Friday, December 27, 2019

Essay about Science and Realism - 933 Words

Science and Realism In the course of this semester, we have read a number of stories that have one common element: science. In most of the stories, the science was hypothetical, but accurate, for the time and usually played an important part in the story. Today we know that most of these ideas range from simply being wrong to flat out impossible. When I say science I am referring to the sciences that are of a physical nature such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Psychology is also a science, but one of a mental nature. The few books that we had that dealt mainly with psychology will not be dealt with in this paper. The first book from the semester was Mary Shelly s Frankenstein. In the story, Victor Frankenstein builds a body†¦show more content†¦If such creatures to be brought into existence today, their construction would have to begin on the genetic level. As of this time, I dont believe that we have the technology to create such creatures. The third story of the semester was Robert Louis Stevensons The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This story involved a chemically induced physical transformation. Acid could be said to have the same effect of course, but this transformation involved the restructuring of Dr. Jekyll s entire body such that he was shorter, stronger, and more gnarled looking. As with The Island of Dr. Moreau, we know today that for such a transformation would need to be induced at the genetic level. At the time in which this story was set, the knowledge, much less the technology, did not exist for such a thing to be done. The next science related book that we read in the class was The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. This book was an insult to the genre. The first two stories we were subjected to involved whirlpools. While they are interesting phenomena, whirlpools do not qualify as science fiction. The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal is one of the few stories with anything resembling science. The ideas Hans has about flying a hot air balloon are at least vaguely scientific. After Hans Pfaal, the next story was The Balloon-Hoax. This was the only other vaguely scientific story by Poe. AfterShow MoreRelatedRealism And Its Impact On The Mind Independent Existence Of The World935 Words   |  4 PagesTraditionally, realism is associated with any position that endorses belief in the reality of something. Thus, one might be a realist about one s perceptions of tables and chairs (sense datum realism), about tables and chairs themselves (external world realism), or about mathematical entities s uch as numbers and sets (mathematical realism), and so forth. Scientific realism is a realism about whatever is depicted by our best scientific theories—from this point forward, ‘realism’ here denotes scientificRead MoreAnalysis Of Imre Lakatos s Concept Of Research Programme And The Protective Belt904 Words   |  4 PagesImre Lakatos was a 20th century philosopher of mathematics and science, who introduced the concepts of research programme and the protective belt. It is evident that Lakatos’ ideas stem from two other philosophers of science discussed in class. The first being Karl Popper, and his concept of falsificationism. Popper suggested theories cannot be proven, but, rather, falsified. After putting a theory under experimentation, if you observe results that conflict with the claim or hypothesis, then theRead MoreRealism And Its Impact On The Mind Independent Existence Of The World917 Words   |  4 PagesTraditionally, realism generally is asso ciated with any position that endorses belief in the reality of something. Thus, one might be a realist about one s perceptions of tables and chairs (sense datum realism), or about tables and chairs themselves (external world realism), or about mathematical entities such as numbers and sets (mathematical realism), and so forth. Scientific realism is a realism about whatever is described by our best scientific theories—from this point forward, ‘realism’ here denotesRead MoreProject Is Focussed On The Exploitation Of Alm1651 Words   |  7 Pagesthat critical realism has been identified as an appropriate philosophical approach for this research, but what is critical realism? Critical realism has been formed out of frustration with positivism and constructivism and the associated limitations of the two concepts. Founded by Bhaskar through a combination of transcendental realism (Bhaskar, 1975) and critical naturalism (Bhaskar, 1998), critical realism provides an interface between the two predominant approaches within the sciences. As statedRead MorePhilosophy of Science in Social Research1455 Words   |  6 PagesThe philosophical study of social research is an important dimension of social science which has been placed to analyze the problems of social science description and its relationships. Philosophy of social science deals with the generalized meaning of the thing amp; centered on the sharing of experience about the social world in which people’s perspective differs from one another. The various approaches analyze the social research on the basis of three grounds: Thematic analysis, meta-narrativesRead MoreEssay about The History and Theor y of Magical Realism1057 Words   |  5 PagesThe History and Theory of Magical Realism Magical Realism is one of todays most popular subjects in literature to discuss regarding its history and theory of Magical Realism. It began in the Latin culture and now is known word wide for its attributes. Magical Realism is even rivaling some of the great masterpieces of modern and past literature. Someday Magical Realism will be recognized and respected just as the classics are today. Magical Realism supposedly began in 1935 with its goldenRead MoreRealists Vs. Scientific Theory930 Words   |  4 Pagessuccess of science. This requires that there be a reasonable inference from a scientific theory s success to its approximate truth. The argument that realists are trying to make is that the best explanation of a scientific theory s success is that it is true. Larry Laudan refutes the realists argument from the success of science. To do this, he characterize his opposition as Convergent Epistemological Realism. Convergent realism is a theory about the nature and history of science. Laudan identifiesRead MorePhilosophy Of Science By Samir Okasha1296 Words   |  6 PagesSummary: Philosophy of Science by Samir Okasha is trying to answer the infamous question, what is science? This question has been tempted to be answered by so many people in the past and present. Her take is breaking each section into separate chapters. The first chapter is explaining how we could possibly answer. She makes a reference to changing the question into â€Å"what it is that makes it a science† (pg. 1). Okasha gives a brief history of the origins of science from the age of Copernicus allRead MoreThe Impact Of Science And Philosophy Of Science Essay1336 Words   |  6 Pages Alan Francis Chalmers is an associate professor who works extensive in the history and philosophy of science (physical). Alan Chalmers has taught at the University of Sydney since 1971, first in the School of Philosophy, and from 1987 at the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science. He attained a B.Sc. in physics at the University of Bristol, and his M.Sc. in physics from the University of Manchester. His Ph.D. on the electromagnetic theory of J.CRead MoreMiddlesex By Jeffery Eugenides Tell The Story Of Cal And1343 Words   |  6 PagesThrough this story Eugenides implements science in order to inform the readers what made Cal what he is. Science adds a shroud of realism to hide that the story is nonfiction. Eugenides adds more complexity to his work by arguing the relevance of science in the modern world. He doesn’t endorse science completely because he also critiques science for its lack of compassion when it comes to treating people with unfortunate genetic mutations such as Cal. Science in fiction can emphasize topics such as

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Philosophy Rejected Essay - 2019 Words

Philosophy is an interesting pursuit. It causes us to search for truth, ethics and ask the question â€Å"why?† more often than we would otherwise. However, I have found that philosophy itself rather distracting. It leads to false answers to what might sometimes be false questions. It leads to radically held beliefs that can be destructive, difficult to understand, and often contrary to reality. Worst of all, it often answers questions that we as humans have no business answering with any certainty. I dont believe that philosophy itself is bad, however I do believe that we need to look at it much more pessimistically than most perspectives allow. As it seems to me, most philosophical perspectives are in some way faulty. Having caught a†¦show more content†¦Where I began to get confused is when we began to discuss virtue. I dont think I ever had a solid definition of the word, but I did not expect it to mean ones well-being. When asked if I believe that humans are inherently â€Å"virtuous,† I now have to clarify weather the asker means â€Å"good† or â€Å"seeking well-being.† I would say that humans seek well-being by default, but I would not say they are good from the beginning. A child will naturally seek the best food, toys and warmth, however the child will not be â€Å"good.† One does not have to teach a child to lie, cheat, steal or bully. These are all inherent traits, traits that Christians naturally attribute to the fall. Another interesting springboard for discussion is Zenos Stoicism. Stoicism says that fate controls your life and the only thing we really control is our attitude towards our circumstances. This makes me turn to whatever misconception I harbor regarding the â€Å"predestination† versus â€Å"free will† debate. I refuse to adhere to either side of the debate. This is partly because Id like to keep my friends, partly because I dont believe it really matters either way, partly because I havent studied either side in any great detail, and partly because I dont believe that either one is completely right anyway. I rather dislike the idea that God is a puppeteer controlling our every move. It just seems lame to meShow MoreRelatedEnlightenment Assessment : The Ideal Of Reason1270 Words   |  6 Pagesby varying degrees of intensity, but, in any case, always contained an element of repression. This reason was considered not just something higher than the senses, but, in a way, alien to them (Zafirovski 107-109). To this end, the Enlightenment philosophy most fully and clearly expressed the pathos of intelligence and knowledge, which served as a basis of progress. 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The things that caused these questions to come about were the people started to realize that everything isn’t exactly what it appears to be. Philosophy started in the town of Miletus, many early philosophers came from here. The philosophers started their work around 585 B.C. Thales, one of the early Miletus philosophers, left no writings behind, all we knowRead MorePythagoras And Ancient Athenian Culture1708 Words   |  7 Pagesbiographies that were written while he was alive or close to his death, only ones that were written long after. It is only because of the huge impact his philosophies had, and the length of time for which they were significant, that we know of his work and beliefs. Thus it can be reasoned that, by examining what has been retained of his philosophy, we can gain a better understanding of Greek culture at the time when it was starting to evolve into the enlightened culture we remember today. PythagorasRead MoreKant: Moral Theories1002 Words   |  5 PagesKants moral theory According to Timmons, the field of philosophy is not complete without the mention of Kant whose contributions were major (205). This, he adds, was influenced by his originality, subtle approach and the difficulty of his works. Timmons cites that moral requirements are a requirement of reason, which is the ideology of Kant’s Moral theory; hence, immoral act is an act against reason. Consequently, speaking on the terminologies of Kant we visualize moral requirements as CategoricalRead More Weaknesses of Descartes Arguments Essays1641 Words   |  7 Pageswas unable to formulate correct and true philosophical arguments and claims.   For instance, his argument for faith that a non-deceiving God exists and allows us to clearly reason and perceive was a circular argument.   Another issue with Descartes philosophy is that he wanted to reconcile scientific and religious views, which is wrong since the two maintain completely different foundational beliefs and they should exist ex clusively- without relation to the other.   Thirdly, he believed that the mindRead MoreThe Science Of Math And Science By Mathematical And Experimental Proof1144 Words   |  5 PagesSome of Earths’ greatest questions have been solved through the arts of math and science by mathematical and experimental proof. However, not all of the worlds’ problems can be solved directly through experiments and equations. Philosophy and theories are sometimes accepted as truth because there is no other explanation for a mind-boggling questions. Some philosophers or Scientists were even deemed blasphemous through their beliefs or teachings. Two men, born and raised in religious and still skepticRead MoreAnalysis Of Ferris Bueller s Day Off 941 Words   |  4 PagesDaniel White Professor Skrabak Intro to Philosophy September 10, 2014 Philosophy through Film â€Å"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off I am hoping that this essay will expand my understanding of certain philosophical archetypes. In the film, I will recognize philosophical themes in scenes and within the characters. Once an understanding of the themes is achieved, then I will be able to categorize the film as a sufficient or insufficient example. In writing this paper, I hope to determine if â€Å"Ferris Bueller’sRead MoreThe Science Of Mind Philosophy801 Words   |  4 Pages The Science of Mind philosophy is not an abstract spiritual theory, but rather, a study of Consciousness, and, specifically, our expression of It. Ernest Holmes considered this study of Mind to be a science, in that it correlates principles and practices that can be applied and proven to be effective. Even so, the correlation of principles and practices is not what makes the Science of Mind a practical philosophy to live by. Anyone can deduce principles and devise practices that enhance andRead MoreEssay Substance1087 Words   |   5 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Rene Descartes started out doubting everything. For Descartes, reason was both the foundation and guide for pursuing truth. He wanted to fulfill some certainty into his life. Therefore he started fresh. He rejected everything he had been taught. He rejected God, the Church, Aristotle, all the other philosophers and even ancient literature were ditched in the search for rational principles from which to construct a secure system of knowledge. He became a solipsist. After long meditations

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Managerial Accounting Triton Corporation

Question: Discuss about the case study Managerial Accounting for Triton Corporation. Answer: Introduction The following report evaluates the financial state of Triton Corporation in bringing business sustainability to the enterprise. As such, the product divisions as well as the required capital investments that would be needed to ensure smoother flow of operations is stated. Besides this, the assignment states the implications for the usage of low-value added items for achieving greater financial returns and profitability. Necessary strategic decisions shall be made regarding the selling of the bathroom accessories as well as the pipe divisions. This can be determined by examining the market share and the profitability of these segments. A decentralized market program shall be established to aid decision making and reduction in headcount of the staff. It is expected that these procedures shall enable a business organization to increase the financial strength of the organization and reduce the cost of production. The financial ratio analysis as well as the budgetary controls shall be est ablished to assess the financial condition of the business enterprise and respond appropriately. Evaluating six division of the company Identifying the product division that are producing low value added items and require high working capital investment: The overall profitability of Triton Corporation is mainly generated from Industrial Services, which employs low cost of materials and produces the highest profits from other divisions. Furthermore, the Electrical products could be identified as the low profit producing division, which needs huge investment. In this context, Phillips (2012) suggested that identifying the manufacturing process with low return could help the company in making adequate investment decisions. On the contrary, Weygandt et al. (2015) argued that due to intense competition sometimes companies use low pricing methods , which in turn reduces its overall profitability. Electrical Products Floor Boards Car Accessories Industrial services Bathroom services Pipes Revenue 40 25.4 17.1 33.7 7 6 Expenses 37.8 24 14.1 25.7 6.5 5.9 Income 2.2 1.4 3 8 0.5 0.1 Return on investment 5.50% 5.51% 17.54% 23.74% 7.14% 1.67% Table 1: Showing income generated from different divisions (Source: as per case study) The above depicted table mainly represents the overall revenue, expenses and income that are generated by the different divisions of Triton Corporation. Moreover, the pipes division is identified as the lowest income generating process that is being used by the company. However, the overall investment that is used by pipes division is relatively lower than other manufacturing process used by the company. Maher et al. (2012) mentioned that evaluation of the manufacturing process mainly help companies to identify the excess expenditure, which is reducing the overall return from investment. On the other hand, Warren et al. (2013) criticises that high investment conducted in products with low demand could result in inventory and investment blockage, which might increase overall cost of production. In addition, with the help of table 1, Electrical products division of Triton Corporation is identified as the manufacturing process having low return on investment compared to its other processes. Moreover, Electrical division mainly uses $37.8 million in investment and produces $2.2 million in profits. In this context, Zimmerman and Yahya-Zadeh (2011) stated that manufacturing process with low return could reduce capacity of the company in generating enough revenue to attain suitable growth. In addition, Triton Corporation has the highest market share in Electrical products, which enables the company to generate higher revenue from all its divisions. However, the company could input new technologies to reduce cost of production and attain more return from its investment. On the contrary, Ahmed and Duellman (2013) mentioned that increasing expenditure on new equipments could reduce the overall cash reserves and working capital of the company and in turn negatively affect its product ivity. Moreover, Floor board division is also identified as one of the manufacturing processes that employees investment of $25.4 million but generate return as Electrical Product. However, the reduced return on investment is mainly hinders capability of the company to attain suitable profitability and growth. According to Kaplan (2011), some companies uses zero based budgeting method to reduce the overall expenditure conducted by their manufacturing process and in turn increase their profit generation capacity. However, WeiBenberger and Angelkort (2011) argued that zero based budgeting mainly reduces the overall working capital of the manufacturing process, which might increase the overall completion time finished products. Evaluating the implications of low value added items for financial return and profitability of the company: The identified low value added manufacturing process mainly helps Triton Corporation to evaluate its financial return. Moreover, the low return on investment is mainly affecting the overall growth prospects of the company. In this context Bargate (2012) argued that some companies to achieve higher market share uses low pricing strategy, which in turn reduces the overall return from investment. These low returns on investment mainly have certain implications on profitability and future growth of the company. These implications are as follows: Reduced investment capacity: The low return on investment mainly blocks capital of the company and reduces its capability to make sound investment decisions. In addition, low return on investment mainly reduces profits of the company, which in turn affects its decision making process. Chiarini (2012) mentioned that some companies effectively use activity based budgeting to reduce the overall expenditure on their manufacturing process and increase their cash reserves. In addition, Triton Corporation could effectively use Zero based budgeting to reduce the overall cost of production. Moreover, with the help of effective marketing tools the company could also increase its market share and in turn increase its return on investment. On the other hand, Phillips (2012) criticises that without higher product quality products, investment in marketing activities could only increase expenditure of the company and hamper its overall profitability. Reduction in cash reserves: Reduced return on investment could also affect cash reserves of the company, which in turn might negatively affect its future investment decisions. Nevertheless, Maher et al. (2012) criticises that reduced cash reserves could also indicates a higher interest payment conducted by the company due to accumulation of high interest loans. In addition, low cash reserves mainly reduce capacity of Triton Corporation to make adequate investment decisions. Zimmerman and Yahya-Zadeh (2011) mentioned that during recession overall cash reserves and capital employed by the company is negatively affected, which in turn affects its profit generation capacity. Low profits projected on financial report: The low return on investment could also be projected on the overall financial report of the company. This reduced profitability from investment could negatively affect the decision making process of its investors and affects its overall share price. In this context, Weygandt et al. (2015) mentioned that some companies to maintain high share price mainly uses unethical measure and inflate their balance sheet. Moreover, low return on investment could result in low dividend, which might reduce interest of investors in the company. Thus, it could be evaluated that low return on investment mainly affects growth prospects and future investment decision of the company. Critical Evaluation of the arguments for selling the two divisions The bathroom accessories as well as the pipes have been essential constituents of the Triton Corporation. These divisions have been a profitable part of the business enterprise and have contributing positively towards the sales revenue. However, it has been decided that both of these departments have to be sold, since substantial capital expenditure to retain its efficiency. In addition, it can be said that the selling of these two divisions, shall contribute positively to the business sustainability of the business enterprise. As per the financial reports of the company, the bathroom accessories and the pipe divisions has been occupying a 8% market share and 3% market share respectively. 0.5% profitability has been achieved on the sales of the bathroom accessories when compared to a 3% profitability on the sales of the pipes. Thus, the bathroom accessories have been facilitating greater profitability than the pipe division. Besides this, the market share occupied by the bathroom acc essories has been far greater than the pipe division. Thus, it would be essential to sell the bathroom accessories segment for consolidating the existing market position of the brand. As such, the bathroom accessories have been a profitable market segment for the brand.. In the case of the pipe division, the Triton Corporation has to incur a considerable capital investment to enhance the operational policies of the business entity. Besides this, the pipe divisions have been showing lesser profits when compared to the six divisions in the business enterprise. The brand shall increase its financial strength if the pipe division has to be sold to assess the financial strength of the business enterprise. The ratio analysis of the company has shown that the company has been finding difficult to pay-off the short term as well as the long-term loans of the company. According to Brigham and Ehrhardt (2013), it shall be better to consolidate the market position of the company than to pursue the expansion opportunities. Thus, the selling of the pipe division shall assist the firm to reduce the operational expenses of the business entity. Besides this, the capital expenses that would be required to run the pipe division shall also be significantly reduced. In this regard, it can be said that the organization has been competing in an extremely competitive market environment. Therefore, to ensure survival in an extremely competitive market environment the brand has to take certain pertinent measures. Therefore, it shall be effective to sell these divisions to achieve the market sustainability. However, it shall be necessary to analyze the financial viability of these two divisions in the long term basis. The bathroom accessories shall have a positive market position when compared to the pipe division in the company. As such, it can be said that the year ended financial statement of the company reveals that the bathroom accessories shall facilitate greater profitability and financial revenue. Thus, the long term viability of the bathroom accessories can be decided by the potential market performance of the brand. Several economic factors have to be considered in making a strategic decision, regarding the selling of bathroom accessories and the pipe division. According to Healy and Palepu (2012), the several economic factors that includes are inflation, the nature of the product and the service line as well as the existing financial condition of the business enterprise. Thus, these factors have to be assessed in a proper manner to evaluate the selling of the brands. The recent trends in the sales revenue has also been a determinate factor in assessing the sales viability of the bathroom accessories and the pipe division. As such, both these divisions have been achieving profitability as well as sales revenue in the existing market conditions. However, it is a necessary that a distinction has to be made in evaluating the sales procedures of these two divisions. In this regard, it can be said that the operational policies of the business enterprise. The debt asset ratio of 0.6 reflects the prese nce of assets in the business enterprise. This indicates that a there is a substantial presence of assets in the organization. As such, the selling of these divisions in the business enterprise shall not affect the level of assets present in the business organization. The debt to equity ratio of 1.5 in the business enterprise reflects the adequate presence of equity in the business enterprise. According to Delen et al. (2013), an adequate debt equity ratio shall refer to the substantial amount of debt that is greater than the equity of the firm. In this regard, it can be said that the Triton Corporation has adequate equity in the business enterprise. Thus, the selling of these two divisions shall have an impact on the operational policies of the business entity, thereby, assisting the business organization to achieve further growth. Analysis of Reduction of the financial gearing and investment in development projects The company intends to spend huge amount of capital for equipment replacements and modernisation programmes, investment in new projects as well as new product developments. The company therefore can check the feasibility of the investments using capital budgeting techniques. Payback period is a traditional investment appraisal method of capital budgeting that can assess the investment proposals. Bekaert and Hodrick (2012) opines that Payback period is essentially defined as the total number of years required to recover the amount invested initially by means of the stream of annual cash flows generated by different investment projects. The payback period is calculated using the formula: Payback Period = Initial Investment/ Cash Inflow per period (Bhimani 2012). The company can accept the equipment replacement and new development programmes only if the payback period of the particular project is less than the target payback period (Drury 2012). Therefore it is necessary to ascertain the target payback period for the new development programmes. The target payback period for different projects with uneven cash flows is generally the point at which the cumulative cash flows from the investment project alter from being negative to positive (Epstein and Lee 2012). The management of Triton Corporation can also select the projects that have the payback within the specific time period and choose alternatives based on the fastest payback period. The factors that affect the length of the payback period for the equipment replacements programmes and new development projects primarily include the cash flow of the business and the requirement of the initial outlay (Epstein and Lee 2012). The cash flows per period for the new investment projects can affect the length of the payback period. Therefore, the management of Triton Corporation can take into consideration the factors that affect the cash flows. The factors include the taxes, debt, core capital and distributions (Grieve 2013). Furthermore, the assets and the liabilities of the business concern can also affect the cash flow from the project. Therefore, the management of Triton Corporation can take into consideration the alterations in the account receivables, inventory, prepaid expenses, depreciation and the operating liabilities for assessment of the cash flows per period from the project (Grieve 2013). The accounts receivables express the amount of money the company owes for the products sold in credit. This asset is therefore a promise of cash but does not increase the cash flow until the business receives the money (Hampton 2011). The increase in the overall inventory also affects the flow of cash adversely and the decrease in the inventory increases the cash flow. The increase in the prepaid expenses for the development programmes can also affect the cash flow unfavorably and a decrease might possibly favorably affect the cash flow. In addition to this, the operational liability is an important factor that can affect the cash flow per period for the investment projects and the payback period. The increase in the operational liability can help the cash flow and decrease the payback period (Madura 2012). However, the decrease in the operational liability can hurt the cash flow and thereby increase the overall payback period. The loan capital that the company can use for funding the new investment projects can also affect the payback period of the p rojects. The total loan capital for the year 2014 was recorded to be $48m. Therefore, the increase in the borrowed fund for financing the projects can increase the overall leverage of the company and raise the riskiness of investment. The financial gearing concentrates on the capital framework of the business concern (Seal, Garrison and Noreen 2012). This refers to the proportion of funds provided by debt capital in comparison to the finance provided by the equity capital. The gearing ratio also focuses on the liquidity and the long term financial stability of the business. The financial gearing also known as leverage enumerates the total proportion of assets invested in a business concern that are funded by long-term borrowing (Seal, Garrison and Noreen 2012). Therefore, the financial gearing can also be calculated by the formula: Gearing Ratio = Debt/ Equity. The company Triton Corporation needs to diminish the financial gearing that is currently too high. As per the financial reports of 2014, the financial gearing ratio of Triton Corporation stands at (48/32=1.5) that is 150% that is very high. Hence, it can be hereby ascertained that Triton Corporation has a higher level of borrowed funds in comparison to the equity funds. The greater proportion of the borrowed funds therefore imposes higher risk of operation as the payment of interest as well as debt pay offs are not optional (Madura 2012). The management of Triton can therefore aim at reducing the gearing ratio by concentrating on profit maximization as well as cost minimization. The gearing ratio can also be reduced by repayment of long-term loans, retention of greater proportion of profit, issuance of shares and conversion of loans into equity (Bhimani 2012). The strategic aim of reduction of the gearing is significant as it is indicative of high leverage where the corporation Triton Corporation uses debt capital for financing and continuing its daily operations. Therefore, during business downturn, the company Triton Corporation might possibly face difficulties in their debt repayment schedules and face the risk of insolvency (Epstein and Lee 2012). Again, the circumstances generated out of the high leverage can be dangerous at the time when the company has engages in acquirement of debt at variable rate of interest. An unexpected rise in the rates therefore can pose serious interest payment problems. Furthermore, t he lenders are mostly apprehensive about the firms gearing ratio, as an extremely high gearing ratio can put the loans at risk of not getting repaid (Bhimani 2012). Probable requirements of the lenders to offset this difficulty are the application of restricted covenants that rule out the disbursement of dividends, affects the cash flow and debt repayment, limitations on other alternative applications of cash, and a prerequisite for financiers to inject more equity into the corporation. Again, the creditors also face similar kind of difficulties but are not capable of bringing in changes on the overall performance and actions of the company. Therefore, the decision of reduction of the gearing ratio can help in reduction of the overall risk of the operation. The company can achieve the strategic aim of reduction of the gearing ratio by selling shares to pay off the debt obligations of the corporation, reduction of the working capital, levels of inventory along with increase in the length of the period of the accounts payable. In addition to this, the company can also concentrate on increasing the overall profit of the business concern. Therefore, the aim of investment in the different profitable development projects can help the company to increase the profitability. The management can therefore examine the capital budgeting techniques such as the payback period for investment appraisal. Financial Ratio Analysis and Budgetary Control The financial ratio analysis helps an analyst to understand the financial condition of an organization. It also guides an organization for its future operation and regulation as the various types of ratios indicate different aspects of an organization. In this report, the financial analysis of an organization named Triton Corporation has been highlighted. It has been found that the particular organization aims to reduce its expenses by reducing its total numbers of head office employees from 48 to just 20. However, the managing director of the firm Triton Corporation finds that the particular organization might face various risks and difficulties due to the implementation of decentralization program within Triton. The management of the organization can overcome these challenges by having a regular reporting system by using financial ratios and budgets. The reasons behind this are firstly, the financial ratio analysis helps the management of an organization to understand and analyze all the financial statements (Weaver 2012). This analysis of the financial statements helps to understand the financial position of the firm at the present situation (Seal, Garrison and Noreen 2012). In addition to this, the various users like management, investors, creditors and bankers can use the financial ratios in order to analyze the financial condition of the firm for their decision-making. Secondly, the financial ratios are also useful for judging the efficiency of the company in terms of its management and operations. This financial analysis also helps to determine whether the firm is able to utilize its earned profits and assets in a proper way (Robinson 2012). Moreover, the financial ratio analysis also helps to analyze the past performance of the firm and on this basis, the future plans of the company are formulated. In addition to these, the ratio analysis also helps to compare the performance of an organization to another of the similar field. On the basis of the data provided for the company Triton Corporation, the ratio analysis has been performed. All the four types of ratio i.e. Liquidity ratio, Solvency ratio, Profitability ratio and Efficiency ratio have been calculated in order to understand the financial condition of the firm on the basis of its liquidity, solvency, efficiency and profitability (Groot and Selto 2013). The calculations of the ratio are provided below: Types of Ratios Formulae Constituents Values Ratio Liquidity Ratio: Current Ratio (Current assets/ Current Liabilities) Current Assets 35 1.75 Current Liabilities 20 Net Working Capital Ratio (Current Assets - Current Liabilities)/ Total assets Current assets - Current Liabilities 15 0.1875 Total Assets 80 Solvency Ratios: Debt to Assets Ratio (Debt/ Total Assets) Debt 48 0.6 Total Assets 80 Debt to Equity (Debt/ Total Equity) Debt 48 1.5 Total Equity 32 Efficiency Ratio: Asset Turnover Ratio (Sales/ Total Assets) Sales 129.2 1.615 Total Assets 80 Fixed Asset Ratio (Sales/ Total fixed asset) Sales 129.2 1.987692308 Total fixed asset 65 Profitability Ratio: Return on Equity (ROE) (Net income/ Shareholders' Equity) Net Income 15.2 1.52 Shareholders' Equity 10 Profit Margin ratio (Net Income/ Revenue) Net Income 15.2 0.117647059 Revenue 129.2 From the above calculation, it can be said that the financial condition of the firm is healthy as the current ratio is 1.75, having higher current assets. However, the solvency or gearing ratio implies the weak financial condition of the firm Triton as it has a high debt to equity ratio i.e. 1.5. On the other hand, the firm has high efficiency ratios. Thus, it indicates that the firm has the ability to run effectively and efficiently in future. In addition to this, the high profitability ratios of the firm also indicate that Triton Corporation will run successfully and profitably in future. Therefore, the firm is running profitably and efficiently, having a high liquidity ratio but the high gearing ratio indicates that the firm should lower its total debt amount in order to strengthen its financial position in the competitive market (Drury 2013). In order to reduce the total debt, the firm should reduce its expenses and thus it has decided to reduce its numbers of staffs in the head office. Similarly, it has been found that the budgetary control helps to control the expenses of an organization and also aims the firm to earn more in future by reducing its costs. The preparation of budget helps to identify the forecasted costs of the firm and also the revenue it might earn in future. Thus, it can be said that the budgetary control helps in planning the future of an organization (Epstein and Lee 2012). Triton Corporation aims to reduce all its costs including the salary expenses. Thus, it decided to reduce its total numbers of staffs in order to reduce its expenses and accordingly a budget has been prepared as follows: Triton Corporation Budget ($, million) Actual ($, million) Variance ($, million) REVENUE Sales 135 129 5.80 Salaries and Wages 12 12 0.50 Materials 81 84 (3) Other Costs 14 19 (5) Cost of Goods Sold 107 114 (7) Profit Before Interest and Tax 28 15 12.80 EXPENSES General Administrative Expenses 3 4 (1) Employment Expenses 3 7 (4) Occupancy Costs 1 2 (1) TOTAL EXPENSES 7 13 (6) NET PROFIT 21 2 18.80 It has been found that the company Triton Corporation has intended to expand its business and operations to a number of various low-cost countries. However, Bhimani (2012) stated that this will lead to decrease in the cost and various expenses of the organization. The reason behind this is that in the low-cost countries, the expenses of the company regarding the raw materials, labor, and even the occupancy costs, employment expenses and all the general and administrative expenses of the firm will get reduced. The economic condition of the low-cost countries will help the firm to manufacture products at lower cost but here ethical issues might take place if the firm plans to manufacture their products at low-cost countries and sell them in high-cost countries. The reason behind this is that the particular company will be able to reduce their manufacturing cost or cost of production by manufacturing their products in low-cost countries and by selling them in high-cost areas as this wil l increase their selling price as well as their profit percentages (Drury 2012). Therefore, it can be said that this situation will have a positive impact on the management accounting function of the firm. Conclusion The study mainly helps in evaluating the overall performance of Triton Corporation post recession. In addition, the report also segregates the low value added manufacturing, which is being conducted by the company. Furthermore, the novice effectively identifies and evaluates the implications of low added items on the financial report and profitability of the company. References Ahmed, A.S. and Duellman, S., 2013. Managerial overconfidence and accounting conservatism,Journal of Accounting Research,51(1), pp.1-30. Bargate, K., 2012. The readability of managerial accounting and financial management textbooks,Meditari Accountancy Research,20(1), pp.4-20. Bekaert, G. and Hodrick, R. 2012.International financial management. Boston: Pearson. Bhimani, A. 2012.Management and cost accounting. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Brigham, E.F. and Ehrhardt, M.C., 2013. Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Chiarini, A., 2012. Lean production: mistakes and limitations of accounting systems inside the SME sector,Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management,23(5), pp.681-700. Delen, D., Kuzey, C. and Uyar, A., 2013. Measuring firm performance using financial ratios: A decision tree approach. Expert Systems with Applications, 40(10), pp.3970-3983. Drury, C. 2012.Management and cost accounting. Andover: Cengage Learning. Drury, C. 2013.Management accounting for business. Andover: Cengage Learning. Epstein, M. and Lee, J. 2012.Advances in management accounting. Bingley: Emerald. Grieve, I. 2013.Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 financial management. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub. Groot, T. and Selto, F. 2013.Advanced management accounting. Harlow, England: Pearson. Hampton, J. 2011.The AMA handbook of financial risk management. New York: American Management Association. Healy, P.M. and Palepu, K.G., 2012. Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning. Kaplan, R.S., 2011. Accounting scholarship that advances professional knowledge and practice,The Accounting Review,86(2), pp.367-383. Madura, J. 2012.International financial management. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Maher, M.W., Stickney, C.P. and Weil, R.L., 2012.Managerial accounting: An introduction to concepts, methods and uses. Cengage Learning. Phillips, J.J., 2012.Return on investment in training and performance improvement programs. Routledge. Robinson, T. 2012.International financial statement analysis. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Seal, W., Garrison, R. and Noreen, E. 2012Management accounting. London: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Seal, W., Garrison, R. and Noreen, E. 2012.Management accounting. London: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Warren, C.S., Reeve, J.M. and Duchac, J., 2013.Financial managerial accounting. Cengage Learning. Weaver, S. 2012.The essentials of financial analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill. WeiBenberger, B.E. and Angelkort, H., 2011. Integration of financial and management accounting systems: The mediating influence of a consistent financial language on controllership effectiveness,Management Accounting Research,22(3), pp.160-180. Weygandt, J.J., Kimmel, P.D. and Kieso, D.E., 2015.Financial Managerial Accounting. John Wiley Sons. Zimmerman, J.L. and Yahya-Zadeh, M., 2011 Accounting for decision making and control,Issues in Accounting Education,26(1), pp.258-259.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Primacy Recency Effect Essays - Mental Processes, Memory, Recall

Primacy Recency Effect Previous research has found that recency and primacy in memory is affected by tasks given to persons before recalling groups of related or unrelated words given to them by the tester. Subjects are given four (4) separate tests. Each test is a slight deviation from the next and the test are administered and has the subjects recall groups of words. The first two tests are groups of words related to each other. One test has thirty words and the other has 20. The tester calls out these words in no particular order and then the subjects are told to recall as many words as possible. In the third test, the subjects are given sixteen unrelated words. Then they are told to count down from one hundred by sevens and recall as many words as possible. In the fourth test, the subjects are given sixteen unrelated words. Half the subjects are then told to count down from one hundred and half the subjects are told to count up to one hundred by sevens. Subsequently, subjects are told to recall as many words as possible. In the first two tests we find that there is a balance in word recollection. The most words recollected are in the beginning and the end with a very meek showing in the middle. However, in the last two tests the there different outcomes because the primacy and recency is effected. Primacy 3 Characteristics of the Primacy And Recency Effect Serial learning has been studied for a long time and is very prevalent today. There are many studies that link how people remember groups of objects to what is called the primacy recency effect. Depending on the task given to subjects after being told to recall groups of objects, their memory of the objects is effected. Some like Herman Ebinghouse, studied the effects on memory to show how memory is effected and how memory works. In most cases, depending on what task is given the primacy and recency of memory is affected. The primary goal of this study is to assess the correlation between the task and what part of memory is effected. Method Participants In this study only two people were tested. This study usually uses about ten subjects in order for there to be a balance. The two subjects are male and college students about age 22. They were picked for this test because they were there. Materials Not many materials were needed. Each subject needed a piece of paper and a pen. The tester had four list/tests that he administered. Primacy 4 Procedure Four memory tests were administered and then tallied up. The first test, consisted of thirty different words directly related (i.e. animals). After reading them aloud, the tester asked the subjects to recall and write down as many words as they remember. The second test had twenty directly related words (i.e. flowers) and the subjects were then told to do the same. However, the third and fourth tests were slightly different. The third test consisted of sixteen unrelated words. After these words were called out the tester then told the subjects to count one hundred backwards by sevens and then go ahead and remember as many words as possible. Finally, the fourth test was given. It consisted again, of sixteen unrelated words and the subjects were split into two groups. One group had to count up to one hundred by sevens and thee other group had to count down from one hundred by sevens. Results In the first two tests, subjects recalled more of the first and last words heard. Recollection of the words in the middle of the lists was much less. INSERT TABLES 1 AND2 ABOUT HERE In the third test subjects lost sight of the last words of the list when asked to count down from one hundred by sevens. This is called thee Primacy effect. More of the first five words were recalled and the other eleven words were recalled less. INSERT TABLE 3 HERE Primacy 5 In the fourth test, the results did not come out the way it was supposed to (not enough subjects). Because half the subjects are counting up and half the subjects are counting down both the primacy and recency of memory should be effected. However, in this test more of the first words were recalled and the other eleven were scarcely recalled. INSERT TABLE 4 HERE Discussion The results indicated that memory (primacy and recency) is effected by the task given to subjects before asked