Auroral Storms Across the Solar System

Auroral Storms Across the Solar System Every so often the Sun kicks a bunch of plasma out in the form of a coronal mass ejection, sometimes at the same time as a solar flare. These outbursts are part of what makes living with a star like the Sun so exciting. If that material just fell back into the Sun, wed have some great views of arching filaments draining their material to the solar surface. But, they dont always stick around. The material rides out from the Sun on the solar wind (a stream of charged particles that moves a few hundred kilometers a second (and sometimes faster)). Eventually it arrives at Earth and the other planets, and when it does, it interacts with the magnetic fields of the planets (and moons, such as Io, Europa, and Ganymede).   When the solar wind slams into a world with a magnetic field, powerful electrical currents are set up,  which can have interesting effects, particularly on Earth. Charged particles sizzle in the upper atmosphere (called the ionosphere), and the result is a phenomenon called space weather. The effects of space weather can be as lovely as a display of northern and southern lights and (at Earth) as deadly as a power outage, communications failures, and threats to humans working in space. Interestingly, Venus experiences auroral storms, even though the planet doesnt have its own magnetic field. In this case, particles from the solar wind slam into the planets upper atmosphere and the energy-driven interactions make the gases glow.   These storms have also been seen on Jupiter and Saturn (particularly when northern and southern lights emit strong ultraviolet radiation from those planets polar regions). And, theyve been known to occur on Mars. In fact, the MAVEN mission at Mars measured a very deep-reaching auroral storm on the Red Planet, which the spacecraft began detecting around Christmastime of 2014. The glow was not in visible light, such as wed see here on Earth, but in the ultraviolet. It was seen in the Martian northern hemisphere and it seemed to extend deep into the atmosphere. O On Earth, auroral disturbances occur typically around 60 to 90 kilometers up. The Martian aurorae were caused by charged particles form the Sun striking the upper atmosphere and energizing atoms of gas there. That wasnt the first time aurorae had been seen at Mars. In August 2004, the Mars Express orbiter detected an auroral storm in progress over a region on Mars called Terra Cimmeria. Mars Global Surveyor found evidence of a magnetic anomaly in the crust of the planet at the same region. The aurora was likely caused as charged particles moving along magnetic field lines in the area, which in turn caused atmospheric gases to be energized.   Saturn has been known to sport auroras, as has the planet Jupiter. Both planets have very strong magnetic fields, and so their existence is no surprise. Saturns are bright in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectrum of light and astronomers usually see them as bright circles of light over the poles. Like Saturns aurorae, Jupiters auroral storms are visible around the poles and are very frequent. They are quite complex, and sport little bright spots that correspond to interactions with the moons Iio, Ganymede, and Europa.   Aurorae arent limited to the largest gas giants. It turns out that Uranus and Neptune also have these same storms caused by interactions with the solar wind. They are detectable with instruments on board Hubble Space Telescope.   The existence of aurorae on other worlds gives planetary scientists a chance to study magnetic fields on those worlds (if they exist), and to trace the interaction between the solar wind and those fields and atmospheres. As a result of this work, theyre getting a much better understanding of the interiors of those worlds, the complexities of their atmospheres, and their magnetospheres.

Daydreaming is Better Than Reality Essays - English-language Films

Daydreaming is Better Than Reality Essays - English-language Films Daydreaming is Better Than Reality Dorian Raines Dr. Xie English 1013-06 Essay 2 March 26, 2014 Daydreaming is Better Than Reality The main character from "Death of a Salesman", Willy, really had a hard time with the real world, and had thoughts of everything that he went through in the past. During the whole play from beginning to end Willy is confused and does not pay any attention to what is going on around him in the real world. With him dreaming everyday and having these crazy illusions he is beginning to think that things could possible brighten up his life a little and make things better. Him thinking things would get better would make him think about old times in his life, when he had his whole family to make him happy, and we had a job that brought in good money for the whole household. Willy was so deep in his daydreams sometimes it was hard for him to realize that the life he was living was not the one that he wanted it to be. Willy thinking that his life was perfect and he didn't have any problems really hurt his family because they had to suffer from the things that he was forgetting about. Willy wo uld often have outburst of anger and go crazy on his dearest friends and family. The only thing that seemed to calm Willy down was daydreaming about what he thought was reality. In the beginning of Act 1 Willy is very confused and doesn't really know reality from his daydreams. Willy sons Happy and Biff, Biff was the oldest, and was criticized for working the manual labor job at farms and different ranches. When Biff gets of work he really lets his mind roam and doesn't know what he things about but he really lets his mind wonder. Willy states that his son is lazy, but later in the story this changes and says that his soon is anything but lazy. During the whole play Willy has a confusion of his words and says something and later says the complete opposite. Willy's other son Happy is the more successful one out of the two siblings, and the father and son bond is close to nothing. Willy seems to blame himself for the way his son Biff is turning out, almost a failure getting in and out of jobs since he has been out of high school. He really blames himself because when Happy and Biff were at younger ages he didn't really speak on how important success was. All t hrough the play Willy thinks about when his kids were smaller and had borrow stuff to practice for different sports and things that they wanted to play. From different context clues shows that Biff was well liked and was an athlete but he had a lot of problems in math class. Willy assumes that just because a person is well liked that they will automatically be successful. Coming back to the real world, Willy craved attention from everybody even though he a family and a woman on the side he still feels that he needed more. The woman on the side never really was announced by named but she appears in one of his daydreams that he usually had throughout the day. In the dream he was caught fooling around with the other woman in a hotel room, one thing he would do for this mystery lady is buy her new stockings even before he thought about his wife. Things turn around in the play when Willy's son Biff finds out what is going on with his father and this outside woman in his fathers life. Biff really took a turn in education when he found this out it really had an impact on the way he thought about school. Linda would really like Willy to stay somewhere close and do his work because she is worried about him being away with his brother. Willy goes behind everyone's back and tries to get the job away from home but gets denied by his boss. In Act 2, everything really begins to go down hill it starts with Willy getting fired from his job. Willy's boss says that he doesn't

Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questions - Assignment Example Flow of capital is determined by real interest rates. When domestic real interest rates rise, the domestic assets become more attractive to foreign investors. These investors buy this country’s assets assets resulting in capital inflow. Higher interest rates also induces domestic investors to buy home assets instead of foreign ones. This significantly reduces the amount of capital outflow. This leads to a decline in the net capital outflow. A decrease in the domestic real interest rate will substantially reduce investors returns from their investments. This will discourage foreign investors from investing locally hence reducing capital inflow. Domestic investors will shift their investments to countries with rising real interest rates thus increasing capital outflow. This will ultimately lead to increased net capital outflow. Relationship among saving, investment, and net capital outflow. According to Lukes (1959), disposable income is used for consumption and investment. The amount of money saved is the one used for investments and therefore investment is equal to savings. The total amount of a country’s savings is used for domestic investment and purchase of capital goods abroad. As explained above, net capital outflow is the net flow of funds being invested in other countries by a country during a certain period of time. ... In economics, the term investment refers to purchase of new capital and other factors of production often through the use of loans. As shown in the graph below, the demand curve in the loanable market is downward sloping from left to right while the supply curve in the same market is downward sloping from right to left. According to John ( 1936), when the real interest rate increases, the cost of taking loans increases. This leads to low investment as investors shy away from acquiring loans to fund investments due to the increased costs. On the other hand, when the real interest rates are low, the cost of taking loans reduces hence loans becomes more attractive to investors. This translates to increased investments. When the real interest rate rises, people save more in order to take advantage of the increased returns on their savings. Therefore, there will be increased money saved in the economy. On the other hand, when the real interest rate decreases, people will be discouraged fr om saving by the low returns they get due to lower real interest rates, leading to low savings. The foreign exchange market is a market for trading of currency. In this market, one party exchanges one country’s currency with an equivalent quantity of another currency. The exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of another currency. The major role of foreign exchange market is to facilitate the loanable funds market. Foreign goods are usually priced in foreign currency and therefore an investor will need foreign currency to buy foreign assets. The rate at which a currency is exchanged for another is determined by the demand and supply of that currency. The higher the demand for financial assets in a

Treatment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Treatment - Essay Example Which self-help groups (12-step and non-12-step groups) discussed in the textbook is available in your community or neighboring community? How many meetings of each group are offered per week and what are the venues? If a group is not available, state that. Most of the groups are the 12-step groups and majority of them meet three times in a week while others meet twice in a week. Since there are three groups, they each have their own venue to avoid clash of the days of the meeting but all these areas are in halls. One has the social hall, the other the gymnasium in the high school and the last one meets in the elementary school’s hall. Given your response to the above two questions, which groups’ meetings are feasible for a person to attend? That is, are all the self-help groups mentioned in the textbook represented in your community neighboring community? The most feasible for an addict that is still working is the 12-step group since daily presence is not needed, but if the addict is truly not-functional, then they can try the non 12-step program even if not available in the neighborhood as most are in-house like the St. Jude Retreat mentioned above. Not all the groups are available and only the 12-step group is but not the

Lindt of Switzerland Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Lindt of Switzerland - Assignment Example This report aims to understand what contributes to such significant growth for Lindt in a market environment that is sustaining limited growth. The research consists of a micro-level and macro-level analysis of the UK market, explores aspects of consumer behaviour in the chocolates industry, and other relevant factors that impact the apparent market success of the organisation. How Lindt has managed to achieve significant growth when many other competitors are struggling to achieve substantial increases in revenues requires an in-depth investigation of the brand, its competitive strategies and integrated marketing communications utilised in the UK market. This paper highlights that  to fully explore Lindt’s apparent market success, Porter’s Five Forces Model is a viable method by which to examine in the micro-level factors impacting the business. This model includes five dimensions that pose risks or opportunities for the firm, including competitive rivalry, threat of substitutes, buyer and supplier power in the market, as well as threat of new entrants.  Competitive rivalry advantages for Lindt could explain the firm’s superior revenue growth achievements. Lindt maintains an advantage of having a very highly recognised brand name, having been a chocolate producer since 1845.  The company positions itself in terms of quality, drawing on a promotional strategy which emphasises product superiority over that of competition.

Life Success Of Bill Gates

Life Success Of Bill Gates The traditional definition of leadership by Webster dictionary states its an interpersonal influence directed towards the achievement of a goal or goals. Leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect real, intended change (Friedberg K and Friedberg J, 1996). Using the key words here such as influence and change, history has her fair share of leaders. In 1974, TIME magazine published a special section on history greatest leaders where a variety of individuals were asked to name their selection and a large number of people were nominated. Each for a different reason but mostly because they created a culture of influence and brought upon change. With the myriad of eligible entrepreneurs contesting to be great leaders of today, we dissect and analyse the lives of two living legends that have become household names in the world, William H Gates and Oprah Gail Winfrey. Two distinct individuals driven by ambition have become the core subject of business educators to delve into what makes them great leaders and like the old mythology, the search of the Holy Grail (Pearce T 2003). Famously known as Bill Gates, an American businessman, philanthropist, software executive and founding father of Microsoft Corporation, he is also the worlds second richest person (Forbes Magazine 2010). He is one of the best known entrepreneurs of personal computers revolution (Bellis M, nd). Oprah Winfrey a television host, producer, philanthropist and one of the most influential women in the society today, was ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century. She is credited for revolutionising the intimate confessional form of media communication (Wikipedia). 2.0 LIFE AND SUCCESS OF BILL GATES A personal computer in every desk and in every home (Keegan, Davidson Brill, 2003) A simple vision made him possibly the greatest visionary of our times. Bill Gates born to a prominent defence lawyer and a school teacher was introduced to computers at a very young age. He was enrolled in Lakeside Elementary School when his parents noticed his deep interest in computer and programming. After dabbling in various programming software, he developed his first software programme for controlling traffic under Traf-Data and sold it for $20000 (Paluri R K, nd). Following the release of MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080CPU in 1975, Gates and his best friend Allen started their own software company Microsoft. In 1976, when Microsoft was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico, Gates dropped out of Harvard (Wikipedia). From releasing a version of FORTRAN language for microcomputers in 1977, they went on to introduce a version of COBOL 1978. In 1979, a new version for BASIC was developed by Microsoft. Gates focused on product development, harvesting best talents and intelligence, and introducing innovative and aggressive marketing strategies transforming Microsoft from a million dollar company in 1978 to a market leader in software with revenues in billion dollars by 2002 (Des Dear Love 2002). Resigning as CEO in 2000 to spend time with software architecture and passing the torch to Steve Ballmer, his childhood friend, he and his wife Melinda have built a foundation to support philanthropic initiations on global health and education (Fritz J, nd). 3.0 LIFE AND SUCCESS OF OPRAH WINFREY Oprah Gail Winfrey born in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother is an African American television host, for the multi-award winning, self-titled talk show. She is also the greatest black philanthropist known to date who is one of the most influential women today (Wikipedia). Raised in a difficult childhood in a ghetto and an abusive one, she was not only raped by relatives but also got pregnant at the age of 14. Oprah Winfreys life turned when she lived with her father in Nashville and attended high school there. She was academically successful and became an incredible speaker which earned her a scholarship to Tennessee State University (Fry E). With her publicity at being a good speaker in University she landed her first job as a television co-anchor. Graduating with a degree in communications she became a news anchor at WLAC-TV in Nashville, later in Baltimore for the 6 o clock news. In 1984 she hosted AM Chicago which became the highest rated talk show within a year. The show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986. In 1988, she founded Harpo Studios (Harpo Inc.) to take over the show. In 1990, movies projects, she ventured into acting projects and gradually progressing to the launch of O, The Oprah Magazine. The initiation of Oprahs Book Club star ted her multimedia breakthrough. In 1987, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation and in 1997, Oprahs Angel Network was founded respectively for charity (Allen S). Oprahs talk show is all about encouraging the peoples potential, making them feel safe and affirming their personhood (Davis P). Oprah Winfrey once said As a young child I had a vision, not of what I wanted to accomplish but I knew that my current circumstances would change. That dream propelled her to success (Entertainment Executive 1991). 4.0 THEORIES ON LEADERSHIP Leadership theories have evolved through the years beginning from archaic ideas such as The Great Man Theory being self explanatory to more civilised, refined concepts. The trait approach identified a group of traits were positively associated with leadership such as intelligence, self confidence, initiative and persistence. However this is in no relation to effectiveness (Stogdill 1948, 1974). The behavioural approach took focus on two dimensions creating leadership styles; task-oriented behaviour and relation-oriented behaviour (Stogdill 1948) on organizational outcomes (Blake Mouton 1964). These approaches pay too much attention to the leaders perspective not considering the followers. The situational leadership model ( Hersey and Blanchard,1982) emphasises leadership flexibility and adaptation, the contingency model (Fiedler,1967) is much more consistent with less flexibility and the path-goal theory (House and Mitchell, 1974) assumes that leadership styles not only vary with different subordinates but in different situations. This theory is based on the assumption that situation moderator variables are easily identified but it is subjective to individual inference which change the actions and outcomes. Servant leadership stems from the notion that leadership arises out of a desire to serve rather than a desire to lead (Katzenberg and Smith, 1994). Asking questions, providing opportunities and seeking a common understanding instead of consensus to make any particular decisions were thought to be qualities that make a leader. Transactional leadership has remained the organisational model which is built around a person who needs to get a job done, has power and perks, striving to work in the current system with short term goals. The shift to use transformational leadership has more meaning with morals and ethics, focusing on missions and strategies, making it more meaningful and challenging with long term goals (Liu J and Liu X, 2006) Leadership is a complex process in which leaders, followers and the situation interact with each other usually one or the other theories overlap in reality. 5.0 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF BILL GATES AND OPRAH WINFREY Using Kouzes J and Posner B survey as a basis where common characteristics of leaders were formulated after interviewing 75,000 people, below are the characteristics present in both of our personalities discussed. 5.1 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF BILL GATES PASSIONATE He is a Harvard dropout (Richard D). While it is every Americans dream to be selected into Harvard University, he stopped his education halfway with the strong passion to pursue his dream for software architecture. VISIONARY A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer (Paluri RK). This is a dream that propelled Gates to his overwhelming success and realising that dream proves him to be a far visionary. INTELLIGENT Starting at a very young age he began dabbling at computer programming (Walter I). He believes in intelligence and with that you can achieve almost anything in the world. His parents observed their sons intellectual capacity and enrolled him in private school (Wikipedia). INNOVATIVE Creating new versions of FORTRAN, BASIC and created MS DOS for personal computers (Des DearLove). He also realised that internet was taking the world over by storm and not to be left out in the rat race he incorporated Web in his advancement. He spoke in April 2002 that in the upcoming digital decade the tools created in the next 10 years will be the best tools for empowerment and productivity the world has ever seen.( Krames J A) STAFF ORIENTED He coined the phrase digital nervous system to speak of a culture that encourages the workforce not only to think but to share their thoughts (Gates 2002). His company engages in a ritual known as THINK WEEK twice a year where he reads almost 100 mails and ideas from his employees (Dvorak D). COMPETITIVE Constantly meeting rivalry such as Apple, Google. With the advent of Windows system, Microsoft won over the rivalry of format with Apple (Richard D). His competitive nature suggests that to maintain high standards in the global economy is innovation and hiring a workforce that consists of the worlds brightest minds (Gates 2007). DIVERSE Employment of staff from around the world harnessing intelligence (Krames J A, 2003). He gained even popularity in China during his visit there with his charisma. (Microsoft Presspass, 2003) HUMBLE The idea is not just to make money but to give something in return, the knowledge and the software. Evident in his character is the fact that he employs his own childhood friends or individuals he knew from his past to participate in the rise of Microsoft. He values the people he comes to meet and know such as Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen. CREDIBILITY Though the government opened antitrust trial against Microsoft challenging Bill Gates credibility where it accuses Microsoft of bundling its internet explorer browser with its Windows OS to eliminate Netscapes Navigator browser (Brinkley J, 1998) ENTHUSIASTIC -He has shown his zeal in many of his undertakings such as business, golf, and donations (Lesinski, 2007). CONFIDENCE At an early stage he was confident he could sell his idea to a huge company like IBM and made it materialize (Des DearLove) TRUSTWORTHY His team constituted of people he worked and studied with and brought only his trusted friends to start a small team (Wikipedia) PHILANTHROPIST- Funnelling large amounts of his wealth through The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to raise standards in health and education. Caring for the lesser fortuned population despite having abundant wealth (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). ASSERTIVENESS Due to multilevel and cross-sectional communication between his employees he is able to know their needs and respect their opinions while maintaining his goal (Gates 2002). 5.2 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF OPRAH WINFREY ENTREPRENEURSHIP She transformed from media talk show host to media industry mogul millionaire. As a simple girl who ventured into news anchoring, she surpassed many obstacles to become one of the most renowned individuals in the movie or television industry. Harpo Inc is an active supplier of motion pictures, produces not only Oprahs talk show but also produces Rachel Rays, Dr Phils and Dr Ozs shows (Wikipedia.) CONFIDENCE As told to business partner Gayle King I dont know what the future holds but I know who holds it (Baldoni J, 2008). To be a successful black in the movie industry which is dominated by the Americans is a formidable task. Oprah once said, It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn which is what life is all about (Fry E). INNOVATIVE Though the mainstay of her career is the confessional form of talk show, she went on to create Harpo Productions Inc, Harpo Films Inc, Harpo Studios Inc, and Harpo videos. She expanded her empire by forming Oxygen Media LLC which includes a women cable TV network and internet site. In 2000, O magazine was launched (Jet 2003). INTELLIGENCE Though she had an unstable childhood that did not deter her from obtaining a degree in mass communications from Tennessee State University and carving her path in the entertainment industry INFLUENTIAL Changing the lives of many Africans and African Americans especially the down trodden. The 66th U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice describes her as a woman of moral character and source of strength for millions of her admirers (Rice C, 2006). INTEGRITY She is true t her work and keeps control of her products and her image not over marketing it. She believed in keeping control of her branding and being in control of Harpo Inc. (Baldoni J, 2008). CHANGE She is people driven bringing change to the lives of the young African girls. She used her past as a lesson and channelled it to a positive growth and lesson for others. Her metamorphosis is certainly laudable. PHILANTROPHIST Starting the Oprah Winfrey foundation to support the education and empowerment of women, children and families in the United States and around the world. Her caring nature allows her to empathize with the unfortunate. Post hurricane Katrina, she donated her own money to build new home for 65 families. She is also actively campaigning victims of abuse to find justice so that they can move on. She is championing her cause with the sole message that I did it, so can you (Rice C, 2006). CREATIVITY She created a reality show hosted by Nate Berkus called the Big Give encouraging others to give and aid the less fortunate. She also formed Oprahs Angel Network to inspire people to make a difference. STRENGTH Despite coming from a dysfunctional home and being molested by family she managed to make the mess of her life into a message for other women. Most individuals tend to cocoon themselves to cope with the post traumatic stress disorders or rebel at life due to dysfunctional family background but she is proof of dealing with misfortune in a positive manner. HARDWORKING She worked her way to the top with her skills and opportunities strewn in her way. VISIONARY The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls inspired by her humble beginnings to provide educational and leadership opportunities to academically gifted girls from impoverished background. She became a visionary for others after obtaining such success in her life. TALENTED She is not only an honours student, winning oratory contests and skilled in public speaking, she has indulged in acting in movies, became a famous talk show host and television programmer. 6.0 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN BILL GATES AND OPRAH WINFREY 6.1 EARLY YEARS Gates was a young visionary who had a dream which he ambitioned to full fill. He was born into a family of standing who valued his intelligence and supported him in his undertakings. Winfrey was a lady who was presented with an opportunity and she used that chance to create a dream and then envisioned a future. Coming from a past of difficult times without supportive parents, it was a bold and courageous move to achieve what she has today. Two different upbringings and knowledge foundation but both proved to be great leaders of our time. Gates was an intelligent individual but a university dropout by choice, but Winfrey used her education and oratory skills to propel her forward. Both are leaders using different foundations to grow. This shows the use of situational leadership in their decision making. 6.2 LEADERSHIP TRAITS IN GATES AND WINFREY 6.2.1 Transformational Gates and Winfrey both exerted transformational leadership qualities. In the early days of Microsofts birth, Gates was more transactional, he was driven to get his vision across, and using the position he held, he focused on tactical issues on a daily basis. He relied on the existing structure to maximise his output. Using MS DOS as a foundation to license it and sell it to other personal computers (Richards D). Software programming was the mainstay of his indulgence and finding the core programmes was a challenge. When IBM approached him to do his programming it was his breakthrough in the networking world. He wanted more and with that dream Microsoft was born. Gradually when he left IBM he transformed Microsoft to be an organization which identified human potential and talents with larger mission and strategies, had long term goals which had more meaning( Wikipedia). He kept redesigning jobs to keep them challenging. Winfrey was not a leader in her early years, being a struggling African American herself; she paved her career with short term goals and opportunity. When she had her breakthrough she practised more situational leadership qualities to ensure she made improvements and progress based on needs and ideals of the populations. She took what was offered to her and climbed gradually to the top. Her transformations were based on change. She brought change to the African society in general and mostly the women. She transformed the thoughts of people to rise from the ghettos and reach for the stars. She generously gave hope (Allen S, nd ). She also managed to penetrate the white dominated entertainment industry though acceptance of a black woman was an issue. Influential Both individuals are influential to mankind, creating a class of believe and a sense of idolism in the world they have introduced a metamorphosis in the entertainment and technological revolution. Microsoft and Bill Gates are almost synonyms in the computing world (Gates 2008). The blacks mainly from the African continent are faithful and devout worshippers of Winfrey (Black Enterprise). Philanthropic Winfrey has been described as a person with warmth and deep love, an abiding commitment to the principles of goodness and generosity that transcend any individual (Rice C, 2006). Melinda Gates seeing that malaria was a transmittable disease in the African continent causing the death of millions decided that it was a vacuum that does need to be stepped into. Melinda and Gates Foundation provide more than a third of worlds entire malaria-research funding. They also funded the creation of a synthetic form of artemisinic acid, a drug to combat malaria (Bower A, 2006). Their magnanimous natures of caring for the population and channelling financial aid to the needy have made them both philanthropic idols (Alleyne S, nd The New York Times June 2010). Passionate Gates does not only thrive on profit, if he did he would not have stepped down as CEO and allow Steve Ballman to continue, instead he moved to concentrate on his primary passion that is software programming and actively nurturing his charity foundation. Winfrey too does not make business decisions purely based on profit. She develops partnerships and ventures in instinct and utility (Alleyne S 2008). Employee relationship Gates usually involves his employees in the think tank of Microsoft, having twice yearly meetings to harvest new ideas or resolve old issues. His relationship is purely business like in nature (Dvorak D). He is almost beaureaucratic in leading with his employees though financially rewarded are tired of being overworked and have temporarily opted out. His monopolistic character in the early days of Microsoft gradually transformed from an autonomous approach to be involved only with the broad strategy (Heller R, 2006). However Oprah being in touch with her emotional perspective of nature thinks taking care of employees and rewarding them occasionally is the path to be a good leader. Debbie McElroy, a head hunter for the Lucas group said, Employees get a six week vacation in their first week at Harpo. The pay and benefits are exceptional. (SellersP, nd). Named as the Worlds Greatest Boss by the Chicago-Sun Times newspaper, she went cruising with 1,700 employees all expense paid in 2009. In 2005, it was a company vacation to Hawaii (Bieganski M, 2009). 7.0 CONCLUSION What makes a good leader? Leadership can vary depending on situation and background of the leader. The personalities chosen to define leadership in this assignment are from different backgrounds, Oprah being from a dysfunctional and uneducated family and Gates from an educated and family of standing in society. The two individuals are also yin and yang in race; one is a white American and the other of African American origin. They differ in the upbringing, values, goals and vision in life. The industries they are involved in are different, Oprah in the entertainment industry and Gates in the software industry. Nevertheless, amazingly both of them are leaders of the generation today. Both are successful, talented and influential billionaires. The similarities they share also include their common interest in philanthropy and giving away their earnings to the population to help the needy and to connect to the population. Both these leaders are charismatic, but Gates is through his business skills and Oprah is through her general caring nature and love for people. Oprah does not believe in doing the marketing her business, over merchandizing her products and always kept in control the on goings of her company allowing her partner only 10% of the business control. Whereas Bill Gates handed over the day to day affairs in 2000 to Steve Ballmer and finally resigned in 2007 to completely hand over the business to his partner. He practised empowerment as part of his leadership quality but Oprah though allowing others to carry out the designated jobs approval was always maintained by her. Both our leaders in the assignment are with varied qualities; however, they are still great leaders of our generation.

Financial Analysis of Agl Limited

GAL has a current ratio of less than 2 and less than PAP in 2012 meaning it does not have a satisfactory amount of current asset to cover its current liabilities. However, when it comes to 2012, both current ratio and quick ratio has a positive improvement showing GAL did not improve its short-term liquidity by stocking high level of inventory but really increased its level of cash and receivables. On the other hand, the operating cash flow ratio of GAL has reduced in 2012 meanings the decrease of ability to generate cash from operation.The increased amount of cash but decrease amount of ability to generate cash reveals that GAL increase its amount of cash by financing activities like issue of shares and borrowing. This activity makes Debt and coverage There are five ratios measuring the debt and coverage of a company. They are three debt ratios, Liabilities to Equity ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio and Capital Structure Leverage, Interest Coverage and Operating Cash Flow Ratio. All debt ratios of GAL have a sudden and great increase in 2012.It indicates that GAL increase its cash mainly by borrowing rather than issue share. This practice calling debt financing can get tax deduction which is more beneficial than equity financing. The company's interest coverage has dropped significantly discloses the decline of ability to pay interest due to the great amount of borrowing. However, when compared to PAP, the debt ratios of GAL still are not as great as that of PAP and GAL has higher interest coverage. This shows GAL is not in a very bad situation in borrowing.Efficiency The efficiency of GAL has decreased compared to last two year showing by the remover ratio such as Account Receivable, Inventory and Fixed Asset turnover. Nevertheless, the turnover rates of GAL are still greater than PAP and that of PAP are at the same time decrease. This may expose the fact that the efficiency of the industry is lower in 2012. Overall, GAL has a very poor performance in 2012. Althou gh this may be due to the low efficiency of the industry, the main reason is the low profitability of GAL together with the huge borrowing. The fact that GAL did not make the best use of the borrowing is brought to light.