Week Two Team Doc

The purpose of this comprehensive analysis is to discuss the region and country of Brazil along with our proposed global business venture in the country. Regional Analysis Brazil has worldwide allies but is recognized as one of the few nations in the world that does not currently have a regional alliance (but as you point out the country is member of NUMEROUS). However, (former) Brazilian President Luis dad Silva in 2008 has looked to change that with his proposal of a full region alliance of all of South America, called the Latin Alliance (Washington Times, 2008).Currently Brazil operates ender the Numerous, a form of economic integration that promotes trade, especially free trade, such as the exchange of goods, services and currency among its members. The members include Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Bola (Wisped, 2013). The Brazilian physical environment Is lush with vegetation, color, territory, natural resources, and available aquatic resources. All environments w hich positively facilitate trade potential for Brazil and the Region as a whole.South America Is regarded a place where political Instability holds true for most of the nations within the region, Brazil Included (Heritage, 2013). As a result of the political instability economic conditions have also resulted in fluctuation in success, where financing and other financial relief can be hard to come by or even relied upon in general for the region. However, the social conditions have looked up in the region for some nations as some nations have seen reductions In corruption with the increase in commerce, health care, and environmental acknowledgment (Heritage, 2013).Terrorism is not considered a factor (Internationals, 2013). You should update your understanding of Brazilian politics and the country global Image. Project finance has not been a recent problem. ) Country Analysis Brazil is one of the largest countries on the continent of South America. Over the years Brazil has had growt h in the oil, natural gas, and electricity markets. The country is also one of the largest consumers of energy in South America. Brazil is most popularly known for having largest rainforest's out of all of the destinations on the globe.Because of all of the plant life that belongs to the rain forest, Brazil produces the most Carbon Dioxide (? ). Brazil has been having a large amount of 1 OFF in the rainforest's. The deforestation has had an effect on the environment because of the plant and animal species that are becoming endangered. It also has an effect on the water and air quality in surrounding cities because of pollution. Brazil has a military but it is not used very often because the country does not have any enemies or threats to be concerned with.The country has a stable democratic political system, and has no cultural or ethnic conflicts. Political leaders like Lull De Silva implemented an economic plan and social reforms that helped them rank high on the UN Human Developm ent Index. Brazil has the 10th largest economy on a global call and has been effective in debt management, balancing trade, inflation control, and the country has also always kept their currency stable and has been consistent on the exporting of goods. Over the years Brazil has been able to avoid a U. S. Like recession (? ).Though some cities in Brazil like, ROI De Jeanine have a higher crime rate than other cities in Brazil it is still seen as a peaceful place. Some believe the reason for some crime is the 15% poverty rate. Political leaders are working to increase the employment rate and improve conditions in the poorer areas of Brazil. Organization ND Product Analysis Team B winery was incorporated in Florida in January of 2005 with the idea to create high-end wines for the most particular wine enthusiast. The winery was formed by four friends out of necessity because the selection of fine wines at a fair price is scarce.The winery covers a total of six acres with four acres devo ted to making grapes for Cabernet Sauvignon, and the remainder is used to make Merlot. Originally the group made wine as a hobby for personal consumption for themselves and their friends. It became popular among family and friends so they decided to pursue a business. Then in 2005 the company produced 85 cases of wine with 12 bottles per case at a retail price of $40 US per bottle. Since then the production numbers have been 250 cases per year consistently with the ability to make 500 cases if there was a demand.To create demand Team B decided to pursue sales in Brazil where the wine industry in comparison to the rest of the world is still in its infancy. There is a big wine market in Brazilian weddings. The people of Brazil have extravagant weddings with gourmet wine, food and live music. The weddings themselves are an extravaganza that consists of a wedding party and a separate Rooney that both involve wine. Team B Winery wants to position themselves (itself) to gain a market shar e of the wine sales.Weddings are not the only festivities the people of Brazil celebrate with the accompaniment of wine. Brazilian enjoy celebrating every milestone in life not Just weddings such as births, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, deaths, and of course Carnival. Family time and celebrations consist of dancing, dressing up, enjoying a delicious meal with a bottle of wine. The consumption of wine is a ritual that is part of every aspect of Brazilian life. There are any holidays in which Brazilian celebrate, but one of the best known across the globe is Carnival, which lasts five days.Each day is spent dancing, conga music, and drinking high-end luxurious wine. The food staples of Brazil are sausage, pigs feet, ears and tails, beef and black beans. The winery will offer the 2007 Merlot to pair with the meats. The Merlot is Black Ripe Raspberry wine that boasts a small taste of spice to bring out the taste in the meat. If a more mellow wine is desired the 2008 hiring locals to manage and work the new bottling plant. To help with shipping costs ND to keep quality high, the wine will be shipped in oak barrels from the U. S. Winery and bottled in Brazil.

Atlantic Aquaculture

Atlantic Aquaculture, Inc. Capital Budgeting with Staged Entry Question 1 A – Even though Atlantic Aquaculture already bought the land needed for 300,000 USD, its value today is 900,000 USD. We can therefore conclude the 900,000 USD is an opportunity cost as the land can be sold at this value. B – In this case it is best for the company to use the option to the land acquisition. By calculating the NPV the option is worth $-852,093. 66. Buying the land without the option would bring the company back to $-900,000. 00. We used a discount rate of 6%, as this is linked with the appreciation of the land annually.The calculation of the NPV can be found in Appendix A. Question 2 A – The R&D cash flows are $48,000 annually for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. In 1996 we are able to shield taxes with the appreciation. At a tax rate of 40% this result in a tax shield worth $144,000. B – From the case is known that the salvage value will only be taxed when the buildings are actually sold, as long as the asset’s value is half of the book value the sale will go through with. Take note that a 40% tax rate is used to calculate the tax shield. C – The cash flows are shown in the Appendix B.Question 3 As can be seen in the Appendix C the large project, while taking into account a rwacc of 9% and the expectation that there will be high demand and high growth opportunities for the firm’s products; the Net Present Value of the firm will be $17,140,000. 00. An Internal Rate of Return will be realized of 25. 83%. Furthermore the MIRR is calculated as 21. 54% and the payback period of the project is 7. 05 years. Taking all other factors the same, when the firm is building a small facility, the NPV would be $11,723,000. 00, the IRR 23. 39%, the MIRR 18. 5% and the period in which the costs will be paid back 7. 18 years. Question 4 A – In the Appendix the decision trees are shown and the following elements deserve attention. The node s start with having high/low demand being 10,000 or 5,000 respectively. There is a 75% chance demand will be high, while 25% probability that demand will be low. The following pair of nodes, given differing probabilities (as can be seen in the Appendix) leads to the yearly cash flows. In de first years it is obvious that the cash flows are negative as the start-up investments have some weight on the cash flows.From 1998 onwards, as sales start to increase and costs decrease the flows of cash are positive. In row three and four the cash flows, given a low demand of 5,000 units sold with their corresponding probabilities. It is clear that the costs definitely outweigh the revenues for the first few years, more than in the ‘best-case’ term in rows one and two. Interesting to see that in the final row, there is only a positive cash flow recorded in the final year of the project. In this case we can explain the NPV values of all probabilities very straightforward.With the gi ven information the cash flows will be negative in case the demand will be low. However we need to make a remark on this simplification of the results. By calculating the expected NPV (which is the sum of the probabilities of each high/low demand occurring times their corresponding NPVs). This gives in the end a positive NPV so investors can assume this project will be successful. B – The abandonment lines basically represent a situation in which the project is stopped for continuation. What is interesting to notice is that the NPV of the project that continued are lower than the projects where the project was dismantled.Note too that this only applies to the situation in where a low demand is expected. The NPV in those cases when the projects are abandoned is equal to the salvage value of the equipment and buildings. C – As the flexibility of the project gets smaller, the NPV will get smaller and due to higher volatility the standard deviation will increase. Question 5 A – Due to the fact that there is an extra decision node the tree looks bigger. This extra decision is namely the decision to expand the plant or leave it in its current state. B – As this is not possible to trace back from the information we can retrieve from the case.As the decision to expand or not to expand lies at the responsibility of the managers at the firm, probabilities are not able to be calculated here. However, the manager will always choose the option with the higher NPV. Question 6 As can be seen from the given data, in terms of expected Net Present Values, the large plant seems to have a big advantage over the smaller project with NPVs of $9,028,000 and $8,062,000 respectively. On the risk side however the standard deviation of the small project is almost half of the large project. It is important to mention at this point that building a new plant appears riskier.In accordance to that one should use a risk adjustment incorporated in the cost of capita l which should be higher that the discount rate of the small project. Question 7 As the risk coefficient of the large project is 1. 15 and it is known that most projects of Atlantic lie between 0. 5 and 0. 7 the large project is considered to be a lot more risky compared to the small project which has a risk coefficient of just 0. 65. Question 8 The reassessment of possibilities has the consequence that standard deviation, covariance and NPV change as well.Lrge Plant| D=60% G=50%| D=75% G= 80%| D=90% G=90%| Small Plant| D=60% G= 50%| D=75% G=80%| D=90% G=90%| E(NPV)| 3327,95| 9028,20| 13459,36| E(NPV)| 6314,35| 8008,17| 10049,99| Std. Dev| 9827,17| 10341,43| 7869,12| Std. Dev| 4871,06| 5375,57| 4017,85| Coeff. Of Var. | 2,95| 1,15| 0,58| Coeff. Of Var. | 0,77| 0,67| 0,40| The results show that an increase in demand and growth probabilities for both of the plants (small and large) results in a higher expected NPV, lower standard deviation and lower correlation, leading to a higher ri sk- return payoff.Decreasing initial demand to 60% and high growth possibilities to 50% simultaneously, leads to a decrease in expected NPV, while increasing standard deviation and the covariance leading to a lower risk- return payoff. Furthermore, one can observe that in absolute and in relative terms, the impact on the small plant of increasing/decreasing initial demand and growth opportunities does not have as a great influence as on the large plant. Question 9 A sensitivity analysis can help to underline the most important factors affecting the success of a firm or a project.In this case we have articulated success in terms of NPV and have used input factors such as variable costs, units sold, sales price and WACC). With respect to the two different plants one can observe that NPV is relatively more sensitive to the mentioned factors in the case of the small plant. Furthermore, regarding the line of sales prices one can see that this is by far the line with the highest positive slope (coefficient), while fixed costs has the shallowest slope. The interpretation therefore is that sales prices have the biggest impact on expected NPV.Furthermore it is worth mentioning that the slope (and the impact) of WACC is quite high (negative) for the large plant. Since the variable costs for the large plant are lower at a rate of 60% compared to 65% of the small plant, one can observe that the sensitivity of the small plant’s NPV is also relatively high. Question 10 In the Case of scenario analysis it is important to mention that in contrast to the analysis mentioned above, probabilities are appointed to each of the different scenarios. Atlantic Aquaculture Inc. uses best and worst case scenarios (high initial demand/ low initial demand).In addition to that, a scenario analysis appoints a base case as well. This should be done utilizing a probability of 50% for the base scenario and probabilities for the best and worst should lie at 25% respectively. Independent f actors should again be inputs such as variable costs, units sold, sales price and the weighted average of the cost of capital. These inputs should be appointed to a realistic assessment of range they could approach to. The dependent variable logically should be the net present values of the different scenarios.In terms of the ranges of independent variables it should be noted, that these could be obtained by examining historical data of the company in addition to an examination and assessment of company and market environment. Question 11 A Monte Carlo simulation typically provides one with an overwhelmingly high amount of simulations, whereas a change of all the variables occurs on a random basis. However, only the average of these is of importance. The input incorporates the correlations of all the variables included. The output is then expressed in the form of samples of NPVs.It is perceived as a more sophisticated way of conducting a scenario analysis. However, it is also percei ved as very delicate in terms of the conduction itself. Question 12 Indeed the abandonment opportunity represents a real put option. This is due to the fact that the company can abandon the project and receive a terminal value. However, this is only reasonable if Atlantic Aquaculture Inc. sells the plant when the salvage value is higher than the value of the discounted future cash flows otherwise received from the project. In this case the real put option would be in the money and vice versa.Regarding the decision tree, with respect to the low demand and low growth opportunity for plan L one can see that the decision of abandonment or not changes the NPV of the project from $-9. 316. 000 to $-6. 711. 000. Regarding the scenario of low initial demand and high growth opportunities the choice to abandon changes the NPV from $-6. 940. 000 to $-6. 439. 000. In both cases it appears to be feasible to abandon the project, thus the value of the put option is positive. Plan S on the other si de represents a call option since one can decide to buy the facilities or not.Furthermore, the put option for the large plant can be calculated as follows: This leads us to a value of $546. 050, which indeed is positive. Question 13 In general, it can be said that both plans have a positive expected NPV overall. However, the smaller plant is the favorable option, since it provides Atlantic Aquaculture with the best risk- return payoff.. Furthermore, if opting for the large plant it is important to mention that the value of the put- option is positive, so in the worst case Atlantic Aquaculture should opt out when facing low initial demand and either low or high growth potential.However, it is also worth mentioning that a risk adjusted cost of capital should be incorporated when calculating for the NPV. Appendices Appendix A Appendix B Cash flows large firm| | | | | | | | | Year| 1996| 1997| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| 2004| Net income| 0| 0| 436| 438| 1122| 1806| 2521| 3202| 3990| Depreciation| 0| 0| 954| 1566| 1146| 846| 630| 630| 630| Op cash flow| 0| 0| 1390| 2004| 2268| 2652| 3151| 3832| 4620| Cap cash flow| -1044| -12300| -427| -496| -574| -711| -814| -931| 7397| Net cash flow| -1044| -12300| 962| 1509| 1694| 1940| 2337| 2900| 43940| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cash flows small firm| | | | | | | | | Year| 1996| 1997| 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| 2003| 2004| Net income| 0| 0| 1083| 919| 1129| 1298| 1440| 1506| 1575| Depreciation| 0| 0| 553| 920| 668| 488| 359| 359| 359| Op cash flow| 0| 0| 1636| 1840| 1798| 1787| 1799| 1865| 1934| Cap cash flow| -1044| -8364| -95| -100| -106| -160| -167| -173| 4510| Net cash flow| -1044| -8364| 1542| 1739| 1691| 1626| 1632| 1691| 19042| Appendix C | LARGE FIRM| SMALL FIRM| WACC| 9. 00%| 9. 00%| NPV| $17. 140| $7. 633| IRR| 25. 83%| 22. 78%| MIRR| 21. 54%| 17. 92%| PAYBACK | 7. 05 years| 6. 97 years|

Commentary- Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker Essay

Imtiaz Dharker’s poem describes rain as its blessing to a dry place, as the short direct sentences in the first stanza suggests there was no hope on that land: â€Å"There never is enough water.† The line shows the desperateness of rain as it sets a negative tone to start the poem. However, as the poem progress, there was an increase in hope and energy, seen from the energetic and positive language such as, â€Å"rush†, â€Å"bursts†, â€Å"crashes† and â€Å"roar†. These are used to associate with the action and the liveliness brought by the rain. The poet is trying to compare rain to a god-like blessing as it says from the title, and also from the word â€Å"congregation† as the word is related to religious. It described rain as a god-gifted blessing to the land without hope, describing the echo of rain to: â€Å"the voice of a kindly god.† We can see the importance of water to the people from the land as water is described as precious items such as â€Å"silver†, â€Å"fortune† and â€Å"liquid sun†, suggesting it’s importance to these people. We can see further illustration of this idea through the celebration as children celebrates and â€Å"sings† after being given water. The excitement of people can also be seen from the structure of the poem, seen from the enjambment which ran from the third stanza until the end of the poem, we can see the tone being very exciting that there wasn’t a pause, contrasting with the first stanza where the short and slow lines reflects the lack of energy. The most noticeable example is: â€Å"every man woman child for streets around butts in† We would expect commas being used between man woman child, but there isn’t, showing the excitement and the hurry. The poet also cleverly uses the stanza length to reflect the amount of water and excitement, with the 3rd stanza being the pinnacle of the event, there are and it differs from the short 1st stanza which suggests The use of onomatopoeia and oxymoron also highlights the importance of water: â€Å"Imagine the drip of it, the small splash, echo† The poet describes a small drip of water having a echo, which is usually associated with large items, and it gives us an idea of how a small amount of water can be seen as a huge importance to these people.

MGMT Project Guideline Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MGMT Project Guideline - Case Study Example 2. Out of the entire day an employee spends 8 to 10 hours in the office. By celebrating birthdays, anniversaries a personal touch can be added. Similarly for the purpose of team bonding team outings could be arranged. An idea like family day can be celebrated, where employee is encouraged to get his immediate family member to office. He or she can show around the workplace, his or her cabinet or cubicle explain the nature of the work done, meet up with the supervisors and meet other members of the team as well. This immediately instills a sense of pride in the employee towards the workplace and the work that is put by him. 3. On a strategic level the higher manager can arrange for skip level meetings. As this is a customer service centre it will have a hierarchy of team member, assistant team leader and team leader. The team leader is absent in the team meeting. Later on the assistant team leader is also asked to leave and then it is only the higher management level and the base level executive those talk and discuss issues. The outcome of the meeting is followed by the formal communication from the higher management. The team member has a liberty for going up to the higher management and demanding for this type of a meeting and leaving his work aside the manager has to cater the request. This will immediately build the confidence in the employees that their issues are being heard and resolved. Even if the employee doesn’t demand for such meeting the managers should carry them as a routine exercise. The CEO additionally can spend one day with one team once in a month on the floor. This will imm ediately bring down the barrier between management and his employees. 4. Employees trust their immediate line managers far more than the HR department. The line manager will be better able to encourage the right person for the right job within the team to encourage better performance. For performance management rather than appraisal continuous

Introduction and implementation of educational programs Essay

Introduction and implementation of educational programs - Essay Example Secondly, the above-mentioned educational programs may raise the society’s understanding of the interrelation of natural and human processes and systems and how actually people influence the state of the environment both directly and indirectly. In other words, people will have the opportunity to learn about the causes and effects of their activities. For sure, the general public realizes that climate change is taking place these days because of burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and range of other destructive activities. However, not all the people perceive the fact that because of human activity, the planet is changing too fast and that it can have devastating consequences, which altogether will lead to the so-called Sixth Extinction scientist all over the world are talking today. In her article titled The Sixth Extinction?, Elizabeth Kolbert says, â€Å"People are changing the world so fast that many other species can’t cope†. Among them is the researc h conducted by Julia Lehman, Amanda Korstjens, and Robin Dunbar, in which they show that in case there are extreme changes in climate, such mammals as apes may not survive in their traditional habitat. Being aware of such specific facts means being able to get the understanding of the relation between human beings’ activities and nature and develop attitudes of appreciation and concern for the current state of environment.Finally, the introduction of educational programs may result in the development of the capacity for both personal and collective action.

Increase in Economic Growth does not Necessarily Lead to an Increase Essay

Increase in Economic Growth does not Necessarily Lead to an Increase in Human Well-Being - Essay Example There are many definitions to the term economic growth; however, economists agree that economic growth refers to the growth in goods and services that a country produces over a period of time; this growth is measured in gross domestic product (GDP) (La Grandville, 2011, p536). GDP includes the goods and services that a country produces, that is to mean the personal expenditure of the people in the country added to the government expenditure and the net exports, which is the value of exports minus imports (Contanza, Hart, Posner and Talberth, 2009, 3). There have been various concerns by economists of how well GDP measures the well-being of individuals in a country with most of them arguing for differentiation between economic growth and economic well-being. This paper will therefore analyse critically the claim that an increase in levels of economic growth does not necessarily translate to increase in the well-being of individuals. The idea of well being of an individual can be eithe r objective or subjective. In the objective well-being, individuals use material goods that are measurable such as buying a new house or car among other material gains. However, economic growth is not usually associated with improved material well being because some of the factors that cause the economic growth also cause negative impacts in the society such as exploitation, environmental degradation or unequal spread of the wealth. GDP as a measure of well being of individuals’ measure the value of intermediate goods, which are not enjoyed by people rather they are used to produce other goods and services. In addition, the exclusion of military expenditure from GDP since there is no measurable output undermines the improvement in the quality of life that people enjoy due to military operations to secure the boarders of a country hence reducing criminal activities (D’acci, 2011, 49). The subjective well being of is the state of happiness that is usually brought about b y the enjoyment of the material wealth. In most of the instances, the subjective well-being, which is the psychological utility of the good that an individual has, is used to measure the variations in the objective well being of the individual. Research has found out that in some instances even with improves material wealth of a country, the happiness levels do not improve , however this claim has been refuted as in most instances the wealthier a country becomes the happier the residents are as wealth leads to increased levels of expressed happiness (Oswald ,1997, 1815). In addition, the levels of happiness that an increase in material wealth brings are usually attached to the social expectations and aspirations. Therefore even if economic growth increased the material wealth of an individual, the economic standards benchmark will rise, the individual will therefore remain at the same position or be worse off relative to the new economic standards and expectations which in return do es not making him any happier. In addition, the increase in employment that is brought about by economic growth does not necessarily lead to increased well being of an individual (Kenny, 1999, 6). Research conducted by the international labour organisation has showed that over 40% of workers are classified as poor, this happens when the employment increases without accompanying increase in productivity of each worker, it has been confirmed in East Asian countries such as Vietnam where increased levels of productivity among employees have led to reduction in poverty levels in the country. The idea that economic growth d

Understanding Hospitality Resource--- Write up one tutorial exercise Essay

Understanding Hospitality Resource--- Write up one tutorial exercise from the list below - Essay Example It is, therefore, extremely crucial for hotels to keep their employees up to date and well trained on the current housekeeping issues, since housekeepers are always in contact with the hotels’ guests. Housekeeping also plays a key role in the client-hotel relationship since the clients will come to the hotel not only from the hotels’ food but also through the house keeping quality of the hotel. Housekeeping also plays a crucial role in the record keeping of the hotels’ guests and the preparation of the inventory of the house keeping supplies. Hotels have got people who supervise the rest of the housekeeper. These people are known as housekeeper supervisors. The job description of the housekeeper supervisor is mainly to inspect the quality of the housekeeping job that has been done in the hotel rooms. The supervisors are also required to take part in the procurement process of the hotels’ laundry and other housekeeping equipment. The supervisor should be able to lead his housekeeping team well and unit the team in order to perform a quality job. The housekeeper supervisor should be able to have excellent communication skills. They should be able to have the ability to teach other housekeepers on their roles. They should be able to fully understand what the needs of the hotels clients are. The housekeeping supervisors should be able to encourage and motivate other housekeepers to keep on doing a better job in carrying out their duties. Housekeeping supervisors should be able to delegate assignments to the housekeepi ng workers well in a manner that does not discriminate anybody. This will in turn motivate the workers to do a terrific job. Housekeepers should always have an enterprising mind. They should be able to initiate new and creative projects that will be profitable both to the hotel and to the clients. They should be ready to pass on the rules and conventions of the hotel, this will in turn show the housekeeping workers

Financial Accounting Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Financial Accounting Concepts - Essay Example The advantages is that the more concerned managers are involved, the better the chances are of the budget being very much realistic in approach. These budgets are generally made at all levels but individually, rather than collectively. For instance, a salesman keeps a self imposed budget of, e.g. 5 units to be sold in a day.†¢Ã‚  Base Year Budget: It is the type of budgeting in which the previous year or any year for that matter is considered a standard, against which the expected (/wanted) performance is added to have a forecasted budget for the coming term. For example, considering 2006 as a base year, with all revenues and expenses expected to rise by 10%; the said percentage is multiplied across the board to attain the coming year budget or forecast.†¢Ã‚  Zero Based Budget: It is a derived form of the base year budget in which no base year is considered and the concerned manager is expected to justify each and every expense that he/she has stated in the forecast/budget. These are difficult to make, require extensive efforts and data gathering, since there is no base, the budget has to be prepared fro scratch.The users of budgets use these for different purposes; e.g. accountants use the information to check with variance for future better forecast, the heads check the contribution and performance of individual employees, the management checks the department working and profitability, while the owners view the over all big picture to visualize individual contributions and achievements.

Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Marketing Research - Essay Example ch year, one million girls become pregnant, and $25 billion in federal funds are spent annually on families begun by teenagers for social, health welfare services. One million Americans are currently infected with HIV, and almost a quarter million have died from AIDS"(di mauro,1995). Research evidence is on record that consumer tends to regard free/subsidized goods as inferior and has general reluctance to go in for their purchase .Whereas anything priced goes through a detailed consumer decision making process in terms of exercising choice and ascertaining quality of the bought item. This holds for use of condoms too.For this reason social marketing of condoms have a market strategy to price for affluent in order to subsidize poor. DKT-Brazil is a case in point: it sells condoms at full price to some and uses some of the profits to subsidize condom sales to the poor(DKT,2002).People would tend to use more, a priced condom then a free/subsidized one. Market research is essential for successful marketing and promotion of condoms. Carefully planned research helps guide the product design and selection, package design, advertising and promotion, and distribution. Market research can also help to identify proper pricing with in various segments. The brand name and packaging leave important message for customer at the point of sale and again at the time of use and it is important that such messages facilitate purchase and use of the condoms. Quite similar to different advertising messages for varying target groups, it may be required to vary brand names and packaging messages for different target groups. Market research can help in such selection of brand names and package designs. Thus we have an effective list of data variables that a market research plan may aim to collect as pertinent information. A list of such variables is carried below. The most prominent problem in carrying out primary consumer research for Condoms is the extended and hard-shelled hesitation of

East Village NYC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

East Village NYC - Essay Example Marks, and the impact that the various cultures and movements have had on them, making them the East Village and St. Marks that we now know. Geographically placed in-between Houston Street on the southern border, 14th Street on the northern border, the East River on the eastern border, and the Bowery and Third Avenue to the west, the initial consideration is that East Village lies within the Lower East Side, and to some of the native residents, it still is. Regardless of what it is called, East Village has come to be synonymous with dive bars, artists, sidewalk cafes, indie boutiques, and a disreputable hipster artistic that has resisted the homogenization affecting the other parts of Manhattan, but that is also now changing. East Village has long been an urban frontier, acting as a starting point for numerous new immigrants coming to America. For Puerto Rican, Irish, Ukrainian, Jewish, and German immigrants, just to name a few, East Village was more than just a location as it was a toehold that gave them a chance at a fresh start in their lives. Other than immigrants, East Village was a magnet for radicals, artists, reformers, and bohemians. East Village was home to the cultural activity that transformed the global community, but the other side of the coin holds a regular occurrence of neglect and poverty. In a time preceding the establishment of New Amsterdam in the 1600s by Dutch traders, the portion of Manhattan that has changed over time to become the East Village known today was a vast stretch of swampy marshland. Native American game trails and paths crisscrossed with this expanse, and a larger portion of these segments was made into permanent thoroughfares. The largest of them all became what is commonly known as the Bowery. A huge segment of what came to be the East Village was in the beginning part of the expansive farm belonging to the last governor of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant. John Jacob Astor, who was an Americanized fur baron who switched p rofessions to become a real estate mogul, was the initiator of the transformations that changed the area to a status address, an upgrade from the pastoral countryside it was. This transformation was initiated by his luxurious style set up close to what is now known as Astor Place. By the East Village Visitor Center’s account, Astor place was the most sought after real estate by the close of the 1830s. Some of the most affluent industrialists, politicians, and merchants of that era including Gardiner, Vanderbilt, and Delano were buying property in this area from Astor. Astor Place soon joined the best of America’s fashionable addresses. Stuyvesant built the Reformed Dutch Chapel that later grew into St. Mark. This church was concentrated around the elders, who acted as the electors of their spiritual leader owing to their status as high-ranking congregation members. It is widely thought that during the initial era of St. Mark’s, the church made no secret about be ing people centered. Pew rent was collected at the church, and it selectively attended to the spiritual requirements of the incipient nobility centered on property, money, and trade. Early congregants still wallowing in magnitude of American insurgency considered themselves to be constitutionalists, however, their impartiality was founded predominantly on the protection of both their rights to economic expansion and property. Over time, Iron foundries gave way to blacksmith workshops, service posts gave way to livery posts, and Apartment buildings came

Enron And The Decision Making Factor Essay Example for Free

Enron And The Decision Making Factor Essay Introduction – Students, analysts and critics of modern business practice will always consider the colossal Enron collapse as an important text book case about how a lot of different things inside the company can trigger a nearly overnight downfall of a once prestigious company. If there was any Cinderella story in the world of blue chip trading and high portfolio business, Enron was the ultimate opposite, if not the witch herself who was killed by her own lethal potion. The Enron collapse resulted in the formulating of many different opinions pointing to the many different possible reasons why Enron – with all the promise and potential that it has a few years before it went south – made the nosedive that made it one of the worst disasters in the history of trade, commerce and business. There is no doubt that most of the opinions that surfaced explaining the reason why such an eventuality befell Enron placed the blame on the wrong things that the top management echelon did for the company; they are after all the one which is responsible for the present and the future of Enron. Critics looking at the Enron debacle scrutinized what happened leading to the collapse using many different perspectives and considering many different factors, both in the professional capability of the company’s leaders as well as the impact of the surrounding factors beyond Enron’s control. One of the most important facets in the debate regarding the fall of Enron is decision making. Evidently, a lot of wrong decisions were made, with one every wrong decision acting as a building block that eventually became an insurmountable wall of consequences all borne out of wrong or faulty decision making processes that yielded results that did the company more harm than good. Indeed, the decision making linchpins significant to the establishment of the case that the Enron collapse was due in some extent to the decision making aspect of the leadership strata of the company can be identified easily as it is scattered throughout the timeline of Enron’s very near and not so distant past leading to the eventual fall of the company that hid behind the facade of the building the ugliness created by the qualities of its leaders that caused the chaos that burned down Enron down to meager, worthless ashes. This paper will pick the significant moments wherein the decision making capabilities and abilities of its top management leaders were at play and use these moments to establish the ethical and other considerations coming to play during the analysis of the decision making efforts of the leaders and why the outcome of such exercises led to the fall of Enron and not towards the company’s betterment, which is the main task of the company’s top executives. The paper will utilize these occasions to stress its argument regarding the role of effective, ethical and sound decision making of top executives leading to either the success or bankruptcy of companies, in this case that of Enron, and discuss key aspects of this line of thought. The paper will not criminalize the actions of the executives of Enron; rather, it will infuse inputs from other professionals regarding important aspects in the discussion of corporate decision making (ethics, result-orientation, etc). Background – Various angles have already been explored by many different individuals every time the topic of analysis is Enron and its collapse. Because of this, the paper is moving to focus on an aspect that is focused more on Kenneth Lay and the rest of his top executive clique’s personal characteristic that could have played an important role in the outcome of Enron’s operation. Decision making is both a personal characteristic as it is a professional credential, even an asset. Some people are being paid handsome amounts of money for their ability to transform decision making moments into an opportunity that provides a positive result and expected outcome for the company. Ehringer (1995) puts it simply: The ability to make good decisions is the defining quality of our lives (Ehringer, 1995, p. 1). When Lay, Skilling, Fastow and other Enron bosses were placed in their respective positions, they were expected to exercise a high level of intuitiveness, business acumen and professional foresight so that every decision making opportunity is met with the company’s best interest long term and short term in mind. They were where they were because those who placed them there believed that they can make decisions to which the company can benefit from. When Enron collapse, many people and organizations criticized the questioned the decision making capabilities of the top executives – was the collapse an effect of the result of the decision that they made? Was the decision made putting the benefit of the company and the employees first, or are the decisions shaped so that it benefited them first? How bad was the breach in the ethical considerations that a professional should take every time he or she makes a decision that puts the future of the company on the line? These are just some of the questions that may also be present in the minds of those who followed the Enron case. Sure there were varying degrees of deception and fraudulent acts from the part of many select individuals who sinned against Enron and its employees, but these cases would have been minimized or even averted altogether if the important decision making privileges was limited to a select few, or if the future-altering decision making capability is disseminated largely among a huge group of people that can provide a check and balance system for Enron. Roberts (2004) explained that if it is possible for others to make the decisions for a unit, then new options arise to design the decision-making process as well as the incentive schemes to get better performance on both dimensions. For example, the design might specify that a decision about a project arising in one unit that affects another would be implemented if and only if both units agree to it, (Roberts, 2004, p. 51). Enron is an energy trading firm which was performing well in the early part of its existence. By the start of the 21st century, the problems that the bosses were trying to hide from the public and from the employees started to stank. Soon, events unfolded like dominoes falling one after the other as a consequence of information spilling out into the public’s attention. Before 2004, the public already had a clear idea about how Enron bosses were supposedly the one responsible for the defrauding of the employees and their company shares and other benefits, as well as the one responsible for the bankruptcy of Enron. One by one, key company officials stepped out of the light and implicated a new name, which will in turn implicate a much bigger name, until the dragnet sent out to see who was accountable for the fraudulent acts in Enron caught its top bosses, including Lay, Skilling and Fastow. Many individuals faced criminal charges, and many more simply went home not just jobless but are robbed of lifetime investments which Enron bosses manipulated and soon lost because of the wrong decisions they made on how to run the company and make it prosper and grow. Examples of how Enron management made wrong decisions during decision making moments abound in the history of the company. Take for example what happened in 1987 instead of declaring the $190 million loss the company experienced, they concealed it instead, leading to criminal charges. This habit of Enron for opting to conceal losses instead of declaring it became a dangerous vice; when Fastow was aboard Enron, the same outlook affected the decision making of Enron, leading to increase in pile of cases wherein Enron through its top management consciously made actions that defraud the employees and the public. There was also the case of poor public relations by Enron which fanned the flames of panic that removed any possible opportunity for Enron to remedy the financial situation without creating hysteria that saw many stockholders selling their stocks due to the continued falling of the stock value of Enron. Statement of Problem – The most important decision that Enron’s executives faced was not the decision on whether or not to publicly announce about the bankruptcy; in fact, there was no decision making factor during that instance since the predicament of the company has already been decided regardless of what the top executives might have opted for: they were flat out broke and the public needs to know about this, that was the situation. The true decision making moment for Enron’s bosses was the time when they were deciding what the best option to take is with regards to the financial aspect of the company, including taxes, earnings and financial loses. It was a matter of facing a decision making task that provided the Enron bosses with two options – to do the right thing, or to opt for something that is morally and ethically inappropriate. The decision reached in this particular decision making instance was laced with the hope that the option they took would be free from serious repercussions and give them enough time to fix it all up again. Unfortunately for Enron, things did not work out as planned, and the criminal liability of the Enron bosses stemmed from the fact that they decided to do something which they consciously knew was detrimental to the welfare of the Enron company and its employees. During that particular instance, Lay could have opted to do the right thing and faced the consequences by coming clean, he may have a more sympathetic public to support him in whatever efforts he may wish to undertake to revive Enron, and not be faced with the collapsing stock value since those who can sell theirs sell it in a frantic phase to rid themselves of the stock of the company which is nearing imminent bankruptcy. This showed how the people do not give second chances to those who squander their decision making privileges by making decisions bereft of the consideration of the good of the greater many. Decision making John Hintze (2006), in his discussion about making smart decisions during decision making, used the case of the Enron collapse to open his discussion and establish the fact that problems are something that is foreseen, something that happened nonetheless owing to bad decision making. Hintze wrote, should we have seen 9/11 coming? What about the Enron collapse? The Signs were there; people pointed them out, but the appropriate steps were not taken by those in a position to do something. Why is this? Politics? Greed? Those certainly contributed, but there was something else at work here, too: A failure of common sense in decision making (Hintze, 2006, p. 123). Enron: Bad decision making Nothing can prove more about how bad the decision making went inside Enron camp more convincingly than the fact the company transformed from prosperous to poor overnight. This was the general characteristic of Enron through the traits shown by its leaders that reflect the Enron personality. There were earlier discussions in the paper about snippets on instances pointing to Enrons penchant for making bad decision or for going to the resolving of a problem utilizing an option that is more questionable. Fox (2004) explained that Enron believed that its expansion into international projects were positive initiatives simply because they put the company in more potential markets. In truth, Enron made bad business decisions that werent supported by the deals economics. The bad business decisions piled up, stretching from India to Brazil, pressuring the company to do something about its finances’ (Fox, 2004,p. 307). At least at this point, Fox is not pointing at the unethical aspect of the Enron decision making machinery, just the fact that they made decisions that were bad for the future of the company, but not to the extent of deliberately sabotaging the company or putting the company in danger with all known risk for personal gain. For Fox, it was a bad call plain and simple. But the matter of the fact is that not everyone sees it the way Fox does, and there are those who believe that there were ethical breaches in the decision making in Enron among its top bosses. The (absence of) Leaders in decision-making – Decision making in retrospective is one of the common line of thinking used when investigating events that led to growth or debacle. It is because decision making played an important part in shaping the future of the company; it is here where the foundation, or lack of it, was created via the decisions the bosses made or failed to make. To trace the problems or mark significant actions resulting from decision making which eventually resulted to either the success or failure of the company, it is not only the decision making events that are looked back to; the persons that made them were also put under the microscope, and among the qualities scrutinized is their decision making ability and their other characteristics that affect their decision making attitude and behavior. Professionals debate about the idea of a good decision, a bad decision, good intentions and bad intentions and how the good and bad effect that comes into play afterwards account for the overall accountability of a person wielding the power to make decisions that will have a tremendous impact on the future of the company, something which happened in Enron via Lay, Skilling, Fastow and the rest of the top figures of the company. Acuff (2004) explains that ‘if they make a decision that might not have been the decision I would have made, and they come and talk to me about it, we look at it and discuss it. There are a lot of different ways to skin the horse. I don’t go saying my idea is the only one that will get you where you want to go. I hold people accountable for good decision-making. If a bad outcome results from a bad decision thats a problem. But if a bad outcome results from a reasonable decision, then thats business, and it could happen to anyone (Acuff, 2004, p. 87). This was the predicament of those who are trying to evaluate the decision making actions of Enron top executives did they make decisions, even bad decisions with the sake of the company in mind, and gambled with their careers because they know that if their plans and actions go well, it is extremely beneficial for the company, in a very Machiavellian approach towards getting things done regardless of the means by which th ey did it, or were they just plain guilty of fraudulent actions? People who are burdened by the decision that impacts a lot of people is not always amenable to taking the high and moral grounds, that is why the adage about the end justifying the means, about getting things done at what ever cost, about delivering against the odds became popular because of people like the Enron bosses who (probably) acted upon their decision making duties by risking what can be a popularly bad decision. Indeed, it may be easy or even convenient for most people adversely affected by the Enron collapse to attribute the colossal corporate debacle to the top management figures of the company by criticizing their decisions as well as their faculty for sound decision making. While it is true that Enron’s top executives are responsible for the collapse of the company, it is not that easy to measure the level of ethical decision making attributes of Enron’s top brass. Goethals et al (2004) pointed out that â€Å"the complexity associated with ethical decision making and behavior, especially as it applies to leadership and the workplace, makes the construct extremely difficult to research†, adding that â€Å"Measuring an individual’s level of ethical decision making is challenging, particularly because the measurement instruments that are available have problems with priming and social-desirability effects; that is, questionnaires or other similar modes of data collection cue respondents to give answers that they believe are socially acceptable rather than answers that truly reflect their own actions or opinions (Goethals et. al. , 2004, p. 461). † Proof of which is the fact that all of these executives in question are career corporate leaders even before they joined Enron; their credentials played an important role regarding their selection for a corporate position as high as theirs. Because of this, as well as the factors that affect the credibility of the ability for identification of the real public pulse regarding the persons involved in the issue, ethical decision making levels of the persons involved is hard to ascertain, making claims for questionable ethical decision making consideration of the people lose important ground and stand on insufficient set of stable legs for proof and justification. Still, there are those who believe that the level of ethics that influences the decision making capabilities of the Enron bosses are without a doubt questionable, and this includes Mimi Swartz and Sherron Watkins who was quoted in the book edited by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Carolyn B. Bronstein. In the article, it mentions about how Swartz and Watkins â€Å"blame Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron, and other company executives for privileging greed and arrogance over ethical business decisions† (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, p. 79), the gist of the published work co-authored by the two individuals. Nalebuff and Ayres (2006) wrote that the problem often arises because people ignore the costs and benefits that their decisions have on other people. We call this approach Why dont you feel my pain? The more technical term for these effects is externalities. Decision makers who ignore externalities are bound to make bad decisions (Nalebuff and Ayres, 2006, p. 67). This explanation greatly tarnishes the ethical value of the decision making ethics of Enron bosses because it shows that they are prone or inclined to make decisions even if the result of such decisions lead to negative effects that other people will experience. Niskanen (2005) believes that Lay, one of the top bosses of Enron, â€Å"should be judged on the basis of his personal actions, directions to subordinates, or the actions of subordinates that he implicitly condoned by knowing about it without attempting to correct not on the basis of what he should have known† (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Lays condoning of actions is a result of a personal and professional decision that he made or failed to make and because of that, Niskanen believes that Lay is answerable for any criminal charges that would result from that particular action (or inaction). Watkins was thinking of the company and its employees and their future and hers as well, when she made the decision to let her superiors, particularly Lay, know about the possible accounting problems and the making public of the current and real financial and trade status of the company. This clearly illustrates the difference in ethics when it comes to decision making. Decision making, ethics and public perception Decision making in business is not merely a power or a privilege that one can use at will without thinking of the consequences that might happen should the decision resulted into something that is considered as adversely negative and detrimental to the welfare of the employees, their jobs and the company they work for. Those who are provided with such amenity to go along with their job description should consider that it is also their responsibility to make sure that their employees and subordinates do not think that they are squandering away their decision making privilege and everything that goes along with it. This was the prevailing attitude or outlook of the Enron employees especially nearing the imminent collapse of the company. The absence of ethical consideration resulted to the losing of the credibility of the bosses of Enron because they were not careful with how they undertake their decision making tasks. While bankruptcy is something that is very difficult to accept and impacts greatly in the lives of the employees especially the rank and file blue collar workers, there is a sense of adding insult to injury during occasions wherein the employees are starting to realize that all of the unfortunate things that happen in the company and in their careers are all a result of the faulty, incompetent and unethical decision making of the top management echelon and not because the company was helpless in the onslaught of a devastating economic problem, like how companies closed down during the Great Depression despite the efforts of American businessmen to keep the different industries alive and breathing. During the collapse of Enron, the US is experiencing a very stable economy far from that which characterized US economy during the Great Depression, and is shielded securely from the impact of whatever it was that was happening in the global economic and business landscape, and so during the Enron collapse, the collective finger was pointing an accusing index digit to Enron bosses and majority of the cause of their indignation originates from the sloppy decision making capabilities of Enron bosses who lost their credibility the moment they lost Enron. Brazelton and Ammons (2002) wrote in the book they co-wrote: â€Å"The Ethics Resource Center conducted a survey in 2000 in which it learned that 43 percent of respondents believed that their supervisors are generally poor examples of honest managers, and the same number were pressured to compromise their own integrity or that of their organization during decision making. The survey also identified a strong connection between employees perceptions of their supervisors and their own ethical behavior (Brazelton and Ammons, 2002, p. 388). † Enron decision making: the two-pronged factors It can be pointed out that one of the problems that happened to Enron is the ineffective of decision making among top executives first, their top executives failed to make correct decisions when they are required to do so, and second, Enron was not fully complimented with a set of professionals which could have contributed to the decision making process, and in the process provided the possibility of infusing new or different ideas that could have altered the outcome of the decision making process. Fitzpatrick and Bronstein (2006) did not look exclusively on Enrons bosses and the decisions they made in the management of Enron and the companys money and asset, rather, the two editors focused on the absence of a key top management personnel and took the presence of such a void as a sign that Enron is not even prioritizing the welfare of the company and its employees. The book Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy, which includes the Enron case as one of the important case studies to point out the importance of the role of public relations, explains that perhaps the governance of these companies was such that they did not care about their publics, and did not want the advice of senior-level public relations officer playing an active or dominant role in organizational decision making (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, pg 179). Conclusion – Niskanen (2005) summed up the Enron case on its characteristic of thriving in bad decisions made by its corporate leaders by saying in the book that the most important lesson from the Enron collapse, however, is that Enron failed because of a combination of bad business decisions, not because its accounts were misleading adding that the major business decisions that most contributed to its collapse were a series of bad investments, most of which were in the traditional asset-rich industries; the failure to reconcile two quite different business models; and the decision to focus management objectives on reported revenues and earning rather than on the present value of future cash flows (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Are they poor in decision making, or was the decision making adversely affected by other concerns and priorities outside of Enron that the results of the decision made for Enron looks like those who made the call did not even think about how this course of action will affect Enron? There are no sufficient proofs to point that the case was the latter; for a company that became seventh all in all in the Fortune 500 at least once, it is unthinkable how there will be conscious efforts to sink the company by making wrong decisions, deliberately or not. The point of the paper is not the assertion of the guild of Skilling, Lay or even Fastow, it’s the establishing of the point that decision making, when not handled properly, can turn even the most profitable company into a nose-diving wreck in a short period of time, that decision making plays an important role in how a person defines his or her life and how he or she leads a company and that because of these factors, no one should have an excuse why decision making was taken lightly and without much thought or care. All the people can see is a group of people who made wrong decisions several times, the resulting web and how they got trapped in that web, that is assuming that there was no malice or hidden agenda that the bosses perpetrated in lieu of Enron’s collapse. In the end, only Lay (now deceased) and the elite circle of the Enron executive clique will be the ones who would really know about the truth regarding ethics and the decision making in Enron leading to the collapse of the company. Many would ask, and some would presume, the reasons as well as the level of guilt of these leaders when it comes to breaching the ethical requirements needed when undertaking decision making for a company. Regardless, the decisions they made created far reaching ripples and altered the lives of many individuals who invested not just their time, strength and lifes savings into the company but as well as their but as well as their faith and trust, which are not in shattered pieces because of the bad decisions that Enron executives made. Crawford (2006) further elaborated on the pointed by explaining that bad decisions by a major company, however, cause major disruptions for all of the companys stakeholders’. He pointed at the case of Enron as one of his examples, saying that ‘the Enron disaster, as one example, certainly had devastating impacts on the lives of most of Enron employees (including the middle managers and professionals who invested in the company-sponsored Enron 401[K] plans) and also caused suffering for many individual investors who purchased Enron stock on the open market. Thousands of other Enron stakeholders, including Enrons suppliers and customers, also suffered, (Crawford, 2006, p. 26). Indeed, Enron’s decision making had a hand in how the company turned out to be.

Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay An agreement must contain four essential ingredients to be regarded as a contract. These four elements are offer, acceptance, Intention of legal consequences, and consideration. If any one of them is missing, the agreement will not be legally binding. An offer is defined as the manifestation of the â€Å"willingness to enter into a bargain so made as to justify another person in understanding that his assent to the bargain is invited and will conclude it. † There must be a definite, clearly stated offer to do something. An offer does not include ball park estimates, requests for proposals, expressions of interest, or letters of intent. An offer will lapse when the time for acceptance expires, if the offer is withdrawn before it is accepted, or after a reasonable time in the circumstances (generally the greater the value of the contract, the longer the life of the offer). Only what is offered can be accepted. This means that the offer must be accepted exactly as offered without conditions. If any new terms are suggested this is regarded as a counter offer which can be accepted or rejected. There can be many offers and counter offers before there is an agreement. It is not important who makes the final offer, it is the acceptance of that offer that brings the negotiations to an end by establishing the terms and conditions of the contract. Acceptance can be given verbally, in writing, or inferred by action which clearly indicates acceptance (performance of the contract). In any case, the acceptance must conform to the method prescribed by the offerer for it to be effective. A contract requires that the parties intend to enter into a legally binding agreement. That is, the parties entering into the contract must intend to create legal relations and must understand that the agreement can be enforced by law. The intention to create legal relations is presumed, so the contract doesnt have to expressly state that you understand and intend legal consequences to follow. If the parties to a contract decide not to be legally bound, this must be clearly stated in the contract for it not to be legally enforceable. In order for a contract to be binding it must be supported by valuable consideration. Consideration consists of either a benefit to the promisor or a detriment to the promisee. That is to say, one party promises to do something in return for a promise from the other party to provide a benefit of value (the consideration). Consideration is what each party gives to the other as the agreed price for the others promises. Usually the consideration is the payment of money but it need not be; it can be anything of value including the promise not to do something, or to refrain from exercising some right. The payment doesnt need to be a fair payment. The courts will not intervene where one party has made a hard bargain unless fraud, duress or unconscionable conduct is involved. When there is a breach of contract, an unexcused failure to perform, the other party is usually given damages, rather than specific performance. The rules of damages vary, but are usually intended to make the injured party whole. A party who was supposed to be paid something for that partys performance gets the amount of the payment due, if the performance has been rendered. A party who was supposed to get something of value sometimes gets the difference between the price agreed and the market price. Or, if the party has already paid the paying party sometimes gets the money back.

Government Strategies for Market Failure

Government Strategies for Market Failure WHAT IS MEANT BY MARKET FAILURE AND HOW CAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPT TO CORRECT IT? INTRODUCTION Amid the history governments have had different effects over the economy. For instance rulers had boundless force upon the economy amid the medieval times, however on the eighteenth century a popular Scotsman A. Smith issued his book. An Investigation into the Nature and Reasons for the Abundance of Countries, where he recommended that the administration should allow the economy to sit unbothered, and afterward it will reach to ideal portion of assets. His concept of the imperceptible hand turned into a principal piece of the legislatures monetary arrangements until Keynes thoughts were acknowledged in 1940ies. A. Smiths standard was, that as the trading of merchandise and administrations is deliberate, it will just occur when it is gainful to both sides. So if the economy is allowed to sit unbothered the ideal assignment of assets through these trades (utilizing cash as a medium) will happen. It appears from over that there is no requirement for government. It is not exactly so. The precisely productive assignment of assets (or Pareto effectiveness) will happen just in businesses with impeccable rivalry, the business sectors with defective rivalry (syndication, oligopoly, monopolistic rivalry) will have various inefficiencies and the welfare is lost, some of which could be brought back by government regulation. Market failure happens, when uninhibitedly working markets, neglect to convey a productive portion of assets. The outcome is a loss of monetary and social welfare. Market disappointment exists when the aggressive result of businesses is not effective from the perspective of society all in all. This is normally on the grounds that the profits that the free-market presents on people or organizations completing a specific action wander from the profits to society all in all. Market can fail because†¦ Negative externalities (e.g. the impacts of ecological contamination) bringing on the social expense of generation to surpass the private expense. Positive (or helpful) externalities (e.g. the procurement of instruction and social insurance) bringing on the social advantage of utilization to surpass the private advantage Imperfect data means merit products are under-created while bad mark merchandise are over-delivered or over-devoured The private area in a free-advertises cant productively supply to buyers unadulterated open merchandise and semi open products that are expected to address individuals issues and needs Market strength by imposing business models can prompt under-creation and higher costs than would exist under states of rivalry Factor idleness causes unemployment subsequently gainful wastefulness Equity (decency) issues. Markets can produce an unsatisfactory dissemination of pay and resulting social prohibition which the administration may decide to change. Market failure brings about†¦ Productive wastefulness: Organizations are not expanding yield from given variable inputs. This is an issue on the grounds that the lost yield from wasteful creation could have been utilized to fulfill more needs and needs Allocative wastefulness: Assets are misallocated and creating merchandise and administrations not needed by purchasers. This is an issue in light of the fact that assets can be put to a superior utilization making items that customer’s value more highly. Options of government intervention of market There are many ways in which intervention can take place – some examples are given below Government Legislation and Regulation Parliament can pass laws that for instance preclude the offer of cigarettes to youngsters, or boycott smoking in the work environment. The laws of rivalry arrangement act against cases of value altering cartels or different manifestations of hostile to focused conduct by firms inside businesses. Vocation laws may offer some lawful assurance for laborers by setting most extreme working hours or by giving a value floor in the work advertise through the setting of a lowest pay permitted by law. The economy works with an immense measure of regulation. The legislature named controllers who can force value controls in the greater part of the principle utilities, for example, information transfers, power, gas and rail transport. Regulation may be utilized to bring new rivalry into a business – for instance separating the current syndication force of an administration supplier. A decent illustration of this is the endeavor to present more rivalry for English Telecom furthermore for the postal administration industry. This is known as business sector liberalization. Direct State Procurement of Merchandise and Administrations In view of privatization, the state-possessed division of the economy is presently much littler than it was twenty years back. The principle state-possessed organizations in the UK are the Regal Mail which is still subject to direct value controls and System Rail. State subsidizing can be utilized to give merit merchandise and administrations and open products specifically to the populace e.g. the legislature pays private area wellbeing firms to do operations for NHS patients to lessen holding up records or it pays private organizations to work detainment facilities and keep up our street system. Monetary Approach Intercession Monetary approach can be utilized to modify the level of interest for distinctive items furthermore the example of interest inside the economy. Indirect expenses, for example, changes in VAT and extract obligations can be utilized to raise the cost of fault products and items with negative externalities intended to expand the opportunity expense of utilization and accordingly lessen shopper request towards a socially ideal level. Subsidies to purchasers will bring down the cost of legitimacy merchandise, for example, gifts to understudies to decrease the interior expenses of staying on in full-time training and endowments to organizations utilizing unemployed specialists on the New Arrangement program me. They are intended to support utilization and yield of items with positive externalities – an endowment causes an increment in business sector supply and prompts a lower balance value (see the different amendment center article on maker endowments). Tax alleviation: The administration may offer budgetary aid, for example, duty credits for business interest in innovative work. On the other hand a diminishment in enterprise duty intended to advance speculation and occupation. Changes to assessment and welfare installments can be utilized to impact the circulation of pay and riches – for instance higher direct duties on rich family units or an increment in the estimation of welfare advantages for the poor to make the expense and profit framework more progressive. Mediation intended to close the data hole Frequently advertise disappointment results from shoppers experiencing an absence of data about the expenses and profits of the items accessible in the commercial center. Government activity can have a part in enhancing data to help buyers and makers esteem the genuine expense and/or profit of a decent or administration. Examples may include: Compulsory marking on cigarette bundles with wellbeing warnings to decrease smoking. Improved nourishing data on high-fat nourishments to counter the dangers of developing heftiness. Anti-speeding TV and silver screen publicizing to diminish street mishaps. Advertising wellbeing screening projects/ data fights on the perils of medication and liquor fixation. These projects are truly intended to change the apparent expenses and profits of utilization for the buyer. They dont have any immediate impact on business costs, however they look to impact request and along these lines the level of last yield and utilization. The impacts of government intercession One vital point to hold up under as a top priority is that the impacts of diverse manifestations of government mediation in businesses are never impartial since monetary bolster given to one set of makers instead of an alternate will dependably make champs and washouts. Saddling one item more than an alternate will comparatively have diverse impacts on distinctive gatherings of buyers. To help your assessment of government mediation – it might be useful to consider these inquiries: Efficiency of an approach: i.e. does a specific mediation lead to a superior utilization of rare assets among contending finishes? E.g. does it enhance allocative, beneficial and dynamic proficiency? Case in point would presenting circuitous expenses on high fat nourishments be a proficient method for decreasing a portion of the outer expenses connected to the developing issue of corpulence? Effectiveness of an arrangement: i.e. which government approach is well on the way to meet a particular monetary or social target? Case in point which approaches are prone to be best in diminishing the size of the UK street clogging issue? Which types of intercession are best in enhancing the impetuses of purchasers to effectively hunt down work in the work market? Which approaches are more powerful in keeping firms from abusing their syndication power and harming buyer welfare? Assessment can likewise consider which strategies are prone to have an effect in the transient when a fast reaction from shoppers and makers is coveted. Furthermore which strategies are liable to demonstrate most practical in the more extended term? Case in point, how best to empower reusing over the long haul furthermore give motivators to expand the supply of vitality over the long haul that originates from renewable sources, for example, wind power. Equity impacts of mediation: i.e. is an arrangement considered reasonable or does one gathering in the public eye increase more than an alternate? Case in point it is impartial for the legislature to offer instructive upkeep stipends for 16-18 year olds in low salary families to stay on in instruction after GCSEs? Would it be evenhanded for the administration to expand the top rate of salary expense to 50 every penny in an offer to make the dispersion of wage more equivalent? Sustainability of a strategy: i.e. does a strategy lessen the capacity of future eras to participate in monetary action? Between generational value is an essential issue in numerous current strategy themes for instance choices on which wellsprings of vitality we decide to depend on in future years. Then again the move can be made against the creation of products having outer expenses. Their creation can be restricted or completely banned or the contamination may be completely banned. These alternatives are not extremely positive, as the boycott of a few items too rapidly great lead to some different emergencies. The best technique is by all accounts to value the outside expense and assessment the organizations appropriately as then a percentage of the organizations (who think that it useful to do as such) will change to different techniques, and if the expense of changing to distinctive strategies for generation is excessively high they will pay the duty. This sort of assessment conveys additionally moral disservices, e.g., by what means can one value the lives lost by growth in view of a contamination? Mediation may additionally be pertinent on account of open merchandise. Open products are characterized as items where, for any given yield, utilization by extra buyers does not decrease the amount devoured by existing customers. Open products are law, parks, road lighting and so on. As there is no negligible cost in creating the general population merchandise, it is for the most part contended that they must be given gratis, on the grounds that overall the individuals who profit not exactly the expense of utilizing the general population great, wont utilize it. That will prompt a loss of welfare. Likewise the merchandise are for the most part non-excludable, that implies that if once gave everyone can utilize them, which when charged will prompt free-riding. So the arrangement is, that state must give these merchandise and money them from expenses gathered from everyone. Conclusion Market disappointment is known to exists in all business economy and the business sector is not an exemption, however what the economists are debating is when is ideal for the legislature to mediate in order to deflect an administration disappointment which can prompt twofold business disappointment. It can be seen from the ideal market that data asymmetry is the place a large portion of the reasons for business disappointment comes from and brings about vital issues of good dangers and unfriendly determination which thusly prompts raised expenses in medicinal services. This is against the setting of attempting to diminish costs by government. So consequently governments mediate and direct the medicinal services by utilizing different financial matters operators furthermore by forcing laws. The degree of government mediation to accomplish positive results is an issue on account of the political diversions and changes in the seat power. The last instance of conceivable government mediation is the point at which the legitimacy products are included. These are items for the most part not appropriated by method for the value framework, however on the premise of legitimacy or need, on the grounds that individuals albeit having immaculate information would buy the wrong measure of them. These merchandise can be supplied by free market, yet not on the right amount. Merit merchandise are, for instance, instruction and to some degree the social insurance. They are given by state on the premise of bravo. Medicinal services conveys likewise outside advantages. For instance if one is immunized it advantages the others as it declines the danger of scourge sicknesses. These were conceivable intercessions recommended by established economist to adjust the business disappointment. Keynes and communists proposed substantially more government intercession, for instance the over-supply of spending by government to make new employments and the expanding assessment rate to redistribute the wage all the more just as, yet these are not all that entirely characterized as the disappointments of business sector powers and hence are not entirely pertinent to this essay.

Oversea Greed Essay -- Dutch Republic, The Netherlands

The Netherlands have been a long time tolerant and rich land. The country opened the Bank of Amsterdam and ran a major trade business incomparable to any other. Although small, the territory bore a perfect harbor for ships of the time. Up until the late 17th century the Dutch Republic had a successful nation, unified under a booming economy. When England and other alliances shifted, the Dutch Republic would experience immense turmoil. England’s reasoning behind allying with the Spanish was solely for personal economic gain and power, by destroying the Dutch unity and economy it left room for England to become the most powerful commerce. The Dutch economy was devastated by the military force of foreign countries. England wiped out over 2,000 Dutch ships within twenty years (Document 3). Having a border across a sea from the Dutch Republic made it easier for the English to demolish the Dutch’s naval fleet than it was for France who was obstructed by the Spanish Netherlands. In fact, the routes the Dutch took for trade to Africa and the East Indies went directly past England, many naval battles were held in this straight (Document 1). The only relatively safe path from England the Dutch could take for a trade route was to the Baltic Sea, but even this route’s trade decreased by approximately 45% over the span of 50 years (Document 2). With a lack of trade the Dutch fell into financial debt rapidly, in just twenty years the Dutch Republic was in almost 150,000,000 guilders of debt (Document 12). None of the provinces could handle this debt except Holland which included Amsterdam, the most successful cente r of trade in all of Europe. However, not even Holland’s wealth could save the Dutch. With the constant financial burdens and ba... ...e Dutch Republic’s despair, so did some of Asia, such as the Portuguese, Chinese, and Muslims (Document 13). The Dutch Republic feared the â€Å"other kings [who] seem more and more to scheme how to ruin what remains of the trade†¦ and to take over part of it for themselves† (Document 7). Not only did England increase her own power by destroying the Dutch Republic, the nation had such a powerful business of trade other countries took the Dutch wealth for themselves. England had no intention to help France; they only wanted more money and power for themselves. This decision resulted in more power for other countries. Although the Dutch suffered greatly, lost national unity and security, and their economy crashed, the balance of power was checked. Ultimately the Dutch power had to end eventually for the balance of power to remain equal amongst European and Asian nations.

J.B. Religion Essay -- essays papers

J.B. Religion At the end of Baldwin's 1952 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, John Grimes, the young protagonist, has an epiphany or what is more commonly referred to as a visionary conversion experience, a staple of American religious life. He embraces Jesus and endures a state of ecstatic mysticism in which he experiences "his drifting soul ... anchored in the love of God" (204). John's rebirth in Christ, his being "saved," is an affirmation of one of the strongest bulwarks in the African American community during slavery, and especially since its abolition: the black church. (2) Baldwin has said that "everything in Black history comes out of the church." It is "not a redemptive force but a `bridge across troubled water,'" Kalamu ya Salaam interviewing Baldwin responded. "It is how we forged our identity" (Pratt and Stanley 182). The church is the African American's inheritance. Black writers and the characters they create are not so easily divested of it, nor should they be. Though John Gri mes's commitment to Christ is representative of black assimilation into American (white) culture, this adoption of Christian beliefs not only helped the community forge a stronger connection to their country and society, but it also enabled slaves and then emancipated Africans to shore up their sense of self-worth and value. African American literature, according to Abena P. A. Busia, "has therefore become a drive for self-definition and redefinition, and any discussion of this drive must recognize this, its proper context: We are speaking from a state of siege" (2). John Grimes's journey over the course of Go Tell It on the Mountain mirrors this movement from imprisonment to freedom, from a vague sense of self to a greater consciousn... ... dilemma of his protagonist, but also exposing the moral foundations of the institutional pillars in the black community" (Bell 224). While criticism of the church's role in supporting subtle racism is justified, it is also true that John cleverly utilizes the rich resources of the church that were available to him. Would he be better off following Roy into the streets? Or Royal, Gabriel's first son, who also found his way into the streets and the reendured a violent death? John "wanted to be with these boys in the street, heedless and thoughtless, wearing out his treacherous and bewildering body" (30). He recognizes, however, even in the semi-transparent consciousness of a man-child, that he is being forced to make "so cruel a choice" (40) between the ways of the world, which in his community can too often lead to violence and self-destruction, and the ways of God.

Anton Chekhovs Selected Stories :: Selected Stories Essays

Anton Chekhov is a master at showing aspects of real life; how fed up people are, how it really is without the everyday pleasantries, and how exploitable people are by one another. Chekhov uses these three aspects with great mastery to show his form of real life in his "Selected Stories." Chekhov shows how fed up people are with one another in his short story the "Jailer Jailed." This story is about a man, who is a prosecuting attorney, is actually living in his own jail; being married to his wife who lets him do nothing but wait on her hand and foot. "I understand what it means to be in jail!" This quote explains just how the man feels living his life the way he is. The above is a direct example in life as how fed up people are. It just makes weird sense that a man with so much power with people doesn't have a prayer with his wife. "Milksop" is another one of Chekhov's stories showing how real life is, but this particular one depicts life without its pleasantries. This story is about a reporter who wants to be invited to this prestigious party but can't go because he works for the press. This shows real life without its pleasantries. Because the man couldn't get into the party because he was a reporter, his public power failed him. "A Nincompoop" also shows real life as Chekhov sees it, but this particular one depicts how exploitable people are by one another. This story begins with a women's payday. But, to her surprise her employer starts to deduct for things she has broken and for other dumb reasons. When he gets all done all she is left with is eleven out of sixty rubles. But she takes them gladly anyway. Then her employer asks if she thinks this is fair, and she agrees. Then her employer says that she is stupid and gives her the

Balanced Scorecard Essay

Rivalry amongst competing firms – Apple is in the unique situation that it has its own proprietary operating system and only used by Apple. So although the competition is fierce for customers, it is a different type of battle for Apple than for others such as Samsung, Google or Microsoft. Apple does face stiff competition but it is in the battle for use-case preference. The Android or Windows OS is different than the Apple iOS and consumers make a choice as to which road they are going to go down. Apple is competing for winning this important thought process and decision-making process. They are not competing on hardware alone because Apple alone produces their products with their OS. The competition will continue for easily the foreseeable future, 10 years and beyond, as the world becomes more digitized. Force: Moderate Potential Entry of New Competitors – The barriers to entry in this industry are steep. Cost of production is very high for new entrants until significant economies of scale are reached. Over the next 10 years there will be many new entrants into the industry though either brand new, or companies already in similar technology markets that will branch out into markets that compete with Apple. Again, that would be a competition for OS preference, not hardware per se. There is always the possibility of an entirely new and 4th, or more, operating systems being developed as technology advances. Moore’s Law tells us this is likely but difficult to ascertain from where it will come, whether it will be significantly better than any existing, and if it will gain wide user acceptance. Force: Weak to Moderate Potential Development of substitute products – Again, since Apple has its own exclusive OS, substitute products are only a threat as being other choices of entirely different OS’s from Microsoft or Android producers, or any other possible future OS development. But Apple does not have any substitute for its own products. Force: Weak Bargaining Power of Buyers – Apple users tend to stay Apple users. Their loyalty is strong and they love Apple products. Apple charges a premium for its products but the image and allure of Apple products and their perceived high quality keep unit sales strong. Although technology economies of scale have certainly been reached in Apple production, they have continued to keep their products priced higher that competing products. Buyer choice based on price alone should affect growth amongst some new customer segments, but will have little effect on the current loyal Apple user base. Unless their products begin to lose some of their luster and appeal and effectiveness, they should remain strong for the future. Force: Weak Bargaining Power of Suppliers – With Apple’s exclusive product line and OS and the relatively small number of products, they are not threatened by supplier power. Apple can easily find factories more than willing to be a part of the Apple supply chain. As their products gain more market share and production increases, Apple is in an ideal situation to manage their suppliers effectively.

Goal of a Designer

The ultimate goal of Instructional Design is to quickly and effectively teach people a new skill, or system of thinking. Elliot Masie, editor of TechLearn Trends, suggests â€Å"all training is about behavioral stimulation that changes human beings on some level.† (Masie, 1998, p. 14) This is a tall order â€Å"to change human beings†, and therefore, any professional instructor that accepts this challenge must ask plenty of fundamental questions first. These essential questions are part of a process known as Needs Assessment. An instructor needs this information to choose tools for the program; the more you know your audience, both customer and learners, the more successful the program will be. There are several need assessment models to follow, but I will use â€Å"The Zemke-Kramlinger Model of the Major Human and Organizational Factors that Affect People Performance in an Organization†. Their model asks hard questions in three different categories: Without this information, the designer is only guessing. Once a designer is confident the needs assessment has provided a solid foundation to start building a program, different tools, or media, should be considered. The variety of tools ranges from simple (print) to high tech (satellite dish communication). The American Society for Training and Development has published a book that outlines an eight-step process for assisting in selection of the proper tools. The steps are as follows: 1. Understand all the training tools available with the benefits and drawbacks of their use. 2. List the media delivery that will work for your audience at their capability level. 3. Evaluate your media list with the goals of training, and level of audience in mind. 5. Synthesize findings and establish â€Å"core media†. 6. Consider auxiliary media that would augment your â€Å"core media†. 7. Identify any implementation issues, organizational requirements, or technical limitations which could prevent successful use of your â€Å"core media†. 8. Prepare your conclusion in a formal report for management. With all the preparation out of the way, just what tools are we talking about? Here is a list of possibilities: With information on the objectives, learners, the company, budget, constraints etc., a program can be designed that is tailored for customer and learner. In an article titled â€Å"Crank Up Your Coolness Quotient† , designers are warned of the dangers in making a program to flashy, or cool, using multimedia and sacrificing the learning. The pull is understandable. Using a multimedia program, an instructor can challenge the student to read, watch, listen, guess, explore, try and fail. This much interaction gives the material more time to assimilate in the students experience. For all the pluses, there are just as many negatives. The drawback that stops many programs from developing in multimedia is the cost. The bells and whistles are very expensive; yet, depending on the situation, the cost may be justified. On the other hand, is the technology over the student capability? What about losing the learning in the technology? Does the client have the equipment that will run advanced programming? The instructor that has performed all the necessary front-end research does not worry about these questions; the answers are in the report handed to management.

The Wise Fools of Shakespeare

â€Å"Infirmity that decays the wise doth ever make a better fool† – though uttered by one of his own characters Shakespeare does not seem to conform to this ideal. The fools carved by Shakespeare in his plays showed no resemblance to the mentally and physically challenged people who were treated as pets and used for amusement during the medieval period. Rather Shakespeare’s fools appear to be in the best of their wits when they are in possession of the wisest minds. Fools whether in their rustic vigour displaying grotesque humour or in the forms of the sophisticated court jesters with their polished puns occupied a substantial position in his plays. Not only they added the element of humour but often alluded a deeper context under their apparent comic facade. Shakespeare’s plays embodied a varied range of comic characters whose treatment obviously differs in those produced by the mature playwright to those depicted in his earlier works. In which we find certain nonsensical clowns appearing just to create ludicrous entertainment. In ‘Love’s Labour Lost’ we find three such characters Costard, Dull and Adrian de Armado who are of very little importance to the plot but as we move on to the ‘Mid Summer Night’s Dream’, Bottom the daft artisan though intended to project humour for his supreme vanity, we see this same attribute of his being exploited by Oberon the king of the fairies to teach his queen a lesson. In this way we notice in Shakespeare’s comic characters a gradual pattern of upgradation from those included just for the sake of insipid humour to the ones actually taking part in the plot. As Shakespeare proceeds to incorporate his oeuvres with further comic elements he chooses humorists over clowns. His comic characters reveal more contemplative and methodical homour which actually camouflages underneath the unsavoury truths. These personas were not only part of his comedies but also his tragedies. In ‘Hamlet’ the two Grave-diggers despite of being represented as clown figures hides beneath their playful conversations the graver insights of the playwright himself. By questioning the justness of Ophelia’s receiving a ‘Christian burial’ they asses the legitimacy of suicide in terms of religious beliefs. Moreover their nonchalant attitude towards death marks its inevitability contrasting it to Hamlet’s vacillating views of ‘to be or not to be’. A similar prudence can observed in the reckless speeches of the Porter in ‘Macbeth’. The Porter in his drunken frenzy claims to be the â€Å"Porter of the Hell Gate† indicating that the horrid incident of Duncan’s murder has equated Macbeth’s castle to the infernal dungeon. Though these characters makes their appearance for a brief period on stage and it is generally apprehended that their foremost purpose is to provide a moment of respite to the audience from the dark and tense moments of the play, their significance in these dramas are no less. A character that cannot remain unmentioned while talking of Shakespeare’s comic characters is that of Sir John Falstaff. Usually acclaimed to be Shakespeare’s greatest comic character Falstaff first makes his appearance in ‘Henry IV Part 1’ and reappears in ‘Henry IV Part 2’ as well as ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. Recognized for his easy ways and buffoon like appearance Falstaff is actually a knight though his conduct speaks contrarily when he marks honour as valueless – â€Å"Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. . . . What is honour? A word†. It is the fact that we find a cunning, fraudulent, corrupt in bulk under the banner of knighthood that is suppose to represent chivalry and honesty is what primarily projects the humour. But yet again arousing laughter is not the only purpose served by this character, along with remaining the unfailing companion to prince Hal until he grows up only to leave him behind as a sign of stepping towards a path of integrity, Falstaff also acts as a foil to the character of Hotspur. A lively person who has abandoned morality and yet displays unconditional affection for the Prince, Falstaff is indeed one of Shakespeare’s typically twisted comic figures who earned himself a place in the audiences’ heart large enough to make him reappear more than once. However the most mesmerizing of Shakespeare’s fools touches his pieces in the form of the court jesters with their precise and caustic wit fabricated by their well bred minds. These fools it is often presumed were sketched from the models of the contemporary court jesters particularly influenced by Tarlton and Armin the royal fools who were not only popular to the audience but also favorites of the Queen herself. One of the foremost reasons of introduction of these jesters in his plays was to impart them with the role of social-critics in the guise of their iridescent costumes. The royal fools in spite of their acerbic tongue that blurted out many a comment against royalty were forgiven for the obvious reasons of those statements being wrapped under their fooleries. Thus the jesters in his plays acted as the representatives of Shakespeare, through whom he can show a glimpse of the real face of the contemporary society to his audience. The first professional fool who made his way into Shakespeare’s plays is Touchstone in ‘As you Like it’ who is probably the most buoyant of his jesters. From his pert speeches it can be assumed that he is serving his namesake, a touchstone giving a peek of the real world in mid of all the dreamy romanticism. In the play upon their arriving in Arden when Rosalind complains â€Å"O Jupiter, how weary are my spirits! † Touchstone is quick to add â€Å"I care not for my spirits, if my legs were not weary†. His decision to marry the country lass Audrey seems more rational than romantic. Again his effortless feat in the brief battle of wits with William in order to win his lady love contrasts his uncomplicated affection from that of the central characters. Touchstone can be best described by the compliment the Senior Duke adorns him with – â€Å"swift and sententious†. After Touchstone the Royal Jesters made their appearances in many of Shakespeare’s following plays but the two most prominent characters identified for their exuberance are Feste of ‘Twelfth Night’ and the Fool in ‘King Lear’. Feste though walking in the shoes of his literary hierarchy Touchstone in his mannerisms, his wits seems to be more targeted at the characters than the generalized views of the former. He appears to be the most mature character in ‘Twelfth Night’ analyzing and realizing the practical mode of the world. In his easy humour he expresses his experienced views when he taunts Olivia – â€Å"The more fool, Madonna, to mourn for your brother’s soul, being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen†, trying to make her understand that death is a course of nature and the fleeing time is equally mortal and thus valuable. Like his own statement â€Å"Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun – it shines everywhere† Feste’s genial humour spreads a glimmer of intellect all over the play. Feste with his acerbic wit and reflective wisdom not only outshines the insignificant characters of the lewd Sir Andrew and the puritanical Malvolio but also the brooding Duke Orsino, surmising his own point or rather â€Å"Quinapalas’† – â€Å"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit†. The third in the contingent, the Fool in ‘King Lear’ is in fact the most outstanding. Unlike Touchstone and Feste he lacks the comfortable ambiance and yet he balances his foresight, wisdom and shrewdness underneath his playful conduct. The Fool here lacks any specific identity and even his age and background remains unknown because of which it is supposed that his purpose is not just to lighten up the sardonic atmosphere of the play but also to serve as a foil to Lear. Despite of being a fool he identifies Lear’s impetuous decision and thus when Goneril talks of ceasing Lear from having any attendants the Fool sings – â€Å"The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long/ That it had its head bit by its young†, while the prejudiced king is still encircled by his misconstrues. The Fool remains by the side of Lear throughout the play until he mysteriously disappears at the end of Act III, scene vi. This is why it is believed that the Fool acts as Lear’s conscientious alter ego as once he enters the world of lunacy his conscience parts from him altogether. But even after his sudden exit from the stage in the middle of the play, the Fool remains the most significant comic character of Shakespeare’s tragedies. There are other professional fools who only makes shadowy appearances in some other plays, like Lavancha in ‘All is Well that Ends Well’, the Clown in ‘Othello’, Trinculo in ‘The Tempest’ who along with Stephano and Caliban imparts a slapstick humour to the play and at the same time introduces the theme or usurpation by plotting against Prospero. There are numerous such personalities that keep emerging throughout Shakespearean plays who despite of not being elevated characters somehow manages to leave their touch in the play. As Shakespeare’s clowns whether they do or do not occupy much of the stage space have always exhibited through their pert observations a superior intellect and rational understanding of the worldly life. The most noticeable factor is that these characters, be it the rustics, the Grave-diggers, the Porter, the jesters or a spoilt knight were basically modeled on a class of people who were placed in a social rank lower than that of the prime characters. This is perhaps because the most esteemed playwright himself held this ideal, that the practical knowledge of life gained by the commoners from the hazards of their ordinary lives imparts them with a feasible outlook towards it. Unlike those from the superior classes whose shielded lives behind the walls of their enormous castles embodied them with fragile minds. Thus the matters that appears to be of graver importance to the main characters, especially those of romanticism and idealism are treated as a recurring part of life by the wise fools. These individuals to some extent serve as the representatives of Shakespeare himself, what he cannot make his gaudy characters say is exactly what these commoners enacts on his behalf. Their social status which could make the contemporary audience belonging to the ordinary stratum identify with the same and their easy flamboyancy of wit was the exact combination the author required to reach out to his audience and alert them about the social conditions. But whatever purpose these characters might serve or whoever they might have been inspired by, they were transformed into soulful personalities by the dramatist. It was the ingenuity of Shakespeare that turned them into literary figures that were capable of leaving their impression not only in the mind of the contemporary audience but are continuing to do so until the present date.