Profit Maximization Essay Example for Free

Profit Maximization Essay Details Pixie ( £ per unit) Elf ( £ per unit) Queen ( £ per unit) King ( £ per unit) Selling Price 111 98 122 326 Variable Costs: Direct Materials 25 35 22 25 Direct Labor 5 5 5 5 Variable Overheads 17 18 15 16 47 58 42 46 Contribution 64 40 80 280 Type 1 Labor 8 6 Type 2 Labor 10 10 Type 3 Labor 5 25 Contribution per type 1 labor 8 6.67 Contribution per type 2 labor 8 28 Contribution per type 3 labor 16 11.2 Details Ranking Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Pixie 1 N/A N/A Elf 2 N/A N/A Queens N/A 2 1 King N/A 1 2 Planned Production Schedule Elf = no production (no hours of type 1 labor available) King = 1,000 units (full production) Queen = no production (no hours of type 3 labor available) Profit Statement Pixie ( £ per unit) King ( £ per unit) Total ( £ per unit) Sales 111,000 326,000 437,000 Variable Costs: Direct Materials 25,000 25,000 50,000 Direct Labor 40,000 175,000 215,000 Variable Overhead 17,000 16,000 33,000 Total Variable Costs 82,000 216,000 298,000 Contribution 29,000 110,000 139,000 Fixed Costs 15,000 Net Profit 124,000 Direct Labor King: Type 2 = 1,000 units x 10 hours per unit x  £5 =   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚    £50,000 Type 3 = 1,000 units x 25 hours per unit x  £5 =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚    £125,000 Total Direct Labor Cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚    £175,000 b) Under instances of limiting factors, like labor in this case, profit maximization is determined by deducing the production that will provide the highest contribution per limiting factor (Drury C. 1996, p 265). This is based on the premise that optimum utilization of resources will stem from producing the products that provide the highest profit in terms of the limited resource used. The main limitation of the aforementioned approach is that it solely considers financial factors.   In a business environment, there are qualitative features, which also significantly affect the organization.   For instance, products Elf and Queen might be loss leaders.   These are products, they generate low profits and sometimes-even losses, but are key variables in boosting the sales of other products (Kotler P. et al 2004, p 378).   For example, blank CDs and DVDs generated few profits to retailers of computer equipment.   However, they attract clients, who may eventually purchase hardware products that generated greater income. References:    Drury C. (1996). Management and Cost Accounting. Fourth Edition.   New York: International Thomson Business Press. Kotler P.; Armstrong A. (2004). Principles of Marketing. Tenth Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Incorporation.

SWOT Analysis of Venezuela and Kerala

SWOT Analysis of Venezuela and Kerala (S)trengths: A natural endowment of the world’s most demanded resource, namely oil. Huge reserves of crude oil in the country. A boom in the oil price in the international market causes a flourishing of the Venezuelan economy; a rise in the employment rate and the GDP of the country. It also runs a current account surplus owing to the surplus revenues earned from oil. The non-oil sector has also been growing at a steady and fast pace. Finance and insurance has grown 258.4 percent during the current expansion, an average of 26.1 percent annually; construction, which has grown 159.4 percent, or 18.9 percent annually; trade and repair services (152.8 percent, or 18.4 percent annually); transport and storage (104.9 percent, or 13.9 percent annually); and communications (151.4 percent, or 18.3 percent annually). Manufacturing grew 98.1 percent during the expansion, or 13.2 percent per year. (W)eaknesses: An overdependence on the oil industry often leads the economy to come crashing down in the case of drop in oil prices. The constant political instability in the region leads to rapid policy changes and an overarching control of the military forces in private and public spheres. (O)pportunities: Foreign public debt is low, at about 9.8 percent of GDP. Principal payments for the next four years are about $1.5 billion a year, which is very modest. Therefore Venezuela could also increase its borrowing internationally if necessary, but it is extremely unlikely to encounter any balance of payments problems. In the face of strong deflationary pressures, Venezuela’s inflation is likely to continue falling in the near future. Challenges: The main challenge for Venezuela in the next couple of years is to implement an effective stimulus package that can keep the economy on a steady growth path. Venezuela could make infrastructure and other public investments that will increase productivity in the years that follow. (T)hreats: Current concerns are a weakening of democratic institutions, political polarization, a politicized military, drug-related violence along the Colombian border, increasing internal drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples. Theoretical Lessons learnt from Venezuela: Venezuelan government revenue and oil revenue into the country are indivisible as it constitutes a major chunk of its GDP. A more balanced version of the Big Push model could facilitate other sectors to move forward like agriculture and industries, and this would lead to product diversification. Equitable distribution and efficiency are positive functions of a balance between private and public undertakings. Only public ownership and maintenance fuels corruption and inefficiencies. Kerala Kerala is located at the southern tip of India and was formed in 1956. In terms of area, it constitutes only 1.275% of India; it accounts for 33.3 million of the total Indian population .i.e. 2.76% of the total. It is the third densest state in India but this camouflaged by plush green biodiversity. Like Venezuela, Kerala too is a resource-driven country, exporting its ecology .This is in the form of tourism and also the export of primary products like coffee, coconuts and spices. Ecology plays an important role in the Kerala economy by providing a diversified natural resource base, enabling a large degree of occupational diversification. A comparison between Venezuela and Kerala. Variables Venezuela Kerala Longevity Total population:74.39 years male:71.26 years female:77.67 years (2014 est.) Total population: 74 years. Male: 71.67 yrs Female:77.2 yrs Adult Literacy (2013) Total-84.1 Female- 83.9% Male- 84.2% (2011) Total- 94% Female-100.76 % Male-96.11% Gross Enrolment Ratio(mainly primary school) It was 103% in 2009-10, and dropped to 102% in 2011-12. This percent exceeds 100 due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition. 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio. GDP per capita 12,729 NA Infant and child mortality 2009 The child (below 5 yrs) mortality rate was 17.5(a drop in rate as compared to previous years above 18 ratios), per 1000 live births. The infant mortality rate was 15 per 1000 live births 2005-06 Child mortality rate is 16.3, and infant mortality rate is 15.3 per 1000 live births. Secondary school enrolment Secondary school enrolment (% gross) was 83.48 as of 2011. Over the past 40 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 83.48 in 2011 and a minimum value of 35.15 in 1971. 45% of the total population enters into higher secondary education. Incidence on poverty The policies of the Bolivarian Government has caused poverty to fall to 23% in 2009 from 70.3% in the second half of 1996 accompanied by 40% of extreme poverty and a record inflation rate of 103%. The incidence of rural poverty has declined in the 1980s in spite of the slow rate of growth of the economy Maternal mortality 92 deaths/100,000 live births (2010) Lowest maternal mortality rate in India. 66 deaths/100,000 live births (2010-12) Tertiary Enrolment 78% of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving. Neglect on higher education. For example, in 1998-99, such a ratio is estimated to be 5.6 per cent in Kerala, compared to 5.9 per cent in the country as a whole on average Gini-coefficient for income distribution 0.482 0.40 HDI 0.748 0.625 Kerala and Venezuela are similar on grounds of following a path towards very high GDP. However, as much as they have been showing rapid development, an important issue which poses a huge problem for both economies is that of social security threatened by Crime, and the widespread corruption. Presently, in 2013, after the death of President Chavez, President Maduro took over, the Venezuelan economy has been experiencing acute shortages due to turmoil. Marginal Propensity to consume is very high currently in Venezuela due to high inflation and shortages. In Venezuela, growth in the money supply leads to inflation. This growth in money supply is caused by an almost near full employment level in the economy.There is high consumption in basic commodities such as milk, butter, coffee, cornmeal and toilet paper. This shortage has been caused due to theState-controlled prices – prices that are set below market-clearing price.Many factories operate at half capacity because the currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers. In April 2013, Venezuelas scarcity index reached its highest level since 2009, while the 12-month inflation rate has risen to nearly 30%. Shoppers often spend several days looking for basic items, and stock up when they find them. Therefore, their Marginal propensity to save is extremely low. The protests have hit the streets, but are controlled in a very gruesome matter by the government and military loyalists of the government. There is a lot of crime even among the police force. The basic freedom of speech is curtailed as the media is controlled by the President. ‘Colectivos’ is the name given to gangs of thugs sponsored by the state to hush the opposition. Venezuela is declared to be the second most corrupt country, and is also the most crime ridden country in Latin America. In Kerala, Crime rate statistics in terms of offences coming under the ambit of the Indian Penal Code during 2012 have put Kerala on top with 455.8 cases for every 1,00,000 persons. There is also corruption which permeates all sections of society. Policy Implications    The first step toward decreasing the income distribution gap is to increase transparency of public funds. When there is high corruption at the federal and state level, government revenues and expenditures may be miscalculated or misguided in order to swindle funds. Making sure that funds are appropriately allocated and that federal assets and liabilities are properly recorded will ensure soundness of the economy. Kerala is one of India’s most unequal states in terms of income inequalities, as 10% of India’s richest lives there. Therefore, Kerala can adopt from Venezuela the policies of social inclusion in order to attain a more equitable society. Other ways the government can decrease the number of people below the poverty is to reduce or eliminate the value-added tax (VAT). The VAT is a regressive tax on consumable goods and services at all stages of production. The VAT takes a larger proportion of a poor person’s income than the wealthy person’s income. Decreasing the VAT will increase disposable income and may stimulate consumption. There should be a constant check on poverty, as that can drag the economy down. In Venezuela, continuing to make sure that the Misiones are effective at increasing living standards will increase is important. The Misiones cannot be a publicity stunt; in order for there to be a decrease in poverty, there must be an increase in the standard of living. Access to low-cost food, high-quality education, and healthcare should not be a privilege of the wealthy, but rather a standard for all. Higher (tertiary) education is developing in Venezuela, and is almost completely neglected in Kerala. Therefore there needs to be policies in place to ensure the enhancement of this education. Increasing scholarships to go to a university will also stimulate growth. Education will increase human capital and will lead to an expansion of the production possibility frontier. In order for education to be most effective for economic growth, curriculum should be up to international standards. In order for there to be an increase in human capital, which will increase the production possibility frontier, universal quality education should be provided. Food shortages and inflation on food are also of international concern. In order to protect the citizens from malnutrition and starvation, the government must continue to provide access to low-cost essential agricultural products. In order to protect the citizens from dropping below the poverty line, the government must increase domestic production of agricultural goods. Since crime and corruption appears to be a common problem faced by both these economic spaces, it is important that a stricter, rigid penal code be in place with its appropriate execution. When the law is strong, the rates of crimes drop. Conclusion Venezuela, a so-called leading Latin-American nation, has still a long way to go in order to transform completely into a ‘developed’ nation. It needs a more deeply-entrenched structural and government change, most preferably a democracy. The current autocratic government is creating an aura of fear for the people to live in, and the extreme socialism is destroying industry and trade. People’s basic and fundamental rights are being compromised upon. Kerala, although one of the most developed states in India, still lacks in a few parameters. Higher education is completely neglected; high rates of crime and murders; widespread corruption, etc. Thus, policy needs to cater to these needs of the hour.

How Sensationalism Affects Eve Essays -- essays research papers

How Sensationalism Affects Everyone Involved In today ¡Ã‚ ¦s society journalism is under close scrutiny and is losing its credibility. Sensationalism effects both those who receive it in addition to those who report it. This essay will review the history of sensationalism in the media, clearly demonstrate how sensationalism effects ours views on journalism, and confront the ethical dilemmas that journalists must face between reporting objectively and reporting what sells. This will be accomplished by investigating various sources, including articles published on the Internet as well as those published in newspapers and magazines. Throughout history sensationalism has been represented in all shapes and sizes. Celebrity journalism is amongst the oldest forms of sensationalism. For instance, America ¡Ã‚ ¦s first real newspaper, Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic, reported a story on how the King of France was flirting with the prince ¡Ã‚ ¦s wife. Furthermore, in the 1830s, there was the creation of the penny press, which appealed to the then growing population of immigrants in our cities. These papers focused on the reporting of crime and celebrities. Sensationalism returned in the late 19th century in the form of  ¡Ã‚ §Yellow Journalism ¡Ã‚ ¨. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst competed viciously for readers of their respected newspapers. They both sensationalized stories about alleged atrocities committed by the Spanish, calling for the United States to step in on behalf of the Cubans. Equally important, when the USS Maine mysteriously blew up, both papers immediately blamed the Sp aniards. Today, this incident remains a mystery. In addition many blame the act of  ¡Ã‚ §Yellow Journalism ¡Ã‚ ¨ as the cause for the Spanish/American war. Yet another form of sensationalism popped up in the 1920s, picture tabloids. Sensationalism still remains a strong force in the current media. May it be in the form of picture tabloid magazines, celebrity journalism, or the violence infested media known as television and movies, the fact is that it sells. As long as there is a market for this type of unethical journalism there will a supply. Over the years, the general public has depended on the media for its information on current events. On the other hand, the public is becoming less and less confident in the objectivity of the news that is reported. Just last year a reporter for... ...nalism has become deeply entrenched in the media, leaving the public paying a high price through their loss of credible sources of information. In turn, journalists are also paying a high price by sacrificing their ethical standards and succumbing to the temptations of sensationalism for the sake of profit. The mass media has particularly found an avenue for vivid sensationalism through the phenomenon of television, which allows the public to passively absorb fast-moving images, without receiving comprehensive information. It is unlikely that sensationalism can be eliminated, however, the public would be well advised to actively consider their sources of information, rejecting those that blatantly disregard standards of objectivity and credibility in exchange for shallow glitter. By clearly sending a message of dissatisfaction to the corporations that control the mass media, the public may influence the decisions that are made and work toward improvement. Likewise, despite being constrained by the mandates of their management, journalists must make a concerted effort to resist resorting to sensationalism to sell a story, and rather base their success on solid, objective reporting.

The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true. The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeare's Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true.

A Brief History of Stephen Hawking

Today I will introduce a famous and outstanding scientist to you. A brief history of Stephen Hawking. The main contents include four aspects Stephen William Hawking is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity. Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London, but during the Second World War Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At 11 Stephen went to St Albans School, and when he was 17 he went on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Stephen wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science. Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there was no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph. D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and from 1979 to 2009 he held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics for 30 years. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Honorable Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton. Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. He showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science. Stephen has many technical publications, such as The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime, 1973. This is a book written by Stephen Hawking and George Ellis. They attempt to describe the foundation of space itself and its nature of infinite expansion, mathematically as well as theoretically. The book is too hard to read, he derides it as â€Å"highly technical and quite unreadable† and advises readers to not seek it out. Information Loss in Black Holes is an article about the question of whether information is lost in black holes. He also has three popular books published. The first one is his best seller A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestsellers list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. The book attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject, but unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. The second one is Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, It is a collection of both introductory and technical lectures on the thermodynamics of black holes, but it also includes descriptions on Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. This collection of lectures also includes essays on Hawking's personal life when he was young and, most famously, his disease, motor neurone disease. The book also includes an interview of Stephen Hawking. The third one is The Universe in a Nutshell. The book explains to a general audience various matters relating to his work the part of superstring theory in quantum mechanics. It tells the history and principles of modern physics. It is generally considered to be a sequel to A Brief History of Time. Stephen has many interesting ideas. He is known for his three big ideas. Idea about Alien life, he suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive. Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains. Idea about Time travel, he believes that we can start our time travel through wormholes. He thinks wormholes are all around us, only they're too small to see. They occur in nooks and crannies in space and time, nothing is flat or solid. If you look closely enough at anything you'll find holes and wrinkles in it. It's a basic physical principle, and it even applies to time. Idea about Leaving earth, He said if humanity is to survive long-term, we must find a way to get off planet Earth. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million; our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. Professor Hawking is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes, Known for Wolf Prize, Prince of Asturias Award, Copley Medal, and Presidential Medal of Freedom. And he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. This picture shows President Obama talks with Stephen Hawking before presenting him the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 12 August 2009. The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honour. Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and one grandchild), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures.

Moral nihilism Essay

When determining the status of morality there is three different options. Morality may be the different between objectives, relativistic, or it may be a complex set of rules. Moral nihilists are like relativists by denying ethical objectivism however, relativists believe in moral goodness, duty and virtue and nihilists don’t. Error theorists and expressivism are both forms of moral nihilism. Error theorists believe â€Å"our moral judgments are always mistaken†. Expressivists don’t agree and also deny that our moral claims can ever offer an accurate take on reality. (307) Error theory and expressivism are two forms of moral nihilism. Error theorists believe â€Å"our moral judgments are always mistaken†. (307) While expressivists deny those beliefs and deny, â€Å"that our moral claims can never offer an accurate take on reality†. (307) The error theory is made of three doubts/claims. The first is â€Å"there are no moral features in this world†. Error theorists believe that nothing is morally good or bad, or right and wrong. Exemplified in the book many scientific qualities in the world (liquids, being three feet long, carbon based chemicals) but none of them contain moral features. The next doubt of error theorists is no moral judgments are true. There are no moral facts so certain statements made cannot be true. The third corresponds to the second doubt, â€Å"our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe the moral features of things†. Since there are no moral truths for moral decisions, all of our moral claims are mistaken. These three principles used by error theorists lead to the conclusion of no moral knowledge. The fourth claim counteracts and answers the third point. â€Å"There is no moral knowledge† when means knowledge requires truth. (307) If no moral truths are given there can be no moral knowledge. Error theorists want it to be known that all moral thoughts are wrong. They believe that moral thoughts are not believable and people who believe in them are lies. Error theorists stand by there main point â€Å"morality is nothing but a fiction†. Error theorists are kind of like atheists. The example in the book is â€Å"error theory is to morality as atheism is to religion. † They both deny truths of widely populate views. Atheists don’t believe in god yet a very large percent of the population believes in god even if there are many different gods. Error theorists deny morality even though many people live life off of their â€Å"moral beliefs†. You can think of atheists are error theorists about religion. Atheists think there are no religious beliefs in the world and when religious people try to preach, atheists believe they never speak the truth about â€Å"god†. Error theorists have agreed that the main disbelief of morality is the assumption of objective moral beliefs. These beliefs â€Å"supply us with an excellent reason for obedience, regardless of what we care about†. (309) Morality is objective and provides the ones who believe in morality with â€Å"categorical reasons†. If you don’t agree with categorical reasons then this proves error theorists true that there is no such thing as morality. To prove that error theorists are right they have to convince people of how they came out with the thought that morality is a lie. Error theorists must first prove that morality is a commitment to categorical reasons. If morality doesn’t rely on these and they can prove a different way to live off of moral reasoning’s, then error theorist are wrong. The second point is that error theorists must show that at least of the moral assumptions are false. Its good that many people haven’t heard of the error theory because if error theorists can prove the moral theory wrong, there would be terrible results. People would now believe they have been living a lie their entire life. If morality is proven wrong, people will do whatever they want and everyone will soon go crazy. If error theorists are correct, they must defend themselves that morality is objective. Expressivism is like error theory with a few changes in certain places. Expressivists accept the first two beliefs of error theorists. The first â€Å"there are no moral features in this world†. The second belief â€Å"no moral judgments are true†. The beliefs that separates error theory and expressivism that expressivists think they are not trying to speak the truth while making moral judgments. Error theorists believe â€Å"our sincere moral judgments try and always fail to describe the moral features of things. (312) Expressivists vent their emotions and are known to make others act certain ways by making a plan of action. Expressivists want to have confidence in morality while also denying ethical objectivity. Expressivists say â€Å"moral claims cannot be true, then this makes it very difficult to understand how moral argument is possible†. An argument to this theory is that a conclusion must be true provided that its premises are true. My opinion would be that expressivists theory cannot be true. The other claims they make cant be used. If the first two parts are true then the third cannot be true. If the two parts of the argument are true the conclusion will be as well. Expressivists warn to â€Å"not be fooled by the superficial similarity between factual claims and moral ones†. (315) Moral claims are known as nihilism that would mean†¦ Moral claims are nothing essentially. They express our personal feelings. That’s how expressivists express people’s moral judgments. Concluding with all that I have learned with the different theories and morality. Morality is a set of objective tasks and rules to oblige by, giving us specific reasons to do everything that we do. Error theorists believe there is no such thing as morality. Moral beliefs are all lies in other words. They think out moral thinking is about assumptions in our head that is a lie. Expressivists are the same as error theorists and believe that â€Å"denying moral duties supply us with categorical reasons†. (317) Error theorists believe morality is all fake in peoples heads. I believe with the error theorists about morality.

Advantage of Social Networks in Business-Free-Samples for Students

Social network sites have become popular marketing tools for the marketers towards promoting the brand value of an organization to the customers (Leonardi, Huysman and Steinfield 2013). This study will discuss the existing literature regarding the impact of social media sites on the business performance. Moreover, this literature review will specifically use food and beverage industry for demonstrating the impact of social network sites on business performance. The study will focus on both the advantage and disadvantage of social network sites on the food and beverage industry. The scope of the literature review is to explore the business opportunities through the usage of social network sites. The literature review can also provide ample information regarding the advantage and disadvantage of social network sites on business performance. Moreover, from this literature review, it is also possible to know the better way of using social network sites in business. Social networking is an online platform, which people mostly use for building social relation or social network with other people. Most of these people use similar career interest, personal interest, backgrounds, activities and real-life connection. According to Luo and Zhong (2015), social networking is the usage of internet-based social media program for making connection with family, friends, classmates, clients and customers. Moreover, social networks are used both for social purpose and business purpose through the sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. As per Okazaki and Taylor (2013), marketers use social networking sites towards enhancing brand recognition and brand loyalty. Such networking sites make an organization more accessible to the new customers and more recognizable to the existing customers. On the other hand, Laroche, Habibi and Richard (2013) opined that social networking sites assist in promoting brand’s content and voice. Therefore, it helps in better communication of brand value from one customer to other through social networking sites. According to Gensler et al. (2013), customers may compliment the company offerings and encourage the other customers towards purchasing the products or service. Furthermore, markers can get wide customer base to reach at through the social networking sites, which can in turn enhance the customer base. Apart from that, customers can also get proper customer feedback of any particular product through these social networking sites. Such feedback leads an organization towards mo difying the products as per customer preferences, which can lead to high level of competitive advantage and increasing sales. Food and Beverage industry is Australia is facing tough competition in today’s competitive business environment. In such situation, organizations need increasing business communication with the customers for promoting the brand value. According to Nielsen and Schrà ¸der (2014), customers, who are in the same social network, are more likely to share important organizational offerings, product image and features among their friend groups. In this way, the food and beverage sectors communicate their brand value through the customers. On the other hand, Hajli (2014) opined that customers can also share their opinion regarding a particular product through social media networks. Moreover, they can also share their objections regarding any particular products and suggest any recommendation over the products as per their preferences. Such options enhance customer value through gaining valuable customer insights and considering their suggestion over product improvement. In this way, s ocial networks can be used for building warm and long lasting relationship with the customers. As per Maier et al. (2015), organizations can also use social media monitoring for gaining key information regarding the competitors. It can help organizations to add unique features to their products or services for gaining competitive edge and enhanced customer loyalty. While considering the example of Dick Smith Foods, it can be seen that the organization perfectly uses social networking sites for adding competitive edge in their business model. Moreover, they check the information of their competitors through social networking sites and incorporates unique blend of ingredients to their foods for gaining competitive advantage (Lin, Fan and Chau 2014). On the other hand, Park and Kim (2014) opined that the food and service sectors significantly use social networking sites for reaching the business content to the customers within shortest possible time. Considering all these positive impacts, all types of businesses in Australia ranging from small to medium sized organizations have started extensive usage of these sites to their business.   Figure 1: Proportion of Social Media Usage in Australian Businesses Over the past few decades, the way of shopping of the people has been changed and improved considerably. They are now more inclined to search for product or service information through social media sites before initiating purchasing action. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram enable the users towards maintaining great connection among themselves and others. According to Leftheriotis and Giannakos (2014), such customers are more likely to share attractive information regarding their favourite products with the customers through these social network sites. Customers are more likely to trust on such information shared by their closed friends. Therefore, such shared information encourages the customers towards purchasing the products. Recently, most of the people are inclined towards online shopping. They usually do have much time to physically present in the shop and search for information towards purchasing the products. Leonardi (2014) pointed out that social networking sites provide them the opportunities to search for product information by sitting at their home.   In this way, they can take immediate purchasing decisions by searching online information about the products. Furthermore, the positive product comments on the social networking sites create good impression about a particular product on consumer mind. Therefore, such positive product comments immediately encourage and motivate the customers towards purchasing a particular product. Social networking sites expose an organization to the new customers and enhance the recognition of brand value to the existing customers. Such sites enhance the effectiveness of word of mouth for the products through one customer recommending their favourite product to others. In this way, social networking sites increase the brand exposure of an organization to wide customer base. According to Ashley and Tuten (2015), high quality contents of the advertisement posted on social networking sites integrate the targeted keywords of the organization. Social networking sites direct people to the company website and enhance the search ranking. Moreover, such sites also enhance the customer referrals, which actually increase the total volume of customer base. Social networking sites can generate huge amount of data regarding the customers in real time. Moreover, Habibi, Laroche and Richard (2014) stated that organizations can gather huge customer information regarding their brand preference, dislikes and suggestion. In this daily active engagement and social listening effectively gather relevant customer data and use that information in making smarter business decisions.   Social networking sites allow the customers sharing their feedbacks over a particular product or service. Moreover, Kim and Park (2013) opined that customers can even share their objections regarding the products and service experience and get better modified product or service for better customer service. In this way, better customer service leads to successful business through having long term satisfied customers. Apart from getting feedback over a particular product or service, organizations can also get effective suggestions from the customers through social networking sites for the betterment of the products. In this way, organizations can get new business opportunities through the suggestions provided by the customers on the social network sites. Social networking sites can help in better analysis of competitive edge of the competitors. In this way, the organization can target the customers of the competitor companies through adding some unique features to the products (Nielsen and Schrà ¸der 2014). It helps organizations in gaining competitive advantage over the rivals and increasing overall sales volume. It takes only 30 minutes to build any social media account. However, managing social media account on day-to-day basis is an extremely time consuming activity. Moreover, Okazaki and Taylor (2013) opined that organization has to set aside time and resources for posting product information, interacting with customers and giving them right feedback. All these things need adequate amount of valuable time of the organization, which could have been used by other means towards enhancing organizational productivity. Positive experience shared by the customers on social network sites can encourage other customers to purchase a particular product. However, if a customer faces any bad experience with a particular product, he/she may be compelled to share his/her bad experience over social network sites. As per Luo and Zhong (2015), the business owners are to properly handle such negative comments on the social network sites or otherwise, it can ruin the reputation of an organization in the market. Social network sites can also open an organization towards legal risks. Moreover, legal obligations can be raised for false advertising or potential leaking of confidential information on the networks. In the year 2011, Australian court had fines an organization for their comments on Facebook page, which was considered as misleading (Hajli 2014).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of social media platforms can be free, but it has some hidden cost associated with it. Effective social media usage requires posting regular updates on the selected platforms. It requires employing effective personnel having comprehensive knowledge about the medium, ability to write attractive and high quality content for the page and adequate time to research, planning and publishing the post on the networks (Ashley and Tuten 2015). Therefore, social networking sites add some hidden cost to the business, which enhances the overall business expenditure. Organizations need not to use each and every social media platform for promoting their brand value. Moreover, they should choose specific social media platform, which can add to the growth of the business. Moreover, the organizations can also set specific key performance indicators for the growth of business through a specific social media platform. Moreover, the organizations should use highly attractive product information in the content of the social media platform. It will attract both new and existing customers towards the products and services. Furthermore, organizations should effectively and promptly handle the negative comment on the social network sites (Maier et al. 2015). The customer should positively answer the customers and try to resolve their issues immediately before it leads to customer dissatisfaction. In this way, the organizations can protect their business reputation from getting hampered by negative comments. This literature review has some literature gaps associated with it. It was not possible to apply accurate theories and models due to time and budget constraints. Moreover, the literature review has lack of critical analysis and penetration, which can negatively affect the summary of the literature review. Moreover, it was also quite difficult to gather adequate information regarding the topic of the research, which can hamper the quality of the final research outcome. Furthermore, the information collected from the secondary sources can also be manipulative in nature, which can reduce the accuracy level of the research outcome. In this way, the lack of authenticity of the literature review can hamper the ultimate quality of the research outcome. While concluding the study, it can be said that social networking sites enhances the brand promotion of an organization. Over the years, several small, middle and large scale food and beverage organizations have started to use social median platform for getting high level of business growth. Such networks enhance business communication through positive word-of-mouth advertisement. On the other hand, social networks get better customer insights and opinions, which can be aligned with the business model for gaining high level of business competiveness over the rivals. On the hand, social network sites can also have some disadvantages on the business. 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