Saturday, August 31, 2019

Immanuel Kant S Moral Theory Essay

Although Kant’s moral theory makes many great points about fairness and equality, the negatives of the theory outweigh the positives. Kant’s moral theory would never be able to function in today’s society. His theory is based solely on always fulfilling your moral duty. Which would be impossible since once someone told a lie or showed emotion everything would fall apart. Due to the fact that everyone wouldn’t trust anyone anymore which wouldn’t end up well. Deontology is defined as the theory of duty. Kant’s moral theory can be categorized as a deontological theory, due to his belief that you have a moral duty to fulfill (Kant 114). Kant believes that all people have intrinsic or inherent value. Which in simple terms mean that we as human beings are held to a higher standard; to know what is right and wrong (Kant 114). Kant states that there are only two principles for an action to be morally right. First, you must have done the action out of the motivation of good will. Kant defines good will as â€Å"To act out of duty, out of a concern and respect for the moral law†(Kant 114). Good will plays a very important role on assessing the moral worth of an action. Kant explains that you can’t just have good will for an action but also you must do the right thing. So without good will you couldn’t determine any action morally right. The second principle is that the action must conform to moral law. If you follow these two Blezien 3 principles the outcome being good or bad is not your responsibility (Kant 113). Moral law is universal and is determined by categorical imperatives. The use of categorical imperatives plays a big role in Kant’s overall moral theory. The first categorical imperative formulation is â€Å" Act only on that maxim that you can will as a universal law† (Kant 116). This categorical imperative applies to everyone and focuses on your thought process before you act on something. You must ask yourself is what I’m about to do something I can approve of others doing on the regular? If you can’t approve of others committing the same act then your action wouldn’t pass the categorical imperative test. Kant’s second formulation is â€Å" Always treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end† (Kant 117). The second categorical imperative applies to your individual self and everyone else. This imperative focuses on how you should always acknowledge everyone’s value and existence. There is never a time where you should use someone or let someone use you. My first time reading about Kant’s moral theory I thought there were only weaknesses. After I spent more time analyzing the theory, I found that there are both strengths and weaknesses. A strength that I found was how Kant really expressed that everyone is to be treated equally. Kant says that since all humans are rational beings that we are all capable of respecting others. This is a strength because with everyone using their moral obligation to treat each other equally things would be a lot easier. People would not only consider themselves before acting on something but they would have to make sure they are Blezien 3 considering the moral thing to do. If this idea of equality were universal and followed by everyone; there would be a lot less violence, depression, and racial tension. Which would leave everyone overall satisfied since everybody is following the moral law. A critical weakness I found in Kant’s moral theory is that he says there is a right and wrong for everything. This is a weakness because; there are many examples where using good will isn’t the best answer. For example when I read that Kant suggested that if a killer comes to your house; and asked where your friend is to kill him you must tell the truth. That seems a little extreme and I have to disagree that would be the best thing to do. Your emotions would sure be going crazy which already makes your answer morally wrong according to Kant. He needs to know where to draw the line and shouldn’t be only on one side. In this paper I have described the basic principles of Kant’s moral theory. I have learned that without having a good will you can never be morally right according to Kant. His categorical imperatives show a lot of fairness and equality, but when it comes down something simple like lying to someone who wants to kill your friend to save your friends life you’re not morally correct. Overall, Kant’s moral theory was very interesting to study how philosophers thought back then. I wonder what Kant would think if he knew how much we let our emotions affect our decisions.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Innovative programs in special education Essay

Special education departments have introduced a variety of innovative programs for children with sensory impairment (deafness, hard of hearing, and blindness). There has been a good deal of success in opening access to regular school experiences to young people with sensory impairments and in educating their peers about the special concerns for children who are deaf and/or blind. There is a considerable body of evidence that innovative programs for teaching reading and spelling skills to children with disabilities should be both multi-sensory and phonic and that this type of teaching can benefit most children in any class at most stages. These are usually programs that are highly structured. They can be seen as essentially free-standing and can form a central element of the overall strategy for teaching children with disabilities. There are many such programs, often they have a slightly different focus, with different types of materials and strategies but they all include multi-sensory element and metacognitive aspects. The range of innovative programs for children with disabilities is impressive, and this work will provide some of the various types of programs and strategies that can be used in special education. Most innovative programs incorporate some or all of the following principles and approaches: multi-sensory; over-learning and automaticity; highly structured and usually phonically based; sequential and cumulative. Multi-sensory methods utilize all available senses simultaneously. This can be summed up in the phrase ‘hear it, say it, see it and write it’. These methods have been used for many years and have been further refined by Hornsby and Shear (1980) in phonic structured programs that incorporate multi-sensory techniques. Over-learning is deemed necessary for children with dyslexic difficulties. The short- and long-term memory difficulties experienced by dyslexic children mean that considerable reinforcement and repetition is necessary. The structured approaches evident in programs of work for children with disabilities usually provide a linear progression, thus enabling the learner to complete and master a particular skill in the reading or learning process before advancing to a subsequent skill. This implies that learning occurs in a linear developmental manner. Although there is evidence from learning theory to suggest this may be the case, there is still some doubt in the case of reading that mastery of the component subskills results in skilled reading. In reading, a number of cognitive skills such as memory and visual, auditory and oral skills interact. This interaction is the key feature; so, it is important that the skills are taught together and purposefully with the practice of reading as the focus. Sequential approaches are usually appropriate for children with dyslexia because it may be necessary for them to master subskills before moving to more advanced materials. Hence a sequential and cumulative approach may not only provide a structure to their learning but help to make learning more meaningful and effective as well. Programs based on the Orton-Gillingham approach have become a central focus for multi-sensory teaching (Hulme & Joshi 1998). The programs offer a structured, phonic-based approach that incorporates the total language experience and focuses on the letter sounds and the blending of these sounds into syllables and words. The approach rests heavily on the interaction of visual, auditory and kinesthetic aspects of language. Orton-Gillingham lessons always incorporate card drills, spelling and reading and usually include activities such as: card drills, word lists and phrases, oral reading selection, spelling of phonetic and non-phonetic words, handwriting, and composition. Once the child has mastered the letter name and sound, the program then advances to introduction of blending the letters and sounds. This begins with simple three-letter words and the child repeats the sounds until the word is spoken without pauses between the constituent sounds. The visual-kinesthetic and auditory-kinesthetic associations are formed by the pupil tracing, saying, copying and writing each word. Reading of text begins after the pupil has mastered the consonant-vowel-consonant words to a higher automatic level (i. e. , when the pupil can recognize and use these words). The initial reading material is taken from the program and contains words the pupil has learnt from the teacher’s manual. The program gives considerable attention to the learning of dictionary skills as well as development of written language from pictographs to ideographs and eventually to the alphabet. The program does appear to be more suited to a one-to-one situation, and it would be difficult to integrate the program within the school curriculum. As in many of the program derived from the Orton-Gillingham approach, the key principles of over-learning, automaticity and multi-sensory approaches are very apparent. In the USA, Morgan Dynamic Phonics have produced a series of phonic programs that focus on user-friendly approaches using the principles of Orton-Gillingham, which includes the use of humor and interaction (Hulme & Joshi 1998). The following programs are based on the Orton-Gillingham method: Alpha to Omega, The Bangor Dyslexia Teaching System, The Hickey Multisensory Language Course, Dyslexia: A Teaching Handbook, Units of Sound. Letterland, developed by Lyn Wendon, consists of many different elements. The materials are extremely useful for teaching reading, spelling and writing, and for developing and sustaining motivation. The programs are internationally renowned, as well over 50 per cent of all primary schools in England and Ireland rely on this program (Gersten, Schiller & Vaughn 2000). Letterland encompasses a number of teaching elements based on recognized and essential components of the teaching of reading. The major elements are: language, with an emphasis on listening, speaking and communicating; phonic skills; whole word recognition skills; sentence awareness; comprehension; reading and spelling connections; and preliminary skills in creative writing. The materials consist of teachers’ guides, wall-charts, code cards, flashcards, wordbooks, cassettes and song- books, photocopiable material, workbooks, games and resources, software, videos, and materials specifically designed for use at home. The program may also be seen as a preventative approach, since it is appropriate for early intervention and may also facilitate the reinforcement of important developmental concepts in learning, such as object constancy. The Letterland system essentially grew out of close observations of failing readers, and the materials reinforce the importance of a reading-for-meaning orientation to print (Gersten, Schiller & Vaughn 2000). Letterland focuses on letters and sounds, and by using pictograms encourages children to appreciate letter stages and sounds, thereby reinforcing both shape and sound of letters and words. Integrated within this, however, are the programs and exercises on whole-word recognition, reading for meaning, spelling and creative writing. Spelling is not presented as a series of rules, but instead through a story approach, focusing on the Letterland characters. Progress through the Letterland program is by a series of steps. These steps can provide the teacher with choice and flexibility, and the program can be implemented to the whole class, in small groups or individually. There are a number of aspects about Letterland that make it useful for some children with specific learning difficulties. These include the use of pictograms— which can be particularly beneficial to the learner with difficulties in phonological awareness and auditory skills. The use of the story approach to reading and spelling that encourages the processing of information using long-term memory is particularly beneficial to dyslexic children whose short-term memory is generally weak. The range of activities incorporating different approaches allows the learner to develop imagination and creativity in the use of letters and words. Other useful aspects include the focus on the context aspects of reading and the use of syntactic and semantic cues. Alpha to Omega is a phonetic, linguistic approach to the teaching of reading and can be used as a program or as resource material. It is highly structured and follows a logical pattern of steps that promote the acquisition of phonological and language skills. There is an emphasis on learning the 44 phonemes from which all English words are composed. These consist of the 17 vowel sounds and the 27 consonant sounds. There is also an emphasis on the acquisition of language structure, focusing on content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and finite words (prepositions and participles). There is, therefore, an emphasis on using words in the context of a sentence. The program provides a highly structured format for the teaching of sentences and for grammatical structure. There are also three accompanying and very useful activity packs designed for different stages. These packs provide appropriate back-up exercises to reinforce the teaching program. There is also an extremely useful program of learning games—before Alpha—that can be used with children under five. These games are in a series of structured stages, are multi-sensory and aim to foster language development and other pre-reading skills such as visual and auditory perception and discrimination, fine-motor control, spatial relationships and knowledge of color, number and directions (Gersten, Schiller & Vaughn 2000). The Hickey Multisensory Language Course recognizes the importance of the need to learn sequentially the letters of the alphabet. The third edition of The Hickey Multisensory Language Coursewas now incorporates aspects of the National Literacy strategy and the requirements of the Literacy Hour. The dyslexic child, however, will usually have some difficulty in learning and remembering the names and sequence of the alphabetic letters as well as understanding that the letters represent speech sounds that make up words. The program is based on multi-sensory principles and the alphabet is introduced using wooden or plastic letters; the child can look at the letter, pick it up, feel it with eyes open or closed and say its sound. Therefore, the visual, auditory and tactile-kinesthetic channels of learning are all being utilized with a common goal. These programs involve games and the use of dictionaries to help the child become familiar with the order of the letters and the direction to go (e. g. , he needs to know that T comes before ‘K’), the letters in the first half of the alphabet and those letters in the second half. The alphabet can be further divided into sections, thus making it easier for the child to remember the section of the alphabet in which a letter appears, for example: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. The Hickey language course includes: activities related to sorting and matching the capital, lower case, printed and written forms of the letters; practicing sequencing skills with cut-out letters and shapes; and practicing positioning of each letter in the alphabet in relation to the other letters (this involves finding missing letters and going backwards and forwards in the alphabet). The course also indicates the importance of recognizing where the accent falls in a word, since this clearly affects the spelling and rhythm. Rhyming games can be developed to encourage the use of accent by placing it on different letters of the alphabet. This helps to train children’s hearing to recognize when a letter has an accent or is stressed in a word. The course includes reading and spelling packs that focus on securing a relationship between sounds and symbols. This process begins with single letters and progresses to consonant blends, vowel continuations and then to complex letter groupings. The reading packs consist of a set of cards; on one side, the lower case letter is displayed in bold with an upper case (capital) letter shown in the bottom right-hand corner in order to establish the link between the two letters. The reverse side of the card indicates a keyword that contains the sound of the letter with the actual sound combination in brackets. Rather than providing a visual image of the keyword, a space is left for the child to draw the image. This helps to make the image more meaningful to the child and also utilizes and reinforces visual and kinesthetic skills. The spelling pack is similar in structure to the reading pack. On the front of the card the sound made by the letter is displayed in brackets, while the back contains both the sound and the actual letter (s). Sounds for which there is a choice of spellings will in time show all the possible ways in which the sound can be made. Cue words are also given on the back as a prompt, in case the child forgets one of the choices. Spelling is seen as being of prime importance by the authors of the program since they view it as an ‘all round perceptual experience’. This process involves over-learning and multi-sensory strategies. The Bangor Dyslexia Teaching Systemis a structured, sequential teaching program developed for teachers and speech and language therapists involved in supporting children with dyslexia. A useful aspect of this program is the division between primary and secondary pupils. Although it is acknowledged that some secondary pupils are still ‘beginning’ readers and need to go through the same initial stages of acquiring literacy as ‘beginning readers’ in the primary school, the program makes some special provision and adaptations for secondary students. This helps to make the secondary material more age appropriate. The basic philosophy of the program is not unlike that of other structured, phonic programs. It focuses on phonological difficulties and the problems dyslexic children have in mastering the alphabetic code. The program attempts to provide children with some competence, at the earliest stage possible, in recognizing and categorizing speech sounds. It is not possible for children to benefit from ‘top down’ language experience approaches to reading if they have not mastered the basic principles of literacy. Some of these principles, which the program for primary aged children focuses on, include: the teaching of basic letter sounds and the structure of words, long vowels, common word patterns, irregular words, alphabet and dictionary skills, grammatical rules and silent letters. The program shares the same principles as that utilized by other similar programs for dyslexic children. It is highly structured and the teacher has to proceed systematically through the program. The aspect of over-learning is acknowledged to be important, and therefore revision of material already learnt occupies an important place in the implementation of the program. One of the difficulties inherent in following the principle of over-learning is the aspect of boredom, which may result from repetitive revision of material already learnt. This program acknowledges that pitfall and suggests ways of overcoming it through the use of games and other adapted materials. The multi-sensory teaching element is also crucial in this program. Some of the exercises attempt to engage all the available senses simultaneously, thus acknowledging the accepted view that dyslexic children benefit from multi-sensory learning. The program also utilizes the particular benefits of mnemonics for dyslexic children as well as the notion of reading and spelling as an integrated activity. Some emphasis is also placed on encouraging dyslexic children to use oral language to plan their work. It is felt that such verbalizations help children clarify their thoughts and planning before embarking on a course of action. The secondary component of the program provides useful advice on dealing with the problem of teaching basic literacy to older students. Some effort is made to ensure that the student is familiar with polysyllabic words in order that the potential for creative writing is not unduly restricted. At the secondary stage the aspect of reading for meaning is of great importance in order to ensure sustained motivation. The Bangor Dyslexia Teaching System acknowledges this and suggests a range of techniques that can help to support the student through the decoding difficulty in order that maximum meaning and pleasure can be derived from the text. Such suggestions include: supplying difficult words; introducing the story and the book’s background and characters; pointing out clues such as capital letters and titles; encouraging fluency by reading from one full stop to the next; omitting words that are difficult, thus encouraging the use of context to obtain meaning; practice; and reading rhymes and limericks that aid sound and syllable awareness. The key principles found in the majority of individualized programs for dyslexic children-multi-sensory techniques, automaticity and over-learning-are all found in the Alphabetic Phonics program. Additionally, the program recognizes the importance of discovery learning. Opportunities for discovery learning are found throughout this highly structured program. The program, which stems from the Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory approach, was developed in Dallas, TX, by Aylett Cox. Alphabetic Phonics provides training in the development of automaticity through the use of flash cards and over-learning through repetitive practice in reading and spelling until 95 per cent mastery is achieved. The program also incorporates opportunities to develop creativity in expression and in the sequencing of ideas. DISTAR (Direct Instruction System of Teaching Arithmetic and Reading) was originally designed for socially disadvantaged children in the USA as part of the Project Follow Through scheme launched by the US government in 1968 (Hulme & Joshi 1998). The program is orientated to achievement in basic attainments and tasks and skills to enhance effective learning. Some of the features of DISTAR include: the transfer of learning from specific examples to general concepts; continual, positive reinforcement to enhance motivation and success; and the monitoring of progress through the use of criterion referenced assessment. In addition to reading skills, the current DISTAR program covers language, spelling and arithmetic. Evaluation studies display impressive progress in attainments among students undertaking the DISTAR program – results that appear to continue through to secondary education. Some criticism, however, has been raised that the teacher’s manual is too prescriptive and places too much restriction on teachers. The focus of the program on transferring skills from the specific to the underlying general task concepts is, indeed, commendable and can make the DISTAR materials a useful resource. Three recent studies trained phonological awareness in children with reading disabilities using the Lindamood Auditory Discrimination in Depth program (ADD), a method that first encourages awareness of the articulation of speech sounds. Two studies used no control groups, but reported good progress for students who had made little progress with other programs. The third study used matched groups of children with severe reading disability at a private school. The control group received the school’s well-reputed program, which included auditory training and strategies for encoding and decoding written symbols. The trained group spent 6 weeks learning ADD before merging it with the regular program. All children improved substantially by the end of the year. The ADD group did not gain significantly more than controls on standardized tests of reading and spelling, although trends favored the ADD group. Compared to controls, ADD children did make significantly greater improvement in the phonetic quality of their errors in spelling and nonsense word reading. Besides being a well-structured phonemic-awareness program, the ADD approach holds theoretical interest because of its strong emphasis on developing concrete articulatory (speech-motor) representations to distinguish phonemic differences. The program includes associating articulatory labels, pictures, letters, and sounds, and using these articulatory concepts in phonological awareness work and manipulating letters and sounds in reading and spelling exercises. This work described some of the innovative programs that may be utilized in special education. The programs are logical and consist of small steps. They also incorporate elements of all the modalities—visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile. Teaching is not only about providing information, but about accessing useful and transferable skills as well—for example, phonological awareness skills can be later transferred and utilized in writing skills. Essentially, the approaches involve thinking about thinking and the learners with disabilities consider how a particular response was arrived at. Children with disabilities is a whole-school concern, and not just the responsibility of individual teachers. Innovative programs require an established and accessible policy framework for consultancy, whole-school screening and monitoring of children’s progress. It is important to consider the rationale for using particular programs and strategies. Within the areas described here of individualized learning, support approaches and strategies, assisted learning and whole-school approaches, there are many effective means of dealing with disability. Therefore, the criteria for selection—the context, the assessment, the curriculum and the learner—must be carefully considered. It is important to link programs and strategies together because, while there are a considerable number of well-evaluated and effective commercially produced programs in special education, it is very seldom that the program can be used by untrained teachers. Even if a program has clear instructions, there is some skill attached to implementing such programs. Therefore, the teacher needs to be aware of strategies that can be used to reinforce the program and to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning that can take place through the use of the program. One of the main challenges facing teachers is the need to find varied approaches to learning that will motivate children and will provide the key elements that the child requires as well. If the child does not respond to a structured program, the teaching program should then be reevaluated. This would help to decide whether it is the most appropriate program to use. It is also important to consider other factors as the child may not be responding because she or he may only need a longer period to achieve the objective of the program. References Gersten, R. , Schiller, Vaughn, S. (2000). Contemporary Special Education Research: Syntheses of the Knowledge Base on Critical Instructional Issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Hulme, C. , Joshi, M. (1998). Reading and Spelling: Development and Disorders. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Hornsby, Shear. (1980). Alpha to Omega. Heinemann Educational Books. London. Lindamood, P. , Bell, N. , & Lindamood, P. (1997). Achieving competence in language and literacy by training in phonemic awareness, concept imagery and comparator function. In C. Hulme & M. Snowling (Eds. ), Dyslexia: Biology, cognition and intervention (pp. 212–234). London: Whur.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Accounting Earnings and Cash Flows

Longreach Ltd has adopted the international accounting standard and the objective of the standard in relation to the impairment of assets is prescribing the procedures to ensure that the assets are carried at not more than recoverable amount. Since the assets are described as impaired under this standard, it is required by the entity to recognize the loss arising from impairment. There are several types of assets included in the entity in both the profit and non-profit organization. Such assets are segmented into various section and those employed for carrying out the current operation are deemed as the current assets (Bevis 2013). Fixed assets on the other hand serves the entity for longer period. An entity may comprised of several intellectual assets other than current and fixed assets such as trademark, copyright assets and many more. It also comprised of assets emerged from the acquisition or due to the growing popularity among consumers are also included along with the goodwill and brand. The organization can increase its revenue by directly employing such assets. There are also intangible assets, which are not physical and cannot be measured in units. In the books of account, such assets are maintained at the amount purchased (Briloff 2013). There is a significant decline in the real value of the assets with the time. The company at the real time value applies impairment and the decreased amount is adjusted in the impairment account. Decline in the value of asset leads to loss, which is viewed as loss due to impairment. There are certain common factors applicable to the numerous assets and several factors influences the asset value. Value of machinery, equipment and several tools is based on the manufacturing capability and usage. It is viewed that the upcoming g production capability of these assets might decrease due to their increased usage in the production (Dechow 2012). The older equipment and machineries decreases in the value and eventually it becomes obsolete because of the emergence of modern machineries and equipment. The value of land gradually increase due to various factors such as over population, new cities emergence and transformation of the locality. Due to the alterations in the choice of consumers and modern technology emergence, the trademark along with the patent right tends to fall in value. Goodwill is falsified in the event of acquiring any acquisition and it serves as an additional value (Gray et al. 2013). The goodwill imbibed in purchasing the assets falls significantly when there is the reduction in the value of the assets. There is need to the financial report as per the requirement of the stakeholders because the stakeholders have different interest over the organization. Government and the accounting standards signifies huge importance in the interest of shareholders. It is desired by the stakeholders that financial reports must represent the true and fair value of the asset and liabilities of the listed companies. Due to the emergence of the modern machineries at the lower price, the market value of the machineries has turned out to be half of the real value cost. There can be the case when the organization has acquired the machinery before five years. If the cost price of certain machinery is presented in the financial report, it would indicate that the asset are overvalued. This would not represents the true and fair value of the assets. Valuing the assets of the organization are considered an efficient investment option by the shareholders (Maas et al. 2016). Shareholders of the company may take faulty investment decision if the shareholders rely their investment decisions on the overvalued financial statements, if the organization does not represents the fair and true value of the assets. The accounting board for gaining the shareholders interest has introduced the impairment concept. Introduction of the government policies and the accounting standards outlines the instruction for the impairment of the assets along with the general financial statements. When the carrying amount of the assets exceed the recoverable amount, it is required to carry out the test of impairment at that time. In the books of accounts of the assets, the carrying amount is recorded. The purchasing cost of the assets represents such amount and it is depreciated in relation to the appropriate technique of depreciation (Huian 2013). The asset fair value can be selected as the amount recovered after all the anticipated expenses of the assets are reduced by the organization. Asset value can be regarded as another recoverable amount. The net cash flow of the entity anticipated to be collected from the assets is referred to as the value. The higher value among the two can be chosen in accordance with the IAS 36. If we consider IAS 36, the loss arising from the impairment is measured by reducing the recoverable amount of assets from their carrying amount (Aasb.gov.au 2017). Since the book value of the asset is reduced, the impairment loss attributed to the respective assets are debited. In addition to this, the maintenance of the accounting amount of the assets has decreased the value. Such impairment loss is adjusted in the income statement in the year-end along with the profit and loss account. The loss is representing as the non-operating loss in the income statement. The overall value of the shareholder is decrea sed if the impairment loss is credited in the revaluation surplus account. In case of the assets that are generally considered as the Cash Generating Units that encompasses the goodwill, which has resulted from the acquisition of the assets. The impairment loss is not adjusted accordingly in this case. The impairment loss can be calculated as per the aforementioned method if the overall value of the cash-generating unit requires being impaired. Moreover, the loss is adjusted with the Goodwill account. In the event of making adjustment with the goodwill, certain amount is left, and then the remaining amount is aligned with the CGU assets (Rappaport 2012). This is relied on the book value of the assets. Aasb.gov.au. (2017). Available at: https://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content105/c9/AASB136_07-04_COMPapr07_07-07.pdf [Accessed 18 Jan. 2017]. Bevis, H.W., 2013.  Corporate Financial Accounting in a Competitive Economy (RLE Accounting). Routledge. Briloff, A.J., 2013.  The truth about corporate accounting. Harpercollins. Dechow, P.M., 2012. Accounting earnings and cash flows as measures of firm performance: The role of accounting accruals.  Journal of accounting and economics,  18(1), pp.3-42. Gray, R., Owen, D. and Adams, C., 2013.  Accounting & accountability: changes and challenges in corporate social and environmental reporting. Prentice Hall. Huian, M., 2013. Stakeholder’s participation in the development of the new accounting rules regarding the impairment of financial assets.  Business Management Dynamics,  2(9), pp.23-35. Maas, K., Schaltegger, S. and Crutzen, N., 2016. Integrating corporate sustainability assessment, management accounting, control, and reporting.  Journal of Cleaner Production. Paton, W.A. and Littleton, A.C., 2012.  An introduction to corporate accounting standards  (No. 3). American Accounting Association. Rappaport, A., 2012. Establishing objectives for published corporate accounting reports.  The Accounting Review,  39(4), pp.951-962. Rennekamp, K., Rupar, K.K. and Seybert, N., 2014. Impaired judgment: The effects of asset impairment reversibility and cognitive dissonance on future investment.  The Accounting Review,  90(2), pp.739-759.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Globalisation - Essay Example Microsoft has been known to possess monopolistic power in the manufacture and market for operating systems for most Personal Computers, in addition to being involved in far-ranging attempts to defend its operating system monopoly through using a wide range of exclusionary practices .Finally, Microsoft activities have been harmful to innovation and by extension to consumers (Eisenach & Lenard,2000). 2. Microsoft’s monopolistic practices are harmful to consumers in that the corporation being the sole provider of operating systems can set practically any price that they want, a process known as price-fixing. Price –fixing can be easily done in spite of demand, since the company is aware that consumers have no choice. Secondly Microsoft can even supply products that are inferior a practice that can further injure the consumers. Thirdly Microsoft’s monopoly kills innovation simply because the company lacks the incentive to innovate and thus fails to offer new as well as improved products; something that makes consumers enjoy what they want and how they want it (Gow, 2007). 3. Companies like Microsoft should be regulated because their dominance can hurt consumers by allowing the corporation to overprice its products in addition to suffocating innovation by competitors, keeping them out of the market fearing demolition by the main player. Microsoft therefore should not be permitted to dominate as it had done before for instance through abusing its operating system through incorporating its own Media Player capable of playing films and music, into its Windows operating system. This practice shut out other competitors such as RealPlayer. Microsoft therefore should be regulated so that other companies can grow and innovate especially in this information economy. 1.One of the most profound experiences I have had of globalisation is with Amazon.com.Amazon.com is the biggest internet-based retail store in America which began as a bookstore

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

A Moral Dilemma Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Moral Dilemma - Assignment Example In addition, education also causes people from different backgrounds to interact and socialize. In this way, education works to promote diversity and intrapersonal understanding among human beings. People from different backgrounds meet and socialize in learning institutions where individuals learn socialization skills, which also enhance problem-solving abilities. From the above perspectives, education is an important aspect of human right that everyone should obtain up to the highest level possible. With regard to the moral dilemma scenario above, the girl was right in making the steps she undertook in various ways. To begin with, education is a fundamental part of life that promotes enlightenment of individuals about world issues (Cox & Klinger, 2004). Education brings about exposure and enables understanding of general environmental concepts unknown to uneducated persons. Adequate understanding of various global concepts is important in fostering and enhancing problem solving and decision-making skills of individual learners (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). The move by the parents to prevent their daughter from continuing with her education in favor of caring for the younger siblings would hamper the girl from gaining the knowledge about various world concepts. Education is an important tool in enhancing individuals’ and social security. Through education, a person is able to gain sufficient self-awareness and self-concept, which are important in enabling nurturing individuals’ relation with the environment and other people (Ungar, 2011). Denying the girl opportunity to continue with her education would compromise the quality of her self-awareness and understanding. Since it was her life and she might have had the desire to relate positively with the environment, the girl had the right to apply every possible technique to persuade her parents let her

Monday, August 26, 2019

Journal Entry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Journal Entry - Essay Example These and many other issues have made it necessary that all stakeholders in the nursing fraternity should seek to be active when it comes to developing health regulations and policies. This is contrary to the existing scenario in which government policy makers and not healthcare professionals are developing them. With the increasing complex landscape of patient care, it is the role of the nurses and nurse leaders to devise measures of providing the required care. This is because nurses are the healthcare professionals who execute all the roles required to foster faster and better recovery of patients. Additionally, they spend the most time beside patients’ beds. One of the major ways of addressing this is by implementing the all-round foci as taught in nursing school that range from preventive care, patient communication, improving efficiency, cost containment, and more importantly preventing relapse and costly returns to healthcare institutions by the patients. In a nutshell, the nurse can only be able to implement such if they become active in developing health policies and regulations since they understand the patients’ needs and welfare than do the federal and state bodies. The landscape of patient care is expanding and varying rapidly, and efficient strategies such those m entioned can only be identified and customized for the good of patients if healthcare professionals are allowed the necessary support and freedom. Nurses should take up the challenge of being politically active because it is a sacrifice required to bring a better healthcare system into existence. Political skills are required in addition to energy, time, will, and resources of power. One way to become politically active is by providing first-person perspectives on matters healthcare by highlighting the impacts that certain regulations, bills, or decisions are bound to affect the healthcare fraternity. This includes patients and

Illegal Immigration in the European Union Essay

Illegal Immigration in the European Union - Essay Example The Maastricht treaty of 1992 created what is known as the ideology of the European citizens, the aim of this treaty was to incorporate the national identities of the citizens of the EU into a European identity without reducing the importance of the national identity of the citizens. The Amsterdam treaty of 1999 gave the citizens of the European Union the right to vote and also to participate in the elections for the European parliament. The Amsterdam treaty granted human rights to the citizens of the EU and this led to the creation of European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. It was in the Tampere summit in 1999 that it was decided that there would be certain rights and laws for dealing with the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. It was at the Tampere summit that it was decided that illegal immigration would be fought against using certain measures that would ensure that the illegal immigrants would be investigated quickly and hence the major goal of this paper was to send back the illegal immigrants to their country of origin as soon as possible. ... Canary Islands is an archipelago that is a part of Spain and it lies west to the African continent and is located at a close distance from morocco though the journey might look very easy but it is a very difficult one especially when the means of transport is not a very stable one. In 2005 around 4500 people entered the Canary Islands through the sea route but in 2006 the number almost grew 6 times when the number of illegal immigrants reached the figure of almost 31000. About 6000 migrants went missing or died and only 5000 people were intercepted by the coast guards. This led the then Canary Islands president to ask the centre for help with the issue of illegal immigrants by setting up a committee to address the problem which he describes as 'critical'. Aden martin, the then president of the canary islands, asked not only thy kingdom of Spain for help but also asked the EU to play its part in controlling this situation because he saw this not as a threat only to the canary islands or Spain but as a threat to a whole of Europe because once the illegal immigrants got through to the canary islands they could pretty much move through the whole of Europe freely as they were no check points because of the relaxation in visa policies for the whole of the European bloc. The problem as illustrated above is indeed quite critical because of the staggering number of people that have been trying to make it to Europe through the canary islands not only risk their lives and more than 10,000 people have already lost their lives but they also pose a threat to every party involved economically and due to the large numbers there are no facilities intact currently to deal with them that leads to the problem of crossing the line with respect to human rights issues and accommodation and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Critical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Critical Analysis - Essay Example Predatory pricing is one such strategy that is being used by business organizations across the globe. Predatory pricing involves a strategy in which a firm sells its products at lowest possible rates below the offerings of all the competitors so as to grab the market share of the competitors on the basis of competitive pricing (Denger, American Bar Association & Section of Antitrust Law, 1991, p.3-3). This use of this strategy by business organizations to gain market share and take care of the competition in the market has been questioned by numerous authors and various academic and professional circles. The aspect has been so serious that governments across the world have set up competition policies and also appointed watchdogs to supervise and monitor the competitive strategies so as to maintain a healthy competition in the consumer market. Individuals in favour of predatory pricing state that pricing is an integral part of a company’s unique selling proposition and hence fr eedom must be given to ensure fair balance in the market. It is also in coherence with the free market policy that seeks equal opportunity for all and survival of the fittest. Proponents’ however have slammed this move by stating that predatory pricing ultimately does not help customers in the long run but leads to closure of firms that generates unemployment that can have drastic effects on the total economic scenario of a market. The present study would undertake a critical analysis of the aspect of predatory pricing so as to analyse the actual implications and the pros and cons of this increasingly popular business strategy adopted by corporate across the world. Focus The aspect of predatory pricing has been a subject of debate among academic and professional circles. An article by Gundlach & Guiltnan (1998) states that predatory pricing is an unethical aspect that does not being any benefits in the market. They have argued that a marketer indulging in predatory pricing st rategy tends to reduce the price of the product or service in an attempt to maximise its market share by eating away a chunk of the market share of its competitors. Predators however on the achievement of their objectives of either dislodging their competitors or after gaining a significant market share tend to again increase the prices. Ultimately the customers bargaining power gets considerably reduced in the process. The dislodgement of competitors from the market gives a monopolistic power to the predator that is against the rules of competition and ultimately leads to unhealthy market situation. The authors have stated that the predatory pricing as a competitive strategy has been quite unsuccessful in the past and courts have also pronounced verdicts in famous cases like Brooke thus affirming the faith that predatory pricing is perhaps a negative strategy that has no ultimate benefit to any section of the society or the business world (Gundlach & Guiltnan, 1998, p.884). The vie ws of Gundlach & Guiltnan (1998), however have been refuted by authors like Bolton, Brodley & Riordan (No date) as they have stated that predatory pricing is an integral part of a business strategy of an organization and competing on the basis of cost is normally an outcome of a business’s efficiency to provide products at low prices due to certain organizational efficiency. The authors have slammed the views of critiques advocating the court legislations on cases like Brooke where they have pronounced verdic

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Best Holiday Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best Holiday - Essay Example Judy and Alex are the customers of the travel agency. They are married couple and want to go for honey moon trip. Best Holiday is a very well reputed travel agency. It offers special discounts to customers. The agency has good reputation for offering detailed tour packages to customers. Judy and Alex felt that they do not need to worry about anything regarding their honey moon trip. Apart from special discounts the agency provides different offers to its customers. All the facilities are available with the travel agency. This is one more reason for choosing the travel agency (Smith, 2014). As it is a honey moon trip for Judy and Alex, so they have chosen Paris as the honey moon destination for them. It is one of the most exotic honey moon destinations in the world. Transportation is a very important part of any trip. In case of this honey moon trip transportation will play a significant role (Archer and Syratt, 2012). Best Holiday will create a hassle free transportation experience for the honey moon couple. The agency has booked the air ticket for Judy and Alex (Kotler, 2008). The honey moon couple will travel by AIR FRANCE flight. Judy and Alex will start their journey on 25th July 2014. They will return on 27th July 2014. The flight will take off from Heathrow airport at 6.20 am and it will reach Paris airport at 9 am. It will take two hours and forty minutes to reach Paris from London. Flight charges for each person will be  £149. For the both occasions, AIR FRANCE will be the airliner for the couple. The agency is set to offer good transportation experience to the honey moon couple which will prepare an appropriate honey moon mood for Judy and Alex. Accommodation is the nerve centre of any trip. Here the importance of accommodation is very significant because it is a honey moon trip. The agency will arrange accommodations for Judy and Alex in hotel Marriott, Paris. It is one of the most beautiful hotels in Paris. The hotel

Friday, August 23, 2019

A report based on analysing data from a survey of service quality at a Essay - 1

A report based on analysing data from a survey of service quality at a University Sports Centre - Essay Example ed with the service they receive from one point, they may switch to other places where they will get the expected satisfaction (Bloemer and Kasper, 2013). This means a lot to service providers in ensuring that they provide services that meet the service expectations of their users and therefore lead to service satisfaction. According to Williams & Buswell (2013), service satisfaction is mostly attained when there is high level of service quality in the service provided. To this end, service providers have used various means to measure and evaluate the extent of quality in the service they provide. One of these is the use of the data collection instrument known as SERVQUAL (Ndubisi, 2012). In this paper, the outcome of one such instrument is subjected to critical analysis. SERVQUAL is an instrument that seeks to give a quantitative description to the level of service quality that prevails within a given service setting (Bluestein, Moriarty and Sanderson, 2013). For this paper, the emp hasis is on the outcome of service quality among students using a sports facility at a University. Generally, the questionnaire used can be commended for its quantitative approach. As it has been stressed already, this was necessary in quantifying quality and satisfaction, which otherwise would have remained highly relative and subjective to individual differences (Newman, 2011). Meanwhile, the use of quantitative measures has been praised as highly innovative ways by which empirical outcomes are achieved with various research findings (Wirtz and Bateson, 2012). The reason this is said is that most of the outcome with quantitative measures such as percentages, means and standard deviations are things that have a common universal interpretation. In effect, the interpretation to the outcomes of a study always remains the same no matter where it is taken to for analysis. With this said recommendation that will be made for improvement on the questionnaire has to do with the number of areas

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Origin Of Money And Banking Essay Example for Free

The Origin Of Money And Banking Essay Origin of Money. Origin of Banking Money did not develop spontaneously at the same time across the world. It has evolved and developed gradually over the past 5,000 years   till it develops into the various forms in which we now know it today. It has assumed different unfamiliar shapes, structures, recognized in certain objects   in whatever communities where it had been used as a medium of exchange before transforming into the present universally acceptable coins, bank notes, and now the â€Å"cashless society† where credits can be accessed with mere presentation of plastic cards, or use of telephone to obtain money from a bank. Indeed the origin of money and banking had come a long way, and this is exactly what this paper is out to explore. According t, Gly Davies, (2002),   Money originated very largely from non-economic causes: from tribute as well as from trade, from blood-money and bride-money as well as from barter, from ceremonial and religious rites as well as from commerce, from ostentatious ornamentation as well as from acting as the common drudge between economic men.   [1] The barter system is the system that has sustained mankind before the evolution of money. But this was discarded because of its complexities and inconveniences.   So the use of money developed out of deeply rooted needs for a more convinient medium of exchange and to some extent customs; the clumsiness of barter provided an economic impulse but that was not the primary factor. The evolution of money had seen it taken different nature, various forms of tools and objects. For example, various precious metals had been accepted and used as money in primitive communities, Also, cowrie shells obtained in some island in the Indian Ocean. In the words of Davies (2002) quoted above, . So important a role did the cowrie play as money in ancient China that its pictograph was adopted in their written language for money.[2] Even in most communities in West Africa used this medium of currency until the recent times. In Nigeria, the cowrie was in use till even the recent decades. Also in China, disc shaped stones were used, and this is known as yap. In variuos other communities in objects like sheep, goat, cattle, manillas, and whale teeth were once used as money. China and some European countries had also produced metal coins in some other forms of objects like spade, hoe, and knives, and they had long been accepted as currencies in their communities. Most archeologies suggested that coins and metal money evolved at the end of the second millenium. The same time that the European coins evolved too. The ancient Greeks used iron nails as coins. Even Julius Ceasar had to taunt the primitive Britons as backward for using sword blades as coins. The invention and modernization of money makes trading and commerce easier. With money, all prices can be expressed in the same way, in terms of how much money is needed to buy the product. The unit of money becomes the measuring stick of value, or what economists call the standard of value. With money, making choices, becomes easier. ORIGIN OF BANKING. According to the account of   Benjamin Bromberg, (1942), he traced the origin of banking to ancient Babylon, in the city of Mesopotamia, where the royal palaces and temples provided safety and security for keeping grains and other commodities. Receipts were issued for all such goods deposited. Even private houses got involved in such banking operations that laws regulating their activities was included in code of Hammurabi.[3] Also, in Egypt, the centralization of state warehouses also led to a ststem of banking. In the view of morris Jatrow (1911), It is believed that the temple is the first bank in the whole world. It has noble existence for about four thousand years. However, its exact financial record did not date beyound the reign of Sabuis (1884-1831)[4] The kept record of payment of tithes, and every revenue from other cities. [1] Davies, Gly . History of Money. From the Ancient Times to the Present Day. Cardif: University of Wales Press. 2002. Pp. 36. [2] Ibid. Pp 36. [3]Benjamin Bromberg,   The Origin of Banking: Religious Finance in Babylonia. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 2, No. 1 (May, 1942), pp. 77 [4] Jastrow Morris, Aspects of Religious Believe and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria. New York: Princeton Publishers. 1911. Pp 277.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Macbeth Essay Macbeth is a play that is written by William Shakespeare, who is a famous poet and playwright. William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is a tragedy. The earliest account of its performance was from 1606. Tragedies contain distressing events that involve the main character or characters. These types of plays usually contain the death of a liked character or the main character or characters. Macbeth’s genre is a tragedy due to some of its themes. One theme of the play that portraits a tragic event is the theme of ambition. This is where Macbeth gets the idea of being king, but for him to become king he kills multiple times by committing a murder himself or getting others to kill on his behalf, like with the killing of King Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her child, which are tragic events due to death. The other theme is prophecy where the supernatural exists with the three witches, who give the prophecy to Macbeth about him becoming king, and that’s where Macbeth’s ambition starts, which turns into evil and also leads to tragic events. There is also the theme of reality that shows a tragic event as this leads to the death of Macbeth. Due to his belief in his own invincibility and he is killed by Macduff. A Greek philosopher called Aristotle said that all tragedies must have these characteristics: a man of high social standing, experiences a downfall, because of the flaw it is revealed only as a result of a tragic action of the narrative. Macbeth fits Aristotle characteristics by its structure of the play. It fits the characteristics by this: rising action of exposition is the very begging at the play. The complication, which is the witches’ prophecy, that leads to the rising action of the murders of people in the play. The climax is when Macbeth is the king. The falling action followers by Macbeth kills more to retain his title of king and Lady Macbeth dies and the catastrophe which is where Macbeth gets killed due to his ambition turning evil, and the resolution which is where Malcolm becomes king. The structure fits Aristotle characteristics as Macbeth the man with high social standing, experiences a downfall, which is the climax of killing for his ambition, which then, leads to a result of tragic action of which Macbeth the main character is killed. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses different types of language like verse, which is written as poetry. Most of it is blank verse and rhymed couplets. He also uses prose, which is everything that is not in poetry. In the play, Shakespeare uses a blank verse, which has ten syllables with five stresses in each line. Shakespeare uses rhymed couplets in Macbeth to let the audience know it’s the end of a scene due to the fact the theatres in the 16th and 17th century did not have curtains or lightening effects like ours today due to show the end of a scene. In Macbeth act 2 scene 3 Malcolm says at the end of the scene. â€Å"But shift away: theres warrant in that theft. Which steals itself, when theres no mercy left† Here is a rhyming couplet as the pairs of line rhyme by the words theft and left, by this rhyming couplet signals the audience and actors back then that it is the end of the scene. Macbeth also has prose language in the play. Shakespeare uses prose for those characters that have comic and low statuses, as the prose structure does not have a formal structure of poetry and it can mean many manners of ideas. In Macbeth prose is used when Lady Macbeth is sleep walking in Act 5 scene 1 when she says â€Å"Yet heres a spot. † The use of prose here shows Lady Macbeth is ill and going mad by her losing her high status as she speaks in prose which is normally used by low status characters. Macbeth also uses paradox in some of his lines like with the witches saying at start in scene 1 act 1, â€Å"Fair is foul, foul is fair†. This quote from Macbeth is where the witches are saying things are not what they seem, but Macbeth writes the line differently than that in paradox, which is when it contrasts itself. Therefore, it makes the line more interesting to listen to, and it get us the audience to think more what is being meant, as it can be very ambiguous. The meaning of this line is more embraced, as it does seem things are not what it seems when the line is paradox. In Macbeth there is a lot of imagery text like with metaphors, which are something, called something else like with this quote Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell: Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace†. This is when Malcolm describes Macbeth as a fallen angle, which implies Macbeth is perfect, and cannot do wrong and shows Malcolm thinks very highly of Macbeth. When Shakespeare uses metaphors it gives a great image to the audience, as you can see it gives us a better picture of what Malcolm feelings are of Macbeth. In Macbeth imagery text is used by similes as well, which is something is described as something else like here, â€Å"And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before. This is where the floating danger which Macbeth see in front of him turn bloody and the simile describes the blade as â€Å"dudgeon gouts of blood† which says it has lots of blood on it. When Shakespeare uses similes it gives a powerful image of what something looks like as the blade give the image of loads of blood rather than just a bit. Also Shakespeare uses personification in Macbeth which is something is described as human like â€Å"Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak. Here the environment is being described like humans saying the stones move and the trees speak which is give a very unusual image to the audience but make them more engaged to watch and listen. Macbeth is a play that is loosely based on events in the past in the year of 1040-1057 in Scotland. The events are based on a real person called Macbeth, who ruled as king in Scotland in 1040-1057. He did overthrow the previous king Duncan. The real Lady Macbeth was a granddaughter of another king, who was actually murdered by king Duncan’s grandfather. Malcolm and Donald Bain were sons of King Duncan, with Malcolm becoming king after the death of Macbeth. You can see Shakespeare’s play had the similarities of the past with the some of the character names and their position like the real Macbeth became king after Duncan who died who was king previously, but the difference is that there was no murder of King Duncan in the past like there is in the play. But I think Shakespeare would have got the idea of murder of Duncan by the real Lady Macbeth’s grandfather who was killed by the real King Duncan’s grandfather. The audiences of 1606 who watched the play would have been shocked of the death of Macbeth in the play as they see him in war and succeeding, they see him being loyal to the king, and that he could have been seen as a hero. However, when he turns evil by killing for his ambition to come true he is seen as villain in some audiences eyes, but they also see him die. This would shock the audience as their hero turned into evil and died. This may make the audience think whom they can actually trust; especially the king would at that time have been King James, in case the same happened to him like King Duncan in the play. King James of Scotland would have seen Macbeth and I think his thoughts of the play may have shocked him. It would have shocked him as he would have empathised with king Duncan, and when he see him getting killed by what he had believed to have been a loyal friend, this would of worried him. King James would rethink his loyal friends, and would have been cautious in case a loyal friend would kill him as King Duncan was killed. The witches at the start of the play would have affected the audiences as in 1611; witchcraft was seen as real and very scary, so this would have attracted the audience’s attention and spooks them a bit. In England at 1563, there were laws placed against witchcraft by Queen Elizabeth. In 1603 queen Elizabeth died, and when the play was performed I think the first scene of the witches would have irritated some people due to the fact that it was disrespecting their previous queen Elizabeth’s law against witchcraft. I think some audiences may have thought Shakespeare was a witch of some sort, for writing witchcraft into his play Macbeth, which may lead to people to think his plays was good though witchcraft was being used to write them. I also think male audiences in 1606 would have been offended by Lady Macbeth overruling and controlling a man in the play which is Macbeth, when she orders him to kill King Duncan. In 1606 women were lower and that men were leaders and were not suppose to be controlled by women. But in the play it shows Lady Macbeth controlling Macbeth which I think may made male audiences angry, for seeing a women controlling a man. I think women audiences in 1606 would have been shocked by Lady Macbeth controlling of Macbeth, as this was not reality for them. I think this play may have offended women by the fact that Shakespeare’s character Macbeth did what a women told him to do and ended up being killed, which could imply the message do not listen to women as it turn out bad. Today’s audience of men or women would not be offended by the play of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as there is equal rights today between both genders, and that women can tell a man what to do as this is reality these day. As well audiences today would not be spooked by the witchcraft scenes as people today do not believe in witchcraft due to science proving a most of it wrong. Nevertheless, I do think the death scene of killing of Macduff’s son would have offended both audiences. A scene of a child being killed is chilling for both audiences of today and in 1606. The first scene that I will analyse that guides the audience to a tragic event is the one which is Macbeth’s soliloquy, act 2 scene 1. In this scene Macbeth imagines a dagger floating towards Duncan’s chamber where he is sleeping. Macbeths talks to himself saying â€Å"is this a dagger, which I see before me? â€Å" Macbeth cannot believe what he is seeing and questions himself. Before this scene Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to commit murder by killing the king Duncan. This scene results in the murder of king Duncan who was a noble, great king. The language in the quote asks a question with the question mark and the word â€Å"is†, Macbeth here is imagining a dagger, which the audience could not see due to no props, so with Macbeth questioning himself shows the audience that Macbeth is imagining something. The audience listening to Macbeth question himself would put them on edge, as they would see a person having a strange hallucination in front of their eyes. The question Macbeths asks is rhetorical, as he does not expect an answer as he talking to himself. With Shakespeare using a rhetorical question here I think it helps the audience understands Macbeth is seeing something in his imagination. If this scene was staged with Macbeth more in a panic, worried and scared rather than just confused when imagining the dagger, this would make audiences more disturbed I think, and would have caused them to share some of the emoion of macbeth. Macbeth‘s character could have even cried during this scene which would have shown more emotion of fear. The audience would perceive the character of macbeth as frighted and much more hesitant to commit murder and therefore would have felt sorry for him at one point. The second scene that i will analyse that guides the audience to a tragic event is the one which features the killing of Macduff‘s child, which is in Act 4 scene 2. Before this scene happens, you have Macbeth ordering for Lady Macduff and her child to be killed. At the end of the secne the son is killed, with murderers following Lady Macduff to kill her as well. The child says to his mother which is Lady Macduff â€Å"He has killed me, mother: Run away, I pray you! â€Å". Here the child is shouting to his mother to run, so she does not get killed. The language shakespeare uses here is quite emotive. For a start the boy is shouting as by the exclamation mark, this will get the auidence attention from watching the play as its more dramatic. Its also dramatic by the words â€Å"pray youâ€Å" as the boy is asking God for her safety. This makes the audience upset here becuase as the boy who is himself doomed, does not want his mother to die, which we know it is going to happen. Its quite emotive as the boy shows affection for his mother and not wanting her to be murdered, this give the audience strong feeling of sadness. The way this scene is staged is that Lady Macduff runs off set with the murderers following her. It would be much more upsetting for the auidence to watch her be killed in front of her son. Audiences watching this scene would now have seen macbeth as even more evil as they have now watched another murder which he ordered to be committed. The most chilling scene for myself would have been the murder of Lady Macduff and her child, as i think its upsetting for seeing a child being killed. I think that Macbeth is greedy and evil has he had his ambition come true for others missfortune which i think is greedy, and doing murder of a innocent child is just plain evil in my opion. Overall i think the play macbeth has a good, easy to follow story line.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Capital structure and approaches to capital structure

Capital structure and approaches to capital structure It is defined as the mix or proposition of a firms permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preference stock, and common stock equity. Capital structure theory suggests that firms determine what is often referred to as a target debt ratio, which is based on various tradeoffs between the costs and benefits of debt versus equity. The term capital structure refers to the percentage of capital (money) at work in a business by type. Broadly speaking, there are two forms of capital: equity capital and debt capital. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks and a substantial part of wise corporate stewardship and management is attempting to find the perfect capital structure in terms of risk / reward payoff for shareholders. This is true for Fortune 500 companies and for small business owners trying to determine how much of their startup money should come from a bank loan without endangering the business Lets look at each in detail: Equity Capital This refers to money put up and owned by the shareholders (owners). Typically, equity capital consists of two types: 1) contributed capital, which is the money that was originally invested in the business in exchange for shares of stock or ownership and 2)  retained earnings, which represents profits from past years that have been kept by the company and used to strengthen the  balance sheet  or fund growth, acquisitions, or expansion. Many consider equity capital to be the most expensive type of capital a company can utilize because its cost is the return the firm must earn to attract investment. A speculative mining company that is looking for silver in a remote region of Africa may require a much higher  return on equity  to get investors to purchase the stock than a firm such as Procter Gamble, which sells everything from toothpaste and shampoo to detergent and beauty products. Debt Capital The debt capital in a companys capital structure refers to borrowed money that is at work in the business. The safest type is generally considered long-term bonds  because the company has years, if not decades, to come up with the principal, while paying interest only in the meantime. Other types of debt capital can include short-term commercial paper utilized by giants such as Wal-Mart and General Electric that amount to billions of dollars in 24-hour loans from the capital markets to meet day-to-day working capital requirements such as payroll  and utility bills. The cost of debt capital in the capital structure depends on the health of the companys balance sheet a triple AAA rated firm is going to be able to borrow at extremely low rates versus a speculative company with tons of debt, which may have to pay 15% or more in exchange for debt capital. Other Forms of Capital There are actually other forms of capital, such as  vendor financing  where a company can sell goods before they have to pay the bill to the vendor, that can drastically increase return on equity but dont cost the company anything. This was one of the secrets to  Sam Waltons success at Wal-Mart. He was often able to sell Tide detergent before having to pay the bill to Procter Gamble, in effect, using PGs money to grow his retailer. In the case of an insurance company, the policyholder float represents money that doesnt belong to the firm but that it gets to use and earn an investment on until it has to pay it out for accidents or medical bills, in the case of an auto insurer. The cost of other forms of capital in the capital structure varies greatly on a case-by-case basis and often comes down to the talent and discipline of managers. SEEKING THE OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE Many middle class individuals believe that the goal in life is to be debt-free. When you reach the upper echelons of finance, however, that idea is almost anathema. Many of the most successful companies in the world base their capital structure on one simple consideration: the cost of capital. If you can borrow money at 7% for 30 years in a world of 3% inflation and reinvest it in core operations at 15%, you would be wise to consider at least 40% to 50% in debt capital in your overall capital structure. Of course, how much debt you take on comes down to how secure the revenues your business generates are if you sell an indispensable product that people simply must have, the debt will be much lower risk than if you operate a theme park in a tourist town at the height of a boom market. Again, this is where managerial talent, experience, and wisdom comes into play. The great managers have a knack for consistently lowering their  weighted average cost of capital  by increasing productivity, seeking out higher return products, and more. To truly understand the idea of capital structure, you need to take a few moments to read Return on Equity: The DuPont Model  to understand how the capital structure represents one of the three components in determining the  rate of return  a company will earn on the money its owners have invested in it. Whether you own a doughnut shop or are considering investing in publicly traded stocks, its knowledge you simply must have. Question on our minds: Can the total valuation of a company (debt+equity) and the cost of capital be affected by changing the financing mix. The imperfections in the market play a vital role in the valuation of a company. This data is of utmost importance to the suppliers of capital. Changes in the financing mix are assumed to occur by issuing debt and repurchasing common stock or by issuing common stock and retiring debt. Example 1. Assume a company whose earnings are not expected to grow and which pays out all of its earnings to its shareholders in the form of dividends. All kinds of market imperfections are not considered in the current example, for simplicity in calculations. We are concerned mainly with 3 different rates of return. The first is The yield on companys debt, ki = = The second rate of return that we are concerned with is ke = = With our assumptions that the firms earnings are not expected to grow and which has a 100 percent dividend payout, the firms earning per price represents the market rate of discount that equates the present value of the perpetual stream of expected constant future dividends with the current market price of the common stock. The third rate to be calculated is ko = = These 3 different rates of return affect the amount of financial leverage, which is the debt to equity ratio. ko is defined as the overall capitalization rate of the firm. It is designed as the weighted average cost of capital, and can also be expressed as ko = ki [] + ke [] Calculating A Companys Capital Structure Review your companys most recent financial statements to find all of the capital components. Highlight all of the debt of the company and the equity (including common and preferred shares, capital contributions and retained earnings). Add up the total debt and equity It will be equal to your companys assets on the balance sheet because the debt and equity is what paid for those assets. Your capital structure is the percentage that each funding source represents of your companys total funding. Lets look at an example. Lets say you have the following capital components: bank loan $176,500, retained earnings $54,300, common stock $12,500. That makes your total capital $243,300. To calculate your capital structure, take the dollar amount of each capital source and divide it by the total capital. In the above example, the bank loan is 72.5%, retained earnings 22.3%, capital stock 5.2% for a total of 100%. Monitor your companys capital structure over time. Debt tends to be the most expensive source of capital and, over time, you will determine the most effective blend of debt versus equity financing for your particular situation. Calculating your actual capital structure will allow you to track how closely you are following your ideal capital structure. Factors Affecting Capital Structure The factors that affect the decisions taken regarding capital structure can be divided into three major types: Internal Factors External Factors General Factors INTERNAL FACTORS Cost of Capital The cost of capital is the cost of the companys funds. It consists of debts and equity. When a company raises funds for its operations there are certain costs involved. When decisions regarding the capital structure are taken, managers ensure that the earnings on the capital are more than this cost of capital. In general, the cost of borrowing capital is less than the cost of equity capital. This is because the interest rate on loans and borrowings is less than the dividend rates and also the dividends are a function of the companys profits and not expenditure. Risk Factor When decisions regarding capital structure are to be taken, the risk factors considerations are an important issue. If company raises its funds through debts, the risks involved are of two types: The company has to repay the lenders in a fixed time period and at a fixed rate, whether or not the company makes profit or goes into loss. The borrowed capital is secured capital. Hence, if the company fails to make the payments, the lenders can take possession of the companys assets. If the company goes for funds through equity capital there are minimum risks. As the dividends are an appropriation of the companys profits, if it does not make any profit, it is not obliged to make the payments. In contrast to debt capital, here the company is not expected to repay its equity capital. And also the equity capital is not secured. Control Factor When additional funds are to be raised, the control factors are very essential in deciding the capital structure of the company. When a company decides to issue further equity shares the control of the company may be at stake. Hence, it may not be acceptable to its shareholders and owners. This factor is not vital in case of debt financing, except when financing institutions stipulate the appointment of nominee directors in the Board of Directors of the company. Objects of Capital Structure Planning They are- Maximize profit of the owners Issue transferable securities Issue further securities in a way that does not dilute the holdings of the present owners EXTERNAL FACTORS General Economic Conditions: If the economy is in the state of depression, equity funding is considered as it involves less risk. While, if the economy is booming and the interest rates are forecasted to fall, debt funding is given preference. Interest Rate Levels: If the interest rates are high in the capital market, equity funding is preferred until the interest rate levels fall down. Policy of Lending Institutions: If the terms and policies of the financing institutions are rigid and harsh, debt financing should be ignored and equity financing should be tapped. Taxation Policy: The government has taxation policies which include corporate taxes as well as individual taxes. The government includes individual taxes on both borrowings as well as dividends. Also income tax deductions are offered on interests paid on borrowings. All these factors have to be considered while planning capital structure. Statutory Risks: While planning Capital Structure, the statutory risks given by the Government and other statutes are to be considered. GENERAL FACTORS Constitution of the company: If the company is private limited, the control factors are essential while if the company is public limited, the cost factors are essential. Characteristics of the company: Companies which are small and in the early stage have weak credit standings and bargaining capacity, hence they have to rely on equity financing. While big companies have strong credit standings and they can source their funds from borrowings with acceptable interest rates. Stability of earnings: The companies which have stable earnings and the risks involved are less, go for debt funding as they can handle the high risk factors. While companies whose earnings are forecasted to be fluctuating, usually go for less risky equity funding. Attitude of the Management: For a company with conservative management, the control factor is more important, while a company with a liberal management considers the cost factors to be more important. Approaches to Capital Structure Net Operating Income Approach Traditional Approach Net Income Approach Modigliani Miller Approach Net Operating Income Approach David Durand proposed the net income approach to capital structure. This approach looks at the consequence of alterations in capital structure in terms of net operating income. Under this approach, on the basis of net operating income, the overall value of the firm is measured. Therefore this approach is identified as net operating income approach. The NOI approach entails that: Largely the value of the firm does not depend on the degree of leverage in capital structure and hence whatever may be the change in capital structure the overall value of the firm is not affected. In the same way, the overall cost of capital is not affected by any change in the degree of leverage in capital structure. The overall cost of capital is independent of leverage. Under the net income approach, the overall cost of capital is unaffected and remains constant irrespective of the change in the ratio of debts to equity capital when the cost of debt is less than that of equity capital whereas it is assumed the overall cost of capital must decrease with the increase in debts. How is this assumption justified? With the increase in the amount of debts the degree of risk of business increases. As a result the rate of equity over investment in equity shares thus on one hand the WACC decreases with the increase in the amount of debts; on the other hand cost of equity capital increases to the same tune. Therefore the benefit of leverage is mopped away and the overall cost of capital remains at the same level. In other words there are two parts of the cost of capital. Interest charges on debentures. The increase in the rate of equity capitalization resulting from the increase in risk of business due to higher level of debts. OPTIMUM CAPITAL STRUCTURE This approach suggests that whatever the degree of indebtedness of the company, market value remains constant. Despite the change in the ratio of debt to capital in the market value of its equity shares remains constant. This means that there is no optimal capital structure. Each capital structure is optimal in approach of net operating income The market value of the firm is determined as follows:   The value of equity can be determined by the following equation and   The Net Operating Income Approach is based on the following assumptions: Example: ABC Ltd., is expecting an earnings before interest tax of Rs.1,80,00,000 and belongs to risk class of 10%. You are required to find out the value of firm % cost of equity capital if it employs 8% debt to the extent of 20%, 35% or 50% of the total financial requirement of Rs. 90000000. Solution Statement showing value of firm and cost of equity capital   20% Debt 35% Debt 50% Debt Earnings before interest tax EBIT ($) 18000000 18000000 18000000 Overall cost of capital 10% 10% 10% Value of firm (V) = EBIT Cost of Capital{EBIT/Cost of Capital} 180000000 180000000 180000000 Value of 8% debt (D) 18000000 (20% ÃÆ'- 90000000) 31500000 (35% ÃÆ'- 90000000) 45000000 (50% ÃÆ'- 90000000) Value of equity (V D) 162000000 148500000 135000000 Net profit (EBIT Interest) 16560000 (18000000 1440000) 15480000 (18000000 2520000) 14400000 (18000000 3600000) (Cost of equity (Kc) 10.22% 10.42% 10.66% (Net profit/value of equity) ÃÆ'- 100 (16560000/ 162000000) ( 15480000/ 148500000) ( 14400000/ 135000000) It is apparent from the above computation that the overall cost of capital value of firm; re-constant at different levels of debt i.e., at 20%, 35% and 50%. The benefit of debt content is offset by increase in the cost of equity. The overall cost of capital (k0) remains constant and can be verified as follows: Overall Cost of Capital k0 = kd   (D/D+S) + Ke   (S/D+S) 20% Debt K0 =   $4,00,000/$40,00,000   ÃÆ'-8% + $36,00,000/$40,00,000 X   10.22% = 0.008 + 0.092 = 0.10 or 10% 35% Debt K0 = $7,00,000/$40,00,000   ÃÆ'-8% + $33,00,000/$40,00,000 X   10.42% = 0.014 + 0.0859 = 0.0999 Or 10% 50% Debt K0 = $10,00,000/$40,00,000   ÃÆ'- 8% + $30,00,000/$40,00,000 X   10.66% = 0.02 + 0.07995 = 0.0995 or 10% Traditional Approach Traditional approach is a  middle-way approach between net operating income approach the net income approach. According to this approach: (1) A best  capital structure  does exist. (2) Market value of the firm can be increased and average cost of capital can be reduced through a prudent manipulation of leverage. (3) The cost of debt capital increases if debts are increases beyond a definite limit. This is because the greater the risk  of business  the higher the  rate of interest  the creditors would ask for. The rate of equity capitalization will also increase with it. Thus there remains no benefit of leverage when debts are increased beyond a certain limit. The cost of capital also goes up. Traditional Approach Thus at a definite level of mixture of debts to equity capital, average cost of capital also increases. The  capital structure  is optimum at this level of the mix of debts to equity capital. The effect of change in  capital structure  on the overall cost of capital can be divided into three stages as follows; First stage In the first stage the overall cost of capital falls and the value of the firm increases with the increase in leverage. This leverage has beneficial effect as debts as debts are less expensive. The cost of equity remains constant or increases negligibly. The proportion of risk is less in such a firm. Second stage A stage is reached when increase in leverage has no effect on the value or the cost of capital, of the firm. Neither the cost of capital falls nor the value of the firm rises. This is because the increase in the cost of equity due to the assed financial risk offsets the advantage of low cost debt. This is the stage wherein the value of the firm is maximum and cost of capital minimum. Third stage Beyond a definite limit of leverage the cost of capital increases with leverage and the value of the firm decreases with leverage. This is because with the increase in debts investors begin to realize the degree of financial risk and hence they desire to earn a higher rate of return on equity shares. The resultant increase in equity capitalization rate will more than offset the advantage of low-cost debt. It follows that the cost of capital is a function of the degree of leverage. Hence, an optimum  capital structure  can be achieved by establishing an appropriate degree of leverage in  capital structure. Net Income Approach This approach states that, the cost of debt and the cost of equity do not change with a change in the leverage ratio(when D/E changes), due to which it is observed that there is a weakening in the cost of capital as the leverage increases. The cost of capitalcan be calculated by the use Net income approach; weighted average of cost of capitalcan be explained by the following equation; http://lh6.ggpht.com/cemismailsezer/R4_ZkNJ-ThI/AAAAAAAAADY/RZYaGVynnUw/image%5B5%5D where: Ko: average cost of capital Kd: cost of debt Ke: cost of equity B: market value of debt S: market value of equity As we know that cost of debt is less than cost of equity (Kd http://lh6.ggpht.com/cemismailsezer/R4_ZlNJ-TjI/AAAAAAAAADo/de5aDk2tbUo/image%5B8%5D The Net Income Approach assembles the investment structure of the firm which has a major influence on the value of the firm. Therefore, the use of control will change both the worth of the organisation cost of capital. Net Income is exploited in approaching the market value that firm possesses. In this analysis Ka decreases when the D/E ratio increases as the proportion of debt, cheaper source of finance, increase in the capital structure vice versa. Assumptions of net income approach the perception of risk is not altered by the use of liability for the investors; as a result, the equity capitalisation rate i.e. ke, and the debt capitalisation rate kd, remain constant with changes in leverage The debt capitalization rate is less than the equity capitalization rate The corporate income taxes are not considered. Numerical example: Assume that a firm has an expected annual net operating income of Rs.2, 00, 000, an equity rate, ke, of 10% and Rs. 10, 00,000 of 6% debt. The value of the firm according to NET INCOME approach: Net Operating Income NOI 2, 00,000 Total cost of debt Interest= KdD, (10, 00,000 x .06) 60,000 Net Income Available to shareholders, NOI I 1, 40,000 Therefore: Market Value of Equity (Rs. 140,000/.10) 14, 00,000 Market value of debt D (Rs. 60,000/.06) 10, 00,000 Total 24, 00,000 Note: The cost of equity and debt are respectively 10% and 6% and are assumed to be constant under the Net Income Approach Ko = Kd (D/V) + Ke (S/V) = 0.06 (10, 00,000/24, 00,000) + 0.10 (14, 00,000/24, 00,000) = 0.025 + 0.0583 = 0.0833 or 8.33% Modigliani Miller (MM) Approach Assumptions of the MM Approach Capital market is perfect. It is so when: Information is freely available Problem of asymmetric information does not exist Transaction cost is nil There is no bankruptcy cost Securities are fully divisible 100% payout ratio Investors and managers are rational Managers act in interest of shareholders Combination of risk and return is rationally chosen Expectations are homogenous Equivalent risk class No taxes Investors can borrow in personal A/C at same terms of firm. Proposition I Value of the form is equal to the expected operating income divided by discount rate appropriate to its risk class. It is independent of capital structure i.e. where, V = Market Value of the Firm D = Market Value of the debt E = Market value of the equity O = Expected Operating Income r = Discount rate applicable to risk class to which firm belongs Proposition I is almost similar to the Net Operating Income Approach. MM used arbitrage argument to prove this approach. MM argues that identical assets must sell for same price, irrespective of how they are financed. Arbitrage Process If the price of a product is unequal in two markets, traders buy it in the market where price is low and sell it in the market where price is high. This phenomenon is known as price differential or arbitrage. As a result of this process of arbitrage, price tends to decline in the high-priced market and price tends to rise in the low-priced market unit the differential is totally removed. Modigliani and Miller explain their approach in terms of the same process of arbitrage. They hold that two firms, identical in all respects except leverage cannot have different market value. If two identical firms have different market values, arbitrage will take place until there is no difference in the market values of the two firms. Example: Let us suppose that there are two firms, P and Q belonging to the same group of homogenous risk. Firm P is unlevered as its capital structure consists of equity capital only Firm Q is levered as its capital structure includes 10% debentures of Rs.10,00,000 According to traditional approach, the market value of firm Q would be higher than that of firm P. But according to M-M approach, this situation cannot persist for long. The market value of the equity share of firm Q is high but investment in it is more risky while the market value of the equity share of firm P is low but investment in it is safe. Hence investors will sell out equity shares of firm Q and purchase equity shares of firm P. Consequently the market value of the equity shares of firm Q while fall, while the market value of the equity shares of firm P will rise. Through this process of arbitrage therefore, the market values of the firms P and Q will be equalized. This is true for all firms belonging to the same group. In equilibrium situation, the average cost of capital will be same for all firms in the group. The opposite will happen if the market value of the firm P is higher than that of the firm Q. In this case investors will sell equity shares of P and buy those of Q. Consequently market values of these two firms will be equalised. Proposition II MM Proposition II states that the value of the firm depends on three things: Required  rate  of return on the firms assets (ra) Cost of debt of the firm (rd) Debt/Equity ratio of the firm (D/E) An increase in financial leverage increases expected Earnings per Share (EPS) but not share prices. Proposition II states that an expected rate of return of shareholders increases with financial leverage. Expected ROE is equal to expected rate of return on assets plus premium. The formula for re is: re = ra + (ra-rd)x(D/E) Implications of Proposition II- rd is independent of D/E and hence re increases with D/E. The debt crosses an optimal level, the risk of default increases and expected return on debt rd increases. Limitations of MM Approach- Leverage irrelevance theory of MM is valid if perfect market assumption is correct but actually it is not so. Firms are able to pay taxes and investors also pay taxes. Bankruptcy cost can be very high. Managers have their own preference of a type of finance. Managers are better informed than shareholders i.e. asymmetry of information exists. Personal leverage is not possible to be substitute of corporate leverage. 100% payout ratio is not possible normally. Analysis of Companies TVS Motors: TVS Motors hold one of the top ten two wheeler manufacturer and number three positions in Indian market, with turnover of $1 billion in 2008-2009 and is the flagship division of TVS group which is of worth $4 billion. TVS Motors manufactures wide range of two wheelers ranging from two wheelers for domestic use to two wheelers for racing. Manufacturing units are located at Housar and Mysore Himachal Pradesh Indonesia Has production capacity of 2.5 million units per year with strength in design and development TVS has recently launched 7 new products. Till now TVS has sold more than 15 million two wheelers and has employed 40000. TVS motor is the only Indian company to win Deming award for quality control in 2002. TVS Network spans over 48 countries. Particulars 2007-08 (in crores) 2008-09(in crores) OPERATING INCOME 45.31 121.08 INTEREST ON DEBT( I) 11.47 64.61 EQUITY EARNING 33.84 56.47 COST OF EQUITY (Ke) 4.13% 4.21% MARKET VALUE OF EQUITY 819.37 1341.33 COST OF DEBT (Kd) 1.72% 7.13% MARKET VALUE OF DEBT 666.34 905.98 VALUE OF FIRM 1485.71 2247.31 COST OF CAPITAL (Ko) 3.05% 5.39% WACC Calculation: For 2007-08 WACC= weke + wdkd We = E/(D+E) Wd = D/(D+E) = 1/(1.84) x 0.413 + 0.84/(1.84) x 0.172 = 0.2284 +0.078 = 3.051% For 2008-2009 WACC= weke + wdkd We = E/(D+E) Wd = D/(D+E) = 1/(2.11) x 4.21 + 1.11/(2.11) x 7.13 =1.995 +3.750 = 5.75% Hero Honda: Hero Honda Motors Limited is largest and most successful two wheeler manufacturers in India and it is India based. Hero Honda was a joint venture between Hero group and Honda of Japan till 2010 when Honda sold its entire stake to Hero. In 2008-09 Hero Honda sold 3.7 million bikes with 12% growth rate and captured 57% of Indian markets share. Hero Honda Splendor is worlds largest selling motorcycle sold more than 1 million units in 2001-03.C:UsersAAdityaDesktopindex.jpg In December 2010, the Board of Directors of the Hero Honda Group have decided to terminate the joint venture between Hero Group of India and Honda of Japan in a phased manner. The Hero Group of India would buy out the 26% stake of the Honda in JV Hero Honda. Under the joint venture Hero Group could not sell into international markets and the termination would mean that Hero Group can exploit global opportunities now. Since last 25 years the Hero Group relied on their Japanese partner Honda for R D for new bike models. So there are concerns that the Hero Group might not be able to sustain the performance of the Joint Venture alone. WACC calculation: For 2007-08 WACC= weke + wdkd We = E/(D+E) Wd = D/(D+E) = 1/(1.07)x34.73%+0.07/(1.07) x 8.33% = 33% For 2008-09 WACC= weke + wdkd We = E/(D+E) Wd = D/(D+E) = 1/(1.04)x32.41%+1.04/(1.04)x10.20% = 31.55% Particulars 2007-08 (in crores) 2008-09 (in crores) OPERATING INCOME 1201.96 1367.77 INTEREST ON DEBT( I) 13.76 13.47 EQUITY EARNING 1188.22 1354.3 COST OF EQUITY (Ke) 34.73% 32.41% MARKET VALUE OF EQUITY 3421.25 4178.65 COST OF DEBT (Kd) 8.33% 10.20% MARKET VALUE OF DEBT 165.18 132.05 VALUE OF F