The Principle of Double Effect Essay Example for Free

The Principle of Double Effect Essay The Principle of Double Effect (PDE) states that it is â€Å"morally permissible to perform an action that has two effects, one good and the other bad† (Harris, 71) if certain stipulations are met. A person would need to make use of the Principle of Double Effect in any situation in which there is what would also be called a moral quandary. A situation in which an action must be performed to achieve a good, but as a result of achieving that good, a bad is also achieved, would be cause to make use of the PDE. The PDE is basically a morality barometer—yes, this effect is bad, but how bad is it really when taking this good into consideration. The PDE strives to determine whether an action full of gray moral area is ultimately morally permissible, and it does so by judging the action through a number of set criteria. These criteria are, in brief, as follows: (1) The act in itself is morally permissible; (2) The good effect from the act cannot be achieved without the bad effect occurring as well; (3) The bad effect is merely a side effect, and not the means through which the good effect is achieved; (4) The good and bad effects are both equally balanced in importance (Harris, 71). In order for the action to be considered morally permissible, all four criteria must be fully met. Take, for example, the story of Mary and her ectopic pregnancy. Mary and her husband are practicing Catholics, and as such they have very strong beliefs against abortion and do not want to do anything that would go against the Church. However, regardless of the course of treatment chosen, Mary’s baby is lost, so this element should automatically be discounted as a determining factor. This in itself is a gray area. The four choices of treatment that Mary is given all have their own set of risks—some have higher risks to her, the mother; others have risks to the future of Mary’s and her husband’s efforts to have another child; all ultimately mean the termination of her pregnancy. Mary’s options include waiting for the egg to pass naturally, which poses a high risk to her the more time passes; taking a drug to thin the egg and force it to pass on its own; one surgery with a risk of making conceiving difficult in the future as well as the common surgical risks to Mary, and another surgery with less risk of complications in the future but also with the common risks of surgery. Because the pregnancy is lost regardless, I would advise Mary on deciding on a course of treatment as quickly as possible, because it is morally right to save oneself. She has already agreed to get treatment, given that the treatment doesn’t violate the Church’s teachings and that she can still bear children in the future. Because of the different levels of risks involved with each procedure, I would recommend the drug therapy. Both surgeries are risky due to the fact that they are surgeries, and the one is even riskier because it can lead to complications in Mary getting pregnant later. The option to let it pass naturally is probably more in line with the Church’s teachings, but it puts Mary at too great a risk and the pregnancy can’t be saved anyway. I would be loathe to think that any Church would encourage waiting it out so as not to be actually physically performing an abortion, when it is a given that the embryo will die regardless. Unfortunately, taking the drug treatment does not fully satisfy the criteria of the PDE: first, the act itself of a woman taking a drug to save her life is morally permissible. However, it is not necessary that she receive this treatment (or any other, for that matter) in order to survive. She can still survive without treatment; it’s just that the risks of her not surviving (or causing damage to her fallopian tube) is greater—note, NOT imminent. Second, there is no way for the good effect (saving Mary’s life) can be achieved without the bad effect (the embryo being killed)—especially when considering that the embryo is dead regardless. This bad effect is unavoidable because if she waits to pass the embryo on her own, she could die too. Third, and this is where the treatment fails to satisfy the PDF criteria, the bad effect is the means of achieving the good effect. The â€Å"abortion,† for what it’s worth, is the only way to guarantee Mary’s life will be saved—and that goes for the drug treatment as well as both surgical options. The fourth criteria is, however, satisfied because the death of the embryo—again, especially considering it will die regardless—balances saving Mary’s life. Based on the third criteria of the PDE, the only morally permissible way to â€Å"treat† this problem is to wait for the embryo to pass through the fallopian tube naturally, putting Mary at the greatest risk. All other options, despite how ridiculous it might be to even be referring to this as an â€Å"abortion,† especially considering the embryo will die regardless, require that the abortion, for what it is, must be performed in order to reduce the risk to Mary’s life. Therefore, no treatment is morally permissible and Mary has to take her chances.

Education in Bolivia for the past 50 years Essay Example for Free

Education in Bolivia for the past 50 years Essay In the year 1989, education in Bolivia was not considered as a right by many people. However, it was observed as a means to control the lives of the masses by the ruling sector. The government restricted the release of funds to education because it gave more attention in other branches of the society. As a result, the illiteracy rate was very high. A country which has 13-14% illiteracy rate, Bolivia is regarded as the worst in the South Americas. The Bolivian government allocates 23% of its yearly budget to education which is actually the highest percentage in South American countries despite of its small budget. However, this did not help improve the literacy level of the country as a whole. According to the Bolivian National Statistics Institute in 2002, the rate of absolute literacy level is about 20%, functional literacy rate is about 35%, with totality of 55% only. There are about 11. 8% literacy rate in men were proven and this increases to a relatively high 27. 7% for women (Carlos Santander-Maturana, 2007). Nowadays, the absentee rate is very high learner for children in the primary school from six to eight years. It is comparably lower on children aged nine, but increases significantly when on children aged 12 (Santander-Maturana, C. 2007). A very familiar explanation for this growing dilemma is that the majority poor families, which comprise the leading portion in the Bolivian people, force their kids to stop from going to school in order to help their parents increase the family income. Similar thing is true to the other students who are in the secondary and tertiary level as is confirmed in Country Studies (2007): Only 1/3 of the first graders completed the 5th grade, 20% started secondary school, 5% began their postsecondary studies, and just 1% received a university degree. Dropout rates were higher among girls and rural children. Only about 40% of rural youngsters continued their education beyond the third grade (Country Studies, 2007). This astounding percentage is the worst among the South American countries and the government is now trying its best in combating this central problem in education. As years go by, parents of poor families started seeing education as a means to save them and their future generation from poverty. But as a family strives hard for survival, problems will always remain as problems no matter how they manage to resolve them. The current economic condition of the family is one of the many causes of their being illiterate. As of now, the literacy condition is getting more and more improved because people are paying much attention in education more than they did before. The government is also in support of the projects to make education better. Many programs are now laid out and are being implemented to secure the future of the country. The Bolivian style of education compared side by side with the United States’ is quite similar in a few ways. As what is stated in Encyclopedia Britannica (2007): Primary education for children 6 to 13 years of age is free and officially compulsory, although school attendance is difficult to enforce in some areas. Secondary education, lasting up to 4 years, is not compulsory. Most education is state-supported, but private institutions are permitted (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007). Education in the United States is funded mainly by the government in three levels: federal, state, and local. Primary education, which starts from 5-6 years old and secondary education are both compulsory. College education is still an option because there are still vocational and technical courses being offered by the state. Reading literacy rate in the US is as high as 98% being recognized as one of the best reading literacy all over the world.

Issues faced in Working Capital Management

Issues faced in Working Capital Management Working capital management holds an important place in the theory of finance. A large number of tools and techniques have been developed in the past to ensure optimal allocation of funds. Various authors have approached the study of working capital management in different ways. A large number of models, theories and techniques (Baumol 1952, Beranek 1963, Haskel Benishay 1965, Haley and Higgins 1973, Walker 1974) have been developed in the past towards the optimal allocation of funds. Efficient use of working capital has a direct bearing on profitability of an enterprise. it increase the productivity of in fixed assets. Basic Survival of a firm may be stake if adequate working capital is not available in time. It is essential to maintain constant supply of working capital for healthy growth of an enterprise. Working capital management concerned with current asset and current liabilities. Profitability and liquidity of a company directly affects current asset and current liabilities. So working capital management is considered as most important component of corporate finance. To show the relevance of working capital there are many factors. As far as a typical manufacturing firm is concerned, it accommodates half of its total assets as current assets. More current asset enhances more return on investment. A firm with fewer holdings of current assets would face immense difficulty to carry on the day to day operations of the company (Horne and Wachowicz, 2000). Efficient working capital management involves planning and controlling current assets and current liabilities in a manner that eliminates the risk of inability to meet due short term obligations on the one hand and avoid excessive investment in these assets on the other hand (Eljelly, 2004). Many surveys have indicated that managers spend considerable time on day-to-day problems that involve working capital decisions. One reason for this is that current assets are short-lived investments that are continually being converted into other asset types (Rao 1989). With regard to current liabilities, the firm is responsible for paying these obligations on a timely basis. Liquidity for the ongoing firm is not reliant on the liquidation value of its assets, but rather on the operating cash flows generated by those assets (Soenen, 1993). Taken together, decisions on the level of different working capital components become frequent, repetitive, and time consuming. Working Capital Management is a very sensitive area in the field of financial management (Joshi, 1994). It involves the decision of the amount and composition of current assets and the financing of these assets. Current assets include all those assets that in the normal course of business return to the form of cash within a short period of time, ordinarily within a year and such temporary investment as may be readily converted into cash upon need. The Working Capital Management of a firm in part affects its profitability. The ultimate objective of any firm is to maximize the profit. But, preserving liquidity of the firm is an important objective too. The problem is that increasing profits at the cost of liquidity can bring serious problems to the firm. Therefore, there must be a tradeoff between these two objectives of the firms. One objective should not be at cost of the other because both have their importance. If we do not care about profit, we cannot survive for a longer period. On the other hand, if we do not care about liquidity, we may face the problem of insolvency or bankruptcy. For these reasons working capital management should be given proper consideration and will ultimately affect the profitability of the firm. Firms should keep an optimal level of working capital that maximizes their total value. Larger inventory preservation might reduce the risk of a stock-out. Keeping large level of inventory and a generous trade credit policy would cause to high sales. Allowing trade credit is most strategic move to stimulate sales. Trade credit would give a chance to customers to assess quality attributes of product before making payments completely or partly (Long, Maltiz and Ravid 1993, and Deloof and Jegers, 1996). Accounts payable is another most important component of working capital. Investing in account payable or delaying payments to suppliers allow a firm to assess the quality of acquired product before it making its full payments. Investing in accounts payable is treated as inexpensive and flexible source of financing working capital. Bad effect of investing accounts payable is that, it would become loss if the firm offered discount for early or on time payment. Measurement of working capital is most important function of management. A popular measure of Working Capital Management (WCM) is the working capital cycle or operating cycle. This is the time lag between the expenditure for the purchases of raw materials and collecting cash from the debtors. With the reducing of cash conversion period that will be more beneficial to the working capital and it will lead to high level of current asset. As it increases the cash conversion period it will lead to low level of working capital maintena nce. Providing a proper and sound framework for total asset management is most important aspect in financial management practices. Investment in fixed asset would require great level of research activity. Recently, working capital management has been given little attention by researchers relatively. This approach causes great problem for many business firms. Because neglecting of working capital or lazy approach on working capital management would cause utter failure and becomes problematic. Recent corporate history and literature shows that more concerns for working capital management will result in more efficiency. Recent corporate history has got rich set of history for the collapse of firms due to their neglects in working capital management. Altman provided a model called multivariate predictor model based on US companies in the year 1968. In his model he includes working capital as one of the model components. Taffler developed a four-variable model for failure prediction using data drawn from the UK companies in the year 1977. (Eljelly, 2004) explains that liquidity management involves planning and controlling of current asset and current liabilities in a manner that reduce risk maximum. Major risk in these involves incapability to meet short term obligation as and when it dues. It should also concerns with avoiding excessive investment in current assets. The measurement of relation between profitability and liquidity is most important. To measure this relationship there are many techniques are being used such as ratios and cash conversion cycle. Some companies as in Soudi Arabia was under study as sample. Researchers used correlation and regression technique to study the relationship between profitability and liquidity of certain companies. The study showed that, rather than the ratios such as current ratio and liquidity ratio cash conversion cycle has more relevance to project out the relationship. Another point revealed that size of the companies showed major affect on profitability of various industrie s. The study revealed certain implications in Soudi Arabian companies. First is that there is negative relationship between liquidity and profitability indicators like current ratio and cash conversion period. Second is that there is variation among companies in terms of measure of liquidity. In spite of all the overall study revealed stable result. (Ghosh and Maji, 2003) Under this, they take Indian cement companies in to consideration to study in details. They examined and studied the efficiency of working capital management of certain Indian cement companies during the financial period 1992 1993 to 2001- 2002. Instead of using the working capital ratios they have used performance, utilization and efficiency indices calculations. Each individual firm has got target efficiency level on the basis of industry norms. And each firms speed level of achieving efficiency target is tested under study. Overall study concluded that during particular study period, Indian cement companies did not performed as the targeted as well. (Deloof, 2003) He explains that, the way that a firm is managing its working capital has significant impact on ultimate profitability of any firms. This is because of the great amount cash investment done by most firms in current assets. He made study by using correlation and regression tools in Belgian firms. During his study he found that there is negative relationship between gross operating income and number of days allowed in account payable, account receivables and inventories of firms. Based on the study he conducted, he concluded that management can reduce the number of days in account receivables and inventory storage reasonably. It will create more value for its shareholders and owners. He also concluded that negative relationship between profitability and accounts payable is due to the reason that less profitable firms take more times to make payment on their bills. (Shin and Soenen, 1998) To create certain value to owners or shareholders it is important that to mange working capital most significantly and with utter cares. Profitability and liquidity impacted or affected by the way which the working capital management of any firm. There was found a negative relationship between profitability and firms Net Trade Cycle by studying the relationship between lengths of Net Trade Cycle. Shorter Net Trade Cycle indicates higher risk associated with stock return. (Smith and Begemann 1997) emphasized that those who promoted working capital theory shared that profitability and liquidity comprised the salient goals of working capital management. The problem arose because the maximization of the firms returns could seriously threaten its liquidity, and the pursuit of liquidity had a tendency to dilute returns. This article evaluated the association between traditional and alternative working capital measures and return on investment (ROI), specifically in industrial firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The problem under investigation was to establish whether the more recently developed alternative working capital concepts showed improved association with return on investment to that of traditional working capital ratios or not. Results indicated that there were no significant differences amongst the years with respect to the independent variables. The results of their stepwise regression corroborated that total current liabiliti es divided by funds flow accounted for most of the variability in Return on Investment (ROI). The statistical test results showed that a traditional working capital leverage ratio, current liabilities divided by funds flow, displayed the greatest associations with return on investment. Well-known liquidity concepts such as the current and quick ratios registered insignificant associations whilst only one of the newer working capital concepts, the comprehensive liquidity index, indicated significant associations with return on investment. Satish B. Mathur (2007), Working capital management contains the proper management and control of the gross current assets. Current asset involves cash, sundry debtors or Account Receivable and inventories. Thus the working capital management relates with the management of all among components not only individually but also collectively, too. Effective management and control of the various components of working capital is one of the most important and vital functions of financial management in any kind of the industrial and business units, based on varied parameters, like flexibility, level of investments in various components of current assets, criticality, quantum of efforts and time. With the help of a method called operating cycle let estimate the duration of one operating cycle. This means time taken by a firm for completing a full cycle of process starting from purchase of raw materials to conversion of finished goods even after sales that, sundry creditors if it is credit sale s. The completion of operating cycle has major influence over the profitability of any business concern. So its proper control and management needed to maintain proper working capital. Vijay Kumar (2001), Funds needed for any business organization for carrying day to day operations. Working capital considered as lifeblood of the business concern. Even though a firm can exist without profit, it cannot survive without working capital fund. A firm which without having working capital fund may cause bankruptcy. The working capital management is the most critical problem in financial management. Most of the time financial executives are devoted towards managing the current assets and current liabilities which are the main constituents of working capital. Importance of working capital management stems from two reasons viz., (i) A substantial portion of total investment is invested in current assets and (ii) level of current asset and current liabilities will change quickly with the variation in sales. Hence, this study makes an attempt to analyze the size, composition, circulation of working capital and whether such an investment has increased or declined over a period o f time. Mr. Knight pointed out that not only working capital components are inter dependent on each other but also on net sales and profit. Hence, this study also makes an attempt to evaluate some of the linkage between the different components of working capital and their relationships with the variables like sales, value of output, earnings, cash flow, etc. One most important area in working capital management is to understand the feature of short run behavior of the demand for working capitals ant its various elements. This study not only includes the cash but also includes the study of demand for receivables, inventories, gross working capital and net working capital. The concept of working capital, still have some controversies among various financial experts. Working capital has two concepts. They are: the total of current asset and the excess of current assets over current liability. These are called gross concept and net concept respectively. Gross concept is use full when the objective is to measure the size and extent to which current assets are using. Net concept becomes useful when the objective is to evaluate the liquidity position of the concern. As soon as a firm operate and start to grows it have to make various decisions regarding where to invest and how to invest its various funds, quantity of cash and inventory to be maintained, amount of financing to customers, how to obtain required funds and how much debts can be acquired from outside etc. all those among factors have vital influence in total cash flow and overall profitability of business unit. Working capital management is a crucial decision of how to make structure and finance the operating investment of a business. Nrendar Kumar Jain (2004), Working capital management has major place in the theory of finance. Optimal allocation of fund is most important face in working capital management. Various tools and techniques have been developed for optimal allocation of fund. Some of them are Baumol 1952, Beranek 1963, Haskel Benishy 1965, Haley and Higgins 1973, Walker 1964. Efficient use of working capital is very much deals with profitability of any business unit. It augments the total productivity of investment in fixed assets. The total survival of a firm will be stuck if working capital not available at time. So it is very essential that to maintain constant and adequate supply of working capital for smooth running and growth of organization. The term Working capital is represented by current assets. Management of working capital has added significance in the context of any pattern of business weather it is small-scale or medium sized industries in the country. Most of them would have weak financial base and less availability of finance source. If their risk bearing capacity very low there would have an effort to reduce its size releases funds and improves profitability. Working capital management deals with management of current asset such a way that it maximizes the value of firm Both shortage of fund for working capital and uncontrolled over-expansion may cause failure in many business concerns. Especially in small firms, efficiency in working capital management has significant impact in firms risk, return and share price. The financial sector has major role in any economy in mobilization of fund and allocation of savings. Financial sector acts as conduit for transferring financial resources from saver to borrower. Generally banks act as an integral part of financial sector. Working capital management can be say as a process of planning and controlling the level and proper mix of the current asset of the firm. It includes financing of these assets in the organization. Here financial manager has to decide what quantities of cash, liquid assets, bills receivable and inventories have to be hold at various times. Financing of current asset is next important decision to be taken by a finance manager. Choice for financing these assets includes mix of current as well as long term liabilities. There are two important implications for the management of working capital. First to choose management, working capital can be acquired to meet immediate needs when they arise. A hand-to-mouth policy like this has an advantage of reducing the average investment in working capital. So they can minimize interest charge, insurance expense and storage fees necessary to carry the investment. In spite of this, hand-to-mouth policy has certain disadvantages also. There will be increased ordering cost associated with greater likelihood that the firm may experience storage in working capital. The reason behind this is that, there is no buffer stock to absorb unexpected functions. Management of working capital is faced by two basic questions. First is that the level of sales and relevant cost, what quantity of cash, receivables and inventories a firm should keep in optimal. Second is that the most economical way to finance these working capital investments. To have best return on investment firm should not keep unproductive assets and it should finance in cheep source of fund. Literally, it is always better that to invest with short term asset and with short term liabilities. Eugene F. Brigham,  Joel F. Houston (2009), Working capital management involves search the optimal level of cash, bills receivable, marketable securities and inventories. It includes financing the working capital with least cost. Since most of the buyers using credit cards that neither in-store cash nor bills receivables, best buy are working capital policy focuses on its inventories as well. To keep non interrupt sales its store must be stuffed with adequate materials. Whenever the customers needed the goods they should able to supply it. This relates with deciding what product is more latest and trendy and obtaining hot product with cheep cost and supply to stores. Miraculous development in the field of technology and communication has been changed the entire scenario. The way of managing its inventories is in best way now. Now, real time data is collecting from various stores and departments. Whenever there is a need for inventories and need for outsourcing of inventories, the computer system places the order automatically. In short, incoming and outgoing of inventories are done by the computer packages. If sale of an item is slipping, prices are lowered to reduce stock of that item before the case getting worst. Eugene F. Brigham,  Michael C. Ehrhardt  (2008), Working capital is excess of current asset over current liabilities. Firms are using different kind of policies to manage its working capital as well. Some firm uses relaxed working capital policies and some sues restricted policies. A relaxed working capital policy is that firm keeping large amount of cash and inventories relatively. Here sales are stimulated by the use of credit policy that providing finance to customers very liberally. And the company doesnt take advantage of credit provided by bill payables and accruals. In restricted working capital policy cash, inventories and receivables kept in very low quantity relatively. Here accruals and payables are maximum and NOWC is turned over more frequently. Optimal and moderated working capital policy is between these two extremes. Under the certainty condition, firms keep minimum level of working capital because, sales, cost and payment periods are certain. A large amount will increase the need for external funding without a corresponding increase in profit. Under the situation of uncertainty the picture is completely different. Here the firm must have to maintain a minimum level of cash, inventory. Here the quantity of keeping of working capital would be based on expected sales, expected profit, expected time and so on. Account receivables are determined by credit terms of the business as well. Shashi K. Gupta, Neeti Gupta (2008), Working capital in general practice refers to the excess of current asset over current liabilities. Management of working capital therefore, is concerned with the problems that arise in attempting to manage the current asset, the current liabilities and their inter relationship that exist between them. In other words it refers to all aspect of administration of both current assets and current liabilities. The basic goal of working capital management is to manage current asset and current liabilities of a firm in such a way that satisfactory level of working capital is maintained. That means it is neither inadequate nor excessive. This is so because both inadequacy and excessive position are bad in any kind of organization. Inadequacy of working capital will lead to insolvency and excessive working capital will lead to idle fund which earn no profit for the business. Working capital management policy has important impact in success of a business. In the word of Shubin, working capital is the amount of funds necessary to cover the cost of operating the enterprise. According to Genestenberg, circulating capital means current assets of a company that are changed in the ordinary course of business from one form to another, as for example, from cash to inventories, inventories to receivables, receivables to cash WORKING CAPITAL 2.1 MEANING OF WORKING CAPITAL    Working capital refers to short term fund to meat operating expenses. To quote great Indian financial analyst and scholar Mr. Ramamoorthy, it refers to the funds, which a company must possess to finance its day to day operations. It is concerned with the management of the firms current asset and current liabilities. It relates to with the problems that arise in attempting to manage current assets, current liabilities and their inter relationship that exist between them. If a firm cannot maintain a satisfactory level of working capital, it is likely to become insolvent and may even be forced into bankruptcy.    Working capital refers to that part of a firms capital which is required for financing  Ã‚   short-term or current assets such as cash, marketable securities, debtors and inventories. Funds, thus, invested in current assets keep revolving fast and are being constantly converted into cash and these cash flows out again in exchange for other current assets.   Hence, it is also known as revolving or circulating capital or short-term capital.   In the words of Shubin, Working capital is the amount of funds necessary to cover the cost of operating the enterprise. Types of working capital Working capital Time base Concept base Net working capital or qualitative Net working capital or qualitative Temporary or variable working capital Gross working capital or quantitative Gross Working Capital According to this concept, the total current assets are termed as the gross working capital or circulating capital. Total current asset include; cash, marketable securities, account receivables, inventory, prepaid expenses, advanced payment of tax. This concept also called as quantitative or broad approach. To quote Weston and Brigham, Gross Working Capital refers to firms investment in short term assets such as, cash, short term securities, account receivables and inventories . The concept helps in making optimum investment in current assets and in their financing. According to Walker, use of this concept is helpful in providing for the current amount of working capital at the right time so that the firm is able to realize the greatest return on investment. Significance Gross working capital concept focuses attention on the two aspect of current asset management. They are: 1). Optimum investment in current assets: Investment in current asset must be just adequate to the needs of the firm. On the other hand excessive investment in current asset should be avoided. 2). Financing of current asset: Need for working capital arise due to the increasing level of business activity. Therefore, there is a need to provide it quickly. If there is surplus fund arise that should be invested in short term securities. Net Working Capital Concept As per this concept the excess of current asst over current liabilities represents net working capital. Similar view is expressed by Guttmann, Gerstenberg, and Goel Etc. Net Working Capital represents the amount of current asset which remain after all the current liabilities were paid. It may be either positive or negative. It will be positive if current asset exceed current liabilities and vice versa. To quote Roy Chowdry, Net Working Capital indicates the liquidity of the liquidity of business whilst gross working capital denotes the quantum of working capital with which business has to operate. Significance Net Working Capital Concept focuses on two aspects. They are: 1). Maintaining liquidity position: Excess current assets help in meeting its financial obligation within the operating cycle of the firm. Negative and excess working capitals both are bad to the firm. 2). to decide upon the extent of long term capital in financing current asset: Net working capital means the portion of current asst that should be financed by long term funds. This concept helps to decide the extent of long term fund required in finance current assets. Permanent Working Capital This is the minimum investment kept in the form of inventory of raw materials, work in process, finished goods, stores and spares and book debt to facilitate uninterrupted operation in a firm. Though this investment is stable in short run, it certainly varies in long run depending upon the expansion programs undertaken by the firm. It may increase or decrease over a period of time. Temporary Working Capital Any additional working capital apart from permanent working capital required to support the changing production and sales activities is referred to as temporary working capital. A firm required to maintain an additional amount current asset temporarily over and above permanent working capital. PRINCIPLES OF WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT / POLICY The following are the general principles of a sound working capital management policy: Principle of Risk Variation Risk here refers to the inability of a firm to meet its obligation as and when they become due for payment. Larger investment in current assets with less dependence on short-term borrowing increases liquidity reduces risk and thereby decreases the opportunity for gain or loss. In other words, there is a definite inverse relationship between the degree of risk and profitability. A conservative management prefers to minimize risk by maintaining a higher level of current assets or working capital while a liberal management assumes greater risk by reducing working capital. However, the goal of the management should be to establish a suitable tradeoff between profitability and risk. Principle of Cost of Capital The various sources of raising working capital finance have different cost of capital and the degree of risk involved. Generally, higher the risk lower is the cost and lower the risk higher is the cost. A sound working capital management should always try to achieve a proper balance between these two. Principle of Equity Position The principle is concerned with planning the total investment in current assets. According to this principle, the amount of working capital invested in each component should be adequately justified by a firms equity position. Principle of Maturity of Payment This principle concerned with planning the sources of finance for working capital according to this principle, a firm should make every effort to relate maturities of payment to its flow of internally generated funds. Maturity patterns of various obligations are an important factor in risk assumptions and risk assessments. Importance of working capital management: To maintain sound working capital position is critical and important function for any management. Because the success of business is very much depends on how they manage its working capital. It should keep preserve a sound working capital position by avoiding excessive investment and keeping adequate working capital to meet daily operations. . As pointed out by Ralph Kennedy and Stewart MC Muller, the inadequacy or mismanagement of working capital is one of a few leading causes of business failure. Current assets, in fact, account for a very large portion of the total investment of the firm. Determinants of Working Capital: Working capital requirements of different firms are different. Each firm has own manner to operate with. They would require current asset and current liability as per their type of operation and way of operation. So it is main function of working capital management to determine the level of working capital required. Even though there are no specific set of determinants to decide about working capital, there are some determinants which have been using commonly by the management. They are discussed under: 1). Size of business operation: Size of the business is varying business to business. Size is another most important factor to be considered while determining working capital requirements. Here the size of the business is measured in terms of operation doing by business and not on physical evidence. The amount required as working capital is direct proportion with size. That is if the size of business is large it would require more working capital and it is small it would require less amount of working capital to invest. 2). Nature of business activity: There are some firms which requires very short amount to be invested in fixed asset and more in current asset. Likewise, some firms would require more investment in fixed asset and less in current asset. This is why the nature of business comes more significant while determining the working capital. Trading and financial type of companies would require to invest more in current assets. So while determining the level of working capital investment it should be based on nature or type of business. 3). Business Fluctuations: Demand for the products of each business is fluctuating season to season. So each business has to be made financial planning in advance to have seasonal working capita

A Place Of Your Own :: essays papers

A Place Of Your Own Reading chapter 36 of The Malling of America, of William Kowinski, I see a man who does not like how America is progressing in time. He believes that we are heading towards a time when everyone will be preprogrammed to be hard-core consumers and the world is going to be dominated by money. In chapter 36 of his book, he explicitly blames the mall as being the cause and proponent of this change. I agree with Mr. Kowinski’s ideas of the changing world, but I do not agree that the shopping malls are to blame for the changes. The malls purpose is to produce a profit for the investors. If shopping centers were not profitable then it would not be there. Unlike Kowinski’s views of the mall, I see a place where people, especially young adults, congregate in a safe environment. The mall offers working opportunity to young adults. Opportunities where someone with no experience and qualifications can work. I believe it can be quite hard for a young adult to obtain a job where there are many responsibilities and the requirements are experience and knowledge. I disagree with Kowinski’s that the benefits of a job in the mall are overrated. With a job at the mall, young adults learn to set goals. Even thought these goals might be little goals, but the little goals also have many lessons that shape members of our society. Kowinski writes about a young girl who works at an establishment in the food court of some mall. Kowinski underestimates the influence of the perfect curl on top of the ice-cream cones. The girl learns to take pride in what she does. Not the pride in a perfect curl but pride in the fact that she has accomplished a goal that has thought here perfection, alertness. And some of these lessons might help her in the future. The mall also provid es job for young adults who need the paycheck for living and/or education. A study by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that there are many teenagers in shopping malls and the mall is a place where teenagers like to go. The International Council encouraged the teenage presence because ‘the vast majority support the same set of values as does shopping center management.

Students with Special Needs in the Language Classroom Essay examples --

Students with Special Needs in the Language Classroom Students that show the need for special education are those who have more difficulties that the rest of the students in understanding curriculum that is at their age level. Reasons for the difficulties could be the result of a series of internal causes or the result of an inadequate educational approach. To overcome these deficiencies, the student needs a series of conditions that offer special adaptations to ordinary curriculum, such as including a list of specific resources that the students can use that differ than those which the school offers on a daily basis. The language teacher has to pay special attention to the use of written and oral language in the foreign language in the classroom. There are effective motivation devices that, with correct use, help the slower learners include themselves in the progress of the class, as well as ensure that the gifted students do not lose time or get bored. There are also useful devices for those studetns with special needs; in carefully selected materials they can find the help necessary to reach the objectives layed out for their situation. The teacher should pull the maximum benefit from the interaction among students through performing and acting out role-plays, readings, recordings or songs, description of illustrations, photographs, etc. Also the teacher could find beneficial the oral comprehension exercises, in which the students must find some particular information. The teacher must consider that the student's learning difficulties mainly have interactive origins. This means that the difficulties depend as much on the student's own characteristics as on the environment in which the student de... ...rn themselves into investigators by reflecting on their own actions, primarily thinking about: * If they adapt the course contents to the levels of the students, with the lessons being taught more or less to the middle level of the group * If they teach specific lessons for students with special needs * If they apply the curriculum openly, concentrating on the students' interests * If they study at great length every situation that arises in the classroom * If continuous attention is given to diversity in curriculum diversivication programs * If the faculty's suport is necessary to carry out the personalized attention * If they use materials other than the textbook * If they look into psycho-pedagogical studies * If they carry out and use the results from the initial evaluation as an information source for future action

Physics of Robots :: physics robot robots

Definition of a Robot A Robot is a reprogramable, multi-functional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or a specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of variety of tasks. In order to make a robot do anything it has to have a program or a set of programs that tell it to do certain tasks. Robots come in all different shapes and sizes. Some robots have been used to try and look and behave physically like a human being. Other robots are used for home entertainments. For example there is a robotic dog that now for sale that can behave and act like a dog. The nice thing about having a robotic dog is a person could shut it off when they get tired of it. Different Kinds of Robots Some robots have arms, legs, heads, wheels, and etc. There are robots that are used in big industrial factories. General Electric uses robotic arms to weld. The robotic arms can weld with such great precision that it looks perfect. There are also robots that have been used in movies such as Mighty Joe Young, Star Wars, and Jurrasic Park. Then there are also miniture robots that are designed like small insects such as horseflys and ladybugs. You can read about the insect robots in the National Geographics Magazine. The Structure of the Robotic Hand A robotic hand can be designed in different ways. The most important is that there is a wrist, fingers, and a way to move an object. The wrist will give the twisting motion. The fingers will be able to grab an object. Some people use grippers. The grippers work like sicorrs. There are also devices that act like sensory nerves. These devices are either light sensitive or switch activated. That way a robot would be able to tell where a light source is coming from or when it was running into a wall. The hardest part about making a robotic hand do something is to make the open and closing motion with the fingers. Humans have nerves and muscels that alow them to retract and contract their fingers. With a robot cables, motors, or pneumatic hydralics can be used. Strong cables can be used to give easy and quiet movements. Motors used with different gear ratios can make the fingers stronger when gripping or faster. By determining how much work would have to be done on the gear to make it spi n would make the gear lift an object with force.

ENG Assignement

Solomon Material Assignment 2: Research Proposal Research and Report writing Professor Barry D. McCullough Date: 10/28/2013 – Thesis, Major points, and Plan ENG-215 Due to inadequate and deceptive information, poor quality control on food by FDA and due to environmental exposures, people are suffering to public health problems. Confirming the precision of food labels requires time and care. We as people need to do more to both understand this problem and develop procedures in place that better protect us.The techniques to improve the quality control of food in the Food and Drug Administration need to be changed. America is a country where food supply locally produced and large quantities imported from abroad. FDA is the responsible government agency which controls all foods quality. According to Tucker Foreman, Carol L (As cited in Who's At Risk for Fodder, illness American interest, Mayday' the equivalent of sickening people is 1 in 6 Americans each year, and these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizing and 3,000 deaths due to food borne diseases†.Standards ought to be set, but there is lack of adequate standards quality controls for food by FDA. A high number of approved condiments used in American foods raise health and safety fears on the society. These condiments involved in large quantities in many food products, such that they could become hurtful or dangerous due to the unhealthy conditions that result from eating. Secondly national and international distribution increases the problem. A significant portion of the vegetables consumed in the United States shipped from a different state ofAmerican large farms across the country. They transported long hours in an inadequate protection, and then be contaminated. Fresh-bagged lettuce, sprouts, berries and unappreciated juices have all been courses for food- borne illness. Farmers plant foods in soils with already high levels of arsenic chemical substances and then As Range, Ravis h (as cited in Transcript: Challenges in setting credible standards for food labeling and safety, summer 2013) â€Å"applying arsenic laden pesticides. † Regardless of the source, arsenic is still unsafe once it gets into food.That arsenic is highly dangerous†. The government fails to regulate arsenic in foods or even established action levels. As per Consumers report (Novena 2)† Arsenic not only is a potent human carcinogen but also can set up children for other health problems in later life. † Finally, very confusing marketplace for consumers with food labels has controlled to a marketplace that is confusing and dishonest. Both sugar and salt are examples of ingredients that can be involved in limitless capacities in any food product.