Theme Enhancement through the Use of Motif in The Scarlet Letter

Theme Enhancement through the Use of Motif in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne used many profound and important motifs. Some examples of this device that is portrayed in the novel are the letter 'A', which is the best example because it changes its meaning throughout the story. In the beginning, it is viewed as a symbol of sin, and throughout the novel changes its meaning.The letter is a label of punishment and sin in the commencement of the novel. It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. Wearing the label on her chest, she is an outcast from society. It allows the entire town to know her sin of bearing a child out of wedlock. She wears this symbol to burden her with punishment throughout her life. "Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone" (59). Society places all blame on Hester, and because of this one letter her life has completely changed.Rosa Hester Prynne 1The letter's meaning in Puritan society banishes her from her normal life.The middle of the novel is a transition period where the letter 'A' is viewed differently from the beginning of the story. "Nevertheless... this badge hath taught meit daily teaches meits teaching me at this moment..." (107). Hester had learned to deal with the letter and grew stronger from it. They now see her as a person who is strong, yet bears a symbol which differs herself. It taught her to withstand the pressures of society. She no longer is forced to wear the letter, but chooses to keep bearing it anyway because it is part of who she is.The letter also portrays the guilt of Dimmesdale, the father of Hester's child. "Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great order of mind, as if...

Wisconsin Vs Yoder Essays - Amish, Peace Churches, Simple Living

Wisconsin Vs Yoder Essays - Amish, Peace Churches, Simple Living Wisconsin Vs Yoder The Case of Wisconsin vs. Yoder (Docket #70-110) goes back to the year 1972. Jonas Yoder and Wallace Miller were both members of the Amish religion. Adin Yutzy, also prosecuted under the Wisconsin law, represented the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church. The reason for prosecution was because there was a law that stated all children must attend public school until the age of sixteen. The three parents, all being Amish, refused to obey such a law and pulled their children out of school after the 8th grade. Their argument was that the high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs. The state of Wisconsin disagreed and challenged this case to the United States Supreme Court. The basic constitutional amendment that is being argued here is the freedom of religion. The case was argued on December 8, 1971 and was eventually decided on May 15, 1972. Each side had a perfectly good reason as to why they were right. The defense, (represented as being Yoder), said that the law basically threatens their religious way of life. In their opinion, the only teachings they needed were that of what they had already received up until the 8th grade. They also said that Amish parents provide training from an early age through young adults, teaching them the skills necessary to be farmers, or other skills, i.e., carpenters and parents. This training supposedly prepares them for a much better life as an Amish adult than what they would receive in formal schooling. On the states side, however, their views were much different. The state was simply enforcing a law that requires children be enrolled in school until the age of sixteen. The states other argument was that the extra schooling prepared the children for adult life. In response the defendants found it unnecessary and unjust. The state came back with the question of what will happen to the children if they leave their Amish community. In a 6-to-1 decision, the Court decided that the individual's interest in the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment outweighed the State's interests in convincing school attendance past 8th grade. The Court found that the values and programs of secondary school were in sharp conflict with the fundamental mode of life mandated by the Amish religion, and that an additional one or two years of high school would not produce the benefits of public education cited by Wisconsin to justify the law. In the opinion of Chief Justice Burger: The Amish have a legitimate reason for removing their children from school prior to their attending high school. The qualities emphasized higher education (self-distinction, competitiveness, scientific accomplishment, etc.) are contrary to Amish values. Additionally, attendance in high school hinders the Amish community by depriving them of the labor of their children and limiting their ability to instill appropriate values in their adolescents. A state's interest in universal education must be balanced against the legitimate claims of special groups of people. The State cites two interests in compulsory education: to create a citizenry to participate in our political system and to prepare self-supportive people. The Court agrees with the Amish that an additional one or two years of education will not significantly affect either of these interests.

Schizophrenia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Schizophrenia - Essay Example Hallucinations, which are caused by disturbances of sensory perceptionThe first signs of schizophrenia often, appear as confusing, or even and/or delusions, which are false yet strongly held personal beliefs that result from an inability to separate real from unreal experiences. Less obvious symptoms, such as social isolation or withdrawal, or unusual speech, thinking, or behavior, may precede, be seen along with, or follow the psychotic symptoms. There are a lot of myths about this kind of disorder. Some say that their body is being housed with evil spirits; some say that they are usually dangerous and should not be getting close with. Actually people with this disorder are more likely to be victims and not the criminals. They are usually misjudged and misunderstood. Approximately there is 1 percent of the population will acquire schizophrenia during their lifetime. About 2 million of the Americans are suffering from this kind of disorder in every year. There is an equal frequency effects of this disorder to men and women but the men's symptoms for this disorder appear much early compared to the women (Michigirl, 2005). A news story from Crime and Justice (1998) reported about a case of a boy named Klarquist, who committed crime of 13 offenses. He had a history about this kind of disease was brought to the hospital while young because he clawed his own eye out. He was brought to be treated by psychiatric tests but was being out and lived normally after that incidence. But as he was in his adolescence he clawed his other eye again which made him officially blind. They were able to find a remedy to restore the eyesight of his other eye and therefore can still see. In October 1997, the devastating effects of that illness became clear to Klarquist's family. Driving his car north in the southbound lanes of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Klarquist plowed into five other cars waiting at the stoplight on East Burnside Street. "He went across the intersection aiming his car at the people there," said John Colby, the deputy district attorney assigned to the case. Although no one was very seriously injured, Colby's theory was that Klarquist was trying to commit suicide. Klarquist was charged with 13 offenses, including second-degree assault, a crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of almost six years in prison. Klarquist pleaded guilty but he used the insanity defense, agreeing to serve 10-year sentence under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board. With this case, Klarquist should be treated to a hospital for such disorder but he was not given a chance. The hospital did not accept Klarquist because his paper works was not properly filled out. While he was waiting for the case and mess to clear out he took out his eyes. It was clear that he was not really given a fair treatment. Thought his papers were not filed out properly with his prior treatment about his disorder, he should still be accepted by the hospital. The hospital who did accept him during his treatment after his trial should be sued. The ethics has gone away by neglecting any patient that has to be treated. It is their duty to help those people and should not just rely on the processing of his papers. With this case, it is very clear that the society is really misunderstanding this kind of people. They don't know about the disorder so they judge too quickly.

Readings and respond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Readings and respond - Essay Example The statement the â€Å"end of living and the beginning of survival† (Speech by Chief Seattle 1) which was quipped by Chief Seattle could mean that if the white people would continue to treat the world as their enemy, where land is to be purchased, conquered, and used; then, left with wanton disregard to its state or condition, it could simply indicate the end of life. When all living things have been exhausted for the personal use of man, as perceived to be the purpose of the white people, then, life would start to be difficult and challenging – and thus, it would signify the need to exert strenuous efforts just to survive. One strongly believes that the reliability and credibility of the information contained in the speech was validated due to the fact that it was created by a Native American, who communicated the thoughts, beliefs, and sentiments according to personal experience. As such, it was effective in winning the sympathy for Native American hardship in the 19th century due to the credibility of the speaker and the ability to impart what are the true sentiments and meaning of the land to the Native Americans. Otherwise, if someone, other than a Native American would create the speech, it would not have been as effective as

Examine the ways in which feminism has contributed Essay Example for Free

Examine the ways in which feminism has contributed Essay Examine the ways In which femlnlsm has contributed to our understanding of families Feminists take critical views of the family as they argue it oppresses women and therefore creates issues such as unequal divisions of domestic labour and domestic violence against women. Feminists believe that there is a triple burden of paid work. domestic labour and emotional work. Also gender Inequality Is not regarded as natural or Inevitable, but something that has been created by society. Feminists also argue that the oppression of women is due to patriarchy. The New Right has been criticised by feminists such as Ann Oakley (1997) as it has a conservative and anti-feminist perspective on the family. The New Right is firmly opposed to family diversity. The New Right sees the nuclear family as the natural family and Is based upon fundamental biological differences between men and women. In their view, the nuclear family has clear-cut divisions of labour between the breadwinner-husband and homemaker-wife. Therefore leading to criticisms from feminists. Ann Oakley argues that the New Right wrongly assumes that husbands and wives roles are fixed by biology. She also believes that the New Right view of the family is a negative reaction against the feminist campaign for womens equality. Even more so, other feminists argue that the traditional nuclear family favoured by the New Right Is based on the patriarchal oppression of women and Is a fundamental cause of gender inequality. In this view, it prevents women working and keeps them financially dependent on me. Feminism is often referred to as feminisms as it is acknowledge that the feminist label Is broad and a cover many types of feminist. The main types of feminists are; Liberal, Marxist, Radical and Dfference. Liberal feminists such as Jenny Somerville (2000) believe that the main obstacle for women is the equality in attitudes, practices and law in which can be changed without any fundamental changes to the structure of society. They also are concerned with campaigning against sex discrimination and for equal rights and opportunities. Through people favouring and challenging the gender role soclallsatlon In childhood, attitudes can then be changed towards roles In the family. Liberal feminists argue that womens oppression is gradually being overcome hrough the changing attitudes and changes in laws such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) which outlaws discrimination in employment. Even more so Liberal feminists hold a similar view to theorists such as Young and Willmott, although they do not believe full gender equality has been achieved in the family, they argue It has been a gradual progress. Through the gradual progress of changing attitudes, the ways In wnlcn cn110ren are soclallsea In tne Tamlly Is now OITTerent. Daugnters are socialised more equally to sons in the modern day compared to the past. However, ther feminists such as Marxist and Radical, criticise Liberal feminists for failing to challenge the underlying causes of womens oppression and for believing that changes in law or attitudes will be enough to bring equality. Marxist feminists and Radical feminists believe instead that far-reaching revolutionary changes to deep- root social structures are needed. Another type of feminist is Marxist feminism, and they argue that the main cause of womens oppression in the family is not men, but capitalism. Several functions are performed through womens oppression for capitalism, firstly that women reproduce he labour force, through their unpaid domestic labour and by socialising the next generation of workers and maintain the servicing of the current generation. Another function is that women absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Wives are describe as takers of shit by Fran Ansley (1972) who acknowledges that women soak up the frustration of their husbands feelings due to the alienation and exploitation they suffer at work. This is a primary example for Marxists, as it explains male domestic violence against women. Abbot and Wallace (1990) note that the main ause of domestic violence is the male perception that the partner is failing her duties. Dobash and Dobash (1979) also found that these duties tended to be about sex, money and home making. Due to the male perception of the partner failing her duties, it is often resulted in the women believing that they deserved to be beaten. Also women are a reserve army of cheap labour, meaning that when extra workers are needed women shall be taken on to work, but as soon as they are no longer needed the employers let them go to return to their primary role as unpaid domestic labour. However, Radical feminists have been critical based on the emphasis is being put on capitalist forms of exploitation. They argue that patriarchy predates Capitalism which makes it a more significant explanation of female exploitation and oppression. Radical feminists argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy and for radical feminists the key division in society is between me and women. Radical feminists see men as the enemy as they are the source of womens oppression and exploitation. Also that the family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal ociety. Men benefit form womens domestic labour and from their sexual services, and they dominate women through domestic and sexual violence or the threat of it. Radical feminists argue that the family is the root of womens oppression, so therefore must be abolished. They also argue that the only way to achieve this is through separatism, where women must live independently of men. Even more so, radical feminists argue for political lesbianism, which is the idea that heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive because they involve sleeping with the enemy. Germaine Greer (2000) argues for the creation of all-female or matrilocal households as an alternative to the heterosexual family. However, for liberal feminists such as Jenny Somerville (2000), radical feminists fail to recognise that womens position has improved considerably with better access to Jobs, divorce and control over tnelr own Tertlll ty Somerville also argues tnat separatlsm Is unlikely to work as heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that the conventional nuclear family will disappear. On the other hand, Somerville does agree that women have yet to chieve full equality. The feminist approaches already considered tend to assume that most women live in conventional nuclear families and that they share a similar experience of family life. However, difference feminists argue that women have very different experiences of the family from one another and so therefore cannot be generalised. For example, working-class and middle-class women, black and white women and lesbian and heterosexual women all share different experiences so therefore cannot be compared. Black feminists argue that by regarding the family solely on a source of ppression, white feminists neglect black womens experiences of racial oppression. The black family is positively viewed as a source of support and resistance against racism by black feminists. However other feminists argue that this approach neglects the fact that, despite such differences, women do in fact share many of the same experiences. For example, women face a greater risk of domestic violence and sexual assault and low pay compared with men. Feminism is criticised for ignoring the increased family diversity of families in the modern day, and although the nuclear family remains important, it is by no means the only family type.

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams Essay -- A Streetcar Na

A Streetcar named Desire was written by Tennessee Williams, during the restless years following World War II. The play was based on the life of a woman named Blanche Dubois. Blanche was a fragile and neurotic woman, desperate for a place to call her own. She had been exiled from her hometown Laurel, Mississippi after seducing a seventeen year old boy. After this incident, she decided to move to New Orleans with her sister Stella. She claimed she had to move, in result of a series of financial calamities which have recently claimed the family plantation, Belle Reve. Her sisters husband, Stanley Kowalski is very suspicious seeing that Blanche seems like an ambitious woman. Therefore, he decides to investigate her. He wanted to make sure Blanche didn’t sell the plantation for her own good. As he begins to find out more about her past, all of Blanches lies catch up to her. Soon, her circumstances become unbearable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Blanche Dubois the main character of the play, was an English teacher in Mississippi. She presents herself as a very prim, proper, and prudent person. She once proudly told her sister Stella that her name in French meant white woods. Blanche Dubois is also overly concerned with her appearance, accessories, bathing and age. She was very disturbed by the light, and usually preferred to be in the dark. Many believe it was to prevent people from noticing her real age. Deep inside she was hurt and destroyed. All of this pain was caused by the death of the love of her life. She was married to a young man named Allan, and they loved each other very much. Until one day Blanche found out that Allan was sleeping with another man. Once she confessed to him she knew his secret he committed suicide. Ever since, Blanches’ life was never the same again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Blanche Dubois always felt she was loved and admired by many. However, things changed after her husbands tragic death. Life was not easy for her, as she became lonely and slept with different men. Her loneliness led her into moving unexceptedly with her sister Stella. However, this only caused more troubles in her life. She was not very well liked by her brother in law, Stanley Kowalski. Stanley was from Poland, and had very little education. He was also a very strong, good looking man. He was loyal to his friends, passionate to his wife, but extremely cr... ...t people around Elysian Fields were living a contrasting lifestyle from theirs. That â€Å"their† type is not the one they’re used to. Stella and Blanche were raised on a plantation with money, while Stanley and his friends were poor and uneducated. The conflict began when these two classes were pushed together in the same world. This is shown when Stanley and Blanche meet each other, and their opposite lifestyles are obvious. Stanley is sweaty, dirty, and rude; whereas Blanche is well dressed and soft spoken.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In A Streetcar named Desire, Tennessee Williams presented to us the character of Blanche Dubois. She was the haggard and fragile southern beauty whose happiness was cruelly destroyed. She always avoided reality, and lived in her own imagination. As the play goes on, Blanches â€Å"instability grows along with her misfortune.† Her life ended in tragedy when she was put into a mental institution. Her brother in law’s cruelty combined with her fragile personality, left Blanche mentally detached from reality. Stanley Kowalski showed no remorse for his brutal actions, destroyed Blanches life and committed her to an insane asylum.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Cases for Management Decision Making

Cases for Management Decision Making CA-1 suggested uses of cases Case CASE 1 Greetings Inc. : Job Order Costing CASE 2 Greetings Inc. : Activity-Based Costing CASE 3 Greetings Inc. : Transfer Pricing Issues CASE 4 Greetings Inc. : Capital Budgeting CASE 5 Auburn Circular Club Pro Rodeo Roundup CASE 6 Sweats Galore CASE 7 Armstrong Helmet Company Overview This case is the first in a series of four cases that presents a business situation in which a traditional retailer decides to employ Internet technology to expand its sales opportunities. It requires the student to employ traditional job order cost- ing techniques and then requests an evaluation of the resulting product costs. (Related to Chapter 2, Job Order Costing. ) This case focuses on decision-making benefits of activity-based costing relative to the traditional approach. It also offers an opportunity to discuss the cost/ benefit trade-off between simple ABC systems versus refined systems, and the potential benefit of using capacity rather than expected sales when allocating fixed overhead costs. (Related to Chapter 4, Activity-Based Costing. This case illustrates the importance of proper transfer pricing for decision making as well as performance evaluation. The student is required to evaluate profitability using two different transfer pricing approaches and comment on the terms of the proposed transfer pricing agreement. (Related to Chapter 8, Pricing. ) This case is set in an environment in which the company is searching for new op- portunities for growth. It requires evaluation of a proposal based on initial esti- mates as well as sensitivity analysis. It also requires evaluation of the underlying assumptions used in the analysis. Related to Chapter 12, Planning for Capital Investments. ) This comprehensive case is designed to be used as a capstone activity at the end of the course. It deals with a not-for-profit service company. The case involves many managerial accounting issues that would be common for a start-up business. (Related to Chapter 5, Cost-Volume-Profit; Chapter 7, Incremental Analysis; and Chapter 9, Budgetary Planning. ) This case focuses on setting up a new business. In planning for this new busi- ness, the preparation of budgets is emphasized. In addition, an understanding of cost-volume-profit relationships is required. (Related to Chapter 5, Cost-Volume- Profit, and Chapter 9, Budgetary Planning. ) This comprehensive case involves finding the cost for a given product. In addi- tion, it explores cost-volume-profit relationships. It requires the preparation of a set of budgets. (Related to Chapter 1, Managerial Accounting; Chapter 5, Cost- Volume-Profit; Chapter 9, Budgetary Planning; Chapter 10, Budgetary Control and Responsibility Accounting; Chapter 11, Standard Costs and Balanced Scorecard; and Chapter 12, Planning for Capital Investments. CA-2 case 1 ?Greet ings Inc. Greetings Inc. : Job Order Costing Developed by Thomas L. Zeller, Loyola University Chicago, and Paul D. Kimmel, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee THE BUSINESS SITUATION Greetings Inc. has operated for many years as a nationally recognized retailer of greeting cards and small gift items. It has 1,500 stores throughout the United States located in high-traffic malls. As the stock price of many other companies soared, Greetings’ stock price re- mained flat. As a result of a heated 2010 shareholders’ meeting, the president of Greetings, Robert Burns, came under pressure from shareholders to grow Greetings’ stock value. As a consequence of this pressure, in 2011 Mr. Burns called for a formal analysis of the company’s options with regard to business op- portunities. Location was the first issue considered in the analysis. Greetings stores are located in high-traffic malls where rental costs are high. The additional rental cost was justified, however, by the revenue that resulted from these highly visi- ble locations. In recent years, though, the intense competition from other stores in the mall selling similar merchandise has become a disadvantage of the mall locations. Mr. Burns felt that to increase revenue in the mall locations, Greetings would need to attract new customers and sell more goods to repeat customers. In order to do this, the company would need to add a new product line. However, to keep costs down, the product line should be one that would not require much addi- tional store space. In order to improve earnings, rather than just increase rev- enues, Greetings would have to carefully manage the costs of this new product line. After careful consideration of many possible products, the company’s management found a product that seemed to be a very good strategic fit for its existing products: high-quality unframed and framed prints. The critical el- ement of this plan was that customers would pick out prints by viewing them on wide-screen computer monitors in each store. Orders would be processed and shipped from a central location. Thus, store size would not have to in- crease at all. To offer these products, Greetings established a new e-business unit called Wall Decor. Wall Decor is a â€Å"profit center†; that is, the manager of the new business unit is responsible for decisions affecting both revenues and costs. Wall Decor was designed to distribute unframed and framed print items to each Greetings store on a just-in-time (JIT) basis. The system works as follows: The Wall Decor website allows customers to choose from several hundred prints. The print can be purchased in various forms: unframed, framed with a steel frame and no matting, or framed with a wood frame and matting. When a CA-3 Greet ?ings CA-4 ase 1 Cases for Management Decision Making customer purchases an unframed print, it is packaged and shipped the same day from Wall Decor. When a customer purchases a framed print, the print is framed at Wall Decor and shipped within 48 hours. Each Greetings store has a computer linked to Wall Decor’s Web server so Greetings’ customers can browse the many options to make a selection. Once a selection is made, the customer ca n complete the order immediately. Store em- ployees are trained to help customers use the website to shop and to complete their purchases. The advantage to this approach is that each Greetings store, through the Wall Decor website, can offer a wide variety of prints, yet the indi- vidual Greetings stores do not have to hold any inventory of prints or framing materials. About the only cost to the individual store is the computer and high- speed line connection to Wall Decor. The advantage to the customer is the wide variety of unframed and framed print items that can be conveniently purchased and delivered to the home or business, or to a third party as a gift. Wall Decor uses a traditional job order costing system. Operation of Wall Decor would be substantially less complicated, and overhead costs would be sub- stantially less, if it sold only unframed prints. Unframed prints require no addi- tional processing, and they can be easily shipped in simple protective tubes. Framing and matting requires the company to have multiple matting colors and frame styles, which requires considerable warehouse space. It also requires skilled employees to assemble the products and more expensive packaging pro- cedures. Manufacturing overhead is allocated to each unframed or framed print, based on the cost of the print. This overhead allocation approach is based on the assumption that more expensive prints will usually be framed and therefore more overhead costs should be assigned to these items. The predetermined over- head rate is the total expected manufacturing overhead divided by the total ex- pected cost of prints. This method of allocation appeared reasonable to the ac- counting team and distribution floor manager. Direct labor costs for unframed prints consist of picking the prints off the shelf and packaging them for ship- ment. For framed prints, direct labor costs consist of picking the prints, framing, matting, and packaging. The information in Illustration CA 1-1 for unframed and framed prints was collected by the accounting and production teams. The manufacturing overhead budget is presented in Illustration CA 1-2. Illustration CA 1-1 Information about prints and framed items for Wall Decor ?Unframed Steel-Framed Print, Wood-Framed Print, Volume—expected units sold Cost Elements Direct materials Print (expected average cost for each of the three categories) Frame and glass Matting Direct labor Picking time Picking labor rate/hour Matting and framing time Matting and framing rate/hour Print 0,000 $12 10 minutes $12 No Matting 15,000 $16 $4 10 minutes $12 20 minutes $21 with Matting 7,000 $20 $6 $4 10 minutes $12 30 minutes $21 ?Greet ?ings ?case 1 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-5 Illustration CA 1-2 Manufacturing overhead budget for Wall Decor ?Manufacturing Overhead Budget Supervisory salaries Factory rent Equipment rent (framing and matting equipment) Utilities Insurance Information te chnology Building maintenance Equipment maintenance Budgeted total manufacturing overhead costs $100,000 130,200 50,000 20,000 10,000 50,000 11,000 4,000 $375,200 Instructions Use the information in the case and your reading from Chapters 1 and 2 of the text to answer each of the following questions. 1. Define and explain the meaning of a predetermined manufacturing overhead rate that is applied in a job order costing system. 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the cost of each print as a man- ufacturing overhead cost driver? 3. Using the information in Illustrations CA1-1 and CA1-2, compute and interpret the predetermined manufacturing overhead rate for Wall Decor. 4. Compute the product cost for the following three items. a) Lance Armstrong unframed print (base cost of print $12). (b) John Elway print in steel frame, no mat (base cost of print $16). (c) Lambeau Field print in wood frame with mat (base cost of print $20). 5. (a) How much of the total overhead cost is expected to be allocated to unframed prints? (b) How much of the total overhead cost is expected to be allocated to steel framed prints? (c) How much of the tot al overhead cost is expected to be allocated to wood framed prints? (d) What percentage of the total overhead cost is expected to be allocated to un- framed prints? . Do you think the amount of overhead allocated to the three product categories is rea- sonable? Relate your response to this question to your findings in previous questions. 7. Anticipate business problems that may result from allocating manufacturing over- head based on the cost of the prints. case 2 ?Greet ings Inc. Greetings Inc. : Activity-Based Costing Developed by Thomas L. Zeller, Loyola University Chicago, and Paul D. Kimmel, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee THE BUSINESS SITUATION Mr. Burns, president of Greetings Inc. created the Wall Decor unit of Greetings three years ago to increase the company’s revenue and profits. Unfortunately, even though Wall Decor’s revenues have grown quickly, Greetings appears to be losing money on Wall Decor. Mr. Burns has hired you to provide consulting serv ices to Wall Decor’s management. Your assignment is to make Wall Decor a profitable business unit. Your first step is to talk with the Wall Decor work force. From your conver- sations with store managers you learn that the individual Greetings stores are very happy with the Wall Decor arrangement. The stores are generating addi- tional sales revenue from the sale of unframed and framed prints. They are espe- cially enthusiastic about this revenue source because the online nature of the product enables them to generate revenue without the additional cost of carry- ing inventory. Wall Decor sells unframed and framed prints to each store at product cost plus 20%. A 20% markup on products is a standard policy of all Greetings intercompany transactions. Each store is allowed to add an additional markup to the unframed and framed print items according to market pressures. That is, the selling price charged by each store for unframed and framed prints is determined by each store manager. This policy ensures competitive pricing in the respective store locations, an important business issue because of the intense mall competition. While the store managers are generally happy with the Wall Decor products, they have noted a significant difference in the sales performance of the unframed prints and the framed prints. They find it difficult to sell unframed prints at a competitive price. The price competition in the malls is very intense. On average, stores find that the profits on unframed prints are very low because the cost for unframed prints charged by Wall Decor to the Greetings stores is only slightly be- low what competing stores charge their customers for unframed prints. As a re- sult, the profit margin on unframed prints is very low, and the overall profit earned is small, even with the large volume of prints sold. In contrast, stores make a very good profit on framed prints and still beat the nearest competitor’s price by about 15%. That is, the mall competitors cannot meet at a competitive price the quality of framed prints provided by the Greetings stores. As a result, store managers advertise the lowest prices in town for high-quality framed prints. One store manager referred to Wall Decor’s computer on the counter as a â€Å"cash machine† for framed prints and a â€Å"lemonade stand† for unframed prints. In a conversation with the production manager, you learned that she be- lieves that the relative profitability of framed and unframed prints is distorted CA-6 ?Greet ?ings ?case 2 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-7 ecause of improper product costing. She feels that the costs provided by the company’s traditional job order costing system are inaccurate. From the very beginning, she has carefully managed production and distribution costs. She explains, â€Å"Wall Decor is essentially giving away expensive framed prints, and it appears that it is charging the stores too much for unframed prints. † In her office she shows you her own product costing system, which supports her point of view. Your tour of the information technology (IT) department provided additional insight as to why Wall Decor is having financial problems. You discovered that to keep the website running requires separate computer servers and several in- formation technology professionals. Two separate activities are occurring in the technology area. First, purchasing professionals and IT professionals spend many hours managing thousands of prints and frame and matting materials. Their tasks include selecting the prints and the types of framing material to sell. They also must upload, manage, and download prints and framing material onto and off of the website. The IT staff tells you much of their time is spent with framing and matting material. Only a highly skilled IT professional can properly scan a print and load it up to the site so that it graphically represents what the print will look like when properly matted and framed. In addition, you discover that a different team of IT professionals is dedi- cated to optimizing the operating performance of the website. These costs are classified as manufacturing overhead because a substantial amount of work is required to keep the site integrated with purchasing and production and to safe- guard Wall Decor’s assets online. Most time-consuming is the effort to develop and maintain the site so that customers can view the prints as they would appear either unframed or framed and matted. A discussion with the IT professionals suggests that the time spent develop- ing and maintaining the site for the unframed prints is considerably less than that required for the framed prints and in particular for the framed and matted prints. Developing and maintaining a site that can display the unframed prints is relatively straightforward. It becomes more complicated when the site must al- low the customer to view every possible combination of print with every type of steel frame, and immensely more complicated when one considers all of the pos- sible wood frames and different matting colors. Obviously, a very substantial portion of the IT professionals’ time and resources is required to present the over 1,000 different framing and matting options. Based on your preliminary findings, you have decided that the company’s ability to measure and evaluate the profitability of individual products would be improved if the company employed an activity-based costing (ABC) system. As a first step in this effort, you compiled a list of costs, activities, and values. Your work consisted of taking the original manufacturing overhead cost ($375,200, provided in Case 1) and allocating the costs to activities. You identified four ac- tivities: picking prints; inventory selection and management (includes general management and overhead); website optimization; and framing and matting cost (includes equipment, insurance, rent, and supervisor’s salary). The first activity is picking prints. The estimated overhead related to this ac- tivity is $30,600. The cost driver for this activity is the number of prints. It is ex- pected that the total number of prints will be 102,000. This is the sum of 80,000 unframed, 15,000 steel-framed, and 7,000 wood-framed. Illustration CA 2-1 Information for activity 1 ?Estimated Activity Cost Driver Overhead Picking prints Number of prints $30,600 Expected Use of Cost Driver (80,000 15,000 7,000) 102,000 prints Greet ?ings CA-8 case 2 Cases for Management Decision Making The second activity is inventory selection and management. The estimated overhead related to this activity is $91,700. The cost driver for this activity is the number of components per print item. An unframed print has one component, a steel-framed print has two components (the print and the frame), and a wood- framed print has three components (the print, the mat, and the frame). The total number of components is expected to be 131,000. Illustration CA 2-2 Information for activity 2 ?Activity Inventory selection and management Cost Driver Number of components: Print (1) Print and frame (2) Print, mat, and frame (3) Estimated Overhead $91,700 Expected Use of Cost Driver Prints: 80,000 components Print and frame: 15,000 2 30,000 components Print, mat, and frame: 7,000 3 21,000 components Total 131,000 components The third activity is website optimization. The total overhead cost related to website optimization is expected to be $129,000. It was difficult to identify a cost driver that directly related website optimization to the products. In order to re- flect the fact that the majority of the time spent on this activity related to framed prints, you first split the cost of website optimization between unframed prints and framed prints. Based on your discussion with the IT professionals, you de- termined that they spend roughly one-fifth of their time developing and main- taining the site for unframed prints, and the other four-fifths of their time on framed prints, even though the number of framed prints sold is substantially less than the number of unframed prints. As a consequence, you allocated $25,800 of the overhead costs related to website optimization to unframed prints and $103,200 to framed prints. You contemplated having three categories (unframed, steel-framed, and wood-framed with matting), but chose not to add this addi- tional refinement. Illustration CA 2-3 Information for activity 3 ?Activity Website optimization: Unframed Framed Cost Driver Number of prints at capacity Number of prints at capacity Estimated Overhead $25,800 $103,200 Expected Use of Cost Driver Unframed prints: 100,000 print capacity Framed and/or matted prints: 25,000 print capacity (16,000 steel; 9,000 wood) Once the $129,000 of the third activity was allocated across the two broad product categories, the number of prints at operating capacity was used as the cost driver. Note that operating capacity was used instead of expected units sold. The overhead costs related to website optimization are relatively fixed be- cause the employees are salaried. If a fixed cost is allocated using a value that varies from period to period (like expected sales), then the cost per unit will vary from period to period. When allocating fixed costs it is better to use a base that does not vary as much, such as operating capacity. The advantage of using operating capacity as the base is that it keeps the fixed costs per unit stable over time. ?Greet ?ings ?case 2 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-9 The final activity is framing and matting. The expected overhead costs re- lated to framing and matting are $123,900. None of this overhead cost should be allocated to unframed prints. The costs related to framing and matting are rela- tively fixed because the costs relate to equipment and other costs that do not vary with sales volume. As a consequence, like website optimization, you chose to base the cost driver on levels at operating capacity, rather than at the expected sales level. The cost driver is the number of components. Steel-framed prints have two components (the print and frame), and wood-framed prints have three components (the print, mat, and frame). The total components at operating ca- pacity would be steel frame 32,000 or (16,000 2) and wood frame 27,000 or (9,000 3,000). Illustration CA 2-4 Information for activity 4 ?Activity Framing and matting cost (equipment, insurance, rent, and supervisory labor) Cost Driver Number of components at capacity Estimated Overhead $123,900 Expected Use of Cost Driver Print and frame: 16,000 2 32,000 components at capacity Print, mat, and frame: 9,000 3 27,000 components at capacity Total 59,000 components To summarize, the overhead costs and cost drivers used for each product are expected to be: Illustration CA 2-5 Summary of overhead costs and cost drivers ?Cost Activity Driver 1. Picking Number of prints prints Steel- Wood- Framed, Framed, No with Unframed Matting Matting Total 80,000 15,000 7,000 102,000 80,000 30,000 21,000 131,000 Overhead Cost $ 30,600 91,700 25,800 103,200 123,900 $375,200 ?2. Inventory selection and management 3. Website optimization 4. Framing and matting Number of components Number of 100,000 prints at capacity Number of components at capacity na 16,000 32,000 9,000 27,000 100,000 25,000 59,000 Instructions Answer the following questions. . Identify two reasons why an activity-based costing system may be appropriate for Wall Decor. 2. Compute the activity-based overhead rates for each of the four activities. 3. Compute the product cost for the following three items using ABC. (Review Case 1 for additional information that you will need to answer this question. ) (a) Lance Armstrong unframed print (base cost of print $12). (b) John Elway print in steel frame, no mat ( base cost of print $16). (c) Lambeau Field print in wood frame with mat (base cost of print $20). ? Greet ?ings CA-10 ase 2 Cases for Management Decision Making 4. 5. 6. 7. In Case 1 for Greetings, the overhead allocations using a traditional volume-based approach were $3. 36 for Lance Armstrong, $4. 48 for John Elway, and $5. 60 for Lam- beau Field. The total product costs from Case 1 were Lance Armstrong $17. 36, John Elway $33. 48, and Lambeau Field $48. 10. The overhead allocation rate for unframed prints, such as the unframed Lance Armstrong print in question 3, decreased under ABC compared to the amount of overhead that was allocated under the traditional approach in Case 1. Why is this the case? What are the potential implications for the company? Explain why the overhead cost related to website optimization was first divided into two categories (unframed prints and framed prints) and then allocated based on number of prints. When allocating the cost of website optimization, the decision was made to initially allocate the cost across two categories (unframed prints and framed prints) rather than three categories (unframed prints, steel-framed prints, and wood-framed prints with matting). Discuss the pros and cons of splitting the cost between two categories rather than three. Discuss the implications of using operating capacity as the cost driver rather than the expected units sold when allocating fixed overhead costs. 8. (a) Allocate the overhead to the three product categories (unframed prints, steel- framed prints, and wood-framed prints with matting), assuming that the estimate of the expected units sold is correct and the actual amount of overhead incurred equaled the estimated amount of $375,200. (b) Calculate the total amount of overhead allocated. Explain why the total overhead of $375,200 was not allocated, even though the estimate of sales was correct. What are the implications of this for management? case 3 ?Greet ings Inc. Greetings Inc. : Transfer Pricing Issues Developed by Thomas L. Zeller, Loyola University Chicago, and Paul D. Kimmel, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee THE BUSINESS SITUATION Two years ago, prior to a major capital-budgeting decision (see Case 4), Robert Burns, the president of Greetings Inc. , faced a challenging transfer pricing issue. He knew that Greetings store managers had heard about the ABC study (see Case 2) and that they knew a price increase for framed items would soon be on the way. In an effort to dissuade him from increasing the transfer price for framed prints, several store managers e-mailed him with detailed analyses show- ing how framed-print sales had given stores a strong competitive position and had increased revenues and profits. The store managers mentioned, however, that while they were opposed to an increase in the cost of framed prints, they were looking forward to a price decrease for unframed prints. Management at Wall Decor was very interested in changing the transfer pric- ing strategy. You had reported to them that setting the transfer price based on the product costs calculated by using traditional overhead allocation measures had been a major contributing factor to its non-optimal performance. Here is a brief recap of what happened during your presentation to Mr. Burns and the Wall Decor managers. Mr. Burns smiled during your presentation and graciously acknowledged your excellent activity-based costing (ABC) study and analysis. He even nodded with approval as you offered the following suggestions. 1. Wall Decor should decrease the transfer price for high-volume, simple print items. . Wall Decor should increase the transfer price for low-volume, complex framed print items. 3. Youranalysispointstoatransferpricethatmaintainsthe20%markupovercost. 4. Adoption of these changes will provide Wall Decor with an 11% return on investment (ROI), beating the required 10% expected by Greetings’ board of directors. 5. Despite the objections of the store managers, the Gr eetings stores must ac- cept the price changes. Finishing your presentation, you asked the executive audience, â€Å"What questions do you have? † Mr. Burns responded as follows. Your analysis appears sound. However, it focuses almost exclu- sively on Wall Decor. It appears to tell us little about how to move for- ward and benefit the entire company, especially the Greetings retail stores. Let me explain. CA-11 Greet ?ings CA-12 case 3 Cases for Management Decision Making I am concerned about how individual store customers will react to the price changes, assuming the price increase of framed-print items is passed along to the customer. Store managers will welcome a decrease in the transfer price of unframed prints. They have complained about the high cost of prints from the beginning. With a decrease in print cost, store managers will be able to compete against mall stores for print items at a competitive selling price. In addition, the increase in store traffic for prints should increase the sales revenue for related items, such as cards, wrapping paper, and more. These are all low- margin items, but with increased sales volume of prints and related products, revenues and profits should grow for each store. Furthermore, store managers will be upset with the increase in the cost of framed prints. Framed prints have generated substantial rev- enues and profits for the stores. Increasing the cost of framed prints to the stores could create one of three problems: First, a store manager may elect to keep the selling price of framed-print items the same. The results of this would be no change in revenues, but profits would de- cline because of the increase in cost of framed prints. Second, a store manager may elect to increase the selling price of the framed prints to offset the cost increase. In this case, sales of framed prints would surely decline and so would revenues and profits. In addition, stores would likely see a decline in related sales of other expensive, high-quality, high-margin items. This is because sales data indicate that customers who purchase high-quality, high-price framed prints also purchase high-quality, high-margin items such as watches, jewelry, and cosmetics. Third, a store manager may elect to search the outside market for framed prints. † Mr. Burns offered you the challenge of helping him bring change to the company’s transfer prices so that both business units, Greetings stores and Wall Decor, win. From his explanation, you could see and appreciate that set- ting the transfer price for unframed and framed prints impacts sale revenues and profits for related items and for the company overall. You immediately rec- ognized the error in your presentation by simply providing a solution for Wall Decor alone. You drove home that night thinking about the challenge. You recognized the need and importance of anticipating the reaction of Greetings store customers to changes in the prices of unframed and framed prints. The next day, the market- ing team provided you with the following average data. For every unframed print sold (assume one print per customer), that cus- tomer purchases related products resulting in $4 of additional profit. †¢ For every framed print sold (assume one print per customer), that customer purchases related products resulting in $8 of additional profit. †¢ Each Greetings store sets its own selling price for unframed and framed prints. Store managers nee d this type of flexibility to be responsive to com- petitive pressures. On average the pricing for stores is as follows: unframed prints $21, steel-framed without matting $50, wood-framed with matting $70. Instructions Answer each of the following questions. 1. Prepare for class discussion what you think were the critical challenges for Mr. Burns. Recognize that Wall Decor is a profit center and each Greetings store is a profit center. ?Greet ?ings ?case 3 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-13 2. After lengthy and sometimes heated negotiations between Wall Decor and the store managers, a new transfer price was determined that calls for the stores and Wall Decor to split the profits on unframed prints 30/70 (30% to the store, 70% to Wall Decor) and the profits on framed prints 50/50. The following additional terms were also agreed to: †¢ â€Å"Profits† are defined as the store selling price less the ABC cost. †¢ Stores do not share the profits from related products with Wall Decor. †¢ Wall Decor will not seek to sell unframed and framed print items through anyone other than Greetings. †¢ Wall Decor will work to decrease costs. †¢ Greetings stores will not seek suppliers of prints other than Wall Decor. †¢ Stores will keep the selling price of framed prints as it was before the change in transfer price. On average, stores will decrease the selling price of unframed prints to $20, with an expected increase in volume to 100,000 prints. Analyze how Wall Decor and the stores benefited from this new agreement. In your analysis, first (a) compute the profits of the stores and Wall Decor using traditional amounts related to pricing, cost, and a 20% markup on Wall Decor costs. Next, (b) compute the profits of the stores and Wall Decor using the ABC cost and negoti- ated transfer price approach. Finally, (c) explain your findings, linking the overall profits for stores and Wall Decor. The following data apply to this analysis. (Round all calculations to three deci- mal places. ) Average selling price by stores before transfer pricing study Average selling price by stores after transfer pricing study Volume at traditional selling price Volume at new selling price Wall Decor cost (traditional) ABC cost Unframed Print $21 $20 80,000 100,000 $17. 36 $15. 258 Steel-Framed, No Matting $50 $50 15,000 15,000 $33. 48 $39. 028 Wood-Framed, with Matting $70 $70 7,000 7,000 $48. 10 $55. 328 3. Review the additional terms of the agreement listed in instruction 2 above. In each case, state whether the item is appropriate, unnecessary, ineffective, or potentially harmful to the overall company. case 4 ?Greet ings Inc. Greetings Inc. : Capital Budgeting Developed by Thomas L. Zeller, Loyola University Chicago, and Paul D. Kimmel, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee THE BUSINESS SITUATION Greetings Inc. stores, as well as the Wall Decor division, have enjoyed healthy prof- itability during the last two years. Although the profit margin on prints is often thin, the volume of print sales has been substantial enough to generate 15% of Greetings’ store profits. In addition, the increased customer traffic resulting from the prints has generated significant additional sales of related non-print products. As a result, the company’s rate of return has exceeded the industry average during this two-year period. Greetings’ store managers likened the e-business leverage cre- ated by Wall Decor to a â€Å"high-octane† fuel to supercharge the stores’ profitability. This high rate of return (ROI) was accomplished even though Wall Decor’s venture into e-business proved to cost more than originally budgeted. Why was it a profitable venture even though costs exceeded estimates? Greetings stores were able to generate a considerable volume of business for Wall Decor. This helped spread the high e-business operating costs, many of which were fixed, across many unframed and framed prints. This experience taught top manage- ment that maintaining an e-business structure and making this business model successful are very expensive and require substantial sales as well as careful monitoring of costs. Wall Decor’s success gained widespread industry recognition. The business press ocumented Wall Decor’s approach to using information technology to in- crease profitability. The company’s CEO, Robert Burns, has become a frequent business-luncheon speaker on the topic of how to use information technology to offer a great product mix to the customer and increase shareholder value. From the outside looking in, all appears to be going very well for Greetings stores and Wall Decor. How ever, the sun is not shining as brightly on the inside at Greetings. The mall stores that compete with Greetings have begun to offer prints at very com- petitive prices. Although Greetings stores enjoyed a selling price advantage for a few years, the competition eventually responded, and now the pressure on sell- ing price is as intense as ever. The pressure on the stores is heightened by the fact that the company’s recent success has led shareholders to expect the stores to generate an above-average rate of return. Mr. Burns is very concerned about how the stores and Wall Decor can continue on a path of continued growth. Fortunately, more than a year ago, Mr. Burns anticipated that competitors would eventually find a way to match the selling price of prints. As a conse- quence, he formed a committee to explore ways to employ technology to further reduce costs and to increase revenues and profitability. The committee is com- prised of store managers and staff members from the information technology, CA-14 ?Greet ?ings ?cacaseses 14 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-15 marketing, finance, and accounting departments. Early in the group’s discussion, the focus turned to the most expensive component of the existing business model—the large inventory of prints that Wall Decor has in its centralized ware- house. In addition, Wall Decor incurs substantial costs for shipping the prints from the centralized warehouse to customers across the country. Ordering and maintaining such a large inventory of prints consumes valuable resources. One of the committee members suggested that the company should pursue a model that music stores have experimented with, where CDs are burned in the store from a master copy. This saves the music store the cost of maintaining a large inventory and increases its ability to expand its music offerings. It virtually guarantees that the store can always provide the CDs requested by customers. Applying this idea to prints, the committee decided that each Greetings store could invest in an expensive color printer connected to its online ordering system. This printer would generate the new prints. Wall Decor would have to pay a roy- alty on a per print basis. However, this approach does offer certain advantages. First, it would eliminate all ordering and inventory maintenance costs related to the prints. Second, shrinkage from lost and stolen prints would be reduced. Finally, by reducing the cost of prints for Wall Decor, the cost of prints to Greetings stores would decrease, thus allowing the stores to sell prints at a lower price than competitors. The stores are very interested in this option because it enables them to maintain their current customers and to sell prints to an even wider set of customers at a potentially lower cost. A new set of customers means even greater related sales and profits. As the accounting/finance expert on the team, you have been asked to per- form a financial analysis of this proposal. The team has collected the informa- tion presented in Illustration CA 4-1. Illustration CA 4-1 Information about the proposed capital investment project ?Available Data Cost of equipment (zero residual value) Cost of ink and paper supplies (purchase immediately) Annual cash flow savings for Wall Decor Annual additional store cash flow from increased sales Sale of ink and paper supplies at end of 5 years Expected life of equipment Cost of capital Amount $800,000 100,000 175,000 100,000 50,000 5 years 12% ?Instructions Mr. Burns has asked you to do the following as part of your analysis of the capital investment project. 1. Calculatethenetpresentvalueusingthenumbersprovided. Assumethatannualcash flows occur at the end of the year. 2. Mr. Burns is concerned that the original estimates may be too optimistic. He has sug- gested that you do a sensitivity analysis assuming all costs are 10% higher than ex- pected and that all inflows are 10% less than expected. 3. Identify possible flaws in the numbers or assumptions used in the analysis, and iden- tify the risk(s) associated with purchasing the equipment. . In a one-page memo, provide a recommendation based on the above analy- sis. Include in this memo: (a) a challenge to store and Wall Decor management and (b) a suggestion on how Greetings stores could use the computer connection for re- lated sales. case 5 Auburn Circular Club Pro Rodeo Roundup Developed by Jessica Johnson Frazier, Eastern Kentucky University, and Patricia H. Mounce, University of Central Arkansas THE BUSINESS SITUATION When Shelley Jones became president-elect of the Circular Club of Auburn, Kansas, she was asked to suggest a new fundraising activity for the club. After a consider- able amount of research, Shelley proposed that the Circular Club sponsor a profes- sional rodeo. In her presentation to the club, Shelley said that she wanted a fundraiser that would (1) continue to get better each year, (2) give back to the com- munity, and (3) provide the club a presence in the community. Shelley’s goal was to have an activity that would become an â€Å"annual community event† and that would break even the first year and raise $5,000 the following year. In addition, based on the experience of other communities, Shelley believed that a rodeo could grow in popularity so that the club would eventually earn an average of $20,000 annually. A rodeo committee was formed. Shelley contacted the world’s oldest and largest rodeo-sanctioning agency to apply to sponsor a professional rodeo. The sanctioning agency requires a rodeo to consist of the following five events: Bareback Riding, Bronco Riding, Steer Wrestling, Bull Riding, and Calf Roping. Because there were a number of team ropers in the area and because they wanted to include females in the competition, members of the rodeo committee added Team Roping and Women’s Barrels. Prize money of $3,000 would be paid to winners in each of the seven events. Members of the rodeo committee contracted with RJ Cattle Company, a live- stock contractor on the rodeo circuit, to provide bucking stock, fencing, and chutes. Realizing that osts associated with the rodeo were tremendous and that ticket sales would probably not be sufficient to cover the costs, the rodeo com- mittee sent letters to local businesses soliciting contributions in exchange for various sponsorships. Exhibiting Sponsors would contribute $1,000 to exhibit their products or services, while Major Sponsors would contribute $600. Chute Sponsors would cont ribute $500 to have the name of their business on one of the six bucking chutes. For a contribution of $100, individuals would be included in a Friends of Rodeo list found in the rodeo programs. At each performance the rodeo announcer would repeatedly mention the names of the businesses and in- dividuals at each level of sponsorship. In addition, large signs and banners with the names of the businesses of the Exhibiting Sponsors, Major Sponsors, and Chute Sponsors were to be displayed prominently in the arena. ?CA-16 case 5 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-17 A local youth group was contacted to provide concessions to the public and divide the profits with the Circular Club. The Auburn Circular Club Pro Rodeo Roundup would be held on June 1, 2, and 3. The cost of an adult ticket was set at $8 in advance or $10 at the gate; the cost of a ticket for a child 12 or younger was set at $6 in advance or $8 at the gate. Tickets were not date-specific. Rather, one ticket would admit an individual to one performance of his or her choice— Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The rodeo committee was able to secure a location through the county supervisors board at a nominal cost to the Circular Club. The arrangement allowed the use of the county fair grounds and arena for a one- week period. Several months prior to the rodeo, members of the rodeo commit- tee had been assured that bleachers at the arena would hold 2,500 patrons. On Saturday night, paid attendance was 1,663, but all seats were filled due to poor gate controls. Attendance was 898 Friday and 769 on Sunday. The following revenue and expense figures relate to the first year of the rodeo. Illustration CA 5-1 Revenue and expense data, year 1 ?Receipts Contributions from sponsors $22,000 Receipts from ticket sales 28,971 Share of concession profits 1,513 Sale of programs 600 Total receipts Expenses Livestock contractor 26,000 Prize money 21,000 Contestant hospitality Sponsor signs for arena 1,900 Insurance 1,800 Ticket printing 1,050 Sanctioning fees 925 Entertainment 859 Judging fees 750 Port-a-potties 716 Rent 600 Hay for horses 538 Programs 500 Western hats to first 500 children 450 Hotel rooms for stock contractor 325 Utilities 300 Sand for arena 251 Miscellaneous fixed costs 105 Total expenses Net loss $53,084 ?3,341* ?61,410 $(8,326) *The club contracted with a local caterer to provide a tent and food for the contestants. The cost of the food was contingent on the number of contestants each evening. Information con- cerning the number of contestants and the costs incurred are as follows: Contestants Friday 68 Saturday 96 Sunday 83 Total Cost $ 998 1,243 1,100 $3,341 On Wednesday after the rodeo, members of the rodeo committee met to discuss and critique the rodeo. Jonathan Edmunds, CPA and President of the Circular Club, commented that the club did not lose money. Rather, Jonathan said, â€Å"The club made an investment in the rodeo. † CA-18 case 5 Cases for Management Decision Making Instructions Answer each of the following questions. . Do you think it was necessary for Shelley Jones to stipulate that she wanted a fundraiser that would (1) continue to get better each year, (2) give back to the com- munity, and (3) provide the club a presence in the community? Why or why not? 2. What did Jonathan Edmunds mean when he said the club had made an investment in the rodeo? 3. Is Jonathan’s comment concerning the investment consistent with Shelley’s idea that t he club should have a fundraiser that would (1) continue to get better each year, (2) give back to the community, and (3) provide the club a presence in the community? Why or why not? 4. What do you believe is the behavior of the rodeo expenditures in relation to ticket sales? 5. Determine the fixed and variable cost components of the catering costs using the high-low method. 6. Assume you are elected chair of the rodeo committee for next year. What steps would you suggest the committee take to make the rodeo profitable? 7. Shelley, Jonathan, and Adrian Stein, the Fundraising Chairperson, are beginning to make plans for next year’s rodeo. Shelley believes that by negotiating with local feed stores, innkeepers, and other business owners, costs can be cut dramatically. Jonathan agrees. After carefully analyzing costs, Jonathan has estimated that the fixed expenses can be pared to approximately $51,000. In addition, Jonathan estimates that variable costs are 4% of total gross receipts. After talking with business owners who attended the rodeo, Adrian is confident that funds solicited from sponsors will increase. Adrian is comfortable in budgeting revenue from sponsors at $25,600. The local youth group is unwilling to provide con- cessions to the audience unless they receive all of the profits. Not having the person- nel to staff the concession booth, members of the Circular Club reluctantly agree to let the youth group have 100% of the profits from the concessions. In addition, mem- bers of the rodeo committee, recognizing that the net income from programs was only $100, decide not to sell rodeo programs next year. Compute the break-even point in dollars of ticket sales assuming Adrian and Jonathan are correct in their assumptions. 8. Shelley has just learned that you are calculating the break-even point in dollars of ticket sales. She is still convinced that the Club can make a profit using the assumptions in number 7 above. (a) Calculate the dollars of ticket sales needed in order to earn a target profit of $6,000. (b) Calculate the dollars of ticket sales needed in order to earn a target profit of $12,000. 9. Are the facilities at the fairgrounds adequate to handle crowds needed to generate ticket revenues calculated in number 8 above to earn a $6,000 profit? Show calcula- tions to support your answers. 10. Prepare a budgeted income statement for next year using the estimated revenues from sponsors and other assumptions in number 7 above. In addition, use ticket sales based on the target profit of $12,000 estimated in 8(b). The cost of the livestock con- tractor, prize money, sanctioning fees, entertainment, judging fees, rent, and utilities will remain the same next year. Changes in expenses include the following: Members of the Club have decided to eliminate all costs related to contestant hospitality by soliciting a tent and food for the contestants and taking care of the â€Å"Contestant Hospitality Tent† themselves. The county has installed permanent restrooms at the arena, eliminating the need to rent port-a- potties. The rodeo committee intends to pursue arrangements to have hotel rooms, hay, and children’s hats provided at no charge in exchange for sponsorships. The cost of banners varies with the number of sponsors. Signs and More charged the Circular Club $130 for each Exhibiting Sponsor banner and $48 for each Major Sponsor banner. At this time there is no way to know whether additional sponsors will be Exhibiting Spon- sors or Major Sponsors. Therefore, for budgeting purposes you should increase the cost of the banners by the percentage increase in sponsor contributions. (Hint: Round ase 5 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-19 all calculations to three decimal places. ) By checking prices, the Circular Club will be able to obtain insurance providing essentially the same amount of coverage as this year for only $600. For the first rodeo the Club ordered 10,000 tickets. Realizing the con- straints on available seating, the Club is ordering only 5,000 tickets for next year, and th erefore its costs are reduced 50%. The sand for the arena for next year will be $300, and miscellaneous fixed costs are to be budgeted at $100. 11. A few members in the Circular Club do not want to continue with the annual rodeo. However, Shelley is insistent that the Club must continue to conduct the rodeo as an annual fundraiser. Shelley argues that she has spent hundreds of dollars on western boots, hats, and other items of clothing to wear to the rodeo. Are the expenses re- lated to Shelley’s purchases of rodeo clothing relevant costs? Why or why not? 12. Rather than hire the local catering company to cater the Contestant Hospitality Tent, members of the Circular Club are considering asking Shady’s Bar-B-Q to cater the event in exchange for a $600 Major Sponsor spot. In addition, The Fun Shop, a local party supply business, will be asked to donate a tent to use for the event. The Fun Shop will also be given a $600 Major Sponsor spot. Several members of the Club are opposed to this consideration, arguing that the two Major Sponsor spots will take away from the money to be earned through other sponsors. Adrian Stein has explained to the members that the Major Sponsor signs for the arena cost only $48 each. In ad- dition, there is more than enough room to display two additional sponsor signs. What would you encourage the Club to do concerning the Contestant Hospitality Tent? Would your answer be different if the arena were limited in the number of additional signs that could be displayed? What kind of cost would we consider in this situation that would not be found on a financial statement? case 6 Sweats Galore Developed by Jessica Johnson Frazier, Eastern Kentucky University, and Patricia H. Mounce, University of Central Arkansas THE BUSINESS SITUATION After graduating with a degree in business from Eastern University in Campus Town, USA, Michael Woods realized that he wanted to remain in Campus Town. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at getting a job in his disci- pline, Michael decided to go into business for himself. In thinking about his business venture, Michael determined that he had four criteria for the new business: 1. He wanted to do something that he would enjoy. 2. He wanted a business that would give back to the community. 3. He wanted a business that would grow and be more successful every year. 4. Realizing that he was going to have to work very hard, Michael wanted a business that would generate a minimum net income of $25,000 annually. While reflecting on the criteria he had outlined, Michael, who had been president of his fraternity and served as an officer in several other student organizations, realized that there was no place in Campus Town to have cus- tom sweatshirts made using a silk-screen process. When student organiza- tions wanted sweatshirts for their members or to market on campus, the offi- cers had to make a trip to a city 100 miles away to visit â€Å"Shirts and More. ’’ Michael had worked as a part-time employee at Shirts and More while he was in high school and had envisioned owning such a shop. He realized that a sweatshirt shop in Campus Town had the potential to meet all four of his crite- ria. Michael set up an appointment with Jayne Stoll, the owner of Shirts and More, to obtain information useful in getting his shop started. Because Jayne liked Michael and was intrigued by his entrepreneurial spirit, she answered many of Michael’s questions. In addition, Jayne provided information concerning the type of equipment Michael would need for his business and its average useful life. Jayne knows a competitor who is retiring and would like to sell his equipment. Michael can purchase the equipment at the beginning of 2011, and the owner is willing to give him terms of 50% due upon purchase and 50% due the quarter following the purchase. Michael decided to purchase the following equipment as of January 1, 2011. CA-20 case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-21 Hand-operated press that applies ink to the shirt Light-exposure table Dryer conveyer belt that makes ink dry on the shirts Computer with graphics software and color printer Display furniture Used cash register Cost $7,500 1,350 2,500 3,500 2,000 500 Useful Life yrs. 10 yrs. 10 yrs. 4 yrs. 10 yrs. 5 yrs. Michael has decided to use the sweatshirt supplier recommended by Jayne. He learned that a gross of good-quality sweatshirts to be silk-screened would cost $1,440. Jayne has encouraged Michael to ask the sweatshirt supplier for terms of 40% of a quarter’s purchases to be paid in the quarter of purchase, with the re- maining 60% of the quarter’s purchases to be paid in the quarter following the purchase. Michael also learned from talking with Jayne that the ink used in the silk- screen process costs approximately $0. 75 per shirt. Knowing that the silk-screen process is somewhat labor-intensive, Michael plans to hire six college students to help with the process. Each one will work an average of 20 hours per week for 50 weeks during the year. Michael estimates to- tal annual wages for the workers to be $72,000. In addition, Michael will need one person to take orders, bill customers, and operate the cash register. Cary Sue Smith, who is currently Director of Student Development at Eastern University, has approached Michael about a job in sales. Cary Sue knows the officers of all of the student organizations on campus. In ad- dition, she is very active in the community. Michael thinks Cary Sue can bring in a lot of business. In addition she also has the clerical skills needed for the posi- tion. Because of her contacts, Michael is willing to pay Cary Sue $1,200 per month plus a commission of 10% of sales. Michael estimates Cary Sue will spend 50% of the workday focusing on sales, and the remaining 50% will be spent on clerical and administrative duties. Michael realizes that he will have difficulty finding a person skilled in com- puter graphics to generate the designs to be printed on the shirts. Jayne recently hired a graphics designer in that position for Shirts and More at a rate of $500 per month plus $0. 10 for each shirt printed. Michael believes he can find a uni- versity graphics design student to work for the same rate Jayne is paying her designer. Michael was fortunate to find a commercial building for rent near the uni- versity and the downtown area. The landlord requires a one-year lease. Although the monthly rent of $1,000 is more than Michael had anticipated paying, the building is nice, has adequate parking, and there is room for expansion. Michael anticipates that 75% of the building will be used in the silk-screen process and 25% will be used for sales. Michael’s fraternity brothers have encouraged him to advertise weekly in the Eastern University student newspaper. Upon inquiring, Michael found that a 3 3 ad would cost $25 per week. Michael also plans to run a weekly ad in the local newspaper that will cost him $75 per week. Michael wants to sell a large number of quality shirts at a reasonable price. He estimates the selling price of each customized shirt to be $16. Jayne has sug- gested that he should ask customers to pay for 70% of their purchases in the quarter purchased and pay the additional 30% in the quarter following the purchases. After talking with the insurance agent and the property valuation adminis- trator in his municipality, Michael estimates that the property taxes and insur- ance on the machinery will cost $2,240 annually; property tax and insurance on display furniture and cash register will total $380 annually. CA-22 case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making Jayne reminded Michael that maintenance of the machines is required for the silk-screen process. In addition, Michael realizes that he must consider the cost of utilities. The building Michael wants to rent is roughly the same size as the building occupied by Shirts and More. In addition, Shirts and More sells ap- proximately the same number of shirts Michael plans to sell in his store. Therefore, Michael is confident that the maintenance and utility costs for his shop will be comparable to the maintenance and utility costs for Shirts and More, which are as follows within the relevant range of zero to 8,000 shirts. Shirts Sold January 2,000 February 2,110 March 2,630 April 3,150 May 5,000 June 5,300 July 3,920 August 2,080 September 8,000 October 6,810 November 6,000 December 3,000 Maintenance Costs $1,716 1,720 1,740 1,740 1,758 1,818 1,825 1,780 1,914 1,860 1,855 1,749 Utility Costs $1,100 1,158 1,171 1,198 1,268 1,274 1,205 1,117 1,400 1,362 1,347 1,193 Michael estimates the number of shirts to be sold in the first five quarters, beginning January 2011, to be: First quarter, year 1 Second quarter, year 1 Third quarter, year 1 Fourth quarter, year 1 First quarter, year 2 8,000 10,000 20,000 12,000 18,000 Seeing how determined his son was to become an entrepreneur, Michael’s fa- ther offered to co-sign a note for an amount up to $20,000 to help Michael open his sweatshirt shop, Sweats Galore. However, when Michael and his father ap- proached the loan officer at First Guarantee Bank, the loan officer asked Michael to produce the following budgets for 2011. Sales budget Schedule of expected collections from customers Shirt purchases budget Schedule of expected payments for purchases Silk-screen labor budget Selling and administrative expenses budget Silk-screen overhead expenses budget Budgeted income statement Cash budget Budgeted balance sheet The loan officer advised Michael that the interest rate on a 12-month loan would be 8%. Michael expects the loan to be taken out as of January 1, 2011. Michael has estimated that his income tax rate will be 20%. He expects to pay the total tax due when his returns are filed in 2012. Instructions Answer the following questions. 1. Do you think it was important for Michael to stipulate his four criteria for the busi- ness (see page CA-21), including the goal of generating a net income of at least $25,000 annually? Why or why not? case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-23 2. If Michael has sales of $12,000 during January of his first year of business, deter- mine the amount of variable and fixed costs associated with utilities and mainte- nance using the high-low method for each. 3. Using the format below, prepare a sales budget for the year ending 2011. SWEATS GALORE Sales Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 1 2 3 4 Year Expected unit sales Unit selling price x Budgeted sales revenue $ 4. Prepare a schedule of expected collections from customers. SWEATS GALORE Schedule of Expected Collections from Customers For the Year Ending December 31, 2011 Quarter 234 Accounts receivable 1/1/11 –0– First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Total collections 5. Michael learned from talking with Jayne that the supplier is so focused on making quality sweatshirts that many times the shirts are not available for several days. She encouraged Michael to maintain an ending inventory of shirts equal to 25% of the next quarter’s sales. Prepare a shirt purchases budget for shirts using the format provided. SWEATS GALORE Shirt Purchases Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 1 2 3 4 Year Shirts to be silk-screened Plus: Desired ending inventory Total shirts required Less: Beginning inventory Total shirts needed Cost per shirt Total cost of shirt purchases 6. Prepare a schedule of expected payments for purchases. SWEATS GALORE Schedule of Expected Payments for Purchases For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 1234 Accounts payable 1/1/11 –0– First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Total payments CA-24 case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making 7. Prepare a silk-screen labor budget. SWEATS GALORE Silk-Screen Labor Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 2 3 4 Year Units to be produced Silk-screen labor hours per unit Total required silk-screen labor hours Silk-screen labor cost per hour Total silk-screen labor cost 8. Prepare a selling and administrative expenses budget for Sweats Galore for the year ending December 31, 2011. SWEATS GALORE Selling and Administrative Expenses Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 201 1 Quarter 1 2 3 4 Year Variable expenses: Sales commissions Total variable expenses Fixed expenses: Advertising Rent Sales salaries Office salaries Depreciation Property taxes and insurance Total fixed expenses Total selling and dministrative expenses 9. Prepare a silk-screen overhead expenses budget for Sweats Galore for the year end- ing December 31, 2011. SWEATS GALORE Silk-Screen Overhead Expenses Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 1 2 3 4 Year Variable expenses: Ink Maintenance Utilities Graphics design Total variable expenses Fixed expenses: Rent Maintenance Utilities Graphics design Property taxes and insurance Depreciation Total fixed expenses Total silk-screen overhead Direct silk-screen hours Overhead rate per silk-screen hour case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making CA-25 10. Using the information found in the case and the previous budgets, prepare a bud- geted income statement for Sweats Galore for the year ended December 31, 2011. SWEATS GALORE Budgeted Income Statement For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Sales Cost of goods sold Gross profit Selling and administrative expenses Income from operations Interest expense Income before income taxes Income tax expense Net income 11. Using the information found in the case and the previous budgets, prepare a cash budget for Sweats Galore for the year ended December 31, 2011. SWEATS GALORE Cash Budget For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Quarter 1234 Beginning cash balance Add: Receipts Collections from customers Total available cash Less: Disbursements Payments for shirt purchases Silk-screen labor Silk-screen overhead Selling and administrative expenses Payment for equipment purchase Total disbursements Excess (deficiency) of available cash over disbursements Financing Borrowings Ending cash balance 12. Using the information contained in the case and the previous budgets, prepare a bud- geted balance sheet for Sweats Galore for the year ended December 31, 2011. SWEATS GALORE Budgeted Balance Sheet December 31, 2011 Assets Cash Accounts receivable Sweatshirt inventory Equipment Less: Accumulated depreciation Total assets ? CA-26 case 6 Cases for Management Decision Making Liabilities and Owner’s Equity ? 13. (a) Accounts payable Notes payable Interest payable Taxes payable Total liabilities Michael Woods, Capital Total liabilities and owner’s equity Using the information contained in the case and the previous budgets, calculate the estimated contribution margin per unit for 2011. (Hint: Silk-screened labor and the taxes are both fixed costs. ) (b) Calculate the total estimated fixed costs for 2011 (including interest and taxes). c) Compute the break-even point in units and dollars for 2011. 14. (a) Michael is very disappointed that he did not have an income of $25,000 for his first year of budgeted operations as he had wanted. How many shirts would Michael have had to sell in order to have had a profit of $25

Analysis of Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish”

Esther Zamora Jon Schneiderman ENC1102-09 03/12/2013 Analysis of Elizabeth Bishop’s â€Å"The Fish† All battered and scarred from many years of trials, Grandma always has a smile on her face. Grandpa died when she was still young, her three sons have also died, and only her two daughters remain. In spite of these difficulties in her life, she manages to be happy and accepting of what life has tossed her way. An older person has scars from life and doesn’t have the strength to fight for it. The elderly have gone through many trials and afflictions that life has tossed at them.With age, they have gained wisdom and understanding through these hardships. Life has a tendency to cruelly throw darts at humanity without any kind of reservation or remorse. In Elisabeth Bishop’s â€Å"The Fish,† the narrator is the fisher woman. Upon catching a tremendous fish and analyzing it carefully, she is reminded of her life. She notices the fish is not fighting to sta y alive. He just hung there, still, and ready to die. This reminds her of her own life. She is now faced with the memory of the many scars that life has brought her.She’s not willing to fight as she once did. Age has really taken a toll on her, demanding her once youthful strength. The author speaks of the fish saying, â€Å"He hung a grunting weight, battered and vulnerable and homely† (7-9). The fisher woman found a similarity with her life and the fish’s life. She made a distinct connection between her life and this small creature. Older and more experienced, the fisher woman is reminded of her past afflictions. Now old and gray which are signs of aging, as the fish’s lips that give away his age.The lips are an important sign because the hooks and lines they have in their mouth demonstrates their experience. The fish in the poem declares â€Å"hung five pieces of fish- line† (51), showing how many times the fish had previously been caught and re leased again. Each line represents the many endeavors the fish had accomplished by conquering those hooks. As with people who overcome adversity and scars inhabit their life, the fish also has scars that remain as an indication of previous struggles. Wisdom and understanding is gained as things in life happen.For the fish, he gains wisdom and understanding each time he escaped a net or a line which is shown by his scars. A person gains wisdom and understanding with the trials they are faced with and that age has brought them. These are reminders to people as well as for fish. A person may have loved ones who have passed away, or possibly experienced some kind of trauma. All these tribulations serve for gaining wisdom and understanding in life. In conclusion, the fisher woman, by looking and observing the fish closely, is reminded of all the previous trials she had in her life.The scars in his lips, the â€Å"five-haired beard of wisdom† (62) helps her think of herself. She no tices the rainbow of colors reflecting from the oil on the boat, reminding her of the fish’s accomplishments. Even though the fish is small, it somehow provokes a sense of relation with herself. She relates these attributes of the fish with maturity, adversity, trials, wisdom, and understanding. She encounters a close identification with the fish. Filled by this emotional connection and compassion for the fish, she let him go.

buy custom Student’s Communication essay

buy custom Student’s Communication essay From the onset, the researchers are clear on the premise of their research. The basis of this study was that the online community is widely held as the most important prerequisite for successful course. The setting of the research is equally clear. The research was carried out in the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The participants of the research were post graduate students in web based learning. The research followed the standardized scientific criteria. It had an abstract, background, literature review, the methodology, the discussions and the conclusion. The researchers attained credibility by first carrying out an extensive literature review on the topic of study. This enabled them to link their work with what has been done previously. Moreover, the research added new information in this field as it builds on the previous works. They incorporated others work with much impartiality nd objectivity. They extensively analyzed the importance of participation in online discussion by the students. Among the key contributions of the study is the potential of online discussions to improve general learning. They also highlighted on the need for community of learning as well as finding out the challenges facing poor online students. The researches methodology was a mixed extensive one. They used various qualitative methods which allowed them to probe different perception and reactions. The content analysis was conducted using the software like students blog postings, online quiz and examination essays. This gave their study credibility. The mixed methodology approach was used to investigate the link between online activity and discussion posting to learning and course completion. The study also investigated how students collaborative behavior and integration into the commuunity relates to success. The researchers clearly communicated their findings which revealed significant differences between the stratification of student performance. It was also reveled that the students who expect little access can increase their benefit by managing their log-in time effectively. Also realized were significant difference in both the postings and the students grade groups. It was also clear that organizing students into online groups also encouraged them to participate. Conclusion The research clearly showed the link between successful course completion and the students level of contribution to discussions, the ratio of their replies to others posts and their integration into others community. The study therefore achieved its main objective establishing the facts on online participation by students and communicating such findings with simplicity. Buy custom Student’s Communication essay

French Verb Conjugation for Briller (to Shine)

French Verb Conjugation for Briller (to Shine) To shine in French is the verb  briller. It is an easy one to remember if you associate it with brilliant, as in give it a brilliant shine.   When you want to change  briller  to the past tense or the present or future, for that matter you will need to conjugate the verb. French students who have studied other verbs that end in -er  will find this lesson very familiar. Conjugating the French Verb  Briller First, a quick review of pronunciation. Keep in mind that the double LL sounds like a Y when it follows an I. Rather than the hard L sound of [briller], it is pronounced [breeyer]. This follows through to all of the verb conjugations. Briller  is a  regular -ER verb  and that makes it relatively straightforward. The verb endings that replace the -er  follow a specific pattern. For example, in  je  future tense, an  -ai  is added to  briller  and in je  imperfect past tense, the -er  becomes -ais. You will find this in similar verbs like  blesser  (to hurt) and  augmenter  (to raise). That makes each new verb just a little easier to learn. The chart lays out the primary forms of  briller  for you to study. To use it, pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense. For example, I shine is je brille and we will shine is nous brillerons. Brillers Present Participle When you want to use the  present participle  of briller, drop the -er  and add an -ant.  This gives you the word brillant. Did you notice the resemblance to brilliant? The present participle is where we get the correlation that can help with memorization. Another Past Tense of  Briller The past tense of  briller  can be expressed using the imperfect or the  passà © composà ©. For the latter, you will use the  past participle  brillà ©Ã‚  as well as the conjugate of  avoir, which is an  auxiliary verb. As an example of the completed passà © composà ©, I moved becomes jai brillà © and we moved is nous avons brillà ©. Note how  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir  and  brillà ©Ã‚  does not change with the subject. More Simple Conjugations of  Briller There may be times in your French that you will use one of the following verb forms of  briller. The subjunctive and conditional are used when the action has some uncertainty to it. The passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are primarily found in literature and when youre writing. When you want to use  briller  in short commands or requests, you can turn to the imperative verb form. For this one, skip the subject pronoun and say only the verb: brille rather than tu brille.

Institutional ownership and corporate value Essay

Institutional ownership and corporate value - Essay Example Abstract Institutional investors are a significant financial market force. They are rapidly replacing individual investors in the capital market. Unlike individual investors, institutional investors invest large amounts of their company resources into various stocks and shares, thereby devoting many of their resources to monitoring their investment. This paper investigates whether a company’s dividend policy is affected by the level of institutional ownership. The paper focuses on Kuwaiti public companies that are listed on the Kuwait stock exchange (KSE). This study examines the implications of corporate governance on dividend policy. It focuses on the cross-sectional relationship of the organizational ownership structures and dividend payout policies. In this paper, a regression model is employed to explore the link between institutional ownership and cash dividends. The dependent variable, cash dividends, is measured by using two different proxies. The independent variable, institutional ownership, is measured as the natural logarithm of shares held by institutional investors, then scaled by the number of shares outstanding. The control variables include returns on equity, firm size, leverage, firm age, financial loss, year effects, and industry effects. The relevant data is collected from the KSE website and the Institute of Banking Studies in Kuwait (ISB). The monitoring hypothesis suggests that institutional investors tend to function as a superior oversight mechanism, and therefore are more likely to limit corporate managers. The other perspective relates to the entrenchment effect hypothesis, which states that institutional investors may align their interests with management’s interests at the expense of minority wealth. Table of Contents Declaration 2 Acknowledgement 3 Abstract 4 Table of Contents 5 List of Tables 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 1.1 Background 7 1.2 Research Question 8 1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study: 8 1.4 Rationale and Justification for the Study: 9 1.5 Methodology: 9 1.6 Research Structure 10 Chapter 2: Literature Review 12 2.1 Kuwait Stock Exchange 12 2.2 Institutional Ownership and Cash Dividend Payouts 13 2.2.1 The Monitoring Role of Institutional Ownership 14 2.2.2 The Entrenchment Role of Institutional Investors 17 Chapter Three: Hypothesis Development 21 4.2 Regression Models 26 Chapter Five: Data and Results 28 Chapter Six: Conclusions and Implications of the Research 38 Chapter Seven: Future Research 40 List of References 41 List of Tables Table 1: Frequency of Institutional Investors over Time 29 Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for the Dependent, Independent, and Control Variables 330 Table 3: Pearson Correlation Coefficients, N = 648 323 Table 4: Regression Results of the Dependent Variable: CashPayOut 345 Table 5: Regression Results of the Dependent Variable: CashDiv_Earnings 368 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background Institutional investors are a significant financial market force. T hey are rapidly replacing individual investors in the capital market. Unlike individual investors, institutional investors invest large amounts of their company resources into various stocks and shares, thereby devoting many of their resources to monitoring their investment (Grossman and Hart, 1980; Shleifer and Vishny, 1986). In addition, institutional investors are generally more and better informed then individual invest

Evaluate How Normality Can Be Facilitated and Maintained During Essay

Evaluate How Normality Can Be Facilitated and Maintained During Childbirth - Essay Example It was a mystery how they gained the knowledge and skills in these areas. In modern times, they are not only responsible for attending women in labour and birth but also help her family especially the birth partner in dealing with the situation. In this paper we shall discuss how normality can be achieved during childbirth by the midwives. There are various factors that a midwife has to consider and take care of while preparing a woman to give birth. A midwife never works all alone; she is connected to many different individuals like her colleagues, supervisors, other health professionals and their families. It is very important for a midwife to satisfy the needs and aspirations of the women and her family she is dealing with. A midwife should treat each woman as a distinct individual and respects her values and beliefs regarding pregnancy. It should be remembered that the experiences during pregnancy, birth and postpartum period affects women, babies, fathers and their families in a huge way and have a long lasting impact on society too. The midwives should ensure that every woman had a joyful and healthy birth experience ( Levisley, 2011). Good communication skills A midwife should have the ability to communicate well and at the same time the power to listen patiently to a woman through her various stages of pregnancy. A small action or gesture by us can make a huge difference to the care and treatment of the patients, their infants and partners. A midwife should always keep in mind that although she deals with matters of births everyday but a new mother may not know about the process of pregnancy. Certain special behaviors like being compassionate, pleasant, providing continuous support, unbiased information, consistently reassuring the to-be mothers are expected from a midwife (Nasak, 2005). There are some actions which will go a long way in enhancing the admission, birth, postnatal and discharge stages of pregnancy –having patience, providing contin uous support and praise to the patient. The midwife should be able to provide the information regarding the various aspects of pregnancy and birth, for example the effects of different forms of pain relief, without being prejudiced. Some other ways which might help the mother is by providing them written information in booklets or notice boards. A midwife is responsible for making accurate medical notes which is passed onto the health visitor. In case of mothers with second babies, it has been observed that the midwives are less inclined to inform and support them but it is very important to remember that the mothers still needed their advice as each birth and child is different. It is the duty of a midwife to handle every patient equally regardless of her age, profession or previous experience (Nasak, 2005). Environment Every woman should be given the opportunity to choose a place where she feels secured, relaxed and cared for giving birth. Her personal preferences, emotional wellb eing and privacy should be respected and taken care of. A mother’s ability and confidence to give birth is enhanced or diminished by the ability of the midwife and the environment where she gives birth. The midwife should encourage the woman to opt for home birth because this is the place she will feel most relaxed. The choice of time and place where the pregnant woman would like to take antenatal and postnatal classes should be adjusted according to her convenience. Nowadays, places other than the hospital and clinics