MHE503 Survey of Emergency and Disaster Mgt Module 4 Case Essay

MHE503 Survey of Emergency and Disaster Mgt Module 4 Case - Essay Example The evacuation of such huge population would have been a task nearest to impossible, but it was the availability of aircrafts in the U.S military base which escorted the locals safely. The Clark Air Force Base offered its services to the response team of Volcano Disaster Assistance Program; the team was fully engaged towards the monitoring of the volcano. The team was able to install certain instrumentation for the purpose of seismic monitoring; the intent of this exercise was to determine the occurrence of earthquakes and conduct the mapping of the volcanic deposits. The monitoring equipments assisted the team to realise that "large eruption was imminent". Soon after this confirmation, the evacuation scheme was pursued. It was the monitoring equipments which assisted the geologists in determination of the actual threat. From the incident of Mount Pinatubo eruption, it has been confirmed that the importance of monitoring equipments is immense, and the timely application of these moni toring equipments can assist in the estimation of challenge, and its extent (Goodwin, 2002). The technological advancement is the key to safe and secure future (Murphy, 1989). The presence of the American military base offered U.S. Geological Department to conduct its activities without further diplomatic intervention, and the timely intervention with application of the latest gadgets secured the future of hundreds of thousands. The American military was able to mobilize its hardware to secure locations, and damage worth millions of dollars was prevented. From geological aspect, any geological catastrophic is never spontaneous. The geological upset occurs when certain activities between the layers of the Earth take momentum; these activities are steady, and accelerate when porosity on the earth layer exists. The installation of the monitoring equipments - which in actual determines the nature and momentum of activities occurring inside the earth layer, assists the government and non-governmental organizations to develop evacuation plan to prevent major loss to humanity (Blair, 2001). At international forum of USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, it was confirmed that economically it is not possible to install the monitoring system near all the volcanoes. The focus was towards the development of portable monitoring instruments that "could be quickly deployed to a reawakening volcano"; through installation of such system the critical parameters including "earthquakes, ground deformation, mudflows, and volcanic gas emissions" can be traced and recorded (Blair, 2001). The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program - VDAP was established to offer assistance to all the countries where volcanic eruption was a challenge, under this program the mobile team of VDAP will offer services for monitoring, will assist in the determination of actual challenge, and will "provide timely information and analysis to emergency managers and public officials". This institution is also committed towards training, and conduct exercises and workshops for evacuation team squad etc. Perry has identified three important activities which shall be practiced and executed internationally to avert humanitarian crisis due to volcanic eruptions. The identification areas for improvement include, 1. public education 2. access controls 3. evacuation systems (Perry, 2005) These three measures are important under social management technique to avoid

Reconstruction for Assigned Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reconstruction for Assigned Reading - Essay Example The beauty of this partnership is that private investors by virtue of shouldering upfront costs have a powerful influence in terms of incentives to ensure timely completion of projects. The overriding factor of the PPP’s is that they have a customer service ethic that government operated roadways lack. These PPP’s enable investors to profit primarily toll revenue, though not highly popular, is better than higher taxes and more government spending. The toll-funded roads are a noble idea since they will primarily regulate congestion on the roads. By increasing the toll during peak hours and decreasing it during off – peak hours, motorists will save much time since they will not be stuck in traffic. This will in turn reduce stress among motorist and save fuel. This would result in an improved economy. Further, the environment will not be polluted since auto emissions are higher in heavy traffic and significantly lower when traffic eases. Although PPP’s are not new in America, they remain an under-used engine for transportation infrastructure investments. Greater public education about the economic and environmental benefits of PPP’s is needed while federal action is also needed to encourage states to employ the use of PPP’s in transportation

The Fmcg Sector Is Currently Economics Essay

The Fmcg Sector Is Currently Economics Essay India has a huge untapped market in the rural areas as well which accounts for more than 700 Million consumers i.e. 40 of the total FMCG market. This market provides a huge opportunity for the FMCG sector because of its large market space and low levels of organized player penetration. 7) The FMCG sector has a strong future and will continue to see growth because it depends heavily on an ever-increasing internal market for consumption, and demand for these goods is more or less inelastic irrespective of recession or inflation. Thus, this sector will grow, though it may not be a smooth growth path, due to the present world-wide economic slowdown, rising inflation and fall of the rupee. However, this sector will see strong growth in the long run. 8) Unlike the developed countries where the FMCG sector is dominated by only a few players Indias FMCG sector is highly fragmented with both Organized and unorganized players playing an important role. The governments proposal of allowing 51% FDI in multi brand retail may impact the future of the retail sector to some extent though the impact is expected to be highly positive. Threat of new entrants: Moderate -Low regulatory barriers -Intense competition requires heavy investments in brand building which discourages small players Threat of substitutes: High -Multiple brands positioned with narrow product differentiation -Companies trying to gain market share compete on pricing which increases product substitution Rivalry among competitors: High -Entry of MNCs into the country -Use of extremely aggressive marketing strategies Bargaining power of consumers: Low -High brand loyalty for some products, discourages product shifting -Low switching costs -Aggressive marketing induce customers to switch between products MICHAEL PORTERS 5 FORCE MODEL Bargaining power of supplier: Moderate -Prices are governed by International commodity markets, making FMCG cos price takers -Due to the long term relationships with suppliers etc., FMCG companies negotiate better rates during times of high input cost inflation The above graph is based on the analysis of the sales and profitability of approximately 100 listed FMCG companies across foreign MNCs and large and small Indian players. As can be seen from the graph the average CAGR of the FMCG sector rose from 8% (2001-05) to 17% (2006-10). There has been a drastic increase in the CAGR in the case of foreign MNCs which shows the variety of choices available to the consumers Economy Impact: Favorable economic factors like GDP growth coupled with a rise in incomes, increased participation of women in the workforce and the tapping of rural markets have led to a spurt in the growth rate of the FMCG sector in the past decade. The Indian economy is expected to overtake UK in the coming decade, with GDP growth ranging between 8-10 per cent. India is expected to reach Chinas current population figure of 1.4 billion by 2020. Per capita incomes supported by various government schemes and policies are expected to rise in both rural and urban areas (The UPA govt cash transfer scheme for the poor people, expectations of economic recovery bring with it the hope of increased salaries and more employment opportunities all of which will lead to increase in the per capita income of the country that will have a direct impact on the FMCG sector) Participation of women in the Indian workforce is also likely to rise. Estimates suggest that if it increases to approximately 70 percent (as in the developed nations), it will further boost GDP growth by 2-3 per cent. Favorable government policies such as the introduction of GST can be expected to substantially decrease supply chain costs. FDI in multi-brand retail up to 51% will open up a large channel for sales. Other policy measures such as lower income taxes, the Food Security Act, Right to Education, infrastructure schemes etc have also acted as enablers of higher consumption. Evolving Consumer Profile: India has a comparatively younger population compared to most other countries of the world, who have greater willingness to spend on better quality products which is expected to boost the consumption-driven economy. Young population (below age of 30 years) comprise 59 per cent population currently, and the composition is likely to remain similar over the next decade. Rural markets, given the current low penetration and high untapped potential are expected to bring about super-normal growth for FMCG companies. All these factors will combine to catapult consumer demand for FMCGs to newer heights. Interest rates and inflation and its impact on the FMCG sector: Given the current economic scenario and the average inflation rates at 9.09% in India (2012) it has a taken a toll on the FMCG sector. High prices have led to reduced consumption of FMCG goods leading to fall in demand which has led to lower sales for the companies and affected their profit margins. Also, as a result of inflation prices of raw materials have shot up leading to a spurt in the cost of production for companies which has again had a negative impact on the profit margins. The central banks decision of cut in interest rates has made it easier for the companies to borrow money in the capital markets to further their plans of expansion and diversification but it has not led to any major increase in consumer spending. Major players in the FMCG industry: 1) Foreign Players: Hindustan Unilever Ltd., ITC, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser, Cadbury, Procter Gamble, Godfrey, Phillips, Henkel, Spic, Johnson Johnson, Revlon, PepsiCo 2) Indian Players: Marico, Dabur, Godrej, Wipro, Amul, Nirma, Britannia 3) Regional or small domestic players: Ajanta, Anchor, CavinKare etc SWOT Analysis of the FMCG sector: STRENGHTS: 1) Favourable government policies in terms of reduced level of taxes, fewer import restrictions on raw materials and technology and reduced barriers of entry of foreign players 2) Low operational costs as labour costs in India are very less 3) Existing and well established brands in the FMCG sector 4)Good supply chain and distribution networks in both urban and rural markets 5) FDI of 51% in multi brand retail will redefine the entire retail sector with new entrants, improvements in supply chain and distribution networks 6) Demand for FMCG products is mostly inelastic WEAKNESS: 1) Counterfeit products: This is a major problem that is hampering the growth of the FMCG industry. Counterfeit products account for an estimated 10-15% of the total size of the FMCG industry which resulted in a loss of INR 45 billion to the exchequer. 2) The scope of investing in technology is less and it is difficult for companies to achieve economies of scale particularly the small sector ones. OPPORTUNITY: 1) The rural Indian market presents a huge opportunity for the FMCG sector as still most of it is untapped and yet to be explored 2) Slow and steady rise in per capita income of the Indian population would lead to increase in demand for FMCG products 3) Burgeoning middle class with a lot of potential to spend large amounts of their income on FMCG products 4) India has a huge domestic market with close to 1 billion population 5) Tremendous export potential THREAT: 1) Increasing rate of inflation which is likely to raise the cost of raw materials thereby increasing cost of production and putting stress on overall industry profits 2) Rise in fuel prices may further lead to increase in distribution costs 3) Declining value of the rupee against other currencies of the world may further reduce margins as cost of importing raw materials will rise 4) Dipping industrial growth and slowing global economy may lead to fall in demand for FMCG products Future of the FMCG sector in India (2020) As per recent estimates the FMCG industry may grow at a base rate of at least 12 per cent annually to become INR 4000 billion industry in 2020. However, if the economic conditions turn out to be favourable and everything goes as expected the sector may even record a 17 per cent growth over the next decade, leading to an overall industry size of INR 6200 billion by 2020. This however depends solely on the future economic scenario. Modern trade is expected to grow very rapidly in the future with its share in total retail projected to reach 11 per cent by 2014 and 30 per cent by 2020 This growth will be supported by: -High economic growth: GDP is expected to grow at 8-10 per cent in the future, boosting growth in all sectors. Increasing incomes: Incomes are expected to continue to rise which should further drive spending. Increasing urbanization: Organized retail will continue to increase presence in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, which are growing faster than metros. -Improving infrastructure: The government is also focusing a lot on infrastructure development which is expected to improve the supply chain and distribution networks. Key to EDUCORPORATEBRIDGE investment rankings: BUY = Expected to outperform the local market by >10%; O-PF = Expected to outperform the local market by 0-10%; U-PF = Expected to underperform the local market by 0-10%; SELL = Expected to underperform the local market by >10%. Performance is defined as 12-month total return (including dividends). Â ©2011 EDUCORPORATEBRIDGE, India. Note: In the interests of timeliness, this document has not been edited. Other disclosures will come xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Essay --

Peace Amongst All Nations Most religions have a leader to provide spiritual guidance and support for their followers. The Catholics have the pope, the Jewish have their head Rabbi, and the Tibetan Buddhists have the Dalai Lama. The current Dalai Lama is the fourteenth in line. He promotes peace and spirituality for his homeland, Tibet, and for the whole world. Born in 1935 as Lhamo Thondup, His Holiness grew up with simple surroundings in a small farming village in Tibet called Takster. His family were average peasants and they worked hard for their small living wage. He grew up with his mother, father, his four brothers, and his two sisters. His mother gave birth to 17 children but only 7 children survived being a toddler. Lhamo, now named Tenzin Gyatso, was chosen as the next Dalai Lama at the age of two, so that once he was of age, he could immediately start his political and religious career. He began training to be a monk at age six. His schooling consisted of five core subjects: logic, Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit (ancient Indian language), medicine, and Buddhist philos...

Mary Wollstonecraft and the Early Women’s Rights Movement Essay

Who was Mary Wollstonecraft? Mary Wollstonecraft was a very complex person and to try to completely describe who she was would be impossible. However it’s not impossible to share her life and what she accomplished. Mary was born in 1759 in London; she was the second of six children. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother was a battered house wife. Wollstonecraft tried to protect her mother from her father’s attacks but she was also a victim of her father’s abuse. She had very little formal education and was largely self-taught. When she was nineteen she went out to earn her own living. In 1783, Mary helped her sister escape a miserable marriage and later on the two sisters founded and taught at a school in Newington Green; an experience from which Mary drew to write Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: With Reflections on Female Conduct, in the More Important Duties of Life. Shortly after Mary became the governess in the family of Lord Kingsborough, living most of the time in Ireland. Following her dismissal Wollstonecraft spent several years observing political and social developments in France, and wrote History and Moral View of the Origins and Progress of the French Revolution. In 1790 she wrote Vindication of the Rights of Man, the first response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. Mary Wollstonecraft’s most famous work which got her the reputation as a feminist was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; it was published in 1792. Her first child, Fanny, was born in 1795, the daughter of American Gilbert Imlay. When Imlay deserted her she tried to drown herself. Eventually she recovered and went to live with William Godwin, a longtime friend. She then married Godwin in 1797. Wollstonecraft died a few days after the birth of her second daughter, Mary. Before Wollstonecraft died she had been writing a book called Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman; it was published unfinished in Paris in 1798. Wollstonecraft believed that women’s freedom should extend to their sexual lives. In her writings, she compared married life for a woman to prostitution. Mary argued that women had strong sexual desires and that it was degrading and immoral to pretend otherwise. Mary Wollstonecraft’s View on Women’s Rights Early on in her life, Mary Wollstonecraft began making great contributions and brought new and not well-received views on women and society. She fully supported that if girls were pushed and encouraged from an early age to develop their minds, it would be seen that they were fair balanced creatures and there was no reason whatsoever for them to not to be given the same opportunities as boys with regard to education and training. She believed education could be the salvation of women, education held the key to achieving a sense of self-respect and anew self-image that would enable women to put their capacities to good use. She insisted women be taught serious subjects like reading, writing, arithmetic, botany, natural history, and moral philosophy. In proposing giving the same education to girls as given to boys, she went a little further and proposed that both girls and boys be taught and educated together. Now this was even more extreme than anything that was proposed before because the mere idea of co-educational schooling was simply looked on as absurd. Many educational thinkers of the time considered co-educational schooling a ridiculous idea. Wollstonecraft called herself â€Å"a new genus† a woman who made her own living my writing. At one point in Mary Wollstonecraft’s life she was homeless, without a job, she had nothing to live on and she was in debt to many people. She was 28 years old and had no plans to marry any time soon. She had nothing yet she still refused to learn the techniques where most women in her situation would usually try to make life decent enough for themselves to live. In other words they would surrender themselves to the will of man or their social superiors, but she refused to do so, she was â€Å"a new genus.† She believed that marriage as it was practiced was the equivalent of legal prostitution, and that women would never be able to show the ability to be independent, reasoning, free human beings as long as they were only educated â€Å" to catch a man†. Wollstonecraft thought that women should be educated to support themselves, with or without marriage, and that they should be able to have the same professions as any man. At the very least she believed women should have equal rights to custody of their own children and be able to control their own money. Mary Wollstonecraft had believed that when revolutionaries had talked about â€Å"man,† they were using shorthand to describe all humanity.Then in 1791, former Bishop of Autun promoted  government schools that would end at 8th grade for girls but continue on for boys. This made it clear to Wollstonecraft that despite all the talk about equality between men and women, the French Revolution wasn’t planning to help women as much as it said it was. She then began writing her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It was published in three volumes. During the late eighteenth century in Western Europe, single women had very little protection under the law and when they were married women lost their legal identities. Women couldn’t have a lawyer, sign a contract, vote, inherit property, or have rights over their own ch ildren. William Blackstone, an Oxford law professor, wrote † The husband and wife are one person in law; that is the very being or legal existence of the women is suspended during the marriage or at least incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection and cover, she performs everything.† Basically saying that when a woman gets married her identity and existence is taken away legally. Some of her identity is shared with her husband but over all she does not legally exist and the only protection and safety she has is with her husband, who she must do everything for. Then along came Mary Wollstonecraft, who caused quite a stir with her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She believed that women and men were both human beings empowered with basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She insisted that women should be free to enter business, pursue professional careers, and vote if they wanted to. Mary took the task of helping women to achieve a better life, not only for themselves and for their children, but also for their husbands. Wollstonecraft inspired many people because she wrote with such passion and spoke from the heart. A Vindication of the Rights of Women A Vindication of the Rights of Women was one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In the book Wollstonecraft argues that instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, women are human beings and deserve to have the same essential rights as men. Wollstonecraft was encouraged to write A Vindication to the Rights of Women after reading Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord’s 1791 report to the French National Assembly. The report stated that that women should only  receive a domestic education; she used her interpretation on this specific event to launch a broad attack against sexual double standards and to accuse men for encouraging women to indulge in excessive emotion. She even dedicated A Vindication of the Rights of Women to Talleyrand, who at the time was designing a national education program for boys in France. She hoped to convince him that a system like that should include girls for the same programs and in the same cl assrooms as boys. How Mary Wollstonecraft made a difference for Woman’s Rights Throughout her whole life Mary Wollstonecraft had been fighting for equality for women, but what got people’s attention was her book A Vindication of the Rights of Women. In the book she not only argues that women should have the same educational opportunities’ as men she also wrote that women should have the same rights as men within the law. A Vindication of the Rights of Women covered a wide range of topics relating to the condition of women. When making her argument supporting the equal education for woman Wollstonecraft also talked about her theories on the social, legal, and environmental causes for the rank of women. After writing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft rose up into a class of her own. She had gone beyond many others who had written about educating women and those who had done well by making the most of the lower position of women. A large amount of women novelists had portrayed women who achieved heroic moral importance, but they didn’t always celebrate women with brains. During her lifetime, Wollstonecraft raised argument in support of Women’s Rights that would become important in the Women’s Rights movements of the following two centuries. Her work in pursuit of equality for women led her to being named the founder of the British Women’s Rights Movement. Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneer for women. She envisioned a future when women could pursue virtually any career opportunities. She led the way for feminists and her book is a classic that still inspires people today. Bibliography Primary Sources: Mary Wollstonecraft, Political Writings; A Vindication of the Rights of Men: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; and An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, ed. By Janet Todd (Toronto, 1993). Shows excerpts from the books Mary Wollstonecraft wrote and talks about them. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Penguin, 1993). The whole copy of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria or the Wrongs of Woman, ill. By Anne K. Mellor (Norton, 1994). The last book, left unfinished, that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote. Secondary Sources: Flexner, Eleanor. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Bibliography. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan, Inc. 1972. Shows how Wollstonecraft’s early life had a big impact on the development of her ideas. Kemerling, Garth. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797). 1996. (November 13, 2000). This website goes over some of Wollstonecraft’s observations at the school where she taught and it talks about all the books she wrote. Kreis, Steven. The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. (May 13, 2004). The website gives a short biography of Mary Wollstonecraft’s life. This website also gives links to Wollstonecraft’s writings. Feminist Interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. By Maria J. Falco (Penn. State, 1995). Talks about Mary Wollstonecraft’s life and accomplishments in detail.

Monkey King

Monkey king is a one of the most widely known Chinese mythological creature. It was first appeared in the novel called Xi You Ji (Journey to the West). As the legend begins, the Monkey King is born from the earth and known as the stone monkey. Then he entered a cave which other monkeys are not brave enough to get into. The stone monkey was the only one to do so and they declared him King. Day by day, he feared that he would soon die and began a quest. It was on this journey that he learned the secrets of Martial Arts and immortality. At the same time, his behavior makes the gods in the heaven very angry. So they decide to catch him in order to make sure that they can take control of him. Unfortunately, due to fact that monkey king is a skilled fighter no one can defeat him. Eventually, these gods call upon Buddha to help them. The Buddha decides to let the monkey help a Monk to get the sutras. Along the way, the Monkey King is filled with antics of trickery, deceit, disobedience†¦ and yet through it all, he still helps the monk and can be seen as overall having a good heart. It's just in his nature to play. We all like him because everyone in the society wants to live a life like monkey king. When he is angry, he needn’t to hide his temper. When he is sad, it is possible for him to cry loudly without thinking other things. So the monkey king is an ideal character of us. Throughout history, the story has been a major part of Chinese culture. It has been made into a famous Chinese Opera, which is still being performed today. It has also been made into a cartoon which is still popular among teenagers. The cartoon called Havoc in the Heavenly Kingdom is Chinese first comedy cartoon. Millions of Chinese children hear the story of the monkey king before they go asleep. And millions of children buy the toy of the cute monkey because of monkey king.

Of Mice and Men Questions for Discussion

Of Mice and Men Questions for Discussion Of Mice and Men is a famous and controversial novel by John Steinbeck. There have been many cases in which the novel was asked to be removed, sometimes successfully, from school curriculums due to profane language and dark themes such as murder, mental illness, and euthanasia. Given its controversial nature, there are many opinions and interpretations of Of Mice and Men, which makes it a fun novel to discuss and debate. Here are some questions that will get the conversation rolling. Starting From the Top: Where did Steinbeck get the title from? What is he referencing?   Themes and Symbols: What is the central purpose of the story?What are other themes in the story? How do they relate to the plot and characters?  Can you think of any symbols that represent one of the themes you just discussed?  How does the setting add to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere else?What types of conflict occur in Of Mice and Men? Are the conflicts  physical, intellectual, or emotional? Lets Talk About The Characters: Are George and Lenny consistent in their actions? Are they fully developed characters?  From the women in the velvet dress to Curleys wife, female characters have played a large part in changing Lennie and Georges life. What is the role of women in the text? And why does Steinbeck not give them names?How does John Steinbeck reveal character in  Of Mice and Men? What Are Your Opinions? Would you recommend this novel to a friend?  Do you think the book should be censored or banned?  Do you find the characters likable?  Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why?

Free Essays on Bosch

Bosch’s pictures have always fascinated viewers, but in earlier centuries it was widely assumed that his diabolic scenes were intended merely to amuse or titillate, most people regarded him as â€Å"the inventor of monsters and chimeras’. Philip II, though, collected his works more for education than for entertainment. A Dutch art historian in the early 17th century described Bosch’s paintings chiefly as ‘wondrous and strange fantasies†¦ often less pleasant than gruesome to look at’. In the 20th century, however, scholars decided that Bosch’s art has a more profound significance, and there have been many attempts to explain its origins and meaning. Some writers saw him as a sort of 15th century surrealist and linked his name with that of Salvator Dali. For others, Bosch’s art reflects mysterious practices of the Middle Ages. No matter what explanation and comprehension of his art might be, Bosch remains the most extravagant painter of his time. Bosch lived and worked in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the place from which he takes his name, a fairly quiet Dutch city. Bosch’s ancestors settled in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the late 14th or early 15th century. Their family name, Van Aken, suggests that they originally came from the German town of Aachen. In 1430-31 appears the first reference to Bosch’s grandfather, Jan van Aken, who died in 1454. Jan had 5 sons, at least four of them were painters; one of these, Anthonius van Aken (died c.1478), was the father of Hieronymus Bosch. He had 2 brothers and a sister; brother Goossen was also a painter. His training as a painter Bosch, most probably, received in the family. Some time between 1479 and 1481 Bosch married Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meervenne, evidently some years his senior. She came from a good family and had considerable wealth of her own. In 1486-87, Bosch’s name appears for the first time in the membership lists of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, wi... Free Essays on Bosch Free Essays on Bosch Bosch’s pictures have always fascinated viewers, but in earlier centuries it was widely assumed that his diabolic scenes were intended merely to amuse or titillate, most people regarded him as â€Å"the inventor of monsters and chimeras’. Philip II, though, collected his works more for education than for entertainment. A Dutch art historian in the early 17th century described Bosch’s paintings chiefly as ‘wondrous and strange fantasies†¦ often less pleasant than gruesome to look at’. In the 20th century, however, scholars decided that Bosch’s art has a more profound significance, and there have been many attempts to explain its origins and meaning. Some writers saw him as a sort of 15th century surrealist and linked his name with that of Salvator Dali. For others, Bosch’s art reflects mysterious practices of the Middle Ages. No matter what explanation and comprehension of his art might be, Bosch remains the most extravagant painter of his time. Bosch lived and worked in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the place from which he takes his name, a fairly quiet Dutch city. Bosch’s ancestors settled in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the late 14th or early 15th century. Their family name, Van Aken, suggests that they originally came from the German town of Aachen. In 1430-31 appears the first reference to Bosch’s grandfather, Jan van Aken, who died in 1454. Jan had 5 sons, at least four of them were painters; one of these, Anthonius van Aken (died c.1478), was the father of Hieronymus Bosch. He had 2 brothers and a sister; brother Goossen was also a painter. His training as a painter Bosch, most probably, received in the family. Some time between 1479 and 1481 Bosch married Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meervenne, evidently some years his senior. She came from a good family and had considerable wealth of her own. In 1486-87, Bosch’s name appears for the first time in the membership lists of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, wi...

Definition and Types of Interjections

Definition and Types of Interjections Interjections are words or phrases that express emotions. You might use an interjection to express surprise (Wow!), confusion (Huh?), or outrage (No!). You may use interjections in casual and in creative writing. You should not use interjections in formal writing, like book reports and research papers. You can use a noun, a verb, or an adverb as an interjection. Noun as an interjection: Foolishness! Your dog is not smarter than my dog! Verb as an interjection: Clap! He deserves some applause for that performance. Adverb as an interjection: Nope! You cannot go into that room until I give you permission. What Do Interjections Look Like? One word: Wow!Phrase: I’m shocked! List of Interjections Baloney! I don't agree with that! Cheers! Good tidings! Duh! That makes sense! Eureka! I found it! EEK! That's scary! Get out! I don't believe it! Golly! I'm amazed! Gee! Really? Huh? What was that? Incredible! That's amazing! Jinx! Bad luck! Ka-boom! Bang! Look! See that! My! Oh dear! Never! I hope that never happens. Oops! I've had an accident. Phooey! I don't believe it! Quit! Stop that! Rats! That's not good! Shoot! I don't like that! Tsk tsk! Shame on you! Ugh! Not good! Woot! Hurray! Wow! Amazing

Nursing managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Nursing managment - Essay Example Upon having received all of the data, it was necessary for head officials at the hospital to adjourn and discuss the results—in order to see if the scores on the assessment could be improved at all. The outcome of such wonderful reflection is a hospital system that works better for all involved—both patients and care providers. Brief Summary of Activity: Conducted by varying individuals, surveys were given not only to the patients, but to the staff as well in order to take a comprehensive overview in the hopes that this information could be used to overhaul the hospital’s overall performance. This would cover a wide range of areas and thus help the hospital’s management be smoother and more effective, rendering changes made by hospital officials—in the form of recommendations, garnered by the study. Thusly, quality of care, food service, and wait times were to be improved upon based on the surveys, and consequentially the score on the

Company Closing Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Company Closing Process - Essay Example Basically there are three procedures completed under month-end process: adjustments, calculations and reporting. Adjustment is the first step where necessary amendments are done on the financial data or information already recorded. During the month, the organization earns revenue and incurs expenses and matches the two. This practice, result in differences between the estimated amount and the actual amount of an item (Bosua & Beer, 2009). For example, interest expense incurred on the prevailing firm’s loans increase the amount to be paid (principal and interest). The original amount to be paid was the principal, while the actual amount paid at month end is the principal plus interest. Therefore, adjustment has to be made to reconcile the two amounts. Calculations After the above adjustments are made, the affected individual accounts have to be updated. The amounts for adjustment are calculated and appropriate entries made to the appropriate ledger accounts. For example, in ba nk accounts adjustment calculations, it is started with the opening balance, add on the deposits made and then subtract the debits for that month. The final figure got, reflect the actual cash balance on the bank account as opposed to the opening balance figure. Reporting After ascertaining the actual amounts of each ledger account, the figures are entered into the organizations database. The personnel responsible for the month-end procedures avails several reports reflecting the organization’s financial position in different ways, such as profit and loss statement, to the management. Year end close process The year end process refers to a set of activities the company performs to close financial books, make adjustments, correct errors and produce financial statements such as balance sheet in correspondence with existing rule and regulations such as international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). These activities involve several personnel such as accountants, bookkeepers and financial manager working under guidance of senior staff (Warfield, Weygandt & Kieso, 2008). There are four basic activities completed: adjustment entries posting, error correcting, trial balance preparation and financial statement preparation. Under adjusting entries, postings are made to reflect exactly what the company made and spent of the period under review. The adjustments concern prepaid expenses and unearned revenues. Prepaid expenses refer to cash paid by the business in advance understanding that specific tasks will be performed in its favor in the future, whereas unearned revenue refers to the cash money the company accepted promising to provide services or goods at a future date. In correcting errors, the company’s management is able to remove the mathematical imprecision from the book closing mechanism. The errors are a result of regulations changes, numerical incorrectness and poor accounting rules applica tion. This is a vital activity as it is integral to the closing process of the company’s financial statements. Trial balance preparation comes after error corrections and adjustment postings. The trial balance preparation helps managers verify the accuracy of the already completed and closed accounts. The trial balance checks the total debits and credits of all the involved accounts. If the two, total debits and total credits, are equal most likely the accounts are accurate. However, it should be noted

What Most Influenced You To apply To George Washington University Essay

What Most Influenced You To apply To George Washington University - Essay Example shington University and the only possible knowledge and information that I have received about the business degree and the alma mater is through some friends and acquaintances. These friends have been studying at the George Washington University and thus their help and assistance is something that I am banking upon in a large manner. More than their advice and facilitation is the input that I have received from the school counselor who has gone out of his way at establishing a touch point between George Washington University and me and hence there do not seem to be any ambiguities related with the George Washington University as such. Their suggestions with regards to the George Washington University have only raised my confidence endlessly and have thus helped me to visualize my own personality within the realms of the university more than anything else. Furthermore I have never visited Washington DC but with the passage of time I have been visiting some states within United States of America which has given me the insight and understanding of the American culture, traditional values and norms. The reason as to why I want to pursue my educational career within USA is because I feel it is a new place that I have not visited as such and more so because USA has so much more to offer, not only to a student but also to a foreigner. It has so many opportunities available within it which only excites me as a student nonetheless. Another reason that can be accredited to the US region is that I have got a lot of friends over there and with them being on my side my educational journey would surely improve and be a blessed one at the same time. Another one of the significant aspects which comes under the US factor is that the George Washington University is a good and reputable institution, one on which I can bank my future upon and think of my life progressing along in a fine manner when I look back down the lane say about 10 years from today. As I would be away from my

No need for topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No need for topic - Assignment Example This will make the currency appreciate because there are more local currency than foreign currency especially if there is no trade surplus. It will now take more local currency to buy the same amount of foreign money making foreign exchange rate to appreciate. Inflation meant that it now takes more money to buy certain goods and services. It also meant more money circulating in a given economy. Being such, it will take more money to buy same amount of foreign currency making the exchange rate to appreciate. Tax breaks given to business to encourage capital expenditures meant businesses will be buying more equipment. If the equipment is bought locally, foreign exchange will depreciate because there will be less need for it. If such equipment will be bought abroad through imports, then foreign exchange rate will appreciate. Good stock market performance will encourage more investment and more demand for the local currency. This will make the foreign exchange rate to depreciate while the dollar to appreciate. This is because foreign money would need more dollars to be able to invest in the stock market. Government intervention in the capital market will make foreign exchange rate to appreciate and the dollar to depreciate. This is typically done to make the imports competitive by making it cheaper. To make this happen, central banks will put more dollars in the system to depreciate the dollar. Monetary growth or the strengthening of economy through high exports will make the local currency to appreciate. It is because there are more foreign money coming in through trade. It has the effect of converting local currency into greater value through export or trade. Increase in GNP and real economic growth will make the local currency stronger. It will be able to buy more goods. It will have the effect of depreciating foreign exchange rate because of its stronger purchasing power. Forward premiums is a situation of trading

Dq8m9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dq8m9 - Essay Example That is why it is important that every organization in business must include the social responsibility as part of their strategy. Norman who is a professor of ethics in Business looks critically at a number of prevalent and quasi-academic outlines for identifying and mitigating beyond-compliance responsibility such as CSR, organizational citizenship, sustainability, shareholder theory and triple bottom-line. His working theory is that beyond compliance responsibilities can be vindicated by using the same ideas and methods we use in vindicating particular guidelines. He also focuses on â€Å"ethical Politicization† and more generally on the nature of answerable behavior in the business-government dealings (Norman 2012 p.75). The idea of corporate social responsibility is exceptionally valuable and hard-worn social benefit. It is a vehicle for endorsing transparency, more tone liability, better communique, honesty, mutually advantageous exchange and functional development. In pr oviding a clear way of critiquing business inside and out of its borders, it is now an essential condition for businesses to have morals and to exercise modern entrepreneurship (Jeremy 2009 p34). It is especially important for the growing global economics, while at the same time it is a delicate issue. However, different researchers are coming up with different views on this topic with one group arguing that business must operate under proper values and the other arguing that social responsibility is a complicated issue and cannot work successfully. According to Moses Pava, Former US secretary Robert Reich is one example of those who oppose the social responsibility advocators (Pava 2008 p.38). He believes that it is a project that can never succeed and campaigning for it is a waste of time and money. Reich points this failure in the raising political power but does not clearly state exactly what his argument is all about. He however, wants this idea dropped and as it is not one tha t could work and the only reason for him is the rise in corporate political power an argument thought as not so convincing according to Pava. Critiques like Reich are therefore, needed to listen keenly to those who have continuously been pushing for more and improved corporate social accountability as they may need to respond to his argument. Understanding the state of business and the processes in it, Reich and other should be convinced that corporate social responsibility is a vital foundation for business morals and for current capitalism. Lack of social corporate responsibility will create an avenue for unnecessary exploitation and great benefits for a few traders and that would not make sense. Reich’s concern in this issue is that rules advocating for the social corporate responsibility are not safe for business as they could cause a lot of harm. He believes that if businesses should prosper, then, they should focus mainly on customer satisfaction and maximization of cor porate profits for stakeholders (Pava 2008p. 50). He says that ethical and social responsibility is individual and can be practiced in those terms instead of setting up policies that direct organizations to operate under ethical social responsibilities, which would frustrate the freedom for organizations to achieve their goals. Pierre, on

The Relationship between Generation Y Work Value with Job Satisfaction Research Paper

The Relationship between Generation Y Work Value with Job Satisfaction and Work Stress at Hong Kong - Research Paper Example The main purpose of conducting this research project is to study the relationship between generation y‘s work value with job satisfaction and work stress at Hong Kong. There are some work values in this report have covered to study with and examine those work value will influence job satisfaction level and work stress level of generation Y or not. Some variables moderators like age, marital status and number of kids might moderate the relationship between the factors. The proposed mechanism based on previous empirical researchers and six hypotheses had been set up. Those hypotheses will be tested by Pearson Correlation in a convenient sample of generation Y who is taking a full-time job in Hong Kong at the moment. (N = 72, Male = 50, Female = 22). The result showed that good salary, job interest, prestige and variety diversion of work had the strongest relationship with the work value of generation Y. The job satisfaction can rise significantly and work stress can reduce when t he work value match with generation Y’s expectation. Furthermore, the study finds out there is the negative relationship between work stress and job performance. Heavier work stress will bring a negative effect to generation Y and bring down their job performance. From the test conducted, found that age is a greatest moderating effect on the relationship job satisfaction level and work stress level of generation Y. Also, marital status and number of kids give different moderating effect to generation Y on the job value, job satisfaction, and work stress. For further study of a similar topic on generation Y in Hong Kong, it is suggested that personality, work overtime, a part-time study can be the focus on and the result or findings should be taken into account of. Generation Y is a dynamic workforce that holds specific expectations with regards to work factors, to understand generation Y’swork value is important to the employer when they make recruitment to the new com er to their company. Around 14% of total workforce in Hong Kong are generation Y and increasing rapidly. To determine what are the main value or factors to encourage them to work hard, which reason, why they need to work, is important for management level to setup up policy in their company.

Dq8m9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dq8m9 - Essay Example That is why it is important that every organization in business must include the social responsibility as part of their strategy. Norman who is a professor of ethics in Business looks critically at a number of prevalent and quasi-academic outlines for identifying and mitigating beyond-compliance responsibility such as CSR, organizational citizenship, sustainability, shareholder theory and triple bottom-line. His working theory is that beyond compliance responsibilities can be vindicated by using the same ideas and methods we use in vindicating particular guidelines. He also focuses on â€Å"ethical Politicization† and more generally on the nature of answerable behavior in the business-government dealings (Norman 2012 p.75). The idea of corporate social responsibility is exceptionally valuable and hard-worn social benefit. It is a vehicle for endorsing transparency, more tone liability, better communique, honesty, mutually advantageous exchange and functional development. In pr oviding a clear way of critiquing business inside and out of its borders, it is now an essential condition for businesses to have morals and to exercise modern entrepreneurship (Jeremy 2009 p34). It is especially important for the growing global economics, while at the same time it is a delicate issue. However, different researchers are coming up with different views on this topic with one group arguing that business must operate under proper values and the other arguing that social responsibility is a complicated issue and cannot work successfully. According to Moses Pava, Former US secretary Robert Reich is one example of those who oppose the social responsibility advocators (Pava 2008 p.38). He believes that it is a project that can never succeed and campaigning for it is a waste of time and money. Reich points this failure in the raising political power but does not clearly state exactly what his argument is all about. He however, wants this idea dropped and as it is not one tha t could work and the only reason for him is the rise in corporate political power an argument thought as not so convincing according to Pava. Critiques like Reich are therefore, needed to listen keenly to those who have continuously been pushing for more and improved corporate social accountability as they may need to respond to his argument. Understanding the state of business and the processes in it, Reich and other should be convinced that corporate social responsibility is a vital foundation for business morals and for current capitalism. Lack of social corporate responsibility will create an avenue for unnecessary exploitation and great benefits for a few traders and that would not make sense. Reich’s concern in this issue is that rules advocating for the social corporate responsibility are not safe for business as they could cause a lot of harm. He believes that if businesses should prosper, then, they should focus mainly on customer satisfaction and maximization of cor porate profits for stakeholders (Pava 2008p. 50). He says that ethical and social responsibility is individual and can be practiced in those terms instead of setting up policies that direct organizations to operate under ethical social responsibilities, which would frustrate the freedom for organizations to achieve their goals. Pierre, on

Schindler’s List Paragraph Essay Example for Free

Schindler’s List Paragraph Essay This movie gave me the first impression was that everything in the film was black and white. It made me feel depressed and horrible. The images showed that many innocent Jewish people were killed, and arrested as the cheap labors and slaves by Nazi. I am shocked by these inhuman actions during the holocaust. The major character named Schindler goes through the transformation as the result of this holocaust. When he is watching the evacuation ,suddenly a little girl in the red coat apprears in front of him. He sees the person, not the star in front of him, and his perspective has changed. He comes to realise that innocent, harmless Jews are real people. From this point on, Schindler becomes less on exploiting the Jews, and more about saving them. So much so that by the end of the film, he wished he had sold his car and Nazi pin for more Jews. He is starting to understand that the Jews are people. They have feelings, family and had very well established lives. I learn a lot from it. We should show our respect to every life. Everyone is deserved right to live. Hurt anyone for no reason is inhuman and immoral. They are real people. Not just workers, names and numbers. Amon Goeth and Schinder seems like friends in business. They have some common similarities and differences that I can figure out. They are both cold hearted. They see the Jews as a simply way as a slave labors. They don’t recognize them as individuals. They are both self-centred, concentrate on making money and getting profits as much as possible. They are both womanizers during the war. Even though Schindler isn’t a vey nice person, he changed after he opened his eyes to look at those people around him. From then on that he stops seeing the Jews as a tool to make money , instead he tries to save each and every individual Jew that he can. He has saved more than one thousand Jews during the holocaust by employeeing them in his factories. However, Amzom Goeth becomes a conscienceless monster and is executed as a war criminal.

Essay Globalization Consumerism And Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay

Essay Globalization Consumerism And Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay Sustainable development has been a globally paradigm in different areas. Citizens lifestyle has an important relationship with the sustainability of a city. In living environment area, world-wide experts have adopted the Agenda 21 and tried to find the appropriate way to achieve a sustainable living lifestyle. According to Agenda 21, the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances. However, as the global population increasing, how to balance the relationship between resources supply and demand is still a research question. For communities and individuals, special attention should be paid to the demand for natural resources generated by unsustainable consumption and to the efficient use of those resources consistent with the goal of minimizing depletion and reducing pollution. In other word s, the communities and individuals should look for an appropriate living style towards achieving sustainable goal. Although government has been put much efforts to encourage people to do some reduction of pollution, reduction of energy consumption, and waste recycling, actually there is still a long distance to reach the goal of sustainability, and there should be a series of fundamentally changes for individuals to adopt to pursue a green, sustainable society. Globalization Globalization means quite different things to different people. In general, globalization is a process that promotes world-wide exchanges of national and cultural resources. It includes economic globalization, social cultural globalization, and environmental globalization. In recent decades, the world markets have become increasingly integrated. As Lindert and Williamson 2011 pointed out, world market integration is not a new phenomenon, but it has steadily increased since the 1820s if we exclude the period between the two World Wars. A long-term correlation between the globalization of international markets and environmental degradation is quite obviously. The globalization of markets also brought about the globalization of environmental problems. Global climate change, ozone layer, reduction of biodiversity, over consumption of natural resources, desertification are all global environmental degradation brought after the economic globalization. The industrial revolution use large am ount of natural resources as materials in the process, as well as the deterioration of their quality as a consequence of pollution. The acceleration of economic growth led to the increasing of world population that promoted the deterioration of environment. Lifestyle and sustainability Concept of sustainable development The concept of sustainability means that something is maintained for a period of long time. The concept of sustainable development came out of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in 1972.() Since the publication of the UN Brundtland Commission report  Our Common Future  in 1987, the concept of sustainability has become associated with the integration of economic, social, and environmental development to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The conference was held to let all nations agree to act to reduce pollution together to share the resources equally. Since 1972, it has become clear that what we do has an impact on the environment, from the climate change, desertification, and the destruction of forests to the disappearance of species. By introducing the word sustainable, the discussion on environmental development got a social and economic dimension, especially by the inclusion of the Nort h- South dialogue and discussion of the rights of future generations. This finally led to the world community holding the United Nations Convention on Education and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 where the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework on Climate Change, the Rio Declaration and 38 of the 40 chapters of Agenda 21 were agreed. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was set up to review progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and other UNCED documents. The Commission meets every year and more than 1,000 N.G.Os are accredited to participate in the Commissions work. Concept of lifestyle The concept of lifestyle comes from social science and refers to a bundle of practices or ways of behaving that are meaningful for individual as well for the community. Lifestyle includes different ways of socializing with others and different types of consumption of everything, from houses to clothes, food, and leisure time activities. Lifestyle could reflect individuals attitude and values and at the same time signals these to others through visible, or conspicuous, consumption. Sustainable lifestyle can thus be defined as bundles of practices that are tied together by attitudes related to sustainable development, or as ways of living that in practice lead to sustainable development. In 1992 at the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro, there was an international agreement on promoting sustainable development and thus also promoting sustainable lifestyle. Following the line of the Brundtland report, the conference reached consensus on the so-called Agenda 21 programme, which contains detailed guidelines and objectives, in a nonlegally binding language, and advice on how NGOs, citizens, and other actors can be involved in the process. The slogan was act local -think global and during the 1990s Local Agenda activities were initiated in many countries by both authorities and NGOs. In 2007-08 such initiatives received renewed interest, with global climate being high on the political agenda. Local Agenda 21 was no longer a catchword, though the concept of sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles was then used together with climate discussions. The processes of Local Agenda 21 build on the idea that changes must come from below, from changes in the everyday life of ordinary consumers. Current lifestyle When talking about living lifestyle, tobacco use, poor nutrition, obesity, elevated stress, and suboptimal sleep will come into ones mind, these are major contributors to the pandemic of lifestyle-related conditions, morbidity, and premature death (E dean) Preventable lifestyle-related conditions such as ischemic heart disease, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema (largely smoking related), hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and some cancers, are not only leading causes of disability and premature death in high-income countries, but increasingly in middle- and low-income countries.  (stop) Compared to the impact of environment brought from lifestyle, the bad lifestyle seems to have much effect on individuals health. However, from long-term sight, bad lifestyle will bring waste of resources, pollution of environment and at last hinder the development of society. When talking about the lifestyle related to consumerism, green consumerism should be advocated. What is green consumerism? In short, who and why buy. current global levels of domestic energy consumption and waste production have been acknowledges as important contribution to detrimental environmental change (United Nations 1998) Political and academic interest in this component of sustainable development implementation has stimulated debates in post-industrial nations concerning the social practices of contemporary consumerism (Macnaghten and Urry 1998) and how we will live in the future (De Young 1993) n response there has been a call for the development of national policies and strategies to encourage changes in consumption patterns (UNCED 1992:64). One approach has been the promotion of environmentally-friendly lifestyles which often take the form of media or community campaigns (for further analysis see Hobson 2001). These campaigns encourage individuals not only to decrease the amount consumed, but also to alter the nature of goods consumed (lUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991; Librova 1999). Changing Lifestyles Towards Sustainability From a policy perspective, it is relevant to discuss how to promote more sustainable lifestyles. Changes can be initiated from the bottom-up, where people experiment with changing lifestyles, or from the top-down, where authorities make initiatives to promote changing lifestyles. Authorities can promote changes by political initiatives such as economic incentives or green taxes and through information and labeling of green products and campaigns focusing on changing attitudes. Furthermore, authorities can focus on establishing the physical infrastructure which supports sustainable lifestyles: public transportation, renewable energy production, recycling waste system, and so on. What follows describes, first, the people who have made radical changes to their lifestyles and, second, evaluations on initiatives to get ordinary people to change their lifestyle in a more sustainable direction. In the last couple of decades, some citizens have chosen more radical lifestyle changes and have joined so-called eco-villages. Some of the catchwords of this approach are closed cycles and self-sufficiency: water and waste should be recycled, energy locally produced from renewable resources, and the technologies organised in neighborhoods to strengthen and revitalize local social life. The ecological vision is followed by the social vision of a holistic everyday life a life that is not split between work, family, and home. In this sense, the eco-villages follow in the footsteps of the collectivist movement of the 1960s and 1970s and are a reaction against the lifestyle in detached suburban houses. Furthermore, in some of the eco-villages there is a spiritual relation with nature and an ethical concern for future generations. The people deciding to build and live in these eco-villages thus establish other physical, social, and cultural structures around their everyday life as part o f living a sustainable lifestyle. In the environmental debate, it has been questioned to what extent this type of experiment is part of a broader solution to sustainable development or whether these structures are only isolated pockets. Some of the alternative technological solutions, such as solar heating or wind power, had their hesitant first beginnings in these alternative environments. However, some of the eco-villages and other grassroots experiments had such alternative visual expressions that might have frightened the not-so-dedicated others from choosing sustainable lifestyles. This raises the question of whether sustainable lifestyles are only for those who want to live an alternative life or whether they should be mainstreamed and made available for a broader audience. In the twenty-first century, however, this debate might seem less topical, as grassroots approaches and more mainstream approaches to sustainable lifestyles appear to converge Many public initiatives have tried to persuade citizens to live a more sustainable life, and there are also examples of studies following the extent to which these types of efforts have an effect. In general, social science approaches dealing with these issues can be divided into psychological and sociological approaches. As an example of the psychological approach, a study performed by Abrahamse and others in the Netherlands followed the effects of an Internet-based tool that used a combination of tailored information, goal setting, and feedback on households direct and indirect energy consumption. An evaluation after 5 months showed that households gained a significant direct energy saving of 5%, whereas there was no measurable effect on indirect energy consumption. It is thus possible to document a small but significant relation between knowledge and action. From a sociological approach, the UK campaign Action at home, which is part of the Global Action Plan that originally developed in the United States during the late 1980s, has been evaluated by Hobson, and this evaluation questions the simple relation between knowledge and change of behavior. The Action at home campaign was a 6-month voluntary programme where households were provided with information, support, and feedback in a local setting enabling local support and networking between participants. An evaluation based on qualitative interviews suggests rethinking the ideas on information, barriers, and behavioural change. Information should be seen as a much more constructivist approach, where people use and develop arguments through conversations with others, rather than by receiving objective knowledge. The focus should be on the whole array of social structures sustaining specific behaviors, rather than on only barriers to action, and finally the understanding of behavioral chan ge should rather focus on how debate can bring unnoticed routines that are never consciously thought of. Though there are disagreements in the understanding of behavior and the role of information between the social and the psychological approach, it is possible to draw some general recommendations on how to best persuade people to change to a more sustainable lifestyle: Communication should be as specific and personalized as possible, and information should be as adjusted to the lifestyle of the citizens as possible, thereby making the advice meaningful and useful for the citizens attitudes and practices. With climate change high on the political agenda, especially before the climate summit conference in Copenhagen in 2009, sustainable lifestyles have gained renewed interest among the public, politicians, and academics. Will this interest be a short bobble followed by resignation? Will it be the start of mainstreaming sustainable lifestyles so they spread and become the norm? Or, will there continue to be a development fuelled by the tension between initiatives by different actors? Sustainability is a contested concept, and developments in the structures and practices of everyday life continue to change and thus provide new challenges for what a sustainable lifestyle is or should be. In the future, there is also a need to continue experimenting, debating, and developing new approaches to sustainable lifestyles Linking lifestyle and climate change literature The concept of lifestyle in the behavioural sciences has been studied in connection with social class [31,81,64 -66,86,87,47 ], culture-specific consumption patterns [ 22,30,52,79 ] as well as individual choice [25,7,6 ]. Social theorists have described how the disappearance of norms and economic limitations, mass consumption and the market have gradually removed restrictions and made the individual lifestyle a more appropriate way to describe differences in action, world views and consump-tion. Research suggests that the consumption behavior of individuals constitute a more or less coherent con-sumption pattern because individual tastes and prefer-ences conform to socially determined structures [13,19]. The fact that conspicuous consumption [17,77] is seen as a status symbol of wealthy people makes the less afflu-ent aspire to emulate this lifestyle [ 5 ]. Individuals use consumer goods to preserve their position in the social hierarchy [ 12]. A convergence of lifestyles has been accelerated by homogenisation in the human system over time and space due to the globalisation of the built environment, occupations, industry, trade and advertis-ing. Lifestyle is also described in an operational sense through the correlation between the level and pattern of consumption and socio-economic and demographic parameters such as age, family size, occupation, income, gender, education and ethnicity. Consequent energy and emission outcomes vary widely ( Table 1) calling for more inclusive action strategy to avoid leakages. The focus of change needs to be on the hotspots and patterns of energy consumption. Attempts to change energy consumption pattern are likely to lead to a change in energy consump-tion behaviour that make up the complete pattern. In the energy literature in the late 1980s, the energy researchers introduced the lifestyle concept into the study of energy consumption and established a positive correlation be-tween better lifestyle and high-energy consumption for both households and individuals. Kaya identity [34] has been used to show how both the individual and aggregate consumption pattern are an important driver of emission level along with the technology choice. Recent literature Suggestion

How ICT has Impacted My Life :: ICT Essays

How ICT has Impacted My Life When I was planning how to investigate how ICT has had an impact on the way I do things at home and at school I decided to write everything I did down in my rough book for two days. I then analysed if ICT had any part to play in the various events. Below is a report on my findings: SOCIAL/PERSONAL ICT USE SMS SENDING TEXT MESSAGES TO MATES MOBILE RINGING PARENTS FOR LIFT HOME TELETEXT FINDING CINEMA TIMES DVD WATCHING/INTERACTING WITH A FILM TV WATCHING DIGITAL TV COMPUTER PLAYING GAMES ON THE INTERNET COMPUTER SENDING EMAILS DIGITAL CLOCK/RADIO WAKING UP IN THE MORNINGSCOMPUTER EMAILING WORK TO SCHOOL FOR TOMORROW DIGITAL CAMERA TOOK PHOTOS OF MY DOG AND SENT THEM VIA EMAIL TO MY SISTER AT UNIVERSITY GAMES CONSOLE PLAYED FIFA 2002 WITH LITTLE BROTHER TOUCHSCREEN AT ARGOS TO CHECK IF THEY HAD AN ITEM IN STOCK COMPUTER RECORD MP3 FILES FOR MY MINIDISC PLAYER MINIDISC PLAYED MP3 FILES WAP PHONE SENT PHOTOS TO MY MATES INTERACTIVE GAMES PLAYED GAMES AT THE ARCADE IN SKEGNESS WITH MATES DIGITAL TV SENT E-MAILS SCHOOL USE OF ICT MILLING MACHINE DT PROJECT COMPUTER RECORDING MEASUREMENTS IN SCIENCE

Pesticides: Feeding the World Essay -- Farming Food Science Papers

Pesticides: Feeding the World Every day, new worries arise concerning over-population and the future of earth. People are afraid of starvation and endemic diseases. The problem with present food production is not of land shortage, but of yields too low to feed a doubled world population. Plant geneticists are creating hybrid plants that have higher yields and more resistance to unwanted and harmful organisms. Even with the new plants, pesticides must be applied to reap the hybrid's full potential. What follows is some common misconceptions about pesticides and their use. Humans ingest about 10,000 times more naturally occurring pesticides than they do man-made ones. In fact, the risk you expose yourself to by drinking a daily glass of apple juice from fruit treated with the pesticide Alar is 58 times less than the hazard of consuming natural carcinogens in one mushroom. Pesticide residues remain only on the surface of produce. They are not absorbed by fruits or vegetables. Rinsing with clear running water will remove most of any trace residues. Organic food growers often use pesticides derived from natural sources to protect their crops. Many man-made pesticides are less toxic than naturally-occurring ones. Without the availability of crop protection products, it is estimated that current world fruit and vegetable production would decline by as much as 40% and fruit and vegetable prices would increase by up to 70% (Crop Protection Institute, 1997). Even with today's technology , food production would be considerably lower and the number of individuals suffering from malnutrition would be dramatically increased if pesticides were not used. Changes in Farming Farming has changed and advanced incredibly in the last tw... ...Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. (1997). The Pros and Cons of Pesticides [Online]. Available: http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/epb/factsheets/pesticides/pro_con.html [1997, September 28]. Avery, Dennis T. (1995, June). How Pesticides Help Prevent Cancer. Consumers' Research Magazine, pp. 11-12. Byrd, John D. Jr., Ph.D., David R. Shaw, Eric P. Webster (1997). PesticidesBenefits and Risks [Online]. http://www.ces.msstate.edu/pubs/pub1962.htm [1997, October 7]. Crop Protection Institute. (1997). Facts & History of Pesticides [Online]. http://www.cropro.org/history.html [9/16/97]. Hastings, John. (1993, September). Do Pesticides on Fruits and Vegetables Threaten Children?. Health, p. 12. Riviere, Jim E. (1994, August 8). Stop Worrying and Eat Your Salad. Newsweek, p. 8. Spencer, Leslie. (1993, October 25). Ban All Plants-They Pollute. Forbes, pp. 104-108.

Working Capital Managment

Management Of Working Capital Introduction Working Capital-Definition Working Capital is the cash needed to pay for the day to day operation of the business. Along with long term investments , business also needs funds for short-term purposes to finance current operations. Investment in short term assets like cash, inventories, debtors etc. , is called ‘Short-term Funds’ or ‘Working Capital’. Hence, the management of Working Capital is very important for the smooth running of business. Calcution of Working CapitalWorking Capital of a company is the difference between the Current Assets and the Current Liabilities of the company. Working capital=Current Assets-Current Liabilities Current Assets: Assets of the business held in the form of cash(e. g cash at the bank) or that can be quickly turned into cash. Current Assests Stocks Cash Debtors Investments Current Liabilities: Money owed by a business organization which is to be paid within next 12 months Current Liabilities Trade Creditors DividendsTaxation Short term loans Circulating capital – working capital is also known as circulating capital or current capital. ’ â€Å"The use of the term circulating capital instead of working capital indicates that its flow is circular in nature. † Structure of Working Capital The different elements or components of current assets and current liabilities constitute the structure of working capital which can be illustrated in the shape of a chart as follows: Working Capital Cycle makes it clear that the amount of cash is obtained mainly from issue of shares, borrowing and operations.Cash funds are used to purchase fixed assets, raw materials and used to pay to creditors. The raw materials are processed; wages and overhead expenses are paid which in result produce finished goods for sale. Working Capital circulation is like the blood circulation in the human body as once it stops the whole business becomes lifeless. Classification of Working Capital Working Capital can be classified in various ways. Conceptual classification – There are two concept of working capital viz. , quantitative and qualitative.The quantitative concept takes into account as the current assets while the qualitative concept takes into account the excess of current assets over current liabilities. Deficit of working capital exists where the amount of current liabilities exceeds the amount of current assets. The above can be summarized as follows: (i) Gross Working Capital = Total Current Assets (ii) Net Working Capital = Excess of Current Assets over Current Liabilities (iii) Working Capital Deficit = Excess of Current Liabilities over Current Assets. Classification on the basis of financial reports – The nformation of working capital can be collected from Balance Sheet or Profit and Loss Account; as such the working capital may be classified as follows: (i) Cash Working Capital– This is calculated from the informat ion contained in profit and loss account. This concept of working capital has assumed a great significance in recent years as it shows the adequacy of cash flow in business. It is based on ‘Operating Cycle Concept’s (ii) Balance Sheet Working Capital– The data for Balance Sheet Working Capital is collected from the balance sheet. On this basis the Working Capital can also be divided in three more types, viz. gross Working Capital, net Working Capital and Working Capital deficit. Classification on the Basis of Variability – Gross Working Capital can be divided in two categories viz. ,(i) permanent or fixed working capital, and (ii) Temporary, Seasonal or variable working capital. Such type of classification is very important for hedging decisions. (i) Temporary Working Capital – Temporary Working Capital is also called as fluctuating or seasonal working capital. This represents additional investment needed during prosperity An favorable seasons. It i ncreases with the growth of the business. Temporary working capital is the additional assets required to meet the variations in sales above the permanent level. † This can be calculated as follows: Temporary Working Capital = Total Current Assets – permanent Current Assets (ii) Permanent Working Capital – It is a part of total current assets which is not changed due to variation in sales. There is always a minimum level of cash, inventories, and accounts receivables which is always maintained in the business even if sales are reduced to a minimum. Amount of such investment is called as permanent working capital. Permanent Working Capital is the amount of working capital that persists over time regardless of fluctuations in sales. † This is also called as regular working capital. Importance of Working Capital Management For smooth running an enterprise, adequate amount of working capital is very essential. Efficiency in this area can help, to utilize fixed a ssets gainfully, to assure the firm’s long- term success and to achieve the overall goal of maximization of the shareholders, fund. Shortage or bad management of cash may result in loss of cash discount and loss of reputation due to non-payment of obligation on due dates.Insufficient inventories may be the main cause of production held up and it may compel the enterprises to purchase raw materials at unfavorable rates. Like-wise facility of credit sale is also very essential for sales promotions. It is rightly observed that â€Å"many a times business failure takes place due to lack of working capital. Adequate working capital provides a cushion for bad days, a concern can pass its period of depression without much difficulty. The significance of adequate working capital is â€Å"to avoid interruption in the production schedule and maintain sales, a concern equires funds to finance inventories and receivables. † The adequacy of cash and current assets together with th eir efficient handling virtually determines the survival or demise of a concern. An enterprise should maintain adequate working capital for its smooth functioning. Both, excessive working capital and inadequate working capital will impair the profitability and general health of a concern. The danger of excessive working capital are as follows: Heavy investment in fixed assets –A concern may invest heavily in its fixed assets which is not justified by actual sales.This may create situation of over capitalization. Reckless purchase of materials- Inventory is purchased recklessly which results in dormant slow moving and obsolete inventory. At the same time it may increase the cost due to mishandling, waste, theft, etc. Speculative tendencies – Speculative tendencies may increase and if profit is increased dividend distribution will also increase. This will hamper the image of a concern in future when speculative loss may start. Liberal credit – Due to liberal credi t, size of accounts receivables will also increase.Liberal credit facility can increase bad debts and wrong practices will start, regarding delay in payments. Carelessness – Excessive working capital will lead to carelessness about costs which will adversely affect the profitability. Paucity of working capitalist also bad and has the following dangers: 1. Implementation of operating plans becomes difficult and a concern may not achieve its profit target. 2. It is difficult to pay dividend due to lack of funds. 3. Bargaining capacity is reduced in credit purchases and cash discount could not be availed. 4.An enterprise looses its reputation when it becomes difficult even to meet day-to- day commitments. 5. Operating inefficiencies may creep in when a concern cannot meet it financial promises. 6. Stagnates growth as the funds are not available for new projects. 7. A concern will have to borrow funds at an exorbitant rate of interest in case of need. 8. Sometimes, a concern may be bound to sale its product at a very reduced rates to collect funds which may harm its image. Meaning of Working Capital Management The management of current assets, current liabilities and inter-relationship between them is termed as working capital management. Working capital management is concerned with problems that arise in attempting to manage the current assets, the current liabilities and the inter-relationship that exist between them. † In practice, â€Å"There is usually a distinction made between the investment decisions concerning current assets and the financing of working capital. † From the above, the following two aspects of working capital management emerges: (1) To determine the magnitude of current assets or â€Å"level of working capital† and (2) To determine the mode of financing or â€Å"hedging decisions. Significance of Working Capital Management Funds are needed in every business for carrying on day-to-day operations. Working capital f unds are regarded as the life blood of a business firm. A firm can exist and survive without making profit but cannot survive without working capital funds. If a firm is not earning profit it may be termed as ‘sick’, but, not having working capital may cause its bankruptcy working capital in order to survive. The alternatives are not pleasant. Bankruptcy is one alternative. Being acquired on unfavorable term as another.Thus, each firm must decide how to balance the amount of working capital it holds, against the risk of failure. † Working capital has acquired a great significance and sound position in the recent past for the twin objects of profitability and liquidity. In period of rising capital costs and scare funds, the working capital is one of the most important areas requiring management review. It is rightly observed that, â€Å"Constant management review is required to maintain appropriate levels in the various working capital accounts. †Mainly the success of a concern depends upon proper management of working capital so â€Å"working capital management has been looked upon as the driving seat of financial manager. † It consumes a great deal of time to increase profitability as well as to maintain proper liquidity at minimum risk. There are many aspects of working capital management which make it an important function of the finance manager. In fact we need to know when to look for working capital funds, how to use them and how measure, plan and control them. A study of working capital management is very important for internal and external experts.Sales expansion, dividend declaration, plants expansion, new product line, increase in salaries and wages ,rising price level, etc. , put added strain on working capital maintenance. Failure of any enterprise is undoubtedly due to poor management and absence of management skill. Importance of working capital management stems from two reasons, viz. , (i) A substantial portion o f total investment is invested in current assets, and (ii) level of current assets and current liabilities will change quickly with the variation in sales.Though fixed assets investment and long-term borrowing will also response to the changes in sales, but its response will be weak. Conclusion Although some companies began the process of improving their working capital management five or even 10 years ago, many others were driven to focus on the issues by funding disruptions and cash shortages brought by the global crisis. The effects of the many challenges faced by large companies during that period are evident today in both operational practices and strategic priorities.

Business Words U Should Know

Over 1,000 Essential Words and Phrases! BUSINESS WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW From Accelerated Depreciation to Zero-based Budgeting—Learn the Lingo for Any Field H. DEAN M C KAY, P H . D. , AND P. T. SHANK Business Words You should knoW From Accelerated Depreciation to Zero-based Budgeting—Learn the Lingo for Any Field h. dean MckaY, Ph. d. , and P. T. shank Avon, Massachusetts I dedicate this book to Susan Shank Mix, my wife, lifelong friend, and trusted advisor. Without her encouragement, creativity, and support, this book would be still in my imagination. —Dr. Dean McKayI dedicate this book to Al Burgos, an accountant with the heart of an astronomer, because without him, no deadline would have been made. —P. T. Shank Copyright  © 2008 by H. Dean McKay, Ph. D. , and P. T. Shank All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published revi ews. Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U. S. A. www. adamsmedia. com ISBN 10: 1-59869-146-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-146-7 (paperback) ISBN 13: 978-1-44050-101-2 (EPUB)Printed in the United States of America. JIHGFEDCBA Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McKay, H. Dean. Business words you should know / H. Dean McKay, and P. T. Shank. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-59869-146-7 (pbk. ) ISBN-10: 1-59869-146-5 (pbk. ) 1. Business—Dictionaries. I. Shank, P. T. II. Title. HF1001. M26 2007 650. 03—dc22 2007016518 This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice.If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. —From a Declaration of Princi ples jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their product are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. Contents Introduction / 1 The Words, A–Z / 2 Appendix: Acronym Index / 247 Acknowledgments T his book is an accumulation of decades of business, education, and management with some remarkable mentors and associates. In particular, I would like to recognize my mentors at the Peter F. Drucker Center for Management, Claremont Graduate School, Professor Joseph A. Maciariello and Professor Peter F. Drucker, along with the other faculty and participants in my decade of association with the univ ersity.I would like also to acknowledge the thousands of associates, peers, and managers in the organizations with whom I have had the pleasure of working these past five decades. To my family, who has been so supportive, I say thank you, Robert, Chris, Melinda, Cameron, Amanda, Dave, Michelle, Marcus, and Meredith. You are my team. P. T. Shank made this book a reality with her voice and creativity as well as hard work. —Dr. Dean McKay M any people helped me make this book happen. Specifically, I would like to thank H. Dean McKay for his business acumen; Ed andMitchell, as always; Stephanie Sauls, for laundry, dinners, flowers, and generally being an amazing friend; Billy Taymor for his patience, humor, and being awake long after most people have gone to bed; Shoshanna Grossman, who saw me through the beginning of it; David Willis, who saw me through the end of it; and all my friends—both real and cyber—who understood and still love me. —P. T. Shank Intro duction W hen Dean and I first started talking about writing this book, we thought it would be very straightforward. We knew we wanted to take the language of business and translate it into plain English.He would choose the words, write the definitions, and take the role of business guru, ensuring the information was accurate. I would write the sentences, handle the technical part of writing a book, and take the role of target audience, ensuring the information was understandable. And we would have the next book in the excellent Words You Should Know series. To a certain extent, that is what happened. Over and over throughout the last year, Dean would present me with a definition, and I would say â€Å"But what does it mean? † until he had simplified it enough that even I could understand it.So it was straightforward. Dean has indeed chosen words and written definitions. I have written sentences. And you are reading this book. But something else happened as well. Once we star ted writing it, we came to realize it had far more potential than we originally recognized, and that was really exciting. Yes, this book can be used in a very straightforward manner: When you hear a business word you don’t understand, look it up and close the book. Easy. But it can be much more than that as well, depending on your needs. Perhaps you need to know more about a concept than simply its definition and usage.An Internet search on â€Å"management style,† for instance, turns up more than 200 thousand results! This book offers related words for each term. Combine a few of them in your search, and suddenly you are closer to finding the information you actually need. Also, throughout the book, you will find boxes with further explanations of many of the defined words. While the definitions for these words are easy to understand, the concepts sometimes are not. The information found within the boxes will help clarify the concepts and how they apply to the busines s world.We sincerely believe this book has become the valuable tool we always knew it could be. Hopefully, you will agree with us, whether you are wellestablished in an industry or just starting out. And who knows, maybe you’ll even come to understand our excitement. We hope you do. 1-to-1 marketing  1 1-to-1 Marketing Customizing the offering to the specific customer needs and desires. This process involves much more than just sales and marketing because the firm must be able to change how its products are configured or its service is delivered based on the individual needs of individual customers.The technology company was successful because of its ability to offer 1-to-1 marketing to all its clients. See also: Direct Marketing, End User 10Q Report A financial statement filed with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission by a company, regarding its financial performance. This form is used for quarterly reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A quarterly report on this form must be filed within forty-five days after the end of each of the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal year.Investors and brokers are wise to track companies’ 10Q reports before buying large amounts of stock. See also: Financial Statement or Reports, Public Company, Quarterly Report, SEC Filings 10X Change A strategic change from a current state, called X, to a future state in which the change is measured in orders of magnitude. This term refers to those rare moments when something creates a â€Å"10X change†Ã¢â‚¬â€a change ten times greater than your average everyday change. Leadership believes in the exponential growth capacity of each team member.A 10X change is any change in a business environment that could potentially cause an industry change. Business forecasters were aware that the creation of the personal computer would create a 10X change in the industry. See also: Change, Change Management, Strategic Inflection P oints 360-Degree Feedback A means for leadership development; a method and a management tool that provides each employee the opportunity to receive performance feedback from his or her supervisor and four to eight peers, reporting staff members, coworkers, and customers.Every year, the management staff received 360-degree feedback from their peers and staff in order to ensure a positive working environment for everyone in the department. See also: Communications, Empowerment, Human Resources, Motivate, Performance Review accelerated depreciation  4 Ps of Marketing Product, price, place (distribution), and promotion are the major marketing management decisions; these variables are known as the marketing mix. Even though most customers may not be aware of it, nearly all decisions about buying products are based on the 4 Ps of marketing.See also: Distribution, Marketing, Price, Product, Promotion A A-Team An elite group or task force that is willing and able to solve difficult problem s; a team that works together under uncertain conditions to create innovative solutions; a group having a special mission with a leadership role. The new engineer was assigned to the A-team to tackle the division’s most pressing problem. See also: Leadership, Team Building, Teams Abatement A deduction in the amount of money owed. The start-up received rent abatement to help them get things going in their production facility.See also: Obligation, Payment in Kind Ability The quality of being able to perform; skill and aptitude that an employee needs in order to perform successfully the various tasks associated with a job; qualities that enable a person to achieve or accomplish something. It is vital to hire someone based on his or her ability to perform the job at hand. See also: Organization, Performance, Skill Abstract A document that summarizes and explains the important aspects of a larger, more detailed document. The database contained many abstracts from articles on small business.See also: Business Plan, Executive Summary Accelerated Depreciation Depreciation at a greater rate in the early years of an asset’s life; an accounting method. Due to the accelerated depreciation attached to some goods, many people recommend buying slightly used items over brand-new ones. See also: Accounting, Depreciation, Taxes A  A access Access A process of inputting or retrieving data from a computer, network, or system. The staff realized the computers were down when none of them could access the database. See also: Computer, Data, Database, Network Access TimeThe time interval between a request for information and the start of the delivery process for a computer, network, or system. Faster access time was one of the major selling points of the new computer system. See also: Access, Computer, Float Accessory Goods Products used by business operations to function. Examples include computers, fax machines, office copiers, networks, and so on. The small shop had a full inventory but the bare minimum of accessory goods needed to open for business. See also: Administrative Expenses, Back Office, Operations Accomplishment The result of successfully meeting a goal; an achievement.The award was given to the sales team for their accomplishment of increasing profits 20 percent over the estimated goal. See also: Ability, Goals, Objectives, Success Account An organization’s record of all the debits and credits chronologically posted to a ledger showing how each transaction affects a particular phase of a business. Entries are usually stated in monetary figures and reflect the current balances, if any. A bookkeeper is often required to manage multiple accounts and track the strengths of all of them. See also: Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, Ledger AccountabilityTaking responsibility for actions. An obligation to one’s self—an obligation to lead a meaningful life, both in and out of the workplace, that is consistent with oneâ €™s own values. The CEO was impressed by the supervisor’s sense of accountability for everything that happened in his department. See also: Behavior, Governance, Responsibility accounts receivable turnover  Accounting The process of identifying, measuring, recording, and communicating financial information about a business or organization. Accounting information can be a helpful managerial and investment aid in the decision-making process.The accounting firm was known and respected for the efficiency and uncompromising sense of integrity. See also: Accounting Noise, Public Accounting, Purchasing Accounting Accounting Noise Complex rules that may affect the way a company’s performance is related to the public. These rules do not affect the company’s true performance, simply the way that performance is reported. After a company has gone through a major change, it may be difficult for potential investors to cut through the accounting noise to discover how well the business is actually expected to perform. See also: Accounting, Financial Statement or ReportAccounts Payable Money or liabilities owed by a firm to vendor, suppliers, or service providers. The secretary juggled the accounts payable so that the small firm’s bills were paid every month within days of receiving the fees from their clients. See also: Balance Sheet, Liability, Supplier, Vendor Accounts Receivable Money or liabilities due to a firm from customers for the purchase of inventory, goods, or services. Carried in the current-assets section of the firm’s balance sheet. The billing department sent out invoices on all accounts receivable that were not paid in full at the time of service.See also: Assets, Balance Sheet, Customer, Inventories Accounts Receivable Turnover A measurement of how quickly customers pay their bills. The ratio of net credit sales to average accounts receivable. Their bank asked for the accounts receivable turnover report to measure how q uickly their customers paid their bills. See also: Accounts Receivable, Credit, Financial Ratios, Turnover A  A accrual-based accounting Accrual-Based Accounting An accounting method in which income is reported when earned and expenses are reported when an obligation is made rather than when money is received or paid.Retail stores and other businesses that sell products and stock inventory use accrual-based accounting. See also: Accounting, Bookkeeping, Expenses, Income Accrue Accumulate or increase over a period of time. She chose to put her money into a CD rather than just into a savings account because interest would accrue at a faster rate. See also: Depreciation, Expenses, Taxes Accrued Expenses Expenses yet to be paid; accumulated expenses in a given period that will be paid in the future. It was agreed that the accrued expenses owed to the law firm would be paid at the end of the trial.See also: Accrue, Expenses, Period Accrued Interest Interest yet to be paid; accumulated i nterest in a given period that will be paid in the future. She opted to receive all accrued interest from her investments in one check at the end of the year. See also: Accrue, Interest, Period Accrued Taxes Taxes yet to be paid; accumulated taxes that will be paid in the future. The accountant tracked the accrued taxes in order to ensure there was enough cash to pay them when they came due. See also: Accrue, Taxes Accurate Correct and exact; produces flawless work, generally as the result of painstaking care.The accountant was known for being detail oriented and accurate in every aspect of his job. See also: Consistent, Quality action learning  Acid Test Ratio A ratio of current assets minus inventories, accruals, and prepaid items to current liabilities that is used to determine a firm’s ability to meet current debt obligations. According to the acid test ratio, the firm was actually in very good financial shape in spite of the unexpected quarterly losses. See also: Assets , Liquid, Short-Term Debt Acquisition Acquiring control of a business or corporation.The parent company’s primary goal was to staff its new acquisition quickly and well before it began losing money. See also: Due Diligence, Integration, Merger, Purchasing Accounting, Strategy Acquisition Cost The cost of purchasing equipment before sales tax. The start-up bought much of its equipment slightly used in order to keep acquisition costs low. See also: Capital Expenses (CapEx), Hard Assets Acquittance A receipt indicating payment in full, freedom from a financial obligation. Every acquittance was kept on file in case questions arose later about the payment of the bills.See also: Debt, Payments Across the Board Affecting all in an equal manner; comes from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) big board, a large board on which stock prices were once written, so when the majority of prices were up or down, the movement was shown â€Å"across the board. † Concern about the economy and rising prices cut consumer spending across the board, not just in the travel industry, over the summer. See also: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Stock Action Learning A process in which a group of people come together more or less regularly to help each other to learn from their experience.The company offered action learning programs as a way for senior management to lean on each other and junior management to receive mentoring. See also: Action Plan, Group Processes, Teambuilding A action plan  A Action Plan A list of tasks that needs to be carried out in order to achieve a larger objective; may include other plans, activities, resources, and/or commitments. The action plan was clear and concise so that everyone on the project knew what steps needed to be taken in order to achieve success. See also: Goals, Obstacles, TaskActionable An act, event, or occurrence that carries legal grounds for basing a lawsuit. As offensive as the supervisor’s statements and behaviors had been, her attorney told her they were, unfortunately, not actionable. See also: Arbitration, Audit Activity List A list of the defined activities that need to be completed for a project or task within an action plan. The team was pleased that they had completed their activity list well enough in advance that the whole project moved forward sooner than expected. See also: Planning, Project, TaskActivity Sequencing Identifying how activities affect each other and determining the best order to perform them in order to complete the project. Although the committee’s suggested activity sequencing seemed reasonable on paper, it didn’t take into account ordinary delays expected by the technicians. See also: Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT), Project, Time Management Ad Hoc A team, project, task force, or committee formed to address a specific issue or concern; singular-in-purpose effort; dealing with a particular organizational problem.The CEO created an ad hoc committee to investigate the charges of harassment. See also: Organization, Project, Teams Adaptation to Change Methods and mechanisms that organizations use to react to internal and external environmental changes. Businesses tend to survive longer when their adaptations to change are flexible, open-minded, and already in place prior to major market fluctuations. See also: Adapting, Change, Change Management, Organizations adjustment  Adapting Capable of change from today’s reality to a future state, such as change in response to new markets, globalization, and management changes.Many nonprofit organizations had a hard time adapting to computerization in the 1980s and 1990s. See also: Change, Flexible, Growth Addendum A supplement to a written document. The actor requested that an addendum spelling out the specific needs of his staff be added to the contract. See also: Appendix, Communication Adhesion Contract A contract that generally contains nonnegotiable terms that usual ly favor the party presenting it. The band was known for the outrageous clauses in the adhesion contract they required each venue to sign before they agreed to perform. See also: Contract, Letter of Intent (LOI), TermsAdhocracy A form of organization, usually with little or no structure, that allows for greater creativity and innovation around capturing opportunities, solving problems, and getting results. Once the company moved from a bureaucracy to an adhocracy, several of the program directors had a hard time changing from a very controlling management style to one where staff was allowed more input and flexibility. See also: Bureaucracy, Cross-Functional Team, Management, Organization, Teams Adjustment A debit or credit to a cardholder or seller’s account to correct a transaction error.When the woman’s coat didn’t arrive in the promised amount of time, the store made an adjustment on her credit card to reflect the removal of shipping charges. See also: Accou nting, Credit, Credit Card, Debt A administrative expenses 10 A Administrative Expenses The expenses incurred in carrying out the activities listed in the management and organization section of the business plan. The assistant secretary had to be laid off in order to cut back on administrative expenses. See also: Accounting, Business Plan, Expenses, Income Statement AdministriviaThe day-to-day workings of an office environment required by administrators; Tasks that staff perform to maintain value in an organization that are needed to keep things going forward or to fulfill management needs. The old secretary was invaluable to her boss because of her skill at dealing with administrivia. See also: Administrative Expenses, Task Advertising A tool or management resource for increasing product differentiation and encouraging brand loyalty by communicating the features and benefits of a product/service through the use of radio, television, print, Internet, and other media.Advertising is a large part of any company or product’s success. See also: Benefits, Brand, Communication, Marketing Advertising-Based Model A business model in which a firm generates revenue by charging advertisers for space (for example, in a magazine or on a Web site) or time (as in radio or TV). The weekly neighborhood newspaper was able to stay in business once it switched over to an advertising-based model. See also: Advertising, Business-to-consumer (B to C or B2C), Business Model, Revenue, Web Page Advisory BoardA group of outside experts, typically three to six people, usually recruited by entrepreneurs to provide regular input and suggestions to management. The entrepreneurs brought in an advisory board early in the planning stages of getting the new company up and running. See also: Entrepreneur, Goals, Planning, Vision agenda 11 Affiliate An organization, firm, or other entity with a relationship with another company, peer, or larger entity. Few people realized the community clin ic was actually an affiliate of the nationally recognized hospital and was staffed by many of the same doctors.See also: Control, Network, Relationships Affinity Group An organization made up of businesses (or representatives thereof) with common interests, such as an industry trade association or another group of entrepreneurs. It is important for young professionals to find and join an affinity group that will assist them in becoming comfortable and growing in their chosen field. See also: Trade Association After-Hours Trading Refers to stock trading that takes place outside the traditional trading hours of the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ Stock Market.As more people use the Internet for investment purposes, after-hours trading is becoming more and more common. See also: Stock, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Transactions Aftermarket The trading activity in a security immediately after its initial offering to the public; used to define the volatile time before prices stabilize or the secondary market for upgrades, such as the automotive non-factory parts. Casual investors often wait until the aftermarket has settled down before deciding whether to invest in a specific stock. orComputer companies can make large sales based solely on the aftermarket when new technology that is desirable but not necessary becomes available. See also: Capital Market, Initial Public Offering (IPO), Investor, Marketing, Security Agenda A list of items, issues, things to be considered; points to be discussed; outline of topics to be discussed in a meeting. The agenda was so full, he wasn’t sure if they would cover everything in the course of the hour-long meeting. See also: Briefing, Kickoff Meeting, Meetings, Schedule A 1 A aging of receivablesAging of Receivables An accounting method that provides management with information regarding a debt’s age; or a method of estimating bad-debt losses by aging the accounts and then assigning a probability of collection to each classification. The accountant urged the billing department to track outstanding fees because the aging of receivables indicated any accounts more than six months delinquent would be worthless. See also: Accounts Receivable, Debt Agreement An understanding between two or more parties. May be formal or informal, legal or a â€Å"gentlemen’s† agreement.In many parts of the country, a handshake still creates as binding an agreement as a signed contract. See also: Collective Bargaining, Confidentiality Agreement, Contract Alert Managers, executives, and employees who are observant and on the lookout. Aware, quick to understand the real importance and consequences of a situation or an occurrence. The staff of the advertising department had to be alert to the changing values and morals of society in order to create effective campaigns. See also: Human Resource, Observant Allegiance A commitment to a leader or organization that b inds a party (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.The business made it clear that its allegiance was to its customers and employees, even before that of the stakeholders. See also: Commitment, Leadership, Loyalty, Stakeholders Alliance Any formal, inter-organizational, collaborative relationship with competitors or suppliers of complementary products and services aimed at avoiding crippling capital investments and gaining market entry or core competencies. The owners of the start-up companies were excited about forming an alliance, secure in the knowledge that they could help each other grow.See also: Collaborate, Relationship analysis 1 Alpha Version Development-stage terminology that expresses that the development of a piece of software is in its early stages and may require much further development. An alpha version of a program is also known as a â€Å"pilot† version, which can be tested for overall usability and training effectiveness. Although the alph a version hadn’t worked the way the designers had expected it to, the lessons learned from its failures were valuable in correcting the design flaws. See also: Feasibility Study, Product Development AmbitiousIntent on advancing, enterprising, having great desire and determination to achieve a certain goal. An advancement in position, authority, earnings, or reputation is usually the objective. The plan to expand the company throughout the Northeast was ambitious, but management thought it could be done based on projected sales and growth. See also: Energetic, Motivated Ambivalence Conflicting emotions or feelings about an individual, team, or organization; mixed feelings leading to uncertainty or indecisiveness. The manager was ambivalent about his team’s performance on the marketing campaign.See also: Conflict, Indecisiveness, Leadership, Management, Uncertainty Amortization The allocation of a lump sum amount to different time periods. Either the paying off of debt i n regular installments over a period of time or the deduction of capital expenses over a specific period of time. Loan companies set up an amortization schedule that allows businesses to pay off their debts slowly so they don’t go under but, at the same time, ensure the lender does indeed get its money back in a timely manner. See also: Capital Investments, Debt, Installment AnalysisThe action of taking something apart in order to study it, such as financial analysis, competitive analysis, or strategic analysis. The analysis of the competing firm’s client list proved they were signing the clients everyone in town was hoping to bring on board. See also: Competitive Analysis, PEST Analysis, Problem Solving, SWOT Analysis, Variance Analysis A 1 A anchor store or client Anchor Store or Client A branded store or client that provides an attraction to draw new customers. The presence of such an anchor increases the market potential for other businesses and makes adjacent loc ations more desirable for entrepreneurs.The mall closed within months after the two anchor stores moved out. See also: Brand, Marketing Angel Capital Start-up money provided to entrepreneurs by friends, family, or wealthy individuals (often referred to as the 3 Fs: friends, family, and fools) whose motives may be non-monetary as well as financial. The company’s first round of financing was angel capital. See also: Entrepreneur, Financing, Seed Capital, Venture Capital Angels Private investors, generally wealthy individuals who are former entrepreneurs or executives who invest in entrepreneurial companies.The young businessmen wanted angels for the company, not just for the monetary assistance but for the advice and experience they would bring to the table. See also: Advisory Board, Angel Capital, Incubator, Investor, Venture Capital Animation Effects used in presentations to improve the audience’s experience; rapid sequential presentation of different graphics to creat e the illusion of motion. Even the most engaging speakers can be more effective with the use of animation in their presentations. See also: Presentation Slides, Visual Aid Annual Percentage Rate (APR)An interest rate that states the true cost of obtaining credit for the duration of the loan. Even an APR that is only half a point lower than others can save a consumer a lot of money over the course of a loan. See also: Credit, Interest, Loan applicant 1 Annual Report A document issued annually by public companies to their shareholders per Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations; includes information about a company’s performance during the previous year, as well as management’s view of the company’s strategy for the future. Serious investors will pay very close attention to a company’s annual report before investing.See also: 10K, Communication, Financial Statement or Report, Investors Annual Sales Sales or revenue received during the period o f a year, before any expenses are deducted, for providing the firm’s products and services. In a weak economy, simply maintaining annual sales is often considered as much a success as increasing them would be in a strong economy. See also: Income Statement, Revenue, Sales Antitrust Laws that prohibit agreements in restraint of trade, monopolization and attempted monopolization, anticompetitive mergers and tie-in schemes, and, in some circumstances, price discrimination in the sale of commodities.The antitrust laws apply to virtually all industries and to every level of business, including manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and marketing. Antitrust laws were established to help ensure every company has the opportunity to succeed or fail on its own merits, without being held back by larger, already established businesses. See also: Entry Barriers, Monopoly, Predatory Pricing Appendix An addition to the end of a document. In a business or feasibility plan, it may inclu de copies of product/service information, legal agreements, resumes of principal owners, and so on.Although people tend to ignore the appendix of a document, it often contains important, albeit secondary, information. See also: Communication, Contract Applicant One who is seeking employment. Employers appreciate having a large applicant pool because it tends to increase the chances of finding the right person for the position. See also: Employ, Employee A application 1 A Application A form to be filled out by a job candidate when seeking employment, or the use of computer-based programs to process data for specific purposes.Many companies have applications online, which allows people to apply for positions with ease. or Since the business world has become computerized, having a working knowledge of several different applications is beneficial to job applicants. See also: Applicant, Applications Software, Data Processing Application Service Provider (ASP) Party that offers an outsou rcing mechanism whereby it develops, supplies, and manages application software and hardware for its customers, thus freeing up customers’ internal IT resources.The application software resides on the vendor’s system and is accessed by users through a Web browser using HTML or by special-purpose client software provided by the vendor. Using an ASP can be risky because if the vendor goes under or closes, information can be lost with very little, if any, warning to the customers. See also: Client, Information Technology (IT), Server Application Software Software applications that are intended for end-users, such as database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Application software runs on top of system software.Application software can often be purchased to upgrade a computer’s capabilities. See also: Application, Data Processing, Information Technology (IT) Appraisal A written document by a professional appraiser estimating the value or quality of an asse t as of a given date or a performance evaluation of an employee. It is important to get a fair appraisal prior to purchasing a big ticket item. The company required yearly performance appraisals of all the employees. See also: Employee, Promotion Appraise Estimating the value or determine the cost of an item or enterprise.When the situation was appraised objectively, moving the company out of the city really was the best course of action in the long run. See also: Appraisal, Valuation arbitration 1 Appreciation An increase in the value of an asset. The appreciation in property values expected in the neighborhood made buying even a small house an excellent investment. See also: Assets, Capital Appreciation, Valuation Appropriation The application of the payment of a sum of money, made by a debtor to his creditor, to one of several debts as money that has been set aside by formal action to pay some known or anticipated costs.The bookkeeper insisted on an accounting of the funds appro priated for each step of the loan repayment process because she feared the company was overreaching its financial abilities to pay back new loans. See also: Creditor, Debt Arbitrage The opportunity to profit from a simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset; a rare and short-lived situation because market forces will close the gap between the purchase and sale prices, thus ending the opportunity. The speculator realized she needed to take advantage of the arbitrage before the window of opportunity closed and the market prices equalized.See also: Risk, Security A rbitrage is the opportunity to obtain a risk-free profit from the simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset, thus capturing the price differentials in similar or different markets. Such arbitrage opportunities are rare and short-lived as market forces will drive toward price convergence and eliminate such arbitrage opportunities. Arbitration A form of alternate dispute resolution in which a neutral third party hears the res pective positions and renders a decision. The contract disputes were eventually resolved when the company and the union were ordered into arbitration.See also: Conflict Resolution, Mediation A articles of incorporation 1 A Articles of Incorporation A document filed with the secretary of state of the state of incorporation detailing things such as a company’s purpose, powers under state law, classes of securities to be issued, and the rights and liabilities of directors and shareholders. One of the first steps taken by a new business needs to be filing its articles of incorporation so that every step thereafter is legal. See also: Board of Directors, Incorporate Articulate The ability to express oneself distinctly; able to speak effectively.The CEO was disappointed to learn that as articulate as she had been during interviews, the new employee didn’t have the skills or knowledge base to get the job done. See also: Persuasive, Understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI) Using the power of a computer or network to improve the quality of management decisions, particularly complex strategic choices. Many spam blockers use AI to filter out e-mail that is unsolicited, which in turn improves efficiency. See also: Computers, Data Mining, Expert System, Fuzzy Logic, Strategic Choices Asking Price The price an owner places on an asset he is willing to sell.The asking price is also viewed as a benchmark price where the buyer and seller can begin negotiations since an agreed-upon price has yet to be reached. During a housing boom, it is not uncommon for sellers to get above the asking price on a property. See also: Benchmark, Bid Price Aspirin Count Theory A market theory that suggests that aspirin production and stock prices are inversely related, therefore when stock prices drop, aspirin production increases. The aspirin count theory may be based on an old wives’ tale but it certainly makes sense as well. See also: Stock, Economics sset-based financi ng 1 Assertive The ability and willingness to speak up without hesitation, make a position known; characterized by decided, often emphatic, statements and actions. A good supervisor is able to juggle being assertive with diplomacy skills. See also: Attitude, Positive Assessment An official estimate of the value of something for the purpose of computing property tax. Based on the assessment, the house was worth far more than the young couple could afford to pay for it. See also: Taxes, Valuation Asset Lending The loaning of money on the value of assets offered as security.The lender is protected from loss by the liquidation value of the assets. Although she generally didn’t like asset lending, the antiques presented as security were worth the risk she incurred by offering the couple the loan. See also: Assets, Loan Asset Redeployment The strategic relocation of enterprise assets in order to increase profitability through improved competitive advantage. The small company decid ed to try asset redeployment to help bring in more money so layoffs wouldn’t be required. See also: Assets, Competitive Advantage, Strategy Asset Turnover A company’s total sales divided by its total assets.This ratio measures the overall efficiency with which a company uses its assets to produce sales. The higher the measure, the more efficient the business model. The investors were pleased to see the asset turnover on the rise after three straight quarters of watching the ratio fall. See also: Assets, Financial Ratios, Profit Margin, Revenue, Turnover Asset-Based Financing Financing an enterprise by using its hard assets for collateral to acquire a loan of sufficient size with which to finance operations. Asset-based financing can be a safe or a risky choice depending on the strength of the company being taken over.See also: Assets, Financing, Leveraged Buyout (LBO), Loan A assets 0 A Assets Anything on a company’s books considered as having a positive moneta ry value. Assets are reported on a firm’s balance sheet. Although the firm seemed financially secure, the accountants were beginning to become concerned about its dwindling assets. See also: Balance Sheet, Return on Assets (ROA) Assign To transfer a right or interest to another person. On his twenty-fifth birthday, the young man was assigned his half of his father’s share in the business. See also: Project, Resource AssumptionsFactors that are believed to be true and affect business planning. Assumptions may impact risk and should always be documented and validated. Organizations make assumptions about many internal and external factors, including customers, competitors, industry evolution, regulation, technology, and the organization’s resources, competencies, and cash flows. Inaccurate assumptions about the dot-com industry led to the bubble bursting in the 1990s. See also: Business Plan, Organizations, Resource At-Will Employment An employment policy that all ows employees and employers to terminate the working relationship at any time.Many seasonal and part-time employees are hired with an at-will employment understanding. See also: Employee, Termination Attrition A reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation, or death. Some downsizing may occur through attrition, while others take place more aggressively through layoffs and terminations. See also: Downsizing, Employee, Retirement, Rightsizing average selling price 1 Audit To examine an individual’s or organization’s records in an attempt to verify accuracy and legal compliance. Insurance companies may audit clinic records at least once a year, provided they offer reasonable notice.See also: Accounting, Adjustment, Due Diligence Authentication The process of confirming a user’s identity; commonly done through the use of passwords or digital certificates. Most credit card companies use security questions to ensure authentication of the calle r. See also: Authorization, Information Technology (IT), Password Authority Permission or approval to make decisions for team, organization, or firm; the power to command actions be taken; legitimacy to lead. In order to be effective, managers need to have the authority to make decisions without double-checking with the CEO or president.See also: Adhocracy, Delegation, Organizations Authorization Validating the authenticity of something or someone; approval of a bank card transaction by the card-issuing bank for a specified dollar amount. Authorization is a critical step in processing credit cards for purchase of merchandise online. See also: Authentication, Bank Card, Charge-Back, Credit, E-Commerce, Gateway, Power of Attorney, Sales Transaction Average Annual Growth Rate A measure of the rate of change in a firm’s annual sales. The average annual growth rate can indicate the overall health or weakness of a company.See also: Net Worth, Revenue, Sales Average Selling Price (A SP) The average price for all items sold during a particular time frame, usually calculated for a specific category or a single seller’s sales. Online auctions benefit customers because products can be bought well below the ASP. See also: Distribution, Price, Retailer A award  A Award A final decision that is rendered in favor of one party or something that is given on the basis of merit or need. Many people believe there should be no upper limit to what juries may award victims in malpractice suits. orThe team was thrilled to win the award, especially in light of the strength of the national competition. See also: Grant, Honor B Baby Boomers Consumers born from 1943 to 1960, characterized as experimental, individualistic, free spirited, social cause–oriented, distrustful of government, and generally cynical. As the largest generation cohort in America, they have dominated the market’s attention and driven product development. Many ad campaigns are directed to ward baby boomers’ reluctance to admit that they are aging. See also: Cohort, Market Research, Marketing Back OfficeAdministrative functions that support the processing of online transactions such as e-mail confirmations, shipping and tax calculations, packing slip creation, and report generation. For every online store, there is someone in front of a computer handling back office issues. See also: Administrivia, General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses, Overhead Back Order Part of an order that was not filled when the initial shipment was made. Back orders are usually shipped when the items become available, without requiring the customer to place a reorder. See also: Backlog, CustomerBack Pay Wages that an employee is entitled to when the employer is found to be in violation of standard employment practices. He received his back pay after going for an extended period of time without a paycheck. See also: Employee, Wage bailout clause  Backdating Placing a date on a docum ent that is prior to the date the document is actually drawn up; a process that makes a document effective from an earlier date. Both parties agreed to backdate the contracts to the day they had first discussed the arrangement. See also: Agreement, Contract, Stock Option BacklogCustomer orders on products that are planned for shipment or delivery in the future. The clerk was able to check the backlog and tell the customer when his equipment would be delivered. See also: Back Order, Sales Backup A copy of a file or application that is kept separate from the original as a precaution against data loss in the event the original is lost or destroyed; or (two words) to make a copy of original work. It is vital to keep a backup of all documentation stored on a hard drive. or He didn’t back up the data, so we lost last week’s work. See also: Computer, Data, Data Recovery, SoftwareBad Credit The result of a company or individual being late or defaulting on bill payment. He was concerned about qualifying for the loan because of the bad credit he had accrued while he was in college. See also: Credit, Default Bad Debt Money that is still owed on an account and is past due; a debt that cannot be recovered. Once the firm declared bankruptcy, its lenders had to write off their accounts as bad debt. See also: Debt, Insolvency, Risk Bailout Clause A clause in a contract that allows a party to get out of the contract. They decided to accept the bailout clause despite some reservations.See also: Cancellation, Contract, Negotiation, Termination B balance sheet  B Balance Sheet A statement of the book value of a business, corporation, or individual at a particular date. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the organization’s assets, liabilities, and net worth or shareholder equity. Her business acumen allowed her to interpret a company’s balance sheet more accurately than most, so she knew what was a good investment even when others missed the opp ortunity. See also: Assets, Financial Statement or Reports, Fiscal Year, Income Statement, Liability, Net Worth, Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement Balanced ScorecardA process that enables organizations to translate a company’s vision and strategy into implementation by working from four perspectives: financial, customer, business process, and learning and growth. This not only allows the monitoring of present performance, the method also tries to capture information about how well the organization is positioned to perform in the future. The balanced scorecard enabled the consultants to understand where the company wanted to go in the future and help its staff understand how to get there. See also: Critical Success Factors (CSFs), Metrics, Organizations, Strategy, Teams, Vision BankA financial institution; a commercial institution licensed as a receiver of deposits; a business for keeping, lending, exchanging and issuing money. A bank-issued card that authorizes the holder to re ceive bank services and that often functions as a debit card is an important tool for any business. See also: Bank Statement Bank Card A form of payment using either credit or debit from a bank account; any valid card issued by a card association or other card-issuing organization that is presented in payment for goods and services or to obtain cash advances. Many people appreciate being able to use a bank card instead of having to carry cash.See also: Bank, Credit Card Bank Statement A record of a firm’s account that is regularly provided by the bank, either in print or online. Our accountant reconciles the firm’s bank statement each month. See also: Bank, Cash Basis Accounting, Deposit Transactions barrier  Bankruptcy A state in which an entity is unable to meet its obligations and seeks court protection from its debtors. If the bankrupt entity is a firm, the ownership of the firm’s assets is transferred from the stockholders to the bondholders. Shareholders are the last people to get paid if a company goes bankrupt.Secure creditors always get first grabs at the proceeds from liquidation. Also called Chapter 11. The company decided to file for bankruptcy rather than to accumulate more debt and destroy its reputation even further. See also: Assets, Creditor, Debt, Stockholder or Shareholder Banner Ad Internet advertising using graphics on a Web page to direct a viewer’s attention to a product or service. Banners link to further information and Web pages. The online store charged other businesses a small fee to have banner ads on its Web site. See also: Advertising, Hyperlink, Internet, Web Page, World Wide Web (WWW) Bar ChartA schedule that shows project activities with associated start and completion dates. The bar chart was posted where everyone involved with the project could see it and be sure to stay on target. See also: Activity Sequencing, Business Plan, Critical Path Method (CPM), Gantt Chart, Milestone, Projects Bar Code An identifying mark made from a pattern of bars and spaces. A bar code is generated for individual items based on the item name/number or stockkeeping unit (SKU) on the item record. If a bar code is ripped or missing, it can be difficult for clerks to find the price of an item. See also: Inventories, Inventory Control, RetailerBarrier Conditions that create difficulty for an organization to meet a goal or objective; something that prevents progress or success toward an end. There is a long-standing debate about how much of a barrier race and gender are in the corporate world. See also: Entry Barriers, Obstacles B barter  B Barter The exchange of one commodity for another without the exchange of money. Although the project had very limited assets, the team met its goals through a barter arrangement. See also: Commodity, Microeconomics Baseline The agreed-upon plan to which all subsequent plans will be compared for cost, schedule, and performance.The initial product was so successf ul that everyone agreed it would be unfair to use it as a baseline for the projects that were scheduled to follow. See also: Business Plan, Performance, Schedule Basis The cost or value of an asset as adjusted for tax purposes. Securities also have a basis, which is determined by the price an investor pays for the security plus any other incremental fees. The basis is then used to determine capital gains or losses for tax purposes when the stock is eventually sold. She had bought stock at a high price, but because she had been given more shares as a gift, the basis was very reasonable.See also: Capital Gains, Taxes Behavior A manner, action, or set of actions performed by a person under specified circumstances that reveal some skill, knowledge, or attitude; a way of conducting oneself. The goal of training is to teach new employees the proper behavior in any situation, including unexpected or stressful ones. See also: Attitude, Knowledge, Skill Beliefs Assumptions and convictions th at a person holds to be true regarding people, concepts, or things; an organization’s understanding of cause-effect relationships. Many people choose to work for organizations that share their political, social, or environmental beliefs.See also: Behavior, Convictions, Mindset, Organizations big, hairy, audacious goals  Benchmark A standard of reference used for comparison; a process of comparing practices within a company to the very best practices in some of the very best organizations, within and outside the industry; a process for measuring â€Å"best practice† performance and comparing the results to corporate performance in order to identify opportunities for improvement. The overwhelming success of the holiday ad campaign was the benchmark by which all other campaigns would be measured. See also: Competitive Advantage, Core Competencies, Metrics, Strategy BenefitsA collection of advantages; solutions offered to customers through a company’s products/ser vices; the advantages that are inherent in a product/service or that customers expect to receive and that motivate customers to purchase it. An effective ad campaign communicates the benefits of buying a specific product well enough that consumers believe they need the product. See also: Communication, Marketing, Sales Bid An offer of money in exchange for an item that is for sale. Once the national chain made a bid for the shops, the medium-sized businesses dropped out because they knew they couldn’t match the prices the larger company could offer.See also: Asking Price, Bid Price Bid Price A price offered by a prospective buyer to begin the negotiation process of buying a security or business asset. Although the firm had been in his family for years, the man was tempted by the increasingly high bid prices being offered by the competitors. See also: Bid, Negotiation Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs) A goal, vision, or plan that causes the organization to stretch to obtain the result; a challenge by leadership to an organization to fulfill a mission or strategy. By setting BHAGs, companies often accomplish far more than if they had set goals that would be expected to be met easily.See also: Catalytic Mechanisms, Goals, Strategy B bill of sale  B Bill of Sale A written agreement stating the terms by which ownership of goods is transferred to another party. It is wise to get a bill of sale for any large purchase item you cannot simply carry away. See also: Agreement, Term Sheet Bit The fundamental informational building block used by all computers. A bit is a single character in a binary number. The digital camera images contained 3 million bits of information. See also: Computer, Data, Information Blog A journal that is available on the Web; frequently updated, chronological entries on a particular topic.This word was created from the combination of the words â€Å"Web log. † These days, teenagers are as likely to host a blog in order to keep in touch with their friends as they are to use the phone. See also: Communication, Internet, Link, Media, Web Page, World Wide Web (WWW) Board of Directors A group of people elected by a corporation’s shareholders to oversee the management of the company. A board often consists of executive and nonexecutive directors. Executive directors play an active part in running the company, while non-executive directors are there to offer advice.The program supervisors reported to the board of directors on a quarterly basis. See also: Chairman of the Board (COB), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Strategy Bonds Debt securities that pays the holder a fixed sum on a regular schedule for a fixed term. Bonds are issued by corporations and governments; they come in a wide variety of types. In the past, the United States government has issued war bonds in order to maintain a cash flow during wartime. See also: Debt, Security bookkeeper  Bonus A sum of money or equivalent incentives given to e mployees in addition to base compensation.Bonuses can also come in the form of extra vacation time, gifts, and other nonmonetary awards. Even when business was slow, the store owner made sure his staff received holiday bonuses to show his appreciation for their hard work. See also: Compensation, Intangible Rewards, Perquisite or Perk Rewards Book Inventory The balance of the inventory account after all incoming inventory is added and the cost of outgoing goods is subtracted. The book inventory type of perpetual inventory system is usually verified annually by taking a physical inventory and reconciling any discrepancies. See also: Accounting, Inventories Book ValueThe value of an asset as reflected in the books of the company owning the item. The book value of the items at auction could never accurately represent the sentimental value several of the pieces had to the buyers. See also: Accounting, Assets, Balance Sheet, Liability, Net Worth Book-to-Bill Ratio A measure of sales trend s of a company or overall industry. The ratio divides the amount of new orders â€Å"booked† by the value of the products shipped each month (or â€Å"billed†). The strength of the technology industry can be measured in part by watching the book-to-bill ratio every month. See also: Ratio Analysis, Revenue, Sales BookkeeperA person who records the accounts or transactions of a business in a general ledger. The store owner hired a bookkeeper to handle finances when she opened her second shop. See also: Accounting, General Ledger B bookkeeping 0 B Bookkeeping The practice or profession of recording the accounts and transactions of a business through a systematic and convenient record of money transactions in order to show the condition of a business enterprise. Having an accurate and trustworthy bookkeeping staff is vital to the success of any large business. See also: Accounting, Bookkeeper Bookmark A marker or address that identifies a Web site or Web page.Most Web bro wsers allow users to save and organize bookmarks as a convenient way to mark Web sites for future reference. Most browsers have a section called â€Å"favorites† where users can bookmark their favorite sites for easy access. See also: Application Software, Web Page, World Wide Web (WWW) Boom A period when business expands and the economy experiences rapid growth and rising prices. During such a period, there is an increased demand for goods and services and unemployment rates fall. The boom that resulted after the election showed the country’s faith in the new president’s economic policies.See also: Demand, Economics, Leading Indicators Boot Camp An indoctrination program in some aspect of leadership or management; going to such a program means being immersed in a discipline or topic with a group or team of cohorts. The board recommended everyone on the management team attend boot camp on cultural differences before the expansion into Europe took place. See also : Leadership, Teams Bootstrapping A management approach that uses internal methods to generate money to be used for a proposed project or venture; a low start-up, pay-as-you-go approach to launching businesses.Many managers believe that bootstrapping rather than waiting until a new company has more than enough start-up monies helps create a sense of excitement and energy that bonds the staff and makes the company stronger in the long run. See also: Seed Capital, Start-Up, Venture Capital brainstorming 1 Boston Consulting Group Box (BCG Box) A framework for analysis and communication strategy for a business with a portfolio of products, services, programs, strategic business units or companies. The consultants used a BCG Box to present the analysis of the programs.See also: Cash Cow, Competitive Advantage, Dog, Harvest, Strategic Business Unit (SBU), Strategy Bottleneck Anything that slows down or impedes by creating an obstruction or that halts the progress or flow of an activity, process, or operation in an organization. The computer glitch caused a bottleneck throughout the entire production line. See also: Barriers, Obstacle Bottom-Up An estimating technique in which every activity is individually estimated and then added together to determine the total project estimate. Each department was required to provide the CEO and the treasurer with a bottom-up budget every year.See also: Budget, Business Plan, Decentralized, Organizations, Planning, Structure Bottom Line The line in a financial statement that shows net income or loss. Based on the bottom figure on a profit-and-loss statement, it refers to an organization’s most important measure of success: profits. Even established businesses must keep an eye on the bottom line in order to continue to be successful. See also: Income Statement, Loss, Profit, Valuation Brainstorming A management technique used to foster ideas, solve problems, set goals, establish priorities, and make assignments for employee accomplishments.As a semistructured creative group activity, this method is used most often in ad-hoc business meetings to come up with new ideas for innovation or improvement. The committee came up with several good fundraising ideas in one brainstorming session. See also: Creativity, Innovation B brand  B Brand The symbolic embodiment of key information that differentiates a product or service from the competition. Brands matter because companies act just like people when it comes to evaluating what products or services to buy. Many teenagers can identify popular brands faster than they can identify current world leaders.See also: Brand Equity, Brand Loyalty, Brand Management, Customer Loyalty, Marketing, Value Proposition A brand and branding today is a strategic tool that helps the supplier cut through the morass of the market, get noticed, and connect with the customer on many levels and in ways that matter. Consumers are drawn to brands’ irrational benefits (status, prestige, affinity, self-security). Business customers specify and purchase based on rational drivers (pricing, product performance, metrics). Brand Equity The total or intrinsic value of a brand.Awareness of a firm’s products or services are measured by consumer goodwill, l