Seven Habits free essay sample

Your character is basically the sum of your habits. Therefore, to become successful, you need to develop good habits in your life. This book teaches you how to acquire the seven habits of truly effective people. The foundation of your success and character should be based on common moral values such as integrity, honesty, humility, courage, patience, justice, the Golden Rule, etc. This is known as the â€Å"Character Ethic†. In the long term, it is easier to be motivated by such principles of integrity and goodness. Your character should not be based on a false public image, hypocritical attitudes and behaviors, or superficial techniques for human interaction/manipulation. That would be known as the â€Å"Personality Ethic†. If your principles were based solely on the â€Å"Personality Ethic†, you may achieve short-term success, but people will eventually see through your dishonest motives and cease to trust you. You will not enjoy long-term success and happiness. We will write a custom essay sample on Seven Habits or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Habits 1 to 7 develop your character in a progressive manner. Learning the first 3 habits will help you achieve â€Å"private victory†, where you learn to move from dependence to independence by taking responsibility for your own life. Habits 4 through 6 teach you how to get â€Å"public victory, by moving from independence to interdependence and succeeding through creating synergy with other people. Habit 7 involves the renewal and balance of your mind, body and spirit. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People The book first introduces the concept of Paradigm Shift and prepares the reader for a change in mindset. It helps you understand that there exists a different perspective, a viewpoint that may be different from your own and states that two people can see the same thing and yet differ with each other. Once the reader is prepared for this, it introduces the seven habits, in a proper order. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the habits, which are represented by the following rules: Independence The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i. e. , self-mastery).  Habit 1: Be Proactive, take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions and how they align with lifes principles are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life. Habit 3: Put first things first. A manager must manage his own person personally and managers should implement activities that aim to reach the second habit. Covey says that rule two is the mental creation, rule three is the physical creation. Interdependence The next three have to do with Interdependence (i. e. , working with others): Habit 4: Think Win-Win Genuinely strive for the same beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a win for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had got his way.  Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Use empathic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which requires them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving. Habit 6: Synergize and combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork in order to achieve goals no one person could have do ne alone. Continuous Improvement The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc. ) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal. Covey explains the Upward Spiral model in the sharpening the saw section. Through our conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, the spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. One is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each recurrence. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and you will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The Upward Spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, and do. According to Covey, you must constantly be educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will boost one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power. Conclusion. This book is not a quick-fix prescription for personal growth. However, if you work hard at acquiring these principles, if you learn them well, think about them deeply and teach them to others, they will eventually become adopted. They will lead to fundamental change because they will affect who you are – your character – for the better. Your personality was formed as the result of specific behaviors you internalized as you grew up. These behaviors are not things we need to think about, they represent little success strategies or ways of coping with life that we have found to be helpful. You will see how acquiring new habits leads to a fundamental change of character.

Word Choice Principle vs. Principal - Writing Tips from Proofed

Word Choice Principle vs. Principal - Writing Tips from Proofed Word Choice: Principle vs. Principal â€Å"Principle† and â€Å"principal† sound and look very much alike. In addition, neither word is very common in everyday language, so it can be hard to remember what each term means. However, there is an important difference between these words. Don’t worry, though! You can follow our advice on how to use â€Å"principle† and â€Å"principal† correctly to make sure your work is error free. Principle (A Rule or Guiding Idea) â€Å"Principle† is always a noun (i.e., a naming word). Typically, it refers to an idea or rule that explains or controls how something happens. For example: Time travel would violate the principles of modern science. Democracy works on the principle of one person, one vote. The first sentence above refers to established scientific laws. The second refers to a guiding idea. Youll find principles for almost everything. A similar use of â€Å"principle† is to refer to a â€Å"moral standard,† such as if we say: I am kind to animals as a matter of principle. In addition, sometimes â€Å"principle† is used in contrast to practice. For example: I’m in favor of the new law in principle, but it could cause problems. Here, saying â€Å"in principle† means â€Å"in theory† or â€Å"as an idea,† but this is contrasted with concerns about how the â€Å"principle† will be applied in real life. Principal (First or Most Important) â€Å"Principal† is most often an adjective (i.e., a word that describes a noun). When used like this, it means â€Å"first in order of importance.† For example: Petroleum is the principal export of Saudi Arabia. My principal reason for taking the job was the salary. In these cases, â€Å"principal† works as a synonym for â€Å"main† or â€Å"most important.† This word can also be a noun, though. When used like this, it usually refers to the person in charge of a school: The new principal addressed the students at assembly. The noun form of â€Å"principal† also has some less common meanings. As a legal term, for example, it refers to the person directly responsible for a crime. You won’t need to know technical definitions like this to use this term on a day-to-day basis, but it is worth looking out for unusual usages! Principle or Principal? With these terms, if you are looking for an adjective, it will always be â€Å"principal† that you need. But telling the noun forms of these words apart can be tricky! Our advice is to remember that a â€Å"principal† is usually a person, whereas a â€Å"principle† is a rule or belief. You should therefore be able to work out the correct term from the context. Principle = Rule or guiding idea (noun) Principal = First/most important (adjective) or head of a school (noun)

Unpatriotic punctuation - Emphasis

Unpatriotic punctuation Unpatriotic punctuation We probably all know what its like to get frustrated over an item of punctuation, but most of us dont get the chance to pass a law banning it. In France, theyve done just that. Hyphens are notoriously tricky to put in their place. For the last six years, the French had more scope for confusion than the rest of us. Since 2004, the double hyphen has been used to indicate a newly coined double-barrelled name, bestowed on babies taking both their mothers and fathers surname. Now, not only has the double-hyphen been outlawed, it has actually been declared un-French. Generally, when we inadvertently misuse punctuation, the worst that might be said is that weve let ourselves, possibly our company, down. Still, better that than the whole country.

Constructivism Theory of International Relations Essay

Constructivism Theory of International Relations - Essay Example Based on these articles, I would like to point out that these scholars conducted a well organized and extensive research. They had to choose to carry out a research on this theory in order to create more awareness and inform their respective audiences on all the contributions, controversies and the gaps in this theory which need more researchers to study. In the choice of their methodology, I would like to recommend that it was properly done. It seems that they knew about the main objective of their research. Thus, they identified and used the most appropriate variables which would help them in answering their research questions and the hypotheses. Both of these scholars knew about the predictions that would determine their findings. This explains why there was no failure in the whole of their research. After identifying the research topic/issue, they settled on literature review in which they conducted several documentary analyses in order to get more information about this theory. They did this by choosing the most appropriate and relevant set of documents to use. Thus, their work became more credible and authoritative to be relied upon by other scholars for carrying out their future researches (Rodney, B.H., 2009). This area or f research is quite important for these scholars. Although several scholars have researched on it, because, as Richard and Christian suggest, a lot still need to be done in order to fill up the missing links. Based on their findings that this theory is valuable for the contemporary society.

Assignment, and writing 2 essays based on 3 readings Coursework

Assignment, and writing 2 essays based on 3 readings - Coursework Example trend or phenomenon. Although the readings, â€Å"Cultural Valorization & African American Literary History† (Corse & Griffin) and â€Å"The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial† (Wagner-Pacific & Schwartz) discuss different social and cultural phenomenon, we see clear examples of how the concept of â€Å"the sacred† is similar to the concept of â€Å"sacralization† specifically with regard to social unity and a social movement from deeming something socially insignificant to socially indispensable. Both readings also demonstrate how Durkheim’s idea of â€Å"the sacred† differs from the ‘sacredness’ so to speak, of Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Vietnam War Memorial in that both cultural phenomenon cannot be compartmentalized into Durkheim’s simple definition of what deems something sacred. Nevertheless both phenomenon are in fact â€Å"sacred† in society and add another dimension to Durkh eim’s concept. All of the fore mentioned readings include a societal and cultural happening, which at one point in history was considered insignificant and undervalued but through a social, academic, political etc. unity and validity placed upon the phenomenon; there have been distinct and necessary alterations in societal thought as well as accomplishments with regards to the phenomenon at hand. In â€Å"Cultural Valorization & African American Literary History† Corse and Griffin extensively discuss the historical and ideological transformation of the Western Literary Canon and the creation of the African-American literary canon with regards to African-American literature and specifically Zora Neal Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. When Hurston’s novel was first reviewed, it was considered â€Å"simple and unpretentious†, â€Å"unsuccessful†, not a literary work that would ever â€Å"move into serious fiction† and

Psy 375 Senior Interview Essay Example for Free

Psy 375 Senior Interview Essay 1. What is the environment of your home like? Busy, before they got guardianship of their grandson, life was quiet and there was not very much that had to be done around the home. Once their grandson came to live with them at age 3, life became â€Å"a buzz† again. â€Å"Before our grandson came to us, we usually would get up in the morning, sit and relax as we drank our coffee and had a quiet breakfast together. Now, we (her and her spouse) are up early to get our grandson ready to go to school. † She also says â€Å"We had time for the things that we wanted to do in our later years of life, visiting family, traveling and such. Now our time is dedicated to raising our grandson who keeps us going and on our toes but we would not change the situations we are in now for the world. † 2. Has aging changed the home environment? Yes, when they were younger, they had the energy and health to do the things they wanted to. Sally says â€Å"With age came some small struggles to stay at the pace we had always had when we were younger. Things that were always easy slowly became more time consuming, housekeeping used to be something that I could complete pretty quickly; now, I am a little slower (with the help of my grandson). Otherwise, she says â€Å"life keeps us all busy. † 3. Do you rely on others for help with any activities in the home? Sally answers â€Å"No, we are still able and willing to do our chores and keep up with the necessary tasks that we have. Although, we do have â€Å"John† (grandson) visit family a few times a month so that we have time to recharge. † 4. Do you still drive? If so, how has aging changed how you drive? Sally answered, â€Å"Yes, we both (her and her husband Mike) still drive. Driving is something that you would think would stay the same as you grow old until you get old. When I am driving now, I feel like everyone is in a rush to get where they want to go and here I am taking my time, trying to be safe while all around me are probably cursing me and saying â€Å"Damn old lady is driving so slow. † (She laughed as she made the last remark. ) 5. What changes in your home do you face as you get older? Sally answers, â€Å"As my husband and I get older, we are starting to be slower at things that once took us very little time. I think as we continue to get older, we will continue to get slower. † She also says, â€Å"With having our grandson home with us, he is helping us when he sees us even struggle a little with even small things. I think as we get older, he will be the one to help us more than anyone else. Recreational Activities: 1. In the past, what did you do for recreation? What do you do now for enjoyment? Sally answers, â€Å"When we were younger and our children were at home with us, we would spend a lot of time outdoors. We loved to go camping, fishing and hunting as a family. As our children got older, they all had things that they were involved in that took that time away that we had for the fun things. † She then explained that as her and her husband grew older, that they became more focused on the things that they wanted to do like traveling and visiting family. Sally then explained â€Å"Now that we have our grandson, I go to the movies, library, and toy shopping an awful lot. † But then she explained that she takes pleasure in spending time with her grandson doing the things that he likes to do because she â€Å"loves to see the smile on his face. † Sally also explained that they are active members of a church that they go to twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays) and they get great pleasure out of the service. 2. How often do you participate in these activities? Sally says â€Å"When â€Å"John† is a good boy at school and does what he is told here we usually take him out about once a week to do something special. † She then explains, â€Å"Church is a large part of our lives. We go to church not only to worship but also to have time with people that are around our age with and are like-minded. † 3. Have the things that do for recreation changed as you aged? As stated above, in their younger years, their recreation revolved around their family. As they got older, she says â€Å"The things we did slowed. We were not out all the time we possibly could have been. † Sally says, â€Å"We now spend time where we feel most comfortable, church and doing things with our grandson are what we do most now. † Social Support and Interactions: 1. Who do you interact with on a regular basis? Is this the same amount of contact you had in younger years of life? Sally says, â€Å"On a daily basis, my husband and grandson. I usually call my sister every couple days and see how she is doing and on a weekly basis the brothers and sisters I have at church. † She also says, â€Å"In the past, we had friends and neighbors that we were in contact with on a daily basis but as time went on, the friends we have kept are passing away or just losing contact with them all together. It is hard getting older and watching the friends you have start to pass away, it make me think that I will not always be here and then it makes me worry about who will keep our grandson when we are gone. † 2. Do you participate in any social clubs? Sally says, â€Å"The only real structured social club, if you can call it that, would be church activities. On Wednesdays, we go to church for bible study and social time where we talk with our friends there and on Sunday, we go to service that provides us with God’s word and time with our church brothers and sisters. † Meaningful Activities: 1. What gives your life meaning? Sally says, â€Å"My family is what gives my life meaning. I try to do as much as possible to stay in the loop of what is going on with my children and grandchildren. My children have always been the reason that we have worked so hard. We always wanted them to have the better things in life and we wanted them to be happy. † She also says â€Å"Now, my life revolves around taking care of â€Å"John† and making sure he feels that everything is okay and that he has a stable home to grow up in. † 2. Do you still engage in these activities as you did when you were younger? Sally says, â€Å"When we were younger, we had a lot more activities when our children were young. As they grew up, moved out on their own and had families of their own, our lives quieted down and the activities we were always doing changed into activities that â€Å"Mike† and I wanted to do until we got â€Å"John† and once we got â€Å"John† life became busy again with all of his activities. † Mental Stimulation: 1. In the past, what did you do to keep your mind sharp? Sally says, â€Å"In the past, I had my work to keep my mind sharp. I was a secretary at the middle school in the town we live for almost 20 years and was always busy with the tasks that were I had to do. My children also kept my mind going and I loved helping them with their homework because this helped me keep my mind working and remembering how to do problems like math and science. † 2. What do you do now to keep your mind sharp? Sally says, â€Å"Now to keep my mind sharp I do a lot of word and number puzzles. I love to do Sudoku puzzles and word find puzzles. Sudoku puzzles really keep my mind working because sometimes I feel like my hair is on fire when I am done with them (she chuckles.) I also spend time with â€Å"John† to helping him with his homework and I think this helps to keep me learning still because I have noticed that the way children are taught now has really changed from when I had my children in school. † Physical Activities: 1. In the past, what did you do to keep physically fit? Sally says, â€Å"In the past, when my children lived at home, we were always on the go. We would go places where we would walk and hike through the woods like when we would go hunting or fishing. We lives close to the corner store so we would also just walk to the store when we needed a few things instead of get in the car and drive. † She also says â€Å"I never was a really big health nut who was always worried about exercise because my weight was never an issue. I felt that is my weight was good then I was getting plenty of exercise. † 2. What do you do to keep physically fit now? Sally says, â€Å"Nowadays we love to take â€Å"John† for walks at the local trails. It’s nice to be out in the fresh air and be able to not only spend time with â€Å"Mike† and â€Å"John† but to get a little exercise because I have noticed that the older I get the less muscle I seem to have. † â€Å"It seems like the little things are more of a challenge than they were in previous years. Even just opening a jar is sometimes a challenge. † 3. Are you able to keep up with the daily physical stresses that you are tasked with on a daily basis? Sally says, â€Å"Yes, it seems like I am still doing a pretty good job keeping up with everything I have to do on a daily basis (as she looks around her living room. ) She also says â€Å"Keeping a house clean is a chore in its own when you have a grandson to pick up after everywhere he goes. † She also says, â€Å"I get around to the things I need to do now when I get to them. I used to try to make sure the house was perfect when my children and â€Å"Mike† would come home each day and thought that having a clean house for them, food cooking and clothes laid out for them daily was what I was supposed to do. Now that I think about it, I would have much rather of been having fun with them instead of being worried about the house. † Ending the interview, her last statement is, â€Å"Life now is a little bit harder than it was when I was younger. It seems like the older I get, the slower I am. † She then tells me, â€Å"Make sure that you spend your time doing what makes you happy. †

Elizabeth Essay -- essays papers

Elizabeth The 1998 movie â€Å"Elizabeth,† directed by Shekhar Kapur, from a script by Michael Hirst, is a historical epic that takes place during and after the mid-16th-century period when England’s Princess Elizabeth was nearly eliminated by her half-sister, Queen Mary. It portrays the events of Mary’s death, Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, and the struggles and events that she must overcome in order to preserve the strength of the English Monarchy, and establish Protestantism as the chief English religion. She must also maintain her stability and safety as a female ruler in a male-dominated society. The movie is beautifully made, with eloquent and realistic costumes, and prominent actors, and it successfully turns an important historical period into a riveting drama filled with action and romance. However, looking at â€Å"Elizabeth† from a historical standpoint, it is lacking in terms of accuracy. The chronological events in the movie do not follow with the historical events, and instances that happened over many years are crammed into a short period of time. Also, many events are exaggerated, or even completely made up in order to add to the dramatic appeal of the movie. Despite these flaws, â€Å"Elizabeth† does correctly relate the main aspects of Queen Elizabeth I’s rule. Elizabeth was born in 1533, the daughter of the infamous Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was three, her mother was beheaded for treason and adultery, and Parliament declared her marriage to Henry invalid, which made Elizabeth illegitimate. Her chances of ever ascending the throne were again thwarted by the birth of Edward, the son of Henry and his third wife. When Edward, a Protestant, died in 1553, his older half-sister, Mary, a Catholic, took the throne. Mary always held bitter feelings toward Elizabeth because Anne Boleyn treated Catherine of Aragon, Mary‘s mother, badly. To avoid angering Mary, Elizabeth â€Å"conformed outwardly to Catholicism,† but she secretly hoped and plotted to restore Protestantism. She was briefly locked up in the Tower of London, and was almost executed. The movie begins with the execution of three Protestant activists, ordered by Mary, illustrating her hatred and intolerance for Protestants. In order to avoid angering Mary, â€Å"Elizabeth continually had to proclaim her pious distaste for heresy.†(Jagger) In the movie, Mary ... ...o about two hours, and make these two hours interesting. To do so, facts had to be manipulated in order to make the movie more interesting and easy to follow. Important characters were omitted, conspiracies grouped together, and people were misrepresented. Elizabeth was portrayed as a happy and fun-loving young woman, when historians describe her as a somewhat cold-hearted woman who shared her father’s nasty temper. The filmmakers turned the history into a drama that has the essential characteristics of any entertaining movie: suspense, good guys and bad guys, and a riveting love story. They were not attempting to make an accurate documentary of Elizabethan England, but a dramatized interpretation of it that would be enjoyable to viewers, and provoke interest in the Elizabethan era. Bibliography: Hartl, John. Movie Review: ‘Elizabeth’ is unstuffy historical epic, stirring up overlooked British history† November 20. McCaffrey, Wallace, Susan Doran, Chris Haigh, and Norman Jones. Ridley, Jasper. The Shrewdness of Virtue . London: Viking Penguin Inc, 1987 Encyclopedia Britannica 1999-2000 Elizabeth I. Crown Copyright, 1997, 1998, 1999.

Environmentalism and Deforestation Activities Essay

Deforestation is a severe environmental destruction which cannot be revived easily if changed at current rate. Therefore, I totally agree that deforestation causes a lot of environmental problems. Deforestation includes the cutting down, burning and destructing of forests. The deforestation affects the ecosystem and disrupts the oxygen and carbon oxide cycle. People have an impression that if the trees were cut down, it will grow back in a few years. Everyone knows the trees are very important in our daily life because it can produces oxygen to people can breathe with fresh air. However, the trees become less because deforestation. We can plant more trees around the environment to prevent the deforestation. Furthermore, plant more trees also can prevent our health and the global warming. In short, we can plant more trees to stop the deforestation. On the other hand, we can recycle the anything that we can recycle it. The paper that we use every day was makes from trees, so, we cannot waste the paper and we must reuse the part that can be used. We also can buy the variety of recycled items likewise papers, toilet paper, note books, and shopping bags. When we start use the recycled things, we can save many the demand of raw material replaced by the recycled products. We can join the environmental group to prevent deforestation and and protect our environment. When we join the group, we can make some notice boards about the serious of deforestation. For example, we can write the ‘Please save our earth!’, ‘Stop cutting the trees!’ and the others. The notice board can placed at the college, school, or the road side to remaining people that our earth was dangerous now. In fact, people can realize the deforestation was very harmful to our earth. In conclusion, the deforestation was cause many environmental problems. Therefore, we need some way to stop all such deforestation activities immediately for our earth future become very well.

Jollibee’s Success in the Philippines Essay

Jollibee is the Mcdonald’s of the Philippines. From a simple ice-cream parlor in 1975, it has explored the concept of hot meals and sandwiches in 1978 and since then revolutionized the concept of fast food in the Philippines. 1984 saw Jollibee hit the Top 500 Philippine Corporations. 1987 landed the fast food chain into the country’s Top 100 Corporations. It became a billion-peso corporation in 1989. Today, there are 600 branches of Jollibee in the Philippines and about 50 abroad. Analysis of Jollibee’s Success in the Philippines The Philippines is a small, third-world country in south-east Asia. Like many asians, Filipino people eat their meals with rice and they prefer it home-cooked. However, due to the urbanization of the capital city in the late 70’s and the modernization required for economic development, Filipinos had to settle for less than the best: the turo-turo style. Way before the term â€Å"fastfood† reached the vocabulary of the Filipinos, people in the Philippines had eaten turo-turo style. Turo-turo is where ready-to-eat and ready-to-go entrees arrayed in steam-heated trays, are always ready to be eye-balled by hungry and harried customers. If you wait more than 20 minutes to get your food, it’s not considered as a turo-turo restaurant. Jollibee’s claim to have revolutionized the concept of fast food in the Philippines is probably correct. The company claims that the secrets of its success are â€Å"superior menu line-up, creative marketing programs, and efficient manufacturing and logistics facilities. It (success) is made possible by well-trained teams that work in a culture of integrity and humility, fun and family-like. † Success did not come easy as Jollibee is not exactly the first â€Å"fastfood† in the Philippines. Wendy’s from the USA came first and that is where Jollibee â€Å" conceived† the idea of sandwhiches and hotmeals served in less than twenty minutes to cater to the urbanized city of Manila. Competition has been tough for the first few years however Jollibee made the right decision to â€Å"Philippinize† its concept starting with market research. It was hypothesized that the Filipinos love not actually the home-cooked meals served by their wives but the smell and aroma of the meals served at home. Capitalizing on this theory, Jollibee launched the slogan, â€Å"langhap-sarap† which in English translates to â€Å"smells delicious†. Also, knowing the heart and soul of every Filipino is the family, Jollibee made itself cater not to individual professionals in the modern city but to the family as a whole. Jollibee became a red, giant bee mascot children adore. Jollibee easily became a household name in the market. The most notable commodity Jollibee offered is the chicken joy. When you step inside a single branch of Jollibee, you can actually smell the crispy, golden chicken being deep fried to juicy tenderness. In Jollibee, hamburger patty is being eaten with gravy and served with rice and they call it the burger steak. Same as any product, this one â€Å"smells delicious†. Another notable thing about Jollibee is how spaghetti is flavored. The spaghetti of Jollibee is sweet as Filipinos put sugar in their spaghetti and not much tomatoes. This menu line-up thanks to research on the wants of Filipinos, target customer and the use of mega-superstars as endorsers put Jollibee at the top of the fastfood industry in the Philippines. Jollibee in the USA The Jollibee branch located in San Francisco area is supposed to cater to the voluminous home-sick Filipinos working in the city. This Jollibee branch looks like a normal Jollibee branch in the Philippines. The most notable difference is the price of the food. Jollibee in the USA is more expensive than McDonald’s. They also accept credit cards which is a facility not found in any of the Jollibee branches in the Philippines. The commodities sold is also very different. Though they market it as the same â€Å"smells delicious† chicken joy from the Philippines, the chicken hardly smells nor looks delicious. It doesn’t have the same crispy juiciness as that of the local branches and it tastes mostly of salt. The burger steak is still served with rice though the hamburger patty is bigger and spaghetti is not as sweet as it should be, Filipino-style. The fusion of two states could be blamed for the high pricing as Jollibee might be adjusting to the cost of putting up a branch in San Francisco where raw materials are considerably more expensive. However, the objective of catering to home-sicked Filipinos is not met, in my opinion, as this Jollibee, though the same as in the home country in name, is not the same in every other aspect.

Buy Back of Securities- An Analysis

Buy Back of Securities- An Analysis Free Online Research Papers Introduction Share capital is a very essential part of a company, listed or unlisted. Share capital can be of two types i.e. equity share capital or preferential share capital. The share capital of a company has to be subscribed by one or more persons. After the share of a company has been allotted to the subscribing members, the subscribers have no right over the money gone as proceeds of the shares subscribed. All that the shareholder has is the right to vote at the general meetings of the company or the right to receive dividends or right to such other benefits which may have been prescribed . The only option left with the shareholder in order to realize the price of the share is to transfer the share to some other person. But with the introduction of section 77A, 77AA, and 77B in the Companies Act, 1956 the shareholder can realize the price by selling directly to the company . Buy Back of Securities In general terms buy back of shares can be understood as the process by which a company buys its share back from its shareholder or a resort a shareholder can take in order to sell the share back to the company. Buy-Back of shares is nothing but reverse of issue of shares by a company . It means the purchase of its own shares or other specified securities by a company. In case of buy-back, a company offers to take back its shares owned by the investors at a specified price generally determined or arrived at on the basis of the average price of the shares in the past few months. This calculation is usually done at a premium on the market price so as to attract more number of investors, which may vary as per the financial prudence of the company . Thus, buy-back is one of the prominent modes of capital restructuring. Legislative History Under Section 77 of the Companies Act, 1956, a limited company is prohibited from buying back its own shares. The basic reason for such a prohibition was a feeling that allowing companies to buy-back their shares could give rise to companies ‘trafficking’ in their own shares leading to undesirable practices in the stock market, like insider trading or other such unhealthy influences on stock prices . There was also an apprehensions that introduction of buy-back was unlikely to improve the stock market climate, but on the contrary worsen the climate as buy-back would in all likelihood facilitate more manipulation This general prohibition has been diluted by the statute, which permits a company to buy-back its securities after following the procedural safeguards provided in Section 77A, 77AA and 77B of the Companies Act. Prior to the Amendment of the Companies Act in 1999, the laws as to the buying of its share by the companies were very stringent. There was no way a company could buy its shares back from the shareholders without a prior sanction of the Court (except for the preferential shares). In 1887, in was held in the case of Trevor v. Whitworth , that a company limited by shares may not purchase its own shares as this would amount to an unauthorized reduction of capital. The rationale for this decision was that though the creditors of the company make decisions about its credit-worthiness on several grounds, but an important ground is the amount of its share capital. If the courts had not established at an early stage that capital was ‘sacrosanct’ and could not be returned to shareholders at their whim, then share capital would not have been protected. Without this protection, creditors could find shareholders depleting share capital, with creditors left to carry all the business risks. In India, the rule in Trevor v. Whitworth was enshrined in Section 77 of the Companies Act, 1956 which prohibited a company limited by shares, or by guarantee, and having a share capital from buying or canceling its own shares, nor may a company do so indirectly, by getting another person to buy the shares on its behalf, unless it complied with the provisions and followed the procedure for reduction of share capital under Sections 100 to 104 of the Companies Act, 1956 which involved sanction by the Court. Thus, by implication, an unlimited company can purchase its own shares. Article 3(e) of Table E, Schedule 1 to the Act gives power to such companies to reduce its shares in any way . Similarly, forfeiture for non-payment of calls and valid surrender do not involve purchase of shares by the company . Any valuable consideration paid out of the company’s assets amounts to a transaction of purchase . A prohibition on the buy-back of shares thus existed by virtue of Section 77 of the Companies Act, 1956 under which a buy-back could be made only by reduction of share capital. Later, the recommendations of a Working Group on Companies Act, 1956 constituted by the Central Government, led to insertion of section 77A and 77B. This Amendment was suggested to bring Indian law in parity with its British counterpart . Thereafter, the concept of Buy-back of securities which was proposed in the Companies Bill, 1997 was incorporated in the Companies Act by the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 1998. Section 77A of the Act refers to the power of a company to purchase its own Securities subject to the provisions of Section 77A (2) and section 77B of the Act. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued the SEBI (Buy-back of Securities) Regulation 1998, which are applicable to listed company on a stock exchange. The other companies are regulated by Private Limited Company and Unlisted Public Limited Company (Buy-back of Securities) Rules, 1999. OBJECTIVES OF BUY-BACK OF SHARES In the words of the working group which recommended the introduction of buy back in the companies act: â€Å"It is an erroneous belief that the sole reason for buy back is to block hostile take-over. In this connection it is pertinent to list five reasons why the bank of England favoured the making of law to allow companies to repurchase their shares of which blocking take-over was only one: To return surplus cash to shareholders To increase the underlying share value To support the share prices during temporary weakness. To achieve or maintain a target capital structure. To prevent or inhibit unwelcome take-over bids. Briefly a company resorting to the buy-back may have surplus cash, and it may not have found the right avenue to invest such surplus cash, during such period of dilemma the company may decide to return the surplus cash by buying back its shares, with a hope that at a later time when the company brings on an expansion the investors do not loose their faith in the company. Secondly the company might as well think of buying its shares with a view to increase the value of the shares which after the process of buy back still remain in the market. For after the shares are bought back the number of marketable shares become less and thus the prices increase. Thirdly, at times there is a slump in the share market due to no fault of the company. Though the slouch may be temporary but may have continued far too long .The management then may decide to give value to the shareholders and buy back their shares at a price higher than the market price. This is generally done to instill faith in the m inds of the shareholders. Saving a company from hostile take-over has always been seen as a major force behind bringing about this amendment, the company may use the surplus cash available in buying back its shares and bringing the number of floating shares down, resulting in the suitor not finding it a worthy investment or a profitable acquisition. These could be certain reasons why a company may resort to buy back of its shares. Thus in short, shares may be bought back by the company on account of one or more of the following reasons: To increase promoters holding; Increase earnings per share; To improve return on capital return on net worth and to enhance the term shareholder value; To provide an additional exit route to the shareholders when shares are undervalued or are thinly traded; To enhance consolidation of stake in the company; To return surplus cash to the shareholders; To achieve optimum capital structure; Rationalize the capital structure by writing off capital not represented by available assets; Support share value; To thwart hostile takeover; To pay surplus cash not required by business. MODES OF BUY-BACK The buy-back of shares or securities may be in any one or more of the following modes: existing security-holders on a proportionate basis(tender offer method); the open market through: o book building process in accordance with Regulation 17; o stock exchanges in accordance with Regulation 15; or odd lots, that is to say, where the lot of securities of a public company, whose shares are listed on a recognized stock exchange, is smaller than such marketable lot, as may be specified by the stock exchange; or the securities issued to employees of the company pursuant to a scheme of stock option or sweat equity. PROHIBITED MODES OF BUY-BACK: No company shall directly or indirectly purchase its own shares or other specified securities : Through any subsidiary company including its own subsidiary company; or Through any investment companies or group of investment companies; or If a default, by the company, has been made in respect of: o Repayment of deposit or interest payable thereon, or o Redemption of debentures or preference shares, or o Payment of dividend to any share holder, or o Repayment of any term loan, or o Interest payable thereon to any financial institution or bank. If the company has not complied with the provisions of section 159, 207 and 211 of the Act. Moreover, a listed company is prohibited from buying back its securities through negotiated deals, spot transactions, private arrangements and insider dealings . SOURCES FOR BUY-BACK The Act provides that buy-back of shares can be financed only out of free reserves -Where a company purchases its own shares out of free reserves, then a sum equal to the nominal value of the share so purchased is required to be transferred to the capital redemption reserve and details of such transfer should be disclosed in the balance-sheet; or securities premium account; or Proceeds of any shares or other specified securities. It is provided that no buy back of any kind of shares or other specifies securities can be made out of the proceeds of the same kind of shares or same kind of other securities as it will frustrate the purpose sought to be achieved by an issue and will make no sense. It can however be used for buy-back of another kind of security. CONDITIONS FOR BUY-BACK The Companies Act provides that a company can buy-back its shares only when : It must be authorised by the articles of association of the company. It is, therefore, necessary for a company proposing to resort to a buy-back to make sure that such an authority exists in its articles. If the articles do not contain such a provision, the company must follow the procedure laid down in Section 31 of the Companies Act for altering its articles to incorporate such a provision by passing a special resolution and filing a certified true copy of the same along with Form No. 23, with the concerned Registrar of Companies, for registration as required by Section 192 of the Act. A special resolution has been passed in general meeting of the company authorizing the buy-back; However, the said special resolution shall not be required to be passed if the following conditions are satisfied : o The buy-back is or for less than 10% of the total paid up equity capital and free reserves of the company, and o A resolution authorizing the buy-back is passed at the meeting of the board. Provided that no company can come out with a fresh proposal to buy back its shares within a period of 365 days from the date of the preceding offer of buy-back. The ratio of the debt owed by the company is not more than twice the capital and its free reserves after such buy-back: Provided that the Central Government is empowered to relax the debt-equity ratio in respect of a class of companies but not in respect of any particular company . The impugned shares/securities must be fully paid-up. The buy-back of the shares or other specified securities listed on any recognized stock exchange is in accordance with the SEBI (Buy-back of Securities) Regulations, 1998. The buy-back in respect of shares or other specified securities other than those listed on any recognized stock exchange shall additionally comply with the provisions of the Private Limited Company and Unlisted Public Company (Buy-back of Securities) Rules, 1999. EXPLANATORY STATEMENT The explanatory statement accompanying the notice convening the general meeting at which the special resolution will be passed should contain all the relevant particulars of the buy-back such as: All material facts, fully and completely disclosed: The necessity for buy-back; The class of security intended to be purchased by the buy-back; The amount to be invested under buy-back; The time limit for completion of buy-back. The company is also required to pass a special resolution in its general meeting after following the procedure laid down in section 171, 172 and 173. TIME LIMIT OF COMPLETION OF BUY-BACK Every buy-back is required to be completed within 12 months from the date of passing the special resolution or the Board resolution, as the case may be or where the resolution is passed through postal ballot, the date of declaration of the result of the postal ballot, as the case may be. OTHER FORMALITIES Declaration of Solvency- A declaration of solvency is required to be filed by the company with the Registrar and SEBI in the prescribed form before the buy-back is implemented to guaranty its solvency for at least a year after the completion of buy-back . It should be verified by an affidavit and signed by two directors, one of whom must be the Managing Director, where there is one. However, a company whose shares are not listed on the Stock Exchange is not required to file this declaration with SEBI. Physically Extinguishment of Securities- A Company after the completion of buy-back is required to physically extinguish and destroy its securities within 7 days of the last day on which the buy-back process is completed . Prohibition on Further Issue of Shares- A Company buying back its securities is prohibited from making a further issue of securities within a period of 6 months except by way of a bonus issue and discharge its existing obligations such as conversion of warrants, stock option schemes, sweat equity or conversion of preference shares or debentures into equity shares . Register of Securities Bought Back- A Company is also required to maintain a register containing the particulars of the brought back securities, including the consideration paid for them, the date of cancellation, the date of physically extinguishing and physically destroying securities and such other particulars as may be prescribed . Such particulars are required to be entered in the register of buy-back of securities within 7 days of the date of completion of buy-back. Filing of Return- On completion of the buy-back process, the company shall within a period of 30 days file with SEBI and the Registrar a return in e-form No. 4C containing the particulars prescribed. A private company and a public company whose shares are not listed on a recognized stock exchange should file the return of buy-back with the Registrar only . The conditions specified below are applicable to only buy-back of shares effected under the said provisions and the conditions applicable to Sections 100, 104, 391 cannot be applied to buy back of securities . TRANSFER OF CERTAIN SUMS TO CAPITAL REDEMPTION RESERVE ACCOUNT Where a Company purchases its own shares out of free reserves, then a sum equal to nominal value of the shares so purchased has to be transferred to the Capital Redemption Reserve Account referred to in clause (d) of the proviso to sub section (f) of section 80 and its details are required to be disclosed in the balance sheet . Such a transfer of capital redemption reserve account will not be required when buy-back of securities is other than shares. Further, the Central Government may, from time to time notify other securities as specified securities and such notified securities may not be shares. PENALTY If a company makes default in complying with the provisions, the company or any officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both. The offences are compoundable under section 621A of the Companies Act, 1956. CRITICAL ANALYSIS APPRECIATION This scheme is advantageous to the Companies as: Companies may buy-back its shares to take advantage of low share prices and hope that their value will rise quickly. Companies considering that its share price has been unfairly lowered buy-back them to give the price a boost. A company with excess cash may choose to buy its own shares rather than give out dividends. Once a company gives out dividends, investors expect them to be passed out regularly. But if the company’s cash dwindled in future years, it might have to cut the dividend and anger shareholders. A company could be taking advantage of the lower price to infuse its employee stock option program. A company may buy-back it shares to safeguard itself from hostile takeover bids. CRITICISM However, there are certain drawbacks and areas of concern in the legislation: Under section 115-O of the Income Tax Act, 1961, dividend tax at the rate of 10 % has to be paid on any amount declared, distributed or paid by way of dividend by any domestic company. However, buy-back of shares made under section 77A of the Act is not treated as dividend by virtue of sub clause (iv) of clause (22) of section 2 of the Income tax Act. It is not mandatory for a company to declare dividend under the Act. Taking advantage of this legal provision, a subsidiary may refrain from declaring dividend and transfer the entire or substantial profits to reserve. Then it can buy-back 25% of the shares at book value, which in any case will be more than the face value. These companies can wait for 6 months and issue further shares to the extent brought back. This process can be repeated any number of times. Thus, buy-back can be used to repatriate profits without paying dividend taxes by subsidiaries of foreign companies. Similarly, subsidiaries of Indian companies can also distrib ute profits without paying any dividend tax. Most of the buy-back taken place to enhance promoter’s holdings in the company rather than with a view to enhance shareholder’s wealth. In case of the multi-national companies, buy-back has been motivated by a desire to get the company de-listed from the Indian bourses. Under the present guidelines, if the promoters are able to get more than 90% shares, law permits the delisting. There is no restriction on repeated buy-backs year after year, which has resulted in increasing promoters equity stake ultimately. There is reduced cooling off period of 6 months between a buy-back and re-issue of same kind of shares within a specified period. There are reports of insider trading in some of the cases before the buy-backs are announced. CONCLUSION With the present competitive environment in India arising due to globalization and multi-nationals entering into the Indian market; it was felt that Indian companies need flexibility. Though the response to buy-back option was lukewarm in the beginning, the situation is changing and the provisions have received laudable response from the corporate world. Since the approval of buy-back of shares by companies, there has been commendable shoot up in the instances of buy-back. If one takes a peek at the web-site of the SEBI, every month on average 2-3 companies make public announcements for buy-back of shares. There are undoubtedly certain drawbacks in the Buy-back of securities in India but the benefits far outweigh the criticism. Thus, enabling Indian companies to buy-back its own shares is clearly a step towards fulfillment of long-standing demand towards liberalization of company law. ? Bibliography Dr. Avtar Singh : Company Law, Eastern Book Company A.K. Mujumdar : Company Law, Kalyani Publishers Palmer : Company Law (Vol 1), Steven Sons Ltd., London Young Patrick : Capital Market Revolution: The Future of Markets in an Online World H.K. Saharay : Company Law, Universal Law Publishing Co. Taxman : SEBI Manual Sanjeev Aggarwal : Guide to Indian Capital Market, Bharat Law House Research Papers on Buy Back of Securities- An AnalysisMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductCapital PunishmentIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalTwilight of the UAWNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoDefinition of Export QuotasThe Project Managment Office System

Condensed Formula Definition in Chemistry

Condensed Formula Definition in Chemistry The condensed formula of a molecule  is the formula where the symbols of atoms are listed in order as they appear in the molecules structure with bond dashes omitted or limited. While vertical bonds are always omitted, sometimes horizontal bonds are included to indicate polyatomic groups. Parentheses in a condensed formula indicate the polyatomic group is attached to the central atom to the right of the parentheses. A true condensed formula can be written on a single line without any branching above or below it. Condensed Formula Examples Hexane is a six-carbon hydrocarbon with a molecular formula of C6H14. The molecular formula lists the number and type of atoms but gives no indication of the bonds between them. The condensed formula is CH3(CH2)4CH3. Although less commonly used, the condensed formula of hexane could also be written as CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH3. Its easier to visualize a molecule from its condensed formula than from its molecular formula, particularly when there are multiple ways the chemical bonds could form. Two ways to write a condensed formula of propan-2-ol are CH3CH(OH)CH3 and (CH3)CHOH. More examples of condensed formulas include: propene: CH3CHCH2 isopropyl methyl ether: (CH3)2CHOCH3

Sustainable Drainage Systems and Piles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainable Drainage Systems and Piles - Essay Example Firstly it would be Infiltration trenches and the second will be Detention Basins. Infiltration trenches This is a system in which a trench is made and filled with artificial layers of granular material/aggregates which are clean and dry and then this is used in combination with geotextile. These granular materials have voids which are used to trap water and retain it for some time. Where as geotextile material prevents from clogging and durability. The Granular material should be 50 mm clear stones. Then the materials are layered in the manner shown below. There are some conditions for its construction. Almost of the trench is underground and hence its maintenance will be expensive. The trenches are constructed at least 1.5m above the maximum groundwater level and it should be at least 5 m away from the foundations or buildings lines. It is used in areas where the silt/clay content is not more than 40 %.It is made in areas with type A and Type B soils. It should not be constructed n ear septic tanks or water supply line and the areas near it should have good house keeping, if it is not done it will result into choking of the voids that retains waters. Then to improve the life and decrease the maintenance of the trenches it should be provided with Leaf screens, Vegetated filter strips or grass swales and similar devices such as grit separators, goss separator etc. Then these trenches are designed with an impervious drainage area to treatment facility area ratio of between 5:1 and 20:1. Therefore its is clear that the land take is very less and this option will be suitable where areas is less such as commercial areas. Where as the maintenance of the trenches are done by cleaning out leaves, debris and accumulated sediment caught in pretreatment devices, inlets and outlets annually or as needed. If this is not done on regular basis then the trenches will choke and then a complete overhaul needs to be done which is costly. Normally the trenches’ material is replaced in 5 years. Although the cost of construction is low but the maintenance cost is high and needs to be repeated. Then in this type of system when the water passes through the layers of the trenches the solid particles are filtered and the geotextile improves the process. Eventually the quality of the water is improved but the water does not provide microbiological purification. Concluding the merit of the system are that they require less space, the improve water quality, have less construction cost, reduce the runoff during rainy season and reduce the erosion that might occur by heavy rainfall and its runoff. Where as the demerits are that the maintenance of the system is high and repetitive, the system doesnot purify biologically. It cannot be made in areas where underground services are present. These systems are not used in high slope areas. It is ineffective in areas where soil is contaminated and polluted. It looks the worst when the system is choked as the water stays and do not drain. Detention Basins As the name indicates this system impound water in an excavated area or basin. Primarily this is used in areas where there is heavy rainfall and frequent flooding. These basins are used in reducing peak storm water discharges, controlling floods and preventing downstream channel scouring. There are two type of detention basins dry detention basin (storage is for specified short time) and the other is extended detention basin (used for retention for