Leverage and leveraged finance

Leveraged finance usually means funding a company with more debt than it is worth. Leveraged finance is used to gain specific, short term objectives like acquiring a company through buy outs or buy-ins, or parking funds in assets which generate fast and excessive returns over the cost of funding. The Sub – Prime crisis of recent times makes it important to keep the above definition in mind. Implicit in all finance deals is the ‘down-side ‘or risk that a lot of value (money in plain terms) would simply disappear if the wrong calculations are made. In finance a lot of calculated instinct is based around the capacity of an entity to service or repay its loans. This also raises the question of faith – on the organization’s capacity to perform and therefore repay its debts along with associated costs, chiefly interest related, and returns. Putting a lever to something means firmly positioning it to perform a task. In the language of finance, leveraging would mean to strengthen the power of a company’s funds to attract more returns by borrowing yet more funds – usually short term.   Leveraged financing is the issue of high yielding bonds or funds borrowed from banks to fund the takeover of companies or buy outs by existing members (buy in) or an outside stakeholder (takeover). The ratio of the company’s debts (borrowings) and the company’s return on equity (money borrowed and invested elsewhere) decides the risk rating of a borrowing entity. Simply put, the company has to earn enough to repay the cost of its borrowings and make an extremely high profit for its stakeholders. If the cash flow from the operation is negatively affected by the high cost of debt servicing or interest for borrowed funds – the position of the lender is riskier. Therefore the interest or the ‘risk cost’ will be higher. (Fletcher, 288-92) The principle is utilized in investing in stocks. The price of a stock is a reflection of its debt to equity ratio at its market or book value.   Financial leveraging calculates the varying effects of one or the other in arriving at a ratio. It allows higher return to the investor. The loss may be higher too, for the company has to pay servicing costs for borrowings even if its stock is completely eroded. There are levels of leverage financing – either secured bank loans or bonds or comparatively ‘less senior’ subordinated bonds or loans. A leverage financier has to calculate how the finance is to be raised. If he overestimates a company’s capacity pay back the loan, he might lend too much at very low margins. The outcome of this would be that the financier will be unable to sell these loans or bonds. Then again, if a company’s value is underestimated, then the transaction results in a huge loss. The objective of leveraged buy outs is to acquire assets without utilizing its own capital. The following case studies illustrate the impact at different periods in recent times. The Sub Prime Crisis Sub Prime borrowers are those whose debt rating is ‘high risk’ – their ability to pay back their loans is considered weak by banks or financial companies. As compared to ‘prime’ borrowers like companies who are financed with ease, a sub prime or non prime borrower’s credentials are considered poor. This is because they are likely not to repay due to insufficiency of funds. They are then financed at sub prime or higher rates of interest than normal. This makes it profitable for lending institutions. In the USA, the bulk of sub prime borrowers are people who seek to buy houses. The majority has no stable income or is in employment which does not earn enough. Only some months back, in the USA debt was freely available to those who asked – in fact, banks fought among themselves to offer loans to leveraged takeovers and hired the services of agents to ferret out possible borrowers. But now, the markets are talking of credit squeeze. Banks are scrambling to tone up their balance sheets. What led to this problem? It is good to remember that householders, commercial banks, brokers and companies all use leverage differently. Homeowners are said to be ‘anti cyclical’ in their leverage. When assets (in this case, property values) appreciate faster, leverage – a factor of debt to equity, decreases. When asset values shrink, leverage rises. This is because householders keep paying mortgages regardless of cycles of increase or decrease in property values or share prices. When a householder takes, say, $300,000 on a $400,000 house, he has equity of $100,000 or a leverage ratio of 3. Supposing the house price was to increases to $500,000, his equity doubles to $200,000 toning down the leverage ratio to 1:5 (Kar, 165-71) Banks and companies are neither strongly anti nor pro cyclical, choosing fixed leverage ratios whatever happens to the market. Investment banks and broking houses are extremely pro cyclical, ramping up their leverage as asset prices move upward. Brokers employ specialized risk based accounting which allows increased borrowing while prices are rising. Conversely, they have to borrow less as prices fall. While adjusting to risk is natural, these brokers acted against what would be prudent judgment. To explain this – an amateur might think that high priced portfolios run a higher risk. On the other hand, a ‘calm’ market would make him cautious in anticipation of a storm. The finance professionals turn this judgment on its head through an instrument which they have devised called ‘Value at Risk’ (VAR) which considers current market values, no matter how unpredictable the market is. For example, in the valuation of complex portfolios, brokers tended to assume only recent history. A short calm period is taken to project future ‘tranquility’ for more years. So, when a real market risk is present, the ratio of VAR to valuation of assets is low. Companies would consequently be compelled to leverage more when, in fact, they should not have. Till 2007, brokers kept increasing their portfolios of householder finance, apparently because there was apparently less risk. Just as the signal would have been to buy when prices were high, the now confusing indications, based on wrong models, led to prospects of selling when   the housing markets was turbulent. As result, brokers are left with assets of almost $300 billion of hung deals- householders had simply walked away. (King, 68-71) The Long Term Credit Management Crisis of 1998 Another example of the failure of valuation models and the intervention of leveraged funds this crisis had a major impact on global markets. Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), founded in 1994 by John Meriwether, decided to deal in US and other government bonds. The idea was that over time government bonds would be identical in value if released within short gaps of each other. The rate at which these bonds appreciated would be different as in the case of US government bonds which would rise in value faster. The profit would be taken from selling costlier bonds and buying cheaper bonds. The profits did come to such an extent that LTCM had to look around for areas to invest its capital .It went into risk arbitraging -this was outside their expertise. They had to resort to highly leveraged finance to sustain return on equity. Their equity was almost 5 billion dollars against borrowings of $125 million. The proceeds were also used in investing in equity derivatives. By end August 1997, the company had lost most of its capital due to some downtrends which its managers could not read earlier –specially the Great Asian Meltdown of 1997 – and still had to pay the huge borrowing costs. Leverage had doomed the company. The Dot Com Bubble Through the early 90’s and till the first years of 2000, information technology was surging forward on extremely encouraging forecasts about its future in the world. Entrepreneurs were able to float technology companies, financed by venture capital which was riding on the prospects of fantastic returns. No one realized that these companies had nothing up front to offer which could be valued in rational terms. Huge leverage was sought in order to follow this boom around the world. The bubble was pricked as fast as it had been blown up – and companies and capital vanished. (Lamb, 434-38) Works cited: Fletcher, Robert. Art of Financial Economics: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing. Christchurch: Howard & Price. 2006 Kar, Pranab. History of Modern American Finance. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee 2005 King, Herbert. Fiscal Fitness Today Vol. IV Plymouth: HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2005 Lamb, Davis. Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata. Wellington: National Book Tru

Character Sketch of Daniel from Daniels Story

Character Analysis: ____chapter 3__________________ Your task is to choose a character from the novel and draw a picture of them in the first box. Surround your picture with quotes from the novel, as well as adjectives describing their appearance. Next, describe your character’s personality, family, and the conflicts he/she is facing in the story. You must have at least 5 points in each category and evidence from the novel. For example: Daniel is a ‘†free spirit† because in Chapter 3 he disguises himself as a Hitler Youth and travels throughout Frankfurt, doing all of the things he isn’t allowed to do.Physical Traits (What does your character look like? ) 12 – 13 years old. â€Å"I had to be who I was – Daniel, a twelve-almost thirteen-year-old Jewish boy who carried an I. D. Card stamped with a big J â€Å"(p 28) â€Å"How I had loved skiing – the speed, the cold, the daring† (p 24) Personality (What kind of person are th ey? ) â€Å"She’s not only beautiful, though, it’s that her inner calm and sweetness shine through her eyes. I love to photograph her† (p 20). (mother) -finds beauty within, caring, enjoys photography, They aren’t all so bad, Mother,† I say, trying to make her feel better. How can I tell her that I’m looking through them to try to make sense of this nightmare? I can’t let her see how upset I am. It would only make her more miserable† (p 21) -Caring, hides feelings from mother, devoted, kind, empathetic, compassionate, concerned, thoughtful, â€Å"I remember Auntie Leah giving me Uncle Peter’s camera when she and her children moved in with us after they took Uncle Peter away†¦ and the first thing we did was turn one of the closets into a darkroom.Then I read every book I could on photography until I felt ready to begin taking pictures† (p21) -Brave for starting a darkroom when photos were banned. Ambitious, moti vated, excited about photography, hard working, knowledgeable, patient as he gathers knowledge, likes to be prepared, responsible, cautious, â€Å"I felt it was my duty to take over his responsibility as the family photographer. † Friedrich and I made a pact that we would photograph everything we could as a record of our ill treatment by our fellow Germans† (p 21). Trying to compensate/ take pictures in memory of his Uncle Peter, gathering proof/evidence of German behaviour, historian, loyal, responsible, reliable, trustworthy, makes promises and keeps promises, I remember powdering my face with flour as she and Erika were working and then shouting ‘boo’ at them. †¦ it felt good to be scolded about something ordinary like that – I think it made me feel that things were ordinary† (p25) -trying to remain positive, make life feel normal, prankster, joker, comedian, humour,

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes Organizational theories Organizational behavior is a current growing field. The field is highly influential in business world. Organizational is becoming more important in the global economy as people with diverse backgrounds and cultural values have to work together effectively and efficiently. Organizational theory is a fundamental system in an organizational framework, whereby its complex dynamic goals oriented processes where it considers a general wider for aiming to model and design human organizations. In an organization motivation is the first key word that managers emphasis to their employee, there are many motivation theory in an organization, such as attribution theory, equity theory, incentive theory and emotional labor in organizations. The historical of organizational theory in an organizational, management has to have a perspective approach of its client so that its development in the field of targeting its goals can be reached. Managers in an organization as the task to make sure the entity of the organization is being recognized in terms of the products, social structure, technology, culture and physical structures and to make sure the product has power to attract and maintain the stability of the organization in terms of competition of other and in modern day to day life. Organizational theories also gives a better basic skills, to improve the attitude of the employees so that they can work and increase their willingness in learning new things on the job they do. Employees find that they perform better because their improve morale and self-esteem make them more willing and able to respond to challenges confronting them on the job. They also see the value of investing time and energy in continuous working as a matter of understanding and appreciation of their role within the organization, this is because of the theories of organization that enhance the commitment and willing of employees self faith in their work. In terms of management relation between its employees, not only have change among co-workers, it also have an increase sense of team spirit camaraderie. If the management increases its willingness so that they will come to a win solution, the management has to respect the employee’s needs, which have lead to the increasing sense of understanding and appreciation among the employees and the management. Organizational behavior has three major disciplines that has to be describe and taken serious, because it contribute a lot to the succession of any running organization, this disciplines are sociology, psychology and anthropology. This disciplines are important in organization because they future the cultural behavior of an organization, the cultural of an organization includes custom, rules, practices, beliefs, values, assumptions, norms, arts and skills, these gives an existence of and organization, how the organization works and how the work should be done. These cultures also relate the performance of all employees and give relation to others in the organization and to those outside. Organization does not work without power; it works with power of leaders so that the organization should have direction of working and fulfill the goals that are support to be implemented and to target the succession of the organizational goals. The organization communication exists despite the fact that the value of junior employees are given less opportunity to express their views and grievance, so that the power of the senior employees may not affect the growth of an organization. Challenges facing the organization communication As diversity in an organization grows, so does complexity of communication and the necessity to spend greater effort developing improved communication skills. Making the most diversity in employee’s coalition requires the commitment of all involved such as managers, leaders and chairman to interact with all management board so as to face the challenges of communication. This has to established and implement by the management so that managers has to learn to listen and invite others to be apart of the discussion. The management has categorically to give way of understanding so that their will be no misjudge of various people because of the ability of performance of work. The manger has to learn to communicate clearly and fairly. This all has to be adopted in an organization so that to give communication style to fit the situation. Both the managers and employees are the makers of the successful organization to be the best one to work in the world. The efforts of the employees should be encourage and be praise by the managers, that to give smooth ground of communication. Issues that employees abuse in an organization Many leaders in organization fail to realize that their attitude and behaviors are having a negative influence on the organization and the employees, which makes employee not to have healthy and good environment of working place, this makes the employee abuse the organization in terms of leadership values and ethics. Leaders bullying employees in workplace, this literally kills the employee’s motives and hard work he/she sacrifices in the organization. The working condition of organization such as mobbing, sweeping and collecting garbage it leads to employees abuse and also the payment condition, overtime, and leave this all encourages the employees not to perform well, thus diversity of communication emerges and later poor performance of an organization. Values and ethics in leadership communication The secret of leaders values and their ethic behavior should be visible in leaders daily in today’s world because the action you have to do makes you be the leader. Leader should have such values like ambition, dedication, respect, accuracy, improvement, enjoyment/fun and loyalty, this values help a leader to have good communication skills and flow of harmony to its employees. As a leader, ethics and value should define the character, this help a leader to lead and influence to others and make other people feel important and appreciatable. (Miller, 2005). Reference Miller, K. (2005). Organizational communication: Approaches and Processes. Thomson Wadswarth. Â  

Business Plan For Ex-Steam Boat Willie Entreprises Assignment

Business Plan For Ex-Steam Boat Willie Entreprises - Assignment Example Ex-steam boat is not expected to distribute cash, pay dividend to shareholders or share repurchases over the next five years as it expects to expand its activities and invest in all positive net present value (NPV) projects. One of the priorities will be, creating an online database for customer's interaction, queries, purchases and free-draw. Consequently, all profits will be re-invested into its expansion program (Opening of new stores, extending its product line) as well as any profitable venture that the company may come across supported by the shareholders. Based on feasibility studies, the partners, of Ex-steam has targeted the outskirt of London, (Luton) to be used as its administrative office, warehousing, design and production unit for online purchases. This area is unique because of its accessibility to other cities, and European countries. The partners intend to use the London Olympic to promote some of their brand, and to benefit from ancillary auxiliary activities and industry. Rent for the building stands at $10000 per annum for the first two years. Initial funding for the project is expected to be $1000,000. Of this amount, the principal shareholder has contributed 40%, that is, $400,000 while a bank loan of $600,000 has been secured to cover the remaining 60% of the funding requirements. One of the proprietors placed his three apartments flat as collateral for the loan. Sales for the first year are expected to amount to about $2000,000 and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 30%. Gross profit is expected to be $475,102 against which expenses for rents, depreciation of factory equipment, wages and salaries, overhead expenses and miscellaneous expenses will be charged. Expenses during the second, third, fourth and fifth year are expected to witness increases as the company plans to increase expenditure on advertising, research and development, staff, and office and factory equipment. More branches will be created within this period, to facilitate dispatch of goods and services. About 80% of sales will be generated online. To minimize theft, customer loyalty card will be provided, to facilitate online purchases. Constant growth is expected to come from an aggressive marketing strategy that will be adopted by the company. Ex-steam entreprises also expects to develop its strength base on its product quality, network of suppliers. The company will also do everything necessary to protect the environment it which it operates such as improving its waste management activities as well becoming ISO1400 certified. Objectives To open and operate a successful Ex-steam boat's online design production and marketing / distribution stores in the UK area market, employing three to fifteen employees in the first year. To make at least 1000 sales in the customer loyalty register and card within UK and European Union in the first year of operation. Achieve first year sales of $30000,000. Maintain an average gross margin of 25 percent. To produce a net profit of at least $4000,000 by the end of the third year of operation. 1.1Market Segmentation for Ex-steam boat Company The purpose of this section is to discuss the various ways through which the new markets for the

Jordanian Arabic Phonology and Morphology Essay

Jordanian Arabic Phonology and Morphology - Essay Example As the report declares a major difference in the syllabic inventory of the two languages is in the presence of the super-heavy syllable of the form CVVC in Arabic and its dialects. This does not exist in the syllable-structure in English. Although there are many other points of difference between English and Jordanian Arabic from the phonological point of view, including rules of transformation and optimality theoretical constraints, the discussion has been restricted here to these basic points of difference. This paper compares the two languages- English and Jordanian Arabic- in terms of the morphology that characterizes them. One of the principal characteristics of Semitic morphology is its being non-linear or non-concatenative: instead of morphemes being placed linearly before the stem as prefixes and suffixes as in English, the morphemic structure of Semitic words is characterized by two or more morphemes interwoven within each other in a discontinuous fashion. One morpheme is inserted into another in certain slots of the word-stem structure. Neither the root-morpheme nor the morpheme to which it is attached (also called the template) free. They are both bound morphemes and only when a certain root and a template merge a definite word is completely specified phonologically, morphologically and semantically. In the case of third-person pronouns, English has he/she/it for singular while Jordanian Arabic has a dichotomy: objects ending with â€Å"taa’ murboota† take the pro noun â€Å"hiyeh† and rest take â€Å"howa†.

Performance & Reward Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Performance & Reward Management - Research Paper Example d Management, on the other hand, is related to one’s understanding of an individual’s motivating factors as well as their determination of the pay, bonus and other rewards they receive (Vince, 2002b). It is then in line with these definitions that the manner by which these concepts are understood by organizations tend to vary. Apparently, there are some organizations that basically link the two in a strong and explicit way. Conversely, there are also other firms who keep both management concepts separate from each other. However, the study of Vince (2002b) reveals that work in organizations that separate these two concepts tend to be characterized by higher levels of employee dissatisfaction. In the same manner, they also tend to experience higher turnover rates with the employees showing poor morale. Furthermore, Vince (2002b) also showed that these organizations tend to pose a desire aimed towards changing a certain aspect of the employees’ behaviour. The definition of Shields (2007) with regard to performance and reward management concurs with the above presented statements of Vince (2002c). Shields (2007), in establishing the link existing between the concepts, first discussed the purpose of reward management. According to him, a working organization that adopts a reward management scheme is usually guided by three main objectives; namely (Shields, 2007): (1) the need to attract the right people at the right time for the right jobs, tasks and roles; (2) the need to retain the best people through recognising and rewarding the contributions they made to the company; and finally, (3) the need to motivate the employees so as to ensure that they will contribute to the organization, the best of their capabilities. With regard to this definition, Shields (2007) then discusses that the strong link between reward and performance management has been clearly established for it has clearly expressed the need to ensure the motivation of the employees which are then

Serial Killers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Serial Killers - Research Paper Example Convicted serial killers have aided in the investigation for the motives of their actions as well as those who develop the vice. Introduction There are many vices that are portrayed by human beings who suffer from psychological disorders. Such vice include engaging in very heinous and inhumane acts. Such acts include domestic violence, child abuse, rape and stalking. People who engage in these acts do so in the search for psychological gratification. The main motivator to these vices is the urge to satisfy one’s pathological interests to experience power over the other humans. Serial killing is one of the most disturbing acts that people engage in. multiple murders that are very gruesome. Serial killers are known to be very cunning and heartless. A serial murderer can kill quite a big number of people before being cornered. This is mainly because the serial killers commit perfect crimes whereby they leave very insignificant or no evidence behind. Murder detectives can take mon ths trying to follow the steps of a serial killer. The most tasking part of hunting for a serial killer is trying to predict their killing pattern. Once a serial killer becomes predictable, it gets easier to corner them. Serial killers can also be caught in the act or identified by witnesses or even forward themselves to the authorities and confess. This paper focuses on a research conducted on serial killers. The reason for studying on serial killers is to try and shed some light on why serial killers engage in such inhumane deviant behavior. The information in this research paper has been gathered from various studies and reports on serial killers. Literature review Numerous studies have been undertaken on serial killers in the past. These are in an attempt to give the causes and the motivators of the deviant behavior. According to previous research, majority of the serial killers in the U.S are white males. Majority of the killers are usually in their late 20s. Black Americans ma ke up for 16% of the serial killer cases reported by the media. Researchers have established the basic characteristics of a serial killer. These include being generally intelligent, some may be from unstable relationships, most of the m are victims of abuse from their past, they have fetishes that they have obsessions for, they are sadists and in most cases they have been involved in crimes before. It is difficult to predict who is a killer or who is not in a society where many people portray one or several of the characteristics (Vronsky, 2004). Serial killers can also be very intelligent and successful people in the society who do not show any of the characters associated with serial killers. For instance in the reported case of Harold Shipman, who was very respectable man and a professional working with NHS, he was discovered to be a serial killer by the authorities. The man was a public figure in the community and he was well known for his award in the charity work supporting ch ildren with asthma. The community was shocked to know the true character of the psychopath in him. Similar cases have been reported in the past about respectable people turning out to be psychopathic serial killers (Vronsky, 2004). According to many theorists, for one to become a serial killer, they have to have some motivational factors. Many psychologists believe that serial killers

Politics might be improved by more, rather than less marketing Essay

Politics might be improved by more, rather than less marketing. Discuss - Essay Example Marketing within the political realm is something that must be judged in the proper light to start with. The citizens of the state must be apprised of their due role within the country and then they must also be told about the different aspects related with the spreading of message through the right channels. Politics must make citizens stand up and act. They should take notice of what is happening around them and what the different regimes and movements are doing for their own betterment. This means that awareness and a sense of knowing needs to be the buzzword when we explore the true meaning of politics and marketing the same gives the whole discussion a real boost in the related scheme of things. Political marketing aims to look at the positive sides of delivering quality to the end consumers, for whom the politics is being done. The society is the eventual recipient hence it is the duty of the society to find out what is happening around it. The people are a part of this society and they are rightly the winners and/or losers at the end of the day. They must be made aware of the happenings around them when it comes to true political movements, activities, situations and the like. The usage of banners, websites, rallies, advertorials, email messages, sms texts, web portals, newspapers, magazines and even television and radio suggest that political marketing could be a real happening thing in the times much like today. (KELLEY, 1973) What also is suggested by these factors is the belief that there are a number of other avenues and different forms of media which could be explored so as to propagate the message of the political party or the politics as we might put it here. Politics in the world of today is like a relationship. It connects with an individual in much the same way as a family is connected to him. He is

Enlightenment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Enlightenment - Essay Example Firstly, Frederic II promoted enlightened absolutism where rulers were encouraged to make decisions based on enlightenment hence promoting rationality in formulation of rules. Through enlightened absolutism, Frederic II was able to modernize the Prussian civil society by reforming religious policies, judicial system and supporting arts and philosophers. Through these reforms, Prussian society witnessed toleration of religious diversity, incorporation of the noble category into the judicial system and economic growth since the noble stock could work in senior administrative levels and generate income. On the other hand, Joseph II also promoted the use of enlightened absolutism during his tenure. His leadership was aimed at making everybody in Hasburg lands to be satisfied despite the different social classes that existed. For instance, Joseph II implemented a program that gave the peasant class of people freedom from slavery. Joseph II also initiated legal reforms where he banned brutal punishments, death penalty and initiated equal treatment for all offenders. In addition, Joseph II introduced religious policies that tolerated diversity of religions in his region. Of more importance, Joseph II promoted education by making it compulsory for young boys and girls to attend schools. Further, Joseph II formulated a foreign policy that promoted expansion of his territory through colonization of other regions and trade. This meant that the society benefited in terms of increased resources from other regions. In conclusion, both Frederic II and Joseph II are said to have been enlightened leaders because their leadership incorporated principles of enlightenment. As a result, members in societies under their leadership benefited

Produce an annotated bibliography based on the identification and Essay

Produce an annotated bibliography based on the identification and critical review of web sites on Dutch housing, - Essay Example try of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment delivers messages to viewers with information related to how people in the Netherlands could maintain the welfare of the society in terms of the need for nature, space and raw materials or the use of land for local government project and private housing including areas or building projects that will be designed for business purposes. Considering that the main goal of VROM is to make policy that will promote peace and harmony with its current social, technological and political developments (VROM International, 2008a), the website offers information related to most recent issues on Dutch Spatial Planning such as: (1) the 21st century Dutch housing policies; and (2) the 5th National Policy Document on spatial planning 2000/2020; as well as the English version of the Housing policy document entitled â€Å"What People Want, Where People Live† which was published back on April 2001. (VROM International, 2008b) Aside from providing information related to spatial planning, housing, topical, integration of people belonging to different social groups, and communities, VROM International website also offers useful information on environmental protection related to: climate change; acidification; eutrophication; toxic and hazardous substances; contaminated land; waste disposal; disturbance; and groundwater depletion. (VROM International, 2008c) Available in Dutch and English language, the website of Waterland provides the viewers with information related to water management. Aside from providing sufficient data related to the importance of water engineering such as: dredging, flood control, coastal zone engineering, engineering in river basins, and offshore civil engineering; the website discuss issues on new policy concerning the Dutch water management particularly on integrated river basin, urban water management, coastal zone management, and groundwater. (Waterland, 2008a) Other water related information that has

The conflict between Israel and Palestine Essay Example for Free

The conflict between Israel and Palestine Essay The conflict between Israel and Palestine has already endured for almost a century. While the conflict may be simple to understand, it is nevertheless also very complex as the reasons for such conflict has centered mostly in the control of the territory surrounding the two parties and sadly though, the conflict has resulted to the destruction, revenge and animosity between them. Accordingly, the conflict is a result of the parties’ search for each own national identity and determination of both countries. The Israelis believe that the legal owners and successors of the land now known as Israel, while the Palestinians also believe that they are entitled to the land they call Palestine. Unfortunately though, both sides are claiming the same land and that they simply call the land with two different names. However, it is a fact that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already instigated half a dozen regional wars in the past decades which in turn threatened access to critical petroleum resources. Moreover, the conflict has also provided justification for the increased militarization of almost all the region and has resulted in a large number of deaths among civilians from both sides. Background In the ancient times, the Jews called the land in dispute as Israel, Canaan, Judea, Samaria and many others. Christians and modern Jews believe that God gave this land to the ancient Jews. However, when the Romans occupied the area about 2000 years ago, suppressing many Jewish rebellions, killed thousands of Jews and forced many others to leave their homeland, an event which is called the Jewish Diaspora. Although some Jews still remained in the area, it was not until the 19th century and 20th century, specifically the end of the Holocaust and the Second World War did a large number of Jews return. When the Israelis returned, it eventually led to trouble since in the two thousand years after majority of the Jewish population was killed or forced to leave the area, Arab-speaking Muslims became the dominant group. Based on the records of the Ottoman Empire, in 1900, the population of Palestine was 600,000 of which 94 percent were Arabs. Although many Arabs were willing to sell their lands to the returning Jews, many of them still were viewing this as an event that would lead the Palestinians to become a minority in the land that they have now considered their own. The Ottoman Empire used to rule Arab world including Palestine or Israel, the West Bank of the Jordan river and the Gaza Strip. But after World War I, Palestine came under the control of the British who was primarily responsible for complicating matters in the growing conflict between the two camps as it made contradictory promises to the French, Arab and European Zionist leaders about how and by whom the area was to be governed. Not surprisingly thus, the commitments made by the British to the different camps led to a mounting tension among them. To make matters worse, the growing power of Adolf Hitler in Germany has led to the dramatic increase of Jewish immigrants and these prompted the Palestinians to fear that a Jewish homeland would be created at their expense. Thus, in the 1930s, the Palestinians staged a massive revolt, known as the Great Arab Revolt against the British. This revolt was particularly directed at the British and the Jews as a response to the British commission which split Palestine into two. After World War II, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181 which called for the creation of two states: one Jewish and the other Arab within an already partitioned Palestine. The resolution gave proposed Jewish state 56 percent of the territory, including most of the fertile coastal area, although at this joint, the Jewish community owned only 6 to 8 percent of the total land and made up about a third of the population (Gerner). When the British evacuated Palestine in May 1948, Israel as well declared its independence and fighting immediately ensued after the UN passed Resolution 181. Although relatively small compared to the Palestinians, the Israeli-Zionist military forces were well-trained, well armed and well-organized. During the war, Israeli forces were able to destroy over 500 Palestinian villages and captured 78 percent of historic Palestine. By the end of the war, almost 70 percent of all Palestinians became refugees with only about 150,000 remaining in Israel. The Palestinian dislocation, dispossession and economic deprivation came to be known as the Palestinian nakba (catastrophe). Those that remained in Israel were under strict military regulation, faced restrictions in their economic activities and arrest for political reasons. This continued on for about twenty years until out of despair and conviction that the surrounding Arab countries would not be able to help them, the Palestinians undertook matters into their own hands. Palestinians began to initiate massive resistance from the Israelis. In Gaza, men and women engaged in an insurrection that began in 1968 and lasted for three years. In the West Bank, charitable organizations provided an organizational structure through which the Palestinians could undertake resistance activities (Gerner). In the 1970s, international awareness and support for the Palestinians grew. The Arab League for instance held a conference concluding that the Palestinian Liberation Organization headed by Yasser Arafat was the â€Å"sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people†. The United Nations also granted the PLO observer status in the organization. However, these eventful victories were little compared to what the Israelis were doing. In order to boost their stand and claim in the conflict, Palestinians began in 1987 a massive uprising and community-wide action against the Israelis who has occupied Palestine for a lengthy period already. Palestinians engaged in strikes and resistance such as stone throwing, creating barricades to immobilize Israeli forces, boycotts of Israeli products and other civil disobedience and disturbances. These in turn led to a huge number of Palestinian arrests and detention by Israeli military forces. Many civilians were deported given curfews and sealed off. Ideologies and Conflict: The issues which have been responsible for the long conflict between the two communities have not changed at all and have remained constant ever since. Among them are: Borders for each community: In the absence of a fixed and agreed boundary for both parties, the conflict between Israel, Palestine and the other Arab nations claiming for strips of territory would not cease at all. Refugees and their right to return to Palestine. As many of the Palestinians were displaced and disposed, UN Resolution stating that â€Å"The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date†¦compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return†Ã‚   passed in December 1948   has never been implemented. Settlers and Settlements: Vague political, civil and national status of almost 400,000 Jewish Israelis currently living on occupied land within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as the political, civil and national status of Palestinians currently living in Israel. Allocation of natural resources such as water among the region. Security for all states and people in the region notwithstanding the ethnicity. Economic access and viability of both regions. Intervention of the international community to address the issues at hand. Proposals and Management to End the Conflict Ever since the start of the twentieth century, efforts were already instituted by various countries and entities to settle the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The United Nations, as a response to its vote to divide Palestine has created the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in order to take care of Palestinian refugees. It has also sent mediators to intercede through the years as well as passing more than a dozen of resolutions. These resolutions were made in order to call out cease fires, suggest approaches to resolve the conflict and condemned aggressive tactics and actions by each party. The United States on the other hand, has tried to lead in the management of the conflict although its efforts have been hindered because of its close relationship with Israel. For instance, the United States negotiated an agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships in Oslo, Norway. The Oslo Accords were intended as a framework to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the terms were so heavily weighted in Israel’s favor that the Agreements enabled Israel to consolidate its control over the West Bank and Gaza under the banner of the â€Å"peace process† (Susskind). Ramifications of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has now lasted for more than century and is still continuing. The efforts made to stop the conflict such as the British partition of Palestine 1948 and its commitment to give area to each party has only made matters worse. Although Israel is admittedly superior in terms of its military capabilities and has the support of the United States, one of the most powerful countries in the world, it has however failed to stop Palestinian nationalism. On the other hand, Palestine has also not achieved in advancing their cause despite having the support of other Arab nations in the region as well as the members of the United Nations. Both of these communities are at a loss and finding a solution to the conflict is still far from reality. The area in dispute holds a great significance and importance to the whole international community despite its small territory and resources. It is the seat of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, major religions of the world. Failure to resolve this conflict would result to larger consequences. For instance, the failure of the United States to resolve the conflict has undermined its capability as a world leader while the failure United Nations has indicated its inability to assert its power and prerogative.

The Half brothers Essay Example for Free

The Half brothers Essay He doesnt understand how someone could leave another person to die, and to him, the fact they were in a war, where people are killed, doesnt make a difference. I suppose that if a person has not experienced the feelings of what its like to be in a war, to lose someone you dearly love, then there will never be able to totally understanding as to how someone could do something so sad. I also believe that during the 1930s and the 1940s, people had a different way of life. The fact that Mrs Rutter lost her husband in the war made her feel as though the jerry plane crashing was a blessing, and it is obvious she has no regrets. We see how Sandra has an insight at why Mrs. Rutter felt she had nothing to be sorry for in acting this way. The setting of The Half-Brothers shows a sense of loneliness and most of the story takes place on the harsh and lonely Fells. There was also the lack of relatives and friends at the funeral of her daughter. In the text it says that the people who did go were Neighbours my aunt, and one far off cousin, Who were all the friends they could muster It shows that she doesnt even have hope of having anyone to be close to. She has her sister, but they are of very different personalities. Even though Aunt Fanny was a kind, warm hearted creature, who thought more of her sisters welfare than she did of her own Helen felt they couldnt talk to each other and because of this, could not share her feelings of sadness with anyone. This feeling that the main character no longer has anyone to understand them is strong in both of the stories. Later in the story Helen gives birth to a baby boy who she called Gregory. And he became her life. She seemed after that to think of nothing but her new little baby. Helen used her obsession as a way out of thinking about the bad things that were happening to her. Because she had felt so lonely, she found her new child the only thing to make living worthwhile. Her sister was really worried about her still, as she knew that with no money they would surely be unable to survive, so Aunt Fanny stayed, but she knew that something would still have to be done. Thats when William Preston, who was afterwards my father, came in, Helen married William Preston because he said that he would make sure that her child was looked after, the child that was Helens sole reason for being. He basically bought her into marriage, and it is obvious that Helen only married him because of her financial situation. This means that it was clear from the beginning of the marriage that William Preston wanted Helen because of her good looks, and Helen needed him more because she had no money. This made it very easy for him to rule over her. This saddens the reader, as Helen is so weak that she feels that all she has to live for is her only child. Helen falls pregnant again, and was unsure about having another child, as she loved Gregory so much. She guards him with her life, and because of this, she gives birth early due to an argument about Gregory being bad, as she made excuses for his behaviour. William Preston knows that Helen does not love him the way he wishes she would, and he feels jealous by all her love for her sons. He blames everything on Gregory, and when Helen dies due to the early birth, that too is his fault. He is not treated the same as he is only seen to William as a stepson. Almost as though he is nothing but an inconvenience. The ending of the story made me feel sad by what happened. The tension in the darkness out there is that of fear, of shock, but in half brothers it comes across in sadness of the tragic events that happened in the story and the unfortunate fate of Gregory. The Half-Brothers is a very detached story, as the narrator does not seem to have any sort of connection with the people he is talking about, even though he is the second son, he bears no name throughout the whole story. The narrator in The Darkness Out There I would say is Sandra. I think this because right at the very end of the story, it is Sandra who does what seems to be a conclusion, and this brings out her maturity. At the beginning she is annoyed by something so small as who she has to work with, but the events that happen show her how everything is not always as it appears. At the end, it is not only Kerry who has grown, but herself too. My Own Personal Views: I found the story Half-Brothers more informative and its structure appealed to me more because I found it more interesting. However I found the contrast between darkness and light in the story by Penelope Lively rather fascinating. The twist and turns of the short story were very cleverly put together to form a roller coaster of a read. When I was reading the beginning of the story about sunshine and flowers I started to think about the title and how it seemed very strange in connection to what I was reading. The reader could quite easily become stuck into what at first seems like some kind of fairytale, only to be suddenly hit by a somewhat shocking ending which is totally unexpected. Half-Brothers has a rather steady flow. I do not mean by this that there is no tension because that certainly is not the case. The tale has a very tragic structure all the way through, and all throughout reading this story, as a reader, I felt generally saddened almost as though it were a true story.

The History And Background Of Yahoo Marketing Essay

The History And Background Of Yahoo Marketing Essay A company symbol is regarded as a unique mark or design that identifies a certain firm. In most cases, a company symbol tends to be more important than the assets of a company when it comes to the companys identification by the public. All of the international as well as regional business firms, including Yahoo, tend to have their specific company symbols, which helps them for public identification. For instance, the company symbol for Yahoo is Yahoo! (Mortensen p25). The key executives of Yahoo are committed business individuals who ensure that the firm runs smoothly in the business fraternity. Yahoos key executives include Marissa Mayer who is the Chief Executive Officer, the President, as well as the Director of the company. David Filo is the Co-Founder and Chief of Yahoo!. Kenneth Goldman holds the key position of the Chief Financial Officer. Ron Brachman is the Chief Scientist and Head of Yahoo! Labs. Finally, there is Henrique De Castro who holds the position of Chief Operating Officer at Yahoo! (Snell p31). Yahoo is an American internet corporation, which has its headquarters in Sunnyvale California. The firm was found by two individuals, David Filo and Jerry Yang, in 1994, and was incorporated in the business world in March the year 1995. Yahoo tends to generate its revenue from the display of text-based links to advertisers Websites, which is regarded as search advertising, from the display of graphical advertisements, which is regarded as display advertising, as well as from other relevant sources (Snell p33). As an internet corporation, Yahoo offers a number of products and services to its esteemed customers. The company has a strong technology and insights that helps it in the delivery of digital content and experiences across the globe and communication devices. The firm tends to provide online services and properties to its users, as well as marketing services aimed to connect with Yahoo! users. This is done through a distribution of network of third party entities. Through its search engine, Yahoo! Search, and its web portal, the firm provides services such as advertising, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Directory, fantasy sports, online mapping, social media website, Yahoo! News, as well as Yahoo! Groups. The firm has properties, which are tailored to users in certain international markets. The properties include social networking websites (Meme and Wretch), and Yahoo! Homepage (Mortensen p69). The services offered to users of Yahoo are divided under three categories. The categories include Media, Communications and Communities as well as Search and Marketplaces. Under the Communications and Communities category, the firm offers Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr, Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! Mail, Connected TV, and Yahoo! Groups. Services offered under this particular category enable the users to organize themselves in groups and share photos, common interests, as well as knowledge (Snell p47). The Search and Marketplaces category tends to answer the information needs of the users through the search results pages and across Yahoo!. The search offerings of the company include Yahoo! Local, and Yahoo! Search. These offerings are free of charge for the users and help them discover new content on the internet. On the other hand, the Marketplaces offerings include Yahoo! Small Business, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Shopping, and Yahoo! Autos. With these properties, the company enables users to research and review specific topics or fields of interest and exchange information with parties of similar interest (Snell p49). The final category is the Media whose services are tend to engage the Yahoo users with online services and content especially on the web. The services provided under this category are free of charge to the users. Services provided include My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Entertainment, Yahoo! Sports, and Yahoo! Contributor Network (Snell p48). In the internet business, Yahoo tends to have a number of competitors who keep the company on toes in terms of performance and service provision to the customers. The main competitors for Yahoo! include Google Inc., Acxiom Corporation, Agilysys, Inc., AOL Inc., Adobe Systems Inc, Facebook Inc, and Callidus Software, Inc. among others. These competitors tend to compete in terms of service provision to the internet users. The top competitors of the named ones for Yahoo are Google Inc., and AOL Inc (Mortensen p72). The key executives in the firm head the structure of the organization. The head of the structure is the Chief Executive Officer who is also the president of the firm. The Chief Executive Officer usually does most of the managerial activities and decisions in the firm. Other key executives who makes the top of the organization structure includes the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief of Yahoo, and Chief Scientist and Head of Yahoo Labs. The growth and development of the firm majorly depends on these individuals (Associated Press). The management of the company mainly lies in the hands of the Board of Directors and the Key Executive members of Yahoo. The management team of the company tends to manage business at the company by ensuring that employees perform their duties as scheduled, and that the users of Yahoo receive the best products and services in the market (IFM). In 2011 September, the management team headed by the chair of the firm decided to fire the then Chief Executive Officer, Bartz. This decision was consequential in terms of business for Yahoo when a number of potential buyers came in with the idea of buying parts or rather the whole firm. In September 2012, the current Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo made a decision of closing the deal the company had with Alibaba in her managerial post. This particular deal; was controversial and it earned the company a negative image in the business fraternity. The closure of the deal affected the companys financial function in a positive way by giving the company 625 million US Dollars (IFM). In relation to sales and earnings of the key financial finding for Yahoo is that the company has been able to grow its bottom line. In the 2012, despite the stagnant revenue growth, the companys bottom line was able to grow from 1.0 billion US Dollars to 3.9 US Dollars. In the earning statement of 2012 delivered by the companys Chief Executive Officer, she stated that the firm was able to show a revenue growth in 2012 for the first time in a period of four years. The variables that tend to affect the earnings of the company include revenue, earnings per share, price to earnings ratio, and return on equity. The variables tend to change from time to time and this affects the earnings of the company (Mortensen p56). There are a number of activities and decisions that the company did to affect its financials. For instance, in 2012 during the quarter that the company made progress in its financials, it is indicated that various activities took place. The CEO stated that the executive team was reshuffled leading to its growth, there was the launching of unbelievable Yahoo! mail and Flickr mobile experiences, as well as signing of major business partnerships with the CBS Television, and NBC Sport (Snell p38). There are also a number of decisions that the company made which led to negative impact of its financials. They include signing a business deal with the Alibaba group, creation of the Yahoo! search image in 2006 that brought up sexually explicit images, and rejection of Microsoft Corporations bid of acquiring the firm in 2008 on the basis that Microsoft had undervalued it. These decisions led to the fall of the companys financials (Mortensen p81). It is with no doubt that global issues are affecting business at Yahoo. For instance, there are various global issues that can be discussed. Advancements in technology is one of the global issues that affect business at the company since it is an internet company. Many technologically advanced companies around the globe are coming up with advanced internet service provision, and this tends to keep Yahoo on toes (Belew and Joel p35). Another global issue of concern is the fact that majority of people around the globe communicate through the social medias in the internet. Since the company offers such services, increased numbers of subscribers on social networks around the globe affect business operations at the company. The company has to provide the best services to its customers (Belew and Joel p33). Challenges that Yahoo! has been facing over the years in business operation is a relevant topic that was left out. One of the main challenges that the company has been facing in the past years is poor management. For instance, until the appointment of Mayer as the Chief Executive Officer of the firm, the company had plunged into poor leadership. This is clearly indicated by the poor financial reports the company used to report in the past years (Belew and Joel p56). Another challenge that the company faced in the past, and was a great loss is the fact that the company had signed a business deal with Alibaba Group and that it had created a Yahoo! Search image that showed sexually explicit images. The company received a lot of criticism from the public, whereby it lost some of its customers (Mortensen p43).

Drawings for King Lear :: William Shakespeare Plays Literature Essays

Drawings for King Lear While in Paris in 1843-4, Ford Madox Brown sketched a set of eighteen pen-and-ink studies for King Lear. Two designs he later developed as finished paintings--Lear and Cordelia (1848-49) and Cordelia's Portion (1866)--and a third he turned into an oil-sketch, Cordelia Parting from Her Sisters (1854). Sixteen of the drawings were shown in 1865 at his Picadilly Exhibition, and Brown wrote the captions that appear below the drawings for the exhibition catalog. The sixteen sketches with captions are owned by the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester, and the two without captions are in the City Museum and Art Gallery of Birmingham. The drawings are done in pen and sepia ink over pencil on paper; they are approximately 11 x 14 inches in size. The idea of a series such as this was not original with Brown; the German artist Moritz Retzsch had completed his series of outlines of Shakespeare's plays (1828-46), which included a series on King Lear, and Eugà ¨ne Delacroix had published his series of thirteen lithographs for Hamlet in 1843, a year before Brown executed his drawings. Critics think Brown knew the work of both artists and was influenced by them. Brown regarded these sketches as no more than "outlines," writing in the catalogue that accompanied his 1865 retrospective exhibition that they "were never intended but as rude first ideas for future more finished designs" (19). Despite their unfinished quality, they powerfully evoke what Lucy Rabin describes as a "vaguely remote historical period" (52), a time represented by Shakespeare as post-Roman but still pre-Christian. Ford Madox Hueffer, the painter's grandson, suggests that the crudity of the sketches was, in fact, deliberate--Brown's attempt to portray in bold, almost flat designs the barbarity of Lear and the era in which he lived (53). Brown reveals in these simple depictions an understanding of King Lear that far surpasses anything the critics had to say about a play that was not at all popular in the nineteenth century. Charles Lamb observed early in the century that "Lear is essentially impossible to be represented on a stage," and at the end of the century--as in, for example, a review of Sir Henry Irving's King Lear at the Lyceum Theatre--the critics were still quoting Lamb and asserting that King Lear "would not be tolerated for an hour if produced without the name of Shakspere" (Illustrated London News 101:637). Small wonder that Sir Henry Irving was reportedly nervous and anxious when he produced this unpopular play at the Lyceum in 1892.

Problems Associated with the Advent of Computers :: Technology

The emergence of computers in today’s society has completed revamped lives across the globe. Even at home, computers are opening a whole new world to individuals. Even small children have grasped this phenomenon and have learned to â€Å"surf† the web. Personally, computers have made my life 110 percent easier and efficient. Almost every paper, project, or any type of school work requires that I use a computer in some way in order to complete the work. Apart from work, the computer also lets me entertain myself with music, websites, and varies other programs. In the workplace, computers have made business a thing of beauty with easy and smooth money transactions and fast communication between companies. Although computers are making worker’s lives easier, there are 3 problems that maybe encountered in the future: lower skilled workers maybe phased out, companies can easily replace individual workers, and workplace surveillance may rise considerably. With computers ruling the workplace, employees must be prepared to handle and manage this hi speed form of work. In the past, low skilled (when it comes to computers), blue collar workers were necessary to carry out the duties of a firm or business to keep everything running smoothly. As computers began to infiltrate the business world, more skilled workers in the field of computers were in higher demand to work these machines. Individuals coming out of college with only a few skills are now setting themselves up for a limited number of positions in the business world. This division between high-tech skills workers and low-status workers can possibly cause huge debates regarding wages, benefits, and working hours. Of course, high-skilled workers would seem as the most likely to have better benefits and wages, but one must keep in mind that there is a need for reliable, blue-collar workers that can do the dirty work for a company. With companies and businesses around the world being able to communicate and interact so easily, the workplace has drastically changed. It is rare for a company to entirely manufacture a certain product in its own facility. Companies work as a team to put together products or to organize certain aspects of the product. One company in Canada may draw up the plans for a product. Then the ideas are shipped to Japan to be analyzed. Once they approve, it is then sent to Detroit for the parts to be made.

The Purpose of Education Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching Tea

The Purpose of Education In attempting to define the true purpose for education, people tend to focus on goals, which differ from one person to another. Most Americans approach education as a means to end. Many focus on the possible social, economic, and political benefits that can come from furthering education. While education certainly is capable of producing amazing results in these specific physical realms, perhaps we shouldn’t focus on its material goals, but rather on its mental impact, which is where reason is derived from. Through the use of reason in the form of education, we will be better able to come to terms with ourselves and our environment, which will bring us closer to reaching our full potentials as human beings. It is our advanced intelligence which makes us unique in this world, and perhaps it is the use of reason which will eventually reveal our true purpose of being. The first step toward reaching our full potential deals with gaining a better understanding of ourselves. Simply by being honest with ourselves and using our given ability to reason, we will be better able to come to terms with what is truly our purpose of living. By concerning ourselves with the absolutes of human nature we will be much closer to reality, opposed to an approach that is simply based on already established ideals. Armed with reason and a good understanding of our own human nature we will be more prepared to understand and react to our ... The Purpose of Education Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching Tea The Purpose of Education In attempting to define the true purpose for education, people tend to focus on goals, which differ from one person to another. Most Americans approach education as a means to end. Many focus on the possible social, economic, and political benefits that can come from furthering education. While education certainly is capable of producing amazing results in these specific physical realms, perhaps we shouldn’t focus on its material goals, but rather on its mental impact, which is where reason is derived from. Through the use of reason in the form of education, we will be better able to come to terms with ourselves and our environment, which will bring us closer to reaching our full potentials as human beings. It is our advanced intelligence which makes us unique in this world, and perhaps it is the use of reason which will eventually reveal our true purpose of being. The first step toward reaching our full potential deals with gaining a better understanding of ourselves. Simply by being honest with ourselves and using our given ability to reason, we will be better able to come to terms with what is truly our purpose of living. By concerning ourselves with the absolutes of human nature we will be much closer to reality, opposed to an approach that is simply based on already established ideals. Armed with reason and a good understanding of our own human nature we will be more prepared to understand and react to our ...

Angelo’s Pizza

ANGELO’S PIZZA ANSWER #1. The expansion of stores and eventually franchising while focusing on serving only high quality fresh ingredients should include the following three resource management implications: (1) BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS – This implication represents the importance of the company’s general and competitive environment. Angelo needs a good business strategy. A strategic plan is the company’s plan for how it will match its internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats in order to maintain a competitive advantage (Dessler, 2012).Angelo’s early attempts showed the pitfalls in rushing and making assumptions about replicating a viable business unit. Fortunately, Angelo has realized his lack of proper planning and the necessity to correct his errors before attempting to branch out into more stores and possibly franchising. The locations of the proposed new stores are paramount. These locations must be in area s where high quality ingredients are readily available. The supply of fresh ingredients does not meet all the needs for successful stores. The medium that serves the customer pays a vital role. 2) JOB ANALYSIS – All businesses want to attract and maintain good people. A job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties of the positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for them (Dessler, 2012). All of Angelo’s locations must have competent employees who are able to provide good customer service. Angelo has to develop a plan that identifies the characteristics and skills that applicants need to possess before he can develop his staff. Once he knows the type/kind of person he needs to recruit for his business, he needs a comprehensive plan for hiring them.A screening process for applicants that include hiring guidelines, previous work experience, and reference and background checks would be useful. A logical, structured interview session wh ere the job duties and responsibilities as well as the required job qualifications are explained would be the next step. Once Angelo has job candidates that he is satisfied with, he then has to develop human resource strategies that will ensure their success. (3) TRAINING – Angelo should develop a training program for both new and existing employees. The implementation of a training program is beneficial for both the company and the employees.Training programs helps each employee to understand their various role/job expectations. Unskilled workers are counterproductive to the work environment. It can jeopardize a business reputation. Angelo’s newly hired waiter/waitress should be trained on how to correctly take orders and how to serve the customers efficiently. Angelo’s ideas regarding customer service has to be shared throughout all stores. If sufficient time is devoted with the training program, all employees become an asset for the organization with the incr ease of their knowledge.After completion of the training, all of Angelo’s Pizza employees should know where they stand and that their performance can lead to a management position. ` ANSWER #3. By asking the following questions, I feel Angelo will be able to attain qualified candidates. The questions are based on situational and behavioral judgments. STRUCTURED INTERVIEW FORM Name of Applicant: Position applied for: Date of the Interview: (1) Why did you choose our organization? (2) Employees interact with a wide variety of customers. Sometimes customers may become angry/frustrated.Describe a time when you dealt with a customers who was demanding. Impatient or angry. How did you respond to the customer’s request or demands? What was the outcome of your actions? (3) Sometimes employees must communicate unpleasant information to customers. Describe a time when you had to communicate unfavorable information to a customer. What did you have to tell the customer? What was t he outcome? (4) If a customer is dissatisfied and wants to return a ordered food item/dish, how would you respond? BIBLIOGRAPHY/WORK SITED Dessler, G. (2012). Human Resource Managemnet, Thirteenth Edition. Pearson.

Case study: Andrew Ryan at VC Brakes Essay

1. Analyze the effectiveness of the approach to change taken at VC Brakes. 2. Was Andrew Ryan effective? What could he have done differently? 3. Should Ryan stay at VC Brakes and continue to help with the TQM initiative? If so, what should he do differently? The approach taken was the right thing to do and in my opinion was well planned. The fact that it didn’t work out however means that it wasn’t the right fit for the organizational culture of VC Brakes. If VC Brakes had no division between the engineers and the rest of the operations I believe the approach would have provided successful results. Andrew Ryan was effective in his original endeavors as the senior manager of the engineering services (ES) team. However I think this question is referring to his task of implementing TQM into VC Brakes, so in that regard no he was not effective. Although TQM had great values Ryan was unable to break the divider between management and lower level employees to make progress wi th TQM. Lower level employees were said to have some creative and (in my opinion) easy to fix ideas on current operations. For example the box cutters that were standard were said to not be up to par. Although upper management didn’t change the box cutters out for new ones originally Ryan could have told upper management to change the box cutters simply as a way to get employees on board with the idea of implementing TQM. If Ryan had exhausted his efforts to make the change happen internally, he could have went out and bought new box cutters himself and said that upper management heard to voice of the people and responded. Box cutters aren’t very expensive and this action would have shown leadership to upper management, and would have most likely shown lower level employees to give TQM circles more effort. If Ryan was unwilling to purchase the box cutters himself, he could have had the simple idea to allow the employees bring in their own box cutters to solve the problem altogether. If the company had some restriction against this idea of bringing cutters from home Ryan should do his best to explain once again that this is bigger than the box cutters, it’s about progressing forward as a whole company working together.

Hubspot Case Question Essay

1. Analyze HubSpot’s Marketing Mix in the context of an overallMarketing Strategy 2. Do you agree with HubSpot that the â€Å"rules of marketing† have changed? If so, how? Is inbound marketingthe answer? Why or why not? 3. Is HubSpot finding and serving the right set of customers? Given its position as a start-up company,should it widen its focus to serve any customer that comes its way? Or narrow their target, by focusingexclusively on either Owner Ollies or Marketer Marys? Or by focusing exclusively on either B2B or B2Ccustomers? 4. HubSpot has begun to differentiate its products as it has learned more about its customers. Should it domore? Should its pricing strategy change too? Does the software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing model workfor both Marketer Marys and Owner Ollies? Should HubSpot try to immediately capture more value for either of these customers? 5. Are Halligan and Shah being too stubborn by not doing any outbound marketing? Or should they continueto practice what they preach by focusing on inbound marketing alone? 6. Halligan and Shah want HubSpot to be to marketing, what salesforce.com is to sales. What would your plan of action be to make this happen? Why would you take these actions? What keeps you up at nightabout your plan? This case follows the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial venture which faces significant challenges including:developing a market segmentation, deciding which customer to serve and which customers to turn away,configuring a pricing strategy which is aligned with the value being delivered to customers, and determiningwhether inbound marketing programs can generate enough scale to grow the business or whethertraditionaloutbound marketing methods need to be employed to accelerate growth. The HubSpot case focuses on issuesaround marketing channels, specifically inbound marketing and the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications suchas blogging, search engine optimization, and social media

Human Resources Information System Essay

A Human Resources Management System (HRMS) or Human Resources Information System (HRIS), refers to the systems and processes at the intersection betweenhuman resource management (HRM) and information technology. It merges HRM as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into standardized routines and packages of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin on software that integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important distinction to the individually and proprietary developed predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and flexible. There are approximately 36 vendors of HRMS software in the U. S. and Canada[1]. The function of human resources (HR) departments is generally administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Efficient and effective management of â€Å"human capital† progressed to an increasingly imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized human resource management systems. HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before the client–server architecture evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the high capital investment necessary to buy or program proprietary software, these internally developed HRMS were limited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent of client–server, application service provider, and software as a service (SaaS) or human resource management systems enabled increasingly higher administrative control of such systems. Currently human resource management systems encompass[citation needed]: 1. Payroll 2. Time and attendance 3. Performance appraisal 4.  Benefits administration 5. HR management information system 6. Recruiting/Learning management 7. Performance record 8. Employee self-service 9. Scheduling 10. Absence management 11. Analytics The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems. The time and attendance module gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions. The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement. The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to â€Å"read† applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information systems to: * produce pay checks and payroll reports; * maintain personnel records; * pursue talent management. Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent management systems typically encompass: * analyzing personnel usage within an organization; identifying potential applicants; * recruiting through company-facing listings; * recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants. The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the deve lopment of a dedicated applicant tracking system, or ‘ATS’, module. The training module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a â€Å"learning management system† (LMS) if a stand alone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS allow managers to approve training, budgets and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics. The employee self-service module allows employees to query HR related data and perform some HR transactions over the system. Employees may query their attendance record from the system without asking the information from HR personnel. The module also lets supervisors approve O. T. requests from their subordinates through the system without overloading the task on HR department. Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced applicant tracking system that encompasses a subset of the above. Assigning Responsibilities Communication between the Employees. The Analytics module enables organizations to extend the value of an HRMS implementation by extracting HR related data for use with other business intelligence platforms. For example, organizations combine HR metrics with other business data to identify trends and anomalies in headcount in order to better predict the impact of employee turnover on future output.

Acrylic polymer is derived from the monomer methyl metharcrylate or MMA

When modern man discovered plastic and its myriad of uses, there was no turning back. Today, plastics figured prominently in the lives of 21st century people. It is almost impossible to live comfortably without this substance. And among the many kinds of polymer there is perhaps nothing more versatile and very much in demand than acrylic polymers. This paper will look into the chemical properties and the myriad of uses for the compound normally designated as PMMA or Polymethyl methacrylate. Chemistry Acrylic acid (H2C – CHCOOH) was synthesized in 1843 according to Charles Carraher (2003, p. 160). Then he goes to add that ethyl methacrylate (H2C – C(CH3)COOC2H5) was synthesized and polymerized in 1865 and 1877, respectively (2003). With regards to polymerization e.g. acrylic or methacrylic acid, it must be done in an aqueous solution at less than 20-30% concentration (Feldman Barbalata, 1996). â€Å"Besides water, a conventional recipe involves an initiating system (potassium persulfate and sodium thiosulfate) and chain transfer agent† (Feldman Barbalata, 1996). Acrylic polymer is derived from the monomer methyl metharcrylate or MMA. Polymers can be divided into two groups: thermoplastics and thermosets. And that majority of them are thermoplastics meaning once the polymer is formed it can be heated and reformed over and over again (see American Chemistry Council, 2007). This major attribute alone is enough to make scientists and businessmen to be very interested in the application of the product. But interestingly there are many more surprises up the sleeves of the thermoplastic polymer.Properties The following attributes can be seen in most polymers and especially so to acrylic polymers: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Has a light transmittancy of about 92% with particular clarity at lower wavelength of 270 to 350 nm (Whitaker, 1996) 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Has good resistance to weathering 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good mechanical strength 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dimensional stability along with high tensile and flexural strength (Whitaker, 1996) 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chemical resistance – including salts, bases, aliphatic hydrocarbons, fats and oils, most common gases, and inorganic chemicals as well as dilute and concentrated solutions of most alkali Applications According to Feldman and Barbalatat, the most important usage of acrylic polymer is in the manufacture of adhesives, thickeners, coatings, flocculants, dispersants, fluidizers, in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, ion exchange processes and textile processing (1996). Now, a few years after acrylic polymer was first introduced by the scientific community, the said substance was first used as interlining for automobile windshields (Carraher, 2003). Since acrylic polymers exhibit good resistance to weathering it is widely used in thermoformed signs, aircraft windshields, and bathtubs. Acrylic polymers have long been used in the manufacturing of cuvettes, tubing connectors, speculums,and many other medical devices requiring impact strength, chemical resistance, biocompatibility, and clarity. In fact it occupies a, â€Å"†¦prominent place in the market for clear, disposable plastic – only glass transmits light as well† (Whitaker, 1996). In the medical field, acrylic polymers have shown its versatility and all around usefulness. From the start medical professionals were already well acquainted with the substance because it was used in the manufacture of incubators. In 1955 its range of usage was expanded when the first acrylic prosthesis was implanted. This probably came after its success as a primary material for aircraft canopies during World War II – pilots suffered fewer infections from shards of acrylic than they had from glass (Whitaker, 1996). Aside as an important component of cuvettes and tubing connectors, it is also used to produce test kits, luers, drainage wands, syringes, blood filters, blood pump housings, fluid silos, surgical blade dispensers, surgical trays etc. Finally, acrylic polymers is not only superior in terms of chemical resistance, clarity as a thermoplastic, and durability which is highly prized in the medical field. This substance is also easily recyclable, â€Å"Acrylic burns extremely clean [†¦] with end products of carbon dioxide and water. In addition, the material offers superior recyclability: acrylic can be reground and reused, which results in less material waste during molding† (Whitaker, 1996). But there is more. The said material can be depolymerized back to its monomer, thoroughly purged of its impurities, and then can go full circle back into PMMA. This is a true recycling process, whereas most other recycling processes involve crushing the material and using it in applications with lower specifications (Whitaker, 1996). In the world of plastic, acrylic polymers belong to the top shelf. The range of its applications is a great help in the development of many industries especially in the medical field. Among other things it has provided cost-efficiency and safety concerning the medical practice and other industrial purposes. References American Chemistry Council. (2007). The Basics – Polymer Definition and Properties. PlasticResource.com [online] Accessed 08 May 2007 from http: www.plasticresource.com/s_plasticresource/sec.asp? TRACKID=CID=124DID=226 Carraher, C. (2003). Giant Molecules: Essential Materials for Everyday Living and Problem Solving. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Feldman, D. Barbalata, A. (1996). Synthetic Polymers: Technology, Properties, Applications.    New York: Chapman and Hall. Whitaker, W. (1996). Acrylic Polymers: A Clear Focus. Medical Device Industry [online] Accessed 08 May 2007 from http: www.devicelink.com/mpb/archive/06/01/001.html.

Contemporary Media's Representation of Philosophies, Ideologies, and PowerPoint Presentation

Contemporary Media's Representation of Philosophies, Ideologies, and Theories - PowerPoint Presentation Example With the help of Jim Gordon, Batman and the District Attorney Harvey Dent set out to eliminate the criminal infrastructure that is operating out of the streets. Despite a strong partnership between the two, they find themselves fighting against a reign of chaos that has been unleashed by a rising mastermind in the criminal world, who is known amongst the terrorized people as ‘The Joker’. From the very beginning, the joker succeeds in showing to the world, a horrifying version of evil where all morality is shredded to dust and replaced with lawlessness and hatred. Others associated with the criminals have long been gone, but the name of the Joker remains in the minds of the people especially due to the ambiguity and glamour with which his evil comes with. One could not rely on virtually anything he said and he relishes at the ease with which he gets people including Dent to break rules. He enjoys destroying the people and civic society simply for the sake of witnessing evil. What is good and truth? Why do good guys need to play by the rules when others don’t? these are some of the questions that beg for an answer from this movie, which set it apart as something that has a deeper impact on the viewer than regular action movies. If one were to ask about the ideal way to select and watch a movie, then the Dark Knight would come to be the first option. Many a times, we question the fact that yes, a movie can be quite entertaining, but what message did it help convey to us? The Dark knight has pulled off the trick by attempting to answer major issues connected to morality and has at the same time made every effort to entertain the viewer. The movie has tried to provide answers to three varying answers to our concerns over what is good and the way people should live in a society. The first way of living is according to the path chosen by the Joker i.e., a world sans rules, where all that matters is power and where society is

Employee Reward (Executive Reward) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employee Reward (Executive Reward) - Essay Example The executive compensation system helps in the improvement of the existing system that helps in accomplishment of goals and objectives. A well structured compensation system helps in the attraction of dynamic and talented pool of executives who can help the company in gaining competitive advantage over its competitors (Browning, 2012).An integrated approach of designing a reward structure helps in developing a system which is directly related to the growth of the company . Executive reward system in a company is the result of a high level interaction between the company executives and the director to maintain an acceptable return on the investment at all times. The executives expect some kind of salary based on daily or annual basis. It also includes employment contracts, portable retirement benefits and deferred compensation (Haygroup, 2013). The company management instead wishes that the executive achieve specific goals and also include developing capabilities (Edge and Davis, 2004 ). A well constructed EC system is only feasible with the development of a leadership framework in which the responsibilities, duties and capabilities are clearly identified and sorted out as per the executive level. In the leadership framework the level, responsibility, capability and results are clearly defined which helps in identification of the opportunities and the development of a strategy. The traditional executive compensation system was developed by Mirrlees and Holmstrom in the year 1975 and later it was modified by Holmstrom and Tirole in the year 1993 (Haygroup, 2013). This theory was developed to help in building an incentive scheme which focuses on trade-off risk sharing and incentive, reward consideration. The theory was also formulated keeping in mind whether the management would be able to pay back the invested amount or not. The author laid emphasis on the fact that stock prices not only reflected the fundamental value of the organization but also signified a shor t term speculative amount. The various constituents of the executive reward systems are as follows: Direct Pay Base Salary The entire executive system would include the annual based salary which would be replaced by the executive salary plans. As per the leadership framework the executive total rewards system would be as follows. Base Salary Annual Incentives and Perks Long Term Incentives Career Development Responsibilities Short Term Success Long Term Success The capability and short term success would be considered The executive salary planning would start as per the market pay data and the desired competitive range would be decided based on the competitive performance of the executives. It also includes the inputs and growth in individual responsibility and the high level performance for the individual (Armstrong, 2002). The salary plans are developed on the assumption of the consistent performance for the executive reward system. Annual Incentive The executive reward system, an nual incentive plan also forms an important part of the total reward and incentive system for the executives (Lepak, 2013). It helps in benchmarking the total work as per the quantitative and qualitative performance standards (Lepak, 2013). To ensure individual accountability the incentive system is designed in such a way that executives are able to accomplish the goals

Correlation of Birth order and Motor development Research Paper

Correlation of Birth order and Motor development - Research Paper Example Development of movements are often invisible and aren’t recognizable at an early age. These physical impairments create numerous challenges for children affecting their psychological and physical development. Thus, Development Coordination Disorder (DCD) enables slow motor development, in children. It affects both intellectual and physical progress of a child. Children born with extreme low weight are more inclined to motor, cognitive and behavioral impairments and they increase with age. Therefore, recent record shows that preterm children are persistently diagnosed with deficient motor skills. Children have to go through a neuro-motor exam, which establishes their standard of DCD for treatment (Dewey et al., 2011).  Ã‚   Lehman has described birth order as customary environment and parental influence on children. The difference in behavior and physical growth is directly affected by the presence of siblings. However, these affects can differ due to optimistic and pessimist ic environment around the child. It also includes school’s environment, and its impact on child’s psychological and motor development. However, evaluation of relationship between birth order and academic achievements has shown pessimistic results. Investment of quality time by parents with higher order sibling has been observed less, which has resulted in negative and measured development of children (Lehmann et al, 2012).Child’s position in the family and sibling’s gender are important factors that affect development. However, psychological.

The Organizing Function of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Organizing Function of Management - Essay Example With the development of IT, the role and function of organizing has been transformed from merely a management function to a tool which helps to optimize resources and organizational structure. Organizing provides the channels through which work is made to flow while planning determines the volume of the work passing through those channels. It is a branch of management in that it uses the form of organization. It endeavors to put the form of organization to its maximal use, but it does not design the organization. Following Bernard L. Erven organization is concerned with the execution of the functions whereby the product is made, the processes operate, and the machinery works. For instance, a computer service support organization, organization is concerned in the arrangement of duties between the individuals affected, so that the methods existing for the support may operate smoothly and economically (Organizing Process, n.d.) In a computer service support organization, it may be that this is to draw too fine a distinction between organizing and managing. The distinction is equally valid between the manager, in the exercise of his task of managing, and the same manager, in the exercise of his task of organizing. ... In actual practice, no single organization can be said to be founded upon one principle alone; but for purposes of clarity, it will be advisable to consider, firstly, the forms of organization resulting from the strict application of each principle, and secondly, how these principles may be judiciously combined (McNamara, 2007). If it is found in the process of organizing, that closer relationships between individuals are possible, whereby the passing of certain orders is rendered superfluous, the organizer may legitimately suggest that such change in method is desirable, so that individual duties may be more compact. That is to say, his concern in methods is only to the extent to which methods determine individual or group functions and faculties (McNamara, 2007). In a computer service support organization, organizing recasts the process of management providing powerful new capabilities to help managers strategize and plan, organize, lead, and control. For instance, it is now possible for managers to obtain information on organizational performance down to the level of specific transactions from just about anywhere in the organization at any time. Within a computer service support organization, organizing helps to stipulate certain tasks and create a positive organizational culture which meets the needs of employees and organization. For instance, the manager of the department has complete command, under the general manager, over all the factors concerned in the operation of his department. He delegates the work of the department, not by function, but by definite sections of the process of manufacture. Each section is under a foreman, who is responsible, absolutely and wholly, for the work of his section, except for those particular items which the manager does

Arguments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arguments - Essay Example The beaches in San Diego are beautiful and famous, and the city has several other attractions such as zoo, wild Animal Park, Sea World, and Balboa Park with all the museums. Similarly, this beautiful city is distinguished for the availability of world-class goods and services, and it is one of the richest and safest cities in the United States. It is important to realize that Forbes magazine has rated San Diego as the fifth-wealthiest city in the United States and the 9th safest city in the top 10 list of safest cities in the nation. (Clemence) The city was also rated in 2006 as the fifth-best place to live in the United States, and there are several favorable conditions for happy and peaceful living in the city, including the weather, the beaches, opportunities for cultural events, availability of world-class goods and services, etc. Therefore, it is indubitable to claim that San Diego is a great place to live in. In a reflective analysis of the favorable conditions to live in San D iego, it becomes evident that the city is blessed with comfortable weather, the beaches, opportunities for cultural events, etc. The weather of the city, which is comfortable year round, is the most important reason to claim that it is a great location for happy living.