Student Poverty Essays - Anthropology, Economy Of The United Kingdom

Student Poverty STUDENT POVERTY INTRODUCTION Prior assumptions about poverty and its relativity to human nature are needed to be able to begin researching poverty. A starting point is needed, and this is nearly always based on other people's research. A hypothesis is formed firstly, based on existing theory formulated by other research and conclusions, and then I will try to anticipate some outcomes and relationships that I may find. From this I can begin to formulate best course of investigation. If the outcome of my research then confirms the theories I had already hypothesised, then I know that the original framework on which I had based my research has been fairly accurate. However I must always take into account the variables, and probability that I could be mistaken in my line of research. Or that my own values, being a student myself, may have influenced my analysis. We can begin by looking at what kind of assumptions can be made about poverty. ?The CO-existence of rich nations plagued with widespread diseases of overconsumption and poor communities existing at the barest imaginable level of livelihood, cannot be morally defended. But to assume that this implies that there is some easily discovered, absolute and apparently universal, line below which there is poverty and above which there is not, is fundamentally to misunderstand the problem......... most of the research into poverty in Britain during the past eighty years has been based upon just such a misconception.? (Coates and Silburn, 1970.) From the above statement we can see the kind of assumptions already made in 1970, that could affect the way a sociologist may choose to organise his research today. From reading Coates and Silburn, it can be assumed that there is no fine line between being in a state of poverty and a state of non-poverty. It would depend on the standard of living within the country you are studying. The researcher therefore may not choose to base his research on just the people assumed to be living in a state of poverty in one country, when given the state of poverty in another country, the former would be considered well off. The bases of my research will be in an outer London University, so the comparisons between another country and ours are not really relevant, however will look at comparisons with other universities. As I intend to base this project upon the bases of weather or not class is variable in student poverty, it is within my interests to compare the university I am studying (The University Of Greenwich) with other universities that are considered to be richer or poorer than my own. But the statement above is of use, as it suggests that there is no line drawn between poverty and non-poverty. This would lead me believe that attempts to distinguish those who are in poverty and those who are not will not be an easy task, and I must take this into account when analysing my research. My data research consists of a survey, which was first sampled, then finalised. The survey was carried out via 250 individual interviews as it contained certain aspects, which may not have been fully understood by the subject. Not only were financial specific questions asked, but opinion orientated questions also. This is a quantitative based research DISCUSSION The Social class, and the correct determination of it has never been well defined. There is no single excepted way of determining just which social class an individual belongs to. So to best determine how to determine how a student should be socially classified, I will be using methods introduced by John Goldthorpe. This takes the father as the most influential family member, and those within his family as having his allocated class. But should this be the case among all our subjects? Defining class groupings in economic terms is an extremely difficult task. But the different groups within the same class do not receive the same income. If we try and break down the allocation of class into family's we can see there are many flaws in the process of today's modern society. Within a family today it is not uncommon for both the man and women to work (or even for women to be the

Determination of the optimal level of production Essays

Determination of the optimal level of production Essays Determination of the optimal level of production Essay Determination of the optimal level of production Essay As we can see the determination of the break-even point provides valuable information to management. For instance, by comparing the targeted sales volume with the break-even point management can see the margin of safety of the firm. We have to remember that in the planning stage the forecasted sales revenue and costs are highly uncertain. Sales volume, for example, may drop due to an unforeseen competitors move. Costs may also be affected heavily by general increase in prices due to changes in governmental policy or other related factors.In view of the above management should also seek a sufficient margin of safety that provides reasonable assurance on the going concern of the firm in view of unanticipated changes. Economists extensively emphasize the determination of the optimal level of production. In this respect we will adopt the economist’s approach towards cost-volume profit analysis in determining the optimal level of production rather than the accountant’s approach. A break-even chart for an economist would appear as follows.The total cost and total revenue functions are non-linear. With respect to the total cost function the firm at low volumes of output experiences an increasing marginal cost2. Its effect however diminishes as output rises leading to a decreasing marginal cost. The reason behind the aforesaid effect of costs lies in the range of output covered by the economists approach. Unlike the accounting model, which has been utilised in the section 5. 1. 1, the economist’s model considers a wider range of output levels leading necessary the consideration of changes in factors of production efficiency.The effect on the form of the revenue function depends on the type of market structure the firm is operating in. Under the accounting model as shown in figure 5. 1 a straight line revenue function is the result of a firm operating under perfect competition3, thus being regarded as a price taker4. However, under the economists model in figure 5. 2 we considered imperfect market conditions whose revenue function is disturbed by marketing activities like promotion policies and competitive moves, leading to non-linear total revenue curve.The economic approach relies on the opportunity costs that comprise a normal rate of profit. This normal rate of profit is considered as the point that a firm is required to meet in order to continue operating. The normal rate of profit is shown as break-even point 1 in figure 5. 2. In view of the above, cost-volume profit analysis under the economist approach reveals the output level at which profit maximisation is achieved.At this output level the firm achieves the maximum short-run profits available in the market. Effective management should always try to reach the profit maximisation point in order to utilise the factors of production in the best way possible. In this respect cost-volume profit analysis also helps management to be effective in reaching the optimal activity level. Cost-volume profit analysis can also support management in the calculation of the most appropriate sales mix that leads to profit maximisation.Therefore it helps management to focus at the planning stage on the products that lead to the highest revenue. Let us further illustrate this point with the following hypothetical example: Let us assume that Auto Ltd. is engaged in the manufacturing of three types of cars, standard, off road and sport cars. The management of the company is analysing which are the most profitable products in order to focus their advertising and promotion activities on to meet or if possible even exceed the expected level of sales.The finance director of the firm stated that the business enterprise could afford to spend an additional ? 1,000,000 advertising expenditure during the year. This expenditure can be distributed on the products in accordance to the management discretion. For simplicity we will consider the effect of spending all this additional advertising costs on one product only. A useful tool that can be used in cost-volume profit computations is spreadsheets. Indeed an excel spreadsheet was used to calculate the cost-volume profit analysis both in units and in revenue.

Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Operation Management - Essay Example If different aspects of business are analyzed it is expected to find that manufacturing business processes are significantly different from the business processes that are solely involved in providing services. In case of service industry, production and consumption take place at the same time, whereas in case of manufacturing industry consumption takes place after the production is complete (University of New Brunswick, n.d.). Furthermore, the concept of ‘inventory’ is irrelevant in case of service sector, but in manufacturing industry organizations’ operational efficiency depends on the effectiveness of inventory management process. Since manufacturing industry deals with tangible products, inventory must be maintained in order to cope up with the fluctuations in the demand and supply. However, service cannot be stored as it is perishable. It has to be consumed when it is produced. As a result operational challenge in case of service is associated with the readi ness for producing and delivering it at the same time. For instance an electronic goods manufacturing company can maintain a stock for meeting the additional demand, but a barber cannot preserve his haircuts for meeting future demands (Longenecker, 2008). Manufacturing operations can be distinguished from the service operations in the context of measurement of productivity. Productivity of a manufacturing unit can be easily measured, but it is difficult to measure the same of a service providing unit. For instance, productivity of an automobile manufacturing unit can be measured by counting the number of car that it produces in a particular year (Greasley, 1999). However, for a company that is involved in ‘consultancy’ business, it is very difficult to quantify the delivered service. Maintaining quality is another important task for the operation management of an organization. For the manufacturing industry, maintaining a standard quality is an easy task as compared to the service