Confucian Vs. Confucian Classics - 1139 Words

In thinking about the Confucian Analects, one can come to a great many conclusions or interpretations regarding the meaning of each passage within his â€Å"Confucian Classics†. Given the historical context and background in which Confucian ideals were created during, there is one particular set of notions in which the authors hoped that a society would derive from this literary masterpiece. Within this essay, my attempt is to provide a detailed evaluation of one of the passages of the Analects, from within the framework of a Confucian society. In doing so, one must associate three key terms with Confucian ideology: that of â€Å"Ren†, which speaks to the goodness of an individual as well as at the societal level; †Li† which is represented by†¦show more content†¦It can be said that this sort of self-analysis speaks to the high degree of practical foresight and self-observation that one is required to attain in a Confucian sense of being. For Master Zeng and Confucians, the concept of â€Å"Ren† relates to the goodness within oneself and how that goodness is shared among society as a whole. Therefore, for Master Zeng, his internal observations and cognitive awareness leads him to a higher level of consciousness that enables him to be good to himself, as well as extending that kindness to the rest of society. Humanitarianism is a key element in Confucian thought. To best explain the concept â€Å"Ren†, in practice, one would need to focus on conveying compassion and understanding to all living things. Under Confucianism, doing any harm to oneself or their environment goes against what is termed as being â€Å"The Way†, or put in other words, if one were to inflict harm on anything they would not be following the path of righteousness. Master Zeng is urging his students to pay attention to their inner desires and to keep them under control. Moving to the next sentence, it is stated that, â€Å"When dealing on the behalf of others have I been trustworthy?† This question relates to the highest esteemed level of integrity and honor that a perfect gentleman has, displays, and is remembered by from the viewpoint of those which he interacts with.

Essay on The Debate Over Campaign Finance Regulations

Money is both the nectar and poison of the human race. This fact has never been more applicable than to modern politics. Nearly all assets to a candidate for political office, such a media advertisements, travel expenses and campaign supplies rely on fiscal support. In an age when electronic media rules supreme, money has never been more important. Today, it has become necessary for political campaigns to pour massive amounts of funding into television, Internet, radio and print ads in order to run a competitive campaign. These ads are the most prominent form of communication between a candidate and the sovereigns, and therefore, a candidate’s ability to use ads can not be inhibited. This correlation between money and politics has many†¦show more content†¦The deposit had to be completed before midnight, as the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) went into affect at midnight of April 7th (Smith 2). The FECA required political campaigns to report the source and amount of each donation. Following the Watergate incident, a movement in Congress called for campaign finance reform in an effort to subdue political corruption. This movement was inspired in part by the role of the Committee to Re-Elect the President, and in 1974 was amended with the passage of the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to form the Federal Election Commission (Smith 1,3). The FEC was tasked with overseeing campaign fundraising and enforcing the FECA, which was the first step toward full transparency and equality of political campaigns (FEC 1). Not only did the BCRA set limits on donations to political campaigns and organizations, but also required campaigns to report the source of major donations, as well as restricting the use of soft money (IGM 2, 107th Congress 47). These regulations are the most prominent form of protection held by the general populous from corporate domination of the electorate. When the United States Constitution was introduced in 1787, the concept s presented were not entirely new thoughts. It was the Roman Republic, which first introduced a representative government to the world. However, the Republic of Rome was plagued by aShow MoreRelatedPro Quo Corruption : Political Institutions And Agencies1685 Words   |  7 Pagesdifficult time to addressing campaign finance regulations; thus, exposing loopholes and flaws in the system. Some of these lawsuits have been brought to the courts to dispute campaign regulations on a basis of constitutionality, such as infringing on 1st and 14th Amendment rights. This unfortunately allows the Supreme Court and its jurisprudence to try and make decisions based on their own interpretations regarding campaign finance. The amount of money that is dumped into campaigns today is tremendous. TheRead MoreCampaign Finance Regulations1453 Words   |  6 PagesCampaign finance regulations have the potential to stifle free speech and impede the election process created for fair and efficient elections. These laws, which limit political spending, serves to limit speech by restricting the average citizen’s ability to both receive and deliver political messages. Laws that restrict spending on political campaigns not only dampen freedoms of speech but but have a counter affect on our democratic society. Regardless of which political side of the fence youRead MoreCons Of Political Campaign Financing1395 Words   |  6 PagesPolitical Campaign Financing Political campaign financing refers to all finances that have been raised and expended in order to promote political candidates, parties, and initiatives. According to a survey conducted in November 2018, when questioned â€Å"Do you know what political campaign financing is?† approximately 50% of respondents answered yes, 27% answered no and 23% answered that they had heard of it. The same survey relayed that only 4% of participants had positive views, 35% had negative viewsRead MoreCampaign Finance Reform Essay1544 Words   |  7 PagesCampaign Finance Reform The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees for 1999 raised an astounding 126 million to finance their campaigns in the primaries (Godfrey). The U.S. national political parties raised a record 107.2 million dollars in soft money contributions in 1999 (Campaign Finance Reform). During the 1995-96 elections, public citizens estimated that an astounding 150 million dollars was spent on phony issue ads designed to support or oppose congressional and presidentialRead MoreEssay on Campaign Finance Reform1003 Words   |  5 PagesCampaign Finance Reform The politics is a stage for many different characters of whom each is trying to convince their audience to give them the loudest cheer and the grand applause. Politicians who played the acts will do their best and sometimes will do everything to win the hearts of their audience and that means to win at all cost. Politics involves money for it is the way to make campaign possible that is why there are campaign managers and campaign funds to whoever will run for any officeRead MoreCampaign Finance Debate770 Words   |  4 Pages  General Information The debate about campaign finance reform is not a new problem but has a long history of change. The first major debate over campaign finance arose from Andrew Jackson’s spoils system. During Andrew Jackson’s 1828 term, he would give out positions in his office to those who supported him during the election. The practice would inadvertently lead to the assassination of President James Garfield and create the first law that placed a restraint on relationships between donorsRead MoreGetting Money Out Of Politics1037 Words   |  5 Pagesin politics could mean the difference between a family having food to eat, or passing legislation. It is the grease that greases the political machine. Thanks to modern technology, a candidate must raise a lot of money to be competitive in their campaign. Most of that funding goes to television, internet, and radio advertising which can decide the result of an election. Though money is crucial for a politician’s ability to get t heir message out to as many voters as possible, it has many unintendedRead More‘Despite Several Attempts to Regulate Campaign Finance, Money Increasingly Dominates the U.S. Electoral Process and Is the Main Factor Contributing to a Candidates Success’ Discuss1270 Words   |  6 Pages‘Despite several attempts to regulate campaign finance, money increasingly dominates the U.S. Electoral process and is the main factor contributing to a candidates success’ Discuss (30 marks) Despite its popularity, there is no serious evidence that campaign finance regulation has actually accomplished any of the goals set out for it by its supporters. Efforts to regulate campaign finance have been little short of disastrous. They have distorted the political process, hindered grassroots politicalRead MoreThe Federal Election Commission ( Fec )1594 Words   |  7 Pagesthat the power and sway of corporations have a corrupting influence on American democracy; even if deals aren’t made, the immense concentration of direct contributions from the wealthiest 1 percent of the population gives them an unusual influence over the political system. It is for this reason that almost every Democrat insists on the reversal of Citizens United. President Obama, in his 2010 State of the Union address, reprimanded the Supreme Court justices for their decision. The court, he statedRead MoreEssay on The Lonely Death of Public Campaign Financing1184 Words   |  5 PagesMarquette Un iversity’s Assistant Professor of Law, Richard Esenberg, is doubtful of the effectiveness of a project that will restructure campaign finance. He foresees the near impossibility of the passage of a bill, along with many drawbacks in similar attempts to miraculously restore democracy to American citizens. Although this is a greatly debated and doubtful topic, there is still hope in the power of the people. While there may be instances where wealthy donors provide a better democratic election

Efficiency in Organizations Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.c

Question: Discuss about the Efficiency in Organizations. Answer: Efficiency in Organizations Today, the regional and global changes that are occurring have both positive and negative effects on organizations. With this regard, there is a need for organizations to have strong, decisive, and driven managers who are able to evaluate the processes. This report seeks to analyze the different techniques which managers employ to ensure that workers at Cerkezkoy Organized Industrial Site are as efficient as possible in their working processes. Efficiency Efficiency is vital in any organization and it is one actor that brings success in different organizations. Due to the continually occurring changes in enterprises, there is a need for businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Organizations need to make sure that they reduce the risks associated with the changes and therefore reduce losses. Efficiency is measurable. It refers to the level of productivity in any organization. Due to the high competition levels that exist, organizations have the responsibility to ensure maximum efficiency. Efficiency occurs in different dimensions. There is need for technological and operational efficiency. Efficiency can also be defined as the proper utilization of all factors of production, namely; land, capital, labor, and the entrepreneurship. Efficiency is also the ratio of income to the production costs. Intra-organizational efficiency is the existence of proper dialogue between the employer and employees in an organization thus ensuring proper relationships between managers and employees and hence leading to increased productivity. Factors That Affect Efficiency There are different intra-business and extra-business factors that affect efficiency. It is vital for organizations to increase efficiency in all their activities. When businesses enlarge, employees are involved in more tasks and they are able to carry out different tasks in the business as opposed to just one task. This in turn leads to job enrichment. This is because carrying out just a single task may lead to monotony and the employees may not be highly motivated because they are not aware of the value they are adding to the company. However, when the employees perform different tasks, they are able to see their significance in the full production process and as a result, they become highly interested in performing their different responsibilities. Methods Used to Increase Efficiency in Organizations Work study is a process which involves a calculation of the productive hours in a business to find out work hours that are inefficient, and therefore work to increase efficiency during the unproductive hours. There is a belief that the process of job simplification ensures that employees are highly motivated to do their jobs in a productive manner. Zero-based budget management is a system that brings in efficiency by making sure that the scarce resources in an organization are optimally distributed. Force field analysis seeks to foresee challenges that an organization is likely to face and ensures that these issues are well planned for. Brainstorming, on the other hand, involves coming up with ideas and arguing them out to find how the organization can benefit the most. Finally, nominal grouping method is used to foresee future issues and come up with ideas and consequently implementing them and evaluating the progress. Reasons for Low Efficiency Levels in Organizations There are different reasons why organizations may have low efficiency levels. These include; lack of a safe and healthy environment to work in, poor relations existing between the employees and the managers, lack of harmonious relations between employees and other colleagues, lack of motivation among the employees to perform certain tasks to completion, low payment of employees which they feel is less than their works worth, and employees lack of love for the job which makes them not to value the job and hence produce low quality work. Based on these problems, activities that can be carried out to ensure that employees are efficient in their tasks include; proper wage payments and bonuses, presence of job security, fair working hours, breaks to rest, and a safe and healthy working environment. Today, it is of great significance for organizations to provide goods and services of the highest quality and at the low costs to survive and outdo their competition as well as make a profit. It is also vital that businesses ensure that the notion of motivation is ensured to increase efficiency of labor at the low costs. Advantages of Employee Motivation There are different advantages of motivation of employees in any organization. These include; Fulfillment of community needs. This is through the provision of high quality products and excellent customer service resulting due to the motivated employees. Employees who are motivated because they value their jobs are able to have ego satisfaction due to the feeling of self-assurance. Finally, motivation enables the employees to become competitive which in turn enables social and economic development of the organization. How Managers Influence Employee Motivation Levels Managers are very significant in their contributions that influence how employees behave and therefore perform in the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization. Therefore, there are a number of ways in which they can influence the behavior of employees positively in accordance with the policies of the organization. These include; allowing free expression of points of view from the employees, being attentive to what employees say, interacting with employees in a sincere manner, talking respectfully to employees, listening and considering the wishes of their subordinates, and making promises that they can keep to employees among others. Research Findings This report also includes a research that was conducted to determine what a sample of two hundred and twenty-nine employees think about the use of different tools of motivation on employees, with the aim of increasing efficiency in the organizations. This research was conducted by the use of a questionnaire that is divided into different sections. The first section required details of the respondents in terms of their gender, age, experience, education information, and their roles in the organizations. The second part seeks to find what employees think of motivation tools with questions formulated in the form of a Likert scale. Analysis of the data collected showed that sixty-three of the total respondents are female and one hundred and sixty-six are male. The respondents are of the ages of eighteen and above. The different respondents are in different professions, and their income distributions are widely distributed. Their marital status are also different with some of them being single, divorced while others are married. Finally, their terms of office are also different. Further analysis proved that the data collected is reliable. An analysis of the impact of the motivation tools in regard to gender revealed that both genders agree on the impact of economic tools on both motivation and psycho-social tools. However, they disagreed on the impact of organizational and managerial tools on motivation. In regards to different age groups and the factors affecting motivation, it was found out that all age groups were in agreement that economics tools, psycho-social tools, and organizational and managerial tools all affect employee motivation. A Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted to see if employees of differing education status agree on the impacts of economic tools, psycho-social tools, and managerial and organizational tools on employee motivation. Results revealed that no differentiation existed. In regards to the amount of payment the employees received, it was found out that the people who earned a low income were much easier to motivate in relation to the existing motivation tools as compared to people who earned high income levels (Guclu Guney 2017). This research, therefore, showed that though different motivational tools worked for some people and not for other people, they are important and when well used they can lead to increased efficiency. Bearing in mind that the fundamental reason for the formation of businesses is to make profits, efficiency is very vital in this process. It is important that managers use techniques that make the employees as productive as possible regardless of their age, gender, levels of education, or period of experience. By so doing, the organizations will make profits continually and increase revenues as well as save costs. Recommendations There are other ways that organizations can increase their efficiency apart from in terms of employees. First, they can take advantage of economies of scale and increase production. This will enable them to lower their prices hence make more sales but still increase their profit margins. Second, they should take advantage of technology in their activities. This ensures faster production and it enables the organization to produce high quality products and services. Third, they should provide customers with high quality customer service as well as after-sale services to ensure that they create loyalty in their customers and therefore have a competitive edge against other providers of the same goods and services. Conclusion Indeed, all factors of production when properly utilized will lead to efficient production and sale of different goods and services in organizations. It is therefore vital that they all be used properly. The factor of production that needs to be most efficient is labor and that is why this report pays a lot of emphasis on the importance of employee motivation and outlines ways in which this can take place. References Guclu, H. Guney, S., 2017. The Effect of the Motivation Techniques Used by Managers to Increase the Productivity of their Workers and an Application. Business Management Dynamics, 6(7), pp.118.

Ration Analysis Between Two Companies Essay Example

Ration Analysis Between Two Companies Essay UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Master of Business Administration International MANAGING FINANCIAL RESOURCES FINANCIAL MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING ASSIGNMENT October 2008 – September 2009 Prepared by; Submitted On; INDEX No Contents 1 2 3 4 Table of Contents Table of Figures List of Tables Table of Appendices Pg no 3 4 5 6 2 Table of Contents Title 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Abstract Profitability Ratios Efficiency Ratios Liquidity ratios Financial Gearing Ratios Investment Ratios Result of the Analysis Limitations of Financial Reports References Pg no 7 10 15 20 22 25 27 27 29 3 Fig No TITLE Pg No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Return on capital employed ratio Return on ordinary shareholders fund Gross Profit Margin ratio Operating Profit Net Profit Margin ratio Inventory holding period(MS) Inventory holding period (J Sainsbury) Debtor payment period Creditors payment period Working capital cycle Current ratio analysis Quick ratio Analysis Gearing Ratio Interest Cover Ratio 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 20 21 23 23 4 List of Tables No 1 2. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Comparison of Ratios Return on Capital Employed Return on Shareholders fund Gross Profit Margin Operating profit margin Net profit Percentage Summary of profitability ratios Inventory holding period Debtor Payment period Creditor payment period Working capital cycle Sales revenue per employee Summary of Efficiency ratios Current Ratio Quick Ratio Summary of Liquidity ratios Leverage Interest cover Summary of Financial structure Dividend cover Dividend yield ratio Earnings per ratio Price/Earning Ratio Summary of Investment ratios TITLE We will write a custom essay sample on Ration Analysis Between Two Companies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ration Analysis Between Two Companies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ration Analysis Between Two Companies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Financial statement summary Pg No 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 5 Table of Appendices Title Appendix A Appendix B Financial Statement Marks and Spencer Financial Statement J Sainsbury Page no 30 36 6 1. Abstract The report evaluates the performance and financial position of Marks Spencer plc and J Sainsbury plc. 1. a) Marks and Spencer plcThis UK Group consists of shops that specialize in apparel, food, beauty products and household items. 1. b) J Sainsbury plcThe Company consists of Sainsbury’s, which has a chain of supermarkets, convenience stores and Sainsbury’s bank. 1. ) The Report The report explains financial analysis techniques used to evaluate the performance and the financial position of both the companies for a period of 3 years, from 2006-2008. A vertical and horizontal analysis of financial position of both the companies is done. A series of ratios are used to assess the Profitability, Efficiency, Liquidity, Finan cial gearing and Investment status of the companies. 7 Table 1 FINANCIAL STATEMENT SUMMARY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 1 Revenue 2 cost of sales 3 Gross profit 4 5 operating profit PBIT interest 7797. 7 4,812. 1 2,985. 6 850. 1 104. 4 745. 7 225. 1 520. 6 1,142. 1 4,116. 5,258. 9 2,007. 8 2013 4020. 8 SAINSBURY 2006 16,061 14,994 1,067 229 125 104 46 58 3,845 8,902 12747 4719 2007 8588. 1 5,246. 9 3,341. 2 1045. 9 109. 2 936. 7 277. 5 659. 2 846. 4 4534. 6 5381 1600. 5 2102. 5 3703 2008 9022 5,535. 2 3,486. 8 1211. 3 82. 2 1,129. 10 308. 1 821 1181. 7 5979. 3 7161 1977. 8 2821. 4 2007 17,151 15,979 1,172 520 43 477 153 324 1,940 7,636 9,576 2707 2008 17,837 16,835 1,002 530 51 479 150 329 1,722 8,393 10,115 2595 6 Profit before tax 7 Tax 8 interest and tax 9 Current asset 10 non current asset Profit after 11 total asset 12 Current liability 13 liability Non current 3877 4799. 2 8596 269 4976 2191 4786 Excluded provisions and deferred tax Excluding minority interest Excluding other receivables Excluding other payables 14 Total liability 15 Total equity 16 receivables 17 Trade Payables 18 Inventory 19 Employees 20 Dividend 21 Dividend per share Earning per share Trade 1,203. 70 1,646. 80 1,956. 70 3,886 4,349 4,935 42 228. 9 374. 3 70310 234. 6 14 168. 24 31. 3 556. 5 67. 9 259. 7 416. 3 75871 310 18. 3 169. 98 39. 1 676. 5 84. 6 242. 6 488. 9 75389 358 22. 3 158. 65 49. 2 396. 3 33 1,419 576 153300 131 9 171. 05 3. 8 330. 8 30 1706 590 146900 140 7. 35 173. 42 19. 2 549. 5 32 1703 681 151000 178 5. 5 174. 70 19. 1 332. 8 22 Number of shares 23 24 Mid market price Closing price 8 Table 2 COMPARISON OF RATIOS SAINSBURY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 PROFITABILITY RATIOS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ROCE ROSF GROSS PROFIT% OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN NET PROFIT 26. 4 43 38 11 6. 7 0. 57 0. 38 27. 9 40 39 12 7. 7 0. 53 0. 27 25. 4 42 39 13 9. 1 0. 60 0. 35 2. 9 1 7 1 0. 4 0. 81 0. 69 7. 9 7 7 3 1. 9 0. 72 0. 50 7. 4 7 6 3 1. 8 0. 66 0. 40 2006 2007 2008 PERCENTAGE LIQUIDITY RATIOS CURRENT RATIO QUICK RATIO EFFICIENCY RATIOS INVENTORY 8 9 10 11 12 HOLDING DEBTOR PAYMENT 28 2 17 13 29 3 18 14 32 3 16 20 14 1 35 -20 13 1 39 -25 5 1 37 -22 PERIOD CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE Sales Revenue per employee FINANCIAL STRUCTURE 110904. 6 113193. 4 119672. 6 104768. 4 116752. 9 118125. 8 13 14 LEVERAGE INTEREST COVER 63 8. 1 56 9. 6 59 14. 7 50 1. 8 34 12. 1 31 10. 4 INVESTMENT RATIOS 15 16 17 18 DIVIDEND YIELD EARNINGS PER SHARE DIVIDEND COVER PRICE/EARNING RATIO 2. 52 31. 3 2. 2 17. 8 2. 71 39. 1 2. 1 17. 3 5. 63 49. 2 2. 3 8. 1 2. 72 3. 8 0. 4 87. 1 1. 34 19. 2 2. 3 28. 6 1. 76 19. 1 1. 8 17. 4 9 Financial ratio classification Ratios are grouped into 5 categories which are related to a particular financial performance. In this report, the following categories have been used; 2. )Profitability ratios – A profitability ratio gives an idea to the degree of success in attaining profit and also to compare the financial viability of a business to others in the industry. 2. a) Return on capital employed ratio (ROCE)-The ratio expresses the relationship between the operating profit during a period and the long term capital invested in the business in that period. ROCE Operating profit Share capital+Reserves+Noncurrent liabilities RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED (ROCE %) 2006 2007 MARKS SPENCER ROCE J SAINSBURY ROCE 850. 1*100/(1203. +2013) 26 229*100/(3886+3877) 3 1045. 9*100/(1646. 8+2102. 5) 28 520*100/(4349+2269) 8 2008 1211. 3*100/(1956. 7+2821. 4) 25 530*100/(4935+2191) 7 Table 3 ROCE 30 25 20 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY % 15 10 5 0 28 26 25 8 3 7 2006 2007 YEAR 2008 RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED (ROCE %) Fig 1 AnalysisThe capital employed has increased by 16. 5 % in 2007 and 27. 4 % in 2008, but the R OCE has increased only 7. 7 % in 2007 and there is a decline of 10. 7 % in 2008. The capital employed has decreased by 14. 7 % in 2007 and increased by 7. 7 % in 2008,but the ROCE has increased by 166. 7 % in 2007 and decreased by 12. % in 2008. 10 2. b) Return on Shareholders fund ratio (ROSF) – The ratio compares the amount of profit available for owners with the owner’s average stake in the business for a particular period. ROSF Net profit Ordinary Share capital+Reserves This ratio takes a rather narrower view of the capital employed, restricting the investment made by the shareholders only. And it measures how efficiently the company is using the shareholders fund to generate returns. RETURN ON ORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS FUND (ROSF) 2006 2007 MARKS SPENCER ROSF J SAINSBURY ROSF 520. 6*100/1203. 7 43 58*100/3886 1 659. 2*100/1646. 40 324*100/4349 7 2008 821*100/1956. 7 42 329*100/4935 7 Table 4 ROSF 45 40 35 30 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY % 25 20 15 10 5 0 43 40 42 7 1 2006 2007 YEAR 2008 7 RETURN ON ORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS FUND (ROSF) Fig 2 AnalysisIn 2007 with an increase in shareholders fund of 36. 8 %, there is a decrease of 7 % in ROSF, while in 2008 with an increase of equity by 18. 8 %, the ROSF has gone up by 5%. The equity has increased by 11. 9% in 2007 and by 13. 5% in 2008. But there is a marked increase in ROSF in 2007, which is almost 6 times/600% of that in 2006,but it has remained the same in 2008 also. . c) Gross Profit Margin ratio-This ra tio compares the gross profit to the sales revenue during the same period. Gross Profit Margin Gross Profit * 100 Sales Revenue 11 GROSS PROFIT MARGIN % 2006 2007 MARKS SPENCER GROSS PROFIT MARGIN J SAINSBURY GROSS PROFIT MARGIN 2985. 6*100/7797. 7 38 1067*100/16061 7 3341. 2*100/8588. 1 39 1172*100/17151 7 2008 3486. 8*100/9022 39 1002*100/17837 6 Table 5 GROSS PROFIT 39 39 40 35 30 25 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY % 20 15 10 5 0 38 7 7 6 2006 2007 YEAR 2008 Gross Profit Margin ratio Figure 3 Analysis; The sales revenue in 2007 for MS has gone up by 10. % and the gross profit by 11. 9%, compared to 2006. This is because of an increase in the selling price and that the cost of sales increased only at a lower rate compared to the selling price. The sales revenue of Sains compared in 2007 and 2008 has gone up by 6. 8% and 4% respectively, compared to the previous years. While the gross profit in 2007 to that of 2006 shows a hike of 9. 8%, but a decline of (14. 5%) in 2008 when compared with 2007. The decline in gross profit is attributed to a hike in the cost of purchases and a decline of gross profit margin in 2008 as compared to 2007 by a value of (14. %) and suggests a rise in cost of purchase without a rise in selling price. 2. d) OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN -This ratio also known as coverage ratio, compares the operating profit to the sales revenue for a period. Operating Profit margin Operating profit * 100 Sales Revenue 12 OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN % 2006 MARKS SPENCER OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN J SAINSBURY OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN 850. 1*100/7797. 7 11 229*100/16061 1 2007 1045. 9*100/8588. 1 12 520*100/17151 3 2008 1211. 3*100/9022 13 530*100/17837 3 Table 6 OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN 14 12 10 8 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY 4 2 0 2006 1 % 6 11 13 12 3 2007 YEAR 2008 OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN Fig 4 Analysis; J Sainsbury has a much greater % of operating profit compared to MS in 2007 of 127, but it is reduced to 1. 9% in 2008. Even a drastic increase in operating profit in 2007 yields only much less margin compared to MS. The reports of 2006 shows a very high administration expense which was due to the additional head count and was brought down in 06-07 with a result of an increase in operating profit margin of 200% in 07, which is remarkable. But the revenue in 2007 has gone up only by 6. 7% which attributes to a hike in cost of sales. 2. ) Net profit Margin ratio-The ratio relates to the net profit, after taxes, of the company and relates to the sales revenue. Net Profit Margin Net Profit * 100 Sales Revenue 13 NET PROFIT PERCENTAGE 2006 MARKS SPENCER NET PROFIT PERCENTAGE J SAINSBURY NET PROFIT PERCENTAGE 520. 6*100/7797. 7 7 58*100/16061 0 2007 659. 2*100/8588. 1 8 324*100/17151 2 2008 821*100/9022 9 329*100/17837 2 Table 7 NET PROFIT PERCENTAGE 9 9 8 7 6 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY % 5 4 3 2 1 0 2006 2007 YEAR 2008 0 2 2 7 8 Net profit Margin ratio Fig 5 Analysis; Even though the net profit of the Sainsbury hikes by 200% in 2007, this is only 10% profit of MS. But this profit hike could not be maintained by Sains in 2008, which is due to the increase in cost of sales and the increase in operating expenses. The year 2006 was a model year for Sainsbury with cost cutting on over heads and head count. Summary of Profitability Ratios; SAINSBURY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 PROFITABILITY RATIOS 1 2 3 4 5 ROCE ROSF GROSS PROFIT% OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN NET PROFIT 26. 4 43 38 11 6. 7 27. 9 40 39 12 7. 7 25. 4 42 39 13 9. 1 2. 9 1 7 1 0. 4 7. 9 7 7 3 1. 9 7. 4 7 6 3 1. 8 2006 2007 2008 PERCENTAGE Table 8 14 Analysis- Both the companies have maintained their level of profitability throughout the 3 years. But comparing between the two companies, Marks Spencer has done much better than Sainbury. Considering the fact that supermarkets tend to operate on a low profit margin explains the poor rating of profitability ratios of Sains. As far as Sains is concerned 2007 was an excellent year with ROCE, ROSF and Operating profit increasing upto 150%. 3) Efficiency ratios- These ratios examine the ways in which various resources of the business are managed and also about collections, cash flow and operational result. 3. )Inventory holding period- The ratio gives the average number of days taken by the business to sell a piece of stock and it is desirable for this period to be as short as possible. The comparison of ratio is only meaningful when comparing similar type of companies or with the prior inventory turnover of the same company. Inventory holding period Inventory(stock)*365 cost of sales I NVENTORY HOLDING 2006 MARKS SPENCER INVENTORY HOLDING J SAINSBURY 374. 3*365/4812. 1 28 576*365/14994 2007 416. 3*365/5246. 9 29 590*365/15979 13 2008 488. 9*365/5535. 2 32 681*365/16835 15 Table 9 14 INVENTORY HOLDING INVENTORY HOLDING INVENTORY HOLDING PERIOD 32 31 30 DAYS 29 28 27 26 MARKS SPENCER 2006 28 2007 29 2008 32 Inventory holding period Marks Spencer Fig 6 15 INVENTORY HOLDING PERIOD 15 14. 5 14 DAYS 13. 5 13 12. 5 12 J SAINSBURY 2006 14 2007 13 2008 15 Inventory holding period J Sainsbury Fig 7 Analysis; The inventory holding period varies with different types of businesses. Sainsbury, a supermarket holds more inventories which is noted from the difference in corresponding current ratio and quick ratio. The inventory holding period of Sains is much lower than Marks and can be attributed to the difference in type of goods sold in these stores. . b) Receivables payment period( debtors turnover)- The ratio measures the length of time taken by the debtors to settle the account with the company. Receivables payment period Trade receivables(debtors)*365 Revenue(sales) DEBTOR PAYMENT PERIOD 2006 2007 MARKS SPENCER DEBTOR PAYMENT PERIOD J SAINSBURY DEBTOR PAYMENT PERIOD 42*365/7797. 7 2 33*365/16061 1 DEBTOR PAYMENT PERIOD 67. 9*365/8588. 1 3 30*365/17151 1 Table 10 2008 84. 6*365/9022 3 32*365/17837 1 16 RECEIVABLES(DEBTOR) PAYMENT PERIOD 3 3 2. 5 2 2 DAYS 1. 5 1 1 0. 5 0 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY 1 1 3 2006 2 1 2007 3 1 008 3 1 Fig 8 Analysis; Trade receivables deals with goods or services sold on credit from the company. As noted, the payment in Sains takes place in less than a day i. e. the payments are mainly in cash. In the case of Marks, a credit allowance of up to 3 days is seen. Again this is not a high value in the industry and the risk of nonpayment by the customers is less. 3. c) Payables payment period or creditor turnover – The ratio measures the time taken by the company to make payments to its customers. Payables payment period Trade payables(creditors)*365 Purchase or cost of sales . CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD 2006 MARKS SPENCER CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD J SAINSBURY 228. 9*365/4812. 1 17 1419*365/14994 2007 259. 7*365/5246. 9 18 1706*365/15979 39 Table 11 2008 242. 6*365/5535. 2 16 1703*365/16835 37 CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD 35 CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD PAYABLES PAYMENT PERIOD 39 40 35 30 25 DAYS 20 15 10 5 0 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY 2006 17 35 2007 18 39 2008 16 37 17 18 16 35 37 Fig 9 17 Analysis; It should also be noted that the trade payables of Sains is much higher than its inventory holding period. This is quite significant that the company can invest the cash from the sales much before it pays its suppliers. When compared,MS has a lower payable period and higher inventory holding period, which is not beneficial to the company. 3. d) The working capital cycle-The working capital gives the length of the time cash spends are tied up in the current assets. Working capital cycle Stock turnover+ debtors turnovercreditors turnover WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE 2006 MARKS SPENCER WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE J SAINSBURY WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE (28+2)-17 13 (14+1)-35 2007 (29+3)-18 14 (13+1)-39 -25 2008 (32+3)-16 20 (15+1)-37 -22 Table 12 ROUND FIGURE ROUND FIGURE -20 WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE 20 20 15 10 5 DAYS 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 MARKS SPENCER J SAINSBURY 2006 13 -20 -20 -25 2007 14 -25 2008 20 -22 -22 13 14 Fig 10 Analysis;As this ratio measures the time cash is away from the business, it is best to have shorter number of days. A negative number in the working capital happens when the company purchase the goods and sell them and the sales cash is received quicker than the company has to pay its creditors. Even though the number is negative, there is positive cash flow and this can be a model business. But the company should see that it keeps up the goodwill of the suppliers also,since the average creditor payment date is high. 18 3. f) Sales Revenue per employee; It measures the amount of revenue generated by a particular business resource-Labour. The ratio measures the productivity of the employees and a high value suggests an efficient management of the work force. Sales Revenue per employee 2006 2007 MARKS SPENCER Sales Revenue per employee J SAINSBURY Sales Revenue per employee 7797. 7m/70310 110904. 6 16061m/153300 104768 8588. 1m/75871 113193. 17151m/146900 116752. 9 2008 9022m/75389 119672. 6 17837m/151000 118125. 8 Table 13 Analysis; Both the companies have maintained a steady increase in this ratio. But in the year 2007, Sains had reduced the number of employees by (4. 3%), but the revenue hiked by 6. 8%. This is commendable. And also in 2007, with an increase of 2. 8% of employees, the company was able to hike the revenue by 4%. Summary of Efficiency Ratios; SAINSBURY M ARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 EFFICIENCY RATIOS INVENTORY 2006 2007 2008 1 2 3 4 5 HOLDING DEBTOR PAYMENT 28 2 17 13 29 3 18 14 2 3 16 20 14 1 35 -20 13 1 39 -25 15 1 37 -22 PERIOD CREDITOR PAYMENT PERIOD WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE Sales Revenue per employee 110904. 6 113193. 4 119672. 6 104768. 4 116752. 9 118125. 8 Analysis; Table 14 Here again the type of business matters a lot with supermarket having a smaller inventory holding days and so on. But the efficiency of MS is showing a decline as far as inventory holding and creditor payment period is analysed. A negative working capital is far but advantageous for Sains by investing the cash from sales much ahead of paying the creditors. 19 ) Liquidity Ratios-These ratios measure the ability of the firm to meet the short term financial obligations and give an idea of financial health. 4. a)Current ratio- This ratio compares the current assets to the current liabilities. The drawback of current ratio is that the inventory in the current asset may be difficult to quickly liquidate . Current ratio Current Asset Current Lia bilities CURRENT RATIO 2006 MARKS SPENCER CURRENT RATIO J SAINSBURY CURRENT RATIO 1142/2007. 8 0. 57 3845/4719 0. 81 2007 846. 4/1600. 5 0. 53 1940/2707 0. 72 2008 1181. 7/1977. 8 0. 1722/2595 0. 66 Current ratio Table15 Current Ratio Analysis 0. 66 2008 0. 6 J SAINSBURY MARKS SPENCER 0. 72 2007 0. 53 0. 81 2006 0. 57 0 0. 1 0. 2 0. 3 0. 4 0. 5 0. 6 0. 7 0. 8 0. 9 Current Ratio Fig 11 AnalysisThe number should be above 1 and if its exceeding 2, its usually a sign of strength for the company. The reason for a low current ratio is because of the type of business, but both the companies are maintaining an average, with a slight advantage for Sainsbury. 4. b) Quick Ratio-The ratio compares the current assets (excluding inventory) by current liabilities. The minimum level for this ratio is 1. 0 times/1:1, where current assets (excluding inventory) equals current liability. 20 Quick Ratio Current asset less Inventory stock Current liability QUICK/ACID TEST RATIO 2006 MARKS SPENCER QUICK RATIO J SAINSBURY QUICK RATIO (1142-374. 3) /2007. 8 0. 38 (3845-576) /4719 0. 69 2007 (846. 4-416. 3) /1600. 5 0. 27 (1940-590) /2707 0. 5 2008 (1181. 7-488. 9) /1977. 8 0. 35 (1722-681) /2595 0. 4 QUICK/ACID TEST RATIO Table 16 Quick Ratio Analysis 0. 4 2008 0. 35 J SAINSBURY MARKS SPENCER 2007 0. 5 0. 27 2006 0. 69 0. 38 0 0. 1 . 2 0. 3 0. 4 0. 5 0. 6 0. 7 0. 8 Quick Ratio Analysis; Fig 12 The low ratios could be attributed to the type of business with inventory forming a major part of the asset and also to a high short term debt and a high investment of capital on inventory. But this ratio ignores stock. Also a vast development is seen in MS which would have increased the liabilities 21 Summary of Liquidity Ratios SAINSBURY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 LIQUIDITY RATIOS 2006 2007 2008 1 2 CURRENT RATIO QUICK RATIO 0. 57 0. 38 0. 53 0. 27 0. 60 0. 35 0. 81 0. 69 0. 72 0. 50 0. 66 0. 0 Table 17 Analysis; Both the companies are nowhere near the ideal as far as current ratio is concerned, but Sains has a better value and could be due to only high stock of inventory. Even in quick ratio, both the companies are not touching the ideal ratio of 1. The ratios are decreasing in the case of Sains, which is a very bad sign of poor liquidity, but Marks is able to maintain or rather increase the liquidity in 2008. 5) Financial Gearing-The level of gearing of a business shows the extent to which it is financed from sources that require a fixed return. 5. ) Gearing ratio-The ratio measures the non current liabilities to the long term capital structure (share capital+ Reserves + Non current liability) of a business. Gearing ratio Long term borrowing(debt) Long term borrowing + Equity LEVERAGE 2006 MARKS SPENCER LEVERAGE 2013*100/(2013+1 203. 7) 63 2007 2102. 5*100/(2102. 5+1646. 8) 56 2269*100(2269+4349) 2008 2821. 4*100/(2821. 4+1956. 7) 59 2191*100/(2191+4935) J SAINSBURY 3877*100/(3877+3886) 50 LEVERAGE 34 Table 18 31 LEVERAGE 22 GEARING RATIO 31 2008 59 J SAINSBURY MARKS SPENCER YEAR 34 2007 56 50 2006 63 0 20 40 LEVERAGE 60 80 Analysis; Fig 13 There is a significant decrease (38%) in gearing in Sains because of the reduction in long term borrowing by 43% in the 3 years. With a decrease in gearing ratio, the debt of the company and hence the risk of the company also comes down. MS is a much highly geared group and any decrease in the operating profit will bring down the ROSF ratio by a higher degree. 5. b. )Interest cover ratio-The interest cover ratio measures the operating profit to the interest payable . Interest cover Profit before interet and tax Interest expense INTEREST COVER MARKS SPENCER INTEREST COVER J SAINSBURY INTEREST COVER 2006 850. /104. 4 8. 1 229/125 1. 8 2007 1045. 9/109. 2 9. 6 520/43 12. 1 Table 19 2008 1211. 3/82. 2 14. 7 530/51 10. 4 INTEREST COVER INTEREST COVER RATIO 2008 2008, 10. 4 2008, 14. 7 2007, 12. 1 2007, 9. 6 2006, 1. 8 YEAR J SAINSBURY MARKS SPENCER 2007 2006 2006, 8. 1 0 5 10 15 INTEREST COVER Fig 14 23 Analysis; The ratio gives the value of how many times operating profit is to the int erest paid by the business and MS is much ahead of Sains in 2006. But Sains has made an increase of 572% in 2007, which is incomparable. MS also has made an improvement of 53 % in 2008. Summary of Financial Gearing Ratios SAINSBURY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 FINANCIAL STRUCTURE 2006 2007 2008 1 2 LEVERAGE% INTEREST COVER (times) 63 8. 1 56 9. 6 59 14. 7 50 1. 8 34 12. 1 31 10. 4 Table 20 Analysis In the financial gearing ratios, Sainsbury has shown a marked improvement in the past three years with leverage going down and the interest cover increasing. But the leverage of MS is at a high level throughout which is not good comparatively. 24 6) Investment ratios- The investment ratios that are designed to help investors assess the returns on their investment are distinct from those that are used to interpret financial statements. The ratio also tells us about the dividend policy and the prospects for future growth of the business. 6. a) Dividend cover ratio –The ratio compares the profit for the year to the dividend announced for the year. Dividend cover ratio Profit for the year Dividend announced for the year DIVIDEND COVER 2006 MARKS SPENCER DIVIDEND COVER J SAINSBURY DIVIDEND COVER 520. 6/234. 6 2. 2 58/131 0. 4 DIVIDEND COVER 2007 659. 2/310 2. 1 324/140 2. 3 2008 821/358 2. 3 329/178 1. 8 Table 21 Analysis; The profit for the year which is the earnings available for the dividend cover is compared to the actual dividend. MS is maintaining a steady dividend cover along the 3 years , whereas Sains has shown an increase of more than 400% in 2007. 6. b) Dividend yield ratio- The ratio compares dividend per share to the market value of the share Since this ratio provides a direct measure of the return on investment in the shares of a company, investors can assess the merits of different investments. Dividend yield ratio Dividend per share * 100 Market value per share DIVIDEND YIELD RATIO 2006 2007 18. 3*100/676. 5 2. 71 7. 35*100/549. 5 1. 34 2008 22. 3*100/396. 3 5. 63 5. 85*100/332. 8 1. 76 MARKS SPENCER DIVIDEND YIELD J SAINSBURY DIVIDEND YIELD 4*100/556. 5 2. 52 9*100/330. 8 2. 72 DIVIDEND YIELD RATIO Table 22 Analysis; A drop in the dividend yield ratio in the case of Sains is contributable to the increase in Market price of the shares. Sainsbury has shown a higher profitability in the year 2006-07 and the share price has doubled. But the group was not able to maintain the dividend yield or the mark et price in 2007-08, and seen 25 here is a drastic drop. The case is not different for MS with a sharp fall of share price. 6. c) Earnings per share – The ratio compares the profit for the year to the number of ordinary shares in issue. Earnings per share Profit for the year Number of ordinary shares in issue EARNINGS PER SHARE MS EARNINGS PER SHARE JSAINSBURY EARNINGS PER SHARE 2006 523. 1/168. 24*100 31. 1 58*100/171. 05 3. 4 2007 659. 9*100/169. 98 38. 8 324*100/173. 42 18. 7 Table 23 2008 821*100/158. 65 51. 7 329*100/174. 7 18. 8 EARNINGS PER SHARE Analysis; As it does not value much to compare the earning per share of two companies, the EPS for both the companies can be compared with their previous values. Both the companies show an increasing EPS which need not necessarily be due to an increased profit. In the case of MS in 2008 the ordinary shares issued has been down considerably and the EPS has gone up by 33%. 6. d) Price /earning ratio- The ratio compares the market value of a share to the earnings per share Price/Earnings ratio(P/E ratio) Market value per share Earnings per share PRICE/EARNING RATIO 2006 MARKS SPENCER PRICE/EARNING RATIO J SAINSBURY PRICE/EARNING RATIO 556. 5/31. 3 17. 8 330. 8/3. 8 87. 1 2007 676. 5/39. 1 17. 3 549. 5/19. 2 28. 6 2008 396. 3/49. 2 8. 1 332. 8/19. 1 17. 4 PRICE/EARNING RATIO Table 24 Analysis; The value of this ratio tells us how many times the share value is higher than the EPS. An unusually high P/E value of Sainsbury in 2006, is due to a fall in EPS value and an optimistic view of the investors that the company will perform better in the future.. But the decreasing P/E ratio of MS indicates a low share price compared to the EPS. But it should be noted that the earning per share of MS has steadily increased and doubled in the past 5 years, from 2003 to 2008. 26 SUMMARY OF INVESTMENT RATIOS SAINSBURY MARKS AND SPENCER 2006 2007 2008 INVESTMENT RATIOS 2006 2007 2008 1 2 3 4 DIVIDEND YIELD EARNINGS PER SHARE DIVIDEND COVER PRICE/EARNING RATIO 2. 52 31. 3 2. 2 17. 8 2. 71 39. 2. 1 17. 3 5. 63 49. 2 2. 3 8. 1 2. 72 3. 8 0. 4 87. 1 1. 34 19. 2 2. 3 28. 6 1. 76 19. 1 1. 8 17. 4 Table 25 Analysis; A fall in the EPS gives way to the abnormally high P? E ratio in 2005-06. And the high P/E ratio suggests the investors evaluation and assessment of the future. But both companies have shown a steady increase in EPS in 2007-08. The drop in P/E ratio in 2007-08 could be a result of the financial crisis wave and the sub prime crisis, which had its first taste in mid 2006. 7)RESULT OF THE ANALYSIS; On the basis of profitability, Marks and Spencer has done much better than J Sainsbury. There is a margin of 68% and 20% on an average for ROCE and Net profit for the past three years between the two companies with Marks and Spencer leading the show. But in the Efficiency ratios Sainsbury is much ahead of Marks and the financial structure also has improved to a considerable value for Sainsbury in these 3 years. As far as Investment ratios are studied, both the companies have shown a decreasing order, which could be explained by the global turmoil. The analysis provides an in-depth knowledge of the financial status and performance of the 2 companies. Results interpreted in Abstract) 8)Limitations of Financial Reports- The published financial report provide only a starting point for understanding the entity’s performance. And it should not be the last resort. The managers who prepare the reports know that the statements will be read by potential critics, who can harm the company. So they are unlikely to present the unvarnished truth. o The reports are historical in nature and highlight the past performance of the company, with very little information about the future prospects of the company . 27 o o o o o o o o o o Inflation affects the information in the reports as many of the company’s assets are undervalued because in a fairly high inflation. The company only discloses minimum amount of information which rarely satisfies the need of the users. The assets appear in the balance sheet at their original cost and it is assumed that the purchasing power of money will remain the same. The report restricts themselves to matters that can be measured in monetary terms only. The income appears on the profit and loss account when a consignment of goods is despatched and this is much before the cash is received. Unless one understands the accounting ‘jargon’, the report may be incomprehensible. As companies adopt different methods of financial accounting methods, an inter company comparison is inevitably distorted. The annual reports are often published several months after the financial year-end, by which time the information is to some extent outdated. The statements could be deliberately distorted by creative accounting. Many organisations regard these statements as marketing documents to promote the company and the management. 28 9)Reference: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. http://uk. finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=mks. , company profile of Marks and Spencer http://uk. finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=SBRY. L, company profile of J Sainsbury plc http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marks__Spencer, history of Marks and Spencers ‘Accounting and finance for non specialist’,Atrill. p,McLaney. E,Pearson Education Limited,UK,pg 27-181 ‘Financial and Management Accounting’, Ciancanelli. P, Dunn. J, Koch. B, Stewart. M, University of Strathclyde Business School, pg 17-115 www. jsainsbury. uk, Annual Report-2007 2008 www. marksandspencer. com, Annual Report-2007 2008 http://www. studentinvestor. org/downloads, 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Free Essays on From The New World

Dvorak?s ?From the New World? The late nineteenth century America was a place of energy, vigor, and youth; at least that was how it was seen through the eyes of one of the greatest Czech composers in history, Antonin Leopold Dvorak. Born September 8, 1841, he was the son of a butcher and innkeeper in a poor unsophisticated town, Nelahozeves. Surprisingly enough, from these humble beginnings Dvorak would go on to become one of the most renowned Bohemian composers and forever leave his mark in history as influencing not only his native Czech nationalistic school, but helping to pave the way for Americans to develop their own national music. Dvorak received his first musical education learning to play the violin in his village school. His parents ?recognized their son?s musical talent from the first and did all they could to encourage it? (Boynick). In 1857 he was sent to the Prague Organ School where he graduated as a trained organist, second in his class. After working in Prague for several years giving lessons and attempting to compose, his career was greatly aided by the established composer Johannes Brahms who found Dvorak a publisher and got his career underway. Throughout his career Dvorak derived much guidance from other greats such as Brahms, Liszt, and especially Smetena who started the nationalist movement and whom Dvorak studied under. After a period of being ignored as serious musicians, these composers set forth a standard of nationalistic music that emphasized Slavic folk music & dances and established Czech music on the world scene. In June 1891, after receiving world acclaim for many of his works, Dvorak was offered the post of Director of the National Conservatory of Music in America by Jeannette Thurber. At the time America seemed the promise land for the Czech composer as opposed to his Austrian ruled homeland. With a salary of $15,000 annually, it was a position Dvorak could hardly refuse. It was here, in an ?e... Free Essays on From The New World Free Essays on From The New World Dvorak?s ?From the New World? The late nineteenth century America was a place of energy, vigor, and youth; at least that was how it was seen through the eyes of one of the greatest Czech composers in history, Antonin Leopold Dvorak. Born September 8, 1841, he was the son of a butcher and innkeeper in a poor unsophisticated town, Nelahozeves. Surprisingly enough, from these humble beginnings Dvorak would go on to become one of the most renowned Bohemian composers and forever leave his mark in history as influencing not only his native Czech nationalistic school, but helping to pave the way for Americans to develop their own national music. Dvorak received his first musical education learning to play the violin in his village school. His parents ?recognized their son?s musical talent from the first and did all they could to encourage it? (Boynick). In 1857 he was sent to the Prague Organ School where he graduated as a trained organist, second in his class. After working in Prague for several years giving lessons and attempting to compose, his career was greatly aided by the established composer Johannes Brahms who found Dvorak a publisher and got his career underway. Throughout his career Dvorak derived much guidance from other greats such as Brahms, Liszt, and especially Smetena who started the nationalist movement and whom Dvorak studied under. After a period of being ignored as serious musicians, these composers set forth a standard of nationalistic music that emphasized Slavic folk music & dances and established Czech music on the world scene. In June 1891, after receiving world acclaim for many of his works, Dvorak was offered the post of Director of the National Conservatory of Music in America by Jeannette Thurber. At the time America seemed the promise land for the Czech composer as opposed to his Austrian ruled homeland. With a salary of $15,000 annually, it was a position Dvorak could hardly refuse. It was here, in an ?e...

How to Communicate Uncertainty When Speaking Japanese

How to Communicate Uncertainty When Speaking Japanese Most English speakers are probably not familiar with the subjunctive, as it only appears very rarely there. However, speakers of Spanish or French know it well, because they communicate theoretical ideas with if, might, or maybe by conjugating subjunctive verb forms. While there is no subjunctive mood or verb form in Japanese, there are several ways to express uncertainty.  Related concepts when learning the language include the conditional or potential. Darou, Deshou, and Tabun Darou is a plain form of deshou, and means will probably. The adverb tabun (perhaps) is sometimes added. Kare wa ashita kuru deshou.Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£  ¯Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã¦â€" ¥Ã¦  ¥Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£  §Ã£ â€"ょ㠁†ï ½ ¡ "He will probably come tomorrow." Ashita wa hareru darou.明æâ€" ¥Ã£  ¯Ã¦â„¢ ´Ã£â€šÅ'る㠁  Ã£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã¯ ½ ¡ "It will be sunny tomorrow." Kyou haha wa tabun uchi ni iru deshou.ä »Å Ã¦â€" ¥Ã¦ ¯ Ã£  ¯Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ¶Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£ â€ Ã£  ¡Ã£  «Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£  §Ã£ â€"ょ㠁†ï ½ ¡ "My mother will probably be home today." Darou or deshou are also used to form a tag question. In this case, you usually can tell the meaning from the context. Tsukareta deshou.çâ€" ²Ã£â€šÅ'㠁Ÿã  §Ã£ â€"ょ㠁†ï ½ ¡ "You were tired, weren't you?" Kyou wa kyuuryoubi darou.ä »Å Ã¦â€" ¥Ã£  ¯Ã§ µ ¦Ã¦â€"™æâ€" ¥Ã£   Ã£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã¯ ½ ¡ "Today is a payday, isn't it?" Ka, Kashira, Kana, and Kamoshirenai Darou ka or deshou ka are used when guessing with doubt. Kashira is used only by females. A similar expression used by both genders is kana, though it is informal. These expressions are close to I wonder in English. Emi wa mou igirisu ni itta no darou ka.ã‚ ¨Ã£Æ'Ÿã  ¯Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â€ Ã£â€š ¤Ã£â€š ®Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£  «Ã¨ ¡Å'㠁 £Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ®Ã£   Ã£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã£ â€¹Ã¯ ½ ¡ "I wonder if Emi has already gone to England." Kore ikura kashira.㠁“ã‚Å'㠁„㠁 Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ â€¹Ã£ â€"らï ½ ¡ "I wonder how much this is." Nobu wa itsu kuru no kana.㠁 ®Ã£  ¶Ã£  ¯Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¤Ã¦  ¥Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£  ®Ã£ â€¹Ã£  ªÃ¯ ½ ¡ "I wonder when Nobu will come." Kamoshirenai is used to express a sense of probability or doubt. It shows even less certainty than darou or deshou. It is used when you dont know all the facts and are often just guessing. It is similar to the English expression might be. The formal version of kamoshirenai is kamoshiremasen. Ashita wa ame kamoshirenai.明æâ€" ¥Ã£  ¯Ã©â€º ¨Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â€"ã‚Å'㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ¯ ½ ¡ "It might rain tomorrow." Kinyoubi desu kara, kondeiru kamoshiremasen.金æ›Å"æâ€" ¥Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€°Ã¯ ½ ¤ æ · ·Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  §Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â€"ã‚Å'㠁 ¾Ã£ â€ºÃ£â€šâ€œÃ¯ ½ ¡ "Since it is Friday, it might be busy." The last thing to mention is, darou and deshou cant be used when referring to ones own actions. For example, one would never say, Ashita watashi wa Kobe ni iku darou to communicate I might go to Kobe tomorrow. This would be grammatically incorrect. Kamoshirenai can be used in these situations, instead. Ashita watashi wa Kobe niiku kamoshirenai.明æâ€" ¥Ã§ § Ã£  ¯Ã§ ¥Å¾Ã¦Ë† ¸Ã£  «Ã¨ ¡Å'㠁 Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â€"ã‚Å'㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ¯ ½ ¡ "I might go to Kobe tomorrow." Ashita ane wa Kobe ni iku darou.明æâ€" ¥Ã¥ §â€°Ã£  ¯Ã§ ¥Å¾Ã¦Ë† ¸Ã£  «Ã¨ ¡Å'㠁 Ã£   Ã£â€š Ã£ â€ Ã¯ ½ ¡ "My sister might go to Kobe tomorrow." Practice Comparing Sentences Kare wa tabun kin-medaru o toru deshou.Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£  ¯Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ¶Ã£â€šâ€œÃ©â€¡â€˜Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ'ۋÆ' «Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¥ â€"る㠁 §Ã£ â€"ょ㠁†ï ½ ¡ "He will probably get the gold medal." Kare wa kin-medal o totta no kana.Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£  ¯Ã©â€¡â€˜Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ'ۋÆ' «Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¥ â€"㠁 £Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ®Ã£ â€¹Ã£  ªÃ¯ ½ ¡ "I wonder if he got the gold medal." Kare wa kin-medaru o toru kamoshirenai.Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£  ¯Ã©â€¡â€˜Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ'ۋÆ' «Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¥ â€"る㠁‹ã‚‚㠁â€"ã‚Å'㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ¯ ½ ¡ "He might get the gold medal."

Knowledge Management, Social Networks and Innovation Assignment

Knowledge Management, Social Networks and Innovation - Assignment Example an explicit asset will be its ultimate product, because as Lytras, Russ and Maier (2008, p. 144) described, KM aims to productize and distribute knowledge within the organization. KM’s overall benefits include forming an ‘organizational learning’ system whereby people in the firm will be bale to gain wide knowledge that is useful for their as well as organization’s common benefits. As Forster (2005, p. 397) denoted, KM is a process that collects, shares and utilizes experience, knowledge, skills and wisdom of employees and they are then converted to a collective organizational learning process. This is how KM helps organizations improve the performance and effectiveness of organizational activities. For instance, a firm may recruit old workforce believing that old-workers are more knowledgeable than young people and they will be retained with a view to make use of their knowledge and experience. This is a strategic way to create new knowledge. They have mor e experience, which can later be transferred to other workforce through collaborative team work or other progressive activities. This is how experience can be converted to knowledge, or knowledge can be created from experience. Young workforce, for instance, will later be able to use their acquired knowledge for the overall organizational benefits. Explicit or Tacit nature of knowledge in relation to creation and sharing Knowledge creation, sharing, transferring and utilizing can be carried out through either papers, documents, database etc or through people’s mind. Explicit knowledge refers to that information being processed through papers, documents or database etc, whereas tacit knowledge is the information that is processed... This paper highlighted that knowledge sharing helps an organization foster innovation as people within its workplace will be motivated to gain newer knowledge, think creatively and bring newer ideas that in turn can help the organization perform better. Social networking is an essentially important means that almost all companies in recent years are extensively using for better knowledge sharing experiences. This paper described the conceptual framework of how social networks improve the effectiveness of KM and the practical issues that are faced by the management in relation to KM and innovation development. This paper approves that KM comprises of people, process and technology. How people use technology for knowledge sharing also impact the results of KM strategy. For far better results, the organization may need to facilitate extensive training for using technology in the KM. People in an organization may be well-versed in using computers, database, software, social networking, etc and as a result the result also will be better than the other way. This paper makes a conclusion that people’s approach and organizational learning culture also impact the KM effectiveness. Management may face severe issues related to employees less awareness of the KM practices, irresponsibility of concerned people, lack of motivation to get involved etc. Problems related to artifacts are also to be considered while implementing a better system of the KM. Artifacts such as manuals, software, networking, papers, documents etc that are used in the KM practice must be appropriate for the ultimate purpose of the processed knowledge.

Ensuring Employees Pay for Extra Cost of Healthcare Essay

Ensuring Employees Pay for Extra Cost of Healthcare - Essay Example Employers should devise an economic program that would ensure employees compensate the extra cost over premiums spent on lifestyle-related diseases. The following is a proposed framework that employers would use to ensure employees pay for extra costs above the coverage premium spent on lifestyle-related conditions. First, employers should schedule all chronic conditions that are lifestyle-related and contribute to the increase in the cost of the premium. A possible list should include conditions such as diabetes, some forms of cancers, heart disease, and obesity-related illnesses. In order to ensure a robust program, accredited health care professionals should approve the scheduled list of complications and ascertain they are lifestyle-related. The second process in the framework should involve calculations of direct and indirect costs incurred from health-related illnesses. The direct cost calculation is simple and can be estimated based on extra expenditure the company has on inpatient and outpatient services. They include extra expenditure on services including surgeries, radiological processes, laboratory tests, and drug therapies. Indirect costs include an estimation of resources forgone by the firm or company because of a lifestyle-related health condition that affects an employee. The value of lost work because of absenteeism should be calculated based on accumulated wages throughout the period. Other forms of indirect cost include the value of increased insurance incurred by the company because of lifestyle-related conditions.  Ã‚  

Stakeholder Influence Essay Example for Free

Stakeholder Influence Essay Programs in the Human Service industry are directly and indirectly affected by its primary, secondary and, key stakeholders. Stakeholders could also be persons who are not directly affected by the program itself. These people can be those who have strong interest in the cause or program, those who are of political and philosophical and academic persons. Stakeholders are not just the funding companies but are also the staff members, the administrators of the program, the community the program wishes to provide services in, other businesses that may be used to serve on behalf of a company or organization and more importantly the people and families of the people who are being helped directly by the program. The needs and expectations of the stakeholders affects a program because it is important to hear everyone’s voice in the building of an organization or program. It is also important to know the expectations in order to create a working program that benefits those that should be benefitted and to acknowledge the concerns of those who will be doing the work or contributing to the program in some way. The needs and expectations of the funding agencies should be met simply because they are the funding agency and have specific drives for what they intend to fund. It is important to honor their wishes so that the program remains funded and the requirements usually shape the program in its entirety. If a funding company wants the program to include more people than what a program wants to help it is because the funding agency has done its research and want to lend more help in areas that may need more help. One of the most important stakeholders in the funding organization. Most often  the funding agencies will have their own expectations for the program and the programs evaluations. The very first need the funding agency may incur is the need for the program to fit into the requirements of the funding. The expectations are that the program does what it says it will and not misappropriates the funds given. The roles and expectations of the administrators in the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency would be to make sure that the staff are doing their jobs to the best of their ability and creating ways to improve those abilities through continuing education, seminars and necessary staff meetings. They should also do internal evaluations to point out the areas that may be lacking and help those to do better. The administrators should make sure that the staff are caring for the clients as they should be without overstepping boundaries into personal attachments that would create conflicts of interests. The program staff should be up to date in human services training and use their skills to properly assist the clients in their development of growing beyond past traumas and learning to make better decisions. They should be aware of all other human services agencies where the clients can get help to live independently. Staff should also be professional and show the clients that there is still some positivity in the world by exuding such positivity and handling the clients delicately. The community has a very differing role and expectation in this program. As a stakeholder they should be more aware of the violence and report it more often so that something can be done about it. Concerning the domestic violence between spouses the community should be more watchful and try to get those in need to help and those who are the perpetrators the attention they need as well. It is also the responsibility of those that are helped to spread the word about being helped in order to reach those who believe they have no way out. The family of the clients help should remain supportive or obtain help or counseling in order to provide such support because the lack of support to an abused family member leaves them vulnerable to returning to the same situations and the PEACE organization does  not want that to occur. It will also be beneficial for young adults and teenagers that come into the program to pass on what they have been taught to their friends and families in efforts to eliminate crime or provide a way for the friends and family to remain law abiding citizens and avoid violence and raise awareness as well. The most important stakeholder is the funding agency. This funding program is called â€Å"Supporting Families† and they seek to raise awareness about domestic violence while promoting better lives to those affected by youth violence and domestic violence by helping them cope with trauma, family members in prison and providing rehabilitation to youth who have been involved with the criminal justice system. This foundation seeks to improve â€Å"skills, confidence and personal support networks to enable them to lead fulfilled and successful lives.† (Appendix A) The role and expectations of the funding agency are to make sure that their objectives are met. If they are not the funding could very well cease and the program will end if further funding is not found. The funding agency can lead evaluations of their own and determine what needs work or a decrease or increase of funding. Keeping to the objectives put forth by the funding agency could increase the reputation of the organization and lead to future funding from other sources as well. Compromising within these roles can be as simple as being lenient with staff that develop emotional attachments to their clients but do not engage with them on an intimate level. The administrator could delegate evaluations and other tasks to other capable staff to free up more time to focus on more important matters. The funding agency could compromise with the organization by not strictly adhering to their objectives. If one objective is not met simply because it is not in the budget it can be looked over in the interest of the other programs working smoothly but with less funding. â€Å"Supporting Families† funding opportunity seeks to improve lives and the community’s lives as a whole. The expectations of their evaluations are to have documentation on all clients who are helped and feedback once they are done with the program to see how well the  program assisted them. This is to measure the success or failings of the programs intentions. The organization will also need documentation on changes, drawbacks and new information that could help the program succeed and create better areas of care to provide the clients with even more options to assist them make a positive change. Stakeholders have a great amount of influence in any human service organization and it is vital that their expectations be drawn out, developed and used to integrate differing principle so that the program can work to the best of the stakeholders abilities.

Hawthorne Essays -- essays research papers

Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered to be one of the most substantial writers of his time. His most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter truly originated Hawthorn’s version of romantic writing. It was this novel that also originated Hawthorne’s fame. Most of his works deal with or have some relation to Puritan times. The reason for the familiarity in his works is due to the fact that it seems to be influenced by his own Puritan ancestry. It was not until late in Hawthorne’s life that he received recognition. To do this Hawthorne had to change his name and found his own stlye of writing that pertained to his life experiances. His romantic style might have been too modern for the times, but eventually he was understood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hawthorne was known for his ability to create such a compelling story in just a few pages. Within these few pages, flows an elaborate and complex story. These stories flow so steadily and with such complexity that Hawthorne seems to create his own romantic style. He does this by incooperateing many different situations that keep the reader intuned to the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In many of his short stories there seems to be a character that is infatuated with a person or an object. The reason for Hawthorne creating stories like this could stem from his own experience with infactuation. Hawthorne was a very lonley person. He lived by himself for a long time until he married later in life. In t...

Creative writing – The assassin

Alison Cazer was looking out of the window thinking about the day ahead. Alison was a fashion designer and had her own business in London. She heard a noise and turned round to see her friend Lucy waiting in her office. Alison was so excited to see her; she wanted to tell her about all the brilliant things that had been planned for her today. She told Lucy about the good news; the meeting with Jacques Lording – the owner of Elicit a local rival company. ‘ I can't believe he rang me and asked to know more information about my products – I'm astounded. I mean why would he want to know more about my products, maybe he is thinking to merge with me. That would be brilliant because then together we would be bigger than Chars and hopefully that would put them out of business. Alison was going to meet Jacques in a large Victorian house in a little village called Axton. It was a little different than she expected but he said it was because he wanted a low-key meeting with no press watching their backs. Phil Cichloid was the assassin. He was a butler at the nearby Victorian house though this was just a cover up and had been given a contract by the director of a Chars. The plan was to kill Alison so then there will be no rival company for Chars to compete with because Alison put all the money in to the business, therefore Chars would make much more money. The director of Chars had been given a tip off about the merger and had to take action, the only way to do this was to kill Alison. It was the assassin's first killing but he still remained calm and very professional. The assassin was told to target Alison because she owned a rival business and was also thought of as rich and selfish by lots of jealous people as well as the director of chars. The assassin knew the time and location of when he was going to strike as he was told by the director who knew everything. The director was definitely right in one sense – yes she was rich, but not at all selfish. In fact she was totally opposite. She was a caring, bubbly, and down to earth girl. The house at which Alison was going to meet the manager was quite posh. Though from the outside it looked very dull and isolated this was on purpose, it is so nobody even thought the meeting would take place in a scruffy house therefore no press would be there. The bricks were grey and the windows black with dust. It was raining outside; the ivy on the wall made anyone who came near the house feel trapped and lonely but inside it was totally opposite. It was bright and warm. There was a barn besides the house. The debris of brick from the barn made the field besides the house look like a graveyard. The assassin was lying low behind the house on a hill, known to the locals as death hill because it was so steep you could hardly walk up it and anybody who got to the top would be almost dead. The assassin knew she would be surrounded by bodyguards, which is why he got so high up on the top of death hill. He also knew the boss of elicit would arrive soon after Alison so he had to be quick. Nobody could see the assassin but he could see his target perfectly well. He got into his position on the top of the hill he heard a car behind him. His rifle was a 1987pg with a range of 100m plenty far enough to reach Alison. He lifted his rifle in wait of the car coming up the drive, with excitement rushing around his body; he was disappointed when the car carried on straight down the lane. The assassin again heard a car this time he new it was Alison he could tell, you could see the 2 rings on her left hand reflecting the light and also the car had another 2 people in, he could only guess these were the bodyguards. He got his rifle ready and was now ready to strike. Alison turned up the drive and started driving up the long, winding, dislodged driveway. She heard a scrape; she got out of the car and saw a massive scratch on the back of her Lotus Elise. She was thinking about turning around- how could the boss of elicit see her car in such a state the only thing that changed her mind was the thought of been late for the boss, that was the last thing she wanted to do so she decided to carry on down the lane. The assassin at this stage was very calm, as though he was doing this as an honour. He was getting a bit frustrated, as this job was taking longer than expected and wanted to get onto his next job. He could see Alison coming now and got into his final position. She thought she had come to the wrong place, she had expected something more like Buckingham Palace, she knew there was something wrong but she carried on down the lane. She was about to turn the car around when her bodyguards saw a light coming from inside the house, somebody must be in she thought and went to investigate with the help of the bodyguards. She got out of the car and was just about to knock on the door when she remembered something; she had forgot to lock the door. ‘How stupid of me she thought, why didn't I lock it in the first place'. Alison locked the car door and looked around astounded at the dullness of the house and its surroundings – did the boss really want to meet her here? It started raining heavy so she put her hood up, this blocked her view of what was going on around her. Her bodyguards noticed something in the bush to the side of her and left her on her own while they went to investigate. She was just about to knock on the door. Before she could hear it she had already felt it, right through her stomach. She tried to scream but no sound would come out of her mouth. She tried to get her mobile but she couldn't move. She felt helpless and knew secretly that her world was coming to an end. The bodyguards rushed to her but knew there was nothing they could do, one went to get help and the other was trying to comfort her. There was no signal on her mobile phone and they couldn't get in the house. She grabbed her stomach in hope that in some miracle way it may stop the bleeding and she may have a chance to survive even though she knew she had no chance. Her trousers were wet with blood; she didn't dare look down frightened at what she may see. She was finding it hard to breath now, she tried to look around to see who had done this terrible thing to her but she couldn't see more than a metre. She dropped to the ground, the bodyguard tried to help her but there was nothing he could do, the pain was unbearable now; she knew she had to fight the pain or lose everything she had, her wonderful family and friends. She again tried to move but the pain was holding her back like some sort of barrier. She started to feel dizzy, she took one last look at her hand and fell to the ground with the rain pouring on her and blood slowly surrounding her body as the bodyguard went in search of the person who had done this. The assassin smirked, he moved quickly packing his things together as fast as he could. He ran to the car making sure he destroyed every bit of evidence he had made. He was unruffled, calm, cold and motionless. His car was on the other side of the hill so nobody noticed he was there, he made sure that he had got everything and set off down the drive. He took one last look behind him to check that Alison was dead and that his job had been done properly and made his way to his next job leaving Alison to die in her own pool of blood.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

At first the door wouldn't open. The knob turned under my hand so I knew it wasn't locked, but the rain seemed to have swelled the wood . . . or had something been shoved up against it? I drew back, crouched a little, and hit the door with my shoulder. This time there was some slight give. It was her. Sara. Standing on the other side of the door and trying to hold it shut against me. How could she do that? How, in God's name? She was a fucking ghost! I thought of the BAMM CONSTRUCTION pickup . . . and as if thought were conjuration I could almost see it out there at the end of Lane Forty-two, parked by the highway. The old ladies' sedan was behind it, and three or four other cars were now behind them. All of them with their windshield wipers flopping back and forth, their headlights cutting feeble cones through the downpour. They were lined up on the shoulder like cars at a yard sale. There was no yard sale here, only the old-timers sitting silently in their cars. Old-timers who were in the zone just like I was. Old-timers sending in the vibe. She was drawing on them. Stealing from them. She'd done the same with Devore and me too, of course. Many of the manifestations I'd experienced since coming back had likely been created from my own psychic energy. It was amusing when you thought of it. Or maybe ‘terrifying' was the word I was actually looking for. ‘Jo, help me,' I said in the pouring rain. Lightning flashed, turning the torrents a bright brief silver. ‘If you ever loved me, help me now.' I drew back and hit the door again. This time there was no resistance at all and I went hurtling in, catching my shin on the jamb and falling to my knees. I held onto the lantern, though. There was a moment of silence. In it I felt forces and presences gathering themselves. In that moment nothing seemed to move, although behind me, in the woods Jo had loved to ramble with me or without me the rain continued to fall and the wind continued to howl, a merciless gardener pruning its way through the trees that were dead and almost dead, doing the work of ten gentler years in one turbulent hour. Then the door slammed shut and it began. I saw everything in the glow of the flashlight, which I had turned on without even realizing it, but at first I didn't know exactly what I was seeing, other than the destruction by poltergeist of my wife's beloved crafts and treasures. The framed afghan square tore itself off the wall and flew from one side of the studio to the other, the black oak frame breaking apart. The heads popped off the dolls poking out of the baby collages like champagne corks at a party. The hanging light-globe shattered, showering me with fragments of glass. A wind began to blow a cold one and was quickly joined and whirled into a cyclone by one which was warmer, almost hot. They rolled past me as if in imitation of the larger storm outside. The Sara Laughs head on the bookcase, the one which appeared to be constructed of toothpicks and lollipop sticks, exploded in a cloud of wood-splinters. The kayak paddle leaning against the wall rose into the air, rowed furiously at nothing, then launched itself at me like a spear. I threw myself flat on the green rag rug to avoid it, and felt bits of broken glass from the shattered light-globe cut into the palm of my hand as I came down. I felt something else, as well a ridge of something beneath the rug. The paddle hit the far wall hard enough to split into two pieces. Now the banjo my wife had never been able to master rose in the air, revolved twice, and played a bright rattle of notes that were out of tune but nonetheless unmistakable wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten. The phrase ended with a vicious BLUNK! that broke all five strings. The banjo whirled itself a third time, its bright steel fittings reflecting fishscale runs of light on the study walls, and then beat itself to death against the floor, the drum shattering and the tuning pegs snapping off like teeth. The sound of moving air began to how do I express this? to focus somehow, until it wasn't the sound of air but the sound of voices panting, unearthly voices full of fury. They would have screamed if they'd had vocal cords to scream with. Dusty air swirled up in the beam of my flashlight, making helix shapes that danced together, then reeled apart again. For just a moment I heard Sara's snarling, smoke-broken voice: ‘Git out, bitch! You git on out! This ain't none of yours ‘ And then a curious insubstantial thud, as if air had collided with air. This was followed by a rushing wind-tunnel shriek that I recognized: I'd heard it in the middle of the night. Jo was screaming. Sara was hurting her, Sara was punishing her for presuming to interfere, and Jo was screaming. ‘No!' I shouted, getting to my feet. ‘Leave her alone! Leave her be!' I advanced into the room, swinging the lantern in front of my face as if I could beat her away with it. Stoppered bottles stormed past me some contained dried flowers, some carefully sectioned mushrooms, some woods-herbs. They shattered against the far wall with a brittle xylophone sound. None of them struck me; it was as if an unseen hand guided them away. Then Jo's rolltop desk rose into the air. It must have weighed at least four hundred pounds with its drawers loaded as they were, but it floated like a feather, nodding first one way and then dipping the other in the opposing currents of air. Jo screamed again, this time in anger rather than pain, and I staggered backward against the closed door with a feeling that I had been scooped hollow. Sara wasn't the only one who could steal the energy of the living, it appeared. White semeny stuff ectoplasm, I guess spilled from the desk's pigeonholes in a dozen little streams, and the desk suddenly launched itself across the room. It flew almost too fast to follow with the eye. Anyone standing in front of it would have been smashed flat There was a head-splitting shriek of protest and agony Sara this time, I knew it was and then the desk struck the wall, breaking through it and letting in the rain and the wind. The rolltop snapped loose of its slot and hung like a jointed tongue. All the drawers shot out. Spools of thread, skeins of yarn, little flora/fauna identification books and woods guides, thimbles, notebooks, knitting needles, dried-up Magic Markers Jo's early remains, Ki might have called them. They flew everywhere l ike bones and bits of hair cruelly scattered from a disinterred coffin. ‘Stop it,' I croaked. ‘Stop it, both of you. That's enough.' But there was no need to tell them. Except for the furious beat of the storm, I was alone in the ruins of my wife's studio. The battle was over. At least for the time being. I knelt and doubled up the green rag rug, carefully folding into it as much of the shattered glass from the light as I could. Beneath it was a trapdoor giving on a triangular storage area created by the slope of the land as it dropped toward the lake. The ridge I'd felt was one of the trap's hinges. I had known about this area and had meant to check it for the owls. Then things began to happen and I'd forgotten. There was a recessed ring in the trapdoor. I grabbed it, ready for more resistance, but it swung up easily. The smell that wafted up froze me in my tracks. Not damp decay, at least not at first, but Red Jo's favorite perfume. It hung around me for a moment and then it was gone. What replaced it was the smell of rain, roots, and wet earth. Not pleasant, but I had smelled far worse down by the lake near that damned birch tree. I shone my light down three steep steps. I could see a squat shape that turned out to be an old toilet I could vaguely remember Bill and Kenny Auster putting it under here back in 1990 or '91. There were steel boxes filing cabinet drawers, actually wrapped in plastic and stacked up on pallets. Old records and papers. An eight-track tape player wrapped in a plastic bag. An old VCR next to it, in another one. And over in the corner I sat down, hung my legs over, and felt something touch the ankle I had turned in the lake. I shone my light between my knees and for one moment saw a young black kid. Not the one drowned in the lake, though this one was older and quite a lot bigger. Twelve, maybe fourteen. The drowned boy had been no more than eight. This one bared his teeth at me and hissed like a cat. There were no pupils in his eyes; like those of the boy in the lake, his eyes were entirely white, like the eyes of a statue. And he was shaking his head. Don't come down here, white man. Let the dead rest in peace. ‘But you're not at peace,' I said, and shone the light full on him. I had a momentary glimpse of a truly hideous thing. I could see through him, but I could also see into him: the rotting remains of his tongue in his mouth, his eyes in their sockets, his brain simmering like a spoiled egg in its case of skull. Then he was gone, and there was nothing but one of those swirling dust-helixes. I went down, holding the lantern raised. Below it, nests of shadows rocked and seemed to reach upward. The storage area (it was really no more than a glorified crawlspace) had been floored with wooden pallets, just to keep stuff off the ground. Now water ran beneath these in a steady river, and enough of the earth had eroded to make even crawling unsteady work. The smell of perfume was entirely gone. What had replaced it was a nasty riverbottom smell and unlikely given the conditions, I know, but it was there the faint, sullen smell of ash and fire. I saw what I'd come for almost at once. Jo's mail-order owls, the ones she had taken delivery of herself in November of 1993, were in the northeast corner, where there were only about two feet between the sloped pallet flooring and the underside of the studio. Gorry, but they looked real, Bill had said, and Gorry if he wasn't right: in the bright glow of the lantern they looked like birds first swaddled, then suffocated in clear plastic. Their eyes were bright wedding rings circling wide black pupils. Their plastic feathers were painted the dark green of pine nee-dies, their bellies a shade of dirty orange-white. I crawled toward them over the squelching, shifting pallets, the glow of the lantern bobbing back and forth between them, trying not to wonder if that boy was behind me, creeping in pursuit. When I got to the owls, I raised my head without thinking and thudded it against the insulation which ran beneath the studio floor. Thump once for yes, twice for no, asshole, I thought. I hooked my fingers into the plastic which wrapped the owls and pulled them toward me. I wanted to be out of here. The sensation of water running just beneath me was strange and unpleasant. So was the smell of fire, which seemed stronger now in spite of the damp. Suppose the studio was burning? Suppose Sara had somehow set it alight? I'd roast down here even while the storm's muddy runoff was soaking my legs and belly. One of the owls stood on a plastic base, I saw the better to set him on your deck or stoop to scare the crows, my dear but the base the other should have been attached to was missing. I backed toward the trapdoor, holding the lantern in one hand and dragging the plastic sack of owls in the other, wincing each time thunder cannonaded over my head. I'd only gotten a little way when the damp tape holding the plastic gave way. The owl missing its base tilted slowly toward me, its black-gold eyes staring raptly into my own. A swirl of air. A faint, comforting whiff of Red perfume. I pulled the owl out by the hornlike tufts growing from its forehead and turned it upside down. Where it had once been attached to its plastic base there were now only two pegs with a hollow space between them. Inside the hole was a small tin box that I recognized even before I reached into the owl's belly and chivvied it out. I shone the lantern on its front, knowing what I'd see: JO'S NOTIONS, written in old-fashioned gilt script. She had found the box in an antiques barn somewhere. I looked at it, my heart beating hard. Thunder boomed overhead. The trapdoor stood open, but I had forgotten about going up. I had forgotten about everything but the tin box I held in my hand, a box roughly the size of a cigar box but not quite as deep. I spread my hand over the cover and pulled it off. There was a strew of folded papers lying on top of a pair of steno books, the wirebound ones I keep around for notes and character lists. These had been rubber-banded together. On top of everything else was a shiny black square. Until I picked it up and held it close to the side of the lantern, I didn't realize it was a photo negative. Ghostly, reversed and faintly orange, I saw Jo in her gray two-piece bathing suit. She was standing on the swimming float with her hands behind her head. ‘Jo,' I said, and then couldn't say anything else. My throat had closed up with tears. I held the negative for a moment, not wanting to lose contact with it, then put it back in the box with the papers and steno books. This stuff was why she had come to Sara in July of 1994; to gather it up and hide it as well as she could. She had taken the owls off the deck (Frank had heard the door out there bang) and had carried them out here. I could almost see her prying the base off one owl and stuffing the tin box up its plastic wazoo, wrapping both of them in plastic, then dragging them down here, all while her brother sat smoking Marlboros and feeling the vibrations. The bad vibrations. I doubted if I would ever know all the reasons why she'd done it, or what her frame of mind had been . . . but she had almost certainly believed I'd find my own way down here eventually. Why else had she left the negative? The loose papers were mostly photocopied press clippings from the Castle Rock Call and from the Weekly News, the paper which had apparently preceded the Call. The dates were marked on each in my wife's neat, firm hand. The oldest clipping was from 1865, and was headed ANOTHER HOME SAFE. The returnee was one Jared Devore, age thirty-two. Suddenly I understood one of the things that had puzzled me: the generations which didn't seem to match up. A Sara Tidwell song came to mind as I crouched there on the pallets with my lantern shining down on that old-timey type. It was the ditty that went The old folks do it and the young folks, too / And the old folks show the young folks just what to do . . . By the time Sara and the Red-Tops showed up in Castle County and settled on what became known as Tidwell's Meadow, Jared Devore would have been sixty-seven or -eight. Old but still hale. A veteran of the Civil War. The sort of older man younger men might look up to. And Sara's song was right the old folks show the young folks just what to do. What exactly had they done? The clippings about Sara and the Red-Tops didn't tell. I only skimmed them, anyway, but the overall tone shook me, just the same. I'd describe it as unfailing genial contempt. The Red-Tops were ‘our Southern blackbirds' and ‘our rhythmic darkies.' They were ‘full of dusky good-nature.' Sara herself was ‘a marvelous figure of a Negro woman with broad nose, full lips, and noble brow' who ‘fascinated men-folk and women-folk alike with her animal high spirits, flashing smile, and raucous laugh.' They were, God keep us and save us, reviews. Good ones, if you didn't mind being called full of dusky good-nature. I shuffled through them quickly, looking for anything about the circumstances under which ‘our Southern blackbirds' had left. I found nothing. What I found instead was a clipping from the Call marked July 19th (go down nineteen, I thought), 1933. The headline read VETERAN GUIDE, CARETAKER, CANNOT SAVE DAUGHTER. According to the story, Fred Dean had been fighting the wildfires in the eastern part of the TR with two hundred other men when the wind had suddenly changed, menacing the north end of the lake, which had previously been considered safe. At that time a great many local people had kept fishing and hunting camps up there (this much I knew myself). The community had had a general store and an actual name, Halo Bay. Fred's wife, Hilda, was there with the Dean twins, William and Carla, age three, while her husband was off eating smoke. A good many other wives and kids were in Halo Bay, as well. The fires had come fast when the wind changed, the paper said ‘like marching explosions.' They jumped the only firebreak the men had left in that direction and headed for the far end of the lake. At Halo Bay there were no men to take charge, and apparently no women able or willing to do so. They panicked instead, racing to load their cars with children and camp possessions, clogging the one road out with their vehicles. Eventually one of the old cars or trucks broke down and as the fires roared closer, running through woods that hadn't seen rain since late April, the women who'd waited found their way out blocked. The volunteer firefighters came to the rescue in time, but when Fred Dean got to his wife, one of a party of women trying to push a balky stalled Ford coupe out of the road, he made a terrible discovery. Billy lay on the floor in the back of the car, fast asleep, but Carla was missing. Hilda had gotten them both in, all right they had been on the back seat, holding hands just as they always did. But at some point, after her brother had crawled onto the floor and dozed off and while Hilda was stuffing a few last items into the trunk, Carla must have remembered a toy or a doll and returned to the cottage to get it. While she was doing that, her mother had gotten into their old Desoto and driven away without rechecking the babies. Carla Dean was either still in the cottage at Halo Bay or making her way up the road on foot. Either way the fires would run her down. The road was too narrow to get a vehicle turned around and too blocked to get one of those pointed in the right direction through the crush. So Fred Dean, hero that he was, set off on the run toward the smoke-blackened horizon, where bright ribbons of orange had already begun to shine through. The wind-driven fire had crowned and raced to meet him like a lover. I knelt on the pallets, reading this by the glow of my lantern, and all at once the smell of fire and burning intensified. I coughed . . . and then the cough was choked off by the iron taste of water in my mouth and throat. Once again, this time kneeling in the storage area beneath my wife's studio, I felt as if I were drowning. Once again I leaned forward and retched up nothing but a little spit. I turned and saw the lake. The loons were screaming on its hazy surface, making their way toward me in a line, beating their wings against the water as they came. The blue of the sky had been blotted out. The air smelled of charcoal and gunpowder. Ash had begun to sift down from the sky. The eastern verge of Dark Score was in flames, and I could hear occasional muffled reports as hollow trees exploded. They sounded like depth charges. I looked down, wanting to break free of this vision, knowing that in another moment or two it wouldn't be anything so distant as a vision but as real as the trip Kyra and I had made to the Fryeburg Fair. Instead of a plastic owl with gold-ringed eyes, I was looking at a child with bright blue ones. She was sitting on a picnic table, holding out her chubby arms and crying. I saw her as clearly as I saw my own face in the mirror each morning when I shaved. I saw she was about Kyra's age but much plumper, and her hair is black instead of blonde. Her hair is the shade her brother's will remain until it finally begins to go gray in the impossibly distant summer of 1998, a year she will never see unless someone gets her out of this hell. She wears a white dress and red knee-stockings and she holds her arms out to me, calling Daddy, Daddy. I start toward her and then there is a blast of organized heat that tears me apart for a moment I am the ghost here, I realize, and Fred Dean has just run right through me. Daddy, she cries, but to him, not me. Daddy! and she hugs him, unmindful of the soot smearing her white silk dress and her chubby face as he kisses her and more soot begins to fall and the loons beat their way in toward shore, seeming to weep in shrill lamentation. Daddy the fire is coming! she cries as he scoops her into his arms. I know, be brave, he says. We're gonna be all right, sugarplum, but you have to be brave. The fire isn't just coming,' it has come. The entire east end of Halo Bay is inflames and now they're moving this way, eating one by one the little cabins where the men like to lay up drunk in hunting season and ice-fishing season. Behind Al LeRoux's, the washing Marguerite hung out that morning is in flames, pants and dresses and underwear burning on lines which are themselves strings of fire. Leaves and bark shower down,' a burning ember touches Carla's neck and she shrieks with pain. Fred slaps it away as he carries her down the slope of land to the water. Don't do it! I scream. I know all this is beyond my power to change, but I scream at him anyway, try to change it anyway. Fight it! For Christ's sake, fight it! Daddy, who is that man? Carla asks, and points at me as the green-shingled roof of the Dean place catches fire. Fred glances toward where she is pointing, and in his face I see a spasm of guilt. He knows what he's doing, that's the terrible thing way down deep he knows exactly what he is doing here at Halo Bay where The Street ends. He knows and he's afraid that someone will witness his work. But he sees nothing. Or does he? There is a momentary doubtful widening of the eyes as if he does spy something a dancing helix of air, perhaps. Or does feel me? Is that it? Does he feel a momentary cold draft in all this heat? One that feels like protesting hands, hands that would restrain if they only had substance? Then he looks away,' then he is wading into the water beside the Deans' stub of a dock. Fred! I scream. For God's sake, man, look at her! Do you think your wife put her in a white silk dress by accident? Is that anyone's idea of a play-dress? Daddy, why are we going in the water? she asks. To get away from the fire, sugarplum. Daddy, I can't swim! You won't have to, he replies, and what a chill I feel at that! Because it's no lie she won't have to swim, not now, not ever. And at least Fred's way will be more merciful than Normal Auster's when Normal's turn comes more merciful than the squalling handpump, the gallons of freezing water. Her white dress floats around her like a lily. Her red stockings shimmer in the water. She hugs his neck tightly and now they are among the fleeing loons,' the loons spank the water with their powerful wings, churning up curds of jam and staring at the man and the girl with their distraught red eyes. The air is heavy with smoke and the sky is gone. I stagger after them, wading I can feel the cold of the water, although I don't splash and leave no wake. The eastern and northern edges of the lake are both on fire now there is a burning crescent around us as Fred Dean wades deeper with his daughter, carrying her as if to some baptismal rite. And still he tells himself he is trying to save her, only to save her, just as all her life Hilda will tell herself that the child just wandered back to the cottage to look for a toy, that she was not left behind on purpose, left in her white dress and red stockings to be found by her father, who once did something unspeakable. This is the past, th is is the Land of Ago, and here the sins of the fathers are visited on the children, even unto the seventh generation, which is not yet. He takes her deeper and she begins to scream. Her screams mingle with the screams of the loons until he stops the sound with a kiss upon her terrified mouth. ‘Love you, Daddy loves his sugarplum,' he says, and then lowers her. It is to be a full-immersion baptism, then, except there is no shorebank choir singing ‘Shall We Gather at the River' and no one shouting Hallelujah! and he is not letting her come back up. She struggles furiously in the white bloom of her sacrificial dress, and after a moment he cannot bear to watch her,' he looks across the lake instead, to the west where the fire hasn't yet touched (and never will), to the west where skies are still blue. Ash sifts around him like black rain and the tears pour out of his eyes and as she struggles furiously beneath his hands, trying to free herself from his drowning grip, he tells himself It was an accident, just a terrible accident, I took her out in the lake because it was the only place I could take her, the on ly place left, and she panicked, she started to struggle, she was all wet and all slippery and I lost my good hold on her and then I lost any hold on her and then I forget I'm a ghost. I scream ‘Kia! Hold on, Ki!' and dive. I reach her, I see her terrified face, her bulging blue eyes, her rosebud of a mouth which is trailing a silver line of bubbles toward the surface where Fred stands in water up to his neck, holding her down while he tells himself over and over that he was trying to save her, it was the only way, he was trying to save her, it was the only way. I reach for her, again and again I reach for her, my child, my daughter, my Kia (they are all Kia, the boys as well as the girls, all my daughter), and each time my arms go through her. Worse oh, far worse is that now she is reaching for ‘me', her dappled arms floating out, begging for rescue. Her groping hands melt through mine. I cannot touch, because now I am the ghost. I am the ghost and as her struggles weaken I realize that I can't I can't oh I couldn't breathe I was drowning. I doubled over, opened my mouth, and this time a great spew of lake-water came out, soaking the plastic owl which lay on the pallet by my knees. I hugged the JO'S NOTIONS box to my chest, not wanting the contents to get wet, and the movement triggered another retch. This time cold water poured from my nose as well as my mouth. I dragged in a deep breath, then coughed it out. ‘This has got to end,' I said, but of course this was the end, one way or the other. Because Kyra was last. I climbed up the steps to the studio and sat on the littered floor to get my breath. Outside, the thunder boomed and the rain fell, but I thought the storm had passed its peak of fury. Or maybe I only hoped. I rested with my legs hanging down through the trap there were no more ghosts here to touch my ankles, I don't know how I knew that but I did and stripped off the rubber bands holding the steno notebooks together. I opened the first one, paged through it, and saw it was almost filled with Jo's handwriting and a number of folded typed sheets (Courier type, of course), single-spaced: the fruit of all those clandestine trips down to the TR during 1993 and 1994. Fragmentary notes, for the most part, and transcriptions of tapes which might still be down below me in the storage space somewhere. Tucked away with the VCR or the eight-track player, perhaps. But I didn't need them. When the time came if the time came I was sure I'd find most of the story here. What had happened, who had done it, how it was covered up. Right now I didn't care. Right now I only wanted to make sure that Kyra was safe and stayed safe. There was only one way to do that. Lye stille. I attempted to slip the rubber bands around the steno books again, and the one I hadn't looked at slipped out of my wet hand and fell to the floor. A torn slip of green paper fell out. I picked it up and saw this: For a moment I came out of that strange and heightened awareness I'd been living in; the world fell back into its accustomed dimensions. But the colors were all too strong, somehow, objects too emphatically present. I felt like a battlefield soldier suddenly illuminated by a ghastly white flare, one that shows everything. My father's people had come from The Neck, I had been right about that much; my great-grandfather according to this was James Noonan, and he had never shit in the same pit as Jared Devore. Max Devore had either been lying when he said that to Mattie . . . or misinformed . . . or simply confused, the way folks often get confused when they reach their eighties. Even a fellow like Devore, who had stayed mostly sharp, wouldn't have been exempt from the occasional nick in his edge. And he hadn't been that far off at that. Because, according to this little scratch of a chart, my great-grandfather had had an older sister, Bridget. And Bridget had married Benton Auster. My finger dropped down a line, to Harry Auster. Born of Benton and Bridget Noonan Auster in the year 1885. ‘Christ Jesus,' I whispered. ‘Kenny Auster's grandfather was my granduncle. And he was one of them. Whatever they did, Harry Auster was one of them. That's the connection.' I thought of Kyra with sudden sharp terror. She had been up at the house by herself for nearly an hour. How could I have been so stupid? Anyone could have come in while I was under the studio. Sara could have used anyone to I realized that wasn't true. The murderers and the child victims had all been linked by blood, and now that blood had thinned, that river had almost reached the sea. There was Bill Dean, but he was staying well away from Sara Laughs. There was Kenny Auster, but Kenny had taken himself and his family off to Taxachusetts. And Ki's closest blood relations mother, father, grandfather were all dead. Only I was left. Only I was blood. Only I could do it. Unless I bolted back up to the house as fast as I could, slipping and sliding my way along the soaked path, desperate to make sure she was all right. I didn't think Sara could hurt Kyra herself, no matter how much of that old-timer vibe she had to draw on . . . but what if I was wrong? What if I was wrong?