Differentiated Teaching

Educators have always had a role of finding ways to improve their ability to provide education and learning among students. With the increasing challenges and hurdles in today’s 21st century education, teachers must remain vibrant in looking for alternatives and methods that will shape and nurture students ability to decipher information, acquire new skills and develop holistically within the classroom. As I was able to watch the movie, I learned many important insights and values towards teaching.In here, the film captured the essence of differential learning as I came across various principles that helped me gain ideas surrounding its purpose and relevance within the classroom setup. It helped me develop awareness of different methods and strategies that may be deemed applicable towards my case and other educators as well. It is by comprehending these facets that one is able to maximize the capabilities of each process and sustain the level of commitment on both parties.Reac ting from this, I feel that to be able to raise these standards of accountability and responsibility among educators, there needs to be a collaborative effort among each other. This means that cooperation and information sharing is a vital component as it outlines both the positive impact and implications for pursuing a relative scheme or goal. Likewise, such understanding enables the formation of parameters for strength and skills building that are necessary to be competent in a particular area or subject.The next part involves active planning for screening students according to their preferences and strengths. Under this process, educators devise their own rubrics and goals that actively align with both their goals and sustain the parameters of facilitating outcomes that is rooted on performance and ability of each student to harness and decipher information. In the end, such process enables active involvement on the part of student and increases their capability to become profici ent in the particular class.Associated with this initiative revolves around the concept of comprehending the idea of a child’s multiple intelligence capabilities. As the film presented the view of Howard Gardener, it gave us the impression of focusing on strengths and justifying areas wherein we can develop our weaknesses in both planning and facilitation of teaching objectives. Using various variables to denote such competencies, it can help intensify avenues towards flexibility and allows them to facilitate such objective using group dynamics and interplay.To signify the strength of this example, the movie showed dividing the group into several sections to intensify the approach of gaining confidence in their areas of expertise. Allowing this area to be considered, the educator was able to diversify the needs of students and actively address their own level of learning. This idea together with some supplementary materials, it can help adequately facilitate the ability of te achers to transcend over student needs using several methods and approaches. Such facet has been the primary aim of differential learning and has harnessed my ability as an educator to gain new skills in the process.To conclude, the film was essential in opening up awareness on my part as a teacher. It introduced me to several strategies and methods that can enhance the ability to reach out and gain competence in fostering compliance and cooperation among students. By focusing on the main tenets and facets of this theory, I as an educator can manage new ideas and use the necessary tools to develop new ways of improving classroom teaching. Such process gives me the ability to address the increasing needs of students especially in today’s 21st century education.

Paper Issues – Mobile Ecommerce

S30057544 Christopher Navarro Atarama S30057544 Christopher Navarro Atarama Mobile E-Commerce ITECH 3212 E-commerce 2 – Assignment 1 Mobile E-Commerce ITECH 3212 E-commerce 2 – Assignment 1 Table of Contents 1Abstract2 2Introduction2 3Definitions2 4Mobile E-commerce infrastructure3 5Privacy issues4 6Security issues4 7Mobile Client Device Technologies and Issues5 8Mobile devices applications issues6 9Bibliography7 * Abstract The following report is a document made with the intention of accomplishes the first assignment of E-Commerce 2 course of the University of Ballarat at IIBIT Sydney. The aim of this report is give a general overview about Mobile E-Commerce or M-Commerce and its different issues in the actuality. Introduction Day by day, new technologies come up bringing new ways of communication and interconnection, using the great network: Internet. This network, in addition, opens a wide door of electronic business opportunities known as E-Commerce (Roehl-Anderson, 2010). In the actuality, and with the development of new technologies in mobile devices area, make electronic commerce is more accessible, fast and mobile (Antovski & Gusev, 2009). This new E-business model is known as Mobile E-commerce or M-Ecommerce. According with Antovski & Gusev (2009), M-Commerce is defined as any transaction with monetary value that is conducted via a mobile telecommunications network. M-Commerce like Ecommerce can be B2B (business to business), P2P (person to person) or B2C (business to customer) oriented. The framework divides into couple sub areas based on user’s distribution criterion. Mobile Ecommerce addresses electronic commerce via mobile devices, where the consumer is not in physical or eye contact with the goods that are being purchased. Definitions Mobile Devices: Also referred to as handheld devices, are generally poket-sized devices with computing capabilities (including smartphones, PDAs, etc. ). These devices generally offer robust functionality without the restriction associated with heavier, tethered equipped (Harris, 2010). E-commerce: E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a newer term,  e-business, are often used interchangeably. For online retail selling, the term  e-tailing  is sometimes used (Harris, 2010). Smartphone: A cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access. Smartphones provide digital voice service as well as text messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, still and video cameras, MP3 player, video viewing and often video calling. In addition to their built-in functions, smartphones can run myriad applications, turning the once single-minded cellphone into a mobile computer. Mobile E-commerce infrastructure The mobile e-commerce evolution is being fuelled by the same forces that enabled ecommerce by PC users (Buccafurri, 2010). According with Antovski & Gusev (2009), there has been considerable investment in mobile e-commerce by banks, hardware providers, cellular operators, and content providers that is leading mobile consumers to eventually have the same satisfactory experience, in terms of content and variety, that they have come to appreciate from their PC Several banking projects are underway to fund the payment architecture needed to address the mobile consumer. MasterCard International announced in May, 2000 that it would launch a fund for start-ups and established companies dedicated to the development of new roducts and services involving smart cards, e-commerce and m-commerce that strategically supports MasterCard’s member institutions (Winter, 2010). Visa, likewise, announced it was teaming up with Cyberbills and Aether Systems to create an â€Å"anytime, anywhere bill payment service†. Credit Mutual, a French bank, is teaming up with MasterCard International and Europay Internation al on an EMV-compliant mobile commerce pilot in France. Included in this global agreement are hardware providers France Telecom, Oberthur Card Systems, and Motorola. Other pilots are planned in Germany, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and the US. Hardware companies are equally important stakeholders in the mobile commerce revolution (Buccafurri, 2010). Efforts are underway in developing standards and forming partnerships and consortiums between industry leaders to establish the platform for building the mobile commerce industry. Cellular handset manufacturers are leading this effort with developing next generation digital phones that will carry voice and data over new communications networks that will rival the wired market for transmission speeds and internet access. The big three; Ericsson, Nokia, and Motorola control over 50% of the handset market worldwide. They have formed an alliance called the Global M-commerce Standard. The objective of this alliance is to develop standards that will reduce the time to market for hardware, applications, and communications. Analysts predict that by 2003, there will be more cell phones that are capable of accessing the Internet than PCs. The ability of the cellular industry to quickly achieve worldwide standards like GSM, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and WAN (Wireless Application Network) has contributed to position they find themselves in leading the mobile commerce revolution. The consortium has wisely included operators and financial institutions into the mix to make sure the services will keep up with the technology (Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, 2009). Privacy issues Privacy issues have always been a key reason for potential online consumers to avoid E-Commerce (Jun Xu, 2010). In the early days of E-commerce, a significant fraction of consumers thought that credit cards could be â€Å"snatched† off the Internet. Solid encryption technologies have reduced most of those fears, and for the most part, new consumers don't orry about losing credit cards while online (Cruz-Cunha, 2010). However, there remains some very real privacy issues associated with conducting transactions electronically, which may be exacerbated with the capacity to undertake mobile transactions. These include unauthorized access to stored data, especially personal information and transaction history. Security issues According to Francesco Buccafurri (2010), s ecuring m-commerce may be even more difficult than protecting wired transaction. Constrained bandwidth and computing power, memory limitations, battery life and various network configurations all come into play, raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed. In the use of text messaging, a number of security issues have already been identified, and will extend to the use of m-commerce (Buccafurri, 2010). While a direct SMS message is relatively safe because it is encrypted for its transition from one mobile handset to the other, because of its store forward nature, messages are vulnerable to being corrupted. Like voice messages, SMS' are stored on a server before being forwarded to the receiver. There is no mandatory encryption and access protection for storage. The only way to secure the entire transmission would be with end-to-end encryption. Messages exchanged between two service providers can also be violated in transit if the link between the two networks is not protected. If this information is payment details or authorities to make transactions, there is even more danger (Lee, 2009). The reliability of SMS messages is also in question. Unlike in Europe, where message delivery confirmation can be obtained by pressing a three-digit code, no confirmation is issued in Australia. The capacity to check and ensure that sent messages are received will be essential to build and maintain trust in the use of m-commerce. Mobile technologies manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies. However, there are two trade-offs for increased security, namely price and style (Cruz-Cunha, 2010). Mobile Client Device Technologies and Issues According to Antovski & Gusev (2009), the interactivity devices or mobile client devices currently most important to mobile e-commerce are mobile telephones, handheld computers, laptop computers, and vehicle-mounted interfaces. Hybrid devices are now appearing, such as the crosses between mobile phones and handheld devices (sometimes called smartphones), but the question remains as to what form the devices will ultimately take, which is an important issue for mobile system developers. Usability will become more critical with handheld and phone devices, which differ from desktop and laptop computers in terms of their smaller screen sizes, less available memory, and limited input devices (Antovski & Gusev, 2009). Many handheld devices are limited to a few lines of text, and do not have traditional keyboards. One usability issue is the need for organizations to determine how people can best use applications and access information through different devices. Mobile devices have forced developers to carefully revisit both operating systems and applications software on a variety of platforms (Jun Xu, 2010). Operating systems such as Microsoft’s Pocket PC and Palm’s PalmOS have been developed for handheld devices. Although this software meets some of the current needs, it has limited functionality. The creation of system software with increased functionality for devices with limited capabilities will be an ongoing challenge. Another important building block for this emerging infrastructure landscape may be the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), which enables wireless devices such as mobile phones to access the Internet (Kr. Sharma, Sharma, & Raj, 2011). Many WAP-enabled devices have already appeared, although there is doubt as to whether WAP will become a globally accepted standard, especially with the popularity of Japan’s i-mode. Developers ultimately face the issue of deciding which set of protocols to accept, or risk the potential problems of working with multiple standards and/or choosing to ignore some. Mobile devices applications issues Many of mobile devices applications are currently constrained by technology limitations and issues described previously. According Juhnyoung Lee (2009), there are two fundamental application issues that researchers and developers must address are what tasks do users want to do without regard for temporal or spatial constraints and how to provide support for these tasks through wireless applications. Mobile e-commerce payment systems can also benefit from wireless technology (Skeldon, 2011). One scenario involves a consumer not having to stand in line to make a purchase, but simply paying for an item though a wireless device. Final payments might even be billed to a telephone company. Bluetooth technology may enable a list of available services to be generated automatically on a device when a user walks close to a Bluetooth-equipped cash register. Wireless technology is well suited for bringing e-commerce to automobiles and other forms of transportation (Lee, 2009). Traffic advisory systems can warn of impending traffic jams. Cars will eventually be able to report potential problems to service centres themselves. The service centre might even make minor adjustments to the car online. Car-mounted devices will eventually allow regular Internet access, although safety issues of â€Å"browsing while driving† must be addressed. While most initial mobile commerce applications seem to be aimed at the business-to-consumer market, business-to-business and intranet applications are also appearing (Lee, 2009). Service technicians can be dynamically assigned new tasks and sent problem information while they are traveling. Sales people can go literally anywhere in the field and access product information and customer accounts, although the applications right now are still subject to the constraints of current wireless devices. Organizations must address the issue of designing complex, robust applications that work well within these current (and any foreseeable) device limitations. Flexibility can be integrated into designs to enable future functionality. Conclusions Mobile electronic commerce enables the consumer to be able to conduct their business while on the move. In today’s fast-paced society, people are always looking to do everything on the go and do not want to be slowed down. Also, as technology changes throughout the years, people are now looking for their mobile devices to perform more tasks than ever before. It seems logical for people to want access to the Internet through their mobile devices and to want to take care of their business through these devices. Through the origin of mobile electronic commerce, people are now able to conduct their business over the Internet without having to sit in front of their computer all day. This saves consumers time because they no longer have to be logged onto their personal computer at home or work. This allows consumers to be mobile and on the go. But, mobile electronic commerce has also helped the companies as well. Bibliography Antovski, L. , & Gusev, M. (2009). M-Commerce Services. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from http://delab. csd. auth. gr/bci1/Balkan/15Antovski. pdf Australian Interactive Media Industry Association. (2009). Australian Mobile Phone lifestyle index. Buccafurri, F. (2010). E-Commerce and Web Technologies: 11th International Conference, EC-Web 2010, Bilbao, Spain, September 1-3, 2010, Proceedings. Springer. Cook, A. , & Goette, T. (2009). Mobile Electronic Commerce: What Is It? Who Uses It? And Why Use It? . Communications of the IIMA . Cruz-Cunha, M. M. (2010). E-Business Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for SMEs: Driving Competitiveness. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Encyclopedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 10, 2011, from PCMag. com: http://www. pcmag. com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Smartphone&i=51537,00. asp Harris, C. (2010, September). Ebook glossary. Retrieved August 10, 2011, from Library Journal: http://www. libraryjournal. com/lj/articlereview/886887-457/the_lj_ebook_glossary. html. csp Jun Xu, M. Q. (2010). E-business in the 21st century: realities, challenges and outlook. World Scientific. Kr. Sharma, R. , Sharma, R. , & Raj, S. (2011). CONFRONTS AND ISSUES IN M-COMMERCE: A BUSINESS ON MOBILE AND NET APPROACH. International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management. Lee, J. (2009). Data engineering issues in e-commerce and services: second international workshop, DEECS 2009, San Francisco, CA, USA, June 26, 2006 : proceedings. San Fransisco: Springer. Roehl-Anderson, J. M. (2010). IT Best Practices for Financial Managers. John Wiley and Sons. Skeldon, P. (2011). M-Commerce. Crimson Publishing, Limited. Winter, R. (2010). Global Perspectives on Design Science Research: 5th International Conference, DESRIST 2010, St. Gallen, Switzerland, June 4-5, 2010. Proceedings. Springer.

A Report on the Improvement of My Speech as a Public Speaker Through Self-Assessment

A Report on the Improvement of My Speech as a Public Speaker Through Self-Assessment Informative Briefing Self-Assessment Essay In choosing my topic, I wanted to talk about something that I was passionate about alongside something that just about everyone would be interested in knowing more about. With the history of Pokemon video games and their initial popularity based on the statistics, I wanted to make sure people who did not know much about the franchise were well informed and those that knew a lot about the franchise were able to stay interested in something they could relate to not only as a child but as a young adult. After watching my Panopto video, I was very satisfied with my presentation. I also was able to notice specific places and aspects were I can improve to present an even greater speech the next time around. Following my first speech, I plan to give a better speech by speaking more slowly and engaging the audience more efficiently. To start off, I will first go over the strengths included in the feedback from my peers. Many of my peers were pleased with my execution of the speech, through the projection of my voice, my natural body movements, eye contact, and overall evidence of passion in the subject. I also received positive feedback about the overall organization of my speech, mainly based on the use of visuals and bullets on the slides as I spoke. The feedback tied in with the Panopto recording, as I could see how clearly I spoke, how organized my presentation was, and how naturally relaxed I was. I was very satisfied with these general aspects of my speech that the audience not only enjoyed, but was able to keep up with. Alongside the positive feedback, there are some fields that I would like to and need to improve in. Feedback on improvements included more eye contact at times, needing to let the questions sink in/letting the audience answer, and overall slowing down in order to have some members keep up with my speech. Overall, I generally agree with the improvements needed. There were times where I would look down at my notes longer than I should, such as when I would talk about the statistics or go over an extended aspect of history. When asking my questions to engage the audience such as in the introduction, I never did pause to let the questions sink in or to have some peers answer the questions; that aspect is specifically what I need to work on. The pace of my speech is really fast; based on some of the feedback, some peers were unable to keep up with my topic, especially when I would reference to the statistics aspect of my speech. I know that one of the reasons for my fast-paced speech was the time limit, but for future speeches I could possibly use less information to be able to speak at a reasonable speed and still stay within the directed time limit. In general, the informative briefing speech has helped me be more aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a public speaker. Receiving feedback from peers that have to do the same informative briefings gives me a different perspective as opposed to just a teacher giving me feedback. Watching my speech on Panopto gave me a personal insight on what I need to improve on alongside my individual strengths as a public speaker. Before my next speech, I plan to pace myself alongside keeping up with how long my speech is. I will also focus on memorizing certain subjects in my topics so I won’t have to rely too much on my notecards. Engaging the audience more efficiently is something else I will focus on for my next speech. These techniques will fortify the aspects I already excel on as a public speaker, and will initially improve my speeches and presentations.

Analysis on HSBC's Reorienting Strategy from the West to East Essay

Analysis on HSBC's Reorienting Strategy from the West to East - Essay Example 11. Recommendations for HSBC to Help Further 12. Conclusion HSBC Bank’s Corporate and Global strategy Analysis on HSBC's Reorienting strategy from the West to East Executive Summary HSBC is shifting its focus towards the Eastern countries in a much faster pace than expected. Most of the key activities of the bank are now controlled by their office in Hong Kong. Though their London office serves as a main branch, still it is reduced to the position of a ‘branch’ instead of being ‘head quarters’. The promising economy of the eastern countries lures several institutions like HSBC to invest in them. This paper explores the HSBC’s overall corporate strategy, its scope in the third world and the various challenges it faces in the eastern world. The paper puts forward a question whether it is worth taking all these risks as the eastern markets are as volatile as inviting. The study refers to a survey taken in Middle East, analyzes the internal and ext ernal environment of the eastern markets and concludes it would be mutually beneficial for HSBC to reconsider its decision. It recommends investing the same money and effort in the US and European markets than the eastern markets. Introduction HSBC has branches in over 86 countries, with more than 9500 branches all over the world. The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking corporation has the reputation of being known as the â€Å"The World’s Local Bank†. ... crisis of the 2008- 2009 and the European credit crunch, several financial institutions including HSBC are shifting their focus towards the emerging eastern markets. These institutions which were the backbone of the industrial development in the western countries are no longer ready to lend massive amount to the westerners. HSBC’s move targeting the eastern market creates an image that west is winding up quickly making way for eastern countries to gain momentum in the financial field. Economists all over the world pose two questions to HSBC Is the eastern economic growth a mere bubble or a really sustainable option worth enough to be investing billions of money on it? Do the BRIC and the CIVETS countries have enough disposable income, steady political structure and rich people to make HSBC’s move profitable? Shouldn’t companies like HSBC which have earned massive profits from the western market help the western economy by slashing interests in its time of crisis? Is it just on their part to invest all they have gained in the west, elsewhere? The paper explores HSBC’s corporate and global strategy in a detailed way to find the real answers for these questions. The first question is explored by means of various web references predicting the massive growth of the eastern economy. The second question analyzes the vital role institutions like HSBC can play in improving the European credit crunch and in improving the western economy. Corporate Strategy of HSBC Bank The corporate and global strategy of HSBC has always been profit oriented. "In today's world, you can't afford to wait for business. You have to go where the business is† said Michael Geoghegan, the CEO of HSBC bank. The banks corporate strategy is based completely upon this principle. HSBC has always

Hiphop -- My Music and Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hiphop -- My Music and Identity - Essay Example This similarly applies for the other compositions which the artist has been able to deliver with more accountability for the youth than for the money-oriented industry. On the other hand, I believe that the late Tupac Shakur ought to be equivalently credited a lifelong endeavour of appreciation for meaningful pieces as â€Å"Lord Knows†, â€Å"When Thugz Cry†, and â€Å"Until the End of Time†. I can very well identify with these songs to the extent that, sometimes, I wish I were such man for being capable of making the audience understand and value the spirit of the civil rights movement which Tupac appears to communicate with his creative sound of rage in response to the evils of color discrimination. With the chorus portion playing â€Å"Oh why, children send your child off to die / In the streets of chalk where they lie / Let no wrongs cry out when thugs cry / Dear God ..†, Tupac exhibits serious concern for the future particularly of the black youth wh ose lame poverty and lack of education serve as grounds to take drugs, steal, and commit other horrible crimes. It could take a while to embrace the whole lyrics but what honestly sticks to mind is the powerful instrumentation and rap approach that settles the haunting theme in place. Like the stuffs demonstrated by Kells to amaze the public at depth, those of Tupac are themselves alive to present a great cause as they aim to preserve a ‘thug’ culture of fighting for liberty yet with the desire to act and achieve ends in the absence of violence and mischief. Despite certain differences in the hiphop styles of Machine Gun Kelly and Tupac Shakur, I am disposed to establish my music and identity on both as sharp influences who possess the...To me, it occurs that the subject of the song is most effectively conveyed via hiphop as it reminds me of the essence of classic poetry revolutionized by the age of Harlem Renaissance. Hiphop is a genre that takes me to the rhythm of my heart as it allows me to observe its journey down the time when artists like Tupac Shakur and Machine Gun Kelly matter in a society that has since time of racial and class division yearned for social justice and equality. Through the piece â€Å"Invincible†, for instance, Machine Gun Kelly raps the lines â€Å"As my world turns, the heart beats / Not only in my chest, but the heart in the streets / So when they feel this, they feel me / But I can’t feel nothin’, outside these Dre Beats† in an angst-filled tone. In that manner, rapper Kells wears hiphop so as to express a battle raw deep within which seeks release and resolution. Despite certain differences in the hiphop styles of Machine Gun Kelly and Tupac Shakur, I am disposed to establish my music and identity on both as sharp influences who possess the capacity to illumine the significance of immaterial verses. Their way with melodies and content, I suppose, is something that authentic musicians do i n the process of engineering and performing quality hiphop music.

Leadership - MBA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership - MBA - Essay Example Thus the only thing that will be found common between various leadership styles will be the â€Å"social influence† (Robert K. & Angelo K., 2004). This factor is the key in leadership. There are a number of leadership styles that are proposed in various books journals, periodicals and the internet. In this paper, only some of them are discussed very briefly as it is not possible to discuss each and every leadership style also these are discussed briefly so that these can be applied to the selected organization in much more detail. But are these styles of leadership actually followed in the organizations today? To look into the practical application of the various leadership styles, a company that specializes in the manufacturing of computer hardware components, Softech Company is selected and leadership styles followed at two different levels of management are discussed and analyzed. There is an in-depth analysis conducted on the style of leadership that these managers follow and the way they deal with their subordinates and what influence their subordinates have through their personalities. For the purpose of analyzing the application of leadership, Softech Company was selected. The company background and rationale for selection is discussed later in the paper. Two levels of the organization were focused for the analysis of the leadership style possessed by the leaders. One top level executive was chosen for the purpose of analysis and another middle level manager’s leadership style was studied. The names and complete designations are kept confidential as the respondents didn’t want to disclose this information. The styles of these managers vary broadly in terms of their approach to the tasks and subordinates. Unlike the trait theory, the behavioral aspect of leadership focuses on the behaviors of the leaders which largely influence their followers (Sadler, P., 1997). In this respect a number of

Racism (Walleye Warrior) Reading and Questions Coursework

Racism (Walleye Warrior) Reading and Questions - Coursework Example It is evident from the article that people of color suffered significant discrimination from the impacts of unchallenged white privilege. Other ethnic groups that were lobbying for their social justice ended up creating and promoting new identities, including the white identities, which oppress people of color and those who reject white privileges (Lipsitz 119). A new idea evident, in the article, is that the white community strongly campaigned to end treaty rights signed between the federal government and the Native American communities with the notion that it gave them more access to the nation’s natural resources more than other communities. However, when treaty rights were abolished and a number of economic activities such as lumbering, mining and extensive fishing begun in north Wisconsin, the land become polluted and considerably polluted. The supply of the game and fish were also threatened by carbon emission from motor boats, poor management of natural resources, corporate pollution and lax government regulations (Lipsitz 115). Additionally, many whites began killing Native Americans and African Americans who rejected their privileges. These are just, but a few evidences that white supremacist were specifically not interested in conserving environment, but in discriminating against people of color and accessing their natural resources without any opposition. This is something that makes me feel uncomfortable with this article. Under the courtesy of this article, I come to learn that the success of Native Americans, in fighting for their asocial justice, also came from the support of other whites who came to realize that the future success of north Wisconsin was more possible with Indians than the White Supremacists (Lipsitz 116). In this case, I do not expect white supremacists who were earlier strong anti-treaty rights and

Effective Team & Performance Management Assignment

Effective Team & Performance Management - Assignment Example However, effective team management is not at all a simple and easy task. Whenever a group of individuals with different approaches and mindsets work in collaboration towards common and shared goals, effective team management is the consequence (Cokins, 2010, pp. 81). In relation to the effective team and performance management, this thesis report intends to surface the key issues, experiences, and effective solutions to the problems encountered during the group tasks performed in the seminar activities. This is imperative to comprehend because the models and experiences would enable the development of the wisdom of how the learning experiences from participating in group-activities facilitates in developing personal reflection. Seminar is one of the methods that brings together numerous people under one roof to perform various activities and tasks that can bring forth the hidden skills and abilities of an individual. Several theories and models come under application that reflects th e effective team and performance management during the seminar activities. ... to the Goleman Emotional Intelligence, which is a behavioral model that helps understand the learned abilities including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (Salovey, Brackett & Mayer, 2004, pp. 90). Reflection Reflection upon Seminar Activities Seminar activities involve a number of people who work in amalgamation as a team that can lead to successful completion of the group activities and tasks. In any tasks, the group members come across quite a few issues and discrepancies due to having different approach, mindsets, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, personalities, mental ability, motivation, and prior experiences. However, the effective team and performance management comes as a result when all the members resolve the issues and internal inconsistencies (Cecil & Rothwell, 2006, pp. 375-376). While taking into account the first seminar tasks, it was about 'lost on the moon', where my team members and me were supposed to rank few items wi th reference to their significance for survival. According to this assignment, our spaceship had a crash-landing on the moon and it destroyed all equipments on board except for the few items due to which the scheduling of the meeting with the mother ship could not happen. The saved items included matchbox, food concentrate, nylon rope, parachute silk, portable heating unit, pistols, dehydrated milk, oxygen tanks, stellar map, life raft, magnetic compass, water, first-aid kit, and FM receiver transmitter. We had to select the most critical items that can help save the crew until the mother ship reaches us. While looking at the model of the Belbin team roles, the way in which an individual behaves and intermingles with other members of the team that lead to the effective movement of the team

Ecotourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Ecotourism - Essay Example uld be considered as culturally significant for the local people, it becomes necessary to take care that tourism does not in any way hurt the well being of such communities. Infact one way of improving the well being of the local communities would be to provide them with direct financial benefits to help them conserve the environment or purchasing goods and services directly from them and empowering them. As can be seen from the above discussion, the main difference, as Beeton (1998) points out, between other types of tourism and eco-tourism is that eco-tourism is more involved in conserving the ecological aspect of the environment; there is greater attention given to the ethical aspect of preserving the environment and improving the well being of the local communities involved. Ecotourism activities can include a whole range of activities from photography, wild life viewing, bird watching, mountaineering and even skiing. These activities can come under different categories of touris m but they become ecotourism activities solely when people become aware of the ethical responsibility they have in preserving and conserving the environment. It is therefore not hard to imagine why ecotourism is given precedence in the study of sociology. Sociology, put simply, is the study of the society. It provides deep insight about the social behavior and activities of humans within a society. Buckley (2004), states that the study of social norms is an inherent part of the discipline of sociology and social norms especially pertinent to outdoor creation, have drawn considerable attention in the past few years. Therefore, ecotourism in sociological terms simply seeks to define social norms which are used in evaluating outdoor behavior and environmental conditions. The growth of... Ecotourism Encouraging ecotourism in developing countries would firstly and fore mostly help the economy diversify. As a result of promoting ecotourism, more businesses will spring up and further business expansion in different fields would help spread the risk over a range of diverse economic activities. This is most important relevant to those developing countries who are highly dependent on a single sector in their economy (oil production or agricultural production). The diversification will also help bring in monetary benefits for the local economy. By bringing people into the area, new money will be injected into the economy. The most important strategy for a sustained ecotourism approach is to increase the participation and involvement of the local people. The whole essence of ecotourism lies in its ability to improve the well being of the local community. The new money circulating in the economy can be used in a variety of forms. It can be used on public expenditure and can be spent on building infrastructure for the country. It can also take the form of greater employment opportunities, and increased production which will attempt to increase the GDP of the country. Production induced phenomenon will work when businesses will buy goods and services from other business and consumption induced phenomenon will work when the final consumers would buy goods and services. However, the promotion of ecotourism must be done with caution because it can also put an additional burden on the financial and economic resources of the country.

The Effect of Online English Courses for Teaching English Grammar on Essay

The Effect of Online English Courses for Teaching English Grammar on Distance Students' Achievement at the University of Dammam - Essay Example A Proposal Submitted as a Requirement for the PhD in Education. Introduction Since the 1990s, technological advances have led to an increase in the 'integration of web-based and web-enhanced resources into instructional practices' (Rodriguez, Ooms, Montanez &Yan, 2005). Considered the most effective technologies to change the face of education, computers and the internet have caused a revolution, forcing the reformulation of curricula and the way it is delivered (Ameneh, 2011). With this revolution and development in the medium of delivery and presentation of knowledge, an increase in lifelong learning has been observed (Medford, 2004). As a result of the increasing demand for learning at all levels of society and in many different circumstances, Saudi Arabia (S.A.) has started delivering online courses. In S.A., online learning has been used to offer learning opportunities to students who are unable to attend an institute for various reasons, e.g. on medical grounds, due to living i n remote areas, or because they are over 25 years old. Online learning has many advantages for students and also for faculties. For example, it offers learning opportunities at any time, in any location and in a way adapted to modern lifestyles (Perry & Pilati, 2011). It also provides extra time for the students to apprehend the material and understand more abstract concepts through the application of different types of media (Perry & Pilati, 2011; Rose & Billinghurst, 1996). Moreover, online learning has proved to have many positive effects on student behavior, motivation, communication, and achievement (Samuel & Baker, 2005), e.g. it can encourage students' creativity, problem-solving, communication, collaboration and self-learning skills (Ameneh, 2011). In what concerns benefits for faculties, online learning provides a chance to be purposeful in their teaching (Perry & Pilati, 2011). It is an opportunity of sharing workload amongst staff and can include collaboration with other faculties. Content may also be built and modified, while satisfying the needs of different learning styles (Tang & Byrne, 2007). Furthermore, faculties can manage students' progress more easily by using the different management tools applied in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to deliver the course. Taking into consideration the advantages mentioned above, it is understandable the increasing number of students in S.A., who have demanded online learning over the last few years. This process is also supported by companies' gradual acceptance of online degrees, and the universities that offer them. The University of Dammam (U.D.) in S.A. started delivering online courses in January, 2012 to distance students in 2, out of its 28 colleges. Currently, all the departments in the Arts College offer online degrees, except the English Language department. Faculties in the English department are reluctant to use online learning techniques. A reason for this reluctance is the belief that technology cannot support or replace face-to-face (F2F) learning and teaching methods. Findings of this research may give the chance for reconsideration of this reluctance. Research Problem and Objectives U.D. adopted Blackboard as their VLE in 2011 for all students, both on-campus and distance learners. U.D. offers a BA in English language due to the consideration of English as the

Resume Cover Letter Essay Example for Free

Resume Cover Letter Essay This letter is to express my interest in bringing my expertise as a Human Resource Director to your organization.   I possess excellent interpersonal skills and am effective in management employment and payroll-related issues to achieve company goals and objectives. As you can gather from my attached resume, I have expertise in working effectively with executive management and employees in resolving human resource and payroll issues.   I am a detail-oriented individual with a proven track record for ensuring accurate compliance with state human resource rules and regulations.    In the past 12 years, I have gained invaluable experience as an Employment and Payroll Manager with management and training responsibilities for as many as 3000 employees. In addition to the skills noted on my attached resume, I can also offer your organization: A goal-oriented Professional with a commitment to personal and professional growth and development. Excellent verbal and oral written communication skills. Technical proficiencies in human resource and payroll computerized systems. It is my hope that my education and professional experience will convey to you that I have the qualifications to make a valuable contribution as a Human Resource Director with your organization.   Should you have any questions, I can be reached at the number listed above.

Investment Ethics Essay Example for Free

Investment Ethics Essay The contemporary world of today functions on investment. There are many types of investment such as investment in property, shares, mutual funds, sugar, gold, oil, rice etcetera (Theodore , 1992). The list goes on and on with some forms of investment so inanely mundane like investment in over priced paintings by unknown artists that one is forced to shake their heads at the inanes of how far the concept of investment has come since its inception. Investment is described in dictionary as: â€Å"In finance, investment is the purchase of a financial product or other item of value with an expectation of favorable future returns. In general terms, investment means the use money in the hope of making more money. In business it is the purchase by a producer of a physical good, such as durable equipment or inventory, in the hope of improving future business. † Gambling on the other hand is almost as old as investment itself and its exact origins are unknown. Scientists believe that the ancient Romans would bet on the outcomes of chariot races and gladiator fights. It could be defined as: â€Å"†¦the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period (Linda , 2006). † Now, a raging debate in the world today is whether investment is or is not just another form of gambling. I am an opponent of this statement but will first give an argument in favor of the statement. The purpose of me including the definitions above was to prove that even the meaning of the words investment and gambling themselves are similar. Any kind of investment be it financial or physical, is done to gain money or to increase the investors’ wealth. Gambling also serves the same purpose which is to gain financially from an act (though some people gamble for the thrill of winning etc). Also, in money investment, finance managers everyday gamble outrageous amounts of other peoples’ money on chance. Such transactions entail high risks and if this is not a form of gambling then what is? In fact, in some religions like Islam, most forms of investment except investment in property and currency, is forbidden because they proclaim it to be gambling which is also forbidden in the religion. In that way, if for people of some faiths it is forbidden completely, then it is wrong from an ethical perspective because you are risking not only your own earnings but the money of those who have entrusted you with their wealth (like shareholders to security companies). In addition, it is wrong from a moral point of view. This is because gambling gives rise to selfishness in the human heart. Greed is a natural emotion for almost all people and investing money in the form of higher returns gives birth to insatiability for more money which is why we often see people at casinos squander all their gambling winnings in hope of winning more and more. It is selfish because gamblers profit on the wealth of others and do not care about the next person or what big a loss he suffers. Another way that gambling can be wrong is that it may make people idle and complacent. They may be happy to earn their money through gambling only. They may not work hard because of this for a living because of this and continue to live off gambling without caring that it is not a permanent or very stable source of income (Elizabeth , 2007). But even though their definitions may be partly similar, the two words are not common in their truest sense. I agree that investment puts peoples’ money at risk for chance of a higher return but it is done by professionals like investment managers and financial accountants instead of novices or any Tom, Dick and Harry trying out their luck like in gambling. It is a whole structured business activity with companies spending months deciding how to spend their customer’s capital and hedging (or insulating) the investment against any negative exchange rate or interest movement. Gambling on the other hand requires no such months of planning and development and can be done on the spot. Secondly, gambling involves one party losing and the other winning. The winning of one depends on the other’s loss. In investment, there is no such tradeoff and all investors can benefit at the same time. Another very valid point here is that gamblers often don’t have the same intensive information that investors have. In the long term, gamblers are always paid less in winnings then they have invested. That is not the case with investment. So the debate between whether gambling and investment continues unresolved with both sides vehemently arguing their point. Works Cited Theodore, V. Ethics in Investment Profession. Research Foundation of the Institute of Chart. (May 1992). Linda, K. T. Managing Business Ethics. Wiley. (Aug 2006). Elizabeth, A. C. The Psychology of Ethics In finance and Investment. Research Foundation of CFA Institute. (June 2007).

Credit Rating Agency: Impacts of Regulatory Changes

Credit Rating Agency: Impacts of Regulatory Changes How rating agencies operate, and recent regulatory changes. Credit rating agency is a private company that is assigned to detect the creditworthiness of businesses, individuals or other organizations. It uses very many factors to assess the ability of the borrowers to repay their debts. It is majorly based on the borrowers solvency. The main instruments rated by the rating agency are the government bonds, corporate bonds, stocks exchange, municipal bonds and security collaterals. These obligations to assess the creditworthiness is issued by the companies especially banks in order to give loans to other business or companies. The agencies have been in practice for a long period since the 20th century. The agencies have certain regulations that governance its operations. This work explores the activities of credit rating agency how they operate and reasonable regulations that have changed recently (White, 2010). The main purpose of the rating agencies is to give the rating to businesses that issue debts, which involve Private Corporation and the national government and other forms of government. The agency has proved to be important in the lending, and the financial industry as information is for the investors to demand to receive adequate compensation for the risk involved in any particular investment is critical (White, 2010). Investors take into account the credit rating to help manage the range. Lower rating translates to greater lending risk by a lender. In consideration of the market trends, the investors may lend at larger rates in higher risk to protect against the risks thus, having an overall effect of raising the lending rates. Credit rating agency is also essential as the information they provide are used to determine the interest to be charged on loans given or possible returns expected. Business with a low rating and high risk would attract high-interest rate while the high rating and low risk would attract the low-interest rates. The investor seeks such opinions from the rating agencies in order to make appropriate investment decisions. In history, as from the beginning of the 20th century, three companies, Fitch, Moody, and standard and poors were formed to help the investors to access the ability of other individual be able to repay loan or assistance given to the by such institutions. For Fetch, it had a unique characteristic of publishing its finding on the stock and bonds financial statistics. The standard and poor it had the same approach as for the Fitch Moodys company but was a bit different, as it was proving its rating on the government bonds. The companies help so many organization and business to consolidate their asset and operation thus improving lending among the companies (Pinto, 2006). Creditworthiness, being the capability and willingness to make full payment of debt in required time, some companies due to financial constrain cannot be able to make such commitments. In order to determine the timely debt payment a number of factors are considered, the financial risk, industry risk, business and risks associated with management. This factors if not put into consideration a business cannot repay the debt. With the factor in place, certain criteria are used to assess the credit rating process (White, 2010). In order for any business to repay debt, the venture should be able to generate sufficient cash to fund all its operation and still have the excess to be used for the repayment of the credit. And the most important is the ability to repay the debts in full within the stipulated time happens is what most credit rating the companys main point of interest (Pinto, 2006). Certain factors are use in determining the rating for businesses, these factors considered can be grouped as either qualitative or quantitative. These factors also depend on the type of business in question. Different businesses have different fundaments and management structures. The environment of operations also marks an important factor. Business can prosper quickly or perform poorly based on the area it is situated. The industry in which the company operates is also important as some industries attract more risk than others or have a varying degree of requirements to run. The extent of market dominance as it provides the positions and influence in its operations. With all these factors in place, its possible to determine and make a comparison between the financial and business risk (Pinto, 2006). Quality analysis The environment of operation is coupled with the company itself before rating the company. It is important to have a detailed analysis of any operating risk of the issuer which involves its internal and the external business environment. Then there is analysis to evaluate the financial risk involved. Assessing the financial risks would help to keep the potential of the firm to repay the depths. Industry An industry in which the issuer is active determines the external factors in which the business can be successful, or it can fail to perform in. This gives the credit a platform in which it can assess the business qualitatively. The rating takes into consideration the mode of the company cycle and its volatility as it a tool for the long-term assessment of the capabilities to repay the loan or debts involved. In this case, the level of capital intensity and competitiveness make the critical business environment; It influences the rating since in most scenarios these factors impacts on the cash flow within the firm and the timely debt repayment (Pinto, 2006). To arrive at a rating, a real business profiling is conducted which involve in-depth analysis of the finances and the business itself; this profile is in conjunction with the riskiness in the particular industry. If a company operates in a relatively risky industry there a possibility of slightly lower rating irrespective its of the financial performance (Pinto, 2006). To case study on the industry, an oilfield service company is considered. The industry involves the companies that drill, provide oil services and gas exploration. These companies do suffer if done profile do not incur financial risk, but in case it is there its in low level, but instead, they have the business risk. Its characterized by the firms being highly specialized thus limited product are offered, the risk they are involved in are hard to avoid, the risks are spillages, contaminations, environmental risks and political risk. There is no barrier to entries posting possibility of stiff competition among other critical factors. The business risk assessment; the size of the rating would be able to tell if it will be able to withstand the petroleum price that is extremely volatile. In these feeds of operations, the economies of scale matter a lot since for the business with large sizes are not significantly affected by the changing prices. Other factors that are used include; operating efficiency which involves the cost of operation and the influence due to the ever-changing prices, capital intensity, sovereign governance, and the corporate governance. Other important factors considered are contractual position, diversification in customers, environmental factors and workforce enterprise (Pinto, 2006). In the rating, the financial and the business risk are blended to come up with the best rating. In most case, in such an industry the business risks are more than the financial risk. However, at some low level of rating the financial risk take precedence to environmental factors. The position in the market Market position in most cases may override if the business that operates in highly competitive environment which happen when assessing the industry. The critical factors to be considered include, the ability to influence or maintains prices in the market, for the sake of customers who are key and the products are diversified, in case there is competitiveness in the market and above all to what the business market share (Pinto, 2006). Taking business size into consideration only is only helpful in rating if the size has an influence on the cash flow regarding cost, operation efficiency, and the economies of scale which mainly experienced in oil industry explained above. Market position is, therefore, important in gauging the ability to cope with changes or disruption factor influencing its existence. If a business is a dominant business in a particular environment, it means that the firm can easily carry its operations but still manage to pay its debts obligations within time. This is because such business has a broad customer base so they can have good returns within a short period. Assessing based finance would give high results result. Business management The way business is managed greatly determines the creditworthiness. The analyst would consider the management skills in their ratings. Excellent managerial skills to business have many benefits to the success of the firm. However, in rating management, it is evaluated in more comprehensive perspective more than just operational success. The tolerance is a critical determinant. Tolerance in business manage is the ability to sustain the business running despite other factors that may hinder smooth business operation. Factors that would rate the company include maintaining market positions with a well-established managements track record, the long-term financial performance of the venture, having established efficient operating system form the basis of qualitative analysis if the rating. Rating base on management further takes into consideration the following. The company policy, establishment of policies should be in line with the objective of the business. These should stipulate the financial risks that are involved and incase the do exist, the appropriate ways to mitigate them. An analyst would particular concentrate on the financial risk polices created by the company. Organizational considerations The senior management plays a significant role in determining the success of the business. The management is the core decision makers, and the analyst relies most on the decisions they make to run the decision. The number of people involved in the process of decision making and the frequency of its adjustments. Problem crops in when old decision are still being used to influence a business that is in an ever changing market trends. Adding to risk tolerance, the reliability and credibility in determining the creditworthiness are based on the tolerance. Businesses which are at high-risk financial aid are starting businesses. So many challenges are normally encountered in the business before it gains stability especially in a highly competitive environment. If the management can sustain such constraints and still be able to repay a particular loan with a stipulated time, then such a business could earn a higher rating in the credit rating agency (Pinto, 2006). Management strategy, any successful business should be able to anticipate the future base on its past and present. Having a short and long term strategies that predict the future and maintaining the strategies chosen to form the best platform for analysis. The short term plans short be engineered to ensuring maximum earnings to the business (Langohr Langohr, 2010). Quality analysis of corporate governance firms Still, on the management of corporate firm have a bit complex management compared to other business as it has many people involve in senior management position forming the board of management of which must participate in decision making of affirms. The board should be effective. To ensure the effectiveness of the board its primary role of oversight and ability is important. Once the decisions have been made, then its implementation is by junior members. The analysis focuses on the capacity of the board to have a big oversight that would see smooth operation with emphasis on incentivizing management in the execution of the financial responsibilities (Langohr, Langohr, 2010). The board should also be independent. An independent director would participate in decision management with a clear focused mind. Those executives with some degree of loyalty to their seniors do not make rational decisions as their decisions are influence by their relations which may set back the corporate especially its finances which the main point of focus in the rating Financial discipline and accountability is another major consideration by the credit rating of the business. Factors that are considered are the compensations within the organization. A corporate which grants remuneration far above what is normal in the market is likely to have low ratings. Money transaction among the stakeholders such as top management, the sister companies and between shareholder cannot be trusted as accountability is likely to be a problem (Langohr Langohr, 2010). Companies or nations In rating countries or companies, the following factors are considered. The political risk; most companies do have internal politics. Business politics is good if it only it can embrace diversity and allows people to share their different ideas get synergize them together to come up with better solution or leadership to the business. In cases where bad politics is present, the probabilities of financial impropriates are high which would give a poor rating. National politics could lead to a country of peace which business operations are being carried on smoothly. In such an environment with political stability, a business can carry out its operations to get funds to pay their debt within time. This also applies to government borrowing. In case a country is in turmoil business are negatively affected thus their ability to repay their debts due to the risk involved is lowered therefore in such case the rating would relatively reduce irrespective of other factors. Regulatory risk; the laws that are enacted by countries are supposed to create a conducive environment for enabling business. The government should adopt policies or sign trade agreements that protect the local investments. In such as case, the economy grows allowing business and the government to repay loan. Some countries do enact monetary policies that act like a bullet shooting them in the foot. These policies may affect the countries internal and foreign investments. External risks: These risks relate to the treat such as wars or trade sanctions. A country that is engaged in war is at high risk of punishment by trading blocks and other external countries. In case a country receives such treat the implication is that its not able to carry any business with other nations. Which means it cannot be able to earn foreign exchange and which is used in repayment of government borrowings Fiscal risk; this depends on the balance between the government borrowing and expenditure. Is the government borrowing too much and spending away? Majorly the problem of over borrowing is common in third world countries in which the government officials are corrupt. Government borrowing is supposed to channeled to project that could create the return to help repay such loan. Countries with poor quality fiscal policies are rated lowly by the credit rating families. Economic risk; the economy of a country is determined by the gross domestic product. When there is a case of a poor economy such as the in a case of civil wars, the government cannot collect taxes, and there are cases of inflation which affect the countrys and companys ability to repay the loans(Pinto, 2006). Accounting Creditability and accountability of finances in an organization is shown by good accounting. The financial reporting is a clear indication that a business is financially disciplined. Credit institutions rely majorly on the accounting statements of a business. Accurate and transparent accounting books can motivate financial institution to grant credit facilities to business. On the rating, unclear books of accounting that could be as a result of interference by the management or workers have a negative implication on the assessment of the creditworthiness of the business. The agencies would also use the accounting theories in areas as depreciation, goodwill, consolidations and pension provisions that would demonstrate a true figure of financial performance (Pinto, 2006). Quantitative analysis Other than the qualitative analysis where there is detailed assessment of the finances is analyzed there is also a quantitative survey by the credit rating agencies. Quantitative analysis deals more with the cash generation ability of the issuers. To detect long-term sustainability an important ratio is considered, the profitability and the debt coverage ratio this requires the provision of financial projections for a period of next three or five years. The quantitative measure and development and trend are significant in the analysis. Profitability Profitability is determined a by a number of financial ratios. The ability to make profit is the main determinant of the level of credit protection and the degree of credit risk for investors. The potential to obtain capital internally and enter the external capital sources is directly proportional to the companys returns and operating margins. The margins i.e. operating income and sales provide the issuers profitability as a result of revenue growth excluding the profits. Comparisons are possible due to companies of the same level (Kisgen Strahan, 2010). Cash flow Payments of interest or principle are not made on the earnings Even though it seems to be connected to the profitability. When the operating cash flow is enough to services the debt and its operation that is the time it can be used to make payments. In credit rating methodology, cash flow is being taken as the most important as an essential part of the analysis. It is not possible to cover underperformance or loses through funds from external sources. Specific attention is on the extent the issuer depends on external funds and cashflow from operations. For companies to make future obligations, their cash flows are integral. It further focuses on the leverages, coverage, and earnings which are used accounting methods which are a particular and different valuation of assets. This implies that at no point it will mirror the correct financial position of the issuer and his ability to service the debt (Kisgen Strahan, 2010). Flexibility of finances When the company is under constrains, they react in a particular way shown by the financial flexibility. The rating checks at the debt serving during the time in which the finances are volatile in the business and in case the company could be having any other sources considered as external. The financial flexibility is directly proportional to funding options that are available for business. The flexibility in the finances is affected by the debt levels especially the short-term debts. Other effects to financial flexibility are loans with more restrictive terms, possibilities of legal issues, insurance covers missing and pensions which are not fully funded (Kisgen Strahan, 2010). Capital structure This is the dependence of business on the external source of funds. This highly affects the debt serving ability. If a company entirely depend on the external source, it is hard to predict how it would be able to repay the debt (Kisgen Strahan, 2010). Pros and cons Credit rating agencies like any other agency have pro and con in its operations. The advantages include they help institutions get better rates. For institutions with higher grades are in a position to borrow many at the rates which are favorable, it is a kind of an incentive to the businesses with good management and whose creditworthiness is not doubted. Help warn investors of risky companies; for the investors who want to invest in high risk, businesses are in a position to know the level of returns they expect from companies of low rating. It is due to this high risk that such investors are able to make surplus compared to the other normal investors. Provision for a room for improvement as a good incentive for the business rated poorly, it is an opportunity for them to realize the areas they should change in. A common challenge is that such businesses are normally in denial of their debt status. However, for those that accept do get advice as an incentive to their improvements. Since anything with advantage must have the other side, the cons of credit rating include evaluation being highly subjective; the rating between different companies varies considerably. This because there exist no known standard formula or guideline used by credit rating institutions in their work, the general rating is based on their judgments. The possibility of a conflict of reference: In making reference to cases in the department of justice USA where there was a possibility of a conflict of interest in mortgage-backed securities that collapse in 2008. The rating companies at times provide their services to companies which make the private request. However, they can make such rating and give to investors even if the requesting company still pays them. Conflict of interest to occur when the business does not a company is given good rating they do not deserve on the basis that this rating company wants to retain them as their customers (Mulligan, 2009). Lastly the ratings are in most cases not very accurate. For a long time the way the agencies rate have been subject to a lot of questioning. In as much as they do have a consistent rating, it does not translate to accurate rating. The inaccuracy can be case studied mortgage-backed securities that recessed despite the good rating it was given by then. New regulations on the credit rating agencies Reform Act has been enacted to with the aim of improving rating quality, investors protections and for the transparency, accountability, and competition in the credit rating market. I the USA the amendments geared toward the CRA include CRA reform act of 2006. The act raised the number of NRSRIs which lead to increase in competition among the CRA, in case there was no-action letter process in designation, then an agency can seek to designation by submitting applications to SEC with the new laws (Hill, 2012). The CRA companies were required with the new regulation to adopt NRSROs of particular policies and procedures which would prevent misuse of non-public information, materials and on the issue of management potential of interest; SEC was mandated to inspect these adoptions by the CRAs the new regulations further demand that NRSRIs are to provide their procedures and methodology in which they use to in rating, provide the SEC with information regarding quality of information, accuracy and reliability, including the information from the third parts used in rating the issuance, the NRSRO was to have board of director who is independent as they give internal control which implements, maintains and enforce the policies, methodologies, and procedures of credit rating. Right of action against ratings agencies can also be brought by the investors regarding the reckless failure to conduct a reasonable investigation of the fact or use of independent source to gain information. Qualifying exams and continuous education were enacted, and it was mandatory for the analyst to do and pass the exams. Other international agencies also such as the European Union also stipulated some of the rules for the rating agencies. The new rule seeks to reduce overreliance on credit rating, which specifically was dependent on the external rating but instead, financial institutions were to strengthen their risk assessment programs. The credit rating companies were to be more accountable for their activities in case there was intentionally or due to the negligence of other regulations. Conclusion The credit rating agency is important organs for the investor to base the decision in their rating as it gives the picture of the creditworthiness of the issuer. The investor can determine more accurately the returns from the investment and the risk involved in a particular investment plan. Financial institutions also can use the report from this agency to reduce the possibilities of high loan defaulters in their operation. However due to poor historical misconduct of some of the agencies and numerous disadvantages associated with such agencies companies have made losses and recesses as well. In line with this US government together other-other international bodies enacted laws and regulations to that strict governance the agencies and its operation by majorly making reference to mortgage-back securities. References       Hill, C. A. (2012). Regulating the rating agencies. Wash. ULQ, 82, 43. Kisgen, D. J., Strahan, P. E. (2010). Do regulations based on credit ratings affect a firms cost of capital?. Review of Financial Studies, hhq077. Langohr, H., Langohr, P. (2010). The rating agencies and their credit ratings: what they are, how they work, and why they are relevant (Vol. 510). John Wiley Sons. Mulligan, C. M. (2009). From AAA to F: How the credit rating agencies failed America and What can be done to protect investors. BCL Rev., 50, 1275. Pinto, A. R. (2006). Control and responsibility of credit rating agencies in the United States. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 54, 341-356. White, L. J. (2010). Markets: The credit rating agencies. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(2), 211-226.

A Comparison of Illusion in The Cherry Orchard and A Dolls House Essay

Dangers of Illusion in The Cherry Orchard and A Doll's House   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the plays, The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov, A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, and Galileo, by Bertolt Brecht, the protagonists' beliefs are a combination of reality and illusion that shape the plot of the respective stories.   The ability of the characters to reject or accept an illusion, along with the foolish pride that motivated their decision, leads to their personal downfall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Cherry Orchard Gayev and Miss Ranevsky, along with the majority of their family, refuse to believe that their estate is close to bankruptcy.   Instead of accepting the reality of their problem, they continue to live their lives under the illusion that they are doing well financially.   The family continues with its frivolous ways until there is no money left (the final night they have in the house before it is auctioned, they throw an extravagant party, laughing in the face of impending financial ruin.) Even when Lopakhin attempts to rescue the family with ideas that could lead to some of the estate being retained, they dismiss his ideas under the illusion that the situation is not so desperate that they need to compromise any of their dignity. Lopakhin: As you know, your cherry orchards are being sold to pay your debts.   The auction is on the twenty second of August.   But there’s no need to worry, my dear.   You can sleep soundly.   There’s a way out.   Here’s my plan.   Listen carefully, please.   Your estate is only about twelve miles from town, and the railway is not very far away.   Now all you have to do is break up your cherry orchard and the land along the river into building plots and lease them out for country cottages.   You ¹ll then have an income ... ... 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   You have a good thesis statement that introduces a complex discussion.   3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Your organization of the paper is also well developed.   However, you seem to begin new paragraphs too frequently. For example, in your discussion of A Doll’s House, you used several paragraphs to discuss the faults of Nora and her husband and then another paragraph for her growth.   All of the paragraphs discussing their faults could be condensed into one paragraph. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When citing a quote, you do not need to actually write the word â€Å"page† it is understood that the numbers are page numbers. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also when quoting, the punctuation of the last sentence should come after the parentheses of the citation and not before. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Be careful with verb tenses.   If you begin your sentence using the past tense the rest of your sentence should remain in the past tense.

Essay --

The people around us make experiences great and unforgettable. I was oblivious to this fact before my first completely independent summer trip for three weeks. In the past, I always traveled with my parents. They were all great vacations but they were not planned or controlled by me. It was all up to my mom. This time, however, I was the one who found the opportunity to go to the seaside with a group of young people and spend 21 days there. My parents were happy to let me go on this trip; as they also saw it as an exciting opportunity. It was up to me to plan it all on my own. I learned about the surroundings of the area I was to go to, the organization which planned the trip, got to know the people and found a way to get there. You could say that this was part of my road to independence. The deadline to get everything ready was quite short, so I was mostly just trying to get all of my things together and not building any expectations for the trip. This was probably also an important part of why it had influenced me so much. I was open for anything. Nevertheless, the trip ended up a bit expensive for my family and on my road to the seaside, I was feeling very doubtful about having made my family spend so much money on me. Then I arrived†¦ One may think that three weeks is not that long, but three weeks with 50 new completely different people from different parts of the world is quite something. It took almost a whole week to only remember their names. The very first evening we had together, we all went to a cafà © in the center and it had karaoke. After having sung in a choir for a big part of my childhood, this is something I totally enjoy. I was the first brave one to come out and sing â€Å"Mamma Mia† by Abba. It has become a trad... ...y life. It made me more independent and taught me the true value of relationships. There was much discussion among participants about the organization of the trip. Many negative sides and mistakes were brought up. Regardless of all of this, the trip even now seems completely amazing and breathtaking to me. It was not because of the accommodations we had or the food we ate. The people made the trip what it was. The people gave me unforgettable memories and let me experience completely new emotions. Thank you to each and one of them for being part of that summer for me. Once I got home, my life started to change bit by bit. I continued long conversations with the guy I met and by spring the next year I got a job. That job allowed me to visit over six people from that summer’s trip. This experience inspired me to change my life and thus changed the inevitable future.

An Ethical Responsibility Essay -- Essays Papers

An Ethical Responsibility Ethics and morals, two of the most important traits in an educated human being, are interestingly not taught by schools. Ethics is defined, in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, as the discipline dealing with what is good and what is bad. Morals are defined in the same dicitonary as those principles of right and wrong in behavior. For Jonathan Kozol, in The Night Is Dark And I Am Far From Home, ethics and morals have similar meanings but extend to include a sense of compassion for others. I agree with his argument that the purpose of schooling is to educate an ethical human being: a person who not only lives his life by facts and knowledge but also by ethics and morals. The need for schools to address ethics and morals is important in the 1990s, due to the emergence of the single-parent family. This new type of family, along with the family with two working parents, has caused the "latch key" child to become commonplace in many schools today. Since their parents are still working by the time they are dismissed from school, these young, elementary school children have a key to get into their homes everyday after school. Without parental supervision, they begin to believe that the decisions and actions in surreal comic books, popular, (at times pornographic), magazines, and violent television programs are acceptable. Such a situation results in children with a warped sense of reality, ethics, and moral, allowing them to easily become susceptible to delinquency. Proponents against the inclusion of ethics in schools argue that since ethics and morals are personal they should be taught in the home. However, for many of these children, an academic environ ment is the only place where they interac... ...e which do not. A child will be able to identify not only with his own mother's dying of cancer but also with another child's mother dying from cancer. The need for ethics and morality in education is more important now than ever before. The "latch key" child and single parent family have led schools to consider an ethical dilemma: are they responsible for the ethical and moral education of children. To see an end to teenage pregnancy, violence, and death, schools must teach their students what is ethical and moral and what is not. To secure our future as a provacative, risk taking, concerned society schools must not consider an ethical dilemma but rather accept their ethical responsibility. Works Cited Carballo, Jose. Personal Interview. 20 Sept. 1997. Kozol, Jonathan. The Night is Dark and I am Far From Home. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc., 1975.

Carp and Carper Law Essay

More than 18 years ago, in June 1988 President Corazon Aquino signed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and thus laid the foundation for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The law was passed after nearly a year of heated discussions in Congress. It was passed after the killing of 19 peasants who were members of a demonstration of 15 000 peasants asking for a meeting with the President and under the subsequent pressure of a coalition of 13 major farmers’ organizations who had formed a powerful umbrella group, the Congress for a People’s Agrarian Reform, consisting of one and a half million members. The implementation of the reform did not go smoothly and met, as in other countries implementing an agrarian reform, strong resistance from large landowners. Some used their political influence to prevent confiscation, while others tried to circumvent the reform by illegal land transfers, land use conversion and other illegal means. Furthermore, the landlord dominated Congress delayed persistently the allocation of funds for the implementation of the program. Yet, despite many obstacles the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and its cooperating agencies have accomplished many of their objectives. Some 2 million landless farmers have received a plot of land of their own and about 1 million tenants were given secure tenancy conditions. The reform has improved the wellbeing of the rural society and contributed to socio-economic stability in the countryside. With a coverage of about 40 percent of the rural population and 75 percent of all cultivable land the reform can be considered as one of the most successful in recent times. While some large latifundia are still to be covered, the time has come to reflect about the future role of the Department and its staff once the land acquisition and distribution component of the reform has been completed, i. e. in the post land acquisition and distribution (post LAD) period. As the experience in the Philippines and in other countries has shown the mere allocation of land to reform beneficiaries is not sufficient. In order to become successful they have to be provided with supporting services. In the past they were, to a large extent, supplied by the Department of Agrarian Reform. However, if a main part of its activities comes to an end, the question arises whether there is still need for DAR and if so, for which tasks, or whether other actors are better suited to carry out the remaining activities. In this state of affairs the Department became aware of the need for a study which would review various institutional options for supporting reform beneficiaries and the rural community as a whole. The Department approached the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to assist in the preparation of such a study. GTZ has, for more than 30 years, cooperated with the Government of the Philippines in implementing its development programs. It has given special emphasis to economic reforms and poverty alleviation. In recognition of the importance of maintaining the gains of the reform for the alleviation of rural poverty GTZ responded favourably to the request. In consultation with the Director of the Policy and Strategic Research Service, Mrs. Martha Carmel Salcedo, GTZ commissioned five agrarian reform specialists and a project manager to conduct the study. A steering committee composed of DAR and GTZ was responsible for the coordination of the study. The consultants prepared an analysis of the various components of the program and made proposals for agricultural and rural development in a period after land acquisition and distribution. In order to validate their preliminary findings and conclusions GTZ organized regional consultations in Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Baguio and San Fernando and a national workshop in Metro Manila. The meetings provided an open forum for discussions among representatives of government and civil society about the future of CARP, DAR and its cooperating agencies. The views expressed in these meetings were considered by the consultants and as far as feasible incorporated in the study. Director Salcedo and her staff followed the various stages of report preparation and offered valuable comments on earlier drafts, without, however, interfering in the conceptual work of the consultants. In order to provide necessary background information which is needed for the understanding and justification of the various options proposed, the book traces in its first part the events that characterized the implementation of the program and describes in several sub-chapters its main components. It appraises program accomplishments and impact. It analyses shortcomings and constraints in its implementation. Each sub-chapter pinpoints lessons learned and identifies components which require further interventions. In the second part of the book the consultants provide several options for institutional change for the future development of the rural community and give special emphasis to the role of the Department of Agrarian Reform and its specialized units. On the basis of their analysis in the first part of the study they propose a number of recommendations which the government may consider in order to safeguard the achievements of the reform. In this context it is proposed that full use should be made of the experience of the able and motivated staff of DAR, both in the field and in headquarters. On the other hand it is important to realize that agrarian reform and rural development cannot be achieved by government interventions alone. While the government can provide the general legal framework, sustainable rural development requires the active participation of local level self-help groups, autonomous peasant organizations and NGOs.

The Use of Social Networking Sites

By Ogechi Ebere By Ogechi Ebere Their Advantages, Abuses and Dangers. Their Advantages, Abuses and Dangers. The Use of favorable Networking Sites The Use of affable Networking Sites Introduction sympathetic beings by and large atomic number 18 kindly. They savour an inherent need to connect and expand their connections. in that respect is a wakeless root need among humans to sh are. In the past, due to geographical distances and economic concerns, connections between mickle were limited. A companionable network is make up of individuals that are connected to iodin an other(a)(prenominal) by a position type of interdependency. It could be ideas, values, trade, eachthing. mixer networks operate on galore(postnominal) an(prenominal) levels. Initially neighborly networking happened at family functions where all relative and friends would conglomerate nether one roof. cordial networking has al shipway been customary it is mediocre that in these times the scene of f riendly networking has changed. Where earlier the process was dewy-eyed drawn, involving a chain movement where in one soul led to another(prenominal) by dint of a web of societal contacts, to daytime the process is highly specialized. Ill introduce to you themost must-know avails and disadvantages, dangers of complaisant media so youll be aware of how to use it in the safest and most valuable workable waysAdvantages of Social Networking Sites 1) Low Cost dialogue (essentially free) If you go on to hearty networking places some(prenominal)(prenominal) as Facebook, Bebo or MySpace, you piece of ass channelize messages back and forth to multiple friends at once, absolutely free from charge (apart from the bell of real running the internet, and computer etcetera ). 2) Making New Friends You are apt(p) the opportunity to make new friends via such points, whether that be pop the questioned friends (a friend of a friend) or online relations that spate be organize d ue to a shared divert or hobby. 3) The Ability to Upload Videos and ImagesMost Social Networking platforms pose the susceptibility to allow you to transfer point media. So a wide selected audience tin can view your pictures and videos. obstetrical delivery you having to send images and videoes directly to each person you want to see them, instead they can simply pop over to your score visibleness and view them. 4) The Ease of tantrum Up Events Facebook allows you to create stock- silencets, which is an online organised run across to do something (in the real homo) with a narrow down time and place, so via Facebook you can draw protrude invites to the event and make announcements etc.Again saving time, as you arent having to go around communicating to eitherone individually. 5) manduction fill inledge Social networking sites give you the capability to share nurture with ease, and by doing this Julia ostiary states that quite a little are able to addition both th eir learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchic organisation this incident statement was is in regards to passing information around scientists, that it can withal be utilise to other organisations also. ) Finding Old Friends Social networking is a great tool to reunify with friends, with societal networking sites such as Friends Reunited. Where a simple sign-up and filling in a few details you use up just allowed yourself to be found by hoar friends. 7) Tools for Teaching As students are apply a wide range of social networking sites already, teachers have taken advantage of this. Teachers have started to bring up online academic discussions (through travel and chat rooms) for their students to participate in.Social network platforms also provide teachers with the ability to help students bulge with homework and communicate with parents. 8) Pursuing Jobs and run short Experience Twitter in particular is a grea t tool for this, tweeting that you are interested in a particular job or internship could be a great step to really securing one. As your followers may not actually have a opportunity for you, simply they may know good deal who do so you dont only work stoppage into your network, you tap into the network of the people who are future(a) you (i. e the friend of the friends network).Disadvantages of Social Networking Sites 1) The onset Of Privacy It has been addressed on galore(postnominal) an(prenominal) occasions in the news and in the press, that we are giving away too much personal information about ourselves, and that this is confidential information us to neat vulnerable to the likes of individualism theft etc. 2) Reducing player Productivity at that place has been evidence to suggest social networking sites are harming businesses. Their employees are expend time right throughout the day by participating in social networking sites rather than actually working.It h as been stated that Facebook totally is accountable to wasting to a greater extent than ? one hundred thirty million a day in the UK. 3) How Much Do Social Networking Sites Know? Perhaps social networking sites have learnt a bit too much information for comfort, Facebook knows via their program Facebook Beacon that analyses our natural online behaviour how enormous we are on the internet for, how a great deal we visit certain websites etc. They manage your activity even when you arent actually even logged in to Facebook 4) Potential to Cause Harm at that place has been umteen reported cases, where fake accounts have been made, that unfold to horrific tragedies. Such as in October 2006 a fake MySpace account was created that was given(p) the name of Josh Evans that was closely relate to the suicide of Megan Meier. 5) The Case of Cyber-Bullying As many young teenagers are using social networking sites as a form of communication, this just providesbullies with another opport unity to traumatisetheir victims. With few limitations from social networking sites to what people can actually post, bullies have the ability to publish unsavory images and comments. ) Trolling These are rather common occurrences where individuals will post within a social network, to either annoy or spark a reaction through a post or worldwide comment these people are lots referred to as Trolls. Not really bullying, more than being a nuisance on the social network. 7) Causing a overleap of Personal Communication There is a concern over people get so reliant upon the convenience of social networking sites that they arent actually using real-life verbal skills and they losing out on social intimacy with other people. ) Psychological Issues Studies have been conducted where the results suggest that people are becoming addicted to social networking sites e. g. a case of fourteen year old spending over octette hours day on Facebook etc. . There is also evidence to suggest th at these sites can cause a person to shade lonely. The Dangers Of Social Networking Sites There are many inherent dangers of social networking sites because of the way the websites work. unrivaled of the biggest dangers is fraud, sometimes having to do with identity theft.Because these sites are based on friends and the passing on of bits of personal information, thieves realized the potential instantly. There are endlesssocial networking scamsthat crooks can try to charge off with this mediocre and we have only seen the tip of the berg so far. The newest mainstream social network is twitter. Its based on people interest others and getting to read their tweets of 140 characters or less. This is one of the dangers of social networking sites because many people want as many followers as possible and they arent shy about what they say in their tweets.This highlights the vex with Twitterand many other social networking sites. Many peoples goals on these sites is to have as many f riends as possible and they just dont think before they message or add friends. Unfortunately, this sets them up to be wrong by one scam or the next. The biggest social network in the world is facebook. Started in 2004 by a Harvard student, this site has had a meteoric rise. Facebook has become a huge software platform that houses every application imaginable and millions of games and groups and exploiters. This brings us to another one of the dangers of social networking sites.With the goal of becoming bigger than big, can these sites really nurse the average users while on their site? Yes, this should be up to the individual user, hardly certain things cannot be controlled by the user and when the site has 200 million users (100 million log in everyday ), how much resource can be employ for protecting clients of the site? With so many people logged in everyday that digest personal information constantly, the crooks have followed and moveFacebook identity theftto get what th ey need. There are truly endless scams they have tried and will try to pull off on the social networks.Teen Social Networking By The Numbers * 51 part of teens who check their sites more than once a day. * 22 component who check their sites more than 10 times a day. * 39Percentage who have posted something they afterward regretted. * 37Percentage who have use the sites to make fun of other students. * 25Percentage who have created a profile with a false identity. * 24Percentage who have hacked into mortal elses social networking account. * 13Percentage who have posted nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves or others online. acebook identity theft like any other online identity theft, can be extremely dangerous for teenagers. With their brain still developing, it is very easy to take advantage of them by pretending to be someone else (usually a crush). There have been many cases like this and it devastates the teen when the criminal reveals that it was a hoax. Many teen s have fallen into deep depression or even preoccupied their life, an enormous tragedy and one of the biggest dangers of social networking sites. Be studious Be Careful There are thousands and thousands offacebook impostorsout there looking to make an easy institutionalize or harass people they know.

Multiple Sclerosis Case Study

Jamaal Jones III is a healthy, equalise athlete who was been drafted to the spick-and-span York Giants 2 weeks ago. After attend numerous practices and training sessions, Jamaal has earned a head start position as a wide receiver. He is 62 and 200lbs of pure muscle get to to run over any opposing corner rachis. Jamaal Jones is wield up His first game is against the Philadelphia Eagles. All his fans be waiting for him, the weather is vast (65 degrees), and his family is watching him at the front bench.Everything was going as planned until something happened. He strode out onto the sphere of influence to the cheers coming from the stands when he befuddled his balance, tripped and fell. He felt his eyes roll back to the back of his head darkness slowly pass on upon his consciousness. He felt nonhing, just a desensitize sensation as he convulsed, thrashed about and groped for the contiguous support. The stadium stood hushed as the scene unfolded in front of them, a pair of stretchers was brought out onto the field to carry Jamaal to the nearest hospital.The emergency room worked with inspiration trying to rule out as many another(prenominal) conditions as possible, performing a lumbar deflate and an MRI on his brain. From these test the doctors had confirmed what they had ab initio believed Jamaal had sh possess symptoms of. As the doctors entered the room Jamaal was lost in his own world dreaming of his grandfather, Jamaal Jones Sr. and how they would play football together as a child. Jamaal awakes from his stupor by the sudden intrusion in his room he merchantman see the grief and weariness on his parents faces.He looks on as the doctor beckons his parents to exit the room. The doctor tells his parents Your son has double sclerosis. MS is a disease that affects the brain and spinal anesthesia cord resulting in loss of muscle control, vision, balance, and sensation. The parents asked, Is in that location a cure for MS? The doctor tells them No, we can only treat the symptoms which provides short term relief. some(prenominal) long term cure for this disease has not been found. Jamaals mother asked the doctor how Jamaal could have acquired such(prenominal) a disease but the doctor could not provide and answer. With great sorrow in his share the doctor tells Jamaals parents Unfortunately, this disease is permanent and we cannot do anything to cure him. I am sorry. Having been diagnosed with MS, Jamaal became a great advocate for MS awareness, organizing events through his former team, the New York Giants, to promote his cause.