Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material

Question: Discuss about the Identifying and Assessing the Risks ofMaterial Misstatement throughUnderstanding the Entity and ItsEnvironment. Answer: The Company Altos Metal Limited is a public limited company listed in Securities Exchange of Australia under the name of Enterprise Union Limited. The primary target for exploration for the company was uranium in 2012 and 2013. Later the focus of the company shifted to advanced gold. The company (then Enterprise Uranium Limited) completed the acquisition of Sandstone Gold Project by June 2016 and renamed the combined entity as Altos Metal Limited. The company is currently operating with the primary objective of discovering or acquiring projects which can provide plus million ounce of gold deposit which will ultimately contribute to the wealth maximization objective of the shareholder, The Industry The mining industry had been pertinent to the growth of the Australian economy through its significant economic and social contribution. Mining industry is responsible for the 40% of the exports and 8% of the Australian economy. The country is currently the market leader for the export of mining equipment, service and technology. The Australian mining industry has been thriving to cater the demand arising from part of China and Asia. (Livesley, 2010) Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource Reporting and the JORC Code JORC Code or the Australian Code for Reporting of exploration result, mineral resources and or reserves is used by the mining industry of Australia for reporting in their annual report. The code is applicable when used in context of solid minerals starting from diamond, gemstones and coal. Apart from the JORC Code, ASX listing rule is also applicable to companies which are listed with ASX. 1.Disclosure of exploration results The code directs mandatory requirements of disclosure of information regarding drill hole and intercept which should further be classified into easting, northing, elevation, dip, down-hole depth and width. This is specially done when drilling operations involving exploration results are reported in the market. 2.Disclosure of exploration targets It is mandatory for the companies to declare their exploration target along with its other priorities and give an account of the expenditure and investment involved in exploration of new project. 3.Defining the level of study for declaration of maiden ore reserve Maiden ore reserve declaration should be supported by a completion of minimum level of preliminary feasibility study. The code further directed on adapting the definition of preliminary feasibility study and feasibility study as suggested by the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO). 4.Disclosure of Production Targets This code deals with the need to reports the production targets along with the financial information which has been used in the process of forecasting. The ASX paper gave three options which could be used for improving the disclosure requirement of production targets. Option 1 suggests that disclosure be prohibited for production targets on the basis of exploration target solely. This applies for company who has been holding reserves and mineral resources as per the requirement of the JORC Code. The second option suggests that prohibition be imposed on production targets disclosure on the basis of targets obtained partially from exploration. The third option suggests prohibition on the basis of inferred mineral resources solely. The most preferred option is ideally the first option which gives the independence to the company on a reasonable basis to decide on the disclosure requirement of the production targets considering the obligation of Corporations Act 2001. 5.Reconciliation and annual reporting of mineral resources and ore reserves The code directs reporting in the annual report or reporting separately in some other statement about the annual review document on mineral resources and ore reserves. Further it is suggested to disclose in the statement the total aggregate of ore reserves and mineral resources with the company on the date of preparing the balance sheet. (JORC, 2012) Some of the noted changes in the standard which didnt have any impact on the financial statement are AASB 2014 -1 (Part E: Financial Instruments) amendment Amendment to accounting standard relating to the Conceptual Framework, Materiality and Financial Instrument Business Risk 1.Cash Optimization The volatile market of mining and metal has allowed little space for the companies to determine the demand and set pricing strategy accordingly. The companies through judicious cost reduction methods actually work on making a balance between liquidity and long term plan. 2.Productivity Peak season at mines means relentless pursuit of volume. This often has lead to mining over large areas with operation inefficiency and connectivity issues creeping in. The only solution is to streamline the asset as a business system and focus on quality manpower. 3.Capital Access Considering the volatility in the sector banks are willing to lend on a long term basis leading to shortage of capital in this sector. This has further led to options re garding realignment of portfolio and alternative source of finance. 4.Social Image The apathy of the company toward the employees leading to accidents, diseases and absence of rehabilitation packages has dented the image of this sector. Considering the long term vision of the company, there is a need for harmonious relationship with the community in which they are operating. 5.Innovation Innovation which pushes productivity has generally been neglected while focusing only on short term profitability. Innovation itself provides competitive advantage in terms of increase in productivity at the existing cost. (Ey, 2017) Overview of the material misstatement of financial statements According to ASA 315, the objective of the audit is to identify the material misstatement in level of financial statements and assertion level for account balances caused by fraud or unintentional error along with the assessing of the risk. In order to understand the risk from the misstatement one needs to understand the entity along with the environment, internal control of the entity and the understanding of relevant control. When a risk has been identified requiring significant consideration the auditor needs to decide whether the risk is a fraud, whether it is relevant to current economic accounting, what are the complexities involved in transaction, the level of subjectivity present in the financial data and whether risk arises from any unusual transactions. (Legislation.gov.au, 2017) Some of the assertions involves are: Classification: Whether the transactions are posted in the correct account. Existence: Whether the asset, liability or equity actually exist. Accuracy: Whether the amount recorded is accurate. Rights and Obligation: Whether the balances possess exclusive right of the company Valuation: Whether the valuations are accurate. Presentation and disclosure: Whether the balances and transactions are disclosed appropriately. (CPA, 2017) According to ASA 315, understanding of the business performance of the company is important since poor performance often leads to attempt of misstatement. Performance of the business can be judged through analysis of key ratio, trends, statistics of operation, budget, forecast, analysis of performance and its business scenario with reference to its competitors. (Auditing Standard ASA 315, 2017) Refrences Auditing Standard ASA 315. (2017). [online] auasb.gov.au. Available at: https://www.auasb.gov.au/admin/file/content102/c3/Jun11_Compiled_ASA_315.pdf [Accessed 21 Apr. 2017]. Bansal, S. (2012). Auditing and Assurance. 10th ed. New Delhi: Bestword Publishers. CPA (2017). Overview of audits and reviews of financial statements. [online] CPA Australia. Available at: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/documents/seam-audits-reviews-financial-statements.pdf [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017]. Ey. (2017). Business risks facing mining and metals 2016-2017. [online] Available at: https://www.ey.com/gl/en/industries/mining---metals/business-risks-in-mining-and-metals [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. JORC (2012). Reserves and Resources Disclosure Rules for Mining and Oil Gas Companies. [online] Australian Securities Exchange. Available at: https://www.asx.com.au/documents/rules/reserves_resources_disclosure_rules_report_consultation_feedback.pdf [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017]. Legislation.gov.au. (2017). ASA 315 - Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement through Understanding the Entity and Its Environment - October 2009. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2011C00629 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017]. Livesley, K. (2010). Mining: The Regulation of Exploration Extraction: - Energy and Natural Resources - Australia. [online] Mondaq.com. Available at: https://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/108106/Mining/Mining+The+Regulation+of+Exploration+Extraction [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017].

The Capture of Walter Schnaffs free essay sample

(i) What impression of Walter Schnaffs do you get from reading this passage? The main character in this passage leaves the impression of a intelligent, family oriented and inactive individual. Walter Schnaffs first strikes me as a man who is generally led by his thoughts. Even though there are times when he may be swayed by his emotions his actions are still overruled by his mind. This suggestion is reinforced by the fact that even though he was â€Å"passionately fond of† his wife and children and yearned to be back with them he could â€Å"banish from his mind† what â€Å"dangers that lay before them if he were killed†. This soldier appears to be family oriented because during his service in the army, he recollects his close affiliations that he has shared with them, such as â€Å"affectionate attentions and kisses† that he misses and thinks about â€Å"every evening†. He is also â€Å"passionately fond of† his children as he prides himself in being their father because of the way the author describes his parenthood, â€Å"he is the father of four children†. We will write a custom essay sample on The Capture of Walter Schnaffs or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He does not resemble the typical male stereotype where they tend to have an innate sense that aids them in fighting. He complains that he â€Å"had difficulty marching† and â€Å"his knees always felt so weak that he would have collapsed† when the fighting commenced. He does not seem to have a liking for violence and is even uncomfortable when shots ring out, â€Å"his hair stood on end when he heard the ping of bullets†. (ii) How does the writer convey Walter Schnaffs’ fear in this extract? Remember to support your answer with evidence from the story. Generally the author plays around the element of uncertainty to convey Walter Schnaff’s trepidation. Fear is conveyed through the imagery, â€Å"heavy burst of fire†, this stimulates an environment that Walter is unable to escape from being shot. The senseless shooting that results in â€Å" killing or wounding a score of † his fellow men. The author’s comparing two subjects through the use of similes also successfully induce terror â€Å"he ran like a tortoise in comparison with the lea Frenchmen, who were †¦ leaping like a herd of goats†. The repetitive rhetorical questioning that the author uses such as â€Å"Who would support them and bring them up? † and â€Å"Where were they? † reflect what Walter is thinking about. The unanswered questions reveal the unsettled mind of his. When one’s mind that is entertaining wild ideas, it shows the fear that he has because when one is frightened they tend to think of all frightful possible situations.

Primark Essay Essays

Primark Essay Essays Primark Essay Essay Primark Essay Essay The fashion Industry Is criticized widely for not maintaining the ethical standards. From the use of animal fur, exploiting child labor, low wages. Promoting superficial image of women and racial discrimination, the fashion industry has caused its fair share of controversy and bad press. The complex thing about ethics is that it has different meaning for different individuals. Some might consider a particular issue extremely offensive and unethical while, for a deferent individual the same issue would not be unethical or offensive. It Is a decision of an Individual to consider and different people have different feeling about Issues. For some wearing cloths made through child labor would not be a big deal but for another individual this would be a wrong act. Therefore this remains a controversial subject of which very few things can be spoken about with certainty. In order to under it in a more proper way, the example of Primary is taken. The company is a well renowned brand and a hit in the United Kingdom ever since It was launched. Primary has been found Involved In the use of child labor. In the current paper, the company Primary Is also being compared tit one of its competitors; the TX Max in terms of ethical codes and conducts. The paper cares to investigate the causes related to the issue in the case and also the response which was obtained from the general public. Table of Contents 1 Introduction Ethics and profits do not always go hand in hand. That is not to suggest that all profit making organizations go against the ethical standards, but certainly there have been many cases where ethics and standards have been compromised to sustain or and that is the moment where the true colors and course of the business are reflected. The fashion industry is criticized widely for not maintaining the ethical standards. From the use of animal fur, exploiting child labor, low wages, promoting superficial image of women and racial discrimination, the fashion industry has caused its fair share of controversy and bad press. Being in the spot light of media with all the glamour and glitz has also kept the glare of the media focused on this particular industry which can cause due and undue scrutiny. In a research, Enemies and Rajah (2011) stated that ethics means values, norms and general habits. The rights and wrongs are Judged through ethics. The dos and dont of the society are defined with the standardization to some level of good and bad. 1. 1 Unethical practices in the Fashion Industry The complex thing about ethics is that it has different meaning for different individuals. Some might consider a particular issue extremely offensive and unethical while, for a different individual the same issue would not be unethical or offensive. Alton and Junkyard (2003) analyzed the fashion industry and the way consumers look towards it. The author stated like any business it is eventually the consumers who make the final decision as they have the option of purchase or rejection of the reduce depending on their own Judgments about companys ethics. It is a decision of an individual to consider and different people have different feeling about issues. For some wearing cloths made through child labor would not be a big deal but for another individual this would be a wrong act. At times there is no legality attached to it. The legal system does not charge an individual who buys from such a fashion outlet, but it would remain an individuals decision. Hence, this remains a controversial subject of which very few things can be spoken about with certainty. 2 The Causes 2. The Case (Primarys use of Child Labor) Usually big brand try different methods to keep operations clean. They try their utmost to stay away from unwanted controversy and protect the image that has been built by extensive use of monetary and non monetary resources. Daily Mail (2008) exposed the case of Primary. The brand had been a tremendous hit in Britain ever since its opening. It had attained a positive and high status among the fashionable people of the country. The brand was considered high on quality but low on mice which made shopping at Primary a literal bargain. However, the reporter exposed the season or the tool through which the brand was able to produce quality at a lower price. The operations or manufacturing which is offshore located in India was practicing extreme child labor. Young children were made to work hard and long through the heat. The age of children started from 11. Their Job was to sew tiny beads and sequins onto the designed t-shirts by candle Light. The Company was alerted by a BBC program Panorama that children were being used as labor. An 1 1 year old boy named Matches was being paid about app for a days long toil. The boy claimed that the payment is based on the number of finished cloths and during ajar orders; raps could be made in a day which amounts to app. When a major order comes about, the problem expands as the sewing beads are tiny in size and to finish the order they have to work all the night. Electricity conditions and supply both On the contrary, another big name in fashion industry is of T. K Max (also known as T. J Max) is a bit in its native country; which is the United States of America. Unlike Primary, the company is well renowned not only for the goods that it tends to produce but also for its No to the unethical conducts and child labor. Critics have en looking for the flaws in the company but surprisingly they had not found any (T. K. Max, 2014). 2. 2 Unsafe Environment and Bad Working Conditions for Illegal, Underpaid and Overworked Employees Dihedral (2009) indicates that the workers who are hired in the Primarys suppliers factory TNT Knitwear at Manchester are working illegally and in poor conditions. TNT Knitwear is one of the major clothing suppliers for the Primary. BBC UK sent an undercover reporter to the TNT knitwear factory where it was discovered that workers were hired without any proper information or paperwork. The workers were quite overworked with working 12 hours in a day for seven days a week. The minimum work wage for the workers back then was E. 73 per hour but the workers at the TNT Knitwear used to be paid almost half that amount. The working conditions for the employees were quite disappointing as well because there was no heating in the factory and the workers had to work with their coats on and in an uncomfortable state. With the toilets being under repair, the males and the females had to share a toilet which was quite unhygienic. The kitchen at the TNT Knitwear was noted to be quite dirty so the workers used to sit on the hipping boxes of Primary to have their lunch. It has been highlighted that certain manufacturers or employers do not provide a satisfactory working environment for their employees in terms of cleanliness, sanitary and health safety. Environment that does not comply with the standards, doubtlessly gives an unpleasant and unhealthy spot to work in. For instance, this can significantly affect the health of employees and increase or spread particular sickness or infection around or among the working group. As a result, it can lead to inability to work because of the infection or sickness. Not to forget it can result in the spreading of disease or germs if the disinfection or sterilization procedures for the products in the factory are not carried out properly. The workers at the TNT Knitwear were illegally living in the UK as most of them had their asylum application under process and few had their visas expired almost a decade ago. Moore (2013) further indicates that the factory of Primary in Bangladesh had crashed din to no obvious mason other than weak construction, killing and injuring some workers. There is a lock of health and safety rules at the Primary stories in Bangladesh as the fire escapes are blocked and there is no ventilation available. Primary needs to work hard on providing its workers with better working conditions and needs to keep a check to see if they are authorized to work in the I-J. Being operating in the same very industry, T. K Max has never used any unlawful and unethical means and modes to manufacture its outputs. Rather, the company has set standards for carrying out operations. The top level management ensures that these set principles must not only be implemented but ought to regularly practice as well. As per the companys profile, T. K Max takes it as an obligation to take care of all the aspects of manufacturing fashion outfits and accessories, rather it is also concerned about the means and modes which its suppliers tend to use (T. K Max, 2014). 2. 3 Why do incidents like Prim ark happen? Stated that consumers today hold power. They could dictate terms with regard to ethics if the organization is not a monopoly. The concept of corporate responsibility has been widely studied and enforced through legislation and regulation. Scrutiny from media is also another vital factor. All these factors can be subsided with the introduction of globalization and modern day awareness of consumers. However, the author stated a different perspective and claimed that certain modern day pressures on corporate in a way divert them towards unethical means. Investor capital has much more mobile, economic activates: has become speculation driven. And rapid changes to technology have brought about a certain short sightedness about businesses. The idea is to be able to sell more and more in a short span of time. Hilton, Choc and Chin (2004) explained that with globalization, businesses have changed their working methods. National boundaries and distances are no longer an issue as such. However, this creates a sort of a void and grey area. For example, Primary which was selling cloths in Britain was getting its supplies from India. The circumstances, situations, society, norms. Saws and regulations, and more importantly laws implementation processes (or in many cases lack of it) creates a huge problem. Child labor and bad working conditions would be considered extremely immoral and incorrect in the eyes of a British audience. Child labor issue to be an example: Especially the norms. Culture. And ideas of the society make child labor, a thing to cut if and those who use children are not viewed with favorable view. On the other ha nd, in India especially in the more under developed areas. Where education is on the lower side, population growth higher. ND economic condition are in dire condition, child labor almost becomes a necessity. One man father more than half a dozen children, with no state support it is almost impossible to run a family like this. Hence, children labor becomes sort of a necessity for that child and his or her siblings to survive. It is a catch 22 like situation where if consumers stop buying from Primary. Eventually that kid is going to suffer and will not be able to bring home the money the family needs so very much of. There is another side of this case which was looked upon by Fletcher (2008). This was the consumers point of view. The question is that whether all the consumers who buy from companies who use child labor dont just care? Are they immune to it or they consider it fine to have such a working system? The answer provided by Fletcher (2008) stated that with the credit crunch some consumers an in a way pushed into buying such brands. The cost of products has gone upwards and the power of buying has gone downwards. Therefore. Brands like Primary continue their sales despite much resentment and negative publicity. The author stated that it is estimated that around 158 million children across the globe aged 5 to 14 have to work in conditions which can he termed hazardous. However, despite much noise and uproar about it, things keep going on and brands are able to shake off scandals and move forward. The author interviewed two middle aged mothers about how they feel about using brands which are using children as labors. One woman was of the opinion that she had no qualms about such practices being wrong. Children labor and bad working conditions are wrong practice but was unable to identify which brands were using them or which ones are not. She claims that some expensive brands also do it. Therefore, she would rather buy from Primary understand. The economic side of things takes over from the ethical values. For a brand which is widely reported to have used unethical practices is being preferred over other brands as its costs are lower and other brands are put in the unethical bracket on basis of hearsay or perception. Another mother who worked as her doctor followed the same beliefs. She stated that she had discussed with her children, forever stated that it is not Just Primary but other brands which are involved too. She blames her children for such her unethical shopping as she claims that when kids nag for new and slick dresses, ethics and morale are easy to forget. Management at T. K. Max believes that keeping customers happy and satisfied is the core ingredient of success. Nowadays, the customers have become more literate than before plus the level of awareness in them has also increased noticeably. This means that the customers cannot be dodged now. Therefore, in order to avoid all the uncertainties and unpleasant circumstances, the company T. K Max has certain guidelines and principle which keep the companys operations morally, ethically and environmentally upright. As per the companys rules, its authorized vendors cannot use any unethical mean like taking advantage of labor from the ones who are underage. If T. J. Max fined any such practice, it will cease all its contracts, bonds and alliances with the vendors (T. K Max, 2014). 2. 4 Allegations made regarding child labor on Primary in 2009 While the management of Primary had cut off supplies from those three particular suppliers, it operations remained outsourced and in the sub- continent. As discussed earlier. He issue was in a way down played made to look like an error of Judgment and selection on part of the corporate and individual foul play by suppliers. Hickman (2009) reported that fresh allegations regarding child labor from its suppliers in Bangladesh. While, the shareholders were delighted by the news of high profits, reports emerged in mainstream media that the company was once again involved its child labor and sexual harassment with respect of its suppliers. The code of conduct was not being followed. The difference from the 14 report was that BBC had named the companies which resulted in ending of contract tit those companies. As discussed earlier that was not a suitable solution and it would only complex the situation even further for children. So, in the latest investigation which was conducted by War on Want, they declined to name the supplier as it only meant that their contracts would be torn apart and workers who already were under great deal of problem would face further issues. The Impact Impact of Responsible Management on Overcoming the Issue According to the scholars and researchers of University of Winchester (2014), a management is said to be responsible when it follows and fulfills all of its corporate social responsibilities with full zeal and zest. Researchers have termed this very CARS (corporate social responsibility) as a tool which management of the company tends to incorporate in its planning. There are several issues which companies come across every now and then. Some of them are critical whereas some are as normal as routine. The issue of child labor is the burning question of all times. From social, economical and legal point of view, the induction and utilization of children for taking work from them more than their capacity and not paying them back Justly is omitting to be extremely focused upon and should be eliminated from the society something really serious, rather they only tend to care about more and more production in the least possible cost. It has also been noticed and observed that organizations make under age children to work completely but does not pay them the set amount of daily wages. In order to exemplify the scenario, the case of Primary can be considered; which was however famous for its product offerings but on the other hand it was also famous for unethical practices; that is child labor (All and Khan, 2012). When the company gets surrounded by critics due to its engagement in unethical practices like child labor, then it becomes the core duty of a responsible management to bring the companys name out of dirt. This is important because if such condition prevails, then the company; Primary primarily can lose the worth of its name not only in any one specific country, but everywhere where it operates. Therefore for serving the purpose, the management ought to consider and dig deep into the CARS activities. As a response to the child labor practices, the perception of people regarding Primary has changed. They, however, made the potential customers o like and appreciate the quality which they produce, yet failed to bond the relationship between them. Its competitors; that are T. J. Max took the advantage of it by sticking more their codes of conduct (T. K Max, 2014). 4 The Response 4. 1 Reaction by the general public about child labor Hopkins (2008) highlighted that, after the news went public, them was an outrage. Hundreds of people protested at the Oxford street gore of Primary. This was a direct response to the reports about child labor coming from Southern India. The protest was organized by War on Want which focused on the treatment of ill children in the manufacturing process. The protestors did not blame Just the Indian suppliers but they focused on the brand which they claimed had put so much pressure on the suppliers to reduce prices. It was inevitable to go through child labor. The report further stated that these scandals keep coming up time and again. They urged the British government to bring in regulations and legislation attempting to eliminate such practice. In response to these Sues, Primary was forced in a way to sack three cloth suppliers from India as they were told that the program staff had substantial evidence of child workers. Response of the aroused issue was seen negative in the case of Primary. However in the case of T. J. Max, customers are found happy and satisfied by the practices and activities of the company. This has led this very fashion firm to the unmatchable heights of success (T. K Max, 2014). However Primary could also be better if it abandons its unacceptable practices in the poor and underdeveloped countries in particular, where it was reported that Primary incorporates a huge amount of child labor in the production of its fashion clothes and other related accessories. 5 Possible Solution that Human Light Organizations ND Consumers Should Push for The way forward taken at that time by Primary can be termed as knee Jolt reaction to what the crowds and the media called for. However, what would have happened to those children and illegal employees who were working with Primary? This is a question the protestors should be asking themselves. Fletcher (2008) presented the answer to this question to child labor issue as well. The closure of the factory doesnt mean that those children would have started going to school. The RPR or app they were getting has been slopped due to have been that the protestors demanded that those children were given education n expense of the brand. This would have been a much better solution as it would have allowed the children to lead a better life in the long run. Stopping child labor abruptly when media exposes such practices will never end or even reduce the problem. It would further complicate the issue and those out of Job children might become subject to abuse or get into criminal activities. Cutting one or for that matter throe supplier off would not prove anything substantial about the companys behavior. Hickman (2009) stated that Primary looked towards creating more mechanism to control child labor. They created a website by the name of Ethical Primary. This was some steps towards becoming or trying to appear as an ethically correct organization.

Five reasons to ignore your grammar gremlins (for now) - Emphasis

Five reasons to ignore your grammar gremlins (for now) Five reasons to ignore your grammar gremlins (for now) Heres the good news: if you’re worried your documents are not as good as they could be, your grammar is probably not the problem. Dont get me wrong. Grammar matters. Of course it does. Getting it wrong can undermine your reputation (though probably not as much as you think – see below). Poor grammar can even completely change the meaning of a sentence. But focusing too much on it could actually be more damaging. Here are five reasons why you should get over your grammar hang-ups. 1. Poor punctuation matters more than grammar.  Colons and commas are vital sign-posts, so it’s important to put them in the right place. And a misplaced apostrophe (or, worse, a missing one) will make it look like you don’t care. On the other hand, I’d argue that no-one is going to get that worked up about whether you end a sentence with a preposition. 2. Grammar (and punctuation) issues usually indicate deeper problems. It’s probably not your imperfect understanding of a set of arcane grammar rules known only by master pedants that’s holding back your writing. It’s far more likely to be structural issues or focusing too much on your own aims rather than your readers’. In fact, worrying too much about your grammar can actually cause deeper problems. That’s because it seriously undermines your confidence, causing you to compensate with overly complex language or sentences. 3. Almost everyone struggles with it. Believe it or not, FTSE 100 directors and new graduates are often united in uncertainty over certain grammar points. Even experienced editors can spend a lifetime picking up the finer details. So waiting until you’ve perfected your grammar knowledge before you write anything is counter-productive – and futile. 4. Perfect grammar does not automatically mean perfect documents. Perfecting your knowledge of grammar will not automatically make you produce good documents, any more than memorising the workshop manual to your shiny new Ford or Volvo will make you a good driver. It’s perfectly possible to be technically perfect yet still produce an impenetrable tome stuffed with turgid professionalese. Focus on your readers’ needs, structure your document well and use the right level of language. Then you stand a very good chance of making a real impact – yes, even if you’ve misplaced a modifier or left a participle dangling helplessly. 5. It’s not too late to fill in the gaps. If English is your first language, you already know 95 per cent of the grammar you’ll ever need. (And if it’s not, take comfort from the fact that your knowledge of technical grammar rules is probably superior to that of most native English speakers, simply because we learn our first language through usage rather than studying grammar.) Native speakers beyond the age of four or five already know which common verbs are irregular. They’d never say, for example, ‘I digged a big hole in the sand’. They know that ‘dig’ becomes ‘dug’ in the past tense. They just don’t know that it’s called the past tense. (Nor, at that age, do they need to.) So the task of filling in the gaps is pretty straightforward. The odds are that the things you’re unsure about are the same ones that other people struggle with. (See point 3, above.) So, take heart. Focus first on what your reader needs to know, then tell them in as straightforward a way as possible. Then – and only then – look up any points of grammar you’re not sure about.

Clovis Points Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Clovis Points - Essay Example The interesting thing about these objects is the similarity in the technique used to make them and what it reveals about the residents of the area in bygone eras. Named after their first discovery site in Mexico, Clovis, the Clovis points are a representative of the Clovis Culture which is considered to be the earliest group of Paleoindians to occupy the North American regions and their time is believed to coincide with the time the first Americans arrived on the continent from Asia (Haynes, 2002). These tools are seen to be a proof that the people of the culture were mainly hunter-gatherers who relied on the availability of such tools to ensure a living based on hunting large animals. It seems that they built no enduring structures and remained only a few days or weeks in one area usually one which was near water and would have attracted their prey. Given the lack of knowledge about their overall lifestyles the Clovis points provide a unique insight to these people. The oldest Clovi s points date back to 13,000 years ago. Two recent discoveries made with regards to the Clovis Points bring some evidence about these assumptions. Firstly, bio chemical analysis of some of the tools from the Mahaffey Cache, found in  Boulder, Colorado showed the presence of animal protein on them. These tools were used to hunt and butcher ice-age camels and horses which were only present in North America around 13000 years ago- this analysis serves as evidence against the idea that the Clovis Points might have been ritualistic in nature with no practical exercise in mind. These tools were formed purely out a necessary need (University of Colorado, 2009). Another intriguing fact about the Clovis Points is that despite their wide distribution there was a distinctive similarity between the artifacts found in different caches. â€Å"New high-tech 3D computer analysis of 50 spear points made more than 10,000 years ago by North America’s mysterious Clovis people has revealed the stone points display an astounding symmetry despite having been found in caches as far apart as Maryland, Arizona and Colorado.† (Smithsonian science, 2012).The basic theories put forward were based around the ideas that the travelling nature of the people would have resulted in the loss of tools which were left behind or forgotten in places of rest and picked up by other tribes who would have seen the utility in them and attempted to copy the stone work. Or perhaps many different tribes all reached the same method of carving these tools based on trial and error and selection of the best option. But these theories were just that, theories without any scientific data to prove them either ways. Only very recently has a proper study been done to understand the factor behind the similarity and whether there could be anything more than simple coincidence or copy-cat behavior behind the construction of the Clovis Points. The researchers in question used â€Å"portable laser scanne rs to construct 3D surface models† of these artifacts so that they could study the nuances and contours of the scars, where flakes were removed from the stone, in greater depth. â€Å"Individual patterns of variation and symmetry were explored and

Job Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job - Assignment Example The advertising sales agents perform several tasks in their job description. First, the advertising agents should prepare and deliver sales presentation to new and existing customers about the company’s products and services. Secondly, liaise with the company officials, sales departmental heads, and the advertising agencies to develop the promotional plans. Third, to identify new advertising markets and propose products that will suit the customers and in turn generate revenue to the company. The advertising agents attend sales meeting, trade shows and training seminars in order to gather information, promote the company products and services, expand network of contacts and increase knowledge due to exposure (United States Department of Labor, 2014). The agents also organize the commercial tapping sessions together with coordinating bidding and contract approval. In addition, the advertising sales agents determine the best advertising method to use and prepare sample advertisements to present to target customers using the proposed medium of advertising. Other tasks include providing clients with the estimates of the cost of the products and services, maintaining assigned account basis explaining to customers how specific types of advertising will help promote their products and services in the most effective way possible. The sales agents need a lot of confidence since not everyone will listen to them and so they have to learn to be strong when facing rejection (United States Department of Labor, 2014). For this job, a high school diploma is usually sufficient. However, some employers prefer the applicants to possess a bachelor’s degree as an added advantage together with excellent communication skills and a two or three years’ experience. Previous work related knowledge and skills increase the opportunity of an applicant or serves as an added advantage. Before embarking on the job, many employees need some few months of training

Behavioural Finance Essay Example for Free

Behavioural Finance Essay Hypothesis and the extent to which they can be explained by behavioural finance theories Finance that is based on rational and logical theories, such as the  capital asset pricing model  (CAPM) and the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). These theories assume that people, for the most part, behave rationally and predictably. The Efficient market hypothesis assumes that financial markets incorporate all public information and assets that share prices reflect all relevant to the firm information (Fama, 1970). Relevant information includes past information, publicly available information and private information. Efficient market is divided into three categories. Weak form efficiency is when stock prices reflect only the past information, semi-strong form is when past information and all publicly available information is reflected and strong form is when all the past, publicly available and information only available to company insiders is reflected on the stock prices. However, there are some anomalies and behaviors that couldnt be explained by EMH. Market participants often behaved very unpredictably. However there is a new study called behavioral finance that is trying to explain all these anomalies. Behavioral finance studies the irrational behavior of the investors. Weber (1999) makes the following observation: ‘Behavioral Finance closely combines individual behavior and market phenomena and uses the knowledge taken from both the psychological field and financial theory’. Behavioral finance attempts to identify the behavioral biases commonly exhibited by investors and also provides strategies to overcome them. Some of the main problems with EMH may be cause by heuristic responses to new information, psychological anchors, overconfidence, social fads, framing and regret avoidance and herd behavior. Overconfidence: According to Nevins (2004), overconfidence suggests that investors overestimate their ability to predict market events, and because of their overconfidence they often take risks without receiving commensurate returns. Odean (1998) finds that investors tend to overestimate their ability, unrealistically optimistic about future events, too positive on self-evaluations, over-weight attention getting information that is consistent with their existing beliefs, and over-estimate the precision of their own private information. Overconfidence about private signals causes overreaction and hence phenomena like the book/market effect and long-run reversals whereas self-attribution maintains overconfidence and allows prices to continue to overreact, creating momentum. In the longer-run there is reversal as prices revert to fundamentals. Psychological Anchors, Overreaction: Good news should raise a business share price accordingly, and that gain in share price should not decline if no new information has been released since. Reality, however, tends to contradict this theory. Oftentimes, participants in the stock market predictably overreact to new information, creating a larger-than-appropriate effect on a securitys price. Furthermore, it also appears that this price surge is not a permanent trend although the price change is usually sudden and sizable, the surge erodes over time. Heuristic responses to new information: Availability heuristic is used to evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an event on the basis of how quickly instances or associations come to mind. When examples or associations are easily brought to mind, this fact leads to an overestimation of the frequency or likelihood of this event. Example: People are overestimating the divorce rate if they can quickly find examples of divorced friends. People tend to be biased by information that is easier to recall. They are swayed by information that is vivid, well-publicized, or recent. People also tend to be biased by examples that they can easily retrieve. ( Tversky and Kahneman, 1974) Confirmation bias  is a cognitive bias whereby one tends to notice and look for information that confirms ones existing beliefs, whilst ignoring anything that contradicts those beliefs. It is a type of selective thinking. The reason for overconfidence may also have to do with hindsight bias, a tendency to think that one would have known actual events were coming before they happened, had one been present then or had reason to pay attention. Hindsight bias encourages a view of the world as more predictable than it really is (Shiller, 2000). This is the characteristic of investors, when looking back, seeing events that took place in the past as having been more predictable than they seemed before they happened. Likewise, things that didn’t happen seem, with hindsight, much less likely to have happened than they did beforehand. Self-attribution bias occurs when people attribute successful outcomes to their own skill but blame unsuccessful outcomes on bad luck (Shefrin, 1999). Availability bias is the availability deviation is a general rule or a mental shortcut which lets people guess the probability of a result and to what percent it may appear in their daily life. Those who commit such a deviation consider the easily recalled events more probable than those they can hardly imagine or perceive. Availability bias declares the persons tendency toward deciding and judging based on available and easily accessible data (Tversky and Kahneman, 1982). Herd behavior which is the tendency for individuals to mimic the actions (rational or irrational) of a larger group. Blackmore (1991) states ‘Within an hour of birth , humans engage in imitation’. There are a couple of reasons why herd behavior happens. Its unlikely that a large group could be wrong. After all, even if you are convinced that a particular idea or course or action is irrational or incorrect, you might still follow the herd, believing they know something that you dont. Recency bias is the tendency for people to place greater importance on more recent data or experience. This is the problem of putting too much weight on current events or data and not enough weight on past, historic trends. Many investors expect the market to continue rising in a current bull market; likewise, these same investors often expect a current bear market to get worse. Recency is shown in momentum investing when investors buy â€Å"hot† stocks simply on the basis of their recent strong performance. Kahneman and Tversky (1973) find that people usually forecast future uncertain events by focusing on recent history and pay less attention to the possibility that such short history could be generated by chance. It is believed the net effect of the gains and losses involved with each choice are combined to present an overall evaluation of whether a choice is desirable. However, research has found that we dont actually process information in such a rational way. In 1979, Kahneman and Tversky presented an idea called  prospect theory, which contends that people value gains and losses differently, and, as such, will base decisions on perceived gains rather than perceived losses. Thus, if a person were given two equal choices, one expressed in terms of possible gains and the other in possible losses, people would choose the former even when they achieve the same economic end result. Regret avoidance is the tendency to avoid actions that could create discomfort over prior decisions, even though those actions may be in the individual’s best interest. Researchers have argued that one of the reasons that investors are reluctant to sell losing positions is because to do so is to admit a bad decision. This reluctance can be linked to both regret avoidance and belief perseverance. To avoid the stress associated with admitting a mistake, the investor holds onto the losing position and hopes for a recovery. According to prospect theory, losses have more emotional impact than an equivalent amount of gains. Prospect theory also explains the occurrence of the disposition effect, which is the tendency for investors to hold on to losing stocks for too long and sell winning stocks too soon. The most logical course of action would be to hold on to winning stocks in order to further gains and to sell losing stocks in order to prevent escalating losses. The flip side of the coin is investors that hold on to losing stocks for too long. Investors are willing to assume a higher level of risk in order to avoid the negative utility of a prospective loss. Unfortunately, many of the losing stocks never recover, and the losses incurred continued to mount, with often disastrous results. The January-Effect is where the average monthly return for small firms is consistently higher in January than any other month of the year; in the UK this is observed in April. This contradicts with EMH, as EMH predicts that stocks should move at a random walk. January returns are greatest due to yearend tax loss selling of shares disproportionally (Branch 1977). Another anomaly of this type is the Weekend-Effect, where Fama (1980) found that returns on Mondays tend to be negative if compared to any other week day, but this has disappeared in the UK by the 1990s. Some theories that explain the effect attribute the tendency for companies to release bad news on Friday after the markets close to depressed stock prices on Monday. Others state that the  weekend effect might be linked to short selling, which would affect stocks with high short interest positions. Alternatively, the effect could simply be a result of traders fading optimism between Friday and Monday. Index effect is a phenomenon where the addition to, or deletion from, a stock index causes a change in the price, trading volume, volatility or operating performance of the stock concerned. A stock entering an index will automatically receive increased demand from institutional investors principally index tracker funds and exchange trade funds (ETFs) while a deleted stock will experience reduced demand. The fact that a stock jumps in value upon inclusion is once again clear evidence of mispricing: the price of the share changes even though its fundamental value does not. Another anomaly is P/E effect from CAPM model; portfolios with low P/E ratios outperform those with high. The low price-earnings ratio effect occurs because stocks with low price-earnings ratios are often  undervalued and their prices eventually rise because investors become pessimistic about their returns after a bad series of earning or bad news. A company with high price to earning tends to overvalued (De Bondt and Thaler, 1985). Winner-Loser anomaly De Bondt and Thaler (1985) found that shares which initially earn extreme positive return (winners) or extreme negative returns (losers) experience extended reversals in their performance over long horizons. De Bondt and Thaler (1985) suggested the overreaction hypothesis as an explanation of their result. This hypothesis claims that the market overreacts to information. That is, the market overweights the most recent information and underweights earlier information. However, this phenomenon is reversed when it is recognized that the market’s expectations were indeed an overreaction to the information released. This hypothesis also offers an explanation of the P/E effect. Fama and French (1992) showed that a powerful predictor of returns across securities is the ratio of the book value of the firm’s equity to the market value of equity. After controlling for the size and book-to-market effects, beta seemed to have no power to explain average security returns. One explanation is that investors overreact to growth aspects for growth stocks, and value stocks are therefore undervalued. According to some academics, the ratio of market value to book value itself is a risk measure, and therefore the larger returns generated by low MV/BV stocks are simply a compensation for risk. Low MV/BV stocks are often those in some financial distress. All of these anomalies may be explained by behavioral finance. Behavioural finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behavior of financial practitioners and the subsequent effect on markets. Behavioural finance is of interest because it helps explain why and how markets might be inefficient. There are series of  behavioural biases  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ strange twists in human nature that cause us to act irrationally and against our own interests. On the other hand all of these anomalies may instead be an artifact of data mining. After all, if one reruns the computer database of past returns over and over and examines stock returns along enough dimensions, simple chance will cause some criteria to appear to predict returns. May be this is why some anomalies appear to be lost at some point of time e. g. the weekend effect during the 90s.