Plato and Aristotle Similarities and Differences Essay

What factors, for Plato and Aristotle, were critical in the construction of a state? Before one examines the construction of the State in the eyes of two famous classical thinkers, one must first understand what a State is. A State can be defined as a group of people settled in a specific geographical location where, through interdependency and order, a livelihood can be achieved. Plato and Aristotle, both great philosophers, contributed to the world of politics today, their views and ideas on what should be considered in the construction of a State. Plato (427-347 B. C. ), famous for his work â€Å"The Republic†, viewed the state as a machine which can be constructed systematically. In contrast to his former mentor, Aristotle, a former student of Plato, regarded the State as an organism with the attributes of a living being, stating that its emergence is a natural process. Both ideas are very influential and crucial in examining and understanding their contributions made to politics and society today. In the eyes of Plato, one of the main factors critical to the construction of the State was the division of the human soul. Within Plato’s division of the soul, there were 3 divisions: – â€Å"the rational†, which was regarded as the highest part of the soul and, as a result, gave particular people the ability to reason; â€Å"the spirited†, which had the capacity to follow and asset the claims of reason; and lastly, â€Å"the appetitive†, which Plato found as the lowest part of the soul and sheltered desires and emotions. The Rational reflected the rulers/philosophers who were small in groups but ruled over a much larger group of producers. They occupied the top of the class structure and because of their ability to reason, people believed that they alone had the insights and solutions to human problems. The Spirited followed the Rational and consisted of soldiers and administrators who supported and were controlled by the Government, hence their capacity to follow. The Appetitive represented the producers in society. Making up the majority of the population, producers were mainly artisans, traders and farmers who provided the basic services to society and were never allowed to state their opinions and feelings, thus their harbored emotions. Such a class structure was referred to as an aristocracy, which Plato thought of as the ideal State. It was this threefold division of the soul which influenced the division of society, therefore making it a critical factor in Plato’s construction of the state. Another factor which was very influential in Plato’s  construction of the State lay in the process of selective breeding. Selective breeding can be considered the pairing of parents to ensure the highest physical and mental qualities of the offspring. Such offspring were to become the next generation of rulers by the age of fifty. Plato believed that the selection of rulers could be best made through lengthened education and training which were reserved for only the ruling class in the form of music, literature, military instructions and so forth, to enhance these qualities. According to Plato, government and ruling must not be left to chance. It is through a planned program of training that kings are born, made and sculpted into society. This transmitted process is significant to the construction of the State in the eyes of Plato. Contrary to Plato’s views, Aristotle had his own vision of the construction of the State and rather than viewing the state as a piece of machinery, he saw it as a ‘natural entity. ’ Aristotle spoke of the construction of the State as an organism, in which the State was the highest form of all communities. One of the main factors in Aristotle’s eyes, critical to construction of the State, was the belief that the State was natural. In this perspective, the family, the village and the State were 3 stages in the growth of human relations. Aristotle saw the family as the first stage or form of association where mankind is reproduced and men’s primary daily wants and needs such as food, clothing and shelter are supplied. The second form of association of the state was the village in which men search for something more than the basic wants supplied in the family. In this stage, man satisfies his elementary needs such as a desire for companionship and loyalty. The third and highest form of community is the State. It is within this stage that moral values and beliefs are established through social institutions which are implemented throughout the State, such as the church and school. The state exists solely for the purpose of ensuring that man realizes himself and lives the good life. Thus, Aristotle emphasizes on the recognition of the State as a natural process which is critical for the proper construction of a state. Moreover to Aristotle’s belief of the State as an organic concept, another essential factor which Aristotle considers in the construction of a state is the framing of an appropriate system of government. Aristotle recognized 3 forms of true governments: – monarchy, aristocracy and constitutional government. Monarchy consisted of one ruler with the best features, qualities and merits who governed the majority of the population. Aristocracy consisted of a small group of rulers governing a large group of people. Aristotle defined it as â€Å"government formed of the best men absolutely†. Finally, a constitutional government was one where a large group of citizens administered for the common interest of the people. Aristotle, like Plato, regarded the aristocracy, in addition to the monarchy, as the ideal forms of government as they both consider the virtue of rulers above the consent of the ruled. Thus, to Aristotle, the framing of a system of government was essential in the construction of a state. In retrospect, in assessing the various factors which were significant to the construction of a state, both philosophers possessed dissimilarities in how they viewed the entire entity of the State but agreed in the decision of which government should be implemented within the state. These factors proved very influential in today’s conceptions and understanding of society and are important components of the work done by both classical thinkers and the present study of politics.

Mid Term 220

Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 1 of 9 MGT220. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (MGT220) > TAKE ASSESSMENT: MIDTERM EXAM Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Name Midterm Exam Instructions Always pick the single best answer. Blank answers will be scored as incorrect. Multiple Attempts This Test allows 2 attempts. This is attempt number 1. Force Completion This Test can be saved and resumed later. Question Completion Status: Question 1 2 points Sellers generally benefit from e-auctions due to the opportunity to bargain for lower prices. Save True False Question 2 2 points Nokia has entered the mobile gaming world.It markets near-distance multiplayer gaming over __________ and wide-area gaming over __________ networks. Save A. cellular; local area B. Bluetooth; cellular C. GPS; wide area D. WiMax; analog E. Question 3 2 points Using wireless technologies, one can create applications that are not available with wireline systems. Save True False Question 4 2 points Save 2 points In general, which o f the following is true about the transmission of confidential and personal information between an RFID reader and a back-end database protect? Save Blogs, mashups, instant messaging, and wikis are examples of A. avatars B. social computing C. virtual worldsD. wireless communications Question 5 http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 2 of 9 A. Those transmissions are sent over secure networks to keep the information secure. B. Information sent via those transmissions is protected using encryption. C. RFID tags do not yet contain confidential or personal information. D. Firewalls are used to protect information in transit. Question 6 2 points Remote administration Trojans (RATs) are a class of backdoors that are extremely dangerous because they enable remote control over the infected machine.Save True False Question 7 2 points Save 2 points A(n) __________ is an analysis of the benef its of using a specific business model. Save Productivity in an enterprise can be measured in terms of: A. the amount of input per amount of time B. the ratio of the amount of output to the amount of input C. the number of units produced D. market share Question 8 A. core competency B. exchange C. RFQ D. value proposition Question 9 2 points A valuable property of e-tailing is the ability to offer customized products and services to individual customers at a reasonable price and quickly. Save True False Question 10 2 pointsWith two-factor authentication, two types of information are used to verify the user's identity, such as passwords and botnets. Save True False Question 11 2 points One of the worst and most prevalent crimes is identity theft, which has been made worse by widespread electronic sharing and databases. http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ Save 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 3 of 9 True False Qu estion 12 2 points Directories and hyperlinks from other Web sites and intelligent search agents help buyers find the best stores and products to match their needsSave True False Question 13 2 points _________ percent of companies that suffer a significant data loss die within five years, according to Freeman Mendel, the chair of the FBI's 2006 Infragard National Conference. Save A. 7 B. 23 C. 57 D. 93 Question 14 2 points A risk associated with tools that are meant to improve the productivity and quality of life in general is that they can lead to abuses such as intruding on an employee's or manager's personal time. Save True False Question 15 2 points Responsibility for internal control and compliance with information security olicies rests directly on end-users. Save True False Question 16 2 points Packet technologies convert voice, video, and data into packets that can be transmitted together over a single, high-speed network eliminating the need for separate networks. Save True False Question 17 2 points Advances in converged networks, SIP, and tools have eliminated the barriers to full integration and interoperability. Save True http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 4 of 9 False Question 18 2 pointsThe software-as-a-service (SaaS) approach is based on the trend for developing applications in-house rather than buying them. Save True False Question 19 2 points A(n) __________ is a method of doing business by which a company can generate revenue to sustain itself. Save A. adaptive strategy B. business model C. electronic commerce Web site D. operations model Question 20 2 points According to the market intelligence firm IDC, organizations with a 1,000 or more knowledge workers lose over $5 million annually because of: Save A. time wasted by employees reformatting data as they move among applications.B. data that is out of context or outdated. C. the inabi lity of knowledge workers to share data with others working on the same project. D. the inability to synchronize data. Question 21 2 points One example of an integrated messaging system is __________, which combines wireless communications, vehicle monitoring systems, and vehicle location devices. Save A. collaborative commerce B. supply chain management C. voice portal D. wireless telemetry Question 22 2 points Which of the following is not accurate regarding businesses that collect data about employees or customers? SaveA. The data must be available to auditors. B. Businesses have a legal duty to protect this data. C. The data should be accessible only to authorized people. D. Securing the data from abuse by authorized parties is expensive and difficult. Question 23 2 points http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ Save 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 5 of 9 An example of a mobile enterprise application is sales force automation (SFA), which enables sales force employees to type orders straight into an ERP while at a client's site.Benefits include a reduction in clerical mistakes and improved supply chain operations. True False Question 24 2 points Save 2 points Information systems can be organized according to organizational hierarchy (e. g. , departmental, enterprisewide, and interorganizational) or by the nature of supported task (e. g. , operational, managerial, and strategic). Save Web 1. 0 was basically organized around each of the following except: A. corporations B. media C. software D. technology Question 25 True False Question 26 2 points Save 2 points Several banks in Japan issued __________ cards to customers.These cards store a template of the person's palm vein to authenticate the customer's identity when withdrawing money. Save The ________ suite is the standard used with almost any network service. A. Internet protocol B. Transport Control Protocol C. User Datagram Protocol D. Voice over IP Question 27 A. smart B. RFID C. ATM D. adaptive Question 28 2 points Save Which is the first step in the process of managing business performance? A. Determine how to attain the performance levels. http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm ExamPage 6 of 9 B. Assess where the organization stands with respect to its goals, objectives, and measures. C. Decide on desired performance levels. D. Set the budget for achieving performance or goals. Question 29 2 points Microsoft releases _________ to update and patch vulnerabilities in its operating systems, including Vista, and other software products, including Office 2007. Save A. firewalls B. podcasts C. service packs D. workbooks Question 30 2 points Reasons why managers may not be able to trust their data include all of the following except: Save A. Data are too synchronized. B. Data are out of context.C. Data are outdated. D. Dat a are so overwhelming that they require weeks to analyze. Question 31 2 points A computer system essentially organizes data into a hierarchy that begins with bits and proceeds to bytes, fields, files, databases, and records. Save True False Question 32 2 points Save Databases are the optimal way to store and access organizational data. True False Question 33 2 points Social network analysis (SNA) is the mapping and measuring of relationships and flows between people or groups. Nodes in the network are the people or groups, while the links show relationships or flows between the nodes.Save True False Question 34 2 points Save What is significant about 4G networks? http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 7 of 9 A. 4G has a circuit switched subsystem B. 4G is based purely on the Internet Protocol (IP) C. 4G is the convergence of the features of 2G and 3G D. All of the above Question 35 2 points Save All of the following correctly define the networking technology except: A. WAP is an Internet protocol developed for transferring information on the Internet to and from wireless clients. B.EV-DO is fast wireless broadband access that runs in a Wi-Fi hotspot. C. Instant messaging has become a mission-critical collaboration tool for over 130 million workers in businesses of all sizes. D. Bluetooth is how mobile phones, mobile and fixed computers, and PDAs can be easily interconnected using a short-range RF wireless connection. Question 36 2 points A supply chain is the flow of materials, information, money, and services from raw material suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customers. Save True False Question 37 2 points A(n) antivirus software is a technology that checks Internet packets sent to nd from a network and enforces access-control policies between networks. Save True False Question 38 2 points The virtual elimination of software-upgrade cycl es makes applications perpetual worksin-progress and allows rapid prototyping using the Web as a platform. Save True False Question 39 2 points When dealing with consumer-facing applications, such as online banking and ecommerce, strong authentication must be balanced with ________. Save A. costs B. convenience C. privacy risks D. war driving risks Question 40 2 points Save A wiki is all of the following except: http://coursesite. mtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Page 8 of 9 A. a software program B. a discovery tool C. a collaboration site D. a search engine Question 41 2 points Data warehouses are designed as online analytical processing (OLAP) systems, meaning that the data can be queried and analyzed much more efficiently than application databases. Save True False Question 42 2 points Save 2 points Fraud detection is too complex to be handled effectively by intelligent analysis engines using adva nced data warehousing. SaveWhat is the technology that enables Internet browsing from wireless devices? A. WAP B. EMS C. WiMax D. WLAN Question 43 True False Question 44 2 points Which of the following factors is not a major type of business pressure on enterprises? Save A. Homogenous workforce B. Powerful customers C. Regulatory compliance D. Terrorist attacks and homeland security Question 45 2 points ___________ support functional managers by providing them with periodic reports, such as weekly sales volume and comparisons of actual expenses to budgeted expenses. Save A. Personal information managementsB. Transaction processing systems C. Management information systems D. Enterprise systems http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012 Take Assessment: Midterm Exam Question 46 Page 9 of 9 2 points Mary Kay transformed itself from traditional modes of operation to a business model that enabled rapid growth into new marke ts by doing all of the following except: Save A. networking various applications so they communicate with each other B. using business service management to connect to consultants. C. sing social computing for marketing D. outsourcing its IT infrastructure Question 47 2 points M-commerce B2C applications are concentrated in three major areas, which include each of the following except: Save A. retail shopping for products and services B. advertising C. mobile portals D. selling digitized content such as music, movies, or games Question 48 2 points Save Data redundancy wastes physical storage media, makes it difficult to obtain a comprehensive view of customers, and increases the costs of entering and maintaining the data. True False Question 49 2 pointsAt a strategic level, the totality of a company's data resources is nearly irreplaceable. Yet data at this macro-level remains largely overlooked by corporate leadership. Save True False Question 50 2 points Save Why is auditing a Web site important from the perspective of risk? A. It is a good preventive measure to manage legal risk. B. It is a key part of disaster recovery. C. To insure that biometrics were implemented properly. D. It is a necessary corrective action. http://coursesite. umtweb. edu/webapps/assessment/take/launch. jsp? course_assessment_id=†¦ 9/25/2012

Art Museum Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art Museum Assignment - Essay Example It captures a man by a boat at the river and the tranquil surroundings. Analyzing the elements of the painting shows that horizontal lines dominate the painting indicating the calmness of the scene. The colors used are mostly tones of blue and green with hues of brown, red and yellow. The painting simulates the textures of the textile and the reeds at the river and the artist created an illusion of proximity by using the varying values of the colors. The boat and the man appear nearer to the viewer since the artist used darker values of green, brown, blue and red. In contrast, the trees and the house on the right part of the composition appear to be distant because of the lighter values of green, yellow and blue used on the forms. A River in Normandy exhibits the fine technical skill of Bonington. The artist’s precision and mastery of techniques earned the respect of his colleague Eugene Delacroix. The painting is also one of the examples of en plein air artworks at the time that artists were usually inside studios to paint. Another painting from the Dallas Museum of Art is the Sheaves of Wheat by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The oil on canvas work is 50.483 centimeters x 100.965 centimeters and was completed in July 1890, the same year that van Gogh died. The piece was painted during the period that the painter was experiencing physical and mental health problems. It was also during this time that van Gogh was assumed to develop problems with his eyesight thus the colors he used were lighter in value. The Sheaves of Wheat is a non-representational painting showing bundles of freshly harvested wheat. Typical of a non-representational painting, van Gogh’s artwork does not fully resemble the heaps of wheat because of the color and daubs of paint that make up the form of the wheat stacks. Diagonal lines are prevalent in this painting, signifying movement and suggesting

Performance Measurement and Evaluation of Royal Dutch Shell Plc Case Study - 1

Performance Measurement and Evaluation of Royal Dutch Shell Plc - Case Study Example Bob Ryan points out three major forms of assumptions such as capability, situation (state) and facts, as the backbone of all financial planning in a business enterprise. All these assumptions need to be tested against the realities when the review process is undertaken (2004 292). But these assumptions need to be tested against time in order to know whether the realities are with the assumptions. Control is the process of ensuring that a firm’s activities conform to its plan and that its objectives are achieved. Control systems are measurements and information that assist in determining management control and decision making. It encompasses all the methods and procedures that guide employees towards the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. (Drury, 2001) Management control systems provide a mechanism to suggest whether the business strategies implemented by an organization benefited them. (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kisco, 2000) According to Kaplan & Norton (1996), what an organization cannot measure, the organization cannot manage. In that sense, a management control system is also a performance measurement system. These measurement systems focus on improving the business processes and achieving breakthrough performance that is most critical for customers as well as shareholders. (Kaplan & Norton, 1996) Such systems may incorporate financial and non-financial systems. However, the focus of this paper is on the financial performance measurement system. Ryan focuses on forecasting as well as reviewing as processes of control. Forecasting is done on the expected profit through price and volume adjustment in forecasting. On the other hand, reviewing is a process to understand the influence of external factors and deviations to the indicators of forecasting through comparison between budgeted items and actual outcomes (Ryan 267-313).

Generator Protection Measures Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Generator Protection Measures - Thesis Example One of the primary function of a generator is to provide power to a given number of appliances. Generally, generators are used in almost all parts of the world others serving as standby generators in case of power outages. Generators therefore do not operate in an ideal condition but are subjected to failure and other problems. It is therefore necessary to wear protective clothing and take other necessary measures to curb such problems. This problem is also taken care of by the manufacturers by ensuring that they produce machines with high load factor to guarantee the safety of the civilians or the people who operates it in case of failure or during maintenance. Furthermore, after taking care of all the precautions that might occur faults associated with electrical or even mechanical persists. Most manufacturers globally have embraced the use of relays. Fundamentally, relays are electric devices which acts as circuit breakers in case of a problem. It is always standby and when a prob lem of overvoltage occurs it immediately disconnects the power line to the appliances or even disengages and shutdown the generator in order to ensure that machines or other devices do not get damage as a result of power disruption. Digisilent software is principally one of the most applicable software in generators. It is the most convenient software to use owing to its several advantages like general functioning incorporation, wide range of modelling in terms of distribution and transmission which produce the best analysis. In order to eradicate some outages in the generator, it is recommended to use Digisilent software to achieve maximum protection as far as electrical or mechanical faults are concerned. Thermal protection is one of the most fundamental aspect of safety that must be undertaken. It is carried out to reduce the impact of overheating.

Waste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Waste - Essay Example 1). A complete elimination of waste from the waste stream however starts with responsibility of individual people who use the materials for packaging, the consumers of the packed goods and users of other commodities that turn into wastes. The users, instead of passing the waste disposal burden to the authorities, can more effectively eliminate these wastes from the waste stream. One of the most effective ways to eliminating wastes from the waste stream is by using materials that can easily be recycled. Manufacturers can for instance eliminate wastes by producing plastics, wrappers and other commodities that can easily be recycled. Similarly, individuals can facilitate elimination of wastes by recycling materials whenever possible. Another approach towards eliminating wastes from waste stream is the reuse of materials. This approach retains the materials usefulness, meaning that the materials will not become wastes and will not be taken to the waste cycle (Zbore, p. 1). Zbore, Tammy. (2011). ‘Making it go â€Å"away†- waste reduction strategies for cities.’ National League of Cities. Available from: http://citiesspeak.org/2011/04/19/making-it-go-%E2%80%9Caway%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-waste-reduction-strategies-for-cities/. [Accessed on 30 March

Compare and contrast the two stories, Black Men in Public Space by Essay

Compare and contrast the two stories, Black Men in Public Space by Brent Staples and Where are you Going, Where have you Been by Joyce Carol Oates - Essay Example This can be seen in the short stories â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates through her characters Connie and Arnold Friend as well as in â€Å"Black Men in Public Space† by Brent Staples through the narrator’s own experiences. The first character to be introduced in Oates’ story is Connie, a teenaged girl just beginning to discover the world outside of her parents’ home. As this character is examined, a trope is revealed in her name itself. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, one of the definitions of ‘trope’ is â€Å"a word or expression used in a figurative sense† (2009). Connie’s name suggests a person involved in a con, or farce of some kind as she certainly is. At home, she is the typical lazy but innocent teenager, but in public she attempts to become someone quite different. â€Å"Everything about her had two sides to it; one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head; her mouth, which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on these evenings out† (Oates). She is not what she seems to be which make s her a ‘con’ artist. Her mother understands her to be irritating and lazy but generally innocent while Oates makes it clear that Connie has been sexually active in opening her story with an example of Connie’s typical evenings out as she ditches her friend in order to spend the evening with a boy named Eddie. â€Å"She spent three hours with him, at the restaurant where they ate hamburgers and drank Cokes in wax cups that were always sweating, and then down an alley a mile or so away, and when he left her off at five to eleven only the movie house was still open at the plaza† (Oates). While her mother continues to have an impression of

Explain how the author's writing techniques help to explain the Essay

Explain how the author's writing techniques help to explain the meaning in Oedipus the King - Essay Example as been shown that Oedipus was a man who was known for his rapid speed action as well as a person who possessed a great deal of intellect and fore vision. He could actually look into the future and suggest for others as to what is going to happen next and he was quite good at that. Thus these qualities say a thing or two of him becoming an excellent ruler who foresaw his subjects’ needs and desires. As has been the case during the while of this story, we see that the relation between the different themes, the style and the tone employed have huge roles to play in actually detailing the readers about the story itself. The extent of easiness and calm found in the thematic discussions leads us into thinking that the writer really did the trick while showcasing the virtues, abilities and the like of the central characters in the play and more than that, Oedipus the King himself. The tone with which he has expressed the innate qualities with the help of beautifully chosen words just gives the right amount of tonic for the perfect blend that is so much needed to gel this piece of writing on the part of the writer. Furthermore, the essence of the general flow within the play has been charismatic to say the least, where different events and occasions are passing by without any sense of drag at any point in time. Oedipus’s habit with fast speed movement as concerns to decisions has been well documented in the story itself. The same has been portrayed courtesy the story attached with the King in the related context. Oedipus is doomed by his very own temperament. â€Å"I shall shrink from nothing in my search to find the murderer of Laius†. It was at the time when Creon brings news of Laius’s death that Oedipus does not even let him share what he has come to account for. In its place, Oedipus is on the run to find more and more questions as to what Creon actually knows. Similarly, Oedipus is so twisted on determining the real truth that he starts to threaten the old

The IMO Future of Nursing Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The IMO Future of Nursing Report - Research Paper Example The IOM report has put forth recommendations with regard to core areas of nursing among which nurses' education command greatest priority. What this vision document has envisaged in the field of nurses' education is the interest area of this paper, the specific recommendations of the IOM report being, 1) increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020, 2) double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020, and 3) take steps to ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning (Hassmiller, 2010, p.7). As far as my career as a nursing professional is concerned, these recommendations have great value just because increasing my level of education will enhance my competence in the job market, where professional autonomy and high level competence are to go hand in hand in the future (Fights, 2012). Keeping myself under a life-long learning regime will also help me fulfill the new and demanding roles that a nurse has to perform in modern health care scenario (Fig hts, 2012). As envisaged by the IOM report, for nurses to become a perfect workforce in terms of quality and quantity, the recommendations on nursing education are of paramount importance. As the nation is facing nurses' shortages, it is a contradiction that nursing schools owing to fund constraints, are rejecting â€Å"thousands of qualified applicants† (Linda, 2011, p.196). ... The practicing nurses are constrained by the difficult-to-practice provisions that require them to have â€Å"additional degrees† in order to get â€Å"faculty or APRN positions† (Linda, 2011, p.196). The ground reality being this, the IOM recommendations to increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020, double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020 and make nurses engage in lifelong learning, are integral part of the real reform one is looking ahead of. This is also necessary just because 60% of the nurses in the workforce are now entering the profession with a n associate degree or even less academic qualification (Linda, 2011, p.196). Relaxing of procedures for working nurses to get additional degrees is also a part of the IOM package recommended (Linda, 2011, p.197). The benefits of a better educated nursing work force starts with enhanced â€Å"patient outcomes† and completes with a leadership role for nurses in the heal th care sectors (Linda, 2011, p.197). It is in this context researchers like Linda (2011) has called for the nursing education reform to shift â€Å"entry level nursing education [†¦] entirely to the baccalaureate level† through mobilizing government funds (p.198). Equally important to educational reforms, is the necessity to engage the already employed nurses in a life long learning process (Kuehn, 2010, p.2345). This is not any more a luxury that a few can enjoy but a basic requirement for a health care system where nurses have to be full partners with physicians and take up a leadership role (Kuehn, 2010, p.2345). Nursing is a highly competitive professional environment in which every new recruit has to keep up to the challenging and changing demands of the

Answer the Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Answer the Questions - Assignment Example 2012, p. 295). The purpose behind diversification is that oftentimes a sector will witness decreases in equity value, while another sector will remain stable or even increase in price. The same is true of investments in gold or real estate. A diversified portfolio then allows the investors to shield themselves from unsystematic risk by spreading investment among various sectors of the economy. If one expects the stock market to increase in the upcoming year there are specific ways to structure the beta in their portfolio. Beta is a measure implemented in the capital asset pricing model that demonstrates the volatility of an asset in relation to the volatility of the benchmark the asset is compared to. Oftentimes then benchmark in investment portfolio is the S&P 500. A positive beta indicates that an assets value generally increases when the market increases. Therefore, if one believes that the stock market will increase in the upcoming year they should ensure that the assets in their portfolio have a strong positive

Abraham Conclusion Essay Example for Free

Abraham Conclusion Essay While writing the whole play for my group, and doing research, I learned a lot of things about Abraham. God helped Abraham a lot, first with the blessing, then Lot, and even for the birth of Isaac. Most of the time when something bad happens, Abraham doubted God. God never zapped him, or kill him, He was patient. At the end, Abraham could not help Isaac find a wife himself for he is weak and old, he trusted that God will help him like the way God helped him before. I think faith means to trust God completely, 100%. True faith is shown, when you yourself could not help anymore, only God could. And you trust unto Him a very hard job, being sure that He will be able to do it. See more: Beowulf essay essay This happened when Abraham was too old to go look for a wife for Isaac, he had faith that God will find one for him, and God did. What I learned about God while reading about Abraham is that God is very patient. Every time Abraham questions or doubts him, he doesn’t get angry. I also learned that God is faithful and true to his word. Every single promise God made came true, though not the way some people expected it. Last of all, I learned that God is omniscience. Though Sarah is very old and beyond the age of child bearing, God was able to make her have her son, the son that was the one to take the true blessing, Isaac.

MSD Construction Business Plan Analysis

MSD Construction Business Plan Analysis The analysis of MSD business plan Introduction The paper is about MSD Construction Company own by an Omani citizen Mr Mujahid Al-Zadjali.it specialized in providing services including concrete fabrication, utilizing framework, concrete placement and excavation. It focuses on commercial as well as residential clients. It aims to become the leading contractor by providing high quality services with affordable prices. This paper is about analyzing of the business plan for MSD. It will evaluate whether the plan is suitable for the firm to achieve their long-term goals. This assignment will be organized as follows. First, it will highlight the owner-personal quality and the skills he possessed. Then, the organizational structure and management skills and duties will be evaluated. Later on, the company product-market will be discussed. It also will discuss about its market and pricing strategy. Next, it will focus on competitive environment and their strategies. Then, the financial performance of MSD will be analyzed. After the analysis of financial statements, the paper will analyze the SWOT of the company. In conclusion, there will be a brief summary about the case and recommendation for MSD to improve their business plan. 1.0 Personal Quality of the owner manager Mr. Mujahid AL-Zadjali is capable to run his own construction business as he has 5 years experience in the field. In addition, he possesses a variety of skills that are required in running this type of the organization, such as marketing, time management and cost control skills. In addition, these will help assists him to solve the crises in future. The business plan had not mentioned whether he has IT skills which are important for all business. Based on the business plan, the owner is willing to hold liable for all debts and obligation related to company. He also established long-term planning for the organization. These all indicate that he is self-motivated and emotionally strong to face all the business risks. Also, it means that the owner definitely desires to growth his business. The objectives of the entrepreneur are to develop infrastructure for long-term planning and to achieve regular profit yearly. Furthermore, it aims to provide quality services at affordable cost to its customers. Another objective of the company is to provide health and safety work environment to its employees. The owner of the firm has adopted leadership style based on responsible and mutual respects between the staff. This is one of the ideal characters for this construction company as there are many technical works have to be performed by specialized employee. 2.0 The Management Team The business already had management team which consists of two administrative assistant and general manager. However, there are not sufficient numbers of management in the team. It should include human resource manager to accomplish the safety requirement on the job and high quality of services. The company should also appoint stock manager to manage in-coming and out-going materials for the constructions. In addition MSD did not appoint proper manger for preparation of the financial statements as it kept in position the administrative assistant with marketing and public relation background. It should hire manager that is specialized in accounting and finance. According to the management team that mentioned in the business plan have adequate mix of outside experience. For example, Ms. Jaya is an administrative assistant has excellent organizational and managing office crisis skills with 25 years of experience in accounts payable and receivable. Except for Mr. Varma which has seven years experience in marketing and public relation but which is not adequate for accounting job. The company set a goal to build an infrastructure for organizational structure but seems it does not applied yet proper organizational chart. It did not mention a detailed organizational structure and who should report to whom. It should clearly set up structure with staff position and duties. The business plan has not mentioned if there is any delegation of authority between staff. They have to plan a proper delegation strategy and to inform staff about it in order to be aware of the responsibilities that are transferred to them. There are no monitoring procedures to check the performance of the employees. The company had to have performance measurement to evaluate how the staffs perform in their duties. The organization philosophy is based on job responsibility and mutual respect between staff. The staff should follow this organization culture to achieve the companys common goals and objectives. MSD consider its employees as it provides health and safety work environment within the concrete industry. Moreover, it trains its employees adequately on the industry work. Although these are satisfying staff, there is probability of cost increasing of the company especially overhead expenses. 3.0 Product-Market Offering The construction company had set target market by supplying its services to both commercial and individual customers. It provides road construction and dirt work for commercial customers. It also provides house slabs and driveways for residential houses. Moreover, it provides concrete fabrication services for both residential as well as commercial customers. The business plan although highlight the services that provided to clients, it did not mention the types of services that are preferred by the clients. It should have a detailed investigation of customers needs to satisfy their requirements. MSD adding-value in their products through provides certain benefits to its clients including solid foundation, long lasting and safety and high quality products with cost-effective prices. Therefore, the clients can enjoy living at their house and feel safety. According to the statistics in business plan the demand of single-family units has been increased by 12% and 1.5% for multi-family units in 2001. This indicates that there is market space for MSD products and services. However, the statistics are out of date and the company should rely only on the recent data. The firm has knowledge of the industry and competitors as it knows that the market is in growth position and the competitors strength and weaknesses, such as Julfar and Bahwan Company. These all will assist firm in having resistance against any reaction by the competitors. The products and services of the firm are well-constructed and durable with high quality but at reasonable price. Therefore, it leads to low maintenance requirements. In addition, it ensures that their products are saved and approved by Muscat Municipality and Ministry of Electronic and Water Resources before providing to customers. This indicates that the company has shown the value of their products for prospect customers. Bahwan and Julfar are well known brand with many years experience in construction services. They have an exemplary skill in customer relation management which enables them to retain their clients. Besides that, they have marketing skills and database resources that create obstacles to MSD to become market leader. Construction Company is trying to stay close to customers by gathering all its services in head office (AL-Khuwair) and it provides 24 hours call centre as a facility for customers if they face or to complain about any problems. In tight economy and high competition, MSD planned to design a unique strategy to keep the cost at reasonable level with high quality of products. It also verifies calls in accordance to their circumstances and then transfers these particular calls to proper department. It can be cost leadership firstly by attempt to gain more market share than its competitors. Then, the cost will be automatically reduced by distributing fixed cost in wide range of products. 4.0 Competitive Environment Based on business plan there are no indicators of whether some of elements will affects the construction industry, such as economic stability and customer needs. MSD firm had collected only some information regarding to its competitors. This include as follows: * Operating method. The competitors using high quality services with reasonable price. These prices will gradually decrease up to the current market price without reducing in quality. * Market strategies. In order to retain their clients, they hired customer relation management for this purpose. On other hand, MSD did not find information related to competitors including size and profitability. It should get some statistical data about the competitors profit, their market shares, number of employees, number of branched and so on. The entrepreneur did not identify of the future marketing mix strategy of the competitors. It also did not investigate of whether the rivals have planned to develop new products for the future. The companys objective if the competitors develop new products or provide new services. It might be the latest one to possess these products or services and these possessions might already reach at their maturity level. MSD should at least try to gets some information about the competitors (through analysis current market strategy of the rivals to predict its future plan) in order to find proper reaction against its competitors to keep their objectives achievable. The company did not have a unique resources that makes it difference from the competitors to attract clients. It should have something that allows them to be differentiating from other. For instance: providing free maintenance after sales. 5.0 Financial Performance * Financial Statements figures The analysts found certain errors in the MSD financial plan. In its projected income statement the amount of retained profit that desired by MSD is same as the break even. Therefore, the firm should make more profit to achieve its target. Moreover, the retained profit for the year 2007 was wrongly calculated. The amount after deducting provision for tax and legal reserve should be R.O 21,000 instead of R.O 42,600. This error affected the rate of some ratios like net profit and ROE. In projected balance sheet of the firm two issues were found. First, the fixed assets were relatively low. The companys fixed assets balance should be higher due to heavy machinery and building that it possessed. If we assumed that most of its fixed assets is in form of leasing, it did not mention in the F.S. secondly, in 2008 the F.A was significantly low compare to previous years. About the projected cash flow, there is one mistake has deducted. The advance pre-payment have to be ‘nil instead of negative balance of R.O 5,000 as it is constant every year. The business plan also includes the calculation of ratios. In calculation of interest cover, MSD did not mention the amount of interest or the amount of loan that will enable it to calculate the interest. There is a financial charge in income statement but it represents beside interest other items, such as transaction fees and cost of credit. Thus, it will mislead all the stakeholders who depend on the statements. * Financial ratios analysis However, the analysis of the ratios was based on the given statement except for 2007 where it calculated after the amendment of net profit. a) Performance ratio: Return on shareholders funds. 2006 2007 2008 22.5% 14% 29% The profit available to owner had been decreased in 2007 by 8.5% but it increased again in 2008 15%. This is because the profit after tax decreased in 2007 and then increased again in the following year. According to the plan the net profit is fluctuated every year. This indicates that company does not have adequate plan for uncertainty. Return on capital employed 2006 2007 2008 25% 33.33% 35% ROCE had been increased continuously every year. It is because the profit before interest and tax increased yearly. This mean the company situation is continually improving and willing to pay its debts. However, long term debt had not taken into account as it was not available in projected balance sheet. This lead to inaccurate identifies the percentage of profit available to pay its debts. b) Profitability ratio: Gross margin 2006 2007 2008 34.84 33.48% 33.33% The projected income statement shows that gross profit has been slightly decreased from 2006 to 2007. This is due to the increasing in cost of sales and the revenue did not increase at the same level while it remained almost same in 2008. MSD should investigate the reason of such decreases as it may affect he net profit in future Net profit margin 2006 2007 2008 17.42% 18.52% 19.40% Although the gross profit had been decreased, it can be noticed that the net profit is increasing every year. The reason for increasing is operating expenses has been increased at acceptable level which let retained profit to reflect the increasing in sales revenue. The total expenses were increased from 2006 to 2007 by 1.13% (27,000/24,000) whereby retained profit had increased by 1.58% (42,600/27,000) for same period. c) Asset efficiency ratio: Debtor turnover 2006 2007 2008 177 days 143 days 155 days The debtor collection period has decreased in 2007 by 34 days and it increased again in 2008 by 12 days. However, it is still considering high. (Further explanation in III) Creditors turnover 2006 2007 2008 74 days 88 days 76 days Average payment period to MSDs suppliers is 79 days whereby average collection period is 158 days. Company might face problem in cash flow because it pays to supplier before receiving from customers. It should make sure that the money collected earlier than the payments although customers may not like it otherwise the firm will suffer to pay to its suppliers. If this situation is continued, the suppliers may not renew the contract or may ask the firm to pay on delivery. d) Liquidity ratio: Current ratio 2006 2007 2008 5.36:1 4.18:1 4.78:1 The current ratio of the firm has been decreased in 2007 and 2008 compare to 2006 but it is still at acceptable level. This is probably because the current liabilities in 2006 are less than in 2007 and 2008. MSD attempted to ensure that its current ration did not fall below 4:1. Quick ratio 2006 2007 2008 3.79:1 2.76:1 3.27:1 Again, the current liabilities in 2006 are more than in next two years. It was noticed that the inventory was less in 2006 than the inventory in following years. MSD should ensure their inventory level should not increase further otherwise it might face difficulties in cash flow. e) Gearing ratio Interest cover 2006 2007 2008 21 times 26 time 29 times The interest coverage of less than three times is considering low. It can be seen that the interest cover is increasing every year from 21 times in 2006 to 29 times in 2008 which is good news to company. The reason behind this increasing is the profit before interest and tax is greater in 2007 and 2008 than in 2006 regardless of increasing in total expenses. * Sensitivity analysis The following table will help to calculate the sensitivity to profit. 2006 2007 2008 R.O000 R.O000 R.O000 Sales 155 230 300 Less: Material cost (101) (153) (200) Less: Labor cost (8) (9) (10) Contribution 46 68 90 Less: Fixed cost (16) (18) (20) Net profit 30 50 70 I) Calculation of sensitivity Since the plan had not given clear figures for calculating sensitivity of the project, we had assumed the following: * Cost of sales had been taken as a material cost. * Staff salaries as a labor cost. * Other expenses had used as fixed cost. 2006 2007 2008 Profit to sales 19% 22% 23% Profit to material 30% 33% 35% Profit to labor 375% 555% 700% Profit to fixed cost 187% 278% 350% It had found that sales were the lowest percentage among the others. Therefore, it was more sensitivity to profit. It means that the sales will affect the profit more than other element if it decrease or increase. II) Calculation of BEP Profit to BEP (in value) = sales*(F.C/contribution) 2006 2007 2008 R.O54,000 R.O61,000 R.O67,000 The company had to sell an average of R.O54000, R.O61000 and R.O67000 in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively in order to cover all of its expenses. III) Margin of safety 2006 2007 2008 65% 73% 78% The company can allow its sales to decrease by 35%, 27% and 22% in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively without incurring any losses. 6.0 SWOT analysis of MSD construction * Strength: MSD provides quality construction services by providing an honest, fair working relationship with residential and commercial clients, subcontractors and sales people. Since the biggest concern within the concrete work industry is the health and safety of its employees as well as the customers. Also, it developed a comprehensive infrastructure designed, long term planning with a safety policy and secure company. They did good analysis about the strength and weaknesses of their competitors. The company management has different facilities which enhance them to perform better such as, experience and qualification in different areas in the market started from the owner. The ability of company to provide superior quality services at highly competitive and guaranteed price. * Weaknesses: There is no clear organizational structure of the company. They dont have a famous brand name yet. Also, they focus only in few department and duties. Moreover they did wrong calculation in different areas like in concrete work and in single-family housing construction. In order to overcome these weaknesses, MSD should create additional departments, such as IT and human resource department. Furthermore, it should hire financial analyst to analyze market accurately. * Opportunity: The owner and his management team are highly experienced and qualified in construction work. The growth in population, demand increase in construction and increase in government projects will help them to survive. Also, competitors have high overhead expenses, bad contractual terms with its key suppliers that often delay particular project and because of that they are losing some of their strategic partnership with significant firms. * Threats: MSD faced strong competitors with strong capital and shares, which they already in the market and they have high construction services and distribution quality at very competitive price. The competitors have exemplary skills in customer relationship management and leading marketing skills with efficient database management. In pricing strategy the competitors seems to be the expert in the field by offered reasonable price with high quality for a year and then slowly moves it down to compete with current price in the market. Government regulation to apply omanization which could lead to high cost and the labors May not have a good experience. MSD can merge with other construction company to get extra capital for competing with competitors. It can build its own IT department to process the data efficiency. It should have proper procedures for recruitment so it can minimize after employment cost. Conclusion and Recommendation This paper had analyzed the appropriateness of MSD business plan. There were some issues against the plan that is necessarily to succeed the business. Some of importance investigation had not carried on, such as competitors strategy. On other hand, there were some incomplete statements and improper collection of market statistic. Moreover, the firm F.S had included errors that would affect its financial goals. In addition, the company did not have PEST and Porters five forces analysis of the industry. These missing statements will lead to business failure. If it is plan to propose their business plan to the any of financial instruments to seeking loan there is potential of rejecting this proposal. Recommendation MSD should review some of its plan, such as market statistic and attempt to get more accurate data. Beside the correction of data, it should also collect significant data like competitive market shares, profit and the size. In addition, it should collect information about competitors Porters five forces. It had found that some of the management holds inappropriate position in accordance to their qualification and experience. The firm should review this and try to appoint right person for the right job. It should also hire some additional managers in management team, such as human resource manger and stock manger to implement the companys strategies.

Developing and Managing Professional and Ethical Behaviours

Developing and Managing Professional and Ethical Behaviours Rishi Kumar Executive Summary Ethics is the understanding, the difference between the right and wrong. For every situation, Ethics differs and varies from situation to situation. This report shows the ethical, organisational and behaviour expectations or requirements in the business. This report shows the ethical and unethical situations of employees for a business named Isha Cycle Industry in Ludhiana. This report shows the ethical and unethical behavioural expectations over the various situations. This report shows the ethical unethical situations for the employees. Unethical situations of staff are They do not work with concentration and Talk with other employees at the time of work. They attend their personal calls at the time of work They do not use safety gloves and instead they feel that health and safety conditions are unethical. The company does not cover any kind of insurance to cover up the risk from natural disaster. Need some more innovative ideas to increase sustainability. Ethical situations of staff Provides accuracy Knows all the manufacturing processes Think to work on fast pace and uses safety shoes Organization covers limited area risk by supplying products to other areas or targeting multi region but does not have any insurance to cover from natural disaster. Follows all the sustainability issues. In short staff of Isha Cycle Industry follows ethically and as well unethically according to the situations. The industry where I used to work is Isha Cycle Industry located in Industrial area B in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. This industry provides bicycle parts to other industries to complete the manufacturing of a bicycle and in order to further sell to the consumer. This industry was started by Mr. Tarsem in 1990. In this Industry 20 employees are working. This is a manufacturing industry and manufactures some parts of bicycle. Stakeholders for this industry are the Mr. Tarsem, 20 employees, other manufacturing industries such as Hero Cycle and many more, Suppliers of the Raw Material, government for taxes and development, public to buy the product. 2.1 Organisational Purpose and/or direction Organisation purpose refers to an explicit or implicit understanding of why this organisation exists. The understanding is agreed and shared by stakeholders and provides a framework for overall decision making. This purpose also reflects the core values, philosophy and believes of the organisation. Vision or mission Statement Vision statement of Isha cycle Industry is to provide the best and the innovative Bicycle parts and to be at the top in manufacturing Bicycle market. Organisational policies and processes Policies are the principles and guidelines formulated and implemented by the organisation to enable it to reach its vision and goals. Procedures or processes are the specific method employed to express policies in terms of day to day actions or decisions. Policies and processes are designed to influence and determine all major decisions and actions taken in organisation. Considering, policies and procedures, it ensure that the overall purpose and direction of the organisation is supported and translated into simple steps which are compatible with this purpose and directions. Policy 1:- Time Reduction Isha Cycle Industry Buys the raw material that is iron, from other industries or raw material suppliers and then required to mould the iron in order, to manufacture the bicycle parts. This policy is supporting the process and directions on the basis of small scale business, as it reduce the time of manufacture and to pace up the other manufacturing processes. Policy 2:- An employee which is newly hired should be trained in the whole working processes. So, that he could work as a leader and manufacture the products on faster and accurate pace. Compliance: Legislative/legal, Health and safety Legislative/legal requirements refers to requirements as per the law or legal regulations. Health and safety requirements are concerned with protecting safety, health and welfare of people engaged with the organisation, like staff or clients etc. Legal/Legislative policy 1:- Legal policy of government is to pay the minimum wage of Rs.5000 /- by law or legal regulations. And Isha Cycle Industry commits to that policy. Health and safety policy 1:- Health and Safety requirements of Isha Cycle Industry is to wear protective gloves and shoes before entering into manufacturing area as the product is prepared in hot oils, machines, acids and with some heavy iron holdings. Risk Management Risk management refers to the identification, assessment and prioritisation of risks, followed by co-ordinated and economical application of resources to minimise, monitor and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events. Policy 1:- In order to cover up the risk of selling Bicycle parts to a single state, Isha cycle Industry has wider the production and sells to a company in every state of India to cover up the risk. Sustainability -Sustainability refers to business practices of an organisation that involves any harmful impacts of its business on the environment and society. Sustainability is basically checked to rectify if there are any harmful impacts on environment because of business. Harmful Impact on the environment could directly link to the bad social responsibility and bad impact on the business reputation. Policy 1: Isha cycle Industry uses Recycle boxes in order to pack the Bicycle parts instead of plastic bags for the sustainability of environment. Policy 2: Isha Cycle Industry reuses the oil used from production of one part for further productions. 3.0 Behavioural Expectations Organisational requirements Behavioural Expectations (Existing and/or new) Organisation purpose direction As the organisations purpose is to provide accurate parts for bicycle for manufacturing in further processes. So, all the employees are required to work with accuracy and concentration. Every staff should be honest and have integrity and have innovative ideas. Policies and processes Policy in this organisation is that employees should be skilled. Employee should know all the works of the manufacturing processes. So, that he could work on accurate and faster pace and could be called when required if anybody makes sick call. Employee is not required to talk and attend personal calls while working. Policies and procedures should be fair and transparent, moreover should be communicated to the stakeholders. Compliance Health and Safety Use safety gloves and shoes in order to go in the manufacturing area for health and safety as there is heavy and hot work. Ensure that environment is healthy and safe. Legislative and legal Organisation Commits to the Employment contract and Minimum wage by law is Rs.5000/-. Risk Management In order to cover up the risk of wastage of a set of iron, Pour the oil over the iron which is old. So, that it may not catch rust. Ensure that all relevant insurance are taken out. E.g. ACC payments, Public liability insurance. Inform management of new risks as they arise. There should be no limited area risk. Sustainability Reuse the remaining oil in the container that is used in the earlier production process instead of throwing it. Ensure that sustainable waste management practices are followed e.g. Use Recycle material, save power, use soft copy information whenever possible. 4.0 Review of Behavioural Expectations Review of current behaviour against expectations Organisation Requirements Behavioural expectations Current behaviour of staff Extent to which expectations are being met (Rating 0 10) How will breaches be dealt with (course of action) Organisation purpose and/or direction As the organisations purpose is to provide accurate parts for bicycle for manufacturing in further processes. So, all the employees are required to work with accuracy and concentration. Every staff should be honest and have integrity and have innovative ideas. An employee does work with accuracy but not with concentration as they talk with each other instead of providing concentration to work and making the work slowdown. Employees are honest. According to the accuracy, concentration and fast production process the ratings provided is 7 out of 10 because of accuracy only as they do not work with concentration, talk with each other on work time and makes the work slowdown. A team building meeting should be held and all the employees should be told about the procedure and process and show the production speed and demand for the product and tell the targets. So that they could understand and try to cover up the demand. Organisation policies and processes Policy in this organisation is that employees should be skilled. Employee should know all the works of the manufacturing processes. So, that he could work on accurate and faster pace and could be called when required if anybody makes sick call. Employee is not required to talk and attend personal calls while working. Policies and procedures should be fair and transparent, moreover should be communicated to the stakeholders. An employee does not work on faster pace as they talk while working and making the work slow. The employee in the industry knows all the processes of manufacturing. Employees attend their personal calls even after stopping the work process and making the production slow. The rating provided to the employees is 6 out of 10 because they know all the works of manufacturing processes and the rating is deducted because of attending personal calls at the time of their work. A team meeting should be conducted and should be shown the slowdown of work and should be told that their work is slow because of their phones and they are required to make their phones on silent or switch off them and should use out of work or at the break time. Compliance Health and Safety Use safety gloves and shoes to go in the manufacturing area for health and safety as there is heavy and hot work. Ensure that environment is healthy and safe. Legislative and legal Organisation Commits to the Employment contract and Minimum wage by law is Rs.5000/-. Employees use the safety shoes but do not use safety gloves to make the work fast and they dont feel that gloves are useful even after some of the accidents. Employees are satisfied with the wage as they are provided above the minimum wage that is Rs7000/-. The ratings provided are 4 out of 10 because of their thinking to work on fast pace and using safety shoes and the rating is less because of not considering health and safety conditions by not using safety gloves instead of some of accidents. A face to face meeting should be conducted and should be shown the importance of Safety gloves and try to make them understand that it is for their safety as the work with hot and heavy materials and could be protected with these only if an accident occurs. Risk Management In order to cover up the risk of wastage of a set of iron, Pour the oil over the iron which is old. So, that it may not catch rust. Ensure that all relevant insurance are taken out. E.g. ACC payments, Public liability insurance. Inform management of new risks as they arise. There should be no limited area risk. Industry uses oil to make iron rust free, and to save the iron from making it waste. Limited area risk in this industry is covered but, not the disaster risk because of no insurance. The rating provided to it is 5 out of 10 Employees use recycle paper boxes to pack the cycle parts because of its potential to make iron rust free and covering the risk of limited area of sale. The rating is less because it does not have any insurance to cover up the risk from any natural disaster. A board of meeting should be conducted and should be made understand the importance of Insurance and insurance should be made to cover up the disaster risk. Moreover, as soon as a risk arises or is about to arise, employees should inform the management. Sustainability Reuse the remaining oil in the container that is used in the earlier production process instead of throwing it. Ensure that sustainable waste management practices are followed e.g. Use Recycle material, save power, use soft copy information whenever possible. The remaining oil in the container is reused for the further production processes instead of throwing it. Employees uses recycle paper boxes to pack the cycle parts. The ratings provided are 9 out of 10 because, to reuse every drop of oil and in further processes. Moreover to reuse the paper boxes to cover the Bicycle parts. 1 is deducted to make them to reuse innovative ideas. They are following all the rules and policies and helping the environment to sustain and should carry on with this process. They should be provided some kinds of reward to encourage them. Ethics is understanding, the difference between right/wrong. This report introduces organisational ethnicity and organisational requirements in a business and describes that ethics changes according to the situations. This report shows the organisational ethnicity and organisational requirements in a business named Isha Cycle Industry which is located in India. This report shows the organisational ethics according to the religion culture and law. Conclusion for this is that employee working in this industry follows some of the ethical ways in business and some unethical ways on various situations while working in the business. Conclusion for this business is that it follows all the laws and regulations but the staff is some unethical at some extent. Unethical situations of staff are They do not work with concentration and Talk with other employees at the time of work. They attend their personal calls at the time of work They do not use safety gloves and feel health and safety conditions are unethical. The company does not cover any kind of insurance to cover up the risk from natural disaster. Need some more innovative ideas to increase sustainability. Ethical situations of staff Provides accuracy Knows all the manufacturing processes Think to work on fast pace and uses safety shoes Organization covers limited area risk by supplying products to other areas but does not have any insurance to cover from natural disaster. Follows all the sustainability issues. In short staffs follow ethically and as well unethically according to the situations.

The west :: essays papers

The west The West was a form of society rather than an area. It is the term applied to the region whose social conditions result from the application of older institutions and ideas to the transforming influences of free land. By this application, a new environment is suddenly entered, freedom of opportunity is opened, the cake of custom is broken, and new activities, new lines of growth, new institutions and new ideals, are brought into existence. The wilderness disappears, the "West" proper passes on to a new frontier and, in the former area, and a new society has emerged from this contact with the backwoods. Gradually this society loses its primitive conditions, and assimilates itself to the type of the older social conditions of the East; but it bears within it enduring and distinguishing survivals of its frontier experience. Decade after decade, West after West, this rebirth of American society had gone on, and left its traces behind it, which reacted on the East. The history of our political institutions, our democracy, is not a history of imitation, of simple borrowing; it is a history of the evolution and adaptation of organs in response to changed environment, a history of the origin of new political species. In this sense, therefore, the West has been a constructive force of the highest significance in our life. The West, as a phase of social organization, began with the Atlantic coast, and passed across the continent. But the colonial tidewater area was in close touch with the Old World, and soon lost its Western aspects. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the newer social conditions appeared along the upper waters of the tributaries of the Atlantic. Here it was that the West took on its distinguishing features, and transmitted frontier traits and ideals to this area in later days. On the coast were the fishermen and skippers, the merchants and planters, with eyes turned toward Europe. Beyond the falls of the rivers were the pioneer farmers, largely of non-English stock, Scotch-Irish and German. They constituted a distinct people, and may be regarded as an expansion of the social and economic life of the middle region into the backcountry of the South. These frontiersmen were the ancestors of Boone, Andrew Jackson, Calhoun, Clay, and Lincoln. Washington and Jefferson were profoundly a ffected by these frontier conditions. The forest clearings have been the seed plots of American character.

Overestimation of the Placebo Effect :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Overestimation of the Placebo Effect The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the Placebo Effect is overestimated through misinterpretation of the data. Specifically, the objective is to explore whether the passage of time during clinical trials accounts for many results widely attributed to the placebo effect. That is, the passage of time in itself-through a combination of spontaneous changes in symptoms, regression effects, and homeostatic changes-produces most of the favorable results credited to the placebo. Despite its widespread acceptance for approximately fifty years, the Placebo Effect has recently become controversial, with several researchers claiming that the presumed benefits of placebos are overestimated. Dr. Asbjorn Hrobjartsson and Dr. Peter C. Gotzsche of the University of Denmark and the Nordic Cochran Center reviewed journal articles looking for the original research stating that 35% of patients improve if given a placebo. Interestingly, none of the papers they examined included original research on the placebo effect, but all cited the same reference. The original source was a 1955 article, "The Powerful Placebo," published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and written by Henry Beecher, chief of anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Beecher had analyzed about a dozen studies and had come up with the 35% figure (1). Challenging the validity of this finding, Drs. Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche hypothesized that two important factors were ignored. First, that the natural course of many diseases is to wax and wane. Second, that a patient who feels terrible one day will almost certainly feel better the next day. Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche analyzed 114 studies conducted between 1946 and 1998 that used not the usual two, but three groups of patients. One group received appropriate medical treatment, one group received placebo treatment, and the third group received nothing. (The studies involved 7,500 patients with 40 different medical conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, asthma, behavior disorders, such addictions as alcohol abuse and smoking, and such neurological diseases as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, epilepsy, as well as bacterial infections and the common cold (5). As Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche predicted, the patients in this third group improved as often as the patients in the placebo group (1). Carol Hart (2) cites Shapiro and Shapiro, who offer possible confounds that lead to overestimation of the placebo effect. Observations of the third control group-the group with neither treatment, nor placebo-may have improved because of three mechanisms.

An Interview With An Entreprenuer Essay -- Interview Essays

I interviewed Manuel, co-owner of All Pro Motor Sports, because his business is extremely innovative and growth-oriented. The purpose of this interview was to learn the following:  § how to identify a business opportunity  § how to successfully launch a business  § how to deal with perceived risks prior to start-up  § how to solve problems encountered during start-up and over the lifetime of a venture BACKGROUND I was introduced to Manuel through a mutual acquaintance that knows I am truly fascinated by the ability to customize vehicles, but more specifically, expensive luxury vehicles. Manuel, originally from Mexico, moved to California with his family twenty years ago. Coming from a large family with 4 brothers and 3 sisters, Manuel was determined to be financially successful. After graduating from State Unversity and working as a financial advisor/broker for Morgan Stanley, Manuel decided he was not happy working in corporate America. After resigning from Morgan Stanley in 2001, Manuel decided his dream of being financially successful would be much easier to accomplish if he launched his own business. Driven by his passion for classy and stylish vehicles, Manuel launched a motor sports company in 2002. SHARED VISION Manuel, co-owner of All Pro Motor Sports, shared his vision to launch a motor sports business that customizes expensive European vehicles with his younger brother, Hussein, and cousin, John. Just 3 years ago, this trio put their capital resources together and launched All Pro Motor Sports. All Pro Motor Sports is not just another motor sports business, it's a motor sports business that focuses on customizing each vehicle to the owner's perfection and guaranteeing that attention to detail is car... ...sionate generally yields positive rewards. Whether one aspires to own a motor sports company or design a type of skiwear that protects people from injuries, passion will be the driving force behind successful execution. According to Hussan and to my agreement, the best way to discover what you are passionate about is to follow your interests and heavily research your interests to discover what interests you most. Once you discover which one of your interest you want to pursue the next, and most important step, is to discover how you could exploit or differentiate your interest in the current marketplace that will give you an opportunity to capitalize. Lastly, I learned that if I decide I don't want to pursue a degree in economics, and instead I want to launch my own business, I must pursue a business in an industry, or lack thereof, that I could commit my life to.

The Effects of Music on Laboring Moms

Coping with labor pain when you are a first time mom is usually an experience filled with great anxiety. The first stage of labor is called the latent phase, in which she may be excited and anxious for labor to be well established [ (Marcia L. London, 2011) ]. The laboring mom may be unable to cope with contractions because of fear, anxiety, or lack of information [ (Marcia L. London, 2011) ].The nurse’s response should be to be supportive and provide encouragement and to establish a trusting relationship [ (Marcia L. London, 2011) ]. The challenge for the labor nurse is to reduce the pain and anxiety and to help make the labor and delivery a positive experience. The application of music therapy may be an appropriate tool for reducing anxiety and pain [ (Marcia L. London, 2011) ]. Music therapy has become popular in medicine in the last two decades.Studies show that the impulses from the auditory stimulus override the pain signals carried by the smaller nerve fibers, and music perceived by the right brain may stimulate the pituitary gland to release endorphins for decreasing pain [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ]. Music may also alter pain perception by improving mood, increasing relaxation, and reducing anxiety. Music also increases control and distraction to pain perception. The purpose of the study I read was to undertake an evaluation of music therapy on labor pain and anxiety in Taiwanese primiparas.It was hypothesized that primipara women receiving music therapy would perceive less pain and anxiety and have higher fingertip temperatures, an indication of less pain, during labor than those participants who had not received music therapy but received standard routine care [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ]. This controlled study provided evidence that music therapy for women during the latent phase of labor provided psychological and physiological benefits from pain [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ].The participants in the study were primipara women giving birth with the fol lowing criteria; they had a normal pregnancy, their pregnancy had gone to term, they planned to undergo a vaginal delivery, they had a single, normal fetus to deliver, they did not intend to use pharmacological analgesics during labor, and they consented to the participate in the study [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ]. In this study pain and anxiety were the main outcome measurements. Ultimately 60 participants were included in the analysis, 30 women were entered in the experimental group and 30 women were entered into the control group.Participants were instructed to choose types of relaxing, anxiety-reducing music. In addition to receiving standard nursing care, the experimental participants listened to music for at least 30 minutes during the latent phase and active phase of labor. Measures for pain and anxiety scales were given before and after 30 minutes of music listening during the latent and active phases of labor. Participants in the control group were not aware that they had the opportunity to listen to music, but they received the standard routine care after admission.Both groups completed the same pretest and posttest measures at the same phases of labor as the music group. Twenty-four hours after childbirth, women in the experimental group were asked to complete an open-ended questionnaire to indicate their perceptions of the effectiveness of music therapy on pain and anxiety and a five-point scale to evaluate the helpfulness of music. All the outcome measures for latent and active phases were analyzed separately because of the different level of pain.The results indicated that women in the music-listening group had lower pain and anxiety and higher fingertip temperatures than their peers in the control group during the latent phase, but the outcome measures were not significant during the active phase. Music seems to have multiple functions in pain reduction, including focusing, distracting, and stimulating pleasure responses. The study provides evidenc e that preselected music that is slow, relaxing and calming in nature, with little variation in tempo or volume is helpful for laboring women in the early latent phase [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ].In the active phase of labor the slow music was not effective. This is when contractions are more intense and more painful and it is possible that the auditory cue did not synchronize with the women’s rhythmic short, rapid breathing [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ]. It could be that music with a more rapid tempo would be more helpful. Pain and anxiety can influence heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, peripheral blood flow and fingertip temperature (FT). Elevation of FT is a significant indicator of physical relaxation through the sympathetic response [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ].This study shows that music can promote relaxation and decrease muscle tension which can increase peripheral blood flow as well as skin temperature as evidenced by the increased FT [ (Yu-Hsiang Liu, 2010) ]. In conclusion, this controlled study provides evidence that music therapy for women during the latent phase of labor provides quantifiable psychological benefits. The findings of this study may provide an evidence-based music therapy protocol for women in labor.Clinical health care professionals such as nurses could consider providing music as part of their routine when working with women who face the first-time childbirth process. Nurses could apply music therapy in reducing the pain and anxiety for women who are at the early phase of labor. Music does not have harmful side-effects and is easy to administer, so if it is yet another way to ease the pain and anxiety of a laboring patient and could help make the childbirth experience a positive one, the nurse should consider offering the therapy to her patients.

My Dog, Romeo

My dog, Romeo My dog, Romeo, is the best pet anyone could have. He is beautiful and easy to care for. Playing with him is lots of fun. He always takes care of me. There isn't a better pet anywhere. Romeo is a beautiful tricolor Sheltie. He is mostly black with white and a bit of brown. Caring for him is easy because I simply have to make sure he has fresh water and food every day. I exercise him by throwing his toys. Romeo is a good pet because he is nice looking and doesn't require much care. Romeo is lots of fun to play with. He loves to play catch. He follows me around the house with a toy and drops it on my foot so I will kick it. He can catch just about anything, but his favorite is chasing a Frisbee. I really have fun playing with Romeo. Romeo takes care of me. He always follows me when I leave a room. When I am sitting on the couch he plops down right beside me. When we are outside in the woods he always makes sure that I keep up with the rest of the family. He always watches out for me. As you can see, Romeo is a great pet. I am proud of him and he doesn't require much care. Playing with him is always enjoyable. He watches over me and keeps me safe. Romeo is absolutely the best pet anyone could even have!

Economic Crisis and a Shift to the Right Essay

In 1867, after battling invaders for nearly a millennium, Hungary became an autonomous state within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This expansive empire had its northern border in present day Poland, its southern border in present day Serbia, and was bordered on the east and west by the Black and Mediterranean Seas, respectively. The empire was eventually defeated in World War I and through the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 the monarchy was disbanded, and after a period of turmoil, an independent kingdom was established under the authoritarian rule of Admiral Miklos Horthy. Due to the terms of the treaty and the redrawing of many European borders, Hungary’s size was reduced by two-thirds, leaving more than 5 million native Hungarians outside of the country’s borders. These effects remain a sensitive issue for many today and still complicate relations between Hungary and its neighbors. In the events that led to World War II, Hungary joined forces with Nazi Germany by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact and withdrawing from the League of Nations. These measures were taken in an effort to regain its lost territory from the World War I aftermath. At the start of World War II, Hungary remained neutral, however with pressure from Germany, Hungary entered the war in 1941 by invading both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. After several early battle losses, Hungary began secretly negotiating with the Allies. Hearing of these negotiations, Germany invaded Hungary and installed a puppet government. This new government began eliminating the Hungarian Jewish and Roma populations until Soviet forces in Budapest drove it out in 1945. In the wake of these events, the capital and much of the country was left in ruins. The Soviet Era (1945-1989) After World War II, Communists held power in Hungary with the support of the Soviet Union. A new land reform bill was passed that redistributed land from large estate owners to peasants. Additionally, during this time, industries became nationalized and collective agriculture was instituted. Hungary joined the Warsaw Pact aligning itself with the Soviet Union. The Hungarian population, however, was dissatisfied with this government, and in an effort to appease the people, the government instituted reforms such as withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact and becoming a neutral power. These concessions on the part of the government allowed the Hungarians to realize their power and they demanded further reform and removal of Soviet domination. As a result, Hungarians revolted against the Soviet domination of Hungary. Although the Soviet Army defeated the Hungarians, killing more than 2,500 citizens and forcing more than 200,000 to flee, a new government was instituted. This government, led by Janos Kadar, was still Soviet-friendly, but recognized the need for reform and began to become gradually more liberalized through the 1960’s. The Path to the European Union (1989-2006) In 1989, Hungary was the first country to breach the â€Å"Iron Curtain†. Soon thereafter, Hungary transitioned from Communism to a multiparty parliamentary democracy that welcomed foreign investment. Initially, the result was a dramatic decline in economic activity and living standards. However, within four years of the collapse of communism, nearly half of the country’s economic enterprises had been transferred to the private sector, and by 1998 Hungary was attracting nearly half of all foreign direct investment in Central Europe. In 1994, as a backlash to its rapid liberalization, Hungarians voted the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) into power. The MSZP was a center-left party and the unofficial successor of the Communists. This government supported and funded social programs while also continuing with economic reform by selling off government owned enterprises and implementing targeted austerity measures. Soon, the country’s newfound growth and stability allowed it to receive an invitation to join NATO. Despite its solid economic performance, the MSZP was affected by allegations of corruption, which led to its defeat in 1998 by a Fidesz led coalition who selected Viktor Orban as prime minister. Orban’s government created centralized control and refused to meet with opposite party leaders for months. They then adopted the â€Å"Status Law†, an effort to reach out to the displaced Hungarian natives. The â€Å"Status Law† offered native Hungarians living in neighboring countries benefits such as health, education, and employment rights in Hungary. Despite Western criticism of his policies, Fidesz did choose to continue the MSZP’s policy of satisfying the Copenhagen criteria to enter the European Union. In 2002, an MSZP coalition regained government control after Fidesz’s administration became the subject of scandals. The new Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurscany, was able to complete the process and formally join the EU along with nine other states in 2004. After joining, Hungary began to pursue the more difficult challenge of joining the Eurozone by completing the Maastricht criteria. The Hungarian government predicted that this task could be completed by the end of the decade. Hungary’s Entrance to the Eurozone ; Failed Attempts to Join Eurozone In the late eighties, Hungary made progressive steps to position themselves for entry into the European Union. Hungary was the first country to breach the forty-year â€Å"Iron Curtain† surrounding the Eastern European countries. The â€Å"Iron Curtain† was the political, military, ideological barrier created by the Soviet Union after World War II to separate eastern and central Communist European allies from the Western noncommunist countries. In 1989, Hungary peacefully replaced their communist political party with a multi-party parliamentary democracy. As reported by the New York Times, a sweeping majority of Hungarian Communist Party voted for the radical transformation of legislation. The main motivation for the shift was due to a stagnant economy and oppressed religion under communist rule. A need for reform and free open trade with Western countries aided the Hungarian Communist Party in their decision. Before making the final vote, Hungary already began permitting the assembly and association of the non-communist parties. In 1991 Hungary completely withdrew from the Warsaw Pact, appointing the country’s first Parliament President elect. The political restructuring was aided by a shift to a free market-based economy. Liberal economic policies and ideals such as foreign investment, asset management, entrepreneurship and integrating Hungary into the world economy were adopted by the new rule. A shift from an authoritarian economic science to a democratic capitalist system was projected to be a fairly smooth process. However, despite high hopes of a prosperous economy there was a dramatic decline of economic activity and living standards. High interest and inflation rates, unemployment amounting to 12%, and the conspicuous consumption of the new elite of entrepreneurs elicited widespread dissatisfaction among Hungarians. Some economists argue that the idea of capitalism in combination with the new practice of democracy will fail if introduced simultaneously. This is what occurred in 1991 as the ambitious measures of the new parliamentary party began to fail. Life became very difficult for many Hungarians as they struggled during the severe recession exacerbated by the fiscal austerity necessary to reduce inflation and stimulate investment. After rising backlash caused by the poor state of the economy, Hungarians voted into power the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) overthrowing the conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum. The MSZP was the center-left unofficial successor of the communist party. Since the MSZP was founded on traditional communist ideals, the MSZP gained majority support based on the belief that â€Å"things were better in the old days† when there were more jobs and economic security. The MSZP supported popular social programs while still progressively pursuing reform, selling state owned enterprises and implementing targeted austerity measures. For about 4 years, the reign of the MSZP was successful as there was a surge of stability and growth. Hungary also received an invitation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during this time. Despite the success of the MSZP’s role in Hungary’s four-year economic stimulation, corruption plagued the party. In 1998, the MSZP lost control as the Fidesz-led coalition gained majority vote. In 1998 negotiations for Hungary’s entrance into the EU also began. Viktor Orban, the prime minister, was criticized after the implementation of controversial laws such as the â€Å"Status Law†. This law granted health, education and employment rights to native Hungarians residing in other countries. This law violated principles of the European Union. This was a horrible direction to take if Hungary had motives of joining the EU. Corruption scandals and bribery surrounding Orban’s government proved to be detrimental just as they had been for the MSZP in 1998. There was a flip flop in parties as the MSZP regained control in 2002. Picking up where Fidesz and the party left off in 1998, Prime Minister Gyurcsany implemented the final required reforms and joined the 15 country EU in 2004 along with Cyrus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. After this success, Hungary began pursuing the strict requirements for membership into the euro zone, also known as the Maastricht criteria. The criteria outlined the terms regarding inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates. The MSZP had high hopes that the terms of these criteria would be reached by the end of the decade. As exhibited by similar events in Hungary’s past, the ambitious attempts didn’t quite live up to expectations. The MSZP maintained control in the election of 2006. Before this election there was a ballooning budget deficit of over 9% of GDP. This issue was overlooked, while the party promised more spending and lower taxes. In 2006, as more controversy unraveled, Prime Minister Gyurcsany admitted that his party had lied about the economic condition of the country for two years. While protests plagued the country, Gyurcsany introduced austerity measures, which included tax increases and spending cuts to trim the budget deficit to 3. 2% of GDP. According to the Maastricht Treaty, the government deficit could not exceed 3% of annual GDP. Citizens revolted and the electorate denounced the new fees, causing a major defeat for Gyurcsany’s austerity measures. A global credit crisis overshadowed Hungary’s economy in 2008 and 2009 and the efforts to meet the Maastricht criteria for the Eurozone failed. Fixed vs. Floating: What Should Hungary Have Done with the Forint Hungary lost all hopes of reaching the Eurozone as the 2008-2009 financial crisis descended upon economies. Due to falling consumer spending, Hungary suffered a trade collapse and there was a loss of confidence in forint-denominated assets among investors. In February 2008, Hungary chose to float the forint after facing substantial pressure for devaluation. By midyear, the forint began a steep depreciation, which had the effect of making Hungarian exports more attractive. This had the potential to raise Hungary’s GDP, as an increase in net exports, all other things remaining equal, will raise GDP according to the equation in Chapter 5 of the textbook Y=C+I+G+NX, where NX=NX (? ). This was not the case, however, as from 2008 to 2009, Hungary saw a 6. 7% decrease in GDP. Other aspects of the economy were at work simultaneously which led to the decrease in GDP. The depreciation of the forint also meant that Hungarian households with foreign denominated currencies saw their payments increase dramatically in terms of the domestic currency. As many Hungarians had taken on loans in foreign currencies, specifically the Swiss franc, due to low interest rates, this proved a problem for several households. These loans were of little risk when the forint was pegged to the euro, however with the currency’s recent decline, many of these loans faced default. In October 2008, Hungary’s central bank raised interest rates to 11. 5%, a 3% increase. This was an effort to equilibrate saving and investment. According to the text, increases in the interest rate serve to increase the supply of loanable funds and decrease their demand. Because Chapter 5 states that an increase in investment demand leads to a trade deficit, we can see that the Hungarian government is trying to increase its net exports to combat the financial crisis. The switch to floating the forint was intended to free Hungary to pursue economic policy independent of the Eurozone, however fears of a Hungarian default on sovereign debt forced their government to request international financial assistance. Hungary received $25. 1 billion from the IMF, World Bank, and EU, making it the first nation to receive a bailout led by the IMF. This bailout came with promises to implement austerity measures to reduce public sector pay, increase some taxes, and decrease spending on social programs. By the first quarter of 2009, Hungary saw a decrease in GDP, an increase in unemployment, and the forint became Europe’s worst performing currency. During the financial crisis, four of the eight EU countries located in Central and Eastern Europe chose to float their currencies, and only Hungary was seeing such financial and political complications. The other countries that did not float their currencies took a different strategy and defended their pre-crisis exchange rates with the Euro during the global recession. In order to remain competitive, they slashed their deficits and curbed inflation. These countries, however, were some of the worst performing in 2009. In the decision as to whether or not Hungary should have chosen to float their currency or remain pegged to the euro, it is important to compare the features of each option. A country may choose to follow hard exchange rate pegs, soft exchange rate pegs, or floating currency. Hard exchange rate pegs usually lead to sound fiscal and structural policies and low inflation. They tend to be longstanding, allowing for certainty when pricing transactions. Downsides include that the central bank has no independent monetary policy because it cannot adjust exchange rates and interest rates are tied to those of the anchor country. Another option is soft exchange rate pegs. With soft pegs, countries maintain a stable value against an anchor currency/currencies, which can be pegged within a narrow ( ±1%) or wide ( ± 30%) range. Soft pegs remain a nominal anchor to settle inflation expectations and they allow for limited monetary policy to deal with shocks. Soft pegs are vulnerable, however, to financial crises, which can lead to large devaluations and even abandonment of the peg. The third option is floating exchange rate. This rate is mainly determined by the market and central banks intervene mostly through purchases or sales of foreign currencies in exchange for local currency in order to limit short-term rate fluctuations. Depending upon the country, the central bank may be particularly involved, or not involved at all. An advantage of floating regimes is that countries have the advantage of maintaining an independent monetary policy. Measures however must be taken to ensure success. First, the foreign exchange and financial markets must be able to absorb shocks without large exchange rate changes. Also, instruments must be available to hedge risks posed by the floating exchange rate. Hungary should not have remained pegged to the Euro during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Had Hungary remained pegged, it would have likely faced worse fates than it saw during this time period. Since the other countries who remained pegged found themselves among the worst performing nations in the region, Hungary would have likely found itself in a similar situation to Latvia who even found their IMF bailout insufficient. Since none of these nations fared well, it would have been an unwise decision for the forint to remain pegged to the Euro. In contrast, the others that decided to float their currencies during this time had mixed effects. Poland actually saw a 1. 7% increase in GDP from 2008-2009, while Romania’s GDP dropped 7.1% during the same time period. Since there was some success achieved by floating currencies during this crisis, it could be concluded that there was a difference in monetary policy that could account for the success or failure of these economies. Hungary’s decision to float the forint was a wise one, however the execution of the policies surrounding this decision should have been modified. The advantage of full control of monetary poli cy was an advantage to floating currency, although it could also be a disadvantage if the policies do not promote thecurrency’s success. Hungary should have implemented some austerity measures and set up policies to try to cushion some of the inevitable blow that would be brought on by the financial crisis and the new currency in the market. If those things had been done, Hungary may have seen less of a decline during this period and may have even prospered as Poland did. Exchange Rate of Hungarian Forint vs. USD, Euro and Swiss Franc Based off of the graphs you will be able to see what the forint was worth compared to the dollar, euro and Swiss franc. Looking at the first graph, forint and dollar comparison, the forint currency was worth around 200 to 240 dollars. The biggest difference in the currency was between 2008 and 2009, which is when they decided to float the forint. Looking at the second graph, forint and euro comparison, the forint currency was worth around 260 euros until they floated. After 2009 the value of the forint decreased making their value around 300 euros. Looking at third graph, forint and Swiss francs comparison, the forint currency was worth around 180 Swiss francs until they floated. Then in 2009 the forint value decreased making their value compared to Swiss francs around 200 to 240. Hungary decided to peg the euro and Swiss francs for different reasons. They decided to peg the euro because they ultimately wanted to adopt the euro and show some relative stability in their currency. They had a target date but it was abandoned due to their debt, high budget deficit and inflation. Hungary pegged the Swiss francs because nearly 80 percent Hungarians had foreign currency loans and 55 percent of mortgages in Swiss francs. These loans had low interest and presented little risk to borrowers. The unopposed legislation of Fidesz and Orban and its economic impact The Fidesz and Orban parliamentary election in 2010 caused some controversy with other countries but continued to unite the Hungarian nation. One of the first actions that occurred was passing a bill for dual citizenship for Hungarians living abroad to offset the negative effects of Trianon Treaty. Neighboring countries, such as Slovakia, Romania and Slovenia were frustrated with this bill, but Hungarians were very supportive because many thought the treaty was unfair. Another feud was with the IMF. Orban promised to fulfill their campaign promise and stand his ground on the loan repayment. He felt that Hungary didn’t need to repay these loans because these decisions were due to the previous MSZP-led government. International investors reacted negatively to his actions, but domestic reactions were more positive. Fidesz sought out meeting EU deficit goals through raising new taxes on the banking, telecom, energy, retains, and pharmaceutical sectors. Hungarian populations supported Fidesz while multinationals continued to lose profit. In late 2010, the government made another change to support its fiscal situation by bringing private pension assets under state control. This upset private pension fund industries and The National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions but increased the trust in the government from Hungarian population. They believed that the assets from pensions would help balance the budget. Lastly, the Hungarian government decided to take over the country’s rate setting Monetary Policy Council by amending a law that gave parliament the right to nominate all four external members. Despite the changes that Fidesz and Orban made, Hungary was still strong in investments. Some advantages were in fact foreign direct investments, which totaled more than $2. 5 billion. They also have been able to the meet the demands of EU since becoming a member in 2004, showing their political stability. The location of Hungary has attracted many firms by being able to connect Western Europe to other Eastern European countries. Hungary also continued to interest major multinational companies by having strong human capital. Outsiders, other foreign countries, and credit rating agencies may not have agreed with the decisions of the parliament, but it had no effect on their growth as a nation. Hungary continued their reform and growth. Is it wise to invest in Hungary? There are factors that the case touches on which suggest that Hungary is not the safest investment; however, from looking at Hungary in its totality it is undeniable that Hungary should be a European market to invest in. Location Examining Hungary’s location and its relative proximity to its neighboring European countries, helps justify why investors would want to consider investing in the country. Hungary is situated in the heart of Europe bordering seven countries with one of Europe’s largest waterways, the Danube, running through Budapest. This favorable location coupled with the major land routes and waterways that span across Hungary make the country an optimal place for manufacturing, trade, services, and logistics. This prime location, accessible within a few hours of all European countries, makes Hungary an ideal launch point for investors who plan to develop their growing businesses while capitalizing on key European markets. The central European country is known for their excellent infrastructure, their prime business parks and industrial sites. Considered a landlocked port city, Hungary is key in connecting Western and Eastern Europe. Stability and the EU As a long-standing member of the European Union, one of the major factors that also lends to the possibility of Hungary being a safe investment, is Hungary’s relative political stability. It is considered the most developed of the Eastern European countries and its highly developed infrastructure along with its stable government makes Hungary even more appealing. Hungary offers access to a market of over 250 million people within its borders as well as a European Union common market exceeding a half of a billion people. Di Tella, Weinzierl and Kuipers aptly highlight Hungary’s stability, by pointing out that since emerging from communism in 1989, Hungary had held no interim elections and the federal government was never forced to dissolve – two things most other countries in Central and Eastern Europe could not claim. The authors then continue in saying that, in addition, regardless of the political party in power, Hungary had honored the demands of the EU since becoming a member, including regulations on transparency , auditing, and budgets. Human Capital, Labor Costs and Economic Policy Other factors that help make Hungary an attractive investment are its labor costs, an investment friendly economic policy and its strong human capital. Hungary has a highly educated workforce where more than 85% of persons between the ages of 25-34 have completed secondary school; with 70% of those individuals are enrolled in some form of higher education. More impressive still are the wages that these highly educated individuals work for. The authors make mention of these low labor costs by saying: moreover, Hungary’s labor force worked for a fraction of their counterparts in the EU – in 2007, real wages in Hungary were 40 percent of the EU average. Essentially those companies willing to invest in Hungary’s human capital would be receiving a talented workforce, capable of achieving first-rate outcomes, at a discount rate. Frido Diepeveen, an operation manager at Randstad was quoted saying, â€Å"While the characteristics of a Hungarian workforce make Budapest an ideal choice of location for multinational companies, Hungarians also find the dynamic and multicultural atmosphere of corporate giants appealing, creating the right recipe for a mutually satisfying and long-lasting match between employer and employee. Young Hungarians are educated at a high level, satisfying your need for well qualified fresh graduates. † In addition to the affordable labor costs, Hungary’s economic policy welcomes foreign investment; and prior to its full absorption into the EU Hungary experienced some of the most aggressive foreign investment of any Eastern European country. Contrarily, it is true that there are some drawbacks to investing in Hungary, and one should be mindful of them before investing. The most obvious of these risks or drawbacks is the increasing rate of inflation. Hungary’s high inflation rate (of almost 8%) was the chief reason behind the country not being allowed in the Euro currency group – which had standards in place ensuring that inflation must be lower than 3% for a country to join. Hungary’s high rate of inflation coupled with their lingering government debt has prevented them from adopting the Euro as their chief currency and has left them with the much weaker forint. This has in turn led to higher taxes on businesses in an effort to counterbalance the large deficits and high rate of inflation. With companies being taxed at a much higher rate, companies are subsequently forced to either accept a lower profit margin or cut costs. Even after considering this major drawback to investing in Hungary, it is hard to overlook those key factors, which make Hungary a very appealing country to invest in. Bibliography