Occupy Wall Street Movement Essay

The Occupy Wall Street Movement began on Sept. 17, 2011, when a diffuse group of activists began a loosely organized protest called Occupy Wall Street, camping out in Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park in New York’s financial district. The protest was to stand against corporate and government greed, social inequality and the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process. The idea was to camp out for weeks or even months to replicate the kind, if not the scale, of protests that had erupted earlier in 2011 in Tunisia and Egypt. There were many that protested for this trying to make a change. Many people fought for their rights asking for help for certain situations such as foreclosing in homes and also asking for better jobs to support their families which I feel was the hugest part regarding this Movement. The Movement was very important for these people to stand up for their rights and announce the help that they needed and they feel that other people deserved when stuck in situations. There was a main slogan for these protesters. We are 99 percent was a huge part of this. It refers to income differential, a main issue for OWS. It derives from a We are 99 percent flyer calling for Occupy Wall Street’s second General Assembly in August 2011. The variation â€Å"We are the 99%† originated from a page of the same name. Vietnam War era, and that the majority of Democrats, independents and Republicans see the income gap as causing social friction. The slogan was boosted by statistics which were from the Congressional Budget report released in October 2011. I feel that Occupy Wall Street Movement did have great point. I think what they were hoping to do was great for people. Others did not understand that they were trying to distribute more of a even income for all people with better jobs. They were even trying to create more of a number of jobs for all people. A big part of this was to relieve much debt from people that had this. I think the effort for this had great morals and should have been remember and supported. This is a issues that I believe still comes from time and time and there still hasn’t been much done about these issues presented. Many people do not understand how hard today’s world is. There would be so much relief is there was a program that could help people out so much. I think people are fighting for their rights for so many things. People are looking for other’s to listen to their opinions. These people in the Movement wanted to make a change not just for themselves, but for the world and future. They were trying to make the public understand what they are not agreeing with and get them to understand that there are many other factors that need to be considered. Utilitarianism I feel plays a huge part in this. This represents good over bad for almost all situations. I feel that people in this Movement could feel that they would involve themselves with this. One of the big points with Utilitarianism is that one must understand happiness before they can get happiness. I feel that for what the people in this movement were fighting for was their happiness and they have already understood unhappiness. People can understand Utilitarianism that believes in this protest. Many people have gone through these six stages that were fighting for their rights. These people were looking for happiness and to maximize it as long as possible. It was very important for these people to get out of their tough situations and fight for a better life for everyone. People were not disregarding their problems; they were simply acknowledging them and trying to move on. It was just asking for help. Kant’s ethics I feel is the opposite of this movement. Kant felt that acting out in feelings and self interest meant you had no moral worth. He felt people that made mistakes just shall be punished. Many people are fighting to not feel this way. They were fighting for the right to get better no matter their situation. Just because a mistake is made does not mean you did not have any morals or any self worth. People everyday have made mistake that should not be held against them for their whole lives. Many people have made decisions which may have been wrong. We all should have the right to move on and go forward. There is not morally wrong about sticking up for what you believe in and fighting for it. Kant was very by the book and believed that everything should go a certain way. I don’t think he considered to fight for rights for humans and that some things that come along aren’t always morally correct. Another thing that was fought in this Movement was income equality. Income inequality is increasing nationwide and new data from the Census Bureau shows which states have it worst. Maine, West Virginia and California all count among states where the wealth gap is expanding fastest. The gap between the richest and poorest residents of twenty states increased last year, while remaining about the same for the remaining 30, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. No states saw significant decreases in their levels of income inequality. There is a huge different in the income equality. Many people don’t make barely anything to others. This has gotten worse over the years. It has even gotten worse then the 1700’s. There is way too far of a difference between the minimum wages and taxes that are taken from people. It would only be fair to up the minimum wage to make things more fair to people that do not have as good as others. This is something that people in the Movement were fighting for also. I feel that people in this movement would have been satisfied by just being acknowledged for the change they were trying to make. It is important for people trying to make a change in many important ways to at least feel like they are getting somewhere. I think a great outcome would be for people to consider what they are saying and work on fixing the problems. I think that many things that are being fought for are morally correct. If we all take a chance and realize the things we need to work on like provding help for people that need it, that would be great. For example, now in 2012 we have Obama care that helps many people that are in need of insurance that cannot afford it. Romney now is trying to get rid of this saying the government is paying too much to help low income people. This is the same thing. Many low income people are in need of this help and this should not be taken away from them. I think that a great ending would be for all people to be financially good. But everyone must work to get this help. I think we should all be financially stable no matter what income we make. Money is most of today’s problem especially with this economy today, if we could somehow get past this moment and look outside of this I think we could make it as a country by helping each other out. I believe this movement stood for great things. I think it will continue more movements in the future. Many people feel strongly about this subject. Some people use government help and abuse, but there are many people out there that need the help. I feel there should be a limited time to get assistance until you get on your feet. I believe there will be many people who want to fight over an argument about that. I hope there will be more positive movements such as this one in the future so people can stand up for what they believe in and what they hope for. People are looking for better jobs to make more money for their family. I feel that all people should fight to get to the best. That issue will never fade away. Some people had said about the movement that people were only asking for money which was not true. The goal of this movement was to get help for different things. These people in my opinion were not trying to over grow capitalism or start a riot. People were hoping for help when foreclosing on their homes which was a big issue. These are things that are happening to people who lose their jobs or getting a pay cut at work. These people were hoping for programs to get back on their feet. There are so many programs out there to help people; some money from the government should be able to go towards helping out people in these situations. I feel that this movement was very important and that people will continue to ask for this help until they are heard or a change is made. References: http://occupywallst.org/ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/16/us/ny-occupy-anniversary/index.html

The Beatles: the Greatest Band of All Time?

The Beatles: The Greatest Band of All Time? By: Erin Bozone Ask anyone. Read any music magazine. Go to any store. The Beatles are everywhere because of the legendary contributions they made to musical history and pop culture. They are frequently referred to as the greatest band of all time. But were they really? In this paper, I will compare and contrast two conflicting opinions on The Beatles: Howard Goodall’s documentary â€Å"20th Century Greats: The Beatles† and Piero Scaruffi’s written criticism on the band.I began reading Scaruffi’s web-based criticism, and despite being fore-warned of his unpleasant disposition, found its cynical and loathsome attitude to be unpleasant to read. Throughout the entire piece of writing, Scaruffi never ceased his constant verbal attack on The Fab Four, mercilessly calling them mediocre and generally uncreative musicians. He numerously accuses them of shameless imitation of other groups. He makes it very clear that he on ly believes The Beatles achieved their colossal fame due to extreme luck and just being at the right place at the right time.They arrived just as the white middle class were beginning to feel untrustworthy of the African-American-influenced Rock and Roll. They emerged out of nowhere with a polished and tamer version, stripped of it’s black roots that was more appealing and erased the idea it was a bad influence on the youth of the time. Scaruffi doesn’t believe The Beatles to be as world-shatteringly revolutionary as every single other person on the face of planet Earth does, bluntly stating that â€Å"Their music was just easy to sell to the masses†¦ nd they were photogenic†. Scaruffi credits their immense success not to musical ability, but to the fact that they were sellable, appealed to a broad audience, and had an infinitely accomplished producer. Scaruffi knows that George Martin was acutely influential on The Beatles musical choices and techniques. H e gets this right, although is cruel in his implied beliefs that none of the Beatles themselves contributed a single thing. I believe that he is unfair stating generally that The Beatles are ntalented and unoriginal. I believe this could maybe be applied to the shallow, simple music they were creating early in their career, but to say that overall they didn’t contribute anything at all wonderful is untrue. Over the short decade, they created, experimented and expanded so much that it is practically unfathomable. He does, however, offer slight praise of some elements of their later works such as Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and rightfully so. After Scaruffi’s dismal, cutting composition, I warmly welcomed Howard Goodall’s Documentary â€Å"20th Century Greats: The Beatles†. I expected a much more adoring view that would better match my own opinions and that would generally be pleasant to watch. I was sadly mistaken . First of all, Goodall insists on singing the songs himself and only occasionally plays the original recording, which was unimaginably irritating to me, at least.And not only was Goodall incessantly annoying as a narrator, he blindly worships The Beatles while offering useless information. The entire documentary describes in minute detail about the musical techniques that The Fab Four used to revolutionize music, when really they had no idea they were even using them as they were writing the songs. The only person who would’ve had an idea they were using these fancy tactics accidentally would be George Martin. I did not hear Goodall mention George Martin once†¦ and if he had, it must have been in passing.The only thing that Goodall got exactly right was the fact that they were brilliant at translating their feelings into music while virtually having no idea what they were doing musically, and that they did, indeed, change music forever. My own personal opinion, I think, would be somewhere in the exact middle between these two polar opposites. I love the music that The Beatles have created and think they were just spectacularly wonderful, but I also am able to recognize that a large percent of their brilliance was also contributed by George Martin and I accept that.I think the most impressive thing about The Beatles as a musical group is how much they accomplished. In just 10 years, they created so much. The monstrous amount of material the created is staggering. And all while experimenting, re-inventing techniques and making them their own, growing, learning, changing and finding themselves within the music is just mind-blowing and inspiring. Works Cited Goodall, Howard, dir. â€Å"The Beatles. † Howard Goodall's 20th Century Greats. Channel 4: 2004. Television. Scaruffi, Piero. â€Å"The Beatles. † www. Scaruffi. com. N. p. , 1999. Web. 29 Nov 2011. .

Chicken run Essay

Executive summary: 1998, Excel Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd (EPM) was a SME located in Kluang, Johor, operating business of chicken farming and supplying chicken throughout Malaysia. This subsidiary of PCK holding since 2005 was managed by Encik Selamat, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). It became one of top 5 chicken suppliers within mid-tier producers in the country due to increasing demand in year 2000 from superstores and fast-food chains, high chicken consumption by Malaysian, and expansion of chicken industry. However, in 2008, cost of poultry production increased. EPM operating cash was low and severe, that it â€Å"had puzzled Encik Selamat† (p. 4). Other problems were also identified. Decision Maker: Credit Controller Ms Choy is the decision maker as she has the responsibility to make the right decision regarding unethical conduct of Encik Selamat, she can convince Board of Directors about En. Selamat. If she failed to convince BOD to take action, she can then reveal the issue to the auditor, besides mentioning to the auditor the lack of segregation of duty in the business operation. She can execute and monitor implementation and performance of employees under her responsibility and convince her friend, Puan Azura to do the same. What should Ms. Choy do? Analysis: 1) SWOT analysis S – STRENGTHS | W – WEAKNESSES | * One of top 5 chicken suppliers * Continuing profitability and growth * Good promotional strategy * Qualified accountant (Encik Kasim) * Reliable Credit Controller (Ms Choy) * Encik Selamat’s reputation in community| * En. Selamat’s lack of expertise in poultry and meat industry * 2008’s operational crisis * Lack of focus of business operation * Cash flow issue * Conflict of interest * Possible error/ fraud/fictitious transaction * En. Selamat’s connection | O – OPPORTUNITIES | T – THREATS | * Malaysians’ highest consumption rates * Popular quick-service restaurants * East Coast Economics Region (ECER) * Emerging of giant superstores * Institutional retailing| * Production cost had risen about 56. 5% * Drop in demand * Credit limit of Cold Gold| The company has strong position in the industry as it is one of top 5 chicken suppliers. This means that EPM has a big portion of the market share in the industry. EPM also is strong for its sustained profit and growth. EPM had been able to maintain its operations and started making profit since the buoyant demand of chicken consumption. Besides, with initial capital of RM3. 6 million and starting with 20 employees, now, EPM had more than 200 employees. Occupied with good promotional strategy, EPM’s management team seized every opportunity in the industry. Moreover, EPM has capable key employees, which two of them are a qualified accountant, Encik Kasim and a reliable Credit Controller, Ms Choy. These employees contribute significantly towards the operation of EPM especially in the finance sector. In addition, Encik Selamat’s reputation in community is a strong influence of EPM towards the society where EPM was based. He was a public figure that will be contested in the local city council. En. Selamat’s lack of expertise in poultry and meat industry contributed a negative element in EPM as En. Selamat need to gain skills and expertise in the industry. Even though he was especially worried about the current unfavorable condition of EPM, his experience in this industry may not be sufficient. Besides, 2008’s operational crisis of EPM placed En. Selamat away from a smooth career track as recorded before 2008. EPM was lack of focus of business operation as it was at the infant stage and yet to mature in a proper method of management. Next, within EPM, there was cash flow issue and the company had to resort to short term borrowing which subjected to higher interest payment obligations. There was conflict of interest between Encik Selamat’s personal deal with Encik Azman, former college mate which was one of the executive of Cold Gold and the company’s interest. Cold Gold was one of EPM’s major customers. This relationship may impair En. Selamat’s judgment. In EPM, a few possible error/ fraud/fictitious transactions were detected, especially the irregularities in debtors’ account. The symptoms lead to a conclusion that it was caused by the former employee of EPM, En. Munir. Another factor that can be considered as EPM’s weakness point is En. Selamat’s connection with parent company of EPM, PCK Holding, where En. Selamat might be able to secure his position in EPM despite the problem he created without facing any punishment. The industry is in quite a potential market where Malaysians’ highest consumption rates of poultry and meat product. Malaysia was having one of the highest per capita consumption rates in the world – for chicken (32. 5 kg) and eggs (298 units) – and there were no dietary prohibitions (during these years) and religious restrictions against chicken consumption. In addition to household and traditional delicacies demand, the surge of popular quick-service restaurants from outside Malaysia and home-grown fast food chains intensified the market. Besides being the recognized poultry exporter, the industry was supported by the government through the East Coast Economics Region (ECER) as the poultry sector was part of the plan. Emerging of giant superstores and institutional retailing also enhanced the bright future of the industry. Despite the favorable situations in the market, EPM faced threat of chicken feed which resulting the production cost to rise about 56. 5%. Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia (FLFAM) made a call for higher chicken prices in order to protect producers’ earning in the face of feed cost hike. However, when the sellers did increase the retail price, some producers complained that they seen a drop in demand. Another threat was the credit limit of Cold Gold Sdn Bhd which had exceeded its level. This has significant effect to the company as Cold Gold is one of EPM’s major customers multiplied with the other issues faced by EPM. Increment in production cost Drop in demand Low cash flow High interest expense INABILITY TO PREDICT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE & FORCAST CONSEQUENCES: LACK OF COORDINATION IN CONTROL AND REPORTING: Credit limit control Debtor confirmation Misstatement Lack of segregation of duty LACK OF COMMITMENT FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT: Lack of expertise Lack of focus Conflict of interest Unethical behavior Reluctance in taking action LOW PERFORMANCE 2) Fishbone diagram According to Peter Drucker, â€Å"management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things†. Thus, the major issue in this case is unorganized management which leads to bad performance of the company. EPM faced problem as it fails to get commitment from senior management. As a leader, Encik Selamat was lacking of expertise in poultry industry, actively involved in social and community work instead of focusing more on business operation like, had conflict of interest (agency problem) while handling credit limit issue, and had under table deal with the client. Director himself had shown lack of leadership skill and ethical awareness as he kept silent regarding the unethical behavior of Encik Selamat and had more concern on reputation than ethical conduct. Besides, management of EPM is lacking of coordination in control and reporting. This can be seen from the severity of insufficient cash flow which was noticed only when significant borrowings had been made, high expenses, and loss incurred. Lack of segregation of duty also had given wide opportunity for misstatement by employees. Finally, EPM fails to predict environmental change regarding cost of production that leads to low profit making as EMP did not make any preparation or back-up plan to overcome such problems. 3) Financial Evidence on the operation of EPM: Financial Ratio Ratio| Formula| 2006| 2007| 2008| Interpretation| GP ratio (%)| (GP/Sales)*100| 5. 4845| 1. 6542| 1. 0814| Due to increment in COGS, EPM is profiting only 1 cent for every dollar of product sold in 2008| Inventory turnover ratio| COGS/Inventory| 16. 6774| 36. 0667| 28. 4962| EPM is turning over its inventory on average, 3 times per month in 2007 while this reduces to twice per month in 2008. | AR turnover ratio| Net sales/AR| 4. 3071| 3. 3957| 2. 8808| EPM takes around 3 months to collect its debt in 2006, while it takes more than 4 months in 2008. | Days to collect AR| 365/AR turnover ratio| 84. 7441| 107. 49| 126. 702| | Description of case exhibit (Account abstract): %Increase| 06to07| In 2007, cost increased while revenue did not increase much, and operating loss was recorded as retail price was only increased in August 2008. Thus, increment of revenue from in 2008 by 36. 16% corresponds with increment in cost in that year. Expenses took 30% of operating profit in 2006 while it took almost twice the operating profit in 2008. This might be due to interest payment made for short-term borrowing. Increment in trade receivable may not be the true amount as there were cases of misstatement. Stock in 2008 was higher due to lower demand. 07to08| Rev| 0. 57| 36. 16| COGS| 4. 64| 36. 95| Oper profit| -69. 67| -10. 99| Exp| 37. 50| 45. 45| Net| -108. 64| -315. 79| Trade rec| 27. 56| 60. 49| Stock| -51. 61| 73. 33| Trade cr| 62. 16| 50. 00| Alternatives available to the protagonist: Option 1: Ms. Choy can choose not to disclose the issues that she managed to investigate within EPM. This will benefit in saving the reputation of the company in public as well as the General Manager, Encik Selamat to secure his reputation in the coming city council election. Besides, Ms. Choy can justify her action of not bringing the matter up as Encik Selamat is an important staff of EPM and she had done her part by approaching one of the directors who was reluctant to take action against Encik Selamat. The drawbacks of this choice are ethical aspect and long term impact towards the company as a whole. Choosing not to disclose the facts is an unethical behavior on Ms Choy’s part. As for the long term, the public will find out the reality of the company as time goes because the auditors are likely to question the irregularities and Ms Choy will be interrogated. In the end, the company, En Selamat and Ms Choy need to face the huge impact of being nontransparent to the stakeholders. Option 2: Ms Choy has the right to disclose her findings straight to the external auditors as she has no direct authority to take any action towards the misappropriate culture in the company as well as the director which she had approached was hesitated to do so. By this, Ms Choy’s responsibility to report to public is passed to auditors and the problem is most likely will be solved. However, this aggressive decision will affect EPM severely in terms of drop in share price and reputation. Besides, the share price of the parent company will be affected too and the dropping trend will continue for a long time. Furthermore, the reputation of Encik Selamat will be highlighted by the public and media, subsequent of the auditors’ disclosure. Option 3: Ms Choy can opt to disclose the matter internally to the board of directors. Besides, she had found evidences to support her claims about the low performance of EPM. The benefit that EPM will gain from her disclosure is to ratify the problem before the auditors’ visit the following month. If the auditor is not satisfied with EPM’s condition, justification of ratification can be made and EPM will not be punished with qualified financial reports, which is not favorable. This decision may result in impairment of EPM’s and PCK’s reputation and share prices but the impact will be lower than the second option above. Recommendation and action plan: Based on analysis above, it is recommended for Ms Choy to choose Option 3 which is to disclose the matter internally to the board of directors. Suggested steps to follow are: 1. Bring the matter with sufficient evidences and justifications together with possible solution to board of directors 2. Check whether EPM has a written guideline relating to these issues and take proper actions against these issues (e. g. salary cut, not giving bonus etc. ) 3. If no written guideline is established, in case to avoid similar situation in the future, Ms. Choy should suggest for EPM to; a. Set up and appoint an independent committees of directors to monitor the performance and compensation of staffs b. Establish policies for clear ethical conducts, job scopes and management of EPM especially to solve ethical and agency problems c. Establish a whistle-blowing policies to encourage staffs to report any irregularities d. Communicate and implement guidelines and policies across levels of management, and absorb them as the EPM’s corporate culture to be shared within the organization.

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The Inside Truth of Avis Europe PLC(UK) planned failed(this may vary) - Essay Example Avis Europe had planned to implement this same system for their enterprise but the implementation of the project was cancelled after a $54.5 million investment. The lack of planning and inability to indentify requirements led to the failure of the ERP system even before it was officially implemented. By remaining focused on the objectives and careful planning the failure at avis Europe could have been avoided. The information technology industry has seen rapid growth over a period of time. Organizations are continuously looking for excellent quality software to enhance their productivity and profits. Despite the millions of dollars invested in implementing various information systems, organizations still encounter serious problems and failures during as well as following the implementation. Management Information System (MIS) failures occur all around the world in all kinds of organizations ranging from retailers to government organizations. There is a list of such failures which occurred in history and cost organizations millions of dollars in losses. some of the most notable IT failures in history include Hudson Bay Co. (Canada) which faced inventory problems which led to losses of over $33.3 million; Hewlett-Packard Co. (UK) which suffered $160 million loss as a result of a faulty ERP system; McDonald’s Corp. spent $170 million on information system purchase but later cancelled the project, Hershey’s faced an ERP failure which cost the company heavily, and the list goes on. Another such company to face information technology implementation failure for the Enterprise Resource Planning system is Avis Europe. This project aims to analyses the need for the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning system at Avis Europe and to study the problems faced by the company in the implementation which eventually

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Manegenment - Essay Example As the manager she was supposed to handle all managerial functions including inventory. She compounded the problem by paying her assistant more money than any of the other employees at the store. Ruth did not have the foresight to realize that the move could cause morale problems among the staff of the store. Ken Hoffman seemed very disappointed at a lot of decisions that Ruth was making. His perception was that Ruth’s poor performance as a manager was reflecting badly on him because he was the person that appointed her for the job. Ken made some mistakes along the way and he violated various empowerment guidelines. One of the empowerment guidelines that Ken violated was self-determination or choice. Ruth arranged on her own a TV slot where she could showcase the store and its products. Her initiative seemed like a great move for the store. Ken reprimanded Ruth and told her that she made a bad decision by taking that initiative since she was supposed to clear with the corporate office any TV appearances. The second empowerment guideline that was violated by Ken was trust. When Ruth followed company policy and disallowed a customer to make a purchase above $1,000 Ken insulted Ruth which made no sense since she was following company policy as indicated by Ken in earlier incidents. The decision about determining the best portfolio and investment recommendations for the company should not be made by me alone due to the fact that my knowledge and skills are limited to bonds. There is a team in place that can help me determine the best course of action in the selection process of equity investments. The knowledge this group possesses is imperative towards the success of the project. The reason that this decision is harder than it seems is because in the past these four employees have had problems working together and agreeing on decisions. As the person responsible for the report it is my duty to provide the leadership necessary to make this work. One of the

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How german jews reacted to nazi persecution from 1933-1942 - Essay Example She deliberately and openly flouted this rule and continued to work until leaving the country several months later (Catts, p39). Perhaps her limited experiences of persecution and of the Nazis and Gestapo are what enabled her to defy the law that was intended to prevent her from working, in that she had not been made aware through experience of the possible consequences of her actions. Josef Stone and his family left Frankfurt and Germany just a few months after Gertrude Catts (Stone, p38), but those few months were enough to make his experiences of Nazi persecution quite different. Stone recalls how his family and neighbors began to feel insecure and mistrustful (Stone, p36), afraid to show friendliness towards one another in case it was noticed by the Nazis. He describes how he was arrested on Kristallnacht and subsequently released (perhaps because he was only sixteen years old), and how his father was arrested and imprisoned in Dachau two days later. Kristallnacht was a turning p oint for Jews living in Germany – after this point, says Stone, nobody felt comfortable living in Germany any more. Many of the documents describe similar experiences, and for most of the narrators, anti-Semitism was experienced on a day-to-day basis. For example, Catts and Weinberg say that they or their parents were forbidden to work in German companies or to work at all and Rosenthal describes how her father was forced to do various types of labor. Many of them describe further incidents of segregation of Jews and Germans and general anti-Semitism, some more pervasive than others. Herta Rosenthal, for example, mentions that because she did not â€Å"look Jewish† (Rosenthal, p67) she was able to escape some anti-Semitic behavior – she was served in German shops where her Jewish-looking mother was refused service. Most of the narrators describe incidents of jeering and name-calling at the hands of

Business study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Personal Response of The Piano Lesson by August Wilson Assignment

Personal Response of The Piano Lesson by August Wilson - Assignment Example In fact, it was confusion that I experienced for I could not understand why keep a thing that makes one suffer and that one does not use at all. In addition to this, Doaker mentions that â€Å"she [Bernice] say it [the piano] got blood on it† (Wilson 10). It is obvious Bernice does not play it because of some superstitions she has and keeping the piano at home seems to be unreasonable. Moreover, Bernice’s brother needs the money that could be obtained if the instrument is sold for a good purpose. Of course, he wants to buy the land to be a master there; he also wants to buy it, however, to be the master of the land on which his ancestors were enslaved. When the long and tragic story of the piano was revealed to me, I experienced a belief conflict as I understood the actual value of the musical instrument. It appears to be both a symbol of both a family reunion and a reminder of slavery. Thus, it is more than an instrument: â€Å"[Boy Charles] Say [the piano] was the story of our whole family and as long as Sutter had it†¦ he had us. Say we was still in slavery† (Wilson 45). On the one hand, the idea of buying Sutter’s land is the way to pay tribute to the ancestors and the opportunity to create happier future. On the other hand, selling the piano may be compared to selling the family’s past. I hesitated whose side to take almost to the very last scene of the play, in which the author of the piece himself suggests what is right. The character that appeals to me is Boy Willie. It is mostly so because of his practical and somewhat down-to-earth view on life. He is the character that introduces the conflict into play saying he plans to sell the piano to buy the land. He says, â€Å"The only thing make the piano worth something is them carvings Papa Willie Boy put on there. [†¦] Papa Boy Charles brought that piano into the house. Now, I’ m supposed to build on what they left me† (Wilson 51). In other words, for Boy Willie, selling the instrument to buy the

What Were the Causes of the Unrest in England in the Early 19th Century Essay Example for Free

What Were the Causes of the Unrest in England in the Early 19th Century Essay There were many issues in the 19th century that caused chaos, people weren’t happy with they way that England was being ruled during that period in time. As a result of this riots and protests broke out all over England. The people were protesting about the political and economical issues that they found in the way parliament ruled England. 16th August 1819. The Peterloo Massacre. Peterloo gained its name by combining the place the battle happen, St Peters Field, and the previous battle’s name ‘Waterloo’. Peter-loo. Originally people had gathered at St Peter’s Field to listen to a well known speaker Henry Hunt to share his ideas on reforms such as giving all the men a right to vote and ending bribery and fraud at elections. At the massacre the soldier that came in killed 11 people and wounded over 500. As consequences from this the government passed 6 laws in December 1819. 1. Ban meetings of more than 50 people  2. Ban marching and weapon practice 3. Punish insults to the Church and government 4. Increase a tax on newspapers 5. Allow magistrates to search homes for weapons and documents without permission 6. Make it faster to take people to court and punish them. The Luddites. The Luddites were machine-breakers, so called after a mythical leader, General Ludd. In 1811-16 textile workers in the east midlands, south Lancashire, and west Yorkshire met secretly in public houses or on the moors, took oaths. They smashed the machinery of mill-owners who refused what they demanded. When trade unions were illegal, Luddism may be recognised as bargaining by riot: frame-breaking in the east midlands was an attempt to bully factory employees. Eventually the Luddite bands were tracked down and the presumed leaders were executed or transported. 1811-1812. Captain Swing and Ned Ludd. Before the invention of factory machines, spinning and weaving were skilled jobs which people could do at home. The new machines in textile factories in Lancashire, Nottingham and Yorkshire fewer, lower paid and unskilled workers. In 1811 many letters were sent to employers in textile factories. These letters looked like this:- Sir, Information has just been given that you are a holder if those detestable shearing-frames and I was asked by my men to write to you and give fair warning to pull them down. If they are not taken down by the end of the week I shall send 300 men to destroy it. Signed Ned Ludd Many of these letters were sent and many machines were destroyed. The letters were signed ‘Ned Ludd’ or ‘Captain Swing’ as a false name to protect the identity of desperate workers who carried out their threats. 23rd February 1820. The Cato Street conspiracy. The Cato Street conspiracy gained its name by the fact that the main conspirators were arrested on ‘Cato Street’. A group of men all got together to attach the government in attempt to get revenge on the government for ‘Peterloo’. I think there were many reasons why there would be plots against the Government in 1820. The reasons could be different laws being introduced; the solders were losing their jobs and couldn’t get new ones, finally certain food prices were increasing with the tax. Later on Arthur Thistlewood, the main conspirator, was arrested whilst trying to invade on a government meeting. After that Arthur was hanged, drawn and quarter along with 10 other men on the 1st May 1820. Thistlewood and the others were the last to be punished in this way in Britain. Before the 1830’s in Britain only certain people could vote, these people were men, the results could take up to three weeks to be known, the men had to vote in public and the voting would take place on a platform called ‘husting’ in an atmosphere of a drunken crowd. Britain in the 1830’s, there were many protests in the 1830’s; these were towards making Britain fairer. In 1830-1831 there were many protest marches in Scotland. The marchers were protesting at the unfair way in which the country was run. They then passed ‘The First Reform Act’. 1832. The First Reform Act. In 1830 the recently elected Government of the Whigs or Liberals led by Earl Grey introduced the reform bill. It was opposed by the Conservatives (The Tory Party) but most people supported the bill. The new law was called ‘the Reform Act of 1932’. The law was one step closer to making Britain a more democratic country. The chartists were a group of people that were trying to pass the ‘Charter’ through parliament. They were mainly workers that didn’t own their own property. The chartists had only one aim, to achieve the charter. The Charter was a document the contained six points that the chartists wanted parliament to pass. The six points:- †¢ Every man over 21 who is not a criminal or insane should be allowed to vote †¢ Voting should be done in secret †¢ You do not have to be rich or own property to become an MP †¢ All MPs should be paid for doing there jobs †¢ All voting areas should be the same size †¢ Elections should be held every year Later in 1900 five out of the six points had been achieved. The only one that hadn’t was ‘Elections should be held every year.’ Throughout the 19th century and late 18th century hundreds of workers lost their jobs. Many people were afraid of not providing for their family, their family starving to death and being homeless. The cause of this was machinery being introduced into the factories and onto farms. In conclusion to this essay, I don’t think there was one main cause to the unrest in Britain in the 19th century, think there were many causes. There were many political issues that caused to the protests in the country, all the protests and historical events followed onto each other by the consistent problem of the English people not liking the way Britain was ruled and run. These protests were due to economical reasons, the fear of loosing their job and starving.

Are Computers Making People Dependent On Technology?

Are Computers Making People Dependent On Technology? Technology comes in many forms and no aspect of our lives is untouched by some form of technology or another. Technology is defined as the practical application of science to commerce or industry. Technological development into present day has been meteoric to say the least. With the advancements of nearly every aspect of human life having some tie with technology, one might start to see a synergistic relationship between humans and technology. However, while some would believe this relationship has been beneficial for us, we believe there have been detrimental effects from our growing dependence on technology. Technology is changing our culture in such a way that we may be expected to be available and online at anytime of the day or night. The technologies that started out to provide assistance in completing our daily tasks have now become a vital part of survival. This paper argues that humans have formed a detrimental symbiotic relationship with technology in its many forms. This paper will investigate the changes that technology has affected, and show that we are becoming less dependent on ourselves and more detrimentally dependent on our technological accomplishments. The way society does business and commerce is very dependent on the reliability on technology and thus, technology failures will cause markets to stop and bring the whole economy to a halt. Vital banking transactions and services may stop and cause wastage in human resources and time. For example, even though the exact reason is still disputed, London Stock Exchange (LSE) had to stop trading on the 8th September 2008. The two main reasons were due to the network software issues that link data from many programs as explained by LSE while the other was due to buggy software upgrade as speculated by external professionals. This had left traders unable to conduct any business which intriguingly could have been one of the best days for markets around the world after a bail out of two large United States mortgage lenders. Reliability of technology cannot be guaranteed at all times. Technology crashes can also cause big companies to lose billions of dollars. An example event known as the Flash Crash (Nanex) on 6th May 2010 illustrates this point. Just hours before the market closed, the market plunged drastically by an average of 5.7% causing major markets around the world to go into a state of panic anticipating an imminent European financial crisis and caused great loses to companies. An investigation was done by Nanex (Nanex) stating that the crash may be due to a software design flaw in time-stamping procedures that accumulated to become a problem. Backlogged requests caused a long queue in the computer server and produced non consistent results to the requester. This further evidenced that such a dependency on technology is detrimental to the society as sudden reliability issues can create chaos all around the world or even cripple an economy. Research shows that people consume 12 hours of media a day, on average, and compared to just five hours in 1960. Rising income in the developed world has led to an increase number of peoples ability to afford personal computers, and connecting them to the World Wide Web (WWW). Rising incidences of internet addiction in one of the worlds largest growing economies, China, illustrates our point. Of the greater than 300 million internet users in China, there are over 40 million who play online games (Sheridan). That makes over 40 million young, impressionable youngsters in China online daily, playing games, mingling in chat rooms, replacing their reality with an online substitute. Communication and socializing becomes something which can be replaced by actions online. One can imagine how suggestible adolescents can find a life online to be appealing. Common adolescent angst from the real world can be replaced by a life online. Addiction is a term describing a physical or physiological de pendence on something habit forming. One may argue that this addiction, to computers in this case, may simply be a phase. However, it can be seen as a serious condition when one considers the fact that centres for dealing with this type of addiction are springing up, some of which are a sub-facility under centres that treat addictions which have long been accepted as severe, such as drugs and alcohol. If the treatment for this is similar to other addictions which are widely accepted as bad, why is this phenomenon not receiving as much attention? Multitasking is a skill often prized in todays fast paced society. However, studies have shown that our brain on computers operate differently from a natural brain. The attention of the present generation is often split between multiple information sources, and it seems vital to be able to be able to manage them all, be they instant messaging (IM), checking e-mails, reading the news, taking phone calls, and so forth. However, some scientists say that these short bursts of information, leading our attentions in many directions, are changing the way we think and operate. Research shows that people who are heavy multitaskers have problems focusing and selecting relevant information. Researchers claim that after prolonged exposure to this kind of operation, the brain is re-wired and the problems associated with multitasking, such as lack of focus are then carried into the natural state of the brain. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Ophira, Nass , and Wagner), a group of over 250 students were surveyed to study the effects of multitasking. The results clearly illustrated our point; that the lightest multitaskers were able to perform better than the heavy multitaskers in simple psychological tests. The tests highlighted the fact that multitaskers were less able to filter out unrelated information. Furthermore, other tests conducted showed that the heavy multitaskers continuously sought new information, instead of using older, more valuable information. Our reliance on technology has dramatically improved communication, making it more robust, efficient and informative. In the current times, the ease of communication has allowed vast amount of data and information to be transmitted all over world instantly. For example, soldiers fighting the war in the Middle East are able to call using Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol and webcam technology to communicate with family members. This has allowed families to be assured that their loved ones are safe especially when news of casualty can be broadcasted within minutes, 24 hours a day. However, with the current efficiency of instant messaging and social networking, more and more people are becoming overly dependent up to the point of addiction. Issues have been raised over employees spending up to 40 minutes per week on social networking sites during working hours, costing employers an estimated US$2.25 billion. The loss in productivity arises not only from the direct loss in the hours working but also from the reduced productivity of employees from social networking sites becoming an additional distraction. On the other hand, social networking sites are also becoming excellent resources for human resource manager as it offers revealing information of potential and current employees social activity. Furthermore, it has been linked to another issue of society becoming dependent on social networking and posting potentially sensitive personal information such as where one is at or what one is doing. The dependence on technology for communication in the society has also meant that humans are increasingly communicating through a device; which reduced human to human first hand interaction. The decrease of interpersonal interaction in turn reduces ones interpersonal skill which is one of the most basic and fundamental way of communication (Wheeler). Interpersonal communication cannot replace communication through emails, text messages and calls as 55% of the communication is conveyed through body language. Eye contact, gestures and facial expressions and the use of tone and inflections in voice communication are often lost through modern communication technology resulting in less expressive communication or miscommunication. In conclusion, we believe that we have presented facts which support our argument that we have grown detrimentally dependent on technology. We have explored the many facets of technological development which are firmly embedded in most aspects of modern life, and we have strived to analyze how the effects of these developments are detrimental on society. We maintain that the ramifications of our reliance on new medicine, social media, and technology in education, commerce and communication are a disservice to society. While we think that these bindings are detrimental, we do not support a complete disconnection from them. We conclude with the fact that while there are indeed benefits to be had from these advancements, but we, as a society should learn to harness the useful ones, instead of allowing them all to run our lives.

IPO Pricing: Underwriter and Litigation Risk Impact

IPO Pricing: Underwriter and Litigation Risk Impact Going to public fund is one of the strategies to company to getting additional fund. Before that, company must publish their share to bursa Malaysia before invite the public to buying their share. But for unlisted company they cannot simply publish their share to public and they must be listed in bursa Malaysia first. With that they must publish their prospectus when the first time they want to issue share to public and this is we called Initial Public Offering (first time going to public). Background In Malaysia history of IPO are begin when Malaysia stock market was establish as the Malaysian stock exchange in 1960. 1n 1973 the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Berhad (KLSEB) and Singapore Stock Exchange (SES) are begin to replace the Malaysia Stock Exchange. In that time number of company that issuing IPO is not more to 500 companies. From 1973 until 2007 the IPO trend is showing quickly publish. In 1973 the number of listed company only 262 and up until 2007, Malaysia stock market have 1028 company. This rapid increase in the number of new listings is attributed to a number of factors, mainly to raise financing for expansion, to reduce the cost of new funds and to reduce the level of leverage (Shamsher et al., 1994). In 1980, the market valuation in Bursa Malaysia is about RM43 billion and reach to a trillion ringgit in year 2007. It happen when many companies are started to going public fund. Apart from that in year 1991 to 2003 the individual retailers have constituted more than 85% of the market player in bursa Malaysia IPO. Compared to the individual retailers group, the institutional investors group is reporting a smaller average at 2.05%. The remaining 6.47% of the market participants is consisting of others. From the 1984 to the 1995 the newly issue of IPO on the main board on KLSE is 173 company. Similar like that, when certain company wants to issuing the IPO, they are requiring by law to allocate 30% for Bumiputra investor. The main objective is to ensure the Bumiputra has own shareholding at least 33% on the entire market share. The pricing of IPO in Malaysia are regulated by Security Commission (SC) and it only take place when ministry of Trade and Finance (MITI) and Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) have giving their consent to the listing. It means the SC has make valuation on company in term of company financial statement and performance to evaluate whether certain company is really valuable to publish on the bursa Malaysia. One of the differential and unique IPO in Malaysia is, major of shareholder and the promoting bank (underwriter) have the choice to provide the profit guarantee not less than 90% on forecast profit on prospectus. Another way, the prospectus of company must be publish in Bahasa or English language and it must submitted to MITI, FIC and SC and the first trading is about in 12 month. The company, is not to seek approval the right issue from the SC during the 12 month they are listing, because actually the time between companies submit prospectus date to the SC for approval right issue to start trading is about 6 month. Recent reforms in Government Linked Companies (GLCs) are expected to improve performance and encourage private investment. More than 40 GLCs are listed, comprising less than 10% of Malaysias GDP. Changes in management, adoption of performance based contracts for management and implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) are some of the reform that has been underway since April-May 2004. Merger and Aquistion (MA) actively declined in volume terms, due to a lack of very large transaction. Nonetheless, the number of MA transactions has remained stable over the past two years. Singapores Temasek Holdings acquired large minatory positions in Malaysia banking and plantations companies. In the automotive industry, Chery Automotive, a Chinese assembler has announced plans to earmark Malaysia as their regional distribution hub, while Proton reached a deal to assemble Volkswagen Cars and distribute them in Southeast Asia. Proton, Sime Darby and Telecom Malaysia have all announced acquisitions of foreign companies too. 1.2 Problem Statement Initial public offering (IPO) one of the manners to company get additional fund thru equity funding, when certain company wants to increase their operation, but it not sufficient fund of borrowing they can officially going to public fund primary market (when first time company going to public). In other words, this IPO tend use by small growth firm to increase their capital and to issuing new capital. This company must be perfectly evaluating certain cost, i.e. cost of underwriting, attorney fee, cost of management time allocation to the lawsuit, reputation cost and so on. All of these cost potentially become liability for a small company in the first time they issue IPO. The first problems of the research are to identify about the underwriter effect on IPO. Apart from underwriter, second areas on this research will looks on information of the companies, information also can become higher cost for issuer, they will incur cost to encourage information generation prior to the IPO and after the IPO because issuer want giving good impression to customer about their company. But for customer, cost will be incurred when they want searching strong information about certain company profile. Basically, IPO will be determining by investment bank and IPO firm managements to setting up IPO price (offer price spread). This to make comparison, between company offer price (company determine IPO price) and what actual price should be offer by company. On top of that, potential litigation costs are quite significant for firms that have recently gone public. Attorney fees, the costs of management time allocated to the lawsuit, reputation costs, and settlement costs represent an enormous potential liability for a young firm. The last areas we will look on relation between risk and IPO in an aspect of the litigation-risk, where the firms with higher litigation risk will affect their IPO? 1.3 Approach of the Study In research we have two methods, firstly we have quantitative and second the qualitative (Gubra and Lincon, 1994). In our research the quantitative method will be chosen with the purpose of this study because it able to value observation, precise measurement, statistical analysis, data collection is fix/cannot manipulate, variable truth and the most important is the hallmark good quantitative research are reliability and validity of data collection. After data are already collected it will be need to be edited, then data have to be coded and lastly data have to be key in and software programmed used to analyze the data. After data has been analyzed, we can make interpretation to getting conclusion about our research and make recommendation or suggestion to make improvement to Malaysia IPO. The final result also can be use for investor to do decision making about the attraction investment for them. 1.4 Scope of Study The scope of our research is consisting all company listed during 2000 until 2008 in Bursa Malaysia, whereby compasses 8 years in areas of to identity whether the Underwriter, Litigation and Prospectus will influence company pricing of IPO. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter we examine those factors generally considered to impact IPO performance to assess the extent to offering price is likely to be set and in setting the offering price. It is organized into two sections. The first section presents the historical of IPO and second section given the capital structure, secondary market return, litigation and prospectus in effected the IPO pricing. 2.1 Initial Public Offering Malaysia law define sale of expand authorize share of a company as new issue and the offer of share from the existing shareholder to the public is define as sale of share. The new issue market therefore consists of new issue and the sale of share of private company and government linked company to the public. Regulator approves new issue with elaborate care to ensure public interest is safeguard and the approval process may take up to a year in a large placement. Offering new issue to outsider help to raise finance for expansion and to obtain less costly source of new fund. Some research has been done by Fama 1984, company that listed in the New York market raise capital at a lower cost, the having from which amount to three quarter of one percent compare to unlisted company. Apart from that the investor has purchase of share listed in the secondary market obtain nominal yield, with are lower on average than in the new issue market. This extra return in a new issue market is the insider value factor which make offer price lower thus giving a high return. The over subscription of new issue keep feeding the frenzy for new issue. One study has suggest that the over subscription rate in Malaysia average 46 time (Dawson 1987, Yong 1991). Similar like that the new issues are price by the market at a much higher level than would be the case if (a) the new issue was equally like to be issue in bull or bear market and (b) there is no frenzy in wanting to subscribe to new issue. Because of the frenzy in the new market issue, there is practice pressure during the initial few month, which keep the price artificially high during this early period after listing. At the same thing, one would expect the price in the new issue market to attain normal level after the initi al few month when normal price unfettered by price pressure begin to emerge. For another part the new issue are substantially underprice in the Australian, UK, USA and the developed market. It similar behavior found in Malaysia because the offer price appears to be a deep discount of the initial day for market price. But the extent of underpricing is smaller in the developed market than in the developing market. The research finding on the IPO in the some developed country such as Australia, UK, USA and developing market such as Korea, Malaysia Singapore and other suggest an apparent underpricing of new issue because offer price appear to be a large discount off the initial listing day market prices. Considered again the long run share market return report in all these country, and the reward rate of those allocation new issue are substantially higher than normal rate of return in the secondary market of these country. Therefore, new issue should provide higher reward, which is the source of underpricing. apart from that the investment bankers try to reduce the offer risk and cost of underwriting by underpricing the issue. The present evidence of underpricing may also be due to the uncertainty about the real value of share and the related need to offer compensation to the investor for assuming the risk of the uncertainty. But for recent research has been done (Arif, Prasad, Shamsher and Annu ar 1994) contradict this widely disseminated explanation. Share appears to be issue at their intrinsic value but then price are bid up by an optimistic investment market, which wrongly interpret demand pressure as understanding. While Ross (1984) explain the underpricing of IPO using the idea of information asymmetry between informed and unimformed investor. He suggest that the asymmetry of information between the issuer and their investment banker is less relevant for pricing. 2.2 IPO and Secondary Market Returns Bradley et al (2009) examined IPO secondary market returns on the first day of trading during 1993-2003, and findings important things. First, there are open to close return are much larger than previously documented and potentially exploitable. It was averaging over 2% during the sample period. Second, we found that the market does not reach an equilibrium price until approximately 2 h into trading. Although this average is driven upwards by IPOs during bubble period. Third is that effect is persistent over the entire sample period, considered where they consider several non-mutually exclusive explanations, such as: price support by the lead underwriter, laddering, retail sentiment, and information asymmetry. They also examined the impact of retail sentiment on secondary markets return and found there were a strong positive relationship between the proportion of small trades and open to close returns consistent with the view that retail demand and sentiment can push IPO prices higher. But this argument assumes that these overoptimistic retail investors would ultimately experience a reversal. They also argue that information asymmetry can be in the form of aggregate demand uncertainty, which is unlikely to be resolved until the IPO opens for secondary market trading. 2.3 Company Capital Structure Basically firm has two source of fund, firstly they can use from internal fund and second for external fund. For internal fund they can use additional retain earning and also additional equity of shareholder and for external fund it can be use loan from financial institution and primary debt issue in the debt market. The capital structure theory is inconclusive about which factor determine borrowing level, expect providing the general idea that a firm ability to identify positive net present value investment should determine capital need, and further that a firm capital structure quality also determine the tax shield value from debt. Modigliani and Miller (1958) argue that the capital is not influence by a firm financing mix under the assumption that the capital market is perfect and there is no corporate tax. Average cost of capital will be lowering when market is imperfection and it increase value of the firm subsequent to borrowing. But for (Robicheck and Myer 1966, Hamada 1972) the firm financial risk will be increase when company has make decision to continuously borrowing. For another part if company is have extra debt, the shareholder risk will be higher. It happens because if these companies are going to bankruptcy, the first company obligation action is paying all their debt first. For (Gupta 1982) before company achieves maximum debt, the maximum value of the firm will always be reach first. Company has made decision going to public because they want to increase fund to run the business in big scale. For (Gordon 1990) examined the relationship between a firm financing structure and the company technology. His result has supported the idea that firm with high capital to labor ratio acquire financing to run it business. 2.4 IPO and Litigation risk In our study on litigation, Skinner (1994) finds that the threat of litigation potentially alters firms disclosure behavior, and Krishnan and Krishnan (1997) and Shu (2000) find that this same threat causes auditors to stay away from risky clients. We extend this line of research by documenting another effect of litigation risk, it leads IPO firms to lower their offer price as one form of insurance against future litigation. Tinic (1988) tests the litigation-risk hypothesis by comparing the IPOs prior to and subsequent to the 1933 Securities Act, which substantially increased the legal exposure of IPO issues. Alexander (1991) examines 17 computer-related IPOs in 1983. She finds that securities lawsuits were more likely filed when the dollar amount of the ex post stock price decline was sufficient to support the fixed cost of bringing a case. She also finds little variation among the settlements as a fraction of shareholder losses. Further, consistent with the deterrence effect of IPO, there is evidence that firms that engage in more IPO significantly lower their litigation risks, especially for lawsuits occurring closer to the IPO dates. After controlling for the endogeneity of initial returns and lawsuit probability, both the insurance and deterrence aspects of the litigation-risk. The simultaneous-equation framework used in this study is potentially useful for other settings. 2.5 IPO and Prospectus Information The process of taking a firm public enables firms owners to realize both personal and professional goals. Taking the firm public, for example, enables entrepreneurs who have invested considerable time and resources in building the firm to sell a portion of the firm, thereby providing personal funds as a reward for their efforts and enabling them to diversify their wealth (Rock, 1986). Moreover, the IPO helps entrepreneurs secure funding that allows them to pursue growth opportunities for the firm. As the firm grows, entrepreneurs may find themselves unable to secure increasing capital requirements to fund firm growth. Also, entrepreneurs may seek to avoid covenant-filled commercial loans that hinder their ability to take the risks necessary to pursue firm growth opportunities (Rock, 1986). Investment bankers are responsible for coordinating the stock offering for the IPO firms managers (Benviste and Spindt, 1989). They provide an invaluable source of guidance for IPO firm entrepreneurs and managers, most of whom will have had no prior experience with the complex, often lengthy, process of taking the firm public. In addition to facilitating the IPO process by counseling firms entrepreneurs and managers, investment bankers assume primary responsibility for effectively marketing the firms securities to the investment community. The investment bankers determine the offer price spread, which must be disclosed either in the preliminary prospectus or shortly after filing the registration statement in an amended prospectus. The actual offer price is not determined until the day prior to the stocks offering. This spread and offer price are of central importance to the entrepreneurs taking the firm public, as they determine the amount of funds the IPO firms owners can expect to raise as a function of the stock offering. Given their centrality in the IPO process, it is important to understand those factors that may assist investment bankers in their initial determination of the spread within which they believe the final offer price will be set and, subsequently, the final offer price. The price spread may provide an indication of the level of uncertainty surrounding the IPO. Uncertainty in the IPO context derives largely from the fact that the firm, while it may have an extensive operating history, has not previously operated under public scrutiny. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter are consist and will be discuss about the purpose of the study, population of study, data collection, independent variable, dependent variable, research modeling and the lastly the data analysis. 3.1 Population of Study The population of our research is consisting all company IPO from 2000 until 2008. We also want to identity whether the Underwriter, Litigation and Prospectus situation will influence the investor to make the investment and how they react to company announcement of IPO in the good economic situation. On top of that, we might look on about company performance before and after the 1997 Malaysia financial crisis on the areas of our study. 3.2 Data Collection To investigate the new IPO issue since 2000 until 2008, which had all the require information for analysis on our research. The public record in various issue of investor digest, daily diary and the company files from Securities Commission (SC) and Bursa Malaysia (BM) were accessed to obtain value for the variable. On top of that, requests for IPO prospectuses were sent to all firms undertaking IPOs in 2000 and 2008 as identified by the SC. 3.3 Independent Variables We rely on three independent variables for hypothesis testing, the first is the Prospectus Information. Founder CEO is a dichotomous variable with zero being a nonfounder CEO and one a founder CEO. CEO retained equity is calculated as the percentage of the IPO firms stock that the CEO will hold following the opening day of trading. These data are reported in the prospectus filing. Board composition is measured as the percentage of independent outside directors serving on the board. Board size is measured as the total number of directors serving on the IPO firms board. Second independent variable is Litigation Risk, as argued earlier, a firm about to make an IPO faces a trade-off in its pricing decisions. A higher offer price increases proceeds from the IPO, but it also raises the expected litigation costs. Two predictions emerge concerning the cross-sectional relations between IPO and inherent litigation risks. First, firms with higher litigation risk purchase more insurance, that is, they their shares by a greater amount (the insurance effect). Second, firms who choose higher levels of insurance incur lower expected litigation costs in the form of reduced probabilities of lawsuits. The third part is underwriting. The underwriter is playing to influence the public confidence about the company. If the company IPO is not over subscribe, the underwriter will be help that company to resell the IPO and maybe buying the IPO behalf of the company. When the company first time to setting the IPO price, it to hart to determine the suitable price because lack of expertise. The simple way to company is making negotiate with the underwriter. The issuer and underwriter is lock to the offer price regardless of the subscription of the market movement. Basically inside the underwriter agreement it conclude the underwritten fee, amount and whether the issue will indemnify the underwriter again all liability, cost and expence incur by the underwriter in relationship to the issue. 3.4 Dependent Variables This variable is computed as the difference between the high and low values in the range of offer prices established by the investment bankers. We calculate this measure as the (stock price at the time of IPO the firms book value)/stock price at the time of IPO. This price reflects the price at which the firms stock will be sold to initial investors on the opening day of trading. A firm litigation risk is also increasing in the volatility of the stock. One way to obtain the expected volatility is to use the standard deviation of prior stock returns. However, this is not feasible for IPO firms. Another alternative is to use the standard deviation of post-IPO returns. However, this is not observable prior to the IPO and may not be in the managers information set at the time of the offering. For (Smith, 1991 and Raghavat 1996) the company that issue the new security in public need the investment banking to become their underwriter in return for a commission comprise management fee, underwriting fee and the lastly the selling concession. The compny also must carefully choose their investment banker to become their underwriter, because the good of underwriter will be able this company increase their IPO price (negotiation and discussion between bank and company). One of the criteria is the underwriter must know the company industry, tern of propose offering, potential conflict of interest relating to the investment banker affiliation with the issuer competitor and the ability to the company provide research support after the offering price. 3.5 Research Modeling DEPENDENT VARIABLE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE Prospectus Information Initial Public Offering Litigation Risk Underwriter E(à ¯?†¢i) = ÃŽÂ ²1 + ÃŽÂ ²2X2 + ÃŽÂ ²3X3 + ÃŽÂ ²Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Xà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ + à ¯? ­i. ÃŽÂ ²1 = Intercept, value of à ¯?†¢I when X2, X3, X4, equal to zero (0). ÃŽÂ ²2 = Changing in à ¯?†¢i when X2 change with assumption X3, X4, is constant. ÃŽÂ ²3 = Changing in à ¯?†¢i when X3 change with assumption X2, X4, is constant. ÃŽÂ ²4 = Changing in à ¯?†¢i when X4 change with assumption X2, X3, is constant. X2 = Prospectus information X3 = Underwriter X4 = Litigation risk à ¯? ­i = Yi error in population. The hypotheses are stated below: H0 = 0, mean has no significant relationship. H1 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0, mean has significant relationship. Prospectus information H0 = Prospectus information does not significant relationship to IPO H1 = Prospectus information has significant relationship to IPO Underwriter H0 = Underwriter does not significant relationship to IPO H1 = Underwriter has significant relationship to IPO Litigation risk H0 = Litigation risk does not significant relationship to IPO H1 = Litigation risk has significant relationship to IPO 3.6. Data Analysis The final stage of our methodology is data analysis. When the data already run we will elaborate on the various statistical test and make interpretation of the result. To analysis our research we use SPSS for window software. The data was analyse to identify, examine, compare and interpreted theme and pattern. The analysis has been started after the collection of all the necessary data basically come from secondary data collection. Use of this SPSS software is illustrated which mainly because they are easily available in business settings. In data analyses, we have three objectives, firstly getting a feel for the data, second testing the goodness of the data and lastly testing the hypotheses developed for the research.

King Lear - Disruption Of Order In King Lear And The Causes Essay

Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to his other two daughters as they conspire against him. Lastly, the transfer of power from Lear to his eldest and middle daughter, Goneril and Regan, reveals disorder as a result of the division of the Kingdom. A Kingdom without order is a Kingdom in ch aos. When order is disrupted in King Lear, the audience witnesses chaotic events that Lear endures, eventually learning who truly loves him. At the start of the play, Lear decides to divide his Kingdom into three. Give me the map there. Know we have divided In three our Kingdom and ‘tis our fast intent to Shake all cares and business from our age. (I,i,37-39) This is the first indication that order is disrupted. Dividing up a Kingdom politically has many disadvantages that Lear do...

Epic of Beowulf Essay - Foreign and English Translations and Versions o

Foreign and English Translations and Versions of Beowulf   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From 1805 until the present there have been introduced an abundance of paraphrases, translations, adaptations, summaries, versions and illustrations of Beowulf in modern English and in foreign languages due mostly to two reasons: the desire to make the poem accessible, and the desire to read the exotic (Osborn 341). It is the purpose of this essay to present a brief history of this development of the popularity of the poem and then compare some of the translations with respect to some more difficult passages in the poem Beowulf.    In 1805 Sharon Turner included some passages from Beowulf in his The History of the Anglo-Saxons; he increased the text in later editions. In 1815 Grimur Johsson Thorkelin published the complete, though inaccurate, translation of the poem Beowulf. Thorkelin thought that the poem was a translation made in the court of King Alfred. These two citations show how Beowulf got its start towards fame in the modern era.    In more recent years more contemporary Beowulf enthusiasts are publishing a version in Hungarian (by Gyorgy in1994); doing photographic representations of the poem (Swearer, etc. in 1990, etc.); doing a meditative translation (Hudson in 1990); doing an Augustinian translation (Huppe in 1994); a translation based on syllabic meter (Greenfield in 1982); writing a novel, Eaters of the Dead, based on th epoem (Crichton in 1978); retelling the poem as a rock musical (Wylie in 1974); and the list is endless. Each approach strives to reinterpret Beowulf in the local and contemporary idiom (Osborn 341). Regarding the translation of Beowulf into English and foreign languages, both verse and prose, in 1815 a Latin... ...hor Books, 1977.    Crossley-Holland, Kevin, trans. Beowulf The Fight at Finnsburh, edited by Heather O’Donoghue. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.    Donaldson, E. Talbot, trans. Beowulf The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co., 1975.    Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf, A New Verse Translation. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000.    Osborn, Marijane. â€Å"Translations, Versions, Illustrations.† In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997.    Rebsamen, Frederick. Beowulf A Verse Translation. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1991.    Shippey, T.A.. â€Å"The World of the Poem.† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987..                  

Positioning Background Essay

Beginning of Positioning Positioning term This is awkward. Why not â€Å"The term positioning†¦Ã¢â‚¬  started in 1972, when Ries and Trout wrote several articles about â€Å"The Positioning Era† for the trade paper Advertising Age. It because ? familiar when more than 1000 speeches have had been given about Positioning among 21 different countries around the world to advertising groups. In addition, more than 150,000 copies of the â€Å"little orange booklet† were distributed which reprints the Advertising Age articles. (The Battle for your mind, 3) This paragraph has awkward wording. Also, check your tenses. What does Positioning Mean Many authors, professors and experts came up with the meaning of positioning; despite their differences they all have the same meaning. According to Ries and Trout (date) Positioning is not what you do to a product, Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect (Book). Explain further. Similarly Jack Trout defines Positioning as to know how to grammatically wrong differentiate yourself from your competitors ( Paper). While Kotler (date) mentioned in his book as is the way that consumer defined the product on important attributes and how the place of produce in the consumers’ mind relative to competing products. (Armstrong & Kotler page 185)   This entire sentence is confusing. Rephrase it or break it down into several sentences so the idea can be better understood. after reviewing other authors definitions , we came up with our own definition so we can describe positioning as creating and designing a remarkable place in the market for certain product to be kept in the target market’s mind in order to increase or maximize the potential benefits. (Orange book, 172), (Red Book, 237), (Kotler Book, 310) There are missing articles here. Check grammar. The content is good and the idea is presented well enough. Importance of Positioning Going through several researches and books about Positioning strategy has shown how this strategy is playing an important role in the marketing. Implementing Positioning method gives the reason to buy your product rather your competitors’ product as Trout mentioned in his article (You have to tell your story as to why you are different or better). (The business Time Singapore) Another role of positioning is that, if a company does a great job pf positioning the market will not get confused and it would be much easier for the company to do the rest just by taking it from the positioning strategy such as the marketing planning and differentiation.(Kotler Book , 310)In addition, positioning really help the companies to produce differ and unique product from current and potential competing product, which can attract the target market in a positive way. Beside that, although there are continuous stream of advertising, customer would accept only the product that stuck in their mind due to knowledge or experience http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/. Also, concerning to the main point of positioning which is based on differentiation as Ries and Trout view it as a creative strategy must be taken for an existing brand in an overcrowded marketplace. . ( tree book , 193,194)   Check nouns that have to be pluralized. Grammar is wrong in certain sentences. Also, the first sentence is very confusing. Try breaking the ideas down into different sentences. Being successful is very easy when the product is well known and has a significant place in the market, while it could be very difficult if there is no major a little difference between the products. Therefore the succeed of firm’s positioning efforts is really very important. ( tree book , 193,) , This is similar to what is mentioned in to Trout & Al Ries book ( The Battle for your mind) , which is the easiest way to get into the consumer’s mind is to be the first , while being the second is nowhere.( The battle for your mind /19,21) Positioning Steps There are several steps to be followed in order to use Positioning strategy , which is mainly not about create new product , but its about manipulate with what’s already up there in the mind.( The battle for your mind , 5). But positioning steps can differ from author to author, as a result of that positioning step for two different authors will be explained below in order to came up with the summitries and difference: Walker & Boys Positioning Steps Walker and Boyd subtract the main steps from Ries and Trout books, articles. So any company who wants to reach the required position for its products and evaluating the new strategies for positioning a new entry, there are 8 steps outlined should be follow. These steps can be followed are very applicable as it can be use for product and service in any area. Here are the steps below: Identify a relevant set of competitive products: In this stage, marketers should make a positioning analysis, which means knowing the customer‘s opinion about certain products that can satisfy their basic needs and knowing our product’s competitors. But in order to know the products position in the market, marketer should use the positioning map (It called sometimes the perceptual map, its an excellent tool to know the brand position very well, it shows the position of new product with its competitors) which was the idea of Richard A. D’Aveni that came up several years ago. The market research is very necessary in this stage in order to get customer perception of the new product concept comparing with the same produce that have the same attributes. http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?articleID=R0711G&ml_action=get-article&print=true Here is the example of positioning map: Two suggested criteria are used in order to make the judgment and the criteria are Fast delivery, limited or wide choice and comfortable environment. Then several brands are used in the map regarding how it position in the consumers’ mind considering the criteria. For example of that MacDonald is position as the fastest delivery service but limited choice unlike Caff Nero. This doesn’t mean that certain brand is better than another, it’s just that each brand is different and has special attributes. http://media3.bournemouth.ac.uk/marketing/10branding/05position.html Identify determinant attributes: Basically, positioning is really based on several attributes .But theoretically the consumer’ choice can be influenced by a small amount of features or benefits, because the greater number of features use for positioning a product, the greater the chance of confusion or even disbelief will be according to Trout & Al Ries (if you try to be all things to all people, you wind up with nothing). So, narrowing the focus of your expertise would be better in order to establish a unique position as specialist. (Battle for your mind, 195) However, using one or more features for position a product would really make the consumer recognize to attach that features with the product .So, the main attributes are: Features: It’s mainly used for physical product like the fastest or quietest product. Benefits: It’s the same as features which means it related to the product in direct way such as Volvo’s known on its safety and durability. Price/Quality: as Wal-Mart position itself as the lowest price seller of quality product and it has been very successful with that. Country or Geographic area: which means the product name include the name of country producer such as French wines and Russian Vodka. Determine consumers’ perceptions: In order to create perceptual map, marketers use several tools to collect and analyze customer’s perceptions about competitive positioning of alternative products used as Multidimensional scaling (MDS) which refer to several statistical techniques that are usually used in data visualization in order to identity the similarities and differences in data. While the Discriminate analysis it’s a statistical technique that used in marketing when there is only one dependent variable but several independent variables, it looks at the responses to the questions asked about the product attributes and underlining dimensions. http://www.indopedia.org/Discriminant_analysis_(in_marketing).html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multidimensional_scaling In this stage, the attributes should be identify by analyst in order the consumers use it to evaluate the product and service in the same category. Then, determine the best attributes that have been chosen by the consumer among all the brands. Therefore, this stage basically is about how the consumer’s positions the competitors in the market. Analyze the intensity of a product’s current position: Some brands might be recognize by consumers , while the others are not exits in the consumer’s mind .As a result, unknown brand would defiantly not occupy a position in the consumer’s mind. So, in order to acquiring an intense position, the first thing to do is building a brand awareness which must be associated with some concepts relating to the purchase decision strongly. But to reach an intense position, you should develop the relationship between the brand and few numbers of attributes. However, there are some chances that brand can gain a positioning intensity like when there are limited brands control certain a product in the market and consumer’s minds, so it’s not wise to competing head –on against the leaders on the basis of attributes by competitors because it’s not effective regarding Al Ries & Trout in their book (If you proposed position calls for head-to head approach against a marketing leader, forget it. Its better to go around an obstacle rather than over it . Back up .try to select a position that no one else has a firm grip on). A better option is to focus an attribute prized by member of given market segment such as targeted women and young families by Ford Windsatr minivan, as it has been introduce since 1994 with a successful advertising campaign which really helped to compete the leading minivan seller Dodge Caravan.( The Battle for your mind , 195) Analyze the product’s current position: In order to know if the brand occupies a strong position on particular attributes, marketer should make a lot of marketing researches and analyze by using some techniques such as Multidimensional scaling, discriminate analysis and perceptual positioning map. The perceptual positioning map would really help (see appendix 1) as a small distance between two brands shows that brands are considerable alike while the greater distance refer shows brands are being very different. So, the intensity of competition between the brands alike is much greater than the others. But always try to position your product in an empty space, being the first is the easiest way to get into a person’s mind due to Ries & Trout. (The battle for your mind, 19) In addition, the perceptual positioning map provides great information about position opportunities such as launching new brand or repositioning. It could be done by finding an empty space in the map which shows no store is exiting or located currently. But finding space or gap empty might be regarding couple reasons like technical constraints which will be impossible for any brand to attain. Determine consumers’ preferred combination of attributes: This stage is mainly about what are the most important attributes for consumers, so there are many different ways the analyst can be use to measure the customer preferences and make them involve in the positioning analysis. For example of that survey which can be answer by the consumer to know their opinion of the ideal product or brands within a product category. So, respondents can know what consumer wants by rating the ideal product and exiting products on number of attributes. Other option is not only to rate the similarity between couple of brands available in the market but also explain their degree of preference for each. For both cases the analyst, who use the suitable statistical techniques, will defiantly know where to locate the respondents, ideal point relative to the position for different available brands on the product space map. Define market positioning and market segmentation: To well define the market segmentation, the difference in the seeking benefits by different kind of consumer should be considered. Because regarding the difference of ideal point by consumer, reflects different benefits they seek. So, the market positioning analysis can defiantly classify the differences between the market segments and the unique position for different brands. If the consumer’s ideal point divided in two or more location on the product space map, it considerably defines each as different market segment. According to the analyst is that each cluster represent by circle the induce most of the ideal points for the segment and the size of the circle shows the relative proportion of customer within a particular segment. So, by knowing the customer preference in different segments together with the awareness of the existing brands, analyst can figure out three things like how strong is the competitive between different brands in different segments, the intensity of the competition between brands in a given segment and the great chance for getting a differentiated position within known target segment. Select a positioning strategy : In the final stage, where it comes to answer the question where should certain company position a new brand or repositioning, so there are two things should be based one choosing the strategies which are market target analysis and result of market positioning analysis. When choosing the position, it should match the preferences of specific market segment and considered the positions of current competing brands. Other aspects should be considered also such as the attractiveness for target market, strengths and weakness of competitors as well as the required cost to maintain these positions. There are seven different positioning strategies, which can be chosen based on how to reach its marketing objectives: Monosegment positioning: It’s about produce a product and makes a special marketing program to the preference of a single market segment. This strategy considered as an advantage for the brand within the target market, but it won’t gain a lot of sales in other segment. The best use of this strategy with mass marketing. Multisegment positioning: This strategy produces a product that attract different consumer from different segments. The features of this strategy are very attractive as its offer higher economies of scale ,smaller investment requirements, avoid dispersion of managerial attention .The best use of this strategy when the individual segment are small. Standby positioning: it’s not a wise to switch of using Monosegment and Multisegment, so using several brands that each one positioned to serve only one segment’ needs, although if it increase the total market share. So, there is a possibility to use Monosegment strategy when they have to do so. Therefore, standby strategy is prepared plan that include product specifications, product attributes as well as details for the marketing program which will be used for new product position   . Imitative positioning: It’s the same as the head on strategy, where a new brand position itself the same as or slimier of it competitors. Using this strategy can be suitable sometimes, when a new brand’s firm has distinctive advantages beyond positioning such as better access to channels of distribution. Anticipatory positioning: It’s considered as evolution strategy that can match the segments’ need. Its appropriate when new brand doesn’t not expect a fast acceptance and popularity. Adaptive positioning: It can be used in certain period in order to reposition the brand to satisfy the new segment’s needs. Defensive positioning: when a company occur strong positioning in the market with a single brand , it uses its completive   strategies and introduce a new additional brand in the same position and segment. David & Aaker Positioning steps: Regarding David A. Aaker & J. Gary Shansby , professors of marketing at the University of   California , they have introduced six steps for developing a positioning strategy : Identify the competitors : List the competitors in number of ways in order to have primary and secondary groups of competitors. For example of that grouping other diet cola drinks, all cola drinks, all soft drinks, nonalcoholic beverages, all beverages. Another way is the development of associations of product with use situations, such as asked about the appropriate beverage for the snack, then asked more specific question in order to have a list of use beverage resulted. Also, the other group will be asked which beverage is suitable for which situation, and the beverage that ranked as for the snack, it will be compete primarily with the appropriate beverage for the snack. This would really help in knowing and identifying the competitors although the market research is not used. Determine how the competitors are Perceived and Evaluated: In this step the buyers are the main resources as they are the target market, so for example the first question will be to identify the two most similar brands from a set of three competing brands and the reasons for being this two similar and different from the other .Next, respondents would be asked which of the tow you prefer and why. After that, using logic, judgment or factor analysis in order to remove all the extra points from the list. The final step is to identify which brand is the most important to respondents. Determine the competitors’ portions: In this stage, we are going to know how each competitor include our entry position itself in the market with the respect for each other. Multidimensional scaling can be used because its purpose is to scale objects on several dimensions. So, simply to ask a group of our target market to scale the various objects on the product association dimensions. This is the same as the perceptual map, even though it has some major disadvantages such as unfamiliarity with some brands, difference among respondent. Analyzing the customers: Understand the customer and know how the market is segmented would really help I knowing how to choose the best positioning strategy. Of course there are many questions should be asked in our mind such as what is the behavior of our target , how the product’s role play in the customer’s lifestyle †¦etc. A very important approach for segmentation is benefit segmentation which refers to the benefits of product or the product association that customer believes how it’s important. So, in order to know the rate of product association, customer can be asked to know their judgments or their point of view about the ideal brands which will be combination of the entire customer’s preferred product association. Customers are then will be divided as group defined by product association. However, having different group would really help to ask each group what they like about it the brand and how they can describe it. Then , the result will show if it need an improve for the brand’s image by more understating for the lifestyle of segmentations, behavior, income and many other things in order to target the segmentation well. Making the Positioning Decision: There are four steps should be considered before taking the actual positioning decision: Positioning usually implies a segmentation commitment: which means that before the decision is made, the commitment in focusing on certain segments should be made in order not to turn back on to seek potential buyers as well as not be constrained by the reaction of other segments. An economic analysis should guide the decision: basically, there is tow factors should be depending on the potential market size X the penetration probability. Attracted a sizeable segment by a positing strategy is considered as one implication for the structure. In addition if group of customers are attracted to there brand, it should have worthwhile market share to begin with. Also, if new buyers attracted to the product class, an assessment should be done to the potential size of that growth area. If the advertising is working stick with it: having a good advertisement campaign that can represent or reflect the brand image as it required is the key of good advertising , no matter how long it has been shown because the value of consistency through time cant be overestimated. Don’t try to be something you are not: sometimes it’s tempting to decide on a positioning strategy that exploit a market need or opportunity, but assume your product is something its So, test the product in order to ensure it deliver what it promises and compatible with a proposed image. Monitoring the Position: the positioning objective should be measurable like any marketing objectives, therefore in order to evaluate the positioning and get information about future positioning strategies, it’s very essential to monitor the position consistency. For example of that Hamburger Helper used personality test. Compare between 2 authors Even though Trout & Al Ries are the main founders or creators of Positioning, they did not write about specific steps for Positioning, but others professors and authors extract the steps from their articles, books and lectures among the years. So, there are different number of steps are mentioned by different authors, but overall they aiming for the same purpose. So, a comparison will be made between Walker and Boyed (W &B) & A. Aaker and J. Gary Shansby (A & J) in order to clarify the similarities and differences. First of all, as can be seen from the report above that W &B mentioned or talked about 8 steps for using Positioning strategy, while A &J summarize their steps into 6. Both W & B and A & J talked about Identifying the competitors, which A &J mentioned it in both step 1 and 2, the first step is where to list the competitors while in the second step knowing the consumers opinion about the competitors’ products. But, W & B instead of that recommend to use the perceptual map in the first step as it in order to know the product’s position regarding its competitors. In addition, W & B recommended to use the perceptual map in the first step to know the consumer’s opinion about certain product that similar to yours based on two suggested criteria. Using the perceptual map is very informative as it shows our competitors, beside that the consumers’ opinions about them by rank them in different places. Both if them W & B and A & J talked about the same point in the step three which is Knowing the competitors position in the market, although each one talked about using different tools as A & J recommend to use Multidimensional scaling and W & B recommended to use Multidimensional scaling and Discriminate analysis to create the perceptual map. They recommend to use the Discriminate analysis when there is only one dependent variable but several independent variables. However, step 4 for A & J is about Analyzing the customers, while for the   W & B they talked about it in steps two, six and seven. Al though their are different in title but it has the same purpose which is knowing what customer preferred attributes for the product in order to provide it in the product. A & J not only use this step to know customer’s preferred product association but also use the consumer’ answers or result to improve the product’s image. The same thing for W & B but they use the result for getting better differentiated position within known target segment .Also, W& B recommend to use different tools to be involve in the positioning analysis such as surveys in order to know the consumer’s ideal brand attributes. As for the step four according to W & B its Analyze the intensity of a product’s current position, this is also mentioned by A & J in step six but not in details because they focus more in monitoring the position in the future. Both of them talked about evaluate the position of our product and how strong the position is regarding the competitors. In addition W & B gave some solutions in order to acquiring an intense position. On the other hand, the final steps for both of them are quite different as W & B talked about several different strategies that should be chosen from based on how to reach its marketing objectives, while step 5 for A & J is giving the process for how to take the positioning decision considering many other aspect in order to choose the right and most suitable strategy as they don’t consider choosing the strategy as a step because I think following all the steps they mentioned would make the strategy choice much easier. Hotel Positioning    Hotel considered as any product or company that aims to attract customers, by position itself in the right place. Having a unique market position would boost the market share. Therefore, the argument here is how to make the travelers to book our hotel rather than other’s properties, which is known as market position. The Hotel position must provides several attributes that guests needs and wants. There are two perspectives can be evaluated the hotel brand’s position which are the brand’s management and guest. First the brand’s management should have several concept or plan of the hotel’s intended position and what it will offer to be different than its competitors. As for the guest, the hotel should provide what it does promise. http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/segmentation-targeting/537095-1.html However, to establish new hotel brand there are many questions should be answer such as what position you already own due to overcrowded society with very strong hotel brand like Sheraton, Hilton†¦etc. So, it’s very easy to work with other brands out there during the positioning strategy according to Trout & Ries (The battle for your mind, 193). This means, knowing how people in the UAE see Al Dar and try to apply it in the hotel rather than taking other places because it would be very hard especially who has a very long history in the hospitality industry. Review Don’t use â€Å"So† to start a sentence. Check your subject-verb agreements. Your sentences are mostly too long. Although you clearly have a good grasp of the content, the presentation is confusing. Don’t try to cram all your ideas into one sentence. The citations are not MLA style. Check for missing articles and for misplaced articles. Some wordings are awkward and need to be revised. Although the outline and the flow is clearly well thought out, you need to be more academic in your writing. Don’t shorten your words. Use â€Å"It is† instead of â€Å"It’s†. Where you are more comfortable using simpler words, do so. Avoid double negatives such as â€Å"doesn’t not† Grammar is badly in need of editing. There are a lot of unnecessary words that just make the lengthy sentences confusing. Instead of using â€Å"For example of that† why not â€Å"An example of that is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Say â€Å"with respect to† not â€Å"with respect for†. An â€Å" ‘s† indicates possession or ownership while simply adding an â€Å"s† indicates plurality. There are a lot of instances wherein the two are confused for each other. Check the verbs. Know when to use gerunds and know when not to. â€Å"Cant† is different from â€Å"can’t† There are instances where â€Å"there† is used when it should be â€Å"their†. Also check for missing linking verbs. The paper gives the reader the idea that the author understands the concepts very well. However, it does not give the reader much insight as to what those concepts are. One can easily get lost in the long sentences. The grammar and tense problems also add to the confusion.