Absolute Essay -- essays research papers

An elephant was brought to a group of blind men who had never encountered such an animal before. One felt a leg and reported that an elephant is a great living pillar. Another felt the trunk and reported that an elephant is a great snake. Another felt a tusk and reported that an elephant is like a sharp ploughshare. And so on. And then they all quarreled together, each claiming that his own account was the truth and therefore all the others false (traditional parable). None of the accounts that the blind men made about the nature of the elephant are absolute truths, nor are the accounts false. An absolute truth, or one that is true for all, can not be achieved because of the constant motion of circumstances of who said it, to whom, when, where, why, and how it was said. Instead of absolute truths, the concepts or beliefs that the blind men claim are viewpoints that each one clarifies the nature of the elephant. Everybody has learned to see things from his or her own sense of reason and logic. The many things that people experience throughout their lifetimes, help to determine the judgments toward the different issues and objects that they encounter. Because individuals has his or her own sense of reason and logic, the perceptions that people encounter are ultimately true, and not false. Life does not contain one truth for any idea or object, but truths can be found in one’s perception. It is difficult to determine that anything is the absolute truth. One should not prove tha...

Hansson Private Label

Vent Consulting Expansion and Risk at Hansson Private Label, Inc. Evaluating Investment in the Goliath Facility HBS#4021 Vent Consulting takes pleasure in presenting our Hanson Private Label’s (HPL) capital expansion executive summary. We carefully reviewed all applicable case materials and believe we have quantified your primary risks, benefits, and most attractive course of action. 1) HPL has performed exceptionally well since inception in 1992. Financial statements show that operating revenues have increased from $503. 4M in 2003 to $680. 7M in 2007.During this time, gross operating profit increased by $24. 3M. This illustrates that the company is not sacrificing profits for top level growth. Capital replenishment matches or exceeds depreciation. Net income increased during the same time span by $9. 6M. The revenue gross margin has averaged 7. 8% growth and the gross margins have averaged 18. 6% over the last five years, while net income has averaged 5. 3%. Dividends have b een paid to stockholders. Cash flow from operations has increased steadily. The cash from investing has fluctuated from a low of $5. M in 2006 to a high of $7. 8M in 2003, indicating an overall conservative strategy of controlled expansion. HPL used more cash in financing in 2006 and 2007 than in previous years, which may contribute to future growth. To reinforce the company’s financial performance: †¢Total assets have grown over the years to a high of $380. 8M in 2007 †¢Long-term debt is at a five year low at $54. 8M †¢Net working capital is at a five year high of $102. 5M All four plants under HPL are operating at 90% capacity and a focus on conservative efficiency has led to strong financial performance.Comparatively speaking, HPL’s 9. 26% EBITDA ratio is stronger than industry competition, another indicator of strong earnings and management. 2) Vent Consulting’s analytical summary is provided in Appendix 1. Note the calculated NPV of $4,971 an d IRR of 11. 1% at tab NPV-BASLINE. Given an accepted discount rate of 9. 38%, both the positive NPV and the positive 1. 7% IRR spread on this investing type project initially indicate a rewarding proposal. Additionally, the calculated profitability index of 1. 11 suggests the project should be pursued.Note that the discounted payback period is just under 7 years, 4 years beyond the contractual commitment under consideration with HPL’s largest retail customer. 3) Sensitivity analysis reveals interesting factors, however. Note in the additional tabs: †¢Ramping up capacity utilization to 85% in 3 years instead of the projected 5 years yields a full 2% IRR increase. †¢If aggressive marketing can capture secondary demand from competitors and increase capacity utilization from 85% to 95% in years 4 through 10, IRR is increased to 14. 8%. †¢The project is very sensitive to unit selling price.If expected annual growth in sales price rises from 2% to just 3. 5%, IRR ri ses a full 6. 7% to 17. 8%. †¢The project is also very sensitive to commodity costs. A small . 5% increase in expected inflation from 1. 0% to 1. 5% annual raw material costs reduce baseline IRR calculations to 9. 5%, making the project unattractive compared to the 9. 38% discount rate. †¢Improved capital planning yields expected improved project returns. The last tab illustrates a potential improvement of 2. 5% IRR. Given this information, Vent Consulting has identified 3 courses of action (COA): 1) Accept the capital expansion proposal as written by Mr.Gates 2) Accept the retailer ‘s 3–year contract, but reduce capital risk by reducing the scale of expansion, improving the use of working capital and sub-contracting production shortfalls to other producers. 3) Maintain status quo and reject the retailer contract Despite the positive NPV, Vent Consulting recommends rejection of COA 1 due to the following uncontained risk factors: †¢Required capital expans ion and associated financing does not match the proposed customer contract, adding uncontrolled capacity utilization risk.This risk is compounded by a lack of customer diversification. †¢Difficult-to-predict sales price and raw material cost variables also add significant uncovered risk. Vent Consulting also recommends rejection of COA 3. This course of action would propagate HPL’s growing â€Å"cash cow† business model, and sacrifice an ideal opportunity to improve company performance and steal market share in cooperation with one of the largest industry retailers. We strongly recommend COA 2, which apitalizes on market opportunity while minimizing the significant risk of the original proposal. Specifically: †¢Reduce capital expansion to 40% of proposed project. †¢Improve capital management †¢Dedicate primary capacity to key/primary retail customer(s) †¢Sub-contract production shortfalls to other producers for lessor retailers/customers Vent C onsulting is eager to provide additional recommendations on how this is would be best accomplished — for a fee — once we’ve completed another few Themes.

Black Men in Public Space - 670 Words

In the short essay, â€Å"Black Men in Public Space† written by Brent Staples, discusses his own experiences on how he is stereotyped because he is an African American and looks intimidated in â€Å"public places† (Staples 225). Staples, an intelligent man that is a graduate student at University of Chicago. Due to his skin complexity, he is not treated fairly and always being discriminated against. On one of his usual nightly walks he encountered a white woman. She took a couple glances at him and soon began to walk faster and avoided him that night. He decided to change his appearance so others would not be frightened by his skin color. He changed the way he looked and walked. Staples dressed sophisticated to look more professional so no†¦show more content†¦This shows that he kept in mind how other people feel when they are around in a dark and late setting. He also tries to lighten up the mood and make himself seem friendlier by whistling tunes from classic al music. â€Å"I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers† (Staples 226). Whistling got people to feel calmer around him, for he writes, â€Å"and occasionally they even join in the tune† (Staples 226). He changed the way he physically appeared to be so that people would be less likely to put on a stereotype about African Americans on him. There were various times I experienced people misjudging my shyness for being mean. The first time people see me they think I am a mean person because the way I look. When I walk, I do not have smile on my face so it looks like I am intimidating to talk to. Some were afraid to talk to me because they thought I was stuck up. When people begin talking or starting to get to know me they realized that I am a really nice and shy person. The first time I heard what others thought of me I was shocked because my personality is the opposite of what they think. I do not take it personally because I am a nice person once people get to know me. I felt bad because I do not mean to come off that way to others. The way I reacted to it was to smile more at people and try not to look so intimidating. I tried to change how I lookedShow MoreRelatedBlack Men And Public Space Essay1038 Words   |  5 Pagesthat are an example of that are â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† by Brent Staples and â€Å"The F Word† by Firoozeh Dumas. The stories, â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† and â€Å"The F Word† are similar because both characters were discriminated against themselves, were not the only ones harassed, and each went through a tough moment. One of the ways the two essays are similar is because both characters were discriminated against themselves. For example, In Black men and Public Space Staples was discriminated againstRead MoreBlack Men And Public Spaces938 Words   |  4 Pagespersonality. Brent Staples is an author and writer for the New York Times. He gives two simple examples of two different people in his excerpts â€Å"Black Men and Public Spaces† and â€Å"Parallel Time† showing their differences and parallelism. â€Å"Black Men in Public Spaces† and â€Å"Parallel Time† show how two black men have been stereotyped. Brent Staples on â€Å"Black Men in public spaces† recited that â€Å"My first victim was a woman- white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties. I came upon her late one evening on aRead MoreBlack Men and Public Space841 Words   |  4 PagesBlack Men and Public Space Essay In Brent Staples’ personal essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, he tells the readers what happen to a young black man in an urban setting. He pinpointed that people often stereotype you because of color, race, gender, culture or appearance. In addition, the author expresses to us that he notices the space between him and other people, such as women on the street. Some people may disagree that women set a certain amount of space when walking by a black man on theRead MoreBlack Men And Public Space968 Words   |  4 Pagesthe future. Due to the stigma that black men are all thieves, robbers , and criminals, they are more likely to be targeted by the police. If that stigma was magically erased and people stopped viewing Blacks as criminals, the world would be much more peaceful. This can be done merely through education,telling the truth about blacks and less assumptions. This idea derives from Brent Staples’ â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† (Revelatio ns 167) and Meta Carstarphen’s â€Å"Black Versus Blue: Time for a Cease-FireRead MoreBlack Men and Public Space1084 Words   |  5 Pagesrepresented God and all good. From literature we, as a society, have built what later became social rules, giving rise to things such as prejudice. In Brent Staples essay â€Å"Black Men and Public Space† this is clearly shown by the authors own experiences of antipathy and hostility towards him caused by his own self. In â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, Brent Staples begins by coming to the realization of the way he’d be viewed for the rest of his life. He describes feelings of uneasiness towards his newfound self-imageRead MoreBlack Men And Public Space Essay1505 Words   |  7 PagesIn the news we hear stories about how another black male have been sent to prison. The big question that most people ask is â€Å"why?† He was selling drugs. A petty crime like that gets a black male at least 10 years in prison. Whereas, a white male selling drug gets probation. African American are portrayed as thugs who either sell drugs or are always in the streets terrorizing people. For instance, in the article, THE FIGHT FOR BLACK MEN, by Joshua Dubois. A man named Joe, who lived in a typical africanRead MoreBlack Men And Public Space1609 Words   |  7 Pages According to Brent Staples, in his book, â€Å"Black Men and Public Space†, he articulates about his experience as a young black man, moving from his small hometown to Chicago, to attend the University of Chicago. He shared that one late evening, walking on a deserted street in Hyde Park, which was an upscale neighborhood in the impoverished section of Chicago. While walking alone on the street, he saw a white, well dressed young lady, walking alone on the same street. He was a distanceRead More Black Men and Public Space in America1804 Words   |  8 PagesBlack Men and Public Space: An Agent of Change African-American men and white men are born and raised within the continental U.S.; each of their own faculty empowered to change the social injustice of a society. The innate qualities of the African American do not compare to those of the white man, yet - â€Å"empowered† they are with character. The foundation for the concept –â€Å"character† is best defined as â€Å"holistic,† meaning of physical, mental and social qualities – A. Adler’s school of thought,Read MoreJust Walk On By : Black Men And Public Space1464 Words   |  6 PagesThe portrait of black men that people have had in their mind for many decades has narrowed their vision about black men and has automatically affected black men’s identity. When it comes to black people, one already has a picture in his or her mind and draws a conclusion about how black people have to look and how they will act. After I read the essay entitled, â€Å"Just Walk on By: Black Men and Pu blic Space,† written by Brent Staples, in which he talks about the fearsomeness mistakenly given to himRead MoreThe Portrayal Of The Young Black Men And Public Space1298 Words   |  6 Pagesthe young black male in the late 1980s has not changed much in the United States. Brent Staples is able to reveal the truths of racial stereotyping in the United States, and the stigmas placed on young black males with the use of imagery in Black Men and Public Space. Appealing to the readers’ senses allows for better understanding of the time period Staples is writing about. Visual imagery is used to contrast how Staples appears to his â€Å"victims† and how these â€Å"victims† appear to the public. The fear