Qatar Islamic Insurance Company Research Proposal

Qatar Islamic Insurance Company - Research Proposal Example Price/ Earnings Ratio: The P/E ratio determine the amount investors are willing to pay for every Qatari Riyal. The P/E ratio of the company and that of the industry are 16.67 and 20.14, which shows that company’s earnings per QAR with respect to rest of the industry is QAR 3.47 higher. Hence, the company has sufficient prospect of growth.Price/ Book value: This ratio represents a comparative measurement and relationship between market price of the stock and its book value. Essentially, it represents the proportion of company’s net assets that is accessible to the shareholders with respect to aggregate sale value of its stock. The benchmark for P/B ratio is 1 and any stock value less than that expresses undervaluation. The P/B ratio of the company and that of the industry shows that both the stocks are overvalued, while that of the industry is higher. The P/B ratio of the company illustrates that in case of solvency of Qatar Islamic Insurance Company, the stock will be v alued at 3.84 times of net asset value of the company (Alexander 105-150).Price/ Cash flow ratio: It represents the stock price with respect to cash flow per share. The P/CF ratio is an important indicator of the valuation of stock. While a single-digit value is considered as under-valuation, high values shows potential over valuation. The respective P/CF ratios for QIIC and the industry are 38.17 and 63.79. This implies that both have the propensity towards over valuation. Dividend yield can be defined as return on investment per share.

How were World War I and World War II truly world wars Essay

How were World War I and World War II truly world wars - Essay Example These to countries had massive control in the affairs of different countries and they used their power to influence much of the political happenings in these countries. The major players of the wars put all their industrial, economic and person capabilities on the war. This impacted heavily on the economies of the countries involved in the wars (p.21). Most of these countries were major world powers and their economies affected the economic situations in other countries. When the economy slumped during the two wars, all countries in the world were affected in one way or another, even when they were not directly involved in the war. The two world wars also changed the face of social relations of different people from different countries (p.26). Each of the opposing sides had allies who fought against the allies of another opposing group, thus creating tension where there were not supposed to be tensions. Reference Dowswell, P., Brocklehurst, R. and Brook, H. 2007. The Two world Wars: An introduction to the first and second world wars. New York: Educational Publishers.

Advancement of video games Essay Example for Free

Advancement of video games Essay In this paper I will show and explain how the advancement of video games consoles has changed Humanity in more ways than one. I will show how the inventors started their Empires by selling plain, simple playing cards all the way to online gaming linked all around the world. How Nintendo and Atari started as two of the giants in the gaming world and then how Nintendo almost died out when Sega came out with their console. I will also explain how the video game mindset changed overtime and evolved into something worldwide. Hanafuda (President) was the name of the very first 52 deck set of playing cards sold by Fusajiro Yamauchi and his Nintendo Koppai. Fusajiro had a bigger plan and dream. This lead to the first Beam Gun made by Nintendo in 1969 (See PIC. 1) A new employee to the company by the name of Gunpei was told that he should â€Å"Do something new† for Nintendo as the Christmas season was swiftly approaching. Within a few short days, Gunpei introduced the Ultra Hand which was an arm toy. This sold a whopping 1. 2 million copies. (Unknown Author, 2011) The Beam Gun was an Opto-Electronics and was the first of its kind. This was the beginning of Video Game Consoles. (Moby Games, 1999-2012) Even though the Beam Gun was a major success, the official â€Å"Video Game Craze† would not kick off until 1975, when Nintendo signed a contract to work alongside Mitsubishi and produce the first known Cabinet Micro-Computers also known as Arcade Systems. (Moby Games, 1999-2012) Around this same time two friend’s names Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney would also create their own version of a coin-operated arcade cabinet with a space like theme and called it Computer Space. Both Bushnell and Dabney would become Co-Founders of the Atari Company, Nintendo’s first biggest competition. With all the success of Nintendo, a second known Video Arcade company would step up to challenge Nintendo in sales. This company was Atari Co. Atari’s first break-through was signing a deal with Sears Roebuck Co. and having their â€Å"Atari Pong† featured in Sears Roebuck’s catalog. (See Pic2) The Atari Pong went on to sell over 150,000 units. This set the way for Atari’s most known and most popular creation, The Atari 2600. (Unknown, 2011) The Atari 2600 was released just before the Christmas season of 1977 at $199. 99. The Atari 2600 was the first console that introduced Pac-Man and went on to sell well over 30 million units before being discontinued in 1992. While Atari had the 2600 with Pac-Man to play on it, this pair was pretty much the â€Å"match made in heaven† but Nintendo didn’t cross their hands and let Atari win over the industry they created. Nintendo introduced the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System, see PIC. 4) The NES was released in July of 1983 and featured classic games such as Zelda, Tetris, Donkey Kong and the most popular game of them all, Mario Bros. Nintendo showed to be the stronger of the two as the NES went on to sell over 61 million units before Nintendo discontinued the system with the release of the Super Nintendo which was a 16bit unit as to the NES which was an 8bit unit. These two companies would be the only two standing video game companies until Sega Genesis came out in the early 90’s and promised to give Nintendo a good challenge. Sega came out with a bigger marketing scheme and also, a much faster system. By this time, more than 800,000 Nintendo NES units were sold worldwide making it difficult for any company to come anywhere near Nintendo’s sales numbers and simultaneously get the consumer to spend another $150 on a new console that had faster graphics and more life-like sports games. Sega spent a lot of money marketing their Sega Genesis system by bashing on Nintendo’s graphics. Sega Genesis made several commercials and a slogan stating â€Å"Sega does what NintenDON’T† (here is a link to one of the commercials, http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=zlulSyBI2aY). By the early 2000’s Sega had developed a system that connected to the internet. This would be the beginning to a whole new gaming world. (Unknown, 2007) Sega invented the Sega Dreamcast which had the feature of being able to log online from your console. This was great at first until consumers noticed that the unit kept crashing and slowing down while online. This was never corrected by Sega which lead to the downfall of the Dream Cast system. Nintendo and Sega would stay at the forefront in the gaming industry until Sony decided to invest into the â€Å"Gamers world† creating the first ever Sony Playstation in 1994 (See PIC6). Sony had perfected what the Dreamcast lacked in and featured faster online game play and up to 4 jacks for 4 player gaming. Sony decided to release the Playstation 2(See PIC7). I personally remember this system because at the time of its release in November, 2000. I was working for Montgomery Wards. The night before it was scheduled to hit shelves nationwide, there was people camping outside to be the first to buy the Sony Playstation. I remember stopping and staring for a while as hundreds of people lined up with camp tents and blankets to keep them warm on a freezing cold Chicago night just to be the first to purchase this Sony sequel to a very successful Playstation system. The PS2 went on to sell well over 154 million systems worldwide making it the most popular gaming unit and taking the historic sales that the NES had produced from the 80’s and early 90’s. I highly doubt that Mr. Fusajiro Yamauchi would have ever thought that his company would go from selling plain old playing cards to a gaming world never thought possible. Lets forward to 2012. To this date there are three major consoles out in the market. The PS3 made by Sony playstation, the X-BOX 360 made by Microsoft and the Nintendo WII (See PIC8, 910). The features on these units are incredible. For example, the PS3 has an integrated blu-ray reader so you can play your blu-ray, DVD and CD’s on the PS3 console. Both the PS3 and X-Box 360 have online gaming where the player can actually login online and play a game with someone on the other side of the planet. There are headsets where you can listen and speak to other gamers from anywhere in the world. The PS3 and Nintendo WII have taken it one step further. On these two consoles you can now download Netflix and watch an unlimited number of movies straight from your console. In this essay I have shown and explained the advancements of video game consoles and how they changed Humanity in more ways than one. In my opinion the advancements of Game Consoles have been a perfect example on how we as people progress and improve over time. Anything we did 20 or 30 years ago cannot compare to what we have now. We can be talking about cars, buildings, computers, the way we communicated from mail to email to facebook and video gaming is no exception to these constant improvements and progress. PIC. 1 this was the Beam Gun created by Nintendo PIC. 2. This was the Atari Pong featured in Sears Roebuck Co. Catalog PIC. 3. Atari’s biggest creation, the 2600. PIC4. Nintendo’s NES system PIC5. Sega Genesis Console. PIC6. Sony Playstation PIC7. Sony Playstation 2 PIC8. Microsoft X-BOX 360 PIC9. Sony PS3 PIC10. Nintendo WII Video Game Consoles Annotated Bibliography Unknown Author, 2011). The History of Nijtendo: 1960-1970. http://www. snesclassics. com/history/nintendo. php This article explains a history on how Gunpei designed Nintendo’s first hand held video game and opened the door to a new concept for the Nintendo Company. Moby Games (1999-2012). The fall of Nintendo: Nintendo’s Beginnings. http://www. mobygames. com/featured_article/feature,15/section,129/ : This article provides information on the beginnings of what eventually would become the largest manufacturer of Video game consoles, Nintendo Co. It explains how Fusajiro Yamauchi, began the company in a small town in Japan. The company manufactured playing cards known as Hanafuda. This was a 52 deck set of Japanese playing cards. The article explains how the company evolved from playing cards to manufacturing a system called the Beam Gun Series which used opto-electronics in 1969. In 1975 Nintendo signed a contract with Mitsubishi to produce the first ever electronic video recorder (EVR). This evolved into the cabinet micro-computers also known as coin operated arcade games in the 1970’s and kicked off the arcade game craze. Unknown Author(2011). Video Computer System: Atari 2600. http://www. atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/2600menu/2600menu. htm : This article explains how Atari’s first home video game console, the Atari 2600 was developed and sold in 1977. The initial selling price was $199. 99 which was a lot of money back in the 70’s. IT also explains how a merger with Nintendo was about to happen until Ray Kassar, Atari’s CEO was let go. This made Nintendo change their mind and went on to produce their console solo. Unknown Author (2011). Atari Consoles: Atari Pong. http://www. atarimuseum. com/videogames/dedicated/homepong. html : The Atari Pong was very popular in bar scene during the early 70’s. Atari arcade engineer Bob Brown designed a home version of Pong and got Sears Roebuck Co. to add it into their catalog. Sears was hoping to sell 50,000 units by Christmas of 1977 and ended up moving 150,000 units. Unknown Author (2007). Sega Genesis: Where were you when the 1980’s were about to end? http://www. digitpress. com/systems/genesis. htm : This article is great because it explains how the feeling was around the time when Sega Genesis came into the market to give Nintendo a run for their money with the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog and slogans such as â€Å"Sega does what Nintendon’t†.

About the Vacation

About the Vacation Why Beach Vacations Are Better Than Mountain Vacations Many people are always mesmerized by any upcoming vacations. Due to this, they make early plans on how to use their vacation time by choosing some of the areas where they can visit. There are always many places where many people can choose for their vacation period but most of them end up choosing the two most common places namely; the mountain and the beaches. Many people assert there is more fun in the beaches and mountains than when they visit other areas such as game parks, reserves and circuses. The two places are however very much different because they offer a variety of fun activities which are totally diverse .This essay is going to focus on the various factors which make people prefer to spend their vacations in the beaches rather than on the mountains and vice versa. Some of the factors to be considered will include the geographical location, climatic conditions and the fun activities of both the beach and the mountains. Based on climatic conditions, we are all aware that mountains are colder because of the higher altitude just as the adage goes that the higher you go the cooler it becomes. On the mountains you will find that the weather conditions change dramatically time after time (hourly). For example there can be a perfect clear sky at 12pm but after a few minutes a huge thunderstorm can come rolling. A few hours later may be at 3pm the temperatures can rise to extremely hot temperatures and then just after a few hours the temperature can drop to below the freezing point. Due to this sudden temperature changes, one has to have some layers of cover over the body so that they may not fall sick after the vacation. I think the changes in temperatures plays a very significant role in making people prefer their vacation in beaches than on the mountains. For example you will find that beaches are warm because the temperature are high or at the sea level compared to the low temperatures experienced on the mountains. Many beaches experience warm breezes from the sea compared to when in the mountains. Majority will choose beaches for their vacations because they only carry swimming costumes, a few clothes   and eatables but while going to the mountains one has to be well prepared (a packed lunch,  Ã‚   tinned water, heavy jackets because as the temperature changes one will require either the warm clothes or the temperature might rise thus make one very thirsty. Another factor is the geographical location of the beaches or mountains. Naturally, most of the mountains are found in the hilly or high altitude areas. As a result, it becomes difficult for many people to access them especially at the top because it requires a lot of courage, energy, food, and water areas for one to get at the mountain peak. This limits the number of tourists visiting these areas compared to the number of visitors in other places such as national parks, game reserves and beaches. Most of the mountains are also found in the forests or they can even be covered by a thick forest. It is natural for the wild animals to encroach areas which are covered by huge forest cover. This means that there might be conflict between people and the wild animals when people decide to have their vacation on the mountains. Again, some countries have very thick forest cover which sometimes catch fire on its own (forest fires). These fires also stretch to the mountains where these vacation s take place. We are all aware of the fact that many of the evil doers in the society especially armed gangs stay in the forest and even in the mountains. This means that it is risky for people to go to the mountains without the backing of the security. On the other hand many beaches are located at the lower altitudes or in almost flat grounds. This happens to be one of the reasons as to why many people will prefer to spend their vacations in the beaches rather than on the mountains. This is propelled by the fact that to access the mountain tops one will require a lot of energy due to the upward mobility but to access the beaches its easy and less energy will be used. Most of the beaches are not covered by forests and they are also located in very open places. This means that there is no habitation of the wild animals such as guerillas which are a threat to the security of the humans. This prompts many people to prefer beaches for the vacation to the mountains. Beaches are also very secure than forest because there is the beach patrol police to maintain security therefore making it difficult for the armed gangs to hide there unlike in the mountains where the security of the humans is threatened by the armed gangs. The beaches are al so secure because they are located in far from forest and therefore they cannot be affected by the forest fire which always threatens the lives of the visitors who go to have fun on the mountains. The other factor which is to be considered is the types of activities which take place both on the mountain and the beaches. It is very clear that these two places offer different kinds of fun activities due to the different climatic changes which are experienced. For example you will find that in the mountain the climatic conditions are characterized by changes in either cool or hot temperature which are either accompanied by snow or rains respectively. Some of the vacation activities which take place in the mountains include snowboarding, mountain biking, mountain climbing, hiking, and skiing. More often you will find that children cannot engage in some of these mountain activities simply because of the heights of the mountains or because of the lack of experience and also due to fear of wild animals such as bears. Statistics have shown that these mountain activities mainly involve people who are aged between 15-45 years thus eliminating many older and young people. On the other hand, the sea and the warm climates determine the activities which take place in the beach. Many activities that take place in the sea tend to favor all people young and old inclusive because they are simple. Again, it entails what people do at home. This is unlike the mountain activities where one has to go to the mountains in order to practice and even learn them. Some of the activities in the beaches include swimming, volley ball games, soccer games and even the riding of the water bikes. Many people will prefer to have a vacation on the beaches because they will (young and the adults) have some enjoyable activities which they are familiar with unlike on the mountains were activities are technical and require a lot of experience. Again beaches have discos and restaurants were people can enjoy their fun until morning without worrying about the colds and insecurities either from wild animals or intruders. This is unlike the mountain activities where by there are no ente rtainment areas and if they exists they located a bit far from the mountains. Again many beaches tend have many visitors all the time but the number of visitors is not as high on the mountains thus making everything very boring and dull. Beach vacations are always better that the mountain vacations because many people hate cold areas and the beaches are always warm. Beaches are also easily accessible compared to the mountains thus making them more marketable. Beaches also tend to have a wide variety of activities for both the young and the old thus making it easy for families to come in their wholes. Beaches are also very secure due to the presence of the beach patrol police thus making it easier for many people to choose the beaches because they are not afraid of any insecurity issues.

Intelligent Call Routing :: essays research papers

Intelligent Call Routing Mr. Harrison decides to call his credit card company to inquire about a credit limit increase. He picks up the phone and dials the company’s 800 number. He is then prompted by a friendly voice that says, â€Å"Welcome to Mycorp, please enter your 15 digit account number†. After punching his15-digit account number into the handset, he is quickly prompted by a friendly agent who greets him with, â€Å"Hello Mr. Harrison, how are you today?† Surprised that the agent knew he was the one calling, he then mentions that he is interested in a credit limit increase. After the agent helps him with his primary objective, the agent says, â€Å"I noticed you have been traveling a lot lately; would you be interested in upgrading to our new Travelers Green Card?† That’s right. The agent knows a lot about him, but how? Remember the 15-digit account number he entered? To Mycorp it’s much more then 15-digits: it’s about every product he has purchased using his Mycorp credit card; his language preference; if he is past due on his bill; if he is considered a high value customer to the organization; the type of card he has, and much more. The call center of today is evolving at an extraordinary rate. New technologies are popping up all over the globe bringing to the table new and exciting products that will help companies to service their customers in faster and smarter ways. One of the products with the most impact on the market today being used to accomplish this is Intelligent Call Management. Many large organizations such as American Express, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, and Discover Card are using Intelligent Call Management to provide better service to their customers. A recent survey discovered that 90% of today’s call centers are using voice-processing applications, while another 54% have introduced Intelligent Call Management into their call center. Intelligent Call Management, or ICM, cannot be accomplished with one single piece of hardware. It involves multiple peripherals working together, each providing a different functionality that contributes to the efficiency of the call delivery. (â€Å"Are Y ou,† 2004) Computers and the telephone have technologically collided and as a result CTI, or Computer Telephony Integration, was born. The CTI component is the most important piece in an ICM environment. With CTI, companies are improving their efficiency, lowering their operating costs, and building the infrastructure for new business opportunities.

Divine Providence and Destiny in Homers Iliad :: Iliad essays

Divine Providence and Destiny in Homer's The Iliad Destiny is defined as fate. One cannot escape destiny. Divine intervention on the other hand is much different. One can at least beg for mercy or help. Both destiny and divine intervention are intertwined in Homer's The Iliad. In book I Thetis asks a favor of Zeus in order to make her son look good. Zeus decides to help Achilles against the wishes of Hera. In Book II there are two gods trying to accomplish different tasks. In order to make Achilles look good, Zeus must give glory to the Achaeans. Hera on the other hand tries to help the Greeks. The gods try to assert their divine authority, but without the humans realizing they are being played like puppets. Throughout The Iliad we see both divine providence and the luck of humanity playing a part in the lives of Hector and Achilles. In Book I Achilles looks for a holy man to find out why the gods are against the Achaeans. Achilles knows that in order to win the war, the Trojan army must find favor with the gods. The chosen holy man was Thestor. It was said that the god Apollo had given Thestor power to see into the world of the supernatural. Before Thestor would even say anything, he required assurance that he would not be harmed for what he had to say. Thestor blames the plague of problems on Agamemnon. Because Agamemnon will not return Chryseis, the Achaean army has fallen out of favor of the gods. In order to return to the protective umbrella of the gods, restitution must be given. Chryseis must be returned. In this instance, the humans wanted favor from the gods. In order to get it, they had to comply to what the gods wanted, which was give back Chryseis. In Book II Zeus uses a dream to change the lot of Achilles. Agamemnon has a dream indicating that the Achaean's should give up. Nestor also agrees after hearing the dream. Agamemnon and the chiefs make a decision about the war and the destiny of the Achaean fighters based on a dream sent by Zeus whose purpose is to make Achilles look good. Here again, the gods are the puppeteers and the humans are not really in control of their destiny. In Book VI we see the belief in fate becoming more evident.

Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma

http://accrualperspective. wordpress. com/2012/10/10/zyngas-revenue-recognition-dilemma/ Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Leave a reply Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Zynga has been the focus of a highly disputed topic on bookings and revenues as of late. Unfortunately for the online gaming company, many accountants and financial analysts are not in Zynga’s favor on the way that the company has been recognizing revenues. To put the company in perspective, there are 26 million digital farmers via the vastly rampant FarmVille application run by Zynga.In the popular game, Facebook users build farms to produce crops and create the kind of productivity that they desire. This creates the need for virtual, heavy equipment, such as tractors, seeders and harvesters, all which can be bought with FarmVille Currency. Zynga makes money by allowing users to hurry the process by converting real dollars from their credit cards into the virtual currency necessary to get t he equipment they need to get the job done. Like FarmVille, Zynga has users across a variety of applications such as CityVille, Words with Friends, and Mafia Wars, all of which using the same models.This type of unique revenue however provokes a unique question; that is, how is Zynga supposed to report revenues from these products that they’ve offered? According to the company’s 10-k report, it’s policies on reporting states that: * â€Å"For the sale of consumable virtual goods, we recognize revenue as the goods are consumed† * â€Å"We recognize revenue from the sale of durable virtual goods ratably over the estimated average playing period of paying players for the applicable game, which represents our best estimate of the average life of our durable virtual goods† And perhaps the most important: â€Å"If we do not have the ability to differentiate revenue attributable to durable virtual goods from consumable virtual goods for a specific game, we recognize revenue from the sale of durable and consumable virtual goods for that game ratably over the estimated average period that paying players typically play our games† This type of financial reporting is simply too confusing and leaves the door open for too much alteration within the reports. Also, this type of unpredictable reporting technique allows the company to skew bottom-line profits and maneuver their earnings to reflect an untrue valuation of the company’s worth.These types of manipulations are especially alarming to users of the financials who are looking to invest in a company that appears to be growing, when in reality it is altering production numbers with every consecutive quarter. In regards to the revenue recognition dispute, the way their accountants estimate average periods that paying players actually play the Zynga games must be validated. In a recent article by Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson, he notes that Zynga has made changes to these e stimates five of the last six quarters. These changes made drastically effect the net profits that Zynga is reporting to the public.By taking the estimate and distorting it, they are able to report profits when indeed there are none. It is curious that the auditor assigned to Zynga, Ernst & Young, has allowed this method of accounting to be implemented when clearly it is affecting the bottom line. It is also curious that E&Y is also the auditor for the Zynga’s distributor, Facebook whose Zynga profits have accounted for roughly 12% of its revenue. This â€Å"independence† (or lack there of) calls into question the true authenticity behind these reporting standards and what they mean to the accounting profession as well as financial statement users world-wide.At any rate, this is a topic that needs to be brought to light, discussed and ruled upon. Zynga cannot merely go on reporting as they wish to provoke the appearance of a success while the true profits and losses go unnoticed. http://blogs. smeal. psu. edu/grumpyoldaccountants/archives/746#more-746 http://articles. businessinsider. com/2011-10-12/research/30269486_1_zynga-virtual-goods-bookings http://www. forbes. com/sites/francinemckenna/2012/04/23/how-zynga-facebook-and-groupons-go-to-auditor-rewrites-accounting-rules/