Csr And Corporate Social Responsibility - 1667 Words

ABSTRACT Different scholars and professors have defined CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility in many ways. Generally, CSR includes the responsibilities that businesses hold towards the societies they carry their operations in (Cadbury, 2006). The European Commission defines CSR as â€Å"a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment.† A more specific definition of CSR explains that businesses must identify their stakeholder groups and understand their needs and values and take those values into their operational and strategic decision making process (Cadbury, 2006). For a business to apply real corporate social responsibility, they must apply economical and ethical strategies in†¦show more content†¦Google acts similarly but with more interaction with the societies surrounding them. Google in the eyes of many is still considered the closest to surrounding societies. INTRODUCTION The four previously mentioned companies, carry around a positive reputation whenever they are mentioned. They are considered the most reputable around the world, thus there is a type of a â€Å"Halo Effect† that goes around them anytime they are mentioned. Besides being very popular and famous for their donations, all four companies are extremely active and genuine in all perceptions that measure or drive CSR. In order to act responsibly in a society, a company must first understand the elements of a successful CSR practice within an organization. First step starts with getting the support and participation of high profile executives that are willing to stand up for the strategy of practicing more social responsible operations. Then creating a visionary document in order for the public and stakeholders to read and see the ambitions and goals of the organization. ARGUMENT/ BODY Google ranked 1st in terms of best â€Å"workplace†. 51% of the consumers surveyed among the 15 markets, agreed that Google is an appealing place to work at and they treat their employees well (Smith, 2013). Google’s international success is related to social responsibility strategies. Around the world, Google has been able to stand and interact with local societies as a local company rather that an international foreign

Apple Swot Analysis Free Essays

Company background Name| McDonald’s Corporation| Industries served| Restaurants, Food| Geographic areas served| Worldwide| Headquarters| U. S. | Current CEO| Don Thompson| Revenue| $ 27. We will write a custom essay sample on Apple Swot Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now 56 billion (2012)| Profit| $ 5. 46 billion (2012)| Employees| 1,800,000 (2013)| Main Competitors| Burger King Worldwide,Inc. , Yum! Brand Inc. , Subway, Wendy’s Company. | McDonald’s is the world’s leading fast food restaurant chain with more than 34,000 local restaurants serving approximately 69 million people in 119 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local franchisees. Strengths 1. Largest fast food market share in the world. McDonald’s is the largest fast food restaurant chain in terms of total world sales (8%). It is the second largest outlet operator with more than 34,000 outlets, serving 69 million consumers every day in 119 countries. 2. Brand recognition valued at $40 million. Company’s brand is the most recognized brand in fast food industry and is valued at $40 billion. McDonald’s is also famous by the Ronald McDonald clown. . $2 billion advertising budget. McDonald’s spends on advertising more than the next 4 fast food restaurant chains combined. 4. Locally adapted food menus. The fast food chain is operating in many diverse cultures where tastes in food are extremely different than those of US or European consumers. Thus ability to adapt to local tastes is one of McDonald’s strengths. 5. Part nership with best brands. McDonald’s offers only most popular brands in its restaurants, such as: Coca Cola, Dannon Yogurt, Heinz ketchup and others. . More than 80% of restaurants are owned by independent franchisees. Therefore, McDonald’s can focus more on perfecting its serving system and marketing campaigns. 7. Children targeting. The company successfully targets very young children through offering playgrounds, toys with its meals and advertisements. Weaknesses 1. Negative publicity. McDonald’s is heavily criticized for offering unhealthy food to its customers, stimulating obesity and strong marketing focus on very young children. 2. Unhealthy food menu. Although McDonald’s tries to introduce healthier choices in its menu, the menu is largely formed of unhealthy meals and drinks. Such menu offering prompts protests by organizations that fight obesity and hence, decreases McDonald’s popularity. 3. Mac Job and high employee turnover. Mac Job is a low paid and a low skilled job, which is often seen negatively by its employees. This results in lower performance and high employee turnover, which increases training costs and add to overall costs of McDonald’s. 4. Low differentiation. McDonald’s is no longer able to substantially differentiate itself from other fast food chains (at least not enough to gain some market share) and opts to compete by price rather than by additional features. Opportunities 1. Increasing demand for healthier food. While demand for healthier food increases, McDonald’s could introduce more healthy food choices in its menu and reverse its weakness into strength. McDonald’s is trying to seize such an opportunity and soon plans to open only vegetarian restaurant in India. 2. Home meal delivery. McDonald’s could exploit an opportunity of delivering food to home and increase its reach to customers. 3. Full adaptation of its new practices. McDonald’s has redesigned its logo and restaurant design in 2006. In addition, it has introduced some new practices. In a result, remodeled restaurants have seen 8-9% higher than average market growth. McDonald’s should finish remodeling all of the restaurants and adapt the best practices in them as soon as possible. 4. Changing customer habits and new customer groups. Changing customer habits represent new needs that must be met by businesses. So far, McDonald’s has been successful in introducing its McCafe, McExpress and McStop restaurants to meet the changing customer habits and the needs of previously untapped customer groups. Threats 1. Saturated fast food markets in the developed economies. The fast food market in the developed countries is already overcrowded by so many fast food restaurant chains and this already proves to be a threat to McDonald’s as it barely grew through 2012. 2. Trend towards healthy eating. Due to government and various organizations attempts to fight obesity, people are becoming more conscious of eating healthy food rather than what McDonald’s has to offer in its menu. 3. Local fast food restaurant chains. Local fast food restaurants can often offer a more local approach to serving food and menu that exactly represents local tastes. Although McDonald’s does a great job in adapting its own menu to local tastes, the rising number of local fast food chains and their lower meal prices is a threat to McDonald’s. 4. Currency fluctuations. McDonald’s receives a part of its income from foreign operations. The profits that are sent back to US have to be converted into dollars and may be affected by the exchange rates, especially when the dollar is appreciating against other currencies. In 2012, McDonald’s profit was largely affected by appreciating dollar. Lawsuits against McDonald’s. McDonald’s has already been sued for many times and lost quite a few lawsuits. Lawsuits are expensive as they require time and money. And as McDonald’s continues to operate more or less the same way, there is high probability for more expensive lawsuits to come. References: 8. The New York Times (2012). How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever. Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever. html? pagewanted=2;_r=0;ref=mcdonaldscorporation 9. McDonald’s Investors (2013). Company profile. Available at: http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com/mcd/investors/company_profile. html 10. Wikipedia (2013). McDonald’s. Available at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/McDonald’s 11. United States Securities and Exchange Commission (2012). 10-K Form McDonald’s Corporation. Available at: http://sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/63908/000119312511046701/d10k. htm How to cite Apple Swot Analysis, Papers

Demand Scenario Planned Capacity Expansion â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Demand Scenario Planned Capacity Expansion? Answer: Introduction Capital Budgeting is the most important constitute of financial management as it involves decisions making about the capital expenditures to be made under any project. As these projects requires the deployment of huge funds for a long term, project managers must study each and every element of project in details. Capital budgeting covers the critical analysis of project and all the alternative project plans considering various factors such as risk and return factor, the discounting rate, the technological and environmental factors, the initial investment requirements etc. While selecting a project, the project manager has to analyse and access the key variations that may occur in future while undertaking the project and comprehensively examine the projects behaviour in terms of profitability. For all the project planning decisions there are various techniques and analyses available in todays world which are advanced enough to understand the changes in the output that may be occurred due to input variations. These techniques are sensitivity analysis, simulation analysis, scenario analysis, breakeven analysis etc. The detailed discussion on such capital budgeting technique is given below: Sensitivity Analysis This technique is the most commonly used capital budgeting technique while making project planning decisions. The sensitivity analysis helps the managers to analyse the change in the project output with the changes in the key input variables (Saltelli, 2007). The basic purpose of using this approach is to examine the sensitivity of any project in terms of Net Present Value (Cao Wan, 2017). There is no inclusive list of variable input parameters but there can be factors like interest rates, useful life of asset, the fixed cost, variable cost per unit, selling price or the number of units to be sold, residual value estimations etc. that may get changed frequently over the life of project (Edmans, Jayaraman, Schneemeier, 2017). Before investing the huge amount of funds in any project plan the firm must identify the significant parameters that may undergo changes if the assumptions goes wrong. Once the key variable factors are identified the project manager must determine the percentage change in the NPV of the project if the input factors changes with a certain percentage. Sensitivity analysis is also known as what-if analysis (Baker English, 2011). This analysis has its own advantages and at the same time it has some limits which makes it unreasonable in certain situations. Following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of sensitivity analysis: Advantages: It enables the project managers to identify the key parameters which may impact the future cash flows of the project. It helps in analysing the cause and effect of variations in the input parameters thereby enabling the managers to take appropriate actions to control them and to plan the future course of actions for the uncertainties. The risk involved in the capital budgeting decisions can be analysed to a certain extent using this approach. Disadvantages: This technique does not provide managers with the firm decision rather it provides the relevant information that can be used in decision making. The assumptions that the variables are not dependent on each other is not reasonable in maximum situations. The probability consideration of occurrence of variations is lacking in the sensitivity analysis. The project managers while undertaking the sensitivity analysis bases his assumptions for the budgeting and forecasting purpose on three approaches that are optimistic pessimistic and expected. Scenario Analysis One of the most common way of analysing the risk involved in the investment to be made by the firm is the scenario analysis (Kalyebara Islam, 2014). Under this methodology the firm calculates the NPV of a project considering several scenarios. The scenarios that are considered under the scenario analysis are based on optimistic pessimistic and expected mind-sets. The analysis initiates with the consideration of base case scenario. The project NPVs are calculated using the base case scenario firstly and then the other possible scenarios are selected. There is no limit of numbers of scenarios a firm must consider while evaluating the projects effectiveness in changing situations (Erdmann Hilty, 2010). However, the three basic scenarios that are majorly considered while assessing the risk involved in any project plan (Ross, 2010). These are the worst case, best case and the normal case scenarios as the worst and the best case scenarios will give the decision makers a tentative range i n which the NPV of the project will fluctuate subject to the variations. The main purpose of conducting scenario analysis is to understand the combined impact on projects NPV of numerous factors that changes at the same time. Scenario analysis mainly involves following essential components (Suryani, 2010). First one is the selection of the important factors based on which scenarios will be established. Then to determine the number of scenario cases so as to analyse each factor that was previously selected. After determination of scenarios the firm will have to place necessary emphasis on each critical factor (Xuan Yue, 2017). Finally, the managers will have to allocate the probabilities to all the scenarios based on their significance. Even scenario analysis has its pros and cons which are discussed below: This analysis helps the managers to identify the possible situation a project may have to face in future and the potential implications and advantages of each situation. As all the possible outcomes under differing situations are analysed under this technique it gets easy for the firm to take appropriate decisions. Cons: Interpretation of the results provided by this analysis is difficult for the firm as it involves probability distribution. Moreover, it is difficult to decide as to which scenario must be given the preference. The parameters i.e. the uncertainty and impact of each scenario is extremely subjective and hence complicated enough to be measured. Scenario analysis is the extended application of sensitivity analysis. As sensitivity analysis uses variation in single input variable to determine the projects sensitivity, it gives less clear picture of risk analysis of a project. Whereas, scenario analysis takes into consideration more than one input variables to understand the implications of changes on the projects performance in profitability terms. Scenario analysis also considers the probability distributions of the key input parameters which is ignored in the sensitivity analysis (Gotze, Northcott Schuster, 2016). Break-even Analysis This analysis is used to decide how much output the company must sell to cover the overall costs of conducting the business. Breakeven analysis is commonly known as the cost volume profit analysis as it analyses the relationship between the most important elements of any business i.e. the cost, profit and the sales elements. Breakeven technique calculates the level of sales in both monetary terms as well as in units, a firm must achieve in order to cover the total costs of business so that it does not suffer any loss (Gutierrez Dalsted, n.d). Break-even point is the point where firm neither incurs any loss nor earn any income. The main tool to conduct breakeven analysis is the breakeven charts which indicates the overall relationship between the total cost total fixed cost and total variable cost and the total revenues of the business of the company. Breakeven analysis is conducted on certain assumptions which are as follows: All the business costs can be divided into categories i.e. fixed cost and variable cost. This analysis does not take into account the semi variable costs. Behaviour of costs and the revenues of the business functions in linear fashion. Methods of production, technological factors and efficiency of business remains same. Breakeven analysis expects that there does not arise any change in the level of inventory. Total fixed costs of a business are also assumed to be constant for all the levels of output in this analysis. Selling price per unit also remains same. Due to the above assumptions breakeven analysis is not relied upon by the decision makers in every business. The assumptions puts limitations on the analysis as it totally ignores the concept of semi variable costs (Tsorakidis et al., 2011). Also, it ignores factors like technologies that keeps on changing in todays era. Because of the unrealistic assumptions this technique losses it practical implementation in business. Despite of various loopholes in the methodology of breakeven analysis there are certain reasons which compels the business managers to implement this approach in their businesses to determine the appropriate level of sales it must make to cover its total costs. It is considered as a suitable approach in following circumstances: Before starting a new business, a firm may use break even analysis for the feasibility test of the business plan. For the price fixation of the products mix manufactured by the company as it will determine the desired level of revenue from sales. In the evaluation of alternatives options available with the company and the special orders that it may take besides its regular market demands. To determine the minimum level activity of business without putting it jeopardy. Breakeven analysis is also ideal for measuring the profit and the losses at different levels of output in the business. Simulation Analysis Simulation is the quantitative approach of dealing with the managerial business problems using few models like mathematical or the physical models on which process of simulation is run. This technique uses few experiments by adopting trial and error approach where a series of trials are run on the simulation model to judge the projects behaviour in terms of output. Simulation analysis does not offer an optimum solution to any business problem but it aims to provide the possible set of out for the given inputs (Choe, 2016). In finance world simulation often provides assistance in the determination of risk adjusted NPV of a project. Also, it offers distribution and allocation of projects NPV over certain factors like discounting rates (Lima et al., 2017). Monte-Carlo simulation is the most common type of simulation used in the business and is mostly used by the project managers. The distinguishing feature of this analysis is that it offers the managers with the NPVs with their probability distribution and not with the single point estimation of NPVs. This technique initiates with the mathematical modelling of the project or any managerial business process requiring solution (Tavare, 2013). This process of project modelling involves identification of the key factors that may influence the project and the interrelationships between them (Chiarella Iori, 2002). After process modelling the plotting of probability distribution of project NPVs based on the expected cash flows of project is undertaken. Once the probability is distributed to all the key variables the standard deviation is calculated to analyse the risk involved in the business. Simulation technique has some advantages and some disadvantages with it which are discussed below: Advantages: It insists the business managers to consider the uncertainties involved in the project and the inter-dependencies of various factors impacting the project growth. Gives the opportunity to the decision makers to represent the complex business problems through a mathematical model as these are complicated enough to be solved with simple set of skills. Disadvantages: Difficult project modelling process and probability distribution of external variables. Probability distribution of NPV is not accurate and hence it may be misleading the decision makers. Risk free rate is used as discounting rate in calculation of NPV of a project in simulation analysis and therefore it is difficult to interpret the results of this technique. Practical analysis of capital budgeting techniques Sensitivity analysis Sales price 10 Discounting rate 10% Units 10000 Useful life 5 VC 5 Initial investment -20000 Fixed cost 500 YEARS Cash Flows PVF@10% P.V. of Cash Flows 0 $ -20,000 1.000 $ - 20,000 1 $ 49,500.00 0.909 $ 45,000.00 2 $ 49,500.00 0.826 $ 40,909.09 3 $ 49,500.00 0.751 $ 37,190.08 NPV $ 1,03,099.17 Suppose the selling price changes from $10 to $8 Variables Sales price 8 Discounting rate 10% Units 10000 Useful life 5 VC 5 Initial investment -20000 Fixed cost 500 YEARS Cash Flows PVF@10% P.V. of Cash Flows 0 $ -20,000 1.000 $ -20,000 1 $ 29,500.00 0.909 $ 26,818.18 2 $ 29,500.00 0.826 $ 24,380.17 3 $ 29,500.00 0.751 $ 22,163.79 NPV $ 53,362.13 Suppose the variable cost per unit from $5to $4 Sales price 10 Discounting rate 10% Units 10000 Useful life 5 VC 4 Initial investment -20000 Fixed cost 500 YEARS Cash Flows PVF@10% P.V. of Cash Flows 0 $ -20,000 1.000 $ -20,000 1 $ 59,500.00 0.909 $ 54,090.91 2 $ 59,500.00 0.826 $ 49,173.55 3 $ 59,500.00 0.751 $ 44,703.23 NPV $ 1,27,967.69 From the above illustration it can be demonstrated that change in the selling price per unit has resulted in the changed NPV. Therefore, NPV is sensitive to the selling price variable. As the selling price per unit has decreased the NPV of the overall project has also decreased. And when variable cost is decreased the NPV has increased which shows that NPV is also sensitive to it. Scenario analysis Initial Investment $(100000) Life of Project 4 years Discounting Rate 10% Annual Cash Flows $20000 $30000 $40000 Probability 0.1 0.6 0.3 Years Cash Flows (.10) Cash Flows (.60) Cash Flows (.30) Total Cash Flows DCF @ 10% PV of Cash Flows 0 -10000 -60000 -30000 -100000 1 -100000 1 2000 18000 12000 32000 0.909 29088 2 2000 18000 12000 32000 0.826 26432 3 2000 18000 12000 32000 0.752 24064 4 2000 18000 12000 32000 0.683 21856 4 0 6000 6000 12000 0.683 8196 NPV 9636 The overall NPV of the project will be influenced by all the scenarios that is the worst case best case and the average case Breakeven analysis Break-even Analysis: Fixed costs Depreciation $ 50,000.00 Insurance $ 15,000.00 Rent $ 10,000.00 Utilities $ 8,000.00 Taxes $ 6,000.00 $ 89,000.00 Variable Costs Direct Labour $ 8,000.00 Direct Material $ 10,000.00 Overheads $ 12,000.00 $ 30,000.00 TOTAL COSTS $1,19,000.00 Number of units 10000 Selling Price per unit $ 15.00 Sales $ 1,50,000.00 Less: Variable Costs $ 30,000.00 Contribution $ 1,20,000.00 Contribution per unit =120000/10000 $ 12.00 Contribution Margin = 120000/150000*100 0.80 Breakeven sales in $ = Total Fixed Cost Contribution Ratio =$ 89,000.00 0.80 Breakeven Sales =$ 1,11,250.00 in units = Total Fixed Cost Contribution/unit Breakeven Units =7417 units This indicates that the firm should at least sell 7417 in order to recover the total cost involved in the business. Simulation analysis Demands Probability cumulative probability Range 10 0.1 0.1 00-09 15 0.25 0.35 10-24 25 0.2 0.55 25-54 40 0.35 0.9 55-89 50 0.1 1 90-99 random no: 48 78 9 51 77 Random No. Demand (Units) 48 25 78 40 9 10 51 25 77 40 Total Demand 140 units Conclusion It is therefore well established from the above study that the capital budgeting techniques plays vital role in long term investment decision making which involves deployment of huge funds in capital expenditures. Before undertaking a project the firm must critically analyse all the risks involved with the project. The project managers must carefully examine the probability of variations that may be occurred in future and the implications of such variations on the overall profitability of company. After studying the possible techniques of risk analysis in capital budgeting it is implied that there is no unique technique suitable for all the circumstances rather the variety of techniques are appropriate in variety of cases. As each analysis has its own benefits and limitations, the project manager has to keep in mind the projects characteristics and very nature whenever the risk is analysed using the above explained approaches. References Baker, H. and English, P., 2011.Capital Budgeting Valuation. Somerset: Wiley. Cao, X.R. and Wan, X., 2017. Sensitivity analysis of nonlinear behavior with distorted probability.Mathematical Finance,27(1), pp.115-150. Chiarella, C. and Iori, G., 2002. A simulation analysis of the microstructure of double auction markets*.Quantitative finance,2(5), pp.346-353. Choe, G. H., 2016, Stochastic Analysis for Finance with Simulations, Springer International Publishing, Switzerland. De Lima, J.D., Trentin, M.G., Oliveira, G.A., Batistus, D.R. and Setti, D., 2017. Systematic Analysis of Economic Viability with Stochastic Approach: A Proposal for Investment. InEngineering Systems and Networks(pp. 317-325). Springer, Cham. Edmans, A., Jayaraman, S. and Schneemeier, J., 2017. The source of information in prices and investment-price sensitivity.Journal of Financial Economics. Erdmann, L. and Hilty, L.M., 2010. Scenario analysis.Journal of Industrial Ecology,14(5), pp.826-843. Gotze, U., Northcott, D. and Schuster, P., 2016.INVESTMENT APPRAISAL. Springer International Publishing, Berlin. Gutierrez. P. Dalsted, N., n.d, Break-Even Method of Investment Analysis, Colorado State University, available at https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/farmmgt/03759.pdf (viewed on 15-09-2017). Kalyebara, B. and Islam, S., 2014.Corporate Governance, capital markets, and capital budgeting. Dordrecht: Physica-Verlag. Ross, S., Traylor, R., Bird, R., Westerfield, R. Jordan, B., 2010. Essentials of corporate finance, edn 2nd, McGraw-Hill Education. Saltelli, A. 2007,Sensitivity analysis in practice. Chichester: John Wwiley and Sons. Suryani, E., Chou, S.Y., Hartono, R. and Chen, C.H., 2010. Demand scenario analysis and planned capacity expansion: A system dynamics framework.Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory,18(6), pp.732-751. Tavare, N.S., 2013.Industrial crystallization: process simulation analysis and design. Springer Science Business Media. Tsorakidis, N., Papadoulos, S., Zerres, M. and Zerres, C., 2011.Break-Even Analysis. Bookboon. Xuan, Y. and Yue, Q., 2017. Scenario analysis on resource and environmental benefits of imported steel scrap for Chinas steel industry.Resources, Conservation and Recycling,120, pp.186-198

There Are Many Issues That Face Todays Teenagers. Probably One Of The

There are many issues that face today's teenagers. Probably one of the most common is the issue of individualism or identity. The teenage years harbor some of the most confusing and impressionable years in the life of any human being. There are many expectations, both individual and societal, that play a large role in the development of each teenager. Though most teenagers find their way through these difficult years as their own person, there are some who never seem to fully understand who they are. This misunderstanding can lead to many problems in hood. When a child is born they are catered for about three or four years. Once the child embarks on their first journey away from home (school) there are some changes that occur in the child. For the most part these changes are minimal, for the child still retains the nature not to care or understand the art of conforming to those around him or her. Once a child enters the pivotal time in it's life called adolescence that confident child becomes an awkward teenager. What once never crossed the mind of that child now weighs heavily on the mind of that teenager. The most important thing for a teenager is to be liked by others. The easiest way for teenagers to be liked by others, they seem to think, is to conform to what others do. So the pattern begins. Teenagers create expectations for themselves by looking at famous people or perhaps even some of their peers. Teenagers will starve themselves to be thinner, but overpriced clothing, and even aquire the same interests as others, but to what end? The instability of caused during this time in a person's life causes them to be less sure of themselves than ever before. In an effort to be liked or popular or just simply not d, teenagers ten to give up their right to think on their own. Many just do what others say. This is a dangerous habit. There are so many unspoken expectations both that teenagers set for themselves and that society sets for them. Society has set an expectation that there is a certain ideal for a or guy to base their morality, beliefs and behavior on. Though these are small parts of these expectations, these are unreasonable expectations that cause teenagers to set unrealistic expectations for them selves. The intolerance of individuality leads to pain and the mindset that different is wrong. Insecurity is a great problem for many s. The inability to find onself can lead to depression and self-desruction. Teenagers are given a very difficult job-to figure out who they are. This may very well be one of the most important decisions or discoveries that any person can make. Though society is pushing expectations in our faces, I think if teenagers base their decisions on who they want to become, they will find the best choice is to be an individual. When one knows them, they can only then truly begin to see the world around them. It seems the only war we are raging is the war against ourselves. Todays teenagers can change the world. Celebrate the differences in people.

The Communist Form of Government and why it sucks essays

The Communist Form of Government and why it sucks essays Communism is supposed to be a perfect society. It is a society without money, without a state, without property and without social classes. People work together to carry out a task or to respond to some need of the human community but without the possibility of their work taking the form of a business that involves making money or the exchange of its products. The circulation of goods is not accomplished by means of exchange. Quite the contrary, the by-word for this society is "from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs".1 Above all, it will takes control of everything. It takes control of industry and of all branches of production out of the hands of competing individuals, and instead institutes a system in which all these branches of production are operated by society as a whole. This is for the common account, according to a common plan, and with the participation of all members of society.2 It will, in other words, abolish competition and replace it with association.1 Moreover, since the management of industry by individuals implies private property, and since competition is really the way that the by private property owners control industry, it means that private property is part of competition and the personal management of industry. So, communism states that private property must be abolished and in its place must come the 1The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1848 2-Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles), by Richard Pipes. Published: Modern Library, New York, N.Y. 10171 common utilization of all production and the distribution of all goods according to common agreement. This is know as the communal ownership of goods.3 Unfortunately, the difference between businessmen and farmhands is destined to appear. The management of agriculture and industry by the same people ra ...

The Longevity of the Persian Empire

The Longevity of the Persian Empire The original Persian (or Achaemenid) empire, as established by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century B.C., only lasted approximately 200 years until the death of Darius III in 330 B.C., following his defeat by Alexander the Great. The core territories of the empire were then ruled by Macedonian dynasties, primarily the Seleucids, until the late 2nd century BC. During the early 2nd century B.C., however, the Parthians (who were not Persians but rather descended from a branch of the Scythians) set up a new kingdom in eastern Iran, originally in a breakaway province of the Seleucid empire. Over the next half-century, they gradually took over much of the rest of what had once been Persian-controlled territory, adding Media, Persia, and Babylonia to their holdings. Roman writers of the early imperial period sometimes refer to this or that emperor going to war with Persia, but this is really a poetic or archaic way of referring to the Parthian kingdom. Sassanid Dynasty The Parthians (also referred to as the Arsacid dynasty) remained in control until the early 3rd century A.D., but by that time their state was seriously weakened by in-fighting and they were overthrown by the native Persian Sassanid dynasty, who were militant Zoroastrians. According to Herodian, the Sassanids laid claim to all the territory once ruled by the Achaemenids (much of which was now in Roman hands) and, at least for propaganda purposes, decided to pretend that the 550 years since the death of Darius III had never happened! They continued to whittle away at Roman territory for the next 400 years, eventually coming to control most of the provinces once ruled by Cyrus et al. This all fell apart, however, when the Roman emperor Heraclius launched a successful counter-invasion in A.D. 623-628, which threw the Persian state into total chaos from which it never recovered. Shortly afterward, the Muslim hordes invaded and Persia lost its independence until the 16th century when the Safavid dynasty came to power. Facade of Continuity The Shahs of Iran maintained the pretense of an unbroken continuity from the days of Cyrus, and the last one holding a huge pageant in 1971 to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Persian empire, but he wasnt fooling anyone familiar with the history of the region. While the Persian Empire seems to have eclipsed all others, Persia was a great power in 400 B.C. and controlled much of the Ionian coast. We also hear of Persia much later at the time of Hadrian and, by all accounts, Rome avoided prolonged conflict with this rival power.

Social Mobility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Mobility - Essay Example Social Mobility Intergenerational mobility depends on a variety of factors. These that play a role in individual economic success and includes inheritable traits and factors related to the family and social context in which individuals develop (OECD 184). Some of the environmental factors are related to public plans while others are largely influenced by policies. For example, there are policies that control access to human capital formation. These may include public support for early childhood as well as policies that may increase or reduce economic and other barriers to accessing higher education (OECD 184). Therefore, in economic terms, intergenerational social mobility can be defined in terms of the potential to move up (or down) the income or wage scale relative to one's parents (OECD 184). In United States, different factors influence social mobility. Some of these factors have acted as a barrier to social mobility amongst many people in the society. A description of barriers to social mobilit y in American society helps in predicting future of children, point challenges, and effort that need to be undertaken to improve social mobility. One of the existing barriers to social mobility is racial differences. Racial differences in family background may result to racial differences in the accumulation of human capital (Kearney 46). Such kind of human capital is thought to relate to education attainment. This may arise in terms of parental wealth and emphasis on learning. (Kearney 46). Traditionally, different models assume that an personal achievement is based on ability. If this is the case, there should be a correspondence between black and white children. However, there appears to be cheaper labor market expectations for black children. Therefore, the black children’s choose a lower level of human capital investment (Kearney 46). Moreover, due to the constraints of getting credits, they are most likely not to associate with massive forms of investments. Therefore, i f minorities families tend to have less access to credit and wealth than other families, they are also less likely to get quality education than the white children’ of the same ability (Kearney 46). A report indicates that children from low-income families have less than one percent chance of reaching the top 5% of income distribution as compared to children of the rich with over 10% chance (Hertz 4). The other factor is labor market discrimination. This occurs as workers who are of equal productive measures are treated unequally in the economic sense (Kearney 46). This may arise in relation to gender, race, or ethnicity. In America, such type of racial discrimination still exists. This occurs through the prejudice of some members of the majority group’s against members of the minority group. Consequently, some of the group may gain promotion and thus earn more in comparison to the other group. Kearney notes, â€Å"The transmission of income level from parents to chil dren among blacks differs distinctly from among the whites† (37). He also notes that the average income is lower among blacks than whites are (Kearney 37). Consequently, the upward mobility is lower among blacks as compared to whites due to lower average income. In addition, the minority groups are also less likely to be hired based on the negative perception. This leads to such member of the minority g

American histroy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American histroy - Essay Example am had introduced a bill that was meant to (a) prohibit the Parliament from taxing the colonies, (b) offer recognition to the Congress, and (c) seek assistance from the Congress on matters pertaining to the provision of revenue to the North American defense and the reduction of the national debt (Gerstle et al. 151). In 1775, North took a step that led to the start of the war. He gave orders for troops to be sent to the Concord, terminate the arms kept there and arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The orders were executed by Gage. After sending the troops, he introduced the Conciliatory Proposition. A pledge was made by the Parliament not to tax any colony that met the cost of the imperial defense and to pay proper salaries to the royal officials. Britain was allowed to use force on any reluctant colonies (Gerstle et al. 151). North introduced the New England Restraining Act to reassure the hardliners that he was still committed to what he was doing. The act blocked the New Englanders from having any commerce between them and any other place with the exception of British West Indies and Britain. It also barred them from the Atlantic fisheries. Boston knew of the expedition as soon as the order was released and thus made careful preparations to make it known to the whole countryside. As the British troops neared Lexington Green, they found militia men ready to face them. The militia began to withdraw because they were outnumbered by the British. A shot was fired and this became the Battle of Lexington. The British opened fire without any orders and 8 people were killed and 9 injured (Gerstle et al. 155). Subsequent wars followed later on. In 1781, the Articles of Confederation was established under the leadership of Madison. It was established as a league of friendship by the 13 independent and foreign states after the Revolution. The articles according to Madison could not fulfill their purpose. The weak government at that period could not effectively work

A clockwork orange Essay Example for Free

A clockwork orange Essay By the end of the novel Alex has changed as if by clockwork, because he cannot stop himself growing up into an adult and he knows that he will become one of the bullied people as the new youth are born, and if he has kids that they will go through the same process as he did, just like clockwork and he cannot stop it from happening: and nor would I be able to stop him. And nor would he be able to stop his own son, brothers. And so it would itty on to like the end of the world. After chapter two, he said I am a clockwork orange, this is because after Lodovicos technique, he had no free will because as he could not even protect himself from fights because whatever the doctors said he would do, in this sense he has become a machine, or a clockwork toy, like childrens toys, as this novel has many references to childrens things, which have been warped, like the milk with drugs in it, and now Alex being a clockwork toy. These attempts to change him failed because he had become a mechanism of the doctors, and change was forced upon him, but the final chapter of the book shows that people change and mature naturally from within, change cannot be forced upon them. The novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has a completely different structure to that of A Clockwork orange. In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde there is the use of multiple narrators, instead of just the one. This tells us, that there was no voice for the people not in the higher class of society with the upper class only important, because all the narrators are all high-class people with well paid jobs, as seen by: Mr Utterson the lawyer this shows that Victorians had a very narrow view of society. This relates to Robert Louis Stevensons background because he was brought up in the upper middle classes of Edinburgh, he was raised as a Calvinist, in which the elect were the ones blessed by God, who turn out rich and the reprobates had a bad life, however Stevenson rebels against this and gives up law to become a writer, and he marries an already divorced woman with three children, he also by the final years of his life travels the world, this is why we only hear from Jekyll/Hyde in the last chapter, because Hyde represents rebellion , as Roberts life was very restricted, like Jekyll before he rebelled, but after he rebelled he was free like Hyde. Stevenson breaks the book apart in this way because at the time he wrote the book, society was disintegrating, as immigrants were coming to London bringing disease, religion was breaking apart because of science, crime was rising, and there was a huge division of classes, and Hyde in the novel is represented as foreign, as he is described as some damned juggernaut, which is a Indian religious statue which is carried through the streets not stopping even if people are crushed underneath it, portraying him a some sort of disease. The language of Jekyll represents that of the other narrators in the novel, because all of them are upper class men so they are expected to talk in a certain manner, as seen: But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it, this is quite a high class way of speech, and Jekyll is narrowed by this way of speech because he is high class. However in the final chapter, the language starts to change because he has to make a final decision about who to stay as, Jekyll, or Hyde, as he start to become scared, as when Jekyll starts to describe his transformation into Hyde the language becomes more fluent, fun, youthful language: Edward Hyde would pass away like a stain of breath upon a mirror However Jekylls speech was respectable, but with boundaries, and was very sharp and did not flow like Hydes. Jekyll enjoys evil in the form of Hyde, because in a way it gives Jekyll an opportunity to experience free life without having to be a lower class. He enjoys the life of Hyde more because it has no boundaries, and he feels free with it. In Jekylls normal life he is bounded by upper class rules so he has no passion, which he really wants. This resembles A Clockwork Orange, as the final chapter of A clockwork Orange, ends unhappily, because Alex has lost all his passion, and beauty, because of his changes in music: I was slooshying more like malenky romantic songs when he was small he was full of life when hearing Beethoven, and he has lost that as he has become older, his fun youth days have gone. This is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde because with Jekyll his class binds him, so he cannot be free and have wild fun, but when he is Hyde he is free and youthful: I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity, he is also younger, lighter, happier, and he gets a heady recklessness when Hyde. Stevenson is like Hyde in the sense that, Hyde is a figure of rebellion again the upper class boundaries, and Stevenson did exactly the same as he rebelled against Calvinist beliefs. He could also be seen like Jekyll, bounded because of his class, but Stevenson bounded by his illness, and all the time he wanted to break free, and finally he did, to become an individual, not held back by beliefs, or morals. This novel says that morals and classes cannot bind human nature, people have to become what they become, and there is no stopping that, because as people grow they will change, and rebel against beliefs, which they think, are wrong.

The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey :: Joy Luck Club Taste of Honey Amy Tan Essays

The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey Women’s rights is an issue of serious interest in much of today’s literature. As more women take the pen in hand more and more female characters take center stage in the stories they write. The newest term for this focus on the powerful heroine is called â€Å"Girl Power† and this strength of persona can be seen in two pieces of literature in particular. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, and A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney. In the Joy Luck Club Amy Tan write about the lives of four mother’s from China who pass their lives’ wisdom down to their daughters who are growing up on the foreign shores of California, USA. Each of these women have a story to tell about growing up in the patriarchal society of china, how they overcame the stifling environment they grew up in and how they survived and escaped to the â€Å"new world† as it were. The story of An Mei, Waverly Jong’s mother, is an excellent example of how women can take control of the situations that are forced upon them and make their lives better. In the novel An Mei is sold into a marriage at the age of four. At fifteen, on her wedding day she discovers she has been married to 13 year old boy, who no more wants to be a husband than he does a father. An Mei is forced to sleep on the floor and treated to the derisive comments and punishments of her mother in law when she fails to produce a child. However, over hearing a house servant who found herself pregnant, she devises a plan to escape her ill-fated life and out-trick her lying child-groom. She uses the superstitions of the traditional Chinese and her clever wit to win a ticket out of the loveless marriage and back to Shanghai with her family. This tale, re-told by An Mei, shows how woman, even in dire situations, can take charge of their lives and make the most of what they have. Rose Hsu Jordan is another one of Tan’s Characters that really takes charge of her life just when it seems she would be swallowed whole by a man’s world. In this present day tale, a young woman find herself married to man whose opinions she has grown to value above her own. She has forgotten how to value herself and fallen prey to the pitfall of pleasing her husband before taking care of her own needs.

Ultimate Fighting Case Study

Ultimate Fighting Championship (Case 2) The following is an environmental analysis on the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting competion, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The parent company, Zuffa, LLC, since the UFC’s purchase, has been trying to legitimize UFC as a sanctioned sport and develop its international growth. The UFC has grown exceedingly in popularity since its founding in 1997. The first section of this report will cover an overview of trends in the segments of the general environment that are external to the company: political/legal, socio-cultural and global, economical, technological, and demographics.The second section will discuss how Under the UFC fits the aspects of Porters Five Forces. The final section will show the competitive and internal analysis along with success strategies. Political/Legal Segment Mixed Martial Arts has been around since the very first Olympics in Athens, Greece. Over time its popularity grew and more people became interested in this sport. The UFC was the first MMA organization that tried to popularize this sport. The original founders of this organization choose marketing techniques that made many people to question the ethics of the sport.There were no time limits, no weight classes, no mandatory safety equipment, and very few rules. As a result, MMA was banned from the majority of U. S. states and the founders decided to sell the organization. The buyers and second owners of the UFC wanted to legitimize MMA as a sport. To do this, they asked states to regulate MMA and needed the government to create regulations and specific rules that fighters follow. Unified Rules and Other Important Regulations of Mixed Martial Arts were created. As of January 2011, MMA was regulated in almost every U. S. tate with the exception of Connecticut, Vermont, and New York. Socio-Cultural and Global Segment The socio-cultural aspect for the industry has to do with society’s attitude toward watching physical violence f or entertainment. MMA has a very loyal fan base. The UFC has done much to turn its image around and further increase viewership. They made Dana White, a former amateur boxer, trainer, and creator of the sports marketing agency, Dana White Enterprises, the face of the organization and part of the UFC brand. White’s popularity and status benefited the UFC’s image.MMA has increased its international presence with events in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany to name a few. The MMA has also established television deals to bring the matches to various locations around the world. MMA competitions can now be viewed in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, North America, and the Middle East. Economical Segment Economic factors can have both a positive and negative effect on the MMA industry. Because Mixed Martial Arts is a luxury and not a necessity, economic growth and recessions is one thing to consider.Economic growth brings more consumer spending and consu mers will be willing to spend more on tickets or PPV events. Economic recessions bring the exact opposite as consumers are willing to spend less on things that they do not need. Another thing to consider is the elasticity of demand. Since MMA events are not a necessity, consumers will not be willing to pay more when prices rise unless they are dedicated fans. Technological Segment The MMA industry depends heavily on technology for success. Television is the primary outlet for this industry.Live events are transmitted on PPV (pay-per-view) so fans who cannot physically be there can still watch it on television. Reality television shows like The Ultimate Fighter and the UFC Countdown are broadcast on Spike TV so fans can get to know the fighters outside of the Octagon. This industry also releases video games so fans can portray their favorite fighters. The UFC launched a video game called â€Å"UFC Undisputed† in 2009 and 2010 to promote upcoming PPV events. MMA organizations a nd fighters now have Twitter and Facebook accounts allowing fans to follow and be kept up to date on current news.Various amounts of MMA smart phone applications are also available in app stores. Demographic Segment The MMA industry looks to attract both males and females of any age and any ethnicity. The reasoning behind this is that everybody has a natural instinct of fighting; it is in our DNA and whether we choose to do it or not, we will always have that urge to fight. Although it is intended for everybody, men, typically between the ages of 18-34, are the main viewers and participators of MMA fights. The reasoning behind this is that males at a younger age are more risk-tolerant than males at older ages.There are very low percentages of female MMA viewers, however the females that do watch and participate in MMA are in the same age gap of 18-34. Organizations such as the UFC and Strikeforce mainly target this specific demographic as it is proven that males between those ages a re the main fans. Porter Five Forces Supplier Power (Low) The supplier power for the MMA industry is low. The main supplier within this industry is the fighters themselves. Fighters have generally low power in this industry.The main reasons for this are the lack of competition in this industry and the abundance of fighters willing to participate. Within this industry there is one dominant player and that is the UFC. This give this organization power over fighters willing to join this industry and fighters that are already in the industry. Most of the top fighters in this industry are signed to long term contracts further limiting their power. Since there are many fighters willing to join this industry the organization can take the time to pick and choose who they want.Barriers to Entry (High) The barriers to entry are surprisingly high. The main components these organizations need are fighters, a place to fight, and people who take interest in these fights. What makes this barrier t o entry high though is that the main organization in this industry is already well established. Competing against this organization is quite difficult and companies who have tried have failed. In this type of industry there is really only room for one organization such as similar professional leagues like the MLB and NBA.A new organization can very well get their name out there, but staying in the competition is hard. In order for a new organization to stay in business within this industry, the organization would have to bring something new and unique to the industry. Barriers to entry for fighters are considered high as well. Within this industry, well known fighters are already established and have contracts with existing organizations. New fighters interested to join this industry will have to go above and beyond to prove that they can compete with the top fighters.Competitive Rivalry (Degree of Rivalry) (Low) The competitive rivalry for the MMA industry is low. With the only maj or player in MMA being UFC it appears to have a monopoly on the industry. It has bought out most of its major competition such as Strikeforce, a kickboxing organization that stared in 1988, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), a MMA organization founded in 2001 focusing on smaller weight classes, and Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC), a Japanese organization founded in 1997. Threat of Substitutes (High) The threat of substitutes for the MMA industry is high.The MMA industry is a focus of the sports industry, thus there are many alternatives. Hockey, football, baseball, basketball, and soccer can all be substitutes for MMA. In particular, hockey and football are aggressive sports that sometimes break out into violence. Since MMA is also entertainment based consumers can substitute it with movies, concerts, and video games. Buyer Power (Low-Moderate) The buyer power for the MMA industry is low to moderate. Consumers have low power in the MMA industry. In this industry, consumers ty pically buy tickets or pay a PPV fee to watch a live match.Buyers do not have options when purchasing tickets because tickets are usually sold at a fixed price and are typically sold from one venue. An option for a consumer could be a scalper, but scalpers usually sell the tickets at a higher cost than the original cost making buyer power even lower. In addition, MMA events are only shown live once. Consumers do not have the option to come back and watch it live later. Other MMA events will occur throughout the year, but that particular event will never be able to be seen live again. However, buyers can gain power if an organization decides to raise prices.MMA events are not a necessity so if prices rise, average consumers are less willing to pay more for tickets or PPV events. Competitor Analysis The UFC’s major competitors were PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride FC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and Strikeforce. All three mentioned were all acquired by the UFC or Zuff a, LLC. As of late, the UFC does not have major competition in this industry. The UFC is clearly a monopolized organization and with this brings almost no competitors. Internal Analysis The UFC has had great success in the US and other foreign markets, such as Australia, and has a large fan base.With the success in Australia, Fertitta, the CEO of the UFC, has contemplated pursuing other international locales. To be successful the UFC has to find support for this type of combat based entertainment in other areas of the world. It also leads to the question, would different cultures be willing to accept the sport or would there simply be too much of a cultural gap between various audiences? Strategies of Success The UFC has already seen success internationally in many countries such as the UK, Australia, and Germany, just to name a few.The UFC should start expanding into other international areas. To do this the organization must look at the success of other sports. With China, an esta blished relationship is usually needed before any deals can be made. With the rise of the middle class and desire for Western luxuries though, the UFC has found an opening into the market. In India MMA has grown from a budding interest into a rich tradition of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. In South Korea martial arts has been popular for more than 2,000 years and it is cited as one of the most recognizable cultural aspects of the country.With the UFC gaining popularity in these unique countries, it is apparent that the UFC can and should expand into other culturally diverse countries but with some patience. Alternative Strategies The UFC could also just choose to stay in countries where they already have a large fan base. Since it already has a large fan base in countries like Australia, it is easier for the UFC to grow a larger fan base in these areas. The organization also need not worry about government regulations or forging new relationships with these governments becau se they are already established.

Resilience

Resilience No matter how old, or young you are there Is no doubt that life has had a tough and rigorous grip on you. It could have been so rough that you think that there Is no way to recover. But you seem to always recover In time. This Is the meaning of human resilience. It Is the ablllty to be knocked down by life but picked back up and become stronger by yourself. The way you become stronger Is not only based off of yourself (internal sources) but by your environment (external sources). With these sources you can become resilient to life and always become stronger!To be resilient means, â€Å"the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc. , after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. † (The Free Dictionary). This definition would be for the non-living. Just like a tree being blown in the wind it will bend all it can but as soon as the wind stops it will regain Its normal posture. This is what we humans do too! We all take pressure from life , whether it's good or bad, we will become stressed or hurt (bent like the tree). As soon as that pressure goes away we can recover to our normal being.The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when It must and survived. † (Robert Jordan, The Fires of Heaven). Just Ilke this willow tree, we must bend when life takes Its toll on us. Humans have the ablllty to recover, so we must use it often to survive life's rough times. Overall the meaning of human resilience is the ability to recover quickly when we are being bent from life's everyday pressures. Human resilience comes from internal and external sources. The external source is the environment that you are in. I say it is the environment because environments ive you more options to be able to be resilient.Here is an example. If you live in a small rundown town In Virginia, which has basically no companies or industries thriving In the area, compared to New York City. New York City is a place full of opportunities to become resilient because there Is so many companies and Industries that are growing, so you will have a much greater chance to recover from something if you would live in New York City just like Jeannette Walls. The main idea is that if you are becoming resilient it would be easier in the right environment, with he right opportunities just like in the Glass Castle.The most important source is the internal source, which is our mind and soul. Without our mind and soul we would have no self-motivation, and without self- motivation we cannot be resilient. â€Å"No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear. † (Greg Kincacid) This quote is perfect because it shows self-motivation! Without it you cannot keep plowing ahead. Everyone who Is resilient has self-motivation, Just Ilke Jeannette Walls when she was otivated to leave Vlrglnla and to move to New York.

Violence essays

Violence essays Violence is, at its core, a physical act intended to injure, damage, hurt or destroy another person. Webster's New World Dictionary also offers " great force or strength of feeling, conduct or expression; vehemence, fury" as an alternate definition. But to understand violence as a concept, one must consider more than it's simple definition. The motivations behind violence vary according to the situation, and there are different types of violence as well. The causes, perpetrators and victims of must be considered in order to fully understand violence as a concept. The causes of violence are intricately tied to the demographics of the people involved. The most common types of violence include: gangs and youth violence, violence among certain ethnic groups, and violence against women. These three categories by no means cover the gamut of violent acts, but many of the most common incidents of violence fit into one of these Gang violence depends on strength in numbers, and they typically appear in larger cities as grass-roots organizations among teenagers. The purpose and goals of gangs vary; some gangs are mainly motivated by economics: selling drugs, extorting from merchants and gambling. Other gangs are primarily protection vehicles and social organizations. Violence becomes a part of the gang under the following circumstances: "escalation of ordinary rough-and-tumble behavior, which can turn into an issue of status, competition with other gangs, labeling by others as being violent, and/or group cohesion processes which are reinforced via violent behavior" ("Gangs"). Also, gang homicides are typically attributed to fear and retaliation, and while most gang members join as teens, "the lack of economic opportunities for inner-city youth has led many gang members to continue gang membership rather than "growing out" of their gangs and ...

KURT Function for Kurtosis in Excel

KURT Function for Kurtosis in Excel Kurtosis is a descriptive statistic that is not as well known as other descriptive statistics such as the mean and standard deviation. Descriptive statistics give some sort of summary information about a data set or distribution. As the mean is a measurement of the center of a data set and the standard deviation how spread out the data set is, kurtosis is a measurement of the thickness of the fails of a distribution. The formula for kurtosis can be somewhat tedious to use, as it involves several intermediate calculations. However, statistical software greatly speeds up the process of calculating kurtosis. We will see how to calculate kurtosis with Excel. Types of Kurtosis Before seeing how to calculate kurtosis with Excel, we will examine a few key definitions. If the kurtosis of a distribution is greater than that of a normal distribution, then it has positive excess kurtosis and is said to be leptokurtic. If a distribution has kurtosis that is less than a normal distribution, then it has negative excess kurtosis and is said to be platykurtic. Sometimes the words kurtosis and excess kurtosis are used interchangeably, so be sure to know which one of these calculations you want. Kurtosis in Excel With Excel it is very straightforward to calculate kurtosis. Performing the following steps streamlines the process of using the formula displayed above.   Excels kurtosis function calculates excess kurtosis. Enter the data values into cells.In a new cell type KURT(Highlight the cells where the data are at. Or type the range of cells containing the data.Make sure to close the parentheses by typing )Then press the enter key. The value in the cell is the excess kurtosis of the data set. For smaller data sets, there is an alternate strategy that will work: In an empty cell type KURT(Enter the data values, each separated by a comma.Close the parentheses with )Press the enter key. This method is not as preferable because the data are hidden within the function, and we cannot do other calculations, such as a standard deviation or mean, with the data that we have entered. Limitations It is also important to note that Excel is limited by the amount of data that the kurtosis function, KURT, can handle. The maximum number of data values that can be used with this function is 255. Due to the fact that the function contains the quantities (n - 1), (n - 2) and (n - 3) in the denominator of a fraction, we must have a data set of at least four values in order to use this Excel function. For data sets of size 1, 2 or 3, we would have a division by zero error. We also must have a nonzero standard deviation in order to avoid a division by zero error.

Discuss the various forms or methods of obtaining public opinion data Essay

Discuss the various forms or methods of obtaining public opinion data. To what extent if any should politicians be responsive to public opinion data Should polls dictate war policy - Essay Example This has become one of the most popular methods of conducting opinion poll of burning issues and public policies. Online surveys are sent either through email or come up on surfing sites which are often answered if they are issues which are important or interesting. The huge data collected on online surveys helps generate more accurate results. In this method, people are requested to fill in questionnaire or asked questionnaires verbally while they are shopping in malls or streets. This is also quite successful as short questionnaires are answered and one gets quite large sample. House calls are made for opinion survey and questionnaires are answered at relatively relaxed environment of home. Due to increasing cost, it is no more very popular. But in important public policy issues, this method becomes more reliable. Politicians should be very responsive to the public opinion as they are representative of people and primarily represent their interest in the government. But it is also very controversial because the public opinion can also be very emotive and may be manipulated by vested interests (Foyle, 1999). But at the same time, it is also true that public opinion, when represented by large sample, is distinct in its trend and therefore must be treated seriously, especially as a reciprocal relationship that highlights democratic values. In democratic state, people’s power is centric to all decision making processes, within and outside the government, for all welfare programs and policies for the wider development issues like socio-economic issues, energy, infrastructure, healthcare etc. Very often, opinion polls become important tools that influence politicians’ stand on vital issues to win the trust of people, whom they represent or want to gain confidence of. The polls should dictate war policies because in the recent times, large public money has been diverted to