How to Write a Book Review

How to Write a Book Review A book review is a description, critical analysis, and an evaluation on the quality, meaning, and significance of a book, not a retelling. It should focus on the book's purpose, content, and authority. A critical book review is not a book report or a summary. It is a reaction paper in which strengths and weaknesses of the material are analyzed. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluates how well (in the opinion of the reviewer) the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this evaluation. There is no right way to write a book review. Book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinions of the reviewer. A review can be as short as 50-100 words, or as long as 1500 words, depending on the purpose of the review. The following are standard procedures for writing book reviews; they are suggestions, not formulae that must be used. 1. Write a statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, type of book, general subject matter, special features (maps, color plates, etc. ), price and ISBN. 2. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or the first chapter. When they do not, you may arrive at an understanding of the book’s purpose by asking yourself these questions: a. Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject? b. From what point of view is the work written? c. Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical, to convince the reader of a belief’s validity by dramatizing it in action? d. What is the general field or genre, and how does the book fit into it? (Use outside sources to familiarize yourself with the field, if necessary. Knowledge of the genre means understanding the art form. and how it functions. e. Who is the intended audience? f. What is the author's style? Is it formal or informal? Evaluate the quality of the writing style by using some of the following standards: coherence, clarity, originality, forcefulness, correct use of technical words, conciseness, fullness of development, fluidity. Does it suit the intended audience? g. Scan the Table of Contents, it can help understand how the book is organized and will aid in determining the author's main ideas and how they are developed – chronologically, topically, etc. . How did the book affect you? Were any previous ideas you had on the subject changed, abandoned, or reinforced due to this book? How is the book related to your own course or personal agenda? What personal experiences you've had relate to the subject? h. How well has the book achieved its goal? i. Would you recommend this book or article to others? Why? 3. State the theme and the thesis of the book. a. Theme: The theme is the subject or topic. It is not necessarily the title, and it is usually not expressed in a complete sentence. It expresses a specific phase of the general subject matter. . Thesis: The thesis is an author’s generalization about the theme, the author’s beliefs about something important, the book’s ph ilosophical conclusion, or the proposition the author means to prove. Express it without metaphor or other figurative language, in one declarative sentence. Example Title: We Had it Made General Subject Matter:  Religious Intolerance Theme: The effects of religious intolerance on a small town Thesis: Religious intolerance, a sickness of individuals, contaminates an entire social group 4. Explain the method of development-the way the author supports the thesis. Illustrate your remarks with specific references and quotations. In general, authors tend to use the following methods, exclusively or in combination. a. Description:  The author presents word-pictures of scenes and events by giving specific details that appeal to the five senses, or to the reader’s imagination. Description presents background and setting. Its primary purpose is to help the reader realize, through as many sensuous details as possible, the way things (and people) are, in the episodes being described. b. Narration: The author tells the story of a series of events, usually presented in chronological order. In a novel however, chronological order may be violated for the sake of the plot. The emphasis in narration, in both fiction and non-fiction, is on the events. Narration tells what has happened. Its primary purpose is to tell a story. c. Exposition: The author uses explanation and analysis to present a subject or to clarify an idea. Exposition presents the facts about a subject or an issue as clearly and impartially as possible. Its primary purpose is to explain. d. Argument: The author uses the techniques of persuasion to establish the truth of a statement or to convince the reader of its falsity. The purpose is to persuade the reader to believe something and perhaps to act on that belief. Argument takes sides on an issue. Its primary purpose is to convince. 5. Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its intended audience. Show whether the author's main arguments are true. Respond to the author's opinions. What do you agree or disagree with? And why? Illustrate whether or not any conclusions drawn are derived logically from the evidence. Explore issues the book raises. What possibilities does the book suggest? What has the author omitted or what problems were left unsolved? What specific points are not convincing? Compare it with other books on similar subjects or other books by the same as well as different authors. Is it only a reworking of earlier books; a refutation of previous positions? Have newly uncovered sources justified a new approach by the author? Comment on parts of particular interest, and point out anything that seems to give the book literary merit. Relate the book to larger issues. 6. Try to find further information about the author – reputation, qualifications, influences, biographical, etc. any information that is relevant to the book being reviewed and that would help to establish the author's authority. Can you discern any connections between the author's philosophy, life experience and the reviewed book? 7. If relevant, make note of the book's format – layout, binding, typography, etc. Are there maps, illustrations? Do they aid understanding? 8. Check t he back matter. Is the index accurate? Check any end notes or footnotes as you read from chapter to chapter. Do they provide important additional information? Do they clarify or extend points made in the body of the text? Check any bibliography the author may provide. What kinds of sources, primary or secondary, appear in the bibliography? How does the author make use of them? Make note of important omissions. 9. Summarize (briefly), analyze, and comment on the book’s content. State your general conclusions. Pay particular attention to the author's concluding chapter. Is the summary convincing? List the principal topics, and briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. Use specific references and quotations to support your statements. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce new material at this point. Some Considerations When Reviewing specific genres: Fiction  (above all, do not give away the story) Character 1. From what sources are the characters drawn? 2. What is the author's attitude toward his characters? 3. Are the characters flat or three-dimensional? 4. Does character development occur? 5. Is character delineation direct or indirect? Theme 1. What is/are the major theme(s)? 2. How are they revealed and developed? 3. Is the theme traditional and familiar, or new and original? 4. Is the theme didactic, psychological, social, entertaining, escapist, etc. in purpose or intent? Plot 1. How are the various elements of plot (eg, introduction, suspense, climax, conclusion) handled? 2. What is the relationship of plot to character delineation? 3. To what extent, and how, is accident employed as a complicating and/or resolving force? 4. What are the elements of mystery and suspense? 5. What other devices of plot complication and resolution are employed? 6. Is there a sub-plot and how is it related to the main plot? 7. Is the plot rimary or secondary to some of the other essential elements of the story (character, setting, style, etc. )? Style 1. What are the â€Å"intellectual qualities† of the writing (e. g. , simplicity, clarity)? 2. What are the â€Å"emotional qualities† of the writing (e. g. , humour, wit, satire)? 3.. What are the â€Å"aesthetic qualities† of the writing (e. g. , harmony, rhythm)? 4. What stylistic devices are employed (e. g. , symbolism, motifs, parody, allegory)? 5. How effective is dialogue? Setting 1. What is the setting and does it play a significant role in the work? 2. Is a sense of atmosphere evoked, and how? . What scenic effects are used and how important and effective are they? 4. Does the setting influence or impinge on the characters and/or plot? Biography 1. Does the book give a â€Å"full-length† picture of the subject? 2. What phases of the subject's life receive greatest treatment and is this treatment justified? 3. What is the point of view of the author? 4. How is the subject matter organized: chronologically, retrospectively, etc.? 5. Is the treatment superficial or does the author show extensive study into the subject's life? 6. What source materials were used in the preparation of the biography? . Is the work documented? 8. Does the author attempt to get at the subject's hidden motives? 9. What important new f acts about the subject's life are revealed in the book? 10. What is the relationship of the subject's career to contemporary history? 11. How does the biography compare with others about the same person? 12. How does it compare with other works by the same author? History and other Nonfiction 1. With what particular subject or period does the book deal? 2. How thorough is the treatment? 3. What were the sources used? 4. Is the account given in broad outline or in detail? 5. Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretive writing? 6. What is the point of view or thesis of the author? 7. Is the treatment superficial or profound? 8. For what group is the book intended (textbook, popular, scholarly, etc. )? 9. What part does biographical writing play in the book? 10. Is social history or political history emphasized? 11. Are dates used extensively, and if so, are they used intelligently? 12. Is the book a revision? How does it compare with earlier editions? 13. Are maps, illustrations, charts, etc. used and how are these to be evaluated? Poetry 1. Is this a work of power, originality, individuality? 2. What kind of poetry is under review (epic, lyrical, elegiac, etc. )? 3. What poetical devices have been used (rhyme, rhythm, figures of speech, imagery, etc. ), and to what effect? 4. What is the central concern of the poem and is it effectively expressed? Subject headings used in the catalog: Book reviewing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Criticism Related books: Book reviewing : a guide to writing book reviews for newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. Boston. The Writer, 1978 PN98. B7 B6 Drewry, John. Writing Book Reviews. Boston: The Writer, 1974. PN98. B7 D7 1974 Teitelbaum, Harry. How to Write Book Reports. New York: Monarch Press, 1975. LB2369 . T4 Miller, Walter James. How to write book reports : — analyzing and evaluating fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction  New York. Arco Pub. , 1984. LB2369 . M46 1984 Sources of Book Reviews Book Review Digest  1985+ INDEX Z1219 . C96 Book Review Index  1965+ INDEX Z1035. A1 B6 Contemporary Authors  REFERENCE Z1224 . C5 Related Websites: How to Write a Book Review. Stauffer Library. http://library. queensu. ca/inforef/bookreview/wri. htm Writing Book Reviews. University of Waterloo Library. http://library. uwaterloo. a/libguides/1-12. html ————————————————- How to Write a Book Review. Dalhousie University Libraries. http://www. library. dal. ca/How/Guides/BookReview/ How to Write a Book Review chillibreeze writer  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Amy Sengupta A book review is a critical summary of a book. It is an open forum where one analyses and forms an opinion of the writers work. This critical evaluation is not only a useful source of information for the reader, but for those who intend to read the book. The essential step for writing a book review is to read it thoroughly and understand the contents of the book. One has to understand that it is simply not a summary but a critique. The three important steps in writing a book review are: Step 1: Introduction Start by mentioning the essentials like the title of the book, author’s name and relevant publishing information. You should also specify what type of literature it. For example it could be a sociological analysis, a historical book, a purely academic one or a lighter piece of work. Normally, the background about the writer is not required but one should not omit it if it’s of special relevance – for example a refugee writing on refugees. This helps to put the text in a specific context. Step 2: Main Section – Description and Summary The main section ideally consists of two sections – the description and the summary. The description can have excerpts from the book that give valuable insight into the work. However, while reviewing the storyline one has to make sure that the suspense of the story is not given away. Step 3: The Critical Analysis In this section, one has to remember not to critically analyze the entire book but take out those points which are intriguing. For example, if the book is on the urban poor, one can perhaps focus on their politics and culture. Your opinion on the book is crucial here as it shapes your analysis. It helps to provide an insight into the attributes of the book – Is it worth reading, is it interesting and so on. This section should also talk about one’s learning’s from the book and whether it holds an important or interesting message that caught your attention. Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

Yeshu

The most important point being that the natural balance in an ecosystem is maintained. This balance may be disturbed due to the introduction of new species, the sudden death of some species, natural hazards or man-made causes. In this field trip we will explore how human population and development affects the ecological balance. Take time to explore this site as your gateway to the world of ecology. It has interesting articles and facts. There are features such as the Environmental Timeline that shows how there were different concerns about the environment throughout istory.The environmental impact of war is an interesting article on how preparation of war and warfare leads to environmental losses. The carpet bombing of the lush green forests during the Vietnam war led to the loss of habitat of many species. Special features on population and the environment show how population has increased from the industrial age and how it will affect the environment. There are additional resource s for higher classes. In the name of development, we remove trees and vegetation, change how we use and, and keep expanding paved areas.All these not only affect the soil ecology, but also the water balance. Increased urbanization also requires more water to feed the city's population and industry, often requiring deeper and deeper wells to be drilled or water to be moved from even more distant locations. Increase of pavement area not lonely lessens the amount of water vapour that transpires back from the vegetation but also contributes to groundwater pollution if the salt used to melt road ice were allowed to runoff into the natural drainage system.Visit this site for a detailed look at water as a precious resource and how human development affects water and its ecosystem. It is dedicated to Water Day. To understand how human population and increased developmental activities affect the ecosystem, there are live examples all over the world. Armenia is one such example of what is hap pening to the ecosystem because of increased population and developmental activities. Over the last 1,000 years human impacts on the land have increased, mainly through deforestation and increased use of pastures.Such problems have intensified over recent years with unprecedented population growth and urbanisation since 1920, resulting in increased human impacts not only on individual species, but also on whole ecosystems. Read the article on this site and you will consciously become aware of what unchecked industrial development and urbanization could do to your region. The fast pace of development has led to many unwanted results. Exotic species get destroyed taster than we can discover them and ancient ecosystems are getting isturbed in our scientific explorations.Find out about amazing facts on human impact on oceans, toxins, and much more as you explore this site for environmental education on the web. It is designed primarily for kids, but the features and articles are good re ading for any grade. There are also handy tips on what you can do to help protect the environment and ideas on how you can start an ecology club in your neighbourhood. Visit the resources given on the Ecology and great Links pages to know more about this science.

HRD: Different Perspectives, Aims, and Objectives

Different paradigms present different perspectives of HARD (Human Resource Development) in terms of its aims and objectives. Consequently, it important to understand the different paradigms since each paradigm will have different approaches while solving HARD related problems. Experts advise that individuals build their personal beliefs regarding which paradigm suits his or her practice.In our context, It is best to divide HARD into two different paradigms, the performance, and the learning paradigm since they are definite. Moreover, the learning paradigm and the performance paradigm overlook most of the HARD practice as well as the thinking. The learning paradigm Is especially predominant In HARD practice In the United States of America. The learning paradigm and the performance paradigm are very dissimilar in many aspects. For instance, as the learning paradigm focuses on individual learning the performance paradigm focuses on the individual performance improvement.Learning paradig m of HARD is the field of study and practices that nature a long- term work-related learning capacity in an organization at all levels I. . Individual, organizational, and group levels. The performance paradigm of HARD is the art of realizing units of mission-related outputs. In addition, performance can be an organized system meant to accomplish a purpose or a mission. Though the two paradigms are diverse, they both agree on some aspects, for Instance they both agree that Improvement of organizations Is through human expertise.Different experts and philosophers hold different perspectives on the performance aspect. Performance can be as a natural outcome of humans' actively, reference is an important input in economic activities, or performance can also be a tool of oppression. There are different views held regarding then learning paradigm. Learning is a humanistic Endeavor, as it enhances the potential of human beings. Learning can also end up being an oppressive tool, for instan ce in the context of communism where learning is used to control the society.Learning is an instrument for the transmission of information needed by individuals. Nevertheless, it would be ignorant to draw that the two paradigms cannot converge since HARD operates best under Integration of the two. Chapter 8 Primary, the chapter Is about the theories on performance. Performance theory varies In comparison to the learning theory since It concentrates on teams, processes, organizational systems, and Individuals. Organizational effectiveness Is the mall precursor to performance and can be in different models.It can be a goal model, constituencies model. HARD is not the only discipline interested in performance and consequently analyzing HARD is normally on a basis on the different perspectives of performances. There are other different perspectives such as performance is a ultrasonically phenomenon. Performance models are of wide ranges of disciplines such as sociology, ethics, quality, psychology, and etcetera. Individual level performance models were because of HARD since; HARD has its foundation on individual learning.The models are the human performance technology and they try to define the common individual performance and the factors influencing individual performance. The financial performance entails the financial benefits of the HARD programs. Different factors influence the HARD profession such as the value-laden myths. Some of the myths are that the cost of HARD is high, it is impossible to quantify the benefits of HARD or that giving organizations the HARD they want is appropriate.Breaches enterprise model and Rumbles model provide integrated framework to achieve competitive advantage. Other common representative models are the John Campbell taxonomy and Thomas Gilbert's human performance engineering model. The integration of the performance models bring about new perspectives to HARD research, practice, and thinking. Chapter 9 This chapter focuses on the different perspectives of learning and the different preventative theories on learning in HARD.Learning is at the core of HARD and all debates ever carried out suggest that HARD embrace learning. The basic theories are six and include humanism, constructivism, holistic learning, social learning, behaviorism, and cognitive. These theories can apply in all the learning settings as well as for all age groups. Learning models can be at individual levels and at organizational levels. In the recent past, androgyny has been a theory of adult learning, a set of assumptions regarding adult learners, and a method of adult education.At individual levels is the androgyny that is a principal adult learning in HARD. On an adult learning perspective, it is a genuine trial to focus on the adult learner. Ontological model avails core standards of important and key hypotheses on adult learners. Another king of learning that is increasingly gaining attention is the transformational learning. This kind of learning is deep and requires the learner to challenge the fundamental assumptions and the mental schema they hold regarding the world.In relation to mental schema are restructuring, accretion, and tuning here accretion and tuning entails no change or incremental changes in an individual's schemata and restructuring involves creating a new schema. Organizational learning is learning that occurs at system level and not at individual levels. The main feature differentiating individual and organizational learning is that individual learning makes their mental models precise. HARD develops the knowledge for organizations to be competitive in the economy. Swanson. A, Hilton. F, Hilton, E. Foundations of Human Resource Development. London: Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 2001.

Bar Location Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bar Location - Essay Example Therefore, there is a need for extra creativity because one can save more funds. When picking a site for opening up a bar, location is everything. But the factors that constitute a prime location are varying to different individuals (Blog.foodservicewarehouse.com). Most people will take a look at the current real estate market and find potential areas in one of the following ways. Speculation of a turnaround; some people choose to be prospectors and start their bars in areas that are yet to become popular. Prospectors pay less rent, but they will not have a built in customer base. They will, therefore, spend more on advertising and marketing to bring in the clients. People who start a bar in an area that is not trendy will have to wait longer to realize the bar’s potential. Sure thing; this is the route taken by the majority of bar owners. They open the bars in trendy places with the aim of making quick returns. Trendy places contain many people who are always mingling on regular intervals. Opening up a bar at such a location will attract such people and create a perfect customer base. These places are expensive in terms of rent (Mealey). The general ideas of finding the best location to open up a bar are; finding a spot that is close to offices, strip malls, residential neighborhoods or near sports venues. These areas form the most favored locations since people have already settled in these areas to take advantage of the offered services. Prospective patrons will quickly step by from their usual routines to and from these places. Corners are the most desirable places since people have the ability to view two streets instead of one. A bar situated at the edge gets more exposure than the one in the middle of the block. Corner locations are more expensive so it is important to calculate whether the added exposure will provide the best answers for your business. Situating the bar closer to freeway exits or highway exits makes it more accessible to

Marketplace Structure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketplace Structure - Research Paper Example Contrary, a monopolistic market emerges after a firm produces a product that is not similar to what others produce. The product is unique and there is no replacement. The organization enjoys being the only single producer of the product or service. Consequently, the organization controls the price and quality. Entry in the monopolistic market is challenged by economies of scale. Monopolistic competitive market consists of organizations selling similar products that are not identical. There are many organizations each taking a portion of the market. Baade (33) adds that, the organizations diversify the products so that they have a variety according to name, style and pricing. Movement in and out of the industry does not have a barrier. Oligopoly is a market structure where a few organizations with same or diversified product gain prominence in the market. Because the few large organizations are known to each other, decisions are made putting into consideration the competitor’s reaction. Decisions on advertising, output and prices are influenced by the rival organizations. There is a tendency to diversify or standardize the product. Entering the industry requires a large capital. Economies of scale are the major hindrance to joining the industry.   Manchester United fits into the oligopoly market structure. It is a football club featured in the premier league among other prominent and wealthy football clubs. Its rivals in the market include; Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds United and Manchester City.

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Anthropology - Essay Example The middle class was able to support the growth of the cities. As such, industrialization is a required prerequisite for ensuring the growth of Mega Urban Region (MUR). When we consider the rate of growth of the cities, it becomes evident that Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City experienced the highest growth rates, which do not seem to reduce in the future. The analysis of the two cities reveals that they have a highly dynamic inner zone. The area experienced the highest growth rate in terms of employment opportunities and population. The dynamism and development of the inner zone become driven by both the de-congestion process of the urban residential and production functions emanating from the core of the cities. As such, the inner zones have a higher chance for advancement, which may mean that the Shanghai MUR may continue with its expansion. When encouraging the growth of the Mega Urban Regions, I believe that the people should relocate businesses and people out of the core. Such a move will also encourage the development of the rural areas in the periphery of the cities, leading to further

GENETICS AND GENE MUTATION Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GENETICS AND GENE MUTATION - Coursework Example What meaning do these mRNA codons have for protein synthesis? Explanation: mRNA is essential in protein synthesis because it transports genetic information from the DNA contained in the nucleus to its place in the ribosome. In short, mRNA contains the genetic information needed to make proteins during transcription. The protein molecule that results from the process therefore has genetic information identical to the original genetic material of the individual (Clark, Protein Synthesis, 2007). Did the two mutations result in a change in the final proteins? If so, describe the change. Response/ explanation: All mutations will definitely result in the production of different final proteins, such as the changes caused by the three mutations in the diagram above. Specifically, the two genetic mutations above were significant. In the first mutation, the mutation coded for ILE when in fact MET should be the normal initiation code. The second mutation coded for ASP and PRO instead of HIS and ARG when the gene is normal. However, the third mutation is not that significant since UAA is also a termination codon just like UGA. Such mutations that result in significant changes in proteins may actually manifest as physiological problems in the individual later on (Clark, DNA Mutations, 2007). In general, why might a change in amino acid sequence affect protein function? Explanation: Protein function may be affected even by slight changes in amino acid sequence. This happens in protein synthesis. These changes may manifest as genetic disorders in the individual or even death (Clark, DNA Mutations, 2007). Part II Punnett Square a. Chances (%) for healthy child, not a carrier b. Chances (%) for child that is carrier for cystic fibrosis trait c. Chances (%) for child with cystic fibrosis Fill out/adapt Punnett Square: ___C___ __c___ ___C___ CC Cc ___c___ Cc cc a. Chances (%) for healthy child, not a carrier: 25% (CC) b. % for child that is carrier for cystic fibrosis trait: 50% (Cc) c. % for child with cystic fibrosis: 25% (cc) Part III: Essay How do both meiosis and sexual reproduction (fertilization) produce offspring that differ genetically from the parents? Include steps in meiosis that increase variability Include the process of fertilization. Explanation: Crossing over, or the exchange of genetic material, which takes place during meiosis is responsible for the variation that may show up in the offspring. Prophase I of meiosis is the one responsible for crossing over. The result of this particular process is the production of chromosomes, some of which have maternal and some have paternal traits. During metaphase I, there is another method of variation and this is known as the independent assortment of homologous chromosome pairs. In anaphase I, there is also variation as there is random mixed variation of maternal and paternal chromosomes. Variation is also produced through fertilization because sex cells from both parents combine in many different ways in order to form a new individual. The chromosomes of the father

Improve your life by facing the mirror Research Paper

Improve your life by facing the mirror - Research Paper Example Ideally, these fields aim at informing the targeted audience on various topics including cultural issues, politics, and business, as well as entertaining the intended audience. Apart from performing those functions, these fields intend to provide the forum for public criticism by the public in a bid to address various issues and grievances that the public have. These fields use various media such as film, newspapers, radio, magazine, social media, and television to achieve their goals (Vivian, 2005). One of the fundamental elements of achieving the intended goal by communicators is objectivity and focusing on both the internal and external factors. However, over the years, communicators have been focusing on the victim mentality which has taken hold in their culture (Morin, 2011). This is a reflection of the reality in the society where people have found it easier to blame others for their unhappy situations and existence. This prevailing situation among people and communicators in p articular is uncalled for (Brook, 2001). It is important that the people and specifically the communicators should focus on themselves through an introspective approach because the situation in society happens because of the actions and perceptions of personal individuals (Diamond, 2010). Individual’s life and that of the society at large can be improved by people facing the mirror and having a more self-awareness understanding. Improved self-awareness and subsequent self-improvement can be achieved effectively through a self-awareness training program (Goukens, et al., 2009). It is true that people tend to find it easier to blame others for their unhappy existence, and to generally look at external factors instead of focusing from within when analyzing and communicating difficult situations (Ratliffe et al, 2002). In particular, communicators have the tendency of considering themselves as the victims of certain circumstances. The culture of victim mentality is deeply entrenc hed in them, just like in other people. This mentality makes them to have the tendency of blaming uncontrollable or external factors, rather than focusing on controllable or internal factors for their unhappy existence or for the things that go wrong. Blaming uncontrollable or external factors put one in a mindset that there is nothing that one can do to control their life (McKittrick, 2010). As a result of victim mentality, people tend to lack objectivity because what they see and report is what they have created through their beliefs and thoughts. Consequently, the victim mentality makes people to make the mistake of looking for uncontrollable or external factors to fix their unhappy situations and bad moods (Zahavi, 1999). Instead of focusing within, they gain the tendency of trying to change virtually everything around them so as to feel better. However, focusing on external factors ultimately makes them to realize that they will still feel the same and nothing changes significa ntly. However, a closer look at the relationship between external factors and happiness shows that out of the many external factors that one is blaming only a few are the actual cause of people’s unhappy situation (Goukens et al, 2009). Actually, the other factors that one is blaming for their unhappy situations are innocent as the cause of such situations are internal. If one has

Discussing Darwins Evolutionary Theory through Using Monsters, Like Research Paper

Discussing Darwins Evolutionary Theory through Using Monsters, Like Werewolves - Research Paper Example The article is well-written, thorough, vivid, and easy to follow or understand. The author successfully conveys the evolution of people’s beliefs about monsters and how scientists, especially naturalists, tried to prove that monsters are not real, or merely products of a restless imagination. This essay evaluates the article in terms of content and purpose. The article is divided into three subtopics—The Slow Death of the Wolfman, Missing Links, and From Apes to Ape Men. As far back as 2,000 B.C., the idea of a werewolf has already existed. During the ancient period, images of monsters filled the imaginations of ordinary folks; many assumed that prehistory was characterized by a frightening environment of alive distorted body parts, moving around and joining together to form strange hybrids. No one during Darwin’s time believed in such an idea, but it was completely rational to look at the mysteries of the production of species—evolution or transmutation. Eventually, monsters have been regarded as probable links to the evolution of new species (Amigoni 36). If monsters were mutations or departures from the normal, then perhaps they were the answer to the question of species differences. This is the main point of the article. In terms of content, the article is clear-cut and explanatory, but not in a tedious, dull way. Although the author talks about a subject matter that is scientific, technical, and formal, he is able to keep the discussion appealing and fascinating by making his descriptions vivid or graphics. For instance, he describes how evolutionists of the 19th century look at the idea of monsters in this way (Regal 2): Others, though unwilling to accept mermaids, argued that even more, wondrous creatures existed as a result of evolution.  

Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lab Report Example inch from the bottom of the crucible and it was isolated with the help of a glass fiber to make the cooling process of the sample retard. This gave the experimenter enough time to collect the data required (the change of temperature versus time). Every 5 seconds, the temperature was noted until the sample of melted Tin reached a temperature near 150C (10C above the freezing point of pure Tin) in order to prevent the thermocouple sheath from freezing. After the data was collected, a plot of temperature versus time was developed. The plot took the form of a curve, which is the Tin-cooling curve. The curve shows the cooling process,. Abstract: This experiment was directed at determining the melting point of pure Tin. For this purpose, a ceramic crucible containing pure Tin was heated in a furnace up to the temperature that was expectedly above the melting point of pure Tin. Once that was achieved, the sample of liquid Tin was put into a container that was filled with sand. A thermocoupl e sheath was placed into the melted Tin and was isolated with the help of a glass fiber. This retarded the cooling process of the sample of Tin and provided the experimenter with enough time to collect all of the required data (the change of temperature versus time).

HYBRID MODEL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HYBRID MODEL - Essay Example Weibe was referring to institutions and groups like political parties, the press, business organizations and the like that stood between the government and the people and which makes that intimacy between the two not viable. If power is concentrated at the top, the tendency is towards anarchism but if power is allowed to filter down too much to the bottom, anarchy will result (2006). The implication therefore is that democracy is largely a balancing act, one in which the fulcrum of power is located in the middle rather than on any of the opposing sides. As Weibe states, democratic life is institutional life. A correct definition of democracy is vital and sine qua non to the crafting of a blueprint for any model of accountability in public administration upon which forms the skeletal basis of a new administration’s line of governance. In drafting the blueprint of a new hybrid model of public administration, it is important to acknowledge the inescapable existence of institution s that fill the distance between government and the people and the need to strengthen government bureacracies to bridge that distance. As the newly appointed interim president, the basis of my governance will be a model which will incorporate all the points culled from the strongest and effective aspects of the various public administration models which are the Jacksonian Democracy model, the Progressive Reform model, the Reinventing Government model, the New Public Management model, and the New Public service model, which will all bring the desired effects of strengthening the fulcrum of power that lies between and separate the government from the people so as to effectively bring the two together. It is important therefore to discuss the said models to be able to point out and explain the facets which had made these models attractive and successful and adopt them in the new model. The Jacksonian/Machine Politics Model.

Advocates of the American Constitution Essay Example for Free

Advocates of the American Constitution Essay Obtained a strategic advantage over those who opposed it by taking up the name Federalist for themselves and by identifying the adversaries Anti-Federalists. Federalists supported state rule and disagreed with a central national government. By holding the title Federalist, Hamilton and other authors got an additional advantage for their position and got around an extreme conflict over the issue of state versus national power. They emerged as advocates of states rights and this idea was clearly explained in The Federalist Papers, yet they were also evidently advocating for a strong national government. The essays were signed â€Å"Publius† after Publius Valerius who was the state builder and who rebuild the Roman republic following the removing from power Romes last king called Tarquin. Plutarch measured Publius favorably against Solon who was Greeces law giver. And at that instant a modern Publius would have helped erect the new American republic. By opting for a name like Publius, the authors of the Federalist were following a practice which was common among the eighteenth-century writers. The writers used to publish a combined work under a fictitious name instead of a byline. If Hamilton, Madison, and Jay had revealed their identity in The Federalist Papers then they would have been known as advocates of specific positions instead of being recognized by their arguments, and also this would have become a part of the argument over the Constitution. Further more; choosing secrecy was also because of the enmity between Hamilton and George Clinton the New York Governor. Interestingly Hamilton was the single New York ambassador who signed the Constitution. On the contrary, Clinton was an Anti-Federalist who was heading a state where people opposing the new Constitution were in majority. Therefore, opting for Publius was somewhat an effort to shift the discussion away from the personal bitterness between Hamilton and Clinton. As the need of unification has been signified, and the Articles of Confederation had arrears, it was explained by the Publius that a strong republican government was shaped by the Constitution, yet checks and balances controlled it. This type of government, which was strong and had checks, would maintain freedom and assets, and bring back respect for America overseas. Although an un-amended Constitution was opposed by two thirds of the nominated representatives at the New York conventions, the provision of other political writers was done by the Publius. At the same time as replying to explicit Anti-federalist arguments, The Federalist presented an integrated theory of the philosophies upon which the new Constitution was based. History, experience, and reason were the bases of this philosophical foundation, and the long existence of the republican government was verified by this foundation in relation with the examples of failed governments in the past, which were unable to survive. Countering the belief, which is often ascribed to Montesquieu, that republics could stay alive only in small areas taken by identical inhabitants, Madison in The Federalist no. 10 argued that republics could flourish best in large areas where different groups constantly competed with each other. During the constant struggles of these groups the independence of both majorities and minorities would be preserved. This republic would provide better leadership by expanding the group of qualified persons from which delegates would be selected. The Federalist no. 10 by Madison, as mentioned before, was very influential in U. S. political history and philosophy. The separation of the three branches of the federal government had to be done, as the role of a check upon the other was played by each branch in the government Although these three branches were not completely separate the practicality of each division was assured by assigning it enough power to protect itself against the actions of the other division. Furthermore, if any branch exceeded its role as defined in the Constitution then the other branches could proceed by checking on the misuse of power. Moreover, it was also stated by the Publius that freedom was protected by the new Constitution by the provision of power to the central, as well as, state governments. Specific areas of power and simultaneous powers were determined by this new federalism. It was mentioned by the Publius that a central government with restricted powers was created by the Constitution. In this regard, identification of the Congress’s, as well as, President’s powers was also done. The people and the states were left with all the remaining powers completely. If the legislative body dishonored their power and authority bestowed on them then the people could substitute them during the regular elections ensured by the Constitution. On the other hand, if the President or the judiciary breached the confidence of the people, Congress could prosecute them and if convicted Congress could remove them from their designation and from their office. The debate that was going on was based on vocabulary that is circling around the gist of the thoughts constitutive of republican dialogue. They are liberty, tyranny, virtue, corruption, representation, and even republic. It has been said before, along with rationalizations, that the new created American republic was the combined efforts of Federalists and Anti-federalists. A new political system was created not by ordains of a single lawmaker but instead was fought to bring it to life and was constructed jointly by having a powerful discussion between supporters of different political affiliations and theoretical standpoints. â€Å"The ratification debate produced an enormous outpouring of newspaper articles, pamphlets, sermons, and tracts, both for and against the new design. Of the former The Federalist is by far the most famous and certainly the most widely read in our day. The Anti-federalist case against the Constitution, by contrast, is today rarely read or even remembered. Once described (and dismissed) as mere nay-Sayers and men of little faith, the Anti-federalists are now more often regarded as the other founders. †

Causes of Bankruptcy at Toys R Us

Causes of Bankruptcy at Toys R Us Abstract With declining sales and the rise of online retail, Toys R Us is one of many companies that have filed for bankruptcy. Toys R Us has also pulled its IPO offering. In the world of Amazon and Walmart, Toys R Us was unable to keep up. This paper will provide a comprehensive look at the underlying issues due to which Toys R Us was unable to thrive. With so many options in the market, Toys R Us needs to create a draw for its customers to remain competitive. The company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will be analyzed to determine the best course of action supported by research. With research, financial analysis, and dynamic operations, it was concluded that Toys R Us needs to become relevant again and create a business out of what they offer similar to what American Girl has done. Executive Summary Toys R Us was founded by Charles P. Lazarus in 1948 and initially began as a furniture store, which then shifted its focus entirely to toys. The company has 866 stores in the United States and more than 750 international locations. The company’s strength lies in its volume of stores that it operates, many of them in emerging economies that could prove to be an investment. It recently filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada. At first glance, the company is suffering from low sales, not enough foot traffic, and toys that do not appeal to children of the digital age. However, at looking closer, the underlying issue seems to be Toys R Us’s reluctance to re-engineer its business. Toys R Us was losing sales due to big retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Amazon offers the convenience of online shopping with very fast shipping that eliminates the wait time associated with shopping online. Target and Walmart offer one stop shopping that allows an individual to get all of their shopping done without having to make multiple stops. Toys R Us only offers one genre of products, which are toys. When compared to a similar rival within the same industry such as American Girl Doll, it is clear that it is possible to be successful while offering an exclusive product. The appeal of American Girl Doll is that it creates a unique, interactive experience for its customers. One of Toys R Us’ weaknesses is that is does not have a competitive edge. Toys R Us could do the same by providing unique, interactive, experience geared displays for children in their stores similar to that of Build-A-Bear, which is a competitor in the same market. They can also manage a turn around by focusing on lower prices, better customer experience, revamping stores to include the interactive portion, hire engaging employees who cater to children, offer other services such as toy repairs or setup assistance. Toys R Us is a retail company that is exclusively a toy retailer that has 866 stores in the United States and more than 750 international locations. It had consistent success since it was founded in 1948 because it provided the most popular, up to date, and largest variety of toys with the most locations as well (Thomison, 2016). Toys R Us was known as a category killer, which meant that the company sold a product from only one category. With this strategy, the company was able to build a large volume that other retail chains could not match due to Toys R Us’ inventory and price. Then, Walmart launched a price war that was matched by Target and sold more toys than Toys R Us by 2005 (Hartung, 2017). KKR, Bain, and Vornado acquired Toys R Us in 2005 for $6.6 billion. The retailer has $4.9 billion in debt of which $400 million is due in 2018 and $1.7 billion due in 2019. Toys R Us has filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada, which will help relieve it from this debt (Hirsch, 2017). This can be attributed to the rise of e-commerce, where people buy online on sites such as Amazon and eBay. Toys R Us did launch its own website in 1998 and it became one of the fastest growing sites in the toy category. As Toys R Us tried to improve its business strategy, so did its competitors. Walmart and Target also sell toys but also offer the convenience of one stop shopping for its customers whereas Toys R Us is unable to do so. In the age of technology, many children prefer I-Pads and I-Phones to traditional toys further dwindling sales of Toys R Us. In 2011, Toys R Us’ domestic U.S. sales were worse than that of 2008, which was one of the worst holiday seasons for retailers. The president of the company resigned after only 10 months despite signing a one-year contract. In 2012, the department heads for administration and merchandising also resigned from their positions. The executives at Toys R Us have been experiencing high turnover within the past seven years (Clifford & Lattman, 2012). The company is grappling with how to grow the business with all of the competition. Sales are dwindling and competition is thriving but what caused these issues to arise for a company that seemed to doing very well? According to Hartung (2017), KKR and Bain Capital acquired Toys R Us in 2005 for $6.6 billion plus $1 billion of debt at a total valuation of $7.6 billion. KKR and Bain Capital put in $1.3 billion and used the company’s assets to raise the remaining amount bringing the debt from $1 billion to $6.2 billion, which was 82.7% of total capital. The interest rate on this debt was around 7.25% that created payments of $450 million per year on interest alone. The plan was to cut company costs, improve cash flow, and pay off the debt. The rise of e-commerce, at the time, was not anticipated. Amazon was only an $8.5 billion company in 2005 as opposed to the $100 billion dollar giant it is today. The executives set the company up for failure right from the acquisition. Due to its debt, Toys R Us was unable to venture into the online market as aggressively as they should have to counter Amazon. The company also could not keep up with Walmart’s low prices. Walmart would take a loss by pricing toys and other popular items at steeply low prices to get customers into their stores so they could spend on other big-ticket items. Customer service and shopping experience at Toys R Us were sub par at best and not inviting to customers. American Girl Doll, which is also an exclusive toy retailer, has seen tremendous, continuous success due to its interactive geared shopping experience for customers. American Girl Doll only sells doll, which one would assume could be its detriment as was with Toys R Us. The same factors that plague Toys R Us are the same factors that American Girl Doll must deal with. American Girl Doll is able to thrive and be profitable because of the unique experience they provide. Each toy comes with a historical background, a story, and accessories, which sell even at their high price point. Bhattarai (2017) states, that smaller neighborhood toy stores are thriving and increasing sales every year while Toys R Us, a retail giant is failing. What sets these smaller stores apart is the customer service of helpful employees, the carefully curated selection, gift-wrapping services, and lego building events. These stores are providing a unique shopping experience that Toys R Us is lacking. Kids these days are restless theyre looking for an interactive experience, said Susan Lee, a partner at marketing firm Simon Kucher & Partners. It isnt enough to just have stacks of toys on a shelf (Bhattarai, 2017). Customer service plays a large part in the success of these smaller stores as well. Bhattarai (2017) lists a variety of different experiences shoppers reiterated at a store called Child’s Play from employees going out of their way to open newly packaged games so children can decide if it is the right one, tracking down obscure toys that some children request, and even taking the time out to play with some of the kids in the store. Toys R Us’ strengths lie in its numbers as the retail giant has so many locations within the U.S. and worldwide. The company also has a large inventory with a diverse range of toys that is difficult to come by in another store. Toys R Us has been around for almost 70 years and for many people creates a sense of nostalgia that can be used to its advantage. It has developed its website and utilize it to further appeal to its customer base. The company currently employs over 70,000 employees and still managed to pull in annual revenue of $13.646 billion (Satell, 2017). The weaknesses of the organization include a lack of competitive advantage when compared to other retailers. The toys sold at Toys R Us stores are not unique and can be found and other retailers and sometimes for a better price. Toys R Us also depends on its holiday season sales to make the most profit and that is not enough anymore to help the company thrive. The organization also wants to pay its executives $16 million in bonuses that they argue are necessary for the executives to perform well. Normally, executive pay is fairly higher compared to the average worker due to the required experience, risk, educational background, work schedule, etc. (Martocchio, 2017). This is not necessary for a bankrupt organization to do especially since these are the same executives that have allowed the company to fail for so long instead of implementing new business strategies. This would be understandable if the organization were trying to bring aboard new executives that have a proven track record of bringing companies back to life after suffering such losses. Opportunities for Toys R Us came in the form of its alliance with Amazon provided both companies the opportunity to excel. It allowed Amazon to partner with other retailers instead of trying to sell everything itself. Toys R Us was able to pick the hot items and have them features and was also responsible for keeping them in physical stock. This deal however did sour due to both companies filing lawsuits against each other. Toys R Us claimed Amazon was allowing other retailers to sell on their website while Amazon claimed this was due to Toys R Us not being able to keep items in stock. The lawsuit has been settled with Amazon agreeing to pay Toys R Us a settlement of $51 million (Martinez, 2009). Toys R Us can learn from this alliance and partner with other companies to further its selling power. Toys R Us also has many international locations that if situated in the right emerging markets can create the opportunity to enhance international revenue. The threats that Toys R Us faces are retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Even some of the smaller neighborhood toy stores are doing a better job in providing what customers are looking for. Walmart, Target, and Amazon may offer the same products as Toys R Us but many times offer it in a package exclusive to the retailer that entices customers. Layoffs from multiple store closings have made the company unreliable as well as the current filing of bankruptcy over the debt the company was left with. The company is now in a negative light creating a negative image of the brand as much of its financial woes have been highlighted by the media (Marketing Mixx, 2017). References Bhattarai, A. (2017). Why neighborhood toy stores are thriving while Toys R Us goes bankrupt. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-neighborhood-toy-stores-toys-r-us-bankrupt-20170925-story.html Clifford, S. and Lattman, P. (2012). Pressed from all sides, Toys R Us fights to reinvent itself. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/07/business/toys-r-us-last-of-the-big-toy-stores-tries-to-reinvent-itself.html Fitz-Enz, J. (2009). The ROI of human capital: Measuring the economic value of employee performance (2nd ed.). New York, NY: AMACOM.          Gay, W. (2017). How Millennials can save Toys R Us from bankruptcy. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/wesgay/2017/10/30/toys-r-us-bankruptcy/2/#6cf61c604af0 Gross, D. (2017). Toys R Us is dying from a lack of imagination. Slate. Retrieved from https://slate.com/business/2017/09/why-best-buy-is-weathering-the-retail-apocalypse-and-toys-r-us-isnt.html Hartung, A. (2017). Toys R Us – how bad assumptions fed bad financial planning creating failure. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2017/09/20/toys-r-us-is-a-lesson-in-how-bad-assumptions-feed-bad-financial-planning-creating-failure/#34186aef58ea Hirsch, L. (2017). Toys R Us files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/18/toys-r-us-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy.html Isidore, C. (2017). Bankrupt Toys R Us wants to pay $16 million in executive bonuses. CNN Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/16/news/companies/toys-r-us-executive-bonuses/index.htmlY Martinez, A. (2009). Amazon settles long standing legal dispute with Toys R Us. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-settles-long-standing-legal-dispute-with-toys-r-us/ Martocchio, J. (2017).  Strategic compensation: A human resource management approach  (9th  Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.   Roth, C. (2013). Toys R Us needs a business model makeover: Roth. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/id/100609849 Satell, G. (2017). Toys R Us might be dying, but physical retail isn’t. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/09/toys-r-us-is-dead-but-physical-retail-isnt Silver, J. (2017). Eyeing Toys R Us’ future. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/09/19/552181913/eyeing-toys-r-us-future-analyst-suggests-hands-on-displays Thomison, E. (2016). A strategic marketing and financial analysis of Toys R Us. University of Kentucky. Retrieved from https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1022&context=honprog Tuttle, D. (2017). Up next in the retail apocalypse: Toys R Us?. Time Money. Retrieved from http://time.com/money/4931640/toys-r-us-sales-bankruptcy-debt/ Vogelsang, J., Townsend, M, Minahan, M., Jamieson, D., Vogel, J., Viets, A, Royal, C., & Valek, L. (2013). Handbook for strategic HR: Best practices in organization development from the OD Network. New York, NY: AMACOM.

The Objective Of Financial Reporting And Qualitative Characteristics And Constraints Accounting Essay

The Objective Of Financial Reporting And Qualitative Characteristics And Constraints Accounting Essay 1 Introduction The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), namely the Boards, jointly published a Discussion Paper and received 179 responses. The Exposure Draft was created from the Boards redeliberations regarding issues being raised by respondents. The Boards published this common Exposure Draft for the public to comment and it is the Boards broader conceptual framework. The Boards are considering their frameworks: to provide standards that are consistent, converge their standards, to develop a general and enhanced conceptual framework. The Boards decided that a reconsideration of concepts would not be efficient because many aspects of the frameworks are consistent and do not need fundamental revision. The Boards are focused on improving and converging their existing frameworks. The conceptual framework for financial reporting established by the Board displays the concepts that underlie financial reporting. This conceptual framework consists of 2 chapters: the objective of financial reporting and qualitative characteristics and constraints of decision useful financial reporting information useful financial reporting information. 2 Chapter 1: The Objective of Financial Reporting This conceptual framework establishes the objective of general purpose financial reporting by business entities in the private sector, which is the foundation of the framework. The objective of general purpose financial reporting is to provide financial information to current capital provides to make decisions. This information might also be useful to users who are not capital providers. The general purpose financial reporting develops superior reporting standards to help in the efficient functioning of economies and the efficient allocation of resources in capital markets. General purpose financial reporting focuses on an extensive range of users needs that lack the ability to obtain financial information needed from the entity. It should be broad enough to comprehend information for the various users. Therefore, the financial report is where they depend on to acquire information. Diverse users may require different information which might go beyond the scope of general purpose financial reporting. The financial reports are prepared from the entitys perspective (deemed to have substance on its own, spate from that of its owners), instead of the entitys capital providers. An entity attains economic resources (its assets) from capital providers in exchange for claims to those resources (its liabilities and equity). Capital providers include Equity investors Equity investors normally invest economic resources in an entity expecting to receive a return on, as well as a return of, the resources invested in. Hence, equity investors are concerned with the amount, timing, uncertainty of an entitys future cash flows and the entitys competence in generating those cash flows which affects the prices of their equity interests. Furthermore, they are concerned with the performance of directors and management of the entity in discharging their responsibility to make efficient and profitable use of the assets invested. Lenders Lenders usually expect to receive a return in the form of interest, repayments of borrowings, and increases in the prices of debt securities. Lenders have similar interests as the equity investors. Other creditors Other creditors provide resources because of their relationship with the entity, instead of a capital provider; no primary relationship. Employee salary or compensation Suppliers extended credit Customer prepay for goods and services Managers responsible for preparing financial reports Capital providers make decisions through useful information provided in financial reporting by particular entity. Financial reporting usefulness in assessing cash flow prospects depends on the entitys current cash resources and the ability to generate sufficient cash to reimburse its capital providers. Besides, financial reporting usefulness in assessing stewardship includes the managements responsibilities to protect the entitys economic resources (assets) from unfavourable effects. Management is also liable for safeguarding the assets of the entity which conforms to the laws, regulations and contractual provisions; thus, the importance of managements performance in the decision usefulness. The general purpose financial reporting is limited to information which does not reflect pertinent information from other sources that should be considered by the users. Financial reporting information is based on estimates, judgements, and models of the financial effects on an entity of transactions and other events in which, is only ideal for preparers and standard setters to strive. Achieving the frameworks vision of ideal financial reporting to the fullest will be difficult in the short term because of technical infeasibility and cost constrains. Financial reporting should include information about: the economic resources of an entity (assets), the claims of the entity are (liabilities and equity), the effects of transaction and any events or circumstances that can affect the entitys resources and claims and provide useful information about the ability of entity to generate its cash flow and how well the entity meets its management responsibilities. The usefulness of financial reporting to the users: Provide useful information about the amount, timing, and uncertainty of future cash flow To identify the entitys financial strengths and weaknesses (especially for capital providers) To indicate the potential of entitys cash flow for its economic resources and claims To identify the effectiveness of the entitys management responsibilities To assess availabilities of the entitys nature and quantity of the resources for the use in its operation To estimate the values of the entity. The quantitative measures and other information regarding the changes in entitys economics resources and claims in the financial report can help the users to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of its cash flow; and indicate the effectiveness of management responsibilities. Furthermore, the entity must provide a positive return on its economic resources in order to generate net cash inflows; and return the earning to its investors. Other information like variability of returns, past financial performance, and managements ability can be used to assess the entitys future financial performance. The information regarding the accrual accounting in financial reporting can better provide the users to assess the entitys past financial performance and future prospects in generating net cash inflows without obtaining additional capital from its investors. The entitys cash flow performance in financial reporting assist the investors to understand the entitys business model and operation through assessing how the entity obtains and spends cash. Information about its borrowing, repayment of borrowing, cash dividends and other distribution to investors, as well as the factors of entitys liquidity and solvency, can also assist the investors to determine the entitys cash flow accounting. Besides, information about the changes of entitys resources and claims not resulting from financial performance may assist the investors to differentiate the changes that are results of the entitys financial performance and those that are not. The information of management explanation should be included in financial reporting to assist users for a better understanding about management decision in any events and circumstances that have affected or may affect the entitys financial performance. It is because the internal parties know about the entitys performance than the external users. 3 Chapter 2: Qualitative Characteristics and Constraints of Decision-Useful Financial Reporting Information Fundamental qualitative characteristics distinguish useful financial reporting information from information that is not useful or is misleading. For information to be useful, it must have two fundamental qualitative characteristics: Relevance capable of making a difference in the decisions made by users as capital providers. Information is relevant when it has predictive value, confirmatory value, or both. Predictive value information that is assists the capitals providers to form their own expectations about the future. Confirmatory value information that confirms or changes past or present expectations based on previous evaluations. IASB said that information is relevant when it influences the economic decisions of users by helping them evaluate past, present or future events or confirming, or correcting, their past evaluation. FASB believes that to be relevant, accounting information must be capable of making a difference in a decision by helping users to form predictions about the outcome of past, present, and future events or to confirm or correct expectations. Since some users may have been obtaining information elsewhere other than financial reporting, and emphasizes the relevance of information in their decisions, relevant information does not really make a difference in the past or in the future. Any information that might be able to make a difference is said to be relevant. Faithful representation depiction of an economic phenomenon is complete, neutral, and free from material error. Complete includes all information that is necessary for faithful representation of economic phenomena. Neutrality information which is bias free. Freedom from error estimation of the economic phenomena is based on the appropriate inputs and each input must reflect the best available information. Relevance is concern with the connection between economic phenomena with the decisions of capital providers and not their depictions, therefore should be consider first. Then, the faithful representation is applied to determine which depictions of economic phenomenon best corresponds to the relevant phenomenon. Enhancing qualitative characteristics improves the decision usefulness of financial reporting information that is relevant and faithfully represented. They are used to distinguish more-useful information from less-useful information. The enhancing qualitative characteristics are comparability, verifiability, timeliness, and understandability. Comparability Comparability is the quality of information that enables users to identify similarities and the differences between two sets of economic phenomena. Since the essence of decision making is to select between alternatives, the information is more useful if it can be compared with similar information about the other entities and with similar information about the same entity for some other period. Comparability should not be confused with uniformity. Overemphasizing on uniformity may reduce comparability by making unlike things look alike. The IASB Framework actually discusses comparability as a qualitative characteristic which is equally important as relevance and faithfully representation. However, FASB concludes that comparability is an enhancing qualitative characteristic because regardless of how comparable the information may be, it will not be useful if it is irrelevant to users decisions and does not faithfully represent the economic phenomena. Verifiability A quality of information that helps to assure users that information faithfully represents the economic phenomena that it purports to represent. If the information is verifiable, the knowledgeable and independent observers could come to the general consensus. The verifiability of the information focuses on whether the recognition or measurement method is correctly applied. Verification can either be direct or indirect. An amount or other representation itself verified such as by counting cash or observing marketable securities and their quoted prices are called direct verification. An example of verifying the carrying amount of inventory by checking the inputs (quantities and costs) and recalculating the ending inventory using the same cost flow assumption (accounting convention or methodology average cost and first-in, first-out) is indirect verification. IASB Framework does not include verifiability as an explicit aspect, yet FASB does. FASB observed that some of the information which is faithfully represented may not necessarily be verifiable. Therefore, if the information is verifiable, it is generally more useful. Thus, FASB concluded that verifiability is an enhancing qualitative characteristic. Timeliness Timeliness means having information available to decision makers before it loses its capacity to influence decisions. A lack of timeliness can rob information of its potential usefulness. The IASB Framework discusses timeliness separately, as a constraint that could rob information of relevance. However, FASB concluded that reporting information in a timely manner can enhance both the relevance and faithful representation of the information since information can be reported in a timely manner but has no relevance, or information delayed in reporting remains its relevance. Understandability Understandability is the quality of information that enables users to comprehend its meaning. When the information is classified, characterized, and presented clearly and concisely, the understandability will be enhanced. Although the reporting information has to be understandable, the users of the financial report should also review and analyze the information with reasonable diligence as the users are assumed to have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and to be able to read the financial report. Enhancing qualitative characteristics should improve the usefulness of financial information and should be maximized to the extent possible. However, if the information is irrelevant or not faithfully represented, the enhancing qualitative characteristics cannot make that information useful for decision. Besides, the application of the enhancing qualitative characteristics is an iterative process which does not follow the prescribed order. In addition, FASB considered whether some other qualitative characteristics should be added, such as transparency, true and fair view, credibility, internal consistency, and high quality. FASB concluded that it would be redundant if transparency is added as one of the qualitative characteristics. True and fair view is not a qualitative characteristic itself, but it should result from applying the qualitative characteristics. FASB concluded that it should be the goal to achieve high quality to which financial reporting and standard setters aspire. By adherence to the objective and qualitative characteristics of financial reporting information, the goal can be achieved. Therefore, the characteristics mentioned in not added as the qualitative characteristics of the financial reporting information. In a nutshell, the qualitative characteristics of financial reporting information in this draft can be categorized into fundamental qualitative characteristics and enhancing qualitative characteristics as shown in the following: Figure 1 Compared to the conceptual framework issued by the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) in 2007, most of the qualitative characteristics are identical to the characteristic discussed in this draft. However, the most distinctive aspect which can be found is MASB did not categorize the qualitative characteristics into fundamental and enhancing qualitative characteristics. The qualitative characteristics concluded by MASB are shown in the figure below. Figure 2 MASB concluded that the relevance of information is affected by its nature and materiality while FASB discusses materiality under the constraints of financial reporting. MASB provides that the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements could be influenced when the omission or misstatement of the information is material. Thus, materiality provides a threshold or cut-off point rather than being a primary qualitative characteristic which information must have for it to be useful. Besides, MASB also discussed about substance over form and prudence under the characteristic of reliability. MASB provides that if information is to represent faithfully the transactions and other events that it purports to represent, it is necessary that they are accounted for and presented in accordance with their substance and economic reality and not merely their legal form. However, FASB did not identify substance over form as a component of faithful representation as it would be redundant to do so. In addition, FASB did not conclude prudence as a qualitative characteristic because it might conflict with the quality of neutrality. MASB discussed the characteristic of timeliness as a constraint on relevant and reliable information. If there is undue delay in the reporting of information it may lose its relevance. Management may need to balance the relative merits of timely reporting and the provision of reliable information. However, FASB concluded timeliness as an enhancing qualitative characteristic of the financial reporting information. There should be a balance between the qualitative characteristic as the IASB Framework says: In practice a balancing, or trade-off, between qualitative characteristics is often necessary. Generally the aim is to achieve an appropriate balance among the characteristics in order to meet the objective of financial statements. The relative importance of the characteristics in different cases is a matter of professional judgments. The information provided by financial reporting is limited by materiality and the cost of providing. Materiality Materiality depends on the nature and amount of the item judged in the particular circumstance of its omission or misstatement. It is important to consider the materiality of information because material omissions or misstatements will cause information to contain error, making it biased and incomplete. However, it is hard to specify a uniform quantitative threshold at which the information is material. Concepts Statement 2 and IASB Framework define materiality similarly but discuss materiality it differently. IASB describes materiality as an aspect of relevance and does not indicate that it has a relationship to other qualitative characteristics. On the other hand, Concepts Statement 2 provides that materiality should be considered together with qualitative characteristics (not only relevance). Thus, the Boards conclude that materiality is pertinent to all of the other qualitative characteristics. Cost The Boards emphasized the balance between the benefits of financial reporting information and the cost of providing and using it. Costs of providing information: Cost of collecting and processing Cost of verifying Cost of disseminating Cost of analysis and interpretation Cost resulted from omission of decision-useful information Benefits of financial reporting information: More efficient functioning of capital market Lower cost of capital Improved access to capital market Favourable effect on public relations Better management decisions However, the major problem for the standard setters in conducting rigorous cost-benefit analyses is the difficulty in qualifying the benefits of a certain reporting requirement. Besides, it is also difficult to obtain complete, quantitative information about the initial and ongoing cost of a requirement and impose them. Nevertheless, standard seekers should take into account both benefits and costs of proposed financial reporting requirements. There are 3 constraints of financial reporting information mentioned by the MASB: Balance between benefit and cost As mentioned in FASB, cost is one of the constraints of financial reporting information and the Boards emphasizes on the balance between the benefits of financial reporting information and the cost of providing and using it. Balance between qualitative characteristic MASB provides that, In practice a balancing or trade-off, between qualitative characteristics is often necessary. The relative importance of the characteristics in different cases is a matter of professional judgments. The FASB also mentions, In assessing whether the benefits of reporting information are likely to justify the costs, it is necessary to consider whether one or more qualitative characteristics might be scarified to some degree to reduce cost. Timeliness MASB mentioned that a constraint which is not mentioned in the conceptual framework of FASB; timeliness. MASB provides that if there is undue delay in the reporting of information it may lose its relevance. To provide information on a timely basis it may often be necessary to report before all aspects of a transaction or other event are known. On the other hand, if reporting is delayed until all aspects are known, the information may be highly reliable but of little use to users who have had to make decisions in the interim. Management may need to balance the timely reporting and the provision of reliable information.

Why Did Adolf Pick The Jews? :: essays research papers

Why Did Adolf Pick The Jews? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- People sometimes ask why the Jews were the people to get harmed during the Holocaust or why Holocaust even happened. Jews were the targets of Holocaust because Adolf Hitler hated Jews and blamed them for all of the problems in the world. He mainly blamed them for Germany's loss in World War I. Hitler told the German that they could have won the war, if the Germany had not been "stabbed in the back" by the Jews. While Hitler's hate was the main reason for Holocaust, we are not sure why it was allowed to go on to the death of most the Jews and the others that Hitler hated. Hitler was helped in his planning of Holocaust by the fact that discrimination against Jews was acceptable in Germany and few spoke out against it, but that is not a complete answer. We must look instead to the fact that the Nazi general beliefs permeated all things of life in Nazi Germany until there was no one left to protest against Holocaust. At the Nuremberg Trial, where the surviving leaders of the Nazi group were tried for their crimes, two of the witnesses were asked whether Holocaust was an inevitable result of Nazi general beliefs. Otto Ohlendorf, an SS officer who commanded a group which murdered the Jews, thought that Holocaust was not a necessary result of Nazi general beliefs. A few days later Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, a general in the SS who had fought in the invasion of the Soviet Union, did not agree. He said, "If for years, for decades, a doctrine is preached to the effect that the Slav race is an inferior race, that the Jews are not even human beings, then an explosion of this sort is inevitable.

Life and works of John Steinnbeck Essay example -- biographies bio bio

John Steinbeck was probably the best author of all time. He was the winner of a Nobel Prize, and along with many other accomplishments, Steinbeck wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories during his lifetime. Seventeen of his works, including The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, The Pearl, and East of Eden, went on to become Hollywood films, some appeared multiple times, as remakes. Steinbeck also had some success as a Hollywood writer, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Story in 1944 for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat. Many of his life experiences are shown through his novels. Someone can tell, by reading one of Steinbeck’s novels that he had been through a lot, throughout his life. Also, Steinbeck worked hard to accomplish everything that he did, during his lifetime. Nothing came easy for him, and had to earn everything on his own, and this helped him in his works. He also had the ability to write about real people and real experiences. John Steinbeck got his inspiration from his life experiences such as people he knew, and places he had spent time at. Many of Steinbeck's views of the world are shown through his novels. Some of Steinbeck’s most influential works are included in this paper and are summarized, to show how many Americans living in poverty today can relate to some of Steinbeck’s works which are also set during a recession era. Growing up in Salinas Valley, Steinbeck had the chance to spend a lot of time outdoors. His uncle used to take him on fishing trips, and spent time visiting his mother’s grand-fathers' farm near King City, it gave him a large respect for nature. Later on he became a caretaker on a large piece of land at Lake Tahoe, ... ...life experiences, events, and people which makes it easier for the reader to connect if they too had the same experiences first-hand. Although John Steinbeck has been gone for awhile, his legacy continues to thrive on Americans today. Steinbeck’s influence not only flourishes across the United States but has also been all around the world. His influnces have also attracted the attention of film production studios in which the have created movies based upon stories from Steinbeck. His legacy is also continued through high school reading, a study by the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Literature in the United States found that Of Mice and Men was one of the ten most often read books in public high and independent schools. Steinbeck has been honored in many ways having, places dedicated to him and having his name inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Risk and Return Analyis and Portfolio Management of Indian Automobile Companies

PSG INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL SYSTEMS A PROJECT REPORT On RISK AND RETURN ANALYSIS & PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT Of INDIAN AUTOMOBILE COMPANIES Submitted by, G. Abirami(9UTB02) M. Kamalam(9UTB13) N. Nirupa(9UTB18) P. Srilakshmi(9UTB32) INDEX CONTENTS PAGE NO. Acknowledgement Statement of Problem Introduction: Industry overview Company profiles Objectives Scope & Limitations Literature Review Research Methodology Analysis & Interpretation Findings Suggestions Conclusion Bibliography (i) (ii) 1 1 3 13 13 14 18 20 33 36 37 38 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all we thank the Almighty for having bestowed upon us the sufficient potential with which we are able to complete whatever work we undertake successfully. We feel a heart full of gratitude to our Director Mr. R. Nandagopal for encouraging us regarding all our curricular activities which take place at PSGIM. We also extend our thanks to our co-ordinator Mrs. V. Srividhya for being a constant support throughout and keeping us guided along the right path always. We also wish to thank our teacher for Financial and Management Accounting Mr. P. Varadharajan for having given us this opportunity in taking up this project and for his constant support and guidance throughout the course of the project. We also like to thank our parents who have carved a bright future for us by placing us in such a spectacular and prestigious institution where we could see ourselves as what and as whom we dream to become. May be the last but not the least people to thank are our friends. Thanks is a word not to be shared among friendship but it should be felt for the presence of their soulful support throughout our life. (i) STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Automotive Industry has significantly increased its contribution to overall industrial growth in the country. By 2030 India will be the third largest car market in the world after China and Japan. This coupled by the purchasing power of the ultra rich makes India a top destination for manufacturers of luxury cars Investment by foreign companies in automobiles implies a bright future for the auto industry India. This will lead to the creation of jobs, and a wider range for consumers to choose from. It will also give Indian companies a chance to compete globally for clients. This will greatly benefit the auto component and ancillary industry that will get access to the latest technology and manufacturing practices. According to Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, India is an attractive destination for global auto giants like BMW, General Motors, Ford and Hyundai who were setting base in India, despite the absence of specific trade agreements. Current Scenario On the cost front of Indian automobile industry, OEMs are eyeing India in a big way, investing to source products and components at significant discounts to home market. Overview By 2010, India is expected to witness over Rs 30,000 crore of investment. Maruti Udyog has set up the second car with an investment of Rs 6,500 crore. Hyundai will bring in more than Rs 3,800 crore to India. Tata Motors will be investing Rs 2,000 crore in its small car project. General Motors will be investing Rs 100 crore and Ford about Rs 350 crore. Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors have each announced over Rs 1,000 crore of investment. (ii) ________________________________________ ________________________________________ INTRODUCTION In India there are 100 people per vehicle, while this figure is 82 in China. It is expected that Indian automobile industry will achieve mass motorization status by 2014. Industry Overview: Since the first car rolled out on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1898, the Automobile Industry of India has come a long way. During its early stages the auto industry was overlooked by the then Government and the policies were also not favourable. The liberalization policy and various tax reliefs by the Govt. of India in recent years have made remarkable impacts on Indian Automobile Industry. Indian auto industry, which is currently growing at the pace of around 18 % per annum, has become a hot destination for global auto players like Volvo, General Motors and Ford. A well developed transportation system plays a key role in the development of an economy, and India is no exception to it. With the growth of transportation system the Automotive Industry of India is also growing at rapid speed, occupying an important place on the ‘canvas' of Indian economy. Today Indian automotive industry is fully capable of producing various kinds of vehicles and can be divided into 03 broad categories : Cars, two-wheelers and heavy vehicles. Snippets: The first automobile in India rolled in 1897 in Bombay. India is being recognized as potential emerging auto market. Foreign players are adding to their investments in Indian auto industry. Within two-wheelers, motorcycles contribute 80% of the segment size. Unlike the USA, the Indian passenger vehicle market is dominated by cars (79%). Tata Motors dominates over 60% of the Indian commercial vehicle market. 2/3rd of auto component production is consumed directly by OEMs. India is the largest three-wheeler market in the world. India is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. India is the second largest tractor manufacturer in the world. India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. The number one global motorcycle manufacturer is in India. India is the fourth largest car market in Asia – recently crossed the 1 million mark. 1 Segment Knowhow: Among the two-wheeler segment, motorcycles have major share in the market. Hero Honda contributes 50% motorcycles to the market. In it Honda holds 46% share in scooter and TVS makes 82% of the mopeds in the country. 40% of the three-wheelers are used as goods transport purpose. Piaggio holds 40% of the market share. Among the passenger transport, Bajaj is the leader by making 68% of the three-wheelers. Cars dominate the passenger vehicle market by 79%. Maruti Suzuki has 52% share in passenger cars and is a complete monopoly in multipurpose vehicles. In utility vehicles Mahindra holds 42% share. In commercial vehicle, Tata Motors dominates the market with more than 60% share. Tata Motors is also the world's fifth largest medium & heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer. 2 COMPANY PROFILES ASHOK LEYLAND In 1948, The Company was incorporated on 7th September, at Chennai. The Company Manufacture Comet chassis and Leyland `Tiger' and `Titan' Chassis and Leyland diesel engines. In 1955, the name of the Company was changed from Ashok Motors Ltd. , to AshokLeyland Ltd. in July. Ashok Leyland Motors Ltd. , are the associates Of the company In 2006, Ashok Leyland gets ISO/TS 16949 corporate certification In 2010, Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of Hinduja group, unveiled the Country’s first electric plug-in CNG hybrid bus, HYBUS, at the Delhi Auto show. Company Background Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Hindujas Group Year of Incorporation 1948 Board of Directors: R J Shahaney Chairman / Chair Person D J Balaji Rao Director Ramachandran R Nai Director Shardul S Shroff Director V Sumantran Director Vinod K Dasari Whole Time Director J N Amrolia Executive Director S Balasubramanian Executive Director R R G Menon Executive Director M Nataraj Executive Director Rajive Saharia Executive Director 3 EICHER MOTORS In 1982, The company was incorporated on 14th October, and the Certificate of commencement of business was obtained on 28th March, 1983. It was promoted in the joint sector by Eicher Goodearth Ltd. Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Japan and Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Vikas Nigam Ltd. In 2005, Eicher Motors entered into definitive agreements with TMTL on May 27, In 2006, Eicher Motors Ltd (EML) on Feb 20, announced Mr. Siddhartha Lal as its new Managing Director designate. Eicher joins hands with Wipro to source hydraulic kits In 2007, Eicher Motors Ltd has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company in its meeting held on October 22, 2007 approved appointment of Mr. Rajesh Arora as Company Secretary as well as Compliance Officer of the Company. Company Background: Industry Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Eicher Group Year of Incorporation 1982 Board of Directors: S Sandilya Chairman / Chair Person Priya Brat Director Prateek Jalan Director Siddhartha Lal Managing Director & CEO 4 ESCORTS In 1947, After partition the registered office of the Company was shifted from Lahore to New Delhi. The name of the Company was changed from Escorts (Agents) Pvt. Ltd. , to Escorts Ltd. upon its conversion into a Public company. In 2005, Escorts win . 5-m tractor order from Ghana Escorts Ltd has acquired its Polish joint venture partner, Farmtrac Tractors Europe Escorts' US subsidiary teams up with SAME Deutz-Fahr Italia In 2006, Escort India is set to manufacture tractors in Bangladesh through a Joint venture with the Nitol-Niloy group. Company Background Name Auto Tractors House Name Nand Year of Incorporation 1944 Board of Directors: Rajan NandaChairman and Managing director M G K MenonDirector P S PritamDirector Nikhil NandaJoint Managing Director 5 HERO HONDA In 1984, The Company was incorporated on 19th January, at New Delhi. The Company Manufacture motor cycles up to 100 cc capacity. The Company Was promoted by Hero Cycles (P) Ltd. (HCPL). In 2005, New product launches widen HHML's product portfolio Two-wheeler major Hero Honda on October 5 announced launch of its First scooter ‘Pleasure' Hero Honda rolls out 150-cc motorcycle Achiever. In 2006, Hero Honda announced the launch of two new variants the new ‘Glamour' and ‘Passion Plus' limited edition. In 2007, Hero Honda Motors Ltd. has appointed Mr. Yutaka Kudo as Director and Whole-time Director of the Company in the category of Executive Director w. e. f. April 1, 2007. Company Background: Industry Name Auto 2 & 3 Wheelers House Name Hero Year of Incorporation 1984 Board of Directors: Toshiaki Nakagawa Joint Managing Director Masahiro Takedagawa Non Executive Director Pawan Munjal Managing Director and CEO Takashi Nagai Non Executive Director Pradeep Dinodia Non. Exe. Independent Director 6 HMT In 1953, The Company was incorporated in Bangalore. The Company was converted into a Public Limited Company on May 13, 1977. The main objects of the Company is Manufacturing of the Machine tools, metal forming presses and press brakes, pressure die, casting machines and automatic plastic injection molding machines, automatic plastic injection molding machines. In 1998, HMT International Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HMT, has bagged a Rs. 3-crore order for setting up an Entrepreneur Technical Development Centre (ETDC) at Dakar in Senegal. In 2010, HMT Ltd has informed that Shri Harbhajan Singh has been appointed as Part-time Official Director on the Board of the Company with Effect from January 11, 2010 Company Background: Industry Name Auto Tractors House Name Public Sector Year of Incorporation 1953. Board of Directors: Rajiv BansalDirector S G SridharDirector (Operations) S BehuriaDirector Sourabh ChandraDirector K KipgenDirector Prakash SharanExecutive Director Harbhajan SinghPart Time Official Director 7 MARUTI SUZUKI In 2000, The Company was awarded the Highest Exporter Award in New Delhi. ICRA has assigned `LAAA' rating to the Rs. 200-crore Long-term non-convertible debenture program and `A1+' rating to the Rs. 100-crore commercial paper program of the company. In 2002, The government on May 14, 2002 set into motion big-ticket disinvestment in 2002-03 by announcing a two-stage process to exit from Maruti Udyog Ltd, a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Company. In 2007, Maruti Udyog Limited has informed that Mr. Tsuneo Kobayashi, a Non-executive director, has been appointed as Whole-time Director designated as Senior Joint Managing Director. The Board of Directors in their meeting held on 22nd January, 2007 has approved the above. UTI Bank and Maruti have joined hands for giving car finance. Company Background: Industry Name Auto Cars & Jeeps House Name MNC Associate Year of Incorporation 1981 Board of Directors: R C BhargavaChairman / Chair Person Amal GanguliDirector Keiichi AsaiDirector Osamu SuzukiDirector Davinder Singh BrarDirector 8 TATA MOTORS Tata Motors Limited is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs. 70,938. 85 crores (USD 14 billion) in 2008-09. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the world's second largest bus manufacturer. The company's 24,000 employees are guided by the vision to be â€Å"best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. Established in 1945, Tata Motors' presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over 4 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. Company Background Industry Name Auto LCVs/HCVs House Name Tata Group Collaborative Year Of Incorporation 1945 Board of Directors: Ratan N TataChairman / Chair Person N A SoonawalaDirector R Gopalakri shnanDirector S M PaliaDirector S BhargavaDirector V K JairathDirector 9 TVS MOTORS TVS has been at the forefront in bringing a revolution in the way personal commutation was happening, way back in the 1980s. Beginning with launching a simple, easy-to-use moped for the middle class in India in the 1980s to launching 7 new bikes in a single day (first time in the history of the automotive industry in the world), TVS has often taken the unbeaten path to innovation. The Group's principal activity is to manufacture and sell motor cycles and components. The Group operates in two segments: Automotive Vehicles and Automotive Components. Automotive Vehicles include motorcycles, mopeds, ungeared scooters and three wheelers. The products of the Group include TVS Apache, TVS Scooty, TVS Fiero, TVS Super XL, TVS Victor, TVS Centra, TVS Star etc. It's plants are located at Hosur, Tamil Nadu , Mysore, Karnataka and Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Company Background Industry Name Auto 2 & 3 Wheelers House Name TVS Group Year of Incorporation 1982 Board of Directors: Venu Srinivasan Chairman and Managing director T Kannan Director K S Bajpai Director Prince Asirvatham Director 10 MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA: Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a US $6. 3 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,00,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade and logistics. The Mahindra Group today is an embodiment of global excellence and enjoys a strong corporate brand image. Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world and has made an entry in the two-wheeler segment, which will see the company emerge as a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry. The Mahindra Group expanded its IT portfolio when Tech Mahindra acquired the leading global business and information technology services company, Satyam Computer Services. The company is now known as Mahindra Satyam. Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector is the proud recipient of the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honour. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations list. Mahindra is also one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI checked rating for its first Sustainability Report for the year 2007-08. Company Background: Industry Name Auto -Cars & Jeeps House Name M & M Year of Incorporation 1945 Board of Directors: Keshub Mahindra Chairman / Chair Person Deepak S Parekh Director M M Murugappan Director A S Ganguly Director Anupam Puri Director 11 BAJAJ AUTO Bajaj Auto Ltd. is the largest exporter of two and three wheelers. With Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan, Bajaj manufactures state-of-the-art range of two-wheelers. The brand, Pulsar is continually dominating the Indian motorcycle market in the premium segment. Its Discover DTSi is also a successful bike on Indian roads. 2010 – Bajaj Auto launched a 135 cc Pulsar, priced at Rs 51,000, pushing the Pulsar brand into the mass segment. Company Background: Founder Jamnalal Bajaj Year of Establishment 1926 Industry Automotive 2 & 3 Wheelers Business Group The Bajaj Dominant presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Columbia, Guatemala, Peru, Egypt, Iran and Indonesia. Joint Venture Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan Board of Directors: Rahul Bajaj Chairman / Chair Person Rajiv Bajaj Managing Director D S Mehta Director Shekhar Bajaj Director J N Godrej Director Suman Kirloskar Director 12 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ OBJECTIVES Primary Objective: Construction of optimal portfolio using Sharpe Index Model To analyze the risk and return of Indian automobile companies. Secondary Objectives: To understand the Sharpe's Portfolio Selection Model over the Standardized Index Portfolio called Market portfolio in respect of stock market perations in India. It also involves the estimation of Beta for each potential asset; these estimations are obtained based on past data and using statistical methods in order to obtain future Beta. To understand the current scenario of Indian automobile industry. SCOPE & LIMITATIONS Scope: To get overview outline about the selected Indian automobile company, their performance comparison, market share, potential and their volatility. Serves as a source of information for investors in identifying the risk averse and risk seeking shares (more return and less risk)of selected automobile industry. To get insight about the application of Sharpe index model in risk and return analysis of portfolio management. Limitations 1. Only selected industries in Indian automobile sector. 2. The data obtained and collected are only approximate and not more accurate. 3. Market fluctuations in share price of the selected industries. 4. Application of Sharpie index model alone. 13 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ LITERATURE REVIEW â€Å"The Accounting Review†: Elgers, Pieter T. Murray, Dennis ( Apr 1982) published that a measure of investment risk-the systematic risk of the Sharpe-Linter capital asset pricing model (CAPM)-is now widely employed. The relationship between beta estimates and various accounting risk measures (ARMs) have been extensively studied by accounting researchers, but results have led to different inferences about the usefulness of ARMs. The impact of the choice of market index on inferences concerning the usefulness o f ARMs in explaining and predicting beta is investigated. The association of ARMs and beta tests are always joint tests. Beta reflects the expected co variation between the returns of a given security and those of the market portfolio of all risky capital assets. The market portfolio, however, is not observable. Empirical evidence showed: 1. that the stability of beta estimates over time are quite sensitive to the market index employed, 2. that the ability of ARMs to explain differences among betas for a cross-section of firms is highest when the betas are estimated using the CRSP equal-weighted index, and 3. that the ability of ARMs to improve upon market-based forecasts of beta depends upon the choice of market index and the error metric employed. The Journal of Finance†: Kwan, Clarence C. Y (Dec 1984) published that a simple common algorithm that is applicable to 7 models is suggested for optimal portfolio selection disallowing short sales of risky securities. The 7 models considered are: 1. Sharpe's (1963) single index model, 2. Cohen and Pogue's (1967) multi-index models in diagonal and cova riance forms, 3. Two multi-index models with orthogonal indexes, and 4. Two constant correlation models. The proposed algorithm successfully bypasses the requirement of explicitly ranking securities that is essential in previous research on the topic. Because of this feature, the algorithm is especially useful for the 2 multi-index models with orthogonal indexes where there are problems in establishing a ranking criterion. An illustrative example is provided showing the results of all the iterative steps. It is demonstrated in a simulation study performed on the 5 models with multiple groups that the procedure involved in the search for optimality requires only small numbers of simple iterative steps. Thus, the method can enhance the usefulness of these index models and constant correlation models in portfolio analysis. The Journal of Portfolio Management†: Gressis, N. , Vlahos, G. , Phillipatos, G. C. (Spring 1984) published that the recent establishment of stock index futures markets has opened up a variety of new investment opportunities that should improve the performance of both secondary markets and individual investor portfolios. Trading in stock index futures has been proposed as an effective hedge against investment risk. A technique based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) framework is here developed to identify the profit opportunities of stock index futures trading. With this technique, the systematic risk of a stock index futures contract can be identified for the investor buying on margin, along with the abnormal returns that can be expected from the contract and its equilibrium price. The technique is demonstrated in application to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures. It is shown that the risk of a stock index futures contract declines with the length of the investment horizon. However, the degree of abnormal performance and the deviation of the equilibrium price of the contract from the market price increases with time to maturity. The Journal of Portfolio Management†: French, Dan W. , Henderson, Glenn V (Winter 1985) published that the investment portfolio performance measures based on the capital asset pricing model are examined under ideal conditions that work around the problems that their critics have discovered. These problems include Miss specified independent variables, omitted variables, errors in variables, and unstable p arameters, all of which are basically beta problems. A database is constructed by simulating 60 portfolios or security return series, each containing 3 random variants having their own distribution. Regression analysis results show that winners cannot be distinguished from random performers, and that winners cannot even be labelled as such unless they are remarkably successful. If random noise is the only contaminating factor in performance evaluation, then the 4 currently popular performance measures rank in an internally consistent fashion and rank portfolio performance correctly â€Å"The Journal of Portfolio Management†: Peters (Summer 1985) published that Evidence is presented suggesting that early mispricing of stock index futures was due to market inefficiencies, but that the markets have become more efficient over time. This growing efficiency is the result of more experienced traders and the increasing availability of accurate valuation models. This evidence is derived from a test of market efficiency done using a cost-of-carry valuation model. The test is limited to the Standard & Poor's 500 and the New York Stock Exchange Composite indexes. The theoretical value for each future contract over the period June 1982-December 1983 is computed using data from CE/ICD's ANALYSTICS database. Results indicate that both index futures markets have become more efficient with time. If it is assumed that investors are rational and that expectations of the index value are not considered in valuation, it can further be assumed that dividend stream estimation is the major source of market inefficiency. Portfolio managers can now use index futures for hedging with greater confidence. 15 â€Å"The Journal of multinational financial management†: Javier Estrada and Ana Paula Serra (July 2005) published that the proper identification of the risk variables that explain the cross-section of returns in emerging markets has many and far-reaching implications for both companies and investors. We examine this risk–return relationship by focusing on three families of models, over 25 years of data, and over 1600 companies in 30 countries. We perform a statistical analysis that seeks to identify the variables that should be incorporated into the calculation of required returns on equity, and an economic analysis that seeks to determine the variables that produce the most profitable portfolio strategies. We find rather weak statistical results that prevent us from strongly recommending a given family to estimate required returns on equity. And we find somewhat stronger economic results that show that a variable belonging to our downside risk family, the global downside beta, is the one that has the largest impact on returns when portfolios are rebalanced every 5 years. â€Å"University of Mannheim – Department of Business Administration and Finance† : Alen Nosic (March 6, 2007), published that the determinants of investors' risk taking behavior. We find that investors' risk taking behaviour is affected by their subjective risk attitude and by the risk and return of an investment alternative. Our results also suggest hat consistent with previous findings in the literature objective or historical return and volatility of a stock are not as good predictors of risk taking behavior as subjective risk and return measures. Moreover, we illustrate that overconfidence or more precisely miscalibration has an impact on risk behavior as predicted by theoretical models. However, our results regarding the effect of var ious determinants on risk taking behavior heavily depends on the domain the respective determinant is elicited. We interpret this as an indication for extended domain specificity. In particular with the Markets of Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) coming into effect we believe practitioners could improve on their investment advising process by incorporating some of the determinants we argue to influence investment behavior. † European Journal of Operational Research†: Xiang Li, Zhongfeng Qin, Samarjit Kar (April 1, 2010) published Numerous empirical studies show that portfolio returns are asymmetric, and investors would prefer a portfolio return with larger degree of asymmetry when the mean value and variance are same. In order to measure the asymmetry of fuzzy portfolio return, a concept of skewness is defined as the third central moment in this paper, and its mathematical properties are studied. As an extension of the fuzzy mean-variance model, a mean-variance-skewness model is presented and the corresponding variations are also considered. In order to solve the proposed models, a genetic algorithm integrating fuzzy simulation is designed. Finally, several numerical examples are given to illustrate the modeling idea and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Banking and Finance†: Cheol S Eun, Jinso Lee (April 2010) published that the risk-return characteristics of our sample of 17 developed stock markets of the world have converged significantly toward each other during our study period 1974-2007, and (ii) that this international convergence in risk-return characteristics is driven mainly by the declining ‘country effect', rather than the rising ‘industry effect', suggesti ng that the convergence is associated with international market integration. Specifically, we first ompute the risk-return distance among international stock markets based on the Euclidean distance and find that the distance thus computed has been decreasing significantly over time, implying a mean-variance convergence. In particular, the average risk-return distance has decreased by about 50% over our sample period. We also document that the risk-return characteristics of our sample of 14 emerging markets have been converging rapidly toward those of developed markets in recent years. This development notwithstanding, emerging markets still remain as a distinct asset class. Lastly, we show that the convergence in risk-return characteristics has exerted a negative impact on the efficiency of international investment during our sample period. â€Å"Journal of investment management†, Lisa R Goldberg, Michael Y Hayes (first quarter 2010) published that a practical and effective extension of portfolio risk management and construction best practices to account for extreme events. The central element of the extension is (expected) shortfall, which is the expected loss given that a value-at-risk limit is breached. Shortfall is the most basic measure of extreme risk, and unlike volatility and value at risk, it probes the tails of portfolio return and profit/loss distributions. Consequently, shortfall is (in principle) a guide to allocating reserve capital. Since it is a convex measure, shortfall can (again, in principle) be used as an optimization constraint either alone or in combination with volatility. In principle becomes in practice only if shortfall can be forecast accurately. A recent body of research uses factor models to generate robust, empirically accurate shortfall forecasts that can be analyzed with standard risk management tools such as betas, risk budgets and factor correlations. An important insight is that a long history of returns to risk factors can inform short-horizon shortfall forecasts in a meaningful way. 17 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Sources of data: We selected the companies based on the market capitalisation and for this we referred money control. om from where we sorted out the top ten automobile companies in India based on the market capitalisation value given as of March 1, 2010. Then the opening and closing stock price of the top ten automobile companies for the previous five financial years (2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010) was downloaded from NSE website(nseindia. com). The overall index return price was also downloaded from the same website for the same period. Top ten automobile industries selected based on market capitalisation are: Company nameMarket Capitalisation(Rs. Crore) Tata Motors43,388. 97 Maruti Suzuki 42,705. 24 Hero Honda38,218. 19 Tech Mahindra31,398. 74 Bajaj Auto 27,698. 93 Ashok Leyland 7,183. 83 HMT 6,307. 10 TVS Motor 1,800. 58 Eicher Motors 1,685. 52 Escorts 1,387. 46 Market capitalization (often market cap) is a measurement of the size of a business enterprise (corporation) equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a public company. As owning stock represents ownership of the company, including all its equity, capitalization could represent the public opinion of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in stock valuation. Tools used: We used certain formulae to study on the risk and return of the companies and the portfolio management based on the Sharpe – Index model. The calculations were done in a spread sheet to make it easier. The formulae of the elements used in the spread sheet are as follows: Sum of Individual Stock returns – Ri and Market return – Rm. 18 Stock return – Y and Market return – X: = ((Today’s price – Yesterday’s price) / Yesterday’s price)*100. Mean of stock return – Y? , Mean of market return – X?. Y? = (sum of Y)/ total number of days X? = (sum of X)/ total number of days Standard deviation of Stock return – ? , Standard deviation of market return – ? x. Correlation = Covariance/(? y * ? x) Risk factor ? = Covariance *(? y / ? x) Return indicator ? = Y? – ? (X? ). Unsystematic risk – ? ei?. Cut off point Ci: n Ci = ? m? * ? ((Ri-Rf)? )/ ? ei? ) i =1 n 1 + ? m? * ? ( / ? ei? ) i=1 where , ? m = market variance. Z value = Zi/ ? _(i=1)^n-Zi where, Zi = ? /? ei? ( Ri-Rf)/? – Ci X value = Zi / Z. Tables and bar graphs are drawn for average values of important parameters like ? , ? x, ? y, X? , Y? , for each company for all five years. Outcomes are represented diagramaticaly) A table for all companies’ cut-off point, Z value, X value is also drawn. Population & Sample size: There was a total of about 16 automobile companies registered in NSE website out of which we selected top 10 companies based on the market capitalisation as mentioned before. Total population in NSE = 16. Sample size = 10. (Specific yrs. 2005-2010) 19 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Ashok Leyland Interpretation: Average Stock return Y? is largest during the year 2009(approximately 0. 6) and lowest during the year 2008 (approx. -0. 4). Risk factor ? is more during the year 2010 and low during the years 2006, â €™07, ’08. Highest deviation is seen in the year 2008 and least is seen in 2005. 20 Eicher Motors Interpretation: The company experiences the highest average stock return during the year 2009 (approx. 0. 5) and the lowest during the year 2010(approx. -0. 25). Risk factor ? is below 1 for all the years except 2010. But the average value for the five years stays below 1. Highest deviation is seen in the year 2008 and least deviation one is seen in 2005. 21 Escorts Interpretation: The company has a highest stock return in 2009 and less stock return in 2008. Average stock return is very low which is near to 0. 053. ?eta value is high in the year 2005 and low in the year 2009 and all the beta values are above 1. Deviation is seen high in 2008 and less in 2010. 22 Hero Honda Interpretation: Beta value is seen to be above 1 during the years 2007 & 2010. Average beta value of the company is seen to be below 1. Stock return is high during the year 2009 and negative during the years 2006 & 2007. Deviation is high in the year 2008. 23 HMT Interpretation: The company has a good stock return during the years 2005 and 2010 and negative during the year 2008. The deviation is very much high for the company here. Average deviation of 4. 5 is seen here. Average beta value is more than 1. 24 Maruti Suzuki Interpretation: Stock return is highest during the year 2009 and less during 2008. Beta value is less than 1 after 2007 and more than 1 before 2007. Deviation is large during 2008. 25 Tata motors Interpretation: Stock return is high in the year 2009 and has gone negative in the previous year. Beta value is less 1 from 2007 and >1 in 2005 & 2006. The deviation is more in 2009 and 2008. 26 TVS Motors Interpretation: Stock return high in 2009and very low in 2008. Beta value is less than 1 in all cases than in 2006. Deviation is supposed to be high in 2009. 27 Tech Mahindra Interpretation: The stock return is very high during the year 2006 and very less(negative) during the year 2008. Deviation is almost high for all the years. Average beta value is < 1. 28 Bajaj Auto Interpretation: The company has shown a good stock return of positive value during the years 2009 & 2010. Beta value is less than 1 for all the years. Deviation is high during the year 2008. 9 Table- Summary of Calculations Market return vs. Individual stock return Figure – 1 30 Comparison of Unsystematic risk and cut off points Figure – 2 Systematic Risk Figure – 3 31 Interpretation from Summary of Calculations: Table Figure – 1: HMT has the highest stock return and is greater the market return(about 170) Second comes the Maruti Suzuki followed by Hero honda. (about 150) TVS Motors has the lowest stock return of all the 10 companies and is less than the market return. (about 70) Figure – 2: Unsystematic risk is high for HMT (approx 19) and second Escorts. (approx 18) Hero Honda has the lowest unsystematic risk. (approx 5) Bajaj Auto has the highest cut off point whereas Ashok Leyland has the lowest cut off point. Figure – 3: Escorts has highest systematic risk (approx. 1. 36) HMT has the second higher risk value(approx. 1. 09) Bajaj Auto has the lowest risk value (approx. 0. 65) 32 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ FINDINGS Ashok Leyland: The ? value gives us a stock’s risk profile. Here we can take the average beta value and interpret and comment on the overall risk for the five years taken by the concern. Average beta value = 1 which means it is neither stable nor unstable. It is a neutral share and is expected to follow the market. From the table when we look at the ? value its average value is . 01233 which means that the minimum riskless return is 1. 23%. The company’s earnings from stock investment has reduced in the year 2010. We get a positive correlation value which implies that a 0. 5% in the market return will affect a company’s stock return by 0. 5% in the same direction. Eicher Motors: The company’s earnings from stock investment has reduced in the year 2010 from 2009. Here ? he company expects less volatility and less risk and therefore less returns. These are called defensive shares and will generally experience smaller than average gains in a rising market, will generally experience smaller than average falls in a declining market. From the table the average ? value 0. i6691. The minimum risk free return is 16. 69%. Mahindra is having high risk free rate so it is safe to hold this stock. Correlation value = 0. 44% 0. 44% of change in market return affects the stock return by 0. 44% in the same direction. Bajaj Auto: The return on stock investments is good during 2009 & 2010 when compared to the year 2008. Since beta value < 1. The company expects a stability, less risk and less returns. These are called defensive shares and will generally experience smaller than average gains in a rising market, will generally experience smaller than average falls in a declining market. Alpha From the table the average ? value 0. 24715. The minimum risk free return is 24. 715%. Bajaj is having the highest risk free retun in all the ten companies so it is very safe to invest. Correlation value = 0. 46% 0. 46% change in Rm = 0. 46% change in Ri in the same direction. 35 Summary of calculation: HMT is having high stock return because they are using stock investments efficiently in the business The low cut-off point is good which implies less payback. Ashok Leyland has minimum payback whereas Bajaj has maximum payback. Escorts involves in high risky projects expecting more returns rather Bajaj is not involving in risky projects. SUGGESTIONS Hero Honda is having low risk and high return. So it is good for the investors to invest in this company. (for investors) HMT is taking high risk and provides decent returns. So next to Herohonda, HMT is a good company to invest. (for investors) Bajaj is having a low return at a medium risk so the company have to indulge in risky projects to get good returns in the future. (for company) HMT and Escorts have high unsystematic risk, so they can go for product diversification to reduce the unsystematic risk. (for company) (Product diversification helps the companies to reduce the unsystematic risk because even if they lose in one of the products they can make up their revenues by some other product) Cut off point is the point at which the required rate of return is worth the expense. If it is high then that company is going to take a long time to repay its initial investment. In our case Ashok Leyland will be able to recover the money invested in the project as soon as possible than others. Ashok Leyland might serve as the best company to invest to get their investment back whatever the return may be. Based on the stock return, risk and the cut off point, Herohonda is a good company to invest because they have an optimum return at an optimum risk level. TVS motors has a high cut off point, less stock return at a high risk. They can reduce their risk level, because it might involve large sum of investment. 36 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ CONCLUSION According to our findings we suggest that Hero Honda is the best Automobile company in India to invest and the investment can range up to 42% as per our analysis. Although India has been much discussed in recent years, and has been the recipient of major foreign investment in its automotive industry, it has in many ways not received the attention of the world’s other major developing country, China – but this is about to change. With the world’s second largest and fastest-growing population, there is no denying India’s potential in both economic and population terms and the effect it will have on the auto industry in the years to come. The country is already off to a good start, with a well-developed components industry and a production level of one million four-wheeled vehicles a year, plus a further five million two- and three-wheelers. India also has substantial strength in mass production techniques and is particularly well served in the fields of research and development and software design. Therefore, as always, the question is when will expansion occur and to what level? The implications, market drivers and scope of a future massive Indian vehicle market are covered in the India Strategic Market Profile, a brand-new forecast of Indian automotive and related activity to 2020. 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY Robert A. Strong, year, Portfolio Management, 82-85,123-131. Jeff Madura, 2009, Finance Markets and Institutions, 243-283. Dr. G. Ramesh Babu, 2007, Portfolio Management Including Security Analysis, 577-647. www. nseindia. com www. moneycontrol. com www. springerlink. com www. proquest. com www. sciencedirect. com www. jstor. org www. informaworld. com 38