Management Accounting Project Report Cvp Analysis for a Firm Under Expansion Phase Essay Example

Management Accounting Project Report Cvp Analysis for a Firm Under Expansion Phase Paper The CVP analysis helps in taking more than one decisions in a firm. How would you substantiate this statement for a unit under expansion phase| | Abstract Companies commonly face major uncertainties in their product markets, particularly in the manufacturing industry where competition is often fierce and consumer tastes change rapidly. Managers need to estimate future revenues, costs, and profits to help them plan and monitor operations and to decide the mix and volumes of goods or services to produce and sell. They also use this information to evaluate profitability risk. Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis is the technique used to identify the levels of operating activity needed to avoid losses, achieve targeted profits, plan future operations, decide on expansion or contraction plans, monitor organizational performance and analyze operational risk as they choose an appropriate cost structure to help in the decision making process to sustain the firm. Table of Contents Introduction4 Marginal Cost Equations and CVP Analysis9 Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Relationship in Graphic Form14 Applications of Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Concepts17 CVP Analysis Illustrations Unit in Expansion Mode19 Illustration 119 Illustration 222 References28 Introduction To assist planning and decision making, management should know not only the budgeted profit, but also: * the output and sales level at which there would neither profit nor loss (break-even point) * the amount by which actual sales can fall below the budgeted sales level, without a loss being incurred (the margin of safety) In marginal costing, marginal cost varies directly with the volume of production or output. On the other hand, fixed cost remains unaltered regardless of the volume of output within the scale of production already fixed by management. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Accounting Project Report Cvp Analysis for a Firm Under Expansion Phase specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Management Accounting Project Report Cvp Analysis for a Firm Under Expansion Phase specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Management Accounting Project Report Cvp Analysis for a Firm Under Expansion Phase specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In case if cost behaviour is related to sales income, it shows cost-volume-profit relationship. In net effect, if volume is changed, variable cost varies as per the change in volume. In this case, selling price remains fixed, fixed remains fixed and then there is a change in profit. Being a manager, you constantly strive to relate these elements in order to achieve the maximum profit. Cost – Volume profit Analysis is a logical extension of Marginal costing. It is based on the same principles of classifying the operating expenses into fixed and variable. CVP analysis is generally defined as a planning tool by which managers can evaluate the effect of a change(s) in price, volume, variable cost or fixed cost on profit. Additionally, CVP analysis is the basis for understanding contribution margin pricing, related short-run decisions, target costing and transfer pricing. Apart from profit projection, the concept of Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) is relevant to virtually all decision-making areas, particularly in the short run. The relationship among cost, revenue and profit at different levels may be expressed in graphs such as breakeven charts, profit volume graphs or in various statements forms. CVP Analysis helps managers understand the interrelationship between cost, volume, and profit in an  organization  by focusing on interactions among the following five elements:   1. Prices of products 2. Volume or level of activity 3. Per unit variable cost 4. Total fixed cost 5. Mix of product sold Earning of maximum profit is the ultimate goal of almost all business undertakings. Profit depends on a large number of factors, most important of which are the cost of manufacturing and the volume of sales. Both these factors are interdependent. Volume of sales depends upon the level of production i. e. volume of production and market forces which turns in related to costs. Management has no control over market. In order to achieve certain level of profitability, it has to exercise control and management of costs, mainly variable cost. This is because fixed cost is a non-controllable cost. In other words, it helps in locating the level of output which evenly breaks the cost and revenues used. In its broader sense, it means that system of analysis which determines profit, cost and sales value at different levels of output i. . it establishes the relationship of cost, volume and profit. CVP Analysis helps to find out the profitability of a product, department of division to have better product mix, for profit planning and to maximize the profit of a concern. The decisions can include such crucial areas as pricing policies, product mixes, market expansion or contractions, outsourcing contracts, idle plant usage, discretionary e xpenses planning and a variety of other important considerations in the planning process. Thus cost volume profit analysis furnishes the complete picture of the profit structure. When the firm is in expansion phase, Funds are provided for the major expansion of a company which has increasing sales volume and which is breaking even or which has achieved initial profitability. Funds are utilized for  further plant expansion, marketing, and working capital  or for development of an  improved product, a  new technology, or an  expanded product line. Cost-volume-profit analysis can answer a number of analytical questions. These include, for example: 1. What products to manufacture or sell? 2. What pricing policy to follow? 3. What marketing strategy to employ? 4. What type of productive facilities to acquire? Cost-volume-profit analysis can also answer many other â€Å"what if† type of questions. Cost-volume-profit analysis is one of the important techniques of cost and management accounting. Although it is simple, it is a powerful tool for planning of profits and therefore, of commercial operations. It provides an answer to â€Å"what if† theme by telling the volume required to be produced. Following are the three approaches to a CVP analysis: * Cost and revenue equations * Contribution margin * Profit graph Before going into further details on the above three approaches below is described, the broad objectives of CVP analysis and the assumptions thereof n attaining these objectives. Further the limitations of the CVP analysis are detailed, which will help determine when, where and in which situations CVP analysis can be applied effectively in the various decisions that a firm needs to make to continue functioning. Objectives of Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis 1. In order to fo recast profits accurately, it is essential to ascertain the relationship between cost and profit on one hand and volume on the other. 2. Cost-volume-profit analysis is helpful in setting up flexible budget which indicates cost at various levels of activities. . Cost-volume-profit analysis assists in evaluating performance for the purpose of control. 4. Such analysis may assist management in formulating pricing policies by projecting the effect of different price structures on cost and profit. Assumptions Following are the assumptions on which the theory of CVP is based: 1. The changes in the level of various revenue and costs arise only because of the changes in the number of product (or service) units produced and sold, e. g. , the number of television sets produced and sold by Sigma Corporation. The number of output (units) to be sold is the only revenue and cost driver. Just as a cost driver is any factor that affects costs, a revenue driver is any factor that affects revenue. 2. Total costs can be divided into a fixed component and a component that is variable with respect to the level of output. Variable costs include the following: * Direct materials * Direct labor * Direct chargeable expenses Variable overheads include the following: * Variable part of factory overheads * Administration overheads * Selling and distribution overheads 3. There is linear relationship between revenue and cost. 4. When put in a graph, the behavior of total revenue and cost is linear (straight line), i. e. Y = ax + b holds good which is the equation of a straight line. 5. The unit selling price, unit variable costs and fixed costs are constant. 6. The theory of CVP is based upon the production of a single product. However, of late, management accountants are functioning to give a theoretical and a practical approach to multi-product CVP analysis. 7. The analysis either covers a single product or assumes that the sales mix sold in case of multiple products will remain constant as the level of total units sold changes. . All revenue and cost can be added and compared without taking into account the time value of money. 9. The theory of CVP is based on the technology that remains constant. 10. The theory of price elasticity is not taken into consideration. Many companies, and divisions and sub-divisions of companies in industries such as airlines, automobiles, chemicals, plastics and semiconductor s have found the simple CVP relationships to be helpful in the following areas: * Strategic and long-range planning decisions * Decisions about product features and pricing In real world, simple assumptions described above may not hold good. The theory of CVP can be tailored for individual industries depending upon the nature and peculiarities of the same. For example, predicting total revenue and total cost may require multiple revenue drivers and multiple cost drivers. Some of the multiple revenue drivers are as follows: * Number of output units * Number of customer visits made for sales * Number of advertisements placed Some of the multiple cost drivers are as follows: * Number of units produced * Number of batches in which units are produced Managers and management accountants, however, should always assess whether the simplified CVP relationships generate sufficiently accurate information for predictions of how total revenue and total cost would behave. However, one may come across different complex situations to which the theory of CVP would rightly be applicable in order to help managers to take appropriate decisions under different situations. Limitations of Cost-Volume Profit Analysis The CVP analysis is generally made under certain limitations and with certain assumed conditions, some of which may not occur in practice. Following are the main assumptions and limitations therein of the cost-volume-profit analysis: 1. It is assumed that the production facilities anticipated for the purpose of cost-volume-profit analysis do not undergo any change. Such analysis gives misleading results if expansion or reduction of capacity takes place. 2. In case where a variety of products with varying margins of profit are manufactured, it is difficult to forecast with reasonable accuracy the volume of sales mix which would optimize the profit. 3. The analysis will be correct only if input price and selling price remain fairly constant which in reality is difficult to find. Thus, if a cost reduction program is undertaken or selling price is changed, the relationship between cost and profit will not be accurately depicted. 4. In cost-volume-profit analysis, it is assumed that variable costs are perfectly and completely variable at all levels of activity and fixed cost remains constant throughout the range of volume being considered. However, such situations may not arise in practical situations. . It is assumed that the changes in opening and closing inventories are not significant, though sometimes they may be significant. 6. Inventories are valued at variable cost and fixed cost is treated as period cost. Therefore, closing stock carried over to the next financial year does not contain any component of fixed cost. Inventory should be valued at full cost in reality. Sensitivity Analysis or What If Analysis and Uncertainty Sens itivity analysis is relatively a new term in management accounting. It is a â€Å"what if† technique that managers use to examine how a result will change if the original predicted data are not achieved or if an underlying assumption changes. In the context of CVP analysis, sensitivity analysis answers the following questions: 1. What will be the operating income if units sold decrease by 15% from original prediction? 2. What will be the operating income if variable cost per unit increases by 20%? The sensitivity of operating income to various possible outcomes broadens the perspective of management regarding what might actually occur before making cost commitments. Marginal Cost Equations and CVP Analysis Break even is the level of sales at which the profit is zero. Cost volume profit analysis is some time referred to simply as break even analysis. This is unfortunate because break even analysis is only one element of cost volume profit analysis. Break even analysis is designed to answer questions such as  How far sales could drop before the company begins to lose money? † From the marginal cost statements, one might have observed the following: Sales – Marginal cost = Contribution(1) Fixed cost + Profit = Contribution(2) By combining these two equations, we get the fundamental marginal cost equation as follows: Sales – Marginal cost = Fixed cost + Profit(3) This fundamental marginal cost equation plays a vital role in profit projection and has a wider application in managerial decision-making problems. The sales and marginal costs vary directly with the number of units sold or produced. So, the difference between sales and marginal cost, i. e. contribution, will bear a relation to sales and the ratio of contribution to sales remains constant at all levels. This is profit volume or P/V ratio. Thus, P/V Ratio (or C/S Ratio) = Contribution (C)Sales (S) (4) It is usually expressed in terms of percentage, P/V ratio = (C/S) x 100 Contribution = Sales x P/V ratio(5) Sales = Contribution (C)PV Ratio(6) The above-mentioned marginal cost equations can be applied to the following heads: 1. Contribution Margin Contribution margin  is the amount remaining from sales revenue after variable expenses have been deducted i. e. difference between sales and marginal or variable costs. Thus it is the amount available to cover fixed expenses and then to provide profits for the period. The concept of contribution helps in deciding breakeven point, profitability of products, departments etc. to perform the following activities: * Selecting product mix or sales mix for profit maximization * Fixing selling prices under different circumstances such as trade depression, export sales, price discrimination etc. CVP analysis can be used to help find the most profitable combination of variable costs, fixed costs, selling price, and sales volume. Profits can sometimes be improved by reducing the contribution margin if fixed costs can be reduced by a greater amount. The contribution margin as a percentage of total sales is referred to as contribution margin ratio (CM Ratio). Contribution margin ratio can be used in cost-volume profit calculations. 2. Profit Volume Ratio (P/V Ratio), its Improvement and Application The ratio of contribution to sales is P/V ratio or C/S ratio. It is the contribution per rupee of sales and since the fixed cost remains constant in short term period, P/V ratio will also measure the rate of change of profit due to change in volume of sales. The P/V ratio may be expressed as follows: P/V Ratio = Sales-Marginal Cost of SalesSales ContributionSales = Changes in ContributionChanges in Sales = Change in ProfitChange in Sales A fundamental property of marginal costing system is that P/V ratio remains constant at different levels of activity. A change in fixed cost does not affect P/V ratio. The concept of P/V ratio helps in determining the following: * Breakeven point * Profit at any volume of sales * Sales volume required to earn a desired quantum of profit * Profitability of products * Processes or departments The contribution can be increased by increasing the sales price or by reduction of variable costs. Thus, P/V ratio can be improved by the following: * Increasing selling price * Reducing marginal costs by effectively utilizing men, machines, materials and other services * Selling more profitable products, thereby increasing the overall P/V ratio 3. Breakeven Point Breakeven point is the volume of sales or production where there is neither profit nor loss. Thus, we can say that: Contribution = Fixed cost Now, breakeven point can be easily calculated with the help of fundamental marginal cost equation, P/V ratio or contribution per unit. a. Using Marginal Costing Equation S (Sales) – V (Variable cost) = F (Fixed cost) + P (Profit) At BEP P = 0, i. e. BEP Sales – V = F By multiplying both the sides by S and rearranging them, one gets the following equation: Sales at BEP = F. S/S-V b. Using P/V Ratio Sales (S) at BEP = Contribution at BEPP/V Ratio = Fixed CostP/V Ratio c. Using Contribution per unit Breakeven Point = Fixed Cost/Contribution per unit 4. Margin of Safety (MOS) Every enterprise tries to know how much above they are from the breakeven point. This is technically called margin of safety. It is calculated as the difference between sales or production units at the selected activity and the breakeven sales or production. Margin of safety is the difference between the total sales (actual or projected) and the breakeven sales. It may be expressed in monetary terms (value) or as a number of units (volume). It can be expressed as profit / P/V ratio. A large margin of safety indicates the soundness and financial strength of business. Margin of safety can be improved by lowering fixed and variable costs, increasing volume of sales or selling price and changing product mix, so as to improve contribution and overall P/V ratio. Margin of safety = Sales at selected activity – Sales at BEP = Profit at selected activityP/V Ratio Margin of safety is also presented in ratio or percentage as follows: Margin of Safety SalesSales at selected activity ? 100% The size of margin of safety is an extremely valuable guide to the strength of a business. If it is large, there can be substantial falling of sales and yet a profit can be made. On the other hand, if margin is small, any loss of sales may be a serious matter. If margin of safety is unsatisfactory, possible steps to rectify the causes of mismanagement of commercial activities as listed below can be undertaken. . Increasing the selling price It may be possible for a company to have higher margin of safety in order to strengthen the financial health of the business. It should be able to influence price, provided the demand is elastic. Otherwise, the same quantity will not be sold. 2. Reducing fixed costs 3. Reducing variable costs 4. Substitution of existin g product(s) by more profitable lines e. Increase in the volume of output 5. Modernization of production facilities and the introduction of the most cost effective technology 5. Degree of Operating Leverage Managers decide how to structure the cost function for their organizations. Often, potential trade-offs are made between fixed and variable costs. For example, a company could purchase a vehicle (a fixed cost) or it could lease a vehicle under a contract that charges a rate per mile driven (a variable cost). One of the major disadvantages of fixed costs is that they may be difficult to reduce quickly if activity levels fail to meet expectations, thereby increasing the organization’s risk of incurring losses. The degree of operating leverage is the extent to which the cost function is made up of fixed costs. Organizations with high operating leverage incur more risk of loss when sales decline. Conversely, when operating leverage is high an increase in sales (once fixed costs are covered) contributes quickly to profit. The formula for operating leverage can be written in terms of either contribution margin or fixed costs, as shown here Degree of operating leverage in terms of contribution margin = Contribution marginProfit = Total Revenue-Total Variable CostProfit P-VQProfit Degree of operating leverage in terms of fixed costs = FProfit+1 Managers use the degree of operating leverage to gauge the risk associated with their cost function and to explicitly calculate the sensitivity of profits to changes in sales (units or revenues): % change in profit = % change in sales x Degree of Operating leverage Managers need to consider the degree of operating leverage when they decide whether to incu r additional fixed costs, such as purchasing new equipment or hiring new employees. They also need to consider the degree of operating leverage for potential new products and services that could increase an organization’s fixed costs relative to variable costs. If additional fixed costs cause the degree of operating leverage to reach what they consider an unacceptably high level, managers often use variable costs—such as temporary labour—rather than additional fixed costs to meet their operating needs. Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Relationship in Graphic Form Apart from marginal cost equations, it is found that the relationships among revenue, cost, profit and volume can be expressed graphically by preparing a  cost-volume-profit (CVP) graph or break even chart. Breakeven chart and profit graphs, which is a development of simple breakeven chart and shows clearly profit at different volumes of sales, are useful graphic presentations of the cost-volume-profit relationship. Breakeven chart is a device which shows the relationship between sales volume, marginal costs and fixed costs, and profit or loss at different levels of activity. Such a chart also shows the effect of change of one factor on other factors and exhibits the rate of profit and margin of safety at different levels. A breakeven chart contains, among other things, total sales line, total cost line and the point of intersection called breakeven point. It is popularly called breakeven chart because it shows clearly breakeven point (a point where there is no profit or no loss). Construction of a Breakeven Chart The construction of a breakeven chart involves the drawing of fixed cost line, total cost line and sales line as follows: 1. Select a scale for production on horizontal axis and a scale for costs and sales on vertical axis. 2. Plot fixed cost on vertical axis and draw fixed cost line passing through this point parallel to horizontal axis. 3. Plot variable costs for some activity levels starting from the fixed cost line and join these points. This will give total cost line. Alternatively, obtain total cost at different levels; plot the points starting from horizontal axis and draw total cost line. 4. Plot the maximum or any other sales volume and draw sales line by joining zero and the point so obtained. Uses of Breakeven Chart A breakeven chart can be used to show the effect of changes in any of the following profit factors: * Volume of sales * Variable expenses * Fixed expenses * Selling price A CVP graph or breakeven chart thus highlights CVP relationships over wide ranges of activity and can give managers a perspective that can be obtained in no other way. Profit Graph Profit graph is an improvement of a simple breakeven chart. It clearly exhibits the relationship of profit to volume of sales. The construction of a profit graph is relatively easy and the procedure involves the following: 1. Selecting a scale for the sales on horizontal axis and another scale for profit and fixed costs or loss on vertical axis. The area above horizontal axis is called profit area and the one below it is called loss area. 2. Plotting the profits of corresponding sales and joining them. This is profit line. Limitations and Uses of Breakeven Charts A simple breakeven chart gives correct result as long as variable cost per unit, total fixed cost and sales price remain constant. In practice, all these factors may change and the original breakeven chart may give misleading results. But then, if a company sells different products having different percentages of profit to turnover, the original combined breakeven chart fails to give a clear picture when the sales mix changes. In this case, it may be necessary to draw up a breakeven chart for each product or a group of products. A breakeven chart does not take into account capital employed which is a very important factor to measure the overall efficiency of business. Fixed costs may increase at some level whereas variable costs may sometimes start to decline. For example, with the help of quantity discount on materials purchased, the sales price may be reduced to sell the additional units produced etc. These changes may result in more than one breakeven point, or may indicate higher profit at lower volumes or lower profit at still higher levels of sales. Nevertheless, a breakeven chart is used by management as an efficient tool in marginal costing, i. e. in forecasting, decision-making, long term profit planning and maintaining profitability. The margin of safety shows the soundness of business whereas the fixed cost line shows the degree of mechanization. The angle of incidence is an indicator of plant efficiency and profitability of the product or division under consideration. It also helps a monopolist to make price discrimination for maximization of profit. Applications of Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Concepts CVP analysis thus involves the analysis of how total costs, total revenues and total profits are related to sales volume, and is therefore concerned with predicting the effects of changes in costs and sales volume on profit. The technique used carefully may be helpful in the following situations: a) Budget planning. The volume of sales required to make a profit (breakeven point) and the safety margin for profits in the budget can be measured. b) Pricing and sales volume decisions. c) Sales mix decisions, to determine in what proportions each product should be sold. d) Decisions that will affect the cost structure and production capacity of the company. e) Make or buy decisions – Analyzing and determining whether it is profitable for a firm to manufacture a particular component or product themselves, outsource the production to others or buy a component/product already available for their use. ) To decide whether or not to close down a factory, department, product line or other activity, either because it is making losses or because it is too expensive to run. This often involves long term considerations, and capital expenditures and revenues. But it can be simplified into short run decisions, by making certain assumptions. g) Assist in determining production or activity levels of employee s and their work schedules. h) Assist in determining discretionary expenditures and product emphasis such as advertising. While this type of analysis is typical for manufacturing firms, it also is appropriate for other types of industries. In addition to the restaurant industry, CVP has been used in decision-making for nuclear versus gas- or coal-fired energy generation. Some of the more important costs in the analysis are projected discount rates and increasing governmental regulation. At a more down-to-earth level is the prospective purchase of high quality compost for use on golf courses in the Carolinas. Greens managers tend to balk at the necessity of high (fixed) cost equipment necessary for uniform spread ability and maintenance, even if the (variable) cost of the compost is reasonable. Interestingly, one of the unacceptably high fixed costs of this compost is the smell, which is not adaptable to CVP analysis. Even in the highly regulated banking industry, CVP has been useful in pricing decisions. The market for banking services is based on two primary categories. First is the price-sensitive group. In the 1990s leading banks tended to increase fees on small, otherwise unprofitable accounts. As smaller account holders have departed, operating costs for these banks have decreased due to fewer accounts; those that remain pay for their keep. The second category is the maturity-based group. Responses to changes in rates paid for certificates of deposit are inherently delayed by the maturity date. Important increases in fixed costs for banks include computer technology and the employment of skilled analysts to segment the markets for study. Even entities without a profit goal find CVP useful. Governmental agencies use the analysis to determine the level of service appropriate for projected revenues. Nonprofit agencies, increasingly stipulating fees for service, can explore fee-pricing options; in many cases, the recipients are especially price-sensitive due to income or health concerns. The agency can use CVP to explore the options for efficient allocation of resources. Project feasibility studies frequently use CVP as a preliminary analysis. Such major undertakings as real estate/construction ventures have used this technique to explore pricing, lender choice, and project scope options. Cost-volume-profit analysis is a simple but flexible tool for exploring potential profit based on cost strategies and pricing decisions. While it may not provide detailed analysis, it can prevent do-nothing management paralysis by providing insight on an overview basis. CVP Analysis Illustrations Unit in Expansion Mode In an expanding market, managers take advantage of fixed costs to generate profitable growth as additional customers do not add much additional costs. In such cases cost structure dominated by fixed cost structure is a smart managerial decision. Whenever a decision is to be taken as to whether the capacity is to be expanded or not, consideration should be given to the following points: * Additional fixed expenses to be incurred * Possible decrease in selling price due to increase in production * Whether the demand is sufficient to absorb the increased production Based on these considerations, the cost schedule will be worked out. While deciding about the contraction of business, the saving in fixed expenses and the marginal contribution lost will have to be taken into account. If a branch office is to be closed down, and if the branch is giving a marginal contribution sufficient to cover fixed expenses the contraction may lead to a loss. Example: Branch B Sales – `20000 P/V Ratio – 20% Marginal contribution – `4000 Fixed expenses of the branch – `3000 The branch is giving an extra contribution of `1000. If it is closed, the fixed expense saving is `3000, whereas the contribution lost is `4000. Hence it is not advisable to contract the business by closing down the branch. Illustration 1 Nice and Warm Ltd. , manufactures and markets hot plates. During the first five years of operation, the company had experienced a gradual increase in sales volume, and the current annual growth in sales of 5% is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. The plant is now producing at its full capacity of one lakh hot plates. At the monthly Management Advisory Committee meeting, amongst other things, the plan of action for next year was discussed. Managing Director proposed two alternatives. First, operations could be continued at full capacity and with the existing facilities an output of one lakh hot plates at a selling price of `100 per unit could be maintained. Secondly, production and sales could be increased by 5% to take advantage of the rate of expansion in demand for the product. But this could increase cost, as to achieve this output the company will have to resort to weekend and overtime workings. However, a policy of steady growth was preferable to maintaining status quo. In view of the company’s competitors having a substantial share of the market, the Works Director was of the view that it was not enough for the company to maintain merely the present share of the total market. A larger share of the total market should be obtained. For that, the company should increase the production by 10% through a modest expansion of plant capacity. In order to sell the output of 110000 units, the selling price could be reduced to `95 per unit. Thinking on the same lines, the Marketing Director put forth a more radical proposal. The strategy should be to seize the competitive leadership in the market with regard to both price and volume. With this end in view, he suggested that the company should straight away embark on an expensive modernization programme which will initially increase volume by 20%. The entire output of 120000 hot plates could be easily sold at a price of `90 per unit. At this juncture Managing Director expressed concern about the probable behavior of the company’s competitors. They might also expand in order to produce more and sell at lowest prices. Suppose this happened, he wanted also the financial effects of the proposals of the Works Director and the Marketing Director, if in those proposals, the increase in sales were to be only half of that predicted. It is required to critically evaluate the six alternatives, and suggest recommendations to be circulated to the Directors. In this connection the following details have been gathered: 1) If next year’s production was maintained at the current year’s level variable costs would remain unchanged at `30lakhs. ) The weekend and overtime working would increase with the variable and fixed costs. Variable cost would rise to `55 per unit while fixed costs would increase to `3025000. 3) In the proposal of the Works Director, the ratio of variable costs to sales would continue to be 50% and fixed costs would rise to `3225000. 4) In the proposal of the Marketing Director, as a result of increased pro duction efficiency and some savings from purchase of materials, it is estimated that the ratio of variable cost to sales would decrease to 48% and the fixed costs would increase by `516000. A tabular statement of comparative figures pertaining to Total Turnover, Total Contribution, Percentage of Profit to Sales and Break-Even units as regards to each of the six proposals is given below: Proposals| | Managing Director’s 1st proposal| Managing Director’s 2nd proposal| Works Director’s 1st proposal| Works Director’s 2nd proposal (1/2 of expected increase)| Marketing Director’s 1st proposal| Marketing Director’s 2nd proposal (1/2 of expected increase)| | (1)| (2)| (3)| (4)| (5)| (6)| Units Sold| 100000| 105000| 110000| 105000| 120000| 110000| Unit Selling Price (in `)| 100| 100| 95| 95| 90| 90| Total turnover (in ` lakhs)| 100. 0| 105. 00| 104. 50| 99. 75| 108. 00| 99. 00| Unit contribution| 50| 45| 47. 5| 47. 5| 46. 80| 46. 80| Total Contribution| 50| 47. 25| 52. 25| 49. 875| 56. 16| 51. 48| Fixed Cost (in ` lakhs)| 30| 30. 25| 32. 25| 32. 25| 35. 16| 35. 16| Profit (in ` lakhs)| 20| 17. 00| 20. 00| 17. 625| 21| 16. 32| Percentage of profit to Sales| 20%| 16. 19%| 19. 14%| 17. 67%| 19. 44%| 16. 48%| Breakeven units| 60000| 67222| 67895| 67895| 75128| 75128| Margin of Safety in units| 40000| 37778| 42105| 37105| 44872| 34872| Relative risks involved At the present full capacity level, it is enough to sell 60,000 units to break even. Other proposals raise the break-even point further. In an uncertain market, if in the proposals of Works Director and the Marketing Director, only half the increase is achieved, the margin of safety will be lower than the present 40,000 units. Profit as a percentage of sales is also lower than existing, in all the proposals. All this is a disquieting feature as the risk involved is greater in all the other proposals. Short-term and long-term implications of the Managing Director’s proposals The company has already reached its full capacity. As a short term measure, the Managing Director’s first proposal seems to be all right. From long-term point of view, neither of the proposals can be considered to be satisfactory. Both the proposals of the Managing Director do not provide a lasting solution. Though the second proposal maintains the market share, it results in less profit, both in quantum and percentage. As the capacity has already been reached there is an urgent necessity for the Managing Director to address himself to long range objectives and plans keeping in view the expansion in demand for the company’s product. Price elasticity of demand and suggestions on the pricing policy and cost structure It seems that both the Works Director and the Marketing Director have very elementary notions on price. They think that if the volume increases in order to sell the increased volume, price has to be lowered. No serious study seems to have been made on the price elasticity of demand for the company’s product. On the other hand, we have been told that there is a steady 5% annual growth in demand, which means that the prices need not be reduced only more market share has to be obtained. For incremental production, differential pricing in certain special markets has to be resorted to; if this is not possible, the increased production can be sold under a different brand name with a different price (A static cost structure, more or less, has been assumed). To beat competition, a better product has to be put in the market and cost reduction offered through value analysis, etc. Financial implications of the expansion schemes The expansion scheme envisaged has to be properly tested for profitability by feasibility study reports, etc. Source of financing the expansion has to be determined. The financial implications of share issue or borrowed funds have to be gone through. Long range objectives have to be defined and plans drawn accordingly to achieve them. Illustration 2 Reliable Chair Co. is a manufacturer of solid wood chairs. It is required to calculate a breakeven level for monthly sales. In other words the number of chairs Reliable needs to sell each month in order to breakeven needs to be determined. (While this example uses a manufacturing business, remember that break-even analysis can be used for both retail and service businesses as well) During this same month last year, Reliable sold 550 chairs. The business has enjoyed moderate growth over the last year, so the reasonable assumptions can be: * 600 chairs will be sold this month. * The companys income statement has been projected, based upon an expected volume of 600 chairs per month. * Each monthly expense has been classified as either fixed or variable. The classification that has been prepared is as follows: Fixed Costs / Month * Building Rent `10000 * Property Tax `4000 * Utilities `900 * Telephone `850 * Depreciation `8000 * Insurance `500 * Advertising `3000 * General Office Salaries `7000 * General Maintenance `700 Total `34950 Variable Costs / Month * Direct Materials `28800 (wood. varnish, etc. ) * Direct Labour `26400 * Overtime Labour `1500 * Billing Costs `2000 * General Maintenance `1300 Total`60,000 General Office Salaries is included as a fixed cost because in the short run these salaries must be paid regardless of whether any chairs are sold or not during the month. Obviously, if the firm fails to sell chairs for a number of months, the office salaries will decline and will no longer be considered fixed. This cost would eventually change with the volume of sales. Remember, though, that break-even analysis focuses only on the short run. General Maintenance Expense appears on both the fixed and variable lists. This is because some maintenance costs will be incurred regardless of how many chairs we sell (the fixed portion). The office wastepaper baskets will still be emptied, floors washed, and windows cleaned. On the other hand, the more chairs we sell, the more the machinery will be used, so the incidence of breakdown is likely to increase, which will require more maintenance (the variable portion). How to divide maintenance costs between fixed and variable cost is a matter of choice. In the above example, we have divided maintenance as 35 percent fixed and 65 percent variable. One more piece of information is needed, which is readily available from the business records, before the break-even point can be calculated: the Selling Price. The selling price is known for an existing business. However break-even analysis can actually help to determine the selling price. Currently, Reliable chairs are selling to dealers for `250. Lets summarize what we know so far: * Total monthly fixed costs `34,950 * Total monthly variable costs `60,000 * Selling price for one chair `250 Expected number of chairs to be sold this month 600 Heres where we figure Variable Cost per Unit. Simply divide the Total Variable Cost by the Number of Units we expect to sell to get the Variable Cost per Unit. An existing business may use a previously calculated variable cost per unit figure, but it is best to review variable costs and expected sales at least annually to assure the most accurate data in doing your break-even analysis. In general, the formula for figuring Variable Cost per Unit looks like this: Total Variable Cost / Number of Units = Variable Cost per Unit The calculation for this example looks like this: 60,000 Variable Cost / 600 Units = `100 Variable Cost per Unit Break-Even in Units Total Monthly Fixed Costs + Variable Costs (variable cost per unit times number of units sold) = Net Sales Revenue (selling price per unit times number of units sold) In the formula, let X stand for the number of chairs needed to break even. The Net Sales Revenue at the break-even point in this example will be `250 (selling price for one chair) times X number of chairs. The Variable Cost per Unit in this example is `100, so Variable Costs equal `100 times â€Å"X† number of chairs. Plugging the values into the break-even formula: 34,950 + `100X = `250X Solving the equation, we find X = 233 In other words, Reliable needs to sell 233 chairs during the month just to cover all expected expenses. At the 233-chair point, Reliable will not be making a profit or incurring a loss, but the very next chair they sell will give them a profit. Break-Even in Sales Dollars Breakeven level can also be calculated in terms of dollars. We know how many chairs need to be sold and how much each chair sells for, so multiplying Chairs times Dollars per Chair will give us the break-even level of sales dollars. i. e. 233 chairs x `250 per chair = $58,250 Another way of thinking about this number is that once Reliables sales for the month have passed `58,250, they should be making a profit. The words should be are important. Remember that many of the figures we used in determining fixed and variable costs were based upon judgment. For a business still in the planning stage, these figures would be estimates or projections. This means that it is probably best not to rely on a single number like the 233 chairs we calculated as the break-even point. It is better to use the real power of break-even analysis to develop a range of points which better define what might actually happen. Break-Even to Set Price In the above calculation, we assumed the price was set at `250. What happens to our break-even point if we lower the price to `225? Again, Fixed Costs + Variable Costs = Net Sales Revenue i. e. `34,950 + `100X = `225X Solving, we get X = 279. 6 ~ 280 (approx. ) We find when we cut our price by 10 percent, that the number of chairs we will have to sell to break even went up just over 20 percent. Because we cant sell six-tenths of a chair, Reliables break-even is actually 280 chairs in this case. Now, imagine recalculating the break-even point for a whole range of item prices. You would get a corresponding range of break-even points. You can use that range to judge the feasibility of actually reaching different sales levels. If it seems physically impossible to produce the number of units needed to break even at the lowest item price in your range of reasonable prices in the actual marketplace, this is a good advance indication of a potential problem. Possibly, the project is not feasible. On the other hand, it could be an indication that your classification of expenses is off. You can try adjusting your estimate of fixed expenses to see how that affects your break-even point. The Profit Break-Even Formula Profit is what is left of the net sales revenue after all expenses have been covered. The basic break-even formula identifies the point at which all expenses have been covered, but where profit has not yet begun to accrue. In other words, implicit in the basic formula is the idea that profit is zero at break-even. In this example, break-even looks like this: Fixed Costs + Variable Costs = Net Sales Revenue i. e. `34,950 + `100X = `250X Actually, profit is in the formula, but at a zero value: Profit + Fixed Costs + Variable Costs =Net Sales Revenue . e. `0 + `34,950 + `100X = `250X The general form of the formula above, which we will call the profit breakeven formula, is the form to use when you want to estimate the level of sales necessary to meet a certain profit requirement. Lets look at an example using the Reliable Chair Co. data. It is now required to find the level of sales necessary to meet desired profit projections. It is known that plans requir e a profit of `50,000 for the period under consideration. How many chairs must Reliable sell to make that profit level? Recall the profit break-even formula and fill in the values we know or have already calculated: Profit + Fixed Costs + Variable Costs = Net Sales Revenue i. e. `50,000+ `34,950 + `100X = `250X Solving X = 566. 33 ~ 567 (approx. ). So, in order to make a `50,000 profit, Reliable must sell 567 chairs this month. As with the basic break-even formula, the real strength of profit break-even is its ability to give you a range of figures to use in your planning. What if selling 567 chairs a month is physically impossible for Reliable? Suppose Reliable is only able to produce 500 chairs a month because of production constraints. What price would they then have to charge to make a `50,000 profit? First, recognize that the variable cost per unit will not change. Therefore, it will still cost `100 to produce each chair. Following the procedure weve been using, the number of chairs was always represented by X because the quantity of chairs was unknown. Now we know that the number of chairs we can produce is 500, and we want to find the sales price. So, lets let Y = sales price and fill in the rest of what we know. The profit break-even formula would then look like this: Profit + Fixed Costs + Variable Costs = Net Sales Revenue . e. `50,000 + `34,950 + `100X = 500Y Solving, we get, Y = `269. 90 = `270 (approx. ). The above calculation shows that if we must make a `50,000 profit and are only able to make 500 chairs in a month, the price that will allow us to meet that goal and stay within our production constraint is `270. Obviously, charging anything over `270 would insure meeting the profit goal. However, there is a ceiling price above which Reliable will have priced themselves out of the market. The market-ceiling price is unknown without further market research. Expansion Decision Suppose Reliable Chair needed to expand its warehouse facility by renting additional space. The monthly rent for the new building is `5000. If nothing else changes, how many chairs must Reliable now sell to meet its profit goal? First, recognize that the new rental cost is going to increase Reliables fixed costs. We shall assume, in this case, that all other variables remain unchanged. The values in the profit break-even formula will now become: Profit + Fixed Costs + Variable Costs = Net Sales Revenue i. e. `50,000 + `39,950 + `100X = `250X Solving, we get, X = `599. 67 ~ 600 (approx. . So the `5,000 expansion is going to require that an additional 33 chairs be sold each month in order to maintain the profit goal. Or alternatively, another 33 chairs x `250 per chair = `8,250 From these calculations, we see that `8,250 in sales is necessary to cover the additional `5,000 in fixed costs and maintain the profit level goal. Note that this same type of analysis could be done for any plan ned expenditure that affected fixed costs. For example, a planned increase in advertising or a mandated increase in utility costs could also be handled using this analysis. These examples would increase the fixed costs. Raises given to personnel would increase either fixed or variable costs and possibly both.

iPad Shortcuts for Students

iPad Shortcuts for Students iPad Shortcuts for Students The influence and growth of modern digital technologies is undeniable. More and more spheres are going digital and information technologies are getting more and more sophisticated. Brand new devices can even be confusing at times! Along with the number of possibilities that become available with the help of new gadgets, the number of potential complications increases too! Today students commonly use iPad for a number of its advantages. First, its comparatively small and portable. Second, being equipped with a number of functions, it makes a student’s life easier! The tips suggested in the following article can help students get the most out of their iPad by using it effectively. Easy shifting among the apps To make your work with iPad quick you have to learn how to shift between various apps. As the vice president of the Gravit8 Marketing Andrea Morcherman, suggests, the best possible way to open the multitask menu is to tap the home button twice or to swipe upwards with four fingers (Flavin, 2014). In this way you’ll open all the apps which you’ve recently used. You can also use this method to copy and paste information from one app into another. Get more with the triple click! Its quick and easy to open the multitasking bar with a double-click. One interesting fact is that a triple-click will increase general access in general settings to the menu. A simple triple-click will activate additional options like changing the colour of the screen, zoom function and voiceover (Flavin, 2014). Make typing more convenient A majority of people use both hands when typing. Though holding your tablet this may turn out to be rather challenging! Find the keyboard button and hold it in the right bottom corner and select the option split. You’ll get two halves of the keyboard on each side of the screen. You’ll then be able to type with both thumbs while holding the gadget upright (Flavin, 2014). Isnt it much more convenient to use two parts of the keyboard instead of one? Creating a foreign language massage on your iPad Sometimes you need to type some information or just a single word in a foreign language using a simple English language keyboard. This can be discouraging! Still, theres a perfect solution! Its simple to get access to the whole range of accents and characters by just holding a letter down until you notice the grid on the screen (Flavin, 2014). Taking immediate screen shots As your iPad encompasses the function of a camera, you have a nice chance to take any kind of pictures, and save them, no matter what it might be: a menu in a cafà © or the schedule of your sessions for the next semester. To make an immediate screenshot, hold the home button and the Sleep\Wake button, which is on top right corner of your iPad simultaneously for a few seconds. Soon you’ll notice that the screenshot you need is in the camera roll (Flavin, 2014). Bingo! As easy as that! Create your own list of abbreviations Theres always a number of addresses which are frequently used. It can be good idea to make the list of abbreviations in your General Settings. Your first step is to type some text in the phrase box. Second, add the abbreviation that will be connected with this text into the shortcut box. Done! Next time instead of typing the name of the site you often use, it will be inserted by means of auto-fill function after typing just a few initial letters. Why not save time this way? Enjoy using E-books for your studies One essential advantage from your iPad can save money! Prices often tend to increase and delivery service is sometimes late. Taking into account the opinion of Jordan Schiefer, IT and web specialist, by installing Apples iBook application, students can forget about spending money on textbooks and download any course textbook they need! Flavin. 10 iPad Shortcuts to Make Your Life Easier. 5 Apr. 2014. http://rasmussen.edu/

Juventus FC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Juventus FC - Essay Example won by Juventus would be handed over to Inter Milan who had finished second in the league behind Juventus and in addition to this Juventus were also relegated, which meant that they were supposed to play in the Serie B which is an inferior league for a club like Juventus, the punishment did not stop there, points were deducted for Juventus even in Serie B. The whole scandal was discovered in May of 2006 by Italian police who had tape records of football managers and referees trying to rig football games, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina were all involved in fixing the games of the Italian league, these are some of the top clubs in Italy and it was really shameful. The fans must have also felt cheated when they came across this shameful incident. It was found that games were fixed by selecting referees who would favor their clubs, the recorded tapes were heard by the Italian police and it was found out that most games were indeed rigged much to the dismay of all the football fans across the globe. Luciano Moggi who was the general manager of Juventus back then tried to heavily influence the appointment of referees for top Serie A games, he wanted referees who would favor his club so that they would easily win the Serie A title. Once the clubs were found guilty it was earlier suggested by prosecutors that Juventus should be sent to a division below Serie B, the prosecutor also suggested heavy punishment for the other clubs involved which also included points deduction. The prosecutor also wanted Juventus to be stripped of their Serie A titles which they had won in the year 2005 and 2006. The initial punishment suggested by the prosecutor was wavered; Reggina stayed in the Serie A but had to face a 15-point penalty and a hefty fine. The club president of Reggina was banned from the game for a few years but this punishment was just a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment that Juventus received. Juventus were stripped of their titles which they had

Northern California film history assignment Essay

Northern California film history assignment - Essay Example ory that has caused the movie industry to evolve into its current form, the opinions and findings of Trimble will emerge as most relevant and realistic. There is an element of a forgotten past behind Hollywood’s emergence as the capital of motion picture industry. The events that can reveal the historic background of this transformation date as long back to the early 1900s when the production activities began shifting from San Francisco to Los Angels in 1907. This has heralded a major change for the Northern California movie scenario apart from the changes the film industry underwent as a whole. Before that most of the production activities in the US have been centered in San Francisco Bay Area. An inquiry down the lane of history reveals that the Bay Area was a fertile hub for the early experiments, inventions, and evolution of motion pictures. Pioneers like Edward Muybridge, Edison, and Edwin Porter were involved in the process of movie making in the Bay Area. Without their contributions the motion film industry in US would not have gained its momentum. Thus one cannot overlook as irrelevant Trimble’s observation that motion pictures were invented in San Francisco. Yet, much of the print history on motion pictures has ignored San Francisco’s contribution and directed their focus on Hollywood as the cognation point of film industry. Credit doesn’t seem to have been given where it actually belongs and the flawed assumptions need to be rectified in the light of the facts available. However, if one explores the oral history in the matter the contention seems to honor Southern California’s role in giving the boost to the movie industry that made it flourish to its current status. When one examines history and the recorded facts therein, it becomes evident that San Franciscans are key players in the making of the movies and their role has been pivotal right from the embryonic stage of motion pictures’ development as an industry. It was Eadward Muybridge,

Write informations about Water Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write informations about Water Cycle - Essay Example The conversion of water from one form into the other occurs because of temperature variation. There are four fundamental stages of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, collection and precipitation (Oki & Kanae, 2006). Evaporation occurs when the sun heats the earth’s surface changing the surface water into gas, which consequently carried by wind to other places as it rises. The suspended water vapor changes into clouds through condensation. This happens because of a drop in temperature, which facilitates the clinging together of the air-suspended particles. The condensed clouds then fall back on the surface of the earth in the form of precipitation, which is absorbed by plants and also collected in various water bodies such as oceans, lakes and rivers (Jacobsen & Lee, 2006). In summary, water from rivers, lakes, oceans and other sources turns into vapor as it is heated by the sun. The water changes into vapor, which then rises and condenses to form clouds. Clouds then fall back to the earth surface as rain or precipitation, which is carried to water bodies through run-offs or absorbed into the ground and again taken by plants, which lose it to the atmosphere through evaporation. Similarly, water that goes to water bodies is also lost to the atmosphere through evaporation. This unending cyclic movement of water is what constitutes the hydrological

Low-grade Rhabdoid Meningioma: Morphological Characteristics

Low-grade Rhabdoid Meningioma: Morphological Characteristics Arvids Jakovlevs, Andrejs Vanags, Janis Gardovskis, Ilze Strumfa SUMMARY Rhabdoid meningioma (RM) is a rare type of meningioma. It is classified as a grade III tumour (anaplastic meningioma) in the recent World Health Organization (WHO) classification of the tumours of the central nervous system (CNS). Here we describe a unique case of RM lacking any features of malignancy. Few cases of low-grade RMs are described in the literature in contrast with the grading of this entity in WHO classification. Key words: meningioma, rhabdoid, low-grade AIM OF THE DEMONSTRATION The aim of our article is to report a case of unusual RM lacking malignant features in regard to the issue about the prognostic significance of rhabdoid morphology in meningiomas. CASE REPORT A 37-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital due to progressive headaches over previous 1.5 years. The magnetic resonance imaging of head and brain revealed a well-demarcated intracranial lesion measuring 3.53.63.6 cm (Figure 1A). The mass was located adjacent to the frontal bone and was attached to the dura mater. The patient underwent a craniotomy and total tumour resection. Histological examination of the neoplasm revealed cells consistent with rhabdoid morphology. The tumour was almost entirely composed of polygonal, rather large cells that possessed eccentric nuclei, strongly eosinophilic cytoplasm with abundant pale globular inclusions and prominent cytoplasmic granularity (Figure 1B). The nuclei of neoplastic cells were slightly pleomorphic. Mitoses were absent in the whole specimen. In addition, the tumour had well-developed fibrous capsule that demarcated it from normal brain tissues. Psammoma bodies were found in some areas of the tumour. Immunohistochemical visualizati on (IHC) showed intense cytoplasmic expression of vimentin and epithelial membrane antigen (Figure 1C-D) as well as strong nuclear expression of progesterone receptors in the tumour cells. The neoplastic cells did not express smooth muscle actin, desmin, HMB-45, S-100 protein, kappa and lambda light chains. Ki-67 proliferation index was as low as 1.5 %. Thus, the morphological appearance and immunohistochemical features were consistent with RM and low-grade cellular characteristics. DISCUSSION Tumours with rhabdoid morphology were first described in 1978 in relation to malignant renal tumours of children (1). Nowadays, many tumours with rhabdoid morphology are known in different localizations including CNS and meninges. Rhabdoid cells have no evidence of myogenic origin. The term „rhabdoid† is used to denote close histological resemblance of tumour cells to rhabdomyoblasts. Rhabdoid cells are characterized by typical light microscopic morphology: round cells with eccentric, vesicular nuclei, prominent nucleoli and eosinophilic cytoplasm with paranuclear globular inclusions (3). Meningiomas developing from the meninges are among the most common intracranial tumours. Regarding these tumours, surgery is the mainstay of treatment, and neurosurgeon also is involved in the planning of further observation and treatment in accordance to the tumour grade (5). Meningiomas show wide range of histopathological appearances. While the majority of meningiomas are benign tumours (WHO grade I meningiomas), some meningiomas have increased risk of local recurrences (WHO grade II meningiomas) and the minority are truly malignant and have a risk of metastatic dissemination; these are classified as WHO grade III meningiomas (2). RM is an uncommon type of meningioma which was described for the first time in 1998 (3). It was found that rhabdoid morphology in meningiomas was associated with a worse prognosis (3). Soon after this finding RM was separated as a distinct entity in WHO classification of CNS tumours published in 2000. RM has been classified as a grade III neoplasm by WHO (2). Consistent with the malignant behaviour, significant mitotic activity, anaplasia and other atypical features are usually found in RMs (2, 4). However, there are some isolated reports of RMs with no evidence of cellular atypia (6). In our case diagnosis of RM was established due to pure rhabdoid morphology along with meningothelial origin that was clearly demonstrated by IHC. Absence of atypia in the tumour cells and low Ki-67 proliferation index was consistent with low-grade meningioma in the present case. In conclusion, rhabdoid meningioma occasionally lacks histological features of malignancy that can lead to confusion if the rhabdoid morphology is always associated with malignant behaviour. Increased awareness of low-grade rhabdoid meningiomas is necessary to estimate the prognosis and to plan the treatment appropriately. REFERENCES Beckwith JB, Palmer NF. Histopathology and prognosis of Wilms tumors: results from the First National Wilms’ Tumor Study // Cancer, 1978; 41:1937 – 1948 Cooper WA, Shingde M, Lee VK, Allan RS, Wills EJ, Harper C. â€Å"Rhabdoid meningioma† lacking malignant features. Report of two cases // Clin Neuropathol, 2004; 23(1):16 – 20 Louis DN, Ohgaki H, Wiestler OD, Cavenee WK. Meningeal tumors // In: Bosman FT, Jaffe ES, Lakhani RS, Ohgaki H. WHO Classification of tumours of the central nervous system. 4th edition. Lyon: IARC; 2007; 164-180 Perry A, Scheithauer BW, Stafford SL, Abell-Aleff PC, Meyer FB. Rhabdoid meningioma: an aggressive variant // Am J Surg Pathol, 1998; 22:1482 – 1490 Walcott BP, Nahed BV, Brastianos PK, Loeffler JS. Radiation treatment for WHO grade II and III meningiomas // Front Oncol, 2013; 3:227, doi:10.3389/fonc.2013.00227 Zhou Y, Xie Q, Gong Y, Mao Y, Zhong P, Che X, Jiang C, Huang F, Zheng K, Li S, Gu Y, Bao W, Yang B, Wu J, Wang Y, Chen H, Xie L, Zheng M, Tang H. Clinicopathological analysis of rhabdoid meningiomas: Report of 12 cases and a systematic review of the literature // World Neurosurg, 2013; 79(5-6):724 – 732 3t-Alkyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones: Synthesis 3t-Alkyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones: Synthesis 3t-Alkyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones Synthesis A very convenient and non-laborious one-pot synthesis method developed by Noller and Baliah [50] has been used successfully for the synthesis of 3t-alkyl-2r, 6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 32 by the condensation of methyl ketones, aromatic aldehydes and ammonium acetate in 1:2:1 molar ratio (Scheme 13). It’s a non-laborious one-pot synthesis of 3t-alkyl-2r, 6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 32. Various substituted piperidin-4-ones were also synthesized by adapting the above method [53-,57]. Often used typical procedure reported by Baliah and Jeyaraman was adapted to synthesis several substituted 3t-alkyl-2r,6c-difuranylpiperidin-4-ones 33 and 3t-benzyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 34 with convenient modification [58,59]. Seven r(2),c(4)-bis(isopropoxycarbonyl)-t(3)-aryl-c(5)-hydroxy-t(5)-methylcyclohexano-nes (aryl = C6H5, p-ClC6H4, p-FC6H4, p-OMeC6H4, p-Me2NC6H4, m-O2NC6H4 and m-C6H5OC6H4) have been synthesized by condensing isopropyl acetoacetate with aromatic aldehydes in the presence of methylamine [53]. Aridoss et al have synthesized an array of novel N-morpholinoacetyl-2,6-diarylpiperidin-4-ones as well as imidazo(4,5-b) pyridinylethoxypiperidones and Structure and stereochemistry of all the N-morpholinoacetyl-2,6-diarylpiperidin-4-ones have been analyzed using 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques [54,55]. 1H and 13C NMR spectra have been recorded for 2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-one (3_-hydroxy-2_naphthoyl)hydrazones and 3,3-dimethyl-2r,6c-bis(p-methoxyphenyl)piperidin-4-one [56-57]. Conversion to other derivatives Other derivatives from piperidin-4-ones have been obtained which includes oximes 35 [60-73], hydrazones 36 [57,74], semicarbazones 37 [75], thiosemicarbazones 38 [69], and phenylhydrazones 39 [76] by the reaction of the carbonyl group with suitable reagents. 2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones have been reduced to obtain 4t-Hydroxy-2r, 6c-diphenylpiperidines 40a and 4c-hydroxy-2r,6c-diphenylpiperidines 40b. N-substituted 2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 41-51 was obtained by the reaction of the NH function with suitable reagents have been reported (Scheme 13) [77-84]. Physico-chemical studies Several physico-chemical studies have been performed for 3t-Alkyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones and their derivatives [64-91]. Several studies have documented the conformations of various substituted 2,6-diarylpiperidin-4-ones [78,86]. Pandiarajan et al. [88] have elaborately discussed the conformations of 32 and suggested chair conformation to these compounds with equatorial disposition of the aryl and alkyl substituents based on their NMR spectral data. Substitution of alkyl group at C-3 position of the piperidine ring causes the ring to flatten slightly about C(2)-C(3) bond probably to decrease gauche interaction between aryl and alkyl groups at C(2) and C(3). Stereochemistry of N-acetyl and N-benzoyl-2r,6c-diphenylpiperidin-4-one oximes 5256 has been already reported [89]. Synthesis and conformation of 3t-chloro-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 57 also been reported [90,91]. Manimekalai et al. [92] demonstrated the conformation of benzyl group in 4-benzyl-4-hydroxypiperidines 58. Pharmacological studies Many piperidine derivatives possess pharmacological activities including antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities and to form an essential part of the molecular structure of important drugs [9, 93-97]. Piperidin-4-ones have been used for development of compounds with selective biological activities include antiviral [98], antitumor [99], analgesic [100], local anesthetic [101,102], bactericidal [103], fungicidal [103], herbicidal [103], insecticidal [104], antihistaminic [104], anti-inflammatory [104], anticancer [105], CNS stimulant [105], antitubercular and depressant [106] activities. Earlier reports have clearly established that the biological activities[R1] of piperidin-4-ones were improved by incorporation of the substituents at C-2, C-3 and C-6 [106,107]. Ferguson documented that N-nitrosopiperidines are carcinogenic in nature and blocking of one of the à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ position by an alkyl group significantly reduces the carcinogenic activity [108]. Lijinsky and Taylo r have also supports that blocking of à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ positions to the N-nitroso group by methyl groups reduces the carcinogenic activity [109]. 3t,5t-Dimethyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-one hydrochlorides 59-61 have shown anti-histaminic activity [110]. Furthermore, 3t,5t-dimethyl-2r,6c-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)piperidin-4-one 62 and 3t-methyl-5-substitutedphenyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones 63 showed antimicrobial, insecticidal and antihistaminic activities [111]. 2,3,6-Triarylpiperidin-4-ones 64 and their oximes exhibits marked bactericidal, fungicidal and herbicidal activities [104]. N-Substituted piperidin-4-one 65 and its derivatives 66 and 67 exhibited potential Juvenile hormone activity on Bombyx mori [112]. N-methyl-3E,5E-bis(arylidine)piperidin- 4-ones 68, possessing a variety of aryl and heteroaryl groups, showed antiviral and antitumor activities [98]. 3E,5E-Bis(benzylidene)piperidin-4-one 69, 1-acryloyl derivatives of 69, and 70 the adduct of 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid 71 as well as 3E,5E-Bis(thienylidene)-piperidin-4-ones 72 have shown antitumor activity towards human carcinoma cell lines Caov3, Scov3 and A549 [113]. Furthermore, modification of position 3 of the piperidin-4-one nucleus as well as a substitution of certain functional groups in the para position of phenyl ring attached to C-2 and C-6 carbons of the piperidine moiety would result in compounds of potent biological activities. Hydrazones Hydrazones are a class of organic compounds with azomethine -NHN=CH- proton that constitutes an important class of compounds for new drug development [10,97,98]. Hydrazone are formed usually by the action of hydrazine on ketones or aldehydes. Hydrazide-hydrazone derivatives receive the attention of various medicinal chemists as a result of their effectual biological potencies viz., antimicrobial, anti-tubercular, and also anticonvulsant actions [10,114-116]. Some hydrazones is known to act as herbicides, insecticides, nematocides, rodenticides and plant growth regulators. Several studies have documented the spasmolytic activity, hypotensive action and activity against leukaemia, sarcomas and other malignant neoplasms [114-116]. Many of the physiologically active hydrazones have applications in diseases like tuberculosis, leprosy and mental disorder are characterized by the presence of the triatomic group (>C=N–N73 [117]. Hydrazones are also useful in detection, determination and isolation of compounds containing the carbonyl group and many other metals [10]. Syringaldehyde hydrazones 74 and 6-nitro-3,4-methylene-dioxophenyl-N-acylhydrazone 75 exhibits antioxidant properties [118,119]. Hydrazone and its substituted derivatives showed good antibacterial, antifungal, anticonvulsant, antitubercular, anticancer and antitumor activities. 1-[4=[(2-[(4-Substitutedphenyl)methylene]hydrazine] carbonyl)phenyl]-3-substituted thioureas 76 exhibited good clinically active tuberculostat [120]. Some coupling products from 4-aminobenzoic acid hydrazones 77 and (7-Hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)acetic hydrazide 78 showed antimicrobial activity [121,122]. A series of 4-fluorobenzoic acid (substituted methylene/ ethylidine) hydrazide derivatives 79 showed the chemotherapeutic antituberculosis activities [123]. Hemalatha et al have documented the antibacterial and antifungal activities of N-nitroso-2,6-diarylpiperidin-4-one semicarbazones [124]. Some bicyclic semicarbazones and thiosemicarbazones 81 showed a wide variety of biological activities [124]. The significance of fusing heterocycles Heterocycles possess an enormously diverse group of compounds, are widely distributed in nature. Heterocycles can be easily manipulated and modified by organic synthetic methods to increase or decrease reactivity. They are used extensively as intermediates in various reactions as well as building blocks in organic synthesis. Novel libraries of biologically diverse heterocyclic compounds have been synthesized by incorporation and substitution of a wide range of functional groups (ring activators or deactivators) and their positions around the ring of heterocycles. Several studies provide evidence that combination of two bio-active heterocyclic moieties together leads to the production of novel and biologically important compounds with the anticipation of several promising pharmacological agents [4,125]. Based on the above features discussed under 3t-Alkyl-2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-ones, 2r,4c-Diaryl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9-ones and hydrazones, we have developed the system that fuse 3 -azabicyclonones/piperidin-4-one pharmacophore and hydrazide moieties together to produce the corresponding hydrazones with the anticipation of several promising antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial agents arising. The relevant technique used to elucidate the structure of the newly synthesized compounds Specialized spectroscopic instruments can be used to generate information that enables the determination of the structure of an unknown organic compound. This includes Infrared spectrometry (IR), nuclear magnetic spectrometry (NMR) and elemental analysis. Among all available spectrometric methods, NMR is the only technique which offers a complete analysis and interpretation of the entire spectrum [126,127]. A few of the strategies of NMR experiments that are used in determination of different compounds are described as follows. NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, one of the most versatile techniques for elucidation of structure of organic compounds, has shown a tremendous progress due to improved experimental technology and novel approaches. In NMR, the most useful information comes from the interactions between two nuclei, either through the bonds which connect them (J-coupling interaction) or directly through space (NOE interaction) [126-128]. Interpretation of NMR spectra is well understood from the following basic information gathered from NMR spectra. 1) Chemical shift, which identifies the type of proton based on their electronic environment, 2) Spin-Spin splitting patterns, which identifies neighbouring protons, 3) Peak Area, which is proportional to the number of protons giving a particular resonance line, 4) The observation of a triplet and a quartet spin state confirming usually the presence of an ethyl group (CH3CH2) and 5) The observation of ÃŽ ´ values between 7.2-8.0 indicates that the structure contains a benzene ring (benzyl proton) [126-130]. Generally, three approaches are used in NMR spectroscopy methods. These include one dimension (1D), two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D). The first approach of 1D-NMR (1H DEPT, 13C, 15N, 19F, 31P, etc.) generates good information about the structure of simple organic compounds. However, it is overcrowded in case e of larger molecules. The second approach of 2D-NMR (COSY, DQFCOSY, MQFCOSY, HETCOR, HSQC, HMQC, HMBC, TOCSY, NOESY, EXSY, etc.) is used for the further larger molecules. A 2D-NMR spectrum also becomes complex and overlapping in case of further very large molecules like proteins. Therefore, multi-Dimensional-NMR (Homonuclear and Heteronuclear) are generally used to achieve high resolution and reduced overlapping in spectra of very large molecules [126,128,129]. This section further describes the general interpretation of structure of different organic compounds by different NMR techniques. 1D NMR SPECTROSCOPY 1H-NMR: Spin transitions of only hydrogen nuclei are observed in in 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Table 1 represents different ÃŽ ´ values, couplings, coupling constants and chemical shifts of 1H nuclei processing in different chemical environments. Commonly, ÃŽ ´ value scale of 1H-NMR ranges from 0-10 ppm with respect to Tetra methyl Silane (TMS) as internal standard. 1H-NMR spectral interpretation can be best understood from table 4 [126,131]. 1H Chemical shifts Because of variations in the electron distribution, the variation of nuclear magnetic resonance frequencies of the same kind of nucleus is referred to as chemical shift (symbolized by ÃŽ ´). Quantitative chemical shift are measured in frequency (Hertz) relative to a standard, Tetra methyl silane (TMS). Characterization of the structure of a molecule is depending upon the position and number of chemical shifts [111,112,115]. The chemical shift range of 1H nuclei can also be understood from a chart given in figure 1 [126].The chemical shift values for methyl protons attached to groups of varied electronegativity are given below [127]: CH3I-2.16 CH3Br-2.18 CH3Cl-3.05 and CH3F-4.26 ppm, The electron density around the proton affects its chemical shift. Because of the e- density around the H nuclei, the CH3 protons come to resonance at higher ÏÆ' values as the electronegativity of a functional group is increased. Electronic charge surrounded to H nuclei shields the nucleus to some extent from the influence of the applied field. The magnetic flux overcomes this shielding effect in order to bring a proton to resonance. Thus, the higher the electron density around the proton, the greater the induced diamagnetic effect and the greater the external field required to overcome the shielding effect. Electro-ve groups like fluorine in CH3F withdraws e- density from the CH3 group (-inductive effect). This leads to de-shielding by lower value of an applied magnetic field in order bring the methyl proton to resonance. Fluorine is more electro-ve than Cl, thus the proton in CH3F appears at a higher ÃŽ ´ values than those in CH3Cl. The chemical shift positions for protons attache d to C=C in alkenes is higher compared to that of accounted by electronegative effect alone. Alkene and aromatic protons appear at high ÏÆ' values while alkyne C≠¡C protons appear at a relatively low ÃŽ ´ value [126,127,132]. The magnetic field created by pi electrons or rings is referred to as Magnetic anisotropy, which describes an environment where different magnetic fields are found at different points in space. Since Pi electrons are held less strongly than sigma electrons, pi electrons are more able to move in response to the magnetic field. The anisotropic effects of the à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ³ electrons of C-C bond is low compared to those of the circulating à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ °-electrons. The equatorial protons in cyclohexane resonate at 0.5 ppm higher than the axial protons. This is due to the anisotropic effect of the à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ³-electron in the CÃŽ ²-Cà ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § bonds [127,133] (Figure. 2). [R1]Specify which biological activity

The Aztecs Essay -- Native Americans Spanish Conquest Papers

The Aztecs Throughout time women have had to fill a role, defined by her culture, in order to be considered desirable. Wherever or whenever she might have been from she struggled with the pressure to fill her niche in society. These pressures vary greatly from one culture to another, but some cultures are particularly demanding. Women in pre-Colombian Aztec society were held to a very strict code of behavior. From the day they were born to the day they died their domesticity was held up as being the most important aspect of their lives. This was probably necessary because of the warfare oriented nature of the men in their culture. This made having a woman at home to keep the civilian life going incredibly important. Without her there the home would be in shambles at his return. The National Standards for Geography that apply to â€Å"Aztec Women† are: 6. Knows and understands that culture and experiences influence people’s perceptions of places and experiences. The Aztec women had a very hearth-centered life and therefore a very distinct worldview. 10. Knows and understands the complexity of the Earth’s cultural mosaic. The Aztec were a people of many people’s They adopted many cultures into their own and the Spanish adopted some of the Aztec characteristics. 12. Knows and understands the processes, patterns, and functions of human development. Women are central to the lifestyle of the family. They control and keep the family together in the Aztec culture. The Aztecs built their great society long after another great society had already grown to a peak and fallen. The Olmecs, antiquity to the Aztecs, had a high level of society beginning around 1200 BC. They were the most highly advanced culture at the time in America. The... ...hile the Spaniards waited several miles away Tenochtitlan became a horrific death trap. The city of Tenochtitlan fell on August 13, 1521. Aztec life continues on a small scale in the valley of Mexico even now. The people remember the past but it is not only history to the modern Aztec women. Theirs is a living history in which they see life as a continuing cycle of destruction and creation. They continue with their everyday lives speaking their native language of Nahuatl and holding on to the traditions of a long fallen empire. The loss is expressed in a Nahua poem written in 1523: Nothing remains but flowers and sad songs In Tlatelolco and Mexico Where once there were Warriors and wise men Works Cited: www.albany.edu/~mesmith/tlahuica.html http://www.corona.bell.k12.ca.us/student/adrian/2.html www.geocities.com/athens/5003/aztec.html

Brains vs Beauty

In the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights the women are represented as fraudulent, cunning characters using their sexuality to their benefit. Some of these women are portrayed as deceitful harlots, while others honestly use their sly wits and beauty to their advantage to obtain what they desire. In the time of the Tales, female sexuality was prevalent, so it’s not absurd to read about all the infidelity and sexuality in these stories; however it is interesting to see how each female character uses that to her benefit.Some women show to be evil minded while others have good intentions. Throughout the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, there are different stories that Shahrazad tells, depicting the women in different manners. Some women were represented as deceitful whores, such as the wives of the kings in the Prologue of the Tales, others used their wit and knowledge to gain their desire, for example, Shahrazad, the story teller of the book. Shahrazad uses these women as examples to show King Shahriyar and his brother, Shahzaman that not all women are untrustworthy.They just know how to use what they have sexually and intellectually to gain control of a situation. By sexually, I don’t mean throwing themselves at different men; men are weak and will easily fall for anything a woman says if he thinks he will â€Å"benefit† from it. In â€Å"The Tale of King Shahriyar and his Brother Shahzaman† the two kings find out that their wives were frolicking about having affairs with different men. This is in the Prologue of the Tales, the two kings went on an expedition and ran into a woman, who happened to be the wife of a Jinnee, she threatened the brothers to please her or she shall wake the Jinnee.Once the fowl woman was done using the kings for her pleasure, she proceeded to pull out a string with ninety-eight rings on it. Each ring represented a man she had slept with. The kings were astonished but at the same time relieved, â₠¬Å"If such a thing could happen to a mighty Jinnee, then our misfortune is light indeed†(19). In the beginning stories, women look like they are the villains in the book, because they portray themselves to be indecent harlots. The kings at this point come to the conclusion that all women are they same, so they devise a plan to be with a virgin every night and kill her the next morning.The brothers will never feel the pain of a broken heart again. Sexual fidelity has always been the core social concern. Some of these tales prove that to be true. The kings refuse to let that happen to them again, so they come up with this plan. So as one can see, the women so far in the Tales hold a bad reputation, until King Shahriyar met the Vizier’s daughter, Shahrazad. Shahrazad, is also the storyteller of the Tales she begs her father to let her marry the king despite the fact that he wishes to kill her in the morning. She was very confident that she could sway the king’s deci sion of her dooming death.She devised a plan with her sister in high hopes that it will save her life. Shahrazad was going to ask for her sister, Dunyazad to bid her a farewell, and she was to ask Shahrazad to tell a â€Å"tale of marvel, so that the night may pass pleasantly†(23). The king agreed. In this story Shahrazad proves to use her wit to her advantage, although she knows that her death is possibly near she shows strength and confidence. She knows that if she can pull this off, not only will she save her own life and the life of any other of the kings victims, but also she will be made the wife of the king.She cunningly uses her knowledge to prolong her death. Shahrazad presents a number of representations of women throughout the stories in the Tales and does not rely on the stereotype presented at the beginning of the book when all women are perceived as harlots. In the story, â€Å"The Woman and Her Five Lovers† a young woman falls in love with young man who gets into a brawl and is imprisoned. The woman is distraught and thinks of a plan to free her lover. She goes to five men to help her achieve her goal. She goes to the Governor, the Vizier, the Cadi, and the King asking them to sign a petition to free her lover.Instead of telling them that he is her husband, she tells them that he is her brother and her sole support. The four men are so at awe with her beauty and sexual demeanor that they agree, but only if they can have her for one night. She convinces these men to meet her at her house, â€Å"it is more fitting that I should wait for you at my house, were there are neither slaves nor maidservants to intrude upon our privacy†(107). She then goes to a carpenter and asks him to build a cupboard of four large compartments, he said he’d do it with honor and free of charge if she would give him one night to himself.The sly woman agreed and in the midst of leaving told the carpenter she forgot she needed five cupboards, not four. The carpenter did as she ordered. One by one the men started to show at her house, she greeted each man kissing the ground before him and saying slick remarks such as, â€Å"first take of your clothes and your turban. You will be much more comfortable in this light robe and bonnet†(109). Not soon after there’d be a knock at the door, the woman would tell the men to quickly jump into the cupboard because that was her husband at the door.They all ended up in the cupboard, but the woman made sure to have all petitions signed so that her husband could be freed. Once the men were locked up, she rescued her lover. In this specific story, Shahrazad showed the King that not all women are unfaithful. She did use her sexuality to her benefit to connive these men into her ultimate goal, to free her lover. She used her wit just as Shahrazad had. This particular character in the book goes against the perception in the beginning of the Tales that all women are unfaithful.She might have been wrong per se because she deceived the five men, but she did it for her lover, which in turn, makes her a heroine in her lover’s eyes. The idiocy of the men to fall for her seductive demeanor leads them to an unpleasurable stay locked in a cupboard. In the times the Tales were told in, it was the norm for woman to be seductive, women knew that they had an advantage because men are weak when it comes to the desire of a beautiful lady. So in these tales, it is not unusual to read stories of such perversity.Some of the women used their sexuality as a tool for their own pleasure, while others respected their lover and bodies and used their brains to obtain their ultimate goal. These were the wise women of the stories. Most of the other women who were caught being unfaithful were killed, which again was routine punishment for their deceit. The women who used their brains over their bodies were rewarded with respect and love. Ultimately, Shahrazad, through her lesson s in the form of stories, she depicts women as not simply whores and tricksters, but as capable of wit, intelligence, and much more beyond sex and infidelity.

Education and Globalization Essay

This research attempts to investigate the importance of technical & vocational institution. This research is also carried out to find out the various methods objective of research. What is the expectation to fulfil the requirement of being indusrtialized nation?. Well, having the existence of technical & vocational institution are mainly to produce hands on skills on students as well as to develop them to become a part of industrialized nation. In developing our country , technical & vocational school has come to existence to give students opportunity to choose skills that can be learned. This research is carried out to find out the advantages of having technical & vocational institution in Malaysia. Besides that, this research to investigate the effectiveness of having this kind of school in our country and ways to improve vocational & technical education system. 1. 1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH This research is carried out to provide awareness of the existence of technical and vocational institution as well as to introduce the importances of this institution. Nowadays, we are facing problem that this kind of institution is out of date and is lacking systematically and also having doubts whether it is meeting the current industrial needs in the country. Therefore, this research is carried out to introduce and emphasized on the importance of this institution. The background of this research is based on its development. The formal technical and vocational education system under the Ministry of Education starts at the upper secondary level, where there are 70 secondary vocational schools with an enrolment of 33,751 students and nine secondary technical schools having a total 5,339 students. The secondary vocational schools offer a course structure that covers the same core subjects as in other upper secondary academic schools. In addition to these core subjects, the vocational school students select a group of vocational subjects in accordance with the vocational course following. Vocational studies make up about 50 percent of the total course content in the secondary vocational school. Based in nature and technical subjects offered are less practical in nature. Technical studies make up only about 17 per cent of the total course content in the secondary technical school. At the post-secondary level there are six polytechnics with a student population of 15, 000 with about 12,000 students undergoing courses at the certificate level and 3,000 students at the diploma level. The objective of the polytechnics is to produce trained manpower at the semi-profesional level in various areas of engineering and commerce. At the certificate level about 80 percent of the students are following engineering courses. Female students make up about 25 percent of the total student population. Some examples of training government agencies are MARA- skills training institutes Ministry of Youth and Sport – Youth Training Centres and Ministry of Welfare Services- Training Centres. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Statement of problems: 1. It shows that lately technical & vocational institution is out of date. 2. Students mainly are not aware of the avantages of technical & vocational institution. 1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This researh method to meet the following objectives: * To investigate the importances of technical & vocational institution. * To find out ways to improve tecnical & vocational education system. 1. 4 RESEARCH QUESTION The following research question is translated in order to meet the research objective. * Which is the importance of technical & vocational institution?. * What is the implication to students on the importance of having technical & vocational institution?. 1. 5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The significance of the study is to help students and teacher to indentify the importance of having technical & vocational institutons. Vocational and technical education is important because not everyone should be expected to take the path of going to a university and getting a university degree. Some people prefer to take a non-academic path because this is where their passion and interests lies. As such, having a good vocational and technical training and education program is important to ensure that students who are inclined towards these sectors have a respectable channel to pursue skills in this area. In Malaysia, making the pursuit of these skills is one of the ways to reduce school dropout rates and to increase the skills and earning power of those who do not lean towards the academic arena. Most students graduate without actually obtaining a real tertiary education, and the good students also suffer because the intellectual discourse that is supposed to happen in classes never materializes. This is a truly unfortunate side effect of the governments drive to produce more graduates. Enrollment criteria into universities get lowered every year because of the competition to get students at all costs, so quality suffers even more. 1. 6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY This research covers only students from Universiti Industri Selangor ( UNISEL ) where the research was conducted to find out the results and point of views regarding the topic of research. Besides that, the research only covers students aged between 18 to 25 years old for oipinions and point of view on the matter of the topic. The research also covers only soe student from technical & vocatioanal school. 1. 7 CONCLUSION. This chapter gives brief explaination, definition on the background of the study where researcher aim to investigate the mportance of technical & vocational institution and the affectiveness of having this kind of school in our country as well to support our country to become and industrilized country. This chapter also gives the background of the study and significance of the study. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Literature review comprises of related literature which is definition of topic, a general overview, advantages and also types of technical & vocational institution. In this chapter it shows the types of technical institution available. Besides that, the current importance is shown in the advantages as well as the implication of the topic. The variations of institution is also mentioned in this chapter to give clear view of the types of school available, thus emphasizing on the importance of this research. 2. 2 RELATED LITERATURE 2. 2. 1- Definition of technical and vocational institution. 2. 2. 2- Advantages of technical & vocatioanal institution. 2. 2. 3- Types of technical & vocational institution. 2. 2. 1 DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION Tecnique means a particular way of doing something, especially one in which you have to learn special skills. Besides that, it is the skill with which somebody is able to do something practical. ( Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7 Ed, 2006). Institution on the hand is defined as a large important organization that has a particular purpose, for example, a university or school. In this case, institution is a place where it serves the need of educating technical skills as well as basic subjects to students. While cited in the web Wikipedia, vocational education or Vocational Education and Training (VET), also called Career and Technical Education (CTE), prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learner participates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, as the learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology. 2. 2. 2 ADVANTAGES OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION In this chapter, researcher will be emphasizing in the advantages of technical & vocational institution. Nowadays,not everyone should be expected to take a path of going to University and getting a university degree. Therefore, having technical & vocational institution is to ensure that students who are inclined towrd these sector ( technical & vocational ) have a respectable channel to persue skills in this area which is to technical & vocational scholls as well as institution. Besides that, having technical and vocational school is to reduce school dropout  rates and to increase the skills and earning power of those who do not learn toward academic area. These students will have quality hands on skills and is useful in providing them job opportunity in future especially in the techinical industry. Students also are abe to develop their skills as well make use of it in the current development. On the other hand, some student are able to study basic subjects and favoured skills as they want to. This increase the capability of learning and creats creatve individuals for the nation. Besides being a stepping stone, yhis hands on students in developng skill and providing job opportunity. Iit also produces active quality manpower in the country 2. 2. 3 TYPES OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Technical and vocational institution is diveded into two levels first is the upper secondary level (Form 4 and Form 5) is the level where technical and vocational education formally commences. Here, the technical and vocational schools offer the same core subjects as normal academic schools. These cover several core subjects for the languages, mathematics, and sciences but in addition the students are required to take selected technical and vocational subjects from a group of several different options. Secondary Technical Vocational School has 3 streams for selection which includes:Technical Stream, Vocational Stream and Skill Training Stream. Upon completing 2 years of studies at this level, the technical or vocational school students are required to sit for the common public examination called the Malaysia Certificate of Education or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination similar to those academic school students from the secondary academic schools. However students from the Skill Training stream will sit for Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia* (Malaysian Skill Certificate) after which a government skill qualification is awarded for Level 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. The higher level is Technical and Vocational Education at Post Secondary Level – This post-secondary level of technical education, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education, comprises the following public institutions: Polytechnics, Community Colleges, Technical University Colleges and Public Universities. There are currently 19 polytechnics in the country conducting technical and vocational education offering 37 diploma and 26 certificate programmes covering study areas like engineering, commerce, food technology, marine, hospitality and Design. Community Colleges were first established by the government in the year 2000 with the primary objective of providing alternative skill training and education for secondary school leavers and those who have left the formal education system. In order to upgrade the image and professional level of technical and vocational education due to the increasing importance of employment in the industrial sectors, the government has, since 1999, set up 5 technical university colleges to focus on higher technical education offering engineering and related technical programmes designed to produce graduates with strong theoretical and cognitive knowledge and who possess high competency in application skills. They are:Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia ,Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn,Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia,Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia and Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan & Teknologi Malaysia. There are currently a total of 17 public universities in the country which is inclusive of the abovementioned 5 technical university colleges. Besides the 5 specialist technical universities colleges, many of the regular public universities, particularly the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia offer many technical and technological as well as engineering programmes leading to diploma and degree qualifications. In the meantime, as for technician/sub-professional and craft-level courses, the government training agencies which are involved in conducting training for student trainees include the Ministry of Human Resources. These agencies carry out the programmes through Industrial Training Institutes, MARA, under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, through the Skills Training Institutes, the Ministry of Youth & Sports through Youth Training Centres, and the Ministry of Welfare Services through its Training Centres. In addition, training is also conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture to produce Junior Agricultural Assistants at the Agricultural Institute. Mention must also be made of the training conducted by the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) in various specialised fields for the public and private sectors, as well as training by the National Productivity Centre for the public and private sectors in areas of management and administration. 2. 3 CONCLUSION This chapter gives explaination, definition, development as well as the importance of technical & vocational institution. This chapter comprises of variety of institution available and its fuction as well it effect n education system. Besides that,his chapter involves the development of institution from establishment to the current development. The importance which is the advantages is clearly in this chapter to match the objective of the research. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 INTRODUCTION This research attempts to investigate the importance of technical and vocational institution. This chapter outlines the methodologies engaged in the research. This chapter is extremely important as it determines the success or failure of this research whereby it takes into account of the methodology and procedure used by the researchers to get the necessary and wealthy information. 3. 2 RESEARCH DESIGN In this research, the researchers have chosen to use a qualitative approach in order to collect data. In this research, a set of questionnaires will be administered to a selected number of people. This step is necessary for the researchers to gather the necessary data and submit the findings in a form of report. The data or information obtained from the questionnaire administered will be interpreted in Chapter 4. 3. 3 POPULATION AND SAMPLES The sample of this research will mainly be university students specifically University Industri Selangor (UNISEL) students. The sample will be approximately 20 students. The students will comprise of both male and female students from all races. The subjects will be randomly picked comprising of students with different point of view. 3. 4 INSTRUMENTATION In this research, the instrumentation would be in the form questionnaire. The instrument is revised for its clarity and importance towards the research. The questionnaire will be given to each student. It aims to research on how to improve the technical and vocational education system and make it up to date as well as to research on the importance of this institution in education. Besides that, the questionnaire is to gain opinions and suggestions from the public. 3. 4. 1 QUESTIONNAIRE The student was given a set of questionnaire comprising of 8 closed-ended questions and 2 open-ended question. The questionnaire is used to save time as the result of the questionnaire is easy to be evaluated. The questionnaire is formed in respond of Yes or No answers. The students need to choose and tick or circle the options accordingly. 3. 5 DATA ANALYSIS This research will be analysed using the results of questionnaire carried out the with the university students. The data will then be analysed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) computer software that enables the researchers to do many types of statistical analyses. The percentage of questionnaire results will be analysed and calculated through this software. Then, the researchers will make references based on the statistical analyses. This allows the researchers to have a better quality of research outcomes. CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS 4. 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will mention the results of questionnaire after they are analysed and calculated. The data collected is based on the qualitative approach. The data presented will include the total of 20 samples (students). The questionnaire will be further analysed according to 10 different questions given. 4. 2 QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS. In this section, the data with references to the topic of the research has been collected by distributing 20 set of questionnaires to the university students. The feedbacks and responses from the students have been positive for the researchers to draw a certain conclusion. 4. 2. 1 Q1 The first question in the questionnaire is â€Å"Are you aware of the existence of technical and vocational school? † The question’s objective is to find out whether students are aware of this kind of school’s existence. Based on the questionnaire results, the 20 students who took the survey comprises of 20 samples with different answers. The results is that almost 95% of the students answered yes, and are aware of the existence of this type of institution while 5% of the students were not aware of the existence of this type of institution. This shows that mostly Students are aware of the existence of this type of institution. 4. 2. 2 Q2 The second question in the questionnaire is â€Å"Is technical and vocational institution beneficial? † This question is aimed to find out the importance of this type of institution. Almost 85% of the students agreed that this type of school is beneficial. While 15% of the students did not agree that this institutions were beneficial. This result shows clearly that students in majority agreed that this institution is giving advantages while minority have doubts on its advantages. 4. 2. 3 Q3 The third question is â€Å"Does it helps develop skills? †This question is to determine whether the main medium in this school will help students develop skills. 90% of the response agreed that it develop skills while 10% of the responses found that attending this school does not help develop skills. 4. 2. 4 Q4 & Q5 The fourth and fifth questions in the questionnaire are inter-related to each other. Question 4 â€Å"Is technical & vocational education up to date? †60% of the students agreed that it was not up to date while only 40% agreed that it was up to date. Question 5 is â€Å"Is it efficient in training skills? † Only 39% agreed that it is efficient while 61% agreed that it was not efficient. This proves that the efficiency of its productivity has link with the current development of this type of institutions. . 4. 2. 5 Q6 & Q7 The sixth question in the questionnaire and the seventh question is inter-related too. â€Å"Is it necessary to have vocational & technical education system? The results was 90% agreed it is necessary while 10% agreed the other way around. Question seventh is â€Å"Do you think Malaysian vocational & technical institution meets the current industrial need? † 40% think it meets the current industrial need while 60% disagree with it. This shows that in question sixths result that it is important to have this type of institution. 4. 2. 6 Q8 The eight question is â€Å"Does it help proving job opportunity in future? † this question aims to prove one of its advantages. 85% agreed that it helps providing job chances while 15% disagree it help in providing job opportunity. This shows that it is important to have this type of institution for students in our country. 4. 2. 7 Q9 & Q10. The ninth and the final question in this questionnaire is an open-ended question which is â€Å"In your opinion, what benefit does technical & vocational school provides? and â€Å"Suggestions on ways to improve vocational and technical education system†. This final question is to give the students a chance to express their idea or suggestion. Based on the suggestions given, most of the students feel that the main benefit is it develops in training students skills. Besides that, it also provides job opportunity to students and it gives student who are not academically successful an opportunity to excel in a different field of study. The suggestions given was more focused in upgrading the system, the facilities, the study tool, the learning environment as well as the materials in order for Malaysia to take a step forward in industrial development as well as vision 2020. 4. 3 SUMMARY Based on the data collected and using SPSS for the questionnaire, there are more advantages than the disadvantages of having this type of school. Besides that, the importance of technical & vocational institution is that it is the current demand of the era that each country produces its own manpower and nation with good quality skills which is useful for the development of the country. CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION & SUGGESSTION 5. 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter incorporates the last aspect of the research which is the most important part of the research. The first section of the chapter will cover the survey of the findings which is based on the main findings. The second section is on implication and suggestion or recommendation. The third section is on the final summary or the conclusion of this survey. 5. 2 SURVEY OF FINDINGS Based on the main findings, it clearly shows that students mostly almost all the students are aware of the importance of the technical & vocational institution. Besides that, in building an industrialized nation we have to be aware of the importance keeping and upgrading this type of school to its best level. In a nutshell, there are loads of advantages having and attending technical & vocational school. 5. 3 IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION According to the suggestions gathered through the survey, the students strongly agrees that the institution to be upgraded and improved both in its syllabus and also education system to provide conducive learning to take place. Besides that, the skills taught should be inclined with the industries upgrading demand. 5. 4 CONCLUSION In fulfilling the vision 2020, our country of all parties should upgrade its education system. Besides that, having technical and vocational skills is not just as a place for students who are not successful in academic but it should be an institution which produces good quality skilled professionals in future. It should also be a stepping stone for every student attending this school in obtaining better jobs in future. The importance of technical and vocational school is clearly aware by students. Therefore, this institution should be taken seriously into consideration by students as it provides extra knowledge as well as helps develop hands on skill in students. This institution has a great advantage in the industry especially in producing and moulding new generation with certified skills therefore each and every nation should support its development and existence. In a nutshell, everyone should play a major role in keeping the importance of this technical and vocational institution and also support its function in education to make it more efficient. REFERENCES http//:www. wikipedia. com http//:www. studymalaysia. com. my Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7 Ed, 2006 RESEARCH: THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION NAME: Susanthi Rani Rajoo 4091008981 Noorfara Ashikin Ahmad Tarmizi 4091009991 Alyani Mohd Radzi 4091009561 Lisa Mastura Muhd Zahid Poh4073010421 GROUP: 1A SUBJECT: Philosophy and Development of Education Industry In Malaysia LECTURER: Mr Baghawi PROGRAMME: Bachelor Of Education (Hons)(TESL) FACULTY: Faculty Of Education and Language Studies.