Report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Report - Case Study Example Note that the standard labor hours per unit = $ 5.75. Therefore, with respect to the application rate of the combined variable and fixed cost, the standard number of hours allowable = (5.75*4,100) = 23,575. Since we have the price of overhead per hour ($ 29.37), the standard combined variable and fixed overhead rate = (29.37*23,575) = $ 692,398. The predetermined total overhead cost per hour = $ 29.37. The variable cost per hour = $ 8.10. Therefore, the fixed cost per hour = (29.37 – 8.10) = $ 21.27. The variable portion of the overhead = (8.1*23,575) = $ 190,957.5 Consequently, the fixed portion of the predetermined overhead = (21.37*23,575) = $ 501,440.25. The variance with (-) sign denotes the unfavorable deviations in the above exhibit. Some of the potential risk identified is a possible case of surplus or deficit unit production. Another imminent risk is failure to completely cover the overhead costs. These variances occur due to less focus on the prediction of the future conditions. A possible way forward is to predict possible changes and include a certain margin to cover for any uncertain unfavorable variance. The organization can implement the use of linear programming or regression analysis to establish an inclusive variable prediction (Berger,

Tariffs, Quotas and Non-Tariff Trade Barriers Research Paper

Tariffs, Quotas and Non-Tariff Trade Barriers - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that a tax levied by a government against certain imports, designed to raise revenue or to protect domestic firms. Although tariffs may be imposed on both imported and exported goods usually they are imposed on imported goods. Different types of tariffs are ad valorem tariff, specific tariff, revenue tariff, prohibitive tariff, a protective tariff, environmental tariff and retaliatory tariff. Tariffs restrict international trade as due to their imposition, exporters have to bear an additional cost, to which either they have to absorb which increases their approaching costs to the market and reduces their profits and causes a reduction in imports, or they have to raise their selling prices to cover the new expenses, which causes decrease in demand and resultantly imports. â€Å"Means of restricting the number of imports through import licenses, either of a certain item or from a certain country.† Its different types are a binding quota, non-binding quota, absolute quotas and tariff-rate quotas. Import quotas also restrict international trade as they limit imports to a specified level with certainty, replace market mechanism and according to Solusource, â€Å"If you are importing or exporting goods that are subject to a quota, you may have to compete with other buyers or suppliers that are attempting to negotiate similar deals† (â€Å"Identifying†). These are nonmonetary barriers to restrict imports. These are also called NTBs its common examples are embargoes, anti-dumping measures, biases against foreign company’s bids and countervailing duties etc. Although these are called nontariff trade barriers when they are implied they affect the international trade in about same way in which tariffs affect. Free trade environment leads closer to market perfection as it results in the better allocation and optimum utilization of resources, offers better and greater choices to customers and leads towards economic developm ent and customer satisfaction.

Behaviours in English as a Second Language Learner

Behaviours in English as a Second Language Learner Hamayan et al. (2013) emphasize the importance of describing in details the actual behaviors displayed by ELL students before diagnosing and drawing conclusions about the causes of the ELLs difficulties and academic weaknesses. The authors contend that the first step of the ECOS diversity framework that needs to be taken, is to describe students observable behavior as specifically as possible without attributing the behavior to a specific cause (p. 36). This requires collecting work samples and sufficient accurate data, instead of drawing generalized statements based on the teachers perceptions or assumptions about a child. The authors explain that the language difficulties that ELLs experience are embedded in the process of learning English, and they are similar to the difficulties demonstrated by students with diagnosed learning disabilities, for example, forgetting words, language disfluencies, difficulty following oral directions, or distraction in an academic English setting. Wh en garnering the data, educators should obtain this information across different times, settings, and by different methods so that it can be examined, compared and contrasted. Another step of the process of the ECOS diversity framework is to explain the observed behaviors through the lenses of any of the seven integral factors described on page 44. Hamayan et al. (2013) explain that finding explanations for ELLs less than optimal performance in school begins by considering the seven extrinsic factors during the explanatory phase of the process before assuming the existence of intrinsic causes due to a disability (p. 44). Discussing possible explanations will be beneficial to not only members of the ECOS team, but first and foremost to the ELL student. During exploring diverse explanations educators learn from one another about different perspectives, cultural experiences, and areas of expertise. They also have an opportunity to clarify what they mean when using certain words or expressions. Finally, the explanation process may result in findings which will not affect future ELLs placement negatively. It is important to know that even though the disability is present, an ELL should still be supported with ELL services which will meet his/her language needs and maximize the academic achievement. Determining if an ELL students struggles with academic learning are due to language acquisition or a learning disability may be without doubt a challenging task requiring the experience, knowledge about the world, cultural awareness, and professional expertise. Most assessments of ELLs are done mainly in English, therefore the results may be interpreted incorrectly. Moreover, limiting a student to using only one language will hinder a more accurate picture of ELL skills and abilities. Educators seem to have a tendency to rather choose a disability than identify their own bias, lack of knowledge, or procedural errors. There are also many misconceptions about bilingualism, which affect the decisions made about the ELLs. Therefore, it is critical that educators understand the process of the second language acquisition, as well as are able to recognize possible characteristics associated with students with learning disabilities. They should also ask themselves if an ELLs culture may be t he possible explanation for the specific difficulties. In fact, there may be multiple possible reasons for students to exhibit a specific behavior. It truly takes a great amount of knowledge, understanding, humility and sensitivity to cease to guard against this tendency for intrinsic explanations, and stretch ones thinking in order to better serve English language learners. I truly like Hamayan et al. (2013) text because it provides concrete examples of probing questions, potential challenges that ELLs may demonstrate as well as possible explanations from different perspectives for typical language and academic difficulties experienced by ELLs. The article is an eye-opener, and it lays the foundations to how deep and extensive the process of diagnosing should be. I am certain, I will reach for this text, or even will buy a book in order to help me become a more reflective, better practitioner. The more knowledgeable I will become, the more successful my students will be. References Hamayan, Marler, Sanchez-Lopez, Damico (2013), Describing Before Diagnosing: Observation of Specific Behaviors That ELLs May Exhibit, Chapter 3 of Special Education Considerations for English language Learners. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Publishing.

Bolsheviks and Britain in World War One :: World History Regeneration Barker Essays

"Bolsheviks and Britain in World War One" During one of the therapy and wit sessions between Rivers and Prior at Craiglockhart, we discover that class struggle is an issue plaguing Prior. Pat Barker introduces the reference to Bolsheviks on page 135 in order to have her readers strictly denounce the caste system of British society, both for the soldiers returning home, and also the women who continued to be victims of the same system in Britain during World War One. Understanding the role Bolsheviks play in affecting Britain's soldiers and citizens during World War One first requires background information on both Russian interests and Russia's relationship to Germany. Russia entered World War One after Germany declared war against Russia due to an alliance system between Germany and Austria. The Russians had little success in repelling the Germans, illustrated by the disaster at Tannenberg where more than 30,000 Russians soldiers died (Sherow). Germany subsequently made large gains into Russian territories. Tsar Nicholas II had no choice but to abdicate the throne in March 1917, allowing the Bolsheviks to take power (Sherow). It is very important to note that the Germans allowed "prominent Bolsheviks like Lenin and Trotsky" to pass by rail through their country "to start a revolution and knock Russia out of the war" (Simpson). Due to the Bolshevik revolution not completely coming from a democratic mandate from the people, Britain shows extreme suspicion towards Russian motives henceforth. Distrust and skepticism within Britain toward the new Bolshevik government led to Britain's reluctance to support it and a hands off diplomatic approach to Russian problems. By 1917 it was evident that the "question of peace and war would be a bitter source of controversy within the Bolshevik party" (Kowalski 11). Lenin had uncompromisingly defended his position not to continue the war, a decision that was leading to a split in the upper ranks of the party (Kowalski 33). His reasoning was that any imperialist states should not be negotiated for peace, instead calling "for an international civil war against world capitalism" (Kowalski 11). Lenin’s statements are quite a shock for the newly opened spheres of investments that had led to a great interest in Eastern Europe industries (Sherow). France and even Britain had loaned out much money to facilitate the growth --and, hopefully, returns-- in Eastern Europe; any resort to war at this point would cost both countries dearly (She row).

Surplus :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due to outstanding economic times we now face a federal budget surplus. This surplus is the first one since the mid sixties. Before now we have been in a federal deficit. Because our good situation we are face with a tough decision; what do we do with the extra money. Some people think we should put the money in government programs others think we should give it back to the people who gave the government the money. Giving the money back to the taxpayers appears to be the most logical thing to do with the surpluses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The government has a moral obligation to give the money back to the taxpayers. The government does not have anything to spend the money on now. Just because we have the money doesn’t mean we have to spend it. We do not need to search for programs to spend our money on. Therefore we must give back the money while we still have it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tax rates are at an all-time peacetime high. When President Clinton took office, federal Taxes consumed 17.8 cents out of every dollar earned in the United States. Now the federal Government’s take is 20.6 cents out of every dollar. (USA Today) Budget projections indicate that over the next ten years, the federal government will have huge budget surpluses totaling about $3 trillion. If we have a surplus at a high tax rate, why can’t the government take what it needs and lower the tax rate? We need to lower taxes to a rate where the government does not take more than it needs. An example of how these types of practices are unheard of anywhere else is as followed; If I were to go to a bank and ask for a car loan of $10,000 and the car only costs $8,000 the bank would demand that I lower the loan amount to $8,000. Then I might say, â€Å"I can find other things to spend the $2,000 on†. The loan officer would laugh and say, â€Å"I’m sure you could but I can’t give you more that you need.† The people who oppose cutting taxes clearly believe that the money generated by federal taxes actually belongs to the federal government. Many of us who want the government to give the money back to the people believe that the money belongs to the people who paid the taxes and if they are paying more than we need to run the government, we should give it back.

Genocide History Essay

When it comes to violence and murder, no excuse can be made. Acts of heartlessness can never be justified. Genocide, or mass murder, has no other purpose but to destroy a nation. Netherlands, in this case, has suffered its ordeal because of the rising tensions in Europe during the Second World War. German troops took over the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 and the people suffered for five long years. Germany took interest in invading the Netherlands because 75% of the Netherlands’ population during that time was Jews. In fact, the Nazis deported hundreds of thousands of Jews, where only 5000 people were able to reach their homes. The people left in the Netherlands had to hide, and there were 30,000 who tried to survive (Laub, 2008). The Netherlands suffered the most number of deaths during the Holocaust, and this country surely knows what genocide means for a country, be it a nation of power or a nation of helplessness. Aside from that, the Netherlands was an interest for the Germans and genocide was something they did not have second thoughts of, because the Netherlands is easy to invade considering its cultural and geographic features (Laub, 2008). To make the picture clearer, anyone who tries to escape the Netherlands will surely fail because the countries surrounding this nation are all controlled by Germany. If not, the Netherlands is surrounded by bodies of water in its Northern side. Anyone who tries to escape safely into the waters will find danger along the way, because the waters were controlled by the Germans, too. That being said, genocide was at its worst, and everyone was there to kill or get killed. Because of the unlikely behaviour of humans that time, the Dutch people learned to regain their independence. They focused on their own nation, nationality and of course, freedom. Fighting hand in hand was not too bloody, because the Netherlands thought that the Germans will outlast the situation in the sense that they may get tired of causing chaos (Julius, 2000). The Netherlands did not use blood to counterattack the power of Germany, but they had campaigns and policies to live by, which can be shown with how the butch wore orange carnation or how they designed their postage stamps with orange colours, or how they wore orange to symbolize Dutch ruling family. Some of them rushed into hiding because they did not want to sign an oath that calls for loyalty to the Germans. The Netherlands succeeded without the use of weapons. Publishing and speaking were their means of survival and resistance, which can clearly be seen with how Anne Frank spread peace, honesty and awareness on genocide, and the Holocaust in general, through her diary (Julius, 2000). However, because of too much fear of being killed from the genocide taking place in the Netherlands, the Dutch slowly forgot about the Dutch Jewry in which small oppressive situations took place. While the Dutch Jewry enjoyed the equal citizenship, they started feeling out of place in a country they considered home because the some of the real Dutch put the blame on the Jews. After all, the Germans went after the Jews for killing (Julius, 2000) Genocide took away lives, but it also took away the more important things that keep nations alive and the world peaceful, like equal rights and plain peaceful coexistence. Jews were soon banned from serving as air-raid wardens. It was not too long ago when they were asked to leave the coastal towns of the Netherlands like the Hague. Changes were too extreme to the point that the Jews were no longer welcome in civil service (Amnesty International, 2008). The evil, here, is not the Dutch. It may not even be the Germans, but it is especially not the Jews. We can not simply erase a race to give rise to a new and expectedly better one. We can not support genocide and choose who to exist in this planet. The culprit of disorder and social unrest is the desire and greed of humans, and genocide in general. Genocide has, in a way, changed the Dutch not exactly in the way they wanted because they didn’t have a choice. References Amnesty International.2008. The Netherlands: The Detention of Irregular Migrants and Asylum Seekers. Amnesty International. Retrieved August 26, 2008 from http://www. amnesty. org/en/library/asset/EUR35/002/2008/en/4c629481-482d-11dd-a377-f5461cc8d4de/eur350022008eng. pdf. Julius, A. (2000). Combating Holocaust Denial Through Law in the United Kingdom. Jewish Policy Research. Retrieved August 26, 2008 from http://www. jpr. org. uk/Reports/CS_Reports/no_3_2000/index. htm Laub, D. (2008). Holocaust Trauma Project. Genocide Studies Program, Yale University. Retrieved August 26, 2008 from http://www. yale. edu/gsp/trauma_project/index. htm

Life Choices and Consequences

My Grandfather always said to me â€Å" s3 wo si as3 Ny3 wo d3 a 3h) na wo tafiri† –â€Å"Even if you don’t like the taste in your mouth that is where you will always lick† The diversity of life impinges on us to make a choice in every single decision. Whatever you have done in your life and whatever you will do is simple a bundle of choices you have made or will make. And every single one of these choices serves as a foundation for another choice. But the more fascinating thing about choices is that every single one of our choices reduces the probability of options that are readily available to us .And this is extremely important because the surprising number of us do not realized that all that we are and everything we have are the results of choices . We are in control of our choices and thus our life’s direction and destiny. Our choices and our life go hand in hand . the life you are living is simply a cumulative series of choices you have made. We have gotten used to making choices that we scarcely think of it as the means that unfolds our life before our eyes. Choices are about yielding and resisting. They are about reflections and impulsiveness.They are about the present and future and it is a yes and no affair and a now later business but whatever it is the laws of living demands that we make one in every circumstance in other to live. But every single choice we make comes along with a shadow . This shadow is generally referred as consequence . It is very easy in the choice making decision to conjure our best planning skills to navigate the maze of options that covers the path to wherever we want to go and whatever we want to achieve. However, we scarcely make provisions for dealing with the consequences of our choices .And so consequences of our choices have become more or less a headache in society. More often than not, the consequences of our choices open our eyes to the glitter of all the other options we pushed asi de. And then we start to think that the choices we made were poor ones . Sometimes we feel like turning back the clock and rewinding the tape in other to make a better choice. Truth is, it does not matter how hard or how badly you want to change the choice. A choice made is a choice made. The best that you can do about it is to develop a positive attitude about it and face the consequences.The bottom line is this: regardless of the consequences that we are going through now, we are all trying to accomplish increasingly more out of the choices we made with increasingly less resources –whether these resources are money, time, focus or energy. The challenge is not that we do not make rational choices, rather, our refusal to focus and work hard at the choices we have made, make those options we left behind glitter like the twinkling stars. Instead of constantly looking over your shoulder at the glittering options you left behind, your best bet is to live positively with your choi ces and look towards the future .Looking back means you are dwelling on the past instead of living in the present and being stuck in the past does not help you make any better choices in the future. We can all look at our circumstances and point out instances where different choices could have given us a different way of life . But it only sounds easy in words. In action, they are difficult . For the surprising majority of us, when the consequences of our choices rear its ugly head, we respond in a very predictable way. We turn in the opposite direction and try to outrun it .The only problem is that, before long the consequences catches up with us. And so instead of outrunning the consequences, we actually run into it , maximizing our exposure to it. Or like we say,† Challenges and problems compound when we ignore them , and we end up being exposed to something longer and or worse than what might have been. Our best bet is to wait for the consequences to come right at us and a s it arrives, we must charge directly into them. By charging at the consequences of our choices, we run straight through it, which minimizes the amount of negative effect we experience .And why not, in life most of the brilliant options are about doing the hard things you know you should do, even when you do not feel like doing them, but doing as early on as possible. As long as we live, we are going to make a lot of choices. And if we do not want negative consequences, then we have to think about and evaluate our choices differently than we have been doing. It is about giving a lot of forethought to the consequences of the choices we are faced with. And it is about being ready to deal positively with whatever consequences that materializes out of the choices we make.