Essay Fight Club - 1439 Words

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is a seductive novel which chronicles an unnamed narrator’s ability to cope with an emasculated, self-centered, materialistic society by creating an alter ego. Throughout the text, the theme of the emasculated modern man is presented both in the life of the narrator, and in the lives of the male characters he surrounds himself with. Through notions of absent fathers, consumerism and an innocuous/aimless existence, Palahniuk presents how men in modern society have lost their masculine identity and the extreme actions they go to in order to obtain it again. Belittled by their absent fathers, broken homes, and a feminine-centered society, the men in Fight Club present an incisive notion of the lives of modern†¦show more content†¦The Fight Club, then, is a way which men can express their angst in a much more masculine, albeit sadomasochistic, way. The invention of Fight Club is never stated directly, but its intention is indicated through the language of the narrator and the rationale of its members. Foremost, the narrator describes the members of Fight Club as â€Å"a generation of men raised by women† (50). The masculine identity, then, is an identity which has been lost to the feminized egotism in a deranged reality of postmodernism. Coupled with the lack of absent fathers the generation of modern men are wildly feminized. The narrator describes how his father abandoned him to set up new families or â€Å"franchises† (50) every six years, and states that he is â€Å"a thirty-year old boy [...] wondering if another woman is really the answer [he] needs† (51). The absent fathers in the narrator’s, and equally in Tyler’s, life eventually lead to the invention of Fight Club. Fight club is a way in which emasculated men can act the way men are supposed to and finally find a masculine figure to model themselves after. In creating Tyler, the narrator’s search for a masculine model is taken to the extreme. Tyler is a manifestation of man who the narrator and other men can model themselves after. Tyler represents the masculine identity, â€Å"Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world† the narrator explainsShow MoreRelatedFight Club1673 Words   |  7 PagesMelissa Gonzales Prof. O’Connell English 215 09, December 2013 Fight Club Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk uses violence for most of recorded history, violence has played a major role in our lives; for example, through country conflicts to world wars, violence seems to be the tool to our defense. Even in our daily lives, when encountered a conflict, we humans want to make it disappear as quick as possible. We do this by using violence unconsciouslyRead MoreFight Club Essay1184 Words   |  5 PagesFight Club In the book Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, the narrator is an employee for a travelling car company, who suffers from insomnia. When he asks his doctor for medication the doctor refuses and advises him to visit a support group to witness what suffering really is. The first group the narrator attends is for testicular cancer victims. He finds an emotional release that relieves his insomnia and becomes addicted to support groups. After a flight home from a business trip, the narratorRead MoreEssay on Fight Club1189 Words   |  5 PagesThis movie is mainly about a narrators search for meaning and the fight to find freedom from a meaningless way of life. It setting is in suburbia, an abandoned house located in a major large city. Ed Norton, plays the nameless narrator, Brad Pitt, is Tyler Dunden, and Helena Boaham Carter is Marla Singer, the three main characters. David Fincher directs this film in 1999, which adapted it from the novel written by Chuck Palahnuik. It begins depicting Edward Norton, the narrator, working for anRead MoreFight Club Analysis1678 Words   |  7 PagesDo you find yourself lost, searching for self-worth in modern Society? The Narrator in Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club struggles with insomnia due to his repetitive nine to five office-job. He longs to feel alive, thinking that purchasing materialistic objects and conforming to what modern society considers the norm will fill his void. Tyler Durden, The Narrators alter ego states, â€Å"the first step to eternal life is you have to die† (Palahniuk 11). His extreme statement represents that one mustRead MoreFight Club Analysis1745 Words   |  7 PagesFight Club There is enough on earth for everybodys need, but not for everyones greed.† Mahatma Gandhi This quote fits perfectly on me. Even though I have enough clothes to last an entire lifetime, yet I keep finding myself at the mall, buying things I simple do not need at all. And I am not the only one, millions of people is doing the same thing. It is because we need certain things: we desire different certain things. Now what is that problem called? Consumerism. Modern society is basedRead More Fight Club Essay768 Words   |  4 PagesProblems with Adaptation, says â€Å"We expect the film to duplicate exactly the experience we had seeing the play or in reading the novel. That is, of course, completely impossible† (Boggs 672). No one told this theory to David Fincher, the director of Fight Club. Fincher stuck almost like glue to the novel. He did however, change a few events in the novel and the ending but stills successfully puts Palahniuk’s words on screen that even made Palahniuk happy to earn his profits. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;MostRead MoreFight Club Analysis1237 Words   |  5 Pagesof the Late Robert Paulson Fight Club: every white man’s favorite movie and my worst nightmare turned reality. Much of the novel version of Fight Club struggles with this issues of toxic masculinity, feminization, and emotional constipation. No character addresses these topics better than Robert Paulson, better known as Big Bob; it is his character that serves as a catalyst for both The Narrator, and Project Mayhem. One of the first major problems addressed in Fight Club is toxic masculinity, andRead MoreFight Club Essay1525 Words   |  7 PagesFight Club â€Å"The first rule about fight club is that you don’t talk about fight club† (Palahniuk 87). The story of Fight Club was very nail biting; you never knew what was going to happen next. There were so many things that led up to a complete plot twist. It was amazing how closely directed and written Chuck Palahniuk and David Fincher’s versions were. However, the role in both that stood out to me the most was the role of Marla. Marla was the biggest influence in discovering the narratorRead MoreFight Club Essay2874 Words   |  12 PagesAlan Badel English 100/Major Essay #2 Professor Raymond Morris 23 October 2015 The Fight Club Aims to Free Individuals from Society’s Emasculating Shackles Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is an exciting fictional novel that will hold the audience captive following three revolving main characters in Marla Singer, Tyler Durden, and the narrator himself as they take the reader through confusing twists and perspectives, while providing a most revealing closure. Although the title suggests an exclusiveRead MoreFight Club And The Man1874 Words   |  8 Pagessomeone else’s wishes. Unfortunately, most people pay this price without fully realizing the cost of American conformity. In their novels, Chuck Palahniuk and Sloan Wilson reveal the negative effects of the conformity supported by American society. Fight Club and The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit take a similar stance on the matter. Firstly, both novels suggest that societal expectations are inherently emasculating and serve to dampen one’s inner power. They suggest that one must give up a piece of

Descriptive Essay - Clean Up Essay - 1312 Words

It was a dark, humid, eerie, day in a rural, spread-out community. It’s been like that for a few weeks now. Drenched in sweat from hard work from around 7 in the morning to around 6 at night. Replacing carpet with hard wood piece by piece was no easy task. In fact, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I remember my dad saying to me â€Å"time to go†. I was overwhelmed with joy to know that my growling stomach was about to get filled to the brim with something tasty. Although before that, I had to do the worst part of the job – clean up. I was rushing to through tools into buckets, bags, hard cases, and straight into the back of the truck all while my dad continued to say â€Å"we’re going soon† and making more of a mess he had. I was finally finished cleaning, my dad accepted the payment from the lady who owned the house, and we were finally on our way. We opened the front door and the rain sounded like a team of horses running along a br ick road. My dad and I both looked at each other and bolted for the truck. I jumped in the truck and closed the door as fast as possible without slamming it (my parents hated that). I closed my eyes and laid my head against the seat and the only thing running through my head was â€Å"I can’t wait till I get something to eat†. My dad called my mom as usual to brag to her how amazing the floor looked. My mom must’ve asked him if I had anything to eat like she always does because he look at me with a surprised expression on his face and asked me if IShow MoreRelatedReflection Of Creative Writing811 Words   |  4 Pagesgood piece of writing can have. The use of diction, imagery, realizations, punctuations, and grammar has a major impact on a piece of writing. Varying diction helps the reader to focus on the message instead of worrying about the grammar. Great descriptive words help readers to visual the setting and allows readers to feel as if they are in the sto ry. Creative nonfiction writing can be very powerfully when used correctly. From Creative Writing and the Body, I have learned to take a step back andRead MoreAnalysis Of Amrhein, Lexie Sr Flavio s Home 935 Words   |  4 Pages(1996). The piece below is a description essay of one of his most touching photographs that he took in 1990 of a poor boy in Rio de Janeiro. Summary â€Å"I’ve never lost my fierce grudge against poverty. It is the most savage of all human afflictions, claiming victims who can’t mobilize their efforts against it, who often lack strength to digest what little food they scrounge up to survive† (1). In â€Å"Flavio’s Home,† the author gives his readers a descriptive visual of what life is like on the Rio deRead MoreComing Into English By Ray Bradbury875 Words   |  4 Pagesdeciphering the text, and lastly, and if there is enough time, read the story once again in the case that something was missed. I performed this task not only with short stories but also scholarly journals that I had to read for the argumentative essay. When doing research, I did not just look from one point of view. I looked at both sides and the full picture in order to grasp my topic about the conservation of giant panda bears. I was taught when researching for topics it is best to use your schools’Read MoreSummary of on the Meaning of Plumbing and Poverty Essay893 Words   |  4 PagesPoverty Summary In her essay â€Å"On The Meaning Of Plumbing and Poverty,† Journalist Melanie Scheller examines the cultural identity of the rural poor. The author brings the readers attention to her call to action about poverty in America while using facts and personal background. While caring for a woman in a psychiatric ward, Scheller witnesses the woman’s obsession for flushing the toilets in her unit. This memory creates an opportunity for her to write an essay about growing up in rural North CarolinaRead MoreOverview of Key Image Terms: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Dominant Impression, and Connotation1491 Words   |  6 Pagesa sticky red film over the floor. She talks about how she tried to clean it off. She says that its been 20 years and shes still cleaning up. As difficult as the blood was to clean up, she had even more trouble cleaning up her life after her fathers suicide. Not only was the blood like jell-o, but so was her hope. The more you try to rub the jell-o away, the more pieces it is split into. It then becomes even harder to clean up. You would have to scrape for a long time to even begin to remove theRead MoreSister Flowers Essay example609 Words   |  3 Pagesbeing respectful and opening up always goes a long way. I feel she wants to show us that reading and writing are great separate but together it shows within. Words are taught to people from books, so if no one reads new words how will the next person learn the meaning.    2. How does Angelou use sensory details and imagery in paragraphs 24 to introduce Mrs. Flower’s character? She cascades the words to show feeling, compassion and how much she wanted her to speak up, using words to make a meaningRead MoreMy Thoughts On Writing And Writing927 Words   |  4 Pagesto the problems I have come to face with my writing I do have many things I enjoy about writing. Writing to me is a way to be descriptive and creative with my own thoughts depending upon the style of course, but for the most part it is intriguing because everything that I will do in life will require me to have some set of writing skills. With the following in mind my essay writing process is developed from these aspects. My writing process will start by forming ideas in my head. Usually I don’t likeRead More Descriptive Essay - The Swimming Pool541 Words   |  3 PagesDescriptive Essay - The Swimming Pool The tiles were still dirty from the residue of chlorine and pittle combined into one thick layer of impossible gunk. This gunk surrounded the edge of pool right where the water met the lowest part of the tile and was even apparent underneath the shallow water fountain around the back end. The ring had been worn away in spots where the missus had got so fed up that she was gonna put an end to this ring of filth once and for all. A few times she had startedRead MoreThe Major Problems with Pollutants on the Great Lakes1680 Words   |  7 PagesProject Proposal Title The Title of this essay is called â€Å"What is the Major Problems with Pollutants on the Great Lakes†. The essay explains that there is a problem going on in the Great Lakes with people who live around the Great Lakes area in that what they are throwing into the lakes; whether it would be from trash or fecal matter it is all causing major effects on the ecosystem on the Great Lakes, in turn effecting the fish and water we consume. This is not only a major problem for theRead MoreDescriptive Essay Example639 Words   |  3 PagesDescriptive Essay Final The downtown metropolis can be a complex place, and some may need to become accustomed to it. It is Five O Clock in the afternoon. The sun is starting to drag itself lower, dimming the landscape, leaving a majestic orange on the horizon. The towering structures above leave enormous shadows on the people below. Car horns ring and sirens pulse, as the people make haste towards there destinations, rushing aggressively as if though it is a race. The end of the work day has

Freedom of Speech Indian Free Essays

Freedom Of Indian Press Freedom of Press In India DESPITE BEING the largest Democracy in the World, the Indian Press has never been accorded a free status. A survey of civil and political liberties carried out by Freedom House listed the Indian press as being â€Å"partly free†. What is of concern here is that it figured even below countries like Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Ecuador and El Salvador. We will write a custom essay sample on Freedom of Speech Indian or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ever since, the time of Hickey, the administration has recognized the potential of the Indian Press to be severely anti-establishment. To check the growth of the Indian press without seeming overtly restrictive, the British Government enacted several legislation that were successful in restricting the Indian Press. This restriction has carried on to the present times. A major reason to doubt India’s freedom of the press stems from the times of the Emergency when constitutional safeguards meant to protect freedom of speech and expression were set aside. Even today the Official Secrets Act allows the Government to ban publication of articles dealing with sensitive security issues. However, journalists feel that in practice this is occasionally used to limit criticism of government actions, particularly in Punjab and Kashmir. The Government controls even the issual of subsidized newsprint to newspapers. The mass media in India works in the absence of an absorptive infrastructure and hence widespread illiteracy and a limited audience weaken the media’s efficiency. It has been alleged that the most important limitation to the media’s efficiency in India is its inclination towards being a â€Å"uni-directional transmitory mechanism†, i. e. , a center to periphery type of direction that is unable to represent particularistic interests. The situation is however not so dismal. By looking at the role played by the press especially the electronic media, in the recent years, in reporting extreme situations like that of the Gujarat earthquake or other such situations, one notices the crucial role the press plays in bringing to the forefront the concerns of the affected populations. Despite the fact that press freedom in India is not totally without hindrances in some form or the other, an active judiciary works consistently to safeguard the provisions of the Constitution and this was seen during the Emergency of 1975-77. The judiciary is independent of the government in ordinary cases, although the system suffers from overload and is often inaccessible to the poor. India has a large and conscious private press and although it has not always been successful in providing â€Å"early warnings† to the authorities, it has definitely succeeded in extracting political accountability from the government, an achievement that rightly needs to be acknowledged. How to cite Freedom of Speech Indian, Papers

Financial Management Portfolio Management Finance

Question: Describe about the Financial Management for Portfolio Management Finance. Answer: Introduction Portfolio management is an art where finance professionals come up with the right mix of investments so as to increase the returns for the investors. They may use various financial models so as to come up with the right proportions of the investments. However, their personal insights from their vast experiences also come into play. Market efficiency can be explained using the weak form, semi-strong and strong form theories. Mergers and acquisitions have become a buzzword in the business community. It is now a question of when and not if a company will merge with another. Small-time entrepreneurs are also factoring this in their plans as they chart out their strategic plans. Factors determining the expected return of a portfolio Expected return is based on the probabilities of returns. It is the sum of the weighted averages of each of the assets expected returns. The Fama-French three-factor model specifies three distinct risk factors that are used to explain a portfolios expected return. Size risk: company size is a determinant that explains higher equity returns. When a portfolio has a greater exposure towards small company stocks as compared to a larger company stocks it receives higher yields. Small companies are inherently risky, and thus the investors are rewarded with higher returns. Small companies encounter challenges when raising capital, and so they have a greater risk of failure hence the greater compensation to the investors. Value risk measured by market-to-book value: the higher the exposure a portfolio has towards value stocks as compared to growth stocks, thegreater the return (Pandey, 2012). Market risk measured by beta: This is the amount of exposure to the overall stock market. As compared to treasury bills, stocks have got higher returns. In this case, the higher the exposure of a portfolio to stocks relative to bonds, the higher the return (Pandey, 2012). Selection and allocation based on the context of portfolio management There is a broad range of choices of security selection philosophies. One may choose to use information such as earnings reports or acquisition announcements. Another method is using technical and charting indicators. Fundamentals such as earnings, cash flows or growth can also be used. Active or passive strategies may be selected. In passive strategies, one invests in a given stock, and then they wait for their investment to pay off. A portfolio manager who buys stocks that have a low price and stable earnings is a passive investor. The same goes for an index fund manager. The opposite is true. An active investor is one who tries to beat the market by picking stocks. Asset allocation aims to create diversification and balance out risk in a portfolio. There are a number of asset allocation strategies. One of them is asset allocation for strategic reasons. Here the portfolio is mixed basedon the investors profile. It can be sixty percent equities, thirty percent bonds, and ten percent cash. This is a passive management. Tactical asset allocation This is whereby the weight of various securities in a portfolio is not fixed, but it can be revised when the prevailing conditions in the market change. Portfolio rebalancing is used to manage risk on a continual basis (LummerRiepe, 1994). When an investor is doing allocation in a portfolio, they need to make various considerations. They should consider their short, and long term goals as this will determine the best mix of their portfolio. An investor should also realize that time is their friend. When they start investing, early they can enjoy the benefits of compounding their money due to the time value of money. They can also put a larger portion of their money into high risk/return investments since they will have more time to recoup any losses they may make (LummerRiepe, 1994). Forms of market efficiency Weak form This form of market efficiency puts forward that the current share prices are a reflection of all the data of previous prices. It also suggests that it is not possible for technical analysis to be carried out to assist an investor to make a trading decision since all available data is from the past. However, fundamental analysis can be carried out to determine if there are any undervalued and overvalued stocks. The investors can also study companies financial statements. Semi-strong form This theory of market efficiency follows the belief that since all public information is used when calculating the current price of stock, investors can thus not use fundamental or technical analysis to achieve greater profits in the market. Subscribers to this theory only believe that it is only information that is not readily accessible in the market that can increase the profits of an investor to a position above the overall general market. Strong form The strong form theory postulates that all the information both public and private information is completely considered when arriving at the current stock prices. In this case, there is no type of information that can give an investor a competitive edge on the market. Investors cannot make profits that superceed normal market profits on investments in spite of any information retrieved or research conducted (Berk, DeMarzo, Harford, Ford, MollicaFinch, 2013). These investors are mostly those persons with excess information on the markets. They may include the insiders in a given firm and also exchange specialists. Since the exchange specialists are at the fore front when it comes to trading shares, they have an advantage in knowing which are the best shares to trade in at the exact moment and they make higher than normal returns due to this knowledge. Capital asset pricing model Capital Asset Pricing Model is a method used to compute the required rate of return for any given risky asset. The required rate of return is the rise in value one expects to see as compared to the inherent risk level attributed to the asset. It is used to determine the fair price of an investment. This rate is then used to discount an investments future cash flows to their current or present value so as to come to the investments fair value. The computed fair value is then compared to the investments price in the market. If the price estimated is higher than the market price one may consider the stock to be a bargain. However, if the price estimated is lower, one may then consider the stock to be overvalued (Levy, 2011). The formula for arriving at the expected return is the risk-free rate added to beta times the difference of the return from the market and the risk-free rate. Beta in CAPM is used to account for the risk associated with investing in a given security compared to the prevailing risk of the market. The higher the beta, the riskier the security will be in the market. The risk-free rate is that rate which is expected on an investment which is taken to have no risk at all. An example of this would be the US Treasury bill rate. The risk premium is computed by taking beta times the difference between the market return and a risk-free return (Levy, 2011). CAPM is seen as being objective in nature. Hence, it cannot be used in isolation, and other methods need to be utilized alongside it. Assumptions of CAPM Investors are rational and risk-averse. Capital markets are in equilibrium. Investors aim to maximize economic utilities. They are price takers. All investments are infinitely divisible. There is a risk-free asset. Investors have homogenous expectations. Arbitrage pricing theory Arbitrage pricing theory is used to describe the expected return and risk of securities in financial markets. It is used to compute the expected return on a given security based on its sensitivity to various movements in macroeconomic factors. The macroeconomic factors include GDP growth, interest rate, and inflation. The expected return is then used to come up with the price of the security. Assumptions of APT Arbitrage Pricing Theory assumes that capital markets are usually perfectly competitive. The investors always assume greater wealth than lesser with certainty (Pandey, 2015). There exists a frictionless market. That is perfect competition prevails, and there is no transaction cost in the market (Pandey, 2012). Explain the patterns (effects) in equity returns Effects in equity returns include the B/M effect, size effect, and E/P effect, leverage effect, C/P effect and the liquidity pattern. The Fama-French model which is a 3-factor model is used to explain some of the equity returns. The 3-factor model was seen to explain the cash-to-price effect, B/M, E/P and size effect. It did not explain leverage or liquidity effect. This 3-factor model is an enhancement upon the Capital Asset Pricing Model with two extra factors that are used to capture the return premium of smaller firms over bigger firms and high B/M companies over low B/M companies. Using the 3- factor model, a B/M, E/P, size and C/P effects were documented in Australia. However, leverage and liquidity effects were not documented. The book- to- market effect compares the book value of a company to the price of the companys stock. The larger the ratio, the more fundamentally cheap the company will be. The size effect is seen whereby studies have shown that small capitalization stocks outperform large stocks. This pattern can be explained by the notion that small-cap companies usually have a more volatile business environment. Therefore, when there is a improvement of funding deficiency, this can lead to a substantial appreciation of the price. The small-cap companies also tend to have a lesser stock price which means that price appreciations tend to be greater than those that are found among large cap stocks. A low price to earnings effect is one whereby stocks with low price-to-earnings ratios produce larger overall returns than portfolios made up of stocks where the price is higher as compared to the earnings per share (Nguyen, FaffGharghori, 2009). Effects seen in the Australian market A B/M, E/P, size and C/P effects were documented in Australia. To identify the existence of the various effects in the market in Australia, all the available stocks were sorted into sextiles according to each variable of interest. Any excess returns of the portfolio were indicative of an effect. In case a pattern appeared in the mean excess profits of the portfolios, this was enough to report an effect. In the case of a size effect, the stocks are divided into size sextiles. In case a reduction in profits from the smallest in size portfolio to the largest in size portfolio is documented, a size pattern is reported. Total shareholder returns have been found to be inversely related to company size, and the relationship has been found to be strongest for stocks of lower market capitalization. These results have come about due to a number of factors. Size is usually understood as a way of measuring risk, and smaller firms are riskier and are therefore priced to give greater profits. The size effect makes the small capitalization stocks to appear as a viable instrument since the high returns compensate for the additional risks that are borne. Motives behind mergers and takeovers A merger is said to have occurred when a firm takes on all the assets and liabilities of a different firm. The firm that has carried out the acquisition will retain its identity while the firm that has been acquired will cease to exist. Takeovers are whereby a company may buy out another. The motives may be strategic in nature. There may be takeovers that undertake a horizontal integration. This is aimed to increase the scale and the market share of the combined firm. Most mergers are done so as to have an increased market share and also so as to have an international expansion. Mergers also lead to cost energies and revenue synergies. Revenue synergies are realized due to expanded markets, cross-selling and also increases in prices. Cost synergies come about due to economies of scale that are realized in various departments of the company. Mergers offer a good avenue for growing externally rapidly. This type of growth is also less risky as compared to internal growth. By gaining a significant market share, the company will gain the power to influence prices. An extreme example of a horizontal merger is a monopoly. By merging, a company also reduces its reliance on external suppliers. Mostly, horizontal and vertical mergers give rise to monopolies. This may give rise to some antitrust issues. However, conglomerate mergers give rise to diversified firms. This gives rise to a case of getting several different products and services all under one umbrella. A company may also be motivated to d a merger so as to gain some unique capabilities that it lacks that are possessed by another company. This is a very cost effective method of acquiring unique capabilities as opposed to developing the capabilities internally (Rossi Volpin, 2004) Mergers offer personal incentives for managers. The managers enjoy greater prestige in a post-merger bigger company. Their remuneration also increases in the larger company. Managers, therefore, stand to benefit from a merger. Mostly it is the acquiring firm that gains this. This is because there will be a streamlining of operations to avoid unnecessary duplication. Some of the managers in the acquired will have to go home or get reassigned to different roles. A merger may also unlock hidden value in a struggling company. The company that acquires the struggling one will pay a lower price than the market price since they have to carry out various improvements on it. Mergers aid in achieving international goals of a company. The company will manage to exploit any market inefficiencies that may exist. There will be a transfer of technology to new markets. Unique products will also be sold in new markets. By trying out new markets, a company will manage to overcome any disadvantageous policies of the government. The company will also manage to offer continued support to international clients (Harford, 2003). Some companies have been known to merge with other companies so as to manage their tax problems. A firm with a greater taxable income may merge with a firm with big carry forwards tax losses. In this way, the firm will decrease its liability in taxes (Harford, 2003). Do takeovers increase the value of the target, or the bidder company, and/or aggregate market value? Takeovers can be carried out through various ways. Mergers are one of those ways. These are negotiated with the targets manager, and then they are voted upon by the targets shareholders so that they may be approved. A tender offer is another method. This may be a hostile method in case the managers refused an initial offer from the bidder. The shareholders are approached directly for the purchase of their individual shares. Proxy contests are yet another method. An interested party may convince the shareholders to use their proxy votes and gain a controlling seat on the board of management. Takeovers gain substantial wealth for the shareholders of the company. Takeovers lead to an aggregate market value due to the avoidance of closing down companies. Takeovers can save a company from closing down and workers from getting laid off. The takeovers also use assets productively. There is the issue of golden parachutes. This principle may be abused in some cases, but its institution was meant to be in the interest of the shareholders. This principle was instituted to ensure that the executive does everything in their power to maintain their organizations in business despite the many challenges in the market (GoergenRenneboog, 2004). Takeovers lead to the elimination of inefficient target management which translates to an overall increase in the total value of the target. There are also potential reductions in various costs such as production and distribution costs. This comes about due to the integration of more efficient production methods or organizational technology. There is also vertical integration as well as economies of scale. Takeovers bring about a decrease in agency costs through bringing together the various organization specific assets under one ownership. There is also greater utilization of the bidders managerial team which brings on a wealth of knowledge. The company also gains some tax advantages. Thus the combined firm will earn cash flows that are greater than the individual cash flows of the bidding and the target firms. Several studies have led t the conclusion that takeover announcements lead to abnormal stock returns surrounding takeover announcements. The positive change in the stock price shows that there is an increased total profitability of the merged companies (Baker Kiymaz, 2011). The acquired firm offers extra space for the acquiring firm to effectively manage and utilize management resources so as to enhance the abilities of the acquiring business. When companies that were competitors merge, there is a reduction of competition and an increase in the product prices. This is because there usually exists several businesses at a time offering almost similar products and services in a given market. It can become very expensive for a company to fight all of this competition so as to gain a larger market share. This it does by running some advertising campaigns and also through carrying out some research and development activities to come up with unique characteristics in their products and services. All this is done in a bid to gain more sales and hence profits for the company. Competition thus leads to a reduction in market shares and a drop in the product and service sale rates. When the two companies merge and become one entity, they can then command a bigger m arket share in the market. Takeovers lead to a significant increase in the value of the target company through the diversification of products and services in the market. It is very costly and time-consuming for a single company to diversify its products and services. Therefore, it can achieve this by taking over the operations of a company that is offering those different products and services. In this way, the company will remain more profitable than a company that offers just a single product or service (Aswathappa, 2007). Takeovers aid in the cutting of business operation costs and ultimately the increased profitability of the target. This is because they offer a way of acquiring a business without the large costs involved in the expansion of a single business. There will also be an overall increase in manpower and hence an efficiency in production of goods and services. Costs drop even further if the businesses that have emerged are dealing with the production of the same product. This will mean that as the production yield increases total costs of production and management will drop thus a net increase in profits will be realized. In this way, businesses bring together and streamline their various support functions and also gain new locations. Takeovers enable a business to venture into new markets without having to deal with all the procedural matters that are involved. This is because they will just acquire an already functional business within the territory of their choice. This saves them the hustle of having to start an altogether new business in that market. Takeovers lead to an increase in profits due to the gain in profits from acquisition of the acquired businesss portfolio. Thus new buyers are going to be attracted to the business which means higher overall returns. Takeovers make for greater value of the target since they offer an opportunity to improve business efficiency and also improve business abilities in the market. During the takeover process, jobs and posts that are redundant can be eliminated to avoid overlapping duties and responsibilities. This is done in the restructuring and adjustment period when operations are being streamlined and integrated after the takeover. Most takeovers are driven by one financial motive or another. The company aims to achieve a higher rate of return on the investment they have made and the risk they have undertaken. Hus the financial goals drive this deal majorly. Most private equity firms are driven by financial motives to carry out a takeover. They are professional investors who manage funds that are invested and are mostly used in corporate transactions. The private equity firms may buy out small firms, or they may take on some debt to buy out larger firms. This has been commonplace in developed economies. The private equity firms are merely acting as financial investors in their takeover bids (Baker Kiymaz, 2011). The private equity firms launch a fund where investors such as high net worth individuals and pension schemes may contribute to. These persons are looking to gain high returns by entrusting their funds to professional investors. This fund is then invested in the various targeted sectors that have been already identified. The targeted firms are those that have a good growth potential or those where opportunities have been noticed for improvements in profit maybe through cost cutting (GoergenRenneboog, 2004). Firms may utilize their surplus funds to acquire a different firm. Thus they avoid sharing out this money as a dividend to the shareholders or using it to repurchase shares which will increase the income taxes for the shareholders. By carrying out the acquisition, the shareholders will not pay any extra income taxes. An acquiring firm may acquire a target so as to utilize their working capital. This is particularly true when a target company happens to have some assets that have not been fully utilized and hence they can be divested by the acquiring company (CartwrightCooper, 2012). Merging leads to the firms enjoying the effects of coinsurance. This is whereby when the two firms merge their assets and liabilities there is a lesser chance of either declaring bankruptcy. Therefore, they can enjoy a better yield on corporate yield. Conclusion Overall takeovers have got numerous advantages and therefore one may go ahead and ignore their risks if the returns outweigh the risks. Those risks include acquiring an administrative strain since the firm has grown in size. There may also be associated with brand damage in case the target company does not fit in precisely with the image of the acquirer. But in any case, there is no escaping the fact that they are a common occurrence in the market today. Therefore, most firms have made provisions for them in their strategic plans. There may be different motivations for them but it is the managements responsibility to ensure that they protect the shareholders wealth by negotiating for a fair compensation for them. This is to allow for a friendly takeover as opposed to a hostile one where the acquiring firm will dictate their conditions. References Aswathappa, K. (2007). International Hrm.Tata Mc-Graw-Hill Education. Berk, J., DeMarzo, P., Harford,J.,Ford,G.,Mollica,V.,Finch,N. (2013). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, Edition 2nd, Pearson Australia. Baker, H, K., Kiymaz, H. 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