Real Business Cycles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Real Business Cycles - Essay Example It is not, however, straightforward to see this, because the RBC conjecture is advanced jointly with a claim that models should be assessed using a novel strategy. We must therefore evaluate the conjecture and the assessment strategy simultaneously. Since the publication of Kydland and Prescott's "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations" (1982 ), the paradigm RBC model, a large and active group of new classical macroeconomists have elaborated and developed the RBC model. As important as these developments are to the RBC program, none of them fundamentally affects the critical points that we will make. Our assessment will, therefore, focus on the original Kydland and Prescott model and its successor models in a direct line. We will also refer frequently to the programmatic statements and methodological reflections of Kydland, Prescott and Lucas, the most articulate defenders of the aims and methods of equilibrium business cycle models. The RBC model does not present a descriptively realistic account of the economic process, but a highly stylized or idealized account. This is a common feature of many economic models, but RBC practitioners are bold in their conjecture that such models nevertheless provide useful quantifications of the actual economy. While idealizations are inevitable in modeling exercises, they do limit the scope of the virtues one can claim for a model. In particular, the RBC program is part of the larger new classical macroeconomic research program. Proponents of these models often promote them as models that provide satisfactory microfoundations for macroeconomics in a way that Keynesian models conspicuously fail to do (e.g., Lucas and Sargent, 1979). The claim for providing microfoundations is largely based on the fact that new classical models in general, and RBC models in particular, model the representative agent as solving a single dynamic optimization problem on behalf of all the consumers, workers, and firms in the economy. However, the claim that representative agent models are innately superior to other sorts of models is unfounded. There is no a priori reason to accord RBC models a presumption of accuracy because they look like they are based on microeconomics. Rather, there are several reasons to be theoretically skeptical of such models. Most familiar to economists is the problem of the fallacy of composition, which Samuelson's (1948) introductory economics text prominently addresses. It is difficult to deny that what is true for an individual may not be true for a group, yet, representative agent models explicitly embody the fallacy of composition. The central conceptual achievement of political economy was to analogize from the concerns of Robinson Crusoe-alone in the world-to those of groups of people meeting each other in markets. The complexities of economics from Adam Smith's invisible hand to Arrow and Debreu's general equilibrium model and beyond have largely been generated from the difficulties of coordinating the behavior of millions of individuals. Some economists have found the source of business cycles precisely in such coordination problems. By completely eliminating even the possibility of problems relating to coordination, representative ag

Organization and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organization and Management - Essay Example This paper compares two organizations in terms of their approaches to three aspects of organizational theories. The comparison will be based on their approach to teamwork and teamworking, organizational structure and design, and organizational culture. Comparison of approaches to teamwork and teamworking Public and private organizations have been similar in embracing the different organization theories. According to Robbins & Judge, (2010, p. 23) organizations have embraced the scientific management theory by trying to apply all the eleven principles of scientific management. Biogenic plc divides tasks and assigns workers that have skills in performing the specific task only. The organization emphasizes on assigning different tasks to workers according to their best ability and academic credentials. This can be referred to as division and specialization of labor. It’s the most common principle of management. Applying division and specialization of labor has been facilitated by the availability of knowledge and skills among the workers. This has enabled organizations to assign tasks to workers according to their skills and abilities. The bureaucracy theory developed by Max Weber is also applied in managing both public and private organizations. All the hierarchies are involved in decision making thus it takes a long time to approve an action. This is the case of Biogenic plc where teams are designed on the basis of their position in the hierarchy of management. The administrative theory as developed by Henry Fayol emphasizing the importance of the functions of management including planning, organizing, controlling, coordinating and commanding. Public and private organizations apply the functions of management in their daily operations. These organizations are structured around the five functions of management. The application of the principles of management has been promoted by the close relationship among the functions of management. However, Sleepeasy h as little application of the five principles of management which has led to the company lacking a team. Employees are hired on the basis of part-time and there are formal processes that make it difficult for managers to fulfill the principles of management. Comparison of organizational structure and design In an organization, workers are the most important between the system and workers. Classical organizational theories were centered on tasks rather than the human aspect of workers. Workers were viewed as parts of a machine that played a significant role in the running of the business. All the organizational theories aimed at finding the best way of managing resources especially human resources in order to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in the production process of the organization. The organization is in itself run by workers who operate machines or work manually.  

Towards Speaking English Through Creative Drama English Language Essay

Towards Speaking English Through Creative Drama English Language Essay This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of creative drama on the enhancement of learners positive attitude towards speaking English in state high schools. A one-group pre-test/post-test study was carried out with 12 intermediate level students who were voluntarily selected. As a treatment students attended a 4-week creative drama program run by the researcher who received 320 hours of training for being a creative drama instructor. Four different instruments were employed to collect data in the study: Attitude questionnaire, student interviews, teacher observation notes and reflective journals. The attitude test was administered to the participants before and after the 4-week creative drama program, and the findings were compared to see the impact of the treatment. The data obtained by reflective journals, observation notes and interviews was grouped and analyzed. The results of the obtained data indicate that there were significant differences before and after the treatmen t in terms of enhancement of positive attitude towards speaking English. I.INTRODUCTION Statement of the purpose The present study was designed to determine the empirical validity of the assumption that providing learners of English as a foreign language with creative drama activities during English classes can enhance their positive attitude towards speaking English. It is suggested that learners will be more eager to learn and practice English if they adopt a positive attitude towards it. Justification It is clear that in the age of communication the role attached to speaking skill is far greater than it used to be. Due to the increasing mobility of nations, it is not surprising to see people who witness others speaking a number of languages in their daily life. The change in social structure has been reflected in linguistics through shifts in thoughts and notions, methods and techniques. What was once linguistic-oriented has now become a communicative one. With the increasing importance of learning English as a foreign language, many studies have been conducted to investigate better ways to teach English so far. Creative drama is shown as one of those ways by contemporary trends in language teaching. It is suggested that with creative drama activities learners cooperate with each other effectively during the application of the knowledge and the skills that they have acquired, learn better and discover new things about themselves. Creative drama is a kind of education technique that was developed by Peter Slade, Brian Way, Dorothy Heathcote and Gavin Bolton in England and is applied for almost all kinds of learning activities especially in improving verbal and written expression in language learning lessons. According to Davis (1996), in national education programmes in England, it is obligatory to use drama in English lessons. It is a known fact that in England, drama is being used as a method in speaking and writing fields of language teaching for a long time. In Turkey creative drama started to be applied especially in preschool education and elementary schools, in order to develop their creativity, self-confidence, independent thinking, self-control, and problem solving skills. In our world where individual, national and international competition is getting hard and there is a constant change, existing is based on having these qualities not on rote learning. In order to bring the children and adults in these qualities, instead of traditional education methods, methods of learning by living in social and natural environment should be used. One of these methods is creative drama. AdÄ ±gà ¼zel (2006) defines creative drama as follows: Creative drama is to represent or animate a subject, an experience, an event, a concept or behaviour with a group utilizing improvisation and role play techniques and using the experiences of group members. These improvising activities are carried out with an experienced leader and creative drama directly utilizes the general facilities of children games. In the light of this definition creative drama may be considered as a method of learning, a tool for self-expression, as well as art. In order to add more to this definition, UlaÃ…Å ¸ (2008) briefly explains the scope of creative drama through six learning principles: A student learns meaningful content better than other contents. Learning occurs as a result of a students interaction with his environment. The more sensory organs a student uses while learning, the greater the retention of the lessons. A student learns best by doing and experiencing. Effective participation is important in learning emotional conduct. Learning becomes easier and more permanent in educational environments where there is more than one stimulus. (p.876) Creative drama emerged from the work of John Dewey which emphasized the importance of the instinctive and impulsive attitudes and activities of children to education (Siks, 1981; cited in Freeman, 2000, p.7). It is believed that if the childrens natural activities and the games they played with their friends in daily life are transferred to the field of education, children will be more motivated towards learning. Learning by doing is the core of the idea that creative drama is an effective method of learning. As Mally (1983) said, Drama is more concerned with what is happening within and between members of a group placed in a dramatic situation. It is never intended for performance and rarely if ever rehearsed, since it depends on the spontaneous inventions and reactions of people involved in it. Drama involves the participants themselves (cited in AldaÄÅ ¸, 2009). As it is stated participants are completely active in drama activities. They have to receive the message quickly, find out practical solutions to the problems, and convey their responses to the other players. Like other fields drama is an effective technique in language teaching. By integrating drama activities in English classes, the monotony of a conventional language class can be broken and the syllabus can be transformed into a more meaningful one which prepares learners to face their immediate world better. If it is remembered that one of the significant problems for English language learners in Turkey is having a negative attitude towards speaking English, it will be more meaningful to claim that creative drama activities should be used in language classes. Learners negative attitudes are mainly caused by anxiety, lack of confidence and motivation Thus, it is important for teachers to find ways to motivate learners and reduce their anxiety while enhancing their confidence. Recent studies show that the use of creative drama activities could be regarded as one of the effective methods to help learners improve a positive attitude towards speaking English and also support them to acquire necessary communication skills. As Wagner (as cited in AldaÄÅ ¸, 2010) states that drama is powerful because its unique balance of thought and feeling makes learning exciting, challenging, relevant to real life concerns, and enjoyable. The integration of drama brings both real life and imaginary situations and characters into the language classroom. Through their imagination the students have to produce various actions that fit in with the situation they encounter. Teaching language skills through drama gives students a context for listening and meaningful language production provides opportunities for reading and writing development and involves children in reading and writing as a holistic and meaningful communication process. As Slade and Way (1967) state, Drama is a good way of teaching second language because students are learning and practicing the language with communicative activities in a real context. Another important benefit of integrating drama with second language teaching is that it improves relationships among learners and consequently, the class atmosphere. When the classroom context is relaxing and friendly, anxiety levels of learners are expected to be low. This principle is supported by Krashens affective filter hypothesis. According to the affective filter hypothesis, there is a kind of filter which determines how input is turned into intake. It is this filter through which learners motivation, anxiety level and self-confidence are shaped. Thus, who have a low anxiety have a low filter while the opposite is true for the opposite case. In the light of this hypothesis, it can be postulated that when the learner is unmotivated or lacks confidence, the filter will be up. (Gas and Selinker, as cited in SaÄÅ ¸lamel, 2009). Therefore, the classroom environment needs to be as stress-free as possible in order to lower the affective filter of the learner and consequently let the acquisition take place. (Krashen and Terrell, as cited in Shand, 2008). According to AldaÄÅ ¸ (2009), the most important benefit of using drama in second language teaching is that it increases self-esteem, self-confidence and spontaneity by reducing inhibitions, alienation feeling and sensitivity to rejection. In addition, drama develops problem-solving skills, working in groups, taking more risks and communicational skills such as turn taking, topic changing, and leave taking. To sum up the advantages of drama Ã…Å ¾amlÄ ±oÄÅ ¸lu and KarakuÃ…Å ¸ (2008) list what effective use of creative drama can achieve in learners: Creative drama; 1. Promotes long-lasting learning 2. Nurtures empathy 3. Empowers imagination, 4. Offers new dimensions, 5. Triggers curiosity and investigation, 6. Improves problem-solving and analysis-synthesis skills, 7. Concretizes the abstract, 8. Provokes creativity, 9. Assures self-confidence and personal development, 10. Enhances studentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ repertoire, 11. Helps students develop effective addressing strategies and improve their rhetoric. 1.3 Significance Although there are a number of studies on attitude towards speaking English and those studies, to a great extent, give a rough idea about the importance of the problem. However, there is still need to elaborate on the issue with respect to creative drama applications. When we reduce the scale to Turkey, it is possible to see the scanty literature welcoming further studies. The literature on creative drama is pretty abundant, as well. However, the literature about the use of creative drama in EFL contexts is rather scarce. Thus, documenting any probable advantage of creative drama techniques for EFL contexts would be of great help for those who want to experiment without losing the enjoyable and pedagogical nature of the courses. 1.4 Literature Review There are several studies (AldaÄÅ ¸, 2010; Fuentes, 2010; KÄ ±lÄ ±Ãƒ §, 2009; SaÄÅ ¸lamel, 2009; Saraà §, 2007, Shand, 2008; ) which have demonstrated that the use of creative drama activities not only creates a motivating environment for speaking English but also contribute positively to learners speaking skills in the field of EFL both abroad and Turkey. 1.4.1 Studies Conducted Abroad Shand (2008) conducted a study on the effects of a creative drama curriculum for a group of third, sixth and seventh graders. As a mixed study participants response to the drama curriculum was measured by pre-test and post-test, observations and interviews. Results of the study showed that drama activities were successful in lowering the third grade participants anxiety and increasing their confidence and motivation towards speaking English. Drama clearly helped motivate these students, reduce their anxiety, and increase their confidence. Shand (2008) stated that the students were much more relaxed when speaking English. They spoke more, and when they spoke, they were louder and uninhibited. In another study, Fuentes (2010) conducted a qualitative study to examine the effect of drama on second language learning. A total of 40 pupils of the first year of Primary Education participated in the study. The participants were separated into two groups. With group A, a didactic unit based on a simple play adapted to their level was developed and with group B several drama activities and techniques to support the existing planning were used. The implementation of the unit in group A took seven sessions of 50 minutes each; whereas in group B six sessions were dedicated to drama techniques. For evaluation a diary was used by the researcher in which she has taken notes of the learners difficulties and progress. Children also evaluate their own performance in the L2 (self-assessment), they received feedback from both their partners and the teacher (co-assessment). Fuentes study demonstrated that the activities presented during the study had some very positive and interesting results regarding learner autonomy, motivation and pronunciation. 1.4.2 Studies Conducted in Turkey Several studies on creative drama and teaching English as a foreign language have also been conducted in Turkey. One of those studies is SaÄÅ ¸lamels study (2009), which aimed to find the effects of creative drama as an alternative way to reduce language anxiety of university students in English speaking classes. At the beginning of the study the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale was administered to 565 randomly selected students from different levels. Next, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 30 students and 20 speaking teachers to get their perceptions of language anxiety in speaking courses. In the light of the findings from the interviews carried out with students, it was observed that almost half of the students found learning and speaking English as an anxiety-provoking experience. The possible reasons for language anxiety were investigated from the students perspective through interviews. It was found that linguistic difficulties (vocabulary, grammar a nd pronunciation), cognitive challenges (fear of failure in front of others, fear of exams, fear of failure in communication, lack of self-esteem, fear of making mistakes), the role of the teachers, competitiveness and lack of information were considered to be correlates of language anxiety. After covering the role and possible sources of language anxiety and possible ways to alleviate language anxiety from a variety of perspectives, the study focused on a single way to lower language anxiety in speaking classes: applying creative drama activities. 22 participants chosen on a voluntary basis attended a 6-week creative drama program. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale was administered both at the beginning and at the end of the study, and then the findings were compared. The difference between the pre-test and the pos-test was found to be statistically significant and the findings indicated that creative drama activities could be useful to lower language anxiety. In another study Aldag (2010) aimed to investigate the effectiveness of creative drama on the enhancement of motivation of the students who learn English in public elementary schools. Fifty randomly sampled 4th grade students of a state school participated in the study. The Control Group continued their conventional lessons while the Experimental Group was exposed to drama-based curriculum, but the content of the course was the same. Five different instruments were employed to collect data in the study: Motivation Questionnaire, Personal Information Form, Student and Teacher Interviews, Individual Diaries, and Observational Field Notes. Motivation test was applied twice: Firstly at the beginning of the study as pre-test; and secondly at the end of the study as post-test. The results of the obtained data indicate that there were significant differences between Experimental Group and the Control Group in terms of enhancement of motivation and speaking skills. At the end of the study, m otivation of the students of Experimental Group who were exposed to creative drama activities increased in a considerable extent, whereas motivation of the students of Control Group who continued their traditional curriculum remained the same. AldaÄÅ ¸ (2010) states that when learners overcame the fear of making mistakes in foreign language and relied on themselves, they were very eager to speak in English during activities. They were more enthusiastic about speaking in later stages of training. In another study Saraà § (2007) aimed to investigate whether creative drama has a positive impact on developing the speaking skills of young learners. For this purpose, the researcher conducted eight English lessons in which creative drama activities were applied. The lessons were recorded and checked by an observer. In addition, with the purpose of determining the expectations, feelings and thoughts of the students in terms of the influence of creative drama on the learners, the students were asked to keep journals. The observed lessons showed that speaking skills gradually increased towards the end of the research implementation. In addition, the students journals indicated that creative drama made a positive influence on the learners, such as providing a stress free environment, developing self confidence and providing high learner participation. Saraà § (2007) highlights that after the creative drama activities the students experienced only the positive feelings, most were happ y and found the activity to be fun. Not a single student felt anything negative about the activity afterwards. According to the data obtained, almost all the students show some of information routine, negotiation skills, simplification skills and rephrasing, use of fillers and hesitation devices in their journals. The results also showed that class participation and learner motivation was at the highest level in creative drama classroom enabling even the most shy and passive learner gain self confidence and thus become more active in the classroom. Another study which aimed to investigate the effect of creative drama on speaking English and students attitudes towards speaking English was submitted by KÄ ±lÄ ±Ãƒ § (2009). She included a research sample composed of high school students, who are between 15-16 years old. Research was designed according to experimental model with pre and post test control group. The advised methods and techniques in the course book were applied by the teacher to the students of control group. Unlike the control group, in addition to the methods and techniques recommended, drama activities were also applied to the experimental group. Speaking test and attitude test were applied before and after the treatment to determine the effect. The results of the study suggested that there had been a significant change on the attitudes of the students in the experimental group towards speaking English. Learners answers to the questionnaire after treatment showed that they felt more relaxed and were n ot afraid of making mistakes while speaking English. KÄ ±lÄ ±Ãƒ § (2009) stated that this may be because of the power of creative drama to help learners gain self-confidence during creative drama activities. In the light of this literature review the current study aims to find out whether creative drama has a positive effect on the attitudes of intermediate level high-school students towards speaking English in Turkey. 1.5 Research Question Does the use of creative drama in English classes help learners developing a positive attitude towards speaking English? 1.6 Research Hypothesis Creative drama activities can help developing positive attitude towards speaking English among intermediate level learners of English in state high schools in Turkey. 1.7 Limitations and Delimitations In this study the number of participants was one of the limitations. Since high school students have a very tough program during the week it was not possible for so many students to stay at school for the study. Therefore, only 12 students were available. This may limit the generalization of the study results to other populations. Another limitation is the time factor. The treatment was only applied for four weeks despite the fact that this kind of treatment must take a great deal of time. If the treatment had been applied for a longer period, it is anticipated that the results would have been more significant. II. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY 2.1 Sampling and Setting The study took place at a state high-school in Sultanbeyli. The school is located in a socio-economically disadvantaged district of Istanbul. There are approximately 600 students and 50 teachers in the school. 9th grade students have 6 hours of English every week, while 10th, 11th and 12th grade students have 4 hours. As it is an Anatolian high-school, great importance is attached to the teaching of English. The administration provides support to ensure that there are enough foreign language teaching materials and resources. However, there is a shared opinion among English teachers that students are not eager to communicate in English. Instead they prefer studying grammar as memorizing grammar rules is easier for them than producing real language. The participants of the study are 12 students who were chosen on a voluntary basis. There are 8 females and 4 males. They are 15-16 years old and this is their third year at the school. 2.2 Design of the study The study is a combination of pre-experimental and qualitative research design. It is pre-experimental because there is no control group. Due to curricular issues, participants were not assigned as the Experimental Group and the Control Group during the study. Therefore, only the impact on the experimental group was measured. The study contains elements of both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Qualitative data was obtained from students reflective journals, semi-structured interviews with students, and a colleagues observation notes on the study. Quantitative data was obtained from the attitude questionnaire which was applied before and after the treatment. 2.3 Instrumentation In this study four types of instruments were used for data collection. These instruments are attitude questionnaire towards speaking English, students reflective journals, semi-structured interviews with participants and a colleagues observation notes. The attitude questionnaire was developed by KÄ ±lÄ ±Ãƒ § (2009). It was designed to explore what an individuals attitude towards speaking English. The questionnaire has 30 phrases and designed as a five likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree). This scale was applied before the treatment as a pre-test and after the treatment as a post-test. At the end of each creative drama session the students were asked to write in their reflective journals about that session. They were provided with some guideline questions and asked to write in their journals in a way to answer those questions. The questions are: What did you learn in this session? What did you feel in this session? Was it different from your other English classes? Which three words would you choose to describe this session? Do you think you could express yourself in English? In which activity? Would you like to attend more creative drama sessions? Why? The main purpose for keeping journals was to collect data about students feelings and opinions about the session in order to find out how the session affected their attitude towards speaking English. Participants were allowed to write in Turkish as the priority is to reach their ideas and feelings rather than evaluating their language competence. At the end of the creative drama program two randomly selected students were interviewed with the aim of getting more information about how creative drama activities affected their attitude towards speaking English. They were asked open-ended questions related to the activities and their responses were recorded, transcribed and evaluated by the researcher. The questions asked in the interview are: What do you think about creative drama? Do you think creative drama sessions are beneficial for you? Can you compare the English lessons in the classroom and the creative drama lessons? Would you like this program continue? What would happen if this program continued? In order to decrease the level of researcher subjectivity, a colleague was invited to observe one of the creative drama sessions. She was kindly asked to take notes during the session and share those notes with the researcher. Procedures Necessary permission was taken from the school management in order to conduct the study at school. It was announced to the intermediate level students that there would be a 4-week study about English teaching. Twelve students were chosen on a voluntary basis. Since the study was going to be carried out after the school, their parents were asked to sign a form which showed that they were willing to let their children participate in the study. The room for the sessions was determined and prepared for creative drama activities by placing comfortable seats, cushions and costumes. Before the first session the pre-test (the attitude questionnaire towards speaking English) was administered to the participants to identify their attitudes towards speaking English. They were also provided with guideline questions for their reflective journals. The participants were exposed to the creative drama program for 4 weeks. The program was planned as 3 hours each week. Therefore, it consisted of 12 hou rs in total. The participants were requested to write about their opinions and feelings in their reflective journals by following the guidelines after each session. A colleague was invited to observe the third weeks session. The post-test (attitude questionnaire towards speaking English) was administered to the participants reporting their attitude towards speaking English at the end of the creative drama program. Interviews were conducted with four randomly selected participants at the end of the treatment. The findings gathered from the instruments were analyzed and compared to see the impact of the treatment. III. DATA ANALYSIS 3.1 Results In this section, the analysis of the data obtained from the pre-test and post-test of attitude questionnaire of the participants will be presented. 3.1.1 Results of attitude questionnaires The attitude questionnaire was applied twice during the research study. It was firstly applied before the treatment as pre-test and then secondly at the end of the treatment as post-test. It was applied before and after the treatment in order to reveal whether there is any effect of creative drama on enhancing positive attitude or not. This questionnaire was formed by using Likert Scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree). The results of these tests were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows 20.0, in this programme Paired Samples T-test was used in order to reveal whether drama activities affect the learners attitude towards learning English in a positive way or not. Pre-test Results of the Participants Pre-test Results Table 1 ITEM Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 1.I have difficulty speaking English. 0 0 5 5 2 2.I am afraid of making mistakes. 2 3 4 2 1 3.I dont want to speak English. 0 1 0 0 11 4.Lack of grammar knowledge inhibits my speaking. 0 1 2 4 5 5.Lack of vocabulary inhibits my speaking. 1 3 2 4 2 6.I can speak English fluently. 0 4 6 2 0 7.I feel nervous while speaking English. 3 2 2 2 3 8.I forget what to say when I am nervous. 2 2 4 1 3 9.Lack of correct pronunciation inhibits my speaking. 1 1 4 2 4 10.Lack of knowledge inhibits my speaking. 0 1 1 9 1 11.I cant express my ideas. 1 1 3 7 0 12.I cant understand what others say. 1 1 0 3 7 13.I dont know how to study to speak English. 0 0 2 3 7 14.Because of my teachers negative attitude. 0 0 1 0 11 15.I think nobody will understand me while speaking. 0 1 1 3 7 16.I think in Turkish. 1 1 2 4 3 17.Because my friends are teasing me for my mistakes. 0 0 0 1 11 18.Other students are better at speaking English. 2 1 1 0 8 19.I am afraid of not being understood by others. 1 1 2 4 4 20.I think I have no ability in learning a foreign language. 0 0 1 1 10 21.I cant remember the English meaning of words while speaking. 0 2 6 3 1 22.I think my teacher isnt interested in what I am saying. 0 0 0 0 12 23.I dont have to speak English in class. 1 0 4 1 5 24.My friends tell what I think before me. 0 3 2 4 3 25.I cant realize the mistakes I have done while speaking English. 1 0 1 5 5 26.I prefer learning grammar structures rather than speaking English. 0 0 1 6 5 27.I cant use computer because I dont know English. 0 0 0 1 11 28.I cant surf the Internet. 0 1 0 0 11 29.I cant watch movies in English. 1 1 0 2 8 30.I cant read newspapers or magazines in English. 5 5 2 0 0 Table 1 summarizes the participants responses to the items in the questionnaire which demonstrate their attitude towards learning English before the treatment. Post-test Results of the participants Post-test Results Table 2 ITEM Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 1. I have difficulty speaking English. 1 1 2 5 3 2.I am afraid of making mistakes. 1 3 0 3 5 3.I dont want to speak English. 1 1

Future of Automobiles :: science

Future of Automobiles Lately the trend in cars has been anything but. Lately in the United States the trend has moved toward the SUV or the Sports Utility Vechile. Thats Right the family station wagon and the Minivan are things of the past and I am going to take you through a thorough examination my favorite the Toyota 4Runner Ltd 1997 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4WD WHAT'S NEW FOR 1997 All-new 4Runner debuts with more interior room, stronger engines, dual airbags, new colors, and a top-of- the-line Limited trim level. For the first time, the 4Runner boasts a unique chassis and sheetmetal not shared with the Tacoma pickup. PROS AND CONS Pros: Great looks and ground-pounding performance make the 4Runner an ideal choice for people who love the great outdoors as well as those who just want to look like they do. Cons: Steep price and choppy highway ride temper our enthusiasm for this otherwise outstanding truck. For Successful five-year run, the second-generation Toyota 4Runner has been retired, and not a moment too soon. Fresh in 1990, the 4Runner aged quickly as the sport utility market exploded and other automakers introduced larger, safer and more powerful rivals. By 1995, the compact pickup-based 4Runner offered little, other than Toyota's reputation for reliability, to entice buyers. For 1996, Toyota has separated this high-volume SUV from its pickup truck roots. The new 4Runner shares little with the Tacoma pickup. As a result, engineers have created a more refined vehicle without sacrificing tough off-road ability. Suspension travel and tread width are both up to improve off-road ability, ride, and handling. The interior is larger in every direction, thanks to a wheelbase that is two inches longer than the previous version. A lower floor and wider doors make getting into and out of the 4Runner less of an exercise in contortionism. Rear leg room is up by three inches, and cargo space has been improved as well. Two engines are available on the 4Runner; a 2.7-liter inline four cylinder that makes 150 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 177 pounds- feet of torque at 4000 rpm., and a 3.4-liter V-6 producing 183 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 217 pounds-feet of torque at 3600 rpm. These figures represent a substantial improvement over the old anemic four cylinder and wheezy V-6 -- in fact, the new 2.7-liter four is more powerful than the 1995 model's 3.0-liter six.

Guna Fibres Case Analysis Essay

Problem Statement The problem that the firm Guna Fibres is facing is that they lack sufficient cash flow from operations to meet their day-to-day financial obligations. Guna Fibres has become dependent on a revolving line of credit from the All-India Bank & Trust Company and due to increasing operating expenses and costs of good sold Guna Fibres is no longer able to remain solvent based on their current financial practices. Situation Analysis Guna Fibres is a textile manufacturing company located in India that is subject to seasonal swings in demand as well as an increasingly competitive environment. Guna Fibres has historically utilized a line of credit from All-India Bank & Trust to finance the purchases necessary to fulfill the spike in demand that occurs each summer. Historically, Guna Fibres would zero out the balance on this line of credit in October, per the banks policy. At the end of 2011, Guna Fibres found themselves running a balance on their line of credit beyond October and was subsequently denied any more credit until the firm could demonstrate solvency to pay the balance off. To examine their company’s financial position Malik and Kumar created a financial forecast for the month-to-month operations of the company in an attempt to demonstrate to the bank that they firm could indeed pay off the loan. Analysis of the monthly forecast based on the assumptions of Guna Fibres current operating practices revealed that Guna Fibres would not be able to pay off the line of credit by the end of the year and in fact would owe a balance of 3,858,000 Rupees to the bank by December 2012. Based on the information contained in Malik’s forecast it is certain that the bank will not be willing to extend any more credit to Guna Fibres as currently there is no clear plan for the firm to pay its short term debit obligations. Examining Guna Fibres financial statements and business practices yields  some insights into possible sources of the firm’s cash flow problems. First, by looking at Guna Fibres historical income statements one can clearly see several trends that are concerning. While gross sales have increased from 2010 to 2011, Guna Fibres has seen the firm’s cost of goods sold out pace gross sales. Additionally, due to managerial decisions to increase quality control and expand relationships with other firms, operating expenses have increased as well. The end result for Guna Fibres is that despite their sales growth the firm experienced decreasing EBIT and decreasing new profit. At the time of this analysis Kumar and Malik have also been presented with several proposals that could possibly ameliorate the company’s current financial woes by addressing policies that are currently creating financial strain on the company. By taking closet look at Guna Fibres forecast several other concerning trends reveal themselves. Due to historically significant lag times in shipping product, Guna Fibres typically carries 60 days worth of inventory creating a storage problem in the company’s warehouse as well as a balance sheet problem as a significant portion of the firms working capital is tied up in inventory. Compounding the inventory issue is that typical collection times for accounts receivable are over 48 days, with 40% collected in a month and the remaining 60% collected in 60 days. This gap requires Guna Fibres to rely on the bank to pay for the inventory on hand. Guna Fibres has 2 cash management policies that could be impacting their ability to pay back the bank loan. As a matter of policy Guna Fibres pays out a 500,000 Rupee dividend to shareholders each quarter, the organization’s philosophy being that the cash is safer with shareholders than with the firm. Additionally, Guna Fibres keeps 750,000 Rupees as cash on hand. Looking at the financial forecast for the beginning of 2012 one can clearly see that Guna Fibres is expected to be running at a net loss for the first quarter yet still pays a dividend and continues to maintain the same cash balance. At the same time Guna Fibres projects that it will be necessary to increase their financing needs from the bank. Addressing Guna Fibres current situation is of great importance as they  currently have a cash flow problem that will find them shuttered and unable to fund day-to-day operations. In each of the aforementioned areas there is room for improvement by changing some of the company’s policies and procedures. Major Strategic Alternatives Utilizing the monthly forecast financial statement provided by Guna Fibres, Exhibit 1, it is necessary to create a statement of cash flows to begin to assess how the company’s capital is being managed through the working capital accounts of the firm. Exhibit 2 shows the breakdown of cash flows on a monthly basis based on the forecasted information provided by Guna Fibres. There are several important insights to point to instability within Guna Fibres. The first trend that is concerning is that according to Guna Fibres forecast, they will require a positive cash flow from financing activities through the month of June 2012 just maintain operations. Certainly, if this was to be presented to the bank there would be no chance that they would be willing to extend credit as Guna Fibres will not be able to zero out the debt balance in the coming months. Examination of Exhibit 3 shows the statement of cash flows for Guna Fibres for year ending in December 2012. Note the highlighted the cell that indicates the change in short term notes payable for the year in the amount of 2,704,000 Rupees. Based on the current projections not only will Guna Fibres not pay off the balance but also they will accrue a larger balance by the end of the year. Notice that while the total cash flows from financing is only 704K Rupees the reason for the decrease is that a dividend in the amount of 2,000,000 was paid to shareholders. In addition to the concerns about Guna Fibres reliance on the line of credit is the dearth of cash flow from operations, only 330k Rupees for 2012. Changes to Guna Fibres cash management policy could help to reduce the problems that Guna Fibres is currently facing. By examining Guna Fibres policy of paying shareholder dividends each quarter as well as their policy of keeping 750K Rupees on hand at all times one can begin to see where these policies place additional pressure on the firm to borrow. Examine Exhibit  4, which is Guna Fibres Statement of Cash Flows if they had decided not to pay a dividend. Notice the highlighted cell indicating that change in notes payable for year ending in December 2012 have decreased to 626,000. Overall, net change in Cash Balance remains essentially the same demonstrating that a large portion of Guna Fibres financing needs in 2012 are to fund paying a shareholder dividend. As stated by the firm, Guna Fibres believes that funds are more secure in the hands of the company’s shareholders. However, this assumption is likely based on the belief that dividends are paid out of net profit where the shareholders can earn a return elsewhere in the market place. In this case it is unlikely that the shareholders will find investments that return in excess of the 14.5% debit service that is being paid to finance their dividends in addition to the fact that the dividend payments are threatening to cause Guna Fibres to shut down, as they will no longer be able to finance operations. Guna Fibres could then draw cash from their cash accounts to begin to pay down some of the balance that remains on their notes payable. Similar to the issue with Guna Fibres dividend payments, even in months when Guna Fibres posts a net loss they maintain a cash balance of 750K. By utilizing Guna Fibres cash accounts to cover operating expenses in months where Guna Fibres suffers a net loss this would reduce Guna Fibres reliance on outside funding even more as can be seen in Exhibit 5. Please note the highlighted change in change in notes payable down to 275K Rupees as a result of covering net loss with cash as opposed to financing. Examination of Guna Fibres forecast as well as looking at some of the proposals regarding changes in operations elucidates another solution that would not require Guna Fibres to make such drastic changes to its dividend and cash balance policy. According to R. Sikh, improvements have been made to Guna Fibres shipping operations so much so that it is no longer necessary to carry 2 months of inventory. The implication for R. Sikh is that carrying 30 days less inventory will free up space in the warehouse; however, due to Guna Fibres current financial situation this change could have a great impact on the firm as a whole. Note the highlighted sections on Exhibit 6. Exhibit 6 models the impact that moving to a policy of only  holding 30 days of inventory would have on Guna Fibres financials. Note the yellow highlighted row, which indicates the new inventory levels versus the levels present in Guna Fibres original forecast (exhibit 1). As a result of the decrease in carried inventory, t he orange highlighted section indicates a decrease in total assets, as total assets are in part a product of inventory levels. Finally, the decrease in total assets results in a greatly reduced reliance on the line of credit from the bank as less capital is tied up in inventory at any given time, this effect can be seen in the green highlighted row. Note 2 very important effects: 1. That changing to Sikh’s shipping plan for the month of January would allow Guna Fibres to zero out the balance of their notes payable for 30 days as required by the bank, and 2. That based on the forecast Guna Fibres will be able to return to their expected cycle of zeroing out the credit line by the end of 2012. Due to changes in the shipping policy Guna Fibres will need to modify their ordering policy as demonstrated by the purple row. Here the purchases in period (t) are determined by the forecasted gross sales in (t+1). Feasibility of Sikh’s plan seems to be high as he indicates in his memo that new inventory procedures could be put in effect for January. Guna Fibres is also considering a proposal from L. Gupta that was originated on direction from Kumar to determine the efficiency impact of switching to a level production method. According to Gupta, under level production Guna Fibres will need to purchase a consistent INR5 million per month. Gupta suggests that this will provide several benefits to the firm, it will ease labor unrest and employee dissatisfaction by creating a stable workforce, decrease the risk associated with machine downtime during the peak-manufacturing season, and finally Gupta indicates that level manufacturing will decrease manufacturing costs by 5%. While the benefits described by Gupta are significant, modeling the impact on Guna Fibres financial forecast reveals some concerns. Note the highlighted sections on Exhibit 7 with the yellow indicating the new level purchasing quantity and the adjusted Direct Labor and other Manufacturing costs indicated with blue. Concerns arise when looking at inventory in the months of July and August where both of these months will see Guna Fibres stocked out of product during their peak-selling season. Additionally, it is important to note the  purple row indicating the balance of Guna Fibres line of credit. Not only does it not zero out the balance in 2012 under the new manufacturing system, but is also ends the year with a balance of more than 10 million Rupees. Decision Criteria In deciding which course of action Guna Fibres should take in response to their current crisis it is first important to determine the top priorities to maintain operations. Secondary to that Guna Fibres should make a determination as to which alternative yields the outcome that will be the most sustainable. As a result of the current crisis that Guna Fibres is facing, the first priority in determining a course of action is to implement the plan that will satisfy the bank immediately. Due to Guna Fibres reliance on their line of credit this must be restored for operations to continue. Specifically, the plan chosen must satisfy 2 conditions: 1. It must allow Guna Fibres to zero out their balance with the bank as soon as possible so that the bank will be willing to continue to extend credit as Guna Fibres prepares for the next season, and 2. Guna Fibres must demonstrate that they will be able to consistently meet their obligations to the bank in the future, ie. be able to zero out the balance in October 2012. Tertiary concerns are related to the sustainability of the business over the long term, as such looking at how changes in policy could make Guna Fibres more susceptible/resilient to labor problems, shipping delays, etc. Analysis of Alternatives Analysis of strategic alternatives one involves looking to see how eliminating dividends in 2012 as well as utilizing Guna Fibre’s cash balances to cover net losses each month would allow the firm to fulfill the primary criteria identified above. Referring to exhibit 8 note that the values have been adjusted as such that Guna Fibres is no longer paying a dividend and that cash is being used to cover net losses, adjusting Guna Fibres policy of keeping their cash balance at a INR 750K. Examining the yellow highlighted row one can see that these changes improve both the monthly balanced carried on the line of credit as well as improve on the year-end balance, (see highlighted section exhibit 5). Unfortunately, even  the implementation of both of these measures is unlikely to satisfy the bank. First, the models do not show that Guna Fibres will be able to zero out the balance on the account either in the short term or at any point next year. While the model shows a comparatively incremental increase in notes payable at years end, it shows that Guna Fibres is still unable to meet their debt obligations and the bank will be unlikely to extend any further credit. As far as the secondary criteria, this does not seem to be a solution for the long term for Guna Fibres. While it slows some of the bleeding in the coming year, the fact remains that the firm cannot meet their financial obligations and will likely find themselves in a deeper hole next year these are the only changes implemented. One benefit of the proposed changes to cash management would be that it could be accomplished without major procedure overhaul and could provide an immediate benefit to the firm. Conversely, ceasing dividends and spending the company’s cash balance would indicate to shareholders and employees that the company in bad financial health and could create a morale problem. Sikh’s proposal to capitalize on improvements in shipping times to improve inventory tracking had some unintended consequences that could be very beneficial for Guna Fibres. By carrying only 30 days worth of inventory at a time Guna Fibres is able to dramatically reduce the amount of capital that is invested in their inventory. In turn this reduces total assets and as a result lowers the necessary borrowing from the bank. Implementing Sikh’s plan immediately would satisfy both of the banks necessary conditions. As can be seen in Exhibit 6, the change in inventory policy would allow the balance of notes payable to be satisfied in the month of January and that Guna Fibres will be able to pay zero out the balance again in the fall as historically expected. Additionally, due to the improvements in shipping it is likely that this plan can be implemented in a manner that is sustainable and not simply a â€Å"Band-Aid† solution to deal with symptoms of the underlying pr oblem. Finally, there are benefits and drawbacks of this plan that need to be acknowledged. As it relates to the tertiary criteria mentioned above. The greatest benefit beyond the ability to continue operations is that doing  so will not compromise the company’s dividend payments or cash balances. This should have a positive effect on company morale and continued shareholder and employee engagement. One of the possible drawbacks is that the 30 day inventory policy will reduce some of the slack in the system and the incidence of a mechanical or raw materials delay could result in stock outs for Guna Fibres. Additionally, moving to a just in time inventory system will require Guna Fibres to have very accurate projections for the next periods demand as the firm will want to avoid stock outs. While these concerns will need to be taken into account, they are subordinated to the primary need, which is to demonstrate a viable financial model that will satisfy the bank. The final proposal to shift Guna Fibres to level production fails to satisfy the immediate needs of the bank as well as the long-term requirements of being able to zero out the line of credit. Exhibit 7 clearly shows that this policy will create an increased reliance on the bank’s line of credit to maintain operations as well as create inventory stock outs during the busy season for Guna Fibres. This proposal may yield some insights for the long term for Guna Fibres as Gupta is able to demonstrate decreases in manufacturing expense as well as benefits to morale and resilience to labor and manufacturing problems. However, at this time, this plan does not satisfy the immediate need of Guna Fibres. Comparing the three proposed plans it is clear that adopting Sikh’s new inventory management system is the ideal solution as it is the only plan that is likely to satisfy the bank. Additionally, Sikh’s plan is sustainable and does not involve the firm treating symptoms and actually addresses the underlying issue. Recommended Solution Based on the given analysis of the proposed solutions, Guna Fibres should implement the inventory management plan that was proposed by Sikh. Based on Sikh’s memo inventory procedures can be implemented immediately and this course of action should be chosen. Even in the presence of minor delays or transitional problems, the sustainable nature of this plan should be enough to persuade the bank that Guna Fibres will be able to pay their debit obligations going forward. The biggest area of concern will be the  importance of accurately projecting demand for the next period as having 30 days less inventory will eliminate Guna Fibres ability to rely on extra stock when demand exceeds their projections. Efforts to address these concerns could include developing a more communicative relationship with the distributors that Guna Fibres sells to gain better information for making their projections. An additional concern that needs to be addressed are how the change in inventory policy will impact Guna Fibres suppliers and if they will be able to accommodate the changes to the firms ordering policy. It is also important to keep in mind that if Guna Fibres implements this policy they still have the flexibility to cut their dividend or reduce their cash balance to cover and periodic cash flow problems. By demonstrating that new inventory plan to the bank with the additional contingency of potentially cutting cash or the quarterly dividend, Guna Fibres should be able to resume operations and a relationship with the bank.

Benefits of Internet and Social Media to Students Essay

Internet and social media is student best friend. They provide needed materials within a short span of time. They allow interactions among student to be easy and convenient. Most of the times are when students get required information from the internet and this helps them in their studies. Since plagiarism is not allowed in their work, there is online plagiarism checker which verifies zero percentage plagiarism before the work is forwarded for marking. Internet benefits are more than its demerits, although parents and guardians are always opposed to the idea of their children being exposed to internet materials, it reaches a point where they cannot control it anymore. Being in college exposes one to various mediums of communication. One of them is the internet social media. It is efficient and reliable, onset of social groups such as Facebook and twitter helps students to interact with their fellow friends. see more:social topics for speech Education is also passed through these media; there has been a lot of idea exchange in the internet today. Almost everything can be confirmed in the internet regardless to its sensitivity and significance, plagiarism software are also available in the internet today. They help reduce cases of copying directly from the internet. Important education matters can also be passed from one student to another; this is usually very fast as compared to word of mouth or other written documents. Internet provides leisure activities to the students, they engage in games and other plays that help them relax their minds. This is one way of ensuring academic progress among student in universities and colleges. There is also online learning which have been adopted by many students and colleges, it’s a convenient way of studying and hence it has been embraced by many students with positive attitude. Despite internet being misused by few individuals, its benefits cannot be measured to any other data source. Its effective and reliable way of obtaining information.