Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Staff Training and Development Essay Example for Free

Staff Training and Development Essay From a company perspective, training and development of company employees are essential for organizational operation. From an employee perspective, the same factor is critical for skill development and for career advancement. â€Å"The retention of valued skill sets, are important for continued business achievements† and as a supervisor it is important to continuously train and develop your staff’s skills (McClelland, 1993). As a supervisor of employees whose task is to assemble tuning devices that go into cell phones, it is important to investigate why the quality of work has diminished. Training, managerial development and training, and performance management are some factors that could be attributing to the decrease in quality of the tuning devices assembled by the employees. Trial and error will need to take place in order to determine if the lack of training has been contributing to poor quality work. The training of employees leads to â€Å"increased employee satisfaction, facilitates the updating of skills, leads to an increased sense of belonging and benefit, increased employee commitment to the organization, and strengthens the organization’s competitiveness† (McClelland, 1993). It also improves productivity efforts. â€Å"It is improbable to produce improvements in human performance without relying, to one degree or another, on training† (Asim, Waqas, Cheema, 2012). To determine if training should be necessary or required, it would be important for the supervisor to look back at past training modules and new processes. Employees may need retraining on assembling tuning devices and the importance of quality work ethics. Audits of employee training will focus on task evaluations, work practices, and methods in an attempt to address the problem that has been affecting the employee’s quality of work. Managerial training and development could also play a part of the employee’s quality of work. It is important as a supervisor to attempt to â€Å"improve managerial performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills† (Dessler, 2011, p. 155). Improving managerial skills can assist with implementing ways to improve employee performance and development. As a supervisor, it is important to work on goals and to figure out which goals are not working for your employees. A supervisor needs to assess their management skills to see if it is hindering or affecting the employee’s work ethics. Feedback on employee knowledge or changes in quality need to further discussion with employees on a weekly base especially if there has been a significant decrease in the quality of work. Another factor that a supervisor must ask is how often appraisal performances are conducted and what affect that has been having on the employee’s work quality. Appraisals help the supervisor make â€Å"promotion and salary raise decisions†, it lets the supervisor develop â€Å"a plan for correcting any deficiencies† (the quality of tuning devices), and it facilitates career planning by â€Å"providing an opportunity to review the employee’s career plans in light of his or her exhibited strengths and weaknesses† (Dessler, 2011, p. 170). Creating an appraisal process can shine light on the current issue with the employee’s work quality. If the employees have not been given a goal and/or do not understand their job, it will affect productivity and the quality of work being performed. The supervisor’s appraisal process would reward productive employees and assist the professional growth and development of inexperienced and unproductive individuals. A quarterly appraisal can take place discussing the job description, the process of assembling tuning devices, previously determined goals and objectives; and ongoing observations and communications of performance. These quarterly appraisals provide information for the employees and can assist with assessing the causes of poor assembly of tuning devices. During the annual appraisal, if training or what was previously discussed in the quarterly appraisal has not improved the quality of work, then it may not be training and the Human Resources Department may need to get involved. One other factor not mentioned at the beginning is the potential of environmental change. As a supervisor, any new change in the work environment needs to be taken in consideration. Where there any new changes in assembling of tuning devices for the cell phones that was not covered or mentioned in training? Not all employees are ready for change and if not done correctly it can affect the quality of work. Asim, Waqas, and Cheema (2012) noted â€Å"employees thinking, acting and behaviors are important elements for consideration in order to achieve organizational change successfully†. A change may have been implemented that could be affecting the quality of assembling tuning devices. To improve the employees task to assemble tuning devices that go into cell phones training development, managerial development, performance appraisals, and monitoring change may need to be implemented. Constant monitoring of training and development will assess how the training succeeds. The supervisor will devote time to ensuring that employees get the training programs that is most appropriate for them given their existing skill sets. The supervisor will improve their managing skills and take into consideration any changes in the work environment that has been affecting productivity levels. Assessing these factors will assist in closing the gap between how the employees currently perform in their assembling work and how they need to perform to meet company objectives.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Male Homosexual Roles Among the Isthmus Zapotec of Southern Mexico Essa

Male Homosexual Roles Amog the Isthmus Zapotec of Southern Mexico Carlos and Javier are two men living in the city of Juchit∠«n, Mexico. They work at a small hotel just off the z-calo, the main town square. Sometimes they converge with other men outside the hotel to watch people as they walk past in the z-calo. As nearly anywhere in Mexico, the men comment and nudge each other when an attractive woman passes, but Carlos and Javier remain silent throughout the exchange. It is not until an attractive young man walks by that they speak up. ÃÆ' £ÃƒÆ'Uy, que guapo!ÃÆ' ¤ Carlos exclaims: ÃÆ' £Ah, how handsome!ÃÆ' ¤ÃƒÆ'Ã…   Carlos and Javier are muxeÃÆ' ¢, the effeminate male homosexuals of Isthmus Zapotec culture. Male homosexuality and transvestism is present in many if not most Native American societies to at least some degree, notably the DinZh, Lakota, Tohono OÃÆ' ¢odham, and so on. In pre-Hispanic Mexico, homosexuals were common and respected in most area cultures. With the advent of the Spaniards, however, homosexuals and transvestites were pushed further and further to the margins of society, branded as deviants and persecuted under the influence of a rampant machismo. Only in a few places did homosexuality survive as a common and respected practice. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca state at the very south of Mexico, home to the Zapotec people, is one of these places. I was privileged to spend July and August of 2000 living among the Zapotec in the city of Juchit∠«n. I was intrigued by the position of homosexuals in this culture, and following are some of my efforts to understand them. MuxeÃÆ' ¢ is the Zapotec word for effeminate male homosexuals, though the origins of the word remain in debate. Probably the word derives from the Span... ...to peoples like the Zapotec as we try to determine how to respond. North Americans have much to learn from a society that extends to homosexuals an acknowledged and respected role. [1]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 280 [2]The word mayate is a Mexican Spanish term for a Coleoptera beetles. [3]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 304 [4] CAAN, p. 40 [5]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 293-294 References: Bennholdt-Thomsen, et al.Juchit∠«n, la ciudad de las mujeres. Oaxaca, Mexico: Instituto OaxaqueÃÆ' ºo de las Culturas.ÃÆ'Ã…   1997. Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network, Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS, and Health Canada. Hands Across the World: An Indigenous Peoples Forum. Final Report, July 17, 1999 AIDS Impact Conference. Ottawa: Blue Moon Consulting.ÃÆ'Ã…   1999. ChiÃÆ' ºas, Beverly L. The Isthmus Zapotecs: WomenÃÆ' ¢s Roles in Cultural Context. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1973.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Daily Time Record

This Automated Student Attendance Daily Time Record focuses on the need to design a system that will automatically arrange the record and calculate the average attendance of each student. A well-conceived and implemented automated student record system can reduce the costs of handling the paperwork associated with record keeping. Manual attendance record system is not efficient and requires time to arrange record and to calculate the average attendance of each individual student. Automated Student Attendance Daily Time Record is intended to replace the manual model of attendance record keeping. Our school using ball pen or log book to record a attendance this system need a computer and the student will record his attendance with a password and the system will arrange the record and calculate the average attendance of the student. The system contains attendance record in electronic files containing details of absence or presence of a specific student enrolment during a semester. Attendance records have been collected on paper forms and verified with hand written signatures. However, the increasing demand for automated student attendance daily time record should be implemented as soon as possible in order to reduce the costs of handling the paper works with record keeping. This system described in this document should be implemented also in different school and all automated systems must follow the standard procedures. This project will try to organize the current school attendance record system that will be much quicker and will save time. Statement of the Problem The study was conducted to some school that does not have automated student information daily time record. Specific Problem. Does our some school have this system? †¢What is the importance of having this kind of system? †¢Is there any summary report for the attendance weekly or after the semester? †¢Is the system reliable to keep all the attendance records? Objective Design and create a system that could calculate and get the average attendance of the student more efficient, reliable and less time in a semester. Specific objective †¢Create a system the will calculate the average of attendance of each of individual student †¢Arrange the record accordingly. †¢Reduce the costs of handling the paperwork associated with record keeping.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Signs in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

The Scarlet Letter shows Nathaniel Hawthorne’s way of using various signs to evolve the characters and help them atone for their sins and rid their fear of consequences. â€Å"A sign has tremendous power to communicate a message that transcends the sign itself.† (Gray 19) The Scarlet Letter involves an adulterous scandal between the two main characters, and how they live with the embarrassment and shame that comes with the sin. Hawthorne’s use of different signs such as the â€Å"A† and the scaffold help accompany the reader in understanding each character. Through Hawthorne’s writing, the reader gains a deeper meaning of the story, and that is achieved through signs. Signs in American literature are very important, as shown in The Scarlet Letter,†¦show more content†¦As shown on the cover of the book itself, the â€Å"A† is the most important and well known sign of The Scarlet Letter. This letter is the representation of her sin, letting the people around her know what she had done. As the book states, â€Å"It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.† (Hawthorne) The townspeople already knew how much this â€Å"A† would affect Prynne and her future family as soon as she walked out of the prison, as written by Hawthorne. This letter depicted evil and her fellow citizens avoided her at all costs because of it. Prynne’s response to having to wear the sign on her clothes, at first, is not a good one. She is embarrassed and ashamed by it, knowing that people are to judge her every where she goes. All of the townspeople gave her looks and treated her as nothing more than a criminal. â€Å"Lonely as was Hesters situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hawthorne) By the end of the book, Prynne realizes the good that has come out of wearing the â€Å"A† upon her chest. She no longer thinks of it as a bad thing, but something that has helped her in finding what she really is, able and almost angelic. Arthur Dimmesdale is on the other end of this adultery scandal, although no one knows it. His perspective on the situation changes, just as Hester Prynne. A scaffold is a large wooden platform that resembles wrong-doing and is often usedShow MoreRelatedNathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter1230 Words   |  5 Pages Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American novelist, who writes and focuses on sin, punishment, and atonement. However, he mainly focuses on the Puritan legacy. Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. From 1825-1837, Hawthorne perfected his writing and spent this time to help generate ideas for his novels and poems. One of the most well known novels by Nathaniel Hawthorne is â€Å"The Scarlet Letter.† The Scarlet Letter helped Hawthorne’s career to become one of the most successful of hisRead MoreEssay on Nathaniel Hawthornes Life in His Works1556 Words   |  7 Pagesauthor Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are different elements that influence his writings. His life included many times of trials, many joys, and many ancestors that caused some turmoil within his mind. Two of his major works are influenced almost directly by his background (Werlock). Nathaniel Hawthorne threw his life into every single piece of his writing. His experiences, background, and the setting in which his life took place are prominent in everything he wrote. Nathaniel Hawthorne was bornRead MoreScarlet Letter Criticism704 Words   |  3 PagesIn The Scarlet letter, Nathaniel hawthorne uses his novel as social commentary by depicting the puritan society as a group of hypocritical people who believe in conformity, which ultimately, turns them into a mindless horde. Nathaniel Hawthorne had deep bonds with his Puritan ancestors and created a story that highlighted both their weaknesses and their strengths. His knowledge of their beliefs and his admiration for their strengths were balanced by his concerns for their rigid and cruel rules.TheRead MoreScarlet Letter And Symbolism1045 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scarlet Letter and Symbolism Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism in his book The Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is, according to Merriam-Webster, â€Å"the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visual or sensuous representations.† This means that the author was using objects to represent an action or idea. The symbols used in his book is either all physical or visible objects. ManyRead MoreHester Prynne As A True Hero1292 Words   |  6 PagesMaeger English III Honors 16 October 2017 Hesters Heroism In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing â€Å"Scarlet A† on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, PearlRead MoreLiterature Has Functioned Throughout History As A Means1266 Words   |  6 Pagesto the lay public. Classics like Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe leverage their plots to reveal alarming realities and comment on social issues. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the earliest examples of literary social criticism. Hawthorne uses the plight of the main character, Hester Prynne, a convicted adulterer in a society that severely punishes sinners, to take a st and against Puritanism and the religious conservatism that stainsRead MoreWho is Nathaniel Hawthorne?953 Words   |  4 Pagesthe utmost passion of her heart† is one of my favorite quotes that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote from the Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer, that wrote fictional stories. He was a gifted writer that was influenced to use his gift by a well known man, with the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I believe Nathaniel had an talent to make stories rhyme with detail, that sets the scene in your very, own mind. Hawthorne had a interesting life, he enjoyed writing short stories, like Twice-ToldRead More Symbols and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter1178 Words   |  5 PagesSymbolism   in The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne isnt noted for perfecting any famous literary style, for writing multiple best sellers, or even for contributing largely to classic American literature.   His only real claim to fame is The Scarlet Letter: a novel that was originally only meant to be yet another Hawthorne short story.   Because of this, it actually possesses many short story characteristics.   It is simpler and more complete than his other novels. (James 285)   It also hasRead MorePearl In The Scarlet Letter1233 Words   |  5 PagesOne of the most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne wrote stories that opposed the ideas of Transcendentalism. Since he had ancestors of Puritan belief, Hawthorne wrote many stories about Puritan New England. His most famous story is the Scarlet Letter. This novel tells of the punishment of a woman, Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and gave birth to Pearl. A minister of Boston, Arthur Dimmesdale, had an affair with Hester whileRead MoreAn Individual s War : The American Voice1692 Words   |  7 Pagessociety, to be who we want to be. Hawthorne captures the American voice eloquently through his stories, expressing how the Americans as individuals, could conquer prejudice societies, through their actions. Hawthorne himself could truly capture the American voice because he, himself was an American man. He was the â€Å"sixth generation of his Salem family[,] his ancestors included Puritan magnates, judges [who sought out the Witch Trials], and seamen† (Nathaniel Hawthorne) His bloodline was enriched with

Friday, December 27, 2019

Face Value Of A Bond Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3245 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Face value of a bond is the amount which is repaid by the issue to the investor at the time of maturity. Bond face value generally represents the redemption value of the bond. The interest on bonds is also calculated on face value. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Face Value Of A Bond Finance Essay" essay for you Create order However, the actual value of bond depends upon the interest rates and volatility prevails in the market, bond would sell at a discount if the present interest rates are higher than the coupon rate of bond and would sell at premium if present interest rates are lower than the coupon rate but as bonds approach maturity, actual value approaches face value. Generally, corporate bonds are issued with the face value of $1000, municipal bonds carry the face value of $5000, and government bonds usually carry the face value of $10,000. For example- if a company wants to raise $1,000,000 through bonds in capital market and each bond carried a face value of $1,000 each then, the company would have to issue 1,000 bonds in the market to meet the set target of $1,000,000. Zero coupon bonds are those bonds which do not pay any payment in terms of interest during the whole life of bond and these bonds are sold at a deep discount from its face value or we can say that investor bought these b onds at a price below than the face value. The main idea behind the issuance of zero-coupon bond is to provide an option to investor to purchase bond at a lower price than its face value and decrease rate upfront in return for paying this, a rate of interest is offered to the bond holder that will ultimately yield a return which is equal to the face value of that bond or possibly little more than that. These bonds do not carry any coupon rates because these bond does not make any periodic interest payment and on maturity investor receive a lump sum amount equals to that bonds par valve. The date of maturity on these bonds is generally long-term in nature and these bonds are not redeemable until they reached the maturity date. So these types of bonds are very fruitful to those investors who have certain goal and plans for future. Due to no interest is paid on zero coupon bonds until maturity, prices of these bonds fluctuate more than other types of bonds which are available in the market. Although there are no payments of interest made on zero coupon bonds till their maturity, certain tax might have to be pay by the investor. Example of zero coupon bonds is U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. savings bonds, long-term zero-coupon bonds etc. MUNICIPAL BOND Municipal bonds are those bonds which are issued by the civic authority of a city. The basic idea behind these bonds is to raise fund for the development of infrastructure in the city or ongoing government expenditures. Tax benefit may or may not be available on these bonds because interest received from such types of bonds are full exempted from all types of tax if the person lives in that city or state in which these bonds issued but the capital gain on these bonds are taxable. These bonds may be issued to retail investors or institutional investors. The coupon rate is relatively low as these bonds have a guarantee provided by the government and due to the tax saving by purchasing of these kinds of bonds. The risk of a municipal bond is depends upon that how the payment will be made by the issuer of these bonds, because different types of bonds have different type of repayment process such as if the bonds are General obligation bonds then repayment would be based on the ful l faith and credit of the issuer; and consider to be the most safer bonds in this type of bonds and as a result fetch low interest rates. If the bonds are Revenue bonds then repayment would be based on the future income of the issuer and therefore carry high rate of interest as comparison to general obligation bonds. JUNK BOND Junk bonds are generally speculative in nature and come under high risk and high yield bonds class. The coupon rate of interest is high on these bonds as comparison to other type of bonds. However, the interest risk and principle risk of these bonds are also higher. In principle, these bonds have a very low or no credit rating. Only speculators may likely to trade in junk bonds and investors generally do not favor these bonds. DEBENTURES Debentures are fixed income security which is issued by a borrowing unit under a borrowing agreement. Under the agreement, the issuer has to pay periodic interest payments to the holder on specific dates. The rate of interest called the coupon rate which is a fixed and is applied to the face value of debenture to find out the periodic interest payment. At maturity issuer repays the debt. The repayment amount is made as per the terms and conditions of the agreement and may be equal to, less than, Or more than the face value of the debenture. These are issued keeping in view the need and cash flow of the company as well as investor. Bonds have not the same attraction as stocks in the mind of investors, but fixed and promise return makes bonds be an essential part of your financial plan. There are certain advantages for a buyer of a bond which is as follows: Fixed Income Coupon rate of interest on Bonds pay a fixed or predetermine payment every year to the buyer of a bond until the Bond reaches up to its maturity date. For example- A Bond carries the coupon rate of 10 %, in this condition you will receive $10 per bond every year, for a bond with the face value of $100. Volatility Bonds volatility is lower than that of equities. As a result bonds are normally considered as safer investments than equities. In addition, day- to-day volatility in bonds is also less as comparison to stocks, and sometimes payments of interest of bonds are also higher than the dividend payments on stocks. Good Collateral for Loans Bonds are considered to be good collateral for loans. If any investor needs to borrow money and he doesnt want to sell his bonds then in this case brokerage firm and banks will consider your bonds as collateral for a loan and interest charges on the borrowed amount can be repaid from the interest income from the bonds. Time period Bonds are issued for a certain and fixed period of time i.e. 5 years, 10 years etc, investors can buy bonds according to their investment period horizon. If an investor needs money after 10 years then he can easily invest in long term bonds and after 10 years he will get the money back. Return of Principal at Maturity If you hold the bond till maturity than the bond price will not affected by the market condition weather the price of that bond is high or low you will get the same predetermined principal amount. But if you sell the bond before maturity then you will get the prevailing market price of that bond so by buying the bonds, investors have an advantage to earn capital gain. Credit Ratings Each and every Bond carries credit ratings from various credit rating agencies which show the nature of bonds that how much that particular bond is risky so the investor knows that which risk class bond he is buying and how much volatile is that bond. Tax Advantages Some bonds give tax advantage to investors. The interest payments on certain bonds are tax free while calculating the income of the investor. YTM Yield to Maturity (YTM) can be define as the annual rate of return that will be earned if the bond is purchased today at the current market price and is held by the investor till maturity. So, YTM is the average rate of return that will be earned on a bond if it is bought now and held till maturity. It shows an effective annual return from a security expressed as a percentage of the current market price of the security. It is a measure of total income earned by an investor over the total life of security. YTM is also known as market rate of return on market rate of interest. So, YTM is the rate of return that will be earned by the investor under the following conditions: Bond is purchased today at current market price Issuing company does not do any default on payment of interest. Investor holds the bond till maturity. Whatever the interest received for the intervening periods are reinvested at the rate equals to calculated YTM itself. YTM is calculated as the rate of discount that makes the present value of a bonds cash flow equals to its current market price. LADDERING A bond ladder is a type of strategy in which an investor managing his fixed-income by converting his money in to bonds with different maturity period i.e. one month, three month, six month, one year etc. For example, if you invest $1,000,000 for ten year by purchasing bonds in such a way that one bond mature each year. Now if we see after one year when the first bond matures, the principal amount of that bond is reinvested in another bond at the long end of the ladder and this process goes till the 10th year. The primary idea behind this strategy is diversification by maturity. By making the bond ladder an investor fetch high average return because as we all know that longer the maturity period, the higher the risk and as a result the higher the yield and bond ladder combines the longer a bonds maturity with the liquidity of short term bonds to generate high average return. Whenever you think of creating a portfolio of bonds with different maturity class different risk and return, at that time you have to be much strategized for selecting a particular bond so that you can generate maximum return with low risk. If you are able to make that strategy you as an investor can earn steady and reliable income. There are certain strategies which are prevailing in market by using them investors fixed their returns. Some strategies are Laddering, Maturity matching, Barbell etc. Laddering A bond ladder is a type of strategy in which an investor managing his fixed-income by converting his money in to bonds with different maturity period i.e. one month, three month, six month, one year etc. For example, if you invest $1,000,000 for ten year by purchasing bonds in such a way that one bond mature each year. Now if we see after one year when the first bond matures, the principal amount of that bond is reinvested in another bond at the long end of the ladder and this process goes till the 10th year. The primary idea behind this strategy is diversification by maturity. By making the bond ladder an investor fetch high average return because as we all know that longer the maturity period, the higher the risk and as a result the higher the yield and bond ladder combines the longer a bonds maturity with the liquidity of short term bonds to generate high average return. Maturity matching This strategy is also called Bullet strategy, in this type of strategy investor buy or holds those bonds whose have same maturity period or we can say that bonds mature at same time. It is not necessary that you buy all the bonds at same time, in bullet strategy bonds maturity time is same but not the purchasing date. This strategy considers being an effective approach to minimize your interest rate risk by confounding your purchase date because interest rates are changed time to time. Investors also follow this strategy at that time when they need money at a specific time and for a specific purpose. Barbell When you go for the barbell strategy, you purchase long-term and short-term bonds only without purchasing anything in between these limits. By purchasing long-term bonds you would fetch higher interest rates, while purchasing short-term bonds, they provides flexibility to your portfolio to invest in other assets should rates fall too low to provide sufficient income. If in future rates go up, you can hold the short-term bonds till their maturity and then after reinvested them at the higher prevailing interest rates. So, by adopting this strategy you would take advantage of fluctuating rates without restricting your financial flexibility. Whenever you want to purchase bonds or want to invent in bonds, first of all you have the knowledge of all terminologies related to bonds such as what is yield, where to find out the price of a particular bond, what is the maturity period, what is the face value etc. This knowledge will help you to make an attractive portfolio which fetch hig h return which is the ultimate aim of any investor. You can find information regarding the price of the bond at www.investingbond.com or you can find out this information from the reports which are issued in The Wall Street Journal which contain all the relevant detail about the corporate and other types of bonds through which investors select bonds according to their needs. The report contains various columns such as: Issuer This is the company name which is the issuer of the bond Coupon- it shows the fixed interest rate that the issuer of bond pays to the investor or the buyer of bond. Maturity Date- This is the date on which bond will mature and issuer will repay the principal amount to investor. Bid Price- This is the price at which bond is traded in the market or we can say that someone is willing to pay for the bond. Whatever the par value is, the bid price is quoted in relation to 100 i.e. percentage terms. Yield- Yield shows the annual return if the inv estor holds the bond till maturity. Preferred stocks are those stocks which provide a fixed dividend to the preferred shareholder. Dividend must be paid to preferred share holder before the payment to be made to holders of common shares. When we compare these stocks with bonds and common stocks in terms of making payouts then these stocks rank lower than bonds and higher than common stocks. Main advantages of preferred stocks are as follows: Preferred stockholders receive dividend first in comparison to common stockholder in the event of winding up, bankruptcy of a company. Holder of preferred stockholders have greater claim right on the assets of the company than the common stock holders. Some preferred stocks can be convertible into common stocks after a certain period of time. The main benefit of this convertibility is that the preferred shareholder gets the voting right after covert it into common stock. Dividend in preferred stocks is cumulative in nature. The se stocks can be callable at any time according to the needs of the company which issue the preferred stocks. Equal participation is to be done by the common shareholders if the earnings made through additional issuance of ordinary shares. But, in case of preferred stock, there is no such participation is to be done by preferred shareholders. Their claims per share are restricted up to a limited amount. Alike as bonds, various major credit-rating companies and agencies also provide ratings of credit risk for Preferred stocks to safeguard the interest of the shareholders. Preferred stocks rating is generally lower than the bonds, because dividends on preferred stock do not carry the similar guarantees as interest payments from bonds that is why preferred stocks are always lies below the bonds and are junior to every creditor. There are certain major credit agencies such as Standard Poors and Moodys provide ratings to preferred stocks on a regular basis. Bonds can be classif ied on the basis of various categories such as their characteristics, their risk class, their return, their credit rating, their coupon arrangements etc. the main three classifications of bonds are as follows: CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF CHARACTERISTICS Secured and unsecured Bonds- Whenever a long term source of funds is issues it is issued as a secured debenture and having fixed or floating charges on the assets of the company. The security helps reducing the risk of debt investors. Mortgage backed bonds are the example of secured bonds which are backed by the homes and other real estate properties. On the other side, the unsecured bonds are those bonds which are secured by the general liability of the company but do not carry any particular assets or specific charge as security. CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF COUPON ARRANGEMENTS Interest calculation is also a criterion for the classification of bonds because interest calculation of bonds is different from each other it is not necessary that each bond has same type of interest calculation. Certain bonds have a provision of regular interest payment till maturity and certain bonds do not carry any interest rate i.e. zero coupon bonds. Zero Coupon Bond-Zero coupon bonds are those bonds which do not pay any payment in terms of interest during the whole life of bond and these bonds are sold at a deep discount from its face value or we can say that investor bought these bonds at a price below than the face value. The main idea behind the issuance of zero-coupon bond is to provide an option to investor to purchase bond at a lower price than its face value and decrease rate upfront in return for paying this, a rate of interest is offered to the bond holder that will ultimately yield a return which is equal to the face value of that bond or possibly little more t han that. These bonds do not carry any coupon rates because these bond does not make any periodic interest payment and on maturity investor receive a lump sum amount equals to the par value of that bond. The date of maturity on these bonds is generally long-term in nature and these bonds are not redeemable until they reached the maturity date. So these types of bonds are very fruitful to those investors who have certain goal and plans for future. Due to no interest is paid on zero coupon bonds until maturity, prices of these bonds fluctuate more than other types of bonds which are available in the market. Although there are no payments of interest made on zero coupon bonds till their maturity, certain tax might have to be pay by the investor. Example of zero coupon bonds is U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. savings bonds, long-term zero-coupon bonds etc. CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF RISK Certain bonds can be classified according to their risk class. There are various rating agencies such as Standard Poors and Moodys Duff Phelps who provide ratings to various municipal and corporate bonds on a regularly basis. Junk bonds are one of them. Junk Bond-Junk bonds are generally speculative in nature and come under high risk and high yield bonds class. The coupon rate of interest is high on these bonds as comparison to other type of bonds. However, the interest risk and principle risk of these bonds are also higher. In principle, these bonds have a very low or no credit rating. Only speculators may likely to trade in junk bonds and investors generally do not favor these bonds

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Essay on How Male Characters are Portrayed in The Taming...

How Male Characters are Portrayed in The Taming of the Shrew Male characters in the â€Å"Taming of the Shrew† play a significant role in the play as women in fact without the male characters one can say that the male characters wouldn’t react in the manner they do. The characters I have selected are Tranio, Hortensio, Lucentio and Petruchio because I feel they play more significant roles in the play then any of the other male characters due to the fact that three of them are suitors and that one dramatically influences how the play develops. I will do this via textual analysis (by selecting relevant segments of text and giving my detailed opinion on what Shakespeare’s intentions are in relation†¦show more content†¦Although Tranio at times has more power and influence over Lucentio and other character he is more then willing to fulfil his masters every wish and command. It is ironic he isn’t punished for assuming the role of a gentle man. This is due to the fact that he is fulfilling his masters’ commands. This is made evident throughout Shakespeare’s plays such as in, â€Å" twelfth night† the role reversal is generally temporary and only admitted by the servants master. However everything must conclude and in act five Tranio is firmly put back I his place after all the tomfoolery have finished. Even though he has been in a significant role of power he’s never really posed a threat to the hierarchy of the play although he did create some discomfort and discontent towards the older male characters. Shakespeare’s main purpose for Tranio is to undermine the system and create humour. He utilises irony to a great extent, the fact Tranio impersonates his master demonstrates the power Tranio. He may not be of a noble class but his mind is as sharp as a razor blade and through this he is able to fulfil Lucentios plans. Hortenensio is another potential suitor for the fair hand of Bianca. He does not posses Petruchios vigour or Lucentios â€Å"sex appeal† and although he proclaims to be passionately in love with Bianca (act one scene two line 173-174) it isShow MoreRelatedTaming Of The Shrew And The Merchant Of Venice1612 Words   |  7 Pagescomedy plays, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice challenge a very serious social issue, the role and importance of woman in society. We all know the stereotypical image of woman in the society but Shakespeare questions the society on these thoughts through his plays. While Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a very unique way in each of his plays, this issue is common in both plays and is portrayed very similarly. Whether it is the way woman are treated, portrayed or judged, ShakespeareRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Taming Of The Shrew889 Words   |  4 Pagesmany accounts, William Shakespeare’s Taming Of The Shrew, is often cri ticized for its seemingly misogynistic themes; such as the thought of â€Å"taming† a woman, thus making her completely submissive to her husband. While in the opening of the play, Katharine, ill-tempered but seemingly impenetrable, gets pulverized by Petruchio’s contradicting her words, and also saying disgusting jokes in an intense verbal arguement. In another example, one of the other main characters, Bianca, was bet on by several menRead MoreTaming of the Shrew Paper1102 Words   |  5 Pages12.2.12 Taming of the Shrew Paper Gender roles have normally been dominated by men, with women unwillingly submitting to them. In William Shakespeare’s, The Taming of the Shrew, this idea is presented with the characters Kate and Petruchio. Kate brings about a new attitude of women becoming dominant that is not accepted by Petruchio or the rest of society. Without any support to help her, Kate is unable to keep her own character and conforms to be an obedient wife. In the play Taming of the ShrewRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew1313 Words   |  6 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy/love story written by Shakespeare between 1590 and 1592. However, in the current era with new beliefs of men and women’s roles, The Taming of The Shrew is seen as pure misogyny. The plot of the play follows the idea that Bianca, the youngest daughter, is a beautiful young girl with lots of male attention and is eager to wed, though her wealthy father will not allow it until her older hot-tempered sister also has a sui tor. Many modern films has been made on thisRead MoreThe Taming Of The Shrew By William Shakespeare1382 Words   |  6 PagesIn Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, women are shown to be objectified and subservient to men, conforming to the accepted gender roles that are expected of them. Patriarchal views of femininity support the authority of men in society, as well as subjugation and subordination of women. As written of the representation of women in early literature, â€Å"the focus of interest is on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which will decide her ultimate social position and †¦ determine her happinessRead MoreEssay on Taming of the Shrew677 Words   |  3 PagesA principal theme throughout Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew is the battle of the sexes. The battle primarily focuses on the relationship between Petruchio and Katherine, otherwise known as Kate. They each struggle for supremacy in a classic confrontation between male and female until Kate succumbs to Petruchios dominance for the first time during Act IV, Scene V when she states What you will have it named, even that it is. And so it shall be so for Katherine. In this first act of deferenceRead More Comparing Women As Propriety In The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew2870 Words   |  12 PagesWomen As Propriety In Shakespeares The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew We may say that the dominant ideas in most societies are the ideas of the dominant sex, associated and mingled with those of dominant class. (Chedgzoy, pg.50) During the Elizabethan time men dominated society. Historically speaking males have always held more power then females in most cultures. Although a few cultures were Matriarchal societies. Yet even in these cultures women were notRead MoreEssay on The Manliest Man in The Taming of the Shrew1035 Words   |  5 PagesThe Taming of the Shrew, men do quite absurd things to get what they desire. Petruchio, Lucentio, Hortensio, and Gremio all derive schemes to win the heart of the woman they choose. Throughout the play many characters create alternate personas to woo the one they love. However, one man, Petruchio, prefers to pursue his soon to be wife ingenuously. All of the ideas the men concoct are in hopes that Bianca or Kate might fall in love with them, whether or not they do fall in love is due to how wellRea d MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Taming Of The Shrew1676 Words   |  7 Pagesand continue to do so because they grapple with economic and social issues that people of all ages, from all walks of life, can relate to. Shakespearean plays ideally encompass these viewpoints; they can be tragic, comedic or even romantic. Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare explores the marriage between a shrewd woman, Katherine and a willing suitor, Petruchio. Petruchio challenges himself to try and transform shrewd ways of Katherine to turn her into the ideal and obedient house wife byRead MoreWomen in William Shakespeare’s Plays Essay2376 Words   |  10 Pagesalmost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.   Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as u ndesirable and even evil.   Ã‚  Ã‚   When one considers Shakespeare’s female characters, one has to remember that the plays were written in a time when women were considered weak-minded creatures

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Nature Of The Audit Evidence - Know the Scope

Question: Discuss about the Nature of the Audit Evidence. Answer: Introduction: Audit evidence can be referred as the evidences, which are collected during various stages of an audit program and duly documented in the audit working papers. The nature of the audit evidence uses to vary with different stages of auditing . In the audit planning stage, auditors use to consider those information as the audit evidence, which can be regarded as the most useful and competent audit approach. Audit evidences for the control testing stage are the information, which can confirm the appropriateness of the auditors assertion in context to various accounts of the entity. The procedure for deriving the audit evidence differs according to nature of the accounts. It is not necessary that a uniform planning can be applicable for every type of accounts. Therefore, the auditors have to prepare audit planning, which include various procedures for obtaining the proper audit evidences for different accounts (Pizzini et al. 2014). Audit Procedure for Wages Salaries: In normal terms, wages and salaries are used for same meanings. According to accounting and financial concept, wages are the payment, which are paid on weekly or daily basis in cash to the workers, especially, related to production. The salary is mainly paid to administrative staffs on monthly basis. It has been observed that the companies use to suffer from various types of frauds regarding the payment of wages salaries, even, inspite of having internal control system. Hence, to get the audit evidence for the clarity in the wages salaries account, the auditor may include Computer assisted audit techniques in the audit planning. Computer Assisted Audit Techniques: By using audit software, auditor can check the wages salaries account of the company, re-calculate various elements of wages salary and obtain required information. For example: Auditor can re-calculate the wages and salaries paid to the employees They can check the amount of wages salaries paid in the beginning and ending of the year and compare the difference with the numbers of employees joined and left the firm during the period. Auditor may also check the records and information of selected staffs on HR files and the actual payroll files (Khlif and Samaha 2014). Audit Procedure for Electricity: The amount and impact of the electricity cost use to vary from company to company. In the factories, the electricity consumption use to be very high in comparison to the administrative offices. Therefore, there is a great scope for manipulation on the electricity expenses by various means, especially, when the management does not have effective control over the power consumption. Physical Verification and Comparison: The audit can get sufficient audit evidence about the transparency in the electricity expenses through physical verification and comparison of electricity related records. For Example:- Auditor should check the meters physically, if possible, examine the meter by any electrical experts, not related to the entity. He can compare the electric bills for consecutive periods to get confirmation that the power consumption did not vary much over the periods. He should compare the amount of bills with the register, maintained by factory administration and office administration (Nicolaescu 2013). Audit Procedure for Repairs and Maintenance: Repairs and maintenance expenses can be defined as expenses, which are incurred for maintaining or increasing the productive capacity of the assets. The range of the assets, for which such costs are incurred, is very wide. It can vary from high-end complex machineries to an ordinary chair. Therefore, the probability for altercations in the repairs and maintenance account is quite high, as there is no such basic rate for the repairs maintenance and moreover, as the cost depends on the condition on the asset, the amount of such expenses for the same asset can vary also for different situations (Ettredge et al. 2014). Categorization and Market Study: The auditor should prepare an authenticate audit plan, which can measure the expenses with more realistic approach. The audit plan may incorporate categorization and market study of the expenses to check the appropriateness of the amounts. For example:- Auditor should categorize the various repairs and expenses in several different categories as per the nature of the activity. He can make an brief market study on the rates and costs of such expenses to get an idea about the nature. He may employ some technicians to get an estimate of the repairs and maintenance, included in the financial statements. The auditors should check the bills of the expenses and verify the rates through market study (Ege 2014). Conclusion: By implementing the above mentioned processes, the auditor can collect enough information as the audit evidence to prove the accuracy of the account balances. Introduction: Test of Control in auditing can be referred as the testing procedures for examining the efficiency level of the control system, implemented by the client for avoiding or detecting material misstatements (Asare and Wright 2012). The test of control system is not necessary any more, according to the risk assessment standards. As per the standard, auditors can get required sufficient audit evidences from other risk assessment procedures. But still, the procedure is required by the auditors, when: The auditor plans to rely on the outcomes of the tests to assess the low level of control risk. Other risk assessment procedures are not enough efficient to measure the financial statements. Control risk assessment for the small entities is insufficient due to material weaknesses. Test of control is mostly used as dual-purpose tests, which includes both substantive and compliance tests of financial events Test of Control for Sales Transactions: Generally, if the volume of the transactions are huge, the test of control is performed on some selected samples. The sample size uses to be either 40 or 60 units. For the 40 units, no error or deviation is allowed, whereas, for 60 units one error or deviation is considered as negligible if it does not create any huge impact on the materiality aspect of the firm. The auditor has selected 50 samples and the set the tolerable error at 5%. It is not also explained on what basis the samples are selected. If the samples are selected on the basis of the higher amount, then 5% error can create great impact, whether, the errors have any materiality aspect or not. For example, if in a sales invoice of $20 million, the phone number or the address of the client is not mentioned unintentionally, then it may not create any material impact on the financial position of the company, but it may raise queries by the tax department due to the involvement of higher amount. Moreover, the volume of the sales is also not mentioned. If the total number of sales transactions is 10,000, then the 3 errors out of 50 samples means that the total number of error is 500. In that case, the auditor should not rely on the outcomes of the sample testing, as, out of 500 errors, there may be some errors, which can cause material impact on the financial results of the firm. Moreover, 5% tolerable error is quite high to ignore irrespective of the immateriality aspect of such errors (Francis et al. 2013). Test of Control for Accounts Payable Accounts It can be stated that the auditor has selected the higher level amounts as samples. It has been proved to be quite right decisions, as it has covered almost 50% of the total accounts payable. On the other hand, the balance 50%, which consists of balances less than $100,000, has been ignored. It is a common practice to give more priority to the high volume. Therefore, it has been observed in many cases, the misappropriation of cash uses to be caused by manipulating lesser amounts. If such frauds have been taken place in this company also, then it would remain undetected by such audit procedure. Moreover, as per the AASB standards, any financial transaction should be recognized at the time of agreement. Therefore, if the accounts payable has been recorded but the material is still not received, the transaction should not be considered as an error until the agreement is cancelled by the client (Asare et al. 2012). The auditor has set the materiality level below 4%., which explains that if the total percentage of error rises upto 4%, those errors will not be considered as having material impact on the clients financial statement. The actual audit procedure reveals that the actual percentage of error is 4%, which amounts to $206,702 out of the total accounts payable balance if $51,68,000. The auditor has overlooked the error as it is below the materiality level (Cohen et al. 2014). In reality, though the percentage is negligible, the amount of total error cannot be ignored from any angle. The auditor should investigate further on the errors. She should check for which reason such errors have occurred. If it is not possible to all the errors, then she should pick some of the errors and check the samples very carefully. Being, an auditor, she cannot provide the clearance on the basis of assumptions (Messier et al. 2013). It should be noted, the auditor report is not required by the client only but also by various stakeholders of the company. Many investors use to take investment decisions on the basis of the audited report. It provides the confirmation of appropriateness in the financial statement (Badolato et al. 2014). Therefore, the auditor cannot make such statements by checking some samples and concluding results through assumptions. Moreover, the auditor has not followed the common auditing practice also. She has set the error level at higher rate than the general rate. In that case, the probability of overlooking the material errors has become higher. Therefore, the auditor should implement some other testing methods to reduce the high risk (Bentley et al. 2013). Conclusion As stated in the case of Kingston Cotton Mill Company (1986), an auditor is not bound to be detective and to work with their suspicion, that there is something wrong. He is a watchdog not a blood hound. He is justified in believing tried servant of the company and is entitled to rely upon their representation provides he takes reasonable care. Keeping in mind the statement, the auditor should act as a detective and investigate on every possible clues and then draw any conclusion. The conclusion drawn by the auditor may proved to be correct, but the uncertainty level of the decision is too high. It could be more appropriate if the auditor had set the error level at general stage and investigate the errors further. Reference List: Asare, S.K. and Wright, A., 2012. The Effect of Type of Internal Control Report on Users Confidence in the Accompanying Financial Statement Audit Report*.Contemporary Accounting Research,29(1), pp.152-175 Badolato, P.G., Donelson, D.C. and Ege, M., 2014. Audit committee financial expertise and earnings management: The role of status.Journal of Accounting and Economics,58(2), pp.208-230 Bentley, K.A., Omer, T.C. and Sharp, N.Y., 2013. Business strategy, financial reporting irregularities, and audit effort.Contemporary Accounting Research,30(2), pp.780-817 Cohen, J.R., Krishnamoorthy, G. and Wright, A., 2014. Enterprise risk management and the financial reporting process: the experiences of audit committee members, CFOs, and external auditors.CFOs, and External Auditors (May 30, 2014) Ege, M.S., 2014. Does internal audit function quality deter management misconduct?.The Accounting Review,90(2), pp.495-527 Ettredge, M., Fuerherm, E.E. and Li, C., 2014. Fee pressure and audit quality.Accounting, Organizations and Society,39(4), pp.247-263 Khlif, H. and Samaha, K., 2014. Internal control quality, egyptian standards on auditing and external audit delays: Evidence from the Egyptian stock exchange.International Journal of Auditing,18(2), pp.139-154 Messier, W., Glover, S. and Prawitt, D., 2013.Auditing assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education Nicolaescu, E., 2013. Understanding Risk Factors for Weaknesses in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting.Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management,1(3), pp.38-44. Pizzini, M., Lin, S. and Ziegenfuss, D.E., 2014. The impact of internal audit function quality and contribution on audit delay.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,34(1), pp.25-58