Vegree in medicine Essay

The gentle breeze of summer is kissing the rice fields of a well known man named Pedro. His majestic house is facing the fields as if they were being observed in a daily basis. Pedro is known for his kindness with his neighbors. He is able to help them in times of need and he is really ready for giving his hand to the charity. Though he resides in a rural area, his sons and daughters were sent to urban places where they can have new information about the world. The schools or universities where his children study are of high quality. Moreover, one of his daughters often get high grades at school that he really becomes so proud of her. Their neighbors are getting envious with the achievements that they get from the universities. Pedro thinks that he can retire at an early age given that there will be someone who will take care of the farms and, that will be his children who can make the business expand. One morning, Pedro realized that there were already 6 months since he last saw his firstborn. The 20 year old girl was taking up a course in the premium University of their State and is trying hard to pursue a degree in medicine. He named the girl Gennovive as the name may imply uniqueness and extravagance. Indeed, this girl’s education costs the largest among the 3 children of Pedro. Since she is pursuing medicine, Pedro and his wife Hanami, get used to seeing her only once in a month. But this time is different. With a very troublesome afternoon, Gen was scolded by his father for having a number of failing grades at school. This is the first time that the girl received those kinds of marls in the class cards. Emotions of Gen â€Å"The sole reason why I got those grades is the difficulty of the subjects themselves. † Those were the words Pedro remember Gen told her the time they had the encounter. The only thing that Gen was concerned about was to help his dad in putting up a new business and expanding their assets as she graduate from her school. She sobbed, closed herself in her dim lit room to reflect her shortcomings during the previous semester. She has some faults, yes! Letting someone get into her heart with such a close relationship and loving him whole heartedly. After some time, she found herself broken with the memories of her so-called boyfriend. Things that she could not confront with her dad, these are such examples. After that, she was too busy grieving for her loss only to realize how miserable she was with the mourning and crying. It was too late when she decided to take a step away from her past, from the man who actually stole her everything. Long Awaited With some tears on Pedro’s face, he saw a silhouette of a girl who eventually approached her and hugged her with tears. â€Å"Dad, I am sorry! †. Both of them were over whelmed that they did not notice Hanami approaching. Gen told her father of how she coped with her sadness and the reasons while she failed the last semester. In turn, she gave her dad 3 medals that she garnered for some contests in their university plus the news that she was chosen to be a delegate for the international campaign for health. The whole house was very happy for her arrival. Just like the story of the Biblical Prodigal Son, Pedro invited his closest friends to have a dinner at their place to celebrate Gen’s come back and the victory of being chosen as the delegate of the nation.

Capital Structure in a Perfect Market

MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. Chapter 14: Capital Structure in a Perfect Market 14-5. Suppose Alpha Industries and Omega Technologies have identical assets that generate identical cash flows. Alpha Industries is an all-equity firm, with 10 million shares outstanding that trade for a price of$22 per share. Omega Technologies has 20 million shares outstanding as well as debt of $60 million. 14-5-a.According to MM Proposition I, what is the stock price for Omega Technologies? V(alpha) = 10 x 22 = 220m = V(omega) = D + E E = 220 – 60 = 160m p = $8 per share. 14-5-b. Suppose Omega Technologies stock currently trades for $11 per share. What arbitrage opportunity is available? What assumptions are necessary to exploit this opportunity? Omega is overpriced. Sell 20 Omega, Buy 10 alpha and borrow 60. Initial = 220 – 220 + 60 = 60. Assumes we can trade shares at current prices & Assumes we can borrow at same terms as Omega (or own Omega debt and can sell at same price). 4-6. Cisoft is a highly profitable technology firm that currently has $5 billion in cash. The firm has decided to use this cash to repurchase shares from investors, and it has already announced these plans to investors. Currently, Cisoft is an all equity firm with 5 billion shares outstanding. These shares currently trade for $12 per share. Cisoft has issued no other securities except for stock options to its employees. The current market value of these options is $8 billion. 14-6-a. What is the value of Cisoft’s non-cash assets?Assets = cash + non-cash, Liabilities = equity + options. non-cash assets = equity + options – cash = 12 ? 5 + 8 – 5 = 63 billion 14-6-b. With perfect capital markets, what is the market value of Cisoft’s equity after share repurchase? What is the value per share? Equity = 60 – 5 = 55. Repurchase 5b / 12 = 0. 417b shares = 55 / 4. 583 = $12 4. 583 b shares remain Per share value MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 4-8. Explain what is wrong with the following argument: â€Å"If a firm issues debt that is risk free, because there is no possibility of default, the risk of the firm’s equity does not change. Therefore, risk-free debt allows the firm to get the benefit of a low cost of capital of debt without raising its cost of capital of equity. † Any leverage raises the equity cost of capital. In fact, risk-free leverage raises it the most (because it does not share any of t he risk). 14-12. Hubbard Industries is an all-equity firm whose shares have an expected return of 10%.Hubbard does a leveraged recapitalization, issuing debt and repurchasing stock, until its debt=equity ratio is 0. 60. Due to the increased risk, shareholders now expect a return of 13%. Assuming there are no taxes and Hubbard’s debt is risk free, what is the interest rate on the debt? wacc = ru = 10% = 1 0. 6 x ? 1. 6(10) ? 13 = 3 = 0. 6 x ? x = 5% 13% + 1. 6 1. 6 14-17. Zelnor, Inc. , is an all-equity firm with 100 million shares outstanding currently trading for $8. 50 per share. Suppose Zelnor decides to grant a total of 10 million new shares to employees as part of a new compensation plan.The firm argues that this new compensation plan will motivate employees and is a better strategy that giving salary bonuses because it will not cost the firm anything. a. If the new compensation plan has no effect on the value of Zelnor’s assets, what will the share price of the n ew stock be once this plan is implemented? Assets = 850m. New shares = 110 ? price = 850 = $7. 73 110 b. What is the cost of the plan for Zelnor’s investors? Why is issuing equity costly in this case? Cost = 100(8. 50 ? 7. 73) = 77m = 10(7. 73) Issuing equity at below market price is costly. MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  QuestionsThese  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. Chapter 15: Debt and Taxes 15-1. Pelamed Pharmaceuticals has EBIT of $325 million in 2006. In addition, Pelamed has interest expenses of $125 million and a corporate tax rate of 40%. a. What is Pelamed’s 2006 net income? Net Income = EBIT – Interest – Taxes = (325 – 125) x (1-0. 40) – $120 million b. What is the total of Pelamed’s 2006 net income and int erest payment? Net Income + Interest = 120 = 125 = $245 million c.If Pelamed had no interest expenses, what would its 2006 net income be? How does it compare to your answer in part (b)? NetIncome = EBIT ? Taxes = 325 ? (1 ? 0. 40) = $195 million This is 245 ? 195 = $50 million lower than part (b). d. What is the amount of Pelamed’sinterest tax shield in 2006? Interest tax shield = 125 ? 40% = $50 million MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 15-3. Suppose the corporate tax rate is 40%.Consider a firm that earns$1000 before interest and taxes each year with no risk. The firm’s capital expenditures equals its deprecation expenses each year, and it will have no change to its net working capital. The risk-free inter est rate is 5%. a. Suppose the firm has no debt and pays out its net income as a dividend each year. What is the value of the firm’s equity? NetIncome = 1000 ? (1 ? 40%) = $600. Thus, equity holders receive dividends of $600 per year with no risk. 600 E= = $12, 000 5% b. Suppose instead the firm makes interest payments of $500 per year. What is the value of equity?What is the value of debt? 300 = $6000 5% Debt holders receive interest of $500 per year ? D – $10,000 NetIncome ? (1000 ? 500) ? (1 ? 0. 40) = $300 ? E c. What is the difference between the total value of the firm with leverage and without leverage? With Leverage = 6,000 + 10,000 = $16,000 Without Levergae = $12,000 Difference = 16,000 – 12,000 = $4000 d. The difference in part  © is equal to what percentage of the value of the debt? 4, 000 = 40% = corporate tax rate 10, 000 MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  coveri ng  on  the  final  exam.Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 15-6. Arnell Industries has $10 million in debt outstanding. The firm will pay interest only on this debt. Arnell’s marginal tax rate is expected to be 35% for the foreseeable future. a. Suppose Arnell pays interest of 6% per year on its debt. What is the annual interest tax shield? Interest tax sheild = $10 ? 6% ? 35% = $0. 21 million b. What is the present value of the interest tax shield, assuming its risk is the same as the loan? PV(Interest tax sheild) = $0. 21 = $3. 5 million 0. 06 c.Suppose instead that the interest rate on the debt is 5%. What is the present value of the interest tax shield in this case? Interest tax sheild = $10 ? 5% ? 35% = $0. 175 million $0. 175 = $3. 5 million PV = 0. 05 15-8. Rumolt Motors has 30 million shares outstanding with a price of $15 per share. In addition, Rumolt ha s issued bonds with a total current market value of 4150 MILLION. Suppose Rumolt’s equity cost of capital is 10%, and its debt cost of capital is 5%. a. What is Rumolt’s pretax weighted cost of capital? E = $15 ? 30 = $450m D = $150m Pretax WACC = 450 150 10% + 5% = 8. 75% 600 600 b.If Rumolt’s corporate rate is 35%, what is its after-tax weighted cost of capital? WACC = 450 150 10% = 5%(1 ? 35%) = 8. 3125% 600 600 MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 15-12. Milton Industries expects free cash flow of $5 million each year. Milton’s corporate tax rate is 35%, and its unlevered cost of capital is 15%. The firm also has outstanding debt of $19. 05 million, and it expects to maintain this level of deb t permanently. a.What is the value of Milton Industries without leverage? VU = 5 = $33. 33 million 0. 15 b. What is the value of Milton Industries with leverage? V L = V U + ? c D = 33. 33 + 0. 35 ? 19. 50 = $40 million 15-13. Kurz Manufacturing is currently an all-equity firm with 20 million shares outstanding and a stock price of $7. 50 per share. Although investors currently expect Kurz to remain an all-equity firm, Kurz plans to announce that it will borrow $50 million and use the funds to repurchase shares. Kurz will pay interest only on this debt, and it has no further plans to increase or decrease the amount of debt.Kurz is subject to a 40% corporate tax rate. a. What is the market value of Kurz’s existing assets before the announcement? Assets = Equity = $7. 50 ? 20 = $150 million b. What is the market value of Kurz’s assets (including the tax shield) just after the debt is issued, but before the shares are repurchased? Assests = 150 (existing) + 50 (cash) + 40 % ? 50 (tax sheild) = $220 million c. What is Kurz’s share price just before the share repurchase? How many Shres will Kurz repurchase? E = Assets ? Debt = 220 ? 50 = $170 million $170m = $8. 50 Share Price = 20 50 = 5. 882 million shares Kurz will repurchase 8. 50 d.What are Kurz’s market value balance sheet and share price after the share repurchase? Assets ? 150(existing ) + 40% ? 50(taxsheild ) = $170 million Debt = $50 million E = A ? D = 170 ? 50 ? $120 million $120 = $8. 50 / share Share price = 20 ? 5. 882 MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 15-15. Suppose the corporate tax rate is 40%, and investors pay a tax rate of 15% on income from dividends or capital gains and a tax rate of 33. 3% on interest in come.Your firm decides to add debt so it will pay an additional $15 million in interest each year. It will pay this interest expense by cutting its dividend. a. How much will debt holders receive after paying taxes on the interest they earn? $15 ? (1 ? 0. 333) = $10 million each year b. By how much will the firm need to cut its dividend each year to pay this interest expense? Given a corporate tax rate of 40%, an interest expense of $15 million per year reduces net income by 15(1-0. 4)=$9 million after corporate taxes. c. By how much will this cut in the dividend reduce equity holders’ annual after-tax income? $9 million dividend cut ? 9 ? (1 ? 0,15) ? $7. 65 million per year d. How much less will the government receive in total tax revenues each year? Interest atxes = 0. 333 ? 15 = $5 million Less corporate taxes = 0. 40 ? 15 = $6 million Less dividend taxes = 0. 15 ? 9 = $1. 35 million [note: this equals (a) – (c)] e. What is the effective tax advantage of debt ? * ? (1 ? 0. 40)(1 ? 0. 15) ? * = 1? = 23. 5% 1 ? 0. 333 15-16. Markum Enterprises is considering permanently adding $100 million of debt to its capital structure. Markum’s corporate tax rate is 35%. a. Absent personal taxes, what is the value of the interest tax shield from the new debt?PV = ? c D = 35% ? 100 = $35 million b. If investors pay a tax rate of 40% on interest income, and a tax rate of 20% on income from dividends and capital gains, what is the value of the interest tax shield from new debt? ? * = 1? (1 ? 0. 35)(1 ? 0. 20) = 13. 33% 1 ? 0. 40 PV = ? C D = 13. 33% ? 100 = $13. 33 million MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 15-19. With its current leverage, Impi Corporation will have net income next year of $4 . million. If Impi’s corporate tax rate is 35% and it pays 8% interest on its debt, how much additional debt can Impi issue this year and still receive the benefit of the interest tax shield next year? Net income of $4. 5 million ? 4. 5 = $6. 923 million in taxable income. Therefore, Arundel can increase its interest expense by $6. 923 million, which corresponds to debt of: 6. 923 = $86. 5 million 0. 08 MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam.Chapter 16: Financial Distress, Managerial Incentives and Information 16-2. Baruk Industries has no cash and a debt obligation of $36 millionthat is now due. The market value of Baruk’s assets is $81 million, and the firm has no liabilities. Assume a perfect capital market. a. Suppose Baruk has 10 million shares outstanding. What is Baruk’s current share price? 81 ? 36 = $4. 5 / share 10 b. How many new shares must Baruk issue to raise the capital needed to pay its debt obligation? 36 = 8 million shares 4. 5 c. After repaying the debt, what will Baruk’s share price be? 81 = $4. 5 / share 18 16-3.When a firm defaults on its debt, debt holders often receive less than 50% of the amount they are owed. Is the difference between the amount debt holders are owed and the amount they receive a cost of bankruptcy? No. Some of these losses are due to declines in the value of the assets that would have occurred whether or not the firm defaulted. Only the incremental losses that arise from the bankruptcy process are bankruptcy costs. 16-4. Which type of firm is more likely to experience a loss of customers in the event of financial distress: a. Campbell Soup Company or Intuit, Inc.? Intuit Inc. its customers will care about their ability to receive upgr ades to their software. b. Allstate Corporation or Reebok International? Allstate Corporation – its customers rely on the firm being able to pay future claims. MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 16-5. Which type of assets is more likely to be liquidated for close to its full market value in the event of financial distress? a. An office building or a brand name?Office building—there are many alternate users who would be likely to value the property similarly. b. Product inventory or raw materials? Raw materials—they are easier to reuse. c. Patent right of engineering â€Å"know-how†? Patent rights—they would be easier to sell to another firm. 16-9. Marpor Industries has no debt and expects to generate free cash flows of $16 million each year. Marpor believes that if it permanently increases its level of debt to $40 million, the risk of financial distress may cause it to lose some customers and receive less favorable terms from its suppliers.As a result, Marpor’s free cash flows with debt will be only $15 million per year. Suppose Marpor’s tax rate is 35%, the risk-free rate is 5%, the expected return of the market is 15%, and the beta of Marpor’s free cash flows is 1. 1. (with or without leverage). a. Estimate Marpor’s value without leverage r = 5% + 1. 1? (15% ? 5%) = 16% 16 V= = $100 million 0. 16 b. Estimate Marpor’s value with the new leverage. r = 5% + 1. 1? (15% ? 5%) = 16% 15 V= + 0. 35 ? 40 = $107. 75 million 0. 16 MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam.Understand  the  answers  to  these  questio ns  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 16-10. Real Estate Purchases are often financed with at least 80% debt. Most corporations, however, have less that 50% debt financing. Provide an explanation for this difference using the trade-off theory. According to tradeoff theory, tax shield adds value while financial distress costs reduce a firm’s value. The financial distress costs for a real estate investment are likely to be low, because the property can generally be easily resold for its full market value.In contrast, corporations generally face much higher costs of financial distress. As a result, corporations choose to have lower leverage. 16-11. Dynron Corporation’s primary business is natural gas transportation using its vast gas pipeline network. Dynron’s assets currently have a market value of $150 million. The firm is exploring the possibility of raising $50 million by selling part of its pipeline network and i nvesting the $50 million in a fiber-optic network to generate revenues by selling high-speed network bandwidth.While this new investment is expected to increase profits, it will also substantially increase Dynron’s risk. If Dynron is levered, would this investment be more or less attractive to equity holders than if Dynron had no debt? If Dynron has no debt or if in all scenarios Dynron can pay the debt in full, equity holders will only consider the project’s NPV in making the decision. If Dynron is heavily leveraged, equity holders will also gain from the increased risk of the new investment. 16-18. Which of the following industries have low optimal debt levels according to the tradeoff theory? Which have high optimal levels of debt? a.Tobacco firms high optimal debt level—high free cash flow, low growth opportunities Accounting firms low optimal debt level—high distress costs Mature restaurant chains high optimal debt level—stable cash flows, low growth, low distress costs Lumber companies high optimal debt level—stable cash flows, low growth, low distress costs Cell phone manufacturers low optimal debt level—high growth opportunities, high distress costs b. c. d. e. MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. 6-19. According to the managerial entrenchment theory, managers choose capital structures so as to preserve their control of the firm. On the one hand, debt is costly for managers because they risk losing control in the event of default. On the other hand, if they do not take advantage of the tax shield provided by debt, they risk losing control through a hostile takeover. Suppose a firm expects to generate free cash flows of $90 million per year, and t he discount rate for these cash flows is 10%. The firm pays a tax rate of 40%. A raider is poised to take over the firm and finance it with $750 Million in permanent debt.The raider will generate the same free cash flows, and the takeover attempt will be successful if the raider can offer a premium of 20% over the current value of the firm. What level of permanent debt will the firm choose, according to the managerial entrenchment hypothesis? 90 = $900 0. 10 Levered Value w/ Raider = 900 + 40%(750) = $1. 2 billion To prevent successful raid,l current managment must have a levered value of at least $1. 2 billion = $1 billion 1. 20 Thus, the minimum tax sheild is $1 billion – 900 million = $100 million, 100 which requires = $250 million in debt 0. 40 Unlevered Value = MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  QuestionsThese  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questio ns  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. Chapter 17: Payout Policy 17-6. The HNH Corporation will pay a constant dividend of $2 per share, per year, in perpetuity. Assume all investors pay a 20% tax on dividends and that there is no capital gains tax. The cost of capital for investing in HNH stock is 12%. a. What is the price of a share of HNH stock? P=$1. 60/0. 12=$13. 33 b. Assume that management make a surprise announcement that HNH will no longer pay dividends but will use the cash to repurchase stocks instead.What is the price of a share of HNH stock now? P=$2/0. 12=$16. 67 17-7. What was the effective dividend tax rate for a U. S. investor in the highest tax bracket who planned to hold a stock for one year in 1981? How did the effective dividend tax rate change in 1982 when the Reagan tax cuts took effect? (Ignore State taxes. ) 58. 33% in 1981 and 37. 5% in 1982. 17-10. At current tax rates, which investors are most likely to hold a stock that has a high dividend yield? a. Individual Investors b. Pension Funds c. Mutual Funds d. Corporations 17-11. A stock that you know is held by long-term individual investors paid a large one-time dividend.You notice that the price dropped on the ex-dividend date is about the size of the dividend payment. You find this relationship puzzling given the tax disadvantage of dividends. Explain how the dividends-capture theory might account for this behavior. Dividend capture theory states that investors with high effective dividend tax rates sell to investors with low effective dividend tax rates just before the dividend payment. The price drop therefore reflects the tax rate of the low effective dividend tax rate individuals. MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Questions These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam.Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surpris ed  by  anything  on  the  exam. 17-16. Explain under which conditions an increase in the dividend payment can be interpreted as a signal of: a. Good news By increasing dividends managers signal that they believe that future earnings will be high enough to maintain the new dividend payment. b. Bad news Raising dividends signals that the firm does not have any positive NPV investment opportunities, which is bad news. 17-17. Why is an announcement of a share repurchase considered a positive signal?By choosing to do a share repurchase management credibly signals that they believe the stock is undervalued. 17-20. Explain why most companies choose to pay stock dividends (split their stock). Companies use stock splits to keep their stock prices in a range that reduces investor transaction costs 17-21. When might it be advantageous to undertake a reverse stock split? To avoid being delisted from an exchange because the price of the stock has fallen below the minimum required to s tay listed. 17-22. After the market close on May 11, 2001, Adaptec, Inc. , distributed a dividend of shares of he stock of its software division, Roxio, Inc. Each, Adaptec shareholder received 0. 1646 share of Roxio stock per share of Adaptec stock owned. At the time Adaptec stock was trading at a price of $10. 55 per share (cum-dividend), and Roxie’s share price was $14. 25 per share. In a perfect market, what would Adaptec’s ex-dividend share price be after this transaction? The value of the dividend paid per Adaptec share was (0. 1646 shares of Roxio) ? ($14. 23 per share of Roxio) = $2. 34 per share. Therefore, ignoring tax effects or other news that might come out, we would expect Adaptec’s stock price to fall to $10. 5 – 2. 34 = $8. 21 per share once it goes ex-dividend. (Note: In fact, Adaptec stock opened on Monday May 14, 2001 – the next trading day – at a price of $8. 45 per share. ) MBA  509  Recommended  Chapter  Question s These  questions  are  the  focus  of  what  I  am  covering  on  the  final  exam. Understand  the  answers  to  these  questions  and  should  not  be  surprised  by  anything  on  the  exam. Explain the long-term (3 to 5 years) relative stock performance of companies that have i) issued a seasoned equity offering ii) split their stocks Why would a stock split be a signal for good news?What is meant by â€Å"leaving money on the table,† when issuing an IPO? Why might issuing management be content to leave a lot of money on the table? Can you spot the period of a stock market bubble in the table below? (Hint: look for an oval! ) In retrospect, do you think it is a good long-term investment to purchase stocks where there has been huge amounts of money left on the table? Table 1 Summary Statistics for 6,312 IPOs with Offer Price ? $5. 00 Mean First-day Return 7% 15% 65% 12% 19% Average, 2001 Dollars Money Left on the Ta ble Gross Proceeds $2. million $10 million $82 million $29 million $17 million $42 million $72 million $161 million $397 million $81 million Period 1980-1989 1990-1998 1999-2000 2001-2002 1980-2002 Describe how investment banks allocate IPO shares using the â€Å"bookbuilding† method. Are IPOs, as a group and over time, good long-term investments in terms of average annual returns? Describe how IPOs are like Lotto tickets. (Low expected returns, but with relatively low probability of extremely large gains—buying into Microsoft, Intel, etc) Hint: this is the answer.Describe Graham and Kumar’s suggestive evidence that there is, indeed, a clientele effect for dividends. Which class of investors like high dividend yields? Which age bracket? How do these finding suggest a clientele effect? Chapter  14. Capital  Structure  in  a  Perfect  Market   Summary   1. The  collection  of  securities  a  firm  issues  to  raise  capital  fro m  investors  is  called  the   firm’s  capital  structure. Equity  and  debt  are  the  securities  most  commonly  used  by   firms. When  equity  is  used  without  debt,  the  firm  is  said  to  be  unlevered. Otherwise,  the   amount  of  debt  determines  the  firm’s  leverage. . The  owner  of  a  firm  should  choose  the  capital  structure  that  maximizes  the  total  value   of  the  securities  issued. 3. Capital  markets  are  said  to  be  perfect  if  they  satisfy  three  conditions:   a. Investors  and  firms  can  trade  the  same  set  of  securities  at  competitive  market   prices  equal  to  the  present  value  of  their  future  cash  flows. b. There  are  no  taxes,  transaction  costs,  or  issuance  costs  associated  with  security   trad ing. c. A  firm’s  financing  decisions  do  not  change  the  cash  flows  generated  by  its   investments,  nor  do  they  reveal  new  information  about  them. 4.According  to  MM  Proposition  I,  with  perfect  capital  markets  the  value  of  a  firm  is   independent  of  its  capital  structure. a. With  perfect  capital  markets,  homemade  leverage  is  a  perfect  substitute  for  firm   leverage. b. If  otherwise  identical  firms  with  different  capital  structures  have  different  values,   the  Law  of  One  Price  would  be  violated  and  an  arbitrage  opportunity  would   exist. 5. The  market  value  balance  sheet  shows  that  the  total  market  value  of  a  firm’s  assets   equals  the  total  market  value  of  the  firm’s  liabilities,   including  all  securi ties  issued  to   investors.Changing  the  capital  structure  therefore  alters  how  the  value  of  the  assets  is   divided  across  securities,  but  not  the  firm’s  total  value. 6. A  firm  can  change  its  capital  structure  at  any  time  by  issuing  new  securities  and  using   the  funds  to  pay  its  existing  investors. An  example  is  a  leveraged  recapitalization  in   which  the  firm  borrows  money  (issues  debt)  and  repurchases  shares  (or  pays  a   dividend). MM  Proposition  I  implies  that  such  transactions  will  not  change  the  share   price. 7. According  to  MM  Proposition  II,  the  cost  of  capital  for  levered  equity  is      8. Debt  is  less  risky  than  equity,  so  it  has  a  lower  c ost  of  capital.Leverage  increases  the  risk   of  equity,  however,  raising  the  equity  cost  of  capital. The  benefit  of  debt’s  lower  cost  of   capital  is  offset  by  the  higher  equity  cost  of  capital,  leaving  a  firm’s  weighted  average   cost  of  capital  (WACC)  unchanged  with  perfect  capital  markets: 1 9. The  market  risk  of  a  firm’s  assets  can  be  estimated  by  its  unlevered  beta: 10. Leverage  increases  the  beta  of  a  firm’s  equity: 11. A  firm’s  net  debt  is  equal  to  its  debt  less  its  holdings  of  cash  and  other  risk? free   securities. We  can  compute  the  cost  of  capital  and  the  beta  of  the  firm’s  bus

The Effective Use of Common Experience in The Lottery and Araby Essay

The Effective Use of Common Experience in The Lottery and Araby - Essay Example Both writers use recognizable situations and characters as effective tools, but in vastly different ways. Jackson uses typical characters and settings to deceive the reader into a complacence which is rudely shattered by the unexpected ending. On the other hand, in Araby, Joyce contrasts the commonplace situations and characteristics of the secondary characters with the uncommon emotions of the protagonist. In both cases, the reader is able to identify with the commonplace characters and situations in the narratives: this is the major contributing factor that has made The Lottery and Araby stand the test of time. Jackson sets her short story in an ordinary, commonplace village, and peoples it with typical, recognizable characters, with whom the reader can easily identify. This effectively serves to intensify the uncommon horror of the ritualistic stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson at the climax. The characters are reassuringly familiar: Mr. Summer, whose â€Å"wife was a scold,† and O ld Man Warner who shows the senior citizens’ resistance to change. The casual gathering of the people in the village square in the â€Å"warmth of a full-summer day† , the children at play, the everyday conversations taking place: the children talking of school, the women gossiping, the men â€Å"speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes†, the cheerful banter surrounding Mrs. Hutchinson’s late arrival – all these are shared experiences that lull the reader into complacency.

Freemark Abbey Winery Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Freemark Abbey Winery - Case Study Example Hence, Freemark Abbey Winery might be better off harvesting immediately before the storm and eliminating the risk of the rain spoiling the grapes. The not-so-ripe grapes could yield wine that sells for $2.85 per bottle. If Jaeger decided to harvest later and the storm did not strike, there is a high chance that the acidity of the grapes would not fall below about 0.7 percent. In this case, the resulting wines would still sell at a higher price than wine produced from the not-so-ripe grapes harvested now, regardless of what the weather condition is like. However, there is a slight chance that the acidity of the of the grapes would drop below about 0.7, in which case the resulting wine would sell at a slightly lower price of $2.50 per bottle. To make this decision, a decision tree, Michael Porter's (1997) five forces analysis, and SWOT analysis are used to aid in the decision making process. Both five forces analysis and SWOT analysis reveal that Freemark Abbey Winery should pursue a differentiation strategy. From the decision tree in Appendix 1, it can be seen that there are 3 possible decision alternatives and 7 possible outcomes. The first possible decision alternative is to harvest after the storm and sell thin wine should the storm strike and the botrytis mold not form. The second possible decision alternative is to harvest after the storm and sell the wine in bulk should the storm strike and the botrytis mold not form. The third possible decision alternative is to harvest immediately. The first decision alternative has the highest expected revenue per bottle of wine but is inconsistent with a differentiation strategy. The second decision alternative yields the next higher level of expected revenue and is consistent with a differentiation strategy. The third decision alternative yields the least revenue and at the same time is inconsistent with a differentiation strategy. However, the third decision alternative is the least risky. Prioritizing the criteria, it is felt that the revenue and differentiation criteria are more important. Hence, it is recommended that Freemark Abbey harvest the grapes later. Should the storm strike and the botrytis mold not form, it is recommended that Freemark Abbey sell the wine in bulk or the grapes directly. Both the expected value and the rollback analyses yield the same recommendation. 2. DECISION PROBLEM Should the grapes be harvested immediately or after the storm If Jaeger waited after the storm, there are some chances of a warm, light rain, which will result in the formation of botrytis mold yielding the botrytised Riesling. The quantity is 30 percent lower than the normal wine but it sells for $8 per bottle. However, a storm just before the harvest is more likely to produce rain-soaked berries, yielding a thin wine that would sell wholesale for only about $2.00 per bottle and costing Freemark Abbey Winery its reputation. It could sell the wine in bulk or sell the grapes directly to preserve its reputation but these options would bring only half as much revenue, which is the second decision problem. Hence, Freemark Abbey Winery might be better off harvesting immediately before the storm and eliminating the risk of the rain spoiling the grapes. The not-so-ripe grapes could yield wine that sells for $2.85 per bottle.

Computations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Computations - Assignment Example The actual vehicle operating cost for the month was $6,330. The vehicle operating cost in the planning budget for December would be closest to: 14: Ofarrell Snow Removal’s cost formula for its vehicle operating cost is $1,840 per month plus $377 per snow-day. For the month of November, the company planned for activity of 14 snow-days, but the actual level of activity was 19 snow-days. The actual vehicle operating cost for the month was $9,280. The vehicle operating cost in the flexible budget for November would be closest to: 15: Raymond Electronics Corporation has a standard cost system in which it applies manufacturing overhead to products on the basis of standard machine-hours (MHs). The company had budgeted its fixed manufacturing overhead cost at $42,700 for the month and its level of activity at 2,000 MHs. The actual total fixed manufacturing overhead was $44,100 for the month and the actual level of activity was 1,800 MHs. What was the fixed manufacturing overhead budget variance for the month to the nearest dollar? 21: Glassett Corporation is considering a project that would require an investment of $62,000. No other cash outflows would be involved. The present value of the cash inflows would be $70,060. The profitability index of the project is closest

Branding - Lexus Car Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Branding - Lexus Car Company - Essay Example Therefore, the re-branding process constitutes the development of a new ‘‘name, term, symbol, design or a combination of them’’ with an aim of reaching a new position in the stakeholders’ and competitors’ minds. Therefore, re-branding is measured by the level of changes in marketing aesthetics and brand position. Re-branding is either evolutionary where it involves minor, gradual and hardly perceptible changes in the aesthetics and positioning, or revolutionary where it involves major and identifiable changes in aesthetics and positioning that lead to fundamental re-definition of a company. This is a proposal on how to re-brand Lexus. Therefore, I shall examine the brand’s background and determine its position in the automobile industry. I shall then establish the reasons why the company would require to undergo a re-branding process. I shall then proceed with the formulation of the re-branding plan by taking advantage of underlying oppo rtunities and establish measures to counteract the challenges that might arise. The process shall culminate in the selection of an appropriate branding agency that will carry out the re-branding process. ... Although Lexus is fully owned by Toyota, it has developed its distinctive luxury image in the consumers’ minds. This image is entirely different from Toyota’s image that provide feisty and reliable cars and not flashy cars. In this case, Lexus was provided with its own brand values. The launch of a Japanese luxury car to compete with the likes of Cadillac, BMW and Mercedes Benz would have seemed preposterous some decades ago. However, the introduction of the Lexus LS 400 after the investment of colossal amounts and production of numerous prototypes broke this notion. Over the years, Lexus has evolved from an improbable outsider to a formidable force in the luxury automobiles industry. The competition among the leading luxury vehicle manufacturers has been heating up over the last few years. This race involves pushing sales, leading in profitability, admiration for its models and incorporating innovative technologies. Furthermore, to lead in this industry a company has t o offer better service and quality besides selling more units than the competitors. Although Europe has been experiencing an economic slump, the luxury automobile producers have been increasing their investments and production capacity. These efforts aim at increasing sales in growing markets such as the United States and China. This is because the luxury industry demands players to continuously raise the bar. Therefore, making counter-cyclical decisions, although not easy, can determine the level of progress that a company will achieve (Ciferri, 2013). Rationale for Re-branding The automobile industry is facing new challenges in controlling carbon dioxide emissions and in reducing fuel consumption. Manufacturers are focusing on developing ‘green’ concept vehicles that can be mass-produced.

Research Paper (Based on Literature Reviews) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

(Based on Literature Reviews) - Research Paper Example Currently in legislation is the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, which would equalize penalties for crack and powder cocaine, thus correcting the injustice. The previous seven bills similar to the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009 have not been approved. Congress and the President need to review and pass this bill and make it a reality. The main objective of this paper is to examine the facts or statements of truth that can be examined in the context of racial discrimination in the sentencing of drug offenders and to arrive at conclusions accordingly. It is known that disparities in sentencing are arbitrary for a number of reasons. Before the introduction of the federal compulsory minimum sentencing in 1986 for drugs related violations, the federal drug sentencing in the case of African Americans was higher by 11 percent as compared to whites. After four years this average was higher by 49 percent. In 2000 the proportion of African American people lodged in jails was much more than those in higher education. On the basis of such facts, leading analysts concluded that the country’s crime policy was a significant contributing factor in disrupting African American families. The impact of the compulsory minimum imprisonment for drug offenses contributed in leading to unreasonably high rate of incarceration and a lso separated family members from each other on account of minor crimes amongst their children. Such practices not only created large scale disfranchisement amongst those that were convicted of felony but also prohibited people that were incarcerated earlier, from getting appropriate social services in improving their families (Russel, 2005). These statements will be examined in the light of available sources and efforts will be made to determine the strength in such assertions. As reported recently by the Sentencing Commission, there is a strong need to revise the

Describe and compare the economies of the UAE and Australia Essay

Describe and compare the economies of the UAE and Australia - Essay Example During these crises, still there had been economies that featured sustainability and growth. Growth of BRIC countries is no exception. Among the growing economies, Australia also featured sustainability and growth with the support from its rich mineral resource base mainly and sound economic policies while UAE has sustained against the devastating impact of Arab up spring. Based on these facts of sustenance, the purpose of this report is to examine two countries on the economic front exploring similarities and differences in their economic mechanism. Two countries selected for the purpose, includes Australia and UAE as these two countries have made sound efforts in retaining the performance of the economies. INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMIES AND CRITICAL BACK GROUND Australia, country comprising entire continent and 48 states, has in the recent past transformed itself as among the internationally competitively advanced market economies. Country is rich with natural resources and hence, attra cts huge foreign investment such as US$40 billion Gorgon Liquid Natural Gas project being among the huge investments in the country (CIA, 2012a). As quoted by The Australian Mines and Metals Association projects estimate of $427 billion of resources in pipeline and stated projects include $146 billion project related to liquefied natural gas only (Das, 2012). The country has managed to escape the global financial crises with boomed commodity demand that increased Aussie export by 42% since 2004 only; exports mainly to China (23% of Australian direct export to China) and diversion of investment in commodity due to lost confidence in financial instruments. All these external factors supported by government policies mainly by managing its debt position; reducing annual interest rate from 7.25% to 3.0% managed to minimize the impact of global financial crises. Despite Australian economy has managed to escape the global financial crises; however, the basis that provided country ground to take off flight from financial turmoil are dampening. For increased investment in the commodity by China was resultant of its capacity and need to the balance the risk it (China) had from its investment of US. 3.2 trillion in US dollars, euro- and yen financial securities (Das, 2012). Hence decline in the capacity of China, European banks diverting their investment to domestic market to boost local economy and external funded investment in resource taking sizable portion of the return from to investor leaving less for the country. Moreover, increased debt rollover capacity has also increased the concern for the country and it probability to take off flight, similarly as it did in times global financial crises, are not similarly high. Currently, GDP of the country for the third quarter of 2012 has been 3.10% (as compare to similar period of Y-o-Y basis); overall near to average that country has been maintaining (Trading Economics, 2012a). (International Monetary Fund, 2012) ECONOMIC VARIABLES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) Australia has managed position among the top ranking countries in fetching

Selecting Leaders Essay Example for Free

Selecting Leaders Essay As you may already know leaders hold a vital role within a team and it takes certain skills and qualities to be a good leader. Different leaders can emerge through a group of people and stand out as having those skills required and others are select from groups of people who have all be looked at or applied for the same position. In this task I am going to looking into how leaders might emerge or be selected. A lot of people believe that leaders can emerge through groups by showing their natural abilities. I personally believe that this is true to a certain extent because all good, effective, respected leaders do seem to have a natural talent to lead a group of people to success. This natural talent consists of certain qualities that really so put them above other people who may be around them. These qualities could be: * Communication skills * Integrity * Problem solving * Courage * Quick thinking * Luck A number of people have looked at and researched the type of qualities that leaders have and have come up with Trait Theories. Psychologists such a Bird (1940), Warren Bennis (1998), Stogdill (1948) and Mann (1959) have all come up with similar theories. They all say that leaders are people who can express themselves fully. They are people that know what they want, why they want it and how to let people what they want to a team or people. In they receive the co-operation, respect and support of their team. They explain how good leaders, such as Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandella etc, have a number of general or individual qualities or traits. Early research into traits showed that these different characteristics that appear to separate the leaders from the followers. John Gardner looked at large number of organisations in the USA and the people in charge of them. He came to the conclusion that people who had the qualities are good leaders and have a high chance of getting tasks done effectively and quickly with the utmost success. The qualities that he found and studied were: * Physical vitality and stamina * Intelligence and action-oriented judgement * Eagerness to accept responsibility * Task competence * Understanding of followers and their needs * Skill in dealing with people * Need for achievement * Capacity to motivate people * Courage and resolution * Trustworthiness * Assertiveness * Decisiveness * Self-confidence * Adaptability/flexibility http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm The majority of Gardners qualities have certain aspects of a persons behaviour, skills and others to do character and mental ability. More recently studies have been made on people who have a mixture of traits that might be good for particular situations. The British Army is one of the public service organisations which has a huge emphasis on leadership and having good leaders. They have two separate levels of entry one for squadies and the other for officers. Before people join the Army the recruiters look for the trait qualities of a good leader within them and in their academic records and put them through the selection procedures for officer level. This branch of selection as well as being based on the general fitness required for Army life. They assess recruits on their ability to use their natural qualities and take a group of people and impose their own will on these people to get them to be and effective force for whatever situation gets thrown their way. During this time they look for high levels of confidence when instructing people, normally their peers, on what they have to do. As well as confidence they look for problem solving skills by setting command tasks. Here the assessors look for the for the ability to make and instant decision after being faced with a challenging situation and then being able to give clear orders on how they want the task to be completed in the quickest and most effective way. This will be done at a Regular Commission Board (RCB). It is designed to find out whether a person is capable of the Army Officers role. Every officer applicant must pass before proceeding to officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The RCB is carried out in Westminster and it lasts for four days. In the long run this is a good way of getting the right leaders in the Army who will lead their men to success. It is designed to take the raw natural talent of an individual and mould it into a great leader for the British Army through encouragement and expert training. This gives all potential officers the basic ideas on how to take charge of a large number of people but offers no real hands on experience until they have finished training and they are in the battlefield in a real life situation. The Armys two tear holds very good for those who want to take the officer route but these people may be young and unable to release their potential, without any real military experience behind them. On the other hand it holds no favours or advantages for those who took the squadie route. These people may be the people who didnt have the academic grades or signs of potential before they joined but have come up through the rank structure and shown that they can take a group of people and turn them into a good team. From here it seems obvious that a person with these qualities and some sort of military experience should be given the opportunity to be an officer. It isnt as easy as it sounds though and more often than not they will stay within the ranking structure of a squadie. In other public services, such as the Police, every person starts of at the same level, Police Constable. This allows everyone to develop qualities at the same rate and eventually the right leader will emerge through the job. When people have made themselves seen for having the qualities they hold and the potential to be promoted to the next stage up. To reach this next stage they have to take part in a promotion board with and exam at the end to be promoted, to Sergeant from PC in the Police force. This system unlike the Army gives everyone the opportunity to show their qualities and ability to be a leader. Unfortunately its a very long process and is subject to job availability. Just recently though the Police have introduced a high potential development system. Like the Armies officer training route it is a system set to spot potential early and offer a fast track to promotion with people who have the right characteristics. Similarly to the Army a weakness of this process is that candidates my lack experience and possible respect from their team. Leaders can also emerge as leaders due being faced with a challenge i.e. conflict, operation or even a major disaster. These situations can sometime bring the best out of some people where they need to take the situation by the scruff of the neck and get the team through it successfully. Sometime this can be good when you are faced with situations like this regularly but when it comes to a day to day basis and there is nothing to give the adrenaline rush that may trigger this kind of reaction are they able to give the same type of control. Task 6b Within the public services there are a number of selection processes that evaluate and make the most of leadership shills and qualities. I am now going to look at the RCB I mentioned before and evaluate how good it is and how effective it is to turn out good leaders. The RCB is made up of two parts the briefing and main board. All candidates have to do the two day Briefing process which assesses the candidates suitability to go on to the Main Board. It also provides information on the structure and role of the Army and also candidates will be informed on what they can expect and what is expected of them on the main board. During this briefing there are a number of different tasks to be carried out by the candidates. One of these tasks being a computer based assessment known as an ACMAP, Army Commission Mental Aptitude Profile. This gives the assessors information on the candidate verbal, numerical and abstract abilities. A long side this there are a number of other activities which bring individuals up to the same standard so that candidates can give of their best when attending the Main Board. Throughout the process various Military Officers will assess the candidates. After this each candidate sits a debrief interview. During the interview the Officer will explain to the candidate how well they did and give them their results. Selection for the Main Board is based upon the potential shown by candidates at the Briefing. Prior to selection, candidates will be required to meet our physical selection standards. The briefing before the main RCB is designed to asses all candidates on their potential before taking part in the RCB which then leads on to officer training and entry into the Army at officer level. If this didnt take place some people who werent capable of leading a group of people into war or like situations. From this they can select people with high potential to take part in the RCB and be very effective officer within the Army structure. The Main Board forms the second component of the assessment and selection process for entry to RMAS and lasts four days. The Board selects from the field of suitably qualified candidates, those with the potential qualities of character, ability and leadership who should, after training, be able to command a sub-unit (platoon or troop) in the performance of common military tasks in peace and war. Arriving mid-morning of day one, candidates complete the battery of physical assessments then go on to complete an essay and undertake the computer based assessments: Army Commission Mental Aptitude Profile (ACMAP) Multiple Choice Assessments (MCTA). Day two gets under way with an Opening Discussion followed by a number of interviews designed to show the Army what you have to offer. Remember, sell yourself, make us want to buy. The remainder of day two is given over to outdoor activities including Opening Tasks and the Opening Race. Day Three commences with the written Planning Exercise leading into the discussion element where you are expected to answer some questions relating to your chosen plan. It is the one part of the Main Board that candidates never forget. After being inside for the morning, attentions once again turn to your performance outside in the Command Tasks and Individual Obstacles. The day culminates in a formal dinner in the Mess, this is a chance for candidates to sample life as a young officer. The last day of the Board is the last chance to show us what you have to offer. This is done in the form of the Closing Race where candidates must complete a number of objectives in a given time. After the race the Brigadier gives candidates a closing address before departing RCB. Over the assessment phase you will have shown the Board members your potential and it is this that the Boarding conferences are based upon. Board members discuss the evidence that they have collected and use this to reach the Boards decision. Candidates dont compete against each other at RCB, they compete against a standard; above the line and you pass, below the line and you fail. If selected, candidates will have demonstrated that they have the potential to be an Army Officer. Candidates will have rightly earned themselves a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (provided you pass the Army medical). We aim to dispatch the result letter to candidates on a Friday afternoon so that all candidates know their result by Monday.

Culture and packaging Essay Example for Free

Culture and packaging Essay Packaging is considered to be an integral part of the product and is the first point of contact with the brand for a consumer product. So, most of the companies that do business internationally redesign their packages for each market. The principle reason is that expectations and utilizations of consumers vary across cultures. The world’s two leading industrial powers, U. S. and Japan have almost opposite approaches to packaging. Packaging is recognized as an expression of culture in Japan and designed to be appreciated, whereas in America cultural aspect is largely ignored and packaging is calculated to be accepted. Foods that only Japanese eat have beautiful, traditionally designed wrappings that resemble handmade paper or leaves and accommodate scan able bar codes. Such products look Japanese and are intended to do so. Products that are foreign, such as coffee, look foreign even to the point of having only Roman lettering on the can. We speak of global villages and international markets, but packages reveal some unexpected cultural boundaries. Few examples of such cultural implication of packaging are- Canadians prefer to drink milk out of flexible plastic pouches that fit into reusable plastic holders while Americans are believed to be so resistant to the idea that they have not been given the opportunity to do so, Japanese consumers prefer packages that contain two tennis balls and view the standard U. S. package of three as cheap and undesirable, Germans insist on highly detailed technical specifications on packages of videotapes, while Americans don’t, Swedes consider blue Colour of packaging as masculine whereas Dutch consider it to be feminine and so on. (Eric, J. A. et al. , 2004, p. 298) Culture Packaging Colour Schmitt and Simpson (1997) states, Colour is one of the many marketing tools that global managers use to create, maintain, and modify brand images in customers’ minds while Schmitt and Pan (1994) discovers, Colour is also an important component of many corporate and brand-building cues, such as logos, packages, and displays. It is a commonality reflecting in the views of both the authors that- Colour is one of the major element which affects consumer perception regarding a brand. The research results show cross-cultural patterns of both similarity and dissimilarity in Colour preferences and Colour meaning associations. Colour used in packaging is equally important in determining a product’s desirability. â€Å"James Mandle, a Colour consultant, changed the Colour of Ty-D-Bol’s toilet bowl cleanser bottle from light and green to stark white letters on a dark background. He believed that the original Colours were â€Å"too wimpy† and that the new, bolder Colours would connote strength and cleanliness. In an 18 month period following the change of Colour, sales of Ty-D-Bol jumped 40% (Lane 1991). † (Thomas, J. M. et al. , 2000, p. 91) Packaging is not about Colour only there are various other factors involved in it. Factors like design shape of the package, text on the package and other factors of the packaging. But it is true that Colour is the most important attribute in terms of attracting the attention of the consumer. Packaging is not only made up of a single Colour but combination of Colours to create a brand image. So preferences in regard to combination of Colours also vary across cultures. Few examples of such combinations are of pairing Colours with green and red. The Colour best paired with green is yellow in Canada, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, blue in Columbia, and white in Austria. Only the Chinese and Taiwanese pair green with red as red is a potent Colour in China. In Brazil and the US people pair red with black, whereas in Canada, and China, the preferred combination with red is yellow. ( Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004) Culture Packaging Information Packaging not only protects and contains a product but also provide the consumer with loads of information about the product such as its composition, correct use etc. For instance, packaging of foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals provides information regarding the name of the product, manufacturer, country of origin, â€Å"best before† date and expiry date, ingredients and additives or composition of drug along with quantity and price. Since packaging is subject to country-specific legislation so ear of legal action has made many companies in the US and the UK includes all sorts of warnings on label instructions on consumer goods. On bar of Dial soap: â€Å"Directions: Use like regular soap. † On a Sears hairdryer: â€Å"Do not use while sleeping. † On packaging for a Rowenta iron: â€Å"Do not iron clothes on body. † On Nytol sleep aid: â€Å"Warning: May cause drowsiness. † On a child’s Superman costume: â€Å"Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly. † On Sainsbury’s peanuts: â€Å"Warning: contains nuts. † On Marks Spencer bread pudding: â€Å"Product will be hot after heating. † On Boot’s child’s cough medicine:† Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication. † ( Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004, p. 265) In the present scenario various countries have included packaging waste into hazardous matter to contribute in pollution. This led the government to adopt some policies to restrict the use of non recyclable products as a packaging material where it is not required. These have also posed challenge among business organizations to try and find out recyclable materials and present themselves as a responsible corporate citizen among the stakeholders. This is also one aspect of culture which leads to this kind of environmental concern approach. Culture Packaging Images/Pictures Imagery is an important element of packaging, as it enhances the accessibility of packaging information. As said by Bolen (1984), visual information in advertisements generally attracted more attention and was noticed before verbal advertising content. While Alesandrini (1982) declared, visual information may serve to attract consumer’s attention and set expectations for the contents of the verbal elements; the visual information thus serving as an â€Å"advance organizer† for the verbal elements of packaging. (Underwood et al. , 2001) Different culture recognizes various symbols differently with different meanings altogether. Picture that is very meaningful for people in one culture as it expresses important values of that culture can be completely meaningless to the people of the other culture. For instance, a box of pineapple cookies sold in Singapore has an image of a lion, as in Singapore lion is considered to be a symbol of royalty. Hence, if the similar box of cookies is launched in UK it won’t be given equivalent importance as in Singapore due to the differences lying in culture. Culture Packaging Communication Customer or prospect judges the products on the basis of its name as well. Language used on the product package including its brand or product name creates impression among consumers. Consumer interprets the information selectively on the basis of his culture and his own personal factors. Different aspects of marketing communications like corporate identity, brand name, package design, and advertising styles impacts consumer in certain ways. Marketing communications styles are interrelated with personal communication styles. Chinese-speaking consumers tend to judge a brand name based on its visual appeal whereas English speakers judge brand name based on whether the name sounds appealing. In Asia, visual symbolism is a key aspect of a firm’s corporate identity. A comparative study of package design across seven countries found that packages differ both in three-dimensional design and in the way they communicate through graphical design and vary in the use of textual information; use of Colour, shape, and symbolism; and degree of structure and detail in the package design. All the above differences are highly influenced by culture. Even the product category is influenced by the packaging design, for example Deodorant is communicated differently from cigarettes, and that is reflected in its design of the packaging. ( Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004, p. 213) Why it is important to understand culture differences in cultures? It is always very important for a marketer to understand the culture of his target market place. Many good products have failed in the market only due to ignorance of socio- cultural aspects. There are underlying components that influence culture such as religion, family, customs, politics, weather, etc, which must be taken into account when marketing products on an international basis. Consequently, it is important for marketers to be aware of the 25% of cultural differences in the world market to promote their product properly. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand similarities and differences in culture which also affects the consumer purchasing behaviours across the cultures. (Weber, J. M. et al. , 2002, p. 396) Tastes and preferences of consumers vary in different part of world. In the European continent itself consumer preferences and taste varies so much that retailers Marks Spencer had to made different advertising campaigns for each country. Initially Marks Spencer has a single uniform advertising for the whole of Europe in 2001. Later it recognized its weakness and immediately changed the advertising campaign according to the taste and preference of different parts of European continent at the end of 2001. Toyota’s model ‘Camry† was a huge success in US which it tried to launch in UK market in 2000. It was a huge failure due to difference in the lifestyle and cultural set up of these two countries. Toyota re-launched it later with changes in the model according to the European culture and it was a huge success. Companies have to estimate the strength of their products along with the market they are trying to trap irrespective of their own brand name and value. One of the mistakes by the snacks giant Kellogg’s is Indian market was with its breakfast cereals. Within Indian culture people tend to eat heavy breakfast in the morning. In such market breakfast cereals as a healthier alternative to the heavy Indian breakfast was unattractive offer to the Indians. Later on company improved its communication strategies and compared it with traditional chapattis (Indian breads). Even in that case Kellogg’s could sell to a Westernized niche market only. So it is quite clear from the above examples that thorough understanding of the culture as well as its differences across cultures is very important to survive in today’s competitive environment. There are some other companies which have done very well in understanding various markets on socio-cultural dimensions like Disney, Pizza hut, dominos, Mc-Donald’s and others. Success pf these brands was result of their conscious effort to keep the significance of culture in their minds. These companies went local irrespective of their global operations for each and every market for them. One such example is Mc-Donald’s. The reasons behind success of Mc-Donald’s in foreign markets apart from a strong brand image and consistent service a standard around the world is, its advertising which is local and its product offer has a local touch. Examples are the Kiwi burger in New Zealand; the Maharaja Mac in India; the Prosperity burger in Malaysia; the Teriyaki burger in Japan; the McKorket in the Netherlands; McLaks, a grilled salmon burger, in Norway; and the Croque McDo in France that refers to the popular French â€Å"Croque Monseiur†, a hot ham and cheese sandwich. Advertising by McDonald’s in France tied into local habits and symbols. In 2001, for example, advertising for McDonald in France tied into â€Å"Asterix and Obelisk,† the most famous historical cartoon of the nation. Hence, localization makes it increasingly important for marketing and advertising people to understand the influence of culture. ( Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004, p. 18) Importance of Colours can not be ignored in the case of international markets. Colours are associated with different cultural beliefs, moods and meanings. Understanding of these aspects of Colour, culture and society helps the organization to develop appropriate strategy. As said by (Kirmani 1997: Schmitt and Pan 1994), one marketing cue that global managers can use regardless of location is Colour. The effects of culture on the meaning associated with Colours are very critical for international marketing purposes. â€Å"Wagner, the creator of the Wagner Colour Research Institute, contends that Colours are associated with certain images (Lane 1991). For example, Blue is associated with wealth, trust, and security: Gray is associated with strength, exclusively, and success: and orange denotes cheapness. These associations may explain why banks are more likely to Colour their logos and collateral using Blue or Gray rather than orange ( Seitel 1993). It is cultural background due to which Colour has a strong effect on choice of a customer. It is important to understand which Colours are preferred by people in different cultures. It will help to create, maintain, or modify brand images in consumers’ minds. The associated with Colours and combination of Colours are important to understand for any marketer. â€Å"Colour combinations are considered culturally bound with certain ideologies and traditions (Geboy 1996). For example, black on red signifies happiness to Chinese people and is commonly used for wedding invitations while a combination of red over white represents celebration and signifies the life force to the Japanese ( Tektronix 1998). (Thomas, J. M. et al. , 2000) After Colour it is cultural beliefs which have impact on the consumer minds. It is important to understand the beliefs related to target product category within the target market place. For instance in India people feel that ancient herbal methods are good choices over the cosmetic options available today. This led various cosmetics company in India to launch their promotional programs comparing their product with traditional methods or showing the products equivalent to the traditional benefits. In these leading brands like Lux, Fair Lovely and many others are present. Success of a fair and lovely brand due to the fact that Indians believe fairness is beautiful. Vicco turmeric cream is another example which positioned itself as a cream that would be useful for would-be brides to enhance their complexions, as applying turmeric for skin care is a part of the Indian tradition. These types of behaviour which are associated with a specific culture or belief can also be associated with different product categories such as, for instance, the bindi worn in most parts of India. It is important that the brand name selected for such a product category should have an ethnic-sounding name whereas a Western name is prone to be counter-productive. (S Ramesh Kumar, 2003) Another product category is food where the role of mother and grand mother is considered important. This is the reason all spices, traditional quick meals and cooking oil etc contain some or more of the mother’s recipe kind of concept. Not only that change in the societal socio-cultural structure can also be seen as some of the advertisement in India show modern man helping their women in their work as well like washing clothes or taking care of child. There is a strong need to understand and consider the culture which constitutes of the values, beliefs and habits of consumers which show a discrepancy across the nations. The other aspect of the changing cultural environment and upcoming trends are also important to understand.

Urban Planning Urban Design

Urban Planning Urban Design Urban Planning Urban Design ABSTRACT The effect of over exploitation of nature resources by human and also lack of awareness of good planning and design in the cities causes many problems to many cities in the world. That is why it was crucial to have good planning system in the city and also to put the planning into practice with the design of the city itself. Urban planning is a mixture of planning in physical (like roads, maps and land use plan) but also it is dealing with nonphysical planning like regulation, policies in the city or regional levels. Furthermore urban designs are more focusing on the art of making places; this includes the way places work and matters such as community safety. The integration between these two fields is that urban planners are more focusing on the function of the city as a whole, and the urban designers will try to interpret it in the design of the city. One of the main elements in urban planning and urban design is green open space. The latter is the region or ground surface area which is dominated by plants that are promoted to a particular habitat protection functions. Green open space has many various functions which vary from social, economical and environmental aspects. One of the better ways to improve the green open space and conserve it is by implementing smart growth. The latter is one of the researches that have been conducted in USA to approach a sustainable development in America. These researches have produced ten principles of successful community from every part of the world. The principles in smart growth are considered to be good examples to be also implemented in other countries. Furthermore, the use of the smart growth principles needs to localize these principles regarding to the country condition, culture and legislation. In general, the understanding of the characteristics of different types of open spaces in an urban and rural matrix may guide authorities (local and country) in the long term planning process. The assessment of change in green open space system is equally important to take measures in maintaining livable countries and cities. Also planning and designing for a green open space are very important in promoting the development of any country. URBAN PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN (Green open space) Since the existence of humankind, planning was among the main issues to deal with; this is so because planning helps him to organize his activities and to predict his future. It is on the basis of this that cities have also been put into account in planning. However, as the human society is growing up, this development is bringing some problems to our earth since there is over exploitation of the world resources. Due to this over exploitation of the earth, natural resources; and other mal- human activities (socio-economic), such as pollution and waste problems, lose of natures conservation, biodiversity, ecology and green coupled with the emergence and dangers of climate change, global warming and its negative implications on living quality in recent times and in future to the whole world, there is a growing interest in sustainability, sustainable development and its incorporation into plans of all sorts. Despite this issues of global warming, researches have shown that green open space can be one of the solutions of that problem. Green open space has effect on microclimates. Trees and planting can result in the reduction of peak summer temperatures by up to 5 ° Celsius. Thus, trees can be included in the Citys street scene designs wherever possible, to provide shade and cooling and consequently reduce global warming (City of London, 2009). Basing on the above said, we found important to discuss about urban design and urban planning: Green Open Space. CONNECTION BETWEEN URBAN PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN According to Peter Hall, 2002, the verb ‘to plan and the noun ‘planning and planner, have in fact only the second general group of meanings: they do refer to the art of drawing up a physical plan or design on paper. They can mean either ‘either ‘to arrange the parts of or ‘to realize the achievement of ‘or more vaguely, to ‘intend. The most common meaning of planning involves both the first two of these elements; planning is concerned with deliberately achieving some objectives and it proceeds by assembling actions into some orderly sequence. It is on the basis of this that Gallion and Eisner, 1993, defined urban planning as an attempt to create an orderly development in urban areas and reduce social conflicts and economic conditions that would endanger the lives and property. On the other hand, urban design is about how to recapture certain of the qualities (qualities which we experience as well as those we see) that we associate with the traditional city: a sense of order, place, and continuity, richness of experience, completeness and belonging. Urban design lies somewhere between the broad-brush abstractions of planning and the concrete specifics of architecture. (Cowan, 1997). As we can see it through the definitions, there are some similarities and differences between these two subjects. Though, the above definition can be summarized as follows (see the table below): From this table, urban planning has a role to make sure that a city is working and functioning well that is why urban and regional planning is focusing on various issues such as economical, social and environmental issues while, urban design is more focusing on aesthetical values like sense of place, building character, pedestrian design and design of public space. Furthermore, sometimes urban planners can become very micro like urban designers. They can make some designs of the cities which is the main task of urban designers. In revenge urban designers can make plans for policies and guidelines. Because urban planning and urban design are very wide, we found important to discuss about green open space as a focus point. GREEN OPEN SPACE Green Open Space is the region or ground surface area which is dominated by plants that are promoted to a particular habitat protection functions, and / or facilities neighborhood / city, and / or network security infrastructure, and / or agricultural cultivation. (Directorate General of Spatial Planning, Indonesia Ministry of Public Works, 2007). Nowadays, the concept open space in complex matrix is not limited only to the urban park and preserves but also non park-non natural-places. Public spaces such as streets, school yards, outdoor sport complexes, cemeteries, and public squares are important green open spaces (Hall, 1998). Why plan and design for green open space? The process of getting everyone together to think about community needs is worthwhile endeavor in itself. An urban open space plan is much more than a land acquisition plan. It can make a wide variety of recommendations about the future of a country. So, we have to plan for a green open space because:  · A green open space plan is the flip side of a development plan. After identifying important green open spaces, it will be much more apparent where development should occur.  · It recommends land use regulations that will help to protect the community from uneconomic and inefficient sprawl. (Department of Environmental Conservation , California, 2004) It is for this reason that it is essential for urban planners to determine the function of green open space in order to increase its value (such as water conservation, wetland area, city lungs). When you talk about why plan and design for green open space, it is essential to look at the size and levels of green open space. Green Open Space (size and level) It exists two types of green open space: rural open space and urban open space. Rural open space is made of habitat, recreation, health/ safety (flooding/seismic), agriculture/ rangelands, river and stream parkways while urban open space is constituted by recreation, trails and parkways, stream and canal corridors, natural resources and public space (Department of Environmental Conservation, California, 2004). However, it is too difficult to determine an international size of green open space by different levels because every country has its policies, own physical characteristics and culture but we have an example from United Kingdom which can be a best practice. The United Kingdom Accessible Natural Green Space Standard (ANGS) mentioned that:  · No person should live more than 300 m from their nearest area of natural green space of at least two (2) hectares in size;  · There is provision of at least two (2) hectares of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 population;  · That there should be at least one accessible 20 ha site within two (2) km from home  · That there should be one accessible 100 ha site within five (5) km;  · That there should be one accessible 500 ha site within (10) km. We can not only discuss about the size and levels of green open space in urban planning and urban design, we need also to recognize the functions of green open space because the latter are always planned for certain purposes. Function of Green open space Green open spaces are vital part of landscapes with its own specific set of function. Open spaces (natural or manmade) contribute to the quality of life in many ways (Burke and Ewan, 1999). Beside important environmental benefits (such as improvement of the quality of air, soil and water, decrease of noise levels, reduction of thermal amplitude variations, protection against the winds, waste Management, improvement of the infiltration and drainage of storm water, reduction of flood risks), these areas provide social psychological services (such as Recreation and Leisure, Increasing physical and Psychological well-being, Sociability) which are critical for the livability of the city and well being of urbanites (Chiesura, 2004). Thompson (2002) sees green open space as places to celebrate cultural diversity, to engage with natural processes and to conserve memories. Green open space has also economic function: it promotes the image of the city, increase the selling point. It contribute s ecologically because it diminishes the process of erosion and promotes biodiversity. These above functions can be combined each other. For example in Houten, we saw that green open space is combined with wet land area. The functions of green open space are water conservation and recreation. Also, green areas are used to encourage people to cycling. This is done by planning green open space along the bicycle pathways. Here, green space has multifunctional purpose like encouraging cycling and enhancing community health. As it is stated above, today, green open space is mainly planned with a purpose of fighting against global warming; this is why we found important to talk about its role in combating against this worldwide issue. THE ROLE OF GREEN OPEN SPACE IN FIGHTING AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE There is a growing consensus that global warming is one of the greatest threats facing humanity. Different researches have shown that greenhouse gases are the first to keep the earth warm, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees mean less carbon dioxide conversion of oxygen. This is why some scientists say that: â€Å"The bigger are the cities, the more the urban citizen is deprived of contact with the environment, the more he despises or simply ignores the other elements of ecosystem. He becomes more and more hostile and the men look for refuge during more time inside artificial environment† Monteiro, 2001. This author wanted to express that the growing of the city affects the environment because the forest, trees or green in general are replaced by urban infrastructures like houses, streets, public building, etc. This idea is also supported by Sing Chew, 2001 in his book: world ecological degradation. Accumulation, urbanization and deforestation, he said that: â€Å"In all the process of urbanization, depending on the nature and levels of consumption and production, generates ecological degradation when the nature becomes extremely exploitative. It is true that if you build a bigger city you will consume more sources and also you could have big impact to the environment, and if you are not limiting the growth of your cities you will lose a lot of nature area. However, big cities have a lot of advantages and opportunities thus we cannot do away from them because of green open space. Big cities are good for economy so to have big cities is not a problem; it depends upon of how you plan for them. You have to limit the growth of the cities, integrate cities with environment and make sure that people have more contact with environment. And as you know, you cannot achieve this without good planning, this is why it is important to discuss about green open space and planning. GREEN OPEN SPACE AND PLANNING According to Knopf, 1987; Gerlach-Spriggs et al., 1998; Cooper Marcus and Barnes, 1999), for thousands of years, there have been ideas to the effect that human health and welfare are influenced in a positive way by his spending time in natural surroundings wild nature as well as enclosed gardens. It is for that reason that green open space is the main issue to be prioritized in city planning. It can be primarily planned if you consider the green open spaces as your main priority; it means that you emphasize the environmentally friendly concept rather than other issues. For examples: Green Cities and Eco-Village. On the other hand, open space and green must be planned at the same level with other activities. Example if you are planning for a residential area you cannot prioritize green open space but you have to plan for it at the same level with housing. This is very important for sustainability and as we know, sustainability takes into account social, economical and environmental aspects. It also depends on the situation that occurs in that country, for example if the transportation issues like traffic congestion or urbanization are more dominant more than any other issues then the planning will give emphasis more on the transportation issues. Concerning the role of urban and regional planners, they can develop plans for long-and short-term land use and growth and regeneration of green spaces. Planners seek to optimize land for parks and other public facilities related to the green open space. They can help local leaders to lessen social, economic and ecological issues by recommending sites for green space. In order to enhance the awareness and understanding of this, urban planners could use media such as mass media, magazines, online media, radio, news papers, and television as tools of communicating with community and stakeholders, about how the urban planner arranges the space in the same understandings and meanings (Edison, 2009). There should be at least a diversion of responsibilities of all stakeholders in arrangement and using of spaces. In that way we could make a comfortable, safe, productive and sustain living environment (Fauzi, 2009).This work includes forecasting future needs of the population. Planners consi der the public opinions to ensure that these facilities meet the needs of a growing population and development. They can also help to make decisions about resource development and protection of green spaces. The planners can also help to legislate on the environment thus green open space will be well protected and will always be attractive. On the side of finance, they can look at the aspect of taxation, though they can plan for green open space near high class residential areas (taxes can be paid by high level income people). CONCLUSION: Grosso modo, green open space is among the infrastructures that contribute to the smooth development of our world because it has social, economical and environmental functions. Due to the functions and the role green open space plays in the cities, they are fundamental elements, inductors of quality of life. When they get organized in systems like the green structure, their value is potentiated and incremented then contributing more efficiently to the quality of life. It is for that reason that green open space has to be promoted in the whole world. In nowadays, green open space is well thought-out because of its role in fight against the global warming and climate change. That is why it is incorporated in different spatial plans around the world. At this juncture, urban planners are identifying important green open spaces and determine always much more apparent where development should occur. So, land use regulations that will help to protect the community from uneconomic and ineffi cient sprawl will be put in place. This planning is done at different level with various size of green open space (we have to note that this differ from one country to another). After analyzing the importance of green open space, we discovered that smart growth can be a solution for green open space (in planning) because it takes into account the concept of sustainability. (Heberle and Susan M.Opp, 2008) and it is in smart growth that we find the principle of mix land uses which always gives room for green open space (Wheeler, M. and Beatley, T. (2006). Thus, it is suggested to urban planners to think about smart growth when planning for green open space in cities. Here, urban planners are obliged to work with national, regional, and local partners to give the tools and means needed to ascertain and prioritize areas to realize smart green open space. The implementation of locally based, long term green open space plans is a critical element in achieving smart growth. Well-managed open space programs can safeguard the natural green infrastructure of a place, offering opportunities for recreation, preserving important environmental and ecological functions, an d enhancing community quality of life. REFERENCES Burke. and Ewan, J., 1999. Sonoran Preserve Master Plan for the Phoenix Sonoran Desert, City of Phoenix Parks, Recreation and Library Department. Chiesura, A., 2004. The Role of Urban Parks for the Sustainable City. Landscape and Urban Planning. 68, pp. 129-138. Cook, E. A., 2000. Ecological Networks in Urban Landscapes. Wageningen University, Wageningen. Cook, E. A., 2002. Landscape structure indices for assessing urban ecological networks. Landscape and Urban Planning, 58, pp. 269-280. Cooper Marcus, C. Barnes, M. (Eds.). 1999. Healing gardens: Therapeutic benefits and design recommendations. New York: John Wiley Sons. Cowan, R. (1997) The Connected City, London, Urban Initiatives. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.id/books?id=ofW92R6svXICpg=RA1-PA28dq=Cowan,+R.+(1997)++The+Connected+City+,+London,+Urban+Initiativeshl=nlcd=1#v=onepageq=Cowan%2C%20R.%20(1997)%20%20The%20Connected%20City%20%2C%20London%2C%20Urban%20Initiativesf=fal at 1 December 2009. Eisner, S., A. Gallion, and S. Eisner. (1993). The Urban Pattern. (Sixth Edition). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Retrieved from: http://iaps.scix.net/cgi bin/works/Show? Iaps_18_2004_138 at 1 December 2009. English Nature,( 2003). Accessible Natural Green Space Standards in Towns and Cities: A Review and Toolkit for their Implementation. External Relations Team English Nature. Northminster House. England Hall, P., 1998. Sociable Cites: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard, Wiley, Chichester. Hall, 2002. Urban and regional planning. Fourth Edition. Routeledge. New York. Knopf, R.C. 1987. Human behavior, cognition, and affect in the natural environment. In D. Stoklas I. Altman, (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp.783-825). New York: John Wiley. Morris, C. 1971. Writings on the general theory of signs. Approaches to Semiotics 16, 1-486. Lauren C. Heberle and Susan M.Opp, 2008.Local Sustainable Urban Development in a Globalized World. Ashgate publishing limited. Hampshire. Laboratory of Landscape Planning Department of Landscape Architecture Faculty of Agriculture IPB. 2005 .Workshop Papers Development of Green Open Space System in City. Directorate General of Spatial Planning. Indonesia Ministry of Public Works. Retrieved from: http://www.penataanruang.net/taru/Makalah/051130-rth.pdf at 1 December 2009. Thompson, C.W., 2002. Urban open space in the 21st century. Landscape and Urban Planning. 60(2), pp. 59-72. Wheeler, M. and Beatley, T. (2006). The sustainable urban development reader, Routledge publications, New York. Internet reference: Bowo, Fauzi. 2009. http://www.jakarta.go.id/v70/index.php/en/bangunan-cagar-budaya/176-latest/2569-hari-tata-ruang-dki-kembalikan-fungsi-jalur-hijau. Spatial Planning Day The Restoration of Green Lines function. The Official Website of Jakarta Province. Consulted at 13 December 2009. City of London (2009). www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/openspaces. Parks and open spaces. London. Consulted at December 8, 2009. Edison Naiborhu , Bahal . 2009. http://www.penataanruang.net/eng/detail_b_en.asp?id=841. Important Role of Mass Media towards Spatial Order. Jakarta. Directorate General of Spatial Planning, Indonesia. Consulted at 13 December 2009.

Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness There are many themes that run through the novel Heart of Darkness. There are however two main and significant ones. These are the theme of restraint and man's journey into self. The importance of restraint is stressed throughout Heart of Darkness. In the novel Marlow is saved by restraint, while Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Marlow felt different about Africa before he went, because the colonization of the Congo had "an idea at the back of it." Despite an uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would operate there. He soon reaches the Company station and receives his first shock, everything there seems meaningless. He sees no evidence here of that "devotion to efficiency" that makes the idea work. In the middle of this, Marlow meets a "miracle". The chief accountant has the restraint that it takes to get the job done. He keeps up his apearance and his books are in "apple-pie order." Marlow respects this fellow because he has a backbone. "The cannibals some of those ignorant millions, are almost totally characterized by restraint." They outnumber the whites "thirty to five" and could easily fill their starving bellies. Marlow "would have as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield." The cannibals action is "one of those human secrets that baffle probability." This helps Marlow keep his restraint, for if the natives can possess this quality Marlow feels he certainly can. Kurtz is the essence of the lack of restraint Marlow sees everywhere. Kurtz has "kicked himself loose from the earth." "He owes no allegiance to anything except those animal powers, those various lusts, those unpermitted aspirations lurking in the darkness of his inner station. Marlow also responds to these dark callings, and he almost becomes their captive. He confuses the beat of the drum (the call to man's primitive side) with his own heartbeat, and is pleased. Yet he does not slip over the edge as Kurtz does. Marlow keeps to the track. When he is confronted with the ultimate evil where a man "must fall back on (his) own innate strength, upon (his) own capacity for faithfulness," he is able to do so,