The Keppel Corporation - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1953 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Level High school Did you like this example? 1. Introduction 1.1 Objective of the assignment 1.2 Structure of assignment 2. Background of the assignment The assignment is based on the research of Keppel Corporation. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Keppel Corporation" essay for you Create order Keppel Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Singapore and one of the worlds largest builders of offshore oilrigs. The Keppel Group of Companies includes Keppel Offshore Marine, Keppel Infrastructure, Keppel Telecommunications Transportation (Keppel TT) and Keppel Land, among others. 3. Concept of Shareholder Value Maximisation 3.1 Concepts: In recent years, shareholder values creation becomes a very popular topic among top management. They think through creating shareholder value strategy, companies can gain large profits from it. But many of them misunderstand this concept. Shareholder value maximization is a kind of strategy for a long-term business operation. Totally different from maximizing profit, shareholder value maximization focus on identifying growth opportunities and building competitive advantage. So shareholder value maximization punishes short-term strategies that destroy assets and fail to capitalize on the companys core capabilities. There was a version of definition to define the shareholder value that the value delivered to shareholders because of managements ability to grow earnings, dividends and share price. In other words, shareholder value is the sum of all strategic decisions that affect the firms ability to efficiently increase the amount of free cash flow over time. Theo Vermaelen, Professor of Finance at INSEAD argued that shareholder value is defined as the present value of free cash flows from now until infinity, discounted at a rate that reflects the risks of these cash flows, therefore, maximizing shareholder value is not the same thing as maximizing short-term profits, earnings per share or manipulating stock prices through accounting fraud. This is a mainstream opinion for most of experts in the world. But these arguments mostly concentrate more on what will shareholder value maximization bring to us? They ignore the definition on the premise of who are shareholders. Many writers also have p ointed out that a company has social and environmental responsibilities and that shareholders are not the only stakeholders in the business. These experts argued that some groups outside of stakeholders are also having long-term interests and relationships with a company. These are groups that mentioned as employees, customers, managers, suppliers and community. As we listed, almost all kinds of people relate to a company impact share price. So in that case, in the long term, shareholder value is the best strategy for all stakeholders. But it depends on the way managers create shareholder value. On the other hand, all shareholders are also very vulnerable in a short-run business due to a non-sustainable resources control. But in practice, managers who insist shareholder value maximization are always over-concentrated on the words of maximization. Sometimes, when ethical problem were met, some managers even know what is wrong to social responsibility, they have to make more pro fits for stakeholders. And in businesses, entrepreneurs commonly consider this term as: managers try to gain the maximized profits to increase their companies share price by whatever ways can be done. And this version of definition is totally negative to compare with experts theoretical argument. 3.2 Advantages: The opinion of shareholder wealth is tightly linked to the opinion of continued business expansion and profits. There are three advantages of maximization of shareholder wealth. Long-term Development Economists such as Bartley Madden and James Owens think of the maximization of shareholder wealth to be the natural result of profitable business activities. These are similar to capital expansion. These two specialists differ on this as the objective of all business, but the general opinion is that such expansion is what makes stockholders happy. This results in loyal stockholders, devoted board members and the endless increase in share value. The media attention of such performance generated can enhance the public reputation of any firm. Except maintaining happy shareholders and obtaining a powerful reputation, maximizing shareholder value has many advantages. It is very obvious that continuing profits, reinvestment and expansion make everyone happy. To Managers, salaries and reputations increase; to salesmen, commissions rise; to governments, more tax funds and more people are being hired to be staff at the expanding firm. These are all the segments of the advantage of long-term development of the firm. Employee Benefit There are situations in which a share increases when a company declares plan to fire employees, but observed over time this is the exception rather than the regulation. Generally, companies successfully increase share prices with growing and adding more employees, therefore benefiting society. Notice that many governments around the world, including U.S. federal and state governments, are privatizing some of their st ate-owned activities through selling these operations to stakeholders. Probably not surprisingly, the sales and cash flows of lately privatized companies generally enhance. In addition, studies show that these recently privatized companies have a trend to increase and therefore need more employees when they are managed with the objective to maximize share price. Social Contribution The owners of share are society to a large extent. More than seventy years ago, this was not correct, because most stock ownership was concentrated in a relatively small part of society, including the richest individuals. Since then, there has been explosive growth in pension funds, life insurance companies, and mutual funds. These organizations now own more than 60% of all shares, which indicates that most people have an indirect stake in the stock market. Furthermore, compare with only 32.5% of all U.S households own stock directly in 1989, now ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s more than 50% of that. Hence , most social members now have a significant stake in the stock market, no matter directly or indirectly. Thus, when a manager behaves to maximize the share price, this promotes the quality of life for millions of the general public. If a firm is continually growing, investing and expanding, everyone benefits. The concentration of corporations on maximizing shareholder wealth also potentially has several negative consequences. 3.3 Disadvantages The concentration of corporations on maximizing shareholder wealth also potentially has several negative consequences. Difficulties in Operation There are two basic and relevant criticisms of the maximizing shareholder wealth. One criticism is that it does not give staff enough incentive to realize high performance. The other is that it is difficult in operation it doesnt give employees and managers a guidance of what to do at an actual level. There are some reasons why shareholder value objective may not be desire. First of all, normally few of the employees are also members of shareholders. Secondly, the direct connection between their own specific occupations and the share prices of the company they cannot see. Thirdly, share prices often move because of macroeconomic elements and market drive uncorrelated to the administrative performance. Bad Business Practices One potential disadvantage of corporations to focus on maximizing shareholder wealth is that it can cause terrible or unsustainable business practices. Some managers misguide investors on purpose for making their firms appear more valuable than they truly are. Sometimes these behaviors are lawless, like those by the senior executives at Enron. Sometimes the actions are lawful, but they are taken to promote the current market price higher than its basic price in the short term. For example, introducing to the global crisis which start in the late 2000s, many financial organizations in the U.S. gave mortgages to borrowers, even they had po or credit in the expectations of making as much gain as possible. However these practices may have generated short-term profits, the consequent plenty of defaults and foreclosures finally caused banks to undertake enormous losses. In some situations, businesses participate in illegal or immoral activities, such as tampering financial information for enhancing shareholder wealth. Overmuch concentrate on shareholder wealth is generally utilized as an element that led to the recession that began in late 2007, which so called the Global Financial Crisis. 4. Company valuation over the past 5 years: In order to assess whether Keppel Corporation has delivered shareholder value over the past 5 years, it is based on a companys ability to generate cash flow now and future. By using three methods below, it will be estimated and explain clearly. 4.1: Net asset value The Net Asset Value is a calculation that determines the price of a share in a mutual fund. Stock prices change within minutes, sometimes-even seconds. The reason why we calculate NAV is that mutual fund of NPV is adjusted at the close of each business day, making it much easier for investors and brokers to track. Calculated as: NAV = Total Assets Total Liabilities 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Fixed asset 5,890 5,430 5,120 4,080 559 Current asset 985,367 1,785,666 2,024,337 2,286,081 2,818,524 Current liability 712,205 425,017 415,421 504,160 542,175 Non current liability 305,608 5,377 504,934 504,936 1,504,932 Net asset value (26,556) 1,360,702 1,109,102 1,281,065 771,976 The net asset value of Keppel Corporation from 2008 to 2012 4.2: Price earning multiple The second method is Price-earning multiple. It is a valuation ratio of a companys current share price compared to its per-share earnings. The P/E shows the relationship between the stock price and the firms earnings, and it is the most popular metric of stock analysis. Calculated as: P/E = Market per share Earning per share Average closing stock (Market price) EPS P/E ratio 2008 4.32 0.72 6.0 2009 8.26 0.70 11.8 2010 11.322 1.02 11.10 2011 7.735 0.91 8.50 2012 11.50 1.25 9.20 (https://www.dividendsranking.com/Keppel-Corp-dividend-yield.html) The price earning per share of Keppel Corporation has a fluctuation trend. However, there is an upward movement during 2008 to 2012 from 6.0 to 9.20. It increases 3.20. The fluctuation of the price earning per share may be due to the number changes of price per share and earning per share of each year. The price earning per share grows up dramatically at this time is from 2008 to 2009, which is 5.8. In contrast, the earing per share decreases from 0.72 to 0.70. To gain this significant increase, the price per share of Keppel Corporation also increases. On the next year, there is an increase slightly, which is 0.02. A higher price-earning ratio indicates that the market is more willing to pay for the earning of the company. It also suggests that investors are expecting higher earning increase in the future, and how fast company will recover its current share price per earning. It shows a good growth potential. On the contrary, the price earning per share slumps down from 11.10 (2010) to 8.50 (2011) before turning increase to 9.20 in 2012. The table above shows that there is a decrease from 1.02 (2010) to 0.91 (2011) so that, the price per share of firm also go down. The market doesnt have much confidence in the future of share at this time. 4.3: Discounted cash flow: The discounted cash flow is a quantification method, which is used to assess the attractiveness of an investment chances. The Discounted Cash Flow analysis involves the use of future free cash flow protrusions and discounts them. Hence, it is to approach the net present value that is used to calculate the potential for investment. The free cash flow indicates that the cash left in the firm after paying all operating and mandatory expenditures such as interest, tax payment and investment expenses. With free cash flow, a firm is allowed to pursue chances that enhance shareholder value, develop new products, and pay sharehold ers. Free cash flow is calculated as: Operating profit + Depreciation Interest Taxes 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Operating profit 1,238,474 1,504,791 1,756,494 2,824,344 2,621,175 Depreciation 139,078 174,313 188,633 208,571 210,512 Interest 78,671 49,675 64,701 98,230 134,933 Taxes 288,030 347,875 580,632 443,574 500,619 Investment Expenditure 563,076 1,221,440 1,266,045 1,561,196 1,323,241 Free cash flow 447,775 60,114 33,749 929,915 872,894 From the result of free cash flow with the assumption of rate of return is 9%, which is depended on the average closing stock during 5 years; the discounted cash flow is calculated as: FCF1 Vo= The opportunity is considered to be a good one if the value reached at through the discounted cash flow analysis is greater than the current cost of investment. 4.4: Discussion of the Findings (compare with market) 5. Conclusion: References: https://www.dividendsranking.com/Keppel-Corp-dividend-yield.html Peter Doyle, 2nd edition, Value-based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value.; 2008, Published by John Wiley Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, West Sussex, England. Theo Vermaelen, Maximising shareholder value: an ethical responsibility?; December 26, 2008 ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢www.insead.edu ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢available at ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ https://knowledge.insead.edu/csr/ethics/maximising-shareholder-value-an-ethical-responsibility-1840.

Eco 372 Week 1 Dq1 Essay - 1395 Words

Week 1 – DQ Identify economic factors that affect the real GDP, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and a key interest rate. How do you predict the economy will perform in the next two years given the current state of two of the economic factors you identified? How might your organization be affected by these changes? Response #1 There are many factors that affect the real GDP such as interest rates, consumers confidence in spending and/or asset prices. When it comes to interest rates, the lower the rate the less expensive it is to borrow, which encourages spending. For example, those individuals who have a mortgage to pay will have a lower payment; however, when there is a low to no interest rate, it leaves lenders†¦show more content†¦As people spend more money, the demand for money also grows. When money is in high demand, the Government lowers interest rates, thus creating access to more funds by more people and more goods will be sold. Consumption is a good indicator of consumer confidence, which means people feel secure about the future and dont mind spending their money on more frivolous things. When consumer confidence is low, people hold onto their money and dont spend as much. I feel that if Americans are confident about their jobs and their future that their consumption will continue to in crease and the economy will gradually start to rebound. If , however, they are not confident then consumption will go own and the economy will grow stagnant or get worse. Where I live, the current economic crisis doesnt seem to have penetrated the area as much as other parts of the country. Our unemployment rate for Kansas is 6.3%, fairly low compared to the rest of the country. The highest is Nevada with 12%. Here we have new businesses and houses going up everywhere. My employer, General Electric, has just finished building a 100+ wind turbine park that I am currently in charge of. I dont think that the local area will be affected by the changes in consumption or consumer confidence as much as other areas would be. This town in particular seems to be fairly self contained, lots of local mom and pop shops, not as many large national businesses that if they packed up and left town would harm the

Tousrism Australia Development of Australian Tourism

Question: Discuss the term for Tousrism Australia and Development of Australian Tourism. Answer: Tourism Australia is managed by a Board of Directors who is answerable to the Federal Minister for Tourism. The sole function of the Board is to craft the policies and to facilitate proper and efficient organization of the Tourism Australia. For the appointment to be a director of the Board of Tourism Australia, a candidate must meet the following essential criteria. Education A candidate must possess a degree from a university recognized by the Australian Higher Education Board and specialized in the field such as ecotourism, business management, tourism marketing, or a suitable combination, in addition, to experience. Experience Potential candidate must have fifteen years experience in a managerial position either in public or a private organization. Furthermore, he/she must have enormous experience in policy formulation and implementation of corporate best practices and governance principles. Similarly, he/she need to have the ability to relate with the senior government officials as well as stakeholders in different areas of specialization (Buultjens and Gale, 2013, p. 45). Knowledge, understanding A potential candidate must have adequate knowledge of the mandate, responsibilities, and the roles of Tourism Australian Board. Additionally, he/she must have sufficient understanding of the Australian Tourism Act as well as the financial policies of the Australia. Abilities The candidate possesses strong managerial skills and leadership abilities to aid the Board in the effective performance of its duties. Similarly, he/she must have excellent reporting and communication skills, both in written and oral. Also, he/she must have the ability to manage communications with the media as well as with the stakeholders (Park and Kim, 2014, p. 208). References Buultjens, J., and Gale, D., 2013. Facilitating the development of Australian tourism enterprises; The business ready program for indigenous tourism. Tourism Management Perspectives, 5, pp.41-50. Park, D.B., Doh, K.R. and Kim, K.H., 2014. Successful managerial behavior for farm-based Tourism: A functional approach. Tourism Management, 45, pp.201-210.

Significance of Manned Missions to Mars free essay sample

After Apollo 11 succeeded in the first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969, people’s interests were gradually leaving the Moon and went on to Mars, which is the most similar planet to Earth in the solar system. In such a current of public opinion, the U. S. and other countries have been trying to send human beings to Mars. However, today, there is a debate as to whether we should continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, or not. Some people say that it is not worth the expense and risk to make a manned flight to Mars. On the other hand, others think it is still important to continue making those attempts – not for a material purpose, but for pursuing romance of space travel. Opponents of a manned mission to Mars claim that it costs too much to keep making attempts, and if we did not have to spend such money on those missions, we could increase health-care, education, and some other budgets. We will write a custom essay sample on Significance of Manned Missions to Mars or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is true. However, what is waiting for us in such a future as we will get at the sacrifice of dream or romance? What is necessary for people of today is not material wealth which we can get by cutting the budget of missions to Mars but mental wealth which we can cultivate by pursuing romance or dreaming of it. Opponents also maintain that we should quit trying to make those impractical attempts and wait until the technology is established because we cannot send mankind to Mars with the current technology. However, this argument is off the point because it is not important whether those attempts are impractical or not at the present moment. Necessity always makes technology develop. By practically continuing making efforts to send mankind to Mars, we can develop the technology which is needed to make it possible. In order to get something, we have to do something. Just waiting for something doesn’t help. The other arguments advanced by opponents is that we will not have any beneficial results except mental satisfaction such as dream or romance even if we can make a manned flight to Mars. However, of course, there are several beneficial things we will get from the success of missions to Mars. At first, understanding Mars helps us to understand more about our planet Earth because of the similarity between these two planets. We may be able to know how to protect the environment on Earth by studying how Mars died. Additionally, space engineering is one of the latest frontiers of science. We will be able to apply the technology we will have developed in this field to several other fields. Accordingly, missions to Mars have a benefit not only for people who are interested in Mars but also for people who are not. Certainly, it may not be easy to continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, and it costs a lot. Nonetheless, things we get by missions to Mars are more than things we lose by it as mentioned above. By pursuing romance of space travel, we make dream which seems impossible to be achieved come true, and while we enjoy technology and knowledge we get from missions to Mars, we can avoid losing mental wealth at the same time. We should continue trying to make a manned flight to Mars.

Heart Of Darkness Essays (1228 words) - Fiction, Literature

Heart Of Darkness Heart Of Darkness Whether a reader connects to the symbolism of Heart Of Darkness or is merely reading it for fun, one cannot go away from this story without a lingering feeling of uneasiness. Joseph Conrad writes what seems to be a simple story about a man in search of an ivory hunter; one must look deeper into the jungle which makes up the core of Heart Of Darkness , where Conrad hides the meanings and symbolisms that shape this story. Conrad has been accused of being a racist because of the way he portrays the natives in this story. It is a controversy that continues even today. It can be argued that because of the way he depicts the natives, they cannot be an essential part of Heart of Darkness. However, if one reads between the lines it is obvious the story would not be shaped the way it was if the natives were not involved. The natives in a sense, create Kurtz. They are his "people" and his followers: Suddenly round the corner of the house a group of men appeared, as though they had come up from the ground. They waded waist-deep in the grass in a compact body bearing an improvised stretcher in their midst. Instantly in the emptiness of the landscape a cry arose whose shrillness pierced the still air...And is if by enchantment streams of human beings - of naked human beings - with spears in their hands, with bows, with shields, with wild glances and savage movements, were poured into the clearing by the dark-faced and pensive forest.(58-59) The first time Marlow meets Kurtz is in this scene. It shows Kurtz not only depends on the natives for physical support but also for protection. Conrad's portrayal of the natives as "human beings with wild glances and savage movements" is ironic because Conrad does not think they have the right to be put on the same level as the white man even though Kurtz could not exist without them. The natives are Kurtz's followers and worship him like a god and yet they are seen as only a part of the jungle that is "dark" and "undiscovered". One scene in Heart Of Darkness which unquestionably shows the lack of respect the natives are given is when Marlow is at the Company Station on his way to the Congo. He describes the natives as "ants" which are decomposers. Marlow is describing the natives as creatures that do nothing but break down and destroy the land. When Marlow tries to get away from this scene of natives he steps "into a gloomy circle of some Inferno...Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair...They were dying slowly...they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom." (20) Marlow characterizes the natives as "unearthly creatures" that have been abandoned from society. It has been accepted that they do not deserve to live like regular human beings. They must live in "abandonment and despair" because they are criminals. Marlow depicts them as slowly rising out of the earth as if they were horrid creatures that only come out in the darkness because no one can bear to see them in the daytime. Marlow also describes the natives as "bundles of acute angles sat with their legs drawn up...one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink. He lapped out of his hand, then sat up in the sunlight crossing his shins in front of him, and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone." (21) This is utter degradation of a human being. At this point, one does not even see the natives as human anymore. They have been described not only as acute angles but as dogs that lap up their water on all fours. How more degrading can one be to a race of people? The one distinguishable native in Heart Of Darkness is the helmsman. Although, he is not important enough to be given a name, he is given a title which is a step above his comrades. He is "an athletic black belonging to some coast tribe...He sported a pair of brass earrings, wore a blue cloth wrapper from the waist to the ankle, and thought all the world of himself. He was the most unstable kind

Organizational analysis with reference to Social work

Organizational analysis with reference to Social work Introduction Organizations employ a vast range of social workers. These social workers are engaged in myriads of work within any organization. This work indeed varies from working in a large organization charged with production of goods to organizations that are predominantly engaged in designing and production of services aimed at satisfying communal and even individual needs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational analysis with reference to Social work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Human service organizations employ an immense number of social workers. As a way of example, psychiatrists and psychologists entangle some of the social workers who work much more independently that social workers do generally. Given the complexities of social work service within an organization, many theories have been proposed to explain the nature and the relevance of social workers within an organization. Some of such theo ries are feminism and human services, as discussed by Jones and May (1992, p. 56), amongst others. This paper works from a human service organization perspective to compare and contrast feminism and human service theories. Background Following the emergence of the second movement for liberation of women, scholars have challenged many of the traditional understanding of the women’s experiences. This has prompted the emergence of a new scholarship body deploying concepts of feminism. With respect to social work theories, feminism is deployed to refer to â€Å"a mode of analysis involving certain ways of thinking and of acting, which are designed to eliminate the oppression of women in the society to achieve women’s liberation† (Hannan, Carroll Polos 2003, p.310). Feminism theory provides strongly founded grounds for studying the various experiences of women with social human services organizations especially based on the premise that social, economic and politica l structures shape the experiences of women. According to Tong (1989), in social work context, â€Å" feminist thought assumes that women’s interests and perspectives are valid in and of themselves, are not inferiors or secondary to those of men’s, nor should they be defined only in relation to or as a derivation from men’s experiences† (30).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Indeed, this concern forms the criticisms of traditional psychological, philosophical, and historical scholarship. The absence of such assumptions is the building blocks of the feministic approaches employed in human services organizations. Human services theoretical perspective has at its heart the perception that social work is all about helping people irrespective of the differences either in gender terms or in any other way of classification of organizations’ w orking population. As Reskin and Hartmann (1986) note, human service theory perceives â€Å"social work as being all about social change at an individual as well as at community’s level† (p.102). In this context, human services theory mostly focuses on the resolution of people challenges within an organization amid the complexities that exist within human services organizations. In fact, this theory appreciates this nature of complexities. Thus, it sees the solutions to such complexities as being rested on the platforms of inculcating the spirit of creativity and fostering knowledge development among social workers (Jones May 1992, p.47). Ideally, human services theory seeks to provide responses to various interrogatives such as the relevance of seeking to know why people suffer, people’s responsibilities in resolution of social work problems showing how mechanisms of providing knowledge about human challenges may be availed. Similarities Both human services an d feminism theories are all advanced with the main objective of providing ways of explaining people’s behaviors, the way they view and even think about particular situations within the social work environment. Essentially then, the two perspectives provide the lens through which social workers acquire guidance. From a different dimension, the two theories are similar since their practicability is rested on a variety of quite similar frameworks, which actually influence the two perspectives. An example of these frameworks is ecosystem perspective. According to Hannan, Carroll and Polos, ecosystem perspective â€Å"focuses on the interplay between the person and his or her environment† (2003, p.312).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational analysis with reference to Social work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Paramount to note is that, whether from a feministic theory perspective or human service s perspective, it is widely agreeable that people within human services organization deserve to understand the functioning of various individuals. However, in an endeavor to understand people better, it is crucial that one understands the environmental context within which the person lives (Jones May 1992, p.52). Mohr (1998) â€Å"argues that â€Å"Individuals exist within families, families exist within communities and neighborhoods, and neighborhoods exist in a political, economic, and cultural environment† (p.355). In both theoretical perspectives, it is arguable that an individual’s environment contributes widely into shaping individual and group beliefs, choices and behaviors. Apparently, social work, as a discipline, pays an immense focus in attempting to understand people’s problems. These problems arguably stem right from the environment in which an individual comes, something that both human services and feminism theories indebt to address. Both theor etical perspectives deploy the concepts of human strengths in their premises. In the words of Berkun, â€Å"strengths perspective is built on the assumption that every individual, family, group and community has strengths. Focusing on these, strengths lead to growth and overcoming difficulties† (1984, p. 22). Directly congruent with this line of thought, both theoretical perspectives perceive clients as being the most plausible determinates of the appropriate helping strategies for employment in the resolution of problems afflicting them. In both theoretical perspectives, working from the contexts of clients are critical endeavors in contributing to coming up with a helping strategy that is both effective and efficient in resolution of challenges at hand. Consideration of cultural perspectives is yet another essential similarity between human services and feminism approaches in addressing issues in human services organizations.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Arguably, in an attempt to come into an understating of people’s challenges within an organization, it is crucial for social workers, irrespective of the theoretical perspective they subscribe to, to ensure that they are culturally competent. This ideally calls for â€Å"understanding and approval of cultural distinctions, taking into account the beliefs, values, activities, and customs of distinctive population groups within an organisation† (Hannan, Carroll and Polos 2003, p.314). As a way of example, social workers working in the health services sector, whether deploying feminism or human services theoretical perspective or not, have at the back of their minds that the manner in which people discuss issues relating to their bodies impacts the way a person reacts. This acts as a determining factor of whether the person in question accepts or rejects the health services being offered. In this context, both theoretical perspectives recognize the necessity to integrate both acceptable social work principles with cultural principles of clients in an attempt to make social workers’ work yield substantive fruits. Differences Although human services and feminism approaches to social work within an organization have a number of similarities, some differences are also worth noting. While human services theory tends to treat all people working with organizations irrespective of the differences in terms of gender and or sexuality, feminism theory focuses more on women, as opposed to men claiming that women are different in a myriad of ways. Consequently, it sounds substantial to argue that â€Å"Feminist theory examines women in the social world addressing issues of concern to women focusing on these from the perspective, experiences, and viewpoint of women† (Berkun 1984, 20). At the inner core of the feminism theory is holding the position that women have been disadvantaged for a long time especially when perceived as lesser sex. For this p urpose, feminism theory in social work pays incredible time to introspect â€Å"feminist history, geography, literature, science, and develops ideas and approaches that are useful in a wide variety of these disciplines† (Mohr 1998, p.345). Feminism theory, as opposed to human services theory, is essentially a criticism of the convectional social work theories. Placing more emphasis on the women’s need developed an alternative knowledge an endevour to strike a commonplace and position as compared to men. Arguably, the position taken by feminism theorists is indeed a questionable one. For instance, how can focusing more on problems related to women help in promoting equality within human services organizations while negating the concerns of men, either partially or in totality? Apparently, the more the debate uphold the articulation women as essential social group worth of protection against the past historical gender (male) perceiving itself as being more superiors, the more the much forgotten differences tend to resurface. Second wave of women libration concerns are critical elements of feminism theory, as opposed to human services theory, which treats both genders equally in its premises. As argued before, this movement endeavors to provide an amicable understanding of experiences of women within organizations through promotion of new scholarship. Sandell (1993) notes, â€Å"this expanding interest in women has influenced the social work profession, but not to the extent one might expect in a field dominated by women both as professionals and clients† (p.663). In this end, it is evident that feminism as a practice, ideology or an ethical commitment has dominated the concerns of social work more as compared to human services theoretical perspectives. Arguably, this is perhaps because feminism theory, in comparison to human services theory, deploys values that are essentially sympathetic in nature. The end effect is women social workers per ceiving themselves as â€Å"integral to, and synonymous with, their personal and professional identity† (Sandell 1993, p.665). From this perspective, it is crucial to note that feminism theory tends to offer an opportunity for people subscribing to it to deviate from deploying the theory to guide their professional practice and rather focus more on applying their personal beliefs coupled with their own values in practice. Relevance of feminism and human services knowledge to professional social work practice The knowledge of feminism and human services theories and their applicability in human services organization is incredible since they aid immensely in fostering social workers’ professionalism and mastery of their areas of specialization. This knowledge aids them in identification of the eminent points of disagreements between the two theoretical perspectives and hence evaluation of the implication of such difference in the context of the social worker-client relat ionship. Arguably, this may go far in aiding in integration and appreciation of the perspectives one subscribes to with other people’s ways of thinking in an attempt to create a professional body. With regard to Thomson (2000), â€Å"the existence and use of a theory base or body of formal knowledge are strongly associated with the notion of professionalism and occupational credibility that professionalism status can be seen to bestow† (p.57). Therefore, theory is essential since it acts as a mechanism of adding value to status coupled with respect of a given profession that often goes into fostering the practice of a given profession- in this case social work. It is important for a social worker who is working in human service organization to understand these perspectives. The knowledge of human services theory and feminism theory or even any other theory of human services organization may help social workers in many ways. Paramount is that such knowledge is incredibl e in helping a social worker to understand the purpose and tasks of social work or rather the role that social work plays within the society in which he or she lives. The theories, additionally, provide magnificent methodologies that guide a social worker on how to go about with his or her roles as a social worker. Substantive understanding of one’s profession coupled with the procedures of conducting the roles associated with the profession acts as a subtle tool for enhancing an individual’s professionalism success. In the context of social work, this is availed through precise understanding of human services theories. Consequently, by not having this knowledge, it hinders the social worker’s practice in the sense that such a person is largely non-cognizant of the roles akin to his or her profession. Hence, he or she may be incompetent to practice what the profession entails. Conclusion Social workers do differing work within the organizations that employs them . This work is varied and ranges from doing social work in a large organization charged with production of goods to the organization that predominantly design and produce services aimed at satisfying communal, societal, and individual needs. For the social workers to be conversant with their roles and methodologies of executing their tasks, it is significant that they become conversant with theories of social work. Stemming from this argument, the paper has found it plausible to work from a human service organization perspective to compare and contrast feminism perspectives and human service perspective as some of these theories. References Berkun, C 1984, ‘Women and the field experience: Toward a model of nonsexist field-based learning conditions’, Journal of Education for Social Work, vol. 20 no. 3, pp-20-26. Hannan, T, Carroll, G, Polos, L 2003, ‘The organizational niche’, Sociological Theory, vol. 21 no. 4, pp.309–340. Jones, A May, J 1992, Wor king In Human Service Organisation: A Critical Introduction, Longman, Cheshire. Mohr, W 1998, ‘Measuring meaning structures’, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 2 no. 3, pp. 345–370. Reskin, F Hartmann, H 1986, Women’s work, men’s work: Sex segregation on the job, National Academies Press, Washington, DC. Sandell, K 1993, ‘Different voices: Articulating Feminist Social Work’, Journal of Social Welfare, vol. 3 no. 2, pp.663-669. Thomson, N 2000, Theory and practice in human services, Open University Press, Buckingham, Philadelphia. Tong, R 1989, Feminist Thought: A Comprehensive Introduction, Westview Press, Boulder.

Schumann and Stravinsky Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Schumann and Stravinsky - Research Paper Example In the 1830s he started writing piano miniatures which were extraordinary. Also it was during this time that he made his debut as a music critic and started his own journal, which became the focus of his efforts. In this journal he championed composers who had talent, and established a canon of Romantic music. It was also during these years that he composed his masterpieces; Carnaval, for piano and Dichterliebe. In 1840 he married Clara Wieck, a talented pianist inducing an element of stability in his life however this was also when his mental health started to deteriorate. His failure at opera, Genoveva, in 1843 caused him a great disappointment after which his mental state continued to deteriorate. After an attempt at suicide in 1854 he voluntarily entered an asylum. It was here that he passed away in 1856 (Worthen, 2007). In mid June 1882, Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky was born in a town near St. Petersburg in Russia. From a small age he was surrounded by music mostly because his fat her was a star singer of the Imperial Opera. When he was 9 he started piano lessons and studied music throughout his early life. In 1902 he, like Schumann, pursued a law degree however music was where his real interest was. Also just like Schumann, he started his musical career as a amateur pianist and was bilingual. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, his teacher started giving him regular lesson from 1905 till 1908. Although Stravinsky’s first composition was that of a Symphony, which he wrote in 1906, it was The Firebird, a ballet composed in 1910, which put him under the spotlight. This was followed by Petrushka, which like The Firebird was a modern composition of something which was fundamentally Russian. It was his third ballet, The Rite of Spring which established his name as one of the well known composers of the age. In 1920 he moved to France and formed a partnership with the company that manufactured pianos, Pleyel. During 1939 he delivered lectures in Harvard and was already working on his symphony in C. This was meant for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was in this year that he moved to United States and married one again. He was on the set of the Paramount Pictures in 1956, where he recorded the musical score for the production â€Å"The Court Jester†. An incorporation of many of the modern classical styles of music was a major part of Stravinsky’s professiona l life. In 1959, he received the Sonning Award, which is one of Denmark’s highest honors. He returned to Leningrad to do a series of concerts in 1962. It was in 1971 that he died at the age of 88 and was buried in Venice. The piece I have chosen from Schumann’s compositions is Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra Op. 131 played by Arnold Katz. There are several key differences between this composition and Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’. These differences also go to reflect the major changes in music over the passage of time, more specifically from the Romantic era to the Neoclassical era. You see, Schumann’s composition comprises of the key characteristics being reflected in his work. These are those of highlighting the orchestra’s highly praised 2009 Beethoven cycle. A key characteristic of Schumann’s work is a reflection of the love of nature. You see the romantic era was all about the critical