Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Moakley Peace Medal Acceptance Speech - 860 Words
Moakley Peace Medal Acceptance Speech In accepting this award on behalf of my father, I would like to begin as he would, by offering his and my most sincere and humble gratitude to Chancellor Motley and to the University of Massachusetts and its distinguished members for creating this medal and for choosing my father and, in a broader sense, the YaLa movement, as the recipients of the Moakley Peace medal. The very existence of the Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation and of the Moakley Peace Medal are worthy of more thanks than can be offered, standing as testaments to the ongoing desire for peace and the rational non-violent resolution of conflict that is embedded in this university and in communities throughout the world. It is with this understanding that I give thanks not only on behalf of my father and YaLa for the honor of receiving the Medal, but on behalf of all people affected by conflict for the convictions and the principles that led to the creation of this award and the committee and Chair that supports it. When my father and others worked to develop the YaLa movement, their goal was simple despite the complexities involved in its achievement. There is nothing simpler than peace, yet nothing more difficult to achieve with the many complexities of the modern geopolitical situation. In the Middle East, issues of economic and social inequality, religious and cultural conflict, territorial disputes, and the power provided by access to resources and wealth
Monday, December 16, 2019
How Risky is Risk Free Essays
string(159) " interest rates that barely covers their money from the effect of inflation, and how private banks earn a lot of money while clients barely earn real returns\." ââ¬Å"The human understanding, once it has adopted an opinion , collects any instance that confirm it, and though the contrary instances may be more numerous and more weightily, it either does not notice them or else rejects them, in order that this opinion will remain unshaken. â⬠Francis Bacon, 1620. Risk is a very interesting thing; people normally tend not to realize the real effect that risk takes in their lives. We will write a custom essay sample on How Risky is Risk or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are many kinds of risk, we want to focus on studying the financial risk, the perception of it, the effect that it has on the private banking behavior, their clients, and how they would be treated, the effect that it has on decision making, and the effect that it has o behavioral finance. Because when you start talking about behavioral finance you need to try to understand what risk represents and all of the effects it has. During this article we want to show why over 10% return margins shouldnââ¬â¢t be viewed as something risky, but as something worth analyzing. Because in this times people are going to need over 10% margins if they still want to be making profits out of their investments. And once people understand what risk represents, what it represents ND all of its effects, they can start analyzing what they want and need out of their investments. And once they understand that, they are going to do anything to accomplish it, because as it is said in the quote at the beginning once the human understanding acquires a goal and an opinion on how to get to the goal, he will do anything to end up successfully. . Risk Risk by definition, is the potential of gaining something of value, weighed against losing something of value but, The term ââ¬Å"riskâ⬠, means financial risk or uncertainty of financial lossâ⬠(Raglan, 2003). After using these terms for the purpose of this paper e will divide the study of risk into 3 parts: types of financial risk, the ways to measure IR and perception of risk. 2. 1 Types of risk There are many types of risk; we are going to focus on 5: credit risk, market risk, operational risk, regulatory risk, environmental risk. All of these are top priorities for banks to analyze throughout the operational process. Credit risk, is the potential that a borrower fails to meet his obligations on the terms that were agreed. There are 2 key components on defining credit risk, quantity of risk and the probability of default. The banking system manages credit risk using exposure ceilings, review renewal, risk rating, risk based in scientific pricing and portfolio management. Market risk is the possibility of loss caused by changes in market variables, it sums up to four components. Liquidity risk, this is divided into funding risk, time risk and call risk. Interest rate risk, which is the potential of negative impact coming from changes in rates. Foreign exchange risk and country risk. Operational risk: Human error risk. Regulatory risk: The risk implied by the government ââ¬Ës ability to make new laws and modify regulation. . 2 Wars to measure risk There are several methods to measure risk, we will be focusing on the most common ones and the ones that are better suited for Hedge Funds. Vary is used to quantify the exposure to the market risk, using standard statistics techniques. It measures the minimum expected loss that a firm may suffer under normal circumstances, over a set time period at a desired level of significance. One of the biggest setbacks with Vary is that itââ¬â¢s useless in times of booms and crisis as it doesnââ¬â¢t prevent you from being part of them. Another big problem with Vary is that it is one of the most moon risk measures and people tend to trust it too much without hesitation. (CITE) Standard deviation is a measure of dispersion of a set of data from its average. It is usually applied to the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investment ââ¬Ës volatility. CITE) After taking a look at these 2 methods that are the most commonly used, we will be talking about the ones more suitable for the Hedge Fund industry, which are the following: Seminarianââ¬â¢s or downside deviation is the average of the squared deviation of values that are less than the mean or a ââ¬Å"minimum acceptable returnâ⬠. This method is similar to variance, the difference between the two is that seminarianââ¬â¢s focuses only on the negative fluctuations of the asset neutralizing all the values above the mean. This method primarily provides the estimate of loss that a portfolio could incur, keeping the estimated risk realistic. CITE) Kurtosis is a statistical measure used to describe the distribution of observed data used around the mesas. Kurtosis is also known as the measurement for the volatility of volatility. Its main purpose is to describe the trends in charts. Keenness describes asymmetry from the normal distribution in a set of statistical data. Keenness can come in the form of ââ¬Å"negative keennessâ⬠or ââ¬Å"positive keennessâ⬠, depending on whether data points are skewed to the left (negative skew) or to the right (positive skew) of the data average. CITE) After analyzing these methods, we can conclude that for a Hedge Fund and especially for clients investing in these it is better to use the seminarianââ¬â¢s, kurtosis and keenness methods to analyze the risk of an investment. These three focus more on the downside risk of the portfolio instead of using the Vary that is only good on stable periods and doesnââ¬â¢t account for drastic mimes, besides standard deviation and variance can be very deceiving in the context of analyzing the real risk that a portfolio can have focusing also on outlying positive returns. 3. Private banking What we want to analyze is the way private banks operate and especially how clients needs are met, how they are treated, how their money gets almost frozen with interest rates that barely covers their money from the effect of inflation, and how private banks earn a lot of money while clients barely earn real returns. You read "How Risky is Risk" in category "Papers" Banks offer annulled returns between 3 and 5 percent which is usually not enough to meet paving expenses or inflation for the wealthy clients. An American study showed the following: ââ¬Å"Americans said they need to earn average annual gains of 9. Percent above inflation to make their financial needs. Natives officials noted that inflation since 1964 has averaged 4. 2 percent annually, which means the average American has to generate 14 percent to meet their needs. ââ¬Å"fee,2014) having this in mind clients can realize that they need to expect a bigger profit on their investments because they are actua lly losing money, their money is losing value and the only way f stopping this from happening is by demanding higher returns using alternative investments. High returns while taking minimal risk is a pipe dream; if asset growth is your priority, taking risk is crucialâ⬠Oaf,2014), and that is why clients need to be sure that risk is being managed in the most efficient manner. 3. 1 Clients The most important part of any financial institution are the clients, and most important thing about them is recognizing that every client is different and every client has different needs. Every client has to be treated differently to help them meet his/her goals. As the investigation of Dry. Rene Fischer and his team in the book ââ¬Å"Wealth Management in new Realitiesâ⬠, ââ¬Å"we identify 7 engagements that are shaping client behavior and needsâ⬠(Fischer, De Conge, OK, Topper, 2013), with this in mind we will take a look at those seven trends to give clients the best service possible while maintaining a steady margin of returns. Engagement one: Changing demographics. The population is growing and also the markets, clients need security and information that their money is secure and generating profit. Engagement two: Globalization and future markets. With the Gapââ¬â¢s of various developing countries rowing at a fast pace, clients are starting to look at investing in new markets. Engagement three: Scarce resources and climate change. Global awareness is growing for environmental issues that can create new opportunities in clean energies, and a new set of investments in ecological matters for clients. Engagement four: Economic crises and insecurities. With the volatility of the market, clients are starting to be insecure about their money. It is the financial institution ââ¬Ës Job to keep clients informed about the situation their money is in, and make them feel safe that their money is in good hands. Engagement five: Dynamic technology and innovation. With all the changes in information technologies, ââ¬Å"more and more people are getting connected and are sharing information on the goââ¬â¢ (Fischer, De Conge, OK, Topper, 2013), this makes clients better informed and more aware about what is happening to their money. Engagement six: Sharing global interest responsibility. With the shift towards global cooperation and MONGO ââ¬Ës gaining power, clients are demanding socially responsible investments. Engagement seven: Global knowledge society. This trend goes hand in hand with trend number five, with new technologies of information, society has easier access to new information and the tools to know what is happening. With all these trends happening, clients want to be more informed and still get the same yield, but with the misinformation, manipulation and misunderstood promises from the monetary agents, the clients think that having their money working to win Just a little over inflation Just to avoid losing money might be wrong, because with the globalize economy that we have this days studies that are being made all around the world can be generalized, so if something is happening in Europe you could assume that something similar is happening morpheme else. So with this in mind after taking a look in some studies made in India we saw that the inflation is not the same for every social class and that the general inflation that everyone takes for granted does really have much effect on the middle and high class, because it is made out from an average of items that donââ¬â¢t really affect does two classes, and we are focusing on them because they are the ones that are clients of the financial institutions, and the prices of the items that they acquire are going up stronger that the regular inflation, so that is why they are not retorted with the interest rates that they receive, and they are in fact losing money which is the one thing that they were trying to avoid. 4. Behavioral finance There are many factors involved in the process of understanding behavioral finance. To understand this you have to start with risk perception, understanding why people tend to make certain decisions, and after that study the behavioral biases investors exhibit to see what drives the intuition of most individuals. Behavioral finance can help a financial institution prevent certain human factors that can be mitigated at the mime of making decisions and preventing psychological factors to play an important role in the decision making process. 4. 1 Risk perception Risk perception is one of the most important elements of psychological effect on the market. Trying to understand why people tend to make certain decisions at certain times is one of the biggest questions in this matter. Many investigations have been made about the subject, one that stood out was: ââ¬Å"The Psychological Impact of Booms and Busts on Risk Preferences in Financial Professionalsâ⬠by Cohn, Fear and Marcella. During this experiment they decided to manipulate two different kinds of lotteries giving different options in different controlled markets. Their final conclusion was that there will always be a psychological/emotional factor that canââ¬â¢t be measured with precision but you can be sure that during times of booms people tend to be overly optimistic and risk is not their biggest concern, and during times of busts people usually tend to be overly conservative and almost allergic to risk. This can be obvious in both cases as it is when biases come into play. This is why risk can be a risky thing when you are not certain that is being measured the right way. If the risk is being measured correctly, psychological factors shouldnââ¬â¢t have any weight in the decision making process. 4. 2 Behavioral bias Behavioral biases in finance are tendencies to act in a certain way; they can lead someone to a systematic deviation from a standard of rationality or good Judgment. Five biases that we believe can be the most common ones in an investor are the following: 1. ââ¬â Confirmation bias is the tendency that makes people believe in information only if confirms their beliefs and hypothesis. 2. Optimism bias is the tendency to think that you are less at risk of experiencing a negative event than others. 3. ââ¬â Loss aversion bias is the tendency that agents take on when they prefer the option of avoiding a loss than the option of acquiring gains. 4. ââ¬â Self-serving bias is the tendency to distort a process because of the need to maintain and enhance once self-esteem. 5. ââ¬â Planning fallacy bias is the tendency to underestimate the time that it will take to complete a task. These are only some of the behavioral biases that play a significant factor in the psychological process of making decisions. It has to be taken into account that all of them could affect an investor 5. Conclusion ââ¬Å"The human brain has evolved to be very efficient at pattern recognition, but as the confirmation bias shows, we are focused on finding and confirming patterns rather than minimizing our false conclusions. Yet we neednââ¬â¢t be pessimist, for it is possible to overcome our prejudices. It is a start simply to realize that chance events, too, produce patterns. It is another great step if we learn to question our perceptions and our theories. Finally, we should learn to spend as much time looking for evidence that e are wrong as we spend searching for reasons we are correct. â⬠(Millions, 2008). After looking at previous evidence, it is clear that both Private Bankers and Clients have a misconception about risk. Behavioral biases transform risk into fear which if not mitigated by Private Bankers leads to inefficient allocation in Clientââ¬â¢s portfolios, and a controlling position in their relationship. This is why Bankers usually oversee those investments that they are not familiar with and reject them or cause Clients to reject them without studying their process and risk/reward ratio. This is the case with vast majority of Alternative Investments. We encourage Clients to keep a critical point of view with regards to their portfolios and continuously question their Bankerââ¬â¢s recommendations. By being involved in their investment decisions and being up to date on current market trends Clients will have a correct attitude towards risk when it comes to investing. How to cite How Risky is Risk, Papers
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Collaboration Between Students And Teachers In Speaking English
Question: Discuss about the Collaboration Between Students And Teachers In Speaking An Listening English In Punjab Government Secondary Schools. Answer: Introduction India is one of the ten rapid growing economies in the world. In spite of this fact, the rate illiterate citizens are the highest. Education is the most important pillar of a growing economy. This is the biggest challenge that India is facing since its independence. To solve this problem, the RTE or Right To Education Act was introduced in the year 2009. This act has provided the right of compulsory and free education to children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. The main goal of the implementation of this act was to achieve a literacy rate of 100% throughout the country and boost the levels of awareness (Akram et al., 2015). The infrastructure of the government schools in 13 states of India was found to poor in a recent survey. The facilities that are provided in these government schools are not at par with those mentioned in the act. The problem related to toilets and drinking water was found to be a major issue in these schools. This problem has led to dropouts of female students from the schools. The quality of teaching in the government is not up to the mark (Vishnu, 2015). The students do not the basic knowledge of reading, writing and even basic maths. The development of a country mainly depends on the youth, who are the future of that particular country; due to this providing quality education to the children is the most important duty of the government. This will help in achieving the goal of changing the entire country (Bracken, Driver Kadi-Hanifi, 2016). The government schools in Punjab are facing many problems in the recent years. The main problem is the teacher and student ratio in these schools. This problem has to an imbalance between the number of students and teachers and due to this the quality of education provided to the students has suffered. Around 2667 primary and secondary schools in Punjab are facing a lack of adequate number of teachers with respect to students. This report is based on the analysis regarding these problems in the government secondary schools in Punjab (Byker, 2014). Discussion about the collaboration between students and teachers in speaking and listening English in the Government schools in Punjab The education systems of the government secondary schools in Punjab are facing many issues in the recent times. The main problem in this case is the quality of teachers in these schools. The quality of teachers in the schools enhances the quality of education provided to the students. The lack of funds provided by the government to improve the quality of teachers is another problem in this case. This problem affects the economic development of the state, which in turn has an adverse affect on the economic growth of the country as a whole. To address these problems government has started taking initiatives to improve the situation (Chandwani Lata, 2016). These initiatives include Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which was implemented in the year 2002. This initiative was mainly concentrated towards the management of finances related to the education sector, providing proper training to the teachers and providing resources required by the students. Another initiative taken by the government was the RTE or Right To Education Act, that was implemented in the year 2010. This act stated that the teachers are the most important element of the education system (Desai, 2015). The main context of this report is regarding the quality of education in the state of Punjab. Punjab is located in the north-western part of India. This state has gone through lots of changes with respect to its physical settings, educational expenditure, demography and educational programmes. The state of Punjab is mainly inhabited by people whose mother tongue is Punjabi. Chandigarh is the capital of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab is a densely populated state with male literacy rate of 81.5 and female literacy rate of 71.3 percent. The literacy gap has decreased in the years 2001 and 2011 (Ganaie, 2015). The rural population has decreased and the urban population has increased in the recent years. The growth of population has also decreased. The funds that are allocated in the education sector have increased in the recent years. The expenditure that is made on different education programs and schemes has increased after the year 2002. Some of the programs that have been implemented in the education are the PERVESH Project, The Parho Punjab Project and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (Snilstveit et al., 2014). The Mid- day Meal Program was implemented in the government primary schools to provide free food to the students in the schools. The Parho Punjab Project was implemented in the years 2008 to 2012, with the aim to remove the problem of the difference in the level of learning and the goals of the students (HAIDER KHAN, 2016). The Primary Vidya Sudhar (PERVESH) Project was implemented following the Parho Punjab Project to enhance the quality of education provided to the students in the government primary and secondary schools and mainly focus on their learning of maths and language. An amount of INR 50 crores was invested in these projects (Samson Vyjayanthi, 2013). There is a lack of facilities provided in the school premises in Punjab. Some of the problems include lack of toilets, and the number of classrooms as per the number of students. The issue of the lack of girls toilets has led to many dropouts from the schools in primary and secondary levels (Haider Hussain, 2014). The percentage of female teachers is more in the government primary and secondary schools as compared to the percentage of male teachers. The teachers who are appointed in the government schools in Punjab are a varied group of people in terms of their background, recruitment process, educational qualifications and other factors (Kumar Kaur, 2012). The ratio of the teachers and students is not up to the mark in the schools in Punjab, with the ratio in primary schools being 27:1, upper primary schools is 21:1 and in secondary schools in 23:1. The problem of less number of teachers is one of the biggest challenges in the education sector of Punjab (Huma, 2014). India has a diverse culture and many different languages are spoken in different states of the country. However, English language has been accepted has the other official language in addition to Hindi. In spite of the presence of English language in India for a long time, only few people can speak English. However, English acts as a link between people in the national and international levels as well. English has now become a second language in India and this trend has an effect on the quality of education being provided in the government secondary schools. English is now not just a language that is taught in schools, but it has become a medium of teaching process (Jena, 2013). The English language is now becoming a mode of communication between students and teachers in the government schools in Punjab. The teachers who are appointed in these schools need to be trained in such a way so that they have a great command over the language, which is not their mother tongue. In this manner, the teachers will be able to provide good quality education to the students. The medium of education mainly used in the rural areas of Punjab was Punjabi. The importance of English language has increased in the recent years owing to the reason that the world is turning into a small global village. English has become the most important language in the recent times (Jena Gahlod, 2013). This language has totally gone inside the system of the education in India. In spite of this, the rural areas of India are facing problems regarding the learning of this language. The schools in the rural areas need to accept English as such a language, which they can use to speak their minds. This is a big issue in the government secondary schools in rural Punjab (KAUR, 2017). This problem can be solved with successful collaboration of the teachers and the students of these schools. The teacher who has taken the responsibility of teaching the students should be aware of the language. The teacher should be proficient in speaking, writing and reading this language. They should be equipped in such a way that it becomes easier for them to impart this knowledge to the students (Kumar Kaur, 2012). The students in the rural areas of Punjab and their respective parents need to understand the importance of the language for the future of the students. English is introduced quiet late in the curriculum of the rural students, due to which there is a lack of confidence in speaking English. The students in rural Punjab are heavily dependent on their mother tongue and English is taught to them quiet late in their school years. The students are unable to score passing marks in the English exams, and they do not understand Basic English sentences. English is taught to these not like a language, but like a subject (Malik Yadav, 2013). The students have a casual approach towards learning English and due to this; they have a weak vocabulary and poor levels of translation. The students therefore are slow in learning the language and they realize the importance of English in the later years of their career. In this manner, they do not receive the basic knowledge about the language and later when they realize the importance of learning English, they learn it with the help of some courses, which provide only surface knowledge to the students. The low ratio of students and teachers has an adverse effect in this case as well. The needs of the students are not catered properly by the teachers in the government secondary schools in these rural areas of Punjab (Ramamurthy, 2015). The schools do not receive adequate attention from the higher authorities so that the quality of education can be improved and the number of teachers can be increased. Therefore, it can be said that teaching this language in the rural government secondary schools is massive task for the teachers of these schools (Haider Hussain, 2014). The potential of the students in the rural areas are wasted due to this reason. One of the biggest problems in the schools in these areas is the absence of punctuality and regularity among the students. There is a huge lack of awareness regarding English education in these areas (Rana, 2017). This is the point where the collaboration between the students and the teachers comes into play. Teachers are the main pillars of the education system of the schools. The problem related to the lack of interest and confidence of the students, can be easily tackled by the teachers. The teachers should also receive rigorous training so that they can impart the correct level of knowledge to the students. The teachers are the ones who can motivate students so that they can get interest in the language, learn it from the foundation of their studies, and use it in their future career (Samson Vyjayanthi, 2013). The teachers of the government secondary schools in Punjab are considered the main pillars of the education system. The teachers are the people who are interpreters or mediators of the educational system. The teachers play an important role in the development of a nation or bringing change in the society. This is the reason why the teachers need to be properly trained. The system of in-service training of teachers in the government schools in Punjab facilitates this ability of the teachers (Smyth, 2013). In-service training of the teachers includes the following components: Professional attitude Knowledge related to the profession The professional skills of the teachers The interest of the teachers towards this profession Many activities are conducted such as, symposium, discussions, workshops, seminars and brain storming. This type training is important for the teachers in the elementary schools, so that the attention can be kept focussed on the requirement of improvement in quality of the performance of the teachers, which in turn improves the quality of the students (Bracken, Driver, Kadi-Hanifi, 2016). Thus, type of training helps to maintain an environment in the schools, which will facilitate the learning quality in schools, so that the teachers are committed and they can develop their competency, which is required to pursue the options in their careers. The enthusiasm of the teachers towards the profession is maintained and they are always motivated to provide the correct level of knowledge to the students (Snilstveit et al., 2014). This type of in-service teacher education programmes are arranged in Punjab under the SSA or Sarv Shikhsha Abhiyan Scheme. This programme has proved to be effective according to a recent research that has been conducted. The programme was found to be effective from the point of view of infrastructure, planning and monitoring. The role of the teachers in this entire programme was found to be the most important. This programme had a huge impact on the teaching style of the teachers. The programme helped in the professional development of the teachers. This programme helped the teachers in learning many new techniques of teaching and handling new teaching equipments (Thakur, 2013). The main concern in the state of Punjab is the quality of English teachers in the government-aided secondary schools. The need of teachers in the large number of schools has been an issue for the Punjab government. The government is facing many problems and obstructions due to the shortage of funds. The quality of the language in this area helps in determining the quality of teachers who are appointed to teach English in the government schools. The number of teachers with respect to the number of students is less, due to which the students have to face a large number of problems. Sometimes the quality of the teachers is compromised to meet the shortage of teachers. Training has been provided to the teachers to address the issue of quality along with quantity (Usman, 2012). As there is progress in the modern society, the need for English education is increasing day by day. The English language is introduced in the early days of the students. English is being included in the curriculum of upper primary schools, so that the students have a strong base by the time they reach the secondary schools (Chandwani Lata, 2016). However, the implementation of English language has sometimes happened in a rapid pace and this caused problems for the students. In the year, 2009 English language was introduced into the curriculum of the students in Punjab. This process was followed by the training provided to the teachers about this knowledge. This preparation was taken so that the inadequacy of the learning of the teachers does not affect the knowledge that the students were imparted (Vishnu, 2015). After the launch the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Program in India in the year 2001, in the recent years there is a huge increase in the enrolment of students in the government schools. This phenomenon is prevalent not only in the urban, but also in the rural areas. In many states, the enrolment of students in government is much more as compared to private schools (SOLANKI BAROT, 2017). The teachers of these government secondary schools play an important in the lives of the students. The qualification and quality of the teachers determine the knowledge levels of the students. The academic achievements of the teachers have an impact on the achievements of the students as well. The level of knowledge of the teachers is affected by their fellow teachers, which in turn has an effect on the quality of the students (Bracken, Driver Kadi-Hanifi, 2016). The dedication and the commitment of the teachers towards their profession is another factor that affects the knowledge that is imparted to the students. The professional qualification of the teachers also ensures the knowledge that is provided to the students. As per the observations in recent studies, the students that are taught by well-experienced and qualified teachers perform much better in comparison to those taught by inexperienced teachers (Chandwani Lata, 2016). English language has played an important role in the educational system of India or rather in the state of Punjab. English is a global language and it acts as a link with the rest of the world. The usage of English is increasing day by day in the government secondary schools. However, there are still many challenges in the secondary schools in the rural areas of Punjab. The infrastructure of the schools is not up to the mark (Malik Yadav, 2013). The students in the rural areas of Punjab are not aware about the importance of the language in their future careers. The students take English just as a subject they need to pass in, and not like a language to learn (Haider Hussain, 2014). Conclusion The report can be concluded by stating that the level of English medium education in the government secondary schools in the state of Punjab has improved in the recent years. The quality of teachers imparting knowledge to the students matters the most in this case. The teachers are considered to be the main pillars of the education system. The teachers are the ones who shape the lives of the students and in turn bring change to the society. Keeping this in mind, the teachers are provided extensive training related to the English language. The challenges are much more in the rural areas of Punjab. The children in the rural areas are not aware of the importance of English language in their future careers. The infrastructure of the schools and the quality of the teachers are some of the major problems in the rural areas. Many initiatives have been taken by the government to address these issues. The lack of funds in the government secondary was also a major problem, due to which the infrastructure of the schools did not show any improvement. However, owing to the initiatives taken by the government, these issues have been taken care of and lots of investment is being made in the education sector. References Akram, M., Malik, M. I., Sarwar, M., Anwer, M., Ahmad, F. (2015). Relationship of teacher competence with professional commitment and job satisfaction at secondary level.International Journal of AYER,4, 58-70. Bracken, S., Driver, C., Kadi-Hanifi, K. (2016).Teaching English as an Additional Language in Secondary Schools: Theory and Practice. Taylor Francis. Byker, E. (2014). ICT in Indias elementary schools: The vision and realities.International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives,13(2), 27-40. Chandwani, S., Lata, P. (2016) attitude towards extension education among students of punjab agriculture university, ludhiana.attitude towards extension education among students of punjab agriculture university, ludhiana* Sanjay Chandwani, 1. Desai, D. (2015). Public-Private Partnership (PPP)A Key to Expand the Education Infrastructure of India.International Journal of Innovative Research and Development,4(8). Ganaie, S. A. (2015). Library and information science education in India: A critical assessment.LIS Links Newsletter,1(2), 2-9. Haider, G., Khan, T. N. (2016). Special Educationteachersperceptions About Project-Based Teaching: Implications Forteaching Of Computer Assisted Language Learning (Call) Forhearing Impaired (Hi) Children.International Online Journal of Primary Education (Iojpe) Issn: 1300-915x,5(1). Haider, S. Z., Hussain, A. (2014). Relationship between Teacher Factors and Student Achievement: A Correlational Study of Secondary Schools.US-China Education Review A,4(7), 465-480. Huma, A. (2014). Hopes and fears: Teacher educators voices in curriculum reform.International Journal of Humanities and Social Science,4(8). Jena, P. C. (2013). Cognitive Styles of Rural Senior Secondary School Students in Relation to their Gender and Stream.International Journal Of Education And Psychological Research (IJEPR) Vol-2, Issue-4, Pg, 37-44. Jena, R. K., Gahlod, A. (2013). Indian Education System in the 21st Century. InStrategic Role of Tertiary Education and Technologies for Sustainable Competitive Advantage(pp. 176-192). IGI Global. Kaur, H. (2017) Punjabi Teachersperceptions: Using Ict In Our Schools. Kumar, M. R., Kaur, (2012) A. An Evaluative Study Of Edusat Programme In Schools Of Haryana.Educational Research VolumeX, 91. Kumar, S. (2014). Role Of Right To Education In Educational Equity And Sustainable Development In India. Malik, R. K., Yadav, B. S. (2013). A study of in service teacher education programmes at elementary education level in Punjab. Ramamurthy, K. (2015).Teacher professional development for English language education in India. Rutgers The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick. Rana, A. (2017). English Gets Short Shrift: A Comparative Study of the Standard of English in PSEB Affiliated Schools in Punjab.i-Manager's Journal on English Language Teaching,7(3), 29. Samson, V. R., Vyjayanthi, S. (2013). Pre-University Teachers Teaching Skills.Journal of Education and Practice,5, 90-96. Smyth, G. (2013). Who are the teachers and who are the learners? teacher education for culturally responsive pedagogy. InPreparing Teachers for the 21st Century(pp. 297-308). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Snilstveit, B., Gallagher, E., Phillips, D., Vojtkova, M., Eyers, J., Skaldiou, D., ... Davies, P. (2014).Education interventions for improving the access to, and quality of, education in low and middle income countries: A systematic review. The Campbell Collaboration. Solanki, D., Barot, (2017) D. H. M. Challenges At Rural Area Based Secondary Schools With Reference To English Language Teaching.Significance,2320, 7566. Thakur, J. (2013). Challenges and prospects in teaching of English at elementary school level.Educationia Confab,2(1), 125-133. Usman, S. (2012). Factors Influencing Students' Academic Performance at Higher Secondary Level: Teachers' Perception.Language in India,12(9). Vishnu, M. M. (2015). A Comparative Study Of Effectiveness Of Concept Attainment Model And Inductive Thinking Model For Teaching English Grammar To Ix Class Students.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
The General Prologue Essay Thesis Example For Students
The General Prologue Essay Thesis The General Prologue: Compare and contrast The Prioress and The Wife of Bath In The General Prologue, Chaucer introduces each of the twenty-nine characters of The Canterbury Tales. The Prioress, being the head of a convent, is a religious woman and, apart from her accompanying nun, the wife of bath is the only other female pilgrim. By going on pilgrimage at all, the Prioress is committing a transgression as the bishops forbade the pilgrimage. Therefore, the simple fact that she figures in the prologue suggests she is not wholly committed to her cause. The Wife of Bath, by contrast, as a free woman of business had every right to attend. Chaucer introduces the Prioress as the fourth pilgrim illustrating her social status compared to the wife of bath who figures much later, being of the laity. The Prioresss manner however, does not parallel her position and Chaucer implies her good nature to be superficial. As a nun, she should have sacrificed all of her material possessions on entry to the convent, and she should not pride herself in her appearance. However: hardly, she was nat undergrowe. We will write a custom essay on The General Prologue Thesis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now / Ful fetis was hir cloke, as I was war. /Of smal coral aboute hire arm she bar /A peire of bedes, guaded al with grene, /And theron heng a brooch of gold ful sheene She had clearly not forgone her possessions and the brooch she carried held the inscription Amor vincit omnia (love conquers all). This is ironic, not at all apt for a nun, and suggests sacred or profane love, subtly implying immorality. Equally, she was cleped madame Eglentine, an inappropriate name for a nun, with its sexual connotations and its links with courtly love. The Wife of Bath is brash and ostentatious, but unlike the Prioress she is honest, and for this honesty Chaucer praises her as a worthy woman al hir live. Chaucers use of the word worthy is often satirical so cannot always be taken literally, but in this case he seems to be genuinely praising the Wife of Bath despite her flaws. There are suggestions of her promiscuity but Chaucer brushes over her multiple marriages: Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde five, /Withouten oother compaignye in youthe, /But thereof nedeth nat to speke as nowthe.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Atronomy Example
Atronomy Example Atronomy ââ¬â Article Example Astronomy- Earth and its geological activities Earth is the only known planet so far which is geologically and biologically active. The earthââ¬â¢s geological and biological activities are due to two energy sources, the external solar energy and the internal energy from the earthââ¬â¢s molten core. Since solar energy is available in all the planets, why earth alone have geological activities? This question seems to be a difficult one for the scientific world. ââ¬Å"Some measure of the time involved for a planet the size of the earth to cool by convection is that the earth has been geologically active for over 4 billion years, and will probably take another 4-5 billion years to loose all its heat -and become a dead planetâ⬠(The Heat History of Earth)ââ¬Å"All of the geological activity on the earth today is driven from this initial source of heat at the earths formation, aided and abetted by continued radioactive decay of elements in the earths interior.â⬠(The Heat History of Earth) Radioactive decay of elements such as Uranium, Radium etc can cause earthââ¬â¢s geological activities, but the major reason for earthââ¬â¢s geological activities is the molten core formed at the creation of earth.A planetary body can lose its internal heat energy through several ways like volcanic eruption, earth quakes etc. Another way of energy liberation is through conduction, convection and radiation. The figures given below shows some of the energy liberation activities.(The Heat History of Earth)ConclusionsGeological activities of earth have started at the time its creation. The liberation of heat from the inner molten core is accomplished by conduction, convention and radiation. Earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions are the ways through which earth liberates its energy. Earthââ¬â¢s geological activities one way or other connected to the biological activities on earth. 1. The Heat History Of Earth, 2000, Retrieved on April 20, 2009 from http: //csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/PlateTect/heathistory.html
Friday, November 22, 2019
Overview of Excess Reactant in Chemistry
Overview of Excess Reactant in Chemistry The excess reactant is the reactant in a chemical reaction with a greater amount than necessary to react completely with the limiting reactant. It is the reactant(s) that remain after a chemical reaction has reached equilibrium. How to Identify the Excess Reactant The excess reactant may be found using the balanced chemical equation for a reaction, which gives the mole ratio between reactants. For example, if the balanced equation for a reaction is: 2 AgI Na2S ââ â Ag2S 2 NaI You can see from the balanced equation there is a 2:1 mole ratio between silver iodide and sodium sulfide. If you start a reaction with 1 mole of each substance, then silver iodide is the limiting reactant and sodium sulfide is the excess reactant. If you are given the mass of reactants, first convert them to moles and then compare their values to the mole ratio to identify the limiting and excess reactant. Note, if there are more than two reactants, one will be a limiting reactant and the others will be excess reactants. Solubility and Excess Reactant In an ideal world, you could simply use the reaction to identify the limiting and excess reactant. However, in the real world, solubility comes into play. If the reaction involves one or more reactants with low solubility in a solvent, theres a good chance this will affect the identities of the excess reactants. Technically, youll want to write the reaction and base the equation on the projected amount of dissolved reactant. Another consideration is an equilibrium where both the forward and backward reactions occur.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Why was the 14th century so disastrous Research Paper
Why was the 14th century so disastrous - Research Paper Example Even with its glory of production of gold and silver, during the 14th century, production reduced and the flourishing state was in a devastating state. Nevertheless, Europe was in the era of medieval industrial revolution. The mediaeval era can be referred to as the time of inventions, innovations in managing traditional means of production and economic growth. The mediaeval people referred to this period as the Great Pestilence or the Great Plague. There are three calamities that Europe suffered namely hunger, war and plague. The 14th Century was a period of anxiety, declined expectations and lost expectations. During the century, Europe experienced two great natural disasters; the little ice age and the Black Death. There were two ice ageââ¬â¢s; the first one occurred from 1200 to1600 and the one from 1700 to 1800 (University of Wisconsin, uwgb.edu). During the first or mini ice age, the Baltic Sea froze to a level that had never been recorded or witnessed, while the Alpine glaciers developed. Combs points out that ââ¬Å"crops failed due to cold temperatures and incessant rainâ⬠(168). The result of this was desperate and starved people, who went to the extent of eating one another to stay alive. It can be said that the situation in Europe was unstable. This is because the change in climate caused a lot of changes, especially in food production, as crops failed (Bray 59). During this period, warm and intense amount of cold and wet periods were experienced in Europe. Northern Europe lost much of its wheat and the highlands of Europe produced greatly reduced crops. The feudal system was under different forms of attacks. The famine had destabilized the land-tenure system and led to the increased movement of the peasantry. Banks closed down and others collapsed. War begun to devastate France and impoverish England, while the civil war was tearing Italy apart. The population had remained steady as the food decreased, hence leading to the classical
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Proving The Biblical Flood (Noah's Ark) Term Paper
Proving The Biblical Flood (Noah's Ark) - Term Paper Example To this end, God instructed Noah to construct a huge Ark that would shelter his family and also a pair of every animal and bird species in the world. It is stated that Noah complied to each and every of Godââ¬â¢s commands and secured himself, his family plus the select pair of every animal and bird species in the Ark. Afterwards, the book of Genesis details a mega flood that rained for 40 days and 40 nights. To this end, Genesis 7:21-22 states that all flesh perished that moved on the Earth, every man, cattle, birds, beasts and all the creeping things (Beitzel, Barry, Barry L. Bandstra, and Laurie, 24). Only the people and land animals on board the Ark were spared. After, one hundred and fifty days, it is stated that the water receded from the Earth. Unfortunately, a majority of sceptics and atheists normally dismiss the Great flood as one of the many mythological tales. Most critics like to point out that there is no evidence on Earth for Noahââ¬â¢s flood. However, The Bible a nd especially the Book of Genesis is a true historical account of the universe. ... This fact is credible considering that all global surface water covers three quarters of the Earth surface. Evidently, some secular geologists have supported the theory that all the continents were once whole and not divided by the massive oceans of today. To this end, it is also a valid point that the receding waters of the flood were sufficient to effect the continental separation changes. Evidently, the Biblical scriptures state that God created the ocean basins by raising the land surface from the water so that the floodwaters may recede to a safer place. Most critics of the Great Flood normally seek for geologic evidence from proponents of the Great Flood. Evidently, a number of Christians are blind to the geological evidence that support the occurrence of the Great Flood. To this end, they have bought in the evolutionary idea that asserts that ââ¬Ëthe present is the key to the pastââ¬â¢ (Shimmeal, 67). However, in examining whether the Great Flood really took place, direc tion from Biblical evidence is a starting point. Evidently, in Genesis chapter 7 to chapter 8, it states the fountains of the deep were fractured and water was expunged from within the earthââ¬â¢s core for 150 days. Furthermore, the heavens opened up and there was a global torrential rain for 40 days and nights. To this end, all the mountains and hills were immersed in water. In addition, all creatures on the land were swept away and died. Consequently, in attempt to check for evidence, one would expect to discover billions of dead animals and plants that have been buried and fossilized in layers of mud, sand and lime. Furthermore, such sediments would have been deposited instantaneously by water, within
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Gender Discrimination in Media Essay Example for Free
Gender Discrimination in Media Essay Abstract This study examines womenââ¬â¢s participation and representation in media. This study is based on the statistics of media units in Solapur city. Women constitute nearly 50% of population in every Indian city, but the participation of women in media is very low. Discussions of womens representation in the media tend to revolve around the focus on physical beauty to the near-exclusion of other values. It is observed that media content about women issues is biased and gender discrimination is clearly visible . This study also suggests the ways to increase the women participation in media and the ways to rational representation of women in media. Introduction: Women constitute nearly 50% of population in India. Our social system boasts that it has given mother goddess status to women since the ancient period. But in reality society builds psychological barriers around women. This male dominated society imposed so many bindings against women. Therefore role of women was confined only to the kitchen and kids for many years. Social movement started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule, Maharshi Karve and other social activists opened doors for womenââ¬â¢s education. Women have benefited greatly as education provided information to them about their rights and their equal status in the society. In spite of these efforts and the 65 year long journey since Indiaââ¬â¢s independence , our nation is lagging behind in many basic things. World Economic Forum conducted a study to measure gender gap. The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap between men and women in four fundamental categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. According to this Gender Gap Report-2011, India is included among the 20 countries, where the gender gap is widest. It holds 113th position among 134 countries in the world. This report explains that ââ¬Å"India and Pakistan perform above average on the political empowerment of women, particularly India, but they lag behind in the other three categories. In particular, the persistent health, education and economic participation gaps will be detrimental to Indiaââ¬â¢s growth. India is the lowest ranked of the BRICK economiesâ⬠(http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2011.pdf) After Indiaââ¬â¢s independence Womens role in society has undergone seismic changes, which has been reflected in every walk of life. Women stepped out of four walls and succeeded in each and every field. Now women are working as pilots, soldiers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, politicians and proving their mettle in all fields. But it is ground reality that basic structure of male dominated society and roles and presumptions about womens worlds remain the same. Still the life of majority of women in India remains unchanged. . The women who got benefited through education and succeeded to grab a job have to destine to face male supremacy. Gender discrimination is visible at every moment. Decision- making positions are not accessible for women. Many times working women have to face humiliation. Scenario in the field of media Scenario in the field of media also does not differ from it. Media Still remains as menââ¬â¢s world and this is global phenomena. According to the research conducted by International Womenââ¬â¢s Media Foundation( IWMF ) 73% of the top management jobs are occupied by men compared to 27% occupied by women,Among the rank of reports , men hold nearl y two thirds of the jobs, compared to 36% held by women. These findings were collected by more than 150 researchers who interviewed executives at more than 500 companies in 59 nations. (http://iwmf.org/pioneering-change/global-research-on-women-in-the-news-media/global-report-online-version.aspx) According to this report statistics of womenââ¬â¢s participation in Indian media is 13. 8 % ( e.g. Chief Executive Officer ) at top management , 23.3 % ( e.g. News Directors) in senior management ,18.3% ( Chief Correspondent ) in middle management and 25.5 % ( Reportes, Sub-editors ) at junior professional level . This report reveals that womenââ¬â¢s participation in Indian media is very low and gender discrimination is the only reason behind this. Media sector in India is very strong and particularly India ranks second in circulation of newspaper copies in the world. ââ¬Å"The new figures show that the four largest markets for newspapers are: China with 107 million copies daily; India, with 99 million copies daily; Japan with 69 million copies daily; and the United States, with nearly 51 million.â⬠1 Marathi newspapers in Maharashtra are also enjoying better position. Two Marathi newspapers Lokmat and Sakal are placed among Indiaââ¬â¢s top 10 largest circulated regional dailies in the IRS first quarterly report 2012 . Lokmat is at second position and Sakal is at tenth position in this list. (http://mruc.net/irs2012q1-topline-findings.pdf) ââ¬Å" Women participation in Indian media is negligible. Though a few women were appointed by the media many were not given big responsibilities. The media should be more responsible when it comes to reporting of womens issues.â⬠2 This picture is same in Mahashtra state. Solapur city is 7 th populated city in Maharastra .Population of Solapur is more than 12 lacks. There are seven dailies having circulation of more than 25000 copies per day. But participation of women in newspapers editorial staff is negligible. It is observed that young women taking admissions to the media courses is increasing during last few years. But job opportunities are not easily accessible for them. Situation in electronic media seems better than newspapers. Table no 1: Ratio of Womenââ¬â¢s Participation in Editorial staff of Daily Newspapers in Solapur This statistics clearly reveals that womenââ¬â¢s participation in these newspapers as reporters, sub-editors, editors is less than 3%. Women journalists are confined generally to the table duties to edit womenââ¬â¢s page or to cover cultural events arranged for women. Important beats such as political beat, crime beat does not allotted to the female journalists. They work on junior levels .In decision making process womenââ¬â¢s participation almost neglected in all newspapers. Table no 2 : Womens participation in electronic media in Solapur Sr no| Media Unit | Male Journalists | Female Journalists| total| 1| AIR Solapur| 05 (71..42%)| 02 (18.58%)| 06| 2| Big 92.7 FM| 03 (100.00%)| 0(00.00%)| 04| 3| IN Solapur TV channel| 08 (80.0%)| 02 (20.0%)| 10| 4| Reporters of TV channels| 09 (90.0%) | 01 (10.0%)| 10| | Total| 23 (83.34%)| 05 (16.66%)| 30| Women participation in electronic media is 16.66% as compared to mere 1.97 % in newspapers. Solapur Working Journalist Union is organization of all journalist belonging to print and electronic media in Solapur .( Table no.3 ) Not a single female journalist included among total 125 members of Solapur Working Journalistââ¬â¢s Union Table no 3: Members of Solapur Working Journalist Union Male Journalists | Female Journalists| 125 ( 100%)| 00 ( 00 % )| Male dominated media managements are not allowing access to the woman journalists. According to the executives of the media, woman journalists cannot work in the night shifts and they are reluctant to cover every beat assigned to them .Thatââ¬â¢s why we prefers male journalists for the job. This gender biased assumption of the media managements is contrary to the real facts. Women are actively participating in every walk of life such as armed forces, space science, entrepreneurship, education, engineering etc.They work hard without any concessions and proved their mettle. These examples prove that women are going hand-in-hand with men in every field. Therefore women can do their best in the field of media. Barkha Dutt, Nalini Singh, Mrinal Pandey, Sucheta Dalal are some prominent examples of women journalists doing brilliant job than male journalists. It reveals that only reason for the less participation of women in media is the gender bias of the management. Womenââ¬â¢s Representation in Media Media plays an important role in the dissemination of information and knowledge to the masses. It is the role of the media to educate people and to guide them for the development of society and nation. But media content about women issues is alwayes biased and gender discrimination is clearly visible in it. Most of the womanââ¬â¢s organizations blame on media that it is responsible for biased and stereotype portrayal of women. Any society cannot progress without upliftment and empowerment of women .But Indian media is engaged in portraying women as housewives.â⬠Feminists objected to the stereotypical portrayal of women as happy home- makers who were less competent than men.â⬠3 Now women are active participants in every walk of life. Therefore it is important to to properly project the image of women as role model. For these purpose women participation in media should be increased. But mere participation does not change the situation. .ââ¬Å"A large proportion of women thought that there would be a change in program content with as increase in proportion of female employees program quality would improve and more balanced perspective would be emerge. .â⬠4 Mrs. Suhas Kumar rightly suggested that ââ¬Å"Women must become active participants in the field of journalism and other fields of media to fulfill the all-round development of women directly and indirectly.only through their involvement in journalism women will be able to speak for themselvesand the issues relevant to themâ⬠. 8 Therefore it is necessary to appoint women as decision makers in the newspapers. Special training must be given to all editorial staff about the equality principle and the rights of women as human being. Conclusion: Male dominated newspaper industry is reluctant to give access to women journalists. Women journalists are not assigned to cover important issues. News related to women issues covered by male journalists cannot give justification to the issue. There are no guidelines for reservations for women in media jobs.Mere increases in number of women journalists cannot change the gender bias in media. Suggestions: At the end, this study concludes with some suggestions (a) There is need to recruit women journalists in proportion, giving them equal opportunity and access to work in media. (b) The important womenââ¬â¢s issues must be rported by women journalist. (c) Special guidelines should be given to all the journalists about projecting positive and real image of woman, without any bias. (d) There should be a provision to punish guilty persons for portraying women as commodity in any advertisement, news, article etc. References 1. The Hindu online edition ,New Delhi, Jan,10, 2011.8 2. The Hindu online edition ,New Delhi, June,4 ,2008 3.Thakurta Paranjoy,Media Ethics : Truth, Fairness and Objectivity,Oxford
Thursday, November 14, 2019
White-Only Scholarship Controversy :: Diversity Equality Racism Essays
Diversity, a word often heard growing up. In high school diversity was an issue that was pushed repeatedly. I attended a school that had a student body of over 2000 students, in which diversity was not really an issue. As time passed I found that diversity affected my life more and more. As college neared filling out applications became more of a ritual, and I found that by being born into a white middle class family would hinder my financial status rather than help it. Recently an article appeared in the Iowa State Daily, which addressed the issue of a white-only scholarship. In addition to the scholarships offered to members of the minority races, a scholarship should be offered to the members of the decreasing majority. Whites or Caucasians make up a group just as Native Americans, blacks, and Hispanics do. The one thing that separates whites from these other groups besides skin color is the fact that for each minority group, there are several scholarships that pertain to each. As a nation we have placed a great deal of emphasis on making sure the minorities are getting equal opportunities, but we forget that there are members of the Caucasian decent that need assistance as well. Most times minorities are the ones that need financial assistance in a college situation, but we have forgotten that there are white families that have grown up in the same neighborhood as these individuals, who also need financial assistance. This is why the idea of a white-only scholarship is not so unrealistic. A group of students attending Roger Williams University have created a Whites-only scholarship to initially protest affirmative action. This protest however has snowballed into the real thing. This protest has now become a $250 scholarship available to only white students. This award shows America that whites are becoming the minority, and no matter how much we fight it, it is going to become a reality sooner or later. This then opens Americaââ¬â¢s eyes and shows them that by being a minority there are more opportunities for financial aid based on skin color than there are for whites. This said, there should be at least one scholarship for just whites to counteract the many minority scholarships available to other races. ââ¬Å"Many people think that coming from a white background youââ¬â¢re automatically privileged, youââ¬â¢re automatically rich, and your parents pay your full tuition.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Mehta Automobiles Essay
In 1980, Mr. Sanat Mehta joined Standard Automobiles of Ahmedabad as a mechanic. In appreciation of his excellent work, he was soon promoted to the post of chief mechanic. Mr. Mehtaââ¬â¢s professional ability, his pleasing manners and sense of responsibility endeared him to the customers of Standard Automobiles to such an extent that some of them persuaded him to commence his own automobile repair workshop. One of them persuaded him to commence his own automobile repair workshop. One customer, Mr. Nitin Shah offered to rent a part of his godown situated in a busy street of Ahmedabad city. Another customer, Mr. Mohan Kapoor, the local manager of a large bank mentioned that a loan of up to Rs. 100,000 could be made available to him under the scheme for financing small business. After some discussion with members of his family, Mr. Mehta decided to commence an automobile service and repairs workshop under the name of Mehta Automobiles. For this purpose, he invested Rs. 50,000 from his past savings and accepted Mr. Shahââ¬â¢s and Mr. Kapoorââ¬â¢s offers. A part of the amount was deposited in the bank in the name of Mehta Automobiles. The enterprise had a good start, thanks to the patronage of some old customers of Standard Automobiles. Mr. Mehta publicized his operations by displaying cinema slides in selected local cinemas and soon his workshop became well known in that area. In the beginning, Mr. Mehta did all the work of the mechanic, helped by two assistants recruited at the time of the commencement of the business. Soon he added a spare parts selling section to his business as this was quite a profitable associated activity. In this, he was helped by his son Mr. Rajendra Mehta who also assisted him in collection of cash from debtors. During his service at Standard Automobiles, Mr. Mehta had come to know very well some wholesalers of service materials, such as tools, stores and spare parts. This helped him in buying such material on credit. However, most of the other purchases particularly spare parts and practically all his sales were on cash basis. Because of the relatively small extent of credit transactions, Mr. Mehta had not thought of maintaining formal accounting records, as he had felt that increases in cash balance would adequately indicate the profit earned by him. All cash received was deposited in the bank account, and expenses and payments were recorded in a notebook. Mr. Mehta occasionally experienced some difficulty in recording transactions which did not result in direct sales. For instance, when his personal car was overhauled, involving considerable use of his mechanicsââ¬â¢ time as well as spare parts costing about Rs. 15000 he was not sure how it should be recorded. He finally decided that since the garage was owned by him no adjustments need be made for this transaction. Rapid expansion of his business compelled Mr. Mehta to hire four new assistants and two mechanics. He also recruited a part-time salesman for spare parts selling. Mr. Mehta continued to attend personally to purchases, collections and other administrative aspects of business. A small section of the workshop premises was set apart for office purposes. The office was simply furnished with a table, three chairs, a filing cabinet and also a telephone. Spare parts, stores, tools etc. , and other supplies which were formerly stored in a small room at his residence, were now stored in steel racks in a section of the workshop. Mr. Mehta soon came across and advertisement that appeared in the local newspaper. A well-known automobile company of Bombay was looking for a good automobiles service shop owner, who would be willing take up the sole selling agency of their cars and spare parts in Gujarat. Mr. Mehta applied for this agency as he was advised by his friends in business circles that such an agency would be a profitable proposition. However, he was puzzled by two conditions which were imposed in awarding this agency. According to the first condition, the agent had to obtain a certificate from his bank to the effect that a minimum balance of Rs. 500,000 was maintained in the business account. Secondly, the agent was required to send to the principal, periodic statements showing the current financial position of the business and the business results in the immediate past period. Mr. Mehta was duly assigned the sole selling agency for the Gujarat on the basis of excellent reports received by the principal from local businessmen. For fulfilling the first condition, Mr. Mehta saw Mr. Kapoor, the Bank agent. After discussions with Mr. Mehta, the Bank agent agreed to grant Mr. Mehta a further loan of Rs. 500,000. He asked Mr. Mehta, to submit a statement showing the current position of his business so that he could process the loan application. Mr. Mehta mentioned that so far he had not maintained any regular accounts. The maintenance of such records required specialized knowledge which he did not possess and he felt hiring an accountant would increase his costs which he could not afford in his competitive business situation. Mr. Kapoor said that systematic accounting records would be a necessity, if Mr. Mehta wanted to expand his business and fulfill the operational requirements like bank borrowing, credit purchases as well as legal requirements to payment of tax. The same evening Mr. Mehta saw Mr. Ashok Lal, a friend who was the Chief Accountant of a local textile mill. He expressed to Mr. Lal his desire to start keeping systematic accounting records and requested him to prepare for him a statement showing the assets and liabilities of his business. He also supplied to Mr. Lal the necessary information to enable him to prepare the required statement. Mr. Lal also explained to Mr. Mehta how a ââ¬Å"Profit and Loss Analysisâ⬠could be prepared so that Mr. Mehta could be more accurately measure the results of his business performance. He prepared a list of various statements that Mr. Mehta should arrange to obtain periodically from his subordinates for maintaining his accounting records. Questions for consideration 1. Mr. Mehta mentioned that. i) he could not have systematic accounting records because he did not possess specialized accounting skill; and ii) keeping such records would mean increase in costs, which he could not afford. How would you respond to these comments? 2. What information would Mr. Lal require for preparing the financial statement? 3. What items would you expect to find in the statements of financial position and profit and loss analysis relating to Mr. Mehtaââ¬â¢s business? 4. What records would Mr. Mehta require to maintain for controlling his business activities?
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Examine the effects of the impact of human activity on soil
In the context of living in the modern world the environment is very important to study and maintain. As technology advances the world we live in is changing, but sometimes these changes are disturbing the balance of nature that has been well established for thousands of years. The effect that we are having on soil is often very detrimental; erosion is an ever-present problem all across the globe. I aim to investigate the impact that human activity has had on soil, and evaluate solutions to the problem. Initially it is important to look at what can be damaged and what the risk is to soils. The main threats include erosion, acidification, pollution, compaction, organic matter loss and salinisation. The increasing amounts of fertilizers and other chemicals applied to soils since World War II, has caused great concern over soil pollution. The application of fertilizers containing the primary nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, doesn't lead to soil pollution, the application of trace elements does. Sulfur from industrial wastes has polluted soils in the past. Read this Ch. 22 Respiratory System When lead arsenate was used on crops this had deadly effects but this is now outlawed due to these. The application of pesticides also leads to short-term soil pollution. Ploughing was once a major erosion-causing problem. The way it used to be carried out was known as clean cultivation, which left the topsoils exposed to all natural erosive problems. This was done by the use of the moldboard plow by farmers, now replaced by better ploughs, which leave a litter layer on the surface to prevent erosion. Irrigation is the artificial watering of land to sustain plant growth. This happens across the globe in areas where the water budget is below the required amount. In dry areas, such as the southwestern United States, irrigation must be maintained from the time a crop is planted. In 1800 about 8. 1 million hectares (about 20 million acres) were under irrigation, a figure that has risen to more than 222 million hectares (550 million acres) today. Irrigation, however, can waterlog soil, or increase a soil's salinity to the point where crops are damaged or ruined. The irrigation of arid lands often leads to pollution with salts. This problem is now jeopardizing about one-third of the world's irrigated land. About a third of all soils in England and Wales have been identified as being at risk from water erosion. Another careless error of human kind is to let overgrazing to occur. Overgrazing, which in time can change grassland to desert, can be seen causing great problems in the USA. The dustbowl effect is evidence of this. It is believed by some historians that soil erosion has been an underlying cause in various population shifts and the fall of certain civilizations. Ruins of towns and cities have been found in arid regions such as the deserts of Mesopotamia, which shows that agriculture was once widespread in the surrounding territory. To remedy these problems we have to act fast. In protecting soil we have to consider not only the land but also the land use and the pressures on it, and then find the correct balance of how to help both the land and people. Often without the money coming in from industry and farmers the land that we need to conserve would have gone to waste anyway and there money is preserving it already. Farmers have been looking for solutions for centuries, and in the Middle Ages in Britain and to present day crop rotation was a possible solution. This is where through different seasons different crops were used, and sometimes the field was left bare to recuperate. In modern rotation systems soil-building plants are used. These crops hold and protect the plants during growth, and also when mixed in to the ground provide much needed nutrients. Special methods for erosion control include contour farming, where the farmer follows the contours of sloping lands, and ditches and terraces are constructed to reduce the runoff of water. This is particularly useful in areas with high precipitation. Another soil-conservation method is the use of strip-cropping. This is the use of alternate strips of crop and fallow land. This method is valuable for control of wind erosion on semiarid lands that need to lie crop-free for efficient crop production. Without human activities, losses of soil through erosion would in most areas probably be balanced by the formation of new soil. On new land a layer of vegetation protects the soil. When new industry is formed in an area the protective canopy of trees that would shield the ground from a lot of rainfall is destroyed which greatly speeds up erosion of certain kinds of soils. Erosion is less severe with crops such as wheat, which cover the ground evenly, than with crops such as corn and tobacco, which grow in rows and have bare spaces. When ramblers go out in the countryside they cause another problem, trampling. Through repeated trampling the ground gets ruined and so do the plants, until walkers use alternate paths and also eventually ruin those as well. These methods are all very effective in combating erosion. They are split into five categories, revegetation, erosion control, crop management, run-off control and soil reclamation. The latter is done through drainage. I believe the easiest of these to use is good crop management. This would mean a well-stratified plan to the use of the land b the farmer. It is the cheapest to do, as no alterations to the land are required. It can be done globally but in poorer areas there may be too much pressure to maintain this. At Kinder Scout in England revegetation has been a successful move, replacing plants where walkers had trampled them. The conclusion I am making is that for every soil where human problems have had a diverse effect, it will be a different solution required. There is no standard answer, and farmers, walkers and industrialists need to come up with their own.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Nuclear Arms in Russia essays
Nuclear Arms in Russia essays Nuclear non-proliferation, arms limitation, arms control, deterrence, international security, de-militarization ...civilian and government agencies alike have wrestled with how to define and resolve issues of possession and use of nuclear weapons. The issues involve power struggles over which nation can wield the biggest gun: who can have nuclear weapons; how many; how powerful; who decides; and how decisions can be enforced. The last few years have been a time of unprecedented success in arms control. Over this period, we have seen the cornerstone of our efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons - the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) being an example of this. A significant step towards reducing the armament of the Cold War was taken when START II was ratified by the US Senate. The signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) ended the era of nuclear explosive testing, a goal that had been sought for more than forty years and, most recently, President Clinton and President Yeltsin agreed on a framework for START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) III after START II enters into force. Despite this string of successes, the world remains a dangerous place. The spread of technology has made it possible for dozens of States, many of whom view the United States as an enemy, to seek nuclear, biological or chemical weapons capability. We the Russian Federation need assistance in arms reduction and we are confident of its future as have the backing of Mr. Blair, who has committed à £12 million over the next three years to assist us with the destruction of our chemical weapons stockpile. Mr. Blair also met with President Putin at the G8 summit in Okinawa, Japan, where they discussed a method of disposing of our stockpile of plutonium and 40, 000 chemical weapons. As well as success with Britain, president Putin is also making very good progress with the US. The 16th June meeting in Slovenia between US president George. W. B...
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Assessing Factors Of National Security
Assessing Factors Of National Security Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . Assessing Factors Of National Security National security is the necessity to maintain the endurance of the state through the use of political power, the exercise of diplomacy, economic and military. The idea developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II. Originally focusing on military might encompasses a broad range of facets all of which impose on the military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society. Therefore, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess environmental security, economic security and energy security etc. Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category. Measures taken to ensure national security include: us ing diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation maintaining effective armed forces implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation) ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats Slide 4 ââ¬â Who defines national security? State/Government/group of elites determines the main objectives of security based on the nationââ¬â¢s sovereignty, integrity of the state and economic prosperity. As the source of political authority, the government defines security, and this definition generally encompasses the broader spectrum of values held dear by the majority. ââ¬Å"Since the future racial peace in this country depends on how well the gove rnment handles the sensitive issues, it is suggested that the NSC shall be the body to look into the matterâ⬠. Slide 5 ââ¬â Scope Slide 6 ââ¬â Factors Of National Security Slide 7 ââ¬â Economy Historically, conquest of nations have made conquerors rich through plunder, access to new resources and enlarged trade through controlling of the conquered nationsââ¬â¢ economy. In todayââ¬â¢s complex system of international trade, ââ¬Ë by multi-national agreements, mutual inter-dependence and availability of natural resources etc., the freedom to follow choice of policies to develop a nationââ¬â¢s economy in the manner desired, forms the essence of economic security. Economic security today forms, arguably, as important a part of national security as military security. Slide 8 ââ¬â Military This is traditionally, the earliest recognised form of national security. Military security implies the capability of a nation to defend itself, and/or deter military aggr ession. Alternatively, military security implies the capability of a nation to enforce its policy choices by use of military force. The term ââ¬Å"military securityâ⬠is considered synonymous with ââ¬Å"securityâ⬠in much of its usage. One of the definitions of security given in the Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, may be considered a definition of ââ¬Å"military securityââ¬Å": A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences. Slide 9 ââ¬â Politic The political aspect of security has been offered by Barry Buzan, Ole Wà ¦ver, Jaap de Wilde as an important component of national security. Political security is about the stability of the social order. Closely allied to military security and societal security, other components proposed in a framework for national security in their book ââ¬Å"Security: a new framework for analysisâ⬠, it specifica lly addresses threats to sovereignty. System referent objects are defined, such as nation-states, nations, transnational groups of political importance including tribes, minorities, some religious organisations, systems of states such as the European Union and the United Nations, besides others. Diplomacy, negotiation and other interactions form the means of interacion between the objects.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Analysis of the Business Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Analysis of the Business Cycle - Essay Example The United States unemployment rate in May 2011 was 9.1 percent slightly higher than that of April 2011 which was 9 percent. Employment rates in government sectors continued to decline while job opportunities were generated in private sector, health care and mining. The number of unemployed person in May 2011 was 13.9 million. Inflation rate in United States has a continuously rising trend. It has systematically increased from 1.6 percent in January 2011 to 3.13 percent in June 2011. While in April and may it sustained on 3.2 percent. United States economy growth rate has greatly decelerated since last few years the above analyzed data shows that United States economy is in a phase of slow recovery with its 3.3 percent GDP growth rate. There had been fluctuations in inflation and unemployment rate- slight increases and decreases and some times the rate sustained at one level. The growth rate here is very slow and it is insufficient for the recovery of United States economy. With the same growth rate it can be projected that the recovery of the economy will speed up in 2015. By bringing down the inflation and unemployment rate and increasing the GDP growth rate United States can fasten up its recovery stage. There had been high rising trends in United States GDP growth rate. It was the highest in the year 1990 with an amazing growth rate of 10.5 percent. A monopolistic firm has to analyze the GDP growth rate, inflation rate and unemployment rate of the economy very carefully as these aspects can have a direct effect on its labor cost and sales rate. As we can see a rising trend in GDP growth it shows that the whole economy is in function and there is an increase in aggregate demand which in turn increases the inflation by demand pull and cost push. At this stage a competitive monopolistic firm must increase its sales as there is a huge amount of money facing a little amount of goods. An increase in sales can occur when the GDP growth rate is increasing along wit h the inflation rate. But when there is a negative trend of gross domestic product a monopolistic firm may face a reduction in its sales rate. Because the economy is functioning in a slow manner the aggregate demand decreases and therefore the firms have to cut down their sales in order to avoid losses. The functioning of a competitive monopolistic firm here would be that it would increase its sales because the data shows an increase in GDP growth rate from 1.8 percent to 3.3 percent which in turn has increased the inflation rate as well from 1.6 percent to 3.13 percent. The monopolistic firm should also cut down its labor cost very cautiously. The wages cost is comparatively lower when the unemployment rate is low and it is slightly higher when the unemployment rate is high. Here the unemployment rate is increasing, as it was 9 percent in April and 9.1 percent in May and the monopolistic firm can cut down its cost but the firms should keep in concern that the labor or wage cost inc reases with the increase in GDP. If the firm will not keep an eye on increasing GDP rate and will cut down its cost to the minimum limit then a competitive firm will become uncompetitive because when the economy picks up and the Gross Domestic Product rises the increase in labor or wage cost may faster than the increase in sales of the firm. Under the present circumstances the firm can cut down its cost slightly and should keep a precautious look on GDP growth rate and unemploy
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Law of Torts Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Law of Torts Master - Essay Example (Grant v. Australian Knitting Mills(1936)A.C.85). According to 'Heaven v. Pender(1883) 11 Q.B.D. 503) "actionable negligence consists in the neglect of the use of ordinary care or skill towards a person to whom the defendant owes the duty of observing ordinary care and skill, by which neglect the plaintiff has suffered injury, to person or property". In an action for negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed duty of care to the plaintiff, the defendant made a breach of that duty and the plaintiff suffered damage as a consequence thereof. By Duty of care to the plaintiff we mean a legal duty rather than a moral, religious or social duty. The Plaintiff has to establish that the defendant owed to him a specific legal duty to take care of which he has made a breach. There is no general rule of law defining such duty. It depends in each case whether that duty exists. Lord Atkin propounded the following rule in 'Donoghue v. Stevenson' and the same has gained acceptance : "You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour". He then defined "neighbours" as "persons so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions whic h are being called in question." In this case the defendant raised the defence of "Privity of Contract Fallacy" quoting from the case 'Winterbottom v. Wright(1842) 10 M ) In that case Lord Abinger, C.B., said, "unless we confine the operations of such contracts as this to the parties who entered in to them, the most absurd and outrageous consequences, to which I can see no limit, will ensue." Since an action for tort is quite independent of any contract, there seems to be no reason why for an action in tort a contractual relation between the parties be insisted. This fallacy was done away with by 'Donoghue v. Stevenson' by allowing the consumer of drink an action in tort against the manufacturer, between whom there was no contract. Whether the defendant owes a duty to the plaintiff or not depends on reasonable foreseeability of the injury to the plaintiff. If at the time of the act or omission the defendant could reasonably foresee injury to the plaintiff he owes a duty to prevent that injury and failure to do that makes him liable. Duty to take care is the duty to avoid doing or omitting to do anything, the doing or omitting to do which may have as its reasonable and probable consequence injury to others, and the duty is owed to those to whom injury may reasonably and probably be anticipated if the duty is not observed (Bourhill v. Young,(1943) A.C.92, at 104, per Lord Macmillan). In 'Glasgow Corporation v. Munir' (1943) A.C.448, at 457) Lord MacMillan explained the standard of foresight of the reasonable man : "The standard of foresight of the reasonable man is, in one sense, an impersonal test. It eliminates the personal equation and is independent of the idiosyncrasies of the particular person whose conduct is in question. The reasonable man is presumed to be free both from over-apprehension and from over-confidence, but there is a sense in which the standard of care of the reasonable man involves in it's application a subjective element." In 'Booker v. Wenborn'(1962, 1 AllE.R. 431) the defendant boarded a train which had just started moving but kept the door of the
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Overview of the UK Sugar Market From the Case Study Assignment
Overview of the UK Sugar Market From the Case Study - Assignment Example The main source of revenue for UK confectionery market is jellies and gum sector, which accounted for over 28% of the market values. In terms of value, this sector amounted to $ 633 millions worthiness in the year 2003. Despite being a leading position, both gum and jellies segments outperformed by medicated sector. On the other hand, hard-boiled sweets segment generated the second largest revenue reaching $528 billions, which was equivalent to 23% of the overall market value. In the UK, sugar confectionary sector is fragmented, with two companies winning a market share in double figure. Nestle UK and Cadbury Trebor Bassett which are the market leaders, where as Master-foods, Adams, Dunhillââ¬â¢s, Haribo confectionery and Bendicks, all are in stronger positions. John Foster Ltd manufactures a range of products ranging from the basic ingredients to complete meals, which are savory, dietetic, sweet and infant foods. The company also has growing interest in pet care, pharmaceuticals and beverages. In addition, John Foster Ltd other brands in the market include, Fruit gums, Jelly-tots, Raw-trees, and polo as well as fruit pastilles. Even with the emergence of sweeteners in the entire market, sugar has remained to be the most widely consumed caloric food in this country. Its exceptional value for improving health becomes so evident everyday, especially when it is being used in the refined form. The economies of scale which is afforded by international resources of this leading sugar industry makes it increasingly hard for smaller national players to compete effectively in terms of distribution, price marketing spend and range of product. According to Euromonitor (2003) he attributes this increase to leading... This paper stresses that the art of forecasting for the future has always been a human attribute as human beings are thinking individually. In essence, a project can easily be captured on the paper with a few elements i.e. the commencement date, termination date, the tasks that must be undertaken and when should they be finished bas well as some ideas of resources which will be required during the course of the project. This essay makes a conclusion that control is therefore, referred to a device mechanism that is used to guide or regulate the operation of the system. All organizations including sugar firms use controls to regulate their individual business processes which include finance, production and distribution. This control helps the organization to correct and restrain a typical behavior, reduce and prevent the spread of errors. Control is described as solitary of the four fundamental functions of the management that includes planning, organizing and coordinating Merchant and Kenneth (2011). It is used to evaluate performance and monitor progress of the entire business. Controls are implemented through technology, internal controls, culture and social structure. It is the corporate structure that establishes appropriate internal process management and financial control. In addition, board of directors of the company has to set out corporate governance guidelines so as provide framework in or der for management as well as the board to operate efficiently and effective together to achieve the stated company objective.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The Bahamian Work Ethic Management Essay
The Bahamian Work Ethic Management Essay I propose to study the work ethic of Bahamian employees as it relates to job performance in the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. My particular interest in this study is because I am an employee of BEC and it is a general belief of the public that work performance is poor and degrading in the company. If this is in fact true, could the performance of these employees be related to how Bahamians believe work performance should be. because this is what they are used to? There could be a way to change the culture of job performance with education and willingness to change. Work ethic is all about being diligent and hard working at any task assigned. There are not only are those values associated with it, but also knowing that there is a moral gain from it and a sense of improving ones character on the whole. Persons that exhibit a character of hard work and dedication are more likely to get better tasks and promotions wherever they work. And those who do not show a good work ethic are often labeled lazy and are said to be making more money which is not equal to the amount of work they are performing. Some individuals believe that idea of having good work ethic and working hard is a delusion set up to have employees working for harder than they should for their employers. Criticisms about work ethic, like the one mentioned, have always been a part of the work industry. Andre Gorz, a French philosopher, wrote In actual fact the work ethic has become obsolete. It is no longer true that producing more means working more or that producing more will lead to a better way of life (1989). However, when an individual is working below minimum or not working at all and if he or she is fully capable of performing, it causes others to work harder to fill in the productivity gap. Bahamians have always been associated with when the spirit moves them attitude towards work especially in the civil servant sector as opposed to the private sector. In 2007, there was a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism entitled Bahamian Resident Survey which provided some information stating, Bahamian workers are perceived to project a lack of work ethics (Gibbs, 2012). High school students are being prepared now from the 12th grade to be ready for the work force and to perform at their best even when others are not doing so. The focus of this study is to evaluate the relationship that exists between the Bahamian work ethic and work performance. The study will assess documentation in the context of work ethics and employee work performance. By studying this relationship, it will hope to bring some light to this area of study in work performance left untouched in the Bahamas. Statement of Problem In order to understand the rationale behind the degrading Bahamian work ethic, its relationship with employee work performance is tested. Additionally, attitudes and behavior are involved in the process. With the degradation happening as such, customer satisfaction levels are falling and productivity could come an all time low. While addressing the problem in this study, ways to improve job performance and work ethic in Corporations will be looked at. Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to determine whether an employees work ethic is related to the way that individual performs on the job. Also, this study hopes to find a difference in the work ethic of age generations in the Corporation. The unit of analysis is the employees by department. The topic and study is particularly important because future generations of Bahamians can benefit from understanding that certain beliefs and attitudes towards general working and employment are unwarranted. Research Questions For the purpose of this study, the following question will be addressed: Question 1: Can the work ethic (attitudes and beliefs) of Bahamians be associated with employee performance? Question 2: What is the Bahamian work ethic? Question 3: How can work ethic in the Corporation be improved? Significance of the Problem This research study needs to be conducted because it can help Bahamian employers to understand how to motivate their employees to perform better on the job in terms of attitude, beliefs and behavior towards work. By getting to the root of the problem with the research results, solutions recommended could help to improve the customer satisfaction levels and the day to day work habits of employees. Delimitations With more time, the research study could have encompassed all staff (technical and clerical) of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, Water and Sewerage Corporation and Bahamas Telecommunication Corporation for a full study of corporations in the Bahamas. Also, there was not enough money in the budget to perform an outer island study for the Family Island branches. The female population, where the sample is being taken, is very low to the males. So this sample will be pre-dominantly males which will only show their prospective on the matter. Review of Related Literature On the job performance is evaluated in a number of ways. An assessment of an employees tasks and how well it is realized is known as a performance appraisal (Rotundo, 2009). This review is planned for the discussion and understanding of the Bahamian attitude towards working and how it relates to work performance. The link between performance and work ethic It is believed that there could be links between certain behaviors on the job and how this might prevent good performance from employees just like it would make the performance better (Carter, Murray and Gray, 2011). There are attributes that an employee should have as a part of their individualism such as trust, interpersonal sensitivity, altruism and perspective taking. Psychological well-being in turn predicts improved job performance and reduced turnover stated Peterson, Park, Hall and Seligman (2009). The research offers that few studies have explicitly examined the linkage between HRM practices and service quality. Schneider et al. (1998) proposed that service quality rests on a set of organizational foundation issues that support and facilitate front-line employee service delivery, which include internal service provided by support staff, efforts to remove obstacles to work, and employee participation and training. Ishak, Mustapha, Mahmud and Afriffin commented on decreased productivity in the workplace stating that, The inability to manage and communicate emotions effectively can lead to unresolved and repetitive conflicts among employees and in the long run that can cause severe burnout and diminished productivity (2008). Many employees do not know how communicate properly and this could be tie to a lost in real work ethics training. Quality of work and high performance The majority of studies investigating the outcomes of ethics on employee performance look at the matter from the side of management. In their paper Do They See Eye to Eye? Management and Employee Perspectives of High-Performance Work Systems and Influence Processes on Service Quality, Liao, Toya, Lepak and Hong explore the notion of how different perspectives on service can be between management, employees and even customers of the banking sector. In their paper High Performance Work Systems in the Paper Industry, Parsons and Necochea offer that Though there is not a single definition, HPWS can be described as work systems that maximize the fit between the social (employees and structure) and technology systems. Fit or alignment between employees, technologies, and organizational strategy is seen as a key factor in the competitive advantage of an organization. While this definition and most models seem more easily aligned towards the production sector of industry, the service is no less accounted for as this study demonstrates. The researchers engaged 292 managers, 830 employees, and 1,772 customers of 91 bank branches. As mentioned before, perspectives differed between management and line staff and while an issue like having standard operation procedures was important from a management perspective, customers noted a positive experience when line staff appeared to have the latitude to make decisions that was specific to accommodating their needs as opposed to having to follow management guides. Employees felt a degree of empowerment from the same process. This empowerment allowed employees to perform greater and feel better about what tasks they were assigned. Work ethics history Wang (2008) summarizes that in earlier decades in the age of Christianity, doing work was looked at as being punishment for doing something wrong. Because of the Reformation Age, people were taught that working was something good and honest to do. Further on, it was told that if you were not doing work, it was a bad idea as opposed to working which was good. It is also understood in China after the change of government to communism, the people were given a cultural boost to ensure that their indoctrinate work ethics would remain and no external forces combat their natural hard working attitudes to improve China. This same cultural boost can be used in other areas to improve the output of hard workers in the Bahamas. Bahamian Work Ethic During the later part of the year, Junkanoo band practices and costume making are taking place. Junkanoo parades take place around Christmas while schools are closed. Bahamians put a lot of effort into competing in these parades for just those two days of the year. Storr (2006) asked the question, What does Junkanoo teach Bahamians about themselves and their abilities?.. Certainly, the most important lesson that Bahamians learn from Junkanoo is that success and hard work are inextricably linked (p.301). What is being said is that there is no lack of work ethic in the Bahamas, it is just focused in certain areas. The same way the participants in Junkanoo can spend long hours pasting costumes and practicing dancing they can spend performing well on the job. Research Hypothesis: H0: Bahamian work ethic is related to employee performance Ha: Bahamian work ethic is not related to employee performance Methodology Participants During the later half fall season of 2012, 65 employees of the Blue Hills Power Station (BEC) of ages 19 and above will be asked to participate in the study by completing the surveys. The employees at the station are pre-dominantly men and are separated by day and shift works. There are three departments: Electrical and Mechanical (Day workers) and Operations (Shift workers). Posters will be put up around the station in the respective departments to remind the employees to the study. Instrument Design For the purpose of this study, a survey design was chosen as the best instrument for this quantitative study because it can provide trends in behavior and opinions from a sample of the population. The first part of the survey used questions that were taken from the study entitled, A Chinese Work Ethic in a Global Community by Victor Wang of California State University. The second part of the survey was created by the researcher to appropriately fit the work lifestyle of the employees at the power station. There are 21 questions in all; with Part 1 headed Work Ethic and Part 2 headed Job Performance. The survey uses a Likert Scale with range from 6 to 1 in Part 1; Six (6) being strongly agree and (1) being strongly disagree. However, in Part 2, Six (6) was changed to strongly disagree and one (1) to strongly agree to prevent participant overlook. Because the items in the survey will assess the content that was used to measure before (survey has been used by different researchers in ma nagement and education studies), there will be no need to demonstrate validity except for Part 2 which was created by the researcher. The instruments reliability of Part 2 will be tested by an alpha of 0.95, N of participants = 65, N of questions = 21. Procedures / Data Collection The letter of consent (in an email) will be sent two weeks ahead of the schedule date for the survey. All of the employees that are willing to participate will reply to the email address given to them. The mechanical and electrical staff that have agreed to participate will be taken in groups of 5 or 6 to the Mess Hall (Blue Hills Power Station) to be administered the survey. One group a day during the lunch break so that none of the employees are kept from their lunch. For the consenting participants of the Operation department, each of the shifts have a rotation into the 8am to 4pm shift every three days. At this time, the shift team that is on will be asked to accompany the survey administer to the Mess Hall where they will sit and be given pencils to begin filling out the questionnaire. After that shift teams three days are over, the next shift team taking over the 8am to 4pm shift will be administered the survey and so on until all the shift teams have completed it. All of the p articipants will be asked by the administers not to hold conversations while filling out the survey. Data Analysis Minitab 16 Statistical Software for the Windows operating system will be used to evaluate the data collected for this study. The responses to Part 1 and Part 2 Likert questions of the instrument will be summed up. The mode of each question will be used to find the most frequent response. The best approach to analyze the responses will be to use the Mann Whitney. The Kruskal Wallis test can be used also to analyze the difference in responses from the three departments (Operations, Electrical and Mechanical). Further analysis can be done by converting the responses into two groups of agree and disagree. This way a chi square test can be used to test if the null hypothesis is true. The hypotheses will be tested at a minimum of the .05 level of significance. Projected Findings Part 1 (Work Ethic) Mode Statements 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Strongly Disagree 5 12 20 25 8 26 18 15 6 28 1 17 Disagree 5 10 15 15 6 15 12 18 7 18 3 8 Somewhat Disagree 10 5 10 12 10 7 10 12 9 12 5 2 Somewhat Agree 20 15 10 7 10 8 15 10 10 5 11 6 Agree 18 10 8 6 17 8 5 7 20 2 25 18 Strongly Agree 7 15 2 0 14 1 5 3 13 0 20 14 n = 65 Part 2 (Job Performance) Mode Statements 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Strongly Disagree 3 1 4 10 7 9 3 0 1 Disagree 5 4 3 4 12 7 2 9 1 Somewhat Disagree 8 16 10 12 14 9 7 4 2 Somewhat Agree 17 11 8 15 16 15 20 14 10 Agree 14 20 22 11 14 20 22 26 18 Strongly Agree 18 12 18 13 2 5 11 12 33 n = 65 Timeline **Please see attached in Appendices. Proposed Budget Cory K. Bain Proposal Cash Budget For the month ended December 30 2012 December Cash Receipts Allowance $500.00 Total Cash Receipts $500.00 Cash Payments Posters $15.00 Papers $10.00 Pencils $5.00 Folders $5.00 Refreshments $20.00 Pens $8.00 Researchers Salaries $300.00 Total Cash Payments $363.00 Ending Cash Balance $137.00
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