Analysis of two stories from Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected Essay

The fiction is ab issue an old lady, Mrs. boost, who doesnt deal to be late. Her brinytain teases her by eternally macrocosm a little subroutine too late, hardly to make her suffer. One day, she is going to Paris to call her daughter and her family, solely she has to wait for her husband to be done, because he is whimsical with her, to be dropped off at a club. When he finally out in the automobile with her, he has forgot his present for her daughter, so he goes O.K. into the house to get it. She goes up to the door of their house, but when she is or so to yield it, she suddenly hears a strange sound and goes back into the car. She places the driver to go, yet though Mr. Foster is still in the house. She catches her plane and enjoys her time in Paris, but when she gets back home, after six weeks, there is no contain of Mr. Foster. then(prenominal) she calls a guy, which can come and fix their lift.You would think that Mrs. Foster is the main character in this story, because we argon by-line her life and the story starts up with an introduction of her. But at the same time, we are overly introduced to Mr. Foster right after, and in the end of the story, you wonder if it actually was Mr. Foster, that we were say to keep up with, because he is kind of the victim in the end. close to uniform we are told about how he died in their lift, because of his lunatic of a wife. And so still Mrs. Foster can be run throughn as the victim, because she is this condemnable cleaning lady, who is manipulated by her husband, and then finally does what she has always wanted to do, just in a more drastic way. So therefore I see them both as main characters in this story.Mrs. Foster is described in the school text as a woman with a pathological reverence of missing something, and if she feels that she is about to miss something, she gets into a state of nerves and starts to moment with her left eye, because of a vellicating muscle in the corner of her ey e. She blends in a too large six-storey house in New York City, on East Sixty-Second course with her husband and they nurture four servants. She is in addition a modest woman, who has served his husband loyally and well, for over thirty years, but she still wonders sometimes, if his husband always is being late on purpose, just to torture her. Her biggest wish is to live in Paris, so she can see her daughter, her son in righteousness and her grandchildren all the time.Mr. Foster is nearly seventy years old and also living with his wife in their large six-storey house. He is described in the text as a man who tortures her wife, by always being late, because he is irritated by her making a fuss about everything. And he smokes cigars.We can tell by their big house, their four servants and their rented car with a chauffeur, that they are a very wealthy equal.They dont speak to each separate like a normal couple Mr. Foster has disciplined Mrs. Foster to not say, what she wants to say, like she is under his control. standardised it says in the text that she would never dare to call out and tell him to hurry. He had disciplined her too well for that.The LandladyThe story is about a childly man, wand Weaver, who has travelled down from London, and now he ask a place to sleep. He was told that he should try The bell and potassium bitartrate, but on his way down to the hotel, he suddenly catches line of battle of a printed notice, that says BED AND BREAKFAST on a boarding house. He stares at the notice and feels like the words are a large black eye that is staring at him, like he is labored to go in, so he decides to do it. A middle-aged woman invites him in and shows him where he is going to sleep, and she keeps talk about how she has been waiting for a young boy like him.He later finds out, when he is about to write in her customerbook, that only dickens other guys has been staying there, and the latest guest is over two years ago. He finds it strang e that he feels like he has heard these two guys names originally. She keeps getting him to drink her tee, and then he suddenly notices that the dog he thought was alive is lifeless and stuffed. She tells him that she has stuffed them herself. When he sits for a moment, he finds out where he has heard the other guests names before, he has read about them being missing, in the newspaper.The main character in this story is definitely billystick Weaver, because we are following his moves and thoughts of the weird lady.Billy Weaver is cardinal years old and he has travelled from London. He is wearing a navy-blue overcoat, a brown felt hat hat and a brown suit. He is a young businessman and he is trying to do everything briskly. When he is told that there has only been two guests before him and that the last guest was over two years ago, and that they are even still living there, he is a bit nave not to see that something is really weird. But you also spot that he must be a smart kid, if he is already a businessman and he reads the newspaper.The old lady seems kind and harmless in the beginning, because she is calling him my dear and smiling all the time. And like it says in the text She looked exactly like the mother of ones best school-friend take one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays. But when things get more and more weird, Billy starts to think that she is slightly dotty and off her rocker. We also know that she has a bad memory, because she has a hard time remembering her guests names.Billy and the old lady have no relation, the old lady is a total stranger to Billy, but he somehow seems to trust her anyway. And Billy is also a total stranger to the old lady, but she keeps talking like if she knew that exactly he would show up on her doorstep, around like if she had been watching him.Comparison of the two storiesBoth stories are written by an omniscient 3rd person. And in both of the stories they are victimisition the language dear In The landlady the old lady probably uses it, because some(prenominal) British old women spoke like that in the old days, but also to sound extra kind, to Billy. And in The way up to heaven, it sounds like they are only using it because the finer families spoke like that in the old days. So both of the stories could be going on in, mayhap the 50s. Mrs. Foster and the landlady are both killers, but really diametrical kinds Mrs. Foster is feeling trapped in her marriage and she has a good reason not to celebrate him, when she has the chance. And the landlady is simply a lonely lunatic, who wants sour company, by stuffing her victims. The landlady is killing them herself and Mrs. Foster just didnt save him, when she could. The main theme in both of the stories is deception, because in both of the stories, the victims have faith in their killers, but are duped by them.The ending of The landladyThen he said Are you sure Mulholland and Temple are on a higher floor? with a stiff loo k on his face. Of course they are, my dear. Im sure they are enjoying themselves, you shouldnt worry that much. She answered. Billys eyeball flickered and his legs felt so heavy, when he tried to stand up. Sit down, my dear. It bequeath soon be over she said, with a calm tone in her voice, like nothing was wrong. Billy couldnt walk, so he sit down down again and tried to hold his head still. Something is wrong with me What did you unfold me? he yelled with a pathetic voice.She smiled and went over to the windows to draw the curtains, and when she sat down again, she started telling him, that she had been looking forward to having such a young boy in the house, and that she had been waiting for him for such a long time. why do you want me, you crazy woman? he said. Youre just perfect, my dear. So young and handsome she said, still witch a small and calming voice. Billy didnt get to say much more, before everything turned black.One month later MISSING A seventeen year old boy nam ed Billy Weaver, last seen in Bath.

Explore John Steinbeck’s presentation in Of Mice and Men Essay

Explore posterior Steinbecks registeration in Of Mice and custody of the culture and experience of the itinerant usageers in 1930s the States.Of Mice and Men is a well cognize young written by John Steinbeck. It was published in a highly traumatic period, in the States. When the ring Street crash throw awayalysed the Gr take Depression and the United States suffered an economic collapse. delinquent to the lack of m wizy on that point was a high level of unemploy humanpowert of custody and wo over complaisantize force and more businesses closed squander. Addition whollyy the States experienced terrible droughts kn give birth as the Dust Bowl in which many a(prenominal) crops died. The lower the Ameri peck economy sank the higher the numbers of migrant educateers rose, it r distri clayeylyivelyed approximately 13 unriv all(prenominal)ed million million in 1932 The further way for many Ameri nets to touch m starnessy was to bl destination into the countryside, where work was hard, dangerous, and lonely.They became itinerant proletarians the doers moved from transport to place for work, to follow the crop across California-USA. Itinerant workers travelled alone, Steinbecks consultation George describes them as the loneliest guys in the world. They ordinarily travelled by cheap buses, hitch hiking rides or simply walking. The pay was non bad they earned $2 to $3 a twenty-four hours and in addition received accommodation and food. As they were lonely and didnt use up much they blew their jack at the topical anesthetic pubs and cat posts e real Saturday night, this meant that they essentially trapped themselves in this drift of alimentation.I personally think that Steinbeck chose to focus on the lives of itinerant workers to coming into court the problems facing America and its citizenry during that period. People meet saw the economic problems, not the desperation of the workers, or the racial discrimination of the dismal community and I think that is what Steinbeck was move to lay kayoed, the personal effect to millions of custody and wo custody. Further more, as Steinbeck had worked on a spread head, he felt sympathy to the workers, and portrays their situation sensitively.George and Lennie be the ii main characters in Of Mice and men. Steinbecks detailed interpretation of them allows the reader to soft re deep to the characters immobile personalities and sympathises with their situation. George and Lennie furbish up on very well they look off for each opposite. wholeness of the main affairs that detain them to loll aroundher is their ideate they ar not interchangeable other spreading workers because they all travel alone, they ar the loneliest guys in the world. They travel to liquidateher, they lose got a future slightlybody to talk to that gives a damn well-nigh them. Lennie acts standardized a child, although he is very strong, Strong as a bull. George on the other h and is sharp, pro implant, and quick.Their personalities deeply match their fleshly appearance, George is quite short, and lean whilst Lennie is tall, muscular, and broad shouldered. The relationship, as strong as it is, is quite un point, George has a smoke of authority over Lennie, and we know this as they walked in single stick and howevertide in the open one stayed arsehole the other. So compensate when there was dwell for them to walk next to each other, they didnt, descriorganism that even though they ar to beat upher they atomic number 18 separate, lonely and they wealthy person no community to look after them, no one that is their equal and their fri remainder.The picture of the novel is important for Steinbeck to convey his views on how the workers lived. Steinbeck views many references to faint-hearted though- appear the unscathed of the novel, ab come to the fore how weak the lighting in the workers bunk household is as it didnt light up the corners, and how Curleys marry woman blocks off the rectangle of sunniness in the accessionstepway when she enters. This coming into courts how she had cut off everything good and pure, as light colours and the sun tests hope it is nearly the bid she is bringing bring out with her. In the last chapter Lennie is piquantness, killed by George, his ending is sudden exactly the confine was written so we would be expecting it.The description of the fit contains many references to light, how the sun left the valley, mountains seemed to blazeincreasing brightness. The sun is setting the day is ending, so is the novel and their inspiration it is all inevitable, including their lives. Steinbeck was a hope little and the grace of trouble is very prominent passim the novel. John Steinbeck alike uses other descriptions linked to the weather to convey atmosphere, like the wind, a far beef of wind bottomed gust drove though tops of trees like a wave. Compared to chapter one in the same setting where there is no sound of wind, it is hush up. In chapter six we stick out tell something is brewing, a disturbance is coming, and something is departure to happen.In chapter two he describes the small bunk house, which is where all of the workers on the feast live, from this detailed evocative description we can see how lowly the workers actually do make believe, and how they depend on very plain objects, like magazines and their dreams. The way of life itself is extremely simple and only provided the necessaries for the workers. Walls were whitewashed floors un painted. The dcor in the basic four walled rectangular room is cheap, and hardly luxurious, by victimisation tidingss like, whitewashed makes the walls seem boring, c quondam(a) and hard, most as if the paint had bonnie been thrown onto the walls, almost like no veritable business organisation had been allot into the comfort of the ranch workers living quarters. Steinbeck refers to the room look ing like a dank prison, in three walls there were small, square windows, and in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch.The solid door with a wooden latch makes the bunk house seem enclosed, unbroken in the ghastly, yet by having a wooden latch it makes the room seem like it does not imply protecting, the possessions are not price keeping prophylactic. With very small windows and a bountiful heavy door it gives you the idea of a coffin with thick stale air, this idea seems more like reality as you read on and find out that the sunlight is choked with pass around when it shines in the bunk house, which strongly reflects the claustrophobic atmosphere, it as well as shows how dirty and unhygienic the living battlegrounds actually are, as wing shot like rushing stars, though the beam of sun light. In one of the bunks in the room there was a spray-can to kill bugs one of the characters in the novel called Candy explains that the man who slept there before was average very c onsciously clean.The bunk house was obviously very fasten as it contained eight bunks, meaning there was no privacy, it was a common living, and a communal life, as they ate, slept and spent 24 hours of their day with each other, not only is there a lack of privacy, simply none of the dignity that enceinte adult men should have. Inside the bunk house there was a nailed apple box so that it made two shelves above the bunks, this allowed the men to keep their limited amount of possessions in one area of the room, a small area of privacy. Also in the room there was grouped boxes, where the men sit to tackle tease, all the furniture is very make-shift and cheap, representing that the men dont stay there long, they are only temporary workers. On the make-do shelves the workers had, articles, soaptalcum powder, razors and those western magazines that men love to readand their medicines short vials, combs a few neck ties. completely simplicities, but they treat them like luxuries they can not have anything more as they would not be able to carry it from place to place, as they worked.Near one of the walls on the bunk house was a black cast-iron stove, in those time men did not sterilise, it was degrading. The workers having to cook for themselves is not as bad as having to clean for the rest of the ranch, specially if you were a man. One character on the ranch does have this job, Candy. He has what is seen as a womens job, yet he does it as he had a physical disability, this is an sample of the levels of hierarchy on the ranch. Even though all of the men are polar there is a trusted category of men that can only be itinerant workers, white, young, strong men. Everyone else is below them in the hierarchy, Crooks being black and disabled, Candy being crippled, and curleds married woman being a woman. Even kinky sop up holds that he needs to be more physically strong to make up for his height.The arising of chapter two deeply contrasts with the start of chapter one, chapter one is a hillside bank, which the Salinas River runs by. It is a stunning setting and a lovely time of day, as it is the late evening of a hot day. The river runs deep and it is warm, the river had slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the finalize pool. To one side of the river was the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains and on the other side the water is lined with trees. Steinbeck goes in to specific detail for this setting, even describing the lead junctures, showing just how important and picturesque this place is. Steinbeck goes on to tell us about the animals skittering lizards and rab morsels sitting on the sand in the evening, the tracks of deer and coons. The scene changes and the marks left by man are described, the hard beaten path, the piles made by fires and the limbs of a giant sycamore worn smooth by the men who have sat on it.As George and Lennie enter the area the animal speed noiselessly for cover, birds laboured into the air and pounded down the river. The place was lifeless for a few moments before the men came into the opening. I think Steinbeck changes the self-possessed atmosphere as the men enter, to show the power men have over the environment, the power and strength they posses. When they sit down Lennie starts to drink from the water, it competency look nice, but George tells Lennie to stop as it looks scummy. This is not the only dark side of nature, there are water snakes, which the hero sandwichs would eat then(prenominal) the coyotes that would eat herons. It is survival of the fittest, just like at the ranch and in America at that time. None-the-less the expansive setting distant mountains, a informal silken river, and the natural wildlife contrasts with the enclosed bunkhouse where the men are trapped. Steinbeck does this to show the predictability of existence the distrustful lives that they lived and worked in.Steinbeck does not just show the different leve ls of power in animals and humans, but with humans to bumher, for example the emboss not really being present in the novel, draw off when George and Lennie arrive, when he is questioning them, the chieftain was sore as hell when they were late, as the Boss did not get that little bit of property more that he could of earned. The character is obviously only refer about the money, not the workers, as he grades, you dont need any brains to buck barley bags.The Bosss name is neer written in the novel, which almost gives us the idea that he has no personality, as if he is just a person do others work for him. On the way to meet the Boss, George asks Candy about him, he tells that he is a pretty nice fella. Gets pretty mad hes pretty nice. Throughout the description Candy repeats the same word pretty very much, showing that he really does not know the true nature of the Boss as he is not a perpetual figure on the ranch, he mainly stays in his house. This could be because the B oss does not hope to mix with people below his status, or because he does not want to get attached to people who he knows will entrust soon, but most likely it is just because he does not conduct, all he wants is money, he employs strong men and lets them get on with it, Steinbeck presents him as a harsh capitalist.As the Boss is not on the ranch that often and looking out for his workers, the workers can get extraneous with a lot, with out even connecting him, he doesnt care what happens to them, he can unceasingly employ someone else. However the Boss is not evil, as he brought the workers a consentient gallon of beer for Christmas, and is very concerned about whether Lennie is taking Georges money at the end of the month. When Steinbeck describes the Boss himself, he tells us how he is a short man, but with quick steps, he does not dress extravagantly, but he does not wear ranch clothing that on the job(p) men wear. His shoes were high-heeled boots they had spurs to inst itute he was not a labouring man. His son withal wears this elan of boot, the boots are described like cow-boy boots, the American Dream, and the pioneering of Americas past. not only were the boots meant to show that the Boss had his own land but that he had authority and power, he demanded respect, and the boots were another object that could be used to show the hierarchy on the ranch.The Boss and permed, (his son) demand authority, contrasting to shortens natural authority, Slim is one of the ranch workers who is respected by everyone else because he is a good man he is emotionally intuitive, which makes it unprovoked for him to make friends. The workers feel like they can trust him, talk to him, in one part of the novel, Lennie tells Slim about when they were kids and how he used to make Lennie parachuting in the Sacramento River he jumps He damn near drowned but George had forgotten that Lennie told him to jump in, and just thanked him for pulling him out. George also tol d Slim wherefore they left Weed, about how Lennie had touched a girls dress just to feel the material, and how George and Lennie were chased out of Weed.George and Lennie are itinerant workers, on this ranch they earn approximately $2 a day, we know this as they get litre bucks at the end of each month. Their personal job was to buck barley bags which meant that they had to throw rotund bags of grain on a truck, the barley is poured into large burlap bags, around 75 or more pounds and then is passed brigade- flair to the truck. The work was dull, and repetitive, and once it was done, the workers could spend the rest of the day, doing what they want.In Of Mice and Men, the men usually play cards, in their bunk house. The men play solitaire, a one man game, which shows the continual theme of loneliness throughout the novel. thither are many references to the men playing cards, usually in gummy circumstances, for example the shooting of Candys dog. Carlson fractureed to kill the d og because he was old and smelled, however Candy does not like the idea, when the dog is being shot the room is very awkward and the other ranch workers play cards to take their minds away from the subject that obviously hurts Candy.Everyone they meet find it hard to imagine George and Lennie going around together, even Slim, who is a very hospitable and kind worker on the ranch. He is also very intelligent and perceptive, and he has a good sense of justice and fairness. (1) Slims comment on the fact that there Aint many guys that travel around together. Men dont usually go around with each other. Altogether I think Steinbeck does this to show the solitude and loneliness of a ranch worker, throughout their whole life.The Bosss son is called Curly Curly is a mean and a power craving little man. Because he is so small he tries to be very aggressive and strong, he takes box lessons as if to show that he might be short but he is check then everyone else, almost as if he is trying to prove his masculinity. He wears the high healed boots with spurs like his father, to portray his authority and power, but also to add to the height. Curlys name like most of the characters represents his physical appearance, he has Curly hair, and his fists are often described as being wound up, curled. Curly hates big guys- he has little man syndrome. From what all the characters say about him he is horrible, trouble and loves to show people how he is better then them. I think Curly does all of the boxing to make up for is height, to show that he might not be a strong working man, but he is better then that, he can look after himself and no one can stop him.There are two main relationships in the novel, Curley and his wife plus George and Lennie, neither of these relationships last. It is almost as if Steinbeck is trying to say that even if you want to be with someone in this lonely life style it would be impossible. Once you start to work in this business it corrupts you, in each of those relationship one person dies. Steinbecks very pessimistic views probably execute from when he was a ranch worker he experienced the harsh reality of loneliness himself. Curly married a few weeks before George and Lennie arrived, the name of his wife is not written down in the novel one, she is referred to as Curlys wife, a possession, not a true person. It was a very sexist view, and that was what Steinbeck was trying to show by not giving her a name, that some of the Americans views were still very sexist.Curly has no control over his flirtatious wife they spend more time asking other members of the ranch where the other one is then they do with each other. They both(prenominal) witness that they are not suited to each other Curly just likes the fact that he has something over the other men he has something to do at night, every night if he wants, and what other men cant. To show this he wears a glove on one of his reach filled with Vaseline everywhere he goes, to flau nt it to the over men he has someone to touch. He tries to keep one hand soft for his wife (2) George thinks this is very dirty it must be very degrading and inept for his wife.The whole relationship seems awkward, Curlys wife only married him because she was on the rebound from losing her dream, and she was confused about her mother and was upset about her missed opportunities. Curly sees a young pretty girl and likes the probability to have a wife to make him look better. This is the only utilization for women, to look pretty to stay at home, they had very little opportunities.Curlys wife had a dream to become an actress, the ranch workers all share the American Dream, which is all men are created equal, that they are invest by their Creator with certain unalienable reclaims, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. (3) This dream was no longer possible in America due to the swell depression. Curlys wifes dream was created by men, men who told her ho w fabulous she was, how they would take her away, put her in the movies. It all sounded amazing except none of it was true, they just used her.George and Lennie build a future in their heads, a dream. To live off the fatta the lan to have their own house their own garden and animals, to be their own Boss, to live a free life and to be able to do what they want, which is impossible for them while working on the ranch. Their shared dream serve ups them through tough times and it also affects others like Candy, who is willing to pay for about half of the land on his own. But this is all a pretend future, George says I got to thinking maybe we would This could be because Lennie likes hearing it so much, he has convinced himself that it will come true, we know this as he starts telling the dream rhythmically, then monotonously.George has other dreams, like having a girl, playing cards by a pool, having an promiscuous life and panning for gold, but the only one thats truly perfect (2) is the one he shares with Lennie because its impossible (2). It is almost as if the dream hides them from their lives, which could be described as beans with no ketchup, all they do is work and just about function, they have no fun, or luxuries, nothing in their lives is complete. The Dream is nothing but a trick, an illusion. I think Steinbeck was trying to say this about the real American Dream as well, that it is just a dream, something for people to cling to in times of need and despair. It is almost inevitable that George and Lennies dream will fail because of the cynical style of Steinbecks writing, and the continuous references to death and the destruction that is created by mankind, like the composed area by the river, that had recently been left with the marks of man, the men shoot all of the animals away on top of the destruction they leave behind them.The diverse range of characters show that not all ranch worker were the same. Not just men were effected by the economi c collapse, women were thrown in to a mans world, Steinbeck creates three female characters in the novel to show the problem of their surroundings and their lifestyles. The novels characters consist of black and white men, some of them disabled, but all of them have a little power in their own way, for example most people would think that the nigger Crooks is the lowest person in the hierarchy of the ranch, but he can very easily annoy Lennie, so I think he has a little bit of power over Lennie this shows how the ranch society is self-destructive, in times of trouble they dont help each other they make things worse for each other. The workers live on a rota of work, play cards, sleep, on Saturday they go out to Cindys cat house and Sunday they get a day off. All of the characters bring something newfangled or different to the novel, even Whit who is very young and shows the type of an enthusiastic new Brothel-crazy (2) man who is just starting to adapt to the ranch workers life.Car lsons character is what the true ranch workers were like I believe that Steinbeck included many different characters and their problems, to express the types of problems that America were facing at the time. The role amongst men and women is hard to empathise, men looked down on women also the men stereotype the women, and the women stereotype the men, George says Shes a rat-trap if I ever seen one. Whilst Curlys wife says I seen to a fault many you guys. as if she assumes they are going to be basically useless. (2) The great detail Steinbeck took into creating the divide between men and women show that he was trying to get us to understand all of their lives, to understand their personal problems and the problems that they set about by living in America at that time.The people living on the ranch with the least(prenominal) amount of authority are definitely Crooks, Candy and Lennie, the three of them get relatively along quite well, they even start to talk about George and Le nnies dream, Crooks and Candy want to join in, they offer their money and they offer to work for nothing. The optimism and hope in this briefly shared dream is tatterdemalion by Curlys wife (2). Curlys married woman does not like Crooks or Candy she sees them as weak, they are only at the ranch to do simple, easy jobs. She treats them like dirty, calling Crooks a nigger(2), Lennie a dum-dum (2) and Candy a lousy old sheep (2). Curlys Wife gets along with the men on their own, flirting with them and chatting with them, but when they are together she finds them defensive and competitive.She believes she knows everything there is to know about men, their weaknesses for drink and women she likes to put them down and threatens them with the power she has from being Curlys wife, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny (2). By acting and expression things like this it makes her feel better, like she has more power, not just some worthless girl living in her father- in-laws house with a short-bully for a husband. Steinbeck gives her so much military posture and certain characteristics to portray the emotional difficulties that faced American women at the time, to show that their lives were truly hard, they were treated differently to men and considered not as important, for example the men in Curlys Wife history only talk to her, and give her company because they want somebody that night. They do not consider the feeling of the young beautiful woman.This is how it was in America in the 1930s because every one was losing money and struggling with the crops the less fortunate had to ask for jobs way beneath them, to have a home and a place to bring up their family. The American Dream was dead, due to critical economic collapse and the dreaded dust ball that swept the plains no one could believe in the dream any more, it seemed completely impossible, they felt that it was inevitably not going to happen. The ample tried to hold on to their money, so the poor ultimately stayed poor. There were no unions to protect the migrant workers, so they lived by their own laws, like all the men wanting to shoot Lennie because during the novel he murder Curlys wife. They made their own rules about the hierarchy, and followed it, similar to an unsaid promise the Boss and his family were at the top, the rest followed in a big group unless there was someone with some natural authority, which was very rare.The whole society was very violent and they did not have any concern for death, they shot Candys dog for little reason and there was no emotion involved in the process and Lennie easily killed the reverse in chapter one, and the puppy later on. Carlson has a Lugar, which is gun he cleans it and keeps it safe under his pillow, showing how little respect he has for death. The disrespect for death is commented on throughout the whole novel, different members of the ranch end up killing something or someone.Steinbeck clearly shows that pred ictably, something is going to happen at the end we see this as the deaths increase and happen to higher people in the table of hierarchy. It shows that death was a large part of their lives, their lives were not memorable so they had nothing to venerate when they died lost memories, times or people they would sorely miss. It is as if Steinbeck is trying to say that they had nothing to look in front to, their lives came and went. Just like clock work.Some of the characters on the ranch are friendly, for example Slim, he does not have a plan or a dream, it is as if he accepts his role in society and moves on, he never gets angry or shows much emotion, he is always calm and cool. He moves with majesty showing he knows what is to happen and does not fear it, he does not dread the future because he is intelligent seemly to realise that it will happen no matter what he can do. He is very intelligent and this is probably why he out of all the men is able to understand his position. It is like Steinbeck is trying to say it does not matter if you are smart or friendly, once you start in this line of work you cant really get out, it is like a vicious circle it traps everyone and releases no one.Nature holds a strong power over men in Of Mice and Men, the beautiful setting at the start of chapter one is like a paradise, but it is an illusion. Lennie is often described as an animal, he himself says that he would go and live in a cave, he is almost better suited to the outside, as he would not be able to disrupt, or destroy the lives of other humans. It is almost ironic then that Steinbeck chooses Lennies death bed to be the floor of an almost enclosed area of woodland.The time of day he dies is one of the most picturesque, dusk, the light is fading (2) everything is returning to its home, even the heron go off. The pool side setting is a place of death, every time we visit the area in the novel there is death, whether it is a mouse, heron eating the water snake, or L ennies death. The Salinas River also has an air of dowry about it as George told Lennie to go there if there was trouble, almost as if he knew it was going to happen, which makes the novel so predictable and pessimistic. John Steinbeck makes the area feel pessimistic with all of the deaths, just like in America at the time, the people were losing hope because of the de massiveating economic collapse, and many crops were dieing because of the great Dust Bowl.The men play solitaire, a one man game, which shows the continuous theme of loneliness throughout the novel. The solitude that comes with being a ranch worker, Steinbeck almost tries to defy that by bringing George and Lennie together, however some would plead that the relationship is not equal at all, Lennie is the little child that always get in to trouble where as George is the quick intelligent grown up, he has all of the responsibilities. Even though the two look out for each other, they still are lonely, George looks for other people to talk to and institutionalize in as he knows that Lennie would not understand, or be of help to him if he got into trouble.The relationship is still highly important, it highlights the fact that even those who went into the go expecting loneliness need someone, or something, and for example most of the ranch workers have their dreams to depend on. George and Lennie are completely different which is one of the reasons people crusade to come to terms with their relationship, I think George knows that he would not be friends with Lennie if they were not in this line of work as they are primitive different. The solitude in the novel is not only apparent in humans, but in the environment as well, the constant lack of sound, and awkward conversations in time of death make the whole atmosphere drop. The Salinas Rivers description contains a very limited amount of animals, and all of the animals leave at one point or another, so the setting becomes still and cold. This s hows the mens destructiveness and how they are feared as all of the animals run away when George and Lennie enter the clearing. It is the men who always are there and create the eerie silence, whether it means that they are scaring something away, or they are killing some thing or someone.Of Mice and Men, was published in 1937, it was the 2nd most frequently out(p) platter in the 1900s. It was criticised for the language, swearing, racism, morality and the violence contained in the novel, many members of the 1900s American society disagreed with the book and the writers views, Steinbeck was even cognise to have issues with the government and the FBI. There were many problems that came with the book, but the book also brought along the realisation of the troubles facing America during that period, the problems facing the black community, and the effect of the economic depression on the less fortunate areas of society. Steinbeck was hit from both the left wing and the Right-wing politicians, Right-wing saying that he went too far, whilst the Left-wing saying that he should have gone further, more on the subtle issues. However Steinbeck did not write the novel to rouse the Right or the Left, but to show his country, what was happening.The novel shows us the terrible living conditions and basic desires that the ranch workers craved things that we would consider daily items. Steinbeck expresses clearly the attitude of the workers, and the lonely environment that they lived in. Some people would say that the way in which he writes and describes certain aspects of the workers lifestyles would make the reader biased by making them feel sympathetic for the people that live on ranches.Steinbeck had such a pessimistic feeling towards the lives of the ranch workers because he had experienced how harsh it was as a ranch worker in California-USA in the 1930s, the style of work made him lonely and he even once said that he just needs to get away from being John Steinb eck for a little while (2) because being a public figure was too much, he was shy and liked privacy. He knew how the job affected the workers, mentally and physically, he was very good at adding subtle hints of these throughout the novel.One of the reasons Steinbeck wrote the book was I think to educate the public about these problems in society, and to also tell the world how direr the ranch workers situation was, what they had to deal with and address. America was not the only country facing issues at that time, a civil war broke out in Spain, and the Nazis were in power in Germany, the whole of Europe was effected by Americas economic depression, especially because of the ascend in fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain. The novel is not about all of these problems throughout the world, but nearly everyone could relate to the novel.Before I read the book I knew nothing of the way the economic collapse affected the millions of less fortunate members of Americas society in such a har sh and incomprehensible way. I knew nothing of how lonely men and women could be. I knew nothing of the way the dust ball had such a vast devastation effect, not only to the crops, but also to the people and their profit. The novel is relatable, but I think that is one of the strong points about the book, because you could say that life in those days was predictable, you knew what position you were in, and if you were a ranch worker your whole life was virtually planned.Steinbeck starts and ends the novel in the same place to show the cyclical style of the life of the ranch workers, he does this in many ways, referring back to the sun rising and setting, the working time, and the weekly visits to the cat house. This is another example showing how the lives were already laid out in front of them. I personally enjoyed the novel I found it an interesting insight to the lives of itinerant workers, and the in-depth study of Americas inelegant history showed me how the workers existed an d how they adapted to the dog-eat-dog-world, and how resilient we humans can be.References-1. http//www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks4/fiction/ofmicemen/smallheath/charnote.htmlSlim2. GSCE English, Of Mice and Men, The text guild. CGP, coordination group publications.3. http//www.americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/DECLARA.HTM

How Can Government Support Business Growth in the Uk

How Can presidency Support calling growing in the UK? Judging from study(ip) shopping centres and high streets, it is easy to adjudicate that the UK is dominated by large successful barteres. However, Office for matter Statistics figures (2008) coming into court that 89% of either UK enterprises hurl less than 10 employees and 98. 1% have less than 50 employees the real largest companies account for just 0. 4% of each UK stemma enterprises (Birchall, 2009). Although there ar several vantages of being a atomic firm, most businesses want to grow and this inspires the question What is business egress? LinkedIn (2012) defines business growth as an innovation that delivers solutions to customers while adding entertain both internally and externally to our processes as well as increasing customer value while increasing shekels. In less complex terms, a business is said to be growing when it gets a best surrender on its investment. In this essay, I will be discussing the airs the administration terminate support business growth. In doing this research, a question popped in my head, Why should the political sympathies support business growth? One of the major puzzles facing the UK currently is unemployment.Once a business starts growing, it is essential to hire much people to help power the development and ensure stability. As such, the problem of unemployment will be considerably reduced. Secondly, Stokes and Wilson (2006) have argued that in recent times, elflike firms have proved to be an abundant source of very originative ideas however, they lack resources to put them into practice without external assistance. They also highlighted the item that sensitive firms argon essential to compete with large companies by providing alternating(a) sources of supply thereby gamblinging an immeasurable role in the anti-monopoly policy.Insufficient finance is a major cause of business failure and this is superstar of the major hindrances encount ered by businesses in their pursuit of growth. Finance is critical for starting, maintaining and growing subtle and medium businesses whence, it is vital that both start-ups and existing businesses have access to the estimable range of debt and equity financing options ( subdivision for logical argument Innovation and Skills, 2010). Cameron (2011) in his savoir-faire about the role of small businesses expressed his shock at the way small and medium enterprises are blocked out of procurement and achievement opportunities.In applying for bank loans, a business is required to possess a create of collateral or guarantee to support the application. Unfortunately for most businesses, they do not have sufficient collateral to back the application. The political relation tin therefore set up schemes to help entrepreneurs obtain finance from fiscal institutions by agreeing to guarantee loans. For example, in 2011, Hong Kong launched the SME Loan batten Scheme which was aimed at h elping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) obtain loans from financial institutions and in unity year, there has been tremendous growth in several industries (SME Fund, 2012).In addition to guaranteeing loans, the UK disposal posterior also help firms or industries attract external investors or experts in specific fields private individuals and companies. This gouge be achieved by either providing certain incentives to the investors and experts who will not only provide the funds needed to run the business but possess the knowledge and expertise required to grow the business or creating a platform for entrepreneurs to hold their ideas to these investors. In 2005, the British Broadcasting Corporation, backed by the UK government launched a show, firedrakes Den (BBC, 2012).This was aimed at well-favoured entrepreneurs the opportunity to careen their businesses to five of the most wealthy business moguls in the UK. Also, in 2005, Mozambiques government solicited the Internat ional Finance Corporation (IFC) to help develop their tourism sector and in less than five years after, Mozambique has attracted over $33 million in investment and designated over 13,000 ha of land as sustainable tourism zones (IFC, 2012). The government can help the unemployed and single out start-up businesses of their own through special schemes.In 1999, the government recognised the need to further start-ups in mischiefd companies so the Phoenix Fund was set up (Open gathering, 2012). The major objective of this scheme was to get ahead investment in unused and growing businesses. However, the unemployed population are still being snub and some of them genuinely want to work but have met with one difficulty or anformer(a) (Open Forum, 2012). The government can help by creating enabling opportunities for people to set up their own businesses at home. They can also set up Enterprise Allowance Schemes which will deal as incentives to these entrepreneurs.Furthermore, the gove rnment can interfere with the free merchandise and pen failing businesses. However, there are two sides to this coin. On one hand, governments intervention through policies would result in a better controlled trading environment and can stabilise faltering economies. An example of this is the 2008 financial crises when the UK government stepped in to help the large banks and struggling auto definers. On the former(a) hand, governments interventions may result in inefficiency such as price floors e. g. EUs Common Agriculture Policy which created huge surpluses (excess butter to make a cube of butter with 125m sides) (Debate Org. 2012) Another way the UK government can support business growth is to lighten the burden of gross and administrative processes required to start up and run a business. The Bolton Committee suggested that measureation policies should reflect the governments encouragement of entrepreneurial activity and rectify the marketplaceability of small businesses i . e. improving the degree to which an asset can be traded in the market without affecting its price (Stokes and Wilson, 2006). The government responded to this suggestion by giving small firms the advantage of benefitting from lower corporation tax rates.For example, a troupe with profits from ? 50,000 to ? 300,000 has a tax rate of 19%. However, once profits increase above this range, they are liable to the full 30% tax rate (UK Legislation, 2012). Similar to all other businesses, yet the very small firms are responsible for health and safety on their premises for all workers and customers. For example, The Safety at Work puzzle out (1974) and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act (1963) give employers thorough responsibilities ranging from machinery safety to even the temperature of the working environment.Another example is the harm Discrimination Act (1995) which requires employers to take steps to ensure disabled employees are not discriminated against. smooth firms h ave experienced major difficulties in sideline these regulations to the letter. The government can help here by reducing its requirements regarding very small firms and by encouraging their inspectors to increase their awareness of smaller firms interests (UK Legislation, 2012). The threesome way in which the government can support business growth is in the provision of instruction and advice.Of all the factors initiating growth, the most important is caboodle and the ability to be aware of chance opportunities (Gill, 1985). In 1993, the UK government launched what Stokes and Wilson (2006) cite to as a network of independent local business development and advice centres suggesting a range of services to the business community, designed to provoke the competitiveness of local companies. This network is known as bloodline Links. The government can develop this initiative by providing online nurture and services thereby, scope a larger range of businesses.However, Office for National Statistics (2008) show that 24% of SMEs lack online presence. Therefore, in addition to providing online information, the government has to encourage these companies to log on to the internet. Business owners and entrepreneurs tend to value advice from experienced business moguls. Therefore, the government can set up business mentoring organisations that will provide practical advice and contacts for other businesses, based on hands-on experience (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2010).In 1972, on the recommendation of the Bolton Committee, the Small Firms Service (SFS) was set up to provide information through a network of 13 Small Firms Centres (SFCs) however, this service jam-packed up in 1990 due to the irresponsibility and negligence of the management. In rancor of the failure of the service in the UK, other governments recognised that if these organisations were successful, the benefits cannot be over-empha sized (Open Forum, 2012). They therefore set up similar schemes e. g. he United States Small Business Administration, the Australian business services portal of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and the Small Business Directorate in the Ministry of Economic Development in mod Zealand (LinkedIn, 2012). Business growth brings improved survival prospects through larger market shares, diversification into different markets and greater finance. It also brings an increased feeling of precondition and power. Most importantly, it enables a firm enjoy economies of scale. Wikipedia (2012) defines economies of scale as the live advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion.The common sources of economies of scale are purchase bulk buying of materials through long-term contracts, managerial increasing the specialisation of managers, financial obtaining lower-interest charges when borrowing from banks and having access to a greater range of financial instruments, marketing spreading the cost of advertising over a greater range of output in media market and technological taking advantage of returns to scale in the production function. In the 1990s during the Asian scotch crises, Tesco saw this as an opportunity to enter the market and once the economies started to recover, they emerged stronger.Today, they are the market leader in Thailand (Floyd, 2011). Whereas growth is encouraged, there are a number of possible problems arising from growth. Firstly, expansion brings pressure on a firms fluidness e. g. as a result of offering additional credit to encourage sales, and on its level of gearing. Also, although growth may have been planned expeditiously by managers, they may find that this growth makes the firms dissimilar functions or projects more difficult to co-ordinate and to control, and its communication procedures slower.In addition, there is no guarantee that what is popular in the UK market will give out evenly popular overseas, because of local and national differences ( e. g. due to culture). Control and co-ordination also become more difficult as a result of international expansion. A good example of when business growth has been a huge disadvantage to a company is General Motors Limited in the USA (Open Forum, 2012). In conclusion, the three ways in which the UK government can support business growth are by improving access to finance, making information and advice available to people and by lightening tax and administrative load.However, even though supporting business growth is essential, it is important that this growth be controlled because even though small firms make less profit than the larger ones and have low chances of surviving in the dynamic world of business, they offer a better and more flexible service to customers and their staff often benefit from high levels of motivation. They are also able to exploit their size and take advantage of the opportunities presented by diseconomies of scale suffered by large firms.Most importantly, they play an important role in ensuring the economy remains balanced. Reference angle of dip * Birchall, N. (2009) Survival of the smallest, Business Review Journal, (Sept 2009), pp. 5-7 * British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2012) Dragons Den Online. easy at http//www. bbc. co. uk/programmes/p01009mj (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Cameron, D. (2011) Is the Government serious about supporting small business? Online. Available at http//goo. gl/l2rBl (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Debate org. 2012) Should the government intervene with the free market and save failing businesses? Online. Available at http//www. debate. org/opinions (Accessed on 1st November 2012) * Department for Business Innovation and Skills (2010) Backing small business Online. Available at http//goo. gl/9gGe9 (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * Drucker, P. (1985) Innovation and Entrepreneurship. London Heinemann * Floyd, D. (2011) Revise AS A2 Business Studies. London Letts Educational Ltd. * Gill, J. (1 985) Factors affecting the survival and growth of the smaller company.Hants Gower publication Company Limited * IFC (2012) Helping Attract Investment in Mozambiques Tourism Sector Online. Available at http//goo. gl/wkZqZ (Accessed on thirtieth October 2012) * LinkedIn (2012) Business Growth Online. Available at http//www. linkedin. com (Accessed on 1st November 2012) * Office for National Statistics (2008) UK Business Statistics Online. Available at http//nationalstatistics. gov. uk (Accessed on 12th October 2012) * Open Forum (2011) Why the Government should help Young Entrepreneurs start business Online. Available at http//goo. l/uYwiZ (Accessed on 13th October 2012) * SME Fund (2012) SME Loan Guarantee Scheme Online. Available at http//www. smefund. tid. gov. hk/english/sgs/sgs_objective. html (Accessed on 30th October 2012) * Stokes, D. and Wilson, N. (2006) Small Business Management Entrepreneurship. London Thomson Learning * UK Legislation (2012) transaction and Tax-related Laws Online. Available at http//www. legislation. gov. uk (Accessed on 2nd November 2012) * Wikipedia (2012) Economies of scale Online. Available at http//www. wikipedia. com (Accessed on 4th November 2012)

How Does Shakespeare Present The Witches in ‘Macbeth’ and to what Extent do they influence events? Essay

Macbeth is a tragic play that focuses on how one man is driven upset with ambition, the play was written in a time of society when witches were greatly fe bed and believed to exist, so the fact that the witches in the play ferment Macbeths descent was scary to them. Did the witches in Macbeth cause him to down the king?The witches atomic number 18 without surmise evil, they do no good deeds and only perform acts of evil, unload collar witches at that place atomic number 18 three of them, which suggests something to do with the unholy trinity, there be a messiness of other implications of the trinity in the play, three types of weather and Banquo being murdered by three people. They make potions with foul things in, some which are body parts that earlier belonged to human which shows they do non care about the human race which suggests they are non human. They kill a adult females husband just because she would non share her food and consecrates here I contract a p ilots ruffle which shows they are proud ant take it as a prize. They squirt control the weather but only use it for bad in thunder lightening or in rain? Also, they kill gunstock as if it was a hobby and they do not really care. They do nothing good for Macbeths life and k now what they are doing from the start.Without the witches in the play, there would not be a story as they are behind all of the trouble. They influence Macbeth to be exceedingly post starved and arrogant but one thing they undersidenot do it control people, they neer actually control or give orders to Macbeth, they just guide him. They say to him all hail Macbeth that shalt be king which therefore later influences him to kill Duncan so that he himself can become king. They tell him for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth which makes him believe that he is invincible which influences him to be real big headed and feel that he can get away with anything which then eventually leads to his death.Calling th e witches misfortunate would be a huge understatement, they are worse than that as they cannot even be described as human, they are referred to as the weird sisters by Banquo and Macbeth through and throughout the play but whether they are even girls is questionable, as Banquo even says at one point you should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so.Banquo also says so diminish and wild in their attire They are neer described as anything but repulsive, Macbeth describes them as an infection infected by the air whereon they tug Macbeth calls them filthy hags In Polanskis film of Macbeth one of the witches is deformed and does not form a face, which shows how he interprets how ugly Shakespeare was trying to explain they were. It is clean up that they are not your every day women, as Banquo says look not like the inhabitants of the earth They are very sinister and mysterious how now you secret, black and midnight hags Macbeth says, and with the use of the words black and midnight you can tell that they are associated with night. This brings me on to how the witches in Macbeth fit a stereotype.The fact that the witches are ugly is a stereotype in itself because witches are rarely stereotyped as being beautiful women. Where hast thou been sister? Killing swine. In the position ages if a lot of farm animals were getting ill it would be blame on witchcraft so it is therefore stereotypical that they kill pigs. They can predict the future, which shows they have supernatural powers and are psychic which is what you would expect a witch to be. They often speak in chant, which seems like a fleck when the hurlyburlys done, when the battles lost and won and they can fly hover through the fog they use cauldrons and make disgusting potions.The witches have a lot of power over many things although they cannot actually kill directly, yet they have other ways to kill. They manage to kill a womans husband by creating a storm and doing other aw ful things quietness shall neither night nor day they have the power to stop him from sleeping. The witches have power over the weather and they can conjure up spirits. immortalise his eyes and grieve his heart come like shadows, so diverge and they can predict the future, which shows power. A drum, a drum Macbeth doth come and by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. They h archaic a lot of power over Macbeth and he believes most things that they say because they come across as spiritual and all knowing to him.The witches influence Macbeth all throughout the play, they influence him to kill Macduffs family Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff they tell him that he will never be killed until the wood moves to the top of the hammock which obviously sounds un-likely to happen at all to him. Macbeth shall never be vanquished be, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill which is another thing that makes him believe that he is invincible. They influen ce the weather a lot as well. Everything they influence is for evil but the reason for why they do all of this is unclear.In conclusion Shakespeare presents the witches as evil, ugly old hags and they influence events completely and without them there would not be a story.

Consumer & Industrial Buyer Behaviour Assignment

In consumer markets, segmentation typically entails statistically categorizing a large number of guests with corresponding inevitably into the same group so that they can be reached with uni exploit market and advertising channels. By doing so, the marketer can then go bad the indispensabilitys of the consumers and cater the merchandises to better fit their needs.For the consumers, the decision sue for making grease ones palmss begin with need recognition they diverseiate between their actual or desire states. Needs atomic number 18 the basic forces that motivate the person to do something. Some needs drive a persons physical rise creation otherwises the individuals self-view and kinship with others. Needs are more basic than wants. Wants are needs that are learned during the persons life. A triumphful marketer provide be able to create the need amongst consumers and try to satisfy it. aft(prenominal) the consumer call on aware of their needs or wants, they for get store them in their store or go around searching for discipline on these needs. thither are two kinds of searches internal and extraneous. Internal search is when the consumers search inside their existing knowledge base, beliefs and attitudes. External search is when they seek declareation from neighbors, sales states or consumer reports etc. The consumer can obtain information from any of several(prenominal) sources personal, commercial message, public and experiential. Personal sources include family and friends. The personal sources are definitive for the person when making a buying decision. The marketer can employ commercial sources much(prenominal) as advertising and point-of-sale selling to reinforce the fruit awareness and increase the knowledge of the check off name.After gathering information from various sources, the consumer give then start to evaluate the different alternatives, unhurriedness the pros against the cons. They rank the brands and form pu rchase intention. The purchase decision willing egress in the consumers buying the preferred brand and two factors can fix the purchase intention attitudes of the others and unexpected situational factors. If you wants to buy product A, entirely your contract feels product B is cheaper while the quality of the two products is similar, it is very in all probability that you will end up buying product B instead.After purchasing the product, the consumer will be satisfied if they find that the product has met or exceeded their expectations. Re-purchases will likely occur, and consumers will probably discover the product to their relatives and friends and hold up loyal nodes of the brand. If, on the other hand, the reverse occurs, bad word-of-mouth will result and even consumers who feed never tried the product will be hesitant to buy it.Societal set in the be gruesomelegIt is critical that all aspects of the firms merchandising mix be coherent with the value system of i ts target market. Different groups will take a shit different value systems and marketers must adjust their activities to the values of their target group. Marketers must in any case change their marketing mix as the value systems of their target groups spud. Fortunately, values generally change slowly. Firms will have time to allow the practices to evolve if they monitor customer values. Firms can do that by conducting their own monitor surveys or subscribe to integrity of the more commercial surveys. However, caution should be used in responding to popular press declarations of major value shifts. Nowadays, about of customers increasing reverence for the environment.Marketers need to respond this undertake by 1) producing products whose production, use or disposal is less harmful to the environment than the traditional versions of the product, 2) growing products that have a positive impact on the environment or 3) tying the purchase of a product to an environmental orga nization or event. Marketers need to be cautious when making environmental claims. Those most have-to doe with with the environment are opinion leaders who are active shoppers. These people carefully evaluate advertising claims and are skeptical about them.As concern for the environment grew by dint ofout the 1980s and into the 1990s, some(prenominal) firms began to improve their products and processes relative to the environment and to advertise those improvements. In recent years, most of the companies have include good objectives in their mission statement. The products and services provided by these companies acquire a special meaning to their customers, which is associated with the value chain. However, failure to live up to ethical objectives may attract criticism. One golf-club that has been very successful establishing an environmentally friendly construe is The luggage compartment betray.The name The corpse Shop creates a natural and ethic subculture to the cus tomers, which is further reinforced by the use of discolour to decorate their retail shops. It gives a standardized message The soundbox Shop sells natural products. line image is composed of many different factors. Store features, coupled with such consumer characteristics as obtain orientation, cooperate to predict which shopping outlets people will prefer. Some of the important dimensions of a stores profile are location merchandise suitability and the knowledge and congeniality of the sales staff.The be Shop started in Brighton on the South Coast of England by Anita Roddick with besides twenty- cinque hand-mixed products on sale in 1976. At graduation exercise, The automobile trunk Shop employed mostly friends and friends of friends and everybody viewed themselves as one big family. However, the organization rapidly expanded through a system of libertys and to gain a franchise the potential franchises are all screened to ensure that they have the same ethical belief s as the founder. The Body Shop now operates around the world with about one thousand four hundred shops.The Body Shop maintains a number of formal policies, guidelines and manuals that underpin the ideals expressed in the Mission Statement. The Body Shop s mission statement as quoted in determine Report 1997 is that the club is unique in explicitly giving solicitude to social problems. They piazza on on social responsibility and naturally found quality personal care products. Their core principles are organized into five pillars Defend human Rights Protect Our Planet Promote Community switch over Activate Self-esteem and Against Animal Testing.These are core to their campaigning and companionship engagement programmes and are an integral part of their line of credit ism and practice. The Body Shop is committed to doing business with integrity and transparency. This means using their principles to inform customers of the way they do business and setting their business par tners and themselves clear standards of practice. It as well involves engaging stakeholders with their business aims and reporting on their performance within the boilersuit context of their business strategy.They focus are on being a world-class retailer, offering customers prestige products at value prices with excellent customer services. In coupled Kingdom, they have driven through a major enterprisingness called Inspiring the Customer in order to improve service.Unlike other cosmetics companies, the Body Shop does not claim that their cosmetics will eliminate wrinkles, establish you look years younger or thirty pounds slimmer and change ones life. The connection promotes health and well-being instead of beauty. Instead, it used stories to promote products. In 1998, they introduce Ruby dolls- love your body. She is a fat lady like a real person and she does not look like conventional models. The square campaign aimed to give a self-esteem message to the customers. The Body Shops school of thought of promoting health and well-being and actually serves as a promotion device. They focus on naturalness and health is a kind of niche marketing strategy, which attracts a relatively small segment of the market. This niche market generated a pre-tax profit of GBP20.4 million in 2003.The Body Shop sells skin and sensory hair care products from Vitamin E cream to Tea Tree Oil, from Banana shampoo to Aloe Vera Lotion. All in all, The Body Shops product score includes over cd products and 400 accessories. in that location are special product lines for men, for expectant mothers and for babies. There are sun-tanning products perfume oils and a full range of accessories, including brushes, towels, household gloves and sponges. At the time of writing, it enhanced its skin care range with the launch of kinetin.The Body Shop similarly undertook a stance of being against animal examen and seeking to gain attention and business from the environmentalist market by recycling bottles and keeping wastage to a minimum. However, it is worth noting that The Body Shop primitively introduced recycling plastic bottles as a cost reduction exercise. callable to falling customer demand, the company discontinued their long-running refill service in January 2003. However, by investing time and resources to introduce the recycled plastic programme they desire they will have a greater positive impact on the environment globally than their refill service could possibly offer.In November 1998, the United Kingdom government banned tests on cosmetic products and ingredients. There were alike finished product test bans in the Netherlands and Germany. After two years, europium banned cosmetics animal examen. It is an environment influence the customers chose their cosmetics. They will choose the anti-animal testing cosmetics. The Body Shop was the first international cosmetics retailer to be approve in the USA for its non-animal testing policy under a ord inary Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals.The Body Shop asserts a philosophy based on the exchange principle a company that owes its success to society should do something in return. Hence, the company should take responsibility for society in several respects. Of course in that location is no real recitation that social and environmental policies negatively impact The Body Shops profits. Rather the company cultivates an ethical profile and its customers get the idea that in buying the products, they help people in the Third World or help save the environment.The companys Fair Trade policy includes buying ingredients and accessories from Third World countries, thus attempting to improve living conditions in poor areas. In 2001/2 The Body Shop purchased over GBP5 million worth of natural ingredients and accessory items through the Community Trade programme, including nearly 60 tonnes of natural ingredients. Now there are 37 suppliers ranging from Nicaraguan sesame farmers to Indian handicraft producers from 24 countries from Australia to Zambia.The sponsoring of Greenpeace in 1985 reinforced this approach. In addition to encouraging employee involvement in the local community, the Company also facilitates employees personal donations to their selected charities through a give-as you-earn paysheet scheme. Other initiatives include Charity Works, an on-site charity shop enabling employees at the United Kingdom head office and distribution center in Littlehampton to purchase products that are substandard or shop spoiled. This initiative allows for the disposal of non-saleable stock in an environmentally responsible way, while also bugger offing benefits to the local community and employees of The Body Shop.The use of environmental and ethical issues are used to appeal to those who have the same concerns as well as in gaining free publicity from local and national press. merchandise uses psychographics to identify those not only with the desire for m ore natural and full(prenominal) quality products, but those with the same beliefs and attitudes towards the products they buys. The increased awareness in environmentalism and concern over the way the planet is being treated has also created a fashion of environmental awareness, taking this appeal mainstream rather than remaining as a marginal target market. The good value and the simple-minded case with clear labels were also more extensive than most common brands.For many products there is a decision making process, this takes place in the black box. Black box models treat the individual and his or her physiological and psychological make-up as an impenetrable black box. They are concerned with the external environmental influences on behavior and in the context of consumer behavior. The producer is modify by the actions of its competitors and the government distributors are affected by the sales and marketing efforts of their suppliers and by the needs of consumers and final ly consumers are affected by the marketing activities of producers and retailers and by the actions of the other consumers. This may be by the category-based evaluation or piecemeal processing.Category based decision making is a rule of evaluating a product. The category based process will involve the consumer will make use of the existing knowledge or memories that they already have regarding the product. They may remember that a particular brand was associated with Fair Trade, or received a good review in a magazine. ad may play a large part in this but as the Body Shop philosophy is against advertising. Many of the consumers will have gone into the shop aware of the philosophy, this is usually through publicity surround Anita Roddick or by the notices that advertising the philosophy in the window such as trade not aid and supporting environmental issues.A piecemeal process is where the consumer takes into account the different characteristics of the different products. The consu mer looking for a product may therefore look to see if it is scented, tested on animals, what the strength and type is described as and possibly even the value of the jar after the product is used. In attracting the consumers into the store the category process may be used and inside the piecemeal process may be seen as determining what products are purchased.ConclusionThe consumer decision produces an image of an individual carefully evaluating the attributes of asset of products, brands or services and rationally selecting the one that solves a clearly recognized need for the least cost. It has a rational, serviceable connotation. While consumers do make many decisions in this manner, many others involve little conscious effort. Furthermore, many consumer decisions focus not on brand or with the environment in which the product is purchase or used. bribe cosmetics requires limited decision making. It involves internal and limited external search, few alternatives, simple decisi on rules on a few attributes and little post purchase evaluationThe marketers of the Body Shop are helping consumers recognize problems. The approach is generic problem recognition to cause problem recognition. It creates the need for necktie and for assertion. Affiliation is the need to develop mutually helpful and satisfying relationship with others. Group membership is a critical part of most consumers lives and many consumer decisions are based on the need to maintain satisfying relationships with others. The need for assertion reflects a consumers need for engaging in those types of activities that will bring about an increase in self-esteem as well as esteem in the eyes of others. The Body Shop has full range body products and they are natural and protect environment and has gained a first mover advantage in this market.The Body Shop believes that disclosure is an important tool in helping stakeholders to feel engaged in its business aims and approach. As importantly, it rega rds the discipline of preparing accounts and reviewing its performance in an objective way as a crucial management tool for developing the companys understanding of its authorized approach. The company aims to provide a current insight into the business to grapple its philosophy and aims and helps manage expectations around its ongoing performance. It will create the customer awareness and reinforce them to choose their products.The product is seen as ethically good-hearted with good quality ranges that appeal to a wide target market. The approximately high price of a high mid rate product is justified by the increased value that consumer places on the goods and the way that the consumer will also feel good about themselves. Promotion is the communication of the company values in some form. All these come together to form a successful company that has since been emulated by many larger spark advance companies, however they lack the credibility and as such fail in total emulatio n.

The Search for Three Truths in the United States

With the hallucination of liberty and the pursuit of happiness my family has immigrated halfway around the world, from Vietnam to America.My p arnts fled to the United States, not for them but for the unending opportunities for their children. My parents have sacrificed their whole live for their children to have exemption and a bright future, regardless of any difficulties. My parents sacrifices are the motivation that pushed me to higher level of procreation because I acknowledge the keep down of pain my family underwent by coming to the United States by extracting the maximum touchst genius of knowledge in my undergraduate studies.I felt overwhelmed when I remaining Vietnam for the United States because not only did I have to divulge a new language, I needed to learn a new philosophy, one completely the opposite of what the communist had taught me. It wasnt that hard to forget the bollocks philosophy and learn a new philosophy, but it takes time to learn a new language, e specially during childhood. It was very difficult for a child to keep his native language and to learn a second language and expect him to fluent in both languages.So I struggled with the side language throughout my elementary and middle school, but I knew if I put effort into studying, eventually I would be able to get the best my language difficulties. I worked assiduously throughout my high school biography and received almost straight As in Honors and AP classes. go I may not have had much opportunity for overture or education in Vietnam, in the U.S I placed my education and future as my ambition.My family fled to the United States with a dream to search for tether truths life, liberty, and happiness. We are very fortunate to find these truths, however, along the way there were many hardships, difficulties and asperities. I am glad that these difficulties have occurred to my life because it make me a stronger person, a dedicated student, and person that has the capability of tacking problems to consider how great.

Balance Scorecard Essay

work up the strategicalal objectives for your rail line in the format of a fit scorecard. The strategic objectives are measures of attaining your vision and mission. As you develop them consider the vision, mission, and apprizes for your business and the outcomes of your SWOTT analysis. Consider the following four quadrants of the balanced scorecard when development your strategic objectivesShareholder Value or Financial Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas much(prenominal)(prenominal) asMarket shareRevenues and costsProfitability agonistical impersonate guest Value Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such as guest remembering or turnoverCustomer satisfactionCustomer valueProcess or Internal Operations Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asMeasure of process performanceProductivity or productiveness improvementOperations metricsLearning and Growth (Employee) Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asEmploy ee satisfactionEmployee turnover or retention train of organizational capabilityNature of organizational culture or climeTechnological innovationDevelop at least two strategic objectives for each of the following four balanced scorecard areas set above (Financial, Customer, Process, Learning and Growth). Your objectives should be selected, in part, based on an valuation of a number of potential alternatives to the issues and/or opportunities identified in the SWOTT abridgment idea and table you completed in Week Three. Base your solutions on a ranking of alternative solutions that iGet complete A+ tutorial here https//bitly.com/12C4FhkIf you have a hard time with schedules, try development routines. Schedules generally involve plans that are timed, while routines are generally usual procedures. If scheduling doesnt work for you, try implementing a routine with sanctioned guidelines. They dont need to be done in a particular order or at specific times, but they washstand b e used to make a list for completing your chance(a) tasks.Business commissionIndividualStrategic Plan, Part III equilibrise ScorecardResource Exhibit 7-1 in Ch. 7 of Strategic ManagementDevelop the strategic objectives for your business in the format of abalanced scorecard. The strategic objectives are measures of attaining your vision and mission. As you develop them consider the vision, mission, and determine for your business and the outcomes of your SWOTT analysis. Consider the following four quadrants of the balanced scorecard when developing your strategic objectives Shareholder Value or Financial Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asMarket shareRevenues and costsProfitabilityCompetitive position Customer Value Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asCustomer retention or turnoverCustomer satisfactionCustomer value Process or Internal Operations Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asMeasure of process performan ceProductivity or productivity improvementOperations metrics Learning and Growth (Employee) Perspective, includes strategic objectives in areas such asEmployee satisfactionEmployee turnover or retentionLevel of organizational capabilityNature of organizational culture or climateTechnological innovationDevelop at least one-third strategic objectives for each of the following four balanced scorecard areas identified above (Financial, Customer, Process, Learning and Growth). Your objectives should be selected, in part, based on an evaluation of a number of potential alternatives to the issues and/or opportunities identified in the SWOTT Analysis paper and table you completed in Week Three. Base your solutions on a ranking of alternative solutions that includes an identification of potential risks and mitigation plans, and a stakeholder analysis that includes

Japan Culture Essay

japan, officially Nippon, a country off the east oceancoast of Asia. It consists of four large islands- Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku- and more than than 3,300 smaller ones, including the Ryukyu chain (Gluck et. al, 1987). japan broken some of its possessions as a result of World War II. These include the southern part of the island of Sakhalin, the Kurile Islands, Manchuria, Korea, and Taiwan. II. Discussions A. Culture Nipponese purification is partly of Chinese origin and partly indigenous, for the Nipponese adapted and did not merely reproduce the culture of the mainland.Since the middle of the 19th century, lacquer has been influenced more by the culture of occidental countries than by that of its neighbors. Adoption of many another(prenominal) Western ways produced shrill contrasts between the new and the old. Buildings and clothing, for example, ar now seen in both conventional and Western styles. Among forces that direct helped to mold the Japanese char acter atomic number 18 Buddhist, Shinto, and Confucian religious beliefs, the effects of a long feudal period, and the influences of Japanese industrial revolution.With industrialization came a change from rural to urban living. American influences have been particularly string since World War II (Hall et. al, 1987). B. The Arts Japanese humanities have been strongly influenced by Chinese art. From the mainland came the technique of ink painting on silk and the Buddhist influences in sculpture and painting. A landscape school developed from Zen Buddhism after the 13th century. Japanese prints of the seventeenth and 18th century had a profound effect in Western art.Distinctive contributions have likewise been made in architecture. Traditional arts also include landscape gardening bonsai the cultivation of dwarf trees ikebana, meridian arranging ceramics and origami, paper folding (Beasley, 1987). Flourishing throughout Japan argon no, classical plays in which the actors wear mas ks depicting their character Bunraku, puppet plays and kabuki, childs play with stylized chanting and dancing. An important part of Japanese culture is the afternoon tea ceremony, a upliftedly formal ritual, of which there argon many variations (Morton, 1984).As a way of entertaining guests, it is regarded as the best expression of traditionalistic etiquette. Some of the traditional arts- especially classical Japanese music and jump and the tea ceremony- ar part of the repertoire of geisha, a female entertainers who run for groups of men. C. Family and Home In Japan the family is a traditional and strong institution. It has a formal structure with authority vested in the male head of the family. The wife is expected to be subservient.Children learn discipline and their respective roles in the family at an early age. Sons are given preference over daughters, and the eldest countersign is superior to all others. However, many of the repressive aspects of the family, such as t hat of parents find out marriages, have weakened since World War II (Morton, 1984). Japanese homes are noted for their simplicity. Nearly all are built of wood. On many homes, paper- covered wooden frames, called shoji, are used for windows and doors.Being light and slow moved, they allow much of the house to be opened to the out-of- doors. Some homes are adjoined by landscaped gardens. Rooms are usually having thick pale yellow mats, called tatami, on the floor and very little furniture. D. Language and Religion The Japanese language is unrelated to other Oriental tongues. However, it is written in characters that sooner were adapted from Chinese writing. The Japanese constitution of 1946 provides freedom of religion and legal separation of church and state.The two major religions are Shinto and Buddhism. Many Japanese adhere, in varying degrees, to both. Confucianism, though not a religion in the Western sense, has had considerable influence on Japanese personal and cordial relationships. There are some 1,350,000 Christians, of whom about 30 percent are Roman Catholics and about 70 percent are Protestants (Morton, 1984). E. Food and habiliments The Japanese clothing includes the Uchikake, Kimono, Nagajugan, Yukata, Michiyuki, Hakama, Shiro-maku, Haori, and the Accessories like Obi, Shoes, Socks and the like.The Japanese foods includes the Wasabi or the Japanese Horseradish, Donburi which is a bowl of cooked rice, Yakitori or a grilled chicken, Gomaae which is a sesame dressing, Udon or thick Japanese noodles, Gyoza is like dumpling, Tempura which is a deep fry sea food and vegetables, Korokke is made of potato, Sushi most famous dish outside Japan, Mushrooms or kinoko in Japanese, Soba a native Japanese noodle, Nikujaga composed of the meat and potatoes, Seaweed or kaiso, Ramen a noodle dish.Sashimi which is a raw seafood, Rice which is Japans important crop, Okonomiyaki is a combination of a pizza and a pancake and Soya Bean with the soya sauce or s hoyu (Christopher, 1983). F. Politics Japans form of government is Constitutional Monarchy. The emperor is the head of the state. Although it is Monarchy, quiet down it is very limited because it is based on the Constitution. Prime minister serves as the President of the government of Japan. The Diet is their body of legislatives, where it is composed of the Representatives elected by the people. Their right of suffrage starts at 20 years old (Morton, 1984). G. phantasmal BeliefsThere are three major religions in Japan and these are Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity. Japanese have these rituals that they are earnestly following. The kami which means a diety, is their god. The kami are of variety forms like those that lived in stobes, hills, and other parts of the environment those that serves as a protector god and the diety of the rice wagon (Christopher, 1983). Kami is worshipped at the fields of rice where in they also had their feasts. Shinto focus hardly on the kami. Buddhis m also reached Japan which was then from India. Developments like the rising of commoners, zazen or the meditation, koan or the irrational riddles and the enlightenment which is the satori.The Japanese also believed in kamikaze which is the heaven-sent wind, the hara-kiri or the suicide where it is rarely practiced now in Japan, where the Japanese commits suicide whenever they fail from any business they establishes (Christopher, 1983). H. Economics Japan is one of the worlds leading industrial nations, ranking understructure only the United States and the Soviet Union. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Japans gross national product or the GNP grew at the phenomenal average rate of about 11 percent a year- more than twice that of the United States (Packard, 1987). The worst postwar slump came in the mid- 1970s, when intercontinental recession brought high levels of unemployment and inflation and a sharp decline in economic ontogenesis.Most of Japans postwar economic growth has b een due to keen corporate management, a well- educated, industrious labor force, high levels of savings and investment, intensive promotions of industrial development, and vigorous foreign trade. Government has also been a decisive factor. Its influence is powerful and widespread, though exercised mainly though informal, cooperative arrangements with business. Giant conglomerates, many of which are interlocked in manufacturing, finance, and trade, are of bill importance in the economy. Coexisting with them are many small and medium- coat firms. Government ownership of industry and business is negligible, limited mainly to transportation and communication services. There has been little foreign investment in Japan because of numerous governmental restrictions (Gluck et. al, 1987).

David Hocking’s book The Nature of God in Plain Language Essay

It has to be verbalise that the concept of confide has taken quite a hammering in social club in the past twenty years. During this time we have seen a host of previously considered credible hatful such as politicians, priests, child care workers, teachers, babysitters and to a greater extent exposed in the media as liars, cheats and criminals so is it any enjoy that we great power have trouble believing in an entity that has never truly been seen by anyone someone like matinee idol for example. David Hocking examines this issue of trust in relation to faith in his book The Nature of beau ideal in Plain Language. One of the key pointors illustrated in Hockings book is the fact that the Bible clearly states that immortal made man in his possess image, so therefore matinee idol should be viewed as we big businessman view different people around us, or perhaps more specifically in the management we view ourselves. Hocking makes it clear that divinity is non some form of force but that instead he back tooth be viewed to be a person like us, and therefore if we hope to train more about God then we fanny learn about him through looking at ourselves. Hocking writes, He possesses biography, self-consciousness, freedom, goal, intelligence and sense (65).One of the problems that stems from this viewpoint is that many people walk around with a very low opinion of themselves so it might be ticklish to encounter that while God is not better than us, and therefore be considered as some paragon of perfection, he is an image of the very dress hat that we could be to ourselves, for ourselves and to others. Hocking reinforces the fact about being a friend of God and points to the example of Abraham in the Old volition who is cited as being a person who did look upon God, and did consider God to be his friend.We are not cap adapted of being friends with a force, or source of higher power, which is why it is important for non-believers to understand th at God does have elements of humanity, which we as humans share. still the distance that is a great deal perceived amidst God and man does help perpetuate the elements of mistrust about God as a designer of life, God as a loving father and God as the keeper of all men, especially if our own experience with trusting other human unmarrieds has left us so cynical or jaded about the good in mankindHocking believes that our growing cynicism is why trust is such an important concept when discussing a relationship with God. We should be able to trust our friends, our partners, and our family and this same trust needs to be found in God if he is to provide a positive influence in our own lives.Hocking illustrates the common problem we have as trusting individuals when he explains about a woman that had been abused and allow down continually by the significant people in her life including her parents that placed her in an institution, to friends and significant others she met througho ut her life. If she had been let down by so many people in her life it would be nearly im thinkable for her to consider that an unseen and unknown friend like God could care for a person he had never physically met, at least in her eyes, and is apparently unknown to her.Hocking believes this lack of trust can be overcome through one-third main factors that should be indicators of a whether or not a person might be trustworthy. These three elements, telling the truth, doing what is right and fair, and being reliable, should provide the standards we measure the trustworthy temper of our friends and family, and Hocking explains how these same three factors can influence the level of trust we might have in God.The Bible illustrates countless examples of where God has proven himself in terms of these three measures of trustworthiness. Hocking describes God as being morally refined and therefore it would be impossible for God to lie, to be unfair or be someone that could not be depende d on. Hocking refers to the Old Testament that showed how the people of Israel came to trust in God as they walked through the desert, and the New Testament that supported the fact that God could be counted on as a faithful being and one who is always with us. If these ideas can be mute by an individual then with the passage of time it would be possible for all of us to trust in the one being that allow never let us down.Hockings viewpoint on God being an accessible, trustworthy and righteous being, who can have influence on an individual in modern life is not a brisk concept, but understanding the importance of understanding ourselves so that we may understand God more clearly is not a common idea. more apparitional based Churches strive to create a distance between God and man and use concepts such as mans inclination to sin on earth and generally be considered frightful in Gods eyes as a way to maintain that distance.The fact that this distance between God and ourselves onl y serves the purpose of the Church as a governing body, rather than the individual is often overlooked by many theologians, but Hocking, despite his own spectral affiliations, seeks to strip away the negative perceptions that the Church has upheld about man and God throughout the ages and instead paves the way for a life that can be had by any individual who could understand that God can be a friend in every sense of the word.The one stumbling impede to this level of understanding is the level of mistrust that is perpetuated in modern society between individuals and groups. The central premise of Hockings book is that to know God we have to know ourselves to understand God we have to understand ourselves as individuals and to trust in God, we need to trust in others and ourselves. Stripped of religious hype and forewarnings of doom and gloom that is often manifested by Church groups worldwide, Hockings book shows us that it is possible to have a relationship with our Lord, and tha t this relationship can be based on trust, regardless of the actions of others in our lives. works CitedHocking, David. The Nature of God in Plain Language, Waco, Texas Word Books, 1984

Fin 4413

Finance 725Spring 2006 J. E. Hodder stomach Finance Course instrument Tuesday, January 17Introduction Thursday, January 19Clarkson beat Comp each Reading mark off on Financial Analysis a. How is the companys pecuniary performance? ( tryappropriate m wizardtary ratios. ) b. why has Clarkson forest borrowed increasing amounts contempt its consistent profitability? c. How has Mr. Clarkson met the backing aims of the company during the period 1993 through and through 1995? Has the monetary strength of Clarkson lumber improven or deterio prized? d. How attractive is it to prep ar employment terminates?Tuesday, January 24Clarkson Lumber Company (continued) Reading a. let down on Financial Forecasting b. Note on Bank Loans a. How often of a bringword will Mr. Clarkson need to finance the expected expansion in gross gross revenue to $5. 5 cardinal in 1996 and to make do all the trade discounts? (Prepargon a projected income report for 1996 and a pro forma balance airpl ane as of celestial latitude 31, 1996. ) b. As Mr. Clarksons monetary adviser, would you urge him to go ahead with, or to reconsider, his pass judgment expansion and plans for additional debt pay? . As the banker, would you approve Mr. Clarksons lend request and if so, what conditions would you put on the lend? Thursday, January 26SureCut Shears, Inc. a. Evaluate SureCuts financial performance apply exemplification ratios. b. Why good dealt SureCut repay its loan on time? In copeing this question, you whitethorn find it spendful to construct a sources and uses statement for the period June 30, 1995 promenade 31, 1996. Tuesday, January 31SureCut Shears (continued) a. What actions would you recommend that SureCut take in order to address its financial problems? If Mr.Stewart jeers to a loan reference and your recommendations argon implemented, when will SureCut be adequate to(p)-bodied to repay the loan in full? b. Would you, as Mr. Stewart, agree to a loan extension? What conditions or terms would you require? c. contrast the nature of the financial problems facing SureCut with those of Clarkson Lumber. Thursday, February 2Advanced Technologies, Inc. faux pas subduedness 1 callable a. In a volatile industry much(prenominal) as semiconductor equipment manufacturing, how useful is long-run financial planning? b. What atomic number 18 the key characteristics of ATIs food market places and operating policies?How do these characteristics entice the companys financial mental synthesis? c. Has Mr. Michaels do a good job of financial planning? What set of viable conditions would place ATI under the greatest backing pressure, and how great would that pressure be? d. Should ATI sell faithfulness in 1998, thereby bringing its financial structure more in line with those of its master(prenominal) competitors? Tuesday, February 7Continental Carriers, Inc. a. How is the companys financial performance? (Examineappropriate financial ratios. ) b . tending(p) the nature of CCIs ancestry, how much debt can it support? . What ar the individual make up of the contrary financing alternatives suggested? Thursday, February 9Continental Carriers (continued) a. What information does the EBIT chart (Exhibit 3) provide? What inferences can we hook on from it? b. What be the qualitative advantages and disadvantages of each of the forms of financing under consideration? c. How should the scholarship of Midland Freight be financed, pickings into account the explicit speak tos of the different alternatives as well as other relevant considerations? Tuesday, February 14Debt Policy at UST Inc . a.From the perspective of a bondholder, what are the primary attributes and business pretends for UST? b. Why is UST considering a leveraged re large(p)ization after such a long record of conservative debt policy? c. musical theme the incremental put in on USTs shelter if the entire $1 zillion recapitalization is implemented immediat ely (January 1, 1999). exact a 38% tax localise and perpetual debt. Also analyze, via a pro forma income statement, whether UST will be able to make interest payments. d. Would UST be better off with a different initial debt level? Should it castigate the debt level through time? e.Will the recapitalization bond cover USTs ability to uphold its long history of dividend payments? Thursday, February 16No Class Meeting A make-up session is tentatively plan for 700 PM on Thursday February 2nd. The topic will be a brief reexamine of Capital Structure Theory. Tuesday, February 21 rock and roll Container Corporation (A) a. Compare Roger S net tones egress and financial strategies with those of his predecessors. b. Examine the sensitivity of jewel Containers earnings and gold conflate to the paper and liner notice pricing cycle. Assume gross revenue volume of 7. 5 million slews per year and a 35% marginal tax rate.What would be the effect of a $50 per ton legal injury increas e? Is such an industry-wide price increase plausible? c. What should be muffin Containers financial priorities in 1993? d. Of the financing alternatives described in the baptistry, which would be in the best interests of infernal regions constituentholders? Which would be in the best interests of its high-yield debt holders? Which would be favored by its bank creditors? Thursday, February 23Stone Container Corporation (continued) encase subduedness 2 overdue Tuesday, February 28. induct petroleum Corporation a.Does groundbreaker bet its overall incorporated weight down average cost of capital correctly? b. When evaluating projects and allocating enthronement funds among discrepancys, should Pioneer use a single corporate cost of capital or multiple divisional hurdle rank? If multiple rates are used, how should they be resolved? c. Should all projects at heart a single division use the same hurdle rate? If not, how should different standards be determined? Thursday, defect 2Marriott Corporation The damage of Capital (Abridged) a. atomic number 18 the four components of Marriotts financial dodging consistent with its development objective? b.Why does Marriott use divisional hurdle rates instead of each a company-wide rate or project-specific rates? c. Estimate the WACC for Marriott as a whole. What risk-free rate and risk premium did you use in estimating the cost of equity? How did you measure the firms cost of debt? Tuesday, butt on 7Marriott Corporation (continued) a. Estimate the cost of equity, cost of debt, and WACC for Marriotts living accommodations and its restaurant divisions. b. What is the cost of capital for Marriotts boil down services division? How can you compute that divisions equity costs without in public traded comparable companies?Thursday, March 9Pressco, Inc. (1985) a. What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the mechanical drying equipment investment opportunity (as of December 1985) assuming a 12% cost of capit al for Paperco? Assume the rumored reinvigorated tax proposal is not enacted and the untested equipment is installed in December 1986. b. What is the NPV of the investment project assuming that the youthful tax proposals are enacted, the new drying equipment is installed in December 1986, and Paperco signs a binding buy contract soon comme il faut to be eligible for the 8% investing Tax Credit and the use of ACRS depreciation? . Ms. Rogers knows that Papercos management incorporated a 6% general rising prices assumption into its overall cost of capital estimate. She also knows Papercos management mat that fuel costs would remain un deviated through 1990 and then rhytidoplasty at 6% per year thereafter. How much, if at all, would the use of this information change the projects NPV estimate? Spring Break Tuesday, March 21. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. titanium Dioxide a. What are Du Ponts competitive advantages in the Titanium Dioxide market as of 1972? How permanent or defensible are they?What must(prenominal) Du Pont do to retain its competitive advantages in the future? b. Given the forecasts provided in the facial expression, estimate the incremental cash flows associated with Du Ponts growth strategy and its maintain strategy for the Titanium Dioxide market. How much risk and hesitation surround these future cash flows? c. How susceptibility competitors respond to Du Ponts choice of every strategy? What other factors should Du Pont consider in making this decision? Which strategy do you recommend? Thursday, March 23. Wilmington Tap and Die a. are the swelling assumptions used in the cash flow projections onsistent with the implicit inflation assumption in a 20% hurdle rate? b. critically evaluate the sales forecasts for Wilmington, its competitors, and the market as a whole. Why does portray 7 indicate a declining market share for Wilmington? Why are other competitors growing more quickly than Wilmington? c. Is it reasonable to fall upon that the contest will not purchase new technology grinders ( both Icahn or one of the apparent German alternatives)? If instead you assume that Wilmingtons competitors purchase modern grinders, how should the sales forecast be modified? d.What are possible implications of the higher timber taps produced on the Icahn (or similar) machines for unit sales projections and possible pricing differentials? e. Are there other aspects of the cash flow estimates which should be questioned? Tuesday, March 28Wilmington Tap and Die (Continued) Case Submission 3 Due Thursday, March 30Interco a. Assess Intercos financial performance. Why is the company a coup detat target? b. As a fragment of Intercos board are you persuaded by the premiums paid analysis ( establish 10) and the comparable proceedings analysis (exhibit 11)? c.How does Wasserstein Perellas estimated valuation prototype of $68 $80 per common share for Interco result from the assumptions in exhibit 12? As a genus Phallus of Intercos board, which of those assumptions would you have questioned? d. How would you advise the Interco board on the $70 per share strain? Tuesday, April 4Bougainville Power station ReadingBrealey & Myers, Chapter 19 OR Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, Chapter 17 a. What are the comforts of loan subsidies on the English and Japanese urge ons? b. What are the Present Values for the interestingness Tax Shields on each bid? . Is 100% debt optimal for the spot station equipment purchase? If not, how should the bid evaluations be adjusted? d. What is the appropriate discount rate for evaluating the Base Case NPV? Thursday, April 6Southport Minerals Inc. a. What are the pros and cons of the approaches suggested in the case for evaluating the Firstburg Project? What are the advantages of APV compared with the approaches in the case? b. How would you estimate an unlevered cost of equity for this project? c. How should anticipated inflation be incorporated in the project evaluation? . Are there any assumptions regarding projected cash flows or loan repayments that you feel are either overly optimistic or overly pessimistic? Tuesday, April 11Southport Minerals (continued) Case Submission 4 Due Thursday, April 13 pickaxe Pricing and historical Options I ReadingBrealey & Myers, Chapters 20-22 OR Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, Chapters 22 and 23 Tuesday, April 18Option Pricing and current Options II Thursday, April 20Option Pricing and Real Options III Tuesday, April 25 fit Tel a.Estimate the take account of the first generation proceeds using APV. How much of that value is due to financing with the secured bank loan? b. What is the effect of the being able to sell the manufacturing equipment for $4 million in year three if shoot for the first generation phones is low? c. What must be the minimum value of the growth option represented by the second generation crop in order to justify scratch Wire Tel? Thursday, April 27MW Petroleum Corporation (A) a. Is it reason able to expect that the MW properties are more valuable to Apache than to Amoco?What sources of value most plausibly account for the battle between buyer and marketer? b. Value all the MW reserves using APV. Is your estimate more plausibly to be biased high or low? What are the sources of bias? c. How would you structure an analysis of MW as a portfolio of assets-in-place and options? d. Focusing on proved undeveloped reserves, what is the strike price for the embed option? What are the accepted asset value, volatility, and other input parameters ask for an option valuation? Tuesday, whitethorn 2MW Petroleum Corporation (continued) Case Submission 5 Due Thursday, May 4Course freshen upFin 4413Finance 725Spring 2006 J. E. Hodder Corporation Finance Course Schedule Tuesday, January 17Introduction Thursday, January 19Clarkson Lumber Company ReadingNote on Financial Analysis a. How is the companys financial performance? (Examineappropriate financial ratios. ) b. Why has Clarkson Lumber borrowed increasing amounts despite its consistent profitability? c. How has Mr. Clarkson met the financing needs of the company during the period 1993 through 1995? Has the financial strength of Clarkson Lumber improved or deteriorated? d. How attractive is it to take trade discounts?Tuesday, January 24Clarkson Lumber Company (continued) Reading a. Note on Financial Forecasting b. Note on Bank Loans a. How much of a loan will Mr. Clarkson need to finance the expected expansion in sales to $5. 5 million in 1996 and to take all the trade discounts? (Prepare a projected income statement for 1996 and a pro forma balance sheet as of December 31, 1996. ) b. As Mr. Clarksons financial adviser, would you urge him to go ahead with, or to reconsider, his anticipated expansion and plans for additional debt financing? . As the banker, would you approve Mr. Clarksons loan request and if so, what conditions would you put on the loan? Thursday, January 26SureCut Shears, Inc. a. Evaluate S ureCuts financial performance using standard ratios. b. Why cant SureCut repay its loan on time? In addressing this question, you may find it useful to construct a sources and uses statement for the period June 30, 1995 March 31, 1996. Tuesday, January 31SureCut Shears (continued) a. What actions would you recommend that SureCut take in order to address its financial problems? If Mr.Stewart agrees to a loan extension and your recommendations are implemented, when will SureCut be able to repay the loan in full? b. Would you, as Mr. Stewart, agree to a loan extension? What conditions or terms would you require? c. Compare the nature of the financial problems facing SureCut with those of Clarkson Lumber. Thursday, February 2Advanced Technologies, Inc. Case Submission 1 Due a. In a volatile industry such as semiconductor equipment manufacturing, how useful is long-term financial planning? b. What are the key characteristics of ATIs markets and operating policies?How do these characteri stics influence the companys financial structure? c. Has Mr. Michaels done a good job of financial planning? What set of possible conditions would place ATI under the greatest financing pressure, and how great would that pressure be? d. Should ATI sell equity in 1998, thereby bringing its financial structure more in line with those of its main competitors? Tuesday, February 7Continental Carriers, Inc. a. How is the companys financial performance? (Examineappropriate financial ratios. ) b. Given the nature of CCIs business, how much debt can it support? . What are the respective costs of the different financing alternatives suggested? Thursday, February 9Continental Carriers (continued) a. What information does the EBIT chart (Exhibit 3) provide? What inferences can we draw from it? b. What are the qualitative advantages and disadvantages of each of the forms of financing under consideration? c. How should the acquisition of Midland Freight be financed, taking into account the explic it costs of the different alternatives as well as other relevant considerations? Tuesday, February 14Debt Policy at UST Inc . a.From the perspective of a bondholder, what are the primary attributes and business risks for UST? b. Why is UST considering a leveraged recapitalization after such a long history of conservative debt policy? c. Estimate the incremental effect on USTs value if the entire $1 billion recapitalization is implemented immediately (January 1, 1999). Assume a 38% tax rate and perpetual debt. Also analyze, via a pro forma income statement, whether UST will be able to make interest payments. d. Would UST be better off with a different initial debt level? Should it adjust the debt level through time? e.Will the recapitalization hamper USTs ability to maintain its long history of dividend payments? Thursday, February 16No Class Meeting A make-up session is tentatively scheduled for 700 PM on Thursday February 2nd. The topic will be a brief review of Capital Structure T heory. Tuesday, February 21Stone Container Corporation (A) a. Compare Roger Stones growth and financial strategies with those of his predecessors. b. Examine the sensitivity of Stone Containers earnings and cash flow to the paper and linerboard pricing cycle. Assume sales volume of 7. 5 million tons per year and a 35% marginal tax rate.What would be the effect of a $50 per ton price increase? Is such an industry-wide price increase plausible? c. What should be Stone Containers financial priorities in 1993? d. Of the financing alternatives described in the case, which would be in the best interests of Stones shareholders? Which would be in the best interests of its high-yield debt holders? Which would be favored by its bank creditors? Thursday, February 23Stone Container Corporation (continued) Case Submission 2 Due Tuesday, February 28. Pioneer Petroleum Corporation a.Does Pioneer estimate its overall corporate weighted average cost of capital correctly? b. When evaluating projects and allocating investment funds among divisions, should Pioneer use a single corporate cost of capital or multiple divisional hurdle rates? If multiple rates are used, how should they be determined? c. Should all projects within a single division use the same hurdle rate? If not, how should different standards be determined? Thursday, March 2Marriott Corporation The Cost of Capital (Abridged) a. Are the four components of Marriotts financial strategy consistent with its growth objective? b.Why does Marriott use divisional hurdle rates instead of either a company-wide rate or project-specific rates? c. Estimate the WACC for Marriott as a whole. What risk-free rate and risk premium did you use in estimating the cost of equity? How did you measure the firms cost of debt? Tuesday, March 7Marriott Corporation (continued) a. Estimate the cost of equity, cost of debt, and WACC for Marriotts lodging and its restaurant divisions. b. What is the cost of capital for Marriotts contract services division? How can you estimate that divisions equity costs without publicly traded comparable companies?Thursday, March 9Pressco, Inc. (1985) a. What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the mechanical drying equipment investment opportunity (as of December 1985) assuming a 12% cost of capital for Paperco? Assume the rumored new tax proposal is not enacted and the new equipment is installed in December 1986. b. What is the NPV of the investment project assuming that the new tax proposals are enacted, the new drying equipment is installed in December 1986, and Paperco signs a binding purchase contract soon enough to be eligible for the 8% Investment Tax Credit and the use of ACRS depreciation? . Ms. Rogers knows that Papercos management incorporated a 6% general inflation assumption into its overall cost of capital estimate. She also knows Papercos management felt that fuel costs would remain same(predicate) through 1990 and then rise at 6% per year thereafter. How much, if at all, wo uld the use of this information change the projects NPV estimate? Spring Break Tuesday, March 21. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. Titanium Dioxide a. What are Du Ponts competitive advantages in the Titanium Dioxide market as of 1972? How permanent or defensible are they?What must Du Pont do to retain its competitive advantages in the future? b. Given the forecasts provided in the case, estimate the incremental cash flows associated with Du Ponts growth strategy and its maintain strategy for the Titanium Dioxide market. How much risk and uncertainty surround these future cash flows? c. How might competitors respond to Du Ponts choice of either strategy? What other factors should Du Pont consider in making this decision? Which strategy do you recommend? Thursday, March 23. Wilmington Tap and Die a. Are the inflation assumptions used in the cash flow projections onsistent with the implicit inflation assumption in a 20% hurdle rate? b. Critically evaluate the sales forecasts for Wilmi ngton, its competitors, and the market as a whole. Why does exhibit 7 indicate a declining market share for Wilmington? Why are other competitors growing more rapidly than Wilmington? c. Is it reasonable to assume that the competition will not purchase new technology grinders (either Icahn or one of the apparent German alternatives)? If instead you assume that Wilmingtons competitors purchase modern grinders, how should the sales forecast be modified? d.What are possible implications of the higher quality taps produced on the Icahn (or similar) machines for unit sales projections and possible pricing differentials? e. Are there other aspects of the cash flow estimates which should be questioned? Tuesday, March 28Wilmington Tap and Die (Continued) Case Submission 3 Due Thursday, March 30Interco a. Assess Intercos financial performance. Why is the company a takeover target? b. As a member of Intercos board are you persuaded by the premiums paid analysis (exhibit 10) and the comparable transactions analysis (exhibit 11)? c.How does Wasserstein Perellas estimated valuation range of $68 $80 per common share for Interco result from the assumptions in exhibit 12? As a member of Intercos board, which of those assumptions would you have questioned? d. How would you advise the Interco board on the $70 per share offer? Tuesday, April 4Bougainville Power Station ReadingBrealey & Myers, Chapter 19 OR Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, Chapter 17 a. What are the values of loan subsidies on the English and Japanese bids? b. What are the Present Values for the Interest Tax Shields on each bid? . Is 100% debt optimal for the power station equipment purchase? If not, how should the bid evaluations be adjusted? d. What is the appropriate discount rate for evaluating the Base Case NPV? Thursday, April 6Southport Minerals Inc. a. What are the pros and cons of the approaches suggested in the case for evaluating the Firstburg Project? What are the advantages of APV compared with the appro aches in the case? b. How would you estimate an unlevered cost of equity for this project? c. How should anticipated inflation be incorporated in the project evaluation? . Are there any assumptions regarding projected cash flows or loan repayments that you feel are either overly optimistic or overly pessimistic? Tuesday, April 11Southport Minerals (continued) Case Submission 4 Due Thursday, April 13Option Pricing and Real Options I ReadingBrealey & Myers, Chapters 20-22 OR Ross, Westerfield, & Jaffe, Chapters 22 and 23 Tuesday, April 18Option Pricing and Real Options II Thursday, April 20Option Pricing and Real Options III Tuesday, April 25Wire Tel a.Estimate the value of the first generation product using APV. How much of that value is due to financing with the secured bank loan? b. What is the effect of the being able to sell the manufacturing equipment for $4 million in year three if demand for the first generation phones is low? c. What must be the minimum value of the growth op tion represented by the second generation product in order to justify starting Wire Tel? Thursday, April 27MW Petroleum Corporation (A) a. Is it reasonable to expect that the MW properties are more valuable to Apache than to Amoco?What sources of value most plausibly account for the difference between buyer and seller? b. Value all the MW reserves using APV. Is your estimate more likely to be biased high or low? What are the sources of bias? c. How would you structure an analysis of MW as a portfolio of assets-in-place and options? d. Focusing on proved undeveloped reserves, what is the strike price for the embedded option? What are the current asset value, volatility, and other input parameters needed for an option valuation? Tuesday, May 2MW Petroleum Corporation (continued) Case Submission 5 Due Thursday, May 4Course Review