Newton Electronics Limited

After three years of development, the company has finally been able to complete research on and development of the new hearing aid and the product, having successfully passed through all statutory and voluntary tests and procedures, is now ready for commercial production. In this regard, the company has three viable options in front of it. These are: 1. Commence commercial production on its own accord. 2. Outsourcing manufacturing and marketing to a third party under a license arrangement. 3. Selling Patent rights to a third party.This reports aims to undertake a holistic financial analysis of these three options and, from a financial management perspective, conclude which option is in the best interests of the company’s shareholders. Results The results of the NPV analysis reveal the following results: Analysis, Additional Considerations & Verdict: The NPV analysis (see appendix) clearly reveals that Option 2 (allowing a third party to manufacture the product and market it un der a license arrangement) is financially the best option as it allows for a greater inflow of cash.This is also in line with the company’s core competencies. The company has been generally geared at research and development and may lack the entrepreneurial skill and expertise when it comes to manufacture and market the product. Moreover, another plus point is that the company would not have to pump in any capital immediately if it chose option 2. Thus, as rational investors, the company would prefer less risk per unit of return. When comparing option 2 with option 1, the company finds itself taking less risks and hence generating more returns.The decision between option 2 and option 3 is a tricky one, although seemingly straightforward. With option 3, the company effectively shifts the whole element of operating risk on the third party, against a guaranteed payment in two equal installments. BPP states that â€Å"this reduces the return but also the risk, as financial manag ement theory contends the return and risk relationship† (2007, pp. 95-98). From a financial risk management point of view, the only risk that the company is then exposed to is the default risk of the third party failing to make a timely payment of the second installment.Here is where the interesting aspect comes in. Although default risk also exists with Option 2, that is, the third party would fail to make timely royalty payments, Rasheed states that â€Å"a licensing arrangement and an outright sale of the patent rights would differ legally as to what recourse the company would have in the case of default. † (2009, pp. -54). From the surface of it, if the third party defaults under a license arrangement to pass on royalty payments, the company could always cancel the license or initiate penalizations on the third party by way of the licensing agreement.Thus, the company can compel the third party, on its own accord, to resume payments or to offer something else in ret urn, maybe an equity stake at attractive levels. However, a default on a sale would be a long drawn out legal battle that would increase the time frame of the proceeds being received altogether, incurring legal costs and making NPV fall. Thus, for the high return and low risk profile and the legal recourse that it offers, option 2 is the best option that the company should undertake.

Damage Control Strategy for Alumina

Alumina Incorporated is a $4Billion aluminum-making industry operating in eight countries with the United States of America as its base which also accounts for 70% of its sales. It is situated in the fringes of Lake Dira in the State of Erehwon. Five years ago, Alumina Incorporated was reported to be in violation of environmental discharge norms in a routine EPA compliance evaluation inspection. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration in test samples was above the prescribed limit of 5milligrams per liter of all hydrocarbons.A clean-up was ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to which Alumina complied promptly. The subsequent environmental audit reported the violation as â€Å"corrected†. Barring this one incident, Alumina Inc. has enjoyed a good overall environmental record. Now, it is being accused by Kelly Bates, a 38-year-old single mother, of contaminating the waters of Lake Dira with carcinogenic effluents and that the alleged contaminate d water is the proximate cause of the leukemia Kelly Bates’ 10-year-old daughter. This accusation was made through the Erehwon Reporter, a local daily.Alumina’s reaction to control the damage caused by this accusation was to release a news story highlighting the efficacy of their system declaring that they use the best available technology for pollutant cleanup in compliance with the Clean Water Act. This strategy was suggested by Arthur Todd, the legal counsel for the company. This damage control strategy, at first blush, may seem to be too defensive as it is a direct counter to the accusation of Kelly Bates and is calculated to balance public opinion about the company. Even the Erehwon Reporter called this a defensive move in a double editorial.Despite the fact that this may be a defensive move, this is the proper way to handle an accusation made through the press—to counter it through the press also. The media can be your friend or foe during a disaster (Bake r, 2001). When charged for being defensive by the Erehwon Reporter, Alumina no longer used the press to counter the charge. Instead, it ignored the Erehwon Reporter editorial and went on to conduct an independent site study to check for new violations. This shows the company’s willingness to correct any mistake as soon as possible. And this also shows concern for the environment and for the populace.This is a value which is very appealing to people. And truly enough, the independent site study showed that the PAH levels are lower than the prescribed limit of 5milligrams per liter of all hydrocarbons. This gives the company, as well as a large portion of the residents of Erehwon, a lot of breathing space. This should also quell Kelly Bates’ accusation against the company for a while. However, after a short while, a study made by an American Scientific Society showed that the PAH levels in Lake Dira are high, in fact, 100times higher than pre-urban conditions.Although th e cause of this was found to be the heavy traffic in Erehwon, and not the aluminum-making industry, this finding still puts into question the independent site study made by Alumina on the PAH levels of Lake Dira because their results are not in harmony with each other. This development prompted Kelly Bates and the press to approach the EPA to get hold of a copy of the environmental audit report that documented Alumina’s violation of the Clean Water Act five years ago. They were claiming their rights as citizens to be informed of audits made by government agencies.Though they have such rights, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows the company to withhold confidential information. The environmental audit report is considered confidential information which the company may refuse to reveal. However, Alumina agreed to release portions of it which pertain directly only to the violations discovered five years ago. This erases any air of arrogance on the part of the company an d shows their willingness to cooperate and desire to avoid any sensationalized dispute. And this is a proper way to handle this kind of situations. Statements should reflect concern, a call to action, and a move toward resolution.Baker suggests: provide as much information as possible. If your company has an involvement in the situation, admit it. The public can be very forgiving unless they perceive you're hiding something (id). Also, allowing only a partial release of the audit report kept the company from jeopardizing its business by keeping release of confidential information to a minimum. However, despite all the cooperation extended by the company, Kelly Bates still threatened to file her lawsuit. The company, seeking to avoid protracted litigation, sought an alternative dispute resolution to settle the case.It sought a third party mediator to settle the dispute and it was a success. They saved money by eliminating litigation expenses. The company’s settlement offer was in no way an admission of guilt. It was more of a money-saving device. The cost of the mediated settlement is a fraction of what Alumina would have spent to defend against Kelly Bates’ claims in court. Alumina’s Values The primary value displayed by Alumina in cases of crises is its willingness to comply and cooperate and correct its errors, if any. It has a humble approach towards dispute resolution.This value is shown by its immediate compliance with the Clean Water Act when it was audited five years ago. When Kelly Bates made an accusation, it made an independent site study of the lake. And this value was also shown when it was willing to allow a partial release of the audit report. The company never tried to hire a public relations officer or an image consultant. It did not turn to public relations firms to clean up their reputation rather than change environmentally damaging practices, as is the trend these days, even though the latter strategy is more costly (Be der, 1997). This is a noble trait.

Accounting for Carbon

INTRODUCTION This article describes the impact of using various methods to calculate carbon emissions. This article briefly introduces the Kyoto Protocol. Then that involves accounting issues surrounding the carbon. The starting point to solve is to calculate carbon credits and free quota and then calculate debt. After considering current carbon accounting practices such as the International Financial Reporting Interpretation Committee Act No. 3, the net debt approach, approval of government subsidies, several other issues must be considered . Carbon accounts are listed as one of three Alipay accounts along with cash accounts and credit accounts to measure the user's low carbon activity. Ant Financials believes that the future of finance is green finance and we are committed to making the carbon account a global carbon measurement, trading and sharing platform. Carbon dioxide emissions from individuals, countries, or organizations can be measured by implementing greenhouse gas emissi ons estimates or other computational activities expressed as carbon calculations. Once you know the size of the carbon footprint, for example, through strategies to reduce it through technical development, process and product management improvements, green public or private procurement (GPP) changes, carbon recovery, consumption strategies, carbon offset, etc. You can design. . There are several free online carbon footprint calculators, including publicly available peer-reviewed data and computing support, such as the University of California, Berkeley's CoolClimate Network Research Alliance and CarbonStory. These sites are asking for answers to more or less detailed questions about meals, transportation, family size, shopping and entertainment activities, electricity consumption, heating, and heavy machinery such as dryers and refrigerators. The first step is to measure the carbon footprint of the company. But before you escape you will have to do some reading and start adding numb ers. So-called carbon accounting - There is a specific rule for carbon dioxide equivalent to corporate emissions, whether it is a national state, whether it is a company or an individual - the habit of measuring it. Let's see an example. Imagine your company selling widgets at Amazon provided by delivery company UPS. When someone buys one of your gadgets, the carbon used to deliver it is burned by your company, Amazon, UPS, or end user? It is difficult to say intuitively, but from the viewpoint of common sense, you can see that all parties are involved in different degrees.

Hausman and McPherson discuss Larry Summers's memorandum Essay

Hausman and McPherson discuss Larry Summers's memorandum - Essay Example Even though Summers and Pritchett argued the â€Å"aside† on the memo as a sarcastic inference, the â€Å"aside† generated worldwide uproar and criticisms. In the book Philosophy of Economics, Hausman and McPherson debate the Summers Memo, lamenting the idea that health-impairing pollution could not be promoted or shifted to LDCs. This paper discusses one of Hausman and McPherson objections to summers arguments. In the essay ‘The Philosophical Foundations of Mainstream Normative Economics’, Hausman and McPherson suggest that the three paragraphs in Summers memo presented a scientific argument while the last paragraph highlighted moral objections. However, according to Hausman and McPherson, the entire â€Å"aside† was essentially a moral argument, which is significant to the relationship between market evaluation and welfare. By isolating welfare and preference satisfaction, and then leaning on the relationship positive economics establishes between preferences and market prices. Consequently, the Summers memo established a link between premises regarding costs and demands and conclusions regarding the specific outcomes that augment welfare (Hausman and McPherson 233). According to Hausman and McPherson the uproar instigated by the Memo signified objection to its conclusions. On page 232, they outline five objections discussing why the World Bank should not encourage the migration of pollution to LDCs. The first objection states that encouraging ‘dirty’ industries to shift to LDCs might cause more total pollution. Specifically, compared to LDCs, industrialized countries have better incentives, superior administrative ability, and extensive resources to implement pollution regulations. The second objection is that even though individuals in the industrialized economies and LDCs would agree to the migration of pollution to the third world in exchange for suitable compensation, the exchange may be discriminating. Notably, in such an

Meniscus of the Knee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meniscus of the Knee - Essay Example The menisci also cup the joint surfaces of the femur and therefore provide some degree of stabilization to the knee. The meniscus itself is for the most part avascular that is it doesn't bleed if cut and doesn't have blood vessels inside. The exception to this is at the periphery where it joins to the vascular knee lining providing the outermost 20% of the meniscus with a blood supply. As a result of this avascularity a torn meniscus doesn't have the ability to heal itself unless there is just a small tear confined to the peripheral vascular zone. Similarly the nerve supply providing pain and sensation to the meniscus is for the most part limited to the zone where the blood vessels are located. In terms of descriptive terminology orthopaedic surgeons divide the meniscus into thirds with three geographical zones;the front third is referred to as the anterior horn, the back third the posterior horn, and the middle third the body. Some people think that only athletes can tear a meniscus. This is not true. Even people who do not consider themselves "athletes" can tear a meniscus. Some menisci (plural) tear during activities of daily living such as getting in and out of a car or squatting. Menisci also tear during participation in recreational activities such as skiing, dancing, or racquetball. There are two different mechanisms for tearing a meniscus. Traumatic tears result from a sudden load being applied to the meniscal tissue which is severe enough to cause the meniscal cartilage to fail and let go. These usually occur from a twisting injury or a blow to the side of the knee that causes the meniscus to be levered against and compressed. Degenerative meniscal tears are best thought of as a failure of the meniscus over time. There is a natural drying-out of the inner centre of the meniscus that can begin in the late 20's and progresses with age. The meniscus becomes less elastic and compliant and as a result may fail with only minimal trauma (such as just getting down into a squat). Sometimes there are no memorable injuries or violent events which can be blamed as the cause of the tear. The association of these tears with aging makes degenerative tears in a teenager almost unheard of. There are many techniques for meniscal repair and these will depend on the location of the tear. The techniques include an open procedure (following arthroscopic examination of the joint) or the arthroscopic 'inside-out', 'outside-in' and 'all-inside' procedures. The open technique has been advocated for vertical tears of the posterior horn of the lateral and medial menisci within 1-2 mm of the meniscosynovial junction, where visualisation with the arthroscopy is difficult. In all cases the torn surfaces of the meniscus are derided of scar tissue and fibrin clot can be placed in situ before the sutures are tied to enhance healing. Repaired meniscal tears heal if there is adequate blood supply and tissue stability. A stable knee is therefore important and increased

( Herbert Hoover )By analyzing his times, his initiatives as President Essay

( Herbert Hoover )By analyzing his times, his initiatives as President and his record of accomplishments, argue that he either was or was not an effective President and discuss why - Essay Example He freely accepted the great depression and blamed the Americans despite 1the sufferings it brought to them. For more than three years, he refused to take any step to alleviate suffering.1 It is believed that Herbert Hoover was rightly placed, but in the wrong time. Based on his ideological beliefs, he could have performed better than his predecessors if there was no any depression. He was more committed to the active government than Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Nevertheless, due to the beginning of the great depression, he received blames from his countrymen during his time and from the subsequent generations. In his own way, Herbert Hoover tried to alleviate the depression more than any other preceding presidents, but all his plans failed. Hoover strived to portray his success throughout his life. He was orphaned at the age of six years. He attended Stanford University and became an engineer. He also entered into the world of business, started his own business and became a multimillionaire. He served as a volunteer in food administration during the Great War. He headed a private relief campaign during the First World War; this earned him good reputation and the ticket to the presidency through the Republican Party. After rising to power, the Depression began, and Hoover’s efforts of alleviating it became unsuccessful.2 Reports show that Hoover was apparently aware of the problem; Hoover confided in William J. Abbot (Editor of Christian Science Monitor) about his fears in late 1928. He purportedly said that his campaigners had portrayed him as a superman who could handle all complicated and difficult problems. He predicted his suffering for anything wrong beyond his ability and measure to solve. People expected the impossible from Hoover; in 1932, he said that he was totally oversold.2 Despite the fallacious, undeserved, but enduring reputation, Hoover

Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cultural Diversity - Essay Example The choice of this article is based on the interest in the more or less resilient Hispanic culture as represented even in the culturally dynamic developed countries. Hispanic culture remains stiff in terms of retention of traditional values and is represented in many countries of the world. Hispanic culture is in totality a reflection of Spain, Latin America and most countries in the Central America let alone being represented in large numbers in the US, European countries, some parts of Spain colonies in Africa and in Far East (Luna, 2003, p331). The article covers an emerging Hispanic folk healing as a nursing care approach where bilingual nurses integrate a cultural health care practice, curanderismo (meaning Hispanic folk healing), into modern nursing care, a move that has seen better health outcomes being realized in the US for the minority Hispanic group. Article Summary Luna’s article (2003) is an outsider’s eye on the Hispanic folk healing as a meaningful approa ch to health care in today’s times among the minority Hispanic groups living in the US. It introduces curanderismo as a renowned survival tactic in health care in history as old as 15th century. In the article, Luna (2003, p329) justifies cultural health interventions by linking them to the survival of humankind through medieval ages before modern biomedical models came to be. Today, the success of curanderismo in nursing is no longer thought of as magical as most people used to believe but an approach that has proven curative values (Luna, 2003, p333). The article primarily focuses on, other than just plain justification, real benefits of especially the use of curanderismo among other culturally and/or traditionally inclined medical care approaches. First is the regional benefit for the user. Using locally available plants and herbs, curanderismo is only traditional knowledge required for one to heal. With such a mechanism language between the caregiver or the nurse and the patient is no longer a barrier. Second benefit in line is the little economic input required. The nurse-curanderas (Hispanic folk healers or nurses) use plants and herbs, in a similar way the Asians do, and therefore capital resources required are basically cheap and locally available – and thus low-cost services. Compared to today’s escalating costs in modern physicians and health care delivery systems, a blending with the low-cost curanderismo reduces health care costs for the American minority groups with Hispanic origin. Therefore, in a way, curanderismo is a socio-economically friendly approach in this context, especially in US where the health insurance system has failed. The nurse-curanderas, in addition, have learned to use two languages – American English and Hispanic. Luna (2003) refers to these nurses and bilingual nurse-curanderas, who in their capacity as nurses are particularly effective in giving necessary care even to aboriginal Hispanics who may be completely locked to Hispanic language and culture. While some groups somehow distrust modern health services, curanderismo and the likes provide additional alternatives (Luna, 2003, p330). Interpreting Luna’s Article into real life practice In modern world, health care, like most other industries, faces difficult controversial issue of diversity of cultures (Sagar, 2011, p13). Due to globalization, modern health facilities are flocked with patients of different cultural

Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release Essay

Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release - Essay Example The aftermath of the collapse was entrapment of over thirty workers at a depth of three hundred meters deep. This meant inadequate basic needs such as water, food and oxygen, a situation that downed the hearts of their relatives whose hope died after four days with their husbands, fathers and brothers trapped in a mine. New York Times (2011) asserts that there has never been such a scenario where, miners would survive after a long period trapped underground. However, the supply of food that started for two days would subsequently run into weeks after the establishment that the miners were still alive and intact. Additionally, a second collapse of one of the other remaining shafts destabilized the rescue process by making the process even more difficult. The news f this collapse spread throughout the world like a bush fire with many fearing that the miners will not last until their rescue. However, it was astonishment instead of cries when after seventeen days the first contact was ma de to the miners only to find that all the miners were safe and in a good condition. Initially, it had been, communicated to them that it should take the rescue team almost four months to rescue them onto the surface. However, at the fall of 69 days, the first miner of \all the miners who had been trapped were brought to the surface exceeding effectively (Weik, 2010). Given the fact that communication must be designed with a particular audience in mind, and there are a number of considerations to be observed. This is, in addition to, needs of the potential receivers of the information. Therefore, it is noteworthy that the person relaying the information understands the recipient, and use a proper communication, tone and even information message caries. This will enable appropriate delivery of the message, which will ensure that the audience understands, and clear doubts about any confusion (New York Times, 2011). Therefore, the company has to communicate to different people, and the se include the family, other employees and the press. Any wrong word is sure to create panic especially to the family members, and this makes family essentials extremely valuable, and, therefore, taken into grate consideration. There are certain needs of the family that have to be met to ensure their peace of mind. However, it is noteworthy that few companies have appropriate preparations for such situations, and use of addressees to convey the message. This one of the hard times in the Mining Company, for it had a hard time keeping the families of the trapped miners reassured. Ability to maintain the staff tranquil and at peace that the Chilean Copper Mining Company was doing everything to get the miners out, was their top priority. It is noteworthy that the company had an already established way of keeping the families, the local community and the other employees of the trapped miners. During this entire time of rescue efforts, the relatives of the trapped miners should have recei ved some counseling while praying for beneficial outcomes, but also being prepared for the worst. All information obtained by exerts during the process should have been shared at a gathering of family of the trapped miners with grief counseling making the necessity of the sessions of briefs. This means that the family should

Local Governance Modernisation and management Essay

Local Governance Modernisation and management - Essay Example In March 2001 Government Guidance on LSPs (DETRc) was produced that clearly set out the aims of an LSP as a way for improving the engagement and empowerment of local people within the local decision making process. This commitment was reinforced with the availability of funds to support this priority for those areas identified as being deprived and in most need. This paper examines how successful this agenda has been by using a case study of Middlesbrough LSP to examine the implementation of these changes. The New Labour Government came to power in 1997 with a clear remit of modernizing public services. One aspect of this agenda was the introduction of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs). LSPs are defined as 'a single body that: - brings together at a local level the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together; LSPs were introduced to bring together to bring the public, private, community and voluntary sectors at the local l... should be aligned with local authority boundaries' (DETRc: 4).LSPs were introduced to bring together to bring the public, private, community and voluntary sectors at the local level to make decisions about local priorities. They are expected to tackle important issues for local people and improve quality of life, particularly in deprived areas, by driving forward: sustainable growth economic, social and physical regeneration improvement of public services engagement and active participation of local people in decision making (DETRc: 4) One of the more difficult elements for LSPs has been to ensure that local communities are actively engaged in this process, The Government Guidance on LSPs states that local communities should play a vital role within LSPs, 'Effective engagement with communities will be essential to partnerships' success' (DETRc:14). The survey of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in 2003 (ODPMa: 32) identified that satisfactory community engagement was the biggest issue facing LSPs. This included achieving a balance between inclusivity and keeping numbers manageable; ensuring adequate support mechanisms for voluntary and community sector members to enable them to make effective inputs; engaging harder to reach groups and ensuring geographical communities were engaged. The research highlighted that one of the main benefits of having an LSP was seen as the successful input of community views within the planning process though developing effective working processes and systems were another main issue. BACKGROUND The Local Government Act 2000 placed a duty

WRITE A 1,500 WORD ARTICLE WHICH COULD BE FEATURED IN A PARENTING Essay - 1

WRITE A 1,500 WORD ARTICLE WHICH COULD BE FEATURED IN A PARENTING MAGAZINE ABOUT DISPOSABLE NAPPIES VS REAL NAPPIES - Essay Example Everyone appreciates the nostalgia for the genuine, old-fashioned article, but is it really true that real nappies are better for you and your baby> There are four major criteria that spring to mind when considering your nappy buying options: price, effectiveness, and the delicate problem of napkin dermatitis, or nappy rash as it is more commonly called. Starting with price, there is an immediate issue of short and long term planning. You will have to make an initial investment in real nappies, since retail price comparisons show that you need to spend about  £250 on reusable nappies. You will also have to think about a plastic bucket with a lid (about  £7) and a supply of special nappy cleansing fluid . This seems like a lot of money initially, but over time, nappies work out as the cheaper option. Washing the nappies over a period of two and a half years will cost about  £80 bringing that the real nappy option for one baby to a total cost of around  £330 - £400 depending on how often you use a tumble dryer. In comparison, disposable nappies cost approximately  £600 over the same period. If you are planning to have another child, then your savings will be even greater, especially if you dry the nappies in the fresh air rather than in a tumble dryer. It seems, then, that real nappies are cheaper than disposables and for bigger families, clearly the economical option. You might be wondering which type of nappy works best. There are so many size and style options available that comparisons in this area are much harder to make. Leakage is a problem with all nappy types, and the more active your baby is, the bigger a problem this is likely to be. The advantage of real nappies is that they can be easier to adjust to your baby’s individual shape. Different technologies in disposable nappies can give you a range of absorbency levels, and so there is no real problem

Dale Henry’s book “The Proverbial Cracker” Essay Example for Free

Dale Henry’s book â€Å"The Proverbial Cracker† Essay It is not much questioned about how people mostly wanted to be served and be pleased by others. However, the contrary of this fact was the main theme of Dale Henry’s book â€Å"The Proverbial Cracker†. In this particular book it could not be denied that service is the main key for people to get the satisfaction that they need from their own jobs. The realization of each employee that providing service to others is the only key to their corporal success helps them become the person that is particularly needed not only be business organizations but also well appreciated by the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The different proverbs in life pertaining to success have mainly been focusing on the ways by which people could attain self satisfaction from their jobs. However, what the said books are lacking which is in turn present in the book of Dale Henry is the fact that service is viewed as a primary aspect of true enlightenment among people. Reading this book brings the reader to the recognition of providing the best for the others that results to their own satisfaction of their own desires.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most people see their jobs the way a mosquito sees a nudist camp: all kinds of opportunity, but where do I start? (Henry, 22) True, it is only when a person realizes the true worth of his job and his responsibilities as a person through his career will he realize that he too has an essential worth to the society. It is only when they see the benefit of what they do are they completely motivated to do their best possible efforts for the sake of their job’s completion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certainly, this particular book brings about the needed aide for employees or even self-employed people in the society who lack the motivation to do the best they could in their own chosen careers. Dale Henry has fully arranged a humorous yet meaningful approach to the said invitation of one’s ability to doing his duties as a fine worker for his own organization’s as well as his community’s progress towards development. Bibliography Henry Dale. (2002). The Proverbial Cracker Jack: How To Get Out Of The Box And Become   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Prize. Autumn House Publishing.

Whats Involved In Knowing A Word English Language Essay

Whats Involved In Knowing A Word English Language Essay What is involved in knowing a word? Is it significant for learners of a second language to manage a great amount of vocabulary? How can teachers help vocabulary learning? In this essay, I am firstly going to analyse, what really a word is, and the aspects involved when knowing and using vocabulary. In the second section of this paper, I am going to discuss and analysed some authors and linguists point of view about lexicon and its importance in learning a foreign language. Finally, I am going to focus on some useful learning strategies to be applied when teaching vocabulary to second language learners. When thinking about teaching and learning of a second language, the first aspect which comes to our minds is the syntactic aspect, the rules by which we construct intelligible ideas. To know how to use grammatical rules is, indeed, important to native and non natives speakers, it could make the difference between a good and a bad user of the language. Nevertheless, as important as knowing about grammar is knowing about vocabulary. During decades, lexis was kept aside and was not considered as an important aspect of language to be concerned about. Linguists have had remarkable little to say about vocabulary and one can find very few studies which could be of any practical interest for language teachers (Wilkins, 1972:109). Though, after ignoring it for a long time, Lexical knowledge is now been appreciated as one of the most important aspect in the learning process. (Gass and Selinker, 1994:270). According to Nation (2001:26) meaning is just an aspect of knowing a word. Identifying its Form (whether it is spoken, written as well as word-parts) recognising its use (grammatical functions, collocations or constraints on use) are strands involved too. As stated before, words embrace much more than a meaning and to be familiar with them, a learner must be aware of its formation and its meaningful parts. For that reason , I am going to focus this essay on Morphology, which is defined by R.L. Trask (1997:145) as the branch of linguistics dealing with the study of word structure, conventionally divided into inflectional and derivational morphology. From now, the term word-form is also going to be used in this essay to refer to a word. The first assumption a learner should make is that a word-form consists of meaningful pieces of language ( Ronald Carter et Michael McCarthy, 1988:18) called morphemes, which is commonly defined as the smallest grammatical and meaningful unit.(Aitchison, 1994:122) In the word-form useless two morphemes with different meanings ( use/less) are arranged to create another word-form with a new meaning. In this case, the morpheme use is a free morpheme, due to it can stand by itself, whereas the affix less is a bound morpheme, since despite having own meaning it is not freestanding. The same phenomenon occurs in unhappy. No one may consider un as a word, but its meaning is well- known (opposite in this case), instead of happy that is a lexeme by itself. In the English Language as in many others, the affix found in one word-form, may also occur in others. That feature, Nation claims, is another aspect involved in knowing a word, (2001:46) and this semantic knowledge, may facilitate students acquisition of vocabulary, especially in the first stages of learning word-forms, thus learners may apply word-formation to decode the meaning of other words. The same learner who realized that unhappy could be considered as opposite of happy, due to the affix un, will interpret the word uneducated correctly thanks to that learner already recognises one of the meanings of the specific bound morpheme un. There is no doubt that being aware of word-formation contributes in the learning process of a non native speaker. Although, it should be mentioned, that morphemes not always behave as in the examples above. As not all words consists of two or more morphemes, some words may create misunderstandings in a learner. Whether the affix un enables to create an opposite meaning, a beginner student who is trying to formulate a sentence in English with the language he or she handles, may easily say I unwork on weekends assuming that unwork is the opposite of work, which is actually erroneous. Owing to that fact , in the last section of this paper I am going to concentrate in the ways teachers can help learners to achieve accuracy in learning vocabulary. Another significant morphological feature in word-forms, is the grammatical factor. Bolinger and Sears mention that by the point of view of grammar, morphemes may be grouped into inflectional or derivational ones( 1981:71). The former group is related to those morphemes which affect the syntactic role of a word-form, without modifying its inner meaning. Aitchison illustrates Inflectional by saying that the only difference between the words Dish and Dishes is the suffix plural ending -es (1994:124). The author agrees with Bolinger and Sears in that when inflectional morphemes are attached to a word, it continues being the same, but with a different form(1981:66). The latter group, derivational morphemes, are the bits of language that attached to an existing word make a new word. Aitchison exemplifies it using the word-form Learn. When the suffix -er is attached, a new word appears: learner. In this case, the observable change may be in word class or in Sense.(1994:124) The diagram below illustrates the difference between both Derivation and Inflection. DERIVATION INFLECTION PREFIX SUFFIX SUFFIX Dis- agree -ment Hate -s Until now, it is been explained the morphological aspect of knowing a word. It was also said that being familiar with this feature is useful when learning a foreign language, but the fact that vocabulary learning and teaching was a neglected theme for so many years, placed the task of vocabulary acquisition on learners hands (Hedge, 2000:110). I concur with McCarthy in saying that Studying how words are formed offers one way of classifying vocabulary, for teaching and learning purposes(1990:5). As a non-native speaker, I truly believe that vocabulary development is essential to communicate in a foreign language, and I do not hesitate in declaring that Morphology is one of the most important tool learners may have command of when acquiring a new language, and English Teachers may contribute in achieving this task, by using vocabulary learning strategies in the classroom. As a language is made up of an endless amount of words, it may be slightly demanding for teachers and learners to select the appropriate number and words to be acquired. Nonetheless, coping with learning strategies is a conscious process which enables people to control their own learning at their own speed and may be employed in any subject, not just in teaching a foreign language. Learning strategies promote learner autonomy in the learning process, whereas, these techniques must be taught and trained. At this point, is when teachers emerge to become a facilitator in the learners acquisition of the proper knowledge. Tricia Hedge classifies learners strategies into four groups: Cognitive, Metacognitive, Socio-affective and Communication strategies (2000:77-79). The author gives some examples to be applied within each category. TYPES OF LEARNER STRATEGIES Socio-affective strategies Communication strategies Metacognitive strategies Cognitive strategies *Initiate conversations. * Collaborating on tasks. *Listening to the radio in the target language. *Watching TV in the target language. *Use of body language. *Paraphrase. *Use of cognates. *Self-monitoring. *Evaluation of the learning process. *Analogy: to compare the meaning of a new Word in L1 and L2. *Memorization: Visual or auditory *Repetition: imitating a model. *Inferencing: guessing meanings. Focusing on acquiring vocabulary by learning word-formation, a teacher may wish to make use of affixes in first place. Recognizing the composition of words is important; the learner can go a long way towards deciphering new words if he or she can see familiar morphemes within them (Michael McCarthy, 1990:4). Nation states (2001:275) that learners should attain some essential skills in order to acquire the appropriate knowledge; these are the Receptive and Productive skills. The former refers to the ability of recognizing that some words are made up of meaningful bits of language, the ability of knowing the meaning those bits of language. Nation grades derivational affixes according from the easiest to the more difficult to learn. (Nation 2001: 268) and the ability of recognizing that a new word has been made. e.g. use / useful The latter skill refers to the ability of realising the shifts in pronunciation and spelling of the new word-form; the ability of identifying the changes in class of the new word-form. To teach vocabulary throughout affixes may result in an attractive experience for learners, but first, it is imperative to create an appropriate environment to develop the activities. The purpose of the tasks must be clear enough(what it is going to be learnt and why) as well as the instructions for the class work. Equally important is the fact that learners may know that the new knowledge is pertinent and relevant for their learning process. As brainstorming learners may well start analyzing some authentic material from a magazine, where they underline all the suffixes or prefixes. In comparing with the whole class, learners will acknowledge and discuss the overlap among some words regarding, for example, the endings, and in which way they affect the word-forms. It is appropriate displaying tasks which enable learners to recognize those shifts clearly. The PPP (Presentation, Practice, and Production) approach seems suitable when working with affixes. First, the teacher presents one affix, emphasizing its meaning and its use. Then, students identify that affix in the words by underlining them, for instance; and finally learners are encourage to apply the new knowledge, by matching words with the appropriate affix and using the new word in a new sentence. Still, educators must be careful. Exposing the learners to too many morphemes at the same time, may cause confusion and rejection amongst students, therefore, it is important to consider frequency when choosing the proper morphemes to teach, that motivates learners since they will feel familiar with the content. (Nation 2001:268) Another way to deal with affixes is using the dictionary as a tool. Learner could be asked to look up as many words containing the prefix -anti (maybe any other), before giving its meaning (against), so they will guess it and share their predictions with the rest of the class. The following list contains suggestions about how to work with morphemes in the classroom: Matching columns. Column A containing the affix, and column B the root. Playing memory cards with roots and affixes. Giving extra points to the learners when they use affixes properly. Team contest, where the team with more correct words having affixes and roots, will obtain extra points. Using Hangman game with words including morphemes to strengthen spelling. Reinforcement may be fulfilled by creating a chart for the classroom with roots, suffixes and prefixes with their meanings, that students will make use of when requiring.

Consumer Perceptions of Non-Banking Financial Institutions

Consumer Perceptions of Non-Banking Financial Institutions Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFI) v/s Banks in India – Why NBFI are doing much business than Banks? A study of New Delhi based Upper and Middle Class Consumers. Master of Business Administration ABSTRACT In the era of globalization and liberalization the development of financial sector has played and important role in the economy of India. With the services offered by banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) the life of consumer in India has completely changed. Borrowing is one of the important aspects that have changed the whole scenario of Indian society. Change in the trend of culture of upper middle class consumers, change in the behaviour of consumer regarding borrowing and change in the norms of banks and NBFI regarding borrowing has made life of Indian consumer very comfortable. This research shows how non-banking financial institutions are fulfilling the demand of upper middle class consumers and how they are doing more business than banks and why consumers rely more on NBFI rather than banks in India. This research uses questionnaires, interviews of consumers and direct sales agent of NBFI to examine the consumer borrowing and role of financial institutions. The research concludes that consumers are relying much more on NBFI and it is not risky difficult to borrow loan because of policies norms regarding loans and availability of flexible financial options. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTON 1.1 PREVIEW This chapter is introduction about the research topic. It highlights the aims and objectives of the research. It also tells about the structure of the dissertation and the summary of this chapter. 1.2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Each and every country has its own financial system. Financial system usually consists of financial market, financial intermediaries and financial product or service. Finance in simple words means ‘money’ but finance is a source which provides funds to a particular activity. A financial sector/system acts as an agent to make sure that funds flow from the areas of surplus to the deficit area. A financial market is a place which creates financial assets and exchange of money for goods and services. Financial market consists of foreign exchange market, capital market, credit market and money market. (Web 8) Money is a fascinating thing which attracts human to a great extent. Over thousands of years the process of creating money and using money is making human enthusiastic. Financial intermediaries play an important role in building economy of a country. Financial Intermediaries includes banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), investment companies, pension and mutual funds. (Web 9) Financial sector plays an important role in organizing and properly distributing sharing the savings. Financial sector act as a passage or tube which transfers the financial resources from net savers to net borrowers .ie. from the person who spend less as compared to their earning to those who earn less and spend more then their earning. (Web 10) Indian financial system consists of huge network of banks and financial institutions (including non-banking financial institutions) and range of financial instruments. From the last two decades there have been great improvements in Indian Financial system and there is a huge supply of banking and other financial facilities provided to large population of India. (Web 10) A safe and sound financial sector is required to maintain the growth of an economy. With the help of globalization and change in technology the operating environment of banks and other financial institutions has changed significantly. Due to competition and change in customer demand there is increase in product innovation and change in strategy of banks and financial institutions. In order to face the competition and meet challenges Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also changed its regulations and provided a new framework. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is trying to develop a strong, competitive, stable and powerful banking system so that it can help in growth and development of the economy. (Web 11) According to Sarkar (n.d.) a strong, diverse, efficient and flexible financial system plays an important role in the economy of a country. A developed financial system maintains high level of investment and promotes growth in the economy. The financial system in India consists of financial institutions, financial market, financial instruments and services. Indian financial system is divided into two segments- organized sector and traditional sector which is also called as informal credit market. In organized sector financial services are provided to the community by large number of financial institutions which are mainly business organizations. And financial institutions that are providing specialized or provide some extra services are called as banking or non-banking units. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the apex institution and regulates the credit. Financial institutions include public and private commercial banks, cooperative banks, development banks, regional rural banks. Where as finance leasing companies, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation), GIC (General Insurance Companies), provident funds, mutual funds, post office banks .etc. are non-banking financial institutions in India. (Sarkar, n.d., pp. 1) RBI is the central bank of India and was established in April, 1935. RBI acts as Government banker, agent, adviser and also act’s as banker’s bank. RBI is the controller of the credit which means that RBI has power to change the volume of credit created by banks. (Web 12) The profitability of banking sector is improved because of reforms set by banking system which results in high operating and net profit. With the entry of private banks there is a huge competition for public sector banks for loaning of funds. With the entry of non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) and Development financial institutions (DFI) the competition in sourcing the funds is also increased. (Chanda, 2005, pp. 31) NBFI act as an intermediary between lender and borrower and provide better, different services than normal banks. NBFI includes investment companies, finance corporations, chit funds, hire-purchase finance companies, loan companies, leasing companies, mutual benefit funds. All of these NBFI have the ability to provide large amount of financial services to wide range of customers from small borrowers to established companies. (Chanda, 2005, pp. 36) Indian consumers are changing their habits at a fast rate and they are borrowing money to buy the product they wanted. Because of easy financing options they don’t have to think if they can afford a product or not. Consumer finance is a win-win situation for every one and now they don’t have to wait for years to save their money and upgrade their living standards. (Agarwal and Mittal, 2004, pp. 6) The Buy Now Pay Later culture is very much common in India now a days. Consumers are loosing their fear of borrowing. Even if a consumer wants to buy a home, home loan financing is easily available. Falling interest rates, increasing loan duration and reduced monthly installments are making all these things possible for consumers. (Agarwal and Mittal, pp. 6-8) The banking sector is one of the most important sectors in Indian financial sector. Over 80 percent of funds which flow in the financial sector are because of banking sector. (Sarkar, n.d., pp. 1). NBFI are entering in the financial sector because of inflexibility of banks and their less competition amongst them. Kotak Mahindra, Citi Financial, Ashok Leyland Finance, Sundaram Finance .etc. are the big players in this field and are growing rapidly at faster rate and are taking good position in financial sector. In respect to all these things, the purpose of this study is to find why these institutions are doing better business than public and private banks in India. 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This research is planned to understand and examine the trend of upper class and middle class Indian consumers in taking loans and their reliance on banks and non-banking financial institutions, particularly in today’s competitive environment. This research is done to achieve the following defined objectives: To compare and contrast the role of banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) in India economy. To evaluate the role of both banks and NBFI for borrowing in Indian developing economy. To understand and examine the banking and financial sector regulations in India in post liberalization period. To evaluate and analyze the emerging consumer culture in India. To understand and examine the trend of upper and middle class Indian consumers in taking loans. To examine the policies of banks /non-banking financial institutions regarding offering loans to consumers. To identify how NBFI are fulfilling the aspirations of upper and middle class in India. 1.4 STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION There are 5 chapters in this dissertation. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter introduces the research topic. It outlines the aims and objectives of dissertation, overview, structure of dissertation and finally summary of the chapter. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter talks about the literature review. Discussion of available literature related to the topic is done. The aim of this chapter is brief about various concepts on which this dissertation is based. The literature is available from various books, online journal articles and websites. Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter discusses about various research methods and data collection methods. It discuss about research design, quantitative research, qualitative research, advantages disadvantages of various methods, limitations, validity reliability. Chapter 4: Findings, Analysis and Discussions This chapter analyses all the data collected using different data collection methods. All the data is critically analyzed and discussions are made on the basis of literature which is related to the objectives of research. Data presentation is done using various methods like tables, graphs, charts and pie charts .etc. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations This chapter concludes the research by providing a conclusion on the basis of findings, analysis and discussions. This chapter also discusses the limitations faced during research and recommendations for future research. 1.5 SUMMARY This chapter was an introductory chapter aimed to give reader a brief idea of what this research is all about. It highlights introduction, aims, objectives and finally structure of the dissertation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 PREVIEW Aim of this chapter is to discuss the literature related to the research topic. This chapter discusses about financial institutions regulations in India, culture of upper middle class consumers in India and worldwide, what makes consumer to borrow and strategies policies of financial institutions regarding credit. 2.2 FINANCIAL INSTITUTION REGULATIONS 2.2.1 Financial Institution Regulations Globally The Changing scenario of banking sector around the world, in the light of globalization has significantly drawn the attention of researchers and practitioners. They have raised important issues regarding corporate governance regulation and banking institutions as corporate governance is related to banking regulations. In this context the research of Alexander (2004) titled Corporate Governance and Banking Regulations requires worth mentioning here. The research of Alexander (2004) addresses the issues of corporate governance and banking institutions. Alexander (2004) begins by analyzing the upcoming international rule of bank corporate governance. Alexander (2004) provides a framework for how bank supervisor and bank management should act together in relation to the management of banking institutions and its impact on financial stability. Further, Alexander (2004) has analyzed corporate governance and banking regulation in UK and USA. Alexander (2004) concludes Financial Services and Market Act 2000 has authorized FSA (Financial Services Authority) to fill in the gaps to enhance corporate governance because traditionally UK corporate governance was not focused on special role of banks and financial institutions. (Alexander, 2004, pp. 1-2) In USA, the federal and state statute regulations regulates the corporate governance for banking institutions. In order to manage the responsibilities of senior management and directors a framework is provided by federal regulation. There is governance problem in banks and financial companies in US. In order to provide financial stability institutions and banks, the bank regulator must establish governance standard in regards to national banking law. (Alexander, 2004, pp. 1-2, 37) In this era of globalization, banking and financial industry is greatly affected by major changes and it results in increased competition, less profit margin, pressure to cut the price, products having short life cycle. (Alexander, 2004, pp. 1-2, 37) However, when it comes to comparison of financial regulations in UK and USA, it is revealed that regulation of financial system in UK is not exact as it is in USA. Evidently in USA the Securities and Exchange Commission has wide ranging regulations, and is stated as too much. Further, it is also stated that formal and strict USA rules procedures do not allow desired flexibility and pace. However, interestingly so far new system in UK provides settlement between the self regulation and statutory regulation to make sure that financial market works in proficient and systematic way. (Web 1) Apart from UK and USA, the regulations of financial market are changing constantly all around the world. For .eg. In Europe the membership of EU changed the main concerns of government while facing the problem of changing or executing the regulation of financial system and it is revealed that issue was the assistance from the jurisdiction. Quinn (1992) says that â€Å"harmonisation of banking rules in the EU, the co-ordination of countries own regulatory standards and centralisation of an EU integrated financial market are needed to enable swift reaction to any future market failure†. (Web 1) 2.2.2 Financial Institution Regulations in India Financial system in India consists of specialized and non specialized financial institutions which further involves organized and unorganized financial market and deals in financial instruments services and it helps in transferring funds. In finance money is exchanged with a promise to pay back in future. Narayanan (2005) says that in product market a buyer can easily find if a product purchased by him is defective but it is difficult to find the defects when a loan is taken. (Narayanan, 2005, pp. 1-2) If we compare Banks and Non-banking Financial Institutions (NBFI) with non financial industries, both banks and NBFI can change or remove the risk factor of their assets more quickly than non financial industries and also banks can easily give loans to clients without taking into consideration the previous debt problems. Financial market easily allocates the resources efficiently and effectively. The financial market face the problem that it is controlled by others because some persons have some information that other does not have. In order to solve this problem there is requirement of corporate governance so that it can be assured that supplier of finance get their return on investment. (Narayanan, 2005, pp. 1-2) India has a strong financial system. After India got freedom it inherited a diverse setup in regards to institution and market. The purpose was to mobilize savings and to increase investment rate. (RBI, 2003, pp. 3) Financial reforms were introduced in 1991 because India faced the crisis of balance of payment in 1991 so several reforms were introduced to come out of the crisis. India faced this problem because it was heavily dependent on the public sector and industrialization strategy and both of them were not able to deliver the growth in competitive environment. Later in 1980’s India tried to expand the role of privatization and reduced the direct tax but it didn’t helped. Later the reforms were introduced in June 1991 to recover from the crisis of balance of payment. (RBI, 2003, pp. 9) After the end of crisis Indian banking system made a considerable progress functionally and geographically. New bank facilities were introduced and the pattern of lending was changed. The feature of reform was ‘gradualism’ because it enhanced micro stability and the same time encouraged micro economic linkages. (RBI, 2003, pp. 5-8) Currently the institutional composition of financial system in India is illustrated as three constituents: banks either domestic or foreign, owned by RBI, government or private and regulated by RBI; Financial refinancing institutions set up under a separate law or under companies act and owned by RBI; Non-banking financial companies/institutions owned privately and regulated by RBI. (Reddy, 2002, pp. 4) On the development of banking and financial sector reforms in India Reddy (2002) comments that reforms have changed the form of organization’s, ownership model, domain of financial institution operations in terms of assets and liabilities. Less availability of low cost fund has resulted in increasing competition for resources for both banks and financial institutions and further with the entry of banks in field of lending and financial institutions are making an attempt to pay out the short term funds has resulted in increased competition. (Reddy, 2002, pp. 4-5) Finally Reddy (2002) says that the aim of financial sector reforms in India to set formal semi formal measures which aim to strength the banking system as well as providing safety and reliability with the means of superior transparency, responsibility, answerability and public trustworthiness. (Reddy, 2002, pp. 6-7) However on the other end Patel (2004) argues that in spite of the establishment of market reforms in India since early nineties the government concerns in the financial sector is not lessened in correspondence to its exit from other feature of economic activity and therefore it is too large to justify the presence on the basis of involving systematic risk. Patel (2004) further puts that during early years of India’s development there might have been some good reasons for ownership of government in intermediaries but now it is causing some damages. (Patel, 2004, pp. 5-6, 28-29) Now India has proper intermediaries and very well commercially oriented. According to Patel (2004) â€Å"A combination of directing resources of intermediaries in fulfilling a quasi-fiscal role for government, extra-commercial accountability structures and regulatory forbearance (arising out of an implicit overarching guarantee umbrella) has mitigated the essential corrective effect of market discipline in both lending and deposit decisions. Coupled with persisting government involvement in intermediation and an implicit support scaffold, this has resulted in an aggravation of the problems of moral hazard that is a normal feature of financial systems.† (Patel, 2004, pp. 29) Commenting on the government role in liberalized economy Echeverri-Gent (2001) says that reducing state economic interference does not lessen the importance of state in economic development. And in addition to its role of maintaining stability in economy the state continue to play small but more important role to design and modify the activities of economy by creating incentives. There are different ways that are used by state in order to create the incentives; it involves authorization of property right, market microstructure which involves matching the investors demand with the price and volume in effective and efficient manner. (Echeverri-Gent, 2001, pp.1) (Giridhar, n.d., pp. 1-3) Echeverri-Gent (2001) also states that incentives created and recreated by state using political process are present in part of economic result. And politics explain efficiency and fair behavior in market are promoted by which state institution. (Echeverri-Gent, 2001, pp. 1) In relation to the above fact Ramesha (2003) finds that currently in India there is a dual control for credit cooperative and banks. The state government looks after and regulated all the issue related to administration where as Central Bank of India (CBI) supervises and regulates the banking operations. As a result there is some conflict in taking legal decisions between state government and central banks of India. Ramesha (2003) argues that it is not possible to separate the financial administrative areas for regulations and even if it is possible it acts as an obstacle in the effective supervision and control. (Ramesha, 2003, pp. 10-11) Further according to Ramesha (2003) central bank has power under Banking Regulation Act to keep money for specific purpose and to handle vital aspects related to the performance of commercial banks. There is need of Registrar of Cooperative Societies to get involved in the function and difficulties of cooperative banks. The central bank is not in a position to supervise credit cooperatives and banks. Therefore dual control affects the function of urban cooperative banking sector, supervision regulation quality. Therefore Ramesha (2003) finds that beneath this rule of duality of control the urban cooperative banks might result in neither cooperative nor commercial bank. (Ramesha, 2003, pp. 10-11) According to Chakrabarti (2006) the fundamental role of legal reforms in maintaining the growth of economy and financial progress is strongly voted and accepted in India. Where as it is difficult to find what basics of legal system have an effect on financial system and how. Reviewing the literature on law finance and evaluating the India’s legal judicial system it seems that excellent protection is provided to the investor’s right. (Chakrabarti, 2006, pp. 12, 15-20) According to Porta et al there is best protection provided to the creditor in India by Indian legal system in contrast to creditor rights. (1998 in Chakrabarti, 2006, pp. 13) But execution of these laws is below to the satisfactory level. Further it is found that law which deals with public enforcement of securities is weak and courts in India are very slow and has loads of ongoing cases. India is still fighting with the problem of red-tapism and bureaucracy which are obstacles for business and foreign investment in India. Chakrabarti (2006) says that Indian small medium sector rely on informal network and institution on the basis of trust and reputation for financing rather than counting on legal system to issue contracts and settle disputes. (Chakrabarti, 2006, pp. 23) Finally, Rajan and Shah (2003) says that there is problem in the regulations of banks, insurance companies and non financial institutions. There are a lot of problems related to the government guarantees, public sector ownership, processing of information risk taking. Therefore according to Rajan and Shah (2003) there is requirement to solve all these problems by obtaining good regulatory system, and obtaining world class regulations. Thus Rajan and Shah (2003) suggests that dealing with these problems will provide information processing system, reducing the fiscal problem, increasing the flow of risk capital in the system. (Rajan and Shah, 2005, pp. 46) 2.3 CULTURE OF UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASS CONSUMERS The word culture has several meanings, in Latin it means â€Å"tilling of the soil† whereas in most western language culture means â€Å"civilization† or â€Å"refinement of mind†. In simple words culture means way of life, art, behavior and beliefs. (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005, pp. 2-4). According to Mooij (2004) culture is glue which joins groups together, without culture design it will be difficult for people to live together. It’s only the culture which defines a human community, its individuals and social organizations. (Mooij, 2004, pp. 26) Where as according to Kluckhhohn â€Å"Culture consist in patterned way of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values† (1951, pg 86 in Hofstede, 2001, pp. 9) Each and every individual is a product of its culture and its social group therefore they have to act in certain manner to live in their social cultural environment. Culture cannot be separated from an individual neither culture can be separated from historical events/situations. (Mooij, 2004, pp. 26) Culture is found in local street, in your city, state, and country. Small children, youngsters, adults, older people have their own culture and most of the times share the culture as well. According to Williams culture is a way of life, people, group or humanity. Culture is not something we absorb- it is something that is learned. (1983b:90 in Baldwin et al, 1999, pp. 4-7) Culture includes shared beliefs, attitudes, norms, roles and values. These elements are basically transferred from generation to generation. Culture includes values, rituals, heroes, symbols. Values are basically feeling of a person having plus and minus side. It deals with evil v/s good, dirty v/s clean, ugly v/s beautiful .etc. values are acquired by a person at very early age in their lives. Values are visible until they become evident in behavior. In contrast to values, rituals are related to social acts, ceremony or something related to religion. Rituals are carried out by an individual for their own sake and usually involve paying respect to other ways of greetings. Heroes are persons alive or dead, real or imaginary whose characteristics are highly appreciated in culture and most of the times serves as a model for behaviors. For eg. Mahatma Gandhi in India or Bill Gates in USA. Symbols are words, gestures, pictures or objects that carry a particular meaning and are recognized by only those people who share a particular culture. It involves national flag or any particular dress or hair style .etc. (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005, pp. 6-8) (Hofstede, 2001, pp. 9-11) The culture of people around the world is demonstrated in wealth celebrity and this is particularly true about people in western countries. According to Schor (1998) â€Å"Instead of emulating folks with a similar income, people are taking their consumption cues from television characters, relatives, friends and co-workers whose income often far exceeds their own†. Commenting on this trend Schor (1998) states that this can get expensive because it seems that their culture worship wealth and celebrity. (Web 14) There are 3 layers of culture. The outer layer consists of explicit culture and it involves language, food, houses, monuments, market, fashion and art. These are the symbol of deeper level of culture. Middle layer consists of norms and values. Norms is basically sense of what is right and what is wrong. Norms can be written laws or social control where as values determine what is good and what is bad. Values help in making choice from existing alternatives. And the third core layer is assumptions about existence which is related to the ways that deal with the environment with the available resources. (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2005, pp. 20-24) Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) has divided cultural layer as national level, gender level, generation level, social class level and regional/ethical level. National level is related to ones country or the country where a person belongs and with nation they have their culture, community. Gender difference is basically based on gender .ie. male or female. In some societies the culture of male is different from female. For eg. Women are not suitable for some particular jobs which are meant for men only. Generation level is separating grandparents, parents and children. For eg. Younger generation has no respect for the values of elders. Social class level is associated with individual’s profession and education because education and profession are the powerful sources of cultural learning. Regional level is based on person’s region and religion. (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005, pp. 11-12) Today consumers are very much concerned with their identity, ego or superego which totally depends on their culture and most of the times related to the luxuries of life. Human needs are totally related to the culture. Needs like Psychological, safety, self actualization and esteem needs are very much important for consumers of each class. Consumers feel more powerful if they have symbols of power or prestige possessions. For e.g. Prestige possession for consumer is luxury car, big house, frequent travel abroad/holidays abroad. Clothes satisfy functional need but fashion satisfies social need. The behavior of consumer is not only determined by their needs but also by their surroundings. Consumers in same culture can do different things for different reasons. Ownership of luxury items shows the status symbol where ownership of cheap watches show low income of person. (Mooij, 2004, pp. 136-140) 2.3.1 Culture of Consumers Globally Schor (1998) also comments that how you save and spend totally depends on the reference that you choose and it rules the culture of upper and middle class, particularly in western culture of world. In order to make his observation solid Schor (1998) presents example of Americans, where he shows his concerns regarding consumerism. Schor (1998) states that Americans are spending and consuming as if there is no tomorrow, and the worst part is that they are not paying cash for it. Consequently, Schor (1998) cites that debt of personal credit card has doubled in last four years. The bankruptcy has reached on to the highest point and people are trading financial security for short term satisfaction. (Web 14) Schor (1998) also points out that the assets of an American family is $10000 and savings have fall down very quickly in last 10 years. In other words the western culture today commanded by influencing consumers, which forces the people to believe in wealth creation celebration and in result it leads to the tendency of high borrowing. (Web 14) Consumer research has given some evidence that within each social class, there are some specific lifestyle factors which involves beliefs, attitudes, activities and behavior. And all these factors help in distinguishing between the members of one class from other class. There are usually three main classes upper class, middle class and lower class. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, pp. 307) A product can also express the value of consumer. For e.g. A house is not only to live but it tells something about the owner as well. Different towards food is also a part of the culture. Some people buy food from small shops where as some buys from expensive supermarket. Product usage and ownership also determines cultural values. (Mooij, 2004, pp. 233-236) In India the position of consumer in society is defined by the clothes they wear, the shoes, the accessories .etc. and all these things determines the class and power of a particular person. People do not wear in public what they wear in private, but in USA even Pr

Moments of Life Essay -- essays research papers

Moments of Life How does it seem to be that a natural man who has devoted his life to philosophy should be cheerful in the face of death? It seems that he is confident of finding the greatest blessing in the next world when his life is finished. Philosophy and religion have many differences pertaining to how you live your life and what happens to your soul when you die. Their ideas are so different, yet so alike. Living a philosophical life is to find the truth, to search for wisdom. The love and pursuit of wisdom is religious in a way. It is essential for the nurturing and growth of the soul as well as for the health and welfare of the state. "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology 38a). Socrates would rather die than give up philosophy. Philosophy is the practice for death and dying because it is the performance for separation from the body, in which a philosopher is trying to achieve the whole time, trying to separate your soul from the worldly desires. There is not a point in partaking of these worldly desires because they are never perfect. No matter how beautiful something is, it is never perfect, there is always something that could be changed to make it better. The separation of the body and soul is a philosopher’s wish being granted. The art of practicing philosophy can be devoted into one group: the progression and knowledge of the soul. Socrates was put in Athens in order to push people, to have them challenge their own souls knowledge. Socra...

Sub-Saharan Africa Essay -- Africa Geography Essays Geographical

Sub-Saharan Africa Africa is the second largest of the earth's seven continents, covering about twenty-two percent of the world's total land area. From its northern most point, to its southern most tip is the distance of nearly five thousand miles. Africa is both north and south of the equator. The Atlantic Ocean is located west of the continent, and the Indian Ocean is on the east. Width of the continent is also nearly five thousand miles. Although Africa is so large, much of it is inhabitable. Desert soils, which have little organic content, cover large areas. The Sahara Desert, in the northern part, covers more than one fourth of Africa, and the Kalahari Desert is in the southern part of the continent. These two deserts are a natural detriment to the African continent because they make it difficult to reach the inland where most of the people live. Although Africa is relatively close to Europe, travel by land over the Sahara desert is very prohibitive. Another topographical feature that also isolate s the central region of Africa is the coastline. Africa has a regular coastline characterized by few indentations. Because of the smooth coastline, natural harbors were non-existent. Today, however, there are important coastal cities, such as Lagos and Dakar. With the exception of the Mediterranean coast, most of the coastline is low-lying , generally narrow and rising sharply to high elevations. The African climate and topography varies greatly. Although temperatures are usually high, due to being so close to the equator, rainfall, soil quality and elevations are of various degrees. Because most of the African continent has not been covered by water for millions of years, soils have developed according to their weathering e... ...bances began to emerge, and the economy began to drop. Unrest cost many lives, until demands for change were heard and the political system was revised. In 1994, the South African people went to the polls for the first time and held a democratic election in which Nelson Mandela became president. The country of South Africa has made strides in healing their broken country. Economic ways started in the nineteenth century, still have a hold on the countries of the sub-Sahara today. These countries are all impoverished and have seen horrific civil wars, however, the general consensus is that they are making slow improvements in their economy. The starvation, overpopulation and health problems are still very evident. Perhaps continued assistance coupled with education and protection will keep them on the road to stability and more rewarding lives for their citizens.

Peer Effects and Alcohol Use among College Students, by M. Kremer and D. Levy, :: Peer Pressure Essays

Kremer and Levy (2008) analyze to what degree college students who consume alcohol influence their peers. College students could affect their peers’ alcohol consumption, which in turn may lead to damaging effects. For example, peers could potentially disrupt classrooms, be exposed to disease, and lower their grade point average, start binge drinking, abuse illegal drugs, and even die. These affects may generate multiplier effects in the future. Earlier studies have examined this issue of alcohol consumption and the negative peer effects among college students. Sacerdote (2001) examines peer effects in universities. He finds evidence that supports this theory that students whose roommates reported high beer consumption were more likely to replicate the same behavior. Kremer and Levy (2003) noted that peers who had a roommate that drank could potentially increase the peer’s preference for alcohol consumption. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s (CIRP’s) Entering Student Survey demonstrated GPA’s declining in peers whose roommates drank alcohol frequently, especially those who had in high school. The survey classified males as being especially sensitive to peer influences. Empirical data presented by Wechsler, Lee, Kuo & Lee (2000) show that alcohol use and abuse reported by 40% of university students had been binge drinking at least once within the past two weeks and it was concluded that alcohol use, and more specifically binge drinking, is a social influence by peers. There are various economic theories presented in this article. For example, in the context of academic achievement, the assumptions made are that peers could affect others’ preferences, as seeing their friends consume alcohol also stimulates the desire in the other student to consume alcohol. Many theoretical models assume that students’ academic achievements are a linear function of their peer’s ability to influence their behavior as well. The theories presented consist of peers’ effects on the influence of preferences, leading to lower academic achievement because the student’s study is disrupted. The assumption that students who are frequent drinkers being roomed with another frequent drinker would increase their alcohol consumption and possibly lead to binge drinking based on variables, preferences model, and theoretical models which assume the student’s academic outcomes are a linear function of their peer influence, and multiplier effe cts. Kremer and Levy find from the empirical works that some individuals are more vulnerable than others in the influence to increase alcohol consumption. The increase in alcohol consumption is more commonly linked to the desire for social acceptability.

Organizatinal Commitment and Communication Paper

Organizational Commitment and Communication Starbucks is committed to displaying leadership, power, and motivation within its organization. Howard Schultz the owner of Starbucks has worked hard to develop a beneficial program that would draw top people who were eager to work for Starbucks while displaying an act of commitment to excellence.This analysis will explain how different leadership styles would affect group communication in your chosen organization; analyze the different sources of power found in the organization and how might the different sources of power affect group and organization communication, identify the motivational theories that would be effective within that culture, evaluate the role of communication as an element of these theories, and describe the commitment of the workforce to the organization and their relationship to the organization’s communication.The leadership styles, power tactic, form of motivation and level of commitment all have a significan t impact on the development of an organization. The way in which leaders communicate these methods plays a key role in the success of an organization (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Starbucks success is due to its great degree of it leaders and employees and their communication with each other and with its customers. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz is known for having a charismatic leadership style.Charismatic leaders tend to be more effective in his or her leadership style â€Å"because these leaders inspire lots of enthusiasm in their teams and are very energetic in driving others forward† (Mind Tools 1996). Possessing the Charismatic Leadership style, CEO Howard Schultz has enabled Starbucks to be one of the leading coffee retailers by being committed to communicate with its employees and create a rewarding and honest relationship. The transformational leadership style â€Å"has many similarities to the charismatic style.Transformational leaders provide a vision, seek high expectations, promote trust, and give personal attention to the employees. Transformational leaders focus on setting goals and articulating those goals to the employees, instilling commitment to the vision and creating mutual trust† (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Starbucks known success is due to its partners know as its employees and its customers. That is why the transformational leadership style is recognized at Starbucks because of their developed business processes and the power tactic used that ensure organizational culture of the company.Power â€Å"refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B sot that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes† (Robbins & Judge, 2007). There are different sources of power utilized by Starbuck which are expert and reward power. â€Å"Expert power is influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge† (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz stands behind its organization and u pholds its reputation for the finest coffee in the world and that is why it is one of the leading companies in the coffee industry.Collective efforts are amplified by its legendary customer service and highest integrity. â€Å"Reward power is compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others views are valuable† (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Starbucks is about providing top quality customer service which stems from its employees (partners). Starbucks is about treating each other with respect and dignity and when employees adhere to the rules and regulations that go to show the type of employees Starbucks hires.Starbucks encourages its employee’s feedback and offers incentives to its employees which motivate the employees of Starbucks to display top quality customer service that matters to the public. The level of power is evident in Starbucks through its open communication with its manager, employees, and customers. Starbucks has exemplified a busine ss out of people connection through community involvement and various cultures. Starbucks organization is a prime example of a people-oriented business motivated to be the top selling business in its industry.Many of Starbucks motivational approaches can be found in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Starbucks approach to motivate its employees are based on the fundamentals of Starbucks providing its employee a prestigious work environment, treating everyone with respect and dignity, with equality, and challenging each other to excel at the best of his or her abilities. Starbucks company culture which focuses on respect, integrity, and communication encourages open line of communication with a clear understanding of positive and negative actions.Starbucks workplace environment focuses on how they treat one another, how customers are treated, diversity, workplace health, safety, and security, and Starbucks quality and customer protection. Starbucks is committed to excellence and displaying legendary customer service which is top priority at Starbucks. Starbucks employee workforce manages and maintains a high level of expertise and treats its customers as they treat each other, with respect and dignity.Starbucks also has an obligation to ensure that Starbucks is a great place to work for all partners. Starbucks atmosphere is motivated by greeting each customer that walks through the door. To obtain this type of environment stems from the leadership roles in place and the drive to remain at its best behavior. Starbucks is committed to developing innovative and flexible change. Each employee is empowered, have a responsibility, have helped, and have a voice at Starbucks. It is about unity at Starbucks and its communication skills are critically important.In conclusion This analysis explained how different leadership styles would affect group communication; analyzed the different sources of power found and how might the different sources of power affect group and organization communication, identified the motivational theories that would be effective within that culture, evaluated the role of communication as an element of thee theories, and described the commitment of the workforce to the organization and their relationship to the organization’s communication. In order for Starbucks to remain competitive its workforce has to remain empowered

Analyzing the Financial Statements of the World’s Retailer

The Wal-Mart case is intended for an introductory or main course on Financial Statement Analysis. It may also be useful within a Corporate Finance/Financial Management course. After a class on financial statements and liquidity, profitability and solvency ratios – and some brief examples discussed by the lecturer – students should be capable of making a financial analysis of Wal-Mart. Students can be asked to make this analysis in class, or to prepare the case outside the classroom, and to present it. Ideally, the case work is conducted in groups of 4 to 6 students, and it typically takes between 1 to 1. 5 hours (for the analysis itself – obviously, drafting a written report or presentation is more time consuming). The Wal-Mart case is aimed at both undergraduate and graduate students, and for general management programmes/MBAs as well as finance students – obviously, for the latter group, a much more fine-grained analysis, extensive discussion and adequate linking among various financials and between the numbers and Wal-Mart’s business is required. Evidently, the lecturer should highlight many more details in a class of finance students. In the teaching note, the authors first provide a detailed discussion of Wal-Mart’s balance sheet, profit and loss account and cash flow statement, mainly based upon common base and common size analysis. While the focus is on 2009 figures, conclusions for 2008 would be broadly similar. Furthermore, they also provide an overview of some key financials’ evolution over the past 10 years. Next, they calculate and interpret liquidity, profitability and solvency ratios for 2008 and 2009 and link these to Wal-Mart’s business model and operating activities. They summarize the main findings in a concluding section. Finally, the authors include a slide show that can be used while teaching this case.

Political Issues Essay

Political and Social Apathy, there are two faces of apathy. The first considers apathy as a choice and participation in public life a consequence of one’s affirmative use of freedom. The second face of apathy arises when citizens are led to believe that their personal needs are not part of the political agenda, resulting into political deprivation and the reaffirmation of the status quo. Philippines political and social life is marked by the second kind of apathy, which might also arise from the belief that individuals are powerless and hopeless in making significant changes in their lives. For this reason, the paper would like to awaken reflection on apathy in the personal and public spheres and to outline ways by which the individual can move towards sympathy. It is the intention of this paper to show contemporary Filipinos can find his passion again in order to move out of apathy. The paper will explain the rationale behind the development of the Philippines social and political issues. The Philippines is faced with a number of issues that concern our organization. We are passionate about raising awareness of these issues, and developing grass-roots solutions. Poverty, unemployment and environmental legislation are the major issues facing the country, and these problems have resulted in a large number of Filipinos moving overseas for work. We believe social entrepreneurship can help address some of the issues facing the Philippines at the moment. Read more:Â  Political Issues in the Philippines Essay

Cmi 3004 & 3006

In this assignment I will look at the ways in which data is gathered and selected, I will show my understanding of how to interpret data and information, and how I communicate the results of the information analysis. For the second part of the assignment I will show my understanding of the following: * The process of recruitment and selection * The process for recruitment, and * The process for selection The Process of Human Resource Management Plan â€Å"The human resource planning process, demands the HR manager to first understand the business requirement. Only if he comprehends the nature and scope of the business, will he be able to employ those who will deliver the required performance. When it comes to engaging the manpower, the manager should have a keen eye for spotting the talent. It ensures that the workforce is competent enough to meet the targets. Additionally, the existing ‘talent pool' in the workplace should be taken into consideration, so that people with complimentary skills can be employed. The functions of the HR manager are varied; he has to assess the currently employed workforce and their shortcomings. Identifying these shortcomings goes a long way in choosing an efficient workforce. While recruiting the new employees, the HR manager must calculate the expected workload. This way the HR department can design an accurate job profile and job expectations. Once you have the decided job descriptions, looking for candidates who fit the job will be easy. Don't be fooled by their qualifications, it is only the relevant experience that matters more. A good HR manager is one who has the zeal and passion to motivate his prospective employees to perform to their potential. Human resource planning process, thus, can be considered as one of the strategic steps for building the strong foundation of an efficient workforce in an organization! † www. buzzle. com Human resources use data by processing it into information, any data on its own is raw facts that cannot be used unless it is given a meaning or a context only then it can be processed into a usable form. Qualitative Data The term qualitative data is used to describe a type of information that can be counted or expressed numerically. This type of data is often collected in experiments, manipulated and statistically analysed. Quantitative data can be represented visually in graphs, histograms, tables and charts. Qualitative Data Qualitative data is extremely varied in nature. It includes virtually any information that can be captured that is not numerical in nature. Here are some of the major categories or types: * Interview transcript * Field notes (notes taken in the field being studied) * Video * Audio recordings * Images * Documents (reports, meeting minutes, e-mails) Human resources make the decision on having 8 housing support workers based on data and information that affects their decision. Data and information relating to these factors have a major influence on the decision of how many Housing Support Workers are needed in the sheltered housing schemes. * Economical factors * Number of tenants needing support * Funding provided * Budget for salary * Required hours for support (24hr) There are 200 elderly people living in 6 sheltered housing schemes, HSW’s are required to see all of them on daily basis. The organisation provides a personalised service to the sheltered housing tenants; each scheme is monitored and assessed in relation to the tenant’s needs, health conditions, mobility, and general wellbeing. There are seven schemes in total, but overall there are four, this is because in six schemes, two schemes are combined into one. The hours that a HSW is needed on each scheme vary depending on the needs of the tenants, although all schemes have an emergency call system in which enables them to contact a housing support worker 24/7. Two of the schemes have HSW’s on site 24 hours a day, these schemes have tenants who need more support, this is due to them being more frail and dependant, also the scheme is attached to the MAAZ Community centre, which has a cafe that provides hot meals 6 days a week, this location is very convenient for our tenants. Need for change Staff numbers have declined since 2008; the team consisted of ten Housing Support Workers and two Senior Housing Support Workers. All Schemes but one had a HSW onsite 24/7. Four Housing Support Workers retired, and the two Senior Housing Support Workers were made redundant. At the time the total of the sheltered accommodation flats was 150, now the total is 200 flats, the amount of Housing support workers is eight. An assessment was done, and it concluded that two schemes do not need a HSW onsite 24 hour. The hours were reduced from 24 hours to 8 hours a day in one scheme, and reduced from 8 hours to 4 hours a day in another scheme. â€Å"According to a report written by Professor Ian Philip in 2004, National Director for Older People’s Health, older people are living longer. † www. direct. gov. uk According to the above fact, the demand for various services for older people is increasing. Sheltered Housing is a great way for an older person to remain independent in their own home and have support available if they required it. Taking that fact into consideration; LJHA has provided two schemes that have 24/7 support available on site. The decision to have the HSW’s on site 24 hours a day at those two schemes was based on many factors including the age of the tenants. The average age of tenants at those two schemes is higher than all the other schemes, therefore the tenants are more likely to be frail, have mobility difficulties, and health problems, this is why more support is allocated at those schemes. Average age in (SH ; QHL 92), (SGW 91) Average age in (BH; LPC 79), (BC ; GP 74) Recruitment and Selection Job: Housing Support Worker Job Description:The Housing Support Worker’s job is to deliver appropriate levels of support to tenants living in designated housing complexes. The post holder will be able to work on their own initiative and also as part of a competent and efficient staff team. The job requires professionalism, confidentiality, flexibility, and good humour to ensure a smooth running and safe service for tenants/residents. Range of Duties: Ensure new tenants are welcomed and given relevant information about the scheme and service available * Maintain contact with tenants in accordance with agreed support plans * Provide appropriate and necessary support to enable the tenant to sustain their tenancy * Work individually and as part of the housing support team * Be alert to individual tenant’s circumstances and condition and take appropriate action to promo te the wellbeing of the individual * Liaise with and co-ordinate other professionals/ agencies for the wellbeing of the tenant * Contribute to the maintenance of up to date records and ensure that all relevant information is noted * Respond promptly to alarm calls and emergencies and take such appropriate action as may be required * Monitor and promote security and health and safety within the scheme and tenants’ homes * Develop and facilitate tenants groupings and activities * Ensure/ support tenants to make the best use of resources * Comply with ractice/ administrative processes for Supporting People * Ensure compliance with all relevant statutory and regulatory procedures * Undertake such training courses as are thought necessary by management and work towards achieving relevant recognised and professional qualification as determined by the Housing Services Manager The Process of recruitment and selection â€Å"Recruitment is the process of identifying that the organizat ion needs to employ someone up to the point at which application forms for the post have arrived at the organization. Selection then consists of the processes involved in choosing from applicants a suitable candidate to fill a post. † www. thetimes100. co. uk At LJHA the recruitment process involves working through a series of stages: * Defining the role * Attracting applications * Managing the application and selection process * Interviewing process A job role is either advertised internally or externally, this decision is based on the role and the expectations of the organisation. Internal advertising provides opportunities for development and career progression within the organisation. Advertising externally allows the organisation to attract new skills, LJHA usually advertises through the Job Centre or by Word of Mouth. Candidates who are interested in applying for the role are invited to an open day, the role is explained to them in depth and they are shown around the work environment, and are encouraged to ask questions about the role. This allows the candidates to consider whether the organisation is one where they would like to work for. An application form, job description, and skills specification (Appendix 1,2,3) is given to the candidates who are interested in the vacancy, after completing the application form the manages discuss which candidates are suitable. The short listed candidates are then invited to an interview. For the role of a Housing Support Worker the selected candidates are interviewed by two managers and one tenant’s representative, they are introduced and briefed on the job description. The interview includes a scenario test (Appendix 4) in which the candidate is asked to prioritize eight tasks in order of importance. Then the candidate is asked seven questions (Appendix 5). During the interview the candidate is scored based on their knowledge and skills, I have included a copy of the skills specification scoring sheet (Appendix 6). Candidates are selected after the managers deliberation, meeting the criteria set for the role is important, this criteria includes, experience of working with older people, ability to use own initiative, ability to work as part of a team, having administrative skills, and ability to use computers. (Appendix 6) When the successful candidate is chosen, an offer of employment is then made; this offer is conditional to two satisfactory references and a full CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check. Ethical ; Legal considerations that may impact the recruitment and selection process Every employer has the legal responsibility to ensure that no unlawful discrimination occurs in the recruitment and selection process on the grounds of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. Equality of opportunity is an integral part of the recruitment and selection process, and to this end employers may offer training and encouragement to any under-represented groups. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Employment Equality Regulations (covering sexual orientation, religion or belief, and age)  and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 set out the legal requirements for employers. Organisations should be aware that the rovisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 not only make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled individuals without justifiable reason but also require employers to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace or working arrangements. Employers also have the responsibility of ensuring tha t the employee’s personal details are respected and properly protected, this is supported by the Data Protection Act 1998. The Data Protection Act 1998 requires employers to use data in accordance with the principles of data protection. These require that data shall be: * Fairly and lawfully processed * Processed for limited purposes * Adequate, relevant and not excessive * Accurate * Not kept longer than necessary * Processed in accordance with the data subjects rights Kept securely * Not transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection. Job postings â€Å"According to the BC Human Rights Code (Discrimination in employment advertisements), you must not publish job postings or advertisements that give preference to: * Race * Colour * Ancestry * Place of origin * Political belief * Religion * Marital status * Family status * Physical * Mental disability * Sex * Sexual orientation * Age† www. go2hr. ca Methods of communicating infor mation to staff, and their effectiveness In our organisation we use four methods of communicating, they are, Visual, Written, Verbal, and Non Verbal. Visual: it is common to incorporate visual communication in order to share ideas that relate to tasks in the workplace, this could include using, charts, pictures, presentations. Written: Written communication is also quite important when it comes to the workplace. This form of communication involves either writing or typing out information, facts, figures, and other types of necessary information in order to express ideas. Examples of this type of communication include reports, evaluations, emails, instant messages, physical and electronic memos, training materials, and other types of documents that are similar in nature. In the workplace, this is a flexible type of communication as it could be formal or informal – depending on the message(s) that are being expressed. Verbal: Verbal communication is a core component when it comes to the overall success of an organisation Non Verbal: means that a physical manner of communication is being used to share ideas and meanings among others. The physical activities may include the way that you move your body, the tone that is displayed when it comes to the tone of an individual's voice, and touching. In the workplace, it is not appropriate to touch another individual, but it is possible to ensure that the voice tone and the stance of the body is held appropriately so that the ideas, information, and thoughts are successfully shared with the intended audience. Verbal & Non Verbal Meetings have proven to be much more effective when trying to ascertain the facts, not only by making the member of staff feel at ease but also by watching their body language and prying all of the relevant information from them to resolve the problem efficiently† www. managers. org. uk For any communication method to be effe ctive, the following should apply: * The sender and receiver of information are properly matched * The message is communicated clearly – i. e. without misunderstanding or misinterpretation * Communication is made using an appropriate communication channel and/or method * The receiver of the communication is able to pass on any relevant and appropriate feedback (i. e. wo-way communication) There are many reasons why it is important for an organisation to achieve effective communication: * Motivates employees – helps them feel part of the organisation * Easier to control and coordinate work related activity – prevents different departments of an organisation going in opposite directions * Makes successful decision making easier – decisions are based on more complete and accurate information * Better communication with customers/clients will increase profits * Improve relationships with external agencies â€Å"The link between communication and motivation i s particularly important. Good communication is an important part of motivating employees and the main motivational theorists recognised this; Mayo emphasised importance of communication in meeting employees’ social needs, and Maslow and Herzberg stressed the importance of recognising employee’s achievements and self-esteem needs† www. cliffsnotes. com Bibliography www. buzzle. com www. direct. gov. uk www. thetimes100. co. uk www. go2hr. ca www. managers. org. uk www. cliffsnotes. com