Banking System of China Essay

The Chinese banking system is said to be undergoing some tremendous change in the wake of the emergence of China as a major player in the global economy. This is so after several years of state ownership and communism that was so prevalent in the country. The reforms in the Chinese banking system commenced in the 1980’s to date. The structure of the Chinese banking system initially was monolithic with the People’s Bank of China being the only bank allowed to do banking business in the country as its Central Bank. But this changed in the early 1980’s when the Chinese government allowed some state owned banks that were specialized to start doing banking businesses and taking deposits. The banks licensed included: Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. This were the pioneer specialized banks in China and in 1994, there was the establishment of new banks whose purpose was policy specific lik e the China Development Bank, Export Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). These banks have a varying ownership degree by the public that was done through the initial public offers but despite this, the majority shareholder of these banks is still the Chinese government. Several joint stock commercial banks and city c commercial banks have been licensed to operate in China. The government of China has also licensed banks that are dedicated to develop the rural centers of China. Foreign banks have also been allowed to operate in China. As of 2010, the total of the assets of the Chinese banking system were 14 trillion dollars. The four specialized banks in China at that time controlled 48 percent of these assets. The main regulatory body that controls the banking system is the CBRC (China Banking Regulatory Commission) that is charged with the responsibility of making rules and regulation of China banks CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The CBRC is in charge of oversight and collects banking statistics to be used in the process of approval of bank expansion. It also goes a long way in solving the potential solvency and liquidity issues that might trouble banks. This People’s Bank of China while acting as China’s Central bank has quite an authority over the Chinese banking system. This includes the typical role played by the central bank of representation on international monetary forums and maintenance of monetary policy. Its other roles are the reduction of risk and promotion of financial stabilit y of the system. The PBC is also responsible lending regulation and the exchange of foreign currency between banks. It supervises settlement and payment system in the country. The Chinese banking system does not consist of a deposit insurance where the depositors are protected from the loss of their funds in case the banks get wound up. However reforms are underway to ensure that Chinese depositors are able to get insured for their deposits. In the beginning of 2009, the Chinese government encouraged a large credit boom in order to offset the possible effects of the global financial crisis. The larger part of this credit was used to finance infrastructure and construction of real estate which helped China to grow by forty five percent between 2008 and 2013. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund’s credit reports increase to 200 percent with much of it coming from bonds, loans and non-bank financing equivalent to 13 trillion dollars. Out of the 200 percent increase, non-bank financing accounted for two thirds of the total CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). This meant that the flow of credit was not from regulated Chinese banks but from Chinese financial institutions. The Chinese shadow banking system which has evolved over this period comprises of several layers which include capital markets, non-banking financial institutions and the informal sector. Review of Literature Globalization is a multifaceted term and deals with all the social, political and economic issues in the developed and developing world. The world has seen many changes in the form of innovation, technological advancements and economic prosperity. One of the major shifts in the current era has been the creation of a world with no boundary. This has resulted into integration of technology and modernization of production and working methods. This paper presents an in depth analysis on determining who have benefited from globalization in China. The term ‘globalization’ has been a concept which has integrated in the world of current times. Globalization pertains to the growing relationships of people, culture, and economic activity on the global level. The term is often utilized to refer to the perspective of economic globalization: it is the production and distribution of the services and goods on the global platform and takes place with the help of the reduced obstacles of international trade. These trade barriers include the export fees, tariffs, and import quotas, and also comprise of the free movement of investment and capital in the entire world. There are many ways countries that have benefited from globalization in China CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The impacts of trade brought by globalization could be seen by the diffusion of the art of glass making in China from Western. Religious ideology spread quickly in all directions through globalization. Mercantilism for instance spread fro m the West to the East through globalization. The easy flow of ideas, art and culture resulted in economic, cultural and social vibrancy that was unmatched anywhere else in the world. Globalization has made China’s economy the fastest growing economy with an average of 9 percent of growth in the last three decades. China has the largest volume of goods imported and exported throughout the global market. Provinces at the coasts of China are more industrialized and developed than those in the hinterland. It is for this reason that China has a substantial influence on the world economy because of the large volume of trade. The most valuable sector of China’s economy is industry and agriculture CITATION Moo99 l 1033 (Moore, 1999). The Agricultural output has been adversely affected by erratic and sporadic weather of East Asia. The industrial sector in China has advanced more than the agricultural sector in China because of incomes, technology and labor productivity. The differences in the two sectors of the economy are the reason for the social, economic and cultural disparity between the urban and rural areas. China is the leading producer of mineral an d industrial products like coal and oil. According to statistics, China has achieved a growth level of 10.9%, which is quite a massive growth. With this rapid growth, people are now quite able to achieve higher living standards which can be observed in China where people can now be more luxurious in the goods they buy over the inferior ones CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The government of China can now provide timely and more efficient services for everyone’s wellbeing. This is as a result of more people being able to pay their taxes as there are more employment opportunities. The availability of more revenue has enabled them to improve on the medical healthcare facilities and education. This not only has private benefit, but a healthy population can be more productive due to the increased life expectancy. With increasing globalization, Western Europe established favorable for trade and entrepreneurship through its educated workforce working in China. The development of infrastructural linkages in China favors trading in the region. This process has enhanced the rate of international trade of different services and goods. The production processes have been broken down into various stages separated by the geographical boundaries and is conducted on large scale. Moreover, an enormous expansion in the manufacturing exports has occurred from many developing countries. All these factors have created new opportunities and possibilities for the developing regions of the world.   For instance, during 1900s, the Japan and China experienced an increasing market share while the rest of the world witnessed the export share to be decreasing. China’s globalization has also enhanced the participation of the developing world in FDI expansion. Due to the boosting of financial expansion in the industrial world, the developing nations have also obtained a platform to give their contributions in the financial world and enjoy the advantages of modern concepts CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). Globalization in China has encouraged increased flight of capital and ideas to other countries like Korea and Japan which have increased their inventiveness and expertise through the hiring of fresh and innovative human resources from the developed nations. Moreover, they are able to avail the opportunities of investing in the developed regions of the world as well as attracting newer investments from other parts of the world CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). China’s globalization has in turn influenced the neighboring countries. India for instance has picked a few lessons from China and has adopted a more open economy in the process. This has in the process transformed the nation as regards to development and creation of opportunities in the global scale for most multi-national companies. Globalization in China has resulted in an increased level of trade of China with other countries that are in different parts of the globe. Its recent growth has led to the revi val of Japan’s economy and in the process saving them from recession thus averting a serious global downturn. With the huge population figures in China, it has provided markets for American companies and their products. This has led to the flow of income from the U. S to China. The exported cheap products that are produced in the US has resulted in the increase of job opportunities thus an improvement of the living standards of the Americans and other countries nationals who are in active trade with China. With globalization China has been able to export some of its products to markets like the U.S thus managing to keep the level of inflation and interest rates down in the process prolonging the economic boom in America CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The success of globalization in China has led to decreased cases of wars and conflict in the globe. China is often a quiet participant in global conflict and its lack of interest in conflict has been beneficial to the global stage. With globalization it has managed to steer away from instances of tug of wars with the other global super powers. It does not sponsor insurgencies in conflict prone areas like the Middle East Asia and Latin America unlike other superpowers. It has by all means through globalization supported the global financial institutions like the IMF in assisting the poor CITATION Moo99 l 1033 (Moore, 1999). As a result of this, third world countries have benefited the most from China’ s generosity as regards to funding and sponsoring of development projects in their countries. In recent time China has been an active participant in the African scene f infrastructure with most of the projects in these countries being sponsored and conducted by China. This in esse nce shows Africa as the direct benefactor of globalization in China. China has been able to provide loans to these countries and in the process has strengthened ties with these nations. The concept of globalization has also proven to be a friend to the developing world by providing it the chances to stand in the line of competitors and thus, aim on attaining efficiency and competitive advantage Methodology The non-banking financial institutions constitute the larger part and they are subject to regulatory oversight. The oversight involves various degrees that include direct loans for surfeit funds from companies to trade credit or other borrowers, wealth management products and trust companies, pawn shops, micro credit providers, over 3000 private and equity providers partly funded by private investors, consumer credit institutions, and financial guarantors to finance companies. The capital markets allow institutional investors and insurance companies to by debt and equity securities. The informal sector poses as a major risk for the Chinese economy because it involves direct lending between secretive and individual lending which is often conducted by illegal loan sharks like back lane bankers and unrestrained capitalists who offer loans at high interests to small business enterprises. What drives this tremendous growth of the Chinese shadow banking system is the regulation and structu re of the country’s financial system. China’s credit markets is dominated by four major banks that are controlled by the state and focus on lending to government associated firms , enterprises owned by the state and projects with official sanctions. This makes it quite difficult for other businesses to gain access to bank credit which triggers shadow banking to fill this gap. This exemplifies a popular saying in Chinese culture which asserts that’ countermeasures come from below while policies come from above. There is immense risk that is associated China’s shadow banking system which questions the longevity of the Chinese financial welfare. Although it may be difficult to ascertain the exact size of the Chinese shadow banking system, it is evidently growing rapidly and accounts for approximately 70 to 100 percent of the country’ GDP CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). A major problem is that most of the financial guarantors and trust companies of the Chinese shadow banking system often lack enough capital. This forces them into an average leverage that is twenty times their worth given that most of the investments are of high nature. More so, the detail as to what exactly the investor will use the funds for is not clear. There is ambiguity regarding how to enforce security interests and due diligence by the investment enterprise or sponsor and the rights if the investor and borrower. The controls and oversight of the shadow banking system are weak since it operates with regulations that are limited. Main Issues/ Findings The share of lending by Chinese banks has now decreased from ninety percent over the past ten year to fifty percent showing how much the Chinese economy now relies on the shadow banking system as a vital financial source. This has mostly affected the local governments, small and medium sized enterprises and property companies. This interconnection between conventional banking systems and the shadow banking system lead to the creation of moral hazards and additional risk based on regulatory reasons CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The banks often use the shadow banking system when shifting loan assets from their window financial statements and balance sheets for investors and regulators. For example, when Chinese banks are not able to lend funds at high interests to companies, they use Wealth Management Products and Trust Companies. They also create products of investment for investors looking for higher returns thereby acting as an intermediate between borrowers and savers Chine se banks has thus used shadow banking investment products like Security Brokers and Trust Companies to maintain the earnings and market share through the commissions and fees from the products. Currently, there has been an increase on the number of Wealth Management Products issued by Chinese banks has increased from roughly 100 billion dollars to 3 trillion dollars CITATION Kuh12 l 1033 (Kuhn & Yang, 2012). Shadow banking has caused uneven credit quality of many borrowers in the market. This is because of the variability in collateral used to secure loans. Although most of the wealth management products are invested as bond markets, interbank deposits and money markets whose large proportion is secured through real estate. The problem with real estate is that the investors are highly vulnerable to losses because property values fluctuate every now and then. This exposes them to high negative risk. There are also other risky forms of collateral in shadow banking which include invaluable commodities and industry machinery and other exotic forms like graveyards that also expose businesses to risk. Most importantly is the fact that the collaterals pledged may not even be in existence CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). A good example is that of Wealth Management Product the Golden Elephant Number 38 which was secured by a deserted housing estate located in rice filed within th e Jiangxi Province of China. This Wealth Management Product offered 7.2 percent to its investors on an annual basis. The collaterals used also entail substantial mismatches whereby long term assets are financed by short term funds that do not generate any income. This poses a liquidity crisis for the financial system and the conduit vehicles which face constant periodic payments and other refinance requirements. This is evidenced by the huge 660 billion dollars’ worth of trust products that have matured as of 2014. The linkages between bank and shadow banking system in China are quite complex in nature. There are different transactions between the different shadow banking institutions. China growing concern over the debt accrued is complicated by the fact that there has been an increase in the rate of borrowing by most of its local government and the important role the shadow banking system plays in this economy. This is quite undermines the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit and highlights the huge problems in China’s system of finance. The relaxation measures taken by the central government in the wake of 2007/2008 financial crisis led to increased government expenditure in an endeavor to increase economic activity. The legal limitation is that the local governments in China are not allowed to ask for any form of funding or rather borrowing. This was after the creation of Urban Development Investment Companies (UDIC) that was allowed to ask for any form of funding the local government need. Ideally, UDIC’s are allowed to ask for funding from banks but the recent action by banks to reduce on loans led them to borrow from the shadow banking system. This has thus resulted in the local banks being left in the dark as there are disputes on the exact figure of borrowings made despite the growing level of scrutiny revolving the issue CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). There has been an increased rate of borrowing, misappropriation of funds and servicing of debts due to prices of property increasing in China. The growing concern by the lenders is more likely to reduce the availability of credit and as a result leading to a restrained cash flow. It can be said that the rise of the shadow banking has emerged from the structured financial system that is regulated. The limited access to funds and credit in bank has led to the emergence of shadow banking as the alternative solution to access credit. The regulation by the government in terms of deposits and interest rates has contributed majorly to the growth of shadow banking. The loss of purchasing power by consumers has led them to opt for the high interest rates offered by shadow banks CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). The Chinese central government has been on the offence through curtailing of expansion of credit through making reduction in loan quotas thus to a large extend limiting lending to certain sectors in the long run encouraging the growth of shadow banking. The shadow banking system is multi-faceted where there is lending in the informal sector say between individuals and underground lending through shylocks who offer high rates of interest on loans to small businesses. This can be seen as some form of harassment to the small businesses where they incur the high costs of interest rates charged to them by this shadow banking system. The problems by this shadow banking system are aggravated by the fact that this shadow banking system in China is made up of non-banking financial institutions like leasing companies, finance companies and guarantors that are supposed to be regulated. The dominating products in the non-banking institution sector are wealth management products. These trust companies thrive in financing riskier transactions and borrowers who banks cannot do business with because of the strict regulations that come with them. These companies raise money from investors who then invest in securities and loans. The attractions of such investments are the high returns in comparison to bank deposits. The financing of local government projects of infrastructure come from trust funds because of the reluctance of the Central bank to limit the local government financing. A common feature of China’s shadow banking is the working relationship they have with banks. The banks act as an agent in loan from one financial institution to another. Short term government debts interest is administered by the respective Central bank of that particular country. This is so because the sole role of the Central government is the maintenance of economic growth and price stability CITATION Yen14 l 1033 (Yen, Lai, & Wang, 2014). With lower interest rates then there is economic growth this is because of the affordability of credit as the people are able to service their loans and debts at low costs. From Statistics of the Chinese Central Bank, there has been a steady decline and rise in the interest rate in China for the last decade. This could be attributed to the public outcry in the country calling for effective and efficient monetary policy measures by their respective departments of finance. These measures have thus maintained the interest rates to a bare min imum thus enabling the stable economic growth in China. The GDP growth rate figures are an indication of the wealth produced per capita in an economy. This then determines the levels of foreign direct investment that are attracted to an economy. A high GDP and growth rate like that of China shows a growing economy thus a high attraction rate for investors in the country CITATION Loo13 l 1033 (Looney, 2013). The high inflation rate in China erodes the purchasing power of the consumers. The inflation rate of China serves as an economic indicator of the economic direction of the country except for special global cases like Japan that despite low and negative inflation rates show no growth rate. ConclusionFrom this analysis therefore, it is clear that the economic policies and issues of the Chinese economy is determined by various economic variables provided by the Central Bank of China which plays a vital role to ensure the full realization of the economic vision. The central bank’s monetary role and the governments’ fiscal policy role determine the economic development. With a proper and effective economic policies then the economic development agendas can be easily arrived atCITATION nte06 l 1033 (International Monetary Fund, 2006). Shadow banking has grown in China and it is now rivaling conventional banking systems and this has made the country a focal point regarding macroeconomic attention. There is a lot of speculation as to whether or not China’s economy will slow down and eventually cause critical financial upshot as a result of shadow banking CITATION Cla14 l 1033 (Claessens & Kodres, 2014). Consequently, this has become a serious issue that has gained global concern. In the beginning of 2009, the Chinese government encouraged a large credit boom in order to offset the possible effects of the global financial crisis. The larger part of this credit was used to finance infrastructure and construction of real estate which helped China to grow by forty five percent between 2008 and 2013. References Claessens, S., & Kodres, L. E. (2014). The Regulatory Responses to the Global Financial Crisis: Some Uncomfortable Questions. New York: International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund. (2006). Progress in China’s Banking Sector Reform: Has Bank †¦, Issues 2006-2071. Kuhn, R. L., & Yang, L. (2012). China’s Banking and Financial Markets: The Internal Research Report of the Chinese Government. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Looney, R. E. (2013). Handbook of Emerging Economies. New York: Routledge. Moore, T. G. (1999). China and Globalization. Asian Perspective, 65-85. Yen, J., Lai, K. K., & Wang, M. (2014). China’s Financial Markets: Issues and Opportunities. New York: Routledge. Source document

A review of `act of violence’

Frank Enley (Heflin) who is a soldier of World War II, comes back home from the warfare after surviving a German POW campsite whilst the rest of his companions have been assassinated. What he is not aware of is that Joe Parkson (Ryan), one of his jail friends has survived. Parkson recognizes that Enley assisted the Nazis in exchange for foodstuff whilst at prison, and Parkson is a manhunt to demolish the so-called â€Å"war hero† (Briggs J, 2003, 177)Enley, who is at the moment married to Edith (Leigh), ought to confront his dark history as well as the fact that he is a coward not a hero of war. In the meantime, Parkson gets closer and close to attaining his revenge. Enley then sets out hiding by leaving behind his bewildered wife and surviving on the lam. Enley enlists the help of a prostitute, Pat (Mary Astor) as well as a Hitman (Berry Kroeger) (Briggs J, 2003)A comparison of Robert Ryan’s acting/story line‘Act of Violence’ must have been fascinating in 1948 when its idea was fresh. Enley is tracked by Parkson to a mountain lake and then Parkson pursues him home, pulling his lame leg around the home like Lon Chaney's Mummy ogre and driving Edith Enley partially wild with fear. Edith recognizes that something essential is awry when Frank declines to call the police or take any apparent safety measures against Parkson; his plan is to merely avoid him, as if going missing might resolve the problem. (Briggs J, 2003)Parkson has no difficulty tracing his mine to a contractor's convention in the city center of Los Angeles. Drunk, terrified and not to able to face his own guiltiness, Enley is selected up by a trio of skid line lowlifes. B-Girl Pat (Mary Astor, seven significant years following The Maltese Falcon) sets up Enley for a dishonest lawyer (Taylor Holmes) and a slimy hit man (Berry Kroeger) who searches for profit by getting rid of Parkson for cash. (Briggs J, 2003)The film's dramatics are peculiarly unresolved. Both principal ma le characters are crippled. Parkson is a physical/emotional mess of vengeance motivations, and Enley is a moral weakling. Detached from the root source, the women ought to look beyond their own understanding to realize what to do.Parkson's loyal darling Ann Sturges (Phyllis Thaxter) battles his revengeful expedition every step of the way, whereas Enley's unfortunate wife Edith has a more difficult predicament. She's disgusted when her handsome husband discloses himself to be gutless and guilty, but never goes beyond passively yielding to his desires, even when he repetitively deceives her, ‘good reasons' or no.Enley's whining explanation of the deadly wartime incident is so dreadful that Edith has no immediate reply. Her husband teamed up with his Nazi captors to live, a choice taken for individual survival and streamlined by the assertion that he was trying to defend his fellow prisoners. The consequence was that all of his bunkmates were unpleasantly murdered; Parkson surviv ed merely by pure luck. (Briggs J, 2003)Enley has managed a relaxed denial for three years, believing that all of the men affected by his fault were dead. But as quickly as Parkson materializes, he disintegrates into a whining child, alternately excusing and condemning himself, and most unforgettably weeping out in a downtown L.A. subway for Parkson not to pass away.Inquisitively, Enley's bad ruling in the P.O.W. campsite no longer appears so unforgivable, only in draconian rules of honor are starved men anticipated to die silently, remaining fully accountable for their actions as they give in. (Briggs J, 2003)

What Exactly do Group Workers Do and What do Their Groups Seek to Coursework

What Exactly do Group Workers Do and What do Their Groups Seek to Achieve - Coursework Example However, with the advent of organizational set up in the twentieth century, both private and public companies encouraged teamwork for achieving the technical output as it demanded more scientific inquiry compared to yesteryears (Gerald Corey, 2007). This necessitated us to recruit more people for combined work or group work. Hence it is high time to analyze the desirable attributes of group workers for achieving success. The group workers are initially trained before taking up their main task in the areas of organizational skills, teamwork and coordination (Irvin D Yalom and Molyn Leszch, 2005). They will be made aware of the necessity of understanding the group requirements. The group worker would certainly understand the time frame and nature of his responsibility as part of the whole team (Gerald Corey, 2004). He would be assigned short-term targets and evaluation would be made at certain time intervals to assess his performance rate. The evaluation would also be made to ascertain whether his individual contribution is in proportion to the group requirement or not? At times, the group size may be very large and enhance there is need to divide it into subgroups. While making subgroups, some flexibility is to be given to select the subgroup. Of course, the care should be taken to ensure that the subgroup involves the homogenous mixture of persons from different specializations to look after the main technical work. To make it more specific, I would like to share my practical experience with working n some non-government or voluntary organizations. Voluntary organizations in which I had association work mainly for rural development. They aim at organizing the farmers and other rural poor for achieving higher net income by higher agricultural productivity.

Read the story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Read the story - Essay Example According to The Economist (2001), if the giver offered the cash value of the receiver to buy the gift instead of giving the gift itself, the receiver could then purchase what she truly wants, and be happier for no extra cost. The article reached this finding by asking two university students of whether the valued the gift that were offered to them during the past Christmas period. The most conventional approximation put the standard receivers valuation at 90 percent of the buying price (The Economist, 2001). The missing 10 percent is what economists refer to as deadweight loss: a waste of resources, which could be avoided without making anybody worse off. Non-money gifts from extended family members were discovered to be least efficient. The most efficient/appreciated gifts, also those with the least deadweight loss, were considered to be those from close relations and friends, whereas non-cash gifts from normal family members â€Å"extended family† were considered to be the least efficient (The Economist, 2001). As the age disparity between the provider and beneficiary grew, so did the ineffectiveness of the gift. All of which propose what a lot of grandparents discern: when purchasing gifts for an individual with fundamentally unidentified preferences, the best gift is one, which is entirely flexible, such as money cash, or very supple, such as gift vouchers (The Economist, 2001). This article argues that giving a gift of value not only good for the receiver, but the provider, as well. People buy a gift to please the receiver, and when the receiver is pleased, there is a mutual feeling in the giver too. I remember the first time is spent a valentine’s day with my girlfriend that I had to save plenty of cash to get her a pair of doll shoes that she had been admiring a lot. The shoes cost me $60, but the moment I saw the smile in her face when I gave them to her, the amount of money was insignificant. It

Working Groups and Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Working Groups and Teams - Essay Example Within that group, teams may be formed to achieve specific tasks in the way of achievement of the overall goal of the group. Group is a larger term as compared to a team. Another fundamental difference between a group and a team is that individual members of a group do not need to have concern with the achievement of the other members of the group whereas people forming part of a team have concern with and are affected by the performance of other members of the team. Challenges of communicating in a team are more than those in a group. Groups normally have a well-established and organized system of communication. There is a process through which message is conveyed and received, e.g. through emails or letters. The challenge of communication in a group is that it is more time consuming as compared to communication in a team. For example, let’s suppose the member of a political group writes a letter to the chairman of the party. The chairman might take long to reply. On the other hand, people working in a team are generally in constant connection with one another. Even if they are working separately at different places, they communicate through cell phones. Since the performance of one team-member affects that of all others, team-members are concerned to maintain constant contact with one another. However, communication in a team is very challenging since the team-members develop friction among one another while constantly working together. â€Å"Conflicting goals can quickly turn into personal dislike† (Mind Tools, 2012). Team members become agitated, develop attitude problems, and enter into dysfunctional conflicts. These team members avoid talking to one another and if they have to, there is always a risk that the conversation might end up in an argument. Effective collaboration within teams is more difficult to achieve as compared to the groups. The leader of the group can generate a

Human Resources Management Pay for Performance at Dee's Personalized Case Study

Human Resources Management Pay for Performance at Dee's Personalized Baskets - Case Study Example The company needs to analyze following determinants before designing any PFP model. Employees value outcome of their effort in terms of monetary benefit and other recognition Monetary outcome is more valued than any other kind of recognition Performance level expected by the company must be measurable Performance measurement must synchronize with strategic goal of the company Reward must be tempting enough to motivate workers It is evident from the case study size of the organization is not big hence measuring performance of each employee is possible hence the company should adopt individual level PFP system. Merit pay plan and incentive system will complement individual level PFP program. In merit pay plan payment is done as certain percentage of base salary and distributed in top down approach. Research report shows that workers prefer merit pay plan over straight fixed salary. Merit pay plan helps the employee to assume that employer has recognized his/her performance. The company should adopt the system for all employees. Incentive schemes can be applied to all employees of the company. The company can use incentive scheme rigorously to improve performance of sales team. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) model can be used to design PFP system for the company (Parmenter, 2011, p. 3-15). KPI will help the company to identify key performers responsible to increase sales and based on appraisal the company can decide salary structure for key performers. Dee’s Personalized Baskets should introduce performance based incentives for all the employees to motivate them to perform well. The company needs two types of additional information to build effective PFP model (Bernardin & Russell, 2013, p. 753). It is evident from the case that the company is lacking in creating sustainable performance standard and appraisal system. The company should try to design a consistent incentives system to fulfill expectancy of employees (Kreitner & Kinick, 2013, p. 222). Externa l information (industry average for incentives and salary structure and how much competitors are paying to their staffs). Internal data (annual performance report for employees). PFP system of the company needs to address following issues. Annual bonus system not tied with base salary. Bonus pay level should be adjusted to 0% to 20% for non supervisory personnel and 20% to 40% to supervisory personnel. Forced distribution should be used for performance appraisal. Proper alignment between job designation and performance measurement. Designing annual merit pay program for major achievement Key performance indicator should be integrated in the system to monitor performance of employees and KPI should be used improve performance on monthly basis. Answer 2 Gain sharing is the process of sharing financial benefits of increased productivity or cost reduction with employees. Gain sharing plans aim to reduce level of human resource pool required to produce certain output or increase producti vity from existing human resource pool. Research suggests that maximum effectiveness of gain sharing can be achieved by 1- cooperative union, 2- utmost faith between employee and employer, 3- participation of worker and management to achieve common organizational goal. Research scholars believe measuring gain sharing is difficult because involvement of complex financial

Procurement - Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Procurement - Assignment 2 - Essay Example ent system is vital since the correct choice may help to avoid eventualities that might negatively impact on time, costs and quality; to ensure that the project’s goals are attained. One needs to consider a variety of factors from the project’s internal and external environment in which the industry operates. A point to note is that different projects may require different systems based on a project’s features (Hashim, Yuet, Chu, Hooi, Heng & Yong 2006). Procurement systems are divided into three categories namely; traditional, management contracting and design and build methods. These three categories have different influences on each factor. The following factors are may be considered in the construction of site in Chelmsford. Time, complexity, price certainty, government policy, price completion, responsibility, risk avoidance and familiarity of procurement methods (Hashim, Yuet, Chu, Hooi, Heng & Yong 2006). Time is of fundamental when deciding which procurement system to acquire for construction purposes. Time described here is from inception to completion stage. If the completion deadline is not met due to an inefficient procurement system, extra or overrun costs will be incurred by the contractor making the project expensive. The procurement system should monitor the lead-time schedules to ensure that the functional spaces are completed within the required time and start generating income. The client being a private firm, completion time of the project is truly crucial and of importance to them (Hashim, Yuet, Chu, Hooi, Heng & Yong 2006). Therefore, the procurement system must be comprehensive in planning and its schedules to achieve deadlines and other timelines required. Time as a factor is affected by the given procurement methods in the following ways. Design and build method is advantageous for a client who wants a quick return on their investment. The client may employ manageme nt contracting method in order to reduce the project

A middle east entrepreneur Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A middle east entrepreneur - Essay Example She took up the challenge risking all her investment let alone to mention that she was 22 years old at the time. She successfully established one of the fast growing online bookstore business in her region that is now operating internationally in a span of few years. Profile Jinanne Tabra is an Arabic Iraq woman that had an upbringing in Scotland. She was a former pupil of Carlogie Primary School, Carnoustie. When she was five years old, her family went back to Iraq to her father’s home town of Baghdad. They wanted to raise her in the Arabic culture and develop her Arabic language (Araboh’s story 2012, 1). However, for the family safety as the gulf war was eminent they relocated back to Scotland. Like most other Arabic children growing abroad she did not find Arabic enjoyable to learn but it was a struggle and difficult for her. While growing up, she did not have any access to fun Arabic books or cartoons although she wished that she had them. She did not even have any access to Arabic games to play with like other children growing in her native country. The best access she had to Arabic teachings was a community run Arabic school. She attended the community school during weekends something, which she did not find appealing. According to Araboh.com (2012, 1) Tabra says that, for her, it was no fun giving up playing time and enjoying your weekend for studying intensive Arabic. Tabra relocated the gulf, back to her native and homeland country while she was in high school. She was glad to relocate finally back to her home where she did not have to joggle with two cultures, as it was in Scotland. In Scotland, she had to live with two different and conflicting cultures. One was that of being Arabic, and striving to maintain her identity and roots as an Arab, while the other was the acquired culture of Scotland where she was born and bred. When she eventually moved back to her country, she was delighted of the prospect of living in a country with one cu lture. Here, she was at home and not a foreigner anymore. She fitted in seamlessly and adapted quickly to her new environment. Her little Arabic, which she had learnt from the community school, was helpful for her to adjust to her new environment. As she put her Arabic to use every day in her new home, she was grateful to her family and community back in Scotland for their hard work, in ensuring that she had a strong establishment in the Arabic language. She still struggled with her Arabic, and she was embarrassed to read out aloud and ashamed of her handwriting. Tabra is a graduate of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University of Qatar. She studied business administration. In addition, she recently finished a certification course by The Academy for Arabic Teachers for teaching Arabic as a second and foreign language. Currently she is studying for a Masters level in International Education Policy at Harvard University. Among her achievements, while aged 22 years, th e Arabian CEO Magazine, named Tabra as one of the 30 under 30 Arab leaders in 2009. She was also featured in the Qatar Foundation achievers Campaign in 2011, which earned her appearances in leading broadcasters in the world, such as CNN and Al-Jazeera. She is also the CEO of Araboh.com the Middle East’s first e-commerce business, which she set up half way through her final year in campus. Today her start-up boosts a wealth of fun educational

Epidemiology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Epidemiology - Lab Report Example In 1977, there was 1 fatal case in Tandala, in Equator province. In 1995, in Bandundu province, there was additional cases in Vanga, Fashi, Mosango,Yassa Bonga, Bulungu, Gungu, Imbongo, Idiofa nad Mukala (CFR of 81%, 315 cases). In 2007, Notified by WHO, there was 264 cases (CFR of 71%) and in 2008 there was 32 cases (CFR of 44%), both were reported in Kasai Oriental province. In 2012, an outbreak which was caused by Bundibugyo ebolavirus occurred in eastern Congo, Orientale province (CFR of 51%, 57 cases). The overall Case Fatality Rate has been 79%, with a total of 736 fatal cases. When compared to the current outbreak in West African countries, the risk of exposure to Ebola virus in healthcare settings in Congo, is low since the outbreak in Equator province is still limited in geographical spread and size. Nonetheless, the risk involved in the actual transmission is dependent on the use of proper infection control measures in every health facility. DRC residents have a life expectancy of 0.94 .The EU citizens who provide health care in the affected region are at a higher risk of exposure to this virus. Individually, there is a higher risk of transmission via unprotected sex activity with a partner who is still recovering from Ebola. If the proposed standard infection control measures are strictly followed, transmission can be effectively be controlled and prevented in return. Lately, the outbreak of Ebola have been evolving in the Equateur province of the DRC since the start of August 2014. As at 9th October, 71 confirmed and reported cases have been identified in Congo; with 15 suspected, 26 probable, 30 confirmed of Ebola virus disease, inclusive of eight health care workers (CFR of 43.8%). This shows how the epidemiological features of Ebola outbreak are consistent with past outbreaks. Ebola outbreak has not yet been brought under control and is expected that more cases will be identified through active

The Personal Narratives Written By Beller And Thurber Essay Example for Free

The Personal Narratives Written By Beller And Thurber Essay Though the personal narratives written by Beller and Thurber were fairly short, they still revealed a lot about themselves, which essentially affected the experience of the reader. Through Thurber’s words, the reader gets a sense of who he was during his â€Å"University Days† by his many stories of the classes he claims he didn’t like. Beller on the other hand, reveals himself by his sense of style and description of the different unimportant articles of clothing. Both Beller and Thurber however use anecdotes to draw the reader in so there is a possibility of a connection,  thus altering the reader’s experience from what it would be like for them to just explain their point very dully. Right from the beginning of University Days, Thurber shares an amusing experience that grabs the readers attention immediately. Rather than just telling the reader his dislike for each class, he begins by saying â€Å"I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could never pass botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could  never see through a microscope†(Thurber 26). From this, Thurber reveals his point of having some troubles with certain classes, but in a way where the reader finds it humorous and in a way where some readers might be able to relate. If Thurber were to just say he didn’t pass botany and economics and just left it at that, the reader wouldn’t be as engaged, nor would the reader actually understand what he had to go through.

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Intelligence Analysis

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Intelligence Analysis Sophia Ashraf Individual Differences Essay Describe and evaluate the usefulness of Howard Gardner’s theory of intelligence? Intelligence is a highly significant and contested area within psychology. It is an elusive, multi-faceted ability that has close connections with Cognitive Psychology. It is characterised by inter-individual variation and is measured using intelligence tests. Some definitions of intelligence include: the ability to solve problems, retain information and the possession of numerous skills and talents. Howard Gardner, the founder of multiple intelligence theory defines intelligence as ‘a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture’ (Gross, 2010: 645). This definition implies intelligence is a social construction as its definition lies upon the values of a society (Mahoney, 2011). Howard Gardner was born in Pennsylvania in 1943. He has completed studies in neuropsychology and developmental psychology at Harvard University, where he is currently a professor in Cognition and Education. He is also a senior director of the human cognition research group named Harvard Project Zero, and has published several books including Frames of Minds (1953) and ‘The Art and Science of Changing our own and other People’s Minds’ (2004). Gardner was influenced by psychologist Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Jerome Bruner and Jean Piaget. His theory draws on his knowledge and findings from evolutionary biology, anthropology, developmental/cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and psychometrics (Garnett, 2005; Maltby et al, 2010). This essay will describe and evaluate the usefulness of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences in the contemporary world. Howard Gardner asserts intelligence is not fixed at birth. It develops through experience and learning. Each person is born with a wide variety of capabilities that reside in separate sections of the brain. In theory, this means that brain damage in one area will leave other cognitive functions intact. Consequently, intelligence is a computer that works more or less well. Gardner worked as an investigator at the Boston University Aphasia Research Centre. He was interested in human faculties under conditions of brain damage and studied children and brain damaged adults. He examined for behaviours which developed at similar ages, were similarly affected by damage to a particular part of the brain and behaviours that interfered with one other when performing two tasks simultaneously (Cooper, 2002; Gardner, 1999). In regards to intelligence, Gardner acknowledges nature providing us with savants and prodigies. One such extraordinary case study is that of a savant called Leslie Lemke, who was born blind and suffered from both mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Despite his illness, he showed incredible skills in playing the piano. At the age of 18, he could listen to a piece of classical piano music and play it back flawlessly. This evidences Howard Gardner’s views that our intelligences are independent as people with signs of brain damage can have extraordinary profiles of intelligence despite their mental illness (Gregory, 2011) Howard Gardner takes a multidimensional approach to intelligence. He identifies nine distinct faculties. The first two are distinguishable from standard IQ tests. These are linguistic and logical- mathematical intelligence. Gardner’s theory incorporates an additional five which are spatial, musical, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. After 1996, he added a further two intelligences to his theory. These comprise of naturalist and existentialist intelligence. Firstly, linguistic intelligence is displaying ability in speaking, writing, listening and reading. This intelligence is crucial for us to make sense of the world and learn new languages. Lawyers, writers, poets and teachers all have high linguistic intelligence. Students with high linguistic intelligence learn best by reading, listening to lectures and taking notes. Secondly, logical-mathematical intelligence is associated with high reasoning capabilities and the skill to carry out complex c alculations. Mathematicians, economists and doctors all possess high logical-mathematical intelligence. It is claimed that the western education system is heavily biased in Gardner’s first two intelligences. This means that only students who excel in these subjects will benefit. Moreover, it should be noted that schools now incorporate design technology subjects into their curriculum to cater for students’ needs (Gardner, 1999; Garnett, 2005; Maltby, 2012). Gardner’s next three intelligences are compatible with the arts. The first is musical intelligence which also entails aspects of linguistic intelligence. Musicians, singers and composers have high musical intelligence as they display great sensitivity to sounds and rhythms. The second faculty linked with the arts is bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, which involves the use of bodily-movements and physiology to solve problems. These people learn best by adopting a hands-on approach. Strong bodily-kinaesthetic individuals might use muscle memory as an aid to learning. Careers suited to this intelligence include dancers, athletics, mechanics and builders. The third intelligence correlated with the arts is spatial intelligence which is the awareness, recognition and manipulation of space. Navigators, artists, surgeons and chess players all have high spatial intelligence. These people have a good sense of direction and hand eye coordination (ibid). Gardner’s sixth faculty is interpersonal intelligence which involves interaction with others, understanding their intentions and motivations and being able to communicate and work effectively as part of a group. Careers linked with this intelligence involve teachers, politicians and social workers. Mahatma Gandhi famously stressed the importance of understanding others. Alternatively, Gardner’s seventh intelligence which is intrapersonal intelligence is to do with self-reflective capacities. This faculty closely mirrors Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence theory as it places emphasis on understanding our emotions, goals and motivations in order to solve problems. Careers suited to this intelligence include philosophers and psychologists. Gardner’s eighth ability is naturalist intelligence which incorporates displaying sensitivity to the natural world. Careers linked with this ability include farmers, environmentalists and scientists. Charles Darwin, a prominent person declared himself ‘as a born naturalist’ (Gardner, 1999:48). Lastly, Gardner’s ninth intelligence which is known as existentialist intelligence involves displaying concern with ultimate issues in life such as the meaning of life and death plus the fate of both physical and psychological worlds (Gardner, 1999; Garnett, 2005; Maltby, 2012). Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory is based on two fundamental principles. Firstly, intelligences exist as independent entities that may also require collaboration in order to achieve a task. For example, singing and dancing together entails the amalgamation of both musical and bodily-kinaesthetic faculties. Secondly, Gardner states every individual is unique in their levels of ability. There may be two individuals with musical talent but only one can sing whilst, the other is skilful in playing a musical instrument. This proves intelligence is not the same in any two individuals, not even monozygotic twins who share 100% genetic similarity. This proves, we are all intelligent but in different ways as Gardner claims ‘We are not all the same; we do not all have the same kinds of minds and education works most effectively if these differences are taken into account rather than denied or ignored’ (Gardner, 1999: 91). Gardner asserts intelligence cannot be measure d via IQ test. He proposes the need for empirical observations such as observing a music class and argues this would provide a more valid and detailed picture of musical intelligence (Conti, 2008; Gross, 2010). Gardner’s theory has practicalities within educational institutions. This includes primary, secondary, college and university level. His theory makes an invaluable contribution to the education system. It is egalitarian as it takes into account the entire human cognition. Armstrong (2009) cited in Ghamrawi, 2014) argues the theory is productive since it provides multiple approaches to learning which allows teachers to be imaginative as they can draw on a repertoire of activities within the classroom. Therefore, it is beneficial as it will account for students preferential learning styles such as auditory, visual and kinaesthetic. For instance, teachers can integrate linguistic intelligence by making pupils write a story or read poetry. Similarly, teachers can embrace logical-mathematical intelligence by making students solve puzzles and crosswords. Overall, numerous schools have structured their curriculum towards Gardner’s faculties which signals the value of his theor y (Gardner, 1999; Garnett, 2005; Malim and Birch, 1998). The Harvard Project Zero has researched 41 schools in America applying multiple intelligence theory for at least 3 years. Results show 78% of the schools reporting positive test outcomes, with 63% attributing the improvement to practices inspired by Gardner’s theory. Additionally, 78% reported improved performances by students with learning difficulties and 75% credited the increase to multiple intelligence theory. (Gardner, 1999) These figures support the view that multiple intelligence theory is extremely successful within the education system. Meanwhile, the extent to which the findings can be generalised to other schools worldwide is called into question. This is because the research focussed on a small sample of schools in America and used self-report methodology. This may means the findings suffer from social desirability bias as teachers and students may answer in a way that favours the school’s reputation (Garnett, 2005). The theory’s multi-faceted nature is beneficial to students as it helps them master their preferred disciplines for instance, linguistic intelligence for the poet and bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence for the dancer. Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory has also been embraced by institutions such as museums that have practically integrated Gardner’s criteria with visual, spatial and bodily-kinaesthetic activities for students. Gardner’s theory is equally valid within the workplace as all businesses make use of a mixture of multiple intelligences. For instance, businesses that deal with finance and accounting draw on logical-mathematical intelligence. Likewise, entertainment businesses draw on musical intelligences, linguistic and bodily kinaesthetic intelligences. More importantly, Gardner’s theory is applicable with other species and organisms as rodents have strong spatial intelligence whereas, birds possess outstanding musical intelligence. It m ay well be argued that computers too have multiple faculties as they are extremely effective in multitasking (ibid). Nevertheless, Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory is highly controversial. It is criticised for being extremely flexible. This makes it difficult for researchers to construct a single test that will measure and evaluate all nine faculties. For this reason, the theory has little scientific credibility. It may well be argued that Gardner’s musical and bodily-kinaesthetic intelligences are better viewed as talents as they are not needed in adapting to life demands .Additionally, the theory is proven irrelevant in regards to uniform schooling which believes all pupils should be taught the same subjects in the same manner. In regards to the implementation of Gardner’s theory within the education system, it is disapproved for increasing educators’ workload. Ultimately, Gardner’s theory is criticised since it derives from his own intuitions and findings rather than from comprehensive empirical research (Conti, 2008; Gardner, 1999; Ghamrawi, 2014). In comparison to Gardner’s theory, psychologist Charles Spearman’s theory advocates the notion of a general faculty (g). Spearman administered tests to Hampshire schoolchildren on six areas of ability including mathematical ability, ability to follow complex instructions, visualisation, knowledge of vocabulary, matching colours and musical pitch. He invented factor analysis to analyse the scores and concluded one factor called general ability (g) that determined children’s intellectual performance. His results implied that if a child performed above average on one of the tests, it was more likely that they would perform above average on all other tests. The problem with his study is that intelligent students would have been selected. Gardner was sceptic about Spearman’s single faculty. He proposed the existence of numerous intelligences. Nevertheless, Spearman’s view is regarded as both reductionist and deterministic as it reduces intelligence to a single lump (Mahoney, 2011; Maltby et al, 2010). Alternatively, Robert Sternberg a professor at Yale University came up with the triarchic theory of intelligence. He claims certain mental mechanisms are required for intelligent behaviour. His theory deals with three types of intelligence: componential, experiential and contextual intelligence. Componential intelligence consists of mental mechanisms responsible for intelligence behaviour. The first mechanism is meta-components which are responsible for determining the nature of an intellectual problem, selecting a strategy to resolve the problem and making sure the task is completed. Secondly, performance components are the processes actually involved in solving the problem. Thirdly, knowledge- acquisition components are involved in learning new information. Sternberg’s second ability is named experiential intelligence involves the ability to deal effectively with novel tasks from previous experience (Gregory, 2011; Mahoney, 2011; Maltby, 2010). Lastly, Sternberg’s contextual intelligence involves the adaptation, shaping of a current environment and the selection of a new environment. Kline (1991 cited in Mahoney, 2011) criticises Sternberg’s theory for defining intelligence too broadly. His theory raises the question as to whether intelligence is an ability, personality trait or behavioural style. Nevertheless, the theory has real life applications like Gardner’s theory. For example, an employee who convinces their boss to do things differently has used shaping to alter the work environment. Sternberg’s theory is more credible than Gardner’s as he has devised The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test to validate his theory. Both Sternberg and Gardner agree that intelligence is a complicated phenomenon that cannot be measured by any single intelligence test (Gregory, 2011; Mahoney, 2011; Maltby, 2010). In conclusion, Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is both highly valued and also contentious within the contemporary world. In relation to his criteria of intelligences, many may argue there are several others intelligences that Gardner has failed to consider for instance cooking intelligence, humour intelligence, spiritual intelligence and many more. Whether researchers consider Gardner’s theory as useful or not depends on their definition and interpretation of intelligence. This will also depend on whether the individual considers intelligence as singular or plural (Gardner, 1999).

Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men has been described as a protest stat

Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men has been described as a protest statement Steinbeck’s novel, â€Å"Of Mice and Men† has been described as a protest statement. To what extent do you think that this is true? Steinbeck protest’s about the way that several different types of people were treated during the early nineteenth century. He protests against the treatment of the mentally retarded, cripples, African American people and the viewing of women as possessions. He does this by creating a character for each of these groups of people, and exposing these characters as victims, which generates the reader’s sympathy for them. Steinbeck was a sympathizer with the migrant workers and this is shown in the book. Steinbeck wrote a series of articles and made a documentary film about migrant workers. For John Steinbeck this book was used to highlight the issues generated in the situation. Each character has their own traits. Normally they all have at least one good quality and they all have a negative quality. Firstly in this essay I am going to look at the segregation and racial hatred that Crooks experiences during the novel. Like other hardships experienced in the book by other characters this kind of treatment eventually turns Crooks and he is bullied into thinking like his oppressors. Crooks is more permanent than the other ranch hands and has his own room off the stables with many more possessions than the other workers. This room is made out to be a privilege and also because it means he is nearer to the horses but in fact it is really because the other ranch hands do not want him in the bunk house with them. An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack ... ...wned by men who read this book would probably realise that they should live up to their dreams rather than having their place in the home. The cripples and elderly who read this book must have felt sorry at the fact that they were being bullied into making a hard decision that they did not want to make and the mentally retarded people that can read this book might be interested to know that it is not their fault. However Lenny’s character affects more than just the real Lenny’s in the world. It sends a message to others, people who have to live with mentally retarded people every day, it tells them to understand what they are going through and to take care as Lenny like characters may not fully understand what they mean. This book can be summed up as a statement, perhaps even as a leaflet to inform people of the hardships of the nineteenth century America. Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men has been described as a protest stat Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men has been described as a protest statement Steinbeck’s novel, â€Å"Of Mice and Men† has been described as a protest statement. To what extent do you think that this is true? Steinbeck protest’s about the way that several different types of people were treated during the early nineteenth century. He protests against the treatment of the mentally retarded, cripples, African American people and the viewing of women as possessions. He does this by creating a character for each of these groups of people, and exposing these characters as victims, which generates the reader’s sympathy for them. Steinbeck was a sympathizer with the migrant workers and this is shown in the book. Steinbeck wrote a series of articles and made a documentary film about migrant workers. For John Steinbeck this book was used to highlight the issues generated in the situation. Each character has their own traits. Normally they all have at least one good quality and they all have a negative quality. Firstly in this essay I am going to look at the segregation and racial hatred that Crooks experiences during the novel. Like other hardships experienced in the book by other characters this kind of treatment eventually turns Crooks and he is bullied into thinking like his oppressors. Crooks is more permanent than the other ranch hands and has his own room off the stables with many more possessions than the other workers. This room is made out to be a privilege and also because it means he is nearer to the horses but in fact it is really because the other ranch hands do not want him in the bunk house with them. An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack ... ...wned by men who read this book would probably realise that they should live up to their dreams rather than having their place in the home. The cripples and elderly who read this book must have felt sorry at the fact that they were being bullied into making a hard decision that they did not want to make and the mentally retarded people that can read this book might be interested to know that it is not their fault. However Lenny’s character affects more than just the real Lenny’s in the world. It sends a message to others, people who have to live with mentally retarded people every day, it tells them to understand what they are going through and to take care as Lenny like characters may not fully understand what they mean. This book can be summed up as a statement, perhaps even as a leaflet to inform people of the hardships of the nineteenth century America.

Racism: Similarities and Differences In Two Essays -- Discrimination,

In the two essays, â€Å"Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space† by Brent Staples and â€Å"I’m Not Racist But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  by Neil Bissoondath, there are both differences and similarities. The two authors differ in their opinion on the causes of racism and life experiences involving racism, but are similar in regards to the use of stereotypes in the world In Brent Staples’ opinion, causes of racism are derived from fear and the insufficient knowledge that a person might have about another that may cause them to be racist. In his piece, he writes, â€Å"Another time I was on assignment for a local paper and killing time before an interview. I entered a jewellery store on the city’s affluent Near North Side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of the leash. She stood, the dog extended toward me, silent to my questions, her eyes bulging nearly out of her head. I took a cursory look around, nodded, and bade her good night.† (Staples 227) This quote shows that the woman that owned the jewellery store was afraid that she might get robbed by Staples and therefore acted by protecting herself with her vicious dog, with the intention to scare away the â€Å"robber†, whom she believed to be Brent Staples. She assumed that because she was in an affluent neighbourhood and because Brent Staples was black, he was there with the intention to rob her rather than the true reason, which was to kill some time prior to his next interview. She showed prejudice and racism towards Staples because of she was afraid of his skin colour and did not have true information about him. Neil Bissoondath differs in his definition of racism. He writes that the cause of racism derives fr... ... became afraid and tried to get away from him. (Staples 224) In Neil Bissoondath’s essay, we see an example with the mover complaining about a Chinese driver he encountered. He said, â€Å"I’m not racist, but the Chinese are the worst drivers on the road.† (Bissoondath 271) The accusation that the mover made was a stereotype which exists about the Chinese, in general, because of the shape of their eyes because of their ethnicity. Their eye sight is not impaired in any way because of the shape of their eyes, but because they are different and people are afraid of them, they are made fun of because they are different. In regards to racism, Brent Staples and Neil Bissoondath may have different view points about its causes and by their life experiences involving racism, but they have similar views on the use of stereotypes and how they affect the races they pertain to.

Pauls Character in Pauls Case :: Paul

Paul's Character in Paul's Case Pauls's Case is the story of a young man who struggles with his identity. Paul feels that he knows where he belongs, but his family and teachers refuse to support his choices. In the middle of Paul's Case, there is a switch in narration. At this point, the reader can associate with Paul and his problems. Paul struggles with both internal and external conflicts, causing him to be quite a puzzling character. From tha perspective of his family and teachers, Paul seems abnormal. From his perspective, however, he seems misunderstood. In the beginning of the story, Paul seems to be a typical teenage boy: in trouble for causing problems in the classroom. As the story progresses, the reader can infer that Paul is rather withdrawn. He would rather live in his fantasy world than face reality. Paul dreaded returning home after the Carnegie Hall performances. He loathed his "ugly sleeping chamber with the yellow walls," but most of all, he feared his father. This is the first sign that he has a troubled homelife. Next, the reader learns that Paul has no mother, and that his father holds a neighbor boy up to Paul as "a model" . The lack of affection that Paul received at home caused him to look elsewhere for the attention that he craved. The theater and Carnegie Hall was where Paul "really lived". To him, the rest of his life was but "a sleep and a forgetting". The moment Paul stepped into either one of those places, he felt he was in his element. He "breathed like a prisoner set free". Paul's life was so monotonous and dull in comparison to his theater life, which he felt was his "secret temple". This alone provides insight into his character. He truly believed that he belonged to the arts. This makes Paul's case so sad because no one believed in him. This is what caused him to flee to New York to be in a place where he would be accepted for his true selt. Paul's train trip is where the change in narration occurs. Prior to this point, the author used an omniscient point of view. From this point on, the reader reads from Paul's point of view. The change in narration helps the reader understand Paul's perspective. He is not, as it seemed in the beginning, an abnormal person.

Management Accounting and Financial Accounting Essay

The differences between management accounting and financial accounting include:[1] 1. Management accounting provides information to people within an organization while financial accounting is mainly for those outside it, such as shareholders 2. Financial accounting is required by law while management accounting is not. Specific standards and formats may be required for statutory accounts such as in the I.A.S International Accounting Standard within Europe. 3. Financial accounting covers the entire organization while management accounting may be concerned with particular products or cost centres. Managerial accounting is used primarily by those within a company or organization. Reports can be generated for any period of time such as daily, weekly or monthly. Reports are considered to be â€Å"future looking† and have forecasting value to those within the company. Financial accounting is used primarily by those outside of a company or organization. Financial reports are usually created for a set period of time, such as a fiscal year or period. Financial reports are historically factual and have predictive value to those who wish to make financial decisions or investments in a company. Management Accounting is the branch of Accounting that deals primarily with confidential financial reports for the exclusive use of top management within an organization. These reports are prepared utilizing scientific and statistical methods to arrive at certain monetary values which are then used for decision making. Such reports may include: * Sales Forecasting reports * Budget analysis and comparative analysis * Feasibility studies * Merger and consolidation reports Financial Accounting, on the other hand, concentrates on the production of financial reports, including the basic reporting requirements of profitability, liquidity, solvency and stability. Reports of this nature can be accessed by internal and external users such as the shareholders, the banks and the creditors.

An Experience That Helped Me Grow Up

An experience that helped you understand purpose of Life: When God created this universe, he created each every particle in it with a certain purpose and with a certain design in mind. And that is what our belief in our religion tells us that no one is superior or inferior in front of Allah but it’s our deeds that make us superior or inferior in front of our creator. Our deeds are determined by our performance in the tasks that Allah gives us throughout our lives.My maturity in conceiving the purpose of life didn’t come naturally but it was achieved when I witnessed the life events of one of my closest friend and the way she coped with each and every challenge of life with an open mind and with great composure on her part. My best childhood and school friend Hiba was with me since 6th grade and she was well known among all her friend circle to be very charming not because of her good looks but more because of the way she always had the positive perspective for every eve nt happening around us.She was the one in our friend group whom we all used to look up to whenever we were stuck in little mischieviious and innocent situations of school life without knowing the fact that God is going put her through such big challenges of life where she will be all alone dealing with the high tides of this world. It was pleasant morning of winters and the school day began with usual exchange of pleasantries between classmates. Hiba was smiling and mischievous as usual and our 10th grade class teacher began the day with taking our attendance.Almost two lectures have gone by when a PA to principal came to our class and told Hiba to report the principal as soon as possible. A few minutes later we came to know that Hiba’s parents had died in road accident on the motorway. There whole class room went into complete silence and we had no difficulty imagining how hard this news will be for Hiba, who was the eldest among the sisters. She was a brilliant student and had always wanted to be a doctor. That evening all friends went to the Hiba’s home to pay our condolences and to our amazement Hiba was sitting all composed and calm.The only words we heard from her mouth were the pray that May god give her strength to be a support for her sisters and even at those tough times she was thankful to God for all the blessings He had bestowed open the family. Listening to her saying that prayer I felt as if we all are very immature about our perspective of living and also knew at that moment that God will become her greatest strength and will pull her and her sisters out of this situation and will bless her more than she will ever think of.That day I learned that we should be thankful to our God for every single breath of our life and instead of asking Him for more we should thank Him for what he has already given us. And we should never idealize too much instead we should be prepared to stand against every challenge, life throws at us and we shou ldn’t find strength in our weaknesses and lust for life but our main strength lies in our belief in Allah and what we have today right here right at the moment.Today Hiba is studying medicine on scholarship in one of the top university of Pakistan. And she is also managing her whole house with the money her father left for the family. I amm sure the day is not far away when she will be a famous doctor of Pakistan. We as persons and as a nation needs to understand that God gives challenges only to those who have the strength to bear them and belief in God is the most important ingredient of life which one should never forget.

Literature that Wouldn’t Die Essay

My old-maid aunt loaned me the first book when I was eight. Of course, I didn’t think of her as my old maid aunt then. She was just my aunt, who was way older than my mom and drove a cool car and lived at home with my grandparents. She had the best records and still played them—vinyl records. But it was the books that made me seek her out. She had every Hardy Boys book ever written. As soon as I proved I could read the first one, then I got to read a new one every time we visited and we visited at least once a week. I can’t say that I really understood them in second-grade, and I surely didn’t know what a mansion was, but I figured out that it was a big, old house and went from there. By my next birthday, the books were officially mine. All of them, hardcover, many original printings, were given to me because my aunt believes that children should read. That was the first one I actually remember, but my mother said it dates backs further; every holiday or birthday my aunt sent books. Through her I met Flicka and Big Red and Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, but the love affair was with the detective novels, started by those Hardy Boys novels. As a teenager, I moved on to James Patterson. Then, it was â€Å"The Maltese Falcon† and Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. For a long time, I was alone in my fascination with a good â€Å"Who dun it? †, but as time progressed, I found that society is obsessed with figuring out the crime, finding the bad guy. My weirdness was that I was reading them instead of watching them on television. And, the modern whodunit is not merely a tale of murder and intrigue; it was a modified look at the forensic clues and figuring it out before the people on the television due. Take for example, the third week in November, 2007. According to Nielsen Media Research six of the top 20 shows on broadcast television were detective shows, four of them directly related to the use of forensic evidence to solve a crime (Nielsen, 2007). Americans are obsessed with the crime drama, the modern variant of the detective novel that my aunt introduced me to. In short order, I can name a dozen of these shows, all virtually identical to those bright blue books I read as a boy. As I got older, it became clear that America has a fascination with the whodunit novel, or television series, as the case may be. From the Hardy Boys to â€Å"Colombo†, Americans are fascinated with the detective story. Like many kids my age, I grew up thinking it might be fun to be a hard-nosed detective. The books in my life gave way to television and the books in general became television shows or movies and gaining a life the author never foresaw as he wrote the opening scene of death or mayhem. In fact, in 2007 the novel once again became the television series as James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club became Angie Harmon’s new show. The novel series, which began with â€Å"First to Die†, is about a San Francisco homicide detective and one of my recent favorite reads. Harmon, who once starred in one of the Law & Order franchise crime dramas, stars as the lead detective. This movement of book to television and the continuation of the detective novel is remarkable, but not unique to the modern age. Of course, this wasn’t the first of Patterson’s to go main stream. Years ago, other young men and I were impressed with Detective Alex Cross as brought to life by Morgan Freeman in â€Å"Kiss the Girls† and â€Å"Along Came A Spider†. In his 1970 essay, â€Å"Murder and Manners: The Formal Detective Novel†, George Grella puts it this way,†The formal detective novel, the so-called ‘pure puzzle’ or ‘whodunit’, is the most firmly established and easily recognized version of the thriller† (30). And, he says, we are fascinated by the genre. It has become an icon onto itself and holds its own against other genres of literature quite well through the years. Dating back to Edgar Allen Poe, the detective novel has been through changes, but it is still basically the same, a comfort to most people. â€Å"And almost since its inception, critics have been denouncing the rise, and announcing the demise, of the whodunit. † (30). But while they were uniformly criticized by those â€Å"in the know†, the detective novel built up a strong following in modern American society, cleverly disguised as the crime drama on television and in the movies. The simple fact of the matter is that it is not supposed to be great fiction, but sometimes, it is. It is supposed to let people feel like they figured something out, outsmarted the author by figuring out the answer before the end of the book. The author has to give the reader all the information and though they can tease a bit, directly tricking the reader is completely unfair (Grella 31). Misdirection is fine; lying is not. But the reality is that most readers are not equipped with the obscure knowledge that the detective use to solve the crimes and so the love of the mystery might be based more on a fascination not unlike our fascination with magicians. We want to see if we can figure it out and then revel in the fact that the really good ones were able to keep us from figuring it out. And, Grella points out, it is formulaic. Good or bad, the formal detective novel is predictable. It is one of the curiosities of literature that an endlessly reduplicated form, employing sterile formulas, stock characters, and innumerable cliches of method and construction, should prosper in the two decades between the World Wars and continue to amuse even in present day. More curious still, this unoriginal and predictable kind of entertainment appealed to a wide and varied audience, attracting not only the usual public for popular fiction, but also a number of educated readers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (32) The modern television whodunit has followed the same basic formula, but with the twists and turns of modern forensics thrown in for good measure. Instead of an obvious clue like a matchbook or lipstick smeared on a tea cup, the modern story has DNA and fingerprints but the story remains basically the same: Bad guy kills (maims, mutilates, rapes, etc. ) someone and the detectives strive to gather the evidence and figure it out before the reader, or in the case of television, the viewer, figures it out. Forty-five minutes into the show, whether we are ready and have solved it or not, comes the great reveal, the modern equivalent of the meeting in the study to show how it was done, by whom and why. This is the world that my aunt unwittingly introduced me to and I am not alone. In the modern era this has translated to the crime drama on television. Shows including any of the CSI variants, any of the Law & Order shows, â€Å"Cold Case Files†, â€Å"Without a Trace† and several others follow this tried and true recipe. The newest of these, Spike TV’s â€Å"Murder† takes the concept to a whole new level—real people, solving recreations of real crimes, all neatly wrapped up in an hour long show. And, â€Å"Murder† even follows the rules that Grella identifies for formal detective fiction (31). It shows all the clues that reader/viewer needs to solve the crime and challenges them to do it before the contestants do â€Å"With â€Å"every pertinent detail† being recreated, the groups will assess the crime scene, collect evidence and even meet with an actual coroner who reviews the findings of the original autopsy. † (Rocchio 2007) The show combines America’s current love of reality television with the tried and true formula of the detective novel. â€Å"For the viewer, Murder fuses the authenticity of a real-life crime scene with the suspense of trying to solve the murder before the contestants on the show,† Bunim-Murray co-founder Jon Murray stated. â€Å"We are excited to be working with Spike TV on such a cutting-edge series and hope the audience will take away a sense of how strategic and meticulous crime detectives must be on a daily basis. † The show even features its own version of the great reveal. After 45 minutes of show time, the contestants are required to set forth their version of the crime to the real-life detective who hosts the show. Then, helike a good author, points out the flaws in their logic and evidence collection and gives a narrative about what really happened. This movement toward more realism in the detective novel has taken it away from its farcical leanings (Grella 35), but continues to lead it in the tradition of the formal detective novel. Writers must put all the clues together, visually at the very least, in the 53 minutes or so of an hour long television show without making it obvious to everyone whodunit. The element of besting the writer has again become the goal. Grella had argued that this theory of outsmarting the writer might not be the actual explanation for society’s fascination with detective novels, pointing out that detectives in the novels have access to obscure knowledge the reader would not have making it virtually impossible to figure out the end without an intuitive leap (33). His conclusion was that the puzzle aspect of the novel is not in fact the motivation of viewers/readers to seek out detective novels. However, what he failed to take into consideration was that viewers/readers need an excuse to be wrong. When the villain is revealed at the end of the show or in the huge scene at the end of the novel, the reader needs an excuse to be wrong. Sure, we want to be right, but if we aren’t, we need it to be because we didn’t know the flight speed of an African swallow or some equally relevant but obscure piece of trivia. Perhaps it is because of a sense of pride in the viewer, but we need an excuse to be wrong. That way, the reader still wins. The guess about the guilty party being wrong doesn’t mean that we were outsmarted by the writer, but rather than the novelist came up with a piece of information that we did not know. And, with as much of society as is interested in random trivia, finding that obscure piece of information that the average reader will not know becomes more difficult. It is any many ways the gauntlet those readers thrown down before their favorite authors: â€Å"Fool me if you can. † The most modern of the new detective stories fool us with science, proving to us that even what our eyes see can be wrong. Authors like Patricia Cromwell and Kathy Reichs show us that the things we see may not be all there is to be seen (Palmer 2001). The reality is that the puzzle is still the name of the game and so television shows must now explain the rules of the game as they go, showing the fingerprints of the DNA evidence and finding new ways to throw in the twist. Again, in the words of Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot, and writers are challenged to find new ways to twist the evidence and manipulate the science to keep our interest. Grella and others have complained that the detective novel is formulaic and bordering on boring, but the reality is that we like them because they are so challenging to the writer. A poorly written detective novel will bore us all to tears. We will see the buffoon of a police officer and the unsuspecting detective and even the misdirection a mile away. But a well done novel which takes what we know, what we have seen with our own eyes and forces us to see that it might not be the case is a masterful work of art. And, that is what we are looking for. We have leveled the playing field with a formulaic story and are expecting to be blow away by the puzzle. WORKS CITED: Grella, George. â€Å"Murder and Manners: The Formal Detective Novel† NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Autumn, 1970), pp. 30-48. < Stable URL: http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=0029-5132%28197023%294%3A1%3C30%3AMAMTFD%3E2. 0. CO%3B2-H>, November 30, 2007. Nielsen Media Research, November 30, 2007. Palmer, Joy. â€Å"Tracing Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Forensic Detective Fiction† South Central Review, Vol. 18, No. 3/4, Whose Body: Recognizing Feminist Mystery and Detective Fiction. (Autumn – Winter, 2001), pp. 54-71. , November 30, 2007. Rocchio, Christopher. â€Å"Spike TV Announces new ‘CSI’-like ‘Murder’ Reality Series† Feb. 21, 0027. November 30, 2007. Wing, George. ‘Edwin Drood and Desperate Remedies: Prototypes of Detective Fiction in 1870† Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 13, No. 4, Nineteenth Century. (Autumn, 1973), pp. 677-687. , November 30, 2007.

Boots

Would Mulishly be able to help Boots manage the Japanese regulations? Boots needs to reformulate more than 2,000 products in order to meet with the regulations and import restrictions of Japanese market, Which is a huge investment and after reformulation, these product have to be registered with the Japanese authorities whiny had considerable leeway in how they applied such regulation.Nevertheless, Mediumistic Corporation belong to the Mediumistic keiretsu Which is one of he oldest and largest industrial group in Japan and are leaders in their respective industries, they already have experience working with foreign firms to established in Japan and they are looking to increase Its retail activities. So they match In the right way with MAC to manage all of the Japanese regulation. 2. Would It be able to provide meaningful advice about how to attract and retain Japanese costumers?Foreign companies often had difficulty entering Japan, due to the complexity for obtaining resources, and l ocal reputation or business relationship, the trend is to see s less trustworthy the foreign firms. So in order to attract and retain costumers MAC is the best option for entering the Japanese Market due to its well known reputation and access to resources ( people, real state and financial resources).But they still have to be aware of the complexity of the health and beauty business in Japan, Which have many differentiation for each area. 3. Would the two companies continue to share the same interests? The Joint venture proposal is giving Boots the decision advantage by having 51% stake of the Joint venture, and as MAC is looking to increase retail activities they are in he same direction and should continue to have the same interest in the process of entering this market.Was the proposed Joint venture a good Idea for Boots? Is a great Idea, In order to enter the Japanese market they need to make this Joint venture with MAC, there Is no other way due to regulations of the Japanese authorities and the untrustworthy of the market in foreign firms, it would end up in big losses if no experience and they are in the right position to make this venture since they are the leaders and are managing in and excel way their local market.

ECO202 CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ECO202 CA - Essay Example It is during periods of recession, however, that terms fiscal and monetary policies can best be appreciated. Fiscal policy is the policy advocated by John Maynard Keynes while monetary policy, on the other hand, is advocated by Milton Friedman. According to basic economics, the obvious traceable cause of a recession is a poor level in aggregate demand. When we say aggregate demand, it is the total demand for all goods and services produced in a particular period. Of course needless to say, when no one is buying anything, who would want to produce more? What reason there is for an employer to hire working men to manufacture his product when no one after all is demanding for it? It will only bring him a loss instead of income. According to Keynes, during periods of recession, the government must enter the game and play a very critical role --- to stimulate overall aggregate demand (which is a deemed solution to the problem). The government must cut taxes and spend more on worthy projec ts to support the public needs and the business sector. When taxes are low and more government projects are in harmony with business’ goals and visions, more investors are being lured to invest, thereby solving unemployment problem. Now assuming the opposite is happening as in the case of an overheated expansion, the government still has a role to play. It has to tighten taxes and spend less to counter balance the effects of economic boom. Whether the government cut or tighten taxes, spend more or less, these actions simply refer to the government’s fiscal policy. Monetary policy on the other hand is another perceived solution to the problem of recession. As the word suggests, monetary policy has to do with interest rates and money --- production, supply and circulation of money. According to Milton Friedman, the proponent of monetary policy, the supply and circulation of money in the market has a greater impact on the economy more than anything else. During a period o f high unemployment the government must reduce the interest rate and increase the money supply. Likewise, when unemployment is low, the government has to raise interest rates and decrease the money in circulation. As compared to fiscal policy which is more of a function of the legislative branch of the government, take note that the implementation of monetary policies is vested in the hands of the Central Bank. They are independently implemented apart from fiscal policies of the government. 2. Compare and contrast the way Keynes and Friedman approach the economy. What are their key differences and similarities? John Maynard Keynes is a British economist who believes that the key to achieving a balanced economy, especially during a period of recession and economic downturn, is an effective government intervention that will cut on taxes and implement an expansionary fiscal policy (meaning, more government spending on worthy projects) or contractionary fiscal policy (increase in taxes and lesser government spending) as the case may be. Keynes’ economic framework focuses more on demand and spending. Absurd as it may sound but Keynes believed that spending, and not hoarding, helps the economy at large. The reason is that the spending of one person forms part of the income of another person, and when that person further spends his income, it forms part of the

Business Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Planning - Essay Example In this case, the action of the employees is intrinsic for the success of the plan since the type of businessi idea involves a one-on-one conversation with the customers. 3. Fixed prices for renting: considering the state of the industry, owning and renting a car, the business idea is considered strong since the involved customers are made aware of the prices. The prices are fixed since there are less external influences on the prices such as weather. 1. High product pricing: Botflex plans to offer high quality services to the boat owners and the tenants thereby leading to the high product pricing. Because of the need for offsetting the high production cost associated, the business finds it difficult to charge low prices. This acts as a weakness of the company since most of the potential customers are medium income earners. 1. Chance for entry into new market: There are few corporations dealing in the same products thereby presenting an opportunity for entry into new market. The company can establish its critical operation to other new areas because of the higher economies of scale associated with venturing. 2. Collaboration with other companies dealing in the same products: There are many companies which recognize the good reputation held by a company, successful in making people rent ships. This means that there are chances for the company reducing the associated costs through collaborating with other recognizable companies. 1. Escalating prices of boats: The escalating prices bears chances for inefficiencies in the production process of the company considering that the prices of raw material for making boats are on the rise. 2. Trademark infringements: Trademark infringement is just like another threat which usually faces newly established company. The company branding is susceptible to cases of illegal use of trademark especially by the competitors or other newly rising