Old and New Reflected in The Great Gatsby Essay

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published in 1925. The United States was prospering as part of its post World War I recovery and this meant that the American people prospered as well. But as history will tell us the booming 20’s were a fleeting time and America was on a fast track of change. By the end of the 20’s a depression was on the horizon and the decadence of the early part of decade was over. The Great Gatsby, although not popular in its day, is representative of this old way giving over to a newer one. In addition, to changing economics there was a shift in morals and American values. Gatsby’s character illustrates all of the greedy and excessive ways of the old traditions. The novel takes place during the summer of 1922 in which Nick Carraway, a Minnesota native becomes friends with his neighbor Jay Gatsby. Carraway had recently moved into the West Egg area, where other young and newly wealthy New York residents flock toward. One is that of the greed and excessivness of the â€Å"old† ways. â€Å"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I have been turning over in my mind ever since, ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he said. ‘Just remember that all of the people of the world have not had the opportunities you have, (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 8). † Nick’s character represents the new way. He is reserved when casting judgment and his simple lifestyle reflects the idea that wealth need not flaunt itself. Gatsby threw regular parties in which he displayed excessive amounts of wealth. However, it seems that Gatsby is a lonely character. And although Nick is the opposite of Gatsby he recognizes that it isn’t Gatsby himself that is bad. It is his wealth and all of the people who feed off of Gatsby for his money. â€Å"Gatsby turned out to be alright in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men, (Fitzgerald, p. 13). † Nick was obviously turned off by the partying and excessiveness of Gatsby’s lifestyle. One of the major motifs in this novel includes geography and how the sense of place affects ones moral background. For example Nick is from the Midwest, where life has a slower pace. In addition, the Midwestern philosophy of life includes such quips as the one from the beginning of the novel where Nick is cautioned about making judgments about other people. However, those from New York, specifically from East Egg are not as virtuous. According to Nick’s assessment the easterners are judgmental and decadent. â€Å"From East Egg, then, came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches, and a man named Bunsen, whom I knew at Yale, and Doctor Webster Civet, who was drowned last summer up in Maine. And the Hornbeams and the Willie Voltaires, and a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosoever came near. And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather Hubert Auerbach and Mr. Chrystie’s wife), and Edgar Beaver, whose hair, they say, turned cotton-white one winter afternoon for no good reason at all, (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 34). † The sense of place being a factor is symbolized in the Valley of Ashes which seperates New York, land of moral decay, and the West, land of moral vigor. Other symbols in this novel include the green light which flashes on and off at the edge of the character Daisy’s dock. This light is the green light for Gatsby’s hopes and future. Which ultimatly cause his demise as well. Reference Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Cognitive Effects of Early Bilingualism Essay

The American educational system has fallen behind other leading nations in the world in many respects, one of which is in bilingual instruction. This has traditionally been overlooked in the United States until the high school level. Children in today’s society should be made more prepared for the growing globalism and technological advances throughout the world instead of losing educational opportunities due to economic downfall and lack of resources. This includes a second language acquisition introduced earlier in the program. On top of political reasons, the positive effects to the cognitive development of the brain when introduced to a second language are many. The age of acquisition is crucial due to the plasticity of the brain which, according to the critical period hypothesis, begins to plateau after five years of age. The current policy in early education limits greatly the amount of extracurricular lessons provided in accordance with government policies such as No Ch ild Left Behind, which restricts school funding based on standardized testing only in certain subject areas. School programs, realistically beginning in elementary education, should include foreign language study due to the strong evidence that bilingualism in children can develop higher cognitive abilities which can be enhanced with proficiency and positively influence skills in other areas. Old arguments suggest that, â€Å"children who are instructed bilingually from an early age will suffer cognitive or intellectual retardation in comparison with their monolingually instructed counterparts† (Diaz 24). Much of the research from the past supporting this argument focused on older bilinguals, mostly adults who may have shown competent abilities in a second language but who had much later ages of acquisition and who usually acquired the second language outside of the home. Many early studies in this field worked with children of immigrants who showed lower abilities in cognitive tasks most likely because of the lack of proficiency in the second language (L2) and lack of proper schooli ng in relation to this deficiency (Kovà ¡cs 307). In correlation with poorly chosen test subjects, the studies were typically done with orthographic representations of words that would have been more difficult for younger test subjects to work with. For example, a study done by Ton Dijkstra, Professor of Psycholinguistics and Multilingualism at the Donders Institute, which focused only on adult English/Dutch bilinguals–the youngest being fifteen years old, all of whom studied their L2 in a middle or high school level. This study included only written examples of words and had the subjects determine if the word was English or Dutch. The results were able to somewhat prove Dijkstra’s theory of Bilingual interactive activation (BIA) which underlines the effects orthography has on L1 and L2 word retrieval that is â€Å"assuming, of course, that the same orthography is used in the input† (Dijkstra 217). If this study were done on younger children, it is sure they would not have performed as well since children are typically less familiar with the written language than with the spoken. Older language learners would make more use of the written approach to learning, such as a textbook, while younger learners typica lly learn more from a speech-based approach, like conversationally in the home. The textbook approach is a symbolic processing which differs from the more embedded cognitive retrieval of the speech-based learning approach utilized by younger children to understand the two languages. There have been many studies over the past few years that have proven the opposite of these older arguments. Many of the studies have tested the cognitive abilities of young children, usually aged six and under in accordance with the critical period hypothesis, with both monolingual and bilingual proficiency. These experiments are concerned with cognitive tasks including false-belief tasks and grammar testing to determine the ability to hold abstract thought in the L2 as well as phonemic testing in order to find if there is an ability to distinguish between the phonemes of the different languages. The majority of these studies have tested subjects using visual representations and vocal experiments with proctors who have experience working with children and are trained in both languag es being tested. The more useful subjects are usually taught implicitly, or passively in the home. Although some make use of explicitly taught subjects, meaning they learned actively in a class setting. It has been proven that an infant of four months has the incredible linguistic discrimination abilities to distinguish languages with different prosody and phonemes (Kovà ¡cs 303). An infant is then better equipped to attain more native-like proficiency later in life when exposed this early to the sounds and rhythm of the L2. Doctor in Communication Sciences, Karsten Steinhauer explains, â€Å"that late L2 learners stabilize at some point short of native-like attainment [which] most recently has been discussed in terms of phonological/prosodic interference from L1† (Steinhauer 15). When a young child is introduced to two separate languages, the mechanisms of attention, selection, and inhibition become more fine-tuned due to the experience of attending to one language and ignoring the other (Kovà ¡cs 303, 308). The training in encoding and the association of two correspondi ng words with a common concept underlines the superior representational abilities a bilingual retains especially when the L2 is entrenched in the brain the way early acquisition allows. Linguist à gnes Melinda Kovà ¡cs presents research proving that monolinguals typically attain these abilities at the age of four years while young bilinguals gain these skills much earlier (Kovà ¡cs 316). The brain’s plasticity allows the young child to hold and use the two languages without interference and with continued usage the child will be more likely to attain full native-like proficiency in both languages. Kovà ¡cs also explains that since the brain remains active during demanding tasks, the brain may take on the extra load of two languages as a constructive challenge. The young, malleable brain may possibly â€Å"greatly adapt to [the challenge], for example, by changing its morphology† (Kovà ¡cs 308). A type of adaptation has been proven in studies done by neuroscientist Andrea Mechelli, which were concerned with the grey matter surrounding the left inferior parietal cortex, the general area associated with language use containing the Broca’s are a. These studies confirmed that the grey matter in this area is denser in early-acquired bilinguals. The density decreases in correlation with proficiency in the L2 with monolinguals having the least dense matter (Mechelli 757). This may be the case because a later acquired L2 is held at a more surface level of the brain and requires the use of the declarative memory instead of the procedural memory. Many tests have been done to determine the amount of brain activity associated with language in the left inferior parietal cortex through the use of event-related brain potential, or ERPs. Dr. Steinhauer describes ERPs as â€Å"reflecting the real-time electrophysiological brain dynamics of cognitive processes with an excellent time resolution in the range of milliseconds,† and that ERPs â€Å"have been hypothesized to be linked to rule-based automatic parsing† (Steinhauer 16). Measurements of ERPs are taken while subjects perform syntactically poignant tasks. Since it is thought that syntactic processes are generally automatic or a part of â€Å"implicit grammar processi ng† (Steinhauer 17), the ERP components would be more difficult to elicit in later acquired bilinguals. Steinhauer et al. performed several studies in this area, working with many real and one artificial language labeled BROCANTO 2. In each case, the subjects were given grammaticality judgment tasks in the given language, such as subject-verb agreement violations and lexical anomalies. For each group, the early acquired or implicitly taught subjects educed the same type of ERP responses as native speakers. Late-acquired or explicitly instructed subjects showed more shallow responses, if any at all in this area. These findings show that â€Å"syntactic processes appear to be sensitive to delays in L2 acquisition† (Steinhauer 19). One of the most prominent issues in L2 proficiency is attaining the phonemic boundary between the two languages. Monolinguals are usually unable to distinguish the sounds of a language other than their own. The more proficient a bilingual is in their L2, the more able they are to perceive the two types of phonemes and to determine which is correct in a given phonological circumstance. The phonemic boundary is the least likely area to be fossilized in a late-acquired bilingual. There have been several studies done which have proven this, including a 2008 study done by Adrian Garcia-Sierra, professor of Communications at the University of Texas. In this study, the voice onset time, or VOT, of thirty college students was tested. Half of the students were English monolinguals while the other half were English/Spanish bilinguals who described themselves as fluent speakers of both languages and who learned their L2 at home. This study was done in Austin, Texas where some Spanish is integrated into the daily culture. The results showed that the more fluent bilinguals were more apt to â€Å"a perceptual shift†¦associated with high level of confidence in English and Spanish†¦[and] that highly confident L2 bilinguals are more likely to possess a double phonemic boundary† (Garcia-Sierra 378). This shows that more proficient bilinguals will have a stronger ability to determine different phonemes, which also underlines the effects bilingualism has on a dvanced discrimination and attention skills. Another recent study performed on early bilinguals was done by a group of psychologists headed by Michael Siegal. The experiments tested the pragmatic skills of 41 children in northeastern Italy. All were between the ages of three and six years old, with 19 Italian monolinguals and 22 Italian/Slovenian bilinguals who attended the same preschool taught only in Italian. The children were tested on the Gricean maxims of conversational understanding. These are four basic rules which provide a foundation for pragmatic competence including quality, quantity, relevance, and politeness. The groups of children were shown cartoons with characters having conversations that contained one response created in order to break one of the maxims. The children were then asked which of the characters said something strange or rude and to provide a more appropriate response when the statement was positively identified. The main thesis in this study was that bilingualism requires â€Å"the capacity for flexibility in the representation of language and objects [which] suggests that early bilingualism should be accomp anied by advanced meta-pragmatic skills† (Siegal 115). This theory was upheld by the results of these tests in which the bilingual children outperformed the monolinguals by much more than a chance margin, especially in the maxims of politeness and quality even though many bilinguals had a delayed vocabulary in their L2. The psychologists behind this study suggest that bilingualism can be â€Å"accompanied by an enhanced ability to appreciate effective communicative responses† (Siegal 115). The results of this research seem to highlight the idea that the acquisition of a second language allows a child to remove themselves from the comfortable context of their native language and to realize that it is more necessary to provide useful information and use polite tones for more a successful exchange in both languages. Recently, studies have been performed concerning the effects and importance of early-acquired bilingualism in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Research in this area shows that it is less likely for a bilingual individual to be affected by these types of diseases. The majority of the hypotheses behind this statistic pertain to the activity in the brain that is needed to think and speak bilingually. This constant activity exercises the brain in a way that is counterintuitive to the deterioration involved with these disorders (Paradis 216). The research behind Parkinson’s disease explains that the procedural memory is affected greatly sometimes causing a loss of the L1. This is partnered with a tendency to â€Å"produce a smaller portion of grammatical sentences†¦and exhibit deficits in comprehension of complex syntactic forms† (Paradis 217). This is likely linked to the deterioration of the left inferior parietal cortex, the same area in the brain discussed earlier, which is associated with syntactic processes and holding the L1. On the other hand, bilingual patients with Alzheimer’s show a loss in t heir L2 as well as in semantic abilities and a gradual loss of pragmatic, phonological, and syntactic structures. More common in this type of dementia is a puzzlingly inappropriate mixture of the two languages (Paradis 222). This is due to the break down of the declarative memory caused by the dementia. The declarative memory is involved with metacognition, which is why it affects such things as the less familiar language, pragmatic skills, and the selective attention abilities of bilinguals. The major finding in these studies is that â€Å"the differences observed in psychotic conditions as well as in dementias are caused by the increased reliance on declarative-memory-based (and hence consciously controlled) explicit metalinguistic knowledge† (Paradis 222). The advances made in early bilingual research have been great over the past few decades. Through these studies and so many more, it has been made clear that bilinguals with early ages of acquisition not only achieve more native-like proficiency but also tend to have more advanced cognitive abilities than their monolingual peers. These include but are not exclusive to increased analytical, representational, selective, and control abilities. Bilingualism also implies more developed metalingustic awareness and mental flexibility. Early bilinguals have also shown greater abilities in pragmatics and phonemic discrimination. In opposition to old arguments, Kovà ¡cs writes, â€Å"The bilingual condition could be stimulating for the highly plastic developing mind of the child, and induces specific changes in the brain and cognitive systems† (Kovà ¡cs 317). The higher development has been seen in ERP testing and in the density of grey matter involved in the linguistically apt area of the brain. Educators and policy makers should consider this information when planning early education programs. Those enriched with the benefits of a bilingual education are not only better off cognitively, but in the modern world, would be more prepared for the global society and workplace. Works Cited Diaz, R â€Å"Thought and Two Languages: The Impact of Bilingualism on Cognitive Development.† Review of Research in Education 10 (1983): 23-54 Dijkstra, Ton. â€Å"Task and Context Effects in Bilingual Lexical Processing.† Cognitive Aspects of Bilingualism (2007): 213-235. Garcia-Sierra, Adrian, Randy L. Diehl, and Craig Champlin. â€Å"Testing the double phonemic boundary in bilinguals.† Speech Communication 51 (2009): 369-378. Kovacs, Agnes Melinda. â€Å"Beyond Language: Childhood Bilingualism Enhances High- level Cognitive Functions.† Cognitive Aspects of Bilingualism (2007): 301-323. Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O’Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., and Price, C.J. 2004. Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature. 431: 754. Siegal, Michael, Laura Iozzi, and Luca Surian. â€Å"Bilingualism and conversational understanding in young children.† Cognition 110 (2009): 115-122.

Public Bank Berhad

Public Bank Berhad The Public Bank Malaysia was founded in the year 1966. The logo, in modern geometric design, is conceived from two interlocking octagons denoting the domestic and international connections of the Group. The interlocking of the two octagons also suggests security, strength and stability. As per the latest reports Public Bank Malaysia is the largest domestic bank in Malaysia after Malayan Banking Berhad. The Public Bank Malaysia, in terms of its market capitalization, is the largest corporation in Malaysia that is not linked with the Government.The expansion and progress of the Group are symbolised by the edges of the octagons pointing outwards at various directions. Additionally, the graphic formation of the two interlocking octagons also creates an â€Å"eye† of foresight of the organisation. Industry Of Public Bank Berhad Public Bank Berhad is an industry leader in hire purchase financing, home mortgage financing and commercial lending to SMEs in Malaysia. The bank has a strong distribution network comprising 248 full service branches in Malaysia and 109 overseas in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka. Public BankProduct Range Of Public Bank Berhad Public Bank Berhad in one of the leading providers of integrated financial services in Malaysia. It primarily focuses on providing banking and financial services. The bank is engaged in offering various financial products and services, which includes investment banking, commercial banking, wealth management products, and Islamic banking services. Target Market Of Public Bank Berhad The whole Malaysian, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka. Aimed at providing customized banking services and products to individual customers in addition to small business concerns.Consumer Groups The core business areas of the Public Bank Group are consumer and retail commercial loans. Individuals and families can find a range of lending solutions to buy residential unit, vehicle or a consumer good. The bank offers home loan, car loan, passenger vehicle hire purchase financing and personal loan at easy terms and conditions. The small and medium sized enterprises, too, can find simplified procedure here to apply for a commercial loan. Position of The Company In Relation To Other Competitors Public Bank Berhad operates in the Commercial banks sector.This analysis compares Public Bank Berhad with three other companies: Malayan Banking Berhad (2011 sales of 18. 28 billion Malaysian Ringgits [US$5. 85 billion] of which 25% was Consumer Banking), Cimb Group Holdings Berhad (2010 sales: 16. 06 billion Malaysian Ringgits [US$5. 14 billion] of which 19% was Foreign Banking Ope), and AMMB Holdings Berhad (2011 sales of 5. 83 billion Malaysian Ringgits [US$1. 87 billion] of which 46% was Retail Banking). Company| Sales(blns)| P/E| P/B| Mkt Cap(RMm)| Revenue(RM’000,000)| Public Bank Berhad| 10. 345| 13. 1| 3. 10| 45,067. 8| 10,523| Malayan Banking Berhad| 18. 278| 13. 0| 1. 90| 62,592. 67| 18,397| Cimb Group Holdings Berhad| 16. 059| 13. 5| 2. 07| 55,597. 16| 16,635| AMMB Holdings Berhad| 5. 831| 12. 2| 1. 69| 17,904. 26| 6,343| Market Capital Revenue Ratio For Public Bank | 2008| 2009| 2010| Current ratio| 120,700,000,000/34,789,000,000=3. 47| 137,600,000,000/41,835,000,000=3. 29| 156,500,000,000/45,911,000,000=3. 41| Quick ratio| 60,656,000,000/34,789,000,000=1. 97| 67,986,000,000/41,835,000,000=1. 63| 59,269,000,000/45,911,000,000=1. 29| Average age of inventory | Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading.No inventories| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No inventories| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No inventories| Average Collection Period| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No sales hence no receivables| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No sales hence no receivables| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No sales hence no receivables| Average payme nt period| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No purchases| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading. No purchases| Impossible since PBB is not involved in trading.No purchases| Total asset turnover| 10,500,307,000/196,163,106,000=0. 054| 9,715,568,000/271,136,154,000=0. 045| 11,035,597,000/226,328,976,000=0. 049| Debt ratio| (185,934,374,000/196,163,106,000)x100=94. 79%| (205,420,830,000/217,136,154,000)x100=94. 60%| (212,643,888,000/226,328,976,000)x100=93. 96%| Time interest earned| 18,790,015,000/4,562,396,000=4. 12x| 17,068,609,000/3,316,609,000=5. 15x| 19,149,128,000/3,516,111,000=5. 45x| Gross profit margin| (3,948,155,000/10,500,307,000)x100=37. 60%| (4,015,055,000/9,715,568,000)x100=41. 33%| (4,738,265,000/11,035,597,000)x100=42. 4%| Net profit margin| (2,622,660,000/10,500,307,000)x100=24. 98%| (2,551,540,000/9,715,568,000)x100=26. 26%| (3,099,077,000/11,035,597,000)x100=28. 08%| ROA| (2,622,660,000/196,163,106,000)x100=1. 34%| (2,551,540,000/217,136,1 54,000)x100=1. 18%| (3,099,077,000/226,328,976,000)x100=1. 37%| ROE| (2,622,660,000/10,228,732,000)x100=25. 64%| (2,551,540,000/11,715,324,000)x100=21. 78%| (3,099,077,000/13,685,088,000)x100=22. 65%| Analysis Of Public Bank Performance Liquidity Ratio Current Ratio = Current assets/current liabilities 2008| 2009| 2010| 120,700,000,000/ 34,789,000,000 =3. 7| 137,600,000,000/ 41,835,000,000 =3. 29| 156,500,000,000/ 45,911,000,000 =3. 41| The ratio is mainly used to measure the company's ability to pay back  its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets. As we seen the company current ratio for these 3 years, there are decreases from year 2008 to year 2009 but they increase back when come to year 2010. These 3 years current ratio is significant higher than the acceptable ratio. The acceptable ratio is 2:1 but for the public bank, the current ratio are (2008 1 : 3. 47, 2009 1 : 3. 29, 2010 1 : 3. 41).These shows that the Public Bank is not using its resources as efficiently a s it could be. Public Bank should reduce its current assets so there are no excessive current assets. Quick Ratio = (current assets-inventories)/current liabilities 2008| 2009| 2010| 60,656,000,000/ 34,789,000,000 =1. 97| 67,986,000,000/ 41,835,000,000 =1. 63| 59,269,000,000/ 45,911,000,000 =1. 29| Quick ratio  measures  a company's ability to meet  its short-term obligations with  its most liquid assets. The higher the quick ratio,  the  better the position of the  company. From the company 3 years quick ratio, the quick ratio are (2008 1 : 1. 7, 2009 1 : 1. 63, 2010 1 : 1. 29) These shows that the company quick ratio is slightly higher than the acceptable ratio that are 1:1. But the quick ratio for the company are getting better year to year. The company should reduce its current account to reach the desirable ratio that are 1:1. Activity Ratio Average age of inventory =(Average inventories/Cost of sales)x365 2008| 2009| 2010| N/A| N/A| N/A| Impossible to compute sin ce Public Bank Berhad is not involved in trading. No physical inventories are involved. Average collection period = (receivables/sales) x365 2008| 2009| 2010|N/A| N/A| N/A| Impossible to compute since Public Bank Berhad is not involved in trading. No physical inventories are involved. Average payment period =(Payable/Cost of sales)x365 2008| 2009| 2010| N/A| N/A| N/A| Impossible to compute since Public Bank Berhad is not involved in trading. No physical purchases are involved. Total assets turn over= Operating revenue/total assets 2008| 2009| 2010| 10,500,307,000/196,163,106,000 =0. 054| 9,715,568,000/271,136,154,000 =0. 045| 11,035,597,000/226,328,976,000 =0. 049| Asset turnover  measures  a firm's efficiency at using its assets in generating sales.The total assets turnover over for the 3 years, there are decrease in year 2009 but increases in year 2010. For each RM1 of assets for the year 2008, Public Bank only manage to generate RM0. 054 of sales. For the year 2009 and 2010, for each RM1 of the assets, Public Bank only generates RM0. 045 and RM0. 049 of sales. The amount are worsen but there are increases for year 2010. This is because the company have higher profit margin, so they would have lower assets turnover. Financial Ratio Debt ratio=(Total liabilities/Total asset)x100% 2008| 2009| 2010| (185,934,374,000/196,163,106,000)x100=94. 9%| (205,420,830,000/217,136,154,000)x100=94. 60%| (212,643,888,000/226,328,976,000)x100=93. 96%| A ratio that indicates what proportion of debt a company has relative to its assets. The measure gives an idea to the leverage of the company along with the potential risks the company faces in terms of its debt-load. Time Interest Earned Ratio=EBIT/Interest 2008| 2009| 2010| 18,790,015,000/4,562,396,000=4. 12x| 17,068,609,000/3,316,609,000=5. 15x| 19,149,128,000/3,516,111,000=5. 45x| Ensuring interest payments to debt holders and preventing bankruptcy depends mainly on a company's ability to sustain earnings.However, a high ratio can indicate that a company has an undesirable lack of debt or is paying down too much debt with earnings that could be used for other projects. The rationale is that a company would yield greater returns by investing its earnings into other projects and borrowing at a lower cost of capital than what it is currently paying to meet its debt obligations. Analysis : The company have a high time interest earned ratio in this few year and the ratio keep increase. This suggests that this company is less burdened by debt expense and the company has no problem in settling its interest expenses in the future.Profitability Ratio Gross Profit Margin=Gross profit margin/Net sales 2008| 2009| 2010| (3,948,155,000/10,500,307,000)x100=37. 60%| (4,015,055,000/9,715,568,000)x100=41. 33%| (4,738,265,000/11,035,597,000)x100=42. 94%| The gross margin is not an exact estimate of the company's pricing strategy but it does give a good indication of financial health. Without an adequate gross margin , a company will be unable to pay its operating and other expenses and build for the future. Net Profit Margin=(Earning to common stockholders/sales)x100% 2008| 2009| 2010| (2,622,660,000/10,500,307,000)x100=24. 98%| (2,551,540,000/9,715,568,000)x100=26. 6%| (3,099,077,000/11,035,597,000)x100=28. 08%| Net profit margin is the ratio of net profit to revenues a company’s pricing strategy and operating efficiency. Return On Assets=(Earning to common stockholders/total assets)x100% 2008| 2009| 2010| (2,622,660,000/196,163,106,000)x100=1. 34%| (2,551,540,000/217,136,154,000)x100=1. 18%| (3,099,077,000/226,328,976,000)x100=1. 37%| Return on assets is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total asset, the ratio measures how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earning. Return On Equity=(Earning to common stockholders/total equity)x100% 2008| 2009| 2010| 2,622,660,000/10,228,732,000)x100=25. 64%| (2,551,540,000/11,715,324,000)x100=21. 78%| (3, 099,077,000/13,685,088,000)x100=22. 65%| Return on equity  measures a corporation's profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the  money  shareholders have invested. Analysis : Public Bank Berhad have a very high net profit margin and the profit increase from 24. 98% in year 2008 to 26. 26% in year 2009. When in year 2010, it rise to 28. 08% again. It’s mean this company generate 24. 98% in year 2008, 26. 26% in year 2009 and 28. 08% in year 2010 for every RM100 sales. Furthermore, the return on assets are in the high rate.In the year 2008, the ROA is 1. 34% and it decreased to 1. 18% in the year 2009. However, in year 2010 the ROA increases to 1. 37%. It’s because of Public Bank has expanded its self –service channels such as Automated Teller Machines, Cheque Deposit Machines and Cash Deposit Terminals to 1,400 machines to serve its large customer base. The ROE for this company in year 2008 is 25. 64%. However it drops t o 21. 78% in the year 2009. The ROE increases again in the year 2010 to 22. 65%. It’s mean this company is more capable of generating cash internally. For the example, Public Bank Berhad is able to pay its shareholders the return he interest of 25. 64% in the year 2008. Conclusion The Overall of our research about Public Bank Berhad have a very good performance. The Public Bank group should seek to tap all growth opportunities arising from the improving economic and business environment, with the aim of delivering superior shareholder value over the long-term. Retail consumer and commercial banking should remain the core focus of the Group. In consumer financing, the group should continue to promote home mortgages, passenger vehicle hire purchase financing and personal financing. RecommendationOverall all our research about Public Bank Berhad and its competitors, Public Bank Berhad was performance very well in this 3 years. Especially when come to the year 2010, the profit be fore tax increases by 23. 0%. The Group’s gross loans, advances and financing recorded strong growth of 13. 8% in 2010, with the Group’s domestic lending business growing 15. 6% during the year. However, Gross impaired loans ratio drop by 0. 03%. The financial pandemic in late 2008 and 2009 that threatened to push the global economy into a deep recession was largely contained through the concerted efforts of the world’s major government and central banks.

Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research Proposal Example Thus, while consumers may have desired to buy new electronics, especially high-tech equipment, most could not do so because they had limited ways of generating capital that they could use to allow the purchases (Hartman, 2010: p38). This can be seen in the losses suffered by such electronics companies as Motorola Mobility and Blackberry, which emphasized the profound effects of economic recession. The research will seek to evaluate the effects of the recession on behaviour of the consumer in the UK electronics industry, particularly with regards to the smartphone industry. Understanding the response of consumers to the economic downturn with regards to their buying behaviour is imperative for companies seeking to ensure future success (Chakrabarti, 2011: p56). While signs show that the UK economy is stabilizing, leading to questions about this research’s relevance, the changes to consumer behaviour by recessions tend to last for a long time. Therefore, even as economists signa l the end of the recession and beginning of recovery, this is unlikely to be reflected immediately by consumers in their buying behaviour. The UK economy’s current state has heavily burdened many companies across the country. The declining spending and tendency to save among consumers led to profit losses for many organizations, which have been predicted by experts to have long lasting effects (Ver Eecke, 2013: p82). Today, consumers are more aware of the pitfalls bedevilling spending above one’s means with improved financial education. This trend will portend challenges for marketers because the consumers now tend to do need evaluation, while also showing more selective behaviour in buying decisions. Thus, companies will be required to conduct a re-evaluation of marketing strategies with the aim of identifying effective was of product marketing, focusing on delivering value and meeting needs of the consumer (Chaston, 2009: p40). If the marketing

Buddhism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhism - Research Paper Example Darwin’s theory of evolution erupted a great deal of debate as it challenged traditional religious explanations of the world and nature (Boeree). His work encouraged further research into the concept of evolution and other unsolved mysteries of life at the time. Therefore, it is important to explore the evolutionary theory from various religious perspectives in order to understand how the theory fits in, and this paper focuses on the Christian and Buddhist view of the evolution theory. It is a popular belief in the world that man and all of nature was created by a sacred deity for whom all mankind ought to be grateful. This is evidenced in Christianity with enormous reference to the story of creation in the Bible. However, the evolution theory serves to upset this belief at the expense of most believers who find it imperative to defend and preserve it. Among Christian scholars and believers, the evolution theory denies the role by God as the sole creator of the world while mos t scientific research ignore divine activity. This is achieved by the proposition of antitheist theories by renowned naturalists who suggest the existence of the world is due to a less explored scientific phenomenon. As such, Christians have always voiced their concerns on scientific theories that contradict the creation theory. The clergy and the Christian community have always united to call for the rejection of the naturalism theories based on philosophical, theological, and historical grounds. As a result, Christianity and the scientific community have always being at loggerheads with each other. Universally, Christians fail to understand how God’s involvement in creation is recognized in events that lack scientific explanations while His overall role is ignored. This illustrates how meaningful divine action is shelved only do be adopted where gaps in human knowledge prevail and a scientific description is lacking (Miller 8). As such, naturalistic proposals such as the ev olution theory serves to belittle divine action thus fuel conflict between science and the Christian faith. For instance, Christians and scientists differ on the role of pain, suffering, and death in the world. Among Christians, it is widely accepted that God exercises His sovereignty, transcendence, and providence with regard to natural evil that creates pain and suffering. On the hand, the scientific community readily accepts the theory of natural selection in which Darwin believed that all species had a common ancestor, but evolved to survive due to the process of natural selection. Organisms that fail to adapt to their habitat do not prevail under the new environmental conditions and hence, cannot survive, which explains natural selection where only the strong and mighty thrive effectively. While the scriptures present the evidence of God’s work, scientific theories, in their capacity cast doubts among believers who find themselves convinced by scientific evidence. It is evident that those who profess Christianity have no problem in adopting various concepts and exploits in science, as seen in the adoration given to the laws of science and physics. For this reason, most Christians tend to believe in some aspects of the evolution theory, leaving a majority of them confused since they fail to integrate scientific concepts to their religious beliefs. The

New Hire Communication Worksheet Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

New Hire Communication Worksheet - Assignment Example The purpose of the message is to introduce the new hires to this unique way of doing things by the company. The audiences, in this case, are the new hires. The audience share certain characteristics such as being new to the company, being newly hired and lacking knowledge about the company’s culture, processes and procedures. Therefore, when the HR employee is writing the message, he should know that these are people without the knowledge about the company’s culture. The new hires, however, already know that they have been employeed and formed part of the company. They already know the purpose, vision and mission of the company. To deliver the message effectively, convening a meeting with the new hires so that a verbal reading of the message can be done by the HR employee as the best channel to deliver the message to the new hires. This is most effective because it will enable the message to reach all the audiences at the same time, hence uniformity in message delivery. Similarly, this channel gives an opportunity to the new hires to raise their queries and ask the HR employee all the questions about other things they would wish to know about the company. The suitable writing strategies to write the message is through the use of steps where the address comes first, followed by the subject matter and then the body and salutation at the end. The writing style would be formal where the messge would be short, precise and direct to the point. The writing will also be done in point form to make the literature short but precise and direct on the message. Write a rough draft of the message below using the analysis you did in Step 1. Make sure your message is appropriate for the purpose and audience (e.g., new hires). Use an outline to help organize your thoughts. I hereby write to inform you about our culture, processes and procedures. Some of these you will get to learn during your work with us, but for now, I will just give you some fw

New position is to develop a project portfolio management process and Essay

New position is to develop a project portfolio management process and then use this process to select projects for your Strategic Business Units portfolio - Essay Example Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is regarded as an effective set of practices that enable organizations to gain the capability of managing projects. The set of practices within the PPM ensures to make proper alignment of different required project activities and working elements in accordance with the postulated goals and objectives of the projects that undertake by a particular company (Morris & Pinto 94-112). With respect to the predetermined business goals of the company, the proposed portfolio process has been characterized into few major stages including project initiation, planning and execution along with controlling stage. The following discussion briefly discusses these key phases of the proposed PPM procedure. Project Initiation Stage. The initiation stage of the project will focus on identifying its potential scope regarding the products and/or services offered by the company to the clients (Levine 85-108). In relation to the business practices of the SBU, the activities in the initiation stage will help the company to recognize the project scope along with the objectives while expanding business to the markets of Europe and Alaska. Project Planning Stage. The planning stage of the respective project will focus on three major key areas such as scheduling activities, resource planning and cost planning associated with different operational services linked with production/selling actions of the SBU (Levine 85-108). With regards to the proposed PPM process, the activities relating to the determination of potential risks, quality related issues and different change management obstacles can help the managers of the company to formulate effective decisions. Executing and Controlling Stage. During this phase, all the processes, plans, activities and schedules are properly utilized, ensuring that the respective