Wednesday, July 31, 2019
History of nonprofit organizations Essay
The history of the nonprofit organizations in the US is dated back to the mid of 19th century. They came as important tools to look after the effects of the slavery activity. Generally, a non-profit organization is an organization with a legal constitution whose creation is by private people/persons or elsewhere organizations without any fundamental representation within the government activity. At the epochs of globalization effect in early 20th century, the subject matter of nonprofit organization became yet a more featured activity. This was at the realization that the central government could not serve to solve most of the people’s problems. Even the existing national and international organizations had their roots to serve the interest of capitalists more than the general human population. To strike a counterbalance to this irrationality, development of these organizations was biased in fostering development, providing humanitarian support and aiding in development sustainability. Their development came inform of various types with interest in different areas of humanity. Depending on the purpose and role to serve and play in the society, development of these organizations is fundamentally made to provide an environment for support into different spheres of humanity. At one view, they engage in designing and implementing projects which are related on development. This provides the conventional understanding of them in providing development support to the community. Their classification within US is in terms of development oriented, international, community based or even national organizations. Their purposes are different and mainly depend on the kind of service they provide to the society.            Nonprofit organizations in the US can as a refuge to the long suffering of human beings at different levels. They came to bridge the gap of inefficiency which was provided by the political and governmental structures within the US governance system. Their basic aim is to provide various conditions which are solemn to providing various support structure to improve the human population. Their method of activity is also diverse coming in form of lobby groups, initiative programs above community-based activities for service to the people. The basic rule with all non-profit organization in US and the general world is that they are strictly not made to make profit benefits in their foundations. They should service the interest of the community in line with their activity to ensure high standards of service output. The nonprofit and non-benefit nature of these organizations is provided by the legal structure of the Federal Legal system which recognizes their presence and roles before instituting various legal parameters. At the individual/internal capacity, they are guided by various legal autonomies within  constitutional framework that embody their activity. They are free from the authorities of international laws. (Hall, 22)            Generally, their role and purpose is diverse and depends on the basic purpose for their formation. However, the basic purpose is to provide service to humanity by confronting various issues that affect the human population. Either, their development is only made to serve the interest of a specific population of the people in which they are instituted. In the US, nonprofit organizations come in a huge number making more than 600, 000. In regard to their functional outlay, they are instituted for environmental conservation, human rights encouragement and observance, taking care and improving the inequalities within the disadvantaged societal population, or even having an agenda on corporate representation to the society. They rise as corporations to provide refuge to the human population by acting on provision of the basic inequalities allied to the society. They aim at providing structures that provide support in the well-being of the society. It seeks to provide autonomy in the observation of well-founded societal image before driving the society to attainment of its mission. Key guiding principles.            Due to the diversity of culture and operations by these organizations, some principles help as guide for their activity. At one point, the principles provide rationality in the support of equality in the basic corporate governances which help to ensure observation of the conventional purpose allied to their formation. Firstly, all non profit organizations are to be guided by the principle of optimal costing. This is in the realization of their nonprofit nature which provides support for the most adequate costing system. Costing is observable in the budgeting systems which help to provide a support for the best cost parameter. Budgeting involve the control of funds to ensure the most adequate use of their financial authorities. Costing principle is guided by their non-profit/benefit nature which prevents any financial advantage in terms of profit or benefits to any party. The Federal Law recognizes the importance of costing principle in these organizations before instituting various laws and regulations to guide them in their support for the most optimal interest to the community in service. This principle is fundamentally obliged in internalizing the cost parameters in the organizations financial outlay in terms of their grants, cost of contracts, financial utilization and allocation and any other fundamental activity allied to the costing system. The aim of the principle is to provide a concrete share of the cost liberation by federal government in the administration process of the non-profit organizations within its framework. Either, the principles help to define in the standards of approach and use in providing structures for adequacy in the financial management and quotations of their costs in activities and processes.            Either, all non-governmental organizations are to be guided by adequate public relations standards. With their role and activity outlay within the society, these organizations should always provide structures for standard relationships with the general public population. This is a basic factor if their role of meeting the societal goals is not to be compromised. Public relations are the basic tools with which various organizations such as charity organizations and foundations use to capture the relative interest of the general public. Through sophistication in the public relations activities, many organizations are able to raise their funds. They use various lobbying techniques to seek financing from the government and other statutory sources. Either, high public relations to interest groups help to provide importance of benefits with their fundamental influences to the social systems and political standards. Either, their public relations support helps to campaign adequately among the human population to achieve their basic missions and goals. (Dimagio, Anheir, 152)            With the diversity in the activities and mission statement, all non-profit organizations are provided with support by high standards of monitoring process and control of activities. Controlling and monitoring is a basic principle which helps to ensure a coordinated approach in all their activities. All activities and processes are controlled and monitored in order to ensure a support of the basic activity and fulfillment of their service to the general public. This principle provides an oversight into the basic fundamentals that help to ensure a logical collaboration between the various structures of the organization. At one point, controlling and also monitoring seeks to provide accountability for the character and effect of the process and activities. It seems to provide a sanction of coordinated approach with which activities are done according to their optimal requirement.            Non profit organization are free from jurisdiction and control by the federal government unless of very explicit legal controls. As a basic and conventional principle, these organizations are supposed to be out of the federal legal system. The guiding force and regulations should be based on the specific standards and requirements of specific organization. This is by conventional due to the role played by the organizations as a bridge towards the rigidities found in the federal legal system. Either, they should not be allied to the international legal process. The principle of free government control should therefore prevail. Otherwise, any interaction and control by he federal government would betray their mission since majority are founded as lobby groups to act against the federal system legal inequalities.            As an ethical parameter, the funding process and activities should fundamentally be authentic. This should seek to provide an atmosphere for the most adequate income flow. The funding principle is a subject of the costing principle with which the size and scale of funding is to be determined and evaluated in a conventional costing system.            Democracy should always prevail in all activities of these organizations. There foundations are aimed at providing support for the general interest of the public population. They are interest groups which serve stop the basic loopholes and rigidities of the federal legal system. Democracy helps to provide equity and equality in service provision to the public. It seeks to ensure that the interest of the public is seldom at par with the good of the society. This is a preferential requirement which gives the community an optimal opportunity of enjoying basic interest in the community development process. They should invite for free contribution, comment and exercise of the members allied to them.            Either, the performance of their work should be at peaceful and harmonious grounds where no external harassment, intimidation, reprisal and discrimination is to support their basic activities. This helps to formulate standards of activity where they are to act and perform at their most discretional and willing capacity without any external effect. Either, there should be no external influence by the federal governmental which is to provide support for the well being of the society.            Elsewhere, they should be provided with conditions for seeking, managing, receiving and administering their activities in the support of international, domestic and foreign activities and entities.            Equally, individual joining, formations and participation in such organizations should be at the discretion guided by their freedom and rights of expressions, associations and peaceful assembly. This helps to provide standards with which the governmental regulations are not to shape the interest and nature of the organizations.            Since the principles are to provide support for the authenticity and the well being of the society, the governments of democratic countries are to act adequately in the effect of the strong withstanding of these organizations from the inadequate influence of the national systems. The violations of their basic principles should therefore call for a close action by the national government in their effective defense.            The concept of ethics is fundamentally critical in analyzing the management system of the non profit organizations. The Alliance for Nonprofit Management Standards (ANMS) is the movement allied to setting and establishing ethical standards for use and applications by the organizations. Ethical management is closely allied and synonymous to adequate management. Ethical management is a subject of nonprofit organizations leadership which help to ensure a conduct within the gross corporate requirement. It’s a basic support that provides harmony in the institutional framework of these organizations. They help to provide a peaceful coordination in implicit formality to ensure ways and means to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders. At one edge, it helps to provide responsibility and either set the respective ideals in the professional outlay of the organization. On the extreme end, unethical management is what violates the basic principles of nonprofit organizations. Its operations are to provide for a continued inequality in the role they play in the society. Such unethical management is a way of administration and organizational leadership which provokes the legal authenticity of the nonprofit mission statement. Generally, every ethical management is to provide solid protection for the organizations clientele and professional system. Either, such management does not compromise structure for acceptance into adequate system of administration and also the will of guidance to the people. It does not compromise on improving the consistency and also the quality of the life of the individual human population with which it provides service to. Ethical management provides a standard collaboration in the activities of the organizations. Every ethical management is aimed at rationalizing the quality, support and formulating high integrity for capacity building within the organization’s activities. Due to the fragility and the developing nature of the capacity building within these organizations, every epoch of the legitimate leadership standards to provide support for the mission statement of these organizations. Ethical behaviors in the leadership autonomy, helps to provide effectiveness and promotion of capacity building in the functional outlay of these organizations. Ethical management equals ethical standards which ensure a support for standardized capacity building. Ethical managing is a tool for promoting a better clientele service and activity within the organizational framework. It is an approach which seeks to ensure control of the interest conflict within the organizational function. (Waden, 715)            However, unethical management is subject to providing inadequacy in the standards of the organizations activity. This is the leadership activity which destabilizes the functional capacity of the organization. It is a leadership activity (management appraisal) which brings conflict to the organization. Elsewhere, unethical management does not focus on maintaining the basic principle allied to nonprofit organizations. This is the management system which down looks major rules and processes within the organizations which ensure a collaborated approach in service delivery and promotion of efficiency in the organization’s activities. Legal framework            Generally, non-profit organizations have a lot to do with its legal status. At one level, many states have well provided laws which govern the activity of the organizations. Either, these laws help to regulate the management system and formulate the various requirements for their establishment. The nature of these laws is to provide standards of support for management process which does not overlook the systems of corporate governance. Above the state laws, their internal systems is driven and monitored by authorities which provide support for basic organizational coordination. Above the many legal requirements, these organizations should provide well detailed support of their financial activities. This should have a clear picture in the level of expenditure and also income flow within their transactions. The legal system requires them to have a full support for the governance and management system by providing a layout of their organizational management staff. The legal structure under the federal system also provides the level of structural formulation. It pronounces the legal terms with which these organizations are made to follow in the pursuit of their administration from the legal status portfolio as the tax exemption clause. This provides that the organizations are to enjoy income tax free activities. Tax exemption in US is through Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, this exemption is only enjoyed by organizations which meet specific statutory requirements which includes, limited spending, safeguard for charity interest in its internal affairs above specifity in its purpose. Tax exemption is required a full commission to the requirement of the nonprofit organization’s activities. (Walden, 719) Deviations from this standard requirement will lead to the withdrawal of the tax exemption requirement.            However, the Federal Law has a weak force in providing for charity and non-governmental operations. It fails to substantially provide the basic requirements for what should be done by the organizations. However, lack of strong legal concern does not mean that the state government should run these organizations.            However, the basic legal authority of the non profit organizations is bound to be self regulatory without operational influence of both the state and the international laws. The organizations are made to provide their own management system which should not go by the standard of approach and regulation by the state law. However, private control by these organizations is the foremost influence of inadequacies in the fundamental activities. Due to their solidary private control and governance, these organizations will at many a time endure inefficiencies in the administrative prospects. Their private nature is the basic initiative for mismanagement and rebel over many interests at the expense of the federal system laws and regulations. (Til, 54) Governance and board development strategies. With the fragility allied to the activities of the non-profit organizations, governance and board development posits an important factor. Consideration for the most optimal governance and development within such organization should not be compromised. However, essential of board development should provide strategies which helps to ensure the most adequate board system. Firstly, the choice in strategy should not overlook the role of the board. However, the achievement of the goals and missions of the organization should be promoted. This helps to ensure high standards of achieving the standards of the organization. Either, adequate support by the board helps to facilitate a comprehensive support for the roles of the organization. However, supported training to board members should seek to ensure the most adequate governance structure within the organizations. (Axelrod, 142)            Nonprofit organizations come as fundamental bodies that seek to refuge the problems allied to the current regime where such organizations have risen falsely with even non-functional activity and performances. The board should therefore reclaim the specific roles they are made to play within the organizations. This is to ensure a richly state of practices. Either, the board has a sublime role to play in the governance of the organization. Unless the society is provided with clarity of the authenticity in the activities within the organization, various stakeholders may not have the will to participate fully in the organization’s activities. The board is allied to a functional capacity which helps to provide strength of the weaknesses born in the institutional and also management capacities.            The boards’ development should therefore provide various strategies which help to give a comparative impression for adequate activities within the organization. This should seek to give directions on strategies and goals for facilitating control on organizational issues. Every governance structure will therefore help to provide a strong coordination of the internal outlay of the organization. The rules of many boards reduce shortly after the registration of the organization where such boards disintegrate out. There functional layout is mostly seen at the growth stage and emergent stage of these organizations. However, they normally posses unclear or even poor definition in the goals of the organization. There is lack of understanding of the governance requirements. The next aspect is the modality of conflict among them and the organizations management.            Therefore, every strategy in board development should perpetuate a board which ensures effective board’s activity. Adequacy in such board should not compromise training of the board members. Training is therefore an important strategy which should be used to overcome the inequality born by the weak board systems.            The board development process helps to ensure a board which helps to coordinate adequately the activity of the organization. For adequacy in the leadership and governance styles within the organization, the board provides an authentic support for the organizational activity. The development process of the organization’s board should use various developmental initiates as strategies with which it will be able to adjust its board development process.            Either, the mission of the organization should be a basic fundamental aspect when defining the nature of the board development. The organizations mission should be the basic tool which helps to shape the nature of the board. Through the mission statement, the characters and the nature of the board will thus be shaped. Elsewhere, the organization program should a basic guiding strategy towards a better coordinated approach for the governance.            A coherent plan of its strategies should guide the organization in developing its board. Since organizational strategies vary with its mission and activity, the package of strategies should seldom be the guiding factor towards the nature of its board.            Governance structure system of the organization plays an important role in defining the nature of activities it plays within the community. Sound governance is very important in defining the scale of attainment of the mission statement. Either, the governance system borrows its authority from the management and the board outlay. Adequacy in the governance plays a predominant role in defining the level with which the organization is able to achieve its goals. Either, the structure of the board defines the standards with which the governance of the organization is to be. (Silk, 76)            By their nature, non profit organizations are formed on private grounds to overseer the interest of the people. Every good relationship between such organizations and the community /public should fundamentally be provided for. Generally, the relationship between these organizations and the community is ideally rationally close. It seeks to create an incentive of participation between the community and such organizations. Elsewhere, lack of adequate relationship between the two would definitely mean standards of high activity and a reasonable state of coordination and surveillance for the community. The interest of the organizations is in the provision of service to the general public. Adequate attempt of coordination between them and the community should be provided as the best initiative which provides grounds for service to the human population. Financial and human resource management A package of basic principles in the financial management, human resource management and fund development act as the guiding rule for these organizations. Financial management is an approach of administration in which the financial inflow and outflow is monitored considerably .This is to ensure that the financial transactions are at the most optimal discretion to provide support for the community. Either, this is aimed at providing the closest relationship between the community and the organization . However, the basic principle is the optimal costing principle which is applied to provide the most adequate system of financial use in the financial system .Optimal costing implies that the financial inflow and outflows is at the greatest capacity to provide support for the use of the finances. Generally poor financial use has been the benchmark in lack of trust to many of the organizations by the community, government and private financiers .Therefore every optimal costing should seek to serve the interest of the stakeholders in the organization. Either, like any other organization, these organizations should provide financial management systems which ensure the right perception by both the internal and external environments. Accountability provides a support for financial management .The internal financial position, standards and figures are used by the internal management to make decisions about the organization .Through adequate disclosures of the financial documents, and the management is able to make the relevant decisions (Linnel, Radoserich, Spack, 48) Generally, these organizations are to maintain their financial accounting in the principle provided by the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Such provide that financial accounting follow the international standards in support of the financial documents Either all non profit organizations ought to have a system of internal control. This is to ensure that the financial transactions abide by the conventional system of management Elsewhere non profit organizations are supposed to have full provision of reports to the finance management and to be provided to the relevant stakeholders such as financiers. Adequate financial reports are important to every activity of management within the organizations Generally the management should use systems of adequate control on their budgets which ensures adequate control in their budgetary system .Budgeting is very important for every activity allied to the organizations. Financial management also provide a requirement in which the governance structure has clarity in its role play to the organization,s financial management . Adequacy in the role play by individual members provides accountability support for it’s individual persons. Elsewhere, financial management seeks to provide the basic requirements which may be required by the different donors in the use and the allocation process of the funds .Above all, financial records are to be submitted to any stakeholder in use and control of the organization if need be for effective management. Due to the importance attached to the human capital in these organizations various principles are applied to provide a support for the most functional human capital. Many of the organizations are involved in the provision of service to the human population. To many organizations, the human workforce is large with professionalism and competence provided for all. Therefore, the organizations should not look down to the nature in which the human capital support can be provided to the service output. However, depending on the organization, various principles embody there activities. (Hall, 26) Firstly training and human force development is never compromised. This is in the realization of role played by every upright and experienced work force. They ensure various training programs for their workforce. Within the scope of the workforce management, aspect of planning and design of work for them is highly vigilant. Proper planning and design of work is important in every attempt to reduce conflict between them. Planning is made according to some preferential attributes. Time and again, the organizations provide an adequate support in the employee recruitment process and the selection for new staff. This is via the use of modalities of high competence and management. In all the activities, the rights of employees are never overlooked. This is a principle which applies to all employees of these organizations. It ensures providing support for the workers in enjoying and exercising their contribution to the organization. This is an attempt to provide support for ensuring that workers are not exploited of their resource capital. (Jeavons, 218) Workers exploitation is the main cause of conflict at the working environment. Also, the principle of performance management holds true in these organizations. Performance management involves monitoring of the role played by the workers through surveys and study activities. Performance management provides support for adequacy and optimal performance by these workers to ensure the most optimal output by the workers.            Fund development is an important tool in the non profit organizations. Such organizations are allied to formulating various fund development strategies. Fund development implies the system of approach in creating funds and using supporting tools for creating their donation. This helps to provide support for fund raising and using methods to attract funds from the donors and finances. Fund development uses the tool of public relations to create fundamental environment with which such financiers can be motivated to run the organization. Fund development is a management attribute which seeks to investigate the financial support system so that adequacy in the organizations funds can be ensured. Since this is a management process, it uses basic tools and approaches which provide support for the highest funding. Fund development will help to provide the organization with a relieved workload and hence avoid not meeting financing deadlines. This is an important aspect in the management structure since it is the driving force of the organization towards its goals achievement is the level of funds.            Financial and human resource management, and also fund development are closely interrelated. Firstly, these are system of management and governance of the organization which provide the most adequate corporation in the organizational structure to provide an authentic goal and mission achievement. The success of each implies and promotes the success of the other. At one level, good fund development is allied to financial management where the tools of financial management are used to adequately apportion and budget for the collected funds. Either, all the activities that include financial management and fund development are provided by an adequate structure of human resource. This provides a support for the adequacy into the activities of the organization. Human resource package is fundamental in defining the nature of performance of all the organizations activities. Emerging practice in non profit organizations.            Currently, the non profit organizations’ activities have had a diverse state of practices that are emerging out from the conventional outlay of the organizations in the US and the world in general. These practices have been key pillars in providing a support for the most authentic system of support for the future of the organizations. The sector is perhaps having a brighter future when its activities and processes are under a good system of practices.            Firstly, policy and framework on the legal parameter guiding the organizations have been developed on fountain grounds. Adequacy in the legal policies is a fundamental subject in providing adequate support for their performance. Policies ensure a coordinated approach in the standards of the organization legal framework which ensures that conflict is reduced between the organizations activities in terms of its structures and stakeholders. Through a support for strong legal modalities that act as pillars of the organization, the management process of the organizations is highly strengthened with little or no conflict in their governance process. Strong legal framework has ensured that the organizations act within the basic legal requirements that promote the best relation with the community. Either, adequate structures above programs as well as services ensure a coordinated link between the organization. Every organization is accompanied by a structure of specific programs, and structure which help to ensure a strong personal activity. Adequate programs and high maintained and supported structural authenticity has ensured a continued high activity and dominance of the organizations in the society. Program system is the nature of the activity support for the organization. Strong program and services outlay provide a support for a continued rationality of organizations within the society. (Til, 53) Generally, the organizations act within the human capacity. This is synonymous to capacity-building by the human populations. Human capacity has been a basic tool for leading to changes in the social structures and hence provides conditions for the most adequate human life potential in the global portfolio. Their nature is in service to humanity. Within the changing nature of the social structures, capacity building remains an important aspect in rationalizing the societal activities. Providing adequate outcomes in their performance and the measures in their activity is also an emerging practice. There has been an increased activity in the analysis of their activities. Performance outcome seeks to study the scale with which the activities described to the organizations provide the most adequate and profitable benefits. Summarily therefore, the aspects of nonprofit organizations is fundamentally critical and capturing an enormous scale of activities within its jurisdiction. They does a lot in support the human population. Their adequacy depends on the manner with which management is done in due course. Work cited Axelrod, Nancy R. (2005). Board leadership and development. In. R.D. Herman, Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, pp. 142, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publications. Dimaggio, Paul J. and Anheier, Helmut K. (1990). The sociology of nonprofit organizations and sectors. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 6, pp152. Hall, P. H (2005). Historical perspectives on nonprofit organizations in the United States, In. R.D. Herman, Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, pp. 22, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publications. Jeavons, T. H. (2005). Ethical Nonprofit Management. In R.D. Herman, Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, pp. 218. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publications. Linnell, D, Radosevich, Z, Spack, J, ( 2001). Executive Director’s Guide: A Guide for successful Nonprofit Management. Pp.48. Boston: United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Silk, T. (2005). The legal framework of the nonprofit sector in the United States. In. R.D. Herman, Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, pp.76, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publications. Til, V. (2005). Nonprofit Organizations and Social Institutions, In. R.D. Herman, Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, pp.53, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publications. Walden, G. (2007). Who’s watching us now? The nonprofit sector and the new government by surveillance. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 35, 719
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Dawson Lumber Company Essay
Marketing Analysis: The Dawson Lumber Company was founded in the 1870s by the Dawson family to market the lumber on their land. In 1950, Dawson Lumber owned four small lumber yards in the Cornwall area, each operating as a separate company. However, in 1965, J.H. Dawson became president and amalgamated the four companies into the Dawson Lumber Company. The company had acquired seven more lumber yards north and west of Cornwall, Ontario but further growth was limited by J.H. Dawson’s belief that growth should only be financed by internally generated funds. For over one hundred years, Dawson Lumber had been dealing with the Cornwall branch of the Eastern Bank and, in 1993, borrowed approximately $1.5 million to finance inventory build-up needed to meet seasonal sales. From April to November, 77 percent of the sales occurred evenly, while 23 percent were evenly distributed from December to March. The demand is seasonal which comprises of 8 months peak season and 4 months off season for which the sales remain low. The company’s sales were between $10 and $15 million in the late 1980s, with 90 percent being wholesale sales to local residential contractors. After the retirement of J.H. Dawson, his son Doug Dawson took over the business and reorganized the company’s 11 branches into three regions. The Northern Region served an urban market and consisted of three yards just outside the city of Ottawa. Four lumber yards in the Cornwall area made up the Eastern Region and five lumber yards near Kingston formed the Western Region. The Eastern Region was a rural market while the Western region was partially a resort and partially an urban area. Each region was made the responsibility of an area supervisor who had worked for many years in the company’s lumber yards. A management committee consisting of the president, controller, and area supervisors met monthly to discuss operational strategy. In an attempt to minimize inventory levels, one branch in each region operated as a depot. A fleet of trucks kept frequent and regular schedules between the lumber yards and the depot provide rapid delivery to the customer. From the year 1996-1998 the gross margin ranges from 26% to 31% on average of lumber sales. The regular price was the price at which the item could be charged and delivered. The discount price applied if the customer wished to pay the cash and take the goods away. A third price was also charged if the customer wished to pay cash and have the purchase delivered. The new store’s sales in its first two months of operations were $2.28 million. To sum up the company has remarkable marketing activities. Operations Analysis: On the basis of comparing the financial information for the past three years 1996, 1997 & 1998, we can clearly see that due to consistent increase in revenue because of rapid market growth and reorganization of the company’s branch structure has greatly helped in achieving the sales growth from 21.1% in the year 1996-97 to 38.6% in the year 1997-98. This sale growth is indicative of the fact that there had also corresponding increase in the net profit leading to more equity and total assets base. However, despite such development and growth, the company is suffering from operational inefficiency due to crisis in its poor management of the working capital and particularly the timing in replenishment of inventories and other liquid assets majorly accounts receivables. It was evident from the financials that working capital seems to be stuck because it has been increased from $ 4.3 million to $ 6.8 million. The collection period for accounts receivable turned out to be 72 days on average which is substantially high. In addition, the days in inventory sale were increasing over the period from a minimum of 112 to 153 days. Moreover, due to delay in collection of accounts receivable, the accounts payable days are also increasing over the subsequent years. Although the fixed asset turnover ratio was good in 1996 but it is deteriorating in subsequent years however the total asset turnover ratio is also very low. Financial Analysis: Strictly speaking, at present the Dawson Lumber Company is being financed by a bank loan. The company’s equity structure constitutes common stock capital amounting to $4.3 million and the accumulated earnings. Presently, the company’s financing needs are met through two types of bank loans which include a working capital loan obtained specifically to meet the working capital requirements and the present long term loan amounting to 4.2 million. Both the loans are obtained from National bank of Canada (NBC). The NBC took accounts receivable and inventory as collateral and as a condition of the loan against the charge on the borrowed amount for which Dawson undertook to provide quarterly financial statements and monthly reports of inventory, sales and receivables. Now as far as the company’s cash flow is concerned, the company has been suffered with very weak cash flows because inventory and receivables have increased which result in negative cash flows and due to increased in accounts payable resulting in positive cash flow thus overall cash generated from operations remain intact. However as mentioned above it is operational inefficiency due to delay in collection from customers resulting in delay in payments to creditor. The current ratio is at satisfactory level. If we talk about the company’s leverage, we can see that initially the interest coverage ratio in the year 1996 was low however it is considered to be satisfactory in subsequent years. But here is an alarming situation that has gone much intense over the period and proves to be the key business concern for the company and its sustainability in the long run over a foreseeable future, that is, the highest debt to equity ratio. We can see that debt to equity ratio was 55% in the year 1996 which decreased to 28% due to mortgage repayments. However, during the year 1997-98, the company gone to high leverage due to 99% debt to equity ratio. This was indicative of the fact that the company has obtained a long term bank loan and an increase in the operating line of credit to $ 5 million. Summary & Conclusion: Under the present circumstances and the present growing needs of the company of financing, it is not advisable for the company to go for additional financing since it’s already 99% geared and leveraged. Although the company’s additional financing can be backed up by the amount of receivable and inventories. But the inventory and receivables needs to be insured so that in case of loss due to fire or flooding the bank can realize the amount from the insurance company. Apart from cost cutting strategies, there is a major need to improve the fund flow mechanism by following up the customers to tender payments immediately and impose commissions on late payments so that the company would be able to disburse payments to creditors. Moreover, the marketing activities should be improved further so that it must take less days to sale inventory. In this way the company will be able to generate more funds frequently and thus the need for additional financing will be minimized. (taimoor880 at gmail)
Monday, July 29, 2019
ISMG 3000 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
ISMG 3000 - Assignment Example In this way, both parents and children will be in the cafe but separate lodges. With customer ethics, the client is not ethical. He seems to be rude in airing his grievances. He has not given the reasons why children should not be allowed into the cafe and does not provide any solution either. To encourage a communication that is open, I will make use of the business email. This method will enable me to respond to customers complaint without others seeing my response hence I will have an opportunity to handle all their grievances (Ammar, Sedigh-Ali and Ghafoor 40). An email will enable privacy. The above imply that e-commerce is an essential element that I need in my business. I will employ business to customer e -business model. The above entail transaction between a company and the customer on-line (Sri and Srinivasan 9). It will be used to sell cakes. Customer searching and marketing takes place on-line. After full ordering, shipment of the cakes to the clients destination will follow. The e -business strategy will facilitate quick and easy communication with the customers. It will also strengthen market capabilities and increase the operation hours of the enterprise (Sri and Srinivasan 10). The management will have access to broader information through research thus expediting customer service. The strategy will also reduce the location and availability restrictions thus reaching new markets. In a nutshell, it will keep the business relevant. It will also enable be to track various business metrics. The metrics that I will track in my business website include product comparison to see what is outside there. I will also monitor the users segments and customer satisfaction (Sri and Srinivasan 19). Additionally, shopping cart removes and sales funnel will be tracked. To partner with suppliers, I will employ the customer -business strategy. I will create a link of communication and payment system. The link will enable
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Festivals in Canadian Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words
Festivals in Canadian Cities - Essay Example It can be seen that there is a specific agenda related to Canadian culture when looking at the festivities practiced. Background of Festivals in Canada The festivities that are in Canada are divided by specific observances for various occasions. The first way in which this is divided is by the rituals that have been observed by indigenous cultures that are in Canada. While this isn’t observed nationally and practiced by the majorities, there are still groups that observe seasonal festivities and religious festivals for different needs within the community. The festivals in Canada began to grow and change with the immigration that occurred throughout the 1700s and which formed present day Canada. The religious and cultural festivals of France began to be observed in the land. Religious processions, such as Christmas, were added in as observations from the church and other components which related directly to the religious beliefs of those that came to Canada. As the population grew into a more diverse set of groups, were also changes in religious festivals and observations, all which were based on the cultural and religious beliefs that were practiced by different groups (Riendeau, 60). The religious festivals that grew into the mainstream of Canadian culture were followed by ethnic and cultural identities that became a part of the different social aspects of society. These began to grow specifically after World War II when a large influx of immigrants moved to Europe. This was followed by statements in politics which created a belief that Canada accepted equal rights among all ethnicities. When this was proposed, a growth in ethnic and cultural festivals became a part of Canada. This was followed by different reasons for having festivals. Economic stimulation is one of the main reasons why the festivities began to grow in Canada. For instance, holidays such as Valentines Day are observed not only as an expression of love but also as a time for gift givin g in Canada and to provide stimulation to the economy. Folklore is combined with this as a part of the ethnic spectacle to create a defined part of the holidays. Self – definition of immigrants is followed with this as well as ethnicities having the desire to educate others about a specific culture or tradition. Another reason is to have forms of entertainment available for those who are interested in performances and celebration within the community (Bramadat, 3). Carnival de Quebec The Carnival de Quebec is one of the largest events held in Canada and is celebrated each year to bring in the winter. The festival lasts for 17 days and is the third largest festival in the world. The carnival began hundreds of years ago in Europe to welcome in the spring and to allow farmers to have a chance to pray that the animals would remain healthy as the seasons changed. The main concept with the festival was related to the idea of change of seasons, years and of the main occurrences thro ughout society. The French association with this was passed through not only with the Carnival de Quebec, but also is related to the Mardi Gras that is celebrated in New Orleans every year. The association with bringing in a different season remains the main component that is celebrated throughout each region (Morales, 13). The traditions that are a part of the Carnival de Q
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Gender and Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Gender and Language - Essay Example On the other hand, men are believed to talk less, but tend to be dominant in their conversations. They also tend to talk more about businesses than personal lives as opposed to women. Holmes Janet in her article "Women Talk Too Much" and Rafelman Rachel in her article â€Å"The Party Line" make their argument on the different myths and realities about how genders communicate. This paper will analyze the effectiveness of each of these writer’s arguments. Janet Holmes (2008) in her article starts with the myth â€Å"Women talk too much†and starts by showing just how women in the society tend to converse more than men. She argues that the reasons why it is a myth that women talk too much is because the traditional proverbs tend to argue so, many of these were created before feminism age. She sets the record straight be depicting men as the ones who out talk women. Some of the proverbs she uses in her argument to make it effective that these proverbs are the ones that sti ll linger on people’s thoughts making them believe that women talk more than men include â€Å"The tongues of women are like the tails of lamb, they are never still†and â€Å"The North sea will soon be requiring more water than a woman short words’ These proverbs set the pace for her argument she is clearly shows that the opposite is in fact true. She features a Canadian research that attempted to find out who between men and women talk the most. In the study the researchers, Deborah and Janice reviewed sixty-three studies about the amount of talk men and women in America have in different contexts. Of the sixty-two women were found to talk more only in two studies (Holmes, 2008). Holmes also argues that men dominate conversations. She argues that in many conversations men are the ones who start the conversations and tend to control its direction. They therefore, take the women as their subordinates in conversations and often talk more than the women. To argue the case for male dominance in conversations, Holmes (2008) argues uses a New Zealand study that suggest men take the dominative role in conversations. Franken, the researcher in the study compared the time men and women talked in T.V talk show. She established that men took more time than the women. This clearly supports her idea that the notion women talk too much is just a stereotype and not factual because in reality the opposite is true (Holmes, 2008). Rafelman Rachel (1997) in her article â€Å"The Party Line†argues that case for men and women tend to talk about different things. She does not tend to take any side of the divide of who talks more than the other. Her arguments tend to suggest that men and women tend converse more than the other depending on the context. To show this she talks of parties where genders would split so that they can talk about what they like most. While the women discussed personal lives, the men were all about businesses as they drunk. Thi s clearly shows that men will talk more in business and political platforms than they will when it comes to personal matters. The use of the party makes her argument effective and clear to understand. Men also like to talk more about sports than women. Her argument is therefore, convincing that genders talk more when the context of the conversation surrounds their interest and likes (Rafelman, 1997). Rafelman (1997) tend to believe that in
Self Compacting Concrete Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Self Compacting Concrete - Essay Example 26). SCC can be used in most applications where traditionally vibrated concrete is used. It is suitable for high performance, densely reinforced structures as well as for less demanding unreinforced applications for instance the backfill (Petersson, et al., 2000, pg. 3). SCC can be fibre reinforced and is equally applicable for in situ construction as well in precasting. It has the capability to fill formwork and encapsulate and condense reinforcing bars only through the action of gravity and with maintained homogeneity. This ability is achieved by designing the concrete in such a way that it gains suitable inherent rheological properties. These properties are achieved through by not subjecting the concrete to any exterior energy input from vibrators, tampering or comparable actions. The predominant reason for the development of SCC has been the concern for reduced durability that is cause by inadequate homogeneity of the cast concretes. However, SCC has also been used to improve the quality of concrete work and to allow for the ability for automation of the construction work as well as improve the working conditions on construction sites (Cleland, et al., 1996, pg. 483). Other benefits of SCC over other forms of concrete include, it can be placed at a speedier and swifter rate without the need for mechanical vibration and with reduced screeding and this results to savings in placement costs, there is better-quality and more uniform and consistent architectural surface finish with minimal to no remedial surface work, there is enhanced consolidation around reinforcement and bond with reinforcement, it improved pumpability and is labor savings, it shortens constructions periods which translates to lower construction costs and minimised the traffic of ready mixed t rucks and pumps for the period of placement and finally increased work environment safety by doing away with the
Friday, July 26, 2019
Companies Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Companies Act - Essay Example The Memorandum constitutes the company's charter with the outsiders dealing with the company and usually contains a number of statutory classes. The Articles of Association on the other hand are the regulations governing the internal management of the company. Section 7 of the Companies Act 1985 has given the option to the companies limited by shares to adopt Table A instead of filing separate Articles. It is established law that where there is a conflict between the Memorandum and Articles of Association the Memorandum prevails. Section 14 (1) of the Companies Act 1985 has given the character of a statutory contract for the Memorandum and Articles of Association of a Company. These documents have given rise to a contract between the company and the members of the company and among the members themselves. Thus the right of a company to make the calls on unpaid shares can be enforced by the company by means of the Articles. In the same way by using the Articles the member can enforce the entitlement for voting rights against the company and the pre-emption rights on a sale of his shares against another member can also be enforced through the Articles. This character of the Memorandum and Articles of Association is usually referred to as the Statutory Contract or Section 14 contract. The character of the Memorandum and Articles as a statutory contract wa... provided in the Articles of Association of the company that Eley will be the solicitor of the company to transact all legal business of the company and shall not be removed from the office except for misconduct. Subsequently Eley became the shareholder of the company. When the company started taking advice from another counsel, Eley brought an action for breach of contract under the Articles. His claim was dismissed on the ground that the Articles represent a contract between the members and the company or between the members themselves. It was held, as a solicitor Eley cannot enforce the contract under the Articles and the decision was upheld in the appeal. The position would have been different had Eley brought the action in his capacity as a member. But in the whole case the capacity of Eley was never brought into consideration and no ruling was given in that respect. "The Eley decision is quoted in most legal reference books as authority for the proposition that articles can only give rights to a member in his capacity as a member." Michael Grffiths2 As observed by Lord Cairns LC in this case the Articles represent either a stipulation to the members or it provides instructions to the directors for the conduct of the business of the company. In either of the cases the Articles represent a document to be considered as specifying the contractual relationship between the company and its members and directors and there is no place for an outsider to intervene in the operations of the Articles. 3.0 Enforcement of the Rights by a Non-member of the Company: In the case of Hickman v. Kent or Romney Marsh Sheep-Breeders' Association3 the rights of the members under the Articles of Association were more clearly established. The judge in this case observed 'that no right
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Influence Of Transformational Leadership Styles In Developing Small Essay
Influence Of Transformational Leadership Styles In Developing Small Businesses - Essay Example The successes of prosperous businesses- Successful business that developed through TLS 10 Other importance of transformational leadership compared to other styles of leadership 13 Recommendations 16 Conclusion 17 Reference 19 Introduction- Transformational Leadership Style Leadership style has been classified into many different ways in the research field. In the recent years two forms of leadership style have been coalesced which are the transformational leadership and transactional leadership. It has been proved that transformational and transactional leadership are not mutually exclusive. Therefore leadership is defined as a process where an individual tends to influences individuals in order to achieve the set common goal (Northouse, 2009, p.3). The transformational leadership style mainly focuses on the future and is developmental. This form of leadership is most valued when task involves breaking deadlocks, creating order mainly out of order, initiating a change in the organisation and on the way of developing future leaders. This form of leadership has also been termed as relationship oriented, inspirational leadership and also charismatic leaders. The main motive of the transformational leader is to inspire the employees to go beyond or above their self interest (Krause, 2005, p.39). The transformational leader is known to be charismatic and their style usually revolves around the empowerment of the subordinates. Thus these leaders are often characterised as people who mainly articulates the realistic vision of the future, understand the difference that exists among the subordinates and stimulates them through intellectual manner. In countries such as Canada, Japan, United States, Austria and Taiwan the transformational leadership is viewed as the most positive form of leadership than any other form of leadership. Thus transformational leadership is often associated with the characteristic of being charisma which is often viewed as a desirable form of attitude and positive (Waite, 2007, p. 5). Like charismatic leadership, an effective transformational leadership also requires the ability to bring about a change and also challenge the status quo, is able to recognise the opportunities for the organisation and also for the employees, risk taker and should also encourage others to take risk. The transformational leadership often requires the ability to inspire a shared vision. They rally others for a common dream and are adept in envisioning the future of the employees and the organisation and also enlisting them to move towards the vision. A transformational leader should be able to set an example of commitment towards shared vision and values (Lussier & Achua, 2009, p.350). Importance of Transformat ional Leadership Styles and Advantages Transformational leadership style or the transformational leaders has proved to gain a high importance in business particularly when it comes to small business. A transformational leader is strongly related with the unit focused which measures the effectiveness if leadership. In a small business it is necessary that the leader needs to be effective and charismatic so that he is able to lead from the front and initiate the followers to adopt the same technique and take risk. Every business needs to take risk and it’s the leaders who initiate the members of the organisation. Since transformational leadership style is the most accepted and possess unique qualities suitable to run a business or organisation thus this form of leadership is very important. Employees who have the transformational leadership style tend to have a higher level of job performance than other members of the business. They usually have high level of
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Research Paper on Native Son by Richard wright
On Native Son by Richard wright - Research Paper Example The novel is a brilliant example of this disambiguated phenomenon. The consequences stemming from the hypocrisy of whites supremacy are converted into an evil, with regards to the misfortune. An accidental event starts the trail of continual deprival of control of consent actions by a black man. A high degree of misfortune is presented in the initiating of the plot of this novel, while the racism in the US background has fueled this misfortune; a murder of a girl by black man. The lead role is the black man, in this novel, presented in an autobiographic genre. This misfortune turned into a tragedy, when the panic added fuel to the flare for the continued criminal actions of the Bigger, till the end of his role. This panic was the ultimate byproduct of the ambiance where he used to live. An approach to the error of the system has been presented in this novel as the root cause and the motive of the tragic criminal deeds was caused by the general environment, the circumstances, in which the Bigger had to live. Background America has had racism issues for long time. In the era of 1930s the class difference among different class was stronger. The blacks were not treated equally. The novel is actually a gentle protest on this situation. This novel was also a start of the silent revolution. The novel became the best seller in few days. The intensity of the racism presently is not of that extent as it was used to be in older days. Though presently the country with prolonged previous racism has a black president, and this novel was an alarm of the upcoming situation at that time: solve the issue today which may destroy tomorrow (Schneider, 2007). Economical perspective The protagonist and his family at large had not had good economic status. For the livelihood, they had to rely on the employments given by the whites. Although the help for the blacks was there as the employment was being provided to the blacks, but on the other hands, his family was being charged the hig h rent by the same employer. Mr. Dalton was a real estate tycoon, which was providing both the employment and the high rents to his family, and the other black community. There was no any generous thing to them as this had no effective benefit to the black and his family who was surging for the economic sustainability. The security and family needs The main character of the Novel, Bigger and his fellows plan to watch a movie, and for watching movie he needed money. For this reason he and his pals decide for the robbery at a shop. The shop/ Delicatessen which they plan to rob belong to the white and they all are afraid of doing any criminal act against the whites. According to them they could get the money, but if they were caught, the law would be different, and they have to bear a lot bitter consequences. They used to rob blacks but this time they had a change in their plan. One of his fellow stepped down for the robbery, and Bigger beat him. Although Bigger’s mother is reli gious and keeps on teaching him: he has no temptations for the religion. When he thinks there is no way to get money by robbing that white, he chooses the legitimate way of earning money by deciding to go for the job. And he is appointed as a chauffeur for Mr. Dalton who is a very rich man. He is afraid of losing his job as he is not aware of the etiquettes of the rich families and thinks himself as a misfit in that environment. This inferior complex has been rooted from the circumstances he has come from and he has a denial state for his
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Right and left handed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Right and left handed - Essay Example This is why a person with an increased ability to use the right hand is referred to as right-handed while those with skills in the left are called left-handed. In that prospect, health experts agree that hand preference happens to infants mostly when they are at 6 months of age. However, there are several theories that attempt to explicate the reasons for handedness and their superseding functionalities (Annet, 2002). On that perspective, it is significant to report that the people with right-handedness make up about 70-90% while their left-handed counterparts are only 10%. Therefore, this makes left-handed people a minority because the world is unnaturally angled in favor of the right-handed people. Among the most popular theories that help to explain the usage of right and left hand is that of the brain hemisphere. Scientists and biologists have accepted the presence of a relationship between the motor control of speech and other fine motor skills. In that respect, these scientists report in their studies that the brain is subdivided into the left and right hemisphere. This subdivision ensures every part of the brain has its unique functions that give people of different handedness different advantages of the other (Nicholls et al, 2010). Therefore, research indicates speaking is controlled by the left side of the brain while the control of the body is done by the right side of the brain. Additionally, about 50% of left-handed individuals process their speech on the left part of their brain while the other 95% of right-handed individuals use the same side of the brain. It is imperative to note that people do not necessarily decide to either use left or right hand in their functionalities of life. However, there are inherent merits of either using right or left hand because of brain development and the structuring of their hemispheres. This brings the supposed advantages of people who are left-handed especially in the areas of visual-spatial skills. Additional ly, left-handed people are also dexterous in spatial layouts thus they make the majority of musicians, architects, artists and mathematicians (Annet, 2002). This is backed by studies that discovered that 20% of more than 100,000 students who took Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) excelled and they were left-handed individuals (McManus, 2004). This is was twice the number recorded for the right-handed people that stood at 10%. Alternatively, studies also indicate that left-handedness reduces arthritis and other diseases that are prevalent among right-handed people. Left-handed individuals are also adept at higher creativity because of the workings of the right brain regions that transmit information between the hemispheres simultaneously. On the other hand, right-handed people have a lot of competence in the mastery of language especially in the development of phonology and semantics. This is also manifested in the handwriting where right handed people are better than their counterparts . For instance, the writing of languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, right-handed people are well placed. There is also an increased evolutionary fitness that entails higher weight, longer adult weight and care in handling pressing situations that is not easy with left-handed individuals (Annet, 2002). According to research, there are several factors that may determine the probability of person becoming either left-handed or
Monday, July 22, 2019
Leonardo the Renaissance Man Essay Example for Free
Leonardo the Renaissance Man Essay During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci became a legend. He is noted as one of the greatest artists of his time as well as one of the greatest artists that ever lived. Throughout his life he accomplished many things and did them with astounding ability. Today people refer to someone who appears to have excelled in countless things as a â€Å"Renaissance Man†. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the best examples of this classification. Through always searching for more knowledge, he became well versed in many areas. Leonardo excelled in painting, scientific studies, mathematics, and countless other fields. Leonardo da Vinci is the best example of a true Renaissance Man. Although Leonardo was accomplished in many areas, his true talent was in his artwork. â€Å"Leonardo da Vinci excelled as a painter and was a pioneer of many painting techniques†(Leonardo Da Vinci: High Renaissance Artist, â€Å"Leonardo Da Vinci†). His skill in art came naturally. At a young age, it was discovered that Leonardo was talented at it. He loved to draw and was eventually admitted into an apprenticeship with one of the best known artists at the time, Andrea del Verrochio. Here he learned many techniques for painting which included oil painting, sfumato, tempera, and chiaroscuro. He used these techniques to paint many of his famous works. Some of which include the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, Madonna of the Rocks, and countless more. Leonardo was a member of the Compagnia di San Luca, a guild for talented artists. He was always sought after by commissioners and was paid highly for his work in the guild. Some say the reason why Leonardo was so highly adored was because he had a way of making the painting seam real and because he sought perfection in everything he did. Before starting a painting, Leonardo would sketch and do studies in his notebook in order to practice that perfection. If he started the final and it wasn’t good enough, he would abandon his work. Leonardo painted throughout his lifetime and had a very successful art career, painting over 25 successful pieces. Today he’s thought of as one of the best artists in history. â€Å"Leonardo was obsessed with unlocking the secrets of science†¦He believed by studying it carefully, it could be accurately reproduced†(Arwen, Leonardo da Vinci- the Genius). Throughout his life, Leonardo was fascinated by nature and all of its sciences. As a child he would sit outside and reproduce images of birds and flowers in his notebooks. This admiration for science continued into his adulthood when he started constructing drawings of the human body. Leonardo was so intrigued by this concept that he dissected human bodies in an attempt to learn all he could about them. All together, Leonardo performed nearly 30 dissections. While performing these studies, he drew his findings. He completed detailed sketches of the heart, skull, fetus, muscles, and bones which are still used today. Although natural curiosity kept Leonardo studying the human body, he started his obsession because he believed he would be able to better depict people in his paintings. Leonardo had a theory that artists possessed a unique skill of observation and they could accurately reproduce images if they studied what made them up. Anatomy was just one branch of Leonardo’s sci entific studies. He also studied aerodynamics, optics, geology, and mechanics. Leonardo eventually applied his findings by creating countless inventions such as a flying machine, a parachute, tanks, underwater equipment, and a number of weapons. Leonardo was very interested in mathematics and he had some success in this area as well. A friend of Leonardo said, â€Å"In his early forties this obsession with mathematics overtook him, and his notebooks began to fill up with geometrical sketches and diagrams†(Geometry in Art and Architecture, Unit 14). Just as Leonardo believed science was important in art, he also believed math was. He thought math was the basis of all things and it needed to be understood for painting purposes. Leonardo was interested especially in geometry. He discovered the proof for the Pythagorean Theorem and illustrated a book with one of the leading mathematicians at the time, Luca Pacioli. Leonardo also applied math in many of his architectural designs as well as his inventions. He used math to calculate the volume of his horse statue, in order to figure out how much bronze would be needed to complete it. It can be seen in his notebooks how infatuated Leonardo was in the study of math. For on numerous pages he drew and examined different geometrical shapes. Overall, it can be seen that Leonardo was well versed and successful in many areas. He was an accomplished painter, completing over 25 well known pieces. Also, Leonardo achieved advancements in science by dissecting over 30 bodies and drawing images of his findings which are still used today. He was knowledgeable in math and even illustrated a book with a leading mathematician. Leonardo da Vinci became a legend in his time and still is one to this day. He mastered many areas of study, obtaining the classification of a universal genius. There is no doubt that Leonardo da Vinci is the best example of a true Renaissance Man.
Snow Falling on Cedars Essay Example for Free
Snow Falling on Cedars Essay In the novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, Ishmael’s need for catharsis and catharsis itself is powerfully influenced by Hatsue. His emotions upsurge beginning with their childhood love by the ocean side, and because these occurrences happened so early in his childhood, he fell profoundly in love with Hatsue each day. As the two mature, they also grow apart, causing intense heartbreak on Ishmael’s terms. In the first letter he confesses to Hatsue how he â€Å"aches for her to come home†and he states â€Å"I’m lonely and miserable and think of you always and hope you write me right away. Ishmael is desperate for Hatsue’s love and affection. He says without her, he has nothing. Ishmael is selfish and egotistical. Hatsue is in a prison camp where she sleeps in dust and lives around disease, and he is merely thinking of his own security and well-being. He continues his selfishness when Hatsue explains to Ishmael that she can no longer continue their relationship because she is deceiving her parents, his emotions climax; his hatred grows and he cannot contain it. He tells Hatsue â€Å"I hate you, Hatsue, I hate you always. Ishmael burts with pessimistic emotions during the war. He once again writes Hatsue and says he is about to kill as many people as he can that look like her. He says his â€Å"numbness is a terrible thing†¦ he was angry at them [japs] and wanted their death. †He contained and expressed significant amounts of hatred. Ishmael means what he says completely, but he cannot get himself to tell Hatsue the truth. At this point when he writes the letter, he crumples up the letter and throws in into the sea along with his notepad. He still loves Hatsue. Ishmael comes back from the war with all these emotions that he still posseses for Hatsue. He sees her in the grocery store, and even though she is holding her newborn baby, he tells her â€Å"I am like a dying person†¦ I haven’t been happy for a single moment since the day you left†¦ sometimes I think I’m going to go crazy†¦ I don’t sleep†¦ the feeling never leaves me alone. †Ishmael can’t hold back his feelings for Hatsue, and even though he wants to forget about her, shown in his hate letters, this task is unimaginable, impossible. The emotions of Ishmael control him when he discovers the note about the freighter and how it was most likely the cause of Carl’s death. He cannot bring himself to admit the incident. If he admits it, Kabuo will not be convicted and will stay by Hatsue’s side. Ishmael is selfish in wanting the man Hatsue is supposed to spend the rest of her life with to go to jail, to be found guilty. Kabuo would be set free with the court’s knowledge of this crucial piece of information. When Ishmael rereads the letter â€Å"I don’t love you, Ishmael†¦ When we met that last time in the cedar tree and I felt your body move against mine, I knew with certainty that everything was wrong. I knew we could never be right together†¦Ã¢â‚¬ he comes to the conclusion that the war and his arm had made his heart much smaller and he had not moved on at all. Ishmael has to be grateful even if Hatsue’s love for him has faded. Another example of this is when he sits in the Cedar tree and realizes that his place is not there anymore, that it was a childhood secret that someone else should have the chance to experience. After all these years he is compelled to speak to Hatsue, and tell her the truth about the freighter and Carl’s death. His emotions stablilize and his guilt is set free. Ishmael gives himself the capability of moving forward in his life, and although he will never forget his childhood love for Hatsue, he learns to be grateful for her. David Guterson gave Ishmael an overpowering catharsis, which at many points in the character’s life â€Å"drowned†him. Throughout the story it affects his actions and key moments in his life, and alters him forever.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
The competitive advantage of Honda Corporation
The competitive advantage of Honda Corporation There are several factors that can contribute to a firms ability to be competitive in its industry. Building blocks of a competitive advantage include efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers. A firm with a competitive advantage may experience higher profits than the average profit in the industry while competing for the same customers. In the case of Honda, this is true. Honda has many distinctive competencies based on its resource and capabilities that allow it to have a competitive advantage in the auto manufacturing industry. Three areas that give Honda a competitive advantage in the auto industry include Hondas engineering and design, research and development, and brand equity. In order to determine whether Hondas competitive advantage in these three areas is sustainable, we analyze and apply each one to the VRIO framework. Honda is unique in that its corporate structure is made of three companies. Honda Research and Development is in charge of research and development of innovative products for the company. Honda Motor produces, sells, and services the all Honda products. Honda Engineering develops manufacturing processes, systems and equipment used to build all Honda products. Hondas superior design capability has enabled it to build high-quality reliable products and has also added value to the Honda brand. Hondas efficient manufacturing processes have also kept production costs low relative to other automakers in the industry (Snipes 2008). In terms of value, Honda excels at using its engineering expertise and design skills to build reliable cars that simply work. This ability is quite valuable to the company and its industry. Although valuable, Hondas engineering and design is not rare, because there are other car manufactures with excellent engineering and design capabilities. For car manufacturer s who are not already competitive with Honda in its engineering and design ability, it would be very difficult to bridge the gap to competitiveness by imitating Hondas success. Therefore, Hondas engineering and design is inimitable. The final question to ask is whether Honda is organized, ready and able to take advantage of opportunities via its engineering and design. Hondas organization is unique in its management structure in that it differs from most public U.S corporations. A board consisting of 21 directors runs the company, which allows for faster decision-making and execution in new product design (Whiston 2010). All of the companys business units are aligned to take advantage of design breakthroughs, which leads to a conclusion that its engineering and design are a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Hondas focus on research and development is highly valuable and places it at the forefront of technology. This allows the company to incorporate technological breakthroughs and advancements into its wide line of vehicles. Honda also has a very high level of investment in research and development, which is not common in the auto industry. Hondas level of commitment to research and development is also very rare compared to its industry peers. Honda possesses a strong first mover advantage over many competitors in this area because of the advanced nature of its research. Competitors not actively pursuing their own research find it very difficult to catch up to Honda, therefore the companys RD is considered inimitable. Organizationally, Honda keeps the RD group separate from other divisions within the company giving its teams freedom to develop new technologies for the company across the board. Hondas unique structure and its level of commitment to advanced quality research make its rese arch and development a sustainable source of competitive advantage in its industry. Hondas brand equity is an extremely valuable source of its competitive advantage since consumers are willing to pay a premium for Hondas vehicles because of the power of its brand and its association with quality and value. As a result, it has led Honda to have best-in-class repeat purchase rates. Honda has repeatedly been placed among the worlds top 20 most valuable brands according to a research conducted by Business Week Magazine (Ferret 2006). The Honda brand ranked 19th on the international list of one hundred most valuable brands in 2005, having a brand value of $15.8 billion. Honda has very strong brand loyalty as evidenced by the strong repurchase rate for Honda automobiles relative to the industry norms. 65% of Honda customers purchase another Honda automobile compared to only 48% for the industry (Ferret 2006. While it is highly valuable, Hondas brand equity is not rare. Toyota also has strong brand equity in the same industry, but recent recalls may have deteriorated its v alue. Because Hondas brand equity has been built over a long period of time, it would be very difficult for competitors to imitate. Hondas reputation for reliable cars was not earned over night, making it highly inimitable. Honda takes advantages of the benefits given by its strong brand by using it as the flagship brand for the company. By supporting its brand value with superior engineering, design, and research and development, Honda is able to rely on its brand equity as a source of sustained competitive advantage.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Call Of The Wild :: essays research papers
Call of the Wild The Call of the Wild has a very interesting plot. It is centered around a St. Bernard and Scotch Shepherd mix, named Buck. At home, which was a large house in the sun, he ruled over all dogs. Buck was Judge Miller's inseparable companion, until a man named Manuel, who was the one of the gardener's helpers, committed a treacherous act. Manuel, to cover his Chinese lottery gambling debts, stole Buck from his sound sleep and brought him to a flag station called College Park. There, the exchanging of money took place. It was simple. Manuel needed money to pay off his gambling debts, and Buck was a prime candidate. Buck was loaded onto an express car to Seattle. When he got there, he was bought by two men named Perrault and Francois. He was loaded onto a ship called the Narwhal and taken to the Yukon, where he was to be trained as a sled dog. There were other sled dogs that Buck came to know well, each with their own unique personality. After only a short time of training, Buck was a sled dog, traveling with the team of huskies and mix breeds from Dyea Beach, to the town of Dawson. After several trips with Perrault and Francois, Buck was traded to a gold seeking family. They knew nothing, or hardly nothing, about managing a sled team. There trip began with a very bad start. The family had loaded up their wagon with too much unneeded baggage, and it was top heavy. As the dogs began to pull away and pull around a curve, the baggage tipped over along with the sled and thus the unnecessary baggage was discarded, and the trip was barely completed because of harsh weather, wrong supplies, and poor management skills of the dog handlers. All except a man that went by the name of John Thornton, perhaps the only sane one in the group. After one of the men repeatedly beat on a dog, Thornton became enraged. He threatened to kill the man. A few minutes later, the rest of the family that left Thornton behind fell through some
Friday, July 19, 2019
The Evolution of Ethics Essay -- essays papers
The Evolution of Ethics A goal implicit in human evolution is survival; thus, humanity directs some of its energy toward creating a state of peace to achieve the necessary efficiency and conservation of energy to survive in a hostile and sometimes unpredictable world. The foundation of the emergence of rule systems in the world is built upon centuries of reasoned insight and personal experiences that reveal which actions are better than others, which are productive, and which are disruptive and should be avoided. As efficient actions reveal themselves to an evolving society, its people develop the means to make productive choices between one type of action and another. Some choices are decidedly better than others. This prioritizing of human actions into efficient hierarchies establishes the foundations of rule systems which later refine themselves into more sophisticated systems of morals, manners and statutory laws. All these systems have a tendency to address the fundamental need of the human species to survive and avoid the common fate of extinction by conserving energy and directing social attention towards more productive kinds of behavior. It could be said that as civilization approaches the ideal of efficiency, the harmony that follows from efficient and thoughtful actions inspires a state of peace that exponentially increases the chances of human civilization surviving over long periods of time. Social change has more or less followed the more reasoned logic and experiences of people. Change is not always perfect. However, as people experience more and learn more about their world through formal education, they have more resources by which they can make judgments about the behavior of their fellow humans. Knowledge of the past lends to enlightened minds a knowledge of the future. Common education and experiences inspire the emergence of informal belief systems, clarifying what appears to be acceptable behavior and what is not. Observations that endure centuries of reasoned scrutiny integrate ultimately into the cultural ethic. As a rule of thumb, an action that contributes to the disorganization of society is often considered "wrong" and that which contributes to the organization of society "right." Behaviors that corrupt the peace, prosperity, and productivity of a society are generally discouraged as "wrong," in favor of behaviors which contri... ...es. Rule systems help keep people in their "right mind" instead of going "out of their minds" through excess. People who are repeatedly "out of their minds" have less chance of surviving and surviving well than people who remain true to their original personality. Some behaviors corrupt the efficiency and social compatibility of people more than other behaviors. Some part of the evolution of ethical systems monitors the growth of potentially harmful behaviors and looks for methods to suppress them. Rules help to reign in human passion as progress demands finer and finer delineations of labor, resources, and authority. The visceral compulsions of humans to survive rather than perish commands intelligent people to try to hold their society together and to keep people and their passions from tearing it apart. Survival places an imperative to be sensible enough to stay above the threshold of extinction as a species. This evolutionary process inspires finer and finer details of order, and is first evident in the moral senses of reasonable people who push for better rules to keep society orderly. To do this they must look from past experience into the future. Bibliography:
The Web and Education Essay -- Teaching Learning Technology Papers
The Web and Education I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet.(1) â€â€John Guare The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that Internet researchers at the University of Notre Dame (Barabà ¡si, Albert, and Jeong, 1999) discovered that, on average, due to the hypertext links, any two Web pages are only 19 clicks away from each other. The research loosely follows the earlier work of Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist at Yale University. In the 1960s, Milgram demonstrated that any two individuals were linked by five mutual acquaintances. It was this theory about human relationships that the character Ouisa reflects upon in John Guare's famous play Six Degrees of Separation in the quote above.(2) Like the intricate web of human relationships, the Notre Dame researchers' 19 clicks of separation theory poses an interesting notion about the potentiality of Web pages and their complex inter-relationships. As the number of Web pages grows phenomenally, it's not hard to imagine that the information and knowledge you are seeking in your research and education may one day be only five clicks away from where you start surfing on the Web. It is precisely the vast interconnectivity of the Web that makes it an especially intriguing new education medium or tool. Consequently, the Web is emerging as an important and potentially primary infrastructure for any time, any place learning in the future. Many higher education institutions in the US are already eagerly jumping on the Web bandwagon. According Khan in the preface of a recent textbook on Web-Based Instruction (Khan, 1996): †¦the Int... ...2-bin/printable.cgi Kilian, Crawford (1998). F2F Why Teach Online, Educom Review (p. 31-34). Nardi, Bonnie A. and O'Day, Vicki L. (1999). Chapter Four: Information Ecologies. Information Ecologies: using Technology with Heart. [On-line]. Available: http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issure4_5/nardi_chapter4.html Oliver, Ron; Herrington, Jan; and Omari, Arshad. (1996) Creating Effective Instructional Materials for the World Wide Web. [On-line]. Available http://www.scu.edu.au/sponsored/ausweb/ausweb96/educn/oliver/ Oppenheimer, Todd. (1997). The Computer DELUSION. The Atlantic Monthly. [On-line]. Available: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm Ryder, Martin and Wilson, Brent. (1996) Affordances and constraints of the internet for learning and instruction. [On-line]. Available: http://wwcudenver.edu/~mryder/aect_96.html
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Fences Research
The Impact of Physical and Psychological Boundaries in August Wilson’s Fences The early 1950’s was a time of enormous importance because of the Civil Rights Movement which emphasized equal rights for blacks and whites. According to the book Approaching Literature, this time period became very familiar to August Wilson, the author of the play Fences. Wilson, an African American man, was raised by his mother and his ex-convict father. For a short period of time, before moving back to his old neighborhood, Wilson lived in a primarily white neighborhood where he experienced the feeling of being on the â€Å"outside. When he was in the ninth grade he had a teacher that believed there was no way he could have written an intelligent, twenty page research paper on Napoleon Bonaparte, so she accused him of plagiarism. This incident pushed Wilson to drop out of high school and teach himself. From that point on, he began educating himself by reading through the section of black a uthors in the local library. Wilson had strong views and opinions about the rights of African Americans.So much so, that he wrote quite a few plays concerning this major part of history. (1024) In Wilson’s play, Fences, how does he use psychological and physical boundaries to show the emotional separations between his characters? Baseball becomes the most prominent image in Wilson’s play. Troy Maxson, the protagonist of the play, spent many years learning and playing this game. Sheri Metzger, the author of An Essay on Fences, believes that â€Å"Baseball defines Troy Maxson’s life and provides the measure of his success. (1) As we already know, in his prime, Troy was a great baseball player and he strongly believed that he was not given the opportunity to play in the major leagues because of the color of his skin. He constantly compared himself to the ball players that made it to the major leagues, such as Hank Aaron, saying â€Å"I can hit forty-three home ru ns right now†(1048) This not only represents the fence that restricts the achievements of blacks and their constant struggle in a white society, but also Troy’s psychological boundaries between himself and mainstream America.On a first analysis of the physical boundary that exists between father and son, Troy and Cory, we must look at their relationship. Their bond was typical of any teenage boy and his father; they generally got along. The boundary comes up in the play when Cory asks Troy to sign the papers that would allow him to go to college on a football scholarship. But when Troy refuses, claiming that â€Å"the colored guy got to be twice as good [as the white player] before he get on the team,†(1047) the boundary becomes very real.He also notes that even if they do let black players on the team, â€Å"They sit on the bench and don’t get used. †(1047) Troy is still so angry over what he sees as his own lost opportunities with baseball and the injustice of it all that he can’t take any pleasure in the fact that his own son is getting a once in a lifetime opportunity to play football in college, for free! He is still stuck in the past where he was refused a chance to play professional baseball. He is bitter because deep down he is afraid that his son will go on to be more successful than he ever was.The scene where Cory comes at his father with a baseball bat illustrates quite a different image of the traditional father-and-son backyard baseball game we see in movies or books. This shows the huge gap in their relationship and Troy’s need for control. According to Gerald Weales, the author of Review of Fences in the Commonweal, â€Å"Troy not signing the papers for Cory was a destructive act that lead to this final confrontation between the two. †(1) Troy feels the need to confine Cory within his authority, but Cory hates being stuck behind the fences his father has put up; so he escapes, leaving h is family behind.Yet, when Cory returns, we find that in his attempt to free himself he has become bound within the confines of a far more strict institution; the Marine Corps. Metzger argues that â€Å"Cory finally escaped his father’s authority, just to be placed under the authority of people far more strict and controlling. †(3) Another physical boundary exists between husband and wife, Troy and Rose. At the beginning of the play, Troy is building a fence for Rose although he sees absolutely no use for it.Because she’s so focused on keeping all the people she loves safe and inside its walls, Rose is completely unaware that the fence is actually pushing her loved ones away. Since spending time in prison, Troy views fences as restrictions or limitations, so he is in no hurry to build Rose’s fence. But as the play goes on we see that after eighteen years of marriage, Troy feels confined by the responsibility and loyalty that come with it and needs to bre ak out of those constraints. He wants so badly to be free from the ties of marriage that he has an affair with another woman, Alberta.Although, in his mind he broke free of those marital boundaries, realistically, he just put up yet another fence. Rose later finds out about this affair and then Troy tells her that Alberta died while giving birth to their daughter, Raynell. Troy, being the thoughtless man he is, begs Rose to take care of his illegitimate daughter. And Rose, being the kind woman she is, agrees to raise the child because she knows that Raynell is an innocent child who was simply born into a bad situation. Rose tells Troy, â€Å"Raynell will have a mother, but he will be a womanless man for the rest of his life. (1071) Later, after Alberta’s death, Troy finally completes the fence. But rather than finishing it for Rose, as originally intended, he does it for his own reasons of keeping out danger and death. Meanwhile, Rose is still trapped with the responsibiliti es and pressures that life brings. But towards the end of the play we see that she escapes Troy’s fence, only to exchange it for one established by the church. According to Metzger, â€Å"Religion provides its own fences and restraints, and for Rose, who decided to stay with Troy, the church offers a haven within its institutionalized walls. (1040) Rose willingly puts herself behind a fence that is a little more bearable, saying, â€Å"Jesus builds a fence around me every day. †(1040) There are also some psychological fences in this play that Troy has absolutely no control over. The mental hospital where Troy confines Gabriel offers one example of that kind of fence. Gabe, who suffered permanent brain damage as a result of injuries he received while serving in World War II, now thinks of himself as an angel. Although Troy views this fence as something that’s irritating and in his way, Gabe, unaware of all of this, continues on in his childlike innocence.Troy h as a guilty conscience because he institutionalized Gabe and then used his disability money to pay for the house that he now lives in. This incident further breaks down the relationship between Troy and Cory because when he finds out what his father has done, Cory treats him with open disrespect and tells him that he no longer counts. Once again, we see that Gabe simply isn’t aware of these things, therefore he’s unaffected by these events that dramatically change the others’ lives. Gabe’s persistence shows hope for the future. According to Joseph H.Wressling, the author of Wilson’s Fences, â€Å"Gabe, just like Rose, illustrates unconditional love. †(3) Now that Cory and Troy’s relationship has no chance of any reconciliation, Cory leaves and Troy loses any hope of ever seeing his son again before he dies. Cory doesn’t return again until the day of his father’s funeral when he finally meets his sister, Raynell. Cory, s till remembering the broken relationship with his father, did not want to attend the funeral. But Rose convinced him to go and pay his respects to his father because he never meant any harm. Troy had always said that he had given his children everything he could.Cory didn’t always agree with his father, but he overcame that and broke down a barrier and finally forgave his father. Before the funeral Troy’s simpleminded brother Gabe, with his trumpet, came to blow open the gates of Heaven for Troy’s arrival. His attempts at blowing his trumpet failed because there was no mouthpiece on it. But Gabe, in his childlike innocence improvises. He begins to dance about and sing to the Heavens for his brother. Finished with his dance and satisfied that the gates of Heaven are open and ready for Troy, Gabe says, â€Å"That’s the way that go! †(1083).Wilson uses many of his characters and their relationships to show their physical and psychological separations between each other and the world. By the end of Fences, all of Wilson’s characters are bound by a fence of some sort. Although Raynell stands behind the fence that her father finally finished, she is expected to go far beyond that boundary and strive for a better future than her father and everyone else. She shows that there is hope for the future. Works Cited 1. Metzger, Sheri. â€Å"An essay on Fences. †Drama for Students. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. 2. Schakel, Peter J. and Jack Ridl. â€Å"August Wilson's Fences – A Form in Depth. † Approaching Literature: Writing Reading Thinking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 1024-083. Print. 3. Weales, Gerald. â€Å"Review of Fences in the Commonweal, Volume CXIV, no. 10, May 22, 1987, pp. 320-21. †Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. 4. Wessling, Joseph H. â€Å"Wilsonâ€⠄¢s Fences. †Explicator 57. 2 (Winter 1999): 123-127. Rpt. In Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 222. Detroit: Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
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