Children: a Good Target Market or an Abuse of Innocence?

Children: A Good Target Market or An Abuse of Innocence? Advertising is a way many businesses attract consumers. Consumers are, after all, their source of income. Billions of dollars are spent every year by corporations to huge advertising companies to think of the next big commodity. However, the most attractive target market today is children, which inevitably sparks controversy throughout the country. When discussing advertising to children, one should highly consider how the effects the products being advertised pose to children, the status of our countries laws, and the current uses of child advertising and the effect they may have on their audience because we need to think of the children first in order to protect our country’s youth. Many businesses have made the arguable decision in marketing towards children. If the venture is done the right way, it can be a successful form of getting attention to a business. In the article â€Å"Brand loyalty starts from a very early age,† Lou Cooper reveals, â€Å"Influencing children at a young age could see them retain their custom in the future† (24). However, if done incorrectly or unethically, youth advertising can be very dangerous and influential to a child in the wrong way. More and more manufacturers  and television advertisers  think that children constitute an important group for their target  market. They see other businesses succeeding when they use the tactic and they believe they need to use it too so as to remain competitive in the industry. However,  television advertising  aimed at children is extremely harmful to child development. Over the last few decades,  television advertising  has changed people's life styles and buying habits, especially children. Children have larger spending power. With the additional reassurance from statistics and research, more and more manufacturers and  advertisers  think that a young age group is an important group for their target  market. However,  television advertising  aimed at children is extremely harmful to child development because of the many harmful and unhealthy things the television is portraying as acceptable and even going so far as to making a harmful product sound attractive and necessary to a young consumer. Television aids the alcohol industry, as well as the fast food industry in spreading the word of their harmful products. The fast food industry is especially taking advantage of their marketing ability, and consumers are paying the price for it, with their health. According to the film Super Size Me, over the past few years, there has been a doubling of childhood and adult diabetes. Also, in the film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock provides the information that more children are having liver abnormalities and are already showing signs of cirrhosis, a clinical scaring of the liver. As stunningly accurate as in Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser mentions, â€Å"But the value meals, two-for-one deals, and free refills of soda give a distorted sense of how much fast food actually costs. The real price never appears on the menu† (9). Thus, the harmful products shown on TV should be highly monitored and perhaps even forced laws upon certain ads to protect the public. The founding laws of our nation have worked for us for centuries. They protect us when is necessary and allow us freedoms when appropriate. Legislators have been able to protect us very well with the constant updating of our laws. Through amendments and many new laws, law makers have been able to stay current with issues at hand. However, because our country’s laws haven’t taken another modern twist, many children are feeling the consequences. As seen in The United States Bill of Rights, the first amendment to the Constitution is â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press† (US Const. , amd. 1) When creating the law, however, legislators in the revolutionary time period surely didn’t suspect that the safety of children would be at stake when they wrote such a broad and vague concept. The legislation for advertising to children is minimal, and most advertising companies have free reign to do whatever they want. When a commercial is geared toward children, they find it appealing and some almost comforting. Fast Food Nation’s Eric Schlosser expressed that children are exposed to â€Å"30,000 commercials a year. † Congress has passed laws in the past about setting regulations for the advertising of cigarettes and alternative means of marketing because of their extremely harmful and negative side effects they threaten consumers with. Certain means of advertising in movie theaters was reviewed and banned; Truthful advertisements are being forced on to cigarette companies. Advertisements in movie theaters would show pictures of a random place and quickly show a flash of a product so people in the audience would need to have it. For example, they would show a large desert and then quickly show a Coke, and a person sitting in the audience would stand up and need to buy the Coke, almost as if they were brainwashed. Cigarette companies are now forced to put pictures of diseased organs on the box of cigarettes so as to warn the public of their unhealthy and dangerous aftermath and hopefully thwart as many Americans smoking as possible, a much different form of advertising than an advertisement for Paul Mall cigarettes depicting cigarettes to â€Å"Guard against throat-scratch. † When children are exposed to such stimulation of such appealing products, According to Lou Cooper, they have the influence over their parents to utilize close to â€Å"1. 88 trillion dollars†, which of course makes children a hefty target, but at what cost? Cooper 24). Advertisers use many forms of marketing to charm children. Phrases and slogans are one example. Many types  of food have a phrase associated with them. Commercials use phrases and slogans to embed their product into an audience’s memory. By the time the commercial ends the line and product are stuck in a person’s mind. By targe ting children, whole families are then targeted. Competition sparks the creation of phrases and slogans so as to imprint that brand into the minds of consumers. If one company can create a phrase that everyone will know and remember, they are one step ahead of their competition. Characters are also a way used to target children. Making characters has been the way in which many companies capture the attention of children everywhere. When a child sees commercials on television, the characters are instantly installed in their brain. Prominent figures also bring forth an ethical appeal for children; for example, in Lucky Strike advertisement, Santa Claus is shown with his bag of toys in one hand and a cigarette in the other. When the child witnesses such extreme behavior from the ones they hold dear, they want to be just like the people they admire. Therefore, children are more likely to buy a product used by their favorite celebrity or character. Toys are another way in which companies target children. Companies give toys to children sometimes relating to their product to endorse their item and entice the recipient to the merchandise. The hope some companies have is that the child will associate their brand with a reward such as a toy and want it more because of the attraction. For example, cereal companies are famous for toy advertisements. If they put toys in the boxes of cereal, children are more likely to want the box with a toy in it. Pleasing children is a main concern for all big companies. In closing, advertising to children isn’t the best idea when you want to keep the youth of our country safe, healthy, and uncorrupt so as to brighten our future as a nation. The products of some endorsements are mainly those that need to be feared. However, when a child is just as innocent as watching their favorite television show, parents and the children themselves shouldn’t need to worry about what kind of commercials pop-up that try to entice them with that happy meal and those toys. Children deserve every right to enjoy their time of being care-free and trusting. Childhood is a time for joyful bliss and innocence, not corruption. Works Cited Cooper, Lou. â€Å"Brand Loyalty Starts from a Very Early Age. † EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Marketing Week, 10 June 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2010 ;http:web. ebscohost. com/src/pdf? vid=3;hid=104;[email  protected];. â€Å"The United States Bill of Rights. † National Archives and Records Administration. U. S. National Archives ; Records Administration. Web. 02. Nov. 2011. ;http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/characters/print_friendly. html? page=bill_of_rights_transcript_content. html;. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print. Supersize Me: a Film of Epic Proportions . Hart Sharp Video, 2004. â€Å"Santa Smokes Lucky Strikes! † Quit Smoking Painlessly Now! Web. 02 Nov. 2010. ;http://www. quitsmokingpainlesslynow. com/cigarette-advertising/santa-smoking-lucky-strikes/;.

Economics Commentary Essay

The collusive1 market structure that the Japanese traditional industry has traced over previous years has increasingly become to fail. The tendency of companies abandoning cross-shareholdings2 has generated a in deep economic loss resulting from a reduce in the total revenue of corporations in the country. The attempt of industries such as steel, paper and energy as well as car making companies and electronic firms3 to consolidate economic partnership through means of oligopoly, has decreased deliberately from 50% of the market values to 20% over the last 17 years. The benefits of share holding companies were determined in preceding times to maximize profits by jointly agreeing in a fixed price which will avoid â€Å"price wars† and therefore substantial revenues4. Also assuming the interdependent behaviors, cross-shareholding companies act together to establish high barriers of entry to the industry in order to preserve ascendancy and evade competitiveness to have a high indices of demand. As the extract mentions, there is a bought share between companies to prevent the overhaul of others and to regulate the number of firms within the market as it happened with Mitsubishi when 11 other companies had an acquisition of shares to â€Å"block the outsider†. As these companies were subdued to price controls of the industry, the demand curve will therefore be highly inelastic responding to the few amount of substitutes5 that the industry seeks to have in flow. However the concerns about the crumbling of the traditional tendency of cross-shareholding are given with the results in the change of behavior of the industry. Along with the abandonment of share holding companies, the industry becomes vulnerable to external entry and in the case of Japan foreign investments which increases competition. As there is increase in supply of same products, demand for products of individual firms will fall and the demand curve will shift to the left. Demand shifts to the left from D1 to D2 due to the increase in supply with the entry of new firms and the removal of a unique price of product in the whole industry. As the result in the shifting of the demand curve of any Japanese product prices of evidently reduce as shown in the previous figure. From P1, being the demand of a cross-holding alliance of the market, and P2 the consequent reduction of this model. Quantity produced also lessens from Q1 to Q2 as costs of production are directly proportional to the loss of profit6 with the diminishing prices. Due to price decline, total revenue also decreases as both quantity and price of products decrease considerately. The impacts of this phenomenon on Japanese economy is illustrated with losses of the questioned firms. Between March and September more than 160 shareholding companies lost a total of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 billion in value. 610 Banks and monetary institutions have also been affected as these companies are part of the essential capital they lend against. Despite the increase in cross-shareholding companies since 2004, the evident economic impact of the â€Å"criss-crossed capitalism† are starting to arise. The Japanese government in response has been working on regulatory measures to prevent this phenomenon future repercussions. Works Cited – * Economic Basis: Demand and Supply. In the internet: http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp, s.t. * Economic Basis: Monopolies, Oligopolies and Perfect Competition, s.t. In the internet: http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics6.asp, s.t. * Introduction to economics * WHITTEN, Darrel. Japan: Japan’s System Of Interlocking Shareholdings. In the internet: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=24335, 2004. 1 A commonly accepted price determination of oligopolists to prevent competition of prices over similar products. 2 When to or more firms3 hold each other shares. 3 Institutions that employ production factors to produce and hence sell goods and services. 4 The resultant economic gains of multiplying the price of a good times the quantity of that good sold (TR=pxq). 5 Similar products with certain differentiations that determine price elasticity of demand. 6 Net income in gains of a businesses activity.

Stop Book Banning

Stop Book Banning! Should school administrators be allowed to ban books? Of course not! They are abusing their power of having the right to teach children. They want to ban a book just because it shows the true past of America, which some students cannot handle. They should not shield the past; if anything they should tell everything about the past and explain to the students why the events occurred. They should understand why America did the things it did so that they will not be ashamed of the country that they live in and they can then defend their country to anybody trying to put it down.One reason administrators should not be allowed to ban books is because it takes the right and freedom to choose what is read, away from the parents and students. Doesn’t it say in the first amendment that all people have the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press? By writing a book you are expressing and sharing your opinions which is exercising the freedom of speech, and by putti ng your words down on paper, you are exercising your freedom of the press. Why then are the school administrators trying to take our rights away from us?What makes them think they have the right to take away our freedoms given to us from the first amendment of the Constitution? The article â€Å"Book Banning Efforts are Up, Poll Finds† by Hillel Italie, says, ‘â€Å"It all stems from a fearfulness of well-meaning people,† said Michael Gorman, president of the library association. â€Å"We believe in parental responsibility, and that you should take care of what your children are reading. But it’s not your responsibility to tell a whole class of kids what they should read. ’ This is saying that yes you do have the right to decide what your kid reads, however you cannot decide what other kids should read. This also applies to the administrators. They can decide what their kid can read, but they cannot decide what an entire school can or cannot read. Another reason to not ban books is because it prevents kids from learning. How can we learn about the past and the way America was back when the great American authors wrote, when the administrators take away the books that teach us this, preventing us from learning?How can we learn of the language of the olden days when we cannot read this language? How are we supposed to learn the history of our ancestors and their ancestors when there is a possibility that administrators will ban the book that will help us do so? Why are the people of America letting these administrators get away with this cruel and unjust act? The article â€Å"Let Me Poison My Mind with Books† by Craig Pearson states, â€Å"Just like muscles, the brain requires pushups.The more ideas we expose ourselves to the more we devise our own. That’s why education, and thus reading, is so essential, even if by some people’s account what we read is dirty. † People should be able to choose for t hemselves what they read, and nobody else should be able to tell them differently. One person reads a book and learns something from that particular book. However, another person can read the exact same book and learn something completely different from what the first person learned.Why should this fact of life and learning be taken away because one person reads a book, learns something they don’t like from it, and then proceeds to take that book away from others, even though they will most likely learn something different then what the person trying to ban the book learned? The reason for the first person trying to ban the book could be something that another reader does not even notice or care about and it therefore does not impact them. So why are people so worried? One argument to my case could be that some people feel that these books should be banned to protect students from indecent and controversial material.But why should books be banned to protect one student in a s chool of hundreds, when none of the other kids or their parents feels that they need that kind of protection? You can not protect one kid from material if it means preventing others from that material. Instead, the kid who needs â€Å"protecting† should learn to protect themselves and choose not to read that material that could be harmful to him/her. Students need to learn to make decisions for themselves and banning material from a library is in no way helping them learn for themselves.If they are sheltered their whole life then what is going to happen when they embrace the real world? In the article â€Å"Did You Ever Meet a Book You Didn’t Like? † by Sharon Coatney, she says, â€Å"That being said, books are meant to be chosen carefully. Some titles are appropriate in one situation and not in another, for one child and not another. † I think she says it beautifully. Every kid needs to look at the book, asses it, and make sure it is something that they can and want to read. Each book that is made has a purpose.This could mean that that book is meant to be read by a certain kid at a certain point in their life so as to help guide that kid through life. All books have the chance to influence a kid’s life, so why would administrators want to prevent the book from somehow helping someone? Why can’t the administrators put themselves in our shoes? If the roles were reversed they would feel the same as we do. Why then do they have no compassion? Why can’t they do for us what we would do for them? The saying goes, â€Å"Treat others the way you want to be treated. † Young children can do it. Why can’t we?

Earnings per share FASB project on convergence with the IFRS Essay

Earnings per share FASB project on convergence with the IFRS - Essay Example The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) avers to serve "the investing public through transparent information resulting from high-quality financial reporting standards" (FASB, Home Page)The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the FASB acknowledge that the convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally, Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is the primary objective of both boards. The FASB has taken up several 'projects' to address issues where differences have been found in reporting standards and have successfully concluded many; some are under current scrutiny. One of the current issues is the reporting of 'Earnings per Share' or EPS as it is popularly known.Different tools are available for making financial analysis of stocks and range from the very simple and elegant to the very complex and difficult to understand. The financial performance of the company, and therefore, its future prospects and stock performance, i s better understood through the calculation of some important ratios that assist us in a detailed appraisal. The EPS method looks at the financial performance of the company; focusing on the earnings recorded per ordinary share in a particular accounting period. This number provides a clear picture of the actual profitability of the company and is used to calculate the Price to Earnings (PE) ratio which represents the ratio of the market price of the share compared with EPS. Since the share price changes almost continually this latter ratio also keeps changing and needs to be calculated on real time basis at the time of making investment related decisions. This is the most important ratio used by the market generally to assess the relative rating of a share and the company's prospects and, of course, is the easiest to understand. It identifies the number of years' earnings needed to cover the current market price of the share. This paper presents the results of a detailed study of this project and its immediate and long term implications for the accounting fraternity as well as the users of accounting statements, viz. the management, shareholders and other stakeholders of the company as well as auditors, potential suitors (for takeover bids) and public. The Standards IAS are a set of financial reporting policies that typically require increased disclosure and restrict management's choices of measurement methods relative to the accounting standards of the local GAAP standards (Ashbaugh & Pincus, 2001). With regard to the Earnings per Share the FASB issued a statement (Statement No. 128: Earnings per Share) and the IASB its statement IAS-33. Both boards have been working together to resolve the differences in order to bring convergence in the two statements and plan to make their final recommendations open for public comment in the first quarter of 2008. This draft will be open comment for 120 days and will then be adopted, with modifications, if required through public opinion. This draft will represent the third such 'exposure draft' on the subject, the earlier ones required many changes based on public comment and had to be revised. The earlier drafts were based on the comments on the statement 128 in 2003 and the first exposure draft in 2005. The description of EPS i.e. The basic earnings divided by the average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period (IAS33-R.10) leads us to the immediate issues involved: a) How are the basic earnings to be calculated, and b) what is the number of shares the earnings must be divided by to arrive at the EPS. We examine how these are considered under the IFRS and GAAP to arrive at the differences between the current practices under the two regulations. Basic Earnings The concept is to arrive at the profit of the company that is attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the company and therefore the basic earnings must be calculated as net profit (or loss) less preference dividends

Ethical Dilemmas 1-2 page paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethical Dilemmas 1-2 page paper - Essay Example Ethics are virtues that should be employed by all members of a society so that humanity is maintained, and the well-being of all persons within that society is upheld. Ethical dilemmas are the main challenge that people face while trying to do the right thing according to the society. (Buppert, C. 2008). These ethical dilemmas force people to weigh both the rights and wrongs and come up with a satisfactory resolution to the particular situation or scenario that may be present. Ethical dilemmas in nursing research must be addressed promptly in order to ensure patient safety, as well as a satisfactory end result of each situation for both parties. One of the main ethical dilemmas faced in nursing research stems from a conflict of interest between the researcher and the patient. The researchers and the organization or organizations that fund the research are working to get the data that they need in order to complete their project, and with luck, be able to turn that research data into a lucrative product down the line. The patient, however, is interested in getting treatment first, and a resolution to the issue or illness that is afflicting them; both parties are concerned with getting results, but for different reasons, and one of those parties needs to know what does not work just as much as they need to know what does, while the other party is not necessarily interested in trying out procedures that may have a higher likelihood of failure and possible side effects. Another aspect of a conflict of interest that arises is profit. The patient themselves benefits only if they are cured of their illness, or if their issue is al leviated, while the corporation, entity, or researcher will benefit in the form of a monetary aspect from the research itself. A second common ethical dilemma present in nursing research arises from the pain to gain ratio. The patient who has agreed to be a part of the experiment, or medical research may experience pain or discomfort as a

Evaluate the causes, consequences and lessons from the Cuban missile Essay

Evaluate the causes, consequences and lessons from the Cuban missile crisis - Essay Example In response, the Kennedy administration found it necessary to reveal to Khrushchev that he had not made any space missiles. Khrushchev had always known the U.S. had more missiles but now he knew that the Americans knew. Khrushchev knew that Soviet missiles were sufficiently powerful to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were able to find all of the Soviet Union. (Article Think Quest, 2011) Moreover, Khrushchev felt boxed in the enemies. For example, he cited the U.S. missiles in Turkey, only 150 km away from the Soviet Union, Cuba was only 90 km from the coast of Florida, but the gap of 60 km was "no anti-missile" Khrushchev said. Above all, however, Khrushchev feared the first strike in on whether the Soviet Union lost the arms race so badly, he worried, call the first strike with nuclear weapons the United States because of Khrushchev began looking for a way to counter the United States, for example. (Article Think Quest, 2011) One of the main reasons was the fear of inva sion of Cuba, the United States since he came to power in 1959, Cuban Premier Fidel Castro was aware of certain United States is trying to move him. First there was the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by CIA-backed Cuban exiles in 1961. One was a U.S. military exercise in 1962. The armed forces in a mockery of an attack on a fictitious Caribbean island to overthrow the dictator, whose name was Castro Ortsac back. In addition, the United States was drawing up a plan to invade Cuba (Operation Mongoose). Mock attack and the attack plan was drawn up to keep Castro nervous. Finally, the CIA was running covert operations throughout Cuba trying to damage the Castro government. So, Castro was convinced the United States was seriously invade Cuba. (Article Think Quest, 2011) In April 1962, designed the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. Deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a possible U.S. attack against the Soviet Union or Cuba. Khrushchev promoted the KGB station chief in Cuba Alexander Alekseev to Ambassador to negotiate for Castro's approval of the plan. Castro did not openly reject the idea at first, but instead he gave it serious. To believe it is better to risk a great crisis than wait helplessly for an invasion, Castro accepted Khrushchev's offer. In mid-July 1962 the USSR began its construction of offensive weapons in Cuba. The crisis could have and should have been avoided. If we had done an earlier, stronger and more clearly explain our position regarding Soviet nuclear weapons on the Western Hemisphere, or if the Soviet government was more thoroughly assessed the evidence existed at that point, it is likely that the missiles would never have been sent to Cuba. Importance of accurate assessment of mutual interests between the two superpowers, are clear and consistent. Reliable intelligence and allows the effective selection, the response was just the right time. It 'been mostly political mistakes, and professionals who have made a lot of intelligence is available in the past. But it was also a timely recognition of the need not fly to the bottom of the dangers that produced the decisive photographs. The need and extent of control from above, including the audit work of the Soviet missile withdrawal should not be underestimated. When the importance of accurate data crucial policy decision is high enough, otherwise

Time Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Time Management - Essay Example There are some general rules for pacing that are very valuable, but there are also necessary modifications to be made when there is a diverse group of students with varying levels of need. 1. Develop Awareness of Your Own Teaching Tempo: "We can learn to generate interest and enthusiasm by adjusting effectively or create a calming effete by adjusting our own personal pace in the classroom" (Jones & Jones, 2004, p288). These authors suggest videotaping or recording yourself during class to monitor your own behavior and then later replay it and evaluate your actions. While this is one excellent tool, quite often teachers can be too hard on themselves or not hard enough depending on their own ego structure and make incorrect decisions based on highly personal rather than objective criteria. It is recommended that the teacher pick a peer that they trust and respect to evaluate the tape to ensure a more well rounded set of inputs. Once the teacher has established the correct pace for the classroom they will be much more comfortable in class and able to quickly recognize those times when they may have to speed up or slow down that pace, appropriate to the needs of the students and the material being covered. 2. Watch for Non-Verbal Cues: During the course of a lesson if the class becomes too quite or too boisterous that may be a clue that the students are becoming bored. If there are glazed eyes all around or if students are fidgeting in their seats and tapping pencils; rather than remonstrate them for this undesirable behavior it is wise to take the time to listen to yourself, stop and break the pace that has caused this. "Wake people up by giving them a 2 minute test on last weeks vocabulary" (TEFL, 2007), this helps to enliven the group, perhaps agitate them a bit and cause them to pay more attention during the lesson

Finance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance - Research Paper Example Many metrics have been developed to ease this process. Faced with too much information, Investors at times get confused with no clear indication of what the true prices of stocks should be. (Penman, 2003). Under such circumstances, the investor either make decision based on his or her instinct, such investors according to Penman (2003) are intuitive investors while others who make their decision based on capital market efficiency are referred to as passive investors. This part of the question addresses the performance of a new venture to be set up to enable us make informed judgment as to a hold a buy or sell decision. Thus, the objective of this question is to analyse the liquidity, the profitability and solvency position of the new set up from information extracted from the projected profit and loss account, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. The report do not only provide a financial overview of the new venture for the projected three years period. The question also, guide potential investors on where the business is coming from and where it is heading to. Gross profit margin assumes that in the absence of other expenses what percentage of sales comes to the corporation as profit, while net profit margin takes into consideration all the expenses and measures what percentage of sales comes in as profit after all the other expenses must have been deducted. It is important to note here that, ratio analysis in them is useless except when compared with the industry benchmark or other competitors. 2010 2011 2012 Key Data Sales 488000 536312 589943 Cost of Sales 277650 358168 392947 Gross Profit 210351 178144 196996 Operating Profit/Loss 39441 84173 93080.8 Percentages % 2010 2011 2012 Growth in Sales (%) 10.0 10.0 Gross Profit Margin (%) 43.2 33.1 33.4 Net Profit Margin (%) 8.1 15.7 15.8 From the above analysis and interpretation, one will see that our proposed new venture is a feasible and profitable business. While gross profit margin for the first three years under projection is above 30%, net profit margin also portrays a favorable situation. Analysis of Capital Employed According to Penman (2003), assets and liabilities are distinguished based on the nature of the operations the underlying operation and the funding structure. The underlying operation is represented by the operating assets of the business. Operating assets are also known as capital employed - the amount of capital that is employed in the business. Here, it is defined as being the total assets without any deduction for the creditors of the business. 000s 2010 2011 2012 Key Data Current Assets 131079 167081 229919 Fixed Assets 33362 89033 127526 Total Assets 164441 256114 357445 Percentages % 2010 2011 2012 Current assests 80 65 64 Fixed Assets 20 35 36 Key data & ROCE 2010 2011 2012 Total Assets 164441 256114 357445 Profit Before Interest& Tax 52588 112230 124108 ROCE (%) 32 44 35 This ratio ROCE measures how well a business has performed in terms of the capital used to carry out the daily operations. According to Penman (2003), it is a key performance indicator and may show a decline even though the net profit margin has gone up. This will reveal the fact that the increase in

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Auditing - Essay Example Assurance service is an independent professional service, typically provided by CPAs, with the goal of improving the information or the context of the information so that decision makers can make more informed, and presumably better decisions. Attestation services are consultations that evaluate the reliability of written statements that are another party’s responsibility. Audits can be considered a type of assurance service but are only designed to test the validity of the financial statements. Recent economic issues drive increased demand for assurance services. The banking and finance industry fiasco of recent years has made these services indispensible in today’s market. There are differences between assurance engagements and attestation engagements other than audits and financial statements. One attestation is that of an entity’s compliance with requirements of specified laws, regulations, rules, contracts, or grants. A type of assurance engagement is that o f a comfort letter prepared to assure the recipient of the financial soundness company. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) have positioned the auditing professions to become "assurance professions." Here, we explored the difference between assurance services, attestation services and auditing services. Furthermore, we discussed economic issues that drive increased demand for assurance services. We also identified one assurance engagement and one attestation engagement other than an audit of financial statements and the differences between them. The ten Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) provide the foundation for all other auditing standards and interpretations. Here, we define the standard of "due professional care" and how a court might decide whether an audit firm met the standard. We also discuss why independence is often considered the

Public University Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Public University Analysis - Research Paper Example The financial statements in this institution contains some remarkable disclosure of the cost that the institution goes through in providing retirement benefits, related gains, assets and lastly all liabilities. These financial statements therefore, are able to provide the employees with a clear view of the risks and rewards that arise from the defined benefits. In addition, all funding obligations which are in relations to all liabilities of the benefits schemes defined are all clearly identified (University of Maryland, 2012). GAASB proposed changes are likely to reduce the liability burden as they will increase the level of accountability an aspect that is likely to reduce the cash lost due to cases of negligence. Proposed changes also address deeply on issues of common deposits and other investment risks such as interest rate risks and even fluctuating of the foreign currency risks. The policy recommendations to disclose all investments that are highly sensitive to these risks wil l reduce the money lost through fluctuating of the currency and changes in the interest rates (University of Maryland, 2012). One of the major economic condition that s likely to affect the growth of this institution is government changes in labor policies. Government is likely to change the policies such as medical policies and retirement policies. Some of the likely changes that are likely to be outlined include; increased amount contributed towards the pension scheme and specified amount that the institution should direct towards payment of medical insurance for its employees. This is likely to reduce the amount of money directed towards improving the status of the university. Second aspect that is likely to affect the future success of university of Maryland is increased government intervention and regulations in university through taxation. This is likely to slower the level of activities in the institution an aspect that will be replicated in the overall growth rate of the ins titution (University of Maryland, 2012). Changes in the foreign currency and interest rates will have direct impact on the overall growth of university of Maryland. The institution conducts many transactions some of which depend largely on the interest rates. Fluctuations in the currency and changes in the overall economy will therefore hamper the level of growth in the university (Gibson, 2012). In university of Maryland grants are used to fund major projects that are aimed at improving the education status in the university. In addition to this, they are used in daily running of the institution. Also, they are sometimes used to cover the liabilities that the institutions have incurred over the past periods in order to reduce burden to the institution (Gibson, 2012). Grants such as federal grants are used by the institution to offer students with the scholarships. This is aimed at helping the needy students who are not capable of paying for their school fees. In addition to this, t hese funds are directed towards equipping the institution with the current technology in order to improve the level of research conducted by the institution. As a result, the institution has been able to conduct many researches in different fields an aspect that has improved the overall growth of the state and economy at large (Gibson, 2012). With GAADB laid procedures on how to use funds in the institutio

Advantages of Video Games Essay Example for Free

Advantages of Video Games Essay Video games are a favorite past time for kids and adults as well. Video game is gaining popularity by the day. Studies reveal that computer and video games play a vital role in healing and convalescing. Studies also show that the excitement of video games makes playing them addictive. They are not just for entertainment alone, they can aid in education as well. Playing active video games may stop children from becoming obese. Good-quality video games can provide fun and social form of entertainment. They can encourage teamwork and cooperation when played with others. It increases childrens self-confidence and self-esteem as they master games. It develops skills in reading, math, and problem-solving. Playing high-quality video games enhances and boosts the performance of the children. Likewise continuous exposure to violent games can make children aggressive. Now, the gaming industry has begun producing active ‘entertainment’ gaming systems. The world is going berserk over the wide range of video and computer games that are developed and sold everyday. If you are a game freak then there are comprehensive collections of game portals. While some are downloadable at free of cost, others are not. Most of the highly interactive games are available for purchase. However if you are looking for cheap or discounted prices then coupons are the best way to avail such offers. There is a site that offers coupons and coupon codes from different merchants related to video games. When you visit the site you will find different stores from which you can choose and select the store that interests you and click on the site to get coupons directly from the merchants. The coupons are updated regularly. There are several major gaming online stores on this site. Therefore you need not search for different websites for game downloads. You can save time by just visiting this site and get all that you need instantly. There is a lot to save from the coupons that the site offers. You can get great bargain of almost up to 50% off. This would increase your savings and enables you to get additional fun in other form. There are fabulous special discount sale events that take place very often. Thus there are best deals always. Check for coupons and discounts regularly and take advantage of them. There are special exciting gaming packages for kids that are meant not just for fun but also help in form of educating them.

Road Accidents Malaysia Essay Example for Free

Road Accidents Malaysia Essay Nowadays, road accidents are very common in Malaysia. Everyday we read newspaper we also can saw many news about there are many peoples involved in the road accidents. First of all, what is means by road accidents? Road accidents are means that when some automobile crash together or the vehicle crash on the side of the road or the peoples at the road. According to the sources from Royal Malaysian Police (n.d), there is a statistic mentioning the number of the road accidents from the year 1998 until the year 2006. I realize that the total numbers of road accidents happen in each year of the year 1998 until year 2006 are reach six digit of number. This is huge and terrible numbers, and from the statistic it also stated that five to six thousands peoples dead in a year because of involved in the road accidents. On the other hand, it also means that, every year there is five to six thousands peoples losing of their love member such as, love partner, family members and so on. The number of road accidents is also increased from the year 1998 until the year 2006. The number of road accidents is increased from three hundred thousand until five hundred thousand. There are many types of vehicle on the road, such as motorcycle, bus, car, taxi and goods vehicle. According to the statistic from the Royal Malaysian Police (n.d), it claims that, car is like the water in a human body, it stand 75% to 80% out of all types of vehicle which carried the number two hundred thousand to four hundred thousand out of the total road accident happen in the year 1998 until 2006. As we know that, Malaysia is a multinational country, there are many different types of religion in Malaysia. All different types of religion will celebrate their own festival such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Years, Happy Deepavali and so on. Almost all Malaysian will go back to the hometown for the celebration. During the season of the festival, road accident will happen more often compare to the normal day. According to LegalMatch (n.d), they believe that, there are several causes of road accident such as, the behavior of driver, mechanical failure, road conditions and also weather. We as a Malaysian we need to reduce the number of road accident by some solutions and it will be discuss more detail in the following paragraph. Lets discuss about the first categorize of road accidents which is because of the driver behavior. According to LegalMatch (n.d), they agree that driver behavior is one of the causes of road  accident, and they also claim that there are 98% of road accidents happen because of the distracted driver. There are many types of driver behavior that will cause road accident and most of the driver would not realize that those actions are dangerous while driving. The first types of driver behavior that will cause road accidents are on phone while driving. Mobile phone now is very advanced in technologies even can watch television programs by online. Some of the drivers use this kind of technologies while they are driving. As we know that we just have a pair of eyes and we cannot watch the road and the phone on the same time. On this situation we will lack of concentration and it will cause us involve in the road accident. Beside that, some driver also use the mobile phone to sending Short Messages Services and on call whiles they driving. The second types of driver behavior are the driver adjusting the radio or the CD player while they driving. After we finish heard the CD we will change another CD for some different songs. Lets imagines if the car in on drive and the driver are trying to find for the other CD from the dashboard, this is will cause some of the moment the driver will not notice the conditions of the front road and this will cause the accident occur. There are also high possible chances of accidents will happen if we are trying to adjust the radio tunnel when we are driving. The third types of driver behavior are drunk driving. According to the articles by Alcohol Problems and Solutions (n.d) they insist that a driver with high blood alcohol content (BAC) has the higher risk will involve in car accidents. This is because when a person with high BAC will affect the person coordination and this have been proved by Alcohol Problems and Solutions (n.d). There is an experiment show that, a person is trying to write such words â€Å"Drinking doesnt affect my driving† before drunk and after drunk. The result show that, the person after drunk will write the words more blur and unallocated. On the other hand, it also means that if we are drunk driving we will drive in the blur condition, and it will cause road accident. Rubbernecking and tailgating also the causes of road accidents. First of all, what is means by rubbernecking? According to LegalMatch (n.d) they claim that, rubbernecking is the driver slow down their cars watching what is going on because of their curiosity and tailgating is means by the driv er are follow the front car with a very close distance. When on the highway there is an accidents happen, some of the people will because of  curios slow down their cars to watch what was happen, but if there are a person on tailgating the accidents will happen. This is because if there is highway all people are driving with speed and the situation is tailgating. Thus the person will unable to break their car immediately and the tailgating car will crash on the rubbernecking car. Mechanical failure is consider a category that will cause road accidents. When we talk about car, ask yourself do you service your car at the fixed particular of period. Do you even service your car? We cannot simply look down on the car maintenance. This is because some of the error will happen if we do not service our car and it will cause the road accidents. One of the errors is the lack of breaking system, when we do not service our car we do not know whether our break pad is still in a good condition. If the break pad is not in a good conditions it will ca use break failure. Which is also means that, we cannot stop our car when we on driving. This is very dangerous and will cause the road accidents. Beside that, car wipers out of function also make the road accident occur. Imagine that, when we drive on the road and suddenly heavy rain until we cannot look clear at the front of the road. In such situation if the car wipers out of functions we cannot even drive anymore which it also means that we need to stop down our car immediately. It will cause the following car crash on our car because of the heavy rain hard to control the car speed and handling the emergency stop situation that need to face. Tires are also one of the important parts of a car. Without tires the car cannot move, it also bring other means that, if a car suddenly face tires blow up the car will lost of control because of without the tires car cannot be move. When we lost of control it might cause us crash on the side of the road, even there is possible we will crash with other cars on t he road. Beside that, the road conditions also under the road accidents categorize. Oily road is one of the road conditions will cause road accidents. This is because if the road is oily we will easily lost of control because of the tires cannot move in a normal condition when face the oil on the road and will get in drift. Accident will be happen when the car lost of control. Hole on the road also will cause road accident. By the way, why the road will have hole? This is because the roads are long time ago and less of maintenance from government or even if the place is under construction the area of the road also will have many holes because of  construction lorry often use the road. Why do hole on the road will cause road accidents? Lets imagines when we using the road at the night and the road are lack of road light. Such road will cause the motorcycle easy get in the hole and injury because of motorcycle is lack of brightness looks clear the conditions of the road. Nowadays as we can se e that rubbish is everyway on the road. Lets seek for the truth, ask yourself do you throw rubbish on the road before? Just assume that a Malaysian just throw one rubbish on the road the road will full of rubbish. Accident will occur when the road is much rubbish. This is because when we using the road we will try to avoid the rubbish. In addition, if we do not notice the car from our back or side we might crash with them when we are trying to avoid the rubbish. The last categorize of road accident is because of the weather. Weather is a significant point that we need to view before we are going out to any place. In Malaysia there are only two types of weather which is raining season and muggy day. Raining season will cause us hard to looks in front of the road if there the rain is over heavy. When there is an over heavy rain it will make us hard to estimate the distance between our cars with the car in front of us. Even the road condition we also cannot estimate because of over heavy rain. This will cause the possibility of happen accidents getting high. Muggy day is also as a killer sometimes. This is because when we are driving in the muggy day, we will easily get to asleep because the light sharp into our eyes and the situation in the car is very comfortable because of the cool from air condition. When we fall asleep, we will easily get in to accidents because we do not know that we are driving to where and will cause us crash on the side of the road or crash with other cars on the road. We as a Malaysian we need to reduce the number of road accidents. We cannot let the number of road accident increase anymore. First of all, we need to do best on our own responsibility. There are some solutions to reduce the number of road accidents. â€Å"Car maintenance† is one of the solutions. We need to ensure our car is being service on the fixed particular period. This is for check out whether our car is still on safe conditions for us to drive or there is any mechanical failures occur such as break failure, tires, wipers, and so on. Beside that, â€Å"rest† it is also a very significant rule that we need to be prepare before we drive. We need to ensure that we have enough sleep before we are drive. This is to make sure that when the muggy day we  not easily get to asleep. Furthermore, with enough rest we can be more patient, put more effort to control our emotion and pay more attention while drive. Everyday before we go out we need to read the news of weather forecast. We need to ensure that the day is good weather and would not have any storming rain, if there are storming rain try to avoid go out. Mobile phone and cigarette should keep away while on driving. Try to avoid using mobile phone sending short message services and do not smoke while driving. As we know that, god just created a pair of hand for us to live in this world. If we use a hand to smoke or using mobile phone we would not have enough hand to control the steering while we take U-turn. The last matter we need to do prevention is not involved in drunk driving. Drunk driving is very dangerous we need to remember that, there is always some significant person in our life waiting for us to go back home with safety. Moreover, according to Nordin (n.d), he claims that government also takes lot actions to reduce the numbers of road accidents. The most popular actions known as â€Å"OPS Sikap†, this actions is take by government when there is festival season and the durations of this actions is fifteen day period during the main festival such as Chinese New Years and so on. This action is taking by the government for stop the people over speed when driving back to the hometown. If there is any person over speed limits driving will get summons from the policeman and the payments of the summons is higher compare to the normal day. Government also provides road maintenance such as patching the hole on the road to ensure the road is safety to use. Beside that, government also plan to build more street light on the road, this is to ensure the road are enough lightning and all people can be more safety to use the road. In addition, government also plan to build more pedestrian crossing to ensure all people can cross the road without taking the risk being crash by a car on the road. In the media side, government try to advertise some slogan to alert all people more careful when using the road such as, â€Å"Do not make the red colour become yours last view†, â€Å"Ensure your helmet are wearing properly†, â€Å"Make sure you have giving direction signal before you take a turn† and so on. As a conclusion, there are a lot causes of road accidents but the main causes of road accidents occur is because of driver behavior. I think moral are play a very significant role in our life, it teach us how to love other person and ourselves but before we love other  person we need to learn how to love ourselves and appreciate the life that have been given by god for us. We as a driver, we need to responsibility for what we have done, cannot done some actions that might cause accident occur or injury other person such as, on phone while driving, drunk driving and so on. Those actions are really dangerous if we do it when we are drive because we cannot control the car well with doing such actions. Remember that, our family member are always worried about us and carried about us. There is no peoples are wishing to involve in a road accidents, it is really a tragedy it make a lot of people lost of their family member. Beside that, all Malaysian should be cooperating to reduce the number of road accidents and our slogan â€Å"Malaysia Boleh†. REFERENCES Abdul Rahman, N, Road safety situation in Malaysia n.d. Retrieved: November 13, 2007, From:http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/common/Meetings/TIS/EGM%20Presentations/Malaysia_RSpresentation.pdf Common causes of car accidents lawyers n.d. Retrieved: November 12, 2007, From: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/common-causes-of-car-accidents.html Royal Malaysian Police, Table 1.10 n.d. Retrieved: November 13, 2007, From: http://www.mot.gov.my/BM/stat/darat/JADUAL%201.10.pdf Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/road-accidents-malaysia.php#ixzz2GpUaznOM

Movie Analysis Of Slumdog Millionaire Film Studies Essay

Movie Analysis Of Slumdog Millionaire Film Studies Essay The object that I have chosen is a film called Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The movie, directed by Danny Boyle, received 8 Oscar awards for excellence in the fields like Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score and Original Song. The movie is an adaption of a novel Q A written by the proclaimed Indian author and diplomat, Vikas Swarup. The movie is set in an Indian backdrop and the story revolves around an uneducated Muslim boy named Jamaal, and about his journey from the slums in a typical rags to riches background. The story begins with Jamaal and his brothers life in slums, and how they were left homeless after a Hindu Muslim riot which kills their mother. It continues with their journey to other cities and finally ends at Kaun Banega Crorepati (Indian adaption of Who Wants to be a Millionaire) where he wins the contest using the knowledge he had picked up during his impoverished life. Other than the several accolades, the film also faced criticism for the ugly potrayal of India and the abusive language that was used. In the following paragraphs, I would be analyzing the movie in terms of genres that it potrayed. Genre is a French term used for type. It is a term that has existed since very early times in cinema. Some frequently used genres are romance, crime, comedy , fantasy or actuality, drama, thriller, horror, suspense, cowboy, art/ independent(class note). Basically it is a repetition of certain features while making a film, that later act as a genesis for its identification under a specific genre. But gradually, it was realized that such a narrowed down approach of filmmaking and categorization lead to productions that were repetitive and predictable. Thus arose the need for genre films to be not just more of the same but also something different. This lead to an interesting phenomenon of categorizing the same movie in various genres like drama, action, mystery etc. Such movies are called multi genre films. It has been claimed that the more recent movies target consciously for genre cross-over. This concept of cross-over results in multi genre films that can be described as postmodern in terms of cinema. The amalgamation of genres leads to mixing of the already existing genres and thus generates new possibilities. The mixing together of genres is often referred to as bricolage, and such films are called hybrids. In bricolage, one can often observe elements of various different films that are grouped together. Why? Why limit a film to one set of emotions when it has the potential to explore so much more? Danny Boyle The concept of multi genres can be clearly seen in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The genres identified are romance, drama and crime. The story told in the film seems to be a retold from the movie Salaam Bombay, which is story of a young boy Chaipu who is left homeless and lives on the streets of Bombay. The story is about how he survives by doing odd jobs at a very young age and struggles to overcome the harsh reality of the metropolitan that is Bombay. One can easily draw a parallel between Chaipu in Salaaam Bombay and Jamaals character in Slumdog Millionaire (Infact the first reaction of Indian audience to Slumdog Millionaire was its comparison to Salaam Bombay). The other elements of the movie such as the underworld, crime and Hindu-Muslim riots in the city of Mumbai have been portrayed in a far more realistic way in movies Satya [INSERT YEAR] , Sadak[] and Bombay[]. The ending of the movie is rather happy where Jamaal finally reunites with his ladylove and also miraculously wins the show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. These joyful endings have been prevalent in cinema for a long time. The theme of the movie is formulaic and seems to be a repetition of the previous movies based on the same lines. Genres can also be discussed in relation to industry, market and the audience. The industry makes film as long as there is a demand from the audience. The categorization of films into genres basically enables the industry to divide the range of movies that be made and thus sets a clear demarcation. The study of movies of different genres in the market gives a good idea of the response of the audience and thus on the basis of this study of most profitable response, movie of the same genre are made. A particular type of genre movie tries to specialize at the majority of the levels so as to maximize the possibility of profits. Analyzing Slumdog Millionaire in this light we can notice that the use of locations, props, actors has been carefully chosen according to the genre and script of the movie. As the movie is about a young, homeless, uneducated Indian boy and all the hardships he goes through, it was very crucial for the movie to use the appropriate locations and props. The location chosen for the shooting was the city of Mumbai itself. The young star cast of the are the in fact children of the slums which lends a very original effect to the movie. The director very cleverly chose the other actors as well keeping in mind the International and the Indian audience. The actors are mostly debutants and fit completely in the non-glamorous portrayals of the roles. The international audiences have a stereo typical image of the Asian cinema and the director has kept this in mind while choosing the various aspects of the movie Genre films have a deep impact on the social and cultural contexts. These films act as cultural products; which might carry the dominant and prevalent ideologies of the society in which they are produced. Though more than often films are not a reflection of the real society but instead are based on common perception of the society. The following two texts relate to the genre in movies. I have tried to analyze Slumdog Millionaire in the light of these two texts: Moral issues are raised, questions are asked and answers given. We are invited to evaluate a characters actions and imaginary solutions are offered to real problems within the society If we look at the movie Slumdog Millionaire, it has showcased many problems like poverty, crime, trickery and deception in a rather exaggerated way and in the end the solution offered an imaginary solution would make sense only in a fantasy land. An instance of the imaginary solution in the movie is that the boy who grew up without any education whatsoever starts tricking non hindi speaking tourists with impeccable English and later in the movie locates his brother using a computer. This is just something fantastical which fills people with hope and optimism, and makes them believe that there is a solution all problems. This is something that definitely does not happen in the real world, but the movie came out at a time when the world was witnessing one of the greatest recessions of all time, and almost everybody faces a bleak future. At this time, the movie gave the solution to the society that it so much wanted to believe. It could be claimed that such films (genre movies) are not reflections of society but are particular perceptions of a society. How we see such films might ultimately be determined by whether or not recurring patterns and themes can be identified In Slumdog Millionaire, the director has made use of the emotions of audience. It is made in way that it draws sympathy from the Western world and re-affirms their age old opinion about India. The plot in the movie doesnt speak about anything that a modern developing economy boasts of (a common example of this is the fact that many foreigners still think of India as a land of snake charmers in US, whereas I am yet to see a single snake charmer in my 24 years of stay in India). Genre films sometimes challenge dominant ideas, question cultural values and this just leaves a more positive and optimistic effect on people as they do not find themselves helplessly tied to a societys belief system. In this context the film Slumdog Millionaire challenges the fact that an uneducated and lowly placed person in society can get as big a success as winning the mega jackpot. This theme subtly re-assures the audience that despite their short comings, they could also be the next Jamaal. Also, in an u nderlying theme of the Good overcoming the evil makes the movie adjust to the perception of the audience. The fact that Jamaal even after being embroiled in so many nasty incidents and pot holes of crime and vulgarity, remains good, and ultimately wins the jackpot. This plays on the audiences wish to see the ending that they sub-consciously believe in, and want to see on screen, even if that doesnt make much sense in reality. To conclude, we can say that Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that was packaged very deftly into the genres that were decided for it by the movie-makers. From the point of view of culture, audience and industry, the movie weaves itself perfectly into the landscape it aspires to project itself into. The movie was hit on a global scale, and after analyzing the intelligent inter-play of genres, the underlying rags to riches theme, satisfying the audiences sub-conscious desires irrespective of location and releasing at a time when the world was in recession, seems but a powerful potion for a massive on on-screen success.

Death Comes for the Archbishop: Not a Novel :: Death Comes for the Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop: Not a Novel If someone felt compelled to classify Death Comes for the Archbishop as a type of novel, the most likely candidate would be a regional novel. Clearly, the setting and local color of this work make the region a critical component. However, before classifying the work as a type of novel, it must be determined whether it is a novel or, as Miss Cather has asserted, a narrative. Based on the structure and content of the book, it does not meet the classical definitions of novel and plot, so would lend itself more accurately to Miss Cather's classification. The simplified definition of novel given in A Handbook to Literature is "an extended fictional PROSE narrative" (335). By this definition, Cather's book would qualify as a novel. But there is a great deal more to a novel than this definition implies. The handbook expands by stating: "some organizing principle-PLOT, THEME, or idea-should be present in a . . . a novel" (335). Cather's book has an idea - to illustrate the historical, regional and cultural context in which two European priests perform missionary work in the desert of the American Southwest in the last half of the nineteenth century. This idea does not constitute a plot. Aristotle maintained that a plot should create a whole with "the structural union of the parts being such that, if any one of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed" (Holman/Harmon 377). The structure of Death Comes for the Archbishop is made up of a series of episodes consisting of the experiences of two missionary priests, and legends of the region, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Would the whole become "disjointed or disturbed" if some of the stories or legends were removed or rearranged? No. The work would lose some of its richness, but the whole would not become incomprehensible. I believe Willa Cather perceived this work as a narrative rather than a novel because it lacked what is traditionally considered a plot. The work's narrative form is reminiscent of a journal, and had it been written in the first person instead of third, it probably would have been classified as a journal narrative rather than a novel.

Caring About Our Environment Essay examples -- Environment Ecology Nat

Caring About Our Environment Improving and maintaining the earth’s environment is becoming a more important task every day of our lives. Due to ignorance and frequent carelessness, this important task is quickly becoming a critical one. For this reason, I took it upon myself to construct a strategic plan to enlighten my peers to the problems of our environment. I did this in hopes that it would encourage everyone to act responsibly towards improving and maintaining the environment. With ongoing threats to the earth’s water supply, atmosphere, and surface, I found it necessary to devise a method of environmental enlightenment. I plan to apply this method at my place of academic study, The University. If supported by the faculty and staff and approached with confidence and determination by the student body, I am convinced that our environment on campus would undergo a drastic improvement. As a nation, we are facing many different problems with our environment. Two of the most important focuses are conserving our water supply and protecting the ozone layer. These two ...

kafka Essay -- essays research papers

Mistreatment from the 1800’s is Still Reflected in Modern Day Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The father’s explanations were to some extent the first pleasant news that Gregor got to hear since his imprisonment.† (p. 1654) In the story The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the character Gregor undergoes a metamorphosis into an insect and experiences what it’s like to feel imprisoned and mistreated within his own home. Throughout the story he continuously is mistreated by his family and sadly still reflects modern day families and society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gregor family consisted of his father, his mother and his sister Grete. Before Gregor had turn into an insect he was the main provider of income and covered all expenditures for his family. Gregor was the only person that worked in his family and was a traveling salesman. Therefore, his parents and sister stayed at home and did nothing while Gregor worked everyday. Kafka describes Gregor’s father as having an â€Å"†¦unsuccessful life† and â€Å"he had grown very fat, becoming rather clumsy.†(p. 1655). His father at one point owned his own business but it had collapsed five years earlier from the day of Gregors transformation. However his father still remained to have a strong sense for business. His mother was lazy and found to be less intelligent then the rest of the family. She also was not working. Kafka states, And perhaps the old mother go to work-she, who suffered from asthma, who found it strenuous just walking through the apartment, and who spent every other day on the sofa grasping for air by the open window? (p.1655). His sister was seventeen, kind to Gregor, beautiful, and musical. She played the violin. Grete soon took over as head of the house hold when Gregor turned into an insect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With Gregor’s transformation thus brings about the problem of who’s going to now provide for the family. This problem then brings upon mistreatment towards Gregor. Many times throughout the story he is forgotten about, attacked, and made to feel dehumanized and no longer apart of the family. In the beginning of his transformation Grete is the only one who takes care of Gregor. She feeds him twice a day and tries to make sure his food is of his liking. His mother in the beginning seems to still care for him but however, cannot bear to look at him or enter the room. The fat... ...ought about others and truly cared about others happiness. However many times he felts pressured by his family to work and feels that helpless and guilty when he can no longer provide for his family. To me this is way he transforms, because he is so pressured he fears it so much that it’s almost like he willed it to happen. I feel this could have all been avoided. I feel that Gregor should have left his family and started his own life and paid for his own bills. His family did not appreciate him and all that he provided for them so there was no need to put himself under that kind of pressure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I felt The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, proved to be an excellent science fiction writer through the use of details. â€Å"His many legs, wretchedly thin compared to his overall girth, danced helplessly before his eyes† (p. 1641); this is just one of many example that Kafka uses detail to help the reader visualize Gregor as an insect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall this story provides ideas and activities of society during the late 1800’s and modern day life still today. Because of pressure from society and our families we tend to mistreat those around us.

Real Choices at Starbucks

Real Choices at Starbucks Starbucks started as small coffee shop in a tourist area called Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The three unknown pioneer of Starbucks wanted to share their passion for brewed coffee and tea. During their first year in the business, they experimented with all sorts of coffee blend until they came up with their own flavor. Their business became an instant success using the word of mouth selling brewed coffee cup by cup. This is what inspired them to open a second store to target the wider market. By the early 1980’s, Starbucks expanded to four new stores in Seattle area.Since then, they became the largest retail company in the world. This coffee company grew from four Starbucks store to having currently 16,635 stores globally including 11,068 in the United States, 1000 stores in Canada, and more than 800 in Japan (Salomon 271). This amazing expansion can be attributed to Howard Shultz’s dedication to brewing coffee who bought the coffee’s trademark twenty five years ago. The main reason Starbucks has done so well for four decades can be attributed to their commitment to high quality products and passion for educating customers to appreciate the qualities of fine coffees.Strength Starbucks has become a popular company for selling the best tasting coffee products around the world. As a result, everyone saw Starbucks as the biggest and best in the business (Higbee 6). They acquired a solid brand reputation and have a world renowned company logo. There are no other national coffee bar competitors in the same scale as Starbucks. They are the only competitor in the coffee business that has a recognized brand image. They also own trademarks, copyrights, domain names, patents. The current SEC filing of Starbucks shows that the company is in a positive financial condition.The company’s total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 had increased sixteen percent and the net income was up more than ten percent (Smith , http://wallstcheatsheet. com/). This result was primarily driven by increase revenues from company-operated stores, licensed stores, and CPG foodservice contributing to approximately $3. 44 billion (http://investing. businessweek. com/). The overall areas of Starbucks business, from domestic and international retail operations to the company’s specialty businesses delivered strong financial performance, and innovation was the reason for the success of the company’s operations.The statement below shows the current financial status of the company as of January 1, 2012. Financial Statements Results of Operations (in millions) Revenues Quarter Ended ___________________________ Jan 1, Jan 2 % 2012 2011 Change _________ ________ ________ Company-operated stores $ 2,731. 8 $ 2,451. 3 11. 4% Licensed stores 306. 6 254. 3 20. 6 CPG, foodservice and other 397. 245. 3 62. 0 Total net revenues $ 3,435. 9 $ 2,950. 8 16. 4% Weakness Even though Starbucks has strength to stay in the business, it also has a few weaknesses. Starbucks must deal with these weaknesses in order to remain as a competitor in the retail market. One of the company’s most prevalent obstacles is the price they charge for a cup of coffee.While most people consider Starbucks coffee as a luxury and would pay whatever price is set, there is an increasing opinion that Starbucks charges too much (Higbee 7). Sometimes it is difficult for a company to penetrate the mass market with the prices above market averages. While this weakness may not come to reality in the short term, it is possible that this company is somewhat maturing since they have grown so rapidly penetrating the U. S. market. Opportunities Opportunities present themselves when it comes to Starbucks business strategy which provided the options to strengthen its retail market.Starbucks would not be able to effectively compete with its competitors if it not with these opportunities. They continued their quest by expanding i ts retail operations and sales. They pursued other opportunities by introducing new products and develop new channels to stay on top. Starbucks is in great position to expand its global business more that they already have. Since they expanded to Europe, Canada, and Japan, they enjoyed much success in these countries and their future plan is to open more Starbucks in Asia, Latin America, and the Far East.Starbucks also created numerous partnerships that will ensure its longevity for a long time. Formed a partnership with Pepsi Company and created a coffee type bottled drink called Frappucino. These Frappucino bottles were currently being sold in shops, grocery stores, and convenient stores. This drink has grown in popularity in the past that it was labeled by the consumers as â€Å"the coffee on the go† (Higbee 6). In addition, Starbucks also partnered with Target that pave the way to opening a coffee shop inside the shopping center. ThreatsOne of the major threats to Starbuc ks is their competition with other coffee chain, such as Coffee Bean and Peet’s Coffee. Other companies, such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King already have the infrastructure in place and are instead adding quality coffee to their menu to compete with Starbucks (Higbee 8). But for one thing, many people enjoy buying coffee even though it is pricey because of the environment and experience that allow people to enjoy, relax, and mingle while sipping a cup of coffee. Other threats to Starbucks are the gas station and restaurants industry.Many people are in the habit of buying breakfast and coffee at the local gas stations such as 7 Eleven. This practice is done mostly out of habit, but also for convenience especially for morning paper paired with a cup of coffee before going to work. Many consumers are also attracted by the convenience and the economics of the big mug cup of coffee they can obtain. Other consumer concerns are the trend towards more healthy ways. More and more people are becoming aware of the risk in consumption of caffeine. Too much caffeine can produce restlessness, nausea, headache, tense muscles, sleep disturbances, and irregular heartbeats.Caffeine can also increase the production of stomach acid that causes acid reflux. And finally, the price of coffee is so volatile that it remained as the biggest complaint by its customers. Recommendation Starbucks has created such a strong corporate culture and strong work values that it allows a company to successfully engage in product diversification. However, amongst the first thing that Starbucks needs to have is to define their brand image by lowering the coffee prices. It needs to be conveyed to the market in a precise manner, so that there would be no confusion amid Starbucks customer complaints.This is vital if Starbucks wanted to maintain its domestic market share competing with the likes of McDonald, Dunkin Donut, and Burger King. They must resolve all the consumer concerns s o that they can embark on another project with smooth transition. Conclusion Overall, as long as Starbucks maintains and promotes a strong quality product without deterring from its corporate-level strategy, it will always have number of opportunities ahead. There is a very strong base for this company which will allow it to pursue desired avenues with aggressiveness and confidence. Works CitedSalomon M, Marshall G, Stuart E, Marketing: Real People Real Choice 7th Ed. P. cm. Higbee J, Liaw Z, Ting C, Tjho K, Ton M, The Future of Starbucks, http://www. mcafee. cc/Classes/BEM106/Papers/2008/Starbucks. pdf Smith G, Cost of Coffee Could Squeeze Starbucks, http://wallstcheatsheet. com/stocks/cost-of-coffee-could-squeeze-starbucks. html/ United States Securities and Exchange Commission, FORM 10-Q, http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/financials/drawFiling. asp? docKey=137-000119312512032427-56VATRT3JVABGO7FIGIBD5RTCJ&docFormat=HTM&formType=10-Q#D270627D10Q_HTM_TX270627_3

Unit 208 Support Children and Young Persons Health and Safety

Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools Unit 208 Support children and young people’s health and safety Written Questions 1. 1 Give examples of how current health and safety legislation, policies and procedures are implemented in your school The Health & Safety Act 1974 – Under this act individuals in any organisation are required to ensure that they report any hazards, follow the schools safety policy, make sure their actions do not harm themselves or others and use any safety equipment that is provided. There are posters that explain the employers and employees responsibilities throughout Longford Park Primary School to remind everyone how to comply with the act. My school complies with the act by ensuring any hazards are reported to Mr Provaker, the caretaker. By having cleaners coming in daily to ensure all areas of the school are clean and tidy. All equipment is stored in a locked cupboard. Fire evacuation procedures are displayed throughout the school in each classroom. Safety equipment is used by staff, for example staf on playground duty wear high visability vests and carry first aid kits. Food Hygiene Legislation 2006 – Covers the safe preparation and storage of food. All of the cooks, kitchen and serving staff at Longford Park Primary School comply with this by holding an up to date food hygiene certificate and having annual re-tests. There are posters in the kitchen reminding staff of good practice – i. e which colour chopping board to use for which food and how to store food in the fridge correctly. Risk Assesment – This is to identify potential hazards to staff and children, the risks are evaluated and steps to minimize the possibility of the situation arising are set out, Theses are done for day to day activities in all areas of the school and for new activities such as school trips. My school complies with this by carrying out risk assessment for activites during lesson planning and recently when all the children at Longford Park Primary School went to the local theatre to watch a pantomime, a through risk assessment was done before hand. COSHH 2 Regulations 2002 – Longford Park Primary School complies with this by keeping all COSHH items in a locked cupboard by the staff toilets. Data Sheets for all the chemicals are displayed on the wall in the cupboard. Al items are stored out of reach of the children and in its original packaging. Protective clothing such as gloves, masks and goggles are provided when nessecary. The key for the cupboard is kept with the caretaker, Mr Provaker. Every Child Matters – This has 5 outcomes: 1 – Be Healthy 2 – Be Safe 3 – Enjoy 4- Postive 5 – Economic Longford Park Primary school promotes these outcomes by promoting healthy eating; the children had a piece of fruit during their morning break, by teaching children how to keep themselves safe from accidents and harm i. e – An assemble to inform about the dangers of fireworks, no running in corridors, how to safely carry scissors. They children do an exercise video called Activate first thing in the morning whilst the register is being taken and a cycling proficiency course is offered to all children in year five. Fire Procedures – Longford Park Primary School has procedures tor evacuationg all areas of the school during a fire, the escape route and assembly points is displayed on an Action Plan in all classrooms, corridors and other areas of the school. The schools fire alarm system is checked weekly and a fire drill is carried out every term, the fire drill is recorded and then evaluated to detertime if it could be done better. Emergency exits are clearly marked, in my classroom the fire exit is the door that leads directly out to the play ground. Health and Safety (First Aid) 1981 – Longford Park Primary School complies with this by keeping well stocked first aid boxes on the teachers desk in each classroom and are carried by playground supervisors. Designated first aiders are appointed and suitably trained with a list of all first aiders on display in the staff room so that all staff know who to refeer to if a child has an accident, all accidents are recorded in the accident book. 1. 1 continued ————————————————- 1. 2 How is health and safety monitored and maintained in your school? (Describe) The Health and Safety representative, Mrs Walker carries out regular checks by walking around the school and outside areas * Weekly staff meetings are used to address and health and safety concerns * Equipment, material and the environment are checked and any hazards are identified and removed * Lunchtime supervisors m onitor health and safety in the dining hall and in the playground looking out for risks and removing or minimising them or reporting them. * Hand washing facilities are available outside every classroom and children wash their hands after being outside. Boxes of tissues on each table help to the the spreading of germs when coughing and sneezing. * All electrical and fire extinguishers are checked annually by a qualified person and a label is stuck on the checked equipment with the date it was tested. Only equipment that has been checked and has a label should be used. * Food hygiene procedures are in place for cooks, kitchen and serving staff. 1. 3 How people in my school are made aware of risks & hazards and encouraged to work safely (Describe) ————————————————- 1. Identify the lines of responsibility and reporting for health and safety in your school. Head Teacher, Mandy Walker or Deputy Head Mina Provarker has ultimate responsibility for Health and Safety in school. The Health and safety officer at Longford Park Primary School is Mr Provarker and is responsible for monitoring Health and Safety by carrying out routine inspections or equipment and premisis and for ensuring everyone is aware of the procedures for reporting and recording hazards. The Caretaker; Mr Provarker is responsible to dealing with and removing any hazards. All staff and students are responsible for reporting health and safety issues such as hazards and accidents. Students would report issues to a suitable member of staff according to the nature of the issue. 3. 1 Outline the importance of taking a balanced approach to risk management Children should learn to be able to take some risks and most activities will carry some element of danger but they should be given the opportunity to assess risks for themselves by exploring and by challenging themselves and by discussing risks and safety. Childrens safety is important but we need to be careful not to be over protective or they may be prevented from assessing risks, exploring and learning, discovering the world around them or recognising their own limitations. If childrens experiences are limited due to an adults anxieties they are more likely to find it difficult to asses and manage risks as they develop and may not feel confident when trying new things. Think of 2 examples of activities in your placement where there is an element of measured risk. How does the risk involved balance with the learning experience? Example 1 Example 2

A Case Study: Dispatches from the War on Stress

Situation This article discusses the global effects of workplace stress. In this day’s business world, employee’s psychological health is overshadowed by the need to meet numbers and expectations. With a higher demand to meet goals, along with the increased pressure from competing firms, companies have been distinctively increasing employee workload; which in turn, produces a build-up of work-related stress for the employee. As a result, more cases of employee dissatisfaction and burn-out are amounting and becoming more apparent. Many companies are now tackling this growing issue of stress with different thoughts and methods to help reduce it for a more effective and happy employee. Key Issues Mark Ostermann, Chicago office of Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Ostermann was a case at which work-place stress has resulted in him to put excessive hours (60+) for a month and a half straight in order to finish a project. Luckily, the â€Å"Red Zone† police (a group created by the company to help with employee satisfaction) was able to intervene before the stress became unbearable. Not much later, Ostermann was within an action plan to solve his overwork problem. In no time, more people were added to his team to divide the work along with better managerial support. Renault automaker. In the course of five months, three engineers committed suicide who left notes stating about their unreasonable work-loads, immense work-place pressure, and humiliating criticisms in front of colleagues. Known for setting grand targets to boost sales, Renault has acknowledged the pressure put on their employees and committed a plan along with $10 million to alleviate workplace stress. In addition, the company began to train managers on how to avoid negative stress along with psychologists to help educate senior executives. The company also has put an effort to set up more places for socializing and relaxation. Problem There is no question that the workplace is a very stressful place. Most companies who are under a lot of pressure to meet goals are constantly striving to meet these achievements. As a result of the goals set by senior executives, the stress is burdened on the shoulders of the employees. The roblem is not work-stress, but the global lack of prevention of â€Å"over stressing† and lack of knowledge in identifying and managing it. It is the case with Renault Automaker, when it took the deaths of three engineers due to work-related stress before setting a program to alleviate work-related stress. In the case of Mark Ostermann, adequate knowledge in identifying stress by the â€Å"Red Zone† team prevented further development of unwanted con sequences in relation to his project. Alternative Solutions Work-related stress is inevitable, but may be alleviated and contained to a minimum by doing implementing a number of programs. 1. Impose mandatory relaxation and social time during the work day. In the recent cases of Toyota Co. recalling vehicles for numerous â€Å"manufacturing defects†, part of the blame has been pointed towards the Toyota Japan’s work ethic (Holt 2010). Workers for Toyota Japan often put in 60+ hours per week, have shorter break times. 2. Provide better training for managers about psychological stress. Often the problem lies within the inability of managers to spot employees who are experiencing an extraordinary amount of stress. From the ability to realize work-stress to their ability to criticize others, added training can benefit the entire workplace. . Provide onsite programs geared toward stress management. Many companies have resorted to onsite programs to help with stress management (Clabaugh 2009). Resources vary from onsite massage stations, yoga lunch breaks, to onsite oil changes. Selected Solution Knowledge is power. It ensures that the more we know, the more we ca n manipulate it. Providing better training for managers about stress management and the effects of psychological stress can effectively reduce the amount of extraordinary stress on employees within the workplace. Companies strive to achieve higher goals and to get the most â€Å"work† from the employees. Better training in stress management helps set reasonable goals as to maintain efficiency and prevent over-working. With better training, managers will be more likely to notice individual employees experiencing symptoms from over-work. Much stress from the workplace also comes from demeaning criticisms and fear of â€Å"the boss†. Training for managers on effects of psychological stress can help managers choose their words wisely as to reflect the issue at hand without creating a stressful encounter. Case Questions 1. This case study describes various ways that companies try to manage workplace stress. Referring to the types of stress management strategies described in this chapter, which approaches are applied most and least often? In this case study, the strategy applied most is the provision of â€Å"workplace de-stressors†. General Mills provides in-house personal services to help maximize employee time with social and familial aspects of their lives rather than using off days to do errands. From this study, the least used is a survey method to assess stress as mentioned by IBM computers. 2. What stress outcomes are mentioned in this case study? What stressors are noted in association with these stress outcomes? One of the stress outcomes which was mentioned was suicide. Leading to suicide, the engineers left notes stating the insurmountable amount of stress burdened onto them by high workloads, high-pressure management tactics, humiliating criticisms, and exhaustion. 3. Some of the stress problems described in this chapter refer to winning or losing in performance management. Why would the risk of failing to achieve performance goals result in such serious stress outcomes? Most individuals strive for acceptance, especially in the work place. Failing to achieve performance goals brings about the feelings of inadequacy and humility for many. In most cases, employees strive to do their best at the expense of personal time and family in order to earn achievements in the work place. Not being able to reach goals can be detrimental to one’s psyche. References Mueller, C. (2005, December 19). Stress Management In The Workplace: Handling Work Stress. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from http://ezinearticles. com/? Stress- ¬Management- ¬In- ¬The–Workplace:- ¬Handling- ¬Work- ¬Stress&id=115473 Clabaugh, J (November 2009). Employers tackle on-the-job stress. Retrieved March 14, 2010 from Washington Business Journal

Adoption of Islamic Banking Essay

The intention of the study is to identify the benefits which could be drawn in Adoption of Islamic banking by conventional banks and to determine the challenges they are going to face in the adoption. The 60 respondents from various conventional, non-Muslim banks have been chosen through simple random sampling. The result of the survey for the questions regarding the awareness of the local people was considered positive in Edgware Road, London. They were mostly familiar with Islamic banking since there is already established Islamic bank in the area. The first branch of The Islamic Bank of Britain was in this area. It was also found out that a good portion non-Muslims are aware about the features of Islamic banking. A number of these non-Muslim respondents were also found to be employees of Islamic banks. The fact that Islamic Bank of Britain employs the best person for the job regardless of color, creed, gender, and ethnicity, the system makes it more familiar to non-Muslims. It may be concluded that although Islamic banking is a good alternative to the conventional banking system, it should not replace the conventional system. The benefits drawn in the adoption of Islamic banking may be a very good alternative for investors who could use either or both systems to maximize the outcome of their investment plans. Chapter 1 Introduction 1. 1 Introduction What is Islamic Banking? Islamic Baking is quite a different system compared to a conventional banking system. The Islamic banking system prohibit usury and interest categorized as riba. It is governed by Shariah where Islam does not distinguish interest and usury (Haron 1995, p. 26). Currently, there are more than 150 interest-free institutions all over the world according to the International Association of Islamic Banks. Islamic banks nowadays were also serving non-Muslim countries such as Denmark, Switzerland and other Western countries. No interest is paid nor charged in an Islamic Bank. (Haron 1995, p. 26). The pioneer Mit Ghamr Local Savings Banks was established in 1963, somewhere in Nile Delta, Egypt, a provincial rural center. Although most of the banks operate in Muslim countries, it was also extended to the Western world. An example is the Islamic Banking System International Holding which was established in Luxembourg in 1978. It is considered as the first Islamic bank in the Western soil. The establishments of these banks were followed by other Islamic banks not only serving Muslim customers but also those who expanded their operations to service non-Muslims (Haron 1995, p. 27). After more than a decade since its establishment, it was estimated that over US$20 billion to US$40 billon of assets existed in the Islamic banking system worldwide. Currently, they have grown for more than US$60 billion. A study shows that the adoption of Islamic Banking in a financial system has not led to collapse as some feared to happen (Ghannadian & Goswami 2004, p. 242). Islamic banking is also playing a very important role in resource allocation, mobilization and utilization. It means Islamic banks are also providing savings to depositors and credits to the needy. Normal deposits such as savings account, current account and investment deposits are very available to customers. Islamic banks provide financial assistance in a short or long term business and individuals. They are also involved in international trade activities (Haron 1995, p. 27). 1. 2 Research Background It is difficult to pinpoint when Islamic banking started, but consensus suggests that it took place in Egypt in the 1960’s. In the mid 1970’s, Islamic banking started to take root in other Muslim countries. The changes were explained into main factors. First, the 1970s have seen oil price shocks which led to a massive transfer of wealth for the oil-consuming to oil-producing countries. Second is the fact that the oil shock coincided with the Iranian revolution which brought about the Khomeini government and the first Islamic republic (Akacem & Gilliam 2002, p. 126). By 2003, there were about 176 Islamic banks around the world, handling over US$ 147 billion and 32 banks are in an Arab state (Info Prod Research, 2003). This form of specialized banking may help to promote growth in the developing countries (Ghannadian & Goswami 2004, p. 242). As recent as 2003, there have been news about the introduction of Islamic hedge funds which could tap into the capital of Islamic families that could be worth a trillion dollars in asset management. According to banking statistics, the growth rate of Islamic banking has outpaced the growth of traditional banking in the past decade. Transformation Oriented Developing Economies (TODEs) made the transformation of society into full pledged market based economies (MBEs) a centerpiece in overall strategies. Many structural changes are required in its financial institutions, especially that the role of a financial intermediary in supplying funds to a growing new industry is crucial. Moreover, there are times when improper resource allocation may potentially result destabilization due to either faulty risk assessments. Or because of the design of its contract could be significant in examining the implementation of an Islamic banking system and how Islamic banks can provide liquidity and aid in creating money. This is through offering transactions accounts with compensation for inflation to risk-avoiding depositors (Ghannadian & Goswami 2004, p. 242). Evolution of Islamic The first modern experiment with Islamic banking was undertaken in Egypt. The pioneering effort of projecting Islamic image was led by Ahmad El Najjar who aimed to establish a savings bank based on profit-sharing in the town of Mit Ghamr in 1963. This experiment lasted until 1967, and by that time there were nine banks operating in the country. These banks neither charged nor paid interest and invested mostly in trade and industry directly or in forms of partnership and shared their profit with the depositors. This function is essentially a savings investment institution rather than a commercial bank. The Nasir Social Bank was established in 1971, IDB established in 1974 by the Organization of Islamic countries, and was the primarily inter-governmental bank aimed at providing funds for development projects in member countries (Sohrab 1996, p. 287). In considering the adoption of Islamic banking by conventional banks, what kind of benefits may be drawn from such adoption and the challenges they are going to face in undertaking such? Most benefits that may be drawn from the adoption of Islamic banking by conventional banks come from the features of its equity financing contract. With Mudaraba (trustee financing) and Musharaka (equity participation), entrepreneurs with little means and substantial collateral are able to gain access to capital (Sohrab 1996, p. 288). In addition, few businesses are able to operate strictly on cash basis without taking on debt or selling a portion of the business just to cover shortfalls or when there is a need for expansion (Bartlett & Economy 2002, p. 184). Because of this, it will be more attractive to engage into Islamic bank equity financing than that of conventional banks offering debt financing thus, making Islamic banking more competitive with regards to innovative entrepreneurial customers.