Comparing Ursula K. LeGuin’s Forgiveness Day and Nicola Griffith’s Ammo

Comparing Ursula K. LeGuin’s Forgiveness Day and Nicola Griffith’s Ammonite   Ã‚  Ã‚   In Ammonite, Nicola Griffith tells the story of one woman’s encounter with and assimilation into the culture of an alien world.   Ursula K. LeGuin’s â€Å"Forgiveness Day† similarly recounts one woman’s experiences as she confronts an alien culture.   In both cases, these women, Solly in â€Å"Forgiveness Day† and Marghe in Ammonite, learn about themselves as their position shifts away from that of an outsider and they find their place in society.   Although there are similarities in the characters’ backgrounds, their journeys, and their quest for belonging, there are fundamental differences in the process the characters go through in order to find a place where they belong.   Specifically,   LeGuin and Griffith mirror one another in describing the causal relationship between accepting oneself and participating in a romantic partner relationship.   This difference is telling as it reflects the differing attitudes towa rds the role of romantic partnerships in one’s growth process as well as in society as a whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚   As these stories begin, both Marghe and Solly are striking in their lack of attachments to the outside world.   Moreover, they confident in their professional abilities and proud of their independence.   In their freedom, both are spiritual orphans.   Marghe’s mother is dead and she is not in contact with her father.   In addition, she has no real friends and is distrustful of her colleagues on Jeep.   Solly is also an orphan in a very real sense; she has spent most of her life in space, and the technical restrictions of travel mean that as she traveled she would skip â€Å"another half millennium in the process† (LeGuin 47).   Her parents, as well as anyone ... ...serve â€Å"with great distinction as a Stabile† (123).   Solly finds places to belong, and Teyeo finds he belongs at her side.   Marghe is only able to find a place and fall in love after she has truly come to know and understand herself.   She joins a family, helps to support it, and learns to belong.   Romantic love, instead of making her belong, becomes possible only after Marghe has taken significant steps towards finding her place rn the world.   Nonetheless, in both cases, the authors demonstrate their characters’ need for true human contact and companionship and their own belief that such contact is an important part of life.   To become whole, the outsider must come in.    Works Cited Griffith, Nicola.   Ammonite.   Toronto: Ballantine Books, 1992. LeGuin, Ursula K.   â€Å"Forgiveness Day.†Ã‚   Four Ways to Forgiveness.   New York: HarperPaperbacks, 1995.   Pp. 47-124.

The O.J. Simpson Trial Essays -- Simpson Trial Murder Case Essays

The O.J. Simpson Trial On June 12,1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered. Their bodies were discovered outside Nicole Simpson's condominium. Nicole Simpson was the estranged wife of the famous football player and T.V. star O.J. Simpson. The people directly involved with this case are Judge Lance Ito, the prosecution lawyers, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the defense lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro and Robert Blasier , the jury and the defendant, O.J. Simpson. The families of the victims have also been present in the courtroom, as well as other spectators and news media. This case has heard one hundred and twenty witnesses over a nine month period. The prosecution's physical evidence includes a bloody glove, bloody socks, hair, and fibres and a trail of blood drops connecting the crime scene and O.J.'s estate. Defence lawyers say this physical evidence means nothing because it was either purposely tainted or contaminated. Kenneth Berris testified that two laundry bags are still missing from Simpson's Chicago hotel room. The bloody clothes and murder weapon have never been found. The prosecution says DNA tests place Simpson's genetic markers on the drops of blood leading away from the bodies. There were also blood samples, similar to Simpson's and the victims, found on O.J.'s Bronco truck. Simpson's blood was also found on his driveway and his foyer. The prosecution says Simpson cut his hand during the murder. The defence says Simpson cut his hand when he reached for his phone in his Bronco and later cut his hand on a glass. The main focus of the defence is the contamination of physical evidence. Roger Martz testified, for the prosecution, that the blood he tested contained no significant amounts of EDTA. He said the blood found at the crime scene didn't come from a test tube with special preservatives used at a crime lab. Defence lawyer Robert Blazier filed papers stating that Roger Martz has a habit and custom of changing F.B.I. reports, removing helpful defense information and has falsely testified in a number of cases. Microbiologist, John Gerdes, testified that he found sloppiness so serious at the LAPD lab that it could have allowed foreign DNA to be introduced into evidence samples. He showed pictures of the lab where test tubes were touching each other which could cause the contamination. Gerdes also... ...s claimed " I did not, could not and would not have committed this crime." My opinion about this case is that O.J. Simpson is guilty. The defence tries to say there was all this conspiracy to frame O.J. but I don't think they proved any of this happened. The defence said Furhman was a racist but this does not prove that Simpson didn't commit the crime. They say the blood samples were contaminated but I don't think every single one was. The prosecution proved he was an abuser and I think something finally snapped inside him and he killed Nicole and Goldman. The gloves the killer wore were the same type O.J. wears. When they say O.J. tried on the gloves and they didn't fit I think he tightened his hand up so the gloves would be hard to put on. The shoeprints at the crime scene were the same style and size he wears. Bloody clothes or a murder weapon have never been found but neither has the missing laundry bags from O.J.'s hotel room. I have to wonder why O.J. lead the police on a big chase if he is so darn innocent. My opinion is that O.J. Simpson would have been found guilty a long time ago if it wasn't for all the publicity surrounding the case and the fact that he's famous.

Sex Discrimination Is Non-Existentin the Workplace in Hong Kong

Introduction: Hong Kong, known as†Pearl of the Orient† which enjoys the freedom of speech, the freedom of economy and the finest legal system. However, discrimination is everywhere. It is because people are not equally. It would always be inequality among people referring to physical and mental processes. Of course the two sexes are not equal, so that sex discrimination is always an issue in a society, especially in workplace. Background:It is a matter of fact that a employer will base on their education background, belief, own interest and preference to hire the staffs and even for the promotion, benefits, bonus. And women have the traditionally and historically been subjected to legal discrimination form their gender. Some of this mind set still on cultural stereotypes that treats women primarity in the roles of wives and mothers. Futher women have been bench-marked as the â€Å"weaker sex† than male which might need protection from the third party.Such beliefs w ere used in the job market, both in public and private sector. The situation In the past practice of government, for example, Anson Chan(Post Chief Secretary for Administration) had employed with a lower salary than male civil servant in the same position. It is because she is not a man and did not count on her ability to work. The other example is Bank of China group did not ever have a female as a CEO position which also is another kind of in-direct sex discrimination. Form Hong Kong already had Sex Discrimination Ordinance which passed in 1995.Discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status and pregnancy and sexual harassment are make to unlawful under this legal law. According to SDO which both is protecting of men and women. However, There is a law does not mean that sex discrimination is non-extistent. Employers still can get full control of the employment because they will not disclose the truth to the candidates due to the gender issue, like the secretary post is always a woman. In fact, the other kind of in-direct discrimination because some think woman will soon leave the osition to a house-wives or woman will get pregnancy, so that some of employers are not willing to promote a female as a top management to save the parental leave. The other common Sex discrimination is sexual harassment in workplace. Sexual harassment  is  intimidation,  bullying  or  coercion  of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Surely sexual harassment is illegal. Harassment can include â€Å"sexual harassment† or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.In many listed companies, most of staffs are male and always claim that woman is even cheap or criticize woman who is not wise enough.. In my workplace often would happen such issue. I have heard my boss said† Secretary should be a virgin† and I will make a promotion or raise salary only base on her appearance and good shape of body. This is a sexual harassment cannot easily valid. The other example is a Legislative  Councillor Mr Kam Nai Wai was suspected sexual harassment to a female assistant and also had fired her eventually. And this case even cannot make a charge at first stage.So that a lot of things cannot be protected by law. Limitations Sex discrimination not only will affect the economic growth but also will harm the organization image. First, human capital is a key source of a company if cannot let the capable people to the right position that would decrease the human capital. Corporate image also is another huge resource that goodwill can make the brand name growth. It is remind that enterprises do not under-estimate the consequence of sex discrimination because once involves on a lawsuit can be a huge loss.Recommendation Sex discrimination should be a key issue of an organization and should imply to all work force to ob ey. Many of organizations can gain form avoiding sex discrimination, like some international business, HSBC, Cheung Kong Holdings Limited It will definitely increase the productively and should put a effort like training program and re-enforcement on daily operation. Information form Hong Kong Labour department, there is still uneven distribution on job nature and income of male and female in 2010 as below: Leading Occupations for Women, in 2010 | |Occupation |Total Employed (Men and Women)|Percent Women |Ratio of Women's Earnings to Men's | | | | |Earnings | |source:  HK. Labor department, Women's Bureau, 20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women, 2010 | |Managers and administrators |8,018 |31. 0 |65. | |Secretaries |2,404 |98. 9 |N. A. | |Cashiers |2,974 |77. 9 |89. 4 | |Registered nurses |2,162 |93. 1 |88. 9 | |Sales supervisors and proprietors |4,836 |43. 3 |71. 5 | |Nursing aides, orderlies, and |2,081 |91. |90. 1 | |attendants | | | | |Elementary school teachers |2,216 |82. 5 |94. 9 | |Bookkeepers, accounting and auditing |1,621 |932 |93. 7 | |clerks | | | | ConclusionAlthough there is a big improvement in female employment, some of industries still focus in male or female work force only. Towards to Twenty-one century, there should be more and more equal job opportunities to both gender and also need to decrease the chance of sex harassment. Finally, people in Hong Kong will gain form the revolution. Bibliography Why market don’t stop discrimination by Cass R Sunstein HK Labour department information 2010 by GOVHK Sex discrimination ordinance by Equal Opportunities Commission Sex harassment by Wikipedia Total word(1050 words)

The Holy Quran

The Holy Quran is divided into 30 parts, each one is called â€Å"Seepara†. It has 114 sections or chapters which are called â€Å"Surahs†. Each Chapter of unequal length, consists of individual â€Å"Ayat† or verses. These verses are not decided by human beings, but dictated by God. There are in total 6,666 verses in the Holy Quran. Surah al Baqarah (Ch.2 ) is the longest Chapter comprising 287 verses while Surah al Kauthar( Ch. 108) is the shortest with only four verses including the tasmia. Out of the 114 Surahs, 85 Surahs were revealed in Mecca while 29 Surahs were revealed in Madinah.? Introduction of Surah Al Fatiha: Surah al-Fatiha is the first chapter of the Quran. The word â€Å"Fatiha† comes from the verb â€Å"Fataha† which means â€Å"to open†. â€Å"Al† is a defined article and Fatiha means the opening Surah.It consists of 7 verses, 29 words and 139 letters. It belongs to Juz? 1.There are various names of Surah Al Fatiha such as Umm al-Qur'an, the Mother of the Qur'an, and Umm al-Kitab, the Mother of the Book because the meaning of the entire Qur'an is summarised therein. It is also named Sab'ulMathani, (the Seven Often Repeated Verses), Al-Hamd, (the Praise), Al-Shifa (The Cure) and ArRuqya, the Spiritual Cure. Its recitation is a condition for the effectiveness of the prayer.It is mecci surah and It was initially the 5th chapter to be disclosed but after Furqan e Hameed was assembled together, it was put at the beginning. Al-Fatiha itself means â€Å"The Opening† as this chapter comes right at the start of the Holy Book and serves as a Gateway to read Quran Majeed further. Theme of Surah: The Surah is prayer to Almighty Allah for guidance from bad deeds and to guide us to the straight path, the path of authentic and true muslims which only Allah can grant us. Allah is the most magnificent and bountiful He alone should be asked for help and He has bestowed countless favours on His creation. He is supreme justice and everybody will have to answer Him of their every good or bad deed on the Day of Judgment. Supplication is the core to worship and The Holy Quran encourages the believers for petitioning. â€Å"And your Lord said, Invoke me, I will respond to your supplications. Allah always protect His creation from going on the path of evils.? Virtues of Surah Al Fatiha: †¢ It is a Pillar of Salah;This Surah is very important because without its recitation of prayers become invalid. †¢ The greatness of this Surah is described in the following Hadith;†Do you want me to teach you a Surah the like of which has not been revealed in the Torah, the Injeel, the Zabur, nor the Quran?†, and also asked what He recited in His prayers. He replied Umm-ul-Quran (Surah Fatiha) the Prophet (PBUH) proclaimed, ‘By Him in Whose dominion my soul is, nothing like it has been revealed in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, or the Quran and it is seven of the oft-repeated verses in the Mighty Quran which I have been given.† (Tirmidhi) †¢ It is Cure of diseases and cure for Heart;†You (Oh Allah) we worship and from you do we seek help†. (Ibn Qayim). †¢ Hazrat Abu Saeed al-Khudri narrates;†While on a journey we halted at a place. A girl came to us and said: â€Å"The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present, is there anybody amongst you who can recite something upon him to treat him?† Then, one of our men went along with her although we did not think that he knew any such treatment. However, our friend went to the chief and recited something upon him and the chief was cured. Thereupon, the chief gave him thirty sheep and gave us all milk to drink. When he returned, we asked our friend: â€Å"Did you know anything to recite upon him to cure him?† He said: â€Å"No, I only recited Umm al-Kitab (i.e. Surah al-Fatiha) upon him.† We said that do not do anything until we reach Madinah and ask the Prophet regarding this (practice and rewardwhether the sheep were lawful or not for us). Upon reaching Madinah, we narrated this to the Prophet (PBUH), whereupon he remarked: â€Å"How did he come to know that Al-Fatiha can be used as a cure? (PBUH) Distribute your reward amongst yourselves and a lot a share for me as well†.† (Sahih Bukhari).†¢ Light sent from heaven;An Angel addressed the Prophet (SAW) saying,†Rejoice in two lights brought to you which have not been brought to any prophet before you, Al-Fatiha and the last verses of Al- Baqarah†. Ibn ‘Abbas narrated:†While Jibril was with the Messenger of Allah, he heard a noise from above. Jibril lifted his sight to the sky and said: â€Å"This is a door in the Heavens being opened, and it has never been opened before now.† An Angel descended from that door and came to the Prophet and said: â€Å"Receive the glad tidings of two lights that you have been given, which no other Prophet before you was given: the Opening of the Book (Al Fatiha) and the last verses of ‘al-Baqarah. ‘ You will not read a letter of them except that you will gain its benefit.† (Sahih Muslim).B. Tafseer of Surah Al Fatiha The Verses of the Surah areâ€Å"In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"(All) praise is (only) Allah's, the Lord of the Worlds.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Beneficent, The Merciful.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Master of the Day of Judgement.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Thee (alone) do we worship and of Thee (only) do we seek help.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Guide us (O' Lord) on the Straight Path.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy bounties, not (the path) of those inflicted with Thy wrath, nor (of those) gone astray.â€Å"In The Name Of ALLAH:The first ayah of Surah Fatiha is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful. (Al-Fatiha: 1) This phrase is known as the bismillah. It is good to recite it before doing any action. The meaning of letter Baa:The Baa in the Arabic language can have three different meanings:With – With / In th e name of AllahSeeking help – Seeking help of the name of AllahSeeking blessing – Seeking blessing with the name of AllahThe meaning of Al Rehman and Al Raheem:Both these names are derived from the same root letters: raa, haa, meem; which means to have mercy. They are thus similar in meaning and both are connected to Allah's (SWT) Mercy.The fact that Allah (SWT) mentions two of His Names which have to do with Mercy, rather than Might and Power or so on, shows just how important this Attribute is. The difference between al-Rahman and al-Raheem is that al-Rahman refers to Allah's (SWT) Mercy to all of creation. It is His Mercy which is extended to both believers and disbelievers; animals, and everything that exists. He says in the Qur'an: My Mercy encompasses all things. (Al-A'raf: 156) Al-Rahman therefore indicates the extreme vastness of Allah's (SWT) Mercy. It is mentioned in a hadith that Allah (SWT) divided Mercy into 100 parts and sent down only one part to this dunya. It is from this one part of His Mercy that animals show mercy to their offspring (Sahih Muslim).Al-Raheem refers to Allah's (SWT) Mercy which is specific for the believers. He says in the Qur'an: And He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. (al-Ahzab: 43) al-Raheem therefore indicates the doing of an action.All praise is due to ALLAH:The second ayah is: All praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (Al-Fatiha: 2) The Meaning of Hamd and the Difference between Hamd and Shukr Hamd means praise and also thankfulness. The scholars differed as to the relation between the words hamd and shukr. Some said that they both have the same meaning. So, the meaning of hamd, in their view, is the same as shukr (thankfulness, gratitude). Hamd is something which must be done with love and reverence, but shukr does not need this. Shukr is done in response to a favour which is done to a person but hamd is done simply because the one being praised and thanked is worthy of that.The meaning of Rabb:Rabb is usually translated as Lord but it is much more encompassing than that. It also includes the meaning of Nurturer, Sustainer, Cherisher and so on. The Rabb is the creator, king, master and the one who controls everything. It comes from the root letters raa, baa, baa: which means to have mastery and control over something.The Beneficent and Most Merciful:The explanation of these two names has already been given. Why then is it repeated? This is to once again emphasis the importance of the quality of mercy. Also, when something is repeated in the Qur'an, then you should look at the ayah before it and after it, to see how they are related. In this case, the previous ayah mentioned that Allah (SWT) is the Rabb of all the worlds. So, His repeating the words, al-Rahman al-Raheem after that, shows us that His being the Rabb – His taking of and sustaining and providing for us – is all part of His Mercy towards us. Master of Day of Judgement:God is the Lord of the Day when all generations of mankind gather together on order to render an account of their conduct, and when each person will be finally rewarded or punished for his deeds. The description of God as Lord of the Day of Judgement following the mention of his benevolence and compassion indicates that we ought to remember another aspect of God as well-namely, that He will judge us all, that He is so absolutely powerful, that on the Day of Judgement no one will have the power either to resist the enforcement of punishments that He decrees or to prevent anyone from receiving the rewards that He decides to confer. Hence, we ought not only to love Him for nourishing and sustaining us and for His compassion and mercy towards us, but should also hold Him in awe because of His justice, and should not forget that our ultimate happiness or misery rests completely with Him.Guides us on the Straight path:This ayah is a dua which we make to Allah (SWT). We ask Him to show us the Straight Path and to guide us on it, so that we will get His Guidance which draws us closer and nearer to Him. We need to struggle towards Allah (SWT) by doing good deeds and by staying away from all bad deeds which will distance us from Him.The meaning of Siraat and mustaqeem:Siraat is a road or path. The conditions are that it must be straight. It must reach the goal and it must be the shortest route to get there. It must also be wide and spacious enough for everyone who wants to travel it.Mustaqeem is derived from istaqaama, which means to be straight, upright, correct. We already said that for a road to be a sirat it must be straight, so this adjective of mustaqeem again emphasis the straightness of this Path. Another meaning of mustaqeem is to remain firm or to stand firm without tilting. For example, a tree that is firmly grounded when the wind blows it is not affected by it. So, the Straight Path is a path on which people are firmly grounded.The Path of Those:The path of those you have blessed, not of those with anger on them, nor of those who are astray. (Al-Fatiha: 7) Who are the people who have been blessed by Allah (SWT) and whose Path we ask to guide to? This is explained by Allah (SWT) in another ayah where He says: Whosoever obeys Allah, and the Messenger, they are with those whom Allah has favored, the Prophets, the sincere, the martyrs and the righteous, and these are the best company. (Al-Nisa': 69) So, the favored and blessed people are the Prophets, the righteous, the martyrs and the pious. And who are the people with anger on them and those who are astray? This is explained by the Prophet. ‘Adi ibn Hatim (RA) asked him about those with anger on them and he replied that it refers to the Jews. He then asked him about those who are astray and he replied that it refers to the Christians. This is reported by al-Tirmidhi and is authentic.C. Impact of Surah Al-Fatiha on the life of a Muslim as servant of Allah.We start all our deeds with the name of Allah Almighty. Since he is the most merciful and beneficent.We should ask Allah Almighty for his mercy and benefits.So a believer becomes solely dependent of Allah Almighty and does not seek help or refuge from anybody else.We should praise Allah Almighty for he is our creator and of the universe. So a believer praises Allah Almighty since he is the creator of everything.Since Allah Almighty is the master of the Day of Judgment so a believer asks Allah Almighty for forgiveness.A Believer asks Allah Almighty to put him on the path of pious people and help be among the ones who were rewarded and not the ones who went astray.

Eagle Airlines

[pic] Eagle Airlines Business Decisions with Data Models Assignment on Risk Analysis Team Members: Sfykti Dimitra Goumas Evangelos Manikas Athanasios Papaspirou Yiannis As assigned by Mr. Hadjistelios, President of Eagle Airlines, a simulation analysis is developed in order to evaluate company’s intention to proceed with the purchase of a new aircraft. According to the President’s estimations, the uncertain parameters which affect the annual cash flow are the below; 1. Hours flown 2. Charter Price/Hour 3. Ticket Price/Hour 4. Capacity of Scheduled flights 5. Ratio of charter flights 6.Operating Cost/hour The main assumption to work upon the scenarios is that the numbers generated for the different variables remain the same across the years. Initially, a base scenario is built and a profit-and-loss account for a typical year of operation is derived using the most likely values of the different parameters. Upon construction of the base scenario, the optimistic and pessimi stic scenarios are also formulated in accordance to the assumptions by the President in respect to possible variations to higher and lower values than the most likely ones used for the base scenario.For all three scenarios, the demand/cash flow is calculated revealing a wide range of values (from â‚ ¬273. 180 to -â‚ ¬39. 040) among the 3 possible cash flows. In addition, the one-way sensitivity analysis conducted for all six uncertain parameters demonstrate the impact of each parameter on annual cash flow and by the designation of a scatter plot, we can identify to what range of values every uncertain parameter affects the demand. Upon that, a Tornado diagram is plotted in order to visually demonstrate the range of impact of each parameter.According to the diagram, ticket prices/hour and capacity of Scheduled flights seem to be the two important parameters that most influence the annual cash flow, whereas the ratio of charted flights and operating cost/hour are the ones affect the least. Following this determination, a two-way sensitivity analysis is implemented and the outputs shown in a 3D plot illustrate a one-level relationship between the variables. By assuming that the probability distributions are the ones assessed by Mr. Hadjistelios, a test scenario is run using the @RISK add-in with 50. 00 iterations and the results’ interpretation is described below. Interpretation of results The basic data and the main decision factors to be taken into consideration by the President are raised below in order to provide substantial argumentation for the final business decision. ? According to the given data, the annual cash flow of the base scenario is â‚ ¬46. 184, less than the breakeven point by â‚ ¬7. 513. Therefore, in case the base scenario will actually happen, the company will need more than a 5-year lifetime in order to pay out the investment of the new aero plane. In the optimistic scenario, the annual cash flow is â‚ ¬273. 180 and the difference from the breakeven point is â‚ ¬219. 483. According to this scenario, the investment is highly profitable and will be paid off by the end of the first year while a number of approximately â‚ ¬93. 180 profits will be generated. ? In the pessimistic scenario, the annual cash flow is – â‚ ¬39. 040 and the difference from the breakeven point is â‚ ¬92. 737. , which is a bad scenario but at the same time quite unlikely to happen. According to @RISK analysis, as illustrated in the figure below, some important observations are derived; [pic] The probability that the investment will be profitable within a 5-year lifetime is 73. 4%, meaning that the annual cash flow will be greater than the breakeven point of â‚ ¬53. 697. ? The probability the annual cash flow to be less than the breakeven point is 26. 6%, as presented in the graph above. ? However, it is important to refer that the same probability (26. 6%) applies for the company to generate cash over ↚ ¬96. 511. The above implies the fact that if in one year the cash flow is below breakeven point, this under the same probability can be offset by another year’s revenues. [pic] According to the normal probability distribution, the expected value (mean) is approximately â‚ ¬77. 342 that actually is translated into a â‚ ¬23. 645 return on investment. ? A probability over 50% that the company will generate cash flow of at least â‚ ¬74. 467 (median) which represents the 40% of the aeroplane current value. ? However, another important statistical parameter to be taken into account is the standard deviation of â‚ ¬35. 257 that describes a quite wide dispersion/variability of the probability distribution. ? If we do not take into consideration the discount rate of 15%, then the breakeven point will be 36. 00 (180. 000/5) and the probability of the investment to be profitable is 89%. ? In case the company self-funds the purchase out of the cash surplus of the company, t he investment seems to be less risky since potential deviation from the breakeven point does not imply financial obligations to third parties, such as banks (loans and interest rates). [pic] ? The probability that the investment will be paid off already by the end of the first year is 0. 7% while the probability that the company will generate negative values by the end of the first year is 0. % which seems a quite extreme case, with a smallest value of -â‚ ¬22. 642. [pic] ? However, it should be considered that the company operates a number of business parts and it is being taxed for the total activities as a whole, thus with a tax rate of 33% the actual loss will be â‚ ¬22. 642 * 0. 67 =â‚ ¬15. 170, with the assumption that the company is profitable overall. Another important factor to consider is the operations’ expansions by 33% with the purchase of one additional aircraft to the current equipment of the three twin – engine aircrafts which provide charter f lights and scheduled commuter services.The company may redefine the strategy and decide to add new destinations in the services, currently limited to south Balkans, so as under the promising prospects analysed above, to further strengthen the company’s brand name and grow the Share of Market (SoM). The above can be well justified considering both cases of charter and scheduled flights. On the one hand, in respect to charter flights the company seems to have already identified available ground to grow by further building on the level of service.On the other hand, the scheduled flights, currently holding a percentage of 60%, represent the variable that mostly affects the cash flow, according to Tornado diagram. This in combination with the fact that the company â€Å"had slightly more control over the ticket price per/hour of scheduled flights† demonstrates a high future development potential with a thorough strategy. The critical service category in the context of the n ew investment risk analysis for Eagle airlines to analyze is Scheduled flights.Ticket prices/hour and capacity of Scheduled flights, the two most important and correlated variables, should be in depth evaluated according to the most likely possible estimations. For example, according to the data given, the variability for the price per ticket is greater in the higher values than the lowest ones. However, the actual price per ticket is highly correlated to the capacity/utilization rate and the flight hours. The base scenario argues for good prospects, but a deeper analysis could identify opportunities that Eagle airlines should closely monitor and evaluate in order to maximize its profits.It is important also to refer that according to the estimations, there is no high variability of the operating costs compared to the expected value of â‚ ¬445/hour (only â‚ ¬15 in either direction). Some important facts are given also throughout the case providing additional argumentation over the purchase; Piper Chieftain has been maintained according to the legislations and regulatory environment, is in a good condition and the expected normal use is 5 years with possibilities for more, contains the necessary navigation and communication equipment, and insurance has been included in the fixed costs.The above, in case were unknown, would be important cost factors to analyze and include in the risk analysis assessment. The above analysis argues the business decision to proceed with the investment in the Piper Chieftain, having calculating and evaluating the risks involved while recognising the opportunities.

Peculiarities of Movies' Promotion as Intangible Products Assignment

Peculiarities of Movies' Promotion as Intangible Products - Assignment Example Movies are deemed intangible or experiential because they appeal both to the senses and the emotions. Movies, unlike tangible products such as toothpaste, have experiential attributes like â€Å"the original movie’s storyline, its genre, and memorable scenes. These attributes are typically featured in movie trailers and television ads; hence, they should be relatively easy to recall. In contrast to physical goods, we suggest that experiential attributes such as the storyline and genre tend to satiate such that consumers prefer to experience something different in the sequel; hence, dissimilarity is preferred to similarity†   (Sanjay Sood). There are three studies completed in the research article to examine four hypotheses. If you were planning the marketing strategy of a sequel, which hypothesis would be the most interesting to you? Which study? Why? The most interesting fact for someone planning a marketing strategy is Hypothesis 2: There will be an interaction between naming strategy and order of presentation in sequel evaluations. Numbered extensions will be rated more favorably when the title is presented after the description that when the title is presented before the description. There will be no significant difference in sequel evaluations when a naming strategy is used. This hypothesis is highly confirmed by Study 2. The study has the following findings: The pattern of interactions between presentation order and naming strategy suggests that numbered-sequel evaluations involved a greater degree of assimilation, indicating a greater reliance on the original movie as a basis for evaluations. When the numbered title was shown after the sequel description, respondents took longer to evaluate the sequels, they recalled more about the sequels, and they evaluated the numbered sequels more favorably. On the other hand, Consistent with a more piecemeal processing strategy, named sequels took longer to evaluate, and recall of sequel information was higher relative to a numbered sequel   (Sanjay Sood).

Asia In The World Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asia In The World Economy - Research Paper Example During the late 2008, Yen began to appreciate sharply against dollar and was valued at 86.15 yen in 2009. At the end of 2010, the yen was rated at 88.66 yen. (Source: World Data Bank) The real effective exchange rate as seen from the graph has remained volatile between 1980s and 1990s. During the era of 2000 and forward, the value of yen has declined. It has been going down from the price of 120 dropping to 80. After the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the yen is seen to gain value and is rising till date. Japan’s real exchange rate has appreciated over the years due to the rapid increase in the high-productive manufacturing sector. Trends in Japanese Exports – in terms of value and composition (Source: World Data Bank) The exports in terms of value are an important element in the present Japanese economic adjustment. The structure of exports as well as imports has changed considerably over the years. The above graph shows the trends in exports value since 1980 till date . There has been a constant growth in exports since 1980s till 2000 with minor fluctuations in between. These exports can be attributed to the increase in IT-related goods, consumer goods and US been the largest trading partner. (Source: Statistical Handbook of Japan, 2010) According to the composition of exports, the leading export commodity was transport equipment which is 22% of the total exported value. It is followed by electrical machinery constituting 20% and general machinery 17.8% of total value exported. Another interesting characteristic of Japanese export is the increased proportion of high-value added products such as integrated circuits and steel which are increasing in total Japanese exports. Relationship between exchange rate (nominal and real) and exports The changes in trade surplus, given by the difference in value of exports and imports, are influenced by price changes. Appreciating yen will lower the price of imports relative to exports causing the trade balance to be higher. Given this condition, during 1990s the yen appreciated 20% causing more imports and fewer exports. This affected the competitive price position of Japanese exports in foreign markets. The Japanese trade and exchange rate are very closely related. The real exchange rate of yen is highly positively correlated to Japanese trade and specifically exports price relative to import prices. For instance, between 1990 and 1995, the yen appreciated by 40% against dollars. If the prices of yen and dollar would have remained the same, Japanese products would have been 40% more expensive in comparison to US goods. The government intervention to cut down yen export prices and shifting to manufacturing high-value goods helped the growth of Japanese exports during the 1990s. The export volume grew annually at a rate of 5% through 1990 and 1995. The Japanese exports took a downfall in late 1990s owing to the drop in sales in the European market which is large enough to drop the Japanes e exports by 10%. In 2003, when the nominal yen/dollar exchange rate was at 120, the exports rose rapidly which again declined in 2007-2008 because of the financial crisis which cause the appreciation of yen below 90 to dollar. This caused the Japanese exports to fall drastically. Impact of the Plaza Accord In 1985, the G-5 nations including Japan forced United States to devalue dollar because of the current account deficit. The G-5 nations were