Analyzing Satire and Parody in Blazing Saddles Essay

Analyzing Satire and Parody in Blazing Saddles No one is born a racist bigot. In other words, racial bigotry or racial prejudice is not genetically or biologically determined... Therefore, if most people spoke out about racism, it would be the first step towards a revolutionary change. -Dr. Charles Quist-Adade Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, sheds light to the cultural problems of the Western era through satire with elements of parody within. John Vogel describes Blazing Saddles as â€Å"The Ultimate Western Spoof.† The problem of racism is the main focus of this film. If one takes a closer look at the work of Mel Brooks, there is a noticeable trend of his films pointing fingers at racists. In order to better understand why he takes this†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Some of the features that are to become key elements of the genre are to be found in early silent Westerns from the late 1890s and early 1900s† (Westerns). Since this time, many of the famous films have become household names. For some peopl e, the reason they have been introduced to this film genre is because of their grandparents or parents. For others, they may have a genuine interest to understand this culture that has transformed itself to fit with a new era of time. Although these films have been able to generate great amounts of revenue, they are full of underlying elements that show the cultural issues of that time period. Moreover, some of these elements may not be noticeable to everyone at first, but that is where the satire and parody come into play. Satire is a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies1 and foibles2. A writer may point satire 1. fol†¢ly noun \ˈfà ¤-lÄ“\: the lack of good sense or judgment (Merriam) 2. foi†¢ble noun \ˈfȯi-bÉ™l\: a minor fault in someones character or behavior (Merriam) toward a person, a country or even the entire world. (Literary) Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines parody as â€Å"a piece of writing, music, etc., that imitates the style of someone or something else in an amusing way.† The Schirmer Encyclopedia of

Beyond the printed page Free Essays

Technology is rapidly changing the nature of the global media. For example, Daniel Czitrom, in his book entitled ‘Media and the American Mind: From Morse to McLuhan’, states that one of three major traditions or persuasions in American thought with regard to the impact of modern mass media, views changes in communications technology as the driving force in the historical changes in such media impacts on society. This is the school of thought of the â€Å"radical media† theorists Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, who are said to have highlighted the thesis in different ways in their works (Czitrom 1982, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Beyond the printed page or any similar topic only for you Order Now xii). Not only is the change with regard to the changes in the impacts of mass media on society, it is also in with regard to ownership of mass media, as both technology and economics are credited with driving a convergence of the different forms of media, and implicitly, a convergence on ownership of the different forms of media (Compaine and Gornery 2000, p. xvi). The online books have major advantages compared with print versions. It benefits greatly from the evolution of technology, with the new emerging technologies endowing online books with the ability to dynamically update, hyperlink, provide efficient searching, real-time interactivity and multimedia. All these instruments help the online books deliver materials to readers more efficiently and more diversely, than its print version. Moreover, the online books attract more non-local readers and many younger readers, while the print version mainly focuses on the local or national market. 2. What devices and technologies exist or will soon exist for reading digital books? There are no several devices being manufactured that will soon make the move from printed to digital books. In fact, the move to replace printed books with electronic versions has the stamp of approval of earnest researchers, experts and scientists such that readers are now able to access thousands of books in one portable, mobile and accessible case. For instance, the Sony Reader is a new electronic book device that makes use of the display technology called the electronic ink. It was developed by the E-link in Massachusetts where the display gives a most natural reading experience for the reader, using no backlight. It uses a form of electronic ink including displays on credit cards that do not break when bent. The food labels are able to change prices throughout the day too. How this is done is by plastic films with transparent microscopic liquid-filled spheres, the size of a hair’s diameters where there floats even smaller black and white particles. The black particles are negatively charged while the white particles are positively charged. These now forms ink patterns of black and white depending on how the electric charge is applied to the film. The Sony Reader need not be turned off and just like a printed book, it can just be set aside and the current page remains on the screen without draining any battery power. Studies have even proven that users report increased readability and a minimal eyestrain compared to other electronic book technology. (Scientists develop E-link to Replace Books and Newspapers). 3. How are publishers adapting to digital books? Apart from the interest from readers, on the business side the idea of moving pictures in a newspaper attracts more attention and brings greater business opportunity. More and more advertisers are interested in using online video advertisements and are shifting some of their advertisements from television to the web. New kinds of video ads are becoming popular pre-rolls and post-rolls, video ads that run before or after the news video clip. Meanwhile, web news forecasts give the opportunity for TV-style commercials. In each three-minute News Journal Newscast two fifteen second ad fragments and one thirty second fragment are inserted. This idea was only proposed two months ago, and already more than eighty-five percent of the airtime slices have been sold. (Oxfeld, 2004). Currently, publishers are looking into the digital rights. These issues are inevitable due to the large number of people involved in it. It is also complicated by the fact that these people come from different places. Laws which govern them are different. Yet publishers are quite discouraged. More so, there are not much available treaties or conventions from which rules and guidelines regarding digital rights can be seen. One of main problems with regard to digital rights is the problem on unauthorized copying and transmission of printed books and digital information. This is a problem about rights to intellectual property. Tran (2001) says there are many interlinked communities in the web. As such, sharing different materials can be very convenient. According to him, file types frequently used are MP3s, MPEGs, JPEGs, and PDFs. There is a proliferation of many copies of these kinds of files which are transmitted from two different points. He further elaborates that the problem lies in putting a stop or even delaying the process of the undisturbed exchange rate of copyrighted digital materials. There are a lot of factors that cannot be easily prevented such as the increasing sophistication of technology and the speed of transmission (Tran). The problem is not as easy as it seems but publishers are still keen on the fact that there are still people who would want to have books instead of electronic devices as reading materials. WORKS CITED Compaine, Benjamin M. and Douglas Gomery (2000), ‘Who Owns the Media? : Competition and Concentration in the Mass Media Industry’, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,Mahwah, NJ, p xvi Czitrom, Daniel J. ‘Media and the American Mind: From Morse to McLuhan’, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, p. xii (1982), Guard and Nurture your Intellectual Property Rights. Retrieved May 20, 2007 at: http://archives. obs-us. com/obs/german/books/paperl/chap091. htm Oxfeld, Jesse ‘Watching the Newspaper, 2004. Retrieved May 20, 2007 at: http://www. editorandpublisher. com/eandp/columns/newspaper_2point0_display. jsp? vnu_content_id=1000739225 Scientists develop E-link to Replace Books and Newspapers. http://www. aip. org/dbis/HFES/stories/17027. html Tran, N. 2001. â€Å"Digital Right Management†, www. cas. master. ca. Retrieved May 20, 2007 at http://www. cas. mcmaster. ca/~wmfarmer/SE-4C03-01/papers/Tran-DRM-aux. html How to cite Beyond the printed page, Papers

Organizational Effectiveness

Organizational effectiveness Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Effectiveness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People subsystem From the above diagram, it is apparent that the people subsystem may be effective when the incentives are properly matched with the responsibilities assigned to an individual in an organization. As a result, there will be optimal performance within acceptable organization behavior that will make an employee responsive to team work and learning initiatives (Andreadis 2009). Generally, the people subsystem may be declared effective when there is a balance in each of the above elements in a learning organization environment. Factors affecting organizational effectiveness Organizations function best when the intra and inter communication systems are perfect. Therefore, successful organizations manage information continuously. The practice of information management involves the science of processing information to facilitate informed decision making among managers. However, the channels of this information should be protected to ensure protection of the organization’s private information that may lead to the unwanted third party interference. In information system implementation planning strategy, culture defines all aspects of a business, both internal and external relationships. In encoding and decoding information, it is critical to balance the wanted and unwanted grapevine. Thus, in reviewing performance based on feedback received, it is important to handle the voluntary information with care to boost trust and confidentiality which form the pinnacle of organizational behavior.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, it is critical to balance the feedback with the goals of such an organization as a remedy towards inclusiveness and act ive participation which translates into desirable performance. Generally, a risk is regarded as a negative factor in the introduction of new technology in an organization because of its associated downside exposure to unrealized benefits, technical; performance shortfalls, time slippage, cost overruns, and withdrawal of the staff who may feel sidelined. It is imperative to have a good strategy to manage the risks associated with the adoption of new concepts such as technological efficiency. Estimation and evaluation of risk is an assumption that it is possible to draw logical conclusions regarding the chance of a risk occurring, as well as the possible effect of that risk. Risks can also be categorized as a short-term or a long term risk. Determination of short term risks assists in mitigating long term effects which may result from neglected short-term risks. Through training of the evaluation and performance reviewers, it is possible to boost morale and maintain desirable confiden ce levels within stakeholders and staff in any organization. The process should be inclusive of structured evaluation and progress reporting tools to make the organization effective (Andreadis 2009). Ethics can be applied in any organization. Basically, ethics denote sets of laws or moral systems that provide a basis for discerning whether an action is correct or erroneous. Therefore, members of an organization can come up with ethical principles that guide them when carrying out their duties. There should be laid down structures formulated in to keep staff in healthy and stable mind in their duty of serving the interests of an organization through regulatory ethical communication models. These models define expected behavior, procedural patterns, and response to every deviation. Organizational behavior should be aligned within four models.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Effectiveness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These models are the motivation to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. Therefore, a proactive behavior control system should function within a structured reward system (Andreadis 2009). When the system functions within accepted parameters, employees will eventually develop a self consciousness to deliver quality services and defend the organization as part of a family unit. Reflectively, setting an objective and then designing a method to achieve is a common practice in every organization. All the organizations follow the norm but few are able to achieve or exceed the set objectives. The difference of result is due to the approach taken by the organization. The organizations which are able to implement and manage their resources in effective and efficient manner stand out from the rest. The phenomenon is termed as strategic planning and systems management through focusing. Through focusing, the organization is able to shift risks and costs arising from losse s from substandard goods supplied in scenarios where management makes representations on areas concerning the quality of the product. This reduces administrative costs while increasing chances of the company’s profitability as the operations become streamlined (Von-Bertalanffy 2002). The main positive influencers of good organization behavior include motivation, empowerment, and training. Reflectively, these factors should be internalized in an organization to foster proactive attitude among the staff. Among the motivation enhancing practices include incentives, promotions, rewards, and recognition. The effectives of these components depend on vertical, horizontal, and work alignments. Therefore, the feedback system management system may influence positive or negative perception among employees. This will eventually determine the effectiveness of such an organization (Bass 1990). The aspect of planning is important to demystify poor performance as part of employee redundancy. Reflectively, proper use of competency review system is directly proportional to employee performance since the magnitude of success depends on social interaction skills.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, organizational effectiveness should be the cornerstone for modeling acceptable behavior between the management and staff (Sinclair 2010). However, the policies adopted should be aligned to the basic building blocks of performance and scope of the organization. These policies should incorporate employee-employer relationship model, performance review, and organizational social culture. Organizational development has been defined as a process of fostering developing within the organizational set ups through the adoption of a cycle of well planned intervention approaches aimed at enhancing the general efficiency of an organization at the same time bettering the positions of a majority of its members. Unlike the traditional business promotion systems where bettering the financial well-being of an organization was important, organizational development has other new processes and emphasizes on the use of greater understandings and fostering good relationships as a critical way to achieve growth in organizations. Thus, organizational development pays more attention to relationships between organizations and their surrounding environments solely for the betterment of organizations. Human process based intervention strategies are presented as basically aimed at making an improvement to the general state of relationships between individuals and within and among groups in an organizational set up. To attain this, a sensitive form of training is carried out to ensure that both manager and employee teams remain accommodative to the basic needs of their counterparts. An emotion testing program is introduced to test the emotional position of employees towards each other after which a counseling session is held to ensure that employees care much about the social needs of their counterparts (Lipshitz, Friedman and Popper 2007). The main driving point in these particular approaches is the argument that the good state of relations, information transfer, and collaborat ion are essential in fostering good environments for the flourishing of an organization. Different sets of surveys should be frequently carried out in organizations in order to pinpoint the major areas warranting changes. This is necessary for the general betterment of operations in such organizations. Simply put, human based intervention strategies in organizational development are aimed at creating a working environment filled with harmonious working relationships as a major competitive advantage in the ever changing business environment. On the other hand, techno-structural intervention strategies are listed as entailing the incorporation of social-technical systems in various sections of an organization ranging from the business operational processes to the organizational structures among other areas (Olmstead 2002). Common strategies in this main category include the enlargement and enrichment of staff jobs within an organization as well as the creation of alternative work sche dules. Techno structural strategies are generally aimed at transforming the general working conditions an environment of workers in order to attain maximum outputs from their work. Job enlargement involves the creation of additional tasks to particular job categories whereas job enrichment entails the spicing up of particular jobs in order to make them more attractive to those who perform them. Irrespective of the size of an organization, productive and counterproductive behaviors influence productivity of that organization. Besides, they form the basic building units of organizational psychology. Thus, comprehensive understanding of these opposite behavior orientation is vital towards maximizing productive behavior while minimizing counterproductive one. Therefore, it is factual that productive behavior is directly and positively proportional to productivity level exhibited in an organization. Generally, it promotes and encourages goal achievement within an organization. The counte rproductive behavior limits productivity within an organization. In most cases, this unwanted behavior adopts the form of drug abuse, sexual harassment, alcoholism, employee absenteeism among other vices that are oppositely skewed towards company goals. Generally, this unwelcomed behavior is often associated with ineffective performance (Andreadis 2009). In order to understand the impacts of productive and counterproductive behaviors on performance and productivity, it is necessary to establish the scope and characteristic of each behavior module. As indicated in the above definition, productive behavior is desired in an organization since it promotes optimal productivity and is in line with the goals and set targets of the organization. It takes the form of professionalism, organization, respect, optimal performance, and discipline. Therefore, productive behavior stresses to the employee the need for an active cooperation between them and the roles assigned in the planning and exec ution of the set targets for the assigned roles. Specifically, productive behavior identifies a range of problem situations facing the organization in their social environment, and generates multiple alternative solutions to those problems and lays a series of procedures that are necessary to achieve desired results (Britt Jex, 2008). This will be achieved through discussions and structured activities that involve hypothetical and real interpersonal problem situations designed to help teach the employees problem solving skills. In this scenario, the junior employees and those in advanced stages will require the same set of procedures to help them solve the problems. Besides, productive behavior puts emphasis on advanced maladaptive behaviors because they provide perfect scenario for understanding the situation and offer comprehensive solutions. In an organization environment, productive behavior will give the employees an opportunity to benefit from the feedback and experiences fro m their peers and learn anticipated obstacles in implementing the acquired skills that promote productivity (Spector 2008). To increases productive behavior, it is vital to create healthy work environment and personal growth perspectives that apply to all situations since problems that each individual faces at an interpersonal level ultimately affect the group. In carrying out an in-depth enquiry to each employee’s personal life, organizational psychologists should endeavor to determine which behavioral therapy best suits the individual. Thus, through properly designed training procedures, talent promotion, and motivation, productive behavior internalization will present that individual with the best alternative ways of solving problems he or she faces in role execution (Sinclair 2006). For an organization to succeed in calculating relevant organs, departments, and channels for addressing and promoting productive behavior, there must be an all round objective working relation ship with the employees. Since all the working class adults in most organizations use up half and plus of their waking hours in work place, employers are given a very unique opportunity to establish and monitor a desirable culture to improve and maintain a healthy workforce. These may be in the form of psychological, experience, value and beliefs, attitudes, and group common interests (Brit and Jex 2008). Unless they take a positive attitude to embrace change and create an environment that motivated change, quantifiable change may just be a dream. Conclusion Specifically, a good working environment should be flexible, relevant, and comfortable within set measurement standards that support intrinsic and extrinsic relationship environment has on performance of employees. However, these measures should be specific to a work environment, skills of employees, and goals of an organization. Besides, it is important to consider the size of an organization and nature of its duties. Organizat ional behavior is influenced by several factors such as motivation, promotion, and structured feedback system within any industry. However, policies aimed at balancing performance and behavior should be aligned to the goals of an organization to make it effective. Reference List Andreadis, N 2009, â€Å"Learning and organizational effectiveness: A systems perspective,† Performance Improvement, vol. 48 no. 1, pp. 5-11. Bass, B. M 1990, Bass Sogdill’s Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications, The Free Press: New York. Britt, W., Jex, M 2008, Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, Wiley: New York. Lipshitz, R., Friedman, V.J., Popper, M 2007, Demystifying organizational learning, Thousand Oaks, California. Olmstead, J.A 2002, Creating the functionally competent organization: An open systems approach, Quorum Books, Westport Sinclair, M 2010, Fear and Self-Loathing in the City: A Guide to Keeping Sane in the Square Mile, Karnac Books, London. Spector, P 2008, Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice, John Wiley Sons, Inc: New York. Von-Bertalanffy, L 2002, Building the learning organization, Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black. This essay on Organizational Effectiveness was written and submitted by user Lea Y. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Analyzing and Interpreting Financial Statements

Analyzing and Interpreting Financial Statements Analyzing and Interpreting Financial Statements This research paper is aimed to analyze the importance of financial statements in business Their role can never be underestimated by investors, newly opening businesses, auditors, competitors, shareholders and business owners. The paper will be focused on the essential impact they make on a companys further strategy. It will cover the standard set of financial statements, in detail with their analysis and interpretation, also paying separate attention to notes and GAAP importance. The connections between financial statements will be explored and explained. Also, the paper will look into detail at ratios used in financial analysis. Thus, the main point of this research will be as follows: GAAP necessity and importance. Standard financial statements overview, their role in assessing the companys health. How three financial statements are connected. Notes to financial statements. Ratios and ratio analysis. One will thoroughly research the topic matter according to the outline above. GAAP Necessity and Importance GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), being a designating element to financial statements, are simply a set of accounting standards, principles, practices and procedures used when compiling financial statements. GAAP are a combination ofauthoritative standards (set by policy boards) and simply the commonly accepted ways of recording and reporting accounting information (Vishwanath Krishnamurti, 2009, p.112). GAAP were created and are now imposed on companies, so that investors, shareholders and creditors could have a uniform way to obtain an accurate and consistent picture of a companys financial state with a minimal risk of fraud and error. GAAP are not required by law. Nevertheless, most companies prefer using their regulations when compiling their financial statements. Standard Financial Statements Overview The most generalized definition of financial statements would call them a collection of reports, which reveal a companys financial state and results (Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, 2010). In a deeper economic understanding, financial statements appear to be the tool that helps to quantitatively analyze a companys activity and assess its effective strength. If looking in more detail, financial statements give an opportunity to: Establish a companys ability to bring profit; List and analyze sources of a companys income; Check ways by which the money is spent; Prove whether a company is capable of paying back its liabilities Identify and forecast the trend a company is following (Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, 2010). Mentioned above arguments supporting the undoubted role of financial statements prove that the financial statement is imperative for the management because it can provide a rough guide to the future performance of the firm (Vishwanath Krishnamurti, 2009, p.117) and reveal shortcomings in a companys financial strategy. Moreover, many companies find it vital to develop a financial model that allows management to control value creation (Vishwanath Krishnamurti, 2009, p.117) by constructing cash flows from the financial statements and having a permanent assessment of the firm value. The standard financial statements set contains balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows and supplementary notes or footnotes. All of them provide with fundamental and informative inputs for analyzing and diagnosing the corporations health (Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, 2010, p.35). Each of them will be reviewed in more detail below. The balance sheet (also known as a statement of financial position) measures the book-value wealth of a firm (Velez-Pareja Tham, 2008, p.4). The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the companys financial state at a taken period of time. It shows companys assets, liabilities and presents information about the shareholders equity. Balance sheets tell people what a company owns (companys assets) and what it owes (its liabilities) at a fixed point of time. Every balance sheet is divided into three main parts - assets, liabilities and shareholder equity. The complied result of a balance sheet could be demonstrated by this formula: Total assets = Total liabilities + Equity (Velez-Pareja Tham, 2008, p.4). A companys balance sheet is commonly set up like the basic accounting equation shown above. Companies list their assets on the left side of the balance sheet. They list their liabilities and shareholders equity on the right side. In some periods, balance sheet shows assets at the top, with the shareholders equity at the bottom, followed by liabilities. The aim of a balance sheet is to evaluate a companys liquidity and ability to pay debts. (Ross, Westerfield Jaffe, 2010) Income statements demonstrate companys expenditures and revenues over a period of time. As the Income Statement is a dynamical financial statement, it measures the economic activity of the firm during a given period (Velez-Pareja Tham, 2008). Therefore, the primary purpose of the income statement is to report company's earnings to investors over a specific period of time showing revenues and expenses, and the resulting profit or loss. The cash flow statement demonstrates companys liquidity. In other words, it illustrates the amount of cash available or in hand at each instant of time (Velez-Pareja Tham, 2008, p.5). It summarizes companys cash inflows and outflows with regards to financing, operating and investing activities. While an income statement indicates whether a company managed to get any profit, a cash flow statement reveals whether the company generated cash. Moreover, this report shows the change trend over a period of time, but not actual money amounts at a certain period. Connectedness of the Financial Statements The balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement are not stand-alone reports. They all come in line together, each disclosing a particular side of businesss financial state and its association. For example, the line Sales Revenue (Income statement) influences Cash and Accounts receivable (Balance sheet); Cost of Goods Sold (Income statement) is directly linked to Accounts payable and Inventory (Balance Sheet); Fixed Assets (Balance sheet) affects Depreciation Expense (Income statement), while Depreciation in its turn has an impact on Accumulated depreciation (Balance sheet). The cash flow statement combines the data from both balance sheet and income statement it begins with Net income (Income statement) and its Ending cash will be Cash and Cash Equivalents in the balance sheet. Notes to Financial Statements Supplementary notes may contain interpretation of various business activities and extra information on certain accounts. They report additional details, which cannot be derived from main financial statements. Among others, notes may include such highlights: significant accounting policies and practices (as companies may be choosing among two or three GAAP for many expenses, there should be a footnote per each significant accounting choice), income tax (detailed overview of companys deferred and current income tax), stock options, interest rates, maturity rates, etc. Notwithstanding notes are an obligatory element of any financial statement, there are no standards for clarity or conciseness. Notes to financial statements are a GAAP-mandated inherent part of financial statements. Ratios and Ratio Analysis Financial analysis widely uses accounting ratios when evaluating companys activities on the market. Ratios demonstrate relations between figures appearing on a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement and are commonly expressed as percentage, proportion, co-efficient or a rate. Here are just a few examples of ratios split by groups depending on what they are aimed to analyze: Liquidity ratios measure a companys ability to meet its short-term liabilities (Velez-Pareja, 2012). Current Ratio demonstrates a companys ability to pay its liabilities using companys assets. Quick Ratio forecasts whether a company would be capable of immediate settlement of debts and liabilities. Turnover ratios measure effectiveness and efficiency of using resources For example, Inventory Turnover Ratio assesses inventory policy that the company has implemented in its operation (Velez-Pareja, 2012). Cash Conversion Cycle estimates the time when the company needs to finance raw materials purchase (Velez-Pareja, 2012). Financial leverage and debts ratios are used to evaluate financial risks of a company (Drake, 2007). Coverage of Fixed Costs is one of the main indicators of companys survivability, as it shows whether the company is able to cover and pay fixed costs (Velez-Pareja, I., 2012), Debt to Equity Ratio and Debt to Assets both describe the extent to which a company is reliable on external sources or debts for financing, EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is used to detect whether a company is capable of paying its liabilities. Moreover, it evaluates the business in general (Drake, 2007); Return on investment and margin ratios measure the ability to generate profit, e.g. Gross profit margin indicates how much of every dollar of sales is left after costs of goods is sold (Drake, 2007, p.7), Return on investments (ROI) compares earnings with the cause (investment) of those earnings (Velez-Pareja, 2012). Value Ratios are used by investors as the main indicator of a worthwhile investment, as they show the integrated value in stocks - Price to Earnings (P/E), Dividend, etc. (Drake, 2007). Ratio analysis allows evaluating the companys performance at a certain period of time and in the trend. Ratios create benchmarks for high and stable efficiency (Russel, 2004). They help to indicate weak sides that need improvement and strong competitive advantages. Although, they may not be a single reliable forecasting tool. They provide an accurate and quick cross-section for a particular sphere of interest. The main aim of ratio analysis is to obtain a quick and highly-informative estimation of companys performance. Neither ratios nor financial statements may give one a complete picture of how the business is doing. Only combining the data from all of them, attentive research and comparison will provide one with a significant scope of information, which might become ones real asset in the wise investment process. Thus, potential investors, creditors and other users are provided with an opportunity to make a thoughtful decision.

Reasons to Study and Get a Degree in Economics

Reasons to Study and Get a Degree in Economics Economics has a reputation (but not among economists!) as a somewhat dry topic. Its a  generalization thats wrong in several ways. First of all, economics isnt a single topic, but rather many topics. Its an approach that lends itself to many different fields, from microeconomics to industrial organization, government, econometrics, game theory and dozens of other fields. You may not enjoy some of these fields, but if you are fascinated by the complexity of capitalism and would like to understand better how things work in a capitalist society, youll probably find at least one of these areas that youll really enjoy. Terrific Job Opportunities for Economics Graduates There are many opportunities for economics graduates. You are not guaranteed a good-paying job with an economics degree, but your chances are higher than in many other programs. With an economics degree, you can work in a variety of different fields from finance and banking to public policy, sales and marketing, civil service (government departments, the Federal Reserve, etc.), insurance and actuarial work. You can also go on to do further studies in economics, political science, business, or a variety of other fields. If youre certain your interest is in the business world, a business degree may also be a good fit, but an economics degree does open a lot of doors. Economics Knowledge Is Useful at a Personal Level When pursuing a degree in economics, youll learn a lot of skills and knowledge that you can apply to other jobs or to your personal life. Learning about interest rates, exchange rates, economic indicators and equity markets can help you make better decisions about investing and obtaining mortgages. As computers become more and more important in both our business and private lives, being able to use data intelligently gives you a tremendous advantage over persons with fewer skills who make a lot of decisions on impulse. Economists Understand Unintended Consequences Economics teaches students how to understand and spot secondary effects and possible unintended consequences. Most economics problems have secondary effects - the deadweight loss from taxation is one such secondary effect. A government creates a tax to pay for some needed social program, but if the taxation is careless crafted, a secondary effect of that tax may be that it changes peoples behavior, causing economic growth to slow. By learning more about economics and working on hundreds of economics problems, you will learn to spot secondary effects and unintended consequences in other areas. This can help you make better decisions about your personal life and make you more valuable to business; what are the possible secondary effects from the proposed marketing campaign? It likely wont help you get a job, but being able to spot and understand the importance of secondary effects, may help you to keep a job or earn a promotion that much faster. Economics Provides an Understanding of How the World Works You will learn more about how the world works. You will learn more about the impact decisions have on specific firms, entire industries, and on a national level. You will learn more about the impact of international trade, both good and bad. You will discover the effect government policies have on the economy and on employment; again both good and bad. It will help you make more informed decisions as both a consumer and as a voter. The country needs better-informed politicians. Economics is a very good way of improving public sector performance and  Economics gives us all the tools to think of things more clearly and to understand the implications of assumptions we may be making.

General Questions for Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

General Questions for Marketing - Essay Example Therefore, a marketing orientation that covers all four directions and the best barometer of success, have been introduced that include product, price, place and promotion. 1. Product (customer solution). Before companies initiate the products in their minds, they should consider if these are desired or needed by their target market. For instance, General Electric is always conversing with their customers with regard to what product they should offer to make certain that the customers would buy their product, or else they will suffer horrible losses. A product perceived by a customer as a unique, different, and much better compared to competitors has a big opportunity to be successful. It is important that customers will get attracted with the features and benefits they can get, and most importantly are the attributes, performance and consistency of the product. The customer is the one who will purchase and use the product; therefore companies should give them priority with regard to what they should be offering. 2. Price (customer cost). The company should also set a specific place or position in the marketplace and in the minds of their target market to be competitive, and one of those, is getting their price right. Today, pricing is not just lay-outing the selling price to the customers because if they find it unjust or not worthy, they might turn down the product. Traditional pricing is not anymore appropriate today wherein customers are becoming price cautious. Therefore, before a company begins to design its product work, they should see to it that their target price range is made available to the general public, and the cost would not be a too much burden to them. For example, JetBlue and Southwest airlines are offering low-cost fares to freight customers in order to compete with legacy airlines, and consequently they have been successful and gain more market share. 3. Place (customer convenience). A quality product offered at a fair price should be dist ributed in a channel that is accessible to the target market. Companies of today are now using high technologies in order to reach their customers at ease. The internet and other software distribution tools are among the new distribution channels used by various companies. For instance, Wal-Mart adopted several systems like RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) and retail link in order to meet customers’ needs and make their product available to them. Customers should be given emphasized by the company in looking for product location because they are the one who will purchase, and their satisfaction matters. 4. Promotion (customer communication). Good promotion means giving the right information to the right person at the right time through advertising, public relation, personal selling, etc. that could help in gaining more customers; just like the sales promotion activities of Dr. Peppers against Mountain Dew and Sprite which are considered to be the company’s secret to have a solid market share increase. It is a basic fact that if the target market did not know the availability of the product or the information is not enough, then it is expected that they would not purchase the product. On the other hand, if they are aware on the existence of the product as well as its features and benefits, then they are likely to purchase. Promotion is expensive and crucial to the

Short proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short proposal - Essay Example I also do have confidence that my group members will provide me help. Conclusion Parking lots are an important part of institutions but their mismanagement or their use by other customers can make institutional implications. The outcome for this parking dilemma appears as a burden both on community managers and on parking lots. It consumes time, waste energy, enforce financial burdens, and increase the management of traffic. Many customers, students, and passengers have to make their parking after a cumbersome travel in the vicinities of the main parking lots and sometimes, this become a real dilemma. Some vicinity areas are so plagued and there is chance to be obstructed by someone trying to rob passengers. The situation also becomes highly vulnerable for people with disabilities. Students of University of Colorado Denver and Metro State College are really in trouble as they even paid to RTD parking but still can’t get transited through mass transit. I would like to request M rs. Zambon, to provide permission so that we can implement our study design to investigate on the RTD parking issues. The study is very feasible and has instrumented every aspect to make results an invaluable contribution to the community development.