Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail - Essay Example It is needless to say that racial discrimination was one of the ancient practices those were predominant in the society across the world over the ages. Though Luther King Jr. wrote the letter in response to public statement by fellow clergymen, this, however, exposed the harsh reality and inhuman practices of the time, more particularly what happened in various parts of America namely Albany, Georgia, Alabama, and Birmingham etc. Martin Luther King Jr.’s long letter had very categorically pointed out and justified the importance of his presence in Birmingham. He also made it clear that he, though often referred as â€Å"outsiders coming in†, came down to Birmingham with a great pledge of eradicating injustice, as the prophets of 18th century B.C. traveled far in order to propagate the truths of Bible. In the first place, while answering the statement of the clergymen, he defends his actions in Birmingham by saying that it was the city that experienced a thorough segregation and became famous for the wide brutality it saw. Negroes were subject to inhuman treatment in the court. They were the vulnerable sections whose houses and churches were destroyed by bombs. It was but obvious that racial injustice engulfed these people most. These were the brutal facts, most savage of its kind. Being at this crucial juncture and being exposed to the most barbaric practices of the time. Negro leaders tried to negotiate with the city fathers but these fathers refused to negotiate. These people had an opportunity to talk to the leaders of Birmingham Economic Community, promises were made, but which however resulted in the end in broken promise. Luther Jr.’s chief object was to fight for those people which in his own word â€Å"I am in Birmingham because injustice is here† (King). In his long letter King Jr. raised some questions about the timing and prudence of his action and he

Customer Behaviour Analysis in Sportswear Industry

Customer Behaviour Analysis in Sportswear Industry In the world we live today, businesses and top companies have to understand what their companies have to offer to their customer and they have to understand the needs of the consumers in their markets. Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations. The way customer buys their product and the ways they select their particular products in Singapore. (Customer behavior, 2010) Sportswear market is one of the leading markets in the world and the biggest players in the sports wear are Nike and Adidas these are the biggest market leaders in the world for the creativity and the sports equipments they have to offer to the people. Singapore is a very diverse country with different ethnic backgrounds from places live in Singapore as this is sports loving country as the Youth Olympics were held in Singapore in August 2010, as is the one of the biggest target market for the sports equipments as the people of Singapore are sports loving people. Singapore is one of the famous tourist destinations in the world famous for shopping, tourist destination, Santosa beach, and two newly opened Casinos The Customer behavior of visitors on sportswear in Singapore is mostly influenced by social, cultural, personal and Psychological factors. (Kotler, Armstrong, Yau Hon Ming, 2009) Consumer behavior is affected by many diverse factors for example, what influences you before you buy a product or service? Your friends, your raising, your culture, the media, a role model or influences from certain groups. (Learn Marketing, 2010) On a more personal level, I have always had a deep interest in trying to understand how other people think and what makes them behave in the way that they do. I feel that in doing this we come more rapidly to understand our own individual ways and patterns of thought and ways of behavior. Singapore market is growing rapidly as they have recovered from the economic crisis and the people of Singapore are purchasing the products as they are being influenced as their spending power is more than before as the economy of the country is recovered and Singapore is attracting lots of visitors to Singapore for shopping, Casinos, Travel and leisure. This gives the opportunity to the sports accessories companies a better target market to occupy and generate ways of attracting their target customer. 1.1 Objectives of the Research The main objectives of this research is to understand the factors that are affecting the customer behavior and the way they act while purchasing the product and these factors helps the sportswear companies to know and to understand and predict buying behavior of consumers in the market place and what are the trends, behavior of the customer and the way they buy products in the market, from a sporting wear like Manchester United Jersey to a Football shoes or jogging shoes, it is concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and where and how they buy it. (Himansu. S. M, 2008) Sportswear market is growing in Singapore as the tourism industry is growing rapidly as it is attracting lots of visitors to Singapore. However, a sporting culture in Singapore and the passion for sports excellence and a vast business plan have the potential to produce results well beyond our dreams. The timing is excellent as it has never been before and for the customers and companies active in Singapores sports scene. (Kotler and keller, 2009). The sports market in Asia Pacific is booming. The total value of the market should reach $17 billion in 2009, according to a global study by an independent management consulting firm. (Sports Industry, 2009) The factors that influence the customer behavior are Role, Status and Age Lifestyle Personality and attitude We have to understand how these factors play an important role in influencing the customer buying behavior towards buying sports equipments in Singapore. There is big change in the number of visitors coming to Singapore from couple of years and the Singapore market is booming as the figures show there is vast change in the number of visitors coming to Singapore from the year 2007 to 2010. Figure 1,2,3 Visitor arrive in Singapore 2007 to 2010C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itVisitordec 07,dec08.pngC:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itVisitor10-23-2010 2-22-36 PM.png C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itjuly 2010 visitors.png Source: STB, 2010 Research focus The focus of this research is to understand how Role, Status, Age, Lifestyle and Personality and Attitude of an individual and how it plays an important role on buyer mood, conditions that affect the customer behavior when they are purchasing a sportswear product. The reason for coming out with a model is that this gives us an understanding how the visitors in Singapore behave when they are buying sportswear and this will help us to understand the customers better and how they react and what are the factors that influence the consumer behavior of visitors on sportswear in Singapore. According to the research we have derived on this that most of the visitors coming to Singapore are for shopping purpose and travelling purpose. As shown below for several years. Fig 4, (Major Expenditure Items for 2008) Fig 5 Major Expenditure Items for 2004-08) For the year 2008 Source: STB, 2010 Fig 1C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2008expenses.png For the year 2004-08 Source: STB, 2010 Fig 2 C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it20082004.2008.png Fig: 6 Major Expenditure Items for 2007 Source: (STB, 2010) C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2007 travelling ppl.png Figure 7 Shopping items purchased. Source: (STB 2010) C:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag it2006.2007 shopping lists.pngC:UsersDickeyDesktopSnag itshopping.png Research questions In this report we have to invest the characteristics that affect the consumer behavior when they are buying a sports accessories product and how these characteristics play the important role in consumer behavior. How the role, status and age of an individual affect on consumer behavior. How does lifestyle of an individual affect on consumer behavior. How does personality and attitude of an individual affect on consumer behavior. Value of the research This research will give us the understanding how the consumer behave when they are buying a sportswear product and this will help the practitioner to understand how the consumer reacts and what are the factors that influences him to buy a product. The study of consumer behavior is the study where are going to learn how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources. Chapter 2 Literature review The purpose of literature review is to make sure that we analyze all the characteristics that play an important role in affecting the consumer behavior. The purpose of the literature review is to select promising measure, methods (Mamchak and Mamchak, 1994). Identify and highlight the important variables and document the significant results of earlier research that will serve as the basis on which the theoretical framework of the investigation can be built and the hypothesis developed (Sekaran, 2003). Based on the research objectives, the researcher will provide relevant concepts in the review of current literature in this chapter. Consumer behavior is the way a person reacts to purchase products and there are several factors that affect the consumer behavior they are 2.1 Role, status and age All of us hold positions within groups, organizations and institutions. Associated with each position there is an important role to play, there are set of activities a person in particular position is supposed to perform based on expectations of both individual and surrounding people, because a person can occupy different roles for example role of a son, husband, father, mother, church priest, employee, and student. There are multiple set of expectations which are placed on an individual person so this affects the consumer behavior. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) An individual role influences the buying behavior, the demand of a persons many roles may be diverse and inconsistent. Considering the various types of sports accessories that may an individual buy and wear will be depending on whether you are sporting which type of sports or what type of sports accessories an individual may like, and others involved in these types of setting and environment has expectations what is acceptable accessories for the purpose. The expectations of those consumers may affect the purchase of those sports accessories and products. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Consumers usually choose sportswear products appropriate to their roles and status. Considering the various roles a working mother plays. In her company she plays an important role of a brand manager of Nike or Adidas she would be wearing mostly sportswear but on the other hand a working mother working in a bank she would be wearing uniform. So we have to understand the role and status of an individual and these factors play a vast role in consumer behavior. As she may be fan of a sporting event as she would be wearing her favorite sports accessories as she plays a role of avid fan. As a brand manager of Sports Company she will buy the kind of clothes that reflects her role and status in her company. People buy different goods and services over their lifetime. They wear different kinds of clothes and eat different food in the early years, most. Peoples taste in clothes is age related the youngster nowadays like to wear sportswear clothes as they prefer to have sporting looks. Age plays an important role on consumer behavior as consumer needs and wants change with age. Sportswear companies offer different types of clothes for all ages and they are also youth oriented. Such as Michael Jordan shoes and jersey will attract young kids in the market who would like to relate themselves as Michael Jordan fans. The taste for sportswear items is different between the youngsters and the mature people. Mature people tend to buy less sporty looking wear and more comfortable clothes. 2.2 Lifestyle Lifestyle is a popular concept for understanding consumer behavior because its more contemporary than personality and values and lifestyle is a persons pattern of living as expressed in her or his psychographics. It involves measuring consumers major activities which an individual do such as hobbies, sports, shopping, social events, interests, fashion, family and opinions about themselves. Lifestyle captures something more than a consumers social class or personality. It helps a persons whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world. (Kotler, Armstrong, Ang, Leong, Tan, 2009) Lifestyles have a strong impact on many aspects of consumer behavior process, from problem recognition to purchase stage. Lifestyle influences consumers product needs, brand preferences, type of media used and how, when and where they shop. Lifestyle of an individual person plays a vast role in consumer behavior. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) As we have understand that lifestyle refers to the pattern of consumption reflecting to a person choice on how he or she will spend money, but in some cases it refers to the attitude and values attached to these pattern. Every consumer has a different lifestyle and they all behave according to their lifestyle and this affects on the consumer behavior. Ones choice on sporting accessories would identify a person lifestyle and what are his preferences and the sports accessories an individual wears makes a statement about who the one is and the type of people he wishes to be identified as and the other people who are keeping some distance. (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard Hogg, 2006) 2.3 Personality and Attitude Personality is a set of internal traits and different behavioral tendencies that result in consistent pattern of behavior in certain situations. An individual personality comes from hereditary characteristics and personal experience that makes a person unique. Personality is described to be having one or more characteristics such as ambition, authoritarianism, competitiveness and dogmatism. Personality of an individual person plays a major role in consumer behavior as he or she has its own ambition or characteristics. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Everyone is different just look at fingerprint, so every individual personality is different, personality has many meaning, according to consumer behavior it is defined as a rapid response to environmental stimuli, it is an individual unique psychological makeup, which consistently influences how a person responds to his environment. For example why do some people like to go movies and other people love buying sports accessories or attend sports event it all depends upon an individual personality. (Blackwell, Souza, Teghian, Miniard Engel, 2006) Every person has personality as every personality reflects individual differences, enduring and a personality can change. Under certain circumstances a personality changes such as childs birth, Nike withdraw the sponsorship that may change your personality to buy Adidas sports accessories, career promotion all such kind of things can change a human personality and this significantly affects the consumer behavior. (Schiffman, Lazarkamk, Hasan, 2007) Personality is considered the main force behind consumer decision making. Personality refers to a persons behavior or reply to recurring situations. Personality plays an important role when it comes to consumer behavior of any sorts, especially if it involves consumer buying process. An individuals personality has become very significant now days when it comes to making decisions while buying. It holds different meaning accordingly to the consumers tastes, preferences and personality. (Knight, 2009) An attitude is an individual enduring evaluation, feeling about and behavioral tendencies towards a product or idea. For example he have attitude for politics, music, sports and sports accessories we wear, football team we support. Although attitudes can change, they tend to remain stable and not vary from moment to moment. As attitudes put people into frame work of mind of liking or disliking things, as attitude is difficult to change. Person attitudes fit into the pattern and to change one attitude may require difficult adjustments in many others. However all of a persons attitudes do not have equal impact at one time, some are stronger than other and this plays an important when they are buying a sports accessories product. Individuals acquire attitudes through experience and interaction with other people. (Pride and Ferrell, 2007) Attitude of an individual people or group of people always affect the consumer behavior and for example one group of individual with same attitude are diehard fan of a football team and they are highly committed to their team and they have love for the game and if the sponsoring company are providing the sportswear of that team, the people with all the same attitude will buy the same product as the players are wearing. This will affect the consumer behavior and the sports companies should provide better sports accessories for the diehard fans as they all have the same attitude towards a same idea. (Solomon, Dann, Susan Bennett, 2009) So far the consumer attitude has big influence on consumer behavior such as whether you like a product or dislike a product such as do u like Coca Cola or not, do u like Nike and Adidas sports accessories or not. Theoretical framework Based on the theoretical framework the theoretical framework is there to test the validity of an existing theory. It is easier t understand the theoretical framework if it is viewed as the answers to the collected interrelated concepts. Role, Status Age Consumer Behavior Lifestyle Personality Attitude Independent Variable Dependent Variable Hypothesis Development Hypothesis development is necessary as it shows a relationship between two or more variables expressed in the form of testable statement. (Sekaran, 2003: pg 103). Based on the research topic the final indepdent variable and dependant variable are as follows. First Independent variable is Role, Status and Age which is IV1 Second Independent variable is Lifestyle which is IV2 Third Independent variable is Personality and Attitude which is IV3 Consumer Behavior is Dependent Variable which is addressed as DV Hypothesis development is there by confirming or rejecting hypothesis, it is expected that solutions can be found to correct the problem encountered. (Theoretical-Framework-and-Hypothesis-Development, 2010) Null Hypothesis Addressed by: = 0 Finding: There is no relationship between the IVs and DV The null hypotheses represent that the independent variable (IVs) and do not have any effect on the outcome of Dependent Variable DV. Table of Null Hypotheses H1 = Hypothesis 1. Role and Status H2 = Hypothesis 2. Lifestyle H3 = Hypothesis 3. Personality and Attitude = 0 => = Ho H1= Ho There is no significant effect of Role and Status on Consumer Behavior H2= Ho There is no significant effect of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior H3= Ho There is no significant effect of Personality and Attitude on Consumer Behavior Alternative Hypothesis Addressed by: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0 meaning that à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho In hypothesis testing, the null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis are put forward. If the data are sufficiently strong to reject the null hypothesis, then the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of an alternative hypothesis. Alternative hypothesis is a constructed hypothesis which the results are examined against the prediction of null hypothesis. In general the null statement is expressed as no relationship between two variables or no difference between two groups.  The alternate hypothesis  which is the opposite of the null is a statement expressing a relationship between two variables or indicating differences between groups. (Sekaran Bougie, 2003) Procedure: There is either negative or positive relationship between the IVs and DV. The alternative hypotheses represent that the outcomes are different from zero; in particular, it could be positive or negative. As a result, IVs positively relate to the DV if alternative hypotheses greater than zero and negatively relate to the DV if alternative hypotheses lesser than zero. To find out how significant IVs positively or negatively relate to DV, Alternative Hypotheses are measured. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0 => à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho H1à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Role and status on Consumer Behavior H2à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior H3à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   Ho There is either positive or negative effect of Personality and Attitude on Consumer Behavior Research Design The main aim of this research is to conduct a descriptive study and a correlation study. Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe what exists with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. The methods involved range from the survey which describes the status, the correlation study which investigates the relationship between variables, to developmental studies which seek to determine changes over time. (Key, 1997) In this research the researcher wants to relate the independent variables and the dependent variables. Descriptive study and a correlation study would help in identifying the information, design a procedure to gather the information and analyze the information with the help of the IVs and DV. 3.1 Research Methodologies In order to collect the data for my research it is necessary to get an understanding of the data collection methods. There are many research methods but according to the topic nature we are doing a qualitative study. Qualitative research is unstructured exploratory in nature based on small samples and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as group interviews, word association asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words and interviews (Malhotra, 2007) 3.2 Data Collection Methods According to the research design we are going to the following methods Secondary Data: Secondary data are the existing sources which were produced by earlier researchers for some specific purposes. According to the research topic we are using secondary data collections ways as it is from existing sources. (Blaxter et al, 2001) Primary Data: Primary data are original information collected by researchers to fulfill numerous purposes of research. The investigators could collect primary data by using various methods such as direct interviews, interviews through telephone, questionnaires, observations and others. (Macneill and Chapman, 2005) In this research, secondary data will be collected through magazines, journals, newspaper reports, company manuals, and brochures. 3.3 Data Collection Methods In this research, the researcher uses a questionnaire to gather data due to questionnaire is an effective data collection mechanism when the researcher knows exactly what is required and how to measure the variables of interest (Sekaran, 2003). Data would be collected through magazines, journals, newspaper reports, and brochures. To capture data, questionnaires are designed accordingly to specific information needed. In order to be precise, the question will be set as simple as possible. The number of question is small and the words are simplified. Before the questionnaire is practiced, they should be pre-tested to see how it works and improved if there is any mistake. 3.4 Data analysis The researcher needs an effective data analysis tool to examine the chosen hypothesis at the beginning step. SPSS which stands for Statistics Package of Social Science is considered the best method in statistical analysis. This software allows researchers to enhance their perception of the data and interpretation of the output. (Weinberg and Abramowitz, 2002) The main jobs of researcher are to decide the needed variables before entering the input to the software, to select correct statistical tests to analyze data and to interpret the final output results. (Bryman and Bell, 2007) 3.5 Pilot-Testing The purpose of doing pilot testing is to detect weaknesses in design and content in the instrument before it is reach final steps. (Fink, 2003), 12 peoples are required to be tested. The pilot tested should monitor the ease with which respondents complete the questionnaire, and also the ease with respondents to complete the questionnaire (Fink, 2003). 4 Ethical issues While conducting survey and interview for the research, the researcher should consider the code of ethical issue. The major responsibility of the researcher is to inform clearly and accurately the surveys purpose and content to respondents so that they can make decision whether they wish to participate. The researcher should also show the respect to the participants by keeping their answers confidential based on the guidelines of the university. Furthermore researcher need to guarantee the data must be used only for this particular report. Schedule No Content Month Oct Nov 2010 Dec Jan 2010 Feb Mar 2010 Week 1,2 3,4 1,2 1,2 1,2 3,4 1,2 3,4 1,2 3,4 1,2 1 Problem Identification 2 Literature Review 3 Research Design 4 Choice of Methodology 5 Data Sources 6 Data Collection 7 Data Analysis 8 Writing up Draft 9 Editing 10 Final Document 11 Binding of Document Table 1 below presents a detailed dissertation schedule to ensure that the research work

Willie Russells Educating Rita :: Willie Russell Educating Rita Essays

Willie Russell's Educating Rita In this play, Willie Russell has created two extremes of culture and put them together to focus on the differences between them and how these two cultures change as the play develops. Firstly there is Frank with a good job as a teacher and a large house and is well educated, who is contrasted with Rita who has a council house, works as a hairdresser and is not well educated. They first meet when Rita goes to Frank because she wants to be educated. As the play continues, Frank and Rita almost completely exchange roles as they are both unhappy with their culture and want to be more like the other. This play was written in the 1980's where the working, middle and upper classes were still used widely to determine what your culture was and how important you are to the social society at the time. The theme of culture appears a lot in the play. One of the ways that Willie Russell shows the two distinctly different cultures is how much power the higher classes have over the lower classes. In the play knowledge is shown as a symbol of power. Frank has the superior knowledge over Rita so therefore he also has more power over Rita. But when Rita returns from summer school and is more knowledgeable than Frank because Frank wanted to be more like Rita, so Rita has more power over Frank as she now has the superior knowledge. I think that the swivel chair determines who is most in control over the other person in terms of power and knowledge. At the start of the play Frank is sat in the swivel chair, but once Rita is further educated she sits in the swivel chair. The fact that it is a swivel chair that determines power is significant because it turns around. Much like Frank and Rita as the power turned from being in Frank in to Rita. Willie Russell also used education to show the two different cultures that Frank and Rita live in. Rita says that she wants to be educated because she wants to know everything as she is not happy being classed as working class. But Denny, Rita's husband, does not want her to change and he does this by burning all of her books. Education also symbolises power as Frank has the power to change is life because he is educated, but Rita wants to become educated so she can change her way of life and culture. Education affects the audiences' interpretations of the play as the two extremes of culture that are

The Machine Stops

Machine Stops Draft 24 March 2010 The Machine Stop’s published in 1909 by E. M Forster is an amazing prediction of a future where humans live below the surface of the earth in â€Å"The Machine. †Connected by something similar to the internet and communicating only by webcam, their every need is met and physical contact has become obsolete. There is a lot in this story that can be compared with our lives now in regards to dependence on technology and the way that it controls our lives, I am going to discuss that in this paper along with how this story and David Strong’s article can be compared. I will try to analyze the time’s that Forster grew up in and the impact they may have had on his view of the future, also the benefits and downfalls of modern technologies and a quick summary of the novella by Forster. The story takes place below the earth’s surface in ‘The Machine. ’ The Machine does everything for the people from playing music to making their beds. For example if they dropped something they didn’t have to bend over to pick it up, because the machine would elevate the floor to their level. The Machine completely takes away the need for the people to physically do anything for themselves. Kuno is the son of Vashti, a woman who like the others worships the Machine. Kuno questions the machine and takes it upon himself to leave the machine without permission to go to the surface of the earth to explore. Once Kuno reaches the surface the mending apparatus of the Machine entangles him because on his journey to the surface he tears the machine. After Kuno’s experience on the surface of the earth he gets in contact with his mother on the other side of the world to convince her to visit him face to face so he can explain his adventure to her. Kuno convinces Vashti to take the airship to visit him in spite of the fact that Vashti does not enjoy seeing the surface of the earth because it gives her â€Å"no ideas†. Once Vashti arrives Kuno explains his adventure and tells her that he is being threatened with ‘homelessness’ which is equivalent of death and that is the reason why he wanted to see her face to face and let her know what happened. Vashti cannot believe that this man is her son because of his actions and beliefs and shortly after arriving she leaves telling him that they have nothing in common. Vashti does not talk or try to contact her son for a few years after. After sometime passes Kuno gets in touch with his mother and tells her that The Machine stops, and he believes the Machine is beginning to shut down. Kuno’s mother finds this quite funny and blows off his idea, but within a short period of time Vashti begins to notice that things are not working properly. Starting with Vashti noticing the sleeping apparatus was no longer working properly. The machine begins shutting down and falling apart. Kuno gets to Vashti and before she dies is able to touch her and let her know that there are people on the surface who will not make the same mistake of letting something like the machine happen again. The way that I see this story and David Strong’s article coming together is very clear, Kuno and Vashti are the perfect representation of good vs. goods life. I say this about Kuno because the way he is portrayed shows that even though he has all of his needs met by â€Å"The Machine† he is left unsatisfied. Not only is he left unsatisfied but he is also left lonely and detached from the natural world, to the point that he has lost his ability to physically support himself. Vashti on the other hand is a great example of a progress trap in the way that what she worshipped (technology) is what ended up killing her. The reason I compare her with a progress trap is because she was brought up in the machine it was all she knew and it ended up getting out of control and killed her and the rest of its occupants, when they blindly accepted it as a good thing not expecting faults. E. M Forster’s story the Machine stops is an unbelievably accurate prediction of modern times for when it was published. The technologies Forster creates we see now and also some of the problems. The dependence we have on technology now is to the point where it is questionable if some people could survive without electricity, what does this mean to our societies? Not to say that technology is completely a bad thing but if you look at medicine as an example painkillers began as a treatment for people with severe illness and are now being used as a recreational drug with many negative effects. It seems that you can look at most technologies and see where they are being exploited due to their flaws, should this be blamed on the technologies or us as the users and inventers of them. E. M. Forster asks his readers to imagine a life in which they are completely surrounded and enclosed in technology; enclosed in a small space such as a cell of a bee hive (Gunton and Stine 129). The short story is trying to illustrate what could possibly come from a â€Å"society ‘perfected’ by technology (Bryfonski 179). Although technologies do make our lives simpler in many ways we cannot let them take over our lives, and we should not solely rely on technology to do everything. Early on in The Machine Stops it is made clear that the machine creates its own politics, sociology, its own rationality and its own religion (Bryfonski 179). It is almost as though Forster’s creation of the machine was an outlook to what he thought technology could easily become The characters in the short story have allowed the machine to â€Å"deaden their senses and to dehumanize their emotions† (Gunton and Stine 129). The characters do not know how to function by themselves anymore because the Machine allows them to not have to think or care, it ‘takes care’ of that for the humans. If we let technology do everything for us we will lose our own ability to think for ourselves. Although technology is a significant part of everyday life for the average person and it is used to simplify life, it can become overwhelming. Technology, if used wisely can have enormous benefits: staying in contact with old friends and family, saving someone’s life, helping you travel around the world the possibilities are truly endless. Some organizations and people in society possibly need to realize that there are always two sides to everything and, that yes technologies are created to help us but if we use the technologies improperly the same technological world could destroy us that is trying to help us. The idea of E. M. Forster’s The Machine Stops illustrates very well the destruction that could be created if humans begin to rely solely on technology in a maybe not so dramatic way after all. Works Cited E. M. Forster (1879-1970). † Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1979. 178-183. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 19 March 2010. E. M. Forster (1879-1970). † Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton and Jean C. Stine. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. 129-138. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 19 March 2010.

Compare and Contrast the Characters of the Loman Brothers

The audience are first introduced to the Loman brothers as they are staying at their parents home in Brooklyn. The brothers are woken by their father, and begin an incredibly deep conversation concerning their lives. This conversation reveals a lot about Biff and Happy and their outlook on life. Firstly, an immediate contrast is made in how the pair treat women. Happy has an incredibly degrading attitude, in which he thinks that he is entitled to any women that he wants, despite being aware that they are engaged to executives at his work.Not only this, he claims that he doesn’t â€Å"want the girl, and, still, I take it†. Firstly, the fact that he cannot address the woman by her name, and instead â€Å"it† shows how little he thinks of women and how they are made to feel by being given the false hope of being â€Å"wanted† by this womanizing character. Biff and Happy remember when they were young, and Happy refers to his â€Å"first time† as a †Å"pig†. This accentuates how little respect he has for women, and how he judges them on merely their looks.Biff, on the other hand, seems to feel differently to Happy, ignoring his derogatory comments and admitting, â€Å"I’d like to find a girl – steady, somebody with substance†. He clearly used to have the same tendencies with women, as he â€Å"taught† Happy everything he knows about women. However, Biff has clearly matured and grown out of his phase of seeking women as if it was a sport, as his brother still does. A similarity between Biff and Happy are that they are both concerned for their father’s recent behaviour, and discuss things that they have both noticed about him.Happy tells Biff that he is â€Å"getting nervous about im†. Despite having their differences with their father, they both care a lot for him and can immediately notice when he begins to act differently. Biff is also clearly concerned about his mother and how sh e is coping. When Willy is talking to himself, he is (growing angry) and asks rhetorically â€Å"Doesn’t he know Mom can hear that? † This portrays how Biff seeks to protect his mother.On the other hand, it seems that Happy seems to care more about his fathers opinions then Biff, as he tells Biff that â€Å"I wish you’d have a talk with him†. He does not like the conflict between his brother and his father, and perhaps believes that this conflict is what is making him act strangely. Biff on the other hand, see’s his how his father is behaving as â€Å"selfish† and â€Å"stupid†. He is still frustrated with the conversation between him and his father, concerning Biffs’ future plans (or lack of them).During Willy’s mobile concurrency, Biff and Willy are seen in their youth. Here, it is shown that Happy is often over shadowed by his older brother Biff and ignored by his parents. As a result of growing up in Biff's shadow, H appy is always striving for Willy's attention, but has never really got it. This is shown when the young Happy is repeatedly tells his father, â€Å"I'm losing weight, you notice, Pop? † Willy brushes Happy off here, and this hint of favouritism may be why Happy feels that he should aim to be in a job like his fathers to impress him, whereas Biff does not.

Performance appraisal Essay Example

Performance appraisal Essay Example Performance appraisal Essay Performance appraisal Essay The success behind for all multination companies, team work is playing an important role. Multinational team can provide a perfect development opportunity for an organisations future leaders. Experience of working on effective global team help the team member to increase their management skillness, make them able for facing the challenges for developing and employing the knowledge and skill that are necessary for leading global organizations (Maznevski and DiStefano, 2000). In the company like Hume and Co, there is hardly any team work practised among the consultants. Young consultants are working individually rather collectively by diverting clients from other colleagues. By ensuring strong support to IT consultants from Human Resource professionals will definitely increase their effectiveness, enhanced their knowledge and skill required for building global team effectiveness (Canney Davison Ward, 1999). However, other multinational companies can be mentionable who succeed in using global team appropriately. General Motors has used its global teams in its Research Development (RD) activities for examining the feasibility of producing global cars. Since globalized Coopers Lybrand has been using global teams successfully in serving customers, that finally seen rapid growth in production (Jackson Schuler, 2000: 146) Global leaders have to be experts in learning and adapting their thinking in new paths. Martha L. Maznevski and Joseogh J. DiStefano have identified three key areas where global leaders need to establish their strong efficiency. 1) learning and adapting 2) managing relationships 3) managing ambiguity (2000). In Frankfurt office, Germany the manager used to work in a local company before taking charge of the office. He does not have international managerial experience which is normally required for successfully running company which is looking for expanding its presence globally. In question of managing relationship, the local manager does not have knowledge in corporate culture which means basic assumptions and beliefs held by employees about the enterprise they work for (ucs. mun. ca). Lack of expertise in international managerial experience is another hr issue which creates problems in developing brand, not only for the clients but for the staff as well. On going projects is suddenly postponed following consultants quitting the office. Failing to comply close relationship with the Head Quarter, is revealing lack of managerial efficiency of the manager. Besides, having lack ness of knowledge in company policy and strategy regarding globalisation, local staff are deprived of gaining knowledge in company policies. On the basis of case study, Hume Co. does not posses any definite hr planning that they can enforce in other areas of the world where their business is in operation. Each of the strategic type of firm is required to formulate different types of hr strategy regarding their business structure (Miles and Snow cited by Guest, 1997:264). Companies adopting business strategy and human resource strategy will have superior performance (Guest, 1997).

Explain why the concentration of water in cells should be maintained within a narrow range for optimal function.

Explain why the concentration of water in cells should be maintained within a narrow range for optimal function. Water in cells should be maintained in narrow range of concentration for optimal function.What happens if water concentration of a cell increases beyond the range?If we put a cell in a hypotonic solution... (Solution with less salt concentration).Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region of high concentration to a region of their low concentration through a selectively permeable membrane.Therefore water molecules move from external watery environment to the cell. This is known as endosmosis.If a plant cell has lower water potential than the narrow range, water molecules move towards the cell until the concentration of cell reaches the narrow range. Therefore the cell will absorb water until it reaches the maximum volume. Rigid cell wall controls the volume of cell. This state is known as turgid.If animal cell has lower water potential than its limit the cell will absorb water from external environment.Human red blood cells. a. Seen from the surface. b...Animal cell s do not have cell wall. Therefore there is no limitation for absorption of water. Cell will burst when their volume exceed than maximum level. This can be seen if we place a red blood cell (erythrocyte) in distilled water on a microscopic slide and observe under the microscope. Red blood cell soon begins to inflate and burst like an inflated balloon.What happens if water concentration in cell decreases below its range?If we put a cell in a hypertonic solution... (Solution with high salt concentration), the cell starts to shrink due to water in cell moves out side the cell. This is known as exosmosis.In Plant cell the cytoplasm is attached with cell wall due to shrinkage the cytoplasm will shrink and detached from the cell. This shrinkage is known as plasmolysis. Eventually cell will die due to loss of water.

The Difference Between Plug-In and Standard Hybrid Cars

The Difference Between Plug-In and Standard Hybrid Cars A hybrid vehicle uses two or more distinct types of power, such as a gas-powered, internal combustion engine plus an electric motor on a battery pack. There are two primary types of hybrid cars on the market, a standard hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. Neither requires that you plug in the car to an electric source, however, with a plug-in hybrid you have the option to do so. The beauty of hybrid cars over gasoline-powered  cars is that they run  cleaner with fewer emissions, they get better gas mileage, which makes them more environmentally friendly, and depending on the model, you may be eligible for a tax credit. Standard Hybrids Standard hybrids are very much like regular gasoline-powered cars. The only difference is internal- the car can recharge its batteries by reclaiming energy through a process called regenerative braking or while driving on engine power. Standard hybrids do not need to be plugged in. A standard hybrid uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to help offset fuel costs and increase gas mileage. When the battery is heavily taxed by a lot of electric motor usage without a lot of braking, the internal combustion engine picks up the slack while the battery comes back up to charge. Hybrids still use gasoline as the primary source of power, you fill up the tank as you normally would. Popular standard hybrid models are the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Luxury car makers like Porsche and Lexus in recent years have added hybrids to its fleet of vehicles. Plug-In Hybrids In order to increase electric motor cruising time, some manufacturers are creating plug-in hybrids that have more powerful batteries which can be recharged by â€Å"plugging in† the vehicle to normal household current. This feature allows the vehicle to perform more like a true electric car and less like a conventional gasoline car, all the while delivering exceptional fuel mileage. Plug-in hybrids, like the Chevrolet Volt, operate in much the same way as a hybrid by providing an all-electric driving range using a battery pack. Once the battery has been depleted, the vehicle can slip back to being a regular fuel-fed hybrid and recharge its batteries using the gasoline-powered motor as a generator. The big difference here is that you can also plug it in and recharge the electric motor instead of using the engine to charge it up. Depending on your driving needs, if you can plan your trips and just drive on electricity and then charge back up, you can go a very long time without having to gas up. All Electric Vehicles Although they are not considered hybrids since they run solely on electricity and are not a hybrid of anything, all-electric vehicles are worthy of mention if saving on gas is what you want to accomplish. All-electric cars like the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, Ford Focus Electric, and Chevy Spark EV run on electricity and use electrons as their solitary source of energy. The more you drive, the more of the battery charge is depleted. The biggest disadvantage is that there is no gas engine built in to rescue you if you run out the battery completely. All electric vehicles must be recharged either at your home or at a charging station.

Emotionl litercy interventions in the prevention of bullying within Essay

Emotionl litercy interventions in the prevention of bullying within the pstorl system of school - Essay Example Bullying is now recognized s common form of victimiztion on British school cmpuses nd significnt school sfety problem (Nnsel et l., 2001). This pper provides thoughtful conceptul nd prcticl informtion for school psychologists, who cn ply centrl role in the schools' response to this growing concern bout school bullying t pstorl clsses. The pper ims to review nd expnd on topics discussed, prticulrly s they relte to the British school context in mong pstorl students. Reching ntionl consensus on school bullying represents significnt chllenge tht will require blncing needs cross reserchers, eductors, nd public policy mkers. Whtever the effectiveness of specific bully prevention progrms, the ntionl effort to minimize the negtive effects of bullying will need to ddress fundmentl mtters relted to the definition of school bullying nd the trnsltion of best reserch prctices into public policy nd eductionl prctice t the school site level. I suggest tht clrity on mtters of definition is of the ut most importnce. First, it is needed for the scientific purpose of hving precision in wht is being studied. Second, it is needed becuse lck of common understnding bout wht constitutes bullying could result in confusing rry of ntionl, stte, nd locl policies nd responses to the problems creted by bullying. Rtionl Literture review Bullying behvior mong students hs long been disruptive fctor in the eductionl relm nd continues t thretening level, ffecting the emotionl nd physicl sfety of students (Grrity, Jens, Porter, Syger, & Short-Cmilli, 2005). It ws estimted tht 160,000 children miss school ech dy becuse of fer (Solberg, Olweus 2003). Bullying, mjor cuse of this fer, keeps children from perceiving school s sfe environment. Unfortuntely, mny of these children re reluctnt to request id from school stff for fer of reprisls nd becuse of indequte protection. School for mny is not the sfe, lerning environment it ws intended to be. Mny students re nxious bout witnessing bullying nd fer tht they my become victims of bullying if they hve not lredy been trgeted. Given the misery tht thousnds of children endure dffy over the course of severl yers of eduction, the problems surrounding bullying should not be ignored or simply tolerted. Mny techers ignore bullying becuse they believe they lck dequte skills nd trining to intervene, they fer tht intervening in bullying sitution will only dd fuel to the fire, or they fer tht their involvement would force the problem "underground" (Olweus, 1994).Two out of three students report tht techers hndle the problems of bullying indequtely. Mny students surmise tht their techers re not cogniznt of problems becuse bullying often ppers to go unnoticed by the techers. In fct, bullying incidents re rrely brought to the techer's ttention unless there is serious incident. Techers ply criticl role in snctioning the bullying behvior tht occurs in the schools, either intentionlly or unintentionlly. Hence, "bullying will never be eliminted unless techers nd children become prtners in this crusde ginst cruelty" (Orpins, Home, Stniszewski,

Baby Products Store Communication Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Baby Products Store Communication Plan - Essay Example With the established objective and goal, the key communication message is then framed within the two points of difference, and the proposed communication tools (including business website, monthly online newsletter, business brochure, magazine advertisement, and yellow pages advertising) and budget are presented. Lastly, pre-set measurements are included to track each communication tool. Baby Products Store first opened its doors in the Westchester Mall in 1998 and was the first store in the neighborhood to provide premium baby products. In the next ten years, numerous stores with similar concepts have started in the surrounding area selling undercutting Baby Product Store’s business by offering products with a cheaper price ranges. To avoid price war within the area, Baby Products Store has made a decision not to lower prices, but to create a new selling point of offering specialized customer service and exclusive product offerings provided by loyal long-term suppliers. The objective of this communication plan is to re-introduce Baby Product Store to the surrounding towns and municipalities and highlight the unique customer service policy and exclusive products offered in-store. The goal of this communication plan is to reach 50 unique customers using various communication channels. Because the objective of the plan is centered around the store’s surrounding towns and municipalities, a more targeted and personal communication approach will be adopted. The primary audiences for Baby Product Store are new mothers and parents of small infants and toddlers in the surrounding towns and municipalities.  

Employment Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Employment Law - Case Study Example The 2004 Regulations clearly state that "it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person . . . on the grounds of religious belief". The exact nature of "religious belief" was much debated in the drafting of the Act, but it was apparently kept deliberately vague in order to cover as many cases as possible. If the religious belief directly effects a person's performance on the job (or lack thereof) then it would appear that an employer cannot be held liable for discrimination if the employee is fired. Two recent cases are very relevant to Sandeep's possible action. In Hazmi vs. Headfield Church of England Junior School a recent employment tribunal dismissed three claims of discrimination and harassment on religious grounds made by a Muslim woman, Aishah Azmi, who refused to remove her veil in the classroom. The school she was working ofr sacked herThe main thrust of Azmi's argument was that she was prepared and even willing to remove her veil in front of children, but not when male colleagues were present. The tribunal agreed that she had been victimized, but disagreed with her other claims. It said that her sacking was legitimate. Another case, Eweida vs. British Airways involves company policies regarding a dress code. Naida Eweida is a devout Catholic who wore a crucifix pendant on her uniform. British Airways asked her to remove it if she wanted to work in the check-in area, but she refused. The airline offered Eweida a job behind the scenes. She again refused. Eweida lost two levels of appeals against her sacking, but British Airways has since changed its dress code policy to allow the wearing of crosses. This case has yet to be fully resolved. Advice to Sandeep He could bring a case for discrimination based on the 2004 Act, but ethical obligations would require me to advise him that he would be unlikely to win the case. First, the problem of whether his "cult" would be regarded as a real religion for the provisions of the Act to take place would be a problem. Second, the wearing of pink, long hair and an earring would clearly interfere with his ability to conduct business as a salesman. This is a legitimate concern of his company and it would probably be irrelevant whether his attire was based upon his religion/cult beliefs or not. The fact is that he could not function as a successful salesman because of his clothing beliefs. Sandeep should ask for a job within the same company that does not require contact with the public/customers. If the company refuses to rehire him under these circumstances (assuming there are jobs for which Sandeep is qualified) then a discrimination suit might be brought. Mike, who works as a receptionist and porter, was diagnosed as suffering from osteoarthritis two years ago. He has never told anyone at work about this. However, his condition is getting worse and it is taking him increasing amounts of time to carry out the portering part of his job. The Head of Customer Relations complains about Mike to Phil, who is Mike's line manager and Phil institutes disciplinary proceedings against Mike. Legal Principles The major legal principle here is whether Mike is being discriminated against because of a disability. The fact that he has told no-one about his condition, which is disabling him, makes any chance of winning his case rather remote. The Law Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 it is unlawful to

Giving evidence from your own analysis, evaluate the potential and Essay

Giving evidence from your own analysis, evaluate the potential and limitations of TWO of the below sources for researching ONE o - Essay Example No one can quantify with accuracy how much these activities contribute positively to economies of various countries. However, one thing that cannot be dispensed is that sporting activities have limitless accrued benefits to individuals, as well to the economies of many countries. For the case of Britain, games that have been outstanding include the Cambridge and Oxford race boat sporting activities often conducted in match each year on the Thames and the the horse-day derby race at Epsom conducted in April and the championship of Lawn Tennis that are commonly played in July. The interesting popular premier league that often run year round also part of sporting activities that are worth appreciating. With the technological advancements, popularity of such sporting activities has been guaranteed following the wide spread flat screen television set (Jonhnson, 2007). Certainly, during this twentieth century, there has been a three-sixty degrees turn from the tradition of the gentleman am ateur, which had covered the entire Victorian sport into professionalism that is quite evident everywhere. However, it should be noted that there are variations in the way different sporting activities are appreciated. ... How these discrepancies are dealt with is beyond the scope of this discussion. One thing to content with is that there should be a way that provides a clear understanding of how the sporting activities in London are conducted. This, thus, implies that in order to find amicable solutions to the emerging issues in sports, there is need to study the operations of the sporting activities in London. It is worth noting that there are varied qualitative and quantitative approaches that could be used in highlighting the aspects of sports in London (Mandell, 2010). With a focus on London, this paper assesses two different sources which could be of use in researching sports in London that perhaps might give a glimpse of qualitative and quantitative approaches that could be used in highlighting the aspects of sports in London. The paper evaluates the ability and limitations of the two sources in so far as researching sports in London is concerned. London Metro newspaper is one search source. Th is newspaper was chosen basing on importance of its content that closely correlates with the subject of the discussion. The content of the Newspaper gives the general map of sports in London. This source is just but a collection of articles majorly centred on sport and sporting activities in London. One outstanding thing about this source is that it contains not only the latest stories on the ongoing premier league by also the latest updates on the London Olympics. This newspaper clearly reflects upon the significant London’s diversity through memories, opinions, and voices of the Londoners. The Museum of London on London and the Olympics is another source that is of significant use to the subject

History of the European Theatre Art Research Paper

History of the European Theatre Art - Research Paper Example The history of the development of theatre performances in Europe can be traced back alongside the Greek history, which began around 700 B.C. The Greece had numerous festivals in honour of their gods such as Dionysus in whose honour; the festival of the city Dionysia was performed. People involved themselves in revelry during these times while the festivities of the whole occasion were always led by drunkards who would hide their identities by wearing goatskins as they performed. These ceremonies were usually flowered with fierce competitions from the different Greek communities in attendance and the winning communities would always enjoy the honour of being crowned the winners of the festivals. Most plays that were presented during this time in Greek were majorly tragic- comedies that were based on love and romance as viewed in the context of the people of that time, the term ‘tragedy’ originated from the Greek name for ‘goat skin’ that were worn during thes e performances. Collin notes that most of theses plays owed their main thematic origins from the Greek mythologies and the histories about the human personal life and expressed man’s quest to relate the meaning of life and the nature of their gods. Their performances followed a specific format whereby they were usually accompanied by songs introducing a period of paradox, the time during which the characters were introduced, the mood for the plays set in the minds of the viewers and the expositions made concerning the nature of the plays. Some of the very common plays that were performed during this time in the Greek theatres include Sophocles and Euripedes that were common in the fifth century performances. A Writer such as Aeschylus, a performer at shows in Dionysia at around 499 B.C., was among the first writers of this kind and whose writings are among the oldest in the Greek history of theatre arts. Others include Sophocles with his famous works such as Antigone Electra and the Oedipus Rex. Aeschylus (525- 456 B.C) and Sophocles (496- 406 B.C) added major contributions into the Greek theatre by introducing the second and the third actors to the stage respectively. Moreover, they led to the improvement of the quality of the songs and increasing the number of singers on stage thus giving theatre performances a more realistic dimension and giving the viewers what they liked most (Brockett 2003). The new dimension had more impact on the viewers as

Consultation, Screening and Delegation in Physical Therapy Case Study

Consultation, Screening and Delegation in Physical Therapy - Case Study Example Florida’s PT practice act requires practicing PT practitioners to meet the minimum requirements for safe practice. Thus, those presenting danger to patients or falling below minimum competency should be prohibited from practice according to Florida Physical Therapy statutes and rules as outlined in the legislative intent of Chapter 486. The PT involved the athletic trainer clinic manager in supervising and acting during intervention contrary to the requirement of using a PT assistant (PTA) as stated by the practice act. Moreover, the PT remained absent to offer direct supervision for direction of actions and consultation when the patient felt popping noise and severe pain in his shoulder. The unsupervised home exercises undertaken by the patient do not match the act requirement for physical therapy assessment involving licensed PT. The act also requires licensed PT to be of noble moral character unlike the remark made by the athletic trainer when the patient complained of seve re pain (The Florida Legislature, n.d.). Similarly, American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) guidelines provide resources and support to its members in establishing and sustaining efficient physical therapy practices in diverse settings. Adequate knowledge and appropriate skills in the administration and management of practice remain essential for APTA members whether practicing as an employee, owning a practice, managing a facility, or directing a department.

History of the European Theatre Art Research Paper

History of the European Theatre Art - Research Paper Example The history of the development of theatre performances in Europe can be traced back alongside the Greek history, which began around 700 B.C. The Greece had numerous festivals in honour of their gods such as Dionysus in whose honour; the festival of the city Dionysia was performed. People involved themselves in revelry during these times while the festivities of the whole occasion were always led by drunkards who would hide their identities by wearing goatskins as they performed. These ceremonies were usually flowered with fierce competitions from the different Greek communities in attendance and the winning communities would always enjoy the honour of being crowned the winners of the festivals. Most plays that were presented during this time in Greek were majorly tragic- comedies that were based on love and romance as viewed in the context of the people of that time, the term ‘tragedy’ originated from the Greek name for ‘goat skin’ that were worn during thes e performances. Collin notes that most of theses plays owed their main thematic origins from the Greek mythologies and the histories about the human personal life and expressed man’s quest to relate the meaning of life and the nature of their gods. Their performances followed a specific format whereby they were usually accompanied by songs introducing a period of paradox, the time during which the characters were introduced, the mood for the plays set in the minds of the viewers and the expositions made concerning the nature of the plays. Some of the very common plays that were performed during this time in the Greek theatres include Sophocles and Euripedes that were common in the fifth century performances. A Writer such as Aeschylus, a performer at shows in Dionysia at around 499 B.C., was among the first writers of this kind and whose writings are among the oldest in the Greek history of theatre arts. Others include Sophocles with his famous works such as Antigone Electra and the Oedipus Rex. Aeschylus (525- 456 B.C) and Sophocles (496- 406 B.C) added major contributions into the Greek theatre by introducing the second and the third actors to the stage respectively. Moreover, they led to the improvement of the quality of the songs and increasing the number of singers on stage thus giving theatre performances a more realistic dimension and giving the viewers what they liked most (Brockett 2003). The new dimension had more impact on the viewers as

What is shadow banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

What is shadow banking - Essay Example services offered, explains the pros and cons and shows the connection between this new mode of banking and the traditional method (Poszars & manmohan, 2011). The main objective of this study is to explore the concept of shadow banking and show this, i just read your profile and i want to be your pal from Kenya he main underlying ideas behind it. The research focuses on the impacts of this banking and the role of shadow banks in modern contemporary living. It identifies the connection and the place of shadow banks in the future in relation to traditional forms of banks. Banking for several years has followed the traditional banking system which despite the various issues in management and operation has flourished in the industry. Proper lending modes, rates of interests and principles governing loans and investments have been major contests between the banking sectors, the government and the people. Some claim that the rates are high, while others fail to obtain enough amounts of funds for their needs. The government on the other side plays a big role in maintaining a balance in balance of payments which is influenced by the rates of exchange in banks. The introduction of shadow banks has led to a large controversy in the industry based on the foundation of their operations and at the same time offered solutions to the many issues regarding operations in the banking unit (Adrian & Shin, 2009). This is a network of financial institutions such as structured investment vehicles, hedge-funds, conduits, money-market funds, investment banks and non-bank financial institutions whose members are not subject to regulatory limits and laws. They facilitate credit creation in a global financial market whose banks are non-depository. These banks do not accept traditional bank deposits and their activities such as credit default swaps are not regulated. As a result most of the instruments are able to fetch higher market as well as credit and liquidity risks despite lacking

El estudio de proyectos

El estudio de proyectos 1 EL ESTUDIO DE PROYECTOS 1.1 Preparacià ³n y evaluacià ³n de proyectos Un proyecto es la bà ºsqueda de una solucià ³n inteligente al planteamiento de un problema tendiente a resolver, entre tantos, una necesidad humana. El proyecto surge como respuesta a una idea que busca la solucià ³n de un problema o la manera de aprovechar una oportunidad de negocios. Al preparar y evaluar un proyecto se pretende encontrar la mejor solucià ³n al â€Å"problema econà ³mico† que se ha planteado, y asà ­ conseguir que se disponga de antecedentes y la informacià ³n necesaria para asignar racionalmente los recursos escasos a la alternativa de solucià ³n mà ¡s eficiente y viable frente a una necesidad humana percibida. La Pre-inversià ³n consta de dos etapas. La primera etapa es la Preparacià ³n del proyecto, es decir, se determina magnitud de la inversià ³n, los costos y beneficios. La segunda etapa es la Evaluacià ³n del proyecto, en otras palabras, se mide la rentabilidad de la inversià ³n. Las causas del fracaso o del à ©xito pueden ser: * Cambios tecnolà ³gicos * Cambios en el contexto polà ­tico: cambios de gobierno o variaciones econà ³micas. * Cambios en las relaciones comerciales internacionales * Inestabilidad de la naturaleza * Entorno institucional * Normativa legal 1.2 La toma de decisiones asociadas con un proyecto No existe una concepcià ³n rà ­gida definida en tà ©rminos de establecer mecanismos precisos en la toma de decisiones asociadas con un proyecto. No obstante, resulta obvio seà ±alar que la adopcià ³n de decisiones exige disponer de un sinnà ºmero de antecedentes que permitan que esta se efectà ºe inteligentemente. Lo fundamental en la toma de decisiones es que à ©stas se encuentran cimentadas en antecedentes bà ¡sicos concretos que hagan que se adopten concienzudamente y con el mà ¡s pleno conocimiento de las distintas variables que entran en juego. Evaluacià ³n de proyectos consisten entonces, en un conjunto de antecedentes justificatorios, mediante los cuales se establecen las ventajas y desventajas que tiene la asignacià ³n de recursos para una idea o un objetivo determinado. 1.3 Tipologà ­a de los proyectos: Uno de los primeros problemas que se observan al evaluar un proyecto es la gran diversidad de tipos de proyectos que se pueden encontrar, dependiendo tanto del objetivo de estudio, como de la finalidad de la inversià ³n. Segà ºn el objetivo o finalidad del estudio, de acuerdo con lo que se espera medir con la evaluacià ³n, es posible identificar 3 tipos de proyectos que obligan a conocer 3 formas de obtener los flujos de caja para lograr el resultado deseado: 1. Estudios para medir la rentabilidad del proyecto, es decir, del total de la inversià ³n, independientemente de dà ³nde provengan los fondos. 2. Estudios para medir la rentabilidad de los recursos propios invertidos en el proyecto. 3. Estudios para medir la capacidad del propio proyecto para enfrentar los compromisos de pago asumidos en un eventual endeudamiento para su realizacià ³n. Para el evaluador de proyectos es necesario y fundamental diferenciar entre la rentabilidad del proyecto y la rentabilidad del inversionista. La rentabilidad del proyecto es la que busca medir la rentabilidad del negocio independientemente de quien lo haga, mientras que la rentabilidad del inversionista es la que busca medir la rentabilidad de los recursos propios del inversionista en la eventualidad de que se lleve a cabo el proyecto. Segà ºn la finalidad o el objeto de la inversià ³n, es decir, del objetivo de la asignacià ³n de recursos es posible distinguir entre: a) Proyectos que buscan crear nuevos negocios: en este caso, la evaluacià ³n se concentrarà ¡ en determinar todos los costos y beneficios asociados directamente con la inversià ³n. b) Proyectos que buscan evaluar un cambio, mejora o modernizacià ³n de empresas ya existentes: solo considerarà ¡ aquellos que son relevantes para la decisià ³n que se deberà ¡ tomar. a. Un proyecto de modernizacià ³n puede incluir: i. Externalidad ii. Internalizacià ³n iii. Reemplazo iv. Ampliacià ³n v. Abandono 1.4 La evaluacià ³n de proyectos Si se encarga la evaluacià ³n de un mismo proyecto a dos especialistas diferentes, seguramente ambos resultados serà ¡n distintos por el hecho de que la evaluacià ³n se basa en estimaciones de lo que se espera sean en el futuro los beneficios y costos que se asocian a un proyecto. La evaluacià ³n de proyectos pretende medir objetivamente ciertas magnitudes cuantitativas resultantes del estudio del proyecto, y dan origen a operaciones matemà ¡ticas que permiten diferentes coeficientes de evaluacià ³n. Lo realmente decisivo es poder plantear premisas y supuestos và ¡lidos que hayan sido sometidos a convalidacià ³n a travà ©s de distintos mecanismos y tà ©cnicas de comprobacià ³n. Por otra parte la clara definicià ³n de cuà ¡l es el objetivo que se persigue con la evaluacià ³n constituye un elemento clave para tener en cuenta en la correcta seleccià ³n del criterio evaluativo. Un proyecto puede tener diferentes apreciaciones desde el punto de vista privado y el social. Cualquiera que sea el marco en el que el proyecto està © inserto, siempre serà ¡ posible medir los costos de las distintas alternativas de asignacià ³n de recursos a travà ©s de un criterio econà ³mico que permita, en definitiva, conocer las ventajas y desventajas cualitativas y cuantitativas que implica la asignacià ³n de los recursos escasos a un determinado proyecto de inversià ³n. 2 EL PROCESO DE PREPARACIÓN Y EVALUACIÓN DE PROYECTOS El Estudio del proyecto pretende contestar el interrogante de si es o no conveniente realizar una determinada inversià ³n. El estudio de viabilidad debe simular con el mà ¡ximo de precisià ³n lo que sucederà ­a con el proyecto si este fuera implementado. 2.1 Alcances del estudio de proyectos En tà ©rminos generales, son varios los estudios particulares que deben realizarse para evaluar un proyecto: los de viabilidad comercial, tà ©cnica, legal, organizacional, de impacto ambiental y financiera. Por lo regular, el estudio de una inversià ³n se centra en la viabilidad econà ³mica o financiera, y toma el resto de las variables à ºnicamente como referencia. Estudio de viabilidad comercial: indicara si el mercado es sensible o no al bien producido u ofrecido por el proyecto y la aceptabilidad que tendrà ­a en su consumo o uso, permitiendo determinar la postergacià ³n o rechazo de un proyecto sin tener que asumir los costos que implica un estudio econà ³mico completo. Estudio de viabilidad tà ©cnica: analiza las posibilidades materiales, fà ­sicas o quà ­micas de producir el bien o servicio que desea generarse con el proyecto. Estudio de viabilidad legal: asegurar la existencia o ausencia de restricciones de carà ¡cter legal que impedirà ­an el funcionamiento del proyecto. Estudio de viabilidad organizacional: su objetivo es definir si existen condiciones mà ­nimas necesarias para garantizar la viabilidad de la implementacià ³n, tanto estructural como lo funcional. Estudio de viabilidad financiera: determina su aprobacià ³n o rechazo, mire la rentabilidad que retorna la inversià ³n, medido con base monetaria. Estudio de viabilidad del impacto ambiental: encontrar las normas impuestas en materia de regulacià ³n ambiental para impedir futuros impactos negativos derivados de una eventual compensacià ³n del daà ±o causado por una inversià ³n. 2.2 El estudio de proyecto como proceso cà ­clico El proceso de un proyecto reconoce 4 grandes etapas: idea, preinversià ³n, inversià ³n y operacià ³n. Idea: puede enfrentarse sistemà ¡ticamente bajo una modalidad de gerencia de beneficios, es decir, donde la organizacià ³n està ¡ estructurada operacionalmente bajo un esquema de bà ºsqueda permanente de nuevas ideas de proyectos. Preinversià ³n: se realizan los 3 estudios de viabilidad Perfil: se elabora a partir tanto de la informacià ³n existente, como del juicio comà ºn y de la opinià ³n que da la experiencia. En el estudio del perfil se busca determinar si existe alguna razà ³n que justifique el abandono de una idea antes de que se destinen recursos. Prefactibilidad: profundiza en la investigacià ³n, y se basa en informacià ³n de fuentes secundarias para definir las variables principales referidas al mercado, a las alternativas tà ©cnicas de produccià ³n y a la capacidad financiera de los inversionistas, entre otros. Se caracteriza fundamentalmente por descartar soluciones con mayores elementos de juicio. Como resultado de este estudio, sufre la recomendacià ³n de aprobacià ³n, abandono o postergacià ³n. Factibilidad: se elabora sobre la base de antecedentes precisos obtenidos mayoritariamente a travà ©s de fuentes de informacià ³n primarias. Este estudio constituye el paso final de la etapa de preinversià ³n. El estudio de proyectos, cualquiera que sea la profundidad con que se realice, distingue dos grandes etapas: la de formulacià ³n y preparacià ³n, y la de evaluacià ³n. La primera tiene dos objetivos: definir todas las caracterà ­sticas que tengan algà ºn grado de efecto en el flujo de ingresos y egresos monetarios del proyecto y calcular su magnitud. La segunda etapa, busca determinar la rentabilidad de la inversià ³n en el proyecto. En la etapa de evaluacià ³n, es posible distinguir tres sub-etapas: 1. Medicià ³n de la rentabilidad del proyecto 2. Anà ¡lisis de las variables cualitativas 3. Sensibilizacià ³n del proyecto El anà ¡lisis completo de un proyecto requiere de por lo menos la realizacià ³n de cuatro estudios complementarios: de mercado, tà ©cnico, organizacional-administrativo-legal y financiero. 2.3 Estudio tà ©cnico del proyecto Tiene como objeto proveer informacià ³n para cuantificar el monto de las inversiones y de los costos de operacià ³n pertinentes a esta à ¡rea. Una de sus conclusiones de este estudio es que se deberà ¡ definir la funcià ³n de produccià ³n que optimice el empleo de los recursos disponibles en la produccià ³n del bien o servicio del proyecto. Con este estudio se determinaran los requerimientos de equipos de fà ¡brica para la operacià ³n y el monto de la inversià ³n correspondiente. La descripcià ³n del proceso productivo posibilitarà ¡ conocer las materias primas y los insumos restantes que este demandarà ¡. La definicià ³n del tamaà ±o del proyecto es fundamental para la determinacià ³n de las inversiones y los costos que se derivan del estudio tà ©cnico. Las interrelaciones entre decisiones de carà ¡cter tà ©cnico se complican al tener que combinarse con decisiones derivadas de los restantes estudios particulares del proyecto. 2.4 El estudio de mercado Muchos costos de operacià ³n pueden preverse simulando la situacià ³n futura y especificando las polà ­ticas y los procedimientos que se utilizaran como estrategia comercial. Decisiones como el precio de introduccià ³n, las inversiones para fortalecer una imagen, el acondicionamiento de los locales de venta en funcià ³n de los requerimientos observados en el estudio de los clientes potenciales y las polà ­ticas de crà ©dito recomendadas por el mismo estudio, pueden constituirse en variables pertinentes para el resultado de la evaluacià ³n. Metodolà ³gicamente se deben estudiar 4 aspectos: a) El consumidor y las demandas del mercado y del proyecto, actuales y proyectadas. El anà ¡lisis del consumidor tiene por objeto caracterizar a los consumidores actuales y potenciales, identificando sus preferencias, hà ¡bitos de consumo, motivaciones, etc., para obtener un perfil sobre el cual pueda basarse la estrategia comercial. El anà ¡lisis de la demanda cuantifica el volumen de bienes o servicios que el consumidor podrà ­a adquirir de la produccià ³n del proyecto. b) La competencia y las ofertas del mercado y del proyecto, actuales y proyectadas. El estudio de la competencia es fundamental ya que la estrategia que se defina para el proyecto puede ser indiferente a esta. Es preciso conocer las estrategias que sigue la competencia para aprovechar sus ventajas y evitar sus desventajas. c) La comercializacià ³n del producto o servicio generado por el proyecto Deben tomarse decisiones sobre polà ­ticas de ventas y de crà ©dito, intereses, precio, canales de distribucià ³n, marca, estrategia publicitaria, inversiones en creacià ³n de la imagen, etc. d) Proveedores y la disponibilidad y el precio de los insumos, actuales y proyectados. Se debe determinar la disponibilidad de insumos y el precio que debe pagarse para su abastecimiento. 2.5 El estudio organizacional-administrativo-legal Para cada proyecto es posible definir la estructura organizativa que mà ¡s se adapte a los requerimientos de su posterior operacià ³n. Conocer esta estructura es fundamental para definir las necesidades de personal calificado para la gestià ³n y por tanto, estimar con mayor precisià ³n los costos indirectos de la mano de obra ejecutiva. La decisià ³n de desarrollar internamente actividades que pudieran subcontratarse influye directamente en los costos por la mayor cantidad de personal que pudiera necesitarse, la mayor inversià ³n en oficinas y equipamiento y el mayor costo en materiales y otros insumos. Los aspectos legales pueden restringir la localizacià ³n y obligar a mayores costos de transporte, o bien pueden otorgar franquicias para incentivar el desarrollo de determinadas zonas geogrà ¡ficas donde el beneficio que obtendrà ­a el proyecto superarà ­a los mayores costos de transporte. Uno de los efectos mà ¡s directos de los factores legales y reglamentarios se refiere a los aspectos tributarios. 2.6 El estudio financiero Sus objetivos son: ordenar y sistematizar la informacià ³n de carà ¡cter monetario que proporcionan las etapas anteriores, elaborar los cuadros analà ­ticos y datos adicionales para la evaluacià ³n del proyecto y evaluar los antecedentes para determinar la rentabilidad. La sistematizacià ³n de la informacià ³n financiera consiste en identificar y ordenar todos los à ­tems de inversiones, costos e ingresos que puedan deducirse de los estudios previos. Los ingresos de operacià ³n se deducen de la informacià ³n de precios y demanda proyectada, calculados en el estudio de mercado, de las condiciones de venta, de las estimaciones de venta de residuos y del cà ¡lculo de ingresos por venta de equipos cuyo reemplazo esta previsto durante el periodo de evaluacià ³n del proyecto, segà ºn antecedentes que pudieran derivarse de los estudios tà ©cnicos, organizacional y de mercado. Los costos de operacià ³n se calculan con la informacià ³n de prà ¡cticamente todos los estudios anteriores. La evaluacià ³n del proyecto se realiza sobre la estimacià ³n del flujo de caja de los costos y beneficios. El resultado de la evolucià ³n se mide por medio de distintos criterios que, mà ¡s que operativos, son complementarios entre sà ­. 2.7 El estudio del impacto ambiental Se sugiere introducir en la evaluacià ³n de proyectos las normas ISO 14,000 las cuales consisten en una serie de procedimientos asociados con dar a los consumidores una mejora ambiental continua de los productos y servicios que proporcionara la inversià ³n, asociada con los menores costos futuro de una eventual reparacià ³n de los daà ±os causados sobre el medio ambiente. La gestià ³n del impacto ambiental se tiende a la bà ºsqueda de un proceso continuo de mejoramiento ambiental de toda la cadena de produccià ³n. El estudio de impacto ambiental como parte de la evaluacià ³n econà ³mica de un proyecto no ha sido lo suficientemente tratado, aunque se observan avances sustanciales en el à ºltimo tiempo. Una tipologà ­a de estudios de impacto ambiental permite identificar tres tipos: 1. Cualitativos: identifica, analizan y explican los impactos positivos y negativos que podrà ­a causar al ambiente la implementacià ³n del proyecto. 2. Cualitativo numà ©ricos: relaciona factores de ponderacià ³n en escala de valores numà ©ricos a las variables ambientales. 3. Cuantitativos: determinan tanto los costos asociados con las medidas de mitigacià ³n total o parcial como los daà ±os evitados, incluyendo ambos efectos dentro de los flujos de caja proyectados. Existen distintos mà ©todos que permiten incorporar el factor monetario al efecto ambiental: a) Mà ©todo de valoracià ³n contingente: busca determinar la disposicià ³n a pagar de las personas por los beneficios que se espera produzca el proyecto. b) Mà ©todo del costo evitado: considera que el costo asociado con una externalidad debe ser asumido por el proyecto que la ocasiona, para lo cual incorpora dentro de los costos el gasto de subsanar el daà ±o causado o, dentro de los beneficios, el costo que la inversià ³n evitarà ­a al resto de la comunidad. c) Mà ©todo de los precios hedà ³nicos: busca determinar todos los atributos de un bien que podrà ­a explicar el precio que las personas està ¡n dispuestas a pagar por el. Alcance del estudio: El estudio deberà ­a incluir todos los peligros, riesgos e impactos asociados con las personas, el medio ambiente, la comunidad del entorno y los bienes fà ­sicos donde se inserta el proyecto. 3 ESTRUCTURA ECONÓMICA DEL MERCADO El mercado està ¡ conformado por la totalidad de los compradores y vendedores potenciales del producto o servicio que se vaya a elaborar segà ºn el proyecto. La investigacià ³n de mercado entrega informacià ³n histà ³rica y actual tanto del comportamiento de los consumidores, proveedores, competidores, como de los canales de distribucià ³n para la comercializacià ³n del producto del proyecto. 3.1 Estructura de mercado El ambiente competitivo en que se desenvolverà ¡ el proyecto puede adquirir una de las siguientes formas generales: 1. Competencia perfecta: se caracteriza porque en el mercado de un determinado producto existen muchos compradores y vendedores que no pueden influir en el precio; el producto es idà ©ntico y homogà ©neo; existe movilidad perfecta de los recursos; no hay barreras de entrada o salida y los agentes econà ³micos està ¡n perfectamente informados de las condiciones del mercado. 2. Monopolio: un solo proveedor vende un producto para el que no hay sustitutos perfectos, y las dificultades para ingresar a esa industria son grandes. 3. Competencia monopà ³lica: existen numerosos vendedores de un producto diferenciado y, en el largo plazo, no hay dificultades para entrar o salid de la industria. 4. Oligopolio: hay pocos vendedores de un producto homogà ©neo o diferenciado y el ingreso o salida de la industria es posible pero con dificultades. 4 EL ESTUDIO DE MERCADO El concepto de estudio de mercado se identifica con la definicià ³n del precio al que los consumidores està ¡n dispuestos a comprar, como a la demanda. Los objetivos particulares del estudio de mercado serà ¡n ratificar la posibilidad real de colocar el producto o servicio que elaborarà ­a el proyecto en el mercado, conocer los canales de comercializacià ³n que usan o podrà ­an usarse en la comercializacià ³n de ellos, determinar la magnitud de la demanda que podrà ­a esperarse y conocer la composicià ³n, las caracterà ­sticas y la ubicacià ³n de los potenciales consumidores. 4.1 El mercado del proyecto Al estudiar el mercado de u proyecto es preciso reconocer los agentes que, con su actuacià ³n, tendrà ¡n algà ºn grado de influencia sobre las decisiones que se tomarà ¡n al definir su estrategia comercial. En este sentido son cinco los submercados que se reconocerà ¡n al realizar un estudio de factibilidad: proveedor, competidor, distribuidor, consumidor y externo. Mercado Proveedor: Deberà ¡n estudiarse todas las alternativas de obtencià ³n de materias primas, asà ­ como sus costos, condiciones de compra, sustitutos, durabilidad, necesidad de infraestructura especial para bodegaje, oportunidad y demoras en la recepcià ³n, disponibilidad, seguridad en recepcià ³n, etc. Es necesario conocer las proyecciones a futuro. Mercado Competidor: Se debe tener en cuenta que cuando la materia prima es escasa o los medios de transporte son escasos la competencia por ellos serà ¡ prioritaria. El mercado competidor directo son las empresas que elaboran y venden productos similares a los del proyecto. Es imprescindible conocer la estrategia comercial que à ©stas desarrollen para enfrentar la mejor manera su competencia en el mercado consumidor. El mercado distribuidor: es el que requiere un menor nà ºmero de variables pero no es menos importante. La disponibilidad de un sistema que garantice la entrega oportuna de los productos al consumidor es sumamente importante. Uno de los factores mà ¡s importantes son los costos de distribucià ³n y son los que determinan el precio al que llegarà ¡ el producto al consumidor y por lo tanto la demanda que deberà ¡ enfrentar el proyecto. El mercado consumidor: es probablemente el que mà ¡s tiempo requiere para su estudio. La complejidad del consumidor hace que se tornen imprescindibles varios estudios especà ­ficos sobre à ©l, ya que asà ­ podrà ¡n definirse diversos efectos sobre la composicià ³n del flujo de caja del proyecto. Se deben definir los hà ¡bitos y motivaciones de compra para definir tanto al consumidor real como al potencial. Mercado externo: recurrir a fuentes externas de abastecimiento de materias primas obliga a consideraciones y estudios especiales que se diferencian del abastecimiento en el mercado local. Ninguno de estos mercados puede analizarse exclusivamente sobre la base de lo ya existente. Siempre podrà ¡ haber proveedores que la competencia directa no haya tenido en cuenta o competidores potenciales que hoy no lo son, o nuevos sistemas de distribucià ³n no utilizados, e incluso mercados consumidores no cubiertos hasta el momento. 4.2 Objetivos del estudio de mercado Para fines de la preparacià ³n del proyecto, el estudio de cada una de las variables que se seà ±alaron en el apartado anterior, va dirigido principalmente a la recopilacià ³n de informacià ³n de carà ¡cter econà ³mico que repercuta en la composicià ³n del flujo de cada del proyecto. El objetivo del estudio del mercado como la reunià ³n de antecedentes para determinar su influencia en el flujo de caja, cada actividad del mismo deberà ¡ justificarse por proveer informacià ³n para calcular algà ºn à ­tem de inversià ³n, de costos de operacià ³n o de ingreso. Al existir opciones entre las cuales elegir, el estudio de mercado tambià ©n deberà ¡ analizar el entorno en el cual se mueve cada uno de los mercados para definir la estrategia comercial mà ¡s adecuada a la realidad en donde deberà ¡ situarse el proyecto una vez implementado. 4.3 Etapas del estudio de mercado Se definen 3 etapas: 1. Anà ¡lisis Histà ³rico: pretende lograr dos objetivos especà ­ficos: reunir informacià ³n de carà ¡cter estadà ­stico que pueda servir y evaluar el resultado de algunas decisiones tomadas por otros agentes del mercado, para identificar los efectos positivos o negativos que se lograron. 2. Anà ¡lisis de la situacià ³n vigente: es importante, porque es la base de cualquier prediccià ³n. Sin embargo, su importancia relativa es baja, ya que difà ­cilmente permitirà ¡ usar la informacià ³n para algo mà ¡s que eso. Esto se debe a que, por ser permanente la evolucià ³n del mercado puede tener cambios situacionales cuando el proyecto se està © implementando. 3. Anà ¡lisis de la situacià ³n proyectada: este es el que realmente tiene interà ©s el preparador y evaluador del proyecto. Los otros dos anà ¡lisis permiten proyectar una situacià ³n suponiendo el mantenimiento de un orden de cosas que con la sola implementacià ³n del proyecto se deberà ¡ modificar. Esto obliga a que en la situacià ³n proyectada se diferencie la situacià ³n futura sin el proyector y luego con la participacià ³n de à ©l, para concluir con la nueva definicià ³n del mercado. 6 ESTIMACIÓN DE COSTOS La estimacià ³n de los costos futuros constituye uno de los principales aspectos centrales del trabajo del evaluador, tanto por la importancia de ellos en la determinacià ³n de la rentabilidad del proyecto, como por la variedad de elementos sujetos a valorizacià ³n como desembolsos del proyecto. 6.6 Elementos relevantes de costos Aunque es posible, en tà ©rminos genà ©ricos, clasificar ciertos à ­tems de costos como relevantes, solo el examen exhaustivo de aquellos que influyen en el proyecto posibilitarà ¡ catalogarlos correctamente. Para identificar las diferencias inherentes a las alternativas, es recomendable que previamente se establezcan las funciones de costos de cada una de ellas. De su comparacià ³n resultarà ¡ la eliminacià ³n para efectos del estudio, de los costos inaplicables. Si hubiera que dirigir el estudio de las diferencias de costos, los siguientes deberà ­an considerarse como prioritarios: * Variaciones en los està ¡ndares de materia prima * Tasa de salario y requerimientos de personal para la operacià ³n directa * Necesidades de supervisià ³n e inspeccià ³n * Combustible y energà ­a * Volumen de produccià ³n y precio de venta * Desperdicio o mermas * Valor de adquisicià ³n * Valor residual del equipo en cada aà ±o de su vida à ºtil restante * Impuestos y seguros * Mantenimiento y reparaciones Es necesario insistir sobre el costo de oportunidad externo a las alternativas que pudiera repercutir de manera diferente en cada una de ellas. Todos los costos deben considerarse en tà ©rminos reales para lo cual debe incorporarse el factor tiempo. 6.11 Costos Contables Aunque en la preparacià ³n del proyecto deben considerase los costos efectivos y no los contables, estos à ºltimos son importantes para determinar la magnitud de los impuestos a las utilidades. Como el fisco no puede ir revisando el grado de deterioro de cada activo del paà ­s, define una pà ©rdida de valor promedio anual para activos similares, que denomina depreciacià ³n. La depreciacià ³n no constituye un egreso de caja pero es posible restarlo de los ingresos para reducir la utilidad y con ellos los impuestos. El preparador del proyecto debe velar por recoger en detalle la normativa legar que condicionarà ¡ la estimacià ³n de los tributos. El termino depreciacià ³n se utiliza para referirse a la pà ©rdida contable de valor de activos fijos. El mismo concepto referido a un activo intangible o nominal se denomina amortizacià ³n del activo intangible. La utilidad negativa, en el anà ¡lisis incremental, no significa necesariamente pà ©rdida, sino reduccià ³n de utilidad. Por eso, en el anà ¡lisis incremental, en vez de asociar cero impuestos a una utilidad negativa, se considerarà ¡ un ahorro de costo equivalente a ese porcentaje. Un proyecto de mejora que reduzca los costos de la empresa deberà ¡ considerar que el aumento, menos que proporcional, en las utilidades està ¡ asociado con un aumento en el impuesto que debe pagar. El costo de una deuda tambià ©n es deducible de impuestos y tiene un impacto tributario positivo que debe incluirse en el flujo de caja cuando se busca medir la rentabilidad de los recursos propios invertidos en un proyecto. Para calcular el impacto tributario de una deuda, se debe descomponer el monto total del servicio de la deuda en dos partes: Amortizacià ³n: corresponde a una devolucià ³n del prà ©stamo, y por tanto, no constituye un costo, ni està ¡ afecta a impuestos. Intereses: es un gasto financiero de similar comportamiento al arrendamiento de cualquier activo y està ¡ afecta a impuestos. 7 ANTECEDENTES ECONÓMICOS DEL ESTUDIO TÉCNICO Las diferencias de cada proyecto en su ingenierà ­a hacen muy complejo generalizar un procedimiento de anà ¡lisis que sea à ºtil a todos ellos. Sin embargo, es posible desarrollar un sistema de ordenacià ³n, clasificacià ³n y presentacià ³n de la informacià ³n econà ³mica derivada del estudio tà ©cnico. 7.1 Alcances del estudio de Ingenierà ­a El estudio de ingenierà ­a del proyecto debe llegar a determinar la funcià ³n de produccià ³n à ³ptima para la utilizacià ³n eficiente y eficaz de los recursos disponibles para la produccià ³n del bien o servicio deseado. De la seleccià ³n del proceso productivo à ³ptimo se derivarà ¡n las necesidades de equipo y maquinaria; de la determinacià ³n de su disposicià ³n en planta (layout) y del estudio de los requerimientos del personal que los operen, asà ­ como de su movilidad, podrà ­an definirse las necesidades de espacio y obras fà ­sicas. El cà ¡lculo de los costos de operacià ³n de mano de obra, insumos diversos, reparaciones, mantenimiento y otros se obtendrà ¡ directamente del estudio del proceso productivo seleccionado. 7.2 Proceso de Produccià ³n El proceso de produccià ³n se define como la forma en que una serie de insumos se transforman en productos mediante la participacià ³n de una determinada tecnologà ­a. Los distintos tipos de procesos productivos pueden clasificarse en funcià ³n de su flujo productivo: a) En serie: cuando ciertos productos, cuyo diseà ±o bà ¡sico es relativamente estable en el tiempo, y que està ¡n destinados a un gran mercado, permiten su produccià ³n para existencias. b) Por pedido: la produccià ³n sigue secuencias diferentes, que hacen necesaria su flexibilizacià ³n, a travà ©s de mano de obra y equipos suficientemente maleables para adaptarse a las caracterà ­sticas del pedido. c) Por proyecto: corresponde a un producto complejo de carà ¡cter à ºnico que, con tareas bien definidas en tà ©rminos de recursos y plazos, da origen, normalmente, a un estudio de factibilidad completo. 7.3 Efectos econà ³micos de la ingenierà ­a Las necesidades de inversià ³n en obra fà ­sica se determinan principalmente en funcià ³n de la distribucià ³n de los equipos productivos en el espacio fà ­sico (layout). Serà ¡ preciso considerar posibles ampliaciones futuras. La distribucià ³n en planta debe evitar los flujos innecesarios de materiales, productos en proceso o terminados, personal, etc. Los cà ¡lculos de requerimientos de obra fà ­sica para la planta, mas los estudios de và ­as de acceso, circulacià ³n, bodegas, estacionamientos, à ¡reas verdes, ampliaciones proyectadas y otros, serà ¡n algunos de los factores determinantes en la definicià ³n del tamaà ±o y las caracterà ­sticas del terreno. La relacià ³n entre costos de operacià ³n e inversià ³n serà ¡ mayor cuanto menos intensiva en capital sea la tecnologà ­a. En muchos casos, el estudio tà ©cnico debe proporcionar informacià ³n financiera relativa a ingresos de operacià ³n; es el caso de los equipos y las maquinarias que se deben reemplazar y que al ser dados de baja permiten su venta. En otros casos, los ingresos se generan por la renta de subproductos, como el desecho derivado de la elaboracià ³n de envases de hojalata, que se vende como chatarra. 7.4 Economà ­as de escala Para medir la capacidad para competir debe estimarse el costo fabril de los distintos niveles de capacidad de produccià ³n. Para ello, se debe definir los componentes mà ¡s relevantes del costo: consumo de materias primas y materiales, utilizacià ³n de mano de obra, mantenimiento y gastos fabriles en general. El costo fabril ya definido debe compararse con la capacidad de produccià ³n y el monto de la inversià ³n, a esta relacià ³n se le denomina â€Å"masa crà ­tica tà ©cnica†. Al relacionar el costo unitario de operacià ³n (P) con la capacidad de la planta (C), dado un nà ºmero de unidades de producto pro unidad de tiempo, resulta una expresià ³n de la siguiente forma: P2P1=C2C1-a Donde a es el factor de volumen. Costo unitario de operacià ³n frente a la capacidad Al relacional el costo en equipos por unidad de capacidad (Q), tenemos Q2Q1=C2C1-b Costo distribuido de los equipos por unidad de capacidad Al relacionar la capacidad (C) con la inversià ³n total (I) tenemos: I2I1=C2C1f Donde f es el factor de volumen Costo de adquisicià ³n asoc