Design Case Study

Are data and sales publishings driving forces

Are data and sales publishings driving forces Are data and sales publishing's driving forces? Reedsy was at The Frankfurt Book Fair this year. The conferences from the self-publishing program were interesting, but often too short to really dig into details. Luckily, I had registered ahead of time for a panel that went almost unnoticed thanks to poor programming; by Saturday morning, most of the trade visitors had either left or were too exhausted to reflect on the state of the industry with any wit or coherence.Porter Anderson, journalist for The Bookseller’s Futurebook and Thought Catalog; Orna Ross, â€Å"indie† author and founder of ALLi; and Marcello Vena, founder of All Brain, a publishing consultancy, convened to answer one brilliant, pertinent question: Is it all about sales?The dissection of a publisher by Marcello VenaPorter opened, putting the question to the panel. First up was Marcello Vena with a 15-minute dissection of a publishing company. Marcello didn’t try to be elaborate or- heaven forbid- present us with another blueprint of how to â⠂¬Å"disrupt† the publishing industry. Rather, he drew a clear, structured picture of what publishing should be about, going back to the fundamentals.Here’s what I took away from Marcello’s contribution: Yes, publishing is a business. The biggest publishers are owned by multinationals and are under the pressure of the markets. And the markets care about sales. Whether this should be its philosophy or not, a publishing company is always there to make money, because else it cannot be sustained. It’s that simple.However- and this is where the beautiful twist comes in- even though sales are just as important to Penguin as to Pampers, selling books isn’t like selling diapers. Publishing is a creative industry. Sales depend on two different capabilities: first,  acquisition (luring the best authors who write the best books, and developing their careers), and second,  marketing (i.e. ensuring that the books get into the hands of their target audience).T his is what makes publishing such a puzzle, an industry resistant to standard strategies of â€Å"disruption†: you have to compete both for content and distribution.When both are done together, and done well, that equals†¦ sales.When the balance is not respected†¦Good debate needs common ground- something we can all agree on. Now that we know how a publisher should work, we can identify what is going wrong (if, indeed, something is going wrong).And no one better than Orna to help with that. You can read her story here. Orna’s publisher didn’t respect the necessary balance between acquisition and marketing. Her publisher took her book about â€Å"strong women rising above their inherited circumstances† and turned it into a love story with a neon-pink cover. â€Å"For the mass market,† she was told.This is not the first â€Å"horror story† (Polly Courtney has a similar one), nor will it be the last. They always follow the same classi c plot: author takes book to publisher, publisher uses book as raw material for making something more â€Å"marketable,† author feels like giving up.To widen the debate: a reflection on data and creative industriesThis is when Porter kicked in with a comparison to the news industry. Before the data-era, the power in newspapers and magazines resided with the editorial team. Journalists wrote what they wanted, how they wanted - and this often resulted in well-written, in-depth pieces on critical subjects.Now, power has shifted to the advertisers. Journalists are not supposed to write what they think is â€Å"good† or relevant; they have to write what data shows will be read and clicked on.This comparison led the audience to a crucial question in this debate: is data compatible with creative industries?Data-driven strategies are all about testing and iteration, repeating what works. Obviously, Marcello points out, big publishers do other things too. If they didn’t, we’d be drowning in a sea of erotica right now. But things might be moving that way, just like they have for journalism.Trying to be iterative in a creative industry is problematic because it stops publishers from finding the next â€Å"big hit†. Big hits are almost always books that uncover a market that either didn’t exist or looked dead (exempli gratia: Harry Potter, Fifty Shades of Grey). Sometimes the acquisition team of a publisher has to take a leap of faith- a leap unsupported by data- and marketing has to trust it.Closing remarksThe balance between editorial and marketing is maybe only one of the challenges facing publishing companies nowadays, but it might be the most important. The balance is at once about publishing itself, what it means, what it does.As Porter has repeatedly pointed out in his articles for The Bookseller or Thought Catalog, we often forget that the big shift happening in the publishing industry is a relatively recent one.   We ar e in this industry and this makes us impatient to see progress and adaptation to change, but we must not forget that no other industry would have reacted quicker or better to such a paradigm shift. It’s not exactly the most comforting of thoughts, but it’s true.Nevertheless, hopefully when I’m in Frankfurt this time next year we’ll have started to see some sort of response to all this kind of thing.Thanks for reading.RicardoCOO, ReedsyIf you enjoyed Ricardo’s thoughts on the business of publishing, you might want to check out some of these posts†¦Patience: The Modern Author’s Lost VirtueAuthorpreneurs VC PublishersUncommon Author - An Interview with Eliot Peper

PR Paper for Neat People vs Sloppy People Personal Statement

PR Paper for Neat People vs Sloppy People - Personal Statement Example I think that this essay is a great example of how the mindset of an audience can impact how they view an essay, a poem, a novel, or any other piece of literature. In reading this essay the first time, my own preconceptions really got in the way. I would consider myself to be a fairly neat person, so I found myself taking offense to some of what Suzanne Britt was saying about neat people. From the very beginning, I felt like Britt was unfairly attacking neat people. For example, in the third sentence of the essay, Britt states â€Å"Neat people are lazier and meaner than other people†(Britt, 225). Just reading this sentence, my entire view of the essay was colored as I struggled to overcome my feeling offended by what she was saying. I was taking her words to heart and comparing my own personality to the one that she attributes to neat people. One particular example was when Britt states â€Å"Neat people are bums and clods at heart. They have cavalier attitudes towards possessions†¦Neat people will toy with the idea of throwing the children out of the house just to cut down on clutter†(Britt, 226). I couldn’t help bu t wonder what Britt’s point was in this essay. She praises sloppy people and bashes neat people. Perhaps she knew someone in her life who wronged her at some point and was a â€Å"neat† person. I felt that this might be a potential reason as to why she was so vitriolic against neat people. A few days later, I reread the essay; however, and really took in the comments that the editor or author of the book had made about the essay. â€Å"Mingling humor with seriousness†¦Britt uses comparison mainly to entertain by showing us aspects of ourselves, awful or not†(Kennedy, Kennedy, and Aaron, 225). This description was helpful in that I was able to drop my preconceptions and read it in a new way. I was able to view the sarcasm and humor within the piece. I realized that the extreme descriptions of the neat people and sloppy

Consumer behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Consumer behaviour - Essay Example Despite some lingering negative issues, the number of people shopping online continues to grow as more and more people become familiar with the process and the convenience of being able to shop for just about any item they want – from homes to house wares and everything in between – at any time of the day or night that works best for them and regardless of whether what they’re wearing (or not wearing) is presentable to the public to be found at the local shopping center. While there remain certain products that consumers prefer to purchase at retail ‘brick and mortar’ outlets and several issues concerning taxes, security and information mining to be overcome, the concept of purchasing online is definitely a growing trend worth investigating. From the retailer’s perspective, the theories and fundamentals of shopping remains much the same in the online environment as it does in the brick and mortar environment. However, there are some significant factors to take into consideration in order to continue attracting and retaining customers who frequently have many more options online than offline in which to purchase their goods. To begin with, the internet provides an immediate benefit in efficient time consumption as the consumer can, with a few clicks of his mouse, compare prices, investigate product information and receive previous customer recommendations. This greater flexibility was noted in the literature as early as 1997 (Alba et al) when internet sales, still in their infancy, amounted to less than half of all retail sales in the country. According to Ruthkowski (2000, cited in Changchit et al, 2005), in response to growing trends in consumer behavior that continue to turn to the internet as a source of not o nly information, but shopping venues, the number of available hosts on the internet, denoting the range of shopping venues, has risen from 1.7 million in 1993 to

Botticelli's spring and Michelangelo's creation of adam Essay

Botticelli's spring and Michelangelo's creation of adam - Essay Example Botticelli’s Primavera and the Birth of Venus are mythological paintings where storyline is seriously pursued with due respect to its mythological lineage. Goddess Venus is depicted as Virgin Mary in unique style. Michelangelo Buonarotti 1475-1564 was the most gifted painter of the Renaissance times, outshining other artists in fine art, sculptor, and architecture. The Creation of Adam – is central to his Sistine Chapel frescoes . Michelangelo’s faith in the outward beauty is reinforced through the Creation of Adam. This can be seen in his early poetry as well where he links beauty to divinity. The Creation of Adam is a wonder in art in the sense that he has made the touch of the Divine hand central to the picture and symbol of the power of the Creator. Michelangelo was responsible for transforming the history of culture. As Wolfff\lin in Classic Art, Trans. 1952 comments: â€Å"If any one man may be held responsible for major changes in the history of culture, that man was Michelangelo, who brought about the generalized heroic style and caused place and time to be disregarded’(Stokes, 1955: 106). The delineation of Sixteenth century dress and architecture was exaggerated not at the cost of characterization but to provide dignity in presentation, it was enlarged as ‘its flowers grew from the old soil, but they waxed bigger’(Stokes, 1955: 106). It was a period of resurgence of interest in the art and culture of Greece and Rome by European civilizations. It was a reaction to the rigidity of feudalism and Church of the medieval period where individual interests were subservient to society, ruled by feudal lords for material needs and Church for spiritual aspirations. The Renaissance started in the creation of city states like Venice, Florence, and Milan, self-sustaining and creating Franciscan humanism. Such states provided economic means to keep both ends meet to the

Modernity and Modernism in Literature

Modernity and Modernism in Literature 1.2. Modernity and Modernism The first seeds to modernist literature were implanted with the emergence of modernity. Modernity is a post traditional or post-medieval historical period that characterized a radical shift away from traditions. It is the epoch marking the rise of the age of reason which began with the Enlightenment (About 1687 to 1789). Scientists such as Immanuel Kant, Renà © Descartes and most importantly Isaac Newton believed that through science the world could be saved and that through reason they can establish a foundation of universal truth. Modernity was also brought to light by political leaders such as Niccolà ² Machiavelli who believed that peace could be established with reason resulting major movements such as Capitalism, Industrialism and Urbanization. Post Modernity as a theory evolved around criticizing modernity and what modernity stands for, it criticizes industrialization and the effects that last one had on the peasants in the fields and the workers in factories, and the power capitalists had over the people.(Barret 17-18). In other words, postmodern refers to a time of interfused styles, mixed cultural layers, oddly merging traditions and multi-cultural pluralism. (Bradbury WII) Modernism as described by Barth is a term that describes the modernist movement; it was a revolt against the conservative values of realism. Modernism is often understood through the work of authors who were productive after the turn of the twentieth century. Writers such as T.S Eliot, Ezra Pounds and James Joyce allowed it to be historically and politically understood in their literary works. (Childs 5) 1.2.1 Modernist literature Modern literature is a literature that flourished in the new capitalist art market during a period of time where writers were no longer pointed when it comes to what they write neither by the church nor by monarchies. They also no longer had to answer to the old system of artistic patronage; to the contrary, they signified their allegiance to all what is new. (Hutchens-Suggs 20). The First World War showed artists how ridiculous life could be, Life was not fair to Europeans and continued to be with the Second World War taking the lives of over 50 million person and damaging the understructure of Europe unsling it from what was generally referred to as the Belle Époque . Later on and when the flames of war finally came to end, this period was seen as a period of calm before the storm. (Ara Mergian CNN.com- November 9, 2014 The modernist artistic movement is an intellectual movement that broke aesthetic and social boundaries. It appeared in the early 20th century and aimed to uncover invisible systems and unconscious codes or rules by explaining various phenomena using attractive and coherent style in writing, painting, sculpture and all artistic and creative performances (Barret 22). Modernists referred to themselves as avant-garde, they were rebellious against restrictions, had a futuristic vision and no limitation when challenging social values. 1.2.2 Modernist Aesthetics and Criticism To some, Modernist art is old and even finished, but that isnt completely true since it was once very progressive, bringing a new art for a new age under of the cape of a social and economical revolution that swept over the, new back then, urban and industrial Europe(Barret P 20). One of the most important specifications of modernism was that it abolished the idea of beauty as the ideal of art (Atkins 56). Malcom Brudbury said One of the defining features of modernism has been the breaking down of traditional frontier of matters of literary and cultural concern ( p114). Artists dropped subject matters as essentials and writers changed their presented works as rapidly as the intellectual life was changing. Poets likewise sought to account for the rapid changes. Due to its difficulties, modernist poetry is hard to enjoy having a wider and less comprehensive sense (Marry Warner 1 2) Artists eliminated the need to have an artwork be different from ordinary objects; they made an unofficial statement that beauty has no established scale to be acknowledged. Douglas Crimp (1990) argued that the demise was brought about by the invention of photography which allowed the reproduction of images mechanically including art images stripping away from the artwork its uniqueness. Other critics see that aestitic revolutions of modernism are formed by the expansion of the comprehensive system of globalized world open to outer cultures and regions (Child 31). 1.3 JAMES JOYCE (1882 1941) James Joyce was, and still is, a major figure of modernism. The famous writer was born on the 2nd of February 1882 at 41 Brington Square West in Rathgar and was named James Augustin Joyce after his great grandfather and grandfather (Noris 59). James was born to a Catholic family but he had always been a rebellion, he rebelled against his father who encouraged him into becoming a priest and choose, or might have been destined to, become a literatures crooked genius (Philips 191). He subsequently studied languages and philosophy at Clongowes Wood and Belvedere Colleges. Coming from a middle-class family, James was brilliant; Hildegard Tristman considered him to be A writer who lost his brain to forgetting (Tristman 230). Needless were notebooks, his memory was so good that he could retrieve any information he heard or read at any moment. The name Joyce is derived from the French word joyeux and James was supposed to hold the holly spirit of joy. He mostly referred to himself as James Joyceless,a Joy of Evil and as Joyce in the wilderness (Ellmann 12). Growing-up, James was a well-behaved, slim little boy with a set of blue eyes and a pale face. Doing his Jesuit masters, James didnt feel at ease with their teaching techniques but later on in his life when he was asked by August Suter about what he retained from his years in Jetsuit he replied :I have learned to arrange things in such a way that they become easy to survey and to judge (Ellmann 27).He got from Jesuits his hairy platonic idealism and the grounded Aristotelian realism as the question of his Catholic faith was raised by father Daly who indicated that his religious and spiritual manifestations were mysterious(Philip P4) Joyce was head of his class at Clongowes, his memory was absolute, and he was a good athlete too, playing Rugby and Cricket. The fascinating boy came back home with several cups (P 30). James was keen of music and all sorts of art that he took Piano lessons as well. The family had serious financial problems and that did impel James to move closer to Dublin. John Joyce, James father, sold many properties of his in order to provide a better life for his children. The caring father with a pension of  £132 a year struggled to provide comestible, pay school tuitions for the children and to keep a roof over their heads after moving to The Lionville house at Carysford Avenue, Blackrock. The stress caused by the economical difficulties affected James  starting from his teen-years that some indicated a flair of drama in his personality and thats when he attained a reputation for being spiritual and conscious of everything happening around him. At Belever, Joyce acquired Italian as a third language to go with Latin and French pursuing to read European literature at the expense of his own grades. In 1897 and by love for art and need to help his family, James participated in the Intermediate Examinations and received an exhibition of  £30 a year and  £3 prize for best English composition in his grade in Ireland (P 51). In the fall of 1898 James attended University College, Dublin from wich he graduated in 1902. During this time, Dublin was a town with many important pillars of literature such as William Butler Yeat, Lady Augusta Gregory, James Clarence and George Moore walking its street. James was influenced by all these writers especially Yeats whom he met privately in early October 1902 on the streets of Dublin and had a deepened conversation with. That strongly showed on his statement of method and intention and the way in which he strongly defended all what is temporary and modern. On April 1900 Ibsens New Drama by James A Joyce was published on the Fortnightly Review and after that, James was no longer an Irishman, he was European. Graduating from U.C Dublin, James main focus was to travel; his targeted city was Paris were he didnt reside easily. At that time, his fame and readership were not  particularly widespread (Goldman 84). To stay there was a pointless move so, so he went home for Christmas and then decided to stay when he knew of his mothers health issues. His mother died on August 13th, 1903. After this tragedy, Joyce focused more on making reviews for the Irish Homestead magazine and during this time he met Nora Barnacle and the two moved to Pola in late 1094 where he occupied a teaching position at Berlitz school. The next few years were difficult for James who suffered from financial problems and a major drinking problem too. After that he became disconnected from the people around him. Eventually Joyce, Nora and their child settled into a new life in Paris where he finally was able publish Ulysses but continued to have problems, this time health problems especially with his sightedness (Ellman 2 25-229). Difficulties continued to cross Johns path as his relationship with publishing houses delayed Dubliners from emerging for a decade. Better days were yet to come as he gained an award from the Royal Literary Found in 1915 followed with the publication of A Portrait of the Artist as Young Man in 1916. His work as a whole, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake predominately served to change the face of novels; they represented a playful mixture of English and other languages and novels completely free from the limitations of normal consciousness. James was a relentlessly autobiographical writer, a man who never doubted himself and in August 1929 his self-esteem extended even more as he was praised by George Moore who wrote to John Elton, He (Joyce) was distinguished,  courteous, respectful, and I was the same. During their short encounter in London Moore said, I have been only a revolutionary, while you have been a heroic revolutionary, for you had no money (Ellman 617). On January 1935, James moved along with his entourage back to Paris. He didnt feel as blind as Homer, nor as exiled as Dante having as many friends as he did. They moved again to southern France but eventually settled again in Zurich. On January 9th 1941 James was hospitalized, the doctor assured him that he didnt have cancer and that he needed an immediate surgery which George, his father offered to pay for saying well manage Somehow or other (Welcker 53). The surgery was successful as he recovered consciousness but at one Oclock in the morning he relapsed into coma. At 2:15 on January 13,1941, one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century died leaving behind a considerable amount of scholarly interesting works(Cope, Cope 2). 1.4 DUBLINERS James Joyces Dubliners is a collection of stories that aims to portray middle class life in Dublin, Ireland in the early twentieth century. It is a set of 15 short stories published in 1914 where Joyce made to appear the literary portrait of an entire society glimpsing into the lives of different social classes and exploring what it means to be Irish (Joyce VI). Moments of sudden insights arise frequently throughout Dubliners, it have been described and analyzed by critics as a series of fifteen epiphanies coupled with frustrating and enlighten characters with significant and illuminating experiences that are trapped in a city where nothing ever changes. Dubliners stories spotted the paralysis in the Irish society and how helpless in their daily life those individuals are; thanks to Joyce artistic vision which simplified the image of Dublin. (Carter Mc Raf 165) Nothing would explain Joyces purpose in writing Dubliners more than his own words: My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because the city seemed to me the centre of the paralysis. I have tried to present it to the indifferent public under four of its aspects: childhood, adolescence, maturity and public life. The stories are arranged in this order. I have written it for the most part in a style of scrupulous meanness and with the conviction that he is a very bold man who dares to alter in the presentment, still more to deform, whatever he has seen and heard. (Gillie 94) 1.4.1 Epiphany in Jamess Dubliners An epiphany is: 1_an illuminating realization or discovery, often resulting in a personal feeling of elation, awe, or wonder; its a state of Nirvana, a complete cessation of suffering, and a blissfull state attained through realization of sunyata, simply an enlightened and heightened experience. 2_ a Christian feast celebrated on the 7th of January (Oxford 127) Epiphany in James dictionary is a religious term that refers to the revelation of the infant Jesus to the Magi in the season of time of the Christian church year; he considered it to be a structural device. (Cope-Cope 4) The stories of Dubliners are distinctive to the reader by the sudden insight about the plot and characters who are kept from seeing who they really are. At the first look, the reader might think that the characters, those Dubliners, are taking their journey in a rhythmic way, he might think, hope them to achieve the expectable, but suddenly, a dramatic alternation occurs. Father Flin and Eveline are probably the best examples to this. Father Flin ended up as a spiritually crippled man Unable to cope with his life choices; Eveline was too afraid to escape her miserable life that she missed the opportunity to start over in a new country with the man she loved. James takes us into deep Dublin, showing us versions of citizens who happened to have a bleared vision of their city, families, and of themselves. The last story of the fifteen stories collection The Dead represents both the synthesis and climax of Dubliners. The story took place on January sixth, which is the Christian feast of epiphany, at Kate and Julia Morkans house. This story focuses on Gabriel Conroy from beginning to end throughout his encounter with the party gests who, one by one, ended up revealing his weakness; even his short encounter with the made Lilly turned in to a revealing scene of his lack of sympathy. 1.4.2 The Dead The Dead is one of the finest short stories in English literature. Written by James Joyce, it is known as the most famous and emotionally affecting story of his collection of fifteen stories Dubliners. The story was a late addition long enough to be a novella. The Dead includes much believable dialogue and had a more positive tone and is often referred to as an exception to the generalization made about Dubliners. The Dead also anticipates Joyces move away From the short story and toward the novel, Joyce wrote no other short story after it He had it substantially completed by the 6th of September 1916. This story serves as a final chorus of the book presenting holiday life, the celebrating of Christmas. The Dead is in a way a story of the dead people ghosts who return in envy of the living. (Kelleher 414) The Dead is a fitting conclusion to the stories collected in Dubliners; it could be seen as another capacity within the Joycean oeuvre, James let Symbolism flow freely throughout his short story and utilizes his main characters and objects to impress upon his readers and show them the real crippled condition of the Dublin he saw and the Dublin that negated him. Critical Reception of The Dead The nineteenth-century novel explored the external world, whereas the modern novel has dedicated itself to the inner world of the human consciousness (Fletcher 246) The modern epoch has found in critical reception both a mirror with which it could examine the many vices and perversions that define it and an obscure tapestry of almost fundamentalist punishments that are entirely alien to it. The twentieth century novelist James Joyce is a vivid example of modern writers who managed to not only engage with the world but to reform it as well. The tradition bound culture has a dangerous capacity for stifling rather than nourishing the life instinct. Like most of his contemporary writers, Joyces story in The Dead anticipates the traumatic moment of self-discovery by a series of images that convey the protagonists unacknowledged estrangement from nature (Sullivan P4) Writers make images vivid in any number of ways, James imagination was trained to be a compiler of aspects. The Deads scenes take place at night, when things arent usually so clear (Phillips 198) Ghosts are present in the character of Michael Furey who was in love with Gretta and died in Galway, Gabriel knew that, and all over the sudden perceived the tormenting truth; he has always had a competitor who had been capable of greater love than he could ever be. 2.1 Psychoanalytic Theory in The Dead Psychoanalysis is to be understood in its wider meaning to include all psycho-dynamic theories and therapies, regardless as to whether they emanate from Freud or Jung or elsewhere. Although the Freudian professional organizations regard the term psychoanalysis as one which refers solely to their own theory and practices, and although the Jungians and Adlerians call themselves analytical and individual psychologists respectively in the hope of differentiating themselves from the Freudians, these distinctions have never caught on even among the well-informed laity, which has always been more impressed by the similarities of the schools than by their differences (Rycroft 08) Freudian. Psychoanalytic theory is basically historical; it treats learning as cumulative, so that early experiences influence later experiences. 2.2 The Irish case The general history of a nation may fitly preface the personal memoranda of a solitary captive ( John Mitchel, Jail Journal. Dublin 1918). The Irish Question is a phrase used to describe Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence. It encompasses issues such as religion, the Irish-British politics and land ownership (Amato Demi Petrone P3). The 20th century marked the end of the British colonial project in Ireland leaving the country with an outdated agricultural system and a weak industrial economy. The English informal  colonization created a nation that is neither native Irish nor wholly British. (Duke 18) The Irish are descended from the Celtic people who originally inhabited the Island and who are old Catholics, while the English descended minorities were protestant. A sense of belonging and national solidarity arises among the natives and this resulted into a typical of national consciousness about the imperial ascendency the British Empire had on Ireland. In 1536, Henry VIII decided to conquer Ireland and he was proclaimed King of Ireland in 1541. The Irish Catholics rebelled against the British crown and ruled over Ireland (1642-1649) until Oliver Cromwel, the English military and political leader, the man known as the protector of England, re-conquered Ireland in1653 and ruled over it with the Kings blessing. (Amado Demi Petrone P5 6). Therefore, in the course of the century there were several movements reclaiming Britain to return the Irish lands its real possessors and France offered military help. The English Prime Minister Pitt was frightened by the idea of having the Irish lands uses as a structural military base against the English soil and persuaded the Irish Parliament to agree to its own abolition. In the course of centuries Ireland witnessed ups and downs in its relation with the British crown starting from The Union with Britain (1801-1912) to the Home Rule Bill of 1912 which was suspended for the war. In 1920 English Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act establishing separate domestic legislatures for the north and south and in1949 Ireland finally broke the link with Britain Commonwealth and became an independent republic (Ibid 17). Modern Ireland and from the early 1970 faced many challenges that were mainly related to religion. The Catholics did not feel safe in Ireland; forming The Civil Rights Association they were attacked by Protestants in 1968 and 1969. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) got involved right after the RUC failed to stop the anarchy. The IRA troops split into two wings: The officials whose first duty was to establish peace; and The Provisional who declared war on Britain; that last one responded by taking over Northern Ireland in 1972. IRA replied by bombing Westminster Hall and London; assassinating Lord Mountbatten and MP Airey Neave in 1979 and attempting to blow the Grand Hotel while Mr. Thatcher is a denizen of it. In 1985 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, both sides agreed to collaborate and work together fighting terrorism establishing a new, and hopefully, a lasting peaceful state of coexistence. 1.2.1 Emigration, Exile and contemporary Ireland There is the personal element in exile, an element that muffles and beclouds the works effects, the insistent self-dramatizations as another factor, a major one. (Peter 627) The Irish society like any other society had many great problems that dwelt deeply in everyday life. Unemployment and poverty reached their peak in the late interwar period. The failure of the potato crop in the mid 1840 effected several areas leaving behind according to Sir William Wild; the father of the well-known emigrant Oscar a poor, weak, old, lame, sick, blind, dumb, imbecile and insane population (Fitzpatrick I). The Irish emigration from the Irish lands had everything to do with the potato famine economy and the exploitation of labor in the fields. By the 1900s Northern Ireland was suffering from stagnation, its population was overwhelmed by famine, immigration, hopelessness, paralysis in all forms. Alcohol was another massive problem according to Larry Harrison who stated that North Irish study group contained a significantly higher proportion of heavy drinkers and thats why the Irish man was and still widely known and stereotyped as a heavy consumer of alcoholic drinks.(P 59) The disoriented Anglo-Irishry of after 1922 aimed to reconstruct the consciousness of nineteenth-century Irish people who felt as if all their dreams and life goals are thrown in the deep St George channel. For the majority f the Irish middle class, being abroad was a common thing, they traveled to all parts of Europe but Britain was often their first destination. Emigration as a concept must include the middle-class or petit bourgeois (Foster P 283) who found in places such as London the solid soil and deep settled state they needed to form a literary career. Britain was, and everyone agreed, a Modernist wonderland. 1.2.2 Who is Gabriel Conroy? It has often been pointed that James self-consciousness was found and showed over years of writing various and confusing fictional phenomenon we call the novel today. The Edwardian Irishman promoted the movement of  «Imagism » as a new rhythmic practice which employ the language of common speech and have complete freedom in subject matter. Joyce took his style to a new and highly experimental level by inventing, dreaming and creating new characters so that he would ultimately get modern and unique plots. Gabriel Conroy is one of his most controversial Characters ever; a man that represents a variety well known and present in the Irish society. (Gillie 90) Gabriel Conroy is the main character in Joyces short story The Dead. The man has the portray of an educated intellectual Irish gentleman but when looking beyond and analyzing the events of the night we notice that he is nothing more than a privileged brat with very low self-esteem and tremulous self-respect. The man had a fatuous self-righteousness that was present as a result to the imaginatively records of Joyces literary and dramatic revision of themes and context. ( Shelly Jr 134) 2.2.4 Paralysis in The Dead For it is well known that one of the oldest and most persistent clichà ©s of Joycean criticism has been to associate the Dublin of Joyces oeuvre with the one inhabited by his Dubliners. Garry Leonard voiced reservations as to the implications made by James and asked a very accurate Question: If Dublin is the center of paralysis, what is the periphery? (Leonard P320)

Styles of Leadership Essay -- Leader Papers

Styles of Leadership Styles of leadership are neither inherently good nor inherently bad,despite the fact that one or another may become all the rage for a time.The best way to judge what leadership style is right for a particular company is to measure how consistent that style is with the owner's personality, the type of work being done, and the nature of the work force. While there are hundreds of subtle variations and scores of cute names for them, there are really only three primary leadership styles: the autocratic leader, the laissez-faire leader, and the democratic leader. The autocratic leader The most dictatorial leaders are the autocrats. There are the leaders knownaround the company as The Bosses. There are people who impose their will,take full responsibility for all decision making, and emphasize product over process. Autocratic leaders work best with a staff of people who are unwilling to make decisions, and are uninterested in demonstrating initiative. With a laser-like emphasis on results, autocratic leaders can produce reliable products of high quality in...

When Character Was King by: Peggy Noonan

Ronald Reagan’s life wasn’t the greatest growing up. He had some extreme difficulties with his parents and his childhood. His family wasn’t categorized in a social class; they didn’t own anything like a farm, store, bank or industry. Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Illinois, in a town called Tampico, in a one-bedroom rental over a bank building. His mother named him Ronald, but he didn’t like it so he asked people to start calling him what his father called him, Dutch. His father called him that because on the day he was born, his dad ran up the stairs, looked at him and said that he looked like a fat little Dutchman.He had an older brother named Neil who was two years older than him. His father’s name was Jack. He was tall with thick, dark hair. He was Irish Catholic, a salesman and a chain-smoker who loved to tell stories. Ronald wanted a father who was idealistic, because it would have made it easier for him to be what he was , hopeful. During the Great Depression, Ronald hitchhiked to Chicago to look for a job and didn’t tell his father because he knew what he would have said: Don’t bother, no one is going to hire you.His father somehow always let you know he didn’t except the best from people, didn’t think the right thing would happen. He was funny when he was in the mood and always joked around, but he had a sarcastic side, especially when he drank, which was quite often. When Ronald spoke about his parents, he didn’t say much about his father. He didn’t hide that he was an alcoholic but referred to it like his mother taught him to- as a disease from which his father suffered. His father’s alcoholism made it very hard on his family.During Christmas, Ronald wouldn’t be too excited because I meant Dad would start drinking and the fights would come. His mother’s name was Nelle Wilson Reagan; she was his lifesaver. Ronald was truly influenced by his mother, who was extremely religious but also very kind. Ronald and his brother were brought up to be very independent. They moved a lot when Ronald was just a child. They didn’t really eat very good meals, especially not like the ones we get today. They ate oatmeal hamburgers, and his mother made it possible sometimes to make soup last a week.Ronald was never proud of his childhood; he didn’t want to look back at it. He wanted to leave those tough times in the past. When Ronald was just six years old, World War I came to America. He knew about everything; he saw the flags, heard the songs and he visited the soldiers when they came to town. Dutch couldn’t really keep friends so he learned not to need them too much. He became more of a reader and someone who spent hours drawing and imagining. Ronald went to Eureka College, which was a very small school in a small town in northern Illinois.It was extremely inexpensive for tuition, room and board but he could n’t afford it even if they’d accept him. He fell in love with the Illinois architecture, Georgian-style buildings covered in ivy, acres of land surrounded by trees. He went to Eureka College one day to convince the president of the school and football coach’s that he was terrific football player, a lifeguard and a very good swimmer. They actually let him in, with a student scholarship and a job that would pay for his meals and books. He played football and decided to go into campus politics.He became the leader of a student revolt against deep and sudden campus cutbacks. He was chosen as speaker for the cause, which made him feel that he could really hold an audience for the first time in his life. Ronald didn’t have the natural talents or mind set of a businessman or economist or political figure; his natural talents were of an artist. The Great Depression hit when he was eighteen. His dad lost another job and his mom got work as a seamstress. They moved too places that didn’t have any bedrooms for the children. His dad got laid off from a new job on Christmas Eve, and soon became a traveling salesman.His mom had to borrow money from Ronald for food for the family. Ronald enjoyed acting, loved watching movies and actually wanted to become an actor, but never wanted to tell anyone. He loved broadcasting, which Chicago had. He was twenty-two years old and his life was completely coming together. He was making seventy-five dollars a week, which was a lot of money to them in that time period. Ronald got the job as a sports announcer at World of Chiropractic and then went on to WHO, which was a very popular NBC station. He moved to Hollywood in 1937.He was twenty-six years old and starring in his first movie called Love Is on the Air. He played a radio announcer. He had the worst stage fright of his life, but somehow got over it because other movies followed and the Warner Bros. renewed his contract and gave him a raise. Ronald b rought his parents to California and brought them the first house they’d ever owned. He came up with the plan of his dad taking care of his mail and other demands of his career. He became his assistant. Ronald soon fell in love with actress Jane Wyman. They met on the set of the comedy, Brother Rat.She got to be an important celebrity as well as Ronald. They got married on January 16, 1940, in Beverly Hills and he knew it was forever. He felt like his life was really coming together, like he put something together and it worked. Jane was a wonderful actress and just as ambitious as Ronald and when they were together, they brought the best out. They moved to Los Angelos and were working two good jobs and Ronald didn’t drink and they became something. They soon had a daughter, Maureen, and then adopted a son, Michael. After Ronald’s acting career, he was thirty years old and World War II soon began.He was an officer in the United States Cavalry Reserves, and three months after Pearl Harbor, he was called to active duty at Fort Mason, outside San Francisco. He was in noncombat service and then transferred to the Army Air Force intelligence back to Los Angelos. There he worked under General Hap Arnold making air force training films and documentaries. He was a 2nd lieutenant, and he helped bring up a new method for briefing pilots and bombardiers before their bombing missions. When the war was over, he soon became a movie actor again, but he’d missed four years of the industry.It was a lot harder for Ronald to start back up. He didn’t get a lot of the big parts that he was hoping for, while Jane was becoming a very big celebrity. Now in Ronald’s life he was busy with the talk of politics and public policy, and he gave more time to the after-dinner speeches to groups that wanted to say something in the World War II world. Ronald wanted to change the world. He wanted to introduce people to neofascism and communism. There was a meeting at Ida Lupino’s house one night and Reagan and his close friend actor, William Holden agreed to go.It was a meeting about all of the strike commotion, but Reagan could see that it was not sincere; it was in fact extremely biased. Holden held him back from him saying something to the speaker. When Reagan stood up, it was a harsh audience. He told them the real history of the strikes. When he was done speaking, he was beat with questions, boos and mostly name-calling. Reagan told Holden about what he’d seen, and they talked about calling John Garfield to discuss it but they never did and he regretted it for the rest of his life.By 1950, Ronald Reagan was dead set in becoming in politics. He still believed in the power of government, and the responsibility of government to serve the people. The years 1947-1950 were the most difficult years of Ronald’s life, or at least the worst since the worst of his childhood. He almost died, his career almost died, an d his marriage died. Shortly after making one of his last films, Ronald became ill. He had viral pneumonia. In 1980, there was a law forbidding federal employee strike and each member of the union had signed a sworn affidavit agreeing not to strike.The employees weren’t moving against a business, but they were professionals who were providing a very important government service. The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization took 70 percent of the nation’s seventeen thousand employees walked out. This strike was the first immediate national emergency Ronald has ever faced. He told reporters about the measures that had been taken to make sure the nonstriking employees and supervisory personnel could keep the skies open and operating safely with lesser flights.What he did not tell reporters is that a strike by American air traffic controllers carried real national security implications. I think that Ronald is quite simply the man who defeated the Soviet Union. His decision to concentrate huge resources on building up America’s armed forces and building the military with updating its weapons systems that threw down the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan was a very bold man who deserves credit for recognizing the moral bankruptcy of the government and putting pressure on the Soviet leadership.

The Inner Workings of a Gold Loan Essays

The Inner Workings of a Gold Loan Essays The Inner Workings of a Gold Loan Essay The Inner Workings of a Gold Loan Essay Essay Topic: The Birthday Party â€Å"Gold Loans- The Old Concept in a New Package† Introduction: It has been observed recently that Indians own more gold than the citizens of any other country. They use the glittering metal as ornaments to flaunt family wealth, as a source of retirement savings and as insurance against calamities. Gold and domestic savings: In rural areas in India, due to the lack of access to banks the poor continue to invest their savings mainly in gold. Also, there are strong cultural factors at work in India which make gold not only a desirable but also a necessary asset to hold. But lately, gold has become something else: collateral, and the basis of one of the country’s fastest growing businesses, gold loans. It is therefore an apt moment to acquaint the reader with an insider’s perspective on why gold loans matter and why they hold so much promise for our country’s future. The purpose of this paper is to present a consolidated review of the various facets of the gold loans spreading with speed in India to the readers. Gold Loan: Gold loan  is a secured loan issued by lenders against gold as the undersigned asset. Gold loan gives an opportunity for people to liquefy the value of their jewelry items and use it for financing purposes. Rise in gold prices have increased the disbursal of Gold Loans in the middle and upper middle class. With changing times working women are becoming financially independent and taking active part in decision making process. They are working in unison with their husbands to ensure a bright and secured future for their family. As the couples are well employed, they seek to return the principal even within a month of receiving their salary. They are now using such loans to finance their children’s education, (particularly for meeting donation demands), which a bank will not entertain, car purchases, holiday trips or even to put up margin money for a home buy. The loan process begins once the gold is deposited with the lenders. After a ‘purity’ check is done, lenders may  offer  loans  for as high as 80% of the gold’s worth. While the gold market has only shown an ascent, lenders still consider the risk that gold carries and thus are reluctant to issue more than 80% of the value. Gold loans today are issued both by banks and non-banking companies. Objectives of the Study: The main objective of this study is to present a comprehensive picture of gold loans currently prevailing in India. Lending against gold being one of the oldest businesses of India is being served in an altogether different style which is organized and regulated. The business which was until lately dominated by unorganized money lenders has attracted all from organized Non-banking finance companies to banks in the public and private sector. The study aims at- * To examine the present scenario of gold loan industry in India whether organized or unorganized. To discover the reasons; appearing as advantages; for the growing popularity of such a business. * To compare gold loans with the personal loans. * To chalk out some precautions to be adhered to while availing gold loans. Methodology: Sources of data: The data for the study has been collected from- a) Internet b) Journals c) Articles of well known Newspapers d) Published reports of IMACS Literature Review: Gold Demand in India India is one of the largest markets of gold accounting for nearly 10% of total world stock with 18,000 tonnes of gold [IMaCS Industry Report (2010 Update)] ? Value of gold stock in India has grown at 22% CAGR from FY02 to FY10 ? Despite increase in gold prices from Rs. 15,026 to Rs. 51,150 per ounce between 2002 and 2009, the demand for gold remained relatively stable at around 700 tonnes, which clearly demonstrates the price in-elasticity ? Rural India is estimated to hold ~65% of the gold stock which depicts the concentration. ?Southern India is the largest market accounting for 40% of India’s gold demand, followed by West at ~25%, North at 20-25% and East at 10-15% of annual Gold demand [Mannapuram Finance in Jan 2011] Gold Finance Industry in India India being one of the largest markets for gold, several gold based financial products have been made available to retail consumers here from time to time with a view to bring the gold holdings to the core financial market. Lending against gold has been one of the most popular instruments based on gold, and it works well with the Indian rural population, which typically views gold as an important savings instrument that is liquid and can be converted into cash instantly to meet their urgent cash requirements. Moreover, since traditional times gold owners in southern India have been more open than elsewhere in the country to accept and exercise the option of pledging gold to borrow money (Source: IMaCS Industry Report 2009). In an effort to tap the market for gold related investment and services, companies in the financial sector have launched several products such as gold coins and bars; exchange traded gold funds and lending against gold. Gold Loans have emerged as key gold based financial products, and in the year ended March 31, 2010, the organized Gold Loans market in India was estimated at between `350 billion and ` 400 billion with a CAGR of approximately 40% during fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2010. Notwithstanding the above, the organized Gold Loans portfolio accounted for merely 1. 2% of the value of total gold stock in India. Despite the increase the experts still feel that the gold loans market is significantly under-penetrated and is expected to continue growing at the rate of 35-40% in the future. (Source: IMaCS Industry Report (2010 Update). The organized lenders; particularly NBFCs have become more aggressive in the gold loans market, charging interest rates that vary from 18% to 24%. Organized gold loans portfolio translates into a marginal 0. 12% of the value of total gold stock in India. A significant part of the gold loans may shift from the un-organized lenders to the organized lenders. South India continues to account for 85-90% of the gold loans market in India. However other areas also provide scope for expansion. There are no publicly available aggregate data about gold loans, but finance companies that specialize in them are growing fast. Manappuram, a pioneer in the business, made $730 million in gold loans in the year 2008 - up from $397 million a year earlier. Muthoot Finance, a privately held firm, said its lending was growing at 60 percent a year [â€Å"The New York Times† (Sept 28, 2009)]. By contrast, total outstanding bank loans to the private sector have increased 16 percent last year, year over year, and have been essentially flat so far this year. Though the financial system in India is becoming more inclusive, it still has not reached many people. More Indians, for instance, own gold than own stocks or mutual funds. It has been found that only around 5% of the Indian educated class does understand about working and investing in stock markets. The total value of gold in private hands is roughly 60 percent of deposits in banks, according to data from the World Gold Council and India’s central bank. A 2006 government survey found that less than 41 percent of Indian households had bank or post office savings accounts. By contrast, 92 percent of American households had bank accounts. The growth in size of the gold loan market has been manifold and is clearly visible as in FY 2002 the market for gold loans stood at a meager figure of less than Rs. 0 bn which rose a little above Rs. 100 bn in 5 years by FY 2007. The growth was almost double in next 2 years by FY 2009 the gold loan market has almost multiplied three fold since FY 2007 till FY 2010 to near about Rs. 400 bn. Source:  IMaCS Industry Report  (2010 Update) Features of a Gold Loan Gold loans come with  higher  interest  rate s  and have a processing fee as well. There are instances where the interest rates go as high as 27% per annum. However, the private lending businesses, especially new entrants, offer lower rates and gold loans in strategic ways such as without levying any processing fess. It is fortunate that most lenders do not charge any evaluation fee even when the  loan  amount  is based on the quality of gold. They prefer to play it safe by offering a lesser amount of loan than the gold’s actual value. Most loans span 3 months to 12 months and the borrowers have the choice of prepaying at any time. Non-banking companies let borrowers choose their terms as well. Typically, the tenure on a gold loan falls around one year to two year with some lenders even extending loan for three years. The documents required are residential proof and a recognised photo identity for example a PAN card, voter Identity card or driving license. The banks may take an hour to a day to extend the gold loan. On the other hand, NBFCs like Muthoot Finance and Manappuram, going by their advertisements, extend the loan within minutes. The average rate of interest they charge falls around 11 % 14 %. However, some NBFCs are charging a much higher interest rate of 20-24 %. Many banks impose reasonable restrictions against the loan money being used for stocks trading. In comparison, private lenders are slightly moderate in issuing any such restrictions. Why Gold Loans? Some of the reasons discovered for the growing popularity of gold loans in the form of advantages to customers in India are: 1. Continuous Increase in Gold prices- Gold price is increasing on an average by @ 20% per annum over the last five years. With gold prices continually rising, people find it a wise decision to take a loan against the gold. Say for eg: one has a gold ring and does’nt wish to sell it but needs cash. One simply has to stop by any of the gold loan offices of a company or banks so that their gold can be valued and they can get cash. The added advantages are that  people no longer have to sell their gold and the company does not run credit checks also! 2. Interest rates of  loans  are lower than that of unsecured loans (Personal Loan) Pawnbrokers and money lenders have long operated in India’s back alleys, making loans against jewelry to families in distress in rural as well as urban areas, at interest rates of 30 percent or more. But gold loans made by banks and finance companies are regulated the rates charged are lower - 14 to 30 percent. These policies have led to chances of further increase in their businesses. 3. Fast and easy option to obtain  loan  from NBFCs (Non-Banking Finance Companies) as well as Banks to meet short-term financial requirements- People do not have to wait till the long processing time finishes. The loan is approved in very short duration with least hassles and processing delays. Since it has collateral therefore risk is mitigated to a large extent. Drivers of Growth in Gold Loans Market in India A retail research report prepared by HDFC Securities found that the key usiness drivers of the gold loan market in India have been the following: a) Regulatory incentives to lenders: The prescribed risk weight on gold loans has been approximately 50% for commercial banks, further reducing the associated capital costs thus proving a beneficial deal for those engaged in its provision. b) Policy focus: The Government of India views gold loans as an effective means to meet the potential micro- finance demand in India. In fiscal 2007, the Government of the state of Tamil Nadu set a jewelry loans target of ` 60 billion (75% of the total loan disbursement target) for co-operatives in Tamil Nadu. ) Cash crunch arising out of global slowdown- Gold loan firms have also benefited from the financial crisis. In the last year and a half, many lenders have stopped making unsecured personal loans because of the rising default cases in India. d) Increasing interest of the lenders in the segment: Considering the recent rise in default rates (which was expected to vary from 8-10% in fiscal 2009) in personal loans, banks have started focusing on the gold loans segment because it offers attractive returns (although lower than personal loans) with very low levels of defaults. Several private sector banks have started participating in the segment by getting into bilateral sale agreements with NBFCs that specialize in gold loan. A few private sector banks like HDFC Bank have already initiated efforts to tap into such segments. e) High levels of indebtedness: The National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 2003 survey on situational assessment of farmers’ indebtedness in the country has estimated that 60. 4% of rural households in India were farmer households, out of which 48. 6% were indebted. The incidence of indebtedness was highest in the state of Andhra Pradesh (82%) followed by Tamil Nadu (74. 5%), Punjab (65. 4%), Kerala (64. 4%), Karnataka (61. 6%) and Maharashtra (54. 8 %). This shows the scope of a good business exists not only in down south but north India as the rural households hold gold and require easy terms of repayment which is readily available with NBFCs. f) Changing customer attitudes and preferences: Indian customers have demonstrated a change in their traditionally debt-averse psychology, promoting the creation of assets through growth in financial liabilities. Some of the other critical factors that can augment the growth of a gold loan company are a strong distribution network, faster turn around time, operational risk management through better technology, systems and processes, unique and customized product offering, access to low cost of funds and brand recognition due to heavy expenditure on advertisements. Source:indiainfoline. com How does a loan on gold work? The process of borrowing on gold as commonly specified by many of the gold loan companies seems  very easy. People simply bring them the gold and receive cash within a matter of minutes. All gold loans are usually 90 days long and can be paid off at the end of the term or extended for another 90 days. If people can’t pay back the gold loan in full at its maturity, they may surrender the gold as full payment. What type of gold can people borrow on? One can borrow loan against gold coins, gold rings, gold watches (working or not), broken jewelry, estate jewelry, collectible gold, gold figurines, gold charms. Basically, one can loan on any type of gold without regard for condition. Current Status of Gold Loan Companies in India- Non-Banking Finance Companies A non-banking finance company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stock/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Government or local authority or other securities of like marketable nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business but does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, sale/purchase/construction of immovable roperty. A nonbanking institution which is a company and which has its principal business of receiving deposits under any scheme or arrangement or any other manner, or lending in any manner is also a non-banking financial company (Residuary non-banking company). It is mandatory that every NBFC should be registered with RBI to commence or carry on any business of non-banking financial institution as defined in claus e (a) of Section 45 I of the RBI Act, 1934. All NBFCs are not entitled to accept public deposits. Only those NBFCs holding a valid Certificate of Registration with authorization to accept public deposits can accept/hold public deposits. NBFCs authorized to accept/hold public deposits besides having minimum stipulated net owned fund should also comply with the directions such as investing part of the funds in liquid assets, maintain reserves, rating etc. issued by the Bank. As of June 2009 there were 12,740 NBFCs in India, mostly in the private sector (RBI Press Release, October, 2009). Role of NBFCs in the competitive landscape of the gold finance industry in India The further stated that a typical Gold Loan customer expects high loan-to-value ratios, easy access, low levels of documentation and formalities, quick approval and disbursal of loans, lockers to ensure safety of their pledged gold and a team of expert valuers. Specialized NBFCs have created a niche in the gold loans capabilities by meeting these requirements of the typical gold loan customers, who require gold loans primarily to meet their urgent cash requirements. NBFCs specializing in gold loans continue to perform strongly in the gold loans market and the overall statistics demonstrate that the relative share of traditional gold finance NBFCs in the market has not changed significantly over the last three years. In fiscal 2010, the Gold Loans market was largely concentrated between two categories of lenders: south India based SCBs (Scheduled Commercial Banks) and NBFCs specializing in gold loans which held approximately 58% and 32%, respectively, of the total market. The rest of the Gold Loans portfolio was held by several small co-operative banks. [Retail research report by HDFC Securities] NBFCs are the Fastest Growing Lenders in the Organized Gold Loan Market| Targeting Non-bankable customers| High Comfort Level: Transparency ; Trust| Minimal documentation and formalities| Quick approvals and disbursals| Flexibility in Terms of Loans| Easy Access due to Greater Penetration| Presence of expert valuers| Robust control systems| Ability to handle cash| Better Operating Cost Structures vis-a-vis Banks| Are gold loans better than personal loans? Comparing personal loan and gold loan, Manappuram Finance Managing Director I. Unnikrishnan said, â€Å"in times of emergency you need a loan almost immediately with minimum documentation, and without any evaluation of your loan repaying capacity and if you have gold it can be a better option compared to a personal loan where all these factors come into play. † Personal loans and gold loans are born equal. They attract almost the same kind of interest. While a personal loan can quickly turn in to a non-performing asset for banks, gold loans are designed to benefit the banks. Asian Correspondent. com (31st May 2011)] For someone who is serious about clearing the loan in due time, a gold loan might prove to be a better choice. On comparing the procedures of the two, gold loans look like a neat and clean process. Personal loans, if one would observe work a little differently as they are not secured by any asset but by the loan takers future earning potential and credit history. T here is an unspeakable necessity for submission of paperwork including pay-slips. A few calls are also made to the loan taker’s nearest and dearest friends. And that’s where gold loans score. For personal loans, there is no partial payment option. Here one either pays in full or gets on with the monthly payments. Gold loan provides partial payment flexibility. If you have some money to pay, you can go ahead and pay it. The outstanding amount will come down and so will the interest. The catch is one will not get any gold back for the amount one has paid. He/she can only release their gold after the complete principal amount is cleared. Gold loans’ only caveat or the obvious downfall for gold loans is that jewelry and ornaments will not be available when required. A friend’s wedding or a birthday party might just come when we don’t want them to. Keeping in view the above comparison without hesitation we can conclude that loans should be avoided at all times as all loans are born equal with a common objective- to lay interest on the person who takes the loan and make him or her work for them, at least for  a while. But if it is really required, a gold loan could be a better choice. Precautions before Availing Gold Loans Even though from the aforementioned discussion, gold loans may seem to be an easy option to borrow money there is a word of caution from the financial experts who advise that taking a gold loan for buying luxury items or for consumption purposes may not be a great idea. Being a secured loan, gold loans must be sought only after a careful assessment of one’s payment capabilities or else the gold might get forfeited. The  lenders  offer gold loans after much consideration and tend to ask about the purpose of the loan. Borrowers  need to ensure that the loan they take against gold is not meant for pure consumption or speculative purposes. They need to exercise caution with their investments or else they may end up losing the gold. * Another thing is to ensure is that there are no missed payments otherwise the default penalties can take the gold loan amount to an unmanageable balance. This also has an inevitable impact: it may spoil one ’s  credit  score. It is advised to take a gold loan in small sums and make sure that one has enough liquidity to repay the loan and get the gold back. The gold pledged with the lender is usually auctioned 12 months after the due date of repayment has lapsed. NCDEX Chief Business Officer Vijay Kumar has a smart advice for borrowers: â€Å"if you have a good quality hallmarked gold and the value of the gold you want to borrow is 60 % or less you may negotiate for lower interest rate from the lender. † * There are various parameters on which the tenure, interest rate and the level of negotiation would depend - like whether the gold is hallmarked or not, the tenure of the loan amount and what percentage of the value of the gold you would like to borrow. One should also not get carried away by the attractive interest rates on gold loans as there are half a dozen other charges for gold loans like the handling and processing fee of about 0. 25-0. 50 per cent, gold assessing charges of about one per cent and also custodial charges for safekeeping of your gold. [article in Financial Chronicle (June 23, 2011)] * Like most other loans gold loans too come with pre-closure charges though a few NBFCs promise exemption of these charges. Thus one needs to answer some these questions before approaching a gold loan company: * Do you really need a gold loan? How much money can be raised through gold loans? * What are the interest rates on gold loans? * What are the other charges? * How is the repayment process? The author of ‘Retire Rich Invest Rs 40 A Day’ PV Subramanyam, suggests to try a public sector bank for taking gold loan as gold loan is a secured  loan and banks are well regulated, are sound and carry lesser risk compared to a non-banking finance company. Since high emotional value is attached to the jewelry one pledges, it’s better to opt for a lender which is stable, well diversified and is in the gold loan business for a long period. Conclusion: Outlook of the Gold Loans Market in India Based on the assessment of the emerging dynamics and competitive landscape, the gold loans market is expected to grow at between 35% and 40% over the next three years (Source: IMACs Industry Report, 2009). Moreover, as the market is currently under-penetrated, it is expected that the gold loans market will offer enough opportunities for portfolio expansion and retain attractive margins for all existing specialized NBFCs, banks and new entrants. The branch expansion and marketing initiatives of various specialized NBFCs are anticipated to give a strong boost to the acceptability of gold loans and lead to further growth in the gold loans market. In addition, it is anticipated that the large public sector banks in southern India will continue to be amongst the leading lenders, but considering the various regulatory and operational processes, it would be challenging for the banks to match the flexible service regime of the specialized NBFCs. New NBFC entrants in the market are currently in a cautious preparatory mode to enter the gold loans market but it will take some time for these NBFCs to emerge as formidable competitors to specialized existing NBFCs. This is because it will take time for these new NBFCs to build the requisite focus, infrastructure (valuers, lockers, etc,) and branch network. Specialized NBFCs are expected to continue to hold their share of the Gold Loans market with their ability to provide superior and niche servicing capabilities to their exiting and future customers. References: 1. P V Subramanyam: ‘Retire Rich Invest Rs 40 A Day’ 2. The New York Times, newspaper article published on September 28, 2009 3. The Economic Times, newspaper article published on July 29, 2010 4. The Financial Chronicle, digital newspaper article published on June 23, 2011 5. IPO note on Muthoot Finance Ltd. ; prepared by HDFC Securities published on April 15,2011 6. Published presentation by Mannapuram Finance Ltd. For January 2011 7. IMACS Industry Report for 2009 ; 2010 8. www. deal4loans. com 9. www. asiancorrespondent. com 10. www. scottsdaleloancompany. com 11. www. goldprice. org

Profit Maximisation Model Essay Example

Profit Maximisation Model Essay Example Profit Maximisation Model Essay Profit Maximisation Model Essay Profit Maximization model helps to predict the price-output behavior of a firm under changing market conditions like tax rates, wages and salaries, bonus, the degree of availability of resources, technology, fashions, tastes and preferences of consumers etc. It is a very simple and unambiguous model. It is the single most ideal model that can explain the normal behavior of a firm. It is often argued that no other alternative hypothesis can explain and predict the behavior of business firms better than profit-maximization hypothesis.This model gives a proper insight in to the working behavior of a firm. There are well developed mathematical models to explain this hypothesis in a systematic and scientific manner. Profit-maximization implies earning highest possible amount of profits during a given period of time. A firm has to generate largest amount of profits by building optimum productive capacity both in the short run and long run depending upon various internal and external factor s and forces.There should be proper balance between short run and long run objectives. In the short run a firm is able to make only slight or minor adjustments in the production process as well as in business conditions. The plant capacity in the short run is fixed and as such, it can increase its production and sales by intensive utilization of existing plants and machineries, having over time work for the existing staff etc. Thus, in the short run, a firm has its own technical and managerial constraints.But in the long run, as there is plenty of time at the disposal of a firm, it can expand and add to the existing capacities, build up new plants, employ additional workers etc to meet the rising demand in the market. Thus, in the long run, a firm will have adequate time and ample opportunity to make all kinds of adjustments and readjustments in production process and in its marketing strategies. It is to be noted with great care that a firm has to maximize its profits after taking in to consideration of various factors in to account.They are as follows: 1. Pricing and business strategies of rival firms and its impact on the working of the given firm. 2. Aggressive sales promotion policies adopted by rival firms in the market. 3. Without inducing the workers to demand higher wages and salaries leading to rise in operation costs. 4. Without inducing the workers to demand higher wages and salaries government controls and takeovers. 5. Maintaining the quality of the product and services to the customers. 6.Taking various kings of risks and uncertainties in the changing business environment. 7. Adopting a stable business policy. 8. Avoiding any sort of clash between short run and long run profits in the business policy and maintaining proper balance between them. 9. Maintaining its reputation, name, fame and image in the market. 10. Profit maximization is necessary in both perfect and imperfect markets. In a perfect market, a firm is a price-taker and under imperf ect market it becomes a price-searcher.

Transformational leadership highlights the importance of trait theory Assignment

Transformational leadership highlights the importance of trait theory Critically evaluate the trait theory of leadersip and how - Assignment Example The two earliest approaches that explained leadership were the trait and behavioural theories. The trait theories emphasised on identifying and fostering the personal traits that distinguished a leader whereas behavioural theorists stressed on maintaining various sorts of leader behaviours. No doubt, both these theories are capable of offering fresh insights to current and future managers in leading their organizations or companies. One can trace back the origins of all modern popular leadership styles (such as charismatic, transformational and transactional leadership styles) in the trait theory. This paper deals with the various aspects of trait theory, its advantages and disadvantages and tries to make a probe into the relevance of the theory today. One should have a thorough understanding of the meaning and definition of trait theory to evaluate its relevance. Trait theory, in short, â€Å"attempts to specify which personal characteristics (physical, personality, mental) are ass ociated with leadership effectiveness† (Duening & Ivancevich 2003, p. 282). Kinicki and Kreitner in this respect, consider the trait theory as the successor to the â€Å"great man† theory of leadership. However, one can find considerable differences between both the theories. While the ‘great man’ theory held that leaders have an inborn talent to lead, â€Å"trait theorists believed that leadership traits were not innate but could be developed through experience and learning† (Kinicki & Kreitner 2009, p. 461-462). Thus, the theory emphasises that not all leaders are born leaders and that leadership abilities can be acquired by anyone. The trait theorists also hold that good leaders possess certain physical or personality characteristics known as ‘leader traits’ which distinguish them from their followers. There have been a number of studies during the post war period to identify these leadership traits that differentiated a leader from h is/her followers. In this regard, Stogdill and Mann stressed on five leadership traits that differentiated leaders from average followers. They include intelligence, dominance, self-confidence, level of energy and activity, and task-relevant knowledge (Kinicki & Kreitner 2009, p. 462). However, further studies revealed that people with these traits are more likely to be followers than leaders. There have also been studies on the perceived notion of who an ideal leader is and the major leadership prototypes stemmed out of those researches were associated with intelligence, masculinity and dominance. There were also researchers who regarded honesty as the most significant leadership trait whereas some others stressed on emotional intelligence or personality. While there are a lot of debates over the most important leadership traits, it is evident that anyone who does not possess such leadership traits cannot be expected to be at the top of an organization or company. One can clearly o bserve the relation between the trait theory and transformational leadership. It is essential to know why transformational leadership highlights the importance of trait theory. According to Farrell, Souchon & Durden (2000), a transformational leader is most likely to be â€Å"charismatic, inspirational, intellectually stimulating to followers, and individually considerate† whereas a transactional leader is likely to be â€Å"short-term and instrumentally focused, in that s/he will lead by providing rewards contingent on performance, and manage by exception†

Pros and Cons of working in both right-to-work and forced unionism Research Paper

Pros and Cons of working in both right-to-work and forced unionism states from employees point of view - Research Paper Example The advantages of unionization include that employees enjoy more benefits, employment is more secure and senior workers are usually secure. The disadvantages of unionization include that the fees burden workers, the worker sacrifices their autonomy and merit is disfavored due to the regard for seniority. From the discussion, the advantages and the disadvantages of the two systems show that RTW favors organizations, but unionization is friendlier to the affairs of workers. The question as to whether states should adopt right-to-work or unionization laws has remained a hotly debated issue. Right-to-work laws stop unions from subjecting workers to some security clauses, compelling them to join unions or pay fees as a condition for employment. Through this paper, the question of, whether employees should be subjected to right-to-work laws or unionization laws – depending on their advantages and disadvantages – will be answered. The advantages of the Right-to-work system include that the right to work inclusion is a fundamental right, which is expressly guaranteed and expressly provided for, in the US constitution. This implies that the right-to-work system allows the worker, the right to their choice to associate or not to associate with a workers’ union, in the case that they find benefits from it or not. Further, without affiliations to any workers’ union, the system allows employees to choose whether other reductions, apart from those of taxes should reduce their earnings (Moore 460). For that reason, the system offers the advantages of giving workers the opportunity to make a choice of what they would like to do with their salaries, without being compelled to join any unions or their salaries being slashed (Honthaner 200). The second advantage of the right-to-work is that it allows workers to avoid the business aspect of unions, noting that unions are businesses offering