Why Cash Flow From Operations is important information Article

Why Cash Flow From Operations is important information - Article Example Operating expenses are subtracted from the operating revenues to extract the net cash flow from operating activities; this is why it is so important for small businesses to keep in check its operating cash flows. The other reasons why cash flow from operating activities is so important for small businesses is its ability to quickly determine the immediate financial health of the company. Cash flow is important as it gives the firm the ability to pay off current expenses. The current expenses usually include; labor costs and debt repayments. For these reasons, cash flow from operations (CFO) is important for both parties; the firm as well as the lenders and creditors. The creditors can assess the investment potential of the company from its CFO. Small businesses usually start with debt financing and the interest is an operating cash flow, since this figure is adjusted for liabilities, depreciation and receivables (Ross, Westerfield, Jordan, 2012), an operating cash flow is generally more accurate measure of how much cash the business has generated as compared to other measures such as Net Income (NI) or Earnings Before Interests and Taxes

Poor Quality of Drivers Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Poor Quality of Drivers Education - Essay Example The conclusion of this research will summarize the main facts and bring the clear point that there needs to be more effective measures put into place in these driving courses which will better prepare young people out on the road and lower the motor vehicle fatalities that occur among young drivers on a yearly basis. In recent years the quality of driver's education courses for those in high-school have been coming under increasing levels of scrutiny due to the numerous fatalities that have been occurring among young people on rural roads and open highways. Due to the obvious problems with past performances of young drivers, following graduating from a driver's education course, requirements have been changing rapidly in this educational area in order to try and promote more responsible driving habits and increased awareness of how dangerous motor vehicles actually can be (Eisner 2002). For instance, if teens were taught about the specifics of driving and allowed to practice enough in driver's educational programs then perhaps they would gain a better comprehension on what all it entails instead of bits and pieces added in where the instructor feels it is necessary. The most important aspects of driver's educational courses for teenagers should cover even the minutest areas such as impatience while driving, what to do in an emergency, communication strategies, road rage, drunk driving, and many other fundamental points in order to try and minimize car accidents in this age group. There is no doubt that learning is a never ending process. Therefore, building up to gradual independent driving privileges, through improved driver's education classes is what it appears it is going to take to safeguard the wellbeing of more teenage drivers before they have full privileges on the road. Teenage Drivers and the Existing Concerns Common knowledge tells any competent individual that operating a motor vehicle brings with it a tremendous amount of responsibility onto the person in behind the wheel. This is because out on the road there are many lives at stake, the claim is that a number of teenagers are not mature enough or responsible enough for driving any type of motorized vehicle (Albanese 2002). The teen driver is risking his life when he brings a vehicle on the road without being confident of his driving skills or without having prior experience. It has been noticed that while most of us think that driving accidents are connected with alcohol consumption, the statistics reveals that most accidents by teenagers are caused due to immaturity and lack of experience. "Driving an automobile requires making skilled and well-timed decisions several times a second. Such decisions are based on prior knowledge and driving experience" (Bondurant 2004). However, teenagers lack this knowledge, which is the number one c ause of road accidents involving a teen driver. For this reason, it is proposed that driving age should be increased from 16 to 18 in order to allow drivers to appear on the road only after they have had some kind of mature experience on the road and are capable of making timely decision in a critical situation. While many have

An analysis of the current and future use of internet technologies of Essay

An analysis of the current and future use of internet technologies of ''Hallmark Cards'' - Essay Example However, the suitability of such company driven technological initiatives will depend on how the effectiveness of the internet applications in meeting the set goals and objectives (Smith and Kidd 2000, p 45-50). The internet has basically changed commerce (Smith and Kidd 2000, p 45-50). The most basic forms of communication such as written and verbal communication between a business and its consumers and suppliers have been changing. Electronic communication, in the form of the internet, keeps on changing the commercial activity for consumers and businesses. E-commerce can therefore be defined as the sharing of product and service information, developing and improving human business relationships, while transacting business over the internet (Canzer 2006 p. 97-99). Hallmark was founded in 1910 and is currently the world’s most well-known producer of greeting cards. Hallmark creative artists produce several designs for greeting cards and other products each year. The greening cards and other products are produced in 38 dissimilar languages and are sold to more than 100 countries in the world (Regan 2009 p. 150-159). At hallmark, an advertising e-business model is based on earning revenues in exchange for the placement of advertisements on the firm’s website. Just like traditional media such as television, newspaper and radio, advertising in the internet involves advertisers’ support of distributed online entertainment or information likely to be accepted by consumers, who see advertising as the cost they have to incur to receive free content online. The internet provides Hallmark with the opportunity to create unique design and interaction with the targeted audience (Pierce 2005 p 18-23). The advertising model in the internet has necessitated the entry of small production studios and small entertainment artists who seek to get advertising revenues as well as to put up for sale their products online. There are no

Heraldic shield Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Heraldic shield - Research Paper Example The very shield in question has several constituents. The eagle can be used as a symbol of representing power authority and the sun. The eagle is the king of the birds; this shows authority it has over other creatures. Rarely do eagles lose in combat; this shows they have strength and power to rule. Therefore, they symbolize strong and powerful leadership. Indian herbalists and wizards use the feathers of eagles in their treatment of the sick. This shows that the eagle has a medicinal value and this can be used to symbolize the gift to give life to the hopeless. Eagles have been known to have a clear vision and soaring spirit. These are best qualities a leader can have; a clear vision means that the leader can make wise and just decisions. A soaring spirit means the leader is always aiming for more. This symbolizes the initiative and ambitions that an exemplary leader should have in order to lead his or people to greater prosperity (Bentley et al, 54). This is the main reason why eag les are connected with wealth and prosperity. The most outstanding character that distinguishes the eagle from other living creatures is the ability to take responsibility. The eagle is monogamous in nature; interestingly, the male and female eagles both share the responsibility of taking care of their young ones. This is not only symbolic but also enlightening. This shows responsibility as the leader should be responsible enough in order to lead people. This as well helps to advice people who tend to run away from responsibilities like taking care of their young ones. The eagles can be used to represent freedom. This observation is ttained by the size of their territories; an eagle can have a home ranging in thousands of acres this shows that the eagles are not afraid of conquering new territories in the bid of enjoying their freedom (Bohl & Rynn 85). In most mythical beliefs, it is said that the spirits of the eagles are free and independent creatures that roam alone. Through this aid in educating people on the significance of being free, we are able to make choices alone without relying on others every time because, in life, some decisions are made alone as they are personal. This symbolizes the rights and freedom of an individual to choose their own paths in life that seem suitable to them. The picture of the eagle in heraldic shield demonstrates exceptional leadership, power, authority and vision in a group organization or country (Connell et al, 156). An acorn is small seed from an oak tree. Normally, it is green and most fall of the tree when matured. When they fall off from the mother tree, another oak tree can emerge from the fallen seeds. The procedure is normally performed thoroughly over and over until a whole forest emerges from a single acorn. This helps to symbolize the process of achieving greatness by starting out from scratch. This concept is applied to encourage people whose lives or worlds have fallen that they can still achieve greatness l ife. It encourages people to realize their full potential (Cornwell et al, 78). If an acorn with no brains can become a forest, what can a person with brains and senses achieve if he puts his minds to it? This is a symbol of hope to those who feel their destined fail due to a single fall or slip at one point in their lives or careers. Imagine an acorn that has fallen down - it has no survival techniques and yet a forest can emerge from it. This has been

Virtual Learning Environments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Virtual Learning Environments - Essay Example VLE's or Virtual Learning Environments are better known as E learning environments aimed at providing appropriate learning elements for students to meet online and exchange academic perspectives regardless of time and spatial considerations. (Andriessen, J.H.E. 2002), The VLE has eliminated geographical and cultural barriers in learning and has innovated the conventional means of physical learning in class room based academic strategies characterised by the presence of a teacher with time constraints. (Andriessen, J.H.E. 2002), Academic opinion has thus regarded this as a form of constructive learning overcoming the conventional mode of "transfer of knowledge" by a teacher based upon the focal role of computer networking across geographical boundaries. In this vein this essay explores whether the academia has actually benefited from the infusion of new technology and some legal issues presented by the activities with in the "Walled Garden". (Costa, A.C., Verburg, R., Andriessen, J.H.E. 2002).The paper also argues that the transition within the conventional modes of physical teaching will take time to absorb to this new concept of the Walled garden. The literature has shown a redefined role for the teachers and the learners due to the introduction of the VLE's.This is particularly so as we are looking at the modern teacher as a facilitator rather than an instructor who is able to interact with the students outside the traditional class room. (Costa, A.C., Verburg, R., Andriessen, J.H.E. 2002), The VLE is a product of the higher data transfer speed and broader bandwidths which has allowed the production of high quality multi-media communication (MMC) tools which are aimed at facilitating the student base to offer a richer media for students to interact and communicate their academic concerns. (Gaver, W. 1996). However the use of the VLE has come with its own social and technical nuances for the academia as the professors and students alike show reluctance in accepting the technological "threat" to their traditional educational environments. (Gaver, W. 1996), For example the traditional learning systems were still unfamiliar with peer collaboration, freedom of expression and academic criticism and tolerance of different political views. Thus the success of the VLE as an educational aid is not solely based upon the sound technological infrastructures and improved interface design but upon the design of social environments which the Walled Garden aims to create. (Gaver, W. 1996), This would require careful planning ,defining of roles and regulating any chances of unpleasantness amongst the members as new attitudes and learning styles are encountered. Even though the VLEs are learner-centred environments the danger is that

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Essay Example A campaign that finally resulted in the birth of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on January 1, 2005. Notwithstanding these significant success chucked, a few years down the line the Act has generated mixed feelings and also generated unprecedented controversies. It is against this background that the central focus of this essay will be to conduct an exhaustive analysis of the most contending issues in the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Some observers are of the opinion that the innumerable exemptions in the Act have rendered it so feeble that it barely serves the purpose for which it was enacted. Whilst on the other hand, another school of thought holds a completely contrasting view of the Act as being an instrument that is lavishly granting arbitrary intrusive powers that are by themselves self-destructive; they primarily threaten social cohesion. The government of the United Kingdom enacted and implemented the Freedom of Information Act 2000 through her parliament to create the platform for individuals, institutions and organizations to be bestowed with the right to demand relevant information from public institutions. It should be noted that the enactment of the Act is fundamentally a fulfillment of the Labor Party's election campaign promise during the 1997 general elections. Basically, the F Basically, the Freedom of Information Act is part of the general legal system that already has a number of legislations that boarder on the rights of information. They include among others the Common Law of Confidentiality, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Data Protection Act 1998. Essentially, the legislation as implemented in the United Kingdom1 seeks to serve citizens within the broader framework of both the parliament of Scotland and the parliament of the United Kingdom. In Scotland it is called the "Scottish Act 2002" whilst the name remains unchanged in the United Kingdom. It became imperative to structure the Act to be in consonance with the juridical and public regulatory system in Scotland as means of ensuring the workability of the Act across geopolitical areas; in Scotland for instance, the parliament has an enormous control of the majority of public institutions making it thus prudent to make realistic adjustments to accommodate this difference, hence a second legislation dubbed the "Act of the Scottish Parliament" was enacted to bridge this gap. It is in many ways very similar to the main Act (The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002). Meanwhile the Freedom of Information Act is limited in its application to institutions and bodies that are out of the legal and geographical jurisdiction of the United Kingdom; they include territories abroad as well as crown dependencies. Taking cognizance of the sensitive nature of the Act the government was convinced that the most prudent to manage the process is to adopt a gradualist approach to guide the implementation process. Consequently, the Act was implemented in phases culminating into the tentative Act that guaranteed access to public information been eventually enforced on January 1, 2005. A look at the Act shows well over 100, 000 public institutions that have being listed as being eligible to release information to any individual, public interest organisation or institution (see Brooke, 2005 for detailed

The Making of Modern Russia Essay Example for Free

The Making of Modern Russia Essay b) How far do you agree that the economic position of the peasantry in Russia was stronger in the period between the Emancipation and the Revolution than it was under Lenin and Stalin? Agricultural policy in Russia throughout Russia between 1856 and 1964 has always been characterised by a hidden agenda. The Tsars used agricultural policy to obstruct a revolution, while Stalin used agricultural policy to facilitate industrialisation. The peasantry were limited in reaping the benefits from agricultural policies introduced by either regime. However, while both governments used agricultural policies to sustain their power, the Communist regime under Lenin and Stalin was significantly more ruthless than the former. The Tsarist regime needed the peasants on side in order to block latent revolutionary threat. Therefore, it can be said the peasants were in a better economic position under the Tsars than the Communist regime. Additionally after the emancipation, the peasantry no longer existed because of egalitarianism. In 1861 Tsar Alexander II introduced the first economic policy intended to benefit the peasantry. The Emancipation Edict was a mechanism implemented to free all serfs, who made up more than one third of the total population. The Emancipation edict abolished all personal serfdom, and the peasants were to receive land from the landlords and pay them for it. This gave the peasantry the opportunity to achieve limited economic success. However in reality, the peasants were effectively transferred from one owner to another. The state advanced the money to the landlords and recovered it from the peasants in 49 annual sums known as redemption payments. That initial stage dragged on for nearly 20 years in some regions. In many areas the peasants had to pay more than the land was worth. While in other areas they were given small plots, and many chose to accept beggarly allotments. The peasants landholdings were controlled by the mir, or village commune. The mir was responsible for redemption payments and periodically redistributed the land to meet the changing needs of the various households. This system meant that peasants could not leave their villages, and actually lost rights to the use of some land. (WHICH?) This policy aimed to circumvent revolution and hence actually worsened the economic plight of the peasantry. The emancipation was a failure in terms of the economic success. What is more, the provisions concerning land redistribution produced the peasant discontent that eventually helped the Russian Revolution to succeed, despite the later land reforms of Stolypin after the 1905 revolution. These plans involved allowing peasants to own their own land, removing the system in which peasants only farmed strips of land and allowing peasants to trade land freely. These proposals would have warranted more economic security for the peasantry if there wasnt a lack of enthusiasm to adopt them. Having enjoyed a sense of collective security at the time, the Bedniaks were unwilling to run the risk of setting up farms individually. For this reason, Stolypins reforms were fruitless. By and large, the same problems created after emancipation was still present in 1914. However, many historians have argued that if given more time Stolypin may have been able to implement them successfully. Overall, the main agricultural policies implemented to improve the economic success of the peasants at the time were aimed at trying to keep the Tsarist regime in power. This is why both the emancipation edict and Stolypins reforms failed. M. Lynch states that in a country as relatively backward as Russia, reforms would take even longer to be effective this refers to Stolypins gamble on the strong. This suggests that Stolypins reforms may have worked if given time, but the peasants were still in a backward agricultural economy and were averse to risk. This is the reason for the failure of both the emancipation and Stolypins reforms. Both policies failed to provide an incentive to the peasantry, to leave what they had and create a richer peasantry would reject any socialist ideals. Instead these policies were aimed at stabilising Tsardom. When the Communist regime seized power in 1917, the peasants encountered the same problems faced in the Tsarist regime. Peasants had not benefited during the Tsarist regime due to the fact that all policies were aimed at maintaining its hold on power. In doing so, some consideration had to be given to the peasants when these policies were implemented. In addition, the Communist regime was different to that of the Tsars; in that it did not depend on the support of the peasants and therefore any policies introduced for agriculture simply relied on the repression of peasants. All policies were aimed at industrialising Russia, and it did not matter if peasants suffered because of this. Any agricultural policy was simply to help feed the towns or to provide grain to export to pay for industrialization. The Communist regime implemented a policy of war communism during the civil war. The sole aim of this policy was to keep the Bolsheviks in power and to win the civil war. As a result, peasants were viewed as disposable. Even during the vast famine of 1922, the Government took all surplus agricultural produce given to the towns to help supply the army with food. The peasants stopped producing more than they needed for themselves. The result was famine aggravated by drought; no measures were taken to help them. In addition, Russia continued to export large amounts of grain to fund the war in spite of the substantial famine in Russia itself. This left many peasants in extremely poor economic positions, definitely in a worse position than during the Tsarist regime. In 1921, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced. It was intended to rectify this position and stabilise the economy. As a result of the NEP, production revived quickly, industrial production reaching the pre-war level by 1926, and although more slowly, agricultural production grew. Moreover, peasants were even allowed to sell some surplus and pay tax; some peasants became rich such as the Kulaks as a result of the removal of state requisitioning. As a result, this policy restored some prosperity and improved the economic position of the peasants by encouraging new small businesses. Experts were brought in to increase production in nationalised industries (coal, iron, steel railways). However, although this policy was aimed at providing more grain to feed the towns, it did improve the economic position of the peasants by giving the people the chance to make money. However it is debateable as to whether it was only intended as a temporary measure to repair a severely damaged economy. There were problems that prevented the peasantry to benefit economically from the policy. The first problem was that the surplus grain produced by peasants couldnt be traded for industrial goods easily as industry did not grow as rapidly as agriculture had. This meant the peasants did not benefit as much as they could have with their increased supply of grain. Furthermore, the high turnover meant the value of grain plummeted between 1922 and 1923. To make matters worse, the lack of industrial goods available at the time meant industrial prices kept rising. The peasantry were forced to grow more grain than before in order to buy the goods they needed. The newly denationalized industry was producing again, but its costs were much higher than pre-war levels and thus the prices of manufactured goods were high. As the marketing of agricultural produce was resumed, the greater supply drove grain prices down. The terms of trade this moved against the countryside. Whereas the average peasant had formerly been able to get a shirt for thirty-odd pounds of rye or the equivalent, by 1923 he needed two hundred and fifty pounds. The result was the scissors crisis so called from a diagram Trotsky used in a speech, which showed the intersection of a falling rural price curve and a rising urban price curve. The curves intersected, said Trotsky in September 1922. The Lag factor undermined the new economic position of the peasants. Moreover, the introduction of higher taxation also further reduced the economic position of the peasants, meaning more of their grain was used to pay taxes rather than for trading. Overall, the economic potential of the NEP was cancelled out by several factors: high taxes, lack of trading opportunities. The economic position of the peasantry had seen some improvement with the abandonment of state requisitioning, but even this development was minor. The peasants were almost in the same economic position as they had been during war communism. The NEP was at least a feasible attempt to improve the state of agriculture, and did give peasants some economic freedom. But, this economic freedom was taken away from the peasantry under Stalin with his policy of collectivisation. This policy forced peasants to live on collective farms, with most the grain being produced being given to towns, over the peasants. This had a severely effect on the peasantry, who started hoarding grain as a reaction against the preferential treatment towards the towns. They refused to produce grain that would not be theirs and successful held the state for ransom. This only dragged the country into a deeper famine. NEP could have helped the peasants economically if it was run properly. This was not the case. Problems such as the machines not being available to cultivate the crops when needed meant more peasants had less grain for themselves. The grain that was produced was not split fairly and left many peasants with insufficient grain to feed their families. NEP also meant the recreation of class distinction, however the policy continued despite its shortcomings until . All the economic freedom achieved since the emancipation were stripped from the peasants, leaving them in a worse position than they were eighty years before. The final problem with collectivisation was Dekulakisation; the class of wealthier independent peasants. In smashing the Kulak class, the peasants were losing the most efficient farmers, thus reducing the amount of grain being produced by the peasants still further. The liquidation of the Kulak class left collectivised farms with the task of improving the peasants economic position. Something it was unable to achieve. Collectivisation undermined any economic freedoms that the peasants had gained. They now had no land, no freedom to trade, and in many cases, not even enough grain to feed their families. Entirely, due to the badly run collectivised farms and the destruction of the class enemy: the kulaks. Overall, agriculture was completely neglected throughout the Tsarist and Communist regimes. Agricultural policies were simply used to either keep the current government in power or to help achieve ideals the regime had, such as industrialisation. In many ways, both regimes were equally incompetent and negligent. Both were authoritarian and dictatorial and all policies passed on agriculture had a vested interest. However, during the Tsarist regime, at least some (albeit not all) peasants had their own land that they could live on. During the communist regime, many peasants were forced into poverty by the policies of war communism and collectivisation. At the end of 1950 peasants did not have their own land, and were working for little reward, as the productivity was worse than in 1917. If the evidence is weighed up on the scales: the peasants economic position stayed much on the same level as before emancipation. However paradoxically, they received more benefits economically by the Tsarist regime than the Communist regime. The Tsarist regime needed the peasants subside revolutionary sentiment and sustain power. Collectivisation under the communist regime destroyed all economic gains the peasants had achieved throughout both regimes. Why was NEP abandoned? http://www.marx2mao.org//Stalin/Index.html For similarities you could consider some of the following points: 1. the central control by the Tsars and by Stalin 2. the secret police under both regimes 3. terror 4. total control of the government over the economy 5. total control of the government over education 6. the adoration of the leaders by the people, giving them a godlike status 7. Both regimes relied on a large number of supporters in order to carry out the work of the leader. For differences, you might consider some of the following points: 1. different political doctrines 2. the way in which they achieved power 3. attempts by the two last Tsars to give the people some democracy was not matched by Stalin 4. the Tsarist regimes knew that they would have to move on if they were to keep people happy. Stalin was not interested in the peoples happiness. He just wanted the power. 5. Industrialisation 6. Class structure 7. Different types of people in power. Not just the Tsars and Stalin but all the other people that helped maintain the regimes. For each of the points you wish to write about you need to make your comparison and then support it with some factual evidence. . Some historians argue that Stolypin and his wager on the strong was the last chance the Tsar had to help Russia develop into a democratic society, and to keep his throne.