Brave New World Civilized vs. Savage - 1458 Words

Brave New World If a person walked past twenty people, at least half of them would be using technological devices. People can send photos, papers and videos with the click of a button. These new scientific creations have been said to make life simpler for the common person. It is said that technology is the key to success and progress in a society but many argue that it is religion and faith instead. Which is true? What really leads to improvements? Is it technology, or does technological process merely provide us with more efficient means of going backwards(Aldous Huxley)? This conflict is shown in Aldous Huxleys book, Brave New World. This book tells the story of two separate societies: Civilized and Savage. They both have†¦show more content†¦Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release† (Huxley 81). What is the importance of Orgy-Porgy? The people at this service do not seem to care about being one, but more about the feeling they get as the service is happening. Th ey are at the service for pleasure, and not to understand the meaning and significance of it. Bernard, a base, ignoble man in this novel, only attends the service because it is required and does not pay attention to its importance, but tries to fit in with everybody else. In Solidarity Services, people take drugs and go into contact with a Greater Being because they are selfish and want to reach satiety immediately, not to be unified with others; therefore, Solidarity Services are a folly that do not help build the community nor unify them. In contrast, the Savages worship and use sacrifices to connect to create unity and progress society. The importance and aims of sacrificing is explained when John tells Bernard and Lenina that, â€Å"[young men are sacrificed] for the sake of the Pueblo-to make the rain come and the corn grow. And to please Pookong and Jesus.† (Huxley 117). It is used to make the gods feel blithe and show dedication to them so that they help the Pueblo, w hich means the people in Spanish. One person proffers himself to the gods for the good of society, unifying them and bringing them closer. There is meaning and purpose for these sacrifices. Therefore, the Savages use ofShow MoreRelatedThe Brave New World By Aldous Huxley952 Words   |  4 PagesTruth vs. Happiness â€Å"If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely†(Huxley 90), stated the savage John in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley . In this novel, the government banned all kinds of human truth like friendship, love, books, and any emotions. The citizen cannot know the truth, because if they found out the truth, they will not trust science and the government. The citizens are fed with lies in order for the government to keep them happy and distracted from the truth, but it’s not real happinessRead MoreReview Of Brave New World 1779 Words   |  8 PagesMustafa Niazi Mr. Hadley English 2H August 19, 2015 Novel Play Review Notes: Brave New World Key Quotation â€Å"Everyone belongs to everyone else, after all.† (149) The idea of complete access in Brave New World actually elucidates the confinement in which the citizens of the modern world are living in. Everyone must subject to one another’s desires and motives, seemingly being treated like property. Consequently, the fact that all the members of this society play both the roleRead MoreWhat s Not Known Won t Hurt1185 Words   |  5 PagesWhat’s Not Known Won’t Hurt In the society of Brave New World, stability came at the sacrifice of the freedom to acquire knowledge. As a result, the citizens’ lack of suitable and adequate comprehension resulted in the past and parenting being highly demeaned. The disregarding of the past was established and sustained by the society’s founders and leader in several different ways. In the eyes of the World Controllers, history had to be debased in order prevent the citizens’ realization of theRead MoreComparing The Novels Lord Of The Flies And Heart Of Darkness4107 Words   |  17 Pageshave the supposedly civilized individual(s) degenerating into savagery. As well, other characters are involved and highly influenced by the protagonist(s). This report discusses these two books and what can be observed from comparing works of essentially different world perspectives – one was published in 1902 and the other in 1954 – and wholly different environments and situations. Just as a simple example, there were no airplanes in the time of Conrad s protagonist, vs. an airplane crash settingRead MoreA Popular American Topic On The 19th Century2982 Words   |  12 PagesWith the increase of population, people saw the need to expand their own personal territories and looked at the frontier as a potential home. Supported by the government, policies were put into place that would soon allocate land to those who were brave enough to settle past the frontier and into the west. While holding the notion of divine right, Americans resorted to encroachment into Native American territory which would bring about differences among both settlers. Elected president in 1828,Read MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages.............................................................................. 299 CHAPTER 10 Deductive Reasoning .......................................................................................... 312 x Implying with Certainty vs. with Probability ................................................................................ 312 Distinguishing Deduction from Induction ..................................................................................... 319 Review of MajorRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesothers who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis

The And The Filipino Migrant Workers - 1426 Words

The Asian-Americans of No-No Boy and America Is in the Heart faced faced great discrimination, but both groups internalized the hatred and fear in different ways. Carlos Bulosan and the Filipino migrant workers dealt with a lack of governmental support in all sectors of civilized American life including fair pay, housing, and protection. The Japanese-American no-no boys were similarly undermined by whites, but also by Japanese-Americans—a community they were originally a part of. The no-no boys were not a community restricted by similar intentions or goals or regrets; they were strictly a classification of imprisoned Japanese-American men. The two communities shared a struggle for identity and fitting in; however, the Ichiro fought†¦show more content†¦The exploitation and passivity by whites over the subjects of workers and human rights was blanketed over all Filipino workers who immigrated to America for work. The cannery workers sold to work in Alaska had sever ely garnished wages and poor housing that instilled a mentality of anger towards the factory owners and bosses, enough to spark the protests for Filipino trade unions. All with the same goal of becoming self-sufficient, socially-recognized Americans, the Filipinos had the ability to band together in their struggle for freedom and self-worth. Bulosan s dream of America was one of freedom; every man that shared Bulosan s notion of America was able to take part in a movement to overcome their oppressor. Bulosan attempted to gather Filipino workers support in his newsletter process, and the underground group of activists including Pasquale and Jose acted as leaders for the Filipinos unionization. Any success that Bulosan s newsletter campaign had can be attributed to the mutual understanding of the Filipino-American s grapple with identity. Bulosan s character specifically had an attainable goal that drove his actions: â€Å"It was this small yet vast heart of mine that had kept me steering toward the stars,† (314). All involved in Bulosan s newsletter were driven together towards a goal of education and unification of the Filipino workers—the workers themselves needed little convincing to realize that they re strife was conquerable. Their

Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation of the Eagle Manufacturing Company Free Essays

A. Ted Jones has been the supply manager for the Eagle Manufacturing Company for the past two years. B. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation of the Eagle Manufacturing Company or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although Ted Jones has a great team of buyers, expediters, and support staff who carry out top notch work, the morale in Ted’s department is low. i. One of the senior buyer’s in Ted’s department, Bill Wilson, submitted his resignation. Bill accepted a position at another company where he will be paid substantially more although he will be doing the same work and will be under the same amount of stress. C. The previous month’s performance data for the office shows: 743 transactions, 98 percent with delivery on or before specified dates, 87 percent of supplies and material purchases at or within 5 percent of target price, 9 percent late deliveries, and a 5 percent rejection rate of materials and supplies received. D. A purchase request for a new robot, that according to estimates would cost $5. 5 million, was submitted by the maintenance department. It was supposed to be delivered and operational in seven months and only one source of supply was able to meet the delivery date. . An experienced buyer in Ted’s department, John McCauly, was negotiating with Fenwick Electronics for the robot. Although the maintenance department proposed $5. 5 million, Fenwick proposed $7. 2 million. Because of time, Fenwick was the sole source for obtaining the robot. b. John learned that the $5. 5 million estimate on the robot was in reality not an estimate but the amount budgeted for the machine last year. E. Several members from other departments of Eagle Manufacturing Company are not satisfied with Ted and the supply management department’s work. c. The Vice President of Operations, Tim Raines, and the Vice President of Marketing, Ron Hankins, were not happy that operations had run out of parts that week. Also the quality of the incoming parts was causing major production problems. d. The president’s secretary was not satisfied with the poor quality of the janitorial services contractor. e. The head of administration, Mary Jacobs was not satisfied with the quality of the new brand of paper which was constantly jamming the machine thus reducing productivity and increasing frustration amongst the administration epartment. II. Major Problem A. One major problem is communication between the various department and an understanding of the ins and out of each department and how each function of each department can affect another department in some way. B. Another problem is the quality of the services or products purchased by the supply management department. Because the quality of the services or products were low, the quali ty of work or product are also low which can affect profit and can also affect the way another department can accomplish tasks. III. Possible Solutions/Alternatives A. Communication would greatly help this situation. For example John, who is a buyer in Ted’s department did not know the $5. 5 million estimate on the new robot was actually the amount budgeted for the robot from the previous year. If John, the maintenance department, and even the finance department had been in frequent communication with each other regarding the new robot, John would have had a basis for developing a realistic negotiating objective with the supplier of the robot, Fenwick Electronics. There really is no disadvantage to good communication within each department. B. Each department needs to understand how the activities in their department can affect other departments, company profits etc. For example supply management, manufacturing, and operations are related. New product development begins with the manufacturing department. The manufacturing department submits a materials requisition to the supply management department. If the manufacturing department does not give the supply management department sufficient time to compare costs in order to purchase wisely, the company will most likely pay higher prices for materials. C. Eagle Manufacturing Company should hire a Director of Quality Assurance if they have not done so already. The Director of Quality Assurance would be involved in the development of new products to involvement in sourcing, supplier development, and qualifying the potential supplier. The Director of Quality Assurance’s objective would be to minimize quality problems throughout the supply chain thus minimizing problems other departments may experience. Although hiring somebody to handle quality assurance would be another expense to Eagle Manufacturing Company, hiring somebody to handle quality assurance would be like an investment. This person would ensure that the quality of a potential supplier is exceptional which would then create good quality work which would then increase profits for Eagle Manufacturing Company. IV. Choice and Rationale Eagle Manufacturing should first and most importantly focus on good communication within their departments and also make sure each department understands how all departments are interconnected and affect one another. Encouraging and maintaining open communication throughout the procurement process will 1) reduce the frustrations within each department and raise company morale and 2) possibly cut costs for supplies. V. Implementation/The Action Plan Ted Jones, the supply management manager for Eagle Manufacturing, must discuss the communication problem between departments to manager of each department immediately. How to cite Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation of the Eagle Manufacturing Company, Papers

Corporate Finance Policies and social Networks †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Finance Policies and social Networks. Answer: Introduction: A.G. Barr Plc is regarded as the soft drink producer from Scotland that has its operational base in Cumbernauld. A.G. Barr Plc is known as the popular manufacturer of Scottish drink (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). The company is listed on the London stock exchange and it is viewed as the constituent of FTSE 250 Index. The present report is takes into consideration the determination of strategic decision of A.G. Barr Plc by defining the main activities carried out by the company together with the necessary features of the strategy undertaken. The analysis will focus on the business opportunities and risk facing the company with the emphasis on the operating performance of the firm. The current report will be addressing the Amicable Pension Fund to take into the account the details of financial performance over the period of five years. The study will refer to stock market pricing efficient and efficient market hypothesis would be performed to determine the market efficiency of A.G. Barr Plc. Additional coverage will made in the share price performance of the firm to offer brief commentary on the share performance and suitable recommendations will be provided relating to investment prospect for Amicable Pension Fund. The primary business activates of A.G. Barr Plc is associated with the production capabilities, generating higher quality products all through the well-funded and operative manufacturing location. The chief business functions of A.G. Barr Plc is related to sourcing of raw materials throughout the world to create the packaging materials for continuous improvement. A.G. Barr Plc has its fleet of around hundred vehicles that has long relation with the vital distribution partners (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). A.G. Barr Plc strives to provide greater service to all the customers from small to big local outlets. A.G. Barr Plc has its business operations through numerous roads to market its products. The primary business activities of company is linked with the operating activities and effective distribution networks with direct delivery to store channel. Vital features of business strategies: Taking account of vital business features of A.G. Barr Plc it provides the clarity of purpose and reliability approach forms the best outcomes (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). The vital business features for A.G. Barr Plc are; Flexible and effective business operations Strongly differentiated brands Innovating customer understanding Partnership that promotes growth The company leverages its business strength and commitment of its team. Future business opportunities and risk for A.G. Barr Plc: Despite the prevalence of macro environmental influence the business has kept its focus on carrying out of strategy and potential improvement of internal actions. Following the acquisition of Funkin business the organization has continued to remain opportunistic for constant growth and expansion of Funkin Brand and business (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). With varying consumer taste and preference the demand for the testing, lower content sugar products have risen. The company has recently made announcement that around 90% of the brands owned by A.G. Barr Plc would have less than 5g of sugar per 100 ml. Hence, this regarded as the positive business opportunity for A.G. Barr Plc since it is responding with the pace and commitment. Simultaneously, the principle relating to risk and uncertainties faced by the A.G. Barr Plc is the variation in the customer preference, opinion and purchasing behaviour (Scott, 2015). The consumer may take the decision of purchasing the products of alternative brands or may spend less on soft drink products (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). Alternative risk faced by business is the adverse publicity of soft drink industry that might create an adverse impact on the business reputations and customer as well. Over the last twelve months A.G. Barr Plc has made considerable amount of progress with strong financial earnings in spite of the volatile and unsuitable market situations. The profit before exceptional items for A.G. Barr Plc has stood remarkably at 42.4m reflecting an increase of 2.7% from the figures reported in the previous year (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). A.G. Barr Plc has experienced better business performance than the Funkin cocktail. The A.G. Barr Plc operating margin prior to exceptional items stood 16.3% in 2016 which positively rose to 16.8% during 2017 (Schaltegger Burritt, 2017). The free cash flow for A.G. Barr Plc stood 28.3 million during 2016 while in2017 it increased to 43.2 million. Taking into the consideration the financial performance reported by A.G. Barr Plc the gross margin for the company was 46.8% in 2016 which marginally increased to 46.9% in 2017. The A.G. Barr Plc profit before tax and exceptional items were 41.3 in 2016 and increased to 43.1 million in 2017 reflecting a rise of 4.4% from the previous year figures (Warren Jones, 2018). A.G. Barr Plc has put behind the challenges related to supply chain and challenges of system application that helped in serving out the constrained during 2016 (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). In spite of the fall in the reported revenue by 0.6% the underlying income of business grew by 1.5% resulting a rise in revenue of 1.5% inspired by innovation across IRN BRU and Rubicon brands. Financial strength and weakness: Taking account of the A.G. Barr Plc financial strength and weakness, the same is based on the diverse and differentiated business portfolio (Macve, 2015). Taking into the account the strength of A.G. Barr Plc the organization not only places emphasis on the production but have placed their emphasis on the segment of cocktail mixer which has increased and strengthen the portfolio under the unquiet and leading market brand in the growing market of soft drink industry. One more business strength for A.G. Barr Plc is the robust balance sheet and cash derived by the firm (Agbarr.Co.Uk, 2018). This has resulted the board to undertake the decision of returning the 30 million to its shareholders with the help of share repurchase programme. Additionally, A.G. Barr Plc has dedicated set of people which have immensely contributed to the success of the business. The increasing growth reported by A.G. Barr Plc in the net asset have led the balance sheet of the firm to significantly gain strength (Trotman et al., 2015). The strong balance sheet has empowered the business to gain access of the cost effective and flexible facilities of debt to make sure that the A.G. Barr Plc possess the agility of benefiting from the opportunities that is recognized. A.G. Barr Plc has strong structure of risk management of assessing the risk. The framework of risk management lay down the systematic approach of managing the risk (Waegenaere et al., 2015). A.G. Barr Plc strength is bestowed in the re-evaluation of risk by modifying the range of brands of offered. A.G. Barr Plc offers its consumers with the range of products from numerous brands across wide variety of business channels and customers. There are certain weakness and failure recognized in the financial year. A.G. Barr Plc faces the weakness in maintaining appropriate customer relationships. As a result of this, A.G. Barr Plc may face the problem of reduced customer base which may create an adverse impact on the sales with fall in operating profit as well (Carlon et al., 2015). Furthermore, another weakness that is identified for A.G. Barr Plc is the failure in protecting the intellectual property rights of the company. The failure of maintaining in appropriate customer relation and intellectual property rights may result in loss of brand worth. Evidences from the analysis represents that the company reported a current ratio of 2.70 in 2016 which subsequently declined to 2.36. Furthermore the debt to equity ratio of A.G. Barr Plc has stood 1.35 during 2016 which relatively increased to 1.56 during the year 2017 (Kahng, 2016). The situation defines that A.G. Barr Plc took higher debt and this may potentially lead to rise in the operational risk of A.G. Barr Plc. Efficiency Market Hypothesis: The efficient market hypothesis is viewed as the investment theory which states that it is not probable to beat down the market since the stock market efficiency reflects the price of share to incorporate and reflect the essential information. It is noticed that the recent application of sugar tax in UK is regarded as the semi-strong information (Damodaran, 2016). Stocks are traded constantly at the fair value on stock exchange which is not possible for the investors either purchase the undervalued stocks or sell the stocks at higher price. The government measure of announcing the sugar tax can be considered as the semi-strong measure since the information derived to forecast the performance of stock might be highlighted in the stock price. The information concerning the higher tax on sugar might enable the organizations to quicken the long awaited sugar soft drink programme. Therefore, this would result the firm in capitalizing on the price trends of the securities trending in the market. The main reason for the variation in the share price of A.G. Barr Plc is arrival of new information. As a result of this, the present prices of shares offers all the required information from the outside sources and subsequently there are hardly any reason to believe that the share price are very high or very low (Ang, 2018). Concerning the A.G. Barr Plc, the new information relating to sugar tax can be viewed as the prevalence of efficient market for the investors to gain profit from the new information. Semi strong market form of market efficiency: Under the efficient market hypothesis semi strong form of efficiency means that all the necessary public information has been taken account in determining the current share price. Therefore, neither the technical nor the fundamental analysis can be implemented to obtain higher gains (Fracassi, 2016). Under the semi-strong forms of market efficiency information provided is based on the public available benefits which the investors are looking to earn from the abnormal returns on investment. As evident in the circumstances of of A.G.Barr Plc the government action of applying sugar tax suggest that the information relates to the assistance of the investors to derive abnormal return on investment (Ehrhardt Brigham, 2016). The information that is derived for A.G.Barr Plc is considered in stock price and resulting in semi-strong classification of stock price as the information that is obtained is through the outside sources. Therefore, the investors that are looking for abnormal return on their investment can derive benefit from the stock of of A.G.Barr Plc. Justification and description of assumptions: The above stated computation is based on the assumption that the total amount of dividend paid by A.G. Barr Plc is over the period of five years. The calculations provides evidences that the market value of shares derived under the dividend discount model is overrated (Vernimmen et al., 2014). Additionally, the value obtained under the net asset method is found to be on the fair value of the share price which stood 0.97 while the market value for each share stood 521.00. Hence it can be stated that under the dividend discount model and the net asset value method the market value of each shares is overrated. Making an investment in the shares of A.G. Barr Plc for the investors may not appear highly profitable during short run. However, A.G. Barr Plc has maintained the reputation of paying dividends to its shareholders over the five year period (Vishny Zingales, 2017). Therefore, making an investment in the share of A.G. Barr Plc for the long term may yield sufficient amount of benefit for the shareholders under food and beverage industry while other market players have paid higher dividends to its shareholders. Usefulness and limitations of valuation methods: Valuation of stock under the dividend discount model is viewed as the useful method based on the notion that stock of the organization holds the worth in respect to all the sum value of future dividend payments (Titman et al., 2017). To determine the intrinsic value of stock the dividend discount model is regarded useful since it excludes the present value conditions. The model is helpful in determining the current value of shares and future dividend payments. The net asset value method on the other hand is regarded as the useful tool of business valuation that places emphasis on the organization net asset or the fair market value of the total assets following the subtraction of total liabilities (Gitman et al., 2015). The net asset method is best suited in determining the financial picture of the organization from the information presented in the balance sheet. Taking account of the limitation of dividend discount model, the model fails to account the non-dividend factors namely the brand loyalty and the proportion of the intangible assets. Since these components increases the value of the organization (Barberis et al., 2015). Additionally, the model is based on the assumption that rate of growth is constant and stable. These assumptions hardly exists in the modern world. The net asset value simultaneously is regarded as the difficult method of determining the value of intangible assets particularly the property rights (Lazzati Menichini, 2015). Additionally, the statement of financial position may prematurely value the assets because of the existence of depreciation. Share price information The computation from the above table provides that A.G. Barr Plc has provided better return to their shareholders over the last ten years time and has been consistently paying dividends at an average of 2.35% yearly. The stock of A.G. Barr Plc currently yields close to 2.3% having the market of 946 million. Considering the stock price movements A.G. Barr Plc stock price has been in conformity with the FTSE index and has reported lower instances of volatility under the FTSE index (Marwala Hurwitz, 2017). Considering the investment prospect of Amicable Pension Fund making an investment in the shares of A.G. Barr Plc can be considered as the viable outlook since the company has been providing consistent dividends to its shareholders of around 2.35% annually. As understood the pay ratio for the company stands around 44% representing that the dividends has been sufficiently covered by the earnings generated by the firm. On considering the three year analysis it is expected that the dividend per share is approximately around 0.169 and the EPS of A.G. Barr Plc increased to 0.35. Amicable pension fund can rely upon the stock of A.G. Barr Plc as the company has been making consistent payment of dividend. The share price of the company has increased over the last decade from 0.06 to 0.14. Therefore, A.G. Barr Plc can be viewed as the viable investment prospect with an attractive yield of 2.3% to its shareholders under the food and beverage industry. Conclusion: On arriving at the conclusive note A.G. Barr Plc can be regarded as the feasible option for Amicable Pension Fund to make an investment. The stock performance of the company under the FTSE index does not reflect higher volatility with better dividend payout history. Despite the application of sugar tax can be considered as the risky affair but the wide range of products offered by the company with prolonged marketing campaigns, A.G. Barr Plc is anticipated to make optimum utilization of organization sources. Reference List: "Investors | A.G. BARR Share Information". 2018.Agbarr.Co.Uk. https://www.agbarr.co.uk/investors/. Scott, W. R. (2015).Financial accounting theory(Vol. 2, No. 0, p. 0). Prentice Hall. Schaltegger, S., Burritt, R. (2017).Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts and practice. Routledge. Warren, C. S., Jones, J. (2018).Corporate financial accounting. Cengage Learning. Macve, R. (2015).A Conceptual Framework for Financial Accounting and Reporting: Vision, Tool, Or Threat?. Routledge. Trotman, K., Carson, E., Gibbins, M. (2015).Financial accounting: an integrated approach. Cengage Australia. Waegenaere, A., Sansing, R., Wielhouwer, J. L. (2015). Financial accounting effects of tax aggressiveness: Contracting and measurement.Contemporary Accounting Research,32(1), 223-242. Carlon, S., McAlpine-Mladenovic, R., Palm, C., Mitrione, L., Kirk, N., Wong, L. (2015).Financial Accounting: Reporting, Analysis and Decision Making. John Wiley and Sons Australia. Kahng, L. (2016). Perspectives on the Relationship Between Financial and Tax Accounting. InControversies in Tax Law(pp. 105-122). Routledge. Damodaran, A. (2016).Damodaran on valuation: security analysis for investment and corporate finance(Vol. 324). John Wiley Sons. Ang, J. S. (2018). Toward a Corporate Finance Theory for the Entrepreneurial Firm. Fracassi, C. (2016). Corporate finance policies and social networks.Management Science,63(8), 2420-2438. Ehrhardt, M. C., Brigham, E. F. (2016).Corporate finance: A focused approach. Cengage learning. Vernimmen, P., Quiry, P., Dallocchio, M., Le Fur, Y., Salvi, A. (2014).Corporate finance: theory and practice. John Wiley Sons. Vishny, R., Zingales, L. (2017). Corporate Finance.Journal of Political Economy,125(6), 1805-1812. Titman, S., Keown, A. J., Martin, J. D. (2017).Financial management: Principles and applications. Pearson. Gitman, L. J., Juchau, R., Flanagan, J. (2015).Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU. Barberis, N., Greenwood, R., Jin, L., Shleifer, A. (2015). X-CAPM: An extrapolative capital asset pricing model.Journal of financial economics,115(1), 1-24. Marwala, T., Hurwitz, E. (2017). Efficient Market Hypothesis. InArtificial Intelligence and Economic Theory: Skynet in the Market(pp. 101-110). Springer, Cham. Lazzati, N., Menichini, A. A. (2015). A dynamic approach to the dividend discount model.Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies,18(03), 1550018.

Discover Your Passion With This Gap Year Program

Taking a gap year before college is a growing trend. It could be attributed to the increasingly competitive nature of college admissions, or maybe because it’s popular and Malia Obama is doing it. While there aren’t exact numbers on the number of students who take a gap year, there has been a 294% increase since 2010 in USA Gap Year Fair attendance. Again, this heightened interest spurs the question - why are students so interested in taking a gap year? The American Gap Association did an alumni survey in 2015 and asked what the most significant influence was in their decision to take a year off. Ranked 1st was their desire to gain life experiences and grow personally, followed by travel and experience other cultures, and finally, to take a break from their academic track. With the tech industry boom and increase in student entrepreneurs, high school and college students are also more encouraged to take the time off and take a risk. One way to do that is through Draper University’s pilot 9-month entrepreneurship program. This entrepreneurship program, also called the Master’s Program, is designed to allow you to incubate yourself and ideas. The 9-month program may not sound like the gap year you’re looking for, but it doesn’t follow the traditional academic calendar, nor are you confined to lectures and forced to memorize facts for exams. The program gives you a platform to develop essential skills to build, market and finance your startup. You’ll receive 1:1 mentoring sessions from Silicon Valley’s leading entrepreneurs and VCs, and given the opportunity to pitch in a business plan competition where Tim Draper will invest $1 million total. If traveling is your primary reason for taking a year off, this may not be the program for you. However, if you’re looking for a challenge to grow personally and professionally, you shouldn’t hesitate to apply. Tim Draper, the founder of Draper University, said, â€Å"We built Draper University to address the need for real world Entrepreneurship education, taught by entrepreneurs themselves. At Draper University, students are taught to learn by doing. They are rewarded for making mistakes. They are encouraged to go out and create revolutions. It takes one person taking the first step. That could be you.† Don’t simply associate startups with the Facebook campus and unlimited holidays. Building a startup takes a lot of hard work, countless mistakes and failures, and dedication. You’ll be able to test your own limits, challenge yourself intellectually, and more importantly, figure out what you’re passionate about. Take it from someone who has been through the program. Brian Friedman, now the founder CEO of Loopd, said, â€Å"As I arrived at Draper University I was welcomed with open arms to a new community. The positive energy just radiated, and I knew this would become my new family. When starting a company, you need to believe in yourself, your mission, and your purpose. Passion, creativity, and consistent drive are a few of the key factors that fuel your success. Draper University is an epicenter for serendipity unlike any other entrepreneurship program I have experienced.† While the program isn’t limited to students who are planning on taking a gap year this fall, it is an amazing opportunity to take advantage of. Live, learn and grow!

Rescale Test Scores by Using Sten Scores

Rescale Test Scores by Using Sten Scores Many times in order to make easy comparisons between individuals, test scores are rescaled.  One such rescaling is to a ten point system.  The result is called sten scores.  The word sten is formed by abbreviating the name standard ten. Details of Sten Scores A sten scoring system uses a ten point scale with a normal distribution. This standardized scoring system has a midpoint of 5.5.  The sten scoring system is normally distributed and then divided into ten parts by letting 0.5 standard deviations correspond to each point of the scale.  Our sten scores are bounded by the following numbers: -2, -1.5, -1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.0 Each of these numbers can be thought of as z-scores in the standard normal distribution.  The remaining tails of the distribution correspond to the first and tenth sten scores. So less than -2 corresponds to a score of 1, and greater than 2 corresponds to a score of ten. The following list relates sten scores, standard normal score (or z-score), and the corresponding percent of ranking: Sten scores of 1 have z-scores less than -2 and consist of the first 2.3% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 2 have z-scores greater than -2 and less than -1.5 and consist of the next 4.4% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 3 have z-scores greater than -1.5 and less than -1 and consist of the next 9.2% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 4 have z-scores greater than -1 and less than -0.5 and consist of the next 15% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 5 have z-scores greater than -0.5 and less than 0 and consist of the middle 19.2% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 6 have z-scores greater than 0 and less than 0.5 and consist of the next 19.2% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 7 have z-scores greater than 0.5 and less than 1 and consist of the next 15% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 8 have z-scores greater than 1 and less than 1.5 and consist of the next 9.2% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 9 have z-scores greater than 1.5 and less than 2 and consist of the next 4.4% of ranked scores.Sten scores of 10 have z-scores greater than 2 and consist of the last 2.3% of ranked scores. Uses of Sten Scores The sten scoring system is used in some psychometric settings.  The use of only ten scores minimizes small differences between various raw scores.  For example, everyone with a raw score in the first 2.3% of all scores would be converted into a sten score of 1.  This would make the differences among these individuals indistinguishable on the sten score scale. Generalization of Sten Scores There is no reason that we must always use a ten point scale.  There may be situations in which we would want to have use  of more or fewer divisions in our scale.  For example, we could: use a five-point scale, and refer to stafive scores.use a six-point scale, and refer to stasix scores.use a nine-point scale, and refer to stanine scores. Since nine and five are odd, there is a midpoint score in each of these systems, unlike the sten scoring system.

Oligopoly is the ideal market structure because it allows society to Essay

Oligopoly is the ideal market structure because it allows society to benefit from the efficiency gains of both competition and monopoly - Essay Example The range within which each oligopolist can independently influence prices is, however, narrower than where there is a pure monopoly, for he has to take into account not only the availability of substitutes (as does a pure monopolist as well), but also the likely actions of his principal competitors in his own market. In all circumstances price changes are likely to affect adversely the interests of certain participants in the market. Increases in price naturally are harmful to consumers, while decreases injure the interests of producers and of some traders. In monopoly and oligopoly situations the power of firms to influence prices, coupled with a high degree of dependence on these firms, tends to provoke allegations that all price changes are deliberately engineered to injure certain interests. Consumers, producers or rival traders may consider that they have been specially and deliberately injured by the actions of the monopolist or oligopolists, and may ascribe market changes to their intentional activities. Plausibility is lent to these views because in these situations the firms can undoubtedly influence the market; indeed, they cannot help doing so. It is therefore impossible conclusively or convincingly to refute allegations of profiteering, of destructive underselling to eliminate partic ular competitors, of deliberate depression of producer prices, or of wasteful inflation of costs. 1 An important and distinctive characteristic of oligopoly is the realization by each firm that its fortunes depend very closely upon the actions of the others in the same market. Their behaviour is necessarily influenced by the realization of mutual interdependence. Each firm appreciates that in initiating price changes it must expect the other firms to react to these changes, and that in assessing the net effects of a price change it must take account of the probable reaction of others. In deciding on price changes each firm considers not only the general market situation and its own financial and stock position, but also the probable conduct of its principal competitors. Firms recognizing their mutual interdependence may find it convenient and profitable to co-ordinate their policies and to act together, and co-operation is made easier because the numbers are comparatively small. An oligopolistic situation is frequently accompanied by market sharing arrangements between a number of producers or firms. This is particularly likely in the supply of standardized products or services, where these price-fixing agreements may be effective and stable even without formal market-sharing arrangements; banking and shipping provide familiar examples in the United States, in Britain and in Western Europe. Where the product is largely unstandardized, agreements are less often concluded, and, moreover, tend to be unstable; the motor industry seems to be a convenient example. Co-operation is, however, by no means the inevitable outcome of oligopoly. Individual firms may decide to try their strength and to enlarge their share in the market by active competition. Moreover, when new entry is