Hamlet Scene 1 Act 1 Essay

Thomas Kyd is the author of the 16th Century play A Spanish Tragedy which was highly influential and introduced a new variant of tragedy that includes a ghost and a mad hero. Many subsequent works followed that developed Kyd’s original idea into the sub-genre known as revenge tragedy. A piece of literature that falls under this genre is Shakespeare’s Hamlet and in order to meet the specification to become an effective tragedy it is heavily based upon Aristotle’s criteria used to measure tragedies and Ancient works of literature such as Virgil’s Aenied. In Hamlet dialogue accomplishes a variety of things. It develops relationships but most importantly displays the hostility of the characters towards the â€Å"strange† and â€Å"gross† ghost. Shakespeare uses dialogue to describe the setting including the â€Å"cold† weather and the time so that a contemporary audience in an Elizabethan theatre would be able to imagine the scene. The description is able to evoke a mood and create and sinister atmosphere. The language used in Hamlet is dramatically intense and unfamiliar due to the use of heavily-charged words such as â€Å"harbingers† which are uncommon in both contemporary and modern vocabularies. The diction and syntax of these words are not problematic during a performance of Hamlet but can cause difficulties when studying the written script. Therefore they are used as a reflection of the inner turmoil of the characters within the play. Dialogue also contributes to the themes of the play, especially the tragic factors. The edginess of the opening dialogue immediately alarms the audience by foreboding horror therefore establishing an effective tragedy. Act I scene i is set at midnight when â€Å"’tis now struck twelve†, the traditional time for sightings of the supernatural. It is perceived that midnight has associations with chaos, death, mystery and the underworld. This increases the tragic intensity of the play by foreboding the death and chaos that is to follow as well as it evokes fear both in the characters and in the audience. The weather in act I scene i plays a major role as the â€Å"bitter cold† of winter creates an uncomfortable atmosphere and exaggerates the unnerving setting as it is both dark and freezing. The word bitter has various associations with grief and pain. This forces the audience to sympathise and pity the characters due to Shakespeare’s use of violent imagery. Winter is used to symbolise both death and loss of hope and is therefore a reflection upon the plot of the play. Throughout the scene the ghost does not engage in any conversation but instead â€Å"stalks† across the stage ignoring the other characters who demand it to â€Å"speak, speak! I charge thee speak! † Despite all best efforts made by Horatio the ghost seems unable to communicate. This adds to the sense of terror as the ghost doesn’t act human and pays no attention to any human interaction. The ghost’s presence enforces a sombre atmosphere, allowing the seriousness of the play to develop. In the 1964 Russian film versioni of Hamlet, the ghost conjures both fear of the ghost and pity towards the other characters in the audience as the ghost is dressed in a full armour suit, has shadows concealing its face and identity which is disturbing to see and the scene is directed so that the ghost appears much larger than the other characters. The intensity of the scene is exaggerated by the dramatic music used to influence the atmosphere and the large and threatening appearance of castle in the background. Similarly the Westminster School productionii of Hamlet presents the ghost as being twice the size of other characters with its face glowing an unnatural green colour. The ghost was uplifted by the other characters who echoed the ghost’s booming words. Fear is created due to the ghost’s supernatural and eerie appearance and pity is created as the other character’s acted possessed by the ghost which will ultimately add to the catharsis at the end of the play. The ghost is also thought to be ambiguous when it is firstly described as â€Å"majestical† by Marcellus and then later the ghost is thought to be â€Å"like a guilty thing†. This leaves the audience confused about the ghosts intentions as it appears ambivalent throughout this scene. Shakespeare helps develop the tragedy by creating a political background to the play. Throughout Hamlet there is a fear that Prince Fortinbras of Norway will invade Denmark which inevitably causes a tense and foreboding atmosphere. The political unrest is increased as Denmark is presented as a troubled kingdom through use of Horatio’s understanding that the ghost’s appearance â€Å"bodes some strange eruption to [the] state. † Horatio establishes a link between the ghost and the â€Å"sheeted dead† that â€Å"did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets† referring to the downfall of Julius Caesar who was killed by those he trusted similar to King Hamlet who was killed by his brother. This suggests that the ghost is an â€Å"omen† foretelling the ominous fall of Denmark which is one of the main elements of tragedy. This fulfils Aristotle’s criteria of the play revolving around an issue of great magnitude. Horatio exclaims that the sight of the ghost â€Å"harrows [him] with fear and wonder† which expresses the horror of what he has witnessed. In the Elizabethan era the word â€Å"harrow† referred to the sharp teeth of agricultural tools that would rip into the earth. Shakespeare uses this word to visualize how the ghost lacerates or distresses the feelings of those witnessing his appearance. Marcellus questions whether he should â€Å"strike [the ghost] with [his] partisan† illustrating the premonitions of the ghost as being evil. Shakespeare uses violent imagery to convey a sense of terror in order to establish the opening scene of Hamlet as a tragedy. Francisco admits to being â€Å"sick at heart† which emphasizes the mood of the play and suggests the impact the ghost has had upon the characters. The characters describe the ghost as a â€Å"thing† and refer to the â€Å"illusion† in the singular neuter pronoun, â€Å"it†, which is dehumanising and objectifying. This provides the ghost with a sense of mystery, but more importantly it reinforces the differences between the earthly matters and the supernatural element of the play. Shakespeare uses the main characters name as the title of the play to focus the audience’s attention on the tragic hero. This is similar to Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aenied both of which are ancient epic poems feature aspects of tragedy such as death, tragic flaws and the supernatural divinities. Both poems are named after the hero therefore this intertextual reference places gravitas upon Hamlet i Directed by Grigori Kozintsev ii Directed by Chris Barton. BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, 2008 SECONDARY SOURCES Hamlet, directed by Grigori Kozintsev, 1964 Hamlet, directed by Chris Barton, 2009 Kyd, Thomas, A Spanish Tragedy, Revels Student Editions, Manchester University Press, 1996.

Enzyme Inhibition

Enzyme Inhibition Many drugs exert their action by inhibition of an enzyme activity in the body. If the activity of an enzyme is vital to the cell or organism, then inhibition may lead to death of the cell or organism. It is now possible to design new drugs which are enzyme inhibitors once a target enzyme has been identified. Types of Inhibitors A) Reversible Inhibitors:  The effect of the inhibitor is instantaneous, and it can be removed from the enzyme by dialysis so that the enzyme activity is returned to normal.Such inhibitors interact with the enzyme by weak non-covalent bonds to form an enzyme inhibitor complex. E + I ? EI B) Irreversible Inhibitors:  These inhibitors bind very tightly to the enzyme, sometimes by formation of covalent bonds to form an enzyme inhibitor compound rather than a loose complex. The effect is therefore progressive with time reaching a maximum when all of the enzyme has reacted. This is not easily reversed by simple physical treatments such as dial ysis. E + I > EI Reversible Inhibition of EnzymesThere are three types of reversible enzyme inhibition;  competitive, non-competitive  (also called mixed)  and uncompetitive. Competitive- molecules which closely resemble the substrate in size, shape and charge distribution may also slip into the active site. This may result in reaction i. e. the second molecule is another substrate for the enzyme, or it may result in inhibition because the active site is blocked. The inhibitor has a separate equilibrium with the enzyme. The binding of substrate and inhibitor is mutually exclusive. E + S ? ES > E + P, E + I ?EI Each of these equilibria is characterised by a dissociation constant. The first by Km (the Michaelis constant) and the second by Ki which characterises the binding between enzyme and inhibitor. If sufficient [S] is present then eventually the inhibition by I will be overcome. This is the diagnostic test for this type of inhibition. Both I and S compete for the available enzyme. The activity of an enzyme is described by the following equation: (Michaelis- Menton equation) In the presence of a  competitive reversible inhibitor, this equation becomes;So the  Michaelis constant  (which is a reciprocal measure of affinity of E and S) is changed by the factor 1 + [I]/Ki where [I] is the inhibitor concentration and  Ki is the dissociation constant for the equilibrium between E and I. Most importantly,  Vmax is unchanged  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ this is diagnostic for this type of inhibition. Ki is best defined as the concentration of inhibitor required to slow the reaction to half the rate it shows in the absence of inhibitor. It is a reciprocal measure of the affinity of E and I. Lineweaver-Burk Plot for Competitive Reversible InhibitionThe  intercept on the y axis represents 1/Vmax. The slope is altered by the factor 1 + [I]/Ki, but the  easiest way to calculate Ki  is from the  ratio of the intercepts on the x axis. Without inhibitor the intercept is -1//Km, with inhibitor it is -1/Km(1+[I]/Ki), so the ratio (bigger over smaller so it is greater than 1) is 1 + [I]/Ki. Easiest way to calculate Ki  is from the  ratio of the intercepts on the x axis. Equation: Other Types of Reversible Inhibition Uncompetitive- This type of reversible inhibition is said to occur when the inhibitor binds with the enzyme-substrate complex rather than the enzyme.Substrate and inhibitor bind dependently. Noncompetitive (Mixed)- This type occurs when the inhibitor binds to both the enzyme and enzyme-substrate complex. Substrate and inhibitor bind independently. Irreversible Inhibition of Enzymes Reversible  means that the timescale of the inhibition is similar to that of the enzyme action, usually measured over a few minutes. Irreversible  means that the enzyme activity is inhibited for times significantly longer than the assay times for the enzyme. It does not necessarily mean that the inhibition will not reverse given sufficient time i. . hours, days or weeks. Some of the most interesting examples of enzyme inhibitors as drugs are those which fall between the two extremes and are sometimes defined as Quasi-Irreversible. These include tight-binding inhibitors, transition state analogues and slowly dissociating intermediates. Tight-Binding inhibitors  and  Transition State Analogues  form high affinity complexes with the enzyme and may have Ki values in the order of nanomolar (10-9  mol L-1). The value of Ki will be very important in describing the potency of this type of inhibitor.As a rough guide the inhibitor concentration causing 50% inhibition (I50) is used as a measure of Ki. Slowly Dissociating Intermediates  react with the enzyme to form covalent intermediates which take time to dissociate from the enzyme. A Classification of Enzyme Inhibitors as Drugs For a compound to work as a drug in vivo it will ideally have TWO very important properties. These are; Potency  To work in vivo as an enzyme inhibit or the inhibitor will need to be potent enough so that the dose required is in the order of milligrams to grams.Specificity  If a compound is a nonspecific enzyme inhibitor it is more likely to be toxic and exhibit serious side effects. It may be a poison. Simple Reversible- A simple reversible inhibitor binds to the enzyme and decreases the enzyme activity instantaneously and reverses within the time of the enzyme action. The inhibitor binds non-covalently (ionic interactions, hydrogen bonds, Van Der Waal's forces) to the enzyme and the strength of binding is of a similar order to the substrate i. e. Ki will be of similar size to Km. For very good reasons, the Km values for enzymes vary between about 10-2  mol L-1  to 10-6mol L-1.Unlikely to be potent enough to work in vivo where competition occurs in a dynamic metabolic situation. For a simple competitive inhibitor the inhibition will be self-limiting. If an enzyme is not rate limiting, it may be necessary to achieve ;90% in hibition before any increase in substrate concentration occurs. To do this the inhibitor concentration needs to be approximately 20 times the Ki value. Conformationally Restricted Competitive Inhibitors- It is possible that a reversible competitive inhibitor which is a conformationally restricted analogue of the substrate will have a much higher affinity for the enzyme han does the substrate and hence can be potent enough to work in vivo at reasonable concentrations. Such compounds may have Ki values in the region of 1 x 10-7  mol L-1 Quasi-Irreversible Tight Binding Inhibitors- This is an extension of the previous class i. e. competitive inhibitors which are conformationally restricted and/or have many non-covalent interactions leading to long lasting complexes. Therefore binding is very tight (Ki in order of 10-9  mol L-1  to 10-10  mol L-1) and these compounds are potent enough to act as drugs in vivo.Transition State Analogues- Theoretically, an analogue of a transition state (or reaction intermediate) for the enzyme catalysed reaction will bind much tighter than an analogue of the substrate. The outcome is a potent and potentially specific inhibitor. Theoretically, Ki values can be very low. In practice if Ki values in the region of Nano molar can be achieved, these are potent enough to work in vivo. As we shall see, there has been much work in this area on proteases including HIV protease and there are now a major class of drugs which has been developed on this principle.Slowly Dissociating Intermediates- Some enzymes form covalent intermediates as part of their mechanism e. g. acetylcholinesterase. It is possible for a compound to act as a pseudo-substrate and be converted into a long lasting intermediate. Such an inhibition is time dependent and in some cases is virtually irreversible. Sometimes the intermediate is hydrolysed in minutes or hours but this is still much longer than the normal enzyme mechanism when the intermediate would last only milliseconds. Examples include the anticholinesterases neostigmine and physostigmine (eserine) and penicillin.Irreversible Nonspecific: a. Heavy metal poisons e. g. cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide- Some enzymes and other important proteins such as Haemoglobin and Cytochromes, require metals as cofactors. These metals are often transition metals such as Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn and ligands which are electron rich will form co-ordinate covalent bonds with these metals will inactivate these proteins. These bonds are strong and very often these ligands are toxic because of this irreversible inactivation.Cyanide reacts with cytochrome oxidase which is the terminal electron carrier in the electron transport chain by ligand formation with the Cu atom at the centre of its mechanism. Similarly, carbon monoxide complexes with the Fe atom in the haem cofactor of haemoglobin. b. Heavy metal ions e. g. mercury, lead etc. – These are common irreversible inhibitors because of their abili ty to complex firmly with particular groups in enzymes. These effects can be reversed by treatment with chelating agents such as EDTA (ethylene di-amino tetra acetic acid). c. Thiol poisons e. . alkylating agents, Arsenic (III) Many enzymes contain thiol (-SH) groups in amino acid side chains – cysteine, which are essential for catalytic activity. Any compound which reacts with these functional groups will poison the enzyme. E. g. Iodoacetamide  (alkylating agent) Arsenic- The most toxic form of Arsenic is As (III) as in arsenite AsO2. In this form, Arsenic reacts rapidly with  thiol groups, especially with dithiols such as lipoic acid which is an essential cofactor for some important enzymes such as pyruvate dehydrogenase and -ketoglutarate dehyrdrogenase.You should remember these enzymes as part of the link reaction and the citric acid cycle. When these enzymes are blocked, respiration stops. Arsenic derivatives have been prepared as very poisonous war gases e. g. Lewis ite. antidote called  Dimercaprol (‘British Anti-Lewisite')  was designed by incorporating two thiols for the poison to react with. The two thiol groups react with the arsenical war gas forming a stable compound and thus stopping it from blocking the thiol groups in lipoic acid. Dimercaprol  is used these days as an antidote to poisoning with heavy metals such as antimony, arsenic, mercury, bismuth, gold, thallium.It is also used in conjunction with pencillamine in the treatment of lead poisoning (see BNF). Specific Irreversible Inhibitors: Affinity Labels (Active site directed irreversible inhibitors)- An analogue of the substrate which binds to the active site of an enzyme, but which contains a chemically reactive group, has the potential to form covalent bonds with side chains at or near the active site. These inhibitors are irreversible and have been very useful in elucidating enzyme mechanisms but their reactive nature makes them likely to be toxic when used in vivo .Mechanism-based Inhibitors (‘suicide reagents') – The principle of this sort of inhibition is that a pseudo substrate is accepted by the enzyme which then catalyses the production of its own inhibitor which reacts covalently in the active site. Such inhibitors should be specific as well as potent. Certain monoamine oxidase inhibitors have this mechanism, also the -lactamase inhibitors (e. g. clavulanate). The pyridoxal phosphate (vitamin B6) dependent enzymes have been a particular candidate for the development of this kind of inhibitor (e. g. difluoromethyldopa). Enzyme inhibitors:Edrophonium – conformationally restricted competitive reversible, ACE inhibitors – Tight binding, HIV protease inhibitors – Transition state analogues, Neostigmine, Penicillin – Slowly dissociating intermediates DFP – Irreversible group specific reagent, Clavulanate – mechanism-based irreversible inhibitor. Types of Enzyme Inhibitors Simple Reversibl e| Competitive (also uncompetitive, noncompetitive, mixed)| Simple substrate analogues Michaelis-Menten kinetics Ki in region of Km i. e. 10-2  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 10-6  M| Restricted Conformation| Rigid shape similar to favoured substrate fit Ki less than Km| e. g. drophonium as inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase| Quasi-Irreversible| Tight Binding Ki can be in region of nanomolar| E. g. ACE inhibitors Captopril, enalapril etc. | | Transition State Analogues. Binding constant theoretically below nanomolar| Inhibitors of proteinases e. g. pepsin, renin, HIV proteinase| | Slowly Dissociating Intermediates – time dependent kinetics| e. g. neostigmine, eserine as anticholinesterases Penicillin| Irreversible| Heavy metal poisons etc| Cyanide, Hydrogen Sulphide, Carbon Monoxide| | Group reagents| e. g. Arsenic (III), Iodoacetamide| | DFP action on esterases| | Affinity labels| TPCK on Chymotrypsin| | Mechanism Based (‘suicide inhibitors')| e. g. Clavulanate onlactamase| Enzyme Inhibi tors as Drugs ENZYME| INHIBITOR(S)| USES| Acetylcholinesterase| Edrophonium Neostigmine Eserine| Myasthenia Gravis Glaucoma Paralytic Ileus| Monoamine Oxidase| Tranylcypramine| Depression| Xanthine Oxidase| Allopurinol| Gout, adjunct to Cancer chemotherapy| Carbonic Anhydrase| Acetazolamide| Diuresis| Dihydrofolate Reductase| Methotrexate| Leukaemia|Transpeptidase| Penicillin| Antibacterial| Cyclo-oxygenase| Aspirin etc. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs| Analgesia Anti-inflammatory Anti-platelet| Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE)| Captopril, enalapril, lisinopril etc. | Anti-hypertension| Thymidylate Synthetase| Fluorouracil| Cancer chemotherapy| Penicillinase (-lactamase)| Clavulanate etc| Anti-bacterial| HIV proteinase| Saquinovar etc| HIV treatment| Reverse Transcriptase| AZT| HIV treatment| HMG-CoA Reductase| Statins, pravastatin etc. | Coronary Heart Disease| Phospodiesterase V| Viagra| Erectile dysfunction|

Governments should focus on the wll-being of ther populations rather Essay

Governments should focus on the wll-being of ther populations rather than economic growth. To what extent do you agree whith thi - Essay Example This paper is therefore designed to illustrate why and how proper balances of population well-being and economic growth should be facilitated by governments. This will be illustrated by first examining how economic growth policies can be detrimental to a population’s well-being. Secondly, this paper will examine trends in satisfaction and how well-being and economic growth perform in those trends. Speth (2008) informs that the belief that fast and abundant economic growth often comes at the price of the environment (p. 24). This approach to economic growth, while attending to the immediate well-being of the population does not take into account the well-being of future generations who will ultimately have to deal with a â€Å"perilous state environmentally† (Speth 2008, p. 24). Far too often economic policies do not take account of the sacrifices to the environment. Governments in a desire to advance economic growth place far too much emphasis on technology and far too little emphasis on the cost to the environment (Speth 2008, p. 24). Acknowledging that economic growth and modern technology are necessarily intertwined in an increasingly global economy, but at the potential cost to the environment, there must be a proper balance. ... The latter implies a responsible use of the earth’s resources for economic development. By taking this approach, the government is not only ensuring economic wealth, but looking ahead to ensure that the population’s well-being and economic growth both equally protected. Norberg (2010) also takes the position that economic growth policies have focused far too much on â€Å"simply maximising production† (p. 2). Like Speth (2008), Norberg (2010) argues that this approach to government policies does not take account of the environmental costs. As a result, warnings about environmental issues, particularly global warning are changing the way that populations perceive wealth. This together with the recent global financial crisis has cultivated a lack of confidence in how well economic growth and more especially GDPs measure the well-being of populations (Norberg 2010, p.2). Norberg (2010) demonstrates why a proper balance is required to be made between economic growth and the population’s well-being. If one take the position that the environment is just as important to the population’s well-being as economic growth, it will serve no purpose to trade one for the other. For example, Norberg (2010) argues that the Happy Planet Index (HPI) introduced by the New Economics Foundations in 2006 indicates that populations in the wealthiest Western nations rank lower on the HPI than countries in Asia and Latin America (Norberg 2010, p. 5). The obvious difference here is the greater degree of development in the Western countries which necessarily correlates with greater modernization and the corresponding damages to the environment. Countries in Asia and Latin America are obviously not as developed and therefore

Components of a Job Description for Fundraising Assignment

Components of a Job Description for Fundraising - Assignment Example Similar to every job position fundraisers also perform their best when they actually know the expectations of their recruiters and the overall purpose of fundraising (Tempel, 2011). Since the components of a job description briefly address the job requirements, therefore, it is important to consider them when hiring a fundraiser. Developing a job description is actually the process of putting candidate selection criteria in writing. Here, it is important to note that job description not only summarizes the responsibilities and duties of the selected candidate rather it also mentions the aptitude and skills necessary to perform the job, for instance, training requirements, education, motivation and experience. All these elements actually help in recruiting the right person for the job (Stone, 2003). 1. Title of the Job: The job position is introduced in this section with a brief discussion about company’s background and its products/services. The job title is developed considering all the job requirements, expectations and responsibilities. Although the title is short but its description may have two or three sentences. It plays an important role in catching reader’s attention while inviting him to read a further description. 2. Statement of Objectives: Aims and objectives related to the job position should be mentioned clearly so that candidates can easily evaluate them according to their career goals. For instance, if the job description is about marketing position then objectives must refer to the customer needs and the company’s strategies to address them. On the other hand, if the job description is prepared for a non-profit organization then the objectives to meet the social needs should be mentioned here. 3. Major Responsibilities: These can be divided into two parts i.e. general responsibilities and the major tasks. For instance, a marketer’s foremost responsibility is to prepare marketing strategies but his general responsibility includes monitoring the ongoing marketing campaigns, feedback reports, presentations etc.  

Analysis of the Critical Theorists View on Domination Term Paper

Analysis of the Critical Theorists View on Domination - Term Paper Example The Concept of Domination Due to the radical perspective of the critical theorists, the social notions presented had effects that can be attributed to the concept of domination. Domination is defined as a form of influence to an individual that results in the confirmation of goals, purposes, and actions to what had been prescribed or dictated (Held, p.149). This can affect the society in terms of different aspects that comprise the social institutions such as the culture industry aspect, the technology and consumption aspect, the nature of corporate capitalism, and the authoritarian personality. Each of these components can affect the manner by which a society functions, thus, these are included in the essential factors within the critical theory (Craib, 1992; Miles, 2006). Domination is the main concept that links the different points of views of the different advocates of the critical theory but is considered as the uniting factor in the critical theory. ...210). Due to the differe nt views of the critical theorists, the whole perspective of the group regarding domination is composed of the different components. Domination and the Culture Industry The view of domination in relation to the culture industry is the main perspective of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. It explores the role the nature of the culture which according to them is a ‘capitalist industry.’ This can be attributed to the fact that what is termed as enlightenment can be considered as mass deception. This is due to the fact that capitalist industry dominates the culture. Thus, instead of triggering a check and balance effect to the dominating effect of the capital, the interactions within the society such as work and even leisure is completely controlled (Szeman and Kaposy, 2010, p.40). The theory perceives the society dominated by the capitalist industry to be in a vicious cycle. Upon looking at the said perspective, it is clear that it is one of the reasons that the critical theory is considered radical because it questions the whole social structure.

Tradition and Culture in the Third World Countries Essay

Tradition and Culture in the Third World Countries - Essay Example The Islamic influence helped to boost the peoples fighting skills and the greater strength of the empire. Owing to this, the Ottoman Empire expanded through conquering their neighbors with their well-advanced fighting skills. In addition, all these successes came due to the knowledge of their culture in advance (McCarthy 56).  Third world countries do not have the capacity to create advanced technology enjoyed by the first world countries. Due to this, they have to borrow it from them and establish it to their capacity. Therefore, to have command of the technology, they need to learn the previous and present philosophies that led to their creation. This would give a guideline on how to develop other advanced technologies. Acquiring tradition directly from others may not be beneficial to all third world countries. Some kind of traditions does not fit in the lifestyle of the third world countries. Traditions were part of the motives that led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The emp ire had the tradition of inheriting the seat of a sultan. The struggle for the control of the empire led to its sudden decline. Therefore, the third world countries should only choose beneficial ideas leading to the growth of the respective countries (McCarthy 289).         

Cybersecurity Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Cybersecurity - Coursework Example This is due to the reason that the privacy policies help the individuals belonging to any organization to maintain their autonomy as well as individuality which in turn enables them to adopt effective privacy policy related decisions in an efficient manner (Grant & Bennett, 1999). In this discussion, the comparison of privacy policies of Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation and International Business Machines (IBM) along with a detailed analysis about their organizational mission will be taken into concern. Moreover, the possible changes in the privacy policies of the aforementioned organizations that could provide better protection to the customers and flexibility within their organization will also be discussed. Brief Description of the Organizations and their Mission Apple Inc. appeared in the business world during the period of early and middle part of seventies. The company came into existence with joint efforts of the founders named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. It designs as well as sells various types of consumer electronics related products, personal computers and computer software to its large base of customers throughout the globe. The company successfully managed to generate significant value in this competitive business market due to its constant establishment of innovative products (Apple Inc., 2012). Apple is dedicated towards conserving the environment, health as well as security of its workforce and customers worldwide. The mission of the company is to produce and deliver technologically inventive products and services to its worldwide customers for the purpose of attaining significant competitive position over its chief business market competitors. Moreover, the other mission of Apple is to provide exceptional designed products and personalized services in order to increase its customer base levels by a significant level (Environmental Health and Safety Policy Statement, 2006). International Business Machines (IBM) is a multinational technology b usiness corporation which manufactures and sells broad assortment of computers, software and micro-processors to its huge customers around the globe. The company established in the year 1911 through the process of merger of various business entities namely The Tabulating Machine Company, The Computing Scale Company and The International Time Recording Company (IBM, 2011). The mission of IBM is to provide utmost value and dedication towards establishing innovative products and build effective interrelation as well as communication with the employees in order to raise organizational effectiveness by a greater extent. Furthermore, the other mission of the company is to develop its worldwide environmental management business approaches for the motive of safeguarding the environment and remain much committed towards environmental leadership (IBM, 2007). Microsoft Corporation is regarded to be another leading American based multinational business organization which was founded in the year 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates. The corporation develops, produces, authorizes and assists broad assortment of products and services that are related to computing. The imperative products of the corporation include computer software as well as operating systems, smart phones

Practical Chemistry Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Practical Chemistry Report - Essay Example Molar absorptivity is fixed the moment the reactant is fixed, cell length is standardized and therefore, its effect is also fixed. Now only variable deciding intensity of the absorbed and therefore transmitted light is the concentration of the reactant. Therefore, concentration of the reactant at a particular time can be read directly from the detector reading of the transmitted light. Care should be taken to subtract the reading corresponding to the bare solution i.e. the solution having no reactant. Data from both the experiments has been plotted separately on semi log scale i.e. ln[A] was plotted against time t (s) using excel software. Data points were plotted as a X-Y scatter plot and a linear interpolation was used as nature of the plot for the first order reaction is linear from the theory. Slope of the line gives value of the rate constant ÃŽ » and the intercept gives value of the initial concentration i.e. [Ao] Figure 1 shows variation of ln[A] vs time for Experiment 1. The close proximity of the data points from the linear interpolation line confirms that all the data points are very accurate. The same is confirmed by very high value of R2 which is 0.9929. One should note that value of R2 being 1 means all the data points will fall on the interpolation line. That is the ideal condition which never happens in actual experiments. There is another useful parameter half life (t1/2) associated with a first order reaction kinetics. This is the tie period during which concentration of the reactant is reduced to half of its original value. Value of half life (t1/2) can be calculated by putting [A] = [Ao]/2 and setting t as t1/2 in the integrated form of the rate equation derived above. This comes out to be In experiment 1 value of the rate constant (ÃŽ ») is 0.0006. Therefore, value of half life comes to be 1155 second. One should check in the experimental data whether really [A] is halving in every 1155s. What we find is that

Web Services Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Web Services - Coursework Example Every operation in the TIDL interface contains additional parameters for transmission and reception of transactional data. A commit operation is either an ‘all’ or a ‘nothing’ affair. When a string of operations in a transaction fail to completed, a rollback must restore the system back to its pre-transaction state. To ensure rollback, a typical system logs every operation that takes place within the scope of a transaction, including the commit operation. A recovery or transaction manager uses these log records to redo or undo partly completed transactions when there is an exception scenario. When a transaction includes a number of distributed resources, for instance, a database server hosted on two different networks, the commit process will involve operations spanning two different systems. Here, each system will have its own log records and system manager. RPC is one of the first technologies to be used in the area of distributed computing. For an RPC call to be made, both the client and the server need to have stubs (client-side programs) for the remote service. The stubs are generated using Interface definition language (IDL). During an RPC, the arguments that the client sends across a network undergo marshalling and un-marshalling at the client and the server side respectively. The calls are synchronous. CORBA again is a technology used for objects to communicate in a distributed computing. The similarity between CORBA and RPC ends here because of the difference in the way CORBA works. In addition to a server and client, CORBA applications consist of an ORB (Object request broker). This ORB is responsible for mapping the client and server which will perform the request initiated by the client. The ORB marshals the arguments and routes the call over a network to the target objects ORB. The ORB has many more features such as objects look

Personal Statement - Media and Communication, <UCAS Extra from

- Media and Communication,

To Find Common Identifying Factors in different financial scandals Essay Example for Free

To Find Common Identifying Factors in different financial scandals Essay Financial scandals are known for their adverse effects on businesses. They can cripple a business entity or lead to total collapse. Thus, the value of looking into the issue of scandals constitutes a study area of great value both to the academic discourse and the general knowledge. This paper looks into financial scandals with a view to finding common factors underlying them. Through a case study approach, the Amaranth Advisors, Allfirst Group, and Soceite Generale are examined. Through the use of relevant literature review, it is established that though scandals are different in the nature of their emergence, there are a host of common factors that occasion them. The study finds that poor regulating posed by both internal and external mechanisms are to blame for this phenomenon. It is also established that issues such as rogue trading, office politics, laxity in rule application and sluggish responding constitute the other common factors underlying the scandals. The paper concludes by calling upon the tightening of measures, updating technologies, de-politicizing organizational business, and the adoption of stringent regulation to tame the vice. Introduction Financial scandals involve business and political misdeeds by executives entrusted with large public and private institutions. These schemes entail complex methodical application of schemes with a view to misdirecting and/or misusing funds. Other forms of scandals may pertain to understating expenses, underreporting business liabilities, overstating of revenues, overstating of assets, etc. This is normally done by officials and subordinates of businesses. In public enterprises, this kind of action constitutes fraud. In cases where scandals have been detected or reported, the norm is always to launch investigations with a view to unearthing the issues underlying the engagement of such criminal activity. The oversight agencies like Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States are responsible for investigating the emergence of this kind of crime. Scandals typically present a seriously dangerous scenario as most investigations point that such scams are nothing but a ‘tip of an iceberg’. As this paper finds out scandals are often led by officials within organizations. The officials are given support by either laxity or complacency by relevant organs. Literature review In any research, the use of literature review is of undisputed value. Literature review enables a researcher to find the status of an issue area. This is possible as literature review offers what other researchers have done on the study issue. On this basis, this study is no exception as it heavily relies on the works of other scholars towards raising important findings. The case of Societe Generale The scandal involving Societe Generale went on for a long period of time. It was first reported via an email on November 7th of 2007. A surveillance office stationed at Eurex raised the mater before a compliance officer of the bank. It was revealed that a trader; Jerome Kerviel, had engaged in a number of transactions which were suspicious in nature (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). The bank bid its time and launched its own response in 20th of November. In this response, a risk control expert at the bank purported that there was nothing irregular in the transactions executed between the bank and the client; Jerome Kerviel. In his response, the bank official claimed that the then ongoing volatility in the financial markets especially in the United States of America and Europe stocks, was the reason behind the bank’s requirement of after-hours trading (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). The office at Eurex did not stop there. On November 26, it sent a second email to the bank explaining its displeasure at the way the matter was handled by the bank. This explains what led the bourse to demand further information regarding this issue. The bank, Societe Generale provided further information on 10th of December. On this basis, the two parties; Societe Generale and the Eurex office let the issue disappear (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). When Kerviel raised another alarm, coming five weeks later, it proved too little too late. He made a lot of profit based on the surreptitious trading amounting to around two billion US dollars. However, this gain was soon to evaporate as a loss in the region of seven billion US dollars. The bank basically unwound the financial standing of Kerviel on 21st and 22nd of January (Clark and Jolly, 1). A spokesperson of Societe Generale declined to comment on the warning issued earlier by Eurex claiming an internal inquiry led by a special committee composed of independent directors was underway. It is hypothesized at this stage that ignoring the red flag raised by Eurex was a serious misstep in aiding this scandal. The loss suffered by the bank is almost wholly attributable to the actions of ignorance on the side of the bank (Sage, 1). The bank, despite being in business for over one hundred and forty four years, it failed by allowing a culture of risk taking to flourish within its ranks. Simply put, this seriously exposed the bank as it allowed for major flaws to characterize its operations. It is hypothesized that it is this allowance that paved way for the rogue businessman to rock the bank and make away with a good amount of money while leaving the bank with gaping holes in its financial status. The manner in which Kerviel was let to undertake his mischief undetected by a bank of Societe Generale stature serves to underscore this realization (Gregory and Anne-Sylvaine, 1). Instead of discouraging the making of big bets by clients, the Societe Generale group rewarded traders who made such risky investments. It is further revealed that it was never uncommon for traders to exceed the limits put on trading momentarily before holding back. This was however against controls limiting this (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 1). During January 2008, Societe Generale lost over 4. 9 billion euros as it closed positions in three days. At this time, the market was experiencing a big drop in equity indices. It is claimed by the bank that these positions were fraudulent creations of one, Jerome Kerviel, a rogue trader. However, more surprises were sprung up as the police claimed they did not have the evidence to charge the culprit with fraud instead preferring abuse of confidence charges against Jerome Kerviel. Jerome Kerviel claimed that his actions were well known to the superiors at the bank and the major reason behind the collapse of the bank was based on panic selling (Sage, 1). It is claimed by bank officials that throughout the year 2007, Jerome Kerviel was trading profitably anticipating a fall in market prices. This was however done beyond authorized levels. The culprit is accused of engaging in trade totaling almost 50 billion, a figure way above the bank’s sum market capitalization. It is further revealed that Jerome Kerviel attempted to hide this engagement by intentionally creating losing trades in a bid to offset the early gains he had made. In addition to the above allegation, Jerome Kerviel is thought to have made over 1. 5 billion US dollars in hidden profits (Martin, Allen, Allen and Samuel, 14). The case of Allfirst John Rusnak, a former currency businessman at Allfirst bank, at the time an affiliate of AIB Company was given a 71/2 years jail term in connection to his role in the disappearance of six hundred and one US million dollars. This sum of money was lost due to the banking system’s encouragement of bad bets. The bad debts were later to snowball leading to a monstrous scam ever witnessed in the banking industry. The culprit, Rusnak John was transferred from prison to his house in June of 2008 to be under house detention until September the same year and later let free in 5th January 2009. This meant that in total, Rusnak served less than six years in incarceration (Robert, 45). If the original sentence could have been adhered to the later, Rusnak could have been held in prison for a period of over 30 years. However, the original sentence was a presentation of a plea bargain hammered in collaboration with the US prosecutors. While being released, it was alleged that Rusnak had earned good behavior and completed a drug treatment module. On his release, Rusnak was expected to begin paying one thousand US dollars a month to cater for his time in probation (Robert, 45). Though Rusnak was held responsible for the loss of six hundred and ninety one million US dollars, the case prosecutors claimed whatever amount to be paid was to depend on what the culprit was able to make after being freed. The fraudulent activities engineered by Rusnak were very harmful to the entire stakeholder ship as over one thousand and one hundred Allfirst employees lost their jobs during the sale of the company (Robert, 45). Early on at the discovery of the fraud, the executives at Alllfirst and AIB believed that there was no any form of conspiracy between Rusnak and any other member or official of the bank (Brian, 54). This finding may absolve the bank of any blame in the eyes of the public. However, this is a devastating finding since it paints a grisly picture on the part of the bank. That is to say if one bank official would carry out a fraud of this magnitude, then things were quite wrong. Simply put, the bank’s monitoring and self regulating mechanism was in tatters to say the least. The Ludwig report confirmed that the bank’s back office did not make attempts towards confirming the bogus options alongside their Asian counterparts. The negligence fronted by the company’s middle and back offices from confirming the foreign exchange rate from an independent source also puts the bank on the spot. It is also alleged that the internal audit done in 1999 did not bring out the real picture. Later in 2000, an audit carried only examined a single transaction to determine whether indeed there was impropriety. These failures of the bank only present actions that appear in support of graft (Brian (a), 34). The back office at the treasury had issued a warning regarding the events at the bank. The fact that the bank chose to let the opportunity points to gross misconduct by leadership. The treasury, backroom office had raised a host of issues regarding Rusnak’s personality concerns and confirming trades conducted by Rusnak. The culprit seemed excellent in playing organizational politics to his advantage. This is reflected by the fact that the back office desisted from reporting the actions of the trader as the management was behind Rusnak’s activities. If the back office had received support from the top management, then the rogue activities could have been curtailed (Brian, 54). Foreign exchange rules require that suspicious activities should be discouraged (Brian (a), 34). The two prime brokerage provision banks failed to uncover what Rusnak was undertaking. This was a notable omission on the part of the two banks. The Historical Rate Rollovers should never have been used to uncover fraud deals as it happened. The trading system at Allfirst was literary flawed as one employee was trying to run a hedge fund. Rusnak had no knowledge, diversification, skills, and other requisite attributes necessary to run the trading system (Brian (a), 35). The case of Amaranth Advisors The year 2006 was one of the most devastating in reference to the history of the Amaranth group. It is during this year that Amaranth Advisors lost in excess of two billion US dollars over a span of few weeks (Robert, 37). Amaranth Advisors engaged in a very risky venture in regards to trading. This left the business entity hugely exposed to the frugalities that characterise the business world. Liquidity is an aspect that should be closely monitored if businesses ae to be safe. But taking risks as this business did implies a readiness in the business to test the waters of uncertainty. Launched as a hedge fund business, Amaranth operated a very risky venture as its portfolio could change up to 80 percenty in reflection of the energy trade. As this soared, the group, Amaranth changed tack and put onside the concept of diversification with a view to mitigating the risks that were emerging. the group traded on Credit Arbitrage, Convertible Bond Arbitrage, Merger Arbitrage, Energy Arbitrage, etc. Initially, the the amount in Convertible Arbitrage reflected sixty percenty of te worth of the company. however, by september 2006, this had shifted to almost two percent. Such is the volatility that characterised the company activities (Robert, 37). One factor emerges at this point; there were no limits concerning the regulation of concentration. Leverage was also unrestricted. when leverage is unrestricted, it means that a company can engage in trading beyond the set limit or outside the confines of its budget. this portends ill for a business as in the case of a loss, the company can easily go under (Robert, 37). Brian Hunter who was hired in 2004 takes blame for the financial fiasco experienced by this group. Brian Hunter had already cut a niche for himself in the corridors of wall street. While trading in energy futures, Hunter had achieved great success and it is perhaps on this basis that Amaranth hired him. The trader was so renowned such that When he threatened to quit in 2004, his perks were adjusted upwards to tie him there. Hunter was also given the oportunity to trade separately from the group boss and awarded adittional compenation. Equally of note rests on the fact that the individual was given the privilege of relocating o his hometown and trade from there (Robert, 38). On the basisof the United States Senate Permanent Subcommitte on Finance, Amaranth lost money in the region of two bilion US dollars beginning the first week of August. This loss was attributed to the trading in natural gas which led to high liquidity in the entire company portfolio. The John Marthinsen estimates put the losses at around 6. 5 billion. The Amaranth group was deeply engaged in various types of contracts that captured futures, options, and swaps. The company position remained hugely independent on the future prices of natural gas (Robert, 38). Historically, natural gas prices rose during the winter times. This was held as natural gas is commonly used as a heating source at tis tme. so it was commonsense that gas prices would rise during te time. Amaranth was banking on this norm to enable the company reap profits. However, this is an instinctive way of runing business which cannot be relied upon though it wored previously. this ponts to a lack of well oiled strategies in running the business (Robert, 38). Allfirst hired John Rusnak as a currency trader with a view to help in the proprietary exchange of foreign currency. This was a costly acquistion as the fellow cost the bank around 691 million dollars. Through the use of various methods, Rusnak overstepped his mandate and traded beyond limits putting the bank’s fortunes at stake in the process (Robert, 38). The wild derivatives were the first error towards the financial meltdown. It appears like Brooksley Born, the then chairperson of Commodity Futures Trading Commission had foreseen the danger posed by deregulation of derivatives. The idea to extend the regulation mandate as proposed by Brooksley was rebuffed by the officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury Department. While it remains debatable whether the regulation could prevent or alter the financial trend, few dispute the idea that such control would have slowed the emergence of the problem. Financial analysts believe if this was introduced 10 years or earlier, the control would have mitigated the rise of the problem (Blinder, 1). Wild derivatives have adverse effects on any business, the deregulation of derivatives at Amaranth, Allfirst, and Societe Generale point to the fact that such a precedent is dangerous as it portends ill for a business. Blinder has observed that the alarm bells signaling the financial credit crunch went long ago and individuals in positions of influence refused to act rather preferring to protect huge business interests. The innermost government sanctums were basically to blame as they chose to protect few businesses at the expense of the common good (Blinder, 1). Brooksley, while serving at CFTC made it clear to congress that controlling the financial markets was necessary. The financial instruments commonly known as derivatives were the focus point. It is little surprise that ultimately the collapse of the derivatives market served as a trigger towards the 2008 financial crisis. Brooksley was overly concerned about the ‘swaps’ unregulated trading (Blinder, 1). This unregulated trading led to the near collapse of the economy. Similarly the unregulated nature of activities of the three companies presented the necessary conditions for the scandals to take place. For an efficient market operation, there are no illusions, regulation by an independent body is necessary. On the basis of Blinder’s observation ‘sky high leverage’ an issue that arose in 2004 leads to serious effects on businesses (1). During this period, the S. E. C allowed securities firms to up their leverage to levels unmatched before. Prior to this instance, leverage stood at 12 to 1. After this event, the leverage sky rocketed to 31 to 1 (Blinder, 1). This is a pointer to madness on the side of the S. E. C and firms’ heads. It is known that at 33 to 1 leverage, a small decline, for example a three percent decline in assets valuation can lead to a wiping out of a business company. If the authorities had ensured that the leverage was kept at 12 to 1, then the firms would have remained stable as they would not have grown that big or exposed to vulnerability. The firms being examined in this study equally let their officials exceed their normal leverage explaining why the effects were lethal. Findings When Eurex issued a warning, the Societe Generale officials did not respond adequately, instead they took to time wasting with a view to getting the issued buried. Warnings are expected to serve an entity to refocus or correct something going wrong. The Societe Generale group did not heed this, nor did Amaranth do. The officials of Societe Generale affirmed that there was nothing wrong with the transactions executed by Kerviel. This is an indication that Kerviel must have been operating under the protection of big officials at the institution or that the institution checking mechanisms were amiss. The internal self regulating and checking mechanism were in a total mess. This explains why Kerviel was able to wage such criminal activities without being noticed. However, this may point to another issue concerning politics of organization. Accomplices must have been used from the highest levels of management. For Kerviel to engage in this act, he must have been damn aware that there was some form of protection that would come his way. Risk ventures hold huge potential both in reference to loss and profit making. Societe Generale encouraged traders to continue engaging in such ventures. Jerome Kerviel claimed that superiors were aware of his actions. The losses incurred by Societe Generale were reflected in a very short time; three days. This does not however imply that prior to this; the business was in a sound position. This is because before such a position is reached, there must have been factors at play. The senior management based in Dublin and Baltimore failed to focus on the happenings at Allfirst. The role of any management team in all organizations is and remains one of overseeing the transactions executed. Simply put, the management should sanction all activities. Activities which carry the importance as the one carried out by Jerome Kerviel should have been closely monitored. However, this was not done. The betting business is a risky business venture which Allfirst bank encouraged. It is a fact that profits can be made in this business. However, it is also possible to make huge losses which may lead to collapse of a business entity. On this basis, there are regulative measures always put in place to guide in the setting the right amount to be gambled. Laxity in rules comes into the fore as Rusnak was given a relatively big sentence at the beginning but this was watered down to a mere 7 years though the culprit ended up serving even less. The amount payable back; 1 000 US dollars presented a slap in the face of justice considering the amount of losses the person had led Allfirst into incurring. The foreign exchange rules requiring the disapproval of suspicious ventures was also discarded as Rusnak continued with his business unhindered. Internal mechanisms at Allfirst and AIB at first claimed there was nothing sinister about Rusnak’s engagements. All other bank officials were cleared of any wrong doing claiming that there was no form of collusion between Rusnak and any member at the bank. The middle and the back office must have slept on the job. They did little to seek valid information from independent sources regarding exchange rates. In addition to this, the audit carried out by the bank examined only a single transaction involving the activities of Rusnak. How fair was this? The back office at the treasury issued a warning of impropriety at the bank concerning Rusnak’s activities, but this was either unheeded or ignored. The senior management monitoring and control system like auditing were overrated as they miserably failed on the very aspect they were there for. Just like Allfirst and the Societe Generale group, Amaranth Advisors engaged in a very risky trading system. Thus the uncertainty in the bank was bound to reflect on its financial and business health. Unregulated leverage was the crucial issue that brought down the bank. Brian Hunter the fellow behind the scam at Amaranth Advisors was given special treatment. Rusnak overstepped his mandate and traded beyond Amaranth Advisors’ limits. While Rusnak was doing this, the Amaranth Advisors just like the other two companies had internal mechanisms of regulating and monitoring activities within the organization. Outside regulators were also in place. The fact that both internal and outside sources of regulation failed to act puts such bodies or departments on the spot. Comparison of findings Poor rules and regulations regarding business operations are found to be reflected by the three business entities. Rules and regulations play a very pivotal role in the running of a business. Such rules and regulations stem from either within or from outside a business. The regulations relating to trading limits were flouted. Internal and external mechanisms equally failed to unearth these events. Where they were unearthed by external offices, the establishments at the three companies poured cold scorn on the advice. It appears like engineering episodes that were bound to happen. In the three cases, there are single individuals masterminding huge scandals. What baffles scholars and the public alike is the manner in which the events proceeded undetected for a long period of time. With the current levels of technology, it also leaves a lot to be desired why institutions like these could not use such technological assistance. Office politics, a regular phenomenon in most public offices also rears its ugly head again. The revelation by the former chief economist, Yves-Marie Laulan that what happened at Soceite Generale was inevitable offers strong support to this position. Yves-Marie Laulan further claimed that some things are hard enough and thus difficult to control, an implication that the economist could have well been aware the scam was in the making. The fact that when red flags were raised in these scandals nothing of note was taken by the companies serves as a pointer that senor and powerful individuals were behind the scams. Only that, they were achieving their goals through proxies. The proxies in the cases include the three individuals mentioned as the perpetrators of the scam. Rules regarding business operations were flouted. If rules and regulations are not obeyed things are bound to go awry at some point. The trading limit rules were ignored by these companies. Risk ventures which were suspect in nature were let tom thrive. As if that wasn’t bad enough, warnings issued were ignored. Where they were heeded, the approach was truly sluggish in nature. The companies; Amaranth, Allfirst, and Societe Generale presented cases of flouting expected levels of leverage. It is crucial that leverage levels be kept at the right level if businesses are to remain afloat. In the cases of the three businesses, this was never observed. The failure to observe set rules and regulations serves to point to impropriety in handling the businesses. Discussion On the basis of findings, it is discernable that there was laxity in rule implementation. Every trade has its regulations which aid operations in day to day transactions. The three entities examined in this survey exhibit an unwillingness or sluggish nature in implementing the regulations of business. In the three cases, the three culprits wee found to have operated way beyond the limits set by their businesses. System weakness and other failures are equally found to have served as impediments in the success of business. The scandals raised or rather examined in this paper are of big magnitude. However, despite calls for investigations and the raising of alarm bells in reference to the scandals at their initial stages, nothing worthy was engineered to curtail the explosion of the scandal. Every system is supposed to regulate itself fully. A system that fails this test is out of sorts and lacks the legitimacy of being in operation. Assuming that there was no abetting of these criminal activities in the respective scandals, then the systems regulation and control mechanisms were a total mess. Such systems should e replaced and completely done away with. Technology plays a critical role in present day business activities. For example, it aids the flow of transactions in a very expedient and efficient manner. Thus each company is encouraged to employ latest and up to date technologies in order to move a business forward in tandem with present trends. However, the scenario at Alfirst points to a different direction. The use of the Crossmar Matching System to monitor trade should have been used, working as a group would have equally helped. Instead of applying this latest technological support, Allfirst was employing the use of telephone and fax. The use of spreadsheets to feed information regarding exchange rates to the business is also another shortcoming attributable to the inability of the business from taking important and necessary steps in addressing business requirements. Simply put, it is a shame that a company of Alllfirst’s stature could be using the methods mentioned above. Whichever explanation is given in support of this position is unacceptable and unwelcome to level headed individuals. One of the greatest mistakes of the companies though not expressly captured in the paper relates to office politics. Office politics is almost commonplace in every business as human beings often tend to align themselves to different cocoons at the work place. However, it is the duty of the top management to focus on this aspect and ensure that office politics does not work to the detriment of an entity. If a business leadership fails on this, then there is no good in the office leadership being in office. A closer look at events in the three scandals implies an absence of good leadership characterized by political intrigues. When warnings were issued at initial stages of the scandal, the top leadership in the organizations seemed to brush aside the allegations. They equally failed to investigate and either authenticate or dispel the rumors in total. This, in my considered view, was an act outlining a possibility of role playing in which case the top leadership was an accomplice in the scandals. In the case of Allfirst, the preferential treatment of one employee illustrated by receiving extra perks and being allowed to work from home also underscores the point. The key to success in any business rests on good management practices (Barrett, 51). This points to the ability of the management to set achievable goals and embarking on a mission towards realizing them. For success to be attained, the management must outline the necessary tasks in setting up and managing the business. The goals set for the business must be measurable in performance terms. Towards that end, major goals should be broken into smaller goals. These sub goals should have timelines which must be observed. This is an area in which the businesses failed leading to the witnessed scandals. After setting goals and the sub goals, the individual owner or manager must move into action and make the necessary steps towards attaining them. The efforts required in achieving the different goals and sub goals are different, then the deviations should be reflected in the actions or the steps taken towards the achievement. The required effort must remain reasonable so as not to discourage the manager. Caution should be taken to avoid chasing too many goals as such pursuit may scuttle the success of a business (Wright, 75). In this regard, priorities must be set. The businesses studied in this research should prioritize vigilance and caution while trading. The planning and setting of goals must be done well in advance. This enables the manager to understand what to expect in most circumstances. As the business grows the set goals should gradually be achieved as such achievement is expected to motivate the manager. Normally, obstacles will be on the way of any business venture, this should be anticipated and provided for in terms of arrangements to counter or mitigate the effects (Wright, 75). The businesses mentioned in this study should have done this to avoid such scandals.

ITT Tech MA3110 Vocab 1 Essay Example for Free

ITT Tech MA3110 Vocab 1 Essay Statistics – the science of planning studies and experiments, obtaining data, and then organizing, summarizing, presenting, analyzing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions based on the data. Population – the collection of all elements to be studied. Census – a collection of data from every member of the population Sample – a subset of members selected from a population Vocabulary 1 – Chapter 1 Section 2 Statistical Significance – an arbitrary limit where an observed difference is reasonably assumed to be due to some factor other than pure chance. Practical significance – an arbitrary limit where an observed difference is of some practical use in the real world. Vocabulary 1 – Chapter 1 Section 3 Parameter – a numerical measurement of a population characteristic. Statistic – a numerical measurement of a sample characteristic. Quantitative Data – data that consists of numbers representing counts of measurements. Categorical Data – data that can be separated into different categories that are distinguished by some nonnumeric characteristic. Discrete Data – data that has a finite number or countable number of possible values. Continuous Data – data that has an infinite number of possible values, with no gaps in the possible values. Nominal Level of Measurement – data that are qualitative only. Ordinal Level of Measurement – data that can be ordered, but computational differences are meaningless. Interval Level of Measurement – data that are ordinal level, and also having meaningful computational differences, but having no significant zero value. Ratio Level of Measurement – data that are interval level, and also having meaningful computational differences, and having a significant zero value. Vocabulary 1 – Chapter 1 Section 4 Voluntary Response Sampling – a style of sampling that incorporates non probability sampling methods in its research. Correlation – the degree to which two or more attributes or measurements on the same group of elements show a tendency to vary together. Causality – the principle that nothing can happen without being caused. Order of Questions – sometimes survey questions  are unintentionally loaded by factors of the items being considered. Nonresponse – occurs when someone either refuses to respond to a survey question or is unavailable. Missing Data – occurs when no data value is stored for the variable in an observation. Vocabulary 1 – Chapter 1 Section 5 Observational Study – observe and gather data without attempting to modify the subjects. Experiment – apply some treatment and then observe the effects of the treatment on the subjects. Simple Random Sample – a sample of n subjects that is selected in a way that makes every possible sample of size n is equally likely. Random Sample – a sample in which each individual member of a population is equally likely to be chosen. Probability Sample – a sample in which each individual member of a population has a known chance of being chosen. Systematic Sample – a sample selected by choosing a starting point in the list of subjects and then selecting every kth subject from that point on. Convenience Sample – a sample selected by choosing subjects that are most easily accessed. Stratified Sample – a sample selected by dividing the population into at least two subgroups and then choosing subjects from each subgroup. Cluster Sample – a sample selected by dividing the population into at least two subgroups, randomly selecting subgroups, and then choosing all subjects from the selected subgroups. Sampling Error – error in a statistical analysis arising from the unrepresentativeness of the sample taken.

Evaluating the financial performance of Deloitte LLP

Evaluating the financial performance of Deloitte LLP All of the research topics are appealing although challenging but it was apparent that I have to choose the topic that meets the research requirements such as accessibility and quality of information and clear understandability of what is required in a particular topic. After spending a lot of time in selecting the best topic for me, I came to the conclusion that I should go for topic no. 8 The business and financial performance of an organisation over a three year period. The rationales behind choosing this topic are: I have been trained in ACCA studies as how to evaluate an organisations performance using ratio analysis and other techniques. The research on this topic will help me to consolidate my knowledge and put me in a strong position to carry out this study. Accessibility and the quality of the information required for this topic was much easy to obtain as compared to other topics. To carry out the business and financial evaluation I need the audited annual reports and other strategic information of an organization which should be relevant, reliable and readily available thus enhancing the quality of this research project. Part of the accountants role is to help companies in analysing and interpreting the financial performance and position of the organisation and advise the client in which particular areas they are performing well or where they need improvements and to answer such questions as to why the particular ratios are boosting or declining. Without any doubt, this research will help me in my practical life as an accountant. Reasons for choosing the organization: It was clear in my mind from beginning that I should undertake the research on an accounting firm because it is within my profession. I made my mind that I will pick any one of the big four i.e. PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), KPMG, Ernst Young and Deloitte Touche Tomatshu. As these firms are LLPs (Limited liability partnerships) I faced the difficulty of the amount of information available because LLPs are not under the same extent of public domain as compared to public listed companies which publish substantial amount of information and are subject to regulations regarding the disclosure of the information. First I thought that I should carry out research on PwC as it ranks number 1 in big 4s but when I started searching on the internet about big 4s then I found much information about Deloitte and even their website and annual reports were much comprehensive so I decided to choose Deloitte LLP. The main reasons for choosing Deloitte LLP were: It is one of the largest professional services firms ranking 3rd (Vault Accounting firm ranking 2008). This ranking is based on the sales revenue generated by the firm and other factors such as working life etc. I wanted to carry out the research on a top ranked firm as there is a lot to learn from successful firms. Deloitte LLP is the market leader in the professional services industry and a very reputable organisation. Undertaking the research on this firm will help me explore why this firm is flourishing. Moreover, after finishing my ACCA qualification I would like to work in an accounting firm and doing the research on Deloitte LLP will help me understand the nature, market, culture and governance of the accounting firms. Project Objective The objective of this research project is to evaluate the business and financial performance of Deloitte LLP with last years and with its competitors PwC for the years ended 31st May 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Research Questions I identified the research questions which will help me achieve the project objective. Focusing on these questions will help me keep the research on track and to the point. These research questions are: What are the firms objectives and what strategy has been adopted to achieve them? How did the firm perform in terms of profitability and what are the main factors affecting its performance? What are the trends in the liquidity position and is the cash management of the firm effective? Is the organisation growing? If so, what sources of finance does it use and how does it impact on their gearing levels? How has the organisation been influenced by the current economic downturn and how will it impact on the next year performance? The Research Design To evaluate the business performance of the firm different modules such as mission analysis, Porters five forces and SWOT analysis have been used to analyse the industry and evaluate firms strength, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. To interpret the financial health of the organization, ratios have been calculated for three years which are then used as a basis for historical and competitor benchmarking. These techniques include comparing the financial performance of the organization with its prior years and those of its competitors. Focusing on financial ratios are not enough to come up with the whole picture so other non-financial performance indicators have been used as well. Trend analysis has been used to identify the changes from year to year. These analytical techniques will assist to analyse, interpret and evaluate the organisations performance and support to come up with the appropriate conclusions. Part 2 Information gathering To evaluate the business and financial performance of Deloitte LLP, I require reliable, qualitative, quantitative and sufficient information that not only focuses on financial and business perspective of the organisation but also industry specific knowledge such as is the market growing or declining, who are the market leaders and what is their strategy. During the information gathering stage, I have not just collected the information about the firm but also kept an eye on its competitors activities. This parallel approach helps me in benchmarking exercise. Types of research methods: Based on this, two key sources of information were used i.e. primary and secondary sources. Both of these methods have their own pros and cons. Primary research is more reliable, relevant and is tailored to the research needs. However, this approach is very time consuming and expensive and usually not available as compared to secondary sources which are readily available and easy to access but may not meet research questions and is less reliable. During the information gathering stage, less field research has been undertaken and contacted the firm only if any particular information is not available from the secondary sources. Primary research was done for one particular issue that arose during the research and that was to understand the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and its member firms. The only method used for this primary research was emails. However, most of the information required for this research was available from the secondary sources and have been listed below: The firms website: The organizations website www.deloitte.com provided me with much of the information about the firms history, their vision and strategy, leadership, the services in which they are specialized, the industries to which it provides services and the latest news about the firms activities. However, to critically evaluate the organizations performance I need to seek more information outside the companys website as every company is tempted to give a positive image of their organization so I went ahead and used its competitors website as well and other external media. Annual reports: The annual reports of Deloitte LLP are the vital source of information for this research and are easily accessible from the firms website. The information obtained from the annual reports is used in calculating and interpreting the financial ratios. The financial statements also include last year performance which helped me a lot in analyzing the trends in performance and moreover it includes the graphs and charts that assisted me a lot to understand it in less time. However, there is too much information in the annual reports so its easy to get overwhelmed. Books: To get the initial guide on how to start the project I have read BSc (Hons) in applied accounting published by BBP learning media. The book guided me on how to approach this project in a more formal and organised way and facilitated me in every stage of the research from choosing the research topic to writing the skills and learning statement. Other books that I used for the project are drawn from ACCA syllabus. These books are used with the aim to refresh my mind with what I have learnt in ACCA studies. Electronic researches: A vast majority of information is available in the electronic media which benefited a lot during the research stage. The websites are used to get the latest news and other related information. These websites not only provided me the information about Deloitte LLP but also that of its competitors and market. Regulatory body website: The Professional oversight board is a UK regulatory body which specializes in auditing, accounting and oversights the accounting profession. The website used in this research was www.frc.org.uk. The website contains reports about the accountancy market and key facts and trends. Part 3 The analysis, results conclusions: The firm: Deloitte LLP is the UK member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT), a Swiss Vereinwhose member firms are a network of legally separate and independent entities. Swiss Vereinis the structure that is recognised under the current composition of Swiss law where organizations are established as Limited liability business. Swiss Vereinorganisations are characterised with a corporate organisation that is decentralised. (Swiss Verein). DTT does not provide services to clients, or direct, manage or control its member firms. This decentralised structure allows DTT organisation to establish policies; member firms apply these policies in quality assurance processes that comply with the local regulatory, legislative and professional requirements. (Annual report 2008) Business Analysis: The Mission strategy: The firms mission is to be recognised as the best professional service provider and its slogan is To help clients and people excel. The firm achieves this by identifying and focusing on the needs of clients, providing the high standard professional services and by investing in their people. (Mission statement). Our mission makes reference to our people, as management recognises their importance in achieving our vision, (Deloitte Orla Graham, HR manager). Deloitte aims to be the number one firm for career and personal development and they have a clear strategy to achieve this. Its strategy involves providing continuous training and development opportunities to their staff to ensure that the services provided to the clients are up to the highest standard of quality and complies with all the regulations.In the past, Deloitte has focused on scale and global coverage but now it is focusing on the standard of excellence (Deloitte Vision strategy). In 2003, Deloitte was recognised as the UKs fastest growing professional firm and in the last few years the firm was acknowledged because they have broader range of skills and highest quality services showing their proficiency. Their strategy focuses on four elements: Broader range of capabilities than its competitors Focus on quality The environment where people can develop and excel A culture that emphasis teaming and high performance (Annual report 2008) The Services offered by the firm: The firm specialises in four services which are Audit, Consultancy, Tax and Corporate finance. These services are provided in different industries such as non-profit organisations, real estate, sports business group, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality leisure, technology, media communication etc. Porters five forces and market analysis: Porter five forces is the framework for industry analysis that identifies the five factors which influence the performance and position within the given market. Although there are several thousand firms in the market but the audit and consultancy market is highly concentrated and dominated by the big fours in the UK and globally. Deloitte touche, KPMG, PwC and Ernst and young audit all of the FTSE 100 companies and represent 99% of the audit fees in the FTSE 350 showing that the market is much concentrated by the big four accountancy firms.. There are two segments of the market. The first one is FTSE 100 companies and FTSE 250 which are covered by the big four and the other segment is the smaller listed companies which are serviced by both the Big four and mid-tier firms (Oxera Report- April 2006). Threats of new entrants in the market are low because of high costs, long payback period and significant business risk. Threats of substitute within accountancy market are also very low because audit, tax and other accounting services are required by law and regulations. The accountancy market in the UK is still growing, but at a much slower rate than in the late 1990s (PRlog Press release 11 April 2007) The main clients of big four accounting firms are the top ranked companies listed on the stock exchange and the stakeholders (lenders, shareholders etc) of these FTSE companies require them to appoint big four accounting firms for professional services because they have the expertise and technical capability to deal with the complexity of these companies which restricts the buyer power within the audit market. As seen, these companies have effectively no choice of auditors other than Big 4s as large companies do not favor the mid-tier firms There is a strong competition in the market particularly between big 4s. Tendering process is been used to gain new clients. However, these firms may find it difficult to offer clients different services to gain competitive advantage as most of the accountancy services are standardized. Switching rates in the market are low- around 4% per year on average for listed companies. Few companies have an explicit policy of switching auditors at regular intervals and competitive tendering does not occur frequently -nearly 75% of the companies surveyed tender once every five years or less, and more than 70% of the FTSE companies have not held competitive tendering in the last 15 years. Organizing tenders, and then changing auditors are costly to both the accounting firms and companies. (Oxera Report- April 2006) SWOT Analysis: The SWOT analysis of Deloitte has been conducted solely with the aim of understanding and evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and is detailed below: Strengths: Reputation Brand of the firm Deloitte has been enjoying good reputation and has brand awareness in the market. This reputation and brand are the intangible unique resources and facilitate the firm to attract multinational clients, this helps them to charge premium for the quality services provided and thus increases revenue and profitability. Skilled staff and effective leadership As the firm is in service industry, keeping an effective management team is a key for its success. The senior management team has been drawn from wide range of sources and helps the firm to have diversity in the skills and this could be evidenced in Sunday times, where Deloitte has been listed in the Best big companies to work and also have been named as the No. 1 graduate employer in finance and professional services in the National Graduate Recruitment Awards, (Award winners) taking the award from PwC which has held top spot for the past three years. These highly qualified and experienced staff flourishes the firm to provide the clients with best quality services in a professional manner. . Quality Culture The firm has a high quality and high performance culture. This is achieved by embedding quality into people via learning, training and awarding employees with high performance through competitive reward strategy. This facilitates the firm to offer quality services to its clients which results in high customer satisfaction rate. Weaknesses: The structure The firm operates as a limited liability partnership. Under this structure, partners have limited liability and are not responsible for the misconduct of the other partners but due to this structure the firm may find it difficult to raise finance other than relying on partners and bank loans. Opportunities: During the current economic downturn, most of the companies are reviewing for cash flow management, risk management policies to ensure there are appropriate procedures in place to avoid any losses, and optimising costs etc. This brings an opportunity for Deloitte to enhance its business and risk management services to advise on the risk practices adopted by the clients. Moreover, during the recession a lot of companies are filing for bankruptcies which may also result in increase in consultancy service demand as clients may be looking for administration and restructuring advice. Deloitte is utilising this opportunity as this could be evidenced when Louise Brittain (UKs leading insolvency practitioner) joined the firm in its reorganisation service practice and will aid the firm in getting high profile appointments. ( Deloitte Press release 12 Feb 2009) Deloitte has been appointed as administrators of Land of leather (furniture store retailer), Woolworth Plc (the high street retailer), Entertainment UK (UKs leading distributor of entertainment products) showing that the firm is well equipped to meet the opportunities. However, these opportunities are short term in nature and the firm needs to identify other long term opportunities from the market that exploit their strengths. Threats: As accountancy is not a recession proof profession, the current economic crisis has brought threats for Deloitte and may have serious consequences. As Deloitte LLP provides audit services to clients that involves giving appropriate opinion on the truth and fairness of the financial statements and on the going concern assumption (whether the clients will be in existence in the foreseeable future). During this financial crisis, accounting firms need to have prudent approach in carrying out the audits of clients as during the recession the clients may be tempted to use dubious accounting practice to retain the shareholders confidence. Also, auditors are under pressure to carry out detailed testing whether the client is able to borrow money from its bank due to insufficient borrowing facilities in the economy. Inappropriate opinion given on the future existence of the client may put auditors in the risk of being sued for negligence and may result in fines and penalties. Moreover, many companies have filed for bankruptcies which will reduce the client base for Deloitte and will impact on the performance. Non financial performance evaluation: Staff satisfaction: One of the critical success factors for Deloitte is the skilled and highly motivated staff. These people are the unique assets and will underpin the performance of the firm. The survey conducted by the The Workplace Engagement Specialist shows high level of pride and job satisfaction among staff with 76% staff proud to work for the firm and 72% find their job stimulating. Deloitte spends about  £12m a year on developing its employees and has a dedicated team of trainers who can help their staff and every staff member has a career development adviser. (The Workplace Engagement Specialist) Quality: Quality is the core competence of Deloitte and a key factor in retaining the existing clients and attracting the new appointments. Deloitte has a high performance culture where providing the high quality service is paramount which helps the firm to gain competitive advantage. Their Quality Agenda focuses on three elements; clients, infrastructure and people. The firm emphasises in understanding the clients expectations and this is achieved by working closely with clients, embedding the quality into their people and infrastructure which focuses on effective leadership, internal training programs, professional standards and review assessments. (Annual report). New partners / talent: Recruiting the required level of staff is as important as maintaining the skilled staff. It is essential for the firm to bring new talent. The firm is seen as continuously investing in people; in 2007, there were 11,000 partners and member staff working across UK. In 2008, this number increased to 12,000. Deloitte has high staff turnover rate of 17% (Sunday times) as compared with its competitor PwC which was 13% (PwC Annual Report 2008) indicating staff is less satisfied with the firm comparatively and leaving at a higher rate than PwC even though PwC has more number of staff than Deloitte still their staff turnover ratio is low. Financial performance evaluation using Ratio analyses: Ratio analysis is the widely used technique in evaluating the organsation`s financial performance because this method helps to summarise the results in a simple way and moreover inter firm comparison helps to conclude how is the organisation performing in relation to industry and other organisations within the market and encourages to think out side the box. The main indicators used to evaluate the firms performance are sales growth, profitability, liquidity measures and financing arrangements and are discussed below. Sales Trend Analysis: The revenue of the firm is constantly increasing. Gross revenue increased by 11.5% in the year ended 31st May 2008 as benchmarked with last year exceeding the  £2000m target to  £2,010m. The competitor PwCs revenue was  £ 2,244m in 2008 which was a 7% increase in revenue as compared to last year showing that Deloitte is growing rapidly as compared to its competitors. The Deloittes revenue and that of its competitor PwC has been shown in the following graph comparing the revenue from year to year. The group is managed by the matrix structure which incorporates both service lines and the nature of the market to which services are supplied (Annual Report 2008).The sales revenue analysed by service line/segment has been shown below. Interpretation: Revenue analysis 2006: Overall, turnover grew by 15% to  £1,559m and 32%, 27%, 24% and 17% of the revenue was contributed by audit, tax, consultancy and corporate finance respectively. The consultancy division performed very well in 2006 as the divisions revenue grew by 22% and this growth has led the Deloitte being recognized as the markets leading business consultancy service provider. In 2006, the audit division contributed the substantial amount of revenue and increased by 17.2% during the year as the audit market share in FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 continues to grow. Revenue analysis 2007: Revenue grew by 15.6% to  £1,802m when PwCs revenue grew by only 6% to  £2,107m indicating that Deloitte is growing at the faster rate than its competitors. The reason for this growth was the strong market, reputation and talented staff which have given Deloitte the opportunity to gain new clients and win many new assignments from existing clients all across business segments and industries according to Chief executive. In 2007, the firms revenue grew by higher rate than its competitors which was 6.1% for PwC LLP and 10.5% for KPMG LLP. Once again, the significant amount of revenue was contributed by the audit division. The consultancy division is also growing but at slow rate as compared to last year. Overall, all the divisions revenue grew and ultimately resulted in a healthy progressive year. Revenue analysis 2008: In 2008, the firm exceeded its  £2b target and reported a strong growth of 11.5% given the complex markets. Deloitte is seen as having a superior performance than its competitors PwC as their revenue only grew by 7%. On this excellent performance, Deloittes CEO claimed that they have surpassed their competitor PwC in terms of standing in the market place but PwCs new chairman, Ian Powell denied Deloittes claims that it has overhauled its rivals in terms of reputation saying it was pretty difficult to prove. (Accountancy age -14 Aug 2008) The reason for this growth is the Deloitte brand, the experienced professional staff and managements efforts to identify and capture high growth opportunities. All the divisions are growing but at slower rate as compared to last year. The reason for this could be the UK economy shrinking which has restricted many business opportunities for organisations which certainty impacts consultancy and corporate finance divisions. Moreover, in this economic crisis, clients are forced to reduce costs so they may have appointed mid-tier firms which may have influenced Deloitte`s performance. However, audit division grew by 11% and is now the co-leader in the share of FTSE 250 audits. (Annual report 2008). Profitability ratios: Profitability ratios measure the performance of the management and the return they are generating from the assets invested in the business by the partners. Gross profit margin: Gross profit margin measures the firms profitability from its operations and represents the relationship between sales revenue and directly related costs in providing services to clients and is calculated as: Gross profit margin = Gross profit / Sales revenue x 100 The gross profit margin of year ended 2006, 2007 and 2008 are 49%, 49% and 50% respectively showing that the firms gross profit is increasing. As Deloitte is in service industry, the only directly related costs are staff costs and expenses disbursements on client assignments and gross profit is calculated as the difference between the sales revenue and these directly related costs. The firm gross margin is nearly constant in the last three years. This shows that the firm is very efficient in controlling its costs in relation to its sales and in a better position to cover its other costs such as interest, tax etc. The staff costs are the major cost in providing services and represent 36.3%, 36.8% and 35.5% of sales revenue in the last three years, which are nearly constant. Net profit margin: It is the ratio that measures the overall performance of the firm after all the expenses have been deducted such as interest and tax and is calculated as: Net profit margin = Profit after interest and tax / Sales revenue x 100 There was an upward trend in the net profit margin in the last three years and net profit margin was 29%, 31% and 32% in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. As seen in the chart, where PwCs net profit margin is declining from 35% in 2006 to 33.3% in 2007 and 30% in 2008 Deloittes net profit margin is increasing. However, where the sales revenue increased by 12% in 2008 net profit margin only increased by 3% which shows that although the firm is growing in terms of revenue and profitability but not in a consistent way i.e. if sales are growing then net profits should also increase by the same proportion (although it is very ideal situation) but it is not the case with the firm. Overall, the firms net profit margin is increasing. The net profit margin of Deloitte was higher as compared to competitors net profit margin which was 30% for PwC and 20.40% for KPMG in 2008. Even though the competitors revenue and net profit was higher but the net profit margin ratio was low as compared to Delo ittes indicating that the firm is earning high profitability rate than its competitors. Profit per partner: The profit per partner of Deloitte and PwC LLP is shown below: The profit per partner calculated above represents an average figure but partners share profits based upon the evaluation and the contribution of each individual partner to achieve the strategic objectives of the firm. Although the firms average number of partners also increased from 641 to 672 members in 2008 but it didnt deteriorate the average profit per partner because of rising profits. As seen in the chart, where Deloittes average profit per partner is increasing PwCs profit per partner is decreasing. The profit per partner is consistently increasing which will ultimately results in partners more confidence in the firms performance. Liquidity ratios and Cash flow management: For a successful firm, making a healthy profit is not enough; the firm must be effective in cash management because cash is considered as the lifeblood of the organisation. Profitability measures are subject to criticism of manipulation and short termism but cash/liquidity measures are hard to manipulate and gives an indication of the firms solvency position. The liquidity ratios with their interpretation are given below: Current ratio Current ratio measures the firms ability to cover its current liabilities (short term debts and obligations) by its current assets. Higher current ratio indicates that the firm is liquid. The ideal ratio is considered to be 2:1 i.e. the organization has twice assets to cover its current liabilities but it differs from industry to industry. Current ratio is calculated as = Current assets / Current liabilities The firms liquidity position is steadily improving. In 2006, the firm has a cash balance of  £10m and an overdraft of  £22m showing a net deficit of  £12m but the firm has other liquid assets to cover its current liabilities thus a current ratio of 1.7. This overdraft had been repaid in the next year with the cash cash equivalents of  £51m showing a healthy cash position with a current ratio of 1.9. In 2008, the company has a strong liquidity position when it accomplished the ultimate benchmark level of 2:1 which was in line with PwCs current ratio of 2:1 and was higher than KPMGs which was 1.5:1. The reason for this is that the firms current assets grew by 19% while current liabilities increased by just 6% in 2008 and is moving towards more stable position. Receivables Day Ratio: Receivables day measures the average number of days the receivables take to pay for the services provided. The firm has an effective working capital management if the receivables pay within the credit period given to them as the firm will also be able to meet its short term obligations as they fall due. Receivables day ratio = Receivables / Credit sales x 365 The receivables day ratio has been constantly improving from 116 days in 2006 to 104 days in 2007 and 101 days in 2008 showing that the firm is recovering its money back from receivables more efficiently. However, the receivables collection period of the firm is very high as the competitors collection period which is in the range of 80-90 days indicating that Deloitte is offering its clients extended credit terms to boost revenue. Although the firms sales revenue is increasing with an increase in receivables yet the firm managed to keeps the receivables collection period improving. Operating cash flow ratio (OCF): OCF ratio measures the liquidity position. Using cash flow as opposed to income or profit is a better measure as it expresses the firms ability to pay its short term debt from the cash generated from its operations. If the ratio is less than 1, it indicates that the firm is not raising enough cash from its operations to meet its short term obligations and may indicate the need to raise additional funds from other sources to pay its debts on time