Duchess of Malfi Essay

The Duchess of Malfi written by John Webster was first performed around 1613. A dramatic tragedy, the play is about a forbidden marriage between the Duchess and Antonio her steward, and the wrath of her brothers which leads to many of their deaths. Webster focuses on the role of rank to detail the emotions between relationships in an aristocratic family in a time when class was all important. He uses many distinctive features to convey the substance of the play and its characters, and give the actors playing the roles cues for stage performance. This extract is part of the proposal and marriage scene, one of the biggest emotional dramatic scenes of the play. The duchess is marrying in secret against her brothers wishes; their fear is that she will demean the family’s honour by remarrying. It also forms the most positive aspect of the play, using one of the traditional stage conventions of love, defiance and disapproval (Pacheco and Johnson (2012) pg. 93). This serves to provide a ‘lift’ to an otherwise dark play, and compares the lighter side of the Duchess’ sexual desire to her brother Ferdinand’s. The extract is set at the second half of Act 1 scene 1, the first half being to set the backdrop for the audience and give them a good idea of each character and a good indication of things to come. Specifically, the extract is between the Duchess finding out how Antonio feels about marriage and their union itself; here, the Duchess is convincing Antonio that he is worthy of her, that she is woman enough despite her brothers, her rank and her status as a widow. This is achieved by the features of Webster’s distinctive language and the stage directions (both written and performed through reading). The Duchess uses double meaning in her dialogue, ‘So now the grounds broke/ you may discover what a wealthy mine/ I make you lord of.’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.432-33). She is referring to her own wealth and the value of his rank when they marry. This wordplay is also in the line ‘we are forced to woo because none dare woo us:’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.446) she is again referring to her rank and playing on the word ‘woo’ to mean ‘woe’ (and the irony being that she is wooing him). These are very persuasive lines for Antonio, who feels unworthy of the Duchess despite the traditional gender roles being swapped, and the dominance of the Duchess being prevalent. He realises this with the line ‘These words should be mine,’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.476). There is also wordplay in ‘All discord, without this circumference, / Is only to be pitied and not feared.’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.473). The Duchess is referring to the situation they are in (secret wedding and/or the room), the wedding ring she has given him and to the confinement her brothers wish for her. There could also be reference to how Antonio will be should they marry – a higher rank, but it will be a secret for some time. The duchess is trying to assuage the fear of it all by saying without it there is only pity (for her). The metre and rhythm of the speech in this extract is another distinctive feature. It is un-rhyming blank verse and follows the rules of iambic pentameter except where Webster wants a character to pause, for example, ‘You were ill to sell yourself’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.435) is only three feet of the full five feet line, leaving two for pause before the next line. This puts impact on that line but also on the ones following it. This technique is also echoed in the ‘woo’ line (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.446); the metre of the line is slightly too long, which shows the Duchess’ unwillingness to follow orders. Likewise, the line ‘You have left me heartless, mine is in your bosom’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.453) is too long, giving emphasis on the line and a cue for the actress playing the Duchess to use it for stage direction. The Duchess and Antonio’s dialogue overlaps through most of this extract; it makes them sound as if they are thinking together – giving the audience a feel for the emotional charge between the two characters. We have already seen from earlier in scene 1 that the Duchess is clearly defiant of her brothers, so it is little surprise to see that in response to Antonio’s fear of them she shrugs them off with the line ‘Do not think of them.’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.472). this confirms the audiences view of her as being strong and resilient but also somewhat naive, and also gives them a clue of what is to come, especially when she follows with the lines ‘Yet, should they know it, time will easily/ scatter the tempest.’ (Webster, (2010 [1623]) 1.1.476). This dramatic irony confirms what the audience knows but Antonio does not: that her brothers are unaware of their impending marriage. Indeed, with these lines Webster is inviting the audience to fear the brother’s reaction too after hearing their earlier death threat to the Duchess. (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.298-344) The depth of each character and difference of rank is shown in this extract by Webster’s use of figurative language. The Duchess continuously shows her determination and sprit, something which continues throughout the play – even to her death. And poor Antonio, who despite being honest and loyal, is overwhelmed at the turn of events and the metaphoric swapping of gender roles to the point where he is seeking solace in the Duchess’s words and is happy to be deluded ‘Would not have savoured flattery’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.478). He is painfully aware that he is not equal in rank but will be in marriage, and his fears exaggerate her strength ‘These words should be mine,/ And all of the parts you have spoke, if some part of it/ Would not have savoured flattery.’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.476-8) As for performance, the extract only provides one written key stage direction ‘(she kisses him)’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.468). However, there is plenty in the reading of the extract to relate to performance. This also leaves room for interpretation in relation to performance possibilities. The pace of the dialogue changes depending on which character is speaking, for example, lines 445-462 are full of short syllables which quicken the rhythm of the metre to make it energetic and erratic, ‘And fearfully equivocates,’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.448). It could serve to make the Duchess sound tense yet determined, and she could be sort of ranting in her attempts to convince Antonio. These lines also provide many words that can be used as stage direction, for example while she is speaking between lines 445 and 451 she could be pacing the stage and using her hands to emphasise her point ‘The misery of†¦ Thing it is not’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.445-52). Also in ‘Go, go brag,’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.452), she could point off stage as if inviting him to leave, either in an angry or defeated way. After, in ‘You have left me heartless’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.453), her hands could go to her heart, and then onto his with ‘mine is in your bosom’ and leave them there for ‘you do tremble (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.453-54). She could shake him at ‘awake, awake, man,’ (Webster, (2010[1623]) 1.1.459). The pace slows down again after Antonio has promised to protect her reputation; the syllables become longer and more even and written commas slow the dialogue to make it measured. This follows to the end of the extract so we can see that the Duchess is calmer and happy now that Antonio has accepted her proposal. This should reflect in the way that the person playing the Duchess should perform, especially when she is shrugging off the fear of her brothers, as it is almost nonchalant. The stage set up should have enough room for there to be complete focus on the characters and no superfluous scenery – perhaps only what is required to make it obvious what the room is, plus the table and chair for Antonio and the curtains for Cariola to hide behind. If the Duchess is pacing the stage while she rants there should be adequate room for this, and Antonio could follow behind her. Indeed, if he is seeking solace in her words, the actor may wish to appear meek (and therefore filling the gender and rank role) by following her blindly but also allowing her to turn to place her hands on him where necessary. In all, we can see how the distinctive features of Webster’s language have brought the play into being. The use of dramatic irony, metre and rhythm, imagery and figurative language to convey emotion, bring scenes to life and help the audiences perception. Webster also especially does this in his use of figurative language to create stage directions for the cast, which in turn helps them to set and convey the scene. With the play only having little written stage directions, Webster leaves the play open for the actor’s interpretation, and its possibilities onstage.

Iphone 5C price decision Essay

The fist factor that important in the pricing decision of iPhone 5C is by considering costs. For instance, since Apple Inc. wants to maximize its profits through establishing new products, the price should be set at the point where marginal revenue equals to marginal cost. We know that iPhone 5C is in the perfectly competitive market, the company can reach its maximum profit at equilibrium at X* and P*. To determine the price, Apple Inc. needs to do the marginal analysis. According to profits (Ï€) equals to total revenues (TR) minus total costs (TC), which is Ï€=(P*X)-(fixed cost+variable costs per unit *X), X is the number of units sold by Apple Inc. Of course, manager needs to ask several departments and contractors to know the cost of their product and services. From online websites, I get to know that producing a 16Gbyte iPhone, total BOM and Manufacturing Cost is about $173.45, for a 32Gbyte iPhone 5C is approximately $182.85(which accounts only for hardware and manufacturing costs and does not include other expenses such as software, licensing, royalties or other expenditure)(Andrew, 2013). The manager can differentiating the fixed costs and variable costs based on cost behavior, and plug those numbers into the equation and get an equation between Ï€ and X. then differentiate the equation and set it to zero, the manager can get the number of units when profit maximizing. Finally, plug X into assuming demand function, the manager can get the price and make a decision. But, in the real world, it is not easy to implement the marginal analysis method. So, managers usually try to combine cost-based approaches and market-based approach to make a profit satisfying approach, for example full cost-plus target profits, variable costs-plus percentage markup can both assess to pricing decision. However, the common and basic factor for the methods is costs. The second factor that important in the pricing decision of iPhone 5C is product line and competitors. Strategy analysis is the company needs to consider about the Competitors as well as the whole industry, and then assess to firm’s plan. We can figure out that the competitions in the smartphone market are quite intense, there are numerous competitors and are almost equal size, such as Samsung, Microsoft. So, Apple Inc. has to investigate the cost leadership and the unique producers in order to make a competitive price in the smartphone market. The website take the example of Moto X, which has 18 kinds of colors and the functions are really similar to iPhone 5C (Darren, 2013). The price of Moto X is $599, so the manager should decide a lower price than it to gain a competitive advantage. In particular, the competition is not just from the external market, we know that Apple Inc. promoted iPhone 5C as well as iPhone 5S at the same time. To iPhone 5C, the manager needs to consider about the plastic case, which is $42 less than the metal case cost of iPhone5S (Ben, 2013). So manager should also compare the 5C’s price to 5S. It is an important thing to keep secret of the product’s price before they coming out. The manager of Apple Inc. can survey the expected price of the public, or conduct some historical sample tests before making the final price decision. The third factor that important in the pricing decision of iPhone 5C is the manager should estimate the demand. Assume that we are suffering a financial crisis, most people don’t have extra money to pay for new electronic devices. They have already owned iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S and do not want to pay for another similar product. Then the manager should decrease the price of iPhone 5C to fit for people’s expectation of low pricing, using the profit margin per unit to trade for higher quantities. As I mentioned above, the estimation of demand function is also important in the marginal analysis. In order to estimate the demand, the manager should also make market survey to analyze the targeted customers. According to Pew Internet’s report, Teens and Technology 2013, 37% of U.S. teenagers now own a smartphone (which compares to 23% in 2011). And the increases of U.S. wireless carriers’ family data plans, intensive the parents to buy smartphones for their kids (Jason, 2013). Because the iPhone5C is colorful, has proper functions and easy to control, it must a first-choice for kid’s cellphone. Aimed at attracting teenagers group, the Apple Inc. manager should make the price to a certain level. What’s more, we also have to consider whether buyers are sensitive to price. In economics, we call it price elasticity of demand, which means the percentage change in the numbers of units sod to the percentage change in the price of the product. Assume most people are price sensitive, if the price of iphone5C is much higher than they expected, they will not buy it, which decreases demand a lot. So, listen to the public opinions on price is quite important. Before iphone5C facing to the public, a lot of individuals forecast that the selling price should be low enough to satisfy the low-end customers needs. Somebody was kidding that iPhone 5C is iPhone for China or iPhone for cheap. Apple Inc. wants to occupy more market percentage in developing countries, so they advertised that to make a colorful low-end smartphone. However, the price of iPhone 5C is not as low as we expected. The data shows after releasing the iPhone for 72 hours, both in China, Australia, U.S., the sales of iPhone 5S is almost 4 times compare to iPhone 5C. Especially, the graph says in the â€Å"target† country China, where the 5s is outselling the 5c five to one (Christopher, 2013). So I think the price of iPhone 5C is not reasonable. There are several reasons to explain iPhone 5C price is not appropriate. Firstly, compare to iPhone 5S, people claim 5C just looks an iPhone 5 with a candy-colored plastic shell. According to a report published by UBS, the same memory for 16 Gigabyte iPhone, 5S costs $213 in materials, whereas a 5C costs $156IPhone 5S has metal shell, Touch ID fingerprint scanner, more advanced A7 chipset, Motion Coprocessor and True tone flash for camera. The different price due to plastic case of $42 and finger print sensor of $7. However, the price of iPhone 5C is only $100 less than iPhone 5S. The UBS also estimates the gross margins of iPhone 5S is 45-55% and for iPhone 5S is 48-54% (Ben, 2013). As a rational consumer, I will buy iPhone 5S instead of iPhone 5C, since 5S has much more functions, which is not at a so much higher price. Secondly, the factors of competitor also have huge effects. Samsung is the key part for apple to make its â€Å"retina display† screen, as well as apple use Sony’s sensor in its camera. We know that Samsung and Sony are competitors. Apple Inc. is hiring, relying and paying them. But if someday, Samsung or Sony stop providing essential parts to apple, what will happen? I think Apple Inc. has to produce all manufacturing parts by themselves under a big amount of fixed cost, which will have a big effect on Apple’s price decision. Thirdly, the price of iPhone 5C is not as low as rumored. It brings the question to us, who exactly is Apple targeting? We know that Samsung has galaxy series, which with large-screen and liked by fashion people and developing markets. In china, there are a lot of really cheap phones under 1000RMB, those phones have varieties function and beautiful looking. So when Apple Inc. can really open the market to low-end customers? The price decision and targeting customer is not clear and accurate. I am kind of thinking there must be some sailing strategy when apple promoted 5C and 5S at the same time, with a huge cost performance in my opinion. Maybe Apple Inc. just wants to stimulate the sales of 5S, after people comparing these two products.

Beowulf and King Arthur Essay

All these heroes did different things for their people. They have different set of qualities which make them heroes and since there are many heroic adventures and qualities, most of them are shared in part or as a whole with other heroes. That becomes the case between the two great heroes Beowulf and King Arthur. Beowulf emerged from the epic poem Beowulf while King Arthur was from the story of Morte d’Arthur. They have strong similarities and great differences. To be a true hero, you should do good things for good people, this depicts Beowulf’s situation. He left his homeland to help the Danish to get rid of human eating monster the Grendel. This quality is also evident in King Arthur, as he consciously rides into a battle so as to rid his people of an evil knight that does not allow others to pass. Both heroes display their concern for others by involving themselves in risky battle for the greater good. In the same aspect they are trying to get love and respect from the people they protect. To obtain this maximum respect both and Arthur enter into battle alone. Look more:  no fear beowulf essay For Beowulf, when Grendel is defeated, the glory, love and respect solely belong to him and his men. Arthur on the other hand does the same, when he met with his man and his horse. He mounted up and dressed his weapons, he bade his chamberlain tarry there till he came again (Morte d’Arthur). Although Arthur starts his journey alone he did meet with Merlin the court magician and faithful companion who later accompany him. The characteristic of being fearless when faced with death is a trait seen in all because it depicts courage and strength. Beowulf and King Arthur are not afraid of death thus showed their courage to adversaries and their peers. When Arthur is faced with death he says, â€Å"welcome be it when it cometh, but to yield me unto thee as [cowardly] I had liefer die than to be a shamed. † (Morte d’Arthur). He simply said that he would rather die than admit to a defeat or being cowardly. Beowulf feels much the same way because he shows no fear for his own life but instead expressed a concern for the honor of King Higlac by asking â€Å"if death does take [him], send the hammered / Mail of [his] armor to Higlac† (Macneile D, 2008). Sending his King his armor recommits him to his country and lets his King be reminded how brave he was every time he looks at it. Differences Looking at their differences, Beowulf was way more confident in his fighting ability then Arthur. It is evident when Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed he said his hands shall fight and struggle for him. His reasoning is that Grendel is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none and therefore by facing Grendel unarmed, he shows that he is brave and more significantly unafraid to be equal to Grendel since Grendel was not going to fight with weapons. Were as the much less confident Arthur fights with weapons since once his wounds were amended his first thought was his sword followed by the task of his army finding him one. This displays Arthur’s weakness in his reliance on weapons. Since Beowulf’s men could give him in the fight he had to defeat the monster by himself with his bear hands. On the other hand Arthur lost his battle by first of all loosing a jousting match then lost on the ground. Merlin had to come to rescue by using his magic, putting the knight to sleep for a period of three hours. Conclusion Beowulf in the end is the greater hero because the help he received from his men was useless. Their differences in heroism can be due to the fact that Arthur was a young hero compared to Beowulf who was an experienced hero. Either way they are like most heroes since their similarities and differences makes them who they are. They left commendable and memorable fantasy characteristics since both demonstrated great love for others as they both tried to do good things for commendable people. Reference Macneile, D. (2008). English Epic and Heroic Poetry: BiblioBazaar publishers

Environmental Problem Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental Problem - Research Paper Example The author also uses research materials of other environmental scientists which complements his own study of the environmental problems. http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/TheTourismandEnvironmentProgramme/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism/EnvironmentalImpacts/TourismsThreeMainImpactAreas/tabid/78776/Default.aspx The research made by UNEP is a deep study into environmental problems affected by adverse actions of the tourists and their activity. The article provides latest information about the state of affairs of the resources, nature and environment in the recreational areas and stresses negative effects locally. The article is very beneficial for the research paper because it provides complete and relevant information about all the issues it concerns. The structure of the work provides a logical information presentation which contributes to its better perception and understanding. The benefit of this work is also that it deals with the aesthetic aspect of environment deterioration and pollution because this is the thing that is ignored the most when human beings perform any

Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Debate - Essay Example In most cases, restitution can happen by restoring liberty, social status, employment, family life, and legal rights of the people (van Boven). Aside from offering rehabilitation programs, there are also cases wherein reparation can happen by extending monetary compesation to the affected people (van Boven; Goldberg). In the United States, a lot of Black farmers have suffered from the psychological, social, and economic consequences of racial discrimination. Today, the administration of Obama is using monetary compensation as a means of settlement for mistreatment that most of the American Indians and Black farmers living in Arizona, the New Mexico, and Montana who have encountered under the administration of the previous U.S. presidents (Baker). Personally, I am against the Native Americans’ reparations. First of all, the U.S. economy is still in the midst of economic uncertainty. By extending $4.5 billion in reparations to the American Indians and Black farmers, the U.S. government may have inadequate fund to boost the entire U.S. economy. As of October 2012, the unemployment rate in the U.S. is 7.9% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In the absence of sufficient monetary stimulus, the unemployement rate in the U.S. will remain high. van Boven, Theo. â€Å"Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution†. United Nations. 2008. Web. 16 November 2012

Domestic partner benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Domestic partner benefits - Essay Example Further requirements were then added for the partners to continue sharing financial obligations and that they  are  over eighteen (Badgett 2006).. A domestic partnership denotes a much that may be or may not be recognized by law as compared to  marriage. According to  Wikipedia, public and private employers in America provide health insurance and other benefits to spouses and same-sex partners of their employees. The employee receiving benefits for his or her spouse may sometimes be forced to pay tax for the benefits. The qualifications for benefits for domestic partners vary from one employer to the next. Different employers have different benchmarks for those that are suitable for these benefits and those that are not. Domestic partner benefits can be categorized into two: same sex partners and opposite sex partners. It is up to employers to determine which  partnership  to include. Some employers only  recognize  same-sex or different-sex couples, while others acce pt both categories. Employers ought to compensate their employees through more than salaries and wages. They should provide benefits such as health insurance. A growing number of employers are now offering domestic partner benefits to gay, lesbians, bisexual and transgender employees and the  partner’s children. These benefits include health benefits (dental,  sight  and medical); retirement benefits (pension plans); bereavement leave; travel assistance; adoption assistance; education and  tuition  assistance and disability and life insurance. Employers  are known  to create their own definitions of domestic partners. This is to  enable  them to know who is eligible for benefits and who is not.  Same sex  unions were usually left out of this consideration. Employers have since begun offering benefits to  same sex  partners. Employers have traditionally offered benefits, such as health insurance, to the spouses and legal dependants of their employees. In 1982, the first  employer  to break ranks and  offer  domestic partner benefits to its  lesbian  and  gay  employees was a New York City weekly  publication  called the Village Voice. Today, the Human Rights Campaign (a nonprofit organization devoted to working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equal rights) claims that employees who  offer  these benefits stand at more than 2,500. In an effort to promote equality in the workplace, more and more employers are choosing to  offer  benefits to domestic partners. However, these efforts to  bring  more  equality  to the workplace are not without  consequence. Before adopting policies that  afford  domestic partners the same benefits that  are afforded  spouses, employers must carefully consider the benefits and risks to such an  approach (Badgett 2006).. Cost of domestic partner benefits According to Michael E. Hamrick (2009), lack of information has made it difficult to  es timate  the overall  cost  of domestic partner benefits. Some employers believe that the cost for providing benefits for domestic partners is much higher than providing benefits for married couples. An  excellent  example comes from a small group  plan  in California. It paid 17.1% more in the same year for

The internationalization of a multinational enterprise of your choice Essay

The internationalization of a multinational enterprise of your choice from an emerging economy - Essay Example Samsung Group registered US $ 327 billion in revenues in 2013 and a net income of US $ 30.1 billion (Samsung Electronics, 2015). The multinational has regional subsidiaries that are based in Peru, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. The multinational is a global leader in semiconductor, mobile and display technologies and has leveraged on its research and development capabilities in order to provide innovative technologies and deliver customer value (Russell and Cohn 2012). The company’s vision 2020 is to ‘inspire the world, create the future’ through providing innovative technologies and developing new value across all core networks (Michell 2011). The research and development (R & D) consists of 42 global facilities that aim at setting new standards of excellence and forging new markets. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), R & D centers, and division product development teams work together across markets such as US, UK, Russia, India, Israel, Japan and C hina in understanding the emerging customer needs and preferences (Michell 2011). The paper will discuss Samsung internationalization process of the consumer electronics division, South Korea as an emerging market and Samsung Electronics internalization process. The paper will outline the sequence of market entries, the speed of internationalisation, the market entry modes and targeted market niches using internationalisation theories. The paper will finally offer recommendations for future internationalisation. Emerging markets are characterised by rapid industrialisation, adoption of mixed economy of free markets. South Korea is the 15th largest economy measured by GDP, industrial output and services and the 12thlargest economy in terms of the purchasing power parity. The country has a nominal GDP of $ 1.449 trillion and an average GDP growth rate of 3 percent annually (Central Intelligence Agency 2014). The GDP per capita is $ 35, 485 and inflation has remained stable at below 2 percent.

Mind and Consciousness Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mind and Consciousness Questions - Essay Example John Searle defines consciousness to consist of inner, qualitative, subjective states and processes of sentience or awareness. The subjectivity of consciousness is one of the issues that John Searle seeks to clarify. He argues out that consciousness is subject to some human or animal. All conscious states according to him have first person ontology and not third person ontology therefore they can only exist when experienced by some human or animal agent and it is therefore subject to the existence of a human or animal. I.e. it is dependent on the existence of an agent (human or animal) (Searle, 1980). Searle also points out that consciousness is purely a biological process in that is exclusively caused by neurobiological progressions and is realized in the brain structures. He however argues that it is different from other biological phenomena due to its qualitativeness, intentionality, subjectivity and unity traits. He likens the way the brain unites all of the variety of our differ ent stimulus inputs into a single unified conscious experience to the way the visual system binds all of the different stimulus inputs into a single unified visual percept (Searle, 1980). Searle’s arguments are sensible in that they show sense on the connection between the state of the mind and consciousness. The fact that consciousness is a biological process explains how conscious states are processed and how they come to be. The explanations give greater insight to what consciousness is. Consciousness cannot occur without the interconnections between various aspects like sight and the mind. Various biological processes involving the brain have to take place for consciousness to be in place. One does not just become aware of their surroundings or environment through sight only. Seeing has to be accompanied by conceptualization of the environment for one to make a judgment on what he/she is seeing. Consciousness is therefore not a one instance thing but a process comprised o f a number of activities and stages. I therefore support the argument that consciousness is a biological process and it is subjective. Semantic knowledge can be defined as established knowledge pertaining objects, facts and word meanings. They bear based on facts and the knowledge is shown by referencing of words. A good example is the statement, ` a snake is not a fast runner, in fact, and it cannot run at all.’ This is a representation of semantic knowledge because it points out a fact that depends on the referent of the word run. Syntactic knowledge on the other hand is basically linguistic knowledge that can be stated without a reference to the words they refer to. An example of syntactic knowledge is the statement `there are rampant cases of food insecurity and illiteracy in third world countries’ (Levy, Bayley, & Squire, 2004). This represents syntactic knowledge because it brings out the intended information or knowledge without having to use references that rel ates to expertise in grammar. The form of knowledge basically entails knowledge by description. The way I can describe a past experience I had is basically a form of knowledge. There are three major forms of knowledge namely intellectual knowledge which entails collection of facts, knowledge of states which entail human emotional feelings and the real knowledge which is basically what is considered as the reality. The content of knowledge on the other hand, is a prior knowledge on an issue one is trying to

HOSTILITY TOWARDS EASTERN EUROPEAN (EE) IMMIGRANTS IN THE UK FROM Essay

HOSTILITY TOWARDS EASTERN EUROPEAN (EE) IMMIGRANTS IN THE UK FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES - Essay Example Seventy percent of the increase in these ten years is attributed to immigration. About half of the foreigners come from Eastern Europe with Romania and Bulgaria having the highest number (Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, 2013). In the year 2012, reports published by Migration Watch showed about 80,000 people have been crossing the UK borders annually in search of better employment opportunities (Doyle & Chapman, 2014). This is a population which is roughly the size of the Borough of Tower of Hamlets. Immigrants continue to queue at the airports to get access into the country. Based on these trends and numbers, it is anticipated that more people, including those without work permits, will flock the country. Riley-Smith (2013) says that majority of these individuals are attracted by the prospects of getting better pay than what they used to get in their motherland. A foreigner working in the UK is able to get about four or five times what they were earning in their countries even at the minimum UK wage (Robila, 2013). Some stakeholders have raised the concern as people coming from Eastern Europe have lower employment rates in Britain. A clear look at the unemployment data reveals that this is an over magnified phenomenon. It is true that some foreigners find it had getting jobs in the UK (Riley-Smith, 2013). However most of them are those who lack work permits or are in the country illegally. According to Portes (2013), some UK leaders have called for the eventual restriction of ability of migrants moving to the country. Such stands are influenced by the mounting fear that the increase in the number of foreigners is limiting employment opportunities for the British citizens. This is a valid stand when one looks at the employment statistics of the skilled workers coming to the UK from East Europe. Majority of the immigrants are young and active than the average British

Freedom of Religion in the Bill of Rights Research Paper

Freedom of Religion in the Bill of Rights - Research Paper Example Moreover, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prevents the government from making laws that establish any religion as the state religion. This clause ensures the secular nature of the US Constitution. The First Amendment to the US Constitution deals with religious freedom. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances...Amendment 1 (The United States Constitution, 2009). The First Amendment also provides the right of Freedom of expression. These rights cannot be interfered with by the government. Freedom of expression includes the rights of Freedom of speech, press, and assembly. It also includes the freedom to petition the government for a redressal of a grievance. The Supreme Court and the lower courts have interpreted the definition of the freedoms provided by the First Amendment to the Constitution, through their case law. These freedoms and rights apply to all the people who live in the US, and not just its citizens (Citizen Rights). The Establishment Clause precludes the government from enacting legislation that accords any religion the status of the state religion. It also prohibits the government from treating any religion with greater preference than the other religions. This clause has been interpreted by the courts to engender separation of Church and State. The Free Exercise Clause restricts the government from interfering with any individual’s religious practices. All the same, civil and federal laws are permitted to restrict religious acts and ceremonies, wherever warranted (Citizen Rights).

Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a novel that focuses on the life of Philip Pirrip and his expectations. Throughout the book these expectations change and as they do, the reader comes to realise the key theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them. This essay will examine this key theme and how it demonstrates and helps the reader understand Pips growth as a character.  Initially, Pip is a very compassionate and sensitive character. We see this right from the start as the first scene describes him at his families grave crying. The reason for this behaviour at this stage of the book is Pips sister and guardian Mrs Joe Gargery. She concluded by throwing me- I often served her as a connubial missile-  This quote shows that Pip feels in most ways inadequate to his sister and that this domination is the reason for his sensitive and compassionate appearance at this stage of the book.  However, when Pip receives his expectations from Mr Jaggers, and he moves into lodging with Herbert, this domination is no longer valid. As Pip falls deeper and deeper into debt with his flippant spending, he moves further away from Joe and his old home. This gap becomes more apparent after Mrs Joes funeral, when Pip has an awkward conversation with his used to be good friend Biddy. In this conversation Pip presents himself as much more of a selfish and uncompassionate young man: Biddy, said I in a virtuously self-asserting manner, I must request to know what you mean by this?  This quote demonstrates Pips growth as a character as it shows the speed at which he has changed into more arrogant and self-righteous Pip since his childhood. It helps the reader understand the theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them, by showing that in his new, wider-boundary environment, Pip has become somewhat dehumanised. This dehumanisation is demonstrated in this conversation, as Pips manner is made to seem selfish and arrogant to underline the gap between Pips humanised place of upbringing and his somewhat dehumanised state in London. After Mrs Joes death, Pip seems more compassionate and thoughtful. This is because his visit back to his place of birth has helped him realise the change that he has undergone while he has been away by showing him the emotional distance he has put between himself and his family, and the consequences these distances have had on his relationships with his friends and family back home. This compassionate change is reinforced when he sets up Herberts job in a bid to see his friend more financially stable. I did really cry in good earnest when I went to bed, to think that my expectations had done some good to somebody.  This quote shows that Pip has realised the main theme of how a characters environment and upbringing can dehumanise them, by acting in this compassionate and thoughtful way. Also by referring to Herbert as somebody at the end of this quote, Pip shows the reader that he does not believe that his expectations have done himself that much good. In conclusion, Pip reacted throughout the novel towards his environment and upbringing in both negative and in the end positive ways. At the beginning of the novel, he seemed a very modest and sensitive young boy. However when he receives his expectations this marks the beginning of the changes and dehumanisation that he undergoes whilst he is in London. Thankfully though, after his experience at Mrs Joes funeral Pip realises these changes that he has undergone and endeavours to be more compassionate and thoughtful. This shows the reader that Pip has almost completed a full circle of growth, in terms of his behaviour in relation to his upbringing and environment, and this was reinforced by the main theme of how a characters upbringing and environment can dehumanise them.

Study of history Essay Example for Free

Study of history Essay In studying history, the different ways to promulgate data and research in order to define a certain part of helped us recognize facts and claims that are relevant to the issues that we need to clarify. Historians usually interview the witnesses, victims, and heroes of the past to clarify and justify their thoughts and reviews on the different parts of historical accounts in the world. One of the most significant parts of history is slavery. The different kinds of slavery that emerged and developed during the period of colonization made us realize the true essence of our being as we acknowledge the facts and data of the past. Many have suffered and died during this period of struggle. Slavers have gone through different kinds of slaving – in land and water. Land slavery is almost familiars to everybody because it was a phenomenon during colonization but it was an unbelievable revelation that even in the ships of the sea contains hundreds of slaves that could not eat, drink, speak, nor move. However, how do the historians perceive the slave ships? How do they research on this issue? Are they keen to the issue as they uncover the â€Å"whole truth† by using their researchable documents and witnesses? Every person needs to study the past in order to justify the present and future. Nevertheless, are the historical data relevant and complete to signify the important details that we need? We must read and analyze those data by finding flaws and arguments that are necessary to clarify distorted cases and parts of history. Some of the Notable Philosophical Problems in documenting the Event Based on the research on the issue of Slave Ship, many researchers and historians support their materials through interviews and special communication with different witnesses and â€Å"heroes† of the past. Most of the witnesses that they used are church leaders and doctors who went through the voyage along with the slaves. The objective of the research as what I have seen is to show its reader that the research is complete and accurate source of learning from the past because they contain justification from the witness of the slave ships. In the article of the EyeWitness entitled â€Å"Aboard a Slave Ship, 1829,† they used the accounts of Reverend Walsh to show the â€Å"true situation† in a slave ship. â€Å"We join Reverend Walshs account as he boards the slave ship,† (EyeWitness, 2000). Another article stated that the research is an â€Å"original account† of the past that can be use to show the situation of a slave ship. â€Å"Here, for your perusal and research, we present an original 1860 news account of a captured Slave Ship. The Slave Ship was owned by a New York Slave Trader, It was full of Native African Men, Women, and Children, and it was delivering the Cargo to be sold in the South,† (Son of the Ship, 2003). On the other way around, an article entitled â€Å"The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker† showed how Rediker, an author of a significant book that discusses the life in a slave ship justify all the historical accounts that he saw and heard from his interviews and materials. â€Å"Rediker is a distinguished maritime historian whose previous books have used long-neglected primary sources to shed important new light on life around the 18th century Atlantic,† (Rutten, 2008). All the examples above were seen that the objectivity and choice of sources or references should rely on the needs of the readers. They all used people who are familiar and witnesses of the scenario so they could thoroughly define and describe the situation of the slave ship. However, they did not state the issues of the slavers, which are needed to show the side of the slobbers and not the slaves alone. Though they have reached their resolution to uncover or reveal the situation in the ship, they ignored the stand of the slavers why they come up to that kind of situation. It became a bias account in the side of the slaves. Though a reader should have pity on the slaves during those times as they read the situation in a slave ship, the authors and researchers of the document should also speak about the stand of the slavers and on how they are able to do those things. These claims are factual accounts, which is important to justify both sides. Can such problems be avoided? How? These problems can be avoided if the authors and researchers also showed the other situation to compare and contrast the thoughts and ideology of both sides. We all know that the slaves during the period are abundant but we do not know the deeper meaning of slavery. According to Kaltenbacher, Mehta, and Nahas (2008), in their article entitled Antebellum Slavery: Interstate Slave Trade, â€Å"Slaves forcefully pushed together, back to face, lay cramped and helpless on the boat. Their sweating bodies were so close to each other that it was not unlikely to feel the hot breath of another slave stinging the back of one’s neck. † The authors of the article discussed the situation of the slaves. It shows that the different documents tell us about the meaning of slavery its background, and development as years went on. However, it must also be describe in those articles to show the two sides of the situation so that people could thoroughly understand the scenario in a large perspective and concept because the authors only described the sides of the slaves and did not involved the sides of the slavers. Conclusion The hardest part of research is to document the past. Most of us say the term â€Å"past is past. † This is true in most of the time because we could not return to the past especially during the times when paper and pen was still not invented to write all the important details of a certain situation that part of historical events. If we think logically, how can we believe the books, articles, and journals that we read about history if the writers did perceive the event that they wrote? It was the hardest part I guess to educators of history to justify the claim of the past. However, this is also a challenge to discuss the historical events of human life because different perspectives and ideologies emerged as the interaction of both students and teachers are created. References Aboard a Slave Ship, 1829, EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory. com (2000) Kaltenbacjer, E. et al. (2008). Ship Life. Retrieved on January 21, 2008 from http://cghs. dadeschools. net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/interstate_slave_trade/ship_life. htm Rutten, T. (2008). The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker. Los Angeles Times. http://www. latimes. com/features/books/la-et-rutten2jan02,0,4348521. Son of the South. (2003). Slave Ship. Retrieved on January 21, 2008 from http://www. sonofthesouth. net/slavery/slave-ship. htm.

Strategies for Managing Diversity and Cross-Cultural Issues

Strategies for Managing Diversity and Cross-Cultural Issues In the current business world, where time and distance are not barriers, organizations run their operations across the globe crossing the boundaries by bypassing the limitations. The working environment of such organization is diversified, filled with people of different skill sets, culture, religion, language, ethnic, mentality etc. As this diversified team needs to work closer and as it needs collaboration for the smooth operation of business, it is critical to manage efficiently the cross cultural environment in an organization. In this essay we critically analyze how diversity helps an organization to be competitive in the global market, the cross cultural issues and the importance and how to manage diversity efficiently in an organization. 1. Introduction Industries and organizations are fast growing with the help of innovative technologies. In the current business world, these technologies, the enablers, are helping the organization to expand the business across the globe crossing the boundaries of limits. As a result of this, the organizations environment is very much diversified with people from different countries, language and culture and so on. Organizations need to deal with people from this diversified environment. In the new generation business or service industry, even in a single project people from different culture or countries works together for the project completion. A close relationship between these people is very much essential for the uninterrupted continuation of the operations and for the successful completion of these projects. A small issue or fault in these relations could make a sever problem and the impact of the same on the organizations operations will be very high. So a cross cultural environment should b e carefully handled for not breaking the thread of operation of an organization. The truth is that, there could be several cross cultural issues arising in an organization due to several reasons. So, in such situations a manager should need skills for managing the diversity in an organization as well. This skill is very much important as globalization has become more and more relevant than the past. 2. Diversity An enabler for globalization As the business is becoming more and more globalize, diversity in an organization is a competitive advantage for leveraging the opportunity of business globally (Zainuba 1998). A good management of such diversity can help in enormous improvement of team work and also helps in improving the productivity of an organization. Zainuba (1998) points out that multinational companies like GE, Honeywell, BankAmerica and lot more has kept diversity leaders as their senior level employees in their organization. Diversity also has huge importance as it helps in satisfying multi cultural clients of an organization and also helps to handle the diversified market place in the globalize environment. Companies who run their business in multiple companies face competitive issues. For understanding those markets and competitive issue, a cross cultural collaboration and understanding is very much important. Due to this reason many companies has kept their managerial level employees or top level executiv es in foreign countries to be from a different country or culture to understand the global business and to pursue the advantage of the market. For example, Colgate Company has kept an Australian as the top level executive for their European division operations. By doing like this these companies get a better chance to be competitive in the global market and helps globalization effectively. 3. Cross cultural issues: It is obvious that when a diversified team work together, due to many reasons like language barriers, cultural difference etc, many issues may occur. But in any organization it is critical to analyze the cause of these issues and is necessary to find out what hinders the team work in such situations. Cultural difference is the major cause of the cross cultural issues in most cases in an organization. Hofstede (cited in Higgs 1993: 37) has identified four different dimensions which cause cultural difference or the factors which cause impact on the national cultural difference in an organization. Hofstede (1993) broadly classifies these dimensions as Individualism / collectivism, power-distance, uncertainty avoidance and Masculinity / femininity. The dimension individualism / collectivism represent the extent to which individuals are valuing their self determination which is as opposed to their behaviour, determined by collective will of organization. The next dimension which is power- distance also causes huge impact on cross cultural environment. Employee shows involvement in and also has a participative style of management in the low power-distance culture. The other side of this is that the employees always tend to accept and behave in certain ways as directed by the higher management hierarchy. Masculinity / femininity are considered to be one of the most difficult dimensions. There is always a high conflict between highly masculine cultural values and highly feminine cultural values in an organization. It is considered that the masculine culture values mostly related to material acquisition and assertiveness where as feminine culture values relates to the relationship and person and the quality of life (Higgs 1996). So these cross-cultural conflicts always tend to be high in a multinational organization. Uncertainty avoidance domain represents the employee tolerance of uncertainty in the work place. A research done by Higgs Phelps (1990) on Japanese organiz ations operating in United Kingdom also proves the practical evidences of these dimensions. Magdaleno Kleiner (1996) also points out that organizations behaviour and working environment is tightly coupled with the countries culture. They assert this point by giving examples of different organizations based in different countries like UK, Japan and Mexico. Magdaleno Kleiner (1996) demonstrate that the cultural trend of United States organization is to become a part of melting pot, Mexican organizations always filters ascription and tradition into the work place, UK organizations are characterised by homogeneity and Japanese organizations promotes work opportunities for the women. So taking these cultural difference into consideration, when a company is operating in a global market across the globe where different people across the globe work together in an organization as a team, the chance of occurrence of cultural conflict is quite natural, but systematic and efficient management of this issue could be very helpful to increase the productivity as well as for innovation in the global market by leveraging the competitive advantage of diverse team in an organization. 4. Managing Diversity And Cross Cultural Issues: Managing diversity in an organization has become the at most importance in this era of globalization. As we discussed earlier this efficient management is very much necessary to leverage the competitive advantage of the diversified team in an organization for achieving success and for the expansion of business through innovation. A study done by Aoun (2007) on international forum on managing the diversity revels the findings that diversity management has become the priority in most of the countries especially in work place and in institutions of higher education. A discussion between Lloyd Trompenaars (1993) suggests that riding waves of culture is becoming extremely important in the corporate world and day to day lives as well. Kandola Fullerton (cited in Maxwell et al. 2001: 468) says that managing diversity has its origin in United States of America. Maxwell et al. (2001) explains that this emerging importance of managing diversity was not only because of the widely spread demog raphic changes but also it offers equal opportunity approach. A research done by Schwabenland Tomlinson (2008) revels that managing diversity could become inherently problematic when it comes to some organizations like non profitable organizations when involving the process of undermining and when organizations efforts to organize and manage by themselves. But as diversity gives sustainable advantages, it is necessary to manage it efficiently through different ways by adopting new strategies in the organizations. Friday Friday (2003) points out that most of the current organizations implemented corporate diversity strategy but have not used planned change-corporate diversity. This could cause diversity initiatives to be ineffective. So a planned strategic management is necessary for efficiently managing diversity in an organization. Friday Friday (2003) also asserts that planned change-diversity strategy will also help in long term effectiveness and this is extremely important fo r managing human resource in organizations with highly diversified work force. Friday Friday (2003) also give systematic strategic management approach starting from strategic formulation, implementation and strategic evaluation. In strategic formulation we develop the mission, vision and the goal, conduct the SWOT analysis and also set the criteria for selection and then select the strategy. Then in strategic implementation phase we allocate appropriate resources and execute the strategy. In the evaluation process of managing the diversity, we set the control process, review and access the strategic execution and takes corrective actions when ever it is necessary. So this type of strategic management of diversity is very much important for ideally dealing with the cross cultural issues in an organization proactively. In general, in this strategic management for managing diversity, we are going through the process of Acknowledging diversity, valuing diversity and managing diversity. Friday Friday (2003) also projects eight steps which contribute to the efficient diversity management. These are exposure, experience, understanding, respect, knowledge, appreciate, modifying attitudes and the behaviours and finally healthy interaction. These could help in maintaining a healthy diversified team in an organization. Exposure, experience, understanding and knowledge broadly come under acknowledging diversity. Under exposure we promote the practice of acknowledging a person to know who he is, where he is from, promoting to receive others culture, unmasking and public noticing. Under experience, we insist personal involvement, information gathering, living through, encountering and doing. Knowledge phase is almost similar to this. In understanding, it tends to grasp the reality, share unique insights and share perception. Now in valuating the diversity we go through two phases that is, Appreciating and giving respect. By appreciating we give high regards to others opin ion, welcoming them and accepting the worth of their value and culture. By giving respect we need to give personal considerations, pay tribute to the value of culture, pay difference to persons culture, Pay attention as well to the persons culture and finally regarding a persons value. Higgs (1994) suggest certain tips for the efficient management of diversity in an organization. He suggests to built a strong corporate culture in the organization, adapt a strong human resource strategy and policy and then empower the subsidiaries of its own to adapt these strategies and implement it locally so that it cam meet the national cultural difference. He also suggests involving all locations globally for the formulation of such policies so that it supports corporate goals in a diversified environment. Higgs (1994) also suggests that for better management of diversity, it is necessary to identify the national cultural differences and its impact on a particular organization and the also necessary to develop an understanding of potential strength which influences corporate and the national culture with in an organization. Choy et al. (2010) stress the need of differentiated management approach which involves changing current management process. In differentiated management ap proach managers need to take a different managerial style which adapts to the business environment and the characteristics of multinational staffs. Choy et al. (2010) proves this with the example of established trade relation between China and Singapore where they needed to use differentiated management technique as these countries had different philosophies, political and cultural view for doing the trade. Also Janssens et al. (2004) points out the importance of diversity of languages and the importance of managing it by stressing the point that international organizations are multilingual organizations where language diversity needs to be organized for the effective diversity management. A case study on Siemens by Fredriksson et al. (2006) also proves the importance of managing diversified languages in a multilingual organization. In this case, Siemens subsidiaries in Germany and France preferred their native languages but managing those conflicts and promoting English as common l anguage needed diversified management skills and was successful evidence of efficient diversity and cross cultural management. Diversity management becomes much more important in these situations as we cannot avoid these situations because it occurs frequently in globalization era. As we discussed earlier, managerial skills need to be shifted from an organization level to a global thinking, by practicing to deal with the multicultural and multilingual environment. This also includes the need of practicing the equal opportunity theory and to be implemented by the organizations. Many studies also proves that managing diversity is not only for diversified recruitment of staffs, but also giving equal opportunity for everyone globally by accepting and welcoming different culture and by rewarding for different successful aspects of different talents. These kinds of effective diversity management in an organization reduces the friction of national, cultural and even mental differences as w ell thus by giving way to a smooth operation of the business and by giving competitive edge for innovation and success. 5. Conclusion In the present business world, due to the technology developments and innovation organizations and industries are fast growing. As a part of globalization, companies operate their business across the globe for expanding the business as well as to pursue the opportunity available in the world market. Such a working environment will be diversified with people from different countries with different philosophies, culture, language, gender, mentality, thoughts and lot more. For the successful operation of a firm globally, it requires a tight coupling between these people in an organization. For this tight coupling, a good relationship as well as trust is required. But chances of causing conflict in such multinational organizations are high. Instead of finding these conflicts as a negative impact on organization, we need to use the new trend of finding and utilizing opportunity from the conflict and need to leverage the competitive advantage of diversity which helps organization to expand business in the global market and to pursue success. For doing this an efficient management of diversity is required in an organization. Managers need to think about the diversified management of the diversity rather than the old management styles followed in the organizations. This diversified management should focus on the principle of giving equal opportunity to everybody. This should also involve the process of understanding, accepting and respecting everybody thoughts and aspects. Companies should hire diversified team for higher as well as middle level management to understand and leverage the opportunities in the market by using the experience and knowledge of these diversities. This could help organizations to root their business in other countries by a better understanding of their culture. Companies should also focus on developing a common human resource strategy and policy for everyone in the organization. Companies should also include every bodys thoughts and opinion wh ile developing these policies for better outcome. An efficient management of diversity will allow reducing or even avoiding the friction caused due to cross cultural issues. An efficient management of diversity could also help an organization to better understand the national difference and this will better help an organization to establish business across globe with out much issues. As a part of diversified management, companies should also give importance to language differences and need to try to make a common language. This is because most of the multinational organizations are multilingual. In general, diversity management has become the at most important process in an organization as it is directly linked with the companies strategic goals and success in the current globalize business world.

J.D. Salinger :: essays research papers

Many critics consider J.D. Salinger a very controversial writer, for the subject matters that he writes.. J.D. Salinger's works were generally written during two time periods. The first time period was during World War II, and the second time period was during the 1960's. Critics feel that the works during the 1960 time period were very inappropriate, because of the problems for which he wrote. The main characters were generally misfits of society. In most of his works, he has the protagonist of the story go on a quest for happiness. Salinger does not conform to the material happiness; the characters undergo a spiritual happiness. The characters generally start out as in bad conditions, through the end of his works they undergone changes that change them for the better. The works of J.D. Salinger show the quest for happiness through religion, loneliness, and symbolism. Salinger's works often use religion in order to portray comfort. In Salinger's Nine Stories Franny Glass keeps reciting the "Jesus Prayer" to cope with the suicide of her brother Seymour (Bloom in Bryfonski and Senick 69). Salinger is able to use this prayer as a means of comfort for Franny. The prayer stands for the last hope for Franny in this situation. Franny would be lost if there were no prayer. (Bryfonski and Senick 71). Salinger shows us comfort in Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caufield, the protagonist, is very much in despair for losing his girlfriend, so Caufield reads a passage in the Bible. This helps Holden change his outlook on life (Salzberg 75). Holden was all-alone at this point and had no one to turn back on, until he found the Bible (Salzberg 76). In both stories the characters had found themselves in bad situations. The characters in these works have obstacles, which they must overcome in order to achieve happiness (Salzman 34). Happiness is the !very substance which all of these characters are striving for in Salinger's works. Salinger uses religion in his works to comfort them so that they can proceed on their quest to achieve happiness. Salinger uses religion as a means for liberation. Salinger uses much of the Zen philosophy, as in the case of Nine Stories, to achieve this liberation (Madsen 93). In Nine Stories one of the characters, Seymour Glass, is portrayed as Buddha in the sense that he wants to be liberated as Buddha was in his life (Madsen 93).

Rebel W/out A Cause Essay -- essays research papers

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rebel Without A Cause is a movie about three troubled, identity-seeking teenagers alienated from the world of their parents (Jim Stark, Judy, and Plato). Each of the movie’s main characters is searching for understanding, companionship, and a sense of belonging, much like most of the teenagers today. Even thought the movie is dated, it depicts the main problems and concerns that teens currently face. This film offers no answers. It merely presents the problems and the viewer is left to ponder how they'll turn out. I could identify with this movie on many levels. And I think that much of the young audiences out there could as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movie seems to tell the audience that just because teenagers do some bad things, doesn’t mean they’re bad at heart. I agree. In the movie, Jim is pressured into participating in a chickie run with a local gang leader named Buzz. A chickie run is where two guys race in a car towards a cliff. The first one to jump out from his car is a chicken. Jim feels he has something to prove. He doesn’t want to race, but he feels he has to show everyone he’s tough. Usually most teenagers today don’t want to get into trouble, but if it is necessary to put their lives on the line they will, simply to maintain their reputation. This is primarily associated to a phenomenon that teens encounter every day of thei...

Theories on Cell Fusion Essay -- Biology Microbiology

Theories on Cell Fusion Endosymbiotic theory commonly asserts that the eukaryotic endomembranes and cytoskeleton originated and formed a type of proto-eukaryotes that started engulfing and using other prokaryotes, thus explaining the presence of bacterial genes in mitochondria. Many scientists are now contesting this idea based on new data. This new data shows that some of the machinery for transcription and translation of DNA may be from archaea, instead of the theory that most or all genetic information came from an engulfed bacterial cell. â€Å"In particular, it is turning out that eukaryotic nuclear genomes carry many genes of bacterial (sometimes à ¡-proteobacterial) origin which have nothing to do with mitochondrial functions.† (2) The tree of life may not necessarily be correct when it shows Eukarya coming off either the bacterial or archaeal branch of the tree. Instead, we are proposing that new theories suggesting genomic fusion may be more accurate. The relationship may have started out through necessity, which lead to increased surface contact and eventual lateral gene transfer. Scientists not only have evidence that this may have happened instead of endosymbiosis, but also reasons why cell fusion may have occurred. Martin and Muller think that the excretion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide by à ¡-proteobaceria benefited methane-producing archaeans that used hydrogen and carbon dioxide as sources of energy and carbon. â€Å"In the absence of an outside source of hydrogen, the Archaean (nominally the host) became dependent on the à ¡-proteobacterium (the symbiont). Selection of host genes produced tighter and tighter physical association and greater surface contact between the two.† (2) Researchers recently used thirt... ...wo prokaryotes. In addition, we are not trying to determine in this short paper whether Archaea or Bacteria evolved first; instead, we are simply stating that the endosymbiosis theory of Lynn Marguiles leaves far too many gaps in the foundation of eukaryotic existence for it too be widely accepted without any further examination. Works Cited: (1)†Complex Cells Likely Arose from Combination of Bacterial and Extreme Microbe Genomes.† NSF Press Release. 8 Sept 2004. http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/ (2)Doolittle, W. Ford. â€Å"A Paradigm Gets Shifty.† Nature. Volume 392. 5 Mar 1998. (3)Lake, James; Rivera, Maria. â€Å"The Ring of Life provide evidence for a genome fusion origin of eukaryotes.† Nature. Volume 431. 9 Sept 2004. (4)Embley, T. Martin; Martin, William. â€Å"Early Evolution Comes Full Circle.†

Life Styles Inventory Survey Life Style Inv Essay

Life Style Inventory Survey measures what motivates a person behavior, their thoughts and self-concept. The inventory is for self-discovery; it enables a person to take a revealing look at them and what makes them unique. The LSI enabled me to examine my own unique way of thinking and how it influenced my behaviors. Once I created a profile, I was able to determine what styles were working to my advantage and which ones where undermining my effectiveness. The LSI forced me to initiate positive changes in how I think and act; changes that can increase my personal and professional effectiveness. Life Styles Inventory Results The LSI heightened my self-awareness, and helped me to determine where I needed to direct my self-improvement efforts. The process of self-improvement involves certain steps. These steps include; knowing ones strengths and weaknesses, accepting yourself as you are now, understanding how ones thinking and behavior affect oneself and others, deciding to improve oneself, and committing to a plan of action to change ones behavior. When I took the LSI I was it recognized two strong personal thinking styles. My primary (highest percentile score) and back-up (second highest percentile score) personal thinking styles are oppositional and dependent. The oppositional scale measures ones tendency to use the defensive and aggressive strategy of disagreeing with others, and to seek attention by being critical and cynical. Oppositional people typically love to argue and have a fear of getting close to people. In general, this style is characterized by: the ability to ask tough, probing questions, a tendency to make others feel uncomfortable, a tendency to seem aloof and detached from people, and a need to look for flaws in everything. The dependent scale measures the degree to which one feels he/she efforts do not count. Dependent behaviors originate in a need for security and self-protection and often feel he/she has very little control over their lives. This type of behavior can be long-standing, or due to temporary life changes such as a new job, promotion, an illness, or the break-up of a close relationship. In general, this style is characterized by: a passive attitude, feelings of helplessness, difficulty making decision, the presence of rapid change or traumatic set-backs in one’s life and an over-concern with pleasing people. When I first read the results and definitions of each personal thinking style I was initially shocked. I said to myself, â€Å"Is this really who I am?† But I had to take a step back from the situation and allowed myself to really learn how to improve myself. By accepting who I am now; will allow me to change and improve my way of thinking and ultimately my way of life for the future. Recently I have moved away from family and friends and started a new job. It is very stressful and I am constantly critiqued and question about the process or procedures I do. I believe this is where that dependent style plays its part in my life. As for the oppositional style, I have had to fight and claw my way in everything I do. Some life changing personal events and poor relationships make me to question future relationships, both personal and work related, but I never saw myself as cynical or sarcastic. Oppositional reminded me of that negative person no one wants to be around and I was a little off put because that is not how I thought of myself. I have always thought of myself as a positive person, always encouraging others, a hard-worker who just wants to be a good example. However, deep down inside I question myself and others abilities. I seldom say what I really think and can be stubborn and slow to forgive. I believe the results of the Life Style Inventory survey opened my eyes and proved that I need to change my way of thinking. By changing my thought process I will be a better employee and leader, as well as a better sister, auntie, an all-around better person. Personal Thinking Styles The first step in self-improvement is understanding your strengths and weaknesses. This is one question that is typical in a job interview and also qualities people look at when developing relationships. Once you have truly examined your areas of weakness and strength you can then develop a plan to improve and enhance them. One style that I believe that isworking against me and reducing my overall effectiveness is my oppositional way of thinking. Oppositional scores in the high range like mine, indicates that I am skeptical towards others, extremely critical, and keep others away. I believe this style limiting my professional effectiveness because I am unable to effectively communicate with my co-workers or superiors. I am skeptical of others intentions which make me more detached and distant at first. I also have tendency to hold back and not say what I am thinking. Working within an organization you have to be able to effectively communicate and if you are deliberately withholding your thoughts then you cannot be effective and an employee or a leader. A great example of this is recently during an observation by my supervisor, I was being critiqued on how I communicate with potential students. She stated that, â€Å"Nina, you seem unable to relate to certain demographics of students, those being middle age white women.† She asked me why and what she could do to help me overcome this obstacle. Right there was a perfect time to give her a little background about myself but because I am skeptical of her intentions, I resisted and gave a half-hearted answer. I say on a daily basis that I have to improve on my communication skills. In order to do so I have to place more trust with the individual that will receive my conversation. A big part of being oppositional is lack of personal relationship and stubbornness that pushes people away. I want to be a leader one day in the community and within an organization. I understand that in order to do so, I must develop my communication skills and improve my mental attitude. The Impact on Management Style When it comes to the planning and organizing aspects of management I am confident in this area. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so making sure everything is in order and everyone is doing their job is important. My personal styles play apart because my lack of trust will prevent me from trusting my coworkers to complete their tasks. This means I sometimes feel obligated to double work. However when it comes to leading and controlling this is where my personal thinking styles play a huge role. Oppositional managers are viewed more as a â€Å"watch dog† rather than a leader. Well I am not that extreme, I do watch over my employees making sure they are doing things correctly instead of trusting that my training has given them the skills needed to do the job accurately. I tend to be well-liked by co-workers and my subordinates. I demonstrate concern for staff members and their needs and emphasize teamwork. Genesis of Personal Style The LSI survey forced me to reflect on my past relationships, my culture, my family, and my life events that shaped me into these personal styles. It amazed me how the journey of my life shaped me into this person, some qualities I was aware of and others that I was in denial of. My parents have always placed a lot of pressure on me to be successful. I was the first in my family to graduate and my driving force was to be better than my parents. I played basketball in college and lost my scholarship after two years. It was during this time that all my trust for human beings was lost. I have always been a hard worker, never questioned myself or my abilities, but when that event to place it started a spiral effect of events in my life. I bounced back from that incident and graduated school but kept quiet in class and never developed relationships. Before that incident I knew exactly what I wanted to be and after I have been lost. I know I want to start my own non-profit organization but lack the confidence to do so. I felt I was critiqued on things I had no control over and that could explain why I am so critical of people, because I believe people are critical of me. But it also taught me to be grateful. I never want anyone to feel the frustrations and confusion I did, so I can be very compassionate and understanding at times. Conclusion and Reflection I am thankful for this assignment, it taught me about who I am and not in a judgmental or offensive way. It made me aware of problems and behaviors that I need to correct and develop so I can be that woman that I have envisioned in my head. That strong positive leader, who everyone appreciates her critiques because they know it will make them better, that woman that despite life’s hiccups she bounced back, stronger, braver, and more successful than one could imagine. As I continue on this journey in MGMT 591, I pray that I continue this transition into this woman I dreamed of and become a better person, a better employee and a better leader. I believe this class will allow me that freedom to do so and give me the knowledge and skills I need to communicate effectively.

Traffic Troubles

TRAFFIC CONGESTION: Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, this results in some congestion. As demand approaches the capacity of a road (or of the intersections along the road), extreme traffic congestion sets in. When vehicles are fully stopped for periods of time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam or traffic snarl-up.Traffic congestion can lead to drivers becoming frustrated and engaging in road rage. CAUSES: Traffic congestion occurs when a volume of traffic or modal split generates demand for space greater than the available road capacity; this point is commonly termed saturation. There are a number of specific circumstances which cause or aggravate congestion; m ost of them reduce the capacity of a road at a given point or over a certain length, or increase the number of vehicles required for a given volume of people or goods. About half of U. S.  traffic congestion is recurring, and is attributed to sheer weight of traffic; most of the rest is attributed to traffic incidents, road work and weather events. [2]Traffic research still cannot fully predict under which conditions a â€Å"traffic jam† (as opposed to heavy, but smoothly flowing traffic) may suddenly occur. It has been found that individual incidents (such as accidents or even a single car braking heavily in a previously smooth flow) may cause ripple effects (acascading failure) which then spread out and create a sustained traffic jam when, otherwise, normal flow might have continued for some time longer.Mathematical theories: Some traffic engineers have attempted to apply the rules of fluid dynamics to traffic flow, likening it to the flow of a fluid in a pipe. Congestion simulations and real-time observations have shown that in heavy but free flowing traffic, jams can arise spontaneously, triggered by minor events (â€Å"butterfly effects†), such as an abrupt steering maneuver by a single motorist. Traffic scientists liken such a situation to the sudden freezing ofsupercooled fluid. [4] However, unlike a fluid, traffic flow is often affected by signals or other events at junctions that periodically affect the smooth flow of traffic.Alternative mathematical theories exist, such as Boris Kerner's three-phase traffic theory (see also spatiotemporal reconstruction of traffic congestion). Because of the poor correlation of theoretical models to actual observed traffic flows, transportation planners and highway engineers attempt to forecast traffic flow using empirical models. Their working traffic models typically use a combination of macro-, micro- and mesoscopic features, and may add matrix entropy effects, by â€Å"platooning† groups of vehicles and by randomising the flow patterns within individual segments of the network.These models are then typically calibrated by measuring actual traffic flows on the links in the network, and the baseline flows are adjusted accordingly. A team of MIT mathematicians has developed a model that describes the formation of â€Å"phantom jams,† in which small disturbances (a driver hitting the brake too hard, or getting too close to another car) in heavy traffic can become amplified into a full-blown, self-sustaining traffic jam.Key to the study is the realization that the mathematics of such jams, which the researchers call â€Å"jamitons,† are strikingly similar to the equations that describe detonation waves produced by explosions, says Aslan Kasimov, lecturer in MIT's Department of Mathematics. That discovery enabled the team to solve traffic-jam equations that were first theorized in the 1950s. [5] Traffic Troubles TRAFFIC CONGESTION:Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, this results in some congestion. As demand approaches the capacity of a road (or of the intersections along the road), extreme traffic congestion sets in. When vehicles are fully stopped for periods of time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam or traffic snarl-up. Traffic congestion can lead to drivers becoming frustrated and engaging in road rage.CAUSES:Traffic congestion occurs when a volume of traffic or modal split generates demand for space greater than the available road capacity; this point is commonly termed saturation. There are a number of specific circumstances which cause or aggravate congestion; mos t of them reduce the capacity of a road at a given point or over a certain length, or increase the number of vehicles required for a given volume of people or goods. About half of U.S. traffic congestion is recurring, and is attributed to sheer weight of traffic; most of the rest is attributed to traffic incidents, road work and weather events.[2]Traffic research still cannot fully predict under which conditions a â€Å"traffic jam† (as opposed to heavy, but smoothly flowing traffic) may suddenly occur. It has been found that individual incidents (such as accidents or even a single car braking heavily in a previously smooth flow) may cause ripple effects (acascading failure) which then spread out and create a sustained traffic jam when, otherwise, normal flow might have continued for some time longer. Mathematical theories:Some traffic engineers have attempted to apply the rules of fluid dynamics to traffic flow, likening it to the flow of a fluid in a pipe. Congestion simula tions and real-time observations have shown that in heavy but free flowing traffic, jams can arise spontaneously, triggered by minor events (â€Å"butterfly effects†), such as an abrupt steering maneuver by a single motorist. Traffic scientists liken such a situation to the sudden freezing  ofsupercooled fluid.However, unlike a fluid, traffic flow is often affected by signals or other events at junctions that periodically affect the smooth flow of traffic. Alternative mathematical theories exist, such as Boris Kerner's three-phase traffic theory (see also spatiotemporal reconstruction of traffic congestion). Because of the poor correlation of theoretical models to actual observed traffic flows, transportation planners and highway engineers attempt to forecast traffic flow using empirical models. Their working traffic models typically use a combination of macro-, micro- and mesoscopic features, and may add matrix entropy effects, by â€Å"platooning† groups of vehicle s and by randomising the flow patterns within individual segments of the network.These models are then typically calibrated by measuring actual traffic flows on the links in the network, and the baseline flows are adjusted accordingly. A team of MIT mathematicians has developed a model that describes the formation of â€Å"phantom jams,† in which small disturbances (a driver hitting the brake too hard, or getting too close to another car) in heavy traffic can become amplified into a full-blown, self-sustaining traffic jam. Key to the study is the realization that the mathematics of such jams, which the researchers call â€Å"jamitons,† are strikingly similar to the equations that describe detonation waves produced by explosions, says Aslan Kasimov, lecturer in MIT's Department of Mathematics. That discovery enabled the team to solve traffic-jam equations that were first theorized in the 1950s.

Lease Financing

INTRODUCTION Financial Services basically mean all those kinds of services provided in financial terms where the essential commodity is money. These services include: leasing, hire purchase, consumer credit, investment banking, commercial banking, venture capital, insurance, credit rating, bill discounting, and mutual funds , stock broking, housing finance, vehicle finance, mortgages and car loans, factoring among other things. Various entities that provide these services are basically categorized into (a) Non –Banking Finance Companies b) Commercial Banks, and (c) Merchant Banks. Financial Services in India is too vast and varied too have evolved at one place and at one time. One of the main entities that offer financial services in India is Non-Banking Finance Companies. These NBFCs registered with Reserve Bank of India mainly perform fund based services to the customer. Fund based services of NBFCs include: leasing, hire-purchase and other asset based services whereas fee b ased services of NBFCs include bill discounting, portfolio management and other advisory services.LEASE FINANCING Leasing as financial service is a contractual agreement where the owner (lessor) of equipment transfers the right to use the equipment to the user (lessee) for an, agreed period of time in return for a rental. At the end of the lease period the asset reverts back to the lessor unless there is a provision for the renewal of the contract or there is a provision for the transfers of ownership to the lessee. If there is any such provision for transfer of ownership, the deal is treated as hire purchase.Therefore, a lease could be generally defined as – â€Å"A contract where a party being the owner (lessor) of an asset (leased asset) provides the asset for use by the lessee at a consideration (rentals), either fixed or dependent on any variables, for a certain period (lease period), either fixed or flexible, with an understanding that at the end of such period, the as set, subject to the embedded options of the lease, will be either returned to the lessor or disposed of as per the lessor's instructions†. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF LEASING The history of leasing dates back to 200BC when Sumerians leased goods.Romans had developed a full body law relating to lease for movable and im movable property. However the modern concept of leasing appeared for the first time in 1877 when the Bell Telephone Company began renting telephones in USA. In 1832, Cottrell and Leonard leased academic caps, grown and hoods. Subsequently, during 1930s the Railway Industry used leasing service for its rolling stock needs. In the post war period, the American Air Lines leased their jet engines for most of the new air crafts. This development ignited immediate popularity for the lease and generated growth of leasing industry.The concept of financial leasing was pioneered in India during 1973. The Firs Company was set up by the Chidambaram group in 1973 in Madras. Th e company undertook leasing of industrial equipment as its main activity. The Twentieth century Leasing Company Limited was established in 1979. By 1981, four finance companies joined the fray. The performance of First Leasing Company Limited and the Twentieth Century Leasing Company Limited motivated others to enter the leasing industry. In 1980s financial institutions made entry into leasing business.Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation was the first all India financial institution to offer leasing in 1983. Entry of commercial banks into leasing was facilitated by an amendment of Banking Regulation Act, 1949. State Bank of India was the first commercial bank to set up a leasing subsidiary, SBI capital market, in October 1986. Can Bank Financial Services Ltd. , BOB Financial Service Ltd. , and PNB Financial Services Limited followed suit. Industrial Finance Corporation’s Merchant Banking division started financing leasing companies as well as equipment leasing and fi nancial services.There was thus virtual explosion in the number of leasing companies rising to about 400 companies in 1990. In the subsequent years, the adverse trends in capital market and other factors led to a situation where apart from the institutional lessors; there were hardly 20 to 25 private leasing companies who were active in the field. The total volume of leasing business companies was Rs. 5000 cores in 1993 and it is expected to cross Rs. 10, 000 cores by March 1995. PARTIES OF LEASE FINANCING ELEMENTS IN LEASE STRUCTUREThis is an explanation of the elements in a lease – the parties, asset, rentals, residual value, etc. This section would also elaborate the unique features of a lease as different from a regular financing transaction. 1. The transaction: The transaction of lease of lease is generically an asset-renting transaction. What distinguishes a lease from a loan is that in the latter, what is lent out is money; in a lease, what is lent out is the asset. 2. Parties to a lease: There are two parties to a lease: the owner and the user, called the lessor and the lessee. The lessor is the person who owns the asset and gives it on lease.The lessee takes the asset on lease and uses it for the period of the lease. Any one can be a lessor, and any one can be a lessee, subject to usual conditions as to competence to contract, or holding of properties. Ownership is no pre-condition for Technically, in order to be a lessor, one does not have to own the asset: one has to have the right to use leasing: the asset. Thus, a lessee can be a lessor for a sub-lessee, unless the parent lessor has restricted the right to sub-lease. 3. The leased asset: The subject of a lease is the asset, article or property to be leased.The asset may be anything – an automobile, or aircraft, or machine, or consumer durable, or land, or building, or a factory. Only tangible assets can be leased – one cannot contemplate the leasing of the intangible assets, s ince one of the essential elements of a lease is handing over of possession, along with the right to use. Hence, intangible assets are assigned, whereas tangible assets may be leased. The concept of leasing will have the following limitations: 1. What cannot be owned cannot be leased. Thus, human resources cannot be â€Å"leased†.Leasing of immovable properties may have complications: 2. While lease of movable properties can be affected by mere delivery, immovable property is incapable of deliveries in physical sense. Most countries have specific laws relating to transactions in immovable properties: if such law provides a particular procedure for a lease of immovable or real estate, such procedure should be complied with. For example, in Anglo-Saxon legal systems (UK, Australia, India, Pakistan, etc. ), transactions in real estate are not valid unless they are effected by registered conveyance.This would apply to lease of land and buildings, and permanent attachments to land . 3. A lease is structurally a rental for the lease period: with the understanding that the asset will be returned to the lessor after the period. Thus, the asset must be capable of re-delivery: it must be durable (at least during the lease period), identifiable and severable. Leased asset is a necessary pre- condition: The existence of the leased asset is an essential element of a lease transaction – the asset must exist at the beginning of the lease, during the lease and at the end of the lease term.Non-existence of the asset, for whatever reason, will be fatal to the lease. 4. Lease period: The term of lease, or lease period, is the period for which the agreement of lease shall be in operation. As an essential element in a lease is redelivery of the asset by the lessee at the end of the lease period, it is necessary to have a certain period of lease. During this certain period, the lessee may be given a right of cancellation, and beyond this period, the lessee may be given a right of renewal, but essentially, a lease should not amount to a sale: that is, the asset being given permanently to the lessee.In financial leases, is common to differentiate between the primary lease period and the secondary lease period. The former would be the period over which the lessor intends recovering his investment; the latter intended to allow the lessee to exhaust a substantial part of the remaining asset value. The primary period is normally non-cancelable, and the secondary period is normally cancelable. 5. Lease rentals: The lease rentals represent the consideration for the lease transaction. This is what the Lessee pays to the Lessor.If it is a financial lease transaction, the rentals will simply be the recovery of the lessor's principal, and a certain rate of return on outstanding principal. In other words, the rentals can be seen as bundled principal repayment and interest. If it is an operating lease transaction, the rentals might include several elements dep ending upon the costs and risks borne by the Lessor, such as: * If the lessor is bearing any repairs, insurance, maintenance or operation Costs, them charges for such cost. Depreciation in the asset. * Interest on the lessor's investment. * Servicing charges or packaging charges for providing a package of the above service. 6. Residual value: Put simply, â€Å"residual value† means the value of the leased equipment at the end of the lease term. If the lease contains a buyout option with the lessee, residual value would mostly mean the value at which a lessee will be allowed to buy the equipment.If there is no embedded purchase option, residual value might mean the value that the lessee or someone else assures will be the minimum value of the equipment at the end of the lease term. This is typical in case of financial leases where the lessor cannot grant a buyout option to the lessee; for the lessor to protect himself against asset-based risks, he would take an assured residua l value commitment either from the lessee himself or from a third party, typically an insurance company.The residual value might also the value that the lessor assures to pay-back to the lessee in case the lessee returns the asset to the lessor: that is, it might be the value the lessor assures as the minimum value of the equipment. Such a lease, obviously an operating lease because the lessor is taking a risk on asset values, is a full payout lease, but the lessor agrees to refund the guaranteed value on the lessee returning the equipment at the end of the lease term. 7. End-of-term options: The options allowed to the lessee at the end of the primary lease period are called end-of-term options.Essentially, one, or more, of the following options will be given to the lessee at the end of the lease term: †¢Option to buy (buyout option) at a bargain price or nominal value (typical in a hire-purchase transaction), called bargain buyout option †¢Option to buy at a fair market v alue or fixed, but substantial value †¢Option to renew the lease at nominal rentals, called bargain renewal option †¢Option to renew the lease at fair market rentals or substantial rentals †¢Option to return the equipment In any lease, which option will be suitable depends on the nature of the lease transaction, as also the applicable regulations.For example, in a full payout financial lease, the lessor would have recovered the whole or substantially the whole of his investment during the primary lease period. Therefore, it is quite natural that the lessee should be allowed to exhaust the whole of the remaining value of the equipment. Regulation permitting, the lessor provide the lessee a bargain purchase option to allow the lessee to complete the purchase of the equipment. Buyout option may characterize the lease However, in many jurisdictions, it is the existence of such buyout option that demarcates between lease and as hire-purchase: hire-purchase transaction.If t he lessor is interested to structure the lease as a lease and not hire-purchase, he would be advised not to provide any buyout option, but Instead, to allow the lessee to renew the lease to continue the use of the asset. In essence, a renewal option achieves the same purpose as a purchase, but the lessor retains his ownership as also his reversionary interest in the equipment. Fair market value options, either for purchase of equipment, or for renewal, are typical of operating leases, but are really speaking no more than assuring to the lessee a continued use of the equipment.If equipment has to be bought at its prevailing market value, it can be bought from the market rather than from the lessor – therefore, the fair market value option carries no value for the lessee. 8. Upfront payments: Lessors may require one or more of the following upfront, that is, instant payments from a lessee: †¢Initial lease rental or initial hire or down payment †¢Advance lease rental à ¢â‚¬ ¢Security deposit †¢Initial fees Margins in leases are taken as initial rental: The initial lease rent or initial hire (the word hire is more common in case f hire-purchase transactions) is a surrogate for a margin or borrower contribution in case of loan transactions. Note that given the nature of a lease or hire-purchase as asset-renting transaction, it is not possible to expect a lessee's contribution to asset cost as such. Hence, the down payment or first lease rent serves the purpose of a margin. Between advance lease rent and initial lease rent – the difference is only technical. The whole of the initial lease rental is supposed to be appropriated to income on the date of its receipt, whereas advance rental is still an advance – normally an advance against the last few rentals.Therefore, the advance rental will remain as a deposit with the lessor to be adjusted against the last few rentals. Types of Lease Agreements Lease agreements are basically of two types. They are (a) Financial lease and (b) Operating lease. The other variations in lease agreements are (c) Sale and lease back (d) Leveraged leasing and (e) Direct leasing. FINANCIAL LEASE Long-term, non-cancellable lease contracts are known as financial leases. The essential point of financial lease agreement is that it contains a condition whereby the lessor agrees to transfer the title for the asset at the end of the lease period at a nominal cost.At lease it must give an option to the lessee to purchase the asset he has used at the expiry of the lease. Under this lease the lessor recovers 90% of the fair value of the asset as lease rentals and the lease period is 75% of the economic life of the asset. The lease agreement is irrevocable. Practically all the risks incidental to the asset ownership and all the benefits arising there from are transferred to the lessee who bears the cost of maintenance, insurance and repairs. Only title deeds remain with the lessor. Financial lea se is also known as ? apital lease‘. In India, financial leases are very popular with high-cost and high technology equipment OPERATING LEASE An operating lease stands in contrast to the financial lease in almost all aspects. This lease agreement gives to the lessee only a limited right to use the asset. The lessor is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the asset. The lessee is not given any uplift to purchase the asset at the end of the lease period. Normally the lease is for a short period and even otherwise is revocable at a short notice.Mines, Computers hardware, trucks and automobiles are found suitable for operating lease because the rate of obsolescence is very high in this kind of assets. Differentiation  Between  Operating  lease  and  Financial  Lease BASIS| FINANCIAL| OPERATING| Meaning| Long-term, non-cancellable lease contracts are known as financial Leases. | A Lease which is a short term one and one which does not cover the useful life on a n asset is called an operating lease. Form| In this type of lease, money is provideby lessor and the asset is purchaseform outside| The lessor is carrying on business of leasing and he holds such assets or is a manufacturer of such asset leases its asset| Maintenance| The lessee undertakes the maintenanceof the asset, paying insurance premiumetc. | In this type of lease, repairs and Maintenance is done by the lessor. | Risk ofObsolescence| In this types of lease, the lessee bearsthe risk obsolescence, so far as heUses the asset. In this types of lease, the lessor Bears the risk obsolescence during the period of the lease| Period of Lease| Period of lease – whole useful life ofAsset. | Period of lease – for short time. | Option to Buy| Option to buy for lessee. | Period of lease – for shot time| Accounting| EntriesAccording to the internationalaccounting standard-17, an entry is made in the balance sheet of the lessee on both the side| No entry is made in the bal ance sheet ofthe lessee under this type of lease,because lease is in the form of a hiredasset| 3. Sale and Lease back: It is a sub-part of finance lease.Under this, the owner of an asset sells the asset to a party (the buyer), who in turn leases back the same asset to the owner in consideration of lease rentals. However, under this arrangement, the assets are not physically exchanged but it all happens in records only. This is nothing but a paper transaction. Sale and lease back transaction is suitable for those assets, which are not subjected depreciation but appreciation, say land. The advantage of this method is that the lessee can satisfy himself completely regarding the quality of the asset and after possession of the asset convert the sale into a lease arrangement.The sale and lease back transaction can be expressed with the help of the following figure. ? The owner (Lessee) of the equipment sells it to a Leasing company (Lessor). ? The Lessor, leases the equipment back to the Lessee. ? Under this arrangement, the assets are not physically exchanged but it all happens in records only. ? The seller assumes the role of a lessee and the buyer assumes the role of a lessor. ? The seller gets the agreed selling price and the buyer gets the lease rentals. Two sets of cash flows occur: The lessee receives cash today from the sale. ? The lessee agrees to make periodic lease payments, thereby retaining the use of the asset. 4. Leveraged Lease: Under leveraged leasing arrangement, a third party is involved beside lessor and lessee. The lessor borrows a part of the purchase cost (say 80%) of the asset from the third party i. e. , lender and the asset so purchased is held as security against the loan. The lender is paid off from the lease rentals directly by the lessee and the surplus after meeting the claims of the lender goes to the lessor.The lessor, the owner of the asset is entitled to depreciation allowance associated with the asset. ? 3 parties to the transact ion. ? Lessor ( Equity investo ? Lender ? Lessee ? The Leasing company (Equity investor) ? buys the equipment, through substantial borrowing, and ? with full recourse to the Lessee and without recourse to it. ? The Lender obtains an assignment of the Lease and a first mortgage of the equipment. 5. Direct Lease ? Under direct leasing, a firm acquires the right to use an asset from the manufacturer directly. The ownership of the asset leased out remains with the manufacturer itself. ? Bipartite Lease – Equipment supplier-cum-Lessor and Lessee. ? Tripartite Lease (Sales-aid-Lease) – Equipment supplier, Lessor and Lessee. Single Investor Lease †¢Only two parties – Lessor and Lessee. †¢Leasing company (Lessor) funds the entire investment, having appropriate mix of Equity-cum-Debt Finance raised by the Lessor, is without recourse to the Lessee Risk Assessment of a Lessee The first step in structuring a lease is for the lessor to evaluate and then quantify th e risk inherent in the lease.Risk results from the degree of credit worthiness of the lessee combined with the collateral and residual value of the equipment to be leased. In general if the lessor deems a lease risky, any of the following variables might be affected: 1. Lease yield increased with all other factors except payment amount remaining constant 2. Additional advance payments required. 3. Security deposit required or increased. 4. Guaranteed residual required in lieu of a purchase option. 5. Lease term shortened. 6. Personal guarantee required. 7. Additional collateral beyond the leased equipment. . Increased late fees for delinquent rental payments (5% if 10 days late plus18% interest for e. g. ) 9. Security interest obtained to facilitate repossession 10. All insurable risk insured. Assignment of the risk inherent in a lease transaction is primarily a credit Worthiness decision. Many lessors as well as bankers or other moneylenders base their evaluation of risk on the 10 C’s. They are: ? Character ? Capacity ? Capital ? Credit ? Conditions ? Competition ? Collateral ? Cross-border ? Complexity ? Currency Lessor RequirementsOnce the lessor has assessed the risk and credit worthiness of the lessee and converted that into structuring variables, the lessor must look to its remaining needs and then to the requirements of the lessee. Meeting the sometimes conflicting needs of the lessor and lessee represents the more difficult part of lease structuring. Sometimes a lessor will insist on structuring an operating lease in order to retain tax benefits while at the same time the lessee desires a capital lease so it too may avail itself of the depreciation and tax benefits.Typical lessor requirements that might be at variance with lessee needs in lease structuring are: ? A yield sufficient to meet the lessor’s after-tax weighted cost of capital ? accounting for the lease on the lessor’s books as a capital lease. ? Tax structure of the agre ement as an operating lease to obtain tax benefits. ? a net lease rather than a full service lease ? Residual dependence- the lessor may want the equipment purchased by the lessee to avoid resale problems. On the other hand the lessor may want the equipment returned at the end of the lease due to its increased value.Advantages of ‘LEASING’ to ‘LESSEE’ There are several extolled advantages of acquiring capital assets on lease: (1) Saving of capital: Leasing covers the full cost of the equipment used in the business by providing 100% finance. The lessee is not to provide or pay any margin money as there is no down payment. In this way the saving in capital or financial resources can be used for other productive purposes e. g. purchase of inventories. (2) Flexibility and Convenience: The lease agreement can be tailor- made in respect of lease period and lease rentals according to the convenience and requirements of all lessees. 3) Planning Cash Flows: Leasing enables the lessee to plan its cash flows properly. The rentals can be paid out of the cash coming into the business from the use of the same assets. (4) Improvement In Liquidity: Leasing enables the lessee to improve their liquidity position by adopting the sale and lease back technique. (5) Shifting of Risk of Obsolescence: The lessee can shift the risk upon lessor by acquiring the use of asset rather than buying the asset. (6) Maintenance and Specialized Services: In case of special kind of lease arrangement, Lessee can avail specialized services of lessor for maintenance of asset leased.Although lessor charges higher rentals for providing such services, lessee’s overall administrative and service costs are reduced because of specialized services of the lessor. (7)Off-The-Balance-Sheet-Financing: Leasing provides â€Å"off balance sheet† financing for the lessee, in that the lease is recorded neither as an asset nor as a liability. Disadvantages of ‘LEASINGâ⠂¬â„¢ to ‘LESSEE’ (1) Higher Cost: The lease rental include a margin for the lessor as also the cost of risk of obsolescence, it is, thus regarded as a form of financing at higher cost. 2) Risk of being deprived the use of asset in case the leasing company winds up. (3) No Alteration In Asset: Lessee cannot make changes in asset as per his requirement. (4) Penalties On Termination Of Lease: The lessee has to pay penalties in case he has to terminate the lease before expiry o lease period. Advantages of ‘LEASING’ to ‘LESSOR’ (1) Higher profits: The lessor can get higher profits by leasing the asset. (2) Tax Benefits: The lessor being owner of asset can claim various tax benefits such as Depreciation. 3) Quick Returns: By leasing the asset, the Lessor can get quick returns than investing in other projects of long gestation period. Disadvantages of ‘LEASING’ to ‘LESSOR’ (1) High Risk of Obsolescence: The lessor has to bea r the risk of obsolescence as there are rapid technology changes. (2) Price Level Changes: In case of inflation, the prices of asset rises but the lease rentals remain fixed. (3) Long term Investment: Leasing requires the long term investment in purchase of an asset, and takes long Time to cover the cost of that assetHire purchase financing Hire purchase is a popular financing mechanism especially in certain sectors of Indian business such as he automobile sector. In hire purchase financing, there are three parties: the manufacturer, the hiree and the hirer. The hiree may be a manufacturer or a finance company. The manufacturer sells asset to the hiree who sells it to the hirer in exchange for the payment to be made over a specified period of time. A hire purchase agreement between the hirer and the hiree involves the following Three conditions: ?The owner of the asset (the hiree or the manufacturer) gives the Possession of the asset to the hirer with an understanding that the hirer will pay the agreed installments over a specified period of time. ? The ownership of the asset will transfer to the hirer on the payment of all installments. ? The hirer will have the option of terminating the agreement any time before the transfer of ownership of the asset. Thus for the hirer the hire purchase agreement is like a cancelable lease with a right to buy the asset.The hirer is required to show the hired asset on his balance sheet and is entitled to claim depreciation, although he does not own the asset until full payment has been made. The payment made by the hirer is divided into two parts: interest charges and repayment of principal. The hirer thus gets tax relief on interest paid and not the entire payment. How does hire purchase work? When a customer buys goods on hire purchase there are three parties involved ? The customer – who buys the goods ?The retailer – who sells the goods The finance company – who provides the finance You make the init ial agreement with the customer. Once the security agreement has been signed you are likely to assign the agreement (including your security interest in the goods) to the finance company. The customer makes payments to the finance company. Whether the security interest will revert back to you will depend on the terms and conditions of your agreement with the finance company. The normal tripartite hire purchase process between the dealer, customer and the finance company is as follows: ?When the business connection between the finance company and the dealer is first established a master agreement may be drawn up regulating the conditions upon which the finance company is prepared to consider the hire purchase transactions submitted by the dealer. ?After the customer has selected the goods he desires to acquire on hire purchase, the dealer arranges for him to complete the schedule to a form of hire purchase agreement. The larger finance companies have theirown standard forms of printe d agreement. In the schedule to the hire purchase agreement the dealer will insert the hirer’s name, address, occupation, and certain other details indicating his financial standing. It is also the dealer’ responsibility to insert details about the price and the installments payable. ? The intending hirer is often required to make a down payment as an indication of the customer’s financial reliability. The deposit or down payment is usually paid to the dealer at the time the proposal form is completed and is normally retained by him as a payment on account of the price to be paid to him by the finance company. The deposit having duly paid the dealer sends the appropriate set of documents to the finance company, requesting the company to purchase the designated goods from him. ?If the finance company decides to accept the transaction, the hire purchase agreement is signed by one of its officers and a copy dispatched to the hirer with instructions as to the mode o f the installments. At the same time as a copy is sent to the hirer, the finance company notifies the dealer that the proposal has been accepted and that it is in order for the dealer to deliver the goods, if he has not already done so. Upon notification of acceptance the dealer delivers the goods to thehirer and obtains the hirer’s signature to a form of delivery receipt constituting an acknowledgement by the hirer that he has received the goods in proper condition. ?The hirer makes payment of hire installment throughout the period of hire ? On completion of the hire term, the finance company issues to the dealer a completion certificate whereupon the hirer becomes the owner of the asset. Key features of Hire Purchase: ? Repayment schedules are flexible. An Offer to Hire can be arranged with no deposit or an amount that suits you. ? Balloon payments at the end of the term can be arranged. ? Esanda owns the goods until the final payment is made, at which point you gain automa tic ownership. ? the interest component of the rental and depreciation on the equipment are tax deductible, provided it is used to produce assessable income or the expense is necessarily incurred in carrying on a business. DIFFERENE BETWEEN Hire  purchase AND Lease  financing Hire  purchase| Lease  financing| 1. Depreciation-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hirer  Ã‚  Ã‚  is  Ã‚  Ã‚  entitled  Ã‚  Ã‚  toclaim  depreciation. 1. Depreciation-  lessee  is  not  entitledto  claim  depreciation. | 2. Payments-  Ã‚  hirer  Ã‚  can  Ã‚  charge  Ã‚  onlyinterest  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  portion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  hire  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  purchasepayments  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  as  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  expenses  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  for  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  taxcomputation. | 2. Payments-  Ã‚  lessee  Ã‚  can  Ã‚  charge  Ã‚  theentire  lease  payments  as  expenses  fortax  computation. | 3. Salvage  Ã‚  value-  Ã‚  Once  Ã‚  the  Ã‚  hirer  Ã‚  haspaid  Ã‚  all  Ã‚  installments;  Ã‚  he  Ã‚  becomes  Ã‚  theowner  Ã‚  of  Ã‚  the  Ã‚  asset  Ã‚  and  Ã‚  can  Ã‚  claim  Ã‚  itssalvage  value. | 3. Salvage  Ã‚  value-  Ã‚  Lessee  Ã‚  does  Ã‚  notbecome  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  owner  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the asset. Therefore  Ã‚  he  Ã‚  has  Ã‚  no  Ã‚  claim  Ã‚  over  Ã‚  theasset’s  salvage  value. Principle of hire purchase 1. Consumer installment credit The ground for distinction here is whether the goods are producer goods or consumer goods. Finance provided to consumers for acquisition of consumer durables is called installment credit. Installment credit for consumers is usually extended in one of the following forms: (a) Personal loan: this is made directly by the lending a dealer may introduce company through the consumer. The loan may be unsecured or secured. E. g. by a mortgage on the borrower’s property. b) Hire purchase or conditional sale: here funds are advanced for the acquisition of particular goods, which the customer take under a hire-purchase or conditional sale agreement, acquiring title on completion of payment. Where title is reserved in this way the agreement usually used is a hire purchase agreement, though some companies use conditional sale agreements. Retail hire purchase agreements take three different forms namely ? Direct collection- the dealer sells the goods to the finance house, which lets them out on hire purchase to the customer.This is the most common form of installment financing and is known in the trade as ‘direct collection’ because the installments are collected under a hire-purchase agreement concluded direct between the finance house and the hirer, as opposed to an agreement between the dealer and the hirer which is later discounted under block-discounting agreement. Usually the finance house collects the installments itself from the hirer, and the dealer d rops out of the transaction. Such transactions are called ‘non-recourse’ for the dealer. ? Agency collection: this is a variant of direct collection.As before the dealer sells goods to the finance company but in this case signs the agreement himself as undisclosed agent for the finance company and as such agent collects installments on behalf of the company, usually in return for appropriate commission. Because the agreements are in practice handled in blocks, this form of hire purchase is also misleadingly referred to as agency block discounting, though it is not a form of block discounting at all since there is no assignment of the agreement by the dealer to the finance company and the dealer is acting merely as an agent. Block discounting: in this case the dealer enters into the hire purchase agreement direct with the customer and later discounts it to the finance company. Agreements are usually discounted in blocks at a time; hence it is called block discounting. On ce the agreement is discounted the finance company becomes entitled to receive rentals from the hirer concerned but quite commonly, in order not to disturb the business relationship existing between the dealer and his customer, the dealer is made responsible for collecting the installments and remitting these to the finance company. c) Credit sale: here the title passes to the customer from the outset. Again the agreement may be with the finance house from the beginning or it may be entered into between the dealer and customer direct and later assigned by the dealer to the finance house. (d) Rental: the renting of domestic goods is fast developing as a form of installment credit. It is increasingly the practice and to a very larger extent in the U. S. , of finance houses to enter direct into rental agreements relating to domestic goods. DOCCUMENTS IN HIRE PURCHASEAll the parties must sign a hire purchase agreement and the agreement, among other things, must specify the date when the hiring commences, the number of installments, the amount of each installment, the time for the payment of each installment, the description of the goods and where the goods are kept. Note that the agreement must be in writing. An oral agreement is not a valid hire purchase agreement. Benefits of Hire Purchase ? Retention of cash flow ? Regular Payments ? Existing credit lines preserved ? Cost of acquisition spread overtime ? Repayment schedules can be structured to suit your cash flow. You can obtain the use of goods for minimal cash outlay, so working capital is not significantly affected. ? You may be able to make use of the taxation benefits of hiring. The Hire Purchase Agreement When you buy goods on hire purchase, you and the seller sign a written agreement. ? How many agreements will be made ? How often to pay ? The amount to pay ? When to pay ? Where to pay ? The name and address of the seller Other information in the hire purchase agreement ? What happens if payment is not made as agreed ? The right to repossess goods if one fails to make payments on time ?One’s obligation to keep the goods safe and in good order ? How to return the goods if one cannot pay. This information may be in the fine print on the back of the agreement. If any of this information is missing from the agreement one may not be liable for some of the cost of credit. The agreement cannot be enforced until the required information has been supplied. Lease Financing in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is a developing country, but the national calamity and political unrest sluggish the industrial growth as well as economic growth of the country.In spites of all these hindrance the growth of leasing companies is a significant indication of our bright prospects. Lease financing was first introduced in Bangladesh in the early 1980s. Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Ltd. (IDLC), the first leasing company of the country, was established in 1986 under the regulatory framewo rk of BANGLADESH BANK. It was a joint venture of the Industrial Promotion and Development Company of Bangladesh Ltd. (IPDC), International Finance Corporation, and Korea Development Leasing Corporation.Another leasing firm, the UNITED LEASING COMPANY Ltd. started its operations in 1989. The number of leasing companies grew quickly after 1994 and by the year 2000, rose to16. The leasing business became competitive with the increase in the number of companies and wider distribution of their market share. There are, however, 6 other companies conducting leasing business in the country, although they do not use the word leasing in their names. In terms of money value, the leasing business in Bangladesh increased from Tk 41. 44 million in 1988 to Tk 3. 6 billion in 2000. The leasing companies now operating in the country are Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh, United Leasing Company, GSP Finance Company (Bangladesh), Uttara Finance and Investments, Bay Leasing and Inves tment, Phoenix Leasing Company, Prime Finance and Investment, International Leasing and Financial Services, Union Capital, Vanik Bangladesh, Peoples Leasing and Financial Services, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company, UAE-Bangladesh Investment Company, Bangladesh Finance and Investment Company, and First Lease International.Lease financing, as organized in Bangladesh, operates with the following objectives: (a) to assist the development and promotion of productive enterprise by providing equipment lease financing and related services; (b) to assist in balancing, modernization, replacement and expansion of existing enterprises; (c) to extend financial support to small and medium scale enterprises; (d) to provide finance for various agriculture equipment; and (e) To activate the capital market byOperating as managers to the issue, underwriters, or portfolio managers. The functions of a lease business include lease financing, short-term financing, house building financing, and mercha nt banking and corporate financing. In this last group of functions, the leasing business in Bangladesh moved away from regular leasing activities and is now involved in stock-market related activities such as issue management, underwriting, trust management, private placement, portfolio management, and mutual fund operation.Broad capital market operations of the lease financing institutions include bridge financing, corporate counseling, mergers and acquisition, capital restructuring, financial engineering, and lease syndication. Prominent among the sectors of the economy that now receive lease financing services are textiles, apparels and accessories, transport, construction and engineering, paper and printing, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, chemicals, agro-based industries, telecommunications, and leather and leather products.Commercial banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) have been the traditional lending institutions in Bangladesh. In fact, the concept of leas e financing is a relatively new one in the country. Initially, leasing companies had to adopt the role of educators to make Bangladeshi entrepreneurs aware of the benefits of leasing. However, as DFIs demonstrated poor recovery and fund recycling performances, leasing got the opportunity to develop as an alternative source of funding.A few other factors also contributed to development of the leasing business in the country. For example, the commercial banks have been keener in providing trade financing and FOREIGN EXCHANGE dealings rather than long-term loans because of the risks involved and their longer gestation period. The selection of lease proposals is relatively free from extraneous pressure and is subject to a quality level appraisal. Under lease agreements in the private sector, projects are sanctioned and implemented expeditiously, resulting in benefits in time and cost savings.Private leasing companies also attract clients by providing relatively better services. The down payments in leasing are not high and the gestation period is low. Also, in case of lease financing, incidental costs incurred in the process of import clearing, installation, and commercial production are capitalized, which substantially reduce the initial investment. Leasing companies, however, face some problems in conducting their business in the country. The relatively slow growth of the demand side compared to the fast growth of the lease business is one such problem.This leads many leasing companies to operate in partial capacity. The culture of loan default that prevails in the country is also a deterrent. Leasing companies often find it difficult to raise funds through short- or long-term borrowing from money and capital markets. They are hard pressed to deal with the financial assets because of the present laws of the country, which are also not fully enforceable. Leasing business is gaining increased importance in the economy of Bangladesh with its gradual transformation from an agrarian to industrial one.The government periodically revises the trade and industrial policy to create a liberal business environment both for domestic and foreign investment. Increased investment in the energy sector as well as in power, transport, telecommunications, water and sanitation, and safe disposal of wastes is expected to bring further opportunities for leasing industries. The traditional sources of funds of our country in the financial market are – the Commercial Banks, DFIs and the stock exchange. But these sources are not enough to effectively meet the growing demand of capital investments for industrialization of the country.And the backdrop of such scenario, leasing companies came forward in the 80s to serving as an alternative source of financing. At present there are 11 leasing companies operating there business. The name of the leasing companies: 1. Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Ltd. IDLC 2. United Leasing Company 3. Uttara Finance & Investment company Ltd. 4. Phonenix Leasing Company Ltd 5. Bay leasing & Investment Ltd. 6. International Leasing & Finance Company Ltd. 7. GSP Finance company (BD) Ltd. 8. Prime Finance & Investment Ltd. 9. Vonike 0. Prime Bank Ltd. COMPANIES AT A GLANCE IDLC: Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh limited is established in 1985 as a joint venture public Limited Company with the multinational collaboration of International Development Finance Institution ,Commercial Banks, Insurance Company and Foreign Leasing Corporation. During the past fourteen years of its operation, IDLC has played a catalytic role in providing alternative source of term and capital asset financing to the private sector.IDLC’s primary focus has been in the area of 3-5 year term financial leasing with particular emphasis on balancing, modernization, replacement and expansion (BMRE) of existing units. With its pioneering vision IDLC has not only established lease financing as an ef ficient and quality financial service but also laid the foundation for the creation of ten other leasing companies. Today lease financing has grown to be an industry of Taka 3. 5 billion per annum.IDLC and its institutional shareholders have upheld their commitment towards the development of the financial service sector by offering high quality service to local entrepreneurs. To ensure steady and long term growth as well as to sharpen its competitive edge in a changing and challenging business environment. Short-term Finance which have broadened its customer base and are expected to contribute significantly to IDLC’s growth and profitability. IDLC established its first branch office in Chittagong in 1990. In January 1993, the company offered its shares to the public.In terms of market capitalization, it is ranked among the top 20 listed companies in both Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange. Services offered by IDLC: Lease Financing: IDLC provides lease financing for all types of manufacturing and service equipment including vehicle, computer and medical equipment to all the major industrial and service sector. Short Term Finance: With an objective to provide solution to working capital problems, STF Unit provides different financial services to clients.Emphasis is given to identifying clients’ actual need and in providing customized service to cater them. House Financing: IDLC extends loan facilities to Individuals for purchase of apartments, Business houses professionals for purchase of commercial spaces (office space chamber display center etc. ) Bangladesh Finance and Investment Company Limited (BFICL): A non-banking finance company incorporated in Bangladesh on 10 May 1999 as a public limited company. It began business on 15 February 2000. It’s authorized and paid up capital are Tk 500 million and Tk 23 million respectively.The capital is divided into ordinary shares of Tk 100 each. Major business objectives of the company are carrying out direct trade, term and working capital financing, equity participation, housing finance, fund management,financial and industrial counseling and merchant banking activities of all types. Main sectors in which the company has targeted to lease and invest are transport, electric and electronic goods (including computers), leather, textile, printing, marine vehicles and equipment, steel and engineering, fishing boats and trawlers, medical equipment and small scale industries.BFICL purchases property in its own name and pays 60% to 70% of the total price of a particular property to its supplier. After accumulating and adding all other elevant/ incidental costs with the original purchase price such as transportation, insurance premium, and costs related to letter of credit, and the rent or profit/income margin, the company determines the lease price of the property. Then it signs lease contracts with the lessee, generally for two to four years, and hands over the properties to him f or use.The lease contracts require security or collateral from the lessee in various forms. Lease installments, payable generally on a monthly basis, are determined on the basis of the lease price of properties and other relevant factors. Lease contracts are renewed each year. On the expiry of the lease periods/contracts, the lessee can gain the ownership of the leased property/equipment upon payment of 5% of the transfer value of the equipment as salvage value of the property. Alternatively, the ownership and physical possession of the property goes back to the lessor.BFICL provides lease facilities against one or more of the following securities: (a) bank guarantee/insurance guarantee; (b) easily AM-HIFC Ahsania-Malyasia Hajj Investment and Finance Company Limited (AM-HIFC) is a Sharia-based non-bank financial institution licenced by Bangladesh Bank under the Financial Institution Act 1993. The company follows the model of Malaysia`s pilgrims fund and management institution, popul arly known as â€Å"Tabung Hajj† which focuses on mobilizing savings from would-be pilgrims who intend to perform Hajj in the Holy Land.It invests its excess fund in Sharia-based activities. As a Sharia-based financial institution, adherence to Sharia is of paramount importance to us and this is embodied in out Vision and Mission statement. Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Limited (BIFC) is a joint venture Leasing and Financing Company, promoted by a group of' Foreign and Local Sponsors. Incorporated as a Public Limited Company in August 1996 and icensed by Bangladesh Bank as a Non-Bank Financial Institution in February 1998, BIFC has been rendering innovative, customized, prompt and cost effective financial solutions to the socio-economic growth of the country. Delta Brac Housing Finance Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DBH) is the pioneer, the largest and the specialist Housing Finance Institution in the private sector of the country. After commencing operation in the early 1997, the company has registered commendable growth in creating home ownership among more than 7,500 families in Dhaka and other major cities of the country.At the same time, the company has been playing an active role in promoting the real estate sector to the large cross sections of prospective clients who had but yet unfulfilled dream of owning a sweet home. Fareast Finance ; Investment Limited Fareast Finance ; Investment Limited-a leasing and financing company started its business in the early 2002 to serve its clients with high ethical standards and accountability. Fareast believes that each of its activities must provide satisfaction to its customers and will start progress for them.Financial Management Reform Programme FMRP is a five-year programme jointly financed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE), and executed by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Ban gladesh. Grameen Bank Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity.GB provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh, without any collateral. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable. Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and its Managing Director, reasoned that if financial resources an be made available to the poor people on terms and conditions that are appropriate and reasonable, these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder. GSP Finance Company GSP Finance Company (Bangladesh) Limited (GSPB) was incorporated in Dhaka , Bangladesh on 29th October 1995 with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms. It started its commercial operation from 17th April 1996 under licence granted by Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank) in accordance with the Financial Institutions Act of 1993. IDCOLInfrastructure Development Company Limited – IDCOL's mission is to promote economic development in Bangladesh by encouraging private sector investment in infrastructure projects. IDLC of Bangladesh Ltd IDLC is a multiproduct financial institution, established in 1985 with the collaboration of reputed international development agencies such as: Korean Development Leasing Corporation (KDLC), South Korea, Kookmin Bank, South Korea, International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), German Investment and Development Company (DEG).Leasing, initiated by IDLC, today, plays a vital role in the mid term financing of industrial and service enterprises. Over the ye ars, IDLC has served the diverse needs of its customers with product offerings ranging from Home Loans for Individuals to Factoring and Work Order Financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and services such as: Lease Financing, Syndication, Corporate Advisory, Bridge Financing, Underwriting, Issue Management, Private Placement of Stocks and Debt Instruments for Corporate Customers. IIDFCIndustrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC) Limited is a Development Financial Institution, promoted by wide array of financial institutions like ten commercial banks, from both the public and private sectors, three insurance companies and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB). Union Capital Limited UNION CAPITAL LIMITED is one of the largest investment banks and fastest growing financial institutions in Bangladesh. Previously, it was known as Peregrine Bangladesh which had its origins and businesses rooted in Hong Kong.Out of the local office of the erstwhile Pereg rine Capital Limited of Hong Kong, Union Capital Limited, Dhaka emerged in early 1998 as a Bangladesh-based company led by a group of the foremost entrepreneurs of the country. Union Capital, within a short span of time, has proved its worth as a most forward-working vigorous organization achieving success with its wide international network and strong local base Leasing Law in Bangladesh Leasing is an asset renting activity, and is therefore, governed by common law. The Contracts Act 1872 applies to contracts of leases.Sections 148 to 171 of the Contracts Act cover provisions relating to bailment. As these provisions are identical to those applicable under English law, the chapter devoted to general law of leasing adequately covers the law in Bangladesh as well. It may be noted that the general law of contracts is limited to bailments of â€Å"goods†. â€Å"Goods† include movable property only – immovable property is not covered by common law. As it the common feature of all Anglo-Saxon legal systems, transactions in immovable properties are covered by a separate system of laws.Taxation of Leases in Bangladesh: The taxation system in Bangladesh has been a subject matter of criticism over a last few years. The system is characterized by a large number of incentives, tax holidays and concessions as a result of which the share of corporate taxation to total tax collection by the Govt. has come down drastically over the past few years. Taxes on corporate profits, of both domestically and foreign owned companies amounts insignificant as a 0. 5% of GDP in Bangladesh, compared with more than 6% in developed nations. The main reason cited for this low contribution is the tax incentives granted by the Govt. Which are very liberal as compared to its counterpart countries. It is probably with tax reform in view that the Govt carried out certain reforms in depreciation laws in Budget 1998-99. Among other provisions, the important change that would ha ve a far reaching effect on leasing companies is the change in