Salem society Essay Example for Free

Salem society Essay Salem, a small town in Massachusetts consisted of puritans whose lives were strongly based around religion. They were all afraid of being accused of heresy and were suspicious of other religious sects. Their religious fanaticism ruined innocent lives. The story is set in 1692 and starts with all the young girls in the town creeping into the forest one night and dancing and casting spells. Dancing was related to the Devil and therefore was designated a crime. Two of the youngest girls were taken ill the next day. They were Betty, the reverend Parris daughter as described in the introduction i. e. Betty Parris, aged ten, is lying on the bed, inert. , and Ruth, Mrs Putnams only child, described by Parris when he says: Your Ruth sick? The girls were spotted dancing and were declared witches. To clear their names and protect their familys reputation which was very important, the girls accused innocent women in the village, of compacting with the Devil and these accusations were believed. All the villagers were expected to conform to a strict code of belief. They were expected to attend Church every Sunday and if they didnt it was considered a crime against God. For example, Hale says to John Proctor: In the book of record that Mr Parris keeps, I note that you are rarely in the Church on Sabbath Day. This illustrates that records of Church attendance were kept and scrutinised. The villagers were also expected to know the Ten Commandments from memory. Hale asks Elizabeth Proctor: Do you know your Commandments, Elizabeth? People believed in these laws so strongly that they were very willing to believe the girls stories which provides some insight into the society of Salem. People were not allowed to have different beliefs. The villagers belief in the Devil was as strong as it was in God. Parris talked about the Devil and sins in Church far more frequently than he spoke about God. Proctor says to Parris: There are many others who stay away from Church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore. But John Proctor did not like Parris; his opinion of Parris was low so this statement may not be completely true and biased. Parris was supposed to be a leader in the town but someone left a dagger stuck in his door Tonight, when I open my door to leave my housea dagger clattered to the ground There is danger for me. People were getting misled so much that he was not always believed.

Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm Value

Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm Value Introduction If there is debt in a companys capital, such a company is termed leveraged or geared company. A gearing ratio demonstrates the relationship between fixed interest and equity capital in the finance of a business Measured: Fixed Interest Capital OR Fixed Interest Capital Capital Employed Equity The financial lever is a norm in measuring the scale of using debt in the firms capital structure. One of the most important issues in financial discussions is obtaining a blend of capital structure which has the most attractions for the investors. The structure of capital is a required link between debt and the equity that provides financial needs for preparing the companys properties. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTION There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and firm. 1.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and earnings per share 2.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and price earnings ratio. 3.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and returns to equity. 4.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and operating profit. WHY INTERESTING The above research questions are interesting as they will address the following: Provide answer on the impact of gearing on the firms value; reconcile the argument as to whether financial leverage has relationship with earning per share; the level of correlation between financial leverage and price earnings ratio as well as operational profit. The questions will also seek to highlight the risks associated with leverage. Relation to previous research (Theoretical Framework) CAPITAL STRUCTURE THEORIES A companys capital structure shows all the sources of finance a company is utilizing to finance its operations. Capital structure refers to how a company finances its operations and it is usually made up of: Ordinary share capital Preference share capital Debt capital. There are two main theories about the effect of changes in gearing on the WACC and share value. There are: a.The traditional view b.The net operating income approach For which a behavioral justification was proposed by Franco Modigliani and Melton H. Miller (M M) in 1958 (Gitman, 2006). TRADITIONAL VIEW The traditional view states that debt capital is cheaper than equity and that such a company can increase its value by borrowing up to a reasonable limit (the optimal level of gearing). Return Kw Ke Kd P GEARING With the traditional theory, the following assumptions hold sway: Â   1.The cost of debt will remain constant until a significant point is reached when it would start to rise. 2.The WACC will fill immediately an external source of finance is introduced and will bring thereafter as the level of gearing increases. 3.The companys market value and the market value per share will be maximized where WACC is at the lowest point. M-MS SUPPORT OF THE OPERATING INCOME APPROACH The original normative theory of company valuation and capital structure was put forward in form of a behavioral justification of the Net Operating Income Approach by Franco Modigliani and Melton H. Miller (M-M) in 1958 (Gitman, 2006). To appreciate the propositions by M-M, it will be better to understand the M-M assumptions which are stated below. From these assumptions, M-M set out their three propositions. PROPOSITION I This states that a company cannot change the total value of its securities just by splitting its cash flow into different streams; the companys value is determined by its real assets, not by the securities it issues. Thus, capital structure is irrelevant if the companys investment decisions are taken as given. PROPOSITION II The expected rate of return on the equity of a geared company increases in proposition to the debt-equity ratio (debt/equity), expressed in market values; the rate of increase depends on the spread between the expected rate of return on a portfolio of all the companys securities, and the expected return on the debt. PROPOSITION III This provides a rule for optimal investment policy by the company: The cut off point for investment in the company will in all cases be the WACC and will be completely unaffected by the types of security used to finance the investment. Consequently, if the first two propositions hold, the cut-off rate used to evaluate investments will not be affected by the type of funding used to finance them, whatever may be the capital structure. The gain from using debt (at lower cost) is offset by the increased cost of equity (due to increased risk) and WACC therefore remains unchanged. Proposed methods STATEMENT OF METHOD Secondary data from financial database will be used. To determine the impact of leverage on the value of firm, a thorough study will be taken on each entity in the integrated chain. My choice of the above data collection method rested on their validity and research question. I also consider them to be less costly in relation to others. The study will try to integrate various academic literatures and examine the impact of financial leverage on the value of firms. Therefore, I shall obtain unbalanced panel comprising 25 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the period ranging from 2001- 2010 with relevant information over the last years. These firms and their published accounts will be used to determine the variable that will be stated. CHOICE OF THEORY There are two basic theories about the impact of financial leverage on firms value; the traditional theory and the Modigliani Millers theory. I shall base my study on the theory which seem more realistic with empirical fact. CAPITAL STRUCTURE In the academic literature, there two possible indictors of capital structure, namely, debt-equity ratio, defined as total debt divided by book value of common equity, and a ratio of debt total assets. In this analysis, the ratio of debt to common equity will be used. This will be more useful to explain the choice of a capital structure as compared to the ratio of debt to total assets. This variable shall be denoted as CS in our analysis. DATA COLLECTION The collection tools for the research project includes: Financial times statistical data from Nigerian Stock Exchange, Augusto rating on debt Equity Companies, Financial Index Journal. Others tool include the companys annual reports and account, the internet, financial newspaper particularly, Thisday, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) journals, Financial Standard, Business Times and some other foreign journal consulted at various library. The testing technique to be employed is regression and correlation analysis with the chi-square X2 distribution, which allows comparisons of an actual observed distribution with a hypothesized or expected distribution. This method is often referred to as a goodness of fit test. SAMPLE FRAME The secondary data above will be used in addition to the financial statement and Accounts of selected companies: Nigerian Breweries Plc, Pharma Deko Plc and Evans Medicals Plc. The result of the investigation will be analyzed and tested. The firm size shall be determined by its log of sales as published in their financial statements. Firms turnover as a percentage of capital employed will be used in our model. It is often argued that performance is a function of firm size and if we are to make a regression model with performance as response variable, it is important to incorporate firm size in our model. Firm size may be positively or negatively related to leverage. Odeleye (2014) come forward with the idea that large firms may exercise economies of scale, have better knowledge of markets and can employ better management personnel. Firm size also measures a firms market power or level of concentration within the industry. Reflections Finance: The execution of this project required substantial financial outlay. The sourcing and gathering of data, paying working visit to firm, conducting enquiry to the operations of the company and packaging available information into coherent project, required funding. Time: It takes time to conduct inquiry, investigation as well as gather, compile analysis and interprets data and then organizes them into a research work. The researcher worked under severe constraints of time as there was a deadline for the submission of the project. Attitude of the Practitioner: Although some information was readily provided by staff of the organization, a few other relevant ones were considered as confidential and strenuous efforts had to be made to collect some of the information that were regarded as confidential. Altogether, the limitations were so severe as to vitiate the research outcome, more especially because the researcher managed to overcome the obstacle. Physically, only some selected leveraged companies in manufacturing activities as an option for growth enhancement of market are included to minimize the expenses. Another limitation is that not all leveraged companies turn out to be successful in relation to market values; this research does not cover those companies. I obtained all the necessary information I needed for empirical analysis considering the advanced nature of the financial reporting of the firms under review which confounds to international standard? The financial regulation in Nigeria might not be up to date with respect to submission of financial statement. The gathering of data from some of the companys department required some payment. This expenses which was budgeted for constituted a challenge, yet there was a possibility of missing some data which is not found on the financial statement of the companies. This study was carried out with a sample of firms listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. The first empirical obstacle will be the availability of data for a minimum of ten trading years for the firms under study. The financial regulations in Nigeria require firms to submit their audited financial statements as well as certain information regarding their firms value. However, the data submitted by firms are in hard copy format and they are thus stored at the companys department in paper format. Given that availability is limited to hard copies, I feel that I will need to bear into mind the time factor involved in the manual gathering of relevant data. Moreover, data regarding a single company might be in different volumes and this might involve delay out of proportion in this assignment. Timetable July 2015 Proposal Submission August 2015 Proposal Approval September/October 2015 Literature review November 2015 submission and amendment of chapter 1based on examiners approval/comment December 2015 submission and amendment of chapter 2 based on examiners approval/comment January 2016 submission and amendment of chapter 3 and 4 based on examiners approval/comment February 2016 submission and amendment of chapter 5 based on examiners approval/comment March 2016 Proof reading, final editing, printing/binding and project submission References Akinsulire, O. (2002), Financial Management 2002. COEMOL Nig. Ltd Gitman, L. (2006). Leverage and Capital Structure (4TH Ed). Boston: Pearson Anderson Wiley. Odeleye, A. (2014) Corporate Financing and Efficiency of Indigenous Energy Firms in Nigeria: A literature Review. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy. 4(1).

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Essay -- Essays Papers US Civil War Es

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Most people think of the Civil War as a military battle between the North and South. Without studying the subject, they do not appreciate the facts that make up this historical event. When one reads the novel, Killer Angels, the reader is given a much better perception and understanding of what actually happened during the war. Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, is a realistic historical depiction of the great battle of Gettysburg, which left 50,000 Confederate and Union soldiers dead, wounded, or missing. The novel is set up in chronological order of events that took place during the four days of the bloody and decisive battle of the Civil War. The tale is told from an alternating north and south perspective. In this manner, readers can have a good mental picture of how each event came about. It even shows maps for a better understanding of each step the North and South took. It is clear where each of the battles were taking place and why the generals try to use the land for their own advantage. It was very interesting to read about the different strategies and tactics the generals utilized in the attempted destruction of their enemies. The well-deserved rave reviews that litter the front and back covers drew me to it, but Shaara's powerful writing style and stunningly human characters drew me into it. Shaara has an amazing ability to portray the major players of the battle, whose real personalities must have since been lost over a...

Essay --

Main Problems Ryanair is the leading carrier by passenger numbers and market capitalization in Europe by 2010. The challenges Ryanair is faced with could be divided into two areas. Macroeconomic Environment The unfavourable economic conditions in 2008 limited Ryanair’s opportunity to raise fares, in the event of continued global recession, Ryanair’s passenger volume growth would be restricted: Passengers would reduce the spending on leisure and business travels for saving money. Also, the cost of aviation fuel is another element would effect Ryanair’s profitability. In view of fact that accessibility of oil decreases, global demand increases, and the unpredictable exchange rate, the Ryanair model, i.e., to be as low-cost, would be difficult for Ryanair itself. Furthermore, the controversial advertisements of Ryanair besmeared the firm’s reputation. Ryanair reduces it advertising costs and relying on cheap PR. Because it used a photograph of Spanish Queen Sofia without authority, the firm was forced to pay a fine to the Queen and made a public apology. These controversial advertisements were beneficial to the expansion of the brand at beginning, however the offensive theme would subsequently risky to the company’s image. Interior of Ryanair The relationship between employees and Ryanair was negative. Ryanair providing humble working conditions for employees and refuse to recognise unions. According to the case study, the Irish High Court ruled Ryanair had bullied pilots to accept new contracts in July 2006. The pressures come from pilots over their desire for higher wage and better working conditions. In 2009, only 11 out of the 64 pilots who decided to stay with the company. Thus, Ryanair would struggle to avoid recognisin... ...ative feeling of ‘from nowhere to nowhere’. For services of the value chain, the cost could be saved by becoming a no frills and low fares carrier. However, the low quality services might destroy Ryanair’s public reputation. Under primary activities-marketing & sales and support activities- the technology development, Ryanair spreads accommodation as well as car rentals news through its official website. In 2010, its website ranked 12th by number of visits for e-tailers in the UK. The cost of travel agents and advertising could be kept in a minimum level. However, the heavy dependence on the official website might be a potential risk for Ryanair. As a consequence, the value chain helps Ryanair to think of itself in terms of sets of activities, to identify its particular competitive advantages and weaknesses thus enhance value or decrease cost in value activities.

Philip Morris Marketing Analysis :: essays research papers

Philip Morris Marketing Analysis Definition of Industry Market Concept The tobacco industry consists of many competitors trying to satisfy a specific customer need. Companies such as Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, and Lorillard hold almost the entire market share in the tobacco industry. While each company has different advertising and marketing techniques, they all target the same customer group. Tobacco companies try their best to generate interest in their particular brand or brands. Companies market a number of attributes that usually include, but are not limited to: taste, flavor, strength, size and image in order to distinguish themselves from competitors (Business Week 179, November 29, 1999). However, all tobacco companies are satisfying the same needs. Many long-time smokers are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. They smoke because the nicotine is needed to help them feel normal (Focus group). Many addicts go through withdraw without nicotine. All tobacco companies have nicotine in their cigarettes, which fulfills the ne ed of long-time smokers. Other smokers depend on cigarettes in social settings. Many smoke to look sophisticated and mature. Tobacco companies make many kinds of cigarettes that target different groups. Social smokers may perceive certain brands as more sophisticated, and therefore they shy away from other lesser-known brands. For example, a person who smoked generic cigarettes at the bar may be perceived as uncultured. On the other hand, the smoker with the Marlboro Lights may be more socially accepted because they have a brand name product (Focus group). Many types of cigarettes cater to the many markets of smokers who want to portray a certain image in social settings. Tobacco companies do not create the need to smoke, but try to generate interest in their particular brand (Hays, New York Times, November 24, 1999). Overall, the tobacco companies satisfy consumer demand for the millions of adult Americans who choose to use tobacco by providing differentiated products to different target markets of smokers. Industry Concept The tobacco industry has developed a rather large array of products. Companies such as Philip Morris, Lorillard, RJ Reynolds, and Brown and Williamson, as well as the other smaller competitors, all provide the same product- cigarettes. The tobacco industry is filled with fierce competitors. But underneath the brand names and images, the product is relatively the same. All tobacco companies produce an inhalant that is made with tobacco, tar, and nicotine. These materials are rolled in a special kind of slow-burning paper for longer smoking time.

Child developmental summary

There are five sub categories when looking at a child's development and although all of these are age guided, not all children reach the same area at the same time, neither do they systematically achieve each stage by a certain age, although they are achieved in order, they are there for guidance purposes only. The five Identified areas that a child develops are physical, Intellectual, social, emotional and language The first stage which has been termed by cognitive psychologist Jean Planet as the Seniority stage covers the age range from birth to 2 years of age.This Is the age range when the most dramatic and primary changes happen, with the baby transitioning from being totally dependent upon a career for all sources of their welfare and development, to exercising a very limited way of communicating to others their wants as they develop into becoming a fairly able bodied toddler who can more often than to exercise their autonomy through vocal and physical displays of preference.Dur ing the seniority stage a child learns about the world around them through the 5 senses, touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. It is through the use of these senses that the baby begins to interact with their environment, initially it is smell and sound which Is used to Identify their primary care giver normally this recognition Is In the form of bodily smells and voice.Their sight Is the next sense, developing from a black and white Image with color slowly Integrated, It Is through this process here they begin to socially develop relationships by recognition of people within their environment, especially with a great response towards the human face , this is then built upon by the fine tuning of voluntary and reciprocal expressions of both facial expressions and noises, that eventually turn smiles or cries into fully formed words, making social exchanges a two way social interaction where by autonomy is expressed.Through the use of taste and touch babies assist their exploration of their environment through the use of their mouths and tongue, this is soon over mom and exploration is then mostly practiced via the touch alone, so they grow the next area to develop Is to define their fine motor skills, beginning with holding a finger of a care giver, to a rattle, to aim for grabbing distant objects, using the pincher grip when learning to self feed, to finally having the ability to grasp objects and use them with Intentional purpose, like bang a drum or push a toy car along.These fine motor skills are not just confined to upper limb movement but also the ability to aided/ unaided to crawling to walking to running to Jumping and even attempting to inferno stairs. But social interactions within their environments are Just as important to a child's development at this very early stage as they are even later on, due to them battling internal conflicts and their abilities to grasp concepts from the world around them, therefore positive reinforcement and interactions are necessary to encourage social development.Overall by the end of the seniority stage children have developed from being totally dependent to being more environmentally and socially aware of their surroundings. The next developmental tag of a child can be classed as pre- school or as Erik Erickson termed it, the play age, with the age band of 3-5 years. Neurological connections continue to be produced at a high volume due to the need for the increase in cognitive abilities.Through this stage children become more self aware of themselves along with that of others developing a sense of individuality within their environments and are able to control and express their emotions at a more direct level whilst also being able to express empathy towards others. Their physical capabilities are becoming finer need with the ability of being able to catch a ball, move to rhythm, and hold a pencil and balance. Intellectually they are becoming more inquisitive therefore are able enquire and to a bsorb information rapidly allowing them relay it at most times a comprehensible level.Their play also begins to incorporate details of everyday life and aspects of role play begin to show. Level Weights deems this stage of proximal development important to not only the child but also the people/ peers within the child's environment as they are there as guide to help steer and influence the child's hinging acting as a ‘scaffolding in development' through encouragement of exploration. The next developmental milestone stage in child development that follows on from the ‘play age' is the age range of 5-8 years.During this stage of the child's development their development becomes more sophisticated by putting into practice all they have learnt since birth by fine tuning their speech and every movement, along with their intellectual awareness being much greater with them becoming more inquisitive about the world, their environment, who they are as a person and here they fit i nto this world due to becoming more aware of differences in all aspects of their lives.They are also at a stage where they begin to feel the need to ‘belong and fit in' with a greater personal emphasis being placed upon relationships. They are also more aware of others feelings towards themselves, making this a very vulnerable stage with personal perceptions and peer group opinions being a very important factor in this stage of development proving complimentary of Level Hoosegows theory that this stage is reliant upon the ‘scaffolding of peer relationships'.

Robinson Crusoe Critique

Filippo Volodin Robinson Crusoe And The New Middle Class Before analyzing Robinson Crusoe it is important to give a short background of the author of such an incredible novel. Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 and died in 1731 after a life of adventures and incredible experiences. He was raised to be very religious and his parents were strongly attached to the puritanism tendency that was spreading around Europe. These aspects and the strong education imposed by his parents will strongly influence Robinson Crusoe’s psychology.Furthermore, Defoe worked as a Merchant, Insurer and during his entire live he has been sent in prison several times for either small or serious issues. Having such an experience, Defoe strongly felt to be part of the New Middle class that was flourishing due to the new colonies and the economic boom of that period. In this way we can say that his personal experience, family education and the influence of the growing Middle class strongly gave to Defoe the im pulse to create a character such as Robinson Crusoe, who represents the typical New Middle Class person who can, using his brain and his talent, always succeed in life.Robinson Crusoe represents the prototype of the typical English Merchant, heartless and unceasingly looking for a profitable business to lead. This new type of figure continuously changes because of the unsatisfactory position it has in the society and always strives to find new ways to make profit. In fact, Robinson Crusoe reveals these characteristics, and his strong attachment to the religion, when he sells Xury to the Captain. He offer'd me also 60 Pieces of Eight more for my Boy Xury, which I was loath to take, not that I was not willing to let the Captain have him, but I was very loath to sell the poor Boy's Liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in procuring my own. However when I let him know my Reason, he own’d it to be just, and offer’d me this Medium, that he would give the Boy an Obligati on to set him free in ten Years, if he turn’s Christian; upon this, and Xury saying he was willing to go to him, I let the Captain have him. † From this quotation powerfully comes out the strong education gave to Robinson Crusoe.Crusoe does not really care about Xury, even though he has served him loyally. This passage highlights the new situation of the Middle Class represented by Robinson Crusoe that championed individualism, seizing every single opportunity to have a personal profit, relying just on own powers and talents. Furthermore, agreeing on converting Xury into a Christian let us explicitly understand the importance of the Puritan education imposed to Defoe by his family with the consequent reflection of this approach on Robinson Crusoe, who just agrees after making sure that the Captain have to turn Xury into a â€Å"Good Christian†.Robinson Crusoe demonstrates to be the â€Å"new bourgeois-man† during his long stay at the isle. The island becom es the perfect field to completely release his middle class attitudes and the opportunity to show that he deserves to be saved by God’s providence. It is important to interpret properly the significant of the Island. Crusoe’s stay at the island has to be seen as the chance for Robinson Crusoe to prove his qualities controlling, manipulating and exploiting the Nature. Consequently, Crusoe starts to â€Å"recreate† the English society of the 18th Century, sticking to the Middle Class uses of efficiency and individuality.For instance, when Crusoe meets Friday he decides to impose him his way of living showing once again his necessity to impose the â€Å"English life style†. In fact, further on in the novel Robinson Crusoe teaches to Friday how to speak English and how to interpret the holy Bible. In the island comes out even the typical attachment to the Puritanism of the Middle Class represented by Robinson Crusoe who believed in the God’s Providence . Crusoe is convinced that God is the first cause of everything but he can change his destiny by acting following his brain and using his talents.To conclude, Defoe shows us a perfect hero who, following the Middle Class education and mentality, can face every problem and solving it using his brain and his talents. It is incredible how Defoe could impress in an unbelievable way the main aspects of the growing Middle Class. Like Robinson Crusoe demonstrates, and Defoe in first person firmly thinks, a person using his own skill and being always self aware of his possibility can emerge and always find a way to survive and succeed in life if he really wants and strives for that.