Marketing Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Activities - Essay Example By moving its Apple Mac operating system from IBM and Freescale Semiconductor Intel chips, Apple has moved away from the up market computer image that it had, and is now positioned to attract any computer buyer (Lukovitz, 2007). Dell Computers has used the power of the Internet to provide awareness of its products and the place from where to acquire its products. To Dell Computers the Internet has been an extremely suitable means to provide the place of sale for its product of personal computers, targeting the market segment for personal and business purchase of computers. It is not that Dell computers has not used offline means to create awareness. It has used means like the television media for advertisements to create awareness, but has found the Internet more powerful and easier to gauge response of its promotional activities. The successful use of the Internet is what has powered Dell Computers to its leading position in the personal computer market (Enos, 2001). In a move to make use of the powerful players on the Internet, Dell Computers has strategically tied up with leader in Web search and advertising Google to ward off the threat from Hewlett-Packard. It will provide its Google desktop with Googl e Toolbar software on its personal computers, while Google will help create awareness and sales of the new PowerEdge servers from Dell. These efforts stem from competitor activities to cut into Dell’s market share through reduction in price. (Dells New Marketing Strategy - Google, Servers & Storage Systems). Dell Computers also uses innovative offline marketing promotion strategies. An example of this is in its attempts to reach out to the student market for personal computers and laptops. In 2007, it tested the promotion of its products through student’s mobile devices, using a free offer for a plasma TV and free music download, for

A Discussion of Tim Walkers Work Essay Example for Free

A Discussion of Tim Walkers Work Essay Walkers’ upbringing in Guildford, surrounded by country has left in him with a feeling of love when it comes to Britain’s landscapes that he wants to show it off in his images, in any which way he can. This essay compares and contrast two works by Tim Walker that are identifiable as his signature style, however individually differ in diverse ways to each other. Taking into consideration the ideas behind the image and how and where he draws his inspiration from to create images that inspire others. His style so unique and recognisable, this essay will take into consideration the historical and social contexts to his works and if his style is a reflection of his inner self, childhood and naturally occurring ideas, or if this style is something he created and now lives within. After graduating from Exeter College of Art, where he studied photography for 3 years, Walker worked as a freelance photography assistant in London. However, it was his move to New York and assisting the photographer Richard Avedon that may have forwarded his career so that at the very early age of 25 he had shot his first fashion story for Vogue. Today a London based photographer, Tim Walker is at the top of his profession and internationally known for his cutting- edge fashion photography; taking fashion further so that fashion becomes seconded to fantasy and surrealism. Walkers innovative photography places him in the midst of the most creative and imaginative photographers out there today. ‘Tim sees pictures in front of him which are not yet there’ (DERRICK, 2008, p124. It is the detailed planning of every image and the ideas that starts the process of the final images he is famous for; for each project of Tim’s, you’ll be able to find a scrapbook full of clippings and ideas found from anywhere. ‘My ideas for all my photographs come from any number of places; a film, or a book I’m reading, a story someone tells me. I take loads of visual references and put them into scrapbooks. I’ve got hundreds of them. ’ (WALKER, 2009, [WWW]) It is these scrapbooks that have provided inspiration for a number of Tim’s shoots. But it’s to be remembered that the inspiration has come from things that have already been, but that he took interest in. ‘I don’t believe in originality. You take inspiration from whatever moves you and you find your own voice in those things’ (WALKER, 2008, p242) Tim Walker saying this, is almost find ironic because his pictures are often named original. However, if it is replicated from/inspired by something/anything he may have seen before- as like most pictures- it can only be your take with your voice on it. However Walker’s inspiration doesn’t stop at that, he also looks to photographers before him for inspiration. Cecil Beaton took so many photographs that purely to me represent the joy one gets from creating fantasy† (WALKER TIM, 2009, [WWW]) The opening to Tim Walkers book Pictures, like all others, start with a foreword. However, unlike all others Tim has handwritten his as if it was just another page in his scrapbook. Located only six pages in after only the credits and title, this is really the very first thing you see in the book and it gives great indication to the style of the book and if you did not know much about Tim beforehand; a great introduction to him, his style and how he thinks. Not only is it the actually content of the foreword: ‘as you tour your imagination you want to photograph what you are seeing†¦you are SO very keen to be able to show what you’ve seen that it somehow becomes true, and the picture you end up taking becomes a souvenir, a piece of proof brought back [all the way] from the daydream. ’ (WALKER, 2008, P6) But the design and the layout of the page also: He cleverly drops the control of the layout, slanting the writing just as he talks about his mind drifting. It’s a clever play on the typography that as we read, we too feel as if we’ve sunken into this relaxed state of daydreaming. The way Tim describes in depth the path he often goes on that lands him at the conclusion of an image shows deeply how creative it often is, usually because it begins with something as simple as walking round a clothes store. The pictures he takes then become a snapshot almost, and a gift he shares with us from his imagination†¦from his daydream. Tim’s childhood plays a big part in the ‘fun’ many of his images are filled with. ‘He draws upon his childhood to construct sets for his images that are witty and playful yet sufficiently sophisticated enough to perform for his fashion clients. (THOMAS, 2008, [WWW]) Bringing such essences of an adolescent age into something quite professional could be risky, but it is this that give’s Tim’s pictures that exciting, magical vibe. Tim Walker says in an ICP awards interview, ‘fashion is the dream department for photography and I’ve always been a daydreamer. Tim’s pictures relate to and reflect a time in the 1940’s era and the time of the Neo-Romantic artists, that happened at a time of Britain’s ‘dark hours’. Today, although we might not be in the middle of Second World War, the world is in a state of uncertainty. For Walker, it may just be that creativity in fashion photography and the understanding of make believe places in his imaginations may just be the sort of images that the world need to see, to remember themselves, how magical and escapist day-dreaming can be. The first image of Tim Walkers I have chosen is this one titled ‘Lily Cole on fish hook. ’ Surrealism is a big factor in the creation of a Tim Walker shoot and it is the surrealism in this image that makes it so striking. It grabs your attention straight away and with little effort in the actual design of the image. Although the content is completely random, the image works in so many different ways that you almost don’t recognise it until a few moments after looking. The whole image looks calm; the stillness of the water, the sunlight reflected off of it, the grip of her hands on the hook, her expression. This image is magical, because it looks right, for something that shouldn’t ever be. The shoot was located in Northumberland, England and the location only helps set this calm relaxed scene as well as adding to that ‘very English’ feeling he often brings forth to many of his images. Recreational fishing is fishing for pleasure, with the fisher not really too interested in catching fish, but for the tranquillity and relaxation of it. This shoot, is extremely reflective of this, oozing tranquillity with the colours and calmness. Lily allowing her tip toes to play with the surface of the water, creating disturbance in it, works well within the image; it doesn’t have a negative effect on it, but almost brings her as a model to life. This was not Lily’s first shoot with Tim, and posing as bait on a giant fish hook was nothing out of the ordinary madness. He loved working with the English model, who first posed for him at the age of 15. ‘Some Models know how to stitch and weave themselves into a picture. Lily instinctively knows how to become part of it. ’ (WALKER, 2008, p124) In this image of Lily on the hook, she really does own it; she pulls of her ‘act’ as bait, attracting the fish just with her stance and beauty, and looking calm and really engaged with the photographer. She’s wearing a random collaboration of 3 tutus and her hair fizzed up to mirror them. Although quite dainty and delicate in body, she looks strong and very in control ironic to her state as bait. But this works nicely as the setting of the lake and the fields in the background add to that gentle voice the image has, balancing it nicely. The second image is one that Walker had designed for Italian Vogue. The image named ‘Eglingham Stream’ was shot in Northumberland, England, 2004. The image shows a bedroom with a stream running through it from the fireplace. The room is cluttered, and filled with clear personal belongings of somebody. The contents of the coat stand and the drinks trolley-in which the whiskey is the most noticeable bottle-all refer to the occupant being a man. The fishes on the stone and those in the basket on the table suggest that the person that lives her is a man that has a fond passion for fishing. These objects that the viewer initially notices, cleverly lead them to be mysterious as to what the image is showing us. When looking further into the image, we notice smaller details such as the images framed on the wall that are not of any family members or portraits of him, but of horses and landscapes. This could suggest that he has no family members and is possibly quite a reserved man and this is strengthened by the big matter of his room being right by the lake. It raises questions as to how obsessed this man actually is with fishing, that he has moved his bedroom to live within meters of the lake. Although, there are some signifiers that suggest that a woman is present: the pink bedding and net chiffon, the frill trimmed lamps and the two tooth brushes on the chest of drawers. There is also a small portrait of a young boy in the frame above the fireplace. Because of how out of place this looks as the only one, it seems to be a ‘woman’s touch’, as do the shells on top of the fireplace. The image as a whole has a romantic, feminine and fantastical feel-created by the lighting and whispery stream-that is signature to Walkers style. The shoot seems to be set in the twilight hour, or in the early evening, indicated by the bluely tint to the night and the 3 lamps in the room being on. The absence in the room could well just mean that the man is off fishing with his dog shown by the empty dog basket. There are many things about both the images that make them similar when talking about them in context of Walkers style. Both images were shot in Northumberland in the same year and although it isn’t stated, the lake that we see Lily suspended above is likely to be part of the stream that is present in the second image. The images both have strong fishing references to them: Lily is suspended on a giant fishing hook, and the setting of the second is the home of someone completely obsessed with fishing. The images are not part of the same set or story, and do not look it either. However, contextually, they seem to work hand in hand. Having the countryside and fields in the background that run our eyes to the edge of the Fish Hook image just above the halfway line is similar in comparison to the way the Eglingham Stream image is cut off. This image is split by the striking pink/reddish colour of the walls meeting the grey wet slate form the stream that make the bedroom floor. Both splitting factors are of natural earthly objects; possibly representing that county, earthly, English vibe Walker has been known to create in many of his images. There is a terrible truthfulness about photography that the ideas which might work in a painting or a sketch won’t necessarily work in a photograph’ (UNKNOWN, 2008, p254. ) This statement is from Tim Walkers book Pictures and although this was not said in reference to Walkers work, it almost seems as if this is something he fights hard to overcome in his own pictures. He doesn’t let the normal be a limi t, he combines familiarity with fantasy and imagination to create what has never been seen before. This is what gives them that edge over many other fantastic editorials, and sketching ideas to visualise them is a big thing with Tim Walker; something he prides his work upon. Despite all their similarities, the images are in fact very different and not only of location and setting, but of story and design. In the first image of Lily on the hook, that is the surrealism; this beautiful girl dressed in a random combination of tutus with huge frizzy ginger hair hanging on a fishing hook. This is what we are supposed to look at and see the dreamlike, far from ordinary image in front of us. In the second image, the stream running out of the fire place through the middle of the room is also surreal, but that’s not only what the image is about. It’s about the story the scene creates. Yes you look at the stream and think ‘wow’ and begin to question it, but it doesn’t stop there, your questioning goes on to the room and what the contents of it mean. The images also differ in terms of layout. The first is portrait and works better in this format as it allows the full size of the hook to be appreciated. If this was on a landscape layout, the surrealism of the hook may not be fully valued due to it physically having to be shrunk on the page. However, the double page landscape layout for the second image allows a full viewing of the room and many details and objects to be noticed. This image in a portrait layout would not be successful as the image would have to be shrunken or cropped- both having negative effects on the way the image is viewed. The subject matter and the use of a model being used in the first image but not in the second is another differing factor between them both. Lily as a model is the subject in Figure 2 that the viewer connects with; she gives the image that presence so that when we look at it, it’s not just a picture, it’s a situation that we feel as if we are now part of. In Figure 3, Tim Walker is successful in including the viewer, but in a very different way and without using any models; we are invited to look into somebody’s bedroom while they are not there and just by looking at the photograph, the viewer becomes an intruder. But this intrusion plays as a foundation for the story behind the image, the one we seek out and uncover more of the more we look at it. Although the lamps warm up the image, it still has this cold feel created by the grey stones, real flowing stream and lack of natural light. The absence of anybody in the room assists in creating this ‘chill-in- the-air’ feeling. Figure 2, where Lily is standing on a large fishing hook, has a surprisingly warm tone to it and this may be due to her relaxed pose and the warming colours present in the image: The ginger of her hair, the red of her tutu and the fishing tackle and the brown/copper of the lake. The colours are softened by the sunlight adding to that warm tone. ‘Photography is a bit like cooking: you take the ingredients out of the cupboard and mix them up- old pictures, characters, colours, landscapes, to create something that is in your imagination that surprises you. ’ (WALKER, 2009, P208) It is clear to see that Walker uses certain ingredients in both of these images; fantasy and surrealism become like the salt and pepper; the underlying flavour and present always. After looking at Lily On The Hook and Eglingham Stream in comparison to each other, many similarities are because of Walkers ‘style’ that are consistent throughout. Even though both are editorials, contently, technically and visually, there is a big difference between them. Creatively, they are alike. These are just two out of hundreds of Tim Walkers photographs, but as like all of his images, there will always be something magical, fantastical or romantic to hint that the image was photographed by Walker. The images are real in their own terms; that is what they are. As a fashion photographer you are a documentary photographer within a fantasy land. ’ (WALKER, 2009, p210) By Walker referring to himself as a documentary photographer within a fantasy land gives us a clear insight to how he sees fashion photography; in a childlike day-dream way. He escapes to this place in which his imagination can be real and he sees his job as a photographer to document this.

Textual Analysis of Epic of Gilgamesh and Book of Genesis of the Holy B

A Textual Analysis of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh The stories of the floods found in both Gilgamesh and Genesis contain many striking similarities that are inevitably beyond mere coincidence. One could surmise that both of these stories might have a basis in common historical occurrence. However, despite the fact that both of these works discuss a common topic, the portrayal of this event is quite different. Like identical twins raised in different cultures, the expressions of these works are products of their environment. The focus of this analysis is on Genesis (chapter 7) and Gilgamesh (lines 1 - 25). These two different passages will be analyzed to relate each document and how the author's worldview shapes his account of the flood. First we shall examine the background of text so that we might understand how the culture and society had an impact on the works. The story of Gilgamesh supposedly started to take form around the year 2500 B.C., but was not written down until about 1300 B.C. The epic was passed down and developed in oral form for approximately one thousand years. As a result, the story must have changed drastically from the original, until it was finally written down on Sumerian clay tablets. The Old Testament of the Bible, which includes the Book of Genesis, was also passed down through oral tradition before the Hebrews wrote it down from 1000-300 B.C. Both of these documents express the religious attitudes of these people as their story of the creation of the world and of humankind unfolds. So let's look at how these two selected passages allude to the nature of the works as they each give account of the great flood that kills all of mankind. The author of Gilgamesh portrays ... ...a "stupor of despair went up to heaven" and "even the gods were terrified and the flood, they fled to the highest heaven." This apparently shows that the society in which Gilgamesh was written had little faith in the ability of the gods to control their anger or their own powers. It is this lack of faith, which contributes to the morose undertones of this epic. Through analyzing passages from both works, one can see how the author's environment and worldview has helped to shape the style and mood of each text. Both texts share a common event although told through different cultures. Even more, the unique perspectives of this tale help to develop the whole ambience of each document. Eac author unknowingly leaks valuable insight about his time and culture into his account to be locked in time for thousands of years. Now that's something real special. Â  

Abuse and Female Criminality

This paper examines the connection between female criminality and the occurrence of abuse.   Abused inmates were more possible to report substance abuse problems, interpersonal problems, emotional problems, and have a negative attitude towards life after prison. The findings propose the need for more study about the relationship between women's criminality and abuse, and the creating of programs for imprisoned women who have been abused.Introduction Nearly all of the available study on the criminality of women suggests that there is a connection between crime and environmental issues such as attitudes towards women or economic opportunity.Nevertheless, many aspects of women's experiences are yet to be examined, particularly in relation to the fast increasing number of imprisoned women. This paper looks at the connection between women criminality and the experience of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.Historical outlook of Women in detention centers and Prison Reform in the US   An assessment of the limited literature on the account of the incarceration of women discloses a complex set of political, social, and personal problems that are experienced by women in the US over the last two centuries.During the nineteenth century, the grounds for incarcerating women and their experience once in prison were of anxiety to prison reformers. According to Freedman (1981) in Their Sisters' custodians, three conditions started to emerge in the 1820s that gave rise to the prison reform pressure group for women.In the beginning, most northern states adopted the prison as a principal means of reducing and punishing criminal activity. Second, a small but important number of women became prisoners of these prisons, particularly after 1940. Finally, middle-class American women inspired both by benevolence and their growing mindfulness as a sex became active in reform pressure groups that brought them into contact with their detained sisters.Freedman (1981) propose that the growing number of women in prison amid 1815 and 1860 can be connected to social change, particularly urbanization, and new agents of social power such as moral reformers and urban police.Under these controls, â€Å"not serious crimes against property or persons, but unlawful personal behavior such as, vagrancy, idle and disorderly conduct, and drunkenness –brought the majority of law offenders of both sexes into the courts and detention centers (Freedman, 1981, p. 14). Still, Freedman states that the ethical codes for women were stricter, and therefore, women were more liable to be convicted of such crimes.To add on, he points out that low job opportunities and lower pays for women brought about economic marginalization and added the need for women to resort to criminal acts such as prostitution, particularly during wars, when men were not capable to sustain their families.  Prostitution was frequently the mainly readily available way for women to sustain themselves and t heir family. Once tried or even suspected of a crime, a woman became even more marginalized.The sentence for the nineteenth century woman criminal was the brand â€Å"fallen woman,† and both men and women rejected anyone suspected of being a â€Å"fallen woman.† due to this stigma, the female detainee was largely neglected and frequently subjected to overcrowding, cruel treatment, and sexual abuse.This approach towards women can be drawn to our European precursors. According to Feinman (1980), in ancient Rome, Greece and medieval Europe, the main function of a woman was to provide successors for her husband to maintain his name and property line. As a result, treacherous women could be executed because of being unfaithful; they threatened the legality of the heirs.In the late 19th century, Lombroso (1900) came up with a theory of criminology which was based on Social Darwinism. Lombroso hypothesized that women, poorer classes and nonwhites, were less evolved than upper -class white men, and so, were more liable to commit criminal offences.He further added that for women to commit crime and drift from the â€Å"usual† path of † piety, maternity, and weakness, her wickedness must have been vast . . . (Lombroso & Ferrero, 1900, p. 150). This theory assisted in speculating the â€Å"fallen woman† concept.To efficiently help women inmates, women reformers had to liberate themselves from the long-held communal biases against â€Å"fallen women.† They had to stair over the â€Å"sexual clarity† line and identify both the imprisoned and themselves women as being part of the same class: These untimely reformers centered on the different conditions women prisoners were subjected to and they were mainly responsible for the creation of separate prisons for women.In the Progressive Era, which is at the beginning of the 20th century, women reformers turned their interest to the basis of female criminality. They discarded Social Darwinism and began to expand a sociological theory of female criminality that attacked the concept of a physiological criminal type, look at the relationship of mental aptitude and crime, and finally â€Å"argued for an economic explanation of women's crime.The latest sociological theory identified environmental foundations of crime, including low-paying jobs, lack of education, and poverty. As a result, it became clear that prisons could not determine the social problems related with women's criminality. Reformers took numerous approaches toward solving the social challenges that were as a result of the incarceration of women and towards helping women once incarcerated.On the one hand, succefull reformers who preferred the extra-institutional, defensive services over incarceration focused on reforming criminal justice practices before the stage of imprisonment.On the other side, other reformers tried to advance the women's prisons via better categorization and education, and div ersified training. Therefore, these growing environmental change theories led to preventive services, mainly aimed at keeping economically marginalized women from using illegal activities such as prostitution to resolve economic problems (Freedman, 1981).

Globalization in the 1970s Essay

Globalization is not a new concept as there have been numerous cycles of globalization stretching as far back as the ancient civilizations. The wave of globalization prior to the oil embargo was after the Second World War. Although this period was marked with rapid economic growth, it came to an end in 1973 after the Arab oil embargo that resulted in a rise in oil prices. Financial globalization particularly can be termed as the integration of country’s local financial system with international financial institutions and markets. The main agents of financial globalization are the governments and hence they need to liberalize any restrictions on their domestic financial sector and capital account of the balance of payments if any form of integration is to take place (Schmulker, 2004:5). Dammasch (2010: 4) asserts that the economic environment in times of globalization changes rapidly with capital movements becoming larger and less controllable. Therefore there is usually a need to create a stabilizing system. The situation after the Second World War which was marked by falling credit institutions, mass unemployment, hyperinflation and bankruptcy of enterprises brought about such a necessity. The Bretton Wood system thereby came into creation. Bretton Woods’s agreement of 1944 was part of the decision by the industrialized countries to restructure themselves after the Second World War and the difficulties encountered especially after the First World War for the purpose of financial globalization. There was a great need for these nations to come up with workable rules and regulations which would direct them in the formulation of national policies that would facilitate the pursuit of common economic objectives (Kenen, 1994:11). The necessity and urgency of this legal structure was collectively agreed upon and accepted as it was viewed as a way of avoiding the negative effects that had marred the inter-war period (King, 2003:30). The Bretton woods years that spanned from 1946-1971 are seen in retrospect as a golden age of capitalism with exchange rate stability and rapid economic growth (King, 2003:30). This is because the system ensured that value of price increases was just and that the exchange rates remained fixed for unlimited periods in all key industrialized countries. Moreover, the national income in the G7 countries rose more rapidly than in any other comparable period. The system ensured long-run price stability for the whole world because the fixed price of gold provided an ostensible anchor to the world’s money supply. Therefore by pegging their currencies to gold, individual nations fixed their prices levels to that of the world (Bordor et al, 1993:1). King, 2003:30 emphasizes that the Bretton Woods system had two main characteristics which were: the existence of a set of rules that consisted of fixed rates of exchange, capital controls and independent policies of domestic macroeconomics on one hand and US domination on the other hand. Capital control as was stipulated in the Bretton Woods system was officially authorized and every government was highly encouraged and had the right and obligation to control its movement of capital. Capital control is the ability of the government to control the in and out flow of capital to and from their country. This meant that bank discount rates were not necessary when the central bank wanted to attract capital inflows or avoid flight of capital. As a consequence, the bank rate is maintained as low as possible (King, 2003:31). However, a country’s domestic economy can be adversely affected through inflation by in and out rapid flow of capital together with fixed rates of exchange. Capital controls essentially prevent rapid outflow of capital and can equip governments with the ‘tools’ to prevent economic crisis in the future. In this system capital control played a significant role whereby it effectively regulated the fixed exchange rate system that had been agreed upon by members during the Bretton Woods agreement. Whenever exchange rates required adjustments capital control was an integral component of the adjustment mechanism. These controls were fundamental to the reconstruction and growth of the international trading system that had been devastated by global depression, the two world wars and hyperinflation. This meant that capital flow was highly restricted with countries prohibiting convertibility. In capital control, currency non-convertibility was the most restrictive form of control. The government was the only one permitted to have the exclusive authority to hold foreign currency and to also to give it out to importers that had been approved by the government. Countries that fixed their exchange rates at levels that were unacceptable could therefore be monitored through this system (Eicher et al, 2009:470). Kitschel (1999, p. 38) further expounds that the capital controls were viewed as instruments of exchange rate stabilization and also as means of securing full employment and other national economic priorities. Additionally the system condoned the controls not only for short term management of balance-of –payment crises but also for the purpose of domestic economic management. The limited capital-account convertibility was the most common form of restriction. It enabled the system to place limits and know who had the right and accessibility to foreign exchange rates. Moreover, qualitative restrictions were also put in place which urged for the limitations on the external asset and liability position of domestic financial institutions. The controls were also placed on foreign banks domestic operations as well as on resident firms’ and on individuals’ direct savings, collection of foreign possessions and real estate property. Dual or multiple exchange rate system was another form of capital control that involved discrete rates for either commercial or financial transactions (Kitschel, 1999:39). Therefore the system allowed members to regulate international capital movements as long as they did not restrict payment for current external transactions. Although currencies would be freely convertible into one another after a transaction period, members were allowed to place capital controls on currency transactions if such capital flows threatened to overwhelm the nation’s balance on payment or exchange rate stability (McNamara, 2003:75). Forces challenging the system Although the Bretton Woods system was important to the economic prosperity after the Second World War, it nevertheless failed to support the equally rapid growth in the advanced countries over the next 25 years. One of the reasons according to Kenen (1994, p. 7) is the fact that the permanence and malleability of the system was slowly being destabilized by the postwar system. There were two vital roles of the Bretton Woods system. The first goal was geared towards producing exchange rates that were stable through the use of capital control and the second goal was meant to shield member nations from the shifting demands brought about by the flow of gold. Nonetheless, these goals highly contradicted each other because the system could not guarantee that global prices would remain stable as it lacked an effective technique. Additionally, the founders of the Bretton Woods system explicitly designed the system in an effort to disentangle international monetary relations from power politics. Nonetheless postwar monetary relations were highly politicized and required constant political interventions to keep the system functioning smoothly. Another flaw of the Bretton Woods design was that it lacked an effective, automatic mechanism to adjust and settle payment imbalances that inevitably arose between surplus and deficit countries. Under this system, a country that had a payment deficit most probably lost its gold which decreased the domestic monetary base and resulted in a decline in the currency’s purchasing power. Inevitably, the country’s imports would fall, exports would rise and the payment would eventually balance. However, the loss of gold and the decrease in money supply also meant that there would be a fall in the cumulative domestic demand, which meant deflation or even the possibility of depression. These structural problems assured that chronic balance of payments would mushroom into full-scale political problems, both domestically and between nations (Gavin,:6). Originally, the Bretton Woods system was designed to produce stable exchange rates while at the same time shielding national economies from demand shifts produced by the flow of gold (Gavin,:6). The founders wanted to set monetary arrangements that could combine the advantage of classic gold standard i. e. the exchange rate stability with the advantage of floating rates i. e. the independence to pursue national full employment policies. They mainly sought to avoid the defects of floating rates (destabilizing speculation and competitive beggar-than-thou-neighour policies). The disadvantage of fixed rates is that individual nations were exposed to both monetary and real shocks transmitted from the rest of the world via the balance of payment and other channels of transmission. The common world price level under the gold standard exhibited secular periods of deflation and inflation which reflected shocks to the demand for and supply of gold (Bordo et al, 1993:1). Countries like Germany and Japan were reluctant to import foreign inflation and this could have attributed to the eventual collapse of the system. In the long run this broke the credibility of the fixed exchange rate commitment among countries and the willingness of the central bank of several countries to cooperate in order to maintain the fixed parities. In other words the system failed because the commitment by the US of fixed equality was not reliable due to the inflation that was accelerating (King, 2003:33). The collapse of the Bretton Woods system is also related to the increasing speculative capital flows. With time as the dollar continued to decline, the US economy was unable to assure other countries that the dollar could be converted to gold at the fixed parity. In this view, the collapse of the system was related to the escalating in and out movements of capital and the lack of capacity of the dominant country, the US to control them (King, 2003:32). In conclusion the end of the Bretton Woods period can be said to have come when President Richard Nixon finally suspended the official conversion of the dollar into gold at $35 an ounce, shut down the gold window and cut the exchange rate system loose. Importance of the Euromarkets The growth of the Euromarkets has been directly linked to the expansion of the US multinational firms, and the consequent expansion of US banking abroad. This growth of the market and its development coincided with the increasing pressure of the US economy and the recoveries witnessed in the capitalist economy. The Eurodollar market therefore took over aspects of a developed domestic credit system since it was operating globally and independently from the central banks. Therefore, Britain which was a low-productivity and low-wage country became the center of global finance due to the contribution of the Eurodollar market. London developed as a center of global circulation of capital and hence became the world’s leading Eurodollar market. The regulation of the currency which allowed the partial and finally the full convertibility of the pound for those who were neither residents of the dollar or the sterling are some of the factors that brought about the growth and development of the Eurodollar market (Patel, 2007:1). This market was deemed important as it helped in redistributing surplus liquidity, in facilitating adjustments of internal liquidity in countries whose monetary systems rely on the import and export of short term funds through banks as a major monetary regulator. The Eurodollar market also helped to maintain world business activity at a high level by the availability of short term working funds. The Nixon Shock The Nixon Shock is termed as a series of economic measures that were taken by the then US president Richard Nixon in 1971. This decision was reached upon by various events which included: the Vietnam War that had become too costly and had drained the gold reserves of US, the increased domestic spending that accelerated inflation, the balance of payment deficit by US and trade deficit (Engdahl, 2003:1). Additionally, the US dollar foreign arbitrage had also caused the governments gold coverage of the paper dollar to decline by 33 points from 55% to 22%. Therefore in 1971, President Nixon imposed tariffs on all imports of 10 per cent to help reduce the trade deficit though it was removed in December the same year. At the same time, a freeze was put on wages and prices for a period of 90 days in a bid to lower inflation with the Federal Reserve Swap ending its support for other central banks. The convertibility of the dollar into gold was also ended and a limitation on gold transactions was put implying a decrease in the value of the dollar. This announced detached the US from the Bretton Woods system which collapsed from operation. After the gold convertibility of the dollar was suspended and flexible exchange rates emerged (James, 2010:1). After the Nixon shock, the US realized that it could exert more global influence through US treasury debt than from trade surpluses. In the 1970s oil was the only key commodity traded in dollars. This was due to the fact that the dollar was the only currency with the highest purchasing power and the only one that was backed by gold (Dammasch, 2010:6). As a result the US realized that the other nations would continue to demand for dollars for them to buy oil which was by now inflated in price. Thereafter, US trade partners had so many dollars in their reserves that they feared to create a dollar crisis. Instead they inflated and eventually weakened their own economies to support the dollar system as they feared a global collapse. Therefore when the price of oil increased in 1973 the dollar surprisingly continued to gain despite countries like Japan, Germany and the rest of the world suffering from severe economic destruction (Engdahl, 2003:1). Nonetheless, these measures did not help to restore or even quicken the economic growth rates of US or even correct the surplus reserves of dollars in Japan and Germany. From there henceforth, all the currencies of the Western nations began to ‘float’. There were no longer set exchange rates in the international market since the common link that was there before i. e. the Bretton Woods System, no longer existed. Ultimately, by the end of 1974, the price of gold had risen to $195 from $35 per troy ounce. As a result, due to unrestrained inflation there was a155% increase in the price of gold in a period of three years (James, 2010:1). Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War named after the Jewish holiest holiday, Yom Kippur began on October 1973 when Syrian and Egyptian forces backed by Soviet Forces launched attacks on Israel forces in the Golan Heights and Sinai in an attempt to recapture the land occupied by Israelites. However, despite the surprise attack on Israel, they emerged victorious due to the immense backing from US who provided them with weapons and intelligence. Therefore in a bid to punish the Western world for their aid to Israel, the Arab nations placed the oil embargo. This was initially political tactic meant to pressure the US into requesting Israel to withdraw from the Arab territories. However, with time the Arabs used it as an economic tactic when they realized the amount of power they had over the world through oil. The prices of oil thereafter quadrupled and continued to be a threat not only to America’s economy but also to the whole world. After the Yom Kippur war the OPEC member states struck back against the West for their support of Israel by imposing an oil embargo which increased oil prices by 70%. Lending by Private Banks to Developing Nations The origin of the debt crisis in the Third World countries has been attributed to the expansion of banking society in the US at an international level together with the rapid economic growth in the world. Before the oil price crisis of 1973-74 began, the real domestic product growth rate of developing countries averaged 6% annually. However, though the rate of growth had slowed down for the reminder of the 1970s it averaged 4-5%. This growth nonetheless generated new interests by the US corporate investment and similarly by other international banks. This multinationalism in providing financial services contributed to the emergence of the Eurodollar market which gave the US banks access to funds that they could undertake Third World Loans on a large scale. Additionally, the sharp rise in crude oil accelerated the expansion in lending (LCD debt crisis, 2010:192). The oil-exporting countries in the Arab world deposited their profits made during the oil crisis in banks in the European and US banks. This further fueled the lending boom. Since the banks had now been provided with more funds they became eager to make profits and hence invested it in developing nations by financing new development projects. The abrupt increase in oil prices brought about instant inflation into the prices of all other commodities. Moreover, the developing countries which had been crippled by these high oil prices saw this as an opportunity to borrow cheap money from the international banks so that they could offset the huge deficits ((LCD debt crisis, 2010:192; Schmulker, 2004:2). These funds that were known as petrodollars and had been recycled back to developing nations therefore generated inflationary pressures around the industrial world and created the debt crisis in developing nations (Cypher and Dietz, 2008:204). US High Interest Rates The developing nations during the 1970s were given loans at very low interest rates. However, this situation changed when the US in the early 1980s pushed up the interest rates of loans in an endeavor to stop inflation. This meant that the loans that had been lent out to Third World nations by US or other lending banks in Europe had to paid back with huge interests rates. Hence, by the 1980s the economy of Third World nations had began to stagnate and many nations were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the combination of mounting debts and low economic growth rates. The total debt had amounted to $567 billion and the high interest rates forced them to take out new loans which increased the burden (Jauch, 2009:1). This dismal situation was further compounded by the oil shock of 1973 and 1979. This decision by OPEC crippled the economies of many Third World nations with the cost of imported energy rising. Therefore, the culminative result of this crisis saw many developing nations especially those in Latin America unable to pay their debts during this period. IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes When it became evident that these nations would be unable to service their loans, the IMF came up with conditions which were dubbed Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) to solve the debt crisis among developing countries (Shimko, 2009:168). The SAP was proposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which were formed during the Bretton Woods period. These programmes imposed various conditions for countries especially developing ones that intended to borrow more loans (Jauch, 2009:1). IMF claimed that these reforms were necessary for promoting the economic growth needed to pay back the loans. The IMF required reforms to be carried out in the respective countries before aid could be provided. For example, Mexico whose debt burden grew faster than its own economy was loaned money by IMF to prevent a default. However, Mexico had to certain economic reforms before the loan could be dispatched. Although the conditions imposed on the developing nations differed, the same basic conditions were expected of all the nations (Shimko, 2009:168). The various key reforms according to Shimko 2009:169 included: †¢ Balancing of government budgets: this entailed either increasing the revenue for the government (providing new fees for government services) or drastically reducing the government spending. †¢ Reducing quotas, tariffs and other import barriers: this was aimed at subjecting the domestic industries to international competition. †¢ Liberalization of the capital market: this basically meant reducing the restrictions on foreign investment. †¢ Reducing government subsidies to domestic industries: these subsidies are those that had been part of import substitution strategies. †¢ Privatizing or selling the government-owned industries to the private sector. Nonetheless, these conditions did not alleviate the dire economic nor bring any economic development but rather the conditions intensified the existing situation. Although IMF studies claimed that the growth rates in countries under this programme increased from -15% in the 1980s to only 0. 3% in the early 1990s and 1% by mid-1990s, the World bank declared that there was no evidence whatsoever to account for any economic growth (Shimko, 2009:178). Additionally, lack of government subsidies or protection from foreign competition forced domestic industries to reduce their costs by lowering wages or by laying off workers. Therefore the liberalization of trade and the opening up of economies to unrestricted foreign investment had a deleterious impact on the poor nations and people (Shimko, 2009:177). Effects of the High Oil Prices in the 1970s As a result of the Bretton Woods system and the oil shock, a new wave of globalization began. Recession was prevalent with unemployment peaking at 9. 1% industrial production went down by 15% and high inflation in all areas. Additionally, when the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates collapsed, countries were now opened up to greater capital mobility and they also retained the autonomy of their monetary policies. The Brandy Bonds came into existence when Mexico’s Minister of Finance announced that the country would be forced to default on its debt. The default on loans worsened as more banks in developing nations informed the IMF and Chairman of the Federal Reserve of their inability to service their debts in time (LDC debt crisis, 2010:191). The Brandy Bonds in a bid to resolve the debt crisis of the 1980 not only led to the subsequent development of the bonds market but also brought about a new phenomenon especially for emerging economies. Moreover, technological advancement, privatization and deregulation (which resulted in the corporate culture with national interests of decreasing consideration in business decisions) made foreign direct investment and equity investment in the emerging markets even more attractive for households and firms in the developed nations (Schmulker, 2004:2). Overall, there was a severe recession which hit the hardest the Western world. In Wall Street, oil stocks performed well due to the price increase as the profits soared as the rest of the market buckled under the low prices. Before the oil embargo was imposed by OPEC members, the price of crude oil was mainly determined by major oil companies in the West which retained 65% of the revenue of the oil. This type of arrangement was referred to as oligopolistic market arrangement. This meant that oil prices that had been posted in the market were established with the taxes and royalties paid to the exporting governments on the basis of this price. However following the embargo, property rights were transferred to the host countries from the major companies that had operated the industry and hence the cartel was able to take over the functions of the companies and retain more of the revenue generated Thereafter, the determination of crude oil price was passed into the hands of OPEC which set an official selling price for the best known among its crude. At the same time individual members were given the opportunity to adjust their selling prices in relation to this market according to the quality of the oil being produced (Trumbore, 2010:1). The continued high oil prices encouraged the exploration and subsequently the production of oil in high-cost oil regions such as Canada, Mexico, and North Sea. During the 1970, the increased demand of fossil fuels and increased prices for the product greatly reduced globalization. As the nations became more advanced, the rate of globalization declined. Although globalization grew for a while after the embargo, the rate of growth began to decline as the oil prices decreased (Okogu, 2003:1). The oil embargo impacted severely on the economy of Japan resulting in energy price inflation since by this time it was the only developed nation that relied heavily on oil with very few hydrocarbon reserves or any other alternatives. Japan was therefore forced to reconsider its industrial model. The oil shocks catalyzed the rapid turnaround which enabled Japan to become the leading energy efficiency country. The petroleum Supply and Demand Optimization Law was aimed at setting oil targets and restricting oil use. Japan’s vision after the oil embargo was to reduce its dependence of oil from the Middle East, therefore it started to charge import taxes on all petroleum products especially those that were used to generate power. Japan therefore became a pioneer in liquefied natural gas which today accounts for half of the worlds market. During this period, Japanese car brands like Toyota and Honda which had previously sold poorly enjoyed enormous success in the US market. Americans who had traditionally been fond of big cars were now confronted with a new challenge that included higher oil prices accompanied by long queues at the gas stations and rationing of gasoline. They therefore began to demand more of the Japanese brands for their small size and fuel-efficiency (Stewart and Wilczewski, 2009:1). Conclusion Even today, the Dollar System is still the real source of global inflation since t is the only global reserve currency as it has been witnessed worldwide since the 1971. Other countries in the world have to ensure that the reserves of their central banks are in dollars if they are to trade in the international market. This helps to guarantee against currency crisis, to back their export trade and to finance the importation of oil. Today, 67% of all central bank reserves are dollars (Engdahl, 2003:1). The debt crisis in the 1970s created by various variables including the oil embargo, the unprecedented borrowing and poor economic planning crippled the economy of many developing nations in Africa and Latin America. Despite efforts by the World Bank and IMF to offset these payment balances, the situation remained virtually unchanged. Ironically, other countries like Japan and US though they were affected by the rise in oil prices, were able to rise above the situation through oil exploration in their own countries which reduced their reliance on the imported oil from Middle East. Therefore, though the oil embargo did touch the economies of all the different nations, the degree and intensity was not the same. While other countries were completely devastated e. g. Third World nations others in the West found ways of reviving and even propelling their economies to greater heights. References Bordo, M, Eichengreen, B and National Bureau of Economic Research (1993). Bretton Woods System: A Retrospect. London. University of Chicago Press. Dammasch, S. (2010). The Bretton Woods System. [Online:] Available from http://www. ww. uni-magdeburg. de/fwwdeka/student/arbeiten/006. pdf Dietz, J and Cypher, J. (2008). Economic Development Process. New York. Taylor & Francis. Eicher, T, Mutti, J and Turnovsky, M. (2009). International Economics. Taylor & Francis. Engdahl, W. (2003). The Dollar System & US Economic Reality. [Online:] Available from http://www. engdahl. oilgeopolitics. net/1973_Oil_Shock/Dollar_System/dollar_system. html Garber, P, Dooley, M and Folkerts-Landau, D. (2005). International Financial Stability. [Online:] Available from http://people. ucsc. edu/~mpd/InternationalFinancialStability_update. pdf Gavin, F. The Cold War & Gold Battles. American Monetary Policy & the Defense of Europe, 1960-1963. [Online:] Available from http://www. utexas. edu/lbj/faculty/gavin/articles/gold_battles. pdf Jauch, H. (2009). How Africa was destroyed by the World Bank, IMF-& Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP). [Online]: Available from http://www. newsrescue. com/2009/05/how-the-imf-world-bank-and-structural-adjustment-programsap-destroyed-africa/ Kenen, P. (1994). Managing World Economy. Washington. Institute for international Economics. King, E, J. (2003). The Elgar Companion Economics. Cheltenham. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Kitschelt, H. (1999). Continuing & Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Cambridge. Cambridge University. Okogu, B. (2003). Changing Oil Market in North Africa & Middle East. [online:] Available from http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/med/2003/eng/okogu/okogu. htm Patel, H. (2007). The Eurodollar Market Contribution to the Modern Financial World. Online: Available from. http://www. pharmasuppliers. com/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=14&catid=13&Itemid=20

Pleonasms

Pleonasms Pleonasms Pleonasms By Mark Nichol This post pertains to varieties of pleonasms, instances of verbal redundancy, which are usually a sign of careless or lazy writing (though some are employed for rhetorical effect). The word pleonasm stems from the Greek term pleonazein, meaning â€Å"to be excessive,† and is related to plenty, plural, and plus. One type of redundancy is onomastic pleonasm (that’s one of my favorite phrases), in which a word derived from a foreign language referring to a type of geographical feature is redundantly paired with the English equivalent of that word to describe some such feature, as with â€Å"Sahara Desert† (proper usage is â€Å"the Sahara†) or â€Å"Mount Fujiyama† (Fujiyama, or â€Å"Mount Fuji†). However, some redundancy is tolerated, as in the case of â€Å"the River Avon†/â€Å"the Avon River† (though the various rivers so named, like many others, are often referred to without the categorical name: â€Å"the Avon†) and â€Å"the La Brea Tar Pits.† Another is acronymic pleonasm, in which an acronym or initialism serves as an adjective for a noun already represented by one of the initials in the abbreviation, as in â€Å"ATM machine† or â€Å"CAD design.† (A related redundancy is â€Å"Please RSVP†; the acronym is an abbreviation of the French phrase â€Å"Repondez si’l vous plait,† meaning, â€Å"Respond, if you please.†) And speaking of abbreviations, e.g. (or its translation, â€Å"for example†) explicitly signals that one or more examples will be listed, so avoid tagging etc. onto the end of a list preceded by the abbreviation or the phrase (though etc. is not redundant to i.e., which means â€Å"that is†). Redundancies often occur in phrases in which the meaning of an adjective is implicit in the noun, as in â€Å"new recruit,† â€Å"specific example,† and â€Å"temporary reprieve† or phrases in which the redundancy follows, rather than precedes, the sufficient word (â€Å"add up,† â€Å"postpone until later,† â€Å"repeat again†). Also, edit phrases in which a stated quality is already implied (â€Å"few in number,† â€Å"green in color.)† Forgivable pleonasms include those in which the original meaning of a word has been subverted so that a clarifying adjective is required. For example, until a few decades ago, clocks were analogue, or mechanical. When digital timekeeping devices became the default type, it became necessary to sometimes qualify a description to â€Å"analog clock.† Likewise, in law and law enforcement, doublets such as â€Å"aid and abet† â€Å"breaking and entering,† and â€Å"cease and desist,† which are not literally redundant but appear so, persist. However, writers and speakers should both cease and desist employing such pleonasms as â€Å"each and every,† â€Å"first and foremost,† and (shudder) â€Å"way, shape, or form.† In addition, two words that are usually implicitly pleonastic are currently and different; in â€Å"He is currently on vacation,† the present-tense verb renders currently superfluous, and in â€Å"They tried a variety of different strategies,† different is extraneous because variety is sufficient to convey distinction. Another word to monitor is completely when it is paired with a verb that implies finality, such as destroyed or eradicated, and avoid qualifying necessary with a qualifier such as absolutely. Finally, Great Authors have employed pleonasm as a literary device, but unless you are a Great Author, minimize such flourishes as â€Å"I saw it with my own eyes.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts7 Tips for Writing a Film ReviewCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups

Consultation For Leaders In Management - Smart Custom Writing Samples

Consultation For Leaders In Management - Smart Custom Writing Letter of CreditAssess the place of Letters of Credit in the International commercial arena What is International Finance Management? The international financial management of a trust/company is concerned with management of its funds which reflects how efficiently the company is managing its funds. The overall objective of all business is to secure funds at low cost and their effective utilisation in the business for a profit. The funds so utilised must generate an income higher than the cost of procuring them. Here it is to be noted that all companies need both long-term and short-term capital. The finance manager must therefore keep in view the needs of both long-term debt and working capital and ensure that the business enjoys an optimum level of working capital and that it does not keep too many funds blocked in inventories, book-debts, cash, etc. The capital structuring and average cost of capital for the company should also be examined.[1] Financial analysis is analysis of financial statements of a company to assess is financial health and soundness of its management. "Financial Statement analysis" involves a study of the financial statements of a company to ascertain its prevailing state of affairs and the reasons therefore. Such a Study would enable the public and investors to ascertain whether one company is more profitable than the other, and also to state the causes and factors probably responsible for this[2]. Letters of Credit In a document, the bank agrees to honor a draft drawn on the importer, provided the bill of lading and other details are in order. Obviously, the local bank will "not issue a letter of credit unless it feels the importer is creditworthy and will pay the draft. The letter of credit arrangement pretty much eliminates the exporter's risk in selling goods to an unknown importer in another country. Illustration of a Confirmed Letter The arrangement is strengthened further if a bank in the exporter's country confirms the letter of credit. A New York exporter wishes to ship goods to a Brazilian importer located in Rio de Janeiro. The im ­porter's bank in Rio regards the importer as a sound credit risk and is willing to is ­sue a letter of credit guaranteeing payment for the goods when they are received. Thus, the Rio bank substitutes its credit for that of the importer. In fact, the deal is mutually between the Rio bank and the New York exporter- the beneficiary of the letter of credit,. The exporter may wish to work through her bank, because she has little knowledge of the Rio bank. She asks her New York bank to confirm the Rio bank's letter of credit. If the New York bank is satisfied with the creditworthiness of the Rio bank, it will agree to do so. When it does, it obligates itself to honor drafts drawn in keeping with the letter of credit arrangement.[3] Thus, when the exporter ships the goods, she draws a draft in accordance with the terms of the letter of credit arrangement. She presents the draft to her New York bank and the bank pays her the amount designated, assuming all the conditions of shipment is met. As a result of this arrangement, the exporter has her money, with no worries about payment. The New York bank then forwards the draft and other documents to the Rio bank. Upon affirming that the goods have been shipped in a proper manner, the Rio bank honors the draft and pays the New York bank. In turn, it goes to the Brazilian importer and collects from him once the goods have arrived in Rio and are delivered. Trade Facilitation Rather than extending credit directly to an im ­porter, the exporter relies on one or more banks, and their creditworthiness is sub ­stituted for that of the importer. The letter itself can be either irrevocable or revoca ­ble, but drafts drawn under an irrevocable letter must be honored by the issuing bank. A revocable letter makes sure for an arrangement for pay ­ment of cash. However we cannot guarantee that the draft will be paid. Most letters of credit are irre ­vocable, and the process described assumes an irrevocable letter. The three documents described- the draft, the bill of lading, and the letter of credit- are required in most international transactions. Established procedures ex ­ist for doing business on this basis[4]. Process of the Letter of Credit transaction and the problems associated with enforcement of parties’ rights in a conflict situation.    Expansion and Contraction    Countertrading In addition to the documents used to facilitate a standard transaction, more customized means for financing trade. One method is the countertrade. Countertrade agreement is where the selling party accepts payment in the form of goods as opposed to currency. When exchange restrictions and other preclude payment in hard currencies, such as dollars and yen, it may be to accept goods instead. These goods may be produced in the country .But this need not be the case. Countertrading is nothing more than anything.-l needs to be mindful that there are risks in accepting goods in lieu of a hard facts. Quality and standardization on receipt may differ from what was there. There may be volatility in prices, if indeed a viable market exists at all. All the method involves risk, countertrade associations and consultants, together other infrastructure, have developed to facilitate this means of trade. Factoring . The factor assumes the credit risk, so the exporter is assured of being true. The typical fee is around 2 percent of the value of the overseas shipment. But receivable is collected, a cash advance is possible for upward to 90 percent a shipment's value. For such an advance, the exporter pays interest, and this is   and above the factor's fee. Most factors will not do business with an exporter . less the volume is reasonably large, say at least $2 million in annual transactions,   Also, the factor can reject certain accounts that it deems too risky For accounted are accepted, the main advantage to the exporter is the peace of mind that credit   entrusting collections to a factor with international contacts and experience. Forfeiting Forfeiting is a means of financing trade which resembles factoring. An expo who is owed money evidenced by a longer-term note, as opposed to sell the note to a financial institution at a discount. The discount reflects I length of time the note has to maturity as well as the credit risk of its drawer usually the note is for 6 months or longer and involves larger transactions. An institution would not engage in forfeiting a $9,600 note but might if it were $180,000. [5]    Expansion abroad is undertaken to go, into new markets, acquire less costly pro ­duction facilities, and secure raw materials. Foreign investment different from domestic investment, as there are a number of reasons left behind that. Taxation is different, and there are risks present in po ­litical conditions. A company faces three types of risk in its foreign operations: translation exposure, trans ­actions exposure, and economic exposure. Changes in exchange rates cause translation exposure and its change in accounting income and balance sheet statements. Transactions exposure relates to settling a particular transaction, like open account credit, at one exchange rate when the obligation was booked at another. Economic exposure has to do with the impact of changing exchange rates on the existing balance sheet of a foreign subsidiary and on the expected future repatriated cash flows. Two frameworks were presented for measuring the degree of eco ­nomic exposure. The first aggregated the indi ­vidual exposure coefficients for all balance sheet items.[6] The second measured the degree of net exposure for expected future cash flows. This was net of any natural hedge, where local cur ­rency margins adjust naturally to offset a change in exchange rates. A natural hedge de ­pends on the degree to which prices and costs are globally determined or domestically deter ­mined. A relationship can be plotted between the value of repatriated cash flows and the ex ­change rate. The direction of the line and its steepness tells us whether or not we are hurt if the foreign currency appreciates (depreciates) in value and the degree of exposure. Net expo ­sure is that which remains after any natural hedge.[7] Using several protective devices, a company can protect against any net exposure. If the expo ­sure is short-term in nature, it can adjust intercompany accounts in what is known as an operating hedge. For longer-term exposure, it can undertake a hedge by financing in differ ­ent currencies. The major sources of interna ­tional financing are commercial banks, discounted trade drafts, Eurodollar loans, and in ­ternational bonds. The last includes Eu ­robonds, foreign bonds, floating-rate notes linked to LIBOR, currency-option bonds, and multiple-currency bonds. Eventually, we can see that there are currency hedges, may include, futures contracts, forward contracts, currency swaps, cur ­rency options etc. For the first, one buys a forward contract for the exchange of one procedure for another at a specific future date and at an exchange ratio set in advance. For this protection, there is a cost that is determined by the difference in the forward and spot exchange rates. Currency futures contracts are like forward contracts in function, but there are differences in settlement and other features. Currency options afford protection against "one-sided" risk. Fi ­nally, currency swaps are an important longer-term risk-shifting device.    There are several theories provide a better understanding of the relationship be ­tween interest rates, inflation, and rate of exchange. Purchasing power parity is the idea that a basket of goods should sell at the same price internationally, after factoring into account ex ­change rates. Relative inflation has an impor ­tant influence on exchange rates and on rela ­tive interest rates. Interest-rate parity suggests that the difference between forward and spot currency exchange rates can be explained by differences in nominal interest rates between two countries. Three principal documents are involved in international trade. The draft is an order by the exporter to the importer to pay a specified amount of money either upon presentation of the draft or a certain number of days after pre ­sentation. Translation Exposure Translation exposure relates to the accounting treatment of changes in exchange rates. State ­ment of the Financial Accounting Stan ­dards Board deals with the translation of for ­eign currency changes on the balance sheet and income statement. An American company must determine a func ­tional currency for each of its foreign sub ­sidiaries under those mentioned rules, If the subsidiary is a stand-alone op ­eration that is integrated within a particular country, the functional currency may be the lo ­cal currency; otherwise, it is the dollar where high inflation occurs the functional currency must be the dol ­lar regardless of the conditions given.    The functional currency used is important because it determines the translation process. Moreover, translation gains or losses are not reflected in the income statement, but rather are recognized in owners' equity as a translation adjustment. The fact that such ad ­justments do not affect accounting income is appealing to many companies. If the functional currency is the dollar, however, this is not the case. Gains or losses are reflected in the income statement of the parent company using what is known as the temporal method. In general, the use of the dollar as the functional currency re ­sults in greater fluctuations in accounting in ­come, but in smaller fluctuations in balance sheet items than does the use of the local cur ­rency. Let us examine the differences. Differences in Methods With the dollar as the functional currency, bal ­ance sheet and income statement items are cat ­egorized as to historical exchange rates or as to current exchange rates. Cash, receivables, lia ­bilities, sales, expenses, and taxes are trans ­lated using current exchange rates[8], whereas in ­ventories, plant and equipment, equity, cost of goods sold, and depreciation are translated at the historical exchange rates existing at the time of the transactions. This differs from the situation where the local currency is used as the functional currency; here all items are translated at current exchange rates. To illustrate, a company we shall call Richmond Precision Instruments has a sub ­sidiary in the Kingdom. At the first of the year, the exchange rate is 8 to the dollar, and that rate has prevailed for many years. During the year however, it declines steadily in value to 10 to the dollar at year end. But the rate of exchange comes to 9. It shows the balance sheet and the income statement for the foreign subsidiary at the beginning and at the end of the year and the effect of the method of transla ­tion.    The oppo ­site would occur in our example if the liso in ­creased in value relative to the dollar. We see that there is substantially more change in total assets when a local functional currency is used than when a dollar functional currency is employed. In our example, sales are adjusted by the average exchange rate that prevailed during the year for both accounting methods. For column 4, local functional currency, all cost and expense items are adjusted by this exchange rate[9]. For the last column, dollar functional cur ­rency, cost of goods sold, and depreciation are translated at historical exchange rates whereas the other items are translated at the current average rate. We see that operat ­ing income and net income are larger when the local functional currency is used than when the functional currency is the dollar. For the latter method, the translation gain is factored in, so that net income agrees with the change in re ­tained earnings from 12/31/xl to 12/31/x2. W e see that this change is $845 - $750 = $95. In contrast, when the functional currency is local, the translation adjustment occurs after the in ­come figure of $111. The adjustment is that amount, - $176, that, together with net income, brings the liability and net worth part of the balance sheet into balance. This amount then is added to the sum of past translation adjust ­ments to obtain the new accumulated transla ­tion adjustment figure that appears on the bal ­ance sheet. As we assume past adjustments total zero, this item becomes - $176. Thus, the translation adjustments far in two methods are in opposite directions. Shot the liso increase in value relative to the data the effect would be the reverse of that illus ­trated: Operating income would be higher. Implications Because translation gains or losses are not re ­flected directly on the income statement; it supported operating income tends to fluctuate when the functional currency is local when it is the dollar. However, the balance sheet items is increased, o the translation of all items by the current change rate. Because many corporate fives are concerned with accounting FASB No. 52 is popular, as long as qualifies for a local functional currency ever, this accounting method also has its backs. For one thing, it distorts the sheet and the historical cost numbers over, it may cause return on asset and other measures of return to be less.    RISK MANAGEMENT AND WEALTH MAXIMISATION    Here the techniques for managing financial risks, in particular those that arise more prominently in the context of international finance are being discussed. The above discussion of the impact of risk on the value of the firm gives rise to a very important and interesting question: what should be the attitude of the firm's management regarding firm-specific risks? It appears that since these risks are diversifiable, they are not "priced" by the investors, that is, they do not affect the expected rate of return demanded by the investors- the discount rate. Why then should the firm spend resources to insure against these risks? Even if certain risks are systematic in the sense that they affect almost all firms adversely, it is not clear hedging such risks necessarily adds to shareholder value.[10] Risks can be hedged only at a cost since the party to whom the risk is transferred will demand compensation for bearing the risk. Thus, while it is true that increase in energy costs will ha ve an adverse impact on almost all firms, in an efficient market, the compensation that has to be paid for bearing this risk would just equal the increase in the value of the firm resulting from eliminating this risk; on balance the firms’ shareholders will neither rain nor los[11]e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Risks arising out of fluctuations in exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices are pervasive, It is, they affect most firms; however they affect different firms in different ways and are therefore idiosyncratic.[12] Finally, even if the irrelevance argument is not found to be convincing, the well-known Modigliani-Miller analysis of a firm's optimal capital structure offers another argument against hedging. In a world of no taxes, no transactions costs and no information asymmetries, they demonstrated that a firm's financing policy does not matter as long as it does not affect its investment policy. If some shareholders are unhappy with the particular debt-equity structure adopted by the firm, they can achieve whatever leverage they de ­sire by trading on their own account. The same argument can be extended to hedging risks such as ex ­change rate risks. A firm which exports to the United States and has dollar receivables can hedge these with forward sales of dollars against rupees; but if its shareholders can achieve the same result on their own (by taking similar but smaller positions in the dollar-rupee forward market), hedging by the firm will add no shareholder value. If capital markets are perfect, individual investors, in particular a firm's share ­holders can replicate any financial strategy adopted by the firm. In such a world active risk management policy cannot add value. In practice, we find that firms do expend considerable amount of resources- managerial time and money- in an attempt to hedge firm-specific risks. For instance, they avoid highly risky investment projects, purchase insurance against product liability suits, enter into forward contracts in foreign ex ­change, and specific commodities and so forth. Is there a rationale for these actions? In addition to the "irrelevance of unsystematic risks" or "shareholders can do it themselves" arguments against hedging, it has also been argued that since financial markets are efficient, it makes little difference in the long run whether and what kind of risk management posture a firm adopts. This means that with efficient markets it would not matter in the long run whether a firm follows an active hedging policy, a purely passive strategy of hedging all risks at all times, or a policy of no hedging at all. Note however that the hypothesis of efficiency of financial markets is far from firmly established. If active risk management by a firm adds shareholder value it must be (i) because it alters the firm's cash flow in a way which is beneficial to the shareholders even after meeting the cost of hedging and (ii) the firm can achieve this at a lower cost than what the shareholders would have to incur if they did it on their own. This is possible in the presence of some capital market imperfections which are assumed away by the Modigliani-Miller theorem. With reference to the valuation equation, hedging can increase shareholder wealth both by influencing future cash flows and by reducing the discount rate at which these cash flows are discounted. In general it is true that the former effects stronger though there can be circumstances under which hedging can reduce the expected return investors demand from a particular firm[13]. One of the most cogent arguments for hedging by the firm has been presented by Froot et al (1994). They not only provide a rationale for hedging as such but also put forward an explanation as to why selec ­tive or discretionary hedging rather than 100 per cent hedging might be an optimal policy under certain conditions. The main thrust of their argument can be summarized as follows: Firms enhance shareholder wealth- create "corporate value"- by making good investments. "Invest ­ments" here means not only physical plant and equipment but also RD, product development, mar ­ket investments such as advertising and promotion and so forth.[14] THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKET The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of a vast financial market straddling national boundaries enabling massive cross-border capital flows from those who have surplus funds and are in search d high returns to those seeking low-cost funding. The phenomenon of borrowers, including governments, one country accessing the financial markets of another is not new; what is new is the degree of mobility d capital, the global dispersal of the finance industry, and the enormous diversity of markets and inst which a firm seeking funding can tap.    THE LETTER OF CREDIT MECHANISM   In such a case, the opening bank "accepts" the draft and it becomes A Banker's Acceptance: The exporter can get immediate payment by discounting the accepted draft either with the opening bank, o with his own bank or by selling the acceptance in the market'. Financing is thus provide* by the bank which discounts the draft or by a money market investor who buys the acceptance. (With sigh drafts, the importer's bank may provide credit to the importer as a part of their ongoing business relationship). To cater to the wide variety of transactions and customers, different types of letters of credit have evolved. A Revocable L/C is issued by the issuing bank and contains a provision that the bank may amend or cancel the credit without the approval of the beneficiary. An Irrevocable L/C cannot be so amended or cancelled without the exporter's prior approval. A Confirmed, Irrevocable L/C contains an extra protection; in addition to the issuing bank's commitment, a Confirming Bank adds its own undertaking to pay provided a] conditions are met. The confirming bank (which may be but need not be the same as the advising bank will pay even if the issuing bank cannot or will not honor the exporter's draft. A Revolving L/C is use when the exporter is going to make shipments on a continuing basis and a single L/C will cover several shipments. A Transferable L/C permits the beneficiary to transfer a part or whole of the credit in favor of one or more secondary beneficiaries. This type of L/C is used by trader exporters who act as middlemen on recourse basis. The ultimate holder of the notes than presents them to the bank at which they are pay ­able, as they fall due.[15] Traditionally, Forfeiting used to be a form of fixed rate, medium-term funding, but over time Forfeiters have become very flexible and are willing to offer terms to suit the needs of their customers. Some Forfeiting houses will accept paper with maturities up to ten years while in other cases it may be as short as 180 days. The secondary market for the paper generally ranges between one and ten years, depending upon the reputation of the importer, the country to which the importer belongs and the reputation of the bank providing the guarantee. Normally Forfeiters will ensure that the importer, not the exporter bears the cost of financing. That is, the face value of the notes is such that after applying the discount, the exporter gets paid what he would normally charge for cash payment. However for competitive reasons some exporters may choose to ab ­sorb some of the financing cost to make the transaction more attractive to the importer. Charges depend on the market interest rates for the currency of the underlying contract and on the per ­ceived credit risks related to the importer, his country and the credit rating of the availing (or guaranteeing) bank. The interest cost is made up of the following components: (1)   The Forfeiter’s refinancing costs benchmarked to the cost of funds in the relevant Euromarkets seg ­ment applicable to the average life of the transaction. For a five year deal, for example, repayable by ten semi-annual equal installments, LIBOR rate applicable for 2.75 years would be used. (2)   A margin or spread for covering the political, commercial, and transfer risks attached to the availed/ guarantor. It varies from country to country, and guarantor to guarantor[16]. (3)   Some additional charges such as interest for "grace period" granted to the importer and a commit ­ment fee when necessary. The whole transaction can be processed quite fast. Many Forfeiters claim that they take no more than two days after the exporter presents all the proper documents. Buyers' Credits are a form of Eurocurrency loans designed to finance a specific transaction involving import of goods and services. The importer works out a deferred payment arrangement with the lending bank which the bank treats as a loan. [17] Traditionally, Forfeiting used to be a form of fixed rate, medium-term (one to five years) funding, but over time Forfeiters have become very flexible and are willing to offer terms to suit the needs of their customers. Some Forfeiting houses will accept paper with maturities up to ten years while in other cases it may be as short as 180 days. The secondary market for the paper generally ranges between one and ten years, depending upon the reputation of the importer, the country to which the importer belongs and the reputation of the bank providing the guarantee. Normally Forfeiters will ensure that the importer, not the exporter bears the cost of financing. That is, the face value of the notes is such that after applying the discount, the exporter gets paid what he would normally charge for cash payment. However for competitive reasons some exporters may choose to ab ­sorb some of the financing cost to make the transaction more attractive to the importer.[18] Charges depend on the market interest rates for the currency of the underlying contract and on the per ­ceived credit risks related to the importer, his country and the credit rating of the analyzing (or guaranteeing) bank. The interest cost is made up of the following components: (1)   The Forfeiter’s refinancing costs benchmarked to the cost of funds in the relevant Euromarkets seg ­ment applicable to the average life of the transaction. (2)   A margin or spread for covering the political, commercial, and transfer risks attached to the availed/ guarantor. It varies from country to country, and guarantor to guarantor. (3)   Some additional charges such as interest for "grace period" granted to the importer and a commit ­ment fee when necessary.    Bibliography A.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Articles/Books/Reports Kraus, M.W.; Keltner, D. (2008), "Signs of Socioeconomic Status Barro, Robert (1979) "On the Determination of the Public Debt", Journal of Political Economy, Vol 87, pages 940-71. Barro, Robert (1999) "Notes on Optimal Fund Management", Harvard University, May2006 Dornbusch, Rudi (2001) 'A Primer on Emerging Market Crises', MIT, January. Leong, Donna (1999) " Fund Management: Theory and Practice", HM Treasury Occasional Paper. Boushey, Heather and Weller, Christian. (2005) â€Å"What the Numbers Tell Us.† Pp 27-40. Demos. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cases Lucas, Robert and Nancy Stokey (1983) "Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy in an Economy without Capital", Journal of Monetary Economics 12, pp. 55-93. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Legislation Missale, Alessandro (1997) "Managing the Public Fund: The Optimal Taxation Approach", Journal of Economic Surveys Vol 121 No.3.

How Write What You Know Helps You Find a Target Market

How Write What You Know Helps You Find a Target Market How "Write What You Know" Helps You Find a Target Market When she was 26, Fiona MacBain  moved to Tunisia and  ran a watersports base near Sousse with her local husband (more about that at fionamacbain.com). She returned to the UK with her 6-month old daughter in 1999 and eventually settled in Inverness, where she lives with her husband and children. In this article, she talks about  turning her memoir into fiction and how "write what you know" can be a sales tool  when marketing your book.When I was twenty-nine I wrote a memoir. It was about the events that led to me returning to the UK a penniless single mother after spending two years running a watersports base on a beach in Tunisia.I sent it to agents and although a couple showed initial interest, nothing came of it; they did not think there was a sufficient market for the book or enough popular interest in Tunisia. It was my first taste of literary agent rejection.The other Facebook ad was targeted at women across the UK with an interest in Tunisia. The results were phenomenal ; I was astonished at how Facebook managed to track people so specifically. I was inundated with comments and messages from women who, like me, had been married to Tunisian partners, and many other regular holiday makers with a love of the country. Several people commented that they had been drawn to the book because of their experiences of Tunisia - and in this respect, having a blog which covered my own personal experiences of the country was helpful. It gave readers an insight into my life, which generated a personal connection and added interest in my book. It also enabled to me to sell my novel on the back of articles that chronicled my life in Tunisia.The importance of connecting with readers as an indie authorA word of caution is that managing the ads was time-consuming. I replied to every comment, every message,   and managing the ads became a full-time job for the two months they ran. My phone was permanently a few inches from my face; I was walking into lamp-posts, burn ing dinner, and neglecting my children as I replied and chatted with readers. I also didn’t do a shred of writing during that period.Still, the boosted Facebook posts highlight one of the advantages for an indie author: with the help of specific targeting on social media you can connect with readers who have a specific interest that your book meets - books that people wouldn’t typically find in a bookshop. Through Facebook, niche markets are directly available and many readers seem to enjoy the personal contact with the author that social media can provide.Writing fiction based on the old â€Å"write what you know† adage has been a successful and enjoyable experience. My time living in Tunisia gave me first-hand knowledge with which to create setting, places, and characters in a way that was unique and authentic. Most of the research for my novel came from trips down memory lane - and using Facebook, I managed to find a host of readers who seemed to enjoy take that trip with me.Fiona will be doing a reading of "Daughter, Disappeared" on February 3rd at Waterstones, Covent Garden as part of their "Novel London: An Evening of Contemporary Fiction Event"! More information here."Daughter, Disappeared" is available on Amazon in paperback and on Amazon Kindle!Have you lived an experience that made you uniquely qualified to write a book? Have you gone through the process of turning a memoir into a work of fiction? Share any thoughts or questions for Fiona in the comments below!

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Tesla Motors Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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Citrus industry in Florida Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Citrus industry in Florida - Research Paper Example In 1834, citrus groves were being cultivated by farmers, which were interrupted by the occurrence of a freeze in February of 1835 (Florida’s Citrus Production 2013). The freeze, which happened on February of 1835, killed all the fruit trees in St. Augustine as temperature dropped to seven degrees above zero, thus, robbing people of their income (Dobson 2009). The farmers’ recovered production for the succeeding fifty-one years as the state only experienced warm winters; during this time, northeast Florida, as well as St. John’s County, became the hub of citrus supply (Dobson 2009). In the 1890’s, citrus production increased to five million boxes per year due to the demand for the said fruit in the northeast and the existence of rail lines, which promoted long distance shipping of the citrus fruits (About Citrus 2012). In fact, in the year 1894, the shipment of crates of citrus to the north amounted up to 5,000,000 (Dobson 2009). On December of 1894, anothe r freeze happened, killing all of Florida’s orange crops in its wake. On the eighth of February the following year, another freeze came about, bringing about the same disastrous effects; such was its impact that on 1896, Florida was only able to ship a little above 100,000 crates of oranges (Dobson 2009). The freeze caused the abandonment of citrus groves in the North of Florida and the production of melons and potatoes in its place (Dobson 2009). This was the most severe in the history of freezes that Florida had undergone (Timeline of Major Florida Freezes 2013). In 1901, there were little above 1,000,000 crates produced (Dobson 2009). In 1917 and 1934, still the state was plagued with the same natural calamity; the freeze of 1934 resulted in the formation of the Federal Frost Warning Service -- a replacement of the train whistles, which warned people of imminent frosts in the previous years (Dobson 2009). The occurrence of continuous freezes in December of 1934, as well as on February of 1935, yielded a negative impact as it reduce production from a million boxes to just below 150,000 boxes of citrus (About Citrus 2013). Again, the farmers planted their citrus crops, yet another freeze took its toll in

MAR Income Statement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

MAR Income Statement - Research Paper Example However, there has been a lot of stiff competition within the international organizations that deal with hospitality operations but the Marriott International Incorporation has maintained standards of being among the few that maintain a competitive advantage (Hartman & Werhane, 2009). The core principle that facilitates the great returns or rather success to the Marriott International Incorporation is the element of effective top management. This majorly consists of the board of directors that are having sufficient knowledge in the line of hospitality management and supervision. Due to this focus and teamwork, the organization still looks forward to a great establishment thus economic growth and development. The board of directors, including the general manager or chief executive officer, has very defined roles and responsibilities within a business organization. Fundamentally, it is the role of the board of directors to hire the general manager of the business and evaluate the overall direction and strategy of the business (Finance.yahoo.com). The general manager is responsible for hiring all of the other employees and overseeing the day-to-day operation of the business. On the contrary, management is not responsible for the overall policy decisions of the business. Some of the major responsibilities of the board of directors include: The process of evaluating, recruiting, supervising, retaining, and compensating the general manager is probably the most important functions of the board of directors. Value-added business boards need to aggressively search for the best possible candidate for this position (Hartman & Werhane, 2014). Actively searching within your industry can lead to the identification of very capable people Directing the Marriot International Incorporation effectively as the board has a strategic function in providing the vision, mission, and goals of the organization. These are often determined in combination with the chief executive officer of the business.