Women role essays

Women role essays It has been approximately a century since the eminent words all men were created equal, were put down in black and white in Americas Declaration of Independence. For women in America, it was the beginning of ... Yet at the same time in countries like Afghanistan, the notion of gender equality was never mentioned. Their basic presence was seemingly invisible to society. This was because they were seen to be both emotionally and physically weak as compared to the men. Their role was mainly to get married and do as their husbands pleased. A sense of parity was only shed after the Taliban had been overthrown in September 2001. In order to understand the true significance of this date, one has to understand the role of women in the early years. After the Taliban's rise to power, women and girls were discriminated against and marginalized, and their human rights were violated. They had played no role in society. They had been severely restricted in their access to education, health care facilities and employment. During the Taliban's rule, only about 3 per cent of girls received some form of primary education. Poor health conditions and malnutrition made pregnancy and childbirth exceptionally dangerous for Afghan women. In fact, Afghanistan has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world. The Taliban's policies also severely limited women's freedom of movement. Women could travel only when accompanied by a male relative, which put a particular strain on female-headed households and widows. In May 2001, the Taliban issued a decree banning women from driving cars, which further limited their activities. The resulting seclusion of women to the home constituted a form of solitary confinement and also created obstacl es to women meeting with each other. Women were harassed and beaten by the Taliban if their public appearance was perceived to be in contradiction with Taliban edicts. Women's remo...

How to Conjugate the French Verb Craindre (to Fear)

How to Conjugate the French Verb Craindre (to Fear) Craindre  (to fear)  is an  irregular -re verb  thats conjugated like all other  French verbs ending in -aindre,  -eindre, and  -oindre.  This is evident in the conjugation table below that shows the simple conjugations of craindre; compound conjugations that consist of the conjugated auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle craint are not included in the table. Craindre: Conjugated Like all verbs ending in -aindre Irregular -re verbs fall into a few patterns that make memorizing their conjugations a little easier: verbs conjugated like prendre, verbs conjugated like battre, verbs including mettre and all its derivatives, those including rompre and its derivatives, and a fifth group including all verbs that end in -aindre like craindre, -eindre like peindre, and -oindre like joindre. A final group of very irregular verbs, such as dire, à ©crire, faire, have such unusual and unwieldy conjugations that they follow no pattern and need to be memorized in order to use them. The fifth group of verbs ending in -aindre like craindre drops the d in the stem in both singular and plural forms and adds a g in front of the n in plural forms. Other verbs like craindre include:   contraindre   to force, to compel  plaindre  Ã‚  to pity, to feel sorry for Usage and Expressions   Craindre is a transitive verb thats used in numerous idiomatic expressions. It can be translated as to fear, to be frightened of, or to be afraid of. The causative se faire craindre means to intimidate. craindre Dieu  Ã‚  to go in fear of / to fear Godcraindre le pire  (familiar)   to fear the worstNe crains rien.  Ã‚   Have no fear. /  Never fear. / Dont be afraid.Il ny a rien craindre.   Theres no cause for alarm. / Theres nothing to fear.Sa grosse voix le faisait craindre de tous ses à ©là ¨ves.  Ã‚  His booming voice made all his  pupils  afraid of him.Elle sait  se faire craindre de ses subordonnà ©s.   She knows how to intimidate her subordinates.Je ne crains pas les piqà »res.  Ã‚  Im not afraid  of injections.Il y a tout craindre dune intervention militaire.   One can expect the worst from a military intervention.Craignant de la rà ©veiller, il a retirà © ses chaussures. He took off his shoes for fear of waking her up.Je crains de lavoir blessà ©e.   Im afraid Ive hurt her.Je crains fort quil (ne) soit dà ©j trop tard.   Im really afraid its already too late.Je crains que oui / non. Im afraid so / not.Ça craint le froid. Its s ensitive to cold.Ça craint. (very informal) Its a real pain. craindre pour quelquun / quelque chose to fear for somebody or something Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French -re Verb Craindre Present Future Imperfect Present participle je crains craindrai craignais craignant tu crains craindras craignais il craint craindra craignait nous craignons craindrons craignions vous craignez craindrez craigniez ils craignent craindront craignaient Pass compos Auxiliary verb avoir Past participle craint Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive je craigne craindrais craignis craignisse tu craignes craindrais craignis craignisses il craigne craindrait craignit craignt nous craignions craindrions craignmes craignissions vous craigniez craindriez craigntes craignissiez ils craignent craindraient craignirent craignissent Imperative (tu) crains (nous) craignons (vous) craignez

CVS Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CVS Company - Assignment Example CVS Company was started in 1963 by Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and Ralph Hoagland. By 1964, the company had 17 stores in the States. Initially, the company sold health and beauty products but in 1967 ventured into the pharmaceutical world with its first pharmacy in Rhode Island. Melville Corporation bought CVS in 1969 and by 1974, the company had made $100 million annual sales. 11 years later, the company reached a billion dollars in annual sales. In 1994 the company introduced PharmaCare, a health insurance cover for their employees. By 1997 CVS had more than 2500 stores all over the States. Having become one of the companies to complete the acquisition or Revco, the company was granted major drugstore locations in the Midwest and Southeast. Since then, the company has grown tremendously penetrating many of the States in the US. The firm pioneered the introduction of the loyalty card program, Extra Care Card for its customers. (CVS Caremark Company history 2012) CVS company move to stop selling tobacco products has led to another great loss in the companys sales as they stand to lose approximately 2 billion dollars every year amounting to a 3% loss. Quitting selling tobacco products is one of the reasons why CVS has been unable to provide its tobacco smoking customers with their usual products. The company argues that they are considering a healthy approach that benefits both them and their customers. But with this decision, many of the customers purchasing tobacco products are forced to find alternatives elsewhere or quit smoking altogether. (Paul 2014) In 2011, CVS had a shortage of several products from Johnson & Johnsons. Consumers were told of the shortages which included Motrin, Pepcid AC, Rolaids, Neutrogena skin care products, children’s Tylenol liquid and Tylenol drugs for adults. A department at Johnsons & Johnsons, the McNeil Consumer Healthcare, recalled millions of the J&J products following a quality control problem in its product lines. Some products were suspected of containing metal while others were reported of having a moldy smell within their bottles.

Population Trends in China Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Population Trends in China - Math Problem Example China therefore is a good case study in population growth trends, its analysis and prediction. This paper concentrates on population trends in China between 1950 and 2008, and outlines various models that could be used to represent the data. A variable can be defined as a quantity or attribute that changes according to different situations in a certain process. In our case, the time (t) in years is a variable because it moves from 1950 to 1995. The second variable is population (P) of the people of China in millions. A parameter is a constant that varies from one group of equations to another. The parameters are m, the gradient and c the y-intercept. The graph below shows the population trends in China between 1950 and 1995. Trends Seen in the Graph From the graph, it can be noted that population in China has been increasing over the years. Between 1950 and 1975, the population increases at an increasing rate whereas, between 1975 and 1995, it increases steadily. This difference could be attributed to the one child policy that was introduced by the Chinese government in 1978, to curb population increase. The points in the above graph assume a linear pattern and if a line of best fit is drawn, it has a gradient of approximately 15.49 (calculated using technology). This means that China’s population grows by about 15.49 million people each year. The increase in population has remained steady probably because, there has been a decrease in the infant mortality rate and national deaths due to improved healthcare. Another factor could be immigration by people from other countries. The correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.994, translating to a 99.4% fit, which is a good fit. Functions that could Model the Behaviour of the Graph Som e of the functions that could possibly be used to model the behaviour of this graph are, exponential, linear, logarithmic and polynomial functions. Starting off with the exponential function, it takes the form, The growth rate of an exponential function is proportional to its value. For example, if the rate of population growth is proportional to its size, then the population after t years will be Fig 2: Graph showing an exponential model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient in the above graph is 0.990 which translates to a 99.0% fit of the data points to the curve. This is a relatively good fit. However, the data points for 1970 up to 1980 are overestimated while that of 1995 is underrated. A linear function is one that can be written in the form, where m is the gradient and c is the y-intercept. A linear function often implies uniformity. Fig 3: A graph showing a linear model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.994 translating t o a 99.4% fit of the data points to the line. This is a much better fit than the exponential model. In this model, the points in 1960 and 1965 are underestimated while that of 1950 is overrated. A logarithmic function can be defined as the inverse of an exponential function. It can be expressed by the following identity, Fig 4: A graph showing logarithmic model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient of the above graph is 0.994 translating to a 99.4% fit. It is similar to the linear function fit, but also better than the exponential model fit. The above three models can be used because they all have a 99.0% and above fit, which is an excellent choice as we cannot have real data with a 100% fit. Developing a Model Function that Fits the Data In this case, I choose to use a polynomial function. A polynomial function can be defined as a mathematical function consisting of several terms added together. This includes a linear function, which is discussed above. A polyno mial

Village vs City Essay Example for Free

Village vs City Essay Introduction: Village life is the happiest compromise between the natural and the artificial. It is a merry game between man and nature. Hence, village life is the most natural life for the human beings. General description: see more:city life and village life paragraph The village is panorama of the charming scenes of nature. The scenery of the changing seasons has a profound effect on the village life. It brings a divine touch into human mind. Hence, the village life is full of divine beauty. Village life is plain and simple. Villagers are content with the necessities of life. They have no liking for luxury. They manage with a few pieces of clothes. They prefer the plain food. They discharge their social duties in the simplest manner possible. Villagers are mostly field-workers. They take to farming. Some of them are artisans. All of them follow the trade of their respective castes. They take to different callings of life. Some are priests, some are milkmen, some are oilmen, some are fishermen, some are washermen, some are barbers, some are drummers and so on. They are not rich and wealthy. But they have enough for their minimum requirements of life. The village people take part in fairs and festivals. The celebrations are quite plain and simple. They attend the folk dance and the open air dramas. But the aged of them do not attend the functions. They are happy with their house and harvest. The village people lead the life of plain living and high thinking. They think high, because they think in the terms of God and religon. The village temple maintains their social and moral upkeep. The village temple maintains their social and moral upkeep. The village deity is looked upon with awe and faith. Caste-customs are rigidly followed. Rust of remedy: We know that village people have few wants in life. They are content with what is endowed by nature around them. So, they do not like to make any progress. Consequently, the village life has gone rusty. Evils of ignorance and blind faiths have crept in. Un-education and epidemics are rampant. Now, it is our duty to find out a remedy to this state of affairs. Mass education and public health are the primary conditions for the improvement of the village life. Conclusion: It is said that country life is sweet. It is true no doubt. The greatest of the poets have sung the praise of it. Prophets, too have the greatest admiration for the village life. Great thinkers and philosophers have spent their invaluable lives in the countryside. Hence, village life is highly cherished, in all ages by every soulful man.

Misuse of Ritalin :: Drugs Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Misuse of Ritalin Kyle Carroll of Albany, New York was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) when he was in the first grade. His teacher told his parents, Michael and Jill, that Kyle was too hyper and couldn't concentrate for long periods of time. Without even going to see a professional about Kyle's problem, Kyle was put on Ritalin. Immediately, his parents started to notice side effects on Kyle and when they tried to take their child off of the medication, the teacher threatened to call social services and lodge a complaint about child abuse (Karlin). Many families across America are faced with the problem of ADHD. In fact, approximately 4-million school aged children suffer from ADHD (Rowland). Many cases are misdiagnosed and over one million children take Ritalin who don't need it (Karlin). In 1939, Dr. C. Bradley first prescribed Methylphenidate, or Ritalin, as a stimulant to treat children with ADHD (Mann). ADHD is a brain disorder characterized by a short attention span, jumpiness, and impulsive behavior. To be diagnosed, the victim of the disease usually has gone to see an average of eleven doctors (Rowland). Ritalin is a risky drug. Taking this drug means having to take a dosage every four hours. Like any other medication, large doses can lead to addiction. At the end of the day, when the medication starts to wear off, mood swings occur and the sufferer becomes irritable. Side effects, which include insomnia, loss of appetite, stunted height, and irritability are brutal to the victim (Mann). Ritalin, if taken improperly, can increase a person's heartbeat and blood pressure. This can cause cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and premature death. If ADHD doesn't get treated correctly, or within the first couple of years, there are some serious long term consequences (Ciampa). Ritalin is also hitting the streets of college campuses under the names of "Vitamin R" and "R-Ball". College students are using this drug to improve concentration, so they can study longer, boost their alertness during major tests, and to help stay up all night. Selling and buying this drug is illegal, but anyone can find it on almost all of the campuses. College kids aren't the only ones who find this a booster.

Revenue-Recognition Problems in the Communications Equipment Industry Essay

1) In late 2000, Lucent announced that revenues would be adjusted downwards by $679m as a result of revenue recognition problems. Yet the firm’s market capitalization plummeted by $24.7bn. Why do you think the market reacted so negatively to Lucent’s announcements of the problems? The large drop in market capitalization is probably due to several factors. Historically, Lucent had successfully met analysts’ projections for 15 consecutive quarters before announcing, in January 2000, a major shortfall in profits relative to previous expectations. In June, the quarterly balance sheet reported an operating loss of $301m (for the first time since 1998) while warning of weaker profits in Q4. In addition, the revenue recognition issues announced by the new CEO appointed in October were surely perceived as an indication that Lucent’s management was managing revenues and therefore a possible cause of a future fall in revenues. This led investors to modify their earnings expectations in light of the revenue-recognition problems faced by the firm. Since a company’s share price reflects forecasts of future cash flows, and Lucent’s Q3 and Q4 revenues were substantially written-down, investors would rationally expect future earnings to be affected as well. In an efficient market environment, the $24.7bn in lost market capitalization would equal the discounted value of these expected cash flows. However, it is also likely that the repeated missed expectations caused an overreaction by investors, as the company was forced to revise its revenues downward two times over the span of two quarters. This probably raised fears in the market of more widespread problems with the firm’s accounting practices. It should also be kept in mind that the Internet bubble had just burst and a technology related company announcing an operating loss and lower revenues could easily cause a panic selloff among investors, as typically happens when a speculative bubble bursts. 2) What are the specific revenue recognition problems faced by Lucent? On December 22, 2000, Lucent announced a $679m downward adjustment in revenues  of their fourth-quarter financial statement from September 2000. There were four different reasons for the adjustment. First of all, Lucent stated $125m of recorded sales that did not meet the company’s revenuerecognition rules. These revenues were included in the financial statement due to â€Å"misleading documentation and incomplete communications between a sales team and the financial organization†. Additionally, Lucent sold $452m worth of equipment to system integrators and distributors and recorded them as revenues. In fact, the products were not passed on to the customers, because of their weakened financial condition, and Lucent had already verbally agreed to take back the equipment. Therefore, the sales could not be accounted as revenues. Thirdly, sales teams had verbally offered credits to customers worth $74m and booked them as revenue in order to boost the fourth-quarter numbers. As the credits were meant for use at a later date without an actual sale of equipment taking place, these could not be accounted as revenues in the fourth-quarter. Finally, sold equipment worth $28m had not been completely shipped, leaving the service incomplete. Since this violated the first revenue recognition criteria â€Å"The firm has performed all the services or conveyed the asset to the buyer†, recognition of these revenues is not in line with regulation. 3) What financial statement adjustments will Lucent have to make to correct the revenue recognition problems announced in late 2000? In our treatment of the accounting figures we found it necessary to make assumptions relating to tax rates and COGS, as the information is not given directly. In deciding which tax rate to use for the adjustments we have two obvious alternatives; either assume a corporate tax rate of 35%, or calculate the average tax rate based on the presented financial statement. However, due to certain revenues and expenses being non-taxable we have opted to discard the average tax rate as a suitable estimate, and assumed a corporate tax rate of 35%. In relation to the Cost of Goods Sold, Lucent faces the problem that some of  their goods are tangible (communications equipment) while some are intangible (software licenses, services etc.). We are aware of the fact that Lucent’s intangible assets are subject to different costs as its tangible assets, and therefore have to be restated differently. However, we do not know the costs of neither intangible nor tangible assets due to a lack of information and thus assume a representative cost mix that is proportional to total revenues. Hence, we use the average COGS (69% of revenues in Q4, 2000) when we calculate the restatements. In the balance sheet, we treat the physical goods as â€Å"inventory†, and intangible goods as â€Å"other current assets†. When readjusting the income statement and balance sheets we need to reduce the revenues by a total of $679mn, with a corresponding reduction in accounts receivable. The cost of goods sold is reduced by $470mn, as per our assumption above relating to the average cost of goods sold. On the balance sheet this is reflected in the increase of inventories for tangible sales, and other current assets for intangible sales. This leads to a reduction of pretax income of $209mn, and subsequently a reduction in income taxes of $73mn. In the balance sheet this is represented by a reduction in the deferred tax liability (current liabilities in Lucent’s balance sheet), and finally a reduction in stockholders retained equity by $136mn. 4) How would you judge whether a firm is likely to face revenue recognition problems? Revenue-recognition problems in Lucent’s case emerge from mismanagement of the financial statements by all parties involved in compiling them. For instance, the initial $125 million adjustment was due to miscommunication between the sales team and the financial organization. The lack of a proper internal reporting organization or of efficient external auditors therefore is a sign of increased risk of revenue misrepresentation. It is also important to mention that the events described in the case occurred before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted. This means that, at the time, financial statements did not require a seal of approval from top management in order to be published. The fact that these reports were approved and published suggests awareness and involvement of the board of administrators in the revenue-recognition problems. Making CEOs accountable  for the financial statements was an important step toward prevention of unwanted accounting practices. From a broader perspective, companies are constantly subject to the need of reaching – and beating – the market’s profitability expectations. Missing these targets may result in a steep share price fall, especially considering the â€Å"herd mentality† that is prevalent during market bubbles. Investors will typically overreact at the first sign of negative news from a company, triggering sharp sell offs in stock, as was the case with Lucent, during the height of the dotcom bubble. Further revenue misrepresentation drivers we can deduce from Lucent’s case are: firstly, firms providing financing solutions to customers may fall into the temptation of using these tools in order to boost their quarterly revenues by granting credits to clients. In fact, computing Lucent’s Account Receivables / Turnover ratio, it is observable that average collection days increase substantially from 1998 (85 days) to 2000 (119 days). This means that Lucent was selling products extending financing rather than collecting cash. Secondly, when companies rely on a distribution network rather than on direct sale it is easier for them to engineer revenue-boosting activities (e.g. provide distributors with more than what can be sold and take back the equipment later on). Thirdly, relying on big clients accounting for a large percentage of revenues increases may enhance corporate relationships, thus facilitating non-transparent verbal agreements or offbalance-sheet operations (e.g. financing, discounts). In addition, any changes in accounting practices and assumptions accounted for in the income statement should be investigated closer as a possible case of accounting fraud, as in the case of Lucent. In the 1st quarter of fiscal 1999 $1.3bn is booked as a â€Å"cumulative effect of accounting change†. This is enough to say that a revenue recognition problem exists, but certainly warrants further investigation. Finally, incentives of a more general nature to accounting malpractice include regular evaluation of company credit quality by rating agencies, and distorted compensation incentives for management. The former occur at regular intervals, providing incentives for management to â€Å"polish† a firm’s balance sheet prior to evaluations by the agencies, while the latter usually  involves stock options. Since employees are only allowed to sell their options at certain dates, they have an incentive to push the company’s share price up through accounting manipulation, prior to executing their options. 5) Assess whether any of Lucent’s competitors are likely to face revenue recognition problems in the coming quarters. Cisco Systems’ multichannel approach to sales and marketing includes a direct sales force to distributors, value-added resellers and system integrators. This could allow them to boost their revenues by selling excessive amounts to distributors close to the end of a quarter and taking the equipment back afterwards. On the other hand, Cisco does not rely on a single client, but has a diversified client base. In addition, the financing that Cisco provides is clearly reported on the balance sheet as noncurrent long-term lease receivables, which clearly differs to Lucent’s approach concerning verbal agreements about credits to clients. Unlike Cisco, Juniper Networks mainly relies on one large customer, WorldCom, who generated 18% of their revenues in 2000. Thus, they were highly dependent on that client and had most likely build up a close relationship with them, both concerning equipment sales and credit granting. This increases the risk of false revenue recognition due to either channel stuffing or the sale of equipment (meant to be taken back if not sold) close to the end of the quarter. Nortel is mainly a service provider, in fact 82% of its revenues are made up by services. This could be a red flag for revenue-recognition issues as services may have no clear delivery date and thus allow revenue management. In addition, Nortel granted credit to its customers of $5.6bn, of which only $1.5bn had been used. This could mean that Nortel is trying to attract customers by aggressively offering financing. On the other hand, Nortel does not depend on any single client. We did not find any significant pattern in insiders’ dispositions of their stock options to indicate fraudulent activity, neither for Lucent or any of their competitors. We also closely examined the two key ratios â€Å"Account Receivables Turnover† and â€Å"Cash Flow Return† for Lucent and its competitors (Juniper Networks has been excluded due to data absence). As can be seen in  the following graph all cash flow returns recently started to decline, which could raise concerns with regards to their revenue recognition policy. In Cisco’s and Nortel’s case one can see that this change is due to a parallel decline in cash flow from operations as well as an increase in sales. However, this movement by itself is not a red flag and could be due to other factors, which calls for a more detailed investigation. We can see that the suspicious decrease in cash flow return is mainly due to a substantial increase in sales and can also be seen in a substantial increase in accounts receivables. Hence, we looked at â€Å"accounts receivable turnover† or more precisely â€Å"days sales outstanding† and found that the average level over the course of the previous three years stays approximately the same while showing a negative trend for Cisco and even constantly decreased slightly for Nortel. This is a very good sign and means that these two still manage to collect their receivables in a timely manner although sales increase rapidly. Cash Flow Returns should therefore stabilize again in the ne ar future. Lucent’s Account receivables turnover on the other hand, as already elaborated in the previous question, steeply increases. This may indicate Lucent was selling products by extending financing to customers rather than collecting cash since we cannot apply the same argumentation as for Cisco and Nortel in Lucent’s case.

An Education and History Boys Comparative Film Essay Essay

Through the analysis of where an education originates, The History Boys and An Education have two vastly contradictory viewpoints. The History Boys demonstrates both academic education and an education on life gained within school grounds. An Education, however, illustrates a young Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) as she gains her education far from her school environment – despite much attempted intervention. In both The History Boys and An Education the teachers play an integral role in shaping the educational path for our protagonists. Hector (Richard Griffiths) bases his teachings on the principle of educating the boys in regard to life and not purely academic learning. When the viewers are first introduced to Hector, they are made aware of the high regard with which the boys view him. During the scene when the boys celebrate their final marks, they bow down to Hector as if they are not worthy. If the manner in which Hector teaches the boys is considered, it becomes evident that he understands the idea of literature perhaps having an impact on his students later in life – â€Å"all knowledge is precious whether or not it serves the slightest human purpose†. He seems to be concerned with how the boys utilise their learning within everyday life; how they apply ideas and philosophies concealed in knowledge at a standard worthy of Oxford and Cambridge. Within Hector’s classroom, there are many literary references present on the walls – more than once the viewer’s eyes are drawn to a photograph of W H Auden – who can be considered similar to Hector in that both had homosexual inclinations. During the boys’ outing to an old monastery, Hector advises the boys on knowledge, and the transfer thereof, with the words, â€Å"pass it on†. In this, he is able to teach the boys a lesson more important than any taught in the classroom. In An Education, Miss Stubbs as well as the Headmistress (Emma Thompson) allude to an education coming from within a school and being purely academically centred. The Headmistress reminds Jenny that neither herself nor Miss Stubbs would be where they are if it were not for their decent school and university education. Miss Stubbs admits to Jenny that she attended Cambridge – only to be offended by Jenny, who could no longer see the benefit of an academic education. Within Miss Stubbs’s classroom, we are  able to see that the walls are fairly empty and her desk uncluttered. This stands in contrast with the Hector’s vibrant classroom. In the opening scene of An Education the camera tracks the movement of the overlays into Miss Stubbs’s classroom and to a group of girls who look stricken with boredom and later on read with that same unenthusiastic demeanour. Continually throughout the movie, we are reminded of the popular 1960s belief that education meant almost everything if one was to attend a prestigious university and find a job that provided a salary, but that was not necessarily fulfilling. The History Boys proves to the viewers that life lessons can be and are taught within school parameters. Although much of the focus is centred on the Ox-Bridge examinations, Hector and Irwin, specifically, are able to teach the boys life lessons over and above the syllabus. Hector teaches the boys the importance of knowledge, even if it has no obvious use. To Hector, language, literature and music are to be considered in high regard with the intent of creating a cultured being rather than one only able to regurgitate useless ‘gobbets’, as referred to by Irwin. The question, â€Å"how does History happen?† is asked more than once throughout the film’s duration. As the film progresses, the answer emerges – history is merely one thing after another. When the boys are confronted with Hector’s death, they are able to realise how fleeting life is. Death calls for introspection and a deeper consideration of what it is in life that is truly important. Hector is able to teach the boys that education is indispensable in whichever form and from whichever source it comes, which, as well as the idea that one must pass knowledge along, is a most crucial aspect to the film. In An Education, it is clear that Jenny receives her education outside of school parameters – despite the objections posed by Miss Stubbs and the Headmistress. Although Jenny is a dedicated student, who in the beginning tries to gain her education within school and from her teachers, she inevitably gains it from her relationship with David (Peter Sarsgaard). During the opening scene, the students dancing with books on their head appeals to the formal environment they attended school in. David was able to show Jenny the other side of this spectrum – he introduced her to art,  music, wine and lavish restaurants. David travelled to Oxford and Paris with Jenny, where everything was tinted with a blue haze and made to seem flawless. He provided her with a life where she could speak French and surround herself with art and culture; the life she had so longed for. However, when Jenny discovered that David was a married man, she was also able to learn that a lifestyle such as the one David and his friends led often hid many secrets. He was a dishonest man – and it taught Jenny that trust should not just be given, but rather earned. When she visits Miss Stubbs, her words, â€Å"I feel old, but not so wise† prove that when one is young, they can so easily be deceived by materialism and the idea of love – a lesson no school would be able to teach. Both The History Boys and An Education demonstrate how education has no set definition. It can be defined as learning fact, or as learning about life. Both also prove to us that education does not have to come from an educational institute and its employees. Life can sometimes prove more educational than the classroom.

Globalization As The Context For Modern Management Accounting Accounting Essay Essay Example

Globalization As The Context For Modern Management Accounting Accounting Essay Essay Example Globalization As The Context For Modern Management Accounting Accounting Essay Essay Globalization As The Context For Modern Management Accounting Accounting Essay Essay the globalisation of economic activities is the most important development in the universe economic system in recent history. The volume and assortment of merchandises that have been included in the planetary trade have increased drastically. Likewise, the forms of ingestion and production are no longer every bit stable as they were earlier. Economic globalisation refers non merely to the geographic spread of economic activities but besides the functional integrating of internationally spread economic activities ( Huang, 2006 ) . Therefore, whole states, parts, and other transactional parties are formed into one functional planetary economic system through extremely intricate international systems of production, trade, and finance. Halawi, Aronson and McCarthy ( 2005, pp. 77 ) wrote that one of the chief ingredients for corporate success in today s globalized environment is to admiting how to make and prolong competitory advantage, which finally depends on what a company decides it will or will non make. Competitive advantage may be defined as the ability to ear returns on investing systematically above the norm for the industry ( Halawi, Aronson and McCarthy, 2005, pp. 77 ) and is apparent when the houses is able to make a value-adding scheme that is non employed by any of its current rivals. On the other manus, Becker and Huselid ( 2006, pp. 899 ) besides concur by stating that the right corporate scheme that creates competitory advantage consequences, in bend, to above-average fiscal public presentation. Continuous enjoyment of competitory advantage can merely go on if ( 1 ) the degree of public presentation that a house attains in its execution of the alone value-enhancing scheme is non at the same time being done by bing or possible rivals and ( 2 ) the rivals are either loath or unable to animate the benefits of this peculiar scheme. Therefore, competitory advantage can merely originate from the maximization of the right strategic assets. Organizational construction and direction accounting Hankins and Baker ( 2004 ) noted that the internal construction of an organisation could really impact how the accounting process is designed and carried out, and this rule applies to both the fiscal and the managerial types of accounting. For illustration, factors such as the organisation s type of concern ( fabricating versus service-oriented ) and purpose ( for net income versus non-profit ) would finally spell differences on the company s attack to measuring its current state of affairs. Furthermore, such parametric quantities would besides order how the organisation would explicate strategic programs for future concern waies, every bit good as the activities and alterations that it must use in order to accomplish its purposes and aims. From the point of position of direction accounting, these parametric quantities are the beginning of major considerations for explicating policies, long-range programs and strategic determinations that will finally impact the organisation s class. Because direction accounting trades with activities and processes more than exact quantitative figures, it is more comprehensive in range. It gives deepness to the figures by supplying penetrations into, say, the current accomplishment degrees of the organisation s employees and how these can be improved in order to run into the awaited rise in demand for the merchandise or services that it offers. For concern programs and determinations to be carried out efficaciously, a thorough apprehension of how the organisation works is a must. Management accounting helps on this mark because it delves deep into the different kineticss between work squads, the employees motives and ideas and about their occupations, the sort and quality of the accomplishments possessed by the employees, the effectivity of current operating models and other facets of the organisation s life. Armed with such accurate information, any alterations that the direction wishes to implement to follow a peculiar path in the hereafter is anchored more steadfastly on the worlds of the organisation, from its employees to its procedures and resources. The importance of direction accounting patterns Different companies use different determiners to mensurate the success of their concern activities, and profitableness is merely one of them. Some may look into the entire ingestion of natural stuffs to bring forth finished goods, while others may see market portion as the most dependable index of good public presentation ( Accounting Software Advisor, 2009 ) . Whatever determinant a company decides to utilize, it is imperative that the measuring is accurate, thorough, and reflective of world. A important intent of developing such a measurement graduated table is to hold a criterion system that will let the company to compare its existent public presentation against rivals. The measuring applied will finally impact the way that the company will take in the following planning twelvemonth, every bit good as influence of import determinations such as acceptance of new selling schemes, research and development, and enlargement or merchandise variegation. We make a differentiation between fiscal accounting, which is largely used for collating information that can be included in the fiscal study of a company, and managerial accounting, which is an analytic tool used by a company s direction to be after, measure, and direct their operations ( West Virginia Universtity, 2008 ) . Thus we can state that fiscal accounting is concerned with supplying an overall position of the organisation s activities and money flows within a specific period of clip for the usage of shareholders, creditors and other outside parties. On the other manus, managerial accounting is a quantitative appraisal of the same elements made for the directors, with a position to utilizing the information gathered for future planning ( Geense, 2005 ) . Traditional and activities based bing methods autumn under the tools used in managerial accounting. As such, they are of import internal analyses of the company s operations. This entirely guarantees their primacy as feasible research subjects for developing and bettering the measuring system used by companies in different industries. Today, there is an intensified involvement in their maps and pertinence as more and more accounting package are made available in the market. There is a demand to see which bing method is compatible with which package in order to maximise their common benefits. Competition in the planetary market place has forced most fabrication services and organisations to follow originative and flexible solutions that will enable them to maintain up their productiveness without incurring farther costs ( Akyol, Tuncel and Bayhan, 2005 ) . However, in order to keep an organisation s competitory border, one must be able to efficaciously and accurately use an appropriate cost computation mechanism. Apart from traditional and activities based costing, other signifiers of managerial accounting analyses are besides being used to cipher the cost of production, but these methods are non as widely used as the other two. These new costing methods are bottleneck accounting and balanced scorecard. Traditionally, direction comptrollers used discrepancy analysis to demo the the existent and budgeted costs and grosss within a specific production period. However, this pattern is now being used in concurrence with new public presentation study strategies such as constriction accounting and balanced scorecard. In constriction accounting, the comptroller can nail which constriction gave rise to an unfavourable difference between existent and budgeted gross revenues ( Geense, 2005 ) . This bing method allows for the designation of constrictions in the production and gross revenues mechanism. It besides shows which constriction to work out foremost, based on the sum of money lost for each. On the other manus, the balanced scorecard is a set of fiscal steps, operational steps on client satisfaction, internal procedures and the organisation s invention and betterment activities ( Kaplan and Norton, 1992 as cited in Geense, 2005 ) . The developers of the balanced scorecard argue that this can besides be used as a strategic direction system. Because of its holistic attack to mensurating a company s performance-from the point of view of clients, for example-it can help directors in making aims for each position and interpret these into specific responses. Fiscal accounting versus direction accounting The Encyclopedia of Management ( 2007 ) defines the traditional cost accounting system as a system of apportioning costs based on single-volume steps such as direct-labor hours, direct-labor costs, or machine hours that is more aligned with following with the demands needed for pulling sound fiscal studies. In add-on, it can besides demo gross and expense classs such as costs of good sold, wages, rent, supplies, depreciation, income revenue enhancements, and so forth ( Brimson and Antos, 1999 ) . Traditional cost accounting is a comparatively inexpensive and convenient manner of make fulling in the demands for fiscal coverage. In simpler footings, a company merely takes the existent public presentation within a specific clip frame and compares it with projected values to deduce a discrepancy. But given the comparatively surface degree analysis provided by traditional cost accounting methods, most companies today find it to be uncomplete and unrefined ( Manalo, 2004 ) . Users of this cost allotment attack say that point out that the natural information that is reflected in the budget sheet does non stand for a clear and accurate relationship between the cost and the cost object. Such booby traps in the system can take to hapless and ungrounded determination devising on the portion of the direction. One large job with utilizing the traditional costing method is that it is limited to reflecting a purely fiscal image of the company s public presentation, without associating the Numberss to peculiar activities within the company ( Brimson and Antos, 1999 ) . Because budgeting is concerned merely with the allotment of scarce resources, it does non concern itself with the creative activity of value utilizing the said resources, which is a more profitable terminal end. It besides misses out on supplying information that the direction can really react to and concentrate on client demands. All these defects of the traditional cost accounting attack has led to the development of an improved system that can make full in the spreads left by the former. For direction accounting, we shall look largely at activities-based costing, since it is the preferable type of direction accounting at present. Activities based costing or ABC was developed by the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing International ( CAM-I ) in 1991 as a feasible option to the bing costing attack, that is, the traditional methods ( Manalo, 2004 ) . The traditional method was developed in the late eighteenth century and was a theoretical account that reflected the nature of concern endeavors during that time-that is, industry so was labour intensive, without mechanization, with small merchandise assortment and with by and large low operating expense costs ( Emblesvag, 2000 ) . The concern landscape has changed greatly since so, and this can possibly explicate the inability of the traditional costing method to reply to the diverse demands of industries today. In contrast to the traditional cost accounting attack, ABC measures non merely in footings of direct costs such as labour or machine hours, stuffs or other billable goods. Alternatively, ABC assigns costs to activities utilizing multiple cost drivers, and so allocates these costs to merchandises based on each merchandise s usage of these activities ( Akyol, Tuncel, and Bayhan, 2005 ) . Furthermore, this system calculates the entire cost of a merchandise as the amount of the cost of natural stuffs and the cost of all the value adding activities needed for its production. Therefore, it takes into consideration the organisation s usage of resources by the activities performed and links these costs with end products such as merchandises, clients and services. Each merchandise requires a figure of activities or phases of development ( i.e. design, technology, buying, production, quality control, stock list ) and each activity consumes different resources of assorted classs ( working clip, machinery, warehouse infinite, packaging stuffs, etc. ) . The ABC model has two axes that represent two different positions. The perpendicular axis of the model trades with the cost assignment position, that is, it specifies all the available resources that each of the company s activities can pull upon. On the other manus, the horizontal axis looks at the procedure position, which includes the cost drivers or agents that cause that causes the activity to use resources to needed to accomplish a peculiar undertaking ( Manalo, 2004 ) . This axis can assist organisations supervise the efficiency and effectivity of all activity attempts related to its operations. Despite its soundness, some writers argue that the ABC is non a complete option to the traditional cost accounting attack and is best used as a complementary analysis ( Manalo, 2004 ) . It is more utile as a transcriber of critical quantitative informations about the company s operations-instead of sum uping everything into a fiscal spreadsheet, the ABC method interruptions down costs in to activities and matching resources that can be easy understood. Decision From the predating treatment we have seen how two factors-one internal and the other external-have made an imprint on the manner direction accounting rules and patterns have evolved over the old ages. Today we are faced with the phenomena of globalisation, information engineering and trade liberalisation, to call a few, which are finally altering the manner concern organisations handle their operations. At this point, it is of import to observe that direction accounting will neer be able to come up with sure-fire ways of hiking an organisation s public presentation. It can merely supply guidelines and likely points for betterment. Other external factors can still impact organisational success in the hereafter, but direction accounting is a helpful tool for cognizing how to near the job decently.

World War II Bomber Command Dambuster Raids

World War II Bomber Command Dambuster Raids During the early days of World War II, the Royal Air Forces Bomber Command sought to strike at German dams in the Ruhr. Such an attack would damage water and electrical production, as well as inundate large areas of the region. Conflict Date Operation Chastise took place on May 17, 1943, and was part of World War II. Aircraft Commanders Wing Commander Guy Gibson19 aircraft Operation Chastise Overview Assessing the feasibility of the mission, it was found that multiple strikes with a high degree of accuracy would be necessary. As these would have to take place against heavy enemy resistance, Bomber Command dismissed the raids as unpractical. Pondering the mission, Barnes Wallis, an aircraft designer at Vickers, devised a different approach to breaching the dams. While first proposing the use of a 10-ton bomb, Wallis was forced to move on as no aircraft capable carrying such a payload existed. Theorizing that a small charge could break the dams if detonated below the water, he was initially thwarted by the presence of German anti-torpedo nets in the reservoirs. Pushing on with the concept, he began developing a unique, cylindrical bomb designed to skip along the surface of the water before sinking and exploding at the dams base. To accomplish this, the bomb, designated Upkeep, was spun backwards at 500 rpm before being dropped from low altitude. Striking the dam, the bombs spin would let it roll down the face before exploding underwater. Wallis idea was put forward to Bomber Command and after several conferences was accepted on February 26, 1943. While Wallis team worked to perfect the Upkeep bomb design, Bomber Command assigned the mission to 5 Group. For the mission, a new unit, 617 Squadron, was formed with Wing Commander Guy Gibson in command. Based at RAF Scampton, just northwest of Lincoln, Gibsons men were given uniquely modified Avro Lancaster Mk.III bombers. Dubbed the B Mark III Special (Type 464 Provisioning), 617s Lancasters had much of the armor and defensive armament removed to reduce weight. In addition, the bomb bay doors were taken off to allow the fitting of special crutches to hold and spin the Upkeep bomb. As the mission planning progressed, it was decided to strike the MÃ ¶hne, Eder, and Sorpe Dams. While Gibson relentlessly trained his crews in low-altitude, night flying, efforts were made to find solutions to two key technical problems. These were ensuring that the Upkeep bomb was released at a precise altitude and distance from the dam. For the first issue, two lights were mounted under each aircraft such that their beams would converge on the surface of the water then the bomber was at the correct altitude. To judge range, special aiming devices which utilized towers on each dam were built for 617s aircraft. With these problems solved, Gibsons men began test runs over reservoirs around England. Following their final testing, the Upkeep bombs were delivered on May 13, with the goal of Gibsons men conducting the mission four days later. Flying the Dambuster Mission Taking off in three groups after dark on May 17, Gibsons crews flew at around 100 feet to evade German radar. On the outbound flight, Gibsons Formation 1, consisting of nine Lancasters, lost an aircraft en route to the MÃ ¶hne when it was downed by high tension wires. Formation 2 lost all but one of its bombers as it flew towards Sorpe. The last group, Formation 3, served as a reserve force and diverted three aircraft to Sorpe to make up for losses. Arriving at MÃ ¶hne, Gibson led the attack in and successfully released his bomb. He was followed by Flight Lieutenant John Hopgood whose bomber was caught in the blast from its bomb and crashed. To support his pilots, Gibson circled back to draw German flak while the others attacked. Following a successful run by Flight Lieutenant Harold Martin, Squadron Leader Henry Young was able to breach the dam. With the MÃ ¶hne Dam broken, Gibson led the flight to Eder where his three remaining aircraft negotiated tricky terrain to score hits on the dam. The dam was finally opened by Pilot Officer Leslie Knight. While Formation 1 was achieving success, Formation 2 and its reinforcements continued to struggle. Unlike MÃ ¶hne and Eder, the Sorpe Dam was earthen rather than masonry. Due to increasing fog and as the dam was undefended, Flight Lieutenant Joseph McCarthy from Formation 2 was able to make ten runs before releasing his bomb. Scoring a hit, the bomb only damaged the crest of the dam. Two aircraft from Formation 3 attacked as well, but were unable to inflict substancial damage. The remaining two reserve aircraft were directed to secondary targets at Ennepe and Lister. While Ennepe was unsuccessfully attacked (this aircraft may have struck Bever Dam by mistake), Lister escaped unharmed as Pilot Officer Warner Ottley was downed en route. Two additional aircraft were lost during the return flight. Aftermath Operation Chastise cost 617 Squadron eight aircraft as well as 53 killed and 3 captured. The successful attacks on the MÃ ¶hne and Eder dams released 330 million tons of water into the western Ruhr, reducing water production by 75% and flooding large amounts of farmland. In addition, over 1,600 were killed though many of these were forced laborers from occupied countries and Soviet prisoners of war. While British planners were pleased with the results, they were not long lasting. By late June, German engineers had fully restored water production and hydroelectric power. Though the military benefit was fleeting, the success of the raids provided a boost to British morale and aided Prime Minister Winston Churchill in negotiations with the United States and Soviet Union. For his role in the mission, Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross while the men of 617 Squadron received a combined five Distinguished Service Orders, ten Distinguished Flying Crosses and four bars, twelve Distinguished Flying Medals, and two Conspicuous Gallantry Medals. Selected Sources Dambusters.orgThe DambustersBBC: Barnes Wallis

History of Design1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of Design1 - Essay Example The two men wanted this group of people to show the unity between artists that did more than just make art, but make things that were of use to others. Adolf Loos was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, also active during the same time period as Moser and Hoffman. Loos became famous for his catchphrase "ornament and crime," which he meant to mean that he disowned the style of Vienna Secession. He felt that for a culture to progress creatively, it needed to rid itself of ornamentation on everyday items, stating that it was a crime when architects and designers continued the use of ornaments in their works. Loos ideas were at odds with the Wiener Werkstà ¤tte, who existence was to encourage the Vienna Succession and use of ornament within the architectural works. Loos was set against combining art with everyday objects due to the fact that he felt the two did not belong together. Art should be art, function and consumer goods should be what they