Mittwoch, 31. Juli 2019

Mock interview

Johnson, and we talked a little bit about that company which was about how great that company is. I love Johnson & Johnson this company a lot. It survived from World War One, the Great Depression , and World War Two. And it is coming much and much stronger, more than ever. We went through some Traditional Interview Questions as well. When he asked me, â€Å"do you prefer working on a team or as an individual contributor? I basically combined my own working experience with it, and I said â€Å"l actually more enjoy working on a team rather than an individual contributor, because I used to work In a restaurant before which Is not a one person's Job, it takes many people and time to work on it, to manage it, and run It. † As myself, I take every firm and company as a big running machine, and each stuff members are working as a small part and component of this machine. Everyone Is involved, and everyone Is Important as well.In order to make this machine runs, each part and compon ent Is Indispensable. It may start to running If without some part or component, but It won't work as well as If everyone Is Involved. It was a great experience to having an Interview with him. The whole Interviewing didn't take too long, and it was only about 20 minutes. But he gave me a very good Impression from the beginning to the end. It Is very Important to have such a mock Interview before we take the real Interview with some big companies. It Isn't Just gave me the experience, but It also gives me the courage.

Dienstag, 30. Juli 2019

Night World : Witchlight Chapter 2

They'd gotten a dragon. Keller's heart was pounding. Somehow, somewhere, the people of the Night World had found one and awakened him. And they'd paid him-bribed him-to join their side. Keller didn't even want to imagine what the price might have been. Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard. Dragons were the oldest and most powerful of the shapeshifters, and the most evil. They had all gone to sleep thirty thousand years ago-or, rather, they had been put to sleep by the witches. Keller didn't know exactly how it had been done, but all the old legends said the world had been better off since. And now one was back. But he might not be fully awake yet. From the glimpse she'd had, his body was still cold, not much heat radiating from it. He'd be sluggish, not mentally alert. It was the chance of a lifetime. Keller's decision was made in that instant. There was no time to think about it-and no need. The inhabitants of the Night World wanted to destroy the human world. And there were plenty of them to do it, vampires and dark witches and ghouls. But this was something in another league altogether. With a dragon on their side, the Night World would easily crush Circle Daybreak and all other forces that wanted to save the humans from the end of the world that was coming. It would be no contest. And as for that little girl in there, Iliana the Witch Child, the Wild Power meant to help save humankind-she would get swatted like a bug if she didn't obey the dragon. Keller couldn't let that happen. Even as Keller was thinking it, she was changing. It was strange to do it in a public place, in front of people. It went against all her most deeply ingrained training. But she didn't have time to dwell on that. It felt good. It always did. Painful in a nice way, like the feeling of having a tight bandage removed. A release. Her body was changing. For a moment, she didn't feel like anything-she almost had no body. She was fluid, a being of pure energy, with no more fixed form than a candle flame. She was utterly†¦ free. And then her shoulders were pulling in, and her arms were becoming more sinewy. Her fingers were retracting, but in their place long, curved claws were extending. Her legs were twisting, the joints changing. And from the sensitive place at the end of her spine, the place that always felt unfinished when she was in human form, something long and flexible was springing. It lashed behind her with fierce joy. Her jumpsuit was gone. The reason was simple: she wore only clothes made out of the hair of other shapeshifters. Even her boots were made of the hide of a dead shifter. Now both were being replaced by her own fur, thick black velvet with darker black rosettes. She felt complete and whole in it. Her arms-now her front legs-dropped to the ground, her paws hitting with a soft but heavy thump. Her face prickled with sensitivity; there were long, slender whiskers extending from her cheeks. Her tufted ears twitched alertly. A rasping growl rose in her chest, trying to escape from her throat. She held it back-that was easy and instinctive. A panther was by nature the best stalker in the world. The next thing she did was instinctive, too. She took a moment to gauge the distance from herself to the black-haired boy. She took a step or two forward, her shoulders low. And then she jumped. Swift. Supple. Silent. Her body was in motion. It was a high, bounding leap designed to take a victim without an instant of warning. She landed on the dark boy's back, clinging with razor claws. Her jaws clamped on the back of his neck. It was the way panthers killed, by biting through the spine. The boy yelled in rage and pain, grabbing at her as her weight knocked him to the ground. It didn't do any good. Her claws were too deep in his flesh to be shaken off, and her jaws were tightening with bone-crushing pressure. A little blood spilled into her mouth, and she licked it up automatically with a rough, pointed tongue. More yelling. She was dimly aware that the vampires were attacking her, trying to wrench her away, and that the security guards were yelling. She ignored it all. Nothing mattered but taking the life under her claws. She heard a sudden rumble from the body beneath her. It was lower in pitch than anything human ears could pick up, but to Keller it was both soft and frighteningly loud. Then the world exploded in agony. The dragon had caught hold of her fur just above the right shoulder. Dark energy was crackling into her, searing her. It was the same black power he'd used against Winnie, except that now he had direct contact. The pain was scalding, nauseating. Every nerve ending in Keller's body seemed to be on fire, and her shoulder was a solid red blaze. It made her muscles convulse involuntarily and spread a metallic taste through her mouth, but it didn't make her let go. She held on grimly, letting the waves of energy roll through her, trying to detach her mind from the pain. What was frightening was not just the power but the sense of the dragon's mind beneath it Keller could feel a terrible coldness. A core of mindless hatred and evil that seemed to reach back into the mists of time. This creature was old. And although Keller couldn't tell what he wanted with the present age, she knew what he was focused on right now. Killing her. That was all he cared about. And of course he was going to succeed. Keller had known that from the beginning. But not before I kill you, she thought. She had to hurry, though. There almost certainly were other Night People in the mall. These guys could call for reinforcements, and they would probably get them. You can't†¦ make me†¦ let go, she thought. She was fighting to close her jaws. He was much tougher than a normal human. Panther jaws could crush the skull of a young buffalo. And right now, she could hear muscle crunching, but still she couldn't finish him. Hang on†¦ hang on†¦ Black pain†¦ blinding†¦ She was losing consciousness. For Winnie, she thought. Sudden strength filled her. The pain didn't matter anymore. She tossed her head, trying to break his neck, wrenching it back and forth. The body underneath her convulsed violently. She could feel the little lapsing in it, the weakening that meant death was close. Keller felt a surge of fierce joy. And then she was aware of something else. Someone was pulling her off the dragon. Not in the fumbling way the thugs had. This person was doing it skillfully, touching pressure points to make her claws retract, even getting a finger into her mouth, under the short front teeth between the lethal canines. No! Keller thought. From her panther throat came a short, choking snarl. She lashed out with her back legs, trying to rip the person's guts out. Afo. The voice didn't come in through Keller's ears. It was in her mind. A boy's voice. And it wasn't afraid, despite the fact that she was now scrabbling weakly, still trying to turn his stomach to spaghetti. It was concerned and anxious but not afraid. Please-you have to let go. Even as he said it, he was pushing more pressure points. Keller was already weak. Now, all at once, she saw stars. She felt her hold on the dragon loosen. And then she was being jerked backward, and she was falling. A hundred and ten pounds of black panther was landing on whoever had yanked her free. Dizzy†¦ Her vision was blurred, and her body felt like rubber. She hardly had enough strength to twist her head toward the boy who had pulled her away. Who was he? Who? Her eyes met blazing green-gold ones. Almost the eyes of a leopard. It gave Keller a jolt. But the rest of the boy was different. Dark gold hair over a rather pale and strained face with perfectly sculpted features. Human, of course. And those eyes seemed to be blazing with worry and intensity rather than animal ferocity. Not many people could look at an angry panther like that. She heard his mental voice again. Are you all right? And then, for just an instant, something happened. It was as if some barrier had been punctured. Keller felt not just his voice but his worry inside her head. She could feel†¦ him. His name†¦ Galen. And he's someone born to command, she thought. He understands animals. Another shapeshifter? But I can't feel what animal he turns into. And there's no bloodtbirstiness at all†¦. She didn't understand it, and her panther brain wasn't in the mood to try. It was grounded in the here and now, and all it wanted was to finish what she had started. She wrenched her eyes away from Galen and looked at the dragon. Yes, he was still alive but badly wounded. A little snarl worked out of Keller's throat. The vampire thugs were still alive, too; one was picking up the injured dragon and hauling him away. â€Å"Come on!† he was shouting in a voice sharp with panic. â€Å"Before that cat recovers-â€Å" â€Å"But the girl!† the second vampire said. â€Å"We don't have the girl.† He looked around. Diana was standing by a display of porcelain figures, looking just as pale and graceful as any of them. She had both hands at her throat and seemed to be in shock. The second vampire started toward her. Afo, Keller thought. But she couldn't get her legs to move. She could only lie helplessly and stare with burning eyes. â€Å"No!† a voice beside her said, out loud this time. Galen was jumping up. He got between the vampire and Diana. The vampire grinned, a particularly nasty grin. â€Å"You don't look like a fighter to me, pretty boy.† It wasn't exactly true, Keller thought. Galen wasn't pretty; he was beautiful. With that gold hair and his coloring, he looked like a prince from a storybook. A rather young and inexperienced prince. He stood his ground, his expression grim and determined. â€Å"I won't let you get to her,† he said steadily. Who the hell is this guy? Keller thought Iliana, pale and wide-eyed, glanced up at him, too. And then Keller saw her†¦ melt. Her drawn features softened; her lips parted. Her eyes seemed to quiver with light. She had been cowering away from the vampire, but now her body relaxed just a little. He certainly looked more like a champion defender than Keller had. He was clean, for one thing. Keller's fur was matted with her own blood and the dragon's. More, she couldn't help the little raspy snarls of rage and despair she was making, showing dripping teeth in a red-stained muzzle. Too bad he was about to be slaughtered. He wasn't a fighter. Keller had seen the inside of his mind, and she knew he didn't have the tiger instinct. The vampire was going to massacre him. The vampire started forward. And a voice from the front of the store said, â€Å"Hold it right there.†

Montag, 29. Juli 2019

Free Web-based EHR Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Free Web-based EHR - Assignment Example Practice Fusion’s EHR system is a free Web-based EHR that provides all the services that envelops all technological requirements. The EHR contains numerous features that are helpful to its users. It is made from the real schedules of the office-based physicians that help in manage one’s practice. The present features namely charting, scheduling, and e-prescribing makes the practice fusion’s EHR an appropriate management tool (Practice Fusion, 2012). The charting and notes feature of the EHR is the main characteristic of the system that enables medical charting as part of the daily workflow. It offers an easy way pull out patients’ charts, produce, and sign medical notes. Moreover, it offers an option of viewing the entire patient’s medical history and prescribed medications. The documents feature of the EHR provides the user with a simple-to-use tool to manage all the scanned and digital records. The feature allows easy uploading and tagging of documents to the patient’s relevant data. It also provides an option of assigning any file type. This includes the insurance cards, photos, x-rays and any necessary audio or video files (Practice Fusion, 2012). The lab integration feature provides users of the practice fusion’s EHR with possible integration with over thirty-five labs. This eases the streamlining of an individual’s practice lab results and orders. The choice of these labs ranges from national to regional labs. If shared with other facilities, the EHR will provide very effective services to its users. This is because the combination of the features will enable easy execution of various automated data analysis and reports. Moreover, the sharing would lead to the integration of other EHR solutions that would handle any practice sizes and workflow in the resultant system (Practice Fusion, 2012). It would widen the scope of services to patients with ease. For instance, the medical billing solutions would

Sonntag, 28. Juli 2019

Williams Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Williams Company - Essay Example New business direction promised opportunities for the Williams Company and resulted in high revenue growth during 1998-and 2001. An examination how strategy is formed gives useful insights into the nature of financial strategy itself. In 1999 Williams decided to list WCG (Williams Conunumcatiort Group) in initial public offering. It was made to have a major source of finance from shares came in the form of IPO that raised approximately $650 million and 5725 million raised through placements to private investors. The main problem was that Williams did not take into account rapidly changing environment of the telecommunication industry, long-term predictions as for its financial activity, and economic peculiarities of the industry. There were two main problems led into collapse: the industry suffered from over production and it could not fared well in the economic downturn. Williams took pains to improve the situation by newly issues shares of WCG equity. Again, Williams faced with the problem of indirect "credit support" WCG's debt" provided for WCG. In accordance with the legislation it was treated as "pff balance sheet," and did not appear as a liability on the firm's balance sheet. An addition to this in April, 2002 the state security started investigation process as for WCG's financial activity. Accept WCG financial problems Williams faced problems with Energy Marketing and Trading Divisions caused by the unstable market situation. Credit ratings and rising yields on the trade worsen the situation and created another problem for Williams traders which needed a credit but were unable to get it from counterparts After these nuisances, Williams developed new financial strategy based on "aggressive program of asset sales" and capital expenditure. The plan to cut investment was developed in previous years and was the promising one to help Williams to overcome financial crisis. The investment made by warren Buffin in Williams allowed Williams to achieve financial flexibility and economic stability at the middle of 2002, but did not sole the main problems. In addition, Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers offered a 900 million dollar loan to Williams, but on the strict terms. Williams financial reporting involves the collection and presentation of data for use of financial management and accounting. According to the Exhibit 2 and 3, the main financial figures of the Williams companies main positions are high in comparison with Domination Recourses, Murphy Oil, except Dynegy company. The net income of William applicable to common shares figure has the highest rate between 1999-2001. According to the financial data Williams Company has the market value on equity which increased between 1999 and 2000, but failed in 2001; only Dominion resources has the highest rate. The figures of the total assets of Williams Company show the stable growth in 1999 and 2000. Because of the crisis affected the company the level of total assets decreased 1,5% in 2001 but remains the highest in comparison with its competitors. The cash flow investment activity was $1,970M (1999), 2,337M (2000) and 3, 543M (2001). Only Dominion Resources has the high figures in 2001. It is known that EBITDA is used to analyze the profitability between companies and industries, because it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting

Samstag, 27. Juli 2019

Marketing through Online Social Networking Communities Essay

Marketing through Online Social Networking Communities - Essay Example It is about reaching your customers, both existing and potential, at the right time, in the place with the right tactics. This essay will essentially deal with what social networking communities are, the ramifications that they have on their customers who are also users of these social networking communities and the marketing and brand related activities they employ to target this segment. Social Networking Communities-a phenomenon Very aptly put by Jeremiah Owyang (2007), Online communities group together people who share similar interests and are involved in the exchange of information and connected over the Web. Online social network sites are a broader category of the same nature that allow individuals to connect with people known or unknown to them by creating profiles through which they manage their contacts and interact with them. The differences between the different social media networks is blurring with time with the only differentiating factor the level of restriction enab led on the community or site that determines the kind of members who join it. Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, LinkdIn, Cyworld, Ning, Spruz, among many others, are examples of such communities and sites. Social Networking sites, over the past century, have evolved from being general social sites to more specific sites, such that one can now find an online social networking community for virtually anything including friendship sites, alumni networks, career related and hobby specific. The features these sites boast are becoming more and more sophisticated. As users become more savvy their needs and means to stay connected also become sophisticated which pushes for these sites to enable features such as photo-sharing, video-sharing and private messaging. Most social networking sites become a phenomenon due to their sheer nature, however, it is very common to find people segregated on the basis of nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age interests and so on (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). A nother important differentiating factor of online social networking communities is their being anchored around people or interests. The trend in today’s social networking landscape indicates that these sites and communities are evolving to form well integrated ‘egocentric’ networks that defy the concept of small closed groups (Boyd & Ellison, 2007 cited in Wellman, 1988, p. 37). Boyd (2006) purports that these sites behave as â€Å"networked public spaces† (Boyd & Ellison, 2007) in the virtual world that allow users to interact as they wish even when it is not possible to do so in the offline or real public spaces. Online social networking communities therefore, serve to bridge the gaps between the online and offline worlds of its users, making them a central part of their lives. Marketing in the Social Media Landscape The rising trend in social networking sites has important ramifications on businesses and marketers. Each day as users grow exponentially, more time and attention is dedicated to social networking sites subsequently increasing their monetary worth. Businesses have discovered that marketing through social networking communities contains a landmine of opportunities, not to make money per say, but to engaging customers. People on social

Freitag, 26. Juli 2019

Sociology - Written Review (1000 words) - PREMIUM WRITER NEEDED MAJOR Essay

Sociology - Written Review (1000 words) - PREMIUM WRITER NEEDED MAJOR IN SOCIOLOGY - Essay Example l personage who offers them his intentions, his sentiments, rather than his acts, far their consumption.† (1977: p 261) He also emphasises on the nature of and need for the intimate relationships among the individuals by making a comparison of present-day intimate socio-cultural relations with those of the past. The writer vehemently sustains the very fact that the modern man takes intimacy as the ethically beneficial act, a source of personality development and the way to overcome social evils from the environment. This type of philosophy and the desire for solving the individual problems through moral values may put the very meanings of intimacy in serious jeopardy. â€Å"This ideology of intimacy†, Sennett declares, â€Å"defines the humanitarian spirit of a society without gods: warmth in our god.† (1977: p 259) The feelings of alienation in the past have given birth to the present day intimacy. The writer is of the opinion that reckoning the past memories brings disappointment and remorse, and pushes man to perform something wrong in utter remorse; but it should not be the only mania to be recollected from the past; rather, a comparative analysis of the olden days is highly supportive in detecting the quintessence of customs, norms, mores and traditions prevailing in the contemporary times. In addition, such analyses facilitate the individuals alter their life style accordingly, as the distances between the individuals have left indelible imprints on them on the one hand, and have made them learn how to go closer to family, friends and relations on the other. â€Å"The past†, Sennett views, â€Å"built a hidden desire of stability in the overt desire for closeness between human beings.† (1977: pp 259-260) The people witnessed inadequate approach towards interaction even with the close relations during 18th and 19th centuries, particularly during the last deca des of the Victorian Era, which brought untoward modifications in socio-cultural unit. Hence, people

Western Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Western Civilization - Essay Example Only by examining the facts can one make a decision on right or wrong. Although not one of the actual assassins, Cicero makes the argument that some members of the conspiracy had brought up what he referred to as â€Å"petty crimes† (one of the instances was fraudulent buying and selling). His viewpoint was that made little sense when the emperor’s real crime was the simple fact that he declared himself king and that in itself justified the Emperor’s death. Indeed, Cicero goes so far to state that such views are that of an insane person (and â€Å"immoral†) and those that followed him were just as mad as Caesar. In his case, he states that the Empire was once a free state with free people and that removing somebody like Caesar (either by force or peaceful means) was not only reasonable but in fact warranted. Cassius Dio on the other hand, makes an entirely different viewpoint in that killing Caesar was perhaps not totally justified and only brought unnecessary war and sedition to Rome. Granted, it could be argued that unlike Cicero, Cassius lived close to three hundred years after the event and was writing history as based upon the documents available to him. Yet historians such as Cassius often provide valuable insight many years after the fact, maybe unprejudiced, whereas those like Cicero were inflamed and caught up in the moment. Cassius does make a valid point in that the senators and other leaders courted Caesar like he was a king, such as riding into the city on horseback in full regalia and naming him Father of His Country. True Caesar’s ego made him giddily accept such â€Å"honors† and the man truly believed he was deserving of those favors. So why then use this as a later excuse to later kill him? Cassius points out that they hoped to convince Caesar that he was a mere mortal and when that failed (the Emperor actually believd himself otherwise!), the conspiracy took

Donnerstag, 25. Juli 2019

Code Of Ethic Compliance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Code Of Ethic Compliance - Essay Example Forced! It does not work. A peaceful mind is the first requisite in any endeavor. The tendency of the mind is to wander. The mind has to be kept under intellectual supervision but that is possible only through inducing the right assessment of priorities. Mind reacts to the stimuli from the world, and responds accordingly, but a preoccupied mind leads to a confused response. The first priority of teacher should be to enhance mind concentration or availability to draw the attention totally and completely. Where is the room of any doubt for the one who is convinced that the task is within his capacity This should be the essence of very education. A conducive environment must be created by the educator to build high self confidence and high self esteem within students. Attitude makes the difference. The educator should become a source of positive attitude for the students. Louis A. Berman said "A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism". A educator must promote simple living but high thinking attitude. This greatly helps in intellectual development which in turn will do. According to William Arthur Ward "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires". An educator has to lead by example. One has to act than to lecture.

Mittwoch, 24. Juli 2019

What has been Mendel's Contribution to Medicine Essay

What has been Mendel's Contribution to Medicine - Essay Example When these new genes are arranged in the chromosomes, there is possibility that they arrange in an order where two genes with opposing properties (like tall and short) may come to stay near each other, and these are known as alleles. It is being increasingly recognized that all human characters including diseases are determined by genes, and chromosomes are not identical, and they have specific locations for individual genes. Applying the same genetic principles, alleles in a chromosome locus or position may be held responsible since diseases are either expression of genetic reactions in the body or expression of environmental factors like bacteria or toxins on the human cells.Most human genetic disorders are determined by recessive allele. Presence of dominant and recessive alleles was first determined by Gregor Mendel. Normal alleles usually are dominant and mutant alleles, recessive. In this way, the chances of an offspring being affected by a disease can be predicted by the study of the alleles of the parents. This process has lead to the concept of genetic counseling; Medicine owes this to mendelian principles since genetic counseling is totally based upon mendelian genetics and probability rules. The development of this process involves analysis of fetal samples by amniocentesis in a pregnant mother (Audesirk, T. and Audesirk, G, 1996). Alkaptonuria is a genetic disorder where dysmetabolism is noticeable by discoloration of urine when exposed to air, and these children would have died prematurely with brain disorders. The gene therapy for this disease was easily discovered when it was found that this disease is... gene n."The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Eleventh edition revised . Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.British Council Delhi.29 April 2007

Dienstag, 23. Juli 2019

Compare and Contrast (Society) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare and Contrast (Society) - Essay Example She advocates for individual satisfaction in a marriage rather than sticking in a marriage for a lifetime because it is what society requires. Slater on the other hand, analyses the consequence of self esteem and its effects on a human being. She examines the distinctiveness of people with high and low self esteem. Society norms in both cases are predictable and easily determined. As Kipsin says when one is married they are expected to exercise obedience, compromise and stay as a couple for a lifetime. She argues that such an expectation from society in the modern world is somehow unrealistic. She argues that modern love maximizes on submission and minimizes freedom. She feels that a marriage should be build on freedom and wanting more (755). She feels that marriage is like having a soldier watching over someone all the time. To her traditional societies allowed household dictators and petty tyrants in the private sphere of a family. She believes that love should be subjected to othe r forms of emotional life than subjugation. To her, a marriage necessitates a sophisticated working acquaintance of the intricacies of mutuality (752). Mutuality according to Kipsin id to recognize your partners need and strive to fulfill them. She further says one should meet these needs to the satisfaction of your partner such that you become their desire thus attaining intimacy. She argues that mutuality requires communication so that your partner can understand your needs, desires and even sensitivities. She contradicts these with traditional societies where marriage was considered a business enterprise between families. Partners who hardly knew each other get married not because of their mutual interests but because of family interests. Thus, she argues these relationships were not based on love thus expecting them to last a lifetime in unreasonable. She argues that the main thing is for one to be happy and if society if a marriage is not working one should leave. She says that one cannot be tied in an unhappy union when she can be happily on her own. Society tends to judge people who are separated or divorced as ill-behaved, but she says this should not be the case thus should be avoided. In addition, she says that one should not be seen as lacking character because she is alone but be given their space. She beholds individualism something that society is against. Society always works as a collective unit where all are inclusive. That is why if one is not married, they begin to question. According to Slater, self esteem is a challenge to many American people. She uses research works by scientists like Baumeister and Emler to analogize her views. She argues that self admiration is crucial in the pursuit of contentment. She says that self esteem is not the maim reason why people feel good about themselves but how they relate with others. She uses research work done to analyze high and low self-esteem. She adds that low self esteem is not a dangerous aspect of life. Low self esteem is not the cause of poor academic performance since people with low self esteem tend to do well in life like others and even do better because they try harder (859). In discussing her views, Kipsins encounters several challenges that sway from society expectations. Marriage is a respectable institution in society and to gather the courage to argue about it is difficult. Kipsin boldly tackles marriage

Montag, 22. Juli 2019

Coal mining Essay Example for Free

Coal mining Essay Coal mining has been around for decades since the 1800s and coal has been powering our lights even till today. The documentary called, Burning the future: Coal in America presented a lot of vital information about how the coal industries work and how coal helps the nation stay lit. Countries that build the worlds biggest coal plants are the United States, China and India. The states that practice coal mining are Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Coal power plants emissions contain many elements and compounds including sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and other elements including one of the largest sources which are carbon dioxide. Burning the future discusses the many factors that cause devastating outcomes. Mountain top removal and strip mining is a process to obtain the coal and procedure has been practiced for many years in America. Coal supplies more than half of the energy for America and in the documentary, Ed Hopkins who is a director of environmental Quality in the sierra club states that, Coal supplies more than half of the energy right now, we are going to rely on coal in the near future there is no way around that. Coal supplies may be the only energy that can produce half of the nations electricity but there are other alternatives that can replace coal. The process in coal mining is basically mountain top removal. Mountain top removals consist of about five steps. The first step in mountain top removal is forest are cleared-cut and in this process miners must destroy wild life habitat and also using explosives to get deep into the core of the mountain top to obtain the coal seam. The second process is using huge shovels to dig into the soil and trucks that haul away the remains and push it into the valleys. The third process is to dig into the rock and expose the coal. Coal industries have machines that weigh nearly eight million and these big machines are operated by mine workers. These machines can tear up a mountain in a year and these coal industries make a lot of money because they provide electricity for people like us. The fourth process is when the machines gather a large layer of coal, dumping them on the adjacent valleys which creates valley fills. The last process is basically coal industries are usually supposed to reclaim the land but usually they leave the area bare. Although majority of the industries replant vegetation in reality the mountain will never return to its original state and this can cause many  issues to the people in the area and also around the world. Mountain top generates a huge amount of waste because coal must be burned and it generates a lot of liquid waste which forms into slur. It contains carcinogenic compounds and toxic heavy metals and the slur is stored in large areas of water that sometimes can leak or break and the outcome is floods and water contamination. Coal mining contributes to climate changes and also health issues. The main issues we are having today are air pollution, disrupted weather caused by coal burning and the toxic emissions from coal power plants. Air pollution is a very huge deal for America and all of the countries in the world. Green America.org states that, Pollution from coal power plants typically causes thirty thousand deaths a year in America. Pollution creates a lot of health problems for the people that live close by the coal areas. Health effects are hospitalization, pulmonary disease, hypertension, kidney disease, heart disease and even cancer. Those who drink polluted water in the area create bone damage and many other issues that result to death (Hendryx Ahern, 2008; Hitt Hendryx, 2010). In west Virginia, women who live near coal mining usually have poor birth rates caused by the increase issues caused by coal mining industries. Children in the area also suffer health issues which are asthma, severe headaches, blisters, and frequent runny noses because of being exposed to water contamination and air pollution from coal practices in the area. Some of the residents also reported skin issues because of using polluted water during baths and showers (Blankenship, 2006; Reece, 2006). Pollution from coal burning power plants kill more than those who drunken drive and have AIDS combined and the toxic from coal will just keep growing because we are not stopping or reducing the usage. Acid rain is another issue caused by the formation of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide entering the atmosphere because of coal burning and when it reacts with water and oxygen it then creates what we know as Acid rain. Acid rain causes many issues such as acidification in waterways that kill many fishes and disrupt the aquatic ecosystem. Trees and soils are also affected by this because it the acid rain damages them and cause future issues and acid rain causes decay in structures such as buildings and statues. Although in the documentary, Burning the future: Coal in America states that the coal is the most abundant and the cheapest. Im sure we can find other alternatives that can substitute coal but I dont think the industries are willing to give up coal because it provides a lot of income for these industries. Even though coal may be the backbone of America, reducing the coal burning can help reduce the issues America is creating which are the thirty thousand plus death and the pollution. We can help reduce coals toxic emissions by using cleaner energy for the future. Clean energy consist of renewable energy which are wind, solar, biomass and geothermal which can supply very large portions of energy for America. Shifting towards this route can create a better sustainable future for not only America but for the world. In order to shoot for a better future we must first conserve. Conserving energy is basically driving less, buying less, turning things off when you dont need to use it anymore, using less water because heating water is basically using coal to heat the water. Using natural power and not relying on light bulbs and basically just cutting back on all the things youre dependent on. We need cleaner energy and we need to increase wind power and solar power so that our future will be healthier in the long run. Work Cited Hendryx, M., Ahern, M. M. (2008). Relations between health indicators and residential proximity to coal mining in West Virginia. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 669-671. Blankenship, D. (2006). Especially for people like us. In C. Warren (Ed.), Like walking onto another planet: Stories about the true impacts of mountaintop removal mining. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from http://www.ohvec.org/issues/mountaintop_removal/misc/ovec_mtrbooklet.pdf Ovec (Organized Voices and Empowered Communites). 2012. Health Study Articles on the Effects of Coal Mining. http://www.ohvec.org/issues/mountaintop_removal/articles/health/index.html Roger Philpot 2003-2012. Learn about Coal factoids, did you know. http://rogerphilpot.homestead.com/CoalEducation.html

Sonntag, 21. Juli 2019

The role of social media in tourism marketing

The role of social media in tourism marketing Managing and Marketing Tourism 1. Discuss the role and significance of social media in tourism marketing. You must consider the broader context of ICTs, new channels including smartphones, and the implications for the tourism industry and consumer experience. â€Å"Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.† –Ian Schafer. The whole world is totally dependent on novelties, and in modern world it is necessary always to be up-to-date. However just the awareness of the new trends on its own is not enough. Apart from it, it is essential to be able to get adjusted to them in an appropriate way. That is exactly what is happening in the tourism industry: there has been a comparatively recent breakthrough in technologies, and while the service providers seek to find best solutions of restructuring their marketing strategies and destination management systems, consumers are trying to gain more monetary and experiential benefits. The technologies that are tremendously important for tourism industry in this particular case gave a rise to social media. Social media comprises of a huge variety of tools that make it possible for Inter net users to share, exchange or post media files and other types of information using various channels onto web. Basically, the growth in ICTs has already resulted into vast shifts from in consumer and provider sides. Consumers became more sophisticated in terms of searching for the most rational options in accommodation, flights and other issues. With the use of new ICTs (SM platforms such as TripAdvisor, social networks like YouTube and web blogs like Twitter) customers are able to share feedbacks, photos and videos, find what millions of other Internet users’ opinions are. All of the users have an easy access to ratings on the places they are interested in. According to Zhou (2004), travelers prefer to rely on their peers’ feedback rather than on advertisements or opinions of experts. They stick to the belief that their peers have no incentives to be dishonest. The decision making process of customers has become more complicated, and their travel can be split into t hree phases, with an intensive contribution of social media in each phase. Due to the enlarged ICT use, service providers are forced to offer more elastic and personalised deals to tourists. Tourism industry has become very information-rich, therefore it is a big challenge for destinations to create or maintain their brand. However, with the suitable marketing strategy, social media can turn into an advantage. The significance of social media in modern tourism industry is very hard to overestimate. Social media are shaping the whole way companies and governments manage their products and services in tourism. First of all, social media open numerous opportunities to service providers. Through social media it became possible to contact a huge audience, which can exchange information with each other. It means that with the right use of social media the message can be spread very quickly and widely. Good associations with the brand can create added PR and extremely wide brand recognition. These methods of advertising are much cheaper than traditional ones. Another positive feature of social media for tourism is that it makes easier for both supply and demand sides to communicate with each other in order to build strong relationships, enhance cooperation and create efficient integrated marketing strategy. It also helps to avoid unnecessary payments to intermediaries in many cases. Apparently, t ravel agents are still demanded in the market; however the need of them is decreasing constantly. The survey shows that just 48 per cent of people stick on their initial plan after searching for some details concerning their trip using SM (WTM, 2014). As demonstrated before, social media in recent decades has gained a huge influence on tourists’ decision-making process and the tourism industry as a whole. Therefore the development of new, efficient Information and Communication Technologies and applications for social media is seemed as a necessity. New technologies allow users to have wide range of opportunities necessary to organize their trips. With the use of User Generated Content (UCG) and Web 2.0 there was created an application TripAdvisor which has been downloaded by different users worldwide on various devices more than 82 million times. It has 69 mil attendances every month; the number of trip reviews and feedback exceeds sixty million; less than 10 per cent of issues placed online are not responded in first 24 hours. Applications such as TripAdvisor make the pr ocess of planning the travel more conscious, convenient and rational for customers. In terms of the suppliers, they are also able to get benefits of ICTs: social media applications allow service providers to collect data about the customers. It becomes easier to find the target audience and make appropriate offers according to their preferences and expectations. The new technologies even offer virtual travels to some destinations. Usually such trips are free and their purpose is to show the clients a piece of emotions they can experience during the real trip. Moreover, the emergence of new technologies has created a possibility for tourists not only to visit very common places of interest, but also quite special destinations, which they would never be aware of without ICTs (Giaoutzi and Nijkamp,2006). Buhalis, D. and Law, R. (2008) suggest that there are three phases of travel, and during each of them tourism used to intensively communicate through social media. During pre-travel phase the consumer is being relatively passive while looking for some information rather than posting anything. However, it is not a rare case when people post several specified questions concerning their further trip in order to receive a respond from other users who might probably have a bigger experience or knowledge in the questioned area. Before the travel users commonly review accommodation opportunities, flight options and other less important details such as climate and culture. As mentioned earlier, the opinion of other users plays a vital role in decision making at the first phase. The majority of travelers strongly rely on the recommendations of their peers even if they did not know them before. The second phase happening during the trip is called travel phase. Social media are still extremely useful when the trip has already started. Travelers typically use social media at this phase to find some very specific information on the destination they stay at. Such information includes the materials about upcoming events, places of sightseeing, restaurants, clubs, bars, most visited places and so on. TripAdvisor has numerous advices of where to go in every part of the world; therefore it is possible to be aware of all the trends in the destination without any preparation. In order to improve travelers’ experience, they can also find the e-guide applications which will show them the directions to chosen places. While enjoying the travel most of the tourists tend to share some media files and instant feedback about the place they are visiting. 40 per cent of tourists post reviews on catering places, while 55 per cent ‘like’ posts on Facebook concerning travelling (WTM, 2014). Before the era of social media, travelers used to share their experiences only to a limited group of people. However, now it became possible to post everything online. As soon as the information posted in the web, there is no control over it, so it can be discovered by millions of other users. People when coming after vacations post taken photos, videos, feedback and other information which can influence the view of millions of other people. According to The World Travel Market (2014), 76 per cent of people post vacation photos in the Internet, while 46 per cent post feedback on their accommodation. Social media has a tremendous effect on the tourism industry, and in some cases in may seem to be contradictory. Along with new opportunities the development of ICTs forced the supply side of tourism to adapt for the changes. Therefore Destination Management Organisations have become very important determinants of success of the strategies. One of the main functions of DMOs is to maintain the sustainability of destinations with a special reference to SMTEs (Sigala, 2009). DMOs have created numerous Internet portals in order to provide tourists with pursued data. Consumers are offered to use the dynamic packaging, which is the mixture of various tourism modules, put together and priced online, as a respond to travelers’ application (Cardoso, 2005). Malta is a great example of a destination which has developed an extremely successful Destination Management System (www.visitmalta.com) that allows tourists to book flights and buy tickets in the Internet. There is also an applicati on for Apple devices that comprises of electronic guide system around Malta, including data, specific details, roads, virtual trips and so on. With the growing opportunities, the number of players in tourism industry has increased as well. The entry barriers have become much weaker, whereas the volume of the market has grown. Consequently, the emergence of a highly competitive environment seems very logical. In such conditions, the sustainability has become a very significant aspect, which cannot be ignored. The existing business environment implied that in order to be successful it is necessary to maintain brand identity (Vatanasombut, B., Stylianou, A. Igbaria, M., 2004). Competitive advantage that is one of the objectives for all destinations could be reached by creating and maintaining customer loyalty (Gurau, C., Ranchhod, A. Hackney, R., 2003). However, self-service environment is contradicting with being loyal to one brand. Hence the autonomy of consumers is both a requirement and a threat. Social media’s effect on the consumers’ experience and decision-making is astonishing imagination. Its influence even though is complicated, it can be obviously demonstrated. As The World Travel Market (2014) investigations show, 33 per cent of the travelers altered their accommodation due to the use of social media, 10 per cent changed resorts, 10 per cent switched the intermediary, 7 per cent decided to spend the vacations in another country, 5 per sent changed airlines. This numerical data shows that customers’ decisions are very elastic and their experience can be shaped easily. A huge advantage for the service providers is that nowadays they have the possibility to manage consumer expectations and their experience. Joseph Pine IIandJames Gilmore claim that experience economy is the new stage of economy following the service economy. They argue that organizations have to create extraordinary, memorable experiences for consumers to be satisfied. In this sense, it become easier for destinations to prepare some personalized plan for each customer, or at least each type of customer. They now can anticipate the expectations of their clients and try to exceed their expectations what will eventually lead to exciting experience and satisfaction of consumer. 75 % of companies consider that customer relationship management applications they have chosen to be fiascos since the issues they focused on do not improve consumer satisfaction rate or influence adequately the sales (Feinberg, R. and Kadam, R., 2002). The experience shows that developing Destination Management Systems is not always an easy task to perform. There are numerous cases when the DMOs seem to be useless in terms of improvement of customer satisfaction. One of the good examples is the case of India. Tourism there is currently at the development phase, and it has huge opportunities due to the plenty of tourist attractions, cheap flight tickets and large numbers of travelers arriving from all around the world. Nowadays, India is ranked as 61st most attractive destination in the world (UNWTO, 2015), and it is ready to become more and more competitive. However, India is experiencing problems with tourists’ dissatisfaction of ICTs development across the country. The majo r complaint include: no access to mobile versions of online portals, employees are not trained to offer ICT services, too much reliance on traditional methods, many companies cannot be reviewed through the Internet, the Internet access is in a huge deficit and others. Although there are several problems in implementing certain strategies such as the openness of information (competitors can easily access and copy each other’s strategies), it is still possible to find effective ways to gain and maintain customer loyalty. One of excellent scenarios is presented by Australian GMO and is based on inspiration of discussions around Australia using a variety of websites and applications such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Google. The Facebook account is constantly posting information about new trends and the photos of the most picturesque views in Australia. They differentiate themselves by taking into consideration the content send privately by visitors and posting the best of it on the Facebook page. Every Friday there are posted best pictures of the week and also added to the guest album. The ongoing conversation is constantly maintained and apparently most of the issues discussed are positive. The Instagram account of Tourism Australia has over 1 million followers and it is also posting the visitors’ experiences which are later being commented on. Accounts on Twitter and Google post more information rather than media content; however they are also very popular since they include unique facts and news about Australia. Other, more individual methods to gain consumer loyalty include emotional influence, sustainable tourism and philanthropic concerns. First of all, the emotional connection of customers sometimes can be manipulated to become very strong. For example, there is a real life story about a young boy who was strolling next to the barber shop every day for several weeks. After a while, the owner of the barber shop noticed the child and invited him to his shop with the words: â€Å"there will be more benefit from you inside than outside†. Few years later the boy grown up, he learned everything about barber shop and became one of the leading hairdressers. Every time he met a new client he was telling him his story, and people experienced extremely strong emotional connection to that barber shop. Moreover, they were spreading the voice about that boy’s story, what consequently brought the barber shop a huge popularity and success. Secondly, it is important for most of the customer s to be sure that their service provider is ethical. Therefore, it is important to keep the business â€Å"green†, promote charity and other vastly important concerns. ‘‘Product Red’’ (2008) is a good example of a campaign of selling goods colored in red and donate part of the profits to the fond. Dedicated money goes for AIDS treatment development, illnesses in African countries and diseases counted as epidemic. The discussions around SM are widely spread, however not many organizations can exploit all the offered opportunities. In the real life, the way normal people use social media use quite simple and clear: we exchange information, we often ask for advices to improve something we are not satisfied with. That is what organizations should pay attention to. They should ask questions from users in order to keep improving in the right directions. It is vital not only to ask for people’s recommendations but also to make sure that their ideas if suitable are implemented in reality. The potential of such cooperation supply side with demand side is very big. It is also important for consumers to express themselves; it brings them the sense of belonging. Their ideas might be unique and very useful. When companies receive exceptionally good feedback, they can be lost in their development strategies. Constructive critics of different aspects can become a very valuable piece of recommendation s. The emergence of ICTs and social media has dramatically reformed the organization and priorities distribution in tourism industry. Customers are the ones to gain more than other players of the industry because their bargaining power has become much higher. Nowadays it is dependent on the opportunities that consumers have to go to web and get all the necessary information or discuss anything with service providers, at the same time gaining advantage from saving money. Social media has led to fierce competition between service providers and presented many improvements to the industry. The constant connection of travelers to Internet made it possible to exchange information in the real time and resulted into introduction of new channels of communication which make the processes of distribution more convenient. Internet portals and websites have a bigger and bigger influence on travels. The improvements in social media will be sustained by the launching of fresh ICTs. The existence of ne w effective technologies will encourage service providers to increase their rationality and take a full advantage of ICTs by restructuring their Destination Management Systems. Although the cases of unsuccessful DMS implementation are happening worldwide, they can be avoided by creating appropriate strategies for dealing with online customers and bloggers. It is essential to gain benefits from the cooperation with the demand side and taking some of the proposed ideas into consideration. Reference list: ABTA, 2004. ABTA Travel Statistics and Trends.Association of British Travel Agents. Available at: http://www.abtamembers.org/research/abtastatstrends2004.pdf> [Accessed: April 25, 2015]. Bramwell, B. Lane, B., 2009.Economic cycles, times of change and sustainable tourism,Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17(1), 1-4 Buhalis, D. and Law, R.,2008.Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet – The state of eTourism research,Tourism Management, 29. pp. 609-623. 2008. Cardoso, J., 2005.E-Tourism: Creating Dynamic Packages Using Semantic Web Processes Feinberg, R. and Kadam, R., 2002.ECRM Web Service Attributes as Determinants of Customer Satisfaction with Retail Websites,International Journal of Service Industry Management 13(5): 432–51. Giaoutzi, M. Nijkamp, P., 2006.Tourism and Regional Development: New Pathways,: Ashgate, Aldershot. Grau, J., 2005. Bargain Hunters Want Service Too.iMedia Connection. Available at: http://imedia.com/content5338.asp> [Accessed: April 25, 2015]. Gurau, C., Ranchhod, A. Hackney, R., 2003.Customer-centric Strategic Planning: Integrating CRM in Online Business Systems, Information Technology and Management 4(2–3): 199–214, 200. Mangold, W. G., Miller, F. Brockway, G. R., 1999.Word-ofmouth communication in the service marketplace,Journal of Services Marketing 13(1), 73—89. Sigala, M. , 2009.Destination Management Systems (DMS): A Reality Check in the Greek Tourism Industry,: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. UNWTO, 2015.Compendium of Tourism Statistics,World Tourism Organization: Madrid, Spain. Vatanasombut, B., Stylianou, A. Igbaria, M., 2004.How to Retain Online Customers,Communications of the ACM 47(6): 65–9. WTM, 2014.The World Travel Market (WTM) Industry and Global Trends Report. Available at: http://blogs.wtmlondon.com/reports/social-media-reports/> [Accessed: April 24, 2015]. ZHOU, Z., 2004.E-commerceandInformationTechnologyinHospitality and Tourism: Delmar Learning, Canada

The various types of Dividend policies used by companies

The various types of Dividend policies used by companies Dividend policy has drawn due attention from various researchers. One of the most famous studies in this respect is Miller and Modigliani hypothesis (1961), which asserted that the cash dividend policy is not important because it has no effect on the companys value, and as such it does not affect the company owners wealth. This is due to the fact that companies follow a Residual Dividend Policy which is based on reinvestment of corporate profits in the available investment opportunities (Van Horne 1983; Arnold 2008) with positive net present value and distribution the surplus cash as a cash dividend to shareholders. The above hypothesis aroused a lot of controversy on the part of researchers. However, the most important study that opposed it is that of Partington (1985) which claims that the companies do not follow in practice the residual dividend approach as the dividend decisions taken independently from the investment policy. Right now, controversies continue among researchers based on the subject without arriving at any decisive results This chapter will study the public dividend policy to shareholders, which is considered to be one of the most important financial decisions, in view of its direct relationship to shareholders and financing decisions and investment in the company. The chapter will also cover the alternatives to be addressed consisting of general dividend policy and theories that linked the cash dividend policy with the company market value, and therefore the company owners wealth in addition to the share dividend policy and buying back policy, besides the cash dividend policy and its relationship with the investment policy 2-2 General Dividend Policy The Company Board suggests distribute dividend to shareholders in an annual meeting (Watson and Head 2004). The main interest is to suggest acceptance and secure fair dividend for shareholders consistent with the rate of dividend decided by the company management. Therefore, in preparing dividend distribution, the mangers do not look only for current year profit, but they, instead, will look for the future earnings expected, and hence for the ability of the company to maintain a stable rate of dividend taking into consideration the systematic growth of this ratio. On their part, the investors are aware of this truth, and they look for a profit increase in a positive vision expecting throughout a stability of the future dividend. When the company achieves high profits for a particular year and do not expect the same level of profit for next years, they will make normal dividend and give additional dividend so as not to disappoint the investors hopes in the future. The profits are then divided into two dividends, a normal and an incremental dividend, to make notification to investors that this type of dividend is unexpected and would not continue in the future (Levy and Sarnat 1994). There are several alternatives for the profits dividend. The company may either distribute the profits in the form of regular cash dividends, or it may distribute profits in the form of shares dividends to shareholders. However, the above two types may be distributed at the same time. Besides that, shareholders can also obtain profits when the company tends to repurchase its shares, and considers the regular cash dividend as something quite common (Broyles 2003). The percentage of the profits distributed by the company is typically governed by several considerations. In addition to the law which prohibits the distribution of profits unless the company achieves a profit after deducting reserves, the contracts of the bonds, in case the company issues these bonds, often prevents companies from increasing the proportion of cash dividend on a certain level to secure the rights of bondholders (Watson and Head 2004). Thus, the general dividend policy may well looked upon on the basis of differentiating between the cash dividends and the shares dividend through capitalization of profits, or through buying back the companys shares. This is due to the fact that the investment policy is fixed. The company will thus detain profits to finance capital spending on growth and expansion or debt repayment, or extinguish the bonds if any, and distribute the remaining cash as a cash dividend, and also to finance any deficit in capital spending by issuing new shares or through outside borrowing. The company could detain the necessary funds to finance capital expenditure and re-buy part of the shares issued and distribute the remaining as a cash dividend. These alternatives will not affect the companys value, and therefore the wealth of shareholders, if the company is operating in market characterized by ideal, efficiency and depth (Merton and Modigliani 1961; Black and Scholes 1974; Peter 1996). In case such characteristics are absent of the market, one can expect arguments about the impact of dividend policy, particularly cash, on the value of the company, and therefore the wealth of shareholders. The second group (Gordon 1959; Blume 1980; Dyl and Weigand 1998; Koch and Shenoy 1999) believes that increasing the percentage of cash dividends would increase the companys value, thus increasing the shareholders wealth, while the third group (Litzenberger and Ramaswamy 1979; Blume 1980; Litzenberger and Ramaswamy 1982; Ang and Peterson 1985) believes that increasing the percentage of cash dividend will lead to a decline in the value of the company, thereby reducing the wealth of shareholders. These groups together with their theories will be discussed when dealing with the policy of cash dividend. The profits will be transferred to return earnings account, which is used for purposes determined by the board and the approval of the General Assembly of the company. This account is usually used to maintain a stable dividend amount of cash dividends (a systematically dividend policy). During the years where the company cannot meet the amount of normal dividend, they will tend to the return earnings account to insure any deficit. The General Assembly of the company has full authority to use this account for normal or abnormal cash dividend in whole or in part. It could also be used for company repurchase share, or for capitalization this account and distribution of share dividends to shareholders. On their part, shareholders can obtain their profits through a set of policies that can be combined in a single year, but it often takes one of the following alternatives(Watson and Head 2004): A cash dividend policy Shares dividend policy Buying back shares policy 2-3 Cash Dividend Policy The impact of cash dividend policy on current prices of the company shares is considered to be very important, not only for policy makers, but also for investors, portfolio managers, and economists interested in the performance of capital markets (Watson and Head 2004). The questions to be raised here are: Can managers maximize the wealth of the owners of the company through a particular dividend policy? (Lumby and Jones 1999) Are the companies with high dividend sold with premium? Should the shares of companies that retain their profits or distribute a percentage of its profits, be sold as well in a lesser price? The fact is that these questions were, and still are, the subjects of many applied studies. Until now, there seems no consensus on the answers to these questions. The reason is the presence of other relevant factors that affect the market value of the shares that enable us to measure the impact of dividend policy on profits alone. This means that researchers did not so far prepare both proper and adequate tests and studies to distinguish between different hypotheses. The arguments among researchers about the dividend policy focus on that part of the cash dividend to be distributed to shareholders and its impact on the companys value and therefore the wealth of the owners of the company. Miller and Modigliani (1961) see that the cash dividend does not affect the value of the company, as the companys value will not be affected by how earned profits are divided; but rather affected by the ability to achieve profits. Thus, there is no point in thinking of how to divide profits between dividends and return earnings, while thinking must be directed towards maximizing these profits through the optimal investment policy as the way by which the cookie is divided will not lead to increase its size. In the opinion of others (see, Olson and McCann 1994; Lipson, Maquieira et al. 1998), the manner in which profits are divided between dividends and return earnings affects the companys value through an increase or decrease in the demand for the company shares, as the investors with high incomes usually prefer companies without cash dividend if the value of taxes on cash dividend exceeds the taxes on capital gains, while investors typically prefer companies that cash high dividends if they do not pay taxes or who were in low category of taxes. Also, investors in growing companies may not ask the company to distribute high cash dividends and accept, instead, low cash dividends. This is because the internal return rate in these companies is usually greater than the costs of obtaining funds from sources other than return earnings, and thus maximize the wealth of shareholders through the detention of all or most of the profits and use them to finance projects which have positive present v alue. Investors in non-growing companies, on their part, look for high dividends (see, Walter 1963). From the foregoing discussion, it is viewed by many scholars that the harmony between cash dividend policy with investor wishes will affect the market value, due to any increase or decrease for the company shares emanating from this harmony or compatibility, which will be reflected on the price of its shares. The decision of cash dividend policy, particularly its cash portion, is one of the challenges facing company managers, because the distribution decision defines the funds to be given companys shareholders, and therefore the funds to remain for managers in the company to reinvest (Lumby and Jones 1999). The cash dividend policy can be considered as an action plan for the company to be followed when the company needs to make a decision regarding cash dividends, so that this plan could provide several options from which the company can choose to reach the desired goal. Such a plan is laid taking into account the following two main goals: Maximizing the wealth of shareholders and meeting the company needs to finance its investments. There are several factors affecting the decision to choose the most appropriate alternative among the alternatives available in the action plan. These factors are: legal, contractual, internal shareholders and market considerations. These factors reduce the available alternatives for the company in order to achieve its aims through a cash dividend policy practice. The available alternatives include the companys range of cash dividend policies the company could follow (Gitman 1997; Brigham and Houston 2004) . These include: Fixed dividend policy rate Regularly dividend policy Regularly low fixed dividend with special or added dividend Remaining cash dividend policy. These policies will be discussed in detail as follows: Fixed Dividend Policy Rate This percentage is determined by apportionment of dividends on profits earned. The percentage distribution of 80% of the net profits derived mean that the company will distribute 80% of its profits and reserves 20% of retained earnings. Since corporate annual profits are not fixed, adopting this policy will lead to a fluctuation in the amount of dividends because the stability of the dividends rate from non fixed profit leads to a difference in the amount of the annual dividends, which is the main criticisms of this policy. Since the fluctuation of the quantity of dividends is one of the benchmarks that measure the risks of the company and because the non fluctuation of the profits is usually seen as something positive for current and future performance of the company, the prices of company shares that follow such a policy may be adversely affected by this policy. Regular Dividend Policy The company, according to this policy, pays fixed rates as a dividend each year. For example, they may pay $0.2 per share each year, which will be fixed next years. This policy gives a positive indicator about the company because of the stability of the quantity of dividends, leading to reduce the risks of uncertainty. The companies that follow such a policy tend to increase the dividends rate whenever they feel that the increase in profits is steady and continuing in the future. Low regular fixed policy with special or added dividend Some companies follow a policy of systematic low dividend with additional dividends when the companys profits are unstable and highly volatile so that the companys profits are high in a given year but low in another, which makes it difficult for it to follow a regularly high-level profits distribution policy be able to maintain it. The company, therefore, seeks to pay low dividends characterized by being consistent and continuous and then pay other additional and unusual dividends in the years where it can secure high profits. The company thus has been able to achieve consistency and continuity in the level of profitability, which are indicators of great importance on the part of investors, who consider this as something necessary for building confidence with the company. Remaining cash dividend policy The optimal cash dividend rate for any company is best determined by the differentiation between a numbers of factors (Brigham, L. et al. 1999) Shareholders preference for cash dividend or capital gains. Investment opportunities available for the company. Optimal structure mix for the companys capital (money sources). External financing costs The last three factors combined affect the remaining dividend policy which is based on distributing cash dividends which exceeds the companys to finance all company investment opportunities that have positive present value. The company should make the following three steps when applying the remaining cash dividends policy (Brigham and Houston 2004) Identifying all the available investment opportunities which have positive present value and in which the company wishes to invest. Determining the optimal structure mix of capital that achieves the lowest cost. Using the profits to finance new projects with positive present value because of their low cost in comparison with new share issues in case they represent the best combination of capital. Based on this concept, and as long as the money needed by the company to reach the optimal mix of the capital structure is the equity funds , and not money borrowed, and as long as the need for funds exceeds the companys achieved profits and return earnings, the company will not make any dividends distribution for shareholders (Van Horne 1983). But in case the funds needed are less than the return earnings, the company will take its cash needs and distribute the exceeded money as a cash dividend for shareholders. Besides that, if the optimal capital structure mix does not make it incumbent upon the company for financing or allowing to borrow without leading to the level of damage risks of the company, the company then may distribute profits to shareholders because of lack of need and also because these profits are considered as surplus (Arnold 2008). 2-3-1 Factors affecting cash dividend policy A combination of factors affect the cash dividend policy and put pressure on the management when a dividends proposal is submitted to the General Assembly to be taken as a justification of reference for the Assembly when ratifying or adjusting this proposed. These most important of these factors are arguably (see, Damodaran 1997; Gitman 1997; Brigham, L. et al. 1999; Brigham and Houston 2004) the following: legal, contractual, internal, growth and the expected expansion, shareholders preferences for cash dividend or capital gains and capital market considerations. These factors are explained here in some details: Legal restrictions Cash dividends should not exceed the total of retained earnings plus net profits for the current year. This is known as the Impairment of Capital Rule. If the companys net profits equal to $500 thousand and it the retained earnings of $ 2 millions, then it should not distribute profits more than $ 2.5 million; but if there is retained loss within equity amounting to $200 thousands, then it should not distribute more than $300 thousands. Contractual restrictions Usually borrowing contracts restrict the amount of profits allowing the company to distribute to shareholders to ensure the rights of the lenders. When the company issues borrowing bonds, the contracts usually include both permissions and restrictions from the date of bonds issuance till bonds date off. The bonds contract often will not allow the company to distribute cash dividends only if they exceed the amount earned in a certain amount. The contract might also prevent the company from increasing the percentage distribution of normal profits or may determine the profits that could be distributed by the companys net profits for distribution. The company accepts such conditions on themselves to reduce the risks of borrowing from the viewpoint of the lender, thus reducing borrowing costs. There are also restrictions on cash dividends imposed upon issuance of the preferable shares of the company. In this respect, it is natural to restrict the distribution of any dividends to ordinary shareholders unless they pay all preferable share profits. Internal constraints The companys ability to pay cash dividends is affected by the quantity of liquid funds available, not by profits and return earnings only. Although the company could resort to borrowing for financing the cash dividend or issuing new shares to finance the dividend process, the companies often do not do that because of high costs for this decision. The company can use it in urgent cases to stabilize the amount of dividends, since the fluctuation of the value of dividends may convey a cost that could be higher than the distribution finance costs. Thus, the companys ability for cash dividends or desire to distribution is often constrained by liquid funds available. Company expected growth and expansion The volume of capital expenditure required for financing expansion and growth significantly affects cash dividend policy adopted by the company. If the company is in continuous expansion and development, using modern technology, they will need all the funds available to finance operations. On the other hand, the companies that have reached the stage of maturity are more able to distribute cash dividends than companies in growth. Shareholders preference for cash dividends or capital gains One of the management functions is to maximize the company owners wealth therefore we should take into account the owners interests when preparing the cash dividend policy. The companys ability to distribute cash profits and desire to do so are often constrained by several important factors affecting the interests of company owners (Brigham, L. et al. 1999): Tax status of the companys owners: If most of the companys owners are affluent are in high tax brackets, the company will resort to a dividends policy whereby it can reduce the impact of taxes on the shareholders profits. Investment opportunities available for company owners If shareholders can obtain returns for re-investing their profits exceeding the companys returns, the company must distribute a greater proportion of profits to enable shareholders to maximize their wealth by reinvesting these profits. But if the companys returns are more than shareholders returns, then the company must transfer the maximum part of their profit to return earnings for reinvestment in order to maximize the shareholders wealth. The steady control of former shareholders If the company tends to distribute all, or most, of profits achieved over the years, it will find itself forced to issue new shares to finance the expansion and development projects. This would first lead to mitigate and minimize the control of the companys former owners of the company; and then the profits to be gained would be reduced because of the increasing number of company owners due to the issuance of new shares. This situation could be remedied through the allocation of shares, by allowing old shareholders to subscribe for new shares, each according to his/her contribution and giving them priority in this respect. The company could also resort to another alternative, i.e. to reduce the proportion of cash dividends if they want to retain full control over old shareholders and show no inclination towards increasing the number of shareholders. Stable and clear dividend policy Investors give special importance to the stable and clear dividends policy. Also, they give special importance for the continuity of these dividends because they believe that the stability, increase, and continuity of dividends would surely lead to reduce risks from the standpoint of investors. Therefore, investors tend to discount returns of companies whose policies of distribution are characterized by stability, increase and continuity at a discount rate less than other companies. This means that they highly evaluate these companies; in other words, they ask for a less rate of returns, thereby reducing the companys capital cost. Profit information content Investors are interested in the informational content of the profits. Through these profits, they can read the management forecasts for company future profits. As the mangers have more precise information about the company investors, on their part, will give special attention to the informational content of the profits. 2-3-2 Theoretical Framework for Dividend policy and its impact on market value We can clarify the theoretical framework for the relationship between the dividend policies (cash, shares and repurchase) and market value of the company through the Irrelevant Theory was brought by M M in 1961. They suggested that there was no relationship between the dividend policy and market value. Many researchers have supported this theory, but also others have suspicion about it. The advocates researchers believe that companies should follow residuals dividend policy while the opponents researchers divided into two divisions, the first believes that there is a positive relationship between the dividend policy and the company market value, others said that this relationship is negative. The relationship between the dividend policy and the company market value is also affected by other dimensions which create a number of other theories, where we find that the uncertainty created a bird in the hand theory , the presence of taxes helped to find a Tax Effect Theory, either shareholders loyalty has created a Clientele Effect Theory, Management try to send some information through the dividend policy covered by Signaling Effect Theory, while the separation of management and owners (shareholders) has created Agency cost Theory. Therefore, we can draw the theoretical framework for the study through the following form: Theoretical Framework (figure 2-1) Share Dividend Positive Relationship Negative Relationship Irrelevant Market Value Relationship Dividend Policy Irrelevant Theory Relevant Residual Dividend Policy Bird in the Hand Theory Tax Effect Theory Clientele Effect Theory Signaling Effect Theory Agency Cost Theory Cash Dividend Share Repurchasing 2-3-2-1 Irrelevance Proposition There is a belief among many finance and economics specialists that cash dividends policy is not important because it is not relevant and does not affect the owners wealth. The source of this belief is a study conducted by Miller and Modigliani (1961). This study concluded that the dividends policy has no effect on the companys value, so the managers will not be able to maximize the owners wealth through a dividends policy. The irrelevance proposition concept for dividends policy on the owners wealth stems from the fundamental idea that companies which distribute continuous high cash dividends to shareholders and secure a little bit higher share prices (Archer, Choate et al. 1983; Lumby and Jones 1999). As a result, the investors capital gains are very limited in this company as he would receive the same returns received by other investors holding another companys shares with low dividends while its prices become high because of the return earnings, and so he obtains high capital gains which compensates the limited cash dividends. In both cases, the shareholders wealth is the profits obtained by cash dividend plus capital gains realized from rising share prices. In case there are no taxes or whether taxes on capital gains are equal, the investor will not be affected, whether the company has established cash dividends or kept the profit in return earnings and the investor has obtain capital gains when se lling his shares as a result of the rise of the companys shares by cash undistributed profits with no change in the other effective factors. This theory is based on the following assumptions (Merton and Modigliani 1961): There are no taxes, or the taxes rate on cash dividends and taxes rate on capital gains are equal. There is no transactions cost for the process of selling or buying shares so that, if the investor needs cash, he will be able to sell his shares without losing any commissions and fees instead of cash dividends. The investor is absolutely rational in his decisions. There are no agency costs. This means that the company managers that distribute low cash dividends do not use the company profits to achieve personal goals that may harm the company (Jensen 1986). The company operates under a full and efficient market, which means that the information is available and accessible to all at the same time without any costs, and the stock prices reflect information and absolutely influenced by it at the moment provided. There is no information gap, including that the company operates under a full and efficient market. The future outlook on the performance of the company is homogeneous among all investors, as so do information and expectations among managers and investors. According to irrelevance proposition, the dividend policy affects only the level of external financing required to finance future projects with positive net present value. This means that each dollar distributed to shareholders represents a capital loss of a dollar. According to this hypothesis, the only constraint to the companys market value is the companys investment policy, not the companys dividends policy followed. This is because the investment policy is responsible for future profits (Miller and Modigliani 1961). Accordingly, the companys decision on the distribution of cash or non-profit distribution would not affect the market value of the company and therefore would not affect the owners wealth. This hypothesis recommends that managers should give greater importance to the investment policy and let the dividends policy follow the investment policy, which is known the Residual Dividend Approach. The advocates of the irrelevance proposition hypothesis (Black and Scholes 1974; Miller and Scholes 1978; Merton and Myron 1982; Merton 1986; Peter 1996) adopt the idea that the investor can build his own cash dividends policy regardless of the companys dividends policy. This is known as Homemade Dividend(Merton and Modigliani 1961) where the investors can obtain income through selling part of his shares equal to the value of cash profits that could have been distributed by the company, if the company does not have cash dividends and the investor himself wishes to receive cash dividends to meet his consumer needs. He may wish also to reinvest cash dividends distributed by the company in case the investor shows no desire for cash dividends. By following this method, the investor will not be affected by the companys dividends policy, and therefore would not be compelled to abandon the stocks of companies followed by a dividends policy which is not consistent with his wishes. One of the criticisms against the irrelevance proposition hypothesis is that it cannot be practically acceptable. The theory of building a dividends policy for each investor based on efficient market, with no transaction costs for buying and selling (Dempsey and Laber 1992), is not practical. In addition, the investor will pay taxes on cash dividends or capital gains, making the adoption of a specific dividends policy for each investor something costly. Besides, the investment in companies whose cash dividends policy is consistent with the investors needs is less expensive than building a special dividends policy. The hypothesis has been built on the basis that the investor is quite rational when taking his decisions. The psychological tests have proved, however, that human beings are not rational one hundred percent with regard to decision-making. Shefrin and Statman (1984) in their study said that investors have an unreasonable preference regarding the profit dividends; this is not consistent with the irrelevance proposition hypothesis. The irrelevance proposition hypothesis is also criticised for assuming equality between the cash dividends and capital gains, while cash dividend is a cash in hand without any uncertainty risk, and the capital gains is cash in the future with a lot of risks. So, how can they be equal? The irrelevance proposition hypothesis has been built on a set of assumptions and data that have already been indicated. It is understood here that any change in these assumptions and data would naturally lead to a change in the basic hypothesis and therefore to a change in the results. Accordingly, and in practical terms, the financial markets in general do not agree with these assumptions.

Samstag, 20. Juli 2019

Moby Dick Essay -- Human Spirituality Society Papers

Moby Dick Moby-Dick is the one American story which every individual seems to recognize. Because of its pervasiveness into our country’s collective psyche, the tale has been reproduced in film and cartoon, and references to the characters and the whale can be found in commercials, sitcoms, and music, proving the novel to still be relevant today. It is the epitome of American Romanticism because it delves into the human spirit, the force of imagination, and power of the emotions and the intellect. The novel praises and critiques the American society in sharp and unequivocal terms, while, at the same time, mirroring this mixed society through the â€Å"multinational crew of...the Pequod† (Shaw 61). Melville, through his elaborate construction of the novel, â€Å"makes the American landscape a place for epic conquest† (Lyons 462). The primary draw of this novel is the story itself: a whaling ship, headed by a monomaniac, and the pursuit of a whale, or the American dr eam and its attainment, making a clear â€Å"connection between Romanticism and nationalism† (Evans 9). The novel calls upon the reader’s imagination, emotions, and intellect to fully understand the journey of the story, the journey which takes the reader on a most unusual trip into the soul of mankind. The two primary characters, Ishmael and Ahab, are two parts of one whole. Ishmael is an Everyman; and as such, he is the ideal model of the emotions, the imagination, and the appreciation of the beauty and power of Nature, God, and man, coupled with timely infusions from his intellect and reasoning capabilities. He is clearly an articulate narrator who blends intellect and emotion, though at times he stays wholly within the reign of the emotions. Conversely, Ahab ... ... Paul. â€Å"Melville and His Precursors: Styles as Metastyle and Allusion.† American Literature 62 (1990): 445-63. Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or The White Whale. ed. Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker. New York: Norton, 1967. Poe, Edgar Allan. Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe. ed. G. R. Thompson. New York: Harper & Roe, 1970/ Post-Lauria, Sheila. â€Å"’Philosophy in Whales...Poetry in Blubber’: Mixed Form in Moby-Dick.† Nineteenth Century Literature 45 (1990): 300-16. Putz, Manfred. â€Å"The Narrator as Audience: Ishmael as Reader and Critic in Moby-Dick.† Studies in the Novel 19.2 (1987): 160-75. Shaw, Peter. â€Å"Cutting a Classic Down To Size.† The Virginia Quarterly 69.1 (1993): 60-84. Thoreau, Henry D. Walden and Resistance to Civil Government. ed. William Rossi. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1992.

Freitag, 19. Juli 2019

Essay --

As the crowd begins their chants and anthems, the teams take their places upon the pitch. The ground is shaking underneath you and smoking flares are lighting up around the stadium. Welcome to the world of football. Soccer has become a way of life for many and an escape from reality. It is the game for any class and will steal your heart with the art that comes with it. Soccer isn’t just a sport, it is a religion many follow, but most importantly it brings masses around the world together. We call this, the Beautiful Game. If this claims to be the most popular sport around the world, why is soccer not considered a big sport and why has it never caught on in America? Finally, we have reached the age to play sports, but what sport would be the best? Many kids turn to baseball and football because these are America’s past time sport, but there is always a select few that choose soccer. Why, because their parents force them to play. Soccer, in a parents point of view, is seen as a safe exercise sport, you can make friends and most important, get outside. At such a young age, kids have never been the best at following directions, which leads to chaos on the field. Kids swarm around the ball wishing for the chance to kick the ball a couple of times. In all truth, â€Å"Kids don't grow up wanting to watch tag on TV, or be a professional tag player, and that's really how most kids who play it view soccer. It's fun, its outdoors and it involves running around, but that's about it† (Emen). Besides the fact of parents forcing soccer down the kids throat, they get the image that soccer will forever be a disorganized sport, which in all truth can be at some points. The main reason for this is because in America, we were never taught how to play s... ...y with rocks as the goals and a bundle of socks as the ball. Soccer will make your heart break when your team drops into relegation and make you be in ecstasy when your nation wins the World Cup. Soccer is a game where it would take time to learn and accept the game. There are many rules to understand and heartbreaks to endure. But if we looked at the game as a whole, we would understand that the game is truly like all others. It’s a game that binds people together and brings peace to parts of the world. For many it is a way of life, and people go to their church, temple or mosque every Saturday or Sunday and even during the week. If Americans gave this game a chance, it would possibly become the most popular game in every nation. But until then, Soccer will need to take time to catch on. Only then can the world most popular sport truly become the Beautiful Game.

A Cleaner Future: A Comprehensive Pollution Prevention and Reduction Pr

A Cleaner Future: A Comprehensive Pollution Prevention and Reduction Program Introduction Pollution is a major problem globally and it becomes greater as the human population continues to rise exponentially. One of the major problems with increased population is higher waste production, which creates increased air, soil, and water pollution. To resolve this problem waste reduction must be of primary importance in preventing and reducing pollution. Waste management can be an expensive undertaking if not managed correctly so sustainable practices must be addressed. While pollution prevention and reduction programs can be expensive if not managed correctly, waste reduction is essential for the reduction and prevention of pollution. Recycling, Water preservation, Municipal solid waste management, and population stability are the essentials to a cleaner tomorrow. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a significant problem globally. The biggest obstacle in waste reduction is public involvement. Society specifically in-developed countries produce significant waste through overconsumption. To address this problem it will take significant public participation. Careful considerations and planning must go into confronting the issue of MSW with the public. According to O'Connell (2011) â€Å"Waste and consumption practices are multi-dimensional and the methods for engaging the public in reducing MSW must incorporate feelings, practical considerations, and education.† It is evident that for significant municipal solid waste reduction to occur education and public feelings must be addressed. Without public participation MSW reduction cannot occur. The pollution prevention and reduction program will take aim at educating the public of the significance ... ...& Industry. (Document ID: 1552023631). Jiboye, A. (2011). Sustainable Urbanization: Issues and Challenges for Effective Urban Governance in Nigeria. Journal of Sustainable Development, 4(6), 211-224. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2535474281). O'Connell, E.. (2011). Increasing Public Participation in Municipal Solid Waste Reduction. The Geographical Bulletin, 52(2), 105-118. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2517583571). Miller, G. T., Jr., & Spoolman, S. E. (2012). Living in the environment: Concepts, connections, and solutions (17th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning Wang, H.. (2010). A Sustainable Decision-Making Model for Materials Recovery Facilities Problems in Waste Management. Competition Forum, 8(2), 248-253. Retrieved January 9, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2174555611).

Donnerstag, 18. Juli 2019

How Bias Influences Critical Thinking

How Bias Influences Critical Thinking – Week 1 A recent decision that I had to make that involved both critical thinking and a bias was while I was at work. I am in charge of the back office, and often have to deal with patients ordering materials when they come in for their exams, and then not wanting to pay for them, or not understanding their insurance benefits. In some instances this leads to mistakes being made on the offices end, and the patient is either not charged enough or over charged.Either way, when the patient comes to pick up their order they are not pleased with the office and I am left to make a quick decision, but still put some critical thinking into it. The biased that is involved in this decision is the loss aversion, I am usually not looking to gain anything from the situation, but prevent or reduce my losses. The particular situation, a patient ordered a year supply of contacts, was only charged for half the supply though. When they came to pick it up, t he mistake had been caught and the additional charges were applied to their account.They were told multiple times that they had paid in full for the amount discussed, and was aggravated when they now had a balance. In an effort to keep the patient happy, and returning to the office for their supplies in the future, I had to make a quick yet rational decision to reduce the price of the product; covering our cost only, leaving no profit to be made. This made the patient happy, and they remain a loyal patient. My critical thinking was defiantly affected by biased, and I was trying to reduce my losses, rather than focus on making a profit. Chapter 1. Critical Thinking, Pg 14.

Mittwoch, 17. Juli 2019

Applications for Christian Counseling Essay

In McMinns 1996 tidings Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, the designer goes into detail ab fall out the theoretical and skillful applications and interventions involved in the practice of advise from a Christian perspective. McMinn discusses bringing faith into the advocate office. He asserts that religion is ever addressed in counseling, in a variety of shipway. Religion is either presented as a negative get out which should be re come acrossd from a leaf nodes bread and butter, as a positive sop up in which God is a right-hand support in the life of the client, or as a negative force in which religion takes on a shaming role.McMinn calls the readers attention to the mental and spiritual health of the client as existence interwoven. From a Christian perspective, psychological and spiritual health is a condition, an substantive gift from God, and it is up to the client with the uphold of the counselor to come up the path towards recogn izing and appreciating otherwise manliness as an element of psychological health. appeal serves to bring God closer to tidy sum personally, and clients dejection be aided in their goal to reach spiritual wisdom by praying to God to protagonist them find solutions.Scripture can to a fault be stabili netherworldg in the lives of plenty lacking(p) to find a deeper meaning and affair in their lives, as the path to comfort is clearly explained within the Bible. However, it is non evermore appropriate to discuss religious ideals with clients. It should be up to the client whether or not he or she scents comfortable discus darknessg finicky aspects of religion. Although hatful atomic number 18 disturbed by sin, suffering from personal decisions to break external from God, it is burning(prenominal) to manage that sin can only be overcome by acts of love and kindness.Recognizing sin is important, but it is not up to counselors to point out the sins of their clients, and it does not serve any purpose for clients to fire up into the gloom of guilt and shame. In require to the benefits of confession, it can be immensely helpful and relieving to sh are integritys sins with other person, to give voice to the things one has do wrong. However, it is also important to forgive and move forward in figuring out ways to make amends and doctor the situation as best as possible.McMinn covers all of the basics in catch to how counselors should and need to address psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Religion is always a topic of any counseling session, and it is up to the counselor to decide the best ways in which to address the ways in which God is present in the lives of clients. McMinn offers a wide range of ideas and suggestions in reply to people who are searching for an perform about how to address Christianity in the counseling office. ResponseIn reading McMinns chapter entitled Toward Psychological and Spiritual Healt h, I was reminded of one of my own road trips with my family as a child. My sisters and I were making in any case much noise in the behind of the van, and my get down pulled over, opened the back of the van, and slapped me, shout out at us to be quiet. This is one of my closely disturbing memories, and it do a profound impact on my life. Having undergo a situation such as this was a learning experience for me, and it took a while for me to wrap my mind round the fact that I was not guilty, my yield was.My father was the one who sinned, not I. He was the one who was raising me, and he made mistakes. It was wrong of him to yell, to hit, to manage his own rage so poorly and to react to me in violence. I think its important that sin be treated seriously, as it is an act which fragments tender tender and familial relationships. I think that it is important to feel remorse about sinful situations and to compute the incidents with honorabley. As a child, I felt guilty, as if I did something wrong.I carried this guilt, which was also sinful, into my life as a untried adult, until I finally recognized that I was not to blame. My father was the one to blame. And now, I feel comfortable in perspicacious what is wrong and right for me as a parent. I feel liberated by seeing the sinful situation clearly and through favor of both my father and myself. I forgive him for hitting me, for yelling at me, and I forgive myself for touch sensation guilty and ashamed for so enormous for something which was not my fault.Reflection In reflecting on McMinns book, I think it is passing important for Christian counselors to keep in mind the importance of attributing sin to the dead people and situations. McMinn addresses how it is important to regard oneself with think of to ones own sins. However, given the relational nature of human social interaction, it is highly significant to discuss the ways in which the sins of others pack an affect on the personal lives o f clients.Many people have problems in their lives, and many times, people are feeling guilty and ashamed, down trodden and helpless, because of the sins of other people (Isay, 2008). It is important for counselors to see the world clearly, especially the ways in which family relationships fix specific relational responsibilities. One of the most important elements of the counseling relationship is to help clients systema skeletale out how sin, personal sin and sins of other people, are affecting their lives. Without being precise about who, what, where, and when sin has occurred, at that place can be no honest step forward into forgiveness.Action In my own professional life as a Christian counselor, I compulsion to be able to help people to frankly be able to recognize and attribute sin to the problems in their lives, whether the sin is their own or the sin of another(prenominal) person. Most problems in the world are relational, and it is nearly impossible to consider oneself impertinent of the realm of how one is relating to others. I neediness to be helpful in request questions and guiding clients in their search to figure out the ways in which sins are affecting their lives.When the sins of the client and the other people in the clients life are clearly described and honestly voiced by the client, only consequently it will be possible for the client to move forward in forgiveness and reconciliation, and be enabled to move closer in a relationship with God. References Isay, J. (2008). Walking on Eggshells Navigating the Delicate Relationship between prominent Children and Parents. Random House, Inc. McMinn, M. (1996). Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling. Carol Stream, IL Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.