Carrier Liability Under Various Shipping Rules Essay

From the perspective of the international shipping industry, the globe is divided into nations that own cargo and nations that own ships; the majority of nations fall into both categories. Among such differing interests exists great potential for conflict regarding damage to, loss of, or delay in the arrival of sea cargo and how the risks for such potentialities should be allocated among the parties. The issues at the base of the potential conflicts include: which party bears the risk; which risk allocation rules apply; to what extent is the carrier or shipowner liable for damage or loss while the cargo is in its possession; and to what extent should government be involved in the regulation of private transactions between private parties in attempting to determine what the extent of liability is for each party. Sea-going societies have promulgated maritime laws regarding the carriage of goods at sea since before the birth of Christ. As early as the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages with the advent of the Law Merchant, the laws of Visby, Oleron and Hansa Cities, shipper and carrier were considered joint venturers, sharing in both the risks and the rewards of the cargo delivery. Shippers would travel on board during the journey to oversee the safety of their cargo, while carriers were obligated to provide a seaworthy ship and a competent crew. In the event the of the ship being lost at sea, the shipper and the carrier shared in the misfortune. However, as long as carriers have accepted cargo on behalf of shippers, conflict over the economic allocation of risk and liability has existed. As early as the latter decades of the 17th century, shippers and carriers used Lloyd’s Coffee shop in London as a meeting place to hammer out the provisions for general maritime policies of insurance and the insured risks for loss or damage to the shippers’ cargo. Eventually, during the 1800s, the interests further diverged as carriers formed organizations to protect against liability, such as the Shipowners Mutual Protection Society and the first modern protection and indemnity (â€Å"P&I†) club, the Steamship Owners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association. As recently as the mid-20th century, shippers and carriers were still essentially joint venturers sharing the risks and rewards of their transactions. This remained a logical arrangement in light of the vagaries of the sea and dangers such as natural disaster, incompetent crews and masters, attacks by warring nations and pirates, antiquated communications and navigational aids and equipment, or even volatile political situations. Operating in such an environment of constant peril, the risks to the interests of both the shipper and carrier were for all intents and purposes, equal. Even with centuries of conflict and attempts at uniform regulation, the law regarding the liabilities and rights of carriers and shippers for the loss of or damage to goods at sea remains largely unsettled. As ocean shipping continues to grow as an industry, maintaining its importance to the global economy, uniformity of law regarding carrier liability remains elusive. With the first decade of the 21st century behind us, and much political instability across the globe, it is imperative that a uniform and consistent body of law be established by the world’s seagoing nations addressing the legal rights and liabilities of shippers and carriers.

Wage Gap Between Genders

Earnings often signify how in dividends are valued socially and economically, therefore earning ratios between men and omen have been essential for social movements. The remaining is often wage discriminate ion since it is the difference in earnings between identical males and females. Women with equal 1 credentials should be paid equal as men Pay Equity & Discrimination Women should be paid equally as men because gender makes no difference I n what a person can do on the job.The resulting â€Å"urban legends† of gender difference can affect men and women at work and at home, as parents and as partners. When it co mess to personal relationships, bestselling books and popular magazines often claim t at women and men don't get along because they communicate too differently. A lot of people believe that just being female they can not do the same as males. The fact that people belie eve females to be physically and mentally shows discrimination in genders. Women are been g put dow n because of their gender but can be physically and mentally better than men.As stated in Human Psychology 101 most discrimination is due to past prejudice. Whooped and ‘Pay Equity & Discrimination Institute for women's policy 201 1. 9 DCE. 20 14 others were regarded as women's most significant professions. Since e early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Women should be paid equally as men because historically the inequality has proven to be pure discrimination.Discrimination between genders is deeply rooted in our modern society. The gender pay gap affects all Women, but for Women Of cool r the wage gap is worse. Asian American women's salaries show the smallest gender pay gap, at 90 percent of white men's earnings. Hispanic women's salaries show the largest gap, at 5 4 percent of white men's earnings. White men are used as a benchmark because they make e up the largest demographic group in the labor force. Let is unlawful to harass a person because of that person's sex.Harassment can include â€Å"sexual harassment† or unwelcome sex al advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sex al nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's goalmouths the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing g, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal I when it is so request or severe that It creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision..Most discrimination is caused due to either peer pressure to curry favor with their friends around them, or because they have a total lack k of selectors and selfsame, and they can't feel good about who they are unless they are p outing down someone else, or making another person feel badly. In the past most believed that the male gender was the superior gender and put women down to keep it that way. W omen were first thought to only be made to carry children and do household chores.Before it as prohibited for women to have professions except for teaching and writing. Some feared t hat the female gender would take over. It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person's sex. Discrimination between genders is nothing new; it all goes back to before cool nail times. In the 1 9th century the medical profession was an example of a change d attitude. Beginning in the 19th century education was required but, women were bare d from attending colleges for any profession other than teaching.This usually proven Ted women that married and bore child's at young ages to begin any professional career they c SSE. Around this time discrimination rose. For example in 1846 the American Medical Sass conation barred women from being members. It wasn't until 1915 that the American Medical a association began to allow female admittance-Since the signing Of the equal pay act Of 1 9 63, it is now illegal to pay men and women substantially different wages for equal work (N WAC, 2013).Pay difference between men and women remains a hot topic that keeps resume facing over the years and reasons behind the gap are highly debated. Gendered violence (GOB) is violence that is directed against a person on t he basis of gender. It constitutes a breach of the fundamental right to life, liberty, security, dignity, equality between women and men, nondiscrimination and physical an d mental integrity. Gendered violence and violence against women are often used indistinguishable as most gendered violence is inflicted by men on women and girls.Gendered violence includes: domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, sexual violence during conflict an d harmful customary or traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, f arced marriages and honor crimes trafficking in women, forced prostitution and violations of human rights in AR De conflict (in particular murder, sys tematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy) ; forced sterilization, forced abortion, coercive use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection. Domestic violence remains one of the most widespread forms of genders violence.Battering, often referred to as domestic violence happens to women of every age, race, class, and nationality. Battering takes many forms and includes a RA Eng of threatening and harmful behavior. It may take the form of verbal and emotion anal abuse, with the direct or implied threat of violence. Gender equality is a human right. Gender Equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for the creation of sustainable and p useful societies. Women are entitled to live with dignity and with freedom from want and from fear.Women are treated in many other aspects Of life as equals so why not be paid equally also. Gender equality is at the very heart of human rights and United Nations values. A fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter adopted by woo RL leaders in 1945 is â€Å"equal rights for men and women†, and protecting and promoting woo men's human rights is the responsibility of all States. Empowered women contribute o the health and productivity of whole families and communities, and they improve pros sects for the next generation.All women and girls have equal access to quality education, employment, housing, and health, irrespective of race, class, income, immigrant Zion Status or involvement with the criminal justice system. For more than 30 years, LINEN A has advocated for women and girls, promoting legal and policy reforms and gene resistive data collection, and supporting initiatives that improve women's health and e expand their choices in life. Protecting and promoting her reproductive rights is essential t ensuring her freedom to participate more fully and equally in society.The UCLA has alls o been working to secure gender rights and ensure all women's are abl e to lead lives of dignity free from violence and discrimination. They have been making sure that educe action privileges are equal between genders. They keep all job opportunities the as me. All opportunities are being kept equal yet women still haven't been given an ex. al and fair amount of pay. Women have been in the workforce for generations. They strives to be equal to men and gain the same rights as them.

Orchid Partners: Executive Summary Essay

Orchid Partners is a Venture Capital firm being founded by give general partners Todd Krasnow, Susan Pravda, David Friend, Bill Nelson and Jeff Flowers – who have known each other for many years in various professional and personal capacities. All four partners are driven and committed to this  venture and bring the strength of prior experience in venture capital industry, entrepreneurship, operations (hands-on running of businesses), raising capital to fund ventures, familiarity with the deal making process on either side of the table, as well experience in multiple industries. Moreover, their strengths are complementary such that they overcome individual weaknesses – eg. Friend prefers to be a visionary and rainmaker, while Krasnow has operational expertise and Susan holds the fund together. The timing and personal goals of the partners also align during the founding of Orchid. However, neither individual has experience being a general partner in a venture capital fund, and the group needs to work together cohesively and decide the best strategy for the fund. Individual strengths and weaknesses are detailed below Name Todd Krasnow Susan Pravda David Friend Bill Nelson Strengths Extensive experience and understanding of retail operations and marketing in food-grocery, office supply and dry cleaning industry Proven leadership and entrepreneurship skills Ability to lead operations from conceptual to executional stage and drive growth across geographies with hands-on, analytical and unemotional approach Experienced in raising money for entrepreneurship ventures Networking skills along with ability to create and sustain alliances with multiple firms Known for strategizing and negotiation skills along with legal prowess Ability to multitask while overseeing smooth functioning of firm managing operations, budgeting, finance and compensation Systematic and great at time management Successful entrepreneur and angel investor in technology sector with CEO experience Fundraising skills and great network. Sits on boards of companies Innovator, with varied interests and respected public figure, leading to network across horizontal strata of society Veteran with valuable operating expertise along with CEO experience across multiple companies in lifetime Reputation of being turnaround specialist with experience in operations and giving businesses a new lease of life with spectacular growth Valuable network, since sits on boards of companies and educational institutes Skilled negotiator Main Weakness Perceived as wild card with little tech  experience Taking on the partnership may be too much on  her plate Wants to be rainmaker and visionary and  doesn’t like to be involved in day to day  operations Market savvy and ability to understand and foresee technology trends Well experienced entrepreneur having served as CTO of three companies Innovator and holder of patents in technology sector Jeff Flowers Due diligence expert for technology retreated aspects of VC firms Orchid’s fund-raising activities Each of the general partners committed $2 million towards the fund. Initially, Orchid directed its fund-raising efforts towards personal  contacts of the partners, wealthy people they believed may be interested in investing in their firm. Friend could get commitments of $50,000 to $500,000, but that was miniscule in comparison to their initial target of $50 million. The major problems with this approach were: 1. During the first round of fundraising, it is difficult to convince individual investors of the viability of the deals the firm has in the pipeline and hence get their buy-in without having other investors. It leads to a cause and effect problem, where people are reluctant to invest since they do not have sufficient funds from other investors already. Also, individual investors typically invest smaller amounts as compared to larger institutional investors. 2. Also, Pravda, Krasnow and Flowers were not able to spend dedicated time to fundraising activities, since they were working full time. Thus, initially, the effectiveness of fund-raising activities was limited by Friend’s activities alone. Once they realized that these initial efforts may not be so effective in raising the requisite amount, they decided to target institutional investors, raise a large chunk of the target amount and then approach individual investors for the remaining amount. Similar to other industries, VC fund investors also constitute of different segments, i.e. innovators, early adopters, resistors (laggards). This had a huge implication on Orchid’s fund raising activities. It was essential for them to raise the initial few millions through institutional investors enough to reach critical mass, following which the laggards and the other skeptical investors follow into innovators’ footsteps. Thus, they should engage with friendly institutional investors at first. This essentially meant two major changes in their fundraising strategy: 1. Revise the target upwards: The initial target of $50 million was too small for them to sustain the fund through consecutive rounds of investing. Also, since institutional investors tend to invest in larger amounts (increments of $5-20 million), a larger fund would make it easier for them to participate. 2. Revise the Pitch: Their initial pitch was targeted at individual investors, and thus delved deep into the nuances of the VC market, which was not relevant to the institutional investors. Thus, they decided to focus the pitch more on their core competencies. Deal Sourcing The company started with the assumption that other VCs would be an excellent source of new deals. It believed that the expertise they had in varied sector and emerging technologies was not very common amongst VC circuit and they could pick up companies in the early stages of operation and needed small funding. Friends from other VC companies would suggest the companies that do not fit their criteria or need small funding in series A. Orchid partners felt that the approach was in their best interest considering that fact the market would not trust a new VC fund start up easily and established limited partners might not take a chance with such companies. Orchid Partners were following practices common for deal sourcing in the venture capital universe. Their strategies dealt with by focusing on long-term relationships built with sellers and management teams in the local region of New England. To start with, Orchid’s plan to leverage industry contacts of its partners and VCs to provide a pipeline of deals might be good in the short run. In future, as the size of the fund grows, sustaining a steady pipeline would be rather difficult. Orchid devised a strategy to concentrate only the areas that it was knew best since each partner had unique background and was a specialist is their field. The approach was to assign a partner to every sector in which the company had expertise. The partner was then responsible for carrying out the due diligence and also comprehensive study of the industry and exit option of the firm. The issue with this approach is that the partner already has heavy involvement in the deal before pitching it to all the partners. Since the firm size was small  and every partner was an expert in their own field there is a chance that they could get too attached to their views and push for the investment. In  addition, this model assumes that the partner would be able to analyse every aspect of the business i.e. taking into consideration the legal, financial, administrative and operative aspects of the business which might not always be feasible. Orchid Partners could build a specialist team trained in outbound origination programs who would be experts in scouring industry forums and the upcoming internet. Matching historical deal to the industries in focus with investment financing from banks might also help in generating leads from financial institutions. Dealing with Limited Partners In 2003, the PE industry is just recovering from a downturn and the Early-stage investing part of the market is largely underserved. Also, the Orchid Partners team is well diversified and has strong experience with them w.r.t. growing, managing and turning-around businesses. However, since their fund is new and doing the first round of fundraising, they don’t have the liberty of being too demanding from the Limited Partners in terms of the deal terms. It is advisable that they focus on the following deal terms: Fund term: The Partners should look at a fund term of at least 5-7 years which will have an investment period of 3-4 years. They can start the negotiation with 7 years fund term and as a worst case look to close at 5. Since they are focusing on technology and technologyenabled businesses, a term of 5-7 years should be enough to close the fund. Management fee: Orchid Partners should look at management fee of 3% considering the fact that they are raising a small fund and they would need sufficient capital to hire a team, rent an office and cover other administrative costs. Post negotiation, they should look to keep this component at 2.5% at minimum. Hurdle rate: Since the fund is new in the market, it will be advisable to offer preferential returns to the LPs before the GPs can carry a part of the profits with them. Orchid Partners should set this rate at 8%, the industry norm. Carry: Orchid Partners should offer a straight, non-negotiable carry contract of 20:80 where-in they will keep 20% of the profits and distribute 80% of the profits to the LPs, once the Hurdle Rate has been met. Distribution waterfall: Orchid Partners should propose that the returns generated by exit from the investments will be distributed to the LPs in a pro-rata to amount of the LP’s money invested in the business which is being exited. GP’s contribution to the fund: This is important as it signals the commitment of the GPs to the fund and ensures incentive compatibility between the LPs and the GPs. They should invest at least 10% of the fund size to the fund to assure the LPs that the GPs have enough skin in the game.

Vietnam War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Vietnam War - Research Paper Example will become mired in other foreign affairs quagmires which again will weaken the military, economic strength and its political status within the world community. This same lesson was never learned by the long defunct Roman Empire. A similar outcome looms for America if it continues to replicate the mistake that was Vietnam. A result of justifications emanating from Cold War, anti-communism sentiments, Vietnam became the standard by which American military power limitations can be measured. Following the allied defeat of Japan in 1945, the U.S. became embroiled in a battle over military power and political ideology with the former Soviet Union that was showcased on a world-wide scale for more than four decades, the Cold War. Communism was America’s declared enemy during this era. The U.S. drew a symbolic line in the sand in Southeast Asia after the Soviets built the Berlin Wall and continued in its aspirations to dominate other Eastern European nations. The fiasco that was Viet nam triggered anti-military reactions for the majority of Americans whose subsequent response contributed to the Cold War’s end. Vietnam also forced America to rethink the fundamental purpose of its military power and question the scope of its capability to force it’s will in foreign nations whether, for example, in the deserts of the Middle East or the jungles of Southeast Asia. In addition the U.S. was forced to question its general foreign policy viewpoint and subsequent strategies. (Hogan, 2006) â€Å"U.S. foreign policy, from its abandonment of isolationism at the ending of the 19th century to its status as the sole remaining superpower, has always been centered on the promotion and conservation of its own interests and ‘the advancement of civilization,’ the exercise of power to assert itself beyond the bounds of the American continents in ‘the interest of civilization and of humanity’ and its own selfish interests.† (Olney, 2004) This re-evaluation phase lasted about 40 years, from the mid-1970’s until early 2003. The U.S. enjoined the Cold War period, Vietnam War and invasion of Iraq to ostensibly spread democracy to subjugated peoples of the world (the official explanation) and with great confidence of victory. Both military conflicts offered a comparable paradigm: the capability of the U.S. to utilize its armed forces as a political, social and ideological tool is limited. indisputably, America entered Vietnam with somewhat of a arrogance assuming the North Vietnamese would bow to the powerful American military and that the South Vietnamese would gladly accept and adjust to a western nation style of democratic governance. Former U.S. national Security Advisor under President Nixon and Secretary of State (1973-1977) Henry Kissinger stated America entered Vietnam with a â€Å"brash confidence in the universal applicability of America’s prescriptions.† (Kissinger, 2003) The ironic epilog ue to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is that America entered into this horrific and bloody and enduring conflict believing it to be the ‘knight in shining armor’ for the South Vietnamese people. Its leaders did this without appreciating that the South Vietnamese were fighting to be free from a North Vietnamese government that symbolized the same colonialist, imperialistic ideology as did the American government. (Ignatieff, 2003) This lack of military success in Vietnam was not because the U.S. lacked fire-power. It was due to a failure to understand the opponent. Although

Sales Promotion Techniques used by JETBLUE Research Paper

Sales Promotion Techniques used by JETBLUE - Research Paper Example JetBlue not only offers the service of air travel at cheap rates but it also tries to set itself apart from its competitors by offering a product that is superior than the rest at prices people can afford. With the objective of providing superior in-flight experience the airline was the first to offer all the passengers with a personalized service. Each seat had its own flat-screen monitor installed at the back and it allowed passengers to tune into many of DirecTV channels at the same cost. Due to its focus on providing the best service to passengers, the airline became synonymous to customer service. The airline was given a four-star rating by SKYTRAX (The World’s 4-Star Airlines| official SKYTRAX Airline Ranking). In 2007 a violent snowstorm led to a collapse of JetBlue’s and passengers were made to wait for many hours to wait for clearance to take-off. Many of the flights were even cancelled. This hurt JetBlue’s status badly, however, the airline was able to deal with the crisis effectively and rebuild its image among its customers. JetBlue’s success should be credited to its belief of â€Å"flying people† rather than â€Å"flying airplanes†. Low Air-fare & Superior Customer Service: The aviation industry is very competitive and most of the airlines have a lot of trouble in creating brand loyalty among the customers. Passengers usually search for available flights usually on sites such as orbitz.com, travelocity.com and expedia.com. The passengers, most of the times, end up buying a ticket on the flight that provides them with the cheapest fare (Lambrano). Hence airline companies have to come up with travel deals with cheaper rates than their competitors. They also need to reduce their costs and at the same time provide great customer service to passengers in order to attract more and more customers. JetBlue was able to do just that. When David Neeleman founded JetBlue, the idea was to provide passengers with a low-cost airline without compromising on the in-flight experience. When customers travel with JetBlue not only will they be able to reduce their fare costs by as much as 65% but they would also enjoy a great travel experience as JetBlue offers wider seat s, more legroom, and more overhead storage space than any other airline in its class and, with 24 channels of live in-flight television, passengers would not have to miss on any of their shows while travelling (JetBlue Airways, The First 'Mega Start-Up' Unveils Launch Plans 1999). Through these measures JetBlue was able to increase the demand for their service as more and more passengers were attracted to flying with JetBlue. Not only were the low fares an incentive to travel for the customers, but the great in-flight experience provided by the airline offered an added incentive for customers to travel with JetBlue. Hence by lowering its cost the airline was able to offer lower rates for its flight fares as compared to its competitors. Coupled with that, it was embedded in the DNA of the airline to provide a high quality in-flight experience to their passengers better than the rest. As a result JetBlue was able to create some brand loyalty among its customers who kept utilizing JetB lue’s service while travelling because of the very personalized in-flight experience that they received. Eventually these customers would also recommend JetBlue to their friends or colleagues. Hence the role of word of mouth was a big help to increase the airline’s sales. When first-time travellers of JetBlue were asked from where they had heard about the airline more than 70% answered that they had heard about it from a friend (Carton 2001). Customer service plays an important role in improving JetBlue sales. It

Summary of Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts 7 Assignment

Summary of Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts 7 - Assignment Example In most of the accounting measurements, the observable marketplace-determined amount is used nevertheless; the accountants use the estimations of future cash flows in accounting measurements very often. The present value measurements are not required when the price of an asset or liability s observed in a marketplace because marketplace assessment of present value if already embodied in these prices. The present value formula determines the time value of money and contributes to the foundations of economics and corporate finance. In accounting measurement, the use of present value is intended to capture the economic difference between sets of cash flows. For example, the price of unlike assets may appear similar when it is measured through undiscounted cash flow method however, present value helps to distinguish between the unlike assets by providing more relevant information through the incorporation of uncertainty in the estimation of future cash flows. Present value can be compute d by using cash flows and interest rates and for financial reporting purpose it must represent any observable measurement attribute of asset or liability otherwise the limited information to the users of financial statements may mislead the users. The five components of present value include an estimation of the future cash flows, expected variations in the amount or timing of cash flows, time value of money, price for bearing the inherent uncertainty in the asset or liability and other factors like illiquidity and market imperfections. When present value is used at initial recognition and fresh-start measurements, its objective is to measure the fair value. The market‘s pricing mechanism facilitates the marketplace participants because it ensures that like items do not appear different and unlike items do not appear alike. The accountants typically accepts actual exchange prices as fair value in the measurement of transactions when the exchange of cash happens near to the dat e of transaction however, using a measurement becomes necessary when the stated price is not the actual representative of fair value. In other words, when the transaction of an asset or a liability is not accompanied by a cash transaction, the accountants look for the techniques for the initial measurement of the asset or liability. However, the measurement objective in both the cases remains same. Since the Board could not identify the logic for using a different view in fresh-start measurements therefore, the principles for the initial recognition also apply to fresh-start measurement. It is also possible that an entity’s best estimate of presence value of future cash flows is not equal to the fair value. Some reasons have been identified because of which the entity may pay cash flows different from the expected cash flows in the marketplace. The primary reason is the perceived advantage or disadvantage of the entity relative to others in the marketplace. Although the expec tations of the management of entity can be informative and useful however, the final arbiter of values of assets and liabilities is the marketplace. Therefore, sometimes the entity pays the market’ prices regardless of its expectations and sometimes it completely relies on its own expectations. The inherent uncertainties in the estimated cash flows should be reflected in the accounting measurements that used the present value technique; or else, the assets or liabilities with different risks may

500 to 700 words Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

500 to 700 words - Essay Example The project being undertaken by BP Solar Australia is specifically focused on poverty reduction and improvement of the wellbeing of people through development of packaged solar systems in the communities which can be harnessed as the enabling technology that can be used to meet various needs of the local people. The project is mainly concerned with inculcating a sense of asset management as a way of promoting the sense of belonging which encourages development initiatives being undertaken in the local communities. The success of the project is mainly determined by the involvement of the members of the local communities. The main aim of the project is improvement the wellbeing of the local members of the Philippines communities that were underprivileged through provision of facilities that were lacking such as electricity. It is also aimed at developing and supporting a culture of asset management among the community members as a way of establishing a sense of belonging. This is an attempt to make them part of the ongoing project initiative. The scope of the analysis is to establish the assertion that project development in infrastructure in previously disadvantaged communities is one way of stimulating social and economic growth while at the same time alleviating poverty among the members of the affected areas. A stakeholder is an individual or group that is directly or indirectly affected by activities of a certain project or can be any entity with a conceivable interest or stake in a project. BP Solar Australia is the major stakeholder which coordinates the project. The Australian government is also a stakeholder as it is responsible for providing financial assistance through grants and loans. The Philippines government is a stakeholder responsible for authorising the project. The local community members are stakeholders who are both part of the project and are

Market equilibrium Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market equilibrium - Research Paper Example The law of supply suggests that if prices for commodities are high, then the supply of the commodity will rise. The supply will diminish if the prices go down. In this case, the price of the materials used for constructing houses will determine the supply. If the materials and land are at a low price, then more homes will be supplied (Salunke & Bagad, 2009). Taxes and subsidies will determine the quantities in the market. If there are expectations of price increase, suppliers are likely to withhold the commodities (Salunke & Bagad, 2009). The market theory suggests the presence of succinct information in the market. This is an indication that the information on the stock is visible to all investors (Salunke & Bagad, 2009). With the same information on commodities, the price available is an expectation of all purchasers. This aspect is suitable in equilibrating the market because it prevents tentative trade (Tucker, 2011). If the price of homes in the market is greater than that of equilibrium, amounts availed into the market become larger than those in demand. In this case, a surplus arises and leads to reduction of prices. With the prices below stability, amounts availed into the market become lesser than those inquired. A shortage occurs and leads to rise in prices of the commodity (Salunke & Bagad, 2009). In order to ensure equilibrium, buyers and sellers drop and raise the amounts of commodities and supplies to the extent of reaching stable prices where demand and supply are the same (Salunke & Bagad, 2009). If the demand for homes becomes too high, the supply increases and makes sellers reduce the prices. As the price drops, the supply diminishes and creates a need to raise prices. When the prices rise, demand reduces and supply increases. The process proceeds until there is market equilibrium (Tucker,

Management for the service sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management for the service sector - Essay Example One of the best decisions recently made for the company, was its approach to do without franchisees and keep its stores company owned. The depth of management resources is what makes Starbucks different from small businesses. There are other similar companies that will spend up to approximately $300 million dollars per year, just in marketing, where as Starbucks will only spend 1 percent of its revenues (approximately $30 million) in both advertising and marketing. Starbucks utilizes their marketing and advertising dollars towards new products that are ready to come out or new coffee flavors and ideas. Starbucks has no doubt that their employees are one of their most important assets to the company. Their workforce is able to manage and maintain a competitive advantage. Pride in their workforce was produced through an empowering corporate culture; outstanding employee benefits and employee stock ownership programs. Being able to make decisions on their own without first having to report to management is empowering and motivating for the employees. They are encouraged to think for themselves as an entity of the business. Your mind unconsciously filters our most of what is going on around you. At some level of perception, your mind is aware of certain things. Perception is a persons mental image of the world. One of Starbucks biggest concerns is with customers perception. The customers perception of the way employees behave, greet them and even the way that handle their money has a lot to do with getting them to buy a $3.00 cup of coffee (Schultz & Dori 1997 p 14). One of the great challenges Starbucks faces is to create a perception of quality in order to get customers to pay the price they want charge. For many people, a brand is perception. People perceive Starbucks to be a great place to sit down in a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere. The perception, leading to the experience, provides customers with an unforgettable

Certificate training and assesment tafe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Certificate training and assesment tafe - Essay Example Questions RESULTS Assessor to complete shaded areas: S NYS Questions relevant to all TAE40110 design field units 1. In your own words explain what Vocational Education and Training (VET) is and describe its key features. Explain key principles of how competency-based training and assessment (CBT/A) works. 1. Answer: Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a higher educational training delivered by further institutions, which provides people with occupational or work related knowledge and skills that is however not a degree or higher level programs. The three (3) features of the training program is that it industry led, national and client focused. By industry led, it means the program is focused on employers and people who are already in industry work. For this reason, the whole program is defined by representatives in the industry. This means that the program may serve as an in-service training, career enhancement program or career option for people who will want to switch their careers. By national, it means the program is government accredited and so it is carried out throughout the entire Australia. It is not only accredited by government but also managed by the state or government. The program is client focused because it serves the immediate needs of clients as long their job demands are concerned. The program is conducted in a flexible manner that meets the working needs of clients. This means that it considers the working conditions of workers so that training programs are not fixed at times that will ne inconvenient to clients who may be working already. The key principles on which the CBT/A works is includes the fact that i. The program focuses on what a person can do not how they learn to do it: This means that the primary aim of the program is to see a client who completes the course with an ability to undertake a certain competency without necessarily judging the way by which the person acquired those competencies. This brings to the fore, the i ssues of flexibility in training acquisition. The format for training is so flexible that a client may choose whatever learning strategy that works will for him. As far as organisers are concerned, the end justifies the means and that end should be the acquisition of a competency level. ii. Criteria-reference assessment: This principle talks about the uniformity in the assessment procedure for the program. Competency-based assessment focuses on giving all participants assessment based on criteria outlined by the relevant competency standards. iii. Recognition assessment: This is to say that the program recognises prior learning experiences and current competency of candidates and assesses them based on these current competencies. The program therefore places premium on prospective candidates with previous experiences and encourages that. iv. Flexible and personalised delivery: The program focuses on the relevancy for the client. It aims at meeting the employability needs of the clie nts. The program is also delivered to meet the occupational needs of clients. The assessment process also reflects the needs of the clients. It is therefore not surprising that two different RTOs will undertake the same course for different client groups and the assessments for the two groups will be different. v. Immediate application: Accessibility to application is easy and they are based only on skills needed by

Implications of Watching Foreign Movies Essay Example for Free

Implications of Watching Foreign Movies Essay ABSTRACT This study looked at the relationship between watching foreign film, dramas, or variety show habits and the students’ academic performances. To determine whether its exposure benefitted the students or not, a reliable research has to be conducted. Considering student’s differences factors and strategies while studying, the results might be differ from many aspects. The individual skills include how frequent they watch the movie, how long they spent their time and what types of entertainment that they favored the most. An argument about the uses of visual aids such movie shows and others can enhance the academic performances will be settled on after the results of this study had been processed. A pilot study was conducted first to check whether there was any problem regarding this issue. About 3 to 5 students were tested. Finally a survey was conducted at the boys’ and girls’ hostels in Kolej Profesional MARA Indera Mahkota where 40 students consist of 15 male students and 25 female students. This survey was conducted by distributing a set of questionnaires to all the respondents. In general, this study was a big success where majority of the students agreed that this method of learning can enhance their academic performances. Winding up, several suggestion, opinion and recommendations were recorded in the finishing part of the report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my special thanks to my advisor, Madam Jamilah Binti Abdul Manan, who provided me with detailed and insightful feedback for every draft, who spent an enormous amount of time reading and editing my investigation, and more importantly, who set an example for me to be a prudent presenter. I also want to thank her for her encouragement and assistance throughout the entire graduate program. I would also like to thank my family especially my auntie, Nooraini Binti Abdul Wahab for her assistance and suggestions in helping me to better understand the concept of visual study and etc. Also, I want to thank my parents for their great encouragement throughout the writing of this research. I want to offer a tremendous thank you to all my friends and anyone who has contributing  themselves in this study. I will remember your patience and assistance in helping me finish this program. I treasure your friendship and support. 1.0. Introduction 2.1. Background of the Study Watching movies and dramas has been a trend nowadays in students’ life especially in KPMIM. This habit does influence the student’s result in academic studies. By practicing this hobby, students manage to fill their free time. But the question is what the implications of this attitude are. Is it positive or negative impact towards the students themselves? A research has been done by Christine Canning Wilson from the Centre of Excellence for Research and Training, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi. In her research, it has been stated that audio-visual aids can enhance the language learning process. It said that note-taking studies are less successful nowadays. Instead of that, advanced visual organizers such as educational videos or any other related matters helped the learners  improve comprehension and aid in the retention of information. Students also like learning language through the use of videos. One of the result is learners prefer action/entertainment films in the classroom. In addition, this shows that visuals can be used to help enhance the meaning of the message to be conveyed by the speakers. By providing this kind of learning method, learners may be benefitted by seeing immediate meaning in terms of vocabulary recognition in the first language. Besides that, it is easier for them to clarify the message and clarify the gist of the stories. However, individuals process information in different ways. The strategies used by one learner are likely to differ from another. Thus, further investigation needs to be done in order to identify the real impact of watching movies/dramas and the relationship between these habits towards the students’ academic performances will be resolved after the research has been carried out. 2.2. Statement Of The Problem The problematic issue of this study is to identify the implications of watching foreign movies or films towards students. Besides that, the increase or any decrease in academic performance will be observed and to be concluded after this study has been completed. There is also an argument that questioning about either it is a kind of wasteful activity for KPMIM students. So a reliable research needs to be carried out regarding this issue. 2.3. Purpose Of The Study Since watching movies, dramas and variety shows have been a trend nowadays in students’ life especially in KPMIM; there may be some consequences for them particularly in academic performance. Apart from piling up their free time, a research needs to be done to investigate whether it is a beneficial or a wasteful activity for them. The purpose of the study portrayed in this research report was to assess the either lecturers and the students in teaching and learning process despite making them easier to understand and memorize all the input during language classes. Besides that, to make  learning process more interactive and enjoyable so that the students would think that education is not something that is too heavy and boring. 2.4. Objective Of The Study The objectives of this study are: 1. to find out whether it is beneficial activity during student’s leisure time or not 2. to investigate what is the relationship between this activity and students’ academic performance 3. to figure out what types of movies/dramas that have been the students’ favorites 4. To make suggestion that it could be one of the effective medium of learning or teaching. 2.5. Research Question The questionnaires will be given to some random students at Kolej Profesional MARA. 40 respondents will answer this questionnaire based on the research project. 15 of them were males and another 25 were the female students. The question will be focus on what are the impacts of the habit. * Is watching movies/ dramas a beneficial or waste type of hobby to students? * Does watching/movies really help the students in their academic studies? * What is the favorite categories/type of movies/dramas that most of the students like? * Should it be implemented as a medium for teaching and learning in education institutions? 2.6. Significance Of The Study This finding will help the lecturers and students to be aware of learning and teaching process can be easily done in a simple and effective way by using visual aids. Furthermore, students will be managed to fill their schedule with some beneficial activities instead of doing nothing. Apart from enhancing the students’ interest and enthusiasm in learning, students should be able to improve their vocabulary and other skills that are required in  language studies such listening skill and speaking skill. Authoritatively, this will help the college to introduce the concept of entertaining while studying so that students can have an enjoyable environment while in the class perhaps. Last but not least, to increase the academic performance in college by adapting a new way of study for the students. 2.7. Scope Of The Study The scope of this research is that the respondents are 40 people of KPMIM students. 15 people of male students and another 25 are the female students. The solution or any recommendations about this topic will be decided after the data has been collected. 2.0. Literature Review About few centuries ago language is hard to learn by mass of people. But a poet named Simonides has come out wit a great principle of learning which was ‘Words are the images of things’. His statement was almost similarly accurate as the famous great Aristotle perception, â€Å"Without image, thinking is impossible†. From here, we can clearly seen that both statement support the principle of visual aids towards one’s ascertain and edifying skills. Visual aids does enhance the language learning process. Video is one of the visual aids that usually used by a teacher, lecturer or a presenter to educate and instrcut pupils. Videos at best defined as the selection and sequence of messages in an audio-visual context. Research by Herron, Hanley and Cole (1995) indicates that the visual support in the form of descriptive pictures significantly improved comprehension scores with language videos for English speaking students. The results of the study indicate that extensive listening is facilitated by the richness of the context that visual organizers, such as educational videos, provide. Heron (1994) finds that advanced organizers based on videos helped learners improve comprehension and aid in the retention of information. A recent large-scale survey by Canning-Wilson (2000) suggests that the students like learning language through the use of videos. One of the results of her survey shows that learners prefer action/entertainment films to language films or  documentaries in the classroom. She states although these films may seem to hold student interest, she believes that it could be inferred that student comprehension of the video may be due to the visual clues instead of the auditory components. Heron, Hanley and Cole also hypothesize that the more meaningful an advanced organizer is the more impact it can have on comprehension and retention. Their results of using twelve different videos with foreign language learners indicates that scores improved when advanced organizers, such as a pictures and/or visual stimuli, are used with the video. Perhaps the findings from these studies can be attributed to the fact that video offers contextual support and/or helps learners to visualize words as well as meanings. Individuals process information in different ways. The strategies used by one learner are likely to differ from those used by a different learner. It has been proven that what benefits one group of learners may actually hinder the performance of a different group of learners (Bovy, 1981). Issues of the value of video as a teaching tool are often questioned. Omaggio (1979) suggests that the profession has virtually no empirical basis for promoting the use of visuals as aids to comprehension in the second language; we know practically nothing about how students benefit from visuals (1979, p.107). Recently, in a lecture on the use of visuals in research, Canning-Wilson (2000) claims that the use of illustrations, visuals, pictures, perceptions, mental images, figures, impressions, likenesses, cartoons, charts, graphs, colors, replicas, reproductions, or anything else used to help one see an immediate meaning in the language may benefit the learner by helping to clarify the message, provided the visual works in a positive way to enhance or supplement the language point. She reports that images contextualized in video or on its own can help to reinforce the language, provided the learner can see immediate meaning in terms of vocabulary recognition in the first language. Furthermore, her research suggests that visuals can be used to help enhance the meaning of the message trying to be conveyed by the speakers through the use of paralinguistic cues. Last but not least, additional factors must be considered when looking at video as an instructional medium to teach a foreign or second language. Balatova’s studies indicated that visual cues  found in videos were informative and enhanced comprehension in general, but did not necessarily stimulate the understanding of a text. It was also found that teaching with video had some affective advantages. If the results of their findings are true and the same results can be replicated, perhaps practitioners will no longer have to rely solely on anecdotal evidence. . 3.0. Research Methodology 4.8. Introduction This section discusses the methodology of the research. The main purpose of the research is to investigate the relationship between watching movies, dramas or variety shows and the academic performance among KPMIM students. Does it really affect the educational outcome or not? Besides that, to assess the students and lecturers in teaching or learning process apart from making them easier to absorb, distinguish and memorize the entire thing that they should. The data for the research were collected through questionnaires distribution. 4.9. Research Instruments This research utilized both the quantitative and qualitative research methodology. The instrument used to collect data was questionnaires. A set of questionnaires containing 13 questions divided into 2 parts. Different types of questions such as ranking, yes – no questions, listing and were used in the questionnaires. The questionnaires were piloted to five students to assess its validity before it was distributed. The qualitative data for the research come at open-ended questions. 4.10. Respondents of the Study The respondents of the study were several students at Kolej Profesional Mara Indera Mahkota, KPMIM. In March 2012, a total of 40 questionnaires were distributed to students randomly. 4.11. Research Procedure Before the actual data collection phase, a pilot study was conducted to assess the validity of the research instruments. A total of five students were involved in the pilot study chosen at randomly at Kolej professional Mara Indera Mahkota. During the actual study, the questionnaires were distributed at various locations on campus such as library, cafà ©, classes and dormitories. 4.12. Data Analysis To analyze the data, a several variables were taken into consideration namely the duration, effectiveness, oftenness of the students watching their favored movie, dramas or variety shows, and from which countries.besides that, major immpacts of this study were also been questioned. For examples, does it improve student’s vocab and lexis in writings, develop creative thinking, reasoning skill and crtical review and assist students to focus in class. The data were saved into the computer using Microsoft Excel software. Results were presented through frequency counts and other descriptive statistics. The data were transcribed accordingly. 4.0. Findings and Discussion This section will discuss the results of the research that had been done to determine whether it is an effective way as a method of learning and teaching towards KPMIM students. These findings received responses from 40 students which were 25 females and 15 males. FIGURE ANumber of Respondent (Students) Figure A shows the proportion of male and female students who were involved in this research. 15 of them were males and another 25 of them were the  females. The sum of them were 40 and the percentage that has been calculated as shown in the figure above. FIGURE BPercentage of students who watch movies/ dramas/ variety shows during free time. Figure B shows how many of students watch their favored shows during their leisure time. Majority of them watch movies and etc. during free time. 100 percent of male students did watch the movies while 92 percent of the female students who did the same thing. Only few of the female students did not watch the movies, dramas or variety shows. Maybe because of unnecessarily circumstances. Figure C Types of entertainment that mostly watched by the students The figure above shows the type of entertainments that mostly watched by KPMIM students. To sum up, majority of the respondents preffered variety shows as their most favored types of entertainment. It is because it has been a phenomenon nowadays. Not only in KPMIM but all over Malaysia educational institutes. Maybe because the show is really funny and make them laugh every time they watch it. Nevertheless, it educates while entertaining. That is the most important. Otherwise, the data for other type of entertainments that prefferably watch by the students are shown in the figure above. Films at the 2nd rank followed by animation series as the 3rd and dramas was the least. Figure DForeign Entertainments that most Influential Based on the figure above, the well-influenced foreign entertainment among male students in KPMIM is the Bollywood followed by English, Korean and Japanese as the least. The reason why they chose Bollywood as their favoured foreign entertainment, it is because the eye-catching lyrics from pleasant songs and it teaches a lot of moral and values. For the female respondents, majority of them pick English as their favored entertainment followed by Korean, Bollywood and Japanese. FIGURE EFrequencies of Sudents watch their Favored Shows As shown in the figure above, the female students often watch their favored shows for only 3 times a week whereas the male students watch their preffered entertainments 7 times a week which is everyday. FIGURE FTime outlay for each sessions From the figure above, it is shown that majority of the male students spend their time about 4 to 5 hours for each session. For the female students, they only spent about 3 to 4 hours for their leisure movie times. This shows the females were good in managing their times compared tom the males. Notwithstanding, as long as the shows that they watched bring some benefits to them, it is alright. FIGURE GHelp them in improving the Vocabs and Lexis in Wrtings Greater part of the respondents agree with the hypothesis, ‘by watching movies, dramas or variety shows, they can improve their vocabularies and lexis in their writings’. When they watched foreign shows or movies, they learned by reading the subtitles and find the meaning of words that they do not understand. By doing that, although it looks like a slow way of improving their vocabs, it really helps them in their examination. Especially in writing and speaking skills. FIGURE HDevelop Creative thinking, Reasoning skills and Critical Review For this section, 98 percent of the respondents agreed with the hypothesis by practising this habbit, they can develop their creative thinking, reasoning skills and critical review. Only 2 percent of them did not agree with the statement. The figure indicates that, majority of them could develop some of the useful skills especially in language classes. This means that watching movies, dramas and variety shows is not wasteful activity during leisure time. FIGURE IAssists to Focus and Improve Academic Performance Based on the figure above, 88 percent of the students do agree with the hypothesis of by applying this type of inclination, they tend to focus during classes. Only minority of them, 15 percent did not agree. Besides that, for sure, it will also aiding their academic performance. From this situation, we can conclude that this kind of practice lead to success for the students whom put run through it. Open ended question:- â€Å"Visual Aids (Movies/dramas/etc.) should be one of the effective mediums of learning or teaching because it brings a ton of advantages rather than disfavors†.  Give your opinion/ comments regarding this issue. Please state the reasons why did you support or oppose this statement. Based on all the anwers, most of them are all the positive comments. This shown that, Visual Aids such Movies, dramas, and etc. are really should be implemented as one of the effective mediums of learning and teaching in any KPMIM since it bequeath loads of benefit rather than disfavors. 5.0. Conclusion This research investigated the relationship between the methods of using visual aids as learning process and the academic performance towards KPMIM students. Primary data were collected by randomly with distributing a set of questionnaires to 40 students. As has been mentioned earlier in the introduction, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using visual aids in teaching and learning towards the academic performance of students The following conlusions can be drawn based on the findings of the study: 1. This study shows that watching movies/ dramas/ variety shows, students managed to perform well in their academic performance. 2. By practicing this habit, educatees can improve their vocabularies and lexis in writings instead of developing their creative thinking, critical reviews and reasoning skills. 3. Last of all, this method of learning and teaching is ought to be implemented in every educational institutions. The results of this study indicate that teaching and learning by using visual aids as a method compulsarily implemented in KPMIM especially in English subject. This is because after a thorough study has been investigated, it bring a a lot more benefits rather than detriment to students or even lecturers. However, this findings are only true for KPMIM students. The same study needs to be done with students from other educational institutes to see if there are any similarities with the impact of watching foreign movies, dramas and variety shows habit towards the academic performances. 6.0RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1Recommendations based on Findings Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, here are several recommendations to be considered: 1. Visual Aids such (Movie Reviews / Documentaries /etc.) should be one of the effective mediums of learning because it brings a ton of advantages rather than disfavors. 2. Educators are also counseled to use this method of teaching as it makes edifying process more simpler, cooler, interactive and valuable. 6.2Recommendations for Future Research Since this study only focussed on KPMIM students, it is highly recommended that further reseach be carried out for other students from another colleges or universities to explore whether there might some differences in the study or similarities in the findings. Besides that, the implementation of this method of learning and teaching could be the worldwide most effective way in teaching English because it is essential for all walks of life. Lastly, M.O.E or any other parties could impart some expenses and provide new high-tech facilities to all education institution. BIBLIOGRAPHY * Richard Cameron Dolati Roman. (2010). Harnessing the Use of Visual Learning Aids in the English Language Classroom. Retrieved December 15th, 2010 from the Arab World English Journal. * Koren, S. (1996). Vocabulary instruction through hypertext: Are there advantages over conventional methods of teaching?.TESL-EJ, 4(1), 1- 14. * Mayer, R. Simes, V. (1994). For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual–coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Technology, 86, 389-401. * The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 11, November 2000 http://iteslj.org/

Birmingham Bees Essay Example for Free

Birmingham Bees Essay The expectation should be precise enough to provide the desired level of assurance that differences that may be potential material misstatements, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, would be identified for the auditor to investigate. As expectations become more precise, the range of expected differences becomes narrower and, accordingly, the likelihood increases that significant differences from the expectations are due to misstatements. The precision of the expectation depends on, among other things, the auditors identification and consideration of factors that significantly affect the amount being audited and the level of detail of data used to develop the expectation. Documentation of Substantive Analytical Procedures When an analytical procedure is used as the principal substantive test of a significant financial statement assertion, the auditor should document all of the following: The expectation, where that expectation is not otherwise readily determinable from the documentation of the work performed, and factors considered in its development Results of the comparison of the expectation to the recorded amounts or ratios developed from recorded amounts. Any additional auditing procedures performed in response to significant unexpected differences arising from the analytical procedure and the results of such additional procedures Expectations developed at a detailed level generally have a greater chance of detecting misstatement of a given amount than do broad comparisons. Monthly amounts will generally be more effective than annual amounts and comparisons by location or line of business usually will be more effective than company-wide comparisons. The level of detail that is appropriate will be influenced by the nature of the client, its size and its complexity. Generally, the risk that material misstatement could be obscured by offsetting factors increases as a clients operations become more complex and more diversified. Disaggregation helps reduce this risk. Expected ticket revenues for 2008 based on given assumptions and the predictability of results of events is $2,297,218. a. In planning the analytical procedures as a substantive test, the auditor should consider the amount of difference from the expectation that can be accepted without further investigation. This consideration is influenced primarily by materiality and should be consistent with the level of assurance desired from the procedures. Determination of this amount involves considering the possibility that a combination of misstatements in the specific account balances, or class of transactions, or other balances or classes could aggregate to an unacceptable amount. If Bee’s reported venues were outside the auditor’s reasonable range, the difference can be due to specific unusual transactions or events, accounting changes, business changes, random fluctuations, or misstatements. This is because the basic premise underlying the application of analytical procedures is that plausible relationships among data may reasonably be expected to exist and continue in the absence of known conditions to the contrary. Particular conditions such as those mentioned can cause variations in these relationships. a. The use of analytical procedures with minimal test of details provides the auditor with evidence to draw audit conclusions. The more reliance an auditor can place on analytical procedures, the less time he needs to spend on tests of details. Auditor objectives usually can be accomplished with less time and cost by applying analytical procedures rather than tests of details. In addition, the auditor may need to rely on analytical procedures when detailed evidence is not readily available for a particular item. It is also more cost effective and may provide evidence when other procedures would be ineffective. If the audit team decides to make use of analytical procedures for the company’s audit, the audit plan will be different in such a way that it would allot less working hours on testing of details. Analytical procedures should be used for Bee’s audit because of the following reasons: Bee utilizes another company, Tickets R Us, in the collection of its tickets. The involvement of a third-party provides lesser risk of manipulation by Bee or management override of controls, making data collected from said entity more reliable. Prior-year audit files are most reliable as Hickman and Snowden has personally conducted five years of extensive detail testing in auditing Bee’s ticket revenues. Previous audit files show that the total number of home games is mostly consistent, proof of which is the prior year’s record of a similar total number of games, with only a slight difference in the mix of weekdays and weekend games. The average number of per-game attendance has also been established by Hickman and Snowden and such can be used to identify the allocation of spectator attendance. Ticket prices are known and established and can be compared with prior year’s prices to determine the allowable increase in total sales revenue. Information from prior years’ audit files show that the sales mix has remained fairly constant over the last several years. It is known and established that attendance generally increases by 10% when there is a promotion. All these information serve as proof that an audit plan utilizing extensive details testing is not necessary. Five years of audit files – all of which conducted through extensive details testing, will provide Hickman and Snowden ratios, trend analysis and other pertinent information that will allow them to successfully and confidently complete the audit of Bee’s ticket revenues. References AU Section 329 Analytical Procedures, Retrieved February 11, 2009, from http://www.pcaobus.org/standards/interim_standards/auditing_standards/au_329.html

Credit Cards Versus Cash

Credit Cards Versus Cash This paper talks about consumers preference in purchasing products by cash or by credit cards. Credit cards have become important in consumers lives and have changed the way they perceive products. During the past few years various things have occurred which has made the world change drastically. Technology is being developed each day by producing different products which are making peoples lives much easier. So has the idea of purchasing products by credit cards. The 2000s was the moment where credit cards became popular and important to consumers (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Credit cards have become an alternative way to pay from the simplest products to the most important ones. The need to put all the payments in one simple card has been a huge benefit for consumers. This was proved when in 2010 cash fell behind debit cards, making debit cards consumers favorite way of paying for products for the first time in history (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Credit cards have become extremely important to consumers and the differences between paying with cash or with credit cards have been experimented by many people who have given real evidence to these two ways of purchasing products. Since 1970s there have been facts which people have supported that credit cards increase spending (Prelec Simester, 2000). As a payment mechanism the use of credit cards increases the tendency to spend more on products than cash does (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). When credit cards are more available consumers think mostly about the products benefits than the cost of the products. Conversely, when cash as a payment is more available consumers place more importance on the cost of the product than on the benefit of it (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). Many examples have given real evidence to the theory that people who use credit cards spend more. Examples such as restaurants earn more tips when consumers pay with cards, some consumers forget the amount of money they spend on various products, and they tend to buy more in every department store, are facts related to the evidence that people really do spend more when using credit cards (Prelec Simester, 2000). High calorie foods, mostly junk food are becoming more expensive everyday and this is not just because of the economic way to motivate consumers choice but also a psychological motivation that makes consumers choose high calorie foods with pleasure (Bagchi Block, 2011). So when the cost of a product is higher, such as paying with cash, if we increase the benefits of that product there will be less pain of the payment (Bagchi Block, 2011). There is a variation in the countries worldwide who are cardholders particularly differing from those countries that are more developed than the less developed countries (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Income is an influence on credit card holding to those countries that are more developed such as the south east and some places in the north west since these places have the biggest credit cards per adult (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Credit cards are mostly used in purchasing food where the percentage of spending with cards in this area has grown in the past three years to 36% (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). In the UK cards have had a huge influence in charity because by using credit cards humanity is growing even more within people (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). An example of this is some cards that are named with a charitys name; these companies make donation whenever the consumer uses his/her card or even when they open an account for the first time (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Another way of people being voluntarily helpful for charity is online giving where the charitable money are increasing year by year (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). Nowadays consumers are using credit cards instead of cash in every purchase they are making. Their preference is mostly on credit and debit cards rather than cash or checks (Consumers prefer plastic to paper payment, 2004). In 2003 cards were used for 53 percent of purchases, while cash or checks were used for 47 percent (Consumers prefer plastic to paper payment, 2004). Companies dealing with credit cards are enhancing their usage by marketing new cards that perform like cash and dont acquire interest charges like credit cards do (Consumers prefer plastic to paper payment, 2004). Furthermore, companies are trying to make different industries offer their consumers the choice of paying with credit cards (Consumers prefer plastic to paper payment, 2004). Prior researches have figured out that when consumers make a decision about a product, credit cards encourage them to spend more than cash does. However, they have not yet discovered whether cash is an influence towards the choices of products (Bagchi Block, 2011). So the studies provide evidence that people consume more calories and impute higher costs when purchasing with cash rather than a credit card (Bagchi Block, 2011). Nevertheless, when consumers are grocery shopping they tend to purchase more food when using credit cards since the greater the prices of food, the greater the indulgent of the preferred food (Bagchi Block, 2011). The way consumers experience the payment of products strengthens the different ways they pay- cards or cash (Bagchi Block, 2011). As a result, consumers think of cash real money and spending cash is more important. The more real the loss of money such as cash payment, the greater is the pain of giving the money for a product. On the contrary, credit cards are more looked as less hurtful and are spent more easily because you dont see the money; sometimes they may even be treated as play money (Bagchi Block, 2011). Thus, imputed cost are greater when using cash because the great er the imputed cost of spending, the greater is the chance to choose high calorie food (Bagchi Block, 2011). The advantages of using credit cards is the ability of paying for a great period meaning that you can purchase as much as you want and pay later with no interest charge (Cohn, 2010). This lets your money stay in the bank and earn interest as well as making you more flexible with cash flow (Cohn, 2010). Credit cards also have reward programs which consumers are benefiting. For example, a financial planner Frank Remund used his visa signature card to purchase a product. While calculating what he had earned and what he had saved using discount coupons he stated that he paid only $380 for the product which is actually sold for $800 (Cohn, 2010). Moreover, by using his card he managed to increase his warranty period (Cohn, 2010). The other huge advantage of using credit cards is the security that they hold. By carrying big cash with you, there is more possibility for the money to be stolen from you. However, if your credit card is stolen your liability is restricted at $50 and if you have been a loyal customer to the bank, they will credit your account in no longer than a few days (Cohn, 2010). Moreover, if the product you purchased happened to have a problem or you simply arent satisfied with its quality, then if you have purchased it with your credit card there is more likelihood for you to return it than there would be if you had bought it by cash (Cohn, 2010). Nevertheless, except for the many advantages credit cards have there are also some disadvantages when using credit cards. One of the disadvantages of credit cards are high interest charges (Compare Credit Cards). Credit card companies usually charge high interest fees like 20% for the purchases that havent been paid in months (Compare Credit Cards). Another huge disadvantage for credit cards is the temptation to overspend. Many people have difficulties in managing their money so when they pay with credit cards they tend to overspend without thinking further. Because credit cards allow you to spend money and not pay them upfront, people get too excited and think just for that moment; so they tend to forget about paying them later on (Compare Credit Cards). Furthermore, it is more difficult to remember what you have purchased when buying with credit cards. So, if you have taken too long to pay for the purchase you might be surprised when the bank informs you for the amount of payment y ou have to make (Compare Credit Cards). Three experiments show consumers behavior towards credit cards and cash. Consumers primed with credit card as a payment mechanism make more recall errors with respect to cost-related aspects of the product than to bene ¬Ã‚ t aspects (study 1), identify more words related to bene ¬Ã‚ ts (study 2), and respond faster to bene ¬Ã‚ t-related words (study 3) than consumers primed with cash concepts (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). In the fourth experiment, we look thoroughly through the outcome of the payment prime to the choices of the products (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). Consumers using credit cards have more possibilities in looking at the products with greater benefits, whereas consumers using cash mostly choose the options that are ruled by cost even if there is less benefit of that particular product (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). Considering these four experiments, consumers distinguish the same products in different ways when choosing to use credit cards rather than cash (Chatterjee Ro se, 2011). Furthermore, credit cards increase the awareness of the benefits of products in that way persuading the reservation price and product valuation and also making consumers choose the options of products more attractively (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). For consumers, products have a different meaning when they are bought with credit cards and when they are bought with cash. Thus, the credit card premium is not due solely to differences in decoupling from pain of payment (i.e., reduced salience of costs) or to physical form, but in addition, the salience of product bene ¬Ã‚ ts is enhanced when thinking of paying with credit (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). If consumers goal is saving money, then the cost of the product becomes more important than the benefit the product carries. However, if the consumers goal is to purchase a product with high quality that is beneficial for the consumer, then the cost of the product will be less important thus becoming more psychologically relevant (C hatterjee Rose, 2011). In order to prove that people use more calories and impute higher costs when buying with cash relatively to credit cards, a study in a frozen yogurt retail store was experimented (Bagchi Block, 2011). 125 customers were recruited in a substitute of $1 discount of their next purchase and only the ones who bought a product for themselves were allowed to be a part of the survey (Bagchi Block, 2011). After customers ordered and purchased their products, the nutritional value of the products purchased by the customers were calculated and used as an evaluation of indulgence (Bagchi Block, 2011). In this study the customers were asked to tell about the price they paid for the products purchased, whether they thought it was expensive or not, and the method of payment (Bagchi Block, 2011). The results of the study showed how consumers that paid with cash did not pay more than those that paid with cards. However, consumers though that the imputed cost was much higher when buying with cash than credit card since their products seemed more expensive to them (Bagchi Block, 2011). This study explained how buying with cash feels more expensive and more hurtful than buying with credit card (Bagchi Block, 2011). Moreover, the costumers knew the method of payment before they purchased the products so this shows that customers were aware of the method they will use to pay for the products (Bagchi Block, 2011). Therefore, it is doubtful to state that the choice made for the food purchased had an affect on the method used for paying the product. After the study made with the yogurt retail, another study was conducted on a cafà © study for credit versus cash. In this study 147 students were taken and asked to tell their last time they purchased a product for $10 or less; and to choose a product from the restaurant that cost $10 or less (Bagchi Block, 2011). Further, the students were asked whether it was difficult to decide n their purchase and this was used for the study as a result of imputed cost (Bagchi Block, 2011). The results showed that consumers who paid with cash chose more calorie food than those who paid with card. Moreover, evidence showed that paying by cash created more indulgence than paying by card (Bagchi Block, 2011). Both study one and study two showed that theorizing is predicated on differences in pain of payment, or imputed costs associated with cash versus credit, rather than on the method of payment per se (Bagchi Block, 2011). There are other studies that show the willingness of consumers to purchase more products when using credit cards. In these studies two ways are mentioned in knowing whether the effect is relevant; only when the price of the product is uncertain or when the prices are known (Prelec Simester, 2000). The first study had to do with prices being uncertain. The experiment had to do with tickets for a sporting event where one ticket was for the game between Boston Celtics and Miami heat, whereas the other ticket was for the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays (Prelec Simester, 2000). The people experimented were the MBA students. They were asked to enter a room and fill in their own sheet about the reservation values and then they would have the opportunity to win the tickets. Further on, the one that wrote the highest value would get the prize however the prize would be sold at a price identical to the second highest value (Prelec Simester, 2000). After that, two sheets were handed- cash condition sheet and credit card condition sheet (Prelec Simester, 2000). In the first sheet, it was required for the winners to make the payment with cash whereas in the second sheet the winners were asked to make the payments by credit cards. In the first sheet they were also asked whether they had access to cash machine and in the second sheet they were asked to tell the type of card they used and some information about the card (Prelec Simester, 2000). The result of this experiment showed that those who were asked to make the payment by credit card wrote down much higher values for the three tickets and the highest amount of money was for the Celtics tickets, whereas for the banners it was the smallest (Prelec Simester, 2000). In the second experiment, the prices are certain. This allows us to evaluate whether the credit card premium arises because customers adjust their valuations from different anchoring points in the cash and credit card conditions (Prelec Simester, 2000). For example, in the cash condition consumers might focus more on the amount of money they carry in their pockets. Whereas, in the credit card condition they focus on their credit limit or even their monthly bill (Prelec Simester, 2000). In the second study students of MBA were respondents and this time they had a chance to win a dinner certificate costing $175 (Prelec Simester, 2000). The steps for this price were to draw numbers randomly from zero to the price of the certificate and then choose a student randomly. Students were divided into groups depending on who will pay with cash and who with credit card (Prelec Simester, 2000). In this study the result was that there was no huge difference between credit card and cash conditions (Prelec Simester, 2000). Moreover, payment had a huge effect but only with those students who completed the credit card digits (Prelec Simester, 2000). Students who stated that they will pay with credit cards wrote down values 36% more than those who didnt (Prelec Simester, 2000). Therefore, the main effects of payment method and identification method were not significant (Prelec Simester, 2000). The information about the market price varied from the first study and the second one. This difference was taken for a reason to see whether credit card premium arose because consumers regulate their estimation of cash and cards in different circumstances (Prelec Simester, 2000). These two studies offer an idea as to the reason of the effect. They reveal the idea that consumers are more willing to pay with credit cards than they are with cash (Prelec Simester, 2000). The studies illustrate how credit cards make peoples decision much easier when purchasing a product. When people purchase with cash they find it difficult to buy expensive products since they can see their cash. However, with credit cards you dont get to see your cash, you just see a plastic card that sometimes makes you forget how much money you are spending. Moreover, through the studies we understood how consumers perceive products differently when purchasing with cash or with credit card. Those that purchase with cash are more likely to give more importance to the cost of the product than to the benefit and quality of the product. In contrary, those that pay with cards tend to give more importance to the benefits the product gives them than the cost of it (Chatterjee Rose, 2011). Further on, the willingness to pay grows when consumers pay with credit cards and this was shown in the two studies taken with the game tickets and the prize of certificate (Prelec Simester, 2000). How much consumers consume food with high calories was also examined with the methods of payment- credit and cash. Studies showed that those who purchase with cash consume more calorie food whereas those who purchase with credit cards consume less calorie food (Bagchi Block, 2011). When imputed costs are high, consumers indulge more. These imputed costs vary with the payment mode and also with how difficult it is to earn money. Thus, spending with cash (vs. credit) and spending cash that is more difficult to earn (rather than less difficult) result in more indulgent, high calorie food consumption (Bagchi Block, 2011). In the near future, technology will find its way in replacing credit cards by mobile phones since they will be the factor that will replace peoples wallets (A Decade of Cards, 2000-2010 and beyond). So, people will not have to carry their credit cards anymore since their mobile phones will have the ability to make a purchase either through credit or debit (A Decade of C ards, 2000-2010 and beyond). The research of credit cards versus cash help people understand the advantages and disadvantages each one has. Moreover, they explain how and why consumers behavior towards these two methods of purchasing changes when purchasing particular products. Further research should be conducted in order to see which one is better and safer to use. Research such as planning different surveys for consumers to answer their choice of the method of buying would be helpful in understanding consumers choice as well as reasons towards their decision. Furthermore, in order to research this further we should gather all the studies conducted and relate them with one another. In this way we will be able to understand more precisely the usage of credit cards versus cash by consumers. One last reason to research this further would be the development of technology. Since technology is changing rapidly, it will change the usage of cardholding. Therefore, research on future technology and how it will have an impact in the market area will be needed to be made. This way we get knowledge as to how things will change and whether it will be a positive or a negative thing for consumers to make purchasing decisions through their mobile phones.

Joseph Hellers Catch 22 Essay -- Comparison Compare Contrast

Catch 22 Comparison Paper Catch 22 by Joseph Heller is a complex and intricate novel. Heller uses many themes, does not have the story line in chronological order and often uses irony in his descriptions. Many of the themes can be compared to other literature. One of the themes that can be compared is fear in war. The idea is that the evils and cruelty of war can make a grown man go back into a "fetal" state. This can be seen in The Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell and can be compared to the metaphor used in chapter five of Catch 22. In this chapter Yossarian talks about the tight crawl space which led to the plexiglass bombardier’s compartment. This can be looked at as the passageway to fear. Every time Yossarian climbs down he is entering a womb. Yossarian is depicted as being scared and that is why he goes down in the "womb" to feel secure. There, he is nothing but a scared child in a mother’s womb wanting to come out but he can’t. This can also be said for the character in the Ball Turret Gunner. The first lines the speaker says that he has had no choice but to be in this position of being in the belly of the bombardiers compartment. There he too feels as if he is nothing but a small child in his mother womb. He describes his helplessness when he says that he is "six miles form earth and loosed from the dream of life". However, the speaker in Ball Turret gunner goes to a further extent when he says that after the "nightmare", and he is killed and washed out of the compartment with a hose. Another theme addressed in Catch 22 was religion. In Catch 22 the characters questioned whether or not God was real. Many points are brought out by this question. One question is if God loves us so much, why are human lives va... ... kill. So no matter how patriotic Clevingers tear filled speech was death is death and nobody wants that fate. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest McMurphy tries to make the outside world seem so good which is true to the reader because of the reader’s knowledge of the evil plans that Nurse Ratchet has in store. However, the characters are not mentally ready for the outside world. They have been locked up for so long in the "prison" that they could not handle the evils presented to them by other people. Nurse Ratchet has taken away their self-confidence and they can not deal with other people criticism. In the part of the novel when McMurphy takes them on a fishing trip, it is seen how fragile they are. In the bait shop they are torn down buy the loafers there and they really loose confidence. The prison has impacted them and will leave a permanent scar mentally.

The Hidden Agenda of the News Media Essay -- TV Television Newspapers

The Hidden Agenda of the News Media People use many different sources in order to gain knowledge about current events. In America, historically, mass media and television have been the most dominant sources for information. Over the last decade, internet-based news sites and talk-radio shows have emerged as viable alternatives to the traditional media. While, obviously, the latest forms of news media are very different from their â€Å"elder† counterparts regarding the conveyance of the information, they share some of the same issues regarding the reporting of the news. News coverage can be, and usually is, influenced by many factors including, but not limited to: personal political ideology, religion, culture, and economics. The â€Å"inner† influences of political ideology, cultural values, and religion are not limited to the writer or reporter of a story. Editors, managers, and owners are also subjected to these pressures, in addition to the need to turn a profit, and, therefore, also influe nce the reporting of the news. Because of these influences, the final product is rarely an objective reporting of the facts. News sources convey their subjectivity, sometimes subtly, other times blatantly, through many methods. Listeners, readers, and viewers of all media should consume all information with a grain of salt. The goal of this paper is to take one single news topic, somehow related to the United States, and see how it is treated, or â€Å"spun†, by two different foreign news sources. Although I could have chosen a topic related to the American presence in the Middle East, I chose instead to look for a topic that might be treated with subtle subjectivity: the cancellation of three of pop star Madonna’s concerts in Israe... ...ans. On the other hand, the Arutz SHEVA story is blatantly subjective, almost to the point of becoming propaganda. Freund’s attempt to link the Palestinian Authority to terrorist threats is very apparent, and considering the information found on the Opinion page, it is obvious why. Arutz SHEVA appears to be written by religious conservatives and nationalists, and intended for an audience of the same mindset. Both, the Arutz SHEVA article and, to a lesser extent, the AP story, are examples of how terms, phrases, and emphasis can be used to â€Å"spin† a news topic to convey your message. My analysis of these two stories supports the argument for consumers to take all information with a grain of salt. Works Cited The Straits Times, http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/storyprintfriendly/0,1887,252771-230000,00.html? Arutz SHEVA, http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=62927

Chaucer :: essays research papers

Although we can see some changes in types of characters, people today are relatively the same as they were during the Middle Ages. Some Chaucerian characters, such as the Parson, the Summoner, or even the Doctor, can relate characteristically to modern-day characters. When compared with the Chaucerian Doctor, the stereotypical, modern-day witch doctor relates similarly. With few exceptions, such as types of clothing, the Doctor and witch doctor are different The brightly colored, expensively made clothes (ll. 449-450) would be substituted for dark, black, flowing robes. The Doctor’s eyes full of strength and intellect. The witch, full of power and demon possession. Despite their differences, their likeness of their actions are greatly similar. They both make magic charms and effigies(l. 428) with their demon possessed hands. They create potions and supposed "magical" elixirs, manifested from cited chants passed down from other generations. They are perfect practicing physicians(l. 432), given that they know the cause of every malady and infliction the body can withstand(ll. 429,430). They appear to many as one to provide an extended hand to anyone in need. But there is a price to be paid for their services, and their eyes cannot oversee the wealth that is due to them. The Doctor then is the same as a witch doctor now, with their appearances different, but their intentions and thoughts the same. Stereotypes are seen only in the imagination. And it is in the imagination from which a television evangelist is characteristically similar to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Summoner. The evangelist is a deceiver to many. He quotes scripture of Biblical content, to put forth an act or display that he might appear unto others as a "man of God." The Summoner is much the same. When he is drunks, he babbles relentlessly of common Latin phrases that he had memorized from the Church services(ll. 655-659). The Summoner has been referred to be "as hot and lecherous as a sparrow(l. 640)," giving new meaning to the purpose of many great evangelists’ falling out from the ministry. Their reasons are those of lust and adultery. Both are deceivers of men in that they appear to be to many as being righteous men. It is only on the inside that reveals the evidence of deception. "Let God be true, and every man a liar." A tree can be determined by the fruit that it bears. The Parson, according to Chaucer, is that tree of which bears much fruit.

Ego and Super Ego in Dante’s Inferno

Catherine Craven GHUM200, Tu/Th 12:25 October 23rd, 2012 Compare the relationship between Virgil and Dante in Inferno with Sigmund Freud’s discussion of the conscience or super-ego in Civilization and Its Discontents. How does Freud explain and characterize the relationship between super-ego and ego in the individual? Cite examples of the interaction between Virgil and Dante and compare closely with Freud’s discussion of the psychical agencies, super-ego and ego: To what extent does the dynamic between Virgil and Dante illustrate the same pattern or features? Freud meets Dante: Ego and Super-Ego in InfernoIn his book Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud offers an explanation for why, as individuals, we tend to punish ourselves with guilt, often times in response to menial things. This explanation has led to the ideas of the ego, and the super-ego. According to Freud, one is responsible for our actions and how the world views us, while the other acts as a â₠¬Å"watchdog,† or an authority, in times of wrongdoing. An example of these two concepts is the relationship shared between the characters Dante and Virgil throughout Dante’s poem, The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno.This relationship consists of an authoritative guide and a sinful follower, and therefore Dante and Virgil represent the relationship between the ego and the super-ego. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud asserts that one of the primary and most important functions of a civilized society is to control the individual’s natural impulses towards aggressive behavior. These impulses, according to Freud, are caused by the ego, which is the element within an individual that is responsible for their actions, decisions, ideas, rationalizations, and logical thought.Therefore, the ego thinks things through, and eventually comes to decisions and actions, regardless of whether or not the things decided upon or thought about are deemed as â€Å"badà ¢â‚¬  by society. Furthermore, the ego seeks to avoid any kind of pain or suffering, and instead seeks out ways to gain personal happiness. However, According to Freud, the super-ego exists as a way to level out the ego, and, in a way, keep it in check. Therefore, the super-ego is responsible for an individual’s conscience, or, their ability to feel guilt.Freud continues his explanation of these concepts by asserting the idea that the super-ego calls our attention to our own failures and misconducts, and attempts to assist us in learning from them in order to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Furthermore, the conscience is the form in which the super-ego controls our actions and thoughts, and creates guilt within us. Therefore, the ego is the decision-making, acting part of an individual, while the super-ego acts as the ego’s voice of authority and control (Freud).Moreover, the relationship between the characters of Dante and Virgil in Dante’s Infern o stands as an excellent example of the relationship between the ego and the super-ego. In the opening of the poem, the character of Dante finds himself lost in a place he does not know, surrounded by terrifying beasts. In this dark moment, Virgil, a ghost from an earlier time, comes forwards and reveals to Dante that, because sin has obstructed his path to God, he must journey through hell and purgatory in order to return to life, as he once knew it. This journey, according to Virgil, would allow Dante to overcome his sin and, at last, find God’s love.However, Dante does not believe he can complete the journey alone, at which point Virgil assures Dante that he will guide him throughout the entire voyage. Virgil takes on the role of Dante’s guide very naturally, and starts him on his trip through hell. Throughout the journey, Virgil makes sure that Dante is witness to the all of the horrible punishments that evil receives in hell, and what will be his fate if he does n ot return to the path of God. However, Virgil does not only physically guide Dante through the circles of hell, but also reinforces the moral lessons that he must learn from all of the things he sees.Furthermore, Virgil acts as a protector over Dante, keeping him safe from evil creatures, such as demons and monsters, although he does allow Dante to make decisions and learn lessons the hard way often. Furthermore, the relationship between Dante and Virgil can easily be compared, and made almost parallel to the relationship between the ego and the super-ego. Without a doubt, the ego in this situation is Dante. This can be seen in the way that Dante’s actions before his journey led him to stray from his path to God. As the ego, Dante’s sinful thoughts eventually led to sinful actions, which in turn led to Virgil’s intervention.Also, Dante chooses to complete the journey through hell because he wants more than anything to rid himself of his sins and start over with God’s love. This embodies the ego because it seeks out happiness, and attempts to avoid any kind of suffering. Moreover, Virgil represents the super-ego, and fully epitomizes the â€Å"watchdog† label that Freud gave to the term. For instance, the super-ego forces the ego to recognize failures, which causes guilt. In turn, the ego is given a better understanding of what it has done wrong, and is more easily able to correct fault.Virgil plays this role in the way that he confronts Dante about the sinful life he has led, and then takes him through hell, thus allowing him to see what he may become, and motivate change within him. Another example of the two characters representing the ego and super-ego is the way that Dante sympathizes with some of the sinners in hell, and Virgil’s reaction to it. As Dante interacts with the sinners and shows them compassion, Virgil does not stop him. However, Virgil is extremely impatient with Dante, and even more disapproving towa rds him.In these situations, Virgil plays the part of the super-ego by allowing Dante to make his own decisions and act on them, while simultaneously trying to moralize him by causing incredibly guilt. Eventually, Virgil’s actions work in his favor, and Dante realizes that he is not helping the sinners, but merely wasting his pity on them. This is a perfect example of the super-ego using guilt to force changes it feels are necessary on the ego. In conclusion, Freud’s ego and super-ego are clearly embodied by the characters of Dante and Virgil in Dante’s Inferno.The character of Dante begins the story as a sinful man who is not only in need of guidance, but that also very much desires to find God’s love and create a happier life for himself. The character Virgil then seeks him out in order to help and guide Dante through a journey of moral lessons and reality checks, using the power of conscience and guilt, as opposed to force. Therefore, the relationship between the ego and the super-ego is clearly illustrated in the relationship and journey of the characters Dante and Virgil in The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno.