ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SHOPPING Essay

Just year before, online shopping was not popular as it is today. But nowadays online shopping is the one of the best method considered for shopping. Now it allows the buyer to buy anything by just a click of mouse. Now online shopping offers a variety of products and services, as it allows us to buy clothing, airlines tickets, a car and even your grocery to shop. Websites like amazon.com, ebay.com are among the list of most popular websites being used these days. This essay will discuss advantages; (comparison shopping and save time) and disadvantages; (additional costs and waiting time and insecure shopping). One of the main advantage of online shopping is; comparison shopping in which products can be compared and contrast on the basis of their prices and multiple outlets. Today everybody wants the freedom of choice, so the marketers have to present the variety of product to choose from. Read more: Importance of English language essay There are number of online shopping websites, for example ebay.com, amazon.com, ozsale.com etc. that offer variety of products and services with different offers based on prices. This allows us the freedom of price flexibility and choice. So in that way, it makes easier to select and discard the product with his own choice. Many consumers like to explore before purchasing any particular product from different websites which offers different prices and different offers from other website at the same time. Comparison shopping affects the buyer’s trend to buy any product. The trend of comparison shopping is influenced by the ‘dimensions of decision-making style’ of the consumers (Park, Y. A., & Gretzel, U. 2010). The comparison shopping also become beneficial for the buyer as it allows the consumer to save money as well. Another main advantage of the online shopping is that it saves time. Today’s in this fast pace world everybody expects the work to be done fa ster. So, if anybody have busy life who have no time to buy the grocery are using online shopping as a way to fulfill their basic needs. Online shopping doesn’t require visiting the shopping places as you can do online shopping by sitting at home or anywhere. Online shopping services are available to anyone throughout the day, which it allows us to use these services anytime of the day. Online shopping websites are available on every day of the year, public holidays as well. So  availability of online shopping makes it convenient for everyone to use. Online shopping is considered as a convenient method to find those things which are hard to find made it a ‘time saving method’ (Horrigan, J. 2008). The other most important disadvantage of the online shopping is the additional cost and waiting time that Company’s takes to deliver the product. . The additional cost for delivering the product is also an important reason why people used to buy from their local outlets. A product can take up to weeks to deliver the product which make it the most frustrating factor for online shopping. The online shopping can be frustrating factor for those who don’t have patience and time to wait. So it becomes better for the buyer to buy the product from local shops instantly. The price on online store is usually low but delivery charges of the product make the charges similar or higher than local outlets. The main disadvantage of online shopping i s insecure shopping. Insecure shopping means the scams and frauds by gaining the personal and financial details of the buyers and utilize it in a bad way. If someone obtain your details regarding your personal and financial information, that can harm your personality (respect) and on other hand it can become a cause for the loss of the money. Online shopping is widely used for shopping but has ‘worries about sending their financial details’ such as credit cards (Horrigan, J. 2008). There are number of scam and fraud websites that offer very attracting offers but websites like this can loot you. So scam websites make online shopping a chaos for the user. It can be concluded that online shopping have advantages but have disadvantages as well. Online shopping provides us variation that means comparison shopping but on other hand online shopping companies charge extra for delivering. It saves times on shopping but takes time on delivering. It is available every time but have insecurity of being scammed and looted. But in last it can be easily concluded that if buyer have time for waiting they can use online shopping from registered and legal website which can decrease the fear of online shopping frauds. So, it can be easily concluded that online shopping can be a best method for shopping. REFERENCING Horrigan, J. (2008). Online shopping. Pew Internet & American Life Project Report, 36. Lee, G. G., & Lin, H. F. (2005). Customer perceptions of e-service quality in online shopping. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(2), 161-176. Lester, D. H., Forman, A. M., & Loyd, D. (2006). Internet shopping and buying behavior of college students. Services Marketing Quarterly, 27(2), 123-138. Park, Y. A., & Gretzel, U. (2010). Influence of consumers’ online decision-making style on comparison shopping proneness and perceived usefulness of comparison shopping tools. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 11(4), 342-354.

Goff Computer

Goff Computer, INC. Martin Teal BUS 650 Managerial Finance Instructor Scott Shaw October 15, 2012 Goff Computer, INC. Goff Computer, INC has been around for about eight years and has over seventy stores. Goff Computer, INC had $97 million in sales last year and wants to know what the cost of capital is. In order to answer this several steps have to be taken which include comparing the company to Dell and how they work. Dell is a major computer company and they build the computers to fit the customer’s needs and demands. The task at hand for Goff Computer , INC is to determine its cost of capital.There are several steps that must be done to get to the end result. Step 1 gives directions on how to obtain the beginning information needed about Dell. Step 2 asks several questions and the responses are: * The most recent stock price is $18. 16 * The market capitalization for Dell is 32. 62B * Dell currently has 1. 8B shares outstanding * The beta for Dell is 1. 33 * The yield on 3- month Treasury bill is . 865% * The cost of equity using CAPM is 16. 71% Step 3 instructs to go to www. reuters. com and find the competitors. However, there are none listed Step 4 instructs to calculate the cost of debt for Dell by going to cxa. arketwtch. com/finra/BondCenter/Dfault. aspx DELL. GJ yield to maturity . 754%| DELL. GF . 911%| DELL. GL. 724%| DELL. GP0%| DELL. GO. 946%| | | | | | Step 5 asks about the weighted cost and the book value weights. The book value is higher. Step 6 is the real question asking what the potential problems are and what suggestions I would have. The potential problems that I see when it comes to comparing the company to Dell are that Dell is a larger company and so things are different and constantly changing for them.Dell is more stable and has loyal customers so they can afford to take more risk as well. The only improvement that I can offer Goff Computer is to not try and follow a large company. They are building their own successful company. Therefore they should set their own trend that sets them apart from the competition. References Ross, S. , & Westerfield, R. , Jaffe, J. , & Jordan, B. (2011). Corporate finance: Core principles and applications (3rd ed. ). Boston, MD

Globalization Decrease Poverty in the World Essay

Globalization is a set of processes leading to economic integration. All countries open their doors to each other. The wind of globalization has carried a lot of changes . The life nowadays depends on trade and economic relationships. Before globalization, countries were separated from each other. As a result , every one was looking for its interset in a selfesh way which is contrary to what is happening now. However, people nowadays are thinking of ways that help them to communicat with one other. There are a lot of postive things which have resulted from globalization and have improved people’s lives such as decreasing poverty in the world. In fact, an average of 65% to 70% of citizens all over the world feel thous their lives and that of their families have improved as a result of globalization[1]. Global economy has improved in the last 20 years ,which caused poverty reduction in world. Free trade and outsourcing are the most prominent phenomena which resulted from globalization and played an important role in reducing poverty. Free trade played an important part in creating a strong economy in the world. There is a vast difference between the country that open itself to world and the country that bonded it self. China is a good example of those powerful industrial countries which have benefited from globalization. â€Å"China’s increasing openness since 1978 has handsomely benefited its economy which is now nine times larger† [2]. Free trade creates a competition between countries for better goods. The poor people were able to benefit from this competition. The increasing variety and quality of products gives the poor people a lot of choices to live a better life â€Å"Diversity also becomes important for consumers, with wider choice and access to better and cheaper products and services in globalizing markets†[3]. It is a well-known fact that before globalization all countries were enclosed within themselves but with free trade life became more chipper and more people were able to live a better life. Miss Zeana who lives in Tanzania said that, her parents were living a taught life because the government owned everything even cars. People did not have the right to own anything and trade was trapped so there were a lot of people who suffered a hard life. However after a couple of years of globalization, there is a lot of enhancement in the quality of life in the country. Free trade allow people to live a better life. Jobs opportunities have been provided by new factories and cheap products are now available to help poor people to live in better life. Free trade helps the counties economies to grow faster in a way that helps moreâ€Å"A new WTO † World Trade Organization- Secretariat study published today (19 June) finds that trade liberalization helps poor countries to catch up with rich ones and that this faster economic growth helps to alleviate poverty†[4]. Now, developing counties are playing a big role in world’s trade which is a sign of economic progress that has been achieved in their counties â€Å"Today the real dynamism in trade is to be found in the developing world, where Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand all posted double digit growth in exports†. 5] The outsourcing is one of the most widespread phenomena in the world which results from globalization â€Å"Many economists argue that outsourcing is just another form of free trade, which increases wealth in the economy†[6]. The big companies which are head quartered in developed countries set up their factories in dev eloping countries so that has helped to increase jobs opportunities. For instance, from 1982 to 1999 an average of 34 million new jobs were created per year by outsourcing, compared with 18 million in 1965-1982[7]. Another positive thing about outsourcing is that companies are able now to produce more products of the same quality but at low cost â€Å"Economists say that employing workers at lower cost allows U. S. companies to be more efficient and productive†[8]. That is how outsourcing has affected positively for both the developed as well as the developing countries. On other hand, some may think that rich are countries becoming richer at the expense of the poor and that because of globalization[9]. Developed countries have invested in poor countries for their interest. â€Å"Globalization creates great winners but also great losers at the same time†[10]. The winner in this case is the developed country. Globalization has supported rich people in a way that helped them to become richer . As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor became wider, which caused the rise of poverty â€Å"The process of integration might contribute to increased inequality and weaken impact for poverty reduction†[11]. Globalization supports inequality in each nation â€Å"Globalization has dramatically increased inequality between and within nations†[12] . Underdeveloped markets and ineffective government programs increases economic inequality in developing countries which slows progress n reducing poverty [13]. The government direct its attention to cities which is in the forefront of their economies. Their main goal is to find a way that help them to be more successful economically. There are less young people in China’s poor villages because they migrate to urban areas for a better life[14]. Low income leads to poor children mi ssing out on the education and skills that would maximize their own economic[15]. For instance, Mr. Dwanzhi She is a Chinese man, who moved from his village â€Å"Beijing† to a city â€Å"Wuhan† to complete his higher studies. Later he worked in a big successful company as a ‘Foreign consultant†. Since that time his village has not changed and that is because boors are responsible of the infrastructure there[16]. As William Easterly mentions in his article â€Å" The poor performance on economic growth is accompanied by rising income inequality and high open unemployment rates†[17]. Globalization has merged economyies of several countries to create a global market. â€Å"Developing countries worry that opening up to trade with the rest of the world may make the poor poorer†[18]. All companies try to penetrate foreign market and to establish their goods. Most big companies concentrate on the quality of the goods and ignore the rights of workers who are mostly from poor familiesâ€Å"Many people believe globalization is a disaster for the workers[19]†. Instead of having a better life, their life became worse. â€Å"Good products as a Olympic sportswear as forcing workers to work fast in a short period so that they can generate more production and more profit in bad conditions and under difficult situations for poverty-level payment† [20]. There are three million illegal workers who work in China and they suffer from low income[21]. Governments usually do not protect workers’ rights. It is true that not all countries benefit from globalization to the same extent but we can not deny that it has played an important part in enhancing the standard of life â€Å"Between 1970 and 1980 the average of income of poor people which was US$1 per day was increased 17% to 13% but in 1998 this percentage decreased to 6. 7%†[22]. There are more people who lived above the poverty line from 157 to 892 million people 1870-2000[23]. The ratio of inequality in the world has decrease. Globalization has decrease inequality by opening the gates between the developed and developing countries. There is a connection between openness and inequality â€Å"The more open a rural area is, the faster the reduction in poverty†[24]. Open rural areas have a better chance of enhancing the standard of life and of decreasing poverty. Having a better education and good health standard in these areas are signs of poverty reduction which leads to less inequality. â€Å"Promoting education, particularly for the poor people, improving health standard and enhances the productively growth that is the main engine of poverty reduction†[25]. For example, in 1990 the adult literacy rate ( of people aged 15 and over) in India was 49. % while 37. 3% was the percentage of population below the poverty in rural areas. In 2002 there was a tremendous increasing in adult literacy rate ( of people aged 15 and over) to 58. 8% and the percentage of population below the poverty line in rural area dropped to 30. 2[26]. Some people think free trade is a cause of increasing poverty in the world. H owever, fewer trade barriers and cheap transportation create economic integration and global markets. All that help economy to grow in each country specially the developing counties. Free trade is an important element that enhances the economic situation in a way that helps poor people to come out poverty. Foreign direct investment creates a lot of job opportunities in developing countries. Many people move to urban areas to work in a better condition with better salaries. For example, Mr. Dwanzhi She who lives in â€Å"Wuhan†, an urban city, said that he gets 60 thousand dollars in a year and that is a very fancy life in China. His life is completely different from his parents life who used to live as farmer in a rural area â€Å"Beijing† and suffered from tough life[27] . Many people hate foreign investment in a developing country because they think foreign investment abuses poor people and they does not give them their rights. The answer is that, free trade or the global market has created a lot of enhancement and profit for both developed and developing counties. The fact is that, some people using it in a bad way and misjudge poor people so they get the positives. As Mr. Hang Dong Fand who is a member in a labor activity says that, â€Å"Market economy is not bad but some dictator people use it in a evil way†[28]. There are many organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO) which worked for protecting poor people from those people who abuse them â€Å"The World Trade Organization, (WTO), is the primary international body to help promote free trade, by drawing up the rules of international trade[29]† For example, Miss Wu Qin is a Chinese woman who works as a volunteer in a foreign fund, Advise Clinics- says that many companies are abusing poor people’s rights so her role is to provide legal help by giving them the clear idea about their individual rights[30]. The access of foreign product to developing courtiers leads some people to think that globalization for increases poverty. On the contrary, this system has helped a lot of poor people. It is to be noted that socialist system there were barriers to trade in every county to set up in order to protect their industries. Import substitution industrialization was a way that each country tried to create its own industry. That socialist system divided the country into many classes, where the lowest class was the majority of the country. Inequality was a common thing at that time. The rich people who lived in urban areas were able to live a fancy life. The 1980 was the end of the socialist system and the beginning of globalization. Globalization has changed life of poor people for the better. There grew competition between companies for better products. In the same way they were trying to prepare them selves for more production at low pries. As a result, many people bought good products at low cost â€Å"Consumers get cheaper products (nearer world prices), at least in the medium-to long-term. †. [31] In conclusion, poverty has decreased rapidly with the birth of globalization.

Market and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market and Society - Essay Example As such, there are various forms of capitalism, which includes state capitalism, welfare capitalism and laissez-faire (Bowles 2007, p. 41). Through the historical accounts, it is said that capitalism came into existence following the fall of feudal system and this explains its dominance in the western world in the earlier times, and now. Capitalism in this regard has been applied over a period in different geographical areas that embrace different cultures with varied political approaches (Ingham 2008, p. 34). Work in the Category of Economy in the Capitalist World In this case, work also referred to as labor, should be of significance purpose to the economy; it should be able to have a positive effect on the economic status of the society. This also explains why in the capitalist countries, there have been many endeavors to manage the labor so that the efficiency of their input can be maximized in the total output that is achieved. As explained above, capitalism is driven by the amo unt of profit, which interprets that in capitalism, work should be such that it maximizes profit for the company and should be exploited as possible for making profit be realized in the maximum possible way (Merino 2010, p. 63). Labor therefore play a major role in the capitalism economy; their purpose, and viability has to be established, as this will help in quantifying the output from every department and comparing it with the cost of hiring the labor and decide whether it is economically sound. To further explain the importance of work in capitalism, reference is made to the industrial revolution when there were many people involved in the production sector. During the industrial revolution, there were several raw materials for industrial productions that were obtained from agrarian revolution that was characterized by increased production from the farms. The western countries particularly wanted to maximize the opportunity by increasing the volume of work force and the hours in which the employees would work in a day (Silk and Mark 1996, p. 53). It will also be remembered that there were rampant child labor that was incorporated into the system to supplement labor requirement. The extent with which work was considered in the industrial revolution, which happened to have been facilitated by the capitalist, explains the rationale behind the consideration of work in capitalist system. There is a strong belief that work and economy goes together and in most cases, economy is considered a function of work and this provides adequate explanation for the situation that was presented during industrial revolution in the western countries. Work Categorized as a Moral in Capitalism With the view of capitalism considering work as a fundamental part of production for the economy to be driven, there are several ways through which work has been considered. The issue of management is geared towards the satisfaction the human resource such that they can be motivated and be enthusiastic to work for more production to be realized (Reich 1991, p. 66). In the management, several incentives are availed to the employees to enhance their efficiencies in performance and the relationship between the employee and the employer is expected to be symbiotic. This can be construed from the principal goal of the management of the human resource; a complete maximum prosperity from the employer and the employee is expected to exist. The use of ‘

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP BY EXECUTIVES Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP BY EXECUTIVES - Case Study Example This involves turning strategy into needed outcomes and behaviours, conveying these goals, evaluating progress, giving feedback, and empowering the workforce (Ashby & Miles, 2002) through performance-driven incentives and penalties. Studies show that several organisations remain dependent on conventional performance determinants. Conventional tools of performance determinants intended for the economy of the industrial period, which puts emphasis on physical assets and financial strategies, are now incapable of coping with the dynamic business environment (Ashby & Miles, 2002). Hence, there is a movement away from conventional ideas so as to address the intricacy and ever-changing business environment. According to Hagen and colleagues (1998), some of the challenges CEOs face today in relation to performance determinants are great expectations from stakeholders, demands from and threat of global and local competitors, adoption of sophisticated production technology, and demands for premium and dependable products/services from consumers. In the meantime, organisational performance can also be threatened by sub-units within an organisation making decisions which are incompatible. An organisation structure, which can be either decentralised or centralised, has considerable effect on the level of non-financial and financial strategies to be integrated into the performance measurement process (Ncube & Washburn, 2006). Usually one problem confronting an organisation is that different sub-units are taking part in the general process of decision making. Irreconcilable decisions can have varying consequences for each sub-unit. Acquiring consensus from all stakeholders is a constant problem. When a firm’s general strategy relies on the decisions of all its sub-units, as stated by Bass (2007), firm-wide support is needed. Large-scale strategic planning and assessment is critical. This planning has to focus on the

Job Redesign Strategies for a Healthcare Organization Case Study

Job Redesign Strategies for a Healthcare Organization - Case Study Example Healthcare today is rapidly changing and organizations, mostly due to financial and technological turbulence, are constantly undergoing re-formations, both small and drastic. Healthcare organizations such as hospitals are seeing re-organization of work processes, reductions in hospital staffs and changes in skill mix due to these changes and the most predominant effect that they have appeared to have on the performance of these organizations are not positive in nature. While some organizations do manage to turn this change into a positive force, most are ill adept at handling the re-structuring efforts and poor execution, as well as a lack of proper communication, can manage to do these organizations much more harm than good. This report aims to outline and suggest job redesign strategies in a way which can provide maximum benefit to the organization by creating a standardized redesign effort. The report also deals with laying out strategies which the administration of the hospital will have to take up in order to create an affinity for learning within the organization; practices through which employees can enhance their capabilities and work with increased efficiency Hackman and Oldham (1980, p.44) have defined work redesign as "changing the actual structure of the jobs people perform‘. While this may seem to be a simple term, in the context of a hospital, researchers agree that the type of redesign strategy that a hospital administration will take up will be directly linked to the generic strategy that has been employed by the hospital in matters other than the specific redesign. According to Das & Tonges (1995), hospitals can be differentiated into three broad categories in this regard: the Prospectors, the Analyzers and the Defenders. The organization that we are discussing is essentially a Prospector, it chooses to operate in changing domains and has a certain fluidity to its alignment with environmental demands and needs.

The Importance of the EEO in Starbucks Case Study

The Importance of the EEO in Starbucks - Case Study Example In this way, the law produces and imposes another stereotyped identity: the identity of the isolated and outcast employees. It should be emphasized that the progress rewards equal treatment and EEO was made without changing or lowering employment requirements or standards and without establishing any ratios or quotas for determining how many minority group employees the company should have. This approach allows the company to create a friendly and positive atmosphere, supportive climate and maintain high morale. In order to continue to succeed and to grow in the highly competitive fields, Starbucks cannot compromise on qualifications; it must continue to maintain high employment and promotional standards. EEO department and its strict policies changed Starbucks from a passive attitude toward non-discrimination, that is one which emphasized avoiding discrimination, to an active seeking out and hiring of qualified minority group applicants. It created (and creates) a similar change in the evaluation of minority group employees for possible training, development, and advancement. The company's attitude now is a positive one for equal opportunity. The company is convinced that it can and will continue to make its best progress through a positive, active approach (Buckley 23). The major t The major task of the company is to win the competition in the global market. This task can be realized by means of elaboration successful strategy. In the case with Starbucks the best strategy is to accommodate the policy of the company in such a way as to make it able to meet the main challenges and opportunities of multinational cultural diversity. Diversity (cultural, religious and national) is important because it helps to overcome communication barriers between the company and its customers (Starbucks Coffee Company 2007). Three years ago, these commitments were communicated to all managers, supervisors, foremen, and employees. each location was told of its own responsibility to live up to these commitments in its own employment activities, utilization of facilities, and application of all personnel policies and practices. Their approaches have been varied and tailored to suit each plant's individual problems. Many companies, like Starbucks, have been making progress by hiring qualified minority group applicants who had prepared themselves in spite of the odds against their having a chance to use their talents. Starbucks have been upgrading and promoting these few in its plants and offices. The importance is this approach is that it ensures long-term goals and strategies for the company and its employees. In the future, the problem may well be more to afford opportunity for education than for employment. Placing individuals in positions they are not trained or qualified to hold sets them up for failure and humiliation, harming the individual as well as the company (Buckley 43). Therefore, it is imperative that attention be directed to assuring equal opportunity for sound education and training. In sum, EEO and diversity management change attitude of all employees towards their colleagues and customers belonging to different races. Today, positive attitudes are openly expressed and positive actions are taken by executives and managers to ensure equal

Tourism in France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tourism in France - Essay Example Travellers are always searching for exotic locations that offer stunning natural resources, cross-border travel and eco-tourism. Rural areas in France offer many environmental amenities and has become more attractive especially for agri-tourism. Millions of tourists from all parts of the world visit France annually and it is the most popular tourist destination in the world (Books LLC 2010). At the same time, France keeps public funding for tourism at a relatively low level. Tourism is the largest industry in the world and generates crucial businesses for other service industries such as the hotel industry, entertainment facilities, restaurants, sport and recreational facilities and travel services. A new form of tourism where tourists want a customised itinerary is emerging. These package tours are shorter and more frequent but less expensive compared to the traditional tourism (Poon 1993). The average trip for package tour takes 4 nights instead of the traditional 9 nights. The introduction and improvement of digital communication and ICT, which has enabled clients make choices that are more informed, has made this possible. The French government exercises its sovereign authority and outlines the framework of operation in relation to national peace, the rule of law, food security, health security and reliable public services. This structure is crucial for development of tourism. France guarantees the legislative and regulatory structures for all activities, including tourism. Successive governments have continued to fund bodies that exist to support tourism at the local and the international level. Administration of tourism in France has been rationalised to meet all stakeholders’ needs. Through the central government, regions, departments and communes, the French authorities support tourism development. By increasing resources for territorial tourism improvement and promotion of France as the preferred tourist destination, the central government and territorial authorities have seen the number of tourists increasing annually (Todd, 2008). Territorial authorities play a crucial role in formulation of policy and development of tourism. The national tourism administration supports regional tourism through guidance, regulation and coordination of tourism policies and ensures they are consistent. The French Agency for Tourism Engineering (AFIT) ensures development objectives between territorial authorities, private actors and the central government complement each other and are in line with the national strategic objectives. The administrative classification for accommodati on in the form of hotels, tourist resorts, holiday rentals, campsites and tourist offices has a number of implications, notably with regard to complementary funding and dates back to 1919 (Books LLC 2010). A rated commune has certain additional privileges in addition to the normal privileges received by other communes. The central government and the territorial governments share Institutional responsibilities in managing tourism. The territorial governments are responsible for planning and implementing the medium-term objectives for tourism development. Tourism is a service activity and requires a large workforce, which is a blessing during the current slow

Research Methods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Methods - Research Paper Example Results. The control group shows a post-experimental phase mean score of 23.27 with a variance of a little over 12. The experimental group demonstrated a mean score of 16.53 and a variance of almost 17. In terms of the data, the experimental group shows significant improvement in the reduction of bulimic behavior with a seven point reduction in the mean group score over the baseline. The distribution is higher within the experimental group, likely because of the variable efficacy of psychotherapy on individuals. A review of the raw data shows that only four individuals in the group had scores approaching the group's baseline, while others showed dramatic improvement. This effect would not be expected in the control group, and would contribute to a wider distribution around the mean group score. .. This effect would not be expected in the control group, and would contribute to a wider distribution around the mean group score. References Henderson, M. & Freeman, C.P.L. (1987). "A self rating scale for bulimia: The BITE. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150,

Management accounting - financial reporting Essay

Management accounting - financial reporting - Essay Example Recent literature suggests that the environment that supports management accounting practices have changed considerably with advances in information technology, mounting competition among companies, globalization of businesses, economic recession, new management strategies and the shift of focus to customer services and improve quality. To support such changes, companies have altered their management accounting practices to adapt to the ever changing environment. There is sufficient research done by the authors discussed in this work, to support such a statement. The authors have also identified the factors that led the companies to implement such changes in their respective subject groups.To remain competitive in such a globally advanced environment, developing countries have introduced new cost and management accounting systems such as activity-based costing (ABC), activity-based management (ABM), target costing, product life cycle costing, quality cost management, customer account ing and the balanced score card (BSC) approach to performance measures. The difference in the systems used by the developed and developing nations can be attributed to the difference in cultural values between them. The systems in practice in the developed nations need not suit the developing nations as the environments surrounding the two are significantly diverse.A study of the South African firms by Waweru et al (2004) revealed that on average 63 percent of the management accounting changes were implemented in the last decade... The study reveals that Australian companies are early adopters while Indian companies are late adopters. The final study discussed by Damant (2003) in this work deals with a specific aspect of financial accounting, the income statement. The author of the study supports the view that a proposed change is needed to the traditional profit and loss account to promote better understanding and transparency in reporting. Although it is evident from the study that financial accounting requires a standardized format across companies and industries to enable comparisons and benchmarking, the author is of the opinion that implementing the new matrix would clear away many past and present difficulties in financial reporting. Theoretical insights by the authors According to Waweru et al (2004), all organizations are subject to their external environment and are dependant on them for their inputs and their output. "A company has to maintain a consistent relationship with the environment for its success." The changes in the external environment cause a rippling effect that causes alterations in the management accounting principles adopted by a company. The authors concur with the statement and conducts further research to identify the factors that induce and hinder the companies to alter their management accounting principles. Studies have proved that the political, social, economic and cultural aspects that surround a company influence its management accounting practices. Bearing in mind the diverse conditions under which companies operate, developing countries are cautioned against adopting principles practiced by the developed countries. Joshi (2001) also supports previous studies conducted concerning management accounting

Anna’s Courage and Determination That Results in Her Eventual Emancipation Essay Example for Free

Anna’s Courage and Determination That Results in Her Eventual Emancipation Essay English ‘Year of wonders’ Practice essay #1 â€Å"More than anything else, it is Anna’s courage and determination that results in her eventual emancipation’. Do you agree?† The circular structure Novel â€Å" Year of wonders† by Geraldine Brooks, details the events taking place at a small village called ‘Eyam’, through the eyes of the protagonist Anna Frith. Set in the 1600s, the town of Eyam (along with the rest of Europe) finds them self’s at the mercy of the devastating disease know as the bubonic plague. This relentless and unforgiving infection kills within days and spreads rapidly, making it near impossible to combat. In response, Eyam’s unofficial ‘leader‘ and rector, Mr. Mompellion, imposes a ‘voluntary’ quarantine on the village, which isolates them from the rest of the outside world, leaving themselves to deal with the fear and challenges brought by the plague. Throughout the testing times brought by the plague, the bravery and willpower of the main character Anna Frith is constantly evident and is the main reason why she is able to survive the plague and eventually free her self from the past, with her new life in Oran. This is shown in the novel through Anna’s fortitude to over come her great challenges and fears and her constant endeavor to help others. However her loss in faith throughout the novel also plays a role in the development of her new life. Through one of the most testing times of human history, a young and timid girl in Anna Frith responds by stepping up and growing strong. She had to face tasks, no ordinary women would be capable of, such as; laying her husbands body out for burial and dealing with the mangled remains of her father. And not to mention the countless amount of ‘death beads’ she attended. Further more we learn early learn of Anna’s fear of delivering babies and midwifing due to her mother due to a four-day labor. During this labor, a barber surgeon was called in and used a thatcher’s hook to pull the remains from Anna’s mother. With Anna’s father, Josiah, too intoxicated to realise Anna was in the room, she was exposed to seeing â€Å"the tiny town off arm of [her] stillborn sister† and â€Å"the pale, folded flesh, the tiny, perfect fingers open like a little flower†. This fear is over come by  determination when Elinor Mompellion requests Anna’s help to deliver Mary daniel’s baby. Anna was â€Å"not calm, nor certain and had no skill† but was a great help in the successful delivery of the baby and â€Å"in a season of death, we celebrated life†. Anna then realised that due to the dwindling numbers of the village, it was essential that Anna rise’s to the occasion and start burdening some of the load off Elinor’s shoulders. Anna performs very well in the delivery foreshadows that amount of deliveries she partakes in, and the eventual career path she takes with ahmed bey in oran. Further more, when a young orphaned girl is in desperate need of assistance to save her family mine, Anna jumps at the opportunity. She undertakes the dangerous task even though she dreads that it will leave her â€Å"dead in the dark like Sam†. Even In the presence of these fears she puts the needs of other before her own reservations. It is Anna’s Determination to over come her fear and apprehensions for the greater good of someone else that makes her â€Å"tempered and strong† and allows her release the shackles of her past at the end of the novel and start a new life in Oran. At a time when you were considered lucky to not be ravaged by disease, many would avoid contact with those affected, unlike Anna who was at the forefront helping. With the ever-smaller population of Eyam becoming smaller by the day, Anna realised that it was her duty to assist Elinor in give strength to the healthy, and to also bring solace and peace to those afflicted with the plague. She started becoming an established and capable caregiver even though her official role is as a servant. Through out the novel, Anna continued to help others in the town such as Mr. Mompellion in his duties as rector, Merry wick ford with the collection of led from her mine thus saving Merry’s claim, and also the with the adoption of the young Bradford baby, aisha. By adopting the her she becomes more independent and does not endorse the trends of other women during that time period and does not succumb to the prejudices of society. For Anna, surviving the plague was not enough, she states †Å"I was alive, and I was young, and I would go on until I found some reason for it†. With Anna’s willingness to help people during severely hard circumstances aided her in fulfilling her ambition to complete a â€Å"worthy life’s work† as a midwife on Oran. Although Anna’s persistence largely leads to her emancipation, her loss in faith is also attributed to her new life in Oran. Religion during the 1600s played a very significant role in how people thought, behaved and eventually how they tried to explain the cause of the plague. For many, including Anna, the plague was believed to be a punishment from god, sent to rid the earth of sin. When questioned, the town rector Mr. Mompellion could not explain why God had caused such devastation. Anna is seen to start to question her religious beliefs early in the novel when she says, â€Å"Why I wonder was god so much more prodigal with his creation† and â€Å"why should this good women (Maggie Cantwell) lie here, in such extremity, when a man like my father lived to waste his reason in drunkenness†. When Mr. Mompellion can’t explain the plague from a religious stance, many of the villagers look for other scape goats and turn to superstitions such as witch craft, an d hence the killing of Anys and near death of Mem. Anna does not succumb to the superstition and turns to a thought out explanation that â€Å"perhaps the plague was neither god nor the devil, but simply a thing of nature, as the stone on which we stub our toe†. This loss in faith of religious explanation allows her to find a reason to live purposely and let go of all her ties and memories with the rector. For the duration of â€Å"year of wonders†, Anna Frith demonstrates several strong and purpose driven characteristics that allowed for her to survive severely tough times and escape to her new life in oran. Anna was able to over come her fears, put peoples needs before her own and was able to let go of her religious beliefs which allowed her to move on with life and forget all elements of her past.

Computer Task Group, Inc vs Brotby Essay Example for Free

Computer Task Group, Inc vs Brotby Essay In 1995 William Brotby was hired by Computer Task Group, Inc. (CTG) as an information technologies consultant. Upon hiring, Brotby had to sign an agreement stating that he would be restricted to work for any CTG customers if he left the company. No more than two years later, Brotby left CTG and began to work for one of CTG’s customers known as Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. CTG, plaintiff, filed a suit against Brotby, defendant, in a federal district court alleging breach of contract. During the production of discovery, Brotby refused to fully respond to CTG’s interrogatories, never gave truthful answers, filed unwarranted motions, made flimsy objections, and never disclosed all of the information that CTG sought. Brotby was fined twice by the court and was issued five separate orders ordering him to cooperate. Because of Brothby’s continuous refusal to cooperate, CTG eventually filed a motion to enter default judgment against him in 1999. The court granted the motion; however, Brotby appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Is continuous refusal of the defendant to produce discovery enough to warrant a default judgment by a federal district court? The federal district court granted CTG’s motion to enter a default judgment. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the lower court. Therefore, the appellate court held that â€Å"in light of Brotby’s horrible record of discovery abuses† and his â€Å"abiding contempt and continuing disregard for the court’s orders,† the lower court properly exercised its discretion in entering a default judgment against the defendant. The Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 allows the district court to enter a default judgment against a party who fails to comply with an order demanding discovery. In addition, the district court must weigh five factors in order to appropriately decide if a sanction of default for noncompliance with discovery is grounds for dismissal. These five factors are: â€Å"(1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage its ocket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the opposing party; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic sanctions. † When a court order is violated, the first and second factors will favor sanctions whereas the fourth will challenge the order. With regards to the first factor, Brotby’s actions were deliberate; he intended his actions to be as they were. Moreover, in determining whether abolishing sanctions are appropriate in Brotby’s case is reliant on the third and fifth factors. Brotby violated court orders by failing to produce sufficient and factual documents, and by failing to pay one of the fines. These deceitful tactics delayed the litigation process while burdening the court, and prejudiced CTG. Brotby failed to produce documents ordered by the court, and most of what he did submit came after discovery. The withholding of important information and the time delay is sufficient prejudice towards CTG. There are three factors considered in deciding whether the district court adequately considered lesser sanctions: â€Å"(1) explicitly discussed the alternative of lesser sanctions and explained why it would be inappropriate; (2) implemented lesser sanctions before ordering the case dismissed; and (3) warned the offending party of the possibility of dismissal. † The district court judge appropriately considered the alternative of lesser sanctions by ordering Brotby to comply with CTG’s discovery request five times and imposing two lesser sanctions against him. However, Brotby never responded and therefore it is appropriate to discard lesser sanctions if the court anticipates continuous false misconduct. Brotby also had continuous awareness that his unwillingness to cooperate would eventually result in a default judgment against him; the judge warned him to â€Å"stop playing games† if he wanted to stay in the game. Therefore, the two monetary sanctions, five orders ordering him to cooperate, and repeated warnings proved enough notice that Brotby’s continued failure to comply would result in default.

Climate Change And Its Impact On Ski Industry Tourism Essay

Climate Change And Its Impact On Ski Industry Tourism Essay This essay talks about the presence of climate change and its impact on ski industry which is dependent activity on weather conditions. Global warming has been considered as a mega risk and it has a tendency to be permanent and therefore it is extremely complicated to measure its outcomes. As Nicholls (2006) mentioned, climate change is nowadays strongly accepted by many worlds scientists and governments as an issue of tremendous alarm for the people worldwide. This essay considers different models of possible impacts of global warming on different parts of the world. Steyger and Mayers (2008) said that since the 1990s the likely dependence of snow tourism to climate change has received greater alertness in the media. Increasing number of authors focus on this matter as well as on the adaption strategies of ski resorts. This paper demonstrates that global warming is a problem which forced majority of ski resorts all over the world to respond to weather changes in order to survive. Essay talks about options that are available to ski resorts and brings on the discussion of their usage and their effectiveness. Ski resorts all over the world are likely to experience a loss of snow consistency and that is why supervision of ski regions has to be more conscious when it comes to future of snow conditions in their geography area. Global warmings impact on ski industry Models of projected outcomes of global warming Climate as well as the natural environment associated with weather change can likely to impact open-air leisure and tourism. Businesses linked to skiing industry are largely exposed to the projected impacts of global warming because skiing is an activity dependent on climate conditions. Bricknell and McManus (2006) considered that it is one of the first and the most visibly impacted industries by the risk of global warming worldwide. Folland et al (2001) as mentioned in Moen and Fredman (2007) stated that annual snow cover level in the northern hemisphere has decreased by approximately 10% since 1966 and also that previous decade was wetter and warmer compared to the prior 30-year period in whole Europe. Global warming has already affected and will most probably carry on with affecting physical and natural systems all over the world. As Moen and Fredman (2007) refered to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001), the expected effects of global warming include a proposed boost of globally averaged outside temperature by 1.4 to 5.8Â °C between years 1990 and 2100 which would also possibly lead to sea level rise of 0.88m globally. ZAMG (2007) as cited in Breilings and Charamza (1999) found out that because of global warming the line of usual snowfall steadiness will raise by about 150 m of altitude per 1Â °C of warming. For better picture, low attitude ski resorts are those below 1800-2000 m and thus, the majority of ski resorts in the world. Not to mention Breilings and Charamzas (1999) estimation that a 1Â °C rise in average temperatures with winter drought may reduce the duration of snow cover by 50% at altitudes in range of 1400 1600 m. For example, Moen and Fredman (2007) estimated that no more than 63% of the entire Swiss ski regions will be snow consistent once a temperature raise by 2Â °C, not to mention the impact in the worst case and thus, in increase of temperature by 5.8Â °C, taking to account IPCCs model. If we link these few findi ngs together, we may conclude that in the worst circumstances, the natural snow dependability will rise by 870m of altitude by year 2100 which would mean that ski resorts of altitude about 2000m may end up with as much snow as altitudes in regions about 1000m today. Larsson (2003) concentrated his research on climate change adaption in Canada and the findings are very similar to of those in Europe. He used model of McCarthys (2001) research which estimated that global warming in Arctic land areas may become theatrical by year 2080. Summer temperatures would increase by 4.0-7.5Â °C, winter temperatures by 2.5-14.0Â °C. These numbers are even more. If these predictions are about to be fulfilled, it would lead to melting of permafrost, leading to soils with condensed bearing capacity in ice rich areas and active regions of irregular permafrost. Additionally as he found out, the global warming effects may decrease periods of extreme cold and on other hand increase frequency of extreme heat in North America. Growing sea levels and danger of rainstorm course, and thus danger of coastal flooding, variations in timing, regularity and severity of flooding linked to rainstorms are likely to become a reality. Moen and Fredman (2007) mentioned that according to Mendelsohn and Markowski (1999), global warming would most likely have an effect on outdoor leisure in three ways in the future. These include accessibility of leisure possibilities throughout longer summer seasons and shorter winter seasons. The comfort in general, satisfaction of leisure activities and the quality of the leisure experience. These kind of changes will generate winners as well as losers as diverse sorts of outside recreation activities involve dissimilar climatic conditions. These outcomes are though generalisations that may be applicable at collective level, whilst it would expect large district and neighbouring variations between different tourism activities. All of the above findings are alarming for winter tourism destinations and therefore managements of ski areas have to be very aware of possible impact of climate change on their ski spots as the snow is fundamental aspect of ski tourism. Snow conditions as a key factor Winter tourism is in many ways reliant on natural features such as terrain, elevation or vertical fall. On other hand, even more significant features are weather conditions, and thus temperatures, airstream and snowfall. With decrease in snow cover, whatever the terrain or vertical fall may be, it is almost impossible to develop any ski opportunities. More authors agreed that snow cover is a key variable for consumers to decide where to ski. Suggestions that impacts on global warming on winter tourism can be significant are apparent from research from different parts of the world. For example, Fukushima et al (2002) as expressed in Moen and Fredman (2007) formed the interactions connecting air warmth, rainfall, snow intensity and the amount of skiers at seven different ski resorts in Japan. They found out that the number of skiers decreased by 30% when temperature increased by 3-C. Godfrey (1999) found out that one of the most important aspects influencing destination choices of Engl ish skiers going to Canada is snow conditions. These findings strengthen an argument that snow conditions and snow cover may be regarded as the most important factor for any ski resort. As discussed and illustrated before, the phenomenon of global warming may, and most likely will have a huge impact on snow conditions in mountains and ski areas and thus it will also have significant influence on businesses of new as well as matured ski destinations. Majority of them started to feel impacts of global warming and they are trying to find solutions in order to respond to weather changes so they have better chance to survive and keep their businesses alive. The question is, is all it possible even without not enough natural snowfall? Adaption by ski industry Artificial snow-making Steiger and Mayer (2008) concentrated their research on Austrias and Swisss ski industry and stated that technically created snow is the most used alteration approach for unusually hot winter seasons. Nicholls (2006) who researched climate change and its impact on outdoor tourism in Europe said that key technological alteration to snow absence is the implementation of artificial snow-making facilities. Moen and Fredman (2007) considered that the most general adaptation to snow-deficient winters in Sweden is also artificial snow-making. The practice of snowmaking is increasingly characteristic for the Australian ski industry too (Bricknell and McManus, 2006). Snowmaking may be used not only to influence ski season durations but also to reduce snow changeability throughout the season. This is viewed as an insurance policy for overcoming the unreliability of seasons and dealing with the potential impacts of climate change. Snowmaking could be considered short to medium-term adaptation a pproach, not just for low altitude ski destinations but as well as for financially strong year-round resorts at higher altitudes (Nicholls, 2006). For instance, in Austria almost 60% of the ski areas are covered by artificial snow-making facilities (FSO, 2007 in Steyger and Mayer, 2008). But the distribution of snow-making cannot be related to global warming as trends in tourism, status, and competitive advantage are crucial features. Steiger and Mayer (2008) said that ski resorts are forced to build up snow-making capabilities with cost for their financial strength as warm winters are becoming more common than in the past. However the possible assistance of this machinery to the practicability of winter tourism destinations have yet to be formed by researchers as the significant expenditures are linked with this measure. For instance, approximately 27% of ski resorts in Switzerland have a reduced cash stream already and most do not seem to be viable without help (Seilbahnen Schweiz 2006 in Steiger and Mayer, 2008). Elsasser and Burki (2002) and Scott et al. (2003) as described in Nicholls (2006), stated that snowmaking ameniti es are costly to assemble and preserve, and need significant amounts of water and power to work. For that reason, many of the small and middle range ski resorts would not have enough money for the implementation of such technology. Usage of snow-making technology In preparation for the skiing season of 2006-2007 the Austrias Tyrolean ski industry invested EUR 55 million in snowmaking, with EUR 270 million in overall investments even though, the past winter seasons had brought sufficient snowfall yet at lower elevations (Tiroler Tageszeitung 2006 as illustrated in Steyger and Mayers, 2008). This points out that while the operators observe climate circumstances as regularly too blurred and uncertain, they are well aware of global warming and are searching for adaptation strategies. Also, medium-term investment strategies are not tailored, as there is a lot of confidence in the improvement capacities of snowmaking machinery with a clear perceivable hole between weather change and economic investment phases (Mayer et al 2007 in Steiger and Mayer, 2008). As they mentioned, while the poor winter seasons at the end of the 1980s sparked artificial snowmaking in Tyrol, additional distribution was not related to weather unpredictability and global warm ing scenarios. On other hand, there is tendency to supply even naturally snow consistent ski resorts in high altitude areas higher than 2000m or in even 2500m with snow-making amenities. These elevations may be regarded as naturally snow consistent even in pessimistic global warming scenarios. As they said, snow-making amenities can be also used as promotion instrument to be a magnet for tourists, to build reputation and to maintain prices higher than it would generally be. These resources could perhaps be used in more sustainable way than just unnecessary usage of water wealth and other detriments of snow guns. Snow-making guns are not necessarily used in order just to make ski slopes usable for longer period of time. Main enthusiasm for the unique diffusion of snowmakers are that snowmaking should secure tourist capacity consumption, cable car companies revenues, and images of resorts in which domestic as well as international ski rivalry go on. Furthermore, it ought to guarantee broad environment for teaching and exercising of winter sports. How is global warming related to diffusion of snow-making facilities? Austrias case is different as there are many high-altitude ski resorts but Bricknell and McManus (2006) interviewed CEOs of three different ski resorts in Australia on this issue. CEOs assured that snowmaking technology may help to negate projected climate change impacts. The CEO of one resort suggested that, under global warming, snowmaking conditions may be unaffected or even improved because drier colder nights are good for snow-making which would assist the long term viability of the industry. The CEO of second resort noted that snowmaking is a necessary investment regardless of the potential impacts of climate change due to current consumer demands on the industry. CEO of third resort however, argued that global warming could have significant impact on artificial snow-making as this technology still depends on climate conditions and thus it still would not necessarily overcome the issue. Global warming and artificial snow-making Global warming may influence snowmaking in few ways. Decrease in natural snowfall would require more snowmaking; increase in average temperatures would decrease the length and amount of possibilities and boost the expenses of making snow; and variations in rainfall may distress the water supply for snowmaking (Scott et al., 2006 in Moen and Fredman, 2007). Analyses in North America have exposed that artificial snowmaking can significantly lessen the pessimistic outcomes of climate change but only if the temperature stays adequately low (Scott, 2006; Scott et al., 2006 in Moen and Fredman, 2007). Nicholls (2006) stated that artificial snow-making needs certain climatic surroundings, as for example minimum temperatures to be met and hence, this system may in several circumstances be prohibited beside the increase in warmth related to the global warming. The most important thing about snow-making is that snow guns and their usage are limited by weather conditions (Steiger and Mayer, 2008). High-quality snow can be accomplished with snow creation starting below -6Â °C at average humidity. On top of that, snowmaking conditions are prejudiced by warmth and wetness; if the air is wetter, lower temperatures are required. With recent snowmaking tools snow can be produced below -5Â °C. Fliris (1974) weather tables as expressed in Steiger and Mayer (2008) demonstrate a strong connection between -2Â °C daily average temperature and -6Â °C daily lowest temperature (Nicholls, 2006). Days reaching the threshold of -2Â °C daily average temperature are defined as prospective snowmaking days with best snowmaking conditions. Additionally, snowmaking is only considered realistic if it can poise out the loss during snowmelt. Therefore for majority of low-altitude ski resorts this strategy does not patch up the issue of global warming for long term and they have to start to look for other strategic options in order to overcome the problems of peak season shortness and falling visitor numbers as a result of climate change. Moen and Fredman (2007) adopted from Burki et al (2003) some other adaption strategies ski resorts may consider. Apart from snow-making, resorts could concentrate on different activities in order to fulfil consumer requirements and to survive on competitive business market. Slope development and operational practices At active ski areas, slope expansion alterations consist of: slope contouring, landscaping, and the defence of glaciers. Contouring or flatting ski slopes could be grooming slopes in the summer season to eliminate rocks or shrub vegetation, to reduce the snow deepness needed to operate and represent a cost saving approach for snowmaking (Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Land contouring can also be used to capture snowmelt and top up snowmaking tanks during the winter. Strategic placing and planting of tree cover can capture moving snow and to some extent gloom ski slopes, which would reduce snowmelt and snowmaking needs. Additionally to the adjustment of already operating skiable environment, the expansion of new skiable terrain in climatically privileged sites is generally cited as an alteration to climate change. The development of north facing slopes, which retain snowpack longer, is one strategy too. As Scott and McBoyle (2007) realised, more authors agreed that expansion of ski areas i nto higher elevations, with generally more reliable snow cover, where a longer ski season is possible, seems to be one of the key climate change adaptation strategies considered by ski area operators in the European Alps. Thirty six ski areas in Austria were awaiting authorisation to develop their operations into higher elevations in 2002- 2003. Wolfsegger et al. () as illustrated in Scott and McBoyle (2007) said that expanding to higher elevations was the third most favourite global warming adaptation choice by Austrian ski area managers, after snowmaking and sharing snowmaking costs with the accommodation industry. Nicholls (2006) also agreed that strategy of development of higher altitude ski resorts is option that tends to be of favour for existing ski resorts. Large ski corporations over smaller, family-owned businesses tend to use this strategy. Although, such improvements would present a host of ecological and safety concerns which the industry would need to deal with in order to uphold the industry in a viable approach. These comprise bigger pressure from new production as well as improved waste creation. Also due to mountain terrain or height this strategy is in many cases impossible. Other option is to cooperate or expand into areas with more reliable snow which may on other hand diversify income structure of resorts. Scott and McBoyle (2007) said that high elevation mountain environments are particularly sensitive to disturbance and opposition from the public and environmental groups may pose a significant constraint on this adaptation strategy in some locations. Marketing incentives and new product developments Bricknell and McManus (2006) suggested that many resorts use strategy of flexible ticket pricing policy and thus reducing ticket prices in order to attract more skiers. Scott and McBoyle (2007) mentioned that ski companies have already begun to experiment with incentives or guarantees to overcome skiers reluctance to book a ski holiday because of uncertain snow conditions. In the winter of 1999-2000, for example, the American Skiing Company promised visitors to its six New England region ski resorts a 25% reduction on their next vacation if the ski area failed to open 70% of their ski runs during the Christmas-New Year holiday period. Warm temperatures that season forced three of the six resorts to pay customers rebates (Keates, 2000 in Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Another strategy could be to develop non-snow related activities in winter or to become all season destination as more choices could attract more tourists and it could bring other benefits. All year round tourism could be developed by providing climate independent tourism such as conference or educational tourism. Nicholls (2006) mentioned that the building of conference amenities combined with the contribution of a broad variety of outside leisure activities during the seasons may provide resorts with a balanced, constant source of revenue that is less dependent on weather conditions. On other hand, the expansion of such substitutes needs an primary lay out of funds which may go beyond the capabilities of smaller ski businesses. Over the past three decades, many ski areas in North America have diversified their operations beyond traditional ski activities to include the provision of skiing and snowboarding lessons, accommodation and retail sales (Scott and McBoyle, 2007). The Economist (1998) referred to the alteration of major ski resorts in North America from ski areas to winter theme parks, as the Disneyfication of the winter sports industry (Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Non-skiers represent an important market at ski resorts. Williams and Dossa (1990) estimated that 20-30% of visitors to ski resorts in Canada did not ski during their visit (Scott and McBoyle, 2007). They also pointed out that in season 1974-75, lift tickets stood for almost 80% of profits for the usual ski area in the US. Nowadays, lift tickets stand for not even than half the profits, as other activities have risen in significance. Therefore to diversify the market and also to decrease the pressure of demand on ski lifts, this strategy see ms to be very supportive for existing ski resorts with capabilities to do so. Many ski resorts have made substantial investments to provide alternate activities for non-skiing visitors. For example snowmobiling, skating, dog sled-rides, indoor pools, health and wellness spas, fitness centres, squash and tennis, games rooms, restaurants, retail stores and many others. Moen and Fredman (2007) agreed, developing alternatives to skiing during winter is well recognised strategy to overcome falling visitor numbers into ski areas; however he pointed out, that it is also problematic as many of these alternatives are reliant on snow conditions or ice-covered lakes and thus dependant on climate conditions. All year round tourism The most promising strategy in order to completely overcome the problems of global warming may be to develop all-year round tourism. Moreover, offset pessimistic financial effects as of global warming, such a strategy would as well have optimistic public effects on conventional winter destinations as seasonal dissimilarity in employment prospects are bridged over. A number of ski resorts have further diversified their business operations to become four season resorts, offering non-winter activities such as golf, boating and white-water rafting, mountain biking, paragliding, horseback riding and other business lines. At many larger resorts, real estate construction and management has also become a very important source of revenue. On other hand, as Bricknell and McManus (2006) stated, the development of summer tourism needs long term preparation in order for them to develop appreciation in this market. The resorts will have to contend with each other and with summer destinations such as coastal locations, which would be in many cases very tough, especially where coastal summer tourism takes place. The expansion of tourism into the summer season in sequence to support or to swap snow tourism may also direct to environmental conflicts. Activities that resorts may want to promote, such as bike riding and horse riding, could unintentionally leak out into regions of preservation where they are forbidden. These kinds of activities are also known to worsen environmental issues, such as erosion and the spread of exotic species. If these forms of tourism increase in popularity, the carrying capacity for these mountain destinations must be re-evaluated to encompass their potential impacts. Role of public sector The public good characteristic of climate change creates complicated challenge for financial and political organizations. The lack of an unchanged weather is not connected to growing prices and is not necessarily measured to the top valued consumers. To maintain well-organized policies, inputs from financial estimations of global warming impacts are essential. Such financially viable measures consist of direct economic impacts to the economy as well as benefits to the contributors. For instance, Scott et al. (2002) as described in Scott and McBoyle (2007) used spending records to present approximation of the possible economic impacts from g oobal warming on skiing in Canada, whilst Richardson and Loomis (2005) calculated the effects of climate on motivation to pay to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Many authors put some efforts to place an economic value on global warming impacts to tourism and outside leisure. For example, as Scott and McBoyle (2007) said, Meier (1998) approxima ted the cost of global warming for the 4 season tourism in Switzerland at USD 1.1 1.4 billion by the year 2050. Scott and McBoyle (2007) said that better weather forecasting would make available an enhanced foundation for risk assessments and tactical business choices, as well as the timing of seasonal openings or when to begin artificial snowmaking. Negotiations with ski operators in eastern North America propose that the industry does not presently use seasonal forecasts in their operational decision-making and substantive enhancements in forecasting accurateness would be necessary before these products would achieve a level of realistic value for the ski industry. Some ski operators yet think about five to seven days forecasts as too untrustworthy for operational decision-making and applied forecasts from different countries or classified services instead of governmental forecasts (Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Announcements to the community through the media could be a further aspect of forecasting that could be improved in some areas. Ski operators occasionally have adversarial interaction wi th a number of neighbouring media for the reason that of what they recognise as inaccurate exposure of weather conditions and forecasts that they disagree cost them business (King, 2005 in Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Government support to the ski industry has taken place in the variety of discounted energy costs, long-standing leases of communal lands and infrastructure fundings, but the industry has not gained from the kinds of backing programs offered to other climate-sensitive trade sectors such as for example, sponsor harvest insurance for the agriculture sector. In the future, skiing based tourism economic losses consequential from unpleasant climate circumstances may be adequate for government concern and support in some cases. Government participation in the ski industrys prospect could perhaps take a number of forms. Direct involvement could come throughout financial assistance, cover support or marketing proposals. Ultimately, government policies linked to land and water use, and energy and revenue spending could impact skiing operations positively. Government financial assistance for snowmaking was greatly supported by Austrian ski area managers, whilst government assistance for financial losses because of poor winters was only to some extent supported (Wolfsegger et al, 2005 as demonstrated in Scott and McBoyle, 2007). Conclusion This essay discussed the problem of global warming and its projected impacts on ski industry all over the world. It demonstrated that climate change is broadly accepted as a mega risk, particularly for businesses dependant on weather conditions. Numerous ski resorts, especially those that are established at lower elevations could face serious problems if climate change forecasts are about to be accurate in the future. Among limited supply of downhill ski resorts, coupled with an existing high demand for the activity, it would possibly lead to yet other remarkable increase in prices and environmental pressures. Ski resorts have several strategy options to consider when it comes to problem of not sufficient snow cover in their geography area. Some tend to use artificial snow-making facilities, some aim to diversify their business portfolio by offering a new products and developments of new tourism attractions. The most promising strategy to overcome global warming problem, as regarded by few authors, was to become an all-year round tourism destination. However, all of these adaption strategies tend to go hand in hand with the issue of sustainability which should be taken more seriously as all developments take place in extremely sensitive environments. The essay demonstrated that adaption strategies are increasingly used already by ski resorts in many parts of the world and that sometimes these are not even related to global warming. The most commonly used adaption strategies are not without ecological and financial costs. Water usage from natural water bodies can lesser water intensities and influence fishing harmfully. Power needs are high as well and inversely linked to warmth, and will thus sustain higher expenditure the warmer the temperatures get. By means of this type of disorder of demand to ski regions with higher altitude, ecological loads upon the nearby environments would be enlarged. This paper only fairly points out issues that come along with new developments and expansions of ski regions and these should be further discussed and analysed.

When Light Pierced the Darkness by Nechama Tec Essays -- Pierced Darkn

When Light Pierced the Darkness by Nechama Tec â€Å"Altruism: Concern for the welfare of others, as opposed to egoism; selflessness† (American 99). In her book entitled When Light Pierced the Darkness, Nechama Tec asserts that people who aided Jews during the Nazi Holocaust may have acted altruistically; however, they did so under a modified definition of altruism. Furthermore, she offers her own definition of altruism within the context of the Holocaust and designates six traits, which she found rescuers of Jews to exhibit. While many of these traits are apparent in the personalities of characters in the films: Shop on Main Street, Cold Days, Divided We Fall, and Europa Europa, some of them are glaringly absent. Tec offers the general definition of altruism, â€Å"†¦doing things for others without expectation of external rewards† (Tec 151). She indicates that this definition does not apply to people who saved Jews because it does not take into account the tremendous amount of risk (e.g., the possibility of losing one’s life) involved in their actions. Consequently, she offers the biological science definition of altruism, â€Å"†¦self destructive behavior performed for the benefit of others,† which she perceives to be more applicable to the exploits of non-Jews who rescued Jews (151). Moreover, Tec personally defines altruism within the context of the Nazi Holocaust as, â€Å"†¦ that [behavior] which is carried out to benefit another?with a possibility of very high, rather than inconsequential, personal costs to the giver† (151). In addition, within the parameters of this broad definition she offers two sub-definitions: normative altruism and au tonomous altruism. Tec explains that normative altruism (e.g., a father donating a kidney... ... were outsiders may have contributed to their selfish, cowardly behavior. Thus, it is the individual who demonstrates a high degree of independence, a strong sense of duty where charity is concerned, and an ability to value every human life regardless of religion or ethnicity that will be most likely to selflessly aid people in distress. Conversely, it is the individual that lacks the aforementioned traits, who will be the least effective in assisting those in need. Works Cited American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.1982. Holland, Agnieszka. Europa Europa. Orion, 1991. Hrebejk, Jan. Divided We Fall. Czech Republic, 2000. Kadar, Jan, and Elmar Klos. Shop on Main Street. Czechoslovakia, 1965. Kovacs, Andras. Cold Days. Hungary, 1966. Tec, Nechama. When Light Pierced the Darkness. 1986.

Prejudice and Racism in Canada :: Sociology Racism Prejudice Essays

Racism in Canada "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character" (Martin Luther King Jr.) Ku Klux Klan. Neo Nazis. The Aryan Nations. The American Nazi Party. What are these groups? Why are they present in a land of supposed equality of all men? They are there because there are millions of Americans that believe in their message of white pride. The African American population is growing and Americans are now a mixed group of people. Black people are white people's neighbours, doctors, friends. With a growing unity between the two races, why does racism continue? The answer is simple. Racists from many years ago raise their kids in clans and white supremacy groups and teach them the ways of hatred. These kids grow up "brain-washed" that black people are their enemies and, taught by example, will continue this trend (The Volume Library; 1988). The Ku Klux Klan has been around since the end of the civil war. It is a roller coaster of a history. From extreme power, to rapid decline, and slow reemergence (Software Toolworks Encyclopedia; 1992). The clan, who is notorious for its violence, has a relatively innocent beginning. It was formed from some veterans from the confederate army and was first called the Kuklos Clan which, in Greek, meant Circle Clan. One person thought it would be a good idea to call it the "Ku Klux Klan" as a parody of the fraternity names which always had three Greek alphabet letters in it. They created the Clan to be mischievous and to do it without anyone knowing who they were which accounts for their costumes and masks. They, like most whites, were upset that the black people were free because black people were a constant reminder of the bitter defeat of the South. So to have fun they terrorized black people. Eventually the group grew, fluctuating, but grew to become the first white supremacy group in America and with that growth, their hatred grew as well into what was seen in the early and middle 1900's and what is seen today. Along with the KKK, other anti-black, pro-white groups formed and stemmed out all over the U.S.A. The Neo Nazis who are more commonly know by the term "Skin Heads", are a growing force in hate groups. There hatred of Hispanics, Jews, Blacks, and others are now the fastest growing force in

The Theme of Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay -- To Kill a Moc

The Theme of Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ teaches us about the deceit and prejudice amongst the residents of Maycomb County, all of whom have very contrasting and conflicting views. We are told the story through the eyes of little girl, Scout, and the day-to-day prejudices she faces amongst society. Her father, Atticus, is a white man defending a Negro, even though the town frowns upon such a thing. He is trying to bring order to the socially segregating views, both within the court and out. The most common form of prejudice, which is seen many times throughout the novel, is racism. The white folk of Maycomb County feel they have a higher status in society than the black community, and that the Negroes are there simply to be controlled by the whites. The views of a Negro do not matter; they are worthless to a white person. They are seen as dirty and ‘beneath’ a white. This is true even in extreme cases such as the Ewells being compared to the black community. Even though the Ewells are seen as low class, shabby and disliked, they are still given a higher status than any Negro. You find out the position of the Ewells quite early on in the book, after Scout meets the youngest child of the family, Burris. Atticus tells Scout â€Å"†¦the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work†. This statement from Atticus gives us another form of prejudice; class. By saying that they are a disgrace and have never done a days work, degrades them and thus makes them sound lower class, which essentially they are. This topic is raised a few times in the book, but fundamentally with the same view. The Ewell children however are treated... ...t the verdict will be guilty. Tom Robinson has been discriminated by a biased community, a community of Negro haters. Tom is found guilty, even though the evidence given proves him to be innocent. Tom was never given a fair chance in the trial. The guilty verdict is the result of a racist community. As I have said, prejudice is a key factor in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. It sets storylines, gives people different opinions and makes people biased towards different issues. It just shows how life was in the 1930’s, and the way that race, sex, class and religious prejudice has changed over the years. People were scared to voice their opinions, afraid of what the community might say if they did. If this had been changed and people weren’t so biased that maybe that innocent man would have lived, and people would not have been so discriminative to one another.

Market Research Report Energy and Sports Drink Market Growth in Asia Essay

The changing consumer preferences, demand for functional beverages, increasing awareness towards healthy lifestyles and growing urban population in Asia would be the major factors that would drive the market in coming years. An increasing awareness towards healthy lifestyles has led to a transition in the taste and preferences of people in Asia. The young urban population has been the target customer for energy and sports drink brands in this region. The energy and sports drinks are majorly consumed by professional sports people, gym goers and by working professionals and students that require a special beverage in order to boost their energy and stay active. â€Å"The increasing participation of the health conscious people in sports and fitness activities has greatly impacted the growth trend of sports and energy drink market in Asia. The young population aged 25-35 years represents a potential group of customers for the energy and sports drink manufacturers in the region. † – According to the research report ‘Asia Energy and Sports Drink Market Outlook to 2017’ by Ken Research. The increasing media exposure towards sporting events on television has captured the attention of people, which in turn has encouraged the youth to adopt sports as a profession or as a hobby. This has impelled the growth of sports drinks in Asian countries over the last few years. Sports drinks market in Asia is dominated by famous brands such as Gatorade, Powerade and Pocari Sweat. Red Bull majorly has dominated the energy drink market in the region. Red Bull has effectively maintained a strong distribution channel in various countries in Asia such as in India, China, Japan, Thailand and in South Korea. The energy and sports drink market is anticipated to be driven by the growing trend of health and fitness is expected to create significant demand in Asian countries. The consumer expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages is expected to surge in the region owing to the rise in disposable incomes of the people. The rising awareness about fitness and health benefits among the people in the region will encourage more people to join fitness and sports clubs which will drive the demand and consumption of energy and sports drink in the coming years. The report provides detailed overview on the energy and sports drink market in Asia and help reader to identify the ongoing trends in the key segments of the industry and anticipated growth in future depending upon changing industry dynamics in coming years. The report will aid industry consultants, food and beverage service companies and marketing companies and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in future. For More Details Please Click On Following Link: http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/asia-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/429-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/press/news-asia-energy-and-sports-drink-market/211. html Related Links: http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/japan-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/432-104.html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/south-korea-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/433-104. Html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/india-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/431-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/thailand-energy-and-sports-market-research-report/434-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/china-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/430-104. html.

Digital Libraries Essay

Ashley Tipton Digital Libraries Introduction A simple definition of a digital library is a library where collections are stored in digital formats instead of physical formats and accessible via computers. The content can then be accessed locally, as in within a library, or remotely such as from other places on a college campus or from a user’s home. Many people believe that digital libraries are the future. There are also those that still hold on to the thought that the traditional brick and mortar building is the way a library is supposed to be and that moving to the digital real is not the direction a library should be heading. History The information revolution is one of the marvels of the 20th century. We are now living in an information society where almost everyone around us has a computer, a smartphone, and is connected to the Internet. As our society has become more and more connected, libraries have also started to become more digitized. Library automation came into popularity in the early 1950s. It started with punched card applications to library technical services operations. In 1965, Licklider coined the phrase â€Å"library of the future† to refer to his vision of a fully computer-based library and then in 1978, F.W. Lancaster wrote of the â€Å"paperless library† (Harter, 1996). Other terms later on that were used to describe the library of the future were â€Å"electronic library,† â€Å"virtual library,† â€Å"library without walls,† and â€Å"bionic library† (Harter, 1996). The term â€Å"digital library† came to be from the Digital Libraries Initiative. In 1994, six universities in the United States were granted 24 million dollars for digital library research. This was brought on by the sudden boom of the Internet. â€Å"Digital library† is the name that was most widely adopted by academics, researchers, and librarians and is used to describe the process of digitizing information resources. Digitization According to Ram Nath Maurya, there is a stress for three things in the digital world (Maurya, 2011): †¢ Awareness of information which gives the breath of vision. †¢ †¢ Awareness of technology which gives the power to make the visions manifest. Awareness of needs provide the insight to use professional skills and talents to greater effect. The meaning of this is that it is important for the user to have information that is easily locatable and easily accessible. Nowadays, library patrons have become information conscious and no longer want to wait and go to the library to find what they need. They want to access it access the information electronically. The process of digitizing implies the production of a digital surrogate for a physical object (Unsworth, 2004). There are many different items in libraries that are digitized. This ranges from serials that can be found either in print or online to rare books and archives that are now being preserved in a digital format. There are many positive outcomes that come from digitizing parts of a library’s collection. There is less cost in reshelving the item. The item is simultaneously available to multiple users. The item does not have to be replaced, since it is not being used and there is no chance of it being lost. Also, if it is a rare item, it can be preserved more easily as it will be less frequently handled. Why Go Digital? The most valuable aspect of the digital library is its reduction in cost. There are many fees that are negated such as staff pay, book maintenance, rent, and additional books. This makes the cost of the digital library much less to maintain than that of a traditional library. Also, increased reduction in the use of paper has a positive impact on the environment. Environmental scientists all over the world favor digital libraries to help reduce paper usage. Libraries that have a digital presence can be reached all over the world, thus allowing the library to have a far greater audience beyond their local community. Their collection can be shared and accessed from anywhere. As distance education becomes more popular, it is even more important for libraries to have an online presence. Students who might not be able to physically access their school library’s collection can instead find what they need on their website. Many libraries are offering a vary large amount of databases containing full-text journals and also electronic books. The interlibrary loan program allows students to order books from their own school and other libraries without leaving their home. The role of the librarian in a digital library is still vastly important. They are needed to package and repackage information. Librarians set up the proxies and open-URLs. They do electronic publishing, provide reference instruction, and teach patrons how to use electronic resources. Also, there is always more information that needs to be digitized. Disadvantages of Digital Libraries There are many threats to the nature of digital libraries. Computer viruses are a danger if libraries are not careful to protect their hardware and software. Also, the high initial cost of infrastructure such as the hardware, software, network, and IT professionals can be a downside and then also the cost to maintain and upgrade when needed. Standardization is another issue that libraries can face when moving to a digital format. Each library is different and therefore it is extremely likely that each library will have a very different way of digitizing their collection and presenting their information online. Another potential problem is copyright. Digital libraries have to find a way to properly distribute information without violating copyright law. The copyright of the author has to be protected as items are digitized and put into an online collection. Future of Digital Libraries The future trend for libraries is to keep moving toward a digital format. Daniel Akst, the author of The Webster Chronicle, sums it up in one simple statement: â€Å"the future of libraries-and of information-is digital. † He states, â€Å"All the problems associated with digital libraries are wrapped up in archiving,† and goes on to state, â€Å"if in 100 years people can still read your article, we’ll have solved the problem†. Computer storage continues to grow at an exponential rate and the cost keeps going down. It is believed that eventually, given the current advancement of technology, a person will be able to virtually access all recorded information. There are many large scale digitization projects underway at places such as Google, the Million Book Project, and Internet Archive. The technology behind scanners and the digitization techniques also keeps improving. There have been recent advancements in how books are handled and presentation technologies such as optical character recognition. Libraries will continue to become more equipped to digitize their own collections and share them with the world. Bibliography Akst, Daniel. The Webster Chronicle. New York: Bluehen, 2002. Print. Harter, S. (1996, September). What is a digital library? definitions, content, and issues. A paper presented at KOLISS DL ’96: international conference on digital libraries and information services for the 21st century, Seoul, Korea. Retrieved from http://php. indiana. edu/~harter/koreapaper. htm Lagoze, C. , Krafft, D. , Payette, S. , & Jesuroga, S. (2005). What is a digital library anymore, anyway?. D-Lib Magazine, 11(11), Retrieved from http://www. dlib. org/dlib/november05/lagoze/11lagoze. html Maurya, R. (2011). Digital library and digitization. International Journal of Information Dissemination & Technology. , 1(4), 228-331. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. lib. fsu. edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=7&hid=9&sid=4c2e1991-9b6d-48bc-bd10-edec1ba6b69e@sessionmgr11 Unsworth, J. (2004, May 17). The value of digitization for libraries and humanities scholarship. Retrieved from http://people. lis. illinois. edu/~unsworth/newberry. 04. htmlÃ'Ž

Bus 640 Chapters 8 and 9 Applied Problems

Chapters 8 and 9 Applied Problems Calvin Poarch BUS 640 – Managerial Economics Instructor Steve McQueen October 17, 2011 Chapters 8 and 9 Applied Problems Chapter 8 2. At a management luncheon, two managers were overheard arguing about the following statement: â€Å"A manager should never hire another worker if the new person causes diminishing returns. † Is this statement correct? If so, why? If not, explain why not. Diminishing return is the stage of production that reflects as the number of new employees increases, the marginal product of an additional employee will eventually be less than the marginal product of the previous employee, and therefore the increase in input should be stopped (Thomas and Maurice, 2011). However, even in this stage, the employer can still hire a new person if the value of marginal product is above the wage rate. If the wage rate declines, the company should hire more people. Additionally, if the value of marginal product increases due to an increase in product price, then the company can still hire new people. That is the reason the demand for inputs is downward sloping as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 – Marginal Product (Google Images, 2011) When the point of diminishing returns is reached, that means your marginal cost goes up. Marginal cost goes up because capacity goes down. However, more goods can be produced at the higher marginal cost, which means your revenue will increase at the cost of profitability. Therefore, you would not stop hiring until your net revenue peaks, and begins to decrease. This is reflected in Figure 2. One solution to the diminishing return problem is to invest in the plant and equipment, thereby increasing capacity. Figure 2 – Marginal Product of Labor and Diminishing Returns (Google Images, 2011) Chapter 9 2. The Largo Publishing House uses 400 printers and 200 printing presses to produce books. A printer’s wage rate is $20, and the price of a printing press is $5,000. The last printer added 20 books to total output, while the last press added 1,000 books to total output. Is the publishing house making the optimal input choice? Why or why not? If not, how should the manager of Largo Publishing House adjust input usage? Printers are $20 each and add 20 books per hour. Therefore, the return on printers is $1 per book. Presses are $5000 and add 1000 books. The press return is $5 per book. In this case, it would appear that it would be more feasible to add more printers and avoid the expensive press cost. This would be the best solution in the short run. The company would have to pay the printer $20 for every hour of work. The press has to be purchased only once, therefore in the long run it is better to purchase the press. The reason is that the press return is $5000 for 1000 books for every hour. After the first five hours, the press is paid off and every book made after that is profit for the life of the machine. The last printer adds 20 books to the total output. Therefore, the marginal productivity of the last printer is 20 books. The marginal productivity of the last printing press is 1000 books. The optimal choice of input is determined by: marginal productivity of printer=marginal productivity of press wage rate of printercost of press 20? 1000 205000 1? 0. 2 Therefore, optimally, it is best to add a printer versus a press. 4. The MorTex Company assembles garments entirely by hand even though a textile machine exists that can assemble garments faster than a human can. Workers cost $50 per day, and each additional laborer can produce 200 more units per day (i. e. marginal product is constant and equal to 200). Installation of the first textile machine on the assembly line will increase output by 1,800 units daily. Currently the firm assembles 5,400 units per day. a. The financial analysis department at MorTex estimates that the price of a textile machine is $600 per day. Can management reduce the cost of assembling 5,400 units per day by p urchasing a textile machine and using less labor? Why or why not? Management could not reduce the cost of producing 5,400 units per day by buying a textile machine and employing less labor. This is because the laborers are more efficient than the machine. The laborers currently produce 5,400 units with each worker producing 200 units. Without a textile machine, this equates to 5,400 units ? 200 units per worker. This means that the company must have 27 workers to produce the required output. Therefore, 27 workers ? $50 each is a total cost of $1,350. Therefore, to compute each unit cost, divide the total cost ($1350) by the total output (5400). This yields $0. 25 marginal cost to produce each unit. By contrast, the machine costs $600 per day and can produce 1,800 units per day. Therefore, the unit cost for the machine would be the machine cost ($600) ? he total output (1800). This means the marginal cost of each unit $0. 33. It would not be a wise decision to replace the workers with textile machines. b. The Textile Workers of America is planning to strike for higher wages. Management predicts that if the strike is successful, the cost of labor will increase to $100 per day. If the strike is successful, how would this affect the decis ion in part to purchase a textile machine? Explain. If labor is $100 per day per worker, the total cost of producing 5,400 units with labor is 27 workers x $100 each = $2,700. Marginal cost is $2,700 ? ,400 units = $0. 50. Therefore, if the wages increase to $100 per employee per day, then the marginal cost of $0. 50 per unit is more than $0. 33 per unit with the machine. In this case, management should consider replacing the laborers with the textile machine. The only other consideration then would be the labor cost required to run the machine(s). References: Google Images (2011) Retrieved fromhttp://www. google. com/search? q=marginal+product+of+labor+graph Thomas, C. & Maurice, S. (2011). Managerial economics: Foundations of business analysis andstrategy (10th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill