Tuesday, May 19, 2020

The Revival Of Confucian Ethics - 1269 Words

Ashley Beteta Professor Lee Seung Ah Korean 40, Discussion 1B 10 December 2015 A Need for the Revival of Confucian Ethics South Korea’s education system has been viewed as a success as 93% of students graduate from high school. Furthermore this has caused countries around the world to praise Korea’s educational curriculum and the results it has produced by â€Å"rank[ing] at the top of the Programme for International Student Assessment survey results in reading, mathematics and science. South Korea is also one of the highest educated nations in the world† (ICEF 2014). Hence, it’s achievements have also been brought to attention by the United States president Barak Obama in 2009 as he compared South Korea’s education with America’s by†¦show more content†¦The success of the Korean educational system is credited to being influenced through Confucianism, resulting in the â€Å"educational fever† that has encompassed South Korea. When Confucianism was introduced during the Chosà »n Dynasty (1392-1910) it originally served as a way to maintain power for the upperclassmen. However, Confucianism began to replace the influence of Buddhism, leaving in its place, â€Å"a national ideology and religion, largely determined politics, economy, society, culture, and education† (Lee 3). In other words, Confucian ideals began to form the basis of Korean society during the Chosà »n Dynasty, which continued into Japanese colonialism (1910-1945) and remnants of it are still present today better known as Neo-Confucian. These ideals helped Koreans survive the turmoil it experienced as it was colonized, liberated, went through the Korean War and the 1997 IMF crisis. Since education had only accessible for the elite during the Chà ´sun dynasty, its association with this drove Koreans to embed education as way to achieve upw ard social mobility. However, social mobility through education is no longer as attainable as it was a few decades ago due to the overpopulated amount of students seeking higher education and competitive job market. Subsequently, Neo-Confucianism is beginning

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Plato s Allegory Of The Cave - 889 Words

According to Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, our ability to understand certain things comes with restrictions. Our perception is certainly one of them. How we react to situations and what we see is a topic that’s subject to many debates. On the other hand, realism works around a ‘fact only’ basis: it favors the literal truth and practicality rather than creativity. There is an evident difference between transforming reality and changing the way we perceive. When we change (or transform) reality, an action that affects many other than ourselves takes place. We change something that people already have a different viewpoint on, and would promote a larger irregularity when discussing the matter at hand. When we transform the way we perceive it, we are forcing ourselves to alter the way we see reality and try to cope with it in a different manner than before. The effectuated change will only modify our viewpoint on it without disturbing anyone else. For this reason, we can say that our beliefs, character and situation are behind the thoughts that create our reality. French philosopher Henri Bergson used to say that â€Å"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend†, hence: our perception of reality is greatly obscured by outside forces. Our interpretations of reality are extremely complex and subject to considerable molding from outside pressures such as feelings, added knowledge or every day conversations that shine. On the contrary, the philosophy behind theShow MoreRelatedPlato s Allegory Of The Cave1716 Words   |  7 PagesIn Plato’s, Allegory of the cave, a key theory I found was the importance of education. Plato uses an â€Å"allegory to illustrate the dilemma facing the psyche in the ascent to knowledge of the imperishable and unchanging forms† (104) Based on my research of the republic, the allegory can reveal multiple hidden messages. Plato describes, ordinary mortals are chained within an underground chamber, which according to Fiero, represents the psyche imprisoned within the human body. These mortals can’t lookRead MorePlato s Allegory Of Cave1979 Words   |  8 PagesJaneva Walters December 6, 2016 Dr. T. Brady ENG 391 Plato’s Allegory of Cave The allegory of the cave is regarded as one of the most reputed and acclaimed works by the Greek philosopher Plato in modern literature as well as philosophy. First published and presented in his work known as a Republic (514a–520a), the dialogues that have been used as conversation can be regarded as fictitious as the main conversation takes place between Plato’s brother Glaucon and Socrates. First and foremost, allegoricalRead MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave1814 Words   |  8 PagesIn Plato’s, â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, a key theory I found was the importance of gaining knowledge. Plato uses an â€Å"allegory to illustrate the dilemma facing the psyche in the ascent to knowledge of the imperishable and unchanging forms† (Fiero, 104). Based on my research of the Republic, the allegory can reveal multiple hidden messages. Plato describes in the Allegory, ordinary mortals who are chained within an underground chamber, which according to Fiero, r epresents the psyche imprisoned within theRead MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave1379 Words   |  6 Pagesbeen in a cave? Caves are dark, cold, and often times dangerous. People who lose their source of light in a cave often face death from physical injury or hypothermia, unless otherwise rescued. The Greek philosopher Plato illustrated the difference between reality and illusion through a story about prisoners who lived their entire existence in a cave. Plato tells the â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† as a conversation between Socrates, his mentor, and Glaucon, one of Socrates’ students. Plato’s allegory of theRead MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave Essay1630 Words   |  7 Pagescondition impressed by an image can sometimes like as a flame, spreading throughout other discourses for long after its initial kindling. Such is the case with Plato s allegory of the cave, which has for over 2,500 years inspired significant contributions to theorizations of truth. Despite t he age of Plato s work, the truth in the allegory is demonstrated by its own universality; as a formative piece of literature, the story acts as a gateway into Western discourses of truth. Truth remains an elusiveRead MorePlato s The Allegory Of The Cave1965 Words   |  8 PagesIn this paper I shall argue for Socrates’ notion in the Allegory of the Cave, saying that the purpose of education is not to place knowledge to the mind where there was none, but instead to recognise the already underlying existence of such insight inside the mind, and to help divert the ones in need of teaching onto the correct path to find and retrieve such knowledge. Plato in his time was a dedicated student of Socrates, so most of Socrates â€Å"logos† and concepts heavily influenced Plato’s futureRead MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave910 Words   |  4 Pagesnature within them to reach their potential. Allegory is to reveal a hidden meaning, normally a moral, based on fictional stories. Plato Allegory of the Cave reminds us that the theory of Forms is real and suggests that the one with the empirical science would share his mind with the commoner in society. We must grasp the complex different types of Forms – opinion, knowledge and beauty really meant for Plato. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Plato talks about dualism, mind (soul) and body. InRead MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave Essay1370 Words   |  6 Pagesflesh to satisfy the god (Ahmed 2010). All of these civilizations were interactive with their environment, but imagine if one knew only of the reality they believed inside of a cave not experiencing e vents within the real world. In Plato’s, Allegory of the Cave, he describes the scenario of prisoners kept isolated in a cave left to come up with a reality that they comprehended with the images that they saw in front of them. This applies especially to politics, because people are left to decipherRead MoreAnalyzing Plato s Allegory Of The Cave874 Words   |  4 PagesI’ll be analyzing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave through my own interpretation. An allegory is defined as â€Å"a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.† In Plato’s Republic the short excerpt The Allegory of the Cave can be viewed through multiple perspectives. Plato’s image of the cave is known as the â€Å"theory of forms†¦ The theory assumes the existence of a level of reality inhabited by ideal â€Å"forms† of all things and concepts (Revelations:Read MorePlato s Allegory Of The Cave Ess ay1842 Words   |  8 Pagesto find pieces about importance of our ego as well. Plato is one of the most important philosophers in western history. That brings us a question, why ego is such significant for both western and eastern philosophers and religious works? Sigmund Freud, who carried on Plato’s thinking on humanity and our society, pointed out what Plato has vaguely discussed about that the significance and impact the ego has on us. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, what the prisoners are actually experiencing the fight

Business Valuation and Analysis Qantas Airway

Question: Discuss about the Business Valuation and Analysisfor Qantas Airway. Answer: Introduction: A Qantas airway is the largest airline in Australia by fleet size, international destination and international flights. Performance of the organization has been noteworthy, as it has returned $ 1 billion to shareholders over the past 12 months. Company provides generic products that are dominant in both national and international markets. Qantas was established in year 1920 and demonstration rights and joy riding was initial services provided to passengers. Operations were expanded to provide airmail services and the organization was nationalized in year 1947. At the international and domestic level, the main business of Qantas was passengers transportation. Qantas is in 10th position in total scheduled pattern kilometers flown and based on domestic scheduled passenger carried (Aulich 2014). Analysis of competitive forces of Qantas using Porters 5 forces: Supplier bargaining power- In the airline industry, bargaining power of suppliers is low and the reason is attributable to similar kind of services offered by large number of suppliers. Bargaining power of suppliers are lower due to presence of major airlines. Buyers bargaining power- With the increase in competition of airline industry and customers becoming more price sensitive acts as reducing the yield of Qantas. Threat of substitutes- Threat of substitutes is lower for airline industry such as Qantas as air mode is faster way of travelling compared to other mode. Threat of new entrants- Air transport markets in Australia have been profitable and have attracted many new entrants. Many of the competitors such as Virgin Australia have been competing in the market with Qantas by introducing intense competition through flight that is more frequent and larger capacity of Boeing 737 flights (Anderson 2013). Industry rivals- There have been many rivals of Qantas and there is intense rivalry among the airline industry in Australia. The par rates of Qantas have been redundantly high compared to Virgin Australia. These are low cost airlines as they are adapting to much flatter structure of fares. Revenue performance of Qantas is expected to come under increased pressure in future period due to restrictions in revenue growth (McDowell 2014). Evaluating Competitive Strategy using SWOTAnalysis: Strength- Within the Australian air transport industry, Qantas airways is the largest airways. Brand name of the or0ganization is an integral part of its revenue strategy. The acquisition of Australian operations by Qantas has led to balance between Ansett airlines and Australian airlines. It has been able to strengthen its competitive position by integration of timetable and structure of fare. Qantas captures a significant market share and its growth rate is recorded at 7.3%. One of the traditional strength of Qantas is demonstration of being able to offer integrated international and domestic travel. The revenue strategy adopted by Qantas is to position its product as premium by charging premium price (Nguyen 2015). Weakness-In year 2013, expense concerning staffs made up the expense of seconds largest category and achieving the cost reductions is one of the greatest potential of Qantas. There was staff redundancies faced by the organization, which is one of its weakness as it depicts incapability improve work practices and constraints remuneration. Wage rate of Qantas is not effective compared to its competitors as it exceeds by an unreasonable value. There is issue of existing outdated work practices. Opportunity- After the collapse of Ansett, there was major overhaul in market shares of Qantas. Organization can expand its operation in inland domestic and international routes. It can make use of loyalty bonus and netter online promotions to customers for increasing travels. In the huge price competition, operations of jet star competition have to be increased. During peak time of travels, Qantas is capable of achieving greater revenue yield. Threat- The segments of international and domestic passenger transport are subject to market volatility as it is dependent on world events and economic conditions of country. The competitive position of Qantas has been negatively impacted by increase in the international and domestic transport market. Growth of Qantas has been limited by significant expansion of operation of Virgin Australia and has led to creation of downward pressure on price (E. Dobbs 2014). Due to increased competition, the outlook for number of passengers has become limited. Corporate Strategy of Qantas since 1992: The strategy of Qantas since 1992 was to target low cost market and this was done by launching Jet star Airways, which was its wholly owned subsidiary. A two-brand strategy was run by Qantas where it targets the premium full service markets. The transportation of international and domestic passengers remained the main business of Qantas. Revenue strategy of Qantas is an integral part as it has intended to position itself as premium product while charging premium price. Accounting Policy Identification that are Closely Watched by Auditors in Airline Industry: Accounting policies identified by companies in airline industry are the procedures and basis for preparing their financial statements. Auditors needs to identify whether the financial reporting of company comply with International financial Reporting standards and under the historical cost convention, they are prepared on accrual basis. Accounting policy are applied consistently to all periods Revenue generated from aircraft chartering, other services are recognized in income statement, and the amount reflected is in proportion to fair value of services that is delivered in particular period. Financial statements of the company are prepared on convention of historical cost and this is used for valuation except for financial derivatives instruments that are recorded at fair value (Palepu et al. 2013). Evaluation of Financial Position of Qantas at the End of 2013: There has been a marginal increase in revenue yield of Qantas in year 2013. The total value of liabilities at the end of financial year stood at $ 15289 million. Valuation of total assets stood at $ 21178 million. $ 5889 million represent the value of net assets of company. Total value of equities comprised of $ 5889. Qantas generated total revenue of $ 5.5 million. Total revenue comprised of net freight revenue and net passenger revenue. Net passenger revenue comprise of $ 134 million and some of other revenue stood at $ 125 million. Jetstar while advancing its strategy witnessed a seven percent growth in revenue. Value of expense of Qantas stood at $ 15530 million. $ 106 million further drove up operating cost. Assets, revenue and expenses are recognized net of goods and services tax. Evaluation of Financial Position of Qantas at the End of 2015: The total valuation of assets in the financial year 2015 stood at $ 7015.8 million. Single assets does not represents more than 5% of total value of assets. Equities of Qantas comprised of Global equities, Australian equities and Private equities and the valuation of equities stood at $ 3152.9 million. The total value of revenue stood at $ 15816 million and profit before tax was generated by amount of $ 975 million. Value of total revenue and other income stood at $ 5828 million. Total value of expenditure stood at $ 14768 million at the end of financial year 2015. Total value of assets for financial year 2015 stood at $ 17530 million and liabilities value stood at $ 14083 million. $ 3447 represents net amount of vale of assets. Total value of equity comprised of equities that are attributable to Qantas members and equity in general. Analysis of Similarities and Difference in the Above Findings and Recommendation for Buying or Selling Existing Shares: When comparing the expense of Qantas for both financial years, it can be seen that the total expense reduced in year 2015 and the value fell by amount of $ 762. The value of total assets fell in the financial year 2015 and the amount changed by $ 14162.2 million. Value of liabilities fell in 2015 by amount $ 2016. Qantas witnessed a net increase in total revenue. The underlying profit before tax for the financial year 2015 of Qantas group witnessed an increment to $ 975 million as against $ 646 million in year 2013. Transformation program of Qantas has resulted in increased revenue in the year 2015 and revenue benefits stood at $ 2 million. Amortization and depreciation expense were lower in the financial year 2013 and the value stood at $ 195 million. This was due to non-cash impairment to international fleet of Qantas (Yang and Zhao 2015). It was reported in year 2015 that over the next two financial years, an amount of $ 1.5 billion could be returned to investors. A three percent rise in unit revenue was also reported. Qantas maintains strong balance sheet, announced buying back of $500 million shares and further $ 1 billion in year 2017. During the first half of this fiscal year, Qantas has excelled in its area of business and the company is trading on fully franked dividend of 5.6%. In the recent times, there was a fall in share price and nzit was back to same level and it can be said that shares of Qantas can be a great investment. Therefore, it is recommended to buy shares of Qantas compared to its competitors such Regional express holding limited and Virgin Australia. Conclusion: From the above discussion and analysis, it can concluded that Qantas airlines has performed strongly in both domestic and international segment. However, the organization is facing few threats from its competitors. The group is also witnessing an increase in profit from year to year. Reference: Anderson, P., 2013. The economics of business valuation: towards a value functional approach. Stanford University Press. Aulich, C., 2014. Airport Privatisation in Australia: A Tale of Three Cities. Applied Finance and Accounting, 1(1), pp.1-11. Bourjade, S., Huc, R. and Muller-Vibes, C., 2017. Leasing and profitability: Empirical evidence from the airline industry. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 97, pp.30-46. Brooks, R., 2016. A General Option Valuation Approach to Discount for Lack of Marketability. Business Valuation Review, 35(4), pp.135-148. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45. Kazlauskien?, V. and Christauskas, ?., 2015. Business valuation model based on the analysis of business value drivers. Engineering Economics, 57(2). McDowell, A., 2014. " What's It Worth?" A Full Business Valuation of a Publicly Traded Company (Doctoral dissertation). Min, H. and Joo, S.J., 2016. A comparative performance analysis of airline strategic alliances using data envelopment analysis. Journal of Air Transport Management, 52, pp.99-110. Nguyen, T.T.T., 2015, June. Porters five forces reconsideration: Model of joint MBA programmes and schools fusion in the industry of Management Education as a counter point of competitive environment model. In LA BIENNALE 2015 COOPERER. Palepu, K.G., Healy, P.M. and Peek, E., 2013. Business analysis and valuation: IFRS edition. Cengage Learning. Sarina, T. and Wright, C.F., 2015. Mutual gains or mutual losses? Organisational fragmentation and employment relations outcomes at Qantas Group. Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(5), pp.686-706. Yang, Z. and Zhao, Z., 2015. Valuation and analysis of contingent convertible securities with jump risk. International Review of Financial Analysis, 41, pp.124-135.