Face Of Our Time Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Face Of Our Time - Research Paper Example Similarly, Muholi portrays visually, the identity of the black people that are mostly segregated in her home country - South Africa. Aue Sobol gives a combination of observations that are experienced by hunting culture of the rural community in the Arctic Village with portraits that show intimacy of Sabine, his girlfriend. Finally, Misrach give pictures of the graffiti that were left behind immediately after the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. This paper is going to highlight the common interests that the five photographers had in depicting the actual look of the global happenings and phenomena, as well as what instructed and resonated me. The photographs paint the real picture of the world as it is. The photographs showing situation as it is. The exhibition â€Å"Face of Our Time† is introduced by neatly done picture of an African woman staring at the photographer while her lips are pursed seems to be upset. Her eyes are not clearly seen since they are under some shade, hen ce making it almost impossible to clearly figure out her actual state, or even her real self. However, her mode of living is overtly written on her photograph â€Å"I am a whore† (Curiel). ... It is imperative to note that the photographs are of real people of the world who are in dire need of help. Furthermore, the photographers have mixed feelings about their own photographs. Surprisingly, these photographers are always perturbed by the situation around the globe and they normally take these pictures in order to enlighten the world about certain conditions. The photographers have premonitions that they go against other people’s rights when they take such pictures. Therefore, they tend to think it is not a good idea to photograph volatile political and economic situations. For instance, Goldberg remarks that he is frightened to take pictures because he tends to feel that he is violating people’s rights. He informed the various individuals who came to hear him during the SFOMOMA exhibition that he is afraid to go into the world to take pictures (Curiel). He covers long distances to Africa from San Francisco and actively allows his subjects to participate in h is work by giving them opportunities to write on his otherwise Polaroid pictures. Notably, Goldberg took photographs of the prostitute and a Senegalese farmer who aspired to illegally migrate to Europe due to adverse economic situation in Senegal. The farmer did not get the opportunity to travel to Europe for better economic situation; he ended up landing in Libya and worked as a forced laborer. The photograph depicts a farmer herding his flock in a street full of garbage in Senegal. His experiences are narrated in the horizon. However, even though Goldberg thinks he violates other people’s rights, these people he photographed autographed his pictures, thus showing they allowed

Philosophy and the Self Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Philosophy and the Self - Assignment Example Most people are confronted with hard decisions such as: what person is best to get married to? Should he relocate to another state (i.e. Illinois)? Should he buy a car or a penthouse? Do they intend to have kids? These hard decisions are usually termed as life changing decisions that shape someone’s destiny. Matters such as politics, religion, best ways to ensure human and civil rights are upheld, good procedures to ensure the nation’s security, procedures to realization of an equitable, just and free society are usually disagreeable by reasonable minds. Other critical issues that reasonable minds can disagree revolve around on if it is best to legalize early term abortion or legalize same-sex marriages. The scope of this paper will explore the issue of religion freedom based on beliefs, values and the theories of freedom that justify or contrast the varying perceptions of religious freedom (Scheinin, 2000). An important allegory of a person who made a life changing decision in the bible is Abraham. Trust was a key requirement that Abraham was supposed to have first. God needed him to follow God, be a loyal servant and in turn he would bless him and all his descendants. Also, his descendants would be as many as a million stars in the sky. Furthermore, Abraham was already old and had no kids. Abraham decision to truly and completely trust God with his heart was one such hard decision that transformed his life. God in turn fulfilled His promising by blessing Abraham and all of his descendants. Furthermore, He gave him a son at that old age which is impossible. The trust in God portrayed by Abraham is hard to find in the current society. Alternatively if there is, it may not be a full conviction from ones’ heart. Moreover, people sometimes question if God truly exists. Reasonable minds can argue such a case by various theorists such as the creation theory and

Linux Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Linux - Assignment Example Enterprise version of Red Hat supports both server and workstation systems, which eradicates the compatibility issues that could have occurred if other versions may have used. Various different flavors of Red Hat make it beneficial, which can be purchased depending on the services that are required. For a full working IT department in an organization a simple version of customer support can be also be purchased for reducing cost. A complete version of support is also available upon requirement. When it comes to reliability, Red Hat Linux is considered to be the most stable and reliable Operating System. (Negus, & Boronczyk, 2008, p. 191-192)The main disadvantage of using Red Hat is that it is not free. Even downloadable version also involves cost and also subsequent support services. There are various versions different versions of Red Hat are available in the market. These version can be purchased directly from Red Hat Inc or through there distributors. They are as follows: Workstat ions Specifications Basic Workstation Dual CPU supports, memory support is unlimited, no virtualization available Multi OS Workstation Dual CPUs, unlimited memory, and virtualization available Server Specifications Red Hat Enterprise Linux Dual CPU server supports. Available for both 32bit and 64 bit architecture. Support available in three forms basic, standard and premium Has four virtual guests support Its advance version support server of all sizes along with unlimited virtual guests and storage Community Enterprise Operating System (CentOS) CentOS was developed by CentOS project community using the source code of commercial Linux (Red Hat). (Baclit,  2009, p.  xxi-xxii) The purpose behind this development was to provide a free and stable version of commercial Linux distribution and also to keep up with the requirements of an Enterprise. CentOS enabled the Enterprise standard Linux for general public without requiring purchasing it or signing a service contract. CentOS have pre-installed GUI interfaces GNOME and KDE, which makes it easier for the user to use this system. For avoiding legal issues CentOS doesn’t included DVD player software in it which can be termed as its drawback, but users can install a DVD payer through internet if required. It is most popular distribution of Linux used for web servers today. (Membrey, Verhoeven, & Angenendt, 2009, p. xx-xx) Reliability, low cost and ease of use are major factors for its popularity. CentOS do not require different license for each machine as compared to Microsoft Windows products. Once loaded on disk, then can be installed on as many servers or workstation as the user required, allows greater compatibility between both without any major performance issues. Online blogs, forums and websites are general support for CentOS. Feedbacks around globe shows that people using CentOS as workstation or server had never faced any serious issue. Several people who have used this distribution reported that no serious issue has been faced in both of its form i.e. workstation and server. Novell Novell is a known Linux leader; its distribution is formally known as openSUSE. Major advantage this OS has is its relatively bug free distribution. During development, lots of concentration is given to compatibility and functionalities between openSUSE and programs that will interface is it. (McCallister,  2006, p.  255-256) OpenSUSE is considered as a bit difficult to be installed. But

Video game and violent movies Essay Example for Free

Video game and violent movies Essay Patel 2 Many teenagers watch under age T. V. that is violent. These children are too young to be watching violent T. V. or the little kids are watching their parents watching violent T. V. Much of this violent T. V. affects the children by the way they act and the way they think. After watching violent T. V. shows most children develop terrible social skills, poor grades, and aggression towards others. The children that are allowed to watch these shows don’t view it as bad. By watching violent T. V. shows they forget what is right and wrong in the world and don’t know what is good for them or what is bad for them. These violent T. V. shows emerged with the new technology unknown to viewers, but the children take it as if it is good for them. Some of the positive effects are it helps kids learn by watching educational television programs. When the parents watching violent movies in front of their kids the parents don’t realize that this is affecting the children. â€Å" Media is the most ubiquitous source of violence encountered by the majority of children. (Erwin, Pg. 105). † The government had created a strengthen the reflexes of military personnel. The creators of video games base their games on the violent movies and TV shows. Many third party game inventors came out with poor quality games. In the 1990’s home video game use had increased and arcade play had decreased, the release of violent games had also begun. The professional teams trained coders who watch samples from the recorded television and they try to see if it is violent or not. All violence tends to be treated in the same way by a content analysis. (Gunter, Harrison Pg. 76)† More and more parents begin to see that these violent games aren’t just bad for their children, but are causing problems in the community. â€Å"Before young children even enter kindergarten they are exposed to over 4,000 hours of television viewing and by the time they Patel 3 leave elementary school children will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on just television alone. (Erwin, Levin Pg. 105). † By looking at these numbers the amount of violent the T. V. channels produce I think they need to make kids show a little less violent than they do. When the kids get older they will have gone through a lot more violence than anyone so there are chances that through out there life time they will do something violent. The kids learn to fight from violent video games or by watching violent T. V. shows. â€Å"In a study examining violence in over 2,700 television programs across 23 channels of broadcast networks, public broadcasting, and cable, Wilson et al found that nearly 7 out of 10 children’s shows contain some type of physical aggression. (Erwin Pg. 501)†. As Erwin said in the last research in 2002 nearly 2,700 T. V. programs have some sort of violent most of them were seen by kids and their family. The kids show have some violence as well and out of that 7 out of 10 children’s show contain physical aggression. Violent video games are a very large problem with many generations today. Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way to settling conflicts. By watching all the violent stuff not only will the children act differently but when they begin to see real violent actions they will appear emotionless and unfazed because of all the built up viewing time. The children that play teen rated video games see many things in these violent world of movie industries: Intense violence, Sexual Content, Use if drugs and illegal substances, and lots of blood. In many video games today violence is viewed from a first person point of view. â€Å"Courts have refused to hold media corporations liable for the violent content of child-entertainment products, but many legal commentators have argued for an expansion of the law. Patel 4 (Proman Pg. 427-28)† The decision taken by the court is not accurate because the violence that the children learn is from the T. V. shows so they should be charged or fined for making violent shows for little kids.

Problems With Profit Maximization Strategy Finance Essay

Problems With Profit Maximization Strategy Finance Essay Shareholder Value is a financial term which is the final measure to see whether the company is successful in enriching its shareholders or not. We have tried to find the difference between shareholder and the owner wealth and have concluded that shareholder wealth is the supreme point of contention for any organization as in the long term it will benefit both owner and shareholder. Hence, both of them will be content. We first look at why shareholder value maximization should be the primary goal of any organization. Then, we look why there is divergence of the organization with the objective of shareholder wealth maximization. Then, we looked at various agency problems that come due to this divergence. Then, we gave strategies on how managers can increase shareholder wealth. At the end, we concluded with the new concept of stakeholder wealth maximization and explained its utility. Who owns any organization which is listed in share market, obviously, the Shareholders. These are those individuals who have bought stocks of the company which shows their ownership of the company. Even if business is a person firm, he is the shareholder. If the Business is big, the board of directors are made up of people who own the right by owning the majority of shares. Since, the shareholder own the company, they are entitled to maximum value generation from the money they have invested (Ahlstrom 2010, pp 11-24). In old times, the traditional approach of companies was to maximize the owners profit, but there were multiple limitations like:- Any firm has multiple targets other than maximizing shareholder wealth. These can be like achieving higher market share, huge sales growth, more stable market position. The traditional approach didnt consider all of these issues. Shareholder Wealth Maximization has multiple things to be looked into like Short term, Medium term and Long term Shareholder Wealth Maximization Shareholder Wealth Maximization over a period of time. The traditional approach lost out to these points. Social Responsibility needs to become the most important aim of any organization. Big Organizations need to give back society in lieu of the resources that they take from them. These big organizations need to devote something out of the profits that they earn. The traditional approach didnt take in account this (Smith 2003, pp 52-76). Modern approach puts more emphasis on Shareholder Wealth Maximization rather than owner profit maximization. This includes increasing the Earnings per share of every shareholder so that their net worth is maximized. Wealth increase is equal to what gross present worth in needed for raising profits in the future. This value needs to be discounted as per the time frame to found out the annualized rate of return for the shareholder. In Shareholder Wealth Maximization, it places priority before any other objective for the organization. Any action which has positive effective on Shareholder Wealth Maximization needs to be given priority. In any capitalistic society, the goal of business should be Shareholder Wealth Maximization as mostly the ownership of goods and services is by individuals, since, they own all the means so that they can make money. Shareholder Wealth Maximization at the end leads to rise in value of the shares which at end maximizes wealth of the shareholder (Ahlstrom 2010, pp 11-24). . Maximizing Shareholder Wealth as the Primary Goal Any financial decision to become effective needs better understanding of organizational goals. Shareholder Wealth Maximization should guide the decision making of the firm which needs to be represented in the common stock price. Profit maximization shouldnt overshadow Shareholder Wealth Maximization as many a times decisions taken to maximize profits of the owner has a short term view and in the long term erodes the value of shareholder wealth. Warren Buffet, who has been the advocate of Shareholder wealth, says that long term economic goal of any organization should be increasing the average annual gain of the intrinsic business value in their firm for their shareholders. Economic progress isnt shown by size of firm but by per share progress (Smith 2003, pp 52-76). Shareholder Wealth Maximization goal should be about management of firm seeking to increase the present value of their future of their shareholder but not increasing the profits of promoters. This return to shareholder needs to be given in the form of periodic dividends as well as if any shareholder decided to sell of the stock. As long as the dividend stream or the value stream is flowing, it increases the value of shareholder. Also, the higher the risk for future wealth growth, it reduce the faith of shareholders on the company. Stock prices always show what is the timing and risk associated with the future benefits which can be reaped by the shareholders. Shareholder wealth is defined as per the total number of shares times the value of per share at which it trades in the stock exchange the company is listed (Van Beurden Gossling 2008, pp 407-424). The advantages of using Shareholder Wealth Maximization as an objective are:- This considers the time period as well as the risk in investing in the firm. Managers must take in account this while making decisions like expenditure so that in contributed to increase shareholder wealth. Shareholder Wealth Maximization can be tested with every decision which is made by organization so that consistency in decisions can be maintained. If the decision increase shareholder wealth it is a good decision, otherwise it isnt, hence it shouldnt be taken. Shareholder Wealth Maximization is impersonal by nature. Shareholder is free to take their funds out and sell the shares and invest anywhere. If the shareholders risk preference isnt according to the decisions made by the firm, the shareholder will sell the sticks owned by him and invest in the organization which has best profile as per his investment needs (Bejou 2011, pp 1-6). For all of these reasons, Shareholder Wealth Maximization should be the primary goal to be achieved by any firm. But, the issues like social responsibilities managerial objectives, agency problems can create departure from pure Shareholder Wealth Maximization behavior shown by managers as well as promoters and more considerate in profit maximization. Nonetheless, Shareholder Wealth Maximization objective gives a standard on which every managerial decision can be judged and screened on (Ahlstrom 2010, pp 11-24). . Divergent Objectives The goal of shareholder wealth maximization is about how financial decisions should be made in an organization. But, not all management decisions need to be made by this. Using the index of managerial performance, we can measure the managerial success in achieving the shareholder wealth maximization objective. They should try and work to maximize Economic Value addition which is the difference between profit after tax and the cost of capital employed to generate that profit. Multiple corporations like Coca Cola, AT T, and General Electric use this concept of Economic Value added (Husted de Jesus Salazar 2006, pp 76-91). It has been seen that all those firms which dont give attention to stockholder interests and are more indulged in promoter profit maximization perform poorly in long term. There is always a divergence in shareholder wealth maximization goal and the other objectives which are undertaken by management. The main reason for this divergence is shareholders are real owner but control is with promoters in all corporations. This separation of ownership and control allows manager to pursue self-promoting goals which are not in line with shareholder wealth maximization. They are consistent to maintain the control of the company. Instead of pursuing the goal of shareholder wealth maximization, managers just work for satisfying or look for acceptable levels of shareholder wealth increase, while working for their interest improvement (Shaw 2009, pp 565-576). The maximization of personal welfare of managers can lead to long run job security of themselves. The focus on long term survival of managers limits the risk taken by firm as unfavorable outcomes can lead to disastrous outcomes for the firm. Similarly, the need for job security is one reason why management doesnt allow any merger offers given by other companies. The Golden Parachute approach is usually in the interests of managers more than the shareholders wealth. Now days, multiple companies give top management stock options which ensures their ownership in the company. Pan-American gives retirement option in common stocks which ensures that they think on the options to increase the share price. This helps in alignment of interests of managers with those of shareholders (Bejou 2011, pp 1-6). Agency Problems The presence of different objectives of owners and managers is one kind of agency relationship problem. Agency relationships happen when one individual hires other individual so that he can perform duties on behalf of his. They delegate the decision making to the agent. These kinds of agency relationships exist between stockholders and managers and those of stockholders and creditors. When we talk about agency relationship between stockholders and managers, the inefficiency rises as each party works in a way to maximize its interests and utility. The management thinking for looking for long term survival rather than thinking about shareholder wealth maximization. Other example is about using company airplanes, limousines and offices without having any ownership in the firm. This shirking by managers is an issue. Enron Corp lost $1 billion of investments in 2001. In 1991, Enron permitted their CFO to purchase assets and minimize the risk of Enron. The CFO made million personally. This conflict of interests made way for Enron filing for bankruptcy in Chapter 11 (Smith 2003, pp 52-76). In Enron Case, the agency issue was poorly handled which led to shareholders feel the brunt of this mismatch. Agency costs include 1) Expenditures made for minimizing the incentives for management which management took for removing decisions in contrast of shareholder interest, Such as giving management compensation in from of stock option of the firm. 2) Expenditure to oversee management action like audits both external and internal. 3) Protection of organization from managerial dishonesty. 4) Opportunity cost of lost chances due to complex structure of organization (Husted de Jesus Salazar 2006, pp 76-91). Managerial motivation act in the stockholder interest when they have stock in form of compensation, the threat of losing their job and threat of being taken over by any other organization. Agency problems and related costs can be decreases if financial markets are efficient enough. Also, it can be done with the use of complex contracts in financial terms. Agency problems lead to costs which reduce the value of firm on market place (Bejou 2011, pp 1-6). The Other agency conflict is between shareholder and creditors starts from the relation between owners and creditors. Creditors always stake a fixed claim on companys resources in lieu of long term debts, bank loans, commercial agreements and other instruments. The returns given to creditors are fixed while those to shareholders are variable due to stock price. Owners can try to make risky investment decisions, but creditors need to be paid back in full but investments need to be made as early as possible. Creditors to protect their money ask for other protective covers from company line bond indentures, limitation on dividend payments, types of Investments Company can make, poison pills and new debt application. This all can reduce the potential market value of the firm (Ahlstrom 2010, pp 11-24). Problems with Profit Maximization strategy If Managers of any firm want to work in the direction of shareholder wealth maximization, they should look beyond their conventional thinking of owner profit maximization. Profit maximization model isnt useful for decision making due to multiple reasons like 1) The standard macroeconomic model for any firm is static. Profit maximization cant compare short term and long term profits. Profit decisions should be reflected on time basis. And should have a long term impact on the firm 2) Profit is defined in accounting terms between costs and revenue, but it doesnt define any priority on multiple things like maximization of absolute profit, rate of profit as well as earnings per share. 3) The last problem is profit maximization of owners gives no way for managers to seek the risk assessment option. Tw projects giving same profits can have different risk profile (Cosans 2009, pp. 391-399) Conclusion The complete concentration on shareholder wealth maximization has been under criticism since the dot com burst. A shareholder value increase talks about benefit of the owners only but doesnt talk about the social issues like employment, environment and ethics. Any management decision can maximize shareholder value but can lower welfare of other stakeholders listed above. A Company while making decisions for maximizing shareholder value can also prove detrimental to interests of its customers as multiple decision regarding product lines can have effect. Also, shareholder wealth maximization strategy needs to have a long term view not a short term one. The intrinsic value of any business is brought up by the combination of financial might, societal contribution, employee satisfaction and shareholder interests maximization. This is said to be stakeholder value maximization. However, this concept is very hard to implement as every decision cant be useful to all stakeholder. They need to be prioritized and weighted upon before implementing nay managerial decision

The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) :: essays research papers

The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) Since the beginning of time, man has waged war on his neighbors, his friends and his enemies. In many cases these wars were caused by power-hungry nations that were in the process of expanding their empire and ended up stepping on the toes of another superpower or ally of a superpower. In the case of the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage, Carthage was extending its empire and they stepped on Rome’s toes. During the course of this war the winner was unclear but at times victory seemed eminent for both sides until Rome finally won. The Romans had control in the first part of the war but this would not last. After the Romans first win they decided that they needed a victory over the city of Carthage but this would turn the tides in favor of the Carthaginians. For some 15 years after this defeat of Rome the tides went back and forth between the two but would eventually lead to the Romans victory. After the victory, Rome made some very harsh demands and Carthage filled thos e demands even though some of them were very extreme. The first Punic War started with a request by the locals in Messana for the Romans to aid them in defeating the Carthaginians. Messana was at the southern tip of Italy and would be a great asset to the already superior naval fleet of Carthage. Rome saw this to be a good opportunity to halt the expansion of the Carthaginian Empire and to stop the possible attack on Italy (which was controlled by Rome). Despite this fact the Roman council debated on whether to attack on these premises or not, but eventually it was decided that they would wage war on the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then told that they must halt their invasion or war would be waged. They did not stop and Rome declared war. The first battle was fought entirely in Sicily, in 263BCE, and since the Romans were the superior fighters they took the ground battle and continued to prevail until 256BCE. After the victory over Carthage, the Romans began besieging Greek cities that allied with the Carthaginians. The Romans sacked these cities, which caused them to harden their resistance. Rome realized that to beat the Carthaginians they needed to build a fleet and in 261BCE they began building. To counter the Romans inexperience at sea they used a device called a corvus (a large gangplank with a spike on the underside).

PepsiCo’s Restaurants Essay

In the case study, PepsiCo is considering in Carts of Colorado and/or California Pizza Kitchen. Senior Management is faced with the question of whether the necessary capital investment in order to purchase one or both of the businesses can be profitable for each of the acquired businesses, but must also take into consideration that the additional business units will not hinder the profitability PepsiCo itself. Would investing in other companies be the best way to expand PepsiCo? This question is important because it could affect the success of the company. By investing in a company PepsiCo started from Pepsi-Cola and then moved into a more diversified business with mainly soft drinks, snack foods and restaurants. In early 1990s, PepsiCo’s restaurant business is composed of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, all of them are business leaders in their segment. 1By investing in C1a1r1t1s1 1o1f1 1C1o1l1o1r1a1d1o1, it1 1w1o1u1l1d1 1e1n1a1b1l1e1 1P1e1p1s1i1C1o1 1t1o1 1e1n1t1e1r1 1n1e1w1 1m1a1r1k1e1t1 1a1n1d1 1n1e1w1 1c1u1s1t1o1m1e1r1s1 1a1n1d1 1h1e1l1p1 1t1o1 1a1c1c1e1l1e1r1a1t1e1 1t1h1e1 1s1a1l1e1s1 1g1r1o1w1t1h1 1b1e1s1i1d1e1s1 1o1f1 1o1r1g1a1n1i1c1 1g1r1o1w1t1h. The Cart of Colorado’s (COC) industry is subject to strict government regulations and the uncertain demand for carts and kiosks, so the attractiveness to enter this industry is between low and medium. COC had succeeded in purchasing their largest competitor that generated sales of $2.5 million in 1990, which gives them potential to grow in the manufacturing and merchandising of mobile food carts and kiosks industry. PepsiCo will gain competitive advantage for its link with COC because it will be able to customize the carts and kiosk for its fast food chain; it is more aligned with PepsiCo’s current strategies of quick service. However, the tradeoff will be PepsiCo may focus on too many different strategies and product markets. Focusing on the same customer targets can minimize this tradeoff. It will be an advantage for PepsiCo should go and form a strategic alliance with COC. PepsiCo can use the carts to expand their KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut businesses. In my opinion, I think it would be in PepsiCo’s best interest to invest in the two companies because in this case they are both successful and would help boost PepsiCo sales.