Prepared case analysis of a single case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Prepared analysis of a single - Case Study Example The increased size of the company has been one of the components that have created the company’s strong competitive platform. However, the sales of the season were below the expectations. The company made substantial losses due to the low returns. The management reacted to the situation by selling 15 stores to raise some cash. The management of the company has provided both income statement and the statement of financial position to assist in assessing the actual problem faced by the organization. Based on the company’s income statement, the net sales have steadily been increasing since the year 2006 to the most current year 2011. Similar trend applies to the earnings before interest and tax and the net income. However, as at the end of 2011, both earnings before interest and tax and the net income for the company sharply decreased to a negative figure. In the year 2010, the EBIT stood at $ 312 millions, but dropped to $ -9 million. Similarly, the net income during the financial period 2010 was $ 189 million but dropped to $ -49 million. Surprisingly, the net sales of the year2010 and 2011 were $ 3,314 million and $ 3,351 million, indicating an increase in the figure between the two periods. Therefore, the main questions in the case study are as follows: first, what seems to be the problem with the Hobby Horse company? Second, are any issues to be addressed revealed by the company’s financial statement? In order to answer the second question and probably find some leads to address the second, the following financial ratios have been conducted for a four year period (2008-2011): gearing ratios, profitability ratios, and liquidity ratios for Debt/equity - ratio indicates the proportion of fixed charge capital in the capital structure of a firm. Concerning Hobby Horse Company, the ratios from 2008 to 2011 are 0.6195, 0.4958, 0.2193 and 0.349 respectively. The ratio interpretation for the

Referee Report for Economics Manuscript Essay Example for Free

Referee Report for Economics Manuscript Essay â€Å"Different Risk-Adjusted Fund Performance Measures: A Comparison† Summary This paper compares various risk-adjusted performance measures for a set of mutual funds. The authors argue that performance measures based on Value-at-Risk (VaR) or Extreme Value Theory (EVT) are more appropriate than other popular performance measures such as the Sharpe ratio (SR), the Treynor index (TI) or Jensen ´s Alpha (JA) . They propose a performance index similar to the SR and the TI based on losses calculated by means of VaR together with EVT. They find that EVT-VaR measures are more appropriate in the presence of non-normal data. Main Comments The topic of the paper is of relevance for financial practitioners as well as academics and it is certainly applicable to the current financial stability context. The paper is also generally wellwritten. However, I have some comments for its improvement. 1. The contribution of the paper is not clearly stated. In the 6th paragraph of the introduction, the authors suggest that their main contribution is the construction of a performance index based on EVT-VAR. However, it is not very clear why the new proposed measure should be better in relation to existing measures as it is now explained. It is true that VaR or EVT should be more reliable measures for extreme events but when looking at formula (13) it is not apparent why this measure should be more reliable than the traditional measures. The denominator has, in fact, an â€Å"extreme return† as opposed to the SR or TI which have strictly second moments, so it is not very straight forward to relate these measures. A better job should be done at explaining the implications of such VaR based measure, how it relates to other measures and why it should be better. 2. Why have the measures been compared only in a â€Å"static† way? It is widely known in the finance literature that asset return volatility is time-varying, and to some extent, also expected returns. It would be possible to go around the latter by arguing market efficiency (which is also questionable) but it is certainly much more difficult to argue against time-variability of the standard deviation in the VaR measures (or in the SA and TI ratios). This is very important as the â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad† applicability of a particular performance measure could be sample dependent and as it is now with unconditional measures, this is hard to uncover. For instance, while the authors account for nonnormality of returns in the modified-VaR measure by means of a Corner-Fisher quantile, they assume a constant standard deviation which means that in periods of high volatility they could still understate the VaR. So at the minimum, the performance comparisons should be done for the full sample and different sub-samples and it should be tested whether the measures obtained are significantly different over different samples. 3. The authors concentrate on top 10 and bottom 10 funds for their analysis and discarded the other funds â€Å"for the sake of simplicity†. However, by choosing only the â€Å"tail† funds, the authors are giving from the start an advantage to EVT or VaR measures. It would be more appropriate to also report results on (say) 10 â€Å"mid† funds. 4. It is not very clear why the top 10 funds â€Å"show more departures from normality† in relation to bottom funds. This finding should be expanded and the intuition behind it should be better explained. One could argue that â€Å"losers† could be more volatile than â€Å"winners† as the level of uncertainty with respect to the fund might increase which could lead to more extreme returns. In fact, in the 3rd paragraph of the empirical result section it says â€Å"the bottom 10 funds have, in general, higher VaR values than the top ones, which means that they are more susceptible to extreme events† which is somewhat contradictory with the finding that the top 10 funds exhibit more departures from normality. Moreover, one of the main findings of the study is that the VaR and EVT performance measures perform best in relation to other measures when there are more departures from normality in returns. A better attempt to reconcile the findings of nonnormality, the â€Å"winner vs. looser† funds and the results on the performance measures with some previous studies or satisfactory intuition should be done. Other comments 1. The contributions of the paper should be stated earlier in the paper and not almost at the end of the introduction as it is now. The contributions should be clearer (see also point 1 above) and should be better related to the existing relevant literature. 2. The conclusion is too long. The concluding remarks should be much shorter and should only summarize the main findings and reconcile them with the issues raised in the introduction as well as highlight possible extensions for future work. 3. The tables should also be improved. They should have a short description of the contents to facilitate reading. As it is now, the reader has to constantly come back to the main text to find out what the contents mean. 4. The figures are hardly visible, they should also be improved and a short explanation should be given.

Space Defining Elements And Space Defined Cultural Studies Essay

Space Defining Elements And Space Defined Cultural Studies Essay Definition from Oxford dictionary: the dimensions of height, depth, and width within which all things exist and move. Space is a three-dimensional place where objects and people exist and move and where events take place. In psychology, space is defined as the recognition of objects appearance and how its perceived. In architecture, space is a special form of free space which the architect creates by giving it form, shape and scale. Space is prime material is the designers palette and an essential element in interior design (Ching D. K. 1943, page 10). The function of space is first defined in two dimensions, breadth and width, but the manipulation of space bring out the third dimension, the height, giving the opportunity for the inhabitants to develop yet further dimensions. In reality, architects dont make or create a space, they just cut off a part of the continuum and design recognizable sub-spaces. Each space has special function and represents a special entity expressing the relationship between humans and things besides creating architectural boundaries. Space is a fundamental element in architecture, since architecture is about spatial creation and depends on the disposition of space and form relating to human behavior. [Dimensions Charles Moore page 7] Museums are special buildings designed around a set of characterizing attributes. The main concerns in designing a museum are its interiors and spatial organization. The kind of interior space differs according to the function of the building. Interior spaces in museums are expressive in many ways, not only because they provide information but also because they reflect different concepts. So, space can be seen as a medium of communication and interpretation in museums. It can provide a division in zones, each with its own activities and uses. This paper is mainly concerned with the importance and effect of space in public places, mainly in museums. The relationship between space defined and space defining elements as well as the relationship between objects and the observers are studied. Relationship between space defining elements and space defined: Space itself has no definition or meaning unless visual objects or elements are placed inside it, establishing a relationship between space and the elements and between the elements themselves. Narrowing it down to architectural scale, the main elements defining a space are walls, roofs, floors, coloumns and beams. Interior design considers a deeper definition of space concerned with its layout, furnishing and planning. In design philosophies, the space and form are always regarded as the negative and positive, where the solid is the elements filling the big void, which is the space. Architecture can be considered as a creative expression of the coexistence of space and form on a human scale but its understanding together with all other concepts, is rooted in psychological space of our thoughts.(Tom Porter, 1997: page 26). The display layout depends on some main configurational properties such as control, connectivity and integration, as well as some spatial qualities like hierarchy, symmetry and perspective. Different combinations of these properties result in three different spatial-display relationship strategies: objects enhancing space, space enhancing objects and fully autonomous independent space-display relation. In the first setting, the qualities of the objects are used and exploited to emphasize the qualities of architectural space instead of bringing out the qualities of the exhibits themselves. In the second setting, the architectural space maximizes the impact of the objects while keeping the space in the background. Curators might emphasize certain exhibits by displaying them in high hierarchy areas. These galleries are privileged with respect to others by being directly accessible, visible from far distances and have many connections to and entrances from other parts of the building. To conclude, the link between design choices and display goes far beyond the visual and aesthetic aspects. The spatial aspects and the proximity of spaces combined with the exhibited objects in a certain layout form a correspondence relationship. This helps the observer to identify the relation between the exhibited objects and become a part of their history. Relationship between observers and space: People perceive the interior and exterior spaces in a sensual way, involving movements. Movement can be described as a transition between spaces and different spatial impressions. Each movement in space causes a variety of experiences to the visitor which affect their senses. This causes a huge number of stimulations inside the human brain resulting in different responses and feelings. For example, being in a theme park gives a different response as being in a cathedral. Nature as well as man-made environments are rich in spatial diversity. Wherever you go, you experience different types of spaces. Unlimited spaces could be experienced standing on tall buildings, on high grounds or from vantage points. You can also experience partially defined spaces while moving in canyons or through streets and totally enclosed spaces from inside caves or windowless rooms like elevators. The movement from one type of space to another, such as from restricted to a more free space or vice versa, makes the experience more impressive. Psychologically, the volume taken by ones body is related to the ones perception of the space. Animals and humans share similarities in that each creature has his personal space bubble of a certain size, which fluctuates according to the psychological spatial relation. For example, the size of this personal bubble grows in small spaces like elevators and oppositely diminishes in enormous spaces such as cathedrals and auditoriums. That mea ns that humans feel their body larger in small spaces. In museums, space is of huge importance, since users dont only read the information on the exhibits and look at them, they also take in the space and become a part of it. The experience of the visitor is more inclusive, unlike reading the information in a book or in the internet, which is spatially unequal. Space is formed by the relationship between the observers and the elements defining the space. In order to enhance the observers experience in taking in the exhibits, space must be interactive. This means that there should be a physical response from the visitors or receivers. Visitors can be guided by the designs of the space to move in a particular way. Observers can be guided by the designs to an exploratory movement in the space, where they are introduced to an unknown environment with prominent and strange surroundings where the architecture of the space is a foreground element. People move more slowly and whisper. On the other hand, visitors can be guided to a more habitual movement, where the architecture is a hardly noticeable background and people move without awareness of the surroundings, only thinking of their goal. The Psychology behind designing a museum space: The architectural design of a museum can be very difficult and varies with the purpose of the building. The exhibits of the museum must be preserved and yet visible and exposable for the visitors. When designing a museum space, one must understand the psychology of the visitors in crowded rooms. For example, it has been proved that people prefer making right turns than left turns as well as sitting or standing at the edges of a room instead of in the middle feeling more secure and giving themselves the chance to observe others without being observed and without their privacy being endangered. In a museum, the objects must be arranges so as to encourage exploratory movement of the visitors. The structure of space and organization of exhibits should work together to enhance local exploration and decrease the speed of movement of the visitors and slow down the rhythm of perception in order to make them take in all the information conveyed by the displayed objects. For example, a statue placed in the far distance and displayed from the back encourages the visitor to come closer and move around it to fully explore it. What defines a museum space is the existence of two types of spatial organization: the visit-able sequence as well as the gathering space which observers repeatedly visit during the tour. These two types of spaces help create two kinds of interfaces: the informational and the social dimension. The former (informational) is due to the arrangements of the exhibits inside the museum as determined by the curators, while the latter (social) is between the visitors themselves. There are different geometrical layouts for museums which help us to draw a fundamental difference between museums, some give choice of routes, others give a choice of galleries. The former layouts give the visitor the freedom to choose the route from one part of the building to another which creates a probabilistic distribution of visitors, causing less crowding in central gathering spaces. The latter layouts give the visitors only a restricted choice between chambers or galleries and drives him / her back to the overall defined route. In some cases the geometrical layout of a museum causes conflicts between the social and informational functions. This is especially the case when the layout separates the galleries for informational reasons, cutting off the social functions. In other cases, enhancement of the informational function strengthens the social function as well. This happens when the geometrical structure enforces proximity of the visiting areas and galleries. In this case, the randomness of encounter is maximized, causing social interaction. These geometrical layout strategies suggest that visitors dont only experience the objects (informational) and other people (social), another critical dimension is introduced, which is the experience of space itself. While designing a museum space, we should consider the different patterns of exhibitions such as object-based exhibitions, demonstration-type exhibition and topical exhibitions. Object-based exhibitions concentrates on the exhibited object itself, its background and its social, cultural, historical and religious values. Demonstration-type exhibition is used to demonstrate the existence of non-visible natural phenomena such as heat, electricity, light, sound and wind. Topical exhibitions on the other hand use movies, scripts, articles, collages and stage performances to tell stories and present whole pictures about a certain field. To conclude, a museums space should be designed to be informative, interactive and enforce the discovery and exploration spirit of the visitor. A museums architecture must connect, sense, move, show and site. Not only must a museums design encourage the visitor to learn and discover, but it must also must teleport the observer into another world. Besides, a museums space must be easily accessible and should allow for many public functions including workshops, informative lectures and social events. Case study of two different museums: Griffith observatory (LA USA) vs. Alexandria Museum (Alexandria Egypt) Alexandria Museum Alexandria National Museum is located in an Italian style palace in downtown Alexandria on the main street of Alexandria (Tariq el Hurreya). The building was first built in 1928 and owned by one of the wealthiest wood merchants in Alexandria. It was turned into a museum in 2003. Nowadays, it contains more than 1800 artifacts, revealing the history of Alexandria. The historical building consists of 3 stories, each floor exhibits a different era of the Egyptian history starting from the oldest in the ground floor and exhibiting more modern pieces as the visitors move upstairs. While the ground floor is concerned with the Pharaonic era, the 1st floor exhibits Greco Roman antiques and the 2nd floor demonstrates the more modern Coptic and Islamic eras. The museum is considered as one of the most important in Egypt. The museum is considered an object-based exhibition, where the observer enjoys walking around the objects and focusing on them, understanding their history and the era where they come from. The building consists of a central gathering space, from which the visitors can decide which exhibition room to enter first on the same floor. Its layout can be considered a partly guiding layout, since the visitors are forced to move from the older eras in the lower floor to the more modern eras upstairs in a sequential way. However, it still gives the observer the freedom to choose which gallery to visit first on the same floor when standing in the central area. The interior design of the museum separates each era by exhibiting it in a different floor, but connects the objects from each era together by displaying them on the same floor in adjacent galleries. This partly guiding layout minimizes the control that the layout enforces on the visitors and increases the randomness in the movement, which causes exploratory behaviour of the observer. However, the layout may cause the visitor to miss some of the objects and the fact that the central area is entered every time the visitor go es from one gallery to another may cause local crowding.

Is Psychotherapy More Effective When Therapist Disclose Information Ess

â€Å" Is Psychotherapy More Effective When Therapist Disclose Information About Themselves? † In the world of psychology therapist raise a question whether or not they should â€Å"disclose personal information during psychotherapy. Several therapists â€Å"have suggested that therapist self-discloser can have a positive impact on treatment. From this view, self-discloser by the therapists may elicit greater discloser by the client enhancing the possibilities for client self-exploration†(e.g., Bugental, 1965, chap. 7; Jourad, 1971, chap. 17; Strassberg, Roback, D’Antonio & Gable, 1977). In addition, â€Å"self-discloser is thought to encourage an atmosphere of honesty and understanding between client and therapist, fostering a stronger and more effective therapeutic relationship†). However many other therapist disagrees with that statement. They reply â€Å" psychodynamic theorist since Freud have generally regarded therapist self-disclosure as detrimental to treatment because it might interfere with the therapeutic process, shifting the focus of therap y away from the client†(e.g., see cutis, 1982b; Freud, 1912/1958; Greenson, 1967, chap. 3). In addition, it is argued that therapist self-discloser may adversely affect treatment outcome by exposing therapist weakness or vulnerabilities, thereby undermining client trust in the therapist†(e.g., see cutis, 1982b, 1981) According to the journal â€Å"These differences in identifying therapist self-disclosures may be of importance in the evaluation of their impact on treatment. For example, theoretical concerns about therapist self-discloser have emphasized the risk of shifting the focus of therapy away from the client. However when therapist self-disclose, are in direct response to comparable client disclosers the presumed risk of alerting the focus of treatment is likely to reduced†. The study: clients There are a total of 36 clients that participated in the study, 15 being men and 21 being women. All of the clients requested therapy and also the clients are over the age of 18. â€Å"Exclude from the study were clients exhibiting sings of psychotic behavior, disoriented thinking, or neurological impairment†. The mean age of the clients is 27, the range 18-42. The client â€Å"presenting problem included issues such as depression, social or performance anxiety, relationship conflicts or lack of impulse control. None of the client where ... ...erapist self-discloser may adversely affect treatment outcome by exposing therapist weakness or vulnerabilities, thereby undermining client trust in the therapist†(e.g., see cutis, 1982b, 1981). In reading this study, the main aspect I realize was none of the clients had any sever problem. This might have been one of the reason why the study came out so positive. If a therapist disclose personal information to a client without a sever problem, I feel there could be a good chance of a positive outcome. However, I feel that if a client has a sever problem this act should not take place because the therapist is now â€Å"shifting the focus of therapy away from the client†(e.g., see cutis, 1982b; Freud, 1912/1958; Greenson, 1967, chap. 3) and that it self is damaging the client. In summation I feel that this study is true to a certain point what was not put to study was the levels of problem the clients were facing and to determine the level of improvement. I feel that this act should only take place when clients have minor problem and not major problem. In addition, if a therapist decided to disclose personal information it should be in the interest of the client and not the therapist

Foundation Course in Science and Technology

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE BaBUR The foundation of the empire was laid in 1526 by ahir al-Din Mu? ammad Babur, a Chagatai Turk (so called because his ancestral homeland, the country north of the Amu Darya [Oxus River] in Central Asia, was the heritage of Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan). Babur was a fifth-generation descendant of Timur on the side of his father and a 14th-generation descendant of Genghis Khan. His idea of conquering India was inspired, to begin with, by the story of the exploits of Timur, who had invaded the subcontinent in 1398.Babur inherited his father’s principality in Fergana at a young age, in 1494. Soon he was literally a fugitive, in the midst of both an internecine fight among the Timurids and a struggle between them and the rising Uzbeks over the erstwhile Timurid empire in the region. In 1504 he conquered Kabul and Ghazni. In 1511 he recaptured Samarkand, only to realize that, with the formidable ? afavid dynasty in Iran and the Uzbeks in Central Asia, he should rather turn to the southeast toward India to have an empire of his own. As a Timurid, Babur had an eye on the Punjab, part of which had been Timur’s possession.He made several excursions in the tribal habitats there. Between 1519 and 1524—when he invaded Bhera, Sialkot, and Lahore—he showed his definite intention to conquer Hindustan, where the political scene favoured his adventure. Conquest Of Hindustan Having secured the Punjab, Babur advanced toward Delhi, garnering support from many Delhi nobles. He routed two advance parties of Ibrahim Lodi’s troops and met the sultan’s main army at Panipat. The Afghans fought bravely, but they had never faced new artillery, and their frontal attack was no answer to Babur’s superior arrangement of the battle line.Babur’s knowledge of western and Central Asian war tactics and his brilliant leadership proved decisive in his victory. By April 1526 he was in contro l of Delhi and Agra and held the keys to conquer Hindustan. Babur, however, had yet to encounter any of the several Afghans who held important towns in what is now eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and who were backed by the sultan of Bengal in the east and the Rajputs on the southern borders. The Rajputs under Rana Sanga of Mewar threatened to revive their power in northern India. Babur assigned the unconquered territories to his nobles and led an expedition himself against the rana in person.He crushed the rana’s forces at Khanua, near Fatehpur Sikri (March 1527), once again by means of the skillful positioning of troops. Babur then continued his campaigns to subjugate the Rajputs of Chanderi. When Afghan risings turned him to the east, he had to fight, among others, the joint forces of the Afghans and the sultan of Bengal in 1529 at Ghagra, near Varanasi. Babur won the battles, but the expedition there too, like the one on the southern borders, was left unfinished. Developme nts in Central Asia and Babur’s failing health forced him to withdraw. He died near Lahore in December 1530. Babur’s AchievementsBabur’s brief tenure in Hindustan, spent in wars and in his preoccupation with northwest and Central Asia, did not give him enough time to consolidate fully his conquests in India. Still, discernible in his efforts are the beginnings of the Mughal imperial organization and political culture. He introduced some Central Asian administrative institutions and, significantly, tried to woo the prominent local chiefs. He also established new mints in Lahore and Jaunpur and tried to ensure a safe and secure route from Agra to Kabul. He advised his son and successor, Humayun, to adopt a tolerant religious policy.

Historical Development of Continental Philosophy’s Existentialism Essay

Absolute Idealism left distinct marks on many facets of Western culture. True, science was indifferent to it, and common sense was perhaps stupefied by it, but the greatest political movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries— Marxism—was to a significant degree an outgrowth of Absolute Idealism. (Bertrand Russell remarked someplace that Marx was nothing more than Hegel mixed with British economic theory. ) Nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, theology, and even art felt an influence. The Romantic composers of the nineteenth century, for example, with their fondness for expanded form, vast orchestras, complex scores and soaring melodies, searched for the all-encompassing musical statement. In doing so, they mirrored the efforts of the metaphysicians; whose vast and imposing systems were sources of inspiration to many artists and composers. As we have said, much of what happened in philosophy after Hegel was in response to Hegel. This response took different forms in English-speaking countries and on the European continent—so different that philosophy in the twentieth century was split into two traditions or, as we might say nowadays, two â€Å"conversations. † So-called analytic philosophy and its offshoots became the predominant tradition of philosophy in England and eventually in the United States. The response to Hegelian idealism on the European continent was quite different however; and is known (at least in English-speaking countries) as Continental philosophy. Mean while, the United States developed its own brand of philosophy—called pragmatism—but ultimately analytic philosophy became firmly entrenched in the United States as well. Within Continental philosophy may be found various identifiable schools of philosophical thought: existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, deconstruction, and critical theory. Two influential schools were existentialism and phenomenology, and we will begin this chapter with them. Both existentialism and phenomenology have their roots in the nineteenth century, and many of their themes can be traced back to Socrates and even to the pre- Socratics. Each school of thought has influenced the other to such an extent that two of the most famous and influential Continental philosophers of this century, Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 –1980), are important figures in both movements, although Heidegger is primarily a phenomenologist and Sartre primarily an existentialist. Some of the main themes of existentialism are traditional and academic philosophy is sterile and remote from the concerns of real life. Philosophy must focus on the individual in her or his confrontation with the world. The world is irrational (or, in any event, beyond total comprehending or accurate conceptualizing through philosophy). The world is absurd, in the sense that no ultimate explanation can be given for why it is the way it is. Senselessness, emptiness, triviality, separation, and inability to communicate pervade human existence. Giving birth to anxiety, dread, self-doubt, and despair as well as the individual confronts as the most important fact of human existence, the necessity to choose how he or she is to live within this absurd and irrational world. Now, many of these themes had already been introduced by those brooding thinkers of the nineteenth century, Arthur Schopenhauer (see previous chapter), Soren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. All three had a strong distaste for the optimistic idealism of Hegel—and for metaphysical systems in general. Such philosophy, they thought, ignored the human predicament. For all three the universe, including its human inhabitants, is seldom rational, and philosophical systems that seek to make everything seem rational are just futile attempts to overcome pessimism and despair. This impressive-sounding word denotes the philosophy that grew out of the work of Edmund Husserl (1859–1938). In brief, phenomenology interests itself in the essential structures found within the stream of conscious experience—the stream of phenomena—as these structures manifest themselves independently of the assumptions and presuppositions of science. Phenomenology, much more than existentialism, has been a product of philosophers rather than of artists and writers. But like existentialism, phenomenology has had enormous impact outside philosophical circles. It has been especially influential in theology, the social and political sciences, and psychology and psychoanalysis. Phenomenology is a movement of thinkers who have a variety of interests and points of view; phenomenology itself finds its antecedents in Kant and Hegel (though the movement regarded itself as anything but Hegelian). Kant, in the Critique of Pure Reason, argued that all objective knowledge is based on phenomena, the data received in sensory experience. In Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind, beings are treated as phenomena or objects for a consciousness. The world beyond experience, the â€Å"real† world assumed by natural science, is a world concerning which much is unknown and doubtful. But the world-in-experience, the world of pure phenomena, can be explored without the same limitations or uncertainties.