Jacksonian Democracy Essay -- essays papers

Jacksonian Democracy Jacksonian democracy was created during antebellum America. The Jackson democrats attempted to aggrandize the puissance of lower classes poor while decreasing the influence of the rich and potent. Economically, they benefited from governing during a time of paramount advances in transportation, which boosted commerce and helped the common man. Politically, they invested power into an overwhelmingly powerful executive branch. The Jacksonian democrats portrayed themselves as saviors of the common people and ruled via a powerful executive who attempted to destroy aristocracy in America. However, they were atypically wealthy, supported equality between white men only, enacted calamitous economic policies, and disregarded the capability of the federal government. Further, they did not introduce democracy in America, rather merely used it and benefited from it. During the first half of the 19th century numerous advancements expedited the growth of the United States. A market revolution occurred as a yeoman and artisan economy was replaced by cash-crop agriculture and capitalist manufacturing. Despite the prosperity, a split was emerging between the industrializing, urban north, agrarian, rural South, and the expanding West. The Jacksonians passed the Tariff of 1828, which opened opportunity for western agriculture and New England manufacturing, but was detrimental to the South. Andrew Jackson and Jacksonian democrats believed that the US bank placed to...

Racism in Brazil

Introduction Racial disparity and discrimination is not a new concept to any nation. In fact, many were built on the back of slave labor, whether the slaves were indigenous peoples or imported bodies. While many nations have undertaken measures to overcome racial disparity, others have encouraged racial democracy. Brazil, a modern and industrialized nation, suffers from racial discrimination based on their position in the world economy and built on the Ideology of the past.History Brazier's history is rife with racism and slavery, dating back to Its discovery by Pedro Allover Cabal In 1500. Brazil was originally settled with the Intention of harvesting Broadloom. However, over time the profits from that were supplanted by sugar, Brazil became the leading producer of sugar In the Atlantic world. The production of all these exports meant cheap labor was needed. During this time, the Portuguese were sending between 4,000 and 5,000 slaves per year to Brazil from Angola and West Africa: b y the 18th century, one million slaves had been imported (117).The continually shifting landscape meant that Brazier's exports continued to shift. By the time the 1 9th century came around, Brazier's major export was coffee as sugar reduction had shifted to the Caribbean Islands. The continued influx of European slaves and citizens resulted in an uneven population. European labor was generally more skilled and slowly began to overtake slave labor. Around this same time, the abolition of slavery happened in 1888, resulting in a decline in the slave population.By 1888, it was estimated that only a half-million people were slaves, compared to the one-and-a-half million slaves in 1872 (117). This is in part due to the fact that the coffee production process became more and more elaborate, requiring those with pesticides skills to take over. Coffee production soon fell into the hands of a wave of European immigrants, not freed slaves (122). The slaves that were freed often became vagrant s, homeless, Jobless and penniless (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). The history of Brazil continues to inform the current day Brazil.The current day population of Brazil tops 160 million, with about half of that being black. Yet, the black population is nearly absent from all levels of power, meaning â€Å"government, congress, senate, the Judiciary, the higher ranks of the civil service and he armed forces† (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). In 1999, the Minority Rights Group International reported that â€Å"black and mixed race Brazilian still have higher Infant mortality rates, fewer years of schooling, higher rates of unemployment, and earn less for the same work.Black men are more likely to be shot or arrested as crime suspects, and when found guilty, get longer sentences† (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). Racism Persists There are many theories as to why racism continues to persist In modern day Brazil. One thing to look at Is their placement wealth the greater world economy. 22). When the Portuguese settled Brazil, they created a line of trade that focused on Portuguese and the plantation owners became very wealthy, all at the expense of the nearly three million black and mulatto slaves.A truly capitalist world is one that where each countries worth is weighed in terms of their strengths (military, trade, financial, production) and what they can contribute. A superpower such as the United States is naturally more diverse, which means that tolerance and racism are not tolerated as easily in modern day society. Core countries are those that have the retreat strengths and the peripheral countries are the ones that are expendable. Phillips says â€Å"the peripheral countries were exploited by the core, and ‘semi peripheral' countries were exploited by the core and exploited peripheral countries.The relations between these three geopoli tical units are ones built on inequality' (122). Phillips goes on to say that â€Å"similar to the inequality that can be seen in a class system within a country, this template is now spread around the globe to view inequality on a world scale† (122). In other words, Brazil is treated with discrimination based on their trade abilities and overall contribution. This has trickled down so that individuals are also being treated with the same discrimination.It is also important to note that â€Å"racism is fundamentally rooted in processors class structures, historically shifting modes of production, distribution, and consumption, and increasingly, in the unequal exchanges that tie local political economies to the global processes of capitalism† (Phillips 122). Brazier's history of racial prejudice and discrimination has established a mode of living and ideology that persists to this day. It would be too easy to blame slavery on the world economy, but it is safe to say tha t he capitalist world economy has helped perpetuate racial prejudice and discrimination.Slavery existed long before profit was exchanged for labor. As Brazil has grown, â€Å"the means to social mobility after emancipation was closely guarded by the Brazilian white ruling class, who allowed for a pool of relatively less expensive labor consisting mainly of Brazilian natives and other European immigrants† (122). The influx of cheap European labor resulted in the black and mulatto population being pushed aside. After Brazil abolished slavery, the ex-slaves were left with two hoicks: work under the same conditions as when they were slaves or Join the masses of unemployed (Phillips 122).They had additional challenges; they were competing with native Brazilian and European immigrants for a limited number of jobs where the new economic order was wage labor (122). Racism played a major role after the emancipation of the slaves as many of the ex-slaves were discriminated against in t he free Job market. While the shift has been to the detriment of blacks and mulattos, racism has not helped the white population of Brazil (123). Despite the racism running rampant, there is no black movement in Brazil. There is seemingly no racial tension or conflict.Blacks that live in Salvador, who make up 80% of the population, say they feel safer in that environment than they do in the US (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy'). It is speculated that this is because appearances matter more in Brazil than heritage. In the US, one drop of black ancestry means you are black, while in Brazil, if you appear white, you are perceived as white (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy'). It can also be noted that the US has a history of violent racism where oppressed populations were treated harshly. Those past grievances have not been forgotten, and in some cases, not forgiven freedom.It would seem as though the US operates under a shadow of racis m, attempting to sweep it under the rug and pretend that equality is real. Brazil does not operate under such false pretenses. Racism is alive and acknowledged. As of the 2010 census, 51% of Brazil identifies itself as black or brown. The government estimates that the income of white Brazilian is more than double that of black or brown Brazilian and that blacks are at a distinct disadvantage in relation to education and access to healthcare (â€Å"Brazilian 2010 Census Highlights Racism Problem†). The racial divide in Brazil is based on a social pyramid.Many will argue that the black community is poor because class, not race, stratifies their society. However, there are many that would disagree. According to Mario Theodore, an activist for social equality believes that â€Å"slavery legacy of injustice and inequality can only be reversed by affirmative action policies, of the kind found in the United States† (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Yet, it i s also fair to note that in the US, there are many of different races that are in positions of great power and that social class is often dictated by wealth.The history of the US supports the advancement of the white race, but progress is showing that race is beginning to take a backseat to skill set and overall acumen. In Brazil, the race line is well drawn. Most of those in the public eye, such as TV news anchors, doctors, dentists, fashion models, and lawyers are all white. The majority of black and mulatto's are working in the â€Å"blue collar† trade, often deemed the unskilled labor pool. The salary disparity is even more telling. By 2011, the average black or brown worker was earning of what the average white worker made (â€Å"Brazilian 2010 Census Highlights Racism Problem†).Statistics do not differentiate between gender, only race, though it can be assumed that the same problem occurs between gender lines. Affirmative Action Brazil, once considered a â€Å"r acial democracy' is fighting hard to shed that moniker. Racial democracy, in relation to Brazil, is defined as the thought that compared to other nations; racism was actually very minimal in Brazil (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). However, today, most Brazilian concur that Brazil is victim to racial prejudice and discrimination.Blacks and mulattos are the major cities of widespread police violence and often earn half the income of their white counterparts. In addition, television and advertising portray Brazilian society as one that is almost entirely white (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). This is because the working class and elite are almost entirely white, so the melting pot of races exists only in the working class and poor. According to Antonio Riser's, a sociologist, â€Å"It's clear that racism exists in the US. It's clear that racism exists in Brazil.But they are different kinds of racism† ( â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). He continues to argue that the racism itself is nefarious and veiled, unlike the racism that used to run rampant in the US. In Brazil, there was never a UK Klux Klan or enforced segregation or even a ban on interracial marriage (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Affirmative action is often put into place to attempt to create a racially diverse atmosphere. Most often this is in correlation to the workplace where employers do not discriminate based on race, gender, or religious affiliation.In Brazil, the new affirmative action can be most notably seen in the university setting. By 2008 almost 50% of Brazilian universities have a race-based affirmative action attend a university, students were required to pass a standardized test. Now, leading universities are mandated to allow a fixed percentage of nonwhite students to attend. In addition, they have quotas for indigenous peoples and for the disabled (Tells, â€Å"Dis crimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). Even though affirmative action was put in place to help, it is not without controversy.Those that oppose the policies include â€Å"much of the media, private school students, their parents and the schools themselves, scholars and artists who alee the racial democracy ideal and even black students who believe in meritocracy' (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). They maintain that affirmative action does nothing to further racial equality; instead, it merely promotes racial equality without any substance. In addition, many academics are fighting against affirmative action in schools and campaigning against quotas.They argue that enforcing affirmative action is, in itself, inherently an act of racism. It divides people into arbitrary color categories; a feat, which is not as easy as it seems nice much of Brazil, is a country of mixed race (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). They a lso argue that it undermines the equality of the admissions process, even though in the past, nepotism and whom you know have been the quickest routes to advancement (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†).Despite these arguments, studies have shown that many of the â€Å"quota† students are performing academically as well or better than their white counterparts. This can be attributed to the fact that many of those white students were admitted because they had the means and money to prepare for the entrance exam (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). The next target is the labor market, a place where affirmative action could show positive benefits. In the United States, only 12% of the population is black, yet we have a black president, numerous black politicians and millionaires.In contrast, Brazil has a limited number of black people in positions of power. Because of this, some private sector companies are making racial diversity a requirement in th eir recruiting process (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). But again, the same problem occurs that showed up in the university setting. Just because a person is off different race does not mean they are qualified for the Job at hand. It often follows that work production and quality decline because employers are hiring based on color, not skill level.Unlike the US, affirmative action in Brazil is being done in a very Brazilian way. There is little to no government interference or enforcement. Universities and private companies are making their own policies. The Supreme Court is involved, but is slow to act in hopes that society will figure out their own issues (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Society is moving fast though. Businesses and advertisers are now targeting black populations, but changing the minds of the consumer sector is n easy task compared to changing the mindset of racism ingrained after years and years of overt racism.Many Brazilia n assume that blacks and browns belong on the bottom of the social ladder, making the push for proactive change difficult (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Solution? In order for Brazil to pull down the racial divide and move beyond racial democracy, the boundaries between black and white need to be weakened. There is but despite this, the racial division is not nearly as rigid as they are in the US. An interesting note is that most Brazilian perceive their culture to be an example how ace and culture can coexist peacefully.Despite this somewhat astonishing claim, it is still believed that 90% of the white population is prejudiced against the black and mulatto population. However, their idea of racism differs greatly from person to person so it is difficult to Judge what this really means. In a recent event in Brazil, a six-year-old boy was kicked out of a pizza polar supposedly for the color of his skin. According to the restaurant manager, he mistook the young bo y as a local street boy. The boys parents have since then filed a complaint with the local police department ND are also considering taking legal actions.This story launched a huge race-debate in Brazil (Phillips â€Å"Does Brazil Have a Race Problem†). While stories like this continue to gain traction, it is hard to figure out where Brazil goes from here. Affirmative action plans seem like a step in the right direction, but that will not be enough to change 500 years in ingrained behavior. Brazil will need a complete economic and social shift if it wishes to eradicate racism. If the US is a learning curve, Brazil has a lot of work to do, and so does the US when it comes down to reality. ConclusionMany people around the world see Brazil as a country full of racial diversity where racism Just simply does not exist, where as others claims Brazil suffers from invisible racism where blacks earn less, live less, and are educated less. Although blacks make up for most of the popula tion in Brazil they are still grossly under-represented in higher education, media, and politics. The continued racial divide will only be removed when government and individuals work together to not only acknowledge the problem, but find a way to move above and beyond racism and look at the individual for the value, not their skin color.

A midsummer night dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare is one of the most well-known playwright and poet that the world has ever produced. He's known for his ability to recapitulate the array of human emotions in simple yet Intensely expressive verse. One of Shakespearean most popular plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream Is full of Intense feelings, tragic events and a happy ending. Literature can be defined as a comedy, romance, or a tragedy. A Midsummer Night's Dream can best be defined as a comedy.In literary sense, a comedy is a work which is principally designed to amuse and entertain, and where, despite problems during the narrative, all ends well for the characters (English Literature Dictionary). The play can be proven to be a comedy because of its humorous tone. The play features fairy magic, pranks and the performance of a play within the play by a group of fairies. The play even has trickery and disguise in it as well. Hernia and Alexander try to sneak away from Athens to wed behind Geese's ba ck.Also, Titanic and the nouns lovers have no Idea they've been dazed by Oberon by the love-in-idleness flowers Juice. These examples given are what put A Midsummer Night's Dream under the literature category of a comedy. A romance Is traditionally, a long fictional prose narrative about unlikely events Involving characters that are very different from ordinary people. Nowadays the modern romance novel Is a prescribed love story, where boy meets girl, obstacles get in the way, they are then overcome and the couple live happily ever after (English Literature Dictionary).A Midsummer Night's Dream could also fit into this category because of the fairies that are in it. In the play the fairies experience unlikely events, like Titanic falling in love with Bottom as he as the head of an ass. Another way the play could fit into this category would be how Hernia and Alexander are in love and are forbidden to be married. At the end of the play the obstacle of them not being able to marry is overcome when they are invited by the fairies to go back and marry with the duke.The last category is tragedy. Tragedy Is defined as a serious play where the protagonist experiences a succession of misfortunes leading to a concluding, disturbing catastrophe usually for the protagonist (English Literature Dictionary). The way love Is defined In the beginning of the play is a tragic view. Segues goes to Theses demanding that he make Hernia marry Demerits, and not Alexander. Segues says, â€Å"As she is mine, I may dispose of her. Which shall be either to this gentleman, or to her death. Even though this makes the play come off as a tragedy, the characters and situations do not allow for tragedy to aka over or take form in the plot. As a conclusion, A Midsummer Night's Dream best fits into the literary definition of comedy. It has some aspects of romance in it but comedy smothers the majority of the play. The beginning of the play can make A Midsummer Night's Dream seem that it will t urn out to be a tragedy but again comedy takes over. A Midsummer Night's Dream Is a classic example of Shakespeare comedy. â€Å"English Literature Dictionary'. Education. Asia. Education Asia. ND. Web. 14 June 2014

Issues Identified Essay

1) The first issue of the case is whether Harry Hepburn, the president of Southern California Division of Robinson Brothers Homes should make the projection on the specific project more optimistic or not. By making the revenue forecasts more optimistic, the most likely outcome is that the project will be undertaken and his team of employees will keep their position. Otherwise, at the current estimated return projections, the project is expected to be declined, and Harry’s team will be partially laid off in accordance with the Robinson Brothers Homes plan on cutting costs as the company faces the slowing down market and decreased profitability. 2) The second issue of the case is to evaluate what can be done to either decrease the required IRR benchmark related to this project or to increase the expected IRR of the project. Due to decreasing margins on their recent construction projects RBH needs a project to bring their revenues and profits up for the upcoming years. RBH’s Southern California division (one of 15) and its VP Michael Borland have come up with a prospective project â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† which has potentials to increase profits and revenues. The issue with it remains is that the project has a IRR of 21 and for a project like this Michael Borland and his division has calculated a required IRR of 24.5. Issue Prioritization: Both issue seem to be equally important, however it seems that IRR issue should be attempted to be resolved first: if the required IRR can be lowered without making the forecast too optimistic, Harry will not need to solve this difficult ethical dilemma at this moment. Alternative Generation: * Increase IRR * Decrease required IRR (risk) * Don’t’ change Ethical Problem: 1. Harry submits the forecast as planned. Consequences: project will be rejected and the division will be downsized 2. Harry makes the forecast more optimistic. Consequences: Project gets funded and employee layoff could be averted. RBH would lose credibility with joint venture partner if the project earns less  than the forecast. And some problems in ethical position. Evaluation of Alternatives: Way to increase IRR/decrease required IRR: [As Harry directly supervises the executives and the issue is about financial returns, the results control is the most appropriate for this issue.] 1) Let VPs know about the problem and the fact that this project is critical for the continuity of the division as is. VPs are: Operations, Sales and Marketing, Land Development, Land Acquisition, and Accounting. This understanding will help to establish the link between performance and compensation. 2) Together, they should come up with ideas and set specific goals for increasing IRR and/or lowering risk of the project in their functional areas. The targets set for VPs should be aligned with their functional areas/responsibilities as much as possible. If some targets involve more than one area, they should know specifically with whom should they cooperate to achieve success on that mutual goal. The idea behind it is that VPs should know specifically how can they influence the project’s IRR and risk, so they would feel responsibili ty and ability to influence and achieve their own specific targets. Second, the goals have to be as specific as possible, so that VPs would know how much more effort should they put to succeed. Specific possible solutions: * By not making the purchase (investment) until all political issues are resolved (June 2007 is the expected date), the political risk can be decreased to minimum saving 1.5% in required IRR. * With the appropriate goals and strict incentives are set for VPs as discussed above, the risks in development, market, and financial areas may be reduced by further cumulative 1.5%. Measures to be taken may include: hedging the interest rate risk with derivatives (financial), making early sales (market), securitization of debt (financial), overseeing the construction process thoroughly to ensure its timeliness (development), etc. It is important that other projects of this division, which are currently under way, would not be neglected or paid less attention to. They are also crucial for the division’s success (637 homes in 2006 and $235 in revenue). Harry should oversee their work in order to ensure that no risk manipulation and  unjustified assumptions/forecasts take place. Ethical issue [There are really no alternatives for this issue – there is only a question: â€Å"Should Harry stretch the forecast a bit or should not?†] * Harry’s action of making the forecast a bit too optimistic will not be left unnoticed by VPs. As a result, they may begin making dishonest acts on their own in the future acting on the example set by the president. (The cultural control may get broken.) * The management owns the fiduciary duty to its shareholders, as it is trusted with assets to manage. Shareholders interests should be put ahead of their own. According to the stockholder ethical model, the maximization of shareholders’ profit/wealth is of utmost importance. * Southern California Division of RBH represents a large portion of company’s business: in 2006 it is projected to sell 637 homes, while 2000 were built by RBH in total. Thus, the failure in this division may cause the financial difficulties on the company-wide level affecting other employees as well. According to the stakeholder ethical model, the acceptance of the project of higher risk would also be unethical. * If they accept, then in case of the unfavourable scenario, the company is likely to sell this project at a larger loss, as other development companies are likely to employ the similar IRR model for determining projects’ NPVs. Possible conclusion: in this case, under both stockholder and stakeholder ethical models, the project with the higher risk than required should not be accepted. Recommendation Decrease IRR. Implementation Issues Move discussion of incentives part from alternatives evaluation to here. * additional discussion on ethics (evaluation of alternatives) * additional discussion on IRR ((evaluation of alternatives) * implementation details Kurt: 1. Introduction: RBH is a medium-sized homebuilder. The company built single- family and higher-density homes, such as townhouses and condominiums. Its headquarters staff located in Denver, Colorado, and 15 divisions located in most of the metropolitan areas. 2. Problem Statement and Analysis: The market of the Southern California Division served had slowed, the division has to make price concessions in order to sell its homes. However, the construction costs were continuing to rise. Action controls: reduce cost , budgets , review and approval Harry wants to do the project (Platinum Pointe) which promises to provide over $100 million in revenue and nearly $ 14 million in profits in the 2008-11 time period. But the IRR of the project is only 21%, which is below the minimum required for a project with this level of risk – 24.5% ————————————————- The stock price had declined almost 50% from the all- time peak in 2005. POSSIBLE ADVICE Each division was self-contained, with its own construction supervision, customer care, purchasing, sales and marketing, land development, land acquisition, and accounting staffs. ————————————————- Redundancy : Assigning more people to a task than necessary The lag between acquisition of the land and sale of the final house built was three- five years. Reduce the business cycle The homes will be built in two formats: a triplex townhome and a six- plex cluster home, but the format had not been previously offered in Southern California. The residents of Southern California may not accept these kinds of formats. Harry and Michael want to lower the required IRR or to raise the projected IRR to ensure that the project would be approved. Personnel controlsï ¼Å¡have a conscience that leads them to do what is right find self-satisfaction when they do a good job and see their organization succeed Ethics and morality Annie: Background: RBH builds single-family and higher-density homes, such as townhouses and condominiums. RBH often had to make significant price concessions and construction costs were continuing to rise. The stock price had declined  almost 50% from the all-time peak in 2005. Because the homebuilding started slowdown in early 2006, so finances were expected to be much tighter in 2007. Harry, the president resisted the idea of downsizing of the division in 2007 and wanted to keep employee team intact. RBH spends considerable effort in preparing formal land acquisition proposal, which examines the proposed building project from housing development type, construction challenges and costs, marketing prospects, and environmental concern. The Platinum Pointe deal is a large one that would bring in considerable revenue and profits in the 2008-2011 time periods. Issues: 1. Modification of risk rating procedure RBH’s procedure requires the identification of risk in four areas: political, development, market, and financial. The risk of each project in each of these four areas must be rated as low, moderate or high. The higher a project’s IRR, the more desirable it is to undertake the project. Michael was disappointed about the Platinum Point site project because the IRR was only 21%, while the minimum required IRR for a project of this risk should be 24.5% (3.5% variance). The problem of existing risk rating procedure? How to assess the risk rating? By who? Recommendation? 2. Joint venture with other homebuilding company Advantages and disadvantages Recommendation? 3. Ethical problem- Harry contemplates preparing projects that were a little too optimistic to ensure that the project would be approved. Harry tries to disclose the degree of optimism in the forecasts or acting in a less than honest way. If Harry doing so, who will be harmed or put at risk? Waleed Issue: Due to decreasing margins on their recent construction projects RBH needs a project to bring their revenues and profits up for the upcoming years. RBH’s Southern California division (one of 15) and its VP Michael Borland have come up with a prospective project â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† which has  potentials to increase profits and revenues. The issue with it remains is that the project has a IRR of 21 and for a project like this Michael Borland and his division has calculated a required IRR of 24.5. Possible ways to remedy this specific issue can be as follows: Solution: Increase IRR of â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal†: 1. Since the recent environment factors are forcing of margins to decline RBH may need to adapt to this situation just to have this â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† approved. One factor identified out of the assumptions in Exhibit 3 – Purchasing Section is to allow more profit participation for the seller Jackson Development company. Currently set up as 50% share above a net 9% profit for the project. Giving the Jackson Development company a share of 52-54% above the 9% net profit will increase the â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† overall IRR from 21% to closer to the required 24.5% (how by giving up profit will their IRR increase?) 2. Although the Southern California division is large for RBH but their overall exposure and knowledge in the area can be limited. For example, the market demand for the house structures (condo’s. Detached, semi-detached etc.) or even the market demand for amenities included (backyards, parks, garages, driveways etc..) is all the information that a local company native of Southern California will have better information of and RBH is disadvantaged to that. So the solution here is to consider a Merger and Acquisitions approach to hedge this information risk and to also expand the company as a whole. The project is large enough to justify such as move for RBH. This in fact will increase the 3 factor of IRR calculations the â€Å"Market† seen in Exhibit 3. As a result the â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† IRR will increase bringing it closer the required 24.5%.

An empirical analysis of the components of retailer customer loyalty Essay

An empirical analysis of the components of retailer customer loyalty programs - Essay Example ks into one of the ways of capturing customer for loyalty and retention for the continuous competitive advantage of a business enterprise – through a retailer customer loyalty program. The concept of customer loyalty program is simple and yet complicated because of the multiple activities related to it but the goal is always the same – to encourage repeat business. Often, the business enterprises or the retailers, as they are the focus of this study offer a membership club to its customers. The members are then entitled to benefits, perks, privileges, discount schemes or whatever activities and benefits that the company has lined up exclusive to these member-customers. As the study by Fiorito, Gable and Tople stated: â€Å"one means of achieving loyalty, from the activities engaged in by retailers (e.g. measuring customer satisfaction; handling complaints) to the benefits being offered (e.g. providing financial incentives to customers; sending customers thank you notes) that contribute to maintaining a long-lasting, permanent relationship with customers† (Fiorito, Gable and Tople, 2006, p 32). to determine the benefits offered to customers and activities taken by retailers whether or not they have formal customer loyalty programs, whether there are differences in the benefits/activities of retailers with and without formal loyalty programs whether specific benefits/activities of retailers can predict whether or not they have formal loyalty programs (Fiorito, Gable and Tople, 2006, p 32). It also wanted to know the evaluation of the existing customer loyalty programs by its perceived success through meeting the enterprise’s expectations and increase in sales and if the program will be implemented continuously (2006, p 34). Thus, these are three specific areas explored by the study. Primarily, it was aimed to know the specific benefits and activities that were designed for the customers in line with the customer loyalty schemes even if the retailers do

Sea level rise in the Mediterranean Sea and Mallorca Island Essay

Sea level rise in the Mediterranean Sea and Mallorca Island - Essay Example The answers to these questions can be given in a twofold criteria and include the change in the estuarine geodatum caused as a result of the flow of melt water from the glaciated lands across the globe into the sea. Consequently, thermal expansion of the upper layers of the sea water caused by the decrease in water density due to its warming leading to the rise in the sea levels (Szabados, 2002). The occurrences of these situations within the earth’s geographical landscape usually lead to varied rise in the sea levels in some areas and a fall in certain areas. Another cause for the changes in the level of the seawater is the rising or uplifting of the lands close to the sea. This often causes the decline in sea levels in some regions though to a limited extent. Sea level rise is of recent times has resulted in very great concern to the global community as environmental conservation issues is a global phenomenon and is of global concern. According to the statistics taken by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using the satellite images, the global sea levels have been rising tenderly at an average rate of about 3mm per year from 1993 to 2007 (IPCC, 2007). This report highlights the various effects of the continued rise in sea level within the global context. This report will also look at the changes in the sea level in the Mallorca and the Mediterranean regions of the world, their causes and consequences on the adjacent lands as well as the extent of the influences on the coastal communities around the mentioned areas. Mallorca is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain that has been characterized by a number of notable cases of sea level change. Studies by Jeffrey Dorale shows that the sea level was about one meter above the levels that reached 81000 years ago indicating a positive deviation in the in the level of the sea waters. The rise in the levels as he argues is brought about by the rapid melting of ice aroun d the globe. The ice water consequently finds its way into the sea thereby raising the water levels by about one meter for every fifty years (Jieffrey, 2010). The observable results of this rise in the levels of the Mediterranean Sea are seen as a spillover effect in the communities surrounding the sea. Most of the communities that were once living closer to the sea have retreated by about sixty miles away from the coastline as much of the land has been submerged under the seawaters. Moreover, Barnetti (2005) argues that the formally dry lands adjacent to the Mediterranean regions have now been covered under water thereby continuously diminishing the amount of cultivatable lands in these regions and the consequent migration of people out of these areas (Barnetti, 2005). Geography has evolved as a more organized subject of study that uses different methodological approaches in understanding various observed geographical phenomena. On one hand, physical geography adopts a scientific a nd rational approach while on the other hand human geography relies heavily on descriptive techniques in examining the relationship between complex human factors and their influence on geographical environment. The scientific approach has been adopted widely in the study of physical geography based on observation, precise scientific experience and sound precision and measurements of the geographical phenomena. As such, the Mediterranean region has been experiencing constant shifts in its climatic characteristics contributed mostly by the wide variation in the

Capstone Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Capstone Project - Research Paper Example The company was exercising a share based compensation plan for its top executives comprising of stock options. These were also not reflected in the financial statements. The company is planning to enter into partnership for which it requires presenting financial report to IFRS. Negative impact of the fraudulent activity on the company followed by recommendations to CFO The inventory write downs are often associated with various negative impacts on the organization. It negatively impacts the operating performance of the organizations. It has been seen that the extreme sales growth in companies lead to higher chances of experiencing future inventory write down as compared to the moderate growing firms. The inventory is an important portion in the financial statement of any organization. The cost of goods sold contains inventory portion, which an organization sells during an accounting period. The inventory stands out to be paramount for the business as it helps in the computation of th e company’s gross profit indirectly. After the gross profit, the net income of the company is obtained by subtracting all the operating expenses from the gross profit figure. Thus, missing entire inventory value in the financial statement leads to misinterpretation of the growth profit as well as the net income of the company. Underestimation or overestimation of the cost of goods sold results in huge differences in the profit figure as well. The manipulation in the financial statements may lead to several consequences. The company might manipulate its financial data in order to hide the actual financial performance. The financial statement of any organization reflects its financial information based on which the stock prices are changed. This information assists the investors in making their investing decisions. The GAAP reflects true and fair view related to the financial information of any particular company. But many times it has been seen that the figures in the financia l statements get manipulated by the managers of the organizations in such manner that it bears no resemblance with real performance of the company. This can also be termed as the creative accounting method. The manipulation in the real figures of the items presented in the financial statement has a negative impact on the stock prices in the financial market and due to which the values get deviated from the actual values. This displays a misleading picture for the market which in turn misleads the investor’s decisions. Many research studies in the past have reflected positive abnormal returns because of the changes made in the actual earnings of the organization. The returns get altered depending on the validity of alteration in the total earning gained. If the accounting process is conducted in fair manner then this statement becomes highly profitable for an organization. But in case if manipulations or alterations have been done on the actual earni