10 Tips for Using Research Note Cards

Many teachers require students to use note cards to collect information for their first big term paper assignment. While this practice may seem old fashioned and out of date, it is actually still the best method for collecting research.   You will use research note cards to collect all the information necessary to write your term paper--which includes the details you need for your bibliography notes. You should take extreme care as you create these note cards, because any time you leave out a single detail, you are creating  more work for yourself. You will have to visit each source again if you leave out essential information the first time around. Remember that citing every source completely and correctly is critical for success. If you dont cite a source, you are guilty of plagiarism! These tips will help you collect research and write  a successful paper. Start with a fresh pack of research note cards. Large, lined cards are probably best, especially if you want to make your own detailed personal notes. Also, consider color coding your cards by topic to keep your paper organized from the start.Devote an entire note card to each idea or note. Dont try to fit two sources (quotes and notes) on one card. No sharing space!Gather more than you need. Use the library and the Internet to find potential sources for your research paper. You should continue to research until you have quite a few potential sources—about three times as many as your teacher recommends.Narrow down your sources. As you read your potential sources, you will find that some are helpful, others are not, and some will repeat the same information you already have. This is how you narrow your list down to include the most solid sources.Record as you go. From each source, write down any notes or quotes that could be useful in your paper. As you take notes, try to par aphrase all the information. This reduces the chances of committing accidental plagiarism.Include everything. For each note you will need to record authors name, the title of reference (book, article, interview, etc.), reference publication information, to include publisher, date, place, year, issue, volume, page number, and your own personal comments.Create your own system and stick to it. For instance, you may want to pre-mark each card with spaces for each category, just to make sure you dont leave anything out.Be exact. If at any time you write down information word for word (to be used as a quote), be sure to include all punctuation marks, capitalizations, and breaks exactly as they appear in the source. Before you leave any source, double-check your notes for accuracy.If you think it might be useful, write it down. Dont ever, ever pass over information because youre just not sure whether it will be useful! This is a very common and costly mistake in research. More often tha n not, you find that the passed-over tidbit is critical to your paper, and then theres a good chance  you wont find it again.Avoid using abbreviations and code words as you record notes —especially if you plan to quote. Your own writing can look completely foreign to you later. Its true! You may not be able to understand your own clever codes after a day or two, either.

A Career And Professional Development - 1732 Words

The guide serves primarily as a professional development tool for all members of the FPS work-force. It does not prescribe the path of education requirements or positions that will guarantee success, but rather describes the full spectrum of development opportunities an employee can expect for a successful career. This guide also services as a mentoring tool for leaders at all levels and is important employee management guide for Region Directors and the Executive Leadership team. FPS has undergone tremendous organizational change during its existence. Each iteration of change and new governing agency brings with a challenge to stabilize career development and organizational culture. FPS continues to grow and hone its capabilities, achieve its individual cul-tural identify, and provide federal facilities with a level of protection required to meet the ever growing and dynamic nature of tomorrow’s threat. As part of these efforts, the organization has created a Career and Professional Development guide for all FPS employees to help them cre-ate, track, and guide their individual career paths. With this guide, FPS employees now have: †¢ A formalized career progression outlined for its employees †¢ A clear understanding of attributes, skills, education, and training required to advance and build a successful career within the organization †¢ Clearly defined expectations for career progression and leading focused on improving morale †¢ Enterprise level continuity to bridgeShow MoreRelatedProfessional Career Development : Assignment2427 Words   |  10 PagesProfessional Career Development: Assignment A Geneticist Career Geneticists are biologists that study genetics; the science of genes. Genes are the basic information units through which genetic information is maintained and transmitted. 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Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Directors - Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Directors. Answer: Introduction According to the provisions of common law, a person who indulges in a transaction with a corporation having an assumption that her actions are without any knowledge of irregularities and in actually bona fide, does not have the liability of making an inquiry in relation to the compliance of the organizations internal proceedings. The person has the right of making an assumption that the functioning of the organization is in compliance with all legal provisions. This particular principle had been provided through the Royal British Bank v Turquand[1] case and is known as the indoor management rule. In addition the basic provisions in relation to the law of agency provide that the principle is bound by the actions of the agent where the actions have been conducted within the actual or apparent authority of provided by the principle. Issue The issue which has been identified in relation to the given situation is that whether the organization Two2s Pty Ltd is bound by the contract entered upon by Pauline. Relevant law Section 125 of the Corporation Act provides that an act which is contrary to the constitution of the company is not invalid only because the constitution does not allow it. Where a contract is signed properly and in a valid manner it is binding upon the company even if it is not within the powers provided by the constitution as provided through the case of Knight Frank Australia Pty Ltd v Paley Properties Pty Ltd[2] It has been provided by Section 124(2) of the Act that the company can get into a contract in a legal manner even in case the contract is not beneficial to the company. The provisions of section 127(1) of the CA a document has to be legally executed by the organization. the legal procedures states that a document may be executed by the organization even without using its common seal in situation where it has be properly signed by the at least two directors of the company or one director and one company secretary of the organization. Any person dealing with the company would have the right to rely upon assumptions provided in section 129(5) of the CA if the documents have been executed in compliance to this section. As provided through section 127 (2) of the Act, where the common seal of the organization is used , even than the organization is required to execute the document in the manner provided under subsection 127 (1) and the a person dealing with the company would have the right to rely upon assumptions provided in section 129(6) of the CA. It had been stated by the court in the case of Royal British Bank v Turquand that a person who indulges in a transaction with a corporation having an assumption that her actions are without any knowledge of irregularities and in actually bona fide, does not have the liability of making an inquiry in relation to the compliance of the organizations internal proceedings. In situation where a person is working on behalf of the company the authority of representation in relation to the company is conferred on such person as provided in the case of Northside Developments Pty Ltd v Registrar-General (NSW)(1990)[3]. As stated through the provisions of section 128 of the CA a right of making an assumption is provided to a person with respect to section 129 under this section and in addition the organization is not provided the right to assert that the assumptions made by the person is not correct. It has been provided through the provisions of section 129(1) of the Act that a person has the right to make an assumption that the provisions of law, the constitution of the company and the replaceable rules have been complied with by the organization. As per the provisions of section 129 (2) of the Act a person has the right to make an assumption that a person has been duly appointed as the director or company secretary based on the information provided by the ASIC. An assumption can also be made by the person that the directors and the secretary have been provided with due power to indulge in the transaction. Section 129(5) of the legislation an assumption can be made by a person is relation to a document been properly executed if it has complied with the requirements provided through section 127(1) o the CA. Thus any person who has executed the document may be assumed as the secretary or director of the company. As provided by the provisions under section 129 (6) of the legislation an assumption in relation to the due execution of a document may be made by a person if the document have been executed with the use of common seal under section 127(2). Thus any person who has executed the document may be assumed as the secretary or director of the company. Application It has been given out through the fact of the case study that according to the constitution of the company broad powers have been provided to managing directors of the company. However the constitution limits the power of the director to enter into a contract which has a value of more than $40000. In the given situation it has been provided to us that the contract which has been entered upon by the director is worth $74000. In relation to the occurrence of this situation it has been provided by the constitution of the company that two directors have to sign such contract where the managing director is away for 10 days or more. As provided by the provisions of Section 125 of the Corporation Act an act which is contrary to the constitution of the company is not invalid only because the constitution does not allow it. Therefore in the given situation where the managing director Collin is not able to attend business proceedings for a period of 15 days the other director Pauline has signed a contract worth $74000 with another company the act will not merely be invalid as it is contrary to the provisions of the constitution. This is because the constitution limits the power of the director to enter into a contract which has a value of more than $40000 but the application of section 125 validates any activity contrary to the constitution. Coming to the provisions of section 124(2) it can be stated that the company can get into a contract in a legal manner even in case the contract is not beneficial to the company. Therefore contract which has been entered upon by the other director would be valid irrespective of its consequences on the organization. Applying the provisions of section 127(1) of the CA in this case it can be stated that a document has to be legally executed by the organization. the legal procedures states that a document may be executed by the organization even without using its common seal in situation where it has be properly signed by the at least two directors of the company or one director and one company secretary of the organization. In this case Pauline has asked to Sue to pretend as the Company secretary of the company with respect to signing the contract with the other company where it was eve dent that Sue is actually not the company secretary of the company. Here the provisions of section 127(1) have been contravened in relation to the transaction and the document has not been executed properly. As there were no other directors available Sue was asked by Pauline to act as the company secretary as no other director were present to sign. After the contract had been signed it was recommended by the Pauline that sue should be made the company secretary of the company. In the case of Northside Developments Pty Ltd the court held that any person working on behalf of the company can be conferred upon the authority by the company. Although Sue has been appointed as the company secretary when the contract was signed she was not the secretary. However as she was working on behalf of the company apparent authority will be conferred. Applying the provisions of section 129(2) of the legislation it can be stated that the third party would have right to assume a person as a director or secretary in case it is depicted so through the registers of ASIC. In this situation the third party who had entered into a contract with the company did not have any information in relation to the Sue being the company secretary from the ASIC. Thus they did not make an effort to gain the information from the ASIC and violated the provisions of section 129(2) of the legislation. In addition as provided by Section 129(5) of the legislation an assumption can be made by a person is relation to a document been properly executed if it has complied with the requirements provided through section 127(1) of the CA. Therefore the third party may assume that the persons signing the contract on behalf of the company are in reality the director and company secretary of company. In the situation the contract is not only worth more than $40000 as restricted by the constitution but also have not been signed in accordance with section 127(1). However in the given situation there is a right provided to the IT Company for making an assumption that the contract have been signed duly by the director and company secretary of the company. Further through the application of section 129 (6) of the legislation an assumption in relation to the due execution of a document may be made by a person if the document have been executed with the use of common seal under section 127(2). As per the facts provided in the situation although Sue has been appointed as the company secretary when the contract had been signed she was not holding the position it will be assumed by the it company that she was actually the company secretary and this assumption cannot be falsified by the organization. Observation It has already been observed that a document executed by the company is to be considered as valid only if is signed by two directors or a director and a company secretary of the company. This observation had also been done in the Frank Australias Case. Moreover according to the provisions of section 129(1) of the CA the third party may assume that all regulatory requirements in relation to the constitution and legislations have been met. In addition a person under section 129(2) can rely on the information obtained through the registers of ASIC in relation to the position of director or company secretary of the company. The provisions of the indoor management rule as provided in the Turqlands case had been duly approved in the case of Mahony v East Holyford Mining Co[4]. The two most important reasons which provides support to the indoor management rule are that it would be unfair to impose on the third party the burden of showing that all regulatory requirements have been met and the duty of continuously doing verification. However the indoor management rule is also subjected to a certain exception. The exception states that where a person is dealing with the corporation and has real knowledge that the organization has not complied with existing law or has misrepresented a person as a director than the application of the indoor management rule cannot be done. In addition as provided by the case of B Liggett (Liverpool) Limited v Barclays Bank Limited[5] where the circumstances are suspicious and the third party is required to make an inquiry reasonably the rule cannot be applied. Conclusions The contract which has been entered into between Two2s Pty Ltd and the IT manufacturer via Pauline and Sue is not binding. Reference List Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) Knight Frank Australia Pty Ltd v Paley Properties Pty Ltd [2014] SASCFC 103 Northside Developments Pty Ltd v Registrar-General (NSW)(1990) 170 CLR 146 Royal British Bank v Turquand (1856) 6 El Bl 327 Cole, Steven. "Good governance and the curious case of the alternate director."Governance Directions68.10 (2016): 603. Dagwell, Ron, Graeme Wines, and Cecilia Lambert.Corporate accounting in Australia. Pearson Higher Education AU, 2015. Keay, Andrew. "The public enforcement of directors' duties: a normative inquiry."Common Law World Review43.2 (2014): 89-119. Overland, Juliette. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Directors Duties: The Australian Experience."Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Business World. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2014. 135-152. Ryan, Meagan. "Signing and witnessing documents: Execution requirements for Australian companies."Proctor, The35.6 (2015): 34. Smith, Helen. "Australia's Company Law Watchdog: ASIC and Corporate Regulation." (2015): 145. [1] [1856] 6 EL BL 327 [2] [2014] SASCFC 103. [3] Northside Developments Pty Ltd v Registrar-General (NSW)(1990) 170 CLR 146. [4] [ 1874-75] LR 7 HL 869 [5] [1928] 1 KB 48

Search for Truth Essays - Provinces Of The Philippines, Luzon

Tales of love and adventure about native heroes, endowed with powers from the gods, battled monsters, and triumphed over formidable armies, rode the wind, traveled in flying shields and protected the earliest communities of the islands. Stories about folk heroes of long ago were described as "Old Time History" because they can be used to study the lifestyle and beliefs of the people who produced them. They were also referred to as "Lost", because they were soon forgotten by natives influenced heavily by Spanish and "western" colonization. Philippine Epics and Poetry Bagobo Epic Poetry The Bagobo tribe has an epic hero named Tuwaang. He was a brave and strong warrior with various powers. In one story, he rode a lightning to the land of Pinanggayungan and later, met the maiden of the Buhong Sky who was running away from the young man of Pangumanon: A giant with great vigor. Tuwaang and the giant fought but it was an even match. So the giant used his magical powers and threw a flaming bar at the hero. Entwining itself at Tuwaang, our hero escaped this ordeal and used his own magical ability to call the wind to fan the flames and let the giant be engulfed by the flames. Bicol Philippine Epics From the Bicol province comes the Ibalon. The Ibalon relates the mystical origins of the first man and the first woman of Aslon and Ibalon, which are current provinces of Camarines, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate. Hiandong, one of the heroes of Ibalon was a great leader of warriors. He fought against a giant Cyclops for ten months, defeated the winged Tiburon and the fierce Sarimao and won over the seductive serpent Oriol before starting a village. His village prospered and soon, others invented the plough, harrow and other farming implements. Events in this epic also had a flood story similar to that of the Biblical Genesis. Ifugao Philippine Epics Ifugao children chanting Philippine epics The Hud-Hud is about the life and heroism of the native Ifugao. The most prominent and well admired native Ifugao is Aliguyon of the Gohandan tribe. Aliguyon possessed strange power and strength. He had the ability to travel to far away places without the need to rest, eat or sleep. He could also arrive in a place, after a long journey without feeling tired. Aliguyon had never been beaten in any fight or battle. He could catch and face any weapon from the air, and he could defeat his avenging foes. In the beginning, Aliguyon only wanted to kill the enemies of his father. But after learning that his father didn't have enemies, Aliguyon was advised by his father to just use his strength and power to win a female rightful to become his wife and companion in life. One extraordinary event in Aliguyon's life was his duel against Pumbakhayon, a warrior who had the same fighting strength and skills as Aliguyon. Pumbakhayon was from a nearby tribe called Daligdigan. Aliguyon and Pumbakhayon had a duel that lasted a year and a half. After a brief intermission, the two resumed their fight which lasted for another year and a half. Eventually, both men realized that they will not be able to beat each other. Therefore, they made a simple arrangement.Aliguyon agreed to marry Bugan, a sister of Pumbakhayon. While Pumbakhayon married Aginaya, a sister of Aliguyon. The arrangement unified the tribes of Gohandan and Daligdigan. Here ended the story of the Hud-Hud epic.

Star Appliance Company Essays

Star Appliance Company Essays Star Appliance Company Essay Star Appliance Company Essay This paper will discuss how Star Appliance Company managed its cost of capital and plan for future investments. The paper will reveal corporate problems and present relevant management theories to lead the company into a solution. The underlying problems consist of choosing a new and more efficient financing strategy, and designing more accurate method of evaluating investment projects. Previously, the company was having positive sales performances which indirectly cause the problem to be hard to identify. However, as the company needed to expand their business, the new financial officer discovered several inefficiencies in managing corporate financing strategies and evaluating future investment. The condition was described by the WACC method.   The paper will present alternatives of solutions for the problem and in the end choose the most beneficial one for the case. The company must adopt a new financing strategy which incorporates a balanced proportion between debt and equity financing instruments. The company must also design a new evaluation strategy for the new investment projects which incorporate risks premiums, additional cost of investments and a margin of error in forecasting future cash flow. The financial department has obtained increasing roles in the corporate management concept. In previous times, marketing department projects sales, production department determined the necessary amount of assets required in order to meet the projections, and the financial department’s function was only to provide funds for providing other department with their requirements. However, this model of management is obsolete and replaced by more coordinated types of decision making, where financial managers are responsible for planning as well as controlling activities. This reflects the increasing importance of good financial considerations in each decision of the corporation. According to Weston and Brigham (1996), there are several detailed activities related to financial management. One of them is the activity of making investment and financing decisions. In line with corporate long term strategy, financial managers must provide funds to support growth. Successful companies usually have high rate of sales, which required additional factory investment, equipment and current assets to produce goods and services. In the more coordinated decision making activities, financial managers must help determining the optimum sales level and make decisions on specific investment that will be performed. Within those activities, there are also questions of whether to use internal or external financing, debt or equity financing, and short or long term debts. These are important aspects of corporate management that could determine whether the company is heading to success or financial failure. Within this paper, I am discussing the importance of considering cost of assets in corporate financial management. The case study will be the Star Appliance Company in 1977. In this paper, I will describe the problems within Star Appliance Company financial management and offer recommendation to solve existing problems within the company. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems Within the Star Company II.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Corporate Background The Star Appliance Company is a successful business of manufacturing home appliances, especially electric stoves and ovens. Soon after the company was established in 1922, it receives a warm welcome from the growing market for home appliances. The company focuses on providing its customers with premium types of home appliances with a slightly higher margin than its competitors. In a short time, the company managed to gather significant market share due to its reputation of providing high quality appliances. Corporate financial strategy –to use equities instead of debts- has seemed to be working splendidly as The Company was able to survive the great depression and maintain its existence with smaller-based operations but strong financial structure within the company. However, management has become aware that there are problems in maintaining profitable operations with existing lines. The company plans to enrich its product lines, but there are some concerns regarding how the company managed its cost of capital. Without strong financial management capabilities, investments in new product lines could destroy corporate profitability instead of developing it. Therefore, these problems must be addressed first. II.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hurdle Rates In simple understanding, hurdle rate means the minimum acceptable rate of return on a capital investment project. It is required to measure the limitation of when an investment is no longer considered profitable. The calculation has the basic logic of requiring returns to be higher than the cost of investment. However it also incorporate several factors such as the cost of risk, inflation, etc. It is a comprehensive look on how an investment will increase the wealth of the shareholders. Mathematically, the hurdle rate consists of the cost of the capital plus the project’s risk premium (‘The Hurdle Rate, 2006). II.2.1  Ã‚   Corporate Hurdle Rates The company seemed lacked logical reasoning to determine its hurdle rate. Corporate hurdle rate is based only by an experience on previous return of equity. According to the elaboration above, this policy is vulnerable to risks and provides low assurance for profit. The company must determine a new and more reasonable hurdle rate by incorporating factors such as cost of capital and risk premium (‘The Hurdle Rate’, 2006) II.2.2  Ã‚   Cost of Capital The cost of capital must be included within an investment calculation simply because we do not want to invest where we it provides us with no profit what so ever. Nevertheless, because obtaining money results additional costs, the concept cost of capital must include two things: the project cost and the financing cost. To be acceptable, a project must have a rate of return that exceeds the project cost plus the financing cost (‘The Hurdle Rate’, 2006) II.2.3  Ã‚   Risk Premium Nevertheless, cost of capital itself still does not provide a logical measurement toward a good financing decision. This is because every return from different sets of investment has a different degree of assurance. If the investment has less than 100% assurance for the return, then a risk premium must be included in the calculation of financing decision. However, the rate of risk premium must be set very in a very careful manner. Inadequate amount of risk premium will put our investment if jeopardy, on the other hand, over assuming the amount of risk premium will eliminate some profitable projects from consideration (‘The Hurdle Rate, 2006). II.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Financing Alternatives and Inflation II.3.1  Ã‚   Corporate Financing Strategy As mentioned in the case study, the company ha a unique strategy of financing. The company depends on equity financing methods a lot more than debt financing methods. On other words, the company survived through its years mostly by selling corporate equities. According to the case study, this is possible because the company has a remarkable reputation as a premium producer of household appliances and able to maintain good relationship with its affiliates. Nevertheless, Arthur Foster, the financial president of the company seemed confuse about corporate unwillingness to use debt instruments. Debt instruments have a considerably lower cost than equity, especially after incorporating tax into the calculation. The company might want to reconsider its policies of financing instruments. Furthermore, he argues that a proper additional margin must also be incorporated into the calculation to offset the effect of inflation. II.3.2  Ã‚   Debt and Equity Instruments The company prefers the equity financing because it has lower cost and smaller legal risk. However, due to corporate policy of increasing dividend rate, the alternative is no longer providing more efficiency compare to debt instruments. Generally, debt instruments will result a slightly higher capital cost and they would require monthly payment, nevertheless, they do not have the risk of loosing corporate control to shareholders. Moreover, if the company is able to maintain the good credibility toward creditors, after some time they would be more than happy to facilitate the company with debt extensions. On the other hand, the equity instruments are a tool of obtaining additional funds through affiliates or partners. These means management will loose more of the corporate control as the equity instruments build sups inside the company. Generally, the best option is to keep the proper balance between debt and equity financing instruments. Because the good balance differs among industry, the Star Appliance Company must put some effort in finding its own financing balance (‘Financing’, 2006). II.3.3  Ã‚   Inflation As stated by many economists in the late 1970’s, inflation was a significant factor influencing the cost of capital. A study by Cohen (1997) however, revealed that until today, inflation is still a significant influence for cost of capital. Inflation, even at its low rates, increases the user cost of capital significantly. If the rate of inflation decreases, the marginal gain in investment is greater compare to the rate of the decrease. This reflects the stronger effect of inflation toward cost of capital. Therefore, inflation should be incorporated in every investment analysis. II.4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Risk, Legal Fees and margin of Error The last of Foster’s concerns is about how the company accounts for investment risks that are significantly larger than the others. There are opinions that riskier information should be evaluated using higher hurdle rates. Furthermore, Foster believed that there should be a margin to account for the existence of legal fees such as safety, and environmental costs. This margin is required to prevent the additional costs to eat away corporate profit from the investment. Finally, the investments must also calculate a margin of error, in order to account for unexpected disturbance in the forecasting process. In case of using different hurdle rates for different projects, management theories favor the opposite. According to several management theories, investment and financing consideration has different factors that must not be brought together. Investment decisions are based on the consideration of which project are the most profitable, while financing decisions should focus on supporting investment decision and not altering it. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Star Company Cost of Equity Cost of Equity is measured by various indicators. However, one of the most utilized is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital ratio. A firm’s WACC is the overall required return on the firm as a whole. In simple terms, the ratio accounts for every possibility of financing a corporation. According to the WACC concept, a corporation can either be financed by debt, preferen stock or common stock. The WACC put all of these factors into equation that resulted the average interest the company must pay for every dollar it finances. The calculation is as follows: WACC = w1k1(1-T) + w2k2 + w3k3 W1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of debt K1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = the rate of interest W2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of preferen stock K2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = cost of preferen stock W3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of common equity K3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = cost of common equity (Weston Brigham, 1996) According to existing data, the company financed most of its investments using retained earnings. The company did not have any long-term debt, which means that the w1 and k1 equals to 0. The case study also reveals that the company did not have any preferred stock within corporate balances sheet, which mean that the w2 and k2 equals to 0. Thus, the only variable exist within Star Appliance Company’s WACC is the common stock variable. Without the presence of debt and preferred stock, If we calculate the number of dividend paid and divide the result with total common stock of the company, then we will obtain a very high number of WACC. nbsp; Calculation : WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = percentage of common stock * (dividend paid/ total value of common stock) WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 100% * [(dividend/share * total shares common stock)/total value of common stock] WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 100% * [(1.52 * 13,414,268)/ 27,835,000] WACC (1978)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = 73% nbsp; The number means that on the period that ended December 31, 1978, the company paid as much as 73% for equity financing instruments. This is due to corporate operation to increase the rate of dividend paid, in order to satisfy shareholders. Despite corporate ability to sustain corporate operations and investment activities, the number is extremely high. Observing corporate financial structure, the company could easily obtain additional funding from debt instruments. Debts would have a much lower capital cost compare to the ‘sky-reaching’ dividend rate. nbsp; IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recommendation From the case study, we are able to capture two main problems of the Star Appliance Company. The first point is the problem of choosing from alternatives financing instrument. Arthur Foster believed that despite the acceptable state of corporate financial performance at the time, the company could be a lot more efficient by altering its financing strategy. The second issue is that of choosing between different methods of evaluating alternative investments. There are several alternatives of solution forth both problems. nbsp; IV.1   Ã‚  Ã‚   Choosing Financing Instruments The first choice is to maintain corporate policy of using retained earnings and equity instruments in financing. This alternative will not create a problem for the company in the short-run. However, in the long-run, the company would need to expand its business by performing investment activities that require large amount of funds. This condition has been described in the case study as the company is trying to finance three projects with existing resource. In order to move forward with this project, the company needs to increase the efficiency of its financial structure. Maintaining current financing strategy will deny the company from further profitable investments using the projects. The second choice is to use debt instruments to cover the needs for investment. This alternative could provide the company with large amount of funds, considering the company did not yet have a balance of long-term debt. However, debt instruments are known for its slightly higher cost compare to standard equity instrument’s cost. It also requires a monthly payment that could be a burden if occurred in large proportions. Furthermore, companies overburdened with debts generally less favored by shareholders and future investors. The third alternative is to maintain a balance between debt and equity financing. This can be achieved by observing the debt-to-equity ratio and maintaining it within the proper balance. Some companies believe that a good company would not have a debt-to-equity ratio of more than 3 to 1. However, a good balance for debt-to-equity financing differs within each industry and the company must benchmark to other sin the industry to find the right balance. nbsp; IV.2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Methods of Choosing Investment Projects Within this issue, foster emphasizes several important points: methods of determining the proper hurdle rate, incorporating inflation, incorporating legal cost and a margin of error. The first alternative is to remain practicing existing investment evaluation method: using 10% hurdle rate, with little consideration of inflation cost, legal cost and a margin of error. This method will result all three projects to be acceptable alternatives. The company might be able to successfully financed all three projects if it apply for further external financing instruments, however,   the level of accuracy within the calculation will be low and there will be no certainty of the real cash flow that will be received in following years. The second alternative would be to incorporate financing costs, risk premium, inflation, legal cost and a margin of error. There is no sufficient data to perform these types of calculation within this paper. However, it can be estimated that the second alternative will not be acceptable according to the new hurdle rate and the new evaluation standard. The third alternative is to incorporate financing costs, risk premium, inflation, legal cost, margin of error and additional margin for riskier investments that require additional asset. This alternative will present a more accurate calculation of existing projects, but it will influence investment decisions with consideration of financing, something that will reduce investment activities considerably. nbsp; V.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Solution In choosing financing alternatives, the best solution for Star Appliance Company is to start using considerable debt instrument. The target is to balance the proportion between debt and equity. The company should have no difficulties in obtaining additional funds from debt instruments because of its good reputation and zero balance of long term debt. The balanced proportion between debt and equity instruments will lead to efficient financial management and resulted optimum capacity for further investment activities. In designing methods of evaluating investment projects, the company should choose to incorporate inflation, legal fees and margin of error, but should not choose to make additional margins for relatively riskier projects. Each project should be calculated using similar percentage of hurdle rate plus additional costs mentioned previously. nbsp; VI.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion Unlike most companies, the company seemed to have no problem in marketing and selling its premium product. However, the premium profits caused management to neglect efficiency concerns in managing its operations and investment decisions. The problem became visible as the company appointed new financial officer and tried to plan for further investment. Despite previous success, company’s WACC displayed that corporate cost of capital is significantly higher than average. The new financial officer mentioned problems such as the lack consideration of inflation, legal fees and margin of error in evaluating new projects. These factors are important in providing managers with accurate investment decisions and accurate predictions of cash flow. For example, according to a study by Cohen (1997) inflation has a significant effect in cost of capital. Furthermore, not incorporating legal fees and margin of error will eat away the profit of the investment. The solution presented for the company is to redesign its financing strategy into a balanced proportion between debt and equity. In terms of evaluating investment activities, the company should incorporate additional fees and a margin of error.

The Burgundian Wars Battle of Nancy

The Burgundian Wars Battle of Nancy In late 1476, despite earlier defeats at Grandson and Murten, Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy moved to besiege the city of Nancy which had been taken by Duke Rene II of Lorraine earlier in the year. Fighting severe winter weather, the Burgundian army encircled the city and Charles hoped to win a swift victory as he knew Rene to be gathering a relief force. Despite the siege conditions, the garrison at Nancy remained active and sortied against the Burgundians. In one foray, they succeeded in capturing 900 of Charles men. Rene Approaches Outside the city walls, Charles situation was made more complicated by the fact that his army was not linguistically unified as it possessed Italian mercenaries, English archers, Dutchmen, Savoyards, as well as his own Burgundian troops. Acting with financial support from Louis XI of France, Rene succeeded in assembling 10,000-12,000 men from Lorraine and the Lower Union of the Rhine. To this force, he added an additional 10,000 Swiss mercenaries. Moving deliberately, Rene began his advance on Nancy in early January. Marching through the winter snows, they arrived south of the city on the morning of January 5, 1477. The Battle of Nancy Moving swiftly, Charles began deploying his smaller army to meet the threat. Making use of the terrain, he positioned his army across a valley with a small stream to its front. While his left was anchored on the River Meurthe, his right rested on an area of thick woods. Arranging his troops, Charles positioned his infantry and thirty field guns in the center with his cavalry on the flanks. Assessing the Burgundian position, Rene and his Swiss commanders decided against a frontal assault believing that it could not succeed. Instead, the decision was made to have the largely Swiss vanguard (Vorhut) move forward to attack Charles left, while the Center (Gewalthut) swung to the left through the forest to attack the enemy right. After a march that lasted around two hours, the Center was in position slightly behind Charles right. From this location, the Swiss alpenhorns sounded three times and Renes men charged down through the woods. As they slammed into Charles right, his cavalry succeeded in driving off their Swiss opposites, but his infantry was soon overwhelmed by superior numbers. As Charles desperately began shifting forces to realign and reinforce his right, his left was driven back by Renes vanguard. With his army collapsing, Charles and his staff frantically worked to rally their men but with no success. With the Burgundian army in mass retreat towards Nancy, Charles was swept along until his party was surrounded by a group of Swiss troops. Attempting to fight their way out, Charles was struck in the head by a Swiss halberdier and killed. Falling from his horse, his body was found three days later. With the Burgundians fleeing, Rene advanced to Nancy and lifted the siege. Aftermath While the casualties for the Battle of Nancy are not known, with Charles death the Burgundian Wars effectively came to an end. Charles Flemish lands were transferred to the Hapsburgs when Archduke Maximilian of Austria married Mary of Burgundy. The Duchy of Burgundy reverted to French control under Louis XI. The performance of the Swiss mercenaries during the campaign further bolstered their reputation as superb soldiers and led to their increased use across Europe.

The Electoral College is obsolete and should be abolished in American Essay

The Electoral College is obsolete and should be abolished in American politics. Do you agree Justify your answer - Essay Example However, it is a time-tested success, another testament to the forward thinking of the creators of the Electoral College system of voting for President, the Founding Fathers. Members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 faced the difficult question of how to elect a president. They were severely at odds with each other over the question of presidential selection and anguished over the concept of creating a workable system. The Electoral College system that emerged during the very last week of the Convention did seem to satisfy all the diverse factions (Katz, n.d.). The intent of this system was that the selection of a president be based solely on merit and without regard to state of origin or political party by that state’s most informed and educated individuals. Each state has a number of electors equal to the number U.S. Representatives plus its (2) U.S. Senators. These electors then vote for President. The method of choosing the electors was remanded to the individual state legislatures thereby calming those states already distrustful of a centralized government. This understanding built upon an earlier compromise in the design of the congress itself and thus satisfied both large and small states. The nation of thirteen states wanted to retain their own governmental powers and the prevalent thought of the time was that political parties were detrimental to liberty. These founders were of the opinion that men should not campaign for public office. ‘The office should seek the man. The man should not seek the office.’ In 1787, the country’s population was distributed along a thousand miles of Atlantic coastline that was hardly, if at all, connected by reliable communication or transportation. â€Å"How, then, to choose a president without political parties and national campaigns without upsetting the carefully designed balance between the presidency and the Congress on one hand and states and the federal