ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Market efficiency can be defined as the degree to which the prices reflect all the available information in the market. In other words, market efficiency is a condition where the market prices display the prevailing conditions. In some cases, the market prices may not reflect the prevailing market conditions based on the available information. In this case, the market is said to be inefficient. Market inefficiencies occur in rare cases. When this occurs, the market is interrupted from the normal arrangements and this lead to complications. Explanation for an Efficient Market and How It Operates As already seen, market efficiency can be defined as the situation where the prices charged in the market reflects all the information available to the participants. In order for the market to function effectively, it is always necessary to have enough participants willing to sell or buy goods (Kirschen and Strbac, 2004). The price determination process is of great significance in the market. However, this is based on the information available in the market. The information available to buyers and sellers should be unbiased in order to come up with reliable and sustainable prices. The market where all these conditions are satisfied is referred to as an efficient market. Therefore, under the efficient market conditions for instance, buying or selling of the stock reflects fair returns after deducting the costs incurred through a transaction. In many cases, when people puts money in the stock market their main goal is generation of returns. In some cases, many investors even aim at getting more than necessary returns by surpassing the market (Heakal, 2011). However, the prices of a particular stock reflect all the information available about the stock. This implies that there is no investor who can have an advantage of forecasting on the returns of a stock because all the players have access to all available information. Such kind of a market is efficient. Decisions are made with reference to the information available (Investo 2011). All investors have similar knowledge about a certain stock. In this case, all investors are assumed to be rational. Consequently, they will most likely have similar choices. In other words, investors are assumed to behave in a certain way. Mankiw (2008, Essentials of Economics), observed that the prices only respond to the information available in the market. Therefore, since every person in the market has equal access to the same information, then no one has the ability to make more profit than the other. In a perfect market, it is assumed that there are a large number of buyers and sellers and a homogenous product and full information (Evans 2004). Therefore, a perfect market is efficient since the participants make informed decisions. Example of an efficient market; Market for polythene bags In the illustration above, the supply curve reflects the costs of the sellers where in this case are the polythene bag sellers. On
Executive Summary There are many ways of how a company may become more successful and recognizable in a particular market. It is crucial to pay much attention to strategic management, as a “set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of a corporation” (Wheelen and Hunger 5). Therefore, a properly organized strategic case analysis organized by a sophisticated management consultant is an easy and effective way to define strong and weak sides of a company, evaluate possible threats and opportunities, consider political, economic, social, technological, and environmental issues, identify potential problems, and offer a good portion of the recommendations. The current paper introduces the example of the strategic analysis of a company from the United Arab Emirates, Air Arabia. Description of the Organization Air Arabia is an Arabic low-cost airline company established by Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi in 2003, with its headquarter in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Air Arabia: Press Dossier 4). Nowadays, about 2,500 people work at Air Arabia. The board is usually chosen for a period of three years. Since 2003, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani performs the function of the company’s chairman of the board. There are also several members, who perform significant functions in Air Arabia. They are Adel Abdullah Ali (the chief executive officer), Arif Naqvi (the non-executive director), and several independent members such as Ghanem Mohammed Al Hajri, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani, Ali Al Midfa, etc. (Air Arabia Annual Report 3). Adel is actually a person with a rich experience in strategic aviation, marketing, and tourism; he knows exactly what kind of work has to be developed within a company and what qualities of the employees are outstanding (Air Arabia: Press Dossier 10). Each employee has particular benefits for the company, therefore, they have a good stimulus to work better and maintain the rating of one of the most popular low-cost airline company in the region with assets of about $ (Arab Emirate) 10 billion. Opportunities and Threats The natural environment plays a crucial role in Air Arabia. In general, the transportation market depends considerably on climate change and weather conditions because many people decide whether to travel or not regarding temperature or even the possibility of rain during a flight. Therefore, weather conditions turn out to be a significant threat to the company as it may lose a number of customers within a short period of time. At the same time, good weather conditions promote an opportunity for the company to find more potential customers. The societal environment (PESTEL analysis) focuses on the combination of social, cultural, political, economic, technological, and legal factors, the evaluation of which help to comprehend the opportunities and threats of the company (Wheelen and Hunger 101). Air Arabia does not have a too long history, but it has already introduced itself as a powerful and profitable business with an ability to recognize the main factors that may predetermine the success in future. The following P
Introduction The Unites States’ tax system has often been the subject of economic debates. Several stakeholders have called for an overhaul of the United States’ tax regime. Currently, the United States has what is often considered as an ‘odd’ tax system. The main distinction between the United States’ tax system and that of most countries is the manner in which the earnings that are made in foreign countries are handled when they are repatriated back to their parent countries. Most countries do not tax money that is earned in other countries or outside their territories of interest. This mode of taxation is known as the territorial tax system and it is commonly used by countries around the world. On the other hand, the taxation system that taxes earnings that are made in foreign countries is known as the worldwide tax system. The worldwide tax system is only used in a few countries around the world including the United States. There are big differences between territorial and worldwide tax systems. Most of these differences apply to the taxation of corporations and other multi-national companies. One of the countries that recently made the switch from worldwide to territorial tax is the United Kingdom. The fundamental differences between the United Kingdom and the United States’ tax regimes have far-reaching impacts. This paper compares the United States’ worldwide tax system with the United Kingdom’s territorial tax system. The Worldwide Tax System The worldwide tax system stipulates that all income from domestically headquartered entities has to be subjected to taxation even though it comes from foreign countries. However, most of the countries that use the worldwide tax system offer tax credits in order to avoid instances of double taxation. These tax breaks cover the amount of money that is paid as taxes to foreign governments. The main logic behind worldwide tax systems is to ensure that all citizens are equally taxed irrespective of their global location. Consequently, individuals and companies cannot move to destinations that offer lower tax options irrationally. For example, a company that has its headquarters in the United States is obligated to pay taxes on all its income whether it is earned in the country or through its subsidiaries in other countries. The Territorial Tax System The territorial tax system stipulates that countries can only collect revenue from money that is earned within their borders. Therefore, during taxation, all the income and dividends that are earned from foreign subsidiaries are exempted from domestic taxation. The main purpose of the territorial tax system is to ensure that all entities are offered a level playing field when investing. In addition, the territorial tax system ensures that individuals and companies are at liberty to invest their capital where the return on investment is best. For example, a company
Benefits of Studying Art for Students Art is an inseparable aspect of any successful society. For a long time now, artists have passed down information in designs, carvings, architecture and drawings. Art is a vital instrument of passing information on feelings, emotions and opinions. Studying art in school for students has the following benefits. Personal Expression in Various Media Students who have studied art find it easy and even fun to say what they feel wherever and whenever they want to. They, for instance, know what pictures communicate what message, what choice of words to use during parties as opposed to sorrowful times. Understanding History Where come from is as important as where we are and where we are going too. Studying art gives a student the best opportunity to understand the past, the present and even forecast the future analyzing the evolution of art designs. Design and Computer Graphics Most work today is done using computer soft wares and applications. It is however important to keep in mind that the basics of computer graphics and the mechanisms of drawing them do not differ from the actual artwork of Designing, Drawing and sculpting. By studying art in school therefore, students have a competitive advantage in the design market. Professional Benefits Whatever profession students choose, they will find art very invaluable. Art is the medium that bridges language barriers between different nationalities and cultures of the world. A South Korean for example may not understand English language that is in use in a Marketing campaigns for Nike but will recognize the
Strategy and Controls For Dealing With Malicious Attacks and Vulnerability Every organization must focus and invest on countermeasures to deal with computer attacks and vulnerabilities. According to Beard and Wen (2009) an organization ought to balance its resources against the value of its information assets and any possible threats against them. These would work in detecting vulnerabilities, preventing attacks, and countering effects of any attacks that succeeds. Identifying the vulnerabilities and finding a way of minimizing them would work well to avoid possible attacks, and this is the best strategy. An attack is an act committed by an intruder with a wrong motive of interfering with system security. An attack on the information assets exploits the system’s vulnerability, and could damage the asset. An attack could comprise any of the following categories or a combination of any of them:   * Fabrications, which means adoption of some deceptions to play a trick on the unaware users of a system;   * Interruptions, which creates a break in the transmission channel and therefore acting as a block;   * Interceptions, which eavesdrops on transmissions redirecting to unauthorized user; and   * Modifications, which interferes or altercates with the data being transmitted. Vulnerability on the other hand is a weakness in a system that makes it possible for a harm to be caused by an attack. Threats cannot be eliminated, but it is possible to protect a system against vulnerabilities. This would minimize the chances of a threat exploiting the vulnerability. Therefore, eliminating as much vulnerability as possible is the key to protection against the risk of attack (Ludwig, 1996). Strategies of Dealing with Risks of Attacks and Threats The security plan in an organization’s information system should include both proactive and reactive strategic measures. The proactive strategy involves predefined steps for preventing attacks before they occur, and involves determining the damage of a possible attack, determining the vulnerabilities the attack would exploit, and finally minimizing the weaknesses or the determined weak points for that specific threat. This has been discussed considering several threats as mentioned: Virus, Logic Bombs, Worm A virus attaches itself to software and spreads within the system and through e-mails to other systems. A worm on the other hand spreads through exploiting vulnerability in an application or operating system in a network. A logic bomb is a virus or worm that activates under set conditions, and mainly affects the application layer. A virus can cause multiple damages to a system, and can lead to a huge loss of all necessary information. The drive or software can also crash due to virus attack. All the documents stored in the hard drive can be lost. Virus would also interrupt the surfing process of the net, exposing personal information to public. This may also affect other systems in the network. Some types of virus are able to generate Internet Protocol (IP) address randomly and send automatically. If the generated address is copy of SQL server, the virus can be fired off b
Frame components of performance bicycles Today the issue of composite materials have become the norm in the manufacturing industries. People prefer the combinations because of the less engineering problems involved as well as the efficiency on the outcome. The issue of reinforcement of two or more merged but differing materials catalyzes the formation of better products. The production of the composite bicycle frame that combines a metal spine in the midst of a fibre reinforced plastics have been in the market for quite a while but the materials keep changing to allow better performance and cater for improvements. The combination involves metal lugs and plastics that reinforcements with fibre. The modern frames mainly comprise of steel and fibre but the most recent combination involves carbon fibre tubes. (Jeukendrup, 17) The bicycles made of composite high strength and lightweight metal tubes such as titanium or tubes and carbon fibres have indicated better performance at lower rates. The main aim of the performance bicycles manufactures is to come up with a lightweight but relatively strongly framed bicycle for a good quality ride. Today’s technology demands for a bicycle frame that is able to withstand the shocks of the rough roads. The combination of materials ought to give out lightweight as well as strength. The most preferred metals may arguably be titanium, aluminium, steel and some plastics reinforced with carbon fibre. Metals such as titanium provides the required low weight and improved steel structure, which supports transmission power even under the harsh and complex motions during the performance. Comparison between the leg movement and wheel rotation during activity causes the sideways overload especially at the lower part of the frame. According to US Patent Storm (2006), “the carbon fibre provides light weight and strength with requisite stiffness and shock absorption for steering and power transmission under the load imposed in the top region of the bicycle”. The main difference between the composite metals is their isotopic nature. They have a directional dependent behaviour such that they behave similarly in all the directions. The main differences between these materials and non-composite ones, is the product formed during production process. The versatility of fibrous composites materials is higher as opposed to metals. Modification utilized meets performance requirements as well as complexity of the activities. The carbon fibre enforced alloy has four to five times more strength over steel or aluminium. The flexibility and shock absorbent ability enables them to endure fatigue more than other metals. Enhancement of the metal The carbon-reinforced epoxies provide support for very high strengths or heavy loads and at the some time has low
Company Selection HBG UK Ltd is one of the leading construction services organisations, which has the turnover among 300 million to 1500 million that has been required in this task. They provide an integrated service covering a large quantity of developments according to their range, complexity or industry sector. Their high-quality scheme to every area of operations like- investment, construction, maintenance, and development, design emphasises clients to become attached within the organisation. Collection Of Information HBG is a part of Royal BAM Group, which is a £5.9 billion construction, and Property Company that has been included on the Dutch Stock Exchange. HBG group of industries has an annual turnover of merely £850 million while the individual construction company has a turnover of 790.4 million in 2006 & 731.8 million in 2005. The group operates in both public and private sectors that actually provides five core business options – Design, Property Development, Facilities Management, PFI Projects & finally construction. The group’s property development arm provides high-quality retail, office and commercial space for both the sectors. Most of the clients have been with HBG from the starting & repeating trade for their huge amount of turnover. HBG UK Ltd has been continuing its increasing profit with excellent view for 2006 and eventually the company had introduced 2007 with another record of £1.6 billion at December 31, 2006 while it was £1.4billion in 2005. PBT or Profit before tax in 2006 was £42.0million & in 2005 it was £24.3million.Deducting tax, the profit available to shareholders was £31.6million while in fiscal year 2005 it was £19.2million. Similarly, HBG UK operates to perform strongly to provide an upward & greatly improved profit before margin of tax of 4.8%, while in 2005 it was 3.1%, that produced a 72.8% rise in the overall profit level before taxation in the same year. At the same time an increasing beneficial output from construction businesses, the group’s property development business has also taken facility of the current rising demand for high quality developments over the year in order to finish a number of initial property disposals that includes the redeveloped Wellgate Centre located in Dundee that is an investment property
Astra USA ‘s ground rules for recruitment and training were indeed peculiar. Recruitment of female employees as salespeople was mostly based on ‘good looks’. The recruits then had to undergo a nine-week long strenuous training program which decided their fate in the company, as a salesperson. One would say that it was indeed Astra’s way of setting a strong base. But with the pros, there were cons as well. The training program included a variety of things but most important was socializing where new recruits had to, quite often, attend late-night parties with (rather for) their managers and other top executives. It is a common thought that “The first Impression is the best impression”, so new-hires thought it to be fruitful if they had a chance with the top-level executives. But usually they weren’t prepared for what came next. It was found out and even said by some employees in the later years that female trainees had better chances. Quoting a statement of an ex-Astra employee,” Upper management was barely paying attention to male students, but they were all over the female students ”. (Morgen, 1996) And often the after-effects of such parties decided whether one trainee is to be posted in the heart of a city or the countryside. Lars Bildman, former CEO Astra USA, was known to have a penchant for fine wines and bright-colored suits. But these eccentricities were often acceptable for a man who was known for being disciplined and determined, one who would take credit for taking the company from annual revenues of $30 million to $360 million. It’s still not clear whether the prevailing culture of Astra influenced his approach or was it his own. Often described as autocratic, it can be said that it’s the power vested with him that made him a king and Astra USA, his kingdom. Lars Bildman and some other top-level executives were alleged to have misused their position and power for certain ‘unnecessary desires’. But singling out their faults is not totally right as the s
Introduction It is worth noting that, despite the benefits that standardized testing has, many experts in the area of education, as well as the key stakeholders, stress a number of drawbacks of this approach to college admission. For instance, tests do not allow educational institutions to evaluate many important aspects, and the statistical approach that is used in determining the results is narrow. In addition, many teachers are forced to focus on preparing for the testing solely, which does not allow them to encourage and support students’ interest in the subject (Springer et al. 211). Moreover, upon admission, standardized tests limit the abilities of entrants and do not give them the possibility to fully demonstrate their knowledge, skills, as well as creative and critical thinking. Consequently, many American universities use other criteria when admitting entrants. Due to the fact that many other countries, in comparison to the USA, use standardized tests as the main method for admitting students, some of the international students as well as their families might be worried that they would not be able to display their core competencies; however, it is just the reverse. A less rigid form of college admission provides an opportunity to use more flexible methods of monitoring and evaluating the knowledge of future students. In addition, independent evaluation allows for a more complete examination of the competencies of applicants (Springer et al. 215). Thus, international students should not feel worried about the fact that they will not be able to prove themselves during the admission procedure as they could exhibit themselves with standardized testing. Quite the contrary, a flexible approach instead of formalized testing will enable them to show a deeper analysis in accordance with their individual capabilities and characteristics and enforce educational institutions to assess students’ knowledge at different levels of the educational system. It is crucial to emphasize that many experts believe that standardized testing is a more efficient and objective way of assessment due to the fact that its objectivity is achieved through a standardized procedure for conducting and verifying quality indicator