Narrowing Down of Gender Biased Disparities in US Federal and Civil services Essay

Narrowing Down of Gender Biased Disparities in US Federal and Civil Services The early 1970s witnessed a male dominant workforce in all departments of civil and federal services in the United States. Authoritative positions were held mainly by men. ‘Sex Based Glass Ceilings in the US State Level Bureaucracies 1987-1997’ written by Margaret Reed et al. (2004) has relevant data from the US Government offices. The authors analyzed the data and concluded that this gap has narrowed down significantly with women breaking the impediments in the glass ceilings prevalent in administrative positions. According to him, the glass ceiling is not that pervasive in distributive and regulatory agencies but very less pervasive in the services of redistributive agency which will be discussed later in this paper. Mani (2004) in his ‘Women in the Federal Civil Service’, analyses more about the influence of veterans preference to see if it stands as an impediment to women’s career in the federal civil services. Lewis and Oh (2008) exclusively discuss about the male-female pay differences in their paper ‘A Major Difference? ’ They deal effectively with pay disparities. For this, they makes an in depth study of different major subjects in colleges that brings a change in salary and administrative positions. He uses samples of different races, whites and blacks, and Hispanics in his analysis and proves that there is no disparity among races in terms of salary or status. All the three papers propose a common positive trend in women’s education level, salary, status, higher positions in civil and federal workforce. Each paper is exclusive in describing a unique sub-topic with significance and data analysis. Women are close to men in almost all departments thereby bridging the gender gap between 1990 and 2000. All the three papers with data show the disparities and gender differences between 1970 and 1990 that gradually reduced and the percentage variation is insignificant in the year 2000. Reed et al. ’s (2004) paper can be considered as a main discussion of the topic where he touches upon women’s employment, pay disparities and impediments to glass ceilings. Reed (2004) brings about the discussion on glass ceiling and glass wall that existed in three different agencies. The other two papers: ‘A Major Difference? ’ and ‘Women in the Federal Civil Service’ can be considered as a supportive or additional research without much contradictory opinions though each paper touches upon distinctive subtopics distinctively. The data analysis in all the three papers almost arrive at the same percentage of variation between men and women in salary, education in civil and federal workforce. All the three essays borrowed data from government offices like U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC national (data set for Sex Based Glass Ceilings in the US State Level Bureaucracies 1987-1997’), US Office of Personnel Management (data set for ‘ Major Difference’) and US Office of Personnel Management (data set for ‘Women in the Federal Services’) This data is useful in performing analysis of employees by job category, functional policy areas, salary levels, sex, number of male-female veterans, and male-female non-veterans. This data is not available in the open. It has been provided to the authors on request by the respective universities. This data helps to conduct Significance Test, Logistic Regression tests, Chi-square test and t test to come up with statistical evidence supporting their statements. Reed et al. (2004) use this data to arrive at ceiling ratios while discussing about pay disparities between male and female. When we discuss about gender disparities, or women’s impediments to acquire managerial positions, a common opinion is cited as a drawback in women: they are lack of commitment to affirmative action, lack of developmental assignments, gender biased organization cultures and stereotypes, outright discrimination, assuming leadership roles and welfare composition (Reed et al. 2004). Mani (2004) is also of the same view when he discusses about the reason for gender wage gap. According to him, sex discrimination in hiring and promotions, shortcomings in public policies and social changes played a major role between 1970 and 1990. While discussing pay disparities and acquiring higher positions that remain in disfavor of women, we need to consider that women were in the habit of selecting arts and social subjects in colleges that relatively fetched lower salary and lower administrative positions compared to men who were in the habit of selecting computer science, business and other professional studies. The second factor is that women are mostly connected with familial tie-ups and involved in childbearing, preferring to travel less, etc. automatically kept them away from competing with men for parity in pay or the highest positions in administrative levels. In 1990s, the above-said factors did not stand in the way of women to keep them away from competition. Many women started choosing professional colleges and decided to work in areas where men alone where dominant. Education played a major role in bridging the gap between men and women in pay disparities and higher positions in administrative levels. However, reaching top most authoritative levels was decided on various other factors that led to the disappointment of women. The percentage of gap un-bridged can be considered as due to the shortcomings in public policies and social changes as suggested by Mani (2004). Lewis and Oh (2008) in his exclusive study on pay differences, also attributes the unexplainable gaps in pay disparities to sexual discrimination and difference in government treatment of apparently compatible men and women. All three studies agree that this kind of partial treatment to women has reduced significantly and women are well placed in terms of education, pay, and administrative positions in the late 1990s. The percentage of development in every decade from 1970 is shown through analysis of data. Mani (2004) analyzes the influence of veterans in the civil life to see if it stands as an impediment to women’s opportunity of becoming a top level managers. Earlier in 1970s and 1980s there was considerable reason to believe that veterans had the advantage in federal civil service over non-veterans. The case started reversing in the 1990s with non- veterans getting more salaries and more job advantages. This is because, the women came stronger in studies in all departments. The growing number of women in public and their demands were heeded and respected by the government. The impediments came to a halt with the implementation of Equal Pay Act. Besides, George Bush signed Civil Rights acts of 1991 which allowed women to challenge unfavorable decisions in the bureaucracy and in the courts. Mani (2004) has ultimately concluded his views on veterans and their changing state is in the civil society with time. He proves with the empirical data that veterans no longer remain as an impediment for women in obtaining success in the civil and federal positions. Reed (2004) raises the question of women and their under representation as institutionalized democratic practices when it comes to high level positions. He used two models (i) socio-psychological model that emphasizes the importance of organizational culture that exclude women, and (ii) the systemic model that focuses on the distribution of power and opportunities available to women. Unlike Lewis and Oh (2008), and Mani et al. (2004), Reed (2004) gets into details of three different agencies and the opportunities and positions held by women in them. Regulatory agencies such as police are considered to be a male dominant workforces. Obviously, the presence of glass ceilings is more visible here. The redistributive agency includes management of public welfare programs, rehabilitation, public health services etc that involve more service related jobs where women are appointed traditionally at various levels. The glass ceilings are less pervasive in top administrative positions in redistributive agency. These disparities stated by Reed (2004) are narrowed down in 1990s. Distributive agencies involve construction, repair and administration of bridges, community development, etc in which men use to be dominant. The authors clearly observe the presence of glass wall and an impervious glass ceiling to get into top level management positions. Lewis and Oh (2008) do not segregate in detail, the three agencies via regulatory, distributive and redistributive agencies and so failed to categorize women where their representation, for example departments like police protection, fire, dept, etc was minimum. Without these information, one does not get to know that women are doing fairly well to reach management positions in redistributive agencies. From all the three papers, we understand that there is an increase in percentage of women in all positions of workforce. The empirical data suggests that the percentage increase is gradual from 1970 through the years and in 1995, women were earning about 89% of salary compared to men. Women too started obtaining higher degrees from colleges. Their presence was seen in many upper management positions. However women have not advanced into the highest and most prestigious positions in organizations. According to Reed (2004), the government is becoming creative in implementing strategies to reduce the gender gap but these efforts are not uniformly distributed in all the states. Many women, about 3 million, as teachers, are not included in the data considered for analysis. This is a significant population that chose teaching profession for convenience and so the percentage of variation in disparities between men and women could have been improved if this work force is distributed in other civilian jobs. The proportion of women in various jobs determines various other factors. Mani (2004) has disclosed the veterans and their status in the civil services after the post Vietnam war. His paper helps to understand how the early veterans without much education levels happened to claim up the ladder in civilian positions. We also come know of the rigorous training the veterans possessed to meet the requirements once they come out to the civil life. However, at a later stage, the non-veterans had the advantage over veterans by virtue of their higher education, experience in civil environment and the change of law that preferred veterans in selection procedures. The transition is shown with the help of data available from the U. S. Office of Personal Management Central Personal Data File (OPM CPDF). Comparison among male veterans, male non-veterans, female veterans, female non-veterans with and without considering sex aspect give a clear picture of preferences and impediments over the decades. The scenario in 1995 shows that the disparities among all the four groups have been settled in such a way that one group does not hinder the prospect of the other group while competing for civilian jobs and in promotions. There was a significant difference in salary between men and women after all the analysis conducted by Mani (2004). Like in other papers, Mani (2004) too agrees with sex discrimination, the shortcomings in the public policies and social changes that impact women’s career. But his opinion is slightly different compared to the other two: after 1998, there was still occupational segregation and salary disparities between men and women. The other two papers showed that much of the gender gap is narrowed down around 1999, whereas Mani (2004) still shows differences that requires rectification from the government side. All the three papers with data and analysis reveal the changes in social and cultural changes through the history of United States. All the three papers used more or less the similar data borrowed from the government departments. This can be considered as a major drawback in the results obtained. If each paper used a different data from different sources to conduct statistical analysis, it would have been more appealing. All the three papers do not consider or omit a few factors evenly while doing the analysis. For example, the 3 million teachers (Reed, 2004) avoided in one paper is a wise decision which is not found in the case of other two papers. All the three papers are trying to arrive at showing the percentage of gap narrowing down in disparities between male and female without considering similar factors in the analysis. This cannot be taken strongly for absolute results. However, the data from the government sources and its utilization in analyzing the subject to provide with statistics at various levels certainly convince the readers that there is improvement in lessening of glass walls and ceilings, equality in pay and acquiring top level management positions in the civil and federal workforce. References Lewis, B. & Oh, S. S. , (2008). A Major Difference? Fields of Study and Male–Female Pay Differences in Federal Employment. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta. Mani, B. G. (2004). Women in the Federal Civil Service: Career Advancement, Veterans’ Preference, and Education. Reid, M. (2004). Sex-based Glass Ceilings in US State-Level Bureacracies, 1987-1991. Administration and Society.

Climate change as environmental challenge Essay

Climate change is the most imperative environmental challenge facing the planet. Due to intensified reliance on fossil fuels for energy, greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere and warms the Earth warts and all evident from the increasing ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising sea levels (http://www.pewtrusts.org). The warming observed in the past fifty years is very likely to have been caused by the increased greenhouse gases released by human activities like burning of fossil fuels, land use change and agriculture. The atmospheric concentrations of these greenhouse gases have significantly increased since the beginning of industrial revolution (http://ec.europa.eu). The Earth’s average surface temperature since 1850 has risen by 0.76oC and is projected to increase from 1.8oC to 4oC in the end of the 21st century considering that there will be no additional mitigation measure apart from those already in place in 2000 (http://ec.europa.eu). This increase in temperature may lead to severe snow and ice melting, changes in hydrological and biological systems, earlier migrations and shifting towards the poles of species’ geographic ranges. Adaptation measures are already being implemented and are essential to address the projected consequences. The European Union played a key role in the development of the major treaty addressing the issue on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, agreed in 1997. The Kyoto protocol of cutting greenhouse gas emission to 8% below 1990’s level in 2008-2012 has allowed the establishment of a global response to the climate problem (http://www.pewtrusts.org); however this adaptation effort is limited. Less lenient mitigation measures will also be needed in order to reduce the severity of climate change’s impacts. It may be necessary to set mandatory limits and ratify national climate policies on reduction of greenhouse gas emission across all economic sectors. Also switching to a more sustainable development paths related to energy efficiency, renewable energies and conservation of natural habitats can make a major contribution to climate change mitigation. Works Cited â€Å"Pew Campaign on Global Warming.† The Pew Charitable Trusts. 1996-2008. 3 June 2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . â€Å"Climate Change.† The European Commission. 14 May 2008. 3 June 2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   .   

An Analysis Into The Uk Food Retail Industry Marketing Essay

An Analysis Into The Uk Food Retail Industry Marketing Essay The analysis will begin with a presentation of the food retail industry and a highlight of its significant features. Furthermore, to assess the remote environment of the industry a PEST analysis will be conducted, analysing the political, economical, social and technological factors that affect the industry. Furthermore, a Porter’s 5 forces analysis will be used to evaluate the operating environment and the nature of competition. Moreover the major competitors and their competition strategies will be identified. Additionally, the effect of the remote and operating environment on the players of the industry will be highlighted. Also, a critical analysis of the industry’s strength and its future will be presented. Finally, a critical evaluation on the used business analysis techniques will be illustrated. 2 .Industry profile The UK food retail industry is an established sector of the UK economy. During the last thirty years the food retail corporations expanded their act ivities to serve various consumer needs. The products that are provided to the public include food and its sub-products, but also alcohol, tobacco, health and beauty products, clothing, electrical products, homeware, fuel and financial services. However, according to the Mintel report 2009, more than half of the total sales in 2008 were assigned to food. Furthermore, concerning the size of the industry an increasing trend of sales can be observed of about 4% per year from 2004 to 2008 and a total amount of 108.1 billion pounds in 2008 (National Statistics – Mintel report 2009). The food retail industry is mainly controlled by large supermarket chains that possess the overwhelming majority of the industry’s market share, as it will be analysed further in the report. Concerning the size diversification of the retail stores, the majority are large units like hypermarkets, supermarkets and discounters with a percentage of 62% of the total number of stores. Furthermore, sma ll units as convenience stores and gas stations represent the 21.2% and food and drink specialists the 11.3%. The minority are drug stores, warehouses and cash and carry stores (Datamonitor 2009). 3. PEST analysis Macro-environment To analyse the macro-environment or otherwise known remote environment of the food retail industry, a PEST analysis will be used to specify how Political and legal, Economical, Social and Technological issues affect the industry. 3.1 Political There are many political and legal factors that affect the food retail industry. Future political decisions concerning taxation or the retail industry legislation will definitely have an impact in the industry competitors’ policies and strategies. The current legislation and regulation concern competition, employment, environmental, food and grocery safety, financial services and health issues. Specifically, the UK food retailers are obliged to follow food hygiene legislation set by the Food Standards Agency and the equivalent European Union regulation such as the General Food Law Regulation. In the UK the food safety act of 1990 was enacted to set the food safety requirements for food intended for human consumption. The Food Standards Agency was created in 2000 after the food standards act of 1999, which was enacted to further secure the public health related to food safety (Office of Public Sector Information, 1999). The UK food retailers are obliged to follow the above regulations in conjunction with the General Food Regulations 2004 that set the rules about the transportation, distribution, quality, hygiene, maintenance, advertising and selling of food and its substances.

How to Encourage Economic Stability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to Encourage Economic Stability - Essay Example In answering the questions above, the economy will determine what is necessary to produce in order to achieve the desired economic goals and the manner of production i.e. whether to use the labor-intensive or capital-intensive technique. After production, the goods and services must be distributed to the target group or sector of the economy. In doing this, the economist must further ensure that it promotes economic stability i.e. a situation in which the inflation rates, interest rates, unemployment rate, foreign exchange rate are all put under control. Moreover, resource allocation must promote economic growth. The government in solving the economic problems and achieving economic stability uses both fiscal and monetary policies. Fiscal policy is the use of taxation and government spending to influence economic performance whereas monetary policy entails the control of interest rates and spending to attain economic stabilization (Bidard 66). The government can use either fiscal policies or monetary policies or both in solving the economic problems. During the recession, for instance, the level of economic activity is low and the government problem will be on how to stimulate economic activities in the economy. To achieve this, the government will increase its level of spending and reduce the tax rate. This would, therefore, result in an increase in disposable income that would be invested to stir economic activity. Increased investment would lead to economic growth and increased level of employment. Similarly, the government will control the level of inflation by the use of monetary policies. In the case of high level of inflation, the government, through the central bank will increase the level of interest rates (Bidard 72). An increase in the interest rates will lower the level of economic activity and reduce the amount of spending.  Ã‚  

Three technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Three technologies - Essay Example It creates a collective working environment by maintaining shared documents and information. The technology also enables group members to monitor project management functions including assignments, time management, problem solving, and documentation. Secondly, e-mail is the most simplified means of communication which can enhance group interaction irrespective of the geographical location. According to my opinion, e-mail is the best means to build up effective relations, teamwork, and leadership. People enjoy freedom of expression while using internet because it does not have any external constrains to limit the freedom of speech. Via e-mail members can create strong interpersonal relationship along with their knowledge sharing, private file sharing, and video sharing. Finally, I would suggest the technology of video conference as the effective means of conversational interaction. It is the advanced form of telecommunication groupware that can enable visual collaboration from different locations to facilitate a group project and decision making. Furthermore, it can provide a sense of face-to-face interaction and will have a positive impact on the group’s productivity, performance and total

Interview on ethical dilemma part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interview on ethical dilemma part 2 - Essay Example She asserts that the Bible does not allow any form of human interference with human life. As such, death should not be voluntary or induced. The autonomy of a patient to choose his or her destiny as far as health is concerned fails to consider other interested factions. Thus, patients cannot decide to end their lives since repercussion run deep within the society. Euthanasia leads to wider social problems and introduces discomfort within a society. Families break due to differences in opinions regarding euthanasia. Family members of patients are required to consent to the move before it is done. In many instances, there is hardly consensus and only the decision of the patient and the majority of family members prevails. As such, the decisions leave a broken family. She further claims that different views in a family may result in depression and other health related problems. Parker accepts that patients have autonomy over their lives. She also accepts that there are many complex situations where patients suffer and have little chance of survival. However, there is no clear method to determine when to die, and whether a patient has the right to decide to stay alive or die. Some patients, especially parents or older siblings, are relied upon by children and other dependents for survival. As such, their decisions and actions directly affect others. It is important to stay alive since it gives hope to the dependents of possible healing. Ending the life of such individuals makes people lose focus and hope in life. Allowing people to decide their fate erodes the societal perception towards life. Society regards life as precious and supposed to be preserved at all times. Assisting people to take life communicates a wrong message to the society. Thus, it is imperative to treat the patient until he or she dies out of the severity of illness rather than assisting them to take their life. Doing so would

Latinos films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Latinos films - Essay Example The Latino community has been faced with numerous problems ranging from labor problems to social problems. This can be rooted to the fact that the community is considered as a minority race in the United States alongside other races like the African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans among other minority races. Like others races which had these kinds of problems, there are some movies which have been produced to highlight the problems of the Latino community in the United States. This paper will look into some of these movies and highlight the problems that have been highlighted in these movies. One of the movies that have been produced to highlight the plight of the Latino community is movie titled, 'The Fight in the Fields.' The Fight in the Fields is a Latino documentary movie produced, directed, and written by Rick Tejada-Flores and Ray Telles. The documentary covers the eventful life of Cesar Chavez in his epic struggle. The documentary movie is based on newsreel, archival footage, and interviews with California Governor Jerry Brown, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez family members including his brother, sister, son and daughter. Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers' struggle is a presentation of the Independent Television Services (ITVS) and are produced by Paradigm Productions (The Fight in the Fields, 16th May). The two hour documentary covers the first successful organizing drive of farm workers in the United States. It first premiered in 1997 in the Sundance Film Festival and was aired across the United States on PBS from 97 through 2000. It was also aired in the Sundance Channel in 2001 and 2002. The main focus of the documentary is on Cesar Chavez's dramatic attempts to unionize farm workers. The documentary covers the following areas of Cesar Chavez life: His earlier years. His adolescent life as a farm worker His young years as a community organizer His relationship and eventual marriage to Helen. Helen Chavez was instrumental in the movement since she supported her husband to focus his energy to the movement. The dramatic events that Cesar Chavez was involved in during his time in the movement. This helped the cause of the movement since it attracted the attention of the press. The non violent strikes attracted the attention of the public. This was a plus to their cause because it put pressure on farm owners and the government. His three hundred mile march. His friendship with Robert Kennedy Cesar Chavez and the farm workers major barrier was the Bracero Program which brought thousands of Mexican contract workers to work in the United States. The movie shows how Cesar Chavez unionized farm workers who led non violent strikes. Up to date migrant workers continue to face numerous problems. There are an estimated three and half million immigrants in the United States who are predominantly Latino (78%). They move their permanent residence so as to seek employment mainly in agricultural farms. Their kind of employment is usually of short durations and demand regular 'migration'. Almost fifty percent of migrant farm workers have less than ninth grade education. They face the problem of language barrier because they speak little or no English. Majority of farm workers live under the poverty level and very few receive worker's compensation or social security. Such benefits are hard to

Should Scotland be independent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Should Scotland be independent - Essay Example For the understanding of the phenomenon from every angle, let’s try to consider should Scotland be dependent or not by researching pros and cons of the question. To begin with it must be said that the Scottish referendum of 2014 has brightly demonstrated the whole picture of Scots’ unsteady views about their future. Numerous surveys are the evidence of such a position. The people tend to shift their opinions under the influence of this or that factors. Today they are for the independence or undetermined with decision, and tomorrow they can radically change it or accept any of sides. â€Å"For the independence camp it is in many ways a race against time: Over the last six months the momentum has shifted toward independence, but at least one-sixth of Scottish voters in recent polls have said they were undecided or refused to answer† (Erlanger, 2014). One of the rationales is weight of political leaders’ speeches for a particular result, namely: being within (the Unionists) or being without the United Kingdom (the Scottish National Party). The other reason of Scots’ uncertainty is absence of precise understanding of times to come under the new governing, or in other words, the disparity in successful life after the winning of independency. In practice, the latter serves as a great ground for the first reason causing the appearance of great many supporters of Scotland secession of the United Kingdom. But it is an extremely controversial matter whether they really want or need it. Naturally, there are positive and negative motives of Scots’ aspiration for independence. Well-known reasoning of independence supporters includes several points. First of all, it is a need of increase of Scottish participating in affairs relating solely Scotland, and decrease of England’s interference into them, for only the absolute Scottish Parliament outright familiar with amount problems of its country is capable of solving them. Now â€Å"It has

Financial Strategy and planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Strategy and planning - Essay Example The decision to purchase or not to purchase rights shares ultimately rest upon the company's performance like an ordinary issue purchase decision. The likely impact of rights issue upon the market value of share, earnings per share and wealth of shareholders depend on the future prospectus of the issuing company. However, unless the company performs better, it is undisputedly say that nothing will gain by the shareholders out of rights issue. This type of financing is preferred when the company needs to fianc its expansion needs and at the same time it does not like to dilute its ownership. Unlike ordinary shares, this type of shares does not offer voting rights to the holders. Therefore, preference shareholders do not have any voice or say in the company's management. Therefore, it does not result in the dilution of ownership of ordinary shareholders. However, preference share holders are entitled to a fixed periodical dividend and the repayment of principal after a stipulated period of time. This may result in a situation where the company will be left with low distributable profit and thereby reduced earnings per share. This may ultimately lead to adversely affect the market value of ordinary shares. Loan stock is a kind of fixed income security. Loan stock is issued by a company against the loan granted by another. The holder gets fixed periodical return coined as interest and principal after the maturity period. Loans stock may be of two types, namely secured and unsecured. The secured loan stock is similar to an ordinary loan for which the borrower offers collateral to guarantee the repayment of the loan. But an unsecured loan does not have any kind of collateral with it. A secured loan stock, when an entity is issued is like debenture/bonds. The issue of loan

Hurricanes and flood zones crimes related in my area Essay

Hurricanes and flood zones crimes related in my area - Essay Example Additionally, these scholars argued that hot and cold seasons affect individuals directly making them unable to control their inhibitions and are subjects of aggressive behaviors. According to research conducted a few decades ago, crime property is more likely to happen during the cold season. Recently, there are questions about crime and weather, climate and crime and crime and season and how they influence criminal behaviors. There are some traditional beliefs that associate weather and human behavior based on wraithlike causes; this ranges from the weather gods to the location of the heavenly bodies. Other people assume that climatic conditions of a particular area influence the population of those living in that area. For instance, the southern climates of United States are hot are therefore produced hot-blooded people while the northern part is cold and, therefore, produces people who are cold-blooded. Early 1800s, criminologists argued that climate influence the biology of a person, which could result in a population of a particular climate to have higher rates of crimes. Many scientists have criticized most of the assumptions that relate crimes and weather. However, some current theories of crime provide some reasonable arguments why climate is said to influence cr iminal behaviors (Siegel, 2008). This paper discusses the levels of crime during the normal weather conditions and extreme weather conditions. Also, the paper seeks to describe the hazards in relation what it might do to the community and the severity of the effect. Further, the paper will outline some actions that could be taken to mitigate or prevent impacts of crimes in a community that is dealing weather related events. Studies show that in Chicago higher temperatures and extreme rainfall results increased cases of conflict. Some documentaries indicate that hurricanes and floods in Chicago have increased violent crimes in the

How to the Methods of Calculating Banks Marketing Budget Essay Example for Free

How to the Methods of Calculating Banks Marketing Budget Essay How to Decide Banks Marketing Budget? Introduction Now a day under taking marketing activities is compulsory and a key to exist in the business environment especially in the financial sector where competition is strong. In Ethiopia there are 16 private commercial banks and three public owned banks. There is strong competition among these banks to take market share and earn profit especially for those banks that enter the market recently. In addition according to the National Bank of Ethiopia Directive, all commercial bank have to reach 500 million paid up capital in the coming four years. In order to achieve this amount of capital these banks must sell new share, persuade their existing share holders to fully pay the subscribed amount and retain the earning instead of paying the dividend. These are achieved by undertaking strong marketing campaign. All the banks have marketing budget and the budget differs based on the size and depth of their capital. However, determining the size of marketing budget is not an easy task. It is big question often asked by marketers and bank executives. In Ethiopia it is common to see Television program and football events sponsored by commercial banks, advertisement of banks products and services in any time on electronics and print media especially money transfer adverts during the holiday season, distributing giveaway materials and entertaining their customers. The marketing budget for a bank generally includes expenditures for five different activities: Advertising Debub Global Bank, MPPE Department Compiled by: Behaylu Wondafrash Promotional activities Sales promotion Marketing research Sales/customer service training and Public relations: How a bank allocates its total marketing budget among various marketing activities depends largely on bank size in terms of capital and branch distribution and advertising cost (production and air time cost). Most the Banks in Ethiopia spends about 80% of their total marketing budgets on advertising. The rest activities took 20 percent of the budget. Most banks are currently using sales promotion activity like commercial bank of Ethiopia which provide awards for who save 1000 birr and above in any branch of it and promotional activities like sponsoring Ethiopian Great Run and donating to children aid. Advertising took about 80 percent of the budget. This due to the fact that time to time increasing cost of advertising rate and production cost. The lion share of the budget is goes to the Ethiopian radio and Television Agency and then to the private FM radio stations especially Fana FM and Sheger FM. Most banks also use print media like reporter and fortune news paper. But how does a bank determine how much it should spend for marketing in general and advertising in particular? There are methods of calculation. Methods of calculation According to author of Marketing Financial Services, there are different ways to calculate a banks marketing budget. Banks use at least four methods to determine what they will spend on marketing in general and on advertising in particular: Debub Global Bank, MPPE Department Compiled by: Behaylu Wondafrash The percentage method, The competitive parity method, The incremental method and The objective-and-task method. 1. Percentage method: the percentage method states banks advertising budget is 1/10th of 1 percent of a banks total assets. This percentage method has several drawbacks or flaws. First, it is based on the banks past performance rather than on objectives for the future. Second, it views assets or deposits as the cause of advertising rather than recognizing that increases in these variables might be, to some extent, the effect of advertising. Third, it discourages aggressive advertising and reduces advertising expenditures in periods of economic slowdown. Research indicates that firms that maintain or increase their advertising during periods of recession do better after the recession. 2. Competitive parity method this method is also known as follows the leader. A bank determines what its competitors are spending on advertising and simply follows their lead. This method is based on the erroneous assumption that the market responds in the same way to the same volume of birr spent by different banks. It fails to take into account the effects of variations in creativity, different uses of media, the timing of campaigns, and a banks image and recognition level in its market area. Furthermore, a banks competitors probably use no more rational a system for determining their advertising expenditures than does the bank that is following their lead. 3. Incremental Method: under this method a bank simply increases its advertising budget by a certain percentage each year. The percentage may take Debub Global Bank, MPPE Department Compiled by: Behaylu Wondafrash into account the rate of inflation or the growth rate of the bank or it may be dictated by a planner or budgeter whose primary objective is to make the bottom line show a targeted return on assets. Whatever the percentage increase, this method does not take in to account the desired objectives of advertising and the most cost effective ways to attain them. 4. Objective-and-task method. Using this method, the bank bases its advertising budget on what it will cost to meet the marketing objectives it had defined. The bank then weighs this cost against the expected net benefit of the new business to ensure that the cost of advertising will not reduce the profit margin on the newly acquired deposits or loans beyond acceptable limits. For example, Let us take Debub Global bank (DGB) and assume that a banks goal is to increase its one-year deposit volume by 100 million birr over its expected normal growth during a promotion period. It calculates that the profit margin on those funds (deposits) will be 6 percent (or 6,000,000 birr). The bank must then decide how much it is willing to invest in advertising in order to generate an extra 6,000,000 birr of income. The selected amount will vary from bank to bank. This method also has its drawbacks. While it works for specific promotions that have immediately measurable results, such as increased deposit or loan volume, it cannot be used to determine the level of advertising necessary to build awareness of the bank and to develop and maintain an image for it. A bank that advertises only when it has a specific promotion to communicate may be out of the media for considerable periods of time. Most marketers agree that some maintenance level of advertising, either product or institutional, is a necessary investment, simply to keep the banks name in front of its publics.

Religion Essay Example for Free

Religion Essay 1.) As a person of goodwill, explain the necessity of establishing rapport, amity, and concordance among the various religions in Asia and the world; and more specifically among Muslims and Christians in the Philippines. Why is religion a positive contributor towards peacemaking but at the same time can be a source of societal turmoil? In what way can Asian religions transcend divisiveness by standing side by side with other religions, without losing their very own unique creeds or belief-systems? Based on the films about Muslim Filipinos shown in class, please explain in what way Christians and Muslims can utilize their respective religions for peace and harmony in Mindanao? Answer these questions by citing concrete cases to prove your point (30 points). It is necessary to establish rapport, amity, and concordance among the various religions in Asia and the world more specifically among Muslims and Christians in the Philippines in order to better understand their systematic beliefs, values, and behavior, acquired by people as a member of their society. These patterns are systematic because their manifestations are regular in occurrence and expression: they are shared by member of a group. It is also necessary to build friendship and connection among diverse religions in Asia and the world to build a better society and to have peace in every nation. In such a society it is very important to have harmony and respect amongst the different religions. We must distinguish between belief and respect. Belief refers to total faith, which you must have in your own religion. At the same time you should have respect for all other religions. This tradition of believing in ones own religion and having respect for others. In every religion, there are transcendent things that are beyond the grasp of our mind and speech. For example, the concept of God in Christianity and Islam and that of wisdom truth body in Buddhism are metaphysical, which is not possible for an ordinary person like us to realize. This is a common difficulty faced by every religion. It is taught in every  ­religion, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, that the ultimate truth is driven by faith. As far as the Muslims are concerned it is appropriate for them to have complete devotion to Allah while praying in the mosques. This is also the same with Buddhists who are completely devoted to the Buddha when they pray in Buddhist temples. A society, which has many religions should also have many prophets and sources of refuge. I want to emphasize that it is extremely essential to sincerely believe in their respective religions. Usually, it is very important to distinguish between belief in one religion and belief in many religions. Religion is a positive contributor towards peacemaking but at the same time can be a source of societal turmoil because religion is a perennial and perhaps inevitable factor in both conflict and conflict resolution. Religion, after all, is a powerful constituent of cultural norms and values, and because it addresses the most profound existential issues of human life (e.g., freedom and inevitability, fear and faith, security and insecurity, right and wrong, sacred and profane), religion is deeply implicated in individual and social conceptions of peace. To transform the conflicts besetting the world today, we need to uncover the conceptions of peace within our diverse religious and cultural traditions, while seeking the common ground among them. Traditionally many people focus on how wars and conflicts are seemingly undertaken for religious reasons, or at least undertaken in the name of religion. A significant problem with organized religion and belief, as this relates to peace and conflict, is individuals and groups often confuse the map (their socially-learned version of reality or culture or religion) with the territory (or ultimate reality). Thus people believe that their personal or subjective version of reality or religion is valid, while other views are invalid. Instead it can be argued that the many maps are different, but possibly equally valid interpretations and attempts to understand the same underlying reality or territory. Asian religions can transcend divisiveness by standing side by side with other religions, without losing their very own unique creeds or belief-systems through banding together in interfaith dialogue, cooperation, and religious peacebuilding. The first major dialogue was the Parliament of the Worlds Religions at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair, which remains notable even today both in affirming universal values and recognition of the diversity of practices among different cultures. The 20th century has been especially fruitful in use of interfaith dialogue as a means of solving ethnic, political, or even religious conflict, with Christian–Jewish reconciliation representing a complete reverse in the attitudes of many Christian communities towards Jews. Christians and Muslims can utilize their respective religions for peace and harmony through sharing the main morals and conducts that are for the benefit of humanity and nature. They believe in the same basic morals that are important for people to follow in order to live in peace, harmony, and love in communities with different faiths and cultures. And to through tolerance, respect and cooperation with respect in each other’s religions. 2.) Explain why Islam is considered the â€Å"most misunderstood religion†. What are some historical, sociological and cultural reasons that paved the way for a misunderstanding of the true nature of Islam among non-Muslims and even among Muslims? Islam means â€Å"submission to the will of God in all areas of one’s life†. Muslim means, â€Å"One who submits to God’s will†. These Arabic words are actually non-sectarian terms if we look at the context of these words in the Qur’an. Can we use the term â€Å"Muslim† in its universal implication to include all believers in One God? Can we use the term â€Å"Muslim† to any person (irrespective of religions) who strives sincerely to submit to the will of God in his life? [Hint: Consider the Islamic doctrine of Risalah (Progressive Revelation) and the Islamic view of the universality of God’s calling of prophethood] (30 points). Islam is considered the â€Å"most misunderstood religion† because most of the time it is considered as a violent religion and is likely â€Å"to encourage violence among believers†. And there is also some outright falsehood for example, â€Å"God sent prophets to every nation for their guidance.† But, According to the â€Å"Doctrine of Progressive Revelation†, Islam is very universal since it admits that Allah sent prophets to everyone whereas Jews believe that prophets only come from them because they are the â€Å"chosen people of God.† Another example, â€Å"One of the missions of the Prophet of Islam was to bring peace and unity to the feuding tribes, the Jahiliah or the ignorant Arabs of the pre-Islamic days. This he succeeded in doing as narrated in several verses of the Qur-an†. The message of Allah were brought by one Prophet and recorded in one holy Qur-an. There is no other Qur-an, or versions or it, or editions which carry different texts. The hold Qur-an is not in the form of Gospels by Muslim saints or ulama. The holy Qur-an is just the record of the messages of Allah in the Arabic of the period. Translations of the Qur-an may be different in minor ways, but they are not accepted as the holy Qur-an. Only that in the original Arabic is accepted. So there can be no differing text or Gospels or versions which can result in differences in the messages or teachings of Islam. Yet, clearly there are differences, serious differences, so serious that Muslims are divided sometimes into warring sects. One of the reasons that paved the way of misunderstanding the true nature of Islam among non-Muslims and even Muslims are the â€Å"media†. Media is the greatest factor on how people view their surroundings. Somehow, criticizing the Islam brings them more readers/viewers. We tend to judge and generalize things without knowing the exact story behind those issues. Infact, the worl Islam means peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law. Yes, we can use the term â€Å"Muslim† in its universal implication to include all believers in One God, as well as, to any person (irrespective of religions) who strives sincerely to submit to the will of God in his life because â€Å"Muslim† believe that God is eternal, transcendent, absolutely one (the doctrine of tawhid, or strict or simple monotheism), and incomparable; that he is self-sustaining, who begets not nor was begotten. 3.) Write a â€Å"reflective synthesizing essay† that answers the following questions: In the future prospect, will the Asian religions move from rhetoric unity and act as one to solve the common problems affecting humanity? As for Asian countries, will they achieve political independence from the clutches of Western neo-colonialism? Is there a need to abandon our cherished worldview and values in the name of development? How will the Asians reconcile their adherence to Asian ethos and at the same time open to the demands of globalization? How will the differing Asian worldviews and religions be properly harnessed to promote nationalism among Asians and global cooperation among countries in the world? (30 points) Yes. In the future, the Asian religions will move from rhetoric unity and act as one to solve the common problems affecting humanity to have a better nation, to have a respect on one another, to fix the unjust and destructive situations. There is no need to abandon our cherished worldview and values in the name of development but rather preserve it and continue following those values to build a progressive and advance nation. With their differing Asian worldviews and religions they can create different ideas and new innovations but with respect with one another’s point of view, and to accept what other countries have made, to promote nationalism among Asians and global cooperation among countries in the world. 4.) Explain what made Japanese civilization unique in its approach to establishing a pro-active Asian civilization capable of having positive ethical patterns as fountainhead of their development? Explain why it is not just enough to simply support one’s parents for one to be called â€Å"filial†; what are therefore the other requirements to be able to truly say that one has completely conducted oneself as â€Å"filial son/daughter† to one’s parents? What makes Indian civilization stuck into conservatism? What are some of the positive role that the caste-system plays in Indian civilization? What are also the negative aspects of the caste system to Indian civilization? Explain in what way did Japan show a purposive and planned-out blueprint for development in their history? (30 points) It is not just enough to simply support one’s parents for one to be called â€Å"filial† because we owe our parents a lot- because of them we able to eat three meals a day, sometimes even more. They give us clothes and sometimes the things that are beyond our needs. They send us to school. But more than simply supporting us in the most basic sense of supporting, our parents loves us. It now becomes something different because when we love them back, we do not do so out of indebtedness. We give our love freely, and not as a payment with a certain interest. Most of all, because of this special filial relationship with them that we had since birth, we also respect and obey them. We not only support our parents, but serve them. The Indian â€Å"caste system† made it stuck into conservatism. The positive roles that the caste-system plays in Indian civilization, provides a sense of community and belongingness. And the two main strands of thought: Divine will- the belief that a hierarchical social structure is part of the divine intention for natural order, and the Purity- the need to emphasize the importance of ritual purity and impurity. But there is also a negative aspect of caste-system to Indian civilization. For example, marrying someone from a different caste, whilst not officially outlawed, is generally discouraged. They only lived, ate, and worked within their group. This was based on the idea that people are different and should have different roles. And a person born into one caste never changed castes and very seldom mixed with members of other castes. Castes were unchanging groups but people from the lowest caste were told that they have to serve the other castes so that they can be reborn into a higher caste in their next life.

Nick Leeson’s strategy to earn trading profits on derivatives?

Nick Leeson’s strategy to earn trading profits on derivatives? Originally, trader Nick Leeson was supposed to be exploiting low-risk arbitrage opportunities that would leverage price differences in similar equity derivatives on the Singapore Money Exchange (SIMEX) and the Osaka Exchange. In fact, he made up a strategy to earn trading profits on derivatives where he would have to take much riskier positions by buying and selling different amounts of the contracts on the two exchanges or buying and selling contracts of different types. Leeson was speculating wildly and completely without authorization, in massive amounts on movements in the Japanese stock and bond markets. Leesons trading activities mainly involved three futures markets: Futures on the Japanese Nikkei 225 stock index, futures on 10-year Japanese Government bonds (JGB futures) and European futures. Leeson executed a trading strategy known as a straddle, with the objective of making a profit by selling put and call options on the same underlying financial instrument, in this case, the Nikkei 225 Index. Most of his trading was a bet on the volatility of the Tokyo stock and bond markets. In his futures positions, he was betting that the Tokyo stock market would rise and the bond market would fall. He was long Nikkei 225 futures, short Japanese government bond futures, and short both put and call options on the Nikkei Index. He was betting that the Nikkei index would rise, but he was wrong; instead it fell, causing him to lose $1.39 billion. A straddle will generally produce positive earnings when markets are stable but can result in large losses if markets are volatile. He planned his strategy taking into consideration the Japanese futures market as in Japan the margin is posted on a net basis for all costumers and if there are customers who are in short position, firm can take long position without any need to pay the call margin. He utilized this opportunity through his bogus error account 88888 and companies account 99002. What went wrong that caused his strategy to fail? Leesons strategy failed because he was taking into consideration that the market had experienced an extended bull run throughout the late 1980s and after that, it had fallen to half of its 1989 high. He thought that it had fallen enough and from now it would only go up, and he continued to bet that it would rise; but the Nikkei 225 index only kept falling. Leeson further increased the size of his open positions even as his losses increased due to volatility in the markets. He did nothing to hedge his position to lay off his potential losses if the markets did move the wrong way. In effect, Leeson was accepting unlimited liability. The second thing that was that he was relying on the bank interest rate; that it would decrease but eventually the exact opposite happened and the interest rate increased to a high. He thought if that the interest rates were low at the moment and if they were going to rise they would hurt him as more of the investors would move towards safe earning through the high interest rate returns, making the investment into market to reduce and hence to make himself on the safer side he invested into government bonds futures. Nick Leesons doubling strategy failed because he increased the size of his open positions even as his losses increased due to volatility in the markets and kept doubling his contracts whilst the Nikkei 225 continue to plummet following an earthquake in Japan. However, Leesons unauthorized trading positions suffered huge losses, and his operation unraveled. Moreover, interest rates did not rise as he expected which lead to further losses incurred on the Japanese government bond futures. He left the behind with huge liabilities totaling $1.4 billion, leading to the bankruptcy to the one of the oldest bank in Britain. Why did Nick Leeson establish a bogus error account (88888) when a legitimate account (99002) already existed? Nick Leeson established a bogus error account (88888) even when a legitimate account (99002) already existed, in order to conceal his unauthorized trading activities. Initially he claimed that he opened the error account (88888) to conceal a single loss of 20,000 pounds sterling that had resulted from an accounting error until he could make up the difference through trading. However, he continued booking various losses into the error account (88888) as a holding area for any premiums or losses that he made and also continued to increase his volume of trading and level of risk taking. It was a loophole he exploited to set up bogus accounts for non-existent clients to mask mounting debts. While the legitimate error account was known to Barings Securities in London, the bogus account was not. However, the bogus account was known to SIMEX as a customer account, not as an error account. In this way, Leeson could hide his balances and losses from London but not Singapore. One the other hand, SIMEX thought the bogus error account, 88888, was a legitimate customer account rather than a proprietary Barings account. The account enabled Leeson to take advantage of the rules of Japanese Futures market at that time. In Japan margin was posted on net basis for all customers. Therefore if many customers were short index futures, the firm could take long position without having to post cash margins. Why did Barings and its auditors not discover that the error account was used by Leeson for unauthorized trading? The reason why Barings and its auditors did not discover Leesons unauthorized trading and fraudulent activities was mostly a lack of internal checks and balances, and because Leeson was hiding in Barings organized chaos. Leeson was also given power due to his knowledge and there was no inquiry done into his trading just because he reported a profit to the company. Barings was impressed by Leesons achievements which lead them not to disclose to SIMEX that he infact had been disqualified from taking the UK traders exam (Broady, Roland, Woods, 2008). According to Ron Baker, the Head of Financial Products Group for Barings, There were no clearly laid down reporting lines with regard to Leeson, and in actual fact, there were several people responsible for keeping an eye on Leesons performance, but each one of them assumed that the other was watching closer than them, thus allowing Leeson several holes to get through. An internal auditor audited the Singapore office of Barings in 1994 and he reported that unauthorized trading could have happened because of the fundamental principle of the industry segregation of front and back office activities. The results were disclosed to the directors as well as some of the auditors recommendations, but the directors did not implement these recommendations (Collier Agyei-Ampomah, 2006). Moreover, Leesons actions could have been avoided if the Barings executives had done a comprehensive review of Leesons funding requirements, as well as set restrictions to what Leeson could or could not do. However, he also discovered that none of these changes to the internal structure had been implemented when the bank collapsed. One of the main reasons why Leeson was able to get away with so much was that there was no clear segregation of duties (Broady, Roland, Woods, 2008). The nature of the Japanese futures market at the time did not require exchanges to have a separation between the customer and the proprietary funds, which made it difficult to separate the funds and the position of the firm or customer. Leeson was left to be in control of everything that should have been checked by a superior or manager of some other department, which enabled him to track and modify the contents of his rogue account as he wished and keep his activities from being disclosed. Although the Director of BFS and the Finance Director of BSS, Simon Jones, pledged to the public that he would attend to the issue of segregation, he never actually took any action to separate Leesons front and back office doings. The Bank of England made a report on the matter and according to the report, the London senior management actually considered Jones to be an inadequate communicator, and were concerned with the fact that he was not as involved as he should have been in the affairs of BFS. Furthermore, the Bank of London also criticized the process of Leesons funding. Firstly, credit checks should have been performed on the large amounts of funds changing hands, but this was not performed either. Secondly, Bank of London discovered that there was no clear record of whether the funds reported were needed for its clients, or for its own accounts. This made reconciliation virtually impossible. The trading account was also not shown on any files or statements transmitted from Singapore to London, and thus auditors could not find any existence of the error account. Moreover, SIMEX categorized the 88888 account as a customer account rather than an error account. Internally, Barings had raised issues about having proper reconciliation in 1992. The risk manager of Londons branch, Gordon Bowser, had strongly recommended a development of a solid reconciliation process. However, Bowser left two others (Simon Jones and Tony Dickel) who had internal conflict over Leeson, to decide on the matter of reconciliation procedures, there was no solid arrangement between the two and Leeson was left to create the procedures for himself, allowing him to dictate the way he managed things. The loss of reconciliation meant that auditors could not trace the nature of these funds and thus they were unable to uncover the error account that Leeson used for his tradings. Over the years, there were several cases of internal conflict which was beneficial to Leesons stealthy activities. A particular example of this was in 1995, where SIMEX became apprehensive about the ability of Barings to meet its large margins in Leesons error account. SIMEX addressed a letter to Simon Jones, with the letter noting that a further $100 million should have been in account 88888. Instead of addressing the matter himself directly, Jones passed the letter to Leeson for Leeson to draft a response on his own. Lastly, when Leesons activities were finally being caught on by SIMEX, but they had not managed to find out exactly what was happening, SIMEX posted another letter to the Singapore branch, expressing doubts about Barings ability to fun margin calls. The letter was then referred back to London and from there; SIMEX was assured that opposite positions were being held in Japan. However, the truth was no opposite positions were being held and SIMEX officials made no follow-up checks with Osakas Stock Exchange to authenticate the claims. Why did none of the regulatory authorities in Singapore, Japan, and the United Kingdom not discover the true use of the error account? None of the regulatory bodies of Singapore, Japan on the UK discovered the true use of Leesons error account because firstly, it was visible to them only as a customer account, and SIMEX had also granted an exemption on the number of contracts that Barings could hold with the presumption that Barings was hedging and not speculating. This is in fact due to Barings conservative firm reputation, which lulled exchange and clearing houses into a false sense of security. Additionally, Barings speculative position was hidden with the use of an omnibus account and with this account, the brokers customers identities could successfully be hidden from the exchange and clearing houses. A number of happenings in the UK also allowed Leeson to hide and manage his activities easier. At that time, the Bank of England had a rule known as the Large Exposure Rule which stated that a bank is unable to lend more than 25% of its capital to any single entity. Barings made a request to Bank of London for an exception and argued that one exchange should not be classified as one entity. The supervisor in charge of Barings activities recognized the argument and the request and promised to review it and in the meantime, he offered Barings an informal concession for Japan, which Barings extended to Singapore and Hong Kong. On the matter of the Large Exposure Rule, the supervisor failed to respond until one whole year later, and his answer was that there were no exceptions to be made and the positions taken under the informal concession should be unwound. By that time, the damage had already been done. The Bank of England also found that following the consolidation of Baring Securities Ltd and Baring Brothers and Co., it allowed the two to be categorized as one entity for capital adequacy and large exposure purposes, but the process of this consolidation was too informal and the results of it played a part in Leesons unauthorized activities. This not only meant that Leeson could hide his activities, but also the fact that he had access to a much larger pool of capital. Why was Barings Bank willing to transfer large cash sums to Barings Futures Singapore? Barings Bank believed that the large cash sums transferred to Barings Futures Singapore was for loans to customers as portrayed on the Barings Futures Singapore balance sheet. The key aspect of Japanese Future market was that exchange did not require a separation between customer and propriety funds. Therefore it was impossible to distinguish between the firms and the customers position. Why did the attempt by the Bank of England to organize a bailout for Barings fail? Throughout that weekend, the Bank of England hosted meetings in London to try to form a consortium to bail out Barings. The attempt by the Bank of England to organize a bailout for Barings failed because no one would assume the contingent risk of additional, but as yet undiscovered losses. Bank of London made a huge effort to organize a bailout for Barings bank. The bailout failed because Barings bank reached the position where losses amounted more than double the capitalization of the bank;, estimated losses approached $1.1 billion. Further losses were inevitable and thus there was no one ready to assume the contingent risk of additional but yet undiscovered losses. The bank was trapped in such a situation that the amount of future losses was unknown and unrevealed due to the unauthorized dealing by Nick Leeson. Suggest regulatory and management reforms that might prevent a future debacle of the type that bankrupted Barings. There have been numerous cases of collapses and overwhelming losses to companies in the corporate and banking sector and this called for some serious reformation, with particular attention to derivatives. The entire sector did not sit up and take notice until the Baring Brothers bankruptcy. How could an entity steeped with trust and history fall apart with no signs? Following the bankruptcy, reports were created by the Bank of England, SIMEX, and the Group of Thirty to suggest ways in which regulators and legislators could increase monitoring of financial activities. After the collapse of Barings Bank, an article was published with the name of Global Institutions, National Supervision and Systemic Risk, and this article underlines the reforms and changes in the financial sector that have already been implemented. The reforms that have already been implemented included: the expanded usage of netting and collateral; enhancements in methods to measure risk; greater off-balance-sheet risk disclosure; extensive increases in major financial institutions equity capital, financial sector consolidation; and encouragement of growth of securitization. The Bank of Englands report detailed how the losses occurred, the reason the losses were unnoticed in and out of Barings, and the lessons learnt from the bankruptcy. The following are the five lessons the Bank of England identified (Ambit ERisk, 2010): Management teams have a duty to understand fully the business that they manage; Responsibility for each business activity has to be clearly established and communicated; Clear segregation of duties is fundamental to any effective control system; Relevant internal controls, including independent risk management, have to be established for all business activities; Top management and the Audit Committee have to ensure that significant weaknesses, identified to them by internal audit or otherwise, are resolved quickly. The list that Bank of England came up with seemed simple, but the truth was one (or usually several) points listed were often the reason why corporations lost large amounts of money in the derivatives market. Other ways in which to prevent future debacles like the Barings collapse would be an increase in supervision of employees. Leeson never had a trading license prior to his arrival to Singapore and there was scarce monitoring of his activities since no one person was directly responsible for supervising his trading activities (Burnett, 2006). Also, a clear reporting line should be enforced because Leesons fraud could have been facilitated by confusion in having two reporting lines: one to London for proprietary trading and the other to Tokyo for customer trading. Top management should also be aware of the business that they are dealing with. In the case of Barings Bank, Leeson was reporting huge profits to the company but top management should have known that arbitraging is a relatively low risk and low profit business (Collier Agyei-Ampomah, 2006), so how on earth could Leeson have been reporting such massive profits? Top management could have identified these flaws immediately if they had known and had they done their job properly (Narayanaswamy, 2008). It is thus very important for top management to have sufficient knowledge of the field (or be involved in) to understand the complexities of business and its fundamental concepts. Based in Washington DC, the Group of Thirty began to be particularly apprehensive of the risks that derivatives posed. The Group has issued numerous periodicals to address these problems, mainly publications like International Insolvencies in the Financial Sector, Discussion Draft, which outlined fourteen ideas to reduce risk in the financial sector, particularly with derivatives. Another publication titled International Insolvencies in the Financial Sector, Summary of Comments from Respondent Countries on Discussion Draft, which showed member countries responses and opinions regarding the proposed changes to financial institutions. It was noted that the support for these changes were generally strong among all the countries that responded, which showed how Barings failure rocked the entire worlds confidences in the financial sector.

Why Australia Joined World War I In 1914 :: World War I History

Why Australia Joined World War I In 1914 In 1914, Australia joined the First World War. Although it was seen as a European war, the Australia government decided that Australia should support its 'Mother Country', Britain. The prime-minister at the time, Joseph Cook, stated Australia's position : "Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire, right to the full. When the Empire is at war, Australia is at war." Many Australians objected to the country's involvement in the war, but the majority of the population agreed with the government's decision. Australia joined the war for many reasons, but two main reasons were : Australia (as a counry) felt a loyalty towards the 'mother country', Britaain and that the war would be a good opportunity to improve Ausrtalia's international reputation. Many individual Australians also joined the war for a variety of reasons. Some felt a strong loyalty to Britain who had supported Australia, and now, they felt, was the time for them to 'do their bit'. Others enlsted simply to prove they were brave enough to fight, but some enlisted because their friends had. Some simply enlisted because they needed a job, pay, and regular meals, but many enlisted in the army for an adventure, not knowing the true horrors of war. Private A.J. McSparrow (former railway worker from Parramatta, NSW), was one of the many men whwo enlisted because he felt that it was his duty to support the 'mother country' ..."I have (enlisted) ... and I don't regret it in the very least. I believe that it is every young fellow's duty" and "... we are the sort of men who should go."Private Antill enli sted because he needed the money, clothes and food and also because it was easier work than cabinet making ..."I tell you what I have just joined the Australan army ... it's not bad money here 5/- a day and clothes and food that's nearly as good as cabinet making and not half as hard."Lieutenant D.G. Armstrong (former bank clerk from Kyneton, Victoria), thought that the war would be great opportunity to prove his strength and to show that he was not a coward..."I am going to have a try for the war ... I think I ought to go, they want all they can get and ... I think it's the greatest opportunity for a chap to make a man of himself, those that come back from this war will be men of the right sort that anybody would be proud of.

Art :: essays research papers

Since the dawn of human existence and literally thousands of years before written languages developed, people have used their surroundings as a canvas for expression. Art has changed a great deal since it began many centuries ago. Centuries, however, are not necessary to notice the small changes that are evident even between cultures of similar times. Egyptians were the first people to make a large impact on the world of art. Egyptians needed art for their religious beliefs more than decoration or self-gratification. The most important aspect of Egyptian life is the ka, the part of the human spirit that lives on after death. The ka needed a physical place to occupy or it would disappear. Most of the important men of Egypt paid to have their body carved out of stone. That was were the spirit would live after the man dies. They used stone because it was the strongest material they could find. Longevity was very important. The bodies are always idealized and clothed. Figures are very rigid, close-fisted, and are built on a vertical axis to show that the person is grand or intimidating. Early Greek art was greatly influenced by the Egyptians. Geography permitted both cultures to exchange their talents. The beginning of Greek art is marked by the Geometric phase. The most common art during the Geometric phase was vase painting. After the vase was formed but before it was painted, the artist applied a slip (dark pigment) to outside. Then the vase was fired and the artist would incise his decorations into the hard shell. It was important to incise humans into the fired slip and not paint with slip. The people in the pictures needed light colored skin, which was the color beneath the slip, because Greeks wanted to make their art as realistic as possible. Much like Egyptian art, the Greeks idealized the bodies of the people in their works. As the Archaic Period evolved, Greek sculptures were almost identical to the Egyptians'. Unlike Egyptians, the Greeks refined their techniques. Greeks used marble to construct their sculptures. It was considered more valuable and beaut iful than any material available. Christian art was introduced during the middle of the second century. In many cases the only difference between Christian art and Hellenistic art is the religious subject matter. After a slow start the Christians introduced something new, the mosaic. Mosaics became a favorite medium for decorating churches.

Teenage Suicide :: Teenage Suicide Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When people think about suicide, they think about someone taking their life away on purpose, or in other words it means, â€Å"to kill yourself† (Marcus 1). Suicide is a dramatic word that can change the way people view things in life. It is a thought that brings a teen to the point of self-murder. It is an event where a young one feels desperation and pain just before pulling the trigger or jumping off the bridge. Many of those who have thought about suicide or have committed suicide have done so because their life has changed, and many are having difficulty adjusting to it. It is a time where everything seems to go wrong, and a person starts to feel empty inside. It is like a mystery that could happen to young, old, rich and poor. The only thing a person can do when there are signs of suicide is to prevent it from happening, but why is it that people turn over to suicide, and how can a person prevent it from happening? There are about eighty deaths for teenage suicide every day in the United States, and there are about one thousand five hundred teens that attempt suicide. Many fail suicide, which is a good thing. After trying to attempt suicide for the first time, many can attempt to cry for help before a second attempt is made. People need to keep in mind that if a person turns to suicide and achieves suicide, there is nothing a community can do. But there are always many ways in which people can help suicidal teens. Even though there are teenagers who truly want to die, there are ways in which anyone can help if there are warning signs of suicide. In this case there are many ways in which a teenager could turn over to suicide. Loneliness, depression and the abuse of drugs and alcohol are just a few ways. A loss in a teen’s life could be very traumatizing, and losing a loved one for any reason may bring teenagers into the borderline of killing themselves. Being left out and not fitting in with a new group could often lead a teenager into feeling lonely. Loneliness causes a person to lose hope in life. Not having someone to talk to can make a person feel that they are nothing in this world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depression is another affect that can lead a person into suicide.

Factors Affecting the Grades of Freshmen Engineering Students Essay

INTRODUCTION This chapter is the input section of the paper. It includes the background of the study, the statement of the problem, hypotheses of the study, theory base (technical framework), its significance, as well as the scope and the limitation of the study, and its definition of terms. Background of the Study Academic performance according to the Cambridge University Reporter (2003) is frequently defined in terms of examination performance. College grading is an exceptionally complex phenomenon because it is subject to both external social forces and internal changes of the participants (for example, students, faculty) policies and practices (for example, grading policies) and other factors (Birnbaum, 1977)Ecoamists view grades as a reward for academic performance, which is assumed to be related to individual academic ability as well as the quantity and effort the student puts forth in educational activites (Becker, 1965; Hanushek 1979)Psychologist suggest that motivation, self-effacy and other psychological variables all make differences inindividual achievement and grades (Bandura, 1994; Marsh and Roche, 2000; McKeachie and others, 1990) Faculty members have the primary responsibility in assessing student academic performance and assigning grades to students. Faculty backgrounds appear to matter somewhat in assigning grades to students. adjunct faculty members tend to distributehigher grades than regular faculty. (Chen and Cheng, 1999;Sonner, 2000). Student academic ability and engagement in college are important determinants in academic performance. (Pascarella and Terenzini, 1991). There are many possible factors why the students able to get high or low grades. These factors are classified into four categories: student-related, teacher-related, environmental-related, and financial-related factors. Their grades based on their works throughout the semester. This study is subjected to the Freshmen Engineering Students of the University of Southeastern Philippines. It attempts to determine the correlation of the perceived factors that may or may at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. By conducting study, the result will provide exact information on what will be the effective ways to achieve and  maintain ideal grades for the students to pass their course. The study will also provide what are the basic problems encountered by the freshmen Engineering students of University of Southeastern Philippines that affect their misbehavior. (repository, 2011) Statement of the Problem The study aims to determine the Perceived Factors Affecting the Grades of Freshmen of College of Engineering of the University of Southeastern Philippines S.Y. 2012 – 2013 More specifically, the study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent is the academic performance of the Freshmen Engineering students Hypotheses of the Study The following are the hypotheses of the study: 1.) Teacher-related factors: 1.1. There is a significant relationship between the modulation of voice of the teacher to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 1.2. There is a significant relationship between the teaching strategy of the teacher to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 1.3. There is a significant relationship between the mastery of the teacher’s subject matter to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 1.4. There is a significant relationship between the outputs given by the teacher to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 2.) Student-related factors: 2.1. There is a significant relationship between the students’ interest to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 2.2. There is a significant relationship between the students-professor relationship to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 2.3. There is a significant relationship between the student-parent relationship to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 2.4. There is a significant relationship between peer pressure to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 3.) Financial-related factors: 3.1. There is a significant relationship between financial assistance to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 3.2. There is a significant relationship between budget management to the grades of the  freshmen Engineering students. 3.3. There is a significant relationship between the demand of needs or requirements to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 4.) Environmental-related factors: 4.1. There is a significant relationship between the schools’ ambiance to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. 4.2. There is a significant relationship between the schools’ facilities to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. Theory Base This study is primarily anchored on John Riley & Sons, Inc. which states that the factors mentioned that affects the grades of the College students are: Economic View, Faculty, Institution, and the students’ self-interest. College grading is an exceptionally complex phenomenon because it is subject to both external social forces and internal changes of the participants (for example, students, faculty) policies and practices (for example, grading policies) and other factors (Birnbaum, 1977)Ecoamists view grades as a reward for academic performance, which is assumed to be related to individual academic ability as well as the quantity and effort the student puts forth in educational activites (Becker, 1965; Hanushek 1979) Psychologist suggest that motivation, self-effacy and other psychological variables all make differences inindividual achievement and grades (Bandura, 1994; Marsh and Roche, 2000; McKeachie and others, 1990) Faculty members have the primary responsibility in assessing student academic performance and assigning grades to students. Faculty backgrouds appear to matter somewhat in assigning grades to students. adjunct faculty members tend to distributehigher grades than regular faculty. (Chen and Cheng, 1999;Sonner, 2000). Institutional characteristics influence grading practices. Grades are not uniformly awarded across institutional types. Public institutions tend to award lower gradescompared with their private counterparts. Students at different Carnegie-type institutions receive different grades. Students at doctoral universities tend toreceive the highest grades compared with students enrolled in other types of schools. (Kuh and Hu, 1999) This theory suggests that self-interest (students’ performance), faculty, institution, and financial-based factors could affect the grades of the students. This  theory strongly supports the hypotheses of the study. Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the independent and dependent variables of the study. The study attempts to identify the relationship between the teacher-related, student-related, financial-related, and environmental-related factors to the grades of the freshmen Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philippines. Independent VariableDependent Variable Teacher- related factors: * Modulation of teacher’s voice. * Classroom management. * Teaching strategy. * Mastery of the subject/subject matter. * Outputs given to the students. Student-related factors: * Student-interest. * Student-professor relationship. * Student-parent relationship. * Peer pressure. Financial-related factors: * Financial assistance. * Budget management. * Demand of needs or requirements. Grades of the Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philippines Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Study Variables of the study The independent variables (IV) of the study are the following classification of factors: teacher-related, student-related, financial-related, and environmental-related factors. Thus these factors could or could at affect the dependent variable (DV) which is the grades of the Freshmen Engineering Students of the University of Southeastern  Philippines. Teacher-related factors. The modulation of the teacher’s voice, classroom management, teaching strategy, mastery of the subject or subject matter, and the outputs given by the teacher could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. Student-Related factors. The students’ interest, student-professor relationship, student-parent relationship, and peer pressure could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. Environmental-Related factors. The financial assistance given to the student, budget management, and the demand of needs or requirements could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students. Significance of the Study The study was conducted mainly to provide information regarding The Perceived Factors Affecting the Failing Grades of Freshmen of College of Engineering of the University of Southeastern Philippines S.Y. 2012 – 2013.The feedback of this study would benefit the following: Teachers. This study informs the teachers to be aware for the cases of the students who’ve been involve in failing their subjects and help them motivate the students to listen properly during class hours and to fulfill their requirements given to them. Students. This study encourage the students to be more responsible and more serious of their studies. Parents. This study helps the parents to be aware of their students’ needs in school. That includes their financial assistance and parental guidance to their students. Future researchers. This study would serve as a reference to their studies and could be counted as a reliable source. Scope and Limitation of the Study The study focuses on the Perceived Factors Affecting the Failing Grades of Freshmen of College of Engineering of the University of Southeastern Philippines. Generated to a survey questionnaire is our primary data used which was also used in interview guide with the students. The respondents of the study were randomly picked ten (10) students of every section in the  said department. The study covers the first semester of the school year 2012-2013. Definition of Terms * Freshmen Engineering students. This refers to the participants of the study which are taking their college degree in the University of Southeastern Philppines, Barrio Obrero, Davao City. * Teacher-related factors. This refers to the factors in which the teacher is the one being subjected that could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philppines. In this study, the teacher-related factors are: modulation of teacher’s voice, classroom management, teaching strategy, mastery of the subject matter, and the outputs given to the students. * Student-related factors. This refers to the factors in which the student is the one being subjected that could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philppines. In this study, the student-related factors are: students’ interest, student-professor relationship, student-parent relationship, and peer pressure. * Environmental-related factors.This refers to the factors in which the environment is the one being subjected that could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philppines. In this study, the environmental-related factors are: school’s ambiance and the school’s facilities. * Financial-related factors.This refers to the factors in which money is the one being subjected that could or could at affect the grades of the freshmen Engineering students of the University of Southeastern Philppines. In this study, the financial-related factors are: financial assistance, budget management, demand of needs or requirements.

Cultural Behavior Essay

Culture is a very important factor that should be determined in every occasion, across the globe. Knowing once culture enhances the spirit of solidarity through understanding one another despite the differences of nationality. It creates communication and it clears the communication. One of the biggest problems today is the miscommunication of people despite the advancement in telecommunication industries that delivers a wider range of means of communication. One might ask what culture could do; obviously it can create good rapport between people and between nations. Having a cultural intelligence is a plus factor but it doesn’t mean that, a person without it can never mingle with a person with a different culture. Cultural intelligence entails a lot of things, most importantly it can help-us manage cross-cultural differences moreover it can help eliminate racism. To be specific, cultural intelligence can lower the cultural barriers caused by the terms, ‘us’ and ‘them’ and this allows you to predict what ‘they’ are thinking and how they will react to your behavior patterns through becoming aware with the cultural differences as well as its similarities; and it harness the power of cultural diversity. In our world today that is fast-paced, companies and their business managers who interact with employees, customers, partners, competitors, among others who are diverse cultural intelligence is important. Hosting an international conference of sorts will not be possible without knowing who the participants are. Making a successful affair with other countries means tapping their soft spot. That is possible by studying what please them and respecting what they believe in, not only that, but their practices, values, expectations, attitudes, and ideologies. Those can be boiled down to one thing, knowing the culture because it is the â€Å"lens† through which you view the world. It entails the centrality of one’s attention, the perception and the expression. In this paper, there are two countries that should be given importance of – Brazil and Turkey. The former is known for their expertise in playing football while the latter is known for their good-looking men, as I would put it. BRAZIL, â€Å"The Land of Contrasts† This country is the fifth largest country in the world, and the largest nation in Latin America. Having the culture name of Brazilian, and their people are called depending on gender – Brasileiros for boys and Brasileiras for girls. In the late sixteenth century Portuguese introduced a Romance language called Portuguese, then this language is now the widely-spoken language in the country. Roman Catholic is the predominant religion. The Brazilians prides in themselves being democratic with race, they do not have prejudices over the different citizens that reside in Brazil. This ideology shapes their perception in terms of cultural behavior. This is not an assessment of complete non-existence of racial discrimination, but compared to other nations like the United States, in Brazil the expression is far more subtle and discreet. To add proof, the word â€Å"jeito† is familiar in Brazil which means that nothing is set in stone. Aside from those verbal greetings, there are things that should be learned about Brazil. One of this is their body language because becoming aware of this could help a person avoid any trouble in this country. For some countries, okay or OK hand signal means an approval or giving a nice reaction to other person but in this country it is a rude gesture. For example, in the Philippines the okay hand signal can brighten someone’s day, it is a simple gesture but it could mean a lot of positive meaning. Some politician even uses this for their campaign during election. When a Brazilian expresses appreciation, s/he may appear to pinch his/her earlobe between thumb and forefinger while to other counties it could mean that a person is shy or ashamed of something s/he has done. The â€Å"fig† is placing the thumb between the index and middles finger. This indicates a sincere invocation of luck towards another person. When the fingertips were flicked underneath the chin it means that the person doesn’t know the answer. But for other countries it indicates that the person is thinking or in a deep thought. It is common practice to almost every country to have privacy, may it be about personal life or whatever. Privacy is a concept of personal space. This is an event the Brazilians do not seem to care because lack of space is what they are used to. A crowded place is an appealing space for them. Touch and physical expression is evident in their culture. Being informal can be seen with the way women and men easily express their emotions through touch. There is a saying that time is gold. It applies to most of the countries around the world, especially in this time and age where you have to keep up with the fast-changing world. When it comes to time and work, some regions are casual about it. There are two cities in this country that are strict when it comes to following time especially business meetings. These are San Paulo and Rio, as for the latter, personal and social events are the things considered casual. Main meal happens at midday while light meal happens at night. Having good manners and etiquettes or the lack of it is a big issue. It shows how a person was raised and it shows ones upbringing. It is also important because it deals with a person’s reputation and his/her identity. When entertained into someone’s house, the guest should send flowers saying â€Å"Thank You† to the hostess, for it shows politeness. This shows the satisfaction and appreciation of the hospitality a hostess have shown. This is also a way to build a good impression. However, one should take note of the color of the flower to be given because purple-colored flowers are for funerals alone but it is fine to send out color violet. Saude (Sah-OO-Day) or Viva (Vee-va)are words that expresses â€Å"cheers† during toasts. Hello and goodbye, use good eye contact while handshaking and make sure that you handshake with everyone present. Stay away from phases such as, â€Å"Is it true that everyone in Brazil is either very rich or very poor? † It is very likely you will be talking with someone that isn’t either one. Brazilians usually address teachers, doctors, priests, and other professionals using their title followed by their first name—Professor Joao, Doutora Maxine or Presidente Henrique. Making a successful business in Brazil means adhering to their business custom, this helped a lot because as I have said before it can make you close to your â€Å"would-be business partner. † To have an â€Å"executive† connotation, wearing a three-piece suit is advised because office workers are associated with two-piece suit. Wearing conservative attire with manicured nails are important for women who are transacting business. In making appointments, make it in two weeks advance and â€Å"out of nowhere† calls are not good especially at business and government offices. This could mean impoliteness that would lead to the impression of disrespect to the concerned person or people. The key to business success in Brazil is to be prepared in committing long term resources, may it be money or time. In every business meetings, their standard operating procedure is that the host starts the business discussions and it usually begins with small talks. TURKEY The official name is Republic of Turkey, and its capital is Ankara. Turkey is a crossing between two unique cultures from the European and Middle Eastern boundaries. The society is characterized with nationalism patriotism. A combination of traditional and modern views, the society attributes significantly to their ancestors. The rapid modernization of the country had contributed to the success of its market. One of the nice things about people of different nationality is that they have the unique form of greetings. It is normal to greet the Turkish with â€Å"Asalamu alaykum† which means peace be upon you, and the common reply to this is, â€Å"Wa alaykum salam† or peace be with you. It is normal to every tourist or every visitors of foreign land to know the hidden meanings of body language of the people in that particular country. That is an advantage so that a person would know what or what not to do. It is customary to greet Turkish counterparts with a handshake, failure to do so may be considered rude. Women are expected to extend their hand first as the men awaits this gesture. An eye contact with Turkish counterparts while speaking depicts sincerity. When the thumb is placed between first two fingers it signifies insult and the person doing it is being rude. Wagging the head in the US means â€Å"no†, but in this country it means â€Å"I don’t understand†. Personal space does not matter to Turks in fact they consider it as unfriendly. That is why backing away when a Turks stand close to you is not good. This shows aloofness that could trigger to becoming indifferent. Turks have a â€Å"polychromic time†, they are multitasked that they do several activities at the same time and continue several conversations about different topics. They can surely keep up with busy schedule because they manage to do one thing at the same time. This also shows that the Turks are good in dividing their attention, it also shows that they are good in doing rush works and other stuff. Reputation precedes a person’s identity. Making a reputation is through the guidelines of having good manners in almost everything a person does. This also means having respect to other people and showing appreciation of ones culture. Respecting and paying courtesy to an elderly or the eldest person when arriving at a gathering or room is advised in this culture. Age is highly given importance in this country. Age signifies wisdom and respect from the society. In this country, public display of affection id discourages and is considered inappropriate. For establishing business in Turkey, there are business rules and regulations. These should be strictly followed if a businessman wants to make it big in this country. Turkish people celebrates the Turkish holidays, like the Ramadan (fasting period) and months like July and August are considered as annual holidays of Turkish business men. These dates should be avoided as the celebration is most considered rather than business ventures. It is important to schedule business appointments in advance to ensure that you avoid Turkish holidays. Punctuality is also important for the Turkish people. In all business contexts, when one should be late, he or she must immediately inform the persons concerned immediately. Islam also extends its influence in the society as all appointments and meetings should fit the 5 daily prayer times. The Turks prefer to do business with people they know and establish personal relationships with them for future benefits in their business ventures. Bibliography Bibikova Anastasia and Vadim Kotelnikov. Cultural Intelligence: Knowledge, Arts, & Skills. http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultural_intelligence. html http://www. cia. gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/br. html Nicol, Joni. Brazil. http://www. cyborlink. com/besite/brazil. htm Gorrill, Jodie R. A Turkish Culture Overview. http://www. communicaid. com/turkey-business-culture. asp