Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) v's Associated of Science in Essay

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) v's Associated of Science in Nursing - Essay Example A four years degree programme popularly known as Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is ideal professional to Associate degree that takes two years. Simultaneous shortage of nurses creates problems to any county’s health care needs. In most case nurses shortage is attributed by slow growth in the number of registered nurses, enrollment rate in nursing schools is slow to meet the demand of the increase in population, inadequate faculties and frustrations nurses go through that make them to leave their professions (Maria, C. 2008) Â   The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) take four years of studying science and ethics of nursing, it is mainly offered by a university or likewise qualified school. Nevertheless, one is entitled to sit for the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX).This examination council come up with certified examination for two and a half years of additional nursing and liberal arts curriculum before he or she becomes a recognized nurse after graduating from either Associate’s Degree (ADN) or from a four-year nursing program with a BSN, the BSN trains nurses for a certified role away from the coursework in nursing science, research and leadership (Lewallen et al 2003) BSN syllabus is familiar among working nurses. The Bachelor of Science in nursing helps students with no previous understanding in nursing to obtain licenses and offers registered nurses an opportunity to grow careers wise. Core curriculum in BSN entails liberal arts requirements and more advanced topics related to nursing, including education, management and administration. The associate nursing is popular as compared to BSN, but on the other hand the BSN programme gives career resourcefulness and offers a broad familiarity of nursing theory. That is to say a nurse with BSN has numerous alternatives such as performing different specialties related to nursing many

Pedagogy Essay Example for Free

Pedagogy Essay Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Portuguese: Pedagogic do Proudly), written by educator Paulo Fire, proposes a pedagogy with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society. It was first published in Portuguese in 1968, and was translated by Myra Ramose into English and published In 1970. [1] The book is considered one of the foundational texts of critical pedagogy. Dedicated to what Is called the oppressed and based on his own experience helping Brazilian adults to read and write, Fire includes a detailed Marxist class analysis in his exploration of the relationship between what he calls the colonizer ND the colonized. In the book Fire calls traditional pedagogy the banking model because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge, like a piggy bank. However, he argues for pedagogy to treat the learner as a co-creator of knowledge. The book has sold over 750,000 copies worldwide. [2] Translated into several languages, most editions of Pedagogy of the Oppressed contain at least one introduction/foreword, a preface, and four chapters. The first chapter explores how oppression has been Justified and how it is overcome through a mutual process between the oppressor and the oppressed (oppressors-oppressed distinction). Examining how the balance of power between the colonizer and the colonized remains relatively stable, Fire admits that the powerless in society can be frightened of freedom. He writes, Freedom Is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion. (47) According to Fire, freedom will be the result of praxis † Informed action † when a balance between theory and practice is achieved. The second chapter examines the banking approach to education † a metaphor used by Fire that suggests students are considered empty bank accounts that should remain open to deposits made by the teacher. Fire rejects the banking approach, claiming It results In the demutualization of both the students and the teachers. In addition, he argues the banking approach stimulates oppressive attitudes and practices in society. Instead, Fire advocates for a more world- mediated, mutual approach to education that considers people Incomplete. According to Fire, this authentic approach to education must allow people to be aware of their incompleteness and strive to be more fully human. This attempt to use education as a meaner of consciously shaping the person and the society is called centralization, a term first coined by Fire in this book. Dimensions of human praxis. This is in line with the Lavabo Viewer Pintos use of the word/idea in his Consciences Realized National which Fire contends is using the concept without the pessimistic character originally found in Jaspers (Note 15, Chapter 3) in reference to Karl Jaspers notion of Gratuitousness. The last chapter proposes dialogs as an instrument to free the colonized, through the use of cooperation, unity, organization and cultural synthesis (overcoming problems in society to liberate human beings). This is in contrast to antispasmodics which use conquest, manipulation, cultural invasion, and the concept of divide and rule. Fire suggests that populist dialogue is a necessity to revolution; that impeding dialogue dehumidifies and supports the status quo. This is but one example of the dichotomies Fire identifies in the book. Others include the student-teacher dichotomy and the colonizer-colonized dichotomy. In his article for the conservative-leaning City Journal, Sol Stern[3] notes that Pedagogy of the Oppressed ignores the traditional touchstones of Western education (e. G. , Rousseau, John Dewey, or Maria Interiors) and contains virtually none of the information typically found in traditional teacher education (e. G. , no discussion of curriculum, testing, or age-appropriate learning). To the contrary, Fire rejects traditional education as official knowledge that intends to oppress. Spread[edit]Since the publication of the English edition in 1970, Pedagogy of the Oppressed has achieved near-iconic status in Americas teacher-training programs, according to Sol Stern. A 2003 study looking at the curricula of 16 schools of education, 14 of them among the top in the country, found that Pedagogy of the Oppressed was one of the most frequently assigned texts in their philosophy of education courses. Such course assignments are a large part of the reason the book has sold almost 1 million copies, which is a remarkable number for a book in the education field. [3] Influences[edit]The work was strongly influenced by Franz Fanons and Karl Marx. One of Firers dictums is that: there neither is, nor has ever been, an educational practice in zero space-time†neutral in the sense of being committed only to preponderantly abstract, intangible ideas. According to later critics, heirs to Firers ideas have taken it to mean that since all education is political, leftist math teachers who care about the oppressed have a right, indeed a duty, to use a pedagogy that, in Firers words, does not conceal † in fact, which proclaims † its own political

Net Present Value is the most realistic technique for evaluation

Net Present Value is the most realistic technique for evaluation Introduction Drury (2000) stated, The theory of capital budgeting reconciles the goals of survival and profitability by assuming that management takes as its goal the maximization of the market value of the shareholders wealth via the maximization of the market value of ordinary share. Capital budgeting decisions may be defined as the firms decision to invest its current funds most efficiently in the long term assets in anticipation of an expected flow benefits over a series of years. (Pandy, 2005) According to the above definitions of capital budgeting, following features can be identified, I. Exchange current funds for future benefits II. Funds are invested in long term assets and III. Benefit will occur to the firm over a series of years. Therefore main objective of the capital budgeting decisions are to maximize the wealth of the shareholders by, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining which specific investment projects to be undertaken à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining the total amount of capital expenditure which the firm should be obtained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining how this portfolio of projects should be financed. In capital budgeting process different investment appraisal techniques are used to evaluate the investments. They are mainly traditional and Discounting Factor (DCF) methods. In traditional method consist of Payback and Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) which dont have the time value adjustment. But in DCF method Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) are included and they are adjusting the time value of money to the cash flows. These techniques give different benefits and limitations in investment evaluation process, although as per the theoretical view DCF analysis may give more benefit to the organization. However successful completion of a project mainly depends on the selection criteria adopted while choosing the project in the initial phases itself and the choice of a project must be based on a sound financial assessment and not based on impression. DCF techniques are being widely used in both public and private sector. This is the method recommended for evaluating investment proposals. In this method, the incremental cost and benefits of proposals are discounted by a required rate of return in order to obtain the net present value of the proposal. Investment decisions are essential for a business as they define the future survival, and growth of the organization. The main objective of a business being the maximization of shareholders wealth. Therefore a firm needs to invest in every project that is worth more than the costs. The Net Present value is the difference between the projects value and its costs. Thus to make shareholders happy, a firm must invest in projects with positive NPVs. We shall start this essay with an explanation of investment appraisal, NPV, then compare this method with other investment appraisal methods and finally try to define, based on the works of Tony Davies, Brian Pain, and Brealey/Myers/Allen, which method works best in order to define a good investments. What is Investment Appraisal? A means of assessing whether an investment project is worthwhile or not Investment project could be the purchase of a new PC for a small firm, a new piece of equipment in a manufacturing plant, a whole new factory, etc Used in both public and private sector Types of investment appraisal: Payback Period Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Profitability Index Net Present Value (discounted cash flow) Why do companies invest? Importance of remembering investment as the purchase of productive capacity NOT buying stocks and shares or investing in a bank! Buy equipment/machinery or build new plant to: Increase capacity (amount that can be produced) which means: Demand can be met and this generates sales revenue Increased efficiency and productivity Investment therefore assumes that the investment will yield future income streams Investment appraisal is all about assessing these income streams against the cost of the investment Capital budgeting versus current expenditures A capital investment project can be distinguished from current expenditures by two features: a) Such projects are relatively large b) a significant period of time (more than one year) elapses between the investment outlay and the receipt of the benefits. As a result, most medium-sized and large organizations have developed special procedures and methods for dealing with these decisions. A systematic approach to capital budgeting implies: a) The formulation of long-term goals b) The creative search for and identification of new investment opportunities c) Classification of projects and recognition of economically and/or statistically dependent proposals d) The estimation and forecasting of current and future cash flows e) A suitable administrative framework capable of transferring the required information to the decision level f) The controlling of expenditures and careful monitoring of crucial aspects of project execution g) A set of decision rules which can differentiate acceptable from unacceptable alternatives is required. The classification of investment projects a) By project size Small projects may be approved by departmental managers. More careful analysis and Board of Directors approval is needed for large projects of, say, half a million dollars or more. b) By type of benefit to the firm  · An increase in cash flow  · A decrease in risk  · an indirect benefit (showers for workers, etc). c) By degree of dependence  · Mutually exclusive projects (can execute project A or B, but not both)  · complementary projects: taking project A increases the cash flow of project B.  · substitute projects: taking project A decreases the cash flow of project B. d) By degree of statistical dependence  · Positive dependence  · Negative dependence  · Statistical independence. e) By type of cash flow  · Conventional cash flow: only one change in the cash flow sign e.g. -/++++ or +/-, etc  · Non-conventional cash flows: more than one change in the cash flow sign, e.g. +/-/+++ or -/+/-/++++, etc. Brief Introduction to Discounted Cash Flow and Methods This section would give a briefing on the mentioned topic and explain them thoroughly later on in this report. Discounted cash flow (DCF) DCF focuses on the time value of money, Rs.1 is worth more today than Rs.1 in the future. The reason being that it could be invested and make a return (yes, even in times of low interest, so long as interest rates are positive). So thats the discounting methodology, DCF has two methods. Net Present Value (NPV) The annual cash flows are discounted and totaled and then the initial capital cost of the project is deducted. The excess or deficit is the NPV of the project, it goes without saying that for the project to be worthwhile the NPV must be positive and the higher the NPV the more attractive is the investment in the project Internal Rate of Return (IRR) The IRR or yield of a project is the rate of return at which the present value of the net cash inflows equals the initial cost, which is the same as the discount rate which produces a NPV of zero. For an investment to be worthwhile the IRR must be greater than the cost of capital. Due to the following reasons, DCF method is identified as a best method for Investment appraisal processes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They give due weight to timing and size of cash flow à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Thy take the whole life of the project in to irregular cash flows do not invalidate the result obtained. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Estimate of risk and uncertainty can be incorporated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Use of discounting methods may lead to move accurate estimating and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They rank projects correctly in order of profitability and give better criteria for acceptance or rejection of projects than other method. Because of that in theoretically said that DCF analysis is best method to evaluate the investment over its rivals. A survey carried out by the Arnold Hatzopolous (2000) and Graham Harvey (2000) to identify the practical usage of investment appraisal techniques among the large manufacturing firms of UK had revealed that NPV and IRR are less behind its rivals in practically. Therefore they have commented that there is a gap between usages of appraisal techniques in practically and theoretically. The economic evaluation of investment proposals The analysis stipulates a decision rule for: I) accepting or II) rejecting Investment projects The time value of money Recall that the interaction of lenders with borrowers sets an equilibrium rate of interest. Borrowing is only worthwhile if the return on the loan exceeds the cost of the borrowed funds. Lending is only worthwhile if the return is at least equal to that which can be obtained from alternative opportunities in the same risk class. The interest rate received by the lender is made up of: The time value of money: the receipt of money is preferred sooner rather than later. Money can be used to earn more money. The earlier the money is received, the greater the potential for increasing wealth. Thus, to forego the use of money, you must get some compensation. The risk of the capital sum not being repaid. This uncertainty requires a premium as a hedge against the risk; hence the return must be commensurate with the risk being undertaken. Inflation: money may lose its purchasing power over time. The lender must be compensated for the declining spending/purchasing power of money. If the lender receives no compensation, he/she will be worse off when the loan is repaid than at the time of lending the money. Internal Rate of Return The internal rate of return (IRR) is another widely used method of investment appraisal. It calculates the rate of return, where the difference between the present values of cash inflows and outflows, the NPV, is zero. Thus when would a company undertake the project? Simply when the expected rate of return, the IRR, exceeds the target rate of return of the company. This is called the IRR rule. When the IRR is superior to the target rate of return, the NPV is positive. When IRR is equal to the target rate of return then NPV is equal to 0, and when the IRR is inferior to the target rate of return, then the NPV is negative. IRR can easily be determined through interpolation, which assumes a linear relationship between the NPVs of a capital investment project obtained using different discount rates. The exact rate is calculated algebraically using the theorem of Thales. we would have to compute a complex weighted average of these rates to be able to compare it to the IRR. This very much complicates the task, and gives us yet another reason to stick to the simple NPV method to better appraise investments. It has been shown that NPV proves to be much more reliable and simple of use than IRR. IRR is indeed subject to many pitfalls developed above. Nevertheless, a very important proportion of managers still use the IRR method to define attractive investments. Why could this be? It can be argued that managers do not trust the cash flow forecasts they receive. In the case of two projects A and B having the same NPV, IRR plays an important role. Project A requires an investment of 8,000 and project B necessitates an investment of 80,000. As said earlier both NPVs are the same. In such a situation where the NPVs are similar, managers would go for the project, whose initial investment is the lowest. If the project were to be dysfunctional, it is always easier to recover from a small initial loss than from a bigger one. By looking at the IRR the choice is quickly made. The project with the highest IRR is the one with the less risk. To summarize we have seen that although easy to use when used correctly, there are many drawbacks to the use of the IRR. IRR ignores the size of investment projects. That is two projects may have the same IRR but one project can return many times the cash flow returned by the other project. If the project cash flows are alternatively positive and negative, then we obtain two or more IRRs, or even no IRR, which can be disconcerting for interpretation. IRR should not be used to make a choice between mutually exclusive projects because it proves to be unreliable when it comes to ranking investment projects of different scale. So Forth, the IRR rule is difficult to apply when the discounting factors used over the years are different. Indeed, it is not easy to define what opportunity cost IRR should be compared to. Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) Modified internal rate of return (MIRR) is a financial measure of an investments attractiveness. It is used in capital budgeting to rank alternative investments. As the name implies, MIRR is a modification of the internal rate of return (IRR) and as such aims to resolve some problems with the IRR. Problems with the IRR While there are several problems with the IRR, MIRR resolves two of them. First, IRR assumes that interim positive cash flows are reinvested at the same rate of return as that of the project that generated them. This is usually an unrealistic scenario and a more likely situation is that the funds will be reinvested at a rate closer to the firms cost of capital. The IRR therefore often gives an unduly optimistic picture of the projects under study. Generally for comparing projects more fairly, the weighted average cost of capital should be used for reinvesting the interim cash flows. Second, more than one IRR can be found for projects with alternating positive and negative cash flows, which leads to confusion and ambiguity. MIRR finds only one value. Calculation MIRR is calculated as follows: , Where n is the number of equal periods at the end of which the cash flows occur (not the number of cash flows), PV is present value (at the beginning of the first period), FV is future value (at the end of the last period). The formula adds up the negative cash flows after discounting them to time zero, adds up the positive cash flows after factoring in the proceeds of reinvestment at the final period, then works out what rate of return would equate the discounted negative cash flows at time zero to the future value of the positive cash flows at the final time period. Spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel, have inbuilt functions to calculate the MIRR. In Microsoft Excel this function is =MIRR. Example If an investment project is described by the sequence of cash flows: Year Cash flow 0 -1000 1 -4000 2 5000 3 2000 Then the IRR r is given by . In this case, the answer is 25.48% (the other solutions to this equation are -593.16% and -132.32%, but they will not be considered meaningful IRRs). To calculate the MIRR, we will assume a finance rate of 10% and a reinvestment rate of 12%. First, we calculate the present value of the negative cash flows (discounted at the finance rate): . Second, we calculate the future value of the positive cash flows (reinvested at the reinvestment rate): . Third, we find the MIRR: . The calculated MIRR (17.91%) is significantly different from the IRR (25.48%). Lefley and Morgan have developed a financial appraisal model, which has extended the traditional appraisal methodologies so as to provide more considered comparison for individual investment projects. The Lefley and Morgan model creates a profile, which combines the uses of NPV, Discounted payback period, and the discounted payback index, (DPBI). The discounted payback period is interesting to take into consideration as the entity proceeding with the investment might be lacking money and would prefer having a quick return of the funds invested. DPBI is used to assess the number of times the initial cost of the investment will be recovered over the projects life. It is calculated by dividing the accumulated present values by the initial capital cost. Combined these methods give a fairly accurate view of an investment. Net present value vs internal rate of return Independent vs dependent projects NPV and IRR methods are closely related because: Both are time-adjusted measures of profitability, and their mathematical formulas are almost identical. So, which method leads to an optimal decision: IRR or NPV? a) NPV vs. IRR: Independent projects Independent project: Selecting one project does not preclude the choosing of the other. With conventional cash flows (-|+|+) no conflict in decision arises; in this case both NPV and IRR lead to the same accept/reject decisions. NPV vs. IRR Independent projects If cash flows are discounted at k1, NPV is positive and IRR > k1: accept project. If cash flows are discounted at k2, NPV is negative and IRR Mathematical proof: for a project to be acceptable, the NPV must be positive, i.e. Similarly for the same project to be acceptable: Where R is the IRR. Since the numerators Ct are identical and positive in both instances:  · Implicitly/intuitively R must be greater than k (R > k);  · If NPV = 0 then R = k: the company is indifferent to such a project;  · Hence, IRR and NPV lead to the same decision in this case. b) NPV vs. IRR: Dependent projects NPV clashes with IRR where mutually exclusive projects exist. Example: Agritex is considering building either a one-storey (Project A) or five-storey (Project B) block of offices on a prime site. The following information is available: Initial Investment Outlay Net Inflow at the Year End Project A -9,500 11,500 Project B -15,000 18,000 Assume k = 10%, which project should Agritex undertake? = $954.55 = $1,363.64 Both projects are of one-year duration: IRRA: $11,500 = $9,500 (1 +RA) = 1.21-1 Therefore IRRA = 21% IRRB: $18,000 = $15,000(1 + RB) = 1.2-1 Therefore IRRB = 20% Decision: Assuming that k = 10%, both projects are acceptable because: NPVA and NPVB are both positive IRRA > k AND IRRB > k Which project is a better option for Agritex? If we use the NPV method: NPVB ($1,363.64) > NPVA ($954.55): Agritex should choose Project B. If we use the IRR method: IRRA (21%) > IRRB (20%): Agritex should choose Project A. See figure below. NPV vs. IRR: Dependent projects Up to a discount rate of ko: project B is superior to project A, therefore project B is preferred to project A. Beyond the point ko: project A is superior to project B, therefore project A is preferred to project B The two methods do not rank the projects the same. Differences in the scale of investment NPV and IRR may give conflicting decisions where projects differ in their scale of investment. Example: Years 0 1 2 3 Project A -2,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 Project B -14,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 Assume k= 10%. NPVA = $1,500 x PVFA at 10% for 3 years = $1,500 x 2.487 = $3,730.50 $2,500.00 = $1,230.50. NPVB == $7,000 x PVFA at 10% for 3 years = $7,000 x 2.487 = $17,409 $14,000 = $3,409.00. IRRA = = 1.67. Therefore IRRA = 36% (from the tables) IRRB = = 2.0 Therefore IRRB = 21% Decision: Conflicting, as:  · NPV prefers B to A  · IRR prefers A to B NPV IRR Project A $ 3,730.50 36% Project B $17,400.00 21% See figure below. Scale of investments To show why: The NPV prefers B, the larger project, for a discount rate below 20% The NPV is superior to the IRR a) Use the incremental cash flow approach, B minus A approach b) Choosing project B is tantamount to choosing a hypothetical project B minus A. 0 1 2 3 Project B 14,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 Project A 2,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 B minus A 11,500 5,500 5,500 5,500 IRRB Minus A = 2.09 = 20% c) Choosing B is equivalent to: A + (B A) = B d) Choosing the bigger project B means choosing the smaller project A plus an additional outlay of $11,500 of which $5,500 will be realized each year for the next 3 years. e) The IRRB minus A on the incremental cash flow is 20%. f) Given k of 10%, this is a profitable opportunity, therefore must be accepted. g) But, if k were greater than the IRR (20%) on the incremental CF, then reject project. h) At the point of intersection, NPVA = NPVB or NPVA NPVB = 0, i.e. indifferent to projects A and B. i) If k = 20% (IRR of B A) the company should accept project A.  · This justifies the use of NPV criterion. Advantage of NPV:  · It ensures that the firm reaches an optimal scale of investment. Disadvantage of IRR:  · It expresses the return in a percentage form rather than in terms of absolute dollar returns, e.g. the IRR will prefer 500% of $1 to 20% return on $100. However, most companies set their goals in absolute terms and not in % terms, e.g. target sales figure of $2.5 million. The profitability index PI This is a variant of the NPV method. Decision rule: PI > 1; accept the project PI If NPV = 0, we have: NPV = PV Io = 0 PV = Io Dividing both sides by Io we get: PI of 1.2 means that the projects profitability is 20%. Example: PV of CF Io PI Project A 100 50 2.0 Project B 1,500 1,000 1.5 Decision: Choose option B because it maximizes the firms profitability by $1,500. Disadvantage of PI: Like IRR it is a percentage and therefore ignores the scale of investment. The Payback Period (PP) The CIMA defines payback as the time it takes the cash inflows from a capital investment project to equal the cash outflows, usually expressed in years. When deciding between two or more competing projects, the usual decision is to accept the one with the shortest payback. Payback is often used as a first screening method. By this, we mean that when a capital investment project is being considered, the first question to ask is: How long will it take to pay back its cost? The company might have a target payback, and so it would reject a capital project unless its payback period was less than a certain number of years. Example 1: Years 0 1 2 3 4 5 Project A 1,000,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 For a project with equal annual receipts: = 4 years Example 2: Years 0 1 2 3 4 Project B 10,000 5,000 2,500 4,000 1,000 Payback period lies between year 2 and year 3. Sum of money recovered by the end of the second year = $7,500, i.e. ($5,000 + $2,500) Sum of money to be recovered by end of 3rd year = $10,000 $7,500 = $2,500 = 2.625 years Disadvantages of the payback method It ignores the timing of cash flows within the payback period, the cash flows after the end of payback period and therefore the total project return. It ignores the time value of money. This means that it does not take into account the fact that $1 today is worth more than $1 in one years time. An investor who has $1 today can consume it immediately or alternatively can invest it at the prevailing interest rate, say 30%, to get a return of $1.30 in a years time. It is unable to distinguish between projects with the same payback period. It may lead to excessive investment in short-term projects. Advantages of the payback method Payback can be important: long payback means capital tied up and high investment risk. The method also has the advantage that it involves a quick, simple calculation and an easily understood concept. Discounted Payback Method Some companies require that the initial outlay on any project should be recovered within a specific period. The discounted payback appraisal method requires a discount rate to be chosen to calculate the present values of cash inflows and then the payback is the number of years required to repay the initial investment. Yet payback can give misleading answers. Project Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 A -4,000 2,500 500 5,500 B -4,000 2,500 1,800 0 C -4,000 3,180 500 0 The cost of capital is 10% per annum Project A Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 500 0.91 455 -1,545 2 500 0.83 415 -1,130 3 5,000 0.75 3,750 2,620 Project B Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 500 0.91 455 -1,545 2 1,800 0.83 1,494 -51 3 0 0.75 0 -51 Project C Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 1,800 0.91 1,638 -362 2 500 0.83 415 53 3 0 0.75 0 53 The payback rule does not take into consideration any cash inflow that occurs after the cut-off date. For example if the cut-off date is two years, project A, although clearly the most profitable on the long term will be rejected. Thus if a firm uses the same cut-off regardless of project life then it will tend to accept many poor short lived projects and reject many good long lived ones. The Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) The ARR method (also called the return on capital employed (ROCE) or the return on investment (ROI) method) of appraising a capital project is to estimate the accounting rate of return that the project should yield. If it exceeds a target rate of return, the project will be undertaken. Note that net annual profit excludes depreciation. Example: A project has an initial outlay of $1 million and generates net receipts of $250,000 for 10 years. Assuming straight-line depreciation of $100,000 per year: = 15% = 30% We here see that ARR is based on profits rather than cash flows and that it ignores the time value of money. It therefore just gives a brief overview of a new project, and should not be recommended as a primary investment appraisal method. As said earlier the impact of cash flows and the time value of money are essential in making an investment decision. Another disadvantage of the ARR is the fact it is dependent on the depreciation policy adopted by the business. Disadvantages It does not take account of the timing of the profits from an investment. It implicitly assumes stable cash receipts over time. It is based on accounting profits and not cash flows. Accounting profits are subject to a number of different accounting treatments. It is a relative measure rather than an absolute measure and hence takes no account of the size of the investment. It takes no account of the length of the project. It ignores the time value of money. The payback and ARR methods in practice Despite the limitations of the payback method, it is the method most widely used in practice. There are a number of reasons for this:  · It is a particularly useful approach for ranking projects where a firm faces liquidity constraints and requires fast repayment of investments.  · It is appropriate in situations where risky investments are made in uncertain markets that are subject to fast design and product changes or where future cash flows are particularly difficult to predict.  · The method is often used in conjunction with NPV or IRR method and acts as a first screening device to identify projects which are worthy of further investigation.  · It is easily understood by all levels of management.  · It provides an important summary method: how quickly will the initial investment be recouped? limitations of NPV when evaluating alternative investment proposals NPV is not that flexible and only uses information available at the time of the decision. It does not account for changes to the projects after the initial decision is made. NPV factors in risk by using a single discount rate, but in reality choices in the future concerning the project will likely change its payoffs and risk. Try real option analysis instead if you want to get around this problem. NPV only evaluates tangible and quantifiable projects. Some projects with negative NPVs are carried out anyway because they have some kind of strategic value, e.g. it shows the firm in a good light, builds goodwill or allows access to as yet unknown earnings in the future. Conclusion In conclusion it can thus be stated that only discounted cash flow methods should be used for appraising investments. This leaves us with the discounted payback method, the IRR, and the NPV. The Discounted payback method, ignoring cash flows that occur after the payback point, cannot be used on its own as it simply provides an overview. Concerning the IRR, although easy to understand it has many pitfalls that have been developed above. Thus the NPV rule proves to be the safest and most reliable. Yet the ideal

Physics of Billiards :: physics pool billiards

The Physics of Billiards Newton's Laws First Law: An object at rest stays at rest. If it is moving, the object will continue to move with the same velocity. Second Law: The net force on an object is equal to the product of the objects mass and its acceleration. (F = ma) Once the cue ball begins to roll there are no net external forces acting in the two-ball system; therefore the a must be = 0. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. If acceleration is 0 there is no change in velocity. When the two balls collide the only forces acting are internal and they do not affect the net force. This means that the center of mass of the system continues to move forward with the same velocity and direction after the collision. Third Law: When two objects interact, the forces acting on them from each other are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Collisions Elastic: The Kinetic Energy of the system is conserved after the collision. Ex. The collision of a cue ball with an object ball. Head on: The Kinetic energy of the cue ball is transferred almost entirely to the object ball with a small amount of energy lost in sound. The two object system is closed and isolated so linear momentum is conserved and the collision is elastic so the kinetic energy is conserved. The balls are equal in mass so: m1v1i = m1v1f + m2v2f (linear momentum) Â ½ m1v1i2 = Â ½ m1v1f2 + Â ½ m2v2f2 (kinetic energy) v1f = [(m1 - m2)/(m1 + m2)] v1i v2f = [2m1/(m1 + m2)] v1i If m1 = m2, the above equations reduce to v1f = 0 and v2f = v1i Basically the cue ball is initially moving, stops suddenly when it hits the object ball at initially at rest which after the collision takes off with the initial speed of the cue ball. After Collision Rolling A rolling object has two types of kinetic energy. Rotational Energy: Â ½ Icomw2

Crim 101 Notes #1

* What is criminology? A social science studying crime and related phenomenon such as law making, criminal behavior, victimization and punishment Discipline of criminology is a recent development Most ideas and concepts we now have about crime and criminals emerged over last 2 or 3 centuries Modern criminology is multi-disciplinary (inter-disciplinary) Influenced by sociology, psychology, and biologyThe fascination with crime Crime is popular topic for newspapers, TV shows , books and movies There is little relationship between crime news and actual amount of crimes Media focus primarily on violent crimes, even though such crimes forms only smart part of all criminal activity Appears as though police solve more crimes and arrest more cirminals than they do in reality The appeal of crime stories and crime newsCrime related stories are often dramatic and lurid Deal with moral questions of good vs evil Criminals appear in stories as insane or dangerous psychopaths Stories happen in shor t time span- between newscasts or newspaper editions Easy for the public to understand Felson’s 10 fallacies about crime Book 1. the dramatic Fallacy o keep ratings high, media seek strange/violent incidents to report/create dramas around murder makes up less than 1% of all crime, yet from watching TV or reading the papers, it seems like a commonplace events seems that most murders are well-planned, grisly affairs, or they happen solely by random chance in fact, most murders start as arguments that escalate into violence most crimes are relatively minor property crimes 2. the cops and courts fallacy police work made to look more dangerous and challenging than it actually is increased policing found to be of limited value ost crimes are not reported, most of crimes that are reported are not solved by police very few elaborate court trials (charges dropped, plea bargaining, guilty plea) 3. the â€Å"not-me† fallacy most people think they could never (or would never) comm it a crime however, many people have shoplifted, smoked marijuana, driven when they’re impaired, or gone joy-riding in a car most people violate at least some laws sometimes, even though they may not get caught or end up with a criminal record 4. the innocent youth fallacy endency to view younger people as being â€Å"pure† or â€Å"innocent† in reality, teen years are the most active years for criminal activity majority of crimes committed by younger offenders younger offenders often are more dangerous than older offenders 5. the ingenuity fallacy tendency to think criminals are more clever than they really are in reality, lightweight, high value items have made crime even more simple most criminals take little planning, little skill, and almost no time to commit 6. the organized crime fallacy endency to view crime as more organized and conspiratorial than it really is most criminals act quickly, avoid contact with co-offenders, and don’t do a lot of wor k or planning dealing with â€Å"organized† criminals makes what law enforcement officials are doing seem more important and sophisticated than its really is 7. the juvenile gang fallacy juvenile gangs nowhere near as sinister as the media and law officials make them out to be loosely structured lots of so-called â€Å"members† just hanging out on the periphery crime that such â€Å"gangs† engage in is â€Å"petty† and disorganized 8. he welfare state fallacy wrong to blame crime on unemployment and poverty no evidence to show that government hand-outs or government programs do anything to decease crime when the economy improves, or when government hand-outs increase, statistics show that crime goes up too 9. the agenda fallacy many individuals and groups blame crime on declining morality; say that a healthy does of moral and religious values is what criminals and society really needs most criminals already know right from wrong, and simply choose to igno re it, especially when they’re not being observed 10. he whatever-you-think fallacy wrong to think that some crime is â€Å"subjective, and is only regarded as crime because of labeling, media attention or influence of interest groups laws are actually quite similar across different countries and different social systems criminologists who talk about negative effects of labeling and how moral problems are turned into â€Å"crime-control problems† are misguided and side-stepping their responsibility to help solve the crime problem crime myths and realities * * * myth| * reality| Most criminals are dangerous and clever| * Most criminals resemble their victims| * Most criminals are pathological individuals who kill at random| * Most crimes are routine, mundane and often trivial| * Police investigators are clever and effective| * Most crimes are not detected, or not reported, most go unsolved| * Most crimes are violent| * Only a small portion of crime is violent| * The el derly are more likely to be victimized| * Young, low SES males are more likely to be victimized| * Victimization are rates going up| * Victimization rates are going down| onceptualizations of crime crime as a legal construct crime as a violation of social norms debate between the consensus vs. and conflict models the legal construct model Sacco and Kennedy say the dominant way of thinking about crime is in legal terms Crime is conceptualized relative to the concept of law- crime is breaking the law Because committing criminal act amounts to breaking the law, it is subject to prosecution and punishment The four main components a.Actus Reus: a real event, in which somebody has committed or failed to commit an act b. Men Rea: criminal intent; you must have the intent to commit the act c. No legal defense or justification d. Must be contrary to a provision of criminal law Crime as normative violation pictures Mala in Se Mala in se: â€Å"something bad or evil in itself† Laws that criminalize acts most societies and cultures agree are inherently wrong, e. g. , murder and incest Mala ProhibitaMala prohibita: something that is deemed to be wrong or criminal only because it is prohibited Acts where there might be considerable disagreement from society to society re: their legality Concensus vs. conflicy * consensus| * conflict| * Society as a functional organism| * Society and social transformation rooted in social conflict| * Norms/expectations based on shared values/interests| * Society not organic or natural. But forced upon us| * Those who are different (e. g. ,criminals) are deemed to be abnormal| * Society/laws based on values and interests of those with the power|

The Viking raids consequences essays

The Viking raids consequences essays The Vikings were often described as dire portents and the Viking raids as immense whirlwinds ... flashes of lighting...and fiery dragons...flying in the air. The Viking raids had begun. The earliest raids were carried out by Norwegians. Their immediate consequences were beyond dispute: material loss, humiliation for men and women (rape figures as well as murder). Regarding the linguistic consequences, the Scandinavian influx left its mark on English place-names. Common Scandinavian place-names elements are by village, homestead as in Grimsby Grims village; thorp secondary settlement, outlying farmstead, as in Grimsthorpe; toft building site, plot of land, as in Langtoft; and thwaite woodland clearing, meadow, as in Micklethwaite large clearing. However, Scandinavian influence on English went a good deal farther than place-names. When the Vikings had begun to settle in England, a number of words were borrowed relating to law and administration, for the Danes had a highly developed legal sense; they include thrall, and the word law itself. But the most remarkable feature of the Scandinavian loan-words is that they are such ordinary words, words belonging to the central core of the vocabulary (the names of close family relations, for example). Thus the word sister is Scandinavian. So are the names of parts of the body, yet the words leg and neck are Scandinavian. Other common nouns include bag, cake, dirt, fellow, fog, knife, skill, skin, sky and window. Everyday adjectives include flat, loose, low, odd, ugly and wrong, and among everyday verbs are call, drag, get, give, raise, smile, take and want. Moreover, some grammatical words are from Scandinavian, namely the conjunctions though, till, and until, and the pronouns they, them, and their. The Scandinavian pronouns no dou ...