Manchild in the promised land

First generation blacks in New York had the unique situation of being in the urban life for the first time, having come from slave work conditions on southern farms, they brought their experiences of living as slaves, they brought their religion and they brought hope that life in the city would be different, that life would be better in the promise land.   As we seen in Manchild in the Promised Land, life in New York is hard, harder than the south in new ways that blacks could not have prepared themselves for. Poverty, violence, and prejudice followed them where ever they went in America, including New York.   Black children growing up in this urban setting are like weeds growing between the cracks in the pavement—they are hearty, they do what they have to do to survive.   The streets are their playground, their school and hope is only in the luck one has that they won’t get busted.   How did this lifestyle develop?   A number of factors, namely poverty and prejudice caused other problems to develop such as violence, child abuse, drugs, prostitution etc. Child Abuse One social ill that often stems from poverty is child abuse.   In the book child abuse is seen in homes such as Claude’s friend Bucky whose mother, who is on welfare, is in such a state of despair that she chooses her drink and gambling over feeding her own four children.   These children liked living in the child welfare house because at least there they had three meals a day and a place to sleep.   Of his friend Claude says, â€Å"Bucky was the only kid I knew who could stay out all night long and not be missed† (p 32). This clearly instilled in these youth the struggle to survive at all costs whether it be violence or stealing.   School also became something that hardly seems worthwhile when a child could be out â€Å"catting† on the streets and come home with food, money, clothes or other items when school only meant that you would probably get in trouble for something and get beat when you got home.   Claude doesn’t seem to realize the benefits of going to school, learning to read etc. until almost his high school years when the prison warden encourages him and believes that he could do well. Just as a master abused the slave, many a black parent abused their children under the pretense of â€Å"spare the rod and spoil the child,† raising them up with violence in their hearts from the start.   Black children in Harlem were to respect their parents and do what they were told or pay the cost. For punishment for his various crimes and school skipping, Claude is beaten progressively more seriously until his father resorts to hitting him with his fists because it seems that no matter what punishment Claude is given, he continues to get into trouble and his father is frustrated to the point of serious violence.   So from the age of six years old, violence is instilled in Claude as a means for upholding authority and for punishing wrong doing but interestingly enough, violence was not enough to make Claude respect his father and the day his father used his fists on Claude seems to be the day that Claude’s relationship with his father was severed. Violence Violence is a part of survival in Harlem.   One must defend their manhood, their reputation or fear losing important alliances with other men who help make street life livable.   In prison one must protect their rank of power, which is more clear cut than on the street. Examples of violence in the book include when Claude disowns his friend for allowing himself to be beat up by white men—to Harlem street youth this was the most disrespectful thing one could do to oneself. Big Bill, a man in Claude’s neighborhood, encouraged the kids to fight because he knew they needed to learn how to defend themselves on those hard streets.   Big Bill was preparing them for life, as he saw it.   In order to survive, Claude learned, you had to be a â€Å"bad nigger,† which meant that you had to be willing to do anything; you had to be willing to die.   One time when Claude was beat up over a quarter he said, â€Å"It wasn’t the value of money†¦ It was just that these things symbolized a man’s manhood or principles† (p. 256). Violence is used to keep racial segregation—Claude is raised being told that if he were to ever sleep with a white woman he would be lynched.   The police use violence to control violence.   Violence is also used by the everyday inhabitants of Harlem to protect themselves against the people who live the street life.   Claude caught a bullet in the stomach from a neighbor who was simply trying to keep their sheets from being stolen.   One man’s head was cracked open by a landlord for peeing in the hallway of his building.     Ã‚  The cycle of wrong doing seems to be perpetuated by violence; it cuts the psyche and makes a person grow callous to what has to be done to protect oneself and one’s belongings in Harlem or any poor urban ghetto. Role of Women Black women in Harlem are the lowest on the totem pole so to speak and are treated as if they were objects to own or use.   Women are considered to only exist to please men and men like Johnny, a pimp, treat women very badly in order to get what they want.   Claude’s own mother is helpless to control her son, simply ringing her hands and saying, â€Å"Boy, why you so bad?† (p 27).   In the case of Sugar and Melvin, Sugar must step up when her man decides that he is not going to struggle to survive in hostile Harlem but simply give up—she must take on a more important role in the relationship and lead the household. Drugs Drugs are another result of urban poverty in Harlem.   Drugs are an escape, a chance to make a quick buck.   Claude also said that drugs became associated with manhood, â€Å"the young cats wanted to take drugs because they used to listen to the way the junkies talked, with a drag in their voice† (p 261).   Many a black man in Harlem got caught in the web of Heroine, thinking that they were in control and selling it, the drug took control of them.   Pimp, Claude’s little brother, was just such a character and Claude spent a lot of time trying to show his brother that this just wasn’t the way. Religion Religion in Harlem harks back to the spirituals of the South.   Charismatic church services were held in old stores, apartments or where ever there is space to be had. The preachers, such as Mrs. Rogers, a jackleg preacher, have no formal training but lead their family and peers in a sermon and loud prayer sessions. Claude was very skeptical of his experience in Mrs. Roger’s church and for years later he remembered church as a place where, â€Å" somebody lined up a lot of kitchen chairs in a few rows, a preacher did a lot of shouting about the Lord, people jumping up and down until they got knocked down by the spirit, and Mrs. Rogers put bowls of money on a kitchen table and kept pointing to it and asking from more† (p. 27).   Claude believes throughout the book that religion is just another distraction, like a drug, to take one’s mind away from the suffering of hard living. Black Muslims in Harlem represented a little different form of faith that dealt with the issues of the ghetto by turning the philosophy of prejudice around so that the black man was the superior race and the whites inferior and according to Floyd Saks, â€Å"The time has come for all back men to rise up, band together and do something for themselves† (p 319).   These Muslim’s encouraged blacks to â€Å"buy black† to better the black economy.   Although Claude recognizes the need for change in his community he quickly sees that Floyd’s faith is simply exchanging one hate for another. Role Models The only role models that urban youth in Harlem seemed to have were negative ones.   Those that worked hard did not make enough money to survive or live well.   Those that seemed to have enough money and to have control over their life were the â€Å"street heroes† or the men who were able to lie, cheat and steal their living.   Claude was influenced by friends his own age such as Danny, who taught him how to steal from cash registers and skip school or Johnny who taught him how to hustle on the street. Claude in turn became a â€Å"street hero† and influenced his little brother Pimp who then ended up becoming a drug user.   The influence of siblings was such that Pimp was expected to live up to his brother’s tough reputation so he had to be a â€Å"bad nigger† and he had to get in as much trouble as possible to catch up to his brother’s years of street experience.   Claude has to beat up an older boy for his sister Carole’s honor in order to preserve his own as well as hers. Claude finds a positive influence only in the â€Å"comforts† of the regimented prison where everything is clearly laid out with purpose.   Mr. Papanek and Mrs. Coen are the only two people in Claude’s life who positively influenced his actions and helped him to realize that he was going no where doing the same things that got him in trouble before and got other men in trouble before and after him. Papanek kept telling people that, â€Å"Claude Brown is going to be a real success† and as a result, Claude believed it and made it happen (p 167).   Doing something different had not occurred to Claude before this or to other youth like him because there just weren’t any successful young black men to be found. Reverend James was a positive role model in the Harlem community that Claude sought to help his brother Pimp get off drugs and to find a track into college.   Claude respected Reverend James because he was as intelligent as Mr. Papanek but he was black and he lived in Harlem with the rest of those struggling to survive and had found a way to survive outside of the mores of the street.   â€Å"Reverend James is a pretty hip guy for a minister,†Ã‚   Claude admitted to Pimp and it is the Reverend’s ability to be â€Å"hip† that made him capable of really making a difference in the lives of Harlem youth (p 390). The Ghetto Mentality Poverty, violence, crime and the lack of any hope or any positive role models caused a â€Å"ghetto mentality† to develop that made people have low aspirations and to focus on the appearance of things such as making sure to have fine clothes rather than planning ahead with finances for the future.   Success was seen only in the street heroes: pimps and successful criminals. Tilto, Danny and Mac are good examples of boys with no aspiration to ever do anything else but hustle and hope for a quick showy success.   When asked what he was going to do with his life Claude’s friend Mac says, â€Å"I don’t know man. I guess I’ll deal drugs† like every one else in the neighborhood was already doing (p 237).   This ghetto mentality was re-enforced by the fact that men with a criminal record after the age of sixteen were unable to find gainful employment or become a successful citizen in society so there was a sense of, â€Å"why try, I can’t do anything about it now.† This mentality is broken only by the influence of someone like Claude, who everyone respects on the street and who decided to get out of the lifestyle and to find something more fulfilling in life.   The likelihood of urban youth to come in contact with a Mr. Pancheck, like Claude did is less likely than for them to be impressed to change by someone like Claude.                              

Nike, Operational Strategy Essay

An example of an operational strategy I found was within the Nike  organization. Nike was created in 1972, by co-founder Bill Bowerman & his University of Oregon runner Phil Knight. Together, with the people they hired, the company was able to grow and expand from a U. S. based footwear distributor to a global marketer of athletic footwear, apparel & equipment that is unrivaled in the world today (www. nikeinc. com). Operations strategy is the development of a long term plan for using the major resources of the firm for a high degree of compatibility between these resources & the firm’s long term corporate strategy (Schroeder & Rungusanatham, 2011). On May 5, 2010 Nike  unveiled one of its strategies & key initiatives to achieve sustainable, long term growth across its global portfolio of brands & businesses (www. nikemedia. com) their plan consists of a revenue target of 27 billion by the end of 2015 and over 12 billion of free cash flow from operations through 2015. Nike   also uses an outsourcing strategy, where they have subcontractors scattered throughout the globe. The cross functional decisions associated with a company of this magnitude is enormous & would involve a multitude of people and departments. Nike  main cross functional decision making process involved that of Dennis Dwyer, Senior Manager Footwear Division; Vice President & CFO, Donald W. Blair; President, Mark G. Parker; Divisional V. P. & General Manager, Craig Zanon; V. P. of New Business Development, Clare L. Hamill; GM, Kirk Richardson and Director of Communications, Jack Gould (www. ifestagingblog. com). There are two types of strategies involved with the supply chain strategy and they are imitative and innovative (Schroeder & Rungusanatham, 2011). Imitative strategies generally relies on following or imitating other companies, while having predictable demand, are efficient and have a low cost supply chain. The Innovative strategy is different from other companies but may still have a sort of â€Å"sameness† imitation, whereas there is unpredictable demand, are flexible and have a fast supply chain.

Life Cycle Costing Essay

Life cycle costing involves evaluating the costs related to ownership, operation, maintenance and disposal of project facilities. BusinessDictionary. com (2010) defines life cycle costing as the Sum of all recurring and one-time (non-recurring) costs over the full life span or a specified period of a good, service, structure, or system. It includes purchase price, installation cost, operating costs, maintenance and upgrade costs, and remaining (residual or salvage) value at the end of ownership or its useful life. Non-recurring costs include procurement, implementation and acceptance, initial training, documentation, facilities, transition from the suppliers, changes to business processes and the withdrawal from service and disposal. The recurring costs include retraining, operating costs, service charges, contract and supplier management costs, changing volumes, cost of changes, downtime, maintenance and repair, transport and handling (Sieglinde, 2009). The life cycle tools are used to assess the processes of production, manufacturing, distribution and the disposal of the end and by-products. It also includes the transportation of the products from the manufacturer to the consumers. The results of life cycle costing are used to make decisions about the best options to adopt when producing different products. The tool is more accurate as the project begins and the accuracy reduces as the project proceeds in the future. Life cycle costing is important because it evaluates the total costs of ownership. It also provides a guideline as to the most efficient processes of acquisition and support funding to a project (Sieglinde, 2009). The various approaches to life cycle accounting  Life cycle accounting looks at the entire value chain of a product on cost basis. The technique does not evaluate the production process but also looks into the costs associated with the research and developmental phases of the product from the beginning to the end. Life cycle accounting evaluates the cost of a product before it enters the production process until it is finally transported to the customers. However, life cycle costing is not applicable to financial reporting since it is not consistent with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). From a planning point of view, life cycle accounting is the best tool for managers. Product managers use the tools of life cycle costing throughout the product life cycle. Costs are calculated from the point of entry of the products up to the point where no more products are made. The total costs of production are then divided by the number of units produced to obtain the unit costs. The managers are able to get the actual costs of a product produced, thus, they can adjust and design the products according to the prevailing conditions. Life cycle costing is applicable when the product is being designed or in the pre-design stages. The management cannot obtain the actual life-cycle costs when the products are already in the market (Bradford, 2008). The methodology of life cycle costing is based on the idea that the purchasing decisions are made through evaluation of all available options. All expenditures related to a decision are addressed. The complexity of the life cycle costing is determined by how complex the goods and services produced by the organization are. The fundamental concepts applicable in life cycle costing are cost breakdown structure, cost estimating, discounting and inflation (Mearig, Coffee & Morgan, 1999). Cost breakdown structures vary depending on the complexity of the purchasing decisions. All cost elements which are relevant to the purchasing decisions are considered. Boundaries are determined to avoid omission or duplication of some elements. All cost elements relevant to the purchasing options are considered. All cost elements are well defined so that all people involved can understand the components used. The costs should be broken down to analyze the specific areas (Ehlen1, 1997). Cost estimating involves calculating the costs of each category. This can be determined through the known factors or rates, cost estimating relationships and expert opinion. The known rates are the inputs with known accuracy. For example, if the cost and quantity of production per unit are known, the cost of procurement can be estimated. Cost estimating relationships are generated from historical data. Expert opinion is used to support the data when real data cannot be obtained. Assumptions are included in the expert opinion as well as rationale to support the opinions provided in the data (Sieglinde, 2009). The process of discounting compares the costs and benefits occurring in different periods of time. The concept of discounting is based on time value of money, that is, people prefer receiving goods purchased now than later. Time preference for money causes people to request for supplies immediately after purchasing rather than delaying. All the future costs must be adjusted to their present costs when evaluating the time of receiving purchases ordered. The discount rates differ with the organization. Common discount rates should be applied throughout the industry to avoid bias. Inflation causes the prices of products to fluctuate and should be considered when evaluating the actual life cycle cost of a product (Sieglinde, 2009). Life cycle costing is important because it helps evaluate the competing options when purchasing products. Decisions to enter into contracts by the management are made by the use of the tools of life cycle costing. The management evaluates the various proposals about the best options to adopt. Another importance of the life cycle costing is that it improves awareness about the total costs of production. The management is able to understand the factors that cause costs as well as the resources to be used when purchasing products. The cost drivers enable the management identify the most effective strategies of purchasing products. The knowledge about the cost drivers helps the management identify the most beneficial areas of production to guarantee investing the resources of the organization (Ehlen1, 1997). The third benefit of life cycle costing is the improved accuracy in forecasting the cost profiles. The managers can estimate the full costs associated with procurement of certain products. Decision making about the major investments is easily made through the life cycle costing. The forecasting of future expenditures is accurately done with the use of the tools. Lastly, the management can be able to trade-off performance against cost by the use of life cycle tools. When purchasing, cost is not the only factor to consider. The management must consider the performance of the items being purchased. The decision makers must consider both the costs and performance of the items being purchased by the organization (Mearig, Coffee & Morgan, 1999). Life cycle costing helps to assess better the effectiveness of planning by comparing actual with budgeted life cycle costs as well as the distribution of those costs. The management is able to determine the deviations in performance of different departments. It also enhances the management to make better pricing decisions since all the costs attached to a particular product are evaluated. The tools of life cycle costing help improve the assessment of product profitability. The costs are compared with the actual amounts obtained from the production process. The costing strategies provide information about the revenues and costs associated with a particular unit of a product. It also helps in the design of more environmentally desirable products (Sieglinde, 2009). Identify how environmental issues may be integrated into life cycle costing methods  The process of life cycle costing evaluates and investigates the environmental impacts of products that are caused by their existence. The life cycle assessment compares the environmental and social impacts that can be assigned to products and services. The products with the least burden are chosen for production. The life cycle methods are used to evaluate the effects of technology on the production of goods and services. The methods of life cycle costing also provide with tools for evaluating the measuring the effects of technologies on the delivery of products. The process of manufacturing the products has some impacts on the environment. The life cycle costing evaluates the amount of wastes released to the environment at a given period of time. The ISO 14000 provides standards for environmental management. Life cycle assessment is contained in the ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. There are four main phases of life cycle assessment. The first step involves specification and formulation of the goals and scope of the study (Ehlen1, 1997). The life cycle costing procedures help the management integrate the environmental factors to the activities of the organization. The development of products requires the exploitation of raw materials. The process of converting the raw materials to more useful products creates some impacts to the environment. The management must be aware of the various environmental impacts of the products being produced by the organization. There are various lobby groups which influence the strategies to be adopted by the organizations. Contravening to the rules of the environmental groups may bring conflicts which may lead to the closure of the business (Mearig, Coffee & Morgan, 1999). There are laws established by various governments concerning the manufacture, distribution and disposal of products. The government controls the distribution of products to ensure all people obtain goods and services. To discourage concentration of businesses in one region the government has established polices to attract investment in the remote regions. The life cycle costing determines the distribution channels to be used by the organization. The cheapest mode of distribution should be chosen even though various factors will have to be considered. The suppliers to be involved in the distribution should be reliable to ensure timely delivery of products and to provide with quality products. The business environment is composed of various participants and the organization should integrate all factors to ensure the interests of all the people affected by the activities of the organization are adhered to (Sieglinde, 2009). The process of manufacturing process involves the conversion of the raw materials to the final products for the resale to the consumers. The management should ensure the process does not pollute the environment. Emission of poisonous end-products should be controlled to ensure the organization does not contravene to environmental standards. Various standards have been created to ensure that proper components are used in the manufacturing process (Mearig, Coffee & Morgan, 1999). The consumers are the end users of the products and their interests should be considered. The life cycle of the product should consider the health standards of the products being produced. The manufacturing process should be done in a clean environment to avoid contamination of the products with substances which may affect the consumers. The government has established standards to control and protect the consumers against unscrupulous business people (Ehlen1, 1997). The employees manufacturing the products should be protected from harmful substance. A conducive environment should be created for employees to work in. To ensure the safety of the employees the organization should ensure the employees are protected from all hazards. The image of the company is affected by the environment in which the employees work in. Fifth, life cycle cost analysis is argued to facilitate an understanding of the environmental impact of products from development through manufacture, distribution, customer use, disposal and potential recycling (Mearig, Coffee & Morgan, 1999).

Discussion 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 8 - Assignment Example This can be accomplished through a variety of incentives as well as implementing new requirements for the landscaping of any new housing development. The outright legislation of what type of plants that an individual is allowed to plant in their own yard may seem a bit draconian, especially to those that have lived in the LA area for many years. As such, a good remedy to this would be to require that any new housing developments and or landscaping projects must adhere to some minimum drought hardy requirements. Simply having a green lawn is not reason for a fine; however, if water records can substantiate that the individual is wastefully using public resources solely for beautification purposes, that individual should be forced to pay a penalty for this luxury because the aforementioned individual is taking the resources of the entire public. It is a part of the American societal norm. We are constantly shown perfect, green, beautifully manicured lawns in movies, television, advertisements, and other forms of marketing. We are told that this is what we should all ascribe to and in so doing we will be able to further delineate ourselves from the rest of the neighborhood as the person who has the best grass – as if that really matters. In the first article that was assigned, it stated that the lawn business was a several hundred billion dollar a year money making machine; as such, the firms that benefit from this infusion of money will continue to lobby and advertise and market this form of â€Å"happiness† to an unwitting public. It depends on how severe the drought is or if the water system has reached or is near reaching absolute capacity. Going so far at this juncture as tearing out non-native plants would be a bit severe especially since such a broad ranging edict would have many negative effects on the local environment including

Gained Knowledge From Taking the English Composition Class Essay

Gained Knowledge From Taking the English Composition Class - Essay Example My learning outcomes as illustrated above have been diverse with the main motivation being the overall abilities acquired through the course. So far I have been able to exhibit a proper understanding of grammar which is captured through improved sentence structures and through grammar usage. My scope of writing has improved and I can be able to write effectively with the inclusion of thesis statement and other minor structural factors that define the success of an English composition class. Through the attendance of the class, I have been able to link up the different aspects of composition writing, through developing a proper beginning to an essay, developing the body of the essay and also in elaborating the conclusion which captures the entirety of the essay written. Reid (2000) Other additions have been in relation to the organization both derived from an individual basis and also as reflected on the essays I have written. The composition class has engaged my reasoning which has aided in the arrangement of my essays through the integration of different strategies ranging from transitional devices which guarantee improved flow and consistency in my presentations. Through the change, I have learned how to express different tones and level of formality in my essay examples which has proved vital in capturing the attention of the audience and improved individual awareness. In relation to the assertion above, through embracing diversity in writing, my cognitive skills have improved resulting in analytical thinking, critical reading and improved awareness of the subject matter.

Global Education Workshop, Part 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Global Education Workshop, Part 2 - Assignment Example The objective of the workshop conducted entails the latest approaches of multicultural as well as global education. Furthermore, the objective of the workshop also entails the application as well as the evaluation of various scholarly journals for the purpose of comparing global and multicultural education. As noted in Part 1 of the Workshop Project., the requirements reflect the need for planning lesson tools particularly for the teachers, educators, community members and the children (Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2009). The lesson planning tools inculcates presentation method. The children will be provided with a brief understanding related to global education by using presentation methods. In relation to one of the objectives of workshop 1 that stated the need of scholarly journals reflects the need and feasibility of the presentation method. The lesson planning tool will include plan board, core planner and the plan book (Kharbach, 2012). Thus, these entail the requirements for f raming the lesson planning tools for the intended audiences. Logical and Comprehensive Design Document That Governs the Conduct of the Project The conducted workshop reflects the study linked with global education. It incorporates the possibilities that the global education opens for the new generation children in the form of students. The following aspects depict a detailed outline about a logical as well as a comprehensive design document that would govern a smooth conduct of the workshop project. Target Group Accordingly, vital target group entails the community members, educators and the school leaders. This workshop has been conducted to provide the school leaders, educators and the community members a wider view about the aspect concerning global education and its approaches. Furthermore, knowledge with regard to global education enlightens the targeted audiences about gaining a better idea concerning the importance of global education. Duration of the Workshop The duration of the workshop can be of 9 hours conducted for a single day only. Objectives The overall goals of the workshop are to discuss and provide a wider view with respect to the possibilities that global education provides better knowledge to the new generation children. Furthermore, it aims at providing a brief view with regard to the approaches needed to enable the students towards attaining a better and a clear idea about the globalized world. Moreover, the workshop also intends to provide a better understanding about the different targets of global education to the new generation of children concerning sustainability, conflict prevention and executing education particularly for any sort of peaceful purpose. Comparison between multicultural and global education also forms the objective of the workshop. Furthermore, the workshop also throws light upon the requirement of global education and need of leadership within the K12 environment. In accordance with the workshop that has been conduc ted, the project entails the details about the institutions that serve as a dais with respect to global education. In relation to this particular workshop, it is to be stated that the workshop tends to provide the learners a superior understanding with respect to education that must be conducted globally and determine the role of the teachers in enhancing learning capabilities of students along with the educators. It can be affirmed

Nurse-Patient Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Nurse-Patient Relationship - Essay Example No doubt there are nurses who would not like to disclose their profession or place of work. But there is a majority who do not mind disclosing their profession and this research depends on those nurses, who are ready to disclose their identities. Experiences of these nurses, when they are admitted into health care either due to sickness or due to old age, are the basis of present research. The objective of the current research is to find out if such difficulties really exist at all, or have they been exaggerated. If they really existed, it could be a matter of significance for not only the Health Care, but also to the nurses themselves and unless eradicated properly, this might create unhappy moments for the nurses who themselves could become patients when they are sick, or old. Present study is not for reiterating any theory. Instead this is a fact-finding mission and during the course of research, if any study could be connected with the experiences of the nurses, it is done without argument. This research offers various suggestions; but will not argue on behalf or against any theory. It will connect the research into psychological dimensions and see in what way the environment of the Health Care could influence the behavior of the connected people. It will discuss the inter-personal relationships and will try to find out if there are any routes of improvement. Henc e, the research questions are: 1. What had been the experiences of the nurses who had come in as patients to Health Care Hospitals 2. Have the experiences been different in any way from other patients 3. How have these experiences affected the situations and people connected in the immediate situation and also in the long run 4. Has the nurse-patient relationship altered in any way, when the nurse becomes a patient, or has it been immaterial METHODOLOGY: For the research, an ideal group of 30 nurses have been selected, who had undergone hospitalization for various reasons. There were no other requirements other than that the candidates should be nurses and had been hospitalized under diverse circumstances. For this sampling method, convenience and snowballing have been used. The study felt that the group chosen was sufficient for internal and external comparisons and sufficient data could be collected as this is not an extraordinarily complicated research topic. The questions asked for straightforward and had not complications at all. As all the candidates were treated confidentially, there was no tension about their employers or the nurses treated them coming to know about it. Anonymity had been one of the conditions on which the hospitalized nurses agreed to venture into volunteering and their wishes had been respected. The measuring criterion is mainly based on the questionnaire and the face to face interview with the candidates and hence, is a very clear study without complex situations. The entire outcome is based on their experiences, human valuation, their own perspectives and prejudices, their psychological soundness and adjustments. There are belligerent nurses, who thought that their opinions and experience in the job was slighted by the nurses who treated them, whereas there were other nurses, who did not have any problem even in the

Handling customer complaints in hospitality Essay

Handling customer complaints in hospitality - Essay Example This essay examines the various ways through which resources and activities can be reconfigured to accommodate and reduce variability in the handling of customer complaints. CAPACITY The main structural features of hospitality have significant implications for the management of operations in the sector. These structural factors also influence the nature of operations in hospitality. The most important of these structural considerations are related to the effect of seasonality on demand for the hospitality industry (Hayes, 2011). Most activities that are attractive to tourists also play a significant role in leisure consumption at the local level are highly seasonal in terms of feasibility and entertainment. Take Skiing as an example, it plays a role in both tourism and leisure, and at the same time an activity confined to winter and as such localities and operations relating to the provision of facilities and services are time limited (Hill, 2012). Likewise, outdoor activities depend on warm weather such as water sports are limited to summer unless one is in the tropical and sub-tropical locations. Most of the time ‘the operational season’ can be exceedingly short in ‘extreme’ tourism destinations, lasting between six weeks to two months. During which time suppliers seek to maximize on profits from tourism activities to generate sufficient income to cover the full year (Sloan, 2009) However, these structural considerations extend beyond seasonality. Location and distance from key centers of population, while essentially geographical in nature, may lead to the impact of peripherals on hospitality provision (Barrows, 2009). Peripheral locations suffer poor communications and access, and incur competitive disadvantage associated with destinations that offer the same opportunities and facilities, but found closer to the main urban areas with near excellent transport points. For example, Island locations have been the subject of wide study due to the specific influence that insularity brings on the performance and nature of the hospitality sector. Maintaining operations in remote areas can bring in  a challenge in hospitality (Jones, 2002). SERVICESCAPE AND PROCESS DESIGN The business ownership within the hospitality industry can be termed as another operational consideration. The weighing scale between large, chain-owned multiples and small, independent operators in the hospitality industry outlines the way the industry operates and how businesses are shaped (Krajewski). In most parts of the developed world there is a trend of increasing multiple operation and ownership, either by means of various forms of management or franchise or a direct model. This enacts requirements and standards on the operational standards adopted in these businesses. In other destinations mainly in the developing world, hospitality operations experience substantial contrast between micro operations of local entrepreneurs and big multinati onal operations in terms of market activities food or souvenir. Some states in the developing world that have pushed forward the early stages of growth in hospitality based on multinational investment currently recognize the importance of micro businesses to the future sustainability of the hospitality industry (â€Å"Managing service quality†). In hospitality customer expectations vary considerably across the sector on the basis of the type of business, where it is located, and the price-value benefit that

Insider threat and Physical vulnerability Research Paper

Insider threat and Physical vulnerability - Research Paper Example Physical security of the database The growing technological advancements are posing a threat to the new requirements of the iTrust database. Cloud storage, a method of data storage that allows users to share information online is one of the basis on which the iTrust database is prone to attackers. Cloud computing can be misused to attack the database through dishonest activities. Cloud computing at the database, just like in other systems, deal with privacy and have a rather easy registration system. Although the easy registration system gets geared to make the software user friendly, criminals usually use advanced technologies to access the software. This poses the highest threat to businesses and consumers that use the system (Shaw et al, 2013). There have been cases of use of Botnets to attack a public cloud network and spread viruses. The Zeus Botnet has on several occasions attacked the Amazon cloud. The Zeus Botnet attacked Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing service managing t o install a virus. The Botnet further took control of a cloud platform. The malware remained hidden for a long time while transferring millions of dollars (Shaw et al, 2013).Two ways have been proposed to deal with such malware. The security threat posed by the malware can be addressed through implementing cloud analytics. The threat can also be addressed through employing more personnel to monitor the database. Another threat that comes with cloud computing is the difficulty with which consumers get to understand the security implications associated with usage of software like itrust database. Whereas most consumers would prefer a relatively easy set of application programming interfaces, this seems to deter efforts to safeguard the database from any threats. Ensuring that the database gets adequately safeguarded may call for complex application programming interfaces. Such interfaces are able to detect any unpermitted intrusion into the system and swiftly counter-attack the attemp t (Shaw et al, 2013) The issue of account service and traffic hijacking remains a legitimate threat to most of the iTrust users. Traffic hijacking has a wide range. It may involve spamming or use of stolen user credentials. Considering the sensitivity of the data stored in the iTrust database, hackers can in many ways put to risk the lives of the users. This can be done by just gaining a simple entrance. In a situation where the attack occurs on the urgent care, the attacker can manage to follow up on transactions, edit data stored on the database as well as steal users’ personal information .To curb this, preventive measures must be taken. Such preventive measures may include effecting password policies, use of tracking software and providing internet usage education to all employees (Researchomatic, 2012). The insider threat Insider threat can be defined as any threat that comes from people within the organization and who have the organization’s inside information re garding how the organization stores its information. The insider threat faced at the iTrust database is quite challenging. A lack of separation of duties seems to pose the greatest insider threat at the moment. Separation of duties ensures that an insider with too much power or authority is not able to attack the database using the power or authority that they have (SafeNet, 2013). Example of an incident of an insider threat is when a head of department

Financial Plan ABC Pharmaceuticals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Plan ABC Pharmaceuticals - Essay Example Moderate Pain-Control Medication Project, named MPMP, is the upcoming project of ABC Pharmaceuticals. Since its inception in 1997, the company has excelled in severe pain medication market and after several years of presence in the pharmaceuticals industry, the company has acquired a major share in the market segment it serves, not to mention the brand name and excellence in the pharmaceuticals industry’s fundamentals. Based on its experience in the market, the company plans to develop differentiated pain control products that provide the flexibility and versatility required to address the limitations of existing prescription pain medications in supervised health care settings. Resource Planning for MPMP MPMP is an extension project. Most of the resources of the existing product line, especially on the soft side such as human resources and technical resources could support the new product line as well. However, certain additional resources would also be required to support the project; encompassing, production plants, human resources such as production labor and specialists in moderate pain control medication, working capital, office supplies etc (see details in section 2). A brief of the resources required are as follows: Human Resources: Production specialists in the area of moderate pain-control medication would be required. In line with the previous experience, three specialists each at the three production locations of the company would suffice. Apart from that, production labor would be required. Based on the sales forecasts, as such three teams, each comprising 10 workers (daily wagers), supervised by a production incharge and headed by the area specialist, would be established. The core human resource function would remain at the head office. Technical Resources: For the first five years of the project, three production plants will be fixed at the current production sites. Each plant will have the capacity to produce approximately 15,000 units a year (including breakdowns, if any). Budget Allocation for MPMP The total estimated cost of the project comes to $ 10,500 million calculated as follows

The notion of corporate social responsibility of business Essay

The notion of corporate social responsibility of business organizations - Essay Example It is evident from the study that various business organizations, ranging from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to large corporate organizations, exist across the globe providing some service or products to their clients. Essentially, the businesses engage in some activity like production of goods or delivery of service to generate some revenue to enhance its sustainable development. This becomes the traditional economic role of the business organization. However, the operations of these business organizations are carried out in some societal context involving the human population and the environment. Thus, there is interrelation and mutual interaction between the company and the society. Besides, the business operations have to be carried out according to legislative provisions in a given country in which the organization operates. The governments and other regulatory agencies have legislation stretching across various social sectors including health, environmental, the fis cal policies, and the monetary policies among many others. Ethical considerations also need to be considered in executing the business operations by an organization. Various individuals affect, and are affected by, the operations of a given organizations. These individuals are termed the stakeholders of the organization. The interrelation has generated debates among academic scholars on the roles that business organizations need to play in the society. The societies have their interests and so do the business organizations. ... Corporate social responsibility involves performing roles that go beyond the legal obligations that prevail in a given region (Fontaine et al, 2006). It involves the organizations’ role in promoting social and economic developments in the communities while working with the employees, their families, the customers, the shareholders, the community members, and the larger society. This paper expounds the notion of social responsibility of business organizations. The rise of corporate social responsibility for business organizations Even though the notion of corporate social responsibility has come into the brighter limelight in the past three decades, the debates on this issue began as early as the 1950s (Heath & Ni, 2008) when scholars began to question the role of businesses in the society. The evaluation has since extended to non-profit and governmental agencies as well. The main point of concern in CSR is whether the business organizations add any value to the societies in wh ich they operate as they strive to achieve their mission and vision (Heath & Ni, 2008). CSR emerged and developed as a realization by the members of the public that the business organizations should no longer belong to their owners or founders (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2008, p.82). The society has developed various new expectations on the business organizations. The major characterization of corporate social responsibility in a business organization is how the organization involves its stakeholders like the customers, the stockholders, the employees, suppliers, the governments, non-governmental organizations, and international organizations in its business operations and strategy development (Fontaine et al, 2006).

Oral history archive department in modern libraries, Essay Example for Free

Oral history archive department in modern libraries, Essay The main aim of the research is to discuss the uses and the value of an oral history archive department in modern libraries, especially British libraries and American ones which are pioneers in this domain. It has been realized or discovered that the oral history archive can be used to explain the concept or idea of windowing time in physical and digital libraries. Of late digital and oral history archive libraries carry a variety of useful information and documents that include the past and present ones. This paper therefore tries to view the use and the value of this kind of sound archive in which it is divided into main categories and subsections. The first section is the introductory part that tries to give a brief explanation about the oral history archive. There is a problem in question or objective, which touches on what is to be investigated that is the use of this archive. The hypotheses are also constructed to provide answers to the objectives of the research. The other areas include research context/literature review; methodology; work plan; recourses; ethics and conclusion. 1. Working Title The use and the value of an oral history archive department in Modern Libraries and Information Centres. 2. Introduction. Many scholars realized that Oral history archive libraries can be used to obtain information as fast as possible. According to Portelli (1998), the archive holds several hours of gramophone, films, audio, video and Compact Disks. The oral history archive has been of great help in various departments because instant information has been obtained through what is called oral debriefing. This is a situation whereby a comprehensive and condensed verbal testimony is obtained from individuals (Medical Tribune 2007). Other areas where the oral history archive has been applied include areas such as psychology, witness interrogation in criminal investigations, which occur in both oral and visual formats (Sangster 1998).The archive tentatively is currently being used to help in knowledge management especially when it comes to labor market. This is an area in commerce and industry where the changing labor market requires employees to shift from one position to another or from one job to another. As this happens there is loss of organizational memory, the so called the body of data and knowledge which is relevant to an individual organization’s existence (Perk and Thomson 1998 and Gregory 1991). These therefore are of the uses of oral history archive that make it become recognized as a powerful device or tool especially in Britain to capture the already existing institutional knowledge and information. Learning has been enhanced by the use of Oral history archive. The new curriculum requires students to have sound and good communication skills that prepare them to answers questions either during interviews as they look for jobs after schooling or in classroom (Rolph 1998). Criminal investigation department also employ the use of an Oral history archive when they are interrogating criminals. 3. Aims and objectives In this section, the paper discusses the problem in question or the objectives of carrying out the research. Oral history archive has been viewed as a unique and powerful tool by people. In order to clear this perception and make things more clear, this research paper tries to answer the question. The problem to be researched on is therefore the value and the use of an oral history archive in modern libraries and information centres and why people view it as a useful tool in modern libraries. The paper shall also look at the role, if any, of the information specialist of the future in an oral history department and the skills the information specialist must have to operate in such a department. Besides, the paper shall also look at and address the question of how interviewing targets are chosen by the oral history department, how expensive it is to put up an oral history department from scratch at the various libraries, why people view it as a useful tool in the modern libraries and the skills that are required by an information specialist in order for him/her to be able to operate in the department. Today, many educationists are being encouraged to introduce oral history as a powerful tool for serious scholarships in all universities in order to encourage learning. However, there are a number of universities that have introduced and developed extensive collections of oral history while others have not realized the usefulness of the library. For example; Harvard, Princeton and University of California have taken the lead in the development and introduction of oral history archive (Gowers 2006). In addition, the university libraries mentioned above in this domain have operated smoothly from 1955, the British Library has been the pioneer for a lot of researchers of this topic. The reason is simple. The Sound Archive Department of British Library at the present time holds over a million discs, One hundred and eighty five thousand audio tapes, and a lot of video and sound records. These collections which include written literature, dramatized stuff, and music recordings plus sounds of wildlife are collected from across the world. They entail cylindrical equipment created in the nineteenth century to the most recent Compact Disks, Digital Versatile Disk and mini discs. 4. Scope and Definition In order to discover the use and the value of an oral history archive department and to create a sensible project in range and time, the scope of the project will focus mainly on the opinions of curators, librarians and others who are working in this sector. It is important though to be aware that this will emphasize basically on personal viewpoints and changing theories and therefore might not provide a perfect answer. It will also be necessary for the research to stay neutral and determined on the questioners and not go beyond the objectives set as those working in these departments will be more involved with the issues concerning their departments than be drawn to the personal issues. 5. Literature Review The literature review section tries to look at what other scholars have discussed about the same topic to be researched on. This is very important since it avoids or solves cases of duplication of other people’s work. Since other people or scholars at one time had realized the importance of Oral history archive in the modern libraries, it is therefore in order to access their ideas on the topic. The oral history archive has been viewed as a useful tool in a number of areas such as psychotherapy, witness interrogation in crime investigation and learning institutions that are provided in both oral and visual formats (Rolph 1998, Gregory 1991, Parker 1999 and Sarah 2004). According to Ritchie (2003), oral history has useful information or materials that are often ignored by librarians. This is also sometimes overlooked in relation to cost value calculation (Swain 2003). The archive has played a key role in helping in audio collection, attitude and value clarification as well as necessitating multi-media approach to learning (Christel 2006 and Thomson 2000). The most obvious area where oral history archive has been used according to Perks and Thompson (1998) is in learning institutions. This is a case where a tape recorder is used in classrooms to help students understand the concept being taught in class room. However, it has been noticed that a tape recorder has not been effectively and efficiently used as compared to the use of movie, slide or overhead projectors (Lukenbill 2002). One advantage when one uses a tape recorder is that it can be stopped anytime especially when the instructor wants to emphasize important points or to allow urgent questions arising (Thompson 2000). Tapes can also be replayed to enhance re-examining or revisiting and requesting of any order that is desirable. Proper understanding of the lesson is therefore emphasized. Since the new curriculum requires students to have skills in understanding comprehension, analysis and evaluation. Oral history has been of great use to check and examine all these concepts. It is also noted that oral communication skills are very important when it comes to times of interviews where questions are phrased (Swain 2003). The interviewer and the interviewee have to be clear and precise especially in calling for specific information. The questions asked especially during the interviews need also to be answered in the most accurate manner as possible (Ritchie 2003). According to Perks and Thompson (1998), accuracy actually plays a major role in interviews and this can be facilitated by the use of oral history archive. The concept is also emphasized by Seale (2004). As a way of facilitating learning, oral history archive through the use of tapes has facilitated immediate feedback during teaching in schools. This has been done in connection with other secondary sources like books more so in secondary schools. Students’ needs are addressed as soon as possible. This rules out cases of negative delays which is commonly experienced in the traditional scholarly research where numerous collections are required (Thompson 2000). A good teacher who knows how to use tapes only needs to locate appropriate tapes in which he is expected to prepare summarized notes according to students’ understanding. This should be done after testing the entry behavior of the students before opting to use the tapes for instruction (Parker 1999). Oral history archive has also been helpful in clinical libraries (Schacher 2001). Clinicians when giving psychotherapy to patients who are mentally disturbed have used the information contained in the Oral history archive. Such patients may be suffering from Schizophrenia or psychosis (Schacher 2001 and Thompson 2000). As patients talk about their illness the clinician is able to come up with appropriate measures to provide assistance.

The Traditional Family Life Cycle

The Traditional Family Life Cycle Traditional Family Life Cycle: Traditionally the life cycle, illustrated a progression of stages through which families passed; it comprised stages, starting from bachelorhood (single), to married (couple), to family growth (parenthood: birth of children), to family contraction (grown up children leaving home for studies or employment) to post parenthood (all children leaving home) to dissolution (single survivor: death of one of the spouses). Based on these, the traditional FLC can be synthesized into five basic stages, which may be mentioned as follows: Stage I: Bachelorhood: Young single adult (male/female) living apart from parents and into a livelihood. Stage II: Honeymooners: Young married couple. Stage III: Parenthood: Married couple with at least one child living with them at home. Stage IV: Postparenthood: An older married couple with no children living at home. Children have left home for studies or for employment. Stage V: Dissolution: One surviving spouse. These stages, consumption patterns and the product preferences are explained below: 1. Stage I: Bachelorhood: The stage comprises a young single adult (male/female) living apart from parents and into a livelihood. While incomes are low as they have just started a career, financial burdens and responsibilities are also low. As such bachelors have a high level of disposable income. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: They tend to spend their money on house rent, basic furniture and kitchen equipment. They are recreation oriented and like to spend on purchase of automobiles (particularly motor bikes), travel (trekking and holidays), adventure sports (motor racing, bungee jumping etc.), health clubs, clothes and fashion accessories. Implications for Marketers: Marketers realize that bachelors possess large disposable income; they find in them an attractive segment for sports, travel, entertainment and fun. 2. Stage II: Honeymooners: The stage comprises a newly married couple and continues till the first child is born. One of the spouses may be working or both may be working. They are financially better off than they would be in the next stages. If both are working, income is higher. If both are working, the couple has discretionary income at hand that permits a good lifestyle, and provides for purchases or savings. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: They tend to spend on creating a home for themselves. They spend on cars, furniture, curtains and upholstery, electronics, kitchen appliances and utensils, and vacations. Implications for Marketers: They form an attractive segment for the marketer as they form the highest purchase rate amongst segments. The highest average purchase of durables takes place in this stage. 3. Stage III: Parenthood: The stage comprises married couples with children. This stage extends for about a long 20-25 year period; and could be further broken up into three stages, viz., Full Nest I, Full Nest II and Full Nest III. Throughout these stages, the size and structure of the family gradually changes, so does income and expenses with varying priorities. The financial expenses increase rapidly with children being born in Full Nest I and gradually decrease as children become independent and self-supporting as one reaches Full Nest III. Full Nest I: The youngest child in the family is six or below. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: While liquidity of cash is low, expenses are high. The family spends on baby food, diapers, medicines for cough and cold, doctor visits, child toys and games, school admissions and fees and insurance policies. There are increased expenses on child care. Implications for Marketers: At this stage, purchasing is at the peak, and so this is an attractive segment for the marketer. The children in the family begin to impact family purchases, and are a huge potential for future. Full Nest II: The youngest child in the family is six or above. Generally the stage comprises children aged 6-12 years. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: Financial position gets better as one begins to rise up the ladder. If the wife is also working, children are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“latchkey kids.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The family spends on food, clothes for children, education of children, insurance policies and investments. They also pay for medical expenses and particularly, dental treatment. They go in for deals; buy larger-size packages, and economy packs. For example, junk food, fashion clothing and accessories, video games etc. are prime demands. Implications for Marketers: At this stage, purchasing is still at the peak, and so this is also an attractive segment for the marketer. The children, as also teenagers continue to impact family purchases. The latchkey kids are a potential for home delivered junk food like pizzas and burgers. Full nest III: They are older married couples with dependent and/or independent children but staying together at home. Children reach the higher educational level; one of them may start earning too. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: The family income continues to increase and so do expenses. The family continues to spend on food, clothes for teenagers, higher education of children, and also repeat purchase of durables that were bought in honeymooning stage or Full Nest I. The family buys new furniture, electronic goods and appliances and cars. Thus there is high average purchase of durables. The family also invests in real estate and property and/or flats. They continue to spend on medical expenses, particularly dentists and visit general physicians for regular checkups. Implications for Marketers: At this stage, income begins to increase as one of the children begins to earn. As expenses see a rise, the stage offers a potential for marketers. 4. Stage IV: Postparenthood: This is a stage that occurs once children have left home. They leave home first for education, and then for employment. As they complete their education, and find employment, they gradually leave home one by one, thus, leaving the nest. Thus, this stage has also been broken into two stages, viz., Empty Nest I and Empty Nest II. As one moves across Empty Nest I and II, the size and structure of the family changes (quite similar to the Parenthood stage and the Full Nest I, II and III). Empty Nest I: This is a stage that occurs when at least one of the children has left home. He/she has completed education, taken up a job and has left home to start his/her home. He/she is independent and can manage on own. While children are managing to start up on their own, parents are still working. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: The family size gradually begins to shrink. Parents are still earning; expenses gradually reduce, and so there is highest level of savings and disposable income at hand. The family spends on food, instalments for real estate/house, higher education of the dependent children, and, medical expenses on dentist, physiotherapy and heart. They have leisure time in hand, and watch television, movies, and may even go on a vacation. Implications for Marketers: At this stage, the couple beings to again have disposable income in hand. Financial responsibilities towards children begin to decrease. This stage offers potential for marketers who are involved in providing services like leisure, travel and holiday. Empty Nest II: In this stage, all the children have left home, and the couple has retired from occupation. They live on pension and other social security investments. If health permits, they take up part-time jobs. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: The couple has higher disposable incomes because of savings and investments, and they have fewer expenses. They decide to spend on all that they had been thinking to spend on but had not been able to because of familial responsibilities. They spend money on food, travel and holidays, watch TV and form hobby clubs. They refurnish their home or may even move to newer homes after retirement. Medical expenses also see a rise. However, for those older retired couples who do not have much income from adequate savings and investments, the situation is much different. There is a sharp drop in their income. Implications for Marketers: The stage is lucrative for those involved in the entertainment industry. Many industries provide special discounts in travel and stay as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Senior Citizen benefits, for example, hotels, airlines and railways. Banks and financial institutions also have special facilities for those above 60, especially higher rates of interest on deposits. 5. Stage V: Dissolution: This stage in the FLC occurs when one of the couple dies, and leaves behind the other surviving spouse. Priorities and Preferences of Purchase: When one of the spouses is still earning, or earns money from savings and investments, things are little easier. However, if he/she is not earning, he/she follows a lifestyle that is economical. The primary expenditure is on medicines, checkups with doctors and restrictive diet. Implications for Marketers: The stage is characteristic of a widow/widower with lower income and least shopping and expenses. Modifications to the FLC: With changes in our society, a change in the traditional Family Life Cycle and the various stages through which it progressed earlier. There are various forms like single; late marriages; divorced (with/without children); dual income, no kids, live-ins etc. Consumer researchers have thus brought about changes in the traditional FLC, so as to reflect changes in the family and lifestyle arrangements. Broadly speaking households may be classified as family households and non-family households (single individual or live-ins). Each of these family types has varying features and characteristics, which also get exhibited in their buying patterns and consumption expenditure. Family life cycle of Dominos Pizza Bachelorhood: Dominos pizza does not come under this stage because the income a person is very low and have to spend their money on house rent, basic furniture and kitchen equipment. Honeymooners: Dominos pizza comes under this stage because they tend to spend their money more. Parenthood: Dominos pizza also comes into this stage because in this the family income increases and then family continues to spend on food, clothes etc. Post parenthood: Dominos pizza comes under this stage because family is small but wants doing expenses. Dissolution: Dominos pizza does not come under this stage because their primary expenditure is on medicines, checkups and doctors. Family life cycle of Mobile Phones Bachelorhood: Mobile phones come under this stage because the income a person is very low but they have to spend their money on automobiles, clothes etc. Honeymooners: Mobile phones come under this stage because they tend to spend their money more. Parenthood: Mobile Phones also come into this stage because in this the family income increases and then family continues to spend on food, clothes, accessories etc. Post parenthood: Mobile phones come under this stage because family is small but wants doing expenses. Dissolution: Mobile Phone does not come under this stage because their primary expenditure is on medicines, checkups and doctors. Family life cycle of Mutual Funds Bachelorhood: Mutual Funds does not come under this stage because the income a person is very low but they have to spend their money on automobiles, clothes etc. Honeymooners: Mutual Funds come under this stage because they tend to spend their money more. Parenthood: Mutual Funds also come into this stage because in this the family income increases and then family continues to spend on food, clothes, accessories etc. Post parenthood: Mutual Funds come under this stage because family is small but wants doing expenses. Dissolution: Mutual Funds come under this stage because their primary expenditure is on medicines, checkups and doctors and spend for future stability.

Language Learning Autobiography

Language Learning Autobiography I came from Johor, Malaysia. I was Chinese and my native language was Mandarin. I took a long time to learn English and from hating it to loving it. Learning English is not an easy task and I encountered some difficulties during my learning experience of English. Although I study at Kirkby International College for teacher training course now, there is still need an improvement for my English as I will become English primary teacher in the future which I will teach proper use of English to the students. I started to learn English since I was six years old. My parents sent me to a kindergarten where I learnt English and Mandarin there. The teacher taught us about the four basic skills of learning English, namely reading, writing, speaking and listening. For example, I learnt how to pronounce the 26 letters (A, B, C, Dà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦), how to read and how to write it correctly. At first, I did not interest in learning English during English lesson in class. However, the high patience and hardworking teacher used interesting ways of teaching to let me paying more attention to their lesson, do not feel boring and understand the lesson easily. For example, the teacher organized a mini game about pronunciation of 26 letters and the students were rewarded if pronounced the letters correctly. Due to the excellent hard work by the teacher, I passed my English Test with flying colours for all the three semesters. I continued my studying in primary Chinese school. My primary school opened a special English class for all students from standard one to standard six in order to improve and increase Englishs standard of the students. At the beginning, the teacher taught a few of repeated simple words and sentences such as, Can you lend me your pencil? or May I help you? The teacher was very nice and always praised us and encouraged us to pay more effort in studying English. I began to think that I was a genius at that time as I was easily mastering the language. However, when I became standard six students, I became very playful and not interested in studies including attending for English class. I always ran directly towards my room and started playing computer games such as Left 4 dead 2, and Pro Evolution Soccer after I came back from school. I became addicted to the games. Because of English class was started every afternoon which took away my time for playing computer games, I decided to stop going for English class. Thinking back, I made a wrong decision for giving up this class. If I had continued, maybe I did not need to put more effort in studying English today. My remarkable moment for learning English began when I studied Form Four in secondary school. At that time, my English teacher Mrs. Hwang was very strict. She wanted us to read English storybook every week and wrote the summary of the story and the moral values from the story. Moreover, she also made us to read all the articles in the textbook and made a presentation about it. During the presentation, she would correct our pronunciation. It was losing face if being corrected in front of other students. To avoid this, I practiced my pronunciation again and again at home and even referred to my English teacher if anything about the pronunciation or grammar I did not know. Furthermore, Mrs. Hwang also made us to read a newspaper like The Star or New Straits Times every day and asked us to jolt down the difficult words into the notebook and made five sentences about it. After that, she asked us to memorize the difficult words which would be stated in English Monthly Test. As a result of all these hard works, I achieved an excellent result for my English subject in my school examination and even As in my Malaysia Education Certificate (SPM) examination. After finishing my secondary education, I furthered my study by taking Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) course which will become primary English teacher in the future. There were several reasons that I wanted to become English teacher. If I became English teacher, I could improve my English further during the five and a half years of training in Kirkby International College. As a result, I was able to communicate with the foreign people in English when I travelled to foreign countries in the future. Besides that, I also wanted to help the students that living in rural areas to increase their Englishs standard as they were poor and unable to access to multiple resources such as reference book to improve their English. Before I was chosen to study at this college, I needed to go through the interview. In order to pass the interview, I needed to have higher proficiency in English. Although I had achieved excellent result for English subject in SPM examination, I needed to in tensify my practice on English to get ready for the interview. Apart from reading the storybook every week, I also watched English channels such as movies, dramas and documentaries. For movies, I liked to watch action and scientific movies such as Predator and Fast and Furious while for dramas, I like to watch CSI Miami and Oh my English. Drama Oh my English is the educational channel suitable for the students to improve their English. In this drama, students could learn the correct way of speaking English, grammar and vocabulary. For documentary channels, I liked to watch Discovery as this channel not only improve my English, and also provided scientific knowledge. Besides that, I also updated myself by reading the current news online. Hence, I was able to know what had happened in my country and other country and I would check the dictionary for the words that I did not understand. As a result, this improved my reading skill and learnt new words. According to my personal experience, I think there is no short cut to studying English. We need to go through all the hardships before we get sweet return. We need to practice more, learn more, read more, listen more and speak more in order to increase the proficiency of our English. These are only the ways to master English. (1050 words)

General Electrics Quality Gamble Essay -- GCSE Business Six Sigma Cou

General Electric's Quality Gamble The Implementation of Six Sigma General Electric (GE) is among the most profitable companies and, according to Fortune magazine, the most admired. It stock is the most highly valued in the world. Some critics would argue, if it's not broke, why fix it? Jack Welch, CEO of GE, believes in the "infinite capacity to improve everything." Why does a company that has experienced so much success recently invests over a billion dollars in a quality initiative? Increased competition has GE adopting the attitude that businesses that stand still become obsolete as businesses that continue to grow pass them by. Also by implementing Six Sigma, GE is preparing itself for future profitability opportunities. Finally, research indicated a need for improvement in the way GE does business. GE had been straining for years to increase operating margin and six sigma is a way to do that. What is Six Sigma? Six sigma, the mother of all quality efforts, can mean different things to different organizations. The Six Sigma Academy defines it as tactics and tools to improve profitability through focusing on improving the sigma capability of an organization's processes. GE defines six sigma as first as a management philosophy; a never ending to competitive leadership by satisfying customer requirements profitability. Second they define it as a measurement system; a measure of a processes inherent ability to meet customer requirements. In general six sigma is a statistical non-financial performance measurement at which you should design, operate, and control every process in your company in such a way that none of yield more than 3.4 defects per million units of output. Six Sigma is a tool that measures in a clear, accurate, mathematical terms how good or bad their quality levels are, how much they can improve, and what progress they are making along the journey. On a global perspective, companies that have not begun their quality journey are around one or two sigma. The worldwide average is around three sigma. The majority of the companies utilizing six sigma in India are at a low two sigma. An average domestic company is at three sigma, while a good company is at three and a half. Today GE is around three and a half with goals of reaching six sigma by the year 2000. Companies operating at three to four sigma lo... ...reduced cycle times, increased productivity, improved capacity and output, decreased work-in-progress, and improved process flow. Companies operating at 3 to 4 sigma generally loses up to 10-15% of their total revenue due to defects, on the contrast a company that operates at 6 sigma generally loses less than 10%. Six Sigma stars Motorola has reported savings of $2 billion over 10 years of implementation while GE shaved off 750 million of cost in 1998. In 1999, GE has projected a 1.5 billion in savings due to Six Sigma, and if they reach their goal of six sigma in the year 2000 they will add between 8 to 12 added to the bottom line. In conclusion, GE has decided to ride Six Sigma into the next century. The year 2000 is the deadline for reaching Six Sigma, which is also around the time its CEO Jack Welch plans to retire. If GE's quality gamble pays off, Jack Welch will go out a winner, leaving behind his most admired company on top. Reference "The Enigma of Six Sigma." (1999, May). Business Today. Online Romeo, Mary. Six Sigma Quality. GE Capital FMP Conference, Stamford, 1999. Curran, John. "GE CAPITAL: JACK WELCH'S SECRET WEAPON." Fortune July 1999.

Jack Chicks The Prophet :: Islam Religion Comic Papers

Jack Chick's The Prophet If one were asked to comment on influential and powerful pieces of literature, one would expect the usual suspects to come to mind. There are those time-honored classics found in bound, leather volumes that are on everyone's bookshelves. Many celebrated contemporary works have the distinction of having been awarded a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. It was not really until Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize winning Maus (Parts I and II) that we could realize the awesome power of literature in a comic form. Literature in any form is also a double-edged sword. It can incise like a scalpel or detonate like a bomb. The endless rearrangement of twenty-six letters to form words represents both thought and action. Both have the potential to be positive or negative. The Chronicles of the Learned Elders of Zion, an apocryphal and fraudulent anthology, helped stir up anti-Semitic strife in a pre-Holocaust Europe. In a mere thirty-two pages, Jack Chick's comic, The Prophet, conveys much the same attitude as that which dominated the fascist landscape of the Nazi Reich less than six decades ago. The Prophet is nothing more than a disgusting piece of rubbish and propaganda. The assertions made about the origins, history, and motivations of Islam are so ridiculous, that at some point one cannot help but laugh at the stupidity needed to write such trash. This makes Chick's work both comic and tragic. Unfortunately, free speech even applies to the ignorant and those consumed with hatred. On the other h and, freedom of thought allows us to evaluate, criticize, and reject them. The story begins with the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon in the early 1980's. It is here that a reporter is terrorized by the stereotypical wild-eyed Muslim fundamentalist. Before the reporter's "enlightenment" by the warped Dr. Alberto Rivera, he neatly sums up the situation in the Middle East as most Americans have been trained to do - dismissing everyone there as being crazy and giving up on even an iota of understanding (Chick, Jack T., The Prophet, P. 3-4). Luckily, Dr. Rivera is at the terminal snackbar so he can make sense of all of human history. His story is so convoluted that he manages to solve more mysteries than Matlock and Columbo did I their entire television careers. The only question that remains at the end of his idiotic expose is: Where was he when the Warren Commission needed him?

Poduct Life Cycle

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Com 220 Prison Overcrowding Harms Everyone

Prison Overcrowding Harms Everyone March 18, 2009 Com 220 Axia College of University of Phoenix Did you know that the USA with 5% of the world's population has 25% of its prisoners, making it the world's no#1 jailer? The most recent statistics from the Department of Justice states that 1 out of every 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 has been jailed. Most likely, every person in the USA has either been incarcerated or knows someone who was. At the start of 2008, 2,319,258 adults were being held in prison or jail and this number keeps growing. Because of the immense population of inmates, most facilities are overcrowded. To make room for all these inmates, correction departments have resorted to housing prisoners in tents, hallways, and gymnasiums. Below is a picture from USA Today of inmates being housed in a gymnasium. Locking up so many people in these overcrowded conditions creates serious emotional, physical, and mental problems for inmates and causes prisons to be even more dangerous. Due to these conditions, the prisoner winds up worst upon release than when they came in. (Smolowe and Blackman 1994) In addition to the overcrowding problem, there is a huge financial strain to keep these facilities operating. To incarcerate only California’s prisoners, it costs more than $7. 6 million dollars a day. While funding for education and public assistance decreases, the prison budget maintains growth. One would think that for all the important resources we take money away from to invest in prisons, we would see some positive results, but unfortunately the USA has the highest crime rate in the world. Locking up so many people causes serious overcrowding problems making rehabilitation next to impossible. Overcrowded prisons harm the rest of the population by breaking apart families, spreading diseases, and wasting valuable resources on a system that is not reducing the crime rate. (Clark 1994) The overcrowded prisons have a negative and dangerous impact on its residents’ physical well-being. Deadly and infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculoses commonly exist in America’s prisons. With very few doctors available, many prisoners are not even aware that they are infected and go untreated. Every year, more than 1. 5 million inmates are released back into the society, infected. Once released, they spread these deadly diseases to their families and communities. As long as prisons remain understaffed, inmates and the rest of society will suffer. (USA Today) Insufficient staffing makes it impossible for prisoners to go through a detailed screening process. The monitoring, screening, and managing of vulnerable or problematic inmates are rarely maintained. Many times dangerous and mentally ill prisoners, untreated and undiagnosed, are put into the main population where they have a negative effect on other inmates as well as themselves. Prisoners are no longer put into facilities that best match their needs; instead they are squeezed into whichever facility has room. This environment is conducive to violence. Many times prisoners are assaulted and even raped by others because staff is not readily available to control the situation. Besides an increased chance of being victimized, research has shown that understaffed jails have more suicides than ones that are properly proportioned. (Haney 3-4) Overcrowding has created a dangerous atmosphere that has forced staff to focus on keeping order rather than worrying about meeting prisoners’ basic needs. Overcrowding has caused many staff members to fear for their personal safety and to look at prisoners with disdain. They are equipped with many lethal and non-lethal weapons to keep them safe and in some jurisdictions rifles and shotguns are carried inside cell blocks. In California, armed guards are kept inside housing units and authorized to respond to inmate disturbances with lethal force. Even while theses inmates sleep, they are kept under gun surveillance. (Haney 11) Education and work programs conducive to rehabilitation are being done away with to pay for room for more prisoners. These programs are necessary because the majority of prisoners are illiterate. A study conducted back in 1992 concluded that about 70% of prisoners were functionally illiterate or illiterate. The Bureau of Justice reported that in the 1990’s, 40% of the prisoners had no job assignments at all, that 40% had menial prison duties like laundry, and only 7% were involved in some type of industry program. This means that little is being done to help prisoners make a smooth transition back into society. Once released, prisoners will have a record that any future job prospects will frown upon. Without any kind of job training it is unlikely that ex-convicts will ever get hired. Many times, released prisoners who are faced with this dilemma, go right back to prison because they resort back to the same illegal practices of receiving money that got them arrested in the first place. When programs are taken away, it tends to increases the violence and frustration amongst inmates. (Haney 5, 7-8) Many people find it hard to sympathize for inmates who are victims of violence, bad health care, or rape because the victims are criminals and many people believe they deserve to be punished. I have heard many people make light of the current prison conditions by telling jokes about Bubba violating men in the shower that drop the soap. What many people do not realize is that it is not just hard core rapists and murderers populating the prisons, in fact, about half of the prison population is serving time for non-violent crimes. Now-a-days one can be incarcerated for certain motor-vehicle infractions and there have been numerous occasions of innocent people being incarcerated. The following chart depicts the types of crimes prisoners were serving time for, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics for 2005. USA Today NID) (Haney 4) Mandatory sentencing is a major contributing factor to the prison overcrowding problem and should be eliminated. Aaron Clarence is a perfect example of why mandatory sentencing should be done away with. Aaron was a 22 year-old college student when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a first-time nonviolent drug conviction. The local U. S. attorney charged Aaron with dealing crack cocaine, drugs that he never even touched. What did he do? He accepted $1,500 to introduce a couple of drug dealers and one of the dealers robbed the other. Aaron was pulled out of class months later and charged because one of the dealers claimed Aaron was a big-time drug dealer. No other evidence besides the testimony of the dealer, who benefitted by getting a reduced sentence for his testimony was given. Aaron is spending the rest of his life in prison. (Saunders 2004) The conservative approach to crime, investing in new prisons and jailing our way to a lower crime rate is not working. Now is the time that we realize that this approach is unaffordable and does not decrease the crime rate. Now is the time that different strategies to reduce over crowdedness are looked into. Barbara Flicker argues that a more thorough screening process to determine who to incarcerate or not, needs to be implemented at each stage. The prosecutor, judges, jail administrators, and probation officers should use other resources besides prisons like: unconditional release, third-party custody, a treatment center, bail, probation supervision, electronic surveillance, or work-release programs for non-violent and lesser crimes. Now is time that we stopped punishing all the different types of crimes that are out there by the same method. Many times drug offenders are locked up in the same facilities as pedophiles and are serving more time than them. (1990) (Smolowe and Blackman 1994) The current prison system is in desperate need of change. Prisons are supposed to be a deterrent to crime but this not the outcome. Now is the time that people realize that what goes on in prison affects everyone in society. About 95% of prisoners will be released back into society at one point. We need to ask ourselves, â€Å"Do we want these people released back into our communities without any kind of rehabilitation or worse off than they started out? Are people being sentenced to life for committing a misdemeanor fair? Is it right to deprive money from schools and the community to finance a system that does not work? † If your answer to these questions is no, then now is the time for action. Discussing the situation is the first step. Many people openly discuss the school system and other facilities that our tax dollars contribute to, and overlook the prison system which takes much more money to run. Many people are unaware of the overcrowded conditions or mandatory sentencing until someone they care about is affected. People need to be made aware in order for change to happen. Read about outrageous prison sentences like Aaron Clarence’s that have been handed out. Write to a local politician explaining concerns about the problems in our current prison system. If nothing is done, and this lock-them-up trend continues, half the adult population will experience the inside of a prison or jail. (Will 1998) Reference Page Clark, C. S. (1994, February 4). Prison Overcrowding. CQ Researcher, 4, 97-120. Retrieved March 6, 2009 From CQ Researcher Online Flicker, B. (1990 February). To Jail or Not to Jail. ABA Journal. Retrieved February 13, 2009. From Business Source Campus Database. Haney, Craig. Prison Overcrowding: Harmful Consequences and Dysfunctional Reactions. Retrieved February 13, 2009. From http://prisoncommission. org/statement/haney. craig. pdf. Rising prison problems begin to trickle into society. (nid) USA Today. Retrieved February 13, 2009. From Master FILE Premier Database Smolowe, J. , & Blackman, A. (1994 February 7)†¦and throw away the key. (cover story). Time. 143(6). 54. Retrieved February 13, 2009. From Master FILE Premier Database. Saunders, D. (2004 November 28) Free Clarence Aaron. The San Francisco Chronicle (CA) retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. ovember. org/Blakely/Saunders11-28- 04. html. Will G. (1998 July 20) A jail break for geriatrics. Newsweek p. 70. Retrieved February 13, 2009. From Master FILE Premier Database. Peer Review Checklist* What is the main point of this paper? | The main point of the paper is the overcrowding of the prison system. | What is the greatest strength of this paper? | The greatest strength of t his paper is all the information provided. The statistics give the reader a chance to actually absorb numbers. | What material does not seem to fit the main point of the paper or does not seem to be appropriate for the audience? I think that all the information fit well into the paper. The statistics were there to represent the prisoners; you provided detailed information on what all the overcrowding did to the staff and others in the prison. You showed cause and affect of what the overcrowding did to the prison system. | Has the author sufficiently addressed counterarguments? Explain your answer. | I think the author sufficiently addressed the counterarguments represented in the paper. I would of like to of seen if there was any suggestions to fixing the problem though. | Where should the author add more details or examples? Explain your answer. | Suggestions on what they could do to fix the problem. Also a few updated statistics. The statistic from 1992 is little old. I would of liked to know if the prisoners are more alliterate now or then. | Where is the writing unclear or vague? | I found the writing to be clear. I did not find it unclear or vague. | What is your favorite part of this piece of writing? | I enjoyed the whole paper. I did not find myself liking one part better than the other. I enjoyed the whole paper. | What other comments can you provide for the author? I found the paper extremely informative. There was a large amount of information that I was not aware of. I would have to suggest that some of the paragraphs like the opener seem to be really long and there is a lot of information in them. I think if you broke them into smaller paragraphs it would make the information stronger for the reader. | *Adapted from Reinking, J. A. , Hart, A. W. , & Von der Osten, R. (2003). Strategies for su ccessful writing: A rhetoric, research guide, reader, and handbook (6th ed. ). Boston: Prentice-Hall/Pearson Custom Publishing.

Role of Money Market in Economic Development of Nigeria

Discount Houses Operations, the Money Market and the Nigerian Economy: A Preliminary Investigation C. B. Ezirim and F. E. Enefaa Abstract This paper investigates the relationships subsisting between the operations of discount houses and the performance indices of the money market and the general economy. The method used involved the estimation of regression models and subsequent analysis of results using conventional statistics. The findings indicate that positive and significant relationships existed between the indicators of discount houses and those of the money market and the macro economy.Thus, the operations of these houses reserve the potentials to boost the performances of the money market and the economy considerably. This calls for policy options that would favor the encouragement of existing houses and licensing of new ones to adequately carter for the needs of the overall economy. Introduction It has been underscored that discount houses play very important roles in stimu lating investments in the economy and in boosting the general operations of the money market.Not only do they serve as catalyst in the market, they are, on their own, large-scale investors in the money market as well. Their role in facilitating profitable open market operations is worth stressing (CBN, 2004; Ezirim, 2005). Notwithstanding these and other roles performed by discount houses in a typical economy, the Nigerian money market operations are said to be sub-optimal in terms of engineering desired growth in the economy. The observed sub-optimality of the Nigerian money market is blamed, in part, on the poor performance of discount houses and other money market institutions.Discount houses, from the onset of their operations in the country, were expected to cause the Nigerian money market to operate optimally. Since the money market is yet to achieve this objective, can we then say that the discount houses have failed in their expected duties? It is the burden of this study to ravel the true position by x-raying the relationships between relevant variables representing the operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Furthermore, the entire activity of the discount houses is expected to directly or indirectly boost aggregate domestic investment, output, and income. The levels of these macro magnitudes, even with the advent of discount houses, have left much to be desired. Does this suggest that these institutions, alongside others, have failed in their critical duty to the economy? The need to investigate the relationship between the 94 operations of these financial institutions and relevant macro indicators is only rife.It is, therefore, main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performance of the money market and the macro economy. Theoretical Framework and Review Concept and Roles of Discount Houses Discount houses are recent but novel develo pments that are meant to further the catalytic processes in the economic advancement of the less developed countries (LDCs) like Nigeria, especially in the money market sub-sector.By definition, discount houses are financial institutions devoted to trading in money market securities in the secondary market. As in Ezirim (2005), discount houses (DHs) were established to serve as financial intermediaries between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), licensed banks, and other financial institutions. DHs mobilize funds for investments in securities by providing discounting/rediscounting facilities in government short-term securities.According to Central Bank of Nigeria (2004: 1) Revised Guidelines for discount houses in Nigeria, â€Å"a discount house means any person in Nigeria who transacts a discount house business which in the main consists of trading in and holding of treasury bills, commercial bills and other securities and whose operations are in the opinion of the CBN those of a d iscount house†. Local Banks and other financial institutions including insurance companies, with or without the participation of international finance institutions acceptable to the CBN, can subscribe to the shares of a iscount house business. However the maximum permissible equity holding for any single investor in a discount house is 40%. Kakawa Discount House Ltd. (2005) provided a distinct approach to understanding the discount house phenomenon. To them, a discount house is a specialist financial institution, which intermediates in the money market by accepting short-term monies for onward investment in short-term financial securities from commercial, universal, investment and development banks, building societies, other financial institutions and high net worth individuals.They are credited with playing a vital role in the Nigerian Monetary System by sitting at the centre of the money market, and offering the safest avenues available for investment in Nigeria today. They invest mainly in government treasury bills and to a lesser extent in commercial bills issued by blue chip companies, and accepted by creditworthy bank. Their principal specialization is in providing primary liquidity in the Nigerian financial sector through the buying and selling of security in huge volumes for very short period of time.A discount house in Nigeria is a specialist financial institution that acts as an agent for facilitating the Open Market Operation (OMO) allocations; and as a market marker in Nigeria money market. Ajie and Ezi (2001) maintained that the establishment of discount house in Nigeria has been an important development that led to an increased level of activity, fund flows and growth of the money market. 95 Establishment and Raison d’etre of Discount Houses in Nigeria Discount Houses were set up by the provisions of Section 28, of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Decree No. 4 of 1991 and sections 61 of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFID) Decree No. 25 of 1991 as amended. Three discount houses commenced operations in 1993 while two others joined between 1995 and 1996. Discount Houses were primarily created in Nigeria to carry out the following functions: (a)Promotion of rapid growth and efficiency in the money market; (b) Acting as an intermediary between the CBN and licensed banks in Open Market Operations (OMO) transactions and other eligible transactions; (c ) Facilitating the issuance and sale of short termGovernment securities, (d) Providing discount/re-discount facilities for Treasury Bills, Government Securities and other eligible financial instruments; (e) Accepting short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors; and (f) Providing short term financial accommodation to banks. The CBN injects or withdraws funds from the money market through the Discount Houses, whose operations will enable them serve as a mirror with which the CBN gauges the liquidity position in the market. Discount Houses help banks to adjust their books on a daily basis, resulting in the stimulation of the money market and paving the way for healthy growth, efficiency and professionalism. Following the recent CBN 2004 Guidelines, the functions of a Discount House were expanded to include: (a) Providing portfolio and funds management services, (b) Providing financial and business solutions, and (c ) Other functions that may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time (CBN, 2004).Regulation and Control of Discount Houses in Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate and control the activities of the Discount Houses. In a bid to keep Discount Houses secure, the CBN strictly regulates them through daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual reporting of their statement of affairs while relevant quarterly reports are sent to SEC. This keeps the regulatory agencies continuously informed of the situation prevailing in the Discount H ouses on a daily basis ( Kakawa, 2005).In terms of prudential requirements, the CBN (2004) required that every discount house shall: (a) transfer to the statutory reserve a minimum of 15 percent of profit after tax if the reserve fund is less than the paid-up capital and a minimum of 10% if the reserve fund is equal to or more than the paid-up capital; (b) maintain capital funds to risk assets ratio of 1:13 and cash asset ratio (CAR) of 10% or as may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time; (c ) not exceed a maximum ratio of 50:1 between its total borrowing and capital plus reserves without the prior approval of the CBN; (d) not grant to any bank, facility of more than 75% of its shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses without the prior approval of the CBN; (e) (i)at all times maintain not less than 60% of total borrowing in government securities; (ii) Any discount house which fails to maintain the 60% of borrowings in government securities is guilty of offence and liable to fine as stipulated in Section 15(4)(b) of BOFIA as amended. (f) shall classify and make provision for its risk assets in line with prudential guidelines for banks; (g) maintain proper books of accounts; (h) every discount house shall display its daily rates or interest in a conspicuous position in all its offices; (i) 96 hanges in the discount house’s top management and Board of Directors shall be subject to the prior approval of CBN; (j) every discount house shall appoint an auditor approved by the CBN whose duties shall be to make to the shareholders a report of their annual balance sheet and profit and loss account. The qualifications, duties, powers and responsibilities of the approved auditors shall conform to the provisions of Section 29 of BOFIA 1991, as amended; and (k) all repurchase transactions (Repos) by discount houses shall be reported on the balance sheet if the securities used are owned by the discount houses with the affected assets remaining in the books of the sellers (discounting houses), while the cash received by them shall be recognized as a liability (CBN, 2004). Services and Financing of Discount Houses Discount Houses offer a wide range of financial products to Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and the general public.The main services include: (a) Securities trading which includes buying and selling of: Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Government Bonds, and Commercial Bills; (b) Accepting short-term investments from banks and providing short-term accommodation to banks; (c) Short-term financial intermediation through the acceptance of funds and simultaneous investment of the funds in: Commercial Papers, Bankers Acceptances, Government Securities; (d) Providing personalized wealth management to high net-worth individuals through a network of investment managers, financial consultants and other specialists; (e) Effective portfolio management on both discretionary and non-discretionary basis through the provision of medium to long term investment management services to: Pension funds, Private clients, Employee Schemes, Trustees of family settlements and charities; and (f) Providing Business Solutions in: Financial Arrangement and Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Privatization, Business Assessment, Business Structuring, and Data Resource and Management (kakawa Discount House Ltd. , 2005) The Sources of funds for discount houses in Nigeria included: (a) Equity – Paid- up Capital and Reserves. (b) Call money and short-term borrowings of not more than three years maturity. (C) Call money placed by banks with discount houses shall form part of the specified liquid assets of the respective banks for the purpose of the liquidity ratio requirement. d) A discount house that is short of funds may: (i) obtain from the CBN an overnight advance against acceptable collateral. However such an advance shall not exceed 20 percent of the total assets of the discount house and shall not in any event be gran ted if the discount house has exceeded the borrowing limit as prescribed by CBN; (ii) sell short-term bills and/or other securities to the CBN. The CBN shall provide rediscounting facilities for treasury and other eligible securities; and (iii) enter into Repurchase transactions with the CBN using eligible securities. The short-term nature of the liabilities of a discount house requires that its assets be substantially liquid.The assets of a discount house shall consist of the following: a) Treasury Bills; b) Treasury Certificates; c) Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCDs); d) Bankers’ Acceptances; e) Commercial Papers (eligible); f) Asset-Backed Securities (of not more than three years to maturity); g) Federal Government Development 97 Stocks (development stocks not exceeding five years); h) Eligible State Bonds (bonds with not more than five years to maturity); i) Promissory Notes issued by State Governments; and j) Any other securities that may from time to time be appr oved by the CBN. Discount Houses, Open Market Operations, and the Money Market Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply.It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market. In Nigeria, the money market instrument used for OMO auctions is the Treasury Bills. Discount houses are the exclusive agents, in the conduct of OMO in Nigeria. OMO auction are held on a weekly basis. Presently, the notice is put out on Wednesday. Banks and other participants forward their bids to the discount houses on Thursday whilst the results are released the following day, Friday. The Discount House submits bids from authorized dealers, including its needs for OMO instruments, to the Central bank and facilitates the payments and settlement of the transactions.The money market is a wholesale market for low risk, highly liquid, short-term debt instruments. Shortterm refers to a tenor of less than one year. In Nigeria, the instruments traded in the main are Treasury Bills, Bankers Acceptances and Commercial Paper. The heart of activity in the money market occurs in the dealing rooms of discount houses and banks. Each day, billion of Naira is traded between operators in the money markets (CBN, 2004; Kakawa, 2005). Performance of Discount Houses in Nigeria Since inception, the discount houses have especially increased the level of activity in the secondary market for government securities. This is apparent from the volume of treasury bills currently held by banks. This increased from N5,181. million in 1992 to N38,286. 8 million in 1994. This is very remarkable when we consider that the treasury bills issued by the CBN had shown a downward slide from N81152. 1 million in 1992 to N30633. 2 million in 1994 and N20247. 7 million in 1996. As at 2002, there were 5 discount houses operating in Nigeria. Relative to their performance in 2001, they recorded significant growth in 2002. The total assets of the 5 operating Houses amounted to N57. 3 billion at December 2002 and N67. 3B as at the end of 2004 ( See Table 1 below). Total funds available amounted to N28. 7 billion compared with N9. 7 billion in 2001. The funds were sourced mainly from money-at-call (N13. billion), other amounts owed to bank and non-bank customers (N11. 7 billion), accretion to capital and reserves (N1. 6 billion), and reduction in cash and balances with banks (N1. 5 billion). 98 Table 1: Selected Indicators of Discount Houses, Money Market and Nigerian Economy Discount Houses Shareholders’ Funds (DHSF) NM 1993 436. 0 1994 565. 7 1995 865. 6 1996 1251. 7 1997 1430. 5 1998 1710. 3 1999 2136. 5 2000 3730. 7 2001 4948. 6 2002 6511. 0 2003 7679. 0 2004 9924. 5 Source: CBN Annual Reports, various years. Year Discount Houses Assets (DHASS) NM 4,461. 8 9,583. 2 3,431. 9 1,178. 4 6,996. 1 7,842. 6 15,049. 6 30,260. 8 32,353. 7 57,282. 52,731. 2 67,346. 2 The funds were largely utilized for investmen ts in government securities (N19. 7 billion), settlement of claims to banks (N2. 4 billion), and acquisition of other assets (N2. 4 billion) among other uses (CBN, 2002: 42, 43). The Central Bank (2004a) reported that the level of activities of discount houses recorded relatively improved performance in 2004 relative to compared with what obtained in 2003. The total assets/liabilities rose from N52. 7 billion in 2003 to N67. 3 billion in 2004, representing an increase of N14. 6 billion or 27. 7 per cent, while the total funds sourced amounted to N22. 6 million, compared with N15. billion in the preceding year See Table 1). The funds were sourced mainly from non-bank customers (N8. 1 billion), reduction on claims by banks (N5. 7 billion), and an increase in reserves (N2. 2 billion). The funds were utilized mainly in the purchase of Federal Government securities of less than 91-days maturity (N16. 2 billion). Discount houses’ investment in Federal Government securities of less than 91 days maturity amounted to N38. 1 billion at end-December 2004, representing 80. 1 percent of their total deposits liabilities. This was 20. 1 percentage points higher than the prescribed minimum of 60. 0 per cent for fiscal 2004 (CBN, 2004a).These show how important the impact of the discount houses has largely been felt in the level of activity and nature of holding of government debts instruments. Research Methodology Design of the study and Data: The study investigates the effect of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. For the purpose of this study, the research design used was the investigative research method which is mainly biased to inferential statistical analysis (Baridam, 2005). This study was intended to cover the entire discount houses operating in Nigeria.Accordingly, time series annual data 99 covering the period of 1993 through 2004 were obtain ed and analyzed. The Annual Report and Statement of Account of the CBN for various years constituted the sources of the time series data for the estimations. Operational Measure of the Variables: The dependent variables in this study are the operational performance indices of the money market and the entire economy, namely the total value of operations of the money market and the real GDP respectively. The independent variables are the operational performance indices of the discount houses, namely the discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and discount houses assets (DHAS).Data Analysis Techniques: Besides the desk research method which informs an extensive review of the theoretical underpinnings related to this topic, the study involved the estimation of conventional regression models as earlier mentioned which assisted in analyzing the data. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was also adopted using the SPSS software for the estimation of the variables. The tand F- tests were used to test for significance of the results obtained. Hypotheses, Estimation Results, and Analysis Two hypotheses were formulated to the intent of finding the nature and magnitude of relationship existing between discount houses operations, on one part, and the money market operations and the general economic activity of the country, on the other. The resultant linear regression models were estimated and analyzed below. Relation between Discount Houses’ and Money Market Operations The first ypothesis states that: there is no significant relationship between the country’s money market operational performance and the operations of discount houses in the country. As expected the regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software programme. The indicator of the money market, namely money operations from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicator of discount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yields two subhypotheses: one relating money market operations (MMOP) with discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and the other linking MMOP with discount houses assets (DHAS).The results of the computations are summarized on Table 2 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the MMOP remained the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the independent variables. As shown by the Table, for the MMOP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 995, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 978 for the MMOP-DHAS relation. 100 This suggested that the degree of association between the money market performance and the discount houses’ operations was very high, being at least 97%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determinat ion (r2) of 0. 91 and 0. 957 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 95. 7% of the variations in money market operations can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operation, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. Table 2: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses and Money Market Operations Independent Variables Statistics DHSF DHAS Coefficient of Regression (R) . 995 . 978 Coefficient of Determination (r2) . 991 . 957 Adjusted R Square . 990 . 952 F-Ratio 1050. 12 220. 522 Significance Level of F . 000 . 000 Regression Coefficient (beta) . 995 . 978 t-Statistics 32. 406 14. 85 Significance level of t . 000 . 00 * Dependent variable is MMOP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 99. 1%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable to the models, thus, was between 95% and 99%. After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of ob servations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were 0. 99 for DHSF and 0. 952 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 95% and 99%.The F-ratios of 1050. 12 for DHSF variable and 220. 522 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between MMOP and DHSF and DHMS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 32. 406 for DHSF and t=14. 85 for DHAS; P= . 000 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Relationship between Aggregate Economic Performance and Discount Houses Operations The second hypothesis attempts to know whether or not the general economy has been significantly impacted by the discount houses’ operations in the country. This hypothesis stated in the null is as 101 follows: There is no significant relationship between the aggregate economic performance represented by the GDP and the operations of discount houses in Nigeria.Table 3: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses’ Operations and Real DGP Independent Variables Statistics Coefficient of Regression (R) Coefficient of Determination (r2) Adjusted R Square F-Ratio Significance Level of F Regression Coefficient (beta) t-Statistics Sign ificance level of t DHSF . 971 . 943 . 937 163. 97 . 000 . 971 12. 805 . 000 DHAS . 947 . 898 . 887 87. 705 . 000 . 947 9. 365 . 000 * Dependent variable is real GDP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software program. The indicator of the economy namely Real GDP from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicators of iscount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yielded two subhypotheses: one relating Real GDP (RGDP) with discount houses shareholders funds (DHSF) and the other linking RGDP with discount houses assets (DHAS). The results of the computations are summarized on Table 3 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the RGDP was treated as the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the in dependent variables. As shown by the Table, for the RGDP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 971, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 947 for the RGDP-DHAS relation.This suggested that the degree of association between the aggregate economic performance and the discount houses’ operations was very relatively high, being at least 94%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determination (r2) of 0. 943 and 0. 898 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 89% of the variations in aggregate economic activities can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operations, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 93. 7%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable by the models thus was between 89% and 94%. 102After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of observations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were . 937 for DHSF and . 887 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 88% and 93%. The F-ratios of 163. 97 for DHSF variable and 87. 7 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between RGDP and DHSF and DHAS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 12. 8 for DHSF and t = 9. 4 for DHAS; P= . 00 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between aggregate economic activities of Nigeria and operations of the discount houses . Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly. Concluding Remarks It was thus the main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performances of the money market and with the macro economy.Put simply, the study investigated the effects of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian money market and the economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. The results indicated that: there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant rel ationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly.The results suggest that the establishment of discount houses has been shown to be one of the potent measures that have tremendous potentials to strengthen and cause real growth to the money market and the economy. In keeping with the above, the Government and the Central Bank should endeavor to license more discount houses since their operations are beneficial to the country. The five discount houses currently operating are too few to satisfy the requirements of a vast country like Nigeria. The opearational Houses and the authorities should also endeavor to awake the consciousness of the investing and the business public to proper usage of the facilities and services provided by discount houses.Candid awareness should be provided and information made available to the investor public to know which discoun t house is performing better and good for patronage. The management of the operating discount house should endeavor to improve in their service offerings to their customers especially in the area of making their discount charges to be reasonably competitive. This could also improve the clientele level of the 103 operating discount houses in the economy. It is important that discount houses’ management, investors and government critically analyze and understand the effect of under-utilization of services or facilities provided by discount houses.It is the humbly suggestion of the authors that further empirical works be carried out on the identified relationships using more powerful and sophisticated tools and larger number of observations such as in the cases of monthly and quarterly data. Comparisons between the Nigerian experiment and the experiences of other developing countries should also be made. 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