How to Identify Simple Lobed and Unlobed Leaves

The Constitution Of The United States - 870 Words

The Constitution is a document that was created by the American people as a basic guide line for the country to follow. The Constitution is made up of twenty-seven amendments. These amendments are laws that everyone in the United States of America must follow. The Constitution is often viewed as a â€Å"living document†. The Constitution is thought of it in such a way because of its ability to be amended whenever it is needed to be amended. When the Constitution is amended, it will sometimes have documents that repeal each other. When an amendment is repealed, it basically means that if any previous amendment that was created contradicts the new amendment, the old amendment is not followed anymore. The amendment that this paper will cover is the twenty-sixth amendment. The twenty-sixth amendment gives any United States citizen that is eighteen years or older the right to vote, and shall not be denied the right to vote on federal, state, or local level (â€Å"Harrison† e t al.). This paper will cover various information on the twenty-sixth amendment such as its background, reasons for it being added to the Constitution, and how it was controversial. The twenty-sixth amendment was first introduced during the World War II. The amendment started coming up around this time because people were complaining that if they were going to fight for their country, they should have a say in who they can vote for. A slogan that was going around at this time was, â€Å"Old enough to fight, old enough toShow MoreRelatedThe United States Constitution And The Constitution Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States Constitution, this very detailed group of words was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States then and till the present day of 2016. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware; the last of the original thir teen to ratify was Rhode Island and since only nine were required, this was two years after it went into effect. When the U.S. ConstitutionRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States Constitution Essay1185 Words   |  5 Pages(framers’ of the U.S. Constitution) position on the Presidency: The framers experienced the abuse of the English monarchs and their colonial governors. As a result, the framers were skeptical of the excessive executive authority. Furthermore, they also feared excessive legislative powers. This was something that the Articles of Confederation had given their own state legislatures. The framers of the constitution deliberately fragmented power between the national government, the states, and among the executiveRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States885 Words   |  4 Pages In 1787, our founding fathers came up with a few principles that would establish what we now know as the United States of America. These principles were put on paper to serve as a guideline for how the United States would be operated and structured. This historical piece paper became known as the Constitution of the United States. In the Constitution, a Preamble is implemented at the beginning that essentially tells what the founding fathers set out to do. â€Å"We The People, in order to form a moreRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States894 Words   |  4 Pagesthe substratum for that country. A Constitution can be defined as a document that is the substratum of the country’s principles. Elements in the Constitution may contain sundry information. Which can include: how many terms a leader may serve, what rights the citizens have, how the judicial system works, etc. The United States in no different from those countries. Every constitution is different, no country has the exact constitution as another. The U.S Constitution is a four-page document detailingRead MoreThe United States Constitution Essay1515 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States constitution was written in 1787 by the founding fathers of this country. Now it might be appropriate to question why a document that is the basis of the government for one of the most culturally and racially diverse countries in the world, was written by a group of heterosexual, cisgender, rich, white men. Some might think that a constitution written well over 200 years ago would be outdated and irrelevant to the American society of today but with some research, it is quite theRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States756 Words   |  4 PagesPromulgation and Legislation in the U.S. Constitution: The federal system of government of the United States is based on its constitution. The Constitution grants all authority to the federal government except the power that is delegated to the states. Each state in the United States has its own constitution, local government, statute, and courts. The Constitution of the United States sets the judiciary of the federal government and defines the extent of the federal court’s power. The federalRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1007 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States of America has previously experienced failure every now and then. With trial and error, the country has learned to correct its ways and move toward(s) perfecting itself. Realizing the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation is a prime example of the U.S. learning how to better itself. Subsequent to the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the United States was set as our new and improved framework of government. Possessing knowled ge on how America, although strongRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States951 Words   |  4 Pageshappening again. Unlike the artifacts, The Constitution of the United States has not been forgotten, it is actually still very alive today. Unlike most relics, The Constitution still holds a very heroic and patriotic implication, freedom. With freedom comes self-government, freedom of speech, religious tolerance, etc. With all these things comes the great responsibility to adapt and fit to the wants and needs of the decade. Even though the Constitution was made for the interests of the people ofRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1338 Words   |  6 Pages The Constitution is the basis of law in The United States and has been since it was written in 1789. Since then it has been amended 27 times with the first ten amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights. The US Constitution was preceded by the Articles of Confederation and supported by the Federalist Papers which we will touch more on later. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson all wrote or influenced The Constitution in a very important way. Alexander HamiltonRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1388 Words   |  6 PagesInterpretation of the Constitution is one of the biggest conflicts within the United States–the highly contentious issue of states’ rights resulted from two different interpretations of what powers should belong to the federal government versus what powers belong to the individual states. No issue has ever caused as much turmoil as the issue of states’ rights–but one side must have more v alid arguments. Should the federal government’s power be superior, or should the authority of the individual states be held

Making Best Use of Windows Server 2003 Free Essays

The basis of technology development lies in bettering the older systems and coming to terms with enhanced functions in our information systems, etc.   Without the operating system, however, the information system technology would barely come to anything.   Hence, the Windows Server 2003 was developed as an enhancement to the Windows Server 2000, taking â€Å"the best of Windows 2000 Server technology and make it easier to deploy, manage, and use. We will write a custom essay sample on Making Best Use of Windows Server 2003 or any similar topic only for you Order Now †   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The result,† as described by Microsoft, is â€Å"a highly productive infrastructure that helps make your network a strategic asset for your organization.†Ã‚   The world’s leading company for operating systems, once charged with near-monopolistic practices in an anti-trust trial, further reported on the new addition to the operating system family that Microsoft continues to be famous for: As of March 28, 2005, all Windows Server 2003 operating systems ship with  Windows Server Service Pack 1 (SP1).   Windows Server 2003 SP1 provides enhanced  security, increased reliability, and a simplified administration to help enterprise  customers across all industries†¦Ã‚   In addition, in December 2005, Standard, Enterprise,  and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2003 R2 were released, offering Active  Directory, storage, and branch office enhancements for customers (â€Å"Introducing the  Windows,† 2006). Released only recently, the Windows Server 2003 has become the talk of every computer technician today.   One of its key features is its enhanced availability through improved â€Å"clustering support.†Ã‚   Microsoft reports that â€Å"clustering services† are very important to trade, where inputs and outputs, imports and exports must be clustered so as to ease organizational functioning.   Windows Server 2003 allows for just that.   Besides, it helps in â€Å"scalability,† and not just â€Å"manageability.†Ã‚   Also according to the maker of the new operating system: Clustering installation and setup is easier and more robust in Windows Server 2003,   while enhanced network features in the product provide greater failover capabilities  and high system uptime.   The Windows Server 2003 operating systems supports server  clusters for up to eight nodes.   If one of the nodes in a cluster becomes unavailable  because of failure or maintenance, another node immediately begins providing service,  a process known as failover.   Windows Server 2003 also supports network load  balancing (NLB), which balances incoming Internet Protocol (IP) traffic across nodes  in a cluster (â€Å"Introducing†). As far as support and training are concerned, it has been confirmed that Windows Server 2003 is meant to make communications easier than before, not just between the organization and the users of the operating system, but also between the organizational users of the system and the customers of the organization.   The R2 Standard Edition of the Windows Server 2003 was made by collaboration between â€Å"third-party hardware and software partners† of Microsoft (â€Å"Overview of Windows,† 2005). Similarly, the company ensures that there are experts (Microsoft Certified Consultants) available to guide people through the process of installing any one of the following: (1) Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition; (2) Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; (3) Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (for highest availability); and (4) Windows Server 2003, Web Edition (Microsoft Certified Consultants). Seeing as Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 is targeting businesses for the most part, the operating system – truly one of its kind – is packaged with sure technical support and training.   Microsoft’s business is tough, and the abundance of Microsoft experts in every nation in the world proves that the Windows Server 2003 would survive in firm business. Windows Server 2003 has training courses available with it (â€Å"Windows Server 2003,† 2007).   What is more, it is Microsoft’s intention to sell more of its countless software amenities to businesses after giving the new operating system to many of them for free.   Given that no other operating system company has thus far been able to meet or match the practices of the giant (â€Å"near-monopoly†) – the Windows Server 2003 would capture its unique market until a more advanced operating system, with better availability, support, and training, arrives out of Microsoft to substitute and complement the Server 2003. References Introducing the Windows Server 2003. (2006, January 24). Microsoft. Retrieved 26 May 2007, from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb429524.aspx. Overview of Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition. (2005, December 6). Microsoft. Retrieved 26 May 2007, from Microsoft.com. Microsoft Certified Consultants. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Help: Consulting, Support, Troubleshooting.Retrieved 26 May 2007, from http://www.progent.com/microsoft_windows_server_2003.htm. Windows Server 2003. (2007). Symantics. Retrieved 26 May 2007, from http://www.systematix.co.uk/mstech/windows-2003-training. How to cite Making Best Use of Windows Server 2003, Essay examples

Volkswagen free essay sample

Different forms of communication. In these two sections I am going to identify the four different forms of communication and later on I am going to describe them all briefly. Pl) Identify different forms of communication. Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication Written communication Technological aids MI) Describe different forms of communication. Verbal communication: Verbal communication is when one make use of a spoken language to show his or her opinion or simply Just to communicate with others. Verbal communication has a wide range of purposes. The most obvious function is that verbal communication is the main procedure when it comes to communicate with others. Also the purpose of verbal communication is to show one needs, desires, and ideas but above all it serves in the course of teaching and learning. Apart from all the purposes mentioned above, verbal communication can be used to form better relationship and building relationships with others. Non-verbal communication: Nonverbal communication refers to the actions that one make to communicate with others apart from the obvious ones like speaking or writing. We will write a custom essay sample on Volkswagen or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This form of communication includes: facial expressions, body anguage (hand movement, head movement), eye contact, proximity, posture, appearance, signs, symbols and pictures. It can be more efficient and sometimes more than verbal communication. Body language is all the body movements that one makes to express his or her feelings. This include how one stands, the way that someone is walking or simply Just the way one moves can give signs of how we are feeling. Another type of non-verbal communication is gestures. Hand movement, facial expression, head movement and even body postures are all gestures. Signs, symbols and pictures can be some sort of work in progress in the streets. Another important type of non-verbal communication is the use of sign language. This type is very useful to those who have hearing problems for example, someone deaf can use lip reading or hand signals to communicate with others. Even more there are those actions which we do them involuntary, we Just do them automatically which show how we are feeling, for example: when someone is has a slumped posture it shows sadness. Written communication: This form of communication means a lot in todays life. Writing is more effective and formal than speech because writing is something permanent while speech is something that when it is said it can be orgotten. Even more writing can serve as a proof on something or someone or Just it can be records about a patient or some medicines. Written communication can be practiced in any business sector, for example in the health and social care area. When someone is using written communication as his way of communication he needs to know how to include the right choice of words, write sentences in the correct Technological aids: In this present day technology is advancing a lot and we have many technologic aids that we can use to communicate with others. We have mobile phones to send text messages to someone and we can even call hem. Apart from this computers help us to communication even worldwide with others or save some information. Technologic aids can help disabled person to communicate more freely without being reliant on others, for example nowadays in movies one can choose to enable subtitles so that one can understand better the movie. Another good example is the voice box which was invented by Professor Stephen Hawking which can convert small movements into speech. (Sian Lavers, Helen Lancaster, Howarth Elizabeth,Higgins Heather, 2010) From these two sections one can notice how people can interact with each other in ifferent forms of way. One can even know if someone is really interested in what he is saying or not.

United States of Americas Macroeconomic Analysis

Introduction United States of America is the world’s only super power, after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. This country gained independence from the British Government in 1776 and was recognized as a nation in 1783 following the Treaty of Paris. This nation lacks an official language at Federal level. However, English is the most common language.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on United States of America’s Macroeconomic Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The variation with which they speak this language makes it be referred to as American English. Over 90% of the inhabitants can communicate comfortably in this language. Other commonly used languages are Spanish, French, Germany, Japanese, Chinese, and American Sign Language among other local languages. The currency commonly used in this country is the American dollar. The country is ranked the world’s largest economy, with most of i ts companies dominating the world’s market. Some of the United States’ firms dominating the world markets are the Coca Cola Company in beverage industry, The Wal-Mart in retail industry, General Electrics and General Motors in manufacturing sector among a host of other multinational corporations. Certo reports that United States of America has the largest and most advanced military.1 This country is technologically advanced, and the living standard of its populace is well above average. Although there are a few Americans living below a dollar a day, most of its citizens are in stable employment, earning decent salaries. The political system in the U.S. has been relatively stable over the years, making it the leading democracy in the world. The transition of power from one party to another or from one president to another has been done smoothly, making the economy very stable. There are two predominant political parties in this country: the Democrats and the Republicans . Politics has played a big role in the economic development the U.S. In their manifestos, these ploitical parties always put forth their economic plans for the country. This has increased accountability and transparency in the management of public funds. Other than the Great Depression of 1930’s that shook the economy and rendered almost a third of its citizens jobless, the country has enjoyed a relatively consistent positive growth in its economic growth.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, this stability in economy was shaken once again in 2008, when the country was hit by another economic recession. Many industries registered negative returns, and many financial institutions had to be rescued by the government from eminent fall. Employment opportunities became scarce, and the government revenues sharply declined. Currie reports that the rate of unemployment reached a record high of 9%.2 The government had to act swiftly in order to reverse this unfortunate situation. Currently, there is recovery from the economic slum. The country’s economy is growing positively, estimated at about 3% in this last quarter. Gross domestic product has had a consistent growth since the end of the economic recession of 1930’s. For the last twenty years, American Gross Domestic Product has grown from six thousand billion dollars to fourteen thousand five hundred billion dollars in the year 2010. This is a growth of over 250%. The country’s gross domestic per capita has also improved from $ 19,354 in 1990, to $ 39,945 in 2010.3 Despite this positive trend in the two economic indicators, the country’s unemployment rate has been very inconsistent. Since 1990, the rate was highest in the year 2009, when it was estimated to be at 9%. This was attributed to the economic recession which started out in the late 2007 and ran till mid 2009 . War on Iraq has had negative impact on the economic growth of the country. The budgetary allocation to the military is as huge as what the rest of the world put together spends on their military. This has seen the country forced to run on a budget deficit in order to finance its operations. Gomez and Balkin report that the country has been running on a budget deficit since 1969.4 This year’s budget deficit was projected at $ 1.3 trillion. This is 8.5% of the country’s gross domestic product. Analysts predict that the country may not be able to finance all its operations in the year 2012, and therefore may need to borrow for the government to keep running.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on United States of America’s Macroeconomic Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, they predict that it will be lower than the current deficit. United States of America is one of the world’ s greatest exporters. Most of the world’s top companies dominating international markets currently are Americans. Companies like the Coca Cola Company and the General Motors are known in the world markets. There are many other manufacturing firms, service providers like the Hollywood Films and virtually all other industries which are American. This would therefore make one believe that this country will have a zero balance of payment or even a positive one. However, this is not the case. The United States of America has had a negative balance of payment for several years in a row. This may be attributed to the war on Iraq, war on terror, willingness of American consumer to purchase more on credit, constant US budget deficits and the emerging of China as the world’s top exporter. Since 1995, the US has experienced a free fall on its balance of payment. By then, the balance of payment for this country was standing at -1.85%. This trend deteriorated and by the end of 2006 , the figure was standing at -7.45. The economic recession of 2008 to 2009 worsened the situation. Basically, inflation may be defined as the general increase in price of commodities in a given country over a specific period of time. This country has not experienced any serious inflation in the recent past. However, there has been some form of inflation felt within this country. Inflation has been ranging from 1.59% to 3.85% since 2000, with the country experiencing deflation of -0.34% in 2008. The Behavioral Patterns of the Economic Indicators for the Last Since 1990 Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States of America had experienced a relative dominance in the world’s economy. However, emergence of China as a world economic powerhouse has put this country in an awkward position. China is eating most of the US world markets at a speed that Washington had not predicted it would. China is currently the preferred trading partner to many African nations. Some of the markets that was predominated by American firms are now going east. Mankin reports that China has devalued its currency, making its exports cheaper in the world market, while the imports to this nation are relatively expensive. This has seen it export more of its manufactured goods to foreign countries, challenging the US as the world’s top exporter.5Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although the Gross Domestic Product has been on the rise, this has not been happening at a proportionate rate to the country’s expenditure. The graph below shows the country’s growth in Gross Domestic Product since 1990. For the last twenty years, United States of America has experienced a positive growth in its gross domestic product. By the last quarter of 1990, its GDP was estimated to be six thousand billion dollars. This has consistently grown and by end of 2010, this figure was at fourteen thousand five hundred billion dollars. The rise can be attributed to the consistent increase in production of the country. Many American firms are still very productive. Other American firms like Apple have based their production in China, but the proceeds go back to the US. Most of its citizens are also very entrepreneurial, making it one of the countries in the world with the highest business start-ups. These private firms are employing the highest percentage of the American s. Over the years, unemployment has been put under control. Other than the unfortunate economic recession of 2008-2009, the rate of unemployment has never been more than 5.5%. The graph below shows the percentage rate of unemployment since 1995. Unmemployment Rate Of The Labor Force In % (1990-2010) This low unemployment rate has made living standards of the Americans be well above average. Although there are many of its citizens who are super rich, the national wealth is evenly distributed to the citizens. Majority of the population are in employment, which would translate to increased gross domestic product. The GDP per capita is one of the best in the world. With most of the population absorbed in various employments, the per capita has also increased over the years since 1990. By the end of 2010, the country’s per capita was standing at $ 39,945. Gross Domestic Product Per Capita In Us $Â   (1990-2010) The graph below shows the growth in per capita since 1990. The grap h above shows that the living standard of the Americans has been on the rise since 1990. This is despite the 2008-2009 economic down turn that affected many industries in America and the world at large. Historical Analysis of the Relationship of Economic Indicators Economic status of any country is determined by its political temperatures. A stable political atmosphere will mean a stable environment for doing business. More investors will be attracted to such a market and the infrastructural developments will be witnessed. The United States of America has experienced a rare political calmness since the end of the civil war soon after its independence. This has seen it grow to become the economic giant it is today. The First World War worked to its benefit. At first this country did not align itself to any country. It remained neutral, making it able to form economic pact with any side of the warring nations. The American nation had then just attained industrial revolution. Its indus tries produced goods in mass because the world’s economic powerhouses like Britain, France, Germany, Japan and many others were too busy fighting to make any production. The U.S. had to export food to these nations because they could not engage in any agricultural activity. It was also the main supplier of arms and ammunitions to both rivals. This incident helped the economy grow at supernormal speed, making it narrow the economic gap between it and the then economic leader, the Great Britain. When it joined the war latter, it emerged as one of the strong nations both economically and military wise. The GDP, GDP per capita and employment rate was on the rise. The government employed many of its citizens in the military, drastically reducing the rate of unemployment that was on the rise. Unfortunately, this positive trend was brought to an end in the late 1929 when the country was struck by its worst economic recession that would last for almost a decade. Many firms closed dow n or were bought off by foreign investors who relocated them to other countries, laying off the employees. This trend was reversed by the Second World War of 1939 to 1945. Since then, the economy of this nation has been relatively stable. These economic indicators have direct relationship with one another. Relationship between Real GDP and Labor Productivity Labor productivity is a ration of real GPD. It refers to the effectiveness of the labor force of a given country. It is the measure of what the labor can produce within an hour against what it is expected to produce within the same period. Real GDP refers to a country’s output, having taken into consideration factors such as inflation and deflation. The output of labor will have a direct bearing on the total output of the nation. Growth in productivity of labor will have a positive bearing to firms because they will be in position to meet their strategic plans within the set timeline. This will lead to their expansion. La bor productivity translates to increased living standards as the populace will have enough to spend from their productive work in various companies. Real GPD will be felt if the population can afford to make purchase of what they consider basic to them. This therefore means that labor productivity directly influences the real GDP. Classical theorists have related GDP and labor productivity. Adams Smith agued that output is directly affected by labor productivity.6 This relationship can be illustrated as below: Y= where T is land, L is Labor and K is capital. Relationship between Real Economic Growth and Labor Productivity Real economic growth is achieved when there is a trickle down effect to the general public. It is achieved when the population experiences improvement in the infrastructure and other facilities that improve their living standards. Real economic growth can only be attained when the labor force positively work towards having a better economy.7 Labor productivity wil l determine this economic growth. If the labor force is able to meet the set target in their respective working places, the economy will witness an improved growth. This will in turn enable the government achieve its development plans within the stipulated time. Basically, these development plans are always infrastructural. This would mean that citizens will feel this effect in form of improved living standards. Labor productivity therefore leads to real economic growth. In the United States of America, labor productivity is very high. Many of the Americans have the entrepreneurial ability, hence unemployment is reduced. This means that many Americans are employed, making it one of the nations with the highest per hour output of labor. This has been directly reflected in its real economic growth. The country has some of the best schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructural facilities in the world. Relationship between Real GDP and Unemployment Unemployment is a situation wher e individuals with the right qualification and willingness to work are not able to get the right job. This occurrence is very common in developing nations. Unemployment is a direct result of poor growth in real GDP. If real the GDP is having a positive growth, it will translate to more jobs for the citizens, hence leading to increased per hour output of labor. This will in turn increase the real GDP. This creates a circle, where failure in one will lead to failure in the entire circle. If labor productivity becomes low, the real GDP will fall, and a fall in GDP will lead to increased unemployment which directly translates to reduced per hour output of labor. This system is open to external forces. Any disturbances from the external environment may affect one of the two players, and this would interfere with the entire system. The relative political stability of this country has seen its labor productivity improve, thereby improving the real GPD which in turn reduces the rate of unem ployment.8 Relationship between the Variable These variables are related. Labor productivity has a direct bearing on real GDP. A positive growth in real GPD will lead to increased employment. An increased employment means that per hour output of labor is increased; which translates to increased labor productivity. Increased real economic growth lowers the rate of unemployment. This is reflected in the Macroeconomic Theory and policy, which holds that a country’s economic growth is directly dependant on the ability of its population to produce more than it can consume. This theory holds that local population should have the ability and willingness to purchase. This would help local companies experience growth. For this reason, unemployment will hinder both real GDP and real economic growth. Historical Analysis of Economic Indicators The United States of America has had a stable economy despite its constant budget deficits. Inflation has always been put under check as supply of money is regulated. The following is an analysis of the relationship between various economic indicators. Relationship between Inflation and Real Economic Growth Inflation refers to an economic situation where price of commodities are above normal. This phenomenon happens when the supply of money exceeds the output of the country. Inflation can deal a dangerous blow to a country’s real economic growth. For a country to experience a healthy economy, it should be in a position to balance its exports and imports.9 Inflation will always make a country’s products appear more expensive in the world market, while imports would be relatively cheap. This will make its products less attractive in the world market; hence its exports will be reduced. On the other hand, imports will increase. This imbalance is dangerous as the country will spend more on importing but gets little from its exports. This situation may force a country to run on a budget deficit; hence it may not be ab le to experience real economic growth. Relationship between Inflation and Money Supply Growth (M1) Money supply has direct effect on the rate of inflation. When the supply of money exceeds a country’s total output, the value of such currency will fall. This will mean that one would need more of such currency to buy a similar item that was costing less before the surplus currency was introduced.10 Money supply should be a reflection of the level of economy. If the economy has grown, there should be a proportionate supply of money. The United States of America has had a tight check on its supply of the dollar. Dollar is used by many nations and therefore its devaluation would affect many other countries besides the US. Despite the economic recession of 2008-2009, the rate of inflation was maintained at manageable levels. This was because the supply of money to the economy was put under check. Relationship between Unemployment and Money Supply Growth (M1) In as much as there is no direct link between money supply growth and employment, the effects of money supply affects the rate of employment. If the supply of money is more than the total output of a country, there will be an overflow of the currency. This would in turn increase the production cost as manufacturers will have to pay more for the inputs they use in the process of production. The increased cost of production may make some firms consider relocating, down sizing or complete closure. In whichever way, the ultimate effect will be a reduced rate of employment. To reverse such a situation, a country may be forced to withdraw the excess currency. These economic variables have close relation. Money supply in the economy will have a bearing on the rate of inflation. Inflation directly affects real economic growth. Unemployment is affected by and affects real economic growth. High rate of unemployment leads to reduced real economic growth. Reduced real economic growth in turn affects the rate of emplo yment as many firms will be producing below their capacity and therefore will have to employ lesser number of individuals. Historical Analysis of the Relationship between Accounts of Balance of Payment, Average Interest Rate, and the Government Budget Balance Balance of payment accounts refers to a record of all the financial transactions of a given country to other countries in the world. This is done after a specific period of time, in the concerned country’s currency. All the incomes from the production process are recorded as surplus, while all the payments are recorded as balance deficits. Average interest rate is a ratio of a country’s liabilities. Government budget balance refers to the budget deficit. This happens when the proposed expenditure exceeds the expected income within a specific accounting year.11 The United States of America has constantly been forced to have a budget deficit because its total expenditure exceeds the income. The economic survey done by the end of 2009 indicated that the average interest rate of this country stood at 3.290. This was reduced to 2.992 by the end of 2010. This was because of reduced government budget deficit. Balance of payment for the country is also experiencing positive growth. Conclusion United States of America is the leading economic powerhouse in the world. Although it faces serious challenges in the growth of the economy, it has maintained a positive trend over the years. Economic indicators are showing the same. Rate of unemployment has been completely put under check, making majority of its populace economically productive. This in turn increases the gross domestic product, which in turn affect the real economic growth. If the currency supply of a country exceeds its output, chances are high that such a country may experience inflation, a fact that may destabilize the economic growth. Works Cited Certo, Samuel. Modern Management: Concepts and Skills. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. Currie, David. Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance. Burlington: Gower Publishing Limited, 2011. Print. Gomez-Mejia, Luis and Balkin, David. Management: People, Performance and Change. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. Mankin, Gregory. Principles of Economics. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Moss, David. A Concise Guide to Macro Economic Analysis. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishers. 2000. Print. Whelan, Charles. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. Print. Footnotes 1 Samuel, Certo. Modern Management: Concepts and Skills. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011. p. 36 2 David, Currie. Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance. Burlington: Gower Publishing Limited, 2011. p. 41. 3 David, Moss. A Concise Guide to Macro Economic Analysis. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishers. 2000 p. 89. 4 Gomez-Mejia, Luis and Balkin, David. Management: People, Perfor mance and Change. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011. p.125. 5 Gregory, Mankin. Principles of Economics. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009. p.56 6 Charles, Whelan. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. p.6 7 Ibid, p.36 8 Samuel, Certo. Modern Management: Concepts and Skills. New York: Prentice Hall, 2011 p. 58 9 Moss, David. A Concise Guide to Macro Economic Analysis. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishers. 2000. p.78 10 Charles, Whelan. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. p.59 11 Currie, David. Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance. Burlington: Gower Publishing Limited, 2011. p. 41 This report on United States of America’s Macroeconomic Analysis was written and submitted by user Zackery Acosta to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Getting through the most awkward interview moments

Getting through the most awkward interview moments At some point in your career, you’re going to have an awkward interview moment. It may be something you say; it may be coming from the interviewer; it could be anything. In the end, all you can do is laugh it off and hope for the best (or start working on the next opportunity), but there are also some strategies you can implement that can make things a little smoother in the meantime. 4 ways to ease interview awkwardness1. When you don’t know the answer to a questionYour brain is shouting, â€Å"Stall for time!† while you think about the answer to a question you don’t understand- or just plain don’t know. The problem is that the interviewer can tell that you’re a) stalling for time or b) bluffing your way through if you try to get around the answer. Your best bet is just to be honest.â€Å"I don’t know† isn’t a great response, but try framing it differently. â€Å"That’s a good question! Can you clarify what you m ean by the [X-Y-Z] process?†2. When you’re trying to avoid an elephant in the roomLet’s say you’re interviewing at Y Corp, and Y Corp just happens to be infamous for shady corporate behavior or poor reviews by former employees. You definitely don’t want to lead with that, but you might have legitimate concerns about what it would be like to work there. Instead of putting the interviewer on the defensive, try framing it as a question about what the culture is in the office, and whether the company is addressing some of the issues raised in public. If your query comes from a place that’s thoughtful and curious, rather than accusatory, it creates less friction with the interviewer.3. When you’re being asked about highly personal informationIt’s illegal for employers to hire (or not hire) based on factors like religion, family status, or ethnicity. So if you find yourself being asked questions about this (either directly or in an indirect way, like through small talk), you can redirect. You don’t have to come on strong, talking about legal employment statutes, but it’s okay to steer the conversation away.For example: if you think the interviewer is trying to figure out if you’re likely to have children in the near future, emphasize that you’re committed to the job as a priority, regardless of what is going on in your personal life.4. When you got fired from your last jobIt happens. Not every job ends with a seamless transition to the next one. If you’re trying to cover a firing (even if you were fired for something you did), it’s not necessarily a dealbreaker, and you should be prepared to talk about it. Practice your response ahead of time for a question like, â€Å"Why did you leave your last job?† or â€Å"Can you tell me about the circumstances when you left your last job?† Practicing it beforehand can decrease anxiety in the moment- a plan in place means you know exactly what to say. It can also help you modulate your tone, because you really don’t want to seem angry or defensive in front of a potential new employer.Be sure to limit your answer to just the pertinent info. If you find yourself inclined to start with, â€Å"Okay, here’s the story of what really happened. My boss was a total jerk, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  then it’s time to edit. Keep personal details and opinions out of it. And it’s fine to give a brief, one-or-two sentence discussion of what happened. The interviewer isn’t looking for a saga- just the basic understanding.And above all else- be positive. Even the worst situations can provide valuable learning opportunities, so you can say, â€Å"It was a challenge, but it taught me much more about how to handle a situation like this proactively and helped me refocus my energies on the skills I needed to build.†Being able to get through these awkward moments can make the difference between a failed interview and a saved one. Staying calm and talking through it can usually fix an embarrassing moment and hel p you get things back on track.

Aortic Aneurysms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Aortic Aneurysms - Essay Example And in its management, several studies have shown that the newer endovascular repair is much preferred over the conventional open surgery for practical and scientific reasons. Without trying to look like a meta-analysis, I have searched the World Wide Web for articles on this disease entity. And my purpose in doing this is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the methods for its diagnosis, its indications for surgery, methods of surgery, and general outcome after treatment. An aneurysm in its most simple definition is a localized dilatation of an artery involving an increase in its diameter of at least 50 percent in comparison to its original normal diameter. Anatomically, it often represents a weakness in the wall of the artery at any given segment of the aorta. It is noted that there is an increasing incidence of aortic aneurysms lately. Hence, there is also a trend in seeking better methods for diagnosing and treating this pathology. Without trying to look like a meta-analysis, I did an on-line systematic Medline and PubMed search and then reviewed the retrieved articles on the diagnosis, pathogenesis, treatment and current management of aortic aneurysms. ... Just for the purpose of discussion in this paper, I shall classify aortic aneurysms based on their location, since these may appear elsewhere. If the dilation appears on the aortic root they are called aortic root aneurysm. If the dilatation is found in the thoracic aorta, they are called thoracic aortic aneurysms. Aneurysms are also classified based on their location in the thoracic segments of the thoracic aorta; hence we may have an ascending, an arch aneurysm or a descending thoracic aneurysm. Aneurysms found after the descending segment is termed abdominal aortic aneurysm. In the physical examination for suspected aortic aneurysm, the only maneuver of demonstrated value is abdominal palpation to detect abnormal widening of the aortic pulsation. Palpation appears to be safe and has not been reported to precipitate rupture. The diagnosis of aortic aneurysms is confirmed based on findings with ultrasonography or computerized tomography. There is limited data to suggest that abdominal obesity decreases the sensitivity of palpation. Abdominal palpation specifically directed at measuring aortic width has moderate sensitivity for detecting an aneurysm that would be large enough to be referred for surgery but cannot be relied on to exclude aortic aneurysm, especially if rupture is a possibility. The role of genetic factors influencing familial aggregation of aortic aneurysms has also been reviewed. Aortic aneurysms, particularly the thoracic ones, and those in association with multiplex pedigrees represent a new risk factor for aneurysm growth. Pedigree analysis suggests genetic heterogeneity. The primary mode of inheritance seems to be autosomal dominant, but X-linked dominant and recessive modes are also evident. In the past,

Working with groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Working with groups - Essay Example They can sometimes be positive and sometimes negative depending on how they are translated by others in the group. In relation to myself with others, I learned that my strong value system seems to make me a candidate for leadership in the group. People seem to appreciate my outspoken attitudes. The positive way that followers in the group responded to my thoughts and ideas made me the person who would empower others that made the group function better. The most difficult activity in the group was getting meaningful feedback. Because most in the group found common values and attitudes, people did not want to challenge the discussion for fear of conflict. This seemed to limit productivity that Stubbs talks about in the textbook. Stubbs also mentions that situations are always in a state of flux in a group and this was hard to reduce to make discussion more productive and valuable. What I learned that would be most valuable to a future career is linked to the last discussion about fear of conflict and good social connection in the group. I learned that when people get along very well in a group, they will sometimes hold onto the truth and not provide thoughts or ideas that might cause harm to these connections. This is why a group seems to need a leader to keep conversation focused and empower others to be honest. The group seems to need a leader to keep things productive when others are concerned about making everyone happy. For example, English is my second language and it made translating difficult at times. Rather than say they did not understand, they wanted to keep peace in the group. A real professional commits to excellence which was in the leadership video. Excellence is honesty in a group that wants to be productive even if it means creating productive conflict. The leadership video also said that people need to embrace humor and optimism with a quote by the disabled Helen

The Reform of the Banking System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Reform of the Banking System - Essay Example led because there is a prevalence of risk about their existence that in the future again their performance might lead to economic and financial crisis. According to the President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, Richard Fisher, the pseudo-banks and the large banks are difficult to manage due to their big size that creates problem in its supervision. The President is of the view that the costs that these banks impose are more than the advantages that people or society receives from their existence. The financial institutions which were considered â€Å"too big to fall† intensified the crisis in the past few years and had resulted in the fall of potential output and most importantly employment. Moreover, it is better to have several manageable units rather than one big unmanageable unit (Nutting, 2010). 1.2 Banks should not be broken up According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the banks should not be broken up because the splitting policy could harm the role of the UK at the control of global finance. The present public anger should be tackled which is over the bankers’ larger bonuses by ensuring that the banks in the UK can still attract and employ top talents. The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) was set up in Britain during the year 2010, whose responsibility was to analyse the probable shaking up of the industry after the credit crisis occurred and it found that top lenders such as Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are in need of taxpayer bailout. It is believed by the CBI that breaking up the banks would be a mistake and they need to develop a strong system of banking that would help the economic growth as a whole. The views of the CBI are supportive if observed from the side that during the global financial crisis, many universal banks... This essay approves that the rules of the regulatory bodies regarding the penalties against the banks that violate the standards should be presented in stringent form to the bankers. The policy can be set in which the bankers get paid only for the returns on five to ten years of investment by the people. This will make the bankers to concentrate on the amount of risk when it develops and sells products. This paper makes a conclusion that Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is incorporated by the government to earn the bailout cost. This is an earning of the government through tax that primarily performs two things. One is that it modifies the behaviour of the banks and the other is that it generates revenue for the government which can be used for reimbursing the taxpayers for bailout cost in the economy’s financial system. The tax would affect the bank behaviour in the sense that tax is more precisely termed as a payment of interest. In this case, it is paid after the occurrence of the disaster rather than before the occurrence. It can also be termed as a loan to the banking industry if the cost of the bailout is paid in full by the banks. They are only charged for certain direct and indirect costs such as the package of stimulus for helping the ruined economy. This arrangement would provide an assurance to the government that in case of occurrence of any financial crisis in the future where the government has to bail the banks out, the banks will not be able to escape payment of certain costs.

Perpetual Motion And Movement Engineering Essay

Perpetual Motion And Movement Engineering Essay The term perpetual motion exactly refers to the movement that goes forever. However the term usually refers to any device that Always produces more energy than it consumes that ultimately results in a net output of energy for indefinite time. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, according to this law there could not be any such kind of machine in existence. The most commonly contemplated type of perpetual motion machine is a mechanical system which sustains motion indefinitely, regardless of losing energy to  friction  and  air resistance. A second type of impossible perpetual motion machine is one which does not violate conservation of energy, but produces work by spontaneously extracting  heat  from its surroundings, thereby cooling them down, and converting the heat energy into mechanical work. Such machines are prohibited by the  second law of thermodynamics. BASIC PRINCIPLE OF PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE The perpetual motion machine violates both first law of thermodynamics and second law of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics is essentially a statement of conservation of energy while the second law has so many different kinds of definitions, and can be described in many ways. The most common definition of second law is heat always flows from hot body to colder body. No heat engine can be more efficient than a Carnot heat engine Machines which are claimed not to violate either of the two laws of thermodynamics but rather to generate energy from unconventional sources are sometimes referred to as perpetual motion machines. By way of example, it is possible to design a clock or other low-power machine, such as Coxs timepiece, which runs on the differences in barometric pressure or temperature between night and day. Such a machine has a source of energy, albeit one from which it is impractical to produce power in quantity. CLASSIFICATION OF PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE OF FIRST ORDER PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE OF SECOND ORDER PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE OF THIRD ORDER PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE OF SECOND ORDER Impossible machines. Our second kind is of machines that challenge logic; like the drawings of Maurice Escher, where water runs perpetually downhill, but in a closed cycle. In fact, Escher did make one drawing of a waterwheel run perpetually in such a flow (See Figure ). Another impossible machine has weights of magnitude 9 on one side which become of weight 6 on the other when the weights turn upside-down It is a machine which spontaneously converts thermal energy into mechanical work. When the thermal energy is equivalent to the work done, this does not violate the law of conservation of energy. However it does violate the more subtle second law of thermodynamics. This type of machine is different from real heat engines (such as car engines), which always involve a transfer of heat from a hotter reservoir to a colder one, the latter being warmed up in the process. In a perpetual motion machine of the second kind there is only one heat reservoir involved, which is being spontaneously cooled without involving a transfer of heat to a cooler reservoir. This conversion of heat into useful work, without any side effect, is not possible, according to the second law of thermodynamics. In relevance, for example, an automobile engine is not a perpetual motion machine because it works on the basis of the temperature difference between the fuel burning in the cylinder and the cooler environment outside. In order so that it functions, some of the chemical energy released as heat when the fuel burns must not be converted to work, but must be exhausted to the cooler reservoir of the environment by the exhaust gas and the radiator. As explained by statistical mechanics, there are far more states in which heat distribution is close to thermodynamic equilibrium than states in which heat is concentrated in small regions, so temperatures will tend to even out over time, reducing the amount of free energy available for conversion to mechanical energy. Why is Perpetual Motion considered to be Impossible? The idea of perpetual motion sounds so clear-cut. An electric car powered by perpetual motion could recharge its own batteries forever, or a perpetual motion clock could without human intervention rewind itself for years. But there is a reason why perpetual motion machines remain in the area of dream; its the Laws of Thermodynamics. Some inventions may appear to run by perpetual motion, but they usually rely on a hidden source of external energy. Both the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics keep our perpetual motion car in the garage. According to one portion of the First Law, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed to different forms. The batteries which power an electric car only contain a fixed amount of energy. Most of this energy goes into propelling the electric motor, but some is inevitably lost through friction and the recreation of momentum after a stop. Our perpetual motion cars recharger would have to create even more energy in order to keep the batteries at full capacity. No such power generator exists, nor can one be built if the Laws of Thermodynamics are true. The Second Law of Thermodynamics also prevents perpetual motion machines from becoming reality. Part of the Second Law states that heat energy inevitably seeks out cold areas, eventually creating a neutral temperature state called entropy. This means our proposed perpetual motion car will eventually conk out from a lack of usable heat energy. The motor casing gets hot during work, and some of that heat energy would be dissipated into the air, not back into the battery system. Since external factors such as gravity and friction would be constantly pulling on the machine, eventually all of the usable energy would be lost. Perpetual motion machines would only be possible if a substance could be found that generated more energy than it used. Some inventors hoped that radioactive materials would prove to be useful as perpetual motion engines, but their energy is still considered finite. Magnets have also been used to power would-be perpetual motion machines, but their continued operation often requires some external energy source. Gravity is usually considered a force hostile to the cause of perpetual motion, but some inventors use gravity to their advantage when creating theoretical perpetual motion machines. Because scientific laws and theories generally deem perpetual motion impossible, patent offices are extremely reluctant to grant patents for such machines. Proposed perpetual motion machines are the only devices which require a working model at the time of patent application. To date, no inventor has successfully submitted a working model of a true perpetual motion machine MACHINES THAT WORKS ON PERPETUAL MOTION Motionless Electromagnetic Generator, a device that supposedly taps vacuum energy. Perepiteia, a device that claims to utilize back EMF. Stanley Meyers water fuel cell Motionless Electromagnetic Generator An electromagnetic generator without moving parts includes a permanent magnet and a magnetic Core including first and second magnetic paths. A first input coil and a first output coil extend around Portions of the first magnetic path, while a second input coil and a second output coil extend around Portions of the second magnetic path. The input coils are alternatively pulsed to provide induced Current pulses in the output coils. Driving electrical current through each of the input coils reduces a Level of flux from the permanent magnet within the magnet path around which the input coil extends. In an alternative embodiment of an electromagnetic generator, the magnetic core includes annular Spaced-apart plates, with posts and permanent magnets extending in an alternating fashion between the plates. An output coil extends around each of these posts. Input coils extending around portions of the plates are pulsed to cause the induction of current within the output coils. WATER FUEL CELL The water fuel cell is a purported perpetual motion machine invented by American Stanley Allen Meyer (August 24, 1940   March 21, 1998). He claimed that an automobile retrofitted with the device could use water as fuel as a substitute of gasoline. The fuel cell supposedly split water into its component elements, hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen was then burned to generate energy, a process that reconstituted the water molecules. According to Meyer, the device required less energy to perform electrolysis than the minimum energy requirement predicted or measured by conventional science. If the device worked as specified, it would violate both the first and second laws of thermodynamics, allowing operation as a perpetual motion machine. Meyers claims about his Water Fuel Cell and the car that it powered were found to be fraudulent by an Ohio court in 1996. Throughout his patents and marketing material, Meyer uses the terms fuel cell or water fuel cell to refer to the portion of his device in which electricity is passed through water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. Meyers use of the term in this sense is different towards its usual meaning in science and engineering, in which such cells are typically called electrolytic cells. Furthermore, the term fuel cell is generally reserved for cells which produce electricity from a chemical redox reaction, whereas Meyers fuel cell consumed electricity, as shown in his patents and in the circuit pictured on the left. Meyer describes in a 1990 patent the use of a water fuel cell assembly' and portrays some images of his fuel cell water capacitor. According to the patent, in this case   the term fuel cell refers to a single unit of the invention comprising a water capacitor cell   that produces the fuel gas in accordance with the method of the invention. REFRENCES US Patent # 6, 362, 718, Motionless Electromagnetic Generator Patrick, et al. (March 26, 2002)

Women and Debt Essay -- essays research papers

The dreaded ‘D’ word; debt. All of us have it at some time or another, and we would all like to get rid of it. Recent studies have shown, it is more common for women to be in debt. There are many reasons why this is so. When you look into a women’s closet you do not just see your everyday jeans and shirts like you would in a man's. You would be lucky if you see a few suits, ties and a tuxedo from the senior prom, but it is entirely different for a woman. A woman’s closet looks more like a department store. You have dress shirts, casual shirts, baby tees, tank tops, camisoles, dress pants, work pants, "fat" jeans, "skinny" jeans from the10th grade, casual jeans, dress jeans, not including the jeans you bought to go with the sexy red top that doesn't match with anything but the red top. If you are lucky to have a walk-in closet you might have a section for shoes, belts and purses, that is, if you’re lucky! The reason this happens is because when women go shopping they don't just go to purchase a shirt or a pair of jeans; no, the intentions may be good but it never works out that way. Every time a women picks up a shirt the first thing she thinks is, this is cute; then we have this little vision, of seeing our cute little self, in this new shirt with a nice dark pair of jeans, and fabulous pink pumps, and that’s when the trouble begins. Most of us women already do have darks jeans and pink pumps, but they are old and faded or we were seen in them two times a...

Bachelor Degree Essay

The need for competent bedside nurses has drastically increased and so will it continue in the future. The level of basic education that a nurse should have has always been an issue of debate and controversy. The ADN program is shorter and more concise which focuses on the clinical skills and is more tasks oriented. It lacks the theory and science behind nursing as a profession. ADN nurses usually have 2-3 years education and are focused to provide individualized care to their patients based on their diagnosis. The BSN program is a four-year degree, which is knowledge, theory and research based and the emphasis is on the entire picture of the field of nursing. The BSN nurse would use the researching and critical thinking background of her education to care for patients. Many do not realize there is a difference between the two. Both associate degree graduate and baccalaureate degree graduates take the same NCLEX board exam for licensing and enter the same job. Unlike associate-degree nursing programs where the nurses function primarily at the bedside in less complex patient care situations, the BSN program prepares the nurse to practice in all health care settings – critical care, outpatient care, public health, and mental health. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has posted a detailed position statement (2000) and fact sheet (2010) on their websites endorsing the position that the minimum entry level requirement for nurses be a BSN degree. The BSN nurse is well-qualified to deliver care in private homes, outpatient centers, and neighborhood clinics where demand is fast expanding as hospitals focus increasingly on acute care and as health care moves beyond the hospital to more primary and preventive services throughout the community. At increasing numbers of hospitals nationwide, baccalaureate-prepared nurses are being utilized in ways that recognize their different educational preparation and competency from associate-degree nurses. In these differentiated practice models, BSN nurses not only provide more complex aspects of daily care and patient education, but also design and coordinate a comprehensive plan of nursing care for the entire length of a patient’s stay – from pre-admission to post-discharge – including supervising nurse’s aides and other unlicensed assistive personnel, designing discharge and teaching plans for patients, and collaborating with patients, physicians, family members, and other hospital departments and resource personnel. Evidence shows that nursing education level is a factor in patient safety and quality of care. As cited in the report When Care Becomes a Burden released by the Milbank Memorial Fund in 2001, two separate studies conducted in 1996 – one by the state of New York and one by the state of Texas – clearly show that significantly higher levels of medication errors and procedural violations are committed by nurses prepared at the associate degree and diploma levels as compared with the baccalaureate level. These findings are consistent with findings published in the July/August 2002 issue of Nurse Educator magazine that references studies conducted in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio and Tennessee that also found that nurses prepared at the associate degree and diploma levels make the majority of practice-related violations. AACN and other authorities believe that education has a strong impact on a nurse’s ability to practice, and that patients deserve the best educated nursing workforce possible. A growing body of research reinforces this belief and shows a connection between baccalaureate education and lower mortality rates. Baccalaureate nursing programs encompass all of the course work taught in associate degree and diploma programs plus a more in-depth treatment of the physical and social sciences, nursing research, public and community health, nursing management, and the humanities. The additional course work enhances the student’s professional development, prepares the new nurse for a broader scope of practice, and provides the nurse with a better understanding of the cultural, political, economic, and social issues that affect patients and influence health care delivery. Throughout the last decade, policymakers and practice leaders have recognized that education makes a difference. (http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education. References http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education. (n. d). The Impact of Education on Nursing Practice . Retrieved May 21, 2013, from http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education.

National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month By Mark Nichol On Tuesday, November 1, a couple hundred thousand people around the world will participate in National Novel Writing Month, which, despite its intuitive name, I’ll explain here: The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel (that’s about 175 manuscript pages, based on a count of approximately 300 words per page) in thirty days. That’s about 1,700 words, or six double-spaced manuscript pages, give or take, a day assuming that you write every day. Insane? More like insanely ingenious. The idea behind this seemingly insurmountable goal is to write for quantity, not for quality to dash off a first draft under the auspices of a worldwide project to distance yourself from the little voice in your head that tells you that you should go back and polish that passage, pare that paragraph, or prune that page. It’s basically hours and hours of feverish, fervent, frantic freewriting a technique for unleashing your creativity by abandoning any pretext of inserting your editorial alter ego into the process. Write, write some more, and just keep on writing, without looking back. The sponsors of NaNoWriMo, as it’s abbreviated, acknowledge that may seem like a risky endeavor. You may limp to a finish at midnight on November 30, only to discover that you have devoted much of your precious time to churning out what? What did you accomplish? The product of a few hundred thousand keystrokes. Is it ready for publication? Hardly. But no novel, no short story, no poem, no article or review or essay or other composition, is print-ready. That’s not the point. The point is that you will have overcome your trepidation at devoting so much time and effort toward crafting a towering achievement in prose, using the novelty of the project as an excuse. And then you will have a first draft of a novel (and then the real work starts). Last year, only a little more than 10 percent of participants reached their goal of producing the first draft of a 50,000-word novel. But nearly 200,000 others staggered away from their computers on the last day of November with at least the start of something satisfying. Sign up at the NaNoWriMo Web site, and explore the site’s features to help you motivate yourself. One of these is a tool that lets you update your word count daily. You can also post excerpts of your work in progress for others to read. So, are you going to give it a shot? Of course you are. Good luck! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should Know20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word FormsA Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases

The Problem with Taking Too Many Vitamins essays

The Problem with Taking Too Many Vitamins essays One of my friends is taking mega-doses of vitamin A, C, B-6, and E because she thinks they help her stay healthy. I had her sit down with me, so that I could explain to her more about the vitamins she is taking. I told her about the good things each vitamin does how she can get these vitamins other ways and what happens when taking mega doses. I started with vitamin A and told her that the dosage requirement each day is 700 mcg. Vitamin A can multitask; it has numerous functions in the body. All the cells in the body need vitamin A to develop and function properly. Normal bone growth and development, and even the eyes use this vitamin. It is very important to have this in her body, but she needs to be careful how much she puts in. There are easy ways of getting vitamin A in her body without having to take a supplement. I mentioned that animal foods such as liver, butter, fish, fish oils and eggs are good sources. There are even the foods that are fortified with the vitamin during processing. And for the rich sources of beta-carotene she could eat carrots, spinach, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and other varietys that are dark in color. Finally, I told her how I was concerned that she could be taking too much. If taking more than 3000 mcg a day, then her liver could be damaged because this is the main site for the vitamin storage. I told her to watch for any signs if she continues to keep taking large amounts. Those signs would be; headache, nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances, hair loss, bone pain, and bone fractures. Vitamin C is only needed in small amounts. The RDA is at 75 mg a day for us women. Vitamin C performs a variety of important cellular functions, primarily by donating electrons to other compounds. It also participates in reactions that form and maintain collagen, plays a role in the bodys immune function, and the vitamin is necessary for the synthesis of bile and certain neurotransmitters. Also it is invol...

Barriers in International Communication at Workplace Research Paper

Barriers in International Communication at Workplace - Research Paper Example In the field of social intelligence and leadership, without a doubt, having a multilingual workplace has its very own advantages, for the reason that according to Goleman, social intelligence is the capacity to understand people in order to manage them effectively and act wisely in human relations. However, such also poses a challenge in effective communication since Backman, Baldwin and Cross, decoding a message can come at to a point that it would entirely break. In this regard, the focus of this paper shall delve at exploring the barriers in intercultural communication in the workplace. Specifically, this aims at exploring the impacts of interpersonal challenges it presents. This would shed light on the recommended strategies in order to remedy the challenges of intercultural communication at the workplace. On the one hand, this paper is of significance especially that diversity of culture, language and others has thrived in our society, especially in the workplace. Moreover, effe ctive communication in this diverse society is challenged especially for the parts of those coming from different country of origin like in my case, I come from Saudi Arabia and work in Ministry of Defense with employees with different nationalities and speak different languages other than English. Given this overview, this phenomenon must be understood. Barriers in Intercultural Communication at Workplace and Its Impacts Ethnocentricity results to some people assuming that language, for instance, English is a universal language (Dyers and Wankah, 2001). However, this assumption can be considered as a barrier to effective communication in every part of the world, especially in the institution of workplace, because not all people can speak and understand English smoothly and may need time to process one’s thought first before being able to interpret the meanings of the message correctly. On the one hand, Peltokorpi (2009) suggested that apart from ethnocentricity, jargon and s lang serve as barriers as well to effective communication because the members of a particular culture may have developed their distinctive jargon and slang. While it is the case that the members feel at ease using their jargon and slang, the newcomers may possibly not understand the communicated meanings accurately. Such interpersonal challenges to effective communication at the workplace affect not only the individual having difficulty understanding what the conveyed message is all about and the one who speak the message as well, but most especially, these challenges affect the entire institution itself. In the study, â€Å"The attitudes toward the culturally different: the role of intercultural communication barriers, affective responses, consensual stereotypes and perceived threat,† Rodgers and McGovern (2002) claimed that the current and most immediate impact to the individuals belonging to a different culture is that they may feel alienated from the rest of the

Economic arguments for further enlargement of the EU Essay

Economic arguments for further enlargement of the EU - Essay Example The paper tells that the enlargement of the EU is one of the most debated topics presented to relevant councils. When the European Union was first formed in 1952 there were only six member countries. Today, there are 27 member countries in the European Union, and this number is scheduled to be increased in 2013. The European Union has been inducting newer countries into its council on an irregular basis since 1952, after subjecting applicant countries through a long process requiring pre-accession treaties, assessment conditions and a set of criteria – the Copenhagen criteria – that must be met before membership is granted. The process can take a number of years and after the induction of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, Croatia is set to become a member of the EU in June 2013. Other countries like Turkey, Iceland, and the Western Balkans are in accession negotiations to follow suit. Membership generally offers great benefits to member countries, particularly those struggl ing to make the move from being developing nations to being developed ones. The European Union provides an economic and political support that smaller countries, or at least countries with smaller economies, can use to enhance their global standing, both within and outside Europe. But what is the impact that this expansion has, whether on the currently existing members of the European Union, the European Union as a whole, or even, in fact, Europe in general? Surely there must be certain economic and political impact such a membership must have, and economic advantage is generally gained at the expense of another party’s disadvantage. While that may be true, and in fact is to a certain point, it is not quite as limited as that. The results of many surveys, reports, and inquests have shown that the general perception among Europe’s public seems to be that membership offers great benefits to newer members while offering little to no benefit to older members. This percepti on might not be in the majority – with statistics varying from country to country – there is no doubt that it is a sizable portion of the public, any country or sample considered. Evidence supporting this matter is given further in the report, built generally upon information provided by the British Parliament in 2006. As negative as general perception might be, however, expansion has always shown to result in positive economic and political impact. This is true of any series of expansion, but this report will particularly center its focus on countries inducted in 2004, as they have had sufficient time to determine the effect of membership on their economy, as well as the impact of their membership on the European Union members in general. In fact, not only are the arguments brought forth against expansion generally baseless, with little evidence to support their claim, inverse evidence shows that economic arguments supporting the expansion of the European Union are la rgely misunderstood, or otherwise overlooked.

The American Congress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The American Congress - Essay Example This research paper aims to show the possible improvements within the public policy making process of the legislation under the condition when the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are limited. This study will first narrate a short background of the American Congress. It will discuss the specifications of the offices held by the members of the Congress – both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will then discuss the positive and negative effects when the office terms of the members of the Congress are shortened. The American Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate The legislative branch of the American Federal government consists of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislation’s primary task is to create Congressional bills that are subject to executive review and Congressional votes – those of which pass as state laws afterwards. The legislature also has the power to approve executive de cisions through two-thirds vote of the chamber. Petitions for impeachment are deliberated by the House of Representatives which are then elevated for trials in the Senate. ... The Senate comprises of 100 members - two senators from each state, regardless of population (â€Å"Art & History†). The members of the House of Representatives are elected to serve for two years while the members of the Senate are elected to serve for six years (Smith, Roberts and Vander Wielen 87-121). The American Congress Under a Limited Federal Legislative Term Under the circumstance where the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are put to a limit, there are several positive and negative effects to the policy making process of the legislative branch as a whole. The positive aspect about limiting the terms of service of the members of the Congress is the sense of inevitable competitiveness of each of the newly elected individuals into office. The shorter the term of service of the politicians, the more determined they become to out-wit the previous legislative set. Indeed, a sense of competition is naturally established amongst every new set of congres smen/congresswomen. In light with this mentality, it can be assumed that the members of the Congress could produce better policies – policies that would garner the most satisfaction from their constituents and would put the public interest in the forefront. Efficiency in public service is also another positive effect under the condition of limited federal legislative term. Due to the influence of competitiveness, the newly elected sets of congressmen/congresswomen would be forced to produce a more efficient quality of service because they would want their short time in office to be remembered by their constituents. In this case, the American Congress would obviously become more aggressive in terms of

High School and Rizal Elementary School Essay Example for Free

High School and Rizal Elementary School Essay A week after celebrating the Day of Valor on the fourth month of the Roman calendar in the year of Rat, I was born one evening in a city called the financial capital of the country that was colonized by Spaniards for more than three hundred years after it was discovered by a famous Portuguese explorer. My first name Johanne is a variant of Johanna which means â€Å"God is gracious† and my second name Victoria means victory hope my life goes well as my name. My parents, Victorino and Wilma, were a hard working couple who works as an employee of a private company. They produced of our own kind six times in eleven years having five boys, leaving me no sister to have a bonding with. Since I’m the only girl, they call me Princess or sometimes Negneg, short for negra, because of my dark complexion. It’s not that dark like people in Africa but it’s the darkest complexion in my family but it’s alright because I have these black tantalizing eyes, a good set of teeth and a slim body that makes me look like a Filipina beauty queen. I spent my seventeen years of existence in a city known for being a major cultural entertainment hub in Metro Manila. I studied my first five years of my primary education in Nicanor Garcia Elementary School, Makati. After my hit-and-run 50-50 accident case when I was in fifth grade, God gave me my second chance to live and finished my elementary course in Rizal Elementary School in Laguna. I have to transfer because of the severe fracture in my right leg causing me to have a hard time going up stairs. I have recovered from what had happened and continued my secondary education in General Pio del Pilar National High School in Makati. In elementary, I always make my parents proud of me by giving them a numerous medals every end of the school year. I’ve been a consistent contestant in Mathematics Quiz Bee and I made my school proud after qualifying twice in Mathematics Trainer’s Guild, a program to train gifted Filipino kids for international competitions. Aside from Math, I’ve also been in various contests regarding Science and Journalism. Considering me as a dynamic student, I was fairly awarded at the end of the year. When I stepped high school, it was the most exciting part of my life. Having crushes, love team ups, courtships, prom night were the things that could really make you giggle. But the most remarkable incident that shaped my character now was improving my leadership skills. When I was in third year, I ran as the president of SMILE (Students Movement for the Improvement of Leadership and Empowerment) Party List for the upcoming Supreme Student Government election. I taught I’m going to win because I’m from the star section but I’m wrong. I lost. I’m so ashamed. Because of that, I don’t feel like going to that school again. But there was a Non-government organization that invites the students to go on camp in Iba, Zambales for free. Of course, I joined and that made me forgot the pain I felt. On the first night of the camping, everything has changed after the moment I received Jesus Christ as my personal savior. When I got back in school, God blessed me so much that He gave the Hi-Y Club (a high school based club of Young Men’s Christians Association) in my lead. From that happening, I really appreciated the quote: â€Å"After the storm, there’s a rainbow. † I taught the door of opportunity to explore more in leading has closed for me, not realizing He has opened the window for me to experience the chance I thought I lost. Because of this club, I learned to balance my mind, body and spiritual aspect of my life. Creating programs, helping community, serving others and volunteering were some of my experiences that really made my heart swollen and would like to share to others to inspire them. Aside of being a Y’er, I’m now a Christian and started serving Him like sharing the good news, being a part of dance and drama ministry, and helping other Christian to grow in their spiritual life. I feel over joy and satisfaction every time I see myself volunteering on the camp where I was saved. After the enjoyment of high school, I took one step forward in the reality of life. I face the truth that my life will rotate in complicated solutions, brain-whacking terms, millions of numbers, struggling calculators, statements to finish, stability of study, life-long practice, thick books to read, rushing late night work, ugly eye-bugs, unbalanced sums, financial reports, constant lack of sleep, accurate solutions, and heart-stopping result after deciding to take Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in the first polytechnic university in our country. I know I can make it through because I believe that â€Å"what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve†. I may not be the cream of the crop in our class but I will manage to pursue my dreams step by step because I cling to God’s promise: â€Å"For I know the plans I have for you,† declares the Lord. â€Å"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future. †(Jeremiah 29:11).

FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship

FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship The capital structure of a firm has long been a much debated issue for academic studies and in the corporate finance world. It is the way a firm finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or hybrid securities the composition or structure of its liabilities. In reality, capital structure may be highly complex and include various sources. The question whether capital structure affects to the profitability of the firm or it is affected by profitability is crucial one. Profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. On the one hand profitability of firm is an important determinant of the capital structure, the other hand changes in capital structure changes affect underlying profits and risk of the firm. Traditionally it was believed that the debt is useful up to certain limit and afterwards it proves costly. There is an optimum level of capital structure exist up to that level increasing debt will improve profitability, beyond that it will reduce profitability. In 1945, Chudson carried out an extensive study that implies the possibility of a relationship between the capital structures practised by a firm with its profitability. The question he endeavours to answer was that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a firm reflect the kind of industry in it is engaged, its size and level of profitability?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. It states irrelevant of capital structure in a perfect market to its value, hence, how a firm is financed does not matter. The MM propositions forms the basis for modern thinking on capital structure, though it is generally viewed as a purely theoretical result since it is based on perfect market assumptions those are not prevailing in practice. The matter of capital structure has gained much interest and controversy, since the MM Propositions which assert that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. The hypothesis proposed by MM created tidal waves in the corporate finance academia. Different theory such as packing order theory and agency cost theory were proposed. Various aspects of capital structure have been put to test and researched by so many researchers. The question is if the capital structure is really irrelevant in a real market and whether a companys profitability and hence value is affected by the capital structure it employs? If not, why capital structure is relevant and which factors make the leverage matter? Apart from profitability, some other factors such as bankruptcy costs, agency costs, taxes, and information asymmetry are considered in determination of capital structure. This study aims and attempts to extend the knowledge of capital structure and profitability relationship in listed UK companies. This analysis can then be extended to look at whether there is in fact an optimal capital structure exist the one which maximizes profitability and hence the value of the firm. 1.1 Context and relevance of the Study The topic of capital structure has been widely explored, though the study is relevant in the different time period and different context to find out whether the evidence concerning the capital structure issue and its various aspects are relevant to a given set of companies in a given period. Given this significance, current study attempts to understand and research on capital structure and its effect on profitability, of large firms in UK in the present context for a period of five years (2005 -2010). Thus, this study attempts to contribute to the research on capital structure in the recent period for large publicly traded companies on FTSE 100. 1.2 Research Objectives The present study is aimed at achieving one main and two secondary objectives. The main objective is to scrutinise the relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the large publicly traded UK firms and to ascertain whether a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Secondly, this study would attempt and investigate to determine if any optimal capital structure exist among the sample of FTSE 100 listed companies. Third objective is to find out any trend of capital structure being exhibited by the UK companies. 1.3 Research Questions and Hypothesis The above objectives are translated in two research question. The main research question is that whether a firms profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Hypothesis The first questions can be presented as following hypothesis. The present study shall be undertaken to evaluate this hypothesis based on the tests of the null hypothesis. H1: The profitability of a company is significantly correlated to its capital structure. H0: The profitability of a company is not significantly correlated to its capital structure. The secondary objectives of this study are translated in the determinant question regarding the optimality and trend of capital structure. The second question, will be discussed descriptively is that, Is there an optimal capital structure exists among or any trend of capital structure being exhibited by FTSE 100 listed companies? 1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study Scope This is an academic study that would shed some light on the matter of capital structure which has been discussed in various different perspectives since the MM propositions. The significance of this study is that it further enhances the research into capital structure of listed firms in UK. Profitability and Capital structure relationship is an ongoing issue and its relevance may change in different period because of the changes in macro and micro economic factors. For practitioners and corporate finance people such as finance executives, controllers and directors of listed firms, this study is relevant and of much interest to get insight of the capital structure and whether it has any effect on the profitability. Limitations The findings of this study will be limited from the following aspects: This study included only FTSE 100 listed firms on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Hence, its findings were not applicable for all the listed companies in UK. The sample of listed companies for this study included only firms with at least five years of financial data. Firms which are younger than five years or whose five year data could not be obtained will not be included in this study. The study excludes financial utility and other highly regulated industry to avoid any distortions in the result due to industry specific requirements. The cross sectional correlation and regression analysis will be performed using excel formula. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The various capital structure theories are developed by corporate finance academia for analysing how a firm could combine the securities to maximise its value. The Modigliani and Miller (MM) proposition (1958) were introduced under the perfect capital market assumptions. It refers to an ideal market where there are no taxes at both corporate and personal level, no transaction costs, no agency costs as and managers are rational. It further assumes that investors and firms can borrow at the same rate without restrictions and all participants have access to all relevant information. Thus it provides conditions under which the capital structure of a firm is irrelevant to total firm value. Most of studies focus on the determination of capital structure i.e. to what extent each of the assumptions in the MM model contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. Many theories such as the pecking order theory, the trade-off theory and the agency cost theory have been developed. Though much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact of the value of the firm. The value comes from the future cash flow i.e. profit of the firm. Thus capital structure affects value of the firm through the profitability and hence there is a direct relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the firm. Capital Structure The term capital structure can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Van Horne Wachowicz, 2000, p.470) It can be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of long-term sources of funds used by the firm. This is also called the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“capitalizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The relative total (percentage) of each type of fund is emphasized.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Petty, Keown, Scott, and Martin, 2001, p.932) One of the exhaustive and inclusive description was given by Masulis (1988, pl): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Capital structure encompasses a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s publicly issued securities, private placements, bank debt, trade debt, leasing contracts, tax liabilities, pension liabilities, deferred compensation to management and employees, performance guarantees, product warranties, and other contingent liabilities. This list represents the major claims to a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets. Increases or reductions in any of these claims represent a form of capital structure change.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? However in this study, for the sake of simplicity, the capital structure will be analysed in term of debt and equity in line with other prominent capital structure studies and theories restricted to the debt equity mix. Profitability The term profitability is a very common term in the business world. It refers to an all round measurement and indicator for a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success. Profitability can be defined as the ability of a firm to generate net income or profit on a consistent basis. It is often measured by price to earnings ratio. The accounting definition of profit can be given as the difference between the total revenue and the total costs incurred in bringing to market the product i.e. goods or service. Hence, profitability had come to mean different things for different people. It can be defined and measured in several ways depending on the purpose. It is a generic name for variables such as net income, return on total assets, earnings per share, etc. though the simplest and common meaning of profitability is the net income. 3.1 Early Study on Capital Structure by W A Chudson One of the earliest comprehensive researches into capital structure of business firms was done by Chudson Walter Alexander (1945) on a cross section of manufacturing, mining, trade, and construction companies in the US from the year 1931 to 1937. Although it has been more than two third of a century, that study is still relevant today as before due to the seven questions which he endeavoured to answer. Out of those questions the relevant to this study are as follows. In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a given concern reflect the kind of industry in which a concern is engaged, the concernà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s size and level of profitability? Are there any elements in the corporate balance sheet, either on the asset or the liability side, whose range of variation is so narrow that it is possible to speak of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“normalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? pattern of financial structure? The questions posed by Chudson could be interpreted into the research questions pertinent to this study which are the relationship between profitability and capital structure, the existence of an optimal capital structure, and also the trend of capital structure being practised by a sample of firms. Chudsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research showed there were undisputable relationships between corporate financial structure and the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. As far as this study is concerned, Chudson had successfully proved the relationship between the profitability of a company with various capital structure variables including debt and equity capital. 3.2 M M Propositions In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. Accordingly, the first Proposition holds that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. While the second proposition stats that when first proposition held, the cost of equity capital was a linear increasing function of the debt/equity ratio. As miller wrote subsequently these propositions implied that the weighted average of these costs of capital to a firm would remain the same no matter what combination of financing sources the firm actually chose. (Miller, 1988) In 1962, Barges tested and evaluated the MM propositions predominantly on the validity of the hypothesis that the cost of capital to the firms is unaffected by capital structure. According to Barges (p. 143): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“With respect to the empirical methods employed by MM it was found that, under very frequently encountered conditions, their methods will result in tests which are biased in favour of their propositions and biased against the traditional views.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Barges had empirically proved the existence of some weaknesses in the research design and methodology of Modigliani and Millerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s study and concluded that (p. 147) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Thus, on the basis of the evidence presented herein, the hypothesis of independence between average costs and capital structure appears untenable.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Subsequently many studies were conducted with focus on the determination of capital structure and many theories were presented. 3.3 Profitability and Leverage theories Since MM propositions presented, many studies were conducted by releasing MM assumptions focusing on the extent to which each of the assumptions contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. All these theories explains the relationship between leverage and the value of the firm and hence profitability of the firm. There are various theories in order to further explain this relationship. Nevertheless, these theories are actually based on asymmetric information (Myers, 1984), tax deductibility (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Miller 1977), Bankruptcy costs (Stiglitz, 1972; Titman, 1984) and agency costs (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Myers, 1977). Two main theories are the pecking order theory and the trade off theory. Pecking Order Theory The Pecking Order Theory is based on information asymmetry between management and investors. So, the stock price of a firm may not reflect correct value of the firm. Myers and Majluf (1984) and Myers (1984) suggest that management issue the security which is overvalued and therefore, undervalued firms tend to avoid issuing equity. They argue that in imperfect capital markets, leverage increases with the extent of information asymmetry. They provided theoretical support to Donaldsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (1961) findings that firms prefer to use internally generated funds as a financing source and resort to externals funds only if the need for funds was unavoidable. According to (Myers 1995), the dividend policy is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stickyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the firms prefer internal to external financing. Firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. Therefore, asymmetric information models seldom point towards a well-defined target debt ratio or optimal capital structure. All things being equal, the more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and therefore we should expect a negative relationship between leverage and profitability. The various studies such as Ross (1977), and Myers and Majluf (1984), Harris and Raviv, 1991; Rajan and Zingales, 1995; Booth et al., 2001have supported this relationship that is one of the most systematic findings in the empirical literature. Agency Costs Theory The Agency Costs Theory (Organizational Theory of Capital Structure) emphasize that capital structure was influenced by conflicts between shareholders and managers, and between debt holders and equity holders. Major study into this area was done by Jensen and Meckling (1976) that showed managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ natural tendency to extract too many perquisites and stresses on self-interested behaviour. Obviously, agency costs would increase as the managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ personal ownership stake in the firm decreases. This supplied an argument for debt financing and against à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ equity which was contributed by non management investors who cannot monitor management effectively. Fama and Miller (1972), using agency cost theory, proved that leverage was positively associated with firm value. Firms with longer credit histories would have lower cost of debt. The Trade of theory The trade-off theory is based on the considerations of benefits and the costs of debt. This theory argues that firms optimise their capital structure by trading the tax deductibility of interests, bankruptcy costs, and agency costs. This theory is consistent with traditional approach of capital structure. This theory leads to an opposite conclusion. Accordingly if the firms are profitable, they should prefer debt to benefit from the tax shield. Further as the past profitability is a good proxy for future profitability, profitable firms can borrow more because the likelihood of paying back the loans is greater. However after a certain level of leverage, the profitability and the value of the firm will reduce due to interaction of bankruptcy costs and agency costs. 3.4 Various Studies on Capital Structure As the issue of capital structure gained prominence and interest, a number of studies had been done over the years to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s various characteristics e.g. growth opportunities, non-debt tax shields, firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s volatility, asset systematic risk, asset unique risk, internal funds availability, asset structure, profitability, industry classification, and firm size. This study is concerned particularly on the relationship between capital structure and profitability. Most of the studies had concluded that capital structure measured by debt/equity ratio had an inverse relationship with profitability measured by Return on Investment (ROI). Professor Myers of MIT had written in 1995 that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the strong negative correlation between profitability and financial leverageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is one of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"most striking facts about corporate financingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (p.303). It is worthy to mention here that the aforesaid studies were the most comprehensive ever carried out in the US. One significant research was conducted by Bradley, Jarrell and Rim (1984) using Ordinary Least Squares method to analyze the capital structure of 851 industrial firms over a period of 20 years (1962-81). They concluded that an optimal capital structure actually existed as proposed by finance theorists. Bradley, Jarrell and Kimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s findings were supported by El-Khouri in 1989 who studied a sample of 1,040 Companies in US from 27 different industries covering a period of 19 years (1968-86). El-Khourià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major findings were that there exists an optimal capital structure, and profitability was significantly but negatively related to capital structure. 3.5 Rajan and Zingalesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Study Rajan and Zingales (1995), in their study of determinant of capital structure find that profitability is negatively or inversely related to gearing consistent with Toy et al. (1974), Kester (1986) and Titman and Wessles (1988). Given, however, that the analysis is effectively performed as an estimation of a reduced form, such a result masks the underlying demand and supply interaction which is likely to be taking place. More profitable firm will obviously need less borrowings, although on the supply-side such profitable firms would have better access to debt, and hence the demand for debt may be negatively related to profits. Most of such studies were conducted in US using local companies and hence represents financing and profitability relationship in US economy and might not be applicable in other countries around the globe. Some of the studies conducted in UK as well though changing business and economic environment and time period may have their impact on such capital structure and profitability relationship. Further as discussed earlier much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact on the profitability and hence the value of the firm. So understanding the effect of capital structure on the profitability and hence the value of the firm in the current economic and business environment is the main motivation for this study. CHAPTER 3 RESERCH FRAMEWORK I intend to use two major sets of variables (Ratios) i.e. Debt and Profitability to ascertain the relationship between the capital structure and profitability. The first set includes Gearing ratios Debt/Equity Ratio and Debt Ratio. The other set includes profitability ratios Return on Equity, and Return on Assets. The variables will be analyzed using the descriptive/time-series Correlation and regression technique. 2.1 Data Sample The data used for the empirical analysis will be derived from Hemscott database contains balance sheet, profit and loss and certain Key Ratio information for FTSE 100 companies in UK. For the purposes of this dissertation, I expect to utilise this data to obtain the required variables for all non-financial companies. 2.2 The Model and Research Methodology The following model outlines the framework for research. It consist two major components i.e. the profitability of a firm as the dependent variables and the capital structure of a firm as the independent variables. The arrow pointing to the right indicated the expected direction of causality. However profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. DEBT RATIO ROE DEBT/EQUITYRATIO ROA The model gave the foundation for analysis which was to explain the relationship among the two main groups of variables. In as much as possible, variables will be selected on the basis of the literature being reviewed. Thus, while this study is expected to give exciting results, there will be direct ties to earlier studies although may reflect the changing requirements of the time. One prominent issue here is the direction of the causality in the model. This research is based on the notion that the capital structure being practised by a firm would affect its profitability. This particular cause-and-effect relationship had been proved in various studies as found in the literature being reviewed. Though it should be kept in mind that there were a number of researchers who had argued that it was profitability which would influence the capital structure (Chudson 1945, Lamothe 1982, Bowen, Daley and Huber 1982). However, it is not within the scope of this study to determine the direction of causality in this particular relationship but rather to focus on the significance of such a relationship. 2.3 Variables In the first instance, great care was taken to define the dependent and independent variables to be used in the descriptive, co variance and regression analysis. As there are several alternative measures of profitability and gearing, only relevant measures are chosen for this cross-sectional analysis. Dependent Variable Profitability is dependent variable in this analysis and two measures of profitability employed in this analysis are Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA). ROE is the return on equity and is measured as earnings before tax (EBT) divided by ownersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ capital or equity. ROE = EBT/EQUITY ROA is return on assets and is measured as earnings before interest and tax divided by total assets (Titman and Wessels, 1998; Fama and French, 2002 and Flannery and Rangan, 2006). The ratio of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), to the book value of total assets (TA) ROA = EBITDA/TA Independent Variables Gearing Ratio represents capital structure. Therefore, in order to examine the sensitivity or otherwise of their cross-sectional results to the profitability following two ratios are used in this analysis and defined as: Debt to Total Assets: This is a simple ratio of total debt to total assets DEBT RATIO= TD/ TA Debt to Equity Capital: This is the ratio of total debt to capital, with the capital calculated as total debt plus equity, including preference shares. DEBT/EQUITY RATIO = TD / (TD + ECR + PS) PS the book value of preference shares. Research Plan and Implementation Schedule Research work starts from week beginning from October 4, 2010 and is expected to complete in 10 weeks time. The work is scheduled as follows. Research Plan Week Star Date : 04-10-2010 Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Background reading and literature review X X Research design and plan X Choice of methodology X Gathering data X X X Data analysis and refine X X X Writing up draft X X X Editing final document X X Produce final document X Document passed to supervisor to read X Resources I intend to use following resources Hemscott database for data collection. MS Excel for analysing data. University of Wales online library, internet, and some books on finance. FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship The capital structure of a firm has long been a much debated issue for academic studies and in the corporate finance world. It is the way a firm finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or hybrid securities the composition or structure of its liabilities. In reality, capital structure may be highly complex and include various sources. The question whether capital structure affects to the profitability of the firm or it is affected by profitability is crucial one. Profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. On the one hand profitability of firm is an important determinant of the capital structure, the other hand changes in capital structure changes affect underlying profits and risk of the firm. Traditionally it was believed that the debt is useful up to certain limit and afterwards it proves costly. There is an optimum level of capital structure exist up to that level increasing debt will improve profitability, beyond that it will reduce profitability. In 1945, Chudson carried out an extensive study that implies the possibility of a relationship between the capital structures practised by a firm with its profitability. The question he endeavours to answer was that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a firm reflect the kind of industry in it is engaged, its size and level of profitability?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. It states irrelevant of capital structure in a perfect market to its value, hence, how a firm is financed does not matter. The MM propositions forms the basis for modern thinking on capital structure, though it is generally viewed as a purely theoretical result since it is based on perfect market assumptions those are not prevailing in practice. The matter of capital structure has gained much interest and controversy, since the MM Propositions which assert that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. The hypothesis proposed by MM created tidal waves in the corporate finance academia. Different theory such as packing order theory and agency cost theory were proposed. Various aspects of capital structure have been put to test and researched by so many researchers. The question is if the capital structure is really irrelevant in a real market and whether a companys profitability and hence value is affected by the capital structure it employs? If not, why capital structure is relevant and which factors make the leverage matter? Apart from profitability, some other factors such as bankruptcy costs, agency costs, taxes, and information asymmetry are considered in determination of capital structure. This study aims and attempts to extend the knowledge of capital structure and profitability relationship in listed UK companies. This analysis can then be extended to look at whether there is in fact an optimal capital structure exist the one which maximizes profitability and hence the value of the firm. 1.1 Context and relevance of the Study The topic of capital structure has been widely explored, though the study is relevant in the different time period and different context to find out whether the evidence concerning the capital structure issue and its various aspects are relevant to a given set of companies in a given period. Given this significance, current study attempts to understand and research on capital structure and its effect on profitability, of large firms in UK in the present context for a period of five years (2005 -2010). Thus, this study attempts to contribute to the research on capital structure in the recent period for large publicly traded companies on FTSE 100. 1.2 Research Objectives The present study is aimed at achieving one main and two secondary objectives. The main objective is to scrutinise the relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the large publicly traded UK firms and to ascertain whether a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Secondly, this study would attempt and investigate to determine if any optimal capital structure exist among the sample of FTSE 100 listed companies. Third objective is to find out any trend of capital structure being exhibited by the UK companies. 1.3 Research Questions and Hypothesis The above objectives are translated in two research question. The main research question is that whether a firms profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Hypothesis The first questions can be presented as following hypothesis. The present study shall be undertaken to evaluate this hypothesis based on the tests of the null hypothesis. H1: The profitability of a company is significantly correlated to its capital structure. H0: The profitability of a company is not significantly correlated to its capital structure. The secondary objectives of this study are translated in the determinant question regarding the optimality and trend of capital structure. The second question, will be discussed descriptively is that, Is there an optimal capital structure exists among or any trend of capital structure being exhibited by FTSE 100 listed companies? 1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study Scope This is an academic study that would shed some light on the matter of capital structure which has been discussed in various different perspectives since the MM propositions. The significance of this study is that it further enhances the research into capital structure of listed firms in UK. Profitability and Capital structure relationship is an ongoing issue and its relevance may change in different period because of the changes in macro and micro economic factors. For practitioners and corporate finance people such as finance executives, controllers and directors of listed firms, this study is relevant and of much interest to get insight of the capital structure and whether it has any effect on the profitability. Limitations The findings of this study will be limited from the following aspects: This study included only FTSE 100 listed firms on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Hence, its findings were not applicable for all the listed companies in UK. The sample of listed companies for this study included only firms with at least five years of financial data. Firms which are younger than five years or whose five year data could not be obtained will not be included in this study. The study excludes financial utility and other highly regulated industry to avoid any distortions in the result due to industry specific requirements. The cross sectional correlation and regression analysis will be performed using excel formula. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The various capital structure theories are developed by corporate finance academia for analysing how a firm could combine the securities to maximise its value. The Modigliani and Miller (MM) proposition (1958) were introduced under the perfect capital market assumptions. It refers to an ideal market where there are no taxes at both corporate and personal level, no transaction costs, no agency costs as and managers are rational. It further assumes that investors and firms can borrow at the same rate without restrictions and all participants have access to all relevant information. Thus it provides conditions under which the capital structure of a firm is irrelevant to total firm value. Most of studies focus on the determination of capital structure i.e. to what extent each of the assumptions in the MM model contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. Many theories such as the pecking order theory, the trade-off theory and the agency cost theory have been developed. Though much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact of the value of the firm. The value comes from the future cash flow i.e. profit of the firm. Thus capital structure affects value of the firm through the profitability and hence there is a direct relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the firm. Capital Structure The term capital structure can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Van Horne Wachowicz, 2000, p.470) It can be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of long-term sources of funds used by the firm. This is also called the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“capitalizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The relative total (percentage) of each type of fund is emphasized.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Petty, Keown, Scott, and Martin, 2001, p.932) One of the exhaustive and inclusive description was given by Masulis (1988, pl): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Capital structure encompasses a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s publicly issued securities, private placements, bank debt, trade debt, leasing contracts, tax liabilities, pension liabilities, deferred compensation to management and employees, performance guarantees, product warranties, and other contingent liabilities. This list represents the major claims to a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets. Increases or reductions in any of these claims represent a form of capital structure change.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? However in this study, for the sake of simplicity, the capital structure will be analysed in term of debt and equity in line with other prominent capital structure studies and theories restricted to the debt equity mix. Profitability The term profitability is a very common term in the business world. It refers to an all round measurement and indicator for a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success. Profitability can be defined as the ability of a firm to generate net income or profit on a consistent basis. It is often measured by price to earnings ratio. The accounting definition of profit can be given as the difference between the total revenue and the total costs incurred in bringing to market the product i.e. goods or service. Hence, profitability had come to mean different things for different people. It can be defined and measured in several ways depending on the purpose. It is a generic name for variables such as net income, return on total assets, earnings per share, etc. though the simplest and common meaning of profitability is the net income. 3.1 Early Study on Capital Structure by W A Chudson One of the earliest comprehensive researches into capital structure of business firms was done by Chudson Walter Alexander (1945) on a cross section of manufacturing, mining, trade, and construction companies in the US from the year 1931 to 1937. Although it has been more than two third of a century, that study is still relevant today as before due to the seven questions which he endeavoured to answer. Out of those questions the relevant to this study are as follows. In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a given concern reflect the kind of industry in which a concern is engaged, the concernà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s size and level of profitability? Are there any elements in the corporate balance sheet, either on the asset or the liability side, whose range of variation is so narrow that it is possible to speak of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“normalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? pattern of financial structure? The questions posed by Chudson could be interpreted into the research questions pertinent to this study which are the relationship between profitability and capital structure, the existence of an optimal capital structure, and also the trend of capital structure being practised by a sample of firms. Chudsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research showed there were undisputable relationships between corporate financial structure and the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. As far as this study is concerned, Chudson had successfully proved the relationship between the profitability of a company with various capital structure variables including debt and equity capital. 3.2 M M Propositions In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. Accordingly, the first Proposition holds that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. While the second proposition stats that when first proposition held, the cost of equity capital was a linear increasing function of the debt/equity ratio. As miller wrote subsequently these propositions implied that the weighted average of these costs of capital to a firm would remain the same no matter what combination of financing sources the firm actually chose. (Miller, 1988) In 1962, Barges tested and evaluated the MM propositions predominantly on the validity of the hypothesis that the cost of capital to the firms is unaffected by capital structure. According to Barges (p. 143): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“With respect to the empirical methods employed by MM it was found that, under very frequently encountered conditions, their methods will result in tests which are biased in favour of their propositions and biased against the traditional views.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Barges had empirically proved the existence of some weaknesses in the research design and methodology of Modigliani and Millerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s study and concluded that (p. 147) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Thus, on the basis of the evidence presented herein, the hypothesis of independence between average costs and capital structure appears untenable.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Subsequently many studies were conducted with focus on the determination of capital structure and many theories were presented. 3.3 Profitability and Leverage theories Since MM propositions presented, many studies were conducted by releasing MM assumptions focusing on the extent to which each of the assumptions contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. All these theories explains the relationship between leverage and the value of the firm and hence profitability of the firm. There are various theories in order to further explain this relationship. Nevertheless, these theories are actually based on asymmetric information (Myers, 1984), tax deductibility (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Miller 1977), Bankruptcy costs (Stiglitz, 1972; Titman, 1984) and agency costs (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Myers, 1977). Two main theories are the pecking order theory and the trade off theory. Pecking Order Theory The Pecking Order Theory is based on information asymmetry between management and investors. So, the stock price of a firm may not reflect correct value of the firm. Myers and Majluf (1984) and Myers (1984) suggest that management issue the security which is overvalued and therefore, undervalued firms tend to avoid issuing equity. They argue that in imperfect capital markets, leverage increases with the extent of information asymmetry. They provided theoretical support to Donaldsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (1961) findings that firms prefer to use internally generated funds as a financing source and resort to externals funds only if the need for funds was unavoidable. According to (Myers 1995), the dividend policy is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stickyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the firms prefer internal to external financing. Firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. Therefore, asymmetric information models seldom point towards a well-defined target debt ratio or optimal capital structure. All things being equal, the more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and therefore we should expect a negative relationship between leverage and profitability. The various studies such as Ross (1977), and Myers and Majluf (1984), Harris and Raviv, 1991; Rajan and Zingales, 1995; Booth et al., 2001have supported this relationship that is one of the most systematic findings in the empirical literature. Agency Costs Theory The Agency Costs Theory (Organizational Theory of Capital Structure) emphasize that capital structure was influenced by conflicts between shareholders and managers, and between debt holders and equity holders. Major study into this area was done by Jensen and Meckling (1976) that showed managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ natural tendency to extract too many perquisites and stresses on self-interested behaviour. Obviously, agency costs would increase as the managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ personal ownership stake in the firm decreases. This supplied an argument for debt financing and against à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ equity which was contributed by non management investors who cannot monitor management effectively. Fama and Miller (1972), using agency cost theory, proved that leverage was positively associated with firm value. Firms with longer credit histories would have lower cost of debt. The Trade of theory The trade-off theory is based on the considerations of benefits and the costs of debt. This theory argues that firms optimise their capital structure by trading the tax deductibility of interests, bankruptcy costs, and agency costs. This theory is consistent with traditional approach of capital structure. This theory leads to an opposite conclusion. Accordingly if the firms are profitable, they should prefer debt to benefit from the tax shield. Further as the past profitability is a good proxy for future profitability, profitable firms can borrow more because the likelihood of paying back the loans is greater. However after a certain level of leverage, the profitability and the value of the firm will reduce due to interaction of bankruptcy costs and agency costs. 3.4 Various Studies on Capital Structure As the issue of capital structure gained prominence and interest, a number of studies had been done over the years to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s various characteristics e.g. growth opportunities, non-debt tax shields, firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s volatility, asset systematic risk, asset unique risk, internal funds availability, asset structure, profitability, industry classification, and firm size. This study is concerned particularly on the relationship between capital structure and profitability. Most of the studies had concluded that capital structure measured by debt/equity ratio had an inverse relationship with profitability measured by Return on Investment (ROI). Professor Myers of MIT had written in 1995 that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the strong negative correlation between profitability and financial leverageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is one of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"most striking facts about corporate financingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (p.303). It is worthy to mention here that the aforesaid studies were the most comprehensive ever carried out in the US. One significant research was conducted by Bradley, Jarrell and Rim (1984) using Ordinary Least Squares method to analyze the capital structure of 851 industrial firms over a period of 20 years (1962-81). They concluded that an optimal capital structure actually existed as proposed by finance theorists. Bradley, Jarrell and Kimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s findings were supported by El-Khouri in 1989 who studied a sample of 1,040 Companies in US from 27 different industries covering a period of 19 years (1968-86). El-Khourià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major findings were that there exists an optimal capital structure, and profitability was significantly but negatively related to capital structure. 3.5 Rajan and Zingalesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Study Rajan and Zingales (1995), in their study of determinant of capital structure find that profitability is negatively or inversely related to gearing consistent with Toy et al. (1974), Kester (1986) and Titman and Wessles (1988). Given, however, that the analysis is effectively performed as an estimation of a reduced form, such a result masks the underlying demand and supply interaction which is likely to be taking place. More profitable firm will obviously need less borrowings, although on the supply-side such profitable firms would have better access to debt, and hence the demand for debt may be negatively related to profits. Most of such studies were conducted in US using local companies and hence represents financing and profitability relationship in US economy and might not be applicable in other countries around the globe. Some of the studies conducted in UK as well though changing business and economic environment and time period may have their impact on such capital structure and profitability relationship. Further as discussed earlier much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact on the profitability and hence the value of the firm. So understanding the effect of capital structure on the profitability and hence the value of the firm in the current economic and business environment is the main motivation for this study. CHAPTER 3 RESERCH FRAMEWORK I intend to use two major sets of variables (Ratios) i.e. Debt and Profitability to ascertain the relationship between the capital structure and profitability. The first set includes Gearing ratios Debt/Equity Ratio and Debt Ratio. The other set includes profitability ratios Return on Equity, and Return on Assets. The variables will be analyzed using the descriptive/time-series Correlation and regression technique. 2.1 Data Sample The data used for the empirical analysis will be derived from Hemscott database contains balance sheet, profit and loss and certain Key Ratio information for FTSE 100 companies in UK. For the purposes of this dissertation, I expect to utilise this data to obtain the required variables for all non-financial companies. 2.2 The Model and Research Methodology The following model outlines the framework for research. It consist two major components i.e. the profitability of a firm as the dependent variables and the capital structure of a firm as the independent variables. The arrow pointing to the right indicated the expected direction of causality. However profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. DEBT RATIO ROE DEBT/EQUITYRATIO ROA The model gave the foundation for analysis which was to explain the relationship among the two main groups of variables. In as much as possible, variables will be selected on the basis of the literature being reviewed. Thus, while this study is expected to give exciting results, there will be direct ties to earlier studies although may reflect the changing requirements of the time. One prominent issue here is the direction of the causality in the model. This research is based on the notion that the capital structure being practised by a firm would affect its profitability. This particular cause-and-effect relationship had been proved in various studies as found in the literature being reviewed. Though it should be kept in mind that there were a number of researchers who had argued that it was profitability which would influence the capital structure (Chudson 1945, Lamothe 1982, Bowen, Daley and Huber 1982). However, it is not within the scope of this study to determine the direction of causality in this particular relationship but rather to focus on the significance of such a relationship. 2.3 Variables In the first instance, great care was taken to define the dependent and independent variables to be used in the descriptive, co variance and regression analysis. As there are several alternative measures of profitability and gearing, only relevant measures are chosen for this cross-sectional analysis. Dependent Variable Profitability is dependent variable in this analysis and two measures of profitability employed in this analysis are Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA). ROE is the return on equity and is measured as earnings before tax (EBT) divided by ownersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ capital or equity. ROE = EBT/EQUITY ROA is return on assets and is measured as earnings before interest and tax divided by total assets (Titman and Wessels, 1998; Fama and French, 2002 and Flannery and Rangan, 2006). The ratio of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), to the book value of total assets (TA) ROA = EBITDA/TA Independent Variables Gearing Ratio represents capital structure. Therefore, in order to examine the sensitivity or otherwise of their cross-sectional results to the profitability following two ratios are used in this analysis and defined as: Debt to Total Assets: This is a simple ratio of total debt to total assets DEBT RATIO= TD/ TA Debt to Equity Capital: This is the ratio of total debt to capital, with the capital calculated as total debt plus equity, including preference shares. DEBT/EQUITY RATIO = TD / (TD + ECR + PS) PS the book value of preference shares. Research Plan and Implementation Schedule Research work starts from week beginning from October 4, 2010 and is expected to complete in 10 weeks time. The work is scheduled as follows. Research Plan Week Star Date : 04-10-2010 Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Background reading and literature review X X Research design and plan X Choice of methodology X Gathering data X X X Data analysis and refine X X X Writing up draft X X X Editing final document X X Produce final document X Document passed to supervisor to read X Resources I intend to use following resources Hemscott database for data collection. MS Excel for analysing data. University of Wales online library, internet, and some books on finance.