Saturday, August 31, 2019

Night World : Spellbinder Chapter 15

Thea.† Dani was shaking her arm. ‘They're talking to you.† The visions were gone. Thea was standing in Gran's workshop, seeing everything as if through a distorting lens. People's faces seemed to stretch; their voices seemed to drag. â€Å"I asked, how did you learn the invocation for summoning spirits?† Gran said slowly. Eric. He won't wait; he'll start without me. Or will he? I told him not to. But he'll be worrying about the party†¦. The party. All those kids†¦ even little kids. Humans, but people. like baby chicks with a hawk up above. How many of them will end up like Kevin? â€Å"The invocation for summoning spirits!† Gran was shouting, as if Thea were hard of hearing. â€Å"I†¦ we†¦ I heard you at Samhain two years ago. In Vermont. I saw the summoning the Inner Circle did.† Even her own voice sounded weird and distorted. â€Å"We saw you. Both of us. We were hiding behind the trees and you never even noticed,† Blaise said clearly, and the bells rang again. Dimly, Thea felt appreciation. But most of her mind was reeling from horrible thought to thought. Eric†¦ but if I try to get to him, if the Inner Circle finds out he's involved†¦ that will get him killed. A human who knows about the Night World. Immediate death sentence. But Suzanne. If he burns those dummies, Suzanne will kill him the way she killed Kevin. No matter what happened, Eric was going to end up dead. Unless†¦ â€Å"Which†¦ of the spirits†¦ did you call?† Gran was shouting, as if Thea was now not only hard of hearing but slow of understanding. Unless†¦ â€Å"That's what I want to tell you,† Thea said. She could see the way. It would mean the end for her, but she might possibly save Eric. If there was enough time, if they would let her alone, if Eric wasn't right now trying to be a hero†¦. â€Å"I want to tell you about it,† Thea said again. And then the words were tumbling out in a rush, faster and faster, as if some dam had broken inside her. â€Å"And I'll tell you everything-but please, Grandma, please, you have to let me go out now. Just for a little while. There's something I have to do. You have to let me go, and then I'll come back here and you can do whatever you want to me.† â€Å"Hold on a minute,† Mother Cybele said, but Thea couldn't stop. â€Å"Please-please. Grandma. I've done a terrible thing-and I'm the only one who can take care of it. I'll come back-â€Å" â€Å"Wait, wait, wait. Calm down,† Gran said. She looked agitated herself. â€Å"What's this rush all of sudden? Try it slowly. What do you think you have to do?† â€Å"I have to put her back.† Thea saw that she was going to have to give some explanation. She tried to speak dearly and slowly, to make them understand. â€Å"The spirit I let out, Grandma. Her name is Suzanne Blanchet and she was burned in the sixteen hundreds. And she's out, out there, and she's already killed a human.† Everyone was listening now, some leaning forward, some frowning. Thea looked around at the circle of faces, talking to all of them. She was still terrified, but what did that matter? Eric mattered. â€Å"Last week she killed a boy at my high school. And tonight she's going to kill more people, at the high school Halloween party. I can't explain how I know-there isn't time. But I do know. And I'm the only one who can stop her. I called her; I'm the only one who can put her back.† â€Å"Yes, but unfortunately it's not that easy,† a low voice said. Thea turned and identified Rhys, a wiry man in a white lab coat. â€Å"If the spirit's at large-† â€Å"I know about that, but I have a way to trap her. It's all set up, and I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thea hesitated. â€Å"I've tricked somebody into helping me,† she said slowly. â€Å"And he's in danger right now. Which is why you have to let me go, let me take care of this. Please.† â€Å"You want to go to the high school, where the party is,† Aunt Ursula said. Although her lips were as thin as ever, she didn't sound angry. More-astute. Thea opened her mouth to say no, and then stopped, confused again. The party-or the desert? If Suzanne was really killing people at the party, she should go there. But only if Eric wasn't doing something to attract Suzanne to the desert. He was still more important to her than anyone else. But if he wasn't doing something-and if Suzanne was at the party-she might kill before Thea and Eric could lure her†¦. I'm going crazy. She felt, literally, as if she might faint. Her head was swimming. There were too many possibilities. It all depended on where Suzanne was right now, and there was no way to know that. Thea began to shake violently, black dots dancing in front of her eyes. I don't know what to do. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦ could everybody listen for a moment? I'm seeing something.† It was Aradia's voice, quiet and gently self-possessed. Mature, even though she was only a little older than Thea. Thea tried to see her through the black dots. â€Å"I think it's something important, something about what we're talking about,† Aradia said. Her beautiful face, with its smooth skin the color of coffee with cream, was turned toward Thea. Her wide brown eyes looked straight ahead without focus, the way they always did. Aradia couldn't see with those eyes-but then she didn't need to. She saw with her mind-and saw things that were hidden to most people. â€Å"I'm seeing a boy-he's dressed in some old-fashioned costume. He's beside a fire, inside a circle of stones.† Eric†¦. â€Å"He's got a stick-an ember. He's looking around. Now he's going to†¦ it looks like a scarecrow. I can't see it well. There's a pile of sticks underneath it. He's bending. He's lighting the sticks.† No. â€Å"I have to go,† Thea said. She wasn't asking permission anymore. Aradia was still speaking. â€Å"Okay, the sticks are catching fire. Now I can see better†¦ and it's not a scarecrow; it looks sort of like a witch. A doll.† She stopped, her lovely blind eyes widening. â€Å"It's-and it's moving-no, there's something moving it. I can see it now-a spirit. A spirit is moving the doll. It's coming out now-toward the boy-â€Å" â€Å"I have to go,† Thea said. And then she was moving, pushing her way between Rhys and Old Bob, breaking out of the circle. The beads of the curtain struck her face, clattering as they fell back behind her. â€Å"Thea, wait a minute!† â€Å"Thea, come back here!† â€Å"Ursula, you go get her-â€Å" The jeep. My backpack's in the jeep. I have to get it first. The keys to the Lincoln were hanging on a nail by the back door. Thea grabbed them. She pushed the back door open just as three or four people came hurrying through the bead curtain. She slammed the door in their faces. Get to the car. Fast. Now drive. She backed out of the alley, tires squealing. She could see light spill as the door to the shop opened, but by then she was turning onto Barren Street. She found herself driving at some new level, squeezing through the tail end of yellow lights, recognizing shortcuts in the dark. In just a few minutes she was at the Night World club with the jack-o'-lanterns on the porch. There was no place to park the Lincoln. She left it in the middle of the street, with the keys still in the ignition. She pulled the key to the jeep out of her belt and jumped in. Hurry. Hurry. She burned rubber again getting the jeep moving. Hurry. The freeway. Just let me get to him. And let it not be too late. That's all I ask, after that I don't care. Would you give up everything? The voice didn't seem like a stranger this time, didn't seem menacing. Just curious. And Thea had an answer. Yes. If I can just get there, in time, I can send him away. I can tell him some story, make him go somehow. Make him hide. I'll tell the Circle I tricked him or enchanted him into helping; I won't even tell them his name. They can't make me. Whatever they do to me, he'll be safe. That's all I care about. That's all I'm asking. But even that was a lot, and she knew it, so she kept her foot mashed down on the gas pedal. Freeway off ramp. Side road. She drove crazily fast. The pounding inside her head kept saying hurry, hurry, even as she was careening off curbs. Desert. Now the road was bad. It was hard to see; the moon was almost down. The jeep lunged over bumps and lurched into potholes. Eric, be doing something. Be talking to her, be running. You're so smart, please, please, be smart now. Keep her distracted, keep her hair away from your neck. How strong was a spirit? Thea didn't know. Please, I see everything so clearly now. I've been selfish, only thinking of me, what would make me happy. All that â€Å"encased in ice† garbage. I should have been dancing in the street. As long as Eric is all right, I don't care if he lives on Mars, I don't care if I never see him again. As long as he's well I'm happier than anybody has a right to be. A jolt rattled her teeth. She was off the road now, driving by landmarks. Through forests of dead yuccas that looked like skinny gray Cousin Its. It's taking so long, it's too long. Hurry. Hurry. She could see red sandstone in front of her. Pillars in the headlights. That's it! Go, go! The jeep rocketed over clumps of blackbrush. She could see fire in the depression between the pillars. She drove straight toward it. Fire-movement-the top of a silhouette†¦ â€Å"Eric!† She was yelling even as she slammed on the brakes. The jeep ground to a shuddering stop a few inches from a misshapen sandstone tower. â€Å"Eric!† She had the backpack in her hand. She tore the door open and jumped out, running. â€Å"Thea! Stay out of here!† She saw him. The light of the fire cast an eerie glow onto the already lurid sandstone. Everything seemed red, as if this place were bathed in blood. The roar of the jeep's engine and the roar of the fire merged to sound like the flames of hell. But Brie was alive and fighting. Fighting it. Thea threw herself at it, even as her brain was registering impressions. A wraith shape that looked at one second like a woman, and the next second like tattered clouds. Part of it seemed to be coiled around Eric, and he had both hands at his throat. Bits of the pine-needle amulet Thea had made for him were scattered around his feet. Useless. â€Å"Get away from him! I'm the one who set this up!† Thea screamed. She reached Eric and grabbed wildly at the wraith, at the part of it around his throat. Her hands felt Eric's hands, felt cold air. â€Å"No-Thea, watch out-â€Å" She saw the thing come free of Eric, who staggered. She saw it re-form, gather, then dive straight for her. â€Å"Thea!† Eric knocked her sideways. Cold air rushed by. She and Eric fell in a heap. She gasped â€Å"Eric, go,† even before she got up. She tried to shove at him, looking around for the wraith. â€Å"Go-get out of here! The jeep's running-get in and just drive. I'll call you later.† â€Å"Stay back to back,† Eric said breathlessly. â€Å"She's incredibly fast.† He added through his teeth, â€Å"You know I'm not leaving.† â€Å"This is witch stuff, you jerk!† she snarled, standing back to back. â€Å"I don't want you. You'll just get in my way!† It was a valiant effort. She even managed to inject something like hatred into her voice. And Eric wasn't perfect. He turned around, grabbed her by the shoulder, and yelled, â€Å"You know I'm not going, so don't waste any more time!† Then he shoved her sideways again and freezing wind streaked by her cheek, leaving her ear numb. â€Å"Sorry,† he said in his normal voice. â€Å"You okay?† Thea spun and looked behind her. The wraith was bobbing there. It was shaped like a woman made of vapor, with arms and legs only suggested, but with a long tail of hair that whipped around. â€Å"I've got the stuff,† Thea muttered to Eric. Admit- ting she knew he'd never leave. â€Å"But it'll take a few minutes to do the spell. We'll have to keep out of-† She was watching the lashing tail, but she wasn't fast enough. There was a sound-something between the snap of a whip and the crackle of electricity- and the tail flashed out. It was around her neck. At first it just felt cold. Insubstantial but icy, like a scarf of subzero wind. But then the wraith gave a jerk and it tightened and it did have substance. It felt like metal, like a pipe full of supercooled liquid, like the tentacle of some alien creature with ice for blood. It was choking her. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't get her fingers under it. It squeezed tighter, hurting her. She could feel her eyes start to bulge. â€Å"Look at me!† Eric yelled. He had a stick that was blazing at one end and he was dancing up and down like a crazy person on the other side of the fire. â€Å"Look! Suzanne! I'm going to get your little sister!† He poked the burning stick at the dummy Lucienne, not at the wood piled around her, but at the actual doll. â€Å"There! There! How do you like that?† He jabbed at the doll. A ring of fire blossomed in the black clothes. â€Å"Confess you're a witch!† Thea felt something slide away and her neck was free. She tried to shout a warning to Eric, but all that came out was a croak. He was already diving to one side anyway. That must be what he's been doing all this time. Dodging. â€Å"Eric, keep it up!† â€Å"Okay, but work fast!† He threw himself the other way. She forced herself to turn her attention from him. Her backpack was at the edge of the circle where she'd dropped it. She grabbed it and dumped the contents out on the ground. She had to do this right and she had to do it faster than she'd ever worked a spell before. Oak and ash. She threw them on the central fire, then scooted toward it, dragging the other materials close with a sweep of her arm. She ripped open a plastic bag and grabbed the quassia chips. They were light, and she had to thrust her hand into the flames to make sure they actually went in the fire. Blessed thistle was powder; she threw it. Mandrake root was solid, she threw it, too. She had just grabbed the ounce vial when Eric shouted, â€Å"Thea, duck.† She didn't look up to see what she was ducking. She fell flat instantly. It saved her. Icy wind blew her hair almost into the fire. â€Å"Suzanne!† Eric was yelling. â€Å"I've got your brother! Look!† There were fires at all three stakes now, and Eric was dashing between them, poking at one figure after another. Thea pulled the plastic cap off the vial with her teeth. She shook it into the fire, her hand in the flames again. One, two, three. The fire roared up, louder than ever, and pure blue. Thea fell back from it. â€Å"Suzanne! Over here!† Eric's voice was faint beyond the roar. Tears were running down Thea's face, her nose and eyes stinging from the acrid smell. She fumbled for the last object necessary for the sending-back†¦ the bag of residue from the bronze bowl. She took a handful in her left hand and dropped it between two charcoaled logs at the edge of the fire. Then she stood up-and saw that Eric was in trouble. He'd lost his burning stick. The wraith had him by the throat and it was whirling him around, changing shape every second. His mouth was open, but Thea couldn't hear any sound. â€Å"May I be given the Power of the Words of Hecate† She screamed it, into the roaring fire, toward the wheeling, changing spirit shape. And the words came, rolling off her tongue with a power of their own: â€Å"From the heart of the flame†¦ I send you back! Through the narrow path†¦ I send you back!† She put all her own power into the words, too, screaming them with an authority that she'd never felt in herself before. Because the wraith was fighting. It didn't want to go anywhere. â€Å"To the airy void†¦ I send you back! Through the mist of years†¦ I send you back!† Eric staggered, was jerked sideways. He seemed to be lifted off his feet by the wraith. â€Å"To beyond the veil†¦ I send you back! Go speedily, conveniently, and without delay!† Eric's feet were kicking in the air. This is how Kevin died, Thea realized suddenly and with absolute certainty. She found herself yelling words she'd never heard before. â€Å"By the power of Earth and Air and Water! By the power of Fire on this night of Hecate! By my own power as a daughter of Hellewise! Go speedily, conveniently and without delay, you bitch!† She had no idea where that came from. But the next instant Eric fell. The wraith had dropped him. It shot toward Thea-but then it stopped as if it had slammed into an invisible brick wall. It was directly over the fire. Caught. The blue flames were belching smoke-but sideways. Thea could see the wraith dearly above them. And for the first time, it didn't look like a cloud shape. It looked like a woman. A girl. Older than Thea, but still in her teens. With long dark hair that floated around her and a pale face and huge sad eyes. Her lips were parted as if she were trying to speak. Thea stared. She heard herself whisper, â€Å"Suzanne†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The girl held out a pale hand toward her. But at the same moment the fire flared up again. It seemed to turn the girl's hair to fire, too. Dark fire was burning all around her and there was an expression of infinite sadness on her face. Thea reached out a hand instinctively- The fire roared- And there was a flash like lightning. Suzanne had been drawn to the heart of the flame. And now the lightning formed a cone: the narrow path. Plastic bags and other debris whipped around the circle as if caught in a whirlwind. Suzanne and the cone of white lightning disappeared into each other. To the airy void. Through the mist of years. The fire flared up above Thea's head, and then sank down. The blue seemed to fall to the bottom. The flames turned yellow, like ordinary fire. It was as if a curtain had been drawn. To beyond the veil. That was where Suzanne was now. At the edge of the bonfire, where the residue had been, there was a lump of soft clay. Thea knelt and picked it up. She looked into the center of the flames-and saw a coil of long hair, the color of mahogany. The ends were starting to blacken and shrink in the fire. Thea reached in to grab it. She folded the hair over and quickly pressed the clay around it. It was a clumsy job, Blaise would have done much better, but the hair was enclosed. She groped on the ground for the wooden seal, found it, punched it into the clay. Suzanne's symbol, the cabalistic sign for her name, was printed. It was done. The amulet was restored, Suzanne was trapped again. She'd stay where she belonged unless somebody else was stupid enough to summon her. Thea dropped the amulet without looking at it, got up, and staggered around the fire to where Eric was lying. Her vision was strangely gray. After all this†¦ he has to be all right†¦ oh, please, let him be†¦ He moved when she reached him. â€Å"Eric, we did it. She's gone. We did it.† He grinned faintly. Said in a scratchy voice, â€Å"You don't have to cry.† She hadn't realized she was. Eric sat up. He was terminally mussed, his hair wild, his face dirty. He looked wonderful to her. â€Å"We did it,† she whispered again. She reached out to smooth his hair, and her hand stayed there. He glanced at the fire, then back at her. â€Å"I kind of hated to say those things to her. I mean, no matter how bad she was†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He touched Thea's neck, stroking gently. â€Å"Are you okay? I think you've got a bruise.† â€Å"Me? You're the one who really got it.† She put her free hand to his throat, fingers just barely touching. â€Å"But I know what you mean,† she whispered. â€Å"I felt-sorry-for her at the end.† â€Å"Don't cry again. Please. I really hate that,† he whispered, and he put his free arm around her. And then they were just kissing madly. Deliriously. Laughing and kissing and holding each other. She could taste her own tears on his lips, warming with his warmth, and she was trembling like a bird in a thicket. A few moments later a noise broke in. Thea didn't want to move, but Eric looked, and then he stiffened. â€Å"Uh, we've got company.† Thea looked up. There were cars just outside the sandstone pillars. Parked cars. They must have driven up sometime during the fight with Suzanne, while the roar of the fire blocked out the sound of their engines, while Thea's attention was focused on the wraith trying to Ml her. Because the people were already out of the cars. Grandma Harman, supported by Aunt Ursula. Rhys in his lab coat. Dumpling-shaped Mother Cybele, with her hand on Aradia's arm. Old Bob, Nans Buruku. Most of the Inner Circle was here.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Jared Diamond

The question motivating the book is: why did history untold differently on different continents? † (Page: 8, lines: 1, 2, and 3) Well, due to the fact this book covers 13,000 years of history in a brief time it Is hard to properly write a thesis that would cover everything he will talk about. For one thing he has to talk about history on different continents, why did some societies progress slower or faster than others, and whyEurasia was more advanced or modern than the rest of the world. All these things made It harder for him to write a solid concrete thesis for example I'll start with why Eurasia was typically more advanced (by modern standards) than the rest of the world. So, to start it off, most people would probably say that Eurasia probably had more environmental advantages, such as more land, rivers, trees, and other materials that are so called â€Å"essential† to a better civilization.Another reason would be the mount of resources that they had available to t hem, such as iron, might not have been enough for them to fully understand it's potential. Now let us talk about why some societies may have progressed slower or faster than other societies. Well one reason could have been religion. Religion can impact a society In many ways like technologically, politically (if they have a political system), but mainly medically.I say mainly medically because if you are a polytheist and a disease that is spreading mom to your village or town your people would probably assume that your gods and/ or goddesses are either angry or they have cursed your land, which would cause the people to not even think that there may be a cure. While on the other hand another religion like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam mentions nothing of god causing famine, diseases and other things Just because he Is angry. O they look for the reason of what Is causing the famine, or disease, and then they try to find a way to end the famine, or cure the disease. A societies pol itical views may change because of a religion, like Christianity. For example before the birth of Sis (Jesus) the Roman Empire was run by the senate and an Emperor. Tater Christianity was accepted by the pagans of the eastern Roman Empire a. K. A. The Byzantine Empire the political slowly shifted from the emperor to the Patriarch or as he would later be called the Pope. We are finally going to talk about how history unfolded on different continents.Now as you'll probably see the problem with this subject is we are not taught about hat happens In other continents such as Australia, South America, and North America, even f we are it has to start out with what led Eurasian to go there. Also they focus so much on Eurasia that they forget about the rest of the world, like at the time of the Dark ages Muslims were actually in a Golden age. We were discovering new things, inventing new things such as the first water clock, successfully performing surgeries that other civilizations had not even thought of doing.So Just cause Eurasia had the black plague going on they focused so much on one event that occurred mainly in Eurasia that they claim it was the dark age. That's like one ‘Off person saying Mondays should be holidays and majority to that world agreeing without a second thought. Finally we are done, but you're probably like â€Å"I'm lost†. That is exactly my point, the reason his thesis is hard to understand in concrete terms is because he is sort of Jumping from place to place trying to connect it all but at the same time trying to go in order.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Acts of Rebellion Essay Example for Free

Acts of Rebellion Essay Essay Topic: Literature , William Shakespeare Choose cite format: APA MLA Harvard Chicago ASA IEEE AMA Romeo and Juliet (446) , Capulet (321) , Dystopia (59) Haven't found the essay you want? Get your custom sample essay for only $13.90/page ? In 1984, Orwell presents the act of rebellion through love. â€Å"Listen. The more men you’ve had, the most I love you. Do you understand that?† this whole quote suggest that they are both rebelling, meaning that Julia has already rebelled in the past by having sex with other men. Also Winston is declaring that the more she rebels the more he would love her, which is also an act of rebellion in itself because love is unauthorized, by Big Brother. â€Å"The most† could suggest that Winston is encouraging everyone to rebel against Big Brother, which could mean that as Julia loves Winston, he is taking advantage of her by telling her that whatever Julia is doing is right that he is totally supporting her. Additionally this could mean that he wanted more people to be corrupt, and everyone to go to the wrong path and disobey Big Brother. Orwell presents the act of rebellion through love because in the Dystopian society there are strict rule that need to be followed, such as no having sex for pleasure, and this is clearly an act of rebellion as Julia had sex with lots of party member. Similarly in Romeo and Juliet where Shakespeare is presenting their love by rebelling, they are both willing to disobey the orders of the wise ones just to be with each other. â€Å"Therefore stay yet; thou need’st not to be gone† proposes that Juliet is stubborn, as the Daughter of Capulet; she is used to get what she wants. Additionally Romeo declares to her † Let me ta’en, let me be put to death† This could emphasise that he is willing to die for Juliet and stay with her than live his life without her, this clearly shows that he is rebelling against all the rules put upon them, just to stay with Juliet. â€Å"Not to be gone† could suggest that Juliet is being bossy as she is ordering him to stay with her. But alternatively this could highlight that as men in the Elizabethan had power over women, and they were patriarchal meaning that Juliet was a bad influence on Romeo, and that she was almost a threat to his manhood. As he accepts defeat Ro meo says â€Å"let me put to death† which could declare that Juliet is Romeo’s weakness and that if someone breaks Juliet, Romeo will also shatter. Acts of Rebellion. (2016, Aug 05).

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Motivating Employees in Fast Food Industry Dissertation

Motivating Employees in Fast Food Industry - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that like all the business entities, managing and motivating employees in a fast food business or organization is of high importance. Those fast food organizations, which are properly managed are normally expected to take into consideration the human resource capital first rather than concentrating on the financial aspects of the business. In accordance with these views, it is required from the fast food organizations to help maintain an ambience at the workplace which not only results in an improved cooperation and commitment among the employees aimed at achieving the organizational goals and objectives but also helps in improving their motivation level. The fact that motivated employees are better performers is a widely recognized belief and this is often associated with higher levels of production and retention in relation to employees working in an organization. In addition to this, employees with high levels of motivation in an organizational frame of refere nce are more inclined towards improving and increasing the productivity levels together with the efficiency, as compared to those who are either not motivated to do so or less motivated than the former. The research problem is important since there is a lack of research work carried out in the context of exploring motivation among employees working in fast food industry in the UK and also the research problem undertakes the issue of identifying strategies which may prove helpful in improving the existing level of motivation among employees and result in a better overall organizational performance. Since there are a large number of restaurants serving fast food in the UK, the addressing of this research problem is therefore considered relevant and pertinent as it will focus on the issues related to an industry which forms a formidable part in the consumer market in the UK. Research Aim As per the problem statement, the proposed aim for the study is the identification of factors, whic h hamper motivation among employees and those factors, which are regarded by them as motivating factors. In addition to this, the researcher aims at identifying specific strategies on the basis of findings related to above-mentioned areas. Research Questions On the basis of the research objectives identified above, the proposed research work will answer the following research questions: 1. What are the factors perceived by employees in fast food industry, which are considered as barriers in improving their motivation? 2. Are the employees motivated by improvement in workplace environment? 3. Are there any other factors which employees regard as helpful in motivating them? 4. What are the strategies for motivating employees working in fast food industry in the UK? Research Ethics In order to carry out the proposed research work, the researcher intends to fully adhere to the ethical considerations considered necessary for the conduct of a study involving usage of information or data, which may be regarded as private, confidential or involving rights of third parties. For this reason, the researcher will consider obtaining written consent from the organisations, which will be selected to be studied. As per the aim of the proposed study and the methodology adopted, which is discussed in the later parts of this proposal, the researcher will approach the employees of the selected organisations and obtain their views about the level of motivation with which they are working in their respective organisations. To this effect, it is ethically required that the researcher obtains consent from the concerned individuals in the organisations selected

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

W5D 590 Colin Powell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

W5D 590 Colin Powell - Essay Example Powell, the role of the leader is to create the most suitable environment for the followers and let everyone to contribute the common business goal with all their best (Karissa, 2013). To best bring the leader’s view about the organizational goal can be done through collaboration, an effective part of which is communication that creates unity without consensus. Here loyalty means to give one’s honest opinion and if the decision is been made, give no chances for the debate (Johnson, et al., 2008). The importance of truth-telling and safety where people are able to tell the truth create the atmosphere of unity and lead to the high performance of the corporate culture. Another view on how leader sees meeting of organizational goals is through creating a winning team (Schawbel, 2012), which is able to give business everything it needs. Here people should be trained in order to get connected to the common strategy, and have certain equipment to achieve the goals. There is al so philosophy of leadership which Powell shared with hundreds of business students. The central consideration about leadership is about getting people to make the most out of them, which is possible by creating conditions of trust, absence of fear or anger and constant presence of optimism. He also states (Stanford GSB Staff, 2005) that effective leaders are not born; instead they are capable to learn from their experience. Johnson, et al., (2008). The New leadership challenge: removing the emotional barriers to sustainable performance in a flat world, Ivey Business Journal, Retrieved from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-new-leadership-challenge-removing-the-emotional-barriers-to-sustainable-performance-in-a-flat-world/ Karissa, R., (2013). AIA 2013: Top Ten Lessons of Leadership by General Colin Powell, Architecture News Daily, Retrieved from http://www.archdaily.com/392879/aia-2013-top-ten-lessons-of-leadership-by-general-colin-powell/ Schawbel, D., (2012). A Conversation

Monday, August 26, 2019

Management Skills Development Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Skills Development Plan - Term Paper Example As a group leader, I ensure that I know the person’s abilities and talents before delegating a job. I never overburden my team members or be impatient. For example, I make accommodation for personal preferences, existing work duties or family commitments. If a group member asks that he wants to do a particular job, I make sure that he gets that, considering it suits their abilities. My peers often appreciate my group management skills, complimenting how everyone is satisfied with the work that they have to do. I also practice good negotiation skills. Instead of openly negating opinions if I do not agree to it, I use a subtler approach. Where there is a conflict of opinions, rather than picking an argument, I try to negotiate with my team members, colleagues or senior authority. I start my statement by saying, â€Å"You may be correct Sir/Ma’am/Mr.†¦, but I think it should be†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . My peers are appreciative of my negotiating skills. I am also good at motivating others. If I know someone is good enough to perform a particular task, I would encourage him/her to pursue it. I would have a talk with that person, asking him/her to share his/her hesitations. For instance, I once motivated a coworker to pursue a project in kitchen designing on the basis that she was good at designing but never had the motivation to take it to the next level. Another one of my strengths is presentation-making. I enjoy researching, making presentations and adding animation and special effects to make the presentation interesting. As a result, my colleagues choose me after a general consensus to make presentations on behalf of the group. However, I also have certain weaknesses which prevent me from reaching optimum level of performance. Primarily, I have problems managing time. I have on occasion not managed to complete designated tasks on time. Meeting deadlines is a

Sunday, August 25, 2019

President & Congress members and the use of technology Essay

President & Congress members and the use of technology - Essay Example The use of e-mails, websites, blogs, YouTube channels, Twitter and Facebook is evident in many of the congressional members. The above communication forms make it easy for the members to share information readily with individuals from their constituencies (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004). Apart from the usual traditional forms of communication, members of the Congress can also utilize the various media forms of communication to get in touch with their constituents. An individual can use an e-mail to communicate with their leader who is away from the constituency. Such communication allows for quick and immediate feedback from the lawmakers hence they can connect with their constituencies in no time unlike in the past. The other form of communication the Congress Members use to outreach their constituencies is by use of the social media. Facebook and Twitter are the most known forms of social media that can be used to enhance communication (Golbeck, Grimes, & Rogers, 2010). In the early days, the use of Facebook and Twitter was viewed as only suitable for the young members of the society. Most of the adults and more so those elected to leadership positions saw it as an irrelevant means of communication (Golbeck, Grimes, & Rogers, 2010). The notion has, however, changed in the recent past, and they are the most used means of social communication. At first, the college students used the social means to get in touch with their friends from different universities in the world. Currently, the Congress members use the forms in a professional way to communicate with their constituencies. They can pass valuable information to the people on Facebook or Twitter. For instance, a leader can post telling the members of an important meeting coming soon in their constituency (Bagdikian, 2014). Congress Members also use the social media to share their thoughts on various subjects concerning their constituencies with the members. They can also share

Telecommunication in healthcare Speech or Presentation

Telecommunication in healthcare - Speech or Presentation Example Another area which has been evolving over the course of years and decades is the healthcare industry. Healthcare has constantly evolved with the times, from poor and dangerous practices to safer, more effective procedures. From the old days of blood letting and body humors, to CT scans and brain surgery, healthcare has come a long way, and continues to evolve in order to aid mankind in staying healthy, relieving pain, and generally living longer. The goal of this paper is to examine and assess the marriage of these two topics; telecommunications in the healthcare setting. It aims to discuss its current state, benefits and set backs, as well as to try and predict where it will be in the next 5 years. It aims to do so by laying the topic out as such: 1. What is telecommunication? 2. Telecommunication technology used in the hospital setting 3. Advantages and disadvantages of telecommunication in healthcare 4. Significance of telecommunication in the healthcare setting 5. Where will heal thcare telecommunications be in 5 years What is telecommunication? Telecommunication, according to dictionary.com, is â€Å"the transmission of information. . . usually over great distances, in the form of electronic signals..†. This gives us a guide as to how to look at the technology that will be discussed in this portion of the paper. There are many forms of this technology available in the market today. The basic form of this technology is of course the telephone. There are many types of telephones that use different types of connections in order to communicate such as the regular public switch telephone network, internet protocol or IP phones, and mobile carrier phones. This is most likely the first thing that would come to mind when thinking about telecommunication, however, this is but a small part of the technology. Other examples are chat and email. These on the other hand are text-related forms of telecommunication. These provide a great way to send out information quickly if incase there is no time to spend on the phone and if details are needed to be sent over that require visual support. You can also consider fax as a form of telecommunication as you are still sending over information electronically; it’s just turned into a hard copy once it is received. One other form of telecommunication, which people normally do not think of, is the public announcement system. It still fits into our description of sending over information electronically. The great thing about telecommunications is that it is flexible, it evolves in conjunction to our needs and it improves greatly over the course of a relatively short period of time. This means that it is effective in most settings and is able to provide multiple options for connectivity. Telecommunication technology used in the hospital setting The healthcare industry has slowly grown and evolved throughout time and so have the technologies that they used. As they made an effort to solve more prob lems, their need to communicate, share information and collaborate also grew and changed. Gone are the days of regular landline calls and pagers. The healthcare industry now uses great technology and equipment in order to have better communication, record keeping, and collaboration. Aside from the average technology such as IP phones, email, chat, fax and the PA system, the healthcare industry also has other tools up its sleeve. One of them is video conferencing. There is one kind that is specially

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Democracy in Ukraine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Democracy in Ukraine - Essay Example not stealing from the state coffers and protecting favored oligarchs, but actually representing the people who elected them. For most people, this is a first taste of real self- determination" (Paton) In other democracies (such as the United States) are the chances of voter fraud minimized by the old established checks and balances " the vote fraud in (circa 2004) November's Ukrainian election, which denied Yuschenko his victory, was no different than the vote fraud in the United States election that same month, which denied John Kerry his victory; in both cases, there was a major discrepancy between exit polls and the official count. The exit polls in the United States were off by less than 2%. This discrepancy can largely be explained by exit pollsters acknowledged over sampling of women voters, new rules that limit nonvoters proximity to polling places, and the apparent high level of interview cooperation by Kerry supporters than by Bush advocates. The difference between exit polls and the official count in the Ukraine, by contrast, was more than 14%, and considerable evidence suggests that the Kiev government tampered with the results. For example in the Donestk region, officials claimed that Yushchenko won by less than 3% of the vote. International observers, also reported widespread intimidation of election monitors, ballot stuffing, multiple voting, and government pressuring of voters" (Zunes). In the United States the concept of free and fair elections may in some situations be viewed only as the ideal, but the electorate and the candidates have a target to aim for,... The Ukrainian media is state controlled and its primary thrust leading up to the election was the promotion of pro-government candidates. Once the government learned who the opposition candidates were, government controlled thugs went about the business of disrupting opposition campaign activity and were also engaged in act of violence. â€Å"Mykota Shkribliak, a leading opposition politician was murdered in 2002, and journalists who reported on corruption or criticized government policies were subjected to particularly serious harassment and violence. The judiciary in the Ukraine is notoriously inefficient and subject to corruption. It is clear that emerging or newdemocracies are beset with a number of the same common problems. In Czechoslovakia, Petr Cibulka is a five time political prisoner and has done time in the toughest communist prison camps in Czechoslovakia repeatedly between 1979 and 1989, he was jailed and in 1979 he conducted a 31-day hunger strike. In 1991 Cibulka began publishing his paper, Uncensored News, which took a hard line opposition stand against the official information blockade organized by the communists through their â€Å"soft† control of the mass media. In 1992 Mr. Cibulka acquired and published data fromsecret police files, including the names of 200,000 communist spies and collaborators.In April 2005 Mr. Cibulka was interviewed concerning his experiences and perceptions about the current state of democracy in Czechoslovakia. One of the questions posed to him was.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Sixth Sense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sixth Sense - Essay Example All this make up the technological device that has the ability to implement several applications thus showing its flexibility and usefulness. With the technology, an individual can zoom, pan, stream, draw and use free hand gestures. With the sixth sense technology, objects that would have otherwise remained in the real world have been integrated into the technological interface to be used. From the technological advancements that have been made, the technology is formed from other technologies (Gray, 12). Its technological capability is like no other, since it is the fine and final product from a mixer of technologies. The sixth sense technology is efficient, economical, and very much portable. With the technology, there is the ability for hand recognition, capturing and recapturing of images, it has a processing speed of very impressive speeds and is very much easy to handle and use (Gray, 12). To summarize the uniqueness of this technology, it is user-friendly. The technology also supports multi user interaction and also has the ability to support multi touch. This technology is one of the most advanced forms of computer based interfaces that is bound to take technology to another level (Gray,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The impact of globalization Essay Example for Free

The impact of globalization Essay This paper has discussed the impact of globalization on the changing patterns of work in industrialized countries. We have discussed the concept of globalization as it has made promise for companies to work on a real-time basis, whereby products and services are conveyed to the right place at the right time. We further discussed Competitiveness trends and interconnectedness in past and present to have better understanding of employment patterns and their impact on industrial relations policy. Introduction Globalization refers to a world in which civilizations, cultures, polities and economies have, in several logics, come closer simultaneously. It is usually measured to refer to a sequence of social processes and consequently is not typified by the institutional accouterments (Amin, A. 1994). Moreover, globalization is considered as being in the dominance, changing economic, cultural and social surroundings so far regardless of its elemental effects, globalization as a phenomenon remains mainly tolerant (Massey, D. 1994). According to Giddens (1990:64), the concept can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa. Thus, the job of a coal miner in Britain might depend on events in South Africa or Poland as much as on local management or national government decisions. Although the notion does not just refer to global interconnectedness. Globalization is best understood as expressing fundamental aspects of time-space distanciation. Globalization concerns the intersection of presence and absence, the interlacing of social events and social relations at a distance with local contextualities (Giddens 1991:21). Amin, A. and Palan, R. (2000:240), too, refers to the fact that globalization describes our changing experience of time and space, or time-space compression. According to Jessop, phenomena firmly within an ontologically broader context of capitalist socio-economic and sociopolitical restructuring in order to ascertain exactly how they intervene in power struggles over this restructuring. This would be in order to clarify whether or not these interventions are contingent or can be attributed to objective necessities. In this context, it makes no sense to postulate the market and the state axiomatically against one another since the two really presuppose one another (Jessop 1997:50-52). Hence and indeed following Jessop, (Magnus Ryner; 2002: 101) suggest that we pose the question of globalization with reference to the manner in which: (a) socio-economic orders become materially reproduced (or not) through the configuration of a regime of accumulation and mode of regulation; (b) Potential and tendential social conflicts are managed (or not)-that is, how they are mediated, regulated and neutralized-through socially embedded authority structures; (c) This order is (or is not) normalized and stabilized through the articulation of the terms of legitimacy which engenders the social order with a stable consensual mass base; (d) Questions (a), (b) and (c) interrelate to form (or not) a Gramscian historic bloc or sets of interacting historic blocs. Changing Patterns The elating trade barriers, liberalization of capital markets, as well as speedy technical development, particularly in the fields of information technology, transport and telecommunications, have infinitely improved and hasten the faction of people, information, possessions and resources. In the same way, they have also expanded the variety of issues which spread out the boundaries of nation-States necessitating international median setting and directive and, consequently, conference and formal discussions on a global or district scale. numerous of the tribulations distressing the world today such as poverty, ecological pollution, financial crises, organized crime and terror campaign – are ever more transnational in nature, and cannot be pact with simply at the national level, nor by State to State negotiations (Cerny, P. G. 1990). Immense economic as well as social interdependence seems to influence national decision making processes in two essential ways. It calls for a transfer of decisions to the worldwide level and, due to an increase in the stipulate for participation it as well needs numerous decisions to be relocated to confined levels of government (Dodd, N. 1994). Thereby, globalization requires multifaceted decision-making processes, which occurs at diverse levels, explicitly sub-national, national and global, pavement the way to an emergent multi-layered structure of power. The truth that collaboration and directive are requisite on numerous levels as a outcome of the intricacies and international nature of present world issues has led a numeral of scholars to envisage the end of national state power. Several disagree that the State might only fiddle with globalization, but not have a dynamic role in it. Several believe that the State will turn out to be archaic (Peck, J. 1998). Regardless of the numerous concerns regarding the loss of independence, the State remnants the key actor in the domestic as well as global arenas. The accepted postulation that the appearance of global civil society, as well as escalating levels of cross-border trade, investment and cash flows turns the State into a survival is wrong. In the worldwide arena, closer collaboration and rigorous action amongst States symbolize an exercise of state dominion. Such strenuous action does not essentially wane States; rather, it can reinforce them by generating a more unwavering international surroundings and by giving them better extent to develop their exchanges in a diversity of fields. Besides, globalization devoid of effective and vigorous multilateralism is bounce to lead to crisis as markets are neither innately stable nor evenhanded. The numerous challenges that we face up to today be afar the reach of any state to convene on its own. At the state level we should govern better, and at the international level we should learn to manage better mutually (Robertson, R. 1995).

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

MockingJay Capitol and Air Duct Surprises Essay Example for Free

MockingJay Capitol and Air Duct Surprises Essay â€Å"All right, that’s it,† Paylor says. Flames and heavy black smoke from the wreckage obscure our view. â€Å"Did they hit the hospital?† â€Å"Must have,† she say grimly. As I hurry towards the ladders at the far end or the warehouse, the sight of Messalla and one od the insects emerging from behind an air duct surprises me. I thought they’d still be hunkered down in the alley. â€Å"They’re growing on me,† says Gale. I scramble down the ladder. When my feet hit the ground, I find a bodyguard, Cressida, and the other insect waiting. I expect resistance, but Cressida just waves me toward the hospital. She’s yelling, â€Å"I don’t care, Plutarch! Just give me five more minutes!† Not one to question a free pass, I take off into the street. â€Å"Oh, no,† I whisper as I catch sight of the hospital. Some people say they think our government is bad? Well check this out; 16 year old Katniss Everdeen is visiting a hospital to give the injured and dying people of District 8 hope. But when she is done, Capitol planes sent from President Snow attack her and her crew. Katniss and Gale shoot them down, but they find the hospital in ruins. Katniss records her own message for the capitol. MockingJay by Suzanne Collins. â€Å"Oh, no,† I whisper as I catch sight of the hospital. Or what used to be the hospital. I move past the wounded, past the burning plane wreck, fixated on the disaster ahead of me. People screaming, running about frantically, but unable to help. The bombs have collapsed the roof and set the building on fire, effectively trapping the patients within. A group of rescuers has assembled, trying to clear a path inside. But I already know what they will find. If the crushing debris and the flames didn’t get them, the smoke did. Gale’s at my shoulder. The fact that he does nothing only confirms my suspicions. Miners don’t abandon an accident until its hopeless. â€Å"Come on, Katniss. Haymitch says they can get a hovercraft in for us now,† he tells me, but I cant seem to move. â€Å"Why would they do that? Why would they target people who were already dying?† I ask him. â€Å"Scare others off. Prevent the wounded from seeking help,† says Gale. â€Å"Those people you met, they were expendable. To Snow, anyways. If the Capitol wins, what will it do with a bunch of damaged slaves?† I remember all those years in the woods, listening to Gale rant against the Capitol. Me, not paying close attention. Wondering why he even bothered to dissect its motives. Why thinking like our enemy would ever matter. Clearly, it could have mattered today. When Gale questioned the existence of the hospital, he was not thinking of disease, but this. Because he never underestimates the cruelty of those we face. I slowly turn my back to the hospital and find Cressida, flanked by the insects, standing a couple of yards in front of me. Her manner’s unrattled. Cool even. â€Å"Katniss,† she says. â€Å"President Snow just had them air the bombing live. Then he made an appearance to say that this was his way of sending a message to the rebels. What about you? Would you like to tell the rebels anything?† â€Å"Yes,† I whisper. The red blinking light on one end of the cameras catch my eye. I know I’m being recorded. â€Å"Yes,† I say more forcefully. Everyone is drawing away from me–-Gale, Cressida, the insects—giving me the stage. But I stay focused on the red light. â€Å"I want to tell the rebels that I am alive. That I’m right here in District Eight, where the Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of unarmed men, women, and children. There will be no survivors.† The shock I’ve been feeling being to give way to fury. â€Å"I want to tell people that if you think for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly if there’s a cease-fire, you’re deluding yourself. Because you know who they are and what they do† my hands go out automatically, as if to indicate the whole horror around me. â€Å"This is what they do! And we must fight back!† I’m moving in toward the camera now, carried forward by my rage. â€Å"President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that?† One of the cameras follows as I point to the planes burning on the roof of the warehouse across from us. The Capitol seal on a wing glows clearly through the flame. â€Å"Fire is catching!† I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. â€Å"And if we burn, you burn with us!† My last words hang in the air. I feel suspended in time. Held aloft in a cloud of heat that generates not from my surroundings, but from my own being. â€Å"Cut!† Cressida’s voice snaps me back to reality, extinguishes me. She gives me a nod of approval. â€Å"That’s a wrap.†

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Literature Review of Finance and Share Price

Literature Review of Finance and Share Price LITERATURE REVIEW This study relates to examine the relationship of cash flow from operations, earning and sales with share price and the previous research has predicted the comparative abilities of cash flow, earning and sales but this study is only concerned with the relationship of cash flow, earning and sales with share price. In the finance literature that market forces determine share price equal to the discounted value of a stream of expected future cash flows (Hollister et al., 2002). Cash flows represent amounts investors expect to receive in the form of dividend payments or from the sale of their shares and not necessarily the annual operating cash flows generated by a firm. Consequently, it is in a very broad sense that share price is considered to embody a firms future cash flows. Even if share price is often thought of and evaluated in terms of cash flows, earnings is also known to be extremely important to managers and analysts because of the key information it conveys about future prospects (Brigham and Ehrhardt, 2002). Various researchers examined value in terms of share return that Earnings reflect a stronger correlation with share return than does current operating cash flows (Watts, 1977; Dechow, 1994; Bartov et al, 1997) .It has been shown that earnings better predicts future operating cash flows than does current operating cash flows because accruals in earnings â€Å"offset the negative correlation in cash flow changes to produce earnings changes that are much less negatively serially correlated ( Dechow, et al 1998) that is why earnings, rather than current operating cash flows, tends to be used in firm share valuations. Earnings quality can be affected by sales volatility (Dechow and Dichev (2002) and Francis et al. (2004). By and large the greater the sales volatility, the more unstable is the operating environment. This results in larger estimation errors for accruals and diminished earnings quality. It gives an idea about how monthly sales announcements of major department and discount stores provide information for investors not only for the retail giants but also for their suppliers (Olsen and Dietrich (1985). The sales volume announcements for the retailers furnish information on the future cash flow prospects for their suppliers and, thus, are incorporated into the suppliers share prices. Dharan (1987) examined the comparative abilities of accrual sales and cash collections of sales to predict future cash flows. It is found that when cash realization occurs in a period subsequent to sales realization, cash flow forecasts from earnings based on accrual sales are better than cash flow forecasts from earnings based on cash collections. This is because of accrual sales â€Å"provides information on managements expectations about future cash flows (Dharan, 1987). Greenberg, Johnson, and Ramesh (1986) used 1963-82 compustate data to test the ability of earnings and CFFO to predict future CFFO, for each firm two separate ordinary least squares regression models were used. The first model test used previous earnings against current CFFO (earnings model) the second model used CFFO for lags of 1-5 years against current CFFO (cash flows model).R square for the earnings and cash flows model were compared and the model with the higher R square was determined to be the better predictor. The results showed that earnings outperformed CFFO in predicting future CFFO. It was concluded that the study provides evidence in support of the FASBs assertions that current earnings is a better predictor of future cash flows than is current cash flows. Juan M. Rivara(1996) found out the accuracy and the consensus among forecasters of earnings estimates for U.S. domestic and U.S. multinational corporations, it was observed that the accuracy of earnings forecasts is significantly lower for purely domestic firms than for U.S based multinationals. Like wise the level of consensus in earnings estimates submitted by financial analysts is significantly lower for U.S. domestic than for U.S. multinational firms. The accounting profession requires that firms disaggregate net income into specific components, even though earnings disaggregation is important for assessing firm profitability, there is little empirical evidence that the classification scheme actually improves profitability forecasts by analyzing the accuracy improvements in out-of-sample forecasts of one-year ahead return-on-equity (ROE) to examine the predictive content of earnings disaggregations (Fairfield, Sweeney, Yohn) .The results show that the classification scheme prescribed by the accounting profession does increase the predictive content of reported earnings. It was found forecasting improvements from earnings disaggregation. These improvements go beyond separating extraordinary items and discontinued operations from the other components of earnings. Further disaggregation of earnings (into operating earnings, non-operating earnings and taxes, and special items) improves forecasts of ROE one year ahead. (Ball and Watts (1972), Albrecht, Lookabill McKeown (1977), Watts and Leftwich (1977) and Lev (1983) studied the Earnings ability to predict future earnings studied first or second order autocorrelations and or forecasts over one or two-year horizons and provided evidence to support a random walk model that is uncorrelated earnings changes, However, random walk may not be descriptive of the earnings process Where as Ramesh and Thiagarajan (1989) rejected a random walk earnings model and Lipe and Kormendi (1993) show that higher order, rather than random walk, models are descriptive of market-adjusted earnings time-series process. Finger (1994) found out the earnings ability to predict future earnings and future cash flow from operations1 one through eight years ahead using annual data from1935-87 for 50 firms. I use time-series methods to test firm-specific predictive ability over the entire time period (hereafter in-sample regression tests) and then compare out-of-sample forecast errors to assess earnings ability to improve earnings or cash flow forecasts up to eight years ahead. He found that earnings are a significant predictor of future earnings, in sample, for 88% of the firms. The random walk provides better out-of-sample forecasts than do individually estimated models one year ahead for 52% of the sample firms, Out of sample forecasts show that random walk models outperform individually estimated earnings models for one-year but not for four- or eight-year horizons. Earnings, used alone and with cash flow, are a significant predictor of cash flow for the majority of firms. However, out-of-sample foreca sts show that adding earnings rarely improves cash flow forecasts. Cash flow is a better short-term predictor of cash flow than are earnings, both in and out of sample, and the two are approximately equivalent long-term. The nature of the information contained in the accrual and cash flow components of earnings and the extent to which this information is reflected in stock prices Sloan (1996). It is found that earning performance attributable to the accrual component of earnings exhibits lower persistence than earnings performance attributable to the cash flow component of earnings, hence results also indicated that stock prices act as if investors fixate on earnings, failing to distinguish fully between the different properties of the accrual and cash flow components of earnings. Lorek Willinger (1996) the time series properties and predictive abilities of cash flow data. Results indicate that this model clearly outperforms firm-specific and common-structure ARIMA models as well as a multivariate, cross-sectional regression model popularized in the literature. These findings are robust across alternative cash-flow metrics (e.g., levels, per-share, and deflated by total assets) and are consistent with the viewpoint espoused by the FASB that cash-flow prediction is enhanced by consideration of earnings and accrual accounting data. Bowen, Burgstahler Daley (1986) examined relationships between signals provided by accrual earnings and various measures of cash flow, Findings indicate that Correlations between traditional cash flow measures and alternative CF measures that incorporate more extensive adjustments are low, 2nd the correlations between alternative measures of CF and earnings are, while the correlations between traditional measures of CF and earnings are high. These first two results are consistent with earnings and alternative measures of CF that incorporate more extensive adjustments conveying different signals. Finally, for four out of five cash flow variables, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that random walk models predict CF as well as (and often better than) models based on other flow variables. An exception to this general result is that net income plus depreciation and amortization and working capital from operations appear to be the best predictors of cash flow from operations. Overall there results are not consistent with the FASBs statements that earnings numbers provide better forecasts of future cash flows than do cash flow numbers. Earlier additional information content of cash flows relies primarily on cross- sectional regression models relating both earnings and cash flows to security return metrics that assumes a uniform relation between earnings (cash flow from operations) and security returns across observations. Ali (1994) however, conditions the incremental information content of unexpected earnings and cash flows from operations on their magnitude with respect to price. It is found that changes in earnings (cash flows from operations) are not expected to persist and thus have reduced implications for returns. Cheng, Liu Schaefer (1996) investigated the Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from Operations, findings suggest that the incremental information content of accounting earnings decreases, and the incremental information content of cash flows from operations increases, with a decrease in the permanence of earnings. Barth, Cram Nelson investigated the role of accruals in predicting future cash flows and findings proved that disaggregating earnings into cash flow and the major components of accruals significantly enhances earnings predictive ability, findings also showed relation between cash flow next year and current cash flow and each component of accruals is significant and has a sign consistent with prediction. One of two researchers has re examined the association between earnings forecast error and earnings predictability because there is evidence suggesting that deliberate earnings forecast optimism is not an effective mechanism for gaining access to managers information ( Eames et al. 2002; Matsumoto 2002) ,For earnings level to be an important control variable in examinations of the association between forecast error and earnings predictability, there must be associations between earnings level and both forecast error and earnings predictability. Numerous studies report an inverse relation between forecast error and the level of reported earnings ( Brown 2001; Eames et al. 2002; Eames and Glover 2002; Hwang et al. 1996). The association reflects both earnings shocks due to unanticipated events and earnings management. Dechow Dichev suggested a new measure of one aspect of the quality of working capital accruals and earnings, they illustrated the usefulness of analysis in two ways. First, they examined the relation between measure of accrual quality and firm characteristics. The nature of the accrual process suggests that the magnitude of estimation errors will be systematically related to business fundamentals like the length of the operating cycle and variability of operations. It was found that accrual quality is negatively related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, the length of the operating cycle, loss incidence, and the standard deviation of sales, cash flows, accruals, and earnings, and positively related to firm size. Results suggest that these observable firm characteristics can be used as instruments for accrual quality. This is important because the regression based estimation of accrual quality demands long time series of data and the availability of subsequent cash flows, which m akes it costly or infeasible for certain practical applications (e.g quality-of-accruals-based trading strategies). Second they illustrated the usefulness of analysis by exploring the relation between measure of accrual quality and earnings persistence. Firms with low accrual quality have more accruals that are unrelated to cash flow realizations, and so have more noise and less persistence in their earnings. Indeed, they find a strong positive relation between accrual quality and earnings persistence. Although the measure of accrual quality is theoretically and empirically related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, and Sloan (1996) documents that the level of accruals is less persistent than cash flows. Probing further, they found out that accrual quality and level of accruals are incremental to each other in explaining earnings persistence, with accrual quality the more powerful determinant. There are two widely held views regarding managements motivations to managing earnings and each has quite different implications for the predictive usefulness of the resultant numbers .One view is that earnings management is motivated by mangers attempt to sustain the overvaluation of the firms stock price and to enhance managers personal welfare by disguising the true underlying economic performance of the firm (opportunistic perspective). An alternative view is that managers manage earnings to reveal private value-relevant information about the future prospects of a firm (informational perspective). They shown that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for opportunistic reasons are less predictive of future cash flows relative to the restated (unmanaged) numbers. Conversely, they find that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for informational reasons exhibit greater predictive ability with respect to future cash flows relative to restated (unmanaged) numbers. (Badertscher , Collins and lys 2007). Theoretical and empirical work in accounting and finance has documented the importance of firm size when testing the information in security prices with respect to future earnings (Collins et al., 1987) and interested in assessing the information in security prices with respect to the predictive ability of earnings, their finding that price-based-earnings forecasts outperform time-series forecasts by a greater margin for larger firms than smaller firms is of direct interest here. Their result implies that firm-size may help to explain inter-firm differences in the predictive ability of quarterly earnings data and helps to motivate the consideration of firm-size as an independent variable in the current study. Foster et al (1984) report that firm-size independently explains a substantial portion of the variation in post announcement drifts in security returns due to potentially misspecified quarterly earnings expectation models. The magnitude of abnormal returns associated with good or bad news earnings signals is inversely related to firm-size Freeman (1987), speculates that these findings might simply be due to differential time-series properties of the earnings numbers of large and small firms-an uncontrolled factor in his research design-and calls for future research to examine the possibility. Bathke , Lorek Willinger ( 1989) found out differences in the auto regressive parameters of the Foster and Brown and Rozeff ARIMA models across firm-size strata . One-step-ahead quarterly earnings forecasts were generated by a set of best fitting time-series models. Their Tests also indicated that large and medium size firms generated one-step ahead forecasts that were significantly more accurate than smaller firms at the .05 level and they obtained similar predictive findings on the significance of the size-effect in a supplementary analysis of the non seasonal and volatile growth and inconsistent strata membership firms. ChengDana examined the persistence of cash flow components in predicting future cash and the findings were that the cash flow components from various operating activities persist differentially. They found out that the cash related to sales, cost of goods sold, operating expenses and interest persists a great deal into future cash flows; cash related to other has lower persistence; and cash related to taxes has no persistence and then they incorporated accrual components into persistence regression model and found that the persistence of cash flow components are generally higher than those of accruals; however, accrual components do enhance model performance, their findings are consistent with the AICPAs and financial analysts rationale for their recommendation that the financial effects of a companys core and non-core cash flows should be distinguished. Reference Ashiq Ali â€Å" Incremental information content of earnings , working capital from operations and cash flow † Journal of Accounting research†( spring 1994): 61-74 Robert M. Bowen, David Burgstahler, Lane A. Daley â€Å"Evidence on the Relationships between Earnings and Various Measures of Cash Flow † The Accounting Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), pp. 713-725 Richard G. Sloan â€Å"Do Stock Prices Fully Reflect Information in Accruals and Cash Flows about Future Earnings† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 289-315. Kenneth S. Lorek and G. Lee Willinger â€Å"A Multivariate Time-Series Prediction Model for Cash-Flow Data† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 81-102 Catherine A. Finger â€Å"The Ability of Earnings to Predict Future Earnings and Cash Flow† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 210-22 C. S. Agnes Cheng, Chao-Shin Liu, Thomas F. Schaefer â€Å"Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from operations† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 34, No. 1 ( Spring, 1996), pp. 173-181. Olsen, C. and J. Dietrich, Vertical Information Transfers: The Association Between Retailers Sales Announcements and Suppliers Security Returns, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 144-166, 1985. Juan M. Rivera (1996) â€Å" Prediction Performance of Earnings Forecasts: The Case of U.S. Multinationals.†Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (2nd Qtr. 1991), pp. 265-288. Patricia M. Fairfield Richard J. Sweeney Teri Lombardi Yohn â€Å"Accounting classification and predictive content of earning† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 337-355. BALL, R R.WATTS â€Å"Some Time Series Properties of Accounting Income† Journal of Finance (June 1972): 663-82 Mary E. Barth, Donald P. Cram, Karen K. Nelson â€Å"Accruals and the Prediction of Future Cash Flows †The Accounting Review, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Jan., 2001), pp. 27-58 Michael J. Eames and Steven M. Glover â€Å"Earnings Predictability and the Direction of Analysts Earnings Forecast Errors †Accounting Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 707-724. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Brad Badertscher , Daniel W. Collins Thomas Z. Lys â€Å"Earnings Management and the Predictive Ability of Accruals with Respect to Future Cash Flows † Journal of finance, (2007) , PP 01-52. Allen W. Bathke, Jr., Kenneth S. Lorek, G. Lee Willinger â€Å"Firm-Size and the Predictive Ability of Quarterly Earnings Data † The Accounting Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 49-68 C. S. Agnes Cheng Dana Hollie (1996) â€Å"The Persistence of Cash Flow Components into Future Cash Flows† Journal of finance, pp 1-32.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Ferris Bueller: Possible or Not? :: essays research papers

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Possible or Not?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron spend one amazing day ditching school, exploring the great city of Chicago and take time to visit many landmarks and take part in many exciting activities. The day depicted in the movie would be a great and exciting day for anyone, but is it possible for them to have done all of the things they did in one day? I believe it is reasonable to believe that Ferris and company may have been able to do all the things they did in the movie in one day.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first thing that needs to be looked at is where Ferris lives. Ferris most likely lives within 10 minutes of his school considering he lives in the Chicago area and there are many high schools, he wouldn’t live too far from his high school. That is all just logic. Ferris’ school was shot at Glenbrook North High School which is at 2300 Shermer Road Northbrook, IL 60062. Using this site and assuming Ferris’ house is ten minutes away the journey begins. It is assumed that Ferris and Cameron pick up Sloane at 10 a.m. from school so this is when the timing starts. From school they head to downtown Chicago in Cameron dad’s 1961 Ferrari GT California, which has a top speed of 155 mph . Despite this we can assume that with Ferris driving, and him being a very daring and confident teenager, he was likely driving between 80 and 90 mph on the open freeways to downtown. Ferris had to travel about 22 miles to the parking garage in downtown Chicag o, 18 of which were on a freeway. Assuming Ferris drives about 80 mph it would take him less then 15 minutes on the freeway and probably another 10 minutes on surface streets to get to the parking garage. The parking garage was located on the corner of Madison and Wells in downtown Chicago. This would make the time about 10:25 a.m. when they reached the parking garage to drop off the Ferrari.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the parking garage Ferris and his friends go to the top of Sears Tower and look down. It is approximately a half of a mile from the parking garage to Sears Tower. Walking briskly because they are excited about ditching school it can be assumed it took them about 10 minutes to walk that half mile.

It Wont Happen to Me - Original Writing :: Papers

It Won't Happen to Me - Original Writing Harvey had heard about the disappearances in the forest. Despite what his parents had said and the rumours he had heard, he was not going to let himself be scared by some over exaggerated stories. After all, he was fifteen years old, strong and definitely didn't think anything could possibly happen to him. It was one of those days in the middle of July when the summer seems as if it will never end. Harvey wanted to make the most of his holiday and was going to stay at someone's house with a couple of friends and hoped to arrive before dark. His parents had insisted on him taking the long way round and bypassing the forest but he decided it would take too long. He felt it made no sense riding the long way around instead of taking the direct route so he grabbed his backpack, hopped on his bike and started to make his way through the dirty trails of the forest. All was going well, Harvey was cheerful and was looking forward to the night ahead of him. He thought that if he kept up this pace he would be at his friend's house in no time. But suddenly he heard something from underneath him. Upon further inspection he realized he had suffered a puncture. "Damn", he cursed as he examined the damage. The tyre was completely deflated and there was no hope of cycling the rest of the journey. He stood still in the middle of the middle of the forest for a few moments and contemplated what would be the best thing to do. He remembered he had left his bike lock at home and was angry with himself that he had left with such haste. He decided that all he could do was put his bike behind a towering fir tree and hope that its bright red colour scheme didn't attract too much attention. The light was beginning to fade so he quickly rejoined the track and carried on with his journey.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Brother of the Bride -- Wedding Toasts

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Brother of the Bride Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Neal, the bride's brother. On behalf of my mother, Mrs. Lian White, I wish to thank you all for coming to celebrate this special occasion with us. We are so happy that so many of our friends and relatives are able to come here to enjoy this splendid occasion with us. Today seems like a magical dream. This morning, I proudly walked my sister down the aisle to marry Paul, the man whom she loves so much. It was so beautiful to watch them exchanging their vows in that beautiful stained glass church. Its marvelous seeing these two good people come together. The Bride and Groom Susie is a gem in our family, a blessing to both her parents and me. She's been a good and faithful daughter to my ...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Is technology bringing us closer Essay

The sense of connection between human beings is growing.  Do you feel connected with your family and friends? Do you feel a sense of â€Å"closeness† between each other? Do you feel that, with the help of technology, you finally have the opportunity to easily communicate with anyone you want? The answer to all three of these questions is a simple â€Å"yes†. Three brothers buried their mother about a month ago and were faced with the challenge of running a household, with a debt of more than $10000 to be payed off. Their mother who had suffered with two brain aneurisms had left no life insurance or money in the bank when she died. Their dad had passed away six years ago after battling with a mental health issues. Jarrod (19), the oldest of the three brothers, has pledged to take care of his brothers. After broadcasting their story on A Current Affair, viewers from all over the country has generously donated more than half a million dollars in just one day to help them pay off their mortgage loan. This is just one of the countless stories where technology has made a tremendous impact on a family and brought them closer, along with all the Australians out there who have supported them. Technology does have the potential to increase communication between people. At this present time, technology is in the most advanced form of communication we have. It makes the world small and at the same time, it makes us feel big. It gives us the fortuity to be able to communicate with anyone around the world in a click of a button. Nowadays, we don’t just have options like email or calling up someone, we have features like video chat. Just like that, we’re able to catch up with any old friend of ours. Even though they might not physically be right next to us, technology gives us the enjoyment to be able to feel like they’re right here next to us. Technology has the ability to make us feel that we are not as far away with people who may be in different countries as we think we are. We’re in fact closer than we perceive. Not only does technology benefit to feel closer to those that may be far away from you. Technology also grants the opportunity for you to be closer with the person sitting in the same room as you. â€Å"Dictionary.com† defines the word communication as â€Å" the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing or signs.† There are many people out there who may not be fortunate as you and I, who have disabilities that sadly impinge on their communication. How tough would life be for them? The amount of resilience that they have is inspirational. Technology gives them hope, it gives them something to hold onto, something that has the potential to turn their life around. This disability is called communication disorder. This disorder affects more than 15% of children aged from 4-21 years of age. However, with the ever-improving advances in technology present, this significant obstacle on these people can be overcome. For example, we all know that hearing aids assist people with hearing impairments. However, they are cases where technology isn’t able to help in overcoming a communication disorder. Instead, technology can be used as a substitute for communication. For instance, if someone has trouble speaking, they could use a computer as a means of communication to have a conversation back and forth with someone else. Not only does technology help with the communication between people, furthermore, it is beneficial to help those in need. The medical field has always brought together one of the best, if not best, and brightest of society to provide support for those who needs it. For over more than a thousand years, people have spent a great deal of time repairing, designing and exploring many perspectives in the attempt to  unravel the mysteries and perplexities of the human body. Over time, with the advances in technology, machines have begin to play a much larger role in the medical field, as a result of new developments and better ways to treat illnesses and injuries. Through the use of such technologies, people can live healthier, more productive and independent lives. Many people who formerly may have been ill, disabled, or suffering continuous pain are now blessed to be able to look forward to leading normal, or even close-to normal lives. For example, a small device, the ICD, which is implanted for those at risk of sudden cardiac death now have a 98% chance of surviving a cardiac arrest, compared to only 5% without this device. This is just one of the vast number of benefits that the changes in technology has managed to deliver to us in the present time. Without these technological advances, many innocent human beings would have suffered from deadly diseases and illnesses that are now promisingly able to be beneficial for. Like everything else in this world, technology has both its positives and negatives. Some people may argue that technology doesn’t in fact bring the connection between us humans closer. That it is essentially driving us further away. One of the main reasons why this may be is due to cyber bullying, as it is one of the major issues concerning with technological communication. Just focusing on teenagers, statistics show that at least 74% of teens are on social networking sites. Cyber bullying is more common in today’s society due to the increase in the use of technology. We really can’t stop cyber bullying completely, there is no way for that to be possible. However, an alternative would be to educate teens out there on how to prevent it from happening to them. Teach teens to learn to be smart, safe and secure. Technology needs to be embraced. Although is may be forever changing, we  should at least count on the fact that it is continually becoming greater, faster and more beneficial. The connection between all of us is growing with the help of technology, and instead of disagreeing with this, its time we accept it and use it to our benefit fully.

Friday, August 16, 2019

A portfolios country exposure management

The episode of modern-globalization is one characterized by new sources of global funds flow. Multinational enterprises from developing countries are now starting to make investments from other developing countries. This has produced positive effects both for the private sector and policy makers in a given developed together with developing countries.The theoretical framework adopted by these developing countries is that based on the ownership/location/internationalization (OLI) theory. This paper deals with the issues of export expansion and prolific capacity creation in developing countries.It tends to provide an analytical framework to help in understanding the internationalization process of enterprises in the developing countries. It further applies this framework to analyze the experiences of such enterprises. House-hold appliances producers are also moving towards rising economies either by use of the off-shore practices from OECD-based companies or by use of the coming out an d fast internationalization of innovative brand producers in up coming countries themselves (Rodriguez, 2007).This paper helps us understand the diversities of corporate strategies and those at the back of the internationalization process. An astounding and typical feature of this new wave of internationalization process is its speed and the capacity of the latecomers companies to leverage on the prospect for learning presented by a more unified economy.These latecomer companies were able to leverage their strategic partnership with recognized MNEs to improve their operations and hence were able to move from production of simple goods into products lines made using their own design, branding and marketing. They always take global competition as an opening to build on their capacities and shift into further cost-effective industry fragments.The latecomer companies are mainly able to internationalize and to take hold of resources and have a competitive advantage over other firms. This is a producer-driven global value chain marked by advance technology and speedy delocalization to developing countries, where not only production costs are lower but demand growth rates are higher. It is expected that the established growth in developing countries tend to determinate and recompense for the slow demand in OECD countries, where market infiltration rate is higher and the market is driven strictly by demand for substitutes.Their experience has shown throughout that there are still many strategies and ways for going global. The good example of firms which were able to successfully improve their operations consists of the Mabe in Mexico, Arcelik in Turkey and Haier in China.The latecomer’s firms have found innovate new ways of harmonizing their strategies which involved providing contract services, licensing new technology and forming joint ventures and strategic alliances. Through implementation of these strategies, latecomers firms were able to secure a place wh ich is developing in global economy as they were able to leverage resources from the strength of others (Rodriguez, 2007).These internationalization strategies formed a basis for exit from the traditional view on globalization as it was intended to enhance the firm’s resource base as opposed to exploitation of existing asset a view highly held by traditional firms. The sources of corporate strength have changed from the capacity to control cost for a given product to been able to learn how to mingle and remerge assets to create new business and concentrate on new markets.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Adolf Hitler biography

Adolf Hitler Childhood of Adolf Hitler Hitler as an Artist Hitler as a Soldier in World War I Entry into Politics Hitler comes into Power Hitler starts World War II Death Bibliography * Adolf Hitler http://History1900s. about. com/cs/hitleradolf/p/hitler. htm(Retrieved 16-04-2013) * Hitler Facts http://History1900s. com/od/hitleradolf/a/Hitler-Facts. htm(Retrieved 16-04-2013) * Adolf Hitler http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria.He spent his childhood in Austria. His parents were Alois (1897-1903) and Klara (1860-1907) Hitler. He was the fourth of six children. The family relocated quite a few times- 1984, the family relocated to Leonding, in 1897 they moved to Lambach and a year later, they permanently relocated back to Leonding. In 1902, when Hitler was 13, his father passed away and his mother had to take care of the family. Times were tough and Hitler decided to quit school at the age of 16 and never returned. Hitler dreamed of becoming an artist. o in 1907 and again in 1908, he applied to the Vienna Academy of Art but was denied entrance both times. At the end of 1908,his mother died of breast cancer. After his mother’s death, Hitler spent 4 years living on the streets of Vienna, selling postcards of his work to make money. To avoid serving in the Austrian army, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany in May 1913. Hitler volunteered to serve in the German army once the war began. Hitler survived 4 years of World War I, during which he was awarded 2 Iron Crosses for bravery.He sustained 2 injuries during the war-in October 1916 and October 13 1918, which caused him to go temporarily blind. After the war, many in Germany felt betrayed by the government. In 1919, Hitler was working for an army organization in which he was checking up for local political groups. While spying, he joined a group and became the 55th member called the German Worker’s Party and soon was leading it. In 1920 , the party’s name was changed to Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s party(the Nazi Party).In November 1923, Hitler was arrested for the failure of his sudden actions to take over the government of Germany. He was released 9 months later. After getting out of prison, Hitler was determined to build up the Nazi Party in order to take over the German government legally. In 1932, Hitler was granted German citizenship. In July 1932, the Nazi party won the elections making it the controlling political party in Germany. Hitler had enough support to become President but he lost the election to Paul von Hindenburg.A year later Hindenburg died and Hitler took over. After legally gaining power in Germany, Hitler began putting those who disagree with him in concentration camps and blaming all of the people’s problems on Communists and Jews. Without hurting anyone, Hitler was able to take over Austria in 1938 without a battle. When Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1 939, other European Countries could no longer stand aside and watch-World War II began. Hitler slowly removed Jews from the German Society.However the Nazis made Jews to work as slaves and work for them. Hitler is considered as one of the most evil people on History because of the Holocaust. (A destruction by fire). On April 29 1945, Adolf Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun and wrote both his last will and political statement. The following day on 30th April 1945, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commited suicide. On his Last will he wrote: â€Å"I am doing this only to avoid suffering and defeat. †

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Macroeconomics – Competition with China and India

The phenomenon of rapid economic growth in China and India is often discussed within the frameworks of is possible threat to the global world economy. Recent forums dedicated to financial issues, as well as the major increase of the numbers of papers in the economic press (FT, Business Week etc.) especially since stock markets in China took a major hit end of February, show that â€Å"China has gone from being interesting to being important† (Business Week, March 2007) also for investors and not only for economy. The prospective future seems to be at hand. There is nothing to worry about. However, historical European countries such as Germany and France are not disposed to overoptimistic conclusions – neither historically, nor politically. The general balance of risks and perspectives inclines towards favorable economic situation. However, the situation is not as optimistic as it seems to be. The US Treasury Secretary also considers that the countries should double their efforts. It is necessary to continue the implementation of tax reforms, to favor the development of industries and formation of appropriate labor force market, and to make the heading policy more flexible. These remarks are obviously addressed to China and India. Besides, the U.S. government worries about China’s â€Å"military modernization program, economic dynamism, expanded diplomatic influence across Asia and increased global search for energy resources†. So, what is going on? The answer might be quite simple. Last year the world economic system faced a ‘silent revolution’. For the first time in the history China and India became the subjects of the world economy. Twenty years ago the world had no slightest idea of the Chinese and Indian economies. The China’s share in the worldwide GDP exceeded no 1 per cent. It was actually lost in the categories like ‘mistakes and omissions’. However, in result of rapid economic growth (average 9% per year) China became the sixth largest national economy making the total of about 6% of the world’s GDP. Last year the industrial world could feel the ‘hot breath’ of Chinese economic dragon. According to the absolute majority of analysts, the growth of Chinese domestic and foreign demand became one of the main factors contributing to cost increase for raw materials and semi-manufactured goods all over the world. China and India have strong economy and almost no flexibility. Moreover, it is difficult to define the exact share of China and India in the world economy due to so-called controlled and non-marketable sector. The countries occupy a leading position by such indexes like the most preferable countries for initial investments, the most preferable offshore zones for location of the offshore enterprises and manufactures, and the most preferable zone for IT services attraction and utilization. Compared to other huge markets of the developing countries, the entrepreneurs find China and India more attractive markets both in the short-term and the long-term perspectives, leaving such countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Poland far behind. The countries present two completely different markets. Whereas China is known as the leading manufacturer and the most rapidly growing consumer goods market, India is the largest supplier of IT services and the leader in business processes outsourcing. India’s market is oriented towards the long-term perspective. The investors prefer China because of the market size, access to export opportunities, numerous initiatives countenance by the governments, moderate working expenses, proper infrastructure and favorable macroeconomic climate. The India offers the following: well trained labor force, talented management personnel, the supremacy of the legislative authorities, transparency of business transactions, cultural similarities and favorable business climate. Since 2002, when Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji traveled to India’s political, commercial and tech capitals, China and India started improving ties, not just for trade but for economic cooperation. What are the threats to the global economy?[U1]   China and India became the ‘economic knot’ of the entire Asian region. Therefore, cost reduction of labor force on a global scale is one of the main threats to the global economy. In result, the products, where labor force is one of the main components of expenses will also become cheaper. Another way of putting it is that one shouldn’t think to locate the routine labor intensive manufacture outside the country with hundreds million people satisfied with 1-2 dollars rate per hour. On contrary, the countries assigning a specialization to industry involving high-skill jobs expect to derive benefit from the situation. The additional expenses are also expected by raw material exporters. Last, but not least, expanding ties between India and China would help the latter to benefit from India’s experience in the World Trade Organization to move from mass manufacturing of inexpensive goods to more sophisticated bus inesses. India and China are set to overtake even the strongest market forces in the world.   The rapidly growing manufacturing units and consumer goods markets of China, and the strong IT services and BPO industry of India has seemed to be huge boosts to domestic the economies.   Soon India would lead the IT industry market in the world and China would dominate the manufacturing industry in the World.   Several global giants are actually setting up back-end offices and manufacturing hubs in these two Asian nations. The markets in India are growing at the rate of about 30 % every year, and about 44 % of the global outsourcing business is actually based in India.   India has been able to dominate the global outsourcing business as it has several education institutions producing well-trained professionals.   Besides, they are able to speak English and can effectively communicate with their western counterparts.   On the other hand, China is known for its labor-oriented workforce and infrastructure abilities that would be a suitable plus point for the manufacturing industry.   Earlier, the strong markets of the world were actually ignoring the markets of India and China.   However, considering the rapid growth, these markets cannot henceforth ignore India and China. These two counties still offer huge amount of opportunities, which until now have remained untapped.   Today markets are growing in those areas where a great proportion of the human population exists.   Although, there may be several obstacles in the path of growth and development for the Indian and the Chinese markets, it does seem definite that these two countries would grow further.   There would also be demand in the international market for cost-effective and skilled labor.   Both, India and China have taken a lot risks, and for now at least, these risks are paying huge dividends (Money Week, 2005, ZD Net, 2007, & Schaaf, 2005). References: Schaaf, J. (2005), Outsourcing to India: Crouching tiger set to pounce, [Online], Available: site: http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000192125.pdf, [Accessed: 2007, September 10]. The Money Week (2005), Underground threats to the global economy, [Online], Available: site: http://www.moneyweek.com/file/25075/underground-threats-to-the-global-economy.html, [Accessed: 2007, September 10]. ZD Net (2007), China and India set to lead global innovation, [Online], Available: site: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39287977,00.htm,  [Accessed: 2007, September 10].  [U1] Please do develop this conclusion.