Power Up Plc - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3086 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Case study Did you like this example? Capital Appraisal of Power Generating Alternatives Introduction Power Up Plc is planning to set up a new power plant. The company has three options to choose from – gas power, nuclear energy or renewable energy power plant. This report analyses the financial viability of the three options by using the net present value method. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Power Up Plc" essay for you Create order The net present value is one of the most scientific methods for capital appraisals as it discounts the future cash flows. The results from the net present value method are also compared with three other capital appraisal methods – discounted payback period, accounting rate of return and internal rate of return methods. All calculations are based on the data provided in the case. The capital appraisal methods are based on projected cash flows and discount rates and hence any changes in their values can have a significant impact on the value of a project. The report also discusses other information that would help in finalising one of the options as a preferred one. Capital Appraisal The net present value is one of the preferred capital appraisal methods as it gives the absolute net value of a project to a company. The net present value method discounts the future cash flows of an investment by its discount rate. The discount rate is based on the risk of the project and gearing ratio. According to the Capital Asset Pricing Model, the expected return on equity is given by the following formula (McLaney, 2009, p. 199). Expected return on equity = Risk-free return + Beta*(Market return – risk-free return) The gilts (T-bills) have the lowest risk as it is backed by the government and is as good as risk-free. The return on gilts is taken as the risk-free return. The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is given by the following formula (Brealey Myers, 2003, p. 389). WACC = Rd*(1-T)*(D)/(D+E) + Re*(E/D+E) Where Rd = Return on debt T = Taxation rate Re = Return on equity D = Value of debt E = Value of equity D/(D+E) is the gearing ra tio of a company. The expected return on equity and WACC calculations for the three options are shown in the table I. They are based on the data provided. Table I – Cost of equity and WACC The cost of equity is highest for the nuclear power plant because of its high beta. Even though the WACC of nuclear and renewable energy options are more than that of the gas plant option the differences are significantly less as compared to the differences in cost of equity. The high equity costs of the nuclear and renewable energy options are countered by their high gearing which limits the increase in the WACC due to lower cost of debt and tax deductibility of interest rates. The net present value calculations for the three options are based on the following common assumptions: The power plant starts operations at the beginning of the 4th year. The direct, and licensing and ancillary revenues are increased annually by the rate of inflation. As an example, the revenues in the 4th year are calculated by compounding four times the current revenue estimates with the annual inflation rate. All yearly clean-up costs are also increased by the annual inflation rates to take into account the likely increase in costs over years. The depreciation is taken into account from the first year to spread the total cost of the project over the 25 years period. It is assumed that the company will raise the full cost of loan in the first year itself and hence the interest costs are assumed from the first year itself. The annual interest costs calculated by multiplying the total building cost and debt rate are more than the annual interest costs given in the case for the gas power and renewable energy plants. The annual interest costs given in the case are used for the net present value calculations assuming that the company will use debt less than 100% of the building cost in these options. The annual capital allowance is 10% of the total building cost of the power plant. The capital allowance is used from the 4th year onwards when power plant starts operations. The appendix I and II shows the profit and loss, and net present value calculations of the gas power plant option. The actual tax is calculated on the basis of the capital allowance as accounting depreciation is not recognised by the taxation authorities for income deductibility. The net cash flows in the appendix II are discounted by the WACC (10.72%) of the gas power plant option. The net present value of the gas power plant is  £1,636 million. The positive net present value of the power plant indicates that the firms value will increase by this amount if the project is run successfully over 25 years as per the projections. The appendix III and IV shows the profit and loss, and net present value calculations of the nuclear power plant option. The WACC used for discounting the nuclear power plant cash flows is 12.10%. Even though the cost of equity for the nuclear power plant option is significantly higher than the equity for the gas power plant, the increase in the WAC C is limited by the higher gearing of the nuclear power plant. The net present value of the nuclear power plant is  £1,062 million. This is  £574 million lower than the net present value of the gas power plant. Even though the nuclear power plant adds value to the firm, the gain is significantly lower than in the gas power plant. Hence the gas power plant is favoured over the nuclear power plant in the net present value capital appraisal method. The appendix V and VI shows the profit and loss, and net present value calculations of the renewable energy plant option. The net cash flows in the appendix VI are discounted by the WACC of 11.05%. The net present value of the renewable energy power plant is  £1,052 million. This is similar to the net present value of the nuclear power plant but significantly lower than the gas power plant. The gas power plant has the highest net present value among the three options and hence it is the preferred option under the net present value option. But the projections are based on a number of assumptions and these should be thoroughly checked before finalising the option. As an example, the net present value relies on the cost of capital which may not be simple to calculate in situations like varying inflation rates (Howe, 1992, p. 34). The net present value is one of preferred capital appraisal methods as it gives the absolute value addition by a project. But there are other methods also which are less complex and need lesser calculations. They are used by managements for quick assessment of investments. The three other capital appraisal methods used for evaluating the power plant options are discounted payback period, accounting rate of return and internal rate of return. The discounted payback period method calculates the period in which the cumulative discounted future cash inflows equal the discounted initial investment. Some companies use payback period method but the discounted payback period m ethod is better than the payback period method as it discounts the future cash flows. If the cumulative discounted cash flows of the proposed investment turn positive in the year ‘n, then the discounted payback period is given by the following formula. . Discounted payback period = (n-1) years + (-Cumulative cash shortfall at the end of (n-1) year) / (Net cash flows in the year n) Discounted payback period gives a quick assessment of the time when a company will receive back the cash invested in a project. But the discounted payback period method ignores all cash flows after the cut-off date (Brealey Myers, 2000, pg. 97). Ignoring cash flows after the discounted payback year may result in opting for an option that would add lower value to the shareholders. Accounting rate of return is the ratio of the average accounting profit over the duration of a project to the average investment. Average investment is calculated as the average of the initial investment and f inal value of investment at the end of the project. As the full value of all three power plants is depreciated by the end of the project, the final value of the investment is 0. The internal rate of return gives the discounting rate at which the net present value is 0. It gives a quick measure of the return rate as compared to the cost of capital. Also it gives a measure of how much cost of capital can change before the project value becomes 0. But it has its limitations too as it does not take into account the scale of investment (Chang Swales, 1999, p.133). The appendix VII shows the gas power plant values in the above mentioned three capital appraisal methods. The investment in the gas power plant will be recovered in 5.84 years. As the period is less than the project life, the project is approved under the discounted payback period method. The option also has a very high accounting rate of return of 93.71%. The internal rate of return for the gas power plant is 33.77 % which indicates that the cost of capital can increase substantially before the net present value of the project will become 0. The appendix VIII shows the capital appraisal values of the nuclear power plant. The investment in the nuclear power plant will be recovered in 13.22 years, lower than the life of the project but higher than the gas plant. The accounting rate of return and internal rate of return are 18.72% and 16.25% respectively. The lower internal rate of return indicates that there is little scope for the cost of capital to increase before the net present value of the project will become 0. The appendix IX shows the results of the three capital appraisal methods for the renewable energy option. The results are similar to that of the nuclear power option with even lower safety of margin in the internal rate of return. The results of three capital appraisal methods also favour the gas power plant followed by the nuclear and renewable energy plants. The e xternal consultant has highlighted the varying degrees of risks associated with three alternatives. Nuclear power plants are regarded as higher risk than a gas or a renewable energy plant due to the potential losses if things go wrong. Any leakage or explosion in a nuclear plant can release hazardous radioactive particles that can cause severe damage to human lives and environment. The damage in a gas power plant explosion is likely to be less severe and even lower in a renewable energy option. But the risk factor is not extremely high in nuclear power plants as demonstrated by the successful operation of a large number of nuclear power plants across the globe. The higher beta and expected rate of return for equity reflect the higher operational risks associated with the nuclear plant and renewable energy options, and also higher gearing risks. The operational risks are included in the discount rates for different options. The beta of Power Up with the nuclear plant option is 1.5 as compared to the beta of 0.8 with the gas plant option. The cost of equity in the nuclear plant option at 20.8% is significantly more than the 12.8% for the gas plant option to reflect higher commissioning risks of a nuclear plant. The beta for renewable energy option is also higher than the gas power option because of delays faced in regulatory approvals in setting up a large scale renewable energy project. Partial increases in the equity returns of the nuclear and renewable energy options are due to increases in the gearing ratio. The return on equity increases with the increase in debt-equity ratio (Miller, 1988, p. 100). But the fact that nuclear option has a higher equity rate than the renewable energy even though it has lower gearing indicates that operational risks are included in the discount rate. Also the rates of debt for both nuclear and renewable power plants are higher than the gas power plant which reflects the higher bankruptcy fears due to high g earing (Brealey Myers, 2000, p. 482). The inclusion of different operational and financial risks in higher discounts rates means that there is no need to further increase the discount rates. The above capital appraisal of the three options is based on certain assumptions which should be verified before making a decision. First, the net present value of the gas power plant is highly dependent upon the gas prices in the future. The net present value calculation assumes that the gas prices will grow at the 3% rate of inflation. But gas supplies are limited because they are non-renewable. The growing demand of electricity and power across the world, especially from developing countries like China and India has increased oil prices in the recent years (Dolbeck, 2008, p. 1). It is also likely to impact gas prices. Hence it is important to check the likely gas prices over a long-term with well-established institutions that are focused on trekking and projecting oil and gas prices . Second, the weighted average cost of capital method assumes that the company is going to maintain same debt-to-equity ratio during the duration of the project (Massari et al., 2007, p. 153). It is most likely to change as the company generates profits and possibly invests in other projects. The future debt-to-equity ratios for the company should be checked with the finance department. If changes in the gearing ratio do happen over the period of the project then they should be reflected by using an appropriate capital appraisal method like the adjusted present value method. Third, a significant part of revenues is to be generated from licensing and ancillary activities. This needs to be analysed in view of the governments policies on climate change. The possibility of decline in gas power plant licensing and ancillary revenues in the medium to long-term future should be analysed and appropriate impact in terms of future cash flows should be built in the capital appraisal model. Fourth, the gearing ratio of the gas power plant option is half or lower than half of the gearing ratios of the nuclear and renewable energy options. Modigliani and Miller (1963, p. 434) showed that the value of a firm increases with increase in debt due to tax benefits of interest. Hence it would be useful to check with the corporate finance department of the company the reason behind the low gearing ratio for the gas option. Conclusion The capital appraisal methods – net present value, discounted payback period, accounting rate of return and internal rate of return – favour the gas power plant over the nuclear and renewable energy plants. But the calculations are based on certain assumptions which should be thoroughly vetted before finalising the option. Any changes in revenues and/or costs will have an impact on the results of the capital appraisal methods. Personal learning The exercise to evaluate three power plants has increased my personal knowledge in the field of corporate finance. The things learnt in this module and as well as things learnt previously were reinforced during the analysis of this case study. First, the cost of debt increases with the degree of gearing as lenders take more risk and debt assumes some of the characteristics of equity. At higher gearing levels, the lenders are exposed to more risk and have lower safety of margin. This is evident as the cost of debt in the renewable energy option is more than the cost of debt in the nuclear energy option due to higher gearing. The variation in the cost of debt across the three options is also in line with the Modigliani and Miller proposition II that states the cost of debt remains constant during the initial increases in gearing but then increases to reflect higher risks and bankruptcy costs (Brealey Myers, 2000, p. 482). The cost of debt increases from 9% in gas power plant at 30% gearing to 10% in nuclear power plant with 60% gearing, a 1% increase in cost of debt when gearing increases by 30%. But the cost of debt then increases to 11% as gearing changes to 65% in the renewable energy power plant, same absolute 1% increase in the cost of debt when gearing increases by only 5%. Second, the issue of new equity will result in dilution of earnings per share and would be a matter of concern for the management (Opler et al., 1997, pg. 21). This appears to be one of the reasons behind the higher gearing in both nuclear and renewable energy options as low gearing in these two options would result in issue of high amount of equity and significant dilution of earnings per share in the initial years of the investment. Third, the net present value calculations depend on a number of factors and it is important to research them. As in this case, changes in gas prices in the future may dramatically impact the net present value of the gas plant but not o f nuclear and renewable plants. Also, government regulations change over time and can impact values of a project. The focus on climate change may encourage the government to give more subsidies to renewable and nuclear plants in the future. This would put a gas power plant into disadvantage and the company may find it difficult to find buyers for its electricity. Hence such factors should also be taken into consideration before finalising an option. Bibliography and references Brealey, R. A. and Myers, S.C., 2000. Principles of Corporate Finance, 6th edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. Brealey, R. A. and Myers, S.C., 2003. Capital Investment and Valuaion, McGraw-Hill Company. Chang, C.E. and Swales, G.S., 1999. A Pedagogical Note on Modified Internal Rate of Return. Financial Practice Education, Vol. 9, Issue 2, pp. 132-137. Dolbeck, A., 2008. Valuation of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. Weekly Corporate Growth Report, Issue 1473, pp. 1-12. Howe, K.M., 1992. Capital Budgeting Discount Rates Under Inflation: A Caveat. Financial Practice Education, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp. 31-35. Massari, M., Roncaglio, F. and Zanetti, L., 2007. On the Equivalence between the APV and the wacc Approach in a Growing Leveraged Firm. European Financial Management, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 152-162. McLaney, E., 2009. Business Finance: Theory and Practice. Pearson Education Limited, 8th edition. Miller, M.H., 1988. The Modigliani-Miller Propositions After Thirty Years. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 99-120. Modigliani, F. and Miller, M., 1963. Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: a Correction. American Economic Review, Vol. 53, Issue 3, pp. 433-443. Opler, T.C., Saron, M. and Titman, S., 1997. Designing capital structure to create shareholder value. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Volume 10, Number 1, pp. 21-32.

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From my time as an officer in US Marine Corps and as an employee at a high-tech aerospace company, I have both developed strong team abilities and have seen the value and synergies of combining people with different backgrounds, knowledge, and experience levels. The dynamics created by these teams help produce the most innovative and creative ideas, whether in the Marines or an Anderson classroom. While I will never regret joining the Marine Corps, the five years I spent serving my country led me off the beaten path for achieving my career goals. Although I developed a strong work ethic and a goal-oriented nature, I have not followed the standard path. The FEMBA program will be the great equalizer, ensuring future employers that I have both the personal qualities and rigorous academic training necessary for success. By working full time and working on my masters degree in engineering from the University of Southern California, I have shown that I have what it takes to manage my work schedule while attending a prestigious institution. Now, I seek only the opportunity to prove this again by being admitted to the Fully Employed MBA program. AT UCLA, I will start my way down the path that will lead me to career success and fulfillment as a hi-tech consultant.

What Shapes Our Personality Traits free essay sample

Introduction to Personality The purpose of this paper is to define personality, examine the theoretical approaches in studying personality, and to analyze factors that may influence an individual’s personality development. According to Feist 2009, although there is no single definition of personality that is acceptable to all personality theorists; we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. To better understand how traits and characteristics shape personality one must first understand the concept of traits and characteristics. Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations. Traits may be unique to an individual, common among certain groups, or shared by the entire species, but their pattern is different for each individual. We will write a custom essay sample on What Shapes Our Personality Traits or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Therefor each individual may be like others in some ways but also have differences; the differences are what shape a unique personality for each individual. Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence (Feist, 2009). According to Feist 2009, personality theories differ on basic issues concerning the nature of humanity because each personality theory reflects its author’s assumptions about humanity. These assumptions rest on several broad dimensions that separate the various personality theorists, and have resulted in truly different personality theories, not merely differences in terminology. The six dimensions we use as a framework for viewing each theorist’s concept of humanity are determinism versus free choice, pessimism versus optimism, causality versus teleology, conscious versus unconscious determinants of behavior, biological versus social influences, and uniqueness versus similarities (Feist, 2009 p. 11-12). From these different concepts five theoretical approaches to studying, describing and explaining personality have been identified. The five theoretical approaches include the psychodynamic theories, humanistic theories, existential theories, dispositional (trait) theories, and learning theories. Psychodynamic theories began with the work an Austrian neurologist, Sigmund Freud, who first proposed the theory. According to Freud, personalities arise because of attempts to resolve conflicts between unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and societal demands to restrain these impulses. Carl Jung and Alfred Adler who were followers of Freud’s expanded on his theories which emphasize unconscious motives and desires, as well as the importance of childhood experiences in shaping personality (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). Humanistic theorist believed that one of the faults with the psychodynamic theory was that it did not consider the qualities that make humans unique among animals, such as striving for self-determination and self-realization. Humanistic theorists believe in an individual’s ability to think consciously and rationally, to control their biological urges, and to achieve their full potential. In the humanistic view, people are responsible for their lives and actions and have the freedom and will to change their attitudes and behavior (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). Dispositional theories, also known as trait theories, define one’s personality through their personal traits and believe that there are five basic traits that each individual share and they refer to these as the big five. The big five includes neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The Big Five traits remain quite stable over the life span, particularly after the age of thirty. Unlike psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists study only observable behavior. Their explanations of personality focus on learning. Skinner, Bandura, and Walter Mischel all proposed important behaviorist theories. . References Feist, J. , Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. SparkNotes Editors. (2005). SparkNote on Personality. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from http://www. sparknotes. com/psychology/psych101/personality/

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Structuralism vs. Functionalism Free Online Research Papers Both structuralism and functionalism are mentalisms; this means the mind is the subject of every study. They are different, however, in how the mind is viewed. This paper will compare and contrast the ideas and theories of structuralism and functionalism, and explore how, if at all, these theories are being practiced in psychology today. Structuralism vs. Functionalism Structuralism and functionalism explore the human mind; both are concerned with the conscious self, despite the verbal bashing of each side. While they had some similarities, they also had many differences which will be explored below Structuralism, the first major school of thought in psychology, was founded by Wilhelm Wundt. It is the study of the elements of consciousness, and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. â€Å"In Wudnt’s view, the mind had the power to organize mental elements voluntarily† (Schultz, D.P. Schultz, S.E., 2008, p.122). In order to do this structuralism relied on a method called introspection. Introspection, however, had a principle flaw and was one basic reason that structuralism completely died in psychology upon Wundt’s death (Psychology World, 2006). The subject agreement and reliability of structuralism was not consistent with mainstream views of experimental psychologists today (Psychology World, 2006). It maintained that a â€Å"conscious experience must be described in its most basic terms,† (Psychology World, 2006). Structuralism was also later criticized, mainly by behaviorists, claiming that the theory dealt primarily with internal behavior. It was argued that this was a non-observable element of consciousness which could not be measured accurately. Functionalism formed as a reaction to structuralism; it was influenced by the work of William James and the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin. Functionalism is concerned with how the mind functions, and therefore also used the method of introspection. â€Å"Functionalists studied the mind not from the standpoint of its composition-its mental elements of structure-but rather as a conglomerate or accumulation of functions and processes that lead to practical consequences in the real world† (Schultz, D.P. Schultz, S.E., 2008, p.145). Functionalism emphasized individual differences, which had a great impact on education. John Dewey went on to use the theories of functionalism to determine that children should learn at the level appropriate for which they are developmentally prepared. However, just as structuralism had its disbelievers, so did functionalism. The term function was used loosely. It can refer to both how the mental process operates, and how the mental process functions in the evolution of species (Oxford Companion, 2006). Because it lacked a clear definition, it was subjected to the same problematic aspects of structuralism. This is when behaviorism was introduced. â€Å"Behaviorism dealt solely with observable behavioral acts that could be described in objective terms† (Schultz, D.P. Schultz, S.E., 2008, p.520). Theoretically, structuralism and functionalism had similarities. The most obvious similarity is that they both took interest in the mental process; after all functionalism was only formed as a reaction to the flaws of structuralism. Further, both used introspection as a method to explore their ideas. Lastly, both structuralism and functionalism had a desire for psychology to become scientific. While there were some comparisons in these two schools of thoughts, there were definitely more differences in the two. As mentioned earlier, functionalism developed, to a certain degree, as a reaction against structuralism. It was thought that psychological processes would be best understood in terms of their function rather than their structure. In other words, structuralism asked what happens when an organism does something, and functionalism asked how and why. Functionalism drew on evolutionary theory rather than modeling psychological processes on the combination of mental elements. Breaking away from functionalism, behaviorism dealt with observable behavior as a result of environmental stimuli. This was in contrast to focusing on the internal mental process which rejected introspection and called for a more scientific method. Structuralism did not withstand the test of time and soon faded out despite an intensive program of research which relied on the contemplation of one’s own thoughts, desires, and conduct. The experimental methods used in structuralism would not hold up to today’s standards; the experiments were too subjective and the results were therefore unreliable. Functionalism emphasized the function, or purposes, of behavior as opposed to its analysis and description, and soon disappeared as a separate school because it lacked the kind of exactness needed to facilitate its theory. Despite its disappearance as a separate school of psychology â€Å"functionalism never really died, it became part of the mainstream psychology† (Oxford Companion, 2006). The importance of looking at process rather than structure is a common attribute of modern psychology. As an individual approach it lacked a clear formulation and inherited problems from the structuralist reliance on intro spection, however the theory of functionalism is still around today. This writer believes that structuralism is important because it was the first major school of thought in psychology and because it influenced experimental psychology. However, other than the effect it has had on the history of psychology it has no place in modern psychology. Functionalism has had a great impact of modern psychology. As she will become a teacher soon, this writer cannot help but be grateful for the impact functionalism had on the educational system. The writer also feels that all functionalism is the underlying component of psychology; the purpose of the consciousness and behavior is applied to all areas of psychological study. Oxford Companion to the Mind. (2006). William James and Functionalism. Retrieved October 7, 2006 at psych.utah.edu/gordon/Classes/Psy4905Docs/PsychHistory/Cards/James.html Psychology World. (2006). Structuralism. Retrieved October 7, 2006 at http://web.umr.edu/~psyworld/structuralism.htm#1 Schultz, D.P. Schultz, S.E. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (9th ed.). California: Thomas Wadsworth. Research Papers on Structuralism vs. FunctionalismThree Concepts of PsychodynamicEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part OneComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoOpen Architechture a white paperThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males Structuralism vs. Functionalism Free Online Research Papers Structuralism was formed out of the necessity to distinguish psychology as a science separate of philosophy and/or biology. Functionalism came out of opposition to the basic premises of structuralism. Major differences among functionalism and structuralism are in the ideas of how the mind is organized. Functionalism viewed the mind by how it functioned rather than how it was structured (Schultz, D. P., Schultz, S. E., 2008). Structuralism looked at mental processes through analysis and description and functionalism through behavior (i.e., how and why people behaved). Functionalism explored how the mind changed based on experiences and environment. The basic premise of functionalism is still seen in modern psychology. Darwin a major theorist in functionalism introduced the idea of, â€Å"Evolution†. He proved that the mind evolved/s over time (Schultz, D. P., Schultz, S. E., 2008). Darwin focused on, â€Å"Animal psychology to form a basis comparison, placed emphas is on functions rather than the structure of consciousness, accepted methodology and data from many fields, and focused on description and measurements of individual differences (Schultz, D. P., Schultz, S. E., 2008 p. 155).† A significant portion of the initial premises Darwin established are in practice in modern psychology through the theories that emerged following functionalism. Research Papers on Structuralism vs. FunctionalismThree Concepts of PsychodynamicEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoLifes What IfsInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesResearch Process Part OneHip-Hop is ArtThe Project Managment Office SystemGenetic EngineeringBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Tattoos in Greece and Rome Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tattoos in Greece and Rome - Term Paper Example Pictures of people who have their noses marked on both sides with the four tattooed historical lines were found on the Aveyron’s and Tarn’s prehistoric stones in France. â€Å"Drawings and figurines discovered in a Thracian burial mound near Philippopolis may depict tattooed people, but considering the complexity of the decorations it is more likely that these represent body painting or finely worked figurines† (Tattoo Temple, n.d.). People in Greece and Rome added their own cultural touches as they inherited the art of tattooing, thus taking it to the next level. Archeologists have readily found tattooed mummies from various parts of the world which suggests how common a practice it has been for a long time in history. Tattoos today are an insignia of fashion and style. The contemporary society has endorsed tattoos as a means of styling. The trend of under-skin inking has been around for thousands of years. This paper discusses the history of tattoos in ancient Greece and Rome. The history of tattooing in Europe commences with the ancient historians of Greek and Roman origin. The Greeks inherited the art of tattooing from the Persians, while the Romans gained it from the Greeks. In the early Greek time followed by the early Roman time, tattooing was a practice linked with the barbarians. According to Herodotus, tattoos were voluntarily associated by the Greeks with the barbarians, including the Thracian women known as the Maenads who assassinated Orpheus because of his homosexual concerns with their husbands. â€Å"Herodotus was the first to use the root â€Å"stig† as in the pejorative â€Å"stigma† to refer to tattoos as a mark (estichthai) or a â€Å"pricking†Ã¢â‚¬  (Random History, 2008). In the ancient times, tattooing was used as a tool to differentiate between the criminals and/or the slaves and the rest of the people of the society. Prisoners and slaves were tattooed the name of Xerxes. Occasionally, tattoos were also used to send secret messages across the lines of enemies. Criminals and slaves were tattooed so that they would have an irremovable mark on their skin to help others identify them as such. This was done intentionally to discourage the criminals and slaves from running away as attempts to escape were common among the two. Later, the Romans used tattoos to pick out deserters as the Roman army was chiefly composed of the mercenaries. The use of tattoos by the early Greek and Romans suggests that their chief use was punishment as has been mentioned by various authors of the Greek and the Roman origin. Tattoos have been discussed in a punitive sense by such Greek authors as Aristophanes, Xenophon, Herodus, Aeschines and Aelius Aristides (Jones, 2000). Plato was of the opinion that a temple robber should be tattooed on the forehead and the hands to have a trace of the offense while Bion of Borysthenes said that his father’s face was more of a document because of intense tattooing because o f his status of a slave. The process of tattooing has been recorded by the ancient Roman authors. Aetius is one such Roman physician who described the process of applying and removing a tattoo along with the formula for making the tattoo ink in his famous book; Medicae artis principles. At one point, Plato expressed the opinion that tattoos should be placed on people found guilty of sacrilege and thus, they should be expelled from the Republic. Likewise, â€Å"Suetone, a early writer reports that the degenerate and sadistic Roman Emperor, Caligula, amused himself by capriciously ordering

Human resource management and career management Dissertation

Human resource management and career management - Dissertation Example Since the beginning until today, human race has been able to ensure continuous progression in every aspect of the society from education to business, and from art to medicine.In such developments,business has remained an imperative component of every society;however,expertshave indicated that until few decades ago, business were only a meant of making profits, and employees were only instruments of ensuring that profit in the business. In other words, there was no difference between humans and animals and both were tools of carrying out work for the employers. However, in recent years, there has been noteworthy alteration in the process of business (Harris et al., pp. 56-60, 2003), and one can observe significant changes especially after the introduction of human resource management that has now become an imperative component of every business organization around the globe. Analysis of the literature (Hendry, pp. 20-22, 1995; Armstrong, pp. 71-78, 2006) has indicated that today in th e era of information and technology and in midst of thousands of qualified individuals lurking to acquire a job, career management has come up as a new aspect. It specifically involves provision of opportunities to individuals to explore their career possibilities, development of their career objectives, and provision of strategies to acquire their career. Experts (Miner, pp. 63-68, 2007) now believe that in the era of economic recession and increment in the unemployment, it has now become important for both career management and human resource management to integrate them, in order to ensure effectiveness at both workplaces, as well as in the marketplace (Ulrich, pp. 23-26, 1997). In the result, it is now a premise of this paper that human resource management should or even must be a component of career management in the future as such step will ease the process of recruitment, selection, and development of employees in the workplace. Additionally, it will allow the employers, as w ell as employees to acquire their targets easily in the marketplace. In order to understand the significance of making HRM a component of career management, the paper will now attempt to understand different current roles of HRM. Particularly, HRM is one of the tactical components (Lumsden et al., pp. 46-55, 2009) within a business entity, which ensures efficient handling of existing, as well as potential labor force. In particular, the major responsibility of HRM is to employ human workforce and make sure that they work in accordance with the identified goals and objectives of the organization, which HRM does by ensuring timely provision of all the required resources essential for such fulfillment. Experts (Briscoe & Schuler, pp. 50-54, 2004) have noticed that nowadays, HRM is also involved in dealing with factors, such as advantages, remuneration, efficiency of workers, productivity of employees, and most importantly, effective communication between employees and employers in the organization. From this brief understanding of the role of HRM, it seems that HRM can be very beneficial in ensuring effective implementation of career management. Unfortunately, nowadays, career has become a synonymous term to job, which is completely inappropriate and inaccurate. Particularly, career is a sequence of jobs, and job is a term that refers to a work that an individual takes to complete it (Grimshaw, pp. 20-25, 2009). In this regard, HRM should be a part of career management, as it can support the later to enable employees to manage their career in the most effective manner rather than sticking to a single job while changing different organizations, and considering it career management. Fortunately, nowadays, a huge number of business organizations are taking their workforce as basic pillars for the success of their organization (Mabey et al., pp. 25-30, 1998). In the result, employers are these days putting efforts to provide