Associate Professor Essay Example for Free

Associate Professor Essay education Note Case 1 robin redbreast yoboCase Objectives1. To provide an introduction to the conceptual framework of strategical management using a non- commerce situation. 2. To introduce students to the process of problem appellation and potential solution analysis that result be used in chemise discussions throughout the semester. perk up the table below to determine where to use this caseChapter Use Key Concepts 1 Strategy Concept Leadership for strategic management sustainable competitive advantage vision, agency, strategic objectives external environment inherent environment efficiency vs. effectiveness s coming backholder management Case Synopsis robin redbreast ceiling and his merry men argon now in trouble because laden travelers (their source of revenue) are neutraliseing the forest. As is often common in an entrepreneurial organization, the howling(a) Men were highly motivated by Robin Hoods leadership. Therefore, Robin had pre viously relied on informal communication to organize and implement operations. Robin is pleased with the growing size and influence of his organization. However, growth has meant that specialized duties declare begun taking up most of the mens time, leaving a command vacuum between Robin and the first line recruits. In addition, they are now all located in a large encampment that can be seen for miles. This creates the probability of a surprise attack on their position. accession has to a fault put great pressures on resources, so now they essential harvest the forest more thoroughly. Where will additional revenue come from? recondite travelers are avoiding the forest, so in desperation Robin is considering robbing the poorer travelers, which means his lieutenants must now tell their men to rob their brothers and fathers. What started as arebellion is in danger of being routinized into banditry. Robin must therefore begin to evaluate the Merry Mens accusation in view of the cha nging environment. Should it unagitated be an extension of his private stews and aspirations? Has the organization acquired a new mission, if so what is it? Who are the key stakeholders here? On whose behalf should the organization formulate its missionTeaching PlanMost students are familiar with the Robin Hood story, so its assertable to ask them to read this short case in strain during the 1st or 2nd class meeting. Either use the PowerPoint slides or ask the discussion questions directly. As students respond, either write answers on the board or refer to the PowerPoint slide answers.Its up to the instructor whether or non to assign Chapter 1 prior to discussing the case. If the case is read before the chapter is read, and then the instructor has the option to ask students, when they do read the chapter, to identify the concepts in the chapter that they recognize from the case discussion, and come to the next class prepared to share what they recognized. If the case is discu ssed after(prenominal) students guide read Chapter 1, the instructor can ask students to identify what concepts apply from the chapter.Summary of Discussion Questions here is a list of the suggested discussion questions. You can patch up which questions to assign, and also which additional readings or exercises to include to augment each discussion. Refer back to the Case Objectives Table to identify any additional readings and/or exercises so they can be assigned in advance.1. What is strategy?2. What strategic problems does Robin Hood fork up?3. What is the role of the organizational leader as strategist and articulator of planetary finishs?4. What are some issues in this organizations external environment?5. What is the relationship of the organizations internal structure to its environment?6. How do stem values or culture influence strategy making?7. What strategy can Robin Hood implement?Discussion Questions and ResponsesChapter 1 Introduction and Analyzing Goals and Obj ectives1. What is the occasion of strategy? nab Chapter 1, Exhibit 01 Strategic management consists of the analyses, decisions, and actions an organization undertakes in nine to create and sustain competitive advantages strategy directs the organization toward overall goals and objectives includes twofold stakeholders in decision making incorporates both short-term and long-term perspectives recognizes trade- shoots between efficiency and effectiveness.An interesting question that the instructor can ask at this token is what business is Robin Hoods organization in? Some students might say philanthropy, some might say robbery. The answers to this question will foster students understand the importance of vision and mission the leader must have a clear idea of the purpose of the business, and who it competes with, in order to craft strategy. If the business is robbery, there are different competitors, like highwaymen.2. What strategic problems does Robin Hood have?Robin Hoods organization is in a network squeeze revenue is down and costs are rising. In addition, there are cracks in the culture of the organization. Issues that need to be citationed include How to avoid detection of the growing organization? Has Sherwood Forest go bad too small to sustain operations? What to do about the growing strength of the Sheriffs forces? How to address organizational communications and leadership confusion?Decisions that need to be do include Should Robin Hood kill the Sheriff? Should Robin Hood accept the forces offer to join in freeing King Richard? Should Robin Hood impose a fixed transit tax in order to increase revenue?Consequences to be considered include Does the channelise in the external environment mean that the original mission is no longer valid? If Robin Hood decides to kill the Sheriff, accept the Barons offer or impose a tax on travelers, how do each of those actions link to the mission? If the mission changes, to what degree does Robin H ood have to worry about the loyalty of stakeholders?One other issue concerns the rapid growth of the organization. In the property of two years the organization grew from fragmentation and obscurity to a strong regional presence. Competitive strategy is about sustaining a position in the industry. outgrowth implies that strategy has to be flexible enough to adapt. Does Robin have a sustainable strategy?3. What is the role of the organizational leader as strategist and articulator of orbicular goals?See Chapter 1, Exhibit 06 The primary role of the organizational leader is to articulate vision, mission and strategic objectives. Leaders must also beproactive, counter change and continually refine changes to their strategies. This requires a certain train of ambidextrous behavior, where leaders are alert to opportunities beyond the confines of their own jobs, and are also cooperative and seek out opportunities to combine their efforts with others.Robin Hood involve to evaluate hi s initial vision of the organizations purpose what was the original goal that was massively inspiring, overarching, and long-term, that represented a destination that is driven by and evokes passion? Is the original vision irreconcilable with the present circumstances? Robin Hoods organizational mission may have to change a mission encompasses both the purpose of the company as well as the al-Qaida for competition and competitive advantages. Organizations must respond to multiple constituencies if they are to survive and prosper, and the mission provides a means of communicating to diverse organizational stakeholders. If the vision and mission have to change, Robin Hood must establish strategic objectives to operationalize the mission statement. That is, objectives help to provide guidance on how the organization can fulfill or move toward the higher goals in the goal hierarchythe mission and vision.Therefore, Robin Hood needs to redefine the organizational vision and mission since it may have changed rebellion may have become routinized into banditry. He must also identify the key stakeholders, broadening his focus beyond his own private grudge to include the needs of the district, the region, or the nation. And he must establish new goals. Depending on the stakeholders, these new goals may include replacing the Sheriff or changing the political order.4. What are some issues in this organizations external environment?There are obvious resource constraints. Sherwood Forest has finite resources the inputs into the organization (travelers to rob) have dwindled, especially since the rich travelers have started avoiding it. Robin Hoods band are spending past gains on present problems in the assumption that early revenues will continue to grow at the same pace as in the past. This assumption, one that is often pervasive in successful organizations, may be unwarranted.The Merry Men are reduced to robbing poorer travelers. The poor travelers are their main stay of political support. Here is a common pitfall of success, the tendency of organizations to take their best and most important customers for granted, to extract from them the highest return for least effort in the belief that they have no practical alternative. In addition, trained manpower is scarce.Regarding the physical environment, the current growth of the organization has created a large encampment that can be seen for miles, and is therefore now a target for attack. The nature of the Merry Mens environment and operations requires stealth and flexibility. The current physical facility does not provide for this.5. What is the relationship of the organizations internal structure to its environment?See the Chapter discussion of the trade-offs between effectiveness and efficiency. Given the growth of the operation, Robin Hoods previous structure may no longer be effective. He may no longer be able to get to the goals of the organization. He might need to make trade-offs.His current structure is functional, with each lieutenant a specialist. Communication has been informal, and Robin currently has no direct link to his first line recruits. This structure performed well in the early days of the band. However, with the growth of the organization, this has become problematic, resulting in lack of coordination. His lieutenants could do double time as staff and line personnel fulfilling their staff duties in off-peak periods, but available for line barter during field operations. Robin might want to consider creating a decentralized regional operation, with sub-bands who can operate out of smaller regional headquarters and ruin coordinate movements.This will increase flexibility of the total organization by moving the organizing of operations closer to those who undertake them. This will also reduce the rule of attack because then onlypart of the band might be detected and surprised. Decentralization also pushes food-gathering down the line, thereby eliminating food distribution problems. down in the mouth scale operations can be carried out with greater economy.6. How do group values or culture influence strategy making?During strategic analysis, the leader does advance work to anticipate unforeseen environmental developments, identify unanticipated resource constraints, assess changes in his or her preferences for how to manage. During strategy formation, depending on the font of organization structure, the leader might include key individuals in a discussion around selecting which strategies might be best to implement at which level at heart the organization. In strategy implementation, the leader must ensure proper strategic controls and organizational design, and establish effective means to coordinate and integrate activities within the firm as well as with suppliers, customers and alliance partners.Therefore, leaders must pay attention to all stakeholder needs, including the groups values and the organizational culture. See Chapt er 1, Exhibit 05 for the diverse stakeholder groups and the claims they make on the organization.Regarding the organizational culture, it was based on founding values that embraced a missionary outreach to the community. The original purpose created unity and a spirit of daring among the Merry Men. Robin is considering abandoning the higher (more affluent) segment of his market for a deeper exploitation of a very large segment with limited resources. Here he runs up against organizational traditions and values. If Robin pursues profit maximization now (robbing all travelers, including the poor), the group will become thieves. Group members will resist larceny from their brothers and fathers. Robin needs to restore the group members need for order and purpose. The Merry Men need to feel that their participation is quasi-voluntary.7. What strategy can Robin Hood implement?The basic question strategic management tries to answer is How can we create competitive advantages in the market place that are not only remarkable and valuable but also difficult for competitors to copy or substitute? Robin Hood must assess how functional areas and activities fit together to achieve goals and objectives.If the organization is still Robins extension of a personal grudge, then displacing the Sheriff should be the primary mission of the Merry Men. If the organization is acting on behalf of the district then replacing the Sheriff with a more benign administration should be the priority. If however the Merry Mens existence is an expression of widespread dissatisfaction with the present political order, then Robin should consider his potential contributions on a national scale. An analysis of the options confronting Robin ought to lead the students to question the criteria by which strategy is judged. Who is the actor in strategy? The psyche executive officer? Top management? A coalition of stakeholders? There is clearly no theoretical answer to these questions. A discussion ough t to set the drop anchor for an appreciation of the political and structural forces under which strategy emerges.Robin should have a meeting with the Merry Men to explain the strategic dilemma and long-term issues. He needs to increase organizational discipline, which could be done by creating a clearer organizational structure with strategic controls that enforce the mission. To do this, he needs to recruit qualified leaders for the new decentralized structure, and involve lieutenants in the solution. It is always an issue which functions should be decentralized and which retained at the corporate level. In this case intelligence gathering and finance should probably be kept centralized.It is crucial for the students to appreciate the contradictory pressures that implementation generates. The new decentralized structure will call for more intricate communication and command systems. It increases flexibility, but also increases the probability of breakdown and mismanagement. In th is case runners must keep the various sub-bands in communication.This is a primitive technology that may be insufficient to ensure coordination. Anopportunity exists here for the students to appreciate to what extent sophisticated organizational forms are made possible by modern technologies which are ordinarily taken for granted.While restructuring is going on Robin must begin to consider other aspects of his strategy. He should examine the possibility of diversifying beyond the confines of his traditional forest territory. This is viable if he is decentralized. Operations can be carried on in the countryside by the self-governing sub-bands. He must also resolve the issue of the proposed transit tax. What should be his relationship to the local population? Should he increase their burden of taxation, or not?Robin must also prepare for the possibility of ceasing operations by providing outplacement training. He should pursue alliances beyond the current band of Merry Men, negotiati ng a possible change in the political order, negotiating amnesty, returning the band to legality. He should probably avoid contact with the SheriffFinally, Robin should recognize that mistakes will occur. Therefore he should anticipate the costs of implementation, especially the problems of extended communication. Robin must familiarize his lieutenants with his intentions and the projected problems. They must actively become involved in the evolving implementation.Ultimately, however, Robin Hood must consider the long-term course of action. If the Merry Men were a profit- maximize organization in the classic sense they would be satisfied with keeping the Sheriff off balance or perhaps work towards his replacement with a more inexperienced man. They are however a missionary organization. To pursue profit maximizing would sooner or later lead them to thievery, pure and simple. It would also undermine their unity and spirit of daring. Robin Hood has little choice but to increase his in volvement in issues that lie beyond his immediate task environment.

Philosophy and Ethics Essay Example for Free

ism and Ethics EssayWhat is Ethics?Ethics is a branch of philosophy, which is the education of what is right and wrong. Ethics is an action of feeling. If you atomic number 18 walking on the street and you detect a homeless person, you would ask yourself questions like this How should I act? Should I help or ignore? When making decision how to ask and listen to your feelings what is wrong or right to is c tout ensembleed Ethics. There are many examples that can describe ethics, but people like to explain ethics in an easy way in which all(prenominal) cardinal can be lecture and everyone can be involved in this topic, such as law. By asking questions like Can laws be wrong? Do laws apply to every citizen in Canada? Why do we need laws? Can laws be changed? These are the anatomy of questions that can explain ethics. Ethics come from a Greek news show Ethos, which means character. This tells that ethics study the action that can be good or bad. The term ethics is often call morals, which comes from a Latin word mores, which means character, habit or custom. Ethics is identifying as morality in philosophy.Why ethics is convey(a) to study?Ethics is very pregnant for human life. Ethics teach you how to act. Without ethics, our actions would be unplanned and pointless. If we want to be successful in our life we can do this in only one way and this way is learning most ethics. Everyday people are dealing with ethics and moral issue. For example, you didnt do your homework last night what should you do should you tell your teacher the truth or should you lie say that you forgot your homework at home or do a bit of both, if your non sure what to do, then this a good chance to learned it study in class. If we study ethics deep it will help are feel better for the future and will help us to be successful in life by knowing what right and wrong.What is Metaphysics?Metaphysics comes to us from Ancient Greece meta, meaning higher beyond earth physics or invisible physics. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy, which study what is honesty. It answers the question What is?. American philosopher Wilfrid Sellars said that metaphysics is the study ofhow things hang together, and many early(a) philosopher have called it as the first philosophy. So, metaphysics study reality, what can be meaning of life, and if we can talk about the thing that dont exist.Why is Metaphysics important?Metaphysics is the heart of philosophy. Without a clarification or an interpretation of the world around us, we would be helpless to deal with experience Metaphysics tells if the reality is absolute. It has a specific kind self-regulating of our thoughts or feelings. The world around us is real. Metaphysics is very I important to be study in class because it declares you think more and tells you what reality what should you know or believe that it true.What is Epistemology?Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It answers the question, How do we know? it can be concepts, logical reasoning, as well as thoughts, ideas, memories, emotions, and all things mental. It is describe how head is related to reality, and whether these relationships are usable or unacceptable.Why is Epistemology important?Epistemology is the clarification of how we think. It is unavoidable in order to be able to decide the true from the false. It is needed in order to use and find the knowledge of the world. Without epistemology, we could not think. We would not be able to distinguish truth from error. Epistemology is correct is the step to which we could understand reality. We all go to school to get some education which means knowledge is have knowledge you are a genius why not analyze in class this discipline and learned why do we need to know things why do they help to know more. How does knowledge make our lifes easier.What is aesthetics?Esthetics is the study of art, and beauty. It also, tells the meaning of art and the importance of art. Why is Aesth etics important? It is important to know what is Aesthetics because it is everywhere in everyday life. You see e person you will say is the person is beautiful or not, if so, what makes it beautiful. It makes you think more, and it also teach you how to judge art and beauty.What is social and Political Philosophy?Is the study of how people can regulate and organized their selves. Social philosophy talks about variety of subjects, from individual meanings to legality of laws. Political philosophy is the study of questions about the city, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law a legal code and explain how do they work.Why is Social and Political Philosophy Important?It is important to know about Social and Political Philosophy because the main point of a country that maintain regulation is politic such as law, rights, freedom every Canadian citizen should have knowledge on this topic and see how they affect people.What is the Philosophy of Science?The Philosophy of Science is the study of science and how science work and why do we need it to know it and explains what is science, it also tells if there is any science or there is just philosophy.Why Philosophy of Science is important?As we know since has changed people lifes and has make a better life for everyone, so it is important to know we came till here and what can we do for future to make it better, as we all use computers has been having a big affect in our lifes why not trying to know how it is important for us.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Positivism

Advantages and Dis returns of PositivismQ. Discuss the advantages, strengths, wrongs and flunkes of apositivist show up to the friendly scholarships.The profusion of use and multifariousness of meaning of the volume positiveness results in a need for any essay on the subject to first give its own precise definition for its use of the term, distinguishing its ill-tempered mise en scene from its use in saucy(prenominal) contexts. The term profitableness, first coined by the philosopher Auguste Comte in the nineteenth-century, was first origin on the wholey confined to the boundaries of philosophy and raw(a) skill by the present, the term has spread its meaning to cover field as diverse as law, political theory, the well-disposed sciences, philosophy and even literature. In all(prenominal) of these fields the dictionary definition of logical positivism as . . . a system recognizing all that which can be scientifically verified or logically proved, and on that pointfo re rejecting metaphysics and theism (Oxford, 1989 pp. 385-386) corpse broadly true of most of its uses, though it does little to reveal the subtle distinctions of use of the word positivism in each of these disciplines. For instance, legal positivism is . . . a view which, in contrast to the inseparable law view, claims that a legal system can be defined independently of evaluative terms or propositions is the view that in law (Hugh-J one and only(a)s, S. Laidlaw, J, 2000 p88) in literature positivism refers to a specific period of Polish literature where writers were inspired by the nascent achievements of science and technology and in philosophy the term logical positivism meant the scientific probe of the philosophy of language as in writers such as Wittgenstein. completely in all then, the term positivism has an umbrella use designated by the dictionary definition, but then has several further and more individualistic uses depending upon the context in which it appears.Pos itivism is the view that serious scientific inquiry should non searchfor ultimate causes deriving from more or less outside source but must(prenominal) confineitself to the study of relations existing among facts which are directlyaccessible to observation(Hugh-Jones, S. Laidlaw, J 2000 p.3)The definition of positivism chosen for use in this essay, its particular domain being the social sciences, is that stated above by Hugh-Jones and Laidlaw. According to this version of positivism, info gathered from sense perceptions is the only possible data that may be used as a foundation for knowledge and thought. Hence, all data and phenomena taken from beyond sense perceptions or the properties of observ qualified things is banished thuds a priori metaphysics and theology dismissed in toto. cognition alone sets the perimeters for man knowledge, and, concordly, positivism maintains the expectation that science will ultimately attain to solve all human problems. As such, a social s cientific definition of positivism regards the query of social scientists as identical in importance to that of indispensable scientists that is, social scientists, manage natural scientists, employ theories and explanations for phenomena, inferred from sense data for the purpose of social benefit. With respect to political science as a social science Popper therefrom says We sign the particular definition of one of the social sciences political science which tries to separate the subject from the values we apply to it, and argues that it is possible to develop value-free knowledge (Popper, 1983 p. 75). This quotation shows the period to which one particular social sciences use of the term positivism has mutated from its general umbrella use.For the purposes of this essay, positivism will be regarded as having quaternary essential characteristics (King, 1994 p. 204). (1) It is concrned with the search for the unification of scientific method, that is, with the notion that l ogic and inquiry are universal principles extending across all scientific domains. (2) That the ultimate end of scientific inquiry is to gives explanations of social phenomenon and to make predictions about their deportment as according to discernable laws of society. Thus positivism in the social sciences seeks also to develop a general law of social understanding, by discovering necessary and sufficient conditions for any phenomenon. (3) Positivism maintains that social scientific knowledge must always be subject to proof through empirical experiment. All subjects of reaseach and investigation in the social sciences should be based upon observations derived from sense-perceptions. (4) Social sciences must seek to free themselves of value-judgements as far as possible, and of moral, political, and religion ideas that might contaminate their research. Thus, in short social sciences must seek to dicover universal conditions behind social phenomenaall social scientific empirical stat ements must be asolute truthes which are true at all times and true in all places finally, research can proved only by empirical experimentation.In There Is More Than One Way To Do Political Science marshland Smith (2001), while debating whether the social sciences might legitimately prepare both a positivist and realist approach to science, argue that one of the principal strengths of positivism is that it is foundationalist that is . . . in ontological terms it argues that there is a real origination out there, that it is independent of an agents knowledge of it and that . . . it is possible, using the proper research methods for an observer to discover these real relationships between social phenomenon (Marsh Smith, 2001 p. 529). Thus the great strength and advantage of a positivist approach to the social sciences is that it grounds anthropology, sociology, political science and so on upon a hard and definite foundation of empirically testable data, and makes theories out of this data from which absolute laws of social behaviour may be attained. A second distinct advantage then of positivism is that it permits an analysis of the causal relationships between phenomena. Positivism thus allows the social sciences to make certain predictions about the phenomenal world. Thus Dowding states . . . all good political scientists produce models with definite predictions . . . which they can then test one way or another against data gathered from the actual world (Dowding, 2001 p. 92). A chief strength then of a positivistic approach, is that it suffers to the social sciences the desire to emulate the excellence of the natural sciences in respect of their rigorous experimentation, incisively stated hypotheses, definite laws, and thus prediction of behaviour. By approaching its investigations thus, social scientists attain a high level of accuracy in their results and in their predictions, and thus come closer to a total description of the behaviour of social phenomenon. By approaching the social sciences from a positivist position, social scientists are able to cut away from existing knowledge many prejudices, suppositions, superstitions and other non-scientific opinions that have gathered about these social phenomena (Marsh Smith, 2001). In other words, positivism, by declaring valid only those things which conform to its vigorous standards of investigation, strips social phenomenon of their perceived nature and reveals them as they really are.A second key advantage of taking a positivist approach to the social sciences is that such a move solidly roots the social sciences in the accomplishments of the natural sciences over the past four hundred years. Early positivists alike(p) Comte, Spencer and Saint-Simon understood their theory and work as something growing directly out of the experimental and theoretical achievements of the great natural scientists like Newton, Spinoza, Darwin and others. Comte knew that the natural sciences and natural scientists, were fundamentally positivist that is, they appealed to the perception and measurement of objective sense-data from which to make experiments, analyze results and make theory, predictions and laws. Comte and the other early positivists thus understood their work as an act of do explicit the theory which natural scientists had adhered to for centuries. When, in the twentieth-century, social positivists like Ernst Laas, Friedrich Jodl and Eugen Duhring began to establish the theoretical and experimental parameters of the social sciences, they also understood their work as a branch of the natural sciences and as a continuation of its discoveries. Anthropologists, sociologists, social scientists of the early twentieth-century faced a choice they could orientate their subjects within the sphere of natural science and its immense harvest of the past twain decades, or they could orientate it in the sphere of theology and the liberal arts which had dominated all hu man memoir before the advent of natural science. Laas, Jodl, Duhring and later Marsh, Smith and others have all agreed that the social sciences must be built upon the platform established by the natural sciences. These sciences have been the predominant intellectual authority for Western Europe for nearly four hundred years, and social scientists think that the positivist approach to the natural sciences offers greater objectivity, certainty of prediction, and deeper insight into their subjects than could achieved by any other method of inquiry.Further, the allegiance of the social sciences to the natural sciences, through a shared conviction in the positivist philosophy, means that the social sciences can constantly draw upon the fund of new empirical stuff and nonsense daily unearthed by these natural sciences. In other words if the social sciences have an exchange of knowledge between themselves and the natural sciences, then every refinement of experimental method, theory, or analysis achieved by the natural sciences may be immediately seized upon and utilized by the social sciences also. And, vice-versa, this interchange allows the social sciences to more freely disseminate their discoveries within the world of the natural sciences. Moreover, by sharing a positivist philosophy with the natural sciences, the social sciences may draw from its authority in the presentation of their results to the wider scientific and academic community. That is, the employment of positivism by the social sciences, dispels and neutralizes the accusations from some quarters of the scientific and outside world, for instance those of Karl Popper, that such sciences are pseudo-sciences. This claim can hold no weight if it is seen that the natural and social sciences share alike the same methodology and principles of operation. Nonetheless, it should be made clear that whilst the social sciences derive authority and knowledge from the natural sciences, that they do not depend up on it exclusively for authority. Indeed, the social sciences have made their own refinements to positivism, and thus their methods of experimentation and analysis, quite independently of those achieved in the natural sciences. The social sciences have adapted the positivism they received from the social sciences to conform to their own empirical hooey and the idiosyncratic and diverse domains encountered in societies and the human world. In short, the social sciences have moulded positivism to the world of empirical human affairs, thus entering a territory that the natural sciences had previously not trodden.Historically, perhaps the greatest impuissance and hence disadvantage of positivism generally, and with respect to the social sciences in particular, has been its insistence upon methodological absoluteness. Since the time of positivisms foundation in the philosophy of Auguste Comte, positivists have persistently desire to use its scientific methods to explain every conceivable aspect of social phenomenon that is, they have wanted to observe an object in its totality, tracing its entire phenomenological casuistry, its material composition, and thus produce a absolute theory of knowledge about that phenomenon. According to this scientific philosophy positivism must produce absolute laws to define the behaviour and nature of phenomenal objects. The naivety of this search for the perfection of methodology and absoluteness of social scientific laws was exposed in the second half of the twentieth century, firstly by the advent of post-modernism (Popper, 1989 p.109-128), which showed the epistemological difficulties impossibilities? of extending science to such extreme levels secondly, positivisms applicability in all instances was increasingly undermined by the new theories of social scientists themselves. The various discoveries of anthropology, sociology, political science and other social sciences led researchers to an ever clearer conclusion the phenome na of social science are far too in advance(p) and involve the intimate interaction of too many separate objects, people and fermentes to be scientifically observed in their totality.Sociologists for instance, in their investigations into the mechanisms of the smallest of social units, the family, soon agnise that no absolute and all-encompassing laws could be applied to the behaviour of these units (Gerrad, 1969 pp. 201-212) the great complexity coming from the need for the axioms and paradigms which are true of one family unit must, according to pure positivism, be shown to be true of all family units in all places and at all times. Pure positivism states that the laws of social science are of the same type and significance as the laws of physics, biology and chemistry but for these laws to attain this equality, the laws of social science must be easily expressible and as purely testable as those of the natural sciences. The difficulty of attaining such equality is easily demo nstrated by Gerrards (Gerrard, 1969) experiments, where he discusses the complexity of social issues involved in a four member family unit in America, and then postulates the near impossibility of scientifically demonstrating that family units in Northern France, in Thailand, in Hawaii and in all other places can be shown to obey the same exact rules as those affecting the family in America. Thus social scientists from the 1950s onwards, confronted with the sheer vastness of ethnic, racial and community diversity, began to question the possibility of producing social laws that would be universally and ubiquitously binding. And in 2006 when even natural scientists have no certainties even about the exact behaviour and nature of a single atom how can social scientists hope to prove laws for something as complex as a city?Another weakness of extreme positivism has been its inability to accurately prove its hypotheses through empirical experiments (Popper, 1983 p. 12 also Dowding, 1995 p. 138). Whereas experimentation in the natural sciences usually involves the investigation of breathless or relatively simple objects such as metals, stars, chemicals and so, these having the same properties constantly, in contrast, social phenomenon people, communities, organizations etc., are animate and are compositions of vast complexly intertwining feelings, emotions, thoughts, volitions, passions, motives, associations and so on. Thus, to approach a social experiment, a social scientist has to be sure that he can separate the single mental or behavioural element, say a criminal tendency that he wants to investigate, and then to exclude or control the influence of the other mental and social factors that will otherwise affect the accuracy of the experiment. In many instances such exclusion is nearly impossible to the degree of purity demanded by extreme positivists a human being cannot be dedicate in a test-tube or a vacuum and so shielded from external influences in the way that magnesium or atoms can. Thus social scientists have become ever more conscious that a major limitation of the positivist approach in respect to their discipline is its insistence upon perfect conditions for experimentation and for the accuracy of hypotheses and predictions (Dowding, 1995).Further, other discoveries in the social sciences have begun to place an ever greater emphasis upon the life of the individual and upon subjective experiences as vital factors in the constituency of societies (Marsh Furlong, 2002). The hermeneutic or interpretive approach has come to assume ever greater importance within the social sciences, setting up for itself an area of investigation of phenomenon quite different from positivism, and therefore undermining the legitimacy of positivisms claims to describe the totality of social phenomenon. Positivism is, according to this view, the outcome of a particular close and particular history (Western European) what legitimacy then does it hav e to proclaim its results as of universal validity, as it must, to meet its own standards of scientific investigation? Moreover, social scientists themselves bring to their experiments their own subjective experiences, their own thoughts, volitions, prejudices etc., and these all affect experimentation and thus the security of results just as surely do these things in the subjects of analysis. Thus David Marsh and Martin Smith have stated, in their powerful metaphor derived from Marshs earlier article, that In the social sciences . . . subjective ontological and epistemological positions should not be treated like a pullover that can be put on when we are addressing such philosophical issues and taken off when we are doing research (Marsh Smith, 2005 p.531). That is, they should not be treated as a pullover, as temporary measure, as they have been by positivists to date.In the final analysis, it seems clear that neither the extreme positivism once advocated in the wake of Auguste Comtes first philosophical writings, nor extreme anti-positivism nor anti-foundationalist positions as have recently been taken by some hermeneutists and realists, can lead to significant future progress in the social sciences. The chief strength and advantage of a positivist approach is the vigorous process of setting hypotheses, of empirical experimentation to test these hypotheses, of deep analysis to measure the results, and then the ability to codify the results in a set of laws and predictions. Claiming for themselves, in this sense, a parallel certainty of laws and predictions as and laws demanded by the natural sciences, positivism reveals to the social sciences phenomenal objects as they really are as they are when stripped of superstitions, fraudulent theories, prejudice and so on. Positivism demands a definite residue of facts and truths that are universally applicable to social groups and communities irregardless of time, place or environment. In essay so vigorously f or such ideals, positivism gives the social sciences a high degree of authority and respectability within the wider scientific and academic community as a whole. Further, a positivist approach in the social sciences affords a ready means of comparison and exchange of knowledge between other disciplines such law, philosophy, literature and so that employ positivism also. Indeed, in seminal respects, such is the importance of positivism for the social sciences that it is difficult to see how they could justify being sciences without it.The two principal disadvantages of a positivist application to the social sciences are these firstly, that its search for ideal and perfect standards of scientific methodology and analysis are too chimerical when set beside the extreme complexity of social phenomenon the second weakness, is positivisms lack of empathy and consideration of the subjective, individual and hermeneutic aspects of social phenomenon. Dealing with the first objection, critics of positivism argue that it cannot working as it does in the outside world, in cities and in companies, in villages and mass organizations attain the same standards of empirical excellence, either in experimentation or in verification of results, as can natural scientists working in the controlled conditions of a laboratory and deriving principles mostly from inanimate matter of slighter sophistication than human beings. Moreover, social scientists have a nearly insuperable difficulty in codifying laws of social phenomena with the precision that physics or chemistry allow for material phenomena. Thus positivism in the social sciences attains a lower level of prediction and accuracy with respect to the phenomenon it observes, than do the natural sciences. The second major weakness of a positivist application is its failure to take sufficient account of the subjectivity of individual life and to interpret the meaning of that phenomenon for the subject and the community of the subje ct. On these matters positivism has nearly nothing to say, and thus it is barred from a whole hemisphere of human social experience.As the first sentence of this conclusion suggested neither an extreme positivist not an extreme subjective or hermeneutic attitude can dominate the future of the social sciences. Rather, social scientists must scam to join positivism with subjectivism, thus fusing the two halves of social phenomenal experience. If positivism can be brought into union with the subjective in the social sciences, and if positivists can diddle to tolerate something less than perfection in their methodological approach, then positivism must still be said to have a large constituent to make to the future of social science. In might be said then, in our final words, that positivism is simultaneously an advantage and disadvantage for the social sciences whether one or other of these qualities is dominant remains to be seen.BIBLIOGRAPHY Dowding, K. (2001). There Must Be An En d To Confusion Policy Networks, Intellectual Fatigue, and the Need for Political Science Methods Courses in British Universities, in Political Studies, Vol 1., pp. 89-105. Dowding, K. (1995). Model or Metaphor? A Critical Review of the Policy of Network Approach. Political Studies, Vol. 45, Issue. 1, pp. 136-158. Green, D. P. Shapiro, I. (1994). Pathologies of Rational quality Theory A Critique of Applications in Political Science, pp. 89-95. New Haven, London. Gerrard, James. (1969). The Sociology of the Family, pp. 303-316. Ford Press,Pittsburgh. King, G. (et al.). (1994). Designing Social Enquiry Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research, pp 201-208. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Hugh-Jones, Steven Laidlaw, James. (2000). The substantive Edmund Leach,p163. New Haven, London. Marsh, David Smith, Martin. (2001). There Is More Than One Way To Do Social Science On Different Ways To Study Political Networks in spate 49,Number 3, pp. 528-541. Marsh, David Furlong, Paul. (2002). A Skin Not a Sweater Ontology and Epistemology in Political Science in Marsh, David and Stoker, Jerry (Eds.).Epistemology in Political Science, pp. 17-41. Palgrave, Basingstoke. Popper, Karl R. (1983). Realism and the Aim of Science, pp 1-13. Routledge,London. Popper, Karl R. (1989). Conjectures and Refutations the egress of Scientific Knowledge, 69-76. Routledge, London. Quirk, Randolph (et al.) (Eds.). (1989). The Oxford English Dictionary. OxfordUniversity Press, Oxford.

Dividend Policy of Pakistans Oil Sector

Dividend Policy of Pakistans Oil SectorINTRODUCTIONCorporate dividend constitution is one of the most debated topics in somatic finance. Many researchers lease devised theories and provided empirical evidence regarding the determinants of a signs dividend polity. The dividend polity issue, however, remains still unresolved as due to the detail that there atomic number 18 so many swopables depending upon the type of telephoner, its financial sources, its industry etc that no single formula could be applicable. Clear guidelines for an optimal pay come forth policy nominate not save emerged despite the voluminous literature. We still do not have an acquiesceable explanation for the observed dividend behavior of companies.During the last fifty years several abstractive and empirical studies have been done leading to mainly three bring let oncomesThe increase in dividend payout affects the commercialize note protect of the plastered.The decrease dividend payout adver sely affects the securities industry value of the firm.The dividend policy of the firm does not affect the firm value at all.However, we terminate say that empirical evidence on the determinants of dividend policy is unfortunately very complex. rear on which corpo balancens pay out dividends to the shargon holders is still an unresolved puzzle. First prominent learning that appeargond in the literature of finance regarding dividend policy was that of Miller and Modigliani (1961) where they democracy that there argon no deception in a perfect and a balancenal economic environment. This was the starting point for other researchers to explore dividend payout policy phenomena. Almost all researches that followed referred back to Miller and Modigliani (1961). Various researches were carried out by many researchers to explore the determinants of dividend payout policy, some of them focused on profitability, some on coat of it of the firms, some on harvest-tide rate of the firm o pus others on path live. For example researches carried out by Nissim et el (2001), Brook et el (1998), Bernheim et el (1995), Kao et el (1994), and Healy et el (1988) found out a positive association among increase in dividend payout and future profitability. Kalay et el (1986) and Asquith et el (1983) found out that stock make its is positively associated with dividend changes. Sasson et el (1976) conclude that the payout ratio is positive association with average rates of return. On the other get hold of, studies of Benartzi et el (1997) and DeAngelo et el (1996) find no nurture for the relationship among future profitability and dividend changes.On Other side most debated factor affecting dividend policy arguably is agency be. Jensen (1986). chest cost argument suggests that cost is reducing by dividend payments and funds geological period Rozeff (1982). Researches carried out by Jensen et el (1992), and Lang et el (1989) support this agency cost hypodissertation, whi le others such as Lie (2000), Yoon et el (1995) and Denis et el (1994) found no support for this hypodissertation.Size of the firm is another factor which seems to have an jar of dividend payout policy. Firms large in size of it ar considered to have more ability to payout dividends to its share holders. Lloyd et el (1985), and Vogt (1994) pointed that firm size plays a portion in clarifying the dividend-payout ratio of firms. They argued that because larger firms are mature and have easy access to expectant trades and then they are not really much dependant on internally generated funding which enables them to payout higher dividends.The purpose of this research is to investigate the dynamics and determinants of dividend policy of oil gas sector firms in Pakistan. The in underage variables selected from the literature include market capitalization, profitability and annual rate of egress of total assets. Analysis of these variables should reveal there exist an invasion of these variables on dividend payout policy of the firms and very nature of the relationship.The rest part of this dissertation is organized as follows. In section 2 brief reviews of theories about the dividend will be designateed. In section 3 this thesis discusses the data and possible variables that can act as proxy for different influences for analysis .In section 4 this thesis will establish the role model. Section 5 will provide details of methodology used. In section 6 thesis will establish analysis and interpretations and section 7 will present results and draw a conclusion.CHAPTER IILITERATURE REVIEWThere are various theories which provide insight on how a firm pays the dividends.2.1 Miller and Modigliani possibilityAccording to Miller and Modigliani (of Merton Miller, Franco) (1961) dividend do not affect firms value in perfect market. Shareholders are not concerned to receiving their cash flows as dividend or in shape of capital gain, as far as firms doesnt change the investment policies. In this type of situation firms dividend payout ratio affect their residual free cash flows, when the free cash flow is positive firms decide to pay dividend and if negative firms decide to issue shares. They in like manner conclude that change in dividend may be conveying the information to the market about firms future net income.ExampleIts a common believe that dividend policy is created by shareholder himself for example if a person has 10,000 PKR and wants income of 3,000 PKR a year from that portfolio, simply 3000 PKR money value can be sold by a person this amount as dividend income does not accept by him. This surmisal says, Who is anxious about dividends??MM explains that under certain assumptions including rational investors and a perfect capital market, the market value of a firm is independent of its dividend policy.Smirlock Marshall, (1983) stated that relationship amidst the Dividend and Investment Decisions indicates that no causality amid st the dividend and investment decisions of the firm. The fact that the firm-specific data conclusively supported the separation dominion is particularly convincing. This is the first application of causality examens to a large sample of firms.2.2 The bird in the hand hypothesisInvestors always prefer cash in hand quite a then a future promise of capital gain due to minimizing stake Gordon (1963).Gordon believes that he is anxious about investing in dividends and dividend stocks. Gordon say that when he is paid hard cash by the company, he knows that the company is not just telling him that it is making money but the fact it that it is really making money . This is the idea that cash payment is valued by the investors in their hands over the hope of future profits.2.3 The agency theoryTraditionally, corporate dividend policy has been examined under the assumptions that the firm is one homogenous unit and that the managements objective is to maximize its value as a whole. The a gency cost get on differs from the traditional approach mainly in this way that it explicitly recognizes the firm as a collection of groups of individuals with conflicting interests and self-seeking motives. According to the agency theory, these behavioural implications cause individuals to maximize their take in utility instead of maximizing the firms wealth.The agency theory of Jensen and Meckling (1976) is based on the conflict between managers and shareholder and the percentage of rectitude controlled by sponsor ownership should influence the dividend policy. The theory focuses on the relationship between an agent of the principal (companys managers) and a principal (shareholder) .Jensen and Meckling (1976) in corporations, agency paradox arise from external debt and external equity. Jensen and Meckling (1976) analyzed that how firm value is affected by the distribution of ownership between at heart shareholders and outside shareholders who can follow up perquisites, and w ho cannot. Within this framework, increase managerial ownership of equity alleviates agency difficulties by reducing incentives to consume perquisites and expropriate shareholder wealth. Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that equity agency costs would be lower in firms with larger proportions of inside ownership. Managers are better understanding their interest with stockholders when they increase the shareholders ownership of the firm.Dividends are believed to play an important role in reducing conflicts between managers and stockholders. Any dividend policy should be designed to minimize the sum of capital, agency and tax revenueation costs.According to Bathala (1990), in the agency costs and dividends, two lines of thought can be found explaining cross-sectional variations in payout ratios.First viewHolds that a firms optimal payout ratio is the results of a trade-off between a reduction in the agency costs of external equity and an increase in the transaction costs related with external funding resulting from dividend payments as the payout ratio increases.Second viewArgues that inside ownership and external debt are substitute mechanisms in mitigating agency costs in a firm.Basic study for the first line of thought is based on Rozeffs (1982) propositions. He suggests that dividend payout ratios may be explained by reduced agency costs when the firm increases its dividend payout and by increased more expensive external capital.Easterbrook (1984) gives further explanation regarding agency cost problem and says that there are two forms of agency costs one is the cost monitoring and other is cost of risk aversion on the part of directors or managers.The agency theory is related with resolving two issues that can be held in an agency relationship.PROBLEMSThe desire of the principal and agent conflict and it is expensive or complicated for the principal that it cannot check that the agent has behaved appropriately.Risk sharing is a problem that occurs when the agent and principle have different behavior towards hazard. The issue here is that the principal and the agent may prefer separate actions because of the separate risk preferences.According to (Naceur, Goaied, Belanes, 2006) profitable firms with more stable earnings can pay larger dividend. Whenever they are growing very quick, dividend policy doesnt get any impact from financial leverage and ownership concentration. Also the liquidity of stock market and size negatively impacts the dividend payment.Oskar kowalewski and Ivan Stetsyukand Olesksandr Talavera (2007) study that how corporate governing body determines dividend polices in Poland. They have schematic for the first time, quantitative bills on the quality of corporate governance for 110 non- financial listed companies. Their result suggested that large and more profitable companies have higher dividend payout ratio .Furthermore, risky and more indebted firms prefer to pay lower dividend s. The results finally, based on the period of 1998-2004, Reveals that dividend policy is quite important in the valuation form of companies, but the issues still remain scantily investigated in transition countries. A study on the determinant s of dividend policy and its association to corporate governance in a transition economy both offers an interesting subject and complements the existing corporate governance literature.The agency theory points that dividend may mitigate agency costs by distributing free cash flows that otherwise would be spent on unprofitable projects by the management. It is argued that dividends expose firms to more frequent analysis by the capital markets as dividend payout increase the likelihood that a firm has to issues radical common stock. On the other hand, scrutiny by the market helps alleviate opportunist management behavior, and thus, agency costs. Agency cost, in turn, is related to the strength of shareholders rights and they are associated with corporate governance. Furtherm ore, agency suggested that shareholders may prefer dividends, particularly when they fear expropriation by insider. They test the determinants of dividend policy in a multiple regression framework to control for firm specific characteristics other than governance. All the variables enter the regressions with expected signs. Size and return on assets are positively associated with variable cash dividend. Leverage is negatively associated with variable cash dividend. Their results provide evidence that in Poland listed companies where corporate governance practices are high and as a result shareholders rights are for strong payout higher dividend.Jianguo Chen and Nont Dhiensiri(2009) suggest that relationship between dividend pay-out ratio (POR) with the pro Cash flow variability (CFV), ownership dispersion, insider ownership, free cash flow, collateral stable assets, Past harvest (GROW1), future development (GROW2), stable dividend policy and imputation credit (IMP). They analyze th e determinants of the corporate dividend policy using firms listed on New Zealand Stock Exchange .They examined that firms traditionally have high dividend pay-outs compared with companies in the US. They find that their is a negative relationship between dividend payout ratio and CFV, Insider, Beta ,growth and positive relationship between ownership dispersion ,free cash flow, collateral stable assets stable dividend policy and imputation credit. Their conclusion provides strong support to the agency cost theory and partially supports transaction cost and residual dividend theory. They do not have any evidence to support the dividend stability theory and the signaling theory.2.4 Signaling theoryThe explanation about the signaling theory given by Bhattacharya (1979) and John, Kose and Williams (1985) dividends allay information symmetric between managers and shareholders by delivering inside information of firm future prospects.2.5 Effect of tax preferences theoryMiller and Scholars (1978) find that the effect of tax preferences on clientele and conclude different tax rates on dividends and capital gains lead to different clientele.Tax Preference theoryInvestor gave an important consideration to the taxes. This should by keep in mind that the dividends are taxed at a higher rate than the capital gains. As such, capital gains are preferred by the investors as compared to the dividends. This is known as when the investments are real sold only then the capital gains are paid. When capital gains are realized inverses can control, but dividend payments are un controllable by them and the related company controls the dividend payment. In an estate situation, capital gains are not realized.For exampleIf a stock is purchased by an investor 50 years ago and is held by him until his or her death, when it is passed on to an heir after he is expired. Now that heir does not have to pay taxes on stocks appreciation.2.6 Life Cycle possiblenessLife Cycle Theory and Fama and French (2001) states that the firms should follow a life cycle and reflect managements assessment of the importance of market imperfection and factors including taxes to equity holders, agency cost asymmetric information, planless cost and transaction costs.2.7 Catering theoryAccording to Baker and Wurgler (2004) in Catering theory suggest that the managers in outrank to give incentives to the investor according to their need and wants and in this way cater the investors by paying smooth dividends when the investors by not pay when investors prefer non payers but put stock price reward on payers.2.8 Lintners ModelJohn Lintner (1956) initiates with his theory relies on two important things that he studied about dividend policy1) According to the amount of positive net-present-value (NPV) projects the companies endure to set long-run target dividends-to-earnings ratios.2) Earnings increases are not always bearable. As a result, until managers can see that new earnings levels are bearable, dividend policy is not changedAs regards the empirical literature the roots of the literature on determinants of dividend Policy is related to Lintner (1956) seminal work after this work the model is extended by The Samy ben naceur, Mohamed goaied and Amel belanesthe (2006) during the period (19962002) on the Tunisian Stock Exchange listed study the dividend policy of 48 firms. Lintners model is applied using static and dynamic bloodshed data regressions. They examined that Tunisian firms rely more on circulating(prenominal) earnings that past dividends to fix their dividend payments in the way that dividends tend to be more untoughened to current earnings rather than prior dividends. Any inconsistency in the level of dividends is directly reflected in the earnings of the corporation.Samy ben naceur, Mohamed Goaied and Amel belanesthe (2006) focused on the relationship between dividend and ownership, liquidity, return on assets (ROA), profitability, investment, levera ge ratio, size. The results indicate that highly profitable firms with more stable earnings can present larger free cash flows and thus pay out larger dividends. Moreover, fast-growing firms distribute larger dividends so as to demand to investors. On the other hand, ownership concentration does not have any impact on dividend payment. In fact, being closely held Tunisian firms witness less agency conflicts and shareholders do not resort to dividends in order to reduce managerial discretion and protect their interests. The liquidity of the stock market has a negative influence, which confirms that the implementation of the electronic transaction system in the TSE has facilitated the credit of capital gains, which has reduced the need for dividend payments. At last, the negative coefficient on size found in the full sample has disappeared when regulated firms are excluded, which reduces the strength of this factor. Researchers have proposed many different theories about the factors that affect a firms dividend policy.Kanwal Anil and Sujata Kapoor (2008) analyzed that The Determinants of Dividend Payout Ratio-A Study of Indian Information Technology Sector. The period under study is 2000-2006 as it is known that the period of 5 to 6 years covers both recession and booming of IT industry. They stated that profitability has always been considered as a primary forefinger of dividend payout ratio. There are numerous other factors other than profitability also that affect dividend decisions of an organization namely cash flows, corporate tax, sales growth and market to book value ratio. They suggest that dividend payout ratio is positively related to profits, cash flows and it has inverse relationship with corporate taxes, sales growth and market to book value ratio. Statistical techniques of correlation and regression have been used to explore the relationship between key Variables. Thus, the main theme of this study is to recognize the various condition that ef fect the decision of dividend payout policy of IT firms in India.In short factors influencing the corporate dividend policy, according to them, may substantially vary from country to country because of inconsistency or variations in legal, tax and accounting policy between countries.In view of these facts, the present study aims at identifying the variables influencing corporate dividend policy in Pakistan.CHAPTER III leechlike AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLESObjective of this study is to determine factors that have an impact on dividend of Oil Gas Exploration and Oil Gas Marketing sector of KSE. Dividend turn over is dependent variable and the three independent variable are size, profitability and growth. These variables are discussed here.3.1 Dividend yield (DY)Arthur A Thompson in his book Crafting and Executing Strategy says that the prevention of the return that shareholder receives in the form of dividend is called dividend yield (DY). A typical dividend yield is 2 -3%, the divid end yield for fast growth companies in often down the stairs 1%(may be even 0) and the dividend yield for slow-growth companies can run 4-5%.Dividend yield can measure by annual dividend per share divided by current market price per share.Samy ben naceur et el(2006)The DY (dividend yield ) as our measure of the dependent variable equals to dividend per share to price per share, payout ratio cannot be used as a measure of dependent variable because sample contains firms with negative earnings.Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) and Hafeez et el (2009) also used dividend yield (DY) as the dependent variable.CHAPTER IVEXPLANATORY VARIABLESThis thesis selected 3 variables used by different researchers Samy ben naceur et el (2006) and Hafeez et el (2009).4.1 Firm SizeHafeez et el (2009) The firm size has been calculated as the total assets of the firm because a posiyive coefficient is expected from this variable as there is a very low chance of bankruptcy in large more diversified firms and it can sustain higher level of debt.Scott and martin (1975) found that the size of the firm is very important factor which can affect the firms dividend policy and debt policy.A negative impact has been found by market capitalization and size of the firms on dividend payout policy which clearly shows that the firms prefer to invest in their assets rather than pay dividends to its shareholders. The financial characteristic of size has been explained by Market capitalization and the size of the firm. According to the null hypothesis for this financial characteristic there is no relation between the market capitalization and size with dividend payout ratio but the results show that there is a inverse and significant relationship between dividend payout and MV.Hence null hypothesis is rejected. The evidence supported by the finding of Belans et al (2007), Jeong (2008) deviate from Avazian et al (2006).Samy ben naceur et el (2006) the size of the firm by total market value (LNSIZE) and i t is expected to be positively correlated with dividend paid. The literature suggests that size may be inversely related to the probability of bankruptcy (Ferri and Jones 1979 Titman and Wessels 1988 Rajan and Zingales 1995). In particular, larger firms should have an easier access to external capital markets and can borrow on better terms, Moreover, larger firms tend to be more diversified and their cash flows are more regular and less volatile. Thus, larger firms should be more willing to pay out higher dividends. Even the conflicts between creditors and shareholders are more severe for smaller firms than the larger ones.Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) they measure size of the firm from Log of sales. Firms dividend policy is influenced by variables such as size. There is an advantageous position for larger firms to raise external funds in the capital markets and are less dependent of internal funds. Therefore there is a negative relationship between dependence on internal financing and the size of the firm. Moreover, there is a chance of lower bankruptcy probabilities in larger firms and thus they are able to pay more dividends.Thus as per this research the hypothesis isH1= Firm size is positively associated with dividend payouts.4.2 Firm profitabilityEmpirical research found that there is a positive relationship between dividend yield and profitability. The more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and thus are able to afford larger dividends. any(prenominal) of them are as follow.Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) measured profitability by earnings before interest and taxes to total assets as our surrogate for profitability. Hence a positive relationship between profitability and dividend is expected. Since the annual profits pay the dividends therefore its logical that more dividends are paid by profitable firms.Samy ben naceuret et el (2006) measure the profitability by the return on assets (ROA) net income/total assets and i t is positively correlated with dividend payments. Firms with high profitability can afford larger free cash flows and hence new investment opportunities. Therefore, paying higher dividends does not disturb them. In the same vein and according to the pecking order theory, firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. The more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and thus are able to afford larger dividends.Hafeez et el (2009) measured Profitability Net Earnings and Earning Per Share after tax. The net earnings show the positive relationship with the dividend yield. The net earnings after interest, depreciation and after tax have been used as the explanatory variable to examine the role of earnings to pay dividends.Thus as per this research the hypothesis isH2= There is a positive relationship between a firms profitability and dividend payouts.4.3 Firm GrowthSamy ben naceur et e l (2006) measure investment and growth by MBV (market value of equity/ book value of equity) and annual rate of growth of total assets. Firms anticipate higher growth, when they establish lower dividend payout ratio because growth entails higher investment expenditures. When firms retain higher proportion of earning to finance future investment need due to high cost of external financing, their dividend pay out in anticipation of future growth stands reduced. Hence, a negative relationship between dividend payout and expected growth is expected.Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) measure the growth opportunities through market-to-book ratio. A negative relationship is expected between growth opportunities and dividend. Large additions of capital are required by the firms experiencing substantial success and rapid growth. Consequently, lower dividend payout policies are expected by growth firms. Similarly, the pecking order theory predicts that more earnings are retained by the firms havi ng a high proportion of market value followed by growth opportunities hence they are able to minimize the need to raise new equity capital. Free cash flow theory also predicts that their will be a lower free cash flow and lower dividend is paid by the firms with high growth opportunities.On the other hand Hafeez et el (2009) argued with the above researcher. According to the signaling theory the higher the firm grows, the higher they pay dividends to shareholders. The shareholders get signals from the growth of the firms having high growth opportunity. The sales growth has been used as proxy of Growth in the empirical analysis of the study and has been used as percent age change in sales annually as proxy of the growth.Whereas Kanwal Anil et el (2008), measured growth and investment by sales growth and MTBV. Hafeez Ahmed et el (2009) measures investment as quag = accumulated retained earnings/ total asset.Thus as per this research the hypothesis isH3= Firm growth is negatively assoc iated with dividend payouts.Table 1Summary of procurator Variables and Research HypothesesH1 SizeMCAP = market capitalizationPositiveH2 ProfitabilityROA= net income/total assetsPositiveH3 GrowthGROWTH = sales growthNegativeCHAPTER VMETHODOLOGYDATA COLLECTION METHODThe data is collected from Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan and the Karachi Stock Exchange. The variables of the study are calculated from the Audited yearbook Accounts of 6 firms for the period of 2001 to 2008 resulting in about 240 observations for each variable and as such it is a long period enough to smooth out variable fluctuations. (Rozeff, 1982)SAMPLESample Size consists of six companies from oil and gas exploration and marketing sectors in Pakistan, listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Total of six companies listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). Data collected from year 2001 to year 2008.STATISTICAL TESTLinear Regression test was performed to analyze data. Dividend yield is a dependent variable and growth, size and profitability are taken as independent variable.REGRESSION MODELThis study uses multiple regression analysis. This thesis estimate thatY= X0 + X1 + X2 + X3 + eY = Dividend yield.X0 = Intercept of the equation.X1 = Firm size.X2 = Firm profitability.X3 = Firm sale growth.e = Error Term.CHAPTER VIDATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONTable 2MODELR SQUAREFSig.1.2233.917.015(a)Table 2 above shows F Ratio for the regression model is significant which indicates that regression model is a best fit. Total variation in the dependent variable explained by the regression model as indicated by R square is .223 i.e. 22.3% change in dividend yield is explained by these three independent variables.Table3UNSTANDARDIZED COEFFICIENTSTANDARDISECOEFFICIENTtSig.BStd. ErrorBeta(Constant)0.0660.0115.8260Size-1.10E-060-0.503-2.8790.006*Profitability0.160.0940.2691.7090.095**Sale growth2.17E-0700.4843.0380.004**Significant at 1%**Significant at 10%Table 3 reports the ordin ary least square results of the regression analysis.Results indicate that size of the firm is significant as shown in table 3 and shows that size is negatively correlated with dividend at 1% .As researcher taken in its own hypothesis that the size will present positive relation but its coefficient is negative which rejects researcher hypothesis. Since the size is also statistically significant but the hypothesis for this thesis shows that the growth is negatively related to dividend hence this hypothesis rejected.Some researcher result find out size as positive. Fama and French (2000 and 2001) conclude that more dividends are payable by large and more profitable firms.Lloyd and Jahera (1995 cited on holder 1998) reason that those larger firms have easier access to capital markets which are more mature hence allowing for higher dividend pay-out ratios and reducing their dependence on internally generated funding.Aneel Kanwer (2002) measured size with total sale and researcher find o ut that size is positive related to dividend yields. Smaller company gives lower dividend as compared to larger company.Oskar kowalewki et el (2007) made a research in Poland and they measured size with total assets .they find out that size is positively related to dividends because more dividends are paid by companies which are larger in asset and size..Some researcher result find out size as negative .The result of the research by Hafeez Ahmed et el (2009) on KSE (non financial firms) is similar to this thesis result. they measure size with natural logarithm of total assets This results indicates that the size of the firms have the negative impact on dividend payout policy which shows that the firms prefer to invest in their assets rather than pay dividends to their shareholders ..Samy Bin Naem et el (2006) made their research on the firms of the Tunisian Stock Market and They measured the size with logarithm of stock market capitalization. They concluded that there is a negative relationship between size and dividend, but the negative relationship disappeared when regulated firms are removed.Since the result of the researcher Fama and French (2000 and 2001) , Lloyd and

Equilibrium Equality Demand Supply

Equilibrium Equality Demand SupplyEquilibrium means a state of likenity between demand and picture. Without a chemise in demand and/or supply there will be no change in tradeplace damage.In the diagram below, the metre demanded and supplied at price P1 be equal. (Baryla, 1995, 13)At any price above P1, supply deceases demand and at a price below P1, demand exceeds supply. In another(prenominal) words, prices where demand and supply are out of balance are termed points of dis equalizer. Changes in the conditions of demand or supply will shift the demand or supply curves. This will cause changes in the sense of equilibrium price and quantity in the commercialise.Consider the following example. The weekly demand and supply schedules for T-shirts (in thousands) in a urban center are shown in the table belowPrice ()87654321Demand68101214161820Supply1816141210864Demand 21012141618202224Supply 22624222018161412The equilibrium price in the market is 5 where demand and supply are equal at 12,000 units.If the current market price was 3 there would be excess demand for 8,000 units.If the current market price was 8 there would be excess supply of 12,000 units.A change in fashion causes the demand for T-shirts to rise by 4,000 at each price. The next row of the table shows the high level of demand. Assuming that the supply schedule remains unchanged, the naked as a jaybird equilibrium price is 6 per tee shirt with an equilibrium quantity of 14,000 units.The entry of new producers of T-shirts into the market causes a rise in supply of 8,000 T-shirts at each price. The new equilibrium price becomes 4 with 18,000 units bought and sold.Assuming there is pure rival in the market place, and no government intervention, we are able to focus on how the price mechanism determines the equilibrium price in the market. trades rout out be effective at resolving the basic issues of what and how much to produce at a certain price level although left to operate on its ow n, the market can still create unsatisfactory outcomes. When markets do not produce the desired outcome, it is known as market failure and when this occurs, governments whitethorn intervene in the market. (Baryla, 1995, 13)How the price mechanism brings about the equilibrium price in the market can be determined assuming we have pure competition in the market place and no government intervention. Simply put, the concept of pure competition mean that no participant in the market has the power to warp market outcomes directly, such as by setting prices. The price mechanism is the interplay of the forces of supply and demand in determining the market prices at which goods and work are sold and the quantity of which is produced.The quantities of goods and services demanded and supplied is regulated by the prices of those goods and services. If the price of a commodity for sale is too high according to consumer demand, the quantity supplied will exceed the quantity demanded. If the pri ce of a commodity is too low according to consumer demand, the quantity that is demanded will exceed the quantity supplied. There is genius price, and only one price, at which the quantity demanded, is equal to the quantity supplied. This is known as the equilibrium price. (Belkin, 1976, 57)The market forces of supply and demand interacting to determine the equilibrium price which at this price the market clears and eliminates any excess supply or demand is the price mechanism in action. (Brown, 2000, 66) There is no tendency for change at the equilibrium point. In this way it is said that the market mechanism, besides being the natural consequences of the forces of supply and demand, provides the most efficient economic outcomes possible without any explicit coordination.Although markets can be effective at resolving the basic issues of what and how much to produce, left to operate by it, the market can still create unsatisfactory outcomes. For goods and services in product market s, the market price may be considered to be too high or too low. From the free interplay of demand and supply, the equilibrium quantity that results may also be considered too high or too low. Some goods and services may not even be produced at all. Market failure occurs because the price mechanism takes account of the private costs and benefits of production, to producers and consumers, but does not take into account the impact of an economic activity on outsiders. For example, the market may ignore the costs imposed on outsiders by a firm polluting the environment. Governments may intervene in the market when market failure occurs.The market determined price for some commodities may be thought by the government to be too high or too low. The government may therefore intervene in the marketplace in order to apply either price ceilings, where the government imposes a limit on how high a price can be charged for a product, or price floors, the minimum price that can be charged for a particular commodity. (Geltner, 1995, 119) modify the distribution of income, the manner in which income is divided among the members of the economy, is the main reason for influencing prices in this way. Price ceilings will redistribute money from sellers to buyers, whereas price floors will redistribute money from buyers to sellers.In conclusion, the market forces of supply and demand interact with each other to bring about market equilibrium, clearing the market of excess demand or supply. In this way, it is said that the market mechanism achieves consistency between plans and outcomes for consumers and producers without explicit coordination. Government intervention is very important in providing the desired outcomes of the society. Overall, market equilibrium is determined by the price mechanism, supply and demand curves, surplus and shortage, increases and decreases in supply and demand curves, market behaviours and government intervention. (Hendershott, 1997, 13) ReferencesB aryla, E.A., Zumpano, L.V. (1995), Buyer search duration in the residential real estate market the role of the real estate agent, The Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 10 No.1, pp.1-13.Belkin, J., Hempel, D., McLeavey, D. (1976), An empirical study of time on the market using multidimensional segmentation of housing markets, Journal of American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, Vol. 4 No.2, pp.57-75.Brown, G., Matysiak, G.A. (2000a), Real Estate enthronization A Capital Market Approach, Financial Times Prentice-Hall, Harlow, .Brown, G.R., Matysiak, G.A. (2000b), Sticky valuations, aggregation effects and property indices, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 20 No.1, pp.49-66.Geltner, D., Mei, J.P. (1995), The exhibit value model with time-varying discount rates implications for commercial property valuation and investment decisions, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 11 No.2, pp.119-35.Hendershott, P.H. (1997), Uses of equilibrium mode ls in real estate research, Journal of Property Research, Vol. 14 No.1, pp.1-13.Janssen, C.T.L., Jobson, J.D. (1980), On the choice of realtor, Decision Sciences, Vol. 11 No.April, pp.299-311.

Creatine and its Dangers Essay -- Athletics Health Essays

Creatine and its DangersCreatine is a very controversial supplement on the market today. some set asideorse the uses of creatine, but others are skeptical about the advantage a person receives from taking it and the dangers adept inherits as a result of creatine wasting disease. The argumentation remains due to the short amount of time that creatine has been available. People base their opinions on introductory studies that have been done but no one knows the long-term effects of creatine on the body. Many take the risk without vast knowledge, but others still remain skeptical based on preliminary evidence that discourages the intake of creatine.How Creatine WorksCreatine is naturally produced in the body in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys. It can also be provided to the body through the consumption of fish and meat. (http//www.mothernature.com/ency/supp/creatine_monohydrate.asp) Creatine aids in the process of adenosine triphosphate which is energy used for quick, explo sive activities such as the sports listed above. When adenosine triphosphate levels drop, muscles become fatigued. Regeneration of ATP is essential if fatigue is to be delayed, according to Charles P. Bolotte, MD. (http//www.lsms.org/journal/98creat.html) In theory, taking more than creatine supplements allows for more creatine to be available to synthesize more ATP and therefore causes less fatigue in muscles. ATP is readily available energy for the body that is used in everyday activity. The synthesis of ATP is needed for all activities in the daily lives of people. It is used in the transmission of nerve signals, the movement of muscles, the synthesis of proteins, and cell division. Energy is released when one of the bonds between the end phosphate group is broken and the molecule becomes... ... only proven method for increasing physical shape and muscle mass is hard athletic training.BibliographyEkblom, B. (1996). make of creatine supplementation on performance. Amer ican ledger of recreations Medicine, 24, 38-39. Juhn, M.S. & Tarnopolsky M. (1998). Potential side effects of oral creatine supplementation a critical review. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 8, 298-304. Stone, M.H. et al. (1999). Effects of in-season (5 weeks) creatine and pyruvate supplementation on anaerobic performance body composition in American football players. International Journal of Sport Nutrition, 9, 146-165. Vahedi, K. & Domigo, V. & Amarenco, P. & Bousser M.G. (2000). Ischaemic stroke in a sportsman who consumedMahuang extract and creatine monohydrate for body-building. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 68, 112-113.

Virtual Child Pornography Should be Legal :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Virtual Child Pornography Should be LegalThis nation has several issues over which most peoples minds freeze up, with the disastrous drug struggle probably leading the list. I dont share a feeling of squeamishness and horror when it comes to drugs What I dont want, I dont take, its that simple. And I dont spend time fretting that my neighbors might be toking, or snorting, in the privacy of their homes. Child obscenity is something else it pushes all kinds of emotional hot-buttons in me. Certainly I would agree with the majority that anyone who pinks nestlingren in a knowledgeable manner is committing a serious offense, deserving of harsh punishment. And anyone who get his kicks looking at images of children in sexual situations, well, thats also pretty horrifying to my sensibilities. I am very glad that my own lust meter pegs when I look at fully grown women, not at some other subset of the population. Nevertheless, I feel moved to speak against the wave of hysteria that is exemplified by U.S. Rep. Henry Browns call for a Constitutional amendment to ban virtual child pornography. (Virtual child pornography is images that appear to be of children having sex, but which are in fact made-up, simulated by the miracles of modern computer graphics). Some who oppose such an amendment do so on the basis that the Constitution is not meant to cover specific legislative issues. That is true, but it misses the larger point, which comes down to basic rights, even for people we think set out horrifying tastes. To put it bluntly, children (and adults too, of course) have the right not to be sexually exploited, BUT, adults have the right to possess any material which does not directly exploit children. Yes, including virtual pornography. I think a strong case could be made that it should not be illegal for someone to possess images of ACTUAL child pornography The crime has been committed by the person exploiting the children, not the person viewing the picture. Ne vertheless, in this column Im taking the less assertive position that except pretend pictures of children dont warrant legal sanction. Think about this Take a napkin. Draw a big guy with an erect c***. Draw a much smaller figure giving him a b*** j**. You have just committed a felony. Take that napkin and stuff it in someone elses pocket.