Find Out What the Word Punic Means

Find Out What the Word Punic Means Basically, Punic refers to the Punic people, i.e., the Phoenicians. It is an ethnic label. The English term Punic comes from the Latin Poenus. Should we be using the term Carthaginian (a civic label referring to the city of North Africa the Romans called ​Carthago) or Punic when referring to the people of northern Africa fighting in the wars with Rome known as the Punic Wars, since Punic can refer to cities elsewhere, like Utica? Here are two articles that elaborate this confusion and may help you, too: Poenus Plane Est - But Who Were the Punickes?Jonathan R. W. PragPapers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 74, (2006), pp. 1-37The Use of Poenus and Carthaginiensis in Early Latin Literature,George Fredric FrankoClassical Philology, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Apr., 1994), pp. 153-158 The Greek term for Punic is ÃŽ ¦ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ºÃŽ µÃâ€š Phoenikes (Phoenix); whence, Poenus. The Greeks did not distinguish between western and eastern Phoenicians, but the Romans did once those western Phoenicians in Carthage started to compete with the Romans. Phoenicians in the period from 1200 (dates, as on most pages of this site, are B.C./B.C.E.) until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 333, lived along the Levantine coastline (and so, they would be considered eastern Phoenicians). The Greek term for all the Semitic Levantine peoples was ÃŽ ¦ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ºÃŽ µÃâ€š Phoenikes. After the Phoenician diaspora, Phoenician was used to refer to Phoenician people living west of Greece. Phoenician was not, in general, users of the western area until the Carthaginians came to power (mid-6th century). The term Phoenicio-Punic is sometimes used for the areas of Spain, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy, where there was a Phoenician presence (this would be the western Phoenicians). Carthaginian is used specifically for Phoenicians who lived in Carthage. The Latin designation, without value-added content, is Carthaginiensis or Afer since Carthage was in northern Africa. Carthage and African are the geographic or civic designations. Prag writes: The basis of the terminological problem is that, if Punic replaces Phoenician as the general term for the western Mediterranean subsequent to the mid-sixth century, then that which is Carthaginian is Punic, but that which is Punic is not necessarily Carthaginian (and ultimately all is still Phoenician). In the ancient world, the Phoenicians were notorious for their trickiness, as is shown in the expression from Livy 21.4.9 about Hannibal: perfidia plus quam punica (treachery more than Punic).

Quarks essays

Quarks essays Quarks, as of right now, are the smallest known particles of matter. These particles never or it is believed that they never exist by themselves. These particles combine together to form protons and neutrons in an atom. Without quarks, there would be no atoms and we would cease to exist. There are six known flavors of quarks. They are up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. Each of these six quarks has their own specific mass and electrical charge. The most common of these quarks are up and down. They are the lightest and they make up all the matter around us. The next two lightest of the quarks, strange and charm, are found in cosmic rays that originate in space. The two heaviest of the quarks, top and bottom, have not yet been found in nature. Scientist are only able to produce them in the lab. It is believed that the heavier quarks decay to the lighter quarks and that is why we dont see the heaviest in nature. Each quark has an opposite particle known as an antiquark. These antiquarks combine to form antimatter. This antimatter does not exist in nature on Earth and it is believed that it is very rare in the universe. We know that it does exist for physicists have produced antimatter in laboratories. Antiquarks have some of the same properties but some of the properties are opposite of that of their counterparts. Each quark has been divided into one of three categories called generations. The first generation is the lightest two quarks, second is the next heaviest two, and the third are the heaviest of the quarks. Quarks are different from other elementary particles for they each have a specific electrical charge that is a fraction of the standard charge of charge (e) of one proton. Most other particles have multiples of that charge. Of all the quarks the heaviest of them is the top quark. It is over 30,000 times larger than the up quark. This large mass made it very difficult for sc...

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) Essay

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) - Essay Example I believe that one of the most important aspects of a control system is the risk assessment. If a company does not assess a particular risk adequately the firm will not establish adequate internal controls because the problem was never identified. Risk assessment serves as a preventive measure that can be used to create an adequate plan of attack to deal with a problem. In the famous Enron scandal the lack an internal control system allowed Fay, Skilling, and Fastow to collude and steal millions of dollars. 2. When an internal control mechanism is evaluated in phases the accountants can better segment the problematic areas of the system. If for instance deficiencies are found in the monitoring phase; the company can inject money and resources to attempt to fix the problem. It is easier to perform micro evaluations than to evaluate a system as a whole. Clearly identifiable phases create added reliability in the system. Looking at the end results of the accounting cycle or at the finan cial statements is not the best way to detect fraud. About 10 years ago the Enron Corporation got away with accounting murder when they inflated their earnings by one billion in 2000 when in reality the firm did not have any profits. A good internal control system could have prevented this scandal from ever occurring. I agree with you that some companies do not have well defined activities. One of the reasons that this occurs is due to budgetary constraints. Implementing control mechanisms is quite expensive. It is estimated that Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act costs between $1 to 3 million to implement yearly. I think that despite the fact that internal control mechanism can be expensive sometimes it is better to assume the expenses than to pay the consequences. Employee theft can be prevented by placing cameras in the warehouse where inventory is kept. Another technological innovation that can be used to protect inventory is the use of RFID tags. RFID tags allow a company to track the movement of merchandise. These systems are the long term solution to substitute the current scanner system used at the majority of retail stores. 4. I agree with you that the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) requires that companies implement all the components of an internal control mechanism. The Sarbanes Oxley Act goes a step further in its requirement of internal controls. All public companies must include within the annual report a section dedicated to reporting the internal controls of the firm. I think that SOX was a tremendous idea, despite the high implementation costs. Nobody wants to go back to a business environment in which record bankruptcies were occurring largely due to accounting misbehavior. 5. I tend to agree with you that the five components of internal control are universal. As you mentioned the environment is key to the effectiveness of an internal control. As you mentioned in your response the environment of a company is largely controlled by the managerial staff. Companies that are corrupt often have leaders that allow that type of unethical behavior. I have heard of companies that have been turn into unethical companies because they let external factors such as foreign cultures cloud their judgment. If for a company it is unethical to accept a bribe in the United States, the rules should not change just because you are doing business in China. 6. I think that the lack of any of the five components automatically makes a system weaker from the perspective of how good the system could be. Just because one component of the internal control is missing does not mean that that system is weaker than another company’s system that includes all five components. For instance a company may not have a necessity to monitor due to the fact that the firm has few

Using Your Manager Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Using Your Manager Skills - Research Paper Example Most companies are using sustainability as a key component in their business strategies. Consumers have also increased their demand for companies to be attentive to their environment of operation. The price of petroleum-based packaging plastics has continued to rise leading to a decline of its competitive advantage over biodegradable packaging material. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) foresees a continued increase in the prices of the plastics in the coming year (Pekhtasheva, & Neverov, 2012). This will boost the marketability of the biodegradable material. Simply Green Products Company has capitalized this market trend and established product chain of biodegradable packing materials. Valued at $10 million, the company produces packing material for pears, apples and peaches that orchards use in the Shenandoah Valley. For its marketing, Simply Green Products has adopted the name SafePack to imply the biodegradability of the material. The eco-friendly agricultural that is e mphasized by lobby groups has contributed to the market advantage of SafePack over the non-biodegradable packing material. However, there have been recent internet campaigns that argued that SafePack is not biodegradable. The environmental group, SafePack Materials Pollute, which is behind the campaign, argues that SafePack materials cause environment pollution due to seepage into surface waters. The group campaign is done on the internet where fruit producers are discouraged from buying SafePack materials. The issues raised by the group touch on the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA). It is necessary to assess the environmental concerns raised by the environmental group against the relevant laws so that the company can devise strategies to safeguard its market. The claims made by the lobby are critical to the reputation of Simply Green Products. However, for such claims to be considered valid under the law, they

Wine Industry Essay Example for Free

Wine Industry Essay The analysis provides information on the two international wine brands (Banrock Station and Bordeaux) that from different kinds of world wine producers, New World and Old World, enter into the same market of the United Kingdom. Also, this report analysis why these wine corporations go to oversea, why choose England, and how achieve success in England applying Global-Local Model to judge which strategy the companies adopt. In addition, this report focusing on marketing. Banrock Station expands global market because of the saturate Australian wine market. The report apply the product lifecycle to explain this, and apply the object, strategy and tactic model to analysis why Bordeaux wine export internationally and why expand wine market in England in order to improve the consumption by volume and value terms and increase profits. Then, this report also explain the reasons why Banrock Station choose British market by PESTEL model, and analysis political, economic and law aspects in detail. Banrock Station Company focuses on the innovation which involves conservation projects and Eco-mate packaging to sustain its competitive advantages. Nevertheless, Bordeaux wine choose standardize more than adapt in two specific areas: promotion and product. 1. Introduction . The worldwide wine industry is divided into two parts: Old world and new world. Old world wineries are Characterised by long-established and relatively unchanging methods and location of wine production mentioned by Glenn and John (2009). France, England, Italy, Germany belong to Old World wineries. On the contrary, the New World wineries appreciate new technology and non-natural chemicals. Australia, New Zealand, North America, South Africa, Chile and Argentina are named New World wine makers (Anderson, 2003). Banrock Station is located in Kingston-on Murray, in South Australia. Banrock Station was set up in 1994, as one part of Hardy Wine Company (Natures a big winner at the station, 2005). The property of the company includes approximately 1,068 hectares of floodplain and wetland, as well as 307 hectares of woodland buffer. Today, Banrock Station, not only is one of the most well-liked brands in Australia, but also is the label which is growing fast in the United Kingdom. In addition, this company exports wines to more than 50 countries in the world, such as the United States of America, Italy, Canada, Japan, France, Spain and China. Bordeaux wine is a global brand from France. In the Bordeaux vineyard, there are 60 Appellation dOrigine Controlee (AOC), which is judged the largest French A. O. C wine region. Bordeaux wine comprises numerous popular wine brand, for instance, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Semillion. Each Bordeaux wine has its own character. Blending drives persistent flavour and overall quality. In the case of aromas, hundreds of active molecules in the wine interact during the blending process to create a new wine with a complexity, delicacy, and richness that surpass by far the simple addition of the characteristics of each of the assembled wines (http://www. bordeaux.com). 2. The Reason for going oversea and entering British wine market Now, Australia has been the fourth largest nation exporting wine, followed by France, Italy, Spain, and the UK is the biggest nation where Australian wine export (Australian wines in the British Wine Market, 2004). As seen from the graph 1 of the Product Lifecycle, in 2007, the Australian wine market go into maturity stage. Consequently, the Australian wine corporations are all face this problem, of course, including Banrock Station. First of all, it confronts fierce competition in domestic market, because there are over 60 regions producing wine, for instance, Barossa Valley and Eden Valley in South Australia, Hunter Valley and Cowra in New South Wales, Granite Belt and South Burnett in Queensland, Derent Valley and Coal River Valley in Tasmania, Goulburn Valley and Geelong in Victoria, and Blackwood Valley and Peel in Western Australia (A+ Australian Wine, 2011). In addition, the competitors come from other countries also effect the Banrock Stations sales, such as Constellation Brands from America, Malivoire Wine Company from Canada, Bordeaux Wine from France, Tenuta Monte Rosola from Italy, and Esteban Martin from Span. France is a well-known wine country in the world. According to the report named Wine in France (2010, 2007), in 2006, The French wine market grow by 1. 6% to reach a value of $35. 1 billion, in contrast, this market just grow by 0. 2% in 2009, these statistics show the growth of French wine market is very slow. Therefore, for the local companies, the space of development is small and it is also difficult to increase the companies consumption and income. In addition, both domestic and global market, New World wineries have pounded the French wine (Superleague bouquet, 2003). Because of this and France is considered to the empire of wine by the consumers worldwide, the competition in France is very intensive. In terms of global wine trade, the percentage of New World wine has increased from nearly 5% to exceed 28% during last 2 decades (Rothfield and Wittwer, 2008; IWSR, 2008). This paragraph apply PESTEL model to explain why Banrock Station Company and Bordeaux wine entry to Great Britain. For Australia and France, England, as one of the largest wine market, is keeping stable developing. In 2003, the Great British wine market went up by 2. 9%, reaching a value of about $10 billion, and this raised by 3. 1%, achieving a value of nearly $11 billion(wine in the United Kingdom, 2004 2010). The industry profile of wine in the United Kingdom (2010, May) reports that thanks to the undesirable climate for planting grapes, although there are few vineyards in the country, the United Kingdom imports the mass majority of wine from foreign wine makers. In 2003, the wineries in the UK produced only 10. 20% of the market share in their own country (Wine in the United Kingdom, 2004). By comparison, there is few things agitating by French and Australian wine makers toward nature climate and soil where grows vine (Unleash the war on terroir, 2007). Also, the stable economic and political regulatory environment and the government policy of generally opening to the trade and investment contribute to building a really low risk environment to do business and low barriers to entry this wine market throughout England. In France, however, the government has imposed a ban on oversea takeover bid for the companies. Besides, the Risks to Realization of Potential Returns rating refers to how risky an investment in the food and drink industry of the country is, according to Business Environment illustrated. The Risks to Realization of Potential Returns rating of the UK is higher than France (United Kingdom Food Drink Report, 2009). As a result, it is much easier and more safe to enter British market than in France for Australian companies. In the 1970s, the new laws give the local England supermarkets the rights to sell wine; this increase the consumption of oversea wines in Great Britain, especially the New World wines (Anderson, 2003). For example, it is legendary that, since 1960, the per capital wine consumption of Australia has grown up twice every decade in the British wine market (Rothfield and Wittwer, 2008). 3. Strategy analysis. 3. 1 Innovation of Banrock Station in Great Britain Compare to other wine companies, like Jacobs Creek and Nottage Hill, Banrock Station is a special one, because it not only is a wine maker, but also has a responsibility for ecological conservation. The Good Earth, Fine Wine is Banrock Station slogan (www. banrockstation. com), and this perfectly contains this companys two essential commitments: one is the contribution to the sustainable environment, for example, one of the conversation projects is named Eden project cooperated with the UK tell everyone how people can make contribution to protecting environment everydady (www.edenproject. com), the other one is the production of good quality wines. The core of companys promotion activity is donating conservation works. According to Pritchard Chris, the company announced Banrock Station has contributed A$1 million (C$880,000) to preserving and rehabilitating the wetlands all over the world, recently, and supporting a information centre for the Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia to organize and manage the data of avian, which is a perfect evidence. According to the journal article of Charity alliances reap rewards, Banrocks ? 125,000 sponsorship has financed wetland rehabilitation and exhibits at WWT Centres, as well as 10% of the costs of monitoring and maintaining 1700 hectares of wetlands in the UK. These help Banrock Station to reap the reward and enhance the image of the brand from both old consumers and potential consumers, for instance, as a grocery brand, Banrock Station has become the sixth fastest expending in the Great British (Charity alliances reap rewards, 2002). Rebecca Hopkins who is a spokesperson of Banrock Station, states We have successfully positioned ourselves as a brand that cares about the environment, and it is obvious that people like that. The corporation has involved in nearly 100 conservation projects throughout the world, this is real evidence, not just talking (Pritchard, 2002). To be an environmentally friendly business is wise means to increasing the reputation of the company. Moreover, Banrock Station Company focuses on the high-technology, as a New World winery. Today, Banrock Station uses Eco-Mate which is a new environmental package. There is an increasing number of customers concentrating on convenience. Therefore, the predominant character of EcoMate is convenient means it is easily to squeeze out the air and retain wines or other things (such as fruits and vegetables) fresh, lighter as well as, because of its weight is only 1033 grams, compare to a liter of bottled wine, is 60% lighter. Because of this, it is helpful to reduce the cost of package and transport cost. When the cost is down, Banrock Station can easier to maintain competitiveness. In addition, it is 100 percent recyclable and is totally made of renewable materials. According to Miriam Leenders, who is the Global Marketing Manager of Banrock Station, the company is focus on the environmental conservation projects. As well as he claims, It was a natural progression to give our customers the choice to buy our wine in an enviro-pack(Ecomate makes Banrock Station even leaner and greener). 3. 2 Standardization of Bordeaux wine in Great Britain From the graph 2, it can be know that Bordeaux wine adopt cost leadership strategy, and standardize more than adapt in th UK. This part discuss why Bordeaux wine like to standardization in British market, particularly in two parts of marketing mix: promotion and product. Firstly, looking at the promotion. As Bordeaux wine is positioned internationally a luxury wine brand, it is considered an expensive wine by both French and British customers. What is more, there are three main distribution channels in France, which are supermarket and hypermarkets (with 49. 10% of market share by volume in 2009), on-trade channel (with 32. 70% of market share by volume in 2009), and specialist retailers, at 14. 3% (Wine in France, 2010). The story of distribution channel in British wine market is similar to the Frances. Meanwhile, the leader of distribution channel of that is also supermarket and hypermarkets, presenting 48. 10% of market volume. On-trade channel accounts for 18. 70% share of total volume, which followed by the specialist retailers, with 23. 60% share (Wine in the United Kingdom, 2010). Thanks to the similar product position and distribution channel between France and Great Britain, it can save cost of promoting products if standardize the promotion strategy, although there is a few of difference between them. Move to product of marketing mix, Old World constraints of strictly controlled appellations and wine making practices, Anderson (2003) says, in comparison, New world producer are free from this (like Banrock Station). As a consequence, it is more difficult to meet customer need for Bordeaux wine. Standardization of product is the direct and good way to save cost because the company can use same machines and employ same kind of works. These reasons contributing to Bordeaux wine export same wine products to the UK market. 4. Recommendation Facing lots of competitor, for Banrock Station, it is wise to make whites and reds go green which means the company focuses on environmental achievement and corporation social responsibility, this influenced by the Australian business guide which is Green is gold and has succeeded far beyond expectations for the brand, especially ture in Australia. Innovating EcoMate package is a good example. Because of this, the company sets up an environmentally friendly example among consumers, which will also add value the products and increase the brand reputation. A simple SWOT analysis gives the information that one of the strengths of Bordeaux wine is its brand (Stuart and Smith). Being an Old World wine producer, Bordeaux wine has a long history of making wine and has a good reputation. Therefore, Bordeaux wine can maximum the strength, such as in the package, make the brand name bright to attract consumers, then achieve more profit. In order to counter the growth of Old World, it is the time to give up the age -old production methods (Carol, 2010). References: Anderson, K. (2003). Wines New World. Foreign Policy, 136, 46-54. Australian wines in the British Wine Market: A Hedonic Price Analysis. (2004). Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library. newcastle. edu. au/ehost/resultsadvanced? sid=79c09e98-6add-4a64-ab77-252566211746%40sessionmgr4vid=5hid=15bquery=(UK)+and+(wine)+and+(supermarket)bdata=JmRiPWJ0aCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl A+ Australian Wine. (2011). Wine Regions. Retrieved from http://www. apluswines. com/en/wine-regions. aspx Charity alliances reap rewards. (2002,July 18). Marketing (00253650). Carol, M. (2007, April, 9). Bordeaux goes to the lab. Business Week (00077135) Ecomate makes Banrock Station even leaner and greener. (2008, Apirl). Food Magazine, p. 18. Glenn, B. John, O. (2009). Old World, New World, Third World? Reconceptualising the Worlds of Wine. Journal of Wine Research, 2010, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 57-75. Natures a big winner at the station. (2005, September 18). Sunday Mail, p. 103. Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library. newcastle. edu. au/ehost/detail? vid=36hid=113sid=1c156dcb-29d5-435c-ad42-1c5c046f5289%40sessionmgr114bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=n5hAN=200509181103212317. Pritchard, C. (2002 September). Making whites and reds go green. Marketing Magazine. p. 8. Rothfield, J. Wittwer, G. (2008). The Global Wine Statistical Compendium: 1961-2006, 4th ed, Australian Wine and Brand Corporation, Adelaide. Superleague bouquet (2003, July, 5). Economist, Vol. 368. Stuar, L. Smith,C. E. The Use of Quality and Reputation Indicators by Consumers: The Case of Bordeaux Wine. Unleash the war on terroir. (2007). Location: Economist Newspaper Limited Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library.newcastle. edu. au/ehost/detail? vid=11hid=11sid=412a3b9c-0ef9-4af5-9cf1-e84a85269894%40sessionmgr12bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bthAN=28033497 United Kingdom Food Drink Report. (2009). Location: Business Monitor International Ltd. Wine in the United Kingdom. (2004, October). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile. Wine in the United Kingdom. (2010, May). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile. Wine in France. (2010, May). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile.

Love and Hate :: Essays Papers

Love and Hate Setting This story was about 2 boys (Bryon and Mark). Bryon was the oldest. He was sixteen and Mark was 15. They both got into alot of trouble. They enjoyed fighting, and they were pool hustlers. Mark had moved in with Bryon and his mother when he was little. His parents had gotten into a fight and shot each other. Plot Structure I believe this story was a man versus himself, because all through the book Bryon was constantly changing. He and Mark started to grow apart. He started to fall in love with a girl. He also had to deal with turning his best friend/brother into the police. He had to learn to forgive himself. Towards the end Bryon turned Mark into the police. He had found drugs under Mark's mattress. Mark had been bringing home money and Bryon finally found out where it was coming from. Mark had been selling drugs. Bryon did not know what to do thus, he called the police. When Mark came home and Bryon told him, Mark was shocked. In court Mark would not even look at Bryon and when Bryon went to see him Mark said that he hated him. Plot Summary Bryon and Mark were friends/brothers. Mark moved in with them when he was 9. His parents had gotten into a fight and ended up shooting each other. Mark and Bryon did everything together. They were big pool hustlers. They would go into Charlie's bar and find someone to play pool with. Then they would end up with all his money. Bryon was friends with Charlie. That's how they were able to go into the bar. Bryon was 16 and Mark was 15. They both loved getting into fights. One day they were walking with M&M,a thirteen year old who loved M&M's. When three guys tried to jump M&M. M&M did not like to fight thus, Mark and Bryon stopped it. Bryon and Mark went to visit Bryon's mother in the hospital. She told them about a boy, Mike, across the hall who never had any visitors. Thus she asked them to go see him. bryon did not want to thus, he went to the snack bar and he saw a girl he knew.

The dotcom bubble and the stock market fall in 2000-2001

Summary of the main points covered in my essay. How did the dotcom bubble burst contribute to the economic crisis of the 2008? Could we expect the similar crisis and how can it be prevented? What are the lessons that should have been learned from the dotcom crisis? When the global financial crisis occurred in 2008, both experts and general public started heated discussion as everyone was eager to identify the reasons for such a calamity. It is clear that nothing happens with no reason at all. Let's consider the famous speech1 of Ben Bernanke, who is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. In that testimony he tried to explain the causes of the recent financial and economic crisis to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, highlighting the vulnerabilities in different sectors of economics. The idea of inadequate risk-measurement that he focused on is very important for us, as this particular issue makes the recent crisis akin to the dotcom bubble we are about to examine in detail. (The same idea is one of the major issues of the next Ben Bernanke's speeches, where he underlines the importance of reasonable risk management and possible destructive effects of being too optimistic about the future of the economic system). To sum up, experts claim that flaws in evaluating the perspectives of new technologies in the 90ies caused the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, while the inadequate risk-measurement of the financial instruments connected to mortgages led to the global financial and economic crisis in 2008. Could we have predicted the economic disaster coming in 2008 and which lessons could have been gathered from the dotcom crisis? These are the questions that make the topic urgent and exciting to examine. To begin with, let's define the key term. What is a dotcom? Dotcom is a firm conducting its business mainly over the Internet. They usually possess a Web site intended for business use. The term is based on the â€Å"com† that forms the last part of the address for most commercial Web-sites. Now, what were the reasons for the dotcom bubble burst and what actually happened? (We should mention that this phenomenon is also referred as the Internet bubble and the Information Technology Bubble in many articles). It all started during the mid 1990is. The Internet was extremely popular those days and the Stock Market soared on technology and Internet stocks. Stock prices were rising and it seemed there was to limit for their value to expand. The masses believed there was a new world coming and the Internet was for sure to become the future of business. The steady confidence took place that the e-companies would turn future profits and there is no limit for technologies development. These expectations were reflected in the NASDAQ composite index. The NASDAQ composite is a stock market index of the common stocks and similar securities, which are listed on the NASDAQ stock market. The index reflects the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. From January 1994 to February 2000, the it rose from 776. 80 to 4,696. 69, a 605% increase, and was influenced mainly by prices of high-technology stocks. But these expectations turned out to be far too positive. The market became overvalued. The Stock Market crashed. The culmination happened on March 10, 2000, with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132. 52 in intraday trading before closing at 5048. 62. (see the graph 1) Graph 1. NASDAQ composite dynamics2 The period when the bubble expanded rapidly was marked by the founding of many new small Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dotcoms. Many of them failed in 2000. A very specific phenomenon could be noticed at that time – the way for a new unknown company to become prosperous was just to add an â€Å"e-† prefix to their name or a â€Å". com† to the end. One of the authors called it â€Å"prefix investing†3, as the result of this simple renaming was the incredible growth of stock prices. I suppose that was one of the first indicators that something was wrong and the calamity was coming. But everyone considered it the steady development of the market that has big future. Alan Greenspan (an American economist, the Chairman of the Fed in 1987-2006) in 2005 said, that â€Å"this vast increase in the market value of asset claims is in part the indirect result of investors accepting lower compensation for risk. Such an increase in market value is too often viewed by market participants as structural and permanent†4. However, the situation isn't unique and appeared to happen again. When in 2003 nanotechnology became the â€Å"hot† thing, everyone started to add a â€Å"nano† prefix in their name. It seems that the lessons that should have been learned from the dotcom bubble burst were forgotten. Let's turn to the term itself in its theoretical sense. What is the bubble in financial markets? In a word, we say that a stock market bubble occurs when there is a rise or boom in the share prices of stocks of a particular industry. Meanwhile, the rise in prices usually bears little relation to the intrinsic value of the asset. The term â€Å"bubble† may be used with certainty only in retrospect when share prices have since crashed, as it happened in our case. An important basic characteristic of a bubble is the suspension of disbelief by most market participants during the â€Å"bubble phase. They fail to recognize that all of them are engaged in a speculative activity. That characteristic describes the dotcom crisis as well, as we already found out. It would be interesting to mention that financial bubbles have existed for centuries and one of the earliest crises of the type in known as the Dutch tulip mania. In the 17th century prices for tulip bulbs rose and finally reached extraordinarily high levels and then collapsed in the blink of an eye. The same happened to the stock of e-companies in the late 90ies. I suppose we can refer to this case as to â€Å"the dotcom mania†. The speculators who represent all the people in the economy that what to get high profits very fast, note the fast increase in value and decide to buy stock in anticipation of further rises, not taking into account that the shares are overvalued. Consequently the rise happens responding to the high demand for stock and many companies thus become grossly overvalued. When the bubble â€Å"bursts†, the share prices fall dramatically, and many companies are forced to leave the business. In order to be more precise, we can name five stages of any financial bubble5: First. Displacement. When people, especially investors, get enamored by a new paradigm, such as an innovative new technology or dotcom companies, as in our case, displacement occurs. That is the first stage of a financial bubble. Second. Boom. At this stage prices rise slowly at first, following a displacement, but then they gain momentum. More and more participants enter the market. All of them are determined to get prosperous as soon as possible. In case of dotcoms, a huge amount of small companies appeared on the market. The low interest rates in 1998-99 helped to increase the start-up capital amounts. Not all of them possessed innovative ideas, but they were sure that in the wave of e-companies they must succeed. No wonder they all had the same business plan of monopolizing their respective sectors through network effects. However it was clear that all of them wouldn't become successful as the competition was tough. For many of them the â€Å"get big fast† plan would fail. During this phase, investors become even more enamored by the asset, considering it once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that increases speculation even more. Mass media also played its role. American respected business publications such as Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, encouraged the public to invest in risky companies in the wave of the wide-spread euphoria. As the result, many â€Å"ordinary† people became investors, some of them even gave up their job to become fill-time traders. Third. Euphoria. During this phase investors as well as the whole financial system forgets about prudence and asset prices skyrocket. During the dotcom bubble, the euphoria stage took place in the beginning of March 2000, when NASDAQ composite reached its top at 5132. 2 in intraday trading before closing at 5048. 62. This and the previous stages can be clearly revealed from the NASDAQ dynamics (see graph 1). Fourth. Profit taking. By this time the warning signs of coming debacle can be seen. This is the point when smart investors can make fortunes by selling out positions and taking profits. However, it is obvious that it's very difficult to estimate the exact time when a bubble is due to collapse. John Maynard Keynes once mentioned that â€Å"the markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. As for the dotcoms founders, few of them made vast fortunes when their companies were bought out before the collapse. Fifth. Panic. In the panic stage, asset prices change direction and descend as rapidly as they had ascended. Investors and speculators are faced with margin calls, which are â€Å"demands on an investor using margin to deposit additional money or securities so that the margin account is brought up to the minimum maintenance margin†6, and the value of their holding plunge. Consequently, they want to liquidate them at any price. The supply overwhelms demand, and asset prices slide sharply. In 2000 the market index fell by almost 11% and NASDAQ fell by about 41%7. To explain the bubble applying the tools of mathematics, we'll apply the most common concept that shows the existence of bubbles8. Considering the most simple case of price of a single share, the mathematical definition of an asset price bubble uses the fair price of a financial asset as its starting point. The price of an asset is the present value of the future cash flows, generated by the asset. pt =Et(dt+1+pt+1)/(1+r), here dt is dividend, pt is the price of the asset at a certain time t, and Et(i) is the expected value of the expression in the brackets based on the information available at t time. If the interest rate (r) is held constant during the whole period, then share price at t time (pt) in a general form can be given as follows: The first part of the sum on the right, which is the discounted present value of dividends, is the fundamental value of the share (pt * ). The remainder (bt) is a deterministic or the stochastic component satisfying the condition bt = Et(bt+1) /(1 + r), which is the asset price bubble itself. So, if the price of an asset is formed as following: pt =p t*+bt, and if p =? p*, then in the mathematical sense an asset price the bubble is formed. To continue our analysis, let's describe the consequences of the dotcom bubble burst in 2000. Many small companies and some of the largest ones were forced to file for bankruptcy. Some of them ran out of capital, some of them were acquired, some were convicted of fraud in their financial statements. WorldCom, which was one of the leaders in the market was found practicing fraudulent accounting practices to exaggerate its profits every year. As it was revealed, it's stock price fell dramatically, and finally the company filed for bankruptcy. Other examples include NorthPoint Communications, Global Crossing, JDS Uniphase and many others. However, some of the e-companies managed to survive the calamity. Large companies, for example, Amazon. com and eBay, are quite successful nowadays. Google also survived the turmoil and became one of the market leaders. As many economists predicted, harsh recession began from 2001. The crash on the stock market of 2000-2002 caused the loss of $5 trillion in the market value of companies from March 2000 to October 2002: the market value of NASDAQ companies peaked at $6. 7 trillion in March 2000 and bottomed out at $1. 6 trillion in October 20029. The economic bottom was the followed by 9/11 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. CONCLUSION After the case of dotcom crisis the word â€Å"dotcom† started to be used with unfavourable inflecton. It is frequently used to refer to a poorly thought-out unsuccessful businesses. Experts claim that dotcom crisis was one of the events that preceded the global financial crisis in 2008. It was kind of a â€Å"rehearsal†, as the global crisis also contained a speculative bubble, though it embraced a much wider variety of securities. Luckily, the recession following the bubble burst of 2000-2001 was not as deep as it could have been thanks to very aggressive interest rates lowering. However, a deeper downturn in the financial activity is much harder to overcome. The Internet bubble is also similar to the recent downturn because they were both preceded by inadequate risk-measurement and agents' overconfidence. The financial and economic crisis of 2008 could have been predicted, if everyone was more prudent and learned a lesson from the 2000 dotcom case. In conclusion, I'd like to address the issue of a new Internet crisis that is predicted by some economists. Nowadays World Web companies place their stock at unbelievably high prices. Can a successful Internet project cost more than a huge transnational oil company? The common sense says definitely no, but investors have their own specific point of view. For example, the shares of Groupon, a famous discount service, we evaluated at $12,7 trillions, despite the company's loss of $400 trillions the previous year and gross debt equal to $420 millions. This estimation is not reasonable and very far from reality. Meanwhile, the expected IPO of social network Facebook is evaluated at $100 trillions. It can be the beginning of the Dotcom Crisis 2. 0. On the other hand investors are optimistic about e-companies, as they survived the recent global crisis, unlike huge interconnected firms in other fields, such as financial, machinery and so on. However, if the case of Groupon is not unique (which is so, judging by the investors' optimistic mood) the crisis can occur once again. The most important thing in preventing the possible debacle is being prudent. Investors shouldn't be too optimistic and should be sensible when acquiring assets. PR and advertising can be astonishing, however being reasonable means evaluating the real business indicators to make rational decisions. Risk-management is the field that shouldn't be ignored if we want to avoid new crises.

Internet Addicition Essay

Much evidence has been alleged that social pathologies are beginning to surface in cyberspace (i.e., internet addictions). A lot of controversy is surrounding the question, is there proof that the internet is being abused and misused by individuals on an everyday basis and should we consider this to be a major mental health problem? Key Arguments: * Why do people have attachment insecurity and dissociation with their lives to make them choose to be disorganized, and allow a fantasy world to take over resulting in problematic internet abuse. * How information and communication technologies changing our way of interacting with reality. * What are the psychological symptoms involving disturbed relationships with technologies emerging, how some are more affected than others. * How different forms of related dependence behaviours, such as an addiction to social networking, cybersex, online gambling, or web-based role-playing games are affecting our need to be on the internet. * How some games reward â€Å"achievements† and â€Å"goals† making the cyber game goals more important of that than reality goals. * Does social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other forms of cyber communication have detrimental effects related to internet addiction. * Internet Gambling, main reasons for internet addiction, however not just costing their health but impacting finances and crippling family relationships. Critical Analysis Article 1: Reference (2) Researchers have begun to examine the personal and social consequences associated with excessive online involvement. The present study examined college students’ problematic Internet use (PIU) behaviors Its specific aim was to investigate the links between PIU with both internalizing (depression, social anxiety) and externalizing (substance use and other risky behaviors) problems. Article 2: Reference (4) There are many psychological factors surrounding the present issue of internet addiction, using evidence such as Social Networking Sites (SNS)e.g., facebook , twitter etc, Massive Multiplayer Online games and Internet Gambling as my three key topics. The aim is to provide a clear and concise method about how individuals who consistently spend their time on the internet are having detrimental effects on their physical, social and psychological life. Article 3: Reference (5) There is an increasing need for the provision of both internet addiction prevention and care for any sufferers, psychologist should be weary of the dangers of internet abuse when youth present with anti-social, aggressive behaviours. Socialization in girls may be warped towards online contact and the user may beneï ¬ t from providing alternatives. The aim is to focus on internet-related addictive behaviours and how to include the use of suitable diagnostic tools, a detailed personal interview, a mental health status examination and information regarding the overt behaviours gathered by the surroundings. I want to engage the reader to believe that internet addiction is a real mental health issue, that effects youth all the way to late adolescent, whether it be an addiction though games, gambling, social media etc, there is evidence to say that individuals influenced by this addiction are not progressing in life, because excess use of a cyber world has become a major part of their li ves or taken over their lives. Structure: – Evidence addiction in Video Games (Kuss, Daria J; Griffiths, Mark D. Studies): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Psychological Evidence to Addiction (Griffiths, M Study & Gencer, S L & Koc, M Study): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Evidence addiction to Social Networking Systems (Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G Article): Main conclusions stemming from this source References Bozkurt, H; Coskun, M; Ayaydin, H; Adak, I; Zoroglu, S S (2013). Prevalence and patterns of psychiatric disorders in referred adolescents with Internet addiction. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 67(5), pp. 352-359. De, L., & Josepth, A. (2013). Problematic Internet Use and Other Risky Behaviours in College Students: An Applicationof Problem-Behaviour Theory. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(1), pp. 133-141. DOI: 10.1037/a0030823. Gencer, S L & Koc, M. (2012) Internet abuse among teenagers and Its relations to internet usage patterns and demographics. Journal of Educational Technology & Society. 15(2), pp. 25-36. Griffiths, M. (2010). Internet abuse and Internet addiction in the workplace. Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(7), 2010, pp. 463-472. Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G (2012) Relationship Between Facebook Use and Problematic Internet Use Among College Student. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 15(6), pp. 324-327. Kuss, D J; Griffiths, M D. , Internet video game addiction: A systematic review of empirical research in the literature. Revue Adolescence. 30(1), 2012, pp. 17-49.

Top French Romance Films

Top French Romance Films Well, they say French is the language of love, so what better language to watch romantic movies in? Cyrano de Bergerac   A beautiful, touching, and humorous love story. Cyrano loves Roxanne but fears rejection due to his overly-large nose. Roxanne loves Christian, and he, in turn, loves her but does not have the ability to express his love. Cyrano helps Christian by expressing his love to Roxanne via Christian. This is the original film, made in 1950 in black and white. It has been remade a few times, including in the US as  Roxanne, with Steve Martin. Le Retour de Martin Guerre (The Return of Martin Guerre) Gerard Depardieu plays a soldier who returns to his wife after many years and has changed so much (in more than just personality) that his wife and neighbors are not sure its the same person. A beautiful love story as well as an interesting look at medieval France. Remade in the US as  Sommersby, with Jodie Foster and Richard Gere. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) A classic French romantic movie, by Marcel Carne. A mime falls in love with a theater troupe actress but faces a lot of competition for her affections. Shot in black and white in 1946 (while Paris was under German occupation), but set in the 19th century. Its a must see! La Belle et la bà ªte (Beauty and the Beast) Youve probably seen some version of this classic French romance, but the original- in black and white- is by far the best. This beautiful, sensual film by Jean Cocteau is about love, inner beauty, and obsession, and is nothing short of a magical fairy tale. Baisers volà ©s (Stolen Kisses) This sequel to 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups) couldnt be more different to its predecessor. Antoine loves Christine, who is indifferent until her admirer falls for another women. Christine then realizes (decides?) that she does want him after all, and tries to woo him back. A very sweet movie by Franà §ois Truffaut and Jean-Pierre Là ©aud. Les Roseaux savages (Wild Reeds) Andrà © Tà ©chinà ©s 1994 film, set in 1964, is a beautiful coming-of-age story about four teenagers and their experiences with relationships and the effects of Frances war in Algeria. Beautiful cinematography and a great soundtrack, to boot. This film won 4 Cà ©sar awards. Les Nuits de la pleine lune (Full Moon in Paris) A wonderful romantic comedy and the fourth installment in director Eric Rohmers Comedies and Proverbs series. Louise (played by the talented Pascale Ogier, who tragically died the year the film was released) grows bored with her lover and decides to spice up her (love) life. Humor and tragedy ensue. LAmi de mon amie (Boyfriends and Girlfriends) Another from the Comedies and Proverbs series, this film looks at love and friendship. Which is more important: passion or companionship? Is boyfriend-swapping really such a good idea after all? Find out with this movie. Une Liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) Dont let the ironic French title put you off; this is a beautiful, erotic love story about two people who meet looking for anonymous sex but end up finding much more. A beautiful and mysterious tale of love. LHistoire dAdà ¨le H (The Story of Adele H) The true story of Victor Hugos daughter and her obsession with a French lieutenant. Not a happy story, but certainly a beautiful and intriguing movie.

Conjugate the French Verb Accueillir (to Welcome)

Conjugate the French Verb Accueillir (to Welcome) As you are learning to speak French, you will find that you need to learn how to conjugate many verbs. The verb  accueillir  means to welcome. This is one of the irregular verbs that is a little more difficult to remember, but with practice, you should have no problems.   Conjugating the French Verb  Accueillir Why do we have to conjugate verbs in French? Put simply, to conjugate simply means to match the verb form to the subject you are speaking about. We do so in English as well, though not to such extremes as languages such as French. For instance, we use a different form of  accueillir  when speaking about ourselves. I welcome becomes jaccueille in French. Likewise, we welcome becomes nous accueillons. Its actually quite simple. However, the problem with irregular verbs like  accueillir  is that there is no defined pattern. This is a rare exception to the French grammar rules for verbs ending in -ir. This means that you need to memorize each conjugation rather than rely on patterns and rules. Dont worry, though. With a little study, you  will  find that there is some pattern to this verb and will be using it to form proper sentences before you know it. This chart shows all of the forms of  accueillir  in present, future, imperfect, and present participle tense. Subject Present Future Imperfect j accueille accueillerai accueillais tu accueilles accueilleras accueillais il accueille accueillera accueillait nous accueillons accueillerons accueillions vous accueillez accueillerez accueilliez ils accueillent accueilleront accueillaient The Present Participle of  Accuellir The  present participle  of  accueillir  is  accueillant. It can be used as a verb or as an adjective, gerund, or noun, depending on the circumstance. Accueillir  in Past Tense You may have noticed that the imperfect is the only past tense of  accueillir  in the chart. In many cases, we can simply use the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  to express a phrase such as I welcomed. There are two elements that need to be added in order to do so. One is the  auxiliary verb, which is always either  Ãƒ ªtre  or  avoir.  For  accueillir, we use  avoir.  The second element is the  past participle  of the verb, which in this case is  accueilli.  This is used no matter the subject. Putting all of this together, to say I welcomed in French, it would be jai accueilli. To say we welcomed, you would say nous avons accueilli. In these cases, ai and avons are conjugates of the verb  avoir. More Conjugations for  Accueillir There are more conjugations for  accueillir  that you may use in some instances, though your focus should be on those above. The subjunctive verb mood is used when something is uncertain. The conditional verb mood is used when the action is dependent on certain conditions. Both the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are used in formal writing. While you may never use these especially the last two in the chart it is good to be aware of their existence and when they might be used. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j accueille accueillerais accueillis accueillisse tu accueilles accueillerais accueillis accueillisses il accueille accueillerait accueillit accueillt nous accueillions accueillerions accueillmes accueillissions vous accueilliez accueilleriez accueilltes accueillissiez ils accueillent accueilleraient accueillirent accueillissent The final form of the verb  accueillir  is the imperative form, which also expresses mood. In this form, you will not use the subject pronoun. Instead, it is implied within the verb itself and you will notice that they have the same endings as the present tense and subjunctive forms. Rather than say tu accueille, you will simply use the word  accueille. Imperative (tu) accueille (nous) accueillons (vous) accueillez Similar Irregular Verbs Just because it is an irregular verb does not mean that  accueillir  is not similar to other verbs. While you are studying to welcome include  cueillir  in your lessons. This verb means to gather or to pick and uses similar endings to those you see above.

The 21 st Century Public Company Audit Summary Essay

The 21 st Century Public Company Audit Summary - Essay Example Thus the government authorities passed under the Bush administration to have a strict watch over all the companies and auditing firms formed new standards. These standards require all the auditing firms to abide by the standard procedures defined within their scriptures and have also expanded the horizon of the minimum requirement for an auditor about having the knowledge of operation of its clients and /or companies. These standards include ; The bill passed by president bush is known as the corporate and auditing accountability and transparency act of 2002 also known as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act. SOX is an effective measure taken towards restoring investors interest in the public limited companies. SOX also made another governing body known as public company accounting oversight board. Within two years this body PCAOB placed three major auditing standards. The question that how well these standards can clear the overall view is still unanswered. However, the introduction of these new standards and policies will surely increase the quality of auditing performed. The one additional thing that matters to the auditors now is the identification of the methodology of implementing these standards in their auditing practices in a foolproof and transparent manner. The introduction chapter gives a brief over view of the concerns of the government and its new policies regarding them. However, to what extent will the policies and standard be successful in making sure that every thing goes legal and legitimate is yet to be determined Chapter 2: Auditing standards have been facing many changes due to the changing business environment. Right from the time of simple book keeping till the time the financial statements are made, the techniques of auditing were being required to adapt to certain changes for the sake of such events. Companies had been growing large; large enough to stop any auditing firm from doing the detailed evaluation of the entire book keeping stuff. Thus, now the emphasis is on monitoring the internal controls of a company. As per the SOX section 404, internal auditing by public limited companies is a common standard procedure carried out by all within as well as outside U.S. The auditing now also includes checking on the inventories declared and the accounts receivables identified in the balance sheet(s). The most significant step was the introduction of audit risk model (ARM). The risk auditing includes completeness, obligations, correct valuation, presentation and disclosure of certain elements. If any de viation is found by the risk test, the internal auditor is supposed to take the required corrective action to bring the level of risk to the tolerable level or considerable range. While performing disclosure of certain events, a couple of evidences are acquired to support each n' every element. EBS is the minimum requirement set to act as a source of evidence. Auditors need to base their assessments on a couple of evidence and standards. Feedback: This chapter is about controlling the risk factor by internal auditing practices and controls. This requires a honest internal auditing department to implement policies avoiding any risks, as implied by regulations. Thus this is easier for the auditing firms to have a

Sports Products Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sports Products - Assignment Example Through the commercial that run during designated times, Fitbit advertisement intend to convince the consumers that the product offers real-time feedback, and thus suitable for tracking steps and vital statistics such as the calorie consumption (Salah, MacIntosh, & Rajakulendran, 2014). Notably, the FuelBand and Fitbit Flex advertisement compete to attract consumers to purchase the products. The FuelBand and Fitbit Flex target the both male and females who are health oriented and interested in tracking their vital statistics. The company segments the market according to none and sports participants. The marketers position the products as the replacement to physical trainers, workout logs, and other sports accessories (Guarda, 2013). Notably, the competing goal of the two companies is to create loyalty to the consumers through the focused-differentiation strategy. Nike’s advertisement depicts the company as the market leader in the sports product and technology, and it will always strive to reach the consumers through social media, families, and friends in order to increase the Nile community. On the other hand, the Fitbit adverts employ the geographic and behavioral segmentation. Salah, MacIntosh, and Rajakulendran (2014) contend that company targets the technologically savvy consumers in the middle and upper-classes. Guarda, D. (2013). Nike Takes Digital Data and Social Media Marketing Seriously. Retrieved 21 Apr. 2015, from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-business/nike-takes-digital-data-and-social-media-marketing-seriously/ Salah, H., MacIntosh, E., & Rajakulendran, N. (2014). Wearable tech: Leveraging Canadian innovation to improve health. Retrieved 23 Apr. 2015, from