The Emperor’s Club

The Emperor's Club IQ . Do you think Professor William Hundred did the right thing? What are the ethical and moral dilemmas would he have experienced? Did his choice help or hinder Sedgwick? A. I believe Professor William Hundred did not do the right thing. Selecting Sedgwick Bell over Martin Blithe, not on the bases of merit, was not only unfair to Blithe but can also be perceived as favoritism. It is true that he wished to see Sedgwick Bell succeed and wished to motivate him to work harder. However, the means to that end were wrong. Motivating a person is very important.It helps increase confidence and builds up self-esteem. Professor Hundred did his very best to encourage Sedgwick to apply himself more in class and at the school. He was quite successful as well. However, Just when it seemed he had finally realized his potential and was on track to make to the final of the Julius Caesar competition, it turned out that he would lose out to Martin Blithe by 1 mark. Professor Hundred thought that this would De-motivate him and further hamper his development. In order to keep him focused towards his goal, Professor Hundred decided to grade him higher than what he deserved.He thought about what would happen if he didn't select Sedgwick Bell. He, however, did not think of the repercussions of his actions on selecting Sedgwick. The implications of his actions on Martin Blithe were not perceived by him at all. The ethical dilemmas are quite clear. Was selecting Sedgwick Bell over Martin Blithe, by changing his grade, the right thing? Did he deserve to be in the final? Selection by any other way other than merit, was it acceptable? When realizing that Sedgwick was cheating, expose his lie or adhere to the headmaster and keep mum about it? The moral areas are a little bit more than lack and white.What would be the effect on Sedgwick if he wasn't selected? Given his relation with his father, would he be able to recover after that? Would he give up trying all together po st failure? And what about himself? Was he doing the right thing by keeping quiet about the cheating Just because Sedgwick father was the Senator? And had he failed as a professor, a mentor? Professor William Hundred believed his decision would help Sedgwick Bell, to grow, build up his esteem and most importantly, help him have belief in himself. On the contrary, as we could see, it did not aid him in any way.By increasing Sedgwick grade, though with the view of motivating him, was unfair as he did not deserve it. During the competition, on realizing that Sedgwick was cheating, Professor Hundred, on instructions from the headmaster, kept quiet about it. This was his second mistake. This was the second time Sedgwick was given a free pass without any repercussions. This led him to believe that he could get through life, doing what he wanted, in any manner desirable without facing the consequences for his actions. He had no respects for rules, regulations or authority. He continued tha t throughout his life with absolute Gerard to principles.And this holds true, as we see, that even after 25 years, he cheats in the competition. After being caught, he doesn't have even the slightest concern about exposure or, for that matter, any remorse. Q. What would you do as a teacher? What would you do as a student? A. Contrary to what Sedgwick Bell's father mentioned in the movie, I believe it is the Job of the teacher to mould the student and create structure in their life. Coming to SST. Benedict School for Boys, which is an organization of sorts, Sedgwick was an outsider. Professor William Hundred did his very best to welcome him into the origination.After considerable effort and time, Sedgwick was motivated to work hard towards his education. As a teacher, everything Professor Hundred did till then was absolutely correct, not unlike what I would have done. In my opinion, motivating students to apply themselves, giving them guidance, encouraging them to work harder, basica lly, mentor them are some of the very essential qualities of an excellent educator and Professor Hundred, definitely, was one. However, when it came to the Julius Caesar Competition, I would not have done any of the things that the professor id.He seemed to be a very ethical man most of them times. However, when it came to Sedgwick, his ethics seemed to be on a shaky ground. To start off, I would not have changed his grade. It would not only be unfair to Martin Blithe, who rightfully belonged to the final, but to Sedgwick as well. It was true that he tried very hard, his progress was tremendous and he had a difficult relationship with his father. However, none of these factors change the fact that he did not deserve to be in the final on the very grounds of merit. Also, when realizing that Sedgwick was cheating,Professor Hundred immediately told the headmaster. The headmaster refused to let Professor Hundred expose Sedgwick only on the grounds that Sedgwick was the Senator's son. If I were in Professor Hunter's shoes at that time, I would first try and convince the headmaster that covering up Sedgwick deceit was wrong and that he must be exposed. If even then the headmaster were to refuse to comply, I would have to call Sedgwick out on his dishonesty. The implications of such an action on my Job would surely hinder me, but I would expose him, Just because it was the right thing to do.If not then, in front of the whole school, then surely later. I would make sure Sedgwick deception did not go unpunished. As a student, my only real Job is to try and absorb everything around me, the lessons; the knowledge gained from them, in and outside the classrooms and evolve. Basically, all one needs to be is a sponge. Some of the things that help a student evolve are his peers, his friends. Sedgwick did not think much about them when his mind was set on something, be it disrupting someone's studies or Just having fun, even if it gets them into trouble. I would never take ad vantage of my friends.I would treat them exactly the way I would want to be treated by them. Most importantly, I would try to learn from them. Temptation is a strong emotion which deters everyone's path sometime or another. However, if one's principles are sound, one does not need to worry about straying from the right path. Cheating, whatever be the circumstances is wrong. It is not only unethical but it also goes against my beliefs of Just. The guilt of taking somebody else's position especially when I did not deserve it would be very strong. I would also not be as callous about my education as Sedgwick.A famous and powerful father may get me in any prestigious universities but my learning would be compromised. Most importantly, the guilt of cheating and getting away with it would surely keep me up at night. There has to be a sense of Justice. The repercussions of my actions must be known to me. Rules and regulations are the building blocks for the development of individual struct ure. As a teacher, I would work towards helping students realize their potential but within the framework of what is ethically correct. As a student, I would try and embrace the principles, learn and evolve. Q.How would behavior like Sedgwick impact organization behavior? How would Sedgwick like attitude and behavior impact his life? A. Sedgwick Bell had a very strong assertive personality. He had absolute disregard for rules, regulations, principles and authority. In any organizational setting, such behavior would be very disruptive. His lack of respect for authority would make working in a hierarchical environment very difficult. Carrying out assigned tasks and duties received from the directly above echelon would not be done effectively or otherwise if there is no everyone from whosoever it has been delegated.He was also very self righteous. Such behavioral individualist traits would make it hard to work efficiently within the organizational framework. There would be lack of comm unication, vertically as well as horizontally. Sedgwick failed to think about others as he did not have much concern for others. Such behavior in an organization would not help him function well with his colleagues. Interaction with people will help one gain knowledge and grow. Lack of concern for others feelings will not only restrict his development, it will make him a Uriah within the organization.All in all, it will affect his functioning capabilities. Within an organization, one functions with a set of goals, short term as well as long term. Sedgwick did not have any planned objectives. He did not know, nor did he wish to gain from his time at SST. Benedicts. Such behavior can lead to stagnancy within any organization. There will be no scope for growth. Sedgwick, however, when motivated was ready to apply himself and work. Such a quality would be very useful in an organization setting. When motivated enough, an individual would be much more productive.The individual and company goals would be met more quickly and efficiently. What one learns in his early life are some lessons which will shape him for the rest of his life. Sedgwick Bell learned that he could always get ahead without really applying himself and without facing any repercussions for his actions. His disregard for anyone other than himself will make it very difficult for him to lead a happy and successful life. To an outsider he would seem happy and satisfied, but without the respect of others, especially his own family, he will not really have accomplished anything.The first time he cheated in the Julius Caesar competition, he did that as he lacked the confidence to believe that he could actually win. That doesn't take away from the fact that was wrong. However, his attitude that even on being caught he wouldn't be exposed due to the clout his father had is even more troublesome. Such a laid back attitude to rules and a belief that he could get out of any situation will not help him in his li fe at all. Would he pass on these values to his children, the same way he received them from his own father? In his professional life, he might become very successful, which he does, but at what expense?We see it yet again, that even after 25 years he cheats in the competition. He does so with no remorse and completely discounts the repercussions. The only time he feels any guilt over what he has done is when his son finds out. For a second we are lead to believe, that maybe, there is some hope. Alas, that isn't true. There are ways to get ahead in life, but having an indifferent attitude towards rules and regulations is not one of them. He might become a Senator, but to really make a difference, he needs to understand people, follow the rules and mostly importantly, learn to value principles.

I could never believe in the rule of law again Essay

â€Å"I could never believe in the rule of law again.† Says David, reflecting on the events of 1948. Why does he come to this conclusion? Larry Watson’s Montana 1948 is a story set at Bentrock, Montanan focuses on the family struggles of the Haydens between loyalty and justice. David Hayden, the adult narrator, looks back at the summer when he was twelve years old, and recalls all the life-changing events which completely lead to his disbelief of the rule of law. Young David once believed in the rule of law, and believed the adult is righteous to uphold justice, but on the contrary, what unveiled before him is how the Hayden family neglect the law and abuse power, is how his grandfather attempts to protect his criminal son, is how uncle Frank’s misdeeds is covered throughout. David’s perspectives on the rule of law is initially influenced by the way the members of his family abuse their powers. In the position of sheriff in generation, the Hayden family is the one enforce the law all the time, even above the law. Knowing â€Å"when to look and when to look away† is the principle of grandfather Julian, as a former sheriff, who ‘was a dominating man who drew sustenance and strength from controlling others’. It is a sign of corruption as law is not taking seriously. As for Wesley, although he seems not â€Å"get a hang of it†, he actually lived happily and proudly under Julian’s power at the start. This is evident when David recounts his drunken father said to Gail â€Å"They couldn’t arrest us-we are the law. †after Julian intimidate back the cowboys at a bar. With power in their hands, they are able to do whatever they want against the law without being punished. David was shocked when he discovered that both of his father and grandfather were in conspiracy of knowledge about Frank raping Indian girls, but just indulged it. Before reaching the central climax, David already finds out that people are not equal in front of the law, powerful people is always dominant. The light of justice is getting dim and dim in response to the two main characters’ action. Naà ¯ve as David, could originally believe his grandfather will take care of everything, if Wes chose to tell on Frank. â€Å"He’ll shake him up and shout in Frank’s face that he’d better straighten up  and fly right or there’ll be hell to pay.† However the reality is that neither Wes nor Julian brings about justice at first. Wes doesn’t want to breach family loyalty, so he claimed he â€Å"won’t do anything to arrange it†, despite of ultimately overcoming his moral dilemma and standing up to Julian. Julian’s confrontation to Wes that â€Å"You don’t lock up your brother† for raping Indians is evidence of inequality before law based on racism. His following action on setting Frank free by attacking David’s house is even more lawless. After stumble into these disturbing events, David realizes that th e one who should be the representative of law, ironically, is the one break the law first. If there is the rule of law, then â€Å"sins-crimes-are not supposed to go unpunished†. Frank did pay his life for the bill eventually, but it didn’t undergo the ways in law. In order to preserve the family reputation, all the family members are in agreement of concealing the truth of Frank’s death and all his crimes. Thus, justice is not achieved for dead Marie and those Indian patients. At that time, David senses how powerless the law is, so he can’t help but ask â€Å"How many secrets had our town agreed to keep?† And since â€Å"any human community might omit stories of sexual abuse, murder, suicide†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he no longer holds his childhood faith in the rule of law again. All these encounters in David’s younger days, make him aware of the human intervention of law. The rule of law can be alternated by human, the rule of law can be rewritten by human, the rule of law doesn’t always deliver justice. When the family loyalty clashes with justice, the rule of law has to compromise.

The Company Report. Astra Zeneca Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Company Report. Astra Zeneca - Essay Example AstraZeneca was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in London. It has 27 manufacturing sites in 19 countries. The company's portfolio of marketed medicines include Arimidex, Crestor, Nexium, Seroquel, Symbicort, Pulmicort, Zoladex, Seloken/Toprol-XL, Diprivan and Merrem. Across all activities, AstraZeneca continued to work closely with all stakeholders to provide medicines that meet patient needs and add value for society, within the scope of existing therapy areas and beyond. 1. Strengthening pipeline of new medicines: To bring the most benefit for patients and those who treat them, one must continue to understand what makes a difference for them - and apply that insight across all activities to remain targeted on their changing needs. For the future, sustainable long-term success depends on further strengthening the flow of new products - whether from own laboratories or from outside AstraZeneca. 2. Marketing: Understanding the customer requirements and inventing a product that solves customer problems will not generate revenues for any organization. Success of any product depends on the way it is projected, marketed and on its lifecycle. This not exempt to pharmaceuticals industry. So, constant efforts have been made by the company on Marketing and delivering the full potential of all marketed medicines, through rigorous life-cycle management and excellent customer support. 3. Investment:. That investment is focused on life-cycle management of key marketed products, developing new products with an emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness improvements, and intelligent acquisition and licensing of products and technologies that will supplement our internal efforts. Major investments were also announced during the year in new R&D facilities that will support this strategy, notably in the UK and China. Company's recent performance: Strengthening pipeline of new medicines: Enhancing in-house discovery and development: During 2006, the company continued to improve the efficiency of internal R&D processes and the effectiveness of decision-making so that we can quickly eliminate weaker drug candidates. The results of drive to improve productivity are reflected in the sustained size of the early development portfolio. During 2006, 21 candidate drugs were selected for development (compared with 25 in 2005 and 18 in 2004).We have a number of compounds in the later stages of

Liam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Liam - Essay Example I didn't choose the subject beforehand so I knew nothing about him until I spoke with his teacher after my final observation was completed. I chose the child that occupied the most central seat in the class, but I could have used any number of other criteria to choose a subject. I came up with these criteria before entering the class for the first time. I had no idea whether my subject would be male or female, what their age would be, or what their other physical and mental characteristics would be. Upon completion of the study, I found that my hypotheses were incorrect. Though psychosocial, cognitive and biosocial developments are interrelated, I focused on the biosocial domain while conducting and documenting this study. The average 4-5 year old, regardless of sex or race, is active and consumes and uses about 1,700 calories per day, and sleeps ten to eleven hours at night. They have gained greater control of their gross motor skills which enables them to run, skip, hop, climb, and jump with fewer accidents and more self-confidence. They are beginning to refine their fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, enabling them to draw simple, recognizable shapes and print a few capital letters. They have almost fully established the preference for right- or left-handedness. They are also beginning to lose their baby teeth and may grow a few inches taller during these years. Liam I decide to attend a local kindergarten class to observe 5-year olds in action. I wanted to verify or debunk my previously mentioned hypotheses regarding the subjects drawn by children and if they still built and took apart items. I decided to focus my observations on the most centrally located student in the classroom: Liam (a pseudonym). I later interviewed him and his teacher to get a better picture of a typical 5-year old. Liam is taller than most of his classmates, with brown hair and hazel eyes, and a constantly disheveled appearance. I found observing him in a class of thirty other youngsters proved to be a challenge because he was always moving about. While the other students were going to their "cubbies" to get their paint shirts he was busy alternating between socializing and knocking his drawing paper onto the floor with his gestures while talking animatedly with other students. When he finally put his paint shirt on, after much struggling, it became apparent that it was the cleanest item of his attire. He'd tripped over his feet while running on the playground at recess. He immediately knocked his container of paint off the table and onto the floor, and himself, with his broad gesticulations with the paint brush. His attempts to clean his mess created further mess, and while the rest of the class was quietly painting, his teacher helped him clean up, though he was more of a mess than the floor had been. When he finally set to painting, his picture was not of a house or any of the other subjects I'd imagined. His art consisted of broad brushstrokes of deep, vibrant, rich colors: purples, cyan, and maroon. He had

Informative writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Informative writing - Essay Example These include the basis of meeting and discussing with clients as to what the exact requirements are, drawing up a brief as to what should be done, and finding out creative solutions for the clients which is one Herculean task. The field of advertising is renowned because it creates a spell for each and everyone yet it does not reveal the complexities that remain within its own folds. It lets the people to enjoy the different shades of beauty, fashion and product advertising but does not tell much about what goes on behind the scenes and how difficult it is to convince the clients to begin with. What is even more distressing to know is that at times the varied advertising agencies are taken for a ride by the clients. They are not given their dues for a long time which essentially means that the wages and salaries of employees are put on hold. Even though advertising looks great from the outside, its inner side is very horrific to state the least. People are made to work at odd hours of the day and even night. The clients can absolutely rule the roost because they care less about the ones who work for them and get their work done. This is in essence a form of abuse that is being committed by the clients as and when they wish to exploit. As advertising comprises of many diversified business avenues as well, most noteworthy being public relations, event management, direct selling and so on, it covers quite a few areas which is a headache for the advertising agencies and their personnel. The advertising agencies therefore recruit individuals who can work for long hours, have it in them to handle pressure at odd times of the day, can interact with all sorts of clients, are creative on most of the occasions, and do not say no ever to any one. These are some of the salient points which go into manufacturing an advertising genius and this is the reason he is paid handsomely but that too after a long period of time. The initial years are always the most difficult ones i n terms of work-life balance and salary issues. Hence one when someone suggests that advertising is a leisure field and it makes the people feel excited, they are completely in the wrong because it does not happen so in entirety. There are a number of reasons which state how advertising will have to come out in the open with its real face. In line with this discussion it is significant to comprehend that advertising gives its own people a tough time. The consumers are always misled at times which are somewhat of a shambles for the entire field under discussion. The misconceptions regarding advertising are immensely drawn up and it is about time that these are resolved to produce high level linkages between the people and the ones who are advertising them in the first place. The element of consumerism becomes apparent within the understanding of advertising and how it is making its mark within the related scheme of things. In the end, it would be appropriate to state that advertising is a very difficult field for beginners. They must be mentally very tough to adhere to the rigorous routines and work pressures that would come their way. It would make them stand in a league of their own if devotion and patience remain the keys. Therefore advertising is a field that has a number of misconceptions attached with it and it is very apt to state here that these must be shed off for the betterment of the youngsters who want to join this

Are two sets of GAAP really needed for Colleges and Universities Research Paper

Are two sets of GAAP really needed for Colleges and Universities - Research Paper Example This resulted in difference in accounting procedures and financial reporting models adopted by the private institutions as compared to the public institutions which followed fund-based reporting. Later with the introduction of GASB in 1984, public institutions abandoned fund-based reporting to adopt the GASB guidance to conform to federal government directive. This has led to difference in the comparability of the financial statements where to institutions uses different rules and procedures in financial reporting (Hoyle, et al 831). The user of independent university and colleges are mainly rating agencies, donors, students, parents and federal agencies. The FASB provides for recognition of contribution, pledges, impairments and investments. These disclosures are important to the stakeholders in making decisions. On the other hand GASB does not allow for of contributed services, trusts, capitalization of software and pledges, are not necessary since the stake holders are interested in such disclosures. Therefore, the two set of GAAPs does not allow comparability between the public university and independent institutions (Ruppel 563). As delineated above both the FASB and GASB occasion disparity in display, disclosure, measurement and recognition thus challenging the comparability of financial statement. This occasions difficulties in ascertaining the transparency in financial reporting between the two similar institutions. Although both public and private universities and colleges objectives are similar, they differ on interested stakeholders who may require different disclosures to be made in the financial statements. Therefore, the financial statement and the disclosures should be tailor made to meet the need of the stakeholders. In conclusion, if the two boards could harmonize the measurements, display, disclosure and recognition of the financial reporting model and

Investigate shear transfer in bolted members Essay

Investigate shear transfer in bolted members - Essay Example Similarly, â€Å"the stresses at the yield point of the thread, based on the area at bottom of thread, when nuts were screwed on without tightening down by spanner against the bolts tightened by spanner, had reduction of 20 percent†. It is important to understand that the failure of bolt is the characteristics of the minimum residual stresses of the bolt material. During an exercise, consistent stresses were derived for ordinary black, and turned and fitted bolts upon their respective failure. As per Peter (1950) experimentation, â€Å"the yield point of thread, however in the case of the black bolts was approximately 30 percent, which is lower than yield point obtained for turned and fitted bolts†. It is important to specify that in all the failures the damage initiated from the root of the thread, however there were instances when the threads stripped. It has been experimental proven by Peter (1950) that the â€Å"strength of a bolt in direct tension is greatly affected by the amount of initial tension induced when the nuts were made spanner tight; this is a factor which is uncontrollable from design perspective. The strength is dependent upon resistance of the threads against stripping†. It is practically concluded that, â€Å"most of the stress on the threads will be shear as the tendency in screwing up will be to force the threads off the bolt or nut in a direction parallel to the axis i.e. circumferential due to the friction between the adjacent threads†. Peter (1950) has noted that â€Å"when considering the allowable unit stress which may safely be adopted the probability that some of the stock bolts may be wrought iron, instead of mild steel† must not be ignored. The bolts which assist in the hanging of the runways are exposed to direct tension. It is therefore recommended that conservative approach shall be adopted, with specific reference to the determination of the safe loads for these bolts. We shall

Psychological disorders Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Psychological disorders - Movie Review Example He is amoral and has no problem being rude and condescending to his friends. After he tires of Tom Ripley’s company, he decides to tell him to leave by telling him he is boring with little regard for his feelings. He calls him a leach who is taking over his possessions and his life although he is the one who had invited him to stay with him. Additionally, he continuously has other sexual relations behind his girlfriends back and shows no remorse for it. He is so charming that he has no problem talking himself out of any problem. Discrepancies and any shortcomings he may have are hidden under a faà §ade of unrestrained adventurism and nonchalance. Although he has an endless supply of his father’s money, he selfishly refuses to lend any money to his lover who urgently needs it to have an abortion. He additionally cannot accept responsibility for her death when she commits suicide after the fact. Individuals suffering from narcissistic personality disorder can be effectively treated through individual cognitive behavioral therapy over a long period of time. The goal or outcome of the treatment is usually to modify distorted thoughts while creating a realistic self image. It is worth noting that successful treatment is usually hindered by the individual’s unwillingness to admit that they suffer from the disorder (APA). Psychopaths intellectualize and rationalize their behavior in a manner that shows dysfunction of conscience. They show no remorse for defrauding and hurting others. They are unable to adapt to societal norms and are usually unable to truly find their true identity. They tend to take up the identities of those that they admire or of people they would want to be. Tom Ripley is the perfect example of a psychopath whose main desire is to belong to a higher social class. He passes himself off as a Princeton graduate by wearing a blazer with the Princeton crest on the pocket. He fools Mr. Greenleaf into

HUMAN RIGHTS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

HUMAN RIGHTS - Assignment Example The Second World War was unique in its own way and presented number of challenges. It had brought about destruction and catastrophe in a form never seen before (Ishay, 2008, p.179). It saw the usage of atomic bomb. A bomb that was strong enough to bring down entire cities. A single bomb resulted in life loss of over 46 thousand in Japan. The war had left millions dead, and those who managed to survive did not count themselves lucky just because of the troubles they faced. The problems at the end of the Second World War were multifold, ranging from economic and politic to social and humanitarian. All sought immediate solution. For this purpose, a realisation developed to create an entity that would protect the rights of people and provide them with shelter in form of human rights protection acts and resolutions. This entity came into existence in the name of United Nations. It was right in the last phases of the Second World War, where the resolve was shown for establishing such an en tity that would protect the people. The first causality of war is always humanity. Regardless of the size of war, be it a local war, local dispute between tribes, a bilateral war or a war that spreads across the continent and across the ocean, all eye human life and human rights. The resolve against human depravity and exploitation was shown, and the aims included protection of the human rights and ensuring that no other war takes place in history again. So far, the United Nations has succeeded to a certain extent in ensuring that the war is not fought on an international level. What has changed about the character of international relations? As a result of United Nations existence, the nations’ outlook and approach to international peace and regional stability has changed in a totally dynamic manner. Each nation is more concerned with the regional peace than they might had been in past. Under the charter of the United Nations, each of the country has the responsibility to en sure peace in their respective regions and also on international platform. They should denounce any oppression and any tyranny being performed in the name of governance over people. They should raise their voice for equality of the masses. They should denounce the actions of belligerents; for example, the case of the United States of America, which believed in international isolation prior to the Second World War and prior to the creation of the United Nations. It has changed its approach and has become an active member in the pursuit of global peace and protection of human rights ever since the end of the Second World War. This is the prime example of how the country’s mood has changed towards a more global community, where peace of one is peace of all. The United States stood totally indifferent to European conflicts in the First World War. And the prime example comes in form of the League of Nations and Woodrow Wilson Fourteen points that were not endorsed by the local bod ies. However, seeing the importance of international peace and stability, they changed their approach at the end of the Second World War. What kind of actor is best suited to pursue international human rights: individuals, NGOs, states or intergovernmental organizations? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Each of the members is an international entity in modern international law, and each has an onus of responsibility. Each works in their own domain towards achieving the goal of equal human rights and

International Corporate Reporting Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Corporate Reporting Issues - Essay Example There are different range of users of financial statements that include both internal and external users, but as far as financial statements of Britvic are considered it include different KPIs that convey different messages about the company, like take a look at performance highlight about the company where Britvic key management personnel discloses different facts about the company’s performance that has value of information about the company for users specially investors. Accounting estimates that are uses by preparers of financial statements while preparing these financial statements are subjective decisions, which is one of the big limitation of the financial statement as due to this factor the users of financial statements may be misled. Professional judgment uses by preparer of financial statement is also one of the reason which undermine the uses of financial statements, as it involve judgment in preparation of financial statements that may be wrong and can ultimately hit financial decision taken by users of financial statements on the basis of these financial statements. Verifiability of these financial statements through audit is not an absolute verifiable factor so one cannot take decisions like take over just on the basis of these financial statements while assuming that these are audited accounts, Historical costing is also one of the reason that may cause users of financial statements to be misled as in historical costing asset are carried in the books as cost of asset less accumulated depreciation that may not be the market value hence it may miss lead the users. Measurability is also one of the reason that undermine the uses of financial statements because it involve only those areas that can financially be measured and areas that cannot be valued or out of financial statements hence like good will and employees performance cannot be seen while reviewing financial

Gothic Tales and Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example for Free

Gothic Tales and Edgar Allan Poe Essay Compare The Tell-Tale Heart with The Black Cat. How, in these tales, does Poe draw on the Gothic tradition and take us into the tormented, diseased minds of his narrators In both The Tell-Tale Heat and The Black Cat there are many gothic effects used. For example, the gruesome concealment of the victims is described in a deadpan but detailed manner. In The Black Cat our narrator describes all of his options and then illustrates exactly how he carried it out, I easily dislodged the bricks, and, having carefully deposited the bodyHaving procured mortar, sand, and hairI prepared a plaster which could not be distinguished from the old Then in The Tell-Tale Heart he describes this concealment procedure again, I took up the flooringthen replaced the boards so cleverly so cunningly the no human eyecould have detected anything wrongnothing to wash outno blood-spot whatever. Both narrators seem proud at their astute covering-up of the innocent victims. The gruesome lexis, mixed with the matter-of-fact tone gives off a horrifyingly insane, but calm feel to the passage. Also the motives for the killing seemed irrational and over emotional in both stories. This is another typical Gothic characteristic. In The Tell-Tale Heart he says I loved the old mannever wronged menever given me insultOne of his eyes resembled that of a vulturetake the life of the old mad, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. His incentive was unreasonable; he states that there is no other reason than his eye. In The Black Cat his reason for the first killing of his cat Pluto was perversenessfor no other reason than because he knows he should not? In this part of the passage it seems strange as he seems to be excusing himself for the sin he is about to narrate to us. Then also at the end of the story when he kills his wife because she stopped him from killing the second cat he says, this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded, by the interference, into a rage more than demoniacal buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot. The lexis used here is brutal and infernal, typical of Gothic writers rage more than demoniacal references to the devil highlight the white hot anger surging inside the twisted narrator. The use of an unreliable, villainous storyteller was not a typical Gothic feature at the time but it has greatly influenced future authors who write in the Gothic style. In both tales the narrators give off an intensely nervous energy by using repetition and strong, unruly lexis. The first line of The Tell-Tale Heart sets the tone for the whole story instantly TRUE!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I a mad? The dashes break up the sentences making them erratic; this is helped by the uneven sentence structure and the fusion of long and short clauses to make the whole pace of the story jerky and uneven. A typical Gothic feature that appears in only The Tell Tale Heart and not The Black Cat is the use of the night. The narrator describes how that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept. Also the murder itself was committed at night and the use of the disguise of darkness gives an eerie feel to the piece and emphasis the Gothic tone of the story. However in The Black Cat the story was described through the day and the night and the murders of both the narrators wife and cat were during the day. Although this was not traditionally Gothic, and the description of the gruesome death caused some sections of the story to be more in the genre of horror. An element of Gothic literature that was in The Black Cat and not The Tell Tale Heart was the use of omens, obviously the title itself was a bad omen at the time and the other story had no omens, other than the heart beat motif that causes the narrator to confess his sins to the police. The title itself was not the only omen used in The Black Cat; Poe writes about two other obvious omens in this tale. Firstly the large imprint of the figure of a gigantic cat There was a rope about the animals neck, this was left on the wall the night after our narrator had killed his cat, this is not a figment of his imagination though as other people around can see it; later on however the narrator describes a mark of white hair, which shows the image of a hideous -of a ghastly thing -of the GALLOWS! This is more likely to be an illusion as the remorse builds up inside him. But he describes it as terrible engine of Horror and of Crime -of Agony and of Death! The lexis used here is full of anger and is very strong. The capitalisation of the more significantly brutal words personifies these aspects and emphasises the narrators fear of the cat and of guilt. Poe uses many different techniques to suck the reader into the mind of his narrators. For example in the The Tell Tale Heart he describes his disease to the reader and excuses his actions. The disease has sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. This line shows how the narrator is quite openely conceited. His insanity is revealed to us in a number of ways, firstly the deadpan tone of many parts of the passage give the reader an eery feeling of calm, that causes a disturbing sensation, such as when the narrator is describing his method of concealing his victims corpse, I took up three planksdeposited allthen replaced the boards This use of everyday lexis deposited almost makes us forget that he is talking about a corpse, it makes the whole procedure sound mundane, which gives the impression of madness but also numbness to the narrator. Secondly, his lunacy is exposed to us as the character of the narrator is unravelled through the story. Throughout, hints are dropped as to the overconfidence of our narrator, repetition of various phrases. what had I now to fear? and then again when the officers arrived, for what had I to fear? This reiteration of egotism makes us feel as if the narrator is reassuring himself that he is confident, and suggests to the reader that he has inexplicable insecurities lying beneath his cool exterior. Also in The Tell Tale Heart Poe uses many capitalised words and short, broken phrases to speed up the pace of parts of the account. They heard! they suspected! they KNEW! This shows how truly nervous and petrified the narrator is, and with the staggered, gaunt sentence structure makes the reader feel the same way, even if not to the same extent. A way in which The Black Cats method of pulling the reader into the mindset of a murderous narrator is near the beginning we are given some background about the narrators life. In The Tell Tale Heart we were given no information about setting or circumstance to help us detail our image. I find that this helps more as we have more pictures painted to us and these can then feed our imagination to produce a far more complex, but realistic understanding of the narrators mental situation. I was especially fond of animals, This line is quite ironic, as we learn from the rest of the story he seems to, infact, have a severe problem with cats. The way in which Poe implies the insanity of the narrator is in the language used to describe his cats. sagacious to an astnoishing degree His strange attachment to the cat gave the narrator an untrustworthy and evil feel. Then when he describes his motives for hanging his first cat, Pluto, this insinuates utter, pschotic madness, the spirit of PERVERSENESShave we not a perpetual inclinationto violate that which is Law This strange, confused motive gives the narrator a trace of humanity, but more of a childlike malevolence which emitts an air of wickedness. This infantile but wicked narrator, I find, is more chilling than the more simple, insane and evil narrator in The Tell Tale Heart, because of its uncanny likeness to reality. A similarity between The Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart is that both narrators have a sense of superiority about them and this strong impression of narcissism makes the reader feel overwhelmed by malice and also builds up a strong feeling of resentment to their disagreeable characters. In both stories, the narrators end with a confession to their terrible deeds, both obviously caused by insolence and bravado. Another feature that is in The Black Cat but not The Tell Tale Heart is the sense of paranoia given off by the narrator, about the mark of white hair on his second cats chest, the markof which I have spokenassumed a rigorous distinctness of outlinethe image of a hideous- of a ghastly thing of the GALLOWS! This paranoia of an omen about the sadistic murder of Pluto blatently lays out the narrators madness and causes the reader to feel possibly more sympathetic, but more likely, to feel more estranged from the narrator. In conclusion I found the ways in which we were drawn into the psychotic mind of our killers were more effective in The Black Cat, as some were more subtle, but the more obvious ones were easier to spot and gave a more definite and outlined picture of the narrators psyche. However, I found that the typical Gothic features used in The Tell Tale Heart made it more Gothic than in The Black Cat and also made the tale more chilling, even if not as gruesome or detailed as The Black Cat.

Kant on Intuition Essay Example for Free

Kant on Intuition Essay Introduction Kant seems to have adapted the Spinozan trichotomy of spiritual activity. (Rocca, 77) In addition to sensible (empirical) intuition and understanding, Kant introduces pure intuition. The principles of this a priori, supra-empirical sensibility are dealt with by the transcendental aesthetic, a discipline which establishes that there are two pure forms of sensible intuition, serving as principles of a priori knowledge, namely, space and time. (Hayward, 1) Space is a necessary a priori representation, which underlies all outer intuitions (Hayward, 1); in particular, in order to perceive a thing, we must be in the possession of the a priori notion of space. Nor is time an empirical concept: it is the form of the inner sense, and is a necessary representation that underlies all intuitions. (Ewing 24) Pure intuition, unaided by the senses and, moreover, constituting the very possibility of sense experience, is for Kant the source of all synthetic a priori judgments. These include the synthetic judgments of geometry, which is for Kant the a priori science of physical space, and arithmetic, which he regards as based on counting, a process that takes time. Moreover, if for Aristotle, Descartes and Spinoza intuition was a mode of knowing first truths, it is for Kant no less than the possibility of outer experience. The faculty by means of which man creates geometries and theories is reason certainly sustained in some cases by sensible intuition, though not by any mysterious pure intuition. However, the products of reason are not all of them self-evident and definitive. Kantian time had a similar fate. We now consider that the characterization of time as the a priori form of the inner sense is psychologistic, and we reject the radical separation between time and physical space. The theories of relativity have taught us that the concepts of physical space and time are neither a priori nor independent from one another and from the concepts of matter and field. Infallibilism is, of course, one of the sources of Kantian intuitionism. Further sources are psychologism and the correct acknowledgment that sensible experience is insufficient for building categories (e. g. , the category of space). Instead of supposing that man builds concepts which enable him to understand the raw experience he like other animals has, Kant holds dogmatically and, as we now know, in opposition to contemporary animal and child psychology, that outer experience is possible only by the representation that has been thought. (Hahn, 89) Of all the influential contributions of Kant, his idea of pure intuition has proved to be the least valuable, but not, unfortunately, the least influential. Contemporary Intuitionism If Cartesian and Spinozan intuitions are forms of reason, Kantian intuition transcends reason, and this is why it constitutes the germ of contemporary intuitionism, in turn a gateway to irrationalism. There are, to be sure, important differences. While Kant admitted the value of sensible experience and of reason, which he regarded as insufficient but not as impotent, contemporary intuitionists tend to revile both. Whereas Kant fell into intuitionism because he realized the limitation of sensibility and the exaggerations of traditional rationalism, and because he misunderstood the nature of mathematics, intuitionists nowadays do not attempt to solve a single serious problem with the help of either intuition or its concepts; rather, they are anxious to eliminate intellectual problems, to cut down reason and planned experience, and to fight rationalism, empiricism, and materialism. This anti-intellectualist brand of intuitionism grew during the Romantic period (roughly, the first half of the nineteenth century) directly from the Kantian seed, but it did not exert a substantial influence until the end of the century, when it ceased being a sickness of isolated professors and became a disease of culture. Sensible intuition and geometrical intuition, or the capacity for spatial representation or visual imagination, have very few defenders in mathematics nowadays, because it has been shown once and for all that they are as deceptive logically as they are fertile heuristically and didactically. Therefore, what is usually called mathematical intuitionism does not rely on sensible intuition. It is now well understood that mathematical entities, relations, and operations, do not all originate in sensible intuition; it is realized that they are conceptual constructions that may altogether lack empirical correlates, even though some of them may serve as auxiliaries in theories about the world, such as physics. It is also recognized that self-evidence does not work as a criterion of truth, and that proofs cannot be shown by figures alone, because arguments are invisible. In particular, it is no longer required that axioms be self-evident; on the contrary, because they are almost always richer than the theorems they are designed to explain, axioms are often less evident than the theorems they give rise to, and are therefore apt to appear later than the theorems in the historical development of theories. Thus it is easier to obtain theorems on equilateral triangles than to establish general propositions about triangles. Mathematical intuitionism is best understood if it is regarded as a current that originated among mathematicians (a) as a reaction against the exaggerations of logicism and formalism; (b) as an attempt to rescue mathematics from the shipwreck that, at the beginning of our century, the discovery of the paradoxes in set theory seemed to forecast; (c) as a minor product of Kantian philosophy of pure intuition. It is only indebted to Kant, who was as much a rationalist and an empiricist as he was an intuitionist; and even what mathematical intuitionism owes to Kant may be left aside without fear of seriously misunderstanding the theory as has been recognized by Heyting, (Heyting 13) although Brouwer might not agree. The debt of mathematical intuitionism to Kant boils down to two ideas: (a) time though not space according to neointuitionists is an a priori form of intuition and is essentially involved in the number concept, which is generated by the operation of counting; (b) mathematical concepts are essentially constructible: they are neither mere marks (formalism) nor are they apprehensible by their being ready-made (Platonic realism of ideas); they are the work of human minds. The first assertion is unmistakably Kantian, but the second will be granted by many non-Kantian thinkers. Those mathematicians who are sympathetic with mathematical intuitionism tend to accept the second thesis while ignoring the first. Since a large part of mathematics may be built on the arithmetic of natural numbers, which would be generated by the intuition of time, it follows that the apriority of time does not only qualify the properties of arithmetic as synthetic a priori judgments, but it does the same for those of geometry, though certainly along an extended conceptual chain. The sole basal intuition would, then, suffice to engender step by step and in a constructive or recursive form not merely by means of creative definitions or by resorting to indirect proof the whole of mathematics or, rather, the mathematics allowed by mathematical intuitionism, which is only a portion of classical (pre-intuitionist) mathematics. It is true that Kant maintained that mathematics is the rational knowledge obtained from the construction of concepts. But what Kant meant by construction was not, for instance, the formation of an algorithm for the effective computation or construction of an expression like 100 100100, but rather the exhibition of the pure intuition corresponding to the concept in question. (Black 190) For Kant, to build a concept means to give its corresponding a priori intuition which, if possible, would be a psychological operation whereas, for mathematical intuitionism, the construction may be entirely logical, to the point that it may consist in the deduction of a contradiction. The ultimate foundation of all mathematical concepts, which for Kant and Brouwer alike must be intuitive, is quite another matter. Unlike Kant, the mathematical intuitionist will require that only the basic ideas be intuitive. With regard to the assertion that the basic intuition is prelinguistic, it seems definitely inconsistent with the findings of contemporary psychology, according to which every thought is symbolical, i. e. , accompanied by visual or verbal signs. Finally, the existence of Brouwers basic intuition (Stigt, 45) is at least as problematic as the existence of mathematical objects. (Curry 6) Mathematical intuitionism has both positive and negative elements. The former, the realistic elements, concern logic and the psychology of mathematics; the negative constituents are aprioristic and limiting, concern the foundations and methods of mathematics. Conclusion The debt of mathematical intuitionism to philosophical intuitionism is not large and, at any rate, what is involved is Kant’s intuitionism and not the anti-intellectualist intuitionism of many Romantics and post-Romantics. Besides, the contacts between mathematical and philosophical intuitionism are precisely those which the majority of mathematicians would not accept. The working mathematician, if he is concerned with the philosophy of mathematics at all, does not sympathize with intuitionism, because it looks for an a priori foundation or justification, or because it praises an obscure basic intuition as the source of mathematical creation, or because it claims that such an intuitive foundation is the sole warrant of certainty. Mathematical and logical intuitionisms are prized to some extent despite their peculiar dogmas, because they have contributed to the disintegration of alternative dogmas, particularly the formalist and the logicist ones. Works Cited Black Max. The Nature of Mathematics: London: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1933. 191 Curry Haskell B. Outlines of a Formalist Philosophy of Mathematics. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1951. Ewing A. C. Reason and Intuition, Proceedings of the British Academy, XXVII (1941) Hahn Hans. The Crisis of Intuition in The World of Mathematics. Edited by J R Newman New York: Simon Schuster, 1956 Hayward, Malcolm: The Geopolitics of Colonial Space: Kant and Mapmaking. Article accessed on 12/04/2007 from http://www. english. iup. edu/mhayward/Recent/Kant. htm Heyting A. â€Å"Heyting, Intuitionism in Mathematics, ( 1958), 13. Kant Immanuel. Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1781, 1787). Edited by R. Schmidt. Hamburg: Meiner, 1952. Translated by N. Kemp Smith . Immanuel Kants Critique of Pure Reason. London: Macmillan, 1929. Rocca, Della Michael. 1996. Representation and the Mind-Body Problem in Spinoza. Oxford University Press. Stigt, W. P. van 1990, Brouwers Intuitionism, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1990.

Finance in an SME Context

Finance in an SME Context In this vast realm of corporate entanglement across the world, people all over the world are getting their various ways to earn their livelihood (Berk, DeMarzo, 2017). This entanglement to the corporate world takes different forms of which the SME (Small Medium Enterprise) is one. Alike the other forms of business organizations, SMEs have their own types of accounting finance analyses. Through different investment appraisal techniques, an SME firm can evaluate choose investment projects. The financing of the projects is done generally by the internal financial sources. SMEs encompass the whole business world. They are the largest economic sector in the UK. Because of the SMEs popularity, more people are coming up with newer ideas to start an SME. When it comes to analyzing the performance of any business for a specific accounting period, the ratios or the accounting ratios are the most widely used tools (Cassedy, 2014). Among the various ratios, the most common ones are those that are used to figure out liquidity, profitability, efficiency etc. From the given data of the concerned company Trainline, the following six ratios have been used to analyze the performance of the company: Net Profit Margin: Profitability of a firm shows, to some extent, the firms performance position throughout any particular period (Cassedy, 2014). To figure out profitability, there can be many ratios, out of which Net Profit Margin (NPM) is a reliable one, since the NPM takes into account all the operating expenses all the operating income thus resulting in the net profit figure the firm has at the end of any period. Trainline company enjoyed the highest profit in 2014. NPM can be calculated through dividing the net profit of any period by the net sales of that period. Following is the position of Trainline as calculated using NPM formula: Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Net Profit Margin 0.13 0.10 0.18 0.15 0.12 Gross Profit Margin: The Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is also a ratio for calculating the profitability of any firm. The difference between the NPM the GPM is that the latter one does not consider operating expenses (Cassedy, 2014). Gross profit margin shows the performance of the firm based on the firms capacity of first level activity or the main way through which Trainline earns profit. Though not that much reliable as net profit margin, it is easy to calculate. Trainline experienced similar percentage of gross profit over the years. The formula to figure out gross profit of Trainline is given below: Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Gross Profit Margin 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% Inventory Turnover: According to Clark, Baker, (2011), There are several accounting ratios that help investors, creditors or any other stakeholders to figure out how much a company is efficient in selling its products in stock or inventory, i.e. inventory turnover period shows the companys ability to use the inventory perfectly. The fact of multiplying the ratio with 365 is that it shows in how many days the firm is able to go on a cycle of inventory management (Clark, Baker, 2011). Through this measure, stakeholders are also able to find out the return on assets. Trainline company shows consistent performance in the years 2012, 2013, in 2014, but the company faced declining results in 2015 2016. Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Inventory Turnover Period 0.598039216 0.591800494 0.561754521 0.329632384 0.24692301 Return on Capital Employed: The Return on Capital Employed is measure that shows a companys productivity in making appropriate use of the assets net of long term liabilities or the capital employed. The ratio provides information of the firms ability to use the invested amount (Clark, Baker, 2011). ROCE, often times, is the most popular tool to see potential in any company. It is calculated through dividing net profit of the company by capital employed. Here, for the calculation of Trainlines ROCE, the intangible assets have been deducted. The following table graph show the results of Trainline over the years in terms of ROCE along with the formula: Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Return on Capital Employed 0.169982548 0.422774021 1.141914376 1.092703315 1.518949954 Current Ratio: When it comes to finding out the liquidity of any business organization, the Current ratio is one of the prominent ones (Clark, Baker, 2011). It shows how much capable Trainline company is in paying back its current liabilities using its current assets. Suppliers are the most frequent users of this ratio. Current ratio is calculated through dividing current assets of any accounting period by the current liabilities of that particular period. Current ratio is calculated by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. The standard benchmark for current ratio is 1. If the current ratio is above 1, then its good, but if the ratio falls below 1, then its not good the firm should focus on dealing with this. Trainline was consistent performed well over the years in paying back its short-term liabilities using its current assets. Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Current Ratio 1.59 1.86 1.18 1.41 1.21 Acid Test Ratio: The Acid Test Ratio is also a measure to figure out the liquidity of any firm. It is more reliable than the current ratio, since it deducts stock or inventories from the current assets. Since inventories cannot be converted into liquid asset, they are deducted in acid test ratio. The ratio is calculated through dividing current assets net of inventories or stock by current liabilities (Shields, 2011). The ratio is also known as the quick ratio. Trainline company was performing good in 2012 in 2013 faced a decline in 2014, but was able to increase the ratio (Shields, 2011). The standard benchmark for acid test ratio is 1.5. Date March 03, 2012 March 02, 2013 March 01, 2014 February 28, 2015 March 05, 2016 Acid Test Ratio 1.59 1.86 1.18 1.41 1.21 Assuming a sales growth rate of 10.05% an expense growth rate of 5.02% (one-half of the earnings growth rate), the following cash budget is forecasted: Trainline.com Cash Budget For the Years from March-2016 to March-2019 March 05, 2016 March 05, 2017 March 05, 2018 March 05, 2019 Opening Cash Balance 44408 2040477 4254439 Share Capital 1131 1245 1370 1507 Ticket Sales 1938116 2132883 2347222 2583101 Collection from receivables 153121 153121 Total Cash Available 2092368 2331656 4389069 6839047 Cost of Sales 45824 48126 50545 53084 Administrative Expense 61375 64459 67698 71099 Interest Payable Similar Charges 9994 10496 11024 11577 Tax on Profit 4863 5107 5364 5633 Payment to Creditors 162990 162990 Total Disbursement 285046 291179 134630 141395 ClosingCash Balance 1807322 2040477 4254439 6697653 Analysis on Sources of Cash: Issuance of Shares: Trainline collects cash from issuing different kinds of shares such as primary, preferred shares etc. Foer the purpose of issuing shares, Trainline.com must enlist in the regulatory body controlling issuance of shares, the London Stock Exchange. The company decided to float shares through London Stock Exchange with a prospective figure amounting  £500. It had a capital amount of  £1131000 in 2016 (Shields, 2011). Issuance of shares is most often a common source for collecting cash in short-term period. Sale of Tickets: Since the company stands for it, i.e. selling tickets is the main source of income of Trainline.com, it is the most important source through which the company collects cash. Trainline.com deals in train tickets. This facilitates the clients through booking seats in train. The company reported a sales figure of  £1938116000 in 2016 from selling tickets the websites (Shields, 2011). Receivables: Collection from receivables is not actually a different source than that of the main source, that is, selling tickets, it is the due amount that the company owes to customers.   Trainline provides services on credit as well. By Shields, (2011), in 2016, the company recorded an amount of  £15312100 for receivables. Retained Earnings: Companies dont pay all of the profit earned in any particular accounting period to their shareholders. The portion of net profit held by the company management is called retained earnings (Shields, 2011). The general thought behind this notion is that company management wants to keep cautious measure in order to prevent future uncertain issues. Trainline also retains part of its net profit every year in order to raise cash when needed. In 2016, the company reported  £55027000 as retained earnings (Vence-Deza, Metcalfe, 2012). Retained earnings is a part of trainline.coms equity a good source of collecting cash. These sources are primarily seen on trainline.com. these help trainline.com to continue the business operation. Besides these there is the need of the proper management of the business operation on the basis of the accurate financial information. These sources of collecting cash helps trainline.com run its day to day operations. The management of the company emphasizes on these sources in order to ensure solution to future uncertain issues as well. Critical analysis of anything is done through evaluating the advantages disadvantages of that particular thing (Siegel, Shim, 2010). There are different sources available for trainline.com. The company prefers does use the sources of finance based on their advantages. Followings are some of the common sources identified for trainline.com: Capital through Issuing Shares Debentures: For a company like trainline.com, the issuance of shares or debentures is a better easy source, since this source ensures short-term quick financing (Siegel, Shim, 2010). Trainline is an airline ticket selling company the base income source is ticket-sales. The company needs to ensure short-term financing to run its daily operations. Besides, there are not that much regulatory requirements for secondary share issuance as a result lesser costs to incur. Sale of Tickets: The main source of finance for trainline.com is the sale of airline as mentioned in its charter (Siegel, Shim, 2010). The company earns its basic income from selling tickets. Whether short-term or long-term, the company is ought to carry on going with this source of finance. The costs associated with this source is the collective costs of operating expenses. Receivables: Trainline sells air tickets to its customers on credit as well (Rosenberg, 2013). Even though, this is not a different source than sale of tickets, the management of the company thinks in other way round, since this source ensures financing for future operations. This source doesnt have any cost unless there is issue of granting discount on timely payment. Retained Earnings: Retained earnings is the that portion of net profit which is retained or withheld by the management of the company in order to prepare for future uncertainties (Rosenberg, 2013). Retained earnings is the most popular source of finance for companies like trainline.com, since this source makes sure of short-term quick financing. Bank Loans: Different term loans granted by the banks are also a very common source of finance used by companies (Rosenberg, 2013). Trainline have affiliation with several banks, since the customers pay for the tickets through bank accounts. The company can ensure financing through borrowing loans from banks. There are costs such as interest, borrowing costs etc. There are also some regulatory requirements as well. The above-mentioned sources are some of the most common sources of finance. Trainline is suggested to understand the relative advantages of each source then choose the best one considering given situation opportunities. Evaluation of Investment Techniques: Trainline can think of undertaking investment project through evaluating the benefits of the projects. For the evaluation purposes, there are several investment appraisal techniques. Among the various, the very common techniques are payback period (PBP), accounting rate of return (ARR), net present value (NPV). The payback period shows how many years or periods an investment project will take to recover the invested money. It doesnt consider the time value of money. Accounting rate of return how much accounting profit trainline.com would earn from the average assets invested (Rosenberg, 2013). This technique doesnt consider cash flows. Net present value is the most popular significant investment appraisal technique, since it considers all the related cash flows time value of money. This approach discounts the future cash flows from any project under consideration. Trainline is suggested to choose the best investment technique, the NPV to choose the investment project that shows th e highest positive net present value. Entrepreneurial ecosystem is the lead frontier for the development of any kind of business organization (Rosenberg, 2013). There are some basic constituents that collectively form the entrepreneurial ecosystem which, in turn, is responsible for developing businesses. This rule works across the whole world, but very little that we are aware of this enormous fact. The fundamental elements that contribute to the development of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem are Market Situation, Cultural Traits, Policies, Capital, Financial Position different supporting elements. The general constitutional framework for Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is shown through the following figure: Capital: Without capital, no one can think of going for business (Rosenberg, 2013). It is called the life blood of businesses. Capital can be of, in general, two types such as the financial capital the human capital. Both of these are significant. Human capital or resource is the most important constituent of an organizational setting. Human resource is the precondition for any organization stand by. Trainline needs to ensure proper management of its human resource. Market Situation: Market situation generally means the current position of the demand supply altogether of any market the interrelation of the driving forces that create the situation (Hussain,   Scott, 2010). Train line must comply with the market situation provide service accordingly to gain sustainable competitive advantage to ensure goal achievement through making sure of consistent growth. The company needs to conduct researches make analysis to have a thorough understanding of the current market situation. Policies: Throughout the globe, due to several human organizational needs, policies have been being developed renovated across generations (Hussain,   Scott, 2010). These policies are developed to deal with the situations associated with different human needs. There are policies for businesses as well. Since trainline.com is a business organization that bases its operations through internet, the policies so enactedby the government of the UK are ought to be complied with by trainline.com. Financial Position: Since finance is the base for capital, it is also referred to as the life blood of businesses. Firms need to look for different sources to finance. Trainline needs to cope up with the basic management of financing for any project (Hussain,   Scott, 2010). The company needs to figure out where to get the funds from, where to invest the collected funds, how to deal with interest settlements in order to develop the business situation. Cultural Traits: Cultural traits, norms, beliefs, values add greatly to the entrepreneurial ecosystem (Hussain,   Scott, 2010). The organization setting highly depends on the way people around the organization behave, perceive interact with each other. Trainline needs to understand the cultural traits of the customers to get along with sustainable development. Entrepreneurial ecosystem through its culture component influences the business environment both in terms of emergence development. Supporting Elements: According to Rosenberg, (2013), Different supporting elements such as legal infrastructure, reporting (bookkeeping accounting) systems, corporate social responsibilities, social marketing etc. are also responsible for the development of entrepreneurial ecosystem surrounding a business. These elements may be favourable or unfavourable. Trainline needs to make appropriate analysis derive meaningful conclusions to deal with these elements to ensure improvement. The above discussed elements or constituents are responsible for entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through these collectively structured constituents, the entrepreneurial ecosystem is responsible for the development of businesses across the world. When a company has the scope abilities to go from private limited to publiclimited, it has to go through making Initial Public Offering (IPO), i.e. issuing primary shares through enlisting registration into the regulatory authority of that particular country or region (Fardon, Cox, 2014). For trainline.com to go for IPO, it must enlist into the London Stock Exchange, UK. Along with the scope abilities, there are some ethical considerations as well to go for IPO. The ethical considerations are as follows: Ensured Forecast Result: If trainline.com can ensure that the forecast so made by the accountants or the professionals associated will be feasible in the long run for the development of the company will not bring about any severe challenges for the stake of all the shareholders, the company may wish to go for making initial public offering (Fardon, Cox, 2014). It can be said that this is the first foremost stage where any firm can think of going public limited. Reported Income Financial Position: Even though reported income figure financial position as shown in the financial statements are not completely an ethical requirement for a company to go for IPO, the relative values associated with these requirements sometimes add greatly to the ethical considerations for going public. An expression of this fact is the need for full disclosure principle of accounting. Trainline must provide information of reported income, financial position to the stakeholders full extent. In 2016, trainline.com reported equity value of  £56158000 liability amounting  £162990000 (Dean, Schwindt, 2015). The amount of accounts receivables is  £153121000 that gives the notion of income in that accounting period amounting  £32931000 (Dean, Schwindt, 2015). Shareholders Consent: Before going for IPO, the trainline.com needs to arrange statutory meeting with the shareholders (Dalton, 2013). It will be considered unethical, if the company goes for IPO without letting the shareholders know about the issue. Not only does trainline.com have to let the shareholders know the issue of going for IPO, but also the company has to have strong agreement from all of the members. Employment of Independent Auditor: To ensure bias free situation, trainline.com needs to appoint independent auditors who would check analyze the financial situation of the company through auditing financial statements (Dalton, 2013). If the auditors provide positive opinion about the reliability of the financial information so provided through the financial statements, then only then trainline.com is allowed to go for IPO. Even though this requirement is a legal one, contributes to the ethical consideration in the sense that the fulfilment of this requirement reduces legal obligations of both shareholders the government. The company should not disrespect the rights of shareholders or stakeholders as a whole before going public. These are the some of the core ethical considerations that the concerned firm is suggested to comply with in order to go for IPO (Dalton, 2013). After making analysis of the situation so brought up here by the given information of Trainline, it can be said that the company is able to go for Initial Public Offering. The effort to evaluate a firms performance based on ratios with the objective to make investment decisions is appreciable. There are several key factors that collectively ensure the success of the business. The Trainline company has been able to cope up with the drastically changing business environment. The company had its different sources of finance. The company evaluated, analyzed different investment appraisal techniques to get along with projects with opportunities which, in turn, ensure growth. By getting through the business line with consistent constant growth, the Trainline can obtain sustainable competitive advantage. The certain ethical issues that have the full privy to influence the decision to go for IPO. Accounting financial analysis is necessary, since right decision comes out of right information. These analyses provide decisionmakers with the right information. Berk, J., DeMarzo, P. (2017). Corporate finance. Harlow, England: Pearson. Cassedy, P. (2014). Finance. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books. Clark, R., Baker, D. (2011). Finance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dalton, H. (2013). Principles of Public Finance. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Dean, J., Schwindt, R. (2015). FinanceI. Durham: Eno River Press. Fardon, M., Cox, D. (2014). Finance. Worcester: Osborne. Hussain, J., Scott, J. (2010) Research handbook on entrepreneurial finance. Rosenberg, S. (2013). Finance. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Publications. Shields, D. (2011). Finance. Oxford: ISIS Large Print. Siegel, J., Shim, J. (2010). Finance. New York: Barrons. Vence-Deza, X., Metcalfe, J. (2012). Wealth from Diversity. Boston, MA: Springer US.

The Future of Genetic Engineering Essay -- Expository Essays Research

Any time in this modern era where one talks about the science of genetics, it is nearly impossible to think about the moral implications and ethical decisions that the future possesses. Currently, there aren’t many laws that govern this field of science, and one must wonder what will happen and how genetics will be governed. Two articles that I have recently read gave me a better insight on what to expect. In one article, the author, Deborah Gridley, discusses the heated topic of genetic discrimination. Genetic discrimination is defined as â€Å"discrimination against an individual or against members of that individual’s family because of real or perceived differences from the ‘normal genome† (Gridley 973). The benefits of genetic advances are quite clear. â€Å"As the genetic causes of many diseases are found, effective treatments and cures may be developed† (Gridley). However, with genetic benefits come risks – many of which are evident in America’s history of genetic discrimination (Gridley 974). Exclusionary immigration laws, forced sterilizations, employment and insurance hardships, ... The Future of Genetic Engineering Essay -- Expository Essays Research Any time in this modern era where one talks about the science of genetics, it is nearly impossible to think about the moral implications and ethical decisions that the future possesses. Currently, there aren’t many laws that govern this field of science, and one must wonder what will happen and how genetics will be governed. Two articles that I have recently read gave me a better insight on what to expect. In one article, the author, Deborah Gridley, discusses the heated topic of genetic discrimination. Genetic discrimination is defined as â€Å"discrimination against an individual or against members of that individual’s family because of real or perceived differences from the ‘normal genome† (Gridley 973). The benefits of genetic advances are quite clear. â€Å"As the genetic causes of many diseases are found, effective treatments and cures may be developed† (Gridley). However, with genetic benefits come risks – many of which are evident in America’s history of genetic discrimination (Gridley 974). Exclusionary immigration laws, forced sterilizations, employment and insurance hardships, ...

Young Goodman Brown Essay -- essays research papers

Young Goodman Brown" tells the tale of a young Puritan man drawn into a covenant with the Devil. Brown's illusions about the goodness of his society are crushed when he discovers that many of his fellow townspeople, including religious leaders and his wife, are attending a Black Mass. At the end of the story, it is not clear whether Brown's experience was nightmare or reality, but the results are nonetheless the same. Brown is unable to forgive the possibility of evil in his loved ones and as a result spends the rest of his life in desperate loneliness and gloom. Guilt vs. Innocence Hawthorne presents Young Goodman Brown's evening of diabolical revelry as the first and last fling with evil the inexperienced young man ever has. Early in the story, Brown says: "after this one nig...

Evolution of Ideas and Practices From Ancient Times :: essays research papers

Evolution of Ideas and Practices From Ancient Times   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato’s symposium is a array of speeches on what love meant in the society. Although the term â€Å"homosexuality† was not present in ancient times, it was something that was well practiced. Men and women still shared intercourse, but it was not thought of as wrong, or out of the norm, for there to be male and male interaction, and sometimes female and female interaction. Love, the kind shared between two males, came from physical attraction, emotional attraction and mental attraction. Love, the kind shared between a man and a woman came from emotional and mental attraction, and a need to procreate. After the times of Plato female homosexuality was completely forbidden, although male homosexuality was deemed acceptable. Marriage was often just for procreation, but there was also love involved. Homosexuality in modern times is often thought of as wrong. It is thought of as completely inappropriate for two men or for two women to be together in a sexua l way. It is interesting to see how the idea and practice of homosexuality and the practice of love and marriage has evolved through the times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was much male and male interaction in the times of Plato. Older men often took younger men â€Å"under their wings.† An older man would teach younger men about the world of love, politics, business etc. in return for sexual favors. In the beginning of â€Å"Symposium† Agathon requests that Socrates be seated next to him so that â€Å"I may touch you,† he said â€Å"and have the benefit of that wise thought which came into your mind in the portico...† Agathon believed that he were to touch Socrates and be with Socrates he could learn Socrates’ many wisdoms. It would not have been uncommon for the other men in the room to witness a sexual interaction between males, for they themselves surely participated in it. Although it is later learned that Socrates is not a enthusiast of sexual pleasures, he looks better upon stimulation of the brain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who is really to say which kind of love is the true kind of love? Aristophenes tells a story of a different people, and â€Å"Androgynous† people. In the beginning a human was one being with four arms, four hands, four legs, and four feet. This being even had two faces, on either side of the one head it shared. The being was egotistical and upset Zeus, and so Zeus cut it in half and made two of one in an attempt to humble this being.

Smart Card

A smartcard is a specific type of plastic card generally made of polyvinyl chloride based on polyesters or polycarbonate. It is the size of credit card. There is a 3by 5 mm imbedded chip in the card. Smart card contains either memory card or microprocessor that holds data and information. The microprocessor card can add, delete, and manipulate information on the card, while a memory-chip card (for example, pre-paid phone cards) can only undertake a pre-defined operation.Smart cards, unlike magnetic stripe cards, can carry all necessary functions and information on the card. Therefore, they do not require access to remote databases at the time of the transaction. A typical smartcard consists of an 8-bit microprocessor running at approximately 5 MHz with ROM, EEPROM and RAM, together with serial input and output, all in a single chip that is mounted on a plastic carrier. The operating system is typically stored in ROM, the CPU uses RAM as its working memory, and most of the data is sto red in EEPROM. Fig:-1 shows smart card. HistoryIn 1968 and 1969 German electrical engineers Helmut and Jurgen jointly developed automated chip card. Then after in 1974 French inventor Roland Moreno gives memory card concept called smart card. An important patent for smart cards with a microprocessor and memory as used today was filed by Jurgen Dethloff in 1976 and granted as USP 4105156 in 1978. The first mass use of the cards was as a telephone card for payment in French pay phones starting in 1983. Carte Bleue After the Telecarte microchips were integrated into all French Carte Bleue debit cards in 1992.Customers inserted the card into the merchant's POS terminal, then typed the PIN, before the transaction was accepted. Only very limited transactions (such as paying small highway tolls) are processed without a PIN. Smart-card-based electronic purse systems store funds on the card so that readers do not need network connectivity and entered service throughout Europe in the mid-1990 s. The major boom in smart card use came in the 1990s, with the introduction of smart-card-based SIMs used in GSM mobile phone equipment in Europe.With the ubiquity of mobile phones in Europe, smart cards have become very common. Development of contactless systems Contactless smart cards that do not require physical contact between card and reader are becoming increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit and motorway tolls. Visa and MasterCard have agreed to an easy-to-implement version that was deployed in 2004–2006 in the USA. Most contactless fare collection implementations are custom and incompatible, though the MIFARE Standard card .Smart cards are also being introduced in personal identification at national and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are appearing. A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, use d for telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications, and then periodically refreshed for additional use. Currently or soon, you may be able to use a smart card to: Dial a connection on a mobile telephone and be charged on a per-call basis* Establish your identity when logging on to an Internet access provider or to an online bank * Pay for parking at parking meters or to get on subways, trains, or buses * Give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a form * Make small purchases at electronic stores on the Web (a kind of cybercash) * Buy gasoline at a gasoline station Over a billion smart cards are already in use. Currently, Europe is the region where they are most used. Ovum, a research firm, predicts that 2. billion smart cards will be shipped annually by 2003. Another study forecasts a $26. 5 billion market for recharging smart cards by 2005. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are reportedly working on keyboards that include smart card slots that can be read like bank credit cards. The hardware for making the cards and the devices that can read them is currently made principally by Bull, Gemplus, and Schlumberger. How Smart Cards Work A smart card contains more information than a magnetic stripe card and it can be programmed for different applications.Some cards can contain programming and data to support multiple applications and some can be updated to add new applications after they are issued. Smart cards can be designed to be inserted into a slot and read by a special reader.. An industry standard interface between programming and PC hardware in a smart card has been defined by the PC Working Group, representing Microsoft, IBM and other interested companies. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source.Instead, they use an inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics. Hybrids A hybrid smart card which clearly shows the antenna connected to the main chip Dual-interface cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example is Porto's multi-application transport card, called Andante, which uses a chip with both contact and contactless interfaces . Applications First introduced in Europe nearly three decades ago, smart cards debuted as a stored value tool for payphones to reduce theft.As smart cards and other chip-based cards advanced, people found new ways to use them, including charge cards for credit purchases and for record keeping in place of paper. In the U. S. , consumers have been using chip cards for everything from visiting libraries to buying groceries to attending movies, firmly integrating them into our everyday lives. Several U. S. states have chip card programs in progress for government applications ranging from the Department of Motor Vehicles to Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBTs).Many industrie s have implemented the power of smart cards in their products, such as the GSM digital cellular phones as well as TV-satellite decoders. Why Smart Cards Smart cards improve the convenience and security of any transaction. They provide tamper-proof storage of user and account identity. Smart card systems have proven to be more reliable than other machine-readable cards, like magnetic stripe and barcode, with many studies showing card read life and reader life improvements demonstrating much lower cost of system maintenance. Smart cards also provide vital components of system security or the exchange of data throughout virtually any type of network.They protect against a full range of security threats, from careless storage of user passwords to sophisticated system hacks. The costs to manage password resets for an organization or enterprise are very high, thus making smart cards a cost-effective solution in these environments. Multifunction cards can also be used to manage network sys tem access and store value and other data. Worldwide, people are now using smart cards for a wide variety of daily tasks, which include: FinancialSmart cards serve as credit or ATM cards, fuel cards, mobile phone SIMs, authorization cards for pay television, household utility pre-payment cards, high-security identification and access-control cards, and public transport and public phone payment cards. Non-EMV cards work like magnetic stripe cards. This is a typical USA card technology (PayPass Magstripe and VISA MSD). The cards do not hold/maintain the account balance. All payment passes without a PIN, usually in off-line mode. The security of such a transaction is no greater than with a magnetic stripe card transaction.EMV cards have contact and contactless interfaces. They work as a normal EMV card via contact interface. Via contactless interface they work somewhat differently in that the card command sequence adopts contactless features such as low power and short transaction time . Identification A quickly growing application is in digital identification. In this application, the cards authenticate identity. The most common example employs public key infrastructure (PKI). The card stores an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI provider along with other relevant information.Contactless smart cards that can be read from within a wallet or even a garment simplify authentication; however, there is concern over criminals accessing data from these cards. Cryptographic smart cards are often used for single sign-on. Most advanced smart cards include specialized cryptographic hardware that uses algorithms such as RSA and DSA. Today's cryptographic smart cards generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk from having more than one copy of the key (since by design there usually isn't a way to extract private keys from a smartThe first smart card river's license system in the world was implemented in 1987 in Turkey. Turkey had a high level of road accident s and decided to develop and use digital tachograph devices on heavy vehicles, instead of the existing mechanical ones, to reduce speed violations. Since 1987, the professional driver's licenses in Turkey are issued as smart cards and the driver is required to insert his driver's license into the digital tachograph before starting to drive. The tachograph unit records speed violations for each driver and gives a printed report. The driving hours for each driver is also being monitored and reported.In 1990 the European Union conducted a feasibility study through BEVAC Consulting Engineers, titled â€Å"Feasibility study with respect to a European electronic driver’s license (based on a smart-card) on behalf of Directorate General VII†. In this study, chapter seven is dedicated to the experience in Turkey, stating that the electronic driver's license application, in the form of smart cards, was first implemented in Turkey in 1987. Public transit Smart cards and integrate d ticketing have become widely used by public transit operators around the world. Card users may use their cards for other purposes than for transit, such as small purchases.Computer security The Mozilla Firefox web browser can use smart cards to store certificates for use in secure web browsing. Some disk encryption systems, such as TrueCrypt and Microsoft Windows 7 BitLocker, can use smart cards to securely hold encryption keys, and also to add another layer of encryption to critical parts of the secured disk. Smart cards are also used for single sign-on to log on to computers. Smart card support functionality has been added to Windows Live passports. Schools Smart cards are being provided to students at schools and colleges. Tracking student attendance * As an electronic purse, to pay for items at canteens, vending machines etc. * Tracking and monitoring food choices at the canteen, to help the student maintain a healthy diet* Tracking loans from the school library Healthcare Sma rt health cards can improve the security and privacy of patient information, provide a secure carrier for portable medical records, reduce health care fraud, support new processes for portable medical records, provide secure access to emergency medical information, enable compliance with government initiatives (e. g. organ donation) and mandates, and provide the platform to implement other applications as needed by the health care organization. Advantages The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver’s license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card.For example, a smart card can be progra mmed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card. Individuals gain increased security and convenience when using smart cards designed for interoperability between services. For example, consumers only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. Additionally, the data storage available on a card could contain medical information that is critical in an emergency should the card holder allow access to this.The first main advantage of smart cards is their flexibility. There is no need, for example, to carry several cards: one card can simultaneously be an ID, a credit card, a stored-value cash card, and a repository of personal information such as telephone numbers or medical history. Such a card can be easily replaced if lost, and, because a PIN number (or other form of security) must be used to access information, is totally usele ss to people other than its legal bearer. At the first attempt to use it illegally, the card would be deactivated by the card reader itself. The second main advantage is security.Smart cards can be electronic key rings, giving the bearer ability to access information and physical places without need for online connections. They are encryption devices, so that the user can encrypt and decrypt information without relying on unknown, and therefore potentially untrustworthy, appliances such as ATMs. Smart cards are very flexible in providing authentication at different level of the bearer and the counterpart. Finally, with the information about the user that smart cards can provide to the other parties, they are useful devices for customizing products andservices.Other general benefits of smart cards are: * Portability * Increasing data storage capacity * Reliability that is virtually unaffected by electrical and magnetic fields. Smart Cards andElectroniccommerce Smart cards are turning out to be a fundamental piece of the transformation of retailing into electronic commerce. The impressive growth of the Internet is making electronic shopping at least a real possibility, if not a habit, among computer users. However, the business model used in current electronic commerce applications still cannot enjoy the full potential of the electronic medium.Moreover, concerns about the reliability of an invisible counterpart and about the safety of the Internet for credit card information increase the wariness and thereby limit the use of the electronic shopping on the part of customers. Of the estimated 360 billion payments that took place in the United States in 1995, approximately 300 billion could not have taken place using the existing electronic media. Such transactions involved micro-payments p; i. e. payments for less than $10 p; which are virtually outside of the electronic arena for lack of a payment method compatible with such low amounts.Credit cards or checks are simply too expensive to use for micro-payments, and the e-cash currently being experimented on the World Wide Web does not seem to have the characteristics to appeal to shoppers. For this reason, smart cards could be a fundamental building block of widespread use of electronic commerce, since they are an instrument to pay at a low cost for transactions involving small amountsofmoney. Another big advantage of smart cards for electronic commerce is their use for the customization of services.It is already possible to purchase tailored services on the World Wide Web p; MyYahoo and FireFly are well known examples. However, in order for the service supplier to deliver the customized service, the user has to provide each supplier with her profile p; a boring and time consuming activity. A smart card can contain a non-encrypted profile of the bearer, so that the user can get customized services even without previous contacts with the supplier. Finally, smart cards are a key technology ena bler for financial institutions.The processing power, the portability and the interactive properties of smart cards will constitute the basis for a revolution in the relationship between consumers and banks. PC-based home banking and phone banking will give way to card banking: a phone equipped with a smart card reader will be all that is needed for any kind of transaction. A smart card is a plastic card with a small, built in microcomputer chip and integrated circuit that can store and process a lot of data. It is considered to be a secure, time saving device that can access information without use of a PC or the Internet.However, smart cards have both Flexibility * Smart cards have a lot of flexibility. They can store multiple types of information including identification, credit cards, business and family contacts. Cost and Availability * Smart card readers are expensive to produce. These readers are not available in all locations and may have compatibility issues due to the diff erences of each smart card brand. Adafruit Raspberry Pi Starter Kit Now available in India ProtoCentral Security * Smart cards are individually encrypted and can only be accessed by pin number.However, there is concern about privacy and whether or not information on the card could be accessed or used illegally by the government or other third-party sources. Data Integrity * Information on a smart card cannot be erased or removed accidentally by any electrical or magnetic means. Smart Card Uses * Smart cards are useful for setting limits on expenses, customizing customer loyalty programs and accessing critical health care information. Smart cards save users from having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. DisadvantagesThe plastic card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible, and the larger the chip, the higher the probability that normal use could damage it. Cards are often carried in wallets or pockets, a harsh environment for a chip. However, for large banking sys tems, failure-management costs can be more than offset by fraud reduction. Client-side identification and authentication cards are the most secure way for e. g. , internet banking applications, but security is never 100% sure. If the account holder's computer hosts malware, the security model may be broken.Malware can override the communication (both input via keyboard and output via application screen) between the user and the application. Rabobank (â€Å"random reader†) in the Netherlands combine a smart card with an unconnected card reader to avoid this problem. The customer enters a challenge received from the bank's website, a PIN and the transaction amount into the reader, The reader returns an 8-digit signature. This signature is manually entered into the personal computer and verified by the bank, preventing malware from changing the transaction amount. Another problem is the lack of standards for functionality and security.