Monday, December 23, 2019

Similarities Between Macbeth And To Kill A Mockingbird

â€Å" Human nature at times is unfortunately very ugly and I learned that the world can be a very ugly place. For as much beauty there is, there’s just as much brutality and violence and ugliness† , these were thought provoking words said by Gerard Way, an American singer (quotefancy). Through Gerard Way’s inspirational words he is explaining the truth about humans ugly side which evidently exists in Macbeth and To Kill A Mockingbird. He is speaking of how the world isn’t always a beautiful place and the people in it have a dark side that isn’t pretty. Both Macbeth and To Kill A Mockingbird illustrate the dark side of human nature through various ways, by showing how humans are violent creatures, evil people†¦show more content†¦Macbeth beheaded Macdonwald in a brutal battle, he cut him open from the navel to the jaws. The Soldier describes Macdonwald and Macbeth clinging on to each other making it impossible for either one of them to surv ive. Macbeth not only killed Macdonwald but he also stuck his head on to the castle wall which makes the death of Macdonwald very violent. The way the soldier described the brutal event from Macbeth and Macdonwald strangling each other to Macdonwalds head being stuck on to the castle gives the readers a perception that Macbeth is ruthless as well as very violent when it comes to killing people. If Macbeth has the heart to kill a man in the most brutal way possible this makes Macbeth an evil character which clearly shows that humans are violent creatures. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird Bob Ewell is a very strong example of how murderous a human being can be. Bob Ewell is Mayella’s father, Mayella is the victim of Tom Robinsons trial. Bob Ewell despised Atticus because he supported Tom Robinson, the accused black man for raping MayellaShow MoreRelatedHow To Write Literary Analysis4174 Words   |  17 PagesGood Questions â€Å"Are Romeo and Juliet’s parents responsible for the deaths of their children?† â€Å"Why do pigs keep showing up in Lord of the Flies?† â€Å"Are Dr. Frankenstein and his monster alike? How?† Bad Questions â€Å"What happens to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?† â€Å"What do the other characters in Julius Caesar think about Caesar?† â€Å"How does Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter remind me of my sister?† Step 2. Collect Evidence Once you know what question you want to answer, it’s time to scour the

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Cost of Capital Free Essays

Cost of Capital Definition: cost of capital is the rate of return that a company must earn on its project investments to maintain its market value and attract funds. The cost of capital to a company is the minimum rate of return that is must earn on its investments in order to satisfy the various categories of investors, who have made investments in the form of shares , debentures and loans. The cost of capital in operational terms refers to the discount rate that would be used in determining the present value of the estimated future cash proceeds and eventually deciding whether the project is worth undertaking or not. We will write a custom essay sample on Cost of Capital or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is defined as â€Å"the minimum rate of return† that a firm must earn on its investment for the market value of the firm to remain unchanged. Basic Aspects of concept of Cost of capital : here are three basic aspects of concept of cost. They are: * It is not a cost as such. * It is the minimum rate of return. * It comprises the following 3 components: * Return at Zero risk level – This refers to the expected rate of return when a project involves no risk whether business or financial. Premium for business risk – The term business risk refers to the variability in operating profit due to change in sales. The concept is higher the risk, higher is the expected return. * Premium for financial risk – The term financial risk refers to the risk on account of pattern of capital structure. In general, it can be said that a firm having higher debt content in its capital structure is more risky as compared to a firm which has comparatively low debt content. Import ance of Cost of capital: It is relevant in the field of managerial decision as this dynamic concept is affected by a company’s capital structure, its’ financing plans for the future and any changes in the rate of earnings. * When taking decisions based on Net Present Value method, the cost of capital is usually the discount rate that discounts the cash inflows. * It is important in designing the capital structure of a firm. * It is helpful in evaluation of expansion projects, evaluation of the financial performance of the top management through the comparison of the projected overall cost of capital and the actual cost incurred in raising the required funds. It is a vital factor in management decision about the method of financing at a given time. Costs of various sources of capital at a given time influence the management’s decision in favor of a certain capital. Cost of capital can be classified as follows: * Explicit cost of capital – It may be defined as the discount rate that equates the present value of funds received by the firm net of underwriting costs, with the present value of expected cash outflows. It is the rate of return of the cash flows of financing opportunity. It is, in other words, the internal rate of return the firm pays for financing. Implicit cost of capital – The implicit cost may be defined as the rate of return associated with the best investment opportunity for the firm and its shareholders that will be foregone if the project presently under consideration by the firm were accepted. * Future cost of capital – It is the projected cost of capital used in designing the capital structure to minimize the future cost of capital and to control it. * Historical cost of capital – It is the cost which has already been incurred for financing a particular project. These costs are useful in projecting future costs. * Specific cost of capital – It is the cost associated with particular component of capital structure. * Average cost of capital – It is the average of various cost of the weighted average of the costs of each component of funds employed by the concern, the weights being the proportion of each component in the capital structure. * Combined cost of capital – It includes the cost of capital from all sources namely, debt, equity, preference capital and retained earnings. It is also called as the weighted cost of capital. Marginal cost of capital – Marginal cost of capital is the weighted average cost of new funds raised by the firm. For capital budgeting and financing decisions, the marginal cost of capital is the most important factor to be considered. Cost of debt : Cost of debt is the interest rate that the company pays on its debt content of the capital structure. It can be measured as before tax cost of debt or after tax cost of debt. Tax plays an important role as the debenture interest expense is allowed as an expense for tax purposes. Debt may be issued at par, at premium or at a discount. It may be irredeemable or redeemable. Cost of Irredeemable debt: Irredeemable debentures are those debentures issuing by which the company has no obligations to pay back the value of the debenture on some fixed date or time and has the full authority to choose any time to pay back the debt until the company is a going entity and does not default in it’s interest payments. So we take into account only the sale value (SV) while evaluating the cost of irredeemable debentures. Cost of Redeemable debt: For redeemable debentures, the maturity date is fixed initially. The meaning redeemable denotes that the debentures would be redeemed by the company at a fixed date or after a specified period of notice. So, we take the average of Sale Value and Redeemable value while calculating the cost of redeemable debentures. Cost of Preference Capital Preference shares represent a special type of ownership interest in the firm. They are entitled to a fixed dividend, but subject to availability of profit for distribution. The preference share holders have to be paid their fixed dividends before any distribution of dividends to the equity shareholders. Their dividends are not allowed as an expense for the purpose of taxation. In fact, the preference dividend is a distribution of profits of the business. Because dividends are paid out of profits after taxes, the question of after tax or before tax cost of preference shares does not arise as in case of cost of debentures. Cost of Irredeemable preference shares : Irredeemable preference shares are those shares issuing by which the company has no obligation to pay back the principal amount of the shares during its lifetime. The only liability of the company is to pay the annual dividends. The cost of irredeemable preference shares is: formula Cost of Redeemable preference shares: Redeemable preference shares are those shares which have a fixed maturity date at which they would be redeemed. Formula Cost of equity Capital : The cost of equity capital is the minimum rate of return that a company must earn on the equity financed portion of its investments in order to maintain the market price of the equity share at the current level. The cost of equity capital is rather difficult to estimate because there is no definite commitment on the part of the company to pay dividends. However, there are various approaches for computing the cost of equity capital. They are: CAPM (Capital asset pricing model ) : this is a popular approach to estimate the cost of equity. According to the SML, the cost of equity capital is: Ke = rf + ? (Km – rf) Where: Ke = Cost of equity Krf = Risk-free return Km = Equity market required return (expected return on the market portfolio) ? = beta Dividend Method : Dividend Growth Method: Weighted Average Cost of Capital : The term Cost of Capital refers to the over-all composite cost of capital. It is defined as the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). The percentage or proportion of various sources of finance used by a company is different. For example, not all companies would have 33. 33% of debt, 33. 33% of preference capital and 33. 33% of equity. This is not practical and hence we use the weighted average and not the simple average. Thus, the overall cost of capital should take into account the respective proportions of various sources of funds and hence the weighted average comes into question. The computation of the over-all cost of capital involves the following steps: 1. Calculate the cost of specific source of funds such as the cost of debt, cost of preference capital, cost of equity and cost of retained earnings. 2. Multiplying the cost of each of the sources by its weight which is obtained by calculating its’ proportion to the total capital. 3. Add these weighted costs from all the sources of funds to arrive at weighted average cost of capital. Formula Factors affecting Weighted Average Cost of Capital: Factors outside a firm’s control: * Interest rate levels * Market risk premium * Tax rates Factors within a firm’s control: * Investment policy * Capital structure policy * Dividend policy How to cite Cost of Capital, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Sustainable Practices Of The Sunselect Property Group †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Sustainable Practices Of The Sunselect Property Group. Answer: Introduction Every corporate company should have some social responsibility to perform (Chudley and Greeno 2013). Corporate Social Responsibility or in short CSR is a type of business approach of the corporate companies that aims at contributing to the improvement of the society in some way or the other (Hack, Kenyon and Wood 2014). The purpose of this report is to provide recommendations as a CSR consultant on sustainable practices of Susselect Property Group, which has been developing commercial and residential properties for over fifty years. The report will focus mainly on the energy efficiency, waste minimization and water consumption reduction in the construction process. Energy Efficiency The Sunselect Property Group has already working on a project called The Greenfields Development to improve its CSR profile. This project aims at recommending affordable, energy efficient housing complex, which are low-rise and high-density housing project. The companys motive is to promote sustainable living through this project. The total number of residential dwellings will come to a number of around 10 million within 2020 and the energy consumption from the residential sector will increase to fifty-six percent by 2020 from 1990 (Saman 2013). Extreme amount of heat is generated from the southern part of Australia due over use of air condition and other electronic devices. It is recommended to build energy efficient housing complex to reduce heat in the environment and contribute to the society (Saman 2013). The sustainable building industry aims at to develop net zero energy and energy efficient home, which will reduce heat and energy from the housing complexes. To build energy efficient housing complex, it is suggested to advice the residents of the housing complex to use best available energy efficient appliances at each home, solar energy (Kolk 2016). The construction authority should provide the residents an energy meter, which will display the total use of energy per day. The energy efficient building complexes is actually a major contribution to the society as it targets to reduce energy from the environment and eventually helps the environment to maintain its sustainability (Ahn and Lee 2012). Waste Minimization The second recommendation is to incorporate in the housing project the sustainable methods for waste minimization. The constructional waste is very harmful for the environment. It is found in the research study that construction industry generates harmful waste on-site and off-site. As construction is not an environment friendly activity, the sustainable development aims at to applywaste management through minimization of constructional waste effectively.Waste management could be done by reduction, reuse and recycling of the waste (Emeraldinsight.com 2017). Waste reduction, which is the primary aim ofwaste management focuses on usage materials, which are less hazardous or non-hazardous. This is a substitute process replacing hazardous waste with other less harmful substances. Site storing is another process of wastemanagement at the construction site. The waste materials could be dumped at a single place and then recyclable materials could be selected from the dump. Even recycling th e waste is one of the best options as it converted into a new material after recycling. This is the most common method followed by most of the construction companies to minimize the constructional waste. The construction authority can employ some people who will determine whether the waste is recyclable or not (Ijirset.com 2017). Due to lack of awareness among the clients and contractors, labors the waste management is not done properly always. It is not only contributing to the environment, rather is also related to the economic profit of the construction authority as lots of waste could be used again in the construction process itself (Kareem and Pandey 2013). Several strategies have been adapted to building waste management procedure, however, recycling and reuse of the waste is e most acceptable methods and sustainable approaches to reduce waste as it can reduce environmental pollution and conserve the natural resources and reduce cost. Water Usage Reduction The third recommendation is to reduce water consumption in the constructional site. The other name of life is water and it is always suggested to look into the fact to reduce water consumption and focus on the environmental sustainability. At the construction site, water is used at cabins for temporary accommodation and tool washing. Water is used for brick washing, screeding, plastering, grouting, drilling, and hydro-demolition. For reducing water usage, it is suggested to control over wastewater usage, however it is very difficult to identify the waste water system as water is used for some general purposes also like washing, cleaning and mixing. It depends upon the behavioral pattern of the members in the construction site to eliminate water usage. The authority can aware them to reduce water usage as much as they can. The authority should tell the laborers not to waste water without any proper reason and train them to improve the efficiency of process related to water usage (Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). Even the authority can think of to use alternative water resources at times like rainwater on the site, for this purpose, the authority can use rainwater harvesting methods on the site. It is important to ident ify from the part of the authority that where the water is used and wasted on the constructional site, what technology or methods has been appointed to diminish water wastage. The Balfour Beatty, a known constructional company has employed self-closing taps, staff awareness campaign and waterless urinals in their constructional projects to reduce water usage (Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). The Willmott Dixon successfully introduced a new technology called eco-cube, which obsolete water in flushing. Overall 85% constructional company has installed this machine on their site to reduce water usage (Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). Conclusion It can be concluded that the Sunselect Property Group should employ the above-mentioned sustainable strategies to improve the promotion of its CSR. This strategy plan not only focuses on the sustainable practices of the company or the companys profit, however it will also contribute to the environment at large. The company should concentrate on its CSR policies, as it would help the society to live in a healthy environment. References Ahn, C.R. and Lee, S., 2012. Importance of operational efficiency to achieve energy efficiency and exhaust emission reduction of construction operations. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(4), pp.404-413. Chudley, R. and Greeno, R., 2013. Building construction handbook. Routledge. Emeraldinsight.com 2017. Sustainable methods for waste minimisation in construction | Construction Innovation | Vol 13, No 3. [online] Emeraldinsight.com. Available at: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/CI-Nov-2011-0054 [Accessed 6 Sep. 2017]. Greenconstructionboard.org 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.greenconstructionboard.org/otherdocs/SCTG09-WaterActionPlanFinalCopy.pdf [Accessed 6 Sep. 2017]. Hack, L., Kenyon, A.J. and Wood, E.H., 2014. A Critical Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Timeline: how should it be understood now. International Journal of Management Cases, 16(4), pp.46-55. Ijirset.com 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.ijirset.com/upload/2016/october/108_WASTE.pdf [Accessed 6 Sep. 2017]. Kareem, K.R. and Pandey, R.K., 2013. Study of Management and Control of Waste Construction Materials in Civil Construction Project. International Journal of Engineering and Advance Technology, 2(3). Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.23-34. Saman, W.Y., 2013. Towards zero energy homes down under. Renewable energy, 49, pp.211-215.