Essay for Toyota’Human Resource Management

List of abbreviation There are some common words which often appear in this report will use the abbreviation to reduce the repeating of words through the report. Toyota Motor CompanyTMC Human resource managementHRM Human Resource HR Total Quality Management TQM Toyota Management Principles TMP Financial Year FY Research and Development R&DThe United States U. S Abstract: Toyota Motor Company is the one of world's leading automotive companies and is a global benchmark for quality and continuous improvement. However, in recent years, they faced a recall crisis unlike any they had seen before. Mr. Akio Toyoda, Toyota's president and grandson of the founder, was called to testify before the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the company's response to the recall (Greto et al, 2010).Many researchers analysed Toyota’ problems and pointed out several causes for this situation such as Toyota production system’s problem, quality mana gement, and human resource management and so on. This report will focus on human resource management problems in this case, based on information from media and theories of human resource management such as human resource strategy, employee development and career management, performance development, and compensation and etc ; the report will then give not only a conclusion but also recommendations with regard to Toyota’s situation. I.Introduction: I. Toyota’s overview: Kiichiro Toyoda founded Toyota Motor Corporation in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries. The Type A engine was created in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation group companies are Toyota (including the Scion brand), Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors, along with several â€Å"non-automotive† companies. The numbers of employees worldwide including consolidated and non-consolidated are 386. 841 in 31 March 2011.The company produced more than 7. 000. 000 vehicles per year both inside and outside Japan from 2009. As of the end of March 2011, Toyota businesses worldwide consist of 50 overseas manufacturing companies in 26 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions (Toyota Annual Report, 2009) Katsuaki Watanabe, President of Toyota, had famous words: We are doing the same thing we always did; we are consistent. There’s no genius in our company. We just do whatever we believe is right, trying every day to improve every little bit and piece.But when 70 years of very small improvements accumulate, they become a revolution There are some business results, production and sales results in consolidated basis market Table 1 : Business results (2009_2011) | FY 2009 (April 2008 to March 2009)| FY 2010 (April 2009 to March 2010)| FY 2011 (April 2010 to March 2011)| Sales*1| 20,529. 5| 18, 950. 9| 18,993. 6| Operating income*1| -461| 147. 5| 468. 2| Net income*1| -436. 9| 209. 4| 408. 1| Capital Expenditures*1*2| 1302. 5| 579. 0| 642. 3| R;D*1| 904. 0| 725. 3| 730. 3| Number of consolidated subsidiaries| 529| 522| 511| No. of Affil.Accounted for Under the Equity Method| 56| 56| 56| (unit = 1 billion yen or 1 company) *1 Monetary figures rounded down to the nearest 100 million yen *2 Figures for depreciation expenses and capital expenditures do not include vehicles in operating lease * Table 2 : Production results | FY 2009 (April 2008 to March 2009)| FY 2010 (April 2009 to March 2010)| FY 2011 (April 2010 to March 2011)| Vehicles| Japan| 4,255,000| 3,956,000| 3,721,000| | Overseas| 2,796,000| 2,853,000| 3,448,000| | Total| 7,051,000| 6,809,000| 7,169,000| * Table 3 : Sales results | FY 2009 (April 2008 to March 2009)| FY 2010 April 2009 to March 2010)| FY 2011 (April 2010 to March 2011)| Vehicles| Japan| 1,945,000| 2,163,000| 1,913,000| | Overseas| 5,622,000| 5,074,00 0| 5,395,000| | Total| 7,567,000| 7,237,000| 7,308,000| Homes| 5,442| 5,281| 5,157| (Source: http://www. toyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) II. Toyota’s problems in recent years: In late 2009, Toyota became the subject of media and U. S. government scrutiny after multiple deaths and injuries were attributed to accidents resulting from the unintended and uncontrolled acceleration of its cars. According to Smith (2012), despite Toyota's voluntary recall of 4. million vehicles for floor mats that could jam the accelerator pedal and a later recall to increase the space between the gas pedal and the floor, the company insisted there was no underlying defect and defended itself against media reports and regulatory statements that said otherwise. As the crisis escalated, Toyota was further criticized for its unwillingness to share information from its data recorders about possible problems with electronic throttle controls and sticky accelerator pedals, as well as braking problems with the production system. Cole said that â€Å"†¦ y the time Toyota Motor Company president Akio Toyoda apologized in his testimony to the U. S. Congress, Toyota's stock price had declined, in just over a month, by 20 percent-a $35 billion loss of market value† (2011, p3) Furthermore, Toyota in Australia revealed that it was halving production at its Altona plant in Melbourne, citing components shortages resulting from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. The company announced that for the next two months, its 3,000 Australian workers would receive only 75 percent of their wages, operating on half shifts, and that it would review its production schedules in June of 2011 (Marshall, 2011)II. Methodology: The methodology used to make this report is data collection and analysis from two sources including sources of Toyota’s issue from the Internet, Toyota Motor Corporation’s Website, magazines, journal articles and academic materials such as books , lectures and etc. After collecting, those data have analysing about Toyota’s issues. Besides, the data collects the commentary from authors and experts about issues of Toyota and its HRM in order to observe those issues in many sides of views, especially in human resource views.The sources of case study also comes from magazines and news from quality source such as the New York Times, Human Resource Management Magazine, Harvard Business Publishing, Human Capital Online Magazine, and other HR magazines in order to guarantees the quality of the data. Finally, both HR theories and practice were compared in order to give recommendations and conclusions in this issue. III. Analysis about Human Resource Management of Toyota 1. Toyota human resource management views and practice:Toyota is known for many world class products and quality initiatives that include the famous Toyota production system that later became popular as JIT (just-in-time inventory). Toyota maintains a high pro file in its HRM policies and practices too (Smith, 2008). The global vision in human resource management in Toyota Motor Company (TMC) is create working environments for various employees to work proudly and with loyalty and confidence in fulfilling their potential, which realize their self- growth (Akio, 2005).The company focus on relationship with their employees based on basic principles of human resource management including creating a workplace environment where employees can work with their trust in the company; creating a mechanism for promoting constant and voluntary initiatives in continuous improvements; fully committed and thorough human resources development; and promoting teamwork aimed at pursuit of individual roles and optimization of the entire team (Toyota ‘s sustainability report, 1998).According to Ian Winfied, Professor of university of Derby in UK, said that human resource practices of Toyota’s company can serve as a model, particularly in manufactu ring and production oriented organizations. Toyota’s HRM framework broadly comprises of four goals including four goal follow: a) The goal of organizational integration: The integration of employees at individual and collective level with organization is seen as the primary goal of Toyota HRM strategy. This goal has been achieved through extensive use of teams that are subordinate to organizational goals.Welfare of employees also received wide attention as a part of this goal (Toyota global overview, 1998) b) The goal of commitment. In order to achieve this goal, a two-pronged strategy was followed. Firstly, Toyota preferred a semi-rural workforce for induction in their plants. They believe that people who are not contaminated by industrial culture and influences tend to retain with them a kind of feudal value of loyalty, which can be converted into organizational commitment.Secondly, measures such as suggestion schemes, quality circles and employee involvement methods are us ed to gain commitment. (Toyota global overview, 1998) c) The goal of flexibility and adaptability. Team authority in place of single individual holding all the powers has paved the way for realizing flexibility in the organization. These teams are task-based and can be dismantled or restructured, depending upon the situation. The adaptability trait is institutionalized through the approach of multi-skilling and job rotations. Toyota global overview, 1998) d) The goal of quality. Self, peer and teams surveillance techniques are used to ensure quality of products. Further, a series of measures employed, such as time and motion study, benchmarking, continuous process improvement and employee involvement contributed in the achievement of this goal (Toyota global overview, 1998) In addition, Toyota has recomposed the aforementioned four HRM goals into 17 specific practices.These 17 practices are classified into production practices and employment practices. The production practices are: JIT, Kanban, Line stop, Level scheduling, Continuous flow and Processing. The employment practices are: Continuous improvement, Single status facilities, Performance appraisal, Daily team briefings, Temporary contracts, Performance related pay, Company council, Cross training and group decision-making (Toyota annual report, 1998) Moreover, Toyota seeks to develop human resources through the activity of making things.Honorary Advisor Eiji Toyoda said that â€Å"†¦. Because people make our automobiles, nothing gets started until we train and educate our people†. As seen in these words, which were expressed by president of the company, Toyota believes that the development of human resources requires the handing down of values and perspectives. In conjunction with the geographic expansion of business and the growth of business areas, undertaking global actions for the development of human resources has become a priority issue.Toyota is building both tangible (a new learning facility) and intangible (course content) structures relating to team member development that ensures a secure and steady flow of qualified human resources to conduct Toyota's global business in the 21st century (Toyota global overview, 2000) * Fully Committed and Thorough Human Resources Development: Toyota conducts systematic company-wide and divisional training and assignments for training purposes with an emphasis on on-the-job training (OJT) to ensure that associates can fully utilize their abilities.Toyota has defined the required qualifications of â€Å"professional staff†1 for office and engineering positions, and â€Å"T shaped human resources’ who are able to perform day-to-day activities and expand their skills in technical positions. Company-wide training is conducted based on employee qualifications, as well as specialized training for individual divisions, language training, and special knowledge and skill training (Toyota’s sustainability Report, 2005)The basis for human resource development is putting the Toyota Way into practice. Toyota is working to develop human resources by seizing times of adversity as opportunities to learn, planning greater enhancement and reinforcement of educational programs based on the five Toyota Way keywords, and on-the-job training (OJT) essential to the progress and succession of building excellent products. (Source: http://www. toyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) Toyota Management Principles (TMP): Continuous Improvement * Challenge: The company form a long-term vision, meeting challenges with courage and creativity to realize our dreams * Kaizen: â€Å"Continuous Improvement†: They improve their business operations continuously, always driving for innovation and evolution. * Genchi Genbutsu: â€Å"Go and see for yourself† They go to the source to find the facts to make correct decisions, build consensus, and achieve their goals. * The Toyota Production System (TPS): + Jidoka: quality at the source + Kaizen: continuous improvement Heijunka: even flow + Kanban: pull system + Just-in-Time: minimal inventories + Work teams + Total Quality Management + Supplier Partnerships * Total Quality Management (TQM): Implementation of TQM has been promoted based on the philosophies of â€Å"Customer First,† â€Å"Continuous Kaizen† and â€Å"Total Participation. † In order to raise the awareness of TQM, several measures are taken to promote resolution, provide every employee working in Toyota's global organization with ideas for action to improve product and service quality, motivate people and revitalize the corporate structure. Source: http://www. toyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) * Employees Training Procedure: The purpose of training is to make sure that employees have the right skills and capabilities to identify and handle all situations they may encounter. Toyota is famous for its four-step cycle — plan/do/check /act. Company-Wide Training to Key principles of the Toyota Way support Professional Staff (Source: http://www. toyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) Outline of Training Programs (Source: http://www. oyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) * Rewards and recognition The purpose of any corporate reward process is to encourage and promote the right behaviours and to discourage the negative ones. It’s important for the reward process to involve the gathering of information about problems. It’s equally important to reward employees who are successful in getting executives to take immediate action on negative information (Toyota annual report, 2000) ( Source: http://www. toyota-global. com/company/profile/overview/) 2.Toyota’s human resource management problems: In the late of 2009, by the first of a series of highly publicized recalls of Toyota vehicles in the United States, Cole (2011) cited Toyota announced that it was recalling 3. 8 million U. S. vehi cles as potential problem in which poorly placed or incorrect floor mats under the driver's seat could lead to uncontrolled acceleration in a range of models. For manufacturing executives who have strived for decades to emulate Toyota, the mere suggestion that it had not only quality issues but also was a serious matter.Furthermore, Toyota said that it will close its New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, California. NUMMI, opened in 1984 as a joint venture by Toyota and General Motors, currently employs about 5,400 workers all over the world (Kearney, 2009). Similarly, Byrne and O’Connor (2011) showed that Toyota Australia has threatened to end its manufacturing of cars in Australia, after workers went on strike against the company’s wage-cutting drive.Strikes were held on September 2, and September 15 and 16 in 2011, involving more than 3,000 workers at Toyota’s main plant at Altona, in Melbourne’s west, and hundreds more workers at its parts centres in Melbourne and Sydney. The Altona plant produces around 560 cars per day, with 70 percent of them exported, mainly to the Middle East. Toyota is demanding that workers accept a new enterprise agreement that entrenches real wage cuts over the next three years, with nominal wage increases of 1-2 percent now, 2. percent in April 2012, 3 percent in 2013 and 3. 5 percent in 2014. The official annual cost of living is currently 4. 5 percent (Petter, 2011) Moreover, Business Week  Magazine pointed out that employee errors were the root cause of Toyota issues and estimated that Toyota is losing $155 million per week as a result of their recent recall. Toyota had lost nearly $30 billion in stock valuation. The long-term impacts of the root causes that led to Toyota’s current situation could cost the company hundreds of billions of dollars.In addition, poor handling of the issue in the public eye has damaged the automaker’s brand reputation and c aused sales to decline to their lowest point in more than a decade (Hunter, 2010) Furthermore, According to Dr John Sullivan, who is a well-known thought leader in human resource a and professor of management at San Francisco State University, with case study â€Å"How Human resource caused Toyota crash† said that Toyota’s current predicament is a result of poorly designed practices and weak execution on the part of the human resource department (2010).This opinion was supported and confirmed by Hunter (2010) â€Å"†¦Toyota’s current predicament is a result of poorly designed practices and weak execution on the part of the human resource department†. IV. Discussions Although, Toyota is famous with the production system but when they apply this system in global, it is not mean that this system can work effectively in the same way (Sullivan, 2010).For instance, Toyota concentrates exclusively on the hard administration of a production system that produ ced vehicles to the customer’s order in Japan instead of the Western method of producing as many cars as possible as fast as possible, then trying to sell those cars to the customer (Smith et al, 2011).For instance, in response to the growth, Toyota had to delegate more design work to outside contract engineers with more than 1000 new engineers around the globe and take one new suppliers because the internal engineering resources and existing suppliers base could not keep up with the demands (Cole, 2011) It is obviously that the most important in Toyota problems is that the Toyota philosophy is so radical and requires such a change of management strategy that the change in the production process itself overshadows some even more fundamental differences between the drivers of performance in the Orient and in the West.For this reason when Toyota went into production in the West the emphasis was on the detail of the process, not on the people who carried out that process. Accord ing to Bob Nelson, the author of â€Å"Keeping Up In A Down Economy† told that: The average number of suggestions given by an American worker to improve the performance of Toyota company is 1. 1 per year. The same figure for a Japanese worker is 167 suggestions per year.This seems to indicate that there is a significant difference between the way that the Japanese worker feels about what he does and the way that the North American workers feel about what they do. In addition, when the new Toyota plants in the West or other countries were built they slavishly tried to copy the detail of the Toyota production system without understanding the difference between the ways that the workers in the East, compared to the West, felt about what they did.Today that difference is called engagement (Hunter, 2010). Employers in the West are becoming aware of the huge value that is realised when a workforce is engaged but, other than running surveys to find out how engaged, or not, their wor kforce is, very few understand that it is possible to create engagement in an otherwise unengaged workforce, and fewer know how to do it.The cars that Toyota recalled were all built in the West. Is it possible that the faults that caused the recalls did not occur in vehicles produced in the East because they were spotted and rectified by an â€Å"engaged† workforce, while in the West the â€Å"disengaged† workforce knew of the problems but never reported them to Toyota because Western managers do not know how to engage their workforces (Cole, 2011).According Sullivan (2010), in any situation where employees fail to perform as expected, investigators must determine if the human error could have been caused by factors beyond the employee’s control. Such external factors might include actions by senior management, lack of adequate information or job training, faulty inputs to the process, or rewards those intent actions not in line with documented goals.Therefore, if managers believe in accountability, they have to accept that human errors that lead to corporate catastrophes could be the result of faulty HR processes, most notably those related to acquiring, developing, motivating, and managing labour (Hunter, 2010) Furthermore, the mechanical failures were known to Toyota leaders long before corrective action was taken, and many close to the issue are indicating that the company took decisive action to hide the facts and distort the scope of the problem (Greto et el, 2010). When the organization disproportionately rewarded managers for ost-containment versus sustaining product quality, it created the incentive for everyone involved to ignore the facts and to deny that a problem existed. Employees who are well-trained and subject to balanced rewards and performance monitoring systems would not have allowed the situation to grow as it did. If the root cause of the problems Toyota is facing are failure by employees to make good decisions, confr ont negative news, and make a convincing business case for immediate action, then the HR processes that may have influenced those decisions must be examined.The HR processes that must at least be considered as suspect include rewards processes, training processes, performance management processes, and the hiring process (Sullivan, 2011) V. Recommendations: Toyota traditionally has ranked best in its relationship compared with other automakers. However, its ranking has fallen steadily from 2007 through 2010. The roof of Toyota’s recent quality problems, any thorough analysis would also need to acknowledge the role of the company’s centralized management structure (Cole, 2011).From previous parts of this report, there are some recommendations for this issue. The first recommendation is that Toyota should focus on training employees system because the purpose of training is to make sure that employees have the right skills and capabilities to identify and handle all situa tions they may encounter. Toyota is famous for its four-step cycle — plan/do/check/act, but with Toyota plants clearly the training among managers now needs to focus more on new engineers and general staffs.In addition, in an environment where safety is paramount, everyone should have been trained on the symptoms of â€Å"groupthink† and how to avoid the excess discounting or ignoring of negative external safety information (Cole, 2011). The Toyota managers should encourage employees to detect errors and propose solutions. The second recommendation is recruiting process. According to Kramar et al (2011), the purpose of great hiring is to bring on board top-performing individuals with the high level of skills and capabilities that are required to handle the most complex problems.Poorly designed recruiting and  assessment  elements can result in the hiring of individuals who sweep problems under the rug and who are not willing to stand up to management. Therefore, To yota should do not for the purpose of rapid development that ignores the evaluation stage of the recruitment processes otherwise Toyota should maintain the hiring procedures which ensure quality for human resource management.The company can adopt external or internal recruitment in order to looking for high quality employees (Robin et al, 2011) Another recommendation is performance management process. According to Sullivan (2010), the purpose of a performance management process is to periodically monitor or appraise performance, in order to identify problem behaviours before they get out of hand. Hence, The Toyota should check and ensure that the performance measurement system included performance factors to measure responsiveness to negative information.Furthermore, the Toyota’s Human Resource Department also need check or audit the performance appraisal , Performance planning and evaluation (PPE) systems, performance feedback, and performance monitoring process effectively in order to help employees identify, report and alerts errors to warn senior managers before minor problems got out of control (Krmar et al , 2011, p 475). For example, the company should base on performance appraisal to make administrative decisions such as salary administration (pay rises or bonuses), promotion, retention and termination, retrenchment and recognition of an individual's performance.Finally yet importantly, the recommendation is psychological contract. According to Rousseau (1989), the psychological contract is defined as an individual's beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party. In other word, a psychological contract emerges when one party believes that a promise of future return has been made, a contribution has been given and thus, an obligation has been created to provide future benefits.Many researchers illustrated that psychological contract has a huge impact to the performance of employees . As the results, Toyota should consider and ensure the conditions of wages, bonuses, compensation, and welfare as well as avoid violating the psychological contract with employees to create healthy environment workplace. Thus, the company can motivate their staffs make contributions to the success of the company. VI. Conclusion: Human resource management refer to the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees’ behaviour, attitudes and performance.Krmar et al, 2011 said that Human resource impacting the bottom line and customer’s satisfaction, diversity management, and the health and well- being of employees. Therefore, human resource managements is not only about the achievement organization’s goals but also employees health and well –being. It is important for any budding manager to remember that a happy employee is often a productive employee. Furthermore, according to Sullivan (2010), Toyota’s problems are not the result of a sin gle individual making an isolated mistake, but rather due to a companywide series of mistakes that are all related to each other.So many corporate functions were involved, including human resource management, customer service, government relations, vendor management and public relationship, that one cannot help but attribute the crash of Toyota to systemic management failure. As discussed above, employee errors in recruitment, selection, performance management, compensation and benefits, international human resource management and so on were the root cause of several mechanical and financial failures in Toyota automobiles (Cole, 2011).Therefore, to restore credibility, quality and brand, Toyota should not only focus on overcoming the technical problems but also need to review, correct remedy all the processes related to the creation of products that the most important factors is human resources management. To sum up, the key lesson is that others should learn from Toyota’s mi stakes is that HRM system needs to periodically test or audit each of the processes with considering all factors and fix problems as soon as possible otherwise it could allow this type of billion-dollar error to occur.References lists: 1/ The sources of Toyota issues: Byrne, P & O’Connor, P 2011, Toyota Australia executives threaten shutdown after strike, Word Socialist Web Site, http://www. wsws. org/articles/2011/sep2011/toyo-s20. shtml. Cole, R E, 2011, What really happend to Toyota, 01 June, http://hbr. org/product/what-really-happened-to-toyota/an/SMR395-PDF-ENG. Hunter, P 2010, Root cause of Toyota failure: Emplyee Engagement, Human

Cell Phones Essay

Cell phones in school should they be or should they not be allowed? Are they a distraction, and if they are, can we turn this problem around and utilize this technology towards positive results in a classroom setting. Can teachers utilize the cell phone in a classroom to their advantage? â€Å"This may sound like a good suggestion to have one in school, but allowing cell phones in school is not a good idea† (Should). Where can schools draw the line as to when a student uses their cell phone, better yet can they? (Shortypants808). Among administrators, teachers, students and parents there is much deliberation on whether cell phones should be allowed in school. This topic has been hashed and re-hashed for many years. Opinions’ on this matter vary greatly. Are they or are they not disruptive in a classroom? Then there is the issue of safety, and bullying via text messages, whether it is thru the messages that are sent or possibly â€Å"sexting† between students (Shortypants808). In this age of technological advantages, cell phones are in the hands of almost all of the students entering school from the age of 12 and up, and in some cases even younger (Shortypants808). Socially it is becoming almost impossible for a teenager to be without a cell phone, in part because of peer pressure. It is a way in which they have become accustomed to chatting, texting, in order for them to stay in close contact with their friends and family. It has also become a way in which parents have immediate contact with their children without going thru the office at a school (Shortypants808). One could also argue that the pressure of cell phone companies to offer family deals is just one of the reasons we see children with a cell phone in their hands at a young age. It is only a few more dollars to add family members when they sign a contract, than it is to get a completely new contract when a parent decides to add a teenager to their plan. I know this, because it is exactly what we did when we purchased cell phones for our children. It would be hard today to imagine life without a cell phone. They have become a part of everyday life for almost everyone. Where ever you go, you undoubtedly run into someone who has a phone in their hand. I work at a private school, and believe that cell phones should be collected at the beginning of each class, only to be retrieved as they are walking out the door to go to their next class. They are a distraction in several different ways, and they can interfere with the process of education. The school has a policy in place which states: â€Å"Students may bring cell phones to school; however, during school hours cell phones must be turned off, and stored in lockers. If a student needs to make a call he/she must get permission from the teacher and make the call in the foyer. Cell phones may be used in cafe and extended day with permission†. This policy is acknowledged, and signed not only by the students’; it is also signed by their parents, yet is abused by the students on a daily basis. Phones are brought to the office if a student is caught using it during class, and a parent must come in and retrieve it. Parents are told why their child’s phone was taken away, and asked that they please speak to their child regarding where their phone is to be kept during the day. Years ago there was no need for students to get in contact with anyone during the school day, and that is still true today. If there was an emergency, teachers and staff have been prepared on how to handle emergency situations. Cell phones really should not be allowed in school (Lee, Deborah; McMahon, Maureen). Cell phones are more than just a device in which you can call your family and friends on. It is now a device that can store music, play games, download information, watch movies, take pictures, upload information to facebook, YouTube, email and text messaging just to name a few. Such uses on a cell phone like this is fantastic when you are traveling, however, once given to children who are entering school, it now becomes a questionable device, of which none of it is part of any school’s curriculum. There are many students who will push the boundaries when wanting to use their cell phone in a classroom environment. Students today have become so savvy with their cell phones, that half the time they are not caught during class. They have memorized the key pads so they can actually have their phone in their pocket and text other students while sitting in the classroom. Teachers are often interrupted in class because a child forgot to silence their phone. Then there is the student who might get caught texting, whether they are just texting their friend in another classroom, or texting another student to obtain an answer to a question on a test, better yet, what about accessing the internet to obtain answers. Most teachers find it annoying and rude when their class is interrupted, because a cell phone has vibrated or rang during class. Last summer, the Educational Testing Service, which handles test security for the College Board, canceled the scores of hundreds of Advanced Placement tests taken by Trabuco Hills High School students in Orange County, Calif. , after they discovered some students sent texts among themselves during the exam, said ETS spokesman Tom Ewing. † (Alapo, Lola). Then there is the student who deems it necessary to bully or be part of a bulling towards another student today when it comes to using their cell phones, what about the student who is a bully, and decides this is the best way to gang up on another student without getting caught. Gets other students to join in his/her bulling via cell phone. Unless another student is willing to step forward in these cases, it is virtually almost impossible for a teacher to know who started the bulling because of the ability to instantly delete what has been sent. The only cases you hear about in instances like this are to the far extreme where a student has decided to take their own life, and when confronted with the files from phone companies in a court of law, is when you hear about bulling via texting, or pictures that were taken and passed around from one person to another to another in a school environment. Cell phones in a classroom are distracting for teachers, it also is disrupting to other students who respect the teacher and are there to learn. Students are unable to place their full undivided attention on what the teacher is trying to teach, thus frustrating the teachers even more. Teachers come to school to educate students. It is their job. Parents often get upset if they feel their child has not learned anything from a teacher. Yet, at the same time, parents are equally as guilty. Without thinking parents will often text their child during the course of a school day just to let them know if they are going to be late picking them up from school, if they can’t come and get them, and if they need to catch a ride home with another person, or various other reasons. So do parents have the right to get upset if their child has not retained the information that is being taught? I think not. Schools often have a plan in place regarding the use of cell phones on school properties. Many schools state that if a student brings a cell phone to school it must be turned off and placed in their locker until the end of the day. This does not work. Students are often found with their cell phones in their backpacks, in their pockets, virtually almost everywhere they can think of placing it without too much detection. Cell phones are part of their very existence today. Students are lost if they don’t have one readily available to them at their finger tips. They have grown up in a sophisticated advanced techno world, that it is hard for them to understand, and comprehend reasons as to why they can’t have their phone on them all the time. Parents should be equally to blame, after all they purchased cell phones for their children because a child cannot purchase one until they are 18 years of age. This was done out of convenience for parents, not realizing the disadvantages they are imposing on their children; i. e. lack of concentration on subjects being taught during class time. What about safety during school. One could argue that if students had not brought in their cell phones to school the day of the Columbine tragedy, authorities would have responded much slower. Because students had cell phones on them they were able to contact authorities and have them arrive much faster, saving many more lives (Henson, Steve). What if one of those students who used their cell to contact the authorities was overheard by the shooters. Would they too have lost their life? So does this nationally known incident make it right for students to bring cell phones into their classroom? All in all, I do believe that cell phones should not be banned from school. I do believe that their does need to be a more stringent way of dealing with students who abuse cell phone usage during school.

British Defence Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

British Defence Policy - Essay Example The passengers on the fourth plane rose up and fought their oppressors, but the price was fatal. By the time that military responses could be coordinated, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had already been hit. Paradigm shifts like this were part of the rationale behind the writing of the Defence White Paper entitled "Delivering Security in a Changing World" in 2003. The British government recognized a number of factors that necessitated changes in the ways that government agencies handled domestic security. According to the introduction to the white paper, it was "evident that the successful management of international security problems [would] require ever more integrated planning of military, diplomatic and economic instruments at both national and international levels" (Ministry of Defence 2003, p. 1). In other words, not only would countries have to be able to cooperate in ways that had not yet been possible in meeting the challenges of a common enemy, agencies within the same government would also have to work in concert swiftly to meet the challenges of terrorism, and there are many countries in which this interagency cooperation would prove more of a challenge than finding common g round with other countries. The improvement in military technologies was also a factor, which led those writing the paper to "look at how.new technologies [can] deliver military effects in different ways[including] flexible forces able to configure to generate the right capability in a less predictable and more complex operational environment" (Ministry of Defence 2003, p. 1). The goal of the white paper was to "move away from simplistic platform-centric planning to a fully 'networked enabled capability' able to exploit effects-based planning and operations, using forces which are truly adaptable, capable of even greater levels of precision, and rapidly deployable" (Ministry of Defence 2003, p. 1). Clearly, some paradigm shifts were underway in the restructuring of British security. Although the British government conducted another SDR in 2002, after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, there were other international events and factors that led to the writing of this white paper. The first one mentioned was the large number of small crises that were occurring all over the globe, including Kosovo, Macedonia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Afghanistan, Congo, and Iraq - all at once. Constructing a military to face two or three theaters, at most, would be outdated in the current security environment. Also, while theaters in past conflicts, such as the Falkland Islands, or even such conflicts that, at the time, seemed protracted (like the Second World War), ended up taking less time to resolve that some of these foreign crises have in the past decade. Also, the structure of NATO has changed, transitioning from a group of large, static forces to smaller response teams that can go outside the NATO territory. Similarly, the creation of the European Security and Defence P olicy (ESDP) has fragmented the size of response teams even further. Also, a strategic partnership with Russia could present a variety of demands, given the instability that, at times, has plagued Russia's infrastructure, particularly their oil pipelines. The spreading of weapons of mass destruction around the world, and particularly the ease with which individuals and small

Coca Cola Company Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coca Cola Company - Coursework Example Now they have 500 brands and 3500 beverage products in over 200 countries all around the world. The annual report of 2010 described that the Coca Cola Company gained volume and value share globally in total non alcoholic ready to drink beverages. This growth is because of their commitment to offer beverages tailored to specific market and consumer needs around the world. And this is because of their long term strategy to profitably grow their business in a sustainable way. ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGY The analysis of the strategy of The Coca Cola Company is provided on these points; 1. Sustainability and Road map to Success. The strategy of The Coca Cola Company is the sustainable growth for meeting their short term commitments while investing to meet their long term goal. The business strategy has suffered if it looks like as an artificial exercise but The Coca Cola Company has clear strategy and it covers all required aspects. 2. Strategy Remain Same with the Changes in Technology. Sou nd strategy starts with having right goal of superior profitability. The Coca Cola Company has the strategy of broaden their family of beverage brands for profitable growth. And focus on the highest potential areas across the market. The strategy must have continuity of what you are trying to deliver to customers and about which customer you have to focus. The Coca Cola Company is delivering carbonated soft drink to the customers and they serve their customers with consistency and continuity to generate growth all channels and direct investments to highest potential areas across the market. 3. Continuity in Strategic Direction and Continuous Improvement. The ability to change constantly and effectively is made easier by high level continuity. (Hammonds 2001). The Coca Cola Company has clear strategy about profitability and the customers and their market. And they realize that they have to improve their brand in order to sustain in this global age. 4. The Myth of Inflection Points. S ometimes environment and needs of the customers do shift far enough so that continuity does not work but The Coca Cola Company believe that non alcoholic ready to drink business is the best business and it grow with the passage of time. So the inflection points can not force them to revisit their core strategy. 5. Great Strategies are not Complex. The essence of the strategy is choice, trade off and fit. The Coca Cola Company is producing non alcoholic ready to drink beverages. Trade off is a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect. The Coca Cola Company does not lose the quality of one product in order to gain the quality of another. They also have some same products with same formulas as they have 125 years ago. And they are also producing many new products and also they are improving their quality. The Coca Cola Company better know the needs and desire that changes with the passage of time and they fulfill all those needs with improving the quality of all of their beverage products. The Coca Cola Company is starting with the three or four pieces of strategy and then they elucidate their strategy over time. They do not give all answers up front and it is the antidote to complexity. 6. Chief

Chmistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chmistry - Essay Example The molecule is "locked" into a conformation with the isopropyl groups on the exterior. It is not actually locked into configuration because the size of the molecule makes it highly flexible, but the potassium ion gives some degree of coordination to the macromolecule (Metzeler 2001) Question 1b Valinomycin is a dodecadepsipeptide, that is, it is made of twelve alternating amino acids and esters to form a macro cyclic molecule. The twelve carbonyl groups are essential for the binding of metal ions, and also for solvation in polar solvent. The isopropyl and methyl groups are responsible for solvation in nonpolar solvents. Along with its shape and size this molecular duality is the main reason for its binding properties. K+ ions are octahedral coordinated in a square bi-pyramidal geometry by 6 carbonyl bonds in this space of 1.33 Angstrom, leading to a 10,000x selectivity for K+ ions. For polar solvents, valinomycin will mainly expose the carbonyls to the solvent and in nonpolar solven ts the isopropyl groups are located predominantly on the exterior of the molecule. This conformation changes when valinomycin is bound to a potassium ion. The molecule is "locked" into a conformation with the isopropyl groups on the exterior. It is not actually locked into configuration because the size of the molecule makes it highly flexible, but the potassium ion gives some degree of coordination to the macromolecule. Conformational and ionophoric properties of 3 valinomycin analogs cyclo n (n = 2, 3, 4) were studied by spectral and extraction methods. Conformations of dodeca- and hexadecaisoleucinomycins in nonpolar media practically do not differ from that of valinomycin, whereas for octaisoleucinomycin and octavalinomycin the conformations change significantly. Spatial structures of complexes of the investigated compounds are analogous to structures of complexes of valinomycin cyclopolymerhomologs (Metzeler 2001) The presence of isoleucine residues in dodeca- and hexadecaisole ucinomycins results in substantial increase in their ability of transfer the cat ions from aqueous to organic phase. Each complex has a characteristic spectrum which differs from that of uncomplexed valinomycin, suggesting several distinct structures for each of the metal-valinomycin complexes. The biologically active K complex shows the most significant changes in its spectrum, especially in the intensity of the symmetric C-H stretching vibration of CH3 and the convergence of the 2 ester carbonyl stretching vibration bands into 1 upon complex formation. These results are due to the unique orientation of the ester carbonyl groups toward the caged K ion and the resulting more free rotation of isopropyl side chains, thus they are poor cat ions transporters, assumptions made are that valinomycin has a complex structure as compared to octa-isoleucinomycin and hexadecaisoleucinomycin, differs in bonding in the methyl groups and the space in orientation make it superior in terms of bondin g and having a chelate effect as compared to its

Organisational and leadership management (Tesco PLC) Essay

Organisational and leadership management (Tesco PLC) - Essay Example As far as Tesco is concerned, it is placed in a very competitive and challenging industry, that of the retail business. The retail business is a very high selling business, since it involves selling items of daily use. Tesco in the next 0-10 years, will be faced with a lot of new challenges. In the world of business, no organization can remain stagnant and stay where it is. Rather, it has to constantly keep on moving and face the challenges that the unstable environment has to offer. The challenges that Tesco might face in the near future is that it might be challenged by their competitors if they merged together to form a cartel or another organization. Other challenges can be to keep prices low, despite the various tactics that are often used by the retailers to coax the consumers into a tight corner. Examples of such tactics are price fixing. In such times of change and crisis, effective leadership will be essential for Tesco. It would have to have expert power within the company to manage the challenges that is would face. Expert power comes from the expertise possessed by the manger, and the value and need of this expertise within the organization. This expertise is a result of the manager’s special skills, knowledge, abilities and/or previous experience.

Biology summary of one cephalopod, one bivalve and one chiton of your Essay

Biology summary of one cephalopod, one bivalve and one chiton of your choosing - Essay Example ales use the hectocotylus (a special arm) to dispense packets of sperm (spermatophores) from the reproductive tract’s terminal organ/ cephalopod penis, into the mantle cavity of the females. In benthic octopuses, it is the third arm on the right that serves as the hectocolylus. A few months following this mating process, the males die, and in some octopus species, females have the conditions to keep viable sperms within their bodies until their eggs reach maturity. After fertilization of the eggs, the female lays approximately 200,000 eggs, but such numbers vary depending on the kind of species, genera, families, and the individual octopus. While open octopuses mainly feed on fish, other cephalopods and prawns, the bottom dwellers, on the other hand, feed mainly on clams, whelks, polychaete worms and crabs. Using paralyzing saliva, octopuses inject their prey and break down their bodies using their beaks. As for shelled molluscs, an octopus feeds on them by drilling a hole thr ough their shells, inject their degrading saliva into the hole and extract the inner soft tissues (Campbell & Reece, 2005, p. 86). Octopuses can live in various parts of the ocean such as the ocean floor, pelagic waters and on coral reefs. These organisms have a keen eye sight (that can recognize light polarizations), a good sense of touch and statocysts that detect sound. Octopuses have no internal or external skeletons to enable them squeeze through tight spaces, are intelligent, fast and can mimic shapes of other creatures when hunting for food and are able to avoid predation due to their speed, ability to camouflage, presence of venom and expulsion of ink (Campbell & Reece, 2005, p. 90). An example of a bivalve is a scallop. Scallops belong to the kingdom animalia, phylum millusca, class bivalvia, order ostreoida, sub-orders pectinoida and pectinina, superfamily pectinoidea and family pectinidae. Scallops are bilaterally symmetrical with the scallop composed of two valves/ halves; the

Price Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Price Analysis - Essay Example However, among the various methods, a consumer should choose the one that suits the important facts of his purchases. If I would be allowed to select only one price analysis method throughout the course of my career, I would select the price competition method for price analysis Price Competition is the most popular and the widest used technique of price analysis. It is very handy and easy to conduct. Also, it does not involve much in depth research. All a consumer needs to do is to consider the prices quoted by several other suppliers in the market and evaluate them closely. A price competition normally exists when prices quoted by different suppliers differ by 15% (Murphy 2009). The lowest price may not always be the most reasonable price for you. There may be chances of errors in the quotation and also the quality of the good or service provided may also not be up to the required level. Also, there may be costs associated with the product to make it a better one that may have not been incurred, and thus resulting in a lower price. Hence, when using the price competition technique, it is important that the consumer demands a statement on why the quoted price has been set by the

A rose for emily by William Faulkner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A rose for emily by William Faulkner - Essay Example â€Å"A Rose for Emily† embodies the subtle correlation between Southern Gothic and Faulkner’s interest in the moral inferences of history. William Faulkner’s story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, is a famous example of southern gothic literature because of its rich gothic elements such as sense of horror, gloomy setting, signs of understated violence, uncertainty of point of view, the unidentified narrator, and necrophilia. Faulkner’s story is fraught with dark imageries and actions such as Emily’s effort to prevent her father’s corpse from burial, her necrophilia (attraction to Barron’s corpse), the decaying mansion, the strange vanishing of a servant and the murder of Barron. These gothic elements inevitably facilitate the development of the theme of the story: the gradual decay and death of the aristocratic old society and the emergence of the new class. In fact, Faulkner’s protagonist, Emily herself symbolizes the dying aristocracy in the first half of the 20th century. She wants to cling to her aristocratic superiority as well as seclusion. Though she falls in love with B aron, a layman, she fails to cope with the class-gap between her and her lover. Faulkner has kept the motif of Baron’s murder secret and left it to the readers’ assumption. In fact, this technique of keeping the motif open to interpretation necessarily allows the readers to investigate deep into Emily’s motif behind the murder in relation to her aristocratic social status. Indeed, there is a number of possible motifs behinds Baron’s murder: Baron’s homosexuality, his non-marriageable nature, Emily’s mental sickness, etc. But whatever the reasons are, they are all related to a central reason: that is the status-gap between Emily and Baron. Faulkner uses mainly three literary techniques -point of view, unidentified narrator, characterization- to

Portrayal of Women in Dreamgirls 2006 Movie Review

Portrayal of Women in Dreamgirls 2006 - Movie Review Example The plot of the movie is set in the period of 1960s and 1970s. The movie narrates the lives of three young promising and talented African American women who formed a music trio The Dreammates with the dream of becoming famous musical group. The three women Effie White, Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson were the members of the musical group where Effie acted as the leading singer. The singing talent of the girls was discovered by the record executive Curtis Taylor. He offered the girls to become back-up singers for headliners James Thunder. He worked hard on the grooming of the girls and takes the control of look and sound of the group. He soon started feeling closer to Deena and based upon his romantic interest he insists that Deena should replace Effie as leading singer of the group.They underwent a conflicting situation over the issues of change of group name and substitution of lead singer. The record executive insists that they should change the name of the group to Dreams because this name seems to be more music friendly. Furthermore, he also wants to see Deena as the leading singer of the group. The movie shows the three women having the realization that they have to pay high costs for getting their dreams come true because the fame and fortune come to them in exchange for much higher cost than  their imaginations.  

How Homework can Help with Your Academic Success Essay Example for Free

How Homework can Help with Your Academic Success Essay Homework is an important part of the academic curriculum and it also plays a major role in ensuring academic success for the students. Let us talk at length about how homework can help in bringing about academic success. Homework primarily helps in building five skills which assist in attaining academic success. Those skills are as follows: Organization: Being organised is an essential ingredient in the recipe of academic success. One has to be meticulous in planning a study routine to ensure that all topics of all subjects are paid equal attention. Also, enough time for practice should be baked in the routine. It is this aspect that homework helps with and gives enough opportunity to a student to practice his/her lessons, which then paves the way of gaining mastery over a topic or subject. In addition keeping track of one’s homework makes a student more organized. Time management: Optimum utilization of time is the key to success in the field of academics. Often at times, one feels flustered and overwhelmed with the vast study syllabus or curriculum. Therefore, dividing one’s time efficiently and as per one’s strength and weakness is a matter of great importance. Homework provides the student with an opportunity to manage time. While doing the homework of a subject which is one’s weak area, he is devoting more time to that subject, which will help him in understanding the concepts better, thereby saving the student’s time as he need not revisit this subject again and can spend the rest of his time in doing other activities or can devote to other subjects. In addition, learning to plan his work well in order to submit the assignment or homework on time will help him/her build time management skills. Prioritization: The skill of being able to prioritize one’s task does not only help with academic success, but is a skill which will come handy throughout your life. If a student is confronted with multiple assignments or homework in multiple subjects, he/she needs to prioritize it based on some factors like submission date, the complexity level of the work, his/her proficiency level with the subject etc. While doing so, they will learn to identify elements based on the urgency and importance levels. Concentration: Undivided attention and wholehearted commitment to one’s study time are per-requisites for academic success. While doing one’s homework with complete focus, a student has to ensure that he is cut off from any kinds of distractions or interruptions and should devote all his stamina and attention in completing the homework effectively. Such single minded focus on completing one’s homework helps a student build his concentration, which proves to be very useful while studying during the time of the assessments or exams. Motivation: A student has to believe in self and has to remain motivated all the time to be successful in academics. Self-confidence is of prime importance for academic success and it can be built and retained only if an individual is motivated to achieve success. If one does his/her homework successfully and wins accolades for the same back in school, then he/she will be motivated to do well consistently, as nothing attracts success more than success itself. To summarize, if homework is done with seriousness and sincerity, then it can prove to be a very useful tool in achieving academic success.

What extent could government policies affect house prices

What extent could government policies affect house prices In 2009 British house prices has first to their annual decline since at least 2002. According to the British media, home prices in London actually faced the worse prices down 5.3%. The London Housing Prices are perhaps one of the most popular issues of discussion in UK. To some extent this is due to the fact housing prices have nearly trebled since the mid 1990s. Because of this landlords have seen huge gains of wealth which has left with a apparently impossible task for those trying for buying a house. Since the Wall Street crash in 1929, the economies situation in 2009 was described as the worst financial crisis. The unemployment, credit crunch, failing banks and businesses led the economy into a prolonged recession. The UK housing market is cyclical and is quite familiar with the booms and busts of the economic cycle. The UK housing market is very fundamental sector in the economy. The country performance as a whole is closely related with the performance of the housing market. Before the crises the situation of the countrys economy was that there was huge amount of money flowing in the economy, due to attractive demand banks were confident to lend the money, but the dealings of 2009 came about when the banks failed to collect all the money back they lent, therefore they reduced their lending which leads to collapse of large banks in the market. Ultimately the result effected the consumers that now it became difficult for them to obtain a mortgage from banks. Now the only way to get hold on a house left with cash transaction which results in fall in demand for housing. People started to rent a house rather buying. Therefore, a decrease in demand for housing results in house prices were failing. This is perhaps due to the factors that determine the prices of houses in a free market. So if we study the last three years of the housing market it will show us a very interesting picture. But at this stage we need to take into consideration those factors which affect the housing prices. Following are the key factors that play a very important role to determine housing prices in a free market Source: http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/house-prices/what-factors-effect-house-prices/ Factors That Affect House Prices in UK House prices are affected by a combination of supply and demand factors. Demand Side Factors: These are the basic factor which plays an important role in determination of the house prices. If demand is higher than the supply housing prices will increase and if demand for the house is lower than the supply ultimately prices will decrease. The new housing societys development is very low in UK as compare to demand, which is the fundamental reason for higher housing prices. For house prices to fall, the demand would need to fall extensively. Of course there are many factors that determine demand for houses. Economic Growth / Real income. High economic growth and diminishing unemployment increases disposable income meaning people can spend more on buying a house. It also increases confidence in buying a house. Moreover, the significant rise in Per Capita Income enables people to spend more on buying a house in a free market. By tradition, the mortgage ratio was 3 times of the salary. For instance, if there is a person who earns  £20,000 the building society would led him  £60,000. Therefore, rising incomes leads to rise in housing demand which further enables house prices to rise. On the other hand if the economy goes into a recession and unemployment rises, the demand for buying houses would fall significantly. Interest Rates Interest rates affect the cost of paying for a mortgage. Mortgage Interest Rate is the most important factor that affects housing prices. The cost of interest payments on mortgage depends on the interest rate set by the Bank of England. If interest rates are raised, the cost of mortgage repayments rises this discourages people from buying and it may force people to sell. For instance, in 1992 interest rates were rose over 12% which caused a large fall in demand for housing and house prices fell. However, in 2009 interest rates have been cut very low (1.5%) but demand is still falling. Though it is cheap to pay a mortgage, but, this is outweighed by the fact mortgage availability is low and confidence is low. Availability of Mortgage Finance Study shows that in 50s, 60s and 70s, there were strict restrictions about the availability of finance. However, with the increase in deregulation of the banking sector there has been rise in competition in the number of mortgage products like interest only, self certification mortgages and mortgages up to 6 times income have enabled people to get more mortgages, which leads to increasing demand for housing. However, during the credit crunch of 2008, the number of mortgage products on offer fell due to a deficiency of finance in the money markets which leads to decrease in demand. Demographics / Population The growing levels of net migration are increasing demand for houses. The immigration from Eastern Europe, like Poland and Romania are enhancing the UK population. Therefore, initiating increase in demand. Moreover, growing number of households are demographic changes such as number of people living alone. E.g. rising divorce rates have raised number of single people living alone. Future Price Expectations. There is an aspect of hesitant buying in the housing Market. This is mainly the case in the buy to let market. When people look forward to falling house prices in 2008, it may give confidence to people to sell and cash in their capital gains. If we are not careful falling prices can create a multiplier effect where others are positive to sell. Obviously, most people buy a house to live in, not as an investment. But, diminishing prices will encourage some prospective homeowners to rent rather than buy. Speculation Everyone doesnt buy a house to live in it. An increasing number of property investors buy houses to try and make both capital gains and income from renting. During the past few decades the number of buy to let investors in the UK has risen. Although UK house prices have increased faster than inflation, renting has also become expensive which is the main substitute to buying a house. Supply side Factors This is a second most important factor that affects the housing prices in a free market. A decrease in supply is also responsible to raise housing prices, especially in long term. Some predict UK housing prices will significantly rise in long term due to long-term shortage of supply. In the US housing market, they currently have a surplus of supply so a bounce back in the property market is unlikely. In the short run Supply of housing is fixed because it takes time to build houses. Therefore in the short run demand affects prices more than supply. However if the supply of housing is inelastic then an increase in demand will lead to a big increase in price. In the long Run the supply of housing is affected by many factors: Market Reaction If people observe house prices increasing and they expect prices to keep on rising, more people will buy a house. Also, when confidence in the market is high, lenders are more willing to lend mortgages with small deposits / large income multiples. But now in 2009 confidence is very low, people see house prices falling so dont want to buy and banks dont want to lend mortgages without a big deposit. Location The locality causes major variations in UK house prices by geographical area. Even within different areas of London, house prices can vary terrifically. Availability of planning permission. This is difficult to obtain in rural areas. Opportunity cost for builders e.g. are there better returns from other types of investment. Existing houses may be knocked down because they are deemed unfit to live in. An increase in the cost of building new houses will shift supply to the left. In the UK, it is argued there is a significant shortage of housing is this explains why house prices have risen much faster than inflation and earnings. However, in the US, the supply of housing increased in the period upto 2008 and therefore, the excess supply and falling demand led to a big fall in demand. However, it is important to note that house prices can still fall, even if there is a shortage of supply. In 1992, house prices in London fell over 20%, even though we can say supply is inelastic. A shortage of supply just means they will be on average higher. It doesnt mean they are incapable of falling. http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html Why House Prices are falling in the UK Since the peak in July 2007, UK house prices have fallen considerably. Following are the main reasons for falling house prices: Difficulty of Getting Mortgage due to credit crunch. Low affordability (high house price to income ratios) Economic recession and rising unemployment. Nobody wants to buy when house prices are falling. Government Interventions in Determining the Interest Rate in UK It is the responsibility of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Bank of England to set Interest rates in UK. The MPC works independently from the Government. Before 1997, interest rates used to be set by the Chancellor. It was argued, with a degree of justification, interest rates were subject to political motivation. The government now just sets the MPC an inflation target of CPI = 2% +/- 1. The MPC aims to keep inflation as close to this target as possible. If inflation is above or below this level, the governor of the Bank of England has to write a letter of explanation to the chancellor. In theory, they only target inflation; however in practice they may consider the effects of interest rate changes on economic growth, unemployment, and to a lesser extent the housing market and the exchange rate. http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Factors-that-Affect-Property-Value/2491 The Government is in a way trying to prevent house prices falling by: Bailing out banks and encouraging them to lend e.g. RBS, Northern Rock etc. The MPC is drastically cutting interest rates to make borrowing cheaper. The government is putting pressure on the banks to pass these rate cuts on. Reduction in VAT and increased spending, could limit the extent of the recession. On the other hand, in the current economic crises it is difficult to see any government policy which could successfully prevent house prices fall. This is due to that there is a very strong negative momentum in houses prices, people think that they are overvalued and banks dont want to lend. Hence it doesnt make any difference what so ever government says or tries to do. The only policy which really would have stabilized house prices would be better stabilization of the credit boom and bust. If the government had forced banks to save more and share credit in the boom, the boom would have been less and banks would now have more resources to maintain lending in the current recession. So, the government cant really stop house prices falling. But, they should find much better policies to prevent a repeat of the boom and bust we have experienced twice in the past 17 years. London Housing Market Problems in the London Housing Market First Time Buyers struggling to get on Property Ladder The house prices have been increasing faster than incomes, which is making it more difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder. According to the Halifax the first time buyers in London need an average deposit of over  £41,000. So it becomes difficult for them to arrange the huge initial investment to get hold on a house. Supply Growing slower than demand The number of new houses and housing societies being built in London is very low. The main reason for this is the limited area of land within the city where new houses can be built. However the demand for various factors is keep on growing, such as net immigration and changing demographic factors. Shortage of Housing for Key Public Sector Workers The high rise in house prices to earnings means that there are many public sector workers like; nurses, teachers, fireman, policeman and civil servants are struggling to get hold on the property. For instance, comparing the average income of teachers in Greater London, the ration of House Prices has increased 4 times income (2003) to 7 times income (2009). With a shortage of key public sector workers the NHS, for example, has to encourage the migration of foreign nurses to fill the many gaps in its London hospitals. Speculative Buying creating potential for Boom and Bust There is a significant rises in house prices has been seen by the London Housing Market, regardless of the monetary falls in the early 1990s, it is seen as a good investment. As a result it has encouraged investors from abroad and UK to buy a house and make huge capital gains. In response to this the market has squeezed by increase in demand. Facts about London Housing Market There are over three million households in London. The amount of new developments of houses and housing societies in London represents a very tiny proportion of the total stock even less than 0.5 percent. London House Prices Average London property price is :  £351,028 April 2007 The most expensive area is Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea average house price is  £918,000. The cheapest area in London is Barking and Dagenham where average house price is  £181,802. 1990s the market witnessed falling prices with some house owners experiencing negative equity. The supply and demand graph show what has happened, due to declining incomes and consumer confidence and growing unemployment, the demand for housing shifted to left from D1 to D2. The Initial price was at P1 but due to surplus supply where demand go beyond supply) there was downward force on prices to decline to P2. Therefore the housing market in this case restricted from area 0P1E1Q TO 0P2E2Q. The supply curve for housing at any moment is actually unchanging. So a decrease in demand decreases prices rather than Quantity. After the utmost recession the UK economy jumps into action with an increase in GDP of 0.1%. The current position of the housing market in the UK is quite astonishing. House prices have been increasing constantly since May 2009 according to nationwide. With the low interest levels of 0.5% by the Bank of England have helped make mortgages more reasonable. Some argue that house prices have risen due to a shortage in supply since home owners are tentative to sell at current prices. The diagram shows a pointed recover in the prices of houses from early 2009, and a constant rise up till now. Source: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk A further explanation for this sharp rise in prices could be due to a lack of supply in the housing market. There is ambiguity in the market which is averting people from putting their estate on the market, this theory of hesitation and reluctance to put the property on the market can be down on a supply and demand diagram below. Source: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/archive.htm S2 P3 S S1Higher demand with squat supply has lead to the situation in the diagram. Due to low interest rates, affordability of housing has improved, lifting demand from D1 to D2. At the same time reluctant home owners have not put their properties on the ladder, leading to a fall in supply for houses from S1 to S. Overall this creates an upward force on prices from P1 to P3. Q2 Q Prediction: Anticipating amidst such an unsure economic environment can gently be depicted a challenge. Reviewing at the data of house prices it can be said that in the short-term future prices are probable to increase, as they have done in recent times, but in the medium to long-term are possible to fell down. House prices are possible to change with respect to region; London is most probably going to see a relative raise in prices as other area may not see such a positive coefficient of growth in prices. It is essential to be rational in ones judgement since interest are indubitably going to rise, an signal that mortgage rates will rise thats why demand will decrease in the housing sector, gloomy prices. Pay rates are likely to increase again in the next few years, results in more confidence and belief in buyers so one could argue demand may rise. Assumption will also play an important role; housing is generally seen as a good investment, and buying a property during the start of the growth ca n lead to great rewards, if house prices go on increasing. But it is simple said than done, the economy is on a feeble improvement, increased taxes are likely and the public is expected to cut back their expenditure as people will wish to cut the size of their liability load. Interest rates will play a important role, there are many factors that will keep interest rates low; the UK budget deficit is increasing to 12% of GDP, this shows a deprived financial position of the government. To get better their position the government will compel lofty taxes and lower expenditures. But if taxes rise, this depreciation fiscal policy could slow down improvement so interest rates are likely to stay low. Given the overall fragile revival the Central Bank is to be expected to keep interest rates low. Given the increase of VAT back up to 17.5%, expanding oil prices and growing house prices the government may raise the traditionally low interest rates to stop any future inflationary anxiety, but i n my judgment interest rates if they will raise in the near future are not likely to increase before the end of 2010. Source: http://www.economicshelp.org/ onomics/uk-economy-2010/ http://www.mortgageguidk.co.uk/blog/interestinterest-rate-predions/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cgget.asp?id=19 Conclusion In general it seems that the UKs housing market has seen the poorer, and is expected to enjoy its boom days in the near future. But it is hard to evaluate the healing as it will depend upon the future interest rate. The size of the interest rate will have its according impact, if we experience a reasonable increase in the interest rate than we can anticipate a good constant recovery while mortgage repayments will not shoot up and people will have time to adjust to the increase, expecting that peoples earnings rise along with the interest rate. A big raise in the interest rate might slow down the Housing market growth, since there will be a rapid variation in the mortgage repayments, this may further discourage the housing market transferring the economy into a double-dip recession. The performance of the economy is a key role in the next few years, and this is extremely dependent upon government policies. To risen the overall economic growth, government may try an augmentation strate gy, but this again will be very arguable as the government is already in a poor financial picture. So the government wishes to play around with its tools it has in hand to twist the economy back into a secure position, which will then along with it lead to a health UK Housing market.

Analysis of Graph Theory

Analysis of Graph Theory In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs: mathematical structures used to model pair wise relations between objects from a certain collection. A graph is a very simple structure consisting of a set of vertices and a family of lines (possibly oriented), called edges (undirected) or arcs (directed), each of them linking some pair of vertices. An undirected graph may for example model conflicts between objects or persons. A directed graph (or digraph) may typically represent a communication network, or some domination relation between individuals, etc. The famous problem of the bridges of Kà ¶nigsberg, solved by Euler, is viewed as the first formal result in graph theory. This theory has developed during the second half of the 19th century (with Hamilton, Heawood, Kempe, Kirchhoff, Petersen, Tait), and has boomed since the 1930s (with Kà ¶nig, Hall, Kuratowski, Whitney, Erdà ¶s, Tutte, Edmonds, Berge, Lovà ¡sz, Seymour, and many other people). It is clearly related to Algebra, Topology, and other topics from Combinatorics. It applies to and gets motivating new problems from Computer Science, Operations Research, Game Theory, Decision Theory. â€Å"Because of its inherent simplicity, graph theory has a very wide range of applications in engineering, in physical, social, and biological sciences, in linguistics, and in numerous other areas. A graph can be used to represent almost any physical situation involving discrete objects and relationship among them† (Narsingh Deo). The term â€Å"graph† in mathematics has different meanings. There is a graph for the function and relation. Graphs, especially tree graphs and directed graphs appear in the computer and information sciences. Flowcharts for example are directed graphs. A flowchart is a visual representation of an algorithm. It is frequently used in the planning, development and structuring of an algorithm for solving a complex problem. The flowchart is regarded as an essential part of the documentation of any computer translation of the original algorithm (Seymour Lipschutz). There are two commonly used tools to help to document program logic (the algorithm). These are flowcharts and Pseudocode. Generally, flowcharts work well for small problems but Pseudocode is used for larger problems. Flowcharts are used in the design phase of software creation. It specifies the logical flow of a program. The semantics of a flowchart are totally concerned just with control flow-what happens first, and then what happens next, and so on. A flowchart is drawn using a small set of symbols with well-defined meanings. An elongated oval denotes the beginning of the program, where the execution commences. Passage of flow from the beginning, and at later stages, is denoted by edges with directional arrows. A box in the shape of a parallelogram denotes either an input (such as a READ), or an output (such as a PRINT). A rectangle denotes a computational step, such as addition, and a diamond-shaped box denotes a decision step. A diamond usually has one arrow leading in, and two or more leading out, denoting different ways the control can proceed from that point. A diamond is used in cases of decision statements like, If A is more than 7, proceed to multiply B and C; else, divide C and D. Example of flowchart which reads 2 numbers A and B, and prints them in decreasing order after assigning the larger number to BIG and smaller number to SMALL. â€Å"Essential computer mathematics† Seymour Lipschutz, 1987, page 101 A flowchart is a visual representation of sequence of operations performed to get the solution of the problem. They are usually drawn in early stages of programming project. They help with better communication between the programmers and their business customers. The flowcharts are very helpful with understanding complicated problems and programming logic, especially for people who do not work with (or understand) programming and coding. We can say that flowcharts are necessary for better documentation of complex programs. They also work as a guide during the system analysis and program development phase. If we have good flowchart for the programme the maintenance becomes easier, as the programmer can be more efficient in debugging process, as he can clearly see which parts he has to focus on. Flowcharts are also used in industrial and process engineering and management. The Unified Modelling Language (UML) created by the Three Amigos of software engineering borrows some of its basic ideas from the flowchart paradigm, although it is much more sophisticated. Visual Paradigm for UML is a professional tool that supports complete software lifecycle object-oriented analysis, object-oriented design, construction, testing and deployment. The UML modelling software helps to build quality applications faster and better. You can draw all types of class diagrams, reverse or generate code. It allows turning models into Java codes and Java codes into models. Graph theory is also helpful when building databases. Directed graphs (or digraphs) are a special case of graphs that constitute a powerful and convenient way of representing relationships between entities. In a digraph, entities are represented as nodes and relationships as directed lines or arrows that connect the nodes. The orientation of the arrows follows the flow of information in the digraph  ­. Digraphs offer a number of advantages to information visualization, with the most important of them being: comprehensibility the information that a digraph contains can be easily and accurately understood by humans and expressiveness- digraph topology bears non-trivial information. Case of graphical representation of logic rules, digraphs seem to be extremely appropriate. They can offer explanation of derived conclusions, since the series of inference steps in the graph can be easily detected and retraced. Also, by going backwards from the conclusion to the triggering conditions, on e can validate the truth of the inference result, gaining a means of proof visualization and validation. One of the examples can be found in the book â€Å"Automated Data Processing and Computations by David I. Donatoy. It is an example of geographic names database. An algorithm specifies how to quickly identify names that approximately match any specific name when searching the mentioned database. The algorithm identifies matching names by applying an artificial measure of name simplicity. A digraph index enables computer name searches that are carried out within this technique to be fast enough for Web application. The use of digraph index enables name search application to restrict comparisons to a small subset of the database name, speeding up processing. A digraph index lists in digraph sequence all digraphs found in the database of geo ­graphic names. The entry for a particular digraph consists of a set of pointers to all names in the geographic-names database that includes at least one occurrence of that digraph. Once the search-for name has itself been broken down into a list of its unique constituent digraphs, the digraph index can then be used to produce a candidate list containing only those names from the database that include at least one of the digraphs found in the search-for name. In most cases, several names in the candidate list will be referenced more than once (by different digraphs). After sorting the list of can ­didate names (thus, bringing together all occurrences of each particular candidate name), the number of occurrences of each candidate name can be counted. The number of occurrences of a candidate name will be the same as the number of unique digraphs a candidate name has in common with the search-for nam e. This number can be regarded as a first-approximation measure of a names similarity to the search-for name, with larger numbers corresponding to stronger similarity. Computer scientists have developed a great deal of theory about graphs and operations on them. One reason for this is because graphs can be used to represent many problems in computer science that are otherwise abstract. Finding a way to represent the solution to a problem as a graph can present new approaches to solving the problem or even lead directly to a solution derived from graph theory. This sort of technique is often used when discussing algorithmic efficiency and when trying to prove that a certain algorithm is NP-Complete; because many problems involving graphs, such as finding the shortest path to traverse all nodes (the Travelling Salesman Problem), are NP-Complete, if you can find a way to represent a problem as a graph and show that it is analogous to one of the other NP-Complete problems, then you can show the problem you are trying to solve is also NP-Complete, which gives you a hint that the solution will take a great deal of time. Another reason for using graphs is that many problems computers are used to solve involve representing relationships between objects, places, or concepts. Because graphs can be either directed or undirected, they are a flexible method of showing connections. For instance, you can describe who knows who in a room as a collection of nodes, each representing a person, and directed edges, each representing that one person knows another. Because graphs are so often used and because they allow the representation of many problems in computer science, they are a convenient means of expressing problems with which many people are comfortable. This familiarity simplifies the process of creating mental models of problems, which ultimately leads to better problem solving. Because computer science is a young discipline, it played essential role in development of graph theory. Mathematics plays essential role in computer science, as its language defines the generic structures and proves properties of those structures. Computer systems can be very complex and it is very difficult to have a clear picture of all details and keep the overview of the whole system. Computer science has put lots of effort to develop mathematically based frameworks to model computer systems. References: Gibbons, Alan (1985), Algorithmic graph theory, Cambridge University Press http://www-leibniz.imag.fr/GRAPH/english/overview.html http://www.bookrags.com/research/flowchart-wcs/ Brent Daviduck† Introduction to Programming in C++: Algorithms,  Flowcharts and Pseudocode† Narsingh Deo â€Å"Graph theory with applications to engineering and computer science†2004 An augmented directed graph base for application development Dan C. Clarke , 1982 Knoxville, Tennessee David I. Donato â€Å"Fast, Inclusive Searches for Geographic Names Using Digraphs† Chapter 1 of Book 7, Automated Data Processing and Computations, Section A, Algorithms, page 2-3 Quentin Charatan Aaron Kans â€Å"Java in two semesters†, The McGraw Hill, 2006, page 4-7 Seymour Lipschutz â€Å"Essential computer mathematics†, McGraw Hill 1987, page 95-107

BUILDING A COMPUTER :: essays research papers

With increasing popularity of computer games, and multimedia home PC users often need an unexpensive computer system upgrade. By building a custom computer one is able to combine componenets, and operating system to provide maximal gaming performance. Computers are often called number manipulators, because of their ability to run millions of mathematical operations per second (White 43). Computers use binary system of numbers, which allows them to operate system of microscopic switches called transistors found inside of computer chips. Binary system is defined as counting system that uses two digits one and zero (Gookin 49). A transistor is a basic building block of microchips; transistors are combined in formations called logic gates (White 39). â€Å"Transistor can only create binary information: one if current passes through or zero if current does not, to work with transistors†(White 39). Computer software uses Boolean logic, which is based on selecting true or false values used in computer programming (White 39). All personal computers have BIOS, which is an acronym for Basic Input Output System. The BIOS runs every time the computer is started, and it basically tells the computer how to act (White 19). The BIOS is a part of the boot up process, or a complex set of operations checking hardware that components are working properly. Besides BIOS and several other operations there is power–on self-test - POST being ran. POST test runs at the start up, and if it finds an error, it sends a warning message (White 5). Central processing unit – CPU is the most important part of the personal computer, all other components work as a bridge to CPU (White 59). The speed of the processor is usually defined by using units called megahertz (MHz, also million frequency waves per second). CPUs are generally divided into two categories- CISC and RISC. CISC – complex instruction set computing, uses many small instructions to carry out a single operations. CISC is a standard in today’s processors. RISC – reduced instruction set computing, uses less complicated instructions with simpler design. RISC microprocessors are cheaper, they produce less heat, and they are generally smaller in size compared to CISC. With less heat and smaller size RISC processors have great advantage in reaching higher frequencies with less danger of overheating. The major disadvantage and also reason why RISC microprocessors are not widely used, is less compatibility with available software. The earlier programs were written for CISC chips.

It Takes a Thief :: Short Stories Stealing Burglary Essays

It Takes a Thief The thief moved slowly through the long stone hallway, not making a sound. He virtually clung to the grey walls, just another shadow in the dark. He paused for a moment, stretching every inch of his six foot frame, eyes and ears straining in the blackness. There it was again, the sound of sandaled feet echoing through the hall. Dropping down and touching the floor, he felt vibrations reverberating through the stone. And they were coming closer! He swore softly, and looked around quickly. Spotting a door, he hurriedly said a prayer to whatever god was willing to listen, and he stepped through it. He noted that he was in a large, empty candlelit room, but that was all he looked at for a moment. Breathing a sigh of relief, he wiped his brow and pushed back his shoulder length black hair, revealing a large, pointed ear. "You're getting to old for this Thronn," he whispered in the silence. Two hundred years. He was two hundred years old. That was really nothing but a pinch of salt in the life of an elf, but the constant pressures of his profession was starting to wear on him. Being a thief added a lot of stress to one's life. This job especially. Usually, he came out ahead, but not this time. His mouth quirked up in a cynical grin at the though of the mere two hundred gold that he was getting for this job. Raiding the castle of Lord Paraxel was not his idea of sane, not even his idea of insanity. But, he had needed the money at the time. He shook his head angrily and looked up. A lapse like that could easily cost him. Finally, his head clear, he scanned the room. It was bigger than he had originally thought and, he smiled, it was the very room he was looking for: the armory. Cabinets were in numerous places along the floor, and numerous weapons were hanging along the walls. Reaching into his belt pouch, he drew out a scroll that his employer had given him. He'd been told that when he was finished reading it, the weapon that glowed would be the one to take. He looked at the scroll with revulsion. He never had liked magic very much, even though he'd always had a way with it. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his right hand. It Takes a Thief :: Short Stories Stealing Burglary Essays It Takes a Thief The thief moved slowly through the long stone hallway, not making a sound. He virtually clung to the grey walls, just another shadow in the dark. He paused for a moment, stretching every inch of his six foot frame, eyes and ears straining in the blackness. There it was again, the sound of sandaled feet echoing through the hall. Dropping down and touching the floor, he felt vibrations reverberating through the stone. And they were coming closer! He swore softly, and looked around quickly. Spotting a door, he hurriedly said a prayer to whatever god was willing to listen, and he stepped through it. He noted that he was in a large, empty candlelit room, but that was all he looked at for a moment. Breathing a sigh of relief, he wiped his brow and pushed back his shoulder length black hair, revealing a large, pointed ear. "You're getting to old for this Thronn," he whispered in the silence. Two hundred years. He was two hundred years old. That was really nothing but a pinch of salt in the life of an elf, but the constant pressures of his profession was starting to wear on him. Being a thief added a lot of stress to one's life. This job especially. Usually, he came out ahead, but not this time. His mouth quirked up in a cynical grin at the though of the mere two hundred gold that he was getting for this job. Raiding the castle of Lord Paraxel was not his idea of sane, not even his idea of insanity. But, he had needed the money at the time. He shook his head angrily and looked up. A lapse like that could easily cost him. Finally, his head clear, he scanned the room. It was bigger than he had originally thought and, he smiled, it was the very room he was looking for: the armory. Cabinets were in numerous places along the floor, and numerous weapons were hanging along the walls. Reaching into his belt pouch, he drew out a scroll that his employer had given him. He'd been told that when he was finished reading it, the weapon that glowed would be the one to take. He looked at the scroll with revulsion. He never had liked magic very much, even though he'd always had a way with it. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his right hand.

Frank Lloyd Wright :: essays research papers

Architecture, the practice of building design and its resulting products, customary usage refers only to those designs and structures that are culturally significant. Today the architecture must satisfy its intended uses, must be technically sound, and must convey beautiful meaning. But the best buildings are often so well constructed that they outlast their original use. They then survive not only as beautiful objects, but as documents of history of cultures, achievements in architecture that testify to the nature of the society that produced them. These achievements are never wholly the work of individuals. Architecture is a social art, yet Frank Lloyd Wright single handily changed the history of architecture. How did Frank Lloyd Wright change architecture?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, who was a pioneer in the modern style, is considered one of the greatest figures in 20th-century architecture. Wright was born June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. When he entered the University of Wisconsin in 1884 his interest in architecture had already acknowledged itself. The university offered no courses in his chosen field; however, he enrolled in civil engineering and gained some practical experience by working part time on a construction project at the university. In 1887 he left school and went to Chicago where he became a designer for the firm of Adler and Sullivan with a pay of twenty-five dollars a week. Soon Wright became Louis Sullivan’s chief assistant. Louis Sullivan, Chicago based architect, one of America’s advanced designers. Louis had a profound influence on Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was assigned most of the firm’s home projects, but to pay his many debts he designed ‘Boo tlegged Houses’ for private clients in his spare time. Sullivan disapproved, resulting in Wright leaving the firm in 1893 to establish his own office in Chicago. In the spring of 1893 Wright decided to build his own house in Oak Park, Illinois. Taking six years to build, Wright was free to experiment with his objectives in residential architecture over the next twenty-year period. Designing and re-constructing his buildings was a continuous process. He always changed his designs. For twenty years this home served as an independent labatory for Wright. This too went under constant changes. Rooms were enlarged or added, ceilings heightened, the arrangement of the windows changed, and the entry route into the house was modified. Wright even allowed the growth of a willow tree to be uninterrupted by placing a hold in the roof of the studio.

The Statement of Cash Flow Is Not Redundant and Necessary for Investment Decision Making

Introduction The manager of Dowlais Iron Company, made a new financial statement called â€Å"comparison balance sheet†, in 1863 to explain the reason for the inability to invest was due to the holding of too much inventory, despite the profit made. This was the beginning of the cash flow statement, which was later made compulsory by the Financial Accounting Standard Boards (FASB) under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This step was followed by International Accounting Standard Boards (IASB) when they issue IAS 7 Cash Flow Statement.The Cash Flow Statement only reported transactions that took place by the use of cash or cash equivalents, and discarded anything that was recorded on accrual basis in Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position) and the Profit and Loss Statement (Statement of Comprehensive Income). The construction of the Cash Flow Statement is divided into three; cash flow from operating, investing and financing activities. With two approaches in constructing Cash Flow Statement; direct and indirect approach, the difference is basically on the construction of the first part, operating activities.Cash flow from operating activities are cash flow from principal revenue-producing activities of the company and other activities that are not investing or financing activities. In using the direct method approach, it would have to start from scratch; what are the cash receipts and cash payments made during the period, while the indirect method approach would start with the profit before tax figure and later, adjustments are made, i. e. depreciation, increase or decrease in inventories, receivables, payables, etc.The other two activities (financing and investing) remain the same regardless of methods used. Financing activities are activities that result in changes in the size and composition of the equity capital and borrowings of the enterprise. For example, the issuance of the company's shares, payment of dividends, borrowings, etc. With regard to the investing activities, it consists of any activities of investment for capital assets, financial markets, and even operating subsidiaries.Although the existence of the Cash Flow Statement is considered quite new in the accounting world (which starts around 1490s by Luca Pacioli, that was called â€Å"bookkeeping†), it is agreed that there are a lot of benefits with the presence of the Cash Flow Statement. This position paper will touch on a couple of them just to be firm on the topic, that is â€Å"The Statement of Cash Flow is not Redundant and Necessary for Investment Decision Making†. Cash Flow Statement as a Tool for Investment DecisionThere are ways and ratios that we could use to measure the solvency and liquidity of a company, using the information from the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position) and the Profit and Loss Statement (Statement of Comprehensive Income). However, with the presence of Cash Flow Statement, it is made easi er and more logic. The first ratio would be the Operating Cash Flow Ratio which could be derive from the following formula: Cash Flow from Operations ? Current Liabilities This ratio would give the indication as to whether or not the company is able to repay their current debt with the use of the cash from operating activities.This ratio is slightly similar to the Current Ratio, but the use of Cash Flow from Operations to replace Current Assets is simply more logical to measure the liquidity, because the Current Asset includes Inventories and Receivables which are not of the high liquidity compared to cash. The investors can make a reasonable and justifiable decision based on this ratio, simply because it gives a better view of liquidity than the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position). The second ratio that could help investors decision making is the Price/Cash Flow Ratio.Even though this ratio is not widely use as the Price Earnings Ratio, this ratio is often considered as the better indication of the company's value. This mainly was due to the formula itself, which the Earnings per Share in the Price Earnings Ratio is changed to the Operation Cash Flow per Share. With this change, the value of the company relies on the cash flow from the principal revenue-producing activities, and not the Net Income which was derived on accrual basis, which the revenue and xpenses may or may not have been received and paid. With the information from Cash Flow Statement, investors are able to make a wiser decision as to valuation of the companies because the cash is of the same importance as the profit, and sometimes may be regarded as more important. The next ratio is to help in measuring the solvency of a company, it is the Cash Flow from Operations/Average Total Liabilities Ratio. From the name itself, we can figure that the formula would look like below: Cash Flow from Operations ?Average Total Liabilities As mentioned, this ratio is to measure the solvency of th e company, similar to Total Debt/Total Assets Ratio as both are to know the ability of the company to pay its debts. However, this ratio is better in terms of that it measures for the whole period, and not at a point of time. To explain this, know that the cash flow from operations are generated from the start of the period until the end of the period, and it uses the average of total liabilities which does not focus on that point of time only.On the other hand, the Total Debt/Total Assets Ratio uses the total assets and total debts at the end of the period, the ones reported on balance sheet. Thus, one might increase their inventories or promote credit sales towards the end of the period, just to boost up the total assets figure, which later would give the indication the company has the ability to pay its debt, due to the high total assets figure. Apart from these ratios that are derived from information in the Cash Flow Statement, the elements in the statement itself can be helpfu l for investors to make decisions, without even the need to calculate any ratio.For example, a company may be having a negative total cash flow(total outflow), but if the cash flow from operating activities is positive, it may still be a good sign, as the negative cash flow is derived from the investing or financing activities. If the negative cash flow comes from heavy investing and causes a negative flow from investing activities, it may still be a good sign simply because the company might be considering an expansion in the future.Thus, the elements in the Cash Flow Statement itself can give information for the investors to make decisions, without even the fuss of computing ratios. Overall View of the Company's Activities Before looking at the future perspective of the company, which we have discussed earlier on how Cash Flow Statement is very helpful in making investment decision, the investors are more likely wanting to know the financial management of the company. Having a goo d future perspective may not always give profit to investors, if there is a bad financial management.With the elements laid out with such organization in the Cash Flow Statement, the investors would have a glimpse or overview of the company's activities throughout the year, what decision have they(company) made, what are the odds for the company paying the dividends, etc. As mentioned previously, the total cash flow may not necessarily give the right interpretation of what is happening to the company. This is because if it does, then there is no need of the Cash Flow Statement, as the amount are present in the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position).Usually the increase in Inventories and Receivables would give an indication that the company is being illiquid compared to last period. Taking the Dowlais Iron Company (mentioned in the Introduction) as an example, the company were making profits, but they were unable to do any investment. The reason being was that their assets are illiquid and are composed by high amount in inventories. This might also be an alarming situation as it gives the signal of the company being unable to collect their debts. Other elements has their own story respectively. Let's move a step further in our discussion, comparing elements.Taking the investing activities as an instance, the sale or disposal of assets by itself may be read as a hint of the company wanting to get rid of the old machines in order to buy a new one that is more productive in their expansion plan. However, if it is synchronized with the decrease in investment in subsidiaries, it may give a different story. There is a huge possibility that the company is closing down and try to let go as much assets as possible. Previously, we have compare the positive cash flow from operating with the negative cash flow from investing (in previous point).Now, let's compare elements in the investing activities with the elements in the financing activities. Firstly, the issu ance of shares would obviously bring the positive vibe to investors as it is often read as expansion of the business. Business seems to be growing and thus, there were investors interested and bought the shares which in the statements would report an increase in number of shares. The twist in this comparison would be the decrease in amount payable or repayments to directors/shareholders is around the amount if shares issued.Without reading the complimentary notes, it can be assumed that the company is capitalising their debts, that is paying their debts through issuance of shares. This can be affirmed by reading the complimentary notes. When this happens, it gives an extreme situation of the inability of the company to pay their debts, up to the extend they have to exchange it with the shares (sense of ownership to the company). The Cash Flow Statement should be analysed thoroughly, it gives lots of information. Real Life CaseAll these theoretical can be easily argued and rejected b y certain parties, especially those who does not want to have hassle to prepare another financial statement. This point will give the flavour of the real life situation, when the Cash Flow Statement was not prepared, by using the W. T. Grant Company back in the 1970s. From the surface, it has the similar picture of the Dowlais Iron Company; making profit, good assets amount, but no cash. Having mentioned that, the Dowlais Iron Company took the trouble to make a comparison balance sheet, while the W.T. Grant Company runs as though there was no problem. By purely looking at the Net Income amount, the investors were keen to invest in W. T. Grant Company as it seems promising and the earnings look tempting. Little did the investors know, the company was not generating any cash, instead they are the net user of cash. This problem does not happen within a financial year, it started a decade before the downfall of the company. There were decreasing trends of the company's liquidity, profit ability and even turnover. However, all these problems were left ntouched and thus, the investors were not given any hint that the W. T. Grant Company was facing bankruptcy. The company was said to exhaust its liquid assets before using external markets for funds which later just grew bigger. These can be easily detected with the use of Cash Flow Statement. Apart from the negative cash flow from operating activities, the company and investors could be alarmed by the amount of payables that kept on increasing, and even the shares that were sold above the value of the company, simply because the market thought the company was doing fine.The upward trend of sales still does not manage to generate cash for the company, and this could be detected by the increase in the Receivables, which shows the inability to collect debt. All these problems can be detected years before the liquidation of the company and could be avoided, with the presence of Cash Flow Statement. Conclusion With Cash Fl ow Statement, these elements are laid down in such manner that it is easier for the users of financial statement to understand the story, compare to merely reading the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position) and the Profit and Loss Statement (Statement of Comprehensive Income).The investors are able to have the idea of financial stability of the company, together with the management of the company and what the company can achieve in the future. With these information, which are not present in any of the other two financial statements, the investors are able to make a wiser decision in making investments. Thus, the Cash Flow Statement is not redundant and is necessary for investment decision making. Reference Cash Flow from Investing Activities (n. d. ). In Investopedia. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://www. investopedia. om/terms/c/cashflowfinvestingactivities. asp Cash flow statement (n. d. ). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Cash_flow_statement Chinweike, (2010, June 25). Uses and Benefits of Statement of Cash Flow. Retrieved http://www. accountantnextdoor. com/uses-and-benefits-of-statement-of-cash-flow/ FAO Corporate Document Repository (n. d. ). Chapter 3: Cash Flow Accounting. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://www. fao. org/docrep/W4343E/w4343e04. htm Kestenbaum, D. , (2012, October 4). The Accountant who Changed the World.Retrieved March 28 2013, from http://www. npr. org/blogs/money/2012/10/04/162296423/the-accountant-who-changed-the-world King, Lembke, ; Smith,. (2001). Financial Accounting: A Decision Making Approach (Second Edition). In The Cash Flow Statement and Decisions. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.. Retrieved from http://www. wiley. com/college/bcs/0471238236/king/ch13. pdf Largay, J. A. ; Stickney, C. P. , (1980, July/August). Cash Flows, Ratios Analysis, and the W. T. Grant Company Bankruptcy. Financial Analysts Journals. 51-54. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/discover/10. 2307/44 78363? id=3738672;uid=2129;uid=2134;uid=4579947027;uid=2;uid=70;uid=3;uid=4579947007;uid=60;sid=21102061346117 Peavler, R. , (n. d. ). Cash Flow Ratios- Calculate the Solvency, Liquidity, and Viability of your Firm: Cash Flow Ratios that are Important for Cash Flow  Analysis. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://bizfinance. about. com/od/cashflowanalysis/tp/cash-flows-ratios. htm INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA KULIYYAH OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES ACC 4001 ACCOUNTING THEORY AND POLICY POSITION PAPER THE STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW IS NOT REDUNDANT AND NECESSARY FOR INVESTOR DECISION MAKING