Operation management Essay

a) Introduction The company that our group chose to study is City of Dreams Macau (COD), which is located in Macau Cotai coherent highway. COD is a diversified entertainment resort, which contains a rich set of entertainment, grand hotel accommodation, international cuisine, internationally renowned brands as well as casino. Luckily, we found a manager in entertainment and progress department of this company to help us conduct an interview. The information of this manager are as follows: Manager name: Huà ¡ dà ¬ Telephone number: 66884314 Position: Theatre Director Main responsibilities: All ticketing and frontline day-to-day operation of Atrium, Dancing Water, Hard Rock pool party, The Junyue MMA boxing matches, CUBIC ticketing and TABOO. COD’s corporate goal, as stated by Lawrence Ho, is to become the tourist resort that makes Asian and even the global tourists to have multi-day stay, and to consolidate Macau as Asia’s leading leisure and tourism center. COD locate in one of the most competitive area in Taipa, Macau. There are several entertainment resort hotels, such as Venetian, Sands Cotai Central, Galaxy Macau these competitors. COD has to keep its competitiveness to fight with them. So COD provides with some entertainments (like the house of Dancing Water, Dragon treasure, etc.) to attract the customers to come to COD to achieve corporate goal. In order to improve staff quality, entertainment and progress department also cooperate with HR department to offer training program to staff. Staffs can go for training as long as they are available. In corporate positioning, COD believes that it takes the advantage of providing something different than other competitors by implementing the differentiation strategy, for example, offering Dancing Water, Atrium to customers. COD also has high requirement on the  entertainment activities they offered. In the past, COD once thought of opening a cinema. However, COD thinks cinema is not very high-end and it will low the elegance of COD, so COD rejects the consideration at last. b) Current Operations The current operation is to provide above entertainments to customers and make sure that the entertainment activities go smoothly. The manager has to measure ticketing and frontline workings keep running. In the ticketing, the manager said COD provide 60~70%‘s ticket for internet sell, and the rest of the ticket will provide to the agent like travel agencies, these agencies will sell the tickets to the group customers. The manager said COD won’t overbook the ticket to get the maximum profit, because their shows are unique, and they care more about the quality rather than the quantity. They have to take-care some special needs person, providing convenience to them. COD tries to get a balance between making profit and remaining service quality. Show cancellation & Compensation COD sometimes face problems of show cancellation of Dancing Water and receive complaints from customers. Also, there may have some mistakes on the daily operation, so the customers will not satisfy the services and have complaint with COD. For the compensation part, COD build a compensation standard to deal with customer complains. The general approach is to take the customer complaint at first place, for example, ticket refund. However, if the compensation exceeds the company’s standard, then COD will take company’s benefit at the first place (e.g. some customers will ask for airplane tickets refund and it will be transferred to higher level manager to determine the compensation level). Also, COD’s management group will have meeting every week to discuss complaint affairs and try to analyze whether it is due to guests vexatious or they have some shortcomings. If they think that they are not doing well, then they will think of ways and make improvement. Decentralization Instead of centralization, COD tends to have decentralization because they believe that this is more effective. COD depend on staffs to help monitor  the operations of entertainment activities, so manager do not need to deliberately spend efforts on ensuring the operation of activity is smooth and they can focus on the overall operations. Staffs can directly go to their supervisor when they encounter problems. Also, manager will assign some employees who are in higher position to help monitor the lower level employees’ performance, as well as daily operation of activity. Supervisors directly ask the higher level staffs about the problems on work(e.g. do small circle of people exist and is there any employee they find that is difficult to get along with others ) in order to get a respectively good understanding about what’s going on of daily operation. Reward system There is no reward system implementing now for the staff performance. According to the interview, there was a reward system before, employee who performs well will get free coupons of restaurants in COD, concert tickets, shopping tickets, or dancing water tickets, etc. as a bonus. However, it was cancelled due to the inefficiency. In the past, company let employees to vote for the best employee, and it causes problem that employees will vote to their friends, instead of having an evaluation about who is the best employee. COD think that it cannot reflect the truth and is meaningless. Therefore, COD now cancel the reward system and use the money to hold department activities, e.g. BBQ or order take-away for all employees in the department. Training COD use decentralization to let employees help maintain the current operations. Employees have to handle problems met by them. Therefore, training is an important way to ensure staffs’ quality and performance. The manager said the COD do very well in staff training, COD provides many training courses to the staffs to improve their work quality and skills. In usual time, they will post a form that includes all the training courses available along with corresponding time schedule, staffs can decide which training course to participate in accordance with their working time. COD will try to accommodate staffs’ working time to provide training courses. If it is not possible to arrange the suitable time for the staffs, regular work should be taken in the first place. Staffs can join the training course  after finishing the work. In most of the time, COD won’t enforce the staffs to participate training courses, staffs participate these training course voluntary. But there are some training courses that are compulsory to every staff according to COD’s requirement. For example, in the future, COD will open a new show in CUBIC, and COD will arrange each employee to watch the â€Å"CUBIC† show at least once. So the staffs will know about the show and what is the process of the show. c) Opportunity of improvement Decentralization Although it is a good idea to let all employees help monitor the daily operations of activities, so manager can focus more on the overall operations, there also some drawbacks caused by decentralization. According to the current operations, employees report to manager directly if they find problems on daily operations. It raises possible problems like: (1) The quality of work may be poor because there is no clear responsibility assigned to specific employee. The monitoring work conducted by employees may not be efficient. If there are problems that employees failed to recognize, manager may not know, because employees’ reporting is the only way for manager to get detail daily operating information from employees, it affects the operation activity in the short run if the problem is not negligible. (2) No regular meeting is required for manager and employees to exchange information. Regular meeting is an important way for reporting, if there is no such a meeting, employees are not encouraged to raise problems they found. They may first try to solve the problem when they find it, instead of reporting to their manager. Therefore, some problems may be hided and it causes bigger problems if the problem is crucial to the organization. Moreover, employees may not have a very good understanding of the company’s strategy and may make inappropriate decisions without fully understanding the big picture. Reward system No reward system is implemented in current operations due to the former unsuccessful reward system. Employees’ individual performance is not linked with reward. Employees may be less motivated. Show cancellation In the interview, we asked the COD manager â€Å"What the most difficult problem that you had faced.† The COD manager answered us is the show cancellation, which is a big problem for an entertainment resort. We can find some news about COD canceled the show. According to the news, COD suddenly cancel three shows of the â€Å"house of Dancing Water†. There are a lot of audiences already booked the tickets in a few days ago, they received message from COD about the show cancel after they arrived Macau. This thing disturbs their plan. COD claim they need to cancel the shows because of the technical problems, and they will return the ticket fees, but they won’t compensate the other loss, so audiences feel angry and disappointed with COD. This thing will hurt the image and reputation of COD, it can decrease customers that want to come to COD to watch the show, and decrease the profit. d) Solution Decentralization 1) Manager should provide training to staffs in order to strengthen their awareness of responsibility. Manager may also provide some guideline to staffs about what they should do if they encounter problems. Moreover, instead of fully depending on staff reporting, manager may take time to supervise daily operation if needed. 2) Hold regular meetings for information exchange. With regular meetings, employees will have formal way to express their opinions or problems they found, so problems can be improved or solved in a more efficient way. Reward system According to the interview, the former reward system is based on the vote of employees among each other, and this would easily cause about inequity. We recommend that COD may develop a reward system for a trial using different voting method. Instead of basing on the vote among employees, the department should create a criterion chart for all the employees to be monitored by the supervisor. Once the employee performs great in some area, she/he will get a point in that part. The final score is the cumulative score of every part. At the end of one period, the entire criterion chart should present the  degree of performance of the employees, which could be the grounds to decide which employee to get the rewards. See whether employees’ performance have improved under implementing the new reward system by making evaluation from period to period. If the result is good, then company should consider implementing a reward system in order to encourage employees for better performance in the long-run. This kind of solution will eliminate some bias of the evaluation. Not basing on the evaluation among employees, monitored by supervisor will be more just to use the reward system. Show cancellation We think out some suggestions for the COD to solve this problem. (1) Develop a contingency plans. The staffs of COD must make advance notice about the show cancellation message to the customers, and then arrange the customers to return the tickets, getting back the fees. This can mitigate the dissatisfaction of customers and reduce other unnecessary loss. However, sometimes we cannot expect accidents, which are some aspects we cannot control, and it is hard to tell the customers early. (2) Second, open the other facilities of the hotel. Customers come to COD to enjoy the service and entertainment, and if I was one of them, I don’t want just go back home because of the cancellation of the shows I want to watch. So COD can open some facilities to these customers to ensure they still have an awesome experience in COD. For instance, Venetian has the In the other hand, COD can give these customers equivalent coupons, and they can spend some time in COD, and use these coupons to buy anything in the hotel. Of course, this method needs the cooperation among many involved departments. (3) And the last is to prepare a backup show. If a show has to be cancelled, customers can choose to watch the backup show. But not every customer wants to watch another show because they come for shows that they want to watch, and the cost of backup show is not cheap. Therefore, customers can also ask for refund and buy the ticket next time with a discount. e) Implementation After communicating the suggestions we made for the manager, he said that implementing our solution to the company right now was not practical. Their  decisions need to be made based on some professional analysis. However, he listened to our solution and gave his own comments about the effect of those solutions: For the decentralization part, he thinks holding regular meetings is one of the possible way for staffs to raise problems they found, but managers always need to manage so many things and may not have enough time to do that. For the reward system part, we suggested that to build a new reward system using different voting method. However, according to the manager, biases also exist if using this method. However, there will be two potential problems: 1 There is a grey area between just and unjust, and once the supervisor decides the reward, it’s complicated to say the manager will be definitely just to everyone. The bias might exist still; 2 The supervisor has many things to deal with; there might be some overlook in employees’ performance, which will be hard to monitor all the aspects. For the show cancellation part, sometimes advance announcement is not possible because of the suddenly occurred error. In other way, COD should consider the cost problem if they want to satisfy customers by providing them equivalent coupons. The cost problem also exists in the back-up show suggestion. Conclusion After the interview, we can get some information about the operations of the entertainment fields in the COD. In the daily operations, it depends on the staffs to maintain the operations and solve the problems. COD also provides some training courses for staffs to participate, but these training courses are optional, which means not every staff has enough skills to handle the difficult level operation problems. One of the COD’s selling points is its wonderful shows, these shows attract a lot of people to come. But sometimes, because of some reasons, COD have to cancel the show, which means they need some good back up plans to appease the angry of customers, and try to decrease the loss. COD is a big entertainment resort hotel in Macau. From the interview, we can find out that COD actually do a good job in its operation.

Allopathic and Naturopathic approaches to Metabolic Syndrome Management â€MS revisited

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is also called as syndrome X, cardiovascular metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance syndrome. It is a cluster of risk factors associated with an elevated risk of development of Hyperlipidemia (elevated triglycerides and low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), hypertension, abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance and concomitant insulin resistance. It develops risk of heart and diabetes disease. Adler,R (2007),The journal of alternative and complementary medicineMany people are suffering with this syndrome which has deadly effects. This is the right time that we seriously look into it and curb the epidemic. Definition of Metabolic syndrome (MetS) itself varies with different agencies. But the symptoms are accepted generally. This dissertation looks into varies definitions, allopathic and naturopathic approaches in dealing with the problem, limitations and further research required. DefinitionThe two important definitions of Metabolic Syndrome are â€Å" Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome: Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above.(Some groups say 100mg/dl) The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome: High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria: Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0. 9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or HDL c holesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure)† (2002,January 16). Web extension to The Journal of the American Medical Association, Retrieved April 8th, 2008 from the World Wide Web:http://jama. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/abstract/287/3/356 Metabolic syndrome is present in 4. 6 percent of normal weight men, 22. 4 percent of overweight men, and 59. 6 percent of obese men. Distribution of the same is similar with women. In last decade obesity among the adult population has doubled. Approaches of Allopathic and Naturopathic practitioners on Metabolic SyndromeAllopathic and Naturopathic practitioner’s analyze the patient and go through Laboratory findings before going for further diagnosis and treatment. Adler explains â€Å"After a battery of expensive and/or invasive diagnostic tests confirms the obvious diagnosis, six to ten different expensive and potentially hazardous medications are prescribed to treat the d isorders. On the other end of the continuum are a few practitioners whose prescriptions are limited to exercise, stress reduction and dietary modification†. Adler,R(2007),Volume13, 11-12. The journal of alternative and complementary medicineAllopathic practitioners prescribe drugs and balance it for each and every individual nonconformance which causes metabolic syndrome and advises for life style change. Naturopathic practitioners mostly rely on life style changes. Diagnosis systems are same with Allopathic and Naturopathic systems. But when it comes to treatment and specifically on life style changes with diet, there are differences of opinion with individual practitioners. Basically the treatment for metabolic syndrome does not have a sure shot formula; it is mostly dependent on patient cooperation.Hence for a practitioner treating a metabolic syndrome person is an art during clinical intervention. As Sir William Osler said â€Å"†¦ it was more important to know the p atient that had the disease, than to know what kind of disease the patient had†. (24-26, July 2006) The Epoch times Diabetes Diabetes found to be a serious metabolic disease. Especially those consuming western diets, this problem is in higher side. When there is a malfunction in insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas, disordered happens in metabolism of carbohydrate, protein and fats.Due to insulin secretion is very low; cells cannot use the glucose to convert into energy. This glucose circulates in the blood till kidneys excrete. Since the body cannot use glucose available in the blood for converting into energy, it has to burn protein and fat available in the body hence fatigue and weight loss occurs. Type-2 diabetes is associated with metabolic syndrome. Due to age factor the pancreatic function is unable to cope with dietary excess and obesity. In some cases its functions diminishes. Hence an Allopathic practitioner will prescribe drugs and suggest for life style cha nges.Naturopathic practitioner will solely depend on intake of diets, natural supplementary diets and life style changes. Obesity Controlling obesity is important in metabolic syndrome. â€Å"Those who are overweight should shed excess fat and avoid alcohol, white flour products and white rice, as these make insulin less sensitive†. Needes (2002), Page 257, Naturopathy for self healing, B. Jain publishers. â€Å"Any man with a waist greater than 40 inches, or a woman with a waist greater than 35 inches is considered to be at high risk for developing diabetes†. Sethu. S.(Summer 2004), Web extension to Cleveland Clinic Magazine, Retrieved April 8,2008 from the World Wide Web:http://www. clevelandclinic. org/clevelandclinicmagazine_2004/news/syndrome_x. htm Stress Under stress, adrenal hormones induce the release of fat and sugar into the blood which is used for energy. Those who are not able to handle stress and always with unmanaged abnormal stress, the blood sugar rema ins high and release of insulin from pancreas is depressed. The people who practice meditation and yoga are able to control and manage stress very well.It is noted that the persons who change their total life style inclusive of stress management are able to control diabetes than who only change their diets. Stress disrupts normal eating habits. Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat When carbohydrate diets are taken in complex form it breaks into glucose very slowly in the blood. With the continuous conversion of glucose into energy, the sugar level in the blood remains constant. Hence the requirement for insulin becomes lesser. A high complex carbohydrate diet which is high in fiber and low in protein is better than old recommendations of a low carbohydrate, high protein combination.Low protein diet reduces saturated fats and fibre prevents glucose to from releasing quickly. A calorie level which consists of 70-75% complex carbohydrates, 15% protein and 10-15% fats and oils will ensure very high fibre content and reduces the cholesterol levels. Oats, spelt, corn, barley, peas, beans, fruits and vegetables are rich in carbohydrates. Even some high fibre foods are having high glycaemic rate. Hence these should be avoided. It found effective in an attempt to reduce serum cholesterol and triglycerides in type-2 diabetes when they were administered with fish oils.But subsequently blood glucose levels increased and insulin sensitivity decreased. Hence at this moment Fish oils to be avoided for diabetes. Also further studies should be conducted in this regard for better understanding and solution. Meat has more phosphorus and sodium levels. These things should be kept very low for diabetic. Hence meat should be avoided as a protein source. To lessen the kidney damage, protein levels need to be kept low and should not be above 15% of total calories in the diet. Needes (2002), Page 259, Naturopathy for self healing, B.Jain publishers. Moderate exercises improve cholesterol lev els and maintains weight. It increases metabolism, blood circulation and reduces the need for insulin consumption by the body. Fenugreek seeds, dandelion root, Goat’s rue, Blueberries and red gum bark are good for insulin production; strengthen the immune system, cholesterol and triglyceride levels are maintained within acceptable limit. Limitations, Challenges and Further research in metabolic syndrome A single clear solution cannot be arrived because of various factors involved in metabolic syndrome.Even with so much of research in diet for metabolic syndrome, there are differences with practitioners on combination of low and high carbohydrates, proteins and it depends on individuals who have different life style. Further research should give us clear idea of this combination. A common index value to be arrived based on the laboratory findings of triglycerides, HDL, hypertension, abdominal, obesity, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Based on that index value a sin gle drug with different combinations to be invented to control metabolic syndrome.Research should be carried towards this direction to avoid many treatment aspects involved in MS. Conclusion Till then it is strongly recommended that public should be educated regarding Balanced Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) to help in their diet planning to have a better control on their metabolic syndrome. References Codario. A ( 2007),Type 2 Diabetes, Pre-diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome, Humana Press Inc. US. Needes (2002) Naturopathy for self healing- B. Jain publishers Barker, Meletis (2003) Natural treatment for metabolic syndromeAdler (2007), Volume13, The journal of alternative and complementary medicine. Bray (2007), The Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity, Humana press Inc. US. http://www. aafp. org/afp/20040615/2875. html www. americanwellnessnetwork. com http://www. ahrq. gov/clinic/3rduspstf/physactivity/physactrr. htm. http://www. americanheart. org/presenter. jhtml? identifi er=4756 http://www. clevelandclinic. org/clevelandclinicmagazine_2004/news/syndrome_x. htm http://circ. ahajournals. org/cgi/content/full/109/3/433 http://diabetes. webmd. com/tc/metabolic-syndrome-topic-overview http://www. efluxmedia.com/news_Kids_with_Sedentary_Life_Show_Early_Signs_of_Metabolic_Syndrome_15990. html http://jama. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/abstract/287/3/356 http://longevity. about. com/od/longevityandillness/a/metabolic_syndr. htm http://www. liebertonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1089/act. 2006. 12. 157? journalCode=act http://metabolicsyndrome. about. com/od/nutrition/a/GlycemicIndex. htm http://www. massagetoday. com/archives/2004/09/14. html http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/18370746 http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/metabolicsyndrome. html http://www. nutritionandmetabolism. com/content/2/1/31 http://www. usatoday. com/

Human motivation Essay

SCENARIO: The scenario developed for the purpose of this paper is that a person has gone through the bitter experience of losing a loved one. In this case, the other person moved away and long distance relationship was not possible due to inevitable circumstances. Now the person who has been left behind has to recover from the sorrow of their loved one moving away, conclusion of a relationship that was a couple of years old, as well as move on with his/her own life. He/she has support from family and friends; however, they prefer to be on their own for now to recover from the close attachment that was developed over the course of two years. Moving away of a loved one has left a gap in the life of the subject. For a while, they were low on self esteem considering the move as his/her own fault. To recover from this depressive state they need to motivated and lured back to life and routine. COMPONENTS OF MOTIVATION: In the given scenario the biological component would be an individual’s need to mate with a partner. While momentarily, the subject is associating this need with their loved one, however, once they are able to move then situation shall be different. The learned component is that the subject now realizes that they have been loved and experienced that emotion. In future, while establishing bonds and relationships, duplicating that emotion can be one important motivational factor or component. Finally, the cognitive component in this case is that subject is to realize that moving on is must. They have given their best to the relationship and that is all they could do. Their self-esteem suffered and getting it back is important motivational component. APPLICATION OF THEORIES: Now, viewing the scenario in light of the motivational theories and possible ways to motivate the subject to move on and get back to life. 1. Instinct theories: Instinct theory in this case points out to the elementary aspect of human relationships. That is, a person’s need to find a mate. The subject is going through a low period. However, this is expected to end as soon as they realize that they need to fill the void in their life with someone special and are willing to give anyone else a chance. This instinctive need to mate is a great motivator in itself (AllPsych, 2003). 2. Personality theories: Personality theories of motivation describe each personality and person on different dimensions. While their focus is on finding similar traits in personalities of different people, categorizing an individual makes it simpler for psychologist to approach the subjects (Boeree, 2007). In this case, the subject can be analyzed on their personality traits such as if they are optimist or pessimist, free will or determinist, has had early or late personality development etc. Once that is determined, it will be easier to understand that what motivates the individual, what amount of effort does their personality require to overcome a trauma and so on. 3. Drive/learning theories: Drive theory is also somewhat similar to the instinct theories. These theories propose that each person is driven towards a certain kind of behavior due to internal biological demand. Their actions are to reduce that drive. In this case it is applicable such that a healthy individual has to fulfill their sexual needs. Reduction of this drive is again a motivator or an incentive for the person to move on with their life (AllPsych, 2003). 4. Growth and mastery motivation theories: The growth and goal mastery theories of motivation suggest that after a person has had an unpleasant experience, they learn from that and make a conscious effort as to not to repeat the behavior in future (East Lothian Council, n.d). In this case it would be that perhaps the subject might be hesitant to commit or fully give himself to a relationship unless they have over came insecurity. It motivates them to carefully choose who they want to be with 5. Humanistic theories: Most applied Humanistic theory; Maslow’s Need Hierarchy is a good example of application of humanistic approach. The subject in this scenario will be at the level of ‘Love and Belonging Needs’. Unless needs of that level are not fulfilled, he wont be able to reach a higher level of self esteem. The subject needs help and support of family and friends or perhaps even a therapist to realize that they need to move on and let themselves go in order to move further over pyramid. Not dwelling on past is the key here (AllPsych, 2003). 6. Cognitive theories: Cognitive theories purpose that an individual’s behavior is dependant on not just their personality and needs but also on dynamic environment that they live in, the external factors acting upon them and so on (Psychological Solutions, n. d). If the subject is able to evaluate and understand the present situation from this view point, they shall come to realize that there is little role for them to play and the dynamics of the environment were unfavorable. However, if they are seeking professional help then a therapist should be able to point out that this might not be true for each experience in their life and motivate them to move on. BIBLIOGRAPHY AllPsych. (2003). Motivation In Psychology. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from: http://allpsych. com/psychology101/motivation. html East Lothian Council.(n. d). Goal Theory Of Motivation. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from: http://www. exc-el. org. uk/content/index. php/main/teaching_and_learning/everything_you_wanted_to_know_about_teaching_and_learning_but_were_afraid_to_ask/motivation/motivational_theories/goal_orientation_theory Boeree, G. (2006). Personality Theories. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from: http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/persintro. html Psychological Solution. (n. d). Cognitive Theories of Motivation. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from: http://www. psychsol. com/html/word_docs/Motiv%202%20-%20ohp. doc.

Intercultural Communication Gap Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Intercultural Communication Gap - Assignment Example Canadian people do not like any exaggeration in their discussion and that is why they do not like people who do not discuss the point matter. The Communication styles of African people are quite relaxing, just as if these Mozambican may not start their meeting at the particular fix time. It does not mean that they are not punctual rather they are not that much strict in the professional matters. The Mozambican people love to talk to each other irrespective of the fact that they know him or her or not. It is an obligation for them to greet any person whom they meet during their daytime. The discussions and the meetings always start with the formal talks and end with the informal and family conversation. Socializing and building relationships is most important and top priority fact for the Mozambican people. For this reason, they can even negotiate the formal and professional matters. According to the research of different cultures, it is clear that there are many points of differences between the Canadian and the Mozambican cultures. There are many of the theories, which can explain these intercultural conflicting issues and the differences. Power Distance: the theory of power distance means that the people living in any society are not at all equal to each other with respect to different factors and elements. Therefore, the power distance means the gap between the people having different levels of authority. By comparing two cultures, it is quite evident that Mozambican is a highly hierarchal society where people are treated according to their individuality and the status. On the other side, Canadian society has less power distance, which means that people are more dependent upon each other. If we talk about the failure of the dinner party, then this power distance conflict can be one of the main reasons.

AS Level English Literature - Aspects of Narrative Essay

AS Level English Literature - Aspects of Narrative - Essay Example This is the time when the superpower witnessed levels of prosperity which shall remain unprecedented in the history of America and will be always marked with glory as the â€Å"roaring† 1920s due to excessive soaring of the economy. At the same time, the society of America also witnessed prohibition which instigated ban on the manufacturing and sale of alcohol as made mandatory by the Eighteenth Amendment. This made many people millionaires out of bootlegger business (CandiULB, â€Å"America from 1917 to 2008†). After the republication of the novel during the years of 1945 and 1953, the novel reached the pinnacle of glory and a huge readership acceptance till date and started being considered as the paragon in American literature and classic for its great plot, fascinating narrative and universally relative socio-economic discourse. Establishment of the Context and Major Themes of the Novel by Fitzgerald in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Chapter One and Chapter Two of the nove l form the initiating chapters of the great tale and also present a platform where the author explicitly prepares his readers to understand the theme, background and context of his novel. At the outset of the plot these kinds of hints or psychological grooming of the readers is an evident phenomenon from a great author as Fitzgerald. A thorough and a close introspection of the novel would enable the readers to understand that the plot of the novel is woven into multiple themes pertaining to myriad perspectives about life, culture, age and society that the author intend to present. Amid multiple themes captivated within the tight-lipped plot of the novel, the decline of the American Dream in the 1920s and the hollowness of the higher class form the major themes of the novel. Apart from these two poignant themes, there are also certain minor themes which can be considered as quite pertinent themes present in the novel such as, honesty, decay, roles played by the genders, violence, con flict of the class, religion and World War I. Prior to a close analysis of the context of the novel and its development at the outset of the novel, it becomes obvious from the perspective of the narration that it is a conscious deviation from the writing style of Fitzgerald. The plot opens with the introduction of Nick Carraway. Nick is portrayed as a bachelor from the background of a Midwestern family who graduated from the University of Yale in the year 1915 and participated in the World War I for a while. Nick comes back to the Midwest before his settlement in New York and plans to learn about the â€Å"bond business† and despite his wealthy upbringing; Nick continues a modest way of living. In this part of the story, Gatsby, the hero of Nick’s novel is introduced and Nick appears as the author and also the narrator of the story. His description of a â€Å"gorgeous† hero in the form of Gatsby at the beginning of the novel indicates that he is deeply disgusted with the national concepts and perceptions that are accepted widely. He indicates explicitly that his education from his father enabled him not to judge people with the same kind of moral standards and parameters he sets for himself. He comments, â€Å"In my YOUNGER and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since†. â€Å"â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone†

Risk Measures and Valuation under Interest Rates and Equity Risk Essay

Risk Measures and Valuation under Interest Rates and Equity Risk Factors - Essay Example In order to solve this problem, two vital problems have to be managed: first problem is that the market rates are correlated but they behave randomly and the second problem is that the portfolio structures are high–dimensional and conventionally non-linear. The well-known techniques of risk measurement can be classified into two categories. The first category is the stochastic approach, in which the profit and loss distribution of the portfolio is taken in to consideration. Value-at-Risk (VaR) is the most famous risk measure in this category. VaR conventionally denotes the 1% or 5 % quantile of the profit and loss distribution. The second category includes the Maximum Loss (ML) methodology, in which the risk is estimated with the help of the value of the worst case scenario. ML analyzes a finite set of scenarios to determine the worst case out of them and it does not consider the correlations among the risk factors, such as the stress testing. The Maximum Loss methodology empl oys a very specific choice of feasible domains that are referred as the trust regions. The trust regions determine the correlation structure of the market rates through their shape acquired from the examination of a certain percentage of all future outcomes. This paper first derives the standard assumptions of the financial risk management with the help of the fundamentals of financial calculus. Then, it presents some of the established techniques of risk measurement in a unifying framework along with discussing their basic properties. The paper describes the concept of Maximum Loss towards its end. 1. Introduction to Market Risk Under the intricate and changing set-up of today’s world, it is impracticable to attain stability in relation to mere minor volatility since mature markets are being formed subsequently, with the help of fast global information, which has further escalated competition. Thereby, globalization is encouraged and financial institutions are compelled to a ugment their performance. Hence, the implications of market volatility are now very essential to understand. Market risk, which is also often referred as price risk, specifies the uncertainty created by the market volatility that is defined as the prospects of money loss subject to the variations in the market prices. Although quantitative techniques for examining distinct financial instruments are entrenched, however, more research is still required for measuring risk related to the entire financial portfolios. The supervisory authorities are liable to ascertain that the economic-capital-cushions are held adequately to provide security against any possible unanticipated losses. Hence, the requirements of regulations imposed by the supervisory authorities give rise to the need for risk measurement. The banking sector, until the 1980’s, profoundly stressed upon the credit business. The number of banking failures rose with the increase in competition and the Basle Committee was established for banking supervision, in the year 1988, under the control of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements) in Basle, which published the document called ‘Basle Accord’ that included information on ‘

HW1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HW1 - Essay Example (The administration of troubled President Al-Assad puts the amount of nationalities marginally higher, at 80 or more.) Conversely, the shows how the U.S government has not yet evaluated the amount of its nationals battling in Syria. The kind of data leaving the US includes reports of secluded occurrences, for example, in November 2013, when an administrator in the N.S.A proclaimed that three US nationals were confronting charges identifying with arrangements to make a trip to Syria to bond withthe Al-Nusra Front. Battling in Syria picking up across the board consideration in the Western press, authorities from the Parliament of Europe being compelled to remark on the dangers of joining in the battling, and the implications for the security of Europe. There are specific reasons for alarm with respect to what will take place provided remote contenders come back to Europe and their likely interest or association in suicide operation. Regardless of Benotmans declaration that a few Europeans may end up consuming jihad in the wake of going to Syria for different reasons, there are still numerous who end up radicalized by the dynamic vicinity of Islamist activist gatherings online prior to leaving for Syria. Online recruitment through social networking, web journals or sites on the Internet had gotten much simpler than some time recently. "To such an extent that the supposed third era of warriors inside the equipped gatherings grew up with engineering and are more connected with it particularly as keen gadgets and online networking sites have gotten across the board," he said. Online recruitment fights seem to have been compelling enough that a few governments in the West especially the U.S have propelled counter-battles accordingly. For instance In Dec 2013, The New York Times distributed an announcement by a United States State Department administrator who stated that a test case project would react to tweets, interpreted feature cuts show by

People and Organization Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

People and Organization - Coursework Example Quality standards can help assure that company’s staff will have the skills to meet the diverse needs of all the emerging trends in the market. Standards regarding total group size and the production level ratio will have a direct bearing on the quality of the products. Programs can encourage and support staff competence by having: (1) a comprehensive orientation about the programs philosophy and goals, policies, expectations and responsibilities, special needs of individual junior staff, and health and safety procedures; and (2) a plan for on-going training and professional development that includes a wide range of topics such as curriculum, legislation and regulations, development of constructive partnerships with other members in the company, and knowledge of how to access community resources for their families in the program Para-professional staffs help them to build rapport with the community very quickly and they could be co-coordinating the entire activities of the company in that area. They look at these staff as members as effective catalyst, which have deep insight into the community in the question, as well as trust and acceptance. in some research, the outsiders find it very difficult as they are required to climb steep learning curves and go through a very long process of gaining local acceptance, which can be helped or hindered by existing cultural prejudices. A plan for systematic recruitment of a diverse company’s staff is critical to assuring the availability of quality personnel. Personnel managerial of a company program administrators need to develop clearly written job descriptions that reflect the programs inclusion philosophy and list specific responsibilities and expectations for each role. Education and training requirements should be clearly defined and serve as basic criteria for employment. However, it is important that the recruitment plan is flexible.

Marine Biodiversity as a Part of Public Goods Essay

Marine Biodiversity as a Part of Public Goods - Essay Example In the recent past, over-fishing done by greedy individuals has led to an imbalance in the marine ecosystem. The general worries that scientists and conservationists have on over-fishing and pulverization of habitats are set apart in many parts of the biosphere and the result is that they have harmed the marine environment irreversibly. Disturbance of this adjusted biological system by individuals for medicinal drugs, food, tourism and trading activities hinder the development, ecosystem.Governments have come up with standard procedures and measures to solve the problem of over-exploitation of fisheries. The latter being a good example to highlight on how aspects of marine conservation have been carried out in the past. Overfishing is believed to arise from two possibilities in marine ecosystem; first, fisheries as a resource brings forth rivalry when it comes to consumption. This is due to the fact that the exact value and benefit of one fish caught by a fisherman cannot be enjoyed by the other. Secondly, the fishermen cannot be restricted from using the fisheries since it is a public good. Consequently, the agencies that manage fisheries use equipment and methods that focus on addressing basic issues brought by over-fishing (Geuss 117). For example, putting restrictions on inputs such as the vessel sizes, limiting the output, in this case, the total catch for every resource user. Lastly, the right of accessing the fisheries or pastures in case of pastoralists can also be limited.

Property Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Property Rights - Essay Example The land subject to eminent domain is to be given to a private entity for an economic project. The problem presented by those who criticize the ruling in this case is that private entities and corporations might use this to influence the government in acquiring lands. This will give them an undue advantage against individual citizens with respect to property rights. According to John Locke, the moment a person is born, he has the right to preservation. He has the right to enjoy and use nature for their subsistence. "God, who hath given the world to men in common, hath also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience." Locke said. As such, According to Lock, since God gave the world to men for its use and enjoyment, there must be some way in which people could take them and own them. Because without taking them and owning it, how could people use it This is the basis of individual property rights. However, the property rights of a person are not absolute or unconditional. It may be subject to conditions and it may be limited in favor of the state, the general welfare of the people or for public order. For example, the government may regulate transactions involving properties. These regulations may take the form of contract laws, professional regulations law, or even labor law. Another example of limitation o... Because the government is task to protect and promote the general welfare of its people, to successfully do this, it needs money to spend. And a bulk of the money used by the government comes from taxes. Without the power to impose taxes, the government will not be able to acquire money and by taxation, individuals are required to part with a portion of their property in favor of the government. Hence it is a limitation to their property rights. The Power of Eminent Domain Another form of limitation on the individual's property rights is eminent domain. In eminent domain, the government is authorized to take a person's property, even against his will, as long as such taking is for a public use and the person is paid just compensation. The Problem with This Case Usually, this is exercised by the government when it builds infrastructures such as bridges, school buildings and the like, mostly government owned. However in this case, it was exercised by a corporation for economic development. While it is true that the economic project will reap benefits for the whole city such as jobs and revenues in the form of taxes, such is only incidental. Ultimately, whatever revenue that the corporation will receive will go to the private persons who own it. This, I believe, would cause an alarming precedence. Because of this ruling, the private entities are now allowed, in a way, to exercise eminent domain. All it has to do is to apply to the city, present the number of jobs that it could offer the possible revenues that it could earn the city and they can get delegation of that power. They can force individuals to sell them any property they like. In my opinion, this would threaten the individual's property rights. Exercise of eminent

Career Path for Acounting Essay Example for Free

Career Path for Acounting Essay It is always so hard to give the exact number of people who have majored in accounting, but one thing that I know is that the demography is very wide and large. This is because they have different reasons for majoring in this career path. The most common reason to all people is because accounting is a marketable career and they merely want to find a job. The number of people majoring in this field is growing immensely and the most important thing is to consider the main reason of joining this profession. Some people will claim that when they were in high school, this was their best subject and they loved it and so they will need to major in it. I believe the best reason for majoring in accounting is because it has wide varieties of career path that one can major in. People should understand that this field is not all about debits and credits. It is more of a communicating language in the world of business and this is why many chief executive officers hold a degree in this field. In the day today life it is usually one of the most common undergraduate degree programs. The most important thing is to make certain that all of the people who are in this profession understand business and that is why many people who have ventured in accounting always have considerations for such posts. The most interesting part of this career choice is that most of the time the people who venture into it will always have the best job positions waiting for them because many people always have a notion that it is a difficult discipline. The employment opportunities are abounding for the graduates majoring in accounting. The government figures shows that at least 1.2 million of jobs are held by accountants every year. According to the Feldmann, 2009 and also the survey done by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA, 2000) the graduates are declining but after revisiting their research in the year 2005, it reflected an increase in number of the accountant graduates. This has become a relief to many accounting recruiters. According to the 2007 Employment dynamics and growth expectations (EDGE) 57% of the hiring managers have a difficulty when hiring qualified staff. This call for a necessity of accounting graduates, which fortunately is increasing day after the other as the business enterprises increase. After attaining a degree in this sector, most of the students always opt to become public accountants as the first career choice. The choice of either taking job as a private accountant depended on the fact that they had to make choices among the salary values offered to them. None of them like to work in the non profit organizations. They also venture to work in a CPA company because this will give them an opportunity to venture in areas that they want to experience especially in the write up sector and auditing. This will offer them the necessary experience and that is one of the things that have invigorated so many students in venturing in the public sector option. One may also opt to venture in the private sector which is immensely lucrative. Some of the student will always like to work for the company which is rising up in this sector, but this will be determined by the level of research one is willing to do. This will give them a chance to grow and nurture their career paths in different sectors. I would advise the graduates to incline towards the public sector especially the government and non profitable sector which will provide them with the best job security even if the salary is low. There are several things that an accountant can do after they have completed their undergraduate degree. One can choose to specialize in different areas of this field, but most of all have the kind of skills that can enable them in doing so. One of the areas that is very common for people who have done accounting. Auditing is one of the areas that one can venture in. It is one of the basic areas that people have chosen to build their careers in. This kind of job involves checking of ledgers and financial statements for an organization so as to determine if they are making losses and are they spending the cash that has been allocated to them accordingly. In the era that we are in today, the work of this nature has been automated and mostly they just need to key in the values accordingly and they are going to get the right kind of statement. They ensure that the values that are presented are for the financial year contains the right values. Accounting career paths are very varied and this is why many a times one has to consider the path that they want take. Many people after they have cleared school do not have an impression where to flinch their careers but the many options have in these career paths that can be taken. Book keeping is another thing that they can do. These are the people who keep records of invoices, payments and other revenue coming for a company or an individual. In many cases they will always want to venture in this area accordingly. Another area, which they would venture in is becoming general accountants. This is almost the same to a book keeper, but they make accruals and the necessary adjustments in the accounting records. In the large organizations, they are usually placed in departments like human resources department dealing with the payment of the staff. Another area is when one becomes a controller. These are the people who are responsible for the accounting department. They usually work in the public sector but also venture in the private sector and they are usually in charge of cash flow for the organization. For one to reach to such a position, one must work and put a lot of determination in the work that they do. The other job, which is available for them is becoming a forensic accountant. These are the people who work with the government or the persons who are accountable for auditing and investigating crimes which are related to accounting frauds and other related things. These people should ensure that they posses some level of law knowledge because this will assist them in identifying areas which have been altered and assist in prosecution of the culprits. A budget analyst is another thing that they can do. This is because they are able to interpret many things, which are recorded in the budget. This is a very crucial and involving work because they are the people who are responsible in the making of financial plans for businesses and other organizations especially the government agencies and other non profitable organizations. The professionals who have taken up these works can take up these jobs in both the private and the public sectors. The people who take these kinds of jobs should be very innovative when it comes to the negotiation process and that is why they should have good personal and interpersonal skills. Financial accounting is another sector that one can venture in. These are the persons who are accountable for the preparation of financial statements of the available businesses or any enterprise. These are the persons who are used to make decisions when there is a merger which is going to take place in any company. This is because these people Are gifted to study the fiscal statements of the two companies and determine if there is a need for merger and if one of the companies is taking advantage of the other or not. They are also responsible for forecasting to determine the returns that will be experienced by the companies when they merge. It is important to make sure that these people are responsible for the financial and accounting processes. Management accounting is a very busy position in any organization. This is why many people are able to have the kind of decisions that are deterministic in the process of capital budgeting and the area of analysis of contracts. Control on businesses on the expenses and the cost analysis is done by these people. They usually make sure that they work in close contact with the people responsible for the marketing sector since they assist in a big way when it comes to the making decisions which are good for the welfare of the company. Taxation is another area which they can take up. This is for persons who would like to become tax accountants. These are the people who work for both companies and individuals. They usually prepare statements which either for a corporation of personal income. It is a boost for the individual who is doing this kind of work to have good knowledge background of the necessary kind of economics which is being used by these people. Accountants are also responsible for advising individuals when it comes to venturing in different kinds of businesses. This is because they are the people who have the knowhow on the issues that are present and current in the business world. It is very good to ensure that the people who need services can be given independent and privately. Budgeting and other issues, which are associated with the business are given and offered to the people accordingly. This is very usual for the companies which need a lot of desecrate business especially those that are being faces with of competition. They need individuals who are trustworthy and can be able to keep a secret and the customer’s information private. Some individuals have also opted to continue with their studies even after becoming qualified accountants. They continue for MS to become licensed, Certified Public Accountants. This is a person who is approved by the state to finance financial information in the public companies to give accurate results. These are the individuals qualified to start their own auditing firms if they do not a favouring or well paying job opportunity (Felix 2010, 56). Thus the study found it advisable for the accountant graduates to continue to this level for better and higher chances of employment opportunities and also private or self employment enterprises. The study realized various career choices coincide with the accountant career path. Though the rate of accountant graduate seems to increase year after the other, the job opportunities are also increasing since many people are venturing to businesses which requires accountants to deal with the financial analysis. Each and every sector starting with the individual enterprises, the public, private and nongovernmental organizations cannot be successful without the accountants. These are important personnel since every business is after making profits and thus accounting careers like the auditing department are important to examine whether the business profitable or not. The private and public sectors also requires accountant staffs that are qualified to analyze their financial status and thus, realizing on the areas that needs improvement. Some students lack the opportunity of joining any of the discussed careers especially because of some issues like corruption and high competition. Nevertheless such students are not supposed to be frustrated but to come up with other activities that utilize their qualifications. A number of graduates who have lacked a position in the public, private, or the non profit organizations have started their own auditing firms. They run their own business as private auditors and are employed casually by these organizations. Other graduates have set their small microfinance businesses. These are industries which are growing at a high rate. For the qualified accountants their operations are easy and beneficial. These enterprises have become common in the rural areas and in areas with small scale business. Some of the accountants are joining hands to operate such businesses as partners. Some of these enterprises have grown to become Sacco’s and eventually banks. continue for MS to become licensed, Certified Public Accountants. This is an individual who is licensed by the state to finance financial information in the public companie s to give accurate results. These are the individuals qualified to start their own auditing firms if they do not a favouring or well paying job opportunity (Felix 2010, 56). Thus the study found it advisable for the accountant graduates to continue to this level for better and higher chances of employment opportunities and also private or self employment enterprises. For people who have advanced in these areas and actually had the best payment package compared to having a degree alone. This is why I would advice many people to make sure that they have taken the issue of taking CPA in an extra way to be able to make more money and have better jobs. Many people who have licences and certifications are able to have the best things in the career paths toward getting the best jobs possible. Every qualified accountant expects a salary that is higher than for any other undergraduate from a number of business schools. There is also an expectation of initiation into an exclusive professional club of the practicing accountants. This is a symbolic status that makes one feel to have an important and recognized rank in the society. Unfortunately these expectations are rarely met in the current society. Quite a number of students have joined the account career. This is making this field to have more than the required participants. In other words the supply is overtaking the demand. With high expectations of having a unique status, what happens when one fails to achieve this goal? One is also interested with the queries like where an accountant career path can lead one to or if there are there other industrial areas related to accountant career that such a graduate could get involved to utilize his knowledge. For students who are clearing from the universities i would advise that one who is trying to learn about a good accounting career path should have a wide variety of choices especially if he has a degree in accounting. One’s initial selection depends on the feeling about a primary direction that he believes is of interest to him. There are various general areas where one can choose to work in for instance private, public, government linked, or the non profit making organizations. For newer graduates, it is advisable to work with a CPA firm since it gives an opportunity to examine a number of industries and experience of both the audit and write up functions. One may also decide to join a private sector which is more beneficial, nevertheless it is advisable to first investigate on any industry that lies as a choice and go for the one that is fast growing. This gives an opportunity for expansion of ones career and thus wider rooms for advancement. Where one is inclined in a public service or a career in a government or non profit making organizations, one gets a good chance of exploring in various issues and can easily make changes which are beneficial to a the whole society or even the nation. All the government offices, in all departments, require accountant personnel that are talented. These offices include the FDIC, IRS, Comptroller of the currency, General services administration, military branches departments, health ministries, environmental ministries, to mention but a few. Any accounting working area, be it in government, public, or private sectors, will always lead to an interesting financial rewarding and beneficial careers. Though some of these careers overlap they vary in focus and lead to a challenging, professional life. In conclusion I would say that Accounting is a career that moulds accountants; these are persons that are responsible in the provision of data that is mainly required to make an assessment on the future and current economic activities. Accountants performs various duties, which include planning tax strategy, calculating the computing cost, preparation of financial statements, developing information technology, measuring financial performance, to mention but a few. This suggests that there are various and different accounting career paths which are beneficial in one way or another and can fit different people. Though some of them overlap, each of them has a specific focus. For successful career people should be able to do the best that they can do to advance this sector. Many technological advances have been made to ensure that these people who take up this course are able to save time and actually do their work better too.

Various ways a student can pay for his education Essay Example for Free

Various ways a student can pay for his education Essay Pursuing education may be expensive, but the cost incurred during one’s education may be offset by the rewards resulting from education, which are usually long-term. Various factors determine the amount spent in education, especially college education. For instance, the level of education, type of college, and the total number of courses an individual is taking. Though there are various programs, which for education, timely saving for our education remain to be a very good start. There are several ways and payment options a students may use in order to cater for their education expenses as well as other expenses that may be incurred in the course of his or her education. For instance, through the award process of financial aid, universities and the federal government offer financial assistance to the needy. Several ways which one can use to finance for his higher level education include the following; The plan of monthly payment which is interest-free and can help one to manage his or her expenses of education by allowing one to pay tuition over several months course rather than paying lump sum amount at one time. This makes it easy for a person to pay for the education finance since it can reduce the amount one want to borrow and thus saving your money. The enrollment fee is low and there are no charges to this plan of monthly payment. This is also an effective way of paying education finances since it has different ways of payments which include: the credit card, money order, check or e-check. Other way students can pay for their education is through tuition assistance provided by the employer. Many organizations and companies offer programs of tuition assistance to their employees so as to retain them and also develop their skills and knowledge. For students who are employees of federal government or who are service member of active-duty have a chance of being eligible for assistance of tuition. A student may request his supervisor, representative of human resource or the personnel in education office as to whether benefits of tuition may be available to him or her. If the tuition benefit is available, then the student should register and pay his education bill using the tuition assistance by employer. A student may also be catered for his or her education bill by a scholarship. Scholarships are usually awarded to needy students who achieve high academic excellence, especially in high schools. Scholarships are prized highly since they represent financial aid form, which does not need to be repaid back. Both university and state, and federal scholarships are being awarded through process of financial aid. Scholarships are more often awarded on basis of financial need and academic performance. Students can also be considered if they apply for scholarship programs of such as coveted legislative scholarships. Scholarships awards by universities and colleges are based on several criteria which include financial need, academic achievement, and enrollment in a certain academic area or degree program. Furthermore, universities offer other several other programs of special scholarships for the college graduates and also for the military personnel, dependents and spouses. Student can pay for his education bill by the federal loans. As is in the case of several students, one may be in need of additional financing so as to supplement his or her savings, scholarships awards or grants. Many packages of financial aid usually offer aid in form of the federal loans. The federal loans have advantage since they offer interest rates which are low and repayment plans are flexible. Students may also be paid for their education finances by scholarships which may be awarded by organizations or companies. Several companies offer scholarships for artists, academic, athletic achievers among others. Interested students may apply for such scholarships and may be awarded. They may search those scholarships through the online search engines. Students may also choose to apply for private loans as a supplement to the federal loans so as to cater for their education bills. A student may find loan programs or lenders who offer repayment terms and interest rates which are reasonable. Grants are another means which a student may use to finance his or her higher education. Grants are financial awards which do not need to be paid back. Grants usually vary and depend on need level and enrollment status of the student. There are grants which are designated for students who are undergraduates only and they include the grants of federal pell, federal educational opportunity supplemental grants, and the part-time Maryland grants. Students can also pay their education bills through the earnings they get from the job opportunities provided the program of federal work-study. Amount awarded tend to vary according to the students need of finance and also fund availability. The work study is paid biweekly and students are paid according to number of worked hours. In conclusion, students have several means of paying their education bills and thus no student should stop learning due to lack of finance to cater for his or her education finances. References Oklahoma Higher Education. (2010). Financial Aid: Managing the cost of college. Retrieved July 24, 2010, from http://www. okhighered. org/student-center/financial-aid/

Evaluation of Effectiveness For Fedex Advertisement

Evaluation of Effectiveness For Fedex Advertisement According to FedEx China (2009), Ex Corporation was set up in 1973 and it is the biggest express transportation company in the world. The company offers a series of overall services including transportation, electronic business and business operations to global consumers and enterprises. As a brand it has a great reputation. Therefore it provides general business applications and solutions by competing with other companies to work smoothly. According to FedEx China (2009), FedEx has a $32 billion income per year and it encourages its 260,000 staff to pay a high degree of attention to safety problems, moral and business ethics of the highest standard, and also to satisfy the requirements of clients and society completely. In addition, FedEx Express now provides about 3.4 million packages per day. The company operates a fleet of about 654 aircraft and some 43,000 motorized vehicles and trailers.  Moreover, the global FedEx names are: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks and FedEx Services, (About FedEx, 2009). It has been ranked the most admired and trustworthy company and provides fast and faithful express services to more than 220 countries and regions. There is a world airline and a land network to speedily transport the packages, needing only 24 hours or 48 hours to received (FedEx China, 2009). 1.2 Theories In this report, two theories will be used, Market Segmentation and Market Mix. According to Hall et al (2008:66), Market Segmentation is the break down a market into sub-groups with similar characteristics. Moreover, producer may then create products and services for them. Behavioural segmentation is one of the ways of Market Segmentation; segment markets based on how consumers relate to a product, (Hall et al, 2008:69). Loyalty is an example of behavioural segmentation, where the company separates, and divides consumers into different categories. Apart from Market Segmentation, another theory is Marketing Mix, which includes product, price, place and promotion. The Product requires producers have to know clearly what things are required by customers. The price indicates a business must know the worth of its product. It can make a high price if sold as a luxurious item, but not because of its high cost, (Hall et al, 2008). The promotion includes TV advertising (above the line) and pe rsonal selling (below the line). Place means that the products have to be sent to the consumers at the right place and right time, (Hall et al, 2008). 1.3 Aims The aim of this report is firstly to show how the advertisement is related to market segmentation and Marketing Mix. The second aim is to explain how the advertisement has been created to appeal to consumers. Finally to discuss how this advertisement has been created to target a specific market segment. 2. Findings Figure1: Epromos (2008) The FedEx logo was created by Lindon Leader of Fandor Associates in 1994 (Logoblog, 2008). The Fed is usually purple and the Ex has different colors in different logos, giving different meanings. In this advertisement, the logo is the original one in which the Ex is orange. The background of the logo is white, White means safety, (Color Wheel Pro, 2008). Purple conveys power, nobility, luxury, and ambition (Color Wheel Pro, 2008). Orange symbolizes enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation (Color Wheel Pro, 2008). The shirt is blue, which conveys faith, confidence, trust and loyalty, (Color Wheel Pro, 2008). 3. Discussion 3.1 Marketing segmentation Demographic segmentation, Hall (2008:68) states that markets are often divided by social class. Most target audiences of FedEx are enterprises. Business needs effective, reliable and secure service, thus FedEx provides faithful and safe product delivery and is appropriate to business requirements. Furthermore, the quality, speed and convenience of FedEx appeals to consumers to enjoy their services. The great reputation makes FedEx have a vast range of consumers and businesses all over the world, and enterprises trust FedEx. The lasted successes are a result of the progress of market segmentation done by FedEx. Marketing mix 3.2.1 Price From the advertisement, it seems FedEx provides the service to the average citizen; therefore the price should be low. A FedEx overnight letter cost $11, it is cheaper than UPS and DHL, which cost $12 and $13, ( Oppapers, 2009). 3.2.2 Promotion As mentioned in the introduction, FedEx is the largest express transport company in the world, (FedEx China, 2008). The promotion of FedEx is above-the-line promotion (Hall, 2008). Thus the company publicizes through TV or newspapers. According to Hall (2008), good advertising should raise (AIDA) awareness and interest, desire and action. This advertisement is likely to reach the I of AIDA. In this advertisement, the person is not an attractive or a well-known model, who just an average man in the street. It presents FedEx in a popular style. In addition, this middle aged man in that shirt is making a phone call, he may be a trader. This may show FedExs target audiences to be enterprises. The logo of FedEx is on the shirt, in other words, the person in this advertisement is promoting for FedEx. Overall, the advertising promotes in an original and interesting way. 4. Conclusion 4.1 Summary To sum up, the color usage of the FedEx advertisement (blue) displays the faith, trust and loyalty, because most of their target groups are enterprises. Therefore they use this advertisement to promote their products to these enterprises. It shows the purpose of FedEx, which is ensuring to people their services are consistently reliable and safe. FedEx makes use of Marketing Mix and Market Segmentation in their advertisement to satisfy consumers. 4.2 Recommendations From this advertisement, FedEx use an average man to promote their brand. It would be strategy that FedEx may consider is to find a famous model to advertise, that may appeal more to some consumers. Another recommendation is that the shirt in the advertisement is too blank. FedEx could add several banners to show what they want to promote. Last but not least, the logo of FedEx has different colors which has different meanings, thus they should make use of different colors shirts to appeal to consumers.

Costs and Benefits of Globalization and Localization Essay example -- G

"Globalization is unstoppable. Even though it may be only in its early stages, it is already intrinsic to the world economy. We have to live with it, recognize its advantages and learn to manage it," said Maria Livanos Cattaui in her article, The global economy - an opportunity to be seized (Business World, 1997). Many authorities agree that as the world enters into the twenty-first century, many economic, political, and cultural changes will take place due to what some people are simply calling the latest buzzword. The fact that globalization exists is not necessarily the important issue here. Rather, the world's eyes must focus on costs and benefits of both globalization and localization, and how countries are affected by both of these opposite tendencies of international politics. James N. Rosenau, in his article, The Complexities and Contradictions of Globalization, defines globalization as "'something' that is changing humankind's preoccupation with territoriality and the traditional arrangements of the state system." In other words, globalization is causing countries to break their territorial boundaries economically, politically, and socially, and in doing so, open themselves up to outside international influences. Such worldwide influence has proven to have many benefits throughout the world. Through globalization, the world has seen a significant expansion of economic, social, and political benefits. Particularly, globalization has expanded investments, trade, and production far beyond any individual country?s boarders. According to the article, The Global Economy, by Maria Livanos Cattaui, " International trade in goods and services now stands at more than US$ 6000 billion per year [while] the accumulated stock of ... ...of globalization are much more uniformly widespread than the social or political benefits. Therefore, in determining whether the things gained by globalization are more fundamentally important to people?s lives than the things gained by localization, I would argue on the basis of sustained economic growth due to globalization, that yes, they are. Works Cited Cattaui, Maria Livanos. "Global Economy." Business World, Internet. Available: http://www.iccwbo.org/html/globalec.htm Rosenau, James N. "The Complexities and Contradictions of Globalization." World Politics 98/99. Connecticut: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. Sanger, David E. "After a Year, No Letup in Asia?s Economic Crisis." New York Times. 6 July 1998. Sutherland, Peter D., and John W. Sewell. The Challenges of Globalization. Internet. Available: http://www.odc.org/ges.html

An analysis of Schools of Psychotherapy as they relate to Anger Managem

An analysis of Schools of Psychotherapy as they relate to Anger Management Anger is a basic human emotion that transcends cultural boundaries. However, despite its universality, an exact definition agreed upon by all people is lacking (Norcross & Kobayashi, 1999). Physiologically, brain centers in the amygdala are connected to anger processing. Because the information processing that takes place in this brain structure is primitive, anger can be triggered inappropriately and without the individual's knowledge of the cause. In psychodynamic terms, past events and experiences suppressed in the unconscious can be the source of generated anger. In cognitive-behavioral terms, anger is described as an interaction of behavior, cognition, and physiological arousal (Ambrose & Mayne, 1999). According to Deffenbacher (1999), anger may be aroused by specific external events, a mix of these external events with the anger-related memories they elicit, and internal stimuli such as emotions or thoughts. It results when "events are judged to involve a trespass upon the pers onal domain, an insult to or an assault upon ego identity, a violation of values and expectations, and/or unwarranted interference with goal-directed behavior" (p.297). Two main ways to treat anger involve helping patients to prevent anger activation or helping them to regulate anger manifestation. The former is generally a longer and more difficult approach due to the fact that early emotional behavior patterns are hard to change or eliminate. Therefore, the moderation of anger may prove to be a more effective route of therapy (Ambrose & Mayne, 1999). Many different schools of psychotherapy have addressed the problem of anger. Because of the lack of a universally identic... ...al Psychology, 55(3), 275-282. Messer, S.B. (2001). What Makes Brief Psychodynamic Therapy Time Efficient. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 5-22. McGinn, L.K., & Sanderson, W.C. (2001). What Allows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be Brief: Overview, Efficacy, and Crucial Factors Facilitating Brief Treatment. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 23-37. Paivio, S.C. (1999). Experiential Conceptualization and Treatment of Anger. Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 311-324. Phares, E.J., & Trull, T.J. (2001). Clinical Psychology. California: Wadsworth. Van Deurzen, E. (2000). Humanistic-existential approaches. In C.Feltham & I. Horton (Eds.), Handbook of Counselling and Psychotherapy (pp.331-336). London: SAGE Publications.Ambrose, T.K., & Mayne, T.J. (1999). Research Review on Anger in Psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 353-363.

Frederic Chopin Essay -- Composer Biography Papers

Frederic Chopin Frederic Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist, was born on March 1,1810, according to the statements of the artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate, which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola, part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The musical talent of Frederic became apparent extremely early on, and it was compared with the childhood genius of Mozart. Already at the age of 7, Frederic was the author of two polonaises, the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and little Chopin became the attraction and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts. His first professional piano lessons lasted from 1816 to 1822, when his teacher was no longer able to give any more help to a pupil whose skills surpassed his own. Wilhelm Wà ¼rfel, a renowned pianist and professor at the Warsaw Conservatory, supervised the further development of Frederic’s talent. Wà ¼rfel would offer valuable, although irregular, advice as regards playing the piano and organ to young Chopin. Frederic later attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the professors. He spent his summer holidays in estates belonging to the parents of his school friends in various parts of the country. The young composer listened to and noted down the texts of folk songs, took part in peasant weddings and harvest festivities, danced, and played a folk instrument resembling a double bass with the village musicians; all of which he described in his letters. Chopin became well acquainted with the fol... ...ttish aristocracy. This exceptionally hectic life style and excessive strain on his strength from constant traveling and numerous performances, together with a climate deleterious to his lungs, further damaged his health. In November of 1848, despite frailty and a fever, Chopin gave his last concert, playing for Polish à ©migrà ©s in the Guildhall in London. A few days later, he returned to Paris His rapidly progressing disease made it impossible to continue giving lessons. In the summer of 1849 the eldest sister of the composer came from Warsaw to take care of her ill brother. On October 17, 1849, Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in his Parisian flat. Though he was buried in Paris, his heart was removed from his body and was placed in an urn installed in a pillar of the Holy Cross church in Krakowskie Przedmiscie Bibliography: Groves Music Dictionary

A Dangerous Double Standard

Women face many dangers in society.   Women are generally smaller and physically weaker than men, so a female can be said to be a potential victim for a male.   However, oftentimes, females become endangered simply because they are women. In effect, women are endangered daily by societal double standards with regard to their attitude, clothing and chosen activities.Women’s bodies are the subject of much attention from the media.   The ideal body type is stamped everywhere.   Women who are able to achieve that body type, or nearly achieve it, are likely to want to show it off.   Thus, if a shapely female where’s a plunging neckline or a short skirt, people may consider her to be inviting sexual overtures.However, a man in a shirt which reveals his muscular stature would receive no such insult.   This look can even cause a woman to be the victim of unwanted sexual advances, even rape.   In an extreme case, one attacker was actually freed because his victim w as dressed the way she was.   According to a sexual assault case in the UK, â€Å"a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old girl will be free in just four months after a British judge said his victim had ‘dressed provocatively’.In addition to her appearance, a woman who seems confident, or even aggressive, can earn distasteful responses from both men and women.   Confident women seem to present a challenge to men, even though no such standard exists for men.Men may, again, sexually pursue these women.   Women may feel intimidated and fail to rally behind these women, pushing them to the side, failing to protect them.   Some women are even considered bold and fiery.   Most men and women do not know how to deal with this type of woman, and some might set out to try to make them fail.   As an example, some women who choose to express what is considered an extreme are insulted and even tormented.For example, aggressive women are termed feminazis. One opposed to this view noted that â€Å"These are the staunch feminists that destroy homes and marriages.   I've met a few feminists in my lifetime and I could see that they were just begging to get into an argument.   Some women really thrive off attacking men every chance they get.Many marriages have been destroyed by a meddling feminist.   Of course, hen pecked husbands and sissies are exempt.   A real man is a threat to the feminist's agenda.   Feminism is sin.   It is wrong because it is a rebellion against authority (and against God)† (Militant Feminazis).  Finally, women seem to have less latitude in choosing their own activities.   If a man walks alone at night, drinks too much and flirts with the opposite sex, or sets out to undertake a highly physical adventure, people are impressed.   If a woman does the same thing, she is placing herself in danger.A woman walking at night is subject to attack.   A flirtatious woman may not be in control of the advances of the me n she is flirting with.   A woman who attempts a physical adventure may be seen as overreaching her bounds.   All of these can have cataclysmic results.   If a man is hurt, it is a tragedy.   If a woman is hurt, it was bound to happen.For example, former CIA agent Dr. R.J. Hillhouse writes about her experiences as an agent.   â€Å"Dr. Hillhouse has run Cuban rum between East and West Berlin, smuggled jewels from the Soviet Union and slipped through some of the world’s tightest borders. From Uzbekistan to Romania, she's been followed, held at gunpoint and interrogated. Foreign governments and others have pitched her for recruitment as a spy† (Hillhouse,)   At every corner she met with problems that the male agents did not.Sadly, double standards do exist.   A woman can be hurt by the choices she makes, whether they be her fashion, her attitude or her activities.   Even though this is not the way things should be, women should heed these issues lest they become victims.â€Å"Girl provoked pedophile – judge.† News.com.au.   Retrieved 26 June 2007. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21969117-2,00.htmlHillhouse, R.J.   The Spy Who Briefed Me. Retrieved 26 June 2007 from http://www.thespywhobilledme.com/â€Å"Militant Feminazis.† Retrieved 27 June 2007 from http://www.jesus-is-   savior.com/Womens%20Page/militant_feminazi.htm

Using Budgets for Control

Budgets provide a means for planning the financial future and play a vital role for planning. Budgets simultaneously make managers construct and implement plans, contribute useful information for improved decision making, provide a standard to administer performance evaluation, and enhance organization and communication. An essential component of the budgeting system is control. Control periodically takes actual results and budgeted results and compares the two. It also allows for managers to frequently measure their performance from reports by providing performance evaluations.The master budget can be separated into operating and financial budgets, each made up of distinctly supporting schedules. Implementing budgets enables managers to create a formulated plan that allows for performance evaluation and improved control. Control involves the process of looking at the past, determining what really occurred and comparing it to previously projected results. Two processes which are sign ificant to adjusting the budget are the control cycle and the planning cycle.Both are linked through feedback and in their final stage, involve budgets. Participative budgeting gives subordinate managers the opportunity to contribute considerable proposals for establishing budgets. A key factor in implementing participative budgeting is that each manager should only be held responsible for costs they can completely control. Any costs that are outside of their control that are included on their budgets need to be marked as non-controllable, and separated from those costs that can be controlled.Participative Budgeting also enables the manager with the chance to structure slack into the budget as a way to increase the probability that the manager will achieve the proposed budget and therefore decrease the risk they may incur. This requires upper level management to carefully review budget proposals from subordinate management in order to decrease the amount of slack placed into the bud get. Performance evaluation is a vital element in rating the performance of management as well as maintaining control.When using budgets for performance evaluations it can result in feedback frequency of performance, monetary as well as nonmonetary incentives, participative budgeting, attainable standards, a variety of measures of performance and the possibility of controlling costs. By using frequent feedback on performance it gives managers a means to measure the success of their planning and enforce any corrective action. Monetary and nonmonetary incentives can aid in invoking a positive, goal congruent behavior in which goals at managerial and organizational levels agree.A simple example of performance evaluation could take place in a pizza restaurant that makes only pizzas. If the owner has an exact amount of toppings that he knows should be put on the pizzas and what that cost is, he can assess the amount of toppings being used. He might find that his workers are inadvertently topping some pizzas with more toppings than others. By encouraging his employees to top all pizzas with a consistent amount of toppings he can improve the consistency of the pizzas delivered to customers and increase savings on costs of toppings.If this same principle is practiced toward other aspects of the restaurant it could provide significant savings overall. Budgets contribute a valuable role in the success of a company. Implementing control and performance evaluations increases the effectiveness of the budget and provides guidelines for performance improvement in the business. Participative budgeting gives subordinate managers the ability to be involved and invokes a sense of responsibility while embracing creativity.However if not implemented correctly, the results can produce reduced control and padded budgets that can make it difficult to evaluate performance. Although budgets can contribute a valuable measure for managerial performance, they can still be manipulated by m anagers that are able to increase budgetary performance in the short-run yet cause significant damage to the business. Organizations need to utilize other qualified measures that take into consideration the financial or nonfinancial and short-run and long-run effects in order to avoid any threats of myopic behavior.

Drug Abuse and Addiction Essay

Drug abuse and addiction are a major burden to society. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction — that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume productive lives. So what is drug abuse and why do we became addicted to certain drugs? Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is a patterned use of a substance (drug) in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods neither approved nor supervised by medical professionals. Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite adverse dependency consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors. Addictions can include, but are not limited to, drug abuse, exercise abuse, sexual activity and gambling. Classic hallmarks of addiction include: impaired control over substances/behavior, preoccupation with substance/behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial. Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward), coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs). Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its ‘normal’ functioning. This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Drug addiction and drug abuse, chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Traditional definitions of addiction, with their criteria of physical dependence and withdrawal (and often an underlying tenor of depravity and sin) have been modified with increased understanding; with the introduction of new drugs, such as cocaine, that are psychologically or neuropsychologically addicting; and with the realization that its stereotypical application to opiate-drug users was invalid because many of them remain occasional users with no physical dependence. Addiction is more often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to user and society and includes both licit and illicit drugs, and the term â€Å"substance abuse† is now frequently used because of the broad range of substances (including alcohol and inhalants) that can fit the addictive profile. There are many different types of drugs you should be aware of. Some are prescribed, others are known as club drugs, illicit or illegal substances, and some are called designers drugs. They include: Antidepressants, Barbiturates, Cannabis, Depressants, Hallucinogens, Inhalants, Narcotics, Steroids, Stimulants and Tobacco.

Factors Contributing to the Growth of Enterprise and Small Business Essay

For example: – In USA small businesses represents 99. 7% of all employers, it represents 26% of America’s exports and they create 80% new jobs each year. Growth and success of a business can be measured on many different variables which also includes annual turnover, profit and employment growth. As in other businesses small businesses have been helped by factors which had contributed to its growth. Growth in small businesses has been aided by policy measures by the government which has supported these small businesses, the macro-economic factors, industry factors and firm-specific factors. Having the intention, the ability to setup and grow, getting the right opportunity, easy access to finance, favorable rules and regulations and market conditions which are aimed at small businesses have also led to the growth of these businesses. People are motivated to start their own business where they have greater control of the business, can stay independent , can manage the business in their own way, the financial freedom, the potential income they can earn as their aims are to reach the top of the table, the amount of financial gains they achieve and the joy of winning which is driving factors for the entrepreneurs as it helps satisfy their achievement instincts. Everybody wants to be their own boss and this is also one of the factors for starting up your own business. Lucy Martin, author of â€Å"Make it your Business† said â€Å"Whatever your situation, there is likely to be a combination of ‘push’ factors (propelling you out of current jobs and situations) and ‘pull’ factors (which attract you to self employment)†. Countries with low income or in developing countries more small businesses are being setup because of the push factor as there is a high number of unemployment and people are forced to start-up their own business. In high income countries or developed countries small businesses are increasing due to the pull factor as more and ore people are interested in setting up their own business go become independent. [pic] Sometimes businesses fail or people get frustrated and it is at this time that they need to remind themselves what motivated them to start their own business and this motivation and dedication has led to their growth and success. According to Schumpeter entrepreneur is an innovator as h e/she brings about a change and introduces new technological processes or products and brings in new ideas which are necessary for a business to grow. He also said that only certain people have the ability to become an entrepreneur and to perform extraordinary tasks. Small businesses are the ones that tend to grow faster than large businesses. They indicate higher number of employment growth. Small businesses accounts for more than 50% of the employers in European Economies. France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany and UK are the leading economies of the European Union where small Businesses have been thriving for the past two decades and where small businesses accounts for more than 50% of the total employment. In Greece small businesses accounts for as much as 86% of the number of people employed. In 1998, a charter for small business was adopted by European Council which has helped in the huge number of growth in small businesses. Banks are the main source of lending for small businesses and they depend a lot on them for support and cooperation. HSBC was one of the banks which started recognizing small businesses as one of main force in the economy. In UK small business employ about 12 million people so as to recognize and reward these small businesses HSBC launched an award in 1997 Known as â€Å"HSBC small business of the year Award†. HSBC started a new loan program called â€Å"SMALL BUSINESS LOAN† which was quick and easy to arrange loan facility for long term use and had many key benefits. Customers can choose to make their first repayment either one month after taking the borrowing or defer the first repayment until three months after drawing down the loan, Customers had the flexibility to choose the repayment period which was between 12 months and 10 years, the interest rate and repayments will be fixed for the life of the loan. HSBC recently launched a $5 billion working capital fund to ensure small businesses had access to credit during the current economic crisis. In 2008 alone more than 32,000 small businesses have switched to HSBC because of higher lending fees and banks reluctant to extend loans. Growth of small businesses depends on the type of business they are doing, location of the business (a retail shop should be better placed in the residential area) and most importantly the ownership of the business. Governments in some countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia) have gone as far as allocating lands to small business owners; small businesses are encouraged to setup as the government provides 5 years of tax free operation to businesses with potential growth and they provide financial assistance with low interest rates as well as assign a team to monitor the growth of the businesses. Rental and electricity charges are lower for small firms and the government is also getting small construction businesses to get involved in the construction industry by giving them subcontracts for some of the projects. In UK the government started a programme called â€Å"The Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP)† which aims to make it easier for small companies and entrepreneurs to understand and access government funded grants, subsidies and advice with which to start and grow their businesses. Small Businesses were given incentives and taxes were lowered so as to help them setup. Setting up of this programme had a huge influence on the growth of small Businesses. In March 2008 the Government launched the Enterprise Strategy. The Strategy’s vision is to make the UK the most enterprising economy in the world and the best place to start and grow a business. It was designed to unbolt the entrepreneurship talents in UK, provide a boost to enterprise knowledge and skills, support new and existing small business getting access to funding for start-up and growth and decrease the burden of regulations in place particularly for small firms. The government wants a culture of enterprise and business innovation which will have a great effect on the economic growth. This new strategy has strengthened the Government upport to small businesses and has allowed SME’s to set up more easily and with a proper regulatory body monitoring the growth. Small Businesses are flexible, more focused, specialized and creative and these are some of the reasons why there is an increase in the number of small businesses . Flexibility is what drives some people to start their own business. For example: – (if a person is expert in any subject, field or have some extraordinary skills he/she can work as a consultant where the work timings are set by him/her self and the amount of time spent also). Growth in business demands creativity. It is what will separate you from the competition. A business had to be different as this is the best way to create awareness. Being different and greater creativity are also the factors which has influenced the growth of small businesses. Being innovative and inventing new things is also a factor which drives people to start their own business. People would have some different business idea of doing something in a different way and this leads to creativity and innovation. Small businesses are easy to setup as the cost of starting up is not very high. Government supports the setup of small business because they want to break the monopoly in the market and there will be a decrease in the number of unemployed as more and more people will become self-employed. Lower opportunity cost also attracts people towards entrepreneurship. Economies with high unemployment can be pushed towards entrepreneurship. Examples are Brazil and India. Some people would like to pursue a particular desire or hobby so they enter in to entrepreneurship, it can be leisure driven and it gives flexibility to the owner as there can be work-life balance. More and more specialized people are starting their own business in the field they specialize as they can deliver better services and products. Specializing in a particular product or service gives you the upper hand in the market you are in as you will have the skills and knowledge of the product you are manufacturing or selling. Specialization has also led professional people or extra ordinary skilled people in to starting up their own business. Gaining inspiration from famous entrepreneurs have also led to the factor that people are ready to start up their own business thinking one day they might be like Donald Trump, Hugh Heffner or Richard Branson. Becoming famous and wanting to be recognized in the world is also a strong feeling which had pulled people towards entrepreneurship as there is a strong desire attached with it to pursue their perceived goals. Gaining fame and recognition is one of the strong factors which have led people to start their own business. In general, I conclude by saying that small businesses have been growing because they thrive for independence and the owners usually have a feel good factor while running their own business. It gives them a chance to show the level of creativity in them as they won’t be able to do so while working in other companies. Small Businesses are the key to innovation and without their support the economy would fail drastically. Growth of Small Businesses can be affected due to the current economic crisis but government and banks should support and back small businesses to survive this crisis. Banks like HSBC are already committed to supporting small businesses in this economic crisis and as more and more people getting unemployed governments should give incentives and grants and promote the setup of new businesses and provide assistance and advice on main issues surrounding the small businesses. Small Businesses are not always successful but having proper business idea and creative mind plus knowledge of market will help the entrepreneurs in getting their business on the right track. As SCHUMPTER proposed that it was the exceptional creative drive of independent entrepreneurs that led to the introduction of radical new products and the creation of new industries. This radical drive to invent, innovate and create something which is new to everyone has been one of the major factors in the growth of Small and medium sized businesses (SME’s).