See details below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

See details below - Essay Example pp2-3) in which the project is either accepted or rejected based on its value addition to the firm and the shareholder wealth. The author showed that the cost of capital of a project is marginalized to maximize the shareholder wealth by including rate of interest, the required rate of return to stock holders, corporate marginal income tax rate, debt to equity ratio and lifetime of the proposed project and the weighted average cost of capital. In a paper written by the same author later (Beranek. 1980. pp404-405) claimed that the Net Present Value rankings of the investment opportunities do not match equity market value unless the projects are of one period duration or are solely equity financed. He established the widely used criteria of accepting a project only if its Present Value is greater than zero and recommended that the project among multiple Mutually Exclusive projects having highest Present Value should be chosen. However, Beranek (1975. pp17) warned of some practical chall enges in implementing this technique in capital budgeting due to uneven cash flows, non-straight line income tax & other depreciations, varying methods of repaying the debts, different treatment of shareholders between capital gains & dividends, errors in calculation of weighted average cost of capital in finite lived projects, etc. His fears were not unreasonable in those years given the current sophistication of capital budgeting procedures that takes into account complex metrics like risk analysis (both systematic & non-systematic), computerized simulations & stress tests, inflation, etc. In fact Pike (1984. pp95) carried out a broad level research on relationship between sophistication of capital budgeting and firm performance to conclude that higher sophistication of capital budgeting impacts firm performance negatively. Overall, Net Present Value has remained the most trusted method to evaluate capital budgeting decisions due to its shear advantage of evolving the "time value of money". Majority of expansions, new operations or replacement decisions are based on NPV technique (Sun & Queyranne. 2002. pp528). Although NPV has some pitfalls especially when the inputs to the NPV calculations (like interest rates, risk perceptions, etc.) vary considerably, it is the most effective technique to evaluate the true value of capital budget when evaluating the returns from a project. It may however not give a complete picture of returns from an accepted project and hence the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) technique should be used along with the NPV technique. Cash Flow Estimation under Capital Budgeting - Issues and Resolutions Most of the analysts associate larger risks with projects that are of longer durations. This is because the speculations of risks, interest rates, inflation, etc. become more unpredictable for longer durations. The NPV technique is perfect for a single duration project but if the inputs vary too much (like interest rates vary considerably within a short span of time), the project can no-longer be treated as single duration. Beranek (1980. pp404) presented an empirical

Occupy Wall Street Movement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Occupy Wall Street Movement - Research Paper Example The movement, which initially took off as a local one, went on to expand exponentially across hundreds of cities in the US, inciting equally vigorous movements around the world. The reason for such a rapid growth of the movement stems from the accumulated grievance of the people all over the world at economic and social inequalities. The movement is meaningfully significative and distinctive, as it was purely started by people who denounced corrupted multinational corporations and the exploitative rich. It has spread to more than 100 cities in the US and 1500 cities all over the world ("From Tahrir Square to Times Square"). It is believed that the movement took its inspiration from the Arab Spring and European uprisings, and all it took was a challenge from the magazine, Adbusters, to bring this movement to fruition (Gelder 1). The gap between the rich and the poor has been increasingly widening as greedy companies and corporates, who are solely interested in their self-interests, ig nore the consequences of their actions that affect 99% of the people, resulting in economic inequalities (Feller & Stone 1). The Occupy Wall Street movement aimed to lash out against the rich 1% of the society, which includes banks on Wall Street, big corporations, etc. who not only claim and amass wealth at the expense of the remaining 99%, but also have "their way with our governments" (Gelder 1). According to protesters, this 1% was bailed out by tax from people during the great recession, and it is now celebrating its superiority at the expense of the rest of the people by giving out enormous amounts of bonuses to executives (Gittins). According to protesters of the OWS movement, rich corporations take advantage of students who are under the burden of student loans, and also constrict the job market by outsourcing labor (occupywallst.org). Figure 1: A young protester at the Occupy Texas State protest (occupytxstate.org) The OWS movement brought the people's attention to societal and economic inequalities deeply rooted in the society. As part of their demands to decrease these inequalities, the people command equal educational opportunities for the masses. They assert that economic inequalities are related to educational inequalities and that by providing equal educational opportunities and eliminating the self-interests of corporations and for-profit organizations from the educational system, this endeavor would be possible. This raises the question whether such claims are justified. Is economic inequality connected to educational inequality, and has the educational system really suffered at the hands of big corporations and profit oriented individuals and organizations? In an attempt to answer these questions, the present paper asserts that the demands of the OWS movement for equal educational opportunities are absolutely justified. It is true that the educational system has suffered at the hands of big corporations and profit-oriented individuals and org anizations, and that equal educational opportunities are vital for ensuring economic equality in society. According to Goldstein and Chesky, educational improvement is "an economic imperative". This is because when a nation does not work towards the improvement of its educational system, development of its teachers, and improvement of students achievements in national and international tests, it goes into a "downward economic spiral", both at national and international levels (Goldstein and Chesky 1). Educational progress translates into economic progress of a nation. The OWS movement aims to achieve economic stability and equality, and for this, it demands reforms in the educational s

Leaders, History and Political Science Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leaders, History and Political Science - Article Example This paper outlines that the world is shifting from gigantic entity where every part was seen as separate to the other into a more interlinked entity through economic globalization and through the influence of transnational political organization and growth of population. Liberation on the other hand is actually the contrast of realism in that it sees both state and non-state actors as significant. It also views the international associations’ implications to define the performance not only of great powers but also of minimal powers. According to liberalism, states are disaggregated into entities where some of them functions trans-nationally.  This study declares that  women are still mistreated in different societies in the world today.   Distinctions between individuals with any given state or culture are much superior to differences between groups. Social standing, education, personality, past experience, belief structure, affection shown in the home and countless of other factors will influence human behavior and culture. For example in African cultures, women must stay home and perform all the house chores. There was also a belief that if the husband do not beat his wife, then he does not love her that much. This means that women were frequently beaten and mistreated without any form of defense because people believed that it was a sign of love therefore, there was no need of intervention. India has the men marrying women but   it is interesting to note that it is women who pay dowry instead of men.... A good example of such is the US policy toward Venezuela. The Venezuela President Chavez was bitter with US due to their denial to include Venezuela and other countries in America into United States (Restrepo 33). In fact, the whole of Venezuela was bitter and resentful with the US and that contributed to Venezuela president Chavez to make democracy in the country an intimidating influence to other people. He begun harassing the citizens of the country as a why to show his anger. However, US had to come in, its policy towards Venezuela was that democracy, and the leaders of the country should practice equitability (Shifter 71). In other words, every citizen in the country deserved equitability and democracy not harassment and enslavement. Therefore, it was individual leader; President Chavez who determined the content of US foreign policy to Venezuela (Restrepo 64). The same happened to Syria where US policy towards Syria was elimination of Assad from power due to his dictatorship an d unusual elimination of citizens particularly the University students who protested for murder of their colleague. However, this case was different in that the citizens of Syria supported United States’ policy over President Assad while in Venezuela; the citizens supported President Chavez although he denied them democracy (Shifter 82). 2. Compare and contrast the traditional Realist view of National Security and the Liberal view of Human Security. Are these two views always in contradiction to each other or could they be complimentary? In your opinion, which view of security should be paramount? The traditional realist view of national security is that the state is the main actor

Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Banking - Essay Example ing overtaken by Dutch giant ING for a measly sum of  £1, and exposing the risky environment in which equity corporations scale catastrophic limits in order to make a quick profit. At the heart of the devastating scam was a person with a huge appetite for risk-taking but hardly any accountability towards the bank, Nick Leeson. Overnight, the unscrupulous futures’ trader from London who was previously the poster boy for Barings’ high-growth earnings from Singapore’s premium monetary exchange, SIMEX (In 1993, he documented nearly 10% of the bank’s profits in futures’ trading), took special advantage of the bank’s vulnerability in not being able to hedge the risks that come with dealing in a concern as sensitive as this. This is what happened. Nick Leeson’s job as Chief Trader at SIMEX was to buy and sell the simplest kind of derivatives pegged to the Nikkei-225 stock exchange of Japan. This job entails the methodology of a skilled bookie who basically, bets on what people are likely to bet on in the future course. Despite booking profits on various occasions, some of Leeson’s predictions proved incorrect. The idea to fool the bank management in covering up details of unsuccessful tradings came from devising an unaudited bank account, called error account 88888, to fix  £20,000 goofed up by an inexperienced team member, which was later to serve as Leeson’s personal getaway in covering up failed investment strategies. Even as the entire audit team of Barings’ was kept in dark about what was the tip of the iceberg then, Leeson managed to document account losses which were initially at  £2 million in 1992 to an astronomical figure of  £208 million by 1994. The final blow

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

History - Essay Example In this essay I will attempt an outline of five of the earliest religions that are known including those of Ancient Greece and India, the early Islamic religion and the early religious views of Africa. However, to begin I will examine the religious views of the early Chinese civilization. In fact, in the early Chinese civilization there are said to have existed three separate doctrines. These doctrines were Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The religions of Christianity and Islam are said not to have reached this region until the 7th century A.D. The ideas of Taoism are said to have originated in the 6th century B.C and were founded upon the thought of a man named Lao Tzu (although there are many who believe this man is purely a mythical figure). In reality, while Taoism can be viewed in terms of religious practice, it is essentially more of a system of philosophical thought. It is based on a few simple principles which include the belief that there is a kind of universal 'life-forc e' that is inherent in all things. Therefore, respecting and caring for all things is a vital element within this system, and individuals are duly encouraged not to use force but should rather be prepared to compromise and have faith in more natural forces. 2 Around a century later, Confucius (551-479 B.C) reacted somewhat against the teachings of Taoism and set about creating his own system that became known as Confucianism. Again, it can be argued that this system, while it is generally considered as a Religion of China, is in reality more focused on both political and social morality. Nevertheless, Confucianism was to become enormously influential, especially during the Han Dynasty that ruled from 206 B.C. until 220 A.D. In simple terms, this doctrine asserts that people should remain faithful to both their rulers and their Gods and that humbly carrying out their duties is the way to peace and happiness. Let us now move across the map and look at the religious views of Ancient Gr eece. In fact, the original motivation behind the religious views of the Ancient Greeks lay in a reaction against the 'gloomy' religion of Ancient Egypt. In addition, we find there is a fundamental difference between the religion of Greece and many others (including the above Religions of China) and that is the fact that it was not founded by any one figure and had neither sacred scriptures nor system of priestly hierarchies. The religious views of this country were in fact not limited to faith or belief but were rather focused on incorporating a positive practice into the quotidian life of its inhabitants. This is mainly due to the fact that the Greek gods were largely based on the image of man, and were little different with regards to character from man himself. For certain, the gods were seen as both stronger and more intelligent than mere mortals, but neither holy nor omnipotent. Therefore, man was regarded as their spiritual equal. 3 In particular, the people of Ancient Greece are said to have taken great joy in participating in the practice of looking into the future and thereby attempting to predict its outcome. For this reason the so-called 'oracles' were both much revered and respected. Of all the known oracles, the oracle known as Delphi was said to be the most revered of all. Delphi was in fact considered to be something of a 'center' for the earth and thus was consulted often with regards to matters of earthly significance. In fact, the

The Takeovers Directive Is An Ineffective Piece Of Legislation Essay

The Takeovers Directive Is An Ineffective Piece Of Legislation Designed To Create An Unachievable Single Market For Takeover Activity - Essay Example More specifically, in the UK, a takeover refers to the purchase of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, contrary to the acquisition of a private business. The three main types of takeovers are friendly takeovers, hostile takeovers and reverse takeovers. A friendly takeover refers to the acquisition of a company, which has been approved by the management. In normal cases, a bidder notifies a company board of directors prior to making an offer for the target company. If the board concurs that accepting the offer would serve the interests of shareholders better than rejecting the offer, then it recommends that the shareholders accept the offer2. The friendly type of takeover is rather common in private companies in which the shareholders are usually the board of directors. In these cases, chances are always high that should shareholders accept a takeover offer, then the board is usually of the same opinion. If not, the board is always under the shareholders†™ orders accept the bid. It is noteworthy that this scenario is rather irrelevant to the UK’s idea of takeovers, which only regards a takeover as acquisition of a public company. The second type of takeover is the hostile takeover in which a bidder acquires a company despite the unwillingness of the company’s management. ... Usually, on being established, certain larger private companies would want to float themselves in stock exchanges without the expenses and time resources involved in initial public offers. In the UK, for instance, a reverse takeover refers to a one-year acquisition of a company, which causes fundamental changes in its business and board voting or control. Finally, backflip takeovers are takeovers in which the acquiring company becomes a subsidiary of the purchased company and is mostly seen when a larger but unknown company acquires a well-known struggling company. A business concept that has been closely associated with takeovers, especially in the European Union is corporate governance. Corporate governance refers to the set of rules, processes and practices that a company uses for control and direction. In essence, in entails the weighing and balancing of the various interests of stakeholders such as management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government, shareholders and the co mmunity. Corporate governance thus covers every aspect of management, including action plans, internal controls, performance measurement and corporate disclosure. In the modern business environment, it does not pay for a company to be merely profitable; more should be done to attain a high level of corporate governance or good corporate citizenship using good corporate practices, environmental awareness and ethical and professional conduct among other strategies. Excellent takeover policies, regulation and legislation are some of the mechanisms by which the EU Commission and Member States have applied to improve corporate governance. For instance, the EU Takeover Directive of 2004 was adopted with the

(the questions shows in the PDF document) Essay

(the questions shows in the PDF document) - Essay Example The success that the House had in social reforms saw it give rise to the separist movement, which meant that it became socially acceptable for a woman to live her life and remain single or not get children, and instead develop her professional career. Jane Addams was one of the pioneers in the Hull house and would go on to become the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her social reform policies that would enable women to get basic rights including the right to vote in all the states (Legates 267). Q.2 The New Deal that was initiated by Franklin Roosevelt was to develop the economy through the great depression and it saw with it the inclusion of several programs for women. New posts were created so that women could get employment even if single. The view at the time had been that women should be married once they decide to have children and all government policy at the time was drafted on this assumption. The New Deal however acknowledged the existence of sin gle parent families specifically single mothers and widows and included them in their job creation acts even though some of Roosevelt’s cabinet members did not approve of this. ... from affluent single parent families that had been beneficiaries of the policies legislated during the Roosevelt era allowing women to work in industries even if not married. There was a development of organizations that were not of any hierarchy such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and the Students for a Democratic Society. The groups although were progressive did see a rise in chauvinism as some of the senior women were still assigned to basic roles as fetching refreshments or taking notes until one of the male members raised a complaint over it. There was a rise in black feminism in these organizations as was seen when the female members of the group organized a sit in to protest their side-lining. White women also criticized the SNCC for their marginalization and even drafted a paper that they presented to the then chairperson Stokeley Carmichael that said that the status of women in the organization is the same as that of the black individual hired by a corpor ation for the purpose of diversity. They are there merely to present an attractive image but do not do much in the organization (LeGates 361). Q.4 Women in the civil rights movements performed activities such as registering voters and enlisting the help of older women more so of the black community where they were viewed as the leaders of the community. The Women activists also came from religious backgrounds and unlike in the past where the community vilified them, they did receive some praise from their peers for their activism. Shulamith Firestone was one of the most notable activists of her generation with her push for the acknowledgement of the female agenda which was getting sidelined as the Vietnamese war came to an end and most of the troops were headed back home as national heroes