Integration and Reflection Essay

Taking up this course, Health System Administration, had contributed a lot of knowledge and information to me as a student who belongs to the health care team. At first, I found the course boring and unattractive since it involves various issues and history of troublesome health care delivery system of our country. However, after I have progressed from one module to another module, it started to drag my curiosity and intense attention on the topics being mentioned. It started to make me aware of the facts and rationales as to why the country is losing its grip on the economic value of the health care facilities. It started to make me understand that by gaining knowledge and by being aware, ways and means could be identified in order to start a change within myself. I was deeply grateful that I was able to take this course because of the knowledge it instilled in me. It widened my scope of understanding of the various issues, especially with the health care facilities, which are occurring all throughout the country. Exposure to the realities of each American’s life suffering from the flaws and inconsistencies of insurance systems was further magnified in my mind. This knowledge made me think critically on the solutions that the health care delivery system might need in order to somehow improve its quality of providing care. In addition, my skills and abilities to think for possible ways to improve health care delivery system, like the 10 rules identified by IOM (2001), were also enhanced throughout the course. As I was studying this course, I was able to grasp the fact that in order to further understand what is happening in the health care delivery system of the country, I need to check first on the various leadership styles, organizational structures and various types of care that are being utilized by each health care facility. After I did the various modules and learned from it, I realized that I still need a lot of improvements on various parts of the lecture. Working on the forces that greatly impact the healthcare delivery (like the stakeholders and changing demographics) was identified to be one of the critical topics that were not fully understood. I think I could have performed better on it if I was able to do some more researches and actual interviews among the stakeholders that could have been involved in collaborating with health care facilities and hospitals. Another topic which I think confused me was the different types of leadership styles and qualities that were utilized for the success of healthcare organization. It is known for a fact that through great leadership, progress is surely next to it. However, I find it difficult to identify what particular leadership style can be utilized in order to bring progress and to bring equality to all patients and suppliers of the health care delivery system. A suggestion that I can think of to make this subject clear on my mind is by having personal activities which could greatly involve leadership styles and qualities. The leadership quality within each person must be enhanced and progressed to bring about positive impacts on the health care system of the country. As I go through the lecture notes and modules that I have, I was able to conceptualize various ways that could measure the future effects of the knowledge I learned from this lecture. I was able to identify that with proper information dissemination and proper adherence to the health knowledge being described, the health care economy can surely experience a decrease in the costs that hospitals and insurance systems are being charged of. Also, preventive health education will be further explored and implemented among patients, giving greater importance than acute health care because of the long term benefits that preventive measures of avoiding diseases will offer. In summary, I can say that with the help of this module I was able to reflect and integrate the course concepts identified. Also, I was able to explore the impact that stakeholders and changing demographics have provided the healthcare delivery. In addition, I was able to understand the significance and the contributions that the 21st century healthcare organization has on the health care system. Various leadership qualities and trends in health care were further explored. Also, the impacts of patient safety and financial crises on hospitals was then identified and defined.

The Statue of David by Michelangelo-A Masterpiece

The Renaissance was a European phenomenon in the world of art and letters, which was found operative at the beginning of the 16th century all over Europe. It was a sort of the revival of learning-a New Learning-and a renewed interest in art and letters. It had a venerable attachment to the golden literary and artistic past of classical antiquity and an enthusiastic fondness for creative, imaginative and emotive freshness. It had a tremendous impact on the European mind and quickened its liberation from medieval dogmatism and feudal tyranny.The Renaissance brought bout the liberation of human thoughts and feelings and opened a wide vista of emotional freedom, imaginative flights and philosophical speculations in the sphere of art and literature. The statue of David, made by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504, is a masterpiece of the Renaissance art. It is a seventeen feet tall sculpture of the biblical hero David, which was a favored subject in the art of Florence. In 1501, Florence h ad Just become independent from the Medici rule.This statue was commissioned by the Florentine council to be a gigantic model of heroic youth which could seem to protect Florence from the aggressors. The statue of David was one of the first structures of the male nude. The statue of David was built out of a block of smooth marble purchased from the famous quarries in Cascara. It was initially commissioned to Stagnation did Disco in 1466. He did not manage to work too much on it, and the contract was later terminated.Ten years after this, Antonio Reselling started working on it, but the contract was terminated again as no real progress was being made. The block thus lay exposed to the elements for twenty years before Michelangelo started working on it. Although he was not very happy at having to work on a block of second-hand marble, the contract with the Guild of Wool Merchants of Florence mentioned that the block intended was â€Å"badly roughened out†, stating that the bloc k was too valuable a commodity to waste. The statue was intended to be placed on the top of the Florence Cathedral.However, when it was finished, the beauty of the sculpture and its weight ruled out placing it at the top of the cathedral. It was too heavy to be lifted, and it was considered that people should have closer access to such a marvelous work of art. It was finally placed in the Piazza Della Signora outside the Palazzo Vehicle. Unlike the earlier sculptures of David by Overreach and Denotable, which showed David standing triumphant over the head of Goliath, the giant he had Just slain, Michelangelo portrays David with a slingshot and stone.He appears tense more in a mental than a physical sense, but not alarmed, and seems prepared for battle. His sling is small and not too emphasized, showing that the victory was not so much due to physical prowess as due to faith in oneself and desire to do the right thing. Michelangelo has depicted David at the moment when he showed the most courage-when he took up the challenge to fight Goliath. This decision was a crucial one, and reflected much more of his character than the moment when he finally killed Goliath.Michelangelo shows David not as the victor, but at the point in time when he prefigured victory-the moment between conscious choice and conscious action, when he made the choice to fight Goliath to protect his people, even though he had no armor and got ready with Just a slingshot and five smooth stones. For the people of Florence, for whom freedom had been newly found ND was under threat, the statue seemed to reflect the courage and determination of the brave who are determined to keep their city safe. The figure is menacing, but this is not fuelled by aggression. There is no tension in the arms or legs.The statue is of a young but mature man with the knotted muscles of an athlete, a huge rib cage and a confident stance. It seems to be keeping watch over the city. A million visitors gather till today to see this awe-inspiring piece of work, but it was originally built with the political message of David ready to take on Goliath, symbolizing that the people of Florence were ready to face any challenge to keep their freedom. The statue's warning eyes were turned towards Rome, hoping to keep invaders at bay. The statue provides almost life-like details of the human body even though human anatomy was forbidden during this time.Michelangelo was constrained by the second-hand marble he was using, but managed to carve a slim youth with a muscular built. Hush knowledge of the human form has recorded perfectly the shepherd lad with the strap of the slingshot across his back. However, on viewing the statue closely, it appears that the upper body is larger in proportion to the lower body. However, as Lois Fischer-Rather says in her book Understanding Art, â€Å"No longer does the figure remain still in a Classical contractors stance, but rather extends into the surrounding space away from a vertical axis.This movement outward from a central core forces the viewer to take into account both the form and the space between and surrounding the forms?in order to appreciate the complete composition. † The hands also appear to be large in proportion to the body. The disproportion could probably have been due to the fact that Michelangelo had carved the statue keeping in mind hat it was to be kept on the top of a cathedral. It could also be that the hands were purposely made too large to depict that man is naturally a violent and greedy creature.When one walks around the statue of David, he would find the appearance changing dramatically. The right hand side of the statue appears calm and composed, but the left hand side is dramatically different. It is dynamic and active, as is evident from the posture of the stretched leg all the way to the disheveled hair. It could be that Michelangelo made the body parts disproportionate to achieve this effect. The eyes too vary grea tly. From any given position, only one of his eyes are visible at one time.When one approaches the statue from the left, the left eye appears to be staring at a point behind and above the viewer, as if focusing on Goliath. From this position, the right eye appears to be hidden behind the sling and is hence not visible. On approaching from the right side, the right eye is visible while the left eye disappears. David would have thrown the stone towards his left, hence the left eye moves in the direction of the body intended move. The right eye, when embodied with the rest of the body, reflects power, cunning and intelligence.The statue of David was moved from Piazza Della Signora to Galleria dialectical in 1873 to protect it from decay and keep it safe. A replica of the original was placed in Piazza Della Signora. The Renaissance was the rebirth of man's life on earth, when he was free from the shackles of authority and free to understand the universe. Michelangelo David is the best e xpression of this sense of life. David appeals to us so much as it is Michelangelo projection of man at his very best-vigorous, healthy, dutiful, rational and competent form.It expresses a heroic view of man and a universal appeal to his success. Today, when man is again viewed by intellectuals as an ugly, corrupt being, trapped in an incomprehensible universe and lacking control over his own destiny, man is no longer viewed as a serious subject for art. But this magnificent sculpture of the bygone years instills in us a sense of faith, hope and glory, and above all leads us to believe again that one man can indeed make a difference, and man can control not only his destiny, but also that of his clan.

One to one communication interaction Essay

In this activity, I will be carrying out two interactions, one with an individual and one with a group of service users. For my individual interaction I have chosen to work with a service user from my workplace. I am a social tutor working with deaf and blind adults. I will take an activity with a group of young children in a local school for my group interaction. After these interactions have taken place, I will look at and discuss the types of communication skills shown, and I will also describe the interpersonal interaction that occurred. Communication with other people involves a process that most of us take for granted. We need to pass information using a form of code from one individual to another. A code is a communication system, which contains elements, which all individuals will understand. This could be verbal, non-verbal i.e. body language, Braille, sign language, writing, pictures or even music to convey a message (CCMS, 2006). We need to express our thoughts to another person using methods of communication. The other person thinks about our communication and responds. We then check the response, whether the communication has been correctly interpreted, and if not we need to clarify our communication. Gerard Egan (1986) states that ‘the goal of listening is understanding’. (Moonie, 2005) see more:describe the impact the behaviours of carers and others may have on an individual with dementia I had chosen to work with a male service user, a resident at my workplace. I will refer to this service user as Mr A throughout this report, to protect his identity. This is important, as confidentiality is a basic human right. Law protects confidentiality through the Data Protection Act 1988, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Maintaining confidentiality also forms part of the Care Standards Act 2000, and staff in health and social care are expected to work within the boundaries of confidentiality. Before I undertook my individual interaction, I gave some thought to how I could get as much conversation as possible. Mr A has very limited sight and good hearing. He has a pair of glasses but does not like to wear them. He also has learning disabilities, which makes his ability to respond verbally quite difficult. As I know Mr A well, I will use informal conversation, also a formal interview would not be appropriate due to Mr A’s conversational skills. Informal is defined as â€Å"without ceremony or formality; relaxed and friendly.† (Chambers, 2007) Taking this into account I thought of a few questions, which would be easy for him to respond to. I had open questions in my head, such as ‘what are you doing today’ ‘what would you like for breakfast’ and ‘how was your evening’. Using open questions, I hoped to encourage conversation and interaction between us. Closed questions, which only require a yes or no answer, would not be productive to this activity, however due to Mr A’s disabilities I may have to use closed questions at times. As I have worked with Mr A for two years, I already have a good relationship with him. Mr A requires a lot of support with his personal needs, but likes to be as independent as possible. Talking to other staff, reading Mr A’s care plan and observations I have made during the time I have worked with Mr A has allowed me to build up a good relationship with him, and knowledge of how he likes to communicate. I know when to offer support, and Mr A appears to like me. Mr A makes it quite clear when he is unhappy by shouting. On Tuesday 19th December 2006 at 9am I went to my workplace. The weather was dull and cold outside. Mr A was sat in his usual chair in the living room. He had his arms relaxed by his side, and one knee across the other. There was one other service user in the room, and the radio was on low. The radio is always on for Mr A; he likes to listen to either the radio or the television at all times. Another member of staff was also in the living room writing up paper work. The temperature was warm, the room was well lit but not too bright and the atmosphere was calm. Mr A appeared relaxed. My body language was relaxed, and I smiled and said ‘good morning’ to Mr A, and he said ‘yeah’ in response. He shuffled around in his chair at little as he spoke to me. I sat in a chair in close proximity to Mr A so that he would be able to hear me clearly above any background noise, and know where I was location to him as he has very limited sight. Mr A needs a lot of help with his needs, and he is comfortable with carers in his personal space. I sat relaxed, with my body turned towards Mr A, my arms leaning across my knees. I made sure I looked at Mr A so when I spoke to him he would know I was making as much eye contact as possible. Mr A does not make eye contact with anybody, he tends to look down towards his knees and occasionally look up towards the centre of the room. Although Mr A was not making eye contact with me, I felt it important to maintain contact, as I may be able to guess his thoughts and feelings by looking at his eyes. Mr A settled back into his chair and his body posture was relaxed. With my voice at a calm slow pitch I said ‘who is it Mr A’, Mr A said ‘Sarah been on days too long’. This is an affectionate term for Mr A. I responded with ‘yes I think it is time I had a holiday’ and Mr A laughed and said ‘its time you did’. I laughed with Mr A to show I found his remark amusing. He shuffled around a little in his chair again. I continued to talk to Mr A in a varying tone to ensure my voice sent a friendly message. I asked Mr A how he was feeling today and he said ‘yeah’. I asked him if he was feeling poorly and he said ‘didn’t say that’, so I asked him if he was feeling well. Mr A responded ‘yeah’. By maintaining eye contact and looking interested, I assured Mr A that I was actively listening. Mr A’s receptive language is very good however his expressive language is very limited. In order to find out something from Mr A I have to clarify what it is I want to know. By asking if he felt poorly or well first I knew from experience that Mr A would respond ‘didn’t say that’ to the wrong one. I paraphrased what I had asked, reflecting back on the question to ensure I had understood what Mr A was telling me. I touched Mr A on the arm and told him that I was pleased he felt well. I felt touch was appropriate in this instance, however I recognise that this is not always the case. I asked Mr A if he would like some breakfast, and he responded ‘yeah’. He got up from the chair and made his way to the dining table. Mr A is very good at finding his way around the house and does not like being guided. By not intervening until Mr A asks for help, I am empowering him. This gives Mr A a feeling of confidence and higher self esteem. He sat down in his usual place. I asked him if it was ok to put an apron on him, he responded ‘yeah’ and lifted his arms up so I could tie the apron. It is important to offer choice to Mr A as this empowers him further. Mr A has muscle wastage in his right arm and has very little use of it. He eats well out of a specially designed bowl and a special spoon using his left hand. Mr A is unable to put cereal or milk into the bowl himself, or to spread toast or make drinks. He requires someone to do this for him. I asked Mr A what he would like for breakfast. Mr A responded ‘not much’. This is a typical response so I asked whether he would like Weetabix or Shreddies. This again ensured Mr A had a choice. Mr A answered ‘Weetabix’. Mr A will most often copy the last thing a person says, so I encourage his responses by saying the cereal he has every morning first. After Mr A had finished his Weetabix I asked him if he would like any toast and he said ‘yeah’. I then asked Mr A if he would like marmite on his toast. Mr A responded ‘didn’t say that’ and shuffled around in his chair, indicating to me that he was not very happy. His body language became defensive as he turned away from me. With my voice at a calm slow pitch I asked Mr A if he would like jam on his toast (which he always has) and Mr A said ‘yeah’. I used this tone of voice to calm the situation. Mr A then relaxed and turned back towards the sound of my voice. The questions used at this point were closed because I know that Mr A has little expressive language so at times this is unavoidable. I thought I would offer Mr A a drink at this point so I asked him what he would like to drink. Mr A answered ‘tea’, so I went and made him a cup of tea. After he had finished the tea he stood up and made his way to the kitchen with his cup. He removed his apron and held it out to me. I asked Mr A what he wanted me to do with the apron and he responded ‘rubbish’ so I took the apron and threw it in the bin. Mr A then made his way back to his chair in the lounge. He sat down and crossed his legs, tapping his foot to the song on the radio. I sat back down in the chair close to Mr A, again with my body posture relaxed. I asked Mr A if I could turn off the radio and talk. Mr A’s muscle tone became rigid and he started shouting ‘that’s stupid’ over and over again. I waited a moment until he calmed down and stopped shouting, and then, using a calm, quiet tone of voice, I said ‘we can talk with the radio on low’ and Mr A responded ‘yeah’. I asked Mr A what he had done yesterday evening. Mr A did not respond, so I waited a few moments before I asked if he had been busy yesterday after tea. Mr A said ‘not much’. I asked him I if he had been out and he said no. I asked him if he had listened to the TV or the radio, Mr A answered ‘TV times’ which means he listened to the TV. Mr A was shuffling gently in his chair as he spoke to me and he seemed very relaxed. He uncrossed his legs and crossed them the other way so he was facing towards me even more. I was still sat in the same relaxed position, with my arms resting on my knees, turned towards Mr A as much as possible. I asked Mr A what he would be doing today, again Mr A responded ‘not much’. I asked him if he was going out and he said ‘don’t know about it’, I said to Mr A that he would have to think about it and see how he felt later. I told Mr A that I was going to put my feet up for the rest of the day and do no work. Mr A laughed at me and said ‘she does that sometimes!’ I asked Mr A if he had enjoyed talking to me this morning and he answered ‘yeah’. I touched Mr A on the arm again and said goodbye. Mr A responded ‘Yeah’ and continued to tap his foot. I felt the interaction went very well. Mr A responded very well in conversation, and I feel that was due to the factors involved. The location was quiet, warm and calm. Mr A was seated in an environment he is very comfortable with. Mr A appeared comfortable with the proximity, that is, the fact I have to be very close to him, in his personal space. This is due to his personal difficulties, and his need for support with a lot of his personal needs. As he is quite an elderly gentleman, he has relied on carers being very close to him and helping him do things his whole life and seems very comfortable with this. If the support offered to Mr A is more than he wishes for, he quickly becomes very angry. At no time did Mr A appear to be unhappy with the support I gave him. During the interaction, Mr A was not able to see my body language due to his visual disability, however I sat close to him and faced him at all times so he would be aware that I was listening fully. Mr A’s body language was good throughout most of the interaction, he leant towards me and his muscle tone was relaxed. My body language was relaxed throughout the interaction, both when seated and when assisting Mr A with his breakfast. Mr A does not use hand gestures when he speaks, mostly due to his muscle wastage in his right arm. At one point when I asked him if he would like marmite on his toast, he exhibited a little negative body language by turning away from me. When I suggested turning off the radio Mr A’s muscle tone became very rigid and he shouted at me. This was an indicator that Mr A was very unhappy with the suggestion and wanted the radio left on. The radio was turned down low and did not hamper the conversation in any way as we could clearly hear each other. My conversation with Mr A was informal. This is because I know Mr A very well so do not need to speak to him in a formal manner. I gave Mr A appropriate lengths of time to respond to my questions, and I listened carefully to his answers. By giving Mr A time to respond to my questions, I ensured that he had time to think about what I was asking, and formulate the correct response. I followed up by responding to his answers with appropriate further conversation. At one point I had to clarify a question by changing it from asking ‘what he had done yesterday evening’ to ‘if he had been busy yesterday after tea’. By asking the question in a different way I was checking that Mr A had fully understand what information I required from him. This in turn encouraged Mr A to respond when maybe he did not wish to, or maybe did not understand the question. Mr A is a person who likes to be as independent as possible. He appreciates when I understand his needs and what he is trying to tell me. Throughout my interaction with Mr A I used empathy at all times. Empathy is â€Å"a person’s awareness of the emotional state of another person and their ability to share an experience with them† (Richards, 2003, p.121). I was aware of Mr A’s emotional state and my ability to build an understanding. On two occasions I touched Mr A’s arm briefly to show friendliness and compassion. I feel Mr A was very responsive to our interaction and I was very happy with how it went. I think that given Mr A’s verbal disabilities I engaged him in a good conversation, listened well and used correct techniques to aid this. I also provided him with the correct amount of support during his breakfast. The other staff member present in the room was my deputy manager. I asked her to complete a witness statement for my to say I had completed an interaction with Mr A. She agreed to this. I also asked her for feedback on the techniques I had used, and how she felt the interaction went. She told me that I had engaged Mr A well. When Mr A is listening to the radio he doesn’t always want to talk. He responded that he was happy to talk to me with the radio turned down low. She said Mr A appeared very relaxed and seemed to enjoy talking to me. He was also happy to go to the dining table and let me assist him in getting some breakfast. When asked, Mr A said he had enjoyed talking to me. He also appeared to be happy with the support I offered him when getting his breakfast. As he can become angry quite easily when offered too much support, I also felt this was good feedback.

Project Management Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project Management Theory - Essay Example People that studied specific professions such as law, accounting, medical would not fit the profile of union member and there weren’t any unions for these types of workers. In order to meet the social and professional needs of this segment of the workforce professional associations were created to serve them. The project management profession is no exception. The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the organization that serves project managers across the world. The Project Management Institute was created in 1969. The organization has taken been very innovative and its overall reach and has been able to effectively expose the profession worldwide. The Institute has a membership of over 200,000 people from over 125 different countries (Pmi, 2007). Project management is a profession that attracts people from different specialization since within virtually every industry there are always projects that need guidance for successful completion. The PMI realized the needs of professionals from different industries and their assistance is guided towards helping profession in the financial services, aerospace, automobile, pharmaceutical, healthcare, construction, engineering, information technology, business management among many others. The institution has done a great job creating professional standards, conducting research and promoting the profession through certifications, networking and community involvement opportunities (Pmi, 2007). The project management institute has accomplished great social initiatives throughout the community including outreach programs in developing nation such as Brazil. In Sao Paolo, Brazil the local PMI chapter developed a pilot program which offered project management classes to teenagers from low income families. The classes were designed to expose students to the basic principles of project management and to teach them how these principles can be applied to improve their everyday

Economics for Global Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics for Global Business - Coursework Example The country’s real GDP per capita has similarly grown over the last two years. In 2011, the real GPD per capita stood at 41,500 USD while in 2012, it stood at 42,400 USD, a positive change of 900 USD per capita within the period (Index Mundi 2013, par. 2). While the unemployment rate stood at 5.7% in 2009, this rate dropped by 0.5% over a period of three years to reach 5.2% in 2012 (Index Mundi 2013, par. 2). The economy also recorded a reduction in its budget deficit in 2012 at a rate of about 0.8% of Australia’s GDP. Australia’s budget deficit is less than half that of the U.S., and its net debt is smaller than that of its gross domestic product (Stiglitz, 2013). Although the national budget deficit has been slightly increasing recently, the countries' public debt as a percentage of GDP is small compared to many European countries, France included. Australia has also benefited from a commodity boom that has seen the economy get stronger. These statistics and fa cts hint to the fact that the Australian economy is remained strong and has managed to achieve positive growth over the last couple of years. The strides made by the economy are a direct result of the Australian government’s and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s positive efforts and robust policies. One important practice maintained by the Australian government is globalization. ... tralia has continued to open up its borders to international trade and inflow of information, people, goods, and services, a factor that has seen its economy continue to grow. In this respect, the Australian government has been engaging the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and has endeavoured to strengthen its relations with Korea, Japan and China by engaging them in free trade agreements (Index Mundi 2013, par 1). Australia's government has put in place good policies to evade the kind of international economic turbulence that has affected so many other nations in the last two years (Thirlwell, 2013). A few years ago as other nations fell into recession, Australia kept its strong economy moving. Personal efforts by Australia's leaders such as Kevin Rudd saw the implementation of stimulus packages that reduced government debt and saved thousands of jobs. Being self sufficient in energy production, the country stands to benefit a lot economically since the cost of manufacturing has been cut down. For any country to have a good economy, its central or reserve bank plays a crucial role in overseeing economic growth. The Reserve Bank of Australia has been playing a very important role in the Australian economy. Thanks to the establishment of good monetary policies by the Australian Reserve Bank, the country has managed to avoid recessions and high inflation (Onselen, 2013). Australia’s exemption from the recent global recession is proof that the government and reserve bank policies have made Australia a model of a successful economy (Onselen, 2013). One contributing factor to the notable example of good adjustment of the macro economy has been the flexibility of the exchange rate. Even though other factors such as demand for labor, and the growth of wages, were playing a

Martha Stewart Unethical Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Martha Stewart Unethical Practices - Essay Example Martha Stewart was able to muster enough strength to overall all insurmountable obstacles, including the stock market scandal, to retain her business and home icon status. Martha’s website, http://www.marthastewart.com/crafts, displays many of her business products. The business products include kids’ accessories, Crepe –paper crafts, handmade clutches /bags, clay, and other kids’ nature products. In addition, Martha Stewart sold products under the home and garden classification. The classification included organizing tips for the day. One product is helping current and prospective customers choose the right color for their homes. The classification includes organizing tips for the day. The classification offers access to her Living journal. Martha’s website offers an entertainment product classification. The classification offers current and prospective customers to buy her regularly printed Mart’s Entertaining journal. The classification offers products relating to cocktails. The classification sells baby shower products for the expecting mothers. The classification offers products for graduation activities. Martha Stewart’s website sells a product classification for wedding occasions. The classification offers different wedding gown designs. The classification offers seasonal ideas for the special marriage event. The classification offers 50 great wedding centerpieces. ... To ensure the success of her printed products, Thomas Mickey (2003) reiterated Martha Stewart personally launched her product. She appeared on NBC’s â€Å"Today† show to discuss the many advantages of buying her Martha Stewart Living journal. In addition, Martha Stewart devoted a section of the Martha Stewart Living journal to gardening topics. The journal was a huge success among gardening enthusiasts. Martha also produced her own show. Martha Stewart’s TV show allocated a portion to gardening topics. Martha Stewart was catapulted as one of gardening gurus. However, Carrie Johnson (2005) reported Martha Stewart was entangled in one unethical situation during her stay at the top of her business career. Martha Stewart was imprisoned for her part in the ImClone Systems stock trading acts that were classified as UNETHICAL. Martha Stewart was the chief executive officer ImClone Systems. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States probe of trading. In addition, two officers and the founder of ImClone Systems, Samuel Waksal, were arrested for their part in the stock market scandal. The officers of the company sold their stocks in the market to avoid generating losses from selling their stocks AFTER the news will crop up that the company is losing money. Likewise, both Zvi Fuks, the chairman of New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, and Sabina Ben-Yehuda, an officer of an investment company with linkage to Waksal, sold their stocks after being tipped that the stock prices will drop after a few days. The arrests came after Martha Stewart served her sentence for obstructing investigation into her sale of ImClone stock. In terms of analysis, stock market prices rise when current and prospective

Patient satisfaction in primary health care Assignment

Patient satisfaction in primary health care - Assignment Example During such times, nurses have several options to come out of their dilemmas, the most critical among the options being to apply effective leadership and management skills (Morrisey, 2007). Whether nurses are at the lower ranks of the organizational structure or the topmost position, Harris (2008) notes that leadership is a mandatory aspect of their routine roles and thus the need to always exhibit leadership in the most effective way when faced with ethical and or moral dilemma. Based on the above submission on the need for nurses to see leadership as part of their routine roles in solving ethical and moral dilemmas, nurses can clearly be identified as moral agents who are in place to foster specific advocacy changes within the organization. Indeed, I can personally find myself in such a circumstance as a moral agent when I will be faced with the ethical issue of truth telling versus deception. This can happened if an issue I read about happened to me where a patient had gone to the ward to deliver her fourth baby. This woman had had two previous cases of still birth and one case of miscarriage. Upon early diagnosis through ultra scan, it was found that the baby was still in the woman’s womb. Before the test, family members had approached me to inform me of how the woman would react if things did not go well in this instance also. If a result of this nature is presented to me, it would be a big dilemma whether to disclose the truth or to be deceptive till the delivery was over.

Influence of poverty on the quality of education Case Study

Influence of poverty on the quality of education - Case Study Example Bourdieu relied on the French structuralist movements. According to the book, his most important contribution was about what is called "cultural capital". He defines this as "the general cultural background, knowledge, disposition and skills that are passed from one generation to the next" (13). In his theory the upper-class kids inherit substantially different cultural capital than working class kids. Schools reward the dominant classes and "systematically" devalue the lower classes. There are 4 main points in this theory: 4. the school legitimates the process 'by making social hierarchies and the reproduction of the hierarchies appear to be based upon the hierarchy of 'gifts', merits or skills established and ratified by its sanctions'by converting social hierarchies into academic hierarchies (14). These two looked at linguistic patterns and continued past the work of Bordieu. Bernstein says that class membership is generated by distinctive forms of speech patterns and it happens through family socialization (16). He says working class children use elaborate codes and talk to their parents more often (17). The codes are built on family roles and relationship within the family structure. Brice Heath looked at linguistic patterns and race. ... He says working class children use elaborate codes and talk to their parents more often (17). The codes are built on family roles and relationship within the family structure. Brice Heath looked at linguistic patterns and race. She said that white children had more interaction with their parents and were taught to do things like label and name objects as children; while black children had less interaction (this was in a specific population and school setting). White children are allowed to ask more questions of their parents and black children don't usually get questioned by their parents so there is no interaction of this type. The result is that black working class children aren't socialized to cope with the language patterns that most schools use and therefore fall behind academically. White working class children develop many cognitive and linguistic patterns required for school but they don't develop integrated skills that are necessary to continue to be successful throughout their school life. Paul Willis--The Lads and the Ear'oles Willis also looked at the linguistic patterns of children but he later saw that there was a direct correlation between the class background, geographical location, job market and level of education that the boys achieved and the jobs that they eventually chose. He said that these choices come from the dominant cultures challenges to these boys' culture. He noticed that the majority of students in the school he chose were "ear'oles or those who conformed to the rules and the norms of the schools. There was a counter school culture of lads who that rejected the school's need for academic success and thwarted

Learning Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Learning Style - Essay Example There are, however, those that have admitted that if they want to be at time annoying they may stay in a mode that is different from the person that they are working with (Van, 2007). For example, when asking for evidence in an argument they might ask for written evidence clearly knowing that the other person often likes to use oral information. A multimodal learning preference can be described as a preferred way of learning new information or material that incorporates several different and diverse styles of learning. The different modes of learning that are combined in multimodal are visual and auditory. It is imperative to understand that one is a unique learner, and there is no one that learns exactly as another (PavicÃŒÅ'icÃŒ , 2008). However, there exist a lot of benefits in discovering one’s learning style. First all in academic matters, it often gives on a head start and maximizes one’s learning potential. Secondly, it helps one to succeed in college, or university as one is able to understand how he or she learns best. Further, one is allowed to learn more by overcoming the limitations of poor instructors as well as reduce the stress and frustration that is often accompanied by one not fully realizing his or her learning style. When it comes to teaching it is imperative for a tutor to understand the different learning styles of his or her student. The tutors must realize that all the students have different learning styles that are unique and for this reason they should be treated as such. If the tutor understands the different learning styles of the students, he or she might become an effective tutor because information will be released easily. Research often suggests that each person often tends to adopt a particular approach when studying (Van, 2007). My preferred learning style is multimodal; this is because this learning style is a combination of all the learning styles. It involves auditory, and visual.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company New Product Development Process Essay

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company New Product Development Process - Essay Example Goodyear is amongst the leading tire manufacturing company in the world. It has made its presence felt in every corner of the world. The company started its journey with 13 employees at its manufacturing plant in Ohio, USA and since then has grown into a company which is home to more than 70,000 employees across the world. The company with its continuous hard work has risen from scratch to become a billion dollar company. Goodyear with net sales of $22.8 billion (as of 2011) is surely leading the way to not only be the top tire manufacturing company in North America but also in the world (Goodyear, n.d). This project report on Goodyear will identify the prospects related to new product development. New product development is a critical aspect for the company in the cut throat competitive market. Product development is always based on certain criteria’s which otherwise can benefit Goodyear as a company in terms of market share and revenue generation. The purpose of this project is to analyze Goodyear’s strategy and methodology in developing new product. This project emphasizes on the need of new product development and its importance. Goodyear has been in the business for a long time and the project will evaluate the company’s future prospects in context to new product development. Tire market is a huge market with many competitors. The project will answer certain questions such as why new product development is the need of the hour and how can it change the fortune of a company?... The company with its continuous hard work has risen from scratch to become a billion dollar company. Goodyear with net sales of $22.8 billion (as of 2011) is surely leading the way to not only be the top tire manufacturing company in North America but also in the world (Goodyear, n.d). This project report on Goodyear will identify the prospects related to new product development. New product development is a critical aspect for the company in the cut throat competitive market. Product development is always based on certain criteria’s which otherwise can benefit Goodyear as a company in terms of market share and revenue generation. Purpose The purpose of this project is to analyze Goodyear’s strategy and methodology in developing new product. This project emphasizes on the need of new product development and its importance. Goodyear has been in the business for a long time and the project will evaluate the company’s future prospects in context to new product devel opment. Tire market is a huge market with many competitors around which makes the new product development even more important for Goodyear. The project will answer certain questions such as why new product development is the need of the hour and how can it change the fortune of a company? Tire market is no more confined to the developed nations as the emerging economies of the world are leading the way in terms of tire consumption with the rise in number of vehicles plying on the roads. It comes as an opportunity for the company and the project analyzes what are the ways Goodyear can cope with the rise in demand by offering cutting edge technology to its customers. Background Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in the year 1898 by Frank A. Seiberling in Ohio, USA.

Research and Professional Skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Research and Professional Skills - Assignment Example Developing critical thinking has made me examine the validity and truth of arguments by assessing the relative significance rather than accepting ideas at face value. In addition, I learned that in order to develop the strong critical mind, it is important to be persistent, as this would enable me to get answers to questions I have asked. In my view, I have learned that research and professional skill is a good subject in that it has enabled me to think carefully and strategically about my objectives and areas which I need to improve. I am now in a position to make plans in that I can choose how to attain my desired career outcome. This is possible because I have set attainable and manageable objectives and I am ready to revise the plans if things do not go as planned. In addition, research and professional skills have helped me improve my writing skill. Throughout the course, I have experienced numerous challenges. For instance, I have been asthmatic because of the bad weather and workload stress that has made me suffer. Because of my sickness, I have been absent for almost four weeks which implies that I have missed classes for a duration of four weeks. Therefore, in order to compensate for the time I have been absent, I need more time and effort in order to catch up with the syllabus. Lecturers understand my situation, give me strong support, and help me to attain what I have missed. For instance, they give me relevant notes that I need to revise, encourage me not to give up and explain concepts that I do not understand. More so, I borrow notes from my classmates and conduct further research in areas that require more reading. I am specialized in management accounting since I performed well in this area at the beginning but I encounter some challenges in decision-making section despite the fact it is the subject I am interested in. The main challenge is that I record poor results in finance  reporting assignment because of poor understanding and sickness. I cannot understand this subject well because of weak interpretation and due to the fact that I did not comprehend the main criteria that the assignment requires.

EU’s Fifth Action Programme Essay Example for Free

EU’s Fifth Action Programme Essay The introduction of European Union’s Fifth Action Programme into the continent pollution control mechanism has wide range benefits, several of which will be discussed in subsequent sections of this paper. Indeed, the application of the programme will completely change how people in the continent deal with pollution issues. One reason for this change is fact that most of pollution control measures would be done at the grassroots level as opposed to the traditional model of having measures develop and implemented at national and continental level. In explaining benefits of the programme, the paper is divided into five sections, each of which addresses a specific benefit. I. Creation of Responsibility Culture Decentralisation of solution to pollution issues in EU will lead to situation where individuals at the local level take responsibility for pollution problems in their respective localities. In this regard, it would be possible to develop measures that in line with local demands. This is because members of local community understand bets what could be ailing their environment. In addition, having an understanding that there’ll never be outside help will create a culture of responsibility among locals. This could be achieved through preventative measures ensuring that pollution is avoided in the first place, or even minimise effects minimal pollution that might occur. Individual communities and households will that start depending on themselves in matter pertaining to controlling pollutions. This is because they will understand that solutions would only come from local efforts. This factor has the benefit of cultivating competition between communities, because they would have been equalised under the programme. Such competition has the potential of leading to less pollution as communities try to out do each other on the ones that are more prosperous in terms of being pollution free. All this would lead to increasingly pollution free communities facilitated by residents themselves. By implementing the programme, individual communities and countries would not have anyone to blame for the status of their environment’s pollution levels. The involvement of people shall be a boon to stakeholder initiatives directed at reducing pollution. This is because people and groups shall feel freer in dealing with issues that have for many years been preserves of governmental organisations. In addition, stakeholder groups that have been pushing for individual efforts in the protection of environment in localities will now start becoming active. It has to be understood that localised stakeholder groups help individuals in societies to come together to develop initiatives that lead to better communities. Fact that the EU Fifth Action Program will provide them with a voice is indeed of great importance. In addition, individuals that are not in a position to participate in stakeholder groups will be free to develop their own mechanisms to control pollution in their own neighbourhoods. This can even be doe at the family level, where members of the same family join hands in protecting their small environment from pollution. Doing this in several private properties enable the creation of pollution free neighbourhoods. Fact that all this would be done through initiatives developed at local levels is something to be desired, because, as discussed later in the paper, policymakers at national and regional level would be able to concentrate on other pressing matters. Other than leading to productivity in the protection of protecting environment at local level, the programme is also a vital tool of education member of public that it is possible to make changes in their communities without depending too much on the European Union. People in the region will further understand that they have power to make changes. At the end, the mentality that successful measures can only be achieved through intervention of national and regional authorities will be demolished completely. This will lead to the genesis if self dependency in solving pressing issues at local levels without rushing to authorities for help. II. End Paternalism Application of the program in pollution control will also help members of public understand the role of European Union in their day-to-day lives. At it currently happens, members of the public in the region might tend to think that EU exists to solve problems like pollution. In this regard, the people will have to understand that EU’s environmental mechanisms are developed to help member countries harmonise their frameworks. In other words, member countries come together and help develop best frameworks to deal with environmental issues; it is up to the countries and their citizens implement these mechanisms and ensure of they are working. Fact that paternalism has become popular in most European countries could be leading to mentality that EU exists to improve lives of member country citizens. The application this program may help in the process of disseminating that mentality completely. In this regard, people will stop looking for top to bottom solutions in their problems and thus developing bottom to top solutions. In addition, leaders at the local level would feel empowered to lead their congregation in ways that would directly benefit the local community. This new process of solution finding would be good because it has the capabilities of developing preventative measures in the first place. The localisation of decision making processes would also help communities adapt to changes that get effected in the process implementing policy changes. This is a great move from the traditional frameworks that has tasked national governments with responsibilities of helping community members at the lowest level adapt to policy changes. In the new model, it shall be up to local leaders and authorities to help the community. This has positive gains because people have easy access to leadership that would help them in the process. Having the leaders being located close to the people will also improve passage of information between stakeholders, and with it deliver the desired message to the people. As mentioned earlier, the localisation of decision making and policy implementation would lead to competition between communities has the advantage of resulting to greater efficiency. The comparison of performance between communities would help in understanding best practices in the localities would help the areas performing poorly to copy from best performers. This copying from the best would help in the implementation of pollution policies, because each locality would take best practices and tailor them in accordance to local demands, which would be a shift from the traditional model of having one size fits all mechanisms developed at regional and national levels.

Treating Every Child As Unique Individual Children And Young People Essay

Treating Every Child As Unique Individual Children And Young People Essay Children are unique. They are individuals and no two children are alike: physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually, Because children are unique, even if there are common needs and characteristics that children of a particular age or stage of development share, they must be understood by their parents and teachers in their uniqueness, and their individuality must be respected. The benefits of treating every child as unique individual: Help to develop their personalities, talents and abilities irrespective of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties, disabilities or gender. This guidance helps adults to understand and support each individual childs development pathway. Make child responsible for this own actions, giving him the independence so many seek, typically acting out as teenager while trying to assert his independence. Listen to your advice and reasoning and take the more responsible choice. Treat them as equals in every aspect of your daily life and you will be rewarded with honest, caring children that make good choices that celebrate them for the unique individuals they are. Babies and children are vulnerable and become resilient and confident if they have support from others, also receive the chance to learn about other cultures and develop critical socialization skills that will serve them well. By treat each child as unique individual we designing an environment that positively influencing all areas of childrens development: physical, social /emotional, and cognitive. Language and learning are nurtured in an environment that values and plans appropriate opportunities which can support the development of behaviours that are valued in our society, such as cooperation and persistence. An aesthetically pleasing space can develop a childs appreciation for the beautiful world around them. Help children and youth become full participating citizens of society and help to build a sense of community. Question 2: Describe how the principles of anti-discriminatory practice can be applied to practice. Anti-Discriminatory Practice is an action taken to prevent discrimination against people on the grounds of race, class, gender, disability etc (see entry above). Anti-discriminatory practice promotes equality by introducing anti-discrimination policies in the workplace (i.e. the care settings.), Also known as anti-oppressive practice. All employees in a care setting should promote this practice in the workplace as it is way to combating prejudice, in doing so they are trying to eradicate discrimination and promote equality for service users and for staff. Kind of discrimination: 1.Overt discrimination this is when someone is openly discriminating against an individual, an example of this is a health and social care setting paying a male nurse more money than a female nurse for the same job, directly because of their gender. In the health care sector, overt discrimination is more likely to be seen in the way a patient is treated by staff. 2.Covert discrimination Covert discrimination can be best described as being hidden away. An example of this is three individuals applying for the same job as a nurse; they should all be shortlisted using the same criteria. However, if the shortlist panel decided not to call someone for an interview based on their name or area they lived in, this would be covert discrimination. Children have a right to non-discrimination. This means that all children, without exception, should enjoy their rights to effective protection. The rights of all children and young people are stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The UK government ratified the treaty in 1991 and must ensure that the rights of children in the UK are protected through law. These rights are extensive and include the right to education and the right for children to have their views respected, No child will be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, religion, colour or creed. Wherever possible those designated disabled or disadvantaged will be considered for a place, taking into account their individual circumstances and the ability of the nursery to provide the necessary standard of care The promotion of anti-discriminatory practice should underpin all work in settings. It is not sufficient to have policies in place which make statements about anti-discriminatory practice or just to pay lip service to it, they must demonstrate anti-discriminatory practice. They must also monitor the ways that positive practice impacts on the education and well-being of the children and young people. As a member of the care setting team we should share responsibility to ensure that anti-discriminatory practice is promoted, and must also recognise when discrimination is happening. The Nursery will strive to ensure that all services and projects are accessible and Relevant to all groups and individuals in the community within targeted age groups. We will strive to promote equal access to services and projects by taking practical steps such as ensuring access to disabled people and producing material in relevant languages and media. It is important to practice anti -discrimination to ensure that everyone is included and has the opportunity to fully access any areas of learning within the framework. Providing an inclusive environment for children enables them to develop self esteem and confidence. It shows them that they are valued and respected as unique individuals regardless of any additional needs, family and ethnic background, eliminate unlawful discrimination; promote equal opportunities; and promote good relation. The Nursery and staff are committed to: Encourage positive role models, displayed through toys, imaginary play and activities that promote non-stereotyped images. Books will be selected to promote such images of men and women, boys and girls. All children will be encouraged to join in activities, i.e. dressing up, shop, home corner, dolls, climbing on large apparatus, bikes, etc. Regularly review child-care practice to ensure the policy is effective Ensure that individuals are recruited, selected, trained and promoted on the basis of occupational skill requirements. In this respect, the Nursery will ensure that no job applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, cultural or national origin or sexuality, which cannot be justified as being necessary for the safe and effective performance of the work or training for the work Question 3: Describe why it is important to plan activities that meet the individual needs of children. Children of different ages have different needs. These needs are based on each childs stage of growth and development. Remember that two children of the same age can be similar in some ways but different in other ways. Try to understand the unique characteristics of each child. This helps children to feel good about them. This will also help you plan activities that are developmentally appropriate for each child. Appropriate activities help children learn and are lots of fun. The planning process helps to set goals for children and aims for staff. It is directed at what children need and defines how the practitioners supporting them are going to provide for this effectively. Planning also means the environment is kept fresh and children are given new choices in their play. The importance of planning activates meeting childrens individuals needs is: Promote development. Some children develop and learn faster than others and it is partly our responsibility to ensure all childrens needs are cared for no matter what stage of development they are at. Identify the exact learning needs of children by carrying out observations which can show us clearly what stage of development each individual child is at, to compare each child against milestones for that age and stage of development and then we begin to plan to meet the learning needs of certain children who are not meeting milestones and also plan to accommodate for those children who are over excelling the milestones. Children will develop better if there are adequate numbers of staff/adults present, taking into account the correct staff ratios for each particular age of children. With more hands on around the setting children will benefit greatly so Plan how many adults/staff should be present for a particular day/activity, by doing so there is a higher chance of meeting all of the childrens needs. Have successful planning that will support childrens independence, and a well organised environment that will make it easy for the children to find and to put away activities of their choosing. This doesnt mean rigidity, lack of choice or the loss of spontaneity for children. The well-designed and carefully structured environment will be planned in a way that means those working with children are clear and confident about developmental, play or learning needs, and what and how they are providing for these needs . Effective planning means that contingencies can be dealt with easily, so staff know where and how they can source materials quickly and according to the required need of the child, Good planning allows opportunities for change to occur and provides a backdrop of support for childrens all-round development. Question 4: Explain how the practitioner can promote childrens physical and emotional well-being within an early years setting. When children have positive early experiences with physical activity they are more likely to enjoy being active later in life and this will contribute to their long term physical, social and psychological health. Children benefit from having a wide choice of gross motor experiences that are non-competitive and focussed on having fun. The role of the practitioner in supporting childrens physical and emotional well-being To provide a balanced programme of activities to support the physical development and well being of the children To provide sufficient space (indoors and outdoors), time and resources to allow effective physical development Providing material and equipment for the improvement of fine motor skills Providing cooking, sewing, woodwork and other activities to enhance hand-eye coordination. To provide time, opportunity and support for children with motor impairments or physical disabilities to develop their physical skills.   If appropriate this will include working with outside agencies such as physiotherapists The programme of work should include some or all of the following types of activity: Movement: 1. Group games involving running, jumping and hopping. 2. Group games involving movement followed by stopping. 3. Moving to music. 4. Balancing activities and games. 5. Play on a range of landscapes. Sense of Space: Role plays activities giving children the opportunity to create pathways. 2. Giving the children the opportunity to create their own spaces (e.g. tent from blankets). 3. Group games that involve following or imitating. 4. Encourage games and activities that involve sharing resources with other children. 5. Discussions about body parts and bodily activity . 6. Singing action songs (e.g. Head, shoulders, knees and toes). Health and Bodily Awareness 1. Discussions about keeping safe, fit and healthy. 2. Discussions about eating a healthy diet. 3. Encouraging children to make decisions by choosing between different types of food. 4. Making and eating food from a range of cultures that can form part of a healthy diet. 5. Providing opportunities for children to talk about health issues. When we talk about emotional development, we are referring to childrens growing ability to: Identify and understand their own feelings Accurately read and understand the feelings of others Manage the way they feel Shape the way they behave Develop empathy for others, and Build and keep good relationships with friends, family and others. From the time they are born, children quickly develop their abilities to experience and express different emotions, as well as their capacity to cope with and manage a variety of feelings. To support the childrens emotional well-being practitioner roles are: Work in partnership with parents in order to find out about the childs experiences, culture and home background, to build up a profile of each child, using information supplied by parents as the starting point. Being warm and affectionate towards them. Giving them the opportunity to express how they feel , Help the children gain an understanding of their feelings through the use of books, board games, puppets, interactive storytelling or role-plays and Help children to understand the difference between their own and other peoples feelings. Making them feel secure and valued Giving children time and attention to adjust to new situations Observe the childs nonverbal behaviour for clues as to how he or she is feeling. Problem solve with the child by encouraging him or her to think of options and decide what constructive action to take Keep lines of communication open.

Promoting The Health And Wellbeing Health And Social Care Essay

Promoting The Health And Wellbeing Health And Social Care Essay Go for your life strategic plan 2006-2010 aims to promote healthy lifestyles, encourage physical activity and healthy eating, and prevent chronic diseases, Physical inactivity and poor nutrition are lifestyle factors that can cause obesity which can lead to chronic diseases which lead to an increase burden on the community. Around the world, obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with more than one billion adults overweight and around 300 million of those adults clinically obese (go for your life, 2006) Go for your life is tackling the increasing rate of illness, obesity and chronic diseases by educating Victorians on the benefits of good nutrition and physical activity. This is done by creating a framework for action that includes activities for all people, from different stages of life; children, young people and their families, adults, seniors and members of high risk groups. Children in the early years aged 0 to 5 and their families need to establish healthy eating and physical activity behaviors in the early years of a childs life. As it is a very important step for preventing future nutrition and exercise related problems. As most eating and activity occurs with the family, it is crucial for parents to be able to provide for their childrens needs with an emphasis on health and wellbeing, beginning with breastfeeding. Early childhood settings offer significant potential to improve the physical activity and healthy eating of young children in their care. Maternal and child health workers can provide information to parents/carers to assist them with activities they can do with their children to promote health and wellbeing. Early childhood staff like child care workers, school and preschool teachers need to have the knowledge, confidence and skills to promote culturally and age-appropriate healthy eating and physical activity to children while in their care and, where possible, to their parents/carers to further promote a healthy lifestyle. Young people aged 5 to 18 and their families have a better understanding of physical activity and good eating habits of school-aged young people. Young Victorians aged five to 18 years spend a considerable amount of their time in education, sport and recreational and primary care settings, teachers and family need to model culturally and age appropriate healthy eating and physical activity habits to young people. Adults as parents, workers and members of Communities are urged to improve the eating and activity behavior of other adults by promoting active healthy lifestyles. Senior Victorians can protect themselves against a range of diseases, including some chronic diseases, by sustaining a healthy lifestyle that includes a range of physical activities and good nutrition. While recognising that Senior Victorians may have widely different lifestyles and experiences, older people can gain greater knowledge, confidence and skills in healthy eating and active living. Aged care workers and those that work/care for the elderly need to ensure that they have the knowledge and confidence to keep the elderly active and have a healthy diet. Certain groups in the community have a greater burden of disease and experience higher rates of poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, overweight and obesity and associated chronic diseases. These groups include people with a low socio-economic status, Indigenous Victorians, men, people who have a disability, people from different cultures who have English as their second language. People who fall in these groups need to be better educated to gain the skills to change their behavior in order to lead a healthy and active lifestyle and decrease their prevalence of developing a chronic disease in the long run. Go for your life covers many areas under two main headings Healthy Eating and Active Living. Healthy eating comprises of: dietary advice, food and nutrients, nutrition and illness, what is a healthy weight? body image, weight management, food safety and healthy recipes. Active Living includes: activity general information, walking, active recreation, sports and activities, active transport, activity and illness, active living tips, places to go/things to do. These sub headings provide advice on how people can be active and lead a healthy lifestyle. Some initiatives developed as part of Go for your life include: Go for your life Canteens Advisory Service The Go for your life Canteens Advisory Service aims to support schools with primary school-age children to provide and promote healthy food choices. Increase the awareness and skills of canteen staff regarding the provision of healthy food services. Improve the participation from school councils and parents and friends associations to endorse and support healthy food choices in their schools and communities. Increase the accessibility of healthy foods offered in school food services. Link with and complement the Kids Go for your life service and other relevant components of the Healthy Active Victoria Strategy. Get Active Challenge The Get Active Challenge was a 10-week program targeting mens health and physical activity levels, based in Victorian workplaces. The program challenged men to boost their physical activity levels; whether on their own, in a group, with friends or with their family. Why should men get active? Men are drastically more likely than women to be overweight or obese. Men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with diabetes. Men have an increased estimated incidence of coronary heart disease twice that of females. Men are less likely than women to self-report their health status as very good or excellent. Regular physical activity is associated with the decline in the incidence of many serious illnesses such as cardiovascular and coronary heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. Active Connections The Active Connections Program aims to address barriers to participation in physical activity in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Three pilot projects are being undertaken over 2 years. Netball Victoria are working with local sport and recreation clubs, associations and facilities in Dandenong and Warrnambool to provide cultural awareness training, run the Net Set Go! junior netball program and a series of come and try days. The target groups for the project are young African refugees and their families and the project has seen the establishment of Sudanese netball teams participating in local competitions. Royal Victorian Bowls Association an 8-10 week introductory program to lawn bowls with 20-40 English language students of various nationalities attending each program from Adult Migrant Education Services (AMES) campuses in Footscray, Werribee, Noble Park and Dandenong. The program will provide an introduction to Australian sport and culture (including the role of clubs in delivering sport) through both practical and theoretical education. This model will be demonstrated to the 500+ lawn bowls clubs in Victoria and supported by the development of educational and promotional materials to attract CALD people to engage in lawn bowls. Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMY) based in Ballarat, the CHAMP project intend to address barriers and increase participation rates and social inclusion for newly arrived communities in the Central Highlands Region, with a special focus on refugee youth and their families. CMY are working with local sport and recreation clubs, associations and facilities providing cultural awareness training and assistance with strategies and policies. CMY will also facilitate activities to bring sports organisations and newly arrived refugee and migrant communities together. Active Places The Active Places program aims to promote the benefits of leading a healthy and active lifestyle. The Go for your life Active Places program seeks to offer increased opportunities, awareness and capability for physical activity among marginalised and socially disadvantaged communities. The program will maintain community and organisational capacity building through community-based projects within Community Renewal, Neighbourhood Renewal or Community Building Initiative sites. Go for your life Ride2School Program The Go for your life Ride2School Program aims to increase the number of children riding to and from school and targets primary and secondary schools across the State. In 2006 the proportion of students who walked or rode was closer to only 20 per cent. As a result, the Government is funding a plan to get children and teenagers riding and walking more often under the Go for your life initiative. A key part of the plan is to expand Bicycle Victorias Ride2School Program to more primary and secondary schools across the state. Ride2School works with schools to help them extend their own Ride2School activities and support to encourage more students to ride and walk more often. Ride2School also coordinates activity challenges across the state to encourage students to cycle and walk more often Go for your life Walk Together Grants The Go for your life Walk Together Grants was a one-off funding program that was developed to establish and uphold sustainable walking groups in Victoria. Partnerships for projects aiming disadvantaged communities and other groups with low physical activity. Healthy and Active Choices The Healthy and Active Choices pilot project aims to emphasize the messages of healthy eating, physical activity and healthy lifestyle by making possible the provision and uptake of healthy food choices at regional sports facilities. Integration of walking and cycling Sport and Recreation Victoria are collaborating with government departments and agencies as well as non-government organisation and peak bodies to expand an integrated approach to walking and cycling across Victoria. The project has identified the need for a longer term vision for investment in walking and cycling and a strategy is currently being developed. Its Your Move The project promotes teenagers to take ownership, control and suggest the best ways forward to address healthy eating, healthy bodies and physical activity. The teenagers are working in collaboration with a variety of levels with government and the local community to look at and create new view to make healthier choices easier choices. The teenagers will keep a record of their eating and physical activity habits around the clock for the project, part of the Victorian Governments Go for your life strategy. (go for your life 2010) The whole-of-community project aims to: Decrease intake of sugary drinks and promote water consumption. Increase the proportion of young people eating breakfast. Increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Increase the healthiness of school food. Increase active transport to and from school. Increase partaking in organised sports and other active recreation. Create an acceptance of different healthy body sizes/shapes. The Government recognises that the entire community needs to be engaged in addressing this issue. Thats why Go for your life is working mutually with community groups, industry, organisations, schools, business and research institutions. Raising awareness about the significance of healthy eating, physical activity and healthy weight is a key element of Go for your life. The Go for your life communications activities provide Victorians with knowledge about the significance of healthy eating and physical activity, to support people to make positive lifestyle changes. Through Go for your life, the Government has made a significant investment in encouraging healthy eating and physical activity and endorsing healthy weight. From kitchen gardens in schools to supporting a healthy body image in teenagers, from diabetes prevention programs to programs designed to keep seniors healthy and active, Go for your life is engaging people and communities across Victoria in the challenge of taking on healthier lifestyles and avert chronic diseases.

The Epic of Gilgamesh versus The Epic of Beowulf Essay example -- essa

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf contain everything we can expect from a great epic literature. It portrays fantastic geographies, exotic characters, exhausting quests, heroic battles with monsters, supernatural beings and natural forces. Most important of all, they are two outstanding stories of a great epic hero who is compelled to meet his destiny and who rises to every challenge with courage and determination. Beowulf is the earliest surviving epic poem written in a modern European language. It was written in Old English sometime before the tenth century A.D. The poem describes the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Beowulf is described as a perfect hero who fights for his people and gets rid of evil with his extraordinary abilities to bring peace and justice. Unlike Beowulf, The Epic of Gilgamesh was one of the first pieces of literature known to man. The epic was found among ruins in Ninevah in the form of twelve large tablets, dating to 2,000 B.C. The epic is believed to be based on the Archaic Sumerian king Gilgamesh who ruled the city of Uruk around 2700 B.C. The main character in The Epic of Gilgamesh is a very powerful man who is two-thirds immortal and one-third man. He too is thought to be a hero and possesses many of Beowulf’s heroic values, but he also possesses many differences. Beowulf is a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through hi s amazing physical strength and courage. He fought in many battles and won all besides his last. Beowulf was powerful enough to kill the monster Grendel, who had been terrorizing the Danes for twelve years, with his bare hands. When the two battled off Beowulf grabbed Grendal’s arm and ripped it off at the shoulder. Beowulf then fought Grendel's ... ...essed with becoming a hero. He set out to destroy Humbaba, his only ambition being to leave an enduring name. The one thing Gilgamesh feared was death. After his friend and companion, Enkidu, died Gigamesh became obsessed with death. He wept for seven days and seven nights before starting a great journey to find everlasting life. He searchers for a man named Utnapishtim, who was given eternal life by the gods, to find out how he escaped death. Beowulf's strength, and his ability to put his people’s welfare before his own, and the fact that he does not fear death makes him revered by all, especially those of his time. In both epics the heros possessed god-like strength and defeated many evil beings. Both were courageous and feared no man or creature.Beowulf stuck to a stricter code of ethics.Beowulf is the prime example of an epic hero, and he embodies the conduct.

Essay --

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the study This research is to study the implication of Federal Reserve (Fed) tapering of quantity easing (QE) on trade finance industry, particularly in emerging markets. Fed quantitative easing (QE) is a channel to revive national economy when standard monetary policy has become ineffective. It primarily objectives are to stimulus domestic growth and help the sluggish US real estate market after financial crisis of 2007 - 2008. It was used by Fed because its policies rate have been lower close to zero after subprime crisis. QE has resulted increasing of foreign fund into the emerging markets for higher returns. Oppositely, when Fed announced a tapering of some of it QE policies contingent upon continued showing of positive sign of economy growth in year 2013, the emerging markets economic started get uncertain and growth slower. There is a concern about emerging nations with large current account deficits, weak public finances and high external borrowings relative to reserves will receive worst-affection with capital outflows when the Fed started tapering of QE in 2014. Furthermore, the current liquidity crisis in China and prolonged of European debt crisis would worsen the negative impact of tapering on the economic growth in emerging markets. The continuing of economic sluggish in China and Eurozone while the United States (US) economic growth not benefiting emerging nations exporting and external trade. Hence, the prediction is emerging market will experience a slower economy after tapering of QE. This research is to study perspectives and challenges in trade finance industry in the era post tapering. 1.2 Problem statement The recent sharp fall in currency and capital markets uncertainty in... ...roach allows this interviewees to discuss their opinions, views and experiences in depth, Furthermore, the researcher may seek further clarification whenever it is necessary. The interview will consists nine open questions developed for the targeted interviewees. The questions may vary for the he top management, middle management and general level employees. The interviewees' responses will lead to the length of the interview. However, the targeted length of the interview is about 30 - 45 minutes accordingly. In addition, some secondary data will be collected from the public journals, expert analysis and company reports to further clarify the information collected from the interviews. These data collected will be used in the evaluation and analysis process together with the information from the respondents to enhance the quality of the findings of the research.

Answer to the Corporate Finance

Chapter 14 Capital Structure in a Perfect Market 14-1. Consider a project with free cash flows in one year of $130,000 or $180,000, with each outcome being equally likely. The initial investment required for the project is $100,000, and the project’s cost of capital is 20%. The risk-free interest rate is 10%. a. What is the NPV of this project? b. Suppose that to raise the funds for the initial investment, the project is sold to investors as an all-equity firm. The equity holders will receive the cash flows of the project in one year. How much money can be raised in this way—that is, what is the initial market value of the unlevered equity? . a. Suppose the initial $100,000 is instead raised by borrowing at the risk-free interest rate. What are the cash flows of the levered equity, and what is its initial value according to MM? E ? C (1)? = ? ? 1 (130, 000 + 180, 000) = 155, 000, 2 155, 000 NPV = ? 100, 000 = 129,167 ? 100, 000 = $29,167 1. 20 155, 000 = 129,167 1. 20 b . c. Equity value = PV ( C (1)) = Debt payments = 100, 000, equity receives 20,000 or 70,000. Initial value, by MM, is 129,167 ? 100, 000 = $29,167 . 14-2. You are an entrepreneur starting a biotechnology firm. If your research is successful, the technology can be sold for $30 million.If your research is unsuccessful, it will be worth nothing. To fund your research, you need to raise $2 million. Investors are willing to provide you with $2 million in initial capital in exchange for 50% of the unlevered equity in the firm. a. What is the total market value of the firm without leverage? b. Suppose you borrow $1 million. According to MM, what fraction of the firm’s equity will you need to sell to raise the additional $1 million you need? c. What is the value of your share of the firm’s equity in cases (a) and (b)? a. b. c. Total value of equity = 2 ? 2m = $4m MM says total value of firm is still $4 million. $1 million of debt implies total value of equity is $3 million. T herefore, 33% of equity must be sold to raise $1 million. In (a), 50% ? $4m = $2m. In (b), 2/3 ? $3m = $2m. Thus, in a perfect market the choice of capital structure does not affect the value to the entrepreneur.  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Berk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition 14-3. 185 Acort Industries owns assets that will have an 80% probability of having a market value of $50 million in one year.There is a 20% chance that the assets will be worth only $20 million. The current risk-free rate is 5%, and Acort’s assets have a cost of capital of 10%. a. If Acort is unlevered, what is the current market value of its equity? b. Suppose instead that Acort has debt with a face value of $20 million due in one year. According to MM, what is the value of Acort’s equity in this case? c. What is the expected return of Acort’s equity without leverage? What is the expected return of Acort’s equity with leverage? d. What is the lowest possible realized return of Acort’s equity with and without leverage? . b. c. d. 14-4. E[Value in one year] = 0. 8 ( 50 ) + 0. 2 ( 20 ) = 44 . E = D= 44 = $40m. 1. 10 20 = 19. 048 . Therefore, E = 40 ? 19. 048 = $20. 952m. 1. 05 44 44 ? 20 ? 1 = 10% , with leverage, r = ? 1 = 14. 55%. 40 20. 952 20 0 ? 1 = ? 50% , with leverage, r = ? 1 = ? 100%. 40 20. 952 Without leverage, r= Without leverage, r= Wolfrum Technology (WT) has no debt. Its assets will be worth $450 million in one year if the economy is strong, but only $200 million in one year if the economy is weak. Both events are equally likely. The market value today of its assets is $250 million. . What is the expected return of WT stock without leverage? b. Suppose the risk-free interest rate is 5%. If WT borrows $100 million today at this rate and uses the proceeds to pay an immediate cash dividend, what will be the market value of its equity just after the dividend is paid, according to MM? c. What i s the expected return of MM stock after the dividend is paid in part (b)? a. b. c. 14-5. (. 5 ? 450+. 5 ? 200)/250 = 1. 30 => 30% E + D = 250, D = 100 => E = 150 (. 5 ? (450-105) + . 5 ? (200-105))/150 = 1. 4667 => 46. 67% Suppose there are no taxes.Firm ABC has no debt, and firm XYZ has debt of $5000 on which it pays interest of 10% each year. Both companies have identical projects that generate free cash flows of $800 or $1000 each year. After paying any interest on debt, both companies use all remaining free cash flows to pay dividends each year. a. Fill in the table below showing the payments debt and equity holders of each firm will receive given each of the two possible levels of free cash flows. b. Suppose you hold 10% of the equity of ABC. What is another portfolio you could hold that would provide the same cash flows? 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 186 Berk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition c. Suppose you hold 10% of the equity of X YZ. If you can borrow at 10%, what is an alternative strategy that would provide the same cash flows? ABC Debt Payments Equity Dividends 0 800 0 1000 XYZ Debt Payments Equity Dividends 500 300 500 500 a. FCF $800 $1,000 b. c. 14-6. Unlevered Equity = Debt + Levered Equity. Buy 10% of XYZ debt and 10% of XYZ Equity, get 50 + (30,50) = (80,100) Levered Equity = Unlevered Equity + Borrowing. Borrow $500, buy 10% of ABC, receive (80,100) – 50 = (30, 50)Suppose Alpha Industries and Omega Technology have identical assets that generate identical cash flows. Alpha Industries is an all-equity firm, with 10 million shares outstanding that trade for a price of $22 per share. Omega Technology has 20 million shares outstanding as well as debt of $60 million. a. According to MM Proposition I, what is the stock price for Omega Technology? b. Suppose Omega Technology stock currently trades for $11 per share. What arbitrage opportunity is available? What assumptions are necessary to exploit t his opportunity? a. b. V(alpha) = 10 ? 22 = 220m = V(omega) = D + E ?E = 220 – 60 = 160m ? p = $8 per share. Omega is overpriced. Sell 20 Omega, buy 10 alpha, and borrow 60. Initial = 220 – 220 + 60 = 60. Assumes we can trade shares at current prices and that we can borrow at the same terms as Omega (or own Omega debt and can sell at same price). 14-7. Cisoft is a highly profitable technology firm that currently has $5 billion in cash. The firm has decided to use this cash to repurchase shares from investors, and it has already announced these plans to investors. Currently, Cisoft is an all-equity firm with 5 billion shares outstanding. These shares currently trade for $12 per share.Cisoft has issued no other securities except for stock options given to its employees. The current market value of these options is $8 billion. a. What is the market value of Cisoft’s non-cash assets? b. With perfect capital markets, what is the market value of Cisoft’s equity after the share repurchase? What is the value per share? a. Assets = cash + non-cash, Liabilities = equity + options, Non-cash assets = equity + options – cash = 12 ? 5 + 8 – 5 = 63 billion. Equity = 60 – 5 =55. Repurchase Per share value = 55 = $12 . 4. 583 5b = 0. 417b shares ? 4. 583 b shares remain. 12 b. 14-8.Schwartz Industry is an industrial company with 100 million shares outstanding and a market capitalization (equity value) of $4 billion. It has $2 billion of debt outstanding. Management have decided to delever the firm by issuing new equity to repay all outstanding debt. a. How many new shares must the firm issue? b. Suppose you are a shareholder holding 100 shares, and you disagree with this decision. Assuming a perfect capital market, describe what you can do to undo the effect of this decision. a. Share price = 4b/100m = $40, Issue 2b/40 = 50 million shares  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice HallBerk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition 187 b. You can undo the effect of the decision by borrowing to buy additional shares, in the same proportion as the firm’s actions, thus relevering your own portfolio. In this case you should buy 50 new shares and borrow $2000. 14-9. Zetatron is an all-equity firm with 100 million shares outstanding, which are currently trading for $7. 50 per share. A month ago, Zetatron announced it will change its capital structure by borrowing $100 million in short-term debt, borrowing $100 million in long-term debt, and issuing $100 million of preferred stock.The $300 million raised by these issues, plus another $50 million in cash that Zetatron already has, will be used to repurchase existing shares of stock. The transaction is scheduled to occur today. Assume perfect capital markets. a. What is the market value balance sheet for Zetatron i. Before this transaction? ii. After the new securities are issued but before the share repurchase? iii. After the share repur chase? b. At the conclusion of this transaction, how many shares outstanding will Zetatron have, and what will the value of those shares be? . i. ii. A = 50 cash + 700 non-cash L = 750 equity A = 350 cash + 700 non-cash L = 750 equity + 100 short-term debt + 100 long-term debt + 100 preferred stock iii. A = 700 non-cash L = 400 equity + 100 short-term debt + 100 long-term debt + 100 preferred stock b. 14-10. Repurchase 350 400 = 46. 67 shares ? 53. 33 remain. Value is = 7. 50. 7. 50 53. 33 Explain what is wrong with the following argument: â€Å"If a firm issues debt that is risk free, because there is no possibility of default, the risk of the firm’s equity does not change.Therefore, risk-free debt allows the firm to get the benefit of a low cost of capital of debt without raising its cost of capital of equity. † Any leverage raises the equity cost of capital. In fact, risk-free leverage raises it the most (because it does not share any of the risk). 14-11. Consider t he entrepreneur described in Section 14. 1 (and referenced in Tables 14. 1–14. 3). Suppose she funds the project by borrowing $750 rather than $500. a. According to MM Proposition I, what is the value of the equity? What are its cash flows if the economy is strong? What are its cash flows if the economy is weak?What is the risk premium of equity in each case? What is the sensitivity of the levered equity return to systematic risk? How does its sensitivity compare to that of unlevered equity? How does its risk premium compare to that of unlevered equity? What is the firm’s WACC in this case? b. What is the return of the equity in each case? What is its expected return? c. d. What is the debt-equity ratio of the firm in this case? e. a. b. E = 1000 – 750 = 250. CF = (1400,900) – 500 (1. 05) = (612. 5,112. 5) Re = (145%, – 55%), E[Re] = 45%, Risk premium = 45% – 5% = 40%  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 88 Berk/DeMar zo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition c. d. e. 14-12. Return sensitivity = 145% – (-55%) = 200%. This sensitivity is 4x the sensitivity of unlevered equity (50%). Its risk premium is also 4x that of unlevered equity (40% vs. 10%). 750 = 3x 250 25%(45%)+75%(5%) = 15% Hardmon Enterprises is currently an all-equity firm with an expected return of 12%. It is considering a leveraged recapitalization in which it would borrow and repurchase existing shares. a. Suppose Hardmon borrows to the point that its debt-equity ratio is 0. 50. With this amount of debt, the debt cost of capital is 6%.What will the expected return of equity be after this transaction? b. Suppose instead Hardmon borrows to the point that its debt-equity ratio is 1. 50. With this amount of debt, Hardmon’s debt will be much riskier. As a result, the debt cost of capital will be 8%. What will the expected return of equity be in this case? c. A senior manager argues that it is in the best interest of the shareholders to choose the capital structure that leads to the highest expected return for the stock. How would you respond to this argument? a. b. c. 14-13. re = ru + d/e(ru – rd) = 12% + 0. 50(12% – 6%) = 15% re = 12% + 1. 0(12% – 8%) = 18% Returns are higher because risk is higher—the return fairly compensates for the risk. There is no free lunch. Suppose Microsoft has no debt and an equity cost of capital of 9. 2%. The average debt-to-value ratio for the software industry is 13%. What would its cost of equity be if it took on the average amount of debt for its industry at a cost of debt of 6%? At a cost of debt of 6%: D (rU ? rD ) E 0. 13 rE = 0. 092 + (0. 092 ? 0. 06) 0. 87 = 0. 0968 rE = rU + = 9. 68%. 14-14. Global Pistons (GP) has common stock with a market value of $200 million and debt with a value of $100 million.Investors expect a 15% return on the stock and a 6% return on the debt. Assume perfect capital markets. a. Suppose GP issues $100 mi llion of new stock to buy back the debt. What is the expected return of the stock after this transaction? i. If the risk of the debt does not change, what is the expected return of the stock after this transaction? b. Suppose instead GP issues $50 million of new debt to repurchase stock. ii. If the risk of the debt increases, would the expected return of the stock be higher or lower than in part (i)?  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice HallBerk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition 2 (15% ) 6% + = 12% = ru . 3 3 189 a. b. wacc = i. re = ru + d / e ( ru ? rd ) = 12 + 150 (12 ? 6) = 18% 150 ii. if rd is higher, re is lower. The debt will share some of the risk. 14-15. Hubbard Industries is an all-equity firm whose shares have an expected return of 10%. Hubbard does a leveraged recapitalization, issuing debt and repurchasing stock, until its debt-equity ratio is 0. 60. Due to the increased risk, shareholders now expect a return of 13%. Assuming there are no taxes and Hubbard’s debt is risk free, what is the interest rate on the debt? acc = ru = 10% = 1 0. 6 x ? 1. 6 (10) ? 13 = 3 = 0. 6 x ? x = 5% 13% + 1. 6 1. 6 14-16. Hartford Mining has 50 million shares that are currently trading for $4 per share and $200 million worth of debt. The debt is risk free and has an interest rate of 5%, and the expected return of Hartford stock is 11%. Suppose a mining strike causes the price of Hartford stock to fall 25% to $3 per share. The value of the risk-free debt is unchanged. Assuming there are no taxes and the risk (unlevered beta) of Hartford’s assets is unchanged, what happens to Hartford’s equity cost of capital? u = wacc = 1 1 200 (11) + (5) = 8% . re = 8% + (8% ? 5%) = 12% 2 2 150 14-17. Mercer Corp. is an all equity firm with 10 million shares outstanding and $100 million worth of debt outstanding. Its current share price is $75. Mercer’s equity cost of capital is 8. 5%. Mercer has just announced that it wil l issue $350 million worth of debt. It will use the proceeds from this debt to pay off its existing debt, and use the remaining $250 million to pay an immediate dividend. Assume perfect capital markets. a. Estimate Mercer’s share price just after the recapitalization is announced, but before the transaction occurs. . Estimate Mercer’s share price at the conclusion of the transaction. (Hint: use the market value balance sheet. ) c. Suppose Mercer’s existing debt was risk-free with a 4. 25% expected return, and its new debt is risky with a 5% expected return. Estimate Mercer’s equity cost of capital after the transaction. a. b. MM => no change, $75 Initial enterprise value = 75 ? 10 + 100 = 850 million New debt = 350 million E = 850 – 350 = 500 Share price = 500/10 = $50 c. Ru = (750/850) ? 8. 5% + (100/850) ? 4. 25% = 8% Re = 8% + 350/500(8% – 5%) = 10. 1%  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc.Publishing as Prentice Hall 190 14-18. Berk/DeMarzo â⠂¬ ¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition In June 2009, Apple Computer had no debt, total equity capitalization of $128 billion, and a (equity) beta of 1. 7 (as reported on Google Finance). Included in Apple’s assets was $25 billion in cash and risk-free securities. Assume that the risk-free rate of interest is 5% and the market risk premium is 4%. a. c. What is Apple’s enterprise value? What is Apple’s WACC? b. What is the beta of Apple’s business assets? a. b. 128-25=103 million Because the debt is risk free, ?U = E ? E E+D 128 = (1. 7) 103 = 2. 11 c. rWACC = rf + ? ( E[ RMkt ] ? rf ) = 5 + 2. 11? 4 = 13. 4% alternatively rE = rf + ? E ( E[ RMkt ] ? rf ) = 5 + 1. 7 ? 4 = 11. 8% E D $128 $25 rE + rD = (11. 8%) ? (5%) = 13. 4% E+D E+D $103 $103 rwacc = 14-19. Indell stock has a current market value of $120 million and a beta of 1. 50. Indell currently has risk-free debt as well. The firm decides to change its capital structure by issuing $30 million in addit ional risk-free debt, and then using this $30 million plus another $10 million in cash to repurchase stock.With perfect capital markets, what will be the beta of Indell stock after this transaction? Indell increases its net debt by $40 million ($30 million in new debt + $10 million in cash paid out). Therefore, the value of its equity decreases to 120 – 40 = $80 million. If the debt is risk-free: D ? ?u ( E + D ) EV = ? u ? , ? = E? E E ? e = ? u ? 1 + ? ? where D is net debt, and EV is enterprise value . The only change in the equation is the value of equity. Therefore ? ‘ = ? e e E 120 = 1. 50 = 2. 25. E' 80 14-20. Yerba Industries is an all-equity firm whose stock has a beta of 1. and an expected return of 12. 5%. Suppose it issues new risk-free debt with a 5% yield and repurchases 40% of its stock. Assume perfect capital markets. a. What is the beta of Yerba stock after this transaction? b. What is the expected return of Yerba stock after this transaction? Suppose t hat prior to this transaction, Yerba expected earnings per share this coming year of $1. 50, with a forward P/E ratio (that is, the share price divided by the expected earnings for the coming year) of 14.  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Berk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition . 191 What is Yerba’s expected earnings per share after this transaction? Does this change benefit shareholders? Explain. d. What is Yerba’s forward P/E ratio after this transaction? Is this change in the P/E ratio reasonable? Explain. a. b. ?e = ? u (1 + d / e ) = 1. 2 ? 1 + ? ? 40 ? ?=2 60 ? 12. 5 ? 5 = 6. 25 ? re = 5 + 2 ( 6. 25) = 17. 5% from the CAPM, or 1. 2 re = r f + b rm ? r f ? rm ? r f = ( ) re = ru + d / e ( ru ? rd ) = 12. 5 + c. 40 (12. 5 ? 5) = 17. 5 60 p = 14 (1. 50 ) = $21 . Borrow 40%(21) = 8. 4, interest = 5%(8. 4) = 0. 42. Earnings = 1. 50 – 0. 42 = 1. 08, per share = . 08 = 1. 80. 0. 60 No benefit; risk is higher. The stock pr ice does not change. d. 14-21. PE = 21 = 11. 67 . It falls due to higher risk. 1. 80 You are CEO of a high-growth technology firm. You plan to raise $180 million to fund an expansion by issuing either new shares or new debt. With the expansion, you expect earnings next year of $24 million. The firm currently has 10 million shares outstanding, with a price of $90 per share. Assume perfect capital markets. a. If you raise the $180 million by selling new shares, what will the forecast for next year’s earnings per share be? b.If you raise the $180 million by issuing new debt with an interest rate of 5%, what will the forecast for next year’s earnings per share be? c. What is the firm’s forward P/E ratio (that is, the share price divided by the expected earnings for the coming year) if it issues equity? What is the firm’s forward P/E ratio if it issues debt? How can you explain the difference? a. Issue 180 = 2 million new shares ? 12 million shares outstanding . 90 24 = $2. 00 per share. 12 New EPS = b. Interest on new debt = 180 ? 5% = $9 million. The interest expense will reduce earnings to 24 – 9 15 = $1. 50 per share. $15 million. With 10 million shares outstanding, EPS = 10 By MM, share price is $90 in either case. PE ratio with equity issue is PE ratio with debt is $90 = 60 . 1. 50 90 = 45 . 2 c. The higher PE ratio is justified because with leverage, EPS will grow at a faster rate.  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 192 14-22. Berk/DeMarzo †¢ Corporate Finance, Second Edition Zelnor, Inc. , is an all-equity firm with 100 million shares outstanding currently trading for $8. 50 per share. Suppose Zelnor decides to grant a total of 10 million new shares to employees as part of a new compensation plan.The firm argues that this new compensation plan will motivate employees and is a better strategy than giving salary bonuses because it will not cost the firm anything. a. If the new compensation plan has no effect on the value of Zelnor’s assets, what will be the share price of the stock once this plan is implemented? b. What is the cost of this plan for Zelnor’s investors? Why is issuing equity costly in this case? a. b. Assets = 850m. New shares = 110. ? price = 850 = $7. 73 110 Cost = 100(8. 50 – 7. 73) = 77 m = 10(7. 73). Issuing equity at below market price is costly.  ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall