Comprises the spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features Essay

It contains the otherworldly, material, scholarly and passionate highlights of a general public and incorporates, notwithstanding human expressions and letters, the worth frameworks, conventions, methods of life and convictions of the general public. It additionally retains from different societies and experiences changes with time, some of the time gainful, in some cases backward. At the point when the word â€Å"culture† is referenced, we can consider numerous things as â€Å"cultural†, for example, language, clothings†¦ and so forth, since we order societies of better places. Nonetheless, culture is important to the point that it must be saved for a huge number of years,and gave by one age to another. Culture is imperative to the point that it is more than its unmistakable noticeable highlights, in the event that we stretches out this to the internal identity of an individual, to individuals inside a general public, further to the entire network, perhaps we can discover a few answers by discovering how they are influenced by culture. Culture speaks to an entire network, to explore how culture changes one’s inward qualities, we need to characterize some regular convictions, much the same as garments that has a few highlights that help recognize its social foundation. Individuals having the equivalent social foundation, when all is said in done, are probably going to act likewise, in light of the fact that their training and religion foundation have additionally social components. The facts demonstrate that characters are distinctive for everybody, except culture can influence individuals in a specific way since it gives a situation from which they acquire their qualities, particularly for kids at youthful age. For instance, chinese are commonly viewed as increasingly deferential however the westerners are progressively receptive and blunt, their training style has assumed a significant job, in light of the fact that in Chinese culture youngsters need to figure out how to be created and be neighborly and there is a halfway point among instructors and understudies, though in western they will in general be dynamic to be valued by the educators. In this way individuals from various social foundations will have an assorted variety of ways communicating a similar aim. Culture is significant on the grounds that it has a few qualities that are naturally fill in a person’s mind through a domain, which changes one’s deeds. Culture additionally assumes a significant job to the associations between individuals inside a network. At the point when a similar culture can cause likenesses of qualities, this can bond individuals with a similar culture together on the grounds that they will feel great and simpler in light of the fact that it affirms their qualities. Then again, they may discover different societies odd on the off chance that they disregard social contrast. Culture can pull an individual closer, or further away to the greater part, hence culture is critical to the correspondence arrange in a general public too, maining the relationship among individuals. Since culture can shape imperceptible securities between individuals in the network, this can hold individuals with the equivalent social foundation together, passing on the qualities. This propogation of qualities is can not just transmit culture information and hold the relationship among individuals, it likewise develops a drawn out custom after a long time. Culture is reinforced thusly in light of the fact that it can give foundation and reference to its later ages of its capacity of keeping the drawn out custom, picking up the feeling of having a place of individuals with the nation of that culture. It is significant as far as the improvement of a network all in all, as it structures social gatherings together which assist going with refined on starting with one age then onto the next one, keeping up the presence of some conventional qualities. Culture contains components that influence one’s internal qualities other than simply outside attributes, which those qualities assume a significant job in as long as he can remember. The interchanges between individuals are additionally founded on culture somewhat and this structures social gatherings, passing social information on, developing a social status to a nation for quite a long time which individuals with the equivalent social foundation will discover them having a place.

Decisions Essay

Choices in 2006 with respect to segregation in the working environment fixated to a great extent on a topic of time and proof. The court routinely held that the proof of separation must be clear and that the legitimate activity must be recorded in an auspicious way. The possibility that an individual can have been the survivor of separation for quite a long time and have made no move was excused as less than ideal. A case claiming racial segregation was held to have deficient verification of goal and for another situation the court held that an association suing a business for biased employing rehearses additionally didn't submit adequate confirmation. At long last, the court held that when a business makes oppressive move it doesn't need to be inside the bounds of the working environment to be biased. Initially, for a situation against Good Year Tire and Rubber Company, the offended party asserted that in her 18 years with Good Year, she had routinely been paid a littler pay than her male partners. A nearby jury granted her harms dependent on a progression of compensation related choices returning 19 years. Be that as it may, the eleventh Circuit Court held that the plaintiff’s claim was awkward in that her protest did not depend on activities taken over the most recent 180 days as indicated by the summation of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber, 421 F. 3d 1169 (eleventh Cir 08/23/2005) (Runkel, 2007. The court didn't run on the value of the case, yet held that the rule limits the time span in which the supposed separation was to have happened (Runkel, 2007). The offended party has offered the choice to the U. S. Preeminent Court and in May, 2007, Justice Samuel Alito composing for the court, insisted the lower court’s administering â€Å"Ledbetter v. Great Year†, 2007). Next, on the off chance that versus Tyson Foods the court held that utilization of the term â€Å"boy† isn't sufficient evidence of racial enmity to continue a decision asserting separation, yet turn around a bit of the lower court’s deciding which had guaranteed that a racial descriptor was required to go with the word to demonstrate ill will. In Ash v. Tyson Foods, 126 S. Ct. 195 (02/21/2006), the court composed, â€Å"†Although it is genuine the contested word won't generally be proof of racial ill will, it doesn't follow that the term, remaining solitary, is consistently considerate. The speaker’s importance may rely upon different variables including setting, emphasis, manner of speaking, nearby custom, and verifiable use. To the extent that the Court of Appeals held that modifiers or capabilities are fundamental in all occasions to render the contested term probative of inclination, the court’s choice is incorrect. (Runkel, 2007). That implies the court needs more data that only a word to decide segregation. The court deciding says that to demonstrate segregation, the offended party must show something beyond a misconception by the recruiting authority of saw capabilities. It must show that ‘disparities of capabilities must be or such weight and significance† that a sensible individual couldn't have settled on the recruiting choice which was made (â€Å"Ash v. Tyson, 2006). This choice dovetails with the court’s choice in IBEW v. Mississippi Power and Light, 442 F. 3d 313 (fifth Cir 03/02/2006). The association had contends that the employer’s standard for business was unfair in that the cut-off point on the government sanctioned tests was naturally biased. The court didn't debate the value of the case, however decided that the weight of verification lies with the offended party and that the association had neglected to demonstrate that there was another way that the business could satisfactorily decide work qualification. (Runkel, 2007) At long last, the court held that when a business is blamed for retaliatory activity, it doesn't need to be restricted to the bounds of the workplace. In Burlington Northern v. White, 126 S. Ct. 2405 (06/22/2006), the court maintained the defendant’s guarantee that her manager had fought back against her by moving her starting with one position then onto the next and by at first attempting to suspend her without pay, necessitating that she document a complaint through the association to get restoration and her back compensation. The court held, â€Å"We presume that the counter reprisal arrangement doesn't keep the activities and damages it precludes to those that are identified with business or happen at the work environment. We additionally presume that the arrangement covers those (and just those) business activities that would have been physically antagonistic to a sensible representative or occupation candidate. In the current setting that implies that the employer’s activities must be destructive to the point that they could well prevent a sensible laborer from making or supporting a charge of separation. (Runkel, 2007). The court additionally held that retaliatory practices don't need to incorporate money related misfortune to be noteworthy. (Runkel, 2007) The staggering impact of these court controlling on future alumni is a pattern inside business law toward the barrier of the business. These cases will in general demonstrate that the court has put the whole weight of confirmation on the representative with regards to segregation cases and expects that the worker can put forth an unmistakable defense for their case, as opposed to depending on dubious innuendoes, for example, in the Tyson case. For representatives, this can be a troublesome priority in that different workers are probably not going to back a person’s guarantee with respect to working environment separation particularly when they would then have such rigid necessities in demonstrating their own reprisal case. This is additionally prone to chillingly affect workers who feel they are being abused due to the weight of confirmation. Actually for any African-American man, the simple utilization of the word kid is fiery, particularly in the south. In spite of the fact that the word was not joined by any racial descriptor, the court held that pitch and other setting can be utilized to decide the word’s aim. For an African-American in the South, that is the specific situation and demonstrating what his chief was thinking places too incredible a weight on the offended party. The Tyson case specifically makes it hard for an individual who is the casualty of unobtrusive prejudice to demonstrate it and the Ledbetter cases repeats that the individual must arrangement with any apparent separation inside a half year of its event, aggravating the trouble in demonstrating a case.

The cultural belief of hegemonic masculinity essay

The cultural belief of hegemonic masculinity essay What is hegemonic masculinity? Hegemonic masculinity makes men as superior human and sees women as submissive and weak objects that should live according as the man says. According to the male dominance, they always should subordinate and contribute the womens position because women are not so great, perfect and brave as men. The theory of hegemonic masculinity was reviewed by many sociologists and scientists during all periods. Hegemony is a total winning and holding of power over other social groups. Masculinity sets men as the highest class of society and maintains their domination over women. Men are considered to have hegemonic masculinity if they exhibit the features of traditional masculinity. There is a certain set of qualities that a man should have, such as power, dominance, heterosexuality, leadership, rationality, control of their emotions. The traditional masculinity harms gender equality and sets men higher and much more important than women. Masculinity definition by various sociologists If to trace back to the Middle Ages, the philosopher Aristotle from Greece assumed that masculinity is equal to the rationality and strength of men, when women are marked by such things as emotions, sexuality and their bodies. The Australian sociologist R.W. Connell says that masculinity doesnt exist as an unchanged and single form. Connell presumes that a man of the modern society shouldnt have the qualities that considered masculine. She also insists that homosexuality is also a form of masculinity, despite on those facts that a lot of people define homosexuality as the opposite thing to the masculinity. Thanks to the Connells theory, people could study the history of masculinity. Her work showed that masculinity is a concept that can change. David Iacuone in his book “Real Men and Tough Guys” (2005) views masculinity as a blueprint that defines the real mans behavior and describes qualities he must have. According to Iacuone, hegemonic masculinity defines women as an object, gives them mostly domestic duties and notes their value for men only as sexual objects. But some men groups try to avoid hegemonic masculine culture, mostly when they want to improve their women welfare and try to change the traditional relations where patriarchy is dominating. Sociologists Michael S. Kimmel and Amy Aronson (2008) made a pattern of a real man; they defined him as a young, heterosexual, white, married, urban, with college education, employed, and with defined weight and height. They assumed that any man who doesnt fit this pattern, should be defined as unworthy. Ross Haenfler (2006) defines advantages and disadvantages of masculinity. He says this concept has got good benefits to set men higher than women but in the same way they should pay price for this with shorter life, lack of emotions in relationship and poor health. Haenfler noticed that men who lose control over relationship and work, become strict in self-control. They start to control thoroughly their sexual appetites, personal lives, and fitness because of the crisis, and as a result, try to avoid womens influence. According to Haenfler theory, since late 19th century, the base of masculinity was broken and modern men dont understand how to be a man. The traditional male role of breadwinner was destabilized a lot and taken by women, and apart from this, feminists make a challenge to men with changing gender inequality. Other critics and scientists who made researches on hegemonic masculinity says that the definition of this concept do not reflect the actual life of men, so the entire theory gives an imprecise report about male identities in society. Due to increasing and development of industrialization in our world, hegemonic masculinity started to lose its real meaning in modern society. Nowadays, a lot of women take leadership positions at work and assume the main role of breadwinners because a lot of young men try to avoid responsibilities that are dictated by masculinity. In our society women work as hard as men, and there are no differences between genders in this sense. Earlier women should mostly listen to their men, sit at home, raise children. Modern world totally changed this view with active position of feminization that lead to the current situation when gender is equal.

Jfk His Life and Legacy Essay - 2127 Words

JFK: His Life and Legacy On November 22, 1963, while being driven through the streets of Dallas, Texas, in his open car, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead, apparently by the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. The world had not only lost a common man, but a great leader of men. From his heroic actions in World War II to his presidency, making the decisions to avert possible nuclear conflict with world superpowers, greatness can be seen. Kennedy also found the time to author several best-selling novels from his experiences . His symbolic figure represented all the charm, vigor and optimism of youth as he led a nation into a new era of prosperity. From his birth into the powerful and influential Kennedy clan, much was to†¦show more content†¦Kennedy saw action in the form of night patrols and participated in enemy bombings. On August 1, 1943, during a routine night patrol, a Japanese destroyer collided in the darkness with Kennedys craft and the PT 109 was sunk. Through superhuman effort, the injured Kennedy heroically swam back and forth rescuing his wounded crew. Two were killed in the crash. The injury had once again aggravated his back. Still, Kennedy pushed on swimming from island to island in the South Pacific hoping for a patrol to come by. The lieutenant had no idea he had been in the water for eight hours. Finally, an island was spotted that could provided cover from Japanese planes. With no edible plants or water, Kennedy realized that he and the crew must move on. The next day, he once again attempted to search for rescue. After treading water for hours, the lieutenant was forced to admit no patrol boats were coming. He turned back for the island but was swept away by a powerful current. Kennedy collapsed on an island and slept. He recovered enough energy to return to the island and gathered the crew to move to another island in search of food. JFK was now desperate enough to seek help from natives on a Japanese controlled island. After making contact with the natives, Kennedy persuaded the natives to deliver a message written on the back of a coconut shell to allied forces. The coconutShow MoreRelatedKameron Harris. Mrs. Thompson. Hist 102-10. 2 May 2017.824 Words   |  4 PagesKameron Harris Mrs. Thompson HIST 102-10 2 May 2017 Conspiracy Behind the Legacy Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were two America’s greatest presidents. Many know Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of America, face of US currency such as the bronze penny and five-dollar bill, and the President who freed the slaves. JFK was the 35th President of America, household favorite, and the President who saved the world from nuclear destruction. But deep inside the walls of the White House, the twoRead More The Political Legacy of President John F. Kennedy Essay examples1626 Words   |  7 PagesThe Political Legacy of President John F. Kennedy There is something about John F. Kennedy. 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JFK was a great and stalwart individual - aRead MoreJfk Assassination Research Paper1102 Words   |  5 Pages JFK Assassination On November 29, 1963, our 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. A young and vigorous leader who was a victim of the fourth Presidential assassination in the history of a country. This assassination was known as a world tragedy, and a great lost to our nation. Many conspiracies were formed while the investigation of his assassination was undergoing, making his case unsolvedRead Moreâ€Å"And So My Fellow Americans, Ask Not What Your Country1741 Words   |  7 Pagesask what you can do for your county† (MacSiccar, 1995, p. 46). People don’t realize that phrase was borrowed by JFK from one of America’s least memorable presidents, Warren G. Harding. The reason that quote is now remembered in today s time is because of John F. Kennedy, one of the most iconic presidents ever, in his presidency and his life, achieved many accomplishments. Early Life Throughout high school history classes, we have discussed many of the past presidents who have had major impactsRead MoreThe Legacy Of John Fitzgerald Kennedy1748 Words   |  7 PagesInaugurated in January of 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (or â€Å"JFK†) was the youngest president to ever hold office, as well as the first catholic. Following a heroic tour in the Navy during World War II, with the backing of his father’s immense wealth JFK abandoned a career in journalism to fulfill his deceased brother’s dream of becoming the first catholic president (Freidal and Sidey). After writing two best-selling books and rapidly advancing through political offices, Kennedy ran for presidentRead MoreKennedy Is an American Tragic Hero1695 Words   |  7 Pageswrote a Pulitzer Prize novel, saved his men in the Navy when he was a PT Boat Skipper, and eventually when he became the president. In The Presidents of the United States, Freidel and Sidey inform the reader that: He (JFK) wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in History. (Freidel and Sidey). Winning a Pulitzer was not the only thing he did that made him great before presidency. Kennedy was also a WWII war hero. As a PT boat skipper he saved his men in an attack from the JapaneseRead MoreThe Legacy of John F. Kennedy1129 Words   |  5 PagesLittle Presidents relate in life and none in death. Most people know John F. Kennedy as the 35th President of the United States, the youngest president, and one of fewest presidents that was killed. But what was JFKs legacy? 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Owen is a series of reflections of people who knew and admired John F. Kennedy. Most people in the book discuss where they were the day of his assassination, their reaction, and how it affected everything and everyone around them. Others speak about what kind of leader Kennedy was, the legacy he left behind, and how when he died the country was never the same. Owen writes about people who once worked

Business Journal Practical Implications - 1604 Words

Section 3: Practical Implications If you review the statistics given by the Ivey Business Journal you will see that there is a big disconnect between employees and engagement with the company they employ. (Dan Crim, 2006) †¢ Only twenty-nine percent of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. People that are actively engaged help move the organization forward. (Dan Crim, 2006) †¢ Fifty-four percent of employees are not engaged. These employees have essentially â€Å"checked out,† sleepwalking through their workday and putting time – but not passion – into their work. (Dan Crim, 2006) †¢ Seventeen percent of employees are actively disengaged. These†¦show more content†¦(Cook, 2008) Have key goals set of the vision you want the company navigate towards for the next three to five years. Use those goals to help determine how you place the SWOT coordinates in the proper places. It is also important share the results with the group that you polled. This will reaffirm the employee’s engagement and show that management is actively looking for solutions and suggestions. (Cook, 2008) Face to face meetings can also be affective in gauging how engaged and employee might be. In these meetings you can discuss topics such as, how visible the executives are, is the work environment a setting for collaboration, or giving the proper tools for success. (Cataldo, 2011) Now that the materials and information is gathered, what should management do to improve? First, they can evaluate what makes the drives the workers. Next show support buy having executive leadership engage just as they want all levels. Keeping open lines of communication will ensure that the employees are supported and in the know about the company’s future. Last, make sure you actually act on the results of all of the research you conducted. (Cataldo, 2011) A simple way to ensure you are staying compliant with engagement rules is to follow the ten â€Å"C’s† of employee engagement that is found in many texts. (Dan Crim, 2006) The ten topics consist of connecting, career, clarity, convey, congratulate, contribute, control, collaborate, credibility and confidence. (Dan

Example of Interview Protocol Free Essays

Interview Protocol: 1. How would you define biology? 2. How would you define life? 3. We will write a custom essay sample on Example of Interview Protocol or any similar topic only for you Order Now Give 5 examples of life and explain why they exhibit life. 4. What is the smallest unit of life? 5. Is soil alive? Why or why not? 6. Is air alive? Why or why not? 7. What body part makes us most alive? Why? Interview #1 Interviewer (LH): How would you define biology? Interviewee (BM): Um.. as a part of life LH: Okay, how would you define life? BM: Uh.. everything around you†¦from the sky to the grass LH: Can you give 5 examples of life and explain why they exhibit life. BM: Plants, because you need them to breathe oxygen, yourself, because you are you, animals, because they are part of the food chain (she flashed a thumbs up here because she was proud she recalled this information), the sun, because you need it to grow and not be moody, and water, water because everything needs water. LH: Nice.. what is the smallest unit of life? BM: Um†¦um.. um†¦I know this†¦ LH: I know you do†¦ (Another minute passed and never recalled despite looking around the room and looking directly at the cell poster) LH: Is soil alive? Why or why not? BM: Yes, because you can make it grow. LH: Is air alive? Why or why not? BM: Um†¦(about 30 second delay)†¦I am going to say no†¦ LH: Why not? BM: (she shrugs) LH: Okay, go back to how you defined life. How do you define life? What makes something alive to you? BM: It grows and survives. LH: Okay, so is air alive? BM: No, because it doesn’t grow. LH: One of your examples of life was the human body. What part of the human body makes you most alive and why? BM: Your heart because it makes everything move. Because you can live without a brain, can’t you? You can be brain dead. LH: But once your heart gives out then you are dead? BM: Yes, because you still can live†¦ LH: Without a brain but not without a heart? BM: You can live more without a brain then a heart. LH: Very nice, thank you for participating. Interview #2: Interviewer (LH): How would you define biology? Interviewee (YC): The study of life. LH: And†¦how do you define life? YC: Something that moving, breathing, functioning LH: Ok.. can you give me five examples of life and explain why they exhibit life. YC: Plants, cause they grow, humans, cause they move around, they function, they think and they also grow.. m.. wait†¦animals cause that’s like humans†¦. um.. LH: Two more YC: I really can’t think of two more. Those are the only ones I can think of right now. LH: Ok, so plants, animals and humans, what is the smallest unit of life? YC: The cell LH: And, is soil alive to you? Why or why not? YC: Um.. yeah because it makes things grow. LH: Okay.. is air alive to you ? Why or why not? YC: No, because in order to be alive you have to be, like, functioning, growing, moving and air is just two chemicals put together to make one chemical. LH: Okay, and what body part makes a human being most alive and why? YC: The heart because without your heart you can’t function, you can’t, because your heart makes your whole body function so without that you won’t be able to function. Because the heart is the one that produces the blood and the blood sends out to all of your†¦um.. cells and all your body parts. It also sends out reflexes. It also helps with your reflexes and everything. LH: Nice, thank you. Analysis: The most surprising part of the interview came after the interview when the two subjects started arguing about their answers. I invited two friends to come after school but interviewed them separately. After I was done with the second interview, the girls started discussing how they answered each question. Their focus was specifically on the last two questions: is air alive and what part of the body makes a human being alive? They started discussing molecules and molecular interactions in air that could create life or prevent life depending on the quality of air. In addition, they considered the importance of the brain in the human body and discussed the implications of being brain dead but still alive. After some discussion, the girls decided the brain is the coach and the heart is the player. Both students are basketball players so it helped them to process the information by relating to basketball. In other words, the coach gives direction but the players still have to execute the plays. Another point of interest was the correlation of grades with ease and accuracy of recall. My first subject is receiving a B in my class and the second subject an A. The first subject knew the concepts but had more difficulty with the exact definition. The first subject talked around topics demonstrating knowledge of content standards but had difficulty pinpointing her ideas. The second subject gave exact definitions and answers quickly. The comfort level was visible in the answers provided, both in accuracy and timing. In addition, despite discussing the characteristics of life, I realized both students still created a superficial definition of life. They summarized life as something that moves and grows and breathes, but they did not consider reproduction and they are made of cells and more technical aspects of the definition of life. The students also had trouble with their own definition when I started asking them about specific questions regarding living/non-living parts. Although it was interesting the second subject had a greater connection between her definition and her explanation of why a heart is the most critical organ for life. I also noticed when giving examples of life, both subjects focused on broad categories of life: plants, animals, humans and neglected specific examples of living things. I would be interested to see if a younger student would name specific living things or focus on broad categories. I suspect the broad categories come from the fact we are studying cells and just studied ecology and the focus is on plant versus nimal or consumer versus producer. After completing my interview I realized my questions were too narrow. I tried to predict what the students would say and create appropriate follow-up questions but the questions still had short answers. I need to reflect on how to write my questions to solicit longer responses with more detail to demonstrate feeling. The discrepancy between what I anticipated and what happened c ould be the result of the nature of the survey and the focus on content compared to my research survey that focuses on experiences and emotions. How to cite Example of Interview Protocol, Essay examples

Evaluation Of A Business Plan

Question: Discuss abouth the Evaluation of a Business Plan. Answer: Introduction Company Background In the year of 1974, the company JB Hi-Fi was established BY Mr. Jhon Burbuto. At that time the company only operated a single store in East Keilor (Jbhifi 2016). During the years between 1983and 1999, the company had opened 9 more stores in Australia (Jbhifi 2016). The company has offred different types of products such as home appliances, consumer electronics and air- conditioning. The company also sells all the renowned brand of T.V., Cameras, Computers, Speakers, Home theater and Portable Audio system and many more (Jbhifi 2016). The company also offers different types DVD music, recorded music and games at cheap price compare to the market. Mission and Vision Main business philosophy of the company is very simple. Mission of this company is to offer a specialist range of Hi-Fi and recorded music at lowest price to Australian customers (Jbhifi 2016). Maintaining this philosophy, the company has become one of the largest and fastest growing retailers of home appliances in Australia. The vision of the company is to become the largest retailer company is the country within next two years. Three Sources of Business Plan There major source of business plans are such as management, financial and marketing. They are discussed below: Management The company JB Hi-Fi has announced a major management restructure. Presently the company is trying to expand its focus on online marketing. CEO of the company named Richard Murray has announced that the day-by-day management team of the company will be strengthened. As the part of its expansion program, the company will increase its focus on digital and online marketing operations. For this purpose, James Saretta is appointed to take the role of Digital and strategy Director (Jbhifi 2016). He will be responsible for expansion and development of the organizations online business operation. Due to enhance customer experience in JB Hi-Fi website online sales of the company was increased by 28% (Jbhifi 2016). For this reason JB Hi-Fi website is recognized as one of the biggest appliance and consumer electronic in Australia. There are various other changes have been found in the management team. For example, Cameron Trainor (presently assigned as Merchandise Director) will take the responsibility of the marketing department along with his present role (Jbhifi 2016). In addition, Gary Siewart has been appointed as general manager of marketing who will report to Cameron Trainor. However, the previous role of marketing director of the company has been eliminated. In addition, Belinda Minieri will be appointed as a part of the senior management, who will take on the role of general manager of online and solutions operation. Financial Till 30th June 2016, the company has more than 194 stores in Australia and New Zealand. In future, the company has the opportunity to increase its business in these two countries. The company JB Hi-Fi is achieve to sales of $3.90 billion in the year of 2016 (). The total sales growth of the company is 8.3%. The net profit of the company after tax is approximately 11.5%. Gross profit of the company is increased by 8.4% (Jbhifi 2016). It has been found that the total operating cost of the company remained well controlled throughout these years. In future, the company will try to remain focused on minimizing indirect expenditure and increase productivity. Due to low financial and operating leverage, the balance sheet of the company continues to grow. The company is considered as a discount retailer, which has the ability to offer low price products through the scale of its business operation. The company offers the largest category of consumer electronics, home entertainment at discounted price. It helps the company to position itself in the mind of all customers. Marketing Gollenia (2016) stated that, good retailers always try to focus on low costs, right products and appropriate pricing. Company JB Hi-Fi is considered as one of the great retailers. Even if the company has grown to $2 billion organization, the management has not shifted its focus from that of the value player in the electronic retail market of Australia. The company is competing with big names such as Good Guys and Harvey Norman. The company is considered as a low price alternative, which has provided competitive advantage. According to the CEO of JB Hi-Fi, the company has deliberately positioned itself as low end branding and shop fittings. Human et al. (2015) stated that this strategy is highly effective during the downturn of market. Branding of the company can be hardly considered as slick. The company mainly uses slightly tacky and loud print advertising. However, the television advertising is minimally used by the company. However, the store fitting of the company has a second-hand feeling. They use lots of hand-drawn price tags and signage. It provides customers the opportunity of bargaining. Ripsas et al. (2015) stated that branding of the company is consistent for store and it has a consistent product range. The company uses Uechtritzs business model for this purpose. Market Analysis: Market Segmentation: JB Hi Fi has successfully divided the market in three distinct segment which are described below: Family Homeowners: This particular segment owns middle-end to high-end homes along with other electronic equipments. Half of the families have two incomes and more than half families earn around $78000. More than half families have cable TV and broadband internet connection. Single Homeowners: This particular segment owns their personal home only for them. They are mostly inclined towards using electronic technology. The median income has been assumed around $65000. Three quarter of the segment owns cable TV and broadband Internet Connection. Commercial Sales: This segment mostly contains SMEs and mid-size businesses. This particular segment is focused on purchasing expensive electronics equipment for various purpose regardless of their industry. Target Market Segment Strategy: JB Hi Fi mostly focuses on these market segments as they are most attracted towards new models and technological entertainment electronic devices. While majority of the homeowners have cable TV, many other families would be inclined to purchase new models of TV. Moreover, the professional single homeowners would be attracted towards innovative electronic devices for entertainment (Corbett et al. 2014). In addition to that, the small and mid-size business organization would require a large amount of electronic products. In order to attract these customers JB Hi FI would focus on minimizing their cost so that they can offer limited price for their product. In addition, promotional activities with latest technology will also help to reach maximum numbers of customers. Products JB Hi-Fi mostly operates its business in the sector of Home Entertainment Electronics Equipment. The product range contains various entertainment equipments such as large home appliances, hardware/electronics, video games, Blu-ray discs, DVDs as well as CDs. In addition to that, the organization also focuses on providing the business related products such as computing equipment, audio visual, BYOD Programs as well as corporate gift cards. Industry Analysis: The external market factors JB Hi-Fi is analyzed with the help of PESTLE model. PESTLE analysis P Political The legislative amendments due to the global requirements in Australia have immensely affected the business decision of company (Jones et al. 2013). The trade faces greater challenges due to the international trade laws and political instability. E Economic The high inflation rate immensely affects the online trading The high rate of Dollar highly affects the monetary transactions European economic crisis has also affected the internal market S Social The customers are inclined towards entertainment related electronics equipment They often focuses on the perceived quality and service availability T Technological The emerging social media technology has enabled the organization to undertake new marketing strategy (Kunz and Dow 2013) The online marketing and gaming market has been immensely improved by the advanced internet accessibility L Legal International trade law is a major factor for the business operation In addition to that taxation is a crucial element of business expansion E Environmental The company has to focus on several major areas regarding environmental preservation and recovery. These areas are Waste disposal Disposal of worn-outs Bulk packaging Noise reduction Strategy and Implementation Summary Competitive Edge The competitive position of JB Hi-Fi is analyzed with the help of Porters 5 Forces model. Porters 5 Forces Analysis Figure 1: Porters Five Forces Analysis (Source: Blank 2013) Marketing Strategy JB Hi-Fi would be focused on attracting the customers by offering a large range of products in a limited price. In order to bind the price in a certain level the company will emphasize on cost reducing techniques so that the products can be manufactured with limited expenses (Ghezzi et al. 2015). However, the company will also concentrate on the factors, where the quality of the products is not compromised. In this context, the organization will not reduce the cost of the quality control and materials. This way the organization would be able to ensure the quality of the products. JB Hi-Fi will also be focused on investing in proactive and aggressive advertising approach. It will undertake numbers of promotional activities in order to attract a maximum number of customers. The most effective promotional activities are discussed below: Inserts in Bills: The organization will construct the bills in such a fashion that the promotional messages will be conveyed to the customers. It will effectively increase a significant number of repeat businesses. It is most inexpensive, albeit powerful way to reach the customers. Website: In the contemporary technologically advanced era, any advertising campaign is not complete without online activities. The website campaign and advertisement is highly effective for reaching majority of the target audience in Australia, as most of the citizens actively use internet. In addition to that, the website also offers an effective platform for the customers to purchase the companys products in an easy and convenient way. Moreover, the social media sites are also quite useful platform for reaching the customers in a limited effort. Direct Mail: JB Hi-Fi will also use direct mail as a means of business communication. The customer database will be most effective for conveying necessary updates on the companys activities and product renovation. The company will be able to inform the messages regarding the new information regarding the organization. Sales Strategy The organization would be focused on implementing push sales for increasing the sales figure in a significant manner. The supportive shopping experience provision would be also helpful to encourage the customers to purchase from JB Hi-Fi stores. The regular greetings would be most effective for enhancing brand recognition and repeat sales. Financial Plan Projected profit and loss statement for the 1st year Pro Forma Profit and Loss Statement for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) (Debit) Amount (in $) (Credit) Revenue 27700 Closing stock 1700 Purchase of materials 7400 Carriage inward 900 Gross Profit 21100 Salaries to the staffs 11700 Maintenance expenses 910 Rent and rates 3000 Cost of building the internal structure 1400 Electricity charges 610 Other expenses 1000 Net Profit 2480 Projected Balance sheet statement for the 1st year Pro Forma Balance Sheet for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) Amount (in $) Assets: Fixed assets: Furniture 4700 Machineries 1400 Total fixed assets 6100 Current assets: Debtors 6100 Cash in hand 1700 Closing stock 1700 Total current assets 9500 Total assets 15600 Liabilities: Long term liabilities: Long term bank loan 4000 Current liabilities: Creditors 3700 Bank overdraft 1000 Total liabilities 8700 Owner's capital: Capital 6000 Reserve 900 Total Owner's capital 6900 Projected Cash flow statement for the 1st year Pro Forma Cash Flow Statement for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) Amount (in $) Profit from the operations 2480 Cash flow from operating activities: Add: Increase in current liabilities 570 Less: Increase in current assets 360 Total cash from operating activities 2690 Cash flow from investing activities: Purchase of new furniture -1000 Sale of old furniture 300 Total cash from investing activities -700 Cash flow from financing activities: Bank loan taken 4000 Capital provided by the owner 1000 Total cash from financing activities 5000 Net cash inflow 6990 Projected profit and loss statement for the 2nd year Pro Forma Profit and Loss Statement for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) (Debit) Amount (in $) (Credit) Revenue 31070 Closing stock 1870 Purchase of materials 8100 Carraige inward 1100 Gross Profit 23740 Salaries to the staffs 11700 Maintenance expenses 1010 Rent and rates 3000 Cost of building the internal structure 700 Electricity charges 900 Other expenses 1400 Net Profit 5030 Projected Balance sheet statement for the 2nd year Pro Forma Balance Sheet for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) Amount (in $) Assets: Fixed assets: Furniture 4900 Machineries 1400 Total fixed assets 6300 Current assets: Debtors 7400 Cash in hand 1600 Closing stock 1870 Total current assets 10870 Total assets 17170 Liabilities: Long term liabilities: Long term bank loan 4000 Current liabilities: Creditors 5070 Bank overdraft 1100 Total liabilities 10170 Owner's capital: Capital 6000 Reserve 1000 Total Owner's capital 7000 Projected Cash flow statement for the 2nd year Pro Forma Cash Flow Statement for JB Hi-Fi Amount (in $) Amount (in $) Profit from the operations 5030 Cash flow from operating activities: Add: Increase in current liabilities 1470 Less: Increase in current assets -1370 Total cash from operating activities 7870 Cash flow from investing activities: Purchase of new furniture -1400 Sale of old furniture 360 Total cash from investing activities -1040 Cash flow from financing activities: Bank loan taken 4000 Capital provided by the owner 500 Total cash from financing activities 4500 Net cash inflow 11330 Conclusion and Recommendation In Conclusion, it can be mentioned that JB Hi-Fi is already an established home appliance retailer of Australia. The main motto of the company is to offer consumer electronics and home appliances at cheaper price. In the year of 2003, the company had entered into the Australian Stock Exchange. Presently, the company is worth $2 million. However, the company still has limited presence in Australia and New Zealand. For this reason, the company will try more to expand its business in these two countries. The company also will try to improve its online business strategy. In order to help the company to improve its business plan, there are some recommendations given to the organization. They are mentioned below: Recommendations The company has to improve its website and make it more user-friendly, so that customers can easily purchase their goods from the company websites. The company has to improve its supply chain in order to distribute all the products equally at every corner of the country. The company has use social media marketing such as Facebook, Twitter in order to make effective interaction with customer References: Blank, S., 2013. Why the lean start-up changes everything.Harvard business review,91(5), pp.63-72. Corbett, A.C., Siegel, D.S. and Katz, J.A. eds., 2014.Academic Entrepreneurship: Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem(Vol. 16). Emerald Group Publishing. Curley, A. and Slocum, J., 2016. Organizing a Startup Business According to Differentiation Strategy and Virtual Design. Fernndez-Guerrero, R., Revuelto-Taboada, L. and Simn-Moya, V., 2012. The business plan as a project: an evaluation of its predictive capability for business success.The Service Industries Journal,32(15), pp.2399-2420. Gately, C. and Cunningham, J., 2014. The Contributions and Disconnections Between Writing a Business Plan and The Start-up Process for Incubator Technology Entrepreneurs.Academic Entrepreneurship: Creating An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Volume 16) Emerald Group Publishing Limited,16, pp.197-241. Ghezzi, A., Cavallaro, A., Rangone, A. and Balocco, R., 2015, April. A Comparative Study on the Impact of Business Model Design Lean Startup Approach versus Traditional Business Plan on Mobile Startups Performance. InICEIS (3)(pp. 196-203). Gollenia, L.A., 2016.Business Transformation Management Methodology. Routledge. Human, S.E., Clark, T., Baucus, M.S. and Eustis, A.C.S., 2015. Idea or Prime Opportunity? A Framework for Evaluating Business Ideas for New and Small Ventures.Journal of Small Business Strategy,15(1), pp.59-80. Jbhifi., 2016.JB Hi-Fi | Australias Largest Home Entertainment Retailer. [online] Jbhifi.com.au. Available at: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2016]. Jones, C., Penaluna, A., Matlay, H. and Penaluna, K., 2013. The student business plan: useful or not?.Industry and Higher Education,27(6), pp.491-498. Kiznyte, J., Welker, M. and Dechange, A., 2016. Applying Project Management Methods to the Creation of a Start-up Business Plan: The Case of Blendlee. Kunz, D.A. and Dow, B.L., 2013, July. Organizing and Financing a New Business Venture. InAllied Academies International Conference. International Academy for Case Studies. Proceedings(Vol. 20, No. 2, p. 11). Jordan Whitney Enterprises, Inc. McAdam, J., 2013.The One-hour Business Plan: The Simple and Practical Way to Start Anything New. John Wiley Sons. Miller, A., 2014. A Vision of Capitalism, as it was Meant to be: A Social Purpose Business plan for FoodShed Productions. Mullins, J., 2012.The new business road test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan. Pearson UK. Olsson, E., 2013. A long lasting effort: A tentative business plan for a health care e-learningsystem in Tanzania. Ripsas, S., Schaper, B. and Trger, S., 2015. A Startup Cockpit for the Proof-?of-?Concept.Erscheint imHandbuch Entrepreneurship, Wiesbaden. Thomas, D.F., Gudmundson, D., Turner, K. and Suhr, D., 2014. Business Plan Competitions and Their Impact on New Ventures' Business Models.Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability,10(1), p.34. Turner, K. and Suhr, D., 2014. Business Plan Competitions and Their Impact on New Ventures Business Models David F. Thomas University of Northern Colorado Donald Gudmundson University of Northern Colorado.Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability,10, p.1. Wentzensen, N. and Wacholder, S., 2013. From differences in means between cases and controls to risk stratification: a business plan for biomarker development.Cancer discovery,3(2), pp.148-157.

Accounting Ethics

Table of Contents Introduction Financial reporting practices Ethical requirements in financial reporting Conclusion References Introduction Accounting information is vital to internal and external users of financial accounts; accountants are expected to present accounting facts in logical and genuine manner to facilitate their relevance in decision making. Such information is required by managers, shareholders, government, potential investors, investors, capital lenders among others. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Accounting Ethics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hospitals are no exemption to the need of quality accounting data and information; the accounting department in medical facilities is a support department thus when it offers quality information it facilitates provision of quality and affordable medical services (Cleverly Cameron, 2007). This paper discusses financial reporting practices and ethi cal standards in health care finance. Financial reporting practices The accounting field is regulated by international and national accounting and auditing bodies that require organisation to make their books in a particular manner that can allow comparison and flow of information. The finance department of a medical facility needs to be equipped with qualified accountants to keep books of records and produce financial statements as required by regulators. The main required accounting statements are Consolidated Balance sheet, consolidated Cash flow statement, and Consolidated Income statements, Consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income, and changes in assets ownership. For decision-making, accounting information required in a hospital set up is revenue and costs information, incurred when providing services; there should be effective internal control to ensure that there is transparency in use of finances. The main source of revenue for a hos pital is fees charged to patients when they receive various services from the hospital; the information of revenue is with the accountants thus they should offer the information for decision-making. There are other sources of revenue which include grants and government funding, they should be considered when making decisions. Disclosures made to external and internal accounting information users should be vetted to ensure there is transparency and the right, adequate and acceptable information flows to the right people. Accountants should thus be guided by acceptable code of conduct as far as reporting is concerned (Duska Duska, 2003).Advertising Looking for essay on accounting? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Ethical requirements in financial reporting International accounting standards have ethical expectations that they have for accountants; accountants should uphold integrity in all their processes; medical facilities fin ance department has the role of complying with the set accounting ethics. They should ensure that they perform their duties with honesty and for the interest of all parties to the accounts. It is understandable that this situation may have been a one time and thus deserves some consideration. The dependence on accounting information in hospitals raises the need for accountants to act with high level of professionalism and uphold acceptable accounting ethics. When accounting reports are produced, they should reflect the actual situation of a company so that they can be used for strategic decision-making. Resources in an organization are scarce; thus, they need to be well allocated to various programs. For efficiency, financial managers prioritise the project to be undertaken in a particular time and how. This may involve a day-to-day allocation of available resources in different programs. Financial management information is used for decision making. They assist management in maki ng current and future decision regarding the operations in a business. Information is crucial for decision-making since it offers a number of alternatives to choose. Many are the times that management accountants have information that can injure a company or one that can be of great assistance to the public. When faced with such a challenge, accountants should always act in the best interest of stakeholders contained. This calls for independence and need not to bow to pressure from the management company or the public. They should make high standard decisions and should not knowingly cause a company trade whilst insolvent. when it comes to statutory requirements like making tax returns, its ethical for accountants to ensure that the legal requirement of the nation are complied with; compliance is in terms of giving correct information without being late, correct reporting and making due payments.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Accounting Ethics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are changes in accounting field initiated by local policies like finance bills (mostly on matters relating to taxation) and international bodies like International accounting bodies (IFRS and ISA). For competency, which is an element of ethical behaviour, an accountant is expected to be up to date with such changes. An example of a change in international accounting standards is the change in new ways of accounting for SMEs in 2008 and change in accounting for leases (ISA 17) in 2010. A member of these bodies must be up to date with such changes (Baker Baker, 2011). Conclusion Financial management is important to medical facilities; it offers quality information that can assist to improve the quality, cost, and gains in medical facilities. To have high compliance, health facilities finance department should observe rules and regulations of national and international bodies; when these rules and regulations are complied with, then the accounting disclosures made will be in accordance to the law, acceptable, complete, and offers a true and fair view of their medical facility. Financial managers assume the duty of care to internal and external users thus should perform their duties with integrity; they should follow code of ethics required for the profession. References Baker, J. J., Baker, R. W. (2011). Health Care Finance Basic tools for Nonfinancial Managers. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Cleverly, W. O., Cameron, A. E. (2007). Essentials of health care finance (6th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.Advertising Looking for essay on accounting? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Duska, F., Duska, S. (2003). Accounting ethics. Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell. This essay on Accounting Ethics was written and submitted by user Edgar Y. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Meat Packing

Rights and responsibilities in the meatpacking industry In the early twentieth century, at the height of the progressive movement, â€Å"Muckrakers† had uncovered many scandals and wrong doings in America, but none as big the scandals of Americas meatpacking industry. Rights and responsibilities were blatantly ignored by the industry in an attempt to turn out as much profit as possible. The meat packers did not care if poor working conditions led to sickness and death. They also did not care if the spoiled meat they sold was killing people. The following paper will discuss the many ways that rights and responsibilities were not being fulfilled by the meat packing industry. At the turn of the twentieth century â€Å"Muckraking† had become a very popular practice. This was where â€Å"muckrakers† would bring major problems to the publics attention. One of the most powerful pieces done by a muckraker was the book â€Å"The Jungle†, by Upton Sinclair. The book was written to show the horrible working and living conditions in the packing towns of Chicago, but what caused a major controversy was the filth that was going into Americas meat. As Sinclair later said in an interview about the book â€Å"I aimed at the publics heart and by accident hit them in the stomach.†# The meat packing industry took no responsibility for producing safe and sanitary meat. One reason for this problem was that there was no real inspection of the meat. A quote from â€Å"The Jungle† tells of a government inspector checking the hogs for Tuberculosis, â€Å"This government inspector did not have a manner of a man who was worked to death; he was apparently not haunted by a fear that the hog might get by before he had finished his testing. If you were a sociable person, he was quite willing to enter into conversation with you and to explain the deadly nature of the ptomaines which are found in tubercular pork; and while he was talking with you you could ... Free Essays on Meat Packing Free Essays on Meat Packing Rights and responsibilities in the meatpacking industry In the early twentieth century, at the height of the progressive movement, â€Å"Muckrakers† had uncovered many scandals and wrong doings in America, but none as big the scandals of Americas meatpacking industry. Rights and responsibilities were blatantly ignored by the industry in an attempt to turn out as much profit as possible. The meat packers did not care if poor working conditions led to sickness and death. They also did not care if the spoiled meat they sold was killing people. The following paper will discuss the many ways that rights and responsibilities were not being fulfilled by the meat packing industry. At the turn of the twentieth century â€Å"Muckraking† had become a very popular practice. This was where â€Å"muckrakers† would bring major problems to the publics attention. One of the most powerful pieces done by a muckraker was the book â€Å"The Jungle†, by Upton Sinclair. The book was written to show the horrible working and living conditions in the packing towns of Chicago, but what caused a major controversy was the filth that was going into Americas meat. As Sinclair later said in an interview about the book â€Å"I aimed at the publics heart and by accident hit them in the stomach.†# The meat packing industry took no responsibility for producing safe and sanitary meat. One reason for this problem was that there was no real inspection of the meat. A quote from â€Å"The Jungle† tells of a government inspector checking the hogs for Tuberculosis, â€Å"This government inspector did not have a manner of a man who was worked to death; he was apparently not haunted by a fear that the hog might get by before he had finished his testing. If you were a sociable person, he was quite willing to enter into conversation with you and to explain the deadly nature of the ptomaines which are found in tubercular pork; and while he was talking with you you could ...

Unit 6 Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 6 Discussion - Essay Example He compares General Motors to Volkswagen, the company which increased their investment in Audi and received a significant increase in their revenue (Rosevear, 2012). This is the best route for GM to take if it plans to reestablish itself amongst the world’s elite companies. Production of Cadillac may be a lucrative investment but the company already has made some other important investments that can be successful in the nearest future. This is a major challenge to the investment manager since he cannot stop an investment that is already earning the company millions. The investment is tested and, therefore, has an edge over the new one. The existing investments will, therefore, get more funds allocated to them in terms of capital. Maybe, the company has to make a painstaking anlysis to figure out what investments are the best and whatare not effective for the company. It is the only way the best investment decisions can be made. Rosevear, J. (2012). Why cadillac is crucial to GMs revival (GM). Stock Investing Advice: Stock Research. Retrieved from

Relationships in Second Life and How They Can Affect Real Life Essay - 1

Relationships in Second Life and How They Can Affect Real Life - Essay Example However, for many inhabitants of Second Life, it is not just a 3D online game, but another world that â€Å"†¦has its own economy and millions of residents who own and create property, make friends and even get married† (CNN Living, 2008). These virtual worlds (VWs) have become conduits for socialization, collaboration, entertainment, social networking, and business development (Mennecke et al. 371). In VWs like Second Life, users must build virtual representations of themselves through creation of customizable avatars, which gives them a 3D body that they control and provides a â€Å"tangible embodiment of their identity† (Ducheneaut, Wen, Yee, and Wadley 1151). Through the avatars, users can discover an ever-growing assortment of virtual sites, fabricate all sorts of items, from clothing to buildings, and create businesses to sell their goods or services, forge relationships with other players through their interactions with their avatars, and buy virtual property (Hayes 154). According to Dell, as many as 13 million people have logged on to Second Life at least one time and about 450,000 subscribers are from more than 50 countries are online in any given week, ranging in age from 18 – 72, 27% of which are female (Hayes 154). Researchers have begun to conduct studies to analyze the way self-perception formed through interactions in VWs affects behaviors in the re al world (Dell). According to Ducheneaut, Wen, Yee, and Wadley, "the choices users make when creating and customizing their avatar will have repercussions on their interactions with other users† (1151), which can cause users to create online personas that are sometimes the complete opposite of who they are in real life.

Efficient market hypothesis

Efficient market hypothesis Introduction: From the last several decades the efficiency of stock market has been the sole purpose of research studies. As a result, several theories have been introduced and implemented in relation to principally how the competition in the stock market will force the known information into the prices of securities. The knowledge of information on a variety of securities that are traded in the market is one of the major factors in influencing the movements of stock market. In the stock market, a securities price tends to move rise and fall depending mainly on the availability of the information. The stock prices in the efficient market correspond to available information and therefore register any rise or fall mainly when recent and unpredictable information is available. The up and down in the security prices largely depends upon the advantages and disadvantages associated with the available information and to what extent it will affect the companys performance which is represented by the secur ity. As it is very difficult to tell whether the information available is useful or not, in the same way it is quite impossible to make predictions about the trend of the stock market, such that whether there will be an upward or downward trend in the near future by using the available information. In the financial market it is not mandatory that all professionals related to market always possess the information about the securities and have skills to evaluate this information for their gain. The only thing the efficient market requires is that few individuals must have the information about securities and as a result of the information supplied by them, the whole market must be well informed and benefitted. Hence the available information plays an important role in determining the efficiency of the stock market. By focussing on the above idea, the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis has been developed and became one of the most concentrated and debatable topic among professionals and people related to finance and stock market studies. RESEARCH AIM: The main aim of my research is to analyse the efficiency of stock market supported by the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis. It also aims to depict the impact of the Efficient Market Hypothesis on security trading by reviewing the available literature. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: My research aims to answer the following questions: To what extent the available information, according to the concept of Efficient Market Theory, affects the security trading in stock market. What is insider trading and its impact on the efficiency of stock market. What are the various types of anomalies associated with the stock market and their effect on the stock market efficiency. LITERATURE REVIEW: In this part of my research paper I will re-examine the existing literature on the anomalies and the efficiency of the stock market. An efficient market is defined as a market where there are large numbers of rational, profit-maximizers actively competing, with each trying to predict future market values of individual securities, and where important current information is almost freely available to all participants. In an efficient market, competition among the many intelligent participants leads to a situation where, at any point in time, actual prices of individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.(Eugene F. Fama 1965) According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, given by Fama, the ups and downs in the prices of securities in the financial market totally reflect known information at a specified period of time. In other words, Efficient Market Hypothesis states that the trading of securities by the individuals is always carried out purely based on the assumption that securities worth are always more or less than the price offer by market. Whereas, trading of securities trying to outperform the stock market will be luck instead of professional skills if current prices fully reflect all available information as well as stock markets are efficient. According to this hypothesis if new information is revealed about a firm it will be incorporated into the share price rapidly and rationally, with respect to the direction of the share price movement and the size of that movement. (Elearn -NetTel) . Efficiency is an unclear word in itself so for more clarification, in my dissertation, I will describe all ty pes of efficiencies: operational, allocation and pricing. I will also give full detail on levels of market efficiency : weak-form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and strong-form efficiency. According Random walk theory , there are no trends and format that are being followed by the prices of securities in stock market. There is another fact given by this theory which says that the prices of securities in the past can not be useful for future predictions and fluctuation in prices. The Efficient Market Hypothesis and anomalies related to the stock market developed by the researchers always contrasts with each other. The search for anomalies is effectively the search for systems or patterns that can be used to outperform passive and/or buy-and-hold strategies. (Invest Home). With the invention of any anomaly, there is always a kind of exploitation by the investors of the anomalies discovered in order to increase their profit. This practice make the anomaly disappear with the passage of time. There are so many internal and external factors of the entities that affects the operations of stock market and those factors are often known as Anomalies which plays an important role in over performing or under performing the operations of the stock market by taking into consideration the fact that these anomalies have good or bad effect on the prices of stocks and entities. There are different types of anomalies and some of the anomalies are discussed. Fundamental Anomalies: First type of anomaly is fundamental anomaly which basically depends upon the price of the stock and on the past performance of the entity due to which stock prices rises or fall. Several anomalies of these kinds exist related to the growth, present value and profitability of the companies concerned. Under fundamental anomaly, there exist a most historical and famous anomaly named Value investing and is regarded as the most appropriate strategy for investment purposes. These anomalies depend on the stock value and companys performance based on which the stock prices go up or down. A technique used is to divide the given index into high price and low price to book value stocks. The low price to book concept was developed by Eugene Fama and Keneth French favouring the hypothesis that lower risk is attached to value stocks whereas the stocks with growth are attached with higher risk. According to another anomaly named as low price to sales, stocks with low price to sales ratio perform b etter then high price to sales ratio. According to James P. O Shaughnesey, prices are the only strongest determinant of excessive return. There are several studies which advocates that stocks having low P/E ratio always perform better in the market as compared to stocks with high P/E ratios. In the same manner, the stocks with high dividend yield are better performers than stocks with low dividend yields. There are some other stocks named as neglected stock and are chosen by those with the contrarian strategy. A study was conducted by F.M DeBondtand Richard Thaler on 35 best and worst performer stocks between 1932 and 1977 in New York Stock Exchange and came out with the result that the performance of best performer stocks in the stock exchange falls whereas the stocks with bad performance in the past showed better results when compared to the results of the same stock in the past. Technical Anomalies: Another types of anomalies in which past prices and statistics are used to predict the prices of securities are known as technical anomalies. The techniques used in these types of anomalies include strategies related to support and resistance, moving averages and strength. Some researchers are against the method of technical analysis and say that the investors are hardly benefitted from these technical analysis techniques where as some researchers argue that there is enough evidence and facts that are sufficient to say that the technical analysis method is favourable for the investors. According to technical analysts, the selling of stocks is influenced by the resistance level whereas the buying is influenced at the support level. A signal to sell the stock is developed in case the support level is penetrated by the price whereas a signal to buy the stock is produced in case price penetrated the resistance level. According to the conclusion made by William Brock, Josef Lakonishok, an d Blake LeBaron, the outcomes are reliable with technical rules having forecasting power. But at the same time the cost related to transaction must be taken into account before implementing such concepts and strategies. Another conclusion given by them says that the stock returns generating is more complicated and different process as compared to the results obtained by conducting different studies and researches using various linear models. Calendar Anomalies: Calendar anomaly is another type of anomaly in which various effects are included. In January effect, general and small stocks perform abnormally better in the month of January. Philippe Jorion and Robert Haugen say that, the January effect is, perhaps the best-known example of anomalous behaviour in security markets throughout the world. An interesting fact about January effect is that it lasted for nearly two decades whereas any anomaly hardly survive as traders start taking advantage of the anomalies which results in vanishing of anomaly. Another effect named Turn of the Month was founded by Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba, according to which, in between period 1928 to 1993, the returns for the turn of the month performed well and considerably greater than normal performance. According to study, those investors who make regular purchases may be benefitted if they make schedule to do the purchasing at the end and prior to the starting of next month. In addition to these effec ts another effect is known as Monday effect and is considered to be the worst day in stock market if investments are made on this day. According to study conducted by Lawrence Harris, the week end effect occurs during first 45 minutes of buying and selling whereas prices shows upward trend during the first 45 minutes of trading on all other days. This kind of anomaly may occur due to moods and behaviour of people after weekend holidays. Other Anomalies There are certain other facts that are responsible for affecting the operations of stock market. The size effect, announcement based effect, IPOs, Stock buybacks, insider transactions and S and P game. According to Fama and French (1992), the book to market ratio as well as the size capture the cross-sectional variation of average stock returns in NYSE, and Nsdaq securities. A complete investigation of book to market was provided by Tim Loughran in relation to dimensions of firm size, exchange listings etc and experimental findings of French and Fama are basically forwarded by two features of the data which includes relatively low returns on small, new and growing stocks. Srinivas Nippani, Augustine C. Arize study three main US corporate bond market indices by taking into account calendar based anomalies between the years 1982-2002. In the analysis, the whole bond market as well as two broad classes of industries namely industrials and utilities were taken into account. The study find the mixed response for the weekend effect in the overall bond index and industrial index whereas very less response to utilities index. The findings showed definite proof of January effect on the bond market. RESEARCH METHOD AND DATA: Data Collection Methods: The general idea of business research is that it is concerned with collection of data, making questionnaires and then analysing and evaluating the collected data. In addition to this, the identification of problem and the approach needed to solve the problem is also important. (Ghauri et al., 1995). Data sources are often referred to as the carriers of data information. Basically data sources are divided into two categories namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is concerned with the interviews and observations collected while conducting research project where as, secondary data is collected by others and academic and non academic sources are included in this type of data. In my topic of research which is to study the efficiency of stock market, I want to use the Desk method that is secondary data collection method. This includes the gathering of information from sources like books, journals related to my topic of research, and from electronic media like internet which is one of the major sources of information. These all sources of information will be helpful for the accomplishment of my research. DATA SOURCES: As I have already describe that I will use secondary method in my dissertation so I have to search a lot for this topic and for this search my main resource is FBES (Faculty of Business, Environment and Society) which provides the best online business information services which is also including the digital management library. Some of the main sources (journal databases) for my research area are given below: EBSCO Business Source. Business Source Premiere. Emerald. Science Direct. NetLibrary. Overall these cover hundreds of journals, and give access to up to a million journal articles. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: While reviewing all the information from available literature on efficient market hypothesis, operations of stock market, price fluctuations and the anomalies of stock market, I have come to the conclusion that the following outcomes could be possible and predictable from my research, If the stock market is efficient then no information can play any role in making any change towards the performance of stock market. The efficient market hypothesis is expected to take any of the following forms which are weak, semi-strong and strong which purely depends upon the availability, and trueness of the past and present information about the stock concerned in the stock market. The anomalies like technical anomalies could be of great help to the researchers and analysts to predict the changing trend in the prices of stocks in the stock market but the transaction cost is the cause of concern while using such technical method. There are some other stock market anomalies which purely depend upon the internal and external factors of the entity and may result in fluctuations in the stock market. The anomalies related to stock market exist for short period of time but function against the concept of efficient market hypothesis and in my research I will find out the facts relating to the vibrations in the stock market as a result of these anomalies. LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES: While conducting my research I have to face certain difficulties and limitations which may occur during the course of my research. As my research involves the collection of secondary data, I have to be quite aware of the limitations that may arise due to the nature of data. Some of the limitations that are possible are as follows It could be possible that the theory and data we collected for our research is unclear and is not helpful for the companies in their decision making. It is important to check the source of the information as it could be wrong and misleading. It is possible that the theory is quite old for studies and research purposes in todays rapidly developing world. The theory may not be fit for application due to development of new and technological methods and techniques used for the analysis. REFERENCES: Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba (1996)Investment Results from Exploiting Turn-of-the-Month Effects, Journal of Portfolio Management 22, 17-23 Elearn NetTel Financial Analysis Revised: Session 1: Market Efficiency [Online] Available From: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TR505r/page4.htm Eugene Fama and Kenneth R. French (1992)The Cross-section of Expected Stock Returns, The Journal of Finance 47, 427-465. Eugene F. Fama (1995) Random Walks in Stock Market Prices, Financial Analysts Journal 21, 55-59. Ghauri, P., Gronhaug K and Kristianslund I., (1995) Research methods in business studies a practical guide Hempstead: Prentice Hall Investor Home Historical Stock Market Anomolies [Online] Available From: James P. OShaughnessy (1998) 2nd edn. What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time. New York: McGraw Hills Lawrence Harris (1986) A Transaction Data Study of Weekly and Intradaily Patterns in Stock Returns, Journal of Financial Economics 16, 99-117 Loughran Tim (1997)Book-to-Market across firm Size, Exchange, and seasonality: Is There an Effect? Journal of Finance Quantitative Analysis 32, 249-268 Marc R. Reinganum (1997) The Size Effect: Evidence and Potential Explanations, Investing in Small-Cap and Microcap Securities, Association for Investment Management and Research, 1997. Robert Haugen and Philippe Jorion, (1996)The January Effect: Still There after All These Years, Financial Analysts Journal, January-February 1996. Srinivas Nippani and Anita K. Pennathur (2004) Day-of-the-week effects in commercial paper yield rates. Quaterly Review of economics Finance 44, 508-520 Werner F.M. DeBondtand Richard Thaler (1985)Does the Stock Market Overreact? The Journal of Finance 40, 793-805. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market Hypothesis Literature Review 2.0 Introduction In order to better understand the origin and the idea behind the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the first section deals with an overview of the EMH. Section 2 deals with the Random Walk Model which is a close counterpart of the EMH. We then have examine the different degrees of information efficiency that exist, namely the weak form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and the strong form efficiency. In section 4, we have a brief overview of the different types of statistical tests that have been used in the literature to examine the weak form efficiency. Section 5 explains the implications of efficient markets for investors. 2.1 Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The concept of efficiency is one of the essential concepts in finance. Market efficiency is a term used in many different contexts with many different meanings. Market efficiency involves three related concepts- allocation efficiency, operational efficiency and informational efficiency. Allocation efficiency: A characteristic of an efficient market in which capital is allocated in a way that benefits all participants. It occurs when organizations in the public and private sectors can obtain funding for the projects that will be the most profitable, thereby promoting economic growth Operational efficiency: A marketcondition that exists when participants can execute transactions and receive services at a price that fairly equates to the actual costs required to provide them.Economists use this term to describe the way resources are employed to facilitate the operation of the market. It is usually desirable that markets carry out their operations at as low a cost as possible. Information efficiency: The actual market price of a share should reflect its intrinsic value. Information efficiency implies that the observed market price of a security reflect all information relevant to the pricing of the security. The investor can manage to earn merely a risk-adjusted return from his investment, as prices move instantaneously and in an unbiased manner to any news. The efficiency in the market for financial assets and assets returns refers here to the information efficiency and should not be confused with the other types of efficiency. As explained by Rahman and Hossain (2006): For a stock market to be efficient, stock prices must always fully reflect all relevant and available information. This definition can be expressed as Æ’(Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1) = Æ’( Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1), where Æ’(.) = a probability distribution function, Ri,t = the return on security i in period t, à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1 = the information set used by the market at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1 = the specific information item placed in the public domain at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1. This equation has two important implications. 1. Specific information item at t-1 (à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1) cannot be used to earn non zero abnormal return. 2. When a new information item is added to the information set à Ã¢â‚¬  M, it is instantaneously reflected on market prices. The concept of market efficiency was first introduced by Bachelier (1900). Since then, there has been many studies like Working (1934), Cowles and Jones (1937), Kendall (1953), Cootner (1964). However it was Fama (1965) who first used termed it as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“efficient marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Fama (1970) later stated the sufficient but not necessary conditions for efficiency: i. there are no transaction costs in trading securities; ii. all available information is costlessly available to all market participants, and iii. all agree on the implications of current information for the current price and distributions of future prices of each security He also identified three degrees of informational efficiency namely the weak form, the semi-strong form and the strong form. 2.2 Random Walk Model (RWM) The Random Walk Model is a close counterpart of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The model was originally examined by Kendall (1953). It states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Thus the Random Walk theory suggests that stock price change randomly, making it impossible to predict stock prices. The Random Walk Model is linked to the belief that markets are efficient and that investors cannot beat or predict the market because stock prices reflect all available information and the new information arises randomly. As mentioned in Fama (1970) the two hypotheses constituting the Random Walk Model , that is (i) successive price changes are independent and (ii) successive changes are identically distributed, are implicitly assumed in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The Random Walk Model is in direct opposition to technical analysis, which suggests that a stocks future price can be forecasted based on historical information through observing chart patterns and technical indicators. 2.3 Forms of Market Efficiency 2.3.1 Weak-Form Efficiency Fama (1970) stipulates that no investor can earn excess returns by formulating trading strategies based on historical price or return information in a weak-form efficient market. The weak-form efficiency thus assumes that the price of a stock fully reflects all information contained in past prices, that is the historical sequence of prices, rate of returns and other historical market information. A weak-form efficient market implies that it is of no use to engage in technical analysis that use past prices alone to find undervalued stocks. In order to test whether past share prices can be used to predict future share prices( that is, weak-form efficiency), statistical or econometric tests can be used. These studies seek to study the evolution of share prices from one period to the next period and try to detect correlation between the successive price changes. Technical analysts study the evolution of past share prices, with the aim of predicting share prices to make gains. 2.3.2 Semi-Strong Form Efficiency Fama (1970) described the semi-strong form efficiency as one where share price fully reflect all information contained not only in past prices but all public information. All public information includes capital market information as used in the weak form Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH) as well as non-market information such as earnings, dividend announcements, price earnings ratio, information about the economy and political news (Reilly1997). New public information is almost instantaneously integrated in share price and the share price is adjusted so as to reflect the true value of the share. This means that an investor cannot use public information to generate gains on the stock market. In order to test for semi-strong form efficiency, event studies are often used. These event studies are performed by analyzing the effect of the release of new public information on the share price. If the market is semi-strong form efficient, the new public information ( for example annual reports, earning announcement or dividend announcement) is instantaneously integrated in the share price, so as to reflect the intrinsic value of the share. New information can be both good or bad. Thus they can cause increases or decreases at their release. 2.3.3 Strong Form Efficiency Under strong form efficiency, the current price reflects all information, public as well as private. Private information, in this context, means information not yet published. On the stock market, there are professionals (for example security analysts, fund managers) who have private as well as public information. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) assumes that no investor has monopolistic access to any information. This means that as new public and private information is released, it is incorporated in share price to reflect its true value. An investor will not be able to consistently find undervalued or overvalued shares and make gains on the strong form efficient market. Fama (1970) perceives a strong form efficient market as one where investors are not expected to earn excess returns by relying on inside information. To test whether past share prices, public and private information can used to predict future share prices, the investment records and gains generated by professional investors are often studied. Investors should not be consistently able to make gains by using public and private information. At all moments, the share prices incorporate all public and private information to reflect the true value of the shares. 2.4 Statistical Tests to examine validity of Weak-Form EMH In order to examine the validity of the weak form efficiency, a number of statistical tests have been used in the literature. These tests can be categorized into two groups: i. Using mechanical trading rules also known as filter rules. These rules test for the possibility of non-linear dependence existing in the price data. Filter rules were first used by S.A Alexander (1961) and later Fama and Blume (1966) added to the literature. Professor Alexanders filter techniques attempts to apply a sophisticated criteria to identify movements in stock prices. An x percent filter is defined as follows: If the daily closing price of a particular security moves up at least x percent, buy and hold the security until its price moves down at least x percent from a subsequent high, then sell and go short (Fama and Blume, 1966). The short position is then maintained until the daily closing price rises at least x percent above a subsequent low when one is going to cover and buy. Moves less than x percent in either direction are ignored. ii. Statistical tests of independence between successive price changes. Serial autocorrelation tests and run tests are among the most popular tests. Some of the researches in this field use Spectral Analysis which decomposes a time series into a spectrum of cycles of different length. This spectral decomposition of a time series yield a spectral density function that measures the contribution of each of the frequency bands to the overall variance of the times series. There is also a relatively new test introduced by Lo and Mackinlay (1988), it is called the Variance Ratio which is based on the heteroscedasticity problem. The basic idea behind the Lo and Mackinlay (1988) variance-ratios test is that if a natural logarithm of a time series is a pure random walk, then, the variance of its k-differences in a finite sample grows linearly with the difference, Let (pt) denote a time series consisting of T observations p1,p2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,pT of asset returns. Then, the variance-ratio of the k-th difference, VR(k), is defined as: VR(k)= à Ã†â€™2(k)/à Ã†â€™2(1) where, VR(k) is the variance-ratio of the shares returns k-th differences; à Ã†â€™2(k) is the unbiased estimator of 1/k of the variance of the shares returns k-th differences, under the null hypothesis; à Ã†â€™2(1) is the variance of the first-differenced share returns series, and k is the number of days of base observations interval or lag (Ntim et al. ,2007). 2.5 Implications of EMH Market efficiency has important implications for both investors and authorities. If a market is inefficient, investors should doubt the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hold the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  strategy and should try to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“beat the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . While the authorities on their part should restructure the stock market by enacting effective law and enhancing financial media. The graph below shows the effect of EMH on stock prices. The straight line shows the reaction under EMH while the dotted lines show the over-reaction and under-reaction that occur with the existence of market imperfections. If a market is efficient, investors: 1. should not worry about investment analysis. They should rather concentrate on holding a well diversified portfolio. Investors holding an inefficient diversified portfolio will be exposed to risk which could be avoided and for which they will not be rewarded. In other words, the market only provides return for systematic risk, while specific risks have to be diversified away. 2. Should adopt a buy and hold policy once they have established their portfolios. This is because there is no advantage in changing from one group of securities to another. By doing this, there would be transaction costs which they would have to incur and as a result, the risk-adjusted return would be affected. Altering the composition of a portfolio can only be justified a) if the risk exposure has changed due to relative changes in the market value of the constituent securities. b) if tax payments can be minimized. Other implications of EMH are: Price changes are random and unpredictable Investors are not easily fooled by the glossy financial reports or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"creative accounting techniques Timing of new issues of securities are not important since prices represent the intrinsic and will reflect the degree of risk in the share. Thus under EMH neither fundamental nor technical analysis can be used to achieve superior gains. Investors should concentrate on constructing and holding efficiently diversified portfolios. 2.6 Empirical Evidences Based on the literature, it can be seen that there are two competing schools of thoughts about market efficiency. The first school argues that markets are efficient and as a result, returns cannot be predicted. For example early studies (Working, 1934; Kendall, 1943, 1953; Cootner, 1962; Osborne, 1962; Fama, 1965) on developed markets support the weak form efficiency of the market with a low degree of serial correlation and transaction cost. The studies in this school of thought, support the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and show that price changes could not be used to forecast future price changes, especially after transaction costs were taken into account. The second school, on the other hand, provides empirical evidence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies that contradict the theory of efficient markets. Some of these studies are Summers (1986), Keim (1988), Fama and French (1988), Lo and MacKinlay (1988) and Poterba and Summers (1988). They found some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies, which could not be explained by the theory of Fama (1965). Some of the market anomalies that they found are: January Effect/Turn of The Year Effect Stock returns are usually abnormally high during the first few days of January. The January effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Then they quickly reinvest their money after the new year, causing stock prices to rise. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) was among the first to prove this market anomaly. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) methodology gives smaller companies greater relative influence than would be true in value-weighted indices where large firms dominate. Subsequent researches (Reinganum, 1983; Roll, 1983, among others) later confirm that the January effect is a small cap phenomenon. Size Effect/Small Firm Effect The Size Effect is the tendency for firms with a small market capitalization to outperform larger companies over the long term. For example Banz (1981) and Reinganum (1981) showed that small-capitalization firms on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earned a return in excess of what would be predicted by the Sharpe (1964) Linter (1965) capital asset-pricing model (CAPM) from 1936-1975. However as mentioned by G.W. Schwert (2003, p.943), it seems that the small-firm anomaly has disappeared since the initial publication of the papers that discovered it. Alternatively, the differential risk premium for small-capitalization stocks has decreased over the years. Weekend Effect/Day of The Week Effect This is a phenomenon in which stock returns on Mondays are often significantly lower than those of the immediately preceding Friday. French (1890) observed this anomaly. He noted that the average return to the Standard and Poors (SP) Composite Portfolio was reliably negative over weekends in the periods 1953-1977. Again, like the size effect, the weekend effect seems to have disappeared, or at least substantially attenuated, since it was first documented in 1980. Value Effect/Price Earnings Ratio Effect The value effect refers to the tendency for stocks with low price earnings ratio to outperform portfolios consisting of stocks with a high price earnings ratio. Basu (1977) shows that investors holding low price earnings ratio portfolio earned higher returns. The existence of market anomalies have important implications. If stock returns do not follow a random process, then it is possible to design profitable trading strategies based on historical information 2.6.1 Empirical Evidences from Developing Countries Despite the large number of empirical studies that have been conducted to test the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in developed countries with booming financial markets, studies to support or dispute the efficiency or inefficiency of the African stock markets are quite limited. There is a small number of empirical studies analyzing emerging African equity markets with regards to weak form of market efficiency test. While some of these studies have analysed single markets ( e.g. Samuels and Yacout 1981; Parkinson 1984; Ayadi 1984; Dickinson and Muragu 1994; Osei 1998; Olowe 1999; Mecagni and Sourial 1999; Asal 2000; Adelegan, 2004; Dewotor and Gborglah, 2004; Ntim et al., 2007), others have analysed groups of countries (e.g. Claessens et al., 1995; Magnusson and Wydick, 2002; Smith et al., 2002; Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003; Simons and Laryea, 2004; Jefferis and Smith, 2005). However, while there are only a few empirical studies, their conclusions as to the efficiency and predictability of future stock returns have been mixed. For example Dickinson and Muragu (1994) shows that the Kenyan stock market is weak form efficient, in contrast to the results of Parkinson (1984). Also, most of the existing studies made use of conventional weak form testing techniques such as serial correlation tests. Samuels and Yacout (1981) and Parkinson (1984) were among the first to use serial correlation tests to examine the weak form efficiency on the African continent. Samuels and Yacout analysed the weak form market efficiency in weekly price series of 21 listed Nigerian firms from 1977 to 1979 and provided empirical evidence that the market was efficient. Parkinson on his part, analysed monthly price series of 30 listed Kenyan firms from 1974 to 1978 and rejected the weak form efficiency. Dickinson and Muragu (1994) reinvestigated the Kenyan market by applying run and serial correlation tests to weekly stock price series of 30 listed companies on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and their results were in contrast with Parkinson (1984). They demonstrated that successive price changes are independent of each other for the majority of the companies investigated. Most of the developing countries suffer from the problem of thin trading (Mlambo and Biekpe, 2005). The problems caused by thin trading have been widely acknowledged in financial market researches (e.g., Dimson, 1979; Cohen et al. ,1983; Butler and Simonds, 1987; Lo and Mackinlay, 1990a and b; Bowie, 1994; Muthuswamy and Whaley, 1994) . Fisher (1966) who was the first to identify the bias caused by thin trading in the serial correlation of index returns, explained that recorded prices of securities are not necessarily equal to their underlying theoretical values. This is because when a share does not trade, the price recorded remains the closing price when the share was last traded. However, while most of the African stock markets suffer from thin trading, many existing studies fail to adjust for thin trading. For example recent studies conducted on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003 and Simons and Laryes, 2004) made used of conventional techniques and did not adjust for thin trading. Other studies (Kabba, 1998; Roux and Gilberson, 1978 and Poshawale, 1996) which have examined the behavior of stock price and rejected the weak-form efficiency, have explained that the inefficiency might be due to delay in operations and high transaction cost, thinness of trading and illiquidity in the market.