First of all i would like you to choose for me the name of famouse Essay

First of all i would like you to choose for me the name of famouse companies has crisis such BP just example i would like to ch - Essay Example It will provide all information regarding the problems faced by the company. The problems were more internal than external due to which a company that was claimed to be the world leader sometimes was been seen with an eye of doubt by its stakeholders and the consumers. The report will also highlight the major issues the company had with its products and the steps taken by the company to rise from this set back. The company gives a good example of how any organization needs stability and consistent approach of quality in its products. Also, it highlights that the work of its employees is not only on the functioning of the processes but also there is a responsibility they hold towards their own customers and stakeholders who wants to know a clear picture of the company. They are the ones who need more communication and to build this picture in front of them, it is recommended to work constantly in this direction. Overview of the company and the issues faced Mattel is considered once th e leader in the toy company in the whole world. Mattel was introduced as a garage workshop. It origins in 1945 in Southern California. The products is brought in early 80’s include match box, custom motors, Polly, barbie, casketball queen, battle force and monster high, and game consoles. It also found its space in the list of 500 largest industrial companies (Torget, 2002) Mattel won the title of being in the first 100 of "100 Best Corporate Citizens" Mattel is currently operating in more than fourty three nations with a huge work force of 31,000 people which is also and approximation with its headquarter in EL Segundo in California, United states of America. It is very great to hear that it is selling globally in more than 150 countries and since then expanding. Mattel claims many crowns due to the innovative work. One of them is "World's Most Ethical Companies." (Mattel, 2011). It is now a world leader due to the huge success and innovative ideas it has bring with it. With the introduction and success of Barbie in the year 1980’s it conquered the world leadership. Like various leaders in the world market, Mattel has attracted media due to its high growth and influence on the market. It also somewhere led to consumer distrust. Further, Mattel came into highlights when it started outsourcing its processes which also means loss of hundreds of American jobs to Asian nations due to cost. It also led to the moment of human rights organizations to take action against Mattel. But Mattel was consistent in telling the outside world, the investors and stakeholders that is it growing and there are no problems with its functioning but the inside story was something else which was highlighted to the outside world in the early years of 1994 (Morgenson, 1999). Next decision which turned down the trust of investors was turning to mergers and acquisitions for growth. The buying of Companies named Tyco Toys Inc, Pleasant Company, Bluebird Toys PLC maker of Polly Pocket and Learning Company. All the companies were bought at unusual high prices then the company‘s annual sales (Morgenson, 1999). In 2000’s, in view of taking the recovery actions towards transparency and corporate social Responsibility, Mattel started taking moves in the direction of regaining the trust and confidence among its consumers and investors. With that the operations team was also working judiciously to manage and bring up the

The 2010 Annual Report of PSA Peugeot Citroen Essay

The 2010 Annual Report of PSA Peugeot Citroen - Essay Example AMF is the French regulator or the counterpart of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US. Its role therefore in the development of financial reporting in France would be the same as SEC. It is tasked along with SEC to develop principles on cooperation in the supervision of markets and market participants whose operations cross international borders (Casey, 2010). In the US, SEC adopts the issuance of FASB’s on accounting standards on financial reporting and so with the same reason that AMF will give the legal force by accounting standards set by the standard-setting board in France. The AMF was established with the task of ensuring or protecting public savings invested in financial instruments as well all other investment that would result or metalize in a public offering. It also has supervision of the prepared financial information as conveyed to investors. It has, therefore, is the purpose of effectively promoting the proper running of financial markets. Its contribution to France regulation of these markets extends in European and international level (International Monetary Fund, 2005). The European Union’s Fourth Directive allows four income statements format. Explain the structure of PSA Peugeot Citroen’s income statement on page 204 in terms of the options allowed under the Fourth Directive and IAS 1. In addition to AMF, the European Union’s Fourth Directive can affect how PSA should present is financial report to users. The said directive, in particular, allows four income statements format. Explaining the structure of PSA Peugeot Citroen’s income statement on page 204 in terms of the options allowed under the Fourth Directive and IAS 1 could give an insight how to interpret PSA’ financial statements for 2010. The structure of the company’s income statement on page 204 appears to be consistent with options allowed under Article 25 of the Fourth Directive of the EU (EUR.Lex, 2011). The format under Article 25 starts with turnover, which must be reduced by the cost of sales, to get the gross profit loss.  

Do Stocks in VN30 Basket Follow Weak Form?

Do Stocks in VN30 Basket Follow Weak Form? The research question: Do stocks in VN30 basket follow weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis? PART 1: INTRODUCTION In the investment world, portfolio management refers to actions taken to maximize the return on a portfolio (Investopedia, 2016). Under portfolio management., Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) is one of the most important theories that investors should take into consideration if they aim to earn abnormal returns. This hypothesis basically illustrates the relationship between stock price and available information on the stock, which is reflected in three forms including strong form, semi-strong form and weak form. Out of the three patterns, EMH at weak form states that historical prices cannot be used to make predictions about future stock prices. This research paper will examine the weak form EMH in the context of constituent stocks in the VN30 Index an adjusted index of VN-Index (which is the market index of Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Vietnam). PART 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Random Walk Theory and Efficient Market Hypothesis The origin of stock market efficiency can be traced back to early twentieth century when Bachelier (1900) proposed his idea about Random Walk Hypothesis. This theory affirms that prices of past, present and even the future have no correlation; in other words, security prices tend to follow randomness and therefore are unpredictable. A few studies around this issue were conducted in 1930s; however, the Random Walk Theory was intensively discussed in the 1960s. Bacheliers work was then reinforced with the introduction of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) by Fama (1970). According to this theory, stocks always trade at their intrinsic values, making it impossible for investors to benefit from stock mispricing i.e. purchase undervalued stocks and sell overvalued stocks. As a result, the only way investors can earn a higher return than the market is by engaging in riskier investments. Nowadays, the Random Walk Theory is referred to as the weak form of EMH, stating that stock prices are random and past events have no influence on the current prices. Meanwhile, it is widely known that technical analysis is the science of using historical price patterns to anticipate future price movements. Hence, according to the weak form of EMH, there is no point in applying technical analysis to predict and beat the market. 2.2 Research studies conducted towards Weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis Many studies have been carried out to investigate the weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis, some of which fail to support the weak-form efficiency. Srinivasan (2010) examines the validity of random walk hypothesis for two major stock markets in India, i.e. SP CNX NIFTY and SENSEX, using observations from 1st July 1997 to 31st August 2010. The study applied Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and Phillips-Perron test to point out that characteristics of random walk are not present in Indian stock exchanges; hence, weak form efficiency is rejected in the case of Indian markets. As a result, this provides trading opportunities for investors to earn abnormal returns since they can make predictions about future stock prices. Similarly, Singh et al., (2016) tested the Efficient Market Hypothesis in Carbon Efficient Indices of India, the US, Japan and Brazil by using Kolmogrov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilk test, runs test and autocorrelation test. The results from these statistical tests reveal t hat daily  closing stock prices do not follow random walk in all countries under investigation. This is in line with Nwidobie Adesina (2014), who conclude that Nigerian stock exchange is not efficient in weak form by employing the GARCH autoregressive model. This inefficiency, according to Nwidobie Adesina, may be explained by limited information dissemination in the market, high trading and floatation costs, information hoarding and insider trading, as well as poor implementation of investor protection laws in the country. The rejection of weak form efficiency is also found in other emerging markets, evidenced by the studies of Islam, et al. (2005), Srivastava (2010), Bà ¼yà ¼kÃ…Å ¸alvarci Abdioglu (2011), Haroon (2012) and Agbam (2015). Other studies, on the other hand, show evidence of market efficiency in some economies. Andrianto Mirza (2016) used daily stock price data collected from LQ45 Index, Jakarta Islamic Index and Kompas 100 Index during the period 2013-2014 to examine weak form efficiency in Indonesia. The results from runs test and serial correlation test demonstrate that Indonesia stock market follows weak form efficient pattern. Specifically, the following conclusions are drawn from the study: 1) stock price movement is random; 2) there is no correlations between the stock price movement of the present day and previous days. Andrianto Mirza also suggest that investors use fundamental analysis to react quickly for available information, as well as utilize news from digital media to update market conditions. Further evidence supporting the weak form efficiency of capital markets may lie in the findings of Jiang, et al. (2014), who examined WTI crude oil futures prices from 1983 to 2012. Using bootstra pping technique, the academics confirm the efficiency of crude oil futures market, and state that the market is inefficient only in case of turbulent events, such as the oil price crash in 1985, the Gulf war, and the oil price crash in 2008. 2.3 VN-Index, VN30 Index and VN30 stocks 2.3.1 VN-Index VN-Index is the index used to illustrate price fluctuations of company stocks listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE). The problem is that, VN-Index calculation takes into account all shares outstanding, which include free-float shares and restricted shares. Free-float shares are shares freely available for trading in the market (Standard and Poors, 2016). In contrast, restricted shares are not available for public trading as they are closely held by control group, other publicly traded companies or government agencies (Standard and Poors, 2016). As a result, some stocks such as GAS, VNM, MSN, VCB and BID can largely influence VN-Index due to their large number of restricted shares. 2.3.2 VN30 Index and VN30 stocks The VN30 Index (also known as VN30 Equal Weight Index) was first introduced to the market on February 2012, tracking the performance of the top 30 large-cap liquid stocks on the Ho Chi Minh City stock exchange in Vietnam (Phoenix Capital, 2017). This index can overcome the weaknesses of VN-Index in the following manners: Capitalization values of constituent stocks are based on the number of shares freely traded on the market (free-float); Restrict the excessive influence of a particular stock by setting the capitalization weighed limit of 10%; Among more than 300 stocks listed on HOSE categorized into 11 primary industries, stocks in VN30 basket are present in 9 industries. Moreover, stocks in the VN30 basket represent about 80% of HOSE market capitalization and 60% of HOSE market volume (Dao, 2014). From the advantages above, it can be concluded that VN30 Index can represent the Ho Chi Minh market in terms of industries, market capitalization and liquidity. This makes VN30 Index a quite useful investment instrument for index funds. PART 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Data Collection This research paper employs the quantitative method to investigate the weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis in the context of Vietnamese background. The study is based on secondary data, which are daily closing prices of stocks included in the VN30 basket. The data are collected from the database of Bao Viet Securities Company a well-known securities firm in Vietnam. It is noted that the VN30 basket is periodically reviewed and adjusted every six months on January and July (Dao, 2014). Since the introduction of VN30 Index in February 2012, the basket has been reviewed and adjusted totally 10 times. For the purpose of this study, not all 30 stocks in the basket are chosen for analysis. Specifically, the stocks selected must meet the criterion of being consecutively included in the basket for the past five years. Put it another way, if stock A is included in the basket for one period but excluded for the next period, stock A will not be considered as the object of this study. This ensures the continuity of the data and fair treatment for all stocks in the basket. After all, only 16 stocks meet the criterion (see Appendix A for the full list of stocks selected). Their closing prices are then collected for the examined period from 06th February 2012 (the first day of VN30 basket) until 20th January 2017 (the end of the latest reviewed period). 3.2 Method of Analysis The data collected are analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 20. Particularly, three tests are conducted to determine whether stocks selected are at weak-form efficiency, namely runs test, autocorrelation test and Ljung-Box Q statistic. The runs test is a non-parametric test that is designed to find out whether successive price changes are independent. The test is based on the premise that if a series of a data is random, the observed number of runs in the series should be close to the expected number of runs. In this context, the runs test at 5% significance level is used to test the following hypothesis: H1: Stocks in the VN30 basket follows random walk Meanwhile, autocorrelation (or serial correlation) test measures the correlation coefficient between the stock return at current period and its value in the previous period, whether the correlation coefficients are significantly different from zero. In addition, the Ljung-Box Q (LBQ) statistic examines the joint hypothesis that all autocorrelations are simultaneously equal to zero (that is, the data values are random and independent up to a certain number of lags). In this context, the autocorrelation test and Ljung-Box Q statistic (at 5% level of significance) are employed to test the following hypothesis: H2: There is no correlation between stock prices of today and previous days In short, the combination of tests mentioned above help determine whether 16 selected stocks in the VN30 basket follows weak-form efficiency or not. PART 4: ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 4.1 Results of Runs test Table 1 shows the results of the runs test based on daily closing stock prices of 16 chosen stocks. Table 1: Results of Runs test STB VIC SSI MSN FPT HAG KDC DPM VNM REE VCB Test Valuea 17.27 55.76 21.53 87.14 45.83 19.23 40.97 33.45 113.55 23.14 34.03 Cases 461 605 651 648 560 425 601 759 547 484 698 Cases >= Test Value 727 583 537 540 628 763 587 429 641 704 490 Total Cases 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 Number of Runs 38 20 41 18 53 8 7 17 12 10 10 Z -32.222 -33.379 -32.139 -33.487 -31.453 -34.042 -34.134 -33.478 -33.840 -33.942 -33.944 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 Runs Test BVH HPG PVD CII GMD Test Valuea 47.31 35.31 48.11 22.33 29.84 Cases 637 660 723 627 594 Cases >= Test Value 551 528 465 561 594 Total Cases 1188 1188 1188 1188 1188 Number of Runs 39 8 9 34 43 Z -32.265 -34.071 -33.996 -32.560 -32.044 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 a. Mean Source: IBM SPSSs result, 2017 As can be seen from the above table, the actual number of runs is significantly less than the expected number of runs (total cases), which is evidenced by negative Z-values for all chosen stocks. Furthermore, it is observed that the significant values around the mean of all stocks are 0.000 which is below 0.05 (5% level of significance). This indicates that 16 selected stocks do not follow random walk behaviour, resulting in the rejection of the null hypothesis H1 which says stocks in the VN30 basket follows random walk. 4.2 Results of Autocorrelation test The results obtained from autocorrelation test and Ljung-Box Q statistic of 16 chosen stocks are presented in Table 2. Table 2: Results of Autocorrelation test and Ljung-Box Q statistic Source: IBM SPSSs result, 2017 As can be observed from Table 2, significant positive autocorrelation (> 0.8) is detected at all 16 lags for all chosen stocks. It is noted that positive autocorrelation suggests predictability of stock prices in the short term, which provides confirmatory evidence that goes against market efficiency (Bà ¼yà ¼kÃ…Å ¸alvarci Abdioglu, 2011). Moreover, evidence from Ljung-Box Q statistic seems to suggest dependence between current stock price and prices of previous periods. It is noticeable that p-values are all equal to zero for all lags on all 16 stocks. Therefore, the Q statistic fail to support the joint null hypothesis that all autocorrelation coefficients from lag 1 to 16 are equal to zero for the observed stocks. Put it another way, the null hypothesis H2 of absence of autocorrelation is strongly rejected for all lags at 5% significance level. 4.3 Interpretation of findings On the basis of empirical results obtained from runs test, autocorrelation test and Ljung-Box Q statistic, both null hypotheses H1 and H2 are rejected. In other words, it can be concluded that 16 chosen stocks in the VN30 basket show no characteristics of weak-form efficiency. The findings of the current study are consistent with those of Truong et al. (2010), Vo Le (2013) and Do et al. (2014) who found that Vietnamese stock market is inefficient in the weak form. In general, the results of this study contradict the Efficient Market Hypothesis (Fama, 1970) and Random Walk Theory (Bachelier, 1900). As noted in the literature review, empirical studies on the weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis in emerging markets have been thoroughly examined in recent years, as in cases of capital markets in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and Nigeria. Although these studies generate mixed results, most of which suggest that Random Walk characteristic is not a good description of these markets. This study, by investigating a case study in Vietnam, further supports the idea of weak form inefficiency in emerging markets. The rejection of market efficiency in Vietnam have been proven by a number of studies. It seems possible that this inefficiency is due to gaps in Vietnamese financial system. Non-transparency in the disclosure of information, crowding effect and speculation are popular phenomena in Vietnam stock exchanges; thus, stock prices somehow do not reflect companies intrinsic values. These gaps are signals of an underdeveloped financial system (Fry, 1994; Leung, 2009) where asymmetric information, moral hazard and adverse selection are likely to be found (Islam, et al., 2005). As a result, investors are vulnerable to losing a substantial amount of money. Additionally, as Vietnam currently does not have a derivatives market, the investment risk can be more severe for investors. Since weak-form efficiency is not witnessed in this study, one implication of the result is that historical data and patterns may be used to make prediction about future stock prices. In other words, technical analysis might be employed by investors when making investment decisions to help them earn abnormal returns. Furthermore, as this study is based on daily data only, further research can test the Efficient Market Hypothesis by taking into account weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or yearly data on a longer time horizon. Alternatively, future research studies may investigate the hypothesis in certain industries or different indices in Vietnam. 4.4 Limitations Due to the nature of the research question, there exists some study limitations which can partially affect the results objectivity. First, because of the selection criterion, only 16 out of 30 stocks are chosen for the purpose of the study. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings to the whole VN30 basket since its establishment. Second, precision of data is questionable since some data of closing stock prices are missing in some trading days. As a result, this somehow impacts the accuracy of statistical tests as well as their implications. PART 5: REFLECTION ON THE RESEARCH PROCESS At the beginning of the research process, we realized that portfolio management is a massive area in finance; therefore, narrowing down this topic was critical to our group as it would affect how we could construct individual topics and research questions. However, the familiar topic of each was not in favour of others, which caused conflicts in our discussions. Hence, it was important that we be aware of these conflicts and arrive at a reasonable compromise that is beneficial to the whole group (Hede, 2007; Wu et al., 2013). Eventually, since I had prior experiences of investing in the stock market for three years and had written a dissertation about technical analysis, I received the trust from my fellows when I proposed the topic related to Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). On the one hand, I felt happy to have helped my group figure out the appropriate topic. On the other hand, I was a little bit worried as my group members had little exposure to financial markets. In fact, I ac knowledged that having to work on an unfamiliar area could lower their motivation for the research (Boneva, 2008). When it came to work allocation, some serious issues arose as there was no leader in our group. Because most of the workloads were set by oral agreements without any meeting minutes, everyone was usually vague about their responsibilities. Furthermore, our discussions did not work very well because most of them took place through WhatsApp group rather than face-to-face meetings, leading to frequent distractions from social networks. I feel these problems were really time-consuming and slowed down our groupwork performance. If I had been engaged in a similar project again, I would have nominated myself as the group leader so that I could assign workloads clearly and equally for everyone. I would have also suggested face-to-face meetings in order to have direct conversations with members. This should have brought more efficiency to the group in terms of time and contributions. Another issue that obstructed our groupwork productivity was bad time management of my team members. We all had two deadlines for two reports on the same date, but while I devised plans to finish both of which with adequate efforts, my partners fell into the trap of procrastination. Being rushed for two assignments at the same time was definitely not a good idea as it would negatively affect the performances of both (Peper, et al., 2014). To avoid this situation, we should have drawn up a timeline for the whole group so that everyone could effectively devote their time to each assignment. With regards to literature search and data collection phase, some members in the group seemed to be passive in finding articles and sharing ideas to their peers. They neither knew how to write an adequate literature review nor kinds of online sources they could employ. I feel this was partly due to their lack of background in finance and partly because they had never conducted any formal research studies before. Although this annoyed the rest of group members, we understood that this sometimes could be unavoidable in a multicultural group. We tried to give them as many related articles as possible and instructed them about skim and scan technique in order to pick essential readings. In fact, we should have reported the issue to the tutor from the beginning of the research so that those falling behind could receive additional trainings in research skills. In summary, this experience has taught me valuable lessons that are quite useful for me in future career, including how to communicate and collaborate with members in a multinational group, as well as things to do to become a good leader. I have also learnt more about how to improve time management skills, and how to resolve conflicts occurring during group works. Finally, I think I should speak my mind more frequently in the future if it is for the sake of the whole group. References          Agbam, A. S., 2015. Tests of Random Walk and Efficient Market Hypothesis in Developing Economies: Evidence from Nigerian Capital Market. International Journal of Management Sciences, 5(1), pp. 1-53. Andrianto, Y. Mirza , A. R., 2016. A Testing of Efficient Markets Hypothesis in Indonesia Stock Market. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 219, p. 99-103. Bachelier, L., 1900. Louis Bacheliers Theory of Speculation. 1st ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Boneva, D. L., 2008. Effects of Work Ethic and Social Identification on Motivation in Groups. Illinois: ProQuest. Bà ¼yà ¼kÃ…Å ¸alvarci, A. Abdioglu, H., 2011. Testing the weak form efficiency of the Turkish stock market. African Journal of Business Management, 5(34), pp. 13044-13056. Dao, T. B., 2014. VN30 Index: An Overview and Default Probability Analysis. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Do, T. T. N., Le, T. B. Nguyen, T. T., 2014. Stock market efficiency in emerging markets: Evidence from Vietnamese stock market. s.l., s.n. Fama, E., 1970. Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work. Journal of Finance, 25(2), pp. 383-417. Fry, M., 1994. Money, Interest, and Banking in Economic Development. 2nd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Haroon, M. A., 2012. Testing the Weak Form Efficiency of Karachi Stock Exchange. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 6(2), pp. 297-307. Hede, A., 2007. The shadow group: Towards an explanation of interpersonal conflict in work groups. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(1), pp. 25 39. Investopedia, 2016. Portfolio Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/portfoliomanagement.asp[Accessed 15 March 2017]. Islam, S., Watanapalachaikul, S. Clark, C., 2005. Are Emerging Financial Markets Efficient? Some Evidence from the Models of the Thai Stock Market. Melbourne, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies. Jiang, Z.-Q., Xie, W.-J. Zhou, W.-X., 2014. Testing the weak-form efficiency of the WTI crude oil futures market. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Volume 405, p. 235-244. Leung, S., 2009. Banking and Financial Sector Reforms in Vietnam. Asean Economic Bulletin, 26(1), pp. 44-57. Nwidobie, B. M. Adesina, J. B., 2014. CAPITAL MARKET EFFICIENCY. AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF THE WEAK-FORM IN THE NIGERIAN CAPITAL MARKET. Journal of Advanced Studies in Finance, 2(10), pp. 164-170. Peper, E., Harvey, R., Lin, I.-M. Duvvuri, P., 2014. Increase Productivity, Decrease Procrastination, and Increase Energy. Biofeedback, 42(2), p. 82-87. Phoenix Capital, 2017. VN30 EQUAL WEIGHT TOTAL RETURN INDEX. [Online] Available at: http://www.customindices.spindices.com/indices/custom-indices/vn30-equal-weight-total-return-index[Accessed 18 March 2017]. Singh, R., Leepsa, N. M. Kushwaha, N., 2016. Testing the weak form of efficient market hypothesis in carbon efficient stock indices along with their benchmark indices in select countries. Iranian Journal of Management Studies, 9(3), pp. 627-650. Srinivasan, P., 2010. Testing weak-form efficiency of indian stock markets. Asia Pacific Journal of Research in Business Management, 1(2), pp. 134-140. Srivastava, A., 2010. Are Asian Stock Markets Weak-Form Effcient: An Evidence from India. Asia-Pacifc Business Review, 6(4), pp. 5-11. Standard and Poors, 2016. Float Adjustment Methodology, s.l.: SP Global. Truong, D. L., Lanjouw, G. Lensink, R., 2010. Stock-Market Efficiency in Thin-Trading Markets: The Case of the Vietnamese Stock Market. Applied Economics, 42(27), pp. 3519-3532. Vo, X. V. Le, D. B. T., 2013. Empirical Investigation of Efficient Market Hypothesis in Vietnam Stock Market. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Wu, K. et al., 2013. Supporting group collaboration in Wiki by increasing the awareness of task conflict. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 65(6), pp. 581 604. Appendix A: List of chosen stocks in the VN30 basket based on the selection criterion No. TICKER COMPANY NAMES 1 STB Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank 2 VIC Vingroup Joint Stock Company 3 SSI Sai Gon Securities Incorporation 4 MSN Masan Group Corporation 5 FPT FPT Corporation 6 HAG Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company 7 KDC Kinh Do Corporation 8 DPM PetroVietnam Fertilizer Chemicals Corporation 9 VNM Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company 10 REE Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation 11 VCB Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam 12

Capital Punishment Essay example -- Papers Death Penalty Argumentative

Capital Punishment Works Cited Not Included Capital Punishment was basically thought of for the good of society. The objective of Capital Punishment is to stop people from committing violent and offensive acts. Capital Punishment or the death penalty has failed however, to prevent or discourage crime. Moreover, it is cruel and gruesome. At present there are five methods of execution. The most commonly used form of execution is by lethal injection. In this method the convict is first injected with sodium thiopental, which puts him to sleep, then he is injected with pavulon, which finally kills him. The next most common method of execution used is electrocution in which the person is tied with leather straps to a chair and electric current of two thousand or more volts is passed through the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the person’s body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs of the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urination, vomiting of blood, change in skin color, and even swelling or burning of the skin may occur. This method of execution is currently used by only eleven states. The third method is gas chamber execution in which hydrochloric acid and potassium is used to kill the convict. One of oldest methods of executions is hanging and last method is b y shooting (Loeb). All the five methods are inhumane and cruel. The convict dies within a few seconds. He never gets the time to realize his mistake, repent over it or to correct it. Killing that person does not kill crime. So, I do not see any purpose of the death penalty. Instead, if the convict is given the punishment of life imprisonment, he has the time to realize his mistakes and correct it in some form. It h... ...in practice. In Great Britain, it was abolished in 1971; France abolished it in 1981. Canada abolished it in 1976. The United Nations General Assembly affirmed in a formal resolution that, throughout the world, it is desirable to â€Å"progressively restrict the number of offenses for which the death penalty might be imposed, with at view to the desirability of abolishing this punishment†(57). Furthermore, the U.S is popular for its justice and respect for human life. Death Penalty does not to with this image of our country. So death penalty abolishment is necessary, to stick to our values and morals. Thus, I hope I have sufficiently tried to prove my view that Capital Punishment is not right. Because it is unfair and unjust; innocent people are executed; it is more expensive than life imprisonment. Therefore it is a highly controversial and emotional subject.

Apple †Strategic Management Essay

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad. Vision Statement Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 19805 with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals, and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings. â€Å"Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them.† Mission Statement Apple Computer is committed to protecting the environment, health and safety of our employees, customers and the global communities ‘where we operate. We recognize that by integrating sound environmental, health and safety management practices into all aspects of our business, we can offer technologically innovative products and services while conserving and enhancing resources for future generations. Apple strives for continuous improvement in our environmental, health and safety management systems and in the environmental quality of our products, processes and services. Objective The Company is committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, peripherals, and services. The Company’s business strategy leverages its unique ability to design and develop its own operating systems, hardware, application software, and services to provide its customers new products and solutions with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative design COMPETITION When it comes to Apple‘s competitors I believe ther e is no one. The innovation,development and the trendsetting technique that Apple has introduced in electronics worldcannot be matched with any of other companies. If you do not agree with me I would suggest you to search for Apple‘s competitors on Google or anywhere else but you will hardly find any original Apple‘s competitor. According to Tim Bajarin, Apple‘s competition is coming from the likes of Amazon, Google, Real Networks, and to some degree, Sony, because of their strong investment in content. But I do not agree with his viewpoint. Products like iPad,iPhone, iPod and services like iTunes and Apple stores have no competition at all and most importantly Apple is not a company that satisfies customer needs but it manufactures those products that become customers need

Philosophy Of Leisure Essay

Recreation is the action of recreating (oneself or another), or fact of being recreated, by some pleasant occupation, pastime or amusement as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. John Kelly finds that recreation is rooted in the Latin â€Å"recreation†, which refers to restoration or recovery. He says that the â€Å"term implies the re-creation of energy or the restoration of ability to function.† This way of looking at recreation points to the many beaches in use for recreation. But he also says that recreation â€Å"generally refers to more organized activity. Recreation is socially organized for social ends Richard Kraus argued that too much stress on the intrinsic and self-justifying nature of recreation ignores the fact that public recreation is in competition for financial support, for space, and for attention. Its purpose and results will be evaluated. Recreation is intended to be good for the people of a society in specific ways and is organized and supported with benefits expected. There are two elements of recreation. The first is that of restoration. Recreation is intended to restore us to wholeness, to health, for whatever purposes we may have. We do not recreate only to work. We recreate to live. Further recreation is itself a part of living and has its own value to us. The second element is that of social organization. Recreation has purposes and is organized for social ends. It is not just â€Å"for its own sake.† It differs from leisure in that recreation is not likely to be â€Å"anything, anytime, anywhere† if only we choose it for some personal satisfactions. John Kelly go on to analyze the rise of recreation in modern society as an institution of the social system required by the loss of time and space in which leisure could be integrated with the ongoing work and family life. Recreation had to be provided for, organized, and even taught. Recreation as a separate institutional component of the social scene is found for the most part in urbanized societies with a high degree of organizational complexity.   Leisure, on the other hand, in some form or forms is universal. Recreation is programmatic; it has organization and goals. It is a social phenomenon just as leisure is a human phenomenon.† Basically Kelly finds that recreation must have a reason, a destination, a purpose. Leisure can be done by anyone at anytime and be done anywhere. Although we have an instinct for play, as Dulles says, and we have a desire for leisure as Aristotle and Rybczynski maintain, only some of us have penchant for recreation and all its social ramifications. Some individuals view recreation as largely non-productive, even trivial. Excessive recreation is not considered healthy, and may be labeled as escapism. However, research has shown that recreation contributes to life satisfaction, quality of life, health and wellness, and that the use of recreation as a diversion may have clinical applications to individuals with chronic pain and other health impairments. In some cultures and religions, recreation is encouraged on certain days and discouraged on others. For example, in Judaism, the Shabbat is a day for recreation and relaxation, which has in turn influenced many Christian sects to use the Sabbath for the same purpose. However, some sects interpret the Sabbath to be a day where worship is done in lieu of recreation. Recreation is essential to the longevity of human beings, especially because it helps counteract stress. According to research cited in Time magazine, stress is a major factor in many of the leading causes of death in the United States. Recreational activities for children who have severe and multiple disabilities that affect both physical and cognitive functioning need training in activities that are age appropriate, satisfying and reinforcing. They should be taught activities that are enjoyable and are easy to perform and are initially associated with specific extrinsic reinforcement and rewards for them. The ultimate goal is that sufficient exposure to related activities would provide students with information to make choices and indicate preferences. These activities can also provide a means to socialize and spend time with peers in the community.   Play is the first and most basic notion of having fun. John Kelly states that â€Å"play is self-expression for its own sake.† and that â€Å"play is used to refer to such activity by children and leisure to adult participation. Kelly finds that â€Å"the term play comes from the Anglo-Saxon â€Å"plega† referring to a game, sport, or even a fight.† Basically, he found that play is non-serious in its nature, and although it may mimic real combat, it is only for the â€Å"satisfaction of the moment.† Further it seems that leisure and play are â€Å"defined by how we do it rather than what we do.† Leisure is the state of having time at one’s own disposal, time which one can spend as one pleases, and free or unoccupied time.Thorsten Veblen defined leisure, in 1899, as â€Å"nonproductive consumption of time.† Veblen said that the intent of leisure was different from work and was symbolic of high status because it did not create wealth. This use of leisure to show off wealth was referred to as â€Å"conspicuous consumption.† Aristotelian view that the goal of life is happiness, and that leisure, as distinguished from amusement and recreation, is the state necessary for its achievement. â€Å"It is commonly believed that happiness depends on leisure,† Aristotle wrote in his Ethics, â€Å"because we occupy ourselves so that we may have leisure, just as we make war in order that we may live at peace.† Social recreation requires a place to see and be seen. For why else would one be recreating, but to be seen by the people that could not afford to socially recreate? This is the basic idea of â€Å"conspicuous consumption.† Because there has to be a place to be seen, the summer vacation to a seaside, amusement park, or outdoor place became a popular venue to have social recreation. Recreation can either be active and passive. Active recreation can includes amusement parks, ballparks, speedways, yacht clubs, canoe parks, golf courses, and more. Passive recreation can include park walking, camping, beach lounging, watching a ball game, or a wide host of other activities. Outdoor recreation will include elements, such as golf courses, parks, and camps. Parks are limited to the most massive parks with some element of recreation included in them. Camp sites were used as daytrips and short vacation sites. Sporting recreation has passive and active elements. Watching an event is certainly an active one for anyone who has watched sports, but would seem like a passive happening compared to those that are competing. As services to treat drug abusers are increasingly being challenged, there is a growing recognition of recreational therapy and therapeutic recreation as substance abuse treatment. This is particularly true in preventing former abusers from relapsing. The substance-abuse problem in our society remains a predominant concern as it affects a greater number of young individuals. Often left with little or no adult supervision because of current lifestyle demands, more and more young people turn to alcohol and drugs as a means of relieving boredom, peer acceptance, and recreation alternatives. Many of those who are substance abusers as teens or children remain dependent throughout their twenties and thirties, some for the rest of their lives.   Therapeutic recreation programs endeavor to structure healthy, beneficial leisure and recreation activities while educating the individual who is substance dependent about alternatives to drugs and alcohol consumption during his or her leisure time. Through appropriate interventions, the therapeutic recreation specialist may help retrain negative thoughts and determined behaviors. Leisure education programs may assist clients in learning new coping strategies as well as gratifying, non-substance-related methods of engaging in leisure activities. The greatest potential for substance abuse among young people and adults is during their leisure time either after school or during non-working hours. The fact that certain leisure activities may present high-risk situations that can trigger a relapse in those persons actively abstaining from substances. High-risk leisure situations include leisure-based situations that pose a threat to an individual’s sense of control in maintaining sobriety. For example, if an alcohol-dependent individual went bowling in a facility where alcohol beverages were served, the bowling facility could then be considered a high-risk leisure situation. If the person is able to implement an effective coping response to high-risk leisure situations, the chance of relapse decreases considerably. Theory-based therapeutic recreation programs, specifically designed to address leisure-related social and psychological needs, can play a pivotal role in helping substance-dependent individuals maintain sobriety and ameliorate the relapse syndrome. In conclusion it is important to learn how to participate in recreation activities at home, in school, and in the community individually or as a group this increases social skills that are necessary to function appropriately and as independently as possible. References Rybczynski Witold, 1991.Waiting for the Weekend. New York: Viking. Kelly, John R, 1982. Leisure. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice Hall. Beck, A. T. Wright, F.D., Newman, C.F., & Liese, B.S, 1993. Cognitive therapy of substance abuse. New York: Guilford Press. Kunstler, R., 1992. Therapeutic recreation’s role in treating substance abuse. Parks and Recreation. http://maverickphilosopher.powerblogs.com/posts/1203475304.shtml