Principle Agent Moral Hazard

The major issue was that the commercial banks overstressed in such mortgage backed securities. Another part of the story Is that Basel I accords are credited with giving seeds to the idea of all things that could lead to recession and Basel II Is credited with magnifying Its Impact. Formed In 1988 and adopted by 1992, Basel I accords were a set of rules and regulations, to be adopted by GIG countries, that allotted different risk ratings to various types of assets held by banks. Assets, here, referred to bonds, mortgages undo etc.It took a long time for the economies to realist the problems associated with such types of system. For example, in such a framework a commercial bank was permitted to keep aside no liquid capital if it had all government bonds or gold as assets. This was so because such assets were considered safe. Further, it was required of them to keep aside small percentages of capital for every mortgage, commercial loan or bonds they Issued. With the introduction of Ba sel 2, the list was expanded to bonds backed by debts like ar or property loans and yet had to keep only a 2 percent of spare capital.Flip side to this was that the bonds ought to have AAA or AAA credit ratings from the government. Statistics tell that Just prior to the recession, 81 percent of all Mortgage backed securities held by the commercial banks had AAA credit rating. Further, 93 percent of all mortgage-backed securities held by these banks had AAA credit rating or held bonds Issued by a government-sponsored enterprise. Now this Is where the role of moral hazard comes Into play.When Basel I and abstinently Basel II accords were Introduced, the primary aim of the developed economies was to encourage consumer spending and Investments by the banks. It was not completely unforeseeable for everyone to realize that backing debt or junk manipulating credit ratings, economies tried to create a self-fulfilling system that provided for feed as well as fed upon its own. The bankers wer e in turn incentives to take risks of high magnitude, with all the depositors' money in hand, believing that there is a government always backing them.Soon the entire system gave away. This created a bigger moral hazard. How to minimize such problems? TO reduce such a problem of Principal Agent problem leading to recession, it is imperative that the regulators are on their toes. In USA, SEC did not take proper steps to ensure that the Rating agencies don't rate securities high without any strong backing to do so. Also the FIDE, the Fed, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision relied blindly on the ratings given by the Credit rating agencies.Therefore, all rules and regulations given under law should be implemented properly and Justly by the regulators. The government should also ensure the timely passage of relevant legal provision and bills. Also, although Basel Ill accords have been adopted and implemented by most of the countries and the deadline is 2019 for it, the present market conditions show that the Minimum Capital requirements need an overhaul as well. Hence, Basel 4 could be started to be worked upon with refined changes and the governments should follow the rules under such requirements.

A Magazine Article for creative writing

George Bernard Shaw once said that ‘A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell'. I'm here to analyse whether this is true. He could have meant that a holiday from work or school forever would be hell but I like to think and therefore I'm testing out the theory of actually moving to a place that was once your favourite holiday destination. Will that place still hold all the carefree, luxurious magic that it does when you escape there for a few weeks of rest and relaxation, or will paying tax and contributing to the debate about what time the village lights should be turned off kill that magic for you? My favourite holiday destination was always Roquecor in the south of France. A tiny hilltop village near Toulouse, far from the coast and in the rural mainland. I have been visiting since I was a little girl and to me it always represented peace and happiness. For that one or two weeks a year I was free, even at four years old I think I loved the segregation from daily nursery and weekly ballet lessons. As I got older that feeling of escapism grew, particularly depending on the unfolding dramas affecting my life at different times. People are now saying this trip I am embarking on, taking the plunge of escaping abroad is just that; escaping. I will confirm now that this is all in the name of journalism but I know that deep down I am hoping for the reassuring joy and tranquillity that I experienced annually on holiday in Roquecor, but is that all it's supposed to be, a holiday? The day of departure arrived much sooner than I had anticipated. All my affairs were in order, my accommodation sorted out. I had opted for a beautiful maisonette as there would only be me and my boyfriend, Adam, going out there. He has decided to come indefinitely, quite possibly for good if the dream lives up to all that is anticipated. He was won over by the lure of cheap wine, French bread and better weather. As an aficionado of the French language and a trained teacher, he has managed to wangle his was into being the English teacher at the local primary school. My job as a journalist is highly mobile and I will continue to pursue with this career and also start work on my novel. On the way to the airport I think about all the things that I'll miss and the things I won't; fresh milk, re-runs of The Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder, and London yobs (which obviously falls into the latter category). Then suddenly I realise, and it shocks me that I haven't thought of it before. Not only am I emigrating abroad but I'm swapping a vibrant city for a remote village. Suddenly my mind swims with things that I will miss and with the realisation that even the overcrowded underground in the middle of summer becomes something I yearn for, well almost. The maisonette is delightful, full of charm and character. It is on the main street through the village but it is nothing like the main roads in England. It is a small ‘rue' with flower baskets hanging on every house and the traditional shutters adorning them. It is the ‘tour de guet' the watchtower to the village that is ours. Basically it is the gatehouse, the first house on the road into the village however we will only occupy the top part of the five story house which we enter straight from the road as the rest on the house continues down into the hill and a sloping path reaches the front door at the bottom for the other tenants. Inside the property is quintessentially French and when you open the windows in the back room you easily have the most breathtaking view you could imagine. You are on the top of a cliff with nothing but countryside and fields full of bright yellow sunflowers. We unpack and decorate the property with our personal touches, all we can do seeing as it is ready furnished. A celebratory gin and tonic is rapidly concocted from the supplies in the larder and we head out to the terrace at the front of the house. Beautiful, sun kissed French children hurriedly skip up the hill talking excitedly of their fathers boar hunting trip. They abruptedly stop when they see our pale inquisitive faces, whisper to each other for a moment and then give us broad grins and a chorus of ‘Salut! ‘ rings around us. I grin back at them, then grin at Adam and realise that I have grinned like this for a long time. Will I continue grinning like this? Only time will tell and so for now I'm going to go and enjoy, as they say, the first day of the rest of my life.

Eating Home and Eating Out Essay

Thanks to eating at home families are able to save more money in the recession. Eating out on the weekends and during the week makes families spend much more money than they expect. But mostly some fast food restaurants have specials going on during the weekday. But many families are starting to cook at home because of the cost of food at restaurants. The money that they are spending at fast food restaurants they can be saves at the grocery store. Eating at home is much cheaper and healthier than eating out at restaurants. When families are eating at home it puts the cooker in control. So they are able to know what kind of ingredients to put in their food. Instead of families going to a restaurant and trying to figure out what they put in their food just in case they get sick. If the families are eating at a restaurant like McDonald’s they do not know if their hamburger have hit the floor before preparing. But they are probably praying that it has not. Have families ever glanced at what a hamburger at a fast food restaurant is made with? There can be tons of ingredients, some with names that people never heard of or cannot pronounce (Steendahl). When parents cook at home, they can keep your foods natural and whole. By families eating at home they have a lot more control. Families in America think that eating at home is healthier than eating at restaurants. Some families go out to eat at restaurants they look at the way the restaurants looks are make them feel while they are eating. Chefs and health inspectors agree that a clean bathroom is usually an indicator of the rest of the restaurant and when visiting a restaurant for the first time it is the first place you should visit (Lempert). Conversely, overflowing trash, stopped up drains, lack of hot water or soap in washrooms indicate that the restaurant is not paying attention to fundamental cleanliness practices. They look at the waiters and the way they welcome their families to the restaurant. The waiters are there hygiene nice and neat. Always remember that they are handling the food you are about to eat. When families are at home they do not have to worry about who prepared their meal and were their hands clean when they cooked it. When families are at home they automatically clean their kitchen once the family is done. Families now days are starting to eat healthier. Some families have become overweight because of eating problems and not eating enough healthy foods. Restaurants have some healthy foods but not a lot because when families go to restaurants they intend to get what they want. For instance, if someone was on a diet and they go to a restaurant they are not going to look in see how many calories are in the meal. They would just eat the meal because it was either good to them or their favorite meal. But if that person was at home they would try to make that dish as healthy as they could for their family. More than 70 percent of consumers believe the food they eat at home is healthier than meals consumed out, according to a national telephone survey of more than 1,000 U. S. shoppers conducted for the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Prevention magazine (DeJohn). Some restaurants have healthy foods McDonald’s has their Caesar, Southwest, and Ranch salads that come with grilled or crispy chicken. They also have the fruit and walnut salads, parfaits, and apple dippers that are healthy. But some people do not look at the healthy side of the restaurant. They look at the negative. Restaurants can be particularly challenging to anyone who wants to eat a healthy diet (Kathi). Restaurant food is rich, fatty, salty, and often high in carbohydrates (Kathi). Also, restaurant portions tend to be much bigger than you would serve yourself at home. Families in the world today think about how to save more money than spending more money. Once families think about how much they spend eating out they could have made the same meal at home for much cheaper. When your mother have gone to McDonald’s and bought four Double Cheeseburger meals for $3. 18 a piece she has paid almost thirteen dollars for the family that day. She could have gone to the grocery store and bought some hamburger meat, French fries, and sodas for fewer than fifteen dollars. When you eat at a restaurant families like to be comfortable and feel welcome to be there. At some restaurants families do not feel comfortable being at. For example, when a school has a basketball game and everyone goes to McDonald’s afterwards. No customer would want to come in there after some school children have came in the place. The restaurant would be a mess. But if the family was eating at home after the games they could be more comfortable because they would not have to worry about being in line and seeing the place a mess. Also, when families go to a nice restaurant they have to put on their best clothes in order to go eat and come back home. When you eat at home your children can eat with their pajamas on and be comfortable. Some families have birthdays at fast- food restaurants especially McDonald’s, Chuck-E-Cheese, and the bowling alley. When your children receive birthday party invitations those are the types of restaurants people are having their child parties. So by the time that parent buys all those children Happy Meals or pizza they have spent almost sixty dollars plus cake and ice cream. If that parent would have just cooked at home they would have saved a lot more money than going to different types of restaurants to eat. There are a lot of benefits and thoughts that run through family head in order to save money. Families think about if they save this money by eating at home they could maybe go on vacation. Families have to think about a lot of stuff in order to eat at that particular restaurant or at home. If my family eats here tonight will they be eating healthy and will any of my family break out because of any ingredients they put into the food. Some people wonder if they eat out will they have enough gas money to make it to work tomorrow. But it would depend what grocery store your mother shops in because every grocery store be either lower or higher than the other stores. So eating at home is much cheaper than going out to a restaurant just remember to think about the good things that families could do if they would just stop eating out. Work Cited DeJOhn, Christopher, â€Å"Eating Healthier at Home. † Food. Business, 26 January 2007. Web 1 March 2010. Kathi. â€Å"Healthier Eating at Parties, Restaurants, and During the Holidays. † Lifestyle. MIT, 21 January 2008. Web 1 March 2010. Lampert, Phil. â€Å"The Dangers of Eating Out. † Security World. MIT, n. d. Web. 1 March 2010. Steebdahl, Christine. â€Å"Healthy Reason For Eating In. † Stop the Eating Out Cycle- The Benefits of Eating at Home. MIT, n. d. Web 1 March 2010.

Electric Commerce and Applications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Electric Commerce and Applications - Essay Example In relation to this aspect four organizations i.e. DBS Bank Ltd, United Overseas Bank Limited, Lloyds TSB and Barclays Bank have been selected from the banking sector to recognize and to compare their privacy policies in comparison to certain recognized privacy protection features. The features of privacy protection in the websites help the organizations to keep their consumers’ and members’ information safe from any kind of threat. This aspect can largely ensure that consumer confidence towards a company’ website remains intact. A few of the recognised privacy protection features include proper maintenance of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), prevention of information from being disclosed to the third party, ensuring information security, upholding accountability of collected information, ensuring accuracy of the collected information and making use of the method disabling the cookies (Locke, n.d.). The privacy protection related features are described below that are quite crucial for a website to maintain. By ensuring compliance with these features a website can largely ensure that it is able to build a strong relationship with its consumer as well as its members. Personally Identifiable Information (PII): While dealing with the online trader, the organizations generally collect the personal information of the consumers before trading. The Personally Identifiable Information (PII) includes information regarding name, contract number, address and email id (Business Link, n.d.; Real Media, 2007). Disclosure of Information to Third Party: The collected consumer information is not shared with any third person. However, it is shared only at the time when the information is required by the law for inspection.

Congenital Localized Alopecia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Congenital Localized Alopecia - Article Example Thos infants that are found should have a focused reassessment, a thorough family history, and continued examination of the hair (Furdon & Clark, 2003). The clinician must also have a good understanding of the embryological development and cycles of hair growth, as well as an understanding of abnormal conditions. This paper will discuss a few of those conditions that might be seen in the newborn and young child. Aplasia Cutis is a rare condition in which there is a congenital absence of the skin, usually presenting on the scalp (Beckman, Griot, Niessen et.al., 2008). It can occur anywhere in the body but most often occurs at or near the scalp vertex and appears to be a single or sometimes multiple non-inflammatory patch of absent skin. It can vary in shape and size and how deep it is (Huang, Llang, Hu,et.al., 2009). In about 20% of reported cases, part of the skull is also missing. The area may be pink or red and oval or round and may have a smooth, atrophic or papyraceus surface (Savoia, Giacomini, Aprile, et.al., 2008). If the child is seen for the first time later, there may be hypertropic scarring where any healing takes place. There are two different clinical presentations of this particular disease. Membranous which is believed to be a mild form of tubal closure defect and non-membranous which is irregular. In both cases this is a sporadic disorder with a rare familial distribution (Huang, et.al., 2008). The average child is Caucasian of Italian origin. Aplasia Cutis may appear isolated or with other anomalies and frequently appears when there is also a nervous system defect. It sometimes appears with epidermolysis bullosa and deformed nails and occasionally with congenital heart lesions. In the case of membranous, there is possibility that it represents a mild neural tube defect. The difference in membranous and non-membranous may be the difference in pathogenic effects in the formation of the scalp. It may appear with Adams-Oliver syndrome in which there is a combination of congenital aplasia cutis and anomalies of the extremities and vessels , especially in the skull (Beckman, et.al., 2008) The severity of the disease when the child is born will determine what needs to be done next. In some cases the lesions will have already scarred over, in others tissue expansion will need to be done. Full thickness skin grafts can be used in those cases where necessary. If the defect is minor, most heal readily. It is recommended that topical antiseptic or topical antibiotics be used however to prevent infection while healing. There may need to be later treatment of hair transplant and there may be a need for some plastic surgery later in life based on the scaring that takes place. When using a non surgical approach there are recommendations for Omniderm with absorbent fine mesh gauze impregnated with 3% bismuth tribromophenateridin for cranial defects and the use of permeable polyurethne film in others. Certainly a full work up and follow up on these children, other than the skin lesions is necessary to assure that there are not other problems to be cared for or stabilized over their lifetime. Those can most often include neurological disorders as well as cardiac disorders. Nevus Sebaceous Nevus Sebaceous is difficult to differentiate from aplasia cutis. Nevus Sebaceous is

Automotive Vs. Computers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Automotive Vs. Computers - Essay Example The paper is going to focus on Toyota and Dell as the products of these industries. Toyota has in the past been depending on its o its major supplier in Japan. However, Toyota being the current leading automotive supplier of cars in the world embarked on a competitive strategy that involved the production of quality cars hence utilized a reliable approach. In addition, Toyota’s supply chain called for responsiveness and efficiency. Moreover, its supply chain necessitates decentralization therefore many production units in various locations all over the world. However, these decentralized units must also the interlinked. This ensures that information flows consecutively throughout all available units. In fact there are four key feature of Toyota’s supply chain. These features include, inventory, transportation, facility and information. Therefore, it is prudent to conclude that Toyota involves numerous production plants; a number of storage facilities, a well-defined tra nsportation mechanism, and reliable information relaying procedures. ( Dudovskiy). This chain ensures that the end consumer gets a quality product and on time regardless of their location since decentralization takes care of it. On the other hand, Dell relies on an exceptional supply chain whose strategy depends on information gathering from its large customer capacity. As such, Dell uses a direct- sale strategy and the information attained are passed on to both the sales and the procurement sections in addition to its external suppliers. The advantage of an information approach strategy is that it allows for timely supply of the product. More so Dell has identified two channels, through which information is acquired such as amongst the customers and the sales personnel’s, and equally, amidst the sales, procurement and suppliers departments. Hence, this approach has helps the company to sell its products in large quantities and with required quality since there is information flow (Gilmore). The automotive industry can be said to stick to its unique supply chain because of the nature of its product. Automotive is bulky, this makes expensive to assemble in a single location. Moreover, car models are rigid to change because there are a variety of models that a customer can chose from. More so, car parts are expensive to make hence changing any part will most likely result to recalling all previously produced vehicles. Therefore, an automotive industry remains competitive only if it produces different car model that suits the needs of its many customers. In addition, the quality, engine performance and fuel consumption are the factors that customers are after in any car mode. Therefore it is only through decentralization that an automotive producer can understand well the needs and requirements of the market. On the contrary, computer producers are better place to use an interactive supply chain approach because their products can be produced from a central location and easily transported to the consumers. Hence, such compa nies will invest more in both the sales and procurement teams to get the market requirements and they will deliver easily on such demands. Consequently, this is an industry that deals more with technology hence they are aware that technology is dynamic. When it comes to the product, the producer mainly evaluates the production cost. In this regards, automotive produce

'How does interprofessional working impact on professional Essay

'How does interprofessional working impact on professional responsibility and accountability in the clinical setting' - Essay Example e we don’t work alone in the clinical setting, we interact and work together with other professionals who exert influence to each other’s own accountabilities and responsibilities. This paper will discuss the impact of inter-professional working on professional responsibility and accountability in the clinical setting with reference to my own clinical experience. It will address the importance of maintaining a healthy inter-professional working environment to promote a collaborative approach to safe and effective healthcare delivery. This paper will explore how professionals work together in promoting quality care delivery, the value systems in the scope of practice. In almost any healthcare setting, two or more professionals (of different professions) work together in the clinical setting. The nurse depends on the doctor in prescription of medications; the doctor needs the nurses’ help in carrying out his orders, and the nurse needs other professionals to lessen her load. Inter-professional collaboration is inevitable as we depend with each other in performing our own duties for better patient outcomes. Preparation for inter-professionalism begins at student years (Morison, Johnston and Stevenson, 2010). In the clinical setting, we professionals are not independent with each other. How we work with other healthcare team members influences our own professional accountabilities and responsibilities, like how the nurse’s accountability intertwines the unlicensed assistive personnel’s (UAP) accountability when the task is delegated by her to him. Our own accountabilities and responsibilities are dependent to each other as well while working as a team. Inter-professional work impacts our professional accountabilities and responsibilities, which can either, be positive or negative influence to ours. An example of a positive influence is my experience in transferring a patient from the chair to the bed. The nurse asked for my help in assisting the patient

Simple Problem Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Simple Problem - Article Example th the cat, the bathtub for bathing the cat, towel for drying the cat, shampoo for rinsing out the dirt from the cat, cat bath seat for placing the cat during the bath, dryer for dry the cat finally after towel use, comb for smoothing down the cat’s hair, fragranced powder for keeping a pleasant fragrance on the cat after the bath, and a healthy environment for ensuring that the bath is carried out at a suitable location that is healthy for pets in terms of water etc. In this process of bathing Fluffy, the first step is to bring the cat seat and arrange it in the bathtub in a comfortable position. The second step is to sprinkle some water on the cat in order to prepare it for the bath. The next step in this process is to apply the shampoo on the cat and to ensure that its body is covered well with the shampoo. In the fourth step, we need to wash the cat well with water until there the shampoo completely left its body. The fifth step is to prepare the towel to dry off the cat. The next step is to dry the cat with a dryer in order to make sure that its body is completely dry. The seventh step is to comb the cat’s fur and the eighth and the last step is to apply fragranced powder on the cat. As it is fundamental to make sure that Fluffy receives a very good bath, it is important to plan an effective test which guarantees the objective fulfilled effectively. Therefore, I will start the entire process by making a plan in order to make sure that a successful cat bath has been done. First of all, the equipments to be used in the process of bathing the cat will be well documented and the pricing for each piece will be listed. Together with it, I will also document where I to get all these important equipments from. Next, I will record the steps involved in the process of bathing the cat. After designing this plan, I will divide the work equally based on who will best help me in bathing the cat and in getting the equipments at the right time. It will also be

Will Boots benefit from Treat Street or will it have a negative impact Dissertation - 1

Will Boots benefit from Treat Street or will it have a negative impact on the perception of their loyalty card - Dissertation Example The primary aim of this paper is to offer a set of plausible recommendation to Boots for developing a strong base of loyal consumers through a better consumer relationship and communications. In this process, the consumers’ perceptions and views regarding the loyalty programs and loyalty cards have to be analysed and identified for incorporating effective changes. In order to achieve this aim an extensive research has been conducted using a set of questionnaires. The questionnaire includes multiple types of open ended and close ended questions. The close ended questions are consists of likert scaled questions where five major factors have been mentioned say price discounts, exchange offers, gifts, enhanced value added services, redemptions and other miscellaneous benefits. These likert questions have been used for quantitative data analysis through data process methods. Besides, there are also three close ended questions which have been used for qualitative research purposes. There are three questions for close ended purposes which has been used to collecting comments for qualitative purposes. For better and higher rate of accuracy level, 100 respondents have been interviewed for collecting the primary data using the set of questionnaire. Higher range of sample size helps to reduce the sampling and other types of research related errors. The result of the surveys and interviews using the questionnaire are explained below and the relevancy of each question will also be discussed along with. Apart from the likert scale questions, there were three close ended questions which directly enquire regarding the loyalty card and brand. The first question aims to obtain the views of respondents about the relationship of loyalty cards and trust of the brand. This question strives to determine the influence of loyalty cards offering on consumers brand preferences. The following diagram represents the results of the respondents graphically. Figure 1: Do you feel loyal ty cards can help in improving trust with the brand? (Source: Author’s Creation) As per the above table, it can be observed that nearly 65% of the total respondent believes that loyalty cards are very effective for enhancing the trust with consumers with a specific brand. However, on the other hand, there were also 20% of respondents who do not consider that loyalty cards are effective in marinating better relationship with a brand by creating trustworthiness among them. Rest 15% of respondents are undecided or no sure that whether loyalty cards are really effective in shaping a better trust for a specific brand. As per the overall feedbacks from 100 respondents, it seems that loyalty cards are important for consumer relationship perspective. The next close ended question focuses on the influence of the loyalty card on the consumer’s purchasing decisions. Consumer’s buying process is complicated and influenced by a number of factors and among these factors, mark eting mix related factors plays very important role. The primary objective of marketing mix is to create value for the customers and in this respect loyalty cards are vital tool. The business organisation can influence the consumer’s behaviours by bringing effective changes in the marketing mix strategies. Therefore, this question is helpful got the Boots in reshaping their loyalty cards offering to influence the consumers’ buying decisions. The following figure presents the results of the survey. Figure 2: Does the aspect of loyalty card affect your purchase

The Goal Book Report Essay Example for Free

The Goal Book Report Essay Actually Alex’s plant has not been profitable for some time and because of that Bill gives an ultimatum to Alex to turn the plant around in 3 months or else the plant will be closed unless there are visible improvements. Due to the limited amount of time given, Alex almost gives up on the plant until Alex remembers his conversation with Jonah, his college physics professor. They happened to come across each other in the airport during Alex’s business trip. During that time, Jonah asked him several question to analyze his company situation. This conversation then leads Jonah asking Alex, â€Å"What is the goal of your manufacturing company? † Although Jonah didn’t give the answer to Alex but eventually Alex get the answer after rethinking their conversation. Alex realizes that the goal of his company or in fact any business is to make money. After finding out the answer, Alex then decide to contact Jonah one more time to consult further about his company. After contacting Jonah, Alex gets three measurements that can determine the success of a business. The three measurements are throughput, or â€Å"the rate at which the system generates money through sales,† inventory, or â€Å"all the money that system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell,† and operational expense, or â€Å"all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput†. Using these measurements, Alex has a basis to determine if his decisions are helping the plant move towards the goal. The goal of the  plant is to make money, which is characterized by increasing throughput and decreasing inventory and operational expense. Alex decided to meet with Jonah in New York in order to fix their plant problem. But once again, Jonah leaves Alex with another question, what does the combination of dependent events and statistical fluctuations have to do with your plant? During the weekend, Alex went to a hiking trip with his son and got stuck as a ‘troop master’. During the hiking, Alex discovers Alex discovers the importance of dependent events in relation to statistical fluctuations. With this discovery, he also found out that the bottleneck’s speed of production is what determines the speed of the other dependents. Hence, inventory moves very slowly because of statistical fluctuations. Back to the plant, Alex with his team begins their search for their plant’s bottlenecks. Then they found one the machine (NCX-10) and the heat treatment as the source plant’s bottlenecks. Alex invites Jonah to visit his plant in order to solve their bottlenecks problem. Jonah define bottleneck as any resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the demand placed upon it and a non-bottleneck is any resource whose capacity is greater than the demand placed on it. With Jonah’s help, Alex and his team able to solve their bottlenecks problem such as perform the quality control testing before going into the bottleneck, do not produce parts for inventory produce only what is in demand, produce smaller batches to increase productivity for the whole process, etc. One thing that they also learn from Jonah is that an hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost to the whole system. So, it is important to keep the bottleneck to keep moving all the times. With these changes in Alex’s plant, they are able to increase their production during the second and third month. With the increase of production in their plant, Alex able to save his plant and he also promoted to Bill peach’s position. Regarding his personal life, Alex described as a dedicated and workaholic employee. His dedication to his work posed some family problems: losing time for his wife aside from her not being used to living at his hometown where there is a big difference from the city life his wife is used to. At one point, Julie, Alex’s wife leaves him because she’s tired of arguing and her attempt to save their marriage. However, while Alex tries to save his plant, Alex also does the same thing with his marriage. II. Things I liked about the book What I liked about the book is that the book very informative and it is really easy to read. I think this book will be one of effective way to learn about management. Because it is the most efficient way to understand the challenges involved in the manufacturing processes. Unlike many books that take complicated ideas and oversimplify them so the ideas lose their meaning, this book simplifies ideas in ways that enhance their meaning by making the ideas easier to see and employ. Another thing that I really like from this author is that he able to turn a relatively boring subject for some people to an exciting read. One more thing that I like is the way the author describe the characters in the story. I think many readers can relate to the characters in the book since what happen in the story is also happening in the real world. And the last one is I liked how the author include Alex personal life problem in the story. I think what the author trying to do is to inform his reader that there must be balance between personal life and work life. You have to balance your personal life and work life, because eventually they will flow in and out of each environment. III. Critique of the book I don’t think I have any critique for the book since the book really helps me in understanding how management really works. One thing that I might complain might be some typo errors in the book. IV. Real life example From the book, we can see that the concept that Jonah gave can be apply not only for business problem but also problems that we deal within our daily life. I think we can definitely see it from the book during the hiking trip. I think what we can do is asking ourselves with the question of â€Å"what is my goal in life, work, study and other things that we do? † As a student, I think I can apply some of the concept in my studying. When I took a subject, the first thing that I want to know is what is my goal in taking this subject? After knowing that, if ever I encounter some problem like a probability of failing the subjects, I have to identify the source of my problem. Knowing the source of my problem will make it easier for me to decide how or what can I do in order to fix my problem.

The Benefits Of Bilingualism Toward Career Advancement English Language Essay

The Benefits Of Bilingualism Toward Career Advancement English Language Essay Being fluent in more than one language has not been popular until this past decade. Since the Internet has made our world smaller, more and more businesses have become global and have a lot of branches all over the world. They hire both local and international personals. When the demand of bilingual workers is higher, being able to communicate more than one language has become a better choice for students and adults. Nowadays, there are many skills that can make your job application and resume stand out from other competitions. The ability to communicate a foreign language is very valuable in many career fields, such as teachers, government officials, or social workers. Bilingualism attracts international employers, helps to better understand diverse customers, and has more financial perks. First of all, being bilingual attracts international employers. Since more and more businesses become interconnected, with companies establishing branches abroad and hiring from local people, it is important that employees in the states increase their marketability. In Foreign Language Needs of US Businesses, William Kordsmeier, Joe Arn, and Betty Rogers explore how US multicultural firms are in need of foreign language speakers. The authors study which language is the most in demand language by the US businesses, and how the firms prefer an applicant with two or more fluency in foreign languages. They also show that foreign language fluency is the initial reason to hire someone for a multicultural firm (169-71). Similarly, in Cultural and Linguistic Ambidexterity, Peter Galuszka explains that employers in a global economy look to hire bilingual and multilingual students as soon as they graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso, also known as UTEP. Galuszka shows that UTEP is situated near the US-Mexico border, and it has economic appeal in itself. Plus, the students who attend UTEP are from both the US and Mexico, so most of them speak both English and Spanish (29-31). Both articles foreground the idea of international firms are interested in hiring more bilingual or multilingual candidates. To emphasize that more businesses look to hire more bilingual personals, Kordsmeier, Arn, and Rogers cites Inman who states Proficiency in a foreign language is highly desirable in the marketplace. Whereas many fields seek employees, who possess foreign language proficiency in addition to expertise in the particular disciplines, the field of business places the greatest emphasis on both foreign language capability and knowledge of a specific subject area. (169) The authors are suggesting that more businesses prefer employees who are able to communicate in another language, in addition to other skills that those employees already possess. Similarly, Galuszka cites Michael Hissam, a Delphis regional director for communications in Mexico, who says work starts at 5 a.m. so specialists can be in touch with other Delphi teammates across the world, from Asia to Europe, to the United States (30). This means that Delphi is an international business and has divisions all over the world. Because of how they have to communicate with every part of the world, they need staff that can at least speak two or more languages. As you can see that both articles emphasize how important it is for a global business to have efficient bilingual or multilingual personals. Secondly, being bilingual can help the company to better understand the need of diverse customers. If the company is in an area with a diverse population, being bilingual has a big advantage. In Cultural and Linguistic Ambidexterity, Galuszka states it might sound like a no-brainer that being bilingual or multilingual helps students planning a career Whats more, being able to go beyond mere language ability and understand cultural distinctions are extra advantages (29). This shows that not only understanding the language is important, but to have deeply knowledge of the culture of the spoken language is also even more significant. Similarly, in Fluency in a foreign language can translate into a world of professional possibilities, Sonja Brown Stokely writes about an experience of an African-American man named Edward Harley, who teaches English in Japan. In order for Harley to be able to teach English, he is required to be fluent in Japanese and understand Japanese culture. Harley is currently working in New York City as a copy editor. He handles all clients from Japan for the company and makes sure that everything goes smoothly with no misunderstanding between cultures (126). As you can see that both articles emphasize that bilingual can help the company to better understand the need of diverse customers, it opens the connections between the firm and the customer. Understanding the culture is also a factor of earning customers loyalty to the business. Lastly, bilingualism has more financial perks. As a bilingual employee, you have the benefit of being able to negotiate a higher salary because the business with bilingual staff can also attract more diverse customers. Therefore, the more bilingual acquaintances, the more money you earn. To support this claim, in Fluency in a foreign language can translate into a world of professional possibilities, Stokely says In some careers in the US, the ability to speak and write languages such as Spanish, French, or German is looked upon as having a specialized skill. And employers are willing to pay for that skill. For example, in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California, police officers and fire fighters can make an extra 5% to 10% on their salaries if they are fluent in Spanish (126). Stokely is suggesting that being fluent in another language can help you earn more in your career. Her article is full of examples of a few people who succeed because of being a bilingual. Another support for the claim is about a sales position, which is also where the second language skills are in high demand. A sales person is able to speak Spanish and he earns from commission. He is the only salesman who can speak Spanish at that company, therefore he handles all the Spanish customers. So, he is the only one that earns the highest commission (128). Similarly, in rewarding workplace bilingualism, Amado M. Padilla explores the economic gain of being bilingual. He asks a series of questions to different fields of business. The overall result is that bilingual gets paid more than their peers. To support the claim, he writes A hotel manager or a customer-service representative who knows English and Spanish or English and Korean may look much better at promotion time than one who knows only English (21). This shows that being bilingual adds a chance to being considered to get promoted and advance further in your career. Both articles foreground the idea that being bilingual has more financial perks and adds a chance to get promoted easily. In conclusion, being bilingual or multilingual has benefits toward career advancement. It helps your application or resume stand out when you apply for a job at a global company that has many divisions around the world. Being bilingual can also help you reach further for customers in a diverse society, as you understand more of their cultures. This leads to gaining more clients for the company and therefore earning more salaries and promotions toward you.

Exercise For College Students Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Exercise For College Students College life is a time full of fun, friends, activities, classes, and homework. All of these activities however, add up to a busy life style. Being busy is not in itself harmful but when the busyness becomes so great that it turns into stress, problems start to arise. The formation of stress leads to many unhealthy trends, such as lack of sleep, loss of immunity to disease, and a change in personality traits. How then can stress in the busy lives of college students be reduced? The answer is a simple one that has long been known; exercise relieves stress. Colleges across the country need to implement a program of required exercise classes to promote the well being of students. In this paper I am going to use classical argument to support my claim of value, that classes involving exercise should be made a part of university requirements throughout the United States and specifically at Iowa State. I will do this by first stating a concession to those who do not believe exercise classes should be a part of the curriculum. Next, I will include a refutation section where my claims are supported against the opposing claims. Then, I will include the presentation of why universities need to require exercise classes. Last, I will conclude my paper by giving the solution to the problem of lack of exercise. One of the arguments against installing a program of required exercise classes is that in order to get the full health benefit from the program some of the responsibility would have to depend on the student and their attitudes. Universities cannot force students to lead healthy lives. This is a true statement because not all students would take full advantage o... ... Washington D.C.: American Association of Retired Persons, 1986. Davis, Elwood and George Holland. Values of Physical Activity. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, 1975. Davis, Howard. Sate Requirements in Physical Education For Teachers and Students. Alabama: Tuskegee Institute, 1973. Dishman, Rod. Exercise Adherence. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers, 1988. Montoye, Henry. Physical Activity and Health: An Epidemiological Study of an Entire Community. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1975. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1996.

Electronics :: essays research papers

Electronics The invention of the microprocessor in 1971 was a huge milestone that eventually changed everyone's everyday lives. This invention enabled the world to own a personal computer in their home as well as their office. People were able to work more efficiently and progressively with these new electronic devices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronics today provides the world with an infinite amount of information at a much faster speed than that information would ever have been available before. The American public is dependent on the usage of many electronics in their lives such as the television, audio receivers, and amplifiers to stay updated on world-wide issues. Electronics also provide a superior tool for progression in the business world today. Business people rely on electronics to communicate with each other faster and to store and quickly organize vast amounts of essential data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronics are improving at a blindingly fast rate. The newest technology from five years ago is literally obsolete today. Electronics are also being used for new purposes continuously. The Internet, or World Wide Web, is a relatively new concept of being â€Å"on-line†. This new project has opened a limitless number of doors for our society. Now anyone can use the Internet to communicate with anybody else in the world a lot faster and cheaper. Cellular phones have also appeared recently in the electronic world. These devices allow a person to be reached from practically anywhere. With cellular phones a person can, from then on, be in communication with the world no matter where they go.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the next generation, electronics will certainly offer new yet simpler technology available to the general public. Home addresses and phone numbers will be replaced with Internet addresses. Business people will be able to have access to tools such as video conferencing and such in their homes. The workplace will ultimately become obsolete. Transportation vehicles will be dominated by electric cars as natural gas supplies decline around the globe. New procedures for creating power will be found and utilized. The current and upcoming advances in technology will create a steady rise of the progression of the everyday living experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I plan to enroll in a very prestigious university after high school and major in electrical engineering. I plan to contribute my time during my studies toward new possible designs of electronics and technology. I realize that innovative minds are the backbone of the direction technology will take and,

Christopher Columbus :: Christopher Columbus Essays

Christopher Columbus is the most well known explorer by most school age children. When children are young, teachers tell them that Columbus was a very good person, a hero even. To be politically correct though, Christopher Columbus brought death and destruction with him to the Americas. He stole, killed, and tortured the natives. Christopher Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage (August 3rd, 1492) to find a new route to the Indies there was no way that he could know that it would turn out the way it did. When he landed at the Caribbean Islands (October 12th, 1492), the people there were scared, but still friendly toward him. This next quote is from Columbus’ journal: â€Å"As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance, But they seemed on the whole to me, to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women. I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses† As you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take the m over and treat them badly because they had no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward people he knew couldn’t fight back. This is one proof of Christopher Columbus being a conqueror.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the movie we watched in class, it told us how Columbus was just out to get gold and riches. He ordered the natives to proclaim him governor of the lands. Since he was governor he made a law that said the natives had to bring him one bag of gold dust every three months. If they did not give him this gold (simply because their wasn’t that much gold on the islands) he would order to have their hands cut off, and they would bleed to death. If they escaped, then he would hunt them down with dogs. Christopher Columbus also ordered his men to hang and burn some natives that wouldn’t do exactly as he told them.

English Language: Key to Global Access

English Language: Key to Global Access By: Kyle A. Tumapang â€Å"Language is the blood of the soul in which thoughts run and out of which they grow,† as once said by Oliver Wendell Holmes. We cannot deny that we are all experiencing the effects of globalization. Globalization, as we all know, is the process of interaction, and integration among peoples, companies, and governments of different nations. Due to its continuous rise, the unity of people around the world is greatly needed.But how can unity be achieved if these people, with different cultures and languages, fail to communicate and understand each other? English language plays a great role in having global access. Not just for the reason that it is the universal language, but also to the fact that it contributes much to many aspects of life, like when you are travelling to other countries, you can really expect that these people will speak using their native language. Yet, you can assure that a few of these people kn ow how to speak using the English language.Their accent might be different and would vary every now and then, but their statements are completely understandable. Let me cite you an example, from an accent of â€Å"Good day mate! † to a simple â€Å"Good day†, both still have the same meaning. In countries like the Philippines, which it consists of 7,107 islands with people of various cultures, the languages they speak also differ. During these situations, English can be the bridge in their communication. In the field of education, English is the medium used in most of the basic subjects like Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Math.Moreover, all correspondences between offices in different countries, and also between political leaders of various nations, are still in English. This linking factor significantly tells us the importance of the English language. English is also the mainstay of internet users. This is the language in which most of the information and websites a re available. Thus, the given situations emphasize the importance of the English language in the field of globalization. In addition to this, English language can also lead the progress of a nation.Citing the Philippines as an example, the country is recently proclaimed as the third largest English speaking nation in the world. With this information there is no surprise that Philippines was named as the best country in Business English, according to a recent study of the Global English Corporation. Philippines attained a score above 7. 0, â€Å"a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks†.The corporation also noted that a country’s business English capability is an indicator of its economic growth and business success. If also other countries would imitate the Philippines, there is no doubt that one day these countries would contribute in the field of global ization. English is the queen of all languages. It has become the language of science, commerce, trade and international negotiations. We, would not be surprised that in the future, English can be the reason of the union of various nations, and also be the key to global access.

Is Routine Circumcision of Infants Ethical?

History of Circumcision: Reviewing the history of circumcision and the many misguided reasons for its practice will help form an understanding of the multifaceted issues concerning routine infant circumcision. Some of the earliest evidence of male circumcision comes from Egypt around the year 3000 BC. However, researchers studying this practice do not understand or agree on its purpose. Some researches believe that circumcision was a form of branding for slaves while others thought it to be from the priestly class as a form of religious ritual. But when is more pertinent to this argument is that the early Greeks and Romans outlawed male circumcision believing it to be a barbaric form of mutilation of male genitalia. The first documented purpose for circumcision is in the Old Testament Scriptures (Gen 17:10) concerning the covenant between Abraham and God, representative of the relationship between Israel and Yahweh. According to the governing doctrinal resource for Catholics worldwide, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the explanation for Old Testament circumcision is in section 1150. 1150 – †¦Among these liturgical signs from the Old Covenant are circumcision, anointing and consecration of kings and priests, laying on of hands, sacrifices, and above all the Passover. The Church sees in these signs a prefiguring of the sacraments of the New Covenant. † The circumcision of Jesus in the New Testament explains that when Jesus came, as the fulfillment of prophecy that the new covenant manifested through th e innocent blood of Jesus replaces once and for all the old covenant through Father Abraham. There is no longer a need for animal sacrifices and the early Christian community determined that baptism was to be the new sign of the covenant. â€Å"527- Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law and his deputation to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout his life. This sign prefigures that â€Å"circumcision of Christ† which is Baptism. Routine infant circumcision in the United States became prevalent in the Victorian age (1840) and reached its height during the Cold War (1940) when technology, hospitals, and modern medicine sought to institutionalize the birthing process. Including more than 90% of boys, infant circumcisions became so routine that doctors performed the procedure without actually receiving consent from the parents. Parents not desiring the process for their sons were considered negligen t. Given the history and the misguided reasons for practicing routine circumcision, â€Å"Why would a parent authorize, a doctor perform, or an insurance company pay for, the routine circumcision of infants? † A. Health Reasons- certainly it would be ethical to surgically remove the penis foreskin of a male infant if in some way it presented a health risk; there is no real argument here. B. Tradition-for generations, infants have undergone various procedures under the reasoning of â€Å"tradition. From binding feet in Japan (which has been banned) to piercing ears, and stretching necks, tradition plays a large part in the decision for circumcision. Many men, who like their own fathers were circumcised as infants, think that their child in turn might as well be circumcised too. However, is there any real thinking going on here at all? I argue that just because everyone else jumps off a bridge, is that any reason for you to jump off as well. Religious Beliefs- I would have to say yes, it is ethical to have a child circumcised if you are following a true religious belief. The parent who has legal authority over their child may choose (and in fact is morally obligated to choose) to do what they believe is in the best interest of the child. Therefore, for the Jews who believe that the outward sign of circumcision establishes their child in a covenantal relationship with God; they are well within their ethical right and responsibility to have their sons circumcised. Freedom of religion is one of the building blocks of our free nation. Circumcision mentality: Today thanks in part to our mass media; modern society is ruled by prevailing mentalities. These pervasive mindsets allure us to what appears to be the benefits of circumcision, while completely obscuring any possible negative ramifications. The mentality is permeated into societal norms, which are almost impossible to resist, and are most difficult to correct. An accepted societal mentality is further driven by force of habit. Among other things, we live in a society that assumes that a male infant in the United States is routinely circumcised. Seldom are discussions of the pros and cons of the procedure brought to the attention of the parent, unless the parent specifically requests it. Even then, the doctor may say, â€Å"It is not medically necessary but if the boys father has been circumcised, then you should probably have your son circumcised as well†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦or â€Å"you wouldn’t want him to look different than his friends when he becomes a high school student in the locker room. † Medical Ethics: When looking into medical ethics, the Oath of Hippocrates standard for medical professionals since 400 BCE shed some additional light onto the situation. From the Oath: â€Å"I do solemnly swear by whatever I hold most sacred, that I will be loyal to the profession of medicine†¦that I will exercise my art, solely for the cure of my patients and the prevention of disease†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Therefore, considering the Hippocrates oath, a routine circumcision of an infant male does not fall into the category of â€Å"†¦curing a patient, and the preventing of disease†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Why then would doctors perform such an unnecessary procedure Catholic Theological Ethics: As a student of Theology, from a Roman Catholic perspective I have yet to hear a discussion concerning the morality of circumcision. However after researching the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) under the subtitle â€Å"Mutilation of body parts† section 2297 reads, â€Å"Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law. † VI. Personal Ethics: Each parent possesses the God given right to make certain decisions on behalf of their young children who cannot make these decisions themselves. A good example is immunizations; no infant has the capability to make this decision, so the parent, in the child’s best interest makes the decision to have the child immunized. I am a mother of four sons, born in the years 1983, 1985, 1991 and 1992. Although the father of the boys was circumcised however, none of our boys is circumcised. To this day, none of them has ever had trouble of any kind, nor has it been an issue in the locker room. The decision to leave the boys as they were born, uncircumcised, was based on the fact that it was not a medical necessity, that anesthetic was not used (they had just been traumatized in birth), and that there was a possibility of complications from the procedure. Parents need to take a more proactive stance in researching the pros and cons of the procedure, and should spend at least as much time and energy on this decision as they do in picking out a new car! VII. Objective – If the objective of the National Organization of Circumcision of Infants Resource Center is to reduce the number of routine circumcisions performed, I believe that to pursue this objective through legal channels alone would be fruitless. Big government has more than enough authority in dictating to families what they can and cannot do for their children. Your best bet would be to lobby the insurance companies. Perhaps you could demand coverage for an elective surgical procedure such as having your breasts enlarged and when they tell you no that it is just a cosmetic or optional procedure, sue them for discriminatory practices. The last thing an insurance company wants is a class action lawsuit. It would be simple for them to simply take routine infant circumcisions off their list of covered procedures. In addition, a non-covered expense for an unnecessary procedure may prompt parents to give this issue closer consideration. D. Moral Law: Next, one must consider which law is the governing authority in your life. The Moral Law operates under a set of religious beliefs. Found within the moral law are the Jewish Law, and the Christian Law (for the sake of brevity we will not mention other religious groups here). The Jewish Law of Circumcision establishes a covenant between God and Abraham (Gen 17:10), representative of Yahweh and Israel. The Christian Law comes into effect with the birth of Jesus. Jesus becomes the new sign of the covenant, with the Baptism of infants as the effective cause. Concerning Civil Law under which all persons are bound; it has little criteria for establishing ethical arguments. One may ask questions of the law: if allowing an un-anaesthetized circumcision is lawful, and what recourse would a child have if the procedure causes permanent damage to the male organ but these are considered civil, not ethical. Additionally, why would an insurance company pay for such an unnecessary procedure (when so many don’t pay for many true necessities)? Perhaps it should be regarded as â€Å"elective surgery† and therefore it would be a charge paid for entirely by the parent requesting the procedure, not as an â€Å"ordinary and customary† procedure paid for by the insurance companies. However, the Hebrew people alone practiced the circumcision of infants on the 8th day after birth. The child’s father, using a flint knife, preformed circumcision

Lack of Diversity in Management & Coaching in Sports

In recent history it has been evident that some of the most popularize sports in America have been dominated and overran by African American and other minority athletes. In turn when the coaching and management positions in sports are analyzed and broken down, the number of minority coaches and managers in sport are almost non-existent and have been since those sports organization became established. In 2006 Blacks made up about 14% of the population, 12% of all college enrollments, and nearly 24% of all collegiate scholarship athletes.In some major sports, such as basketball and football, blacks make up a great percentage of athletes participating. In 2005 over 55% of all collegiate athletes on football scholarships were Blacks and about 62% of all collegiate athletes on basketball scholarships were Black and this is out of the NCAA’s 328 Division I schools. Despite the large number of Black representing the athletes in collegiate sport, the percentage of African Americans in coaching and administrative position were very small.In 2005 roughly 7% of all head coaches of men’s teams at the nation’s largest universities were black and only 6. 5% in women’s collegiate sports. The numbers are even smaller in the big-time revenue generating sports such as basketball and football. Just to give a breakdown of these percentages, there were only 3 head football coaches at the NCAA’s 119 D I-A schools. What tends to help the racial lines seen been athletes on the field/court of play and the people who are in the position of power.One thing that helps alleviate this barrier is the number of minority assistant coaches in position. The percentage of minority assistant coaches in collegiate sports are far greater that of head coaches in power. It seems that it’s expected to for a white man to be in power and for blacks and other minorities to be in assistant roles that it’s become normal in sports and unquestioned. The authori ty of white head coaches is often legitimized through the eyes of black athletes when its seen that black assistant are taking orders from a white coach.This is an issue that has become to be expected in both collegiate and professional sports (Anonymous, 36-37). It may not be thought about much but there are some racial games that are played. Although the Rooney Rule has at least given minority head coaches a chance to potentially get hired because they actually get a chance to get an interview, many still see it as just a rule put into place to make it seem like everything is equal and to save face from scrutiny about racial issues in sport. In 2003, Mike Millen the president of the Detroit Lions was fined for not interviewing a minority.He was not fined for intentionally not interviewing minority coaches, he actually contacted five different minority coaches and each of them turned the request for an interview down. Each of them felt like the job was already Steve Mariucci and fe lt like they were just being interviewed just so that the Detroit Lions could fill their obligation to interview a minority coach. The problem not only lies with collegiate and professional sports organizations and the issue of not interviewing and hiring more minority coaches and managers but also stems from this minorities feeling that they don’t have a fair shot at the position.Some minorities looking for a head coaching position also have negative feelings towards getting called up for an interview just because of rule that was put into place that forces teams to do this. Some feel like if the Rooney Rule wasn’t in place that general managers wouldn’t go out of there to try and search for minority coaches to interview like that have to do now. A subconscious bias is happening within these organizations because the managers are taking the notion that we’re giving â€Å"them† a â€Å"fair† chance at the position because we are given them a n interview just like everyone else.In reality its being done to help shift focus away from the lack of diversity and make it seem that things are much better in that department and that organizations are treating the issue with an open mind (Nordlinger, J. , 25-26). On the issue of the lack of minority representation in the administration side of sport lacks even more than minority coaches. The hiring of administrators of color has been extremely limited and still continues to be today. In 1999 NCAA reported a combined percentage of minority administrators in position is a mere 10%, which includes all areas of the administrator sector in NCAA D-I sports.This statistic includes both women and men which shows that representation of minorities have been scarce both on and off the field in NCAA D-I sports. The biggest concern with the lack of minorities in top leadership positions in collegiate sports starts with top-level managers themselves such as college presidents, athletic direct ors, and conference commissioners not aggressively pursuing minorities for leadership roles. This not happening will continue to bring up the same issues about underrepresentation in sport period.Putting more minorities in position will lead to more and more minorities potentially getting opportunities for interviews through the passing of knowledge from other minorities alike. The NCAA is taking steps to trying to bridge the gap by planning to open a Minority Institute to develop minorities and give them the necessary skills needed to compete with their white counterparts (Greenlee, 1). I feel that both professional and collegiate sports can do a little more than what is being done to bring more diversity to its organizations and teams within its governing body.The Rooney Rule is a start for sports as a whole period to bring in more minorities, although the rule is only geared toward the NFL it kind of opens the eyes of other leagues to potentially implement a rule or some differen t policies that give minorities an equal shot of obtaining the same position as whites. I believe that clinics or some programs should be set up to help minority coaches and minorities looking to get into the administration side of sport, gain knowledge and skills to help make them more successful as leaders.In turn this could make organization better as a whole because different ideas and not just the same mindset of how things should and could be done within the organization. General Managers and other administrators would get a chance to better interact with a person of minority working within an organization and would be able to gain knowledge from them as well. Depending on how well the minority coach or administrator does and the type of knowledge the person possesses could really open of the eyes of his/her white colleagues and help others get their foot in the door.Ever since minorities have gotten a chance to take on roles such as head coaching positions and in different ma nagement position they have been seen as unsuccessful. I believe that this is because they have had limited opportunities and have not always come into the best of situations with teams that have hired them. Ultimately whites are seen as most successful because they are the majority they have more people in position that are and have succeeded but also more that have ailed. Their successes have been highlighted over their failures and it seems like minority coaches and minorities in top-level management positions failures have been highlighted over their successes. Although the number of minorities hired for coaching and management positions are very limited they will have to be successful in order for them to be legitimatized and given fair shots at getting major positions within sport organizations and leagues.Until minorities represent a percentage that is seen as acceptable in relation the country’s population in America is then where the issue of the lack of diversity in major level positions in sport die out.Works Cited Anonymous, . (2006/2007). Black Teams, White Coaches: Racial Inequality in Coaching of College Sports. Journal of Black in Higher Education, 1(54), 36-37. Greenlee,. (2000). NCAA Report Finds Little Diversity In Sports Administration. Black Issues in Higher Education, 1. Nordlinger, J. (2003). Color in Coaching. National Review, 55(16), 25-26. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Coffee and Starbucks Essay

?Introduction Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee company and coffee house chain headquartered in Seattle, Washingston. Starbucks was founded in 1971, when three academicians, began a specialty coffee store called Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice in Seattle (Starbucks Corporation, 2009). In 1996, Starbucks operated its first international store expansion in Tokyo, Japan. With current approximately 19,500 stores in 58 countries (Location xcelerated, 2012), Starbucks is quickly becoming one of the best known brands and the largest specialty coffeehouse company in the world. The Market Demand of Coffee. The demand of coffee in the United States has rose 2 percent in 2011(Perez, 2011). Americans drank 77. 4 billion cups of coffee during a year (Perez, 2011). A statistics showed that â€Å"the average consumption among coffee drinkers in the United States is 3. 1 cups of coffee per day† (E-Imports, 2012). With gathering the information and statistics, it has proved the demand of coffee market in the US is extremely high. Also, the coffee market is the potential market for rivals entering into. Hence, Starbucks has to attain strong competitive advantages and market demand with its resources and capabilities. Starbucks’s Resources and Capabilities An organization has the ability to identifying and determining the competitive power of their resources and capabilities to create competitive advantage. Business resources are the productive input or competitive asset that is owned or controlled by the organization (Thompson, 2012). In the case of Starbucks, the resources and capabilities are coffee bean, store ambience, employee culture, and brands and reputations. Coffee Beans Coffee beans are the natural resources of Starbucks. They are one of the most valuable resources for coffee industry. Starbucks was a purveyor of specialty coffee – it has seemed top-notch coffee beans to produce high quality of coffee. High quality of coffee beans was usually sourced directly from coffee-producing countries, for instance Kenya, Guatemala and Indonesia. Starbucks was usually acquired the coffee bean at a premium price for suppliers who suited the Starbucks’ standards, socially and environmentally responsible farming. Starbucks has committed the long term contracts with the supplier in order to protect both party with the price and quality of coffee beans. The Starbucks’s coffee beans provided a sustainable competitive advantage in the face of active competition. It is due to the high quality and premium coffee beans sourced from other country were uncommon and costly to imitate for competitors. Store Design and Ambience Starbucks was positioned as a â€Å"third place† between beyond home and work with the store design and relaxing ambience. The design of store is provided a comfort and relaxing environment for its costumer. Each detail of likes the style of fixtures, the edges of countertops and the texture of slate floors was examined to enhance the unique ambience and mood of the Starbucks store. With blended the colorful banners and artworks, the merchandise displays, the music and the aromas, Starbucks has created an attractive, consistent and stimulating environment that provided comfort of a home for customer, excellent customer service and quality products as the concept of â€Å"third place theme† (Moon & Queich, 2003) cited by (Harveywallbanger, 2012). These elements made the Starbucks experience key in retaining its customers with the competitive advantage and capture new markets. The store design is valuable by providing a third place theme, a relaxing and conform atmosphere. Besides, it was rare design in United States as Starbucks is the first mover to replicate the Italian style coffee store. Competitors are difficult and costly to imitate as the Starbucks has an exclusive In-House architects and designers to ensure the right image and character for each store. Employee Culture A vital dynamic in Starbucks’s growth was the human resources, its employee. Starbucks has provided a great work environment around its employees, one of its most important resources and sources of sustainable competitive advantage (Gates et al. , 2011). Schultz believed that a plentiful employee benefits package was a key competitive advantage. Starbucks was the first company to offer all employees, even part-timer, were qualified to get healthcare benefits, participate in the Bean Stock program for stock option grants. Besides that, Starbucks has offered an extensive training program to each employee that includes a commitment to customer service experience and the knowledge of products (Balaban et al. , n. d). All employees of Starbucks were trained to have good customer experiences for retaining customers. For example, they were trained â€Å"just say yes† to customer requests. Starbucks’ approach towards employees benefited to company has maintained the turnover rate at 60-65 percent, while the other national industry turnover is about 150-400 percent a year. The plentiful employee benefit package provides a sustainable competitive advantage to Starbucks. It is added value to Starbucks because employees will have the better job performance due to the motivation and courage. It was rare as the Starbucks was the first company provided healthcare benefits and stock option plan. And also, it is costly to imitate for Starbucks’s competitors. Brand and Reputation Brand recognition and reputational are essential resources and capabilities to Starbucks’s competition advantage. According to Starbucks Strategy Fortune, â€Å"Starbucks store traffic has risen between 6 percent and 8 percent a year even in a down economy†. Starbucks reputation was growing mostly by word of mouth rather than spending on advertising. Schultz believed that opening numerous stores helped to build the brand to Starbucks by increasing awareness of the brand. On the other hand, Starbucks also strengthened its brand and reputation with Fair Trade Certified coffee and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The company collaborated with CARE and Conservation International to encourage environment responsible methods of growing coffee. These activities would be created the attention and attraction of its customers on the brand of Starbucks. Due with the strength of brand and reputation, Starbucks was achieved sustainable competitive advantages in the specialty coffee segment. Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model. One of the powerful and widely assessment tools of an organizations industry’s competitive forces is the five forces model, created by Michael Porter. This model embraces that the competitive forces affecting industry success go beyond rivalry among competing sellers and include four coexisting sources (Thompson, 2012). The Michael Porter’s five forces are the threat of entry, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of supply and rivalry among competing sellers. I will identify the competitive environment of Starbucks in coffee industry by using Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model. 1) Industry Rivalry The industry competition among the existing firms is positioned at the center of Porter five forces model. Rivalry is gradually growing against Starbucks each year as the growing of industry. The growth of industry rivalry has increased due to introduce the new products into the market and differentiate products based on quality, service and selection (Gamble & Thompson, Jr. , 2011) cited by (Brown, 2011). With this point, Starbucks has introduced a new way of having premium coffee and new product of Frappuccino, was greatly differentiated from the competitors. Starbucks also served coffee with the highest freshness standards with FlavorLock bags. Starbucks compete to against two strong orgationation in the fast food industry who have operated coffee beverages and stepped into coffee market, McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts. The competitive threat distributed by McDonald’s to Starbucks was referring to the Consumer Reports magazine in 2008 , which rated that the McDonald’s the quality of coffee is better and the price is cheaper as compared to Starbucks. The industry’s growing has slowed down while the industry competition is increasing among existing firms. In short, the force of industry rivalry formed by the competition among coffees industry is characterized very strong. 2) The Threat of New Entrance The second competitive force of Porter’s model has significant differenced in the late of 80s and the recent competitive environment of Starbucks, is no barriers to entry. According to Porter (2008), barriers of entry are low in the specialty coffee industry. The coffee houses in the United States were about 585 in 1987 and 25000 in 2007. It showed that the new entrants of specialty coffee market was increasing speedily in 20 years. Besides that, the specialty coffee market had grown from $11. 5billion (2005) to $12. 27 billion (2006) in the United States. Due to the market demand growing rapidly, it was attracted a number of fast-food retailers, such company as McDonald and Dunkin’ Donuts. In addition, the product differentiation (included coffee selection, roasting and brewing) is considered weak. With these elements, it can be established that the threat of new entrants in coffee industry is moderate. However, Starbucks has a strong competitive advantage with a well-known brand and image, the quality service and diversity products, and a strong market in the segmentation. 3) The Threat of Substitutes Another competitive force of Porter’s model is the threat of substitutes. The force of substitutes is significant decreased in the coffee market. This is because, there are only little of substitutes product, such substitute as soft drinks, energy drinks and fruit juices. The principal substitution of products has posed a slight threat to coffee industry were carbonated soft drinks which introduced by the Pepsi and Coca-Cola company. In the past few years, studies have done that coffee has increasingly obtained the preference of consumer more than carbonated soft drinks. This is probably concentrated the healthy related with carbonated soft drinks, and evidenced that coffee is a relatively healthy preference. (Harding, 2000) cited by (Larson. , 2008) Based on the information and evidence, the threat of competitive substitute products is considered to be weak for Starbucks Corporation. 4) The Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of supplier has changed in several ways through the widely growing in the coffee industry. Starbucks was purchased it premium coffee beans from the farmers that were numerous, small and unconnected during the late 1980s. In the recently years, coffee beans suppliers were joint by Fair Trade Certified coffee and acted like a large entity. Specialty coffee companies were making the coffee beans suppliers gradually important by seeking greater quality of coffee to compete the competitors in the market. The coffee beans suppliers today are more power, with increased joint and increased importance upon high quality coffee beans. Starbucks has work out with the coffee beans suppliers into continuing fixed-price commitments in order to ensure an adequate supply, which decreased the supplier bargaining power. (Larson, 2008) 5) The Bargaining Power of buyers. The last element of five forces model is the bargaining power of buyers. The force of the buyer’s bargaining power is defined to the buyer’s capability to force down prices, and seek for higher-quality products and services (Porter, 1998, p. 24) cited by (Larson, 2008). The bargaining power of buyer in specialty coffee segment is considered high, since two strong competitor of Starbucks, McDonalds and Dunkin’s Donuts have offered the lower prices. However, Starbucks has introduced the several new products and high quality of coffee, highly differentiated to maintain consumers satisfied and away from competitors in the coffee market. Thus, the buyer bargaining power has offset and became moderate. The Summary of Michael Porter’s Five Factor In summary, the coffee market faces very strong forces from the industry rivals but it obtains weak forces from the threat of substitutes. Besides, the other three forces are considered as moderate. Generally, the impact of the five forces is moderate in the specialty coffee industry. Therefore, Starbucks is able to obtain the ideal revenues in the coffee market with operated effectively and efficiently. Starbucks’ Generic Strategy. There are three successful generic competitive strategies that organizations can apply to achieve their competitive strategies, included overall cost leadership, differentiation and focus, defined by Michael Porter. Overall cost leadership strategy implies an organization to apply lower overall costs to attract consumers. The differentiation generic strategy contains the creation of service and product as being valuable and unique for the industry. Focus is the last generic strategy, which aims a certain market of a product line (Porter, 1998, p. 38) cited by (Larson, 2008). However, Starbucks are suitable the broad differentiation strategy of the five generic competitive strategies nowadays. This strategy allows Starbucks to serve a broader customer base with the differentiation of product and service (Grant, 2009) cited by (Brown, 2011). This approaches to retain and attract as many consumer with the generally product mix. Starbucks had the unique skills, products and services reputation with the distribution segment of specialty coffee industry. For instance, Starbucks was developed an icy-blend of dark-roasted coffee and milk, named Frappuccino. This drink was a hit with $54 million sales in the first year on the national market. In addition, the high-quality standards and strong employee culture of Starbucks were known well in the specialty coffee industry. The high-quality coffee beans are purchased from Fair Trade Certified, considered a differentiation product to other competitors. The employees of Starbucks were also trained to have strong customer experience. In the differentiation strategies, Starbucks have strengthened the brand and reputation for quality and creative flair. Starbucks’ Strategy Options. Starbucks is able to create three strategic options for sustaining competitive advantage and further growing the business by having evaluated its forces. The three strategic options for Starbucks are that diversification, expansion and merger. 1) Diversification The diversification of a business is that introducing new products and offering new services to the industry. There are two way of diversification for business, be related or unrelated. Starbucks is suited to attempt related diversification, reflecting more association with the specialty coffee industry. Schultz believed that the company has lacked on blockbuster products, only the variations of products. Starbucks has a successful product diversification in the history with launched coffee and tea beverages, brewing and serving equipment, roasted coffee beans, music and gifts. The introduction of savory products such as cake, donut and muffin is a successful diversification as it can be combined with the existing product and core product, coffee. The diversification strategy is a good option for enhancing Starbucks’ growth and competitive advantage. 2) Expansion. The expansion of an organization can be within a country and into an overseas market. Starbucks should reduce their expansion efforts in the United States and focus to expand its business into new countries to further internationalize it. The Economist stated, â€Å"While Starbucks has expanded so have its rivals. The firm’s home market seems to have reached saturation point. † With the rapid expansion, Starbucks is oversaturated in the United States. Therefore, this strategy option is suitable for Starbucks as the United States coffee market is reaching saturation point. If Starbucks has to go further growing and expanding, the international expansion is one of the best strategies for Starbucks. 3) Merger and Acquisition According to Investopedia, it defined as â€Å"a merger is an alliance of two organizations while an acquisition is the attaining of one organization by another. † The strategy of merger and acquisition sets out to accomplish the same goal, by increased broad customer base, market share and corporate strength of business. In the history, Starbucks has merged with Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream to develop super premium ice cream and acquired a premium tea company, Tazo LLC. In the case study of Starbucks, there states that there were about 25000 coffee houses in the United States in 2007. The merger and acquisition of small specialty coffee retailers will enhances the market position, market share and competitive advantage of Starbucks. This is a strategy that will exploit opportunities whilst avoiding threats to further growing and expansion of Starbucks. Recommendations The first and most important process which Starbucks should take is to diminish the efforts expansion in the United States. According to Starbucks’ strategy Fortune, a new store will often cannibalize about 30% of the sales of a nearby Starbucks. The continuing aggressive of expansion in the United States by opening as many new stores of the same area is an act to cannibalize store sales. The reason why Starbucks should diminish their expansion plan is the coffee market has reached the saturation in the US. The overcapacity of expansion plans in a location will be met with failure to an organization. On the basis of all the evaluation and evidence referred for the strategy options, the recommendation is to further expand internationally. Starbucks can convey the remained investment into international development plans by reducing the expansion plans in United States. The expansion of international market offers a supreme target with three fundamental objectives. The first reason is the lack of awareness of coffee market in many countries which represent the prospective market share. For instance, Starbucks currently opens approximately 20,000 stores with 13,000 in the US and 7000 in foreign countries. The total coffee consumption per person in the US has lowered much than many countries, such country as Finland and Italy. With gathering the information, this proves that expand internationally, there is a massive coffee drinking population and potential market share to be selected. (Starbucks Corporation, 2008) cited by (Larson, 2008). Another reason that international expansion offers an ideal prospect is that the expansion of product innovation. For example, Starbucks has announced their Tazo tea brand into the Japanese market. And, Tazo was brought into the United States market as it was a successful trial in Japan. Tazo green tea has brought a success to Starbucks as it was a national drinks and showed that the power of brand in North America. Starbucks could have to evade the risk of brand reputation as more innovative products should run a trial in international markets. Since the markets have yet visible to Starbucks for a period time, it is possible to avoid a great risk with affecting the brand reputation. Therefore, Starbucks has great competitive advantage in the markets with expand intentionally. The last reason of international expansion is to increase the brand reputation. Building brand image is key factor to an organization as the brand will affects an organization’s sales and position in the market. For example, in case of Starbucks, the company has increased revenue from $7. 8 billion in 2006 to $9. 4 in 2007, along with an increase in brand value. In order to recover the exclusivity of Starbucks brand, Schultz would focus the expansion of international countries and slow down the expansion of the United States. Therefore, the international aggressive expansion will help to strengthen its brand image and regain a strong competitive advantage for Starbucks. In a nut shell, I am highly recommended a strategy decision to Starbucks is that expanding into international markets. International countries have represented the ideal potential market shares with the high demand of specialty coffee. By applying this strategy, Starbucks will continue to be the leader in the specialty coffee industry and further regain and strengthen its competitive advantage. Furthermore, it also gains the customer satisfaction in the international markets. International expansion is the way to move forward. Reference Balaban, S. et al. (n. d) â€Å"Management 600† Starbucks Coffee Company. http://cobweb2. louisville. edu/faculty/regbruce/bruce/cases/starbucks/starbucks. htm [Accessed on 7 April 2012]. Brown, H. (2011) â€Å"External Environmental Analysis of Starbucks and the Coffee Industry† Strategic Management MGMT 4340 http://www2. uhv. edu/chapao/MGMT4340/Samples/Project%20Sample%203. pdf [Accessed on 9 April 2012] E-Imports (2012) â€Å"Coffee Statistics† Espresso Business Solutions. http://www. e-importz. com/Support/specialty_coffee. htm [Accessed on 5 April 2012]. Gates, R. et al. (2011) â€Å"Strategy Analysis MGMT 562† http://freedownload. is/pdf/strategy-analysis-mgmt-562-2925711. html [Accessed on 6 April 2012]. Harveywallbanger. (2012) â€Å"Starbucks’ Customer Retention Strategies 89† HubPages.http://harveywallbanger. hubpages. com/hub/Starbucks-Customer-Retention-Strategies [Accessed on 6 April 2012]. Heavey, J. (2012) â€Å"Starbucks a Strategic Report†Scribd. http://www. scribd. com/doc/27614539/Starbucks-a-Strategic-Report-by-James-Heavey [Accessed on 8 April 2012]. Larson, R. (2008) â€Å"Starbucks a Strategic Analysis† Past Decisions and Future Options http://coe. brown. edu/documents/StarbucksaStrategicAnalysis_R. Larson_honors_2008. pdf [Accessed on 8 April 2012]. Location Excelerated (2012) â€Å"How many Starbucks are they? † Location Excelerated. http://loxcel. com/sbux-faq. html.

Did women have a Renaissance in Early Modern Europe Essay - 1

Did women have a Renaissance in Early Modern Europe - Essay Example The early modern period saw many rapid changes in the way that society interacted with itself. Whereas the middle-aged should have been defined by dogmatic religious interpretation, the early modern period saw something of a relaxation of the means by which society and the laws that constrained it operated. Moreover, trade began to flourish and created the first exhibitions of what we might now term the middle class. Arts and literature came to be in greater and greater prevalence within this particular era due to the fact that the daily struggle to provide food, security, and basic human needs was simplified. Political theory and the means by which society was structured became less chaotic and more orderly. However, even though it might be tempting to state that each of these progressions somehow invariably impacted upon the plight of women, it is the assumption and understanding of this brief analysis that even though a great many societal changes were occurring during this time, the majority of these did not impact upon the rights and/or freedoms that women would otherwise experience. Instead, the benefits of this â€Å"early modern era†, as it was dumb, were almost invariably concentric upon the males within society. However, even though a low level of benefit was able to be derived by women during this period in time, the reduction in power that the church was able to exert over societal shareholders was necessarily a net in a fit with regard to the overall level of rights and privileges that women could exercise and experience within their respective societies. Naturally, this reduction in the church’s power existed to varying degrees based upon geography and/or ethnic/cultural determinants. Secondarily, as a direct result of the level of economic growth and the rise in the existence of the middle class, women of this particular class experienced a different type of lifestyle than those which had traditionally been confined to and constrain ed by abject poverty and/or the differential between the extraordinarily wealthy and carefree and those who struggled under varying forms of servitude to provide for the needs of themselves and for their families. Firstly, any study or examination of human rights and the progression of feminism denotes the fact that religion, by very definition, has traditionally negatively impacted upon the way and manner that these freedoms were experienced. Whether one considers the case of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or any of the other world’s great religions, each of these has at its core a patriarchal respect which necessarily places women and their rights in a position of lesser importance (Andrea 275). In much the same way, medieval Europe was defined and structured along religious lines. This was so much the case that cultural differences between the French and the Italians, between the Germans and the Danes, and/or between the Swiss and the Poles were more concerned wit h whether or not a particular religion defined this interaction than they were with regard to the differential and cultures that necessarily existed between the two. For a large part of the dark/Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had near unchallenged sway with regard to how people thought and believed in Europe. However, as a result of the challenge that Protestantism posed, the role and power of the Roman Catholic Church, and indeed the overall power that religion itself was able to project within this system were necessarily reduced. This is not say that Europe experienced anything like a miniature enlightenment during this period. Rather, the challenge of an alternate point of view led many individuals to challenge, at least on a personal level, whether or not the religion that they had so long clung to was effective in determining the mores and norms by which they would live. It is important to note at this juncture that even though Protestantism allowed for a deviation and distraction from the rigid constructs of Roman Catholicism, it was not necessarily any more friendly or