Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 11

Research paper - Essay Example It is strongly believed that by taking into consideration various arguments along with counterarguments based on the aforesaid sentiments, the role of obligations in the context of fighting against evil and the potentiality of the intellectuals towards governing a specific society can be ascertained. Philip Zimbardo, the lecturer in the audio file i.e. â€Å"Journey from the Psychology of Evil to the Psychology of Heroism† provided knowledge about psychological effect on the mind and behaviour of people. The lecturer signified that there are different factors that are accountable for transforming human behaviour and character. Moreover, the transformation in the character is observed due to social influence, situational act, personal attributes or morality, compassion or sense of justice. The factors are identified to adversely affect the psychological stability of human mind based on which good people are engaged in performing evil actions affecting a society as a whole. The lecturer also added that evil behaviour is exercising power to damage, harm or obliterate psychological or physical well-being of others (Korstanje, 2013; Zimbardo, 2007). Correspondingly, the essay intends to analyse sentiment to fight evil. The discussion will identify the suitability of intellectuals about their fitness in governing a society. Additionally, argument and counterargument provided with the aim of determining the appropriateness of the arguments relating to good or evil actions performed. In general, most of the people recognizes that evil is a quality, which is inherent or developed by some of the people and not by all human beings. Evil behaviour is developed by an external force and bad seeds, which enforce an individual to perform evil actions. In contrast, spiritual power grounds evil either directly in the appearance of possession or indirectly as a spiritual oppression.

Choose a modern day situation Essay Example for Free

Choose a modern day situation Essay In this lesson, we were some preparation work to prepare us for our historical improvisation piece. We had the choice of two tasks, 1. Choose a famous event from history and create an improvised piece which details this event, or 2. Choose a modern day situation (e. g. at school, a party, a mealtime etc. ) and create a short improvisation showing this. THEN choose a period of time between 1850 and 1960 and re-enact the same scene, as you think it may have happened at the time. Our group decided to choose the second task, and we all decided that doing a piece set in 1960 would be very interesting. When we had chosen the time our piece was to be set in, the majority of our group wanted to set our piece in a party, but Kayleigh wanted to perform a piece set in a school, and the rest of the group all agreed that this was an excellent idea, and could turn out some interesting differences between the 60s and todays school environment. Donna didnt really want to base our performance in the sixties but eventually the group managed to talk her round to our way of thinking, and Donna was quite happy to perform with us. I decided to go home, and research everything I could about the sixties, so that next drama lesson, we would have plenty of information with which to make our piece historically accurate. I have placed the information I collected behind this page, to show that our group have researched and used all resources available to us in order to enhance our performance. In the meantime, for the remainder of the lesson we decide to write a very basic scene plan, for our preparation performance. We couldnt make a prop and costume list, as we hadnt properly researched the time period our performance was set in, but we all agreed to bring in some props and costumes we thought would be appropriate for the piece, and when I brought the research in, we would choose the best from the selection we had brought to the lesson. Scene Plan Scene One Kayleigh is playing the teacher, and as we walk into the 1960 classroom, she invites us all in to sit down with a warm smile. We gave her a smile, to show how friendly a place school was back then, and how friendly the teacher was herself. Then the pupils sit down and the teacher asks them what they would like to do. We thought this was a good way to show the different teaching styles in use at the time, and how different their lessons were to ours, having no set curriculum, and being given the responsibility to choose for themselves what they want to do instead of just being told. The children tell her they would like to protest against war, and the teacher, being supportive of their ideas, and valuing their opinions, gets out her guitar, with which to accompany the protest chant. The girls sit and start to repeat the word peace over and over again, whilst swaying in unison. In mid-sway the girls freeze, and I get up and explain a bit about school in the sixties, and the main differences with today. Then we all walk off stage. Scene Two Kayleigh walks on stage closely followed by the kids. She sits behind a desk, and starts to read the register. I thought it was important to have a desk for the teacher, to show how nowadays teachers use their desks as a barrier between them and the pupils, almost using them to segregate themselves fro the kids, whereas in the sixties, the teachers wanted the kids to feel happy and welcome, and didnt want this barrier between them and the children. The kids attitudes are visible from the very second the walk in the door, I thought it was a good way to use movement to show how the kids feel about being forced into coming to school, and doing work they dont want to do. This is their way of rebelling, in the sixties, they rebelled to, only in the sixties, the teachers helped them. These days, the kids are rebelling against the teachers. The kids just generally give the teacher a load of attitude then we all walk off stage. I thought it was really important to show the two different ways kids then, and kids now, have of rebelling against things, and the way that the hippies used the faculty as a medium for protest, using them to send their message, whereas in this decade, kids just rebel against teachers. It was now the end of the lesson but I knew exactly what I had to research for our performance next lesson, I decided to research hippies, and the political and social background of our chosen date. This meant researching important events and getting an insight into what people were like in the sixties, how they behaved, how they reacted to scandal such as teenage pregnancy, and other social taboos, to help us play the parts convincingly. Also I wanted to find out what motivated the flower power generation to become as big as it did, and what was the reason behind their morals and ethics. I also wanted to find out a little about the music that was playing at the time, and how that was influencing people. My research is displayed over the next few pages of my notebook. The information I collected was very interesting to read, and I accumulated enough to give us a really good idea of how people in the 1960s dressed and more importantly, how they behaved. 13th March This was the lesson that we had to perform our preparation piece in. I was slightly nervous, as I knew another group were also doing the 1960s, and I didnt want our group to be shadowed by their performance, or for it to seem like we had copied them, because all of our ideas had been original and completely uninfluenced by anything they had done, but apart from that, I wasnt nervous of performing at all. We were the first group to perform, and it all went reasonably well, except some unexpected laughing due to lack of rehearsal time. I thought the characters could have been more developed, and it could have been longer, but since it was only a rehearsal piece, this didnt really matter. The other groups came up with some brilliant ideas too, one did a remaking of a scene from the Krays, a film about some London gangsters, infamous for its violent content. This was really good, and had a humourous element at the end, to relieve the tension of the scene slightly. Another group did a news report on the sinking of the Titanic and I found this to be entertaining and informative, at the same time. The other group who did a 1960 hippie setting were really good too, I liked the way they sang, and used drugs, to show that drugs were socially acceptable in those days. When we had finished watching everyone elses preparation performance, it was the end of the lesson, but I felt that the preparation work was very useful in preparing me for the historical task we were soon to begin. It really got me thinking about the different ways we could present information to an audience, and made me consider all the possible ideas we had already been forming about our piece. 20th March When we came into the lesson today, we were given a sheet, clarifying, what was expected of us of our GCSE Drama Historical piece. My rewrite of the sheet can be seen overleaf. The sheet is displayed on the adjacent page. When we all had time to examine the sheet properly, we could not decide which task to choose, so we made a brainstorm on the period of time we were allowed to use for our piece, 1859-1960. We were glad that the time period was so large, as it gave us a lot of events in history to portray. When we had made our brainstorm, we were still no nearer to agreeing on an idea or time period to show in our piece, so we each chose a time period we felt would be interesting to show, and we went to the library to research our individual subjects. Kelly and Teresa wanted to research Rock and Roll and the fifties and Kayleigh and Donna wanted to research hippies. The rest of the group didnt really want to do another piece on hippies, as our preparation piece had focussed on this, but, we did not wish to dismiss any ideas at this time, and so we were all quite happy to research our individual topics. Dora was slightly stuck for ideas on which era she should research, so I suggested the Victorian era, as it covered a wide range of events, within the time bracket we were given, and could be very interesting to look into. I myself decided to research the 1930s, the invention of television, and the broadcasting debut of the BBC, (British Broadcasting Corporation). My research is displayed over the next few pages. 21st March This lesson, the group was still very much divided into two groups, Dora, Me, Kelly and Teresa, who wanted to perform a piece about the rock n roll era of the 1950s, and Donna and Kayleigh, who still wanted to do a play about hippies, and more specifically, hippies in school, which the rest of us seriously objected to, seeing as it was exactly the same as our preparation work. Then Kelly came up with the idea of spanning different decades, and showing one idea, either schools, or parties, throughout the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 1960. I came up with the idea of everyone sharing the responsibilities equally, and each person having a scene to write up, and design themselves. Then Kayleigh was concerned about the amount of work each person would have to do, so I came up with the idea that if the person in charge of the scene wanted to, they could speak to the audience instead of acting, and this would tie our performance in with both the comparison, and theatre in education tasks we were given, and presenting different scenes in different formats would improve our performance, and make it more interesting for the audience. We decided Teresa would write the 30s scene, Kelly the 20s, Donna and Kayleigh the year 1960, and Dora the thirties. I decide to take the fortys scene, as I thought it would have been really interesting to show the jubilation of the British population at the end of the second world war. Then I said I thought it would be really good idea to have each person who designed the scene, to come to the front at the end, and speak to the audience directly about their scene, the main differences from those days to the present time, and that this would also be a good way to give the other actors time to change before the next scene starts. I thought this would also be a good way to fill in some time too, as with six people in our group our plays ideal length would be about twenty minutes. I thought splitting the scenes up this way would be a great way to get everyone to put their own thoughts and style into the piece, and let everyone each have their individual inputs, and be able to perform one piece of our performance their way. I also thought it would be a really good way to add more variety to our piece, and hold the attention of our audience better than a less creatively structured piece would. We had still not decided on the theme our scenes would have, schools or parties, so we all agreed to go home, and really think about our reasons for our preferences, and think about which idea was the more original and creative. We also decided to seriously think about which would be more interesting for our audience to watch. The research I found about the 1940s, can be found over the next few pages of my notebook. 27th March Today, we were still disagreeing on what the main focus of our performance should be. Kayleigh and Donna still wanted to write our scenes around a school format, and the rest of us still wanted to have the main feature of each part of our performance be a party, or be about a party. When our drama teacher came over to check on our progress, she suggested, if it was causing so much trouble within the group, that we split into a four and a two, with Kayleigh and Donna forming their own group together, but we all decided that this would not be a good idea, as Kayleigh and Donna didnt want to be on their own, trying to create a totally new piece in a reduced time period, and we didnt really want to lose two of our group, and the people who were writing the last scene of our performance, so Donna and Kayleigh agreed to base our performance around parties and not schools. I wanted to use parties, because there is more opportunity to show difference in costume, and behaviour throughout the different decades, than there is in schools. Then for the rest of the lesson, we concentrated on developing a presentation to show to the rest of the class. Each person read out their thoughts on their scene, and how they intended it to develop into the final piece we were to perform. We got some interesting feedback on the subject, mainly, that in order to make my scene/s historically accurate, I needed to do more research on street parties in particular, not just the forties in general. Also, Mark had an interesting suggestion, he suggested that instead of having people get changed while the writer of the last scene speaks to the audience, we have just three people in one scene, and three in the next, however, this is up to the individual who creates the scene, as she will decide how many characters she needs in her part of the performance. At the end of the lesson, we decided to think about the different ideas suggested to us by the rest of the class, and we all agreed to think of some ideas for our scenes for tomorrows lesson.

Nothing Excites Me More than Teaching! :: College Admissions Essays

Nothing excites me more than teaching. For years, I wanted to be a pediatrician so I could work with children. Throughout my high school years, however, I have discovered that making people feel better is a job not only for doctors. My experiences in high school have helped me prepare for a career in teaching. Since sophomore year, I have worked at an elementary school at the extended day program. Almost every day after school I play outside with the children, set up crafts, and help them with their homework. While some of their assignments may seem trivial to me, I realize that it can be a struggle for them. Helping the children with any kind of homework makes me smile, knowing that I can increase their esteem and confidence. I help them discover different techniques for certain math problems or easy ways to search for information in a story. I love bringing myself back to the mind of the third grader to help them understand their work. Teaching to a mind of my own age, on the other hand, is not always easier. For a few years, I have been a math tutor during school. For 20 minutes a day, before or after lunch, a few other tutors and I help any students who need extra help. Usually we emphasize techniques for a lesson, explain certain points for a homework assignment, or review formulas for a unit test. As an individual tutor, sometimes my one explanation doesn't register with our peers. We often group together to help the students discover many different ways for solving a problem so they can find one technique that they can easily understand. The students often feel comfortable working with one of their peers, learning from someone who is at the same level as they are. After every tutoring session, both the students and I are proud of a job well done. My teaching experience has extended out of the classroom during the summer. This summer will be my fourth year working at NHOM Camp Gottalikachallenge. At these camps, however, my position as a teacher is modified to a "coach." Camp Gottalikachallenge is a week-long day camp for children entering grades 4 through 8. Throughout the week, the children split into groups of 8 to 10 and work on a long-term challenge, creating props and a play for their presentation at the end of the week.

Interpreting Dreams Essay -- Freudian, Jungian and Cognitive

Most of us have experienced a dream, be it a nightmare or a pleasant walk in a forest. It was frequently believed that dreams encompass a coded message that might be expressing our hidden wishes, things that happened in the past or even predict the future. In the past, there have been many attempts to unravel the secret hidden behind the dreams and so far the world came up with three main theories of interpreting the dreams (Freudian, Jungian and Cognitive)(Wade, Travis 1998). In this essay I will attempt to analyze my dream by using each of the theories mentioned above, then compare the outcomes as well as their possible connections to my life and in the end determine, which one of these theories is the most accurate and thus as a laic may say the â€Å"best† one. However, I have never believed that my dreams have any meaning and in the course of this analysis I will try to prove that the Cognitive view alone offers the most reasonable explanation of my dreams. My dream had begun on a deserted shore. After a while, I was able to find a little cottage that belonged to a fisherman. I needed from him a boat in order to get to an island (it looked like a great mountain that was rising from the water and was covered with snow). All of a sudden, I sat in the boat with four of my roommates as well as with my father and grandfather. However, only then have we found out that we do not have enough food to get to that island, so we turned our boat back to the harbor. Upon our return, we had gone into a forest that was covering almost all of the land that we were able to see. After a period of time, the length of which I was not able to determine, we have found an arbor and there were many deer running around it. But instead of shooting any of them, I shot an old ugly pig with six bullets. That was the end of my dream. The next day in the morning I wrote it down as soon as I woke up. Sigmund Freud, in his famous book â€Å"Interpretation of Dreams† (1900) presented his new theories about determining the real meaning of our dreams. According to his book, our dreams in their core represent our deepest wishes, desires and instinctual thoughts. However, as these dreams in their original form (latent contents) were unacceptable for our consciousness, the â€Å"censor†(an unconscious mechanism) shaped them into an acceptable and symbolic form (manifest content). These symbols may... ...ne of his lectures: â€Å"The best interpretation (of a dream) is the one that has the greatest logical meaning and is mostly helping you to solve these problems.† (Johnson 2002). From this point of view, the best logical and reasonable explanation of my dream has provided the Cognitive View, which, as it was mentioned in the paragraph above, assumes that all of our dreams are just leftover memories. In my personal opinion it is true, because I was truly able to find in that dream of mine certain aspects that belonged to my past. Of course, I am not claiming that the theories of dream analysis of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that worked for decades are wrong, but in my case the outcome of these two theories was too general as well as obscure for me to believe that they represent the best way of dream analysis. Works Cited: Freud, S. (1900). Interpretation of Dreams: NY, New York. Gifford, T. (n.d.). Myths Dreams Symbols. Retrieved October 15th, 2002 from http://www.mythsdreamssymbols.com/ Johnson, M. (2002). Lecture, General Psychology, University of New York / Prague, Prague, Czech Republic. Wade, C. & Travis, C. (1998). Psychology (5th Ed.) New York: Adison Wesley

HB Fuller Company Essay

H.B. Fuller Company is an operational company that deals with paints, adhesives, coating for manufactures and sealants that we find ourselves using everyday in our life. However, due to its activities mostly being underground or rather that it deals with behind the scene activities and that most of its products we can only see the results not the actual product, most common people may not know it or even have an idea that it exists. They would be surprised to know that it was founded back in 1987 and operates in around 34 countries in North America. It had net revenue totaling to $1. 472 billion in 2006 a 2. 5 percent increment from the previous year. The company is known to make a lot of profit though some of its money ends up in the public relation department in the dealing with cases concerning glue sniffing. It has over 3700 employees worldwide and at present, it reaches over 100 countries worldwide. It is operational and makes profit and was recently celebrated its 120th anniversary and it has been ranked by the Forbes Magazine in its Platinum 400 list of best big companies for two consecutive years. (www. hbfuller. com/about us) The company has Michele Volpi as the President and the Chief Executive Officer, Fabrizio Corradini as Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Kevin Gilligan as the Vice President, Asia Pacific, Timothy Keenan as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, James C. McCreary, Jr. s the Vice President, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Controller, Monica Moretti as the Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Jan Muller as the Vice President, Europe, Ann Parriott as the Vice President, Human Resources, Cheryl Reinitz as the Vice President, Treasurer, Jay Scripter as the Vice President, North America and Ramon Tico as the Vice President, Latin America. (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) Michele Volpi is the President and the Chief Ex ecutive Officer from December 2006 to present. He holds a B.  A degree and a Masters degree in business administration form Bacconi University in Italy. He is also a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. He was the General Manager and Group President, Global Adhesives Group from 2004 to November 2006. he has been the director of many other companies such Global SBU Manager, Polymer shapes Business Unit, General Electric Company, Huntersville. He has also worked in Italy and Spain. (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) Fabrizio Corradini is the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. He holds an MBA from University of Chicago and a Masters of management science from Solvay Business School in Brussels in Belgium. He has worked with HB Fuller as the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer form 2007 to present. He has also worked with Luxembourg, Management Consultant, Boston Consulting Group, Italy, France, Germany, Spain (1996-1998). (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) Kevin Gilligan is the Vice President, Asia Pacific. He holds a B. S. E. , industrial engineering degree from the University of Michigan and an M. B. A. , marketing & operations from Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been working with HB Fuller from 1994 to present at various positions as the Group vice president, General Manager, operational director, e-business director, product line manager, plant manager and management rotational program. He has vast experience in different fields and he has worked in Poland and Texas. (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) Timothy Keenan is the Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He holds a B. A. economics degree from University of Notre Dame. He has worked in the H B Fuller since 2004 as the general and the deputy counsel and corporate Secretary. He has worked as the senior attorney and assistant secretary, International Multifoods Corp. , Minneapolis. (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) James C. McCreary, Jr. is the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Controller and Chief Financial Officer. He holds a business administration and accounting degree from Kent State University. He has also worked as the Administration, Product Manager and Controller Vice President of the Industrial Chemicals Division in Pittsburgh. (www. hbfuller. com/about us/ directors) H B Fuller is presented in a case where it is accused of using an intoxicating substance that is used by a street boy in the case where the dies after inhaling the substance. It has been accused that it has caused a number of people to die and that most of them are the youth or rather teenagers who sniff the shoe glue. Earlier on, business ethics was viewed as the compliance of the legal standard and the adherence the internal regulations and rules. However as time went by, this turned out to be a different case as the organizations has to consider the wellbeing of the goods and the services that they produce in their companies this would help them get the confidence and the respect of their customers. There is a high growth in demand for social responsibility and companies are held accountable for the actions that come out of their products. Companies are producing comprehensive ethics management systems in their work so that they can be able to deal with the complex ethical issue that they may encounter in their day-to-day life from the places they market their products as some of them pose environmental risks. ( www. pangaea. org/street_children/latin/fuller) There is the Ethics Compliance Management System Standard (ECS2000) that is the guideline for organization and corporations which would like to conduct businesses in a responsible and reliable manner. It offers the all the required standards to a good social responsibility and is made available to most of the ethics research project centers. It is through these codes or standards that H B Fuller was charged in the federal court for the case of the death of Honduras street children after they had sniffed the glue that was produced by the company. (www. pangaea. org/street_children/latin/fuller) On the part of the company, it wanted the case to be dismissed as it claimed that it has reformulated its products and the substance or rather the shoe glue no longer contains any serious intoxicant. It claims that it has replaced the sweet smelling toxic substance with a less intoxicated and not so nice smelling brand. It claims that it has also increases the price of the product and it expects that children may have turn into the other brand. In addition, there had to be the government intervention, as the main issue with the children was the availability of the chemical to these. Though the company has made a lot of profit from the sale of glue, executives claim that the issues relating to the public relation has outweighed the profits. Fuller also decided to pull out of the market as some of its resolution. It decided to pull some of its products such as the Resistol to see to it whether it will have an effect to the abuse by the children. However, this had very little effect and they decided to pull back as it did not have any effect. They resolved to be selling the products to companies and not to individuals. They also claimed that the issue of the black market was the one responsible for the tragic abuse of the children Central America. (www. pangaea. org/street_children/latin/fuller) Fuller also came up with a new provision for the prevention of the use of its substances. It came up with an advertising slogan â€Å"We work chemistry in to answers. † This would help the notion in the people that the glue has been intoxicated and that it is the killing people. Among those that are involved in the case was Linare’s lawyer who filed a case after her brother died of inhaling toxic glue as they called it. Then there is the involvement of the government that had to protect the Fuller Company in the cases that it was accused in most of those third world countries. Also in the case were the human rights advocates who fought for the cases of the children who majority of them were intoxicated and all that they wanted was justice be done for them. (www. business-humanrights. org/Links/Repository) According to Ethics Compliance Management System Standard (ECS2000), a company is supposed to be responsible of all the activities and the outcome of all its products and it should take the required measures to correct the problem. In case the company is sued for a poor product or a hazardous product, it is supposed to take full repercussion for the poor product. (Malachowski 2001, 10)

Free Essays on Anatomy Of Inequity

, it was a very slow paced work environment. One Saturday afternoon, I had finished all of my regular chores and was waiting for customers. I mentioned to a co-worker that I was bored. He said that when he was bored he would smoke a cigarette. He suggested that I have a smoke and offered me one of his. It is true w... Free Essays on Anatomy Of Inequity Free Essays on Anatomy Of Inequity Anatomy of Inequity Can a person pinpoint the single worse decision of their life? I know I can pinpoint mine. Oh, I’ve made numerous choices that were questionable, but there is one that stands out like the south side of a goat facing north. That was the day I smoked my first cigarette. Blame could be cast here or there, but it was my choice. If I could, I would reverse that fateful decision. Unfortunately, there is no magical time machine that will allow me to go back. The easiest way to stop smoking is to never start. By identifying the underlying causes of why I started and the resulting effects, maybe someone who is presented with a similar situation might decide not to take that first puff. I became an addict after smoking my first cigarette. How could this be? I grew up in a family of smokers. To the best of my recollection, everyone smoked. Oh, there were a few oddballs in the family, but most everyone was lighting up at the family get-together’s. In the 1960’s people had never heard of the term second hand smoke. Unless I was outside playing, I was breathing in second hand smoke. Throughout the years my body was being primed. When I took a drag off of that first cigarette, I was hooked. But, why did I take that first drag? I was working as a salesman at the local Kinney’s Shoe store and was bored. It was located off of 83rd and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. If the store had been located in a mall, I may not have smoked that first one. But, a shoe store, situated so far from the hustle and bustle of the city, was not exactly a hotbed of the marketing world. In other words, it was a very slow paced work environment. One Saturday afternoon, I had finished all of my regular chores and was waiting for customers. I mentioned to a co-worker that I was bored. He said that when he was bored he would smoke a cigarette. He suggested that I have a smoke and offered me one of his. It is true w...

Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant

God’s Existence According to Anselm & Kant Anselm’s ontological argument begins with the idea that God is something of which nothing greater can be conceived. He recognizes that some people say there is no God. However, while they may not believe in God, they understand that they are denying his existence. Therefore, God exists even to the nonbelievers understanding. Anselm also states that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. He also tells us that existing in reality is greater the existing only in the understanding. If existing in reality is greater, then God had better exist in reality, as well as in the understanding. Otherwise, we could conceive of something better, and God would no longer be the greatest conceivable being. Anselm’s argument is presented to the reader in an a priori form he structures it into four main premises and a single, final conclusion, making his argument hard to object against. The premises also do not rely on experience for their validation. Anselm’s argument turns anyone who says, â€Å"I don’t believe in God.† Into a bit of a fool, and it also makes this statement one of contradiction. The fool understands the definition of God but denies that God exists. An easier way to look at Anselm’s ontological argument is to become that fool, for a moment, and imagine that God exists in the understanding, solely. Now, given Anselm’s definition, this means that a being than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding, solely. This same being can be conceived to exist in reality. Even if we don’t believe that it is actually true, we can imagine a place where it is true. However, keeping in mind that it is greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we ... Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant God’s Existence According to Anselm & Kant Anselm’s ontological argument begins with the idea that God is something of which nothing greater can be conceived. He recognizes that some people say there is no God. However, while they may not believe in God, they understand that they are denying his existence. Therefore, God exists even to the nonbelievers understanding. Anselm also states that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. He also tells us that existing in reality is greater the existing only in the understanding. If existing in reality is greater, then God had better exist in reality, as well as in the understanding. Otherwise, we could conceive of something better, and God would no longer be the greatest conceivable being. Anselm’s argument is presented to the reader in an a priori form he structures it into four main premises and a single, final conclusion, making his argument hard to object against. The premises also do not rely on experience for their validation. Anselm’s argument turns anyone who says, â€Å"I don’t believe in God.† Into a bit of a fool, and it also makes this statement one of contradiction. The fool understands the definition of God but denies that God exists. An easier way to look at Anselm’s ontological argument is to become that fool, for a moment, and imagine that God exists in the understanding, solely. Now, given Anselm’s definition, this means that a being than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding, solely. This same being can be conceived to exist in reality. Even if we don’t believe that it is actually true, we can imagine a place where it is true. However, keeping in mind that it is greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we ...

statue of King Chephren essays

statue of King Chephren essays The extraordinary statue of King Chephren is a masterpiece of sculpture in the round. This work is 168cm tall, 96cm long and 57cm wide, which was the approximate size of the king. The artist who created this sculpture is unknown, as it was found when Mariette's workmen were exploring the favissa of Chephren's valley temple in 1860. The statue was built during the reign of King Chephren, which historians estimate lasted from 2540-2505 BC. The statue is a cut block of Diorite, a granular crystalline igneous rock. This work can be found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (Ground Floor, room 42), or if you are unable to visit Cairo, images of the work can be found in the Official Catalogue of The Egyptian Museum of Cairo (pages 64,65) Chephren was the son of Cheops. The enthroned king rests one hand flat on his knee while he holds a folded piece of material in the other. He wears a nemes headdress with pleaded lappets. Attached to his chin is the sign of his dignity, the ceremonial beard. He is also dressed in a shendjyt, a type of short pleated kilt. Two lions support the king's seat, one on each side. The two lions are to provide the king with both power and protection. On each side of the throne the motif of the unity of the two lands, or sema-tawy, is etched in high relief. The sema-tawy, is composed of the heraldic plants of the Two Lands. Lilies, for the south, and papyrus, for the north, are knotted around the hieroglyphic sign for 'union'. The statue of King Chephren contains implied detail, meaning that very few lines in the right positions can make up for a completely textured work. This feature causes your eye to start at the king's face and move around the statue, without being confused by excessive detail. The throne is elevated about a foot above ground level, so the king would appear more powerful to worshippers bowing before the statue. The work is covered with symbolism, including the protection of ...

Competitive markets, monopolies, oligopolies as types of markets Essay

Competitive markets, monopolies, oligopolies as types of markets structures - Essay Example This means that the seller has a lot of authority and control over the market conditions such as price and supply. Some of the characteristics of monopolistic market structure include little quantity or absence of substitute products, large barriers to market entry, little or no competition, while seller has a great authority over market conditions, prices are determined by the seller, insignificant difference exists between the industry and firm. Additionally, the demand curve for monopolistic markets is downward sloping, which simply means the seller can sell less at a higher price, or vice versa (Nicholson, & Snyder, 2008, p. 491). Unlike in competitive markets, monopolistic markets have the upper hand in setting market prices. Since the firms or the sellers have little to worry about competitors, they can set the prices above the marginal costs. They can set the prices above the normal profits as would be in the case of competitive markets. Additionally, the seller can influence supply, thereby determining the price by either selling more at a lower price or selling less at a higher price. The maximum possible price will be where marginal cost, marginal revenue, and demand curve intersect. Although monopolies can maximize profits in several ways, the output is largely determined by marginal cost and marginal revenue. The seller will continue increasing the output, as long as marginal costs are lower than marginal revenue. The maximum profit will be realized when the difference between marginal revenue and marginal cost is maximum. Since the seller is the price determinant, it is possible to regulate the output such that the profit obtained is maximized when other market conditions are considered. Monopoly markets have many market entry barriers as compared... It is evidently clear from the discussion that competitive markets are characterized by unlimited number of buyers and sellers, all trading on the same or similar commodity in a manner that the prices of the commodity are largely determined by the market forces. Therefore, a single individual or a small fraction of the buyers or sellers has little or no impact upon the price. Once the prevailing market forces set the price, buyers or sellers have no option but to go with the offered prices. Monopoly type of market structure refers to a market whereby there is little or no competition on the offered commodity. This means that the seller has a lot of authority and control over the market conditions such as price and supply. Some of the characteristics of monopolistic market structure include little quantity or absence of substitute products, large barriers to market entry, little or no competition, while seller has a great authority over market conditions, prices are determined by the seller, insignificant difference exists between the industry and firm. Oligopoly is a market structure whereby few sellers dominate the market. Unlike in monopoly form of market structure, oligopoly players can hardly make independent decisions since the other market players will react in response. Therefore, the decisions of one player are under the influence of the others. Few large firms characterize the market structure, each firm is appreciably large in comparison to the overall market, similar or close substitute products, and large barriers to entry.

Source Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Source Evaluation - Essay Example He has previously served the American Society for the History of Rhetoric (ASHR) in the capacity of the president. He got his PhD in Communication Studies in 2000, from the Northwestern University. This is on top of the 1997 MA in Communication Studies, from the Northwestern University. Presently, he is an Associate Professor who teaches classical rhetoric and rhetorical stylistics. The poetry work was published in 2011 in a journal referred to as Rhetorica: A journal of the History of rhetoric. The journal contains literature and related academic articles. The thesis explained by the source illustrates a comparison of two literary styles, as applicable to the Early Greek literature and also the modern literary context. Poetry is basically distinguished from the aspects of prose through the verse arrangement (Richard 304). Another distinguishing feature according to Richard is that, â€Å"prose is cast in sentences, poetry in lines† (304). Prose syntax is determined through meaning, and poetry syntax is determined by the visual characteristics of the poem. Before the nineteenth century, the concept of poetry was adequately understood as a literary aspect arranged in metrical lines. During this period, the preferred meaning of poetry entailed any literary subject that has rhythm and verses. This was due to the high influence of Aristotle. Poetry during this period was also viewed as a technical verse designation, instead of the normal illustration of rhetorical and fictive artwork (Richard 315). The source illustrates adequate examples in the literary areas of poetry and prose. The author explains that poetry is one of the earliest pre-date works on literacy. Earlier cases of poetry were composed and sustained through the oral tradition processes. Hence, poetry is the earliest category of literature. On the contrary, prose is a language category that applies natural speech and also the concept of ordinary

Warsaw Ghetto and The Pianist Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Warsaw Ghetto and The Pianist - Research Paper Example This essay focuses on description of the life and death in the WWII times in the Warsaw Ghetto, in Poland. The researcher analyzes the book written by a survivor of the events that are described in the book and then the movie, the Pianist. Wladyslaw Szpilman, who is an author and the main character of the book was a Polish Jewish man who lived through the Jewish Holocaust. He was a musician and his experiences were shown in the movie and the book, named The Pianist. The book was written by Szpilman and his son was able to get it published because he wanted people to know what happened to his father during WWII times. The Holocaust was a tremendously bad situation that happened to the Jews in Europe and reading a such personal account and memories was very difficult for the researcher at times. The Warsaw Ghetto in Poland was where most of Szpilman's experiences happened. The essay follows the book and describes The Warsaw Ghetto that was not a happy place or one where people were tre ated well. Life and war experiences of the main character were also described as well. To conclude, the researcher gives his own opinion on the book that he analyzed. The researcher thinks that this was an interesting time in history and it made him want to read some more about the Holocaust but it is also very difficult to read it at the same time. He also thinks that the movie was very hard to watch and he was in tears many times watching what people did. At the end, the researcher hopes that this never happens again to anyone.

How to Minimize Costs with Effective Project Management Essay

How to Minimize Costs with Effective Project Management - Essay Example In addition, one should ensure not to put too many people in the project and do should avoid bad vendors at all cost. In addition, ensuring that the teams employed have the right skills to pursue the specified goal is also of great importance. This is because the staff does what they know best hence reducing cost and time wastage.secondly, any staff member who meets the desirable goal should be rewarded to motivate them and to encourage the others to do their best, thirdly, should value the contributions of in members’ dimensions to ensure that they are left out. In addition to this, appointing of a qualified project manager to deal with should be in the forefront to ensure that the project remains on the right course to attain. In conclusion, all the contributions of every employee should be valued in all dimensions to avoid favoring some, which leads to low productivity. This is to mean that each individual should be given credit according to what he does

Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning - Essay Example Learning experiences present themselves to people in everyday activities through the things they engage in. We encounter different situations in the course of our daily chores helping us learn without our realization. Once one reflects on the occurrences in his/her past life, one can be able to analyze the learning experiences in his life, and appreciate those moments. Throughout the academic semester, for example, I have been able to learn numerous things which have enriched my life immensely. Though some occurred subconsciously, others were instigated by the class assignments I undertook. The English class has offered me numerous opportunities to improve my life through the learning experience. The exchange of materials written by myself and others has profoundly enhanced my perspective of sharing. Sharing can be used as a way of analyzing oneself to find the strengths and weaknesses that exist. Finding the weaknesses in oneself can be an extremely difficult task to achieve. Throug h the criticism, and comments of other people on can be able to analyze himself or herself in a very objective manner. Objectivity in analyzing oneself reduces the probability of becoming paranoid. Critical analysis of oneself can make an individual substantially appreciate the positive and negative comments made by others concerning ones personality or activity. Throughout the semester, I have been exchanging my articles with other students so that they can present to me their views on the articles. The criticisms I received from my colleagues have been essential in developing my writing ability. New ideas have come to my attention through the reviews offered by friends concerning my writing. I have also been able to offer my reviews of others’ style of writing. Through reading their articles, I have been able to get their line of thoughts. This has helped develop my own ability to generate ideas presented in articles I normally write. While interviewing one of my friends ca lled Gideon Park, I came across an intriguing issue which he raised. He believed that structures for essays limited the ideas and creativity for a writer. He believed that the writer at high school level should not be limited to the structure of essay, they should be allowed to write about the topic issued without being restricted by the structures. The issues raised by my friend helped open up my mind. I realized that the issues should be addressed comprehensively to achieve improved creativity of writers. The creativity of writers should be utilized by allowing them to write in their own style. This can also create new writing styles in the English comprehension. Development of the English language can be immensely enhanced by the liberalization of writing styles. Through this discussion, I learnt that, at the university level, this restriction to essay structures was minimal (Tomasello, pg 16). Professors showed more liberalization in the marking of English assignments they issue d than teachers in high schools. Writers were allowed to follow a style of their own liking as long as they handled the topic comprehensively. Professors mark the quality of writing and not the structure as it was the case in high schools. I have been able to interact with people from different places in the world and learn their ways of life. I have realized that the American culture does not only comprise of American. The culture can be termed as a global one since there are extremely many people living in America who are not natives in the country. The effects of increased immigration and emigration have caused people to interact and share cultures. I have been able to learn that the outcome of these interactions has been the phenomenon described as globalization (Bhagwati, pg 156). The effects

How to Minimize Costs with Effective Project Management Essay

How to Minimize Costs with Effective Project Management - Essay Example In addition, one should ensure not to put too many people in the project and do should avoid bad vendors at all cost. In addition, ensuring that the teams employed have the right skills to pursue the specified goal is also of great importance. This is because the staff does what they know best hence reducing cost and time wastage.secondly, any staff member who meets the desirable goal should be rewarded to motivate them and to encourage the others to do their best, thirdly, should value the contributions of in members’ dimensions to ensure that they are left out. In addition to this, appointing of a qualified project manager to deal with should be in the forefront to ensure that the project remains on the right course to attain. In conclusion, all the contributions of every employee should be valued in all dimensions to avoid favoring some, which leads to low productivity. This is to mean that each individual should be given credit according to what he does

The Indian Entertainment and Media industry Essay

The Indian Entertainment and Media industry - Essay Example The year 2006 has reported to be proved one of the most successful years for the Indian Film Industry as not local audience responded to the industry but also the foreign markets were more responsive to the new movies too. It was because of this reason that the industry has been able to witness consolidation through formation of formal companies as well as new firms entering into the market. Similarly the television channels in the country are getting mushroomed too as more and more niches are being developed to cater the various segments of the market. Apart from that the increased digitalization has allowed Indian T.V. Channels allowed them to deliver customized contents to their audience. Similarly the radio industry has evolved too with more and more FM stations are being started to again cater the various market segments. The above situation suggests a strong performance and expectations from the Indian Media industry and its capability to deliver. This work will undertake a det ailed SWOT analysis as well as PESTL analysis in order to explore further the industry. A good SWOT analysis would outline that the organization aiming to enter into certain sector should have the capabilities to exploit the strengths of the industry as well as utilize its strengths to overcome its weaknesses also. Similarly Opportunities must be fully utilized to cater to the threats which the industry is facing. 1) Media industry in India is one of the most booming industries in the economy having large customer base. All the segments of the industry including TV, Films and radio have the large customer base to cater to. Any company willing to penetrate into the market will not have to divert their resources in the development of the market as the readily available market is readily available.

Aristotle Virtue Theory Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Virtue Theory Essay Aristotle’s Virtue theory is based on Teleology and the Golden Mean. He says that to be virtuous that we need to act with excellence. He believed that everything on this earth has its own virtue, meaning that if it performs the way it’s supposed to by its nature then it is virtuous. He asserted that every event had four causes or four factors that work on it and to bring it into being; 1) Material Cause- the â€Å"stuff the thing is made of. 2) Efficient Cause- the force that has brought it into being. 3) Formal cause- the shape or idea (the Form) of the thing. 4) Final cause- the purpose of the thing. Virtue is not just for humans; it means that everything that exists has a purpose. The Golden Mean-is an action or feeling that corresponds to a particular situation at the right time, in the right way, in the right amount, and for the right reason. Not too much, not too little, everything in moderation. It is what is â€Å"Good for man† where a human can excel, what a human is meant to do and where a human will find happiness. He determined that if we are able to choose the proper response to every situation in life then we are morally good. It is all about the reasonably thought  out decisions we make and the action we take after we have made them. The virtuous person finds and choses the one that is intermediate. These are human concerns that are constant and remain the same concerns throughout the ages. Since we are human beings and capable of rational decision making we can be prone to go toward one extreme or the other, we must beware of our own short comings. It is only through habitually practicing to try to make the right decisions that we can aspire to become virtuous. It is not our response to a single situation but how we respond as a general rule. We need to be consistent in our actions. Aristotle realized that this is something that doesn’t come overnight but that it takes time to mold ourselves. How we find out what the mean is in every situation is through reason, the more times we have done it and acted correctly the better we can build the habit of responding appropriately. He specifies that there are some acts that are just wrong by themselves, i. e. stealing, lying and murdering, and cannot be done in the right amount. There are also acts that cannot be done too often such as justice. You can never be â€Å"too just†. It takes a lifetime of training and commitment we are not inherently born this way. It is not enough that you just act on your intentions but you need to succeed in order to be virtuous. Once you have succeeded in living a virtuous life then as a virtuous person your future actions will be generally virtuous because you developed virtuous habits. There are three dispositions to every situation: two vices, one on either side of virtue which in the middle. Aristotle advises us to keep trying until we get it right. Some extremes are closer to the middle than others. If you don’t know which one to choose, stay away from the extreme that is more opposed to the mean than the other extreme. We each have our own ideals and failings but our responses to a situation need to remain flexible and a virtuous response will reveal itself. The appropriate way to handle the situation will fall within a range that is recognized by other virtuous people. He believed that there could be a perfectly virtuous person. He also believed that if you are virtuous in one respect but fail terribly in another then you have lost out completely. If you deviate only slightly you are still a virtuous person, a person who is good at being human and at realizing the human potential. His thoughts on courage were that if you had too little courage you were a coward and that if you had too much courage you could be fool hardy, rush in and make rash decisions. He felt that there was nothing wrong with enjoying pleasure, but if you overdid it you are intemperate. If you are not capable of enjoying pleasure at all then you are unimpressionable. The virtue is to know in what amount to enjoy your pleasure, which would be temperance. The key is to enjoy in moderation. His opinion on spending money was that if you spend too much you are prodigal and spend too little  you’re a miser, just the right amount at the right time on the right people for the right reason makes you liberal. It is also possible to overestimate your honor, and become vain or underestimate it and become humble. He described proper pride as the virtuous way to estimate yourself and your accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with feeling angry but you need to be even tempered. Being hot tempered is 1 / 2 a vice but so is also being meek. Let your anger be in proportion to the offense against you. Truthfulness is a virtue but his idea of a deficiency of truthfulness is irony â€Å"mock modesty†Ã‚  (downplaying the situation), the excess of truthfulness, bragging. It is all about assessing the situation and acting accordingly, don’t underplay the truth but don’t overplay the truth either. The sole reason for designing the development of virtuous character was that Aristotle felt that being virtuous makes you happy. Happiness is what is good for a man. A good life means a happy life, but a good person also means a moral person. We can be happy only if we are good. Our highest goal, our purpose as a human being, is to live well, be happy, and to do well. He also warned that if  we rely too much on pleasures that one day they won’t give us the thrill they used to. What is good for us can’t be something that harms us and over indulgence in too many pleasures can be harmful. The requirement of true happiness is that it must be stand the test of time. Something that no one can take away from us and that is not harmful but beneficial that would be our good reasoning and contemplation. The ultimate happy life is that of the life of a thinker. He did not believe in an afterlife or a god that watches over humanity. He states that the soul is the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"form† of a human and the body is the â€Å"matter†, but since form cannot exist separately from matter when the body dies the soul ceases to exist. Happiness is only for the living and must be achieved in the here and now for a person to have fulfilled their purpose. One of the weaknesses of Virtue Ethics is that Aristotle was talking about the ruling class. If there is to be equality for all then there needs to be a moral theory that everyone follows regardless of whom they are. The laws need to be reasonable and clear. Virtues were also too vague and weren’t helpful in solving problems. When you have two virtuous  people that disagree how can you tell which one is correct. How is it decided which one is more virtuous than the other? With a clear set of morals and laws the problem is much easier resolved. Also why can’t humans have more than one purpose? There are many people that are equally good at several different things. Look at the musician that is equally good at playing the guitar and singing. Which purpose are they supposed to choose? Aristotle’s Virtue theory is basically based on the fact that everything has a purpose and as humans our happiness is determined by the choices that we make. We should always strive to achieve our purpose whatever that may be and during that struggle hopefully we will achieve happiness. His theory may have some weaknesses but some of the ideas are supportable in my opinion. You need to use your logic to make informed decisions. Practice making the right choices, this practice will eventually turn into a habit. Make decisions that don’t cause harm to yourself or others. Lastly everything in moderation is a good rule to live by. This I believe will go a long way in helping human beings to achieve happiness. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Advantages And Disadvantages Of RFID

Advantages And Disadvantages Of RFID The significant advantage of all types of RFID systems is the noncontact, non-line-of-sight nature of the technology. Unlike a bar code, a large number of RFID tags can be read almost instantaneously through other materials (though some materials may cause problems) and they can be read through plastic, cardboard, wood and etc. Theoretically, this means that you could take a pallet of mixed products, all of which contain individual RFID tags, and have an RFID reader read all the tags within the palletized load without having to physically move any of the materials or open any cases. Thus, inventory can be performed in a highly efficient method. The RFID tags can store data and can also be read in challenging circumstances at remarkable speeds, in most cases responding in less than 100 milliseconds. In interactive applications such as work-in-process or maintenance tracking, the read/write capability of an active RFID system is also a significant advantage. RFID equipment damage occurs much less frequently than is the case with magnetic strips or barcodes. RFID tags are less susceptible to damage and can be read through a variety of substances such as ice, snow, paint, fog, crusted grime, and other visually and environmentally challenging conditions, where barcodes or other optically read technologies would be useless. RFID tags can be sealed within a plastic enclosure eliminating many of the problems that plague bar codes in harsh environments where they are exposed to chemicals, high temperature or moisture, abrasion, dirt and grease buildup, etc. If the implementation provides a significant method to improve business processes, the total cost of ownership should go down over the years and provide a good Return on investment (ROI). Supply chain management forms the major part of retail business and RFID systems play a key role by managing updates of stocks, transportation and logistics of the product. The aim is to reduce administrati ve error, labor costs associated with scanning bar codes, internal theft, errors in shipping goods and overall inventory levels. The combination of all above mentioned advantages will provide quick access to a wealth of information, eliminate human errors, and reduce labour which lead to reduce project activity times and to save project costs. 5.2: Disadvantage of RFID technology Lack of standardization, high costs of implementation, technology deployment risks, and the elimination of unskilled labour are all contributors currently preventing the adoption of new RFID technologies in the construction industry. Cost is the biggest hurdle to RFID tags replacing bar codes for item-level tracking of low-cost products. RFID systems are typically more expensive than alternatives such as barcode systems. In addition, software and support personnel needed to install and operate the RFID reading systems (in a warehouse for example) may be more costly to employ. Liquid and metal surfaces tend to reflect the radio waves, which makes the tags unreadable so, RFID tags cannot be read well when placed on metal or liquid objects or when these objects are between the reader and the tag. The tags have to be placed in various alignments and angles for taking proper reading. This is a tedious task when the work involves big firms. Tag and reader collision are common problems with RFID. Tag collision occurs when numerous tags are present in a confined area. The RFID tag reader energizes multiple tags simultaneously, all of which reflect their signals back to the reader. This result in tag collision, and the RFID reader fails to differentiate between incoming data. RFID reader collision results when the coverage area managed by one RFID reader overlaps with the coverage area of another reader. This causes signal interference and multiple reads of the same tag. RFID standards are still being developed. You dont want to invest in an RFID system that is based on soon-to-be obsolete specs. RFID technology ultimately involves software that allows each user to be identified by a central database. This infrastructure will certainly be under attack by hackers. Water, static discharge or high-powered magnetic surges (such as lightning strike) may damage the tags. With more research, the flaws and limitations of this technology can be removed. This will make RFID technology very useful for diverse sectors like retail, and transport. Developments in RFID technology continue to yield larger memory capacities, wider reading ranges, and faster processing. RFID will continue to grow in its established niches where barcode or other optical technologies are not effective. If some standards commonality is achieved whereby RFID equipment from different manufacturers can be used interchangeably the market will very likely grow exponentially. 6: RFID APPLICATIONS There are various applications of RFID technology in different industries for both logistical traceability for tracking the location and progress of an object, and qualitative traceability for associating any additional information to products (Karkkainen, 2005). Retail, food, defence, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing and transport are just some of the sectors where RFID has already been extensively applied (Wilding and Delgado 2004, ERABUILD Report 2006, and Smith and Konsynski 2007). Tagging provides asset visibility, identification and positioning, and enables total inventory management. Different sectors require different approaches but a common factor to all is adequately determining a basic unit or unit set for tagging (e.g. pallets, packages, single items, containers, etc.)(Radosavljevic and Dan-Asabe, 2007). Increasingly, retail/CPG and Pharmaceutical companies are looking to use RFID to track goods within their supply chain, to work in process and for other applications. Today, CPG and retail companies are using RFID to track promotional displays, reduce out-of-stocks and improve shipping and receiving accuracy. Manufactures are using RFID to track work-in-process, perfect just-in-time manufacturing, improve shipping accuracy, and manage inventory and warrantee information (RFIDJournal, 2010). Auto manufacturers are among the leading users of RFID technology today. Most cars have an RFID reader in the steering column and a transponder in the key. If the ID in the key doesnt match the number the reader is looking for, the car wont stop. This system has greatly reduced auto theft. Auto companies also use RFID to track work-in-process, perfect just-in-time manufacturing, improve shipping accuracy, and manage inventory and warrantee information (RFIDJournal, 2010). Hospitals and health-care providers are using RFID technology to track patients and high-value assets, as well as ensure patient safety. One company offers a system to track surgical sponges to ensure they are not inadvertently left behind in patients. And many hospitals are now tracking patients to ensure the right patient is given the proper care. These systems tend to reduce the data-entry workload of nurses, and also let them spend more time caring for patients and automate the process of billing. Additionally, hospitals are tracking high-value assets, including gurneys, wheel chairs, oxygen pumps and defibrillators. These systems reduce the time employees spend looking for assets, improve asset utilization and enhance the hospitals ability to performed scheduled maintenance (RFIDJournal, 2010). Pharmaceutical companies are exploring RFIDs potential in many areas, including improving supply-chain efficiencies, complying with government information-collection requirements, reducing counterfeiting; creating electronic pedigrees and ensuring public safety by making sure only legitimate drugs enter the supply chain (RFIDJournal, 2010). Thousands of companies around the world use RFID today to improve internal efficiencies. Club Car, a maker of golf carts uses RFID to improve efficiency on its production line (Jonathan Collins, 2004). Paramount Farms one of the worlds largest suppliers of pistachios uses RFID to manage its harvest more efficiently (Bob Violino, 2004). NYK Logistics uses RFID to improve the throughput of containers at its busy Long Beach, Calif., distribution center (Jennifer Maselli, 2003). http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/purchase/839 http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/purchase/810 http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/purchase/617 http://www.rfidjournal.com Wilding, R. and Delgado, T. (2004). RFID Applications within the Supply Chain. Supply Chain 6(2), 36-49. Smith, H. and Konsynsky, B. (2003). Developments in Practice X: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-An Internet for Physical Objects. Communication Association for Information System, 12, 301-311. Karkkainen, M. (2005). Forwarder Independent Tracking System-Problem Description and Solution Design Proposal. Ph.D. Diss., Dept. of Ind. Eng., Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo.

The Virgin Mary Statue :: Personal Narrative Writing

The Virgin Mary Statue Kindergarten through fourth grade was absolutely beautiful. We all sat together at lunch, played tag together on the playground, laughed and listened to the teachers together in class. Then fifth grade rolled around, and all my friends started to evolve, and for the worse as I saw it. We all started noticing things that we weren’t aware of before. We used to be like a bunch of happy naked babies, absolutely oblivious to the fact that we were all unclothed and different from one another. Then, some of us took the role of Eve; we became seduced into eating the forbidden apple and offered it to our friends. We started realizing that despite the fact that we were all wearing the same black plaid uniforms, our skin colors differed. We all acted differently too. Some of us had accents, others didn’t. Some girls had long hair, others had bob cuts. Some wore glasses and had skirts that went past their knees; others had perfect vision and had their skirts h iked up to show as much leg as possible. As I said, we were all becoming aware of these things. Whether it be in fifth grade ,earlier, or after, we all have these moments of â€Å"revelation† and we start to interpret our surroundings in a different way. For me, after fifth grade, my surroundings were changing all the time. Formation of â€Å"cliques† had officially started. The word â€Å"cool† was being redefined almost every month. With these new definitions came new friends and ex-friends. I recall watching girls in the â€Å"popular† group playing a game of running behind the Virgin Mary statue whenever they saw someone they didn’t like entering the playground. It was a way of letting the unwanted girl know where she stood with the â€Å"clique.†As embarrassing as this is to admit, I used to be one of those girls who ran towards the Virgin Mary statue as if there was some reward there awaiting me. But there was no treasure there. And even if I did find some comfort in being part of the â€Å"clique† that day, the fol lowing day I had become a victim of the same cruel game I was in part responsible for.

The Media and Violence in our Society Essay -- Violent Gaming Video Ga

Violence has always played a role in the media. It is found everywhere around the world. Media does contribute to violence in our society. This essay will prove that media does contribute to violence in our society by examining music, video games and Web Sites. Firstly, one form of violence which influences behaviour in our society is music. This sort of media is a concern to parents who are interested in the development and growth of their children because of the negative and destructive themes of some kinds of music. Let’s take for example the rap artist Eminem. In his album â€Å"Marshall Mathers†, he talks about murdering his wife, and plans to rape and murder his mother. These violent lyrics promote hatred against women. However, his â€Å"Marshall Mathers† release sold 679 567 copies in Canada in 2000 and was also the year’s best selling album. These type of music influences teenagers on believing that it is ok to disrespect women and have an aggressive behaviour as well. If a teenager is constantly preoccupied with music like this, that has destructive themes, there c...

The venture capital and private equity industry

Journal of Indian Business Research Emerald Article: Venture capital and private equity in India: an analysis of investments and exits Thillai Rajan Annamalai, Ashish Deshmukh Article information: To cite this document: Thillai Rajan Annamalai, Ashish Deshmukh, (2011),†Venture capital and private equity in India: an analysis of investments and exits†, Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 3 Iss: 1 pp. 6 – 21 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17554191111112442 Downloaded on: 24-09-2012References: This document contains references to 25 other documents To copy this document: [email  protected] com This document has been downloaded 365 times since 2011. * Users who downloaded this Article also downloaded: * Vedran Vuk, (2008),†Taking advantage of disaster: misrepresentation of housing shortage for political gain†, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 35 Iss: 8 pp. 603 – 614 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/03 068290810889224 Doru Tsaganea, (2011),†Tension reduction by military power equalization: the USA-USSR case†, Kybernetes, Vol. 0 Iss: 5 pp. 778 788 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/03684921111142313 Guihe Wang, Ligang Qu, Limin Fan, Tianbiao Yu, Wanshan Wang, (2009),†Web-based system for industry using information and communication technologies†, Kybernetes, Vol. 38 Iss: 3 pp. 533 – 541 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/03684920910944254 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service.Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www. emeraldinsight. com/authors for more information. About Emerald www. emeraldinsight. com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of globa l research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant.The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/1755-4195. htm JIBR 3,1 Venture capital and private equity in India: an analysis of investments and exits 6 Thillai Rajan Annamalai and Ashish Deshmukh Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India AbstractPurpose – The venture capital and private equity (VCPE) industry in India has grown signi? cantly in recent years. During ? ve-year period 2004-200 8, the industry growth rate in India was the fastest globally and it rose to occupy the number three slot worldwide in terms of quantum of investments. However, academic research on the Indian VCPE industry has been limited. This paper seeks to ? ll the gap in research on the recent trends in the Indian VCPE industry. Design/methodology/approach – Studies on the VCPE transactions have traditionally focused on one of the components of the investment lifecycle, i. e. nvestments, monitoring, or exit. This study is based on analyzing the investment life cycle in its entirety, from the time of investment by the VCPE fund till the time of exit. The analysis was based on a total of 1,912 VCPE transactions involving 1,503 ? rms during the years 2004-2008. Findings – Most VCPE investments were in late stage ? nancing and took place many years after the incorporation of the investee ? rm. The industry was also characterized by the short duration of the investments. The type of e xit was well predicted by the type of industry, ? nancing stage, region of investment, and type of VCPE fund.Originality/value – This paper highlights some of the key areas to ensure sustainable growth of the industry. Early stage funding opportunities should be increased to ensure that there is a strong pipeline of investment opportunities for late stage investors. VCPE investments should be seen as long-term investments and not as â€Å"quick ? ips†. To achieve this, it is important to have a strong domestic VCPE industry which can stay invested in the portfolio company for a longer term. Keywords Venture capital, Equity capital, India, Investments, Financing Paper type Research paper . Growth of the Indian VCPE industry Over the last few years, India has become one of the leading destinations for venture capital and private equity (VCPE) investments. Though the concept of VCPE investment prevailed in the country in one form or another since the 1960s, the growth in the industry was mainly after the economic reforms in 1991. Prior to that, most of the VCPE funding was from public sector ? nancial institutions, and was characterized by low levels of investment activity. In recent years, VCPE commitments and investments in India have grown at a rapid pace.Venture economics data indicate that during the period 1990-1999, India’s ranking was 25th out of 64 and various VCPE funds raised $945. 9 million for investments in India; however, during the next decade, 2000-2009, India’s ranking rose to 13th out of 90 countries and the funds raised $16,682. 5 million for investments in India. Journal of Indian Business Research Vol. 3 No. 1, 2011 pp. 6-21 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1755-4195 DOI 10. 1108/17554191111112442 The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the ? nancial support provided by the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research and IIT Madras for this research.They would also like to acknowledge the support of M. B . Raghupathy and V. Vasupradha for this research. This represents a growth of 1,664 percent over the previous decade. The trend is even more encouraging for the most recent ? ve-year period 2005-2009, during which India’s ranking was 10th out of 77 countries, and various funds raised $15,073. 6 million for VCPE investments in India. Funds raised during 2005-2009, represented a growth rate of 837 percent as compared to funds raised over the previous ? ve-year period 2000-2004. The growth rate in investments made by various VCPE funds has been equally strong.During the ? ve-year period 2004-2008, the industry growth rate in India was the fastest globally and it rose to occupy the number three slot worldwide in terms of quantum of investments[1]. The amount invested by VCPE funds grew from US$ 1. 8 billion in 2004 to US$ 22 billion in 2007 before tapering off to US$ 8. 1 billion in 2008[2]. During the ? ve-year period ending 2008, VCPE investments in India grew from 0. 4 percent of GDP in 2004 to more than 1. 5 percent of GDP in 2008 (Annamalai and Deshmukh, 2009). The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 indicates the objective of the paper.Section 3 provides details on the data set used for analysis and the sources of data. Section 4, which covers the results and discussion, is divided into six sub-sections. The sub-sections are in the following order: round wise analysis of investments, time of incorporation and ? nancing stage, intervals between funding rounds, investment exits, duration of investment, and a statistical analysis of investment duration and type of exit. Section 5 provides a summary of the paper. 2. Objective of the paper Research on VCPE has not been in tune with the growth seen in the industry.Past research on the Indian VCPE industry can be broadly classi? ed into the following categories: studies that examined the evolution and the current status of the industry (Pandey, 1996, 1998; Verma, 1997; Dossani and Kenney, 2 002; Singh et al. , 2005); multi country studies which also included India (Lockett et al. , 1992; Subhash, 2006; Ippolito, 2007); survey studies of VCPE industry practices in India (Mitra, 1997; Vinay Kumar, 2002, 2005; Vinay Kumar and Kaura, 2003; Mishra, 2004); and studies which can be considered as case studies of VCPE investments (Kulkarni and Prusty, 2007).The objectives of this paper are as follows: ? rst, research that has focused on the recent growth phase of the VCPE industry in India has been limited. Most of the papers that have studied the Indian industry were either before the growth phase (pre-2004) or did not cover the growth phase in full, starting from the onset of growth in 2004 until the slowdown in 2008, caused by the global ? nancial crisis. This paper is an attempt to meet the gap in research on the recent trends in the Indian VCPE industry. Second, there have been very limited studies that looked at the lifecycle of investments, i. . from the time of investme nt in the company until their exit from the investment. There have been several studies that have looked at areas related to investments such as investment decision making, structure of investments, and valuation. Similarly, there have been studies that have looked at topics related to venture exits. However, there have been limited studies that looked at the entire investment life cycle. The main contribution of this paper is to look at the investment lifecycle in its entirety.Third, this paper aims to highlight some of the lesser known features of the Indian VCPE industry such as the characteristics of the investee ? rm at the time of VCPE investment, the duration of VCPE investments in the ? rm, and the timing and mode of exit by the investors. The objective of this paper is to provide an holistic understanding of the Indian VCPE industry to enable the creation of a policy environment to sustain the growth of the industry. VCPE in India 7 JIBR 3,1 8 3. Data set used and sources T his study uses VCPE investment transaction data during the years 2004-2008.The choice for the period of analysis was driven by two considerations. First, it was during this period that the industry witnessed signi? cant growth and India emerged as one of the leading destinations for VCPE investments. Therefore, a detailed study of this industry growth would be of general research interest. Second, the choice of period was also governed by practical considerations. Data on VCPE investments in India before 2004 were not available in a form that can be used for a research study. Therefore, it was decided to begin the starting period of the study at year 2004, the year from which we had access to data.It was felt that a ? ve-year study of transactions would be a reasonable time frame to overcome the yearly ? uctuations. This ? ve-year period also coincided with a full ? nancial cycle in the global ? nancial markets, a period marked by dramatic growth and equally dramatic fall. The data for the study were obtained from multiple sources. To start with, deal data on the various investments and exits were obtained from two database sources: Venture Intelligence India[3] and Asian Venture Capital Journal[4] database. The data from both these databases were combined to form a comprehensive data set.The data set was then suitably checked for data repetition and duplicate data points were removed ? rst. Second, whenever there was a difference in the information given for the same deal, the correctness and accuracy was checked by independent veri? cation from other sources, such as newspaper reports and company web sites. Information that was not available in these databases was then separately sourced from the web sites of the independent companies. Admittedly, with the lack of a strong database on Indian investments, developing such a data set involved a lot of effort.The comprehensive data set that was developed provided various details on the VCPE investments and exits that happened in India during 2004-2008. It consisted of a total of 1,912 VCPE transactions involving 1,503 ? rms during the period 2004-2008. From these 1,503 ? rms, 1,276 ? rms had only investment transactions while another 129 ? rms had only exit transactions during the ? ve-year period. The remaining 98 ? rms had both VCPE investment and exit transactions. To facilitate a more detailed analysis, the investments were classi? ed into ten industry categories and four ? ancing stages based on the lifecycle stage of the investee ? rm and the objectives of the investment. Exits were classi? ed into two categories, namely initial public offer (IPO) and merger and acquisition (M) or trade sale. 4. Results and discussion 4. 1 Round-wise analysis of investments Firms seeking to raise VCPE investments normally receive the investment in multiple rounds (Sahlman, 1990); earlier works have provided several explanations for this trend. Gompers (1995) indicates that the staging of capital infu sions allows venture capitalists to gather information and monitor the progress of ? ms, while retaining the option to periodically abandon projects. Admati and P? eiderer (1994) indicate that such an option to abandon is essential because an entrepreneur will almost never quit a failing project as long as others are providing capital and the threat to abandon creates incentives for the entrepreneur to maximize value and meet goals. Neher (1999) indicates that multiple rounds of ? nancing overcome the potential agency con? icts between the entrepreneur and investor as previous rounds create the collateral to support the later rounds. While the stage of ? ancing is determined by the objectives and timing of investment, the round of ? nancing simply indicates the number of instances of VCPE investments in the ? rm. Thus, for example, Round 1 ? nancing is the ?rst instance of the ? rm getting VCPE investment, but it need not be always early stage ? nancing. Depending on the ? rm lifecy cle and the objectives of investment, Round 1 ? nancing can happen in any of the four ? nancing stages. Similarly, there could be multiple rounds of investment happening in the same stage. In a particular round of funding, there may be many investors jointly investing in the company.For example, when there is a co-investment by more than one VCPE investor at the same time, it is considered as a single round of investment. By the same token, when the same investor makes investments in the ? rm at different times at different valuations, each investment is considered a separate round of funding. Funding rounds are considered to be different when there has been a substantial time gap from the previous round of ? nancing and/or the investment happens at a different valuation from the previous round of funding. Figure 1 shows the results from the round wise analysis of VCPE investments.The results indicate that 82 percent of the total VCPE investments were in Round 1, i. e. ?rst time VCP E investments in the company. Out of the total amount of investment, follow on investments account for only 18 percent. It can be observed that investments decrease sharply with subsequent funding rounds. One possible reason behind this could be because of the nature of data: most of the investment has happened during the later years of the study period[5], indicating that suf? cient time might not have elapsed for the next round of investment.However, these results indicate the possibility that VCPE investments are happening at a much later stage in the ? rm lifecycle and the ? rm is not in need of an additional funding round for reaching a critical size that is needed for an IPO or for ? nding a buyer. This might also be explained by the grandstanding theory (Gompers, 1996), where VCs are keen to exit more quickly from their investments. Second, this trend can also indicate that the companies that have received the ? rst round might not have been able to achieve a strong enough pe rformance to attract the next round of investment from investors.Further studies are needed to understand this pattern in detail. Table I indicates that the number of rounds of funding received by companies in different industries was 1,912 from a total of 1,503 companies. This indicates that the average number of rounds in a company was 1. 27. As can be seen from Table I, a large majority of the ? rms have received only one round of VCPE investment. This result accompanies the results in Figure 1 well, which indicate that 82 percent of the total Round 3 1,061. 85 (2. 6%) Round 2 5,394. 11 (14%) VCPE in India 9 Round 4 391. 25 (1%) Round 5 170. 6 (0. 4%) Round 1 2,961. 47 (82%) Figure 1. Round-wise VCPE investments (in US$mn) during 2004-2008 JIBR 3,1 Industry 10 Table I. Count of companies for different funding rounds Computer hardware Engineering and construction Financial services Healthcare IT and ITES Manufacturing Non-? nancial services Others Telecom and media Transportation and logistics Grand total Count of companies for different funding rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 36 137 110 92 295 214 133 65 93 51 1,226 5 21 30 19 53 25 12 10 15 8 198 1 6 5 6 12 6 5 3 4 3 51 1 1 3 2 3 3 2 1 1 17 1 2 8 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 2 2 Total companies 43 167 151 120 364 250 153 9 112 64 1,503 investments were Round 1 investments. Only 13 percent of companies have obtained two rounds of funding, and approximately 5 percent of the total companies that have received VCPE investments during the period have obtained more than two rounds. The proportion of companies that have received the second round of funding in different industries is more or less the same as what we saw for Round 1 investments, except in the ? nancial services category. The phenomenon of some industries being more successful in getting Round 2 investments could not be clearly observed in our analysis.In a way, this is a surprising trend. For example, information technology (IT) and information technology-enabled servic es (ITES) companies constitute 24 percent of the total number of companies that have received funding, 24 percent of the companies that have received the ? rst round of funding, and 25 percent of the companies that have received more than one round of funding. This indicates that IT and ITES companies, seen as one of the engines of growth in India, have not had higher proportional success than companies in other industries in attracting multiple rounds of funding.The ? nancial services companies constitute 10 percent of the total companies that have received funding, 9 percent of the companies that have received one round of funding, and 15 percent of the companies that have received more than one round of funding. This indicates that ? nancial services companies have a better track record of getting additional investment rounds. The reasons could be numerous – the larger funding requirements created the need for funding to happen in multiple rounds and companies that had obt ained the ? st round of funding would have been able to showcase a strong performance track record to attract the subsequent rounds of funding. The industry itself was in an upswing in India during the study period and this might have contributed to investor interest in investing in subsequent rounds. It could also be due to the institutional and regulatory features of private equity (PE) investing in India. For example, funding could be done in multiple rounds because of the procedural issues in foreign investments in certain sectors. Further studies are needed to identify the determinants of funding rounds.One would reasonably expect that multiple rounds of funding would be observed in more capital intensive industries. Among the ten industry categories, engineering and construction and manufacturing sectors are very capital and asset intensive. However, it can be seen that the proportion of companies receiving additional rounds of funding in these sectors is not more than the pro portion of companies that have received ? rst-round funding. On the contrary, the proportion of companies receiving additional rounds of funding in manufacturing is less than that of their proportion in Round 1 ? ancing. Several explanations are possible for this trend, which needs to be substantiated with further research. Companies are receiving VCPE funding at a much later stage in the lifecycle and they do not need additional rounds of funding before providing an exit to the investor. It is possible that, because of their asset intensive nature, they are able to get access to debt funding thereby limiting the possibility of additional rounds of VCPE ? nancing. VCPE in India 11 4. 2 Time of incorporation and ? nancing stage It is well known that VC investments happen early in a ? rm’s life.It is during the early stage that companies have limited means to raise money from conventional sources and look to sources like VC for meeting the funding requirements. Table II provide s the results from our analysis of the interval between the year of incorporation of the company and the ? nancing stage. The results indicate some interesting trends. Early stage funding should normally happen within the ? rst couple of years after the incorporation of the ? rm. But in our analysis, we ? nd that 17 percent of the ? rms have received their early stage funding as much as ten years after they were incorporated.While the highest frequency of early stage funding can be seen in the one- to three-year category, a large proportion of companies get their early stage funding even until the ? fth year from the time of incorporation. This indicates the disinclination of the VCPE investors in India to make investments in very early stages. A majority of the growth stage investment happens between ? ve and eight years from incorporation. However, the second highest percentage of growth stage funding happens after 15 years after incorporation. While growth stage ? nancing during the ? e- to eight-year period seems reasonable (though it is still more than that which is normally associated with growth ? nancing), growth ? nancing happening after 15 years from incorporation needs to be studied in detail. It could either be a question of willingness or readiness. Either the investors are not willing to invest earlier or the companies are not ready to receive VCPE funding in their early years. The companies might have explored funding from family, banks, or friends before taking investment from VCPE investors. Financing stage Early Growth Late Pre-IPO Time since incorporation (in years) ,1 20 13. 6% ,3 22 9. 3% 7 2. 3% 7. 7% 1-3 51 34. 7% 3-5 26 11. 0% 15 5. 0% 0 0. 0% 3-5 37 25. 2% 5-8 68 28. 8% 25 8. 3% 6 15. 4% 5-8 13 8. 8% 8-10 36 15. 3% 19 6. 3% 3 7. 7% 8-10 1 0. 7% 10-15 31 13. 1% 61 20. 3% 13 33. 3% Total . 10 25 17. 0% . 15 53 22. 5% 173 57. 7% 14 35. 9% 147 236 300 39 Table II. Number of VCPE deals for different ? nancing stages vs time since incorporat ion of investee companies JIBR 3,1 12 Analysis of late stage investment deals, as can be expected, show an increasing trend with time from incorporation. However, more than half of the late stage deals that have been studied are seen in companies more than 15 years after their incorporation.This again re-con? rms the earlier ?ndings that VCPE investors have been more inclined to invest in companies that have a longer track record and operating history, and have a suf? cient size. From the perspective of companies that are receiving VCPE funding, such late stage funding, could indicate that these companies might have been part of a larger business group, which provided the ? nancial support in their early years. Further studies need to be done to understand the antecedents of ? rms that receive late stage investment.But one of the most compelling observations which attracts immediate attention is that about 75 percent (541 out of 722[6]) deals are in companies that are more than ? ve years old. Almost 60 percent (429 out of 722) VCPE deal investments are made in ? rms that are eight years old or more. This supports the earlier inferences that VCPE funds in India are more inclined to invest in ? rms that have a track record of performance. While this investment trend might not be very different from that which is seen in other emerging economies such as Brazil (Ribiero and de Carvalho, 2008), it is much more marked in India.Therefore, it is felt that most of the VCPE investments in India are in the nature of PE investments rather than VC investments, which are typically investments made in early stage companies. 4. 3 Intervals between funding rounds Table III presents average time intervals in months between different rounds of PE funding (for Rounds 1-3)[7] across industries. The average time interval across industries between Round 1 and Round 2 funding is 13. 69 months, which is just slightly more than year. The average time interval between Round 2 and Round 3 funding is 10. 1 months, which is less than a year. The median values for the above intervals are 12. 17 and 11. 17 months, respectively. The closeness of the mean to median values indicates that there is no signi? cant skew in the time interval between different funding rounds. Figures 2 and 3 show the distribution of time intervals between rounds. These indicate that the deals are well distributed in the initial periods, with a slightly higher frequency around the mean value, and tapering down in the later periods. Since it takes about three to six months from the date of the ? rst signi? ant meeting with the investors to realize an investment, the low time interval between successive Industry Table III. Average time interval between successive rounds of VCPE funding (in months) R2-R1 R3-R2 Computer hardware Engineering and construction Financial services Healthcare IT and ITES Manufacturing Non-? nancial services Others Telecom and media Transportation and logistics Total 14. 43 17. 13 12. 28 14. 89 15. 64 11. 58 13. 93 8. 46 11. 16 9. 54 13. 69 16. 72 4. 88 7. 44 14. 22 12. 43 10. 14 16. 57 6. 03 15. 23 9. 63 10. 91 VCPE in India 50 45 Number of deals 40 35 30 13 25 20 15 10 5 0 3 3 to 6 6 to 9 9 to 12 12 to 18 18 to 24 24 to 36 ? 36 Duration (months) Figure 2. Time between Round 2 and Round 1 investments 14 12 Number of deals 10 8 6 4 2 0 ?3 3 to 6 6 to 9 9 to 12 12 to 18 18 to 24 24 to 36 Duration (months) ? 36 ?nancing rounds indicates that the top management of the company might be continuously devoting their energies in raising capital. This might not be good for business, as spending more time on raising ? nancing is likely to affect their attention to business operations. Our results also indicate that in the Indian context the pace of ? nancing increases with time.This result is somewhat surprising as, under normal circumstances, the size of funding increases with every additional round of funding and is expected to meet the needs of the company for a longer duration even after accounting for the higher cash burn rates due to the increase in company size. Analysis of time intervals for different industry categories indicates that the engineering and construction sector had the largest time interval between the ? rst and second round of funding. Some explanations, which need to be followed with further research, for this trend include being capital intensive.They raise large sums which Figure 3. Time between Round 3 and Round 2 investments JIBR 3,1 help the companies to sustain the operations for a longer period. They are able to get additional funding from other sources such as debt. Cash ? ows from operations would also contribute towards the ? nancing requirements. However, the time interval between second and third round is the lowest for this sector, which indicates that this could be due to the pre-IPO nature of funding. 14 4. 4 Investment exits Venture exit has been an area where there has been limited research (Gomp ers and Lerner, 2004).The VCPE investor after a certain period has to exit the investment to recover the same as well as to earn a return on it. The different possible exit routes play a major role in VCPE ? nancing and the likely availability of favorable exit opportunities in lesser time is one of the key criterions used by investors while evaluating investment opportunities. Though there are several exit routes for the VCPE funds such as IPO, secondary sale of shares, M, management buy outs, and liquidation. Exit by IPOs and trade sale through M are the more prevalent methods of exit in Indian VCPE markets.Of the total 252 exit events that were recorded during the ? ve-year period ending 2008, 84 events were IPOs and the remaining 168 were M. Thus, the ratio of exits of IPOs and M is exactly 0. 5, indicating that an exit by M is twice as likely as that by IPO. However, an analysis of this ratio across different industries provides an interesting picture. The ratio is less than 1 for all but two of the industry categories – engineering and construction, and transportation and logistics. Companies in this sector tend to be capital intensive industries with a large asset base and largely dependent on the Indian market.Since companies in this sector are much larger in terms of revenues or assets, it becomes comparatively easier to achieve an exit by means of an IPO. For sectors, that are not so asset intensive, M seem to be a common form of exit for VCPE investors. Computer-hardware, IT and ITES, and healthcare – all traditionally attractive industries for VCPE investments – show a strong inclination towards M exit routes with the ratio of IPO-M exits being less than 0. 4 (Figure 4). The choice of exit route is also in? uenced by the state of the capital markets. The ratio of IPO-M exits in each of the ? e years during the study period is shown in Figure 5. Figure 4. Ratio of exits by IPO to M across industries Co En m gi pu ne te er r-h in g ar an dw d ar co e ns tru Fi na ct io nc n ia ls er vi ce s H ea lth ca IT re an d IT M ES an N uf on ac -fi tu na rin ci g al se rv ic es Te O le Tr th co er an m s sp an or d ta m tio ed n ia an d lo gi tic s 1. 6 1. 4 1. 2 1 0. 8 0. 6 0. 4 0. 2 0 VCPE in India 0. 9 0. 8 0. 7 0. 6 0. 5 0. 4 15 0. 3 0. 2 0. 1 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Figure 5. Ratio of exits by IPO to M during 2004-2008 While the overall ratio of IPO-M exits is 0. 5 for the ? e-year period ending 2008, the ratio varies in line with the state of the capital markets. The ratio ranges from 0. 3 to 0. 6 for all years, except 2006, when it is signi? cantly high (. 0. 8). This can probably be attributed to the ? ourish in the IPO market in India during 2006. This is consistent with the ? nding that IPOs are more likely to occur when equity values are high (Lerner, 1994). In addition to the type of exit, the capital markets also in? uence the time taken for an investor to exit. The pattern of variation in an average number of rounds for the two exit methods over the years is shown in Figure 6.It can be noted that there are large variations for those companies that provided exits through IPOs. The number of rounds of VCPE funding before the IPOs are lower during the years 2006 and 2007, when the capital markets were active. Such variations could not be seen in those cases where the exits were from M. The number of rounds of funding before an M has been gradually increasing over the years, indicating that the size needed before an exit from an M has also been increasing over the years. But a more interesting inference could be for companies that exit from anM; the circumstances in the capital markets do not have a signi? cant effect. On the other hand, if the conditions are favorable, companies tend to make their IPOs in a shorter period to take advantage of the momentum in the capital markets. This is also supported by the fact that the average numbers of funding rounds are nearly equal for both the exit types during 2006 and 2007. 3. 5 Average number of rounds 3 2. 5 2 IPO 1. 5 Trade sale – M 1 0. 5 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Figure 6. Average number of funding rounds before exit during the ? ve years JIBR 3,1 16 4. 5 Investment durationThe duration of a VCPE investment is de? ned as the interval between the time of investment and exit[8]. It is generally considered that VCPE funds are not short-term investors, and stay invested in the ? rm between three and ? ve years; however, our analysis tells a different story. Table IV provides the investment duration for investments in different ? nancing stages. To make our analysis more accurate, this exercise was done only for those companies for which complete data on both investments and exits were available. A total of 110 transactions in 98 companies were included in this analysis.The main ? nding from Table IV is the overall short-term duration of VCPE investments in India. For 63 percent of the investment transactio ns, the average investment duration is less than one year. Even in those investments which can be classi? ed as growth stage, 75 percent of the investments have less than two years’ duration. For late stage investments, the proportion of exits within two years increases to 87 percent. Overall, the average duration of investment stands at just 17 months. In comparison, the investment duration for an IPO exit in the USA and Canada is 4. 7 and 5. 86 years, respectively.The investment duration for an exit through the acquisition route for the USA and Canada is 5. 17 and 6. 94 years, respectively, (Cumming and MacIntosh, 2001). For VCPE investments, which are generally considered medium to long-term investments, the observed duration in India is very low, indicating that most of the investments are late stage or pre-IPO types of investments. While Indian VCPE investors would generally indicate that they are long-term investors, the data corroborates that which many entrepreneurs h ave always felt: that VCPE funds need to be invested in the long term and not focused on quickly exiting from the investment.While these results are interesting, they also suffer from two limitations: the sample size and the ? ve-year time frame for analysis. Further con? rmatory studies that cover a longer time frame with more deals are needed. 4. 6 Statistical analysis of investment duration and type of exit As a part of this study, statistical analysis was done to determine whether any of the variables were able to explain the duration of VCPE investment and the type of exit. For this analysis, Investment duration and type of exit were taken as the dependent variables. Independent variables used in the study were industry, ? ancing stage, region, and type of VCPE fund. Bivariate regressions (Table V) indicate the relative in? uence of each independent variable on the dependent variables. As it can be expected, duration of investment can be best explained by ? nancing stage. The h igh f-ratio and the Financing stage Early Growth Late Table IV. Duration of VCPE investments Pre-IPO ,1 0 0. 0% 14 48. 3% 35 61. 4% 20 90. 9% Duration of investment (in years) 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 2 100. 0% 8 27. 6% 15 26. 3% 2 9. 1% 0 0. 0% 6 20. 7% 6 10. 5% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 1 3. 4% 1 1. 8% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% .5 Total 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 0 0. 0% 2 29 57 22 R S. no. Dependent variable Independent variable(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Duration of Industry investment Financing stage Region Type of VCPE fund Exit mode Industry Stage Region Type of VCPE fund R2 Adjusted R2 SE of the estimate 0. 318 0. 387 0. 159 0. 278 0. 544 0. 429 0. 221 0. 115 0. 101 0. 150 0. 025 0. 077 0. 296 0. 184 0. 049 0. 013 0. 007 0. 118 0. 011 0. 066 0. 212 0. 154 0. 014 0. 001 10. 853 10. 157 10. 876 10. 453 0. 423 0. 439 0. 474 0. 477 ANOVA p-value F-ratio (Sig. ) 0. 938 4. 755 0. 696 6. 952 3. 506 6. 093 1. 389 1. 105 0. 498 0. 004 . 557 0. 010 0. 001 0. 001 0. 252 0. 296 VCPE in India 17 Table V. Results from bivariate regression analysis low p-value indicate the signi? cance of the regression. This can be easily explained as those investing in the early stage would remain invested for a longer duration and those investing in late stages would remain invested for a shorter duration. High f-ratio and low p-values are also noted for the bivariate regression that had a type of VCPE fund as the independent variable. In this study, VCPE funds were categorized into two: domestic and foreign. The fact that this has an in? ence supports the argument that domestic VCPE funds stay invested for a longer duration as compared to foreign funds. It was also noted that industry and stage of ? nancing have more in? uence on the exit mode as compared to other variables. These results can also be explained. Some industries could be more suited for exiting with IPOs because of the market bias. Similarly, many of the late stage and pre-IPO investments are made just before the company goes for an IPO. When these investments are being made, the investee company has a clear road map for going for an IPO.Therefore, the exit route in such late stage and pre-IPO investments are more or less clear at the time of the investment itself, unless there is an adverse change in market conditions. We performed a discriminant analysis in SPSS (Table VI) to predict the probable exit route for an investment, given the independent variables. Discriminant analysis Dependent variable (Y), i. e. exit method Original Count % Cross-validatedb Count % Predicted group membershipa 1 (IPO) 2 (M) Total 1 (IPO) 2 (M) 1 (IPO) 2 (M) 49 5 87. 5 17. 2 7 24 12. 5 82. 8 56 29 100. 0 100. 0 1 (IPO) 2 (M) 1 (IPO) 2 (M) 5 6 80. 4 20. 7 11 23 19. 6 79. 3 56 29 100. 0 100. 0 Notes: a85. 9 percent of original grouped cases correctly classi? ed and 80. 0 percent of cross-validated grouped cases correctly classi? ed; bcross-validation is done only for those cases in the analysis; in cross-validation, each case is cl assi? ed by the functions derived from all cases other than that case Table VI. Results from the discriminant analysis on exit method classi? cation JIBR 3,1 18 is typically used for the prediction of categorical or non-metric variable being classi? ed into two or more mutually exclusive categories.The independent variables used in the discriminant analysis were industry, ? nancing stage, region, and type of VCPE fund. The proportion of cases correctly classi? ed indicates the ef? cacy and relevance of the application of discriminant analysis for predicting the dependent variable, which in this case is the type of exit. Discriminant analysis was done on the investment and exit data for 85 out of 98 companies (for which all necessary details were available). Out of the 85 companies, IPO exits were observed for 56 companies and M for 29 companies. Table VI indicates the results from the discriminant analysis.It can be seen that 49 out of 56 IPO exits and 24 out of 29 M exits were corr ectly classi? ed, thus leaving an error of 12 out of 85 cases. Overall, 85. 9 percent cases are correctly classi? ed. To augment the validity and reliability of the ? ndings, a cross validation was done. In a cross validation, each case is classi? ed using a discriminant function derived from all cases other than the case being classi? ed. The cross validation results indicate that 45 out of 56 IPO exits were correctly classi? ed and 23 out of 29 M exits were correctly classi? ed. Overall, 80 percent of the cases were correctly classi? d. Both these results points towards the good predictive power of the available data in prediction of exit method choice. The results also indicate that it is possible to predict the type of exit based on the information available at the time of making an investment, i. e. industry, ? nancing stage, region of investment, and type of VCPE fund. This could indicate that investors are reasonably clear about the type of exit that they might get from a giv en investment. While the timing of exit might be uncertain, the type of exit seems more or less evident at the time of investment.More research needs to be done to determine whether the variables identi? ed in this paper are a good predictor for exit type or not, even in other markets. 5. Summary The growth and vibrancy in the Indian VCPE industry has attracted global attention. This paper highlights some areas of concern that need to be addressed for the long-term growth in the country. First, there has to be a creation of an ecosystem that encourages early stage investments. It would be such early stage investments that would spur innovation and provide the pipeline for growth and late stage investments.Venture economics data indicate that of the total PE commitments made to India, VC commitments[9] accounted for 90 percent during 1990-1999, 55 percent during 2000-2009, and 51 percent during 2005-2009. This indicates that though there has been an overall growth in funds committed to India, the proportion of VC commitments that primarily fund early stage investments have been gradually decreasing. In the absence of early stage investments, many PE funds would ? nd it dif? cult to ? nd new opportunities for follow on investments. The result would be a funneling of investments in established companies with increasing valuations.In the long run, the industry would fall apart under the burden of such high valuations leading to an exit of investors from India. To prevent this from happening, it is important to ensure that there is adequate early stage investing. Since domestic VCPE investors invest more actively in early stages[10], this points to the need for creating a more stronger and active community of domestic VCPE investors in India. Second, the short duration of VCPE investment does not bode well. A recent World Economic Forum report indicates that PE investors have a long-term ownership bias nd 58 percent of the PE investments are exited more than ? ve y ears after the initial transaction. So-called â€Å"quick ? ips† (i. e. exits within two years of investment by PE funds) account for only 12 percent of deals and have decreased in the last few years (Lerner and Gurung, 2008). Seen from this perspective, most of the VCPE investments in India could come under the category of â€Å"quick ? ips†. This trend, if it continues, would be a cause of real concern. It is expected that VCPE investors would do a lot of hand holding and participate in value-adding activities in their portfolio companies.However, contributing to the investment in such ways would happen only if the investors remain invested for a long term. Short-term investments deny the portfolio companies the opportunity to leverage the management expertise of the VCPE investors. Since the investment duration is also in? uenced by the source of VCPE funds, there is a strong need to promote the domestic VCPE industry in India[11]. The domestic investors would stay invested for a longer duration and this would give more opportunities to the investor to add value in the portfolio companies.Third, the time intervals between successive funding rounds should increase. Frequently, approaching the investors means that the top management attention gets diverted from the business operations. It would be bene? cial if the entrepreneurs and companies raise capital in such a way that the portfolio company can sustain the operations for at least two years. While they might feel that raising a large round would deprive them the bene? ts of valuation increases if funding is raised in multiple rounds, it would de? nitely help to keep the transaction costs lower.The issues of valuation increases can be addressed by incorporating suitable incentive structures in the shareholders’ agreement. The investors too should support the idea of a larger funding round for the companies and engage in co-investing with other VCPE investors if required. Given the exp loratory nature of this study, further research and con? rmatory studies are needed to corroborate the ? ndings of this paper. It is felt that many of the results in this paper are suf? ciently interesting to warrant further studies. Notes 1.Based on Subhash (2006) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Private Equity Reports 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. 2. Investment data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Private Equity Reports might not match with that of the funds committed data from venture economics as we feel that many investments might have been made outside of a formal VCPE fund structure. In addition, several funds locally set up in India might not have been captured in the venture economics database. However, both the reports indicate the strong growth in funds committed to various VCPE funds and actual investments made in companies. . Venture Intelligence can be accessed at: www. ventureintelligence. in 4. Asian Venture Capital Journal database can be accessed at: ww w. avcj. com 5. Out of the 1,503 companies that received funding from VCPE investors, 866 companies, i. e. 58 percent of the companies received their funding during the last two years of the study period. 6. Information on time of incorporation was readily available only for 722 out of the 1,503 companies. 7. Since there are very few companies that have received more than three rounds of ? nancing, Round 4 and above have not been included for this analysis.VCPE in India 19 JIBR 3,1 20 8. Strictly speaking, it would dif? cult to determine when the investor actually exited from the investment, either partially or completely. One could ? nd that information by studying the annual reports as well as stock exchange ? lings of the company, which was not done in this study. Exit in this paper is meant to be understood as the time of occurrence of an exit event, which may or may not be the time of actual exit. 9. A distinction can be made between VC and PE commitments. VC commitments are ma inly targeted at the early stage and growth stage investment opportunities.PE commitments are primarily targeted at the late stage opportunities. Average investment in deals by PE funds is usually larger than those made by VC funds. 10. 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Ribeiro, L.L. and de Carvalho, A. G. (2008), â€Å"Private equity and venture capital in an emerging economy: evidence from Brazil†, Venture Capital, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 111-26. Sahlman, W. (1990), â€Å"The structure and governance of venture capital organizations†, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 27, pp. 473-524. Singh, S. , Singh, S. J. and Jadeja, A. D. (2005), â€Å"Venture investing in India? Think twice†, Journal of Private Equity, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 35-40. Subhash, K. B. (2006), â€Å"How to teach the big baby to walk: case of the Indian venture capital industry†, Journal of Private Equity, Vol. No. 4, pp. 76-91. Verma, J. C. (1997), Venture Capital Financing in India, Sage, London. Vinay Kumar, A. (2002), â€Å"Venture capital ? nance in India: p ractices, perspectives and issues†, Finance India, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 247-52. Vinay Kumar, A. (2005), â€Å"Indian VCs’ involvement with investee ? rms: an empirical analysis of board composition, expectations and contribution†, ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, July, pp. 28-39. Vinay Kumar, A. and Kaura, M. N. (2003), â€Å"Venture capitalists’ screening criteria†, Vikalpa, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 49-59. About the authorsThillai Rajan Annamalai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras. His research interest includes VC, PE, infrastructure, and corporate ? nance. Thillai Rajan Annamalai is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email  protected] ac. in Ashish Deshmukh was an MBA student at the Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras. To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email  protected] com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints VCPE in In dia 21