Quality Management High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Quality Management High School - Essay Example Focusing on intangible effects on processes and ways to optimize and reduce their effects. Examination of the way the organization applies the product aimed at improving the product itself and Broadening management concern beyond the product. TQM is mainly concerned with continuous improvement in all work, whether in strategic planning and decision-making or at the supervisory level. It is based in the belief that, mistakes are avoidable and their effects are preventable. It leads to continuously improving results, in all aspects of work, as a result of continuously improving capabilities of workers, processes and technology. TQM is very key to achieving efficiency in the health sector in that it ensures that an organisation maintains a quality standard in all aspects of its business and undertakings. This involves doing things the right and therefore eliminating wastage and losses from the organisations operations. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency, in the United States government for protecting health and safety of the Americans and other needy people throughout the world. CDC concerns itself with prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases, injuries or workplace hazards, and environmental problems.

How was Surrealism related to Bohemianism Essay Example for Free

How was Surrealism related to Bohemianism Essay Andre Breton founded in 1924 a cultural movement that uses visual imagery in making artworks. The artworks are usually influenced by Freudianism, a theory started by Seigmund Freud form the field of psychology who dealt with sensual matters in his studies, oral fixation, and other things which are controversial to hear. With everything formed under the subconscious mind. The ancestors of movement were Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Apollinaire, with some advices from an Italian painter Chirico. Through the subconscious, more easily imagined is when someone is asleep, and they believe that the inspiration comes when they dream, and whatever it is in their dreams, they convert into a work of art. Many of the people who constitute the Surrealist movement are from the Dada movement, which critiques conventional aesthetics and the way these conventions are used from literary and art evaluation or appreciation. Usually their artworks are hard to understand because of the different approach and the techniques they use. Bohemianism on the other hand has to come to the level that it already became a religion. Their teachings focus on the impact of an individual to the world, thus giving their believers appreciation of their individuality. The same way with Surrealists, â€Å"Bohemians† do not use the conventional way of literary criticisms. They also dwell in ideology, mythology and religion. Their doctrine involves: 1) saying that each individual is powerful and he should use this power to stand out; 2) implying that life should be lived to the fullest, in our own unique way; 3) that what is more important is our effect when we already died, not while we are still living. These teachings are somewhat deviant from the teachings of almost every religion in the world. Since both Surrealism and Bohemianism separate themselves from the usual, then maybe this is the reason why their teachings are really against what is normal, or what have already been considered as norms. Both groups might have thought that they will shine when they oppose the norms, thus achieving the â€Å"live life to the fullest† concept. The twentieth century saw major changes for French women, what factors were most important to changing gender roles in twentieth-century France? The women of today, on some major parts of the world, already achieved some level of respect, or maybe equal, or maybe even higher in with respect to how men, whom from the very beginning have a total hold. The women of Australia, New Zealand and Finland were given the right to vote in years 1902, 1893 and 1906, respectively. These were the pioneering countries to the idea of giving importance in the right of women to express their political freedom to vote. The attainment of women empowerment in France had been very slow. According to historical evidences, the role of women in France was just sewers of socks for the military men, agents who give first aids to the injured; some were just whores to give satisfaction to the needy troops. Also, believe it or not, they were involved in the manufacture of air crafts. Most of them also worked for paid employment to sustain their families while their husbands attend to their military responsibilities. The turning point of French women’s career was when the same right was given to them. It was in 1944 that the first election involving women voters happened. Their first appearance to elections was in 1945, twice for the same year that involved municipal elections and after 6 months was followed by the parliamentary elections upon the approval of the French Provisional Government. The French Revolution gave way for women to voice out the oppression they undergo during that time. The French women’s movement forty years ago arose. Feminists went to the open due to this movement; this gave them the strength to pursue whatever has already been started. The feeling of being marginalized and mistreated opened the idea for them to â€Å"revolt†. Women even penetrated the politics. They began questioning equality. One of the premises they tackled is marriage, the role of men in the household and the possibility of divorce. Why was the French Army so skeptical of Republicanism during the Nineteenth and twentieth centuries? Republicanism is a political concept with focus on protecting liberty. During the war in France, the issue of liberty erupted even more because of the destabilization that occurred because of the distraction brought about by violence. This was alarming that time when France was really unstable for some periods because of a defeat in war. Who does not want liberty? Everyone desires for one’s freedom. The French Army was so alarmed to after being defeated, given the situations that might erupt when the mind of the people of France currently under the parliamentary regime began elucidating ideas that might lead to their destabilization. Some parts of France might take advantage of the losses the French government had that time. In 1870, the Third Republic emerged as a period of normalization: the healing period. The army was skeptical under this regime, but has finally reached stability. They are confused to what may happen and if they are ready enough to face the consequences. The new regime was fully recognized after the election in the Chamber of Deputies where majority of the votes are in favor of the republican setting. The only mentality of the French army was always about how they will keep the war in favor of them. Maybe because of the losses, personal and as a part of the troops were they not that mentally capable of envisioning what will happen. In the early 20th century France was actually in war with Germany. France was indeed not ready for the battle, thus they cannot entertain an internal conflict anymore. The French army was in the custody of General Marshal Joffre, who was actually of strong belief to the concept of the Third Republic under the presidential leadership of Adolphe Thiers, who first used political monarchy and gradually transformed to the republic. Why was religion such a contentious question in modern French history? In some countries in the world, their government is a separate entity from religion. The Catholicism discourages the interference politics in religion vice versa, because of the said â€Å"dirt† that might penetrate into the minds of the believers. On the other hand, in some part of the globe, some religions do political endorsements that is why some politicians support this kind of group because he knows that it could be of great help in gathering votes. In the same way that they guard their relationship with other religions because any conflict that might arise between them shall take part in the security of their names as political figures. Some people in modern France choose not to get affiliated with any religion, because they think religion is enforcing something to them in line with politics, and in the same manner that they are no longer firm in their religion because they find it political. These theories of them, the exchanges of influences made them to choose no religion at all. In this manner we could see how the French rendered the idea of just being intellectual, by being practical, which could actually make sense for many of them. Some people go to Islam. Theorists say that people doing it are playing-it-safe because Islam is a less â€Å"political religion† than other major religions in France. They say Islam is more practical; they dwell much of preserving their traditions and cultural preferences that minding those of the political matter. A revolution in France in 1848 paved a way for Church-State relations. Liberal Catholicism is historically known to be allied with monarchy, but supported the existing political power that time in the existing regime, which was actually anti-clerical. Although this relationship was developed, the bond did break only for a short period of time. There were actually 3 archbishops from Paris, Bordeaux and Lyons who gave their direct statement to the public mentioning that the religious flag will exist under the shadow of the republican flag. Time came when revolutions arose, people shouting for the separation

Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay: In Depth Analysis

In Depth Analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The five-line interlude ending on "the floors of silent seas" forms an encapsulated version of the remainder of the poem, in which the frustrated effort to establish purposive discourse leads once again to withdrawal downward and inward to a silent world of instinctual being. A return to images of distension and distracting sensuality provokes a final impulse toward violent imposition of the will--"to force the moment to its crisis"--which ends, like previous thoughts of disturbing the universe, in ruthless self-mockery. The image of decapitation parodies the theme of disconnected being and provides for at least a negative definition of the self: "I am no prophet." By this point the tense has quietly shifted from present to past, and the speaker offers a series of prolonged interrogatives on the consequences of action not taken. While its grammatical context ("And would it have been worth it") reduces it to the contemplation of "what might have been"; the language and imagery of this passage enact with renewed intensity the recurring drama of mental conflict: Would it have been worth while, To have bitten off the matter with a smile, To have squeezed the universe into a ball To roll it towards some overwhelming question, To say: "I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all." The infinitives in this passage--to have bitten, to have squeezed, to roll--conform to the poem's widespread use of transitive verbs of direct action in expressing the speaker's violent impulse to combat the forces of disorder: to murder and create, to disturb the universe, to spit out all the butt-ends, to force the moment. The poem's ling... ...hich the author has elected to work, may itself evoke other psychic material; and then, lines of poetry may come into being, not from the original impulse, but from a secondary stimulation of the unconscious mind." The mental forces at work in Eliot's description of the poetic process serve as an analogy to the conflicts besetting the speaker in Prufrock. The speaker is a failed poet in terms of his inability to "murder" existing structures in order to "create" anew; be finds it impossible to say what be wants to say. In the "secondary stimulation of the unconscious mind" that occurs at this point, he partly abandons and partly resolves the struggle of form and matter; the integration of the psyche remains at best incomplete. Â   Works Cited Conflicts in Consciousness: T.S. Eliot’s Poetry and Criticism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. Â   Â  

Computer Literacy Essay

Thou shall not vandalize Web pages. Thou shall not shut down Web sites. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s MP3s. FBI agents are spreading a new gospel to parents and teachers, hoping they’ll better educate youths that vandalism in cyberspace can be economically costly and just as criminal as mailbox bashing and graffiti spraying. The Justice Department and the Information Technology Association of America, a trade group, has launched the Cybercitizen Partnership to encourage educators and parents to talk to children in ways that equate computer crimes with old-fashioned wrongdoing. The nascent effort includes a series of seminars around the country for teachers, classroom materials and guides and a Web site to help parents talk to children. â€Å"In a democracy in general, we can’t have the police everywhere,† said Michael Vatis, director of the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center, which guards against computer attacks by terrorists, foreign agents and teen hackers. â€Å"One of the most important ways of reducing crime is trying to teach ethics and morality to our kids. That same principle needs to apply to the cyber world,† he said. Recognizing Virtual Crime Vatis and other FBI agents attended a kickoff seminar, titled the National Conference on Cyber Ethics, last weekend at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. Part of the challenge: Many teens still consider computer mischief harmless. A recent survey found that 48 percent of students in elementary and middle school don’t consider hacking illegal. Gail Chmura, a computer science teacher at Oakton High School in Vienna, Va., makes ethics a constant in her curriculum, teaching kids about topics such as computer law, software piracy and online cheating. She has argued with students who don’t see that stealing from a computer with bad security is as wrong as  stealing from an unlocked house. â€Å"It’s always interesting that they don’t see a connection between the two,† Chmura said. â€Å"They just don’t get it.† The FBI’s Vatis tells students, â€Å"Do you think it would be OK to go spray-paint your neighbor’s house or the grocery store down the street? On a Web site, it’s the same sort of thing. It’s somebody’s storefront or an extension of themselves.† Chmura tries similar messages. For instance, she asks a budding composer how he would feel if his music was stolen and given away online. â€Å"They do sometimes realize that when they’re copying someone’s product, it’s not just that 5 cent disk, but someone’s work that they’re copying,† she said. â€Å"I think they do come to appreciate the fact that it’s somebody’s salary they’re stealing.† Driving Home Consequences Vatis cites a long list of cyber crimes perpetrated by minors, including attacks on defense department computers in 1998 and the February jamming of major Web sites such as Amazon.com and eBay. He tries to drive home the consequences of hacking — including the resources it drains from his center, as law enforcement scrambles to find who is responsible at the outset of an attack. Authorities â€Å"don’t know if it’s a terrorist or a foreign military,† Vatis said. â€Å"It diverts very scarce resources of people who are trying to focus on crime, warfare and terrorism.† And children aren’t the only ones in need of training. College students and parents also are frequently undecided about what crosses an ethical boundary in cyberspace, where anyone can download pirated musical recordings. â€Å"We had some discussion about the legalities of whether you’re sharing something with your friend or burning CDs to sell at your school,† said Deborah Price of Lewisville, N.C., parent of a 14-year-old daughter. â€Å"I’m not real certain about Napster ethics myself.† Price — whose daughter uses Napster, the music-sharing service considered a threat to the recording industry — feels that computer ethics are an important issue. â€Å"I think it should be part of the discussion at the school,† Price said. â€Å"It’s only going to get bigger.† References: ABC News W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 10 FBI Pushes for Cyber Ethics Education By D. Ian Hopper http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119369

Foreign market entry strategies Essay

â€Å"Firms which participate in the business system as partners complement the company and its suppliers, thereby increasing the value to customers†. Explain your understanding of this view and provide examples to reinforce your arguments. For a company, entering new foreign markets may be achieved in a variety of ways. Each of these ways places its unique demands on the company in terms of organizational and financial resources. Most of the times, entering international markets is not a matter of choice but of necessity to remain competitive in new or established markets by meeting the consumer’ needs and values. The decision to go international represents an important commitment, to go into a new line of activity, this being the reason why it should be taken step by step: obtaining information, analyzing them, formulating alternative action plans, (Tookey, 1975) and of course find the right partners that match the company brand image and values. The international business system model is focused on the advantages determined by the internationalisation process and less on the development process of the internationalisation of companies. The main scope obtained by applying the Uppsala Model is predicting the company’s evolution on foreign markets. Two elements are at the basis of the model: the notion of essentiality attributed to the process and the notion of physical distance. The internationalisation of a multinational company takes place step by step, according to the Uppsala Model, which minimises the risks regarding the new market (Johanson; Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975). Therefore, the company is being involved gradually (investments, control and profit), getting to the point of creating a production subsidiary which ensures also the selling of the products on the new market. The stages of the internationalisation process are presented in Appendix 1. The concept of physical distance, the second element the Uppsala Model is based upon determines the companies to select, in a first stage, the neighbour countries in order to reduce the cultural, economical, political differences. According to this approach, the bigger the physical distance, the bigger is the incertitude about the new market and bigger the risks associated to this market. In the view of the globalisation phenomena, there are numerous criticisms about the â€Å"physical distance† notion. Many papers have developed the subject of the company’s internationalisation; a special place holds J. Birkinshaw who analysed the problems regarding the role of the subsidiaries and the evolution of the mandated in the internationalisation process at the multinational’s level. Therefore, Birkinshaw and Hoods (1998) have shown that creating a subsidiary can be explained on the basis of the interactions between the decisions of the mother-company, the initiatives o f the subsidiary and the specific conditions existing on the new market. The model developed by Birkinshaw (1997) is based on three variables: The relation headquarters – subsidiary; the subsidiary’s initiatives and the local environment. Regarding the internationalisation process, the company has more options (see Appendix 2) The first choice is represented by the development of the existing markets and it is being used by companies that are acting on highly competitive markets; the second choice – the company can choose to develop its activity on new markets, similar to the ones they are already acting on – in this case, they are usually choosing to export their products; the third strategy is developing a new line of products similar to the ones they already have and which will be sold on similar markets- in this case the company can choose between strategic alliances: creating a joint venture or licensing. . Management’s involvement in export operations is different, as we talk about passive exporters (when selling abroad is induced by the demand existing on the foreign market, meaning that the business is initiated by the importer) or active exporters (when the operation is initiated by the seller, which has an export strategy and a suitable business plan (Popa, 2006) From the operational point of view, exporters can be indirect exporters(with the participation of trading houses), when it isn’t necessary to create an organizational structure specific to the export activity or direct exporters, which is made by the producer, which is creating services or departments for international business. The determinants of export behaviour are experience and uncertainty effects; behavioural and firm-specific influences and strategic influences. 1. Experience and uncertainty effects Knowledge and learning regarding the exporting activity may be possessed or accumulated by the company in time. Experience has a key role, as firm’s involvement in international markets is most of the time a gradual process. During the early stages of exporting, firms have a more concentrated foreign market focus, while increased involvement in foreign market encourages diversification to a wider range of markets. As a firm’s knowledge of an export market increases, the uncertainty factor diminishes. This knowledge allows the identification of concrete opportunities, as distinct from theoretical that may be apparent from objective knowledge. 2. Behavioural and firm-specific influences Recent theories of exporting are strongly influenced by the behavioural theory of the firm, which stresses decision-maker characteristics, organizational dynamics and constraints, ignorance and uncertainty as key variables in decision making. Exporting has been described as a development process based on a learning sequence involving six stages Bilkey and Tesar, 1977): Stage 1: the firm is not interested in exporting Stage 2: the firm supplies unsolicited business, doesn’t examine the feasibility of active exporting Stage 3: the firm examines the feasibility of exporting in an active way Stage 4: experimental exports on neighbour countries Stage 5: the firm becomes an experienced exporter Stage 6: the firm explores the feasibility of exporting to additional countries of greater business distance. According to Welch (1982), the export commitment is influenced by four groups of factors (see figure 4): pre-export activities, direct export stimuli, latent influences on the firm and the role of the decision-maker. 3. Strategic influences The opinion among researchers and managers is divided on the issue of the relation between the firm size and export success. Still, the importance of a positive managerial attitude to exporting and the necessity of committing managerial and financial resources to the internationalization process are crucial to the success of the firm, irrespective of size. As a mode of international market entry, strategic alliances allow the firm (Bradley, 2002): †¢ Access to assets not readily available in the market †¢ Access to technology and markets †¢ The smaller firms can have access to technology and new products †¢ The larger firms can have access to markets †¢ Synergetic effects in the partner firms. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market represents an important part of the foreign direct investment strategy. The companies should select the new market, decide upon the types of operations that are about to be developed on these markets and decide the type of entry –green field investments, acquisitions, joint ventures. Choosing the way to enter a foreign market was also explained through cultural and national factors. Many studies have been concerned about this topic: †¢ Kogut and Singh (1988) after researches have concluded that a big cultural distance between the country of origin and the host country have as a result choosing joint ventures or green field investments. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have shown that an important socio-cultural distance, measured with the help of the Index developed by Ronen and Shenkar (1985) – goes to the partial propriety right. †¢ Gatignon and Anderson (1988) have concluded that multinational companies avoid having 100% owned subsidiaries in high risk countries. †¢ Cho and Radmanabhan (1995) have shown that companies from Japan are not willing to make acquisitions in developing countries. Choosing the joint venture as a mechanism to enter new markets (especially the developing countries and the ones with centralised economy) is usual ly a second-best option for the companies from developed countries. Still, the companies show through this the major interest for the local market; the participation in the joint-venture could be qualified as a foreign direct investment. Many times, this mechanism represents the only way to be present on a certain market. Licensing in international markets: License is the purchase or sale by contract of product pr process technology, design and marketing expertise (Bradley, 2002). It involves the market contracting of knowledge and know-how. International licensing takes place when a company provides, for a certain fee-royalty, a technology needed by another company in order to operate a business in a foreign market. Licensing of this firm involves one or more of these elements: †¢ a brand name †¢ operations expertise †¢ manufacturing process technology †¢ access to patents †¢ trade secrets. Licensing may be attractive when host countries restrict imports or foreign direct investment, or when the market is small and when the prospects of technology feedback are high. Franchising to enter international markets: Franchising is a derivative of licensing. In franchising a business format is licensed, not a product or a technology. Trademarks, trade names, copyright, designs, patents, trade secrets and know-how may all be involved in different mixtures in the „package† to be licensed. Franchising is a form of marketing and distribution in which the franchisor grants an individual or company, the franchisee, the right to do business in a prescribed manner over a certain period of time, in a specified place (Ayling, 1986). A franchise is, according to International Franchise Association (IFA), the agreement or license between two legally independent parties which gives: †¢ a person or group of people (franchisee) the right to market a product or service using the trademark or trade name of another business (franchisor) †¢ the franchisee the right to market a product or service using the operating methods of the franchisor †¢ t he franchisee the obligation to pay the franchisor fees for These rights †¢ the franchisor has the obligation to provide rights and support to franchisees. Types of Franchises There are two main types of franchises: product distribution and business format. Product distribution franchises simply sell the franchisor’s products and are supplier-dealer relationships. In product distribution franchising, the franchisor licenses its trademark and logo to the franchisees but typically does not provide them with an entire system for running their business. The industries where you most often find this type of franchising are soft drink distributors, automobile dealers and gas stations. Some familiar product distribution franchises include: Pepsi, Exxon, Ford Motor Company. Although product distribution franchising represents the largest percentage of total retail sales, most franchises available today are business format opportunities. Business format franchises, on the other hand, not only use a franchisor’s product, service and trademark, but also the complete method to conduct the business itself, such as the marketing plan and operations manuals. Business format franchises are the most common type of franchise. The United States, today reported that the 10 most popular franchising opportunities are in these industries: fast food, retail, service, automotive, restaurants, maintenance, building and construction, retail—food, business services, lodging. The many advantages and disadvantages of owning a franchise should be carefully evaluated before deciding to purchase one. Throughout all these different foreign market entry strategies, by understanding every characteristic detailed we can conclude that partnership can be at the core of international marketing decisions and enable possibilities of internationalisation. Partnerships can be structured in various ways depending on their purpose. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises, non-equity/contractual/co-operative strategic alliances, equity strategic alliances/joint ventures, and franchises, are basic types of formal partnerships. There are numerous other types of informal partnerships including; joint marketing & promotion, joint selling or distribution, technology licensing, R & D contracts, design collaboration, production agreements, and other synergies. Consequently, the ideal partner in a business partnership is one that has resources, skills and assets and values which complement the company. The partnership has to work financially and contractually, but it is also essential that a partner’s areas of strength and weakness are known and that an assessment is made of what actions would be needed to achieve an appropriate level of operational fit between the cultures of the two organisations. To meet the market needs effectively and in a sustained way, the business partnership must be based on a systematic and transparent agreement between the client and the partners (common values). That agreement provides the basis for a partnership deal and has to be sufficiently strong to engage the sustained commitment of both parties but also sufficiently flexible to enable the partnership to be responsive to changes in market needs and conditions. Being at the forefront partners are an extension of the company capability, image and valu es perceived by the consumer, therefore, complement the company by increasing the value to customers. For instance, Sony is an international and reputed company for its high standards range of TVs. Today, within the UK market, Sony position itself as a seller of durable and high end products by practicing a selective distribution. Their products are mostly found at Sony Centres (Sony own shop) or PC Currys World, exclusive partner (distributor) chosen by Sony well known in the market and sharing similar values such as expertise in the audiovisual area or guarantee of quality products and services. It reflects well a relevant and consistent image of the values conveyed by both organisations to the customers.

Free Essays on The Life Of A Firefighter

The Life of a Firefighter Firefighting is a trade that is as virtually as old as civilization. Whether it be through the old bucket line techniques, or the modern tactics used with machinery and highly trained individuals, it has always been a necessary part of our society. Firefighters are often applauded for their sacrifice and we often conjure up heroic images of these men when we think about them. But what does it really take to be a firefighter, what does a firefighter have to endure on a daily basis, and what kind of commitments and sacrifices does a firemen have to make? Firefighters are a select few who have the determination, courage, and selflessness to always be on the call to save another life in whatever way possible. Anyone can apply to be a firefighter simply by visiting your local fire station and picking up an application. However just applying does not guarantee that the applicant will be accepted; the fire department looks at the qualifications and former experience of applicants and selection can be pretty competitive. Volunteering in the community and a solid education are strong points that will increase an individuals chance of being accepted (Williams 91). Once an applicant applies and is accepted into the fire department they are sent off to the Fire Academy. The Fire Academy’s job is to take fresh recruits and transform them into highly skilled firefighters who know absolutely everything they need to know to become the best and safest firefighters that they can be. Training starts first thing in the morning and finishes at around six in the evening, five days a week for twelve weeks. Every morning trainees run a mile and a half, do sit-ups, pull-ups, and all sorts of other workouts. Once they are done with there physical training they then clean up and go into the classroom to learn the fundamentals of fighting fire; then they have the opportunity to go ... Free Essays on The Life Of A Firefighter Free Essays on The Life Of A Firefighter The Life of a Firefighter Firefighting is a trade that is as virtually as old as civilization. Whether it be through the old bucket line techniques, or the modern tactics used with machinery and highly trained individuals, it has always been a necessary part of our society. Firefighters are often applauded for their sacrifice and we often conjure up heroic images of these men when we think about them. But what does it really take to be a firefighter, what does a firefighter have to endure on a daily basis, and what kind of commitments and sacrifices does a firemen have to make? Firefighters are a select few who have the determination, courage, and selflessness to always be on the call to save another life in whatever way possible. Anyone can apply to be a firefighter simply by visiting your local fire station and picking up an application. However just applying does not guarantee that the applicant will be accepted; the fire department looks at the qualifications and former experience of applicants and selection can be pretty competitive. Volunteering in the community and a solid education are strong points that will increase an individuals chance of being accepted (Williams 91). Once an applicant applies and is accepted into the fire department they are sent off to the Fire Academy. The Fire Academy’s job is to take fresh recruits and transform them into highly skilled firefighters who know absolutely everything they need to know to become the best and safest firefighters that they can be. Training starts first thing in the morning and finishes at around six in the evening, five days a week for twelve weeks. Every morning trainees run a mile and a half, do sit-ups, pull-ups, and all sorts of other workouts. Once they are done with there physical training they then clean up and go into the classroom to learn the fundamentals of fighting fire; then they have the opportunity to go ...

How to Plan a Game Development Project

How to Plan a Game Development Project One of the most complicated aspects of game development is planning. Some would argue that small indie projects don’t need this step; they simply need to work on the project until it’s done. This is far from true. Initial Planning The design framework laid at the project’s origin will determine the course for the entire project’s development. Its important to remember at this step that nothing is set in stone, but you should attempt to be as accurate as possible. Feature List First, analyze the design document and determine the game’s requirements. Then, split out each requirement into a list of features that will be needed to implement the requirement. Breaking Down the Tasks Take each feature and work with your leads in each area (art, animation, programming, sound, level design, etc) to break it down into tasks for each department (a group or person, depending on the size of your team). Assigning Tasks The lead of each group should then create initial time requirement estimates for each task and assign them to team members. After this is complete, the lead should work with the team to ensure that the estimates are correct and reasonable. Dependencies The project manager then must take all the task estimates and place them into a project management software package, either Microsoft Project or Excel (the two long-time industry standards) or any of the newer choices available for agile project management. Once the tasks are added, the project manager must look at the tasks and match dependencies between teams to ensure that the timing of creating a feature doesn’t have impossible relationships that prevent it from being completed within necessary time frames. For example, to fully implement a racing game, you wouldnt schedule the coding of tire durability before the completion of the physics system. You would have no framework to base the tire code upon. Scheduling This is where things get particularly complicated, but where the need for project management in the first place becomes more apparent. The project manager assigns estimated start and completion dates for each task. In traditional project planning, you end up with a cascading â€Å"waterfall† view, which shows the timeline for completion of the project and the dependencies that link the tasks. Its critical to remember to factor in slippage, employee sick time, unexpected delays on features, etc. This is a time-consuming step, but it will quickly give you an idea of exactly how much time the project will take to complete. What to Do With the Data By looking at this project plan, you can determine if a feature is going to be costly in time (and, therefore, money) and make decisions about whether the feature is necessary for the game to succeed. You might decide that delaying a feature to update- or even a sequel- makes more sense. Also, tracking how long you’ve worked on a feature is useful in determining if its time to either try a new technique to solve the problem or cut the feature for the good of the project. Milestones A frequent use of project planning involves the creation of milestones. Milestones indicate when a certain element of functionality, a time period of working on the project, or a percentage of the tasks has been completed. For internal project tracking, milestones are useful for planning purposes and for giving the team specific goals to aim for. When working with a publisher, milestones frequently determine how and when the developing studio is paid. Final Notes Project planning is regarded by many as a nuisance, but youll almost always find that developers who plan projects well in advance and hit their milestones are the ones who succeed in the long run.

10 Animal Sounds in Japanese Words

10 Animal Sounds in Japanese Words In different languages, there is little consensus about what sounds animals make. This holds true in  Japanese as well as other tongues. In English, for example, a cow says moo, but in French, its closer to meu or meuh. In Japanese, the bovine says moo moo. American dogs say woof, but in Italy, mans best friend makes a sound more like bau. In Japanese, they say wan wan. Below are the sounds various animals say in Japanese. Japanese Animal Sounds The table displays the name of the animal in the left column, with the transliteration of the animals name in bold and its depiction in Japanese letters below. The English name for the animal is listed in the second column. The third column lists the sound the animal makes in bold with the Japanese letters for the sound below that. The sound an animal makes in English is included below the Japanese spelling in the third column, allowing for easy comparison to the animal sound in Japanese. karasu㠁‹ã‚‰ã â„¢ crow kaa kaaã‚ «Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£â€š «Ã£Æ' ¼ niwatorié ¶  rooster kokekokkoã‚ ³Ã£â€š ±Ã£â€š ³Ã£Æ'Æ'ã‚ ³Ã£Æ' ¼(Cock-a-doodle-doo) nezumi㠁 ­Ã£ Å¡Ã£  ¿ mouse chuu chuuãÆ' Ã£Æ' ¥Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ' Ã£Æ' ¥Ã£Æ' ¼ nekoçÅ' « cat nyaa nyaaãÆ'‹ãÆ' £Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'‹ãÆ' £Ã£Æ' ¼(meow) umaé ¦ ¬ horse hihiinãÆ'’ãÆ'’ãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ' ³ butaè ±Å¡ pig buu buuãÆ'â€"ãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ'â€"ãÆ' ¼(oink) hitsujiç ¾Å  sheep mee meeãÆ' ¡Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ¼(baa baa) ushi牛 cow moo mooãÆ' ¢Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ' ¢Ã£Æ' ¼(moo) inuçŠ ¬ dog wan wanãÆ' ¯Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ' ¯Ã£Æ' ³(woof, bark) kaeruã‚ «Ã£â€š ¨Ã£Æ' « frog kero keroã‚ ±Ã£Æ' ­Ã£â€š ±Ã£Æ' ­(ribbit) These animal sounds are usually written in the katakana script, rather than kanji or hiragana. The Bowwow Theory The bowwow theory  posits that language began when human ancestors started imitating  the natural sounds around them. The first speech was onomatopoeic and included words such as moo, meow, splash, cuckoo, and bang. Of course, in English especially, very few words are onomatopoeic. And around the world, a dog might say au au in Portuguese, wang wang in Chinese, and as noted, wan wan in Japanese. Some researchers have suggested that the animals a culture is most closely aligned with will have more versions of the sounds they make in their respective languages. In American English, for example, a dog might say bowwow, woof, or ruff. Since dogs are beloved pets in the U.S., it makes sense that American-English speakers would want to have a menu of sound words for this pet. The Dog in Japan Dogs are also quite popular as pets in Japan, where they were domesticated during the Jomon period in 10,000 B.C. Though katakana script is most common, you can write the Japanese word for dog,  inu,  in either  hiragana  or  kanji - but since the kanji character for dog is quite simple, try learning how to write it in kanji. Phrases referring to dogs are as common in Japan as they are in the West. Inujini  means to die like dog, and to call someone a dog in Japenese is to accuse him of being a spy or dupe. The sentence  Inu mo  arukeba  bou  ni  ataru  (when the dog walks, it runs across a stick) is a common Japanese saying, meaning that when you walk outside, you could possibly meet with an unexpected fortune.

The Music Industry Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Music Industry - Term Paper Example Before the internet had arrived, the distribution of music was done through a few standards. These included CDs in the 1980s and the 1990s and before that, tapes formed one of the important mediums for the transmission of music to the final listener. All these standards had one feature in common. These mediums were traceable, secure and physical. Music theft and infringement was not common. Proper proceeds were given to the recording company, and henceforth to the artist. However, the sprawl of the internet led to websites, which started offering free music, which was available for download for everyone (Burgelman, Year). In this regard, the music industry started losing quite a lot in revenues. Some worrisome statistics will properly paint a picture of the loss of the music industry, because of an increase in digital media. Since peer-to peer, networking sites have evolved, around 47 percent of the music sales in the United States have dropped. Moreover, internet users consume aroun d $7 billion to $20 billion of the music, which is completely pirated, and the proceeds do not reach the right owner of the music. Around 30 billion songs illegally downloaded on the internet, through different websites in a span of five years (RIAA, n.d). ... Lastly, it tries to explain solutions to this problem in this dynamic and globalized world, where information is shared in nano-seconds. Concerning the legal issues involved in the music industry, it is important to discuss the matter of copyrights initially. Copyrighting is a way of providing legal protection, given to different forms of art, especially musical compositions such as lyrics, records and songs. In the music industry, the issue of copyrighting includes protecting the music itself (which includes lyrics and a melody) and the recording (such as mp3s, CDs, cassettes, DAT and other form of recording). If the music is recorded on a tangible medium, the creator has copyright protection. It is more prudent to register with the Copyright office, to gain maximum protection (Lawyers for the Creative Art, n.d). In this regard, distribution of music on the internet, without obtaining the permission from the original owner becomes a copyright infringement. The United States Copyrigh t Act states that the protection of a musical recording applies to sound recording. The reproduction of a particular sound recording forms the exclusive right of the Copyright owner. Infringement occurs when another party reproduces the musical recordings, without the permission of Copyright owner. Much of the music on the internet is obtained and transmitted without this permission. Therefore, it becomes illegal. However, not all the websites on the internet transmit the music illegally. These websites include iTunes, Rhapsody, MusicNet, and Liquid Digital Media among others. When an individual downloads music off this website, he or she has to pay a certain amount to the website (Bass, n.d). The mp3 technology or the

Australian Government Intervenes in the Economy Essay

Australian Government Intervenes in the Economy - Essay Example Aside from market failures, the government also intervenes to achieve equality through the reallocation of resources and redistribution of income (Stiglitz, 2002). This last impetus for the government to interfere in the market economy is the focus of this paper. We will take a particular look at the Australian government and its various ways of intervening in the market to improve its outcomes: with a specific focus on reallocation of resources and redistribution of income. A study of the Australian National University's Centre for Economic Policy Research highlighted the income inequality in Australia. "The study revealed that "taken overall, the 60 years from 1921 were apparently a period of major decline" in the share of income going to the wealthiest taxpayers" (Michaels, 2006). By 1980, the share of the top 1% fell from 10% of the total income to 5%, the 0.5% fell from around 9% to 2.95% and the top 0.1% was cut down from 4% to approximately 1% (Michaels, 2006). ... er the same period and the share of the top 0.1 percent, which had fallen to approximately 1 percent of the total in the 1980s, more than doubled to over 2 percent by the end of the 1990s" (Michaels, 2006). The introduction of the imputation system "in which part of corporation tax paid is treated as a pre-payment of personal income tax" has exacerbated the inequality (Michaels, 2006). Early Redistribution Activities Australia government depended on three redistribution methods: "the progressivity of the taxation system; the distribution of government cash payments; and the absolute level of government in-kind and cash payments" (Robinson, 2007). "From 1910 to 1940 per capita levels current of Australian social expenditure in 1911 prices rose 208% substantially more than Butlin's estimate for GDP growth in 1911-39 of 48%. The introduction of aged pensions, the maternity bonus and repatriation services saw the Commonwealth take a leading position in overall social expenditure, in particular cash payments to individuals, but the states remained dominant in the delivery of in-kind services, particularly education and health and NSW from 1927 introduced widows' pensions and child endowment" (Robinson, 2007) Australian government has given much in terms of pension and reparation. Excluding the NSW widow pensions, pension and reparation became the government's responsibility in which the distribution is "allocated per capita among the census category of Pensioners as identified in the census" (Robinson, 2007). There were also in-kind government services which is composed mainly of health and education and administered by the state in proportion to their population (Robinson, 2007). The government also resported to cash payments, although it covered only a small

The Dew Breaker Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Dew Breaker - Assignment Example nt is a building block, ever so delicately placed, that Danticat employed in order to give a hint as to his fathers own relationship with his memories, his past deeds, and his life in general. His fascination with mummies and the past, that they last for thousands of years, reflects his own fascination with his own past, and the dark secrets that lay there. His dark secrets, Danticat wanted to hint at, likewise has the ability to last for thousands of years, haunting his father even as he tries to live a new and placid life in America with his daughter. That anecdote on the grieving practices of the ancient Egyptians is a hint on top of other hints, much like the title of the book is a hint of what his father was in a past life, a torturer and a prison guard of proven cruelty (Danticat; Corbett). We get a sense that this is so, that the mummies are really representative of artifacts of guilt and shame, and in some ways of the actual terror and cruelty that his father, as a â€Å"dew breaker†, inflicted on many people during his watch as prison guard. There is a sense in some analyses of the novel, for instance, that point to this way that Danticat portrays the guilt and the terror that people, both victims and perpetrators, feel all the way to the present, even though they try so hard to live new lives and to escape from their past. This paper asserts that the fascination with the grieving process,and the reference to mummies living on for thousands of years, is in fact a symbolic representation of how, for the torturers like his father,and for the victims of that torture, there is no escaping the past, because the past lives on, like mummies which will not disintegrate and be completely forgotten. This paper asserts that this is a valid point to make. As far as victi ms go, for instance, there is the story that seems to mirror the fathers fascination with the past, and with it an unseen bag of bones, so to speak, that hides in the fathers psyche, a bag of bones

Discuss the four core strategies that underpin the modern concept of Essay

Discuss the four core strategies that underpin the modern concept of Risk Management and Control. Relate these core strategies to practical security - Essay Example xecuted in a variety of ways, which comprises of strategies including the transfer of the risk toward another party, avoiding any such risks beforehand, reduction of the after-effects and consequences of the risk once it hits the organization or in another case, accepting the consequences posed by a risk. Also, the nature of risk management depends on the kind of risk posed on an organization, i.e. in case of a physical risk; the risk management would involve analysis of potent risks on property of the organization, while financial threats may be resolved by considering insurance options etc. Also, the threats may be initiated from many different sources, for instance, there may be environmental, technological, and political or in some cases even organizational threats involved, which the manager may have to deal with. Prior to the execution of the risk management, assessment of the risk is quite crucial. This involves the analysis over the extent of the severity of any kind of potential loss which may occur or the chanced of the occurrence of the loss. The manager must measure the value via various indicators he/she might come up with during the analysis. However, if the statistical data is available for the cause, this would be an ideal situation, as the risk assessment in this case would be the most accurate one. Risk assessment, here, implies that the manager undertakes the holistic view of the organization, considering the resources, internal and external environment, along with the market conditions and any other factors which must be taken into account to make a prediction on what kind of threats may affect the organization. Based on this analysis, the manager clearly identifying the nature and the extent, also the probability if the threats which the organization may have to face in the fu ture. Once the analysis is conducted, the manager can then consider the options and then take considerable time to choose the most desirable options to avoid any kind of

Academic Journal Article Evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Academic Journal Article Evaluation - Assignment Example One hundred forty five students in romantic relationships took part in the study on nonverbal communication. The students were split in different divisions and answered the questions according to their understanding. Prinsen and Punyanunt-Carter (2010) found different responses among the people in the relationships. These responses support the authors research on the ideology that there is a huge disparity in nonverbal communication between men and women who are in varying stages of their relationship. The study found that women rated issues on nonverbal communication statistically higher compared to those considered by men. Men on the other hand rated the imperativeness of nonverbal communication as more crucial and should change as well as increase for relationships to work. Additionally, the scholars also found out that sex dissimilarities in nonverbal communication have the capability to cause message misinterpretation in a romantic interaction. The editorial was extremely informative considering that I am in a romantic relationship. The different aspects discussed added value in my life because I now have the knowledge on how to handle nonverbal

Discuss the four core strategies that underpin the modern concept of Essay

Discuss the four core strategies that underpin the modern concept of Risk Management and Control. Relate these core strategies to practical security - Essay Example xecuted in a variety of ways, which comprises of strategies including the transfer of the risk toward another party, avoiding any such risks beforehand, reduction of the after-effects and consequences of the risk once it hits the organization or in another case, accepting the consequences posed by a risk. Also, the nature of risk management depends on the kind of risk posed on an organization, i.e. in case of a physical risk; the risk management would involve analysis of potent risks on property of the organization, while financial threats may be resolved by considering insurance options etc. Also, the threats may be initiated from many different sources, for instance, there may be environmental, technological, and political or in some cases even organizational threats involved, which the manager may have to deal with. Prior to the execution of the risk management, assessment of the risk is quite crucial. This involves the analysis over the extent of the severity of any kind of potential loss which may occur or the chanced of the occurrence of the loss. The manager must measure the value via various indicators he/she might come up with during the analysis. However, if the statistical data is available for the cause, this would be an ideal situation, as the risk assessment in this case would be the most accurate one. Risk assessment, here, implies that the manager undertakes the holistic view of the organization, considering the resources, internal and external environment, along with the market conditions and any other factors which must be taken into account to make a prediction on what kind of threats may affect the organization. Based on this analysis, the manager clearly identifying the nature and the extent, also the probability if the threats which the organization may have to face in the fu ture. Once the analysis is conducted, the manager can then consider the options and then take considerable time to choose the most desirable options to avoid any kind of

How effective was the German U boat campaign of the First World War Essay

How effective was the German U boat campaign of the First World War - Essay Example However, as technology became more advanced, it also hindered the abilities of this submarine, as countries developed more sophisticated tools of war. The U-Boats were unique and diverse, and belonged to different categories. These played the major role for Germany in the First World War. Their capabilities lasted up to the beginning of the Second World War. This was after Germany’s enemies developed their own different ways of combating the U-Boats (Sondhaus 2011). This paper focuses on the roles the U-Boat campaign played in the First World War, its effectiveness, and ultimate failure. During the First World War, the submarine was seen as the main weapon in the war. The Germany U-Boat was the greatest challenge to the British maritime security during this war. In September 1914, a U-Boat sank three old British cruisers. In the month of October, the same year, a U-Boat again sank a state-of-the-art battleship. Subsequently, more British and French warships were sunk by the U- Boats in the following years. In May 1915, the HMS Triumph was equally sunk, among others. In December of the same year, U-Boat 38 facilitated the sinking of the P&O passenger liner SS Persia. While Britain and France used warships, Germany’s U-Boat campaign was a more effective strategy in the war (Williamson 2013). During the First World War, Germany and Britain used naval blockades to ensure that no ship from one country got access to the other country. Initially, the British succeeded at this, as their surface fleet could intercept Germany-bound ships. This case compelled Germany to utilise the U-Boats. In 1915, Germany adopted an unrestricted submarine warfare strategy. Since Britain relied on foodstuffs and weapons from Canada and America, which were transported across the Atlantic Ocean, Germany thought that this strategy could make British surrender from the war. Therefore, Germany was involved in the indiscriminate sinking of all ships, even those belonging to neutra l states. By use of the U-Boat, Germany succeeded in sinking numerous ships, risking the fact that it could add more enemies, apart from Britain and France (Herwig 1998). In May 1015, the U-Boat U-20, led to the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania, leading to many deaths. Of the passengers on board, were 128 Americans, and 1,170 more passengers. This outraged America, which was neutral in the war during this period. THE U-Boats conducted further sinking of ships, and this resulted in a poor relationship between Germany and America. However, Germany decided to end the unrestrictive strategy in September 1915. This had already cause havoc to the affected countries, as the U-Boat campaign was effective in this. The U-Boat campaign of Germany managed to sink 750,000 tons of enemy’s shipping. However, this did not devastate the economy of Britain (Sheffield 2011). When Germany returned their unrestricted war strategy in September 1916, more havoc was done by the U-Boats. Duri ng this period, Germany invested in more manufacturing of U-Boats at a high speed. This led the U-Boat campaign to accomplish another sinking of 250,000 tons within the duration of a few weeks only. This led to the development of more tension between Germany and its rivals. Germany did not care if America, which was neutral, would be compelled to join the war (Sheffield 2011). In 1916, France and Britain defeated the Germany army. This led to Germany to conduct a few changes in

History of Camarines Norte Essay Example for Free

History of Camarines Norte Essay From 1573 to 1829, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte formed only one political unit known as Ambos Camarines. In 1829, they were separated but reunited again in 1854. They again separated in 1857 to be reunited again in 1893. This union continued until 1919. On March 3, 1919, Camarines Norte was reestablished by the Philippine Legislature in Act 2809. When Camarines Norte was separated from Ambos Camarines in 1829, it was assigned the towns of Daet, as capital, Talisay, Indan (now Vinzons), Labo, Paracale, Mambulao (now Jose Panganiban), Capalonga, Ragay, Lupi and Sipocot. Seventeen years later, it lost Sipocot, Lupi and Ragay to Camarines Sur in exchange for the town of Siruma. Juan de Salcedo, dispatched by Legazpi to explore the island in 1571, influenced the existence of Camarines Norte. After subduing Taytay and Cainta, he marched further across Laguna and Tayabas. He visited the rich gold-laden town of Mambulao and Paracale, obsessed by them about which he heard from natives there of existing gold mines. When Francisco de Sande took over from Legazpi as Governor General, Spanish influence started to be felt in the region. He established a permanent Spanish garrison in Naga to control the region and defend it from Chinese and Muslim pirates. Capt. Pedro de Chavez was assigned to head this force. There were already native settlements here when the Spaniards arrived. The flourishing towns of Mambulao and Paracale were two of them. Indan and Daet were the other settlements besides Capalonga and others. But Paracale remained the most sought after because of its gold mines. ** The national hero Jose P. Rizal and other Filipino expatriates who lived in Madrid and other cities of Spain, called ‘Los Indios Bravos,’ established â€Å"La Solidaridad,† their publication advocating for reforms in the Philippines from the Spanish governm ent. One of the editors of ‘La Solidaridad’ was Jose Maria Panganiban, born in Mambulao (now Jose Panganiban) on February 1, 1863. Lovingly dubbed by his compatriots the â€Å"Avenger of Filipino Honor† or â€Å"El Vengador del Honor Filipino,† this genius, nationalist, scientist and writer died on August 19, 1890 at age 27 of pulmonary tuberculosis in Barcelona, Spain. His remains were brought back to the Philippines by Dr. Domingo Abella in 1958 and to Jose Panganiban in 1985 – 122 years to the day since his birth – â€Å"to rest in eternal repose in the bosom of his beloved native town (Mambulao) on February 1† by MP Roy B. Padilla, Sr., Batasang Pambansa. The entire country and province respectively bestowed upon him a belated but rousing honors. The towns were chiefly inhabited by Tagalogs; the rests were of Visayan strain. However, most of the immigrants were from Mauban, Quezon. The Spanish missionaries did not falter in their mission to Christianize the natives. ** Daet Revolt : APRIL 14-17, 1898 Local members of the Katipunan led by Ildefonso Moreno and other illustrious patriots staged an uprising against the Spanish authorities here who have fortified themselves in the house of one Florencio Arana, a Spanish merchant and a long time resident of Daet. Sporadic encounters started on April 14 until April 16 when the rebels occupied Daet and surrounded the Spaniards in the house of Arana. But the Katipuneros failed to repulse the reinforcements which arrived in Barra (now Mercedes) from Nueva Caceres on April 17. Said reinforcements broke the siege of Daet. This resulted in the death and/or execution of many patriots, including Ildefonso Moreno, Tomas Zaldua and his two sons, Jose Abaà ±o, Domingo Lozada and Aniceto Gregorio, among others. While the Daet revolt collapsed, it signaled the start of a series of rebellion throughout the Bicol region. ** Another illustrious son of Camarines Norte, Gen. Vicente R. Lukban of Labo wrote a golden page in the history of the province in particular and the country in general. On September 28, 1901, Sunday, he led Filipino rebels, armed only with bolos and sharpened bamboo poles, in an attack against the contingent of American forces in Balangiga, Samar. Only 36 troopers of Company C, 9th Infantry Regiment of the US Forces survived the attack against 16 casualties among the Filipino rebels, giving the encounter its famous label â€Å"Balangiga Massacre† in Philippine history. This feat of arms is celebrated annually in Balangiga, Samar, and in Camarines Norte, with appropriate activities. By virtue of Act 2809 of March 3, 1919, Governor General F. B. Harrison separated Camarines Norte from Camarines Sur with the installation of Don Miguel R. Lukban as its first governor. â€Å"In functional sense, April 15, 1920, was the date of the organization of Camarines Norte, as directed by Executive Order No. 22 dated March 20, 1920, in conformity with the provisions of Act No. 2809,† according to Serafin D. Quiason, former chairman of the National Historical Institute (NHI). Presently, Camarines Norte consisted of 12 towns: Basud, Capalonga, Daet, Jose Panganiban, Labo, Mercedes, Paracale, San Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente, Sta. Elena, Talisay and Vinzons. Daet remained as its capital town. ** Wenceslao Q. Vinzons, Sr. Lawyer, orator, labor leader, writer, youngest delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention and youngest signatory of the Charter at the age of 25, governor in 1940 and congressman-elect in 1941, this provincial hero, refusing to surrender, evacuated the provincial government during the Japanese occupation to the hinterlands of Labo and led a guerrilla force against the Japanese forces here, capturing one town after another in Camarines Norte; organized an all-out attack on Daet, the capital town, and captured it on May 3, 1942; ***together with his father Gavino Vinzons and then Gov. Basilio Bautista, he was captured on July 8, 1942, but he refused vehemently to collaborate with the Japanese; ***few days later his wife Liwayway and children Aurora and Alexander were likewise abducted; he and his father mysteriously disappeared on August 7, 1942; â€Å"the remains of Vinzons, his father, his wife and two children had never been found;† the town of Indan where he was born on September 28, 1910, was re-named Vinzons in his honor and became the venue of the province-wide annual celebration of his birth anniversary. ** First Guerilla Encounter The first guerilla encounter in the Philippines during the second world war in the Pacific, occurred on December 18, 1941 11 days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 and 10 days after the attack on Clark Airbase in Pampanga on Dec. 8, 1941 at Laniton, Basud, Camarines Norte when the Vinzons guerrilla group with some elements of USAFFE units engaged the vanguard of the Japanese Imperial Army advancing towards Daet, the capital town; a shrine was put up in Laniton to mark this historic feat of arms while surviving veterans and the sons and daughters of veterans who fell commemorate this event every Dec. 18 with fitting programs and activities in Basud and Daet under the auspices of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines – Camarines Norte Chapter (VFP-CN), Basud Municipal Government and the Provincial Government.

Profitability and Corporate Leverage Policy of Firms

Profitability and Corporate Leverage Policy of Firms Abstract This study attempts to determine the relationship between the profitability and leverage policy of firms of Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. The analysis was implemented on 27 firms in the Fuel and energy sector listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange for the period 2003-2008. Regression was used to find out the relationship between the independent variable (Profitability) and dependent variable (Leverage). We expect the negative relationship between the Profitability and the Leverage Policy of firms in the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan, confirming the pecking order theory of capital structure. The results found in our study were not as expected. The results showed that there is inverse relationship between profitability and leverage but our results were not that much significant to accept our hypothesis. So we rejected our pecking order theory hypothesis. Therefore we conclude that because of certain factors such as economic situation of the Pakistan, rising prices of oil all a round the world, interests rates and reliance of firms financing needs mostly on bank financing, pecking order theory model becomes insignificant in the Energy and Fuel sector of Pakistan. Chapter-1 Introduction Capital structure involves different decisions taken by a firm in financing its assets. Generally, a firm can solve this issue through different mixes of debts, equity, or other financial arrangements. It can also combine bonds, TFCs, lease financing, bank loans or many other options with equity in order to boost the market value of the firm. 1.1 Importance of the topic: Optimal capital structure plays a vital role in the overall value maximization of a firm. The strategic management of capital structure ensures access to the capital needed to fund future growth and enhance financial performance. Our focus in this study is to correlate the profit of the firm with its leverage. Importance of the study is to find out that which source of funds either retained earnings, debt or equity, a firm in the Fuel and Energy sector should prefer in order to optimize the profit and the value of the firm. In Pakistan, firms usually prefer short-term borrowing, because commercial banks are the major lenders and they do not encourage long-term loans. Up to 1994 firms did not rely on market based debt; in mid 1994 the government amended the Company Law to help companies to raise debt directly from the market in the form of TFCs (Term Finance Certificates). 1.2 Background of the study: Various capital structure theories had been discussed by many authors to explain the variation of capital structure of different firms. So many researches had also been taken place in order to solve the mystery of optimal capital structure in Pakistani firms. A thorough research study relating to the capital structure was carried by two Pakistani professors Shah and Tahir (2004) which attempted to answer the question of what determines the capital structure of Pakistani Listed firms other than those in financial sector. Booth, et. Al (2001) had also worked on the determinants of capital structures of 10 developing countries including Pakistan, but their data analyzed the firms that were included in the KSE-100 Index from 1980 to 1987. Shah and Tahir (2004) analyzed the data of non-financial firms for the period of 1997-2001 while our study differs from theirs on grounds of different sector, variables and period. 1.3 Objective of the study: The objective of this study is to find out the relationship between the profitability and the corporate leverage policy of firms in the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. We are trying to figure out that the firms that have more profits in the Fuel and Energy sector have lower leverage. Our main focus in this study is to correlate the profit of the firm with its leverage in the context of pecking order theory. According to pecking order hypothesis firms tend to use internally generated funds first and than resort to external financing. This implies that profitable firms will have less amount of leverage. Therefore we expect a negative relationship between profitability and debt of a firm i.e. higher the profits of a firm, the lesser will be its debt. 1.4 Scope of the study: This study is limited on the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. There are 27 firms of that sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for six years from 2003-2008 as the study covers the period from 2003 to 2008. 1.5 Disposition of the study: This study is organized into five stages. In first stage we have described the background of our topic. In second stage review of literature has been done. In next stage we have explained our data and variables used in our analysis. At fourth stage we have discussed the model and the statistical test to be used. While the last stage concludes the results of the test. Chapter 2 Literature Review In this chapter we have gone through the various research studies regarding the leverage and well known capital structure theories. Capital structure refers to specific mixture of debt and equity a firm needs to finance its operations and optimal capital structure plays a vital role in the overall value maximization of a firm. This has given birth to different capital structure theories that attempt to explain the variation in capital structures of firms. The Miller Modigliani theorem showed that the market value of a firm is determined by the risk of its underlying assets and its earning power and is independent of the choices to finance its investments i.e the value of the firm is independent of the capital structure it takes on. But Myers suggested the contemporary thinking on capital structure in form of Static Tradeoff Theory. This explained that a firm initially following a target debt-equity ratio behaves accordingly. The costs and benefits related to the debt option make this target ratio. The costs and benefits are cost of financial distress, tax shields and agency cost. There are different theories that are used to explain the capital structure decisions which are based n the asymmetric information, tax benefits associated with the debt, bankruptcy cost and agency cost. The asymmetric information is related with pecking order framework and the other three are rooted in static trade-off choice. Under the trade off theory firms tried to equate the marginal benefits of an additional unit of debt with the related marginal cost, while holding the firms assets and investments plans. Under this model the key benefits are debt tax deductibility and the mitigation of agency cost while the main cost of additional debt is bankruptcy. Green, Murinde and Suppakitjarak (2002) observed that the tax policy also effect the capital structure decision of firms. Firm are allowed to deduct interest on debt in computing taxable profit under tax ordinance while the payments associated with the equity such as dividends are not tax deductible. Therefore, the tax effect encourages the debt usage by the firm if the rates are higher and more debt increases cash savings in form of after tax proceeds to the owner. Usage of debt in the capital structure of the firm also leads to agency cost which arises as a result of relationship between the share holder and manager while the firms management is the agent and the share holder being the principal. Agent may not choose to maximize their principals wealth. The conflict arises as the managers have less than 100% of the residual claim. Thus, managers may invest in projects that reduce the value of the firm while enhancing their control over its resources. Additional cash flow is the prime source of the agency cost. Debt helps to mitigate this agency cost as the firm is committed to pay out excess cash in the form of interest payments. The probability of bankruptcy increases with the increase in the level of the debt. If the firm goes beyond the optimum level of debt, then it is more likely that the firm will default on the repayment of the loan. As a result of that, the control of the firm will be shifted from share holders to the bond holders or the creditors who will liquidate the firm in order to recover their investment. There are also direct and indirect costs associated with the bankruptcy. Direct cost includes administrative costs of bankruptcy and costs of reorganization in the event of insolvency. While the indirect cost arises when the firm gets into financial distress. It may arise because of the change in the investment policies of the firm if firm foresees possible bankruptcy. In order to avoid the possible financial distress it will cut down the expenditure on certain departments like research and development, training of employees and advertisements etc. Therefore, if a firm is perceived to be close d to bankruptcy customers may be less willing to buy its goods because of low perceived quality of goods and the risk that the firm will not be able to meet its warranty obligation. Employees may also be less interested to work for the firm and creditors are less inclined to extend trade credit. Hence under the static trade off theory the optimal capital structure represents a level of leverage that balances the bankruptcy and the benefits of tax deductibility and mitigation of the agency costs. While The Pecking Order Theory of Myers (1984) and Myers and Majluf (1984), stated that firm while establishing its capital structure follow a hierarchy of financial decisions. First of all firm uses its internal financing i.e. retained earnings in order to finances its projects. In case of need of external financing, they prefer a bank loan first then go for the public debt. Thus in accordance with the Pecking Order Theory, profitable firms while having the available internal funds prefers not to incur debt for new projects. A study was carried by Benito, (2002) which considered the two most influential approaches, the trade off and packing order theories, in understanding capital structure decisions of firms of Spain and United Kingdom. This study made a valuable contribution to our study because of the same objective of testing Pecking Order Theory with reference to capital structure of firms. The resulting data included 6417 Spanish companies over period of 1985-2000 and 1784 British quoted non-financial companies over period of 1973-2000. The results provided significance in favor of pecking order theory, concluding debt ratios found to be significantly inversely related to cash flow and profitability of the firm and vary positively with its investment. In order to find the best empirical explanation for the capital structure of Brazilian firms Medeiros and Cecilio (2004) tested a model to represent the Static Trade-off Theory and Peking Order theory. This theory is helpful for our study because of the same independent variables that is profitability. Profitability all the STT streams sustain that a positive relationship must exist between profitability and debt. The stream based on bankruptcy costs states that these costs increase when earnings fall so that leverage tends to be lower for less profitable firms or those with higher earnings volatility. For the stream focusing on tax benefits, the more profitable the firm the more it benefits from the tax shield provided by interest payments. The agency stream believes that large amounts of free cash flows build up the dispute between shareholders and managers, which make those firms to issue more debt in order to diminish the problem (Fama and French, 2003). According to the POT, retained earnings are the firms best financing option. This type of resource does not produce information asymmetries and can be used promptly for new projects. The information asymmetry caused by equity issues or by more complex securities that require a higher degree of communication with the market is the basis of the POT. It is exactly to dodge the adverse selection premium brought by the information asymmetry that firms opt for internal financing as their major source of resources (Myers, 1984). The relationship between these two variables must be therefore negative. Medeiros and Cecilio (2004) The sample of their study included 371 non-financial firms with shares listed in the Brazilian stock exchanges from 1995 to 2002. The analysis of results of the study led to the conclusion that the pecking order theory provides the best explanation for the capital structure of those firms Another study on the capital structure was carried by Abor, (2008) comparing the capital structure of large un-quoted firms, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and publicly quoted firms in Ghana using a panel regression model. On the grounds of the similar independent variable this study made a useful contribution to our review literature. The results showed insignificant difference between the capital structures of large unquoted firms and publicly quoted firms. The results of all sample groups showed that the total debt has relatively a high proportion of short-term debt. The results of the regression test indicated that age and size of the firm, profitability, risk, asset structure and managerial ownership are significant influencers in decisions regarding the capital structure of Ghanaian firms. Chiarella et.al (1991) conducted a study in Australia on the determinants of corporate capital structure by seeking to provide evidence on the significance of capital structure determinants in Australian context. This study provided a great support for writing review literature of our study. The analysis was carried on a sample of 226 Australian firms from 1977-1985. The results showed that company non-debt tax shields display a negative relationship with debt ratios. The results also supported the pecking order hypothesis of Myers and Majluf (1984) showing significant negative relationship of profitability with debt ratios and indicating that firms prefer to finance investments with internally retained earnings before issuing debts. The results provided some evidence of size effect indicating that the larger firms tend to employ more debts in their capital structure. Results showed positive but insignificant relationship between cash holdings and debt ratios while confirming the fre e cash flow hypothesis of Jensen (1986). Simultaneously results did not provide any support for growth opportunity and collateral value attributes as determinants of debt ratios. A study on the Malaysian companies regarding the capital structure and the firm characteristics was carried by an Indian professor Pandey (2000). This study is useful for our study because of one of the same independent variable i.e. profitability. The study was carried on Malaysian companies in order to examine their determinants of capital structure using data from 1984 to 1999 while classifying the data into four periods that relates to different stages of capital market of Malaysia. Results of the regression clarified that profitability, size; growth, risk tangible variables have significant impact on all debt types. Results showed persistent and consistent negative relationship of profitability with all debt ratios in all periods, thus accepting the prediction capital structure according to the pecking order theory. A research relating to the capital structure was carried by two Pakistani professors Shah and Tahir (2004) which attempted to answer the question of what determines the capital structure of Pakistani Listed firms other than those in financial sector. Because this study was also carried in Pakistan so it provided a support to a great extent in order to understand the capital structure according to Pakistans environment. A sample of 445 listed firms on KSE were taken and their five year data from 1997-2001 were taken into consideration. Pooled regression results indicated that assets tangibility is positively correlated with debt, concluding that asset structure does not matter in determination of capital structure of Pakistani firms. Size was positively correlated with leverage suggesting that large firms would employ more debt. Growth was found to be negatively correlated with leverage that supports the simple version of pecking order theory that growing firms finance their investmen t opportunities first by their internally generated funds. There was strong relationship between profitability and leverage. Profitability was negatively correlated with leverage that supports the pecking order theory. A study in Hong Kong was carried by Hung, et.al (2002) examing the inter-relationship between profitability, cost of capital and capital structure among property developers and contractors in Hong Kong. The results showed that capital gearing is positively related with assets but negatively with profit margins. Bartholdy and Cesario (2006) analysed the decisions regarding the capital structure of Portuguese non-listed bank financed firms. Primary purpose of the research was to find out the impact of debt tax shield on the decisions regarding capital structure of small non-listed firms. The secondary purpose was to find out that whether the determinants of capital structure of larger listed firms were also same as in case of smaller non-listed firms. The research explained that the solution of two big problems (agency and asymmetric information) for large firms are apparent on the balance sheet as restriction on debt. On the other hand it is less apparent on the balance sheet of smaller firms. This provided the smaller firms with the benefit of tax shield due to more debt. This research has provided a great support in writing our review literature and understanding the relationship between profitability and debt to a great extent. The sample of their research consisted 998 firms with 7765 fi rm years observations. The results concluded that the tax provisions regarding the carry forward of tax losses and debt tax shield play a vital role in determining the capital structure of small non-listed firms. It was also concluded that in order to solve agency problem traditional balance sheet variables were significant in large listed firms but were insignificant for the small non-listed firms with the exception of variables required to solve bankruptcy risk. A research study was conducted in Greece by Eriotis, et.al (2007) aiming to isolate the firm characteristics that effect capital structure. The investigation was performed using panel data for a sample of 129 Greek companies listed on Athens Stock Exchange during 1997-2001. The findings justified a negative relationship between the debt ratio of the firms and their growth, and size appeared to have a positive relation. Gropp and Florian (2008) conducted research study regarding the determinants of the capital structure of banks by examining the capital structure of banks from the prospective of empirical capital structure literature for non-financial firms. The sample of the study includes 200 largest listed banks (100 from US and 100 from EU) from the sixteen different countries (US and 15 EU members) from 1991 to 2004. The results suggest that the capital requirements may only be of second importance for banks capital structures and confirm the robustness of corporate finance findings in a holdout sample of banks. In order to examine the capital structure across countries a study was carried by Rajan and Luigi (1994). The primary objective of the study was to establish whether the choice of capital structure in other countries is based on the factors similar to those influencing capital structure of US firms. Study was on the 8000 non-financial corporations of G-7 countries (USA, Germany, Japan, France, UK, Italy and Canada) for the period of 1987-1991. After correcting the differences ranging from accounting practices to legal and institutional environments between the countries. results of the study showed extent to which firms are levered is fairly similar across the G-7 countries except UK and Germany being relatively less levered. Sakuragawa (2001) conducted another study regarding the capital structure of banks under non-diversifiable risk. The purpose of the research was to study the design of optimal capital structure of a large financial corporation when it faces a non-diversifiable risk. When there is a non-diversifiable risk the intermediary finds it profitable to issue equity because by issuing equity it can reduce the cost and the probability of banks failure. The intermediary designs the optimal capital structure by balancing the marginal benefit of reducing probability of banks failure against the marginal cost of debt-equity swap. Results showed that a large corporation under weaker conditions realizes more efficient allocation by issuing both debt and equity than by issuing only debt. An African study was conducted by cole-man (2007) whose aim was to examine the impact of capital structure on the performance of microfinance institutions. Panel data covering the ten-year period 1995-2004 were analyzed within the framework of fixed- and random-effects techniques. Results showed that the most of the microfinance institutions employ high leverage and finance their operations with long-term as against short-term debt. Results also revealed that the highly leveraged microfinance institutions perform better by reaching out to more clientele, enjoy scale economies, and therefore are better able to deal with moral hazard and adverse selection, enhancing their ability to deal with risk. Fernandez (2003) analyzed the driving forces of capital structure in Chile for the period 1990-2002. The purpose of the research was to study aggregate leverage and interest-bearing liabilities in isolation for all firms, and firms segmented by economic sector. Their sample of the study consisted of 64 firms having the complete information for the whole sample period of 1990-2002. Results while supporting the trade-off theory revealed that the firms favored equity over debt issues to cover their financing deficit because of the Chiles tax and monetary policies. In order to find out the determinants of very small firms financial leverage Barbosa and Cristiana (2003) carried a research. They described the relationship between profitability and financial leverage as: As far as profitability is concerned, the most common expectation in the financial structure literature is for a negative relationship with financial leverage. Toy and others (1974 p.877), Marsh (1982 p.126 footnote 22), Friend and Lang (1988 p.277), Titman and Wessels (1988 p.6) and Barton and others (1989 p.40) all say that in different words. According to them, a firm with a high profit rate, ceteris paribus, would maintain a relatively lower debt ratio because of its ability to finance itself from internally generated funds. The preference for raising capital first from retained earnings may be due, according to Titman and Wessels (1988 p.6), to the costs of issuing new equity or debt that arise because of asymmetric information or transaction costs. Marsh (1982 p.126 footnote 22) raises the possibility that the impact may be due to the tendency of firms to issue new equity immediately after periods of abnormally good performance. Hall and Weiss (1967 p.328) assert that relativel y profitable firms take some of their exceptional returns in the form of reduced risk, through retaining earnings, and, therefore, show lower debt to assets ratios. Rajan and Zingales (1995 p.1451) cite Jensen (1986) who predicts that, if the market for corporate control is ineffective, managers of profitable firms prefer to avoid the disciplinary role of debt. This preference would lead to a negative correlation between profitability and debt. Gupta (1969 p.522) speaks of a theory that extends the first belief above mentioned from the firm level to the industry level. Accordingly, profitable industries, because of the greater availability of internally generated funds related to their high profitability; tend to have lower debt in their financial structure. Last, Gale (1972 p.417-8) interprets leverage as representing the degree of risk or otherwise in the industries in which the firm competes and hypothesizes that leverage should then be negatively related to profitability. This a uthor himself acknowledges that his reasoning is somewhat at odds with previous discussions and theory, though. According to him, low debt to total capital ratios would reflect high industry risk because of two aspects. First, the corresponding capital structures would be the result of higher investment on the part of entrepreneurs, who, differently from lenders, place a lower value on security relative to rewards. Second, high-risk industries are, at least theoretically, associated with higher profitability. Barbosa and Cristiana (2003) Results of their research concluded that the growth, entrepreneurs risk tolerance, size and operational cycle were positively correlated with the financial leverage whereas asset composition, inflation, profitability and business risk are negatively correlated with financial leverage of very small firms. Chapter-3 Methodology In this section, we have explained the source of data, sample size, explanation and measurement of the variables, and the regression model. 3.1 Source of Data In this study financial data of firms listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange under Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan is taken from the State Bank of Pakistan Publications Balance Sheet Analysis of Joint Stock Companies Listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange 2003-2008. 3.2 Sample size This study is carried on the Fuel and Energy sector of Pakistan. There are 27 firms of that sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for six years from 2003-2008 as our study covers the period from 2003-2008. So we have 132 firm years for the panel data analysis. 3.3 Explanation and Measurement of the variables Basically our study follows the framework of Shah and Tahir (2005). We include only two variables in our study. First variable is leverage (dependent variable) and another is profitability (Independent variable). In this section we describe these two variables and explain how they are measured. 3.3.1 Leverage (Dependent variable) Leverage is explained as percentage of assets financed by debts. Different researchers have measured leverage differently. Frank and Goyal (2003) differentiated between two debt ratios, one based on market value while the other on book value. Debt ratio based on market value relates with the firms future situation whereas on the other hand debt ratio based on book value tends to reflect the past situation. While in our study measuring leverage through book value, we have mainly two reasons in our mind. First, one of the main benefits of debt is tax shield that is the interest payments are tax deductible expense, resulting in cash savings. Once the debt is issued these tax shield advantages do not vary by the market value of the debt. Second point in our mind while measuring leverage through book value is the relationship of debt with bankruptcy risk. The probability of bankruptcy increases with the increase in the debt. Moreover, in case of bankruptcy of a firm, the value of the debt through the book value of the debt is more relevant than the market value of debt. While measuring the financial leverage we faced a problem of choosing either total debt or only long term debt as percentage of total assets. Interestingly many capital structure theories favor long term debt but we have used total debt because the average firm size in Pakistan is small which limits their access to capital market because of technical difficulties and cost involved. So the firms in Pakistan prefer short term borrowing because of the fact that the major lenders in Pakistan are commercial banks and they discourage long term borrowing. Firms in Pakistan did not rely on the market based debt upto 1994, but in the mid of 1994 Government while amending Company Law, allowed firms to raise debt directly in the form of TFCs (Term Finance Certificates) from the market. Thus in our study we have measured the leverage through total debt to total asset ratio. 3.3.2 Profitability (Independent Variable) Profitability has been the main point of distinction between the Static Trade-off Theory and the Pecking Order Theory. Static Trade-off Theory explains that the firm with higher profitability has more reasons to issue more debt while taking tax shield benefit. While on the other hand, Pecking Order Theory presupposes that firms with larger earnings tend to use its internally generated funds i.e. retained earnings initially to fulfill their financial needs then they go for debt. Thus, Static Trade-off Theory expects a positive and direct relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm while Pecking Order Theory suggests negative relationship between the two above said variables. We have measured the profitability as the ratio of Net Income before Tax divided by the total assets. 3.4 Research hypothesis This research study supports the Pecking Order Theory hypothesis and our proposed research hypothesis is There is significant negative relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm. Ho: There is significant negative relationship between profitability and leverage of a firm 3.5 Regression Model Linear Regression analysis has been used in this study. Basically we have used pooled regression type of panel data analysis. By saying this we mean that the companys financial data and time series data are pooled together in a column. The equation for our regression model will be LG= ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²1 (PF) + ÃŽ µ. Where LG= Leverage ÃŽ ²0= Constant PF= Profitability ÃŽ µ= Error term Chapter 4 Results of the test and interpretation. This chapter contains the results of the descriptive statistics and linear regression test. There are 27 firms in Energy and fuel sector which are listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. But after screening the firms with incomplete data, we have selected 22 firms having complete data for the six years from 2003-2008 as our study covers that specified period. So we have 132 firm years for the panel data analysis. 4.1 Data Consideration: For data consideration to be suitable for linear regression we graph the P-P plot of dependent and independent variable in order to check that the data is normally distributed. The P-P plots of profitability and leverage are as follows. Above Normal P-P Plot of Independent variable (Profitability) shows that the variable follows a normal distribution. On the other hand dependent variable (leverage) is also said to be fairly normally distributed. In order to show the linear regression model is appropriate for the data or not we graph a scatter plot between profitability and leverage which is as follows: Scatter plot shows that whether linear regression model is appropriate for the data or not. However above scatter plot appears to be suitable for linear regression. 4.2 Results of the test: After running the linear regression test on SPSS we have the following results. Table-1 Descriptive Statistics Total No: Minimum Maximum Mean Standard Deviation Profitability (PF) 132 -0.22 0.43 0.0515 0.12441 Leverage (LV) 132 .00 1.27 0.5588 0.27425 Valid No: (list wise) 132 Table-1 contains the descriptive

Jujitsu - The Gentle Art :: essays research papers

To a person not conversant with this art, Jujitsu may be considered as a foul or derogatory term in Japanese. However, Jujitsu us one of the most effective and deadly forms of martial arts taught today. Unique among other forms of combat, Jujitsu holds the position of a â€Å"parent art†, of from which other forms of martial arts such as Aikido, Judo and several Karate styles were extracted. Jujitsu is a combination of all levels of combat. It incorporates chokes, striking, grappling, nerve and pressure point attacks, joint locks, redirection of momentum and throws. The exact origins of Jujitsu are unclear, as most of its history was passed on in the oral tradition. The few early written references show that its origins date back to Japanese mythology, where it is said that the gods, Kajima and Kadori, used Jujitsu to discipline the lawless and wild inhabitants of the Eastern provinces. Therefore, by definition, the art is nearly 2000 years old, however records do exist which show that the art was being practiced as far back as the 8th Century, over twelve hundred years ago. Jujitsu was formalised and most popular during the Edo period of Japan. This was the era of the Samurai. Jujitsu was the Samurai’s main set of combat techniques, after the sword. Jujitsu was a part of the Samurai’s fighting skills, something he could use when he was unable to use his favourite weapon. There are many different styles of Jujitsu that exist around the world, and many different ways to actually spell the name. The original spelling derived directly from the Japanese was Jujitsu. As the popularity and practice of this martial art spread across Europe, the spelling and pronunciation was forced to change. This occurred during World War II, when the name Jujitsu had to be changed to Jiu-jitsu (pronounced Jeeu-jitsu). This name-change occurred because the Germans occupying the area at the time claimed that the name resembled the word â€Å"Jew†, which was illegal to be spoken. Therefore the name was slightly altered so that the art could continue to exist and be taught throughout Europe. Despite the difference is spelling, the meaning of the words is basically the same. The literal meaning of the name is â€Å"the gentle art†, however, since there can be many different translations of Japanese words, â€Å"Ju† can also mean soft, yielding, pliant and flexible, which are all important fundamental principles in this dangerous art.