King Lear’s Sins Pale in Comparison to those Committed Against Him Essa

King Lear’s Sins Pale in Comparison to those Committed Against Him King Lear commits several acts that are nearly unforgivable. Not only does he exile a trusted, loyal servant, he also banishes his own daughter. Cordelia, unable and unwilling to submit herself to the ridiculous game of her father, is sent off to France with his curses. His subsequent action - the division of the land between his two ungrateful daughters - is the final act, the final sin, and one that plunges the land into turmoil. However, his actions do not excuse the responses they bring from his kin and kinsmen. The sins against him - the actions of his two daughters and the evilness of Edmund - are far greater than those he committed himself. While he may have started the series of events that eventually consumed the land in turmoil, it were those three who propagated the chaos. King Lear is definitely much more sinned against than sinning. That King Lear sinned, there can be no doubt. Nevertheless, a sin does not exclude the possibility that there was a sufficient cause (in his mind) for the action. Examine, for instance, King Lear's decision to exile his own daughter, Cordelia. The King is of an advanced age. Though he will not, can not, admit it, senility is advancing upon him, clouding his brain and influencing his judgement. Combined with his pride, age, and subconscious fear of encroaching mortality, Lear has a great desire for flattery, and more importantly, to have the love of his children reaffirmed before him. After the two first daughters inflate his ego, Cordelia is left in the unenviable position of trying to surpass them. She too will not, can not, bring herself to do so. Thi... ...don him in his madness. Edmund, the main force of 'evil' in the play, not only comes near to destroying the country the Lear has worked so hard to maintain, he also gives the order for the death of the King and his youngest daughter. This, of course, leads directly to Lear's own self-induced death. Therefore, while king Lear's sins were horrible, and cannot be fully excused by his madness or his redemption, they still pale in comparison to those committed against him. While he wallowed in pettiness, they succumbed to greed, evil, and murder. Works Cited Kermode, Frank. "King Lear." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G.B.Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 1249-54. Muir, Kenneth, ed. King Lear. London: Methuen & Co, 1972 Partee, Morriss Henry. "Edgar and the Ending of King Lear." Studia Neophilologica 63 (1991): 175-180.

Management Control Systems Final Written Case Assignment

Management Control Systems Final Written Case Assignment Budgeting and Performance Evaluation at the Berkshire Toy Company Prepared for: Karen M. Foust, Ph. D. , C. P. A. Adjunct Professor at Tulane University A. B. Freeman School of Business New Orleans, Louisiana Prepared by: Andres A. Calderon andres. [email  protected] com PO Box 21420 Baton Rouge, LA 70893 Date: September 4, 2000 Background Janet McKinley’s father, Franklin Berkshire, founded Berkshire Toy Company (BTC) in 1974.In 1988 Janet worked her way up to the position of Assistant to the President after completing her MBA. Janet promoted employee participation and teamwork. The company went public in 1991, and in 1993 Mr. Berkshire retired, leaving Janet as corporate CEO. In 1995 Quality Products Corporation, a company with a wide variety of products, acquired BTC for $23 million. Janet had an agreement that allowed her to continue to work for BTC for at least 5 years at an annual salary of $120,000.The company h ad a staff of 241 employees organized in three different departments: purchasing (11 employees managed by David Hall), production (175 employees managed by Bill Wilford), and marketing (52 employees managed by Rita Smith)1. BTC produces a fifteen-inch, fully jointed, washable, stuffed teddy bear. The bear is packaged in a designer box and is accompanied by an unconditional lifetime guarantee, and a piece of chocolate candy. The bears are accessorized according to customer order specifications. Internet sales began in 1997.Janet has just received the June 30, 1998 income statement showing Operating Income at $1,632,317 below budget, while Total Revenue is at $1,440,487 above budget (see Exhibit 1). Janet is having trouble understanding how the company’s revenue is thriving, but the company is not generating profits as expected. Current Situation BTC is a decentralized division of Quality Products Corporation that has been experiencing growth in sales over the past four years ( see Exhibit 2a). BTC’s strategy is to have an enhanced product image, build customer brand loyalty through product differentiation, and produce an all American quality product.BTC implemented a management compensation plan in 1997; the plan is structured as follows: †¢ †¢ David at Purchasing: 20% of net materials price variance, assuming favorable Rita at Marketing: 10% of excess variance of net revenue, assuming favorable 1 The remaining three employees are Janet, her secretary, and her secretary’s assistant †¢ Bill at Production: 3% of net variance in material, labor, variable overhead, labor rate variance, and the variable and fixed overhead spending, assuming favorable variancesThe bear is hand made and the quality of material acquired by purchasing can negatively affect production generating excess waste or potentially jeopardizing the quality of the product. Marketing sells the bear through catalogs, company’s retail store adjacent to the fa ctory, Internet sales, wholesale to department stores, toy boutiques, and other specialty retailers. Most orders are shipped the same day as they are received. Commissions of 3% are paid on retail store sales and sales to wholesale buyers, no commissions are paid on catalog sales.Internet sales began in 1997 with bears being sold at a wholesale price of $32. The Marketing and the Purchasing departments seem to be operating well, but the Production department manager has identified the following problems: production was affected by materials ruined during flood, raw material is substandard, high rate of product stock-out, deviations from standard production plans, overtime to met sale demands is high, overworked staff, plant is at maximum capacity, and maintenance is almost impossible to be scheduled. Analysis of the Case Non-quantitativeBTC could work an alliance with its supplier in such a way that raw material is guaranteed to meet high levels of quality. Currently Bill in product ion receives the raw material from David at purchasing, so inspections for defective material happen at the time of production and under the pressure of orders piling up awaiting production. David does not have any incentive to provide quality, but just to reduce his cost. Current incentive plan is not working to the advantage of the Production department, it is not fair to have bonus linked to factors that cannot be controlled by the responsible manager.Incentives are structured in such a way that they encourage â€Å"low balling† revenue figures by the Marketing and â€Å"high balling† raw material price budgets by the Purchasing manager. A budget of zero sales to be achieved by the Internet deployment, supported by an expensive national radio campaign, is not acceptable and should not be rewarded. Quantitative Analysis The favorable sale revenue of $1,440,487 can be explained by a favorable impact of Internet sales2 (+307%), an unfavorable effect of the Retail and C atalog sales (-214%), and a negligible budget variance (+7%) explained by the Wholesale efforts.Ninety one percent (equivalent to $2,300,980) of the unfavorable Total Variable Cost variance ($2,515,896) can be attributed to unfavorable variances in: Direct Labor (39% or $980,305), Variable Overhead (27% or $679,361), and Variable Selling Expense (25% or $641,314) (See Exhibit 4). Almost the entire unfavorable variance of fixed cost can be attributed to the unfavorable variance in Selling Expenses. The Direct Labor3 variance is mainly due to a variance of 42% (from 1. 2 budgeted to 1. 7 actual) labor hours per unit and a variance in salary rate from $8. 0 budgeted vs. $8. 17 actual. The Variable Overhead also affected by the unfavorable 1. 7 hours per unit of direct labor, contributed with an unfavorable amount of $181,639 (see Exhibit 6c). The Variable Overhead Cost per Hour went up due to the additional overhead. The Variable Selling Expense caused an unfavorable variance of $ 443, 100 due to the added cost per unit (see Exhibit 6c). Average price per unit sold $44. 37 compared to a $46. 45 budget. The mix variance stemmed mostly from a price difference between Retail & Catalog ($49) and Internet ($42) sales.The 280,000 units are distributed between Retail & Catalog (85%) and Wholesale (15%) sales. Using the Static Budget Mix expected sales are of $15,122,083 (see Exhibit 5). Fixed Cost Selling Expenses caused an unfavorable variance of $560,192 to the budget, compared to a negligible favorable increase of $261 to budget due to the Fixed Cost Administrative Expense. 4 Almost half ($225,627 favorable) of this unfavorable variance is counteracted by the higher than budgeted output and a fixed manufacturing overhead per unit of $ 1. 674 compared against the budgeted $1. 97. The overall unfavorable $114,910 Fixed Manufacturing Overhead is due to the variance in labor hours per unit. Due to 2 3 Or better said a very unrealistic â€Å"low ball† budget of Inte rnet sales I attribute this to the fact that the company works on an â€Å"order received basis†, instead of forecasting production. the incentive structure at BTC, David Hall has been buying â€Å"cheap† polyester filling and accessories, causing an unfavorable price efficiency variance of $49,609.Sales and Total Cost unfavorable variance of $ 2,669,607, compared to $1,632,317 budgeted can be attributed to poor sales mix performance (unfavorable Budgeted Sales Variance $675,589) and unfavorable Labor Volume Variance ($437,338)5. Incentive Program It is my opinion that the incentive program at BTC is the major contributor to the unfavorable variances. David Hall is rewarded for purchasing â€Å"cheap† raw material, which is affecting production. Rita is rewarded for selling products over the Internet at prices that are not appropriate.For a bonus allocation in dollars please refer to Exhibit 7, Incentive Plan (better named: â€Å"Let’s all gang against p oor old Bill†). While David pockets $9,636. 62 ($48,183 @ 20%) by purchasing substandard polyester fillings for the bear, Bill looses $2K due to additional filler required for production of a quality bear. There is no reasoning on how Rita sets the price for the Internet bear. Rita set a low price on the bear causing an unfavorable mix variance and there is no reasoning on how she established the budgets; overall she is favored by both moves, hurting the company’s profits. OvertimeThis is due to the inefficient use of labor, adding to the low morale of the employees. The unit labor requirement went from 1. 2 to 1. 7 due to the poor quality of raw material. The pay rate went up 17 cents due to new hires that had to be enticed to work at BTC. All these problems can be associated with the order base production scheduling, causing a â€Å"knew jerk reaction† in the system every time a new order is received, forcing employees to work overtime (See Exhibit 8 for more d etails). The case makes it clear that there have been no technology improvements in the past five years at BTC.Fixed manufacturing overhead is favorable due to the higher volume of items sold, but it does not reflect on the performance of the firm, since this is due to the low Internet price. I assume that most of this expense is to cover the radio campaign and the Internet cost, increasing volume with no concerns on the effect on Production 5 I blame this on Rita for selling products at less than reasonable price, only looking after her compensation. She increased volume with no concerns on the effect this might have on production. 4 RecommendationsProduction Bill should consider going to a forecasted production cycle, allowing a better distribution of the work load over the year (reducing overtime from 9. 11 to 8. 47), allowing time to mentor new employees (as attrition rate would be hire), allowing for scheduled maintenance without worrying about capacity during peak production t imes, and dedicate more time to the cleaning of the machinery (there is a substantial drop in cleaning material cost, in this industry this can be associated with a higher maintenance expense, see Exhibit 2b).The quality management effort should be integrated to supports the overall strategy of maintaining a high quality product at BTC. The integration of marketing and production could yield better production schedules to be developed; this integration can be accomplished by establishing shared goals between the two departments. With better production schedules BTC could identify bottlenecks and make sure that those are never starved for work6, reducing overtime demands during peak demand cycles.Overtime Premiums have been rising at an alarming rate (1619% in 1998, 1055% in 1997, see Exhibit 2b); this has very bad consequences on the company’s bottom line7. Production planning should increasing employee morale, allow for proper maintenance of equipment and reduce the risk of breakage during peak production times, and allow for planned training of new employees. In order to offer a higher quality product and impact the reduction of overtime, Bill has to consider upgrading some of the outdated equipment, especially replacing the equipment that reduces overtime and maintenance cost.The company is operating near to capacity; new equipment should alleviate the production bottlenecks and provide the foundation to reduce the overtime labor cost. If Bill is not familiar with new technologies in this industry, he should seek support from consultants in this area. Incentive Plan The incentive model should encourage accurate reporting by encouraging the right behavior, thus discouraging â€Å"low or high balling† while developing budgets (see Exhibit 3). David should be rewarded for finding the least expensive input material, without compromise of quality.Samples of material to be 6 Technology could also be deployed to reduce the bottlenecks, especially the labor-intensive bottlenecks. purchased should be analyzed by Production prior to committing to the shipment and purchase. This can only be accomplished if purchases are based on forecasted production, also allowing David to have more time for the negotiation of better prices for quality raw materials. Rita should continue to be rewarded for selling products, and growing markets. Instead of basing Rita’s bonus on the Static budget, her bonus should be evaluated against the Flexible Budget.In general static budgets are departmental goals that jointly represent corporate goals. Flexible Budgets incorporate some of the present variations in prices, markets, production, costs, etc. that tend to invalidate the Static Budget over time. The incentive plan for BTC should have a mix of departmental goals and division goals, so that there is a better integration among the different departmental goals. Bonuses should reflect management’s favorable performance; therefore, managers should have adequate control over those drivers that affect BTC’s outcomes.BTC should design a Balanced Scorecard as an integrative effort to support efforts of the individual managers of the different department in an orchestrated effort. Balanced Scorecard BTC’s Balance Scorecards should be aligned to support the corporate strategy, both short and long term. Incentives should be assigned to the degree the different measures contribute to the corporate goals. Managers shall respond to incentive, thus supporting corporate goals (see Exhibit 9 for details).A Balanced Scorecard typically includes measures in each of four areas: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, and Learning and Growth8. Some organizations add other dimension to support their strategy, or replace one of the four perspectives with one that uniquely reflects their mission and strategy. In the case of BTC the identified areas are: Corporate (BTC), Marketing, Purchasing, Production, and Manag ement9. The proposed set of Balanced Scorecards for BTC is presented in Exhibit 10. It sounds like the previous manager was a former student of Dr.Page, since the â€Å"two envelop† strategy was employed. First envelope: Blame the predecessor, write loss off. Second envelope: Prepare two envelopes. This case is common in situations with companies that pay bonuses. That's why companies are moving into options. 8 The Balanced Scorecard, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, Harvard Business School Press, 1996 9 Management as part of the Balanced Scorecards tends to be forgotten. Management (upper) has a responsibility to support the different departments with information on quality, cycle time, and cost. 7 Exhibit 1Berkshire Toy Company A Division of Quality Products Corporation Preliminary Statement of Divisional Operating Income for the Year Ended June 30, 1998 Units Sold Retail and Catalog Internet Wholesale Total Revenue Variable production costs Direct Material Acrylic pil e fabric 10-mm acrylic eyes 45-mm plastic joints Polyester fiber filling Woven label Designer box Accessories Total Direct Material Direct Labor Variable Overhead Total Variable Production Cost Variable Selling Expense Contribution Margin Fixed Costs Manufacturing Overhead Selling Expenses Admin Expenses Total fixed Costs Operating Income Actual Units 325,556 $ 8,573,285 174,965 $ 4,428,018 105,429 $ 1,445,184 45,162 $ 14,446,487 Master (Static) Budget 280,000 $ 11,662,000 $ $ 1,344,000 $ 13,006,000 Master Budget Variance 45,556 $ (3,088,715) $ 4,428,018 $ 101,184 $ 1,440,487 Unfavorable Favorable Favorable Favorable $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 256,422 125,637 246,002 450,856 16,422 69,488 66,013 1,230,840 3,668,305 1,725,665 6,624,810 1,859,594 5,962,083 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 233,324 106,400 196,000 365,400 14,000 67,200 33,600 1,015,924 2,688,000 1,046,304 4,750,228 1,218,280 7,037,492 661,920 4,463,000 1,124,000 6,248,920 788,572 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 3, 098 19,237 50,002 85,456 2,422 2,288 32,413 214,916 980,305 679,361 1,874,582 641,314 (1,075,409) (3,023) 560,192 (261) 556,908 (1,632,317) Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Favorable Unfavorable Favorable Unfavorable $ 658,897 $ 5,023,192 $ 1,123,739 $ 6,805,828 $ (843,745) Unfavorable Exhibit 2a Company Growth based on Schedule of Actual Manufacturing Overhead Expenditures for years Ended June 30, 1994 — 1998 Units Produced 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 – Units 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Year Exhibit 2b Variable Cost Associated with BTC growthBerkshire Toy Company A Division of Quality Products Corporation Schedule of Actual Manufacturing Overhead Expenditures for years Ended June 30, 1994 — 1998 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 325,556 271,971 252,114 227,546 201,763 Units Produced Variable Overhead Payroll Taxes and fringes Overtime Premiums Cleaning Supplies Maintenance Labor Maintenance Suppliers Miscellaneous Total $ 840,963 $ 423,970 $ 4,993 $ 415,224 $ 27,373 $ 13,142 $ 1,725,665 $ 524,846 $ 24,665 $ 6,842 $ 256,883 $ 15,944 $ 11,244 $ 840,424 $ 467,967 $ 2,136 $ 6,119 $ 232,798 $ 12,851 $ 9,921 $ 731,792 $ 413,937 $ 1,874 $ 5,485 $ 244,037 $ 15,917 $ 8,906 $ 690,156 $ 356,150 $ 1,965 $ 4,996 $ 216,142 $ 14,323 $ 7,794 $ 601,370The following table shows the increases in variable cost associated with the production growth. Variable Overhead Growth Payroll Taxes and fringes Overtime Premiums Cleaning Supplies Maintenance Labor Maintenance Suppliers Miscellaneous Units Produced 1998 1997 1996 1995 60% 12% 13% 16% 1619% 1055% 14% -5% -27% 12% 12% 10% 62% 10% -5% 13% 72% 24% -19% 11% 17% 13% 11% 14% 20% 8% 11% 13% Increases in Variable Cost Associated with the Production Growth 1800% 1600% 1400% 1200% 1000% Percent 800% 600% 400% 200% 0% 1994 -200% 1995 1996 Year 1997 1998 1999 Payroll Taxes and fring es Maintenance Suppliers Overtime Premiums Miscellaneous Cleaning Supplies Units Produced Maintenance LaborExhibit 2c Fixed Cost Associated with BTC growth Berkshire Toy Company A Division of Quality Products Corporation Schedule of Actual Manufacturing Overhead Expenditures for years Ended June 30, 1994 — 1998 Fixed Overhead Utilities Depreciation—machinery Depreciation—building Insurance Property Taxes Supervisory salaries Total 1998 $ 121,417 $ 28,500 $ 88,750 $ 62,976 $ 70,101 $ 287,153 $ 658,897 1997 $ 119,786 $ 28,500 $ 88,750 $ 61,716 $ 70,101 $ 274,538 $ 643,391 1996 $ 117,243 $ 28,500 $ 88,750 $ 57,211 $ 68,243 $ 275,198 $ 635,145 1995 $ 116,554 $ 28,500 $ 88,750 $ 55,544 $ 68,243 $ 269,018 $ 626,609 1994 $ 113,229 $ 28,500 $ 88,750 $ 54,988 $ 66,114 $ 254,469 $ 606,050The following table shows the increases in fixed cost associated with the production growth. Fixed Overhead Growth Utilities Depreciation–machinery Depreciation–building Ins urance Property Taxes Supervisory salaries Units Produced 1998 1% 0% 0% 2% 0% 5% 20% 1997 2% 0% 0% 8% 3% 0% 8% 1996 1% 0% 0% 3% 0% 2% 11% 1995 3% 0% 0% 1% 3% 6% 13% Increases in Fixed Cost Associated with the Production Growth 25% 20% 15% Percent 10% 5% 0% 1994 -5% 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Year Utilities Property Taxes Depreciation–machinery Supervisory salaries Depreciation–building Units Produced Insurance Exhibit 3 Incentive Model for Accurate Reporting10 ?b1* forecast + b2 * (actual – forecast) if actual ? forecast Incentive = ? b1* forecast – b3 * (forecast – actual) if actual < forecast b1: rewards are positively related to forecasted sales, give managers and incentive to forecast high b2: sales should be higher than the forecast, b2 affect this component b3: when actual sales are less than the forecast, this plan penalizes the manager For example: b1 b2 b3 5% 3% 7% Actual Sales Forecasted Sales Incentive 1000 1000 50 1100 1000 53 1200 1000 5 6 1000 1100 48 1100 1100 55 1200 1100 58 1000 1200 46 1100 1200 53 1200 1200 60 10 Example from: Managerial Accounting an Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Uses by Maher Stickney & Weil. Exhibit 4 Total Variable Cost Variance Contributions Variance Cost Contribution Acrylic pile fabric 1% 10-mm acrylic eyes 1% 45-mm plastic joints 2% Polyester fiber filling 3% Woven label 0% Designer box 0% Accessories 1% Direct Labor 39% Variable Overhead 27% Variable Selling Expense 25% Total Variable Cost Variance Contributions Acrylic pile fabric 45-mm plastic joints Woven label Accessories Variable Overhead 10-mm acrylic eyes Polyester fiber filling Designer box Direct Labor Variable Selling Expense Exhibit 5 Analysis of SalesFlexible Flexible Budget Budget (Budgeted Units Sales Volume Mix)(5) Variance $1,897,427 $$218,656 $2,116,083 $13,559,427 276723 $0 $1,562,656 48833 $15,122,083 325556. 1464 Actual Retail and Catalog Internet Wholesale Units Price Master (Static) Budget $11,662,000 $$ 1,344,000 $13,006,000 Budgeted Budgeted Mix in Total Sales Sales Mix Mix PercentagesBudgeted Price Variance Variance 238000 0 42000 280000 85% 0% 15% 100% $49. 00 $42. 00 $32. 00 $46. 45 $(3,088,715) $(4,986,142) $4,428,018 $4,428,018 $ 101,184 $(117,472) $1,440,487 $(675,596) $8,573,285 174,965 $49. 00 $4,428,018 105,429 $42. 00 $1,445,184 45,162 $32. 00 $44. 37 Total Revenue $14,446,487 325556 Exhibit 6a Schedule of Standard Costs: Fifteen-Inch Berkshire Bear Table 2 Standard 280,000 UnitsQuantity Allowed per Unit Direct Material Acrylic pile fabric 10-mm acrylic eyes 45-mm plastic joints Polyester fiber filling Woven label Designer box Accessories Direct Material per unit Total Direct Material Direct Labor Sewing Stuffing and cutting Assembly Dressing and Packaging Total direct labor 0. 02381 2 5 0. 9 1 1 Input Price $ $ $ $ $ $ 35. 00 0. 19 0. 14 1. 45 0. 05 0. 24 Standard Cost Per Unit $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 0. 83335 0. 38000 0. 70000 1. 30500 0. 05000 0. 24000 0. 12000 3. 62835 1,0 15,938 0. 50 0. 30 0. 30 0. 10 1. 20 $ 8 $ 9. 60 Variable manufacturing overhead 1. 2 $ 3. 114 $ 3. 7368 Fixed manufacturing overhead 1. 2 $ 1. 970 $ 2. 3640 Exhibit 6b Schedule of Actual Manufacturing Costs for year Ended June 30, 1998 Table 3 Actual 325,556 UnitsQuantity Allowed per Unit Direct Material Acrylic pile fabric 10-mm acrylic eyes 45-mm plastic joints Polyester fiber filling Woven label Designer box Accessories Total Direct Material Direct Material per unit Direct Labor Sewing Stuffing and cutting Assembly Dressing and Packaging Total direct labor Overtime Premium Other Variable Manufacturing Overhead Fixed manufacturing overhead 7,910 661,248 1,937,023 344,165 328,447 315,854 Input Price $ $ $ $ $ $ 32. 4174 0. 1900 0. 1270 1. 3100 0. 0500 0. 2200 Total Cost $ 256,422 $ 125,637 $ 246,002 $ 450,856 $ 16,422 $ 69,488 $ 66,013 $ 1,230,840 $ 3. 780732 189,211 104,117 121,054 34,615 448,997 103,787 $ $ 8. 1700 4. 0850 $ 3,668,305 $ 423,970 $ 1,301,695 $ 658,897 $ 7,283,707 Exhibit 6c Analysis of CostStatic Budget Direct Material per unit Direct Material per unit Units Total Materials Labor Cost per Unit Total direct labor per unit Labor Hours Hourly Rate Total Labor Cost Variable Manufacturing Overhead Variable Overhead Cost per Hour Labor Hours Variable Manufacturing Overhead Variable Selling Expenses Cost per Unit Units Total Variable Selling Expenses Fixed Manufacturing Overhead Cost per hour of labor Total hours Fixed Manufacturing Overhead $ $ 1. 97000 336,000 661,920 $ $ 1. 46749 448,997 658,897 $ (225,627) $ (222,604) $ (448,231) Price Total $ $ 1. 97 390,667. 20 769,614. 38 $ 225,627 $ (114,910) Volume $ $ $ 4. 35100 280,000 1,218,280 $ $ 5. 71206 325,556 1,859,594 $ (443,100) $ (198,214) $ (641,314) Price Total $ 4. 35 325,556. 00 $ (443,100) $ Volume $ $ $ 3. 11 336,000 1,046,304 $ $ 3. 84 448,997 1,725,665 $ (327,488) $ (351,873) $ (679,361) Price Total $ 3. 11 390,667. 20 $ (327,488) $ (181,639) Volume $ $ $ $ 1. 20000 336,000. 00 8. 00000 2,688,000 $ $ 1. 6980 448,997. 00 8. 17000 4,092,275 $ (980,305) Total $ (76,329) $ (903,976) Price $ $ 1. 20 390,667. 0 8. 00 $ (76,329) $ (466,638) Volume $ $ $ 3. 62835 280,000. 00 1,015,938 $ $ 3. 78073 325,556. 00 1,230,840 (49,625) (165,291) $ (214,916) Price Total $ 3. 63 325,556. 00 $ (49,609) $ Volume $ Actual Variance Type Flexible Budget Price Efficiency Variance Volume Variance $ 1,181,231. 11 $ 3,125,337. 60 $ 1,216,537. 66 $ 1,416,494. 16 Flexible Budget Total Cost per Unit Total Cost Variance Price Variance Volume Variance (670,915. 33) (1,841,957. 90) $ 14. 26335 $ 16. 50162 $ 14. 26335 Flexible Budget Variance $ (1,434,086) Total Price Efficiency Variance $ (670,899. 27) Total Volume Variance $ (763,187. 10) Static Budget Variance $ (2,512,873. 3287) Fixed Costs Actual Static Variance Total Cost Variance Selling Expenses $ $ $ $ 5,023,192 4,463,000 (560,192) (3,072,804) Administrative Expenses $ $ $ 1,123,739 1,124,000 261 TOTAL Budget Cost Variance Budget Sales Va riance Budget Variance Total Cost Variance Flexible $ (1,994,017) $ (675,589) $ (2,669,607) Static $ (3,072,804) $ 1,440,487 $ (1,632,317) $2,669,607 1,632,317 $1,037,290 Variances Volume Variance $ (903,976) $ (466,638) Labor Variance $ (437,338) Labors Hours Exhibit 7 Incentive Plan (better named: â€Å"Let’s all gang against poor old Bill†11) David Hall (Purchasing) Quantity Actual Price Static Budgeted Price Acrylic fabric 7910 $ 32. 42 $ 35. 00 10-mm acrylic eyes 661248 $ 0. 19 $ 0. 19 45-mm plastic joints 1937023 $ 0. 13 $ 0. 14 Polyester fiber filling 344165 $ 1. 31 $ 1. 5 Woven label 328447 $ 0. 05 $ 0. 05 Designer box 315854 $ 0. 22 $ 0. 24 Accessories 325556 $ 0. 20 $ 0. 12 Bonus $ 14,632. 71 20% Rita Smith (Marketing) Revenues Variable Selling Expenses Fixed Selling Expenses Net Revenues Bonus Actual Master Budget $14,446,487. 00 $13,006,000. 00 $ (1,859,594. 00) $ (1,218,280. 00) $ (5,023,192. 00) $ (4,463,000. 00) Delta $ 7,563,701. 00 $ 7,324,720. 00 $ 23 8,981. 00 10% $23,898. 1 Purchasing Variance $ 20,428. 37 $ $ 25,181. 30 $ 48,183. 10 $ $ 6,317. 08 $ (26,946. 28) $ 73,163. 57 Bill Wilford (Manufacturing) Price Variance Volume Variance Static Budget Variance $ (670,915. 33) $ (1,841,957. 90) $(2,512,873. 3) NO BONUS Since negative Static Budget Variance 11 Production processes input into output. Both, the input responsible manager and the output responsible manager, make good money $73K and $24K in 1998, while the production manager makes no money. This situation is ill-fated, or just plain dumb. The â€Å"sandwich effect†, the manager in the middles gets squeezed. This is the sarcasm in management that I am illustrating with this title. Exhibit 8 Overtime Hours 448,997. 00 Direct Overtime 103,787. 00 448,997. 00 Actual Pay Rate Total Hours $ 8. 17 $3,668,305. 49 390,667. 20 $ 4. 09 $ 423,969. 90 45,457. 20 $ 9. 11 $4,092,275. 39 390,667. 20 Flexible Pay Rate Total $ 8. 0 $3,125,337. 60 $ 4. 00 $ 181,828. 80 $ 8. 47 $3,307 ,166. 40 Exhibit 9 Balanced Scorecard12 The actions of management are not static but, rather, are dynamic over time. A round of Strategic performance improvement (usually every year at the time budgets are being developed) may result in an increase in the goals that have been established by the manager and their Balance Scorecard supervisor. (see Figure 1) An analogy may be useful at this point (see Figure 2): just as in high jumping, the goal (bar) is not set at the point at which it will eventually end. It is Performance Measure in set lower, and as the jumping progresses, it is steadily moved higher.As the jumper Management trying to meet Performance clears it at lower heights, the bar is moved up. Each time the assessment (depicted by the black line in the graph) approaches or exceeds the goal (depicted by the gray line), the Figure 1. Balanced Scorecard in action 100 95 90 Performance Metric 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 2000 goal is increased until performance is at a level at which further improvements may not be desired. The management group of a corporation will develop plans for the year, those plans are revised through time, incentives are allocated and measures are taken to draw new plans for future years. The Balance Score card allows managers to keep their Goal core and their measures clear, so that decisions are made towards a goal that is congruent with the corporate goal. Outcome measures are results. Driving measures are Assessment incremental in nature, such as the ones depicted in Figure 2. 2004 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2001 2002 2003 Figure 2 Progressive Goal Setting 12 Graphs were extracted from Leadership Model based on Performance Measures and Continuous Improvement by Andres A. Calderon Exhibit 10 Balanced Scorecard for BTC Group BTC Scorecard Customer Satisfaction Measures Number of Complaints and number of unsolicited letters Employee satisfaction (involvement, recognition, access to information, support from staff functions, etc. , Staff turnover, Productivity (revenue per employee, return on compensation, profit per employee, etc. ), Number of employees qualified for key jobs relative to anticipated requirement Outcome Performance Initiatives Driver BTC Employee Satisfaction Marketing Attain a high market share in the sale Percent of stuffed animal market share and cost to attain of quality stuffed animal toys a new customer Brand recognition by becoming the synonymous for Teddy Bears (â€Å"brain Percent of people that relate teddy bear to TCB share†) Reduction of selling expenses while increasing number of sales (Last Year Selling Expense – Current Year Selling Expense) / (Last Year Sale – Current Year Sale) Marketing Marketing Marketing Marketing MarketingIntroduction of successful new product Number of new motives or designs introduced per year, variations to the market Time to market, Break even time Introduction of better distribution channel Accurate product pricing based on market Marke t accessibility related to delivery cost Contribution Margin Growth and market understanding by polling customer perception of value for money Marketing Accurate forecasting of sales and Percentage off error related to inventory cost, Percent of peak seasons (to minimize stock-outs key items out of stock, Number of back-orders and inventory cost) Group Scorecard Reduce cost of raw material while maintaining Production quality standards Minimize raw material shortages, so that Production does not have to wait Minimize production cycle timeMeasures Number of times Production rejected raw material, raw material cost compared to price index Percent of key raw material out of stock, Number of backorders Production cycle time Outcome Performance Initiatives Driver Purchasing Purchasing Production Production Production Minimal percentage of manufacturing Service failure index, return rate, warranty claims, number defects of defects Timeliness Percent on-time delivery, total time for custom er interaction (e. g. time of Internet session), average waiting time (e. g. to receive a teddy bear), satisfaction with delivery time Number of processes having adequate information on quality, cycle time, and cost New revenue or savings per database, report, etc. Management Information coverage ratio Management Return on Data

The University Where I Earn My Bachelor s, Through The...

I will be looking at the University where I earned my Bachelor’s, through the Quinn Model. I earned my BA at Marylhurst University which when I started its big selling point to their students was a focus on non-traditional students, small class sizes and advisor that work with small groups of students. From the student perspective it was very much Human Resources view and Internal process view. On the more administrative side the president of the university was typically a person educated in business while there was a diverse administration to keep the university in balance (Cawsey, Deszca, Ingols 2016). In my second year a president came along that was educated in education, they overhauled the administration and the business side of the university suffered. The school lost that equilibrium. Money was lost, departments were merged, some advisors were put in charge of larger groups of students and class sizes were doubled. Both students and staff were not happy with the direction things were heading - in fact that s how people became aware of it. Tenured professors flat out told us that things were changing and the school had to change its core model because for Because the president had bungled things. The president was stepping down but it was going to take a while to get things back to normal. Insights: 1. There might be a tendency to focus on one area. In the case of Marylhurst the president and the new administration were very focused on the students and education,Show MoreRelatedEffectiveness of Pccr Review Center19276 Words   |  78 PagesStatistic Leading to the Degree Bachelor of Science in Criminology BY: Section:4-B2 MYRA M. EVANGELISTA CHRIZAN KARL T. GARCIA MELJHON D. OBEJAS ANTHONY Q. AMORES WELMAR C. GABINETE APPROVAL SHEET This thesis entitled â€Å"EFFECTIVENESS OF PHILIPPINE COLLEGEOFCRIMINOLOGY REVIEW CENTER†, prepared and submitted by MYRA M. EVANGELISTA, CHRIZAN KARL T. GARCIA, MELJHON D. OBEJAS, ANTHONY Q. AMORES and WELMAR C. GABINETE in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Criminology hasRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management View.Pdf Uploaded Successfully133347 Words   |  534 PagesPrentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Compilation Copyright  © 2003 by Pearson Custom Publishing All rights reserved. This copyright covers material written expressly for this volume by the editor/s as well as the compilation itself. It does not cover the individual selections herein that first appeared elsewhere. ii Permission to reprint these has been obtained by Pearson Custom Publishing for this edition only. Further reproduction by anyRead MoreRetailing Characteristics of Fast Food Stores and Their Impact on Customer Sales and Satisfaction29639 Words   |  119 Pagesâ€Å"Retailing characteristics of fast food stores and their impact on customer sales and satisfaction† By:- Rajul Bhardwaj Lecturer, Faculty of Management Studies, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar(Uttarakhand), India Table Of Contents:- ï  ¶ Chap-1 Introduction 1.1 Global Retailing Industry..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1.2 The Far East Experience..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1.3 The Changing Food Retailing sector in Asia.. 1.4 Recognition of a Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1.5 Objectives ofRead MoreCrossing the Chasm76808 Words   |  308 Pages0-06-018987-8 The original hardcover edition of this book was published in 1991 by HarperBusiness, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Marie Contents PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PART I Discovering the Chasm INTRODUCTION If Bill Gates Can Be a Billionaire 1 High-Tech Marketing Illusion 2 High-Tech Marketing Enlightenment PART II Crossing the Chasm 3 The D-Day Analogy v vi Contents 4 Target the Point ofRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 PagesStrategic Marketing Management Planning, implementation and control Third edition Richard M.S. Wilson Emeritus Professor of Business Administration The Business School Loughborough University and Colin Gilligan Professor of Marketing Sheffield Hallam University and Visiting Professor, Northumbria University AMSTERDAM †¢ BOSTON †¢ HEIDELBERG †¢ LONDON †¢ NEW YORK †¢ OXFORD PARIS †¢ SAN DIEGO †¢ SAN FRANCISCO †¢ SINGAPORE †¢ SYDNEY †¢ TOKYO Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Linacre House, Jordan

To What Extent Was the Enlightenment the Cause of the...

To what extent were Enlightenment ideas responsible for the outbreak of the French Revolution and the reforms of 1789? Included sources attached: John Locke, â€Å"Two Treatises on Government†, 1690; The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens, 1789; Arthur Young â€Å"Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789† The ancien rà ©gime, the time before the outbreak of the revolution, was divided into three estates. The first estate, for the people of the highest position in France belonged to the clergy; this group contained the members of the religious rules such as Bishops, Monks and Nuns. However, the people of this estate were not popular among many people of especially the third estate. This was mainly because of the power†¦show more content†¦John Locke, an English philosopher, also known as the father of Classical Liberalism, said in 1690 from â€Å"Two Treatises on Government†; [On the state of nature] To understand political power aright, and derive it from its original, we must consider what estate all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of Nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man (...) We derive from this that men are all equal and we should not expect political power to be understood right if we do not realize that men are equal in all Estates. With Estates, the laws of nature won’t be heard and it is not naturally human to build up Estates in a country. This excerpt also has a lot to do with the rights of men and especially the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. This will be discussed later on in the Essay. The birth of the Enlightenment happened during the 18th Century and it emerged from Europe as an intellectual movement of writers and thinkers questioning and challenging the ideas and views that at the time was widely accepted. Especially the Catholic Church was challenged for its traditional and determined values. Their analysis of society was based on reason and rational thoughts rather than superstition and traditional ways. The movementShow MoreRelatedTo What Extent Was The Enlightenment The Main Driving Force Behind The American And French Revolutions?1479 Words   |  6 Pagesinvestigation focuses on the causes of Atlantic Revolutions and will explore the question: To what extent was the Enlightenment the main driving force behind the American and French Revolutions? The years 1685 to 1815 (Strayer, 2011) will be the focus of this investigation to allow for an analysis of the Enlightenment ideas’ impact the need for governmental change in the American colonies and Fran ce during the eighteenth century, as well as their governmental influences post-revolutions. †¯ The first sourceRead MoreImpact Of The French Revolution1428 Words   |  6 Pages The French Revolution became an exceedingly prominent aspect of the way the citizens of France viewed their ruling powers and helped aid the shift on how the government distinctly ruled over the people of the country. This empowering Revolution used the ideologies of the Enlightenment Era to help fuel their reasons for rebellion. In contribution to the Enlightenment and the various ideas that were created throughout its spread were the concepts that were formed by English philosopher John LockeRead MoreEnlightenment And The Enlightenment Movement1317 Words   |  6 PagesWhat cultured such an immense need for reform in France between 1690 C.E. and 1789 C.E.? Geo. H. Lewis argues in his DeFOREST ORATION. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION that the extremely high and constricting taxes implemented in France, the conflicts between the nobility and the working class, and the uncooperativeness of the King cr eated a sense of urgency for the general population of France (Lewis, pg. 51-52). Louis Gottschalk attributes this reform to the revolutionary ideas which were formulatedRead MoreRole of Ideas in the French and Russian Revolutions1432 Words   |  6 Pages1511 How important was the role of ideas in the outbreak of revolution? When comparing the French Revolution of 1789 and Russian October Revolution of 1917, a series of parallels become evident. Both revolutionary groups became determined with an extensive emergence of new ideas, which captured a strong majority of the respective populations. The importance of the ideas was critical to maintaining a drive for the revolutions considering they acted as a manifestation of what the public and the politiciansRead MoreRousseaus Impact On The French Revolution1636 Words   |  7 PagesThe ideas of Enlightenment philosophers rippled throughout the globe, however, they seemed to have the most interesting effect on France. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major contributor to Frances political and social structure post-French revolution. These ideas weren’t the only triggers for the French Revolution. A combination of strangling taxes, economic disparity, and an impotent ruler led to the development of an intense need for reform in France. â€Å"France spent a n enormous amount of money duringRead MoreAssess the View That the Enlightenment Had Been the Main Cause of the French Revolution.1984 Words   |  8 PagesAssess the view that the Enlightenment had been the main cause of the French Revolution. The French Revolution of 1789 was inarguably a significant turning point in the history of Europe. However, there have been historical debates over the major contributing factor that had caused the French Revolution. Many historians have argued that the French Revolution was sparked by the emerging new age ideas of Enlightenment in the 18th century, which encouraged people to think logically and critically aboutRead MoreCauses of the French Revolution During the period of 1789-1799 people lived much differently than700 Words   |  3 PagesCauses of the French Revolution During the period of 1789-1799 people lived much differently than individuals do today and there were many reasons for this. During the French Revolution there was a large amount of taxation for certain class groups, â€Å"While average tax rates were higher in Britain, the burden on the common people was greater in France† (GNU, 2008, pg. 2). Due to these large taxations on the peasants and lower class and not on the clergy and nobles it caused excessive conflict betweenRead MoreThe Debate On The French Revolution Essay1404 Words   |  6 PagesThe Debate on the French Revolution For the French Revolution, the historians are mainly entangled in the debate between two different interpretations. The Marxists recognize the French Revolution as the conflict between the old order (feudal system) and the modern society. On the other hand, the revisionists consider the French Revolution as essentially a political revolution, instead of a bourgeois revolution. From my perspective, the French Revolution is a combined consequence of both economicRead MoreWas The French Nobility Responsible For The Crisis That Destroyed The Ancien Regime?1627 Words   |  7 PagesESSAY QUESTION: To what extent was the French nobility responsible for the crisis that destroyed the ancien regime? Many Historians have come to the decisive conclusion that the French Revolution, an event that characterises Modern European History, has changed Europe. It was a time period that took place prior to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, between 1789 and the late 1970s. it denotes a time period in which the French civilians were aroused unanimously in overturning the traditionalistic â€Å"institutions†Read MoreFrench Revolution Causes1139 Words   |  5 Pages The French Revolution was not an event that happened overnight but rather a series of events that occurred over several years leading up to the overthrow of the monarchy and the implementation of a new government. The Primary cause for the fall of the Ancien regime was its financial instability and inability to improve upon the lives of the French people. The 4 key flaws or events leading to the fall of the regime was; the structure of royal government, the taxation system, the structure of french

Union Parishad The Lowest Tier Of The Local Government

Union Parishad (UP) The Union Parishad is the lowest tier of the local government unit. It is the entry level of the people’s political participation. The Union Parishad constituted under the Local Government (Union Parishads) Ordinance, 1983. It should be consisting twelve members, including three women members from reserving seats and on chairman. According to the Local Government Ordinance, 1983- the members and the chairman should be elected through direct election, based on adult franchise (Talukder, 2009). The functions of Union Parishad are categorized into different categories including, civic duties, revenue collection and administrative functions, development functions, judicial functions and transferred the functions (Moin, 2011). Objectives of the Study The objectives of the paper are given below: 1) To present the existing status of women in the lowest tier of the local government in the Union Parishad. 2) To find out the obstacles behind the lower representative status of women in the Union Parishad. 3) To propose actions to raise the participation of women in the Union Parishad of Bangladesh. Methodology This study is ultimately done on the basis of the analyzing the information collected from different secondary sources, i.e. published books, journals, reports, government publications and newspapers. Some information also got from the browsing of the internet. Progression of Local Government in Bangladesh Local Government (LG), the history of this part of the

Long-term performance of IPOs Evidence from Singapore Market Free Essays

string(58) " This period of poor performance lasts for several years\." Introduction Stock markets are a key part of the capitalistic economic system as they bring together those in need of capital and those with surplus capital to invest. Initial public offerings of companies whose share capital had previously been privately held provides just such an opportunity. The IPO process entails due diligence and pricing by underwriters, after which they underwrite the issue and sell it to investors in the primary market. We will write a custom essay sample on Long-term performance of IPOs: Evidence from Singapore Market or any similar topic only for you Order Now Following the IPO, the company’s shares trade in the secondary market until the company is shut down or is merged with another company or is acquired. In addition to IPOs, companies which are already public can also participate in capital raising by undertaking secondary stock offerings which investors can use as investment vehicles to increase returns on their portfolios. Traditional finance theory recommends individual investors to adopt a buy-and-hold strategy for investments in the stock market, since they are unable to time the market, and since the efficient market hypothesis suggests that all available information is immediately incorporated in stock prices. A question this raises is whether long-term buy-and-hold a profitable investment strategy in the initial public offerings (IPOs) asset class for individual investorsAccording to the bulk of literature on this subject, the answer is no. However, there are variations in the results depending upon how the comparison index is selected and what market is being studied. Investors may also be able to select a winning portfolio of buy-and-hold IPO investments if they are successfully able to predict what factors lead to strong or weak price performance in the IPO universe. This study attempts to collect previous research on the subject and apply the learning to the Singapore market. One objective wo uld be to identify ex-post which factors led to IPO success. Indirectly, it may help investors reduce risk and earn strong returns while devising ex-ante investment strategies as well. Organization First this study will review the existing literature on the subject and summarize its conclusions. Then it will use the statistical methods used by prominent studies such as Loughran and Ritter (1995) to calculate whether IPOs have underperformed the market in Singapore. The study will also collect what other papers have identified as sources of high performance within the universe of IPOs and see whether these results hold in IPOs in Singapore as well. Some of these factors include high percentage of institutional ownership, venture backing, industry and age of the company at IPO. Problem Statement Equity investors are constantly looking to maximize their risk-adjusted returns by investing in various asset classes in financial markets. The results from the literature lead to the conclusion that a strategy of buy-and-hold investments in IPOs underperforms the market on average. What would be interesting and useful would be to see whether a subset of IPOs can be identified where this result does not hold and where a different version of the strategy can be shown to produce a higher return for investors than the index or benchmark portfolio. Research Objectives The objective of the research is to study performance of Singapore listed IPOs using factors which have been identified in academic literature as having effect on IPO performance, including: percentage of institutional ownership venture backing reputation of the underwriter industry age of the company at IPO legal and institutional environment The ultimate objective is to see whether factors can be identified that lead to recommendation of alternative investment strategies which perform better than buy-and-hold of IPOs for a multiple year holding period. Proposal Structure IPOs listed on the Singapore stock exchange during the five year period of 2000 – 2004 would initially be identified. Subsequently, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year buy-and-hold returns of these portfolios would be calculated and compared to returns over the same period by a stock exchange index such as the Strait Times Index (STI). Another method for comparing results to market could be the selection and composition of a matching portfolio which would be used to compare underperformance or overperformance over the holding period. To create a matching portfolio, a similar sized public company that did not issue equity for five years prior to the IPO date would have to be selected for each IPO company. The return on the matching portfolio would be compared to the return on the IPO portfolio as per Loughran and Ritter (1995). It will be assumed that investors would purchase shares in the secondary market and none of them would be lucky enough to be allocated shares by the underwriter at the offering price. Literature Review Underperformance of IPOs relative to market indices has been studied extensively in academic literature. One series of articles examines the degree of underperformance of IPOs relative to market indices and asks what factors could cause such underperformance. Factors typically examined include size of the IPO, the company’s industry, whether the company is venture backed or not, the degree of institutional holdings, age of the company at IPO, quality of the underwriter and the institutional and legal environment of the company. Another string of literature looks at empirical evidence of underperformance in different markets, including the US, several European countries including Germany (Stehle, Ehrhardt Przyborowsky, 2000), Switzerland and Greece and several developing Asian markets such as Malaysia, Taiwan and China. Most of these studies take time series data of IPOs during a given period of time. Then they look at nominal buy-and-hold returns over 3 or 5 years, typically without assuming any portfolio rebalancing, though as shown by Brav and Gompers (1997), the results hold even if portfolio rebalancing is introduced. The returns of individual IPOs are compared with results of an industry index such as SP 500, Nasdaq or NYSE, or with an industry benchmark portfolio (value weighted or equally weighted). The typical pattern of IPO returns that emerges is the following: After a period of strong performance following an IPO, the stock starts to underperform the market index. This period of poor performance lasts for several years. You read "Long-term performance of IPOs: Evidence from Singapore Market" in category "Essay examples" The length of the period of initial strong performance lasts up to several months, depending on whether or not the stock market is in a bullish state. Ritter (1991) examines both underpricing of IPOs and their underperformance. Underpricing is a phenomenon in which investment banks taking a company public, and wanting to manage their own risk, keep offer price low in order to build a strong deal book and to keep market participants incentivized for participation in the offering. This is reflected in the fact that on average there is a 16.4% gain from the offering price to the closing price on the first day. In addition, the author believes the IPOs appear to be overpriced when 3-year IPO returns are compared to 3-year returns for comparable firms matched by size and industry. In a sample of 1526 common stock IPOs between 1975 and 1984, IPOs produced a return of 34.47% and seasoned offerings produced a return of 61.86%, 3-years after going public. Upon careful examination of the sample, the author concludes that the cause of the underperformance are those small IPOs that benefit in the short-run due to optimistic market conditions, but which are not able to establish themselves in the long-run. Loughran and Ritter (1995) find that all issues, both IPO and secondary, offered during 1970 to 1990 produced poor long-term returns for investors. Using a strategy of 5-year buy and hold investing would have produced a result of only 5% per annum for IPOs and 7% per annum for secondary offerings. The authors highlight an important observation for potential underperformance by secondary offerings (SEOs) – most public companies opt for secondary offerings following high return periods in the market; thus their subsequent underperformance may simply be linked to eventual reversion of returns to their long-term averages. In order to judge the performance of secondary offerings, for each issuing firm the study choose a non-issuing matching firm that is similar in size and has not issued equity in the previous 5 years. The authors calculate wealth relatives for each year as the ratio of end-of-period wealth from holding a portfolio of matching firms with the same starting market capitalization. The ratio is below 1 in most years indicating that investors would have been better off investing in buy-and-hold strategy in non-issuing firms. The authors conclude that it is not advisable for investors to invest in shares of companies issuing stock. Instead investors would be able to generate the same return with 44% less capital if they simply invested in similar size non-issuing companies for the same holding period. The results in Loughran and Ritter (1995) do not control for industry since it is often difficult to find matching companies in the industry which also share similar size. According to a study by Spiess and Afflect-Greaves (1995) nearly one-third of the long-run underperformance of secondary offerings comes from industry effect. Another potential explanation for why this happens is offered by Lerner (1994) – firms which are not yet ready to grow cashflows consistently sometimes take advantage of the IPO window during bull markets and other periods of market exuberance, only to then suffer from poor market performance when cashflows do not keep pace with market expectations (Clark, 2002; Ljungqvist, Nanda Singh, 2006). If long-term IPO returns are infact so dismal, why do investors keep buying IPOs during all market cyclesAn insight into the solution is provided by Field (1995). The author analyzes the impact of the extent of institutional shareholding on long-term IPO performance and concludes that IPO having large holdings by institutions earn significantly higher long-term returns than those with low institutional holdings. Institutional holdings also differ substantially between industries. In fact, the latter category often fails to achieve even the risk-free rate of return available to bondholders. The author concludes that there are groups of IPOs which do not experience poor long-term performance, though they may be identifiable ex-ante. Other authors also identify factors that can lead groups of IPOs to have relatively strong performance. For example, Michaely and Shaw (1994) identify reputation of underwriter as one of the factors that is directly related to IPO return. Brav and Gompers (1997) find that venture backed IPOs outperformed non-venture backed IPOs significantly. The 5-year buy-and-hold return for venture backed IPOs was 44.6% while the equivalent figure for non-venture backed IPOs was 22.5%. These results were calculated based on equally weighting of components in an index, whereas if the index is value weighted then these differences are significantly reduced. The authors believe that their results might have inspired by the fact that venture backed companies tend to be those which are in growth industries and are at an early stage of their development cycle. Such companies are likely to have many good investment opportunities. The authors also find that underperformance resides primarily in small, non -venture backed IPOs. Qualitatively similar results are also provided by Bessler and Seim (2011) who study European venture backed IPOs. Turning to the second string of literature which deals with tests of IPO underperformance in different geographies, it appears that this phenomenon holds in both developed and less developed markets. While, the original hypothesis was formulated for the U.S. market, it holds to various degrees in most markets. Thomadakis, Nounis and Gounopoulous (2012) study performance of 254 IPOs during the 1994 – 2002 period. They find that the period of initial overperformance in Greece lasts longer than it does in western markets. While IPOs outperform the market in the first two years, by the third year underperformance sets in. The authors attribute this to longer ‘hot’ periods in the Greek market than in more developed western markets. In a study on the same subject in Taiwan, Wen and Cao (2013) find that IPOs perform as well as matching reference portfolios in the first year of trading and then start to underperform that portfolio. Drobetz, Kammerman and Walchli (2005) examine the same in the Swiss market. They find that while underperformance holds, it is much weaker than is suggested by equivalent tests from the US market. Chan, Wei and Wang (2001) find practically no underperformance of class A and B shares, though there is significantly higher underpricing of Class A shares compared to other markets. In another study on the Chinese stock market, Chi and Padgett (2002) find strong performance of Chinese Privatization IPOs, which the authors attribute to government ownership, offering size and belonging to the high tech industry. Reference List Ahmad?Zaluki, N. A., Campbell, K., Goodacre, A. 2007. The long run share price performance of Malaysian initial public offerings (IPOs). Journal of Business Finance Accounting, 34(1?2), 78-110. Bessler, W., Seim, M. 2011. European Venture-backed IPOs: An Empirical Analysis. Brav, A., Gompers, P. A. 1997. Myth or RealityThe Long?Run Underperformance of Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from Venture and Nonventure Capital?Backed Companies. The Journal of Finance, 52(5), 1791-1821. Chan, K., Wang, J., Wei, K. C. 2004. Underpricing and long-term performance of IPOs in China. Journal of Corporate Finance, 10(3), 409-430. Chi, J., Padgett, C. 2005. The performance and long-run characteristics of the Chinese IPO Market. Pacific Economic Review, 10(4), 451-469. Clark, D. T. 2002. A Study of the Relationship Between Firm Age?at?IPO and Aftermarket Stock Performance. Financial Markets, Institutions Instruments,11(4), 385-400. Drobetz, W., Kammermann, M., Walchli, U. 2005. Long-Term Performance of Initial Public Offerings: The Evidence for Switzerland. Schmalenbach Business Review, 57, 253-275. Espenlaub, S., Gregory, A., Tonks, I. 2000. Re?assessing the long?term underperformance of UK Initial Public Offerings. European Financial Management, 6(3), 319-342. Field, L. C. 1995. Is institutional investment in initial public offerings related to long-run performance of these firmsFinance. Lerner, J. 1994. Venture capitalists and the decision to go public. Journal of Financial Economics 35, 293 – 316. Ljungqvist, A., Nanda, V., Singh, R. 2006. Hot Markets, Investor Sentiment, and IPO Pricing*. The Journal of Business, 79(4), 1667-1702. Loughran, T., Ritter, J. R. 1995. The new issues puzzle. The Journal of Finance, 50(1), 23-51. Michaely, R., Shaw, W. H. 1994. The pricing of initial public offerings: Tests of adverse-selection and signaling theories. Review of Financial studies, 7(2), 279-319. Ritter, J. R. 1991. The long?run performance of initial public offerings. The journal of finance, 46(1), 3-27. Ritter, J. R. 2003. Differences between European and American IPO markets. European Financial Management, 9(4), 421-434. Schultz, P. 2003. Pseudo market timing and the long?run underperformance of IPOs. the Journal of Finance, 58(2), 483-518. Spiess, D. K., Affleck-Graves, J. 1995. Underperformance in long-run stock returns following seasoned equity offerings. Journal of Financial Economics, 38(3), 243-267. Stehle, R., Ehrhardt, O., Przyborowsky, R. 2000. Long?run stock performance of German initial public offerings and seasoned equity issues.European Financial Management, 6(2), 173-196. Teoh, S. H., Welch, I., Wong, T. J. 1998. Earnings management and the long?run market performance of initial public offerings. The Journal of Finance, 53(6), 1935-1974. Thomadakis, S., Nounis, C., Gounopoulos, D. 2012. Long?term Performance of Greek IPOs. European Financial Management, 18(1), 117-141. Wen, Y. F., Cao, M. H. 2013. Short-run and long-run performance of IPOs: evidence from Taiwan stock market. Finance and Accounting, 1(2), 32-40. How to cite Long-term performance of IPOs: Evidence from Singapore Market, Essay examples

Symbolism of the Glass Menagerie free essay sample

Symbolism of The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie, there is an abundance of symbolism that can be identified through careful analysis of the play write. The story is based around the Wingfield family. The daughter in the story is the central point of most of the symbolism. Laura, the daughter, has a collection of glass figurines in which the title of the play was named after. Within the glass collection there is a glass unicorn which holds a lot of symbolism and meaning behind it. The fire escape is the simplest, but most intriguing piece of symbolism.The Glass Menagerie has many symbolic objects throughout the play which can be analyzed further in detail. The title of the play is representational of the collection of animals witch is the central symbol of the play. Laura’s collection of glass figurines stands for a great deal of different aspects of her personality. We will write a custom essay sample on Symbolism of the Glass Menagerie or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Much like the figurines, Laura is tender, dreamlike, and somewhat old-fashioned. When it comes to glass it’s transparent, but when light passes through it at the right angle it shines and makes a rainbow of colors.Likewise, Laura might be quiet and unemotional around other people, kind of strange, gifted and wonderful to be around to one who could somehow look at her the right way or â€Å"in the right light†. The menagerie also symbolizes the imaginary world that Laura keeps herself in; a world that is beautiful and wonderful, but is established on fragile mirages. The unicorn in Laura’s collection of glass animals is defiantly her favorite out of all of them and portrays her distinctiveness very well.By asking why she has the unicorn since they are â€Å"extinct in modern times† and must feel â€Å"lonesome† as the mere fact of being different from all horses, Jim is implying that Laura is different from all girls. In reading more one can tell that Laura is also different, lonely, and, does not seem to exist in the world that she is lives in now. The destiny of the unicorn can be noted as a fore shadow to Laura’s destiny in scene seven. As Jim dances with Laura sharing a kiss, the unicorn’s horn is broken off, and it simply becomes another horse.Now Jim has bestowed Laura with some new and normal experiences, making her seem just like all the other gir ls. Experiencing normalcy, results in Laura feeling she cannot become normal without somehow being broken. Finally, the fire escape landing that leads out of the Wingfield’s apartment has great meaning. The fire escape stands for the exact thing that is implied by its name, a way to get away. Just as a fire escape provided a way to get away from danger, likewise it symbolizes an escape from the frustration and dysfunctions that are brewing within the Wingfield apartment.Laura’s fall on the fire escape implies she will never be able to leave the mishaps that have happened in her life. In contrast her brother Tom, daydreams about when he will finally leave it all behind as he smokes on the escape landing. Symbolism is a very important key component to literature and contributes to the interpretation and understanding of it. Symbolism can help reveal multiple aspects about the story that sometimes can’t be revealed simply through the text. It is through the glass collection the author conveys Laura’s personality throughout the story.