The Relationship between Divisive Primaries and General Election Outcom

The Relationship between Divisive Primaries and General Election Outcomes Patrick Kenney and Tom Rice’s article explores the effect of primary elections on the general presidential elections. Kenney and Rice attempt to determine whether supporters of losing primary candidates refrain from voting for their party in the general election. In order to better understand this concept of divisive primaries, it is imperative to know its definition. Webster defines divisive as: Creating, or tending to create, division, separation, or difference. However, I feel that divisiveness arises out of the need to superior and the topic of voter turnout and primary significance has been a long running question. According to Kenney and Rice the primary campaign is a struggle between groups, fighting for a â€Å"scarce resource,† the nomination. As research has shown, supporters of a losing candidate have been shown to retain bitterness towards the winning side of a primary. Our authors also mention the introduction of in-group loyalties, and out-gr oup hostilities, which affect a voter’s attitude. The in-group loyalties tend to be formed because of the length of primary elections, thus voters feel very strong and passionate about their candidate, and because the stakes are greater. The out-group hostilities are formed for the same reasons. In general, the longer the campaigns the stronger the in-group and out-group feelings are. With the definition of divisive primaries being k...

Bass Fishing 101 :: essays research papers fc

Tight Lines The fog drifts lazily above the murky swamp water as I slowly ease my boat toward an ancient, moss covered cypress tree. A bullfrog croaks its early morning greeting and somewhere off in the distance an unknown creature screeches as the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. The old tree was the site of a recent battle between a monstrous black bass and me. A battle in which the big bass taught me a valuable lesson in humility. I have a lot more respect for her and her kind. She never gave up the fight at any time during our encounter. Her fierce determination eventually paid off and she swam away in victory. So now, I visit that spot now and then, not really wanting to catch her, but perhaps just to say hello. Bass fishing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of my family and me out at a local pond. We learned about fishing, nature, and a lot about each other at that old water hole. I think fondly of my childhood and I am grateful that I was able to experience those things. With that in mind, it comes as a surprise when I’m asked for my opinion on a certain technique or even something as simple, or complex, as tying a knot. I’ve always assumed everybody knew how to fish. Dautreuil 2 Before we go out and tackle that feisty old bass that lives under the cypress tree, here are a few basics that we should keep in mind. Bass fishing can be a very relaxing sport as well as a great way to learn about our environment. What is a bass? A bass is a member of the perch family; just on the larger side. There are striped bass, sand bass, hybrids and smallmouth, but the fish we are going after is my favorite. The largemouth bass, or black bass. This is the most pursued freshwater fish in the southern United States. The black bass can be broken down into several different strains. Here in Louisiana, we are most likely to encounter the spotted bass, Florida bass and Kentucky bass. The latter two have been introduced into our waters to enhance fish population and size. The black bass has a very large mouth. A grapefruit would easily fit into the mouth of a five-pound fish.

Unfeeling Personalities

Sometimes my co-workers can be shallow, dishonest, unreliable, and generally fake when it comes to how they are at work. You can go into work one day and they are laughing and Joking with you, and the next day they can be snapping at you and treating you like you murdered someone. I usually Just deal with this at work, then go home and vent to my boyfriend about them. I never imagined that a simple test in a college class could change how I looked at my co-workers. We had to complete what is called the Golden Personality test for my FirstSemester Seminar course, which took place from March 3rd to April 26th. This test was written by John P. Golden, who is an economic and social scientist. This test that he wrote presents a way to better understand not only the type of personality we have, but also what type of personality those around us have. Taking this test was meant to show the differences and similarities between personality types, and as a result, would make us more prepared to work with all the different types of people we may come across in our lives.When I first went to take this test, I wasn't really ere about how accurate it would be, but I believe that taking this test has made working with the people in my life, such as home, work, and school, a lot less difficult. Here are my reasons why I believe this test was effective. After you take this test, which is comprised of various questions about how we react to situations, people, places, etc. , you are given an â€Å"official† personality type.This personality type is based off of your answers to the questions taken from sixteen different possible types, is represented by four letters, and each letter in the resonantly type describes aspects that stand out about your personality based upon your answers to the questions given. The test is also separated out into sections that show how you react and feel in life. The personality type that I was identified as when I took this test was an ‘ NEFF'. The letters in my personality type stand for Extroversion, Intuiting, Feeling, and Judging.The first section of the Golden Personality Test represents where and how you focus your energy in life. This could either be as an Extrovert, or an Introvert. An Extrovert is someone who enjoys being around others and focuses on people, places, etc. The opposite of that is the Introvert. Introverts like to keep to themselves, and although they still like the company of others, it is usually over the internet, such as in video games. When I took this test, my results showed that I don't really have a clear preference on how and where I focus my energy, but I may prefer to be more Extroverted than Introverted.This would mean that I focus my energy more on tangible things and people, and am a little more social and active, rather than sousing my energy on my thoughts and ideas and keeping solely to myself. I would have to say that I agree with this part of the test. I can be more social a nd tend to direct most of my energy toward people and things, but I also can be very reflective and want quiet time too. I love spending time with my friends and family, but I enjoy just sitting and being quiet in the woods by myself. Another good example of this is my music choices.If you were to look at my play list, you would see everything from Lady Gaga and Kathy Perry, to Any and Celtic Woman. The second section of this test represents how you gather your information. This can be classified as either Sensing, or Intuiting. I was classified as someone who has a slight preference toward Intuiting. This would mean that I process information in a more ‘symbolic and global fashion', and less in an ‘exact, detailed, and literal fashion'. It also means that I think more about what is possible and the big picture, rather than what are known and more practical issues.I would say that I agree with this one as well. I do a lot of both types of information-gathering, but I ten d to lean more award using my intuition. The facts' are not always 100% accurate, even though we like to think so. The world is constantly changing; including so-called fact', but our intuition stays the same and generally points us in the right direction. The next section of the Golden Personality test focuses on how you make decisions. This can be classified as either Thinking, or Feeling. This test showed that I lean more heavily toward the Feeling aspect rather than the Thinking aspect.This means that I focus more on how my decisions will affect others rather than focusing n logic and rationality. I have to agree with this because I know that I tend to make my decisions based upon how I think it will affect others around me and less on the ‘normal' way that people make decisions, which is usually based more on what is rational and logical. I like to describe it as me following my heart'. The fourth section of the test shows how you generally approach life. You can either b e classified as Judging, or Perceiving.I was classified as having a clear preference toward the Judging aspect rather than the Perceiving aspect. This would mean that I prefer an orderly, organized, and systematic approach to life, rather than a flexible and open-ended one. I would agree with this part of the test as well, except I believe I am closer to being in the middle ground of the two aspects, rather than preferring one more heavily than the other. I like order and things being organized and planned out, but I also like to Just go and do things on a whim and don't really need to plan every single detail out.The final section of the Golden Personality Test shows how you respond to daily life and what life throws at us each day. This is broken down in the test into two focuses: Tense, or Calm. This test showed that I typically respond to daily stress in more of a calm fashion rather than in a tense fashion. This means that I am more optimistic, calm, and relaxed about how thing s go in life. I agree with this section almost 100% because although I can be cautious and unsure of how things will go, I tend to be calmer and laid back about things than others.If something isn't working out, I tend to respond more in a cool and collected fashion rather than acting like it is he end of the world'. I definitely worry and am concerned with how things may go, but overall, I am cool and collected in stressful situations. This test is meant to show us what type of person we are, and in turn, make it easier to understand those around us. Overall, I would have to say that I agree with the results that this test provided for me. There are a few discrepancies with how it described my personality, but overall it was very accurate. People are diverse, and no two people are exactly alike.I believe that this test is already helping me not only utter understand how my personality comes across to others, but also to understand better those that I work with in my Job, school, an d anywhere else I come into contact and work with people. I now know why my co-workers act the way they do, and instead of Jumping to conclusions and Just thinking that they are horrible co- workers, I stop and take a look at what is going on with them. Sometimes there is a good reason they are acting the way they are. I am being more empathetic, less judgmental, and I am taking a closer look at the world around me and the people in it.

Stock Track Simulation Sample

PART1-Investment Policy Statement Purpose of Policy Statement The purpose of the Policy Statement is to create an agreement between XXXX, YYY, and ZZZ to collectively manage a mock $1,000,000 portfolio during the 2011 fall semester. It will define the investment objectives, strategies, and risks associated with this portfolio. Investment Objectives The objective of our team is to seek capital appreciation of portfolio in three months.Moreover, given the little risk tolerance of the team, our nominal return should exceeds the rate of inflation over some period of the time through capital gains, and increase the purchase power of our group. The chosen benchmark to beat is the S&P index. Investment Strategies Our investment strategies are somewhere in between to maximize expected returns and to minimize risks. We use Market timing as one of our strategies to maximum our returns. The market timing strategy is to making buy or sell decisions of financial assets by attempting to predict fu ture market price movements.The prediction is based on an outlook of market or economic conditions resulting from technical or fundamental analysis. Also we another strategy is to analysis base on performance of a particular financial asset. The start-up fund was divided into six parts: 10% cash, 5% mutual funds, 55% stocks, 30% bonds, and may vary by+/-5%. Given the short time frame, liquidity is a concern and as such long-term speculative investments such as real estate, art and antiques, and collectibles will be avoided.Only those investments than can be traded on a short-term notice will be used. Taxes and trading costs will not be considered since this is a simulation. Investment Risk On the grounds of strong risk aversion expressed within the team, risk bearing in excess of general market risk is not tolerated. Moreover, the team strives to mitigate the inevitable share of market risk as much as possible. As to the weight assigned to each stock that is central to risk control, there is a cap of 25% of the fund that is available to each stock.No extra use of fund is allowed on single stock basis. PART2-Methodology 1. Well-Diversified & Best Risk-Return Trade-off Portfolios After we established the investment policy that specified our investment objectives, risk tolerance, allocation of different types of securities in details, we then sought for the best selections of securities. Generally, our first methodology was very simple but useful: maintain an appropriate level of portfolio diversification, and maximize the total return on our investment meanwhile limit the total risk.According to this basic approach, firstly, we divided our bond investment into four portions equally in Treasury Bonds and different corporate bonds, which enjoyed good credits, rated above A, and operated stable and profitable in the long-run: |Table1 Bond Selections | | |Coupon Rate/Maturity |Rating | |T-Note |3. 75%/15-Feb-2013 |AAA | |MetLife Inc. |5. 000%/15-Jun-2015 |A | |Morg an Stanley |5. 250%/02-Feb-2012 |A | |Merck & Co Inc. |4. 000%/30-Jun-2015 |AA | Secondly, with respect to the reserved attitude for mutual funds, our team decided to only invest in two of them, taking up 5% of our whole portfolio value totally.The following table provides summary information on these two funds: |Table2 Mutual Fund Selections | | |Blackrock Aggressive Prepared P (BCAPX) |Goldman Sachs Trust Equity Growth (GAPAX) | |Category |Large Blend |World Stock | |YTD Return |-3. 94% |-5. 30% | |Morningstar Overall Rating | | |Beta |1. 01 |0. 96 | |Mean Annual Return |1. 02 |1. 00 | |R-squared |96. 63 |95. 10 | |Standard Deviation |20. 05 |22. 64 | |Sharp Ratio |0. 0 |0. 52 | |Treynor Ratio |10. 53 |10. 21 | |Source: www. yahoo. com/finance | |www. reuters. com/finance | |All information are based on 3 years performance of the mutual funds |Finally, we would invest into two major kinds of stocks with different risk-return trade-offs. We would buy and hold value stocks from well-known, high-credited and strong firms with the attempt to diversify our portfolio and gain a stable growth. On the other hand, we would also choose some other growth stocks, which were generally characterized as higher-risky, non-US and more volatile, aiming at buying them low and selling them high to â€Å"speculate† or â€Å"gamble† the extraordinary gains in a relatively short period.Due to the complex and crucial features for stock selection, we thereafter developed a comprehensive procedure particularly, called a blend of â€Å"Specific Analysis† and â€Å"Overall Analysis† by our own, to help us select our portfolio wisely. 2. Specific Fundamental Analysis When choosing the value stocks, we primarily applied the fundamental analysis including different kinds of analyses for sectors, firm’s specific potentials, cash flows, earnings, and dividends. This procedure had approximate four steps: To begin with, we would view the sector and firm ’s overall ability because we were buying a business, not a stock.Generally, corporates in prosperous industries and growing stages would likely take our prior consideration. An important indicator to show whether a corporate has potential ability was the historical prices of its stock. Therefore, a long-run descend stock price usually implied the decline of the firm, which largely against our favor. Then we needed more fundamental analysis for a firm’s earning ability in depth, such as earning per share that shows how well earning support its shareholders’ benefits and the P/E ratio that indicates how investors expect its future earning power.General speaking, we preferred earning growth at least 7% annually and P/E ratios at the lowest 10% of all equity securities when selecting the growth stocks. After viewing a firm’s possible return, we next looked into another important factor-the risks along with the firm. Basically we would like to know the firmâ €™s Beta that measures how much the systematic risk affects the firm’s stock and the leverage ratio that discloses its financial stability and stress. Thus we were looking for firms having low Beta and D/E ratio of no more than 1.Finally, we would use the discounted cash flow model to find out the reasonable market value for the firm’s stock and to see whether it is incorrectly undervalued by the market. The following table provided the summary of our holding-oriented equity securities: |Table3 Stock Selections | | | |Google Inc. (GOOG) | |New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. EDU) | 3. Overall Performance Analysis After well knowing the firms and their stocks we chosen from the comprehensive selection procedure, we took one more step to mix then together and see how much our portfolio’s overall proposition fits our objectives and expectations. We decided to combine all equity securities, bonds and mutual funds, which we would like to hold for a rel atively long time span and calculate the overall expected rate of return and risk using Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). 4.Tracking and Monitoring Process While the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) claimed that the stock prices were reflecting all relevant news and information and always showing the inherent value of the company, valuing a stock was just a vain attempt. Our team members, however, were more inclined to believe that the EMH was honestly set up in the academic wonderland. Thus, beside the stock valuation analysis addressed above, we also made the agreement that paying attention to both whole market and firm specific news on daily basis and making appropriate adjustments according to the news in time.In addition, we would keep tracking and recording our portfolio’s overall performance and rating on a week basis meanwhile monitoring the growth stock’s specific performance on daily basis because day-time monitoring and trading could enable us to avoid th e big loss due to the high volatility of them and grab the best time to gain the extraordinary profits. PART3-Microanalysis of the Market During this stock simulation, our group has learned that it’s quite instrumental to analyze and, if possible, follow the market trend for the sake of wise investment.Hence, microanalysis of the market is equally, and sometimes more important as the number analysis. Since the stock simulation only lasted for three months, out group mainly did the short-term analysis. Depending on our analysis, world’s financial market has become more volatile and unpredictable for the short run, primarily because the global economy grows sluggishly and involves more risky events. Several reasons are illustrated as follows. The euro zone debt crisis is the number one big headache. The debt problem in Europe has become persistent and pervasive. Greece experienced the most serious situation.Simply, Greece has borrowed much more money than they can pay ba ck. Italy is in better financial shape, but still risky since investors continued demand high interest rate of its bond. Other countries, such as Spain and even France, the second largest euro zone economy, have also been under pressure as investors question the creditworthiness of every euro zone government. Consequently, the global stocks, especially European and American Stocks have caught the euro zone flu. Investors have become super sensitive about each piece of information associated with the term, euro zone.Our group has recorded that the Dow Jones Industry Average index fluctuated mostly following the euro zone policy changes. It soared rapidly when European Union announced the Greek rescue plan and plumped immediately when the Greek government announced the Greek referendum the next day. â€Å"Markets always want short, sharp, simple solutions. † said Bob Janjuah, fixed income analyst at Nomura Securities (‘The eurozone†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, 2011). † In additi on, the future of U. S. economy is ambiguous. U. S. has been through a tough time since the subprime mortgage crisis. Analysts share different point of views about whether U.S. is experiencing a recovery or recession. First, the macroeconomic data tells an unclear story. The growth rate of real GDP (As illustrated by the figure below) in the third quarter is 2. 0%, higher than the previous two quarters. While compared to the previous year, we can see the U. S. economy has slowed down. Though the U. S. economy has jumped out of the mire in 2008, it remains unstable. While we focusing on the recent year data, we can see no big signal of an up-coming boom or bust. As showed below, the unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent.New jobs are created, but not sufficient. Average Hourly Earnings remains the same. CPI and PPI both declined on October, primarily due to the decline of energy price. In addition, the 2011 U. S. fiscal policy remains neutral. The market is unlikely to get fu rther stimulus. Also we can forecast an increase in the rate of fiscal tightening at the federal level over the next period of time. Overall, U. S. economy still remains unsustainable and U. S. financial market is highly sensitive, which can be immediately shocked by each piece of up-coming information, whether positive or negative. Table4 United States – Monthly Data | |Data Series | | |Our Value |Rank |S&P500 |Comparison with peers | | | | | |Google |Kraft |BRK-B |BP | |09/13/2011 |529. 2 |34. 23 |68. 85 |36. 45 | |09/20/2011 |546. 63 |34. 52 |69. 72 |38. 77 | |09/27/2011 |539. 34 |34. 93 |72. 07 |37. 94 | |10/4/2011 |501. 90 |32. 86 |73. 17 |35. 42 | |10/11/2011 |543. 8 |34. 40 |73. 41 |38. 36 | |10/18/2011 |590. 51 |35. 24 |75. 07 |41. 11 | |10/25/2011 |583. 16 |34. 93 |75. 74 |43. 52 | |11/1/2011 |578. 65 |34. 56 |75. 52 |42. 72 | |11/8/2011 |612. 4 |35. 48 |78. 16 |44. 70 | |11/15/2011 |616. 56 |35. 48 |75. 93 |43. 70 | |11/18/2011 |594. 88 |34. 77 |75. 37 |42. 48 | |To tal Return |12. 34% |1. 58% |9. 47% |16. 54% | Source: www. google. com/financeFrom the table and graph above, we could clearly see that the best performer in our portfolio was BP with a 16. 54% total return, while the worst one was Kraft with a total return of 1. 58% during the holding period. Among all of the four holding-oriented securities, the only one underperformed than the benchmark, namely S&P500, was Kraft. All other three stocks had much better return than the S&P500 of 3. 64%. Overall, these observe actually proved that our selection approach for holding-oriented stocks was successful. PART5-Conclusion What we did successfully:Generally speaking, the first class we learned from this three-month stock simulation is how to select stocks and establish a portfolio wisely and systematically. From initially setting up the investment policy, we explored how to select and allocate the individual securities, how to diversify our portfolio to minimize the risks, and how to find th e best return-risk trade-off for our portfolio. Through this procedure, we really needed to use all financial knowledge we have learned before, including fundamental analysis, ratio analysis, technical analysis, free cash flow analysis and so on.Another significant difference is that we did pay a lot attention to follow macroeconomic and financial news, as well as particular news about our securities. It brought us more quickly and sensitive observe ability to what happened all over the world than before. In addition, we did well on diversifying our portfolio and minimize the systematic risks. Since we established an investment policy in details that we strictly implemented, we had everything under control and didn’t expose to any extraordinary risks out of our expectation.What we would improve in the future: Unfortunately, we did beat the benchmark performance finally, although we once did well and ranked better during the trading period. Firstly, we had to admit that someti mes we have delayed trading and tracking our portfolio, resulting in great losses on some particular stocks. Besides, we had limited experience on daytime trading and using on-time information, so we sometimes encounter unexpected results. For example, we sold Apple’s stocks immediately after we got the news about its CEO, Steven Jobs’s death.However, as we all know, the Apple’s price wasn’t affected a lot in the next trading date. In the way that was expected, unlike our holding-oriented stocks, our gambling-oriented stocks general performances were typically unsatisfied. Therefore, we concluded that wisely selecting stocks according to the macroeconomics and fundamental analysis and then holding them for a relatively long period would be the best way to gain profit from security market.Interestingly, we also found that people might not that know themselves on risk tolerance. Whatever from our investment policy or our trading strategy and results, our po rtfolio is somewhat risk-averse, so we well diversified our investment and always holding a relatively high level of bonds and mutual funds, as well as some excess cash. Interesting finding is that, however, our group members got all high-risk-tolerance ranking in the survey that we finished on class. Appendix1 Ratio Calculation Spreadsheet pic] Appendix2 Class Ratings [pic] References â€Å"The eurozone debt crisis just won't quit†, retrospect from: http://finance. yahoo. com/news/eurozone-debt-crisis-just-wont-211300837. html â€Å"StanChart warns on China’s local-government debt†, retrospect from: http://www. marketwatch. com/story/stanchart-warns-on-chinas-local-government-debt-2011-09-20 Data, retrospect from www. yahoo. com/finance Data, retrospect from www. reuters. com/finance Data, retrospect from www. google. com/finance

Introduction Vision Mission Goals Obs Competitors ADI Research Paper

Introduction Vision Mission Goals Obs Competitors ADI - Research Paper Example It operates in one kind of segment, which is made of two distinct groups: one on products and one on end markets (Analog, 2011, p.3). The product group is concentrated on â€Å"core technology development and leadership in converters, amplifiers and RF, MEMS, power management, and DSP† (Analog, 2011, p.3). The end market-focused organization is focused on understanding, choosing, and resourcing activities that are more customized to specific markets or applications (Analog, 2011, p.3). ADI has direct sales offices, sales representatives, and distributors in more than 40 countries that are located outside of North America (Analog, 2011, p.7). Its products are used by more than 60,000 customers around the world (Analog, 2011, p.2). Total revenues in 2011 were $2.993 billion with net income of $867.4 million (Analog, 2011, p.26). Gross margin % is 66.4%, compared to 65.2% in 2010 (Analog, 2011, p.27). It has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion. ADI’s main strategy is to apply the wide array of its broad â€Å"technology portfolio to more integrated and targeted product strategies for the industrial, automotive, consumer, and communications markets† (Analog, 2011, p.3). Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives The vision of ADI is to be the global leader in the industry. Its mission is â€Å"to be the world’s best signal processing company† (Analog, 2011, Letter from Jerald G. Fishman). Its primary goal is â€Å"to manage a growth business and a product portfolio that is essential to myriad applications, resulting in a long-term compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for ADI that is greater than that of the overall semiconductor industry† (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). Its research and development strategy concentrates on enhancing technical leadership in â€Å"core technologies of converters, amplifiers and RF, MEMS, power management, and DSP† (Analog, 2011, p.7). To support its research and development acti vities, ADI hires thousands of engineers, who are in charge of the product and manufacturing process development (Analog, 2011, p.7). ADI seeks to outpace the industry by enhancing how it targets markets, where its technology produces a competitive advantage for its customers (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). To support this growth, it aims to generate excellent signal processing products through investing in research and development. It also seeks to optimize and to refine these investments to most successfully direct resources to opportunities that present ADI the strongest potential for differentiation, development, and profitability (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). In addition, ADI focuses on protecting its standing as â€Å"one of the highest quality and most reliable vendors in our customers’ supply chains† (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). It does this by maintaining short product delivery lead times and quickly scaling production levels to meet demand , as well as offering high quality levels of service that is responsive to customers’ needs (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). It also upholds the goal of maintaining the company’s profitability, however cyclical the semiconductor industry might be (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). Its operating model consists of major variable costs that assisted the company in attaining high margins, during both the economic downturn and upturn (Analog, 2011, Letter from Fishman). Competitive Analysis NVIDIA NVIDIA was incorporated

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Management - Essay Example The data provided herewith were taken from sources of good repute. They unanimously illustrate the leadership of DIS in its sector and industry, and they altogether declare that DIS is a strategic buy at its current price range. Prospects for the US economy remains bleak as indicators currently report no improvement since the year 2007 when the downturn first set in. Since 2006, GDP has been decreasing year-on-year and all other economic variables have depicted the same economically bleak scenario. In 2008, the annual averages of the benchmark treasury rates and the federal fund rates have been lowered to 1.37 and 1.92, respectively, while the unemployment rate increased to 7.2%. In March 2009, the benchmark treasury rate and the federal fund rate were as low as 0.21 and 0.18, respectively, while the unemployment rate increased further to 8.5%. It should not be surprising that the series of disasters in the economic arena dealt a heavy blow to the overall investors' confidence in the financial markets. In the year 2008, the market indices took such drastic plunges that badly damaged the market valuation of listed companies - Dow Jones decreased by 35%, S&P 500 decreased by 39%, and NASDAQ decreased by 42%. The first quarter of the year 2009 further lowered Dow Jones to 7,608.92, S&P 500 to 797.87 and NASDAQ to 1528.59. (AOL Website) Despite the turmoil in the economy and in the financial markets, Walt Disney Company (DIS) has managed to do very well in 2008. Next to Time Warner Inc. (TWX), DIS is the second largest multimedia conglomerate in the world in terms of assets. It is into the production of movies, music, and television shows, the publishing of its renowned materials and the operation of its well-frequented theme parks. While shares of its holding company are traded in NYSE, Disneyland Corporation's subsidiaries are variously traded in the Buenos Aires stock market and in European bourses such as XETRA, Berlin, Stuttgart, Paris, Munich, Hanover, London and Paris. (Yahoo! Finance) Since January 2000, Robert A. Iger has been the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. (2008 Walt Disney Co Annual Report) Under his efficient leadership, DIS has come up with sales amounting to $37.8 billion and with a net income of $4.4 billion in 2008 - an impressive feat in the light of the prevailing economic scenario. DIS has over 150,000 employees and has assets worth over $64.9 billion as of the year-end of 2008. As of 01 May 2009, DIS has market capitalization amounting to over $40.73 billion. (Yahoo! Finance) Compared to its competitors, DIS also has done a lot better in the stock market. Comparing their 2008 year-end prices with their 2006 year-end prices, losses were computed at 33% for DIS, 73% for CBS Corporation (CBS), 56% for News Corporation (NWS), and 53% for (TWX). Their respective closing prices as of the end of April 2009 were

Octogram.net Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Octogram.net - Essay Example I also scored a good point for achiever. I got 6 in this personality trait which means that I am very ambitious and like to set high goals for me. It is true because I am a kind of person who is always focused on achieving something in my professional life. In case of helper, I scored 7. It means that I am a very helpful person for others at work which is quite true about me. I love to work in teams and assist others through my knowledge. I also want my colleagues to achieve their professional goals. The areas in which I scored less were strategist, anchor, analyst, and team player. To my surprise, I scored just 2 points for strategist. It means that I am not interested in finding solutions for problems which does not seem true about me. I have the potential to set strategies to meet those goals. For anchor, I scored 4 points. The scored truly reflected my multitasking approach at the workplace. I like to get exposure to multiple areas of professional life rather than sticking to any particular role. For analyst, I scored 4 points which means that I am not able to dig into the problems. It does not seem correct because I am a problem-solver rather than problem-avoider. The last personality trait was team player for which I scored 4 points. It means that I am only concerned with my role in the team. It is again not correct about me because I like to help others when working as a team and like to maintain team harmony to achieve results. Summing it up, although some results went in favor of me and some appeared as if they were wrong, but they did expose my workplace personality traits. I think that this understanding would influence my managerial behaviors because managers need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This octogram test would work as a good starting point for me and would definitely help me work on my weak areas. This response seems to be summing up all workplace