Hector Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique Essay - 1026 Words

Hector Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique Hector Berlioz wrote the Symphonie fantastique at the age of 27. He based the program on his own impassioned life and transferred his memoirs into his best- known program symphony. The story is about a love sick, depressed young artist, while in his despair poisons himself with opium. His beloved is represented throughout the symphony by the symbolic idee fixe. There are five movements throughout symphony. The program begins with the 1st movement: Reveries, Passions symbolizing the artists life prior to meeting his beloved. This is represented as a mundaness and indefinable searching or yearning, until suddenly, he meets her and his longing abruptly ceases and is replaced by volcanic love. The†¦show more content†¦The frightful sounds of groans, shrieks, and shrill laughter echo in his ears. Then, suddenly again the Idee fixe appears. It is his beloved. But the familiar Idee fixe is no longer the reserved and noble melody of the prior movements. The Idee fixe has now taken o n new form and has become vulgar and grotesque. She has come to this diabolical orgy. The witches greet her with howling joy and she joins them in the demonic dance; Bells toll for the Dead. Listening Guide 25 is the 4th movement, March To the Scaffold: The diabolical march is in minor and the Idee fixe is heard in the last part of this movement. The clarinet is the instrument that represents the Idee fixe and at the very end it is cut off by a grievous fortissimo chord and then ends in a hadean quintessence. Structure The medium is a large orchestra, (flute, piccolo, 2 clarinets, 4 french horns, 4 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, 2 ophideiodes, 2 timpani, bass drum, bells, strings). The form is loose tenary (A-B-A). The movement is in 6 sections. It begins with the introduction of ominous drumbeats and muted brass. The introduction ends with an exploding crescendo of a base drum which immediately introduces the 2nd section of theme A of low strings in a slow cautious t empo, and is picked up by violins. Theme B brass and woodwinds enter and picks up the tempo of diabolical march tune. The opening section is then repeated. The 3rd or mid section is the development section. The tenaryShow MoreRelatedThe Concert Is Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique1521 Words   |  7 Pages The concert is Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, performed by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stà ©phane Denà ¨ve, recorded in high definition at Orchestra Hall in December 2013. Symphonie Fantastique composed in 1845, by Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), is a program symphony; a five movement orchestral work that tells the story described by the CSO (2013) â€Å"as a purely musical melodrama†, a colorful illustration of the life of an artist, â€Å"replete with unrequited love, witches, guillotinesRead MoreThe Music Of The Concert914 Words   |  4 Pageswell-known works of famous composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Modest Mussorgsky, and Berlioz. The three pieces that are the most memorable in my mind are â€Å"Overture to La Cenerentola†, â€Å"Là   ci darem la mano†, and â€Å"March to the Scaffold† from Symphonie Fantastique. Beginning with the first piece called â€Å"Overture to La Cenerentola† composed by Gioachino Rossini in 1817. It was part of the Rossini s version of the opera, Cinderella. An overture is used to capture the audience s attention. It informsRead MoreI Attended Western Kentucky University s Symphony Concert885 Words   |  4 Pageswell-known works by famous composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Modest Mussorgsky, and Berlioz. The three pieces that are the most memorable in my mind are â€Å"Overture to La Cenerentola†, â€Å"Là   ci darem la mano†, and March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique. Beginning with the first piece called â€Å"Overture to La Cenerentola† composed by Gioachino Rossini in 1817. It was part of the Rossini s version of the opera, Cinderella. An overture is used to capture the audience s attention. It informsRead MoreThe Symphony Of The Key Of Change3582 Words   |  15 PagesBeethoven’s pioneering spirit and expanded even more on the concept of orchestration. One such symphonist who is widely regarded as one of the most important orchestrators in music history, French composer Hector Berlioz was largely influenced by Beethoven in crafting his piece Symphonie Fantastique. As Berlioz writes in his Memoirs of his first encounter with listening to a Beethoven work, namely Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony in 1828, I had scarcely recovered from the visions of Shakespeare and WeberRead MoreA General Sense, By Bram Stoker s Dracula1907 Words   |  8 Pagesmusical that also concern this topic include Hector Berlioz’s opera Faust, the Witches’ Sabbath from Symphonie Fantastique (which also includes a demonic version of the â€Å"Dies irae† chant), Franz Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, and Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain. Much of the Romantic Movement in music also involves the portrayal of human emotions, such as Hector Berlioz’s affections for Irish actress Harriet Smithson through his Symphonie Fantastique. The social constructs also began to evolveRead MoreThe Impact Of Beethoven On The Development Of The Symphony Until Mahler3555 Words   |  15 Pagesâ€Å"architectural planning†. The idea of cohesion throughout a symphony developed through Berlioz’s championing of the idà ©e fixe and Wagner’s use of leitmotif, which became pioneering features of the 19th century. Beethoven is often credited with the conception of the programmatic symphony, which became a popular form in the works of Liszt, Mahler and most importantly Berlioz. The third movement of Symphonie Fantastique However, the intrinsic musical devices caused by motivic transformations ensure thatRead MoreLes Nuits DEte2052 Words   |  9 PagesAmy Shuford 5 April 2011 Music History II Research Paper – Les Nuits d’Ete Dr. Christina Reitz An Analysis of Hector Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Ete Born in 1803, in the village of La Cà ´te-Saint-Andrà ©, France, Hector Berlioz produced some of the most invigorating and exciting music of the Romantic period (Holoman, 1, 6). Romanticism primarily focused on subjectivism, therefore people were concentrating more on their emotions and spirituality and less on logical explanations for the problems of humanityRead MoreFranz Liszt was a Great Romantic Composer4170 Words   |  17 PagesIt also seems that Carolyne had a great influence on Liszt’s composing (Paranyi 403). He composed differently when she was not there. Rome was also an influence for the oratorios he composed in the Vatican. Liszt met and befriended Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique inspire Liszt to compose Sonata in B minor (â€Å"Joseph†). SUMMARY Born in Hungary 1811, Liszt was one of the greatest romantic composers. His first teacher Carl Czerny was a big help in Liszt’s way to fame. He let Liszt practice

Essay about Fortunatos Greatest Weakness - 1207 Words

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a dark and frightening tale of revenge, temptation and murder. The victim of the heinous crime, Fortunato, is a respectable gentleman with a weakness. He has flaws like any other human being, but the difference lies in the severity of his imperfections. For poor Fortunato, his vulnerabilities prove to be the cause of his death. If Fortunato had not been drunk at the time of his homicide, he would not have been susceptible to the enticements of his murderer, Montressor, and would not have been killed. The Cask of Amontillado is an eloquent story narrated from the murderer’s point of view. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato for numerous insults the reader can only imagine. In order to†¦show more content†¦When the alcohol reaches the brain, it alters the normal chemical signals and neurotransmissions. Since the brain is in charge of controlling all bodily processes, many motor and psychological functions are co mpromised. Alcohol can cause the lack of inhibitions and coordination, lethargy, depression, and the death and deterioration of neurons (â€Å"How Alcohol†). Leonard Goldberg and his associates conducted a study in order to look at the physiological and behavioral effects of alcohol on the body. He conducted numerous experiments, testing the subjects’ eye movements, swaying of the body, motor skills, and behaviors after becoming intoxicated. The correlation between blood alcohol and each of these different variables proved that an increase in blood alcohol directly related to the inability for the individual to accurately perform each test (Goldberg). Montressor notes that Fortunato â€Å"accosted [him] with excessive warmth† on the night they meet. He also notices â€Å"the gait of [his] friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode†(Poe 274-275). Both observations give ample proof that Fortunato was indeed intoxicated. Fortunatoâ €™s judgment and inhibitions were also impaired by his intoxication. If he had been sober, Fortunato would have been less likely to fall for Montressor’s charm, and he would have had a better grip on the situation. He was far too willing to travel into Montressor’s catacombs, regardless of his acquaintance with hisShow MoreRelatedThe Cask Of Amontillado Analysis935 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe, Montressor uses his rival, Fortunato’s, Hubris to plot his revenge for the wrongs Fortunato has done against Montreseor’s family. In the beginning of the story, Montressor explains why he must get his revenge on Fortunato and also explains how Fortunato believes he is a skilled judge of fine wines. His plan to kill Fortunato is to lure him into his wine cellar by using his weakness of fine wines which also gives him plausible deniability of the crime. InRead More Mystery, Irony, and Imagery in The Cask of Amonti llado Essay1828 Words   |  8 PagesMissing items from Works Cited Mystery, Irony, and Imagery in The Cask of Amontillado The Cask of Amontillado is one of Edgar Allan Poes greatest stories. In this story Poe introduces two central characters and unfolds a tale of horror and perversion. Montresor, the narrator, and Fortunato, one of Montresors friends, are doomed to the fate of their actions and will pay the price for their pride and jealousy. One pays the price with his life and the other pays the price with living withRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado : William Shakespeare1450 Words   |  6 PagesDelaney, â€Å"throughout the story, he expresses tender concern for his intended victim, concern which is only partially counterfeited† (Delaney, 39) as even the final line of the story, â€Å"In pace requiescat!† (Poe), implies that Montresor hopes that Fortunato’s grave remains untouched and allows his friend’s bones to rest in peace; however, it remains up to personal speculation whether the statement is intended to be malicious or sarcastic. The conclusion to the story, alth ough not as epic as some of the

The Metamorphosis of Grendel Grendels Essay Example For Students

The Metamorphosis of Grendel Grendels Essay The Metamorphosis of Grendel The majority of John Gardners Grendel revolves around a monster-like character named Grendel. The reader is allowed access to Grendels subconscious and inner monologue, giving one the sense of a very close relationship with the main character. This tends to beguile one into sympathizing with him and thinking of him as a protagonist because historically in literature the main character of a novel has always been the good guy. However, he proves himself to be very much the anti-hero in the novel many times over. Grendels social contact with the world is extremely limited, but his persona is greatly influenced by each brief encounter with another character. The first major influential character Grendel encounters is The Shaper, a blind old wise man. The first mention of him is in Chapter 1 when Grendel is attacking Herorot. While all the towns men, women and children are frozen in awe and horror, The Shaper is able to think quickly and jump out the window of the building he was in and run away. Grendel admires him for his ability to think and act quickly, as well as for possessing vast knowledge he can only dream of ever acquiring. Grendel wishes he had the mind of the Shaper and begins to feel jealous, so he subconsciously tries to become more like him. The Shapers songs teach Grendel a lot about the humans in the surrounding regions and how they think and live. Everyone loves and respects him, which makes Grendel want to be like him even more. As he realizes the Shapers popularity and goodness, he begins to realize why people dont like him. Grendel spends a lot of time thinking and realizes the flaws in his character, subconsciously deciding that he doesnt really care if the humans hate him because he isnt a human and doesnt have to live by the same standards or expectations as they do. He was born a monster, and as a monster he has a job to do: to frustrate all established order and terrorize the humans. In Chapter 5, we meet the Dragon for the first time. Prior to seeing the Dragon, Grendels mother was the only thing he had seen that was more powerful than him. Grendel was so scared at the site of the huge beast he could barely even speak. The Dragon is also incredibly smart, and when he starts reading Grendels mind he becomes even more afraid. This fear is something Grendel has rarely, if ever felt before, and it makes him realize he is not the most fearsome creature to ever walk the planet. He tells Grendel that his sole purpose in life is to frustrate all established order and basically exist as the enemy of all humans. He further explains that humans are constantly trying to get rid of all evil and if there was no evil there would be no balance in the universe. Also, he tells him he is the reason humans create art, poetry, science and religion, and that without him mankind would probably be much less advanced. This helps Grendel to cast out any doubts he had about the morality of murdering humans and gives him a reason to kill other than self-satisfaction and sport. Although Grendel loved his mother, he was extremely annoyed by her overprotectiveness at times. She is constantly trying to keep him from leaving the cave throughout the novel and when she hugs him she squeezes so hard it hurts him and he has to struggle to get out of her grasp. In Chapter 2 he views her as a fat, lazy, stupid brute who cant speak English, unlike Grendel. As she becomes more protective of him, he alienates her more and treats her as more of an animal than a human. He realizes she is exactly what he does not want to become, and so he starts trying to spend less and less time with her and becomes increasingly human-like. .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .postImageUrl , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:hover , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:visited , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:active { border:0!important; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:active , .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967 .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue56fd3d0c483e692590b2b8ba3f6d967:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Biography Of Nataniel Hawthorne Essay He becomes more independent as he looks less to his mother for advice and more into himself and his own thoughts. He frequently sinks into his subconscious .

The History of Community Colleges Essay Example

The History of Community Colleges Essay Community colleges have become a vital part of higher education system. Many events have contributed to the development and continued growth of American community colleges. Their history dates back to the early twentieth century, and largely came about due to the need for workers to operate the nations expanding industries. In addition there was also an increased pressure on the nation’s school system to fix any social issues or problems that were occurring; such as merging ethic lines, unemployment levels, supplying the nation with skilled vocational traits etc. (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Community colleges would thrive on the new responsibilities because they had no traditions to defend, or any alumni to question their role (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Several different groups advocated for community colleges in the early twentieth century, including students and parents, educators, businesses, state universities, and government officials. Community colleges were first known as junior colleges and were lower divisions of larger private universities. They were defined as any institution that awarded the associate of arts or science as its highest degree (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Organizationally, they tended to be very small intuitions that focused on general education classes with the goal of transferring to a four year institution. The growth of community colleges had a direct correlation with overall growth of higher education in the twentieth century. Our nation was in an academic transition, the percentage of high school graduates rose from 30 percent in the 1924 to 75 percent by 1960, with nearly 60 percent of high school graduates going on to higher education (Cohen Brawer, 2008). We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Community Colleges specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Community Colleges specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Community Colleges specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As educators began to realize that students needed more educational opportunities after high school; the idea of these smaller colleges came about. Educators saw that a lot of students were not able to go away to a four-year college after high school and they also saw that extending high schools for two more years would likely never happen (Brick, 1964). Understanding the need to establish a college, of which, provides an opportunity for the United States population to achieve a higher level of education, William Rainey Harper, the first president at the University of Chicago, had a meeting with the Joliet superintendent of schools, J. Stanley Brown to create Joliet Junior College the first public junior college in 1901. Harper had been advocating a 2+2 approach to higher education, suggesting that undergraduates should focus on general education coursework in their first two years of college to serve as a foundation to specialize in a field of study in their next two years. Under this model, Harper recommended the dividing the university into two different parts; one was called the upper division and the other called the lower division. The upper divisions were known as the Senior Colleges while the lower divisions as the Academic Colleges. (Witt, Wattenbarger, Gollattscheck, Suppiger, 1994). Harper wanted these two separate colleges to focus on the different levels of training; primarily, the Senior Colleges was to focus more on the advanced courses and research while the Academic Colleges focused more on the entry level and general education courses. Harper also envisioned that a two-year school would soon stand on its own; however, it would still be affiliated with the university. Harper was not alone in his views of the 2+2 model in fact there were proposals for a junior college system dating back to 1851 by Henry Tappan president of the University of Michigan. Tappan proposed that junior colleges should relieve universities the burden of providing general education for young people, and insisted that universities would not become true research and professional development centers until they relinquish the lower division preparatory work (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Harper had also advocated for weaker four year colleges to become junior colleges rather than waste money doing superficial work (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Many shared Harpers and Tappans model of junior colleges as a transition period from adolescence to adulthood. Although Harper was highly associated with these ideas in the creation of a two-year institution, he was not the only one involved with them. Alexis F. Lange, Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, also wanted to encourage students to further their education. Lange realized that there were a lot of students that did not need, nor want, to go on to a four-year college and he felt that community colleges should focus more on providing vocational preparation. Thus, he urged college administrators to prevent the wrong persons from attempting to fulfill transfer requirements when these courses would only hurt them instead of help them (Witt, Wattenbarger, Gollattscheck, Suppiger, 1994). Lange proposed that community colleges should prepare students to be active and effective in community life. As more people became aware of the many benefits that a community college would offer a student, the creation of such an idea was inevitable to stop. In Langes view junior colleges would do more than prepare young people for college it would also prepare the vocations (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Businesses quickly noticed the advantages junior colleges had on the vocations and became big supporters of the domain of secondary education. As they were getting trained workers at the publics expense. As a result junior colleges became heavily involved in career and technical education. This began during World War II, from 1941 to 1945, and expanded thereafter. The colleges are the main state agencies that provide career and technical education. Junior colleges also became more involved as centers of activity for entire communities. They provided academic, vocational, and technical courses, but also served communities in other ways. Thus, the name junior college no longer fit, and in 1972 the states junior colleges, changed their names to community colleges. This was a better description of the role the colleges played, and due to the funding for the intuitions was coming from the community. The only exceptions were junior colleges that were privately funded retained the original name of junior colleges. As seen through the years, community colleges have greatly increased in size, the average number of attending students go up to the thousands in size each year, providing better benefits in higher levels of education for those who want it. Along with the demand for secondary education there were two major factors that contributed to growth of the community college system. First, was a California law in 1907 the Upward Extension Law authorizing secondary school boards to offer postgraduate courses. This law along with several other amendments served as a model for several other states to offer postgraduate courses (Cohen Brawer, 2008). The Upward Extension Law only permitted the establishment of the junior college but provided no funding. It wasnt until 1917 that a new law provided funding for junior college courses. The first to take advantage of this new law was Charles L. McLane, then-superintendent of Fresno Schools system. McLane argued that there were no intuitions of higher education within 200 miles of Fresno, and with the support from Stanford president, David S. Jordan they opened Fresno City College; the first junior college in California and second in the nation. Subsequent laws in California lead to junior college districts operating entirely independent of secondary schools as well as the beginnings of two year college systems in other states (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Junior colleges began to spread across the nation, in 1909 there were only 20, but rapidly expanded to over 170 with thirty seven of the forty-eight states containing junior colleges in the early 1920s. By 1930 there were 440 junior colleges and California had one fifth of the public institutions and one third of the students. Today there are more than 1100 public and private nonprofit two year colleges in the U. S (Cohen Brawer, 2008). The second major factor in the growth of the community college system was the passing of the G. I Bill after World War II. As a result, the GI Bill made the first large scale financial aid packages available, and made it possible for people to be reimbursed for their tuition as well as their living expenses while attending college (Cohen Brawer, 2008). This caused a rapid increase in the number of students attending college, largely in part to opening the door for ethnic minorities, and lower income groups to attend college. Community colleges were now attracting a much large pool of students, who were using the system as a way moving up in class. By now community colleges were everywhere In addition, community and junior colleges built educational facilities in their districts away from their original campuses. This was to provide even more convenient education for people who could not drive to main campuses or live in dormitories Along with the benefits of attending a junior college, there are some negative aspects associated with it as well. The most striking negative aspect is the notion that junior college is inferior to four-year universities. Unfortunately, this opinion is held by many in our society ranging from journalists to students who attend junior colleges. By many, junior colleges are viewed as an extension of high school or places you went if you couldnt get in anywhere else. For some, a junior college is a last resort for students who were unable to attend a university, but this does not represent every student at a junior college. This assumption causes apprehension and embarrassment to the students who attend junior colleges for reasons other than the last resort. Junior colleges have open admissions policies and programs for everyone, to ensure that no member of the community need miss the chance to attend (Cohen Brawer, 2008). Since anyone can attend, another assumption arises. It is thought that junior college students are lazy or lack the knowledge to attend a four-year university. Yet junior college have become a primary bridge leading students into four-year universities. Thus, junior colleges are adequately preparing students to compete at a university level. With the increase in tuition at state and private universities many students are choosing junior colleges over universities. Junior college offers many students a cheap alternative to equivalent expensive university classes. These students who are attending junior college to complete the general education requirements are making wise monetary decisions towards achieving their college degree. Yet the negative stigma is still attached to junior college students. Community colleges are different from other colleges and universities in many ways. The tuition fees are the most noticeable difference. Unlike universities, community colleges are lower in cost and size. The cost of attending a university could mean paying more than $50,000 a year. The fact is that many students wanting to attend a university are not able to afford that amount of money. Some are forced to rely on a second job or find some type of financial aid to help assist them for the expenditures. At a community college you can get the similar courses you would get at a university for a much lower price. Not only is it lower in cost but the population of students compared to a university is much smaller. There are a number of students who are not able to take the courses they want due to the fact that the classes they choose are overcrowded with students. In community colleges, classrooms are not as overpopulated therefore enabling more students into the course. In California, community colleges have a low cost per unit. Each in state student is required to pay $26. 00 per unit, and typically a course is between three and five units. Twelve units per semester are considered full-time, which means a full-time community college student pays only $312. 00 per semester. This equates to $624. 00 per academic year. Students who are not California residents are charged out-of-state tuition in addition to the enrollment fee. Out-of-state tuition rates are set by each community college district but are generally between $190 and $220 per unit (cccaply. org/FAQ, 2010). This is significantly inexpensive compared with fees from other colleges and universities. The misconception that the junior college is a place for the educationally challenged, or that it offers an inferior education, have never been satisfactorily resolved. The junior college student will generally find the level of education to be on par with the four-year colleges. As we have seen, the community college has become an essential part of the educational system in our society by being the right step for many different people with many different circumstances. For some students it provides a vehicle to transition from high school to the four-year college or university. For those people that are considering a career change, the community college provides the opportunity to learn a new skill or trade at an every reasonable cost. Yet for others, it simple affords the opportunity to continue ones educational goals, whenever one decides to resume his or her education. Education is important in life. Had there not been a community college system, many people would not have realized their educational goals. As research has shown, without a formal education, most people are less likely to tap their full earning potential. It is important to look at the positives that the community college system provides to communities across the nation. If the people who discredit the community college system would take a deep look into it, they too would see the great fulfilling value of this institution known as the community college. Bibliography: Brick, M. (1964). Forum and Focus for the Junior College Movement. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University. cccaply. org/FAQ. (2010). Retrieved from cccaply. org: http://www. cccapply. org/faq/costs. asp Cohen, A. M. , Brawer, F. B. (2008). The American Communtiy College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Witt, A. A. , Wattenbarger, J. L. , Gollattscheck, J. F. , Suppiger, J. E. (1994). Americas Community Colleges. Washington: American Association of Community Colleges(AACC.

Chapter 21 Essays - World History, Turkic Peoples, Ottoman Empire

Chapter 21 Essays - World History, Turkic Peoples, Ottoman Empire Chapter 21 The Muslim Empires I. Introduction A. Muslim world essentially destroyed by those pesky Mongols B. But then...out of nowhere...came the return of the Muslims 1. Ottoman Empire - the biggest 2. Safavid Empire - Afghanistan and Iran 3. Mughal - the northern part of India C. These "gunpowder empires" could be compared with Russia and the West 1. In fact...they probably will be on a test not far, far away a. All militarily important b. Interacted far less with west than Russia c. Maintained control over how much they wanted to deal w/ West II. The Ottomans: From Frontier Warriors to Empire Builders A. Introduction 1. Turkic-speaking peoples a. Some fleeing Mongols, some looking for booty b. Osman leads one of these peoples - the Ottomans 2. Ottomans attack Byzantine Empire a. Finally Mehmed II defeats Constantinople b. Big bad guns too much for big bad walls 3. Extending the Ottoman Empire a. Scary naval power in Mediterranean b. Spread empire down to Egypt and across N. Africa 1. Looks kind of like what the Roman Empire looked like, w/out Europe c. Threatened Vienna, but didn't take d. But...Europe afraid of Ottomans for centuries...always in back of mind 1. Near the hypothalamus area B. A State Geared to Warfare 1. Economy and social class based on warfare a. Warrior class goes to top...surprise...guess who got to make the rules b. Competed for power with religious leaders and administrators 2. Army of Janissaries a. aka "Really Good Christian Slave Soldiers that Fight For Us" 1. Some given by parents, some taken forcibly 2. Schooled and could become bureaucrats 3. Hey...this is another type of coerced labor...interesting b. Became more powerful than cavalry - threatened aristocracy 1. What's scarier...Mr. Ed the Horse or a canon and gun? C. The Sultans and Their Court 1. Sultans control those beneath and economy a. Manipulated factions - aristocracy, religious, administrators b. Commerce given to Christians/Jews - "people of the book" 2. Sultans grow distant from the masses a. This will surprise you, but...sultans got richer b. Spent all their days blowing money on wives, rituals and palaces c. Viziers ended up taking control - think Prime Minister 3. Problems with succession a. Like the rest of the Muslim world (similarity), succession confusing b. When you have a harem, you have many sons 1. You die...they fight each other 2. Losing sons sometimes fled to enemy nations to stage revolt D. Constantinople Restored and the Flowering of Ottoman Culture 1. Changing Constantinople a. After destroyed/sacked - rebuilt b. Hagia Sophia converted from cathedral to mosque c. Aqueducts built, markets reopened, city's walls repaired 2. Future sultans try to improve mosques, infrastructure a. Architecture blends best of Muslim/Byzantine world a. Mansions, rest houses, schools, hospitals, gardens b. Fun and exciting markets c. Coffeehouses became centers of socialization, literary sharing and ingesting of caffeinated beverages 3. Regulation of merchants and artisans a. Government inspectors monitored quality of goods/artisans b. Artisans joined together in guilds - that sounds just like Europe 4. Language shift to Turkish a. Ummm...they shifted language to Turkish - literature and official business E. The Problem of Ottoman Decline 1. Different perspectives of Ottoman Empire a. Some talk about how bad decline was b. Eventually became "sick man" of Europe 2. Long decline means actually quite strong a. How many other empires have are around for 600 years 1. US has been an empire for about 61 years...but we've been declining for 28 months b. By 17th century, they started retreat from Russia, Europe, Arab lands c. Too large to be maintained - gave regional autonomy 3. Breakdown of regional administration a. Officials became corrupt 1. Locals leaders hold back money from incompetent nincompoops 2. Some rebellions at the local level 4. Problems of imperial administration a. Future leaders not groomed, but hidden away for protection 1. Monarchs kept alive, but fairly unprepared/nave b. Leaders no longer fierce military leaders, but pampered c. Power of military started to fade F. Military Reverses and the Ottoman Retreat 1. Ottomans fall further behind Europeans a. Reliance on super huge cannons b. Janissaries don't want military change that threatens their position 1. Sounds a bit like the samurai...oohh...another connection 2. Muslim sea power ends in 16th century a. Battle of Lepanto - Spanish/Venetians wipe them out b. Fleet rebuilt, but damage done 1. Portuguese

The Ancient Chinese Chou Dynasty

The Ancient Chinese Chou Dynasty The Chou or Zhou dynasty ruled China from about 1027 to about 221 B.C. It was the longest dynasty in Chinese history and the time when much of ancient Chinese culture developed. The Chou Dynasty followed the second Chinese dynasty, the Shang. Originally pastoralists, the Chou set up a (proto-)feudal social organization based on families with administrative bureaucracy. They also developed a middle class. Although a decentralized tribal system at the beginning, the Zhou became centralized over time. Iron was introduced and Confucianism developed. Also during this long era, Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War, in about 500 B.C. Chinese Philosophers and Religion During the Warring States period within the Chou dynasty, a class of scholars developed, whose members included the great Chinese philosopher Confucius. The Book of Changes was written during the Chou Dynasty. The philosopher Lao Tse was appointed librarian for the historical records of the Chou kings. This period is sometimes referred to as the One Hundred Schools Period. The Chou banned human sacrifice. They saw their success over the Shang as a mandate from heaven. Ancestor worship developed. The Start of the Chou Dynasty Wuwang (Warrior King) was the son of the leader of the Chou (Zhou), who were located on the western border of the Shangs China in what is now Shaanxi province. Wuwang formed a coalition with the leaders of other states to defeat the last, evil ruler of the Shang. They succeeded and Wuwang became the first king of the Chou dynasty (c.1046 to 43 B.C.). Division of the Chou Dynasty Conventionally, the Chou dynasty is divided into the Western or Royal Chou (c.1027 to 771 B.C.) and the Dong or Eastern Chou (c.770 to 221 B.C.) periods. The Dong Zhou itself is subdivided into the Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu) period (c.770 to 476 B.C.), which was named for a book supposedly by Confucius and when iron weapons and farm implements replaced bronze, and the Warring States (Zhanguo) period (c.475 to 221 B.C.). At the start of the Western Chou, the empire of the Chou extended from Shaanxi to the Shandong peninsula and the Beijing area. The first kings of the Chou dynasty gave land to friends and relatives. Like the two previous dynasties, there was a recognized leader who passed power to his descendants. The vassals walled cities, also passed down patriarchally, developed into kingdoms. By the end of the Western Chou, the central government had lost all but nominal power, such as was required for rituals. During the Warring States period, the aristocratic system of warfare changed: peasants fought; there were new weapons, including crossbows, chariots, and iron armor. Developments During the Chou Dynasty During the Chou dynasty in China, ox-drawn plows, iron and iron casting, horseback riding, coinage, multiplication tables, chopsticks, and the crossbow were introduced. Roads, canals, and major irrigation projects were developed. Legalism Legalism developed during the Warring States period. Legalism is a school of philosophy that provided the philosophical background for the first imperial dynasty, the Qin Dynasty. Legalism accepted that humans are flawed and asserted that political institutions should recognize this. Therefore the state should be authoritarian, demanding strict obedience to the leader, and meting out known rewards and punishments. Resources and Further Reading Paul Halsall on the Chinese DynastiesChinese History Zhou DynastyLegalism. (2009). In Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online: search.eb.com/eb/article-9047627

Development of Tourism in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11250 words - 1

Development of Tourism in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example The researcher tried not to choose participants who visited Saudi Arabia just once. People who visited the country twice but with short intervals (probably in months) were also not considered to be taken as participants for this paper’s survey, as this could impact the results and this could also prevent in finding out the reality. This is because, to notice the development of any country, months are really not enough. At least one and the half year is ideal to notice some of the changes. Normally, countries strive and work on several projects which take months to be finalized and to be actually executed. Operations do not just start. It takes a lot of time because each project involves a lot of finance and that financial plan or budget needs to be planned, designed, tested, approved and need to pass several stages before being operational. This point is very important. For active developers, one and the half year of a gap is considered as reasonable, while in third world coun tries with lazy executors, identical changes take more than five to seven years. For any country, the growth and the development in the industry of tourism brings a number of positive results. This, not only, includes the foreign investments but a lot more than that in a number of ways. A country receives investments when it is rich in resources. Especially, the oil reserves and the petroleum reserves are normally considered as the blessings and fortune of any country. The foreign investments open doors to the foreign engineers and to the other foreign employees. When the investment projects are a little more than the average number of projects, a country faces a lot of problems in acquiring professional services from the local workforce. Therefore, it opens doors to the foreign professionals to apply and offer their services. However, the local engineers and professionals are given priority over the outsiders in many cases. A company may acquire foreign services for a long-term or for a short-term contract.

The Impact of Information System on Business Process Design Research Paper

The Impact of Information System on Business Process Design - Research Paper Example The use of information systems also enables the company to expand and grow its operations outwards to scales that were almost unimaginable through the analog system of business design and engineering, such as globalization processes through the creation of the subsidiaries by multinational corporations. Furthermore, the organizations also benefit from the large market sphere and control brought about by the introduction of business technology and information systems within the processes of conducting business. As such, the paper considers the best methods undertaken by businesses in expanding and modernizing their operations using and adoption of technology and information systems. In fact, information systems brought about a major revolution in specific organizational sectors such as the executive and management roles, as well as, the manner and style by which people work at their organizations. This is phenomenal through the redesign processes of these business operations, and the benefits achieved through the transformation of these new company practices. A business process is a structural procedure of diverse activities, tasks, or procedures within a business in order to achieve a specific goal, or produce a certain kind of service, product, or brand for meeting a particular demand from a customer, a market, or a business client. A business process incorporates a flowchart kind of operation whereby a sequence of integrated activities operate together through a process matrix based on a varied rules provided by the data in the processes. However, there are varied versions on the definition of business processes and how they affect the operations of a business.

Classical to the Post-Modern Eras Essay Example for Free

Classical to the Post-Modern Eras Essay In this essay, I’m going to trace the development of Classical Music from the late 1750s to the Post-Modern era in the 2000s and provide a brief history of music, and how they link together to form what we have today. There are many preconceptions of what the history of music is. Some people think it is mainly a biography of composer’s lives, but they are wrong. The history of music is primarily the history of musical style. In order to appreciate this, it is essential to become acquainted with the different sounds and to hear them in their contexts. Fashions in history change with the generations, like fashions in musical tastes. Lets first start with the classical music, Classical is an era; it is from about 1730 to just after 1800. A few people who contributed to the music in the Classical era are: Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Classical period focused on the opposite types of sounds- music during that period was orderly, uncluttered, well planned and precise. Music was expected to be technically pleasing and grounded in certain traditions and styles that had been approved by the public, often quite formal. Composers were seen as workers who were hired to write music that would please their employer (Sagebiel). The classical period of music combined harmony, melody, rhythm, and orchestration more effectively than earlier periods of music. The classical period is best known for the symphony, a form of a large orchestral ensemble. The symphonic pieces generally had three movements, the sonata, the minuet and the finale. Building of the achievements of earlier composers, Haydn, and Mozart brought the symphony to its peak in the last twenty years of the 18th century. Haydn excelled in rhythmic drive and development of theme-based music (Bishop 325). Mozart also added to the symphony by contrasting memorable lyric themes in full sounding orchestral settings. There are many styles of music within classical music, including symphony, opera, choral works, chamber music, Gregorian chant, the madrigal, and the Mass. A Classical composition will fluctuate in mood. Not only there are contrasting themes within a movement, but there also may be striking contrasts even within (Vardy). In Classical music, there is a flexibility of rhythm. A classical composition has a wealth of rhythmic patterns. Classical music is basically homophonic. However, texture is treated as flexibly as rhythm. Classical melodies are among the most tuneful and easy to remember. The Classical composers interest in expressing shades of emotion led to the widespread use of gradual dynamic change crescendo (gradually getting louder) and diminuendo ( gradually getting softer). By varying the finger pressure on the keys, a pianist can play more loudly or softly. Classical works show a great deal of musical sophistication and use development, key changes, variation, musical phrases of varying lengths, counterpoint, polyphony and advanced harmony development. It uses very specific instruments, most markedly those invented before mid-10th century and adopted in the 18th and 19th centuries, such as instruments like violin, cello, viola, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and other instruments in the orchestra and solo instruments such as piano, harpsichord, organ and guitar. The classical period had a musical style that was consistent, which means that if you were a composer in this time period; you knew what was expected of you. Haydn had a huge influence on the development if Classical music and so did Beethoven but he chose to focus on a more romantic style which had a simple chord structure. This brings us to the Romantic era; The Romantic music period began in 1825 and ran until 1900. Several historical themes were at work during this period, including the increasing role of science as a worldview, the rise of nationalism in Europe, and a growing appreciation for the arts. The style of the Romantic music period is generally characterized by a wider range of dynamics, a greater variety of instruments, more dramatic melodies, more extreme tempos, fuller harmonies, and expanded formal structures within the compositions. Some of the most famous composers of all time lived and worked during the Romantic music era. Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, and Mahler are among the most recognizable names. The transition from nineteenth-century Romanticism to twentieth-century Modernism is perhaps one of the big points in music history. Because the speed of twentieth-century innovation in all areas has been so accelerated, music has also moved from one new idea to another with such speed that no previous era can be compared to. Technology and scientific discovery are probably the basic influences on musical creativity and production. Dissonance became very important and in fact most of the pieces are made up of dissonant chords (Palisca). During the Modern era, many new musical techniques emerged. They were seen in melody , harmony , rhythm, meter, texture, tonality, and sonority . It is important to note that during the twentieth century not all changes in music were a revolution or a return to old ideals. Contrapuntal textures in music dominate the Modern era. While, homophonic textures are present, it is to a lesser degree and with less importance. During the 20th century, tone color has become a more important element of music then it was ever before. It has a major role which is creating variety, continuity and mood. Consonance is no longer in use in the 20th century. 20th century music sound fantasy like, distant and mystifying. Chords are never as fundamental as it is in previous centuries. Poly chords are created by placing one traditional chord over another. The rhythmic vocabulary of the 20th century was expanded with increased emphasis on irregularity and unpredictability. The Melody was very elusive.

Cellular Reproduction Essay -- Biology

Cellular Reproduction Cellular Reproduction is the process by which all living things produce new organisms similar or identical to themselves. This is essential in that if a species were not able to reproduce, that species would quickly become extinct. Always, reproduction consists of a basic pattern: the conversion by a parent organism of raw materials into offspring or cells that will later develop into offspring. (Encarta, 2) In almost all animal organisms, reproduction occurs during or after the period of maximum growth. (Fichter, 16). But in Plants, which continue to grow through out their lifetime, therefore making the process more complex. Plants' reproduction is usually caused by a stimulant, mostly environmental or growth factors. The reproductive process, whether asexual or sexual always involves an exchange in hereditary material from the parent(s) so that the new organism may also be able to reproduce. Reproductive processes can be categorized in many diffrent ways although the most common is to put them into either asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is the process by which a single organism gives rise to two or more daughter cells. Most single celled organisms reproduce by the asexual process known as fission, which is commonly called mitosis. Fission (or Mitosis) is the division of one cell into two identical daughter cells. Interphase, the first phase of the cell cycle and also the phase before mitosis, starts as soon as the cell is born. Interphase is broken up into three phases, G1, S, and G2. During the G1 phase, the cell increases in mass except for the chromosomes, which stay the same, uncoiled. Protein synthesis is also occurring rapidly in this phase. If a cell doesn't divide further, it remains permanently in the G1 phase. Next is the S phase, in which the mass of the cell continues to increase, and DNA is duplicated, and then the chromosomes divide to form identical sister chromatids attached by a centromere. (Harold, 45). During the G2 phase of Interphase, the cell becomes double its mass at birth, the chromosomes begin to shorten and coil, and the centrioles appear, the cell is now ready to enter into mitosis. In the first and longest phase of mitosis, prophase, the chromosomes become visible and the centrioles split in half and then move to opposite sides of th... ...on’t seperate correctly. This is called nondisjunction. There are three types of nondisjunction, Trisomy- when a gamete with an extra chromosome is fertiized with a normal gamete. Monosomy- when a gamete with one chromosome is missing and is then fertilized by normal gamete. And Trioloidy- where both zygotes have an extra chromosome. Reproduction is as essential to a species as food, water, or shelter. If a species cannot reproduce anymore, that species will eventually become extinct. There are many means of reproduction but primarily only two: asexual and sexual. In asexual reproduction, One organism gives a part or its whole self, in order to give rise to two or more new organisms. During sexual reproduction, two parents each form sex cells, which unite, and eventually form a new individual. Works cited Biggs, Alton & others. Biology: The Dynamics of Life. Glencoe McGraw-Hill.: New York, NY, 2000 Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. 1998 Fichter, Sheila. Reproduction. Universal Press: Columbus, OH, 1994 Harold, Christopher. Cells: A Guided Tour. Simon and Schuster: New York, NY, 1987 O’Neil, Franklin. Cells. McMeel Publishing, Inc.: Atlanta, GA, 1990

Pifzer Inc.’s Cost of Capital and Capital Structure

Pfizer Inc. ’S Cost of Capital and Capital structure – Xiaoyue Shi The costs of capital and capital structures for Pfizer Inc. and its two competitors Merck & Co. Inc. and Johnson & Johnson in the pharmaceutical industry are analyzed in this memo. When calculating the cost of common stock for the three companies, three different approaches including Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and the bond yield plus risk premium are applied (Appendix A). For CAPM approach (Figure 1 & 3), the risk-free rate (rRF) used is the rate on the U. S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which is 1. 66.The market risk premium (RPM) is the required return on the stock market minus rRF. The required market return used here is the average 20 years rates of return on S&P 500. With highest beta (0. 71), Merck has the higher estimated cost of equity (6. 167). Pfizer has lower estimated cost of equity (5. 910) with lower beta (0. 67). Because of the lowest beta (0. 48), Johnson & Johnson has the lowest estimated cost of equity (4. 697). For DCF approach (Figure 2 & 4), the stock price used is the current stock price. The expected growth rate (g) is the annualized growth rate based on the dividend growth over the past 10 years.Among the three companies, Johnson & Johnson has the highest estimated cost of equity due to its highest expected growth rate in dividends. Pfizer’s estimated cost of equity is much lower than Johnson & Johnson. Having the lowest expected growth rate in dividends, Merck has the lowest cost of equity. For bond yield plus risk premium approach (Figure 5), the bond yield (Figure 7) for Pfizer, Merck and Johnson & Johnson are 2. 0724, 2. 5553, and 1. 9629 respectively. Since their betas are Pfizer 0. 67, Merck 0. 71 and Johnson & Johnson 0. 48, and all below 1, the three companies’ judgmental risk premium estimated as 3. , 3. 4, and 3, respectively. According to the bond yield plus risk premium method, the estimated costs of e quity are Pfizer 5. 3724, Merck 5. 9553, Johnson & Johnson 4. 9629. The final estimated costs of equity for the three companies in this memo are the averages of the three approaches (Figure 6), and they are Pfizer 5. 83, Merck 4. 44, Johnson & Johnson 7. 36. The three companies do not offer preferred stocks in public (Appendix B). Their costs of preferred stock would be zero. Although Pfizer offer Preferred stock for their employees, its costs of preferred stock still estimated as zero.According to the debt-rating organizations such as Moody’s, S&P, the three companies’ bond ratings are very high (Figure 7). The tax rates used for calculating the costs of debt are the average tax rates for the last four years (Appendix C, Figure 10). And their after-tax cost of debts are similarly low, for example, Pfizer 1. 657, Merck 1. 991, Johnson & Johnson 1. 528 (Figure 9). When calculating the percentage of debt and common equity (Appendix D, Figure 12), the common equity used i s the market value of equity, and the book value of company’s debt is used as a proxy of the market value of debt.According to the formula in Appendix D, the weighted average costs of capital (WACC) for the three companies are Pfizer 1. 86, Merck 2. 17, Johnson & Johnson 2. 15. The WACCs are quit low for the three companies as pharmaceutical giants. The debt ratios for last four years for the three companies were all around 50% (Appendix E, Figure 13). For example, in 2008, Pfizer’s debt ratio was 48. 1%, Merck was 55. 2%, Johnson & Johnson was 49. 9%; in 2009, Pfizer was 57. 5%, Merck was 45. 5%, Johnson & Johnson was 46. 6%; in 2010, Pfizer was 54. 7%, Merck was 46. 3%, Johnson & Johnson was 45%; in 2011, Pfizer was 56. %, Merck was 45. 8%, Johnson & Johnson was 49. 8%. Pfizer’s debt ratios were a little higher than its two competitors. But they all have quite similar capital structures with similar borrowing capacities. The three companies’ assets are financed with around 50% equity, and their risks of bankruptcy are low. Because involved in the pharmaceutical industry, the three companies are focusing on R&D, innovation and raise productivity, which are very costly for them. The three companies all have a lot borrowings. Drug development needs a lot of resources and quite inefficient.High failure rates cause a lot pharmaceutical companies unable to make profit and went bankruptcy. Based on the circumstances, the three companies all have very good capital structures in the pharmaceutical industry. They may have to figure out a way to cut their costs, and have even better capital structures. Pfizer used accelerated depreciation methods for tax purpose. Its depreciation & amortization increased a lot since 2009 (Appendix F, Figure 14). For example, it was $5,090 million in 2008, and $4,757 million in 2009, but it was $8487 million in 2010, and $9026 million in 2011.The huge increase in depreciation was mainly because of the merger with Wyeth in 2009. Merck mainly used accelerated depreciation methods for tax purpose except that its depreciation on intangibles was applied with primarily straight-line methods. Its depreciation & amortization also increased since 2009. For instance, it was $1,631. 2 million in 2008, and $2,576 million in 2009, but it was $7,381 million in 2010, and $7,427 million in 2011. The increase in depreciation was also because of the merger. Merck was also involved in a merger with another pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough in 2009.Johnson & Johnson had quite stable depreciations. And the straight-line methods were applied in this company. The three companies all paid stable dividends in last four years (Appendix G). Pfizer paid lowest dividends among them. Johnson & Johnson paid highest dividends. Only Johnson & Johnson performed stock repurchases (Figure 15 & 16). They (in shares) were 100,970 thousands in 2008, 37,114 thousands in 2009, 45,090 thousands in 2010, 39,741 thousands in 2011. And the money (in millions) used for stock repurchases was $6,651 in 2008, $2,130 in 2009, $2,797 in 2010, $2,525 in 2011.In my point of view, Pfizer and its two competitors – Merck and Johnson & Johnson all have low cost of capital. Although they all involved in a lot borrowings , they all have very good capital structures as pharmaceutical companies. The reason is that the costs in R&D and innovation are extremely high in the pharmaceutical industry. Reference: 1. Brigham, Eugene F. and Michael C. Ehrhardt. Financial Management Theory and Practice, 13th Edition, Thompson South-Western, ISBN-13# 978-14390-7809-9, ISBN-10#1-4390-7809-2 2. http://www. mergentonline. com/login. php 3. http://www. how. com/how_5833592_determine-target-debt-equity. html 4. http://cxa. gtm. idmanagedsolutions. com/finra/BondCenter/Watchlist. aspx 5. ww. finra. org 6. http://www3. valueline. com/vlquotes/quote. aspx Appendices: Appendix A: Cost of common stock Appendix B: Cost of preferred s tock Appendix C: Cost of debt Appendix D: Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Appendix E: Capital Structure Appendix F: Depreciation Appendix G: Yearly dividend and share repurchase Appendix H: Value Line reports Appendix A: Cost of common stock Equations used for calculating cost of common stock:CAPM approach: rS=rRF+(RPM)bi DCF approach: The bond yield plus risk premium approach: rS=Company’s own bond yield + Judgmental risk premium Figure 1 CAPM Equation Variables| Â  | Â  | Â  | | Pfizer| Merck| J&J| Risk Free Rate| 1. 66| 1. 66| 1. 66| Required Rate of Return| 8. 00| 8. 00| 8. 00| Beta| 0. 67| 0. 71| 0. 48| Required Return on Stock| 5. 91| 6. 17| 4. 70| | | | | | | | | | Required Return on Stock| Â  | | Pfizer| Merck| J&J| | 5. 91| 6. 17| 4. 70| Figure 2 Annualized dividend growth rate (g) | Pfizer|Year| Sum dividend| Total growth over 10 years| Annualized growth rate (g)| Next expected dividend| 2011| 0. 8| | | Â  | 2010| 0. 72| | | Â  | 2009| 0. 8| | | Â  | 2008| 1. 28| | | Â  | 2007| 1. 16| | | Â  | 2006| 0. 96| | | Â  | 2005| 0. 76| | | Â  | 2004| 0. 68| | | Â  | 2003| 0. 6| | | Â  | 2002| 0. 52| | | Â  | 2001| 0. 44| 0. 818181818| 6. 16%| $0. 85 | | Merck| Year| Sum dividend| Total growth over 10 years| Annualized growth rate (g)| Next expected dividend| 2011| 1. 56| | | Â  | 2010| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2009| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2008| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2007| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2006| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2005| 1. 52| | | Â  | 2004| 1. 5| | | Â  | 2003| 3. 976| | | Â  | 2002| 1. 3| | | Â  | 2001| 1. 39| 0. 122302158| 1. 16%| $1. 58 | | J&J| Year| Sum dividend| Total growth over 10 years| Annualized growth rate (g)| Next expected dividend| 2011| 2. 25| | | Â  | 2010| 2. 11| | | Â  | 2009| 1. 93| | | Â  | 2008| 1. 795| | | Â  | 2007| 1. 62| | | Â  | 2006| 1. 455| | | Â  | 2005| 1. 275| | | Â  | 2004| 1. 095| | | Â  | 2003| 0. 925| | | Â  | 2002| 0. 795| | | Â  | 2001| 0. 7| 2. 214285714| 12. 39%| $2. 53 | Figure 3 CAPM | CAPM| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | Risk Free Rate (1)| Required Market Return (2)| Market Risk Premium (3)=(2)-(1)| Beta (4)| Estimated cost of Equity (1)+(3)? (4)| Pfizer| 1. 66| 8. 00| 6. 34| 0. 67| 5. 10| Merck| 1. 66| 8. 00| 6. 34| 0. 71| 6. 167| J&J| 1. 66| 8. 00| 6. 34| 0. 48| 4. 697| | | | | | | Figure 4 DCF | DCF| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | | Stock Price (1)| Next Expected Dividend (2)| Expected Growth Rate (3)| Estimated cost of Equity (2)/(1)+(3)| | Pfizer| 25. 12| $0. 85 | 6. 16| 6. 194| | Merck| 45. 62| $1. 58 | 1. 16| 1. 195| | J&J| 67. 97| $2. 53 | 12. 39| 12. 427| | | | | | | | Figure 5| | | | | | Bond Yield plus Risk Premium| Â  | Â  | | | | Company’s Bond Yield (1)| Judgmental Risk Premium (2)| Estimated cost of Equity (1)+(2)| | | Pfizer| 2. 0724| 3. 3| 5. 3724| | | Merck| 2. 5553| 3. 4| 5. 9553| | | J&J| 1. 629| 3| 4. 9629| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Figure 6 Estimated Cost of Equity| Estimated Cost of Equity| | | | | Pfizer| 5. 83| | | | | Merck| 4. 44| | | | | J&J| 7. 36| | | | | Figure 7 Bond Data| Bond Data| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Bond Symbol| Issuer Name| Coupon| Maturity| Callable| Moody's| S;P| Fitch| Price| Yield| PFE. GF| PFIZER INC| 4. 65| 3/1/18| No| A1| AA| A+| 116. 189| 1. 501| PFE. GI| PFIZER INC| 4. 5| 2/15/14| No| A1| AA| A+| 105. 468| 0. 367| PFE. GM| PFIZER INC| 7. 2| 3/15/39| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 159. 019| 3. 685| PFE. GO| PFIZER INC| 6. 2| 3/15/19| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 127. 5| 1. 66| PFE. GQ| PFIZER INC| 5. 5| 3/15/15| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 111. 554| 0. 521| PFE3666215| AMERICAN HOME PRODS CORP| 7. 25| 3/1/23| No| A1| AA| A+| 139. 65| 2. 819| PFE3667744| WYETH| 5. 5| 2/15/16| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 115. 705| 0. 715| PFE3667745| WYETH| 6| 2/15/36| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 134| 3. 791| PFE3667909| PHARMACIA CORP| 6. 5| 12/1/18| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 128. 14| 1. 677| PFE3667915| PHARMACIA CORP| 6. 75| 12/15/27| No| A1| AA| A+| 137. 221| 3. 552| PFE3667927| PHARMACIA CORP| 6. 6| 12/1/28| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 138. 179| 3. 484| PFE3670301| WYETH| 5. 45| 4/1/17| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 119. 153| 1. 044| PFE3670315| WYETH| 5. 95| 4/1/37| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 135| 3. 5| PFE3702946| WYETH| 5. 5| 3/15/13| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 101. 977| 0. 706| PFE3703979| PHARMACIA CORP| 8. 7| 10/15/21| No| A1| AA| A+| 142. 03| -| PFE3704635| WYETH| 5. 5| 2/1/14| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 106. 52| 0. 421| PFE3704636| WYETH| 6. 45| 2/1/24| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 138. 004| 2. 553| PFE3704637| WYETH| 6. 5| 2/1/34| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 139. 025| 3. 807| PFE3706578| PHARMACIA CORP| 8. 2| 4/15/25| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 101. 5| -| PFE3739069| KING PHARMACEUTICALS INC| 1. 25| 4/1/26| Yes| NR| NR| NR| 99. 99| 1. 25| | | | | | | | | Average| 2. 072388889| MRK. GA| MERCK ; CO INC| 6. 3| 1/1/26| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 138. 945| 2. 76| MRK.GB| MERCK ; CO INC| 6. 4| 3/1/28| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 137. 464| 3. 278| MRK. GC| MERCK ; CO INC| 5. 95| 12/1/28| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 133. 211| 3. 28| MRK. GF| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| 5. 76| 5/3/37| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 131| 3. 808| MRK. GG| MERCK ; CO INC MT N BE| -| 11/27/40| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 98. 25| -| MRK. GH| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 12/21/40| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 98| -| MRK. GI| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 12/27/40| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 98. 5| -| MRK. GJ| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 2/6/41| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 98| -| MRK. GK| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 6/21/41| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 100| -| MRK. GL| MERCK amp; CO INC MTN BE| -| 7/18/41| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 97. 75| -| MRK. GM| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 12/21/41| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 100| -| MRK. GN| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 11/28/41| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 98. 25| -| MRK. GQ| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 8/22/42| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 98. 275| -| MRK. GR| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 2/18/43| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 99. 875| -| MRK. GT| MERCK ; CO INC MTN BE| -| 2/12/44| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 100| -| MRK. GU| MERCK ; CO INC| 4. 75| 3/1/15| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 109. 512| 0. 699| MRK. GV| MERCK ; CO INC| 5. 75| 11/15/36| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 135. 683| 3. 536| MRK. GW| MERCK ; CO INC| 4. 8| 2/15/13| No| Aa3| AA| A+| 101. 369| 0. 194| MRK. GX| MERCK ; CO INC NEW| 3. 88| 1/15/21| Yes| A1| AA| A+| 114. 717| 1. 883| MRK3671638| SCHERING PLOUGH CORP| 6. 55| 9/15/37| Yes| Aa3| AA| A+| 149. 11| 3. 56| | | | | | | | | Average| 2. 555333333| JNJ. GA| ALZA CORP DEL| -| 7/14/14| Yes| Aa1| AAA| AAA| 152. 8| -| JNJ. GC| ALZA CORP| -| 7/28/20| Yes| Aa1| AAA| AAA| 98. 75| -| JNJ. GH| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 6. 73| 11/15/23| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 145. 758| 2. 083| JNJ. GI| -| | 11/1/24| No| NR| NR| NR| 104. 36| -| JNJ. GJ| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 6. 95| 9/1/29| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 144. 925| 3. 422| JNJ. GL| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 3. | 5/15/13| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 102. 04| 0. 263| JNJ. GM| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 4. 95| 5/15/33| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 121. 154| 3. 499| JNJ. GO| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 5. 55| 8/15/17| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 121. 81| 0. 932| JNJ. GP| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 5. 95| 8/15/37| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 143. 163| 3. 369| JNJ. GQ| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 5. 15| 7/15/18| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 123. 223| 0. 982| JNJ. GR| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 5. 85| 7/15/38| Yes| Aaa | AAA| AAA| 143. 093| 3. 341| JNJ. GS| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 2. 95| 9/1/20| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 107. 12| 1. 969| JNJ. GT| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 4. 5| 9/1/40| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 123. 32| 3. 229| JNJ. GU| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| -| 5/15/13| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 100. 154| -| JNJ. GV| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| -| 5/15/14| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 100. 322| -| JNJ. GW| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 2. 15| 5/15/16| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 105. 523| 0. 588| JNJ. GX| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 4. 85| 5/15/41| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 125. 764| 3. 428| JNJ. GY| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 1. 2| 5/15/14| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 101. 399| 0. 311| JNJ. GZ| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 3. 55| 5/15/21| Yes| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 113. 786| 1. 807| JNJ. HA| JOHNSON ; JOHNSON| 0. 7| 5/15/13| No| Aaa| AAA| AAA| 100. 278| 0. 22| | | | | | | | | Average| 1. 62866667| Appendix B: Cost of preferred stock Figure 8 Cost of Preferred Stock| Cost of Preferred Stock| Â  | Â  | Â  | | Preferred Dividend (1)| Preferred Stock Price (2)| Floatation Cost (3)| Component cost of Preferred Stock (1)/[(2)*(1-(3))]| Pfizer| N/A| N/A| N/A| #VALUE! | Merk| N/A| N/A| N/A| #VALUE! | J;J| N/A| N/A| N/A| #VALUE! | Appendix C: Cost of debt After-tax cost of debt=rd(1-T) Figure 9 After-tax cost of debt| After Tax Component Cost of Debt| Â  | | Interest Rate| Tax Rate| Cost of Debt| Pfizer| 2. 072388889| 0. 2003| 1. 657289394| Merck| 2. 555333333| 0. 221| 1. 990604667| J;J| 1. 962866667| 0. 2218| 1. 2750284| Figure 10 Marginal tax rate Company| Pfizer| Merck| J;J| Year| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Income before tax| 12,764| 9,282| 10,674| 9,694| 7,334| 1,653| 15,290| 9,931| 12,361| 16,947| 15,755| 16,929| Provision for tax| 4,023| 1,071| 2,145| 1,645| 942| 671| 2,268| 1,999| 2,689| 3,613| 3,489| 3,980| Tax rate| 0. 3152| 0. 1154| 0. 2010| 0. 1697| 0. 1284| 0. 4059| 0. 1483| 0. 2013| 0. 2175| 0. 2132| 0. 2215| 0. 2351| Average tax rate| 0. 2003| 0. 2210| 0. 2218| Appendix D: Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Figure 11 WACC| | | | | | | | WACC| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | % of Debt| Cost of Debt| % of Preferred Stock| Cost of Preferred Stock| % of Common Equity| Cost of Common Equity| WACC| Pfizer| 95. 15%| 1. 66 | – | – | 4. 85%| 5. 83 | 1. 86 | Merck| 92. 50%| 1. 99 | – | – | 7. 50%| 4. 44 | 2. 17 | J;J| 89. 26%| 1. 53 | – | – | 10. 74%| 7. 36 | 2. 15 | % of Debt, and % of Common Equity are the target proportions. Figure 12 Calculating the percentage of debt and common equity | | | | Pfizer| Merck| J;J| Shares outstanding (million)| 7,470| 3,050| 2,750| Market value per share | | 26. 03| 47. 96| 72. 52| Market value of equity ($ million), E| 194,444. | 146,278. 0 | 199,430. 0 | | | | | | | Book value of equity per share| 10. 64| 18. 16| 20. 95| Total book value of equity| | 79,480. 8 | 55,388. 0 | 57,612. 5 | Debt/Equity ratio| | 48. 26| 32. 91| 29. 07| Book value of debt| | 3,835,743. 41 | 1,822,819. 08 | 1,674,795. 38 | Cash on hand| | 24,340| 17,450| 16, 920| Net debt ($ million), D| | 3,811,403| 1,805,369| 1,657,875| | | | | | | Percentage of debt, D/(E+D)| | 95. 15%| 92. 50%| 89. 26%| Percentage of equity, E/(E+D)| 4. 85%| 7. 50%| 10. 74%| Appendix E: Capital Structure Figure 13 Capital Structure| | | | | Capital Structure| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | Pfizer| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Long Term Debt*| 34,931,000. 00 | 38,410,000| 43,193,000| 7,963,000| Common Stock*| 445,000| 444,000| 443,000| 443,000| Retained Earnings*| 46,210,000| 42,716,000| 40,426,000| 49,142,000| Redeemable Preferred Stock*| 45,000| 52,000| 61,000| 73,000| Total| 81,631,000. 00 | 81,622,000. 00 | 84,123,000. 00 | 57,621,000. 00 | | | | | | % of Debt| 42. 79%| 47. 06%| 51. 35%| 13. 82%| % of Preferred Stock| 0. 06%| 0. 06%| 0. 07%| 0. 13%| % of Common Equity| 57. 15%| 52. 88%| 48. 58%| 86. 05%| Total %| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| | | | | | Average/Target % of Debt| | 38. 75%| 95. 15%| |Average/Target % of Preferred Stock| | 0. 08%| 0. 00%| | Average/ Target % of Common Equity| | 61. 17%| 4. 85%| | | | | | | Total Debt*| 105,381,000| 106,749,000| 122,503,000| 53,408,000| Total Assets*| 188,002,000| 195,014,000| 212,949,000| 111,148,000| Total Debt/Total Assets| 56. 1%| 54. 7%| 57. 5%| 48. 1%| | | | | | | | | | | | Merck| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Long Term Debt*| 15,525,000| 15,482,000| 16,074,900| 3,943,300| Common Stock*| 1,788,000| 1,788,000| 1,781,300| 29,800| Retained Earnings*| 38,990,000| 37,536,000| 41,404,900| 43,698,800| Redeemable Preferred Stock*| – | – | – | – | Total| 56,303,000. 0 | 54,806,000. 00 | 59,261,100. 00 | 47,671,900. 00 | | | | | | % of Debt| 27. 57%| 28. 25%| 27. 13%| 8. 27%| % of Preferred Stock| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| % of Common Equity| 72. 43%| 71. 75%| 72. 87%| 91. 73%| Total %| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| | | | | | Average/Target % of Debt| | 22. 81%| 92. 50%| | Average/Target % of Preferred Stock| | 0. 00%| 0%| | Average/Target % of Common Equity| | 77. 19%| 7. 50%| | | | | | | Total Debt*| 48,185,000| 48,976,000| 50,597,100| 26,028,600| Total Assets*| 105,128,000| 105,781,000| 112,089,700| 47,195,700| Total Debt/Total Assets| 45. %| 46. 3%| 45. 1%| 55. 2%| | | | | | | | | | | | J;J| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Long Term Debt*| 12,969,000| 9,156,000| 8,223,000| 8,120,000| Common Stock*| 3,120,000| 3,120,000| 3,120,000| 3,120,000| Retained Earnings*| 81,251,000| 77,773,000| 70,306,000| 63,379,000| Redeemable Preferred Stock*| – | – | – | – | Total| 97,340,000. 00 | 90,049,000. 00 | 81,649,000. 00 | 74,619,000. 00 | | | | | | % of Debt| 13. 32%| 10. 17%| 10. 07%| 10. 88%| % of Preferred Stock| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| 0. 00%| % of Common Equity| 86. 68%| 89. 83%| 89. 93%| 89. 12%| Total %| 100. 00%| 100. 0%| 100. 00%| 100. 00%| | | | | | Average/Target % of Debt| | 11. 11%| 89. 26%| | Average/Target % of Preferred Stock| | 0. 00%| 0%| | Average/Target % of Common Equity| | 88. 89%| 10. 74%| | | | | | | Total Debt*| 56,564,000| 46,329,000| 44,094,000| 42,401,000| Total Assets*| 113,644,000| 102,908,000| 94,682,000| 84,912,000| Total Debt/Total Assets| 49. 8%| 45. 0%| 46. 6%| 49. 9%| * $ in thousands Appendix F: Depreciation Figure 14 Depreciation | | | | | | Depreciation| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | USEFUL LIVES| Pfizer| | (YEARS)| Â  | | | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Type| | Accelerated depreciation methods|Classes of Assets and Depreciation Ranges | | | | | | Land | – | | | | | Buildings| 33 1/3-50| | | | | Machinery and equipment| 8-20| | | | | Furniture, fixtures and other| 3-12 1/2| | | | | Construction in progress| – | | | | | | | | | | | Depreciation ; Amortization**| | 9,026 | 8,487 | 4,757 | 5,090 | | | | | | | | | Merck| | USEFUL LIVES| Â  | | (YEARS)| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Type| | Accelerated depreciation methods| Classes of Assets and Depreciation Ranges | | | | | | Buildings| 10-50| | | | | Machinery ; Equipment| 3-15| | | | | Capitalized software| 3- 5| | | | | Construction in progress| – | | | | |Products and product rights, trade names and patents| 3-40| Primarily straight- line methods| | | | | | | Depreciation ; Amortization**| | 7,427| 7,381| 2,576| 1,631. 2| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | J;J| | USEFUL LIVES| Â  | | (YEARS)| 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Type| | Straight- line methods| Classes of Assets and Depreciation Ranges | | | | | | Building and building equipment| 20–40| | | | | Land and leasehold improvements| 10–20| | | | | Machinery and equipment| 2–13| | | | | Capitalized software| 3-8| | | | | | | | | | | Depreciation ; Amortization**| | 3,158| 2,939| 2,774| 2,832| | | | | | | | | | | | ** $ in millions| | | | | | Appendix G: Yearly dividend and share repurchase Figure 15 Stock repurchase (in shares) and dividends| Stock Repurchaces and Dividends| Â  | Â  | Â  | | Pfizer| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Dividends ($)| 0. 8| 0. 72| 0. 8| 1. 28| | | | | | | Merck| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Dividends ($)| 1. 56| 1. 52| 1. 52| 1. 52| | | | | | | J;J| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| 39,741 | 45,090 | 37,114 | 100,970| Dividends ($)| 2. 25| 2. 11| 1. 93| 1. 795| | | | | | Number of Shares (Thousands)| | | | | | | | | | Figure 16 Stock repurchase (in U. S. dollars) and dividends| Stock Repurchaces and Dividends| Â  | Â  | Â  | | Pfizer| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Dividends ($)| 0. 8| 0. 72| 0. 8| 1. 28| | | | | | | Merck| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Dividends ($)| 1. 56| 1. 52| 1. 52| 1. 52| | | | | | | J;J| | 2011| 2010| 2009| 2008| Stock Repurchaces*| (2,525)| (2,797)| (2,130)| (6,651)| Dividends ($)| 2. 25| 2. 11| 1. 93| 1. 795| | | | | | * $ in millions| | | | | Appendix H: Value Line reports

Effects of Fast Food on Health

date: 2/8/12 EFFECTS OF FAST FOOD ON HEALTH Nowadays, American people are very busy with their works and families. They do not have enough time to cook for themselves. Moreover, with the development of the fast food industry and chains of fast food restaurants, fast food for meals is the best choice of busy people. However, everything has two faces. Eating too much fast food also has many bad effects on health including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. First of all, obesity is a serious disease mainly caused by eating fast food. Whichever kind of fast food we eat, from pizza to fried chicken, they contain the same ingredients.Fat and carbohydrates, which are one cause of overweighting, are present in most kinds of fast food. In addition, fast food contains fewer vitamin and other minerals which make people feel full. Containing fewer of these elements means that people tend to feel hungry frequently, and want to eat more. So, eating much fast food can also affect weight manageme nt. Last and also most importantly, fast food ingredients have a high amount of sugar which is the direct cause of obesity epidemic. Besides the ingredients of fast food, the larger sizes also increase the risk of obesity.In the documentary film Super Size Me (2004), Mr. Morgan Spurlock showed that when given larger portions sizes, average people still eat entirely regardless of whether they are full or not. Obviously, the more fast food we eat, the more unhealthy ingredients come to our body. Secondly, some heart diseases like heart attacks and high blood pressure are the result of eating a lot of fast food. Junk food such as donuts, fried food, etc. contains trans fats which are known to increase the level of bad cholesterol and decrease the level of good cholesterol, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.When the level of bad cholesterol in our blood is higher than the safe level, it creates the atherosclerotic plaques inside the arterial walls. Then, the arteries can be clogged, which places more stress on heart and raises blood pressure. In other words, it causes heart attacks and high blood pressure. Last but not least, type 2 diabetes is also another bad effect of eating too much fast food. Although fast food does not directly cause diabetes, it is the simple sugar and trans fat in fast food that can be the reason that leads to some symptoms such as high blood sugar, and insulin resistance.When we eat some kinds of fast food containing high level of sugar such as milkshakes, our bodies cannot use up all these sugars. The remaining will flow to our bloodstream. It also means that we have high blood sugar. Furthermore, fast food contains a lot of trans fats which block muscle to absorb glucose and protein. This blockage leads to insulin resistance. Furthermore, insulin is an important element helping the body to absorb sugar. Consequently, our body cannot absorb sugar, and it returns to our bloodstream.The result of that procedure is the high l evel of sugar in our blood, which is the cause of type 2 diabetes. In brief, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are some serious diseases that are the result of eating too much fast food, a bad habit of many American. Fortunately, fast food producers these days care more about consumers’ health by reducing the amount of trans fats and sugar in food. They also try to make fast food become healthier by adding to fast food more kinds of fruit and vegetables. Anyway, the best way to keep us healthy is to reduce eating fast food that contains too many unhealthy ingredients.

Lopez Surname Meaning and Origin

Lopez Surname Meaning and Origin Lopez is a  patronymical surname meaning son of Lope. Lope comes from the Spanish form of Lupus, a Latin personal name meaning wolf. The Lopes variation of this surname often originates from Portugal. Lopez is the  21st most popular surname in the United States and the 4th most common Hispanic surname. It is also among the top five most common last names in Argentina. Surname Origin:  Spanish Alternate Surname Spellings:  Lopes, Lopaz, Lopas Famous People with the Surname Lopez Jennifer Lopez - American actress and pop singerGeorge Lopez - comedianMario Lopez - American actorJosà © Là ³pez Portillo y Pacheco - former President of MexicoFrancisco Solano Là ³pez - former President of ParaguayNancy Lopez - popular LPGA American golfer Genealogy Resources for the Surname Lopez 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Common Hispanic Surnames Their MeaningsLearn about the origins of Hispanic last names, and the meanings of many of the most common Spanish surnames. Lopez Family Tree WebsiteA Web site for all descendants of Basilio Là ³pez and Sabina Jalandoni from the Basilio Lopez Family Association. Lopez Group DNA ProjectThe Lopez Family Project at FamilyTreeDNA seeks to find common heritage through sharing of information and DNA testing. Any variant spellings of the Lopez surname, including Lopes, are welcome. Lopez Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Lopez surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Lopez query. FamilySearch - LOPEZ GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Lopez surname and its variations. LOPEZ Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Lopez surname. DistantCousin.com - LOPEZ Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Lopez. References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Preparing a Dynamic Lesson Plan in Education

Preparing a Dynamic Lesson Plan in Education A lesson plan is a detailed description of the individual lessons that a teacher plans to teach on a given day. A lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide instruction throughout the day. It is a method of planning and preparation. A lesson plan traditionally includes the name of the lesson, the date of the lesson, the objective the lesson focuses on, the materials that will be used, and a summary of all the activities that will be used. Furthermore, lesson plans provide a terrific set of guidelines for substitute teachers. Lesson Plans Are the Foundation of Teaching Lesson plans are the teachers equivalent of a blueprint for a construction project. Unlike construction, where there is an architect, construction manager, and a myriad of construction workers involved, there is often only one teacher. They design lessons with a purpose and then use them to carry out the instruction to construct skilled, knowledgeable students. Lesson plans guide the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly instruction within a classroom. Dynamic lesson planning is time-consuming, but effective teachers will tell you that it lays the foundation for student success.   Teachers who fail to put in the proper time to plan accordingly short change themselves and their students. The time invested in lesson planning is well worth any investment as students are more engaged, classroom management is improved, and student learning naturally increases.   Lesson planning is most effective when it is focused on the short-term while always being mindfully aware of the long term.   Lesson planning must be sequential in building skills. Primary skills must be introduced first while eventually building to more complex skills.   In addition, teachers should keep a tiered checklist allowing them to keep track of what skills have been introduced to give them guidance and direction. Lesson planning must be focused and tied to district and/or state standards. Standards simply give teachers a general idea of what is supposed to be taught. They are very broad in nature. Lessons plans must be more specialized, targeting specific skills, but also including the methodology for how those skills are introduced and taught.   In lesson planning, how you teach the skills is as important to plan as the skills themselves. Lesson planning can serve as a running checklist for teachers to keep track of what and when standards and skills have been taught. Many teachers keep lesson plans organized in a binder or a digital portfolio that they are able to access and review at any time.   A lesson plan should be an ever-shifting document that teacher is always looking to improve upon.   No lesson plan should be viewed as perfect, but instead as something that can always be better. Key Components of a Lesson Plan 1. Objectives - The objectives are the specific goals that the teacher wants students to obtain from the lesson. 2. Introduction/Attention Grabber - Every lesson should start with a component that introduces the topic in such a way that the audience is drawn in and wants more. 3. Delivery - This describes how the lesson will be taught and includes the specific skills students need to learn. 4. Guided Practice - Practice problems worked out with assistance from the teacher. 5. Independent Practice - Problems a student does on their own with little to no assistance. 6. Required Materials/Equipment - A list of materials and/or the technology needed to complete the lesson. 7. Assessment/Extension Activities - How the objectives will be assessed and a list of additional activities to continue to build on the stated objectives. Lesson planning can take on a whole new life when.......... teachers include opportunities for differentiated instruction. Varying instruction according to strengths and weaknesses is essential in todays classroom. Teachers must account for this in their planning to ensure that each student is getting what they need to grow.teachers create lessons plans that include cross-curricular themes. Components such as math and science may be taught in conjunction with one another. Art or music elements may be included in an English lesson. A central theme, such as weather may be used to across all content and curriculum.teachers work together to create lesson plans as a team.   The melding of the minds can make lesson plans more effective and can save time for everyone involved.

TV over watch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TV over watch - Essay Example This paragraph will talk about the negative health effects of watching excessive television. Excessive television viewing leads to slow increase in body fat of the viewer and ultimately the viewer experience the harsh conditions of obesity. Those children who spend time hours in front of the television end up gaining less physical activity and their physical development is tampered. A study was conducted on 89 children who aged between 2 years and 6 years (Jackson, 2009). During this study the researchers measured the energy that children waste while watching TV and its effect on their physical well-being was even measured. The parents of these white Scottish children were asked to fill out questionnaires related to the research. The outcome of the study was that there was a positive link between watching TV and changes in body weight. The study proved that 1 hour of viewing of television lead to increase of 2.2 pounds of body weight. The study even figured out that the eating habits that these children obtained while watching TV was damaging their physical condition. The researchers in the study stated that while watching television, the amount of sweat and high calorie intake increases and concentration on eating health food such as vegetables decreases. The previous paragraph focused on the negative health effects, this paragraph focuses on the addiction caused due to watching television. Excessive viewing of television ultimately leads to addition with television shows and this leads to behavioral constraints. Those individuals who spend too much time watching television provide insight that they are addicted to watching television. They state that watching television is liked by them. This is similar to the affect of drug abuse, when drug abusers are asked about their experience while they consume drugs, they state they like the sensation of

BLOGS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BLOGS - Essay Example Raci is faced by the challenge of having to take hormone shorts off the street, and at times this seem to affect her class attendances which seems to be worrying her professors. Another transgendered student is a Master candidate in Student administration at Michigan university who is faced by a challenge of having to one day make his family who considers her a female understand that she is a male. In episode five, he is faced by the challenge of getting romantically involved with another student (Simmons, 2005). Gabbie, a student pursuing Computer Science at the University of Colorado has to cope with the challenge of being the youngest candidate to undergo a gender reassignment surgery. Will he later be accepted by her family as being female and not male? It is evident in Episode five of the documentary, which not all of this transgendered and transsexual student have been accepted and loved in the single sex colleges that they opted to join. Just as in the YouTube video clip on lo ve and acceptance, single-sex colleges should handle such students with love and acceptance because they were created so by God. Therefore, to help them in their transition to being a male or a female, love and acceptance would suffice (TBCvideoATL, 2010). Lack of acceptance and love has made Lucas a Neurology Senior at the Smith College feels so alienated. The society, her family, and some of her college mates consider and see Lucas as a female, but she wants to liver her life as a male. Lucas is faced with a challenge of defending his thesis in Episode five of the Transgeneration documentary (Simmons, 2005). A transgendered or transsexual student would want to attend a single-sex college just as gay partners, or lesbians would want to attend the Tabernacle Baptist church – they want a place where they would feel loved and accepted. It is natural that attending a

Qwest International Communications Research Proposal

Qwest International Communications - Research Proposal Example Qwest International Company is a public telecommunications company that provides services such as wireless services, video and internet services as well as short and long distance communications to both individual and wholesale consumers. It has achieved its objective in conjunction with other players such as Verizon wireless and Direct Television. The company is also involved in sub letting of properties such as warehouses and offices. Its headquarter are located in Denver, Colorado but operations are well spread out to over fourteen states in the United States some of which are South Dakota, Oregon, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utatah and Montana. The company is headed by a Chief Executive Officer by name Edward Mueller who also serves as the chairman to the Board of Directors of the company, and under him are over 38,000 employees. These employees are involved in provision of services that are world class in nature. Qwest International Company has been listed in the stock exchange and with a symbol of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Q and revenue of over $13.8 billion in the financial year 2007 (Handley 264). Qwest Communications International specializes in ... Chapter 2 Qwest International Company. Vision To be the company of choice that provides telecommunication services that include teleconferencing facilities, both post and pre-paid calling cards, provision of fiber optic networks and long distance telecommunication facilities to their customers. Mission The company's mission has been to ensure that employees' strengths are utilized as a means of ensuring future success of the company's business activities. Background Qwest International Company is a public telecommunications company that provides services such as wireless services, video and internet services as well as short and long distance communications to both individual and wholesale consumers. It has achieved its objective in conjunction with other players such as Verizon wireless and Direct Television. The company is also involved in sub letting of properties such as warehouses and offices. Its headquarter are located in Denver, Colorado but operations are well spread out to over fourteen states in the United States some of which are South Dakota, Oregon, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utatah and Montana. The company is headed by a Chief Executive Officer by name Edward Mueller who also serves as the chairman to the Board of Directors of the company, and under him are over 38,000 employees. These employees are involved in provision of services that are world class in nature. Qwest International Company has been listed in the stock exchange and with a symbol of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Q and revenue of over $13.8 billion in the financial year 2007 (Handley 264). Literature review Products & services Qwest Communications International specializes in three major areas of service provision the

Entrepreneurial Competencies And Business Performance Commerce Essay

Entrepreneurial Competencies And Business Performance Commerce Essay Entrepreneurship is an independent activity carried out at ones own risk, aimed at gaining regular profit from the use of property, sale of goods, performing works or services by persons registered in the manner prescribed by law (Peters, 2006). Entrepreneurship is an essential attribute of a market economy, penetrating all its institutions. Establishment (starting) of a business entity a legal entity, as well as corporate rights ownership are not business activities, except cases provided by law. An English professor Alan Hosking states that an individual entrepreneur is a person, who runs a business at his own expense, personally manages the business, is personally responsible for providing the necessary means, and makes decisions independently. His reward is a profit received as a result of business activity, and satisfaction he feels from running a free business (Rowley, 2010). But along with this, he also has to take the risk of losses in case of bankruptcy of his company. There is no generally accepted economic theory of entrepreneurship, although the need for such a theory has long been very urgent. The development of scientific understanding of the practice of entrepreneurship could be roughly called the three waves of development of the theory of business function. The first wave, which dates back to the 18th century, was associated with concentrating on the risks of an entrepreneur. The second wave in the scientific understanding of the entrepreneurship is associated with determination of innovation as its main feature. The third wave is specific for the focus on the particular personal qualities of the entrepreneur (the ability to react to changes in economic and social situation, independence in choosing and decision-making, management skills) and the role of entrepreneurship as a regulating principle in the balancing of eco system (Peters, 2006). The current stage of development of the theory of business function can be attributed to the fourth wave, the emergence of which is associated with the focus on the management aspect in the analysis of actions of the entrepreneur, and therefore on the interdisciplinary level of analysis of business problems. Currently, theoretical studies pay attention not only to entrepreneurship as a way of running business on the independent basis, but also to internal entrepreneurship, or intrapreneurship (Pinchot, 2000). The emergence of intrapreneurship is associated with the factor that many large industrial structures overtake the entrepreneurial form of organization of production. Since entrepreneurship implies the compulsory right for creative freedom, the units of integrated production structures get the right for the freedom of action, which implies the existence of intracapital the capital necessary for the implementation of the ideas lying in the base of the intra-company entrepreneurship (Pinchot, 2000; Teece, 2009). Entrepreneurship is a specific kind of economic activity (by which we mean a purposeful activity aimed at profit-making), which is based on self-initiative, responsibility and innovative entrepreneurial idea. Entrepreneurship is characterized by the presence of innovative moment whether it be manufacturing of a new product, change of the profile of activity or establishment of a new enterprise. The new system of production and quality management, introducing new methods of organizing production or new technologies are also innovative moments (Jones, 2003). Entrepreneurship represents a specific type of economic activity, since its initial stage is connected, as a rule, only with the idea the result of intellectual activity consequently gaining the materialized form. 1.2. Small and Medium Sized Enterprise The classification of small and medium-sized enterprises is usually based on the recommendations of the EU Commission of 3 April 1996, which suggests the following parameters (Jeppesen, 2005): Small and medium enterprises are the enterprises having less than 250 employees; or having an annual turnover of no more than ECU 40 million; or have a total annual balance sheet not exceeding ECU 27 million; satisfy the criterion of independence. A small business is defined as an enterprise which has less than 50 employees; or has an annual turnover not exceeding ECU 7 million; or has a total annual balance sheet not exceeding ECU 5 million; satisfies the criterion of independence. If a company initially operating as a small (medium) business within two years exceeds the criterion for the number of employees or capital structure, it loses its status as a small (medium) enterprise (Jeppesen, 2005). Modern socio-economic situation in the world is characterized by (Jones, 2003): Globalization of production and markets, high rates of technological development and modernization, increasing share of high-tech products in the market; Short life cycles, high degree of diversification of products and services, sharp fluctuations of demand for different types of products; Increasing value of intangible production, creative capital and knowledge economy in the global economy; Limited material resources and increasing requirements for environmental friendliness and safety of products; Increased demands for quality of goods and services, introduction of unified international quality standards. In these circumstances, SMEs are more flexible in responding to constantly changing market conditions, providing high efficiency of investment. As the engine of innovation, small firms provide a rapid generation of new jobs and self-employment of population when employment in traditional fields falls, thus weakening the social tension in depressed regions. Increase of the number of economically active citizens helps establish civic awareness of the population, increases creativity and willingness of society to social partnership, reduces the budget social loading, increasing opportunities to invest in development (Bhat, 2004; Jeppesen, 2005; Jones, 2003, Pinchot, 2000). Small Medium Entrepreneurship is the basis of a stable civil society. SMEs not only play a huge social role in supporting the economic activity of most of the population, but also provide significant tax revenue. In the current difficult situation, it is the SMEs that can act as a stabilizer, and therefore are worth the appropriate attention of society and government (Peters, 2006). World experience shows that if the state wants to develop dynamically and steadily, its socio-economic programs should always include measures to encourage small and medium businesses. Today, in developed countries, SMEs provide 40% to 90% of the gross domestic product (GDP) (Jeppesen, 2005). And so, it is natural that the governments of these states give priority to support the sector, providing high guarantees of private property preservation, broad economic independence and freedom of action, support of fair competition and anti-monopolistic activities, preferential loans and financing, substantial assistance in investment. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are recognized as an important part of the world economy and its economic structure, increasing flexibility, adaptability, enhancing stability at the expense of attracting new workers. The growing importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in industrial development, exports and employment is proved by the data of the labor force participation rates of non-agricultural SMEs (China 84.3%, Hong Kong 63.0% Indonesia 79.2%, Republic of Korea -78.5% Mexico 58.5%, Philippines 32,0%, Taiwan 68,6%, Thailand 73.8%) (Jeppesen, 2005). In the 90s, it was typical for TNCs to use the form of small business to expand their production and marketing networks. Such involvement of small enterprises is determined, above all, by the extent of their distribution. Small business is a kind of an antipode to orientation on a standardized large-scale production, which certainly played a role in the 50s and 70s creating in developed countries the basis for their welfare (Peters, 2006). The decisive role in the reassessment of SMEs was played by shifts in the socio-economic structure of developed countries, the change of orientation in consumer attitudes, motivation of labor. A differentiated point demand started to form. Individualization of consumption has changed the paradigms of service provision, stipulated the emergence of small flexible units able to rapidly respond to consumer demand (Bhat, 2004). Partial modernization that helped SMEs to fix in the world economic structure, and most importantly, rapidly changing consumer demand have created a new principle of production and sales, named customization. Its meaning is the orientation of manufacturer to the universal satisfaction of buyers requests, constant appeasing of consumer, and his binding to manufacturer. So the increase in the number of SMEs and their forms are directly dependent on industrial policy in general: small businesses are closely related to large ones, which updates the SMEs. Governments of the newly industrialized countries have managed to create competitive conditions in the economy, despite the strong position of major national conglomerates. Achieving a critical mass of SMEs in the national economy may be a factor of self-sustaining growth. 2. Entrepreneurial Competencies and SME Performance In the study The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises. A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies, Man, Lau and Chan (2002) developed and analyzed a conceptual model describing the relationship between the specific characteristics of SMEs owners and their companies effectiveness. The presented pattern is built out of four concepts competitive scope, organizational capabilities, entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance, which will be analyzed in further subsections. Fig.4. A multi-dimensional construct of SME competitiveness Source: Model of (Man et al, 2002), The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises: A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competences. 2.1. Competitive scope The competitiveness of the enterprise is a relative feature that expresses the difference between the development of the company from the development of competitive firms in the degree of satisfaction of peoples needs and in the efficiency of production. The competitiveness describes the capabilities and dynamics of the companys adaptation to the conditions of market competition. The competitiveness of the enterprise depends on several factors: the competitiveness of goods in a domestic and foreign markets, type of goods produced, market capacity (number of annual sales), simplicity of market access, homogeneity of market, competitive position of companies already operating in the market, competitiveness of the industry, ability of technological innovation in the industry, competitiveness of the region and country (Man 2002; Jeppesen, 2005; Jones 2003). As the world practice of market relations shows, the general principles that provide a competitive advantage to producers are (Jeppesen, 2005; Jones 2003): -Aim of each employee to act, to continue the job once it started. -Closeness to the customer. -Establishment of autonomy and creative atmosphere at the company. -Increased productivity through the use of peoples abilities and their desire to work. -Demonstrating the importance of common values. -Ability to hold ones ground. -Simple organization, minimum of management levels and personnel. -Ability to be both soft and hard. Keep the most important issues tightly controlled and pass less important ones to subordinates. The competitiveness of product and competitiveness of manufacturer relate to each other as part and whole. Companys ability to compete on a certain commodity market is directly dependent on the competitiveness of goods and the range of economic methods of the enterprise, impacting the results of competition. In the entrepreneur-consumer relations, the consumer acts as an indicator of the business process. The entrepreneur, in planning and organizing his activities cannot ignore consumers interests, expectations, and estimates. However, this situation does not mean that the entrepreneur is obliged to act only in strict accordance with the identified interests of consumers. He himself can form consumer demand and create new shopping needs. Thus, the entrepreneurs aim is the necessity to win consumers, to create his own range of consumers. The main means of entrepreneurs influence on consumer are the following factors (Jones, 2003): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ novelty of the product and its compliance with consumer interests; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ quality; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ price, availability of goods; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ degree of universality of goods; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ presentation and packaging; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ positive characteristics differing the goods from other producers; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ access to after-sales services; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ conformity with generally accepted or government standards; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ prestige and attractiveness of advertisement, etc. Competition is an adversary activity between producers for the most profitable markets. The competition serves as a motivational force that compels manufacturers to improve product quality, reduce production costs, and increase productivity. Market competition and competition of countries they are located in have a mutual influence. At the heart of these main aspects of competitiveness is something that can be called soft components of competition, which cannot be evaluated in monetary terms and are difficult to quantify. In the industrialized countries, these components are usually more important than in developing countries. At the same time, soft components cannot be politically manipulated, and changing them requires more time than, for example, increasing productivity or building infrastructure. Despite the lack of developed methods of study, this group of factors of competition cannot be ignored. They include the following (Pinchot, 2000; Man 2002; Steenkamp 2010): work ethics, flexibility and willingness to self-improvement, willingness to work in the service sector, level of claims, openness to the outside world, labour mobility, spirit of competition. 2.2. Organizational capabilities Obviously, the stock market is ready to appreciate the value of some businesses higher, while the value of these estimates exceed than the indicators that reflect the real results of their activities. The gap between market and balance value of equity can be explained by the influence of those resources that are not included in the balance. These resources can justify the high market valuation only in the future when they start to work effectively, providing the company a substantial increase in profits. Such expectations are largely associated with intangible organizational capabilities (Man, 2002). Considering organizational capabilities as dynamic units, D. Teece (2009) defines them as the possibility of firms to integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competencies in response to rapid environmental change. In fact, we are talking about controlling processes, which occur at all organizational levels of the enterprise. These processes in turn can be regarded as taking place in the time sequence of actions to meet the challenges. Each process can be controlled good or bad. Quality of control depends on the organizational capabilities of the enterprise. Dynamic capabilities of an enterprise can be narrowed to controlling three types of processes integration, reconfiguration, and training (Teece, 2009). The purpose of the integration process is to ensure efficient and effective coordination of resources. Moreover, these processes are the re-treatment of the already known tasks. Therefore, organizational capabilities, associated with the control over the integration processes, can be characterized as the replication capacity. Numerous case studies indicate the presence of a positive relationship between replication capability of the enterprise and the growth of business. The ability to control reconfiguration processes can be described as the ability to recognize the need of reconfiguring the structure of corporate assets and carry out the necessary internal and external transformation. This requires continuous monitoring of markets and technologies and the willingness to use the best practical experience. Reconfiguration processes lead to broad changes in the resource equipment of the enterprise (Bhat, 2004). The organizational capability to control the learning process includes the processes which through repetition and experimentation are helping to solve problems better and faster. It also allows the entrepreneur to identify new industrial opportunities. These organizational capabilities are seen as an important part of the replication and reconfiguration ability of the enterprise and are effectively expressed in them (Pinchot, 2000; Teece, 2009). D. Teece (2009) also distinguishes two types of training analytic (learning before doing) and experimental (doing before learning). Consolidation of organizational capabilities in the enterprise is the important factor in the calculations on the extended growth of the company, which requires the right balance between exploitation of existing and new capabilities. The essence of exploitation is to improve and expand existing skills and experiment with new alternatives (Steenkamp, 2010). Thus, the excess of market value of the enterprise over the balance value is due to the influence of its intangible resources, particularly organizational skills. Following the approach described by Man and Lau (2002), the potential organizational capabilities include innovative ability, ability to maintain or achieve high quality; cost effectiveness; and organicity as the ability to create organic organizational structures. The better the company codifies and transfers the knowledge of the staff, the higher is its efficiency, and thus the market value of the company. Generally, the market value of the enterprise grows, if it is well controlled processes of abstraction and absorption of knowledge and skills. 2.3. Entrepreneurial competencies The main economic goals of the SMEs in the market conditions are improving production efficiency, profit maximization, conquest of new markets and meeting the needs of the team. However, with the growing of influence of economic risk factors, there appear the advantages of free pricing, the possibilities of self-selection of suppliers and consumers. Entrepreneurship as a process is a complex chain of targeted actions of entrepreneurs, possessing certain entrepreneurial competencies (Table 1), since the inception of entrepreneurial ideas and ending with their embodiment in specific business projects. Table 1 showing Entrepreneurial competencies, their behavioral focus and preliminary elements. Adapted from (Thi, 2009) This process requires large expenditures of all factors of production, it is often doomed to a temporary setback, but eventually the entrepreneur is satisfied with the income. Consequently, entrepreneurship as a process involves the search for new creative ideas, their analysis and evaluation from the perspective of market needs and economic benefits, the formation of goals to implement the ideas, turning ideas into a new enterprise, the development of new products, improvement of the production organization, i.e. in implementing and translating ideas into concrete results (product, technology, services, etc.), bringing the entrepreneur the profit (Rowley, 2010; Steenkamp, 2010). Development and implementation of enterprise strategy consists in managing the economy at the micro level (Steenkamp, 2010), which requires the construction of an appropriate system that performs the following functions: directing (justification of goals and choice of ways of achieve them); coordinating (balancing of the major resource constraints and coordination of conflicting interests of all participants of production process); stimulating (activation of the driving forces of development). Experience shows that with the complexity of implementation of all tasks, one of the most difficult to implement is the last of these functions. It aims to motivate the employee to the success of the common business and the realization of his abilities and opportunities. Typically, traditional methods help to solve such a problem in practice only partially. According to experts (Jones, 2003; Bhat, 2004; Man, 2002; Rowley, 2010), most national economies now use less than a half of the creative potential of its employees (and this is obviously one of the root causes of the current crisis situation). Therefore, the way out of the deadlock should be sought in the motivation of people, in the first place, that is, in the sphere of interaction of their interests and benefits. But this requires a clear understanding of the composition and structure of economic interests in a managed team, it requires knowing and taking into account the interests not only common to the whole enterprise, but also the specific ones those of teams units (primary, ancillary, administrative, etc.), as well as of different categories of workers (by gender, age, skill level, etc.). The internal mechanism of economic management, the mechanism of stimulation and motivation cannot operate without such knowledge (Bhat, 2004). However, the external outline is equally important the mechanism of interaction between enterprises with different agents and contractors, partners and competitors in the region, country and abroad. This mechanism is even more complicated because of its novelty and the set of largely unfamiliar requirements introduced today by the market. The development of the models of behavior of enterprises with entities of external outline of relationship requires continuous analysis monitoring tracking the status of the external outline and timely identifying the emerging problems. First and foremost, it is the problem of marketing. Thus, the tasks mentioned above can be divided into two levels: macroeconomic (development of rules of the game by public authorities) and microeconomic (direct adaptation of concrete businesses to the new conditions of production and consumption of goods). According to the conceptualized model of the authors (Man, 2002), Strategic and commitment competencies, competitive scope, and organizational capabilities will positively influence the performance of an SME through their interactive effect. 2.4. Firm performance Firm performance or efficiency is the most important qualitative characteristics of management at all levels. It is a measure of production activity on the distribution and processing of various resources (tangible and intangible) (Man, 2002; Peters, 2006; Phusavat, 2007). Performance can be measured through the coefficient the ratio of results at the output of the resources and at their entrance. The problem of performance is in general is not new; it exists in varying interpretation from the period of appearance of material production and reflects the relationship of production relations of a particular type of production. Under the conditions of market relations, when the results of one market actors depend on the clarity and coherence of other actors, the problem of efficiency is a decisive one. The system of performance indicators should provide a comprehensive assessment of the usage of all enterprise resources and contain all the general economic indicators. General indicators primarily reflect the final results of production and implementation of strategic tasks. Functional indicators are used to analyze and identify the effectiveness of reserves, eliminate bottlenecks in production. As a multidimensional phenomenon, performance can be measured by the following 4 groups of indicators (Phusavat, 2007): 1. General indicators of economic efficiency (the rate of output growth, overall profitability and its growth, etc.); 2. Labor efficiency indicators (growth rate of labor productivity, share of growth in output as a result of productivity growth, etc.); 3. Indicators of fixed assets, operating assets and capital investments (capital productivity ratio, growth of operating assets to the growth of commodity output, the relative savings of production capital funds, working capital turnover, payback period of capital investment, etc.); 4. Performance indicators of material resources (relative savings of material costs, decrease of specific consumption of materials, etc.). Table 2 showing mostly used financial performance measures Source: taken from the research of (Thi, 2009) Table 3 showing financial and nonfinancial measures The provided indicators reflect the combined result of entrepreneurial activity. They are aggregated by many factors and may, in fact, be called generalizing. However, entrepreneurship includes a number of relatively independent activities: industrial, financial, commercial, communication, each of which has a direct impact on the results and thus, largely determines the performance of the entire business system. Each activity creates its own results, calculated in the indicators, reflecting the performance of individual business subsystems. If for evaluating the performance of the financial subsystem it is possible to use a set of indicators and parameters such as income from operations, cost of sales, net income excluding share of profit of associated companies, net tax before taxation and others, for a subsystem like the manufacturing one it is appropriate to suggest the following additional indicators (Peters, 2006; Phusavat, 2007): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ production efficiency calculated by the type of resource output; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ labor productivity; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ profitability; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ measure of the effectiveness of industrial relations; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the efficiency of production management; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the efficiency of HR management; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators characterizing the efficiency of use of production and marketing information and others. The effectiveness of commercial subsystems can be assessed using ratios that make up the volume of product sales and expenses for the organization of its marketing and promotion, as well as indicators expressing coherence, interdependence and complementarity of the various elements of supply chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the effectiveness of various sales channels, marketing systems, and intermediaries; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the effectiveness of sales network; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ index of reliability of intermediaries selection; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the effectiveness of sales and marketing information; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicators of the extent to which supply chain goals comply with objectives of marketing; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ duration of the implementation period (in relation to the cost of the marketing); à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the relative value of the profit in the total turnover. Speaking separately on the effectiveness of communication subsystem, it must be emphasized that it is, in this case, not the whole system of market communication (effectiveness of various communication links is evaluated in different subsystems), but the communication between producer and consumer. This subsystem can use the following additional performance indicators (Steenkamp, 2010): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of advertising (economic and socio-psychological); à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of sales promotion; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators of exhibitions; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of use of various means of advertising influence à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of motivation study; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators that reflect the information components; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effective use of tools for creating public opinion about the company and its products. The index image of the enterprise deserves special attention. It can be used as an indicator of the result not only in the communicative subsystems, but in some cases and in relation to the entire system of entrepreneurship. For example, if a business entity is guided by the concept of socio-economic marketing and suggests operating in the long run, it can build target settings based on the need to strengthen consumers trust, to acquire the necessary social status and public recognition. In this case, the assessment of its performance can be performed through the characteristics that reflect its image (Steenkamp, 2010; Bhat, 2004; Man, 2002). The disadvantage of such assessment is unavoidable conventionality of the resulting indicators obtained with the help of the expert method. It can be reduced by the full use of norms and rules pertaining to expert modeling. In general, business performance can be evaluated not only by the size of the profit, but also by changes of the market value of the enterprise. The economic efficiency of production refers to the degree of utilization of productive capacities, which is indicated by the relation of the results and costs of social production. The higher result at the same cost, the faster it grows in the calculation per unit of socially necessary labor cost, or the less the cost per unit of useful effect, the higher is the production efficiency. The generalized criterion of economic efficiency of social production is the level of labor productivity.