International Finance & Financial Management Essay

International Finance & Financial Management - Essay Example Part 1 Shareholders’ and stakeholders’ value: Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar, & Colle (2010) observe that the primary objective for any business is to maximize its shareholders’ value as well as stakeholders’ value. The increase in shareholders’ value primarily results from the growth in the business with growth in top-line (sales revenue) and also increase in the bottom-line (profit). The shareholders of the organization contribute equity capital to the organization, which is required by the organization to grow and develop its business. So it is highly important that the organization provides maximum possible return to its equity shareholders. A company takes part in growth strategy by taking the path of acquisition, by venturing into completely new areas and also in new business basically to help the business grow thereby contributing to the growth in its profit. This helps in generating effective returns for its shareholders who are considered the owner of the organization. The company should basically look at value maximization of its shareholders and provide for the risk being taken by the shareholders’ in proving capital to the organization. The stakeholders of a company comprise all the participants who take effective part in the operation of the company. The stakeholders primarily include the customers who are the most important part of any organization, the suppliers of raw materials, the creditors, the employees, the community, the Government, the environment and even the shareholders’ who are directly affected by the business activities. (Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar, Colle, 2010, pp.128-131) Potential value of Synergies due to Acquisition: In recent times there has been a rapid increase in Mergers and acquisition activities. Companies are taking part in these activities effectively to enhance the business growing opportunities contributing to increase in shareholders’ wealth. Bosecke (20 09) and Hunt (2009) observe that there is a set of complex reasons, which drive a firm to promote M&A activities. The Efficiency Theory clearly elucidates the main goal of M&A activities is to exploit synergies where synergy is basically the increased operational performance as a result of combined entity than that of single isolated firms. There may be positive synergies when the net combined effect of synergy produces more value than individual firms and if the synergy is not effective it causes negative synergy. There may be other synergies like Financial, operational and managerial synergies. The financial synergy basically results from lower cost, which calls for investment in unrelated business, which effectively reduces the systematic risk for the organization. Moreover capital costs can be reduced when the company grows in size and have access to cheaper capital. Sometimes larger companies basically venture outside to raise cheaper capital, as the cost of raising capital in countries like USA, Japan etc is very low. The companies, which are involved in mergers and acquisition internationally, can access the stock markets of those countries and in that case they have to comply with the specifications and regulations binding the process of accessing the international markets. This promotes international acquisition. The managerial synergy basically results when one less technically and functionally developed company derive benefit after getting merged with one technically and f

4G Cellular Communication Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

4G Cellular Communication - Research Paper Example The technology provides high speed and quickens transmission of data from one place to another, hence making mode of communication be fast. However, the research will face some challenges in the coming years since it will require some conditions for it to run perfectly well. The objectives of the 4G cellular communication are aimed at improving the methods of communication within two groups of people as fast as possible to enhance economic growth of the world. The potential abuse of the technology occurs when individuals fail to follow the regulations provided by the technology. Introduction There always is the need for communication regardless of place and the distance. Consequently, there has been an augmented demand of wireless communication by companies globally owing to the awkwardness in using fixed wire telecommunications. The fourth Generation (4G) is a new technology seeking to address communication needs of the populace. The 4G of cellular communication are the advancements that are realized in the wireless telecommunication industries in the recent years globally. They provide fast transfer of data across electronic devices compared to the previous cellular communication approaches such as third generation (3G). The high speeds of the data transmissions upgrade the quality of communication through improvement of high definition video. According to Lu and Hu (2006), 4G is highly expected to transform the mobile communication system through upgrading smart phones to perform certain tasks that were only previously achievable by personal computers (PC). Mobile communication is going to be affected positively by the introduction of the fourth generation, since it will transform and improve its operation. In this essay, the development, challenges, uses, potential abuses by individuals, potential new developments, objectives, features, and application of the fourth generation technology are discussed broadly. Development Its history can be traced in the 19 70s when the first generation was introduced. It comprised of analog technology that was used to unravel essential problems that existed during that time. Analog systems were used to assist in communication in dissimilar places worldwide in the 1980s. However, the system was deliberate and unwieldy to use, but it was a successful discovery that initialized a technological journey. The second generation (2G) was introduced in 1980, and was used for voice applications and introduction of digital techniques that improved the speed of data transformations (Brand & Aghvami, 2002). The technology launched the use of circuit-switched data communication that enhanced use of the digital communication rather than the analog system. 2G is still used worldwide by few people since the technology involves some digital aspects, which are habitually preferable. The introduction of 3G was highly appreciated for the substantial improvements it launched in the communication expertise. The implication of 3G was that it improved the voice technology in channels (Arshad & Farooq & Shah, 2010). However, it faced a challenge since the two companies that instigated the technology failed to agree on the terms and parted ways. The 3G telecoms business has been outstandingly successful and has gained many profits in the few years since its launch. The technology has influenced the mobile technology that has subsequently assisted in the overture of internet in

Should we give tax breaks to companies developing drugs for rare Essay

Should we give tax breaks to companies developing drugs for rare diseases - Essay Example It will only hasten their death. Since it is within the power of the government and tax payers to prevent these deaths by offering tax support, then so be it. After all, they would want the cure if they were afflicted with the minor, yet life threatening illness themselves. Creating an orphan drug is more of a labor of love for these companies because the return on investment is slow. However, the government, under the â€Å"Orphan Drug Act† provides tax breaks to companies like Genzyme, who create these kinds of drugs. That tax break alone helps ease the burden of r&d cost for the company. As such, the company can pass on the savings to the patients who do not have to pay unrealistic costs for the drugs because the company can afford to sell the drugs directly to the doctor specialist in almost all cases. The sentiment against the use of tax money in r&d for orphaned drugs do so under because the actual cost and length of time spent on the development the drug remains unknown and debatable to the tax payers. The taxpayers would rather that the tax money go to subsidizing healthcare for many instead. However, the needs of few will also affect the many because research into orphan drugs sometimes turns up valuable information or advancements for current medical drugs as well. Therefore, it has a payback appeal in a certain way. However, collaboration between small and large pharmaceutical companies is not an option because the big companies will be concentrated on quick ROI and the integration of their current crop of products in the orphaned drug. In other words, the small companies will be forced to play the big game because they are being financed that way, even though that is not the main concern of their research. Having read all the articles that accompanied this paper, and based upon the results of my own research readings, I will have to support the move to use taxpayer funding for the orphaned drugs and rare disorders research. The

Inflation and Consumer Price Indices Essay Example for Free

Inflation and Consumer Price Indices Essay A literature Review5 Methodology6 Statement Of The Problem6 Objectives Of The Study10 Summary and Conclusions10 Abstract Consumer price index has been confused by a lot of people in recent times. CPI, which is one of the most frequently used statistics to identify periods of inflation is also sometimes viewed as an indicator of the effectiveness of government economic policy. The government, business, labor, and private citizens uses price changes information provided by the CPI in the Nations economy to guide them in making economic decisions. The Consumer Price Index, as implied by the name is an index, or â€Å"a number used to measure change. Investopedia (Investopedia, N. D) defines CPI as A measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. This paper attempts to explain what inflation is, types of inflation and how it is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the most commonly used measure of inflation. The paper also attempts to discuss the inflation behavior in Malaysia. Keywords: Inflation, Consumer Price Index, types of inflation. Introduction CPI and inflation has always been thought to be same because CPI is widely used as a measure of inflation. However the current rate of inflation is not given by CPI itself. To know the increase or decrease in the prices of goods nd services, the index must be used in the calculations. The Bank of Canada (2010) defined inflation as a persistent rise over time in the average level of prices in the economy. As demand for goods and services exceeds the economys capacity to supply those goods and services, prices tend to go up while an excess supply of goods and services tends to put downward pressure on prices. Its important to understand the difference between the many different types of inflation. When inflation is more than 50% a month, it is known as hyperinflation. There is no known history of hyperinflation in Malaysia, but it is known to have occurred in Germany (costantino bresciani-turroni, 1937) before World War II, and in Zimbabwe (michael wines, 2006) in the 2000s. Stagflation is when inflation occurs despite slow economic growth and the last time this happened in the U. S. was in the 1970s. When inflation affects different parts of the economy, its known as asset inflation because it affects just one asset. This occurred with stock portfolios when the Dow reached its peak (Google finance 2007) of 14,164. 43 on October 9, 2007. Asset inflation mostly occurs during oil-price shock. This is usually as a result of gas and oil demand predictions done by the commodities trader that the demand would go up during summer vacations. When traders become more concerned that oil supply would likely be cut off, just as during the Iran threat to close the Straits of Hormuz in 2012, (Aljazeera, 2012) traders will increase the price of oil. And as a result, price of food, which is usually transported long distances would likely be hiked. A literature Review Cheng and Tan (2002) examined in? ation in Malaysia using quarterly data over the period from 1973QI to 1997QII. The study used the Johansen (1988) cointegration, vector error-correction modeling, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition of the Sims (1980) approach. They included 11 variables in their analysis, namely CPI, money supply, interest rate, income, private expenditure, government expenditure, exchange rate, trade balance, capital in? ows, the rest of in? ation in ASEAN, and in? ation in the rest of the world. The empirical results of their study showed that external factors such as exchange rate and the rest of in? ation in ASEAN are relatively more important than domestic factors in explaining in? tion in Malaysia. Cunado and De Gracia (2005) examined the impact of various of oil price shock on in? ation in six Asian countries, namely Japan, Singapore, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia using quarterly data over the period from 1975Q1 to 2002Q2. The study also examined the asymmetries impact of real oil price change on in? ation. The study used the Johansen (1988) cointegration method and Granger causality test. The main results were that real oil price change has a signi? cant short-run impact on in? ation and becomes more signi? cant when real oil price shock is de? ed in local currency rather than in $US. Furthermore, the impact of real oil price change on in? ation is di? erent across economies in Asia. The real oil price change and in? ation relationship appears to be more signi? cant and more general than the real oil price change and output relationship for Asian countries. For Malaysia, the relationship between real oil price change and in? ation is less signi? cant. Moreover, there is no evidence of Granger causality from real oil price change in $US to in? ation. However, some evidence was found when real oil price change is measured in domestic currency. Also, some evidence was found for the asymmetric impact of real oil price change in $US and in domestic currency on in? ation. Methodology This paper uses data for a time span of 2005 to 2012 to analyze the inflation rate and also uses more data with a span of Jan 2011 to jun2012 to analyze the Consumer Price Index for that particular period in time. Statement Of The Problem The inflation rate in Malaysia has averaged at 2. 77 percent from the year 2005 to 2012. During this period, it would be noted from the graph below that, its highest inflation rate which is measured by Consumer price index was recorded at 8. 00 percent in July 2008. When compared to previous years, it is the highest recorded since 1986. Its lowest was also recorded at -2. 400 percent in July 2009. Exactly a year from the highest recorded.

Factors Effecting Literacy Development

Factors Effecting Literacy Development This essay looks at the development of Literacy from birth to school age including speaking, listening, viewing, reading and writing. It examines how hearing impairment relates to a childs overall Literacy development. Literacy is commonly considered the ability to read and write at a designated level of proficiency. But is more precisely defined as a technical capability to decode or reproduce written or printed signs, symbols, or letters combined into words. Traditionally, literacy has been closely associated with the alphabet and its role in written communication. However, it has become increasingly common to refer to different forms of literacy, such as computer, mathematical, or graphic literacy. Many experts believe that people need a combination of many different forms of literacy in order to meet the demands of modern day life. There are five developmental stages in a growing childs life. It all starts at birth, which is known as infancy, it lasts until age 2. Then there is early childhood which is from ages 2-6, and then comes middle childhood which is from 6-10 years old. Early adolescence is the next stage which spans from 10-14 years old and then late adolescence which is from 14-18 years old. The two stages that stand out most in development to me are middle childhood and late adolescence. From the earliest age in middle childhood to the oldest age in late adolescence, there is an eight year gap. There is so much growing done in between these two stages that the transition is truly remarkable. Emergent Literacy begins in the very early stages of childhood, and is the beginning of Literacy development, involving such activities as reading from pictures and writing with scribbles. Reading a book from memory while turning the pages of the book, develops a childs understanding of books and stories, as well as giving them a sense of accomplishment and pride, and is an important step towards becoming an independent reader. From the day children are born they require a form of communication in order to function adequately in society. A pre-speech baby will use gestures and expressions and babblings to interact with others. A toddler will participate in turn taking to satisfy a need or want. The more pre-schoolers participate in the world, the more they discover that language is useful. The First six years of childrens lives play a crucial part in their development. During this time, childrens brains develop at a astonishing rate. Parents and other family members play a key role i n early development, as their childrens first and most important teachers. Early Literacy development is not considered as teaching a child to read in a formal way, its about helping children to make sense of their world by developing strong oral language skills. Its about valuing home language and culture as building blocks, allowing children to explore the world of literacy. Its about providing lots of positive interactions between childrens older peers and parents. In addition to an environment which is rich in Literacy resources and models language and Literacy for young children to copy. The NWT Literacy council suggests it was generally considered that literacy development belonged mostly in schools, whilst children learnt to read and write. The formal teaching of writing and reading still happens at school, but Literacy doesnt begin when children start to learn the letters of the alphabet, or write their name, or go to school. The foundation for Literacy development begins much earlier- some people say it starts in the womb. The development is acquired thorough children interacting with adults and older children. Also through a childs play and experiences with Literacy resources such as stories, songs, rhymes, crayons, pens and paper. Children with a hearing impairment range from those with a mild hearing impairment to those who are profoundly deaf. They cover the whole ability range. Hearing impairment may be due to conductive or sensory-neural problems. Four categories are generally used: mild, moderate, severe and profound. In education, pupils are considered to have a hearing impairment if they need hearing aids, adaptations to the environment or particular teaching strategies in order to access the curriculum. Serious hearing lost occurs in about two per thousand of the population pg 1 (D, Goldstein) Briggle, S (2005, p.69) makes the point that literacy development for children who have hearing impairment is a multifaceted issue. Within Literacy development there any many parallels to hearing children, as well as some elements which are unique to children who are hearing impaired. It is well recognized that hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with listening difficulties due to hearing impairment or auditory processing problems continue to be an underidentified and underserved population. The earlier hearing impairment occurs in a childs life, the more serious the effects on the childs development. Similarly, the earlier the problem is identified and intervention begun, the less serious the ultimate impact. There are four major ways in which hearing impairment affects Literacy development in children. Firstly causing a delay in the development of receptive and expressive communication skills. Language deficit causes learning problems that often result in reduced academic achievement. Communication difficulties can often lead to social isolation, poor self-concept and may impact the childs ability to make choices. Vocabulary also develops more slowly in children who have a hearing impairment. Children with hearing impairment are able to learn concrete words like cat, jump, five, and red more easily than abstract words like before, after, equal to, and jealous. They also have difficulty with function words like the, an, are, and a. The gap between the vocabulary of children with normal hearing and those with hearing impairment widens with age. Children with hearing impairment are not able to catch up without appropriate early intervention. Children with hearing impairment also have difficulty understanding words with multiple meanings. It is common for children with hearing impairment to comprehend and produce shorter and simpler sentences than children with normal hearing. Children with hearing impairment often have difficulty understanding and writing complex sentences, such as those with relative clauses or passive voice. Children with hearing impairment often cannot hear word endings such as -s or -ed. This can lead to misunderstandings and misuse of verb tense, pluralisation and possessives. Children with hearing impairment often cannot hear quiet speech sounds such as s, sh, f, t, and k and therefore do not include them in their speech. Therefore, speech may be difficult to understand. Children with hearing impairment may not hear their own voices when they speak. They may speak too loudly or not loud enough. They may have a speaking pitch that is too high. They may sound like they are mumbling because of poor stress, poor inflection, or poor rate of speaking. Lastly, children with hearing impairment have difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially reading and mathematical concepts. Children with mild to moderate hearing impairments, on average, achieve one to four grade levels lower than their peers with normal hearing, unless appropriate management occurs. Children with severe to profound hearing impairment usually achieve skills no higher than Ks3/4, unless appropriate educational intervention occurs early. The gap in academic achievement between children with normal hearing and those with hearing impairment usually widens as they progress through school. The level of achievement is related to parental involvement and the quantity, quality, and timing of the support services children receive. By the age of three years the average normally hearing child has a vocabulary of approximately 1,000 words (Bond, D. 1981p.g 19) Children learn this language from what they hear and by the age of three master many grammatical elements of language. The hearing impaired child may not have the advantage of comforting and reassuring sounds within their environment, unless directly directed towards them. Even with the assistance of hearing aids and recent technology advances many hearing impaired children report listening unpleasant. Research into Childrens language acquisition in recent years has provided detailed information on the way in which sentence structures and grammatical systems develop within language. Language acquisition is essentially creative; that is, children deduce for themselves the rules which govern the production and comprehension of language Davison, M. Pg25 The second important factor is that all children learning English seem to follow a very similar pattern of development. In every child there are differences in the rate of acquisition and the precise order in which new structures are required, although there is a clear developmental trend in the way children develop and this can be used when assessing an individual childs language In order to support the development of literacy the government have implemented both initiatives and frameworks. The department for education have introduced and implemented the National Strategy; within this is the Primary Framework for Literacy. The framework is the guideline for all aspects of teaching and literacy development in schools. The National Strategy, which is now part of the Primary National Strategy, has been in place since 1998. In March 2006, Jim Rose released the Independent review of teaching of early reading. This report outlined the principles of high quality work within a language rich curriculum that gives rise to high standards of reading and writing. The Rose report outlined two obvious but linked procedures involved in teaching children to read, the ability to recognise words and the comprehension of language. The Rose review had a huge impact on the teaching of literacy, influencing positively both planning and teaching significantly.

Genetic Engineering Essay -- science

Genetic Engineering Two years ago, genetically engineered bacteria, which unexpectently killed beneficial soil fungi, escaped into sewers through human error and have become toxic to plants and survived when expected not to.3 These are the sorts of consequences that come with playing God. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - the chemical compound that makes up the genes and determines the type of proteins a cell can make - is the core of genetic engineering. It can be manipulated in ways we could never dream of such as a new species of a catwoman or fishman. There are so many questions that each person must ask each other before making any sort of decision that would effect the future of genetic engineering towards humans. The risks of DNA combinations can be enormous and unexpected such as the formation of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, linkage of DNA molecules with tumour-causing viruses and the introduction of toxin-formation or antibiotic resistant genes.1 Thus all risks must be taken into consideration. Genetic engineering has already been demonstrated in cattle and studies have shown linkage of DNA molecules with ulcers, cancer and heart disease.1 Unfortunately, regulation of biochemical research ethics has been erratic and half-hearted for years. The United States allowed its only national bioethics commission to expire in 1989. 2 As for in-vitro research, the Reagan Administration cancelled federal funding a decade ago. 2 So work in this area has been priv...

In the name of the father Essay

Often a film conveys a message about a character through various film techniques. This is true in the film â€Å"In The Name of the Father†. This story is mainly about a young man who is arrested for a crime he did not commit and how a relationship between father and son deepens throughout the tragedy. The main character, Gerry Conlon, is first portrayed to the viewer as an unruly rebel but is later developed into a more docile and compliant character. The director, Jim Sheridon, uses film techniques such as costume design, dialogue and extended metaphors to convey the development of Gerry as a character. 1st paragraph: -1st time we see gerry, scruffy, uncut -costume design – baggy jeans, long hair, dirty appearance -gives idea that gerry doesn’t care about his appearance or what people think of him -as film progresses he sharpens up appearance -combed pulled back hair 2nd: -change also shown through dialogue -lawyer asks him if he is scared of the court: -he replies â€Å"i just don’t want to be humiliated again† -this brief piece of dialogue shows that he has now changed and does care what others think of him -helps viewer understand how desperate an innocent man can be in the fight for justice 3rd: -use of extended metaphor -viewer sees lawyer gareth pierce driving through a long tunnel while listening to gerrys story -this could be viewed as an extended metaphor for the long dark road gerry has gone down while fighting the legal system -as the story draws to a conclusion she reaches the end of the tunnel, or the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ -could refer to the point in the story where gerry and the others are finally set free. Read more:  My Father Goes to Court by Carlos Bulosan