Saturday, January 25, 2020

Richard Cory, by Edwin Arlington Robinson Essay -- Richard Cory Analysi

The narrator in â€Å"Richard Cory† by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a low class working citizen telling the reader, in detail, about a distinguished gentleman named Richard Cory who eventually â€Å"put a bullet through his head.† Almost everyone, including the narrator, would stare at him with awe every time they saw him. He was â€Å"imperially slim†(4), always charismatic and well-dressed. He was extremely courteous and polite. He would please everyone’s heart with a simple â€Å"Good Morning.† Then the narrator soon explains that on â€Å"one calm summer night† he executes himself by putting a gun to his head. When I first read the poem, I thought it told the story of a young man and his riches. After about my third or fourth reading, I realized this poem is revealing that no matter how suicidal one gets, he or she should know that his or her life is not at its worse. The first two lines of the poem are â€Å"Whenever Richard Cory went down town,/We people on the pavement looked at him.† After only reading those two lines and not knowing what the poem was about, I thought Richard Cory must be someone very special. When finishing the first stanza, I thought to myself, â€Å"Who is this man and why are they so star-strucked by him?† After reading it again, I found that maybe the â€Å"people on the pavement† worked for a low salary and rarely saw anybody that looked, dressed, and conducted themselves in a pleasing manner. The bystanders are probably questioning what a man with such taste and an aristocrat would ...

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Mechanistic versus Organic Organisational Structures Essay

With this in mind, organizations turn to management to combat the budding problem, through organizing. Organizing involves the structuring of the resources of the organization in order to achieve its objectives. This structuring includes: *Dividing tasks into jobs (Adam Smith 1700’s). *Assigning jobs. *Clustering of jobs into units, departments etc. to form the shape of the organization. *Delegating authority and establishing a chain of command. However, we cannot see the management function of organizing as the sole function of the manager, in order to combat these changes (individuals and groups in organizations will inevitably contribute to organizing the organization by the way they â€Å"do† or â€Å"don’t do† activities). Organizing involves the way people impose meanings, interpret actions and make responses to things, when they cannot make sense of these things; people reinterpret them according to their own views and often try to impose them on others. Therefore, the organizational structure is strengthened, through  various means for example performance appraisal, different pay rates etc. In light of this, they are many factors to consider for organizations to design the type of structure which best suits the way they wish to achieve their goals. What design is finally agreed upon depends on a number of decisions such as: *Do we want/need to decentralize decision making. *Are they needs to deal with problems such as the effect of structure on communications; staff/line conflict especially the tension between employees and experts and line managers; centralization versus decentralization etc. This leads to the most important question, which design options should be considered, but before considering however, there are a number of variables which need to be taken into account with design options such as strategy, size, technology and the environment surrounding the organization before any decisions can be made. Although these differences between organizations or enormous, they are many similarities that enable them to be classified into models. Two of these extreme models are mechanistic and organic which was developed by Tom Burns & G M Stalker in there study of electronics firms in the United Kingdom. Mechanistic and organic management systems are at opposite ends of the range of design systems that organizations adopt, firms can move along this range from one end to the other, or occupy positions in between (boundaryless organization) depending on the nature of there work, and changing circumstances. The kinds of practices organizations choose along the range vary according to whether the environment is stable, and the technological conditions are well understood (when mechanistic management is appropriate), or whether the environment is highly unpredictable, with rapid technological change and boundless market opportunities, (when organic management is appropriate). However, my focus is on the organic design structure, organic structures have a flat or horizontal structure with only one or two levels of management where the employee’s knowledge or expertise in their area is shared in the organization. This teamwork atmosphere allows knowledge to be shared in the organization which plays an important role in the day to day running of the business. Clearly in organizations where the structure is horizontal, all employees contribute and have a share of knowledge and expertise within the organization. The insight on this was as a result of the Burns and Stalker’s study, where they provided the clearest analysis on the organic design system, they stated it had: *Work organized in a way to avoid specifying individual tasks *Communication, patterns which are: 1) Unending and detailed which are at the helm of the decision making process. 2) Completely free and informal 3) Vertical and horizontal as needed to get the job done. *An informal and constantly changing pattern of authority as roles of the organization tries to reshape itself to address new problems and tackle any unforeseen possibilities. *Responsibility of employees to the whole task confronting the organization. *Authority is invested in the employees with the appropriate knowledge, skill and expertise. This type of structure features a decentralized approach to management. Decentralization is where there is a delegation of authority to lower levels of the organization, where more emphasis is placed on employee skills and capability and the atmosphere is a more comfortable and amiable for the employees to work. However, where the actual decision making should be done by the higher levels of management depends upon the organization and the circumstances surrounding the problem that has arisen. The organic design structure also gives rise to the divisional approach where departments are grouped together to attain the specific goals of the organization whether it be a specific product or service provided by the organization. This approach is based mainly in large corporations who provide products or services for different markets or geographical locations and each department must be self sufficient. With this approach managers would not be delayed in their decision making process by the higher levels of management, the head office just acts as a support system and focuses more on strategic planning for the organization Although they are several additives which can be derived from the divisional approach there are also obstacles that can arise as well. While this approach tends to be flexible and adaptable to changes surrounding the organization, since management has the freedom in there decision making process without unnecessary consultation with higher levels of management, this freedom sometimes tends to lead to repetition of time, efforts and energies on a hopeless project. Consequently, the adoption of the organic management structure for the organization means that the old classical management techniques of job descriptions, job grading, and methods used to identify the completion of tasks will be no more. It will be where managers set broad goals, which they support by providing resources to those with the knowledge, abilities, experience and skills to achieve them. The employees become the experts while on the other hand managers become the facilitators to provide the right conditions and remove barriers which effect performance. It must be made clear, those organizations that are met with the natural uncertainty of the environment, must respond in ways to match this uncertainty, rather than trying to reduce it. This means that rather than adopting the traditional approach where management is viewed as the controlling of subordinates in the mechanistic design  which can only function effectively under a stable environment. They must  adopt the organic design structure which is not one of controlling and systemizing, but one of facilitating and nurturing of employees to produce to the best of their abilities in order to achieve the organizations goals and objectives when these changes occur. The mechanistic design is without a doubt, not the right model regardless of how many tools, steps and measures are classified for managing in this way. Clearly, when goals of the organization are unclear and the methods for achieving them uncertain, managing in the new innovative way (organic style) can only prove to be productive for the organization. BIBLIOGRAPHY Daft, R. L., Marcic, D. ( 1995 ). Understanding Management. Second Edition. The Dryden Press. Daft, R. L., Marcic, D. ( 2001 ). Understanding Management. Third Edition. Harcourt. Mintzberg, H, (1979). The Structuring of Organizations. Prentice Hall . Clearly our deeply embedded ideas (culture) about the management of activities need to include more emphasis on the building of relationships and the development of communication (organic design) rather than using the traditional approach where management is viewed as the controlling of subordinates (mechanistic design). Without a doubt this is not the right model regardless of how many tools, steps and measures are classified for managing in this way.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Social Media and Sexual Objectification of Women - 878 Words

Today, we live in a world where women are sexually objectified almost everywhere we look. Halloween used to be fun and all about candy and cute costumes when we were children, but as time goes on, adult women can feel pressured to dress up as something sexy, like a sexy bunny, a sexy doctor, or a sexy tree somehow. In the marketing world, we now see women portrayed as body parts, only having their legs shown in ads to sell the latest designer shoe or their inexplicably wet lips on a billboard to promote an upper lip wax. Even in television and in movies, women are depicted as being very sexual by their actions, dialogue, and â€Å"barely there† clothing. Because of an increase in social media, videos from YouTube are being rapidly shared between friends and amongst those videos are their favorite music videos from a popular artist. Music videos have become more and more sexually explicit and include the sexual objectification of women like the rest of our media, no matter what the genre of music is. One has to wonder whether or not this kind of exposure has an effect on men and their sexual beliefs. First, lets explore what is shown in music videos today and how women and men are presented. Music videos now show that women just don’t ever say no to sex and don’t have a preference in men. They will take whoever, whenever. On the off chance they do resist, they give in rather easily, adding to our rape culture and the belief that â€Å"no† really means â€Å"yes†. Women are also portrayedShow MoreRelatedThe Sexual Objectification Of Women1403 Words   |  6 PagesWomen have been objectified, and in many cases, insulted or degraded, for decades. It is important to note that to objectify means to â€Å"degrade to the status of a mere object† (Oxford). With the rapid increase of technology, advertising in the media, social media, and the internet, there has been a tremendous increase in the sexual objectification of women. In many aspects, digital images play a major role in the sexual objectification of women. The majority of these images consist of advertisementsRead MoreThe Effects Of Media On Women s Self Esteem1327 Words   |  6 Pagesthis paper, I will argue that the media portrays one image of beauty and this has a damaging effect on women’s mental health, resulting in low self esteem and further deepening gender inequality within our society. I will argue this by discussing the effect media has on women’s self esteem, how the media promotes a patriarchal society and the stereotypes it presents to the public. Finally, I will discuss the sexual objectification of women presented in the media and later examine how individualsRead MoreMedia Objectification of Women1389 Words   |  6 PagesMedia Objectification of Women â€Å"Dreamworlds 3† To be sociologically mindful is to look for patterns in the society, observe all sides of the social life, ask questions, and seek answers. Being sociologically mindful can lead us to looking into matters that are complex and allow us the opportunity to understand the mechanism behind the division of our society. Race and gender seems to be the most obvious divide lines for this society. While race can sometimes be overlooked in society, discriminationRead MoreMedia s Representation Of Women1197 Words   |  5 PagesMedia’s Representation of Women; Lies and Disguise Media influence causes 69 percent of girls, in one study, to state that magazine models impact their idea of the perfect body shape. This drastic affect on a young person s life creates a reality that women need to alter the way they look to be ‘perfect.’ Media also portrays women as helpless beings, needing a man by their side to complete easy tasks in which they can do on their own. There is also the aspect of strong women being sexy, and not theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Article Objectification Of Women s Media 996 Words   |  4 PagesRachel Kullick SOA 375 Media and Education March 21, 2016 Women= Objects in Ads What does a naked woman have to do in a men’s cologne advertisement? Well the adver-tisement companies think that sex sells. When women is objectified, they are being degraded of their character as a human. These days young women especially, they are being objectified to sell goods and services using their looks and not their knowledge. In the article â€Å"Objectification of Women in Entertainment Media† by Jon Barber, explainsRead MoreWomen Are Not Sexual Objects For The Sheer Pleasure Of A Man1580 Words   |  7 PagesWomen are not sexual objects for the sheer pleasure of a man. There are people in the world who say that objectification and catcalling are harmless, natural, and a compliment. In reality these acts are dangerous. There have been cases where a man, reducing a woman on the street to a sexual object, has done acts of violence against her for not reacting the way he wanted her to. When a man calls out to a woman on the street to do something, or telling her what he wants to do, he is indicating thatRead MoreAmerican Women s Experiences With Street Harassment1204 Words   |  5 Pagesheard roaring over Ke$ha filled headphones, followed by cat calls that can be heard around the world. Individuals experience street harassment daily. Street harassment is any form of unwanted verbal or physical harassment sexual in nature. This paper will discuss American women s experiences with street harassment. We’ll begin with looking at: Who street harasses? Why they street harass? And lastly, the desired effects compared to actual effects of street harassment? These questions will set upRead MoreObjectification Of Women And Women1462 Words   |  6 Pages Objectification of women works with benevolent sexism to further oppress women in the media through its effects on self-esteem and well-being. Rollero’s (2013) article â€Å"Men and women facing objectification: The effects of media models on well-being, self-esteem and ambivale nt sexism† examines media representations of men and women and how they are related to levels of sexism and psychological well-being. The literature on objectification has mostly indicated the connection between viewing objectifiedRead MoreAre Men And Blame For The Objectification Of Women?980 Words   |  4 PagesMen to Blame for the Objectification of Women? Social forces influence our daily lives regardless of our awareness to them. This understanding illustrates the sociological imagination which challenges accepted beliefs and encourages questioning certain practises. Generally, society accepts what they are told about what it means to be a female. We rarely question practises that degrade females despite the blatant diminishing of women being frowned upon. The objectification of women can not be solelyRead MoreHow I Met Your Mother Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pagesand preventing him from his â€Å"sexual conquests† by warning other women about him. In the course of this episode, the writers have created a setting in which many women of Barney’s past are shown to be insignificant through the stereotypes about women, the treatment of women as sexual objects, and the the inappropriate language used to describe these female characters. In creating a setting in which these sexist remarks are shown to be humorous, these attitu des towards women seem insignificant and trivial

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Why I Want For The People Who Will Influence My Identity...

Ever since I was little, my mom has repeated little sayings to my brothers and I. One of her favorites was, â€Å"You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.† While this research project is not headed in the direction of nose picking, as I have gotten older, this quote has caused me to reflect on the choices I have made in terms of who I am. If I do indeed hold the power to choose the people who will influence my identity the strongest, why did I not choose those who have allowed me to be authentic until now? What is authenticity? â€Å"Being authentic means something like living in accordance with one’s own unique values and ideals,† but it is greater than simply being oneself, it is â€Å"resisting the imposition of the values and ideals of others† (Pierce 441) as well. Therefore, authenticity is also neglecting to succumb to the beliefs of others to stay true to one’s own beliefs. However, this does not mean that authenticity is static, â€Å"an individual should engage in a process of constructing his personhood†¦. His task in life becomes searching for his true personhood† (381). Personhood should be a journey of finding oneself, figuring out who one is and what one believes in. The act of evolving is part of the discovery, but when â€Å"their acts are guided by other people’s ideas of who they should be† (379) it leads to inauthenticity because the change is made solely to fit in. All in all, authenticity is based heavily on tru th, because â€Å"[it]Show MoreRelatedRacial Identity And Ethnicity Identity1626 Words   |  7 Pageshow and when I realized my identity of how I saw myself and how others saw me when I was a child. I examined my identity by my gender identity, racial identity, and my ethnicity identity. I describe my earliest memory of realizing my gender identity by remembering when I realized I was a woman. I discuss how I became to learn about my racial identity and ethnicity identity by going to school with various people. I then describe how the aspects of my gender identity and racial identity did and didRead MorePlunkitt of Tammany Hall Essay842 Words   |  4 Pages14th October 2012 Media Influence the Identity and culture Over the last few decades, ever since the televisions and computers were invented, self ethnic identities have been influenced because of the progress in technology, which we commonly known as media, and whether the globe benefits from this approach or not has become a controversial issue amongst most of the people in the world. As what survey shows that a dominant group of peoples who tend to believe that identities were being ruined by spreadingRead More My Personal Identity Essay948 Words   |  4 Pages A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sportsRead MoreMy Own Social Penetration Theory985 Words   |  4 Pagespersonally, identity has always been an important aspect of my life. It is my own Social Penetration Theory in terms of the onion aspect of it – my identity has multiple layers through different stages of my life to date, it is continuously growing by the minute. There are multiple components that make up who I am, and by learning through experiences and this course I am able to get a stronger gr ip on not only identity as a whole, but also my own identity. The biggest component comes from my family valuesRead MoreA Study Of Life Span Development1466 Words   |  6 PagesHave you ever asked yourself, who am I? What makes me the individual that I am today? Well, you are not alone. Many individuals have been trying to figure out why they have certain characteristics or why they did not have those leadership or charismatic traits that they wish they could have. All these questions can be explored through the study of life-span development. Within this science, we can explore the factors that influence who you are with identity development, gender, stereotypes, ethnicityRead MoreIt Is Hard to Possess a Sense of Belonging When We Are Unsure of Our Own Identity.673 Words   |  3 Pagesin finding our identity and belonging can often be a struggle, since we ask ourselves, ‘who am I’ vs. whom do others want me to be? And where do I belong? This point in our live is subjective, because we want to feel accepted in society we de ny ourselves of what we really are. It’s hard to have a sense of belonging when we ourselves are unsure of our own identity. There comes a time where our opinions and beliefs are differentiated from those around us, during this time some people may discover whereRead MoreAn Important Aspect Of Intimate Relationships And The Human Condition? Attachment And Attachment Theory1717 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is attachment and why is it an important aspect of intimate relationships and the human condition? Attachment and attachment theory states that there is a strong affectional tie that binds a person to an intimate companion (Sigelman Rider, 2015). One of the first theorists that formulated this theory was John Bowlby. He proposed that, based on infants interactions with caregivers, infants construct expectations about relationships in the form of internal working models- cognitive representationsRead MoreMarriage Doesnt Have to End in Divorce1560 Words   |  6 PagesThe Infl uence of Others (Final Exam Part 1) As time flashed before my eyes, I have grown to love the person I have become. However, I cannot take all the credit when it comes to how I had the ability to define who I am. Specific authorities who have been directly or indirectly in my life have played a part in helping me see who I am and who I can become as time progresses. As of today, I have the confidence to say that I am ambitious, a role model, devoted, an African American woman and a familyRead MoreBeverly Daniel Tatum Ph.D. Is An Expert On Race Relations1258 Words   |  6 Pagesexpert on race relations and the development of racial identity. Tatum guides her readers through racial identity and major ideas and concepts regarding race. Throughout the book readers will better understand the racial dynamic of their everyday lives, along with suggestive actions toward a more equitable world for all. The following paragraph gives a summary of the book, breaking it down into the IV parts containing ten chapters. Part I A Definition of Terms: Chapter one ‘Defining Racism’ definesRead MoreWhy Is Identity Important?866 Words   |  4 PagesWho am I? What am I? You ask yourself these questions everyday. You ask yourself am I pretty enough? Will someone find me attractive? You start doubting yourself pretty hard. Your sense of self goes down. Where or who do you run to? Society? Friends? Family? This is where people start judging you. They judge you by the clothes you wear, by the color of your skin, and by how much money you make. Why? Because they want to make you feel bad so they can feel better about themselves. We struggle with

Monday, December 23, 2019

Bullying Vs Cyber Bullying Essay - 2021 Words

Bullying is a major problem that impacts many teens over generations, causing an endless cycle of bullying. With the new age of technology, this leads to new issues that are affecting teens’ lives. One of these issues is that cyberbullying is quickly becoming more common than the traditional playground bullying, as more social media are appealing to teens. Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that happens using electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. This form of bullying includes spreading rumours, sending mean and hurtful messages and sharing embarrassing videos or photos. Cyberbullying over social media has become extremely easy for bullies to victimize other teenagers affecting the victim’s mental health. Therefore,†¦show more content†¦The day after, Meghan had come home from school where she was handing out invitations to her fourteenth birthday party that was in a few weeks, but when she logs on to her MySpace account, she sees all the ne gative and harsh words that others are posting on her page. Her mother and father try to tell her to get offline and that everything is going to be okay, but later that night Meghan hangs herself in her closet. The last comment is from Josh tells her that everybody hates her and that the world would be a better place without her in it. Weeks later, Meghan’s parents find out that Josh is not actually Josh, that he is not even an actual person. Josh’s page is a group of moms that live in the same community. This mother was trying to see if Meghan was talking about her daughters behind their backs and thought it was a joke (TEDx). MySpace gives Meghan’s bullies the anonymity to protect them from their true identities, letting these neighbours mess with Meghan in a way that is non-imaginable. Without this protection Meghan and her parents would have known who the real Josh Evans is and could have been able to stop the bullying faster, possibly saving Meghan from tak ing her life. Facebook says that â€Å"8.7 percent of its 955 million monthly active users worldwide are actually duplicate or false accounts† (Kelly). The fake accounts hide the bullies’ true identity, giving the bully or bullies protection toShow MoreRelatedBullying Is A Massive Issue Around The World Essay1390 Words   |  6 PagesBullying essay for US 22750 Bullying is a massive issues around the world. In our communities and especially in our schools. As a community we need to understand the meaning of bullying, what is the definition of bullying? The different types of bullying, understanding exactly what action causes bullying to be defined as bullying. Understanding the concept of bullying is important to try and understand what the victims had to endure and struggle through and the consequences of being bullied. BecauseRead MoreThe Positive Effect of Social Media Essay724 Words   |  3 Pagesmedia people have argued whether it has a positive or negative effect on society. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram give people a chance to stay connected. Although, with the power of social media comes the possibility of cyber bullying. While there are some negatives associated with social media, the positives in communication all around, has made the world stronger and a better place to live in. Social networking can benefit businesses greatly. These sites allow businessesRead MoreSocial Networking Sites-Boon/Bane15517 Words   |  63 Pagesinteract directly with anyone and everyone. But more often than not, some of them bear the consequences of being too open on social networking sites and pay a heavy price. After all, its not easy being a celeb and interacting directly out there in the cyber world. Foot-in-the-mouth syndrome Who will understand this better than ex Union Minister of external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Thanks to their social networking, all the dirt from the IPL hit the ceiling. The duoRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagestheir productivity. Employers often believe they must monitor what employees are doing because employees are hired to work, not to surf the Web checking stock prices, placing bets at online casinos, or shopping for presents for family or friends. â€Å"Cyber Monday,† or the Monday 8 Chapter 1 The Dynamic Environment of HRM after Thanksgiving, as a day to do personal holiday shopping while at work may not be supported by recent sales figures, but recreational on-the-job Web surfing has been said

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The True Identity Free Essays

Culture and identity go hand in hand. Everyone has their own identity, but where does that come from? The main contributor to someone’s identity is the culture they grew up in. Cultures vary in many different ways. We will write a custom essay sample on The True Identity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Chinese is a very factual, to the point, respect your elders and family culture, while American culture is more carpe diem, freedom of speech, bigger is better mentality. So as you could imagine someone in China will grow up with a much different identity that someone in America. Someone’s true identity comes out when you’re placed in a situation that tests your culture’s view of right or wrong. Whether you go with the flow or choose to disobey is how you know one’s true identity. Take into account the story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues. † The narrator of the story, Sonny’s brother, thinks from the time Sonny’s a boy that the path Sonny has chosen is the wrong one. THis is because Sonny decides he wants to be a musician and gets into drugs, not the correct view of the culture deems correct. However, through his music Sonny shows his brother how he becomes happy and finally Sonny’s brother understands why he went through what he did. They grew up in the same housing project and culture but why did they turn out so differently? Sonny went down the path that he felt would make him happy, the music. His brother chose to go along with society and join the army, get a career, and then start a family. I feel that Sonny has found his identity long before his brother has. He knows exactly what makes him happy and he goes after that in his own way, breaking free of society and becomes his own man, with his own identity. The narrator goes through the motions and while his brother maybe going down a separate path Sonny’s alive and has found himself. His true identity comes out when he’s on stage. In America we preach the pursuit of happiness meaning to go for what you want, allowing your true identity to shine. Whether you choose to take Sonny’s route or his brother’s, now that’s where you find your identity. In Jekyll’s case, he had split personalities. Hyde was his bad side and his pure side, which everyone came to know, wasn’t what Jekyll really wanted. He wanted to let Hyde out and to do so he had to take drugs, like Sonny did. Jekyll’s surface was a proper man but his true identity was what lied beneath him and what he allowed to surface when he conjured up his potion. Letting out this carnage side made Jekyll feel alive, with no remorse of what he was doing. The aliveness he felt was the disregard of his culture and their rules, and this is where he found himself happy. The disobeying Hyde was Jekyll’s true identity and how he really wanted to feel. Have you ever one day been faced with the opportunity to break cultures rules and done it? Did you feel exhilarated? Ones identity will never change. When they figure out what the true inner person is that, whether its a naughty person or a great person is what surfaces when the person is alone or set with a straining situation. The Jekyll side is what culture wanted to see, but the true identity of Jekyll was the disobeying side of Hyde. Identity now a days in America is being more seen as your image. Identity is everything that you are composed of. Looking at one person you can think you know them, but what do you know? Your Identity is you culture, morals, family, everything that has ever come to shape you to who you are today. What do you know at first glimpse of the hispanic standing in front of you? He was adopted by two Asians when he was just a baby and now is more assimilated into the asian traditions than any hispanic traditions. In â€Å"Trying to Find Chinatown,† this is almost the exact situation. This short story was wrote to open the eyes of the reader to see that someone doesn’t have to be the person you label them as when first laid eyes on. Just because a person looks one way their identity has a much deeper meaning to them than image. Of course your identity for the most part will show up on the outer surface minutely, but who knows what caused you to walk down to the corner store to rob it, or why you jumped in front of that stranger on the bus to save his life jeopardizing your own. Your identity is what drives you to make those decisions. Your culture has a lot to do with that too. Some peoples true identity is to go with what culture deems right or wrong and others do things just in spite of their culture, but for the most part every ones identity reflects the culture they were raised in-in some form. Ones identity must be found by pushing themselves to the limit of what is known. Where they have to make their own decision based purely on the voice inside of them which tells them what to do. Your identity can mask itself to let the culture you live in accept you, but at some point if you repress that too much it could be detrimental to your health, just ask Dr. Jekyll about that one. Don’t ever judge a book by its cover because the man you see on the outside, sometimes maybe a very different person inside. People go on missions in search of their true identities, but i feel that the way to find your true identity is to look in the mirror and ask yourself, what do i base my choices off? Do i go with the flow of my culture or am i a stand alone type person. Only you can know the answer of your true identity. How to cite The True Identity, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Valuing Financial Services Firms Include Banks

Question: Discuss about the Valuing Financial Services Firms for Include Banks. Answer: Financial institutions include banks, insurance companies and investment banks. Valuing the financial institutions has always been a matter of concern as it is very difficult to estimate cash flows of a financial institution specially banks. There are various characteristics of the financial institutions which make it different from other firms in the market and because of these characteristics, the discounted cash flow valuations models are difficult to use. The four characteristics are: The treatment of debt and capital expenditure of a financial firm is very different from a other firms. Debt is not reinvested by the financial firm; rather it is used as a raw material to create products. Since debt is not reinvested, the enterprise value of the firm has no value and hence, free cash flow to firm is definitely not a good choice of valuation. The financial firms operate under strict government regulations which determine how the firms should run their business and the regulations also require the firms to set aside some part of their capital as reserves. A change in the regulatory requirement may change the value of the firm as the change increases the risk of a firm, hence again the FCFF method will render no consequences. The accounting treatment of the assets and liabilities of the financial institution is different from other firms. For a financial institution the assets are mostly in the form of bonds and secured obligations which are actively traded in the open market. Hence the assets are market at market price. Also banks look at long term profits for which short term losses are interspersed with long term gains. It is very difficult to define the capital expenditure and working capital of a financial firm which means the future cash flows cannot be calculated. The fixed assets of a financial firm is not plant and equipment like in a manufacturing set up, rather it is human capital and the brand name. The investment in the above which is required for growth is treated as operating expenses and not capital expenditure. Hence the statement of cash flows for a financial firm shows no or little capital expenditure. Since the calculation of FCFF is solely based on the future cash flows, hence it is impossible to use FCFF to value the financial institutions. Because of the above characteristics of a financial firm, FCFF is not a feasible valuation method, however, a dividend discount model is more appropriate as the dividends can be estimated and used to value the firms equity. 1b) Cost of equity and weighted average cost of capital are used as discount rates for calculating FCFE and FCFF respectively. WACC is the sum of cost of equity and cost of debt (after tax) of a company. The capital asset pricing model is used to calculate the cost of equity. The above costs are then multiplied by their respective weights in the capital structure to arrive at the WACC. WACC is the most appropriate discounting factor for FCFF as FCFF refers to the free cash flow that belongs to the debt holders and shareholders and since WACC takes both the debt and equity into consideration, it is appropriate. (Bearly, Myers, 2001) Cost of equity is the most appropriate discounting factor for FCFE since FCFE is the cash flow available to equity shareholders. A good discounting factor should account for all the risks associated with the project. Since FCFE belongs to the equity shareholders, so the risk of equity is covered in the cost of equity and hence it proves to be most appropriate discounting factor. 2a) under capital expenditure projects, net present value (NPV) is used as a tool to determine the feasibility of the project. In the given scenario, where a theme park is to be built in two years and the project will go on for a period of 10 years, the NPV of the project before tax and after tax has been calculated and on this basis, decision has been taken. The NPV and IRR values are presented below( as per the annexure): Before tax After tax NPV $75,98,702.58 ($12,05,488.89) IRR 6% -1% From the above table we see that the NPV of the project before tax is positive and NPV after tax is negative. For a project to be feasible, it is important for the NPV to be positive. NPV is the difference between the project outflows and cash inflows. There are other methods also available to assess a projects feasibility which includes IRR, payback period, discounted payback period, profitability index. However, NPV is the most effective because it uses a discount factor to discount the future cash flows to the present in order to compensate for the uncertainty of the future cash flows. According to the above results, the project should be rejected because the NPV after tax is negative. Considering NPV after tax is more appropriate as compared to NPV before tax as every company is required to pay taxes on its profits and the hence the cash flows are reduced by the applicable taxes. The NPV is affected by tax in two ways i.e. the operating cash flows are reduced by the taxes and the salvage value of the project is also affected as tax is applied on any gain or loss on sale of the project equipment. Other tax implications include tax on non cash expenses like depreciation and amortization which are not included in cash flow but are tax deductible, hence after taking tax into consideration, the net operating cash flow is calculated. 2b.) Assuming that the friendly investor induces another $10 million into the project after year 10 which increases the project life by another 10 years, the new NPV of the project after tax is ($11,25563.97). Even after further cash inflow, the NPV of the project is still negative which means the project is not feasible and should be rejected. Hence, it is not worthwhile to extend the project from 10 years to 20 years. References Damodaran, A., (2009), Valuing Financial Services Firms, accessed online on 25th July, 2016, available at https://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/pdfiles/papers/finfirm09.pdf Deev, O., (2011), Methods of Bank Valuation: A Critical Overview, Financial Assets and Investing, Masaryk University Bearley, Myers, (2001), Principles of Corporate Finance, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill. Jennergren, P., (2011), A Tutorial on the Discounted Cash Flow Model for Valuation of Companies, SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration No. 1998:1