The prayer song of Hannah Essay Example

The petition tune of Hannah Essay The petition tune of Hannah cited in 1Samuel 2:1-10, is a melody of thanks giving and appreciation offered to God, for the manner in which the God favored Hannah with a male youngster whom Hannah sacramented to the administration of the Lord as a sign of regard and love to God.â Hannah, who was one of the spouses of Elkanah, was childless for long time, conveyed an incredible desolation inside heart and spilled out all solicitations before God, as portrayed â€Å"And she was in harshness of soul, and supplicated unto the LORD, and sobbed sore†. (1 Samuel 1:10). Hannah sobs in the sanctuary of the LORD â€Å"And she pledged a promise, and stated, O LORD of hosts, if thou shrivel surely look on the tribulation of thine handmaid, and recall me, and not overlook thine handmaid, yet wither give unto thine handmaid a man youngster, at that point I will give him unto the LORD all an amazing times, and there will no razor happen upon his head†. (1 Samuel 1:11). Hannah encountered all the agony that a lady without a youngster goes through and there are no occurrences of Hannah offering the suffering to any one else aside from with God.â With a moaned heart Hannah answers to minister Eli â€Å"No my master, I am a lady of a miserable soul: I have tanked neither wine nor solid beverage, however have spilled out my spirit before the LORD† ( 1 Samuel 1:15) The core of a wedded lady who is childless is plainly cited on account of Hannah which stays unaltered even in the current occasions as of now.â Hannah’s spouse Elkanah supports inspite of the way that Hannah is childless and every year along with Hannah visits sanctuary of the LORD for thanksgiving. â€Å"Hannah, why weepest thou?â And why eatest thou not?â â And for what reason is thy heart grieved?â Am not I preferable to thee over ten sons?â (1 Samuel 1:8) We will compose a custom exposition test on The supplication tune of Hannah explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on The supplication melody of Hannah explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom exposition test on The supplication melody of Hannah explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer For a lady, being a desolate, causes an extraordinary distress and life is nearly finished with as the general public standards in those days also in the current occasions that a wedded lady must bear youngsters carrying total fulfillment to the family and above all to spouse. It is likewise the desire of the LORD as cited â€Å"but the LORD had quieted down her womb† (1 Samuel 1:5) â€Å"And her enemy additionally incited her sore, for to make her fret, on the grounds that the LORD had quieted down her womb†. (1 Samuel 1:6) Hannah additionally demonstrates that the LORD makes â€Å"impossibility into possibility†Ã¢ that can occur in a flick of a second with the touch ofâ God’s wand. â€Å"and the LORD recalled her†(1 Samuel 1:19) . Hannah’s heart was injured, conveyed an extraordinary sadness, distress that lifted up Hannah’s supplications to God and endowments were sent upon her and as a demonstration of earnest thanksgiving, Hannah asks â€Å"For this youngster I asked; and the LORD hath given me my appeal which I asked of him: Therefore additionally I have loaned him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he will be loaned to the LORD. What's more, he loved the LORD there.† (1 Samuel 1:27,28) . And in the wake of blessing the kid as Samuel, Hannah starts her melody of supplication in the 2 part of 1 Samuel, starting with stanza â€Å"My heart rejoiceth in the LORD: and my mouth is broadened over mine adversaries; since I cheer in thy salvation†. Hannah didn't trust in any one aside from the LORD God Almighty and this has been clear all through the whole entry of supplication. â€Å" There is none sacred as the LORD: for there is none adjacent to thee† nor is there any stone like our God†.â This inspiringâ section gives an implying that it is a great idea to have confidence in God who is heavenly and who has extraordinary quality and who is unique in all respects.â Hannah came out of agony and pain being honored with male childâ â with the way that God tuned in to Hannah’s petition and perceived the genuineness and trustworthiness and God cleanses hearts where God’s incredible works and supernatural occurrences must be conveyed and God picks individuals so as to spread out God’s works. This has been clear with Abraham, Noah, Miriam, Moses, Deborah and Joshua and Ruth wherein each picked vessel has been assigned a segment of work ofâ God that engenders crafted by God whether it is b y the tribulation or by being appointed by God. Hannah was picked to be a mother of prophet, who might be named as Samuel and who might be blessing rulers to lead Israelites.â God didn't uncover this arrangement though, offered a changed heart to Hannah who obeyed God steadily. Hannah was additionally a prophet and a housewife through whom God unfurled fortune after a brief time of grief.â Hannah likewise turned into an instrument for the ascent of David’s system and fall of King Saul â€Å"The bows of the powerful men are broken, and they that lurched are braced with strength† (1 Samuel 2:4). The petition melody of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 incorporates thanksgiving, acclaim and portrays how ground-breaking God is and how God monitors individuals who trust and trust in God alone.â â It is God alone who elevates poor and dishonorable and gives rich compensations of seat and glory.â Hannah’s tune cites between the period B.C.1137 . Hannah’s child Samuel turned into the last appointed authority and the main prophet and cleric for Israelites and God for this reason picked a decent and devout lady like Hannah who was depending just on God to favor Hannah with a child and who begged God for blessing.â â Centuries later, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, additionally displayed a supplication in St.Luke 1:46-55 like the petition of Hannah that is in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. A concise depiction of Hannah melody of petition in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Verseâ 1-3 : Great things about God that there is none similar to him, yet there is none other than them. Hannah acclaims the supplier, the prettiest youngster, Hannah yearned and petitioned God for. Refrain 4: the bows of compelling men are broken which implies that God cuts down one and setteth up another as per the contemplations of God. The physical strengthâ of men can't confront the fierceness of God which is expressed by Hannah. Refrain 5:â It is God who favors ladies with kids and who takes care of the craving and parched. Refrain 6: God doesn't care for rebellion and it is God who raises one and put down another. Refrain 7: It is God who comprehends the hearts and brains of human,â and picks the frail vessels and even devastates the rich when there is a sheer rebellion to God’s guidelines. Stanza 8: God raises up poor from dust,â and even sets the poor to the seat and magnificence, if God is happy with dutifulness that is being offered to God as the mainstays of earth have a place with God. Stanza 9: God keeps the feet of saints,â and evil have a spot just in obscurity for God says, that human quality doesn't hold any up before God’s compelling quality. Stanza 10: God blesses rulers as per His disclosure and no foes can break the expression of the LORD, and it is God who makes a decision about the earth. The melody of Deborah is recorded as old as eighth Century BC (before 1174 BC) in the book of Judges. Heavenly Bibleâ is taken as Torah in Hebrew which implies â€Å"Law† wherein the law of Moses and law of God is scriptured in a few books of Old Testament and it was a training for Israelites to allude to the law of Moses for any debate or for any strict practice.â So additionally the book of Judges is recorded as a guide for Israelites who looked for the help of Judges to determine questions that emerge among society and Deborah was the main ladies Judge in the Bible. Deborah was likewise a prophetess who guided individuals lead by the Holy Spirit of God.â The tune of Deborah that is recorded in Judges 5 is totally crafted by God,â who utilized Deborah to bring Israelites out of servitude who were living in tricky conditions for a long time under a Canaanite tribe.â Israelites were the offspring of God as indicated by Old Testament who were driving lives as slaves s ome time in Pharaoh’s realm whereupon, God sent Moses to lead Israelites to the place where there is Canon and Moses turned into an outright and respectful hireling of God.â After Moses, Joshua was alloted the administration of driving Israelites and during these occasions, crafted by Deborah additionally end up being useful for Israelites. Deborah was devout and had remarkable military methods with extraordinary valiant abilities. Deborah propelled, spurred everyday citizens to lead fight and carried triumph to the individuals of God and after this fight Israelites have a serene existence for an additional forty years as demonstrated â€Å"And the land had rest forty years† (Judges 5:31). Unmistakably, Deborah was an instrument of God. Deborah melody containing 31 refrains portray about authority and the significance of God’s administration to lead His kin. At the point when pioneers lead in Israel, At the point when the individuals readily offer themselves,â Bless the Lord! ( Judges 5:1-2) Individuals are lead by pioneers and lords who are picked by God in the Old Testament and there are no examples of individuals picking pioneers and kings.â This is obvious in the melody of Deborah. Section 5: Hear, O lords! Give ear, O rulers! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will sing commendation to the Lord God of Israel. Ruler, when You went out from Seir, When You walked from the field of Edom, The earth trembled and the sky poured, The mists additionally poured water; The mountains spouted before the Lord†. This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel. The melody likewise depicts how Israelites were mistreated and were languishing. â€Å"In the times of Shamgar, child of Anath, In the times of Jael, The expressways were abandoned, Also, the trav

Ethics and Financial Services Essay

Question A1 Framework the cheats recognized for the situation and clarify the irregularities with appropriate bookkeeping treatment. Relate your response to wide bookkeeping ideas and bookkeeping measures where significant. (8 imprints; around 800 words) Answer: Livent Inc. is a theater creation enterprise enlisted in Toronto, Canada. In this manner, all the bookkeeping practices were dependent upon the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of Canada. From a wide perspective, the GAAP forces four principle limitations on the bookkeeping practices of organizations †objectivity, materiality, consistency and conservatism. On account of Livent Inc., there are a few practices that was conflicting with the best possible bookkeeping guidelines as a rule. Huge payoff plot At the earliest reference point of the whole extortion by Livent, the two administrators, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, created exchanges that didn't exist by any means, so as to move the income of the organization furtively to their own pockets. They made the phony exchange on their accounting report by plotting with their merchants. Drabinsky and Gottlieb got the cash from merchants and solicited them to create confirmations from charging expenses. Control of bookkeeping records The payoff plot relinquished the net benefit of the organization, and therefore, Drabinsky and Gottlieb began controlling the records. There were proof from later examination that Livent was overstating its income from the movies to show that it kept great salary proclamation with goodâ profit. Additionally, they asked the bookkeepers at Livent to adjust the fiscal reports to shroud the potential budgetary issues Livent had and to display great working execution to draw in greater speculation. Drabinsky even utilized exceptional programming to control the budget reports to make them as though they were the first record and difficult to be distinguished. Keeping the misrepresentation as mystery to evaluators With the assistance of the extraordinary programming, Livent Inc. had the option to keep two records of their monetary exhibitions, the fake one and the genuine one. Furthermore, the outside reviewers did examining of Livent dependent on the fake money related records Livent gave. Subsequently, the Deloitte, Livent’s outside reviewing organization, could scarcely observe indications of extortion during yearly evaluating. Altogether, the misrepresentation of Livent Inc. broke the bookkeeping rule of objectivity, which is additionally the essential measures organizations should adhere to. The objectivity standard fundamentally necessitates that a wide range of budget summaries the organizations offer ought to be founded on the realities. In other words, each exchange and thing recorded in the budget summaries ought to be upheld by fair and target data. By no means are the administrators, investors and bookkeepers permitted to create or mutilate any bookkeeping reports and materials of the organization. Be that as it may, what Drabinsky and Gottlieb did at Livent conflicted with the bookkeeping gauges. The way that the two accomplices asked the inward bookkeepers to change the regular costs and risk is certainly away from the best possible expert practices. Livent profited by controlling its presentation with extra venture and bank credits, which helped forceful growing plans of Livent. It is even insufferable that the organization created the extraordinary programming, which permitted boundless self-assertive change of all the bookkeeping records of the organization. This made the misrepresentation a lot simpler and more averse to be found since it empowered the control looked as though they were the first information. Elrod and Gorhum (2010) made quantitative research in transit of identifying misrepresentation by look at the degree to which the income from activity and the profit from proceeding with tasks are connected. Livent Inc. constrained the bookkeeping staff in the organization to conform to the misrepresentation conduct undoubtedly. The administrators demonstrated a â€Å"matter-of-fact† mentality toward the misrepresentation. The bookkeepers, autonomous evaluators were not working freely and impartially as required by GAAP. Despite what might be expected, they have been pressured or trained to make counterfeit bookkeeping records, and didn't show collaboration with the autonomous outside evaluators. GAAP means to guarantee reviewer freedom. Be that as it may, Messina utilized her past impact at Deloitte to upset the independency of Deloitte reviewers in analyzing the budgetary exhibition of Livent. The objectivity standard moreover limits temperamental reports, materials and sheets offered to the inspectors for yearly evaluating. Under the present bookkeeping standards and norms in Canada and the United State, the examiners are dependable just for guaranteeing the readiness of all the bookkeeping records of the organization line up with the GAAP. Be that as it may, the outside inspectors don't approach the point by point every day record of the organization. Along these lines, the yearly evaluating can't forestall administrative conspiracy if the organization gives fake bookkeeping materials. Livent was giving the phony monetary record, salary proclamation and different reports to Deloitte, which isn't permitted by the bookkeeping guidelines to a wide degree. A few organizations right their deceiving conduct when the circumstance improves, which makes it considerably harder to be distinguished. In any case, such practices done by Livent are conflicting with the standard expert morals and guidelines. In addition, the forceful creating technique Livent had taken likewise disregarded the conservatism rule that the GAAP requires. This guideline requests that the bookkeepers bar the questionable salary or income, while remember the potential misfortunes and dangers for the fiscal summary. The traditionalist bookkeeping practices are essential since they can successfully keep the investors and financial specialists from potential misfortunes. Be that as it may, for this situation, Drabinsky is in such a flurry to seek after forceful advancement of the organization, and clearly was misrepresenting its income just as hiding its misfortunes. Question A2 Describe the corporate moral culture at Livent Inc. How did this culture influence representative conduct? Clarify and legitimize your answer. (12 imprints; roughly 1,200 words) Answer: A few investigates bolstered the contention that the corporate moral culture had enormous impacts on the practices of the representatives and their moral decisions. The organization doesn't must have a particular code of morals for the workers to limitation their moral practices. The professional workplace in itself is sufficient for affecting the moral practices inside the organization. Nwachukwu and Vitell (1997)’s research found that the moral culture in corporate has certain effect on the ethical conviction of the representatives upon what is good and bad. False conduct was an extremely noteworthy issue in the advancement of organizations. It was on the grounds that that it impactsly affected the corporate, the workers just as the general population. Likewise, the challenges in forestalling such practices were to characterize, forestall and identify it. Schwartz (2013) made research and stressed the three key factors in keep up a moral corporate culture in the organization . They are the arrangement of moral convictions or qualities all through the organization, setting up â€Å"formal morals program† and the moral authority all through the improvement of the organization. Be that as it may, on account of Livent’s extortion, all the three variables were need the arrangement of the organization. They had no unmistakable moral qualities, as the self-guideline instrument, set and administrated inside the organization to requirement the practices of the workers, yet the senior administrators also. The dishonest culture set by the top officials had impacted, yet additionally constrained all the staff, particularly the bookkeepers, to coordinate and to help disguise the misrepresentation from being identified by the pariahs. This caused the organization running under a lot of exceptionally dishonest corporate culture. It was by all accounts routine to control the budgetary records in Livent Inc. for a significant long time. As right on time as the time of 1990, Drabinsky, along with his best accomplice Gottlieb, started the payoff plan to illicitly make counterfeit exchanges to move cash from the organization to their own pockets. Afterward Dranbinsky and Gottlieb needed to lie and got more individuals engaged with so as to compensate for the cost misfortunes from the payoff plan. The organization needed moral authority from the earliest starting point. To make the budgetary presentation of Livent look promising, Drabinsky and Gottlieb intruded in the day by day bookkeeping records just as the arrangement of the yearly fiscal reports that were submitted and were inspected by the examining organization, Deloitte. The administrators and the senior level staff were not building up positive model inside the organization to keep up a positive moral corporate culture. What’s much more terrible, they went about as the main job in such false practices and self-assertively got different workers into the genuine extortion conspire. Drabinsky and Gottlieb yelled at and pressured the staff and even the senior level chiefs to satisfy their aspiration. They built up a particular program inside the company’s bookkeeping framework, with the goal that they had the option to assume responsibility for the money related status of the organization. They could alter any sum and exchange records in the framework to make the quarterly, semi-yearly and every year report of monetary execution of Livent look encouraging to put resources into. Far and away more terrible, by applying the product, Livent had the option to undermine the bookkeeping records as though they were the crude figures, and abstain from being found. It had likewise encouraged the false practices and inspired the workers and the officials to misrepresentation persistently. Another significant issue inside Livent, other than the control of the bookkeeping records and budget summaries, is the staggering disposition of survey misrepresentation in actuality among administrators

An Analysis Of Spectrum Manufacturing Company Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Spectrum Manufacturing Company is a public limited company. The Company was incorporated on 15th June 2000 in the United Kingdom. The Company has subsidiaries in the United States of America, France, Germany, Japan and China. The strategic plan of the Company is to acquire three textile companies and four commercial companies in Russia, Singapore, Japan and Germany. The Company also plans to establish six branches in India, Spain, Singapore and South Africa. We have been given the task to analyse the performance of Spectrum Manufacturing Company (PLC) using the profitability ratios, leverage and current assets ratios. We have explain the reasons why we have used these ratio, what are the advantages and shortcoming of these ratios and also discussed four additional financial and non financial techniques that Spectrum Manufacturing Company could use. We have been asked to explain the term Agency Theory and also discuss the implications of agency theory with regard to the Board of Directors of Spectrum Manufacturing Company with the shareholders. At the end of the project we have explained in detail the dividend policy and the three main positions on question, Does dividend policy matter? And the last question was to comment on why it is generally held by several analysts that debt financing is often encouraged relative to equity financing and three main sources of financing a public company. SPECTRUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY BALANCE SHEET AT 31st DECEMBER 2006, 2007 AND 2008 2008 2007 2006 ASSETS (amonts in million  £) CURRENT ASSETS Cash 45 355 210 Accounts receivable 4,545 4,403 3,150 Inventories 3,932 4,089 2,025 Prepaid expenses 234 291 134 Total current assets 8,756 9,138 5,519 Plant equipment, net depreciation 4,640 2,979 2,275 TOTAL ASSETS 13,396 12,117 7,794 LIABILITIES EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable 3,360 2,783 806 Taxes payable 465 735 855 Accrued expenses 720 789 255 Bank loan 225 Total current liabilities 4,770 4,307 1,916 Long term debt 3,686 3,302 1,779 Total liabilities 8,456 7,609 3,695 SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY 4,940 4,508 4,099 TOTAL LIABILITIES + EQUITY 13,396 12,117 7,794 SPECTRUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY PROFIT LOSS ACCOUNT AT 31st DECEMBER 2006, 2007, 2008 SALES 21,015 27,450 21,900 COST OF GOODS SOLD Materials 10,785 16,695 13,395 Direct labour 2,880 3,075 2,220 Manufacturing overhead 1,455 1,455 960 GROSS PROFIT 5,895 6,225 5,325 OPERATING EXPENSES Selling expenses 1,593 1,676 1,440 Depreciation 470 327 108 General administrative expenses 2,000 2,000 1,400 NET OPERATING PROFIT 1,832 2,222 2,377 INTEREST EXPENSE 389 363 142 EARNING BEFORE TAXES DIVIDENDS 1,443 1,859 2,235 Taxes 324 576 829 Dividends 567 447 46 NET INCOME (NET PROFIT) 552 836 1,360 Analising Spectrum Manufacturing Companys performance using the key ratios From the above results of Spectrum Manufacturing Company I have critically examined its performance using the following key ratios: Profitability Ratios: Profitability ratios are used to assess the business ability to generate earning of business as compare to expenses over a specific period of time. The tutorials define the ratios and walk you through the calculations including where on the financial statement the numbers can be found.1 The analysts can assess a companys business i.e. its sales, assets or equity using the profitability ratio. While using the profitability ratios analysts not only can check the current status of a companys business but also can foresee signs for its future problems. There are many ways to calculate the profitability of an organisation through profitability ratios, some of these which I have used are as under: Fig 1 PROFITABILITY RATIOS Gross Profit Ratio (GP) GP x 100% Net Sales Operating Ratio OC x 100% Net Sales OC = Operating Cost Return on Sales (ROS) Net Profit x 100% Net Sales Operating Profit Ratio (OP) OP x 100% Net Sales ROCE Return on Capital Employed Operating Profit Total Assets Current Liabilities 1 According to the above Fig 1 the figures for Spectrum Manufacturing Company as outcome as under: Gross Profit Margin: 5895 x 100% = 28.05 (2008) 21015 6225 x 100% = 22.68 (2007) 27450 5325 x 100% = 24.32 (2006) 21900 Operating Profit Ratio 1832 x 100% = 8.72 (2008) 21015 2222 x 100% = 8.09 (2007) 27450 2377 x 100% = 10.85 (2006) 21900 Return on Sales (ROS) 552 x 100% = 2.63 (2008) 21015 836 x 100% = 3.05 (2007) 27450 1360 x 100% = 6.21 (2006) 21900 Operating Ratio 19183 x 100% = 91.28 (2008) 21015 25228 x 100% = 91.91 (2007) 27450 19523 x 100% = 89.15 (2006) 21900 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE): 1832 x 100 = 21.24 (2008) 8626 2222 x 100 = 28.45 (2007) 7810 2377 x 100 = 40.44 (2006) 5878 Leverage Ratio: Financial leverage ratios provide an indication to the long-term solvency of the firm and are concerned with short-term assets and liabilities. These ratios measure the extent to which the firm is using long term debt.  [2] We use leverage ratio to evaluate the borrowing of an organisation compared to the total capital employed. A higher degree of this ratio mean the company is considered more risky and is more vulnerable to downturns in the business because the company must continue to service its debts regardless of how bad sales are. There are two major ratios normally used within this ratio, as under: Debt ratio Debt ratio is defined as total debt divided by total assets. Debt Ratio Total debt Total assets 8456 = 0.631 (2008) 13396 7609 = 0.628 (2007) 12117 3695 = 0.474 (2006) 7794 Debt-to-equity The debt-to-equity ratio is total debt divided by total equity Debt-to-equity Total debt Total equity 8456 = 1.71 (2008) 4940 7609 = 1.69 (2007) 4508 3695 = 0.90 (2006) 4099 Current Assets Ratio: This ratio provides the acid test of whether the company has sufficient liquid reserves (debtors and cash) to settle its facilities. The norms for the quick ratio range from 1 to 0.7. Similar to the current ratio it is important to consider the nature of the business when using the current assets ratio. It also takes into account those assets which are bank, cash, and short-term investments. The ratio also includes trade debtors. The ratio excludes prepayments and stock. Quick liabilities include bank overdraft which is usually repayable on demand. Trade creditors, tax and social security and proposed dividends. Corporation tax is usually excluded.  [3] This important ratio measures any business ability to pay its debts that are due soon with those available assets that should raise cash quickly. Current Assets Stock Current liabilities Current Assets = Closing stock + bills receivable + cash in bank + cash in hand + marketable securities + investments + prepaid expenses + net debtors (gross new provision) Current Liabilities = bank draft + bills payable + creditors + outstanding expenses + final dividend + provision for tax Current Assets Ratio 8756 = 1.84: 1 (2008) 4770 9138 = 2.12: 1 (2007) 4307 5519 = 2.88: 1 (2006) 1916 WHY WE USED THE RATIOS TO ANALYSE COMPANYS PERFORMANCE As shown above I have used profitability ratios, leverage ratio and current assets ratio to measure the performance of Spectrum Manufacturing Company PLC. There are many reasons why I have used these ratios and I have explained each of the ratios as under: PROFITABILITY RATIOS: I have used six different ratios under profitability section and each one of them is described as under: Gross Profit Margin Gross profit margin is used to assess the profitability of Spectrums core activities, excluding fixed costs. Gross profit margin shows how well each pound of business revenue is available to meet its expenses and profit earned after paying for the goods or services that were sold. A high gross profit margin during the year 2008 Spectrum earned indicates that it can make a reasonable profit on sales, as long as it keep overhead costs in control. The gross profit margin ratio provides clues to the companys pricing, cost structure and production efficiency. The gross profit margin ratio is a good ratio to benchmark against competitors.  [4] Operating Profit Ratio To measure that how much proportion of an organisations revenue before taxes and other indirect costs such as rent, bonus, interest etc is left over we use operating profit ratio and this all is after deducting the costs of production i.e. wages, raw materials etc. A high price and high margin will result in lower sales as we have seen for the year 2006, while year 2007 was a good year for operating profit for Spectrum. A good operating profit margin shows the ability of a company that it can pay for its fixed costs such as interest on debt. So if we look into year 2006 where the operating profit ratio indicates 10.85%, this means that Spectrum made  £0.10 before interest and taxes for every pound of sales. Return on sales (ROS) We use return on sales (ROS) to measure an organisations operational efficiency. ROS is also known as a firms operating profit margin because it shows the management how much profit is produced per pound of sales. An increasing return on sales ratio means that Spectrum was sufficiently growing in year 2006 and we see it was making profit for that year of  £6.21 of each  £1 of sales and when we look at the very recent years this figure was decreased especially in 2008 where it was dropped to  £2.63 of each  £1 sale, which is an alarming signal of the financial troubles for Spectrum Manufacturing. Operating Ratio: The profit before interest and tax (PBIT) is also known as operating profit. Operating ratio is a very important ratio for analysts because it calculates the profitability of a business before incurring other financing costs. It shows the profit a business earns by each  £1 of turnover, so as we seen that Spectrums operating profit the year 2007 was 91.91 which is higher than the other two financial years. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE): Return on Capital Employed (ROCE also known as Return on Investment (ROI) is very important and key ratio in profitability. It shows the total capital employed in any business and measures the efficiency of the business to the total capital employed. Thus this ratio is very important assessing the financial achievement of an organisation because it shows the earning strength of the operations of a business. The objective of an investor when invests in any business is to get reasonable and satisfactory return on its investment, so Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) is used to evaluate the success of a business to realise the objectives and it creates a relationship between the profit and capital employed and it not only shows the total profitability of the business but also reflects its efficiency over the specific time. So after calculating Return on Capital Employed for Spectrum Manufacturing we have noticed that the company was performing well during the year 2006 where ROCE wa s 40.44% but it dropped down in 2008 to 21.24% and in 2007 it was standing on 28.45%. LEVERAGE RATIO: Leverage ratio is also known as gearing ratio and we use this ratio to measure how much financial leverage a firm has taken on. When an organisation borrows money from any financial institution or from any other available sources, it is committed to make series of interest payments on that borrowed money and then to repay the amount that it has borrowed at an agreed time. The debtors regularly receive the fixed interest payment during the time when organisation is generating profit and during the bad time where organisation is struggling and not making any profit at all and debtors do not receive the interest payment, this is the time when shareholders have to bear all the pain. For example if the company is going through hard time and not been able to pay its debts, the company is then bankrupt and shareholder lose their entire investment, because debt increases returns to the shareholders when a company is generating good profit and reduces them in bad times, so it is said to cre ate financial leverage. This ratio measure how much financial leverage an organisation has taken on for its operations. As we have used two further ratios under leverage ratio so please read the following: Debt ratio Debt ratio shows us that how much company relies on debts to finance its assets. If the debt ratio is higher than 1 this alarms that the company has more liabilities than its assets and on the other side if its less than 1 that mean the company has more assets than its debts. So in Spectrums case we have noticed that in year 2006 the companys debt ratio was really low to 0.47 which went up in 2008 but as its still under 1 so there are no threats for the company. Debt-to-equity Same in all other leverage ratios if the debt to equity ratio is higher that is alarming signals for a company that company is using debts to finance its assets. So lower this ratio is better for the organisation and we seen in our result for debt to equity ratio that in 2006 it was only 0.90 but higher in 2008 where it went upto 1.71. CURRENT ASSETS RATIO: We use current assets ratio to analyse the overall liquidity of an organisation. This ratio shows the cash position of an organisation and reflects the ability to meet the organisations short term obligations. This ratio basically assesses and indicates of an organisations market liquidity and its ability to meet the demands of its creditors. It is strongly considered that if an organisations current liabilities are higher than its current assets the organisation can have some problems to meet the short-term obligations of the organisation. So if the current asset ratio is too high that means that the organisation is not using its current assets properly. As we notice that current assets ratio is showing that for every  £1 Spectrum owes it had  £2.88 available in current assets during the year 2006 and during the year 2008 it has been dropped down to  £1.84. Advantages and shortcomes of using these ratios Profitability Ratio Advantages Profitability ratios help the management to know about the earning capacity of the business concern and these ratios reflects the actual performance of the business and quickly tell how much profit is being made for every  £1 invested. So when profitability ratios are high that means that an organisation can grow itself by reinvesting its earnings and on the other hand when these ratios are low the organisation have to borrow money or issue more shares to get finance growth. Shortcomes Profitability ratios are limited to assess the profit of a business only whereas it doesnt shows the losses as it is only dependent on the balance sheet which is produced once a year by a business. Profit and capital employed are arbitrary figures and they depend on the accounting policies adopted by an entity. Further shortcomings and limitations of profitability ratios are as follows: Ratios do not tell us what is going right or wrong they merely invite further questions. They do not show how a business earned or spent its money. Ratios relate to a particular point in time. Ratios are only as reliable as the underlying data Ratios relate to the past-not the future Accounting ratios do not take qualitative factors into account Figures can be window dressed A monthly PL can be misleading if a business generates a majority of its receipts in particular months Profitability ratios do not show cash flow dont assume that the bottom line represents cash prof it from trading Remember sales are recorded when invoices are issued not when the money is received. Leverage Ratio Advantages: Leverage/Gearing has important implications for the long term stability of a company because of its impact on financial risk. Companies closely monitor their leverage/gearing ratios to ensure that their capital structure aligns with their financial strategy. Disadvantage The calculation used in these ratios is based on past performance so these may not reflect the current position of an organisation. Performance ratio analyses can also sometimes be misleading if their interpretation does not also consider other factors that may not always be easily quantifiable and may include non financial information, for example customer satisfaction and delivery performance.  [5] There may be inconsistencies in some of the measures used in ratio analysis. Calculation of the ratios for one company for one year is also very limited. It is more relevant to compare companies operating in the same market and to analyse how a company has changed over the years. However difficulties inevitably arise because it is sometimes impossible to find another company that is strictly comparable with the company being analysed. CURRENT ASSETS RATIO ADVANTAGES: Current assets ratio is to assess a companys liquidity status instead of the static. It is often calculated alongside the quick ratio and the cash ratio, to provide analysts with a more complete picture of the short-term liquidity of the company being analyzed. Although these ratios have their flaws, the dynamic current ratio has several advantages compared to the quick and cash ratios. SHORTCOMES: The drawback of the current ratio is that we do not know how liquid inventory and accounts receivable really are. This means that a company with a very large part of its current assets tied up as inventory could show a relatively high current ratio but still exhibit a rather low level of liquidity FOUR FINANCIAL TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE A COMPANYS PERFORMANCE There are many other ways to analyse a companys performance as in financial techniques we can use: BUDGET BUDGETARY CONTROLS BALANCED SCORECARD ACTIVITY BASED MANAGEMENT (ABM) CASHFLOW STATEMENT We define each of the above financial techniques are under: BUDGET BUDGETARY CONTROL Budget is usually prepared once a year to carry out organisational activities within an organisation and an estimated allocation of fund is provided for and the exercise of control in any organisation with the help of these budgets is called budgetary control. Budget budgetary control are helpful to measure a companys performance because: Budgets are prepared in advance and are developed for the long-term strategy of the organization. It relates to future period not for the past and show which objectives or goals have already been set out by the organisation. It represents the overall planning of an organisation and shows us the efficiency and improvement in the working of an organisation and it minimises the possibilities of buck passing. An organisation cannot run its business smoothly unless the performance of the managers is not upto the required level so with these control it shows and evaluate the performance of managers. BALANCED SCORECARD The balanced scorecard is the most and widely applied performance technique these days. This system was originally introduced and developed as financial technique to measure the performance of a company in 1992 by Dr.Robert Kaplan and Dr.David Norton at the Harvard Business School. The balance scorecard measures a companys performance from different perspectives i.e. financial, customer, internal business process, and innovation perspective and provides more balanced view of an organisations performance. QUALITY MANAGEMENT These days many organisations are adopting various quality programmes, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, European Foundation Quality Management (EFQM), and The Bald Ridge National Quality Program. Such programmes aim to assist organizations to improve their quality of the manufacturing and service offerings. The programmes measures businesses and focus on their continuous improvement. CASH FLOW STATEMENT A financial statement that reflects the inflow of revenue vs. the outflow of expenses resulting from operating, investing and financing activities during a specific time period  [6] Cash flow statements show us an organisations results in terms of cash in and out of their respective business, without any adjustment for accrued revenues and expenditure. The cash flow statement doesnt predict the profitability but it shows the cash position of the business at any given point in time by measuring revenue against outlays. This statement tracks the cash position of an organisation on monthly basis so a good positive cash flow shows the good performance of a company. FOUR NON FINANCIAL TECHNIQUES TO MEASURE A COMPANYS PERFORMANCE There are many non financial techniques to measure a companys performance and few of them are as under: MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS SERVICE QUALITY PERSONNEL PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE We define each of the above non financial techniques are under: MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS To see what trend in market share Total number of customers Client contact hours per sales person SERVICE QUALITY What proportion of repeat business What is client turnover What has been customer waiting time What was deliveries and how many were late and how many were on time PERSONNEL Staff turnover Training time per employee Day lost through absenteeism Number of complaints received PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE Number of suppliers Manufacturing lead times Output per person Adherence to delivery dates met AGENCY THEORY The relationship between the shareholder and companys manager is called agency theory. The Forbes Digital Company INVESTOPEDIA explains the term agency theory as under: Agency theory is a very academic term. Essentially it involves the costs of resolving conflicts between the principals and agents and aligning interests of the two groups.  [7] It is always considered that managers main objective in any organisation is to maximise the shareholders wealth and whether this happens in practice it is another matter. The problem occurs when manager make decisions which are not in consistent with the objective of shareholder wealth maximisation. There are three main important features that contribute when agency problem exists within public limited companies as follows; Divergence of ownership and control where by those who own the company (shareholders) do not manage it, but appoint agents (managers) to run the company on their behalf. The goals of the managers differ from those of the shareholders and as human nature being what it is managers are more likely to look to maximise their own wealth rather than the wealth of shareholders of the company. Manager who run the companys business on a day to day basis have more access to management accounting data and financial reports rather than the shareholders who only receive annual reports which may be subjects to manipulation by the management. Whereas these three conflicts are occurred together it should be clear that managers are in a position to maximise their own wealth and without necessarily being detected by the owners of the company. Jensen and Meckling (1976) argued that the company can be viewed as a whole series of agency relationships between the different interest groups involved. These agency relationships are shown in exhibit in Fig 2: Creditors (including banks suppliers bondholders) FIG 2 Shareholders Customers Management Employees The company IMPLICATIONS OF AGENCY THEORY According to the strategic plan of Spectrum Manufacturing Company is to acquire three textile companies and four commercial companies in Russia, Singapore, Japan and Germany, the company would need huge investments and one of the main source of the financing will be shareholders money. So according to the agency theory the management of the company have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the shareholders and only then shareholders will be happy and confident to reinvest in new projects and the management will receive bonuses for their hard work. So the strategic plan of Spectrum indicates that the shareholders have a good relationship with the companys management and the management is running companies operation upto their requirement i.e. maximising shareholders wealth. We have noticed this from the financial data of the company that the dividend was paid every year to the shareholder as under: 2008 2007 2006 ( £ in millions) Dividend paid 567 447 46 So we have come to this conclusion after studying Spectrums strategy that the company is in a position to expand their business as the relationship between the shareholders and the management of the company are sound and they are working hard to achieve their objectives. DIVIDEND POLICY When deciding within an organisation that how big a dividend payment should be made is called dividend policy. Dividend policy may be explicitly stated, or investors may infer it from the dividend payments a company has made in the past. If a company states a dividend policy it usually takes the form of a target pay-out ratio.  [8] The investor can infer in if a company has not stated a dividend policy and investors are likely to make the assumptions that dividend per share will be maintained at least previous years level unless dividend cover is very low or company has already given the warning that dividend cut is possible. It is seen that companies do not increase dividends unless they are confident that the increase is sustainable and this means that when dividend is increased this is a sign that management of a company can signal the investors that they are confident. Conversely, some permanent deterioration in a companys business is often an acknowledgement for divide nd cuts. it only reflects a need sometimes to keep cash for capital expenditure. THREE MAIN POSITIONS ON DIVIDEND POLICY DOES DIVIDEND POLICY MATTERS? It is stated in Companies Act 1985 that A company may only pay dividends out of profits available for dividends. There are three main opposing views on dividend policy which effect on firm value. There are three types are as under: Dividend policy is irrelevant in a competitive market High dividends increase firm value Low dividend increase firm value All these three dividend policies are described in details as under: Dividend policy is irrelevant in a competitive market Dividend irrelevance proposition means that in a perfect capital market the policy is irrelevant be there will be no market imperfections as no taxes and no transaction costs. The argument is that investors do not need dividends to convert their shares into cash. Thus as the effect of the dividend payment can be repeated by selling the shares, investors will not pay higher prices for firms with higher divided payouts. High dividend increase firm value This is another important position of dividend policy and it reflects that high dividends will increase firm value. The main explanation is that there exists natural clienteles for dividend paying stocks, to maintain a steady source of cash many investors invest in stocks. If paying out dividend is cheaper than letting investors realise the cash by selling stocks, then the natural clientele would be willing to pay a premium for the stock. One reason to this is the transaction costs that why it is comparatively cheaper to payout dividends. Anyhow this does not follow that any particular firm can benefit by increasing its dividends. Low dividend increase firm value As we have already discussed that high dividend increase firm value so here we discuss how low dividend increase firm value too. The main reason is that dividend income is often taxed, so organisations can convert the dividends into capital gains by shifting their dividend policies and if dividends are taxed heavily than capital gain then taxpaying investors should welcome such a move. As a result firm value will increase since total cash flow retained by the firm and held by shareholders will be higher than if dividends are paid. Thus if capital gain are taxed at a lower rate than dividend income, companies should pay the lowest dividend possible. DEBT FINANCING VS EQUITY FINANCING WHAT IS DEBT FINANCING? Debt financing is the money which a company borrow in the shape of secured or unsecured loan to run its businesses. Based on the type of loan you are seeking, the debt financing is divided into two categories: LONG TERM DEBT FINANCING Long term debt financing is used to finance the assets of the company i.e. equipment, machinery, building and land and its term is usually more than one year. SHORT TERM DEBT FINANCING Short term debt financing is used to generate the finance to meet the day to day operation of the business such as stock, supplies, or pay the wages of workers. Short term debt financing repayment takes place in less than on year. WHAT IS EQUITY FINANCING? When a company issue more shares of common or preferred stock to generate money is know as equity financing and this is normally used when companys per share prices are high so the most money is raised by selling a small number of shares. ADVANTAGE OF DEBT FINANCING OVER EQUITY FINANCING It is implied truth that companies need finance (money) to run their business. As there are two main categories of generating the finance i.e. debt finance and equity finance, so now a days several analysts says that debt financing is better than equity financing, the question arises why, so we explain it as under: THE ADVANTAGES There are three main advantage of debt financing over equity financing as source of finance for a business: In debt financing the lender cannot claim to equity in the business and debt does not dilute the investors ownership interest in the company. The lender is entitled to repayment only which is agreed upon principal of the loan and interest and cannot claim any future profit of the business. If the company generate a good profit the owners can enjoy the larger portion of the profit and on the other hand if equity financing is used to generate the money then the owner have to share the profit. As under debt financing the total amount of repaying back loan and interest is agreed upon principal and it can be easily forecasted and planned for the payments. As the interest on the loan can be deducted on the companys tax return and it lowers the actual cost of the loan to the company. Debt financing is less complicated because there are not many complications with stat e and federal securities laws and regulations. The company dont have to send letters to a large number of investors and dont have to hold many meetings of shareholder and neither to seek the vote of the shareholders before taking any actions. THE DISADVANTAGES The disadvantages of debt financing over equity financing are as under: Debt financing must be repaid at some point. As the interest over the borrowed amount is a fixed cost to the company which raises the companys break even point, so high interest can cost the risk of insolvency during the difficult financial period. So many companies finds its really difficult to grow because of the high cost of servicing their debts especially the companies who are highly geared. Cash flow must be budgeted for to pay the principal and interest amount of the borrowed debt. As a business has limitation to the amount of debt it carries, so the larger a businesss debt into equity ratio the higher risk is considered for company by its lender and investors. For debt financing sometime in the case of secured loans the company is required to pledge its assets to the lender as security and sometimes the owners of the company also required personal guarantee for the repayment of the princi pal amount. MAIN SOURCES OF FINANCING A PUBLIC COMPANY There is a vast range of funding alternative available to the company and many new developments occurs everyday. The few mostly used sources of financing a public company are as under: Retained earnings (internally generated) The capital markets (this applies where a company acquires a stock market listing for new issue of shares) Bank borrowings and borrowings from other institution Right issues Issue of loan capital Retained earnings Government sources grants and other support funding Business expansion scheme funds Venture capital The international money and capital markets such as euro commercial paper, euro bonds, Eurocurrency As per the question, we discuss here the three main sources of financing as under: RETAINED EARNINGS When a company generate profit, it always reserve some part of this profit for future use and its known as retained earnings and also called as internal generated because it is generated within the company. This is the cheapest way to finance a company. THE CAPITAL MARKET As all the public limited companies have to be listed on the stock exchange so when in need the public companies can acquire help from stock exchange and can raise the finance these companies can issue the ordinary shares. The cost of issuing more shares is very low and attractive to many companies. BORROWINGS FROM BANK (OVERDRAFTS) Overdraft is a credit facility, provided to a set limit, to provide working capital. The level of the facility is usually limited to the security offered.  [9] Overdraft is the great way to finance a public company as compared to the loans, as in overdrafts the interest rate is very low and a company gets a limit through this facility and as longer that agreed limit is not exceeded the company can use this money as desires.

The Definition of Hydrophobic With Examples

To be hydrophobic means to fear water. In chemistry, it refers to the property of a substance to repel water. It isnt that the substance is repelled by water so much as it has a lack of attraction to it. A hydrophobic substance exhibits hydrophobicity and may be termed hydrophobic. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar molecules that group together to form micelles rather than be exposed to water. Hydrophobic molecules typically dissolve in nonpolar solvents (e.g., organic solvents). There are also superhydrophobic materials, which have contact angles with water greater than 150 degrees. Surfaces of these materials resist wetting. The shape of water droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces is called the Lotus effect, in reference to the appearance of water on a lotus leaf. Superhydrophobicity is considered a result of interfacial tension and not a chemical property of matter. Examples of Hydrophobic Substances Oils, fats, alkanes, and most other organic compounds are hydrophobic. If you mix oil or fat with water, the mixture will separate. If you shake a mixture of oil and water, the oil globules will eventually stick together to present a minimum surface area to the water. How Hydrophobicity Works Hydrophobic molecules are nonpolar. When they are exposed to water, their nonpolar nature disrupts hydrogen bonds between water molecules, forming a clathrate-like structure on their surface. The structure is more ordered than free water molecules. The change in entropy (disorder) causes nonpolar molecules to clump together to decrease their exposure to water and thus decrease the entropy of the system. Hydrophobic vs. Lipophilic While the terms hydrophobic and lipophilic are often used interchangeably, the two words dont mean the same thing. A lipophilic substance is fat-loving. Most hydrophobic substances are also lipophilic, but exceptions include fluorocarbons and silicones.

Segregation in The Color Purple Essay examples - 464 Words

In the film â€Å"The Color Purple†, segregation plays an important role and the differences between black people and white people are shown through race and life. The Color Purple focuses on the lives of several African American women who are faced with abuse, violence, and cruelty. The fim is set in Macon County Georgia and there are two main characters’ Celie and her sister Nettie. Celie is the character the movie is centered around and she is also the film’s narrator. The story is based on Celie’s life and the many different issues along the way that she has encountered such as being raped by her father over and over again, abused by her father and forced into marriage at fourteen to another abusive man†¦show more content†¦Celie was beaten and raped so much that she become so used to not fighting back or even crying. Celie was always a religious person and someone who refused to lose faith even through all the violent things she had endured. She always talks to God asking him to give her strength. From the moment Celie walks into Mister’s house she is expected to clean, cook, raise his kids, and have sex with him whenever he chooses. Along the way Celie meets two women who support her and constantly remind her that she is worth more than she thinks and that she does not deserve the live that she is living with Albert. As more time passes by Celie finally begins to realize her self that she does not have to continue living her life in constant fear and violence and she builds the courage to leave Albert. From there on everything starts to come together for Celie and her loved ones while Albert looses everything he has. Albert eventually realizes how cruel he has treated Celie and what a terrible person he has been his whole life, he finally does something to make Celie happy and he uses all the money he has saved to bring Nettie back to reunite with Celie. I enjoyed this film because it has a real story behind it and is something I can relate to as a women and also can relate to the characters from the film. While watching the film is almost feels as if it isShow MoreRelatedEssay on Plant Genetics Labpaq679 Words   |  3 Pagescomparing only one trait color. We are also showing Mendel’s law of segregation with a Dihybrid cross comparing two traits of color and texture. Introduction Three purposes: 1. To predict the genetic frequency off offspring. 2. To predict the outcomes of genetic crosses using punnett squares. 3. Statistically analyze the results of a genetic cross. Hypothesis: 1. Monohybrid cross—Predict that 75% of the tobacco seeds will sprout and that green 80% will be the dominant color. 2. Dihybrid cross---InRead MoreAnalysis Of Gregor Mendel s The Mid 1800 S1182 Words   |  5 Pagesto rest. Mendel did experiments on two different colored pea plants. 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Death Euphemisms Between Chinese and English free essay sample

A. Context of Culture According to Malinowski (1923), context can be distinguished into three types: context of utterance, context of situation and context of culture. The context of utterance here is similar to the linguistic context that later scholars argue, which refers to the words and sentences in which a particular words or sentences embeds. Malinowski further argues that the concept of context has to be broadened and that the situation in which words are uttered can never be passed as irrelevant to the linguistic expression. Therefore, he put forth the term â€Å"context of situation to refer to the wider idea of context or the general conditions under which a language is spoken. † And the context of culture, Malinowski observes that it is the reality of the culture, the life and the customs of a person in which language is essentially rooted. To sum up, Malinowski find that to understand the meaning of what is said, we should not only consider the particular context of utterances, but also take into account the culture characteristic of the society. We will write a custom essay sample on Death Euphemisms Between Chinese and English or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Later, J. R. Forth maps the notions of context of situation into a general theory of levels of language. Forth makes very little use of context of culture. The notion of culture as a context for a language is more fully articulated in the work of his contemporaries Sapir and Whorf. Sapir does not adopt the expression of context of culture, but he does interpret the language as expressing the mental life of its speakers. Both of Sapir and Whorf. Sapir developed their powerful view called â€Å"Sapir-Whorf hypothesis† which the culture provides the context within words are interpreted.

Zakes Mda redressing the past Essay Example For Students

Zakes Mda: redressing the past Essay South African playwright Zakes Mda has the outward calm and practiced smile of one who has answered the same obvious questions many times before. In a cool, dark office on the Yale University campus, he sits rather uncomfortably across the table from me, his speech reserved, his hands extended palms downward on the tabletop in a strangely formal gesture. Only occasionally does he raise his fingertips or his voice to punctuate his carefully chosen words. And yet Mdas passion is obvious when the topic turns to American impressions of South African drama. South African theatre is notthe voice and the fingertips come momentarily to lifea homogeneous monolith. What Americans see as representative of South African drama, Mda explains, are plays written purely for export and in a manner which is acceptable to overseas audiences but which fails to depict the rich and varied cultural and political context of contemporary South Africa. What is seen outside of South Africa, touring European and American venues, represents only one or two categories of what makes South African theatre. Outline1 Pocket of resistance  2 No happy endings  3 A taste for sexual equality  4 Bitter stalemate   Pocket of resistance   We will write a custom essay on Zakes Mda: redressing the past specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now For the past year, Mda has been a visiting fellow at Yales South African Research Project. Although his work is virtually unknown in this country (with the notable exception of The Road, which won the American Theater Associations Christina Crawford Award in 1984), Mdas reputation as a political playwright, poet, painter and educator is well established in Europe and in Africa, especially in his native country, where his political writings for the stage have seen frequent production since the late 1970s at the Peoples Space Theatre in Capetown, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg and the Grahamstown Festival. His three volumes of published dramatic works include We Shall Sing for the Fatherland (1978), The Hill (1979)both winners of major writing awards and the highly acclaimed And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses. Born in South Africas impoverished rural Cape Province, Mda was forced as a teenager to follow his parents into political exile in nearby Lesotho, a tiny independent sovereignty surrounded on all sides by South Africa and heavily dependent on the larger nation for economic survival. Lesotho is widely known as a pocket of political resistance in southern Africas landscape, a place of exile for many black refugees. It is also at the heart of South Africas sprawling rural outlands: desolate areas of inhuman living conditions, abusive mining practices and slave-like farm labor which constitute a kind of South African Siberia far from the urban and industrial hubs of Capetown, Johannesburg and their adjacent black townships. It is primarily these urban areas and the experience of the township dwellers (particularly young, unattached males) which serve as the focus of South African drama and literature seen in the U.S. By comparison, Mdas plays evoke a South Africa of rural hardship and exile little known to Americans. Plays such as The Road, The Hill and Dark Voices Ring (1979) document the miles of open, unpaved road and the hostile terrain traversed by mine workers and migrant laborers in search of employment; they are peopled with the unwilling itinerant, the relocated and dispossessed, the political-refugee. Mdas latest play, The Dying Screams of the Moon, written while he was in residence at Yale, dramatizes a controversy regularly making the news in post-apartheid South Africa and, not incidentally, serves as the playwrights response to what he sees as the limited political and racial perspective of another contemporary public event: Athol Fugards most recent work, Playland. Like that drama, Mdas The Dying Screams of the Moon depicts an interracial encounter between two strangers in present-day South Africa. I have always enjoyed Athol Fugards work, says Mda. But at the same time I have vehemently disagreed with him in almost everything he has written. My South Africa is different from Athol Fugards South Africa. Thats the crux of the matter. .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .postImageUrl , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:hover , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:visited , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:active { border:0!important; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:active , .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6ff8599ba4eb54252e42eda60a29e69b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Court clashes over free speech Essay No happy endings   Mda feels that in Playland as well as earlier plays, Fugard has depicted black South Africans as meek, humble, pitiable people who just accept all with stoic endurance. Mda refuses to corroborate this fatalistic typing of his people; he also refuses what he calls the happily ever after ending of Playland, a piece which one South African critic labeled theatre of reconciliation. Reconciliation, nods Mda. Thats a very wishful situation, but the play does not address the crucial issues in South Africa now. The ownership of landand the difference between current government attempts at reconciliation and true reparation for injustices of the pastis the subject of The Dying Screams of the Moon. In Mdas words, The past must be addressed. And not only must it be addressed, it must be redressed as well. Under the Group Areas Act of 1912, the South African government forcibly removed black communities from their ancestral lands, declaring those lands white only areas for purposes of, among other things, economic development. Such development frequently meant that white commercial farmers were given exclusive right to purchase the confiscated property at extremely reasonable prices. Since the repeal of the Act in 1989, thousands of displaced and homeless blacks have redoubled their ongoing attempts to reclaim what was forcibly taken from them. A taste for sexual equality   People have wanted to return to their ancestral lands from day one, insists Mda. They didnt just move away like Boesman and Lena and start wandering around. They refused to move. But the government prevailed because it was all too powerful. Now, explains Mda, the problem is even more complex because the land legally belongs to white farmers, some of whom have been living on it for generations. In The Dying Screams of the Moon, a middle-aged black woman identified only as Lady has returned to the Valley of the Moon to reclaim the land from which she was forcibly removed as a child. The valley is now known as Victory Farms, a title given it by the white landowner whose family purchased the land decades earlier and who has turned it into a highly profitable commercial farm. The farmers interests are represented in the play by his daughter, Missy, a young woman who, like the white veteran Gideon le Roux in Playland, is a former soldier of the South African Defense Force, the military body responsible for forcibly putting down black resistance and for fighting the bloody and long-standing war of occupation with neighboring Namibia. Lady, it turns out, is also a veteran of South Africas violent race struggles, but from the opposite side: She is a former freedom fighter who has planned and executed guerrilla attacks on South African targets while living in forced exile. Bitter stalemate   What these former warriors share, they eventually discover, is a taste for the relative sexual equality they experienced as women given ranking positions of authority in the military. However, that taste has been tainted by the professional jealousy of male comrades and of lovers. Both women have lost their male companions by refusing to resume subservient female roles when returning to civilian life. This shared experience of personal potential cut short by sexual jealousy and oppression becomes a point of bonding between the interracial pair. Like the two men in Fugards Playland, these women enact a communal bearing of witness and a mutual absolution of sins in the course of the play. And yet, Mda ends Dying Screams on a note of bitter stalemate between these two newfound friends over their mutually exclusive claims to the land. In the words of Lady, Healing and redemption will only come when the pain of the past, which is in fact our present pain, has been addressed. .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .postImageUrl , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:hover , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:visited , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:active { border:0!important; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:active , .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999 .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub982d9578f150ea203410dcac644c999:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Violet - A Musical by Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley EssayWe would like to have that wishful ending that Playland has, Mda laments, but the perspective of the black people is that as long as justice has not been served, there will never be any true reconciliation. The raised hands now come to rest once more on the tabletop. The voice, which has gradually climbed to a high pitch of insistence, returns to its clear and measured tones. But Mdas practiced smile has disappeared, as have other signs of his earlier discomfort. In the new smile which spreads across his face, one can read the artists desire to engage another in the passionate convictions which have given birth to his work.