Saturday, November 16, 2019
BT Group: Financial Performance Analysis
BT Group: Financial Performance Analysis BT Group (BT) is the leading UK company providing landline telecommunication services and equipment. It also had the mobile telecommunication business which was subsequently sold as MMO2. After the sale of mobile business, BT’s profile has now changed from a growth company to a mature cash generating company. A) Financial performance The most common objective assessment of the financial performance of a firm is the return it generates on its assets and the quantity and quality of the returns. Quantity is measured by the absolute and percent change in total profits. The profit and loss account of an organisation and its analysis are the prime and first indicators of a firm’s financial performance. The latest annual results of BT is for the period ending 31 March 2005. Appendix I shows the summary of key profit and loss figures over the last three years. BT’s turnover and profit after tax in 2005 have increased as compared to 2004 but are still lower than those in 2003. The turnover has declined by 5.7% only whereas profit after tax has declined by 32.7% over the two year period. This shows that the business has very low variable costs which is in line with the heavy fixed cost investments normally made by telecommunication companies in establishing their networks and subsequent very low variable costs in carrying data. While turnover increased in 2005, operating profits have declined. This indicates that the business is facing some pricing pressures or is spending more on advertisement as the operating profit declined by 0.5% only. BT’s 2005 profit after tax was  £1,820m and was substantially higher than  £1,406m. Though the absolute profit is very high number compared to most of the businesses and indicates that the company is in strong financial position, it also shows that BT has high financial leverage. The company paid a significant high interest and if revenues and operating margins come under more pressure, it could have trouble paying interest costs. BT is aware of this issue and has focused on reducing its net debt. After facing tough times in early 2000s, it has sold many previous investments to raise money for repaying debt. BT’s share price rose after it announced its strategic decision to reduce net debt by raising money through divestments. The net interest payments have declined from  £1,439m in 2003 to  £801m in 2005. Not only that, the net interest payment has declined from 49.5% of operating profit to 29.0% from 2003 to 2005. The reduction in net interest as a percent of operating profit is an important improvement as it gives investors comfort that even if operating margins come under pressure, the company would still be able to meet its interest liabilities. One quick way to analyse a company’s performance is to look at the earnings per share pattern. The earnings per share had also a change pattern similar to that of profit after tax. It first decreased from 31.4p in 2003 to 16.4p in 2004 before increasing to 21.4p in 2005. The 2005 increase in earnings per share highlights the improvement in performance. Though the profits did decrease in 2004, BT kept on increasing total dividend paid to shareholders. This shows the management’s faith in business going forward and its ability to meet higher dividend expectations in future. The returns generated on assets is measured by Return on Capital employed (ROCE). Appendix II shows the calculation of ROCE for BT. BT had a healthy ROCE of 19.0% and 20.7% in 2004 and 2005. The quality of returns is measured by their consistency and by the spread of profits, i.e., the percent of profits being generated from different divisions and locations. The less reliance of profits on any one division and/or location means the company is in better shape to withstand downturns in its markets. None of BT’s business contributed more than 50% in its turnover in the year ended 31 March 2005 (BT, 2005). This indicates that BT Group is reasonably well protected from the declines in a business line. The situation is slightly different if we look at the operating profits where BT Wholesale division contributes more than 50% of net operating profits. Any more margin pressures in this business could reduce future earnings. Most of BT’s earnings originate from UK and hence it earnings are susceptible to changes in UK economy. Financial position The financial position of a company covers its financial structure, its assets and liabilities, its liquidity and risk management approach (Accounting Standards 2004/2005). Appendix III gives the highlights of BT Group’s balance sheet from 2004 to 2005. The total fixed assets have increased by  £639m in the last year. While total fixed assets have increased, the total current assets have decreased by  £254m, so total assets have increased by  £385m. The lower increase in total assets as compared to increase in fixed assets is mainly due to decrease in cash and investments. The major change in financial structure has occurred on the liabilities side. The total current liabilities have gone up by  £3,938m due to increase in current loans and borrowings of  £3,227m. This shows that BT is financing much more of its assets from current borrowings. The massive increase in current loans and borrowings has reversed the net current assets (liabilities) position. BT had net current assets of  £2,027m in 2004 and had net current liabilities of  £2,165m in 2005, a net decrease in current assets of  £4,192m. While the current liabilities have increased, the long term creditors have decreased by  £4,335m. If we just look at long-term creditors, the reduction is impressive and it gives more confidence to the investors that company is in better financial position now. But when we combine the decrease in long term creditors with the increase in current liabilities, the net change is very less. And the fact that changes in current liabilities is mainly due to borrowing instead of increase in trade creditors means that the financing of assets has merely shifted from long term borrowings to short term borrowings. The current assets to current liabilities ratio has declined from 1.24 to 0.83 in the last one year, a sign of concern in terms of liquidity especially when the increase in liabilities is not mainly due to higher trade creditors. Debt to equity ratio indicates the financing of assets. BT had total debt of  £13,697m in 2004 and the corresponding figure for 2005 was  £12,589m, a decrease of  £1,108m. If we now exclude cash and short term investments from total debt, BT’s net debt was  £8,425m and  £7,786m in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The net debt to book value of equity ratio declined from 2.75 in 2004 to 2.02 in 2005. This means that debt finances almost twice assets as being financed by equity. Higher amount of debt results in lower weighted average cost of capital as debt is cheaper equity. But as BT reduces more debt, its weighted average cost of capital will increase. The increase would be partially offset by lower cost of equity due to lower chances of bankruptcy. Risk of bankruptcy is measured by interest cover ratio which is defined as the ratio of cash available for interest payments to net interest. Appendix IV shows the EBITDA calculation and interest cover ratio. The interest cover ratio has increased from 6.1 in 2004 to 7.0 in 2005. The healthy interest cover ratio shows that BT has further reduced the risk of bankruptcy and is in better financial position now. The debt level is now very much within manageable levels and is more like a cash rich mature company. Companies normally tend to follow certain dividend trend to signal market of their assessment of future earnings. Dividend declaration is also part of risk management as it is based on management’s assessment of future cash generation and expenditure expectations. The hike in dividend in 2004 and 2005 inspite of decline in profits in 2004 shows the management assessment of future low risks to cash flows. Financial Adaptability An entity’s financial adaptability is its ability to take effective action to alter the amount and timing of its cash flows so that it can respond to unexpected needs or opportunities (Accounting Standards 2004/2005, page 26). Appendix V shows the main elements of consolidated cash flow statement of BT Group. BT Group is generating high amounts of cash inflow from operating activities. During the year ended 31 March 2005, the company generated  £5,900m of net cash from operating activities. BT is in telecommunication business which demands relatively high level of absolute investments. It spent  £2,408m on capital expenditure during the year ended 31 March 2005. Even if we believe that all of capital expenditure was required under normal operations, BT was still left with  £2,282m of surplus cash in 2005. As we can see from the Appendix III that BT has now focused on repayment of loans. During the last three years, the company has reduced borrowings by  £7,395m. Though BT is able to generate significant amount of cash before disposals but that was not enough in 2003 and 2004 to repay loans. The company then sold some of its investments to generate cash for loan repayments. BT also pays a significant amount of dividend to its shareholders. So if its net cash from operations do decrease in future, it has still some buffer in terms of dividend payments to take care of loan repayments. B) The objective of financial statement is to provide information about the reporting entity’s financial performance and financial position that is useful to a wide range of users for assessing the stewardship of the entity’s management and for making economic decisions (Accounting Standards, 2004, page 22). The compliance of an entity’s financial reports with UK’s Accounting Standards can be gauged over two main areas – content and format. Content is important to give true and correct picture of a firm’s financial performance and position. Different users need different information. Financial statements are used by investors to base their investment decision. So it is important that financial statements have the right content to help achieve this goal. It is also important to have right format of presentation. Investors are more likely to feel comfortable if they see familiar presentation style and can then evaluate the company easily. We will look at the content and major financial statements to see whether they comply with UK Accounting Standards. We will then also at few additional notes to financial statements to see whether they are also in line with true and fair principle and give the readers a clear picture of the entity. First of all we compare profit and loss statement with FRS 3 ‘Reporting financial performance’. BT’s consolidated profit and loss statement clearly shows the total turnover and share from joint venture and associates, and in doing so gives more clarity of its earning base. The financial statement format is similar to the example formats shown in Accounting Standards 2004/2005. BT’s 2005 Annual Report however doesn’t show share of turnover and profits from discounted operations (BT, 2005). It is because BT didn’t sell any business in 2005. If we look at the 2002 Annual Report (BT, 2002), it shows the turnover and profits from discounted operations also. The financial statement also has statement of total recognised gains and losses in line with FRS 3 practices. So the accounts meet profit and loss statement UK Accounting Standards in terms of both content and format. We now compare BT’s cash flow statement with the format prescribed in FRS 1 ‘Cash flow statements’. BT’s cash flow statement has not only got all the headings but they are also in the same order as mentioned in FRS 1. BT report also gives sub-categories under the major headings and hence is a genuine effort to educate investors as much as possible on the generation and use of cash flows. BT cash flow statement uses the format prescribed for the ‘Group’ accounts. The notes to financial statement also has detailed reporting on reconciliation of operating profit to operating cash flows, analysis of net debt, acquisition and disposals in line with formats for the ‘Group’ accounts. The next section we analyse is on segmental reporting and check its comparability with SSAP 25 ‘Segmental Reporting’. SSAP 25 says that a public limited company should provide segmental analysis on lines of business class and geographical location. The notes to financial statement section in the 2005 Annual Report has a section on segmental reporting wherein BT shows the turnover, operating profit/(loss) and net assets/(liabilities) of different business lines. It also provides the above data based on the geographical location of reverse generation. The above meets SSAP 25 requirements and also helps investors make a better judgment of risks faced by BT. BT is in telecommunication business where technology change is rapid. BT has acquired many companies in recent years to keep pace with the technological developments. So it is important to analyse the acquisition policies and disclosures are in line with the UK Accounting Standards. FRS 6 ‘Acquisitions and Mergers’ and FRS 7 ‘Fair values in acquisition accounting’ govern the acquisition accounting policies. BT’s annual report under ‘Notes to financial statements’ gives detailed disclosure of total and fair value of the acquisitions made by it. BT’s financial statements not only give the book and fair value of acquisitions but also a detailed explanation of them for each acquisition. The clear and easy to understand format of financial statements and the depth of information in them signals that BT not only just do the minimum to meet UK Accounting Standards but also follows them in true spirit. Appendix I – Highlight of BT Group’s profit and loss accounts (Source: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm) Appendix II – ROCE of BT Group (Source: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm) Appendix III – Highlight of BT Group’s balance sheet (Source: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm) Appendix IV – Interest cover ratio (Source: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm) Appendix V – Highlight of BT Group’s cash flow statements (Source: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm) Bibliography and references Accounting Standards 2004/2005 – Extant at 30 April 2004 (2004); Wolters Kluwer (UK) Limited. BT (2005); BT Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2005; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm BT (2002); BT Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2002; http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/Annualreportsarchive.htm
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
ecosystems :: essays research papers
Factors of Community: 1.     Interactions between the climate and topography a.     â€Å"Rainfall, soil, temperature†2.     The food and resources that grow 3.     Other specific resources necessary for a species to survive and adapt to. (Ecological niche) 4.     Species interaction 5.     Physical disturbances, addition/removal of certain species -These factors determine population sizes of an ecosystem. -Conditions of arctic regions don’t allow many animals to live there due to the low temperature. Niches: (all relationships in which species engage in order to survive and reproduce)      -Fundamental Niche is a theoretical niche, where there are no constraints or limited resources)      -Realized Niche is the actual niche, where there are constraints on resources) Symbiosis: (â€Å"living together†Species interacting in +, -, and = ways) Mutualism (++)      -Both species in interaction benefit      -Obligatory Mutualism -One species cannot grow/reproduce without another species      EX. Yucca plants are only pollinated by Yucca moths.           -Yucca moths only grow in the yucca plant and only eat Yucca seeds. Co-evolution      -The prey and predator build better defenses and counters to the other’s abilities.      -Since the best of the prey/predator survive more often, they have more chance to reproduce.           -Soon only the strong survive, thus, the best ways of countering reach the entire population.      -EX. Camouflage, Mimicry (faking a characteristic), Spewing toxins, showing teeth, etc Carrying Capacity      -Maximum number of individuals that resources of environment can maintain.      -Predator-Prey populations can fluctuate.           -Predators may not adjust quickly enough to the abundance of prey.           -Additional predators could also influence the rate.           -As more predators reproduce and eat more prey, the prey population decreases.           -As more prey dies, predators have less to eat and begin to die off.           -With fewer predators, the prey once again starts to reproduce at a faster pace. Predator- Animals that feed on living organisms, but do not live on them Prey- targets of predators that are killed Parasites- Feeds on tissues of living organisms and live on them Host- the organism a parasite feeds on Effects of Parasites      -Feeds off the host’s tissue’s nutrition.           -Alters how much energy enters the organism, and weakens it.           -Can alter birth rates, can sterilize, or make organisms less attractive to mates.           -Can open prey to diseases and infections.      -Usually does not want to cause death, so that it can reproduce for a longer period of time Microparasites      -Rapid reproducers and personally infect the body.      EX. Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoan Macroparasites      -Directly lay their eggs on the host.      EX. Fleas, ticks, mites, lice Social Parasites      -Manipulate the social behavior of another species.      EX. Cuckoos lay their eggs in nests of other species, which push the rightful eggs out.           -The mother of the original eggs ends up feeding the cuckoos. Parasitoids      -Insect larvae that always kill what they eat (larvae and pupae of other insects)
Monday, November 11, 2019
Black Is Black Aint Essay
The final film by Marlon Riggs, Black is†¦Black Ain’t, is concerned with the state of the African American community. This film essentially asks the question, what does it mean to be black? The director and producer, Marlon Riggs, guides viewers along an â€Å"an up-front examination of racism, sexism, and homophobia within the black community itself. Bringing together personal stories, interviews, music, history, and performance, Black Is†¦ Black Ain’t asks African Americans: What is black, black enough, or too black? †1 Unfortunately, the AIDS-stricken director died before the film was completed. This film operates as a kind of last will and testament for Marlon Riggs. â€Å"He bequeaths the idea that rigid notions of what is or is not black behavior, of who is or isn’t black, need to be abandoned for the sake of strengthening the sense of community within the race. †2 The beginning of Black Is†¦ Black Ain’t explores the meanings associated with word black. I was very surprised to discover how most black people didn’t prefer being called or labeled black. Everything associated with the word black leads to disgrace and fear. Hence, the word black made most feel less than. At this time, a code of silence existed amongst black people. Living in a society that might lynch a person for being black, it makes sense that celebrating your blackness was forbidden. This eventually leads to the emasculation and castration of the black male. Pre civil rights, most black males were viewed as laughing, singing, entertainers and servants. The men were considered weak, and the women were considered strong and unwomanly. Anything associated with looking black was considered bad. The film uses the example of white hair as the good hair and frizzy curl hair as the bad hair. Post civil rights, out of centuries of emasculation, the black man needs to reclaim his power. Black people now embraced the word black as an act of self-empowerment. The black man now became patriarch. â€Å"Black Is†¦ Black Ain’t forcefully confronts the identification of blackness with a hyper-masculinity born of the ’60s Black Power movement. †3 Unfortunately, this self-empowerment has the capacity to imprison as well as liberate. The film reminds us that â€Å"slavery and its aftermath involved the emasculation-physical as well as psychological – of black men, the drive for black power was usually taken to mean a call for black male power, despite the needs of (and often with the complicity of) black women. That continues to result in the devaluing of black female contributions to the liberation struggle and in the subordination of black women in general. †4 The result of emasculation became hyper masculinity. This phenomenon confined the meaning of what it meant to be black even further. For example, to be black is not to be homosexual. This is due to the notion of homosexuality as the ultimate weakness. Hence there is often prejudice of homosexuals in the black community. The homophobic initiative from the black Catholic Church doesn’t make the situation any better. Hence, Marlon Riggs ties in his own story as a gay black man with AIDS. It really assists the film in showing the restrictions that exist in black unity. So what is the black identity? Are you black enough? Do you talk black? Are you a hyper masculine heterosexual male with kinky hair and a criminal record? I can see how it must be difficult to maintain a sense of communal self. Angela Davis one of the speakers in the film, provides this answer: â€Å"You take some color, a dash or a big dollop, it don’t matter, and you blend it with an assortment of physical features that reflect every face you might possibly encounter on this great earth, mix that up with a culture that just loves to improvise, signify, reclaim, renew, and read – and you’ve got, the recipe, for black folk. †1 Independent Television Service 2 Cliff Thompson, â€Å"Black Is †¦ Black Ain’t†3 Independent Television Service 4 Cliff Thompson, â€Å"Black Is †¦ Black Ain’t†.
Friday, November 8, 2019
Should People Make More of an Effort to Keep Things Private Essay Essay Example
Should People Make More of an Effort to Keep Things Private Essay Essay Example Should People Make More of an Effort to Keep Things Private Essay Essay Should People Make More of an Effort to Keep Things Private Essay Essay Peoples should do more of an attempt to maintain factors of their life private. For illustration when you see some people on Facebook updating about what they had for breakfast. I do non believe we need to cognize that isn’t them genuinely showing themselves nevertheless that seems to be what they think they are making. You shouldn’t express yourself via the cyberspace it should be what you do in certain state of affairss and how you do it that express who you are. Today. many seem to non to desire to maintain some enigma about them. In add-on. the cyberspace does do this hard as all you have to make is ‘Google’ person and you can happen out where they live. work. what their avocations are and even who their household are. Initially. the fact you can happen this information so easy is improbably chilling. Besides it takes off the enigma of run intoing person and acquiring to cognize them when you can flick through their Facebook images and happen out what they wore last Christmas. We expect people to esteem our privateness but so we go and post all our inside informations. this makes us dissemblers. I understand non everyone may make this but the bulk do. if you post images on the cyberspace. set your name and figure anyplace you are giving off your privateness. Even the authoritiess can non esteem our privateness. They put security cameras on every corner. in every edifice. Intelligibly they prevent and solve offenses but as a consequence it removes our privateness. Besides. it is a immense factor in being a ‘nanny state’ where we no longer have any privateness or the freedom to do determinations. They should esteem our privateness and swear their people. However. should they esteem our privateness if we think we have the right to cognize about their private lives? For illustration. we know all about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love kid but should we be privy to this information it doesn’t affect is ability to make his occupations. Besides football participants are a good illustration as many of them have personal businesss but it doesn’t affect how they play. Why do we cognize intimate inside informations of their life? Why do we experience we have the right to it? We wouldn’t want everyone in our street cognizing inside informations like that allow entirely desiring it to be common cognition internationally. We should esteem their privateness every bit long as it does non impact how they act publically. In decision. even though the media may non esteem some individual’s privateness and the authoritiess may take ours as a bi-product of protecting us people should do more of an attempt to maintain some factors of their life private. As I said at the get downing people should retain some enigma and express themselves genuinely by what they do and how they do it. Yet. they may experience free to show themselves by stating us about their breakfast if it is a humourous anecdote or an interesting metaphor.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Did the USA need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Did the USA need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Introduction Historically, the United States is a democratic state and it has strived to promote democracy by ending dictatorial leaderships, which abuse human rights and peace in different states across the world. The US and Japan had a tedious relationship before and during the Second World War.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Did the USA need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Both nations believed to have more powers than the other did and as a result, each was trying to prove to the other the ability to reign over the world (Brooks Stanley 2007). Japan with the support of the Communist Hitler, who led Germany, had managed to take control of over hundreds of islands in the Indian Ocean, and by 1945, it was determined to take over the Pacific Islands as well. On the other hand, the US government under the leadership of President Harry Truman was up against the Japanese b ehaviour of trying to rule over the Pacific Islands (Cook Cook 1992). The decision by the US government to drop the atomic bombs over Japan was facilitated by the desire to be the world’s superpower as the main reason and other small reasons attached to it (Waley 2003). The US felt that dropping a powerful atomic bomb over Japan would force its emperor to surrender and furthermore create tension to Germany thus forcing it also to end the war (Toland 2003). In addition, the US government also felt that atomic bomb would force the Soviet Union to end the Second World War, and assume a leading position over the world nations for its possession of the world’s deadliest weapons (Pellegrino 2010).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hence, the objective was to become the superpower of the world by showing other nations of its power to destroy resisting nations, thus forci ng them to abide by the will of the US. The Motive behind the Dropping of the Bombs The dropping of the atomic bombs by the US on Japan occurred at the height of ending the Second World War in 1945. The Nazi Germany was a leading war perpetrator in Europe and its signing of the instrument of surrender on 8 May 1945. However, the war continued along the Pacific Ocean due to the resistance of the Japanese Emperor to sign the instrument of surrender. The United Kingdom, the United States, and the Republic of China made a Potsdam Declaration in July 1945 in which they required Japan to surrender in an effort to end the war (Gordin 2007). Unfortunately, the Japanese emperor was reluctant to surrender due to influence of Germany and desire to prove the powerfulness of Japan over the world. The United States did not invade any nation in either of the first or Second World War. Instead, it was defending the innocent nations against the attacks of greedy nations like Japan and the Nazi Germa ny that invaded some countries and oceanic islands for economic and political reasons (Ward 2007). However, critics argue that the United States was taking advantage of the situations to gain advantage over the attackers in effort to create good relationships for economic reasons. Judging from the moral authority perspective, the United States was on the right side of action where greed did not supersede charity (Dower 2010). In addition, the United States viewed the events of war as both political and economical challenges and hence worked hard in efforts aimed at stopping the war. Its efforts had adverse effects as communist soviet nations were against its ideologies (Christman 1998).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Did the USA need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Worst still, Japan viewed herself as a strong nation and capable of raising attacks over the United States , which tried to stop it from invading and possessing the oceanic islands that were resourceful and good for the interested economies. Among the various reasons that justify the need for the United States to drop the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities in Japan, was the efforts to protect its citizens from Japanese attacks (Cook Cook 1992). Japan had proved itself as a major threat to the security of the United States and its citizens. The emperor of Japan had raided the Pearl Harbour where hundreds of military men and civilians lost their lives. In addition, despite the refusal to surrender, the emperor had planned for a raid on 1 November 1945 in the US where it was anticipated that many Americans would lose their lives (McNelly 2000). Another major reason for the justification of the dropping of the bomb was its ability to cause destruction on the enemies’ land. Japanese troops were tough and hence posed a major threat to the American soldiers. The Japanese empe ror had ordered the Japanese army men to offer military training to the civilians. The move was just but an effort to strengthen their ability to fight the American troops whenever they found their way to the Japanese land (Sherwin 2003). Unfortunately, American soldiers were well aware of the negative attitudes of Japanese citizens towards the American affairs that their emperor had implanted into their minds. Hence, Americans considered Japanese as their enemies with the ability to destroy the peace of their country, and any efforts to destroy them before they eliminated Americans was totally justified.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After the bombing, the majority of Americans wished that more atomic bombs could be dropped into the remaining Japanese cities in order to eliminate them entirely (Toland 2003). Looking into the war situations, the dropping of the atomic bombs into Japan by the United States was justified. In the event of war and crashes, an enemy fights back harder in an effort to eliminate an adversary for elimination is the ultimate goal and only the surrendering can deter it from realisation (Waley 2003). Therefore, both Japan and the United States were against each other and the war situation allowed each to try to push the other into a state of surrendering or elimination to the extreme. Fortunately, the United States had then made a breakthrough in the making of an atomic bomb. For four years, American soldiers were out fighting against the resistant enemies, which included the Nazi Germany and Japan, and they were weary of fighting for a long time against tough enemies. That was a difficult situation for the Americans as they nearly lost hope of winning the battle and felt that losing the fight against the enemies would not only make them slaves to other countries, but also face massive destruction. That great tension created unfavourable atmosphere in the United States and hence Americans were in full support of the development of a weapon that would destroy the land of an enemy. Learning about the breakthrough of the Manhattan project, President Harry Truman felt that he had the ability to end the Second World War by choosing to use the powerful weapon against a defiant enemy. The initial objective of developing a weapon of mass destruction was to fight the Nazi German as it posed a major security threat to the world fro it was perceived to be the main perpetrator of the Second World War (Rotter 2008). Fortunately, the Nazi Germany had surrendered slightly before the breakthrough of the Manhattan Project and Japan was left on its own resisting the signing of the surr ender declaration document. Therefore, President Harry Truman had no choice, but to end the Second World War by destroying Japan. By then, the American forces had made some efforts to push Japanese emperor into surrendering, but their efforts did not materialise. They had had carried out numerous fire bombings on various Japanese cities while occupying the Okinawa and Iwo Jiwa islands (Bodden 2007). The Japanese Emperor had more than â€Å"two million strong army men deployed on the main land in an effort to guard against the American invasions†(McNelly 2000, p.96). The majority of Japanese cities had been destroyed expect Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which were left deliberately for they were key points of Japanese military operations and transport colliders. President Harry Truman was facing a very difficult psychological situation soon after the breakthrough of the Manhattan project and before the dropping of the bombs on Japan. He was fully aware that those weapons could flat ten the Japanese cities and consequently kill millions of innocent Japanese. Hence, there had to be moral justifications for the dropping of the bombs before the mission was carried out. He opted to give the last chance to the Japanese Emperor by demanding for unconditional surrendering failure to which he promised dangerous consequences on the refusal to honour the demands. He failed to mention the possibility of him using a weapon with the ability to cause mass destruction, and hence the demand was rejected (Dower 2010). To Truman, there was a justified reason for giving a go-ahead signal to his military men, which he did and the bombings were secretly planned to take place on 6 August 1945. However, critiques argue that there was a high possibility of surrender by the Japanese leaders if President Harry Truman had clearly told them of what he had planned to do to them after failing to surrender (Pellegrino 2010). On 6 August 1945, just as it was the plan, an atomic bomb, loaded o n a military plane called Enola Gay, was dropped on Hiroshima killing more than 70,000 Japanese instantly and more than 100,000 killed by the aftermath consequences of nuclear radicals. The Japanese leaders led by their emperor were resistant of surrendering, which forced the Soviet Union to declare war against Japan, two days after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Still after the war declaration by the Soviet Union, Japanese leaders seemed more resistant and as a result, the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki and killed more than 80,000 Japanese instantly (Gordin 2007). That attack seemed to push the Japanese leaders to the extreme limits and on 14 August, they surrendered, thus marking the end of the Second World War (Ward 2007). By the time of surrendering, the Japanese military had made over 3500 attacks on the Americans. The Japanese cronies seemed not ready for neither of the peaceful negotiations to end the war nor surrender. They believed t hat surrendering would have made them to appear inferior in the eyes of their enemies and thus they were not ready to give such a chance to an enemy. Hence, the Japanese were ready to prolong the war, hence leading to more deaths of innocent civilians. Therefore, according to President Harry Truman, the droppings of the bombs saved more Japanese lives than those who would die due to the prolonged war. However, according to Truman, the resistance of the Japanese leaders could not have ended due to series of serious attacks and hence atomic bombing was the best solution to end the unyielding resistance (Allen 1969). The Second World War was the deadliest and the most destructive war in the history. Efforts were made to end this war to no avail. Many countries lost the lives of their citizens in the hands of their enemies and hence they were desperate of surrendering to their enemies in order to gain peace and save more lives from perishing. The United States is one the countries that lost the greatest number of military men and civilians to the hands of the enemies during the war. Hence, the citizens were bitter for the suffering and ready to support any effort that could result to the end of the war. Therefore, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima was a great victory to the American citizens, which explains the justification of the dropping of the atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities (Frank 1999). However, judging by the moral authority, the dropping of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities was not justified as weapons of mass destruction not only could have destroyed the country, but also the livelihood of its future generations. In addition, President Harry Truman wanted to see how his weapons could destroy a country and hence he opted not to describe the nature of the attacks that he had planned to use against the Japanese in his surrender command to the Japanese Emperor. However, this scenario was a war situation and the goal was to incapacitate an enemy rather than give a chance for future attacks, as it could have been the case of a peaceful surrender. Reference List Allen, L 1969, The Nuclear Raids Article†, in Hart Basil (ed), History of the Second World War, Purnell, London, pp. 2566-76. Bodden, V 2007, The Bombing of Hiroshima Nagasaki, The Creative Company, New Jersey. Brooks, L Stanley, E 2007, Creating military power: the sources of military effectiveness, Stanford University Press, Stanford. Cook, H Cook, T 1992, Japan at War: An Oral History, The New Press, New York. Christman, A 1998, Target Hiroshima: Deak Parsons and the Creation of the Atomic Bomb, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. Dower, J 2010, Cultures of War: Pearl Harbour / Hiroshima / 9-11 / Iraq, W. W. Norton, London. Frank, R 1999, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, Random House, New York. Gordin, M 2007, Five days in August: how World War II became a nuclear war, Princeton University Press, Ne w York. McNelly, T 2000, â€Å"The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb, in Jacob Neufeld (ed), Pearl Harbour to V-J Day: World War II in the Pacific, Diane Publishing Co. Washington D.C, pp. 86-99. Pellegrino, C 2010, The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, Henry Holt and Co., Washington D.C. Rotter, A 2008, Hiroshima: The Worlds Bomb, Oxford University Press, London. Sherwin, M 2003, A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and its Legacies, Stanford University Press, Stanford. Toland, J 2003, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936–1945, Modern Library, London Waley, P 2003, Japanese Capitals in Historical Perspective: Place, Power, and Memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo, Psychology Press, Oxford. Ward, W 2007, ‘The Winning Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima’, International Security, vol.31 no.4, pp. 162-179.
Monday, November 4, 2019
The Significance of Using LinkedIn Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words
The Significance of Using LinkedIn - Assignment Example The researcher also revealed the way LinkedIn can be integrated with other networking sites, which are applicable such as online forums, blogs, and tweets. Lastly, the recommendations were provided that revealed ways that the company can reduce the additional costs, which might be required for maximizing exposure such as advertising and premium listings. E-marketing has become one of the significant approaches employed by many companies in conducting business activities in the global market. The globalization era, which is driven by rapid technological advancement, have created varied changes in the way companies are conducting business in the 21st century. E-marketing has become widely incorporated in business activities because it enables companies to interact with their clients and communicate effectively about the services they offer to customers. E-marketing refers to the process of employing digital technologies in order to help entrepreneurs to distribute their products and services effectively across the global market. This method has become widely used than the traditional method because it offers companies significant access to the mass market at a reasonable cost. Therefore, many organizations particularly those, which specialize in dealing with the cloud, recognize the sufficient of using of Internet marketing. Companies offering services by moving their data to cloud services recognizes that selling services like this one does not need to rely on traditional marketing methods but rather use of electronic marketing in the 21st century. This has enabled such companies to employ effective online marketing tools in order to reach their potential targeted customers effective; hence increasing profits.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Exploring the opportunites and challenges of Developing Islamic Dissertation
Exploring the opportunites and challenges of Developing Islamic Financial services in Seychelles - Dissertation Example I have read the University regulations concerning plagiarism. I am willing to allow The University of _______________ School of Management to use my dissertation as a sample for future students. Signed †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Abstract (This page intentionally left blank) CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW ______________________________________ The Republic of Seychelles comprises of approximately 100 islands located between 4 and 5 degrees south of the equator, with a longitude of between 55 and 56 degrees east (Kawaley, 1998, pp. 226 – 227). ... Britain was to administer the Seychelles island group from Mauritius until the year 1903, and it was during this time that the British resettled African slaves rescued from Arab slave traders on these islands. Thus, today the Seychelles islands present a melting pot of many races, including mixed French, African, Indian, Chinese, and Arab with the tourism sector playing a leading role in economic growth together with commercial fishing (CIA, 2012). The official language of the Seychelles is English, but the use of the Creole language comes naturally to approximately 91.8% of the more than 90,024 inhabitants of these islands who live on an area of about 455 sq. km, which is 2.5 times the size of Washington DC, enclosed by a coastline that is 491 km in length. Seychelles was to become an independent nation in the year 1976, and Seychelles now exists as an Independent Republic with a democratically elected government within the British Commonwealth. The Figures below depict the relative geographic position of the Seychelles together with the more prominent islands in the Seychelles island group. According to CIA (2012), Seychelles has succeeded in expanding its per-capita output to approximately US$ 25,000 from a near-subsistence level at the time of independence, and this is a remarkable achievement for a country located near Africa. The tourism sector is the leading hard-currency earner, contributing nearly 70% to the foreign exchange earnings, but Seychelles has tried to diversify its export base to include farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing. It is important to note that Seychelles competes with Comoros, Madagascar and Mauritius to attract tourists and this means that competition exists in tourism. However,
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