Kota Fibres, Ltd Essays

Kota Fibres, Ltd Essays Kota Fibres, Ltd Essay Kota Fibres, Ltd Essay Case Report for Kota Fibres, Ltd. Group 7 BA 141 (WFY) 8/11/2010 Table of Contents Point of View . 1 Case Context .. 1 Problem Definition .. Framework of Analysis . 1 Analysis . 2 Decision 6 Justification of Decision .. Implementation of Decision.. 7 Appendix .. 8 Bibliography 33 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The group took the point of view of management for the case of Kota Fibres, Ltd. The goal of maximizing shareholder wealth was the backdrop against evaluations of the company’s health and proposals to improve the same were made. Kota Fibres’ main problem was fairly straightforward: the management of the company’s cash holdings was inefficient. This was reflected in the smaller problems that the company faced in 2001. An evaluation of the company’s profitability showed increasing price competition; liquidity, a dispiriting debt position; efficiency; a long cash conversion cycle; and leverage, increasing dependence on borrowed capital. Coupled with unfavorable market conditions, the events responsible for Kota Fibres’ financial health confirmed the company’s weak cash position. Cash flows were not only weak, but they were also drained by large dividend distributions. Management paid high dividends to shareholders for many years under the misapprehension that reinvesting in it in the business was necessarily riskier. Ironically, it was keeping cash out of the business that increased credit risk, devalued Kota Fibres as a manufacturing firm and reduced shareholder wealth. In addition to cutting back on dividend distributions (at least until the company stabilized), the group also recommended implementing the Transportation manager’s proposal of reducing the rawmaterial-inventory requirement to 30 days to improve the company’s cash position and meet the demands of the heavy production and selling season ahead. I. Point of View: Management II. Case Context Kota Fibres, Ltd. was founded in 1962 to produce nylon fiber at its only plant in Kota, India. The company supplies synthetic fiber yarns to a steady ranchise of small local textile weavers that produce colorful cloths for making saris. The synthetic-textile market in India within the time frame of the case was driven by competitions in price, service and credit. For Kota Fibres, a large end-customer base of nearly 500 million Indian women and a relatively inelastic demand for its synthetic fiber yarns made the company a profitable enterprise. In fact, unit growth in the industry was exp ected to be 15 percent per year. However, Kota Fibres’ profit margins began to thin due to increasing price competition in the market. Management, in turn, adopted a seasonal production cycle that regrettably generated seasonal training and set-up costs and labor unrest. Moreover, operating expenses were estimated to be 6 percent of sales in 2001, a figure higher compared to last year’s. Interestingly, this was due to the addition of a quality-control department, for which there had been no indications of a need for one, and the three young nephews of Mrs. Pundir, in whom she hoped to build an allegiance to the family business. She also proposed to pay dividends of Rs500,000 per quarter to only 11 individuals who held the entire equity of Kota Fibres, Ltd. Incidentally, these 11 individuals were members of her extended family. III. Problem Definition: Mrs. Pundir’s management of Kota Fibres’ cash is inefficient. Because the company is already anticipating the heavy selling season, the problem thus requires a solution that will generate cash inflows in the immediate future. IV. Framework for Analysis A. Gaining Familiarity B. Identifying the Problem C. Recognizing Sub-problems D. Identifying Goal/s E. Analyzing the Case F. Recommendation V. Analysis A. Gaining Familiarity Please refer to the Case Context above. B. Identifying the Problem Please refer to the Problem Definition in the previous page. C. Recognizing Sub-problems In 2001, Kota Fibres faced several sub-problems that reflected, if not confirmed, the inefficient management of the company’s cash holdings. Frequently overdrawn bank account Unpaid excise tax Delayed customer deliveries suspended collections of sales Impaired credit profile Large dividend distributions D. Identifying Goal/s 1. To determine how the proposals of Mrs. Pundir’s middle-managers may improve Kota Fibres’ cash position 2. To provide Kota Fibres with an improved financial plan to present to the bank that will qualify the company for an extension of credit, in order to meet the demands of the heavy selling season ahead E. Analyzing the Case Part 1: An evaluation of Kota Fibres’ profitability, efficiency, liquidity and leverage The following were attributed to the company’s position in the market and additions to operations: CGS and OPEX increased by nearly 50 percent in 2001 from the base year. Net profit was reduced by 60 percent in 2001. (Refer to Table 2, Figures 5, 7 to 10). Net and operating profit margins decreased from 1999 to 2000 by 3 percent and from 2000 to 2001 by 2 percent. (Refer to Table 1, Figure 6). Decreases in EBIT and net profit ? decrease of 10 percent in ROA and ROE in 2001 (Refer to Figures 4 to 6, 13) Notably, interest expenses grew about a 100 percent in the same year, which implied that the company planned to borrow more money in 2001. (Refer to Figures 11 and 12). The company’s liquidity position fell about 200 percent in 2001 because of a 400 percent increase in notes payable to the bank in the same year. (Refer to Figure 14). Kota Fibres’ cash holdings were only 5. 3 percent of total assets in 2000 and even fell in 2001. This percentage barely covered half of the company’s current liabilities and alerted the group to the possibility of bankruptcy. (Refer to Table 6, Figure 22). Kota Fibres’ working capital was only 24 percent and 14 percent of total assets in 2000 and 2001, respectively. (Refer to Figu re 17). The group expected a higher figure, especially for a manufacturing company, but learned that the company’s cash position might have been responsible for the drop in the figure. There was also a sharp fall in Kota Fibres’ equity-debt ratio due to a 200 percent increase in total debt in 2001. Refer to Figure 15). The company’s forecasted debt position was dismal thus far. Kota Fibres’ inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable turnover ratios decreased in 2001 because inventory, A/R and A/P increased in the same year. Figures for days inventory and average collection and payment periods increased consequently, resulting in an operating cycle of 18 days in 2000 and 21 days in 2001. (Refer to Figure 19). However, when the averages of inventory, A/R and A/P for the year ending 2001 were used in determining the turnover ratios, new figures showed that the company was actually terribly inefficient. Seasonal fluctuations in inventory, A/R and A/P accounted for averages higher than the ending balances of the same in 2001. These, in turn, produced a figure of 72 days for cash conversion cycle. (Refer to Figure 20). In other words, the company doesn’t expect to realize cash from its acquisition of inventory within intervals of nearly three months in 2001. The following were the reasons why the bank didn’t extend any more credit to Kota Fibres: Poor cash holdings Increases in interest obligations and decreases in EBIT decreases in nterest coverage ability from 1999 to 2001 (Refer to Figure 21) Declining cash-debt coverage figures (Refer to Figure 22) Despite having an equity-based financial structure, ratios for leverage revealed that the extent of non-owner claims to Kota Fibres’ assets in 2001 nearly tripled from 2000. Likewise, assets were thrice more funded by creditors in 2001. (Refer to Figures 23 and 24). Unfortunately, the increases in Kota Fibresâ€⠄¢ borrowing activities in 2000 were neither supported by increases in cash inflows nor supportive of possible cash inflows. In fact, the company may need to borrow some money from the bank in order to maintain a cash balance of Rs750,000 in 2001. (Refer to Figures 25 and 26). Part 2: An evaluation of the proposals of Mrs. Pundir’s middle-managers. Assumptions made for each proposal are as follows. Extend current credit terms of 45 days to 80 days for Pondicherry Textiles. Rs6,000,000 Sales: 1. Because Pondicherry Textiles was expected to purchase from Kota Fibres across the year, the group allocated Rs6M throughout 2001 according to the purchase pattern of the latter’s customers. 2. Collections from the sale to Pondicherry Textiles were reflected after 80 days of forecasted sales made for every month in 2001. (Refer to Tables 8 and 9) Reduce raw-material inventory requirement from 60 days to 30 1. Raw materials per month of 2001 = 55 percent of sales expected to be made two months later. 2. Raw materials turnover ratio = CGS/Raw materials 3. Days raw materials = 360/RM turnover 4. Because the same amount of material will be purchased by Kota days. Purchases: (same) Fibres, only the requirement for days raw materials was changed- 60 to 30 days (Refer to Tables 10 and 11) Accept Japanese firm’s proposal to supply expected to be made two months later on a just-in-time basis, which may reduce pellets inventory to 2 (or 3) days outstanding. 1. Pellet-RM per month of 2001 = 35 percent of 55 percent of sales 2. Pellet-RM turnover ratio = CGS/Pellet-RM polyester pellets , 3. Days pellet-RM = 360/Pellet-RM turnover 4. Because the same amount of pellets will be purchased by Kota Fibres, only the requirement for days pellet-RM was changed- 60 to 2 days. (Refer to Tables 12 and 13) Implement a scheme of level production. annual 1. In economics, the cost of producing a good is the cost of its factor input. The group decided to simplify the implementation of this particular proposal by equating the cost of production with the cost of labor. 2. Figures for net sales were used in the computation of GPM, which was adjusted to reflect labor savings in OPEX. (Refer to Tables 14 and 15) The effects of each proposal were made to reflect in the Schedule of Cash Receipts and Disbursements, supported by adjustments made to the Forecast T-Accounts. Each proposal was implemented, that is, â€Å"plugged into† the existing schedule and t-accounts, independently. Tables 8 to 15 show that the second proposal produced the least amount of debt outstanding, Rs2,704,866, at the end of 2001. By reducing the length of time that inventory was held in the warehouses, decreases in storage and holding costs significantly reduced operating expenses. Mrs. Pundir’s original forecast for Debt Outstanding was Rs3,463,701. [Note: Though the third proposal reduced the original forecast for debt outstanding to Rs3,017,128, the effects of implementing the same show a slightly higher figure for Purchases because such raw materials were purchased more often. Refer to Tables 5 and 12). ] The same proposal also produced the greatest percentage for cash as a percentage of total assets- nearly 5 percent. Though the first proposal increased A/R the most, cash collections were far in between due to the extension of credit terms. Consequently, this proposal produced the largest amount of debt outstanding at the end of 2001. (Refer to Table 5). Net cash inflows of Rs46,814 under the first proposal and Rs287,850 under the second proposal were used to pay the bank in December. Refer to Tables 8 and 10). The last two proposals produced not only the second and third largest amounts of debt outstanding, respectively, but also the only net cash outflows, the amounts of which were subsequently borrowed from the bank. (Refer to Tables 5, 12 and 14). Table 1 shows a ratio analysis of the effects of the implementation of each proposal. F. Recommendation The group recommends the implementation of the Transportation manager’s proposal to reduce the raw-material-inventory requirement from 60 days to 30 days. VI. Decision Tables 10 and 11 show the effects of the implementation of the second proposal on the Schedule of Cash Receipts and Disbursements and on the Forecast T-Accounts. The same figures show that Kota Fibres is still indebted to the bank in the amount of Rs2,704,866. In addition to the implementation of the second proposal, the group recommends the proposed yearly dividend distributions (Rs2,000,000) to be reinvested in the company and be used to pay the bank. The group also recommends the issuance of equity securities to raise funds to pay the balance. Furthermore, the group advises management to consider equity financing in raising funds for heavy selling seasons in the future. For now though the group believes that the recommendations given thus far will be sufficient to satisfy the immediate production and selling needs of Kota Fibres. VII. Basic Justifications of Decision The large dividend distributions that Mrs. Pundir made to the company’s 11 shareholders (also members of her extended family) were primarily accountable for the company’s poor cash position. The Pundir family believed that excess funds retained in the business were at greater risk than the

NCAA ACT Scores What You Need to Qualify

NCAA ACT Scores What You Need to Qualify SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re a student athlete who wants to play in NCAA Division I or Division II sports in college, then this article is for you! We’ll review NCAA’s eligibility criteria for your GPA and ACT score,which NCAA compares using a sliding scale. More importantly, we’ll give you the tips and strategies you need to achieve the NCAA ACT scores required for passing the clearinghouse. First, let’s quickly review how your grade point average, or GPA, is determined. How NCAA Calculates and Considers Your GPA NCAA considers the GPA of your high schoolcore courses. These include the following: Four years of English Three years of math at the Algebra I level or higher Two years of natural or physical science (one lab if offered at any high school attended) One year of additional English, math, or natural/physical science One year of social science Four years of foreign language, philosophy, or comparative religion Check out your own high school to see which of its courses qualify as NCAA core courses. This means thatyour core course GPA might be a little different than the one reported on your transcript, which is an average of all the courses you've taken in high school. GPAs are calculated on a 4.0 scale. The chart below shows how letter and percentage grades translate to this 4.0 scale: Letter Grade Grade Point Percentage A 4.0 94-100% A- 3.7 90-93% B+ 3.3 87-89% B 3.0 83-86% B- 2.7 80-82% C+ 2.3 77-79% C 2.0 73-76% C- 1.7 70-72% D+ 1.3 67-69% D 1.0 60-66% F 0.0 0-59% Since NCAA compares your GPA and ACT score, let’s review how the ACT is scored. With this understanding, you’ll be able to determine exactly what ACT scores you need and how to achieve them. Review: How Your ACT Score Is Calculated For a detailed explanation of how the ACT is scored, check out our article here. The gist is that the ACT has four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science.Each of these sections is scored on a scale from 1 to 36, and these four section scores are averaged together to give you a composite score, also out of 36. That said, your composite score doesn’t really matter for NCAA.Instead, NCAA adds your section scores together to get a sum score.So your sum score willbe at least 4 and at most 144 (36x4). Before you get a scaled score from 1 to 36, each section receives a raw score.Your raw score is simply the number of questions you answered correctly on each section. The chart below gives an example of how raw scores can convert into scaled scores. Why is this important? Once you know your target score,you can determine how many correct answers you'll need to get that score- and how many questions you can essentially ignore. Note that the ACT does not deduct any points for wrong answers, so you should still fill in answers to any questions you’ve skipped. You might get lucky and add a point or more to your raw score! An example of an official ACT score conversion chart (from raw to scaled). (Source: ACT.org) How NCAA Considers Your ACT Scores As you read above,NCAA adds your section scores from English, Math, Reading, and Science into a sum score.For example, if you got a scaled score of 20 on all four sections, your sum score would be 80 (20 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 80). If you take the ACT more than once, NCAA will take your best section scores from any dates.In other words, NCAA will mix and match your highest section scores to get your highest possible ACT sum score. Now, let’s move on to the really important part: how NCAA compares your GPA with your ACT score. NCAA Eligibility: The Sliding Scale For Division I players, NCAA uses a sliding scale that compares your core GPA and ACT scores. If you have a higher GPA, you can meet the eligibility requirements with lower scores. Conversely, if you have a lower GPA, you'll have to make up the difference with higher ACT scores. With a 2.8 GPA, for example, you'd need an ACT sum score of 57 in order to meet the NCAA ACT requirements. You could either aim to score the same on each section- say, around 15 out of 36- or a little higher on some sections and lower on others (depending on what your strengths are). By contrast, for Division II, up until 2018 you'll need a minimum core GPA of 2.0 and a minimum ACT sum score of 68. To reach this score, you could score around 17 (out of 36) on each section, or a little higher or lower in some. From August 2018 onward, however, Division II players will be on a sliding scale like Division I playersand will need at least a 2.2 core GPA. These charts show the sliding scale to qualify for Division I and Division II teams. You will need at least a 2.3 GPA to qualify fully for Division I and at least a 2.2 GPA to qualify fully for Division II. Students with GPAs between 2.0 and 2.3 may qualify for Academic Redshirt for Division I, meaning they'll get athletic aid and practice but will be unable to compete.Similarly, students with GPAs between 2.0 and 2.2 may qualify as Partial Qualifiers for Division II. Partial qualifying scores are in parentheses for Division I only. Division I Division II (beginning Aug. 1, 2018) Core Course GPA ACT Sum Core Course GPA ACT Sum 3.550 above 37 3.300 above 37 3.525 38 3.275 38 3.500 39 3.250 39 3.475 40 3.225 40 3.450 41 3.200 41 3.425 41 3.175 41 3.400 42 3.150 42 3.375 42 3.125 42 3.350 43 3.100 43 3.325 44 3.075 44 3.300 44 3.050 44 3.275 45 3.025 45 3.250 46 3.000 46 3.225 46 2.975 46 3.200 47 2.950 47 3.175 47 2.925 47 3.150 48 2.900 48 3.125 49 2.875 49 3.100 49 2.850 49 3.075 50 2.825 50 3.050 50 2.800 50 3.025 51 2.775 51 3.000 52 2.750 52 2.975 52 2.725 52 2.950 53 2.700 53 2.925 53 2.675 53 2.900 54 2.650 54 2.875 55 2.625 55 2.850 56 2.600 56 2.825 56 2.575 56 2.800 57 2.550 57 2.775 58 2.525 58 2.750 59 2.500 59 2.725 59 2.475 60 2.700 60 2.450 61 2.675 61 2.425 61 2.650 62 2.400 62 2.625 63 2.375 63 2.600 64 2.350 64 2.575 65 2.325 65 2.550 66 2.300 66 2.525 67 2.275 67 2.500 68 2.250 68 2.475 69 2.225 69 2.450 70 2.200 70 above 2.425 70 2.400 71 2.375 72 2.350 73 2.325 74 2.300 75 (2.275) 76 (2.250) 77 (2.225) 78 (2.200) 79 (2.175) 80 (2.150) 80 (2.125) 81 (2.100) 82 (2.075) 83 (2.050) 84 (2.025) 85 (2.000) 86 Once you know your GPA and what ACT score you need to qualify, how can you get these scores? Read on for our top tips and strategies. How to Hit Your Target ACT Scores for NCAA: 5 Tips Once you've figured out your target ACT scores(based on your GPA using the sliding scales above), what steps can you take to achieve them? Read on for our top five tips for ensuring you do well on the ACT and qualify for NCAA. #1: Play to Your Strengths Since NCAA adds together all your section scores, all sections of the ACT are equally important and require test prep. However, since there is no minimum score needed per section, you can achieve your target sum score with any combination of section scores. In short, you can play to your strengths. What subjects are you stronger in? Which subjects aren't your forte? If you love English but feel as though math messes with your head, you could, for example, aim for a higher score on the English and Reading sections than you do on the Math section. While you definitely need to prep for all sections, it's OK to define different target scores for English, Math, Reading, and Sciencedepending on your strengths and what you can realistically achieve with the time you have to prep. #2: Devise a Strategy Once you have your target scores defined, take a look at the sample raw score chart above. How many questions do you need to get right in order to hit your goal score? If you need an 18 in English, for example, this means you'll need to get 17-19 questions right (aim for at least 19). That's less than ⅓ of all the English questions! As you’re taking the ACT, don’t waste time on the really hard questions; seek out questions you can confidently answer. At the same time, don’t leave any questions blank. As I mentioned above, there's no penalty for wrong answers, so you might as well guess. If you skip any questions, leave a little time at the end of the section to fill in the rest on your bubble sheet. You might also be able to improve your scores by retaking the ACT. Start early to make sure you have enough test dates. #3: Get Training As with the rigorous hours you put in for your sport, you need to step up to some serious training for the ACT. Doing well on the ACT isn't just about showing up and being smart- it’s about how prepared you are. Studying will help you get better, just as practices allow you to improve as an athlete. This isn’t a metaphor- it’s how any skill is developed. Believing that you can grow and get better is a big part of clearing the way for growth to actually happen. As you've probably felt during exhausting practices and games, a huge part of performing is winning this mental battle. These values of dedication, effort, discipline, and internal motivation will help you on the ACT and carry you through your career as a student-athlete in college. Figure out your strengths, drill your weaknesses, and keep up your drive and hunger to achieve your goals. #4: Find Time Finding time for test prep is easier said than done, especially with your packed schedule of school, homework, practices, games, and a social life. Create a schedule and set aside specific time for ACT studying to ensure you prep enough. As you take official ACT practice tests, time yourself the way the real test will be timed. This will let you get used to the pacing of the questions in a short amount of time, and help you understand your own stamina and what you need to do to keep up your focus and energy levels. #5: Use the Right Materials You wouldn’t train for baseball with a Wiffle ball just as you shouldn’t train for the ACT with subpar materials. High-quality test-prep questions are a must for preparing you for the ACT and breaking down the skills and content you need to master within each section. These include official practice tests, prep books, and websites. For more tips on prepping for the ACT,check out our free ebook. In addition,ACT Questions of the Dayare an easy and convenient way to add some extra test prep. These can be accessed online or on your phone. By starting months ahead of the test, ACT QOTD will familiarize you with a variety of problems and help you figure out what types of questions, if any, need extra attention. Conclusion: GPA and ACT Score Requirements for NCAA By being aware of NCAA ACT and GPA requirements well ahead of your application deadlines, you will have enough time to train for the ACT, retake the test if needed, and ensure that you meet the NCAA eligibility criteria. As an athlete, you likely know that training and practice make all the difference. By applying those same skills of self-discipline and internal motivation to your ACT prep, you will be able to take your career as a student-athlete to the next level at the college of your choice! What’s Next? Ready to start prepping for the ACT? Check out these free ACT practice test PDFsand learn key strategies to make the most of your test prep. In addition, get tips on how to make your own ACT study schedule. Need help setting a target ACT score?Go through our step-by-step guide to figure out what ACT score you should aim foras well as how you can achieve it. Be strategic on the ACT, but make sure you’re going about it the right way. Check out the top mistakes students make when guessing on the ACT. Want to improve your ACT sum score by 16 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT sum score by 16 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Senior Students in Business Major with Higher GPA Tend to Pursue their Research Paper

Senior Students in Business Major with Higher GPA Tend to Pursue their Masters Degree - Research Paper Example It is not also sufficient to supporting a family and  meeting  of the full responsibilities involved in citizenship. In various countries, students are beginning to  attain  and surpass this  educational  achievement. Therefore, they aim at pursuing a Masters degree after attaining  high  GPA in their major. There is also the  issue related  to fast growing segments of the population in the  world. This is  where minorities and low-income students have been the least successful through the educational system.  Therefore, there is the need for improved performance in order to  sustain  the health of the  society  and  meeting  aspirations and hopes for a satisfying life. This calls for the students that have attained higher GPA to be among the best educated people in the world through pursuing the Masters degree. Additionally, the students that have the desire to achieve the best in their lives do not  set  the limits for their success. They t end to continue to the  achievement  of their full potential. These are substantial for  students  to continue with the Masters degree in order to achieve in their lives. These students understand what they  need  to  achieve  from the education systems. ... Business-Higher Education Forum (2004) explains that the businesses leaders have been persistently urging more attention to education, asserting the knowledge and  skill  of the workforce. This  is considered  to determine the economic future. This is In order to meet these expectations; nearly every student with the higher GPA  is encouraged  to enroll for the Masters degree. Different people have been  dependent  on university faculty for the discovery of new knowledge, in order to be applied it to solving the practical problems. This facilitates enhancing the community and peoples living standards. In these universities, students that have the  perfect  contribution to the provision of  knowledge  are those that are Mastering. Therefore, it would be in the desires of every student who is achieving to be associated with the  effort  of providing the  knowledge. According to Business-Higher Education Forum (2004), researchers in the field of education p ropose that among the American degree holders from the business schools foreign-born individuals’ account for 16 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 30 percent of Masters Degrees, and 29 percent of doctoral degrees (Business-Higher Education Forum, 2004). Business-Higher Education Forum (2004) explains that the immigrant students in the United States in business schools have been beneficial for their countries and the rest world. This is because many of them  seek  the Masters Degree programs for the U.S and longer rely on the imported brainpower in their countries. Therefore, there is a growing need of the students in their degree programs in various universities around the world to  pursue  the Masters degree after achieving higher GPA. The students with the higher GPA  are also encouraged  to  pursue  the Master

Design a class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Design a class - Essay Example Morgan Company. This test will take no longer than 45 minutes and will be provided online in a computerized format to test knowledge and current abilities to help ensure that the information within our course is going to be highly beneficial and not redundant for your employees. The projected course will include many different topics that will be covered over a two-to-three day time period. Meals will be provided for the staff members each day, and the course will begin promptly at 7:30am and continue until 6:00pm, or until all final questions have been answered for the day. The proposed topics for the course will include Hardware, Basic trouble shooting, Software, Operating systems, Microsoft Office, Basic O/S & software trouble shooting, Peripherals, Mobile, Security, The Internet – better search, Cloud computing, Use of Web 2.0, Intranet applications, File management, and Logging on remotely. Each of these areas of computerized technology are important for staff members to understand at a novice level in order to make the daily workload much easier to handle and to provide each staff member the ability to properly use time efficiently. We will help train the J.P. Morgan staff members on the customary uses of each of these topics and their actual b enefits in the workplace by providing hypothetical, yet realistic, examples from the type of work that would be performed. The course will be provided in an in-person and remote format to help provide better training. Half of the time will be spent in a course room that will involve question-and-answer lectures and power point presentations to help show step-by-step procedures for the content. This first half is designed to teach the general understanding of the software or hardware, and performance tactics that are being discussed. The second half will be performed remotely with each student having access to the course on a computer. Through our patented online system, we will be

Role of Nature in the Evolution of Modern Cities

Role of Nature in the Evolution of Modern Cities

Critics on Cooperative Principle Essay

As phrased by Paul Grice, who introduced it, it states, â€Å"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. â€Å"[1] Though phrased as a prescriptive command, the principle is intended as a description of how people normally behave in conversation. Speakers and listeners involved in conversation are generally cooperating with each other. For reference to be successful, it was proposed that collaboration was a necessary factor. In accepting speaker’s presuppositions, listeners normally have to assume that a speaker who says his something really does have that which is mentioned and isn’t trying to mislead the listener. This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from each other. In most circumstances, this kind of cooperation is only the starting point for making sense of what is said. Since conversations between people are not always straight forward, the linguistic philosopher H. P. Grice attempted to explain how a hearer gets from what is said to what is meant, from the level of literally expressed meaning to the level of implied meaning and he termed the implied meaning conversational implicature in his theory. Grice suggests that there is a general principle guiding conversation what he calls the Cooperative Principle (CP for short), and communicators observe the general conversational maxims of truthfulness, informativeness, relevance and clarity within the CP, according to the four main maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and Maner. When the listener hears the expression, he has to assume that the speaker is being cooperative and intends to communicate something. That something must be more than just what the words mean. It is an additional conveyed meaning, which is an implicature. People who obey the cooperative principle in their language use will make sure that what they say in a conversation furthers the purpose of that conversation. Obviously, the requirements of different types of conversations will be different. The cooperative principle goes both ways: speakers (generally) observe the cooperative principle, and listeners (generally) assume that speakers are observing it. This allows for the possibility of implicatures, which are meanings that are not explicitly conveyed in what is said, but that can nonetheless be inferred. For example, if Alice points out that Bill is not present, and Carol replies that Bill has a cold, then there is an implicature that the cold is the reason, or at least a possible reason, for Bill’s absence; this is because Carol’s comment is not cooperative — does not contribute to the conversation — unless her point is that Bill’s cold is or might be the reason for his absence. (This is covered specifically by the Maxim of Relevance). We assume that people are normally going to provide an appropriate amount of information. We assume that they are telling the truth, being relevant, and trying to be as clear as they can. Listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way. The cooperative principle describes how effective communication in conversation is achieved in common social situations. However, there are some circumstances where speakers may not follow the expectation of the cooperative principle. In courtrooms and classrooms, witnesses and students are often called upon to tell people things which are already well known to those people, thereby violating the quantity maxim. Such specialized institutional talk is clearly different from conversation. However, even in conversation, a speaker may opt out of the maxim expectations by using expressions like ‘No comment’ or of such expressions is that, although they are typically not â€Å"as informative as is required† in the context, they are naturally interpreted as communicating more than is said. For example, the speaker knows the answer. It is speakers who communicate meaning via implicatures and it is listeners who recognize those communicated meanings via inference. The inferences selected are those which will preserve assumption of cooperation. In the theory of conversational implicature, Grice proposes that in an exchange of conversation, there is an underlying principle that determines the way in which language is used maximally effectively and efficiently to achieve rational interaction. He calls this governing dictum the co-operative principle and subdivides it into nine maxims classified into four categories. The co-operative principle: Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. He suggests that there is an accepted way of speaking which we all accept as standard behaviour. When we produce, or hear, an utterance, we assume that it will generally be true, have the right amount of information, be relevant, and will be couched in understandable terms. If an utterance does not appear to conform to this model (e. g. B’s utterance in (1) above), then we do not assume that the utterance is nonsense; rather, we assume that an appropriate meaning is there to be inferred. In Grice’s terms, a maxim has been flouted, and an implicature generated. Without such an assumption, it would not be worth a co-interactant investing the effort needed to interpret an indirect speech act. This is the standard basic explication of the CP, maxims and implicatures1. At this point, many descriptions immediately turn to detailed explanations of the many ways in which the operation of the CP can be tracked in language use: flouts, violations, infringing and opting out. However, in this mass of detail, Grice’s underlying ideas are too often lost. Taylor & Cameron (1987:83) stand alone in making this point: â€Å"Few commentators pause to consider Grice’s avowed motive for introducing the CP. Instead they rush on to consider the various maxims which are subordinate to it. † All the examples of flouts, violations and opting out are there to further illustrate the distinction between saying and meaning: an interest which has been evident in the Gricean program since Grice (1957), and to show that there is a pattern in the way we interact. There is a relationship between the conventional meaning of an utterance and any implicit meaning it might have, and it is calculable. What Grice (1975) does not say is that interaction is ‘cooperative’ in the sense which is found in the dictionary. In fact, as we have suggested in Davies (1997), it could be argued that the existence of this pattern of behaviour enables the speaker to make the task of the hearer more difficult. Speakers can convey their intentions by a limitless number of utterances, it is up to the hearer to calculate the utterer’s intention. It would seem from this that the CP is not about making the task of the Hearer straightforward; potentially, it is quite the reverse. It allows the speaker to make their utterance harder, rather than easier, to interpret: we can omit information or present a non-literal utterance, and expect the Hearer to do the extra work necessary to interpret it. We would suggest that there is a conflict between the way we interpret the CP’s position in the Gricean program, and the way it is often represented in the linguistic literature. Grice suggests that conversational implicatures- roughly, a set of non-logical inferences that contains conveyed messages which are meant without being said in the strict sense – can arise from either strictly and directly observing or deliberately and ostentatiously flouting the maxims. Furthermore, he distinguishes between those conversational implicatures which arise without requiring any particular contextual conditions and those which do require such conditions. He calls the first kind generalised conversational implicatures and the second kind particularised conversational implicatures. Grice also points out that conversational implicatures are characterised by a number of distinctive properties, notably (i) cancellability, or defeasibility (conversational implicatures can simply evaporate in certain linguistic or non-linguistic contexts), (ii) non-detachability (any linguistic expression with the same semantic content tends to carry the same conversational implicature (a principled exception is those conversational implicatures that arise via the maxim of Manner)), (iii) calculability (conversational implicatures are calculable via the co-operative principle and its attendant axims), (iv) non-conventionality (conversational implicatures, though dependent on what is coded, are non-coded in nature), (v) reinforceability (conversational implicatures can be made explicit without producing too much redundancy) (Sadock 1978), and (vi) universality (conversational implicatures tend to be universal, being motivated rather than arbitrary) (see Sadock 1978 for a critique and Nunburg 1981 for a defense). Recent advances on the classic Gricean theory of conversational implicature include Atlas & Levinson (1981), Leech (1981, 1983), Sperber & Wilson (1982, 1986), Levinson (1983, 1987a, b, 1991), Horn (1984, 1988, 1989, 1992) and Atlas (1989). 2 In these new developments, the original Gricean programme has been revised in somewhat different ways. Sperber and Wilson, for example, in an attempt to make a paradigm change’ (Kuhn 1970) in pragmatics, propose that the entire Gricean apparatus be subsumed within a single cognitive principle, namely the principle of Relevance. On this Relevance theory, which is essentially a modification of the Fodorian theory of cognitive modularity (Fodor 1983),3 it is assumed that the human central cognitive mechanism works in such a way as to maximise Relevance with respect to communication, that is, ‘communicated information comes with a guarantee of [R]elevance’ (Sperber & Wilson 1986: vii). Thus, the principle of Relevance is claimed to be responsible for the recovery of both the explicit and implicit content of an utterance. In other words, on Sperber and Wilson’s view, in interpreting an utterance, one is always maximizing the informational value of contextual stimuli to interpret the utterance in a way which is most consistent with the principle of Relevance. Horn suggests a less reductionist, bipartite model. In Horn’s view, all of Grice’s maxims (except the maxim of Quality) can be replaced with two fundamental and antithetical principles: the Quantity principle and the Relation principle. These maxims may be better understood as describing the assumptions listeners normally make about the way speakers will talk, rather than prescriptions for how one ought to talk. Philosopher Kent Bach writes: We need first to get clear on the character of Grice’s maxims. They are not sociological generalizations about speech, nor are they moral prescriptions or proscriptions on what to say or communicate. Although Grice presented them in the form of guidelines for how to communicate successfully, I think they are better construed as presumptions about utterances, presumptions hat we as listeners rely on and as speakers exploit. (Bach 2005). Gricean Maxims generate implicatures. If the overt, surface meaning of a sentence does not seem to be consistent with the Gricean maxims, and yet the circumstances lead us to think that the speaker is nonetheless obeying the cooperative principle, we tend to look for other meanings that could be implied by the sentence. Grice did not, howev er, assume that all people should constantly follow these maxims. Instead, he found it interesting when these were not respected, namely either â€Å"flouted† (with the listener being expected to be able to understand the message) or â€Å"violated† (with the listener being expected to not note this). Flouting would imply some other, hidden meaning. The importance was in what was not said. For example: Answering It’s raining to someone who has suggested playing a game of tennis only disrespects the maxim of relation on the surface, the reasoning behind this ‘fragment’ sentence is normally clear to the interlocutor (the maxim is just â€Å"flouted†). Criticism Grice’s theory is often disputed by arguing that cooperative conversation, as with most social behavior, is culturally determined, and therefore the Gricean Maxims and the Cooperative Principle cannot be universally applied due to intercultural differences. Keenan claims that the Malagasy, for example, follow a completely opposite Cooperative Principle in order to achieve conversational cooperation. In their culture, speakers are reluctant to share information and flout the Maxim of Quantity by evading direct questions and replying on incomplete answers because of the risk of losing face by committing oneself to the truth of the information, as well as the fact that having information is a form of prestige. [3] However, Harnish points out[4] that Grice only claims his maxims hold in conversations where his Cooperative Principle is in effect. The Malagasy speakers choose not to be cooperative, valuing the prestige of information ownership more highly. It could also be said in this case that this is a less cooperative communication system, since less information is shared) Another criticism is that the Gricean Maxims can easily be misinterpreted to be a guideline for etiquette, instructing speakers on how to be moral, polite conversationalists. However, the Gricean Maxims, despite their wording, are only meant to describe the commonly accepted traits of successful cooperative comm unication. Geoffrey Leech created the Politeness maxims: tact, generosity, approbation, modesty, agreement, and sympathy. Flouting the Maxims Without cooperation, human interaction would be far more difficult and counterproductive. Therefore, the Cooperative Principle and the Gricean Maxims are not specific to conversation but to verbal interactions in general. For example, it would not make sense to reply to a question about the weather with an answer about groceries because it would violate the Maxim of Relevance. Likewise, responding to a question with a long monologue would violate the Maxim of Quantity. However, it is possible to flout a maxim intentionally or unconsciously and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally spoken. Many times in conversation, this flouting is manipulated by a speaker to produce a negative pragmatic effect, as with sarcasm or irony. One can flout the Maxim of Quality to tell a clumsy friend who has just taken a bad fall that her gracefulness is impressive and obviously intend to mean the complete opposite. The Gricean Maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by comedians and writers, who may hide the complete truth and manipulate their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader’s experience. Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listener to understand their underlying implication. In the case of the clumsy friend, she will most likely understand that the speaker is not truly offering a compliment. Therefore, cooperation is still taking place, but no longer on the literal level. Conversationalists can assume that when speakers intentionally flout a maxim, they still do so with the aim of expressing some thought. Thus, the Gricean Maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.

Public Economics - 1471 Words

NUI, Galway | Public Economics Essay: With respect to inequality and poverty how does Ireland compare to other Western industrialized countries? | Padraig Mc Govern | | 08604070 | 3/9/2012 | Lecturer: Professor Eamon O Shea Course code: 4BCM1 Introduction The following essay will compare Ireland with respect to inequality and poverty to the United States and the United Kingdom. I will use the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in order to analyse their position in the world’s economy; identify how to measure poverty; the main reasons for poverty and inequality in these three countries; use graphs and references to illustrate my evidence; and then finally give a brief conclusion to my essay. Anyone who sets out to†¦show more content†¦Statistics for United Kingdom | 1. Population= 60,776,2382. Population Below Poverty Line= 17%3. Unemployment Rate= 2.9%4. Infant Mortality Rate (Deaths/1,000 Live Births)= 5.015. Literacy Rate (Age 15 And Over Can Read And Write)= 99%6. Life Expectancy (At Birth, In Years)= 78.77. GDP (US$ Millions)= 1,429,6658. GDP/Capita (US$)= 24,2819. # of Refugees= 200,03610. % of Population With Water Access= 100% | While approximately 35 million live in poverty in the United States. It is one of the top four countries with highest rates of child poverty, without government assistance. In 2005, 17.6% of American children lived in poverty. The U.S. has more poor people per capita than any other industrialized country, and children are the most affected demographic group. In the United States, 12 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Statistics of United States | 1. Population= 301,139,9472. Population Below Poverty Line= 12%3. Unemployment Rate= 4.8%4. Infant Mortality Rate (Deaths/1,000 Live Births)= 6.375. Literacy Rate (Age 15 And Over Can Read And Write)= 99%6. Life Expectancy (At Birth, In Years)= 787. 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