Americans with Disabilities Act 1

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act Overview of the ADA of 1990 including its intended purpose, and what governmental agency oversees ADA claims The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) of 1990 was enacted by the United States Congress, signed into law by George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, and amended in 2009 where some changes were introduced to the act. ADA is a civil rights’ law that was intended to check against discrimination that can be encountered by disabled persons in the course of accessing certain services or taking part in day-to-day activities. It safeguards disabled persons against any form of bias or prejudice with respect to their condition. Whatever falls under category of disability is normally made on case-to-case basis. However, current substance abuse and visual impairment that can be remedied by lenses are not considered as disabilities by the ADA of 1990. The law was initially intended to guarantee civil right protection for people who were permanently disabled and their disabilities could not be reversed or weakened. The law was enacted enable disable persons access services enjoyed by persons who are not disabled thereby opening their horizons to all types of careers. The drafters wanted the law to be flexible to guard against eminent weakening by future case laws. To enable disabled persons enjoy equal rights with everyone else, President G. W. Bush signed ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) into law on September 2008 (Matt, 1). Title I of the ADA 1990 deals with employment. It empowers people with disability with requisite qualifications to seek for employment in covered entities. People with disabilities can be hired, discharged, compensated, and trained just like any other worker without being discriminated. Agencies that are covered by the law include an employment agencies, labor organizations, and labor management committees. As per Title I, discrimination entails restricting job application in a manner contrary to convention, preventing qualified persons people from applying or taking up job opportunities, or making irrational and illegal job requirements to limit persons with disabilities. If entrance medical examinations have to be done, everybody else should be subjected to the process and the medical records must be treated with a lot of confidentiality. This title does not offer protection to individuals currently engaged in illegal use of drugs (Matt, 1). Title II of the Act deals with Public entities. This title prohibits any form of discrimination that can be met on the people with disability by public entities at local and state levels. Access here implies both physical and pragmatic access. It is supposed to check against discriminatory policies instituted by such public entities. It applies to public transportation that public entities offer (Matt, 1). Title III captures public accommodation and commercial facilities. The title criminalizes discrimination based on disability with special focus on full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any public accommodation by the proprietors, leasers, or operators. Public accommodation here means recreational facilities, lodgings, transportation, educational, and places of public displays. Under this title, all new constructions have to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines anchored in the Code of Federal Regulations. This title also applies to existing facilities. Exemptions to the regulation provided in the title include private clubs and religious organizations. However, historical properties and other public and private buildings must comply with the provisions of this title and failure may lead to legal proceedings. However, if following usual standards threaten to destroy historical significance of the feature of the building, they are under obligation to use other standards (Matt, 2). Title IV of the ADA deals with telecommunications. This title amended the Communications Act of 1934. All telecommunication companies are required to cater for the needs of the disabled especially the deaf and those with speech impairment (Matt, 3). Title V of ADA deals with miscellaneous provisions that are basically technical provisions. It also includes anti-retaliation or coercion provisions. Many government agencies act in concert to ensure that the ADA of 1990 is implemented. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission presides over employment related ADA provisions. The Department of Transportation regulates statutes related transportation. Other agencies include United States Department of Agriculture, Department of labor, Department of Education, United States Department of Interior, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, United States Department of Health and Human Services, and Federal Communications Commission (Matt, 4). Statutory definition of â€Å"disability† and â€Å"reasonable accommodation† under the ADA of 1990 The ADA Act of 1990 defines disability as an impairment that substantially limits major life activity. ADA defines impairment as a physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, anatomical, neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive losses. The Act further defines impairment as a mental or psychological disorder. Nevertheless, the explanations of impairment under the ADA regulation do not include physical traits, common personality traits, cultural and economic aspects as these elements come naturally and cannot be altered by man (Matt, 1). The Act excludes certain statutory requirements while trying to define disability like those currently using illegal drugs. Emotional acts such as thought, focus, and making contact with others also make up major life activities in reference to the EEOC. The phrase substantially limits features in the ADA definition of disability. An impairment on qualifies to be a disability if it limits life activities. For an impairment to be referred to as a disability, a person must be meaningfully limited in his or her competency to undertake certain activities relative to the average person drawn from the general public. Some of the very essential aspects to consider in this area are nature and extent of the disability, the time interval that the persons has been disabled, and how the impairment affects the individual’s ability to partake in everyday tasks (Acemoglu and Angrist 920). Reasonable accommodation in the ADA of 1990 protects persons with disabilities by ensuring that other than provision of physical access to buildings and provision of equal access to programs and services, this category of citizens access auxiliary services, aids, and removal of barriers in public utilities provided that this does not create undue administrative or financial burdens. The ADA 1990 defines reasonable ccommodation to entail â€Å"making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible and usable by disabled persons, job restructuring, part time or modified work schedules, re-advertisement to vacant person, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices and appropriate adjustment or modification of examination† (Matt, 5). Discuss the Supreme Court's decisions in Sutton and Toyota Manufacturing In Williams’s case, The Supreme Court visited the question of severity of a condition that qualifies it to be a protected disability. The Supreme Court held that the employee’s medical condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome was not a disability because it was not substantially limiting. It was further stated that for an impairment to be referred to as a disability, it has to prevent or severely restrict a person from undertaking in tasks that are of essential value to a person in everyday life. The court underscored the need for strict interpretation of the phrase ‘’substantially limits. ’ The ruling in Williams’s case brought into fore the inability of ADA to accommodate cases characterized by dismissal of many disability cases (Raddatz, 2). In Sutton v. United Airlines, the plaintiff sued for discriminative acts by a potential employer. In the case, the plaintiffs were two twin myopic sisters who had applied for employment as commercial pilots but their request was rejected because they did not attain the minimum value for uncorrected eyesight. The Supreme Court held that the question of whether somebody is disabled and thus be protected by ADA must be looked at with reference to all mitigating measures. For instance, if a person is severely limited in undertaking day-to-day activities without medical intervention but is only slightly limited to undertaking these tasks after medical interventions, the medical intervention serves to negate the impairment from being referred to as a disability as outlined in the ADA (Raddatz, 1). The ADAAA of 2008 including its intended purpose and significant changes from the ADA of 1990 The ADAAA 2008 is an Act of the Congress that went into operation on January 1, 2009. It amended the ADA of 1990 and other nondiscrimination laws that were drafted for the good of people with disability at state and federal levels. The amendment was introduced with respect to myriad Supreme Court rulings on ADA 1990. THE Supreme Court decisions were viewed by the members of the United States Congress as limiting the rights of people with disabilities (Schall, pp. 192). The ADAAA indeed reversed those decisions. With respect to ADA Title I, ADAAA changed the definition of disability. It clarified and broadened its definition. One notable contribution of this amendment is to take into consideration of both the employer and employee. With ADAAA 2008, courts are expected to interpret ADA and other Federal disability non-discrimination laws and determine whether the covered entity has discriminated. This law preserves the original meaning definition of law as written in the ADA but alters the way that statutory term should be construed (Matt, 5). Legal analysis of Billy and Mandy's requests applying both the ADA and ADAAA Based on the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, Mandy’s request should not be honored because she is not substantially limited in her daily activities without using medical interventions like consulting an optician to initiate corrective measures to remedy far sightedness. However, with the ADAAA, her request should be granted because the Act prohibits consideration of medication and low vision devices in determining whether a condition is a disability. Billy Beer’s request has to be granted because according to the Reasonable Accommodation and from the definition of disability in Title I, Billy’s condition is covered and indeed considered a disability. Moreover, ADAAA prioritizes discrimination initiated by covered entity as opposed to whether the person seeking protection under law has impairment that fits the statutory definition of disability. Works Cited Acemoglu, Daron and Angrist, Joshua D. Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy 109(6), 2001, 915–957. Matt, Susan. Reasonable Accommodation: What does the Law Really Require. Journal of the Association of Medical Professionals with hearing Loses, 1(1), 2003, 1-13 Raddatz, Alissa. ADA Amendments overrule Supreme Court Decisions on What Constitutes Disability. 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. Schall, Carol M. The Americans with Disabilities Act—Are We Keeping Our Promise? An Analysis of the Effect of the ADA on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 10(9), 1998, 191-203.

Organic vs. non organic Essay

Organic vs. non organic There is a vast majority of food in our world today, when we consume this food we must stop to think about what exactly it is made of. In today’s society we are always looking for the best healthy foods that are available to us. We want good, nutritious, healthy foods so that we can live a long and healthy life. We live in a world where we have fast, cheap and processed foods all around us. Have you ever considered going a different route? Organic is a different way to eat, a way that could change the way you live your life. While all types of foods are beneficial to the body, organic and non organic foods differ in the way that they are farmed, grown, and packaged. This information can hopefully give you an insight to a better way of life. America is slowly becoming a nation of a population of obese sick people. What we are eating everyday affects our health. Foods are full of preservatives and unhealthy that people eat more junk than food. Did you know that foods are packed with preservatives, sugars and fats that make people addicted to the foods? We are always seeking the quickest cheapest foods even though they are not healthy for us just to save some time. People become overweight do so because of poor eating habits not knowing that there are consequences in doing so. There are diseases that come along with making these poor eating choices. Some of the diseases related to overweight are heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes; breathing problems and trouble sleeping. Some people seem that we are stuck eating foods that make us overweight and obese. There are however ways to eat healthier. There are foods that are all natural, they are called organic foods. Organic foods are farmed in natural ways than non organic foods. Non organic food has to be grown very quickly to meet the consumer demand and there for is grown with chemicals that make it grow faster. Non organic farmers are allowed by the FDA to use steroids, pesticides and fertilizers in their food products. Even the soil gets contaminated with these harmful products. Non organic farmers contaminate the soil with the over use of fertilizers and pesticides and have polluted our waterways. On the other had organic farmers can use a farming method that does not harm the environment. Organic famers use the natural way in their farming systems. Organic farmers use the land that has not had any pesticides or fertilizers in the soil in the past three years. Crops are rotated from field to field instead of growing the same crop over again. There are alternative ways to eat food. There are foods that are grown all natural, they are called organic foods. When you think of organic, do you think it has to be held to a certain standard? Certain requirements have to be met for a food product to be certified organic. When a farmer grown their crop their crop differs from the way non organic foods are grown. Organic food tends to have more insect damage that non organic food because since no pesticides are being used on their crop it is harder to keep the insects from damaging the crop. Non organic food can grow at a much faster rate and have less damage done to the food because it is grown with pesticides. One of the standards to be certified organic is to be cage free. Cage free is when the animal is not confined to a cage; it is allowed to roam freely. Non organic animals are mostly in cages so they can be able to produce more food faster. Many people do not like the fact that animals are caged up and are sometimes treated badly in order to produce the food they need. When you go to the grocery store and buy a food product you should stop to see what the packaging material is made of. Most producers use recycled products to package their food products. Organic foods and non organic foods differ in the way that they do their packaging. One bad thing that comes to mind about organic food is that it can travel hundreds of miles to get to the grocery store. Non organic food can have the convenience of coming from local farmers that may not grow organic but are grown locally. Non organic food on the other hand may travel to get to the store because there are really not that many locally organic farmers. When we think about our planet we try to think of ways to be less wasteful. Organic foods try to use less wasteful materials concerning packaging their foods. Organic producers try to use recycle material and try to use eco friendly material. Non organic producers can sometimes use recycle materials but are not considerate of the waste they produce in the making of the packaging material. As where organic producers they consider every last detail to make sure they do not affect the environment as little as they can. This is a good thing because we want to make sure we do not affect our planet with all our trash we accumulate in our life time. We must eliminate the trash we leave behind in order to leave our planet clean for our children and their children. If we do not do something about the wasteful material we leave behind we might leave a big mess for our children and grand children to clean up long after we are gone. There has been much controversy about whether organic food is better than non organic food. Honestly one has to make their own personal decisions about what they choose to eat. No one can make that decision for you. Organic is less harmful to the environment and non organic has to produce such large amounts that it can be hard to do that without having some effects on the environment. Remember what we put in our body is important because we want to do whatever it takes to be as healthy as we can be in order to live longer. So if organic food is the right choice for you then you should do it in order to live a long and healthy life.

Perils of Indifference Analysis

Is Ignorance Bliss? Elie Wiesel was victim to one of the most tragic and horrific incidents of the twentieth century, the Holocaust. He was one of few lucky ones who escaped the camps alive, while his family was part of millions who were not so lucky. Years after that, he became a journalist and eventually was convinced to finally write about his experiences with the Holocaust. The result became one of his most famously publicized works.The book, Night (English translation version), only represented the beginning of a flourishing career as a political activist and novelist. He came to the United States and continued writing about his life and political ideologies, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for works that diligently argued for ending oppression, hatred, and racism. Such themes are the underlying basis of his message in his speech The Perils of Indifference.The horrors he faced as a boy forged the man that would go on to write all of these magnificent works; the neg lect and ignorance of those events that occurred during the Holocaust influenced and inspired him to warn people of the dangerous woes of indifference. Lecturing an audience for any extended period of time is never an ideal way to convey one’s message effectively. As an experienced and successful novelist, Wiesel was well aware that if he wanted to get people to really understand what he meant when he said â€Å"Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger or hatred. , he couldn’t just talk at his audience, he had to ask questions to engage them. However, questions don’t have to require answers, and in a speech as passionate and carefully articulated as this one, a Q & A every thirty seconds would drown out his point among all of the redundant tangents the conversation could take off in. Instead, Wiesel took the approach of using the figurative devices of asking rhetorical questions and setting up allusions to make his argument relatable, understandabl e, reliable, and most importantly: agreeable.The use of rhetorical questions in this speech differs from what many people use on a day to day basis -usually to promote sarcasm or imply one must be immensely dense to not understand a point. Here, Wiesel uses the device to get his audience to participate in his argument as well as hear it. By asking themselves the very questions he asks, audiences are apt to reach the very conclusions that Wiesel’s has. Two types of rhetorical questions used by Wiesel most often are either unanswerable or suggestive. For example, â€Å"How is one to explain their indifference? or â€Å"Why didn’t he [FDR] allow these refugees [Jews] to disembark [back to the Nazis]? † are unanswerable. Questions that don’t have an answer allow for people to make their own assumptions. If guidelines have been set prior to these questions, an audiences’ conclusions are likely to further support his argument. To this day, no one knows what influenced FDR to make certain decisions, but based on Wiesel’s persistent argument, it can be presumed that indifference played a major role in some of FDR’s decisions.Another type of rhetorical question that Wiesel used were â€Å"suggestive† questions. There were many instances were Wiesel would insert long chains of rhetorical questions one right after the other. Though risky or even overwhelming, these questions made the direction of his argument easier to control. On the first page when he asks about indifference, he enters this chain of rhetorical questions: â€Å"What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is a philosophy of indifference conceivable?Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one’s sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals? †. The first rhetorical question is r esponded to with his next idea: Is it a philosophy? He assumes it is, then from there the idea of indifference is inferred as ubiquitous. The pattern of assuming each questions with a new question continues.Rhetorical questions that are suggestive enhance Wiesel’s position, and this injection forces the audience to come to Wiesel’s conclusion, while still feeling as though the conclusion is their own. Allusion is another literary device used to Wiesel’s advantage in this argument. Wiesel uses allusions to make his rhetorical questions as effective as possible. Initially, if Wiesel was to go on and on about indifference in general, the audience might be less engaged. However, Wiesel inserts multiple types of allusions to make his point relatable to the lives f his audience. For instance, when he talks about how â€Å"It is so much easier to look away from the victims† when referencing â€Å"behind the black gates of Auschwitz† and â€Å"the most tr agic of all prisoners†, since the Holocaust is a universally accepted tragedy, indifference is related to that event, and is therefore conceived as a trait with demonic properties. By establishing the allusion that reinforces how terrible the Holocaust was, the rhetorical question regarding why FDR did not take more action became much more influential.Additionally, Wiesel incorporated more vague references, such as a â€Å"political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees-†. Wiesel infers that ignoring such tragedies and remaining unresponsive is both evil and indifferent. Then by displaying indifference in many kinds of scenarios, going to this extent allows Wiesel to create effectiveness with his allusions. His goal is to have the audience establish their own connections and inferences, which he does through creating relative allusions, then asking relevant rhetorical questions.Of course there were other literary elements in this speech that m ade Wiesel’s argument all that more effective. His use of powerful diction -such as â€Å"betray†, â€Å"abandon†, â€Å"suffering† â€Å"anger†- all promotes the same intense and powerful tone, and he sporadicly uses anaphora to extend the passion in his message such as instances where he says â€Å"You fight it, You denounce it. You disarm it. † or â€Å"They no longer felt pain, hunger thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it. †. Lastly, Wiesel interjects himself into the speech in the beginning as he recounts himself as a small boy in the midst of a struggle.Then once more at the end, he retells that brief anecdote, and uses the idea of his childhood still accompanying him as a metaphor for how events that had transpired during his childhood: How the past he has carried with him to this day and is what has made him into the novelist the audience sees before them. Wiesel certainly makes it clear through his prominent uses of rhetorical questions and allusion that indifference creates a threat to the humanity everyone possesses somewhere within, and uses examples of his time in Auschwitz as an example of what damaging and painful effects indifference can inflict upon others.Even when he says, â€Å"Do we hear their pleas? Do we feel their pain, their agony? Every minute one of them dies of diseases, violence, famine. Some of them -so many of them- could be saved. † However, Wiesel doesn’t let the indifference that affected his childhood so heavily deny who he is, and what he cares about. That is why he is able to make many more speeches, construct many more arguments, and make many more advancements of movements, that can be just as effective as this speech. He does it so flawlessly with his ability to combine the fervency derived from his past and the skills he has obtained throughout his career as a great novelist.

Professionalism values and ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Professionalism values and ethics - Essay Example This report aims at investigating how professional values and ethics are employed by the architect contracted to turn UAL Campus. The design’s main goal was to optimise connections between departments within the building, which include the movement of materials and students. The idea behind the design can be said to be the same historical reason, which comprised movement of grain around the granary using wagons. This report will analyse comprehensively the purpose retrofitting and architectural design of University of Arts London, Kings Cross campus in the context of the build environment. The historic, economic, aesthetic and ecological context of the built environment will be evaluated in terms of professionalism, values and ethics. There are a range of factors that shape the built environment posing an architectural dilemma that need to be solved in adherence to professional values and ethics of architect. This project was considered for this paper since the building exemplifies an exemplary conversation of a derelict historic building into a glorious public space and still retain sustainable values (Harries, 1998). Some of the questions that emerged from people with regards from this case include: The architects commissioned were Stanton Architects to design the campus that was estimated to cost  £200 million in the Grade II listed Granary Complex. The university sought to transform the historical building into an aesthetic centre of learning which would be sustainable enough to meet the needs of the students and those of the community too. The University of Arts London campus project was completed in 2011. The building consolidates the Central Saint Martins’ college’s activities under one roof. It comprises of the Granary Building, Eastern Transit Shed, and there are two new four storey studio buildings. The environmental location of this project is very impressive as well as the atmosphere (Fox 2012). It is in

Doctorate of Education in Learning Technologies Personal Statement

Doctorate of Education in Learning Technologies - Personal Statement Example In fact, these experts began referring to the then learning environment as traditional and as such wanted to supplement and enrich the environment with new ways that were meant to present learning content in a better, and advanced manner. As such, exploration of the technology that was purposely meant for education pursuits suggested that it was possible for technology to teach. Further research affirmed that the process of learning comprised of the link between existing knowledge to knowledge that had newly been acquired through numerous conclusive professional adventures. As a result, the adventures suggested that technology was better placed in facilitating learning, presenting new knowledge and supporting the task of making connections between the known and the unknown. It is for undoubted reasons that educational technologies today, are continually expected and demanded as essential components in the modern classroom. As such, the professional relationship between teachers and students in reference to educational technology has gained continuous passion although it has both pros and cons. Apparently, the inception and rise of the Internet in several parts around the globe especially during and after the World War II has exposed the efficiency of technology in learning facilities through the delivery of necessary content because experts have continually argued that individuals learn best through experience. Similarly, learning success relies on the quality of the presented content and the instruction strategies that have been employed in the presentation. For instance, Scholar Thomas Edison predicted that there would come a time when books in learning facilities would be replaced with motion pictures as the teaching medium. Although the prediction did not come to pass,

Contract Manufacturing in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay - 3

Contract Manufacturing in the Pharmaceutical Industry - Essay Example The basic principles of business economics demand that an entity tries to manufacture goods or provide services at the lowest possible cost to itself while benefitting from the gain in net revenue after sale or completion of service. For this reason alone, the concept of outsourcing is hard to concretely define (Goddard & Ajami, 2008). The skeptics of the process see it as a migration of tasks performed by the local workforce to a workforce in another country, where the tasks can be performed at a lower overall cost to the organization. But Scholte (2005) defines it as a process of international economic integration, where the strengths of two national economies combine to benefit each other. The reasoning that underlines this definition is that outsourcing allows an entity to place its focus on the things that it is stronger or better at while delegating the tasks and/or responsibilities that are costing it time and resources from the primary tasks to another entity that is stronger on those accounts. This means that each entity can now focus on the core tasks which come within their strengths, and thus, benefit the final outcome for both. Thus, to put it in economic terms, the process of outsourcing provides comparative advantage to each entity in some way or form.  The process of contract manufacturing is simi lar to that of outsourcing, in recent years is more associated with the pharmaceutical industry specifically (Gassman et al, 2008). It relates to a working agreement that is reached between two organizations, whereby one becomes the manufacturing arm of the complete process. This means that the client organization hands over the entire process of sourcing raw materials, hiring labor, producing the goods, as well as the ordering and shipment tasks, to the partner organization, allowing it to focus on other activities within its industry sector.  

Drones Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Drones - Research Paper Example Moreover, they are inexpensive relative to conventional aircraft, and they are remote controlled, thereby eliminating peril to the flight crew. However, despite these benefits, drones continue to generate much debate among the public. Much of this debate revolves around concerns of privacy and safety. This paper contends that there ought to be no fear over the good use of drones. Drones have the potential to collect weather data from the farthest reaches of the atmosphere (Cutlip 7). These parts are difficult to reach using conventional weather instruments. The data thus collected could be integrated into models for predicting weather, thereby increasing the reliability and accuracy of weather forecasts. More accurate weather prediction would be useful in helping farmers that rely on rain-fed agriculture better plan their farming activities. This would come in handy at time when global warming has altered global and local weather patterns and rendered planning for farming activities difficult. Over the years, universities and research centers across the country have been exploring ways in which drones can be used to gather meteorological data. However, it was not until recently that drones started to be in collecting and interpreting weather data. Besides agriculture, improved weather prediction have other benefits. For instance, had it been available to them, the authorities and the University of Alaska would have used meteorological drones to predict that the winter storm of 2011 was going to be more severe than those usually experienced. Then the 3,500 residents of Nome would have been advised to replenish their supplies of fuel to last them the entire season. Then, they would not have had to endure the cold for several weeks as they waited for the relief fuel to arrive from Russia. Even so, the usefulness of this information would have largely depended on how well the authorities and researchers disseminated it. Improved

Radio shack Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Radio shack - Essay Example Throughout the years, this tactic has facilitated RadioShack to remain at the lead of the swiftly changing consumer electronics marketplace and to stay pertinent to clients in each era. This paper will discuss RadioShack’s development, employee’s protection and its future plans. RadioShack Corporation traces its origins to two distinct and very diverse entrepreneurial enterprises: the Hinckley-Tandy Leather firm, a leather shoe parts’ supplier to shoe-repair shops established in 1919 Fort Worth, Texas; and RadioShack, a merchandizing store as well as a mail-order operation, which was founded in 1921, Boston to meet the radio officers’ needs aboard vessels. RadioShack rapidly grew to incorporate a number of stores within the Northeast, in addition to a prosperous electronics mail-order production. The Hinckley-Tandy Leather firm also thrived, and during 1954, it vended its top leather corporate to enlarge its range of operations. During 1959, the firm short ened its title to Tandy Corporation, as well as during 1963, Tandy Corporation procured RadioShack, exhibiting the firm's onset as a private electronics vender. During 2000, Tandy Corporation became RadioShack Corp., under ticker emblem RSH (â€Å"RadioShack Corporation†). ... Ever since, RadioShack Corporation has developed into a reputable wireless authority, retailing more than seventy three million mobile headsets (â€Å"RadioShack Corporation†). In more current years, RadioShack’s commitment to break novel ground has encompassed launching the first inexpensively priced stereo-receiver with digital-technology, the first portable cellular telephone, which consumers can install themselves as well as the first high-performance cable television system for connection by "do-it-yourselfers." In 2005, RadioShack became a sanctioned Apple Reseller as well as later introduced Skype-certified software and hardware in storerooms for free-voice as well as video-calling over the internet. In 2008, RadioShack launched its electronics-trade-in program, which permits clients to trade expended devices for no cost to attain credit for a new procurement. In 2009, RadioShack concluded an extensive 2-year grass-roots edification campaign with the ALA (America n Library Association) to aid customers in steering the nationwide transformation to digital TV airing in high-definition that earned a special approval from the FCC during 2010. In 2010, RadioShack began the enactment of Target Mobile wireless hubs in Target stores countrywide. In 2011, RadioShack’s Verizon Wireless-the country’s largest wireless carrier, launched its business-leading services and products in storerooms countrywide (â€Å"RadioShack Corporation†). RadioShack values and respects the differences mirrored in its various experiences, backgrounds and ideas. It is devoted to affording a comprehensive work environment, which fosters respect for all employees. RadioShack does not generate employment-related verdicts or victimize against its

Business law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business law - Case Study Example The customer or other persons should be protected from harm not only while he is performing a business transaction but also while entering and leaving the premises. This case comes under the purview of Occupier’s Liability Act 1957. The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 regulates occupiers liability to visitors or customers who pay visit to their premises. S 1(2) of the Act defines ‘visitors’ as persons who enter the premises with the permission by the occupier. The Learned Wig is a shop where visitors are invited to do a business transaction. As per the law, visitors are those persons who have the express or implied permission of the occupier to be on the premises to carry out a transaction. Therefore, Henry was a visitor to the occupier’s premises and hence comes under the provisions of this Act. If Henry was a trespasser the case would have come under the Occupiers Liability Act 1984. Section 2(4)(a) of Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 declares that a warning will only discharge the occupiers’ duty regarding danger, but the warning should be reasonable and must possess necessary guidelines to avoid such dangers. In Henry’s case there was no warning implying Henry to keep away from the pile of books, which was going to fall on him. A simple warning like ‘do not touch’ or ‘enter at your own risk’ could not be treated as warning because it is totally insufficient to invite the attention of the visitors against the danger waiting for them. The warning provided by The Learned Wig is not specific and is a willful desistance from taking liability of injuries caused by their negligence. The warning, which the management has put, was nothing but a sign cautioning the customers, and the same had hidden motives and was not expressive to the visitor or to the customer, and hence it cannot be treated as a sufficient warning under th e proviso. The legal approach is based on the

Black Slaves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Black Slaves - Essay Example The captives were insignificant to those communities and, this was the reason behind the slave trade; they opted to exchange them with valuable items from the traders. Some African countries like Ghana, Angola, and Tanzania largely practiced slavery as an exchange valuable in trade. The incarceration of the slaves was in systematic ways such as waging war on some weaker communities. The superior African kingdoms would later sell the slaves to the Arab and, European slave trade agents (Watson, p30). The Africans themselves carried out slave trade. To them this was a beneficial business. According to ancient history on slavery, a slave was equivalent to 14 pounds and, this was a lucrative engagement. Study shows that the Arabs were the first people to practice black slavery in Africa, even before the coming of the Europeans. They traded with dominate African empires and, communities who exchanged the slaves for precious goods for a period of 600 years before the white man set foot in Africa(Watson, p 30). According to the historian, slave trade began in the Neolithic revolution following the realization of agriculture. This was a tremendous transformation in many communities from hunting to agriculture and, settlement. In addition, this transformation in lifestyle resulted to labour demand thus, slave trade and the dawn of civilization. The Portuguese, Arabs, and European were predominantly keen in exploring African wealth. However, at the same time they had created colonies in America and, were in search for labour force to help cultivate, and develop the land. The end of the 15th century marked the peak of European black slavery trade; England was the largest protectorate to trade in salve trade. They began to take people forcibly initially as servants to the wealthy people. According to the European, the taking of slaves was in the name of converting them to become Christians and, probably give them a better future in Europe. Statistics show that

Leadership and Organization Behavior Essay Example for Free

Leadership and Organization Behavior Essay There are many business organizations that are started on various occasions, but only a few turn out to be successful organizations. The success or failure of an organization can mostly be associated with leadership. Leaders make a very big impact in the organization. The importance of leadership is recognized when the organization is going through some moments like crisis or serious changes, depending on how the issue will be handled. We can not just assume that leadership in the organization is shown at the top management, but even to the lower levels in the organization. Despite the importance of leadership, there has been no agreement on the definition of leadership in the organization. However, leadership can be defined as a means used to coarse people in the organization, without applying force, to work towards the attainment of the organizational goals, by motivating them. Non coercive method implies the leaders should make the people to follow them on a voluntary basis (Glasser, 2008). A leader influences a particular group to work towards achieving particular goals. Leadership does not depend on a formal authority or the title, but rather they carry out their tasks by applying leadership attributes such as; values, believes, knowledge, character, ethic and skills. The position of a manager, supervisor, leader etc give them the authority to accomplish certain goals and tasks in the organization, the power of manager lead or supervisor to accomplish organization goals does not make them leaders but simply they make themselves bosses. Leadership makes the followers want to make higher goals. Selfless services and honorable characters to the organization form the basis of good leadership. Respected leaders concentrate on what they know (such as jobs tasks and human nature), what they are (such as character and believes) and what they do (such as motivating implementing and providing directions. ). The qualities of a leader influence the followers to follow him. Followers want to be guided by the people whom they respect and have clear sense of directions. Leaders must be ethical in order to gain respect from their followers. Sense of directions among the leaders is achieved through conveying a strong vision of future (Glasser, 2008). Employee satisfaction in an organization can be predicted by the level of confidence and trust in the top leadership and effective communication. Effective communication helps to win organization confidence and trust which occurs through making the employees to become aware and understand the overall strategies of the organization, assisting the employees understand their roles which can contribute to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives and the information sharing between the employees and the leaders on how the organization is performing and how their departments are doing relative to the strategic goals of the organization. Therefore a leader must be able to communicate the vision of the organization and must be trustworthy. Good leaders need to concentrate the three attributes of leadership i. e. what they are, what they know and what they do. These attributes can be achieved by following the leadership principles. According to principles of leadership a leader is supposed to know himself and seek room for self improvement. A leader can know himself if he understands the principles of leadership. Seeking room for self improvement means that the leaders have to continuously strengthen their attributes. This can be achieved through interaction with others, reflection, self study and formal classes. Secondly the leaders must be technically proficient. Leaders are required to have a solid familiarity with their follower’s tasks and know their job (Nelson Quick, 2007). Leaders must seek and take responsibilities of their action. They must such ways in which to guide their organization to achieve new heights. When things in the organization goes wrong leaders are not supposed to blame their followers or their fellow leaders but rather they should analyze the situation and come up with corrective response and be prepared to move into the next challenge. Leaders should make timely and sound decisions by use of good strategies of decision making solving problems and planning tools. Good leaders should set good role models by setting examples to others. They must see what they are expected to do not only hearing the changes they want to see. Leaders should know their people and care for their well being. They should know the human nature and take the responsibility for caring for their followers. Leaders are supposed to establish good communication with their followers. Communicating is a key responsibility in making sure that tasks are accomplished, supervised and understood. Team building and development of team spirit assist the leaders in employing their sections, organization, department etc to their fullest capabilities. Leaders should have an honest understanding of leadership attributes. They must also understand that determination of whether a leader is successful or not lies on the followers and not upon themselves. Followers are likely to get inspired if they lack confidence or trust in their leaders. Leaders are supposed to convince and set good example to their followers in order to become successful and be followed. Leaders lead through a two way communication between them and their followers sometimes communication between these two parties is non verbal. An example is when a leader sets a good example to the follower. The leader in this case does not necessarily require asking the follower on what to do about what himself is not willing to do. The way and how the leaders communicate with their followers improve or harm the relationship between them. Leaders are supposed to understand their followers in order to apply their leadership skills different followers would require different leadership styles. This means that a new employee may require more guidance and supervision than an experienced one. Also non motivated workers would require more motivation than motivated workers. Therefore the leader must understand the human nature through establishing the follower’s emotions, motivation and needs. Leader’s requiring to develop strategies on the possible cause of action for different situations (Nelson Quick, 2007). The success of any leadership is determined in the degree in which the leaders are able to motivate the others. Motivation among the employees leads to work satisfaction. An organization may incur big losses if it looses its employees and therefore the key function of the leaders and the managers should be motivating the right people to remain and join the organization. Motivation directly affects the out put of an organization and this concerns both the quality and the quantity. The leaders and managers therefore need to understand how to motivate the followers according to the roles they play (Miner, 2005). The survival of an organization is determined by the motivation of the employees. On the other hand reinforcement focuses on the maintenance of motivation. The basic assumption in motivation are that the positive behavior among the followers that resulted to rewarding will be repeated and therefore negative behavior that resulted to negative consequences are less likely to be repeated. Certain behavior can be intensified and strengthened through reinforcement. Rewards and punishment are applied depending on whether certain behaviors occurred or did not occur. The role of the leaders is to strengthen the positive behavior through reinforcement (Miner, 2005). The employees and the leaders working in an organization have different characteristics. Leaders must learn how to manage the employee in their organization. The leadership skills that are acquired in schools are not sufficient to lead and manage the employees. Therefore training is important in order to ensure that individual objectives are aligned with organization objectives. To achieve this skills and knowledge are imparted to individuals. Goal setting on the other hand helps in defining the organization, give the direction to be followed and avoid chaos. Setting of organizational goals can help the leaders to motivate the employees by communicating what the organization have planned to achieve and through providing basis for recognition, success and achievements (Nelson Quick, 2007). Goal setting helps in effectiveness of recruiting the followers. Team building results to many potential benefits which include; consensus building brain storming, looking at the problem from different perspective, trial and error, expert knowledge etc. employees are more encouraged to bring their work at the conference table and therefore they are likely to work harder. Leaders must ensure that there is an attitude of respect and tolerance for the ideas of the team member in the organization culture. The employees feel free in sharing their ideas with the team members when they help each other to succeed. Effective leadership helps in the success of the organizations. If there is no good leadership the organization may move too slow, become stagnant or even loose their direction. Timely decision making ensures that the running of organization is going on well. Leaders must ensure that decision making are correct, complete and involves all the stakeholders for the success of the organization (Nelson Quick, 2007).

Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Essay Example for Free

Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Essay I. Introduction The book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest is the result of Ken Kesey’s own experience during his work in mental institution in late 1950s. This book reflects the themes of individuality and rebellion of that time that include protest against conformity. It is the story of one small rebellion that was successful through a big sacrifice. The book is largely symbolic and many characters and things in it are allegoric. II. Body Rebellion is the major theme in the book. It is shown as a confrontation between protagonist Randle McMurphy and antagonist Nurse Ratched. Before McMurphy entered the ward, it was the small structured society of mentally ill patients ruled by powerful Nurse Ratched who weakens them by psychological manipulation. There is no chance that anybody would defy her. After the arrival of McMurphy the situation changed dramatically because this patient is sane and has a strong personality. The figure of McMurphy is symbolic in the way how he sacrificed himself to let the patients realize who they are and regain their spirits. The narrator of the story, Chief Bromden, realizes that he is not weak and breaks free from the ward. McMurphy is compared to Christ in many ways: he is sacrificed, crucified on the table with electroshock; he gathers disciples around him and arranges the fishing trip as Christ who led his twelve disciples to the sea to test their faith. III. Conclusion The book has made a big impression on me in the way how individuality is confronted with the submission and conformism. It teaches rebellion against humiliation of human nature. However, I dislike the author’s view of women as the castrators of men in this book. Nurse Ratched is portrayed as a horrible creature who has no feminine features about her. I liked the figure of prostitute Candy, although she is shown only as the means to relieve Billy Bibbit. Having many symbols and allegories, this book makes us think and not only entertain ourselves.

Efficient market hypothesis

Efficient market hypothesis Introduction: From the last several decades the efficiency of stock market has been the sole purpose of research studies. As a result, several theories have been introduced and implemented in relation to principally how the competition in the stock market will force the known information into the prices of securities. The knowledge of information on a variety of securities that are traded in the market is one of the major factors in influencing the movements of stock market. In the stock market, a securities price tends to move rise and fall depending mainly on the availability of the information. The stock prices in the efficient market correspond to available information and therefore register any rise or fall mainly when recent and unpredictable information is available. The up and down in the security prices largely depends upon the advantages and disadvantages associated with the available information and to what extent it will affect the companys performance which is represented by the secur ity. As it is very difficult to tell whether the information available is useful or not, in the same way it is quite impossible to make predictions about the trend of the stock market, such that whether there will be an upward or downward trend in the near future by using the available information. In the financial market it is not mandatory that all professionals related to market always possess the information about the securities and have skills to evaluate this information for their gain. The only thing the efficient market requires is that few individuals must have the information about securities and as a result of the information supplied by them, the whole market must be well informed and benefitted. Hence the available information plays an important role in determining the efficiency of the stock market. By focussing on the above idea, the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis has been developed and became one of the most concentrated and debatable topic among professionals and people related to finance and stock market studies. RESEARCH AIM: The main aim of my research is to analyse the efficiency of stock market supported by the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis. It also aims to depict the impact of the Efficient Market Hypothesis on security trading by reviewing the available literature. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: My research aims to answer the following questions: To what extent the available information, according to the concept of Efficient Market Theory, affects the security trading in stock market. What is insider trading and its impact on the efficiency of stock market. What are the various types of anomalies associated with the stock market and their effect on the stock market efficiency. LITERATURE REVIEW: In this part of my research paper I will re-examine the existing literature on the anomalies and the efficiency of the stock market. An efficient market is defined as a market where there are large numbers of rational, profit-maximizers actively competing, with each trying to predict future market values of individual securities, and where important current information is almost freely available to all participants. In an efficient market, competition among the many intelligent participants leads to a situation where, at any point in time, actual prices of individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.(Eugene F. Fama 1965) According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, given by Fama, the ups and downs in the prices of securities in the financial market totally reflect known information at a specified period of time. In other words, Efficient Market Hypothesis states that the trading of securities by the individuals is always carried out purely based on the assumption that securities worth are always more or less than the price offer by market. Whereas, trading of securities trying to outperform the stock market will be luck instead of professional skills if current prices fully reflect all available information as well as stock markets are efficient. According to this hypothesis if new information is revealed about a firm it will be incorporated into the share price rapidly and rationally, with respect to the direction of the share price movement and the size of that movement. (Elearn -NetTel) . Efficiency is an unclear word in itself so for more clarification, in my dissertation, I will describe all ty pes of efficiencies: operational, allocation and pricing. I will also give full detail on levels of market efficiency : weak-form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and strong-form efficiency. According Random walk theory , there are no trends and format that are being followed by the prices of securities in stock market. There is another fact given by this theory which says that the prices of securities in the past can not be useful for future predictions and fluctuation in prices. The Efficient Market Hypothesis and anomalies related to the stock market developed by the researchers always contrasts with each other. The search for anomalies is effectively the search for systems or patterns that can be used to outperform passive and/or buy-and-hold strategies. (Invest Home). With the invention of any anomaly, there is always a kind of exploitation by the investors of the anomalies discovered in order to increase their profit. This practice make the anomaly disappear with the passage of time. There are so many internal and external factors of the entities that affects the operations of stock market and those factors are often known as Anomalies which plays an important role in over performing or under performing the operations of the stock market by taking into consideration the fact that these anomalies have good or bad effect on the prices of stocks and entities. There are different types of anomalies and some of the anomalies are discussed. Fundamental Anomalies: First type of anomaly is fundamental anomaly which basically depends upon the price of the stock and on the past performance of the entity due to which stock prices rises or fall. Several anomalies of these kinds exist related to the growth, present value and profitability of the companies concerned. Under fundamental anomaly, there exist a most historical and famous anomaly named Value investing and is regarded as the most appropriate strategy for investment purposes. These anomalies depend on the stock value and companys performance based on which the stock prices go up or down. A technique used is to divide the given index into high price and low price to book value stocks. The low price to book concept was developed by Eugene Fama and Keneth French favouring the hypothesis that lower risk is attached to value stocks whereas the stocks with growth are attached with higher risk. According to another anomaly named as low price to sales, stocks with low price to sales ratio perform b etter then high price to sales ratio. According to James P. O Shaughnesey, prices are the only strongest determinant of excessive return. There are several studies which advocates that stocks having low P/E ratio always perform better in the market as compared to stocks with high P/E ratios. In the same manner, the stocks with high dividend yield are better performers than stocks with low dividend yields. There are some other stocks named as neglected stock and are chosen by those with the contrarian strategy. A study was conducted by F.M DeBondtand Richard Thaler on 35 best and worst performer stocks between 1932 and 1977 in New York Stock Exchange and came out with the result that the performance of best performer stocks in the stock exchange falls whereas the stocks with bad performance in the past showed better results when compared to the results of the same stock in the past. Technical Anomalies: Another types of anomalies in which past prices and statistics are used to predict the prices of securities are known as technical anomalies. The techniques used in these types of anomalies include strategies related to support and resistance, moving averages and strength. Some researchers are against the method of technical analysis and say that the investors are hardly benefitted from these technical analysis techniques where as some researchers argue that there is enough evidence and facts that are sufficient to say that the technical analysis method is favourable for the investors. According to technical analysts, the selling of stocks is influenced by the resistance level whereas the buying is influenced at the support level. A signal to sell the stock is developed in case the support level is penetrated by the price whereas a signal to buy the stock is produced in case price penetrated the resistance level. According to the conclusion made by William Brock, Josef Lakonishok, an d Blake LeBaron, the outcomes are reliable with technical rules having forecasting power. But at the same time the cost related to transaction must be taken into account before implementing such concepts and strategies. Another conclusion given by them says that the stock returns generating is more complicated and different process as compared to the results obtained by conducting different studies and researches using various linear models. Calendar Anomalies: Calendar anomaly is another type of anomaly in which various effects are included. In January effect, general and small stocks perform abnormally better in the month of January. Philippe Jorion and Robert Haugen say that, the January effect is, perhaps the best-known example of anomalous behaviour in security markets throughout the world. An interesting fact about January effect is that it lasted for nearly two decades whereas any anomaly hardly survive as traders start taking advantage of the anomalies which results in vanishing of anomaly. Another effect named Turn of the Month was founded by Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba, according to which, in between period 1928 to 1993, the returns for the turn of the month performed well and considerably greater than normal performance. According to study, those investors who make regular purchases may be benefitted if they make schedule to do the purchasing at the end and prior to the starting of next month. In addition to these effec ts another effect is known as Monday effect and is considered to be the worst day in stock market if investments are made on this day. According to study conducted by Lawrence Harris, the week end effect occurs during first 45 minutes of buying and selling whereas prices shows upward trend during the first 45 minutes of trading on all other days. This kind of anomaly may occur due to moods and behaviour of people after weekend holidays. Other Anomalies There are certain other facts that are responsible for affecting the operations of stock market. The size effect, announcement based effect, IPOs, Stock buybacks, insider transactions and S and P game. According to Fama and French (1992), the book to market ratio as well as the size capture the cross-sectional variation of average stock returns in NYSE, and Nsdaq securities. A complete investigation of book to market was provided by Tim Loughran in relation to dimensions of firm size, exchange listings etc and experimental findings of French and Fama are basically forwarded by two features of the data which includes relatively low returns on small, new and growing stocks. Srinivas Nippani, Augustine C. Arize study three main US corporate bond market indices by taking into account calendar based anomalies between the years 1982-2002. In the analysis, the whole bond market as well as two broad classes of industries namely industrials and utilities were taken into account. The study find the mixed response for the weekend effect in the overall bond index and industrial index whereas very less response to utilities index. The findings showed definite proof of January effect on the bond market. RESEARCH METHOD AND DATA: Data Collection Methods: The general idea of business research is that it is concerned with collection of data, making questionnaires and then analysing and evaluating the collected data. In addition to this, the identification of problem and the approach needed to solve the problem is also important. (Ghauri et al., 1995). Data sources are often referred to as the carriers of data information. Basically data sources are divided into two categories namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is concerned with the interviews and observations collected while conducting research project where as, secondary data is collected by others and academic and non academic sources are included in this type of data. In my topic of research which is to study the efficiency of stock market, I want to use the Desk method that is secondary data collection method. This includes the gathering of information from sources like books, journals related to my topic of research, and from electronic media like internet which is one of the major sources of information. These all sources of information will be helpful for the accomplishment of my research. DATA SOURCES: As I have already describe that I will use secondary method in my dissertation so I have to search a lot for this topic and for this search my main resource is FBES (Faculty of Business, Environment and Society) which provides the best online business information services which is also including the digital management library. Some of the main sources (journal databases) for my research area are given below: EBSCO Business Source. Business Source Premiere. Emerald. Science Direct. NetLibrary. Overall these cover hundreds of journals, and give access to up to a million journal articles. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: While reviewing all the information from available literature on efficient market hypothesis, operations of stock market, price fluctuations and the anomalies of stock market, I have come to the conclusion that the following outcomes could be possible and predictable from my research, If the stock market is efficient then no information can play any role in making any change towards the performance of stock market. The efficient market hypothesis is expected to take any of the following forms which are weak, semi-strong and strong which purely depends upon the availability, and trueness of the past and present information about the stock concerned in the stock market. The anomalies like technical anomalies could be of great help to the researchers and analysts to predict the changing trend in the prices of stocks in the stock market but the transaction cost is the cause of concern while using such technical method. There are some other stock market anomalies which purely depend upon the internal and external factors of the entity and may result in fluctuations in the stock market. The anomalies related to stock market exist for short period of time but function against the concept of efficient market hypothesis and in my research I will find out the facts relating to the vibrations in the stock market as a result of these anomalies. LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES: While conducting my research I have to face certain difficulties and limitations which may occur during the course of my research. As my research involves the collection of secondary data, I have to be quite aware of the limitations that may arise due to the nature of data. Some of the limitations that are possible are as follows It could be possible that the theory and data we collected for our research is unclear and is not helpful for the companies in their decision making. It is important to check the source of the information as it could be wrong and misleading. It is possible that the theory is quite old for studies and research purposes in todays rapidly developing world. The theory may not be fit for application due to development of new and technological methods and techniques used for the analysis. REFERENCES: Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba (1996)Investment Results from Exploiting Turn-of-the-Month Effects, Journal of Portfolio Management 22, 17-23 Elearn NetTel Financial Analysis Revised: Session 1: Market Efficiency [Online] Available From: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TR505r/page4.htm Eugene Fama and Kenneth R. French (1992)The Cross-section of Expected Stock Returns, The Journal of Finance 47, 427-465. Eugene F. Fama (1995) Random Walks in Stock Market Prices, Financial Analysts Journal 21, 55-59. Ghauri, P., Gronhaug K and Kristianslund I., (1995) Research methods in business studies a practical guide Hempstead: Prentice Hall Investor Home Historical Stock Market Anomolies [Online] Available From: James P. OShaughnessy (1998) 2nd edn. What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time. New York: McGraw Hills Lawrence Harris (1986) A Transaction Data Study of Weekly and Intradaily Patterns in Stock Returns, Journal of Financial Economics 16, 99-117 Loughran Tim (1997)Book-to-Market across firm Size, Exchange, and seasonality: Is There an Effect? Journal of Finance Quantitative Analysis 32, 249-268 Marc R. Reinganum (1997) The Size Effect: Evidence and Potential Explanations, Investing in Small-Cap and Microcap Securities, Association for Investment Management and Research, 1997. Robert Haugen and Philippe Jorion, (1996)The January Effect: Still There after All These Years, Financial Analysts Journal, January-February 1996. Srinivas Nippani and Anita K. Pennathur (2004) Day-of-the-week effects in commercial paper yield rates. Quaterly Review of economics Finance 44, 508-520 Werner F.M. DeBondtand Richard Thaler (1985)Does the Stock Market Overreact? The Journal of Finance 40, 793-805. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market Hypothesis Literature Review 2.0 Introduction In order to better understand the origin and the idea behind the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the first section deals with an overview of the EMH. Section 2 deals with the Random Walk Model which is a close counterpart of the EMH. We then have examine the different degrees of information efficiency that exist, namely the weak form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and the strong form efficiency. In section 4, we have a brief overview of the different types of statistical tests that have been used in the literature to examine the weak form efficiency. Section 5 explains the implications of efficient markets for investors. 2.1 Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The concept of efficiency is one of the essential concepts in finance. Market efficiency is a term used in many different contexts with many different meanings. Market efficiency involves three related concepts- allocation efficiency, operational efficiency and informational efficiency. Allocation efficiency: A characteristic of an efficient market in which capital is allocated in a way that benefits all participants. It occurs when organizations in the public and private sectors can obtain funding for the projects that will be the most profitable, thereby promoting economic growth Operational efficiency: A marketcondition that exists when participants can execute transactions and receive services at a price that fairly equates to the actual costs required to provide them.Economists use this term to describe the way resources are employed to facilitate the operation of the market. It is usually desirable that markets carry out their operations at as low a cost as possible. Information efficiency: The actual market price of a share should reflect its intrinsic value. Information efficiency implies that the observed market price of a security reflect all information relevant to the pricing of the security. The investor can manage to earn merely a risk-adjusted return from his investment, as prices move instantaneously and in an unbiased manner to any news. The efficiency in the market for financial assets and assets returns refers here to the information efficiency and should not be confused with the other types of efficiency. As explained by Rahman and Hossain (2006): For a stock market to be efficient, stock prices must always fully reflect all relevant and available information. This definition can be expressed as Æ’(Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1) = Æ’( Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1), where Æ’(.) = a probability distribution function, Ri,t = the return on security i in period t, à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1 = the information set used by the market at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1 = the specific information item placed in the public domain at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1. This equation has two important implications. 1. Specific information item at t-1 (à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1) cannot be used to earn non zero abnormal return. 2. When a new information item is added to the information set à Ã¢â‚¬  M, it is instantaneously reflected on market prices. The concept of market efficiency was first introduced by Bachelier (1900). Since then, there has been many studies like Working (1934), Cowles and Jones (1937), Kendall (1953), Cootner (1964). However it was Fama (1965) who first used termed it as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“efficient marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Fama (1970) later stated the sufficient but not necessary conditions for efficiency: i. there are no transaction costs in trading securities; ii. all available information is costlessly available to all market participants, and iii. all agree on the implications of current information for the current price and distributions of future prices of each security He also identified three degrees of informational efficiency namely the weak form, the semi-strong form and the strong form. 2.2 Random Walk Model (RWM) The Random Walk Model is a close counterpart of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The model was originally examined by Kendall (1953). It states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Thus the Random Walk theory suggests that stock price change randomly, making it impossible to predict stock prices. The Random Walk Model is linked to the belief that markets are efficient and that investors cannot beat or predict the market because stock prices reflect all available information and the new information arises randomly. As mentioned in Fama (1970) the two hypotheses constituting the Random Walk Model , that is (i) successive price changes are independent and (ii) successive changes are identically distributed, are implicitly assumed in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The Random Walk Model is in direct opposition to technical analysis, which suggests that a stocks future price can be forecasted based on historical information through observing chart patterns and technical indicators. 2.3 Forms of Market Efficiency 2.3.1 Weak-Form Efficiency Fama (1970) stipulates that no investor can earn excess returns by formulating trading strategies based on historical price or return information in a weak-form efficient market. The weak-form efficiency thus assumes that the price of a stock fully reflects all information contained in past prices, that is the historical sequence of prices, rate of returns and other historical market information. A weak-form efficient market implies that it is of no use to engage in technical analysis that use past prices alone to find undervalued stocks. In order to test whether past share prices can be used to predict future share prices( that is, weak-form efficiency), statistical or econometric tests can be used. These studies seek to study the evolution of share prices from one period to the next period and try to detect correlation between the successive price changes. Technical analysts study the evolution of past share prices, with the aim of predicting share prices to make gains. 2.3.2 Semi-Strong Form Efficiency Fama (1970) described the semi-strong form efficiency as one where share price fully reflect all information contained not only in past prices but all public information. All public information includes capital market information as used in the weak form Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH) as well as non-market information such as earnings, dividend announcements, price earnings ratio, information about the economy and political news (Reilly1997). New public information is almost instantaneously integrated in share price and the share price is adjusted so as to reflect the true value of the share. This means that an investor cannot use public information to generate gains on the stock market. In order to test for semi-strong form efficiency, event studies are often used. These event studies are performed by analyzing the effect of the release of new public information on the share price. If the market is semi-strong form efficient, the new public information ( for example annual reports, earning announcement or dividend announcement) is instantaneously integrated in the share price, so as to reflect the intrinsic value of the share. New information can be both good or bad. Thus they can cause increases or decreases at their release. 2.3.3 Strong Form Efficiency Under strong form efficiency, the current price reflects all information, public as well as private. Private information, in this context, means information not yet published. On the stock market, there are professionals (for example security analysts, fund managers) who have private as well as public information. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) assumes that no investor has monopolistic access to any information. This means that as new public and private information is released, it is incorporated in share price to reflect its true value. An investor will not be able to consistently find undervalued or overvalued shares and make gains on the strong form efficient market. Fama (1970) perceives a strong form efficient market as one where investors are not expected to earn excess returns by relying on inside information. To test whether past share prices, public and private information can used to predict future share prices, the investment records and gains generated by professional investors are often studied. Investors should not be consistently able to make gains by using public and private information. At all moments, the share prices incorporate all public and private information to reflect the true value of the shares. 2.4 Statistical Tests to examine validity of Weak-Form EMH In order to examine the validity of the weak form efficiency, a number of statistical tests have been used in the literature. These tests can be categorized into two groups: i. Using mechanical trading rules also known as filter rules. These rules test for the possibility of non-linear dependence existing in the price data. Filter rules were first used by S.A Alexander (1961) and later Fama and Blume (1966) added to the literature. Professor Alexanders filter techniques attempts to apply a sophisticated criteria to identify movements in stock prices. An x percent filter is defined as follows: If the daily closing price of a particular security moves up at least x percent, buy and hold the security until its price moves down at least x percent from a subsequent high, then sell and go short (Fama and Blume, 1966). The short position is then maintained until the daily closing price rises at least x percent above a subsequent low when one is going to cover and buy. Moves less than x percent in either direction are ignored. ii. Statistical tests of independence between successive price changes. Serial autocorrelation tests and run tests are among the most popular tests. Some of the researches in this field use Spectral Analysis which decomposes a time series into a spectrum of cycles of different length. This spectral decomposition of a time series yield a spectral density function that measures the contribution of each of the frequency bands to the overall variance of the times series. There is also a relatively new test introduced by Lo and Mackinlay (1988), it is called the Variance Ratio which is based on the heteroscedasticity problem. The basic idea behind the Lo and Mackinlay (1988) variance-ratios test is that if a natural logarithm of a time series is a pure random walk, then, the variance of its k-differences in a finite sample grows linearly with the difference, Let (pt) denote a time series consisting of T observations p1,p2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,pT of asset returns. Then, the variance-ratio of the k-th difference, VR(k), is defined as: VR(k)= à Ã†â€™2(k)/à Ã†â€™2(1) where, VR(k) is the variance-ratio of the shares returns k-th differences; à Ã†â€™2(k) is the unbiased estimator of 1/k of the variance of the shares returns k-th differences, under the null hypothesis; à Ã†â€™2(1) is the variance of the first-differenced share returns series, and k is the number of days of base observations interval or lag (Ntim et al. ,2007). 2.5 Implications of EMH Market efficiency has important implications for both investors and authorities. If a market is inefficient, investors should doubt the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hold the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  strategy and should try to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“beat the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . While the authorities on their part should restructure the stock market by enacting effective law and enhancing financial media. The graph below shows the effect of EMH on stock prices. The straight line shows the reaction under EMH while the dotted lines show the over-reaction and under-reaction that occur with the existence of market imperfections. If a market is efficient, investors: 1. should not worry about investment analysis. They should rather concentrate on holding a well diversified portfolio. Investors holding an inefficient diversified portfolio will be exposed to risk which could be avoided and for which they will not be rewarded. In other words, the market only provides return for systematic risk, while specific risks have to be diversified away. 2. Should adopt a buy and hold policy once they have established their portfolios. This is because there is no advantage in changing from one group of securities to another. By doing this, there would be transaction costs which they would have to incur and as a result, the risk-adjusted return would be affected. Altering the composition of a portfolio can only be justified a) if the risk exposure has changed due to relative changes in the market value of the constituent securities. b) if tax payments can be minimized. Other implications of EMH are: Price changes are random and unpredictable Investors are not easily fooled by the glossy financial reports or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"creative accounting techniques Timing of new issues of securities are not important since prices represent the intrinsic and will reflect the degree of risk in the share. Thus under EMH neither fundamental nor technical analysis can be used to achieve superior gains. Investors should concentrate on constructing and holding efficiently diversified portfolios. 2.6 Empirical Evidences Based on the literature, it can be seen that there are two competing schools of thoughts about market efficiency. The first school argues that markets are efficient and as a result, returns cannot be predicted. For example early studies (Working, 1934; Kendall, 1943, 1953; Cootner, 1962; Osborne, 1962; Fama, 1965) on developed markets support the weak form efficiency of the market with a low degree of serial correlation and transaction cost. The studies in this school of thought, support the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and show that price changes could not be used to forecast future price changes, especially after transaction costs were taken into account. The second school, on the other hand, provides empirical evidence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies that contradict the theory of efficient markets. Some of these studies are Summers (1986), Keim (1988), Fama and French (1988), Lo and MacKinlay (1988) and Poterba and Summers (1988). They found some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies, which could not be explained by the theory of Fama (1965). Some of the market anomalies that they found are: January Effect/Turn of The Year Effect Stock returns are usually abnormally high during the first few days of January. The January effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Then they quickly reinvest their money after the new year, causing stock prices to rise. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) was among the first to prove this market anomaly. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) methodology gives smaller companies greater relative influence than would be true in value-weighted indices where large firms dominate. Subsequent researches (Reinganum, 1983; Roll, 1983, among others) later confirm that the January effect is a small cap phenomenon. Size Effect/Small Firm Effect The Size Effect is the tendency for firms with a small market capitalization to outperform larger companies over the long term. For example Banz (1981) and Reinganum (1981) showed that small-capitalization firms on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earned a return in excess of what would be predicted by the Sharpe (1964) Linter (1965) capital asset-pricing model (CAPM) from 1936-1975. However as mentioned by G.W. Schwert (2003, p.943), it seems that the small-firm anomaly has disappeared since the initial publication of the papers that discovered it. Alternatively, the differential risk premium for small-capitalization stocks has decreased over the years. Weekend Effect/Day of The Week Effect This is a phenomenon in which stock returns on Mondays are often significantly lower than those of the immediately preceding Friday. French (1890) observed this anomaly. He noted that the average return to the Standard and Poors (SP) Composite Portfolio was reliably negative over weekends in the periods 1953-1977. Again, like the size effect, the weekend effect seems to have disappeared, or at least substantially attenuated, since it was first documented in 1980. Value Effect/Price Earnings Ratio Effect The value effect refers to the tendency for stocks with low price earnings ratio to outperform portfolios consisting of stocks with a high price earnings ratio. Basu (1977) shows that investors holding low price earnings ratio portfolio earned higher returns. The existence of market anomalies have important implications. If stock returns do not follow a random process, then it is possible to design profitable trading strategies based on historical information 2.6.1 Empirical Evidences from Developing Countries Despite the large number of empirical studies that have been conducted to test the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in developed countries with booming financial markets, studies to support or dispute the efficiency or inefficiency of the African stock markets are quite limited. There is a small number of empirical studies analyzing emerging African equity markets with regards to weak form of market efficiency test. While some of these studies have analysed single markets ( e.g. Samuels and Yacout 1981; Parkinson 1984; Ayadi 1984; Dickinson and Muragu 1994; Osei 1998; Olowe 1999; Mecagni and Sourial 1999; Asal 2000; Adelegan, 2004; Dewotor and Gborglah, 2004; Ntim et al., 2007), others have analysed groups of countries (e.g. Claessens et al., 1995; Magnusson and Wydick, 2002; Smith et al., 2002; Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003; Simons and Laryea, 2004; Jefferis and Smith, 2005). However, while there are only a few empirical studies, their conclusions as to the efficiency and predictability of future stock returns have been mixed. For example Dickinson and Muragu (1994) shows that the Kenyan stock market is weak form efficient, in contrast to the results of Parkinson (1984). Also, most of the existing studies made use of conventional weak form testing techniques such as serial correlation tests. Samuels and Yacout (1981) and Parkinson (1984) were among the first to use serial correlation tests to examine the weak form efficiency on the African continent. Samuels and Yacout analysed the weak form market efficiency in weekly price series of 21 listed Nigerian firms from 1977 to 1979 and provided empirical evidence that the market was efficient. Parkinson on his part, analysed monthly price series of 30 listed Kenyan firms from 1974 to 1978 and rejected the weak form efficiency. Dickinson and Muragu (1994) reinvestigated the Kenyan market by applying run and serial correlation tests to weekly stock price series of 30 listed companies on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and their results were in contrast with Parkinson (1984). They demonstrated that successive price changes are independent of each other for the majority of the companies investigated. Most of the developing countries suffer from the problem of thin trading (Mlambo and Biekpe, 2005). The problems caused by thin trading have been widely acknowledged in financial market researches (e.g., Dimson, 1979; Cohen et al. ,1983; Butler and Simonds, 1987; Lo and Mackinlay, 1990a and b; Bowie, 1994; Muthuswamy and Whaley, 1994) . Fisher (1966) who was the first to identify the bias caused by thin trading in the serial correlation of index returns, explained that recorded prices of securities are not necessarily equal to their underlying theoretical values. This is because when a share does not trade, the price recorded remains the closing price when the share was last traded. However, while most of the African stock markets suffer from thin trading, many existing studies fail to adjust for thin trading. For example recent studies conducted on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003 and Simons and Laryes, 2004) made used of conventional techniques and did not adjust for thin trading. Other studies (Kabba, 1998; Roux and Gilberson, 1978 and Poshawale, 1996) which have examined the behavior of stock price and rejected the weak-form efficiency, have explained that the inefficiency might be due to delay in operations and high transaction cost, thinness of trading and illiquidity in the market.

The Role of the Supernatural in Thomas Hardys Writing :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Role of the Supernatural in Thomas Hardy's Writing As a child, Thomas Hardy heard various stories of supernatural occurrences from the family servants, rustics from the village, and his own mother who believed she once saw a ghost. Thus, Hardy learned to believe in the supernatural and to accept the superstitious ways of the rustic people. During an interview with William Archer, Hardy expressed, "when I was a younger man, I would cheerfully have given ten years of my life to see a ghost, - an authentic, indubitable spectre". Because of the superstitious influence of his upbringing and his own desire to believe, elements of weirdness, superstition, and magic play an interesting role in Hardy's works. Specifically, Hardy incorporated aspects of superstition and witchcraft into his writings. Such elements provide the reader with an understanding of how Hardy perceived his world. Many small aspects of superstition exist within the writings of Hardy. In Return of the Native, the reader is introduced to Diggory Venn, the Reddleman. A reddleman unearths red clay which is used as a dye for sheep's wool. Because the reddleman works so much with this substance, his skin takes on a reddish hue and thus, red associating him with the devil, he becomes the "boogeyman " of the rustic people. Other examples of superstition include the evil eye, the magic of a sixpence, and dairy witchcraft. In his 1901 interview with Archer, Hardy stated that "The belief in the evil eye subsists in full force." Johnny Nunsuch of The Return of the Native felt safe as he carried his sixpence because the coin was supposed to bring good luck and protect against witchcraft. Johnny becomes frightened when he happens upon Diggory Venn, the Reddleman, because the child realizes that he has lost his guardian sixpence. The country people held many superstitions regarding the production of milk and cheese. The "magic" that these superstitions are based on is known as dairy witchcraft. For example, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles after Tess arrives at Talbothays, the cows cease to produce milk. The milkers blame this unexplainable phenomena on the newcomer, believing that the milk went directly to the horns of the cows. They thus resort to song as a device to start the cows milking again. Hardy uses slight witch imagery when describing his strong female characters because, according to Gayla Steel, he is hiding his examination of their independence and sexuality within these images.

Essay --

Review of â€Å"Prediction Models for Annual Hurricane Counts† ELserner, J. (2006). Prediction Models for Annual US Hurricane Counts. American Meteorological Society, 2935-3951. HURRICANES This paper provides a Bayesian approach towards developing a prediction model for the occurrence of coastal hurricane activity based on historic hurricane data from 1851 to 2004 from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A hurricane is defined as a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained (1min) 10-m winds of 65kt (33 m s-1) or greater. [1]A Hurricane landfall occurs when a storm passes over land after originating in water. A hurricane can make more than one landfall. A landfall may occur even when the exact centre of low pressure remains offshore(eye) as the eyewall of the hurricane extends a radial distance of 50km. The literature review in the paper suggests a significant effect of El Nino Southern Oscillations (ENSO) on the frequency of hurricanes forming over topics and a less significant effect over sub tropics. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) also plays an important role in altering hurricane activity (Elsner 2003; Elsner et al. 2001; Jagger et al. 2001; Mur nane et al 2000) has been stated. The hurricane observations considered in the model fulfills the following criteria 1 The storm hits the US continent atleast once at hurricane intensity. 2 The storm is recorded in the US continent only except Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands The discrepancy associated with the available data of hurricanes is about the certainty of the records for before 1899 ie the hurricane record from 1851-1898 are less certain than records available after 1899. The challenge here is to achieve such a model that gives accurate predictions even if t... ...June. Therefore the partial season count excludes hurricanes of May (1 occurred) and June (19 occurred) from the total of 274 hurricanes from 1851 to 2004. A total of 20% data is eliminated from 274 hurricanes. MODEL FOR ANNUAL HURRICANE COUNT POISSON REGRESSION MODEL h≈ Poisson (lamdai ) lamdai =exp(ÃŽ ²o+ X`i ÃŽ ²) Ln(lamdai)= ÃŽ ²o+ X`i ÃŽ ² ÃŽ ²o and ÃŽ ² define a specific model and are calculated on Bayesian approach. The model assumes the parameters (intercept and coefficient) to have a distribution and that inference is made by computing the posterior probability density of the parameter conditioned on the observed data. The Bayesian approach combines Prior belief [ f(ÃŽ ²) ] and most frequent likelihood to give the posterior Density: f(ÃŽ ²|h) proportional f(h/ ÃŽ ²).f(ÃŽ ²) The posterior density talks about the belief of parameter values after considering the observed counts.

The Effects Of Wearing School Uniforms :: essays research papers

The Effects of Wearing Uniforms in Public Schools Uniforms in public schools are becoming accepted throughout the world. The public school systems would benefit significantly if this policy were to be accepted. Wearing uniforms in public schools result in positive effects. A dress code enforces discipline toward learning by changing a person’s attitude toward success. Students generally act the way they are dressed. With fewer fashion distractions, school will be seen as a priority for teaching and learning rather than trend competitions. This alteration leads to modification in grades because it’s much easier to focus when everyone is dressed alike. Furthermore, a student’s attendance also improves; with the relief of picking out a new outfit every morning. Schools requiring uniforms will experience reduction in violence. Without the pressure of competing with different styles, students are more relaxed in school. They will feel equal and at peace, leading to disappearing thoughts of violence. Obligated uniforms will reduce the weapon dilemma considerably. They will be harder to conceal with all students dressed the identically, therefore fewer will be brought to school. Parents are also impacted when schools require uniforms. Some argue that this policy is too expensive; uniforms are actually more affordable. For example, an average parent of a teen that attends a public school spends over $500.00 a year on clothes alone, while a parent of a teen with a uniform policy spends less then $200.00 a year. There are fewer clothes to purchase, therefore less money to spend.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Uniforms provide students with school uniqueness. Students will stand out in field trips and other school activities feeling a sense of belonging. A bond will then form and unite more students together.

Hardware Store Case Analysis Essay

This paperwork of BUS 680 Week 2 Hardware Store Case Analysis consists of: 1. Do you agree with Fred’s decision to use the 3rd supplier? Please explain your answer. 2. What else might Fred do before choosing a training package? Provide enough detail to demonstrate your understanding of the key issues and approaches to determining how to proceed once a triggering event has occurred. 3. If training went ahead as indicated, how successful do you think it would be? Explain your answer. Business – General Business Hardware Store Case Analysis. Read the Case Analysis on pages 147-148 and answer the questions that follow. Listen to your parents if they have input as to what major you should decide on. They are older and wiser than you are, and you should respect their opinion, especially if they are helping pay for your college education. However, just listen. Only follow their advice if you know in your heart that is right for you. It is your degree, regardless of who pays for it. This paperwork of BUS 680 Week 2 Hardware Store Case Analysis consists of: 1. Do you agree with Fred’s decision to use the 3rd supplier? Please explain your answer. 2. What else might Fred do before choosing a training package? Provide enough detail to demonstrate your understanding of the key issues and approaches to determining how to proceed once a triggering event has occurred. 3. If training went ahead as indicated, how successful do you think it would be? Explain your answer. Business – General Business Hardware Store Case Analysis. Read the Case Analysis on pages 147-148 and answer the questions that follow. Listen to your parents if they have input as to what major you should decide on. They are older and wiser than you are, and you should respect their opinion, especially if they are helping pay for your c†¦ Listen to your parents if they have input as to what major you should decide on. They are older and wiser than you are, and you should respect their opinion, especially if they are helping pay for your college education. However, just listen. Only follow their advice if you know in your heart that is right for you. It is your degree, regardless of who pays for it. Business – General Business Hardware Store Case Analysis. Read the Case Analysis on pages 147-148 and answer the questions that follow.