Social exclusion and conspicuous consumption - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Social exclusion and conspicuous consumption. Answer: Introduction The chosen topic for the paper is Conspicuous Consumption; the famous sociologist Thorstein Veblen in his book The Theory of Leisure Class stated that, the chief motive of certain consumers is to display their wealth and high status in the society by buying expensive commodities. These commodities are generally luxury items and they are not a part of daily necessary goods. Those who buy these expensive luxury products, they do so to invoke envy in the minds of others and increase their self-worth, prestige and to display their high income. Sociological survey has shown that the people belonging to middle class or lower classes tend to practice conspicuous consumption going beyond their financial means in order to increase their social status, this is also known as pecuniary emulation, the term was coined by Veblen as well. Conspicuous Consumption in the 21st century Veblen used the term conspicuous consumption in order to describe the upper class individuals who emerged after the Technological Revolution that occurred during later part of 19th century. In his book he also mentioned the term vicarious/conspicuous leisure which means that the owner of a household employs people to complete tasks that are generally considered to be a waste time and the owner spends that time in leisure (Wrege Greenwood, 2017). The standards of living increased during this period, the people belonging to the middle class began consuming goods that were beyond their financial means and had no practical use. In the 20th as well as in the 21st century there was an evident explosion in conspicuous consumption pattern due to the several factors lie globalization, use of advertisements in an extensive manner, new inventions, and other things (Liang, Chang Wang, 2017). The term conspicuous consumption although initially referred to the rich people (as proposed by Veblen) but later the recent economists like Nikolai Roussanova,Kerwin Kofi Charles, and Erik Hurst found that this sort of behaviour has been predominantly seen among people belonging to lower classes. The display of wealth by the people having lower income helps them in concealing their actual social status. The people belonging to the class of people who aspire to belong to a higher status or those who may already appear to be belonging to the higher society explain the idea of Veblens conspicuous consumption (Currid-Halkett, 2017). They spend beyond their means on the luxury unnecessary products like sports cars, expensive refrigerators, and crystal glass wares (Bellezza, Paharia Keinan 2016). The show of ones social status through consumption is even more challenging in the recent times than it was in Veblens time. The change in the economic scenery from the Industrial revolution has created a middle class who have money to spend to show off their wealth (Kapeller Schtz, 2015). Recently, the luxury fashion brands like Armani, H M, has created cheaper products. They have created high fashionable clothes and are selling them for $30 rather than $4000. This fake fashion has made the aspirations of the middle class and the lower class rise beyond their means. The conspicuous consumption of the rich people in recent times are mostly motivated by their need to save time or to make more profits, they do not consume expensive things to show off rather they meet their necessities (Kastanakis Balabanis, 2014). . They also spend a lot on the education of their children so that they may have a good employment opportunity in the future. The habits of the elite class will affect the economic scenario of the future, as the children of the current elite class will hold the financial and political power. Advertisements Influences the Perspectives of Masculinity and Femininity in the society Advertising through various mediums like banner, T.V, radio, songs while influencing the consumption behavior has also made an impact on our thinking about the roles of males and females in the society. However, advertising and mass media is definitely more than the simple conveyance of information and especially if it is conveyed visually. It can significantly affect or influence, an individuals perception and reinforce certain values. Consumerism and advertising have given shape to sexism, the term was introduced by the US American womens movement during the 1970s. The portrayal of female figures in advertising has over the years influenced the consumer buying behavior and as a result, womenfolk have been dominated and persistently portrayed as the weaker gender. The portrayal of images of men and women in TV, newspapers and magazines has induced a well demarcated gender hierarchy (Zhao et al., 2017). Body language is one of the mediums through which advertisements have injected th e stereotypical images of men and women. According to the theory of conspicuous consumerism, an individuals consumption behavior is influenced by his class and culture (Pastore et al., 2016). The same is used to make a clear demarcation between the conventional stereotyped gender roles. In case of women, the pattern of their consumption was determined by her position in the society and household. Traditionally, a woman was allowed to consume things, which were necessary to their sustenance and would reflect class and social position of their masters. Whereas, excessive consumption of materials became the sign of class and dignity for men, noble status in society and one of the scales to measure the noble from the ignoble (Warde, 2017).This is one of the sexist aspects of a consumerist society. Media and communication, one of the fundamental mediums of 21st century determine consumer buying patterns and choice of lifestyle. In advertising and media, the minorities often get little or absolutely zero representation and in certain cases are presented in a stereotypical, conventional manner. According to J.A Doyle, advertisements shape perceptions in showing the male personality as unnecessarily dominant, aggressive and with such other masculine accomplishments. This is also a powerful way of selling products that can further appeal to their manliness and make them distinct and superior with an image befitting to their dominant selves. The women on the other hand are portrayed often times as the caregivers, and advertisements have evolved around ways to ensure the utmost satisfaction to the male community. This creates the power equation between the men and women, the former being abstained from images that are conventionally associated with women (Collins, Baer Weber, 2015). It gives a very false notion of gender identity and gender roles by stereotypically associating colors, works and way of dressing with the female gender, for instance household tasks like cooking and cleaning when shown by a male portrays them as a buffoon. This is at par with the theory of conspicuous consumerism where the women, who are considered as a chattel to the men, should consume only the things that would honor her superior (Campbell, 2016). Conspicuous consumption of materials is a means of earning reputation and securing self-esteem. Media represents women as sex objects and influences them to by certain products or avail services that would sustain the sexual aggressors, men. The skilled manipulation of gender centric role is not new in the realm of advertising and media and the same has over the years promoted sexism and objectification of women (Percy, 2016). In case of video games and toys, as Simon de Beauvoir enumerates that one is not born a woman but becomes so, the games portray a sexualized version of the female body. Though the women are invested with powers and skills like that of men, they are represented according to the conventional male fantasy. The idealization of female body is thoroughly prevalent within the world of toys and video games. They portray that a slender and accurately proportioned body is the paradigm of feminine body. This is how the growth of beliefs and assumptions take place in the society due to advertising, media, toys and video games. The male figure is presented with the help of several stereotypical male character traits such as muscular physique, a typically aggressive male personality outnumbering the females. In the third generation consoles, the male gender is sketched and represented as the savior of their trophy wives or damsel in distress. Women were required in the games to provide the male figures a fascinating sense of victory and triumph. In this way it created biased images and as a result gender inequalities in the society, as large section of population was actually a part of the mainstream media. Conclusion To conclude, conspicuous consumption theory as suggested by Veblen has changed a lot since the past. Previously conspicuous consumption meant display of wealth by the rich upper class people but now the term is used to refer to the lower classes who try to buy expensive products to hide their status. It is seen as a wasteful way displayed by the consumers. Regarding the matter of display of wealth, in recent times, less is considered to be more, the real up-per class people display their wealthy in a much subtle manner. Gender bias has been an underlying truth hidden among the advertisement, and this idea has been at par with the conspicuous theory in which the women are considered to be the property of the men and they consume things according to the wealth of their masters. Although the theory still remains but it has evolved a lot and has got a different dimension of its own. Reference Bellezza, S., Paharia, N., Keinan, A. (2016). Conspicuous consumption of time: When busyness and lack of leisure time become a status symbol.Journal of Consumer Research,44(1), 118-138. Campbell, C. (2016). Status Matters? The Contradictions Surrounding Conspicuous Consumption.Being Human in a Consumer Society, 41. Collins, J., Baer, B., Weber, E. J. (2015). Sexual selection, conspicuous consumption and economic growth.Journal of Bioeconomics,17(2), 189-206. Currid-Halkett, E. (2017).The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class. Princeton University Press. Kapeller, J., Schtz, B. (2015). Conspicuous Consumption, Inequality and Debt: The Nature of Consumption?driven Profit?led Regimes.Metro economic,66(1), 51-70. Kastanakis, M. N., Balabanis, G. (2014). Explaining variation in conspicuous luxury consumption: An individual differences' perspective.Journal of Business Research,67(10), 2147-2154. Liang, S., Chang, Y., Wang, J. (2017). Social exclusion and conspicuous consumption: The moderating effect of power state.Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal,45(2), 321-329. Pastore, C. M. D. A., Nepomuceno, M. V., Stenstrom, E., Maffezzolli, E. C. F. (2016). The Association Between Digit Ratios and Conspicuous Consumption, and the Moderating Role of Intrasexual Competition.ACR North American Advances. Percy, L. (2016).Strategic advertising management. Oxford University Press. Warde, A. (2017). The Development of the Sociology of Consumption. InConsumption(pp. 33-55). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Wrege, C. D., Greenwood, R. G. (2017). THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS.Reforming America: A Thematic Encyclopedia and Document Collection of the Progressive Era [2 volumes], 325. Zhao, T., Jin, X., Xu, W., Zuo, X., Cui, H. (2017). Mating Goals Moderate Powers Effect on Conspicuous Consumption Among Women.Evolutionary Psychology,15(3), 1474704917723912.

Critique On Othello The Moor Of Venice English Literature Essay Essay Example

Critique On Othello The Moor Of Venice English Literature Essay Essay Introduction Directed by South African indigen and actress Janet Suzman, Othello comes out as a all right and consummate public presentation that for the first clip has an African histrion cast the rubric function of the Moor opposite a white Desdemona before the multiracial audience in Johannesburg, South Africa. With Tony Award victor John Kani playing Othello and Joanna Weinberg as Desdemona, the dramatis personae has six chief histrions. The chief focal point of the production is the cosmopolitan construct of green-eyed monster, which revolves around the other subjects of love, treachery, racism, misrepresentation, and retaliation ( Shakespeare.b seven ) . Othello focuses on how lovers get covetous of their spouse s alleged engagement with other people, and how people are covetous of their chaps accomplishments, and skilfully combines these subjects with absolutely structured scenes, a plot line tarriance in the memory of a tragic hero, Othello himself. ( Michael 129 ) We will write a custom essay sample on Critique On Othello The Moor Of Venice English Literature Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Critique On Othello The Moor Of Venice English Literature Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Critique On Othello The Moor Of Venice English Literature Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The production of Othello by Janet Suzman is an version of the original Shakespeare s drama, which is set in the Renaissance, the period of superb cultural accomplishments of the ancient Greek, and Roman civilisations, around the old ages 1400 to 1700 century ( Michael 448 ) .. The attitude in the original drama was that of humanity, and was closely intertwined with many of import developments including the Reformation, which marked a turning point from following the church authorization, to understanding and controlling nature through scientific discipline. In malice of the continued influence of the church in his clip, Shakespeare still wrote dramas based on secular subjects, Othello being one of them. The same constructs in the original drama are demonstrated in Janet s way of the same piece as people today associate with the facets of life presented in the original drama and experience the same challenges faced by the characters in the drama. Janet Suzman s production is modern-d ay, but still depicts an component of the original scene of the drama. ( Alexander Street Press, 2010: Play ) . When the evil Iago workss the seeds of uncertainty in Othello s head about Desdemona s fidelity, this artistic work enchantments jealousy and oncoming calamity with extreme lucidity of as seen when the immorality scoundrel Iago sinisterly connives to convey down Othello, who happens to be black and married to a white adult female ( Michael 71 ) . Finally, the way of the public presentation uses the Othello s rough intervention of Desdemona as a prostitute to fix the viewing audiences for her decease in the 2nd scene, and goes on to keep the intense emotionalism of the scenes to explicitly picture the unique, painful quality of Othello. Consequently, the construct of green-eyed monster in love flood tides when Othello can no longer keep himself and goes on to kill his married woman and so himself, doing the nucleus of calamity as directed in the production. In similar mode, the emotional impact of the production is highlighted by the directorial facet of rapid development of the secret plan, the strength of Othello s green-eyed monster, the inactive wretchedness of Desdemona, and the fortune and accomplishment involved in Iago s machination. Harmonizing to Janet s way, inclusion of these characteristics in the production is meant to bring forth feelings of parturiency and dark human death that prevents the characters from get awaying their fates However, the public presentation does non, as most people would anticipate, stop with Iago s decease, despite his villainousness. ( Alexander Street Press, 2010: Play ) Alternatively, its way has Iago take the amusing function terminals with him being promised merely the justness he deserves, and no more. As for the art design, the production is directed as a authoritative calamity from the beginning. It opens with green-eyed monster between Roderigo and Othello both of whom love Desdemona and this, being the chief subject developed in the whole secret plan, consequences into the series of deceases that ensue as the drama approaches the terminal ( Michael 158 ) . The gap scenes are directed in such a manner as to present the relationships among Othello and Desdemona, Roderigo and Desdemona, and their close associates and go on to demo how Iago manipulates these relationships for his ain additions, but the terminal consequence of it all is tragedy. The chief secret plan specifying the calamity runs at the same time with the subplot: together bring forth the concluding tragic result ( Michael 478 ) . Furthermore, the calamity has an exciting force in the function of Iago as the amusing character in this production. In fact, this amusing histrion is the scoundrel and the originator of th e deceases as he causes them in his chase for retaliation for what he believes to be unfair Acts of the Apostless done unto him. Filled with passion, the drama is directed to distinctively tag the lines of contrast of character of the assorted dramatis personaes. The separating qualities of the Moor Othello, the scoundrel Iago, the good-natured Cassio, and the sap Roderigo are luxuriant in Janet Suzman s production and stand out so much so that the thought of their passions remains apparent through out the drama. These characters are used to synthesise the construct of green-eyed monster, misrepresentation and retaliation utilizing the assorted images they stamp out, each one s image the furthest asunder possible from the others ( Pavis 107 ) . The distance between the characters is huge, yet the compass of cognition and innovation, which the manager sews in incarnating these utmost creative activities, is nil short of cogent evidence of the truth and felicitousness with which she has identified each character with him/herself, or blended their different qualities together in the same narrative. What a contra st is Iago s character to that of Othello! Simultaneously, the step of construct with which these two figures are opposed to each other is rendered still greater by the full consistence with which the traits of each are brought out in a province of adept drama way. Furthermore, the theatrical production of Othello explicitly emphasizes the construct of racism which is rather a immense issue within the drama ( Shakespeare.b 49 ) . Janet Suzman, as the manager, intends for her audience to be steadfastly on the side of Othello who is really the most hit victim of racism in the drama. Othello is discriminated against by his fellow Venetians, and in peculiar, Brabantio who vehemently opposes her girl s matrimony to Othello merely because he is black. This really illustrates how far in front of clip Shakespeare was and Suzman clearly brings out this component of racism which is so rampant even in this modern society ( Pavis 340 ) . The production specifically points out that interracial matrimonies were illegal in the scene of the drama, yet the manager demonstrates unreserved common love between two people of different races. Herein, racism is arguably incidental as the theatrical way by Suzman depicts Othello as an foreigner, though he is truly a a dult male of reckonable worth. This is in the consideration that Othello has risen amid the rough racialist conditions to the place of governor ( Michael 130 ) . However, a review of the drama s way when Iago seeks to convey Othello down shows that his sick purposes were non really based on Othello being black. Alternatively, Iago was driven by the tremendous aspiration for power and the grim green-eyed monster against Othello. This production explicitly brings in the component of fraudulence at several incidences ( McKean and Blackmon 6 ) . Iago is the chief culprit of fraudulence. At early phases of the public presentation, Iago is lying to Roderigo that Desdemona is holding an matter with Othello merely to trip hostility between them. He once more lies to Othello that his married woman is unfaithful by seting a hankie on Cassio as grounds Emilia sees Desdemona s hankie. This fraudulence leads to the fatal loss of Othello s love. Iago farther lies to the already insecure Othello laughably that he saw Cassio speaking to Desdemona in his slumber, which further embitters Othello taking to his day of reckoning. Traveling farther from a critical attack, the drama, as directed by Janet Suzman, has some performing artists taking up a formal classical manner, while others adopt a slang, about slangy attack to the book. In the latter class, the drama delivers its message place through the directives that have the malicious and evil Iago playing as a sly, oily Iago at some times, and as a joking, arch Iago at other times. This makes the theatrical production show its indispensable construct of green-eyed monster coupled with fraudulence and retaliation by guaranting the audience remains focussed and occupied entirely by the act He does good to guarantee evil and uses his words to hide his ideas. As for Roderigo, he uses a mixture of prevarications and truths, and advances a sort of mock discourse by his ground and consent, infering peculiar effects from false and misanthropic general premises. The three adult females in the drama act to type assisting present the subject of the public presentatio n efficaciously. Conversely, Othello is distinguished by the pettiness of the aggravations that really set the events directed by Suzman in gesture ( Michael 147 ) . When Iago is shown utilizing a little more than his unreliable words, a simple embroidered kerchief and a individual kerchief, the manager s assurance in using such thin togss to build a traveling theatrical piece is clearly depicted. Doubt and eventual desolation in the drama are apparent in Iago s true confession to Roderigo that he is non what he appears to be. Nevertheless, his fleeceable sidekick carries on swearing this ambidextrous confidante who even swears by Janus, and workss the seed of uncertainty, devastation and desperation a long the waies of all those he encounters, get downing with his foreman, Othello. ( McKean and Blackmon 7 ) . This facet of production ballads accent on the construct of green-eyed monster as Iago is covetous of Cassio who is given the place Iago believes should be his. Equally of import to the context of this review is the directional facet of the theatrical piece that has Iago expressing rhetorics of monologues and duologues. The consequence of this is that it reveals him as the maestro of connotative and metamorphous linguistic communication. Janet Suzman besides employs inflammatory imagination, emotional entreaties, well-placed silences, doubtful vacillations, taking inquiries, meaningful repeat, and sly intimations in Iago s parts to convey out the green-eyed monster he has against Cassio that makes him propagate green-eyed monster in Roderigo as he avenges against Othello. In fact, Iago is so good at lying that he is able even to convert himself that he has the soundest of justifications to destruct Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio. His fluency and converting rhetoric is Janet s strong indicant that linguistic communication can be a powerful-and dangerous-tool, particularly when used by an eloquent, scrupulous person ( Alexander Street Press, 2 010: Play ) . In the concluding analysis, Othello can be viewed in assorted ways as being the most tragic of heroes in Shakespeare s dramas, and Janet Suzman brings out this fact with unreserved lucidity. The ultimate devastation of Othello is seen much as a map of his outstanding qualities ( Pavis 229 ) . It is non his negative traits that destroy him. Bing a baronial warrior, though excessively much swearing the advocate of other work forces, he becomes an easy quarry for Iago, who is the scoundrel in the drama yet really interesting and more intelligent than his opposite numbers. As a affair of fact, Iago lacks any of Suzman s beguiling qualities, and ends up being the consequence of his ain covetous and hatred against other people, particularly Othello. Thus, when Janet Suzman s most baronial hero, Othello, and her worst scoundrel in the drama, Iago, collide, the wake is really tragic harmonizing to human sense, non merely dramatic calamity. Consequently, the theatrical piece leaves one contem plating the loss of a superior character in the individual of Othello, non the mere devastation of human life ( Michael 177 ) .

Porography essays

Porography essays In the late seventies, Our Nation became shocked and outraged by the rape , multilation, and murder of a dozen young beautiful girls.The man who was mainly responsable for these murders, Ted Bundy, who was later apprehended and executed.During his detention in various penitentiaries,he was mentally probed and probbed by phycologist and phychoanalysts hoping to discover the root of violent actions and sexual frustrations.Many theories arose in attempts to explain the motivational factors behind his muderous escapades.However, the strongest and feasible of these theories came not from the phycologists, but from the man himself, "As a teenager,my buddies and I would all sneak around and watch porn.As I grew older,I became more and more intrested and involved in it,(pornography) became an obsession.I got so involved in it, I wanted to incorporate (porn) into my life, but I couldn't behave like that and maintain the success I had worked so hard for.I generated an alter-ego to fullfill my fantasies under-cover.Pornography was a means of unlocking the evil I had burried inside of myself "(Leidholdt 47).Is it possible that pornography is acting as the key to unlocking the evil in unstable minds? According to Edward Donnerstein,a leading researcher in the pornography feild,"The relationship between sexually violent images in the media and subsequent aggression and ...callous attitudes towards women is much stronger statistically than the relationship beetween smoking and cancer"(Itzin 22).After considering the increase in rape and molestation,sexual harasement,and other sex crimes over the last few decades,and also the corresponding increase of buisness in the pornography needs considerable study and examination.Once the evidence you will encounter in this paper is evaluated and quatified it will be hard not come away with the realization that habitual use of pornographic material promotes unrealistic and unattainable desires in men that ...

Strategic Management of Google Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Management of Google - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that strategic management is used to understand the performance of the businesses, the ways to create and maintain competitive advantage over other businesses in the industry. The strategic management plans of a business should ideally be valuable and unique and should be difficult to be adopted or substituted by the competitors. The main analysis is based on the strategic objectives and goals of the business and the internal and the external factors affecting the functioning of the business. In this report, the strategic management processes will be analysed and implementation of the strategic management process in the famous search giant business of Google Inc. will be discussed.This study outlines that  the strategic management plan starts from an evaluation of the vision and mission statements of the business and the strategic goals and objectives of the business. The vision of Google Inc. was to create a search engine that would be extremely ef ficient and capable of understanding anything in the world. The mission of the company is to create a database of all the information in the world and make them accessible for all the people throughout the globe. To achieve these, the company made their processes customer centric and aimed to make profit through value creation for the customers.  The business delivered a delightful user experience to build up a high level word of mouth promotion for the company.

Western civilization.The Atlantic slave trade,protestant revival and Essay

Western civilization.The Atlantic slave trade,protestant revival and the two revolutions - Essay Example Atlantic Slave Trade was a direct consequence of the practice of slavery that existed in Medieval Europe and the colonial world. With the discovery of the Americas, slavery and slave trade became more pervasive since the European colonists needed cheap labor. Atlantic Slave Trade was a trade phenomenon that started during the 16th century. The Portuguese were the pioneers of this trade system. Soon, several European powers followed the techniques and trade routes of the Portuguese. Slave trade began to flourish rapidly as the European powers were rivaling each other to establish vast overseas colonial empires. Discussion As Christopher Columbus had discovered the New World, Europeans began to migrate towards the West in the search of fortune. They gathered in the North and South Americas and rapidly annihilated the native peoples. In this way, communities like Sioux Indians, Incas, Aztecs, Red Indians, etc. were cornered. Now, the European settlers needed to clear the forests, create towns and cities, and exploit the natural resources of the new found continents. Hence they needed cheap labor. (McKay et al, 2011) Europeans were colonizing in Africa too and had defeated the Arabs on a number of occasions. Hence, they carried on their imperial expansion across Africa and conquered several countries. Here, they captured and/or kidnapped large numbers of Africans and enslaved them. These slaves were transported as merchandise units to the New World so that they could be used as cheap labor for plantations, agriculture, clearing the forests and several jobs like that. Hence, it can be deduced that the reasons for both the beginning and success of Atlantic Slave Trade were the same: The theory of demand and supply. The innocent Africans were carried away from the present day countries like Sierra Leon, Senegal, Nigeria, etc. and used as bonded labors throughout their lives. Along with this, they were subjected to horrible torture and life conditions by their masters, who mostly neglected even their minimum well being. Freed slaves like Olaudah Equiano later came out with the accounts of these atrocities. Direct and indirect experiences about the tortures meted out to the African slaves started to build opinion against slave trade among the Europeans and White Americans themselves. Ultimately, humanitarian people in Europe and America abolished slavery and slave trade in a step by step manner by the end of 19th century. (McKay et al, 2011) Conclusion Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the most heinous crimes of world history. According to McKay et al (2011), â€Å"The Atlantic slave trade grew enormously as colonial plantations used slaves to produce commodities for trade.† Yet, it should be kept in mind that the Europeans and colonists themselves came forward to abolish it. First, the British Empire declared slavery illegal and then the American Civil War delivered the death blow to this practice. Thus, â€Å"public outcry at slaveryâ€⠄¢s horrors† (McKay et al, 2011) was the main reason behind the decline of Atlantic Slave Trade. Question 2 Pick one group in the â€Å"Protestant Revival† and talk about the aims, ideas, goals, and people behind it in 300-500 words. Answer Introduction Protestantism had originated in Medieval Europe. Thinkers and reformers like Martin Luther began the Protestant Movement, which primarily aimed to establish the right of the common people to learn and understand religion with more openness, freedom, and humane values. The European immigrants to America brought these ideas from Europe and looked for religious emancipation in the New World too. During the middle of 18th century, the First Great Awakening of Protestant Revival took place that was going to change

Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm Value

Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm Value Introduction If there is debt in a companys capital, such a company is termed leveraged or geared company. A gearing ratio demonstrates the relationship between fixed interest and equity capital in the finance of a business Measured: Fixed Interest Capital OR Fixed Interest Capital Capital Employed Equity The financial lever is a norm in measuring the scale of using debt in the firms capital structure. One of the most important issues in financial discussions is obtaining a blend of capital structure which has the most attractions for the investors. The structure of capital is a required link between debt and the equity that provides financial needs for preparing the companys properties. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTION There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and firm. 1.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and earnings per share 2.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and price earnings ratio. 3.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and returns to equity. 4.There is a negative and significant correlation between financial leverage and operating profit. WHY INTERESTING The above research questions are interesting as they will address the following: Provide answer on the impact of gearing on the firms value; reconcile the argument as to whether financial leverage has relationship with earning per share; the level of correlation between financial leverage and price earnings ratio as well as operational profit. The questions will also seek to highlight the risks associated with leverage. Relation to previous research (Theoretical Framework) CAPITAL STRUCTURE THEORIES A companys capital structure shows all the sources of finance a company is utilizing to finance its operations. Capital structure refers to how a company finances its operations and it is usually made up of: Ordinary share capital Preference share capital Debt capital. There are two main theories about the effect of changes in gearing on the WACC and share value. There are: a.The traditional view b.The net operating income approach For which a behavioral justification was proposed by Franco Modigliani and Melton H. Miller (M M) in 1958 (Gitman, 2006). TRADITIONAL VIEW The traditional view states that debt capital is cheaper than equity and that such a company can increase its value by borrowing up to a reasonable limit (the optimal level of gearing). Return Kw Ke Kd P GEARING With the traditional theory, the following assumptions hold sway: Â   1.The cost of debt will remain constant until a significant point is reached when it would start to rise. 2.The WACC will fill immediately an external source of finance is introduced and will bring thereafter as the level of gearing increases. 3.The companys market value and the market value per share will be maximized where WACC is at the lowest point. M-MS SUPPORT OF THE OPERATING INCOME APPROACH The original normative theory of company valuation and capital structure was put forward in form of a behavioral justification of the Net Operating Income Approach by Franco Modigliani and Melton H. Miller (M-M) in 1958 (Gitman, 2006). To appreciate the propositions by M-M, it will be better to understand the M-M assumptions which are stated below. From these assumptions, M-M set out their three propositions. PROPOSITION I This states that a company cannot change the total value of its securities just by splitting its cash flow into different streams; the companys value is determined by its real assets, not by the securities it issues. Thus, capital structure is irrelevant if the companys investment decisions are taken as given. PROPOSITION II The expected rate of return on the equity of a geared company increases in proposition to the debt-equity ratio (debt/equity), expressed in market values; the rate of increase depends on the spread between the expected rate of return on a portfolio of all the companys securities, and the expected return on the debt. PROPOSITION III This provides a rule for optimal investment policy by the company: The cut off point for investment in the company will in all cases be the WACC and will be completely unaffected by the types of security used to finance the investment. Consequently, if the first two propositions hold, the cut-off rate used to evaluate investments will not be affected by the type of funding used to finance them, whatever may be the capital structure. The gain from using debt (at lower cost) is offset by the increased cost of equity (due to increased risk) and WACC therefore remains unchanged. Proposed methods STATEMENT OF METHOD Secondary data from financial database will be used. To determine the impact of leverage on the value of firm, a thorough study will be taken on each entity in the integrated chain. My choice of the above data collection method rested on their validity and research question. I also consider them to be less costly in relation to others. The study will try to integrate various academic literatures and examine the impact of financial leverage on the value of firms. Therefore, I shall obtain unbalanced panel comprising 25 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the period ranging from 2001- 2010 with relevant information over the last years. These firms and their published accounts will be used to determine the variable that will be stated. CHOICE OF THEORY There are two basic theories about the impact of financial leverage on firms value; the traditional theory and the Modigliani Millers theory. I shall base my study on the theory which seem more realistic with empirical fact. CAPITAL STRUCTURE In the academic literature, there two possible indictors of capital structure, namely, debt-equity ratio, defined as total debt divided by book value of common equity, and a ratio of debt total assets. In this analysis, the ratio of debt to common equity will be used. This will be more useful to explain the choice of a capital structure as compared to the ratio of debt to total assets. This variable shall be denoted as CS in our analysis. DATA COLLECTION The collection tools for the research project includes: Financial times statistical data from Nigerian Stock Exchange, Augusto rating on debt Equity Companies, Financial Index Journal. Others tool include the companys annual reports and account, the internet, financial newspaper particularly, Thisday, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) journals, Financial Standard, Business Times and some other foreign journal consulted at various library. The testing technique to be employed is regression and correlation analysis with the chi-square X2 distribution, which allows comparisons of an actual observed distribution with a hypothesized or expected distribution. This method is often referred to as a goodness of fit test. SAMPLE FRAME The secondary data above will be used in addition to the financial statement and Accounts of selected companies: Nigerian Breweries Plc, Pharma Deko Plc and Evans Medicals Plc. The result of the investigation will be analyzed and tested. The firm size shall be determined by its log of sales as published in their financial statements. Firms turnover as a percentage of capital employed will be used in our model. It is often argued that performance is a function of firm size and if we are to make a regression model with performance as response variable, it is important to incorporate firm size in our model. Firm size may be positively or negatively related to leverage. Odeleye (2014) come forward with the idea that large firms may exercise economies of scale, have better knowledge of markets and can employ better management personnel. Firm size also measures a firms market power or level of concentration within the industry. Reflections Finance: The execution of this project required substantial financial outlay. The sourcing and gathering of data, paying working visit to firm, conducting enquiry to the operations of the company and packaging available information into coherent project, required funding. Time: It takes time to conduct inquiry, investigation as well as gather, compile analysis and interprets data and then organizes them into a research work. The researcher worked under severe constraints of time as there was a deadline for the submission of the project. Attitude of the Practitioner: Although some information was readily provided by staff of the organization, a few other relevant ones were considered as confidential and strenuous efforts had to be made to collect some of the information that were regarded as confidential. Altogether, the limitations were so severe as to vitiate the research outcome, more especially because the researcher managed to overcome the obstacle. Physically, only some selected leveraged companies in manufacturing activities as an option for growth enhancement of market are included to minimize the expenses. Another limitation is that not all leveraged companies turn out to be successful in relation to market values; this research does not cover those companies. I obtained all the necessary information I needed for empirical analysis considering the advanced nature of the financial reporting of the firms under review which confounds to international standard? The financial regulation in Nigeria might not be up to date with respect to submission of financial statement. The gathering of data from some of the companys department required some payment. This expenses which was budgeted for constituted a challenge, yet there was a possibility of missing some data which is not found on the financial statement of the companies. This study was carried out with a sample of firms listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. The first empirical obstacle will be the availability of data for a minimum of ten trading years for the firms under study. The financial regulations in Nigeria require firms to submit their audited financial statements as well as certain information regarding their firms value. However, the data submitted by firms are in hard copy format and they are thus stored at the companys department in paper format. Given that availability is limited to hard copies, I feel that I will need to bear into mind the time factor involved in the manual gathering of relevant data. Moreover, data regarding a single company might be in different volumes and this might involve delay out of proportion in this assignment. Timetable July 2015 Proposal Submission August 2015 Proposal Approval September/October 2015 Literature review November 2015 submission and amendment of chapter 1based on examiners approval/comment December 2015 submission and amendment of chapter 2 based on examiners approval/comment January 2016 submission and amendment of chapter 3 and 4 based on examiners approval/comment February 2016 submission and amendment of chapter 5 based on examiners approval/comment March 2016 Proof reading, final editing, printing/binding and project submission References Akinsulire, O. (2002), Financial Management 2002. COEMOL Nig. Ltd Gitman, L. (2006). Leverage and Capital Structure (4TH Ed). Boston: Pearson Anderson Wiley. Odeleye, A. (2014) Corporate Financing and Efficiency of Indigenous Energy Firms in Nigeria: A literature Review. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy. 4(1).

Readers of his detective stories Essay

Readers of the Sherlock Holmes stories are captured by the excitement which is produced when Holmes and Watson foil the evil masterminded plans of criminals. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates all this excitements by using Holmes’ and Dr Watson’s expertise in their field, as this is typical in the detective genre. An obvious place to start looking for this excitement is reading â€Å"Case of Identity†. Excitement in this story is used to keep the reader interested. The excitement is created by Mary Sutherland getting such a large amount of money being left her as inheritance as that was a lot of money in the time that Conan Doyle wrote the story. The amount of money Miss Mary Sutherland gets from her inheritance left to her by her Uncle Ned is i 2,500 but she can only touch the interest which stands at four and a half percent a year, â€Å"so large a sum as a hundred a year. † This was a lot of money in the Victorian times for a single person this creates excitement as very few people had that amount of income without doing anything. Conan Doyle uses a strange happening to create excitement as the reader starts to think about the possibilities about what has happened a good example of this is when Miss Sutherlands fianci Mr Hosmer Angel disappears from the cab on the day of the wedding, â€Å"we waited for him to step out, but he never did. † It is not possible for a man to disappear from the face of the earth when people saw him get into the cab. This creates excitements for the reader as they start to guess what has happened to Mr Angel. Clues play the biggest part in the excitement in this story as the reader is able to figure out the culprit as the clues only point to one person, Mr Angel does not have an address as he sleeps on the premises of his work, the address of Mr Angels place of work is also unknown apart from the fact that it is in â€Å"Leadenhall street†. This meant all his letters were sent to the Leadenhall post office â€Å"he slept on the premises† this is strange as he has no where to live and he doesn’t want the letters to be sent to him at work. This excites the reader as the reader has to think about why he doesn’t want her to know where he lives. The way the characters act are a good example of how Conan Doyle creates excitement as Mr Hosmer Angel is a very shy man who does not want to be seen as he wears dark glasses and he talks on a very soft voice, â€Å"he would rather walk with me in the evening. † This is because Mr Angel does not want to be seen with Miss Sutherland so this creates excitement as the reader gets the feeling that there is something not quite right with Mr Angel and that he is secretive about some thing this will start to make the reader excited as they know something big is going to happen this is also a good way of using the suspense of the story to create the excitement. Conan Doyle creates a fair amount of excitement in â€Å"The Boscombe Valley Mystery†. Conan Doyle creates this excitement by using the argument between the father and son even though a father son relationship is hard to destroy. Seeing as he uses the strange argument between father and son â€Å"having a violent quarrel† this makes the reader wonder why the father and son are arguing about, this creates tension for the reader as it gives them topic to think about this creates excitement as the reader is becoming involved with the story. This is because in Victorian Britain violent quarrels between father and son would not have been common things, this is because the Victorians have been classed as the most respectable and caring people in the history of Britain and the fact that there were large families. The lead form the violent quarrel leads to further events; this creates excitement because a son would not get to a point where he could kill his father as it would be as if he was destroying himself. This excitement is where the son found his father dead, the son heard the call of â€Å"cooee† to which his son turns round to see his father dead on the floor, a she goes to his father he mentions something about â€Å"a rat† this was all that he caught of his fathers last words but he could have misheard what his father said, this sudden turn from the argument and the son walking away to the father being killed creates excitement as the reader would expect the son to have killed the father but the last words get the reader wandering about how the father died, and what is this rat. Conan Doyle creates excitement for the reader a tension build up as Holmes is about to reveal the murderer. The reader is excited as Holmes is about to unveil who committed the murder and he is doing this based purely on the last words of the old man â€Å"a rat†. There is a large amount of tension as holes is about to say who committed the murder and there is a sudden burst form Holmes who reveals that the murderer was from â€Å"Ballarat† . Ballarat is the name of an Australian gang and that the call of â€Å"cooee† was a native Australian call. This creates the element of excitement as the murderer is revealed. And the Murder was committed by â€Å"Black Jack of Ballarat†. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates an element of mystery in â€Å"5 orange pips† when it is revealed that 5 orange pips have been sent to Elias Openshaw who lived in Horsham. The orange pips arrived in an envelope with a foreign stamp on it, â€Å"5little dried orange pips† the reader does not know what these orange pips are about so this creates a moderate amount of excitement for the reader as they wander what these orange pips are about.