Harvey Norman

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited Group case study [pic] Tutor: Dr. Mahesh Joshi Group members: JIN CHEN 3350416 MINGFENG CHI 3316768 JINGHAN REN 3365087 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary3 Introduction4 Source of Finance and financial segments4 Industry and competitor analysis5 Key highlights of financial and operational performance5 Highlights and change of financial performance5 Highlight of operational performance5 Change in accounting policies6 Assets – PPE and Intangibles6 eased assets and liabilities9 Auditor and auditor report11 Reference13 Executive summary Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd, a public company, is one of the most successful retail companies in Australia. They use a unique franchise model with granting franchises to independent business operators, and there are approximately 700 franchisees in Australia. As a retailer, their products include electrical, bedding, computers & communications, bathrooms & home improvements, furniture, small appliances, carpet & floor ing and lighting.In recent years, the company has begun expanding the international market, and there are an increasing number of Harvey Norman stores in New Zealand, Ireland, Slovenia, Malaysia and Singapore. The aim of this report is to show an overview of Harvey Norman’s business based on the 2011 Annual Report of Harvey Norman. This report will mainly focus on their core business, industry, operating activities, financial performance, PPE & intangible and leased assets & liabilities. Finally, independent auditor’s report will discuss their compliance with the AASB standard.COMAPNY Introduction Being a leader in retail stores of electrical, computer, furniture, entertainment and bedding goods, Harvey Norman was founded in 1982, Australia. At first, it is only a single store which sells electrical goods and appliances; however, the opening has proved to be a great success. With more and more stores open, Harvey Norman changed its operation into superstore format at t he beginning of the 1990s. After that Harvey Norman has been expanding its business globally and keepsincreasing the diversity of its products.In the financial year of 2011, Harvey Norman has gained an after tax net profit of 252. 26 million. And this makes it to be ranked at the 126th position out of 2000 large companies in Australia. (IBIS World, 2011) Source of Finance and financial segments Harvey Norman Holding LTD generally generates its revenue from those four segments below: †¢ Franchisee: with holding 195 franchise stores in Australia, it contributes the largest part to its company’s sales revenue. This revenue is consisting of the franchise fee and interest of franchise loans.However, due to the downturn of the whole economic environment, the franchisees themselves are struggling to keep their business alive. In my opinion, it is dangerous for Harvey Norman to be too rely on the franchising revenue. †¢ Retail store: excluding the 195 franchise outlets with in Australia, the company is running 96 complexes department by the time of 30 of June 2011, which are 26 more than 2010. †¢ Property: the property income Harvey Norman LTD is mainly coming from the rental of the franchisees and some other outlets who are renting their complex. Other businesses: as a public listed company, Harvey Norman also earns a good amount of revenue from trading its listed securities. Industry and competitor analysis As the main services the company is retailing. The industry it involves would be retailing industry of computer and software, household appliances and furniture. However, as the integrating of online services and strength of Australiandollar, the retailing industry has been very much affected. Even the chairman of Harvey Norman had commented the macro-environment to be challenging and difficult.Fortunately, as introduced above, although retailing has always been the core business activity of the company, it does not constitute the major part of its financial performance. The diversity of business activities leads a multiple option of financial growth. The main competitors of Harvey Norman Holding LTD is the group of J B HI-FI, who has declared a sales revenue from 2. 73Bn to 2. 96Bn as an increase of 8. 3% (P. 2, JB HI-FI annual report 2011), compares to the increase of 9% of Harvey Norman.According to the figure,it seems Harvey Norman is doing better than J B HI-FI, but the business segment for J B HI-FI is much less diversified than Harvey Norman, therefore, J B HI-FI is actually doing better in just viewing the computer and software segment. Key highlights of financial and operational performance †¢ Highlights and change of financial performance There is no significant increase or deduction in terms of financial performance. There is a slightly downturn showing in the franchising sales revenue from 5. 9bn to 5. 08bn contributed by almost the same amount of outlets. Basic earnings per share have increased from 21 . 78c to 23. 75c whilst a decrease of 2c in dividend per share compared with 2010. After closing date of report, the company announced 7 Clive Peters and Rick Hart may close and the rest of 18 stores will be changed into Harvey Norman format. The shutdown of 7 stores is to estimate to incur a charge around $10 million in the financial report of 2012. †¢ Highlight of operational performanceA very significant key operational activity occurs after the reporting date of 2011, which is Harvey Norman, launched its online retail store in the October of 2011. The company has fully confidence in this action and believes it will make a good difference in the financial report of 2012 Change in accounting policies According to Australian Accounting Standards, a few accounting policies have been put out recently but have not yet shown its effect on the report of 2011 will result an impact on 2012. Assets – PPE and Intangibles PPE 1. The carrying amount of each class of PPE, at report ing date, of Harvey Norman a. PPEIn accounting system, property, plant and equipment are belong to tangible asset and recorded as non-current asset if they are kept for more than one year or beyond the normal cycle of the entity. According to AASB116, if the cost of an item can be measured reliably and the future benefit will flow to the entity, then the items of property, plant and equipment can be recognized as PPE. b. Each class of PPE It can be seen from the HN’s note 12 that the PPE of HN was classified into: (1) Land and Buildings; (2) Plant and Equipment; (3) Lease make good asset. And the carrying amount of each class of PPE is showed in the below table: Category |Land and buildings | Plant and Equipment ($’000) |Lease make good asset |Total | | |($’000) | |($’000) |($’000) | |Year | | | | | |2010 |230,595 |206,563 |1,875 |439,033 | |2011 |257,765 |254,714 |500 |512,479 |According to the table, the total amount of PPE was about $512 million in 2011, which was much higher than the amount of 2010 about 73 million. 2. The accounting policies relating to PPE adopted by Harvey Norman. HN used cost model, under the AASB116. 73, to disclose items on PPE that each item was measured at historical costs or deemed costs less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. (Statement of Significant Accounting Police 1(d)(v)) The land and buildings were measured at fair value, then less the accumulated depreciation.After that, the impairment loses were recorded when the revaluation was done. Besides, the straight- line method was used to calculate the asset’s depreciation during the estimated useful life. According to AASB116. 73 (e), each class of PPE should disclose a reconciliation of the carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period, and the changes include additions, disposals, impairment and amortization. In the HN’s report, the assets’ residual values, useful lives and amortization methods were adjusted in the end of financial year.Intangible assets 1. The intangible assets reported by Harvey Norman and their composition and relevance to this company’s business. Intangible assets are usually treated as non-monetary assets without physical substance. Therefore, they must be separately stated in company’s financial statement. By following the accounting standard, HN’s intangible assets are classified into three categories: (a) Computer Software; (b) Goodwill; (c) Licence Property; Category |Computer Software ($’000) |Goodwill |Licence Property |Total | | | | |($’000) |($’000) | |Year | |($’000) | | | |2010 |23,745 |11 |473 |24,229 | |2011 |57,791 |9 |494 |58,294 |HN’s report demonstrated that there was about $58 million in intangible assets in 2011, which showed a huge increase when compared to $24 million in 2010. Besides, it is clearly showed in the table that the Computer Software took the most part of t he intangible asset 2. The accounting policies relating to Intangible Assets adopted by Harvey Norman. All the disclosed intangible assets should comply with the AASB 138. 3/4/9, and the intangible asset which has an infinite useful life cannot be amortized in the annual report, based on AASB138. 107. Furthermore, in accordance with AASB 136. 08, an entity is required to test an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life for impairment by comparing its recoverable amount with its carrying amount annually or there is an indication of impairment. In the annual report, the intangible assets of HN in its annual report consist of two parts: (a) Identifiable intangible assets:Computer Software and Licence Property (which have a finite life and are amortised using the straight-line method over the useful lifes, computer software is no greater than 7. 5 years). (b) Unidentifiable intangible assets: Goodwill which accounts for only a little proportion of its total intangible assets. Goo dwill is not amortised, but it should be tested about impairment on an annual basis). The gains or losses from both two kinds of intangible assets are measured as the difference between the net disposal amount and carrying amount. 3. The items of impaired PPE or Intangible Assets of Harvey Norman According to AASB116, under cost model, the carrying amounts of assets should be reviewed during every financial reporting period to determine whether there is impairment. An impairment gain or loss should be recognized immediately if the carrying amount is lower or higher than the recoverable amount. PPE (a) Impairment of Plant and EquipmentUnder this standard, a review of the recoverable amount of assets resulted in an impairment gain of $968,000. Intangible Assets The computer software has a finite life and is amortised over the useful life, but goodwill has an infinite life, then, it is only subject to impairment test if there is an indication of impairment. (a) Impairment of Computer S oftware Under this standard, a review of the recoverable amount of assets resulted in an impairment loss of $674,000. leased assets and liabilities The lease liabilities consist of finance leases, AASB 117 – par 11, and operation leases, AASB 117 – par 12.This paper will analyze finance leases first, and then followed by operation leases. Firstly, the detail of the finance leases, numeric disclosure required by AASB117. In 2011 are: [pic] (Annual Report 2011, p104, p105) Secondly, the detail of operating leases, numeric disclosure required by AASB 117. In 2011 are: [pic] (Annual Report 2011, p105) Finance lease receivables are reconciled to amounts receivable in respect of finance leases as follows: [pic] (Annual Report 2011, p77) According to the information illustrated in 2011 Annual report page 63, amounts due from lessees under finance leases are recorded as receivables.Finance lease receivables are primarily recognized at amounts equal to the present value of any unguaranteed residual value expected to accrue at the end of the lease term plus the minimum lease payments receivable. Finance lease payments are apportioned between reduction of the lease receivable over the term of the lease and interest revenue so that it can reflect a constant periodic rate of return on the net investment outstanding in respect of the lease (Annual Report 2011, p63). Leases where the lessor retains substantially all the rewards and risks of ownership of the asset are recognized as operating leases.Initial direct costs incurred in negotiating an operating lease are added to the carrying amount of the leased asset and recognized over the lease term on the same basis as the lease income. Operating lease payments are classified as an expense in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the lease term (Annual Report 2011, p63). Auditor and auditor report Ernst & Young is the independent auditor which is appointed to Harvey Norman Ltd. They have high reputat ion to satisfy the credible auditor requirements. We can find the auditor’s opinion on page 140 of annual report.According to the content in the auditor’s report and opinion issued by the auditor. This annual report is definitely an unqualified report because the auditor claims in their report that the financial report of Harvey Norman Ltd complies the Corporations Act 2001 and Australian Accounting Standards by giving a true and fair view of the company’s financial position. The financial report is also in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. An unqualified opinion also represents that any differences between management and auditor with accounting matters have been resolved to the auditor’s satisfaction.Conclusion This report states a lot of important information about the business performance of Harvey Norman, which can be compared with competitors and within the retail market. As one of the most successful retail companies in Au stralia, Harvey Norman’s core business include leasing properties, granting franchises to independent business operators who retail all kinds of products for home and office. In the financial year of 2011, Harvey Norman has gained an after tax net profit of 252. 26 million. Its financial statements complied with the accounting standards and the accounting methods were generally discussed.PPE and Intangible assets were also explained to associate with all the related requirements of AASB involving their disclosures. Moreover, the company followed the Corporations Act as well as International Financial Reporting Standards, and disclosed all the information required, which can be proved by unqualified auditor report issued by Ernst& Young. All the information given by 2011 Annual report can be relied by public to make decision on general purpose. Reference Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd, IBIS World (2011) Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd-Premium Company Report Australia, viewed 20 August 2012,J B HIFI, J B HIFI (2011) J B HIFI ANNUAL REPORT 2011 P. 2, viewed 20 August 2012, < http://www. jbhifi. com. au/documents/reports/110_2011-09-09_4-04-34. pdf> Harvey Norman Holdings Limited, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited Australian Packaging Covenant Action Plan 2010 – 2015 Revised March 2012, viewed 23 August 2012, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited, Company Profile, viewed 23 August 2012, Australian Standard Aboard, AASB 116, 117, 136, 138 2011 Accounting standards, viewed 23 August 2012, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited, Annual report 2011, p63, p77, p104, p105, viewed 22 August 2012,

Heathrow Airport - Terminal 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Heathrow Airport - Terminal 5 - Assignment Example The operations are a special department in an organization that deals with the scrutiny of the activities to be done in the company. The strategies to be adopted by an organization are guided, planned and crafted by the higher executive officers in the organization. The strategies adopted in business are actually the long term planning of the business firms. A business strategy can be adopted by a company for a period of 3 to 5 years, or sometimes even longer than that (Honda Motor Company, 2007). The major resource issues related to an organization are also solved by a business strategy like, the issue of raising funds for a new manufacturing plant. The resource allocation to be adopted in an organization is also decided according to its business strategies. The business strategies are majorly of two types. These are generic and competitive in nature (Dale, 2003). The generic strategies adopted by a business organization deals with its growth opportunities. Decisions related to new acquisitions or purchases made by a business firm are taken according to the established generic business strategies of the firm. After the emergence of globalization, most of the corporate firms have turned out to be multinational firms. However, the decisions of internationalization of the firms are also undertaken according to the generic strategies adopted by the organization. The retrenchment activities of a business firm are also carried out as per the generic strategies. Thus, it can be analyzed that the generic strategies adopted by a business firm are the factors that ultimately influence the growth of the firms (Alkhafaji, 2003). In the contemporary business world, the degree of competition among the firms is excessively high. Thus, following the views of David Ricardo, the firms try to focus on their competitive advantages. The competitive strategy helps a business firm to operate as per its core competences. For example, the strategy of differentiation (in terms of price or qualitative aspects of products), adopted by the corporate firms is a type of competitive business strategy. The modern firms take the decision to produce on the basis of economies of scale in production. This is also a form of the competitive strategy adopted by the business firms. In short, a business strategy explains the manner through which a company would be approaching the marketplaces. There lies a strategic link between the business strategies and operational strategies. Operational strategies are the ones that are mainly concerned with the process through which a corporate organization can translate its business strategies into a form of practical and cohesive implementation plan (Porter, 1998). The operational strategies adopted by a business firm enumerate the technology to be used in the organization. These strategies also assure that a company possesses the desired manpower. The operational strategy adopted in a business firm also observes and takes active initiati ves to improve certain departments that are not well developed. According to the views of some scholars, operational strategy is actually an extended form of business strategy. For instance, a firm must have an objective to augment its gross operating income by 10% in every three years. This is a kind of a business strategy that is adopted by the firm. Suppose in order to assure the above

Unmanned aerial vehicles future use from conventional airports Research Paper

Unmanned aerial vehicles future use from conventional airports - Research Paper Example The army is already surveying sites for these field tests of the system and also looking at the new means of certifying the new aviation standards that are required to ensure the safety of the system not only for other aircraft sharing the airspace as well as populations living near or around the airfields (InsideDefense.com, 2012). Social Implications When we look at the social implications of the use of drones, there has been a great deal of debate about the use of these aircraft for peacetime activities. While initially when the use of these crafts was limited to military strikes in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, the huge possibilities for their use in non-military situations – such as in crop and wildlife stock monitoring, search and rescue in dangerous weather and other conditions, fighting forest fires – has resulted in a great deal of debate about how their use would be regulated and monitored, particularly for reasons of safety. The UAV business is now valued at more than $14 billion and projections are that it will go up to $82 million and support over 70,000 jobs by 2015 (Jank & Armentrout, 2013). Another reason that has come up in the regulation of the use of UAVs has been the issue of privacy (Sengupta, 2013). UAVs can be used in monitoring border security from altitudes that would otherwise be dangerous for manned aircraft and this brings about many issues about the invasion of privacy as these UAVs are equipped with sophisticated imaging equipment that can carry out detailed surveillance and some even have capability of intercepting electronic communications (Electronic Privacy Information Centre, n.d.) These social and privacy concerns have to be dealt with before widespread use of drone technology is licensed and...The use of UAVs not only in civilian applications but also at conventional commercial airfields is now not a question of â€Å"if† but â€Å"when† as the technological, commercial and other barriers that hinder the expanded use of UAVs continue to be surmounted and overtaken. Technological Aspects One of the key technological barriers to the use of UAVs in more conventional flights has been the safety of these operations. The major difficulty has been that with conventional manned air transportation the presence of a pilot who can look outside his window and see any other aircraft that is near in the same area as them and take corrective action. This drawback has not only made it difficult for the UAVs to be used in the same airspace with other craft but it has also meant that the test and training flights of these UAVs have had to have a trailing manned aircraft making it expensive to conduct such training and in a way, defeating the whole purpose of unmanned aircraft. There are quite a slew of things that do need to be implemented before the UAVs can be incorporated into operation in the airspace currently occupied by manned aircraft, in particular the adaptation of air traffic management and air traffic control processes to cater for the new unmanned aircraft.

Visual Response & Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Visual Response & - Essay Example the society was confined in following the social dogma without asking questions, many a things were considered taboo and they were supposed to remain so. The poem Howl is a poem that was screaming out in protest against a destructive and abusive society but the that is not how the society saw it then and for this the publisher and distributor of the book was arrested and charged with distribution of explicit and obscene material though they were pardoned after the poet Mark Schorer testified that â€Å"Ginsberg uses the rhythms of ordinary speech and diction and I would say that the poem uses necessarily the language of vulgarity.† From a glance Howl may appear as a random jumble of words or mere vomit on a page and that is what critics had done before but it can be seen the poet’s crazy rush is delicately controlled. The poet seems to be in a rush, the whole poem is tedious, and tiring to read yet it remains bearable. The whole poem expresses the need to break away from tradition. It does not keep the traditional meter and rhythm of a poem it is more of stream of consciousness writing and in this way, the poet was able to bring out his themes. Freedom is one of the things that the poet cries out for, He talks about personal freedom as well as freedom for the masses. The conformist society wants things done as per tradition. The poet talks from a homosexuals point of view and freely uses words that the society finds obscene and vulgar. The poet and his friends do a lot of travelling and one of the ways of breaking loose is by travelling. The mention of Moloch reminds the reader of the god of prisons governments and boring suburbia Madness is also a prominent theme in the poem. The title of the poem is Howl. Its more common for animals to howl than for human to do s. the opening of Howl starts by saying â€Å"I saw the very best of minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical nakedness.† In the poem, the people who society consider normal the

Herpert Simon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Herpert Simon - Essay Example These observations lead to Simon’s rejection of the classical economic assumption of prefect-knowledge and to derive â€Å"bounded rationality† in decision making (Simon, etal, 1987). â€Å"In (‘On how to decide what to do’) (Simon) claims, rightly, that traditional economics has too often been concerned with what decisions are made rather than how they are made.† (Hunt 1) How decisions are made is a better real world indicator of how resources are allocated, which is the study of economics. (Hunt 2) Simon’s interest was in how man processes the limited available information and with imperfect logic. Bounded rationality â€Å"refers to peoples limited ability to make comparisons, to see into the future, and, more generally, to process information†. (Cyret 63) Simon created the term â€Å"satisficing†, presumably a hybrid term mixing satisfying and sufficing, to indicate achieving the perceived best position with imperfect informa tion. Preferring a blend of thinking, laboratory work and empirical observations of thinking and decision making, Simon wanted economists to get out of the think tanks and go observe business people making decisions. (Cyret) Simon started with the conviction that human rationality was bounded externally by social constraints and internally by cognitive restraints (Sent 227). People were not truly free to make decisions since conformity and possibility were unquantifiable constraints in the process. Bounded rationality was not concerned with symmetry or macroeconomic functions at all. It is a decision making and problem solving theory not meant to strengthen neoclassical economic thought like Nash’s game theory which Simon considered crude and incomplete. In Simon’s theory, quantification is used to enhance rationality, not create it. The management situation sets the conditions for rational thought; therefore some actions are predisposed to be viewed as nonworking solu tions (Mankelwicz 60). Common sense, or heuristics, actually applies available metrics as a screening tool. â€Å"Human perception may be as bounded in scope as our rationality†. (Mankelwicz 63). Quantitative results may be viewed as symbols, talisman. Managers may experience numbers as moral symbols, guideposts (Mankelwicz 64) Technical rationality, degree of quantification, economic, social, legal politics and political stakeholders, although largely invisible, impact the final decision, certainly the reasonable solution possibilities (Mankelwicz 65). Simon studied bounded rationality, the decision making process, under several disciplines allowing him to consider â€Å"decomposability†, the breakdown of problems into hierarchies, the systems of considering means and ends to reach a decision (Augier & Frank 584). Applying rationality, people cannot have perfect information. So, the decision making process is like the scientific methods of laboratory testing and field data collection. Neither is the sole path to truth. Neither is the sole source of perfect decisions. (Hunt 2) Managers must reach decisions through satisficing, that is being at least as optimal as the competition. It is possible the cost of optimization is greater than the reward. (Hunt 2) As early as the 1960’s, theories of systems were forming. â€Å"A system may be defined as an orderly grouping of separate but interdependent components for the purpose of attaining

Problem with united states highways conditions Essay

Problem with united states highways conditions - Essay Example The following are some of the topics which will be covered in the first part of the research proposal. In this subtopic, the researcher will seek to explore the different background of the highways conditions in the United States with the aim of establishing any shortcomings that can be covered by the research work. The researcher will compare the conditions in different States and countries to get a comprehensive content for the research work. The research on highways conditions will be guided by at least 4 objectives which will act as the guiding principle of getting the best results for the research work. For instance, the researcher will explore objectives of different authorities in relation to maintaining the good highways in the country. The researcher will use different research questions to help in getting the right information about the highways conditions in the country. The researcher will explore the conditions using at least 4 research questions. The researcher in this section will review different literature by different authors related to highways conditions in United States and other countries. The researcher will rely on this information to build up good research through establishing gaps in the

Compare and Contrast Paper Essay Example for Free

Compare and Contrast Paper Essay I have chosen to use Story of an Hour, written by Kate Chopin and The Necklace, written by Guy de Maupassant for this compare and contrast paper. My intentions are to show similarities as well as differences between these two pieces and provide comparison of the works to provide a deeper insight into the topic of this paper. The theme I find similar in these two pieces is greed: you should be happy with what you have. In both stories you have women that are not happy in their situations, seeming to always be wanting for more. While the stories are very different, they do have a similar message. Dr.  Emily Chen, PhD states:† that reading a literary text is part of a complex process that includes collaboration between the writer, the text, and the reader. Text is re-created every time someone new reads it, and it becomes, in the process, increasingly richer. Text is a stimulus that elicits responses from us based on our past experiences, our previous reading, our thoughts, and our feelings: the text acts on the reader and the reader interacts with the text†. (Chen, 2009). Each story, read by each person will most likely illicit a different view based on their life experience, mood, age and gender. â€Å"Your environment and personal experiences influence your response to stories. Whether you are aware of it or not, the lens through which you envision a story is filtered by insights you have gained from family traditions, religious beliefs, and critical life issues. Thus, interpretations of a story vary based on the readers age and breadth of experience. Emotions affect conclusions drawn from stories. Interpretations differ from culture to culture. †(Clugston, 2010). Reading each of these stories now, affect me differently than if I had read them ten, fifteen or twenty years ago. The Necklace and Story of an Hour are both short stories set in about the same time period, the late 1800’s, in private residences. The Necklace is a story about a woman, Madame Loisel that is unhappy with her simple life as a clerk’s wife. She is always daydreaming about the finer things in life and the riches that she feels that she is missing out on. â€Å"She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. † (de Maupassant, 1884). Madame Loisel’s husband, in an effort to try and bring her happiness, receives an invitation to a party with the elite townspeople. Still not happy because she did not have an appropriate dress to wear, Madame Loisel’s husband gives her the money he was saving for himself so she could go out and purchase a dress. Even then she is still not happy because she has no jewelry to wear with it. She asks her friend Madame Forrester to borrow her something appropriate and ends up borrowing a â€Å"diamond† necklace from her. Ultimately, the necklace is lost the night of the grand party. Madame Loisel and her husband end up working themselves to death for the next ten years to pay off the debt they incurred in replacing the necklace, which ended up being a fake in the end. Their life as they once knew it was over. Story of an Hour is a short story featuring Louise Mallard, an unhappy housewife with a heart condition. In the story she learns of her husband’s death and within minutes goes from weeping uncontrollably to happy and joyful. â€Å"She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. † (Chopin, 1884). Mrs. Mallard felt oppressed in her marriage, that her husband did not love her and found a sense of freedom from his passing. â€Å"She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. † (Chopin, 1884). Ultimately, Mr. Mallard did not pass in the accident and when he came through the door and she saw him, Louise passed right then. Each story features an unhappy woman as the main character. Madame Loisel in The Necklace is unhappy with her financial situation, always fantasizing about the finer things in life. Louise Mallard in Story of an Hour is an unhappy housewife with a heart condition, feeling oppressed in her marriage. In the end, both women pay a price for their wants: Madame Loisel to be wealthy or seen as wealthy pays by having to sacrifice her life to work twice as hard to repay a debt. Louise Mallard wanting her freedom finally receives it when she hears her husband has been killed in an accident, only to lose it with her death as he actually walks in the door. Foreshadowing is used in both these stories as well. Foreshadowing is described in our textbook as:†A technique a writer uses to hint or suggest what the outcome of an important conflict or situation in a narrative will be† (Clugston, 2010). Foreshadowing gives us some clues as to some of the events that will may possibly unfold in the stories. In The Necklace, the line It was not I, madam, who sold this necklace. I only supplied the case. (de Maupassant, 1884) provides a small hint that the necklace may not in fact have been genuine diamonds. In Story of an Hour, the simple fact that the opening line stated Louise Mallard had a heart condition I feel, provided a clue right away as to the fact she would die in the story. The line â€Å"someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. † (Chopin, 1894), also gives a clue that she could be surprised enough to have her heart fail. â€Å"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, and the color that filled the air. † (Chopin, 1894). This line, I feel, shows that Loise may even have felt her impending death. Possibly the reference in the line â€Å"But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. † (Chopin, 1894), could be a reference as to Jesus coming to take her to heaven. Irony takes place in both of these stories as well. Irony is defined in out textbook as: â€Å"A discrepancy or contradiction occurs between what is expected to happen and what actually happens in a situation (situation irony) or in an expressed statement (verbal irony). † (Clugston, 2010). Irony is shown in The Necklace when Madame Loisel runs into Madame Forrester on the street. Her friend did not recognize her because she had aged so much from all the extra work she had to do to pay her debt. They have a conversation about the necklace and how she had lost it and replaced it, I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad. (de Maupassant, 1884) and Madame Forrester replies Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs! (de Maupassant, 1884). Madame Loisel had the exact opposite of the life she had fantasized about. Irony is shown in Story of an Hour by the fact that Louise was so elated at the thought of her new found freedom that he started visualizing her future alone and thought â€Å"It was only yesterday she had though with a shudder that life might be long. † Little did she know her life would end up shorter than she could imagine. Both of these stories represent death in the way that Madame Loisel and her husband’s life as they knew it died the night the necklace was lost. Louise Mallard simply died, I feel, from seeing her freedom being taken away by her husband still being alive: her heart simply could not take it. She not only lost the freedom she so longed for when her husband walked through the door, death made it impossible for her to ever have that freedom. These stories hold differences as well. The Necklace is set in Paris and spans years while the Story of an Hour does not give an exact place but is most likely set near where the author lived in St. Louis, Missouri and only denotes one hour of time. In The Necklace, Madame Loisel’s husband is always trying to make her happy, first by bringing her an invitation: But, my dear, I thought you would be pleased. You never go out, and heres a chance, a fine one. I had the hardest work to get it. Everybody is after them; they are greatly sought for and not many are given to the clerks. You will see there all the official world. (de Maupassant, 1884) and giving her money to buy a dress. Even though Madame Loisel is unhappy with her financial situation, it is never implied that she is unhappy with her husband. In Story of an Hour however, it is implied that Louise Mallard is unhappy in her marriage and she did not feel loved by her husband, â€Å"the face that had never looked save with love upon her†. (Chopin, 1894) nor did she love him, â€Å"And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! † (Chopin, 1894). I feel that the only time Louise Mallard is truly happy is when she thinks she finally has the freedom to do whatever she wants. Each of these stories has women represented in different ways, most likely because they were written by different gendered authors. Story of an Hour was written from a female point of view and The Necklace was written from a male point of view. The time frame in which these stories were written is a significant factor in the style they were written. The late 1800’s was the beginning of the Women’s Movement. Many women longed for freedom, and men still viewed them as property. Kate Chopin was called a Liberationist during this time. Lewis Leary speaks of her writings in that â€Å"she wrote also of people (mostly women) caged by convention or lured toward freedom which brings at one time happiness, at another disaster or rebuff. † (Leary, 1970). He also discusses her personal views during this era. †Ms. Chopin was in revolt against tradition and authority. She saw sex as something which could or could not be conjoined with love or marriage, and she daringly – how daringly for her time and place! – undertook to give the unsparing truth about woman’s submerged life. † (Leary, 1970). In Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard is a woman who feels oppressed in her marriage and longs for freedom. In The Necklace, written from male point of view, portrays Madame Loisel as a greedy, materialistic woman worried about status and not happy with what she has. â€Å"Since early times, women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men. † (WIC, 1994). Most men during this period felt women were inferior and their place was as a homemaker. They were considered the weaker sex and had few rights and Maupassant was no exception. According to Karen Bernado â€Å"He enjoyed visiting brothels, and his easy familiarity with prostitutes is reflected in stories such as Boule de Suif Ball of Fat, a quasi-endearing nickname for a voluptuous whore. He recognized how people can be brought down by vanity, a situation depicted in his famous story The Necklace. And he was fascinated with humanitys darker side, as we learn from his masterful character study of an effeminate military officer in Mademoiselle Fifi. His lifestyle, however, was to prove de Maupassants undoing; he died insane and far too young from complications brought on by syphilis. †(Bernardo, nd). He viewed women as nothing more than objects. Maupassant was â€Å"a classicist by his nearly exclusive study of the subject of man, concentrating on the rational man. † (Moore, 1918). Some of the qualities credited to him are realism and impersonality. â€Å"Maupassant is a realist so long as, from the point of view of a detached observer. † (Moore, 1918). I feel that a womans’ role in the 1890’s affected the way Maupassant wrote this story. The relationship between content, form and style in these two stories are similar in many ways. Our textbook says: †Stories also reflect culture. The term culture refers to common characteristics of a group or a region. Culture is never static; it is a changing phenomenon, constantly reconfigured by human behavior, language, laws, events, patterns, products, beliefs, and ideals. To put it simply, culture refers to a way of life, an ethos. Writers often reflect a particular culture through the setting of a story or the spirit of the characters lives—providing insight, for example, into Southern culture, post–World War I culture, or global culture. In this way stories preserve culture: they freeze moments in time and create cultural awareness. †(Clugston, 2010). I believe both of these stories reflect the culture of the late 1800’s, from very different viewpoints, male and female, but provide a similar morality lesson. Both are short stories and contain a set up, build up and payoff. Short stories have a plot with conflict–driven, tied–together actions and events, a setting, clear time frame, characters, point of view, a theme and features that include tone, irony, and symbolism. Knowing or not knowing the terms presented in this paper does not help or hinder a personal connection someone may have with a particular piece. I know for myself, the personal message I received from these stories, was a reflection on my life and personal experiences. I see people ungrateful for what they have daily. I was one of those people once, a long time ago. When we long for things we do not have, it keeps us from seeing and appreciating what we do have. You get caught up in things, and become willing to lie, cheat, steal, to do whatever it takes to get what you want. Imagine if Madame Loisel had just been content with being invited to the party and not worried about a dress and jewelry? Or what if she had just told the truth about losing the necklace? She would probably have not had to work the next ten years and been able to enjoy life. Socrates once said â€Å"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. † The bible contains many parables about it as well and Proverbs 15:27 states â€Å"A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live. † As you can see, there are many similarities and differences between the short stories The Necklace and Story of an Hour. I feel one important message contained in these to be happy with what you have, because greed will get you in the end, and both characters paid a price for their greed. If Madame Loisel had been happy with her life as it was, her husband would have never felt the need to acquire the invitation to the party, which ended up costing them years of their lives as well as money. For the next ten years Madame Loisel had a life less than what she started with, a big contrast to the life she fantasized about. Louise Mallard was unhappy in her marriage. Thinking she finally had her freedom when she thought her husband had been killed, she was overjoyed; only to have her heart give out when she found out her husband was still alive. We all should be careful what we wish for because we might just get it. References Chen PhD, E. (2009). The Reader-Centered Approach to Literature. Retrieved from http:/www. litguide. press. jhu. eduwww2. nkfust. edu. tw/~emchen/CLit/teach_reader- centered. htm Clugston, R. (2010). Journey into Literature. Bridgepoint Education, San Diego. Groden, M. Kreiswirth, M. and Szeman, I. 2005-2012. The John Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Retrieved from http:// www. litguide. press. jhu. edu Leary, L. Kate Chopin, Liberationist? The Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Fall, 1970), pp. 138-144. Retrieved from JSTOR online Ashford University. Moore, O. The Romanticism of Guy Maupassant. PMLA, Vol. 33, No. 1 (1918), pp. 96-134. WIC, 1994. Womens’ History in America. Retrieved from http://wic. org Retrieved from JSTOR online Ashford University.