Deception Point Page 8

The President gave her a comforting grin, and Rachel sensed firsthand the legendary Herney affability. The man possessed an easygoing countenance political cartoonists loved because no matter how skewed a rendition they drew, no one ever mistook the man's effortless warmth and amiable smile. His eyes mirrored sincerity and dignity at all times. â€Å"If you follow me,† he said in a cheery voice, â€Å"I've got a cup of coffee with your name on it.† â€Å"Thank you, sir.† The President pressed the intercom and called for some coffee in his office. As Rachel followed the President through the plane, she could not help but notice that he looked extremely happy and well-rested for a man who was down in the polls. He was also very casually dressed – blue jeans, a polo shirt, and L.L. Bean hiking boots. Rachel tried to make conversation. â€Å"Doing†¦ some hiking, Mr. President?† â€Å"Not at all. My campaign advisers have decided this should be my new look. What do you think?† Rachel hoped for his sake that he wasn't serious. â€Å"It's very†¦ um†¦ manly, sir.† Herney was deadpan. â€Å"Good. We're thinking it will help me win back some of the women's vote from your father.† After a beat, the President broke into a broad smile. â€Å"Ms. Sexton, that was a joke. I think we both know I'll need more than a polo shirt and blue jeans to win this election.† The President's openness and good humor were quickly evaporating any tension Rachel felt about being there. What this President lacked in physical brawn, he more than made up for in diplomatic rapport. Diplomacy was about people skills, and Zach Herney had the gift. Rachel followed the President toward the back of the plane. The deeper they went, the less the interior resembled a plane – curved hallways, wallpapered walls, even an exercise room complete with StairMaster and rowing machine. Oddly, the plane seemed almost entirely deserted. â€Å"Traveling alone, Mr. President?† He shook his head. â€Å"Just landed, actually.† Rachel was surprised. Landed from where? Her intel briefs this week had included nothing about presidential travel plans. Apparently he was using Wallops Island to travel quietly. â€Å"My staff deplaned right before you arrived,† the President said. â€Å"I'm headed back to the White House shortly to meet them, but I wanted to meet you here instead of my office.† â€Å"Trying to intimidate me?† â€Å"On the contrary. Trying to respect you, Ms. Sexton. The White House is anything but private, and news of a meeting between the two of us would put you in an awkward position with your father.† â€Å"I appreciate that, sir.† â€Å"It seems you're managing a delicate balancing act quite gracefully, and I see no reason to disrupt that.† Rachel flashed on her breakfast meeting with her father and doubted that it qualified as â€Å"graceful.† Nonetheless, Zach Herney was going out of his way to be decent, and he certainly didn't have to. â€Å"May I call you Rachel?† Herney asked. â€Å"Of course.† May I call you Zach? â€Å"My office,† the President said, ushering her through a carved maple door. The office aboard Air Force One certainly was cozier than its White House counterpart, but its furnishings still carried an air of austerity. The desk was mounded with papers, and behind it hung an imposing oil painting of a classic, three-masted schooner under full sail trying to outrun a raging storm. It seemed a perfect metaphor for Zach Herney's presidency at the moment. The President offered Rachel one of the three executive chairs facing his desk. She sat. Rachel expected him to sit behind his desk, but instead he pulled one of the chairs up and sat next to her. Equal footing, she realized. The master of rapport. â€Å"Well, Rachel,† Herney said, sighing tiredly as he settled into his chair. â€Å"I imagine you've got to be pretty damned confused to be sitting here right now, am I right?† Whatever was left of Rachel's guard crumbled away with the candor in the man's voice. â€Å"Actually, sir, I'm baffled.† Herney laughed out loud. â€Å"Terrific. It's not every day I can baffle someone from the NRO.† â€Å"It's not every day someone from the NRO is invited aboard Air Force One by a President in hiking boots.† The President laughed again. A quiet rap on the office door announced the arrival of coffee. One of the flight crew entered with a steaming pewter pot and two pewter mugs on a tray. At the President's bidding, she laid the tray on the desk and disappeared. â€Å"Cream and sugar?† the President asked, standing up to pour. â€Å"Cream, please.† Rachel savored the rich aroma. The President of the United States is personally serving me coffee? Zach Herney handed her a heavy pewter mug. â€Å"Authentic Paul Revere,† he said. â€Å"One of the little luxuries.† Rachel sipped the coffee. It was the best she had ever tasted. â€Å"Anyhow,† the President said, pouring himself a cup and sitting back down, â€Å"I've got limited time here, so let's get to business.† The President plopped a sugar cube in his coffee and gazed up at her. â€Å"I imagine Bill Pickering warned you that the only reason I would want to see you would be to use you to my political advantage?† â€Å"Actually, sir, that's exactly what he said.† The President chuckled. â€Å"Always the cynic.† â€Å"So he's wrong?† â€Å"Are you kidding?† the President laughed. â€Å"Bill Pickering is never wrong. He's dead-on as usual.† 9 Gabrielle Ashe gazed absently out the window of Senator Sexton's limousine as it moved through the morning traffic toward Sexton's office building. She wondered how the hell she had arrived at this point in her life. Personal assistant to Senator Sedgewick Sexton. This was exactly what she had wanted, wasn't it? I'm sitting in a limousine with the next President of the United States. Gabrielle stared across the car's plush interior at the senator, who seemed to be far away in his own thoughts. She admired his handsome features and perfect attire. He looked presidential. Gabrielle had first seen Sexton speak when she was a poli-sci major at Cornell University three years ago. She would never forget how his eyes probed the audience, as if sending a message directly to her-trust me. After Sexton's speech, Gabrielle waited in line to meet him. â€Å"Gabrielle Ashe,† the senator said, reading her name tag. â€Å"A lovely name for a lovely young woman.† His eyes were reassuring. â€Å"Thank you, sir,† Gabrielle replied, feeling the man's strength as she shook his hand. â€Å"I was really impressed by your message.† â€Å"Glad to hear it!† Sexton thrust a business card into her hand. â€Å"I'm always looking for bright young minds who share my vision. When you get out of school, track me down. My people may have a job for you.† Gabrielle opened her mouth to thank him, but the senator was already on to the next person in line. Nonetheless, in the months that followed, Gabrielle found herself following Sexton's career on television. She watched with admiration as he spoke out against big government spending – spearheading budget cuts, streamlining the IRS to work more effectively, trimming fat at the DEA, and even abolishing redundant civil service programs. Then, when the senator's wife died suddenly in a car crash, Gabrielle watched in awe as Sexton somehow turned the negative into a positive. Sexton rose above his personal pain and declared to the world that he would be running for the presidency and dedicating the remainder of his public service to his wife's memory. Gabrielle decided right then and there that she wanted to work closely with Senator Sexton's presidential campaign.

AIDS Controversy

The problem of AIDS in poor countries in Africa had been one of the major health problems the world is facing.   Needless to say, many have died without even having undergone medication.Perhaps one of the most pressing issues involving this problem is the commitment of big pharmaceutical companies in the United States to give away free AIDS treatments to poor African countries ridden with AIDS in exchange for its continued patent protection.The question now arises on whether this scheme of giving away free AIDS treatment would strike a balance in its continued patent protection vis-à  -vis the continuing problem of AIDS in poor African countries.A number of international non-governmental organizations have launched campaigns against pharmaceutical giants engaging in a long term endeavor to widen the access of poor people to essential medicines, to attain significant reductions on the prices of brand medicines from big pharmaceutical companies, and to support the sale and productio n of generic drugs (Poku, Whiteside, and Sandkjaer, 2007).The issue of patents on pharmaceutical products have started in the negotiations ate the World Trade Organization.   The WTO’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights that took effect in 1995 compels countries to include pharmaceutical products and practices in patent protection after a phase-in period associated to the level of development (Newfarmer, 2003).International intellectual property patents assure a 20-year market monopoly for new products and processes (Finkel, 2007).   Given this, no other company can enter the same market, limiting the market competition to those who have patents.â€Å"The protection of intellectual property in the biosciences on a global level has to deal with very different contexts and situations.† (Lenk, Hoppe, and Andorno, 2007).At first glance, it seems that the pharmaceutical companies are doing an altruistic effort in providing free access to AIDS treatment in poor African countries, which are ridden with AIDS epidemic in spite of the fact that they were only compelled to do so by the United States government.The main question here is not whether it is proper for the United States government to compel these pharmaceutical companies but rather on whose interests are better served with this scheme of giving away free AIDS treatment in exchange for continued patent protection.The continued patent protection of drugs relating to AIDS, in spite of the efforts to distribute free medications on AIDS in poor African countries, has detrimental effects to the victims themselves.Aside from the victims, the market itself for pharmaceutical products and processes will also suffer as they will be ruled by a monopoly of patent-holding pharmaceutical companies.The continued patent protection would further limit the access of people to AIDS treatment.If the patent protection for pharmaceutical companies is to continue, this will limit th e opportunities for other pharmaceutical companies to develop their own medication for AIDS treatment.If there will be no other pharmaceutical company that will come up with a treatment for AIDS, those infected with the disease will have no other option but to buy the only product in the market despite its high price.If the patents will be lifted, this will benefit not only those in the poor nations but everyone who has been infected with the disease as they will enjoy the benefits market competition will bring.The absence of patent protection will give other pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to develop their own products and processes aimed at treating AIDS infection.   If this happens, there will be more products available in the market.   More similar products in the market will compel pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices.

Developmental Stage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developmental Stage - Research Paper Example Through the study, the uniqueness is unveiled to everyone. Theories and research back up the understanding of human behavior (Kail and Cavanaugh, 2010, p. 3). The human development has several theories that tend to explain various stages of growth in different perspectives. Three main factors of theories had been made to categorize the theories to prevent confusion: biological factors, environmental factors and person-environment interaction factors. Biological factors contain the theories that explain the physical growth and appearance of human beings. On the other hand, environmental factors are theories that discuss the impacts of the surroundings and ecosystems in the human development. The last is person-environment interaction factors which are responsible for showing the relationships and effects of both person and the environment and how the self-directed action of the person affects his growth in response to the environment. Biological factors consist of the following theories: evolutionary theory, psychosexual theory, and cognitive developmental theory. On the other hand, environmental factors have the following theories: learni ng theories, social role theory, and life course theory. The person-environment interaction factor has the following theories: psychosocial theory, cognitive social-historical theory, and dynamic systems theory (Newman and Newman, 2007). Lifelong learning gets the attention of many people today especially in the international education policy. In the concept of lifelong learning, adult people are encouraged to continuously study not just based upon the books but also through experiences and interactions. According to the traditional psychology of learning, age does not matter when it comes to learning. All people learn from different ages as proven by researchers who study the decisive and basic mechanisms of learning through laboratory studies. Many claimed that adult learning is very similar to the way of

Leadership and the future Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leadership and the future - Assignment Example Grossman is concerned with the quality of medical care in nursing homes and those of elderly residents in their homes (Grossman, 37). Nurses are usually in charge for the delivery of such care in the centers or the patients’ home. Nevertheless, the number of aged patients existing in the nursing homes rose considerably in the 1990s and late 1980s. This has resulted in a rise in the workload of the nurses who are sometimes forced by circumstances to take care of more than one patient. Patients with a disability and high morbidity have also increased pressure on the available human resource, (Wick, 46). I have personally, played a significant role in the development of the nursing field. I came up with the generation of value indicators. This system is used to measure the explicit process criteria. In this strategy, the care given to patients is measured against the explicit quality indicators or standards that result from the care. The indicators are selected on the foundation of their significance to the nursing industry. In addition, information is to de delivered to the registered nurses to support each of the quality indicators. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is the worlds leading training organization for the nurses. This organization validates nurses’ skills, abilities, and knowledge. The ANCC board recognition and certification empowers qualified nurses within their specialized spheres to active contribute to the delivery of quality medical care to patients’. The ANCC is an auxiliary organization to the American Nurses Association (ANA). It provides financial support to organizations and individuals to help them further their skills and competence, (Marx, 87). One is expected to gain the relevant work experience after graduation over the years as he or she sharpens the skills acquired in class. My strategy to improve the quality of nursing health care for the next decade is based upon three basic

ETHICS PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ETHICS PAPER - Essay Example To begin with, one should point out that the role of a strategic plan is to outline the principles that will guide an organization in the long term perspective. It is quite obvious that if a company adopts principles that are unethical, the result will be disastrous: it will be a target of criticism of the public and the entire business as at risk. Contrary to that, if ethical principles were enshrined in the course of developing a strategic plan, then it will allow an organization to find the correct solution to every problem that it faces. In addition to that, the concept of social responsibility is the one that is closely tied to application of ethical principles in a strategic plan. Indeed, the force that should drive an organization to improve one’s performance and make it more sustainable is the acknowledgement of the impact that it has on the social environment and accepting responsibility for these actions. This means that such a strategic plan would urge the organization to minimize its negative impact on the environment in case it has any. Moreover, it will provide effective ways to adjust the current practices in order to make sure that the performance does not cause any damage. However, it must be noted that while applying ethics and accepting social responsibility, the company should also take into consideration the needs of stakeholders. By definition, stakeholders are the people for whom certain actions make essential difference (Freeman, 2010, 44). One should keep in mind that stakeholders are often found not only inside an organization, but outside of it as well. That is why the most essential part of developing a strategic plan that would be both ethical and socially responsible is not to overlook needs of any stakeholders. This means that a company should carry out an objective investigation of the state of affairs and identify the primary

Intellectual Property Rights in Media Applications Essay

Intellectual Property Rights in Media Applications - Essay Example A "dramatic work" includes a work of dance or mime; while a "musical work" means a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music. Section 5(1) of the Act provides that "sound recording" means - (a) a recording of sounds, from which the sounds may be reproduced, or (b) a recording of the whole or any part of a literary, dramatic or musical work, from which sounds reproducing the work or part may be produced, regardless of the medium on which the recording is made or the method by which the sounds are reproduced or produced. In the given problem, copyright subsists in the lyrics of the song 'Harlequin', the musical composition (musical notes) of the same song, and the sound recording of the song. Copyright protection therefore subsists on the foregoing works such that any infringement thereof gives the copyright owner or author of the works a claim or cause of action against the Guys. Under Section 9 of the Act, the "author" means the person who creates the work and in case of a sound recording, that person (the author) shall be taken to be the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the recording or film are undertaken. Thus, in the case of the lyrics of the song 'Harlequin', the writer of the song is the author of the literary work while the composer is the author of the musical work. In the given problem, therefore, Jones is the author of the lyrics of 'Harlequin' as a literary work while at the same time he, as composer of the song, is also the author of the musical work. The author of the sound recording of the song on the other hand is Arcadia, Jones' music publishing company. Parenthetically, if the Guys does not have a license from Arcadia to use the sound recording, then the Guys may also be liable for copyright infringement of Arcadia's sound recording. Nevertheless, Jones will therefore be advised that as copyright owner of both the lyrics and musical composition of the song, being the sole author of the said lyrics and musical composition, he may have a cause of action against the Guys for infringement of his copyright over in the literary and/or musical work. As copyright owner, I will advise Jones that under Section 16 of the Act, the owner of the copyright in a work has the exclusive right to do the following acts in the United Kingdom - (a) to copy the work; (b) to issue copies of the work to the public; (c) to perform, show or play the work in public; (d) to broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme service; and (e) to make an adaptation of the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation. Those acts are the "acts restricted by the copyright". Furthermore, under the same Section, copyright in a work is "infringed by a person who without the licence of the copyright owner does, or authorises another to do, any of the acts restricted by the copyright" "in relation to the work as a whole or any substantial part of it" "either directly or indirectly". In view of the foregoing provisions, I will advise Jones that the Guys will only be guilty of copyright infringement if the 6-second music sample from Jones's 'Harlequin' used by

Bioinformatics and gestational diseases Lab Report

Bioinformatics and gestational diseases - Lab Report Example Further research is indicated. Introduction Preeclampsia is a gestational disease of fairly common occurrence. It has effects of varying severity, and may in its worst forms cause a risk to the survival of both mother and fetus [1]. It is primarily linked to high blood pressure during pregnancy, and the risk of suffering from the condition is greatly increased with chronic hypertension in the mother [2]. However, it may also be linked to genetic factors in the fetus and the mother that affect the growth of the placenta, especially the vascular layout of the placenta [3]. Despite the potential severity of the condition and the amount of research conducted, the ultimate cause of preeclampsia is still unknown [4]. Genetic analysis methods have been used in an attempt to determine what genes and proteins associated with those genes are linked to preeclampsia. Coding these genes could allow a statistical determination of risk as well as a codification of the risk factors [5]. Therefore, t his paper will look at the current accepted statistical determinants surrounding preeclampsia and what is currently known regarding the genetic risk factors. Materials and Methods A search was done on Google Scholar for the keywords â€Å"preeclampsia† and the alternative spelling â€Å"pre-eclampsia† and the phrase â€Å"preeclampsia risk†, also with the alternative spelling. Precedence was given to those results that were located in journals with the words â€Å"bioinformatics†, â€Å"statistics†, or â€Å"molecular† in the titles, though this was not completely exclusive. This was done in order to obtain studies in the field of bioinformatics that were related to the gestational disease preeclampsia. An additional search restriction was added to that the articles had to be published after 2005, to ensure that only recent results that are currently considered to be accurate are used. An additional search was done on ScienceDirect and PubMe d for relevant articles. However, the parameters above returned no results within the ScienceDirect database and very few on PubMed, so the search was re-done with slightly different terms. The search was designed to restrict only to journals generally in the subject areas of molecular genetics or bioinformatics, but may not have had those keywords in the journal name. The same set of keywords was used, with the additional keywords of â€Å"molecular genetics† and â€Å"bioinformatics† in separate searches added to the phrases. Relevance was determined if the article had certain key factors in the abstract when first viewed. These included the words â€Å"risk factors†, â€Å"gene†, â€Å"allele†, or other keywords relating to genetic sequencing and its use in determining risk for preeclampsia. Therefore, the article was determined to be relevant if it appeared to be related to statistically quantifying or codifying the genetic risk factors for pre eclampsia Results One suggested genetic risk factor for preeclampsia was the rho-associated coiled-coil protein kinase 2, or the ROCK2 gene. The ROCK2 gene is located on chromosome 2p25, which previous research has suggested has a link to preeclampsia. However, the gene itself appears to be unrelated to preeclampsia, as when a group of patients were sequenced, there was no correlation between those who had preeclampsia, those who did not suffer from the condition, and the presence or absence of the gene

Discuss one historical example where a woman or girl was killed by Essay

Discuss one historical example where a woman or girl was killed by other members of her family in a manner that was considered l - Essay Example It is the extremeness of narrow-minded outlook that snatches away the right to live from some people by devilish and evil people in society on the name of tradition. Banaz was killed by her family for being in love. She was one of the five daughters of a purely conservative Kurdish family living in England, getting asylum after fleeing from Iraq. She was destined to be murdered. Precaution was taken by the family to keep her away from the influence of Western culture. The only safe haven deemed right by the family was to get her married to a person of the Kurdish community so that the family could remain aloof from the responsibility of a daughter by the Mahmods’, the family name. Family, including her father and uncle and the community expected her to bear the bad behavior of her husband by becoming an obedient wife and responsible mother (Barton par. 1-4). Banaz Mahmod’s father, Mahmod Mahmod and uncle Ari Mahmod were awarded life sentence for murdering Banaz in 2007. The documentary of her ill-fated death was previewed at the Raindance film festival. Her crime in the eyes of her near family and the wider Kurdish community was that she was having a love-affair with a Muslim outside her community although married. She feared family retaliation to the extent of murdering her. That’s why she went to the police station not once but five times, as she was expecting risk to her life. Finally that happened, which Banaz feared; she was murdered at her home in Mitcham, Surrey on 24 January 2006 by her family members, including her father and uncle, playing a leading role in her killing. Bootlace was used to strangle her mercilessly; her dead body was packed in a suitcase and buried in the garden of an accomplice in Birmingham (Hardingham-Gill par. 1-4). The gruesome murder of Banaz could only be brought to the world at large through the keen efforts made by former pop star and presently, musician and film-maker, Deeyah, who belongs to Pashtun heri tage, and is a Punjabi. Deeyah shared her experiences of documentary making on the true story of Banaz. According to Deeyah, Banaz was murdered by her family because she left the home of her husband and started meeting a friend of the family named, Rahmat Sulemani. At some point of her career, Deeyah was in the somewhat similar predicament; she had to end her career of a pop-star due to life risk on her. Banaz’s story touched to her heart. Deeyah wanted to interview some close family members of Banaz, but was dismayed, as no one had the courage to share details of the tragedy. Later, Deeyah got success in watching a video-tape of Banaz herself, revealing her true painful reality (Hardingham-Gill par. 5). The circumstances that led to the gruesome murder of Banaz by her own father and uncle were more related to the fundamentalist perspective of a Muslim community, Kurdish, belonging to Iraq. Banaz was going against the community practices by revolting against the inhuman treat ment meted out to her by her husband. She came back to her parents’ house, leaving her husband’s house. At the time of marriage to a Kurdish man of 28-years in age, Banaz was just 17-years old. When her parents left Iraq and took asylum in England, she was just 12 years in age. Banaz was ill-treated by her husband; he would rape her.

Consider the cross cultural management implications for a UK manager Essay

Consider the cross cultural management implications for a UK manager undertaking an international business assignment to another country (of your choice) - Essay Example As a result, the concept of cross-cultural management is gaining popularity in the modern world. Managing across cultures is a product of globalisation (Dierks, 2001) such that, an expatriate from a foreign culture moves to a totally new culture and is required to manage people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Many people who have moved to new cultures or societies have experienced challenges. Although majority has succeeded, some have found it difficult and failed in their international duties. Managing across cultures requires those involved to adjust to numerous conflicting or competing cultural needs, while at the same time maintaining their culture. In this regard, one has to increase efforts of understanding other people’s cultures, their way of doing things, their way of management, and also how such people do things in general (Magala, 2005). Understanding culture has become important to international companies and managers operating in different countries. This report looks at the management journey of an international manager from United Kingdom, who is sent on an international mission in USA and has to carry out international duties in one of the multinational companies in the country. The report will explore and discuss management problems and challenges likely to be experienced by the manager as reflected in the cultures of the two countries. Furthermore, there would be discussion on the best ways through which the manager can ensure he or she fits well in the new environment and culture. Different nations around the world have different cultures. The differences in cultures have influenced different nations to manifest little similarities and huge dissimilarities. Cultures of different societies have played important roles, which may include cultures acting as mechanisms in societies that allow maintenance of stability across many generations (Hofstede, 2001). Culture is seen as the value system of a given society where majority of

Relationship between Lung and Tooth Abscess Assignment

Relationship between Lung and Tooth Abscess - Assignment Example If tooth decay is discovered early, cavities that could develop into abscesses can usually be treated. Since both diseases develop due to poor oral hygiene, practicing proper oral hygiene is the best way to prevent oneself from contaminating the abscesses. Avoiding cigarette and alcohol consumption not only serves as a prevention measure for a tooth abscess but also for a lung abscess. In ancient times, lung abscesses posed challenges to practitioners because of the long duration of the illnesses. A lung abscess was commonly associated with morbidity and mortality and supportive care was the major form of treatment. According to Ferri (2013), â€Å"a lung abscess is an infection of the lung parenchyma resulting in a necrotic cavity containing pus† (p. 9). In order to better comprehend this infectious disease of the respiratory tract, one needs to know the risk factors associated with the disease. Ferri’s (2012) study found the risk factors to be alcohol-related problems, seizure disorders, cerebrovascular disorders, drug abuse, poor oral hygiene and obstructive malignant lung diseases. According to Joiner, â€Å"a dental abscess develops when a pus-filled sac forms in the tissue at the root of a tooth† (2001, p. 348). It is known to bring intolerable pain to the affected. The tooth usually throbs and aches to make chewing or biting very painful. If one does not seek medical care, the infection spreads through the surrounding tissue and bone, causing the neck and face glands to become swollen. This is usually accompanied by a severe headache and fever, which are the common symptoms of infections. Joiner (2001) adds that the causes of a tooth abscess are bacteria accumulation in the deep pockets found between gums and teeth or infections on the roots of teeth. Numerous symptoms are observed in persons suffering from lung and tooth abscesses. These symptoms are usually prolonged occurring for weeks to months. For a  lung abscess, they include fever, chills and sweats, coughs, sputum production and amphoric breath sounds (Ferri, 2012).

The Short and the Tall Essay Example for Free

The Short and the Tall Essay We are made aware of the patrols attitudes in Act one of The Long, The Short, and the Tall, towards the Japanese prisoner from their speech, tone of voice and actions. Johnstone, member of the patrol, shows he has a harsh attitude towards the prisoner. We can see this, as when the prisoner enters the cabin, unaware of the waiting patrol, Johnstone is the first person to grab him. He calls to the others to kill the prisoner as he holds him still. He says Get him! Quick! Do for him! Give it hump! Will you just ram it in? These are very short phrases and are said quickly and in a sharp tone of voice. He also uses allot of colloquial language and never actually says kill him. This emphasises Johnstones urgency and professionalism, but also shows that he has a hard image. Because Johnstone can say all this it proves to us that he has a harsh attitude towards the Japanese prisoner and just wants him out of the way. He says We should have done him when e first turned up. In other parts of the act Johnstones attitude stays the same. He still shows no respect for the prisoner or compassion. He still believes that the Japanese prisoner should be killed and doesnt trust him. He says You think that hed have second thoughts about putting the mockers on the lot of us? This rhetorical question shows his distrust of the prisoner. He also shows that he is jealous of the prisoner for all the attention he is now getting from the patrol. He says Two minutes ago you wouldnt touch him with a barge pole. None of you! He also said Not one of you had the guts to give me a hand. This shows he still thinks the prisoner should have been killed. It shows how he has a ruthless and barbaric attitude towards the prisoner. Also later in the play he has a fight with Bamforth over the prisoner. He is horrible to the prisoner and treats him unfairly. Mitchem has a very different attitude towards the prisoner. He has no feelings for the Prisoner but sees that he can be useful. Mitchem says I want this one alive. This makes it clear to us that Mitchem has plans. However he still shows no respect towards the Japanese prisoner. We can tell this from the way he tries to speak to the prisoner. He says Trust me to cop a raving lunatic! This refers to the prisoner and emphasises the lack of compassion and respect for the prisoner. Later in the act he shows that he had only one reason to keep the prisoner. Mitchem sees it as an everyday thing. He wants to keep the prisoner so he can be used later. He says to Bamforth Hes in your charge. Look after him. This proves he still has plans and his attitude is the same. When he realises that the patrol is in danger and is behind enemy lines he decides to ditch the prisoner. He says Were ditching him. This again proves his lack of compassion for the prisoner but also his professionalism. Bamforth has a very similar attitude towards the Japanese prisoner to Johnstone. When no one can bring themselves to kill the prisoner Bamforth steps up as if it was an everyday event and says Its only the same as carving up a pig. Hold him still. This is a simile and shows us that Bamforth also has no respect for the prisoner but it also shows us that Bamforth is learned of the gang-life in London. This is because of the colloquial language used. He also uses racist language that reflects on the time the play was set. As in the 1940s racism was not an issue. Also soldiers used racist language towards the enemy so as to feel better when killing them. He calls him an Asiatic glet. Johnstone and Mitchem also use this sort of language when they say Wog grub and Tojo. As Mitchem had put Bamforth in charge of the prisoner he began to talk to him. He said Get your hands up on your head! Like this! See! He then speaks to Evans and says Hey Taff! See that, he did it like I said! This shows that he has no respect for the prisoner and sees him as an object or pet almost. Bamforths attitudes completely turn around though. As he is looking after the prisoner he begins to get friendly with him and talks to him as a mate or one of the lads. He offers him a cigarette and looks at the prisoners photos with him. This disgusts Johnstone and when he leans in to give the prisoner a light he knocks the cigarette out of his mouth. Bamforth then stands up for his new mate and has a fight his own man, Johnstone for him! Bamforth calls the prisoner a bloke, he says to Johnstone I dont have to ask you before I give a bloke a fag! This shows he sees him as a human. He then beats Johnstone until Mitchem has to interrupt. Evans has a different attitude towards the prisoner as he shows he has compassion for other humans and cant bring himself to kill an unarmed man, at least. He steps up to do the job but then changes his mind. He says I I cant do it corp. This shows of his compassion for other human beings. It also shows how scared he was for killing someone, hence the stuttering. When he says this, his voice is scared and his whole body is tensed up! He often takes the situation light heartedly and humorously. He says to Bamforth, I always knew you were an oriental creep at heart man. This shows how Evans is a friendly and funny person. He has a compassionate attitude towards the prisoner. He actually sees the prisoner as a decent human being. We see Maclieshs attitude towards the prisoner in this section. He treats the situation with humour at first but then argues with Johnstone about what should have been done to the prisoner. For humour he says He isnt exactly what you would call a handsome bloke! This shows that he hasnt got much respect for the prisoner but he still isnt as bad as some other members of the patrol. When he is arguing with Johnstone he argues by saying You cannot order men to put a bayonet into an unarmed prisoner. He also says Havent you heard of the Geneva Connection. This shows how he is professional in his job and sticks to the rules. It also shows that he may not have the same intentions as Mitchem but still believes the prisoner should be kept. Because the prisoner has been stripped of his arms by the patrol they cannot kill the prisoner. If they were to kill him it would be illegal, murder. Because the patrol have already found out that they are behind enemy lines the prisoner is no longer of any use to them. This links to inter-relationships between the groups of characters in the play. The professional soldiers, with the higher ranks (Mitchem, Macleish and Johnstone) talk about the delicate issues while the others (privates) seem to have a bit of a laugh and mess around while not on duty. The professionals talk about the problem they have with the Japanese soldier. They decide they have to kill him! They discuss this important issue while the other members of the patrol become mates with the prisoner. Mitchem says Were ditching him! What will the prisoners new friends think about this? It is illegal to kill the prisoner as he has become a prisoner of war and has no arms, however he will be a danger and a burden to the patrol! The rest of the patrol hardly show interest in the prisoner, they are interested but forget about it after they are told to carry on with there business. They arent main characters in this part of the play.

Cross-border MA Deals in Vietnam

Cross-border MA Deals in Vietnam The period from 1995 to 2006 There were few MA from TNCs from 1995 to 2006. In this period the legal system in Vietnam had almost no specific provisions for MA, however, until 2006 there were 29 cross-border deals with a total value of 196 million dollars. Those activities was performed on a small scale. A remarkable transaction in this period is when Colgate-Palmolive purchased Son Hai LLC, which owned Da Lan – a famous toothpaste brand name in Vietnam at that time, at three million US dollars (Nguyen 2012). At that moment Da Lan maintained about 30 percent of Vietnam toothpaste market share. However, in 2005 MA market in Vietnam was marked by the introduction of the Enterprise Law including provisions on mergers and acquisitions. In addition, the equitization of State enterprises has been adopted by the Government. Subsequently, other documents such as the 2005 Law on Investment and the 2006 Securities Law also encouraged MA from TNCs. The year 2007 2007 was a year of tremendous growth of MA from TNCs in Vietnam. This is the year after Vietnam joined WTO, and the country had to fulfil its international commitments and improved the investment environment by reforming the legal system and foreign investment policies. Consequently, that event attracted foreign investors to Vietnam MA market. The evidence is that the number and value of MA deals by TNCs in 2007 increased 700 and 1400 percent respectively compared with the previous year. These number marked a turning point in Vietnam MA market. The year 2008 There were some events, which affected cross-border MA market, occurred in 2008. Government decree 139, which became effective on 1 January 2008, remains in force. The decree in principle removed limits on foreign ownership ratios in Vietnamese companies except in relation to public listed companies where the 49 percent cap remained in place (along with a 40 percent cap in public non-listed companies). In addition, sector specific limitations, most importantly in telecoms, financial services and other services remained in place. In addition, one of the most significant regulatory developments in 2008 arising from WTO membership obligations was the granting of licenses to wholly foreign owned banks. The first recipients of such licenses were HSBC, Standard Chartered and ANZ Bank. The number of MA from TNCs in 2008 was 30, increased about 200 percent compared with the number in 2007. The value of all cross-border MA deals was US$ 859 million, increased about 200 percent with the number in the previous year. Notable cross-border MA deals in 2008 included: In July, Jardine Cycle Carriage Limited (JCC) announced that it had acquired a 12 percent interest in Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO), a leading Vietnamese automotive company, for a cost of approximately $41 million. In August, JCC acquired a further 8 percent stake for US$ 39 million. THACO was established in Vietnam in 1997 and incorporated as a joint stock company in 2007. THACO’s principal activities include the manufacture, assembly, distribution, retail, repair and maintenance of commercial and passenger vehicles in Vietnam under the Kia, Foton, King Long, Hyundai and THACO brands. The company operates through a network of showrooms and dealers throughout the country. Under the agreement, the Singapore-based company will help THACO promote its automobile sales in Vietnam and other markets in the region. In August, France’s Socià ©tà © Gà ©nà ©rale, which has had representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since 1989 and is amongst the market leaders in Project and Export Finance in Vietnam, announced the acquisition of 15 percent of Southeast Asia Bank (SeABank). It is understood that Socià ©tà © Gà ©nà ©rale may rise its holding to 20 percent in the future, the maximum allowable under the current regulations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Headquartered in Hanoi, SeABank has a network of 55 branches and transaction offices covering Vietnam’s principal economic centers. Socià ©tà © Gà ©nà ©rale committed to provide technical assistance to SeABank particularly in the fields of risk management, technology, and international payment services and to strengthen its retail banking product offerings. In August, HSBC became the first foreign bank in Vietnam authorized to hold a 20 percent interest in a domestic bank by increasing its stake in the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) from 14.4 percent to 20 percent. Also in August, in a deal valued at approximately US$ 9.1 million, Daikin Industries Ltd. Of Japan bought Viet Kim Co., a Ho Chi Minh City-based air conditioner distributor. In October, the Asian operating arm of Bunge Limited announced its acquisition of a 50 percent stake in the owner/operator of Phu My Port. The investment provides Bunge with greater opportunities to serve its customers in the growing market for agricultural commodities in Vietnam. The port is located on the Thi Vai River, approximately 70 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City and is near a large number of commercial feed mills. Phu My Port is the only commercial dry bulk port in Vietnam capable of receiving large, Panamax-class ships. According to Bunge, market forecasts call for aggregate volumes of soybean meal, corn and wheat imports to increase by approximately 10 percent per year over the next five years. United Overseas Bank (UOB), incorporated in Singapore, announced an increase in its shareholding in The Southern Commercial Joint Stock Bank of Vietnam (Southern Bank) from 10 percent to 15 percent in October 2008. The deal value was US$ 15.6 million. UOB purchased its initial 10 percent stake in January 2007 and pledged to provide technical assistance to Southern Bank as part of the agreement. Also in October, Nippon Steel Corp signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in POSCO-Vietnam Co. Ltd., a cold-rolled mill manufacturer and a wholly owned unit of POSCO Co. Ltd., of Korea. A plant owned by POSCO-Vietnam Co. Ltd, which is under construction in the south of the country, has an investment value of approximately US$ 530 million and is expected to start production in September 2009. In December, TBWA Worldwide announced the acquisition of a â€Å"significant shareholding† in Biz Solutions, one of the leading integrated marketing communications agencies in Vietnam. TBWA is committed to bring its global integrated marketing brand â€Å"Tequila† to Vietnam by rebranding Biz Solutions as Biz Tequila. TBWA indicated that the acquisition is part of a long-term investment program in Vietnam in anticipation of significant future growth in the country. In another notable deal in December 2008, Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc., a global consulting firm, announced that it had acquired SMART Human Resource Vietnam Company Limited (SMART HR), an HR consulting firm. By establishing its operations in Vietnam through this acquisition, Watson Wyatt is aiming to provide its global and regional clients with consulting advice in what it considers one of Asia’s most dynamic emerging markets. The year 2009 Although the number of MA from TNCs continuously increased about 17 percent, their value decreased sharply over 70 percent compared with 2008. The most notable cross-border deals announced during the year were: In October, HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited (HSBC) signed an agreement to increase its shareholding in Bao Viet Holdings, Vietnams leading insurance and financial services group, to 18 percent from the current level of 10 percent for a consideration of VND1.88 trillion (approximately US$105.3 million). A total of 53,682,474 new shares will be issued to HSBC through a private placement to increase HSBCs stake. As part of the original agreement, HSBC continues to hold certain pre-emptive rights allowing it to acquire shares currently owned by the Ministry of Finance with a maximum permitted HSBC shareholding of 25 percent in the five years from signing of the agreement and at prevailing foreign ownership limits thereafter. In October, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co Ltd, a Taiwan based provider of commercial banking services and a subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Company Ltd, a listed Taiwan based financial services company, acquired the Vietnamese branches of Chinfon Commercial Bank Co Ltd, a Taiwan based commercial bank and a subsidiary of Central Deposit Insurance Corporation, a Taiwan based deposit insurance company, for a consideration of US$ 78.1 million. In November, a leading Japanese food and beverage company, House Foods Corporation (House Foods), signed an agreement to make an investment of approximately US$20 million in Masan Group Corporation by acquiring 9 million new ordinary shares at a price of approximately VND40,000 per share, representing a stake of around 1.85 percent of the Group’s enlarged share capital. The transaction valued Masan Group Corporation at over US$1 billion. Companies that Masan Group owns and in which it invests include Masan Food Corporation, one of Vietnam’s largest food and beverage companies, and Techcombank, a leading Joint Stock Commercial Bank in which HSBC is a strategic partner. Masan Food Corporation, established in 2003, holds a market share of approximately 50 percent in some of Vietnam’s most popular food product subsectors, including fish sauce and soy sauce. House Foods, founded in 1913 and listed on both the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges since 1971, is one of the l argest food and beverage players in Japan with a dominant position in the curry category. In July, POSCO, a listed South Korea based steel manufacturer agreed to acquire a 90 percent stake in Asia Stainless Corporation (â€Å"ASC†), a Vietnam based manufacturer of stainless steel, for an estimated consideration of US$50 million. With a current annual capacity of 30,000 tons, ASC (located near Ho Chi Minh City) has plans to expand its production capacity to 85,000 tons per annum by 2010. In December, Sapporo Holdings Limited, a listed Japanese company with interests in alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, restaurants and real estate, agreed to acquire Kronenbourg Vietnam Limited, a Vietnam based producer of beer, from Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), a Vietnam based company engaged in manufacturing and production of tobacco and cigarettes, and Carlsberg Breweries A/S for a consideration of US$ 25.4million. Under the terms of the agreement, Sapporo acquired a 50 percent stake from Carlsberg Breweries A/S and a further 15 percent stake from Vinataba. The remaining 35 percent stake will continue to be held by Vinataba. Upon completion of the transaction, Kronenbourg Vietnam Limited will be renamed Sapporo Vietnam Limited. The year 2010 In this year both the number and value of MA from TNCs decreased and fall to the bottom during the period from 2007 to 2011. While the number diminished about 8,5 percent the value diminished significantly 60 percent. The most notable cross-border deals announced during the year were: State-owned Oman Investment Fund acquired a 12.6% stake, or 20.208 million ordinary shares, in Hanoibased Petrovietnam Insurance JSC, a unit of state-owned Vietnam National Oil Gas Group (PetroVietnam), for VND40,000 (US$2.12) per share, or a total value of VND808.3 billion (US$42.84 million). Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit of Gamuda Bhd of Malaysia, agreed to acquire a 60% interest in Sai Gon Thuong Tin Tan Thang Investment Real Estate JSC, a Ho Chi Minh City based real estate development firm majority owned by Sai Gon Thuong Tin Real Estate JSC (Sacomreal), from Sacomreal for VND 23,889 (US$1.29) per share, or a total value of VND 1.533 trillion (US$82.8 million) in cash. Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd of Singapore acquired a 15% stake, in Mekong Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, a Long Xuyen-based bank for an undisclosed amount. Orix Corporation of Japan acquired a 25% stake, or 11.408 million ordinary shares in Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings Ltd, a real estate fund manager and provider of financial services, in a privately negotiated transaction. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, acquired a 15% stake in Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB). Whilst information on pricing of this transaction was not made public, this is likely to be one largest deal in terms of deal size since VIB is one of the largest private banks in Vietnam. TNK-BP Holding of Russia, a 50:50 joint venture between BP PLC (BP) and Alfa Group Consortium, agreed to acquire a 35% stake in an offshore natural gas block belonging to BP Plc. Concurrently, TNK-BP agreed to acquire a 32.7% stake in the Nam Con Son Pipeline and Terminal and 33.3% stake in Phi My 3 BOT Power Co Ltd. These transactions were part of a larger overall transaction estimated to have a combined value of US$1.8 billion. The year 2011 The cross-border MA market showed a sign of recovery in 2011 while both the number and value of cross-border MA deals reached higher levels than the year 2008. The number and value increased 35 percent and 1100 percent respectively compared with the previous year. Notable cross-border MA deals in 2011 included: C.P Pokphand, China’s leading animal feed producer bought 70.8 % stake in C.P Vietnam Livestock Co, 100% owned by Thai Charoen Pokphand Group and one of the leading livestock and seafood companies in Vietnam, for $609 million to control Vietnam market. C.P Vietnam, established in 1993, holds a 20% of animal feed market share, 77% of industrial pig farming market and 30% of chicken raising in Vietnam. Holding 70.8% stake in C.P Vietnam is a good opportunity for C.P. Pokphand Co to create an animal feed supply channel from Vietnam and make impact on the prices. VimpelCom spent $196 million to raise its stake in Gtel- Mobile to 49%, to increase its controlling power and actively manage Beeline after 1 year of poor performance. Gtel- Mobile is the developer of Beeline system worth $670 million of which 40% is owned by Vimpelcom and 60% by Gtel. After 1 year of operation, Gtel- Mobile had only 200,000 subscribers compared with the target of 1 million. Vimpelcom decided to pay $196 million to raise its stake in GTel Mobile by 9% to 49% and became Beeline controlling party. Unicharm Corp. acquired a 95% stake of Diana Joint Stock Co for $128 million. Diana currently holds 30% disposable diaper and 40% toilet paper in Vietnam. Unicharm, a Japanese producer of similar goods, targeted to invest in technology and expand production to become the biggest company in Vietnam in disposable diaper and toilet paper. The current market leader in the industry is 100% American owned Kimberly-Clark Co. Unicharm has 25% market share in the Asian but had not appeared in Vietnam before the deal. Diana is a family-run company and the divestment worth $128 million after 15 years from establishment was a remarkable investment. CJ CGV spent $73.6 million acquiring 80% Megastar Media Company (Megastar), Vietnams leading cinema owner and film distributor with 300% annual revenue growth. The Seoul-based CJ-CGV Ltd, an operator of 75 multiplex movie theatres with 610 screens in Korea, a multiplex in Koreantown Los Angeles and five others in China, bought 80% stake of Megastar through acquiring 92% stake in Virgin Islands-registered Envoy Media Partners. Buying Megastar was a part of CJ-CGV’s strategy to expand operation in Vietnam and India. The group planned to spend $23 million in expanding Megastar screen system in Vietnam. This was considered a good deal for CJ-CGV to enter Vietnam’s entertainment market with high growth rate in recent years. Fortis Healthcare International spent $64 million to buy 65% stake in Vietnams Hoan My Medical Corp with nearly 1000 beds. This was the Fortis Healthcare International’s sixth investment in Asia in the past eight months and an important step in consolidating its comprehensive healthcare service in Asia- Pacific. Besides getting support in technology, technique and management skills from Fortis Healthcare International, Hoan My can take advantage of its size and prestige to sustainably develop through improving service quality. Marico, a leading consumer and service firm in India, bought 85% stake of International Consumer Products (ICP) for $62 million. Marico is one of the top consumer goods firms in India with annual revenue of $600 million, focusing on beauty and wellness products. ICP, founded in 2001, has flagship brands such as X-men and Lovite and generated $25 million revenue in 2010 with average CAGR growth of 23% in the past three years. Jollibee Foods bought 49% stake in Viet Thai International (VTI) which owns Highlands Coffee chain. The agreement included VTI’s transferring 60% of its business in Hong Kong (the owner of Hard Rock Cafà ©) to Jollibee Foods and getting a $35 million loan from Jollibee Foods with an interest rate of 5% p.a., due in 2016. After the deal, the joint venture was expected to own 139 stores including 118 ones in Vietnam and 21 in other 5 countries

Winds of Change: From Vendor Lock-in to the Meta Cloud

Winds of Change: From Vendor Lock-in to the Meta Cloud Introduction: A software requirement specification is a complete explanation of the system that is to be created. Software requirement specification includes non-functional and functional requirements. Use case technique can be used in prepared to identify the functional requirements of the software inventions. Non-functional requirements are requirements which force constraints on the implementation and design. As systems grew more complex, it becomes more apparent that the goal of the entire system can’t be easily included. The software requirement specification consists of two important activities. Problem/Requirement investigation Product Function summary Security is one of the most important points in wireless communication studies because it is an essential challenge since wireless messages are transmitted in the air so there is a chance that hackers can read out the messages and see what all the contents are there in the message. Purpose of Software Requirement Specification: A software requirement specification personifies the requirements of a system IEEE standard and is a organized collection of information. A business analyst (BA), sometimes called system analyst is important for examining the business needs of their clients and for the persons having interest and concern in solving the problems and finding solution for the problems. BA typically performs a communication between the business side of an enterprise and the information technology department. To list the user requirement in a specified manner is the main purpose of software requirement specification. It defines requirements for the software and restrictions needed to this application and document. 4.2 Performance Requirements Portability: It is easy for the user to understand and respond as the Graphical User Interface of this application is user-friendly. Response time: It is the time taken to complete a work by the system by the user is found to be very less. Reliability: This system helps us to deliver the need for queries with high possibility and the functionalities that are available in the application. Scalability: To improve the quality of the product, the system can be extended to combine the changes that are done in the present application. Scalability is meant for the future works that is to be done on the application. 4.3 Functional Requirements: Functional requirements are the statements of services the system should supply, how the system should behave in particular condition and how it behaves to certain inputs. Also the functional requirements define what the system should not do in some cases. The functional requirements is based on the kind of software being evolved, when writing requirements the general approach taken by the organization and the anticipate users of the software. These requirements for a system report what the system should do. The requirements are normally describes in a fairly abstract way when it is exhibited as user requirements. Functional requirements may be exhibited in numerous ways for a software system and it describes the irregularity, its inputs and outputs and functions of system in detail. Some of the typical functional requirements are: 1. Transaction corrections, adjustments, cancellations: Here uploading the data on cloud by data owners are by the transactions which is done online. The end users upload the files to each cloud servers can be downloaded and viewed and these end users have to register to cloud service providers. 2. Authentication: Here the users authentication is required to enter any of the modules implemented in the proposed system and is used to login into the cloud service providers servers. 3. Authorization- functions user is assigned to perform: Here the users are allowed to login by registering and paying into cloud servers if the cloud services are to be used by paying. User has the right to upload the files to respective cloud servers and track the details which are uploaded after logging into the cloud by registering. 4. Audit Tracking: An audit trail which is also called as audit log provides documentary proof of the series of activities that have elaborated at any time a particular operation, procedure or event and is a security-applicable chronological record, set of records, and/or at the end of line and source of records. Scientific research and health care data transactions, financial transactions, or communications by individual people, systems, components, accounts or other entities are the activities in which the audit records typically result from. The procedure that generates an audit trail can enter and administer all actions from all users; a standard user is not authorized to stop or change it and is typically required to always run in a prosperous mode. Additionally, database table with a string or trail file is not reachable to normal users in some cases. The use of a role-based security model in the software is another way of dealing with this issue. When using audit trail functionality, the softwar e is required by many companies and it can also work as a ‘closed system’ or with closed-looped controls. 5. Historical Data: Historical data is the data which is a collection of old records and it should always be present in database. Historical data should not be deleted by the cloud service provider from the database except the data owners are asking to delete the historical data. 4.4 Non-Functional Requirements: Non-functional requirements are the requirements that are often called the qualities of the system. It can be used to form the operation of the system, rather than specific behaviors. Reliability (accuracy), response time and store occupancy are the emergent system properties that non-functional requirements deal with. Alternatively, they may define the constraints on the data representations used in system interfaces and the system capabilities of I/O devices. Non-functional requirements are constraints, quality attributes i.e. it provide the method for designing the fitness and suitability of the product, quality goals, non-behavioral requirements i.e. it achieves its job such as reliability(accuracy) and defines the attributes of the system, efficiency(planning), timing constraints etc.. Non-functional requirements are divided into two main classes: Security and usability are execution qualities. Testability, maintainability, extensibility and scalability are evolution qualities. Some of the non-functional requirements are: Accessibility Accessibility is the one in which a device, service, product or environment is available to many people as possible. Accessibility advantage from some system or organization and it can be observed as the â€Å"ability to access†. The cloud computing system is distributed software so it can be reached from any point of the world through internet without interfering. Availability Availability is the degree to which a system, subsystem, constituent or equipment is in a detailed operable and occurring state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for as an unknown i.e. a non-specific time. The cloud computing system is distributed software so it can be reached from any point of the world without interference. Reliability Software reliability is the accuracy that has possibility that software will work properly in an identified environment and for a given time. The possibility of failure is calculated by testing a sample of all available input states using the following formula. Probability = Number of failing cases/ Total number of cases under consideration. System Reliability Specification: Hardware reliability Possibility a hardware component fails. Software reliability Possibility a software component will produce an incorrect output Even though a bad result will occur, software can continue to operate in that condition Operator reliability Possibility a system user will make an error Dept. of CSE,STJIT,RANEBENNURPage 1 Underpricing in Turkey: a Comparison of the IPO Methods Underpricing in Turkey: a Comparison of the IPO Methods Abstract This paper addresses the question of what kind of selling and underwriting procedure might be preferred for controlling the amount and volatility of underpricing in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). Using 1993-2005 firm and issue data, we compare the three substantially different IPO methods available in the ISE. One is very similar to the book building mechanism used in the U.S., another is the fixed price offer, and the third one is the sale through the stock exchange method. The empirical analysis reveals significant first day underpricing of 7.01% in fixed price offer, 11.47% in book building mechanism, and 15.68% in sale through the stock exchange method. Finally, we also show that fixed price offers can better control the impact of market information on underpricing than sale through the stock exchange method. 1. Introduction Extensive amount of research from a variety of different markets have documented the presence of first-day underpricing upon the listing of initial public offerings. The evidence is well documented by Loughran, Ritter, and Rydqvist (1994) and Ritter1 (1998), (2003) in many developed and emerging markets. In developed markets, in the absence of restrictions on intra-day price movements, first-day underpricing is observed in broad price bands. However, in emerging markets, in the presence of daily volatility limits, first-day underpricing is observed in narrow price bands. In contrast to the daily price limits, significant positive short run returns are observed in a number of emerging markets and substantial amount of money is â€Å"left on the table by issuers. Besides empirical evidence, most of the theoretical models explaining IPO underpricing are grouped under four broad headings by Ljungqvist (2005), these are (i) information asymmetry between the investors, the issuing firm an d the underwriter, these models assume that one of these parties knows more than the others, (ii) institutional reasons, institutional theories focus on three features of the marketplace: litigation, banks price stabilizing activities once trading starts, and taxes, (iii) control considerations, control theories argue that underpricing helps shape the shareholder base so as to reduce intervention by outside investors once the company is public, (iv) behavioral approaches, behavioral theories assume either the presence of irrational investors who bid up the price of IPO shares beyond true value, or that issuers suffer from behavioral biases causing them to put insufficient pressure on the underwriting banks to have underpricing reduced. These theoretical models almost always end with the conclusion that the average IPO is undervalued at the offer price, where the initial investors, in most cases, benefit from possessing information by receiving allocations of shares in IPOs and earn the largest first-day returns. The expectations of issuing firms, investors and underwriters in IPO pricing are considerably different. In an offering, the issuer generally wants to receive the highest possible price to maximize cash flows to the firm. Investors like to purchase shares at a deep discount so that they can realize positive returns *Baskent University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Baglica Kampusu, Ankara, 06530, Turkey, + 90 (312) 234 10 10 /1728, [emailprotected] 1 Ritter (1998), (2003) provides an update on the compilation of Loughran, Ritter, and Rydqvist (1994) in a short investment period. Underwriters, acting as an intermediary between investors and issuing firms, suffer from a dilemma, if an underwriter determines IPO prices too low, where the foreseen amount of money left on the table will be huge, the issuing firm may withdraw or switch to another underwriter. On the other hand, if an underwriter determines IPO prices relatively high, investors will hesitate to buy new issues, which would result in low commissions and an unwanted effort in aftermarket stabilization activities. Underwriters, however, have an incentive to underprice the shares to ensure that they can sell the offering, and, unsurprisingly, there is extensive evidence that IPOs are, on average, underpriced. Hence, pricing of stocks in IPOs may be the most critical stage of the IPO process. More recently, the literature on IPOs, both theoretical and empirical, focuses on the efficiency mechanisms of the following methods for pricing initial public offerings. At the center of this literature, book building, auctions and fixed price offers differ mainly in price-discovery and share allocation process. Book Building in which the underwriters do road shows and take non-binding orders from Auctions in which the company sets a price range to be used as a non-restrictive guideline for investors, than accepts bids, each specifying a number of shares and a price the investor is willing to pay for them, finally, the market-clearing price set by the investors approximates the real price the shares will command in the market. Fixed Price Offer in which the issue price is set first and than orders are taken from investors who typically pay in advance for part or all of the shares that are ordered. Sale through the Stock Exchange in which the sale is initially conducted in the primary market of the stock exchange by a designated underwriter. Those investors who buy the shares in the primary market must wait until the shares trade in the secondary market in order to sell their shares. The price designated at the time of registration with the securities exchange commissions is set as the opening price. Hybrid Offerings in which the underwriters combine the preceding IPO methods, and design auction/fixed price, auction/book building and book building/fixed price hybrids. For most hybrids, the most common combination is the book building/fixed price offer, where the underwriter uses the book building method to set the price and allocate shares to institutional and foreign investors, and retain the fixed price offer to the domestic retail investors who do not participate in the price-setting process. This paper addresses the question of what kind of selling and underwriting procedure might be preferred for controlling the amount and volatility of underpricing in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). In this regard, we first compare the three IPO methods available in Turkey. One is very similar to the book building mechanism used in the U.S., another is the fixed price offer, and the third one is the sale through the stock exchange method. Then, we estimate a binary probit on the issuers choice between fixed price offer and sale through the stock exchange method, however, because of the declining importance of the book building mechanism in Turkey, we excluded the book build IPO sample from our binary probit estimations. Finally, we determine the factors that are expected to have an effect on the IPO returns. Our results indicate that, the comparison of the two mechanisms yield that for certain values, namely first day underpricing, IPO amount and fractions of equity sold, fixed pric e offer outperforms the sale through the stock exchange method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the comparison between fixed price offer and sale through the stock exchange method in the IPO literature. The uniqueness of the data and the availability of the sale through the stock exchange method in the ISE make it possible to conduct a study on the comparison between these two methods. The remaining part of this paper is organized in six sections. In the next section, we provide a comparison of the theoretical and empirical research conducted on IPO methods across many countries around the world. In section 3, we describe the three important Turkish IPO market selling procedures. In section 4, we describe the data and the methodology we used in our empirical tests. Section 5 documents the relationship between market conditions and underpricing of IPOs in different time series and the last section concludes. 2. Comparison of the IPO methods in the literature: Theory and Evidence The efficiency of the IPO methods has been the subject of an academic research over a decade, both empirical studies and theoretical models have tried to explain the advantages of one method over another. The argument that is often made in favor of IPO methods is often empirical as well as theoretical. Researchers studying on the efficiency of the IPO methods try to answer the most challenging question, â€Å"Which one of the IPO mechanism is the most efficient?2. However, according to our comprehensive literature research, both empirical studies and theoretical models listed in Table have some mixed answers. 1. Book Building vs. Fixed Price Offer and/or Auctions Comparison of the IPO methods in the literature goes back to Benveniste and Spindt3 (1988), (1989) and Spatt and Srivastava (1991), they suggest that the American bookbuilding procedure is efficient since it encourages investors to reveal their beliefs about the issues value at a cost of initial underpricing. Book building allows investors to collect information about the value of the stock and price the issue more accurately. To compensate the investors who reveal information, underwriter will favor them when allocating shares. However, fixed price mechanism does not utilize any information about realized buyer valuationsin setting the issue price and is generally inefficient. Loughran, Ritter and Rydqvist (1994) present the first international evidence on the short-run and long-run performance of companies going public in many stock markets around the world. They document that the fixed price method is associated with greater underpricing because of the greater probability of the issue failing and the increased uncertainty associated with the longer time delay between offer and issuance time. Chowdhry and Sherman (1996) point out that two features of fixed price offers tend to lead to greater underpricing, relative to the book building method. The first one is the length of the bidding process, as the time gap between the offer and first day market price widens â€Å"price information leakage occurs, the second one is the common requirement that investors pay in advance for their entire order. Benveniste and Busaba (1997), extend Welchs4 (1992), model of information cascades in investment decisions and present a theoretical comparison of the fixed-price and book-building mechanisms. They exhibit that issuers with a greater concern for risk will prefer a fixed-price offer, because book- building might generate higher expected proceeds, and exclusively provides an opportunity to sell additional shares at full value but it also exposes them to higher risk. Ritter (1998) demonstrates that countries that use bookbuilding typically have less underpricing than countries using f ixed-price offerings, more underpricing under fixed-price offering procedures can be attributed to informational cascades. However, Loughran, Ritter and Rydqvist (1994) and Ritter (1998) point out that IPOs with discretionary allocation (Fixed Price Offering and Book-building) are underpriced more than those with non-discretionary allocation (Offer for sale and Auctions), especially in Auctions. Under discretionary allocation, the first day price increase averaged 37% in fixed price offerings, 12% in book building. Under non-discretionary allocation, the first day price increase averaged of 27% in Offer for sale and 9% in Auctions. 2 In terms of controlling the amout and volatility of underpricing, share allocation and pricing. 3 The literature on underpricing in initial public offerings goes back to Logue (1973), Ibbotson (1975), Chalk and Peavy (1987), Miller and Reilly (1987), Ritter (1984), Rock (1986), Allen and Faulhaber (1989), Benveniste and Spindt (1988, 1989), Grinblatt an d Hwang (1989), and Welch (1989). However, the mechanism by which initial issues are sold has largely been ignored until Benveniste and Spindt (1988), (1989). 4 Welch (1992) focuses on the fixed-price procedure used in some non-US countries, and shows that this procedure can cause informational cascades: investors who observe the investment choice made by previous investors can update their beliefs about the value of the issued shares. Sherman (2000), (2002) shows that fixed price offer, can lead to higher underpricing than book building. Contrary to the fixed price offer and the auction method, in book building underwriters discriminate investors in the allocation of shares to establish long-run relationship with intermediates. Book building gives the underwriter greater flexibility in designing a solution that reflects the individual issuers preferences. By controlling investor access to IPO shares, book building controls both the winners curse problem that affects discriminatory auctions and the free rider problem that affects uniform price auctions. Book building also reduces uncertainty for both issuers and investors. In a study that covers 47 countries, Sherman (2002) has found that in all countries in which the bookbuilding mechanism has been introduced, pre-existing auction systems have decreased in popularity or disappeared altogether. Ljungqvist, Jenkinson and Wilhelm (2000) use a unique dataset containing information on 2,051 initial public offerings in 61 stock markets around the world, during the period of 1992-1999. The authors examine the relative direct and indirect costs of offerings carried out by book building and fixed-price methods. They find that, the direct costs of book building are typically twice as large as direct costs for fixed-price offers. Compared to fixed price offerings, book building efforts though more expensive produce far less underpricing. Nevertheless, fixed price offering is still an extremely common method that is not likely to be abandoned by the underwriters completely. Compared to book building efforts, fixed price offering is an efficient, low cost way to distribute shares to retail investors, avoiding the high fixed costs of road shows. Aorsio, Giudici and Paleari (2000), Guidici and Paleari (2001) present an empirical study conducted on the Milan Stock Exchange companies bet ween 1985 and 1999. Authors distinguish between fixed- price offers and open-price offers with bookbuilding and find different underpricing levels and statistically significant determinants. They state that if the offering is preceded by book building, the underpricing is significantly lower (8.32 % vs. 28.33% in fixed-price offerings), this method allows the issuing parties to collect information from the institutions and to signal good news or bad news to retailers through the revision of the prospectus price range. Therefore, the cost of raising private information is reduced and the requested underpricing is lower. The evolution of the placing procedure, from fixed price to book building, has considerably improved the efficiency of Italian IPO market. Biais and Faugeron-Crouzet (2002) analyze and compare the performance of book building, fixed price offering, uniform price auction, internet-based Open IPO mechanism, and an auction like mechanism called the Mise en Vente in France. Conclusions emerging from their analysis are; Fixed price offerings lead to inefficient pricing and winners curse. Dutch auctions can also lead to inefficiencies, to the extent that they are conductive to tacit collusions by investors. The book building and an auction like mechanism Mise en Vente can lead to optimal information elicitation and price discovery. Chahine (2002) investigates the relationship between underpricing and the investors interest prior to and after the IPO day on 305 French issues. Empirical results show that book-built issues have a lower underpricing, on median, but a higher variance level, than the auction-like and fixed-price offerings. Despite the high initial underpricing of some book-built issues, book-building procedure appears to better control the information gathering from investors participating in the offering, and to be a more efficient pricing system than the auction-like procedure. Paney (2004) examines the initial returns, characteristics of issuers and long run performance of Indian IPOs on a sample of 84 Indian IPOs between 1999 and 2002. In terms of initial returns or underpricing, Paney (2004) finds that fixed price offering yields higher initial returns on average, as compared to book building. In terms of issuer characteristics, Paney (2004) finds that fixed price offering are used by issuers of fering large proportion of their capital by raising a small amount of money. In contrast, book building is opted for by issuers, offering small portion of their stocks and mobilizing larger sums of money. Kutsuna and Smith (2004) present an empirical study conducted on the Japanese IPOs between 1995 and 1999. Using a sample of 163 book-built and 321 auctioned IPOs by JASDAQ companies, authors document that average total issue cost, measured as a percent of aftermarket price, was significantly higher in the book-building regime than in the earlier auction regime. However, when results are weighted by issue size, the estimated aggregate costs of auctioning and book building are similar. This outcome favors book building over auctions for two reasons. First, auction-method estimates do not reflect opportunity costs related to underinvestment. Second, issue cost estimates ignore other benefits of the more-accurate pricing that book building affords. Anand (2005) examines the differences between book building and Dutch-auction, and shows that the bookbuilding method of offering securities is superior to the Dutch-auction IPOs. Stated by Anand (2005), while the Dutch-auction may seem to lea d to efficient price discovery based on investor demand, recent transactions suggest that price discovery is not always accurate and that, indeed, underpricing occurs even in the Dutch auction. Further, even if the Dutch auction is more fair than the bookbuilt process in terms of allocating securities, the Dutch auction can lead to less capital market efficiency overall and can therefore be questioned as a basis for promoting this type of offering. Jagannathan and Shermans (2005) research on the efficiency of IPO mechanism show that hybrid bookbuildings5, unlike auctions, have proved effective in many different countries, cultures, time periods, and market conditions. Jagannathan and Sherman (2005) propose a new IPO mechanism that could overcome the problems with standard auctions. A method that retains the advantages of bookbuilding, while modifying it to increase transparency. Although not a direct comparison between book building, auctions and fixed-price offers, Cornelli and Gol dreich6 (2001), (2003) examine a unique data set of international book building allocations and find that the underwriter favors both regular investors and investors that supply information on the value of the issue. Degeorge, Derrien and Womack (2005) have presented empirical evidence from Frances IPO market that underwriters employing the bookbuilding process implicitly committed to providing more favorable coverage to the companies they took public in the aftermarket. Authors find convincing empirical evidence that in addition to placing the IPO shares with investors, underwriters employing book-building implicitly commit to providing more favorable coverage to the companies they take public in the aftermarket. Specifically, analysts, affiliated with the lead underwriter of the offering, issue more favorable recommendations for recent book-built IPOs than for auctioned offerings. 2.2. Fixed Price Offer vs. Book Building and/or Auctions The pricing of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the short-run has been analyzed by several theoretical and empirical studies referring to the major international stock markets. Extensive research has revealed that the fixed-price offering all over the world suffer from IPO underpricing especially in these major markets. However, studies conducted by Busaba and Cheng (2001), Bierbaum and Grimm (2003), Chemmanur and Liu (2003), Hsu and Hung (2005) present some evidence on the efficiency of fixed price offering over book building and auctions. Busaba and Cheng (2001) show that the bookbuilding process elicits much information from informed traders at the IPO stage by promising larger allocation of valuable stocks to investors who truthfully reveal their information, and therefore reduce the impact that such informed traders have in the after- 5 In the hybrid bookbuilding offers, all retail investors are allowed to place orders in a public offer tranche, and all have an equal chance of getting shares. The prices, however, are set by professional investors who are given incentives to attend the road show. Jenkinson and Jones (2004), cast some doubts about the findings of Cornelli and Goldreich (2001) upon the extent of information production during the bookbuilding period. market trading. In contrast, the fixed price method, that does not elicits such private information at the IPO stage, enables informed traders to use such information in the after-market at the expense of the uninformed traders. In this regard, if the underwriter building a book can not successfully target a subset of the informed investors, a simple fixed price strategy that involves allocating the issue to retail investors produces higher proceeds on average. The comparatively high adverse selection problems associated with the fixed-price method will spill over from the IPO stage to the after-market. This in turn means that liquidity will be relatively more important for IPOs carried out via a fixed- price method than via bookbuilding. Authors show that, compared with a fixed-price offering, the bookbuilding process elicits more information from informed traders at the IPO stage, and therefore reduce adverse selection problems in the after-market trading. However, by the same toke n bookbuilding may require larger informational rents to be paid at the IPO stage. This suggests that underpricing should be larger for IPOs carried out via bookbuilding than via a fixed-price method. Bierbaum and Grimm (2003) compare the fixed price and the uniform auction in a game theoretic framework. The comparison of the two mechanisms yields that for certain parameter values, namely a low variance of the asset and, at the same time, a sufficiently high probability of low demand, fixed price method outperforms the auction in terms of revenue. Moreover, the revenue in the fixed price mechanism is typically less volatile than the revenue in the auction. Chemmanur and Liu (2003) model the effect of costly information production on issuers choice of a fixed-price offer or a uniform-price auction with exogenous entry of bidders. Their model predicts that IPO auctions will exhibit a significantly lower mean and variance of underpricing compared to fixed- price offerings. This is due to the fact that the offering price in an IPO auction aggregates the information produced by outsiders to a significant degree, so that this offering price is greater for higher intrinsic-value firms and lower for lower intrinsic-value firms in IPO auctions than in fixed- price offerings. At the same time, there is less information production in IPO auctions compared to fixed-price offerings where the offering price is set by insiders to induce the optimal degree of information production, so that a lower amount of information is reflected in the opening price of the shares listed in the stock market. Thus, Chemmanur and Liu (2003) demonstrated that, in many situations, firms will prefer to go public using fixed-price offerings rather than IPO auctions in equilibrium, since such offerings allow the firm to induce the optimal extent of information production. Hsu and Hung (2005) present an empirical study conducted on the Taiwanese companies between 1996 and 2000. Using a sample of 280 pure fixed-price offers and 84 hybrid auctioned, authors find that, Taiwanese hybrid auctions are associated with less under-pricing and with a lower variance of under-pricing than versus the pure fixed-price offers, but these differences are not statistically different. On the other hand, we find that the market index returns prior to the IPO pricing date have a strong influence on the under-pricing of Taiwanese IPO auctions and of the pure fixed-price offers. Authors provide empirical evidence of how Taiwanese issuers make the choice of IPO method. Taiwanese issuers that float large IPOs, or which have a pricing conflict with underwriters, will likely use a hybrid auction to distribute shares. On the other hand, when the relative risk level of IPO auctions to fixed-price offers has increased, the issuers will likely avoid an IPO auction. Empirical evidenc e also explains why Taiwanese IPO auctions have lost market share to fixed-price offers. Further results reveal that Taiwanese IPO auctions are not associated with less under-pricing and with a lower variance of under-pricing, nor are they better at incorporating recent market information into the IPO price than the pure fixed-price offers. Authors examination on issuers choice of hybrid auctions or fixed-price offers indicates that Taiwanese issuers condition their choice of IPO method not only on firm characteristics, but also on IPO size and on market conditions. This is why Taiwanese issuers prefer a pure fixed-price offer to a hybrid auction are based on market volatility and the pricing conflict. In doing so, under a volatile market where Taiwanese hybrid auctions have become much riskier relative to the pure fixed-price offers, issuers will prefer a pure fixed-price offer to a hybrid auction, resulting in a lower popularity of Taiwanese hybrid auctions. As listed in Table 1, Fixed Price Offering seems to be the less favorable method comparing to Book building and Auction Methods. It is a fact that, the worldwide introduction of book building method during the 90s has promoted efficiency in the major equity markets. However, Sherman (2002) states that stock markets listing few IPOs each year, fixed price offering is still be the optimal method. 2.3. Auctions vs. Book Building and/or Fixed Price Offer Using a sample of 108 French firms marketed on the Second Marchà © between 1984 and 1991, Leleux and Paliard (1995) show that initial returns are significantly higher for firms issuing through the fixed- price procedure than for firms using auction-like procedures. Leleux and Paliard (1995) state that the auction mechanism is associated with less underpricing and thus more efficient, since this procedure is able to incorporate more information from recent market momentum into the pricing of the IPO. Beierlein (2000) compares the book-bu ilding method to two commonly used auction mechanisms, the discriminatory price auction and the uniform price auction in terms of underpricing and the long run performance of IPOs relative to the market. Using data from Japan, Israel and the U.S., author finds evidence that the U.S. book building is less efficient than the auction mechanisms are. Specifically, underpricing is significantly higher in the U.S. than it is in Japan or Israel and bookbuilding appears to incorporate less demand information into the offer price than the auction mechanisms do. Bennouri and Falconieri (2001) suggest that auction mechanisms are the optimal way to sell new shares because auction procedures are more informationally efficient than bookbuilding. Assuming ex ante uncertainty about the firm true value, then auction mechanisms are able to elicit and incorporate more information from the market as well as from investors into the pricing of IPOs. Draho (2001) suggests that underpricing in bookbuilt IPOs is due to the uncertainty about the price on the secondary market rather than about the firm value, as most of the literature assume. Nonetheless, his results indicate auction-like mechanisms as the most efficient ones, since they are open to all investors who are moreover required to submit price-quantity bids. McDonald (2001) examines the efficiency mechanisms of the sealed-bid uniform-price auctions over book building method in a theoretical framework and concludes that the uniform-price auction, due to its generalized Vickrey auction properties, is indeed an efficient auction mechanism especially for the sale of IPOs over the Internet. Biais, Bossaert, and Rochet, (2002) study the optimal IPO mechanism by which the seller can extract private information to maximize the expected net IPO proceeds. They find that the optimal mechanism they characterize is similar to auction-like IPO procedures used in the U.K. and in France. Kaneko and Pettway (2003) examine the Japanese initial returns before and after the introduction of book building, and find that underpricing in book building method is significantly higher than auctions, especially during hot markets. Results suggest that the move from auction-priced to underwriter-priced IPOs using book building in Japan has significantly reduced the wealth of issuing companies while increasing the wealth of underwriter-selected investors. Derrien and Womack (2003), use the French IPO data for the 1992-1998 period and compare the three underwriting/selling mechanisms available on the French market. One is very similar to the book building mechanism used in the United States. Another is a fixed price procedure. The third one is an auction-like procedure. Authors show that the auction procedure is better than the others at controlling underpricing in general as well as the variance of underpricing of the issued shares in â€Å"hot versus â€Å"cold markets. Fixed price offering method is indeed inefficient and leads to greater underpricing compared to IPOs sold through book-building and auctions. However, the main empirical comparison in this paper is between the two main procedures auction and book building. Authors find evidence that during hot markets auctioning is associated with less underpricing than book building. They attribute the result to the auction methods ability to incorporate more information about recent market performance into the offer price. This result provides empirical support for the theoretical work by Biais, Bossaerts, and Rochet (2002) who suggests the auction procedure is optimal. In line with the evidence of Derrien and Womack (2003) that an auction procedure is more efficient in incorporating recent market momentum in the offer price compared to fixed price procedure, Vandemaele (2003) uses the French IPO data for the 1984-1995 period and points out the factors that may influence issue procedure choice. Results indicate that, firms facing relatively high valuation uncertainty are high likely to opt for an auction-like procedure and the likelihood of opting for an auction increases as the investment bank reputation associated with the issue decreases. Although not a direct comparison between auctions, book building and fixed-price offers, studies in Pettway and Kanekos (1996) examination on Japanese auctions, Kandel, Sarig and Wohls, (1999) examination on Israeli auctions, and Liu, Wei and Liaws (2003) examination on Taiwanese auctions seem to suggest that IPO auctions lead to less under-pricing. Biais and Faugeron-Crouzet (2001) show that a uniform price auction can prevent tacit collusion among bidders and can truthfully elicit information from investors in much the same way as book building. Bulow and Klemperer (1998) also show that it can be optimal in an auction to set a price at which there is excess demand. 2.4. Research on IPOs in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) Firms in Turkey may offer their shares to the public through, book building, fixed price offer and sale through the stock exchange method, however, they are mainly underwritten and sold using the fixed- price offering method; a method which is very common world w ide is becoming much less common, particularly for more active markets. Recent empirical studies, focused mainly on the initial returns and under pricing, condu Email Protocol: SMTP, POP, and MIME Email Protocol: SMTP, POP, and MIME Email protocol governs the interactions between email clients and servers. An Email protocol is a standard method which is used at each end of a communication channel either server side or client side, in order to transmit information properly. User is required to use a mail client to access to the mail server, by using variety of email protocols, the mail client and server can only exchange their information with each other. Three examples of Email protocol are: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Post Office Protocol(POP) Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions(MIME) Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP) Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) transmits electronic mail (email) within different hosts in the Department of Defense Internet protocol suite. Email servers and other mail transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive messages, while SMTP usually used by client side’s email application to send messages to the email server for relaying only. For receiving messages, client side would mostly use POP protocol which will be introduced at the next part. Examples of email client that used SMTP to send messages are webmail systems: Hotmail, Gmail and also Outlook, Microsoft Exchange and so on. SMTP listens on TCP protocol well-known port 25. Functions of SMTP: To enable the client side to send email message to a receiver (an email address which already exist), SMTP would perform the following functions: User authentication To verify the sender who is using SMTP server to send an email message has the right to do so. User notification After delivering the message to the destination, SMTP will check whether the message has been successfully delivered. If the message does not delivered successfully, SMTP notifies sender by using an error messages and the message that was not successfully delivered will be delivered back to the sender. Advantages of SMTP: Simplicity SMTP is the simplest way to send an electronic mail between various computers in a particular network. As long as there is a receiver destination and a sender who send the message, the message will be send to the destination. The message will pass through a simple process from SMTP server to an exchange server for the receiver’s computer. Quick Email Delivery As we known SMTP is the simplest way to transmit a message, email messages can be sent quickly and easily by using SMTP. As long as the condition of the mail server is good, the messages that are sent will reach to the recipients as quick as possible. Reliability When the message has failed to deliver, an error message will be sent to inform the sender and the message that failed to deliver will be sent back to the sender. In this case, sender doesn’t have to worry that the message send will failed to delivered, because when the message is failed to delivered, sender can choose to resend the message until the message is finally delivered to the recipient successfully. Limitation of SMTP: Additional administrative overhead Original SMTP identifies clients by using the IP addresses, but it is only available when the email services are provided by the same Internet server provider that supplied the connection. Therefore, an extension named† SMTP-AUTH† is required to verify the senders of the messages. Required to set up security Required expertise Post Office Protocol(POP) Post Office Protocol (POP) is a Internet standard protocol in the application layer which allows email clients to retrieve email messages from a remote mail server. Out of the versions of POP that has been developed, current standard which used in most of the client and server email communication architecture is version 3 of POP also written as POP3. POP3 server listens on TCP protocol well-known port 110. It uses the TCP/IP protocol stack for network connection and works with SMTP for end-to-end email communication. In this case, POP is responsible to â€Å"pull† the messages from the server and SMTP will â€Å"push† the messages to the server. Function of POP: Retrieve message from an ISP and whether to delete or not to delete it on the server, depends on users’ decision. Detect whether new message has arrived but not retrieving it from the server, meaning the messages will be stored at the server until the user choose to retrieve it from the server. To see whether the message is worth retrieving, POP will peek at the few sentences of the message before retrieving it. Advantages of POP: Once the messages have been retrieved to the client computer, it is visible with or without the internet connection including the attachment along with the message. User can choose whether to delete or not to delete the messages that already retrieved from the server. User can choose to save a copy of some of the important messages by choosing not to delete the messages from the POP server. Disadvantages of POP: Occupied a lot of hard disk spaces in computer as the email retrieved from the server are all store into the hard disk storage. Not accessible from other machine. Nowadays, people uses multiple devices to access to one email account, but not with POP, all messages are downloaded into one and only one PC. In order to read that specify message, user can only use the PC which used to download the messages to view it. Messages stored at local disk drive are vulnerable to data loss or even security threats. As those messages stored at local disk are deleted from the server and stored at only one PC at a time, it is more dangerous when the PC suffered virus attack or data corrupted. Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension(MIME) MIME is an extension which allows users to use the protocol to send different kinds of data files on the Internet, for example: audio file, image file (PNG, GIF, JPEG), video or even application programs. SMTP protocol only handled ASCII text, which means, only ASCII texts can be send through the protocol. Media type of content in email is described by MIME type, some of the examples for MIME types are: Plain text: txt/plain Java applets: application/x-java-applet Adobe PDF documents: application/ pdf Advantages of MIME: Allows mail messages consists not only ASCII text. Old version of Internet email standard allows only ASCII characters messages, messages not exceed 1000 characters and so on. But with MIME, it allows additional fields for mail message by using the MIME headers that describe new types of content and organization for messages. MIME allows mail messages to consist of the following: Multiple objects in a single message. Unlimited length text messages. Other than ASCII characters, it also allows non-English messages. Message that consist multiple types of font. Application specify or even binary files. Audio, Image, Video and other multimedia attachment in the mail message. MIME header can help client PC to search for the suitable application software to open the attachment or file include in the mail messages. Disadvantages of MIME: Some compound formats are considered as an application when they are nor for example â€Å"application/pdf†. Diagrams below show how client and server send and retrieve messages via SMTP and POP protocols, also how the multipurpose internet mail extension works: How to apply the following email protocols (SMTP, POP, MIME) with ASP.NET? One way to apply the mentioned email protocols with asp.net is using System.Net namespaces. It consists of classes that provide simple programming interface for several number of network protocols, compose Email and send it, it also consist of representation of multipurpose internet mail exchange (MIME) headers. Besides, it also can access to network traffic data and peer-to-peer networking function. SMTP Inside System.Net, there is a namespace called System.Net.Mail, it contains classes that we needed which is to send email messages to a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) server for it to be delivered. Classes include in this namespaces are for example: an Attachment class which allowed user to add an attachment into the email, MailMessage class represents the email message that can be sent by using the SmtpClient class, while there is also a class which allowed user to send an email by using the SMTP. List of all the classes in System.Net.Mail namespace will be included in Appendix A. To actually send an email using SMTP, we will require these following items: The SMTP host server that we use to send email. A port number, which usually we use port number25. User name and password for authentication purpose. An email address of sender and recipients. The message content. Once we have accessible SMTP server, it is time to send our email message! Firstly we will need to create an empty page which consists of the example coding shown: Next we can choose to send the email to more than one person at a time, by adding email address to the â€Å"To† collection as shown below: After that we can set the name of the sender, this will be shown along with the sender email address to the recipient once the email has been received. For instance, we can do this: Next, we can use the CC and BCC fields in the email messages, for example: Other than that, we can also set priority of an email message, by using one of the method provided in the System.Net.Mail class: POP To log in to a POP server, we need to use System.Net.Sockets namespace. Classes that we can use from the System.Net.Sockets namespace are for example TcpClient and NetworkStream. Firstly, we will need a simple aspx page which consists of several textfields that allow user to enter the username and password. To initiate the connection to POP3 server, we will use the System.Net.Sockets. For example, after user enter their username and password, and then there is a on click event of the button as shown in the following header: Next, we will send the username and password to the server, and the server response will be displayed: If the username and password are valid and successfully verified by the POP server, we will get a response and then start to retrieve a list of messages from the server. We will request for using the LIST command and display each message that we loop through: At last, we need to close the connection to the server. In this case, QUIT command has come to use, and then server response will be display: MIME Similar with implementing SMTP into asp.net, we can use the classes within System.Net.Mail namespace to apply MIME into asp.net. There is one namespace called System.Net.Mime which holds the types that used to represent MIME headers. These types are use along with the types in System.Net.Mail namespace when a SmtpClient class send an email with attachment. Data of MIME is represented by Attachment class which we just mentioned in the System.Net.Mail part. Here are some example of classes included in the System.Net.Mime: For the full list of classes included in System.Net.Mime, please refer to Appendix B.