Study Skills and Daily Homework

I think that daily homework is necessary for a student. Daily homework is a important factors in life of education. A lot of students face daily homework in school for years. I think that there are a lot of useful points. Firstly, I will explain that homework supply a person that he or she is regular. Secondly, I will talk that daily homework develop achievement. Thirdly, I will explain that daily homework supply feel of relaxing. Firstly, a lot of student study lesson in only exams time and generally they postpone many things.Therefore, in points daily homework is essential for students. If they had daily homework, they had to get up early and both will daily homework and will not postpone something. For instance, my sister is student at high school and generally her teacher gives daily homework. My sister was a irregular person in past but she is regular in terms of daily homework. As a result, I think that if you want to be a regular person, daily homework is the best way for it. Secondly, I believe that daily homework is a important way for both study lesson and repeat lesson.When students stroll away, I think that a lot of students don’t find time for studying lesson but while they are doing daily homework, they remember that what explain in lesson and students repeat in term of daily homework. For example, my cousin Ali always don’t like studying lesson because he thinks that studying lesson is boring but generally Ali is successful for and doing daily homework. In conclusion, daily homework shoes achievement. Moreover, I think that daily homework supply feels of relaxing. When a student do daily homework, he or she feels relax because he or she thinks that I don’t have homework, now I can do what want.For instance, my teachers give a lot of daily homework so I always do homework in the evening. After I do daily homework, I relax and sometimes I watch TV or search on the Internet. As a result, when people do something, they relax and this is the best feels. As a result, daily homework is important for students. Daily homework has a lot of advantages like repeating lesson, giving feel of relaxing and be a regular person I believe that daily homework play a important role in my achievement at university or high school. Therefore daily homework is necessary for a student. All right, why do you try doing your daily homework?

The Effect Of External Factors On Purchase

The results demonstrate that demographic, geographic and group significantly effect Pl. The findings of this study help marketing, managers and companies to understand young Malaysian consumers' behavior and Pl. Keywords: external factors, purchase intention (Pl), young generation, Malaysia 1. Introduction Nowadays, purchase intention is more complicated and more significant for consumers than in the past. Customers are encompassed by reports, advertisements, articles and direct mailings that provide large amount of information.Moreover, different kinds of products, supplies, super markets and shopping malls have complex and difficult decision making. This study focuses on the young generation in Malaysia because of some reasons. Firstly, immature customer segment is known as special segment for some special products. Secondly, at the period of evolution from youth to early maturity, these customer segments have their unique consumer behaviors and attitudes (Safari, AAA). Thirdly, ju veniles' effect on their families and shape family consumer behavior; finally, young consumers can change and influence culture as well as society (Safari, AAA).In addition, according to the previous studies, investigators argued that the external actors (demographic, geographic and group) influence Pl. Besides, there are some difficulties in applying these factors and measuring their effects on Pl. The effect of demographic on Pl is complicated and confusing that needs to be examined. For instance, consumers 18 to 24-year-old are â€Å"more likely than other consumers to buy a product on the spur of the moment and change brands if the mood strikes† (Abdul Raze & Summarizing, 2009). Apart from that, there are still some studies that indicate the males and females behave and make Pl in different Ways. Teenage boys were more utilitarian, whereas manage girls are more social/conspicuous conscious† (Cathy & Vincent, 2006). Furthermore, different races have different behavio rs, which can significantly affect Pl; for example, the Malady are more patriotic to the local brands compared to two other Malaysian races. Likewise, group influence significantly affects Pl. Group (social networks, television, influential, books) influences on young generation in Malaysia and changes their culture, behavior and purchase intention because they have adapted with other cultures (Eon, Ata & Philip, 2008). 2.Literature Review Purchase intention means a consumer prefers to buy a product or service cause he/she finds that he/she needs a particular product or service, or even attitude towards a product and perception of product. In other words, purchase intention means consumer will buy a product once again after she or he evaluates a product and finds out that the product worth buying. While consumers select one particular product, the final decision on accepting 153 WV,m. Essence. Org/birr International Business Research Volvo. 5, No. 8; 2012 a product to buy or rejecti ng it depends on consumers' intention.Also, a large number of external factors have been recognized, which can affect Pl (Keller, 2001). 2. The Effect of Demography on Pl One of the most important features which influence Pl is demographic (age, gender and race). Young consumers in different ages have different behavior. A nineteen years old consumer may behave differently with a twenty five years old consumer. For example, some young consumers are more concerned on the labeled products than other young consumers (Nabob & Mimed, 2010). The effect of gender depends on some factors.For example, females are more concerned about those kinds of products that are directly related to house because as housewives, the quality of the products is more important or them compared to men. Thereby, label, brands and quality have effects on consumers' PI (Seasonal, All & Seabird, 2006; Safari, Bibb). The other factors that shape Pl among males and females are information and education. For example, a study shows that females are less experienced with online purchasing; therefore, they rely on other recommendations than males during decision making process (Ciao & Yang, 2010).Atmosphere and environment also influence on consumers' Pl among males and females. An investigation shows that music in restaurants has more effect on females than males. Stephanie Wilson, 2003). In addition, studies showed that men are more risk taking than women and they are more reliance on themselves to make purchase decision than women (Seed, 2003). Different ethnic groups act differently to make purchase decision. For example, studies in the United States have shown that African-Americans in some cases have different purchase intentions than the whites (Americans).Some factors can have effects on different races such as media, advertisements, and televisions. The other example shows that 16% of married white women are more likely to do mom purchase than married black women in the United States; but some other factors (socio-economic, environment, culture, income) could be combined with race to achieve better outcomes (Ciao & Yang, 2010). 2. 2 The Effect of Geography on Pl The other external factor that influences consumers' Pl is geography. Locations that products are being produced and manufactured are very important for consumers and can shape their Pl.A place to shop for organic products is crucially integral for consumers. For instance, a research demonstrates that majority of consumers prefer to buy their organic food ND products from hypermarkets and shopping malls and only a few of them enjoy of buying products in farms (Sit & Inertia, 2010). 2. 3 The Effect of Group on Pl Group also affects consumers and their Pl. Previous experiences of celebrities have utilized different assumptions and basic theoretical grounds Of psychology to describe how a sponsorship as an influential effect consumers' Pl and their behavior (Speed & Thompson, 2000).Sport celebrities as a group of influential figures have significant influences on young consumers especially when they want to make decision to choose a brand and Pl. Star members in each team have significant effects on consumer behavior. Thus, they would make brand for the team's sponsor because team members are able to attract enormous amount of consumers for a brand (Arcadias & Fairyland, 2006). 3. Research Methodology 3. 1 Measures Data has been mainly collected based on primary research and secondary research was used as well. Previous literatures were studied to recognize the factors influencing consumer Pl.Learning and understanding key points from previous literatures were combined with this current research study to obtain better results. Sampling strategy is based on probability based. The population is in age group of 17-32 years old as millennial/young generation. Questionnaire has distributed to some Malaysian universities. According to the aim of this research, the race of population has to be M alaysian only and questions Were written in English language. The sample Was selected from universities (senior and junior students). SPAS soft. Are was used to measure/ analyze the data. 3. 2 Hypothesis Demographic factors positively effects on purchase intention, for example, there is a difference between young consumers and adult generation in the ease of purchase intention. In some cases, male and female consumers act differently to make purchase decision and also different races have different influences on purchase intention 154 WV. Essence. Org/birr Volvo. 5, NO. 8; 2012 (Hide, Gerard & Alex, 2008). Thereby, age, gender and race are strongly affecting Pl, which has been proven by previous studies.HI : (a): Age influence PI (b): Gender influence Pl (c): Race influence Pl Malaysia is divided into two different parts: west and east. Sit (2010) noted that different areas and locations have different effects on consumers' behavior and purchase intention. Consumers in cities and vi llages (rural and urban) have different behavior and purchase intention (Wong & Yah, 2008). Therefore, rural and urban influence Pl differently. H2O: Geographic influence on Pl. Friend, relative, colleague/classmates and Media impact on purchase intention. HA: Group affects Pl. . 3 Data Collection The questionnaire in this study has been distributed to 350 respondents. 325 respondents have returned the completed questionnaire, which made up 93% of overall responses. We have given the questionnaire to students usually in their classes and we had left them and given them enough time to answer the questions. After 30 to 45 minutes we went back to classes and ask students to return questionnaires. The SPAS software has been used to analyze the effects of external factors (demographic, geographic and group influence) on Pl.Consumers between 17-32 years old were selected as young generation. The research was carried out at different regions in Malaysia such as International Islamic Univer sity Malaysia (MM), University Sebastian Malaysia (LIKE), University Putty Malaysia (JIM), Multimedia University (MIX) and Nation Library. The questions mainly examined the effects of rends, relatives, classmates/colleagues and media on consumers' Pl. All scales measured on 7-point Liker-type scales ranging from â€Å"strongly disagree† to â€Å"strongly agree†. The demographic factor is divided into three separate categories.These three groups involved age, gender and race, which will be explained in the following subsections. As demonstrated in Table 1, most respondents involved are in the age group of 22-26 years old. Analysis shows that 30. 2% of the respondents belong to 17-21 age group, 40. 9% belong to 22-26 age group and only 28. 9% are in the age range of 27-32 years old. The majority of the respondents are females; 221 respondents are female (68%) and 1 04 are males, which contributes to 32% of the total respondents participated in this study.

People, Power and Politics in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

People, Power and Politics in Canada - Essay Example The department is also tangentially responsible for encouraging a level of multiculturalism within the country as part of its founding charter dictates that this goal is paramount towards the success of the department and of the nation as a whole. This is of course mainly due to the fact that Canada is one of the most multi-cultural nations within the developed world. What this entire level of government involvement is intended for is to provide a level of oversight and funding with regards to how the culture of Canada is growing as well as ensure that certain key cultural functions remain funded and well developed; thereby helping to create a more extensive and well nuanced culture within the country itself. It is therefore the viewpoint of this particular author that the utilization of public funds to encourage such results is not only permissible but highly advantageous for the growth and development of the nation. When one considers the key factors that help to differentiate a na tion and give it a degree of culture that it would otherwise have, these are ultimately factors that help the nation and/or people groups represented therein to develop themselves in an even more effective way than they normally would. One need look no further than the other nations of the developed world to note that similar programs utilizing public funds to affect such an end have been highly successful and have helped to develop art and culture that otherwise may have passed into oblivion had it not been for the injection of government funds and interests into such arenas. Define responsible government in Canada. Although one may consider the term â€Å"responsible government† to merely be some type of over-arching premise by which the government should behave in a responsible manner towards the people it ultimately represents, the fact of the matter is that the term itself is far more nuanced than this. In essence, the term â€Å"responsible government† represents a type of governmental system in which the government is responsible to the people and the executive ultimately responsible both to the people and the House of Assembly. Although this type of rational has long existed in other representative governments throughout the world, what exists in Canada represents a type of implementation of the â€Å"vote of no confidence†. Use of this term can be dated to around the middle to latter half of the 18th century. Whereas all forms of representative democracy allow for leadership changes based upon elections, the principle of â€Å"representative government† signifies a situation in which the executive will lose his/her status and be forced to convene a new government if a loss of trust and/or confidence is realized within the House of Assembly. What this effectively does is make the This means that if there exists a situation in which the members of any government play a game of trust and confidence with regards to the House of Assembly. As one might expect, if this game is lost, then the House of Assembly calls for their dismissal and the formation of a new government must be engaged. In essence, the true strength behind such a system is the understanding of power and where it ultimately comes from. According to the Canadian system of governance, power can be defined in the following five ways. Firstly, the title to executive power comes from the Crown. The second determinant of power attests to the fact that the Crown will only select ministers who have confidence of the House of Asse

Web Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Web Security - Essay Example Web security manages and secures web traffic by sorting threats of web malware, blocking URL’s containing inappropriate content, and prevents the loss of confidential data over protocols on the web. Attackers use the web to deliver viruses such as malware. A huge percentage of breaches involve crimes that target corporate information. Another challenge of brand impairment occurs when the contractors or employees make postings that are inappropriate to sites of social networking. Therefore, the on-site contractors and employees expose an organization to legal uncertainties by visiting sites containing inappropriate content. Consequently, the productivity of an organization will suffer if the contractors and the employees exceed the use of the web during working hours. Web security ensures that the confidential information and networks are available and secure. Also, it protects the networks coming from outside such as malware posted over the web. Web security enhances the web p rotection and reduces the legal exposure by blocking restricted sites. Subsequently, it scans email of the internet and other web traffic that are outbound to reduce the loss of confidential data. It also prevents and detects proliferation to protect the end users against application threats. Web security also chooses among hosted, appliance, and premises options for web filtering and web security. Table of Contents WEB SECURITY. 1 MEMORANDUM 1 ABSTRACT. 6 INTRODUCTION 6 BACKGROUND 7 OBJECTIVES 8 FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO WEB SECURITY 8 Human and Technological Factors 9 The knowledge of the user 9 The technology that is in use at that particular time 9 Tools for Security 9 The necessary tools available for security 9 SECURITY CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ADDRESSING 9 User and Technology Factors 10 Responsibility of the User 10 Relevance to Security 10 Sweet Development 11 Design 12 Visualization 12 HISTORY OF WEB SECURITY 12 History of Web Tools 13 Preventing SQL injection 13 Creating awaren ess to web security 14 Tools to detect web attacks 14 Web versus desktop applications 15 Intelligent information systems 16 INTERNET CONTROLS: 16 Intrusion Detection System: 17 Signature-based network intrusion detection system: 18 Analysis-based network intrusion detection system: 18 Firewalls: 19 Encryption program: 19 Honey popts: 19 CONCLUSION 20 REFERENCE 21 3.Singh, Brijendra and Agarwal, Pooja. â€Å"Algorithm for Web Server Security† IETE Journal of Research57.5 (Sep 2011): 413-422. 22 6.Hossain, Md Safaet and Hossain, Md Shazzad. â€Å"Web Test Integration and Performance Evaluation of E-Commerce Web Sites† International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security10.9 (Sep 2012): 65-69. 23 7.Serrhini, Mohammed. Moussa, Abdelazziz Ait. â€Å"Home Users Security and the Web Browser Inbuilt Settings, Framework to Setup IT Automatically† Journal of Computer Science9.2 (2013): 159-168. 23 9.Volkoviy, Andrei and Chekhov, Ilia. â€Å"Use of Mobile Ap plications in Security and Safety Systems† Information & Security28.1 (2012): 146-153. 24 APPENDIX A. GLOSSARY 25 IT Systems: These are secure systems developed and can automatically detect threats and ensure that they are removed without the involvement of the user. 26 APPENDIX B. RESEARCH METHODS. 28 ABSTRACT. This final report discusses the topic of web security and some of the risks that internet users all over the world experience. Over the years, web security has grown to become a very crucial part of our daily life. This is shown by the manner in which most of the world population conducts their business (Alanazi, Fahad, &Mohamed, 2011 87). These include, doing bank transactions,

Use of Remote Sensing for Development by the Indian Space Research Essay - 1

Use of Remote Sensing for Development by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - Essay Example National development normally requires a comprehensive survey of the available natural resources in a country. This will help to optimize the management and sustainability of the available resources by making use of the strengths of remote sensing (Navalgund et al, 2007). India as a country has embraced remote sensing in development activities through various institutions such as the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in various fields such as agriculture, water resources management, management of forests and ecosystems, climate change and urban planning. These areas in which ISRO has employed the use of remote sensing for development activities are as discussed below. Agriculture normally supports 60 % of the total population of India and normally contributes about 2.5 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. Remote sensing techniques have been extensively used as a tool for improvement on crop production by providing solutions for the current problems. A joint operation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Agriculture resources inventory and survey experiment (ARISE) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been used to forecast the production of crops in the country. Aerial color infrared photographs were used to estimate the acreage of crops in the district of Anantapur and in Patiala district of Punjab (Navalgund et al, 2007). In the year 1986, a project referred to as the crop acreage and production estimation was created under the umbrella of remote sensing application missions.  Ã‚  The CAPE project provided the district-level forecast of production of all the major crops in India includin g Wheat, rice, sorghum, cotton, and groundnuts. The acreage of land under each crop was estimated using satellite imagery obtained using remote sensing techniques.

Security in the Software Life Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security in the Software Life Cycle - Essay Example As mentioned earlier there are several phases of SDLC, the first phase has been the Initiation phase. The five security controls that are required in the Initiation phase are: The software is meant for serving the purpose of the client and hence from a developer point of view, it must be ensured that business or client functionality requirements have been fulfilled. Hence in the initiation phase, we begin with the requirement document. It's about engaging the business partner in assessing the security aspects and risk associated and at the same time what could be done so that the protection needs of the software can be covered. The business in most of the cases wouldn't be aware of technical aspects of SDLC and integration of security in it. Hence a set of questionnaires are developed with the sole purpose being the transfer of security related technical issues of the software to the client while keeping things in the language of the business partner. The simpler language would enable developers in unraveling the security requirements of the proposed software. Software development in modern times is a combination of phases based on established norms. The concepts of software engineering as well testing is very useful when policies and standards are taken into consideration. Requirement specification document must include the development model preferred like the waterfall model, liner model or spiral model etc. Use of automated audit history would also help to manage the required changes as well analysis of the current stage of the development of the software. Identify Applicable Regulatory, Compliance, and Privacy Requirements: In this networked world, regulatory requirements have international implications. Service providers like www.amazon.com, www.ebay.com etc. have made their services available all across the world and hence they have to undertake both local and international considerations for regulatory, compliance and privacy requirements. In case of software for e-commerce, users are needed to provide their credit card details and the CVV number. Now, in this case, the website would need SSL certificate from VeriSign. Hence identification of the applicable regulatory, compliance and privacy requirements become a necessity so that software's portability could be without any physical and logical boundary.

The Development of diazepam as an anxiolytic Essay

The Development of diazepam as an anxiolytic - Essay Example Later, diazepam was marketed in 1963 by Hoffmann–La Roche under the trade name Valium. Thus two drugs emerged as the most successful commercially available drugs revolutionizing the science of anti-anxiolytic drugs. By the year 1970s they potentially replaced older drugs for sedative and hypnotic uses (Shorter, 2005). Diazepam belongs to benzodiazepine group. Diazepam acts on ascending reticular formation (responsible for wakefulness) in midbrain and on limbic system (responsible for thought). Muscle relaxation is produced by primary medullary site of action and ataxia is due to action on cerebellum (Tripathi, 2008; Rang & Dale, 2007; Brunton, 2005). Diazepam binds to benzodiazepine binding site on GABAA receptor Cl- channel complex. GABAA receptor is a pentameric structure (like a lily flower). It contains many sub-units and encloses Cl- channel. The opening of Cl- channel is modulated by GABA. Diazepam by binding to benzodiazepine binding site (ÃŽ ±/ÃŽ ³ subunit interface) facilitates GABA action (more amount of GABA will bind to GABAA receptor). It is not a GABA mimetic, it only facilitates GABA mediated Cl- channel opening. Opening of Cl- channel causes influx of Cl- ions and causes hyperpolarization. This decreases the firing rate of neurons. Therefore it possesses hypnotic action- induction of sleep- reticular activating system- depresses CNS- decreases the spread of epileptic discharge, therefore possesses anticonvulsant action (Tripathi, 2008; Rang & Dale, 2007; Brunton, 2005). The chloride channel is gated by the primary ligand GABA acting on GABAA receptor located on the ÃŽ ²- subunit. The benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor located on the interface of ÃŽ ± and ÃŽ ³ subunits modulates GABAA receptor in either direction (Tripathi, 2008). Oral absorption of Diazepam is good. Diazepam is widely distributed in body; absorption from intramuscular site of administration is

Nursing Burnout Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Nursing Burnout - Essay Example Professionals providing healthcare services with particular emphasis on the nursing profession are known to be a group of professionals with a high potential for developing burnout (Garrosa et al, 2008). The health care services environment that the occupation of nursing functions in, is an environment that makes high demands on energy levels and different levels of competencies, poses challenges to the personal values and faith, and despite best efforts frequent loss of life of the patients. All these experiences of can contribute to burnout in a nursing professional (Ewing & Carter, 2004). Burnout among nursing professionals can severely compromise the quality of health care that health care seekers receive leading to poor outcomes, making burnout among nursing professionals an issue of serious concern to the health care service sector and society (Sahraian et al, 2008). From Ilhan et al, 2008 come the figures that it is estimated that nearly forty percent of the nursing professionals suffer from burnout, with about twenty percent of hospital nursing staff planning to give up work within a span of one year. Garrosa et al, 2008, however, provide a lower estimate of the extent of burnout among nursing professionals at twenty-five percent. Irrespective of the variance on these figures, the significant feature that stands out is the high prevalence of nursing providing support to the general belief that the nursing profession is highly susceptible to burn out. Nursing professionals function in different areas of medicine and there has been evidence to suggest that there is a variance in the prevalence of burnout among the different areas of medicine that the nursing professionals function in. Sahraian et al, 2008, in their examination of the levels of burnout in the areas of internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry and burn wards and the factors that contribute to it, show that

Networking models Review Essay Example for Free

Networking models Review Essay 3.1: Networking models Review: The two networking models are TCP/IP which had 5 different layers and the OSI model which has 7 layers. They mainly incorporate the same layers and the only difference is that the TCP/IP layer combines layers 5, 6 and 7 all into layer 5. Both models are along the same line of information and both explain how a network moves data. 3.2: OSI reference model: The OSI model includes two more layers that the TCP/IP layer already had but is constructed in only layer 5. 7: ApplicationWeb browser, 6: PresentationWhat is being displayed on your page 5: SessionControl structure between sessions 4: Transport(TCP) Transfers data between points 3: Network(IP address/URL) Routing, responsible for addressing, sending and translation of logical and physical addresses 2: Data linkSends frames back and forth with necessary sync and error control (MAC/PPP) 1: Physical(Copper, wires ect) Defines the mechanical procedures that are required to establish and maintain physical links. 3.3 The TCP/IP model TCP/IP reference model; includes all information as OSI but only has 5 layers and not 7, Layer 5 includes layers 5, 6 and 7 combines. 5: ApplicationCombines layers 5, 6 and 7: provides network services such as email, file transfers, exchanges of data, support connections between sessions and inner host communications 4: Transport(TCP) transfers data between end points 3: Network(IP/URL) The routing process, packet switching and exchanging (looking for your URL) 2: Data LinkSends frames to and from with flow control, error control and sync; also addresses topology and medias. 1: Physical(Copper, wires ect) Defines mechanical procedures that are required to establish and maintain physical links 3.4 data link connections Computer A is trying to send information to Computer B, the IP address must see the advertisement from Computer B for the router to know where to send the information. The router then strips the Ethernet and sends the information over a leased line to router B, Router B then sends connects to another ether and PPP to further send to Computer B.

The Life of Shirley Chisholm Essay Example for Free

The Life of Shirley Chisholm Essay Shirley Chisholm was a â€Å"Rough Rider† straight out of the gate. Her mother said at 3 years old, she was bossing kids 3 and 4 years older than her. To know Shirley Chisholm, is to know that she was small in stature but, she had a lot of tenacity. Due to the economic situation in the United States her parents could not afford a good education, so they sent Shirley and her sisters back to Barbados to live with their maternal grandmother, for about 7 years. Her education in the strict, British-style schools of Barbados, she credits with her ease with speaking and writing. After attending those schools, when she returned to the states, she was several years ahead of her peers. She started her work career as a Director of a day nursery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This experience gave her an acute awareness of her social surroundings. She saw first-hand how minorities were in substandard  housing, inadequate schools, subjected to drugs and police brutality and no basic civil rights. This was when she determined that bad government had a connection to the fate of these minorities. She joined the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League and gained lots of experience and political insight. She helped her neighbors to register to vote, unemployed to get jobs, students to get scholarships and fought with the league for 10 years and gained lots of respect and connections. Feeling like she could help and having a little experience she ran and won as the first African-American Assemblywoman for New York. Shirley sought the basic civil rights for all minorities and for those rights, she waged a battle in the political arena that was seldom seen. Shirley’s rearing In Barbados Shirley was born during the depression and spent her first seven years in Barbados. Her Grandmother, Mrs. Emily Seale would be the one raising them. As tough as Shirley was, she didn’t know the day she laid eyes on Mrs. Emily Seale that she had met her match. Shirley learned at an early age, not even to question her grandmother’s authority. They lived on a small farm in a small village with their grandmother. The farm had plenty of animals, goats, pigs, chickens, etc. and the farm also had a well. The children’s chores included feeding the animals and making sure they never got out and there was always water for the drinking, cooking and washing. The water from the well had to be taken bucket by bucket. Truly this is where her worth ethics were born. Her grandmother had no favorites; every one on the farm had to do work. School was just as important to her grandmother and to all the people of Barbados. Barbados had the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean, it was 94 percent. She found out that the teachers and parents were definitely in agreement when it came to a child’s education. The teachers were free to whip the children and they did not spare the rod. If you told your parents, the parents whipped you again. Shirley got her distribution of whippings and she agreed this made her a better student. Today, scientist would argue that this maybe bad for children. But in Barbados the discipline of a child was as natural as the air they breathe. Shirley realized later on in life that her success in writing and speaking  stem direct from her early education in Barbados. Retuning to Brooklyn After the paradise of the islands, Shirley and her sisters moved back to Brooklyn with her parents when she was ten years old. Her parents had another daughter, now it was four girls to be taken care of. Her father was having trouble making end meet. His new job would only give him part-time hours. Their family could not exist off of his salary along, so Shirley’s mother went to work a domestic worker. Shirley was the oldest, so she got the latch key. They were told to stay in the house and not to open the door for no one until their mother got home. Finally her father began to work full-time and he was promoted to supervisor at his job. Shirley’s mom quit working her domestic job; but she would always be a seamstress. While leaving in Brooklyn Shirley and her family lived in the worst tenement apartments and what we now call ghettos. One apartment they lived in was so cold, that during the winter, they just closed off one room and all the sisters slept in one bedroom. Shirley was affected by the cold for the rest of her life after that experience. They did move to another apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant. He father became a janitor and the apartment was free. The High School she attended was all women mostly white, but the neighborhood was predominately black. Shirley parent keep a tight rein on their girls. In fact she never had a regular date in high school or college. She had good study habits and a high IQ, which garnered a few scholarships in schools out of town, but her parents could not afford the room and board. Shirley would attend Brooklyn City College. At this point Shirley knew very well what it meant to be poor and do without this is when she felt a small inkling to change things. Shirley gets an Intro to Politics in College Shirley was a very good student in high school and she got several scholarships. She got offers to go to Vassar and Oberlin Colleges, but her parents could not afford room and board. Shirley ultimately attended Brooklyn College in the fall of 1942. Tuition was free as long as you had  89 percent average. The college consisted of about 60 black students during the day. Brooklyn College had a lot of activities. A lot of the clubs and activities were politically oriented. She had already decided to become a teacher. At that time, it was so expensive to go into law, medicine or even nursing. Black men were have problems being admitted to those kinds of schools, a black women did not even have a chance. While in College she joined all black student group, called the Harriet Tubman society. This was her first time hearing people, beside her father, talk about blacks being oppressed, racism, and current society’s views on African Americans. While in college she gained a lot of confidence in herself. Many of her peers and teachers saw a lot of potential in her and they pushed her to do better. One of her professors really took an interest in her and she would have long talks with him. He saw what a good debater she was and how passionate she was, when she spoke about politics and he encouraged her to think about politics and a career. Shirley said to him â€Å"Proffy,† you forget two things. I’m black and I’m a woman.† ( Unbought and Unbossed 26) She knew at that time those were her biggest obstacles and in time she would over come them both. Time for Shirley to Stop watching and get in the Mix Shirley started visiting New York’s City’s clubhouses. These clubs would advise poor people on legal matters, for their backing later when it came to voting. It was an unspoken exchange, I’ll do you a favorite, and when voting season is around you do me a favor. These clubs usually were organized by state Assembly districts. The assemblyman was represented by both parties. But the majority of the clubs were Democratic. Shirley was very vocal while attending the clubs. She would ask the leaders of various department, why their voters in the black areas concerns were not being addressed. She was beginning to see that she was going to have to be the one to change things in her neighborhood. Her hairdresser introduced to Wesley McD. Holder. He was a rebel and had been fighting for black political justice since 1930’s. He was in his seventies, but very astute in the political arena. Also he was very well known. Mac, as she called him, showed blacks that even if their neighborhood was 99 percent black, they  would not get black representation. Shirley and her neighbors saw Mac hard-working politics pay off, when his group backed Clarence Wilson a Negro, who became magistrate in Brooklyn. Shirley joined the Seventeenth Assembly District Democratic Club as a cigar box decorator. Shirley canvassed with the club and they succeeded in electing the first black judge in Brooklyn history. Shirley eventually ran against Mac and lost, and that severed their relationship for 10years. Shirley moved on formed the Unity Democratic Club in 1960. This group wanted to push out the old white machine politicians and put some new fresh black representation in the Seventeenth District. Shirley the Assemblywoman The Unity Democratic club lost in 1961, but had gained 42 percent of the vote for the candidate they backed. In 1963 they backed Tom Jones and he won as assemblyman but he only served one term. Jones was an attorney and he wanted to be a judge, but this would leave his assemblyman’s seat open. Shirley quickly ceased the opportunity. This was during the civil rights movements and there was rebellion all over the city and the nation for that matter. Running during the civil rights movement gave her national notoriety. African-Americans were very scarce in government at that time, especially a woman. But they were interested in their political representation in government. African-Americans as a people were beginning to vote and some were still fighting in the south for the opportunity to vote. African-Americans were finally opening up their eyes to how government representation affected their every day lives. Although in her own group there was opposition to her running because she was a woman. There were a lot of men even African-American men, who thought that a woman really had no place in politics. This is when she decided to not let the fact that she was black and a woman deny her the office she wanted. The Civil Rights bill was signed in 1964 and Shirley won for assemblywoman that same year. When Shirley went to Albany, it was a group of eight, six black assemblymen and two state senators, the largest number by far in history. She was the only African-American woman, but not the first woman. Harlem had previously been represented by Mrs. Bessie Buchanan ten years  earlier. Shirley was very happy to win as the first African assemblywoman, but it hurt her badly that her father did not live to see it. Shirley and her father were very close and they both could relate to politics he understood how important it was for African-Americans to have representation in government. As an assemblywomen, Shirley proposed a bill to provide state aide day-care centers. Shirley had worked in them and she new first had that parent could barely feed their child and they need assistance with car e for their children. Also she voted to increase funding for schools on a per pupil basis and the SEEK program designed to get more black and Puerto Rican students into the City University. She had worked in the school system and she understood how important and necessary an education was to the children her district. The reason she felt like she was successful in life was because of her early education Barbados. She supported abortion-law reform, unemployment insurance for domestic workers. Shirley mom had worked as a domestic worker, she was aware of how much they needed someone to fight for them as women and workers. She also fought for the restriction of weapons’ use by policemen. She had good record in Albany and the people in her district knew she was a fighter and stood up to the bosses in government. One night, while she was home reading, a group of women came to her home and asked her to run for Congress. These women were on welfare and had collected $9.62 cent to donate to her campaign. She was so touched; she decided that night to run for Congress. This race was not going to be easy she had established some enemies during her term as assemblywoman. She did not drink and was not very social with the men, not even African-American men. She could not be persuaded and she refused to vote along party lines. Shirley message was â€Å"unbossed and unbought† therefore she was elected by the people and worked on their behalf. by the political and her main interest was for the people. Shirley the Congresswoman Shirley ran against a very strong candidate. His name was James Farmer and he was the founding director of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). He was a freedom rider in the early 1960’s he demonstrated for equal accommodations at bus terminal in public transportation. He was also a good speaker and a rebel in his own right. Shirley had one thing going for her, she had lived and worked in Brooklyn for 20 years and Farmer was an outsider. Shirley  called all her friends and connections and she asked her old friend Mac to be her campaign manger. She campaigned day and night. She went to neighboring districts. Because she had one secret weapon and that was, she knew there were thirteen thousand more women registered voters than men in her new district. Shirley would use this to her advantage. She had tea parties and functions to see what these women wanted and how she could accommodate them when she got in office. To her surprise she found out that they wanted the same things African-Americans and most minorities wanted. The were tired of being treated like second class citizens and they wanted basic civil rights even though they were women. They wanted equal pay for equal work and they also wanted more responsibility, and not just secretarial positions. They felt they were smart enough to work in politics and also work in other professional mostly dominated by men. Shirley let them know that when she was in office she would fight for their causes. During the campaign, Shirley did get sick and had to have a serious operation. She was bedridden for three weeks. Against her doctors and her husband’s advice she went out and campaigned with a lot of enthusiasm. â€Å"It paid off. On November 5, 1968, Shirley Chisholm won more than twice as many votes as Farmer-35, 239 to his 13,615†. (Hicks 74) Shirley fights for our basic Civil Rights After Shirley got in congress she had another fight on her hands. They thought because she was a woman they could just put her on a committee and close her mouth. Little did they know that dynamite comes in small packages. â€Å"Shirley Chisholm said she would not be a slave to the congressional seniority system. She would speak her mind and say what she felt was best for the voters of her district and for black people in general.† (Nicks 77) I’m sure this did not go over well with the Congress. They assigned her to the Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Rural Villages. When the appointment was announced Shirley said â€Å"The Speaker of the House told me to be a good soldier.’ I told him, that’s why this country is the way it is today. Everybody’s being a good soldier instead of fighting for what is right.†(Nicks 80) She did not take this very well and asked for reassignment. Shirley was assigned to the Veterans Affairs  Committee. She quickly went to work on investigations into treatment of black servicemen. She fought the system for a lot of people and this made her and enemy in the House. She hired and all woman staff and also fought for the equal rights of minorities and women. She told congress â€Å"As in the field of equal rights for blacks, Spanish-Americans, the Indians, and other groups, laws will not change such deep-seated problems overnight. But they can be used to provide protection for those who are most abused, and begin the process of evolutionary change by compelling the insensitive majority to re-examine its unconscious attitudes.† (Nicks 85). Shirley’s views in 1969 were definitely a reflection of the civil rights movement going on during that time. Martin Luther King, Jrs opinion would have been very similar to that of Shirley’s. Shirley’s work in Congress reflected the Civil Rights Movement Shirley came into Congress like a maverick, swinging from every direction. Truly she made a name for her self with her maiden speech. In her maiden speech â€Å"she said she planned to vote against all money bills for the military or for defense until more was done about poverty at home, and the old politicians shuddered and snickered. You’re committing political suicide, â€Å"the told her to her face. I’ve been told I’ve been committing political suicide for fifteen years,† was her answer. I’ve been told that for so long that as a result I have risen to the top. I don’t choose to play by your rules. (Hicks 79) Her first hurdle was reassignment from the Agriculture committee, she felt like she would do no good in that capacity. Shirley then asked for assignment to another committee (which was a first) and was assigned to the Veteran’s Affairs Committee. While on the Veterans Committee she help fight for a lot of the causes of discrimination among black servicemen was young children, and there education. She spoke up for equal- rights for women because she knew firsthand the discrimination against women. â€Å"In 1969, hers was a strong voice for legislation to grant women equal rights. The Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution was finally passed in 1970†. (Hicks 83) She backed state funding for day-care facilities. She fought for unemployment insurance for domestic workers. Shirley’s Bid for the President She eventually ran for the President in of the United States in 1972 and got 152 electoral votes. Shirley knew she would not win, but her objective was for the politicians in Washington take a minority or a woman seriously. She wanted African-American, minorities, poor and women to see that, even though the odds are stacked against you not to give up. She believed that the civil rights movement proved the point, in which the government belonged to the people and they should take an active part in it. She did this by her actions. She said if I’m a little one hundred pound black women and I can run for President, then you have a voice in our governmental process. She understood very well how under represented African-American were in the political process, as she stated, â€Å"Black representatives, says, have as their constituency all black people, not just those of their districts (Hicks 82) Conclusion She championed the cause for civil rights and women’s rights at a time when it was not popular. Shirley set the stage for a sleuth of African-Americans, minorities and women to run for political office. Jessie Jackson, Geraldine Ferraro, Barbara Jordan and Carolyn Mosley-Braun are examples of her influence. Shirley saw how civil rights movement was waking everyone one up to the injustices of our society. She used her power in congress to open the door for many women and minorities. Shirley Chisholm was a woman ahead of her time she was an eloquent and inspiring speaker and she backed up her words with action!!! See her in action for your self. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzM8fgRDI24 Listed Work Cited Chisholm, Shirley, Ubought and Unbossed, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1970 Hicks, Nancy, The Honorable Shirley Chisholm Congresswoman from Brooklyn, Lion Books, New York, 1971 Chisholm, Shirley, The Good Fight, Harper Row Publishers, Inc. 1973 Duckett, Alfred, Changing of the Guard, The new breed of Black Politicians, Longsmans Canada Limited, Toronto, 1972 Le Veness, Frank P. Sweeney, Jane P, Women Leaders in Contemporary U.S. Politics, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, CO 1987 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzM8fgRDI24

The Development Of Psychology As A Scientific Discipline Philosophy Essay

The Development Of Psychology As A Scientific Discipline Philosophy Essay One of the most notable figure in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline is RenÄâ€Å" Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician. Descartes was most recognized as a proponent of dualism which supported the idea that all reality can be divided into two vivid and distinct entities: mind and matter. Descartes distinguished himself from other philosophers in that he proposed an existing link or interaction between mind and matter called interactionism. This was the key development in psychology as a scientific discipline because it led to two key principles in psychology introspectionism and behaviourism. Despite Descartes emphasis on the rationalism which is the pursuit of truth through the process of reasoning, John Locke, the British first empiricist, suggested that empiricism which involves the pursuit of truth through observation and experience is the preferred method of investigation. Being the pioneer to define self through a continuity of consciousness, Locke postulated that the mind was a blank slate of tabula rasa. Contrary to Descarts cartesian philosophy, he believed that we were born without innate idea and that the knowledge is instead measured only by experience derived from various sense perceptions. Yet, some of the information attained from our senses is subjective and non-trustworthy while some are objective and trustworthy. He put great emphasis upon the belief that our knowledge of complex experiences were made up from the links between simple and primary sensations. This idea was further developed by David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and scepticism. Yet, there was a slight difference from Lockes argument. While Locke wrote of innate ideas, Hume introduced the concept of perceptions which consisted of impressions and ideas and strove to develop a total naturalistic science of man that examined the human nature on a psychological basis. To Hume, impressions were the most important perceptions because they were derived directly from observations. He strongly believed that only empirically derived content are valuable and trustworthy. Thus, he developed positivism the philosophy of science rooted on the view that data derived from sensory experience and that logical and mathematical analysis of such data produce all authoritative knowledge. In contrast to the empiricists, George Berkely, an Anglo-Irish philosopher proposed that our knowledge comes from the inferences derived from experience through our senses instead of simply coming from direct experiences. His notable achievement of the advancement of the theory called immaterialism or subjective idealism which denies the existence of material substance. In contrast, this theory contends that objects are only ideas in the perceivers minds hence cannot exist without being perceived. A Scottish philosopher, Kames Mill then further developed on the idea and moved the focus from animism to materialism which is a belief that truth can be founded only after a thorough understanding of our physical world. The assumption that Mill insisted was that humans and animals were basically the same that both were entirely physical in their outer look and were totally subjected to the physical laws of the universe. Though agreed in essence with Descartes primary approach in understanding the human body, Mill was against the concept of an immaterial mind. Later on in the mid-1800s, a German physiologist, Wilhelm Wundt, used scientific research methods to investigate reaction times and his book, Principles of Physiological Psychology illustrated many of the main connections between the science of physiology and the study of humans thought and behaviour. The opening of the worlds first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig in 1879 marked the official beginning of psychology as a distinct scientific discipline. Wundt maintained that psychology is a study of humans consciousness and intended to apply as many experimental methods as possible to investigating and understanding internal mental processes. Though his use of introspection is seen as a non-trustable and non-scientific method today, his early work during the days helped to kick-start a stage for future experimental methods and hence was significant in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline. One of the Wundts most famous student, Edward B.Titchener went on to develop amd found psychologys first major school of thought and proposed the idea that human consciousness can be broken down into smaller parts via introspection. He was one of the most prominent structuralist. While structuralism was notable for its emphasis on science research, its methods were less convincing, unreliable, limiting and subjective. The concept essentially died when Titchener passed away in 1927. In response to structuralism, functionalism, an American perspective which was largely influenced by the work of William James and the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin emerged. Functionalists sought for explanation for the mental processes in much systematic and accurate way. Instead of focussing on the elements of consciousness, they focussed on its purpose. This brings psychology a step closer to scientific discipline by placing great emphasis on systematic research method. In early 20th Century, another major school of thought known as behaviourism rose to dominance. It was a significant change from the past theoretical views. In fact, it was aimed to transform psychology into a much scientific discipline by solely emphasising on observable behaviour. It was started by Ivan Pavlov and two of the strongest advocates were John B.Watson and B.F. Skinner. However, behaviourism does not encourage scientific psychology. Among all, the concept of empiricism developed by philosophers John Locke and David Hume was the most significant leap in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline.

Herbert Croly :: Biographies Herbert Croly Journalism Essays

Herbert Croly At the turn of the 20th century, Herbert Croly – as far as the accelerating world was concerned – was a man without a name. Painfully shy and without many friends, he was admitted to Harvard in 1886 as one of 96 "special students" who would not be eligible for a degree. Perhaps the world should have realized he would one day be reckoned with when was given the former room of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, who was expelled from Harvard a year before Croly entered its halls. But Croly remained aloof through his long stay at Harvard, which had more promising sons to look after. However, when in 1909 Croly published his first and most remembered book, The Promise of American Life, he was instantly recognized as a great political thinker. Eager to recognize him as one of its own, Harvard gave him his bachelor’s degree soon after the jubilant reviews were printed. Croly was born on Jan 23, 1869 and journalism was in his household, if not in his blood. His father, David Goodman Croly, immigrated to the United States from Ireland as a young boy and married Jane Cunningham, who journeyed to the states from England at age 12. Herbert Croly’s mother wrote for several newspapers under the name Jennie June and was an adamant feminist. Similarly, his father worked for several New York City newspapers and was a devout follower of the French philosopher Auguste Comte, a founder of sociology and positivism. In order to achieve progress, Comte created a Religion of Humanity that emphasized altruism and the destruction of organized religion. Comte’s teachings changed the way Herbert Croly looked at and envisioned life, but he did not devote himself to the Religion of Humanity. However, Croly’s belief that bureaucrats are good people who should be given enough power to improve the lives of their fellow citizens goes along with Comteâ₠¬â„¢s teachings. Croly admitted the dead Auguste Comte influenced how he envisioned living political systems. He wrote, "From my earliest years, it was his endeavor to teach me to understand and believe in the religion of Auguste Comte. Under such instruction it was not strange that in time I dropped instinctively into his mode of thinking."1 Still, there is no doubt that Croly’s positivism faded once he entered Harvard in 1886. He attended the school off-and-on, initially intending to become a philosophy teacher and taking classes with several notable professors, including William James, Josiah Royce and George Santayana.

A Piece Of My Heart (book) :: essays research papers

The "other" Vietnam Vets Everybody knows about the men who served in Vietnam. They have at least heard of the mentally trying conditions during the war and the resulting "post traumatic stress syndrome" (PTSD) so many veterans suffered from, or heard of the issues concerning negative public opinion of veterans for their role in a hated war. However, few are aware of the female role in the Vietnam War; women, the "other" veterans, shared in all of these problems and issues along with the gun-toting men. They were the nurses, and in A Piece of My Heart by Keith Walker the stories of many women are presented to better understand just how the Vietnam War affected women. Working in places like evacuation hospitals exposed women to the endless flow of casualties from the battlefield, and these experiences took major mental tolls upon the minds of the women who had to assist them, especially in their considerations for the value of human life. Women experienced other problems upon returning home such as the same PTSD and outlashes by anti-war protesters. Women were veterans of Vietnam just like the men, and they experienced many of the same problems as a result of their role there. Women were exposed to an enormous amount of pain while in Vietnam. As veteran Rose Sandecki said, "[The Vietnam] War really did a number on all of us, the women as well as the men" (20). Nurses in Vietnam were exposed to a nonstop flow of casualties from the field. The landing of a Chinook with mass casualties on board had become a standard to Christine Schneider, a nurse in Da Nang. Practically every nurse’s story described the hospital scenes in Vietnam as "busy." Jill Mishkel explained that she experienced a minimum of at least one death per day. As Ms. Schneider described, "There was just too much death" (46). Ms. Schneider also mentioned, "Everybody was bad" (45); nurses only saw the bad because they were surrounded by it, day in and day out. Charlotte Miller described everything as "on a very negative basis" (324), and that she had to deal with these problems from twelve to fifteen hours per day, twelve to fifteen days in a row, a very rigorous schedule. Further emotional damage was incurred by the severity of the injuries that the nurses had to deal with. Nurses described situations such as little boys with their intestines hanging out, men with half their faces blown off, men missing their legs from a grenade explosion, paraplegics, quadriplegics, and in one case pulling someone’s shoe off and having the foot come with it.

Disappearance of Family Farms Essay

There are many things in the world that have been disappearing over recent years. These types of things include, but are not limited to: encyclopedias, tape players, typewriters, and even books. Another thing that has been a huge part of history that seems to be disappearing at, frankly, an alarming and scary rate is family-owned farms. Less than one third of family farms that existed in the United States in 1935 are still remaining (Toews). Family farms are disappearing because of the expenses incurred in owning one, the hard work and long days the family must put into them, and because of the appeal of city life to younger generations and the development of land throughout the United States. Family farms are expensive. And, unlike what one would expect, the rewards are not too extravagant, either. The expenses are rising while the income is declining, and that is an equation none of us want to see when it comes to our own future. It was even predicted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that farmers would see the biggest decline in income than any other industry (Toews). However, if we lose all of our family-owned farms, all we have to rely on is larger industries, which includes travel and transportation costs, chemicals, and most likely the mistreatment of animals. Good work ethic seems to be something that has become rare in America. There is an unexplainable amount of work that goes into farming, especially on smaller farms with less man and machine power to help out. Farmers, on average, spend between twelve and sixteen hours a day working. And, tying this back, they are not being rewarded properly for the hard labor they put into their jobs each and every day. They have no vacations, no holidays, and no sick or personal time. They have to be there. As younger generations look to their elders, they realize all of the suffering with little reward, and question if they want to go down that very same path themselves. Lastly, farms seem to be disappearing because of development and the desire for the city life. Younger generations of the 21st century seem to be drawn to city life, to fast paced life with easy access to anything and everything they might need at the drop of a hat. To make these accommodations for malls, plazas, parking lots, and buildings, we need to develop land somewhere. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 3,000 acres of land are being lost due to development each day as of 2008 (Gilbert). So, why should it be saved? It is a piece of history, something that all of us, if traced back far enough, can relate to in some way. It is healthy, for our bodies, ethics, the economy, and the environment. If we were able to afford more local farms, then we could cut transportation costs and fumes extravagantly. If more people worked on farms, I can almost guarantee the work ethic in the United States would skyrocket. Also, with more people actually doing work consisting of hard labor, we may be able to cut health problems such as obesity. And, if that assumption came to be untrue, the community would still have fresh food. So, if it’d be so great, why can’t we do it? It’s expensive. Plain and simple. Family farming is not something that will come back easily, as would a piece of apparel in the fashion industry. On the contrary, it is something we need to fight for. Buy locally grown. Support your local businesses and economy. It may not seem like a huge step, but every little bit will count when trying to save what we have left of this farming history. Works Cited Gilbert, Sarah. â€Å"Top 25 Things Vanishing from America.† DailyFincance. N.p., 20 Jul 2008. Web. 1 Oct 2012. . Toews, Jacob. â€Å"The Disappearing Family Farm.† Real Truth. 01 Jun 2010: n. page. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Religion and Animal Rights Essay

Speciesism – Discrimination in favour of one species, usually the human species, over another, especially in the exploitation or mistreatment of animals by humans. Sentient – Able to feel pain; conscious through the senses. Shallow ecology – preserving the environment to the extent that it benefits human beings. (This is an anthropocentric view of ecology – human centred). Deep ecology – Giving all life respect and value – caring for all of nature, not just the aspects of nature which benefit human beings. Dominionism – Judeo-Christian idea that human beings have a special place in the natural world; they are given the power to rule over it (as overseers) in behalf of its creator, God. Stewardship – Judeo-Christian idea that human beings have a special responsibility for the natural world (and indeed all other areas of responsibility such as other people, their money and possessions) acting as caretakers on God’s behalf. Autonomy – Free will, able to self-govern. Deontological – Duty led approach. Emphasis on the act itself in determining moral righteousness. Inaugurated eschatology – The kingdom of God was started/established in the agapeistic life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and continues in the life of the church, but will be fulfilled after bodily death in heaven. Realised eschatology – The kingdom of God is here and now on earth, through agape and the life of the church. Futuristic Eschatology: The Kingdom of God will come in the future – after bodily death, resurrection (bodily or spiritual) in heaven. Vivisection – Experimenting on animals. Instrumentalist approach – A pragmatic (practical) approach that says an action should be taken in order to achieve an active solution to a problem. Mutate – Change, transform (e.g. as part of the process of evolution). Immutability – Unable to change (e.g. from species to species). Commodification – To turn into and treat as a commodity – an article suitable for trading/buying and selling. Scholars Aristotle – Identified the hierarchy of being placing human beings above animals. Augustine – Human beings are superior to animals as human beings are rational, being made in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26. Aquinas – Influenced by Aritotle – â€Å"animals†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦by divine providence are intended for man’s use in the natural order.†. Charles Darwin – Theory of evolution – ‘Origin of Species’, 1859. The process of natural selection, challenged the Bible, and in particular the Genesis creation story which claims that human beings are created in the image of God, Genesis 1:26. Albert Schweitzer – A pioneer of animal rights with his ‘reverence for life’ ethic. For Schweitzer ‘all life is sacred’, sentient or non-sentient, animal or vegetable. A deep ecologist. St Francis of Assisi – Often referred to as, ‘The Patron Saint of animals’. God has created the world and so the created order reflects God’s goodness and purpose of design and order, animals are a particularly important aspect of that created order. Peter Singer – If a being has interests then they are morally important and should have rights; sentient, self-conscious beings have interests. What matters is not what species a being belongs to, but to what extent a being is a person – fulfils Personhood criteria. Jeremy Bentham – Believed that unnecessary suffering was morally wrong, irrespective of the species. KEY TEACHINGS FROM CHRISTIANITY AND AWARENESS OF HOW RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND OTHER FAITH MEMBERS HAVE INTERPRETED THESE TEACHINGS AND APPLIED THEM TO LIFE IN SOCIETY TODAY. Religious beliefs about the status of animals. SCHOLARS * Aristotle (4 BC – a foundation and influence for later Christian thought) – -everything had a telos, an end purpose. The end purpose of nature (and animals) according to Aristotle, is human fulfilment – Hierarchy of Being, Anthropocentric (human centred), Speciesist approach. * Augustine (4th to 5th century AD). Human beings are superior to animals as human beings are rational, being made in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26. , â€Å"To refrain from the killing of animals and the destroying of plants is the height of superstition.† (Augustine). Hierarchy of Being. Speciesism. * Thomas Aquinas (13th century AD). Influenced by Aristotle’s ideas – there is no sin in using a thing for the purpose, telos, which it is intended. There is no possibility of sinning against non-human animals or against the natural world which exist for the use and good of humanity. Hierarchy of Being. Anthropocentric. Speciesist. * St Francis of Assisi (12th to 13th century). Francis of Assisi thought that the natural world, and in particular animal life, was an expression of the creative will of God and was worthy of respect. Patron Saint of animals, emphasised the importance of sentient beings as part of God’s creation. Humanity should behave as responsible stewards to care and look after all of God’s created creatures. Shallow ecology – preserving the natural world, including animals to the extent that human beings benefit. (This is an anthropocentric view of ecology – human centred) where human beings have a caretaker role over nature. * Albert Schwietzer (20th century). Albert Schweitzer was a Christian who pioneered animal rights with his ‘reverence for life’ ethic. He was astonished at the indifference that human beings show to fellow creatures on the planet. Schweitzer was a ‘deep ecologist’ who believed that all life was sacred – sentient o r non-sentient; human, animal, plant. BIBLICAL TEACHINGS * Human Beings created perfect, imago dei (St. Augustine). Genesis 1:27. * Genesis 1:28 – Dominionism (to rule over, use, control) – â€Å"Then God said†¦Have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.† This was the traditional position of the church towards animals as identified by Peter Singer. * Genesis 2:15 – Stewardship (to look after and care for on God’s behalf) – â€Å"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.† More recently this is the role taken by the church, replacing dominionism with responsible stewardship. * Genesis 2 – creation story has focus on creation of man and woman (Adam and Eve). Human beings have a soul (animals do not) â€Å"The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed (ruach) into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being† (Genesis 2:7) * Human beings, but not animals have free will, autonomous, with the opportunity of choosing a love relationship with God. â€Å"Love God, love your neighbour.† (Jesus, Mark 12:30/31). With autonomy comes responsibility, stewardship (see church teachings below). * â€Å"A righteous man cares for the needs of his animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.† Proverbs 12:10. * â€Å"The wolf will live with the lamb† Isaiah. An O.T. eschatological vision of harmony between all sentient life. * â€Å"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.† Luke 12:6. CHURCH TEACHINGS Roman Catholic Catechism (1994) †¢ God willed creation as a gift addressed to humankind. †¢ Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present and future humanity. Anthropocentric, arises out of the shallow ecology approach to the natural world that is the usual the way for Christianity to deal with this area of ethics/moral issues. †¢ Animals do not have rights but humans do have duties towards animals. Roman Catholic Papal Encyclicals – Centesimus Annus and Solicitudo Rei Socialis (Pope John Paul II) †¢ Human beings are stewards of God’s creation, not masters of it. †¢ Animals are part of God’s creation and must not be abused. †¢ The Church opposes cruelty / exploitation of animals. †¢The earth and all life on it is a gift from God given to us to share and develop, not to dominate and exploit. Church of England documents: Our Responsibility for the Living Environment (GS 718) and Animal Welfare (GS 341) †¢ Animals have been created by God and deserve respect. †¢ The value of animal life is secondary to human beings. †¢ Humans have a common heritage with, and have an obligation to animals. †¢ Humans are the most efficient predators and therefore must exercise responsible stewardship. †¢ Medical / scientific testing within reasonable limits is acceptable as it promotes the common good of humanity. Quaker Peace Testimony * show a loving consideration of all the creatures, maintain the beauty and variety of the world and show reverence for life. * Quakers have long supported vegetarianism. * Quakers oppose animal experimentation for weapons. * They also oppose the use of animals for the testing of cosmetics. * Most Quakers oppose the fur trade. * Quakers do support the use of animal testing for medical research. The extent to which animals are different from humans and their relative value. Humans are animals. * Charles Darwin 1859 â€Å"Origin of the Species† * Evolution, Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest. Humans have evolved to become the dominant/controlling species. * â€Å"With all these exalted powers humanity still bears in its bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.† (Charles Darwin) * Darwin challenged the idea of a designer God, and the anthropocentric view of the world. â€Å"Humanity in their arrogance think themselves a great work, worthy the (inter)position of a God. More humble, and I believe true, to consider them created from animals.† (Charles Darwin). * Many religious believers accept evolutionary theory as a way of explaining the origins of life on this planet, but still see that God’s power was behind the very start-theistic evolution (God the Uncaused Cause brought everything else into existence – based on Thomas Aquinas’s cosmological argument). How can an anthropocentric approach be upheld if humans ar e descended from animals – all are of equal worth and value – deep ecology. Hierarchy of species. * See above. God created animals for a purpose to be of value and support to human beings. Human intelligence versus animal instinct. * Rationality, intelligence and autonomy set humans apart from animals. * Capacity for sophisticated methods of communication is a human skill. * Creativity (music, literature, art) and complex/sophisticated (developing/utilising science and technology) societies for a good and worthwhile quality of life rather than for instinctive survival are hallmarks of human existence. * Most humans protect the weak and vulnerable arguably for altruistic motivations rather than for survival of the species. * Humans can choose to behave morally. * Humans are spiritual beings. However, just because the status of animals is lower than humans many argue for care and respect. * Stewardship. Deep ecology. Animal Rights.   * â€Å"The question is not can they reason, can they talk, but can they suffer.† Jeremy Bentham (19th century). * Peter Singer thinks that if a being has interests then these things should be satisfied, other things being equal. What matters is not what species a being belongs, but to what extent a being fulfils the criteria of personhood:- rational, sentient (experience pleasure / pain), self-conscious, can establish relationships and can communicate. Religious views on animal rights and the means of protecting those rights. See scholars, biblical and church teachings above. * Rev Humphrey Primatt (19th century) argued all life was made by God and any sentient creature has the right not to have pain inflicted upon it including animal suffering. â€Å"Pain is pain whether inflicted on man or beast† (Primatt). The work of Humphrey Primatt led to the foundation of the RSPCA in 1824. * Organisations such as WWF and RSPCA campaign for animal rights so that they may live according to their own nature and not be harmed, exploited or abused, maintaining a dignified existence. * Such pressure groups oppose factory farming (a method of raising animals intensively for maximum economic gain and to produce food at a lower cost for consumers, resulting in the commodification of animals), animal experimentation (vivisection) and using animals for entertainment;, although opinions vary on all these issues. * Controversy exists about vivisection and the extent of justifiable protest on animals’ behalf – SPEAK campaign sought to end the building of ne w animal labs for scientific experimentation on animals at Oxford University, often using intimidation and direct action which was judged by the law courts to be illegal. â€Å"If possessing a higher intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his own ends how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans for the same purpose?† Professor Peter Singer VERSUS â€Å"You can’t go to a doctor without having treatment that has been tested on animals – you can’t pick and choose.† Professor Colin Blakemore, Oxford University. * International Animal Rights Day = December 10th annually. * British law protects animals form cruelty and neglect which are criminal offences. * Revd Professor Andrew Linzey – Department of Theology at Oxford university = world’s first academic post in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare. Rejects an instrumentalist view of animals as ‘speciesist’; privileging one species, human beings, giving them a unique moral status. For Linzey, animals are part of God’s creation, and have God-given rights, or ‘theos-rights’, and thus have moral status. Religious responses to the preservation of species from extinction. * Genesis 1:12 – Species were created immutable (fixed and unchanging). Dominionism means human beings have used species and their environment for the good of humanity which has inevitably led to extinction of some. However, stewardship imposes a duty of care implying preservation and conservation of God’s sacred, creation for future generations upholding biodiversity. * Evolution teaches that species naturally change, mutate, and die out as part of the process of survival of the fittest and natural selection. Some religious people accept evolutionary theory – theistic evolution (God the Uncaused Cause brought everything else into existence – based on Thomas Aquinas’s cosmological argument). * Breeding programmes in zoos have helped to save species from extinction. * Ohito Declaration 1995 – sustaining environmental life is a religious responsibility.

Case Study – Nike: Spreading Out to Stay Together

Case Study: Amazon: Nike: Spreading Out to Stay Together Nike, Inc. is an American  multinational corporation  that is engaged in the design, development and worldwide marketing and selling of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company is headquartered near  Beaverton, Oregon, in the  Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's leading supplier of  athletic shoes  and  apparel  and a major manufacturer of  sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$24. 1  billion in its fiscal year 2012 (ending May 31, 2012). As of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. The brand alone is valued at $10. Billion making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. Nike and  Precision Castparts  are the only  Fortune 500  companies headquartered in the state of Oregon, according to  The Oregonian. The company was founded on January 25, 1964 as  Blue Ribbon Sports  by  Bill Bowerman  and  Phil Knight,  and offic ially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1978. The company takes its name from  Nike  the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro,  Nike+,  Air Jordan,  Nike Skateboarding, and subsidiaries including  Cole Haan,  Hurley International,  Umbro  and  Converse.Nike also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed  Nike Bauer) between 1995 and 2008. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of â€Å"Just Do It† and the  Swooshlogo. Discussion Questions: 1. When Nike CEO Phil Knight stepped down and handed his job to Bill Perez, he stayed on as chairman of the board. In what ways could Knight’s continued presence on the board have created an informal structure that prevented Perez from achieving full and complete leaders hip of Nike?Answer: Informal structures are the shadow organization that represents the actual working and communication relationships that may not resemble the formal organizational chart. When knight remained on the board, old communication relationships may have survived his departure from the CEO position, cutting Perez off from valuable information. Knight’s access to the informal communication network may have worked to spread rumors to Knight and back down the communication chain. These rumors may have contained inaccurate information, caused resistance to change and distracted members from their work.This may have reinforced Perez’s position as an outsider. 2. How can Nike utilize both traditional and newer organization structures to support the firm’s heavy strategic commitment to outsourcing? Answer: Network structures use information technology (IT) to link with networks of outside suppliers and service contractors. This outlines Nike’s efforts to outsource many nonexecutive responsibilities to reduce overhead. In addition to outsourcing production, the research and marketing business centers listed in the case could be part of a network structure.Other functions may include design, advertising, licensing, compliance sports and entertainment marketing. 3. Given the problems Nike has had with sweatshop labour being used in some of its foreign contractors, are there subsystems of the firm that need to be run with a mechanistic rather than organic design? Give examples to support your answer. Answers: Mechanistic designs are highly centralized and bureaucratic with an emphasis on command and control. This might suggest that mechanistic designs are appropriate for manufacturing in foreign countries.Organic designs are adaptive, decentralized and tend to respond to change more quickly. This would probably be a good fit for an organization that has far flung operations in different countries with different cultures that try to respond to rapidly changing technology, fashion, customer demands and economic conditions. Nike’s manufacturing subsystem should be run with mechanistic rather than organic so as to protect the image brand and its original designs. The design should be utmost unique and further differentiated, not conforming to culture.Design is could be one competitive advantage so it is important that the manufacturing of the products are conformed to the original ideas of the maker, uninfluenced by any other factors involved in its manufacturing process. Example of this idea is the use of differentiation strategy of companies to gain competitive advantage. 4. Further Research—Gather information on Nike’s recent moves and accomplishments, and those of its rival Adidas. Are both firms following the same strategies and using the same structures to support them? Or, is one doing something quite different from the other?Based on what you learn, what do you predict for the future? Will Nike stay on top, or is Adidas the next industry leader? The advertising strategy differs from company to company. Generally, Nike believes in spending 5-7% of its revenues in advertising and endorsement. Nike has planned to spend $4. 2 Billion until 2014 for endorsements alone. With the huge size of Nike, it is tough for other companies to allocate a big amount for their marketing expenses. Moreover, Nike has always an edge when it comes to advertising and marketing. The table below shows the advertising strategy for the major players in the industry.Company| Strategy| Nike| * Endorsing Athletes * Sponsoring Sports events * City based advertisements * Banners ; Billboards * Themes on bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in world| Adidas, Reebok| * Sponsoring Sports events * Endorsing Athletes * Themes on improving performance of every athlete in the world | Puma| * Mixing influence of sports, lifestyle ; fashion * Puma concept retail stores * Puma fashion shows * New stuff advertising campaigns * Building seasonal momentum during holiday seasons| Other companies| * Minimal or less advertising based on stores|Nike has invested a lot so far in developing a premium brand that implies high quality and care for the customer. Nike has a wide range of products ranging from athletics to life style and also in different price ranges. Therefore, it is always a challenge to fight against brand dilution within Nike. The following gives an idea of the customer’s perception of the brands. Company| Branding message and strategy| Nike| Athletic, Influential, Outgoing, Aggressive, hi tech, futuristic, retro cool American way of living Associated with Athletes at top of their sportTo bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in world| Adidas, Reebok| Clear, orderly, Practical, hi tech, Sophisticated, Sincere Conservative European style To improve performance of every athlete in the world Associated with elite soccer players/teams, NBA stars, Hip hop artists| Puma| Elegant, colorful, fresh, spontaneous, individual, metropolitan, international Mixing influence of sports, lifestyle ; fashion Fashion brand, performance ; casual footwear, fringe, extreme sports| Other companies| Based on their product lines. Generally not a strong brand message|In general, Nike’s shoes are associated to be of high quality and stylish. Reebok’s are comfortable and casual, and the Adidas brand boasts superior performance and is â€Å"perceived as a professional, technically orientated brand with strong European roots. Nike fields some of the best in class technological practices and has a few patents to its credit. Nike emphasizes on these and has developed a lot of new products with use of high technology and sophistication. An example of that is the microprocessor shoe to give great experience and comfort to the customer.However, Adidas is also working on high tech innovations to provide high quality shoes. Lately, Adidas and Nike have been doing entertainment based marketing campaign by forming alliances with technology/entertainment companies. Nike had an alliance with Apple to sell Nike shoes with Apple iPods while Adidas tied up with Microsoft to sell Adidas goods with Microsoft Xbox gaming systems. So far the success of these alliances is yet to be quantified. Nike follows a 100% outsourcing strategy. Most competitors follow the outsourcing strategy.Exceptions to this are New Balance and other smaller players. New Balance claims that 75% of its production is from the US and other small companies produce in the US as well. In general, Nike might still be the industry leader if it compensates its weaknesses in organizational structures with different strategies such as focusing on innovation and development, following differentiation and pricing-based strategies, and investing on sustainability research. References: http://www. nike. com/ph http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nike,_Inc. http://www. scribd . com/doc/91701683/Case-Study

Project Report on Cost Analysis of Rice Mill in India Essay

1.1 Introduction Rice is the staple food for 65% of the population in India. It is the largest consumed calorie source among the food grains. With a per capita availability of 73.8 kg it meets 31% of the total calorie requirement of the population. India is the second largest producer of rice in the world next to China. The all India area, production, and yield of rice in the year 2001-02 was 44.62 million hectares, 93.08 million tons and 2086 kg/ ha respectively. In India paddy occupies the first place both in area and production. The crop occupies about 37 % of the total cropped area and 44% (2001-02 position) of total production of food grains in India. West Bengal is the leading producer of paddy in the country. It accounts for 16.39% of the total production, and the other leading states are Uttar Pradesh (13.38%), Andhra Pradesh (12.24%), Punjab (9.47%), Orissa (7.68%) and Tamil Nadu (7.38%); the remaining states account for 33.45% of the production. India is also one of the leading exporters of rice in the world market. India’s export of rice stood at 23.89 lakh MT in 1997-98. The corresponding value of foreign exchange earned was to the tune of Rs. 3371.00 crore in 1997-98. Indian Basmati Rice has been a favorite among international rice buyers. Following liberalization of international trade after World Trade Agreement, Indian rice will become highly competitive and has been identified as one of the major commodities for export. Look more:  capital budgeting examples essay This provides us with ample opportunity for development of rice based value-added products for earning more foreign exchange. Apart from rice milling, processing of rice bran for oil extraction is also an important agro processing activity for value addition, income and employment generation. Many of the rice processing units are of the traditional huller type and are inefficient. Modern rice mills are having high capacity and are capital intensive, although efficient. Small modern rice mills have been developed and are available in the market but the lack of information is a bottleneck in its adoption by the prospective entrepreneur. The present model will go a long way in bridging the information gap. 1.2 Description of Rice Milling Operations Paddy in its raw form cannot be consumed by human beings. It needs to be suitably processed for obtaining rice. Rice milling is the process which helps in removal of hulls and barns from paddy grains to produce polished rice. Rice forms the basic primary processed product obtained from paddy and this is further processed for obtaining various secondary and tertiary products. The basic rice milling processes consist of: 1. Pre Cleaning: Removing all impurities and unfilled grains from paddy 2. De-stoning: Separating small stones from paddy 3. Parboiling (Optional): Helps in improving the nutritional quality by gelatinization of starch inside the rice grain. It improves the milling recovery percent during de-shelling and polishing / whitening operation 4. Husking: Removing husk from paddy 5. Husk Aspiration: Separating the husk from brown rice/ unhusked paddy 6. Paddy Separation: Separating the unhusked paddy from brown rice 7. Whitening: Removing all or part of the bran layer and germ from brown rice 8. Polishing: Improving the appearance of milled rice by removing the remaining bran particles and by polishing the exterior of the milled kernel 9. Length Grading: Separating small and large brokens from head rice 10. Blending: Mixing head rice with predetermined amount of brokens, as required by the customer 11. Weighing and bagging: Preparing the milled rice for transport to the customer The flow diagram of the various unit operations are as follows: Figure 1: Block Diagram of Rice Processing 1.3 Status of Rice Milling Units in India Rice milling is the oldest and the largest agro processing industry of the country. At present it has a turnover of more than 25,500/- crore per annum. It processes about 85 million tons of paddy per year and provides staple food grain and other valuable products required by over 60% of the population. Paddy grain is milled either in raw condition or after par-boiling, mostly by single hullers of which over 82,000 are registered in the country. Apart from it there are also a large number of unregistered single hulling units in the country. A good number (60 %) of these are also linked with par-boiling units and sun -drying yards. Most of the tiny hullers of about 250-300 kg/hr capacities are employed for custom milling of paddy. Apart from it double hulling units number over 2,600 units, underrun disc shellers cum cone polishers numbering 5,000 units and rubber roll shellers cum friction polishers numbering over 10,000 units are also present in the country. Further over the years there has been a steady growth of improved rice mills in the country. Most of these have capacities ranging from 2 tons /hr to 10 tons/ hr. 1.4 Need for Improved Rice Mills The recovery of whole grains in a traditional rice mill using steel hullers for dehusking is around 52-54%. There is excessive loss in the form of coarse and fine brokens. Further loss of large portion of endosperm layers during the dehusking operation further accentuates the problem. Against it, the recovery percent of whole grains in modern rice mills using rubber roll shellers for dehusking operation is around 62-64%. The whole grain recovery percent further increases to 66-68% in case of milling of parboiled paddy. Thus it can be seen that there is an overall improvement of recovery of whole grains by about 10-14% if one uses rubber roll shellers for rice milling operations. The conversion ratio (i.e. recovery % of various final product and byproduct for every 100 kg feed of raw paddy) for these improved rice mills are can be as follows: 1. Percent of milled rice : 62-68%2. Percent of rice bran : 4-5% 3. Percent of rice husk : 25% 4. Percent of germ wastages : 2%-8% It has been observed that dehusking using rubber roll shellers reduces the risk of breaking the grain because husk is pulled off almost at once and pressure is applied by means of resilient surfaces across the width of the grain, where kernels, generally are much more uniform than they are by length. Moreover, the process does not remove the internal epidermis of the husk. Thus the deshelled grains with their silver skin envelope are protected against scratches and keep longer and better while the silver skin and the germ increases the quantity of bran which is produced while whitening. The improved rice mills have a better husk and rice bran aspiration system. The same prevents mixing of fine brokens with rice bran. Therefore the quality of rice bran obtained is better. It has also been observed that the location of rice mills are confined to a few selected production centers. Their development as a village level agro processing unit is yet to take a proper shape. In the absence of village level rice milling unit, the farmers have to travel great distances for milling the rice. This leads to increased transportation and handling losses. Thus there is a need to develop improved rice mills as a village level agro processing unit for bringing about technical up-gradation and development of the sector. Value addition and generation of gainful and sustainable employment opportunities are the other possible benefits arising out of this agro processing industry. The Central Govt. is also providing a big boost towards the development of this industry. It has since repealed w.e.f. May 27, 1998 the Rice Milling Industry (Regulation) Act, 1958 and Rice Milling Industry (Regulation and licensing) Rules, 1959. Further, rice milling sector which was earlier reserved for the small scale sector, have now been de-reserved. As such, no license/ permission is now required for setting up a rice mill. 1.5 Rice Husk Gasifier A rice husk gasifier aims at using wastes from rice mills to fuel a spark-ignition engine that will drive a generator to produce electricity. Instead of dumping rice husks along roadsides, it can now be converted into valuable fuel that can help in substituting the energy required at the mill itself. The gasifier basically employs a moving-bed downdraft gasifier reactor developed by CRHET in combination with a gas-conditioning device that removes impurities from the gas thereby making it highly suitable fuel for heat engines. The gasifier produces a clean gas with a very low amount of black carbon (i.e., only 50 um/m3of gas), and so the gas coming out of the muffler of an engine is also clean. CO2 emission is Operation of the likewise relatively low of about 0.6 kg per ton of rice husks. Figure 2: Block Diagram of Rice Husk Gasifier 1.6 Problem Description The Rice milling is the process that helps in removal of hulls and bran’s from paddy grains to produce polished rice. Rice is rich in genetic diversity with thousands of varieties grown throughout the world. Rice has been one of man’s most important foods. Today, this unique grain helps sustain two-thirds of the world’s population. It is life for thousands of millions of people. It is deeply embedded in the cultural heritage of their societies. About four-fifths of the world’s rice are produced by small-scale farmers and are consumed locally. The major portion of the paddy is being processed through hullers. The hullers are usually low capacity mills. In these hullers, both shelling and polishing operations are carried out simultaneously. Hence, there is no control on the polishing of rice, bran and a higher breakage of rice occurs. Today the number of middle class people is rising who want good quality of food. Thus a number of small, technically advance rice mills are being set up to meet the quality needs of the people and substitute for huller mill, to get polished rice, rice bran and paddy husk. In this project, profit analysis of a small scale technically advance rice mill is carries out using the business case of Jay Laxmi Rice Mill, Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district in the state of Uttarakhand. It has a nominal capacity of 4000kg/hr. It has been built for the production of raw rice. The relation between the cost of capital and the net present value of the project was developed. The internal rate of return was determined by finding the appropriate discounting rates for which the net present value is zero. Sensitivity analysis of various factors like paddy price, raw rice price, bran price versus internal rate of return and the net present value of the project were done to estimate profit. Also, the owner want to know the effect on internal rate of return and net present value if the husk produced is used for generating electricity for the plant. What is the minimum percentage of electricity consumption that should be substituted by rice husk gasifier such that the process is profitable? There are a lot of bottlenecks and unforeseen problems in estimating it. The owner needs to know the fixed and variable costs for operating this. The market forces decide the price/unit of raw rice in the market. Thus, the owner has to follow the supply demand dynamics and price its product. To maintain a pre-defined profit margin the owner should know its revenue and costs and aim to increase its revenue and decrease its costs. These problems are discussed and solved in this report. 1.6 Objectives On the light of the above discussion the following objectives will be addressed in this investigation: * Obtaining an exhaustive asset list along with its initial cost, life and salvage value to compute the Net Present Value, Payback Period and Internal Rate of Return of the project. * To create a programme in C and obtain a relationship between Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and yearly cash flow generated. * To obtain relationship between Net Present Value and Cost of Capital * To obtain relationship between Net income, Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value * To perform sensitivity analysis for the owner on the basis of: * Buying price of Paddy versus Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value * Selling price of Raw Rice versus Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value * Selling price of Bran versus Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value * Salvage value versus Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value * To find the minimum percentage of total electricity consumption that should be generated from Rice Husk Gassifier so that the process is economic and obtain a relationship between percentage electricity substituted from the husk gassifier, Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value. Chapter 2: Review of Literature ————————————————- This is a specific case study partening to Jay Laxmi Rice Mill at Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district in the state of Uttarakhand. This case study is an analysis of the establishment and functioning of small scale modern rice mill in India. It is neither a story of spectacular success, nor of a spectacular failure as case studies usually are. Rather, it is written with a purpose of illustrating the complexity of factors that enter into the establishment and functioning of an enterprise in a low income economy. These factors often distort both the factor and the product prices and make it difficult to measure the efficiency of an enterprise with the usual yardsticks of cost-benefit analysis. In conducting the analysis the classical analytical tools have been used. These tools take into account the Time Value of Money and are the core topics in books on Engineering Economics. The equations used in the analysis of the project have been taken from the book on ‘Essentials of Engineering Economics’ by James L. Riggs and Thomas M. West. The current market price of the assets used in the rice mill has been obtained from Satake, Japanese manufacturer and supplier of rice mill machinery. The Kolkata representative of Satake recommends the market price and setting up cost. The list of assets used in Rice Husk Gasifier, their current market price and salvage value were obtained from the various sites. The papers on ‘Electricity generation from rice husk in indian rice mills’ and ‘Rice husk gasifier for melting and reheating process’ helped me in detailed understanding of the rice husk gassifier. Keeping all these study in mind, I have perform the sensitivity analysis of various factors like paddy price, raw rice price, bran price versus the internal rate of return and the net present value of the project. Also found out the relationship between factors like Cost of Capital, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. Chapter 3: Problem Solving ————————————————- 3.1 Important Terminology Time Value of Money: * It is the idea that money available at present time is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its potential earnings capacity. * Thus any amount of money is worth more the sooner it is received. For example, assuming a 5% interest rate, $100 invested today will be worth $105 in one year ($100 multiplied by 1.05). Cash Flow Diagram: * A cash flow diagram is a tool used to represent the transactions which will take place over the course of a given project. * Transactions can include initial investments, maintenance costs, projected earnings or savings resulting from the project, as well as resale salvage value of equipment at the end of their lives. * Cash inflow is positive e.g. – revenue, resale salvage value * Cash outflow is negative e.g. – cost of equipments and set-up, disbursements etc. Figure 3: Cash Flow Diagram Resale Salvage Value: The estimated value that an asset will realize upon its sale at the end of its useful life. The salvage value is used in conjunction with the purchase price and accounting method to determine the amount by which an asset depreciates each period. For example, with a straight-line basis, an asset that cost $5,000 and has a salvage value of $1,000 and a useful life of five years would be depreciated at $800 ([$5,000 – $1,000]/5 years) each year. Within the tax system, when a person donates a car he or she receives a tax deduction. The value of this deduction depends on the salvage value of the car. This salvage value is determined to be the current fair market value that could be obtained had the car been sold on that day rather than donated. Disbursements: Money paid out in the discharge of a debt or expense. Disbursements can include money paid out to run a business, spending cash, dividend payments, and/or the amounts that a lawyer might have to pay out on a person’s behalf in connection with a transaction. When money is disbursed, it is a cash outflow. Cash flow is a measure of the cash inflow, revenue, and cash outflows, or disbursements. Ideally, there will be more money flowing in than flowing out. If cash flow is negative (in other words disbursements are higher than revenues), it can be an early warning of potential insolvency. Internal Rate of Return (IRR): The discount rate often used in capital budgeting that makes the net present value of all cash flows from a particular project equal to zero. Generally speaking, the higher a project`s internal rate of return, the more desirable it is to undertake the project. As such, IRR can be used to rank several prospective projects a firm is considering. Assuming all other factors are equal among the various projects, the project with the highest IRR would probably be considered the best and undertaken first. IRR as the rate of growth a project is expected to generate. While the actual rate of return that a given project ends up generating will often differ from its estimated IRR rate, a project with a substantial higher IRR value than other available options would still provide a much better chance of strong worth. IRR can also be compared against prevailing rates of return in the securities markets. If a firm cannot find any project with IRRs greater than the returns that can be generated in the financial market, it may simply choose to invest its retained earnings into the market. IRR (before tax) of a business venture / commercial project can be computed when all the cash flows (P, R, D, F) and lives (n) of assets are given. It is calculated by equating the Net Present Value (NPV) to zero. The corresponding value of ‘i’ is the IRR. Payback period: Payback Period in capital budgeting refers to the period of time required for the return on an investment to â€Å"repay† the sum of the original investment. For example, a $1000 investment which returned $500 per year would have a two year payback period. The time value of money is not taken into account. Payback period intuitively measures how long something takes to â€Å"pay for itself.† All else being equal, shorter payback periods are preferable to longer payback periods. Payback period is widely used because of its ease of use despite the recognized limitations described below. Useful Life: Period during which an asset or property is expected to be usable for the purpose it was required. It may or may not correspond with the item`s actual physical life or economic life. The length of time that a depreciable asset is expected to be usable is its useful life. Cost of Capital: The required return necessary to make a capital budgeting project, such as building a new factory, worthwhile. Cost of capital includes the cost of debt and the cost of equity. It determines how a company can raise money (through a stock issue, borrowing, or a mix of the two). This is the rate of return that a firm would receive if it invested in a different vehicle with similar risk. The cost of capital is a term used in the field of financial investment to refer to the cost of a company’s funds (both debt and equity), or, from an investor’s point of view â€Å"the shareholder’s required return on a portfolio of all the company’s existing securities†. It is used to evaluate new projects of a company as it is the minimum return that investors expect for providing capital to the company, thus setting a benchmark that a new project has to meet. For an investment to be worthwhile, the expected return on capital must be greater than the cost of capital. The cost of capital is the rate of return that capital could be expected to earn in an alternative investment of equivalent risk. If a project is of similar risk to a company’s average business activities it is reasonable to use the company’s average cost of capital as a basis for the evaluation. A company’s securities typically include both debt and equity, one must therefore calculate both the cost of debt and the cost of equity to determine a company’s cost of capital. However, a rate of return larger than the cost of capital is usually required. Market Price: Market price is the economic price for which a good or service is offered in the market place. Market pricing is primarily determined by the interaction of supply and demand. Price is interrelated with both of these measures of value. The relationship between price and supply is generally negative, meaning that the higher the price climbs, the lower amount of supply is demanded. Market price is just the price at which goods and services are sold. Price, the amount of goods for which a product is sold, may be seen as a financial expression of the value of the product. Setting the right price is an important part of effective marketing, being the only part of the marketing mix that generates revenue, as product, promotion, and place are all about marketing costs. Price is also the marketing variable that can be changed most quickly. Collin Ta’eed’s ‘Making Money’ describes pricing strategy as a difficult task that depends on nine major factors. They are as follows: 1. Total Costs: If the market price doesn`t include enough just to break-even, one is heading for trouble. The best thing to do is sum up all costs and divide by the number of hours that can be billed a year. This doesn`t include sick days, holidays, and hours working on the business, hours with no work and so on. All hidden costs must be factored. E.g.: insurance, invoices that never get paid for one reason or another, and taxes. 2. Profit: The aim of every business is to make money. Profit is the target money one wants to make above breaking even. Profit is affected by the revenue generated which in turn depends on market price. 3. Market Demand: The concept of demand – supply states that if what one does is in high demand, then make your services more expensive. Conversely if there`s hardly any work around, then decide the market price based on competitors pricing strategy. Signs that demand are high include too much work coming in, other freelancers being overloaded and people telling you they`ve been struggling to find someone to do the job. Signs that demand are low include finding yourself competing to win jobs, a shortage of work and fellow freelancers re-entering the workforce. 4. Industry Standards: It is a technical standards used in business. It is based on the industry market price, value for money, services offered etc. in order to fit in the market, one must adhere to industry standards. 5. Skill Level: Different people, depending on the result they produce, possess a different skill level. When applies to companies, it implies that the market price must be commensurate with the company`s skill. 6. Experience: Although often bundled with skill, experience is a different factor altogether. Experience affects how much a company must charge. E.g.: You may have two very talented photographers, but one with more experience might have better client skills, be able to foresee problems (and thus save the client time and money), and intuitively know what`s going to work for a certain audience and so on. 7. Business Strategy Adopted: Business strategy or angle will make a huge difference to the pricing strategy. E.g.: Think about the differences between Revlon and Chanel, the two could make the same perfume but you would never expect to pay the same for both. Pitching oneself in front of the target customers helps define a company as cheap and cheerful, high end or somewhere in between. This largely affects the market price as people are ready to pay a premium for high end goods. 8. Service Offered: Services are an intangible equivalent of economic goods. Service provision is often an economic activity where the buyer does not generally, except by exclusive contract, obtain exclusive ownership of the thing purchased. The benefits of such a service, if priced, are held to be self-evident in the buyers` willingness to pay for it. Public services are those societies as a whole pays through taxes and other means. The services that a company provides for its clients make a big difference to its price tag. For example you might be a freelancer, who will do whatever it takes to get a job just right, or perhaps you are on call 24-7, or perhaps you provide the minimum amount of communication to cut costs. Whatever the case, adjusting the pricing to the type and level of service provided is a must. 9. Market Segment: Prices will often vary for different clients. This happens for a few reasons. Some clients require more effort, some are riskier, some are repeat clients, some have jobs you are dying to do, some you wouldn`t want to go near with a stick. Thus these factors must be taken into account while pricing a commodity. Fixed Costs: A cost that does not change with an increase or decrease in the amount of goods or service produced. Fixed costs are expenses that have to be paid by a company, independent of business activity. It is one of the two components of the total cost of a good or service, along with variable cost. Fixed costs are defined as expenses that do not change as a function of the activity of a business, within the relevant period. E.g. rent, property tax, insurance, or interest expense. An example of a fixed cost would be a company`s rent on a building. If a company has to pay $10,000 each month to cover the cost of the rent but does not manufacture anything during the month, the rent payment is still due in full. In economics, a business can achieve economies of scale when it produces enough goods to spread fixed costs. For example, the $100,000 lease spread out over 100,000 widgets means that each widget carries with it $1 in fixed costs. If the company produces 200,000 widgets, the fixed cost per unit drops to 50 cents. Variable Costs: A corporate expense that varies with production output. Variable costs are those costs that vary depending on a company`s production volume; they rise as production increases and fall as production decreases. Variable costs differ from fixed costs such as rent, advertising, insurance and office supplies, which tend to remain the same regardless of production output. Variable costs can include direct material costs or direct labor costs necessary to complete a certain project. For example, a company may have variable costs associated with the packaging of one of its products. Conversely, when fewer of these products are sold the costs for packaging will consequently decrease. Marketing Costs: It is the amount of money spent on advertisement, distribution and selling of finished goods in the market. It has components of fixed and variable costs. It is difficult to obtain an estimate of the marketing cost. Hence, it is taken as a percentage of total costs and added to it. Total Costs: Total costs (TC) describes the total economic cost of production and is made up of variable costs, which vary according to the quantity of a good produced and include inputs such as labour and raw materials, plus fixed costs, which are independent of the quantity of goods produced and include (capital) that cannot be varied in the short term, such as buildings and machinery. Total cost in economics includes the total opportunity cost of each factor of production as part of its fixed or variable costs. If one assumes that the unit variable cost is constant, as in cost-volume-profit analysis developed and used in cost accounting by the accountants, then total cost is linear in volume, and given by: total cost = fixed costs + unit variable cost * quantity. Figure 4: Total Cost = Fixed Cost + Variable Cost Revenue: In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. Revenue may refer to business income in general, or it may refer to the amount, in a monetary unit, received during a period of time. Profit: It is the difference between a firm`s total revenue and all costs. It is the positive gain from an investment or business operation after subtracting for all expenses. It is the opposite of loss. Profit = Total Revenue – Total Costs Profit is the money a business makes after accounting for all the expenses. Regardless of whether the business is a couple of kids running a lemonade stand or a publicly traded multinational company, consistently earning profit is every company`s goal. The path toward profitability can be long. For example, online bookseller Amazon.com was founded in 1994 and did not produce its first annual profit until 2003. Many startups and new business fail when the owners run out of capital to sustain the business. Profit Before Tax: A profitability measure that looks at a company`s profile before the company has to pay corporate income tax. This measure deducts all expenses from revenue including interest expenses and operating expenses, but it leaves out the payment of tax. This measure combines all the company`s profits before tax, including operating, non-operating, continuing operations and non-continuing operations. PBT exists because tax expense is constantly changing and taking it out helps to give an investor a good idea of changes in a company`s profits or earnings from year to year. 3.2 Data Procurement Data required for analysis * List of Assets * Cost Spent on assets at t=0 * Useful life of each asset * Resale salvage price of each asset * Average repair and maintenance cost per year * Administrative cost per year * Fixed expenses incurred per year like rent, wages etc. * Variable costs involved in rice production * Quantity of rice, bran, husk produced * Unit price of raw material (paddy) and products (rice, bran, husk) The current asset price, useful life and salvage value was provided by Satake. Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.1. Data Description Each asset has a list of the following variables (whichever is applicable) * Quantity * Model type * Capacity * Electrical Rating * Market Price Data required for analysis of Rice Husk Gassifier * List of assets * Cost Spent on assets at t=0 * Useful life of each asset * Resale salvage price of each asset It is obtained from various sites online. Refer: Appendix B, Table 2.1. 3.3 Specifications and Assumptions Some specific data: * Capital Expenditure incurred = Rs. 9,05,04,240 * Capacity of Rice Mill = 4 tons per hour * Maximum Run = 270 days * 16 hours * Annual Requirement of Paddy at installed capacity = Capacity*Maximum Run = 17280 Metric Tonnes per year * The yield of rice is Particulars| Yield Percentage| Annual Yield (in MT)| Raw Rice| 65| 11232| Husk| 21| 3628.80| Broken Rice| 4| 691.20| Rice Bran| 8| 1382.40| Rejected Rice| 1| 172.80| Impurities| 1| 172.80| * Price of Paddy in the market = Rs. 1250 per quintal * Market Price of Raw Rice = Rs. 2000 per quintal * Market Price of Broken Rice = Rs. 1400 per quintal * Market Price of Bran = Rs. 1500 per quintal * Market Price of Husk = Rs. 320 per quintal Assumptions: * The plant is assumed to run for 270 days (approximate value for the rice mill) for calculations pertaining to profitability of rice mill. * The salvage cost is unknown and is taken as 10% of total assets cost. * Quantity of raw rice produced = Quantity of raw rice sold. No inventory is utilized. * No wastage of products and byproducts. 3.4 Solution Approach Payback Period Payback Period Internal Rate of Return Internal Rate of Return Net Present Value Net Present Value Solutions Solutions Net Present Value: * It is the algebraic sum of all cash flows pertaining to the project discounted to present time (t=0) at a chosen rate (i.e. Cost of Capital) NPV= -P+R-DÃâ€"1+in-1i*1+in+SÃâ€"11+in Where, P = Cost of Asset spent at time t=0 R = Revenue Income D = Disbursements S = Resale Stock Salvage Value i = Cost of Capital n = Number of Periods (Useful life of asset) Internal Rate of Return: The internal rate of return on an investment or project is the â€Å"annualized effective compounded return rate† or â€Å"rate of return† that makes the net present value (NPV) of all cash flows (both positive and negative) from a particular investment equal to zero. Payback Period: It is calculated by calculating Cumulative Cash Flow = (Net Cash Flow Year 1 + Net Cash Flow Year 2 + Net Cash Flow Year 3 †¦ etc.) Accumulate by year until Cumulative Cash Flow is a positive number: that year is the payback year. k= ln⠁ ¡(R-DR-D-P*i)ln⠁ ¡(1+i) Where, K = Payback Period P = Cost of Asset spent at time t=0 R = Revenue Income D = Disbursements i = Cost of Capital For calculation of Profit obtained Profit Function = Revenue generated – Cost Incurred Revenue generated = ∑(Qi*pi) Where, Qi = Quantity of commodity i sold per year pi = Unit Price of commodity i in the market Cost Incurred = Fixed Costs (FC) + Variable Costs (VC) Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.3 and Table 1.4. Chapter 4: Results and Discussions ————————————————- Result 1: For initial estimated values of input parameters * Initial Project Cost incurred at t=0 (P) = Rs. 90504240 (Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.2) * Gross Revenue Income (R) = Rs. 266664960/year (Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.4) * Operating Expenditure/ Disbursement (D) = Rs. 223860420/year (Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.3) * Salvage Value /Resale Value (S) = Rs. 6707544, * Useful life of assets (n) = 20 years, * Cost of Capital (i) = 15% Figure 5: Cash Flow Diagram at estimated values of input parameters Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.5. Using engineering economics equations (Refer Chapter 3, section 3.4 – Solution Approach), we have found * NPV= -90504240+266664960-2435595801+0.1520-10.15*1+0.1520+6707544[11+0.1520] = Rs. 54529825.06 * IRR = 25.27% at NPV = 0 * Payback period, k= ln(266664960-243559580266664960-243559580-90504240*0.15)ln(1+0.15) = 6.34 years Figure 6: C programme for calculating IRR Refer: Appendix C. This is the C programme return to calculate the IRR of any cash flow correct upto two decimal places. This programme can be used for any type of cash flows. Result 2: The following two graphs depict the relation of Cost of Capital with NPV and Payback Period. Figure 7: Effect of Cost of Capital on NPV Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.6. This graph helps obtain an estimate of the NPV based on the Cost of Capital. In order to get higher NPV, the Cost of Capital should be less. With a variation of 10% in the Cost of Capital, from 11% to 20% the NPV decreases substantially from 94 million INR to 22 million INR. Figure 8: Effect of Cost of Capital on Payback Period Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.6 This graph helps obtain the estimate of the Payback period based on the Cost of Capital. In order to get lesser Payback Period, the Cost of Capital should be less. With a variation of 11% in the Cost of Capital, from 10% to 20% the Payback Period increases substantially from 3.56 years to 10.95 years. Discussion: The value of Cost of Capital is varied over a feasible range of 10% to 20% and the corresponding values of NPV and Payback period. If the Cost of Capital decreases, the NPV of the firm increases while the Payback Period of the firm will reduce as expected from the formulae of NPV and Payback Period – Refer Chapter 3, section 3.4 – Solution Approach. Result 3: The following two graphs depict the relation of cost of unit amount of paddy (raw material cost) with NPV and IRR. 1 Unit = 1 Quintal Figure 9: Effect of unit Paddy Price on NPV Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.7. This graph helps obtain an estimate of the NPV based on the cost of unit amount of paddy. The graph shows more or less a linear variation as expected. In order to get higher NPV, the cost of raw material should be less. A large variation could be seen in the NPV i.e. from 324 million INR to -216 million INR, when the price of paddy varies from 1000 INR per quintal to 1500 INR per quintal, keeping all other market price and other factors constant. In India, the Government of India fixes the minimum paddy price to save the interests of the farmers. So, if the price of the paddy goes above 1300 INR per quintal, the firm will not be beneficial at all instead will start incurring a loss. Figure 10: Effect of unit Paddy Price on IRR Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.7 In the graph the effect on IRR for different unit price of Paddy is shown. As the price of paddy increases from 1000 INR per quintal to 1350 INR per quintal, the IRR decreases substantially from 73.26% to 2.99% in eight uniform steps. Discussion: For a fixed market price of Raw Rice, NPV and IRR decreases substantially with increase in unit price of Paddy. This is an obvious conclusion from the NPV equation – Refer Chapter 3, section 3.4 – Solution Approach. As the unit price of paddy rises, the operating cost also starts increasing thus our annuity per year will decrease. With decrease in NPV and IRR, the payback period also increases. Result 4: In the following two graphs the unit price of Raw Rice (product) is varied to see the effect on the NPV and IRR. 1 Unit = 1 Quintal Figure 11: Effect of unit Raw Rice Price on IRR Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.8 This graph helps obtain the NPV of the firm based on the unit market price of Raw Rice. As the unit market price of Raw Rice increases, the Gross Revenue Income increases substantially which leads to increase in NPV. This graph shows linear variation with unit price of Raw Rice as expected. A large variation could be seen in the NPV i.e. from -191.5 million INR to -441.2 million INR, when the price of raw rice varies from 1650 INR per quintal to 2550 INR per quintal, keeping all other market price and other factors constant. With 1% increase in the unit market price of Raw Rice, the NPV of the firm increases substantially by 25.784%. If the unit market price of Raw Rice is above 1920 INR per quintal, the firm will be beneficial and below that price it will be running in loss. Figure 12: Effect of unit Raw Rice Price on IRR Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.8 In the graph, the variation of IRR for different unit market price of Raw Rice is studied. The unit market price of Raw Rice is varied in a feasible range of 1850 INR to 2550 INR, to estimate the effect on IRR. The IRR of the firm increases substantially from 3.71% to 93.79% in twelve uniform steps. This happens because as the unit market price of Raw Rice increases, the gross revenue income also increases which increases the IRR of the firm and reduce the payback period. Discussion: The unit market price of Raw Rice is required to estimate the profit that can be earned. As the unit price of Raw Rice increases, the gross revenue income increases and thus the NPV and IRR of the firm increases substantially. If the revenue increases, the payback period of the firm will reduce. If the unit market price falls beyond a certain point i.e. 1920 INR per quintal, the firm will start incurring loss. These graphs help in setting competitive market price of Raw Rice. Result 5: The following two graphs show the effect of unit market price of Bran (byproduct) on the NPV and IRR of the firm. 1 Unit = 1 Quintal Figure 13: Effect of unit Bran Price on NPV Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.9 This graph helps obtain the NPV of the firm based on the unit market price of Bran. The NPV of the firm increases from 11.27 million INR to 141 million INR in fifteen equal steps assuming 50 INR hike in unit market price of Bran at every step. This graph shows linear variation with unit price of Raw Rice as expected. With 1% increase in the unit market price of Bran, the NPV of the firm increases substantially by 2.38%. Figure 14: Effect of unit Bran Price on IRR Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.9 Since with the increase in the unit market price of Bran the NPV of the firm increases, therefore IRR of the firm also increases. With 1% increase in the unit price of Bran the IRR increases about 0.24%. This graph shows more or less a linear variation. The IRR of the firm increases from 17.20% to 40.76% as the price of Bran increases from 1000 INR per quintal to 2500 INR per quintal. Discussion: The unit market price of Bran, a byproduct, also has substantial effect on gross revenue income as it forms 8% part of the total outcome which is about 1382.40 Metric tons. Today market price of Bran is about 1500 INR per quintal through which 20.736 million INR revenue is generated per year. Since, an increase in unit market price of Bran increases the gross revenue income, the NPV and IRR of the firm also increases. With increase in revenue, the payback period of the firm decreases. Result 6: Figure 15: Effect of Salvage on NPV Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.10 Figure 16: Percentage change in NPV with percentage change in Salvage Value Refer: Appendix A, Table 1.10 Basic Assumption: Salvage value is hard to define as it is the future value of 20 years down the line from now. Hence it is assumed to be certain percentage of the total assets cost. It is assumed to be 10% of the total assets cost incurred and is discounted to today’s value at a rate of 15% to find the Net Present Value of the firm. The salvage value can vary over a range of 5% to 20% of the total assets cost. The NPV changes from -0.5% to 0.75% i.e. from 54.32 million INR to 54.94 million INR by changing the salvage value by -5% to 10% i.e. from 5% to 20% of the total assets cost. Discussion: The NPV of the firm doesn’t increases substantially with increase in the salvage value of the assets. The graph shows a straight line variation as expected. With 1% increase in salvage value the NPV increase by 0.075%. This increase in the NPV is negligible, therefore, even if the assumed resale value of the assets change in the future, it will not affect the calculations done in this case study for the profitability analysis of Jay Laxmi Rice mill. Result 7: The following two graphs will help in assessing the economy of generating electricity from husk (by product) using Rice Husk Gassifier. Figure 17: Effect of percentage of Total electricity requirement that is substituted by Rice Husk Gasifier on NPV Refer: Appendix B, Table 2.3 The graph shows that the NPV of the firm increases linearly as the amount of electricity produced by the husk Gasifier increases as expected. The NPV of the firm increases from 51 million INR to 89 million INR as the amount of electricity that is substituted by the Rice Husk Gasifier increases from 65% to 100% of total electricity requirement. The minimum amount of total electricity that should be produced from husk so that the firm has the same NPV as before implanting the husk gasifier is 68.8% Figure 18: Effect of percentage of Total electricity requirement that is substituted by Rice Husk Gasifier on IRR Refer: Appendix B, Table 2.3 This graph shows the variation of the IRR of the firm with respect to the percentage of the total electricity requirement that is substituted by Rice Husk Gasifier. The graph shows an expected linear increase in IRR as the amount of electricity produced by the husk Gasifier increases. The IRR of the firm increases from 24.52% to 31.32% as the amount of electricity that is substituted by the Rice Husk Gasifier increases from 65% to 100% of total electricity requirement. Discussion: To be economic at least 68.8% electricity requirement needs to be generated from Husk Gasifier i.e. the minimum amount of total electricity requirement that should be substituted by the Rice Husk Gasifier so that the firm profit as before setting up of the Rice Husk Gasifier. If the amount of electricity produced is more than this amount than the plant will earn more profit than before but if it is less, then the rice husk gasifier should not be set up, because the plant will be earning less than before. The plant may be beneficial but will be in loss as comparison to the current scenario. The following figure 19 shows the cash flow diagram when 68.8% of electricity requirement is generated from Husk Gasifier. Figure 19: Cash Flow diagram with Rice Husk Gasifier Refer: Appendix 8, Table 2.2 Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusions ————————————————- 5.1 Summary The main aim of this study was was to analyze the Jay Laxmi Rice Mill, Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district in the state of Uttarakhand, from its business point of view. It has a nominal capacity of 4000kg/hr. It has been built for the production of raw rice. Some estimates were required to analyze its profitability. The economic analysis of the project was carried out using engineering economics equations. The sensitivity of NPV, IRR and Payback period with respect to various factors like Cost of Capital, paddy price, raw rice price, bran price and salvage were studied. Also the economy assessing of generating electricity from husk (by product) using Rice Husk Gassifier was done. The minimum electricity requirement that needs to be generated from Rice Husk Gasifier for economic purposes was calculated. The following conclusions are drawn from the study: * For initial estimated values of input parameters (P = Rs. 90504240, R = Rs. 266664960/year, D= Rs. 223860420/year, S = Rs. 6707544, n = 20 years, i = 15%) * NPV = Rs. 54529825.06 * IRR = 25.27% * Payback period = 6.34 years * With a variation of 10% in the Cost of Capital, from 11% to 20% the NPV decreases substantially from 94 million INR to 22 million INR and Payback Period increases from 4.03 increases to 10.95 years. * A large variation could be seen in the NPV i.e. from 324 million INR to -53.5 million INR, when the price of paddy varies from 1000 INR per quintal to 1350 INR per quintal while IRR increases from 73.26% to 2.99%. * NPV increases from -50.9 million INR to -441.2 million INR and IRR increases from 3.71% to 93.79%, when the price of raw rice varies from 1850 INR per quintal to 2550 INR per quintal. * As the price of Bran increases from 1000 INR per quintal to 2500 INR per quintal, the NPV and IRR of the firm increases from 11.27 million INR to 141 million INR and 17.20% to 40.76% respectively. * With 1% increase in salvage value the NPV increase by 0.075%. This increase in the NPV is negligible, therefore, even if the assumed resale value of the assets change in the future, it will not affect the calculations done in this case study for the profitability analysis of Jay Laxmi Rice mill. * To be economic at least 68.8% electricity requirement needs to be generated from Husk Gasifier i.e. the minimum amount of total electricity requirement that should be substituted by the Rice Husk Gasifier so that the firm profit as before setting up of the Rice Husk Gasifier. References ————————————————- * James L. Riggs 2004, Engineering Economics, 4th edition, Tata Mc Graw Hill Education Private Limited, pp 67-147. * Chandra P. 2011, Fundamentals of Financial Management, 11th edition, Tata Mc Graw Hill Education Private Limited, pp 150-167. * T. Kapur, T. C. Kandpal and H. P. Garg, Electricity Generation from Rice Husk in Indian Rice Mills: Potential and Financial Viability, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi (1995). * Alexis Belonio, Victoriano Ocon, and Antonio Co, Garbage-In Fuel-Out: Small-Scale Rice Husk Gasifier Plant for Community Street Lighting, Suki Trading Corporation, Philippines (2011). * Email from Gaurav Vashisht (gaurav@satakeindia.com) working at Satake, kolkata.