Working Capital Versus Capital Expenditure Management Finance Essay

Working Capital Versus Capital Expenditure Management Finance Essay The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of firms capital expenditure on their working capital management. Net Liquidity Balance and Working Capital Requirement for determination of working capital requirement and developed multiple regression models. The empirical research found that organisations capital expenditure has a significant impact on working capital management. The study also found that the firms operating cash flow, which was recognized as a control variable, has a significant relationship with working capital management. Capital forecasting in a downturn environment where change is rapid. Incorporating dynamic forecasting to measure the impact of key uncertainties and risks on the portfolio of projects is crucial. The findings increase the knowledge base of working capital management and will help companies manage working capital efficiently in growing conditions associated with capital expenditure. 1.1 Working capital for accountants, investors and managers is the short-term health of a company. Working capital equals current assets minus current liabilities. Current accounts are accounts that the company collects or are due in the next year. Making a capital expenditure will have several effects on the companys working capital, depending on the transaction. However, in certain cases, there may be no impact; it is important to understand why. Corporate finance basically deals with three decisions: A) capital structure decisions, B) capital budgeting decisions, and C) working capital management decisions. Working capital management is a very important component of corporate finance since it affects the profitability and liquidity of a company. It deals with current assets and current liabilities. The decision-making process on the level of different working capital components has become frequent, repetitive, and time-consuming. Working capital management is recognized as an important concern of the financial manager due to many reasons. For one thing, a typical manufacturing firms current assets account for over half of its total assets. For a distribution company, they account for even more. The maintenance of excessive levels of current assets can easily result in a substandard return on a firms investment. However, firms with inadequate levels of current assets may incur shortages and have difficulties in smoothly maintaining day-to-day operations. Efficient working capital management involves planning and controlling current assets and current liabilities in a manner that eliminates the risk of inability to meet due short term obligations on one hand and avoids excessive investment in these assets on the other hand. Capital forecasting in a downturn environment where change is rapid. Incorporating dynamic forecasting to measure the impact of key uncertainties and risks on the portfolio of projects is crucial. Analyzing and quantifying the impact of risks and delays at project and portfolio level. Governance and control over capital expenditures, Portfolio prioritization. Determining the optimal decision making level for capital allocation decision (corporate level vs business unit level vs hybrid model). 1.2 Working Capital Estimates The analysis includes estimates of all investments required for a project. The project may require increases (or decreases) in cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, or inventory. 2.1 Capital expenditure Whenever we make an expenditure that generates a cash flow benefit for more than one year, this is a capital expenditure. Examples include the purchase of new equipment, expansion of production facilities, buying another company, acquiring new technologies, launching a research development program, etc., etc., etc. Capital expenditures often involve large cash outlays with major implications on the future values of the company. Additionally, once we commit to making a capital expenditure it is sometimes difficult to back-out. It has been found that managers spend a considerable time on day-today working of capital decisions since current assets are short-lived investments that are continually being converted into other asset types (Rao, 1989). In the case of current liabilities, the firm is responsible for paying obligations mentioned under current liabilities on a timely basis. Liquidity for the on-going firm is reliant, rather, on the operating cash flows generated by the firms assets. Corporations are looking for new ways to stimulate growth, improve financial performance, and reduce risk in todays challenging economic climate. Funds tied up in working capital can be seen as hidden reserves that can be used to fund growth strategies, such as capital expansion. Cash flows locked in stock and receivables can be freed up by understanding the determinants of working capital. Many organizations that have earned profits over the years have shown the efficient management of working capital (WCM). Broadly, industry characteristics, firm-specific characteristics, and the financial environment are recognized as determining factors of both capital expenditure and working capital. In addition to the growth, leverage, and the size of a company, type, and size of expenditures, such as finance and operating and capital expenditures, have different impacts on capital expenditure and working capital. 2.2 Portfolio Approach in Capital Budgeting Portfolio approach to achieve capital efficiency and organisational alignment can yield immediate positive cash-flow results for companies. Typically companies view capital expenditures through a cost and benefits filter that focuses largely on ROI and IRR type measures. Whilst these measures are relevant, companies that do so often do not necessarily link these to the strategy of the company. They also do not prioritise capital expenditures in terms of their effect on strategy and shareholder value. We believe that by using a portfolio approach companies could: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increase returns on invested capital by understanding which projects contribute most to shareholder value and lie on the project efficiency frontier à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Have a holistic portfolio view of the return of the capital of the entire company à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improve the strategic and organizational alignment of projects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Make informed decisions on where to invest scarce cash resources. 2.3 Capital Budgeting Decisions: Stage 1: Decision Analysis Decision-making is increasingly more complex today because of uncertainty. Additionally, most capital projects will involve numerous variables and possible outcomes. For example, estimating cash flows associated with a project involves working capital requirements, project risk, tax considerations, expected rates of inflation, and disposal values. We have to understand existing markets to forecast project revenues, assess competitive impacts of the project, and determine the life cycle of the project. If our capital project involves production, we have to understand operating costs, additional overheads, capacity utilization, and start-up costs. Consequently, we can not manage capital projects by simply looking at the numbers; i.e. discounted cash flows. We must look at the entire decision and assess all relevant variables and outcomes within an analytical hierarchy. This analytical hierarchy is known as the Multiple Attribute Decision Model (MADM). Multiple attributes are involved in capital projects and each determinant in the decision needs to be weighed differently and their relationship with each other determined. Several techniques are available to arrive at a financial decision regarding a capital expenditure project. These include: the net present value method. This method discounts all cash flows to the present using a predetermined minimum acceptable rate of return as the discount rate. If the net present value is positive, the financial return on the project is greater than this minimum acceptable rate and indicates the project is economically acceptable. If the net present value is negative, the project is not acceptable on economic grounds. the internal rate of return method. The internal rate of return is defined as the discount rate that makes the net present value of a project equal to zero. It is the highest rate of interest that a company could incur to obtain funds without losing money on the project. the equivalent annual cost method. When considering alternative proposals, it may be that only costs are involved. In such situations, a choice of alternatives can be made by determining which has the lowest equivalent annual cost. Under this method, capital expenditures are converted to their equivalent annual cost and added to the annual operating costs. Equivalent annual cost is the annual amount that would repay the capital over the life of the project at a specified discount rate. It is similar to an annual, level repayment schedule for a mortgage. The alternative with the lowest total cost would be the most attractive (ignoring intangibles). the payback method. This method estimates the time taken to recover the original investment outlay. The estimated net cash flows from a proposal for each year are added until they total the original investment. The time required to recoup the investment is called the payback period. Projects with a shorter payback period are preferred to those with longer periods. the discounted payback method. The discounted payback period is the number of years for which cash inflows are required to (a) recover the amount of the investment and also (b) earn the required rate of return on the investment during that period. In this method, each years cash inflow is discounted at the required rate of return, and these present values are cumulated by year until, their sum equals, the amount invested. Projects with a shorter discounted payback period are preferable to those with longer periods. the accounting rate of return method. The accounting rate of return is a measure of the average annual income after tax over the life of a project divided by the initial investment or the average investment required to generate the income. It is important to note that this method assesses net income and not cash flows which are used in the other methods. Stage 2: Option pricing In financial management, consideration of options within capital budgeting is called contingent claims analysis or option pricing. For example, suppose you have a choice between two boiler units for your factory. Boiler A uses oil and Boiler B can use either oil or natural gas. Based on traditional approaches to capital budgeting, the least costs boiler was selected for purchase, namely Boiler A. However, if we consider option pricing Boiler B may be the best choice because we have a choice or option on what fuel we can use. Suppose we expect rising oil prices in the next five years. This will result in higher operating costs for Boiler A, but Boiler B can switch to a second fuel to better control operating costs. Consequently, we want to assess the options of capital projects. Stage3: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Discounting refers to taking a future amount and finding its value today. Future values differ from present values because of the time value of money. Financial management recognizes the time value of money because: Inflation reduces values over time; i.e. Rs.1, 000 today will have less value five years from now due to rising prices (inflation). Uncertainty in the future; i.e. we think we will receive Rs. 1,000 five years from now, but a lot can happen over the next five years. Opportunity Costs of money; Rs. 1,000 today is worth more to us than five years from now because we can invest Rs 1,000 today and earn a return. 3.1 Quantitative Analysis and Estimates : The foundations for good capital planning are reliable forecasts of the following parameters like competitive technology, marketing opportunities, likely actions by competitors and governments, sales volumes, selling prices, operating costs, changes in working capital, taxes payable and capital costs of equipment. Effective management of capital expenditure decisions, therefore, requires that controls be designed and operated to ensure that projections are realistic at the time decisions are made. Reliable estimates and forecasts are vital to the capital investment decision. The degree of precision necessary for the estimates related to the capital expenditure decision depends on: the stage of evaluation of the project (i.e., in early stages less precision is needed), the sensitivity of the projects economics to the level of accuracy and timing of each of the elements within the estimates, and the similarity of the project to others already undertaken. 3.2 Planning Horizon of a project: It is often difficult to estimate the life of a project (i.e., its planning horizon). The criterion is the continued ability to generate satisfactory cash flows or other intangible benefits. The economic life of a project is the lesser of its physical life, technological life or product-market life. Physical Life of Project Technical life of the Project Market life of the product to be manufactured depends upon: Detailed Market Research/Study Competitive Factors Price Estimation and Determination Organisation Market Position Maintenance Property related costs Depreciation Plant Administration, Service Department Costs 4.1 Research Objectives Overall objective. The overall objective of this research study is to investigate capital expenditure on a project and consequently working capital requirement and there relationship. Working capital measured in terms of net liquidity balance and working capital requirement (WCR). Specific objectives. are to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate whether there is a relationship and type of relationship between capital expenditure and the firms working capital (W.C.). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Describe the relationship between the nature of expenditure and the working capital. To investigate the impact of different factors affecting the working capital on net liquidity balance and working capital requirement. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate the existing literature on working capital management to highlight the recent trends. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Understand the applicability of NLB and WCR as a measure of working capital management. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate the relationship between corporate performance and working capital management. 4.2 Literature Review The chief financial officers of most companies spend most of their time and effort on day-today working capital management. Still, due to the inability of financial managers to properly plan and control the current assets and current liabilities of their companies, the failure of a large number of businesses can be attributed to the inefficient working capital management. Working capital is the most crucial input and the success or failure of an organization can be rightly attributed to the quality and efficiency in the management of working capital (WC) or net current assets (NCA). Account receivable management models and inventory management models were used in approximately 65 % of companies. The management of the working capital, stresses the need for the development of a viable system with the dual finance goals of profitability and liquidity, only such models will assist practicing financial managers in their day-to-day decision-making. Over the years, many researchers have focused on determining the optimal level of each component of working capital. It was found that the working capital literature is rather limited and that the management of short term resources is not understood too well. Thus, the consensus in academia seems to recognize the paucity of theory concerning the management of financial resources due to the inherent difficulties in the development of a working capital decision model, while accepting the normative needs for a more critical examination. The tendency of firms with low levels of current ratios to have low levels of current liabilities. 5.1 Methodology The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a very important aspect of financial management known as working capital management. The study will show the relationship of capital expenditure on firms working capital management and its impact. This chapter of the research deals with the analytical framework of data analysis, which describes the firms and variables included in the study, the distribution patterns of data, and applied statistical techniques in investigating the relationship between working capital management and capital expenditure. 6.1 Data Collection Since the study is based on financial data, the main source of data was financial statements, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements of listed companies for the period from 2000 to 2005. The reason for restricting the time period to six years was that the latest data for the study was available for these years. In addition, annual reports of companies have been used in order to understand the company back ground and industry. 6.2 Sample Selection The study uses secondary data of listed companies in the stock exchange. Companies with missing data are excluded from the study. The study also excludes the financial and securities sector companies, as their financial characteristics and use of leverage are substantially different from other manufacturing companies. The working capital requirements and capital expenditure of a manufacturing organization is widely different from trading, financial and securities sector companies. 6.3 Variables In addition to identifying capital expenditure, the study undertakes the issue of identifying all factors that affect the working capital management. Most of the determinants identified in the investigation have been taken from the existing literature on working capital management. The study takes into account of all the variables discussed below. Variables, which include dependent, independent, and control variables, have been used to investigate the test hypothesis. 6.4 Independent Variables Capital expenditure (CAPEX) is identified as one of the independent variables and includes expenditures incurred by firms for acquisition and upgrading/renovating physical assets, such as land, buildings, machinery, vehicles, and equipments. Capital expenditures are added to assets account and depreciated against profits over their economic life as Deferred Revenue expenditure( DEFEREX). Capital expenditure is incurred by a company when buying new, fixed assets or in adding value to existing assets to increase their economic lives. Capital expenditure includes buying the value of assets, carriage inwards, insurance, legal costs, and all costs needed for acquiring assets ready for use. Managers pay careful attention to capital expenditure decisions, since they are very costly and irreversible. Operating expenditure (OPEX) is the cost of ongoing operations, product or system. Unlike CAPEX, firms meet OPEX continuously. Operating expenditures are written off against profit for the period. They are Revenue expenditure (REVEX) which includes salaries, wages and facilities expenses, such as rent, rates, electricity, etc. Finance expenditure (FIEX) is cost incurred on debt capital. Interest incurred on debentures, bank loan and other long term liabilities are recognized as finance expenditures. 6.5 Dependent Variables NLB = (cash and cash equivalents + short-term investment) (short-term debt + commercial paper payable + long-term debt a year term). These are considerations of the financial decisions of a company, regardless of the operation cycle. Thus, it is called as net liquid balance. WCR = (accounts receivable + inventories) (accounts payable + accrued expenses +other payable), which relate to the working cycle and are called working capital requirements. 6.6 Control Variables In addition, firms operating cash flow (OPCASH), extracted cash flow statement, growth (GRO) of the firm measured by sales, leverage measured by total long-term debt capital and divided by equity (D/E). All the above variables have relationships that affect working capital management. These relationships might vary over variables, companies and industries based on business strategy, economic environment, and financial environment. 7.1 Hypotheses Development Working capital management is traditionally rated by current ratio, quick ratio, and net working capital. According to Shulman and Cox (1985), these traditional ratios dont consider the going concern of the company and net working capital does not measure the correct value of liquidity. They classify net working capital into working capital requirement (WCR) and net liquidity balance (NLB) in order to predict the financial crisis of a company. WCR is measured in order to evaluate the management of working capital, and NLB is considered with the capability of raising and allocating capital respectively. NLB is better than traditional indicators in terms of predicting crisis and liquidity of a company. The basic purpose of this study on working capital management to evaluate the impact of capital expenditure on working capital. Thus, this study will categorize expenditure of a firm into three types: a) Operating expenditure, b) Capital (investment) expenditure, and c) Finance expenditure. However, except capital expenditure, operating and finance expenditures will be considered on accrual basis, not on the cash basis, because incurred expenditure will determine working capital management of the company. When a company has growth opportunities, it needs to acquire fixed assts (pay capital expenditure) relevant to future growth plans. Thus, incurred or expected capital expenditure is positively correlated with NLB. With growth opportunity, a company can increase the holding cash, since it manages working capital efficiently. Under such circumstances, terms to pay operation-related liabilities are lengthened and operation-related receivables can be accelerated in collection, causing less demand on working capital. Expected capital expenditure is negatively related to WCR, and firms with a higher growth rate pay more attention on the management of capital expenditure. Hypotheses A- Capital expenditure is positively related to NLB Hypotheses B- Capital expenditure is negatively related to WCR 8.1 Model Specification This study uses panel data regression analysis of cross-sectional in order to test the hypothesis. A use the pooled regression type of panel data analysis. The pooled regression, which is also called the constant coefficients model, is one in which both intercepts and slopes are constant, where the cross section from a data and time series data are pooled together in a single column, assuming that there are no significant cross section or temporal effects. The general forms of our models are:t NLB Decrease in WCR H1a= NLBit = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ £ ÃŽÂ ² X + ÃŽÂ µ (1) H1b= WCRit = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ £ ÃŽÂ ² X + ÃŽÂ µ (2) WCR: working capital requirement of firm I at time t; i = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..no. of firms NLB it: net liquidity balance of firm i at time t; i = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.no. of firms ÃŽÂ ²0: the intercept of equation ÃŽÂ ²i: coefficients of X it variables X it: the different independent variables for working capital management of firm i at time t t: time = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,6 years. ÃŽÂ µ: the error term Specifically, when I convert the above general least squares model into my specified NLBi = ÃŽÂ ² OPEXi + ÃŽÂ ² FIEXi + ÃŽÂ ² CAEXi + ÃŽÂ ² M/Bi+ ÃŽÂ ² Gti + ÃŽÂ ² D/Ei + ÃŽÂ ² OCASH + ÃŽÂ µ (3) WCRi = ÃŽÂ ² OPEXi + ÃŽÂ ² FIEXi+ ÃŽÂ ² CAEXi + ÃŽÂ ² M/Bi+ ÃŽÂ ² Gti + ÃŽÂ ² D/Ei + ÃŽÂ ² OCASH + ÃŽÂ µ (4) Where: NLB = (cash cash equivalents + short term investments) (short term debt + commercial paper payable + Long term debt year term) WCR = (accounts receivable + inventories) (accounts payable + other payable). WCR equals net working capital NLB. ÃŽÂ ² = coefficient of regression, OPEX = operating expenditure FIEX = financial expenditure CAEX= capital expenditure M/B = market to book value ratio D/E = total debt to total assets Gt = sales growth OCASH = operating cash flow in firm ÃŽÂ µ = the error term These findings are consistent with hypothesis H1b. Operating expenditure and interest expenditure also have a positive significant relationship with working capital requirement. 9.1 Conclusions and Recommendations Working capital management attracts less attention of the management than capital budget and expenditure, capital structure in financial management in the ordinary course of business. Working capital management relates to the findings of sources of short term finance and investments in short term assets. Working capital management deals with profitability and the risk of the company. Inefficient working capital management results in over investment in working capital and reduces the profitability of the firm. On the other hand, inefficient management of working capital leads to an insufficient amount of working capital and results in financial difficulty, putting the company at risk. The optimal level of working capital, which is a trade off between risk and profitability, can be affected by both internal organizational characteristics and various outside factors. Existing literature has paid little attention to many factors that determine the working capital. This research investigated some of the factors such as capital expenditure, operating expenditure, finance expenditure, leverage, performance and operating cash flow. This research paper uses NLB and WCR as proxies for working capital in order to assess working capital management with capital expenditure and other influencing factors. Empirical results show that capital expenditure has a significant effect on working capital management. This finding will help a companys management manage working capital efficiently. The findings can be used as a benchmark for managing working capital and evaluating performance. Through this paper it was able to find out that operating cash flow has a significant impact on a companys working capital management, consistent with conclusions in previous research/literature. By conducting the same study on each business sector separately, managers can understand specific behavior of a companys working capital in relationship with capital expenditure. Since the model is a general model, it might not be able to be applied or might not give the same findings in specific business sectors. Moreover, further research can be conducted on the same topic in different countries. Working capital management policies can be compared between developing and developed countries in order to determine the correct management policies. 14) Capital expenditure decisions are very crucial and not easily reversible. Substantial amount of money is blocked in capital expenditure decisions. Hence such decisions have to be taken very carefully with a lot of deliberations.

Fear and Anxiety

Phobia comes from the Greek word ‘phobos’ meaning morbid fear (wikipedia). But what exactly is a phobia? The direct denotation of a phobia is â€Å"a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it† (dictionary). A phobia falls under the category of an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is often â€Å"a harmful chronic condition, which can be present from an early age or begin suddenly after a triggering event.They are prone to flare up at times of high stress and are frequently accompanied by physiological symptoms such as headache, sweating, muscle spasms, palpitations, and hypertension, which in some cases lead to fatigue or even exhaustion† (wikipedia). According to healthline. com, if there is any exposure to the object that is feared, the stimulus may provoke extreme anxiety or a panic attack. † Phobias are mainly and tend to be caused by a traumatic event or experience th at happened prior in a person’s life.Other factors that may increase the likelihood of a phobia developing include cultural factors and possibly even genetics. â€Å"Phobias are actually quite common, affecting more than ten percent of the U. S. population. Phobias are the most common mental disorder in the United States, but far more women than men are affected by phobias† (about. com). Approximately six point three million American adults ages eighteen to fifty four, or about four point four percent of people in this age group in a given year, have some type of specific phobia (Heering).This anxiety disorder affects more than one in ten people in the word and they are usually present as a panic attack or a severe episode of anxiety and start during adolescence or adulthood (Frapwell). The percent of people that are diagnosed of having a phobia tend to be constant year to year; there has not been a dramatic increase or decrease over the years. Phobias can be divided i nto three main categories: social phobias, agoraphobia, and specific phobias. Social phobias deal with fear of social situations. People who have or had social phobia tend to stay in a solitary environment or just stay home alone where they are most comfortable.This does affect a person’s life because it prevents them from functioning in daily life. People do need to interact with others, especially in need of help. These people do not go to social events or outings because then they would feel like they are in danger and it is more likely that they will have a panic attack. A previous negative social experience can be the trigger to having a social phobia perhaps particularly for individuals who have an intrapersonality. Someone with an intrapersonality tend to stay away from groups and would rather stay and work alone.The cultural factors that have been related to social anxiety disorder include a society's attitude towards shyness and avoidance, affecting someone’s ability to form relationships and access employment or education. One study found that the effects of parenting are different depending on the culture – American children appear more likely to develop social anxiety disorder if their parents emphasize the importance of other's opinions and use shame as a disciplinary strategy, but this association was not found for Chinese American children.In China, research has indicated that shy-inhibited children are more accepted than their peers and more likely to be considered for leadership and considered competent, in contrast to the findings in Western countries. There is an increased amount or a decreased amount that social phobia affects depending on where the country is located, showing that cultur does make a difference (wikipedia). Agoraphobia is defined as an abnormal fear of being in crowds, public places, or open areas, sometimes accompanied by anxiety attacks (dictionary).The severity of agoraphobia varies, they can live ab solutely normal lives avoiding potential anxiety-provoking situations or they can stay at home practically all day and be homebound trying to stay away from anything that will cause them to be anxious. People with a less severe version of agoraphobia are more likely to buy a luxuorious automobile because they do not walk to their destination or take public transportation. This does make sense because the person with agoraphobia would be more comfortable in a luxuorious automobile where they can be alone.The causes of agoraphobia are currrently unknown, but the cultural factors that could be related to agoraphobia include the population of where a person lived while growing up. If the person was raised on a farm isolated from the world around them is more likely to develop the fear of public places than someone who lives in the city who is used to that type of environment. A scary experience or event in a person’s life can also be a major tribute to having this phobia. Agoraph obia occurs twice as commonly in women as it does in men.This is not very accurate considering that most men would not report that they have agoraphobia due to there stereotypical image of being strong and having no fear (Heering). Specific phobias deal with fear of a specific objects such as snakes or spiders. There are four major types of specific phobias. The four major types of specific phobias include the fear of natural environment, the fear of animals, medical related fear, and situational fear. The most common specific phobia of the natural environment include the fear of lightning, storms, and water. Fear of spiders, snakes, and mice are the most common specific fear with animals.People with a medical related phobia tend to have a fear of going to the doctor or hospital, fear of getting injured, and an irrational fear of seeing any amount of blood. Situational fear tend to involve a fear of specific situations, such as flying, driving, going over bridges or driving through tunnels, and even being in enclosed places like an elevator. There is a higher percentage of people with a specific type of phobia than agoraphobia and social phobia (nih, National Institute of Mental Health). The first diagnosis of any type of phobia was in the year of nineteen seventy.The diagnosis was related to social phobia and it was discussed as a clinical syndrome distinct from other anxiety disorders. Social phobia was not offically recognized until the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (webMD). Symptoms for acknowledging that someone has a phobia vary depending on the type of phobia, but some symptoms apply to just having some type of phobia. Symptoms regarding all phobias include excessive or irrational fear of a specific object or situation and the avoidance of the object or situation, or enduring it with great distress.Physical symptoms of anxiety or a panic attack, such as a pounding heart, nausea or diarrhea, sweating, trembling or shaking, numbness or tingling, problems with breathing, shortness of breath, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and feeling like you are choking. Anticipatory anxiety is another symptom regarding all phobias. Anticipatory anxiety involves becoming nervous ahead of time about being in certain situations or coming into contact with the object of your phobia. An example of this would be smilar to a person with a fear of dogs and how that person may become anxious about going for a walk because he or she may see a dog along the way.Children react differently with recognition of there phobias, which makes their symptoms of having a phobia different to the adult symptoms. Children with a specific phobia may express their anxiety by crying, clinging to a parent, or throwing a tantrum (webMD). Diagnosis of a phobia is an evaluation of the patient and the symptoms or anxiety they have. There is not really a diagnostic laboratory test for phobias. Diagnosis is based on the patient's account of their experiences. If symptoms of a specific phobia are present, the doctor will begin an evaluation by performing a complete medical history and physical exam.Although there are no laboratory tests to specifically diagnose specific phobias, the doctor may use various tests to make sure that a physical illness isn't the cause of the symptoms. If no physical illness is found, a person may be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist, mental health professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person for a specific phobia. The doctor bases his or her diagnosis of specific phobias on reported symptoms, including any problems with functioning caused by the symptoms.A specific phobia is diagnosed if the person's fear and anxiety are particularly distressing or if they interfere with his or her daily routine, including school, work, social activities, and relationships (webMD). Diagnostic criteria differs between the three main types of phobias. According to the 4th edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, â€Å"the most difficult aspect of diagnosing phobias is sorting them out from other psychiatric disorders such as paranoia, schizophrenia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which fear is associated with situations or specific objects. The diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia â€Å"is if the patient experiences excessive or irrational fear of a specific object or situation, has exposure to the object or situation and it causes an immediate anxiety response or a panic attack, the person knows that the fear is excessive and irrational, the object or situation is endured with distress or avoided, and avoidance, anticipatory anxiety, or distress during exposure to the feared object or situation interferes with the person's ability to function in normal daily activities. The person may have distress a bout having the phobia† (American Psychiatric Association).Social phobia has the most criteria for diagnosis compared to agoraphobia and a specific phobia. According to the 4th edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the criteria for a social phobia is as follow: â€Å"the person fears or is anxious about experiencing public embarrassment or humiliation in social or performance situations, being in such situations creates intense anxiety and possibly a panic attack, the patient knows that the fear is excessive and irrational, and social or performance situations are avoided or endured with great distress.This condition disrupts the patient’s ability to function at work or school and causes them to withdraw from social activities and/or relationships, or the fact that they have the phobia causes them distress. This condition has been led on for at least 6 months in people over the age of 18 and fear and avoidance are not caused by other mental disorders, a medical condition, or the effects of a drug. † Agoraphobia and its criteria is very basic. If the patient can not stand being trapped in a place or is stuck in a difficult situation which leads to a panic attack is a hint of having agoraphobia.If the patient tries to avoid a difficult situation at all costs and nearly has a panic attack thinking about being in a difficult situation or trapped in a place. Lastly, the avoidance is not caused by any type of drug or other psychotic illness or disorder. (American Psychiatric Association). There are a couple different methods on how to treat and cure phobias. There are different methods of treatment for each main category of phobias: agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia.Any phobia that interferes with daily living and creates extreme disability should be treated. With proper treatment, the vast majority of phobia patients can completely overcome their fears and be symptom-free for years, if not for life. Effe ctive relief can usually be gained through either cognitive behavior therapy, medication, or a combination of both. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy regards to all phobias within all the main categories. â€Å"Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, CBT, is highly effective in treating phobias.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy techniques help people recognize the events or items that trigger the patient’s reactions. The recognition of the events or items that triggers the patient’s reactions is the cognitive piece of the puzzle. The behavioral piece is the teaching of ways of coping with anxious feelings and physical symptoms through exposure and desensitization† (discovery health). Some therapists use virtual reality or imagery exercise to desensitize patients to the feared entity. These are parts of systematic desensitization therapy.Hypnotherapy is another type of treatment for phobias. Hypnotherapy cooperating with neuro-linguistic programming can also be used to help remove t he associations that trigger a phobic reaction. However, lack of research and scientific testing compromises its status as an effective treatment. A different type of treatment is the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, EMDR. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing has been demonstrated in peer-reviewed clinical trials to be effective in treating some phobias.Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing has been demonstrated as effective in easing phobia symptoms following a specific trauma, such as a fear of dogs following a dog bite. Emotional Freedom Technique, a psychotherapeutic alternative medicine tool, also considered to be pseudoscience by the mainstream medicine, is somewhat useful for patients, also. Medications are used to control the panic experienced during a phobic situation, as well as the anxiety caused by anticipation of that situation and are often used to treat social phobia and agoraphobia.According to wikipedia, â€Å"antidepressant medicatio ns such as SSRIs and MAOIs may be helpful in some cases of phobia. Benzodiazepines may be useful in acute treatment of severe symptoms but the risk benefit ratio is against their long-term use in phobic disorders. † Through treatment, you gain more control over an anxiety disorder. By developing good coping skills, you have a better chance of preventing future anxiety attacks. But, treatment always varies from person to person because others may benefit from one type of treatment more than another person. Living with a phobia can be difficult.Even if the feared object or situation does not regularly appear in the patient’s daily life, the patient may find that a lot of their time is spent worrying that it may appear or figuring out how to avoid it. Although you will find primary support from your therapist and closest friends or relatives, you may discover that additional support makes coping easier. Many people find it helpful to read first-person accounts of peopleâ⠂¬â„¢s personal struggles with phobias. Others search for the latest treatment information. Many find that simply speaking with someone who has been there makes things a bit easier to handle.Although many phobia sufferers experience similar concerns despite the type of phobia they have, each type of phobia also brings with it specific concerns (Heering). Telling someone that you have been diagnosed with a phobia could be very emotional for you because you do not want to be made fun of or be judged. It could also be hard because after you tell them what you have been diagnosed with you might be treated differently. You could be treated as a sick patient, which would probably make it worse for you making you think of the phobia more.Phobias do have psychological and emotional effects on you. You could wonder if what you are thinking is normal or not, which can mess with your thoughts (Heering). A phobia affects your life, but does it affect the people around you? This depends on what type of phobia you are diagnosed with. If you are diagnosed with a social phobia, you have most likely lost most or even all of your close relationships. If you are diagnosed with a specific phobia, then you are likely to still have relationships with the people close to you.Yes, there may some limits, such as if a person is afraid of flying and their friend wants them to go on a vacation with them, the person with the phobia is not going to go. Sometimes the question of phobias be prevented comes up and the answer is no a phobia can not be prevented. â€Å"Although many specific phobias cannot be prevented, early intervention and treatment following a traumatic experience, such as an animal attack, may prevent the person from developing severe anxiety† (webMD). There are many types of phobias including some strange and ironic types f phobias. The most common types of phobias mostly fall under the specific phobias category. Some common phobias are â€Å"arachnophobia, ophidi ophobia, acrophobia, agoraphobia, cynophobia, astraphobia, trypanophobia, social phobias, pteromerhanophobia, mysophobia, belonephobia, claustrophobia, odontiatophobia, phasmophobia, phobophobia, trypanophobia, zoophobia† (about). There are many interesting facts of these phobias. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and is twice as more likely to occur with women having this phobia than men.Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes and it is often attributed by a traumatic experience or by cultural factors. Acrophobia is the fear of heights and usually leads to panic attacks and avoidance on anything in relation to height. Cynophobia is the fear of dogs and is usually caused by a not so good specific experience with a dog. Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightening, which also has three other names: brontophobia, tonitrophobia, and ceraunophobia. Trypanophobia is the fear of injections and this fear goes untreated because people avoid the triggering object and situation.Pter omerhanophobia is the fear of flying and is often treated using exposure therapy, in which the patient is gradually and progressively introduced to flying. Mysophobia is the fear of germs or dirt and could possibly be related to obsessive compulsive disorder. Belonephobia is the fear of pins and needles, claustrophobia is the fear of an enclosed space, odontiatophobia is the fear of dentists, phasmophobia is the fear of seeing a ghost or a phantom, phobophobia is the fear of having a phobia, and zoophobia is the fear of going to a zoo. The latest type of phobia now is a food phobia.There are a few amounts of people that are scared of mayonnaise or ketchup (about). Yes, there are many phobias out there that are strange and scientists are starting to wonder if it really is a phobia or just an excuse. You would never think that celebrities have phobias because we all think that they are just glitz and glam and perfect, but in reality some celebrities do have phobias. Did you know that Nicole Kidman has a fear of butterflies? Jennifer Aniston, Cher, Michael Jackson, and Whoopi Goldberg have a fear of flying. Orlando Bloom has a fear of pigs.Daniel Radcliffe, Johnny Depp, and Sean â€Å"Diddy† Combs have a fear of clowns (about). It is so weird that the people other people look up to and think they are scared of nothing are normal people and fear thing regular people fear. There are three main categories of a phobia: social phobia, which is the fear of any type of a social situation, agoraphobia, which is the fear of being in crowds or public places, and specific phobia which is the fear of a specific object. What it all comes down to be is that fear runs the life of a person with phobia.It affects the person emotionally and psychologically and depending on the severity and what type of phobia the person has, it could affect the people around you and your relationships with them. Not all phobias have a treatment unless if the person is willing to go through with the treatment. A phobia can be a serious anxiety disorder.Works Cited About. com. Web. Craske, Michelle, Martin M. Antony, and David H. Barlow. Mastering Your Fears and Phobias. Madison Avenue, New York, New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print. Emery, Gary, Ruth Greenberg, and Aaron T. Beck. Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective. Basic, 1990. Print. Frapwell, Mark, and Grace Tsai, Ph. D. Discoveryhealth. com. Web. Heering, Jan. Phobia-fear-release. com. 23 Nov. 2009. Web. Moore, D. P. â€Å"Phoba- Simple/Specific. † Healthline. com. Web. Nimh. nih. gov. National Institute of Mental Health. Web. â€Å"Phobia†, â€Å"Anxiety Disorder. † Dictionary. com. Web. â€Å"Phobias. † Webmd. com. Healthwise, Incorporated, 1995. Web. Todd, Jr. , Dr. D. B. Mmc. edu. Meharry Medical College. Web. Wikipedia. com. Web. .

Information society Essay

Questions surrounding the nature and scope of the media’s impact upon society are intrinsically contentious; the wide variety of media on offer to the consumer creates a naturally eclectic set of norms and values from which individuals might draw conclusions. A cultural explanation, unlike Webster’s economic, occupational and spatial definitions of an information society (Webster) remains too esoteric to allow for detailed quantitative data to be collected. And whilst the qualitative data it inspires could be considered to have equal value, it is nevertheless more open to interpretation than its statistics-heavy brethren. So what is an information society? The idea should not be taken to its literal route, that technology has allowed free exchange of information on a scale unprecedented throughout t history is not in question. The concept of an information society stems from an idea that information is the commodity in so far as it transcends the limitations of more traditional commodities, such as oil or food. In an information society, information and wealth are seen as one and the same, with information acting as a societal nervous system from which all financial transactions react. Information in this social model is not limited to the economic, it is also a social resource one that reinforces and defines culture, particularly at a generic international level. The suggestion that this is indeed an information society does of course need some qualification, a simply blanket definition emphasising its importance in the modern age will not suffice. What is needed is a more in depth examination of the criteria used to define an information society. These definitions as defined by Webster are the economic, the technological, the occupational, the spatial and the cultural. How does the economic state of society support or refute the notion that this is indeed an information society? One does not have to wait over long before some major information company makes headline news with massively expensive acquisitions such as Google’s purchase of You Tube for $1. 6 billion last October (BBC). Such acquisitions support an economic variant of the debate that we are indeed living in an information age. With massive profit to be made, some of the largest companies in the world work almost exclusively in the province of information. However, as Salvaggio points out â€Å"Examining the economic structure alone, provides only a limited view of the social and cultural implications associated with information societies. † (Salvaggio) It could be argued that we are as much a pharmaceutical society as an information one since pharmaceutical companies have also encountered massive growth; the empirical evidence to support such a contention would be impressive. This is not to say that economic indicators should not be taken into account, they clearly allow us to measure the depth and velocity of the growth of information as a cultural force albeit one that cannot offer us definitive conclusions as to the nature of any technological society we might presuppose. If the economic evidence alone is insufficient to offer any definitive proof that this is indeed an information society then how might the technological fare? Does technology itself helps to define the world we live in? To be clear we must acknowledge that technology is important to this argument. As Webster points out, Commonsensicaly, these (technological) definitions of the information society do seem appropriate. After all, if it is possible to see a ‘series of inventions’ steam power, the internal combustion engine, electricity, the flying shuttle – as the key characteristic of the ‘industrial society’, then why not accept the virtuoso developments in ICT as evidence of a new type of society? Commonsense though such definitions might be, they still struggle to conclusively demonstrate that the existence and use of said technology denotes a de rigueur use within a society. By the turn on the 19th Century the steam engines that revolutionized industry were being used en mass but the Luddite passions of much of the lower classes suggested a strong current of resentment towards the new ‘society’; if this was the age of steam then it was also the age of political awareness, of Imperialism or any one of dozens of social revolutions that were occurring at this time. Thus the technological criteria suffer from one intrinsic weakness, that being that the use of technology is not necessarily a culture defining event. However, Webster is pointing to the ubiquitous use of certain technologies that in this instance are primarily designed to deliver information from consumer to consumer. It is the sheer scale of this usage that helps justify it’s inclusion as one of the five criteria defining an information society. Of the two remaining definitions the ‘occupational’ remains more easily understood. An ‘Agrarian’ society such as that which existed in Europe during the Middle-Ages was precisely that, the overwhelming majority of people within the society were subsistence farmers. In the modern period no one occupation dominates, information however permeates all levels of occupational society. Regardless of the specific occupational role, information plays a significant role, whether via the use of new technologies (such as the internet) or by economic infrastructures made possible by a culture of global information. Webster’s use of the spatial criteria suggests that the increased connectivity we as a society benefit from is in and of its self a method of defining this period as an information society. The rapid growth of and the increasing reliance on communication as a means of achieving goals, has major impacts on how things are done, how much time that projects take and so on and so forth. If a society can be defined on how it prioritizes its resources then we can see that the huge growth in information networks does indeed point to an information society.

Socialist Feminism Definition and Comparisons

The phrase socialist feminism was increasingly used during the 1970s to describe a mixed theoretical and practical approach to achieving womens equality. Socialist feminist theory analyzed the connection between the oppression of women and other oppressions in society, such as racism and economic injustice. The Socialist Basis Socialists had fought for decades to create a more equal society that did not exploit the poor and the powerless in the same ways that capitalism did. Like Marxism, socialist feminism recognized the oppressive structure of a capitalist society. Like radical feminism, socialist feminism recognized the fundamental oppression of women, particularly in a  patriarchal society. However, socialist feminists did not recognize gender and only gender as the exclusive basis of all oppression. Rather, they held and continue to hold that class and gender are symbiotic, at least to some degree, and one cannot be addressed without taking the other into consideration.   Socialist feminists wanted to integrate the recognition of sex discrimination within their work to achieve justice and equality for women, for working classes, for the poor and all humanity.   A Little History The term socialist feminism might make it sound as though the two concepts—socialism and feminism—are cemented together and intertwined, but this has not always been the case. Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs and Susan B. Anthony were at odds back in 1905, each of them supporting a different end of the spectrum. Decades later, Gloria Steinem suggested that women, and particularly younger women, were eager to throw their support behind socialist Bernie Sanders rather than Hillary Clinton, a concept that became evident in the 2016 national election when Sanders won 53 percent of the female vote in the New Hampshire primary in contrast to Clintons 46 percent. How Is Socialist Feminism Different? Socialist feminism has often been compared to cultural feminism, but they are quite different although there are some similarities. Cultural feminism focuses almost exclusively on the unique traits and accomplishments of the female gender in opposition to those of men. Separatism is a key theme, but socialist feminism opposes this. The goal of socialist feminism is to work  with  men to achieve a level playing field for both genders. Socialist feminists have referred to cultural feminism as pretentious.   Socialist feminism is also distinctly different from liberal feminism, although the concept of liberalism has changed over the early decades of the 21st century. Although liberal feminists seek equality of the sexes, socialist feminists do not believe that is entirely possible within the constraints of current society.   The focus of radical feminists is more on the root causes of inequalities that exist. They tend to take the position that sexual discrimination is the sole source of the oppression of women. However, radical feminism may be more closely related than some other forms of feminism are to socialist feminism.   Of course, all these types of feminism share similar and often identical concerns, but their remedies and solutions vary.