There is no hope of doing perfect research(griffiths,1998,p97) do yo Essay

There is no hope of doing perfect research(griffiths,1998,p97) do yo agree Discuss with detailed reference to at least two examples of qualative research in sc - Essay Example secular realm, people in the society desire for truth and justice and to attain the same there must be belief in attaining so and in there is belief there is hope. It would be wrong to say for example that Justices of the US Supreme Court to say they believe that there must be justice but they must not hope that just justice will be perfect. Given such perspective about hope, let us rephrase the question: Is there hope of doing perfect research? into â€Å" Is there positive optimism of doing a perfect research? This second statement seems to have taken a different meaning from the original.. That happened after using the word â€Å"hope† in a context where it could possibly be used. Proceeding therefore with the second, question, we could answer in the affirmative because the there is really positive optimism for perfect research. That seems to be an observable reality. If there is no hope or if there is no positive optimism for perfect research it would hard to believe the ever changing technology as a result of the hope of having a better product, hope of a better society. People have ideals which may include ideal for democracy, freedom and justice.. In the physical real, people want quality product and quality service. But one would readily object: how could there be a perfect research? One would say, â€Å"We are not in heaven, we are here on earth where the things the we have are imperfect. We commit errors, we bungle investigations, and we miscalculated the terrorist. We can even create something to prevent another hurricane from occurring. We cannot prevent people from dying despite the advances in technology. America could not contain the mind of the terrorist who planned the September 11 attacks. If there is perfect research we could have avoided all these things.† So those arguments appear too difficult to explain. But if we have to repeat the question again: â€Å"Is the there a positive optimism of doing a perfect research. then we could actually

Advertisement Essay- Disney Them Parks Essay Example for Free

Advertisement Essay- Disney Them Parks Essay The external environment of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast plays a significant role in determining if the industry is profitable. According to Hubbard, Rice and Beamish (2008), the external environment is the factors outside the organisation that influence strategy and is made up of two environments; the macro-environment and the industry environment. The macro-environment includes the general factors that affect growth of an industry, whereas an analysis of the industry environment determines the profitability of an industry. An analysis of the Gold Coast theme park industry environment will determine the industry’s profitability by analysing the strength of the following five forces; the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, power of substitutes, and the intensity of industry rivals (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). Due to the strength of these forces being quite low, the analysis of theme park industry on the Gold Coast indicates a profitable industry. The threat of new entrants into the Gold Coast theme park industry is determined by the strength of the barriers to entry as well as the expected retaliation. Such a barrier to entry is product differentiation which means that ‘established firms have brand identification and customer loyalties, which stem from past advertising, customer service, product differences, or simply being the first into an industry’ (Porter 1980, 9). Therefore, for a new firm wanting to enter the Gold Coast theme park industry would need to invest in building a brand name as a way of trying to overcome existing customer loyalties to the other theme parks. This would require large capital requirements for up-front advertising which would be unrecoverable and along with the unknown brand name would indicate a significant barrier to entry (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008). The low threat of new entrants is also strengthened by the fact that all the theme parks on the Gold Coast are owned by two companies. Dreamworld and White Water World are owned by Macquarie Leisure Trust Group and Village Roadshow owns Warner Brothers Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild Water World, Sea World, Australian Outback Spectacular, and Paradise Country (Roller-Coaster 2008B, Online). This effectively means that any potential new entrant would be competing against two companies who have the established resources which would enable them to try and drive the new entrant out of the industry through increased advertising or by lowering their prices (Porter 1980). The strength of the possible retaliation as well as product differentiation and large capital requirements determine that the barriers to entry into the Gold Coast theme park industry are quite substantial and therefore the threat of new entrants is quite low. The bargaining power of suppliers could also have an impact on the profitability of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). One factor that influences the power of suppliers is the supplier concentration relative to industry concentration (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008). In other words if there are a small number of suppliers then the suppliers are going to have the power. In terms of theme parks, the main input that needs to be supplied is the rides. These are the inputs that theme parks market their parks around and what attracts visitors to these parks. The bargaining power these roller-coaster suppliers hold over the theme park industry on the Gold Coast is quite weak due mainly to the large number of roller-coaster manufacturers that are located all around the world. If a theme park requires a roller-coaster to be designed for their park, the firm are able to choose between over 40 manufacturers to design their ride so as a result the power of the supplier is quite weak (Coaster Gallery 2008, Online). Furthermore the bargaining power of suppliers in the theme park industry is weak due to theme parks being roller-coaster manufacturers only industry in which they can sell their product. Therefore for the roller-coaster manufacturers, the theme park industry is an important customer and their fortunes are ‘closely tied to the industry and they will want to protect it through reasonable pricing and assistance’ (Porter 1980, 27). For the theme park industry on the Gold Coast this low level of power held by the roller-coaster suppliers means that any of the theme parks will be able to discuss their needs with a number of manufacturers due to the large number available to choose from and due to the suppliers reliance on the theme park industry to sell their products, prices will be reasonable which will also be helped by the fact that there is large competition between the suppliers due to their numbers. The profitability of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast can also be impacted by the bargaining power of buyers (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). One factor where the bargaining power of buyers is low is the industry concentration relative to buyer concentration. The theme park industry on the Gold Coast is quite large with seven theme parks located within the region; however these seven parks are owned by only two companies; Macquarie Leisure Trust Group and Village Roadshow (Roller-Coaster 2008B, Online). Therefore due to there only being two companies within the region, the amount of competition between the parks isn’t as fierce as it would be if each park had a different owner. For this reason the buyer doesn’t have as much power against each park based on price. This being said, the buyer still has the power to choose one company over another which provides the buyer some degree of power but not as much as would have been attributed to them with more than two companies. In the Gold Coast theme park industry, the decision makers’ incentives do give buyers a degree of power (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). Such incentives are prevalent in the industry and are aimed at enticing customers to each company’s respective theme parks. Village Warner offers â€Å"3 Park Super-passes† which provide customers unlimited entry into Movie World, Sea World and Wet ‘n’ Wild for 14 days at a discounted rate. Also Macquarie Leisure Trust Group offers a â€Å"World Pass† which provides customer’s access to both Dreamworld and White Water World at a discount rate. These incentives offered within the Gold Coast theme park industry gives buyers power to choose between the companies based on the perceived benefits of which they are offering. Therefore if one of these offers isn’t perceived to be as valuable as the other offer then the buyer has the power to choose one over the other which can have an impact on the company’s profitability either positively or negatively. The power of substitute experiences can also have an impact on the profitability of the Gold Coast theme park industry (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). The intensity of this power depends on a number of factors which includes the relative price/performance of the substitutes (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). This involves comparing the relative performance of the industry to the available substitutes as well as comparing the relative prices, both of which can impact on whether the industry in question or its substitutes better meet the needs of the potential consumer. In relation to the Gold Coast theme park industry, the performance aspect expected of their experience could be to have â€Å"fun†. Therefore, the possible substitutes of going to the beach, movies or shopping most likely wouldn’t meet the performance desired in comparison to going to a theme park. However, if the performance desired by potential customers was â€Å"thrill-seeking†, sky-diving may be a strong substitute. Along with performance, price also needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the substitutes of going to the beach or movies are quite cheap, which makes their price performance quite strong. However, skydiving in comparison to theme parks is quite expensive so its price performance is quite weak in comparison to attending a theme park. Overall the power of the substitutes is quite strong especially with their price performance and can therefore have an impact on the Gold Coast theme parks industry’s profitability. The level of ease in which buyers can switch from the industry product to substitutes can also impact on the Gold Coast theme park industry’s profitability (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008). This factor provides a lot of power to substitutes because customers within the theme park industry can easily switch to substitutes such as the beach, movies or skydiving because they can simply just experience those products rather than go to a theme park, there is nothing holding people back from doing so. Due to this fact and the favourable outcome for substitutes based upon performance and price, the power of substitutes is quite strong. The final force which impacts on an industry’s profitability according to Porter (1980) is the level of industry rivalry. Industry growth rate is a factor that impacts on the level of rivalry because if the ‘industry is growing fast, the amount of industry rivalry will be relatively low, because there will be room for most or all organisations to prosper’ (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008). The theme park industry on the Gold Coast is still experiencing growth mainly due to the overall Gold Coast tourism industry growing with domestic visitors increasing 6% to 3. 7 million in the year ending June 2007, and international visitors increasing 3. 5% to 858,000 in year ending June 2007 (Tourism Queensland 2007, Online). As a result Sea World, Movie World, and Wet ‘n ‘ Wild increased attendances 17%, 4. 3% and 22% respectively, while Dreamworld’s attendances decreased slightly by 2% (Roller-Coaster 2007A, Online). Due to there still being strong growth in the Gold Coast theme park industry the rivalry isn’t as intense as it would with little to no growth and will therefore have little impact on profitability. Industry profitability can also be impacted if organisations within an industry have undifferentiated products (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008; Porter 1980). By having undifferentiated products rivalry would be extreme due to organisations targeting the same markets, whereas if products were differentiated the organisations within the industry would target different market segments. The theme park industry on the Gold Coast has traditionally been quite differentiated with a water park, movie-themed park, thrill-ride park and a marine-life themed park. As a result the different theme parks were able to target differing market segments which meant the rivalry between the parks was evident but not that strong. Today however the rivalry between Macquarie Leisure Group Trust and Village Roadshow has intensified due to Macquarie Leisure opening a water park called White Water World which is in direct competition with Village Roadshow’s Wet ‘n’ Wild. This has lead to strong advertising campaigns and discount offers by both organisations in an attempt to gain market share. Due to the opening of the new water park which has created two undifferentiated products in the industry, the overall industry profitability could be impacted because both Macquarie Leisure and Village Roadshow are going to be competing fiercely to try and persuade potential customers to come to their respective water park which could have been avoided if they have differentiated products with different target markets. By analysing the Gold Coast theme park industry using Porter’s (1980) five forces it is evident that the industry is profitable due to an overall low level of power attributed by most forces. The low threat of new entrants is evident due to the barriers to entry of established product differentiation and the expected retaliation of Macquarie Leisure and Village Roadshow. Also the power of suppliers is low due the large number of competing roller-coaster manufacturers and their reliance on the theme park industry, furthermore the power of buyers is low due to two companies owning all the theme parks on the Gold Coast which reduces the level of competition between the parks and limits potential savings for buyers and helps the industry’s profitability. However, profitability in the industry can be impacted by the considerable strength of substitutes based upon price and the ease of which customers can switch to these substitutes. Furthermore, profitability will be further impacted by the increasing competition between the two water parks in the industry as they fight for market share. Despite the presence of these forces on industry profitability, there strength is quite weak and the Gold Coast theme park industry will remain profitable due to the other forces outweighing any negative impact on industry profitability. Reference List. Coaster Gallery 2008, ‘Roller Coaster Manufacturers’, Roller Coaster Information (online), Available: http://www. coastergallery. com/Manu. html [Accessed 13 April 2008]. Hubbard, G. , Rice, J. Beamish, P. 2008, Strategic Management: Thinking, Analysis and Action, 3rd edn, Prentice-Hall, Frenchs Forest. Porter, M. 1980, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors, The Free Press, New York. Roller-Coaster 2007A, ‘Attendance Up Across the Board’, Roller-Coaster Theme Park News (online), Available: http://www. roller-coaster. com. au/article.php? aid=143 [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Roller-Coaster 2007B, ‘Theme Park Performance Drives Village Profits’, Roller-Coaster Theme Park News (online), Available: http://www. roller-coaster. com. au/article. php? aid=142 [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Tourism Queensland 2007, ‘Business and Leisure Drives Gold Coast’s $2. 6 Billion Domestic Tourism Industry’, Tourism Queensland News (online), Available: http://www. tq. com. au/destinations/gold-coast/news/news_home. cfm? col2Includes=infopieces. dsp_story_fullobj_uuid=0195C856-CDFC-D308-72CF-6DC3FA3B4C62 [Accessed 13 April 2008].

Share Repurchases in the US, UK, France and Germany

Share Repurchases in the US, UK, France and Germany 1. Introduction: The market system in the UK and the US has emphasized the role of the stock market in the Anglo-American capitalist system. Shares and bonds have become very common tools of investment in the capital system. Investors buy shares and bonds in the hope of getting capital gains plus income from their investments. Shares offer investors capital gains/losses and dividends, share are very attractive investment tools for people who are prepared to risk their principle and get less than the amount that they have invested. Bonds offer limited return on investments, Bonds offer investors the same principle. Financial managers usually pay off their shareholders using two methods: Dividends: dividends are share of the capital that investors receive in return for investing their money in the company.   Share repurchase/buyback: some financial managers choose to buyback the shares of the company if they feel that they company’s shares are undervalued, buying part of the shares will boost the remaining outstanding share prices. Over the last twenty five years, companies have become less prone to distribute funds to shareholders. This noticeable increase in dividends is accompanies by share repurchases in the US. Since Margaret Thatcher came to the power in the UK, the United Kingdom has adapted a very similar economic path to the US. These developments in the US have been followed by very similar developments in the UK. British companies are trying to concentrate on share buyback rather than pay dividends. In this assignment, we will try to find out why companies are heading towards share buyback. 2. What determines the payout policy of the company?: Miller and Modigliani (1961) were the first two scientists to challenge that fact that high dividends payout leads to higher value of a company. It is apparent that companies’ payout policy does not affect the value of the company. The reason that made Miller and Modigliani think that the payout policy of the firm does not affect the value of the firm is that fact that in a frictionless economy investors could make their decisions rationally with no or minimum stochastic factors. Investors will be able to see that distributing too much dividends means that the company is missing investment opportunities and that its future cash flows will be substantially less than now. While if the company retained its earnings in order to invest into projects, investors will think that the company has over invested and so that the return on its capital will be substantially less than the market average. Miller and Modigliani thought that companies could not create the impression that they are better than what they are in reality. For several reasons, there are many people nowadays that do not believe in Miller and Modigliani, one of the possible reasons for that is the fact that financial markets are not frictionless and investors are not totally rational. In the financial markets, there are many short-sighted investors that prefer to get profit as soon as possible without paying any real value to the future cash flow of the firm. But the supporter of Miller and Modigliani argue that institutional investors watch the payout policy of the firm very carefully and analyze the activities of the firm in a very good way so institutional investors do know the value of the firm exactly. Although Miller and Modigliani do not see any difference in the value of the firm no matter what payout policy the firm follows; there are many people who think that having high payout policy is much better than retaining funds because high payout policy attracts institutional investors who are able to monitor the company and give a more precise valuation to the value of the company and its credit quality. Trojanowski, G(2004) thinks that the company is really in typical type I error and type II error dilemma, if the company adapted high payout policy towards so it became cash constraint the company might miss profitable investment opportunity( type II error), but if the company retained cash and invested in unprofitable projects this will be type I error. Trojanowski, G(2004) thinks that this high payout policy is considered the price that should be paid to institutional investors in order to get things right and be able to give precise valuation to the company. There are several factors that determine the payout policy of a firm; we can summarize these factors as: Valuation of the company’s value, taxes, information asymmetries and contract incompleteness. 2.1 Valuation of the Firm’s shares: The value of the firm itself play a substantial role in the payout policy for any company, if the firm’s shares are undervalued, companies’ tend to buyback their share prices in order to make use of the undervalued share price, this will improve the share price and encourage investors to invest more in the shares of the particular company. Share buyback play the merger acquisition impact on share prices, in the case of merger and acquisition, a company comes forward to buy the shares of an undervalued company, this normally leads to a hike in the share prices of both companies. In the case of share buyback, the company itself comes forward to buy its own shares, this leads as well to a hike in the share price.   The rise in share prices resulting from share repurchases will make it more difficult to other companies to buy the shares of the undervalued company because buying the shares of the undervalued company will require additional premium. The success of the share buyback process is directly related to the number of investors who come forward to sell their shares. The number of investors who come forward to sell their shares is related to the price at which the shares were bought. If the price of the bought shares was high and then fell dramatically, the buyback process will not be enough to compensate for the full loss of the invested money; Investors will rather prefer to change the management and hold it accountable for the poor results of the company.    If the fall in the price of the shares was modest and share buyback compensated the loss that investors have incurred and/or made capital gains, many investors will prefer to sell their shares and that is how the buyback process becomes successful. 2.2 Tax: According to Miller and Modigliani (1961): dividends do not affect the value of the firm: This result is based on many assumptions: taxes,   The tax system of any country will affect the payout policy of most of the companies in the world. The research that has been done on this issue refers to two facts: The first one is that companies tend to change their payout policy if the tax law changed. The second one is that: according to Kalay (1982) and Stiglitz, J, E (1983) individual investors do rebalance their portfolios quickly enough in response to tax law changes; this school of thought thinks that investors always try to follow tax avoidance strategies in order to maximize their wealth by â€Å"dividend laundering† In other words, investors will try to put pressure on their company in order to pay them in the most tax efficient way that maximizes their wealth and the value of the company. Share repurchases are very attractive way of distributing the profits of the company because they could happen at any time of the year; investors try to put pressure on the company to choose a suitable time for most of them. Share repurchases give investors the flexibility and the choice in participations, investors might choose to participate in the share repurchase if they feel that their overall tax liabilities will become less. Investors could defer their tax payments to make their own decision of when to sell in order to maximize their total wealth. Of course, shareholders can sell their shares in the market if they want cash as a tax Advantaged substitute for either share repurchases or cash dividends. In the law, the tax paid on capital gains is deferred until the shares are sold whereas any income tax on dividends is paid annually. The deferral of the capital gains tax reduces its present value. Broadly speaking dividends in the UK enjoy a less favourable tax regime than share repurchases which may give rise to something of a Dividend Policy Puzzle. Although dividends do not enjoy the same tax treatment that share repurchases have, most of the companies in the UK are still paying dividends because most of the investors are tax-exempt and companies listen to their shareholders in the UK. This point will be researched in more detail in the coming sections 2.3 Financial Structure: When companies decide to buyback their shares, they change their financial structure. Share buyback is accompanied with significant debt/equity ratio. Share repurchase does not only reduce equity but also increases debt. The leverage ratio will increase after the buyback period. The financial structure of the company has a profound impact on the payout policy. In order to understand how the financial structure affects the payout policy we need to understand the concept pf â€Å"block holders†. Block Holders are few numbers of investors who own the majority of the shares of the company. The economic literature is increasingly enforcing the fact that block holders could play a positive role in monitoring the performance of the companies that they invest in because they have a big interest in preserving and growing the capital that they have invested. Unlike small investors, block holders power is very important in keeping the management of the company doing the best it can in order to maximize the wealth of the shareholders. When companies use share buyback, it is expected that minority shareholders will sell their shares to the issuing company and not the block holders.    When that happens, small shareholders numbers will decrease and there power will be less. This will open the door for bloke shareholders to use their power in imposing what they want without listening to the minority shareholders who have less power in the board room than bloke shareholder. In that sense, we can say that changing the financial structure of the company can have a negative impact on the minority shareholders who choose to sell some of their shares to the issuing company. In many countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Hong Kong, the volume of shares to be repurchased must not exceed 10% of total shares outstanding. Firms from such countries can therefore not use repurchase programs to increase their debt-to-capital ratio dramatically and to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders. 2.4 Cash Flow: Public companies have shares that could be traded on the stock exchange, as illustrated above; investors expect return on their investments in the shape of dividends. If the company did not meet investors’ expectations, share prices will go down. Share buyback happens when the company has cash that is in excess of the company’s needs. If the company cannot pay its investors good return on their investments, it is better to return the money to the investors in the shape of share buyback. Jagannathan, Stephens and Weisbach (2000) showed that companies with excessive operating cash flows tend to distribute dividends while companies with limited operating cash flow tend to repurchase their shares. Companies with temporary excessive cash flow tend to repurchase its shares in order to distribute the excess cash flow. Companies with temporary excess cash flow tend to distribute its excess cash because the company wants to smooth its dividends policy, it is not in the company’s best interests to increase the volatility of its dividends because dividends are very important signaling tools that the market use in valuing the shares of the company, when dividends increase because of temporary excess cash and them decrease later one, share prices will become volatile and investors will try to avoid the shares of that particular company. 2.5 Agency Problem: The industrial revolution has contributed significantly to the separation of management from ownership. There is a constant crisis of trust between management and the shareholders of any public company. Under perfect conditions, the management is supposed to be working for the best interests of the shareholders, but what happens in reality is something different, the management is constantly trying to maximize its own benefits and wealth on the expense of the shareholders. The relationship between management and shareholders is not always a cooperative relationship; the relationship might well prove to be a competitive relationship.   Managers and company directors might misuse the funds of the shareholders; directors might use the money of the shareholders in increasing their salaries, pensions and other allowances instead of paying this money to the shareholders in the form of dividends or share buyback. When company directors choose to use the excess funds that they have in buying back the shares of the investors or in other words returning their money, the trust between the investors and the company directors increases significantly. Share buyback proves that there is a wise management in that particular organization; investors will see this move as maintenance to the resources of the investors. Company directors that choose to invest the excess cash that they have in non-profitable projects will be seen in the financial markets as not reliable; investors will know that the top management of that company is not sound.  Ã‚   Some school of thoughts claim that share buybacks are bad for the minority shareholders if they are not accompanied with the selling of the shares of the directors. The reason for that is the fact that company directors own shares and share options in the company and if the company made a share buyback, the share of directors and managers in the company will increase and this will open the door for possible misuses. Many economists recommend that share buyback has to be accompanied by the selling of the shares of the directors in order to keep a sound management system in the corporation, Siu, J Weston, F(2002). Finally, Share repurchases can violate the interests of the last majority of uninformed shareholders when only inside shareholders have information about the exact timing of repurchase transactions and the amount that the issuing company will purchase. Insiders could use that knowledge to dispose of their shares at a higher price than under normal market conditions, IKENBERRY/VERMAELEN 1996. This illegal action would cause a wealth transfer from outside shareholders to inside shareholders and if anticipated by outside shareholders should lead to a negative announcement effect. 2.6 Signaling: Share buyback are used a signaling tool, dividends convey information about the future cash flow of the company. Motivations are normally in line with shareholders’ interests; this includes the attempt by management to convey to investors that the true value of their corporation’s equity exceeds its current market value. Such a signal might be based on management’s believe that the true mean of the probability distribution of the firm’s future cash flows is actually higher than perceived by the market or alternatively, that the true variance of future returns is higher than expected, holding the distribution mean constant, DANN (1981) We have two cases depending on the prices of the financial assets of the company:    In the first case, all of the firm’s risky securities appear to be undervalued. In the latter case, only equity claims appear to be undervalued, whereas claims in the form of risky debt might in fact be overvalued. Share repurchases could actually lead to a re-distribution of debt holders’ wealth to the benefit of shareholders. It is typically assumed that insiders which are the company’s management and directors know a lot more information about the company’s cash flow situation than insiders. However, any straight public announcement by the board of directors that it considers its firm’s shares to be undervalued generally lacks credibility because there might be other hidden motives to the management. Outside investors cannot distinguish between true and misleading announcements because they do not have all the information about the company. They will perceive of all undervaluation announcements as try to hide the truth about share repurchases unless the company produces evidence that undervaluation is the real motivation for share repurchases.    Share repurchase announcements cause two types of costs to overvalued firms. Firstly, firms that repurchase overvalued shares must understand that the share price will decline to its true intrinsic value as soon as possible, so that the company would have paid too much for its shares. Secondly, firms that announce to repurchase shares but then decide not to do so might see their general reputation for honest capital market communication deteriorate because the company’s public relations status with the company will be shaken. Depending on the legal and regulatory restrictions for share repurchase programs, such firms also risk that authorities initiate investigations of price manipulation. Given these potential costs, share repurchase announcements can be used as a clear signal to enhance the reputation and the credibility of an undervaluation signal. Such credible signals should then lead to an appreciation in stock price and benefit the investors who are welling to sell their shares. Share buyback will convey a message to investors that the company has few good projects (NPV Share buyback indicate that the financial situation of the company is not strong enough in order to meet the expectations of the investors. When the company chooses to pay its investors by distributing dividends, it gives the signal that it has many good projects (NPV>0), and the company believes that it could create capital gains to investors without seeking refuge to share buyback. 2.7 Employee incentive plans: The company might seek to purchase its own shares in order to finance its employee incentive plans. In the current capitalist system, many companies realized that empowering employees is the best way to align the interests of the employees with the interest of the company. Through the history, the management and the employees were always at odds and that caused many strikes and struggle within the company. Many companies found out that the future organizations of the companies should depend on giving employees the initiative and turning them into an asset rather than looking at them as a liability or an expense. This process has been triggered by the introduction of new technologies that enabled top managements to cut the middle management and give the authorities of the middle management to the employees that the technology will help them to perform their tasks in a more efficient way without the direct supervision of the middle management. This process could not be achieved without giving employees shares in the company and make them real partners in the organizations. When employees get share of the profit they will work harder than before and that will benefit the whole organization and the society. Share repurchases are one of the best ways to turn the employees into an asset since share repurchases happen when the share price is relatively cheap, share repurchases provide a very cheap way to finance the employee share scheme and create a wholly new organization that depends on mutual trust between management and employees rather than struggle between them. 2.8 Convertible bonds execution: Convertible bonds are defined as bonds that pay a regular coupon for their buyer, the price of bonds will depend on two main things: interest rates and credit quality of the issuer. Convertible bonds combine the feature of bonds and shares at the same time. We all know that companies give their investors the option to convert their bonds into common shares at any time they want in order to make their bonds more attractive to investors and give investors the flexibility in choosing the investment tools that they foresee suitable to their investment strategy. We all know that shares and bonds are two different products that offer two different profit and loss opportunities. Most of the times, shares and bonds markets work at odds. When interest rates are low share prices seem to be a better investment opportunity than bonds because they offer better return on investment. When interest rates are high bonds seem to be a better investment opportunity than shares because they offer better return on capital. Many companies encourage investors to invest with them by giving them the option( this option is called call option) to convert their bonds to shares. When the company has a shortage of shares the company will have to buy them directly from the market in order to meet its investor’s requirements of converting bonds into shares. 2.9 Trade shares: Trading shares might be the motive for share repurchases in the UK and elsewhere in the developed world. When the market is depressed and the share prices reflect less than their fair value many companies will resort to buying their own shares in order to sell them later at a higher price. When big companies believe that their shares are under-estimated, they invest the excess cash that they have in themselves in order to encourage more investors to buy their shares and when the market prices of the shares goes up the issuing companies will resell them at profit. Investors will benefit from this share repurchase by two ways: Investors will be able to sell some of their shares at higher price and make profit from that. Investors will benefit from the higher dividends that their company will pay them as a result of re-selling the shares at higher price.     Ã‚  Ã‚   Share repurchase might aim as well to reduce the volatility of the share and stabilize its price. Share trading s not as easy as it might seem, there are regulations that govern the ability of the company to buy/sell its own stocks. 2.10 Destroy shares: There are two reasons to destroying shares: The first one is to change the ownership structure and the second one is to increase the wealth of the shareholders. Change the ownership structure: When the company buys its own shares in order to destroy them, it destroy with the shares the voting right, we all know that owning one share means owning one vote, this means that destroying one share means destroying one vote. According to Pindur, D Lucke, M (no date given) the management might find it very cost effective to have homogenous shareholders rather than heterogeneous shareholders, that’s why the company offers share repurchases and destroys shares. In that case, the company will offer investors what is called a â€Å"controlled premium†, which is a premium that is paid above the market price in order to lure investors to sell their shares. Wealth creation for investors: The best measure to wealth creation is the Economic Value Added; Economic Value Added is defined as the operating after tax profit minus a charge for the opportunity cost of the invested capital. When the company wants to maximize its shareholders wealth by buying and destroying the shares directly from the market the company will resort to the following measures: Decrease the weighted average cost of capital (WACC): we all know that the weighted average cost of capital depends on two major elements which are shares and bonds: the average cost of bonds is the interest rate that is paid to the bondholder, the average cost of shares will depend on the risk premium that is required by shareholders to compensate them for the risk of losing their invested principle; when the company buys its own stock it reduces the weight of equity in the mix of capital, so the weighted average cost of capital will be less and that is how the wealth of the shareholders will increase if the company bought the shares from the market and destroyed them; reducing the weighted average cost of capital means that producing the same profits or more with less costs of capital, this is a real sign of improvement in the situation of the company, the issuing company has to be careful that reducing the number of outstanding shares might mean that share prices will go up in ord er to satisfy the demand on the shares of the company, especially when shares get less, the dividends get better, this might increase the demand on shares, that is why management is always advised to reduce the amount of shares and debt in the same percentage in order to leave prices of shares and bonds relatively stable, the opposition to share buyback comes from debt holders especially those with unsecured debt, the reason for that is the fact that when shares decreases this means that capital has decreased and this means that if the company went bankrupt there will be no enough capital to cover the value of the debt, while shareholders will be the least losers from bankruptcy, again that is another reason why companies are advised to buy shares and bonds at the same time and keep its leverage ratio stable during the time, A third and final reason for advising companies to buy shares and bonds at the same time is the reason that many companies offer convertible bonds which could b e converted at any time to certain number of shares, if the company did not buy shares and bonds at the same time and share prices went up, convertible bond investors might find it more profitable to convert their bonds to shares and in this situation the company will find itself in front of two options the first one wither buying more shares to convertible bond investors from the market and that would mean paying high prices for them or issuing new shares again and that would make share repurchases pointless. Increase the return on invested capital (ROIC): this idea is very related to what we explained before about type I error and type II error, in other words the company will take decisions regarding the best investment opportunities that are available, it is assumed that the company will select the projects that maximize the return on invested capital and return the excess cash to the investors in the shape of share repurchases, this process will maximize the return on equity to the maximum, we all know that the marginal propensity to capital will increase rapidly at the beginning of the investment and after that the amount of increase will de-accelerate until it the marginal propensity to capital reaches zero and then it starts to decline.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase the growth rate: when the right amount of capital has been allocated to the most profitable projects the growth rate of the company should be maximum. 2.11 Legislative reasons: Sometimes companies in a particular country find very difficult to repurchase their stocks even if there is tax benefit from repurchasing the stock rather than distributing dividends. In the US for example, companies did not repurchase their shares until after the mid-eighties. According to Grullon, G Michaely, R(2000:PDF page 5), one of the possible reasons for that is â€Å"the risk of violating the anti-manipulative provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Indeed, after the SEC adopted a safe–harbor rule (Rule 10b-18) in 1982 that guarantees that, under certain conditions, this agency will not file manipulation charges against companies repurchasing shares on the open market, repurchase activity experienced an upward structural shift†. Grullon, G Michaely, R(2000) says that one year after the change of the SEC rule the amount of earnings that have been distributed as share repurchases tripled. In Germany for example, share repurchases are still very difficult because they need the approval of the shareholders that should be got in the Annual General Meeting. We can see clearly that regulation is a very important too in encouraging and discouraging share repurchases. 2.12 Dilute earnings: Many analysts think that share options have helped in aliening the directors’ interests with the interests of the shareholders but few people investigated how stock options change the behavior and choice of directors to distributing earnings.    There is increasing evidence that executive compensation that is usually granted in the form of stock option has a lot to do with share repurchases in the UK and the US. Accounting rules make compulsory on companies to reflect the value of the stock options that are given to directors and managers. We all know that writing an option on the shares of the company is equivalent to increasing the number of the outstanding shares. When company directors want to exercise their options, there need to acquire actual shares of the company and that would make Earnings per Share less for everybody; that is called â€Å"diluting the earnings†. Earnings per Share are the total earnings divided by the number of outstanding common shares and common shares equivalents. When earnings per share become actually less; the company will try to repurchase the shares from the market. Earnings per share will not only be less but also will cause a decline in share prices later on because EPS is used in valuing the shares. The cash that is actually used to repurchase the shares will not be deducted from the total earnings and that the company will keep its total earnings unchanged after the repurchase of the shares from the market. In order to illustrate this point further, there is a difference between EPS and diluted EPS. Diluted EPS is the total earnings of the company subtracted from the cost of share options and warrants divided by the number of outstanding common shares and equivalents. When analysts value shares they look at EPS but not diluted EPS. After share repurchases, EPS will be the same as before share repurchase EPS. So companies try to repurchase their own shares because they try to hideout the cost of share option costs. If we look at the empirical studies that have been done in this area we find that most of the studies found a correlation between stock repurchases and executive’s share options. According to Lambert, Lanen, and Larcker (1989), Option grants in general are associated with increased payouts and decreased earnings retention. The larger is the executives’ holding of stock options, the more apt the firm is to retain more earnings and curtail cash distributions. This finding is consistent with Fenn and Liang (2000) that   there is a well-documented finding of negative relationship between dividends and managerial stock options and. The relationship does not appear to be explained by differe

Heavens Gate Essay -- essays research papers

On March 26, 1997, in what has become known as one of the most noteworthy mass suicides in history, thirty-nine men and women affiliated with the Heavens Gate cult took their own lives by ingesting a combination of Phenobarbitals mixed with applesauce and alcohol. Each was dressed all in black, their faces covered by a purple shroud. Those who wore glasses had them neatly folded next to their body, and all had identification papers for the authorities to find. The house was immaculate, tidier even than before the victims had moved in. It was as if, in preparing for their death, they were heeding the words of the prophet Isaiah: â€Å"Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.† And while their abrupt end may seem rather strange, the way they lived is even more perplexing. The group came together in the mid 1970s under the charismatic preaching of Marshall Herff Applewhite, and his companion, Bonnie Lu Nettles, a former nurse. It enjoyed a short-lived burst of notoriety, during which time they referred to themselves as Bo and Peep, before the couple took it underground in 1976. After existing in deep seclusion in various Southwestern cities, the group surfaced again briefly in 1994, when members sought out recruits with a series of public lectures. In the group's documents, Applewhite and Nettles are described as representatives of an extraterrestrial plane called the Kingdom of Heaven, who have come to Earth â€Å"to offer the way leading to membership† to those who could overcome their attachment to money, sex, and family life. Such total separation, the group preached, was necessary because Earth's human structures --governmental, economic and, especially, religious-- were under the control of demonic forces: â€Å"Luciferians† and evi l â€Å"space aliens,† in the group's terms. In time, they began calling themselves â€Å"the Two,† a reference to the â€Å"two witnesses† of Christ foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation. According to the Bible, the two witnesses are prophets who will be slain by a beast from the bottomless pit, then be resurrected and ascend to Heaven. They were both anti-establishment and intolerant, calling for total separation from society, simple living with shared resources, and adherence to a rigorous moral code. Applewhite also required members of the cult to dress, talk, and look the same. He made them all wear the same clothes, shaved ev... ...of the world turn violently against them, it added, the group would be ''mentally prepared'' for whatever came its way. They also allude to the example of the Jews at Masada who killed themselves rather than submit to Roman legions in A.D. 73. Furthermore, the group said its understanding of suicide was not at all conventional: ''The true meaning of 'suicide' is to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered.'' In the group's thinking, a spaceship, thought to be following in Hale-Bopp's wake, would be offering just such an opportunity. In conclusion, the entire aura of the Heaven’s Gate cult seems like something straight out of a late night TV movie. Like most millennialist groups, members held a firm belief in an oncoming apocalypse and that only an elect few would achieve salvation. The spread of their doctrine on the Internet brought about widespread concern over the power of the web. The argument has subsided, however, with the passage of time. I, for one, find the supposed link between the Internet and cult activities rather absurd. Extreme gullibility and brainwashing, I believe, would be the only ways a recruit would ever accept such an outlandish set of beliefs.

Meaning of Life and Hope

Hope Hope, a word that we all use too commonly but not defined clearly. Hope Is a desire accompanied by expectation of belief In fulfillment. It's the feeling of wanting something that could happen. It's a word of belief In positive outcomes about events and circumstances in our life. We use hope In a positive wishful meaning. When we hope for something, we wish for It, we get the Idea that It might happen. Hope Is a source we need in our lives to live and to get through our battles.It Isn't something that we should want, It's something that we need. Without It we are lost and not complete. There are many meanings that are salary In reference to the word hope. It's a word we use to cherish with anticipation. People hope so that they can get over any obstacles that life throws at them. It gives them a reason to live and help them get through their own struggles. It is a psychological way of supporting oneself and motivating oneself also. It gives you the strength to not give up.Peopl e may hope to ass the big exam they have coming up, they may hope to pass the class, they also may hope to get the promotion at their jobs, we hope for many things. If we hope to overcome an obstacle we should always follow through and believe in ourselves. Everybody needs hope in their lives. It's our best possession, it's a part of us that makes our lives more meaningful. Hope is our best friend that will never give up on us or leave us alone. When we find ourselves alone we can find hope to overcome anything that we put our minds to.Everything that we do is based on hope. Hope Is external, there are unlimited possibilities and opportunities hope has in store for us. Hope can make you feel powerful and happy and not weak and desperate. If you hope with pessimism, doubts, confusion and fear it will spoil your hopes. Sometimes hope is all we have when were down. Hope is finding out that it's not the end! Without hope, there would be no motivation or strength of will to withstand adv ersity. There would be no long term goals, no direction, no comfort, no value or meaning of life.Hope is a vessel that carries a person through life. It's a motivator and it gives us something to look forward too each day. Hope is like a battery for our spirit to keep us believing and to have faith. Don't let doubt and fear get In the way of overcoming your obstacles. Without hope we are miserable and with hope we are powerful. In conclusion, Hope is a powerful source In our lives. It gives us direction and motivation to help overcome any obstacles that come In our way. Hope helps us succeed In anything we put our minds through It.When our thoughts are drowning tit doubts, fill your thoughts with positive thoughts. Fill your beliefs with hope and dependence that the unknown will turn out favorably. Hope Is the heartbeat In our lives, without It we are lost and Incomplete. BY Aftercare's Hope, a word that we all use too commonly but not defined clearly. Hope is a desire accompanied b y expectation of belief in fulfillment. It's the feeling of wanting something that could happen. It's a word of belief in positive outcomes about events and circumstances in our life. We use hope in a positive wishful meaning.When we pop for something, we wish for it, we get the idea that it might happen. Hope is a source we need in our lives to live and to get through our battles. It isn't something that we should want, it's something that we need. Without it we are lost and not There are many meanings that are similar in reference to the word hope. It's a word we use to cherish with anticipation. People hope so that they can get over any may hope to get the promotion at their Jobs, we hope for many things. If we hope to anything that we put our minds to. Everything that we do is based on hope.Hope is spirit to keep us believing and to have faith. Don't let doubt and fear get in the way of In conclusion, Hope is a powerful source in our lives. It gives us direction and motivation t o help overcome any obstacles that come in our way. Hope helps us succeed in anything we put our minds through it. When our thoughts are drowning with doubts, fill your thoughts with positive thoughts. Fill your beliefs with hope and dependence that the unknown will turn out favorably. Hope is the heartbeat in our lives, without it we are lost and incomplete.

Auditing Chaper 2&3

Chapter 2 2-7 The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is responsible for establishing auditing standards for audits of public companies. The ASB is responsible for establishing auditing standards for private companies. 2-10 The criticism of this statement according to the ten generally accepted auditing standards that the standards should provide useful guidelines for conducting an audit to improve practitioners’ quality of their performance.Based upon ten generally accepted auditing standards, the quality control system can provide only reasonable assurance, not a guarantee, that auditing standards followed with a professional judgment of their opinion. 2-16 a. The first general standard, which states in part, that a person must perform the audit or persons having adequate technical training, requires that an auditor have education and experience in the field of auditing. . The measures of the quality of the auditor’s performance are by accepting the gene ral standards of auditing. c. The general group of the generally accepted auditing standards includes a requirement of due professional care be exercised by the auditor. d. The criteria of audit plan and evidence gathering the general character of the three generally accepted auditing standards classified as standards of fieldwork. 2-20 a.The ethical implications of Rossi and Montgomery’s accepting the engagement is having adequate training and proficiency, due professional care, proper planning and supervision, sufficient understanding of the entity, its environment, and its internal control. Since Mobile Home Manufacturing Company decided to issue stock to the public and Rossi and Montgomery’s CPA firm never had a client to go public or might not had proper training of filling necessary paperwork for SEC should not accept the engagement. b.The auditor may face some problems when filing the SEC of the following: new securities registration statement submitted for appr oval, commission examines the statements for completeness before allowing their client to sell on the securities exchange, and require the financial statements along with the opinion of the independent firm to be part of the registration statement and subsequent reports. Let us not forget the auditor must file all of the proper paperwork from the S-1 form to register new security and any other special S-forms.The 8-K form includes the sale of subsidiary, change in officer, a new product line, or change of auditors. The 10-K form must file the annual report within 60 to 90 days after the close of each fiscal year according to the size of company. The 10-Q form must be file quarterly for all public held companies that contain valuable information within the financials to be review by the auditors before filing with the commission. Chapter 3 3-23 a.The report includes additional paragraphs for the definition and limitations of internal control of the combined report on the financial st atements and internal control over financial reporting is correct. b. The date of the CPA’s opinion on the financial statements of the client should be the date of the completion of all important audit procedures. c. If a principal auditor decides to refer in his or her report to the audit of another auditor, he or she is required to disclose the portion of the financial statements audited by the other auditor. -25 a. A CPA will issue an adverse auditor’s opinion if the exception to the fairness of presentation is so material that an â€Å"except for† opinion is not justified. b. An auditor will most likely disclaim an opinion because of a client-imposed scope limitation. c. The paragraph expresses an qualified opinion â€Å"In our opinion, except for the effects of not capitalizing certain lease obligations, as discussed in the preceding paragraph, the financial statements present fairly†, in all material respects,†¦ 3-26 a.It allows immaterial erro rs to be review if the financial statements show misinformation within the transactions and balances. b. Using the phrase â€Å"In conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America† rather than â€Å"are properly stated to represent the true economic conditions† indicate the auditor followed standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Because financial statements prepared in accordance with U. S. accounting principles and audited in accordance with U. S. uditing standards are available throughout the world on the Internet, the country of origin of the accounting principles used in preparing the financial statements and auditing standards followed by the auditor identified in the audit report. c. Using the phrase â€Å"In our opinion† indicates that maybe some information risk associated with the financial statements, even though the statements been audit. Also, the first and fourth generally accepted auditin g reporting standards that require auditors to state an opinion about the financial statements taken as whole, including a conclusion about whether the company followed U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or the IFRS issued by the IASB. d. The name identifies that CPA firm or practitioner who performed the audit to ensure the quality of the audit meets professional standards of legal and responsibility. e. Using material misstatement within the audit report conveys that the auditors are responsible only to search for significant misstatements, not the minor misstatements that do not affect users’ decisions.

Italian Definite Articles

Italian Definite Articles In English, the definite article (larticolo determinativo) has only one form: the. In Italian, on the other hand, l’articolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and even the first letter of the noun or adjective it precedes. It’s meant to indicate a precise, quantifiable object or person. This makes learning definite articles a bit more complicated, but once you know the structure, it’s relatively simple to get used to. il quaderno e la penna - the notebook and pen: In this example, the definite articles are â€Å"il† and â€Å"la.†i ragazzi e le ragazze - the boys and girls: In this example, the definite articles are â€Å"i† and â€Å"le.† Heres a table with the definite articles. Singular Plural Masculine il, lo, l i, gli Feminine la, l le Sometimes the articles can be tricky to pronounce (especially â€Å"gli†). When To Use  Definite Articles Here is a list of general rules for when to use definite articles. 1. Lo (pl. gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with s consonant or z, like â€Å"lo zaino - the backpack† or â€Å"gli scoiattoli - the squirrels†. You will also see â€Å"lo† being used with masculine nouns that begin with â€Å"gn,† like â€Å"lo gnomo.† Here are some examples. lorologio- gli orologi watch- watcheslamico- gli amici friend- friends lo yoga   yogalo yogurt yogurtlo specchio- gli specchi mirror- mirrorslo stadio- gli stadi stadium- stadiumslo psicologo- gli psicologi psychologist- psychologistslo zero- gli zeri zero- zeros NOTE: there are a few exceptions: il dio- gli dà ¨i god- godsper lo meno at leastper lo pià ¹Ã‚  Ã‚  mostly 2. Il (pl. i) is used before masculine nouns beginning with all other consonants, like â€Å"il cibo - the food† or â€Å"i vestiti - the clothes.† 3. L’ (pl. gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel, like â€Å"l’aeroporto - the airport,† 4. La (pl. le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with any consonant, like â€Å"la borsa - the purse† or â€Å"le scarpe - the shoes.† Here are some examples: la stazione- le stazioni train station- train stationsla zia- le zie aunt- auntslamica her friendlautomobile the car 5. L’ (pl. le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with a vowel, like â€Å"l’amica - the friend† or â€Å"le donne - the women.† The article agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies and is repeated before each noun. la Coca–Cola e l’aranciata - the Coke and orangeadegli italiani e i giapponesi - the Italians and the Japanesele zie e gli zii - the aunts and unclesle zie e il nonno - the aunts and the grandfather The first letter of the word immediately following the article determines the article’s form. Compare the following: il giorno (the day) → l’altro giorno (the other day)lo zio (the uncle) → il vecchio zio (the old uncle)i ragazzi (the boys) → gli stessi ragazzi (the same boys)l’amica (the girl  friend) → la nuova amica (the new girl friend) Tips When Using Definite Articles In Italian, the definite article must always be used before the name of a language, except when the verbs parlare (to speak) or studiare (to study) come before the name of the language; in those cases, its up to you whether you want to use it or not. Studio l’italiano. - I study Italian.Studio italiano e arabo. - I study Italian and Arabic.Parlo italiano. - I speak Italian.Parlo l’italiano e il russo. - I speak Italian and Russian.Parlo bene l’italiano. - I speak Italian well. The definite article is also used before the days of the week  to indicate a repeated, habitual activity. Domenica studio. - I’m studying on Sunday. → Marco non studia mai la domenica. - Marco never studies on Sundays.Il lunedà ¬ vado al cinema (ogni lunedà ¬). - On Mondays, I go to the movies.On Monday I go to the movies. (Every Monday)Cosa fai di solito il giovedà ¬? - What do you usually do on thursday evenings?Di solito vado a giocare a carte con i miei nonni -   On thursday, usually I go and play cards with my grandparents. Finally, another common situation where the definite article is used is with telling the time. Notice here though that the article is combined with a preposition making something called an articulated preposition. Mi sono svegliato all’una. - I woke up at one.Vado a scuola alle dieci. - I’m going to school at ten. You can use it to indicate a category or a species in a generic sense: Il cane à ¨ il miglior amico delluomo (tutti i cani). - Dog is mans best friend (all dogs).Luomo à ¨ dotato di ragione. - Man is endowed with reason. (To talk about â€Å"every man†) Or to indicate a particular thing or an object: Hai visto il film? (quel film) - Have you seen the movie? (that movie)Hai visto il professore? - Have you seen the professor?Mi hanno rubato il portafogli. - They stole my wallet.Non trovo pià ¹ le scarpe. - I can’t find my shoes. You’ll also want to use it when preceding possessive pronouns: Lauto di Carlo à ¨ nuova, la mia no. - Charless car is new, but mine isnt. Or with geographical destinations, like: continents: lEuropacountries: lItaliaregions: la Toscanalarge islands: la Siciliaoceans: il Mediterraneolakes: il Gardarivers: il Pomountains: il Cervino (the Matterhorn) And finally, with parts of the body: Mi fa male la testa.- My head hurts. Definite Articles with Names Use definite articles with the last names of famous female celebrities: la Garbola Loren With all surnames in the plural: i Verrigli Strozzi With nicknames and pseudonyms: il Barbarossail Grisoil Canalettoil Caravaggio With proper names used without any specification: Mario but: il signor Mario With the last names of famous or well-known male characters, if not preceded by an adjective or title: Mozart but: il grande Mozart NOTE: There are instances in which the definite article is used, especially when referring to Italian writers: il Petrarcail Manzoni

The Birth, Life and Death of a Delphi Form

The Birth, Life and Death of a Delphi Form In Delphi, every project has at least one window the programs main window. All windows of a Delphi application are based on TForm object. Form Form objects are the basic building blocks of a Delphi application, the actual windows with which a user interacts when they run the application. Forms have their own properties, events, and methods with which you can control their appearance and behavior. A form is actually a Delphi component, but unlike other components, a form doesnt appear on the component palette. We normally create a form object by starting a new application (File | New Application). This newly created form will be, by default, the applications main form - the first form created at runtime. Note: To add an additional form to Delphi project, select File|New Form. Birth OnCreateThe OnCreate event is fired when a TForm is first created, that is, only once. The statement responsible for creating the form is in the projects source (if the form is set to be automatically created by the project). When a form is being created and its Visible property is True, the following events occur in the order listed: OnCreate, OnShow, OnActivate, OnPaint. You should use the OnCreate event handler to do, for example, initialization chores like allocating string lists. Any objects created in the OnCreate event should be freed by the OnDestroy event. OnCreate - OnShow - OnActivate - OnPaint - OnResize - OnPaint ... OnShowThis event indicates that the form is being displayed. OnShow is called just before a form becomes visible. Besides main forms, this event happens when we set forms Visible property to True, or call the Show or ShowModal method. OnActivateThis event is called when the program activates the form - that is, when the form receives the input focus. Use this event to change which control actually gets focus if it is not the one desired. OnPaint, OnResizeEvents like OnPaint and OnResize are always called after the form is initially created, but are also called repeatedly. OnPaint occurs before any controls on the form are painted (use it for special painting on the form). Life The birth of a form is not so interesting as its life and death can be. When your form is created and all the controls are waiting for events to handle, the program is running until someone tries to close the form! Death An event-driven application stops running when all its forms are closed and no code is executing. If a hidden form still exists when the last visible form is closed, your application will appear to have ended (because no forms are visible), but will in fact continue to run until all the hidden forms are closed. Just think of a situation where the main form gets hidden early and all other forms are closed. ... OnCloseQuery - OnClose - OnDeactivate - OnHide - OnDestroy OnCloseQueryWhen we try to close the form using the Close method or by other means (AltF4), the OnCloseQuery event is called. Thus, event handler for this event is the place to intercept a forms closing and prevent it. We use the OnCloseQuery to ask the users if they are sure that they realy want the form to close. procedure TForm1.FormCloseQuery(Sender: TObject; var CanClose: Boolean) ;begin    if MessageDlg(Really close this window?, mtConfirmation, [mbOk, mbCancel], 0) mrCancel then CanClose : False;end; An OnCloseQuery event handler contains a CanClose variable that determines whether a form is allowed to close. The OnCloseQuery event handler may set the value of CloseQuery to False (via the CanClose parameter), aborting the Close method. OnCloseIf OnCloseQuery indicates that the form should be closed, the OnClose event is called. The OnClose event gives us one last chance to prevent the form from closing. The OnClose event handler has an Action parameter, with the following four possible values: caNone. The form is not allowed to close. Just as if we have set the CanClose to False in the OnCloseQuery.caHide. Instead of closing the form you hide it.caFree. The form is closed, so its allocated memory is freed by Delphi.caMinimize. The form is minimized, rather than closed. This is the default action for MDI child forms. When a user shuts down Windows, the OnCloseQuery event is activated, not the OnClose. If you want to prevent Windows from shutting down, put your code in the OnCloseQuery event handler, of course CanCloseFalse will not do this. OnDestroyAfter the OnClose method has been processed and the form is to be closed, the OnDestroy event is called. Use this event for operations opposite to those in the OnCreate event. OnDestroy is used to deallocate objects related to the form and free the corresponding memory. When the main form for a project closes, the application terminates.

Antropologhy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Antropologhy - Essay Example The authors (1995, p.1) write, â€Å"Immigration is the very core of American society; with the exception of the Native Americans, every American is an immigrant.† The authors further opine, â€Å"This large presence of immigrants in our midst can easily give rise to strong expressions of nativism, especially when people are faced with deteriorating economic conditions.†(p.2) On the basis of information provided in the movie/video that I viewed as for the migration of Hmong and the pattern of migration of people of many nationalities to New York City/State, the summing up of the issues are as under: Hmong: Hmong are mainly from Laos, where they are an ethnic minority group. Their influx into USA was due to the American Cold War policies in Laos. Majority of the 200,000 Hmong refugees found their destination to USA. The pattern of migration was not due to economic reasons, but the political development in Laos. Hmong immigrants were mostly settled in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California. To halt the communist takeover in Indochina, USA conducted a ground operation in Laos and the Hmong ethnic community sided with USA. In May 1975, when communist takeover was imminent, evacuation of the Hmong into Thailand began. The first batch of 3500 Hmong arrived in USA in December 1975 and by 2000, more than 100,000 had immigrated and resettled. Most of them arrived in USA due to duress and to escape harassment at the hands of the Communist regime. Assimilation in the American society was a tall order for them. Most of them were farmers in their country and to adjust into a capitalist society was a tough call in the initial stages. Hmong cultural values clash with that of Americans. A good number of Hmong youth have taken to criminality and to gang life. Notwithstanding all these challenges Hmong ethnic group as a whole looks forward to a bright future in the land of their immigration. New York – The Worlds City The City of New York has always been in the limelight for one reason or the other, even before USA formally emerged as an independent Nation. It was the important entry point for the Europeans since 1880s. About 20 million immigrants had reached the point of their first landing Ellis Island till the early 20th century. The European immigration continued unabated during the 18th and 19th centuries. An acute condition of the agricultural products known as potato famine in Ireland was the cause of the first wave of immigrants from Ireland who arrived in 1840s. During this period German immigration also began and gradually increased. They settled in Rochester and Buffalo. European immigration picked up momentum and Eastern European Jews and Italians followed suit. This was in 1880s by which time the number of German speaking Jew immigrants in New York was 80,000. By 1920, it had risen to 2,000,000. Italian immigrants began arriving in 1800s. By 1950, their number had increased to 500,000 including the city and the state. The New York City was like the transit centre. As soon as one wave of immigrants dispersed to other areas, a new wave arrived. Yankees from New England were in the forefront as for migration and most of those arriving in 1790 to 1840 in New York were from this country. The Chinese first entered America in 1849.They came as laborers, seeking employment. They arrived in San Francisco. The Chinese suffered immense discrimination as American workers felt

Total Quality Management and Operational Management Control Assignment

Total Quality Management and Operational Management Control - Assignment Example Although a generalization is made based on the evidence gathered but if, even a single logic is proved wrong the whole generalization is considered inappropriate. These generalizations are made only if after the data is organized. Our research methodology is based on this strategy and the answers to the questions are generalized to make conclusions about the company strategy. Questionnaires reduce bias. There is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. The researcher's own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner. There are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent. Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys. When a respondent receives a questionnaire in the mail, he is free to complete the questionnaire on his own time-table. Unlike other research methods, the respondent is not interrupted by the research instrument The questionnaires give more objectives and standardised responses than the interviews as a particular defined pattern is specified. Questionnaires are the quickest way to collect information, however they take a relatively long time not only to design but also to apply and analyse. The main advantage of questionnaire over other research techniques is that more information can be collected in short span of time from a large portion of a group. Although returns from questionnaires are usually low but these return rates can be dramatically improved if the questionnaire is delivered to specific targeted groups and is responded in time. The questions in the questionnaires can be of two types: open ended and close ended. Open ended questions are targeted to get obscure information from a person and the analysis on the questionnaire is done on the basis of the answer of the questionnaire. Whereas closed ended questions are targeted questions in which particular information is asked by the person and a pre analysed answer sheet is usually maintained, based upon which results are formulated. Advantages of Closed-Ended Questions These questions are quick to answer as they are targeted to specifics of the subject. Usually such questions are multiple choice questions which require only the selection of right answer. Close Ended questions are easy to code as the questionnaire mainly consist of multiple choice questions. The answers can be analysed quickly on the basis of a prepared Performa. The answers are not differentiated between articulate and inarticulate respondents (Hendricks, K. B., and V. R. Singhal. 1997). Disadvantages of Closed-Ended Questions Close Ended questions also have some disadvantages. Few can draw misleading

What major internal and external conflicts does the protagonist face Essay

What major internal and external conflicts does the protagonist face - Essay Example s to intervene to help and guide her (symbolically he wants to guide her throughout her life) and at the same time realization dawns on upon him that she has to charter her own course in life. She is the articulator of her destiny. Richard Wilbur compares the writing process to a ship at sail on a body of water by using the rhetorical device of diction. His diction is the pointer to the imagery of a ship to imply that his daughter’s story writing is more than an activity of language: that exercise is like a journey at sea; and his house, the ship and he watching with concern the process of her creating the charter for her life. The protagonist, as the father, wants to give his best to his daughter, but he aware of his limitations. â€Å"My daughter is writing a story,† (l.3) he asserts, and the profound turmoil in his inner world can be gauged by his concern that his daughter is creating a path for herself. The time of trials and tribulations in life has arrived in her life and the father is worried whether she will be able to tackle them effectively. He wants to be with her at every step, offer his helping hand, but he realizes he cannot do that. He chooses the next option, to present before her his own life experiences so that she can pick up some hard lessons from it. The speaker writes: â€Å"It is always a matter, my darling, / Of life or death, as I had forgotten.†(l, 31-32) Mapping out one’s own life is the toughest option for an individual. He is happy that he has taught her to be an independent thinker, but he desires to make her stronger mentally and infuse confidence in her to face life of her own. Wilbur has used writing as a discipline to challenge life. The lesson ingrained in the poem, and the message that he wants to give to is daughter is, as the wise saying goes, â€Å"The pen is mightier than the sword.† The noise of the keyboard relates to the process of struggle the daughter is undergoing and he watches that activity with concern and

AR7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AR7 - Essay Example Since all Ebusiness transactions are used using the communication systems and without the need of ever doing business face-to-face. Such liberty has developed various models within ebusiness such as B2B. B2C, C2B. G2B etc. There are basically three types of e business, 1-to buy and sell goods, 2-inter and intra organization information exchange, and 3-customer service. The website: Bewari is a B2B service provider with a portal for suppliers and consumers. The suppliers could list their products and other businesses and governments can purchase them through beware portal website. Bewari vision is to become a leading ebusiness B2b service provider and change the way business is done in the Middle East. The website currently has 60,000 trading partners with 50,000 online auctions worth over $2.5 billion. The customer base includes governments, large business, trading companies etc. The company deals in several countries of Middle East with a franchise approach. The company has good future forecasting and is expected to raise the number of member, it also has several quality and branding awards. The products transacted on site are from oil and gas to FMCG industry. The website deals like any other portal providing facilities such as contacting customers, catalogues, and auto extend auctions etc. Bewari also provides training for online procurement an d procurement consulting. The company is now working with the government on creating an online directory of all the companies in the region. The future plans include starting up a business to consumer website; however it is far from implementation. The website is powered by oracle which provides safe and reliable trading software. It helped saved reduced procumbent cycle times to government workshops, airlines, and regional electricity and construction companies. The extended market reach helped small IT products

Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bible - Essay Example De Duve (2005) proposed that "Science is based on the postulate that the universe obeys natural laws and is intelligible within the framework of those laws," and this belief is commonly shared by an ever-increasing global populace encompassing both theists and atheists, natural scientists and non-scientists alike. In fact, while pseudo and legitimate religious groups grow in wide diversity from New Age to Panentheism, the Christian belief of God and the Savior remains one of the most enthralling religious wonders of our time. Humbling and altogether enlightening when deeply understood. Thomas Aquinas summed up the answer for the question "Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us" when he wrote: It can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act." Aquinas argued that "in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue." He added that "If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends (New Testament). Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake." Together with the virtue of love, Aquinas cited other virtues represented on the man and the cross: patience for enduring the pain, sorrow and suffering, humility for allowing himself to be judged by the angry mob and Pontius Pilate, obedience to the will of His Father, and immateriality. Finney (1851) in his argument presented 24 reasons why Jesus had to suffer on the cross but this discussion shall present only those which conveys governmental underpinning as: First, he reasoned, is due to God's great and all-encompassing love quoting John (New Testament) "God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life" (John 3:16). Second, "His great love to the universe at large [] inasmuch as it was impossible that the atonement should not exert an amazing influence over moral beings [e.g., angels]" Third, "That an infinite amount of suffering might be prevented. The relation of Christ to the universe rendered his sufferings so infinitely valuable and influential, as an expression of God's abhorrence of sin on the one hand, and his great love to his subjects on the otherAs a governmental expedient it is easy to see the great value of such a substitute; that on the one hand it fully evinced t he determination of the ruler not to yield the authority of his law, and on the other, to evince his great and disinterested love for his rebellious subjects." In this argument, Finney (1851) quoted the

Has racism in the UK disappeared in the 21st century or merely taken Essay

Has racism in the UK disappeared in the 21st century or merely taken new forms - Essay Example Discrimination comes in varied forms including discrimination against sex, color, ethnicity, religion and social status. These terms are used differently whereby others include prejudice by the Americans; hence making observations of racial distinctions as racism (Mullings (2005, p. 49). Therefore, racism in the UK has not disappeared but instead it has taken new forms and this is because of varied aspects including globalization, capitalism and political processes. How racism has Taken New Forms in the 21st Century in the UK Racism in the UK has not disappeared completely but rather taken new forms in varied ways. As the world moves forward into in the 21st century, there are rapid widespread confusion and changes about the meaning of race and this results due to rapid globalization. Globilisation, which is caused by rapid technological advancement, has been viewed as the cause for widespread confusion and the cause for new forms of racism (Reilly, Stephen and Angela 97). After the destruction of the European colonialism that gave rise to the civil rights movements and the surge for immigration due to globalization, the issue of race became the core subject (Enomoto and Genevieve 55). This contributed to a more critical analysis and creation of awareness of race, but focusing primarily on discrimination and prejudices (Darity 56). Extensive concepts of racial themes from both traditional and modern theorists have been applied in racial issues. The rapid globalization has contributed to varied changes due to modernization; thus racism has tended to remain a global issue even in the post-colonial period. Racism has also become popular, but it has emerged with new concepts and increased drastically; hence heightening the controversy over the meaning of race. Kundnani (41) argues that British racism is well understood not only by the context of conditions, in Britain but also through the global factors. Globilisation has been the key aspect for the rampart new for ms of racism, in the UK. The author combines historical perspective with the assessment of current conditions such as the postwar immigration and the evolution of International Monetary Fund structural programs in the third world. Globilisation is the main cause for increased migrations, asylum and new evolution of markets. For instance, the author reveals the way asylums have been treated differently, and this is through making conditions difficult or unattractive for them. Kundnani (39) reveals the way anthropologists have attempted to link between modernization period and race. Other anthropologists argue that race has not vanished but it has been profoundly influenced by political process. The so-called classical theorists of sociology were concerned by offering an explanation on the emergence of modernity in Europe and the way these led to varied changes in the society. They understood the consequences of modernity and understood the meaning of the increased capitalism in the s ociety (Chowdhry and Sheila 71). Racial theme became the central theme after the dawn of capitalism and the problem of dealing with the social problems emerged. Hence, varied changes among the nations and cultural understandings about the meaning of race have been explained by using comparative approaches (Gioseff 47). Additionally, in the new 21st century where there are new political processes, racism has not disappeared but changes; thus forming a new form. The political process

AR7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AR7 - Essay Example Since all Ebusiness transactions are used using the communication systems and without the need of ever doing business face-to-face. Such liberty has developed various models within ebusiness such as B2B. B2C, C2B. G2B etc. There are basically three types of e business, 1-to buy and sell goods, 2-inter and intra organization information exchange, and 3-customer service. The website: Bewari is a B2B service provider with a portal for suppliers and consumers. The suppliers could list their products and other businesses and governments can purchase them through beware portal website. Bewari vision is to become a leading ebusiness B2b service provider and change the way business is done in the Middle East. The website currently has 60,000 trading partners with 50,000 online auctions worth over $2.5 billion. The customer base includes governments, large business, trading companies etc. The company deals in several countries of Middle East with a franchise approach. The company has good future forecasting and is expected to raise the number of member, it also has several quality and branding awards. The products transacted on site are from oil and gas to FMCG industry. The website deals like any other portal providing facilities such as contacting customers, catalogues, and auto extend auctions etc. Bewari also provides training for online procurement an d procurement consulting. The company is now working with the government on creating an online directory of all the companies in the region. The future plans include starting up a business to consumer website; however it is far from implementation. The website is powered by oracle which provides safe and reliable trading software. It helped saved reduced procumbent cycle times to government workshops, airlines, and regional electricity and construction companies. The extended market reach helped small IT products

Has racism in the UK disappeared in the 21st century or merely taken Essay

Has racism in the UK disappeared in the 21st century or merely taken new forms - Essay Example Discrimination comes in varied forms including discrimination against sex, color, ethnicity, religion and social status. These terms are used differently whereby others include prejudice by the Americans; hence making observations of racial distinctions as racism (Mullings (2005, p. 49). Therefore, racism in the UK has not disappeared but instead it has taken new forms and this is because of varied aspects including globalization, capitalism and political processes. How racism has Taken New Forms in the 21st Century in the UK Racism in the UK has not disappeared completely but rather taken new forms in varied ways. As the world moves forward into in the 21st century, there are rapid widespread confusion and changes about the meaning of race and this results due to rapid globalization. Globilisation, which is caused by rapid technological advancement, has been viewed as the cause for widespread confusion and the cause for new forms of racism (Reilly, Stephen and Angela 97). After the destruction of the European colonialism that gave rise to the civil rights movements and the surge for immigration due to globalization, the issue of race became the core subject (Enomoto and Genevieve 55). This contributed to a more critical analysis and creation of awareness of race, but focusing primarily on discrimination and prejudices (Darity 56). Extensive concepts of racial themes from both traditional and modern theorists have been applied in racial issues. The rapid globalization has contributed to varied changes due to modernization; thus racism has tended to remain a global issue even in the post-colonial period. Racism has also become popular, but it has emerged with new concepts and increased drastically; hence heightening the controversy over the meaning of race. Kundnani (41) argues that British racism is well understood not only by the context of conditions, in Britain but also through the global factors. Globilisation has been the key aspect for the rampart new for ms of racism, in the UK. The author combines historical perspective with the assessment of current conditions such as the postwar immigration and the evolution of International Monetary Fund structural programs in the third world. Globilisation is the main cause for increased migrations, asylum and new evolution of markets. For instance, the author reveals the way asylums have been treated differently, and this is through making conditions difficult or unattractive for them. Kundnani (39) reveals the way anthropologists have attempted to link between modernization period and race. Other anthropologists argue that race has not vanished but it has been profoundly influenced by political process. The so-called classical theorists of sociology were concerned by offering an explanation on the emergence of modernity in Europe and the way these led to varied changes in the society. They understood the consequences of modernity and understood the meaning of the increased capitalism in the s ociety (Chowdhry and Sheila 71). Racial theme became the central theme after the dawn of capitalism and the problem of dealing with the social problems emerged. Hence, varied changes among the nations and cultural understandings about the meaning of race have been explained by using comparative approaches (Gioseff 47). Additionally, in the new 21st century where there are new political processes, racism has not disappeared but changes; thus forming a new form. The political process

Its Mine Essay Example for Free

Its Mine Essay Group – anis,farhana,dieba| Coffin Analyse how characters are developed to enhance plot and theme. Group – bimal,kalai,aina| Coffin Analyse how historical events are dealt with in the play. Group – farah,zai| Coffin Relate the treatment of historical events in the play to critical theories. Group – uyun,wini,syieda| Jungle of Hope

Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye: Five Points of New Architecture

Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye: Five Points of New Architecture During the 1920s, Le Corbusier was developing his Five Points of New Architecture. The domestic building I am focusing on is Villa Savoye which exemplifies these five points. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/VillaSavoye.jpg He believed that these architectural rules should be applied to the design of all domestic buildings. I will relate the architectural innovations of Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye to the ideas of De Stijl Bauhaus. Le Corbusier was a Swiss Architect and a member of the French Avante Garde movement who worked mainly in France. His work from the 1920s and 30s established a language of architecture that has been copied by architects ever since. In his work he explored new industrial materials such as concrete, steel and glass. He was influenced by Auguste Perrets development as well as architectural use of reinforced concrete and worked for him between 1908 and 1909 that was where he learnt the principles of reinforced concrete construction. Other aspects of Le Corbusiers work consisted of town planning and social housing. His architecture reflected the clean cut aesthetic of the machine age which he lived in. As well as this, he was also concerned with the needs and potential of industrial society and with the harmonization of architecture with nature. His architecture in the 20s and 30s established a vocabulary of design which would be much imitated. The Villa Savoye is a private weekend home built in the 1928 (completed in 1931) for the Savoye family located on the summit of a small hill surrounded by trees just outside Paris. It is a building of complex geometry and undecorated white surfaces, which exemplifies the international style as well as Le Corbusiers ideas of purism. It is one of the most recognizable architectural presentations of the modernist movement, which began in the 1880s but came to flourish in the early 20th century. The exterior of the building is of a simple box shaped composition raised on stilts (pilotis). This is so that all of the main rooms are on the first floor allowing a roof terrace above these floors to provide views of the landscape. It is conceived almost like a 1:1 model with no front or back. Beneath the Pilotis is a curved wall allowing cars to drive right up to the building which signifies the influences from the machine age, On three sides the ground floor almost disappears, but on the entrance side, the arrival and departure of cars is celebrated in a T-shape which is an effective sign of welcome. (Benton, 1987:196). http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/france/poissy/savoye/0126.jpg He saw the fore coming importance of the car and this led to design of the free faà §ade: the structure is set back from the faà §ade which becomes simply a light membrane of insulating wall or window freely disposed according to the demands of the interior. Inside there is a masterly handling of natural light through the use of ribbon windows. Natural light played an important role in the development of the Villa, Le Corbusier deployed the four sides of the house in response to the view and the orientation of the sun. The salle faced North West occupying the whole faà §ade. The terrace faced the sun with a sheltered portion at the south east end. (Benton, 1987:195). The free plan of the building frees both walls and windows which can admit daylight into continuous bands without structural obstructions. Interior space flows into exterior: the terrace is on two levels and on one side of the faà §ade the ribbon windows are replaced by unglazed frames that look into the open terrace area. In order to move around the building, a ramp ascending from the ground floor was placed in the structure, as Le Corbusier believed that while a staircase separates one level from another, a ramp links them together. The ramp and floor planes interact with the spiral staircases and curved wall at ground level. Although the structure is rather boxy in appearance, energy and movement is suggested by the handrails and edgings which lead the visitor on. Le Corbusier called this an architectural promenade: this is a flow of space where one room leads through to another creating a sense of continuity, further facilitated through the use of the ramp. Natural light is used to draw the occupant up the ramp and onto the roof garden. This is one of Le Corbusiers five points which is created through the use of a flat reinforced concrete slab. The terrace featured a solarium; the wall of the solarium has a window cut in the middle of it which frames the outside view. Le Corbusier wanted to harmonize the building and its landscape. The idea was to unite the building and its surrounding landscape and make greenery a vital part of the architecture language. Seen from the outside it looks more like the funnel of an ocean liner. (Chami, 2007). The influences for this building are grounded in the modernist movement with Adolf Loos beliefs as foundations for the movement. In his book Ornament and Crime he explained his ideas on the use of ornamentation and the immorality that ties with it. He called for simple, pure, geometrical and unadorned design which stays true to the materials and finish of the structures built (notions of Brutalism). Le Corbusier designed the fixtures such as door handles and built in furniture. Painted interior walls added colour, as did elements like the blue tiled chaise longue that separates the main bedroom from its bathroom. Despite the formal beauty of the Villa Savoye, its flat roof construction was not well suited to the climate and leaked badly. The owners were displeased and soon abandoned it. The French Avante Garde consisted of the three architects Le Corbusier, Auguste Perret and Tony Garnier all of which contributed to the development of modernist architecture. Perret was one of the main figures of the development and architectural use of reinforced or ferro concrete, a material which transformed the language of architecture in the works of Le Corbusier as seen in the Villa Savoye. Due to its tensile strength it enabled architects to build strong structures without the need for load bearing walls, it allowed for architectural flexibility which Le Corbusier took full advantage of as seen in the free flowing faà §ade. The De Stijl and Bauhaus movements in Holland and Germany were both important for the development of the modernist style, rejecting ornaments and historical references and were in favor of clean pure light filled rectilinear architecture which included interior spaces constructed with new industrial materials, all of these aspects are featured in Le Corbusiers designs and in particular the Villa Savoye. A key example of De Stijl architecture is the Schroder house by Gerrit Rietveld. Similar to the Villa Savoye, it featured a flat concrete slab roof, a dynamic rectilinear faà §ade and a free flowing interior which was sectioned off with screens. Much like in De Stijl style paintings, its architecture is reminiscent of painted abstract environment, in which pure colour, free of all figurative associations, was merged with modern architecture to form an encompassing, total work of art. (Troy 1983:3). The Bauhaus building was designed by Walter Gropius and was the base for the Bauhaus school of Art Design. The building exemplified Gropius mastery in building with steel and glass to produce light filled functional structures: The clarity of the design idea finds expression above all in the large area of glass frontage (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) The clear, practical arrangement of the windows and balconies gives the building its own special appearance. (Fiedler Feierbend, 2006:195).   Much like Le Corbusier, Gropius built with practicality and rationality in mind. His commitment to the machine age in which he was working was summed up in his belief that new times demand their own expression. However there was much deliberation on the origins of the design concept for the Bauhaus building: The accusation of formalism was also heard, and there were malicious references to a design concept virtually borrowed from Le Corbusier. (Fiedler Feierbend, 2006:198). This can best be seen through aerial photographs of the Bauhaus building where the interlinking of various functional areas can be easily seen. This particular aspect is what Le Corbusier named the Architectural Promenade, a continuity of space. The Villa Savoye is a key structure which exemplified the International Style. Its features were imitated by several architects in different styles. It is easy see the similarities in the buildings of the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements, features like a flat concrete slab roof, interlinking spaces and rectilinear faà §ade appear in all styles but are most strongly represented in the Villa Savoye. The use of white on walls is another significant aspect of the modernist style also seen in a range of different examples from this period of time. The Villa is full of rich ideas which have and will continue to be imitated in the future. It might now stand as an artifact or museum, but it will still inspire Architects worldwide and will continue to do so in the future.