Franz Kafka “Before the Law” Essay

In his story, Before the Law, Franz Kafka suggests that obstacles that one faces in life can either be used to mold one’s success or bring about one’s failure. If one can overcome the challenges that they are faced with, they grow in a unique type of way, for every individual perceives each situation in a distinct fashion. That unique type of growth is what establishes a person’s character and perception of the world. However, if one cannot overcome their obstacles, then they cut off their means for growth and are left uninspired, forgetting any dreams or aspirations. It is through the man’s interactions with the doorkeeper, and his inability to overcome this obstacle, that eventually leads him down the path of complacency and failure. It is the doorkeeper in this parable that keeps the man from gaining access to the law, and his inability to pass this doorkeeper that leads to his demise. It is important to realize that the man strives to reach â€Å"the law†, however he winds up getting only as far as the doorkeeper. A question arises here, what would have happened if the man was able to overcome the doorkeeper and enter the gate? The doorkeeper himself somewhat provides an answer to this question when he warns the man that he is â€Å"only the least of the doorkeepers. From hall to hall there is one doorkeeper after the other, each more powerful than the last. The third doorkeeper is already so terrible that even I cannot bear to look at him.† Of course these are difficulties that the man from the country has not expected, and instead of taking his chances, the doorkeeper gives him a stool and lets him sit down at one side of the gate. The man failed to realize that even if there were another doorkeeper behind the first door, he would have been able to face him with the experience and knowledge gained by overcoming the initial doorkeeper. Why was the man so foolish to just sit there and let his life pass him by? This concept of attaining knowledge applies not only to the man from the country but also to every in ordinary life. By the man not overcoming one of the challenges in his life, he was not able to strive and succeed in meeting the goals that he has set forth for himself. When one overcomes their challenges, the knowledge that they hav e gained from that experience merely provides them with necessary tools to face a more difficult situation. Overcoming all of these situations or challenges is like climbing a mountain towards excellence and achievement of ones goals. A prime example of trying to overcome challenges in every day life in order to  succeed is myself. I am a first year college student who is on the rocky road towards success. I am continually meeting one challenge after the next, striving to achieve every one of the goals I have set for myself. From elementary to high school and now to college, I am using the things I have learned, the tools I need in order to meet the next and more difficult challenge in my life. Unfortunately, the man accepts the stool that the doorkeeper offers him where â€Å"he sits for days and years.† The man never gains any sort of stature, for he looses out on all of the potential growth he could have gained by standing up to the doorkeeper. Why didn’t he stand up? What made him so weak that the doorkeeper was able to take such advantage of him? All of these questions are now brought into the picture because of the man’s stupidity in just giving up not only with the doorkeeper but also with himself. Before the man realizes that he has reached a state where he is looked down upon, and questions asked of him â€Å"are put indifferent, as great lords put them.† Unaware of the hole that he has dug for himself, the man eventually loses total sight of his original goal of reaching â€Å"the law,† and the man fixes his attention almost continuously on the doorkeeper. He even reaches the point of begging the fleas on the doorkeeper’s coat to grant him access to â€Å"the law† if the man were to only realize from the beginning that the gate was placed there for his own personal self-development. The lessons he could have learned by pushing beyond the initial doorkeeper would have more than likely built him into a totally new person, with unique talents and insights gained from his experience. Instead he gives up on himself, he grows old and never reaches any of his goals, and he never achieves his aspiration. The doorkeeper then finally points out, that â€Å"no one else could be admitted here, since the gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it.† This closing of the gate was the end to everything the man wanted, all of his hopes and dreams have now been shut behind a door and are now irretrievable. The author gives us a sense of sorrow towards the old man for not being able to achieve his wants and desires. Instead, we learn a valuable lesson in the story about the life one leads. One must be prepared to face the challenges that life present. If one is able to overcome their challenges, they will grow from their experience and form their own unique personality. If one cannot overcome their obstacles, they may spend their life stuck in a rut of complacency,  never achieving any goals or dreams that they once had. The poor old man from the country had to learn this important lesson out for himself.

Chart and Reflection Essay

The â€Å"Somebody-Wanted-But-So† chart is an excellent way to summarize important information from history. In it, you identify a person or group of people; their goal, need, or want; what conflict of interest stood in the way; and the outcome. This strategy works great because history depends on the needs, wants, and actions of humans. Part 1 – Complete the following chart using information from the lesson. One example appears for you. Somebody †¦ Wanted †¦ But †¦ So †¦ President Abraham Lincoln the nation to heal as quickly as possible from the Civil War and planned to reunify the nation quickly he was assassinated in 1865 only days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender plans for Reconstruction were taken over by Vice President Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln’s death President Andrew Johnson To continue the Reconstruction Congress kept over-riding his request Radical Republicans started the Radical Reconstruction. Radical Republicans Southerners to be punished for re-unifying with the Union. President Hayes took office and removed the federal troops from the south Federal protection for African American voters and pro-republicans, including freedmen, was over. Southern Democrats To have federal troops removed from the south and to have a southern Democrat named in the cabinet. Hayes accepted this request and removed the federal troops while also naming a southern democrat in his office. The reconstruction policy came to an end after the federal troops were removed from the south. Part 2 – Answer the following questions in a complete paragraph of your own words. What was the  main issue relating to Reconstruction that divided Republicans at the end of the Civil War? If you had been a member of Congress at the time, what type of plan for Reconstruction would you have supported and why? There were many different opinions which had divided Republicans at the end of the Civil War. One of these opinions was about the punishment that confederate leaders should receive. Whether the confederate leaders should be punished as traitors or just pay for damages was the main topic of interest. I probably would have supported Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction. They sought a perfect unification of America which was the ideal way to end things. It wasn’t their fault that the plan didn’t work either, if it wasn’t for Lincolns assassination and the Radical Republicans taking the policy from Johnson, all would have been well.

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

No topic - Essay Example The leucocytes involved in inflammatory response are basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils and macrophages along with tissue cells called mast cell. The damaged tissues release chemicals like histamine, kinins and prostaglandins that cause widening of blood vessels and increase in blood flow to site of injury. These chemicals initiate the white blood cells or leukocytes to migrate to injured site that is known as chemotaxis. The inflammatory response can be triggered by exogenous or endogenous agents like complement found in the plasma helps in releasing bradykinin and fibrinopeptides that helps antibodies to fight against the foreign substances. Two types of white blood cells are visible near the injured site, neutrophils are first found that help in avoiding the harmful bacteria from spreading while microphages are seen later to help clearing the damaged area of bacteria or dead cells thereby generating new tissue that reside until the injury is healed completely. 3. Proliferation takes up to four weeks or more depending on the severity of injury, in cases of severe injury the area affected may compose of specific tissue cells and other tissue known as granulation tissue which forms the scar tissue if not removed thereby decreasing the functional ability of tissue. 4. The new cells spread in the injured area try to produce a functioning tissue that might take months or years to develop with proper functioning. Stretching is helpful in strengthening the new tissue during remodeling. Organelles are bodies present in the cytoplasm that tend to serve various metabolic activities within the cells while lysosomes are sac like compartments that contain several enzymes helpful in breaking down harmful cell products, waste materials, cell debris and foreign substances in a phagocytic cell example macrophages and neutrophils. Stroma is the supporting framework of an organ composed of

In what ways can the philosophy and practice of cultural proficiency Essay

In what ways can the philosophy and practice of cultural proficiency offer solutions to unequal health outcomes for Indigenous Australians - Essay Example They still struggle against discrimination in all areas including health and social care. Australia’s Aboriginal population teaches two contrasting truths: â€Å"the crucial significance of culture in people’s lives† (O’Hagan, 2001, p.93), and the cultural insensitivity among those in authority including health care professionals towards minority cultural groups. According to the RACP (2004), the inequality in health status of indigenous populations in Australia is directly related to systemic discrimination. Health inequalities can be corrected only by achieving fundamental changes in the dominant Australian population’s behavior towards Aboriginal people. Ensuring equality in the indigenous groups is vital for the improvement of their health. Thus, â€Å"racist treatment should be recognised as a social determinant of health† (Larson et al, 2007, p.322), leading to inequalities in well-being and protection from diseases. (CSDH, 2008). Together, the conditions of daily life and the structural determinants consisting of distribution of power, income, goods and services, and the consequent unfairness in access to basic amenities such as health care are the major reasons for health inequities among indigenous groups (CSDH, 2008). Appropriate and adequate provisions are required for health care. For example, Kildea et al (2010) state that poor maternal and infant health outcomes can be improved for indigenous populations through an intensive, coordinated strategy to close the gap between the requirement and the provision of facilities to fulfill the requirement. Further, there is a lack of sensitivity to the crucial cultural philosophies and practices of the indigenous groups, with attempts to compel them into the mainstream population, while depriving them of access to basic amenities. Since the health outcomes of the indigenous

Group project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Group project - Assignment Example Sending its customers birthday and gift cards and referring to them by their first names helps in creating a family atmosphere that makes the customers feel appreciated (Tierney & Kuby, 2008). In cases where the airline inconveniences its customers such as delayed flights or lost items, the company is quick to inform the clients and apologise on the spot if need be, in addition, the company also issues free tickets and other bonuses to customers that it has inconvenienced. In the case of delayed flights, the company also keeps the customers busy through a number of activities, which are fun and enjoyable to them. The company has also ensured the quality of their flights is of the highest standards, for instance, in the flights all its seat are made of leather in addition to full size cabins majority of which are fitted with WIFI connectivity, live and video-on-demand TV that are absolutely free to its customers. The safety of flights within the airline is also among its priorities, this is evident from the time that the airline has gone without a major accident. During flights, southwest airline offers free non-alcoholic beverages to its customers with alcoholic ones being offered at a small fee; in addition, it is one of the few airlines in the world that offers Dr Pepper to its customers. The company is also known to give peanuts or pretzels to its clients in all flights in addition to Nabisco snacks. This high quality of customer service has led to the airline being honored for its excellent ratings by the department of transportation; excellent customer ratings are determined by the number of complaints directed towards a certain airline and the lower the number of complaints the higher the ratings for customer satisfaction. Southwest airlines has scored excellently in these ratings with it having the lowest number of complaints since 1987. The company has a reward

The relationship between changing of labor force(total labor number ) Research Paper - 1

The relationship between changing of labor force(total labor number ) and Unemployment rate - Research Paper Example A high population creates a ready labor market that leads to high unemployment rates since people compete for the scarce job opportunities that are available (STOICA, pp.29). Fang and Nie (2014) argue that changes in the American labor market were as a result of the Great Recession that was witnessed in 2007.They argue that the recession adversely affected the supply of the labor market a move that forced the unemployment rates to soar high. The two authors seem to differ with the premises of the researchers whose ideas have been presented among other things. They used the Mortensen-Pissarides model to explain the trend of the American labor market. Researchers agree that high unemployment rates are because of lack of proper transition during employment and retirement. However, they disagree on some factors that have been proposed to contribute to high unemployment rates in the US (Fang and Nie, p.1). Similarly, Hornstein (2013) attributes the 2007 Global Financial Crisis to the high unemployment rates in the United States of America. A majority of citizens were actively involved in the labor market something that had lead to a decline in the unemployment rates. However, due to the recession, most organizations were forced to cut their workforces to control their costs at a time when most of them were experiencing financial challenges. Recession in 2007 caused significant changes in the labor market. Most employees were laid off whereas others were forced to retire prematurely. In addition, employment opportunities were unavailable for fresh graduates. Consequently, the unemployment rates rose sharply during the period. In 2009 unemployment rate, had increased to 10% up from 4% in 2007.Interestingly, although economic recoveries have been made, the situation remains indifferent to the unemployment rate remaining at 7% despite the economic progress that has

Discussion 2 Week 8 Linear Programming Approach Assignment

Discussion 2 Week 8 Linear Programming Approach - Assignment Example For example, in a graphical approach, it has been emphasized that this is most applicable when there are only at most two decision variables. Thus, a graphical approach could be applied with solving for a maximization profit problem (objective function), given two decision variables: producing units of Product A and producing units of Product B (decision variables) with the constraints that these units are to be produced within a time constraint of one week using current labor and materials. Otherwise, when the decision variables are complex, such as that which required producing a set of products (product mix) or a product to be sold in diverse geographical markets in different states in America, for instance (market mix), a computer based approach was noted to be most appropriate since encoding all the variables would be simpler using the Excel application. The more complex the decision variables and the constraints, the more it would be appropriate to use computer-based approach to assist in solving the problem with greater speed and

Company Analysis - Volkswagen Group in Forest, Brussels Essay

Company Analysis - Volkswagen Group in Forest, Brussels - Essay Example The Group’s production unit in Forest, Brussels, is considered as one of the most important production units of the organization. The production process developed in the particular unit is analyzed in this paper. Emphasis is given on the potentials of the Group to reduce this unit’s costs without affecting the Group’s performance or the quality of the products involved. At the same time, the unit’s logistic process is reviewed focusing on the fact that the various parts of the firm’s cars are coming from different places in Europe and are assembled in Brussels to be then sold all around the world. 2. Production process in Volkswagen Group in Forest, Brussels 2.1 Description of the process In order to understand the performance of the firm’s production unit in Forest, Brussels it would be necessary to present primarily the key characteristics of the production unit involved. Then, the production process should be analytically described, as all of its phases. Finally, the phases of the process that are of key value for its success, meaning the cost management techniques and the quality management techniques as used in the specific production unit, should be further analyzed, followed by suggestions as of their potential update or alteration for supporting the increase of the Group’s performance. Volkswagen Group incorporates a high range of brands (see Figure 1, Appendix). This means that the terms of operation of the Group’s production units internationally need to be carefully reviewed, so that delays or failures in regard to the quality of the products (cars) are avoided. In Figure 2 (Appendix) the monthly deliveries of the Group are presented. It is made clear that the orders of customers in... This essay focuses on the examination and the analysis provided by the researcher, on the topic of the production process of a well-known corporation - the Volkswagen Group. The researcher of the essay discusses the processes that are employed in the Group’s production unit in Forest, Brussels. These processes are reviewed and evaluated emphasizing on the effectiveness of unit’s quality and cost management. The essay aims to show that the production processes used by the Volkswagen Group organization are well organized despite the fact that the logistics management of the organization is quite challenging, since the parts of cars are sent to the firm’s unit in Brussels by various places across Europe and have to be assembled so that the finished product is promoted to the European market. It is concluded by the researcher that the firm’s production unit in Forest, Brussels, meets most requirements of a successful production unit. Still, certain changes are required so that the performance of the unit to be standardized in the long term. The evaluation of the effectiveness of a production process is quite important for estimating the current and future potentials of the organization involved. The review of the production process in Volkswagen’s production plant in Brussels has revealed the strengths of the specific process. It is also assumed that the firm’s performance in the global market, as reflected in its financial statements is highly related to the high performance of the production plant in Brussels.

Romeo and Juliet Analysis Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Analysis Essay Throughout life, humans are put to the test and must remain true to themselves and others. In the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Juliet encounters many trials and goes through several experiences. As Juliet goes through many struggles, she continues to remain loyal to her husband Romeo. Juliet remains loyal to Romeo and goes to certain extremes to remain married only to him. Juliet has been promised to marry Paris even though she is already married to Romeo. She is currently with Friar Lawrence and asking him for a way out of her promised marriage. She reasons with him saying, â€Å"’God has joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands’† (4.1.56). The Friar gives her a potion to put her in a death like trance. Later on when she awakes from her trance, she discovers that Romeo has died, she says to herself, â€Å"’O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rest and let me die’† (5.3.174). By gratefully accepting a poison to put her in a death like state, she is desperate and willing enough to be buried in a tomb to wait for Romeo to avoid a wedding. Once Juliet discovers Romeo dead, she is faced with marrying Paris or committing suicide to remain loyal only to Romeo. When she kills herself, she remains only wedded to Romeo. Not only is she loyal with keeping her marriage, she remains loyal when talking about him. Even when Juliet receives disastrous news, she remains true to Romeo. Juliet has just received news of her cousin’s death due to Romeo. She starts to curse him and speak badly of him but then stops and says, â€Å"’blistered be thy tongue for such a wish’† (3.2.99). Even though she is trying to cope with the death of her cousin, she continues to remain loyal to Romeo who has slain her cousin. Romeo murders her beloved cousin, and instead of her being furious at him and continuing to condemn him, she stops and defends Romeo. Rather than Juliet switching where her loyalties lie, she continues to defend Romeo and remains to love him as her husband. Throughout the several trials Juliet faces and undergoes, she perseveres and stays loyal to Romeo. Juliet is willing to go to the extremes, including death, in order to remain loyal to her husband. As she encounters times of sadness, she is able to keep thinking straight and remain faithful to Romeo. With her demonstration of loyalty, she stays committed to Romeo, which sparks other conflicts. Being loyal is required to build trust to help build a lasting relationship through the troubles till death.

The Importance of the Study of Literature to the Christian Essay Example for Free

The Importance of the Study of Literature to the Christian Essay After listening and reading lessons about the importance of the study of literature to the Christian, I agree with the fact that electronic media, mainly television is not valuable to study literature and there are two reasons that can validate my opinion. First of all, electronic media makes the society gets lazier. It is due to the fact that Lesson 2 states when people watch television, everything is done for them. People only use the emotional side of their brain and they do not have to think logically. As a result, people are getting lazier because they just accept without thinking by their own will. Second, people today are becoming reliant upon over using electronics. When it comes to actually hands on learning, people need to think for themselves and form images and then they can totally comprehend. Unlike watching television goes to short-term memory, it goes to long-term memory. For instance, it has always been benefiical for me to learn from reading and mirroring practice. When I was a seventh grader, my history teacher let us watch a documentary about modern history. I was dozing off in the middle of class. Also, during watching the documentary, it was easy to be distracted and let my attention wander. Hence, I could not concentrate on my class material and the memory was lasting no longer. It shows that studying with electronic media is not effective. Consequently, studying through electronic media is not essential to learn literature because society is becoming lazier by the day using electronic media to study and reading allows people to do critical thinking. If people start to realize that they do have choices, people should not have to depend on electronic media, especially television to study. All in all, people can think logically with their own volition and make their own decisions.

Evaluating Change Management and System Implementation

Evaluating Change Management and System Implementation Introduction Rapid growth in the alignment of IT into business process to remain competitive in an unhealthy global market has intrinsic change involved in every aspect of business. To handle these changes the change management is required. In my views change management cannot be defined in a single definition because strategy and acts vary differently based on the project needs. Change management is the integral part of project management. Change management draws expertise decision from the both internal and external factors of an organisation. These plans are fabricated within the project plan and reviewed from time to time. According to Dunleavy et al (1993), it is inevitable for an organisation to manage the emotional up and downs of the people, if there is a massive change under taken by an organisation. According to the recent survey conducted in 2005 by the McKinsey company relieved that only 30% of the change management projects are successful. Dunn CIO of nestle company said (Worthen, B. 2002); Moving to SAP brings the change in peoples working style. It acts like challenging their main beliefs, philosophy, and things which they had perused in the past. And he also says that Change management is the influencing factor of all major IT implementation independent of the software. My views abstracted from my past experience in SAP implementation (two complete life cycles and two support projects) and resume attached in my first blog. System Implementations Huge investments are made system implementation in the industry and it is said to delivery business efficiency as a result. To produce these improvised results there need to be change process involved. Lets consider the example of SAP implementation, these implementations requires the business process reengineering in order to adopt the business to SAP systems. Business process reengineering (BPR) triggers change within the organisation. Implementation methods There are four different implementation methods that are commonly used. They are Big bang all at once Pilot Phased Parallel process Best practice (SAP) In my experience SAP implementation has the first three methods in complete life cycle process. When the company shows the interest towards the SAP then the provider provides the IDES version software to check and make them comfortable with SAP business process. (Pilot method at initial stage after PID). In all the case of my experience ERP implementation happens in a big bang phase but there was one different proposal to go with parallel process and it was dropped because more number of data operators where required to feed both the systems(i/o). When the project moves towards the support phase of the life cycle then the project follows the phased implementation methods. In ECCI the top management decided to Implement ERP to setup a control over the different value chains this triggered the change. ERP implementation in this organisation had a major impact of the work force, so the ITIL framework was followed to handle those change. Request for Change RFC Analysis Change Prioritization Categorize Change Advisory Board Change Schedule Build Test Change Implementation Top management prioritised ITIL framework the most when the BPR was processed. The ERP team analysed the critical factors and consequences towards ERP implementations by carrying out a force field analysis. The driving forces and restrain forces where identified in force field analysis. At the initial stage of the project, there was more number of restraining forces rather than the driving forces. We used a little strategy to trim down the strong points of the restraining forces. E.g. coordination between departments increased by explaining the benefits for each department and how it benefits its process. Other example culture of organisation where managed with the involvement of top management. Force field analysis was a continual process until the equilibrium reached the desired state. During my work I didnt realise it was a Lewins Model of Change, in reality process which we where following was Lewins Model of Change. (Unfreezing, change process and refreezing). In an unfreezing state we found out the elements that can reduce the strength of each restraining forces. Change process, those indentified elements where changed using ITIL framework process. Refreezing state was maintained by a continuous monitoring process. The management in Priya Creations was not flat structure which followed the old classical approach. I was designated a business analyst in this organisation and found various issues relating to organisation structure that affects the performance of the organisation. Top management decided to change structure to flat and a modern structure. It aimed at empowering of employees and fast learning organisation to compete among the competitors. According to Burnes, (2009:100-154), the organisation that follows the Culture-Excellence and becoming a learning organisation will benefit there operational value chain and their strategy. According to Mintzberg et al, (2009), 10 school of strategy define the 10 different values for a modern organisation and how they behave to the success of the organisation. These ten different schools where consider while restructuring the organisation. According to Nicolai,(1997), strategy is the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purpose or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals and defines the range of business the company to pursue, the kind and nature of economy contribution to its customers, employees, shareholders and communities. According to Burnes, (2004), Emergent and planned approach are the two dominant category of organisational change that are generally agreed. He uses the 5 Ps to differentiate planned and emergent approach. In planned approach he describes Strategy as a plan, position and ploy. Strategy as Perspective and Strategy as pattern is described as emergent approach. In my view the emergent change arise spontaneously by a certain task which are not intended or anticipated for developing this change. Planned approach Planned approaches are task that are carried with the intention to trigger the change and planned well ahead. Lewin saw that planned change is principally targeted at operational excellence and human interaction through group outings and social programmes. (Burnes, 2004). Planned change can be easily handled by analysing the internal and external factors. The project team in ECCI has set up a team for the strategic planning process. Objective of that team was to make the project smother in the post go live stage. Team has to analyse various internal and external factors that could affect the process in the post go live. Internal factors were identified using SWOT analysis within the organisation. It determined the strength, weakness, opportunities and threat. The strengths that are identified where TOP Management commitments. High calibre project team. Good technical resources The opportunities that are identified where High competitive advantage with better reports Increase in operational efficiency The weakness that are identified where Skill level of employees Inadequate training The Threats that are identified where Employees reluctant towards change Technology at site Implementation cost External factors were identified using PESTEL analysis within the organisation. It determined the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal. There were some factors like political, economical and environmental didnt have much negative influences towards the post implementation side. Social ECCI is a construction company in which most of people in the site where semi skilled workers. They looked at the software as giant and there data was most crucial inputs for report analysis. Technology The internet connectivity in some of remote site where bad and most systems in site need to be upgraded. Legal SAP charges every company based on the number of user, So the limitation to number of user considered to be a problem. Assigning the authentication access to users was also questionable. Strategy as an evolution and selection of right technique was assigned the corresponding department heads. The operation of these techniques where monitored by the project team. Emergent change According to Carnall (2003), there is common thing that exist among the practitioner and theorists, the magnitude and greater frequency of change has made it less predictable in the recent past. In the present business environment change cannot occur from solitary even environment. (Garvin 1994). Emergent impacts can occur from a change program that is even planned and executed most carefully. Kotters (1996) framework for analysis of change eight steps used for the emergent change in the organisation. He empathised on the stand of staged and sequential approach. His framework looks carefully at all stage of change to avoid the pitfalls and it also go in hand with ITIL framework. (1) Establish a sense of urgency highlighted the needs of the change. (2) Form a powerful high level coalition to guide and lead the changes formed a team who can take a high level decision and act independently. (3) Created a organisational vision for the future. (4) Strategy that Communicate repeatedly and consistently vision to entire organisational structure. (5) Empower people in the organisation to act on the vision Doing the needful to achieve the vision. (6) Planed a visible performance improvement for a short-term. (7) Consolidate improvements and produce more change (8) Institutionalise new approaches Brief the new working process and encouraging the work force adopts the change. According to Burnes (2009:11), Cultural and political process derives the emergent change. The resources and capabilities of the organisation are matched with the opportunities and constraints posed by the business environment. Organisation culture was analysed through cultural web to avoid imbalance in the organisation. According to my experience the culture of the organisation determines the success of the project. It can either be positive or negative effects. If we take any example of ERP implementations, the people attitude towards the Project may vary based on their own benefits. The conflicts can arise based on the personal or cultural value of an organisation. From my experience, (Natarajan, November 27, 2010) the culture in the organisation can be easily managed in a proactive manner. The most of ERP implementation carry out the analysis of the organisational culture before start of the project internally. Johnson Scholes (2008), cultural web model has us to analysis the various aspect of the organisation. This analysis will have great contribution towards the change. From my experience a learning organisation can improvise the work culture within the organisation. An organisation is said to be learning if it convert the tacit knowledge to the explicit knowledge. In ECCI we set up issue log common in a common directory, it helps us in logging all issues thats been generated during implementation and this become a documentation for the further referencing. According to Mintzberg,(1989), Number of change that emerges unrelated to the decisions made by the managers. Therefore the change is not planned. These decisions were made on the basic of organisation behaviour and its environment assumptions. Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. (John Kotter, 1996) According to Mohrman et al,(1995), The style of traditional leadership in the is questioned in the rise of organisational flattening structure and empowerment teams. Self management and self leadership followers emphasizes the development of empowering leadership and suitable for empower leadership. They influence the team by encouraging the creativity, independent actions, team working, self-rewards. (Manz Sims, 2001). In my personal view rational are those who suit into the empowerment leadership. In my view the impact on change management based on The Temperament Matrix (Keirsey, 1987) and representing in terms of percentage. What is Whats possible? What Works Artisans (20%) Rational (40%) Artisans could be a problematic in the initial stage. Once the new process starts they will more productive because they believe on hands on experience. Troubleshooting attitude will encourage them towards the new process as complicity arises. Rationalist could have both extreme impacts (positive and negative) depending on the change impact towards their personal role because they strongly believe in supremacy. Whats Right Guardians (10%) Idealists (30%) Guardians are the derive agents of change. They take the ownership for the process to support the organisation for the change. Idealists acceptance to the change based on stages. They compare the real world entity with the theoretical study. Temperament Matrix In my view the persons who suits into change management based on The Temperament Matrix. What is Whats possible? What Works Artisans Rational Developers/ Executives Functional Heads Whats Right Guardians Idealists Project Manages / support executives Users Temperament Matrix Source: (Natarajan, November 10, 2010) Consultants In my view consultants (Natarajan, November 19, 2010) are the expertises who are brought in to do a specific task for a certain period of time in which the organisation has few or no experts. Consultants have wide knowledge about the specific field and give advice on that subject matter. Consultants can be recruited within the organisation or tie-up with a consultancy company which has a pool of consultants (eg IBM) and decision is left to the top management to decide whether to have internal or external consultants. Psychological thought makes us believe that the consultants are always right and organisation views report more seriously when compared to the internal reports. This is because they are independent variables, so is there is no control of superiors over them because suggest things not implement them and they look things differently. The CONSULT Model CONSULT models reminds me of the life cycle of the consultancy project which is unique for all consultancy projects. The problem with this model is identifying the issues, no of resource and the time line for the project. In my experience consultants life span is where short over a particular project, in which he need to get adjusted to the organisation standards, culture and nature of a job over a short period of time. Understanding the problem depends on the business analyst who does the knowledge transfer and the consultant has to map the business in the IT world. Relationship between clients and consultants Purchase of expertise The task is given by the client and consultant executes the task. Doctor/patient model The task is not given by the client but some information is given in the form of data where the solution should be given by the consultant. Process Consultation Here the problems and the task where indentified together. My experience at ford as a part time consultant. This was high prioritised task, when Process Integration system ford failed to react to one third party applications. The sense of urgency was maintained to handle that task. The ford top management had a serious concern over task as one important application failed. There was short time strategy to resolve within a short period of time. The group of PI consultant from different firms worked under a single team to handle this issue. There was a difference in the opinions, they where shorted out by project manager and the delivery manager. Return on investment (ROI) In my view budget for the IT projects very high, the investors needs to look into the cost which can be incurred certain duration of time. ROI is analysed before start of the project to decide whether every penny spent is worthwhile. (Natarajan, November 10, 2010) Benefits The objectives contribute towards the benefits of the project. Analysing the key benefits will help project team to encourage other members of the organisation towards the success of the project. Benefit realisation will encourage the investors or board of directors and their contribution. Risk The risk can be handled but predicting risk in early stages can prevent damages. Risk analysis relives the dead spots in the project and these should take into consideration while implementing the project. Conclusion Change can be managed if the change process is controlled. The top management strategy and vision towards change should be empowered. References Burnes, B. (2009) Managing Change, (5th Ed), Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Burnes, B. (2004), Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: a reappraisal, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 41 No. 6. Burnes, B. (2004), Managing Change, 4th ed., FT Prentice-Hall, London. Carnall, C.A. (2003), Managing Change in Organizations, 4th ed., FT/Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Dunvely, Patrick and Christopher hood 1993. From old public administration to new public management.  Public Money and Management  14  (3):  9-16. Garvin, D.A. (1994), Building a learning organisation, Harvard Business Review July/August, pp. 78-91. Johnson, Gerry and Scholes, Kevan. (2008).  Exploring corporate strategy. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. 1. Keirsey, D. (1987) Portraits of Temperament (2nd Ed) Del Mar CA: Prometheus Nemesis Kotter, J.P. (1996), Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Manz, C. C., Sims, H. P., Jr. (2001). The new SuperLeadership: Leading others to lead themselves. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Mckinsey Company Organisation Practice, Building Exceptional Leadership Strength, 2005. Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (2009) Strategy Safari : Your complete guide through the wilds of strategic management, (2nd Ed) Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Mintzberg, H (1989) Mintzberg on Management: inside our strange world of organisations, Chicago, Free Press. Mohrman, S. A., Cohen, S. G., Morhman, A. M., Jr. (1995). Designing team-based organizations:New forms for knowledge work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Natarajan, S. (2010-11) CMSI Personal Blog, hosted on Sheffield Hallam University Student Portal. Nicolai J. Foss.. (1997). The concept of corporate startegy.. In: 1Resources, firms and strategies : a reader in the resource-based perspective .. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 52. Breese, R. (2010). Change Management and System Implementation>Learning material > Week 8 > lecture slides > change processes. Retrieved 1 7, 11, from http://shuspace.shu.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=nullurl=/webapps/blackboard/execute/courseMain?course_id=_218582_1 Worthen, B. 2002. Nestles ERP odyssey. CIO Magazine, May 15.

It Has Been Two Years :: Love Letters Dating Email Relationships

Dear Matt, It has been three years since I have last held you in my arms. It is not fair how our years together feel so short lived, yet our time apart feels so long. Thank you for showing me how to number our days. The first time I ever laid my eyes on you, I was captured. It was not the way you introduced yourself or the way you shook my hand, but the look in your eyes that captured my heart. Thank you for showing me that love at first sight isn't just a fairy tale. I was convinced that you were something special. I felt it with every beat of my heart and breath that I breathed. Little did I know how right I was. As time went on we developed a friendship that I thought could only develop over years of knowing one another. Thank you for showing me that friendship cannot be measured by the amount of time spent in one and another's life. You gave me that chance where I was yours and you were mine. In that single moment all my dreams had come true. Thank you for helping me realize that dreams really do come true in real life and not just in books. We had so many wonderful times together. Some of our days were filled with adventure. In those days you brought out a side in me I never thought existed. Thank you for showing me that I too could be daring and adventurous. Then there were days filled with quiet moments. Those days are the ones I've cherished the most. Because, I would think for hours on end about happiness that I never thought that could exist between me and another person. Thank you for showing my happiness. We also had our hard days. There were fights that could have rattled the deepest depths of the ocean. We always recovered. Thank you for showing me how to forgive.

Hawthornes Brilliant Mind Essay -- Literary Analysis

Whenever reading a short story or novel, sometimes many questions pop into the mind wanting to know why the author writes in that particular fashion. In each circumstance, every author has a motivation that fuels them into their writing styles. For Nathaniel Hawthorne, influences came from every direction. Born from a puritan father, Hawthorne was always taught that god was the number one priority in his life. That he should always follow the rules and live without guilt or sin. When his father died at age 4, Hawthorne became increasingly interested in literature and was inspired by Spenser, Bunyan, and Shakespeare (Pennel 2). These authors had a significant influence on Hawthorne’s style as a writer (Pennel 2). For his Puritan heritage and his personal experiences influenced Hawthorne in his short story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† and his novels The Scarlett Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. One of the biggest influences of Hawthorne’s writing was his Puritan heritage. During the late 16th and 17th century, a group of people sought to â€Å"purify† the Church of England of remnants of The Roman Catholic â€Å"popery† left over from Queen Elizabeth’s I reign (Encyclopedia Britannica). The puritan people believed that one must be in convention with god in order to redeem one from one’s sinful condition. Later this reformation was an essential building block when founding colonies in America and establishing the Puritan way of life. Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather father, John Hathorne was a Puritan and was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1630s (Pennel 2). So for Nathaniel Hawthorne, his Puritan heritage can be traced back to one most important people to have settled in America and establish his influence t... ...l about his interesting life. Works Cited Marks, Patricia. â€Å"Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition† Salem Press: p1-10. Literary Reference Center,. Web 8 May 2012 "Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. 152-197. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. Glendale Community College. Web 8 May 2012 Pennell, Mellissa McFarland. Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print Pfister, Joel. The Production of Personal Life. Class, Gender, & the Psychological in Hawthorne’s Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. Print "Puritanism". Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 08 May. 2012 Terence, Martin. Nathaniel Hawthorn. Revised Edition. Boston: Twayne Publishers. 1983. Print

Risk and Return Analyis and Portfolio Management of Indian Automobile Companies

PSG INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL SYSTEMS A PROJECT REPORT On RISK AND RETURN ANALYSIS & PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT Of INDIAN AUTOMOBILE COMPANIES Submitted by, G. Abirami(9UTB02) M. Kamalam(9UTB13) N. Nirupa(9UTB18) P. Srilakshmi(9UTB32) INDEX CONTENTS PAGE NO. Acknowledgement Statement of Problem Introduction: Industry overview Company profiles Objectives Scope & Limitations Literature Review Research Methodology Analysis & Interpretation Findings Suggestions Conclusion Bibliography (i) (ii) 1 1 3 13 13 14 18 20 33 36 37 38 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all we thank the Almighty for having bestowed upon us the sufficient potential with which we are able to complete whatever work we undertake successfully. We feel a heart full of gratitude to our Director Mr. R. Nandagopal for encouraging us regarding all our curricular activities which take place at PSGIM. We also extend our thanks to our co-ordinator Mrs. V. Srividhya for being a constant support throughout and keeping us guided along the right path always. We also wish to thank our teacher for Financial and Management Accounting Mr. P. Varadharajan for having given us this opportunity in taking up this project and for his constant support and guidance throughout the course of the project. We also like to thank our parents who have carved a bright future for us by placing us in such a spectacular and prestigious institution where we could see ourselves as what and as whom we dream to become. May be the last but not the least people to thank are our friends. Thanks is a word not to be shared among friendship but it should be felt for the presence of their soulful support throughout our life. (i) STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Automotive Industry has significantly increased its contribution to overall industrial growth in the country. By 2030 India will be the third largest car market in the world after China and Japan. This coupled by the purchasing power of the ultra rich makes India a top destination for manufacturers of luxury cars Investment by foreign companies in automobiles implies a bright future for the auto industry India. This will lead to the creation of jobs, and a wider range for consumers to choose from. It will also give Indian companies a chance to compete globally for clients. This will greatly benefit the auto component and ancillary industry that will get access to the latest technology and manufacturing practices. According to Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, India is an attractive destination for global auto giants like BMW, General Motors, Ford and Hyundai who were setting base in India, despite the absence of specific trade agreements. Current Scenario On the cost front of Indian automobile industry, OEMs are eyeing India in a big way, investing to source products and components at significant discounts to home market. Overview By 2010, India is expected to witness over Rs 30,000 crore of investment. Maruti Udyog has set up the second car with an investment of Rs 6,500 crore. Hyundai will bring in more than Rs 3,800 crore to India. Tata Motors will be investing Rs 2,000 crore in its small car project. General Motors will be investing Rs 100 crore and Ford about Rs 350 crore. Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors have each announced over Rs 1,000 crore of investment. (ii) ________________________________________ ________________________________________ INTRODUCTION In India there are 100 people per vehicle, while this figure is 82 in China. It is expected that Indian automobile industry will achieve mass motorization status by 2014. Industry Overview: Since the first car rolled out on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1898, the Automobile Industry of India has come a long way. During its early stages the auto industry was overlooked by the then Government and the policies were also not favourable. The liberalization policy and various tax reliefs by the Govt. of India in recent years have made remarkable impacts on Indian Automobile Industry. Indian auto industry, which is currently growing at the pace of around 18 % per annum, has become a hot destination for global auto players like Volvo, General Motors and Ford. A well developed transportation system plays a key role in the development of an economy, and India is no exception to it. With the growth of transportation system the Automotive Industry of India is also growing at rapid speed, occupying an important place on the ‘canvas' of Indian economy. Today Indian automotive industry is fully capable of producing various kinds of vehicles and can be divided into 03 broad categories : Cars, two-wheelers and heavy vehicles. Snippets: The first automobile in India rolled in 1897 in Bombay. India is being recognized as potential emerging auto market. Foreign players are adding to their investments in Indian auto industry. Within two-wheelers, motorcycles contribute 80% of the segment size. Unlike the USA, the Indian passenger vehicle market is dominated by cars (79%). Tata Motors dominates over 60% of the Indian commercial vehicle market. 2/3rd of auto component production is consumed directly by OEMs. India is the largest three-wheeler market in the world. India is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. India is the second largest tractor manufacturer in the world. India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. The number one global motorcycle manufacturer is in India. India is the fourth largest car market in Asia – recently crossed the 1 million mark. 1 Segment Knowhow: Among the two-wheeler segment, motorcycles have major share in the market. Hero Honda contributes 50% motorcycles to the market. In it Honda holds 46% share in scooter and TVS makes 82% of the mopeds in the country. 40% of the three-wheelers are used as goods transport purpose. Piaggio holds 40% of the market share. Among the passenger transport, Bajaj is the leader by making 68% of the three-wheelers. Cars dominate the passenger vehicle market by 79%. Maruti Suzuki has 52% share in passenger cars and is a complete monopoly in multipurpose vehicles. In utility vehicles Mahindra holds 42% share. In commercial vehicle, Tata Motors dominates the market with more than 60% share. Tata Motors is also the world's fifth largest medium & heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer. 2 COMPANY PROFILES ASHOK LEYLAND In 1948, The Company was incorporated on 7th September, at Chennai. The Company Manufacture Comet chassis and Leyland `Tiger' and `Titan' Chassis and Leyland diesel engines. In 1955, the name of the Company was changed from Ashok Motors Ltd. , to AshokLeyland Ltd. in July. Ashok Leyland Motors Ltd. , are the associates Of the company In 2006, Ashok Leyland gets ISO/TS 16949 corporate certification In 2010, Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of Hinduja group, unveiled the Country’s first electric plug-in CNG hybrid bus, HYBUS, at the Delhi Auto show. Company Background Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Hindujas Group Year of Incorporation 1948 Board of Directors: R J Shahaney Chairman / Chair Person D J Balaji Rao Director Ramachandran R Nai Director Shardul S Shroff Director V Sumantran Director Vinod K Dasari Whole Time Director J N Amrolia Executive Director S Balasubramanian Executive Director R R G Menon Executive Director M Nataraj Executive Director Rajive Saharia Executive Director 3 EICHER MOTORS In 1982, The company was incorporated on 14th October, and the Certificate of commencement of business was obtained on 28th March, 1983. It was promoted in the joint sector by Eicher Goodearth Ltd. Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Japan and Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Vikas Nigam Ltd. In 2005, Eicher Motors entered into definitive agreements with TMTL on May 27, In 2006, Eicher Motors Ltd (EML) on Feb 20, announced Mr. Siddhartha Lal as its new Managing Director designate. Eicher joins hands with Wipro to source hydraulic kits In 2007, Eicher Motors Ltd has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company in its meeting held on October 22, 2007 approved appointment of Mr. Rajesh Arora as Company Secretary as well as Compliance Officer of the Company. Company Background: Industry Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Eicher Group Year of Incorporation 1982 Board of Directors: S Sandilya Chairman / Chair Person Priya Brat Director Prateek Jalan Director Siddhartha Lal Managing Director & CEO 4 ESCORTS In 1947, After partition the registered office of the Company was shifted from Lahore to New Delhi. The name of the Company was changed from Escorts (Agents) Pvt. Ltd. , to Escorts Ltd. upon its conversion into a Public company. In 2005, Escorts win . 5-m tractor order from Ghana Escorts Ltd has acquired its Polish joint venture partner, Farmtrac Tractors Europe Escorts' US subsidiary teams up with SAME Deutz-Fahr Italia In 2006, Escort India is set to manufacture tractors in Bangladesh through a Joint venture with the Nitol-Niloy group. Company Background Name Auto Tractors House Name Nand Year of Incorporation 1944 Board of Directors: Rajan NandaChairman and Managing director M G K MenonDirector P S PritamDirector Nikhil NandaJoint Managing Director 5 HERO HONDA In 1984, The Company was incorporated on 19th January, at New Delhi. The Company Manufacture motor cycles up to 100 cc capacity. The Company Was promoted by Hero Cycles (P) Ltd. (HCPL). In 2005, New product launches widen HHML's product portfolio Two-wheeler major Hero Honda on October 5 announced launch of its First scooter ‘Pleasure' Hero Honda rolls out 150-cc motorcycle Achiever. In 2006, Hero Honda announced the launch of two new variants the new ‘Glamour' and ‘Passion Plus' limited edition. In 2007, Hero Honda Motors Ltd. has appointed Mr. Yutaka Kudo as Director and Whole-time Director of the Company in the category of Executive Director w. e. f. April 1, 2007. Company Background: Industry Name Auto 2 & 3 Wheelers House Name Hero Year of Incorporation 1984 Board of Directors: Toshiaki Nakagawa Joint Managing Director Masahiro Takedagawa Non Executive Director Pawan Munjal Managing Director and CEO Takashi Nagai Non Executive Director Pradeep Dinodia Non. Exe. Independent Director 6 HMT In 1953, The Company was incorporated in Bangalore. The Company was converted into a Public Limited Company on May 13, 1977. The main objects of the Company is Manufacturing of the Machine tools, metal forming presses and press brakes, pressure die, casting machines and automatic plastic injection molding machines, automatic plastic injection molding machines. In 1998, HMT International Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HMT, has bagged a Rs. 3-crore order for setting up an Entrepreneur Technical Development Centre (ETDC) at Dakar in Senegal. In 2010, HMT Ltd has informed that Shri Harbhajan Singh has been appointed as Part-time Official Director on the Board of the Company with Effect from January 11, 2010 Company Background: Industry Name Auto Tractors House Name Public Sector Year of Incorporation 1953. Board of Directors: Rajiv BansalDirector S G SridharDirector (Operations) S BehuriaDirector Sourabh ChandraDirector K KipgenDirector Prakash SharanExecutive Director Harbhajan SinghPart Time Official Director 7 MARUTI SUZUKI In 2000, The Company was awarded the Highest Exporter Award in New Delhi. ICRA has assigned `LAAA' rating to the Rs. 200-crore Long-term non-convertible debenture program and `A1+' rating to the Rs. 100-crore commercial paper program of the company. In 2002, The government on May 14, 2002 set into motion big-ticket disinvestment in 2002-03 by announcing a two-stage process to exit from Maruti Udyog Ltd, a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Company. In 2007, Maruti Udyog Limited has informed that Mr. Tsuneo Kobayashi, a Non-executive director, has been appointed as Whole-time Director designated as Senior Joint Managing Director. The Board of Directors in their meeting held on 22nd January, 2007 has approved the above. UTI Bank and Maruti have joined hands for giving car finance. Company Background: Industry Name Auto Cars & Jeeps House Name MNC Associate Year of Incorporation 1981 Board of Directors: R C BhargavaChairman / Chair Person Amal GanguliDirector Keiichi AsaiDirector Osamu SuzukiDirector Davinder Singh BrarDirector 8 TATA MOTORS Tata Motors Limited is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs. 70,938. 85 crores (USD 14 billion) in 2008-09. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the world's second largest bus manufacturer. The company's 24,000 employees are guided by the vision to be â€Å"best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. Established in 1945, Tata Motors' presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over 4 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. Company Background Industry Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Tata Group Collaborative Year Of Incorporation 1945 Board of Directors: Ratan N TataChairman / Chair Person N A SoonawalaDirector R Gopalakri shnanDirector S M PaliaDirector S BhargavaDirector V K JairathDirector 9 TVS MOTORS TVS has been at the forefront in bringing a revolution in the way personal commutation was happening, way back in the 1980s. Beginning with launching a simple, easy-to-use moped for the middle class in India in the 1980s to launching 7 new bikes in a single day (first time in the history of the automotive industry in the world), TVS has often taken the unbeaten path to innovation. The Group's principal activity is to manufacture and sell motor cycles and components. The Group operates in two segments: Automotive Vehicles and Automotive Components. Automotive Vehicles include motorcycles, mopeds, ungeared scooters and three wheelers. The products of the Group include TVS Apache, TVS Scooty, TVS Fiero, TVS Super XL, TVS Victor, TVS Centra, TVS Star etc. It's plants are located at Hosur, Tamil Nadu , Mysore, Karnataka and Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Company Background Industry Name Auto 2 & 3 Wheelers House Name TVS Group Year of Incorporation 1982 Board of Directors: Venu Srinivasan Chairman and Managing director T Kannan Director K S Bajpai Director Prince Asirvatham Director 10 MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA: Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a US $6. 3 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,00,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade and logistics. The Mahindra Group today is an embodiment of global excellence and enjoys a strong corporate brand image. Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world and has made an entry in the two-wheeler segment, which will see the company emerge as a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry. The Mahindra Group expanded its IT portfolio when Tech Mahindra acquired the leading global business and information technology services company, Satyam Computer Services. The company is now known as Mahindra Satyam. Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector is the proud recipient of the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honour. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations list. Mahindra is also one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI checked rating for its first Sustainability Report for the year 2007-08. Company Background: Industry Name Auto -Cars & Jeeps House Name M & M Year of Incorporation 1945 Board of Directors: Keshub Mahindra Chairman / Chair Person Deepak S Parekh Director M M Murugappan Director A S Ganguly Director Anupam Puri Director 11 BAJAJ AUTO Bajaj Auto Ltd. is the largest exporter of two and three wheelers. With Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan, Bajaj manufactures state-of-the-art range of two-wheelers. The brand, Pulsar is continually dominating the Indian motorcycle market in the premium segment. Its Discover DTSi is also a successful bike on Indian roads. 2010 – Bajaj Auto launched a 135 cc Pulsar, priced at Rs 51,000, pushing the Pulsar brand into the mass segment. Company Background: Founder Jamnalal Bajaj Year of Establishment 1926 Industry Automotive 2 & 3 Wheelers Business Group The Bajaj Dominant presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Columbia, Guatemala, Peru, Egypt, Iran and Indonesia. Joint Venture Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan Board of Directors: Rahul Bajaj Chairman / Chair Person Rajiv Bajaj Managing Director D S Mehta Director Shekhar Bajaj Director J N Godrej Director Suman Kirloskar Director 12 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ OBJECTIVES Primary Objective: Construction of optimal portfolio using Sharpe Index Model To analyze the risk and return of Indian automobile companies. Secondary Objectives: To understand the Sharpe's Portfolio Selection Model over the Standardized Index Portfolio called Market portfolio in respect of stock market perations in India. It also involves the estimation of Beta for each potential asset; these estimations are obtained based on past data and using statistical methods in order to obtain future Beta. To understand the current scenario of Indian automobile industry. SCOPE & LIMITATIONS Scope: To get overview outline about the selected Indian automobile company, their performance comparison, market share, potential and their volatility. Serves as a source of information for investors in identifying the risk averse and risk seeking shares (more return and less risk)of selected automobile industry. To get insight about the application of Sharpe index model in risk and return analysis of portfolio management. Limitations 1. Only selected industries in Indian automobile sector. 2. The data obtained and collected are only approximate and not more accurate. 3. Market fluctuations in share price of the selected industries. 4. Application of Sharpie index model alone. 13 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ LITERATURE REVIEW â€Å"The Accounting Review†: Elgers, Pieter T. Murray, Dennis ( Apr 1982) published that a measure of investment risk-the systematic risk of the Sharpe-Linter capital asset pricing model (CAPM)-is now widely employed. The relationship between beta estimates and various accounting risk measures (ARMs) have been extensively studied by accounting researchers, but results have led to different inferences about the usefulness of ARMs. The impact of the choice of market index on inferences concerning the usefulness o f ARMs in explaining and predicting beta is investigated. The association of ARMs and beta tests are always joint tests. Beta reflects the expected co variation between the returns of a given security and those of the market portfolio of all risky capital assets. The market portfolio, however, is not observable. Empirical evidence showed: 1. that the stability of beta estimates over time are quite sensitive to the market index employed, 2. that the ability of ARMs to explain differences among betas for a cross-section of firms is highest when the betas are estimated using the CRSP equal-weighted index, and 3. that the ability of ARMs to improve upon market-based forecasts of beta depends upon the choice of market index and the error metric employed. The Journal of Finance†: Kwan, Clarence C. Y (Dec 1984) published that a simple common algorithm that is applicable to 7 models is suggested for optimal portfolio selection disallowing short sales of risky securities. The 7 models considered are: 1. Sharpe's (1963) single index model, 2. Cohen and Pogue's (1967) multi-index models in diagonal and cova riance forms, 3. Two multi-index models with orthogonal indexes, and 4. Two constant correlation models. The proposed algorithm successfully bypasses the requirement of explicitly ranking securities that is essential in previous research on the topic. Because of this feature, the algorithm is especially useful for the 2 multi-index models with orthogonal indexes where there are problems in establishing a ranking criterion. An illustrative example is provided showing the results of all the iterative steps. It is demonstrated in a simulation study performed on the 5 models with multiple groups that the procedure involved in the search for optimality requires only small numbers of simple iterative steps. Thus, the method can enhance the usefulness of these index models and constant correlation models in portfolio analysis. The Journal of Portfolio Management†: Gressis, N. , Vlahos, G. , Phillipatos, G. C. (Spring 1984) published that the recent establishment of stock index futures markets has opened up a variety of new investment opportunities that should improve the performance of both secondary markets and individual investor portfolios. Trading in stock index futures has been proposed as an effective hedge against investment risk. A technique based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) framework is here developed to identify the profit opportunities of stock index futures trading. With this technique, the systematic risk of a stock index futures contract can be identified for the investor buying on margin, along with the abnormal returns that can be expected from the contract and its equilibrium price. The technique is demonstrated in application to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures. It is shown that the risk of a stock index futures contract declines with the length of the investment horizon. However, the degree of abnormal performance and the deviation of the equilibrium price of the contract from the market price increases with time to maturity. The Journal of Portfolio Management†: French, Dan W. , Henderson, Glenn V (Winter 1985) published that the investment portfolio performance measures based on the capital asset pricing model are examined under ideal conditions that work around the problems that their critics have discovered. These problems include Miss specified independent variables, omitted variables, errors in variables, and unstable p arameters, all of which are basically beta problems. A database is constructed by simulating 60 portfolios or security return series, each containing 3 random variants having their own distribution. Regression analysis results show that winners cannot be distinguished from random performers, and that winners cannot even be labelled as such unless they are remarkably successful. If random noise is the only contaminating factor in performance evaluation, then the 4 currently popular performance measures rank in an internally consistent fashion and rank portfolio performance correctly â€Å"The Journal of Portfolio Management†: Peters (Summer 1985) published that Evidence is presented suggesting that early mispricing of stock index futures was due to market inefficiencies, but that the markets have become more efficient over time. This growing efficiency is the result of more experienced traders and the increasing availability of accurate valuation models. This evidence is derived from a test of market efficiency done using a cost-of-carry valuation model. The test is limited to the Standard & Poor's 500 and the New York Stock Exchange Composite indexes. The theoretical value for each future contract over the period June 1982-December 1983 is computed using data from CE/ICD's ANALYSTICS database. Results indicate that both index futures markets have become more efficient with time. If it is assumed that investors are rational and that expectations of the index value are not considered in valuation, it can further be assumed that dividend stream estimation is the major source of market inefficiency. Portfolio managers can now use index futures for hedging with greater confidence. 15 â€Å"The Journal of multinational financial management†: Javier Estrada and Ana Paula Serra (July 2005) published that the proper identification of the risk variables that explain the cross-section of returns in emerging markets has many and far-reaching implications for both companies and investors. We examine this risk–return relationship by focusing on three families of models, over 25 years of data, and over 1600 companies in 30 countries. We perform a statistical analysis that seeks to identify the variables that should be incorporated into the calculation of required returns on equity, and an economic analysis that seeks to determine the variables that produce the most profitable portfolio strategies. We find rather weak statistical results that prevent us from strongly recommending a given family to estimate required returns on equity. And we find somewhat stronger economic results that show that a variable belonging to our downside risk family, the global downside beta, is the one that has the largest impact on returns when portfolios are rebalanced every 5 years. â€Å"University of Mannheim – Department of Business Administration and Finance† : Alen Nosic (March 6, 2007), published that the determinants of investors' risk taking behavior. We find that investors' risk taking behaviour is affected by their subjective risk attitude and by the risk and return of an investment alternative. Our results also suggest hat consistent with previous findings in the literature objective or historical return and volatility of a stock are not as good predictors of risk taking behavior as subjective risk and return measures. Moreover, we illustrate that overconfidence or more precisely miscalibration has an impact on risk behavior as predicted by theoretical models. However, our results regarding the effect of var ious determinants on risk taking behavior heavily depends on the domain the respective determinant is elicited. We interpret this as an indication for extended domain specificity. In particular with the Markets of Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) coming into effect we believe practitioners could improve on their investment advising process by incorporating some of the determinants we argue to influence investment behavior. † European Journal of Operational Research†: Xiang Li, Zhongfeng Qin, Samarjit Kar (April 1, 2010) published Numerous empirical studies show that portfolio returns are asymmetric, and investors would prefer a portfolio return with larger degree of asymmetry when the mean value and variance are same. In order to measure the asymmetry of fuzzy portfolio return, a concept of skewness is defined as the third central moment in this paper, and its mathematical properties are studied. As an extension of the fuzzy mean-variance model, a mean-variance-skewness model is presented and the corresponding variations are also considered. In order to solve the proposed models, a genetic algorithm integrating fuzzy simulation is designed. Finally, several numerical examples are given to illustrate the modeling idea and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Banking and Finance†: Cheol S Eun, Jinso Lee (April 2010) published that the risk-return characteristics of our sample of 17 developed stock markets of the world have converged significantly toward each other during our study period 1974-2007, and (ii) that this international convergence in risk-return characteristics is driven mainly by the declining ‘country effect', rather than the rising ‘industry effect', suggesti ng that the convergence is associated with international market integration. Specifically, we first ompute the risk-return distance among international stock markets based on the Euclidean distance and find that the distance thus computed has been decreasing significantly over time, implying a mean-variance convergence. In particular, the average risk-return distance has decreased by about 50% over our sample period. We also document that the risk-return characteristics of our sample of 14 emerging markets have been converging rapidly toward those of developed markets in recent years. This development notwithstanding, emerging markets still remain as a distinct asset class. Lastly, we show that the convergence in risk-return characteristics has exerted a negative impact on the efficiency of international investment during our sample period. â€Å"Journal of investment management†, Lisa R Goldberg, Michael Y Hayes (first quarter 2010) published that a practical and effective extension of portfolio risk management and construction best practices to account for extreme events. The central element of the extension is (expected) shortfall, which is the expected loss given that a value-at-risk limit is breached. Shortfall is the most basic measure of extreme risk, and unlike volatility and value at risk, it probes the tails of portfolio return and profit/loss distributions. Consequently, shortfall is (in principle) a guide to allocating reserve capital. Since it is a convex measure, shortfall can (again, in principle) be used as an optimization constraint either alone or in combination with volatility. In principle becomes in practice only if shortfall can be forecast accurately. A recent body of research uses factor models to generate robust, empirically accurate shortfall forecasts that can be analyzed with standard risk management tools such as betas, risk budgets and factor correlations. An important insight is that a long history of returns to risk factors can inform short-horizon shortfall forecasts in a meaningful way. 17 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Sources of data: We selected the companies based on the market capitalisation and for this we referred money control. om from where we sorted out the top ten automobile companies in India based on the market capitalisation value given as of March 1, 2010. Then the opening and closing stock price of the top ten automobile companies for the previous five financial years (2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010) was downloaded from NSE website(nseindia. com). The overall index return price was also downloaded from the same website for the same period. Top ten automobile industries selected based on market capitalisation are: Company nameMarket Capitalisation(Rs. Crore) Tata Motors43,388. 97 Maruti Suzuki 42,705. 24 Hero Honda38,218. 19 Tech Mahindra31,398. 74 Bajaj Auto 27,698. 93 Ashok Leyland 7,183. 83 HMT 6,307. 10 TVS Motor 1,800. 58 Eicher Motors 1,685. 52 Escorts 1,387. 46 Market capitalization (often market cap) is a measurement of the size of a business enterprise (corporation) equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a public company. As owning stock represents ownership of the company, including all its equity, capitalization could represent the public opinion of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in stock valuation. Tools used: We used certain formulae to study on the risk and return of the companies and the portfolio management based on the Sharpe – Index model. The calculations were done in a spread sheet to make it easier. The formulae of the elements used in the spread sheet are as follows: Sum of Individual Stock returns – Ri and Market return – Rm. 18 Stock return – Y and Market return – X: = ((Today’s price – Yesterday’s price) / Yesterday’s price)*100. Mean of stock return – Y? , Mean of market return – X?. Y? = (sum of Y)/ total number of days X? = (sum of X)/ total number of days Standard deviation of Stock return – ? , Standard deviation of market return – ? x. Correlation = Covariance/(? y * ? x) Risk factor ? = Covariance *(? y / ? x) Return indicator ? = Y? – ? (X? ). Unsystematic risk – ? ei?. Cut off point Ci: n Ci = ? m? * ? ((Ri-Rf)? )/ ? ei? ) i =1 n 1 + ? m? * ? ( / ? ei? ) i=1 where , ? m = market variance. Z value = Zi/ ? _(i=1)^n-Zi where, Zi = ? /? ei? ( Ri-Rf)/? – Ci X value = Zi / Z. Tables and bar graphs are drawn for average values of important parameters like ? , ? x, ? y, X? , Y? , for each company for all five years. Outcomes are represented diagramaticaly) A table for all companies’ cut-off point, Z value, X value is also drawn. Population & Sample size: There was a total of about 16 automobile companies registered in NSE website out of which we selected top 10 companies based on the market capitalisation as mentioned before. Total population in NSE = 16. Sample size = 10. (Specific yrs. 2005-2010) 19 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Ashok Leyland Interpretation: Average Stock return Y? is largest during the year 2009(approximately 0. 6) and lowest during the year 2008 (approx. -0. 4). Risk factor ? is more during the year 2010 and low during the years 2006, â €™07, ’08. Highest deviation is seen in the year 2008 and least is seen in 2005. 20 Eicher Motors Interpretation: The company experiences the highest average stock return during the year 2009 (approx. 0. 5) and the lowest during the year 2010(approx. -0. 25). Risk factor ? is below 1 for all the years except 2010. But the average value for the five years stays below 1. Highest deviation is seen in the year 2008 and least deviation one is seen in 2005. 21 Escorts Interpretation: The company has a highest stock return in 2009 and less stock return in 2008. Average stock return is very low which is near to 0. 053. ?eta value is high in the year 2005 and low in the year 2009 and all the beta values are above 1. Deviation is seen high in 2008 and less in 2010. 22 Hero Honda Interpretation: Beta value is seen to be above 1 during the years 2007 & 2010. Average beta value of the company is seen to be below 1. Stock return is high during the year 2009 and negative during the years 2006 & 2007. Deviation is high in the year 2008. 23 HMT Interpretation: The company has a good stock return during the years 2005 and 2010 and negative during the year 2008. The deviation is very much high for the company here. Average deviation of 4. 5 is seen here. Average beta value is more than 1. 24 Maruti Suzuki Interpretation: Stock return is highest during the year 2009 and less during 2008. Beta value is less than 1 after 2007 and more than 1 before 2007. Deviation is large during 2008. 25 Tata motors Interpretation: Stock return is high in the year 2009 and has gone negative in the previous year. Beta value is less 1 from 2007 and >1 in 2005 & 2006. The deviation is more in 2009 and 2008. 26 TVS Motors Interpretation: Stock return high in 2009and very low in 2008. Beta value is less than 1 in all cases than in 2006. Deviation is supposed to be high in 2009. 27 Tech Mahindra Interpretation: The stock return is very high during the year 2006 and very less(negative) during the year 2008. Deviation is almost high for all the years. Average beta value is < 1. 28 Bajaj Auto Interpretation: The company has shown a good stock return of positive value during the years 2009 & 2010. Beta value is less than 1 for all the years. Deviation is high during the year 2008. 9 Table- Summary of Calculations Market return vs. Individual stock return Figure – 1 30 Comparison of Unsystematic risk and cut off points Figure – 2 Systematic Risk Figure – 3 31 Interpretation from Summary of Calculations: Table Figure – 1: HMT has the highest stock return and is greater the market return(about 170) Second comes the Maruti Suzuki followed by Hero honda. (about 150) TVS Motors has the lowest stock return of all the 10 companies and is less than the market return. (about 70) Figure – 2: Unsystematic risk is high for HMT (approx 19) and second Escorts. (approx 18) Hero Honda has the lowest unsystematic risk. (approx 5) Bajaj Auto has the highest cut off point whereas Ashok Leyland has the lowest cut off point. Figure – 3: Escorts has highest systematic risk (approx. 1. 36) HMT has the second higher risk value(approx. 1. 09) Bajaj Auto has the lowest risk value (approx. 0. 65) 32 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ FINDINGS Ashok Leyland: The ? value gives us a stock’s risk profile. Here we can take the average beta value and interpret and comment on the overall risk for the five years taken by the concern. Average beta value = 1 which means it is neither stable nor unstable. It is a neutral share and is expected to follow the market. From the table when we look at the ? value its average value is . 01233 which means that the minimum riskless return is 1. 23%. The company’s earnings from stock investment has reduced in the year 2010. We get a positive correlation value which implies that a 0. 5% in the market return will affect a company’s stock return by 0. 5% in the same direction. Eicher Motors: The company’s earnings from stock investment has reduced in the year 2010 from 2009. Here ? he company expects less volatility and less risk and therefore less returns. These are called defensive shares and will generally experience smaller than average gains in a rising market, will generally experience smaller than average falls in a declining market. From the table the average ? value 0. i6691. The minimum risk free return is 16. 69%. Mahindra is having high risk free rate so it is safe to hold this stock. Correlation value = 0. 44% 0. 44% of change in market return affects the stock return by 0. 44% in the same direction. Bajaj Auto: The return on stock investments is good during 2009 & 2010 when compared to the year 2008. Since beta value < 1. The company expects a stability, less risk and less returns. These are called defensive shares and will generally experience smaller than average gains in a rising market, will generally experience smaller than average falls in a declining market. Alpha From the table the average ? value 0. 24715. The minimum risk free return is 24. 715%. Bajaj is having the highest risk free retun in all the ten companies so it is very safe to invest. Correlation value = 0. 46% 0. 46% change in Rm = 0. 46% change in Ri in the same direction. 35 Summary of calculation: HMT is having high stock return because they are using stock investments efficiently in the business The low cut-off point is good which implies less payback. Ashok Leyland has minimum payback whereas Bajaj has maximum payback. Escorts involves in high risky projects expecting more returns rather Bajaj is not involving in risky projects. SUGGESTIONS Hero Honda is having low risk and high return. So it is good for the investors to invest in this company. (for investors) HMT is taking high risk and provides decent returns. So next to Herohonda, HMT is a good company to invest. (for investors) Bajaj is having a low return at a medium risk so the company have to indulge in risky projects to get good returns in the future. (for company) HMT and Escorts have high unsystematic risk, so they can go for product diversification to reduce the unsystematic risk. (for company) (Product diversification helps the companies to reduce the unsystematic risk because even if they lose in one of the products they can make up their revenues by some other product) Cut off point is the point at which the required rate of return is worth the expense. If it is high then that company is going to take a long time to repay its initial investment. In our case Ashok Leyland will be able to recover the money invested in the project as soon as possible than others. Ashok Leyland might serve as the best company to invest to get their investment back whatever the return may be. Based on the stock return, risk and the cut off point, Herohonda is a good company to invest because they have an optimum return at an optimum risk level. TVS motors has a high cut off point, less stock return at a high risk. They can reduce their risk level, because it might involve large sum of investment. 36 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ CONCLUSION According to our findings we suggest that Hero Honda is the best Automobile company in India to invest and the investment can range up to 42% as per our analysis. Although India has been much discussed in recent years, and has been the recipient of major foreign investment in its automotive industry, it has in many ways not received the attention of the world’s other major developing country, China – but this is about to change. With the world’s second largest and fastest-growing population, there is no denying India’s potential in both economic and population terms and the effect it will have on the auto industry in the years to come. The country is already off to a good start, with a well-developed components industry and a production level of one million four-wheeled vehicles a year, plus a further five million two- and three-wheelers. India also has substantial strength in mass production techniques and is particularly well served in the fields of research and development and software design. Therefore, as always, the question is when will expansion occur and to what level? The implications, market drivers and scope of a future massive Indian vehicle market are covered in the India Strategic Market Profile, a brand-new forecast of Indian automotive and related activity to 2020. 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY Robert A. Strong, year, Portfolio Management, 82-85,123-131. Jeff Madura, 2009, Finance Markets and Institutions, 243-283. Dr. G. Ramesh Babu, 2007, Portfolio Management Including Security Analysis, 577-647. www. nseindia. com www. moneycontrol. com www. springerlink. com www. proquest. com www. sciencedirect. com www. jstor. org www. informaworld. com 38

Management Control System

Coca Cola Goes Small in India The coca-cola company is the number one seller of soft drinks in the world. Every day an average of more than 1 Billion servings of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta and other products of Coca-Cola are enjoyed around the world. The company has the world’s largest production and distribution system for soft drinks and sells more than twice as many soft drinks as its nearest competitor. Coca-Cola products are sold in more than 200 countries around the globe.For several reasons, the company believes it will continue to grow internationally. One reasons is that disposable income is rising Another reason is that outside the United States and Europe, the world is getting younger. In addition, reaching world markets is becoming easier as political barriers fall and transportation difficulties are overcome. Still another reason is that the sharing of ideas, cultures and news around the world creates market opportunities.Part of the company mission for C oca-Cola to maintain the world’s powerful trademark and effectively utilize the world’s most effective and pervasive distribution system. In June 1999 Coca-Cola India introduced a 200-milliliter Coke bottle in Delhi, India, in a campaign to market Coke to its poorest customers. This strategy was successful for Coca-Cola in other countries such as Russia. The bottle sells for Rs. 12, making affordable to almost everyone. In 2001, Coca-Cola enjoyed 25% growth in India including an 18% increase in unit case sales of Coca-Cola.Because of the variability of bottling machinery, it is likely that every 200 milliliter bottle of Coca-Cola does not contain exactly 200 milliliters of fluid. Some bottles may contain more fluid and other less. Because 200 milliliters fills are somewhat unusual, a production engineer wants to test some of the bottles from the first production runs to determine how closely they are to the 200 milliliter specification. Suppose the following data are t he field measurements from a random sample of 50 bottles.Consider the measures of central tendency, variation, skewness. Based on this analysis, explain how the bottling process working? 200. 1 200. 1 199. 7 200. 1 200. 4 199. 6 200. 1 200. 3 200. 2 200. 2199. 9 200. 9 200. 4 199. 4 199. 8 200. 4 200. 8 200. 5 200. 5 199. 5200. 2 200. 1 200. 3 199. 6 199. 9 200. 4 199. 9 199. 9 200. 2 200. 6200. 2 200. 3 199. 8 199. 2 200. 2 200. 6 200. 0 201. 1 199. 7 200. 3200. 0 200. 5 199. 3 200. 2 199. 6 200. 6 199. 9 199. 7 200. 9 199. 8 Management Control System Management Control System Assignment â€Å"Budgeting Preparation† * Budget Preparation Budget preparation is a summary of company's plans that sets specific targets for sales, production, distribution and financing activities. It generally culminates in a cash budget, a budgeted income statement, and a budgeted balance sheet. In short, this budget represents a comprehensive expression of management's plans for future and how these plans are to be accomplished. It usually consists of a number of separate but interdependent budgets. One budget may be necessary before the other can be initiated.More one budget estimate effects other budget estimates because the figures of one budget is usually used in the preparation of other budget. This is the reason why these budgets are called interdependent budgets. * Gudeline of Budget Preparation Operating Budgets An operating budget is a statement that presents the financial plan for each responsibility centre during the budget period and reflects operating activities involving revenues and expenses. The most common types of operating budgets are  expense,  revenue, and  profit budgets Expense BudgetAn expense budget is an operating budget that documents expected expenses during the budget period. Three different kinds of expenses normally are evaluated in the expense budget -fixed,  variable  and  discretionary  (Discretionary expenses – costs that depend on managerial judgment because they cannot be determined with certainty, for example:  legal fees, accounting fees  and  R&D expenses). Revenue Budget A revenue budget identifies the revenues required by the organization. It is a budget that  projects future sales. Profit Budget A profit budget combines both expense and revenue budgets into one statement to show  gross and net profits. Feature article about  Production ManagementProfit budgets are used to make  final resource allocation, check on the adequacy of expense budgets relative to anticipated revenues, control activities across units, and assign responsibility to managers for their shares of the organization's financial performance. Financial Budgets Financial Budgets outline how an organization is going to acquire its cash and how it intends to use the cash. Three important financial budgets are the  cash budget,  capital expenditure budget  and the balance sheet budget. Cash budget Cash budgets are forecasts of how much cash the organization has on hand and how much it will need to meet  expenses.The cash budget helps managers determine whether they will have adequate amounts of cash to handle required disbursements when necessary, when there will be excess cash that needs to be invested, and when cash flows deviate from budgeted amounts. Capital Expenditure Budget Capital Expenditure Budgets ,  Investment in property,  buildings and  major equipment  are called capital expenditure. Such capital expenditure budgets allow management to forecast capital requirements, to on top of important capital projects, and to ensure the adequate cash is available to meet these expenditures as they come due.The balance sheet budget The balance sheet budget plans the amount of  assets  and liabilities  for the end of the time period under considerations. A balance sheet budget is also known as a  pro forma (projected) balance sheet. Analysis of the balance sheet budget may suggest problems or opportunities that will require managers to alter some of the other budgets * Budgeting Process * Behavioral Aspects Actually, an effective budget preparation process blends the two approaches. Budgetees prepare the first draft of the budget for their area of responsibility, they do so within guideliness established at higher level.Senior managers review and critique these proposed budgets. Research has shown that budget preparation where the process in which the budgetee is both involved and has influence over the setting of budget amounts and it has positive effects on managerial motivation for two reasons : 1. There is likely to be greater acceptance of budget goals if they are perceived as being under managers’ personal control, rather than being imposed externally. This will leads to higher personal commitment to achieve the goals. 2. Participative budgeting result in effective information exchanges.The approved budget amounts benefit from the expertise and personal knowledge of the budgetees, where the budgetees have a clearer understanding of their jobs through interactions with superior during the review and approval phase. The budget department has a particularly difficult in behavioral problem. It must analyze the budgets in details, and it must be certain that the budget are prepared properlu and that the information is accurate. To accomplis h the tasks, the budget department sometimes must act in ways that line managers perceive as threatening or hostile.To perform, their function effectively, the members of the budget department must have a reputation for impartiality and fairness. If they do not have this reputation, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for them to perform the task necessary to maintaining the effective budgetary control system. Citation Anthony, R. N. , ; Govindarajan, V. (2007). Behavioral Aspects. In Management Control System (pp. 391-393). New York: McGraw-Hill. How to Prepare Budget. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 02, 2012, from CWA – Communication Workers of America:

Pills to Make You Smarter Essay

The plague of â€Å"smart pills† is rapidly growing throughout the World. Ritalin, Adderall, and Provigil are taking over college campuses and business offices each day. Why ADHD pills though? The answer is that ADHD medication gets into your brain so that you can maintain focus. These pills are called cognitive-enhancing drugs, which means that they access the brain to enhance. However, you have to have a prescription to get the pills. Many people believe that gives people who have prescriptions an unfair advantage in work on campuses and offices. Why should those people be given the ability to focus and concentrate better? I believe as if it is unfair, also. I would like to be able to take a pill that can help me concentrate. A majority of people think the way I do†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Based on government data gathered in 2007, more than 1. 6 million people in the U. S. had used prescription stimulants non-medically during the previous 12 months. That is absolutely insane and it needs to change. People are using these drugs and some may be using it for â€Å"hallucinations† and to get a â€Å"high† but still, a majority of the people use these drugs for strictly concentration purposes. There are still many things that scientists worry about, though. Addiction is a big one. Users can get addicted to Ritalin and Adderall over time, which really causes major concerns. Another concern is health problems. Ritalin and Adderall are not necessarily good for your health. Over time, they both cause health problems. However, many â€Å"over-the-counter† drugs today, cause health problems over time. Therefore, at the end of the day we have Adderall, Ritalin, Provigil, and Donepezil. The medical use for Adderall and Ritalin are stimulants that are part of treatment of ADHD and narcolepsy. However, also effective as an enhancer that increases cognitive performance on certain tasks under conditions of fatigue, may also improve planning and one type of working memory. The medical use for Provigil is a stimulant for narcolepsy and excessive sleepiness because of shift work or obstructive sleep apnea. However, it also serves as an effective enhancer to augment mental focus and better performance on a limited set of cognitive measures, such as recall of long strings of numbers. The medical use of Donepezil is for treatment for the cognitive deficits of Alzheimer’s disease; increases the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to improve cognition. Effective enhancer as it might aid in learning or memory, but overall results are not certain; ay also take several weeks to work. All of these pills act on DNA in a way that triggers synthesis of proteins that strengthen the signaling connection between the glutamate emitting and receiving neurons. A super â€Å"smart† pill that is made up of the basic ideas in each one of these drugs, is in the making right now. Scientists and Pharmacists are working every day to make this drug, but it is very difficult with all of the downsides that Ritalin, Adderall, Provigil, and Donepezil provide. They are trying to find ways to cut out/reduce most of the downsides. If this drug is created, it will be a major win for the scientific world. It will also affect people in my community. If students are able to take this drug, they will be able to apply themselves towards schoolwork with aid from the drug. If students can concentrate, maintain sleep, and remember things, the sky will be the limit. With the aid from the drug, students will be able to achieve anything that they put their mind to and more.