Sunday, January 19, 2020
JC Penney Company, Inc. :: Marketing Research
JC Penney Company, Inc. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Is one of America’s largest department store, drugstore, catalog and e-commerce retailers. Providing merchandise and services through department stores, catalogs, and the Internet. Their targeted customers are â€Å"Modern Spenders†and â€Å"Starting Outs†, who shop for apparel, accessories, and home furnishings through the centers where JCPenney is located and through the convenience of catalog and the Internet. Starting Outs                                    ·Ã‚     Less than 35 years of age                ·Ã‚     Singles, young families  ·Ã‚     0-1 children  ·Ã‚     Shopping patterns & relationships emerging  ·Ã‚     No strong retail loyalties  ·Ã‚     28% of U.S. households.  ·Ã‚     Currently 16% of sales  ·Ã‚     Potentially 30% of sales     Modern Spenders  ·Ã‚     35-54 years of age  ·Ã‚     Dual-earner households  ·Ã‚     0-2 children (often includes teenagers)  ·Ã‚     Consumption oriented  ·Ã‚     No strong retail loyalties & relationships  ·Ã‚     Retail loyalties more likely  ·Ã‚     Established shopping patterns  ·Ã‚     Time-starved  ·Ã‚     27% of U.S. households  ·Ã‚     Currently 43% of sales  ·Ã‚     Potentially 50% of sales Distribution *Catalogs J.C. Penney is the nation’s largest catalog merchant, with the most modern facilities and the largest privately owned telemarketing network in America. Serving this $4 billion catalog business are nearly 2,000 catalog departments in JCPenney department stores, Eckerd drugstores, freestanding sales centers and independent catalog merchants. *Internet J.C. Penney is in only its second year of Internet sales, and its going strong and growing. Sales jumped from $15 million to $102 million since the beginning of jcpenney.com. *Department Stores JCPenney has more retail space in major regional shopping centers than any other department store retailer in America, with about 1,140 department stores located in all 50 states. JCPenney’s drugstore ECKERD has over 2,600 stores in operation in 23 states. PROMOTIONAL OFFERS  ·Ã‚     Direct mail. An invitation to shop mailed to selected catalog customers. These promotions may be associated with a holiday or other special savings event, including many of our storewide events  ·Ã‚     Sunday Supplement. JCPenney color inserts that are delivered with your Sunday or late-week newspaper.  ·Ã‚     Newspaper Ads. Promotional offers are often supplemented by ads in your local newspaper.  ·Ã‚     Catalog Inserts. Many of our Sale and JCPenney â€Å"Signature Series†catalogs contain special offers for limited-time savings that are bound into mailed copies.  ·Ã‚     E-mail Promotions.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
An Old Man’s Winter Night Analysis
An Old Man’s Winter Night This is a very haunting poem about an old man who stands alone dying in a dark house in winter. His memory is failing him and because of that he doesn’t know who he is or why he is in the house but he stays there inside the house because of the gruelling winter weather outside. There is no sense that the old man is existing for anyone or anything, he is purely alone. He is alone not only because no one is with him, but also because there will be no one to remember him after he dies.He develops a fear of the cellar beneath him and the darkness that lies outside so he strikes the ground in an attempt to frighten the unknown rather than confronting his fears. Finally, he falls asleep in front of the fire only to be disturbed by a log that has shifted in the fire but in due course, falls into a deep sleep. Frost uses the dying fire as a symbol to his fading life. As the night goes on, the fire dims and the old man grows closer to death. He knows th at eventually the darkness will consume him.The piece does not stray from the subject matter from the beginning to the end, continuously conveying the extent of how scared and lonely he is. Frost’s intention is clearly to portray the depth of loneliness that the old man is feeling in his old age and the emotions that accompany this. In terms of form, the poem does not have a traditional rhyme scheme and the lines vary in length. Frost uses many different literary devices throughout the poem such as imagery which appeals to our sight, touch and hearing senses.Frost has used Imagery such as â€Å"In clomping there, he scared it once again†which appeals to our touch because you can almost feel how he has stomped the floor to try and frighten off the unknown. He has appealed to our hearing senses by using personification, â€Å"like the roar of trees†lets you almost hear how the trees were thrashing around on the cold winter night. â€Å"That brought him to that creaking room was age. He stood with barrels round him – at a loss†appeals to our sight and paints a vivid eerie image of him standing alone in the dark house.Frost’s use of personification, â€Å"like the roar of trees†is used to give a more humanistic quality to the trees to create a more eerie surrounding. Onomatopoeia is used â€Å"crack of branches†to make you think about the sound and to give a realistic feel to the poem, but more significantly alliteration is used, â€Å"doors darkly†, â€Å"beating box†and â€Å"separate stars†, this makes the poem sound more pleasant to the readers. There is also evidence of internal rhyme on the tenth line â€Å"In clomping there, he scared it once again†An internal rhyme puts emphasis on the two words that rhyme and quickens the pace of the line.On the twenty third line, he used caesura to form important thoughts rather than breaking it â€Å"And slept. The log that shift ed with a jolt†. There are eight strong enjambments throughout the poem helping it to run on and flow into the next line and continue momentum instead of the usual rhythm a poem would have. The mood of the poem is sad and disheartening. Frost’s use of imagery creates a sad setting. â€Å"All out of doors looked darkly in at him†could almost mean that people know and see that he is alone in the house but yet they choose to ignore it.The tone of the poem is candid, almost as if Frost is just telling a story without any feeling or emotion being put into it. From reading the poem, we realise that the old man is alone but the writer never clarifies the reason why, he only repeats that he is completely isolated and beyond the comfort of another human being. The most poignant aspect of this poem is the old man’s loss of memory and the frost forming on the windows because it’s so cold, â€Å"Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars, that gathers o n the pane in empty rooms. He has no recollection of his purpose or identity and simply finds himself standing â€Å"with barrels round him  at a loss. †Not only is the old man isolated in body, he is isolated in mind. His memories of his past happiness cannot comfort him now. Although the old man is in a state of utter isolation, he still has the bravery to fight for his existence and attempt to scare away his fears that creep through the night. Although the old man is unaware of what exactly he is afraid of in the cellar or the dark of night, he clutches to the act of â€Å"clomping†as a familiar and unfamiliar comfort.The devastating sense of loneliness and fear is accentuated by the noises all around the old man, the cracking of branches, the roar of the trees – this use of personification is used to make the scene more disturbing. However, the old man himself remains silent throughout the poem. When he does make sounds, he resorts to the more anim alistic action of stomping his feet rather than trusting his voice. In reading the title of the poem it suggests there should be a pleasant setting of an old man inside house beside a fire on a cold winter’s night but instead the writer has denied the readers any comforting expectations. Instead the writer conveys that he is slowly dying alone in the house on a devastatingly cold frosty night but he wants to live and fight death until the end even though he is losing his mind he still knows he doesn’t want to die. The old man’s isolation keeps the reader at a distance so they are not able to feel a sense of empathy with the old man.If Frost divulged the old man’s thoughts it would be easier for the readers to form some kind of connection with him but Frost wants the readers to feel the same lonely, isolated feeling that the old man has and does this by rendering the old man mute. The reader is forced to remain a silent onlooker who cannot connect to the i nner workings of the old man’s mind. This poem could be interpreted as how Frost feels about his life at this point in time. â€Å"All out of doors looked darkly in at him through the thin frost almost in separate stars†This could be Frost’s way of expressing his feelings that he thinks nobody cares about him anymore.The poem does not end on a completely desperate note. Although the man is frightened of what he does not know, he still succeeded in â€Å"scaring†off the unknown when he was alone and frightened. Frost suggests that even a person in the depths of isolation and loneliness is still capable of maintaining a presence and â€Å"keeping†a house. The old man’s behavior in the house is not ideal or necessarily human, and he is still destined to face death and constant loneliness, and yet his house is still his own because of his insistent grasp on it and his refusal to abandon himself completely.
Friday, January 3, 2020
Abortion Issues - How They Affect American Politics
Abortion issues surface in almost every American election, whether its a local race for school board, a statewide race for governor or a federal contest for Congress or the White House. Abortion issues have polarized American society since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the procedure. On one side are those who believe women are not entitled to end the life of an unborn child. On the other are those who believe women have the right to decide what happens to their body. Often there is no room for debate between the side. Related Story: Is Abortion the Right Thing to Do? In general, most Democrats support a womans right to have an abortion and most Republicans oppose it. There are notable exceptions, though, including some politicians who have waffled on the issue. Some Democrats who are conservative when it comes to social issues such oppose abortion rights, and some moderate Republicans are open to allowing women to have the procedure. A 2016 Pew Research Survey found that 59 percent of Republicans believe abortion should be illegal, and 70 percent of Democrats believe the procure should be allowed. Overall, though, a narrow majority of Americans  56 percent in the Pew poll â€â€Ã‚ support legalized abortion and 41 percent oppose it. In both cases, these figures have remained relatively stable for at least two decades, the Pew Researchers found. When Abortion Is Legal In the United States Abortion refers to the voluntary termination of a pregnancy, resulting in the death of the fetus or embryo. Abortions performed prior to the third trimester are legal in the United States.Abortion-rights advocates believe a woman should have access to whatever health care she needs and that she should have control over her own body. Opponents of abortion rights believe an embryo or fetus is alive and thus abortion is tantamount to murder. Current Status The most controversial of abortion issues is the so-called partial birth abortion, a rare procedure. Beginning in the mid-90s, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate introduced legislation to ban partial birth abortions. In late 2003, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.This law was drafted after the Supreme Court ruled Nebraskas partial birth abortion law unconstitutional because it did not allow a doctor to use the procedure even if it were the best method to preserve the health of the mother. Congress attempted to circumvent this ruling by declaring that the procedure is never medically necessary. History Abortion has existed in almost every society and was legal under Roman law, which also condoned infanticide. Today, almost two-thirds of the women in the world may obtain a legal abortion.When America was founded, abortion was legal. Laws prohibiting abortion were introduced in the mid-1800s, and, by 1900, most had been outlawed. Outlawing abortion did nothing to prevent pregnancy, and some estimates put the number of annual illegal abortions from 200,000 to 1.2 million in the 1950s and 1960s.States began liberalizing abortion laws in the 1960s, reflecting changed societal mores and, perhaps, the number of illegal abortions. In 1965, the Supreme Court introduced the idea of a right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut as it struck down laws that banned the sale of condoms to married people.Abortion was legalized in 1973 when the U.S.Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that during the first trimester, a woman has the right to decide what happens to her body. This landmark decision rested on the right to privacy which was introduced in 1965. In addition, the Court ruled that the state could intervene in the second trimester and could ban abortions in the third trimester. However, a central issue, which the Court declined to address, is whether human life begins at conception, at birth, or at some point in between.In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court overturned Roes trimester approach and introduced the concept of viability. Today, approximately 90% of all abortions occur in the first 12 weeks.In the 1980s and 1990s, anti-abortion activism -- spurred on by opposition from Roman Catholics and conservative Christian groups -- turned from legal challenges to the streets. The organization Operation Rescue organized blockades and protests around abortion clinics. Many of these techniques were prohibited by the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Pros Most polls suggest that Americans, by a slim majority, call themselves pro-choice rather than pro-life. That does not mean, however, that everyone who is pro-choice believes that abortion is acceptable under any circumstance. A majority support at least minor restrictions, which the Court found reasonable as well under Roe.Thus the pro-choice faction contains a range of beliefs -- from no restrictions (the classic position) to restrictions for minors (parental consent) ... from support when a womans life is endangered or when the pregnancy is the result of rape to opposition just because a woman is poor or unmarried.Principle organizations include the Center for Reproductive Rights, The National Organization for Women (NOW), National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Planned Parenthood, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Cons The pro-life movement is thought of as more black-and-white in its range of opinions than the pro-choice faction. Those who support life are more concerned with the embryo or fetus and believe that abortion is murder. Gallup polls starting in 1975 consistently show that only a minority of Americans (12-19 percent) believe that all abortions should be banned.Nevertheless, pro-life groups have taken a strategic approach to their mission, lobbying for mandated waiting periods, prohibitions on public funding and denial of public facilities.In addition, some sociologists suggest that abortion has become a symbol of the changing status of women in society and of changing sexual mores. In this context, pro-life supporters may reflect a backlash against the womens movement.Principle organizations include the Catholic Church, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, and National Right to Life Committee. Where It Stands President George W. Bush supported and signed the constitutionally questionable partial-birth abortion ban and, as Governor of Texas, vowed to put an end to abortion. Immediately after taking office, Bush eliminated U.S. funding to any international family planning organization that provided abortion counseling or services -- even if they did so with private funds.There was no easily-accessed issue statement about abortion on the 2004 candidate web site. However, in an editorial entitled The War Against Women the New York Times wrote: The lengthening string of anti-choice executive orders, regulations, legal briefs, legislative maneuvers, and key appointments emanating from his administration suggests that undermining the reproductive freedom essential to womens health, privacy and equality is a major preoccupation of his administration - second only, perhaps, to the war on terrorism.
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Emotional Learning Disability And Physical Education - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1556 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/05/23 Category Education Essay Level High school Topics: Physical Education Essay Did you like this example? Emotional disturbance, as defined by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a condition demonstrating one or more of the following features over a long time, to the extent it severely impacts a studentrs educational performance. The first of which is an inability to learn aside from intellectual, sensory, or health factors, followed by an inability to engage in adequate interpersonal relationships with other students and teachers. Additionally, students with emotional disturbance may display inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, a general inescapable mood of unhappiness or depression, as well as a propensity to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems (Algozzine, 2017).. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Emotional Learning Disability And Physical Education" essay for you Create order If a child demonstrates one or more of the characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, the child is considered disturbed and eligible for special education services. Over the years, while the relative number of students identified as qualifying for special education in other categories, such as other specific learning disabilities and autism, has ebbed and flowed, the number of students acknowledged to be eligible for special education in the category of emotional disturbance has remained constant (MacFarlane, Woolfson, 2013). The emotionally disturbed child is the student who, after receiving supportive educational assistance and counseling services available to all students, still exhibits persistent and consistent severe to very severe behavior issues affecting their ability to learn and interact with others. The behavior issues associated with said student cannot be attributed primarily to physical, sensory or intellectual shortcomings (Algozzine, 2017). Students with emotional and behavior disturbances are more likely to face disciplinary exclusions and receive lower academic grades than other students with disabilities. Only 20% of students with emotional disturbances ages 14 to 21 who exited the school system in the last decade received a high school diploma. Similarly, these students experienced disproportionate rates of arrest by the justice system (Smith, Katsiyannis, Ryan, 2011). Learning disabilities are the most common type of disability among special education students today. For many years, almost half of special education students were identified as having a specific learning disability as their primary disability. The share of special education students with learning disabilities dropped from 46 percent in 2000-01 to 38 percent in 2009-10, but these students still continued to make up the single largest disability group (Aron Loprest, 2012). Children with learning disabilities are characterized by lasting feelings of isolation and social rejection over time. Students who are less frequently chosen by peers at school have fewer opportunities to interact and build friendships, leading to increased loneliness, poor social behavior and emotional distress. Conversely, having positive relationships with other students leads to improved mental and psychological adjustment (Cavioni, Grazzani, Ornaghi, 2017). Students with learning disabilities seem to have more difficulty identifying expressions of emotions such as anger, fear, joy, and embarrassment, as well as correctly interpreting social situations and the behavioral consequences of certain actions. In addition, students with learning disabilities are more likely to manifest behavior problems, such as difficulty in maintaining positive social interactions and aggressive behaviors toward other students (Martin, 2013). Education is important for all children, but for those with disabilities or special needs it could mean the difference between a socially fulfilling, intellectually stimulating, and productive life and a future deprived of these qualities. Additionally, education has the potential to positively affect a studentrs ability to advocate for themselves, manage chronic health conditions, and learn how to deal with a variety of problems in childhood and later in life. There are varying opinions on how to properly educate children with learning disabilities (Aron Loprest, 2012). A popular approach in the education of children with learning disabilities is the concept of inclusive education. According to this ideology, all students belong and are valued members of their classroom, and school communities at large. Proponents of inclusive education believe that when students are segregated, the opportunity to interact with a broad range of differences and interests is lost. On the other hand, inclusion creates connections between students, enabling them to pursue shared objectives. Inclusion realizes all students are unique, giving them the feeling they belong, not only in their class, but in the outside world (Specht, 2013). The self-esteem of children with learning disabilities may be negatively affected by classroom isolation and the difficulties of dealing with the demands of school. Children with learning disabilities tend to compare their performance with their peers, often seeing themselves as different, less valued and less skilled (Cavioni, Grazzani, Ornaghi, 2017). Since 1975, there has been a push for inclusive education classes in which students with disabilities are educated alongside their classmates without disabilities in the least restrictive environment. The level of inclusion is up for discussion, with some seeing inclusion as full-time integration, and others viewing it as mainstreaming by placing a student into special rotations for certain subjects such as art, music, or physical education, with the expressed purposed of aiding students in their ability to socialize with others. Some have describe inclusion as providing the support needed to ensure students with disabilities remain successful when they take part in general education classroom. Physical education is no exception to this practice. Despite their disabilities, students should have the opportunity to participate with other students in general physical education class (Umhoefer, Vargas, Beyer, 2015). PE teachers are tasked with ensuring students with disabilities, as well as the students without disabilities are equally successful in their classes. Many researchers have found teachers feel inadequately prepared to adapt and modify their lesson, especially when teaching combined groups of students (?–zer, et al., 2013). General physical educators often lack the support, knowledge, and skills necessary to develop appropriate and safe programs. This is not fair to the teacher, the students with disabilities, or the other students in the class. Children with disabilities have the right to be exposed to the same variety of activities, learning them to the best of their ability. In order to accomplish this, PE teachers must be highly qualified, possessing specific knowledge and skills to instruct children with and without disabilities in physical education (Lieberman, 2010). While most PE teachers support and express positive attitudes toward inclusion, the actual practice of inclusive physical education is not an easy task. PE teachers are often frustrated with their inability to cope with children with disabilities, expressing feelings of inadequacy. There are many benefits to inclusive physical education; especially considering the fact children with a disability are particularly at risk for physical inactivity (Simpson, Mandich, 2012). PE teachers must be adequately supported when including students with learning disabilities in PE. These supports include the presence of educational aids, as well as the ability to consult with special education specialists and school psychologists. Access to adapted and specialized sports equipment is equally important, in addition to adapting curriculum expectations to meet the students needs (Winnick Porretta, 2016). Effective strategies for instructing students with an emotional learning disability include having an effective lesson introduction, setting a positive tone for the remainder of the class, and providing a brief introduction with an anticipatory activity. Since students with emotional learning disability are easily distracted, it is important to properly position the equipment, teacher, and students to minimize distractions (Young, 2012). A special consideration should be made to safety, with any relevant safety rules explained and reiterated often, along with a clear explanation of consequences for any misuse of the equipment. Difficulty sustaining attention may be alleviated by limiting the number of new motor skills taught in a lesson to two or three, depending on their complexity. Research supports the use of visual support for children with behavioral disorders, especially in tandem with verbal instruction, examples may include pictures, diagrams, sign language, or other body movements used in addition to verbal information (Winnick, Porretta, 2016). PE teachers should provide frequent specific feedback, as well as keeping students motivated to stay on task maintaining motivation to stay on task. Other recommendations include establishing an entry routine, making transitions efficient, having a routine for gathering and dismissing students, providing very specific instructions, organizing equipment, and clearly marking boundaries for the playing area. Every effort must be made to group students in formations that fully utilize space and prevent long wait periods, as well as providing students with enough equipment or, if this is not feasible, create stations where students have the opportunity to work on a variety of skills (Young, 2012). In conclusion, the writer found children with emotional learning disability simply need an appropriate support system in order to take advantage of the benefits of participating in PE class. Despite some obvious challenges, students with learning disabilities must be made to feel like they belong, therefore inclusion in PE is extremely beneficial, affording all students an opportunity to not only engage in physical activity, but feel they are part of a group. PE teachers must work in conjunction with special education teachers and school psychologists, making up a unified team dedicated to ensuring the well being of all students. Though many PE teachers see themselves as poorly equipped to deal with students with learning disabilities, with proper support, they have the ability to truly make a difference in the lives of all their students, especially those with learning disabilities. Physical educators are able to provide a quality PE program to students with learning disabilities s imply by making modifications to their classes, paying special attention to minimizing distractions, as well as teaching all students specific classroom routines and behaviors.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
John Locke s Views On Private Property And Politics
Each Philosopher in the early modern world has different perspectives regarding private property and politics in society. Although John Locke, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Karl Marx/Frederick Engels are from different times their criticism are crucial onto the world. Being from different eras gives them a unique perspective of how one should rule or govern. Each philosopher displays his own ideas and can seemingly disagree with one another in their methods of government. Therefore when issues of malicious rulers, private property, and politics arise, each philosopher handles these situations differently in which they criticize their method to what they believe is the right way. Locke s views in the social environment would criticize†¦show more content†¦Machiavelli did not view all men equal. He believed that some men were a better fit to be rulers than others. Machiavelli felt this because of the corrupt government that was taken in action at that time so he knew that the government needed a ruler who can ensure stability and can properly manage it. These are the characteristics that the Prince had in Machiavelli’s book. An example from the book can be seen as the Judeo-Christian values as faulty in the state s success. Such visionary expectations, he held, bring the state to ruin, for we do not live in the world of the ought, the fanciful utopia, but in the world of is.(Machiavelli) The role of The Prince was not to gain integrity or virtue, but to guarantee security within the government. John Locke has a dissimilar opinion than Machiavelli. He is basically against Machiavelli because he believes that â€Å"an authoritarian government is unlawful and unjust to society.†(Locke) John Locke believes that†all men are created equal, have the right to own property and are naturally moral and rational.†Locke believed in a natural right to life, liberty, and property; â€Å"inherent rights to freedom and self-governance that no one can take away from people.†(Locke) He thinks that people should govern themselves and be accountable for their actions. Locke describes â€Å"political power as the right to make the laws for theShow MoreRelatedThe Second Treatise Of Government By John Locke1593 Words  | 7 Pagespublication The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke was the first to promote individualism over society. Though his ideas were considered as liberal, now are embraced by many conservative. 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Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Project Management Contemporary Organization for Managing
Question: Discuss about the Project Management for Contemporary Organization for Managing. Answer: Project management has become a necessity of the contemporary organization for managing their external as well as internal projects. Huge cost of the inputs and scarcity of resources have forced companies to employ scientific tools and techniques for strategically monitoring projects. Effective project management techniques ensure completion of the projects within time and budget constraints by efficiently utilizing all the available resources. Over time project management techniques have evolved considerably reflecting the changes in the technology and business environment. The course has provided me an in-depth insight into the contemporary project management techniques necessary for successful completion of a project. This module has helped me to get accustomed with the emerging trend and patterns in the area of project management. The tools and techniques of Project management have strong practical implication in all the projects undertaken by the companies. In my opinion, project management techniques are finding greater acceptance due to growing emphasis for timely completion of the work assignments. The projects are becoming complex due to advancement in technology, changing requirements of the consumer and demand for new products and services. If not managed efficiently, a project can cause severe loss for the company and can even lead to winding up of business. Therefore a project is required to be managed scientifically for optimal utilization of resources. I have learned a lot of things from the module of Project Management which will help me to oversee project assigned to me in my work life. I have come to know that a detailed and comprehensive plan is necessary to formulate before initia ting any particular project. I will try to employ the principles of project management in all work assignments to ensure their completion before schedule. There are five phases of a project Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Control and Closure. These steps are followed strictly in executing the large projects of an organization. The learning from this course has changed my perspective of looking into a project. I came to know that a project should be viewed in terms of time-bound deliverables. This course has taught me that project can be external or internal to an organization. A project should be divided into a number of sub-projects for effectively and efficiently managing all necessary aspects related to it. Again all tasks and activities comprising a particular project need to be organized and managed employing the principles of project management. I will conduct an extensive preliminary analysis of the project in question for assessing the feasibility in terms of profit and loss. If I find from the analysis that undertaking a particular project is not profitable for the company, I will recommend planning team to further investigate in detail to reach a final conclusion. If the investigation reveals that the project has potential to gain dividends, then I can proceed with finalizing the resources requir ed for pursuing the project. I also learned that managing closure is also crucial for any project. It helps in smoothly allocating the resource from one project to another project. In my opinion time is an important factor which is often ignored in planning and execution compared to cost. Time should also be considered as important as cost because the delay in a project ultimately adds to the cost. Modern project management tools and techniques like CPM and PERT can be used for setting starting and finishing timelines of a project. These techniques are also used for monitoring activities and tasks during execution and calculating any deficit. This is one aspect which is going to be very useful in keeping a close tab on all activities and tasks in my future work assignment. I think using these techniques will greatly reduce the risk up to a great extent. Apart from it, this will contribute in ensuring effective and efficient utilization of resources. I can manage multiple projects simultaneously by applying principles of project management in my projects. Project management is the most sought after management principle owing to complex nature of modern day projects. It not only ensures the timely completion of the project, but it also leads to smooth termination of a project. Modern project management tools and techniques use statistical and mathematical principles for scientifically monitoring and controlling all activities and the tasks comprising a project. The learning from this course has immensely helped me in developing skills and abilities that will guide me in managing projects in future. All techniques taught to me are very much relevant in relation to my future work assignment.
Monday, December 2, 2019
Marginal cost curve Essay Example
Marginal cost curve Essay Marginal cost curve A curve that graphically represents the relation between the marginal cost incurred by a firm in the short-run product of a good or service and the quantity of output produced. Diagram: Marginal cost curve. * The MC curve is generally increasing. This is due to the decreasing marginal productivity of  labour. (Referred from econ http://www. econmodel. com downloaded on 14th May 2013). b. ) The Average Cost (AC) The average cost is the total cost divided by the number of units produced. Average cost curve – The graphical representation of average cost.Diagram: Average cost curve. The AC curve is U-shaped. This is because the ATC is made up of AVC, which is increasing, and AFC, which are decreasing. At low production quantities the decline in AFC dominates, but eventually the increasing AVC overwhelms the average costs. c. )The Average Fixed Cost (AFC) A cost that does not change with an increase or decrease in the amount of goods or services prod uced. Fixed costs are expenses that have to be paid by a company, independent of any business activity. It is one of the two components of the total cost of a good or service, along with variable cost.Average fixed cost curve A curve that graphically represents the relation between average fixed cost incurred by a firm in the short-run product of a good or service and the quantity produced. Diagram: Average Fixed Cost Curve: * AFC curve is always declining with quantity. This is because the same amount of fixed costs is being averaged over a growing quantity of output, leading to a decline in the curve. * (Referred by web. pedia http:// www. amosweb. com downloaded on 14th May 2013). d). The Average Variable Cost (AVC) A cost that change with the change in volume of activity of an organization.Average variable cost (AVC) is an economics term that refers to a firms variable costs (labour, electricity, etc. ) divided by the quantity (Q) of output produced. Va riable costs are those costs which vary with output. Diagram: Average variable cost curve: * The AVC is decreasing when it is above the MC curve and increasing when it is below the MC curve. This is because AVC is essentially the average of the marginal costs of each unit of output. This will lead to an increasing or a U-shaped AVC curve. (Referred by http://en. wikipedia. org downloaded on 14th May).Answer 2. ) Relationship between the law of diminishing returns and the concept of economies of scale: * Law of diminishing returns. The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved. The law of diminishing returns say that each time we do something to receive a benefit, the benefit will be less and less. (Reference – Michale W. Newell, Marina N, Grashina : The Project Management). * Features. The main features of this law are as follows:- . ) Only one v ariable input is varied and all others are held constant. 2. ) No change in technique of production. 3. ) Variable proportions production functions. It means more of a variable factor can be used with the constant input of the fixed factors. 4. ) All units of variable factor are homogeneous. 5. ) Adequate or standard doses of variable factor are applied. * Explanation. The law of diminishing returns means that the productivity of available declines as more is used in short-run production, holding one or more inputs fixed.This law has a direct bearing on market supply, thesupply price, and the law of supply. If the productivity of a variable input declines, then more is needed to produce a given quantity of output, which means the cost of production increases, and a higher supply price is needed. The direct relation between price and quantity produced is the essence of the law of supply. Total Product Curve: The curve labelled TP in the top panel is the total product c urve, the total number of goods produced per hour for a given amount of labour.The increasing slope of the TP is attributable to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Marginal Product Curve: The Marginal curve indicates how the total production of goods changes when an extra worker is hired. The negatively-sloped portion of the MP curve is a direct attributable to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Average Product Curve: The average product curve indicates the average number of goods produced by workers. The negatively-sloped portion of the AP curve is indirectly caused by the law of diminishing marginal returns.As marginal product declines, due to the law of diminishing marginal returns, it also causes a decrease in average product. * Arleen J. Hoag, John H. Hoag(2006), Business and Economics, pg. 122 (London: World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd. ) Returns to scale, in economics is the quantitative change in output of a firm or industry resulting from a proportion ate increase in all inputs. If the quantity of output rises by a greater proportionâ€â€e. g. , if output increases by 2. 5 times in response to a doubling of all inputsâ€â€the production process is said to exhibit increasing returns to scale.Such economies of scale may occur because greater efficiency is obtained as the firm moves from small- to large-scale operations. Decreasing returns to scale occur if the production process becomes less efficient as production is expanded, as when a firm becomes too large to be managed effectively as a single unit. Brit http://www. britannica. com downloaded on 19th May 2013. According to Leibhfasky, †Returns to scale relates to the behaviour of total outputs as all inputs are varied and is a long run concept. * Explanation:In the long-run, output can be increased by increasing all factors in the same proportion or different proportions. Ordinarily, law of returns to scale refers to increase in output as a result of inc rease in all factors in the same proportion. Such an increase in output is called Returns to Scale. * Aspects of Returns to Scale. As in the case of returns to a factor, there are three aspects of returns to scale, viz. (1) Increasing Returns to Scale, (2) Constant Returns to Scale, (3) Diminishing Returns to Scale. 1. Increasing return of scale:-Every firm tries to earn more and more profit by multiplying its output.Initially production increases at faster rate than increase in the input. It is evident from the following schedule that by doubling additional labour and capital, output increases from 16 units to 25 units. It shows that inputs increased by 100%, whereas capital increased by 150%. By doubling, production increased from 25 to 60 showing that input increased by 100% but the output increased by 140%. this shows the law of increasing return. Thus, any percentage increase in inputs is causing a greater percentage increase in output. Increasing returns to scale are thus oper ative.The main cause of its operation is that when scale of production is increased then due to indivisibility of factors such as labour, tools, implements and machines, division of labour and specialization and many types of economies are available. On account of these economies, proportional increase in returns is more than the proportionate increase in factors of production. All these economies are only internal economies as these are related to the scale of production of the concerned firm. 2. Constant Return to Scale:-If the scale of production is further increased, it is found that the both input and output increase at equal rates i. . , at the same percentage. Thus increasing the production, the increase in output remains constant i. e. , 100%. * This situation arises, when after reaching a certain level of production, economies of scale are counter-balanced by diseconomies of scale. In mathematical terminology, that production function which reflects constant returns to scal e is called Linear and ‘Homogeneous Production Function’ or homogeneous function of First degree and is important in elucidating Euler’s Theorem in distribution.This function states that if labour and capital are increased in equal proportion then output will also increase in the same proportion. 3. Decreasing Return of Scale:-The increase in percentage of input is more than the output. In the following diagram, with every increase in input i. e. , 100%, output increases at lesser than 100%, showing the law of decreasing return of scale. S. A. Siddiqui (2006), Managerial Economics and Financial Analysis, pg. 107 (New Delhi: New Age International Publishers) Returns to scale are thus diminishing.The main cause of its operation is that diseconomies outweigh economies of scale, e. g. unwieldy business, indivisible factors becoming inefficient and less productive, difficulties of control and rigidities due to large managements, higher cost of skilled labour, price o f raw material going up, high transport charges, etc. (Reference – TR Jain and OP Khanna, Business Economics p. 142). Answer3. ) (a) ‘In the real world there is no industry which conforms precisely to the economist’s model of perfect competition. This means that the model is of little practical value’.Perfect competition: (1) buyers and sellers are too numerous and too small to have any degree of individual control over prices, (2) All buyers and sellers seek to maximize their profit (income), (3) buyers and seller can freely enter or leave the market, (4) all buyers and sellers have access to information regarding availability, prices, and quality of goods being traded, and (5) All goods of a particular nature are homogeneous, hence substitutable for one another. Also called perfect market or pure competition. (Reference: http://www. businessdictionary. om downloade d on 19th May 2013. ) Diagram for perfect competition: (Referred by http://www. economicshelp. org downloaded on 19th May 2013). A perfect competition is unrealistic as many of its conditions are quite difficult to fulfil. Especially no barriers to entry, is very rare as even start up cost can act as a significant barrier. While other conditions like perfect information and identical products are though possible not common. Apart from these there are many other conditions like no transportation cost which is again highly rare.The example of perfect competition would be in agriculture. Identical products (fruits, vegetables, etc. ), and not really need any advertising. There are no barriers to enter. It is the most realistic example, in reality perfect competition does not exist. (Reference: khan academy). (b). Short Run Price and Output for the Competitive Industry and Firm: 1. Short Run Equilibrium of the Firm A firm is in equilibrium in the short run when it has no tendency to enl arge or contract its productivity and needs to earn maximum profit or to incur minimum losses.The short run is a period of time in which the firm can vary its productivity by changing the erratic factors of production. The number of firms in the industry is fixed since neither the existing firms can leave nor new firms can enter it. 2. Short Run Equilibrium of the Industry An industry is in equilibrium in the short run when its total output remains steady there being no propensity to enlarge or contract its productivity. If all firms are in equilibrium the industry is also in equilibrium. For full equilibrium of the industry in the short run all firms must be earning normal profits.But full equilibrium of the industry is by sheer accident for the reason that in the short rum some firms may be earning super normal profits and some losses. Even then the industry is in short run equilibrium when its quantity demanded and quantity supplied is equal at the price which clears the market. Roger A. Arnold,(2005,08) Economics, 8th ed. (USA: Thomson Learning, Inc. 2008) In the short run the equilibrium market price is determined by the interaction between market demand and market supply. In the diagram shown above, price P1 is the market-clearing price and this price is then taken by each of the firms.Because the market price is constant for each unit sold, the AR curve also becomes the Marginal Revenue curve (MR). A firm maximises profits when marginal revenue = marginal cost. In the diagram above, the profit-maximising output is Q1. The firm sells Q1 at price P1. The area shaded is the economic (supernormal profit) made in the short run because the ruling market price P1 is greater than average total cost. Not all firms make supernormal profits in the short run. Their profits depend on the position of their short run cost curves. Some firms may be xperiencing sub-normal profits because their average total costs exceed the current market price. Other firms may be makin g normal profits where total revenue equals total cost (i. e. they are at the break-even output). In the diagram below, the firm shown has high short run costs such that the ruling market price is below the average total cost curve. At the profit maximising level of output, the firm is making an economic loss (or sub-normal profits) The Effects of a change in Market Demand In the diagram below there has been an increase in market demand (ceteris paribus).This causes an increase in market price and quantity traded. The firms average revenue curve shifts up to AR2 (=MR2) and the profit maximising output expands to Q2. Notice that the MC curve is the firms supply curve. Higher prices cause an expansion along the supply curve. Following the increase in demand, total profits have increased. An inward shift in market demand would have the opposite effect. Think also about the effect of a change in market supply perhaps arising from a cost-reducing technological innovation available to al l firms in a competitive market. Reference: tutor http://www. tutor2u. net downloaded 19th May 2013. (c) The long-run perfectly competitive equilibrium for the firm:-  ¦ Economic profits bring entry by new firms. The industry supply curve shifts rightward and reduces the market price. The fall in price reduces economic profit and decreases the incentive to enter the industry. New firms enter until it is no longer possible to earn an economic profit.  ¦ Economic losses lead to exit by existing firms, which shifts the industry supply curve leftward. The price rises, and the higher price reduces economic losses.Firms exit until no firms incur an economic loss. Firms change their plant size if it increases their profits. D=P= MR = AR  the firm maximizes its profits. P = minimum short-run average cost (SRAC) The firm’s economic profit is zero. P = minimum (LRAC)  the firm’s plant size cannot be changed in order to increase its profits. Frank Machovec, (2 003), Perfect Competition and Transformation of Economics, (New York: Taylor;amp; Francis e-Library, 2003). Answer 4. ) MonopolyA pure monopoly is a single supplier in a market.For the purposes of regulation, monopoly power exists when a single firm controls 25% or more of a particular market * Less Efficient:- * ABCPM :-Supernormal Profit (AR-AC) Q * Shaded portion:- Deadweight welfare loss (combined loss of producer and consumer surplus) compared to competitive market * Higher Prices:-Higher Price and Lower Output than under Perfect Competition. This leads to a decline in consumer surplus and a deadweight welfare loss * Allocative Inefficiency. A monopoly is allocative inefficient because in monopoly the price is greater than MC.P ;gt; MC. * Productive Inefficiency A monopoly is productively inefficient because it is not the lowest point on the AC curve. * X Inefficiency. It is argued that a monopoly has less incentive to cut costs because it doesnt face competition from o ther firms. Therefore the AC curve is higher than it should be. * Supernormal Profit. Leads to an unequal distribution of income. * Higher Prices to Suppliers A monopoly may use its market power and pay lower prices to its suppliers. E. g. Supermarkets have been criticised for paying low prices to farmers. Diseconomies of Scale It is possible that if a monopoly gets too big it may experience diseconomies of scale. higher average costs because it gets too big * Charge higher prices to suppliers. Monopolies may use their supernormal profits to charge higher prices to suppliers. Economic organisation(2013) Website:-http://www. economicshelp. org/microessays/markets/monopoly. html 2More Efficient:- * Research and Development. Monopolies can make supernormal profit; this can be used to fund high cost capital investment spending. Successful esearch can be used for improved products and lower costs in the long term.. * Economies of scale. Increased output will lead to a decrea se in average costs of production. These can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. If a monopoly produces at output Q1, average costs (AC 1) are much lower than if a competitive market had firms producing at Q2 (AC 2). * Monopolies Successful Firms. A firm may become a monopoly through being efficient and dynamic. A monopoly is thus an efficient. For example Google has gained monopoly power through being regarded as best firm for search engines.Tejvan R. Pettinger, Economic Dictionary,(UK: Economics Blog, 2013)Retrieved from:-http://www. economicshelp. org/microessays/markets/advantages-monopoly. html Answer 5. ) Economic governance in Australia has undergone radical changes since the 1970s. Many of these changes are associated with the market-oriented policies collectively referred to as ‘microeconomic reform’. Broadly speaking, microeconomic reform can be defined as government policies or initiatives aimed at improving the performance and/or the effi ciency of industries or sectors in the economy (Forsyth 1992).Remarkably, such a quest for efficiency was not a major policy focus for much of the twentieth century in Australia. However, since the 1970s, growing pressure on the economy, together with evidence of widespread inefficiency, saw microeconomic reform become a key aspect of economic policy in Australia. The era of microeconomic reform in Australia may be divided into three main phases, with a degree of overlap. In the first, deregulatory, phase, the main focus was on rationalising public intervention in private sector markets, with the object of ‘getting prices right’.In the second phase, referred to here as the ‘privatisation’ phase, attention shifted to market-oriented reforms of the public sector, including corporatisation and competitive contracting as well as privatisation. In the third ‘competitive regulation’ phase, the idea of deregulation was replaced by regulation designed to produce, or simulate, competitive market outcomes (see also Parker this volume). The central argument of the chapter is that each of these phases was associated with the prominence of particular institutions and with specific tendencies in economic governance. In particular, whereas he governance models associated with the privatisation phase, the private corporation was taken as the ideal model of public sector governance. By contrast, in the competitive regulation phase, governments have relied on increasingly intrusive systems of regulation to control both public and privately-owned monopolies Privatisation often appears to be driven by political expediency and ideology rather than by economic theory. This dislocation between theory and practice led Kay and Thompson (1986) to declare privatisation in the United Kingdom a ‘policy in search of a rationale’.In fact, there has been significant economic research on optimal ownership in the past 20 years, including the comparison between government and private ownership. This work provides the basis for understanding both the success and failure of privatisation. Three Causes of Privatisation: Performance in privatisation must be judged on a case-by-case basis. Three key privatisations in Australia have been the Commonwealth Bank, the partial privatisation of Telstra and the privatisation of the Victorian electricity system. How do these privatisations ‘stack up’ against the theory? 1. The Commonwealth BankIn the 1940s and 1950s the Commonwealth Bank was the central banker for Australia. The Reserve Bank of Australia took over this role in 1959, placing the Commonwealth Bank in a similar position to a number of highly regulated private banks. Deregulation of the Australian banking sector in the 1980s meant that there was little if any special role for State-owned commercial banks, and the Commonwealth bank was privatised in three tranches during the 1990s. The first sale of 30 per cen t of the Bank in 1991 was the first large privatisation by share float in Australia and it set the benchmark for future sales, such as the sale of GIO and Qantas.Overall, it is likely that the Government sold the Commonwealth at a discount to its true market value (Harris and Lye 2001). But in terms of 17economic welfare it seems clear that the sale of the Commonwealth Bank made perfect sense. The bank operated in active competition with private banks and its functions were essentially identical to those private competitors. In fact, given the tendency for politicians to seek short-term electoral kudos by railing against the banking system, it is likely that continued government ownership of the Commonwealth Bank would have opened it up to political exploitation in the 1990s.In economic terms, the privatisation of the Commonwealth Bank was clearly sensible policy. 2 Telstra Telstra was formed in 1992 by the merger of Telecom Australia and the Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (OTC). Both of these were fully owned by the Commonwealth Government. Telecom Australia controlled Australia’s domestic telephone network while OTC controlled overseas telecommunications. In the late 1990s, 49. 9 per cent of Telstra was sold by the Government in two tranches. This partial privatisation is the largest by value in Australia, reaping over $30 billion for the Commonwealth. 1At first blush, the sale of Telstra might appear similar to the sale of the Commonwealth Bank. After deregulation in July 1997, Telstra competed vigorously with privately-owned carriers. Since then, Telstra has lost market share in both domestic long-distance calls and overseas calls. Telstra also currently faces vigorous competition in mobile telephony. 18Unlike banking, however, telecommunications involves a key natural monopoly element, the customer access network (CAN) that provides the ‘last link’ in the telephone network between a switch and a customer’s phone.Telstra owns the CAN and its private competitors rely on Telstra providing them access to the CAN in order to compete. Telstra could eliminate its private competitors outside the CBD areas of Australia if it refused them the right to either originate or terminate calls using the CAN. Telstra faces a wide range of regulations, including retail price controls, procedures for setting wholesale access prices and rules to prevent any anticompetitive behaviour. This regulation has been modified over the past five years and in 2001 the Productivity Commission recommended further reform of Telstra’s regulatory regime (Commonwealth of Australia 2001).In 2002 the Federal Government investigated and rejected reforming Telstra by accounting separation to ‘isolate’ the CAN. The partial privatisation of Telstra failed to adequately recognise the source of market failureâ€â€the natural monopoly CAN. Neither did it establish appropriate procedures to deal with this problem. One sol ution might have been vertical separation of the CAN from the rest of Telstra. The CAN could have remained in public ownership with open access while the remainder of Telstra could have competed with other telecommunications companies. Alternatively, the management of the CAN could have changed.For example, the CAN could be 19jointly owned by a number of licensed carriers. These carriers would have a mutual obligation to maintain the CAN but otherwise would compete. The sharing of infrastructure facilities between competing firms sometimes occurs with gas pipelines. Discontent with the partial privatisation has made it politically difficult to sell the remainder of Telstra. In the absence of a restructured approach to the CAN, further privatisation will simply mean ongoing costly regulation. Such regulation will continue into the future as the CAN grows in importance for data rather than voice telecommunications traffic. The Victorian electricity system The creation of a National El ectricity Market (NEM) was a key part of the Hilmer reforms. This market involves generators competing to sell power into a grid connecting South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The proposed construction of BassLink will connect Tasmania to the NEM. Privatisation is not required under the NEM but private generators are able to compete with government-owned facilities. The Kennett Government in Victoria decided to sell the State’s electricity assets to the private sector.Privatisation was preceded by vertical and horizontal restructuring, including the creation of five distribution/retail companies, five competing generation businesses and a single transmission business. The total proceeds of the privatisations in the mid-201990s were approximately $22. 5 billion; second only to Telstra in terms of total revenue raised. 22By separating competitive generation from natural monopoly elements, like transmission and distribution, the Victorian electricity priva tisations avoided the issues of access and competitive abuse that have dogged telecommunications.Further, some measures of performance, such as the reliability of the distribution, have significantly improved. 23 However, both transmission and distribution have limited scope for competition and these prices need ongoing regulation. As noted earlier, this regulation has been contentious. Political interference still occurs, as both generation prices are capped under the NEM and maximum prices for power to households are set. For example, in 2001 the Victorian Government rejected recommended increases in household power prices, leading to comparisons with the Californian electricity crisis and oncerns over the long-term viability of distributors/retailers if they are unable to pass on increased wholesale electricity prices to customers. 24 The shift to a national market has also required modifications, for example, in the face of claims of price rigging by generators. 25 Further, it i s not clear that long-term competition between State-owned electricity systems and private systems is viable. While generation and retailing can be open to competition, a preferred approach might have been to retain public ownership of transmission and distribution lines. 1Rather than heavy-handed profit-based regulation, the ongoing operation and maintenance of these facilities might have been handled through private contractors, with the relevant governments setting transmission and distribution charges to cover cost. At the same time, electricity experience shows that privatisation is not a cure for short-term political interference in key infrastructure assets. (b). The privatisation process has slowed in Australia. But this is to be expected. Most of the obvious privatisations have been completed and both politicians and bureaucrats are realising the limitations of a naive approach to privatisation.Public pressure against privatisation has grown. Despite the Federal Governmentà ¢â‚¬â„¢s preference for privatising the remainder of Telstra, such a policy is currently unpalatable to the electorate. Similarly, in New South Wales attempts by senior politicians to push for electricity privatisation have been thwarted by public opposition. While privatisation in Australia is not dead, it is ‘on the nose’. The current public backlash against privatisation is a direct consequence of its naive application. Some privatisations have not worked.While these sales have raised short-term revenue for the government, they have not resulted in improved social welfare because they have not carefully considered any sources of market failure and dealt appropriately with these failures. 22At the same time, the underlying motivations for privatisation remain relevant. Government still feels the need to reduce fiscal pressures and public–private partnerships (PPP), where the government ties the private development of infrastructure assets to long-term governmen t funding, represents a new face of privatisation.Thus privatisation continues, but under another name. Australia requires an integrated approach to privatisation and regulation. Private ownership with regulation is simply one of a number of options for dealing with market problems and public policy needs to recognise the costs and benefits of alternative options. This means that some previous privatisations might need to be radically re-evaluated. For example, it might be desirable to restructure Telstra with current private shareholders owning the potentially competitive assets, while the government retains the CAN.It also means that some privatisations should proceed, such as the sale of the NSW electricity generation facilities, while some other assets, such as the Victorian electricity transmission system, might better be returned to government ownership. Finally, it means that governments should not be allowed to use privatisation as an expedient source of funds. An alternatio n to government accounting is required so that privatisation revenues cannot be used to prop up a government budget. While this reform has already started, with analysts focusing on ‘underlying’ deficit figures that remove privatisation revenues, it needs to be formalised.Privatisation and regulation are all about incentivesâ€â€and the first incentives that need to be fixed are those facing our politicians.
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