producing the last unit will be high and inefficiency will result. Consequently goods should not be provided free at the point of consumption. 4. Because social costs and social benefits must be added to private costs to represent true cost. 5. It occurs at the point where there is the greatest excess of total social benefit over total social cost, or where marginal social benefit is equal to marginal social cost.