Express Quantity in English for Beginning Speakers

There are many phrases used to express quantities and amounts in English. In general, much and many are the  standard quantifiers  used to express  large quantities. Which expression you use will often depend on whether the noun is countable or uncountable, and whether the sentence is negative or positive. While much and many are among the most common, the following expressions are often used in place of much and many, especially in positive sentences: A lot ofLots ofPlenty ofA great deal ofA large number of These expressions can are combined with of in the sense of most, many, or much. A lot of people enjoy listening to jazz. A great deal of time is spent understanding these issues. But note that much, most, and many do not take of. Most people enjoy listening to some type of music. Not: Most of  people... Much time is spent understanding math. Not: Much of time is spent ... Much Much is used with uncountable nouns: There is much interest in learning English around the world. How much money do you have? There isnt much butter left in the refrigerator. Much is used in negative sentences and questions, too: How much money do you have? There isnt much rice left. Note that much is rarely used in the positive form. English speakers generally use a lot of or lots of  with uncountable  nouns. We have a lot of time. Not: We have much time. There is a lot of wine in the bottle. Not: There is much wine in the bottle. Many Many is used with countable nouns: How many people came to the party? There arent many apples on the table. Note that many is used in the positive form, unlike much:   Andrew has a lot of friends / Andrew has many friends. A lot of my friends live in New York / Many of my friends live in New York. A Lot of / Lots of /  Plenty  Of A lot of and lots of can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. A lot of and lots of are used in positive sentences: There is a lot of water in that jar. Hes got lots of friends in London. Note that generally speaking, lots of sounds less formal than a lot of.   A Little / A Few A little and a few  indicate a quantity or number. Use a little with uncountable nouns: There is a little wine in that bottle.   There is a little sugar in my coffee. Use a few with countable nouns. He has a few friends in New York. We bought a few sandwiches on our way to the park. Little / Few Little and few indicate a limited quantity. Use little with uncountable nouns: I have little money to spend. She found little time for work. Use few with countable nouns: He has few students in his class.   Jack finds few reasons to stay. Some Use some in positive sentences when there is neither a lot nor a little. Some can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. We have some friends who work in Los Angeles.   Ive saved some money to spend on vacation this summer.   Any (Questions) Use any in questions to ask if someone has something. Any can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns: Do you have any friends in San Francisco? Is there any pasta left?   Note that when offering or requesting something use some instead of any  for polite questions. Would you like some shrimp? (offer) Would you lend me some money? (request) Any (Negative Sentences) Use any with countable and uncountable nouns in negative sentences to state that something doesnt exist. We wont have any time for shopping today. They didnt have any problems finding our house.   Enough Use enough  with countable and uncountable nouns to state that you are satisfied with the amount of something. She has enough time to visit her friends in Dallas. I think we have enough hamburgers for tomorrows grill.   Not Enough Use not enough when you are not satisfied with the amount of something. Im afraid theres not enough time to continue this conversation. There are not enough people working at the moment.   Each / Every Use each or every when referring to the individuals in a group. I think every person in this room would agree with me. Im sure each step of this process is important.   Large / Big / Vast / Huge Amount of Use these adjectives with amount of with uncountable and countable nouns to express large quantities. This form is often used to exaggerate just how much there is. There is a huge amount of work to be done to today. Tom has a vast amount of knowledge about the subject.   Tiny / Small / Minuscule Amount of   Use these similar adjectives with amount of to express very small quantities. This form is often used in exaggeration to express how little there is of something.   Peter has a small amount of patience, so dont joke around with him. There is a minuscule amount of time left to register. Hurry up!

Capital Punishment The Death Penalty - 2384 Words

Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the utmost form of punishment in the United States. It is the method of punishment by execution legally given to a criminal convicted of a crime. Capital punishment originated from many early societies, it is only imposed on people who have committed very serious crimes, and only five different execution types are currently used in the United States. The death penalty has been around for a while. The first death penalty laws date back to the eighteenth century with the Code of Hammurabi. In the Code of Hammurabi, there were up to twenty-five different crimes people could have been executed for (10). Surprisingly, people living during that time would not†¦show more content†¦By the seventh century there were over two hundred crimes that people could have been executed for, which included cutting down a tree, robbing a rabbit warren, and stealing (10). The United States got its use of the death pe nalty from Britain (16). When the Europeans came to the United States, they brought the practice of capital punishment with them (16). In 1602, Captain George Kendall was the first person executed in the United States in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia because he was caught spying for Spain (16). In 1612, the governor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale, passed the Moral and Martial laws, which stated that the death penalty could be given to anyone found stealing grapes, killing chickens, or trading goods with the Indians (16). Colonies in New York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina also used the death penalty. In 1655, a colony in New York put the Duke’s Laws into place (19). These laws made it legal for colonist to be executed for not believing in God, kidnapping, conspiracy, and disobeying their king or ruler (19). During the eighteenth century, Massachusetts only recognized seven crimes that could punishable by death (19). These crimes included sodomy, buggery, murder, burglary , rape, arson, and treason (19). Colonist in North Carolina could have been executed for hiding a slave with the intention of letting him go free, stealing bank notes, bestiality, and

A Case Study on Lululemon Athletica

Question: Discuss about theCase Study on Lululemon Athletica. Answer: Introduction Lululemon Athletica is a Canadian company dealing with athletic apparels. Dennis Chip Wilson founded the company in the year 1998. The company opened its first store in the year 2000 in Kitsilano, in Vancover, Canada. The company gained an edge for itself as it sold yoga apparels exclusively. This essay tries to explore the workings of the famous company, Lululemon athletica. It critically evaluates the competitive environment of the company and tries o find out whether or not the company has a sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. It moves on to a detailed analysis of the internal working of the company. It discusses the capabilities and the core competencies of the company . It also tries to find out and analyze any weakness that can affect the ability of the company to compete in the future. The write up finds out the trends and conditions in the external environment that directly influences the strategic actions of the firm. It also mentions the ways through whi ch the company should change its strategic direction. It then moves onto discussing the advantages and the risks of the business strategy of Lululemon Athletica. The write up discusses the challenges that the company is likely to face if it aims for a global expansion and the solutions to those challenges. Lululemon athletica is a company specializing in yoga apparels. The company started off as a combination of a yoga studio and a clothing store. It has about 133 stores in Canada and the United States and has over 211 stores worldwide. It specializes in athletic and yoga apparels. Despite the presence of giant competitors in the market like Nike, Adidas, VF Corp and Under Armour, Lululemon continues to enjoy a niche market for itself. It sells customized product to a market, which has a demand for the exact products that the company manufactures (Lavrence and Lozanski 2014). The big competitors of Lululemon athletica enjoy a worldwide popularity. Brands like Nike and Adidas are famous all over the world. These companies dealing with sports and athletics apparels and footwear enjoy a worldwide popularity. Nike began its operation in the year 1964. Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded the company. A US based company, Nike started as a distributor of footwear later on turning into a glo bal marketer of athletic footwear, equipment and apparel. The company now operates in more than 160 countries. One of the biggest competitors of Lululemon athletica is Nike. Nike garnered $20.8 billion in revenues in the financial year 2011 (Karakowsky and Guriel 2015). For that year, the income before taxes was $2.8 billion dollars. However, when it comes to the matter of debt, it can be observed that Lululemon has no debts whereas Nike has a debt of approximately around $0.5 billion. On the other hand, it can be seen that Nike has a substantial capacity to enjoy investment in new ventures and markets (MoranSendra et al. 2015). This is not seen in the case of the Canadian company. Adidas is another company that serves as a competitor to Lululemon. Adidas is one of the leading companies of the world dealing with athletic goods and apparels. The company attained a better position in the world market when it acquired Reebok International Limited with a footprint of around $11.8 billio n. It can be seen that during the year 2012, the market capitalization of Adidas was $16.39 billion whereas the market capitalization of the Canadian company was $10.58 billion. It can be easily observed that the company enjoys a worldwide popularity whereas, same is not the case with Lululemon (Sousa 2016). The product range of Adidas is far wider than that of the Canadian company. The company is characterized by a strong financial and operational performance. The quarterly revenue growth of the company was only 11.3 % as compared to Lululemon with a quarterly revenue growth of about 51.4%. Under Armour is an American company founded in the year 1996. The balance sheet of the company is strong and it has around $175 million in cash. The company essentially deals with the sale of sports clothing and accessories. It holds a debt of approximately $78 million. Therefore, it can be observed that when compared with three of its competitors, it can be seen that net income of the Canadian company, Lululemon athletica is $184.06 million whereas Nike stands at the top with $2.27 billion, then comes Adidas with $887.06 million followed by Lululemon, ending with Under Armour with $96.34 million (de Heer and Tandoh-Offin 2015). Lululemon athletica is a company that can easily get lost in the crowd of big companies like Nike and Adidas. However, it holds its ground by catering to a niche market. All across the globe, there can be seen and observed an increase of consciousness in regards to health and fitness. People all across the world have now become increasingly aware and conscious. They want to be fit and healthy which means that there is a rise in the sale of athletics and sports apparels and goods (Li et al. 2015). Among all other forms of exercising, practicing yoga remains on top as it provides a holistic approach to fitness. With the rise of health conscious professional individuals, the rise of the sale of health and athletic products is also evident. Therefore, it can be deduced that Lululemon athletica has a sustainable source of competitive advantage. The company exclusively deals with yoga apparels and it caters to the consumers in Canada and the United States of America, which makes it an exclusive company catering to consumers in those two countries only. The company has an internal environment that is extremely interesting and thus can be a good subject for analysis. The company, lululemon athletica, considers its customers as guests, showering them with attention and tending to all their shopping needs while at the store. The employees are known as educators, who are strategically positioned to encourage and ensure personal connection with each of the guests. The employees go through an intensive training session at the beginning of their service so that the employees can enlighten the customers about the innovative and technical aspects of the design of the product (Chircu, Resnick and Saraswat 2015). The employees are encouraged by the company to pursue a fitness regimen and a fit lifestyle in order to create and maintain a n image, which will help to push the sale further. In terms of revenue generation, the company continues to create a cash flow, which allows future investment, helps to add to the profit and keeps the company free of debt. The brand invests in grassroots marketing, involves the customers in a loyal relationship and tries to maintain the balance and equation (Tushman, Lakhani and Lifshitz-Assaf 2012). The company has synonymized their name with the lifestyle of the targeted segment of the market. The company aims to achieve a relation with the customers that goes beyond the selling and purchasing of the goods and items. They sell an idealized healthy lifestyle to the consumers by building a network of yoga and fitness instructors, hosting and sponsoring sporting events. The core competencies of the company lie in the packaging and look of the products. The products enhance the fitness appearance of the customers which encourages and further motivates them to achieve a healthier lifes tyle. The better fit encourages the customers to pay a little higher amount. Lululemon manufactures garments that has an innovative moisture-wicking facility, provides a four-way stretch that helps the consumers to achieve maximum flexibility during exercising; the products also provide maximum support and coverage. Though many companies have tried to compete and imitate the structure and design of the products manufactured by lululemon, they were not able to achieve the same quality of product (Gosman 2014). The company has a few weaknesses, which might affect the ability to compete in the future. The main weakness of the company is the high price which can prove to be a hindrance in the future. With all the big competitors like Nike and Adidas, which have a strong international presence, lululemon faces a major threat of losing out the customer base to all these big brands. Another weakness of the company is that it focuses its attention only on apparels for yoga. Competitors like Nike and Adidas, brings a wide range of apparels for different kinds of sports. The company just deals with yoga apparels for women, which makes it limited in terms of scope. This means that it misses the market for apparel for men. The company is now struggling to expand into apparels for men. One of the main weaknesses of the company is that it invests a lot of capital in the research and development of the products, which makes it all the more expensive than the products of its competitors. Since the compan y is based out of Canada, it has not yet explored the global markets which means the company is losing out a varied range of markets to invest in and to explore (Larcker, Laecker and Tayan 2014). The trends and conditions in the external environment have a direct impact on the strategic actions of the firm. The strategic actions of lululemon athletica, like any other company, are dependent on a range of external factors. The trends and conditions of the external environment dictate the strategic actions of the company. The trend in the market scenario in the health and fitness sphere indicates that there is a rise of consciousness amongst the consumers, which points out that the company has a scope for steady growth. The health conscious population of the world is trying to achieve a holistic and healthy lifestyle. The strategic actions of lululemon athletica thus should be mapped out in such a way so that it caters to all sectors of the population who want to achieve a healthy body and embrace a healthy lifestyle (Pride 2013). The company should come up with a line of yoga apparel for men, as everybody, irrespective of gender, desires a healthy lifestyle. Since the company d eals with apparels manufactured exclusively for the practice of yoga, it misses out on the market that has a demand for apparels for other exercises as well. The company is branded under the apparel and accessory industry. This industry mainly consists of companies that manufacture clothes for men, women and children. There is an existing rivalry between the outdoor and athletic industry (Carmen and Chi 2015). Lululemon Athletica, like any other company, has now adopted a strategy that encourages a new growth and development of the company. The company has now started a line of apparels for dance, named ivivva athletica. This step means that the company is now open to diversifying the range of its products. The advantages of the business strategy adopted by the company are that it has developed superior quality products and has developed strong branding that is community centric (Gabler and Reynolds 2013). One of the main advantages of lululemon athletica is that it has a legion of loyal customers who have an undying loyalty towards the brand. The company has a position as a lifestyle brand that is unmatched. The company stands at a point where there is a strong presence of risks. One of the risks that the company deals with is facing strong contenders in the market and the risk of fluctuating economic conditions that might influence the spending capability of the consumers (Thomas 2015). The company has the risk of getting drowned in the sea of popular brands like Nike and Adidas. Another risk that the company faces is rejection from the consumers. As the company expands and grows internationally, it comes face to face with a lot of challenges. Facing the big competitors in the world market is one of the biggest challenges of lululemon athletica. Brands like Nike and Adidas have a strong presence in the international scene. Therefore, establishing a strong customer base in the international market is a huge challenge for the company. As a result, the company can follow few recommendations in order to minimize any risk that might come its way and maximize the profit. Before expansion, the company should be well aware about the market it is investing in. The company should try to find out the areas of demand in the market and try to capture the area and develop the products to suit the taste of the consumers in the local market base (Karakowsky and Guriel 2015). References: Carmen, J.D. and Chi, T., 2015. Apparel reshoring movement: a case study of a made-in-USA business model. Chircu, A.M., Resnick, M. and Saraswat, S.P., 2015. Online Intermediaries and Supply Chains.The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. de Heer, F. and Tandoh-Offin, P., 2015. Exploring the Benefits of Branding Universities: A Developing Country Perspective.IUP Journal of Brand Management,12(4), p.58. Gabler, C.B. and Reynolds, K.E., 2013. Buy now or buy later: the effects of scarcity and discounts on purchase decisions.Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice,21(4), pp.441-456. Gosman, M.L., 2014. Increasing Student Appreciation of A Liability That's Liable To Be Good and Insightful.Business Education Innovation Journal,6(2). Karakowsky, L. and Guriel, N., 2015.The Context of Business: Understanding the Canadian Business Environment. Karakowsky, L. and Guriel, N., 2015.The Context of Business: Understanding the Canadian Business Environment. Larcker, D.F., Larcker, S.M. and Tayan, B., 2014. Lululemon: A Sheer Debacle in Risk Management. Lavrence, C. and Lozanski, K., 2014. This Is Not Your Practice Life: lululemon and the Neoliberal Governance of Self.Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie,51(1), pp.76-94. Li, J., Wong, J.Y., Leung, P.W.Y., Yip, W.T. and Tian, X., 2015. Case Synopsis for. MoranSendra, M., Nilmeier, T., Liem, T. and Perkowski, T., 2015. Nike Inc. Pride, W.M., 2013.Marketing 2014. Cengage Learning. Sousa, S., 2016.Lust For Lulu: An Examination of Lululemon Athleticas Marketing Authenticity and Branding(Doctoral dissertation, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo). Thomas, M., 2015. Silence: the golden strategy?.Strategic Direction,31(1), pp.1-2. Tushman, M., Lakhani, K.R. and Lifshitz-Assaf, H., 2012. Open innovation and organization design.

The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapp Essay Example For Students

The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapp Essay ed PeopleThe Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapped PeopleMusic therapy is a controversial but effective form of rehabilitation on mentally handicapped people. A great amount of research has been completed on this subject. It has been proven that our brains respond to music as if it were medicine. Music therapy is not a commonly used health care, but recent studies have suggested it can have a wide range of benefits. Music therapy is the prescribed use of music and related strategies, by a qualified therapist, to assist or motivate a person towards specific, non-musical goals. This process is used in order to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and spiritual health and well being. At the heart of music therapy is vibration. This is backed up by modern physics, which has taught us that all matter is in a constant state of vibration. Everything has a unique frequency. Illness occurs when some sort of dysfunctional vibration intrudes on the norma l one. Sound can be used to change these intruders back to normal, healthy vibrations, which restores health. Although music therapy is a fairly new method of health care, it dates back thousands of years. The use of sound and music is the most ancient healing modality. It was practiced in the ancient mystery schools of Egypt, India, and Rome for many thousands of years. In the Iliad, Apollo, the mythical god of music and medicine, stopped a plague because he was so pleased with the sacred hymns sung by Greek youths. Pythagoras, who discovered that all music could be expressed in numbers and mathematical formulas, founded a school that trained students to 2release worry, fear, anger, and sorrow through singing and playing musical instruments. Today, the power of music remains the same, but music is used much differently than it was in ancient times. Music therapy in the United States began in the late 18th century. The profession of it began to develop during World War II when music was used in Veterans Administration Hospitals, as an intervention to address traumatic war injuries. Veterans participated in music activities that focused on relieving pain perception. Many doctors and nurses could see the effect music had on their psychological and emotional state. Since then, colleges developed programs to train musicians how to use music for therapeutic purposes. In 1950 a professional organization was formed by a group of music therapists that worked with veterans, mentally retarded, and the hearing and visually impaired. This was the beginning of the National Association for Music Therapy (NAMT). In 1998, NAMT joined with another music therapy organization to become what is now known as the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). AMTAs mission is To advance public awareness of the benefits of music therapy and increase access to quality music therapy services in a rapidly changing world. Music therapy helps people in a crisis and assists those who may be d ealing with issues of everyday living. The nature of music therapy encourages the development of positive self-esteem. Even though not everyone is supposed to be a musician, music therapy can be a way to explore the human need for self-expression and creativity. Through improvisation and song writing, it can 3help to identify and resolve conflicts slowing down the emotional and personal growth. It can also assist in the rehabilitation of people with speech difficulties and facilitate learning, which provided opportunities for meaningful communication. Music therapy is a process which builds relationships. Because almost everyone responds to music at some level, it can be used to develop a trust relationship with the therapist and with other people. There are many accomplishments that music therapy can make. It can manage pain, increase body movement, lower blood pressure, ease depression, and enhance concentration and creativity. These are just some of the few characteristics. It ha s been used in many other processes also. It is important to be aware that while people may develop musical skills during treatment, these skills are not the main concern of the therapist. Rather it is the affect the musical development will have on the persons physical and psychological functioning. You can find music therapists working with a wide variety of people. Some include the mentally ill, the physically handicapped, those who have been abused, the elderly, the terminally ill, and people with learning disabilities. Because traditional therapeutic remedies rely on language, their effectiveness depends on the persons ability to verbally interact with the therapist. The language of music is available to everyone regardless of age, disability, or cultural background. .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .postImageUrl , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:hover , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:visited , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:active { border:0!important; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:active , .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue69e396d200a0aa0258a8ded84b881ab:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Sociological Imagination Essay We will write a custom essay on The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapp specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Studies have been made on the effects of chanting mantras on human physiology. It has been discovered that by repeating a single word, measurable changes are produced in energy consumption, respiration rate, heartbeat, pulse, and metabolic rate. Studies have further demonstrated that through meditation and relaxation, its possible to improve immune function 4and alleviate and prevent heart disease, stroke, and many other chronic health problems. The mentally ill are the people that are the most common clients of music therapy. These are people with behavior disorders and emotional disturbance. For these people, music improves self-esteem, reduces stress, develops leisure activities, and improves control over motor skills. Learning disabled individuals are another popular group of people for which music therapy is used. This group is explained as having a disorder that affects one or more psychological process involved in understanding or using language. Such disorders may affect an i ndividuals ability to think, listen, speak, read, or write. The need for individualized instruction, repetition, and face to face interaction is necessary for improvement. To become a qualified music therapist you must have an undergraduate and/or graduate degree in music therapy from university programs approved by the AMTA. You follow your degree with six months of full-time supervised clinical training. You must then be board-certified by the certification Board for Music Therapy and take a national exam. You maintain your status through continuing education and retesting. Members of the clients treatment team prescribe music therapy. Members can include doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, caseworkers, and parents. Music therapists use their training as musicians, clinicians, and researchers to effect changes in physical communication, social skills, and emotional skills. They use musical experiences such as singing, playing instruments, moving, listening, composing , and improving self-awareness and growth. 5Musical interventions are developed and used by the therapist based on his or her knowledge of the musics effect on behavior, the clients strengths and weaknesses, and the therapeutic goals. Music therapists choose from a large amount of music activities and interventions. For example, the therapist and client might compose songs for the purpose of expression of feelings; one client might learn how to play the piano for the purpose of improving fine motor skills, while another client might use instruments to improvise unspoken emotions. Each client has to determine his or her own needs, strengths, and interests. Sessions are then designed to meet the specific needs of each client. Progress is evaluated in consultation with the client or the family of the client. This helps to maximize the emotional, physical and cognitive potential of each client. The sessions include a variety of musical experiences. For example, a person who is terminally ill might benefit from song writing to express inner feeling. A troubled adolescent might benefit from listening and discussing the lyrics. Improvisation might be the preferred activity for a person with autism while learning to play a simple instrument could enhance the self-esteem of a mentally retarded adult. For a geriatric client, a music therapist might use familiar songs to reveal past memories, and for a child with Downs Syndrome, singing might be used to improve auditory discrimination. These are only a few examples of music therapy techniques. The possibilities are endless and are focused on the responses of the client and the creativity of the therapist. 6Back in the 1960s, a physician was called to investigate a strange disease that had taken over a monastery of Benedictine monks in the south of France. Out of the blue, the brothers had become tired and depressed. Once other medical authorities had ruled out physical causes, the physician began to search for changes in their diet or work conditions but discovered none. After a long discussion with the monks, he learned that before they became sick, the monks used to gather eight or nine times a day and chant for 10 to 20 minutes. But thanks to the reforms of Vatican II, their daily chanting had been reduced by several hours a day. It dawned on the physician that the physiological benefits of their chanting, slowing down their breathing and lowering their blood pressure, were the cause of the monks tiredness. His solution was restoring their habit of chants. The effects were dramatic. Within six months, the monks were back to their old vigorous and healthy selves. .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .postImageUrl , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:hover , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:visited , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:active { border:0!important; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:active , .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uac460a2d571f6b8d8096bbc27e4f3dce:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Going EssayA sixty-year-old physician, Pete, was driving to work when he recognized the symptoms of a stroke. He pulled into a gas station, leaned on his horn and asked the attendant to call an ambulance to take him to a hospital. The only movement he had was his eyelids, and his only means of communication was blinking once for yes, twice for no. A few weeks later, Petes wife called in a guy who was a composer, music researcher, teacher, and healer. He suggested they play as much Mozart as possible in the household. For the next few weeks the healer would come to the house and sit at the side of Petes bed and tap syllables of words into Petes hand in a rhythmic like beat. This is called an integrated auditory 7pattern, which enabled Pete to begin to reconnect with the outside world. Three years after participating in Petes rehabilitation, the healer learned that he had a potentially fatal blood clot in an artery just below his brain. The healer, who had spent ten years investigating the effects of sound on the body, knew much about therapeutic uses of music. The men decided to wait a while to see any changes before any surgery would take place. They simply hummed, fearful that a more powerful sound might bring on a stroke. He did this for three weeks, and while humming he meditated on healing images. When he went back for his second brain scan, the results showed that the blood clot had shrunk incredibly from its original size and Pete was said to be out of danger. In 1996, researchers tried giving ten stroke victims thirty minutes of rhythmic stimulation each day for three weeks. Compared with untreated patients, they showed significant improvements in their ability to walk steadily. Moods rose and depression fell for twenty women and men who listened to familiar music they selected while practicing various stress-reduction techniques. Classical and New Age music helped twenty-four of twenty-five people with sleeping problems get to sleep faster, sleep for longer periods of time, and get back to sleep more easily after waking in the middle of the night. The best kind of music for sleep deprivation is songs with slow movements from classical music of all periods. Don Campbell, a music therapist, offers some simple exercises you can try on your own. 8If youre tired and need some sonic caffeine, hum a long e sound for three minutes. For a relaxation make a long o or ah sound. Most of us even practice our own version of music therapy instinctively. A mother naturally sings to soothe her baby. When were depressed, we play or make our favorite music, either to lift us out of our gloom, or to intensify it, and when were happy we play joyous music to liven the mood even more. The following suggestions are more experiments to try on your own. Raise your sound awareness by noticing the sounds around you in everyday life. This enhances your communication skills by improving your listening skills. Play your favorite music when you do housework. Not only will it distract you, but it will also motivate you and create pleasant feelings for that activity. When youre angry or frustrated, play an energetic piece of music. Move your body for five to seven minutes, letting the music release your emotions. Then your mind can look at the situation with a brighter outlook. If you want a deep relaxation but have problems with formal meditation, sit somewhere quiet, hum or chant different vowel sounds and direct them to various parts of your body. When we create and focus on sound, we begin to stop the constant thoughts in our minds, which is the first step to deep relaxation. Even though you have inquired all this information, you might still be wondering how such simple things like music and rhythm could work all this magic. Well, no one really knows. It is a mystery. But researchers have known for a long time that listening to music can directly influence pulse, blood pressure, and the electrical activity of muscles. Neuroscientists now suspect that 9music can actually help build and strengthen connections among nerve cells. Although many people will not agree with or even believe all the wonderful acts that music can do, it can be a highly effective form of rehabilitation for anyone.

Best Ways to Study for Economics Exams

Best Ways to Study for Economics Exams Exams are coming, or they might already be here for some of you! Either way, its time to study. First things first, dont panic. Look at how to study for an economics exam that is a few weeks out, and then consider how to cram the night before a test. Good luck. The Best Way to Study for Economics Exams One to Three Weeks in Advance Congratulations on starting to study early! Heres what to do: Ask your instructor for an exam outline and what to expect on the exam.Create an overview. Review your notes and any assignments you had.Review the courses main ideas.For each big idea, review its sub-topics and supporting details.Practice. Use old exams to get a feel for the style of questions you might be asked. Hints Be realistic. No one can study for 8 hours a day.Make sure you get plenty of food, sleep, and relaxation.Try to study in the same place at the same time every day.At the beginning of each study, period review the last thing you studied for 10 minutes.Rewrite your notes. It can help you retain information.Read your notes out loud.If you dont complete a particular task, dont worry just carry it over to your next session.Dont simply memorize facts. Ask yourself broad open-ended questions about the material thats been covered. The Night Before the Exam Sleep!Try to stick to  review. Dont try to learn anything new.Picture yourself succeeding. One of the key elements for many world-class performers is visualization. The Day of the Exam Eat. Dont skip the meal before your exam because not eating can result in tiredness and poor concentration.Arrive just a few minutes before your exam to avoid the usual wide-spread and contagious panic During the Exam Use a cheat sheet even if youre not allowed to bring one into the exam.Make a cheat sheet of the material you are certain will help. Take it to the exam; throw it out before you sit down, then recopy it from memory, somewhere on the exam booklet, as soon as you can.Read all of the questions (except multiple choice) before beginning, and write notes on the paper for anything important that occurs to you as you read.If youre having a problem with one question move on and return to the problem question if you have time left at the end.Watch the clock. The Best Way to Study If Your Economics Exam Is Tomorrow   While no one really recommends cramming, sometimes thats what you have to do. So here are some hints to get you through it: Pick the most important subjects in your study material.Look over your lecture notes, or someone elses if you dont have any, and see what the lecturer focused on. Concentrate your cramming on these broad areas. You dont have time to learn specifics.The key to cramming is memorization, so it only works for knowledge questions. Focus on material that can be memorized.Spend 25% of your time cramming and 75% drilling yourself.  Recite  and repeat the information.Relax: being upset at yourself for not studying earlier wont help and may hurt your performance in the classRemember how you felt while studying and while writing the exam and plan to study earlier next time! Hints Be realistic. No one can study for 8 hours a dayMake sure you get plenty of food and sleepTry to study in a quiet placeRewrite your notes. It can help you retain informationRead your notes out loud The Day of the Exam Eat. Dont skip the meal before your exam because not eating can result in tiredness and poor concentration.Arrive just a few minutes before your exam to avoid the usual wide-spread and contagious panic During the Exam Use a cheat sheet even if youre not allowed to bring one into the exam.Make a cheat sheet of the material you are certain will help; take it to the exam; throw it out before you sit down, then recopy it from memory, somewhere on the exam booklet, as soon as you can.Read all of the questions (except multiple choice) before beginning, and write notes on the paper for anything important that occurs to you as you read.If youre having a problem with one question move on and return to the problem question if you have time left at the end.Watch the clock.

How to Come Up with an Iconic Character Name in 12 Steps

How to Come Up with an Iconic Character Name in 12 Steps How To Come Up With A Character Name: an Author's Guide Before you’ve even started your novel, you’re in danger of stalling on one crucial detail: how to come up with a character name.Will you choose a short, blunt name, like James Bond? A memorable one, like Holden Caulfield? Will you go with self awareness, like Artful Dodger, or absurdism, like Ignatius Reilly? Or, perhaps, will you pick no name at all?Coming up with character names shouldn’t be impossible, but it is important. To help you navigate this all-important choice, we drummed up 12 steps. But first, let's unpack why you might not want to simply pick a name out of a hat.Why do names matter?Think of any character from any book. Got one? We're willing to bet they aren’t named â€Å"John.†For a name to stick in the reader’s head, it should be as thoughtful as every other aspect of your novel. Character names are to characters as titles are to books, so if you’re blindly putting finger to phone book when picking one, you’re d oing it wrong.Fortunately, it’s not too hard to do right. In reality, a character name has just a few things to establish:Clarity: Helps the reader differentiate between the major players.Character: Reveals personality and the type of character without needing to say more than a word.Bankability: The right name can make your character iconic.As for how to choose a character name yourself, that’s a whole other question - one we’ll take a crack at answering next. Pop Quiz: Do you know the three reasons that character names matter? How to come up with a character nameYou deserve more than common sense advice that you could come up with yourself: only give names to important characters, for instance, or avoid common names. These are 12 top shelf tricks to mastering the art of naming a character. Did you come up with any character names you're particularly proud of? Show them off in the comment box below!

Three FBLA goals important for Business Leadership Essay

Three FBLA goals important for Business Leadership - Essay Example Always focus on your own strengthens and bring forward the best effort even if you feel it isn’t enough. I am a proud American; but since many years it seems like the strength of the patriots in the past is sliding off from its foundations. The citizens are not as committed to the cause as before. We are the makers of America and we need to believe that this is our country and provide maximum effort to its development. Without the development of one’s own character it would not be possible to develop the character of the nation. Through integrity, commitment, ownership, flexibility and balance it would not only be possible to incorporate an excellent character but at the same time bring forward a strong asset for the economy at large. Strong relationships are to be built with the businesses, the tertiary sector and many other organizations related to community for students to understand their level of importance while educating them. The role models and mentors play a vital role in enhancing the knowledge regarding the real world. It is always wise to absorb as much information as possible from these mentors as it will go a long way into your future. In the contemporary world today, businesses are becoming extremely complex, and for this reason the education systems are working with the organizations to plan and implement a strong curriculum. Some of life’s best lessons are learned from the hardest situations. Never run from these situations, always believe in yourself and come forward to manage them and learn from them. Believing in the cause helps the individual understand the importance of the situation, and he, then participates with complete effort. It is essential to not only believe in yourself but also in the case at hand. The American business enterprise requires motivated and committed individuals who not only present their abilities and skills but also provide a level of

Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing - Case Study Example Despite the fact that parking in the street is usually a problem, there is a metered parking behind the store although most customers do not seem to be aware of these parking lot. Throughout its existence, the expansion has brought positive gains but the last expansion did not bring additional sales. This paper will carry out a marketing analysis of Don Martin and this will be organized into three sections. The sections include problems and analysis, alternative analysis and a recommendations section. Problems and Analysis Don Martin Limited has always strived to expand thereby increase sales which would eventually translate to high profitability. To achieve this, the company has made several acquisitions given that initially it only had a total area of 45 meters squared (Grasby et al 379). The expansion has always produced an increase in the sales volumes but about three ago, a store that neighbored that of Don Martin Limited was floated for sales and the company bought it. After th e acquisition, Don Martin Limited brought down the wall separating the two companies and ended up with a large store. However, instead of increased sales; the new acquisition eventually led to losses. The expansion has necessitated the need for more staff members who are now currently twenty six and this has increased the expenditure by the company. In addition, the increased workforce makes it hard for the company to monitor the staff and the business in general thereby leading to loss of some goods. The proprietor of asserts that he is afraid that the company staff may be stealing. Things are further complicated for Don Martin given that he has approximately 500 suppliers which means that he has to spend about seventy five percent of his time. The company buys directly from manufacturers in small quantities which mean that the company cannot advantage economies of scale (Grasby et al 380). The customers coming to Don Martin Limited are trying to cut down on expenses given that the y are cash strapped. The services offered to customers no longer lead to higher customer satisfaction and most of them are ready to do without such services in order to save some money. For instance, previously whenever a customer came to the store of a sport’s equipment; there was a salesperson to help them but currently customer no longer seem to like this service. Despite the low reception of the company’s services by customers, Don Martin believes that such services have always attracted customers to the store. The company is incurring high expenses in maintaining these services where for instance the company has to pay $1,000 for gas not forgetting the pay to truck drivers (Grasby et al 381). Consumer Analysis Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3 Who Customers having low income Customers having cars External customers (Customers not living within the city) What These customers are cutting spending given that they low income. These customers require parking when doing the ir shopping These are customers who are not in close proximity to the business. When The company is losing these customers since the last expansion undertaken three years ago. Following the last expansion three years ago, Don Martin has a parking lot The company has been attracting this kind of customers since inception Where The company is facing competition for these customers from nearby stores. The parking lot for the Don Martin is

Learning children to play percussion instruments Essay Example for Free

Learning children to play percussion instruments Essay The role of a teaching assistant is to maximise learning, create a safe and positive learning environment and to minimise behaviour problems. I would contribute to the lesson by trying to achieve this goal in the following way: I would ensure all the instruments are ready for the lesson, having checked they are in good repair and unlikely to cause injury. I would supervise the children using the instruments, i.e. check they hold them correctly, use them appropriately be a good role model demonstrating how instruments should be held and used. I would support children who are experiencing difficulties I would monitor childrens ability to use instruments, follow instructions, achieve outcome of lesson Safety would be about the state of the instruments, childrens use of them and ensuring mouth pieces are hygienically treated and maintained Making sure that music sheets are available if needed. I would also monitor their behaviours by supervising and to try and minimize disruptive behaviour, which will help the children keep interest in the lesson. I would also ensure that I carry out observations on the children to make sure they have the ability to use the instruments and to achieve the outcome of the lesson. As a teaching assistant I should also be prepared to offer feedback at the end of the session to either the children or the teacher.

Marketing Essay example -- GCSE Business Marketing BTEC Coursework

Marketing According to the American Heritage Dictionary, marketing is defined is the act or process of buying and selling in a market, but what are some of the strategies that successful corporations use to gain an advantage over their competition? Successful companies invest up front to develop an advertising and promotions plan, which clearly outlines the goals and strategies of the organization. Once the plan is in place and ready to implement, identification of target markets must be determined. Successful companies also pay close attention to the competition and use failures and successes to their advantage. An advertising and promotions plan will include such items as identifying target markets, creating messages to the market and what avenues will be used to communicate the message. The plan should also identify how successes are measured through the use of a quantifiable list that tracks whether or not the tasks are accomplishing the goals. One of the most valuable factors of successful marketing is to know your target market. If Anheuser-Busch, one of the most recognized trademarks in the world, targeted customers under the legal drinking age of 21 years, chances are they would not be a world leader. The most effective way to find out about the targeted market is through basic market research. How will they perceive the offered product or service? The best way to find out what they want is to ask them. Send out surveys and offer incentives f...

‘Of Mice and Men’ shows how factors beyond the characters’ control prevent them from leading fulfilling lives Essay

John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set, and was written in the time of The Great Depression, 1929. During The Great Depression there were as many as fifteen million people, in the United States of America alone, left unemployed and with no way to feed their families. The Great Depression was caused by the Wall Street crash. The Wall Street Crash, when stocks and shares plummeted, resulted in America as a world trading country loosing gargantuan amounts money due to the many of the large companies of America going bankrupt. Because the companies went bankrupt they could no longer afford to pay any workers, this meant that they lost their jobs. Even the farms in the country could not stay running because of the Dust Bowl effect, this is when there is prolonged drought and the earth becomes like dust, entirely unsuitable to grow anything in. With a vast amount of the nation unemployed, people were desperately searching for work, simply in order to survive. When the idea came about that people could go and work the land in California, people jumped at the chance despite the appalling pay. The cruel thing is that the employers in California had paid their original workers more than they paid the migrant workers, and the migrant workers only worked because they were so desperate. The employers took advantage of their situation for their own benefit. It was very much every man for himself in that time, though in this novel there is an exception, Lennie and George, who for Steinbeck are the stereotypical migrant workers. I believe George to be living a fulfilled life within the dream he shares with Lennie and, later on in the novel Candy: the popular American dream of the period, to own a piece of land and be entirely self-sufficient from that land. The reason I think this is because George is constantly saying things such as â€Å"we’ll do her†, â€Å"we’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there†, this shows that they are living in metaphoric clouds (their dream), a far nicer place than reality, Lennie and George seam to be willing to live through anything just to achieve it. The fact that George lives for a dream, one that he truly didn’t believe would happen, â€Å"Jesus Christ! I bet we could swing her!† this also shows that now George actually believes in himself it will happen, George would have no reason to dream if he was content in reality. Whilst living a content life inside the sanction of his dream, it is clear that he is not content in reality otherwise he would have no cause to dream of a better place. Another reason for George not being content could be that he had been burdened with Lennie all of his life and thus not been able to live his own life and be his own person, George says to Lennie in the novel that he could have a much better life without Lennie â€Å"When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace†. This shows that even George feels Lennie as burden some of the time, if he felt this all of the time he could just get rid of Lennie, but he doesn’t. I believe Lennie feels much the same as George in that he lives for the dream also, whenever Lennie is uncomfortable with his surroundings in any way he will ask George to tell the story of the dream to him so that he can escape reality into his imagination, as if in fact the dream is where he wants to be. â€Å"Tell about the house George† Lennie begs.† â€Å"An’ the rabbits†. George has told Lennie that he can tend to the rabbits in their house, because Lennie is very simple this sense of responsibility and his fetish for soft things (the rabbits) provides the perfect attraction for Lennie to the Dream. Because Lennie also has to dream of a better place shows that his life is not being fulfilled on the ranch. If this was not evidence enough Lennie even says â€Å"George, I don’t like it here George†¦Ã¢â‚¬  clearly showing that he does not want to be there. The only woman on the ranch, Curley’s wife, also I believe lives an unfulfilled life because firstly all she is known as throughout the novel is â€Å"Curley’s wife†, making he sound like a possession of Curley’s. This says a lot about the period in which this novel was written, women were treated as inferior beings at this time, and I personally find it hard to see how you could live a fulfilled life when you are being put down constantly. The men on the ranch also have very dim views on her such as George’s opinion of her, â€Å"I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her†, not only does this starve her for attention it puts her down also. â€Å"Curley’s wife also has a dream, a dream of becoming famous, as she tells Lennie â€Å"He was gonna put me in the movies†, showing that she cannot be content in reality either. Curley’s wife is naturally seeking attention because she has married a man who she hardly ever sees and no one is willing to talk to her: â€Å"Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely†, and she believes she should be â€Å"†¦ in the movies†, a place where you will always be in the ‘spotlight’ so to speak, quite the opposite to how she is being treated on the ranch. Candy is the ‘crippled swamper’ on the ranch, and is only able to do menial jobs around the ranch; this offers him no real fulfilment. Despite this Candy’s life amounts to the work he does on the ranch and his dog, these are all he lives for â€Å"When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.† As time progresses Candy realises that he has not got long left and with his dog, a huge part of his life having just been killed out of sympathy, he asks to join George and Lennie’s dream instead of his life being over once he has been told to leave the ranch â€Å"S’pose I went in with you guys†. In wishing somebody would shoot him when he was told to leave the ranch shows that Candy fears for his future and where he has to go to when he is told to leave. To live your life in fear of your future, not knowing where you are going, not having control of you own life cannot be a very secure and pleasant mental environment to live in; Can dy therefore can’t have a very fulfilled life. Curley is a successful welterweight boxer, but unfortunately didn’t quite make it to the top, instead he is stuck on his father’s ranch, a place where he doesn’t always get the respect/fear he craves, so he has to be rude and hostile in his talking â€Å"Well, nex’ time you answer when you’re spoke to†. This shows that Curley is not living the life he wants to live, thus making his life unfulfilled. Curley has a huge problem with intimidation, meaning bigger people intimidate him easily. He is also obsessed with power and authority: â€Å"Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys†, and on a ranch full of large men, he does not always have the security he wants. Curley is in a loveless marriage despite what he thinks he feels for his wife, she refuses to pay him the same attention: â€Å"he ain’t a nice fella†. Curley does not have his life going his way at all, he is stuck living somewhere he does not want to be, without the power he wants and with people he does not like; his father’s ranch. On top of this, he is in a marriage where the only ‘love’ is on his behalf. This all leads me to the conclusion that Curley does not a have a fulfilled life. Crooks is a black stable buck in the novel, and during this time black people were regarded as inferior beings, this leaves Crooks open to much discrimination. Using Crooks as a stereotype, Steinbeck tries to show the relationship between black and white people in America in the 1930’s. Throughout the novel, Crooks is treated with great disrespect, for example he is constantly being referred to as a â€Å"God damn nigger†. Crooks also gets segregated from the rest of the workers, this makes him incredibly lonely, we can tell this from a touching extract between Lennie and Crooks â€Å"Crooks says gently, ‘Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk-house and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that?† Crooks is insulted countless times every single day of his life, the name â€Å"nigger† is used such as the term ‘mate’ is used today, so without meaning to insult Crooks people did it every time they chose to speak to him. Every time when Crooks elevates himself above his usual status by making the odd chance comment or voicing his opinion, he is simply thrown back down to the ground. For example Crooks began to introduce his opinion into a conversation and was quite bluntly told by Curley’s wife, â€Å"you keep your place, then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny†. I find it near impossible to even think that Crooks could lead a fulfilled life when he is treated like a dirty animal, and his thoughts or feelings are considered worthless. My thoughts are that Slim is the only main character in the whole novel that possibly leads a fulfilled life. Unlike Crooks, Slim is paid much respect by all of the other workers. Candy refers to Slim as â€Å"Hell of a nice fella†, and comments are also made about people’s reactions when he speaks, â€Å"all talk stopped when he spoke†. This gives Slim a sense of belonging and importance. Slim is a highly skilled worker and the ranch would not be the same without him, and he knows this, so do the other workers on the ranch, â€Å"He’s capable of driving ten, sixteen even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders†. It is comments and views such as these which make Slim feel needed. Slim is favoured by all on the ranch, perhaps especially by Crooks and Curley’s wife as he treats them without any prejudice or discriminative views. For example, Slim is very polite and actually pays a compliment to Curley’s wife â€Å"Hi, Good-lookin '†. Throughout the novel, Slim does not mention any other life that he might prefer, nor does he show any evidence of him having a dream, this shows that he must be reasonably content with his life on the ranch as he has no cause to dream. I believe Slim to be the only main character in the novel to live a fulfilled life because he is clearly respected by all members of the ranch and very much favoured by them. Slim has security and he is also very independent, because of everyone’s admiration he also feels good in himself, Slim must have a great sense of fulfilment in his life. In a time where everyone had to make the most of what they had, only one person in this novel has succeeded, and that in my eyes would be Slim. It was a ‘dog eat dog world’ during the Great Depression and Slim manages to rise above all of the bad things that have happened to him due to it. He manages to lift himself up above everyone else who were stuck in the rut of their own self pity, he manipulated the situation and uses it to his advantage. He took the wrong things in the other peoples lives and offered solutions for example he gave George someone to talk to, or the fact that he was polite to those who were treated like dirt, this made people like and respect him which is what drove him on inspite or the Depression.

Compare and Contrast Hrm and Ir Essay

Introduction There are various conceptions existing in the aspects of definition, academic boundaries and major functions of the fields of human resource management (HRM) and industrial relations (IR). The essay critically discusses the comparison and contrast on the key features of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations in academic fields. On the base of review of the origins and transition of the tow subjects the paper will explore the general accepted definitions of the HRM and IR respectively. It will then go on to lay out theoretical dimensions of the two subjects, and looks at significant characteristics of HRM and IR. The last part assesses comparison and contrast between the two fields in the light of historical perspectives and literature review. Definition Transition of Human Resource Management The HRM terminology stems from the USA subsequences of human relations movement. In the counterpart, since the first British book on HRM published in the late 1980s, which was notably known as New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Storey 1989), there have been a large volume of published studies investigating the definition of HRM in diverse standing and approaches. Ackers (2003) provided a general term on the definition of HRM, ‘HRM refers to all those activities associated with the management of work and people in firms and in other formal orgaisations. Although it is conceptualised by involving the entire breadth of HRM studies, it should be embodied to specific nature and pattern of the subject. Sisson (1990) sees HRM of four aspects of employment practice: an integration of HR policies with business planning; a shift in responsibility for HR issues form personnel specialists to line managers; a shift from the collectivism of management and, finally, an emphasis on commitment has further understanding of HRM. According to the classic work edited by Storey J (2007), HRM is defined as a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of culture,  structural and personnel techniques, which is a comprehensive understanding of HRM. Definition of Industrial Relations There is little doubt that Industrial Relations has become a subject of scholarly analysis since the end of the nineteenth century, when Sidney and Beatrice Webb (1984) couple published their classic series studies of the regulation of employment in Britain. Flanders (1965, 10) suggested, ‘The study of industrial relations may therefore be described as a study of the institutions of job regulation’, which prevailed for a time is beyond satisfaction of the academic study at present. The view that IR is the study of processes of control over work relations, and among these processes, those involving collective worker organization and action are of particular concern is more adaptable to generalise specific and precisely for the subject. (Hyman, 1975) Basic Theory of Human Resource Management In 1990, the launch of two influential journals, Human Resource Management Journal, edited by Keith Sisson at Warwick University, the International Journal of Human Resource Management, edited by Michael Poole at Cardiff facilitates the emergence of courses and models in HRM in universities and colleges. A large and growing body of literature has sprung up amongst which two notable theories is predominant leading, Fombrun et al’s (1984) matching model and the Harvard framework. Matching model focused on the connection between organizational strategy and HRM, in the meanwhile Frombrun et al divided HRM into four integral parts – selection, development, appraisal and reward stressing the significance of efficiency of work performance enhancement. Some commentators have even utilized the terms ‘high commitment’ policies to substitute for HRM (Marchington, 2005). On the other hand, the Harvard framework (Beer et al, 1985) involve six basic components with a broader expand from the inside out , that is, situational factors, stakeholder interests, policy choices, outcomes, long-term consequences and a feedback loop. However, neither of the models pays close attention to the respects of employment relationship. John Storey’s (2007) model is worth considering framework in HRM studies. Four key elements are summarized as foundational structure of HRM, that is Beliefs and assumptions, strategic  qualities, critical role of managers and key levers which activate HRM as an essentially tool and techniques for use by practitioners. However, many HR functions these days struggle to get beyond the roles of administration and employee champion, and are seen as reactive rather than strategically proactive partners for the top management. In addition, HR organisations also have difficulty in proving how their activities and processes add value to t he company. Only in recent years have HR scholars and professionals focused on developing models that can measure the value added by HR. Basic Research Interest of Industrial Relations Colling et al (2010) comment that Academic industrial relations is now outdated’ either the problem of the ‘human factor’ in work have all been solved, or they are better addressed by new approaches such as ‘human resource management’ or ‘organisational behaviour’, however, in the statement by the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA), they strongly disagree the claim. During the initiative academic research in IR, predominant focus upon collective institutions and processes which embody trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes are the mainstream scope of IR study. Compared with the origin IR, modern IR emphasized on the experience of work, both individual and collective, and with all sources of the rules that govern the employment relationship. Therefore, IR was widely regarded as having two major subdivisions within it. The first dealt with the management of labour, the second with collective bargaining and methods of workforce governance (Russell Sage Foundation, 1919). By many accounts, industrial relations today is in crisis. In academia, its traditional positions are threatened on one side by the dominance of mainstream economics and organizational behavior, and on the other by postmodernism. The importance of work, however, is stronger than ever, and the lessons of industrial relations remain vital. Comparison and contrast of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations The interrelation between HRM and IR is complicated. In one sense HRM was  considered as a subfield of IR in the early 1960s for majority of scholars, afterwards in prevailing contemporary conception HRM has largely been regarded as a separate subject underlying distinguish perspectives and divergent points of the field. However, HRM and IR do share some commonalities in matters of concern focusing on employment and workplace issues and recognition of the humanness of labour. Moreover, it is common to combine the two academic fields as one integral course named HRM and IR in contemporary university and college teaching. By contrast, John Storey (2007) proposes twenty-five dimensions to differentiate HRM and IR with the same key element in Storey’s model (Table 1.1). Furthermore, from the research interest differentials, it can be concluded that HRM largely takes an ‘internal’ perspective on employment problem emphasizing the solution to labour issues, while IR basically has an external view focusing on the workers’ and community’s solutions. The goal and function is not the same between the two fields. HRM’s primary goal is organizational effectiveness and takes a instrumental approach to promoting employee interests; IR’ aim is a combination of organizational effectiveness and employee well-being as well as employee’s interests priorities. HR assumes conflict not inevitable and can be minimized by management; IR sees conflicts as inevitable requiring third-party intervention. HRM and IR are distinguished in various respects with different standpoints and approaches. Generally, IR provides a multi-layer discernment of employment relationships, interconnections between the workplace, the company, the sector, the national regulatory framework in the light of multi-disciplinary approach involving sociology, political science, economics, history and law. Frequently, HRM teaching accepts management’s objectives uncritically, concentrates on activities at company level without exploring the societal and institutional environment, and has its disciplinary basis primarily in psychology and organizational sociology rather than the social sciences more broadly. Despite of the inevitable irreconcilable antagonisms between the two subjects, there is a closely link of HR and IR providing a complementary foundation of the exchange and development of the employment issues. Conclusion The essay discusses the definition of HRM and IR and significant features  in academic fields largely through an historical analysis of the two fields’ respective origins and development. HRM and IR fields are distinguished by numerous differences in their approach to research and practice. However, scholar on both sides have to give greater recognition to the fact that the different assumptions separating HRM and IR are only specialized tools for investigation and do not represent a full or universalistic explanatory model for studying the employment relationship for more explicitly research perspectives. Reference Ackers, P. and Willkinson, A. 2003. Understanding Work and Employment, Oxford University Press Bach, S(ed), 2005, Managing Human Resources, 4th edition, Balckwell Publishing Boxall, P and Purcell, J, 2008, Strategy and HRM, 2nd edition, Palgrave Bruce E.K, 2001,Human resources and industrial relations Commonalities and differences, Human Resource Review, 11(2001) 339-374 BUIRA 2008. What’s the point of Industrial Relations? A statement by the British Universities Industrial Relations Association Colling, T. and Terry, M. 2010. ‘Work , the employment relationship and the field of Industrial Relations’, in Colling, T and Terry, M (eds), Industrial Relations: theory and practice (3rd ed), Chinchester:Wiley, 3-25 Guest, D. (1987) ‘Human resource management and industrial relations’, Journal of Management Studies, 24(5), September: 503-521 Hyman, R. 1975. A Marxist Introduction to Industrial Relations. Basingsotoke: MacMillan. Paul Edwards edit , Industria l Relations Theory & Practice in Britain, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1995 Marchington. M and Wikinson. A, 2005, Human Resource at work, 3th editon, CIPD, London Miller, P. (1987) ‘Strategic industrial relations and human resource management – distinction, definition and recognition’, Journal of Management Studies, 24(4) July:347-361 Sisson, K. (1990) ‘Introducing the Human Resource Management Journal’, Human Resource Management Journal, 1(1):1-11 Strorey, J(ed), 2007, HRM : A critical text. 3rd edition, Routledge Redman, T . Wilkinson. A, 2001, Contemporary Human Resource Management, Financial Times

Filing Federal Timber Income Tax

Filing Federal Timber Income Tax Congress has provided timberland owners with some favorable tax provisions. Here are five tips designed to help you make the most of these provisions and avoid paying unnecessary income tax or making costly mistakes. This report is only an introduction. Consult the references and links provided for complete information on the topic. Also understand that we are discussing Federal income tax here. Many states have their own taxing systems which can be dramatically different from federal taxation and is usually an ad valorum, severance, or yield tax. Remember these five points when filing your Federal income taxes on timber: Establish Your Basis Its key to establish your basis as soon as possible and to keep good records. Basis is a measure of your investment in timber as opposed to what you paid for the land and other capital assets acquired. Record your cost of acquiring forestland or the value of inherited forest land as soon as possible. When selling your timber in the future, you can use these costs as a depletion deduction. Adjust or step up your basis for new purchases or investments. Step down your basis for sales or other disposals. Keep records to include a management plan and map, receipts for business transactions, diaries, and landowner meeting agendas. Report basis and timber depletion on IRS Form T,â€Å"Forest Activities Schedule, Part II. You are required to file a Form T if you claim some timber depletion deductions or sell timber. Owners with occasional sales may be excepted from this requirement, but it is considered prudent to file. File your years documentation using this electronic version Form T. Know Whats Deductible If you own a forest to make money, ordinary and necessary expenses incurred for managing forest land as a business or an investment are deductible even if there is no current income from the property. This includes if youve performed reforestation work or established significant timber stand regeneration costs. You can deduct outright the first $10,000 of qualified reforestation expenses during the taxable year. In addition, you can amortize (deduct), over 8 years, all reforestation expenses in excess of $10,000. (Due to a half-year convention, you can only claim one-half of the amortizable portion the first tax year, so it actually takes 8 tax years to recover the amortizable portion.) Do You Quality for Long-Term Capital Gains? If you sold standing timber during the taxable year held for over 12 months, Yyu may be able to benefit from the long-term capital gains provisions on timber sale income which will lower your tax obligation. When you sell standing timber either lump-sum or on a pay-as-cut basis, the net proceeds generally qualify as a long-term capital gain. Remember, you can qualify for this long-term capital gains treatment on timber only if you hold the timber over one year. You do not have to pay self-employment tax on capital gains. Did You Have a Timber Loss? If you had a timber loss during the taxable year, you can, in most cases, only take a deduction for (casualty) losses that are physical in nature and caused by an event or combination of events that has run its course (fires, floods, ice storms and tornadoes). Remember that your deduction for a casualty or qualifying non-casualty loss is limited to your timber basis, minus any insurance or salvage compensation. Make Required Reports to the IRS If you had federal or state cost-share assistance during the taxable year via receiving a form 1099-G, you are obligated to report it to the IRS. You may choose to exclude some or all of it but you must report it. But if the program qualifies for exclusion, you can choose either to include the payment in your gross income and make full use of beneficial tax provisions or to calculate and exclude the excludable amount. Excludable cost-share assistance includes the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP payments only), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP), Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). Several states also have cost-share programs that qualify for exclusion. Adapted from USFS, Cooperative Forestry, Tax Tips for Forest Landowners by Linda Wang, Forest Taxation Specialist and John L. Greene, Research Forester, Southern Research Station. Based on a 2011 report.

7 Free Online Courses That Will Make You Happier

7 Free Online Courses That Will Make You Happier Here’s something to smile about: These 7 free online courses are waiting to teach you how to create a happier, more fulfilling life. Learn about the study of happiness from professors and researchers at top universities as you implement techniques such as meditation, resilience, mindfulness, and visualization into your own life. Whether you’re going through a rough spot or are simply looking for a few tips on creating a happier life, these courses can help bring a little sunshine your way. The Science of Happiness (UC Berkeley) Created by leaders in UC Berkeley’s â€Å"Greater Good Science Center,† this extremely popular 10-week course gives students an introduction to the concepts behind Positive Psychology. Learners study science-based methods of increasing their happiness and monitor their progress as they go. The results of this online class have also been studied. Research shows that students who consistently participate throughout the course experience an increase in well-being and a sense of common humanity, as well as a decrease in loneliness. The Year of Happy (Independent) Want to make this year your happiest yet? This free email course walks recipients through one major theme of happiness each month. Every week, receive an email related to that theme containing videos, readings, discussions, and more. Monthly themes include: gratitude, optimism, mindfulness, kindness, relationships, flow, goals, work, savoring, resilience, body, meaning, and spirituality. Becoming a Resilient Person: The Science of Stress Management (University of Washington) When stress strikes, how do you react? This 8-week course teaches students how to develop resilience – the ability to positively withstand adversity in their lives. Techniques such as optimistic thinking, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, and purposeful decision-making are introduced as ways to develop a toolbox for dealing with stressful situations. Introduction to Psychology (Tsinghua University) When you understand the basics of psychology, youll be better prepared to make decisions that bring you ongoing happiness. Learn about the mind, perception, learning, personality, and (ultimately) happiness in this 13-week introductory course. A Lifetime of Happiness and Fulfillment (Indian School of Business)   Developed by a professor nicknamed â€Å"Dr. HappySmarts,† this 6-week course draws on research from a variety of disciplines to help students understand what makes people happy. Be prepared for videos featuring interviews with happiness experts and authors, readings, and exercises. Positive Psychology (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Students in this 6-week course are introduced to the study of Positive Psychology. Weekly units focus on psychological techniques that are proven to improve happiness levels - upward spirals, building resilience, loving-kindness meditations, and more. Psychology of Popularity (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) If you think that popularity doesn’t affect you, think again. This 6-week course introduces students to the multitude of ways that experiences with popularity in their younger years shape who they are and how they feel as an adult. Apparently, popularity can even change DNA in unexpected ways.

Social Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Law - Essay Example Link between corporate crime and Social crime Corporate crimes engage planning, tactical residency the deviance ought to be harmful to people exterior of a corporation or rather the deviance of corporate representatives ought to extend the intentions and desires of a Corporation. The deviance should be supported or abided by top administrative and/or colleagues. The prime recipient of this deviant deed is the corporation. Social crime denotes a cluster of peoples who occupy a comparable place in the economic structure of production. In that classification profession is extremely vital since it offers monetary incentives, steadiness and benefits like healthcare. Has the law’s view of the criminal responsibility of corporations changed over the years? The conclusion of the century provides a chance to mirror on legal replies to alterations in social and monetary organization. Increasing dependence on sophisticated expertise, the developing trendy terminology of risk, and endeavo rs to position the wherewithal of criminal law in opposition to business ventures are a number of the expressions of those alterations. There has developed a debate concerning probable criminal accountability for 'Millennium Bug' tragedies captures these prime features of modern life. Civil and Criminal Law Civil decree endeavors to determine non-criminal arguments for instance divergences over the connotations of contracts, land ownership, annulment, child care, and harms for individual and property denting. Civil law ought to be used since its purpose is to give a legal solution to resolve problems. Criminal decree is that organization of the decree that tackles conduct deemed so dangerous to community entirely that it is forbidden by statute, impeached and penalized by the governing body (Gardner and Terry, 17). Criminal law is a matter of enforcement looking in the sheriff viewpoint. A sheriff is a bureaucrat of the court, plus his chief purpose and role is to serve and performs the diverse legal courses and mandates issued. Secondly, Divisional and government department policies and courses are reliable throughout the court case law in the U.S. These rules are crafted and established to cover the accurate, prompt, and judicious service and implementation of all matters regarding the enforcement of consents and course. Thirdly, the FEC has private power over the public enforcement of the centralized fight against finance law. In implementing that influence, the Commission utilizes a multiplicity of techniques to uncover probable election law breaches. How crime in the streets is viewed versus how crime in the suites is viewed by society? By means of burglary and fraud as two paradigms, the judgments indicate that public viewpoints of sanction conviction and relentlessness advocated that street criminals were exceptionally credible to be caught and be judged to more harsh sentences as opposed to white-collar criminals. There is much debate on which crime sh ould be punished severely. Both crimes are perceived to receive the exact sentence and are at par. With this in consideration, there is no varying perception in crime in the suites, and it is not supposed to be changing. Question Two Functionalist verses Conflict view of change Conflict philosophers perceive social change as happening merely via infighting amid social classes. Even as, it is factual that numerous revolutions have emerged in the emergence of class plus/or cluster conflict, it is a terrific deal different from the outlook functionalists inclination. Functionalists characteristically employ the additional tangible factors, for example, population development and industrial advances as pioneering the indict

Formal legal brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Formal legal brief - Essay Example Their demand was that the statute should be declared unconstitutional as it makes impossible to exercise the liberty interest protected under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Both the District Court and then the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressed the view that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution encompasses a due process liberty interest in controlling the time and manner of one’s death, and that the Washington statute is unconstitutional when it applies to terminally ill competent adults who want to hasten their deaths. Whether the Washington state statute which holds that a person who assists in hastening the death of terminally ill people is unconstitutional as it violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? The Washing state statute which holds that a person who knowingly causes or aids another person to attempt suicide is guilty of felony of promoting suicide attempt is not unconstitutional as it does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause. The first point is that the due process clause does not protect the right to commit suicide and hence the same does not allow the right to assist in committing suicide. Secondly, from the legal traditions of the nation and its history, it is evident that the due process clause does not consider the right to assistance in committing suicide as a fundamental liberty interest. First of all, a patient who is suffering from such a terminal illness with extreme pain has no legal barriers to getting such medications which will even cause unconsciousness and hasten death if the main purpose is to help reduce pain. In such a situation, it is unnecessary to answer the question whether a mentally competent person with great suffering and pain has a constitutionally cognizable interest to control his or her own death. Secondly, the liberty as protected under the due process clause does not include

MARKETING ESSAY QUESTION Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MARKETING QUESTION - Essay Example 538). Most marketers today are experiencing difficulties with effective and systematic planning due to a number of market forces such as globalization, fierce competition among market players, radical changes in technology and changing consumer behavior. This piece of research work presents a brief study on systematic approach to marketing planning from the perspective of contemporary international marketing contexts. This paper reviews relevant literatures to critically evaluate the statement â€Å"A systematic approach to marketing planning is essential to successfully inform the marketing decisions made within a contemporary international company†. Marketing planning Planning is basically a systematized method of relating to the future (Cateora and Graham, 2007, p. 317) and therefore many literatures have considered marketing planning as all rational, incremental and intuitive processes that guides a firm’s marketing activities to its future (Greenley, Hooley and Sau nders, 2004, p. 933). Dibb and Simkin (1996, p. 3) who provided a clear and systematic approach to marketing planning defined it as a systematic process that involves assessing marketing opportunities and resources, determines marketing goals and develops future plan for implementation and control. Traditionally, literatures described marketing planning as a model of logical-sequential decision making that incorporates a firm’s objectives, strategies, tactics and control. Greenley, Hooley and Saunders (2004, p. 933) pointed that this explanation to marketing planning has focused on what marketing planning decisions could be and not on how they could be made. They emphasized that marketing planning is used to pursue dynamic marketing opportunities in order to guide a firm’s marketing to its future. In today’s rigorously competitive marketing contexts, market opportunities keep on changing and hence firms need to adopt their plans with a view to pursue these dynam ic opportunities. Marketing planning involves deciding on significant marketing strategies that help the firm achieve its overall strategic objectives and future goals. A marketing planning is required for each business, each product and each brand (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005, p. 59). A Systematic approach to Marketing Planning A systematic approach to marketing planning has been considered to be the most difficult of all marketing tasks since it involves bringing together all the various marketing elements in to coherent and realistic plan (McDonald, 2007, p. 9). A systematic marketing planning necessarily requires certain degree of organizational procedures and compromise between conflicting objectives. McDonald (1992, p. 5) identified ‘lack of systematic approach to marketing planning’ as one of the most difficult barriers to marketing planning. Marketers need to design and implement most appropriate planning system for their firms. As McDonald (1992, p. 14) pointed, a marketing planning system is essential to ensure that all key issues are systematically

Introduction To Service Industry Restaurants Marketing Essay

Introduction To Service Industry Restaurants Marketing Essay The food service industry continues to grow in volume and revenue every year and typically divides itself into two categories: full-service restaurants and fast-food restaurants. Each individual restaurant is in competition with other food service operations within the same geographical area. The fast food restaurant industry is highly competitive. McDonalds competes with other restaurants through the quality, variety and value perception of food products offered. McDonalds Corporations main competition comes from other fast-food restaurants; most notably, YUM! Brands Inc, Wendys International, Dominos and Burger King. Figure1: The total revenues of the major players in the fast food industry (www.ycharts.com) The figure represents the market share of McDonalds in the fast food industry. McDonalds Corporation (MCD) has company operated and franchise restaurants all over the world. They are the leading global food service retailer by means of over 30,000 restaurants in more than 117 countries, serving about 50 million people every day. Franchising plays a major role in McDonalds system with 26,216 were operated by franchisees (including 19,020 operated by conventional franchisees, 3,160 operated by developmental licensees and 4,036 operated by foreign affiliated markets (affiliates)-primarily in Japan) and 6,262 were operated by the company. Their total revenue in 2009 was $ 23 billion. McDonalds success in the fast food industry stems from their main success factors which are branded affordability, menu variety and beverage choice, convenience and daypart expansion, ongoing restaurant reinvestment and operations excellence. These success factors are used to promote McDonalds brand image, p rovide customers with quality products and differentiate themselves from other competitors like YUM Brands (YUM owns brands like KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver) After extensive research, analysis and valuation, it is found that McDonalds corporation is currently an undervalued company and rated as a Market Outperform and thus I recommend this stock as a Buy. Executive Summary The food service industry is one of high competition; however, McDonalds has been able to obtain the position as the leader in market capitalization with a market capital of $74.6B in 2009. While McDonalds has deployed high amounts of capital, the company manages its asset base with high inventory turnover while also maintaining cost efficiency. Industry Demand Drivers: The market of the food service industry attributes much of its growth to global sales and revenue. Despite tough environment, McDonalds delivered an exceptional year of growth, posted strong sales and increased market share around the world. In 2009, global comparable sales increased 3.8 percent, fueled by solid gains in the United States (+2.6 percent), Europe (+5.2 percent), Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (+3.4 percent), Latin America (+5.3 percent) and Canada (+5.8 percent). Earnings per share for the year increased 9 percent to $4.11 (13 percent in constant currencies), while consolidated operating income increased 6 percent (10 percent in constant currencies). We also returned $5.1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends paid, bringing our three-year cash return total to $16.6 billion-notably at the high end of our stated target of $15 to $17 billion for the years 2007 through 2009. Globally, McDonalds caters and adapts to different cultures and societies, while still providing them with the same McDonalds experience. With a significant portion of McDonalds sales derived from international stores, foreign denominated sales should generate additional earnings leverage given the weakening of the US dollar against other currencies. McDonalds is well positioned: McDonalds is able to maintain a loyal customer base, and compete with the existing competitors by introducing variation to their menu, such as the Dollar Value Menu. Also, in order to adhere to a more concerned health concise society, McDonalds has implemented holistic approach which consists of High-Quality Choices for customers, Consumer-Friendly Nutrition Information and communicate responsibly. The Happy Meal, which has been a long standing childs favorite, now has options such as fruit instead of French Fries and all white meat chicken nuggets. As for one McDonalds company goals is to adhere to outstanding customer service, strengthens the maintenance of long standing customers, as well as develop new relationships with customers of a new generation. Franchising business model: Within Fast Food restaurants franchise models are common. Franchise models can grow faster using others capital. Franchises have to be pay rent and royalties based on a percent of sales along with minimum rent payments, and initial fees. On the other hand, company-owned models have greater control over pricing, operations and can close underperforming restaurants more quickly. In 2009 the total no of franchised restaurants was 26,216 compared to 25,465 in 2008 and the number of company operated restaurants decreased by 3.6%. The total revenue from franchises in 2009 was $7,286.2 Million an increase in 4% compared to 2008. McDonald Franchises Revenue from Franchises Key challenges and Adaptability Intensity of competition: Competitors of the industry also try to compete with similar products; therefore, leading to price wars. McDonalds created a Dollar Value Menu, in response to competitors such as Wendys 99 cent menu. Overall, the industry has tried various product differentiations in order to accumulate greater market share, but most consumers are drawn to the classics. McDonalds is doing more and more to compete with health focused restaurants like Subway. Nutritionist and other leading experts have been hired to join the McDonalds team in order to ensure that the correct items are added to the menu, while still keeping and improving the classics that they are famous for. For example, the chicken nuggets that we all grew up on are now 100% white meat. McDonalds is flexible in their menu to conform to the changing tastes of society. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: In recent years the industry has had a small problem with beef, because of the outbreak of the mad cow disease. This problem raised the cost of beef in Europe tremendously but the cost actually went up around the world because of the beef shortage in Europe. The suppliers that sell to McDonalds have a strong voice also because of the fact that the switching cost for McDonalds as a whole would be so tremendous, so any problems or disputes would be worked out with there suppliers. Comparative Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis helps us analyze the financial trends of previous years and extrapolate those trends into future years for McDonalds and its core competitors within the industry. It is divided into three areas: fundamentals, growth and profitability, and capital structure of the company. Liquidity ratios are used to determine how liquid the firm is, and how it will meet its obligations. This also helps us determine how risky the firm is by determining if the company is employing an adequate amount of liability or risk to generate profit. Profitability ratios give us the perspective profitability of the firm is operating. The ratios will help in accurately valuing the company at its current condition, compare its performance against competitors, and project the future results of the company. Fundamentals of McDonalds (MCD) vs. YUM Brands (YUM) Table 1 Financial Condition Company Industry Average SP 500 Debt/Equity Ratio 0.74 1.82 1.13 Current Ratio 1.4 1.3 1.4 Quick Ratio 1.3 1.2 1.2 Interest Coverage 30.6 18.8 28.0 Leverage Ratio 2.1 3.8 3.8 Book Value/Share 13.12 11.95 22.35 The industry average is calculated as an average of competitor brands like YUM, Burger King and Wendys. Current ratio: Since 1999 McDonalds has experienced a steady increase in their current ratio. The present current ratio of 1.4 is higher compared to industry average of 1.3. This increase shows that McDonalds has more ability to pay off their short term debts from the sale of their currents assets. Overall, McDonalds is in fairly good shape because their current ratio is growing. Receivables Turnover: McDonalds has consistently been well below its competitors YUM with accounts receivables turnover. This means that they arent collecting their accounts receivables as promptly as their competitors. This prevents McDonalds from reinvesting and expanding their restaurants which is a major source of revenue. This also allows for a greater chance of default on their accounts receivables. Asset Utilization: This ratio indicates how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. The return on assets (ROA) ratio illustrates how well management is employing the companys total assets to make a profit. The higher the return, the more efficient management is in utilizing its asset base. McDonalds Asset Turnover has consistently been lower than its competitor YUM since 1999. Debt to Equity Ratio: The debt-equity ratio is another leverage ratio that compares a companys total liabilities to its total shareholders equity. McDonalds has maintained a fairly low Debt to Equity Ratio of 0.74 which means that the company has an efficient amount of equity that can cover the cost of its liabilities compared to Yum of 3.14 or the industry average of debt to equity ratio of 1.82. Book value per share: This is an indication of how much shareholders are paying for the net assets of a company. McDonalds book value of 13.12 is higher than the industry average (11.95) or YUM (3.05) Net Income: The net income for McDonalds suffered a dip of 23% in 2007 but recovered in the year 2008, 2009. The total net income in 2009 was $ 4,555 Million compared to YUM who had a net income of $1071Million Shareholders Equity: Shareholders equity represents the amount by which a company is financed through common and preferred shares. The average Shareholders Equity for MCD is $13,287M compared to YUM who has a $709M. Dividend: MCD has consistently grown in dividends over the years. This is one of the most attractive features of MCD. Comparing the dividends of MCD and YUM, MCD has 25% increase on YTY compared to YUM who has only 14%. Growth and Profitability Table 2 Investment Returns % Company Industry Average SP 500 Return On Equity 34.8 48.2 21.4 Return On Assets 16.2 13.1 7.5 Return On Capital 17.6 15.4 10.0 Return On Equity (5-Year Avg.) 22.7 29.0 16.4 Return On Assets (5-Year Avg.) 11.4 10.1 7.6 Return On Capital (5-Year Avg.) 13.0 12.5 10.3 The industry average is calculated as an average of competitor brands like YUM, Burger King, and Wendys. Revenue Growth: The global recession has affected the revenue of both the companies. By year 2009 the consumer demand and currency exchanges have helped recover to pre-recessionary levels. EPS and Growth: The portion of a companys profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. Earnings per share serve as an indicator of a companys profitability. The EPS for MCD is 4.11 which have increased from 9% from the previous year while the EPS for YUM is 2.26. The growth of EPS has been fluctuating due to the global economic crises. Profit Margin: A higher profit margin indicates a more profitable company that has better control over its costs compared to its competitors. MCD has a profit margin of 20% compared to Yum is 10%. Return on Equity (ROE): Return on equity measures a corporations profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. The ROE for MCD is 34.8 which is less than the industry average of 48.2. From the above figure we can infer for 2009 the ROE for YUM is 180%, but this has not been consistent over the years. For a long term investor this is not good. Capital Structure Charts Table 3 Price Ratios Company Industry Average SP 500 Current P/E Ratio 16.4 20.9 22.4 P/E Ratio 5-Year High NA 6.8 15.8 P/E Ratio 5-Year Low NA 3.2 2.4 Price/Sales Ratio 3.21 2.33 2.03 Price/Book Value 5.30 7.11 3.21 Price/Cash Flow Ratio 12.70 11.90 13.80 The industry average is calculated as an average of competitor brands like YUM, Burger King, and Wendys. Market Capital: Market capitalization represents the public consensus on the value of a companys equity. McDonalds in 2009 had a market capital of $67.3B compared to YUM brand that had a market capital of $16.35B. It also represents the market estimate of a companys value, based on perceived future prospects, economic and monetary conditions. Price to Earnings Ratio: A stock with a high P/E ratio means that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to the overall market, as investors pay more for todays earnings in anticipation of future earnings growth. From the table 2 McDonalds PE is 16.4, which is below the industry average of 20.4. However there are limitations since the ratio depends on the earnings per share. McDonalds earnings per share of 4.24 are above the industry average of 1.43. Price to Book Value: This ratio used to compare a stocks market value to its book value. A lower P/B ratio could mean that the stock is undervalued. From the above figure McDonald has a stable P/B ratio compared to the Yum. From table 3 the P/B ratio for McDonald is 5.31 which is below the industry average of 7.11. Price to Sales ratio: The P/S ratio measures the price of a companys stock against its annual sales. From table 3 we can understand that the P/S ratio for McDonalds is 3.21 compared to the industry average of 2.33. This means that the investor would be paying $3.21 for every dollar of McDonalds sales. Price to Cash Flow Ratio: This ratio compares the stocks market price to the amount of cash flow the company generates on a per-share basis. McDonalds has a Price/Cash Flow ratio of 12.70 which is higher than the industry average of 11.90. Conclusion In our overall analysis of McDonalds Corporation using a variation of methods and models, we have conclusively found that McDonalds is currently undervalued in the market and is a Buy. The Method of Comparables was used, which included such ratios as: Price/Earnings, Price/Book, Price/Sales, and Price Earnings growth ratio valuations. The ratio valuations were calculated by finding the industry average and using a varying of other factors to project an expected share price. The industry average is calculated as an average of competitor brands like YUM, Burger King, and Wendys. Price to Book Ratio $ Industry Average of Price to Book value 7.11 Current Book Value of McDonald 13.12 Estimated price of share $93.28 Current Market Price 69.37 Trailing Price to Earnings Ratio Industry Average of Trailing Price to Earnings Ratio 17.9 Current McDonalds earnings per share $4.11 Estimated Market price $73.59 Current Market Price 69.37 Dividends Yield Ratio Analysis Industry Dividend Average (%) 2.73 McDonald Dividend per share 2.2 Expected share price found by dividing McDonalds (Dividends per share)/ (Industry average Dividends yield ratio) $80.50 Current Market price $69.37 Forward Price to Earnings Ratio Industry Average of Forward Price to Earnings Ratio 14.73 Current McDonalds earnings per share $4.11 Estimated price of share $60.54 Current Market Price 69.37 All Data obtained from Yahoo finance on 13/016/2010 From the above calculation the estimated price of McDonald is between $60.54 $93.28. However McDonalds corporation has faced previous law suits on being held accountable for obesity, similarly following the litigation process of cigarettes and tobacco companies. The courts ruled against this issue in McDonalds favor, making this a remote future risk factor. In addition, MCD in its effort to be a more socially responsible corporate citizen, by supporting a healthier society, has developed light and healthy menu items in order to give customers additional eating options and in doing so, broadening the array of its customer base while offering its existing customer base with healthier menu options.